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PRAY FOR ISRAEL
“My tabernacle
also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and
they shall be My people. The nations also will know that
I, the LORD, sanctify Israel , when My sanctuary is in their
midst forevermore.”
Ezekiel 37:27-28
Why should
you pray for Israel ? Why is it that this one small nation
and its right to exist dominate such a large amount of world
attention and the conflict for its existence threatens world
peace? Although land, religion, and oil are major factors in
the political equation there is only one reason at the heart
of the current situation.
From the beginning verses
of Genesis to the last verses of Revelation it is clear that
God has a specific purpose in mind for the nation of Israel
. God created and gave one nation 10 commandments to show
all nations that He created that they could not keep one.
Through Israel ’s unfaithfulness
and the consequence of their sin as prescribed in the Law given
through Moses, the nations have been given a testimony of the
sovereign presence and judgment of God in the affairs of mankind
and the way to reconciliation to remain in His presence forever.
God has made Israel to
be His testimony to the nations…
“When they came to the nations, wherever they went,
they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, ‘These
are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His
land.’” Ezekiel 36:20
“Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it
in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Israel
will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’” Jeremiah
31:10
That we might know through
Israel’s disobedience and
punishment that He is the only sovereign God and the only righteous
judge of all.
“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice
of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments
and His statutes which I command you today, that all these
curses will come upon you and overtake you: …And you
shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among
all nations where the LORD will drive you… Moreover
all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake
you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the
voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His
statutes which He commanded you. And they shall be upon you
for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever.”
Deuteronomy
28:15, 37, 45-46
“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob,
and He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have
redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine…you
are My witnesses,’ says the LORD, ‘And My servant
whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand
that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall
there be after Me…I will give Jacob to the curse, and
Israel to reproaches…Do not fear, nor be afraid; have
I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My
witnesses. Is there a God besides Me?’” Isaiah
43:1, 10, 28; 44:8
“But when you see
Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation
is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,
let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not
those who are in the country enter her. For these are the
days of vengeance, that all things which are written may
be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those
who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great
distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they
will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive
into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles
until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Luke 21:20-24
That the nations would know that He would not spare His own
people for their disobedience.
“Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant
of the LORD your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves
a carved image in the form of anything which the LORD your
God has forbidden you. For the LORD your God is a consuming
fire, a jealous God…And the LORD will scatter you among
the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations
where the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve gods,
the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither
see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek
the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with
all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress,
and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when
you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice (for the LORD
your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy
you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore
to them…You shall therefore keep His statutes and His
commandments which I command you today, that it may go well
with you and with your children after you, and that you may
prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God is giving
you for all time.” Deuteronomy 4:23-24, 27-31, 40
“All nations would say, ‘Why has the LORD done
so to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?’ Then
people would say: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant
of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with them when
He brought them out of the land of Egypt; for they went and
served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not
know and that He had not given to them. Then the anger of the
LORD was aroused against this land, to bring on it every curse
that is written in this book. And the LORD uprooted them from
their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and
cast them into another land, as it is this day.’” Deuteronomy
29:24-28
“For if their being cast away is the reconciling of
the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the
dead...Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand
by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear…. blindness in
part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles
has come in… Concerning the gospel they are enemies
for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved
for the sake of the fathers.” Romans 11:15, 20, 25, 28
And for His great love
for us, to gather us to himself, He did not spare His own
son…
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him
up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us
all things?” Romans 8:32
And for our sin He will
not spare any who are not obedient to His will…
“For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may
not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity
of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness,
if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be
cut off.” Romans 11:21, 22; Isaiah 45:22-23
“Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the
fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man
will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom
all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,
and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be
wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:40-42
However, God’s
plan is for the redemption, not the destruction of Israel
or mankind…
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some
count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing
that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2
Peter 3:9; Genesis 3:15
“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly
not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of
the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom
He foreknew…For if their being cast away is the reconciling
of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the
dead...Romans 11:1-2, 15
“Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being
high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for
the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He
would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered
abroad.” John 11:51-52
“‘Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for a
light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for
a light by night, who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar
(The LORD of hosts is His name): If those ordinances depart
from before Me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel shall
also cease from being a nation before Me forever.’ Thus
says the LORD: ‘If heaven above can be measured, and
the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also
cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done,
says the LORD.’” Jeremiah 31:35-37
“He shall say, ‘Surely in the LORD I have righteousness
and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed
who are incensed against Him. In the LORD all the descendants
of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.’” Isaiah
45:24-25
His plan is for our blessing
ending in life from the dead for us all…
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world
to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might
be saved.” John 3:16-17
Pray for the peace of
Jerusalem …
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : ‘May they prosper
who love you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within
your palaces.’” Psalm 122:6-7
That your family and
nation may be comforted with Israel when God has restored
His land and His people to their inheritance…
“‘Rejoice with Jerusalem , and be glad with her,
all you who love her. Rejoice with joy for her, all you who
mourn for her; that you may feed and be satisfied with the
consolation with her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be
delighted with the abundance of her glory.’ For thus
says the Lord, ‘Behold I will extend peace to her like
a river, and the glory of the nations like a flowing stream.
Then you shall feed; on her sides you shall be carried, and
be dandled on her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so
I will comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem
.’” Isaiah 66:10-13
“Look to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth!
For I am God and there is no other. I have sworn by myself;
the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall
not return, that to Me every knee, every tongue shall take
an oath. He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness
and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed
who are incensed against Him. In the Lord the descendants of
Israel shall be justified and shall glory.’” Isaiah
45:22-25
And pray for God to pour
out His mercy and His Spirit on Israel now for their repentance
and salvation…
Leviticus 26:40-42; Deuteronomy
4:29-30; 30:1-5, 10; 32:29; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalm 79:9;
80:3,7, 19; Isaiah 1:18-20; 40:1-2; 43:25-26; 44:22; 45:17;
61:1-3; 63:17-19; 62:1; 64:5-12; 65:8-9; Jeremiah 14:7-9; Ezekiel
18:31; 37:11; Joel 2:12-14, 28, 32; Zechariah 12:10-13:1;
Matthew 23:37-39; Acts 2:36-38; 10:34-43; 13:23-24; 28:20;
Romans 1:16; 11:23-26; 2 Corinthians 3:15-16; Hebrews 8:8-10
“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem ; they
shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention
of the LORD, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till
He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the
earth.” Isaiah 62:6-7
“Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves
to the LORD, to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD,
to be His servants—everyone who keeps from defiling the
Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant—even them I will
bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house
of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will
be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house
of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:6-7
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