The Promises of Israel

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6).

The land of Israel and the Jewish people are holy and sacred to God. As believers, we have a special connection to this people, and it’s important that we understand how deeply that connection runs. While God is speaking to the natural, physical Israel in Deuteronomy (and many times throughout the Bible), these words and promises also apply to us, because as Christians and members of the new covenant, we are spiritual Israel adopted into the family of God.

There are two very important things to understand: 1. How valuable you are to God and 2. How important it is to God that you stand with Israel.

The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you … (v. 7,8).

God doesn’t love you because you’re valuable; you’re valuable because God loves you.

Israel as a nation may appear small and insignificant to the natural eye. But God didn’t choose them because of their great strength or number. Their value and strength come because God chose them. In the same way, the world may see you as the least likely to succeed, but God chose you in spite of your abilities! Just as He set His favor and love upon the Jewish people, He chose you. His love and affection sets you apart.

In order to fully understand our own value to God, we need to comprehend our connection to His chosen people, Israel. Not just a spiritual connection, but also the physical heritage we share. Our Bible and our Savior come from this land. Our spiritual heritage is as much in Jerusalem as the Jew’s:

            Our bible is a Jewish bible

            Our Messiah is Jewish

There are three key elements that are vital to grasping the importance of Israel and our connection:

1. The people of Israel are special people: It’s not just the land, but it’s the people that God has sovereignly chosen. Israel is a nation that is God-created, God-decreed, God-loved, God-called, God-elected, and God-protected.

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:3).

2. The Jewish people have a special purpose: God made a covenant with one man, Abraham. Then He made a new covenant—one that is connected to the old covenant—through one man, His Son Jesus Christ.

3. Israel is under special protection: The armies of Heaven guard them. God tells us in Jeremiah 31 that as long as the Sun and the moon and starts survive, Israel will stand before Him.

God’s Message, from the God who lights up the day with sun and brightens the night with moon and stars, Who whips the ocean into a billowy froth, whose name is God-of-the-Angel-Armies: “If this ordered cosmos ever fell to pieces, fell into chaos before me”—God’s Decree—“Then and only then might Israel fall apart and disappear as a nation before me” (Jeremiah 31:35,36).

Israel is a special people, with a special purpose and they’re operating under special protection … and so are you!

You may feel small and insignificant … like the nation of Israel. But God has set His love on you and that love alone is what sets you apart and makes you special. There is purpose in your life, and as long as you have breath, God still has a purpose and a plan for you. His divine protection is upon you – no weapon formed against you will prosper. It may come against you – but it will not succeed.

Enter into this New Year understanding that what God is doing for Israel, He is doing for you! He has chosen you, has a purpose for you, and has set His protection around you. Let 2020 be the year that you bless what God blesses, and favor what God favors, because when you bless what God has blessed, God is going to bless you, and when you favor what God favors, God is going to favor you.

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