Why Stand with Israel? (Part 1 of 3)

This is part 1 of 3 on the series “Why Stand with Israel?” written by Rebecca J. Brimmer, International President and CEO of Bridges for Peace. May you be blessed by reading this teaching letter.

Why ~Stand with Israel

In my travels around the world, I Rebecca Brimmer have the opportunity to meet Christians from widely diverse church backgrounds. Bridges for Peace is an interdenominational organization, and so we are invited to speak in many different denominations. Fairly often, someone will come up to me and be honestly puzzled as they express the fact that they don’t understand why they should be interested in the nation and people of Israel. In this teaching letter, I want to give you a few thoughts about why all Christians should care about Israel.

God Chose Abraham

It all started when God chose a man named Abram. “Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1–3).

Abram (later changed to Abraham) was living at a time when many gods were worshipped. There were gods of fertility, rain, fire, and war. You prayed to whichever god could give you what you needed. If you had good rain, then the god of rain was looking favorably on you, and if you had drought, it was an indication that you had displeased the god. Often these gods were evaluated by how well they treated the people who prayed to them.

Very little is known about Abram’s early upbringing, but it is quite clear that Abram lived in a pagan, idol-worshipping society. One of the many rabbinic tales about Abram says that Abram’s father Terah was an idol maker. The tale recounts how Abram became disillusioned with these idols and chose to follow God. However, the Bible tells it a little differently. Clearly, God chose Abram. I am certain from Abram’s subsequent actions that his encounter with God was powerful. Abraham listened to God’s words and followed them obediently. It is no small thing to leave your family, your home, your country, and move across the world. I know! My husband and I did that very thing when we moved to Israel. But, we had the advantage of knowing where we were going. Abram obediently packed up his possessions, his wife, his nephew, and other persons they had accumulated, and started off toward a land that God said He would show him. Abram was a man of faith, who God later called, “My friend.”

“But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand’” (Isaiah 41:8–10). “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God” (James 2:23).

It is not hard for us, as Christians, to accept the idea that God would reach out to a man. After all, He reached out to us. What is perhaps more difficult to understand is why God made Abram move to a distant land.

God Chose the Land of Israel

Why did God choose the Land of Israel, or Canaan as it was called at that time? Why couldn’t Abram have just worshipped God in his homeland? God called Abram and promised to bless the world through him, and in order to do that effectively God had to move Abram to the crossroads of the ancient world. It was God’s intention that the polytheistic world would come to know Him, the Almighty Creator, the only true God. So, He took a man of faith, who was willing to obey, even when he didn’t understand, and He put him right in the middle of the ancient world. The Land of Israel is not very big. It only takes about seven hours to drive from the farthest point in the north to Eilat, the southernmost city on the Red Sea. From east to west, it only takes about two hours at its widest point.

But, this little sliver of land was the land bridge between the continents of the ancient world. In fact, antique maps often show Jerusalem and Israel as the center of the world. There are inhospitable deserts to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. The Via Maris (Way of the Sea) was the main super highway of the ancient world. Armies marched through it on their way to war, and traders with their camel trains passed through on their way to distant marketplaces. In Bible days, the pace was much slower than today with our air-travel lifestyle. So, a journey, which takes us seven hours in our car, took many days on foot or by camel. On their way through the Land, they learned about this people who worshipped one God, they heard about His miraculous ways, and they had the opportunity to be introduced to the one true God. He was revealing Himself and His character to the world.

So, the first reason I think we as Christians should care about Israel, is that God chose this place as the stage on which to reveal Himself to the world. And He chose the Jewish people to be the ones who would tell His story. The Bible was written by Jewish men inspired by the Holy Spirit. Today, thousands of miles (or kilometers) away and thousands of years removed from the events of the Bible, billions of people are impacted spiritually and, in turn, influence their societies and cultures with the values and principles written on those holy pages.

By Rebecca J. Brimmer

International President and CEO

Continuing Next Week with Part 2: "God loves Israel & Our Jewish Savior"

Bibliography

Blackaby, Henry. Experiencing God. Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1989.

Brimmer, Rebecca J. Israel and the Church: God’s Road Map. Jerusalem: Bridges for Peace, 2006.

Falk, Harvey. Jesus, the Pharisee, a New Look at the Jewishness of Jesus. Eugene, OR: Wipf and
Stock Publishers, 2003.

Flusser, David. Jesus. Carlsbad, CA: Magnus Press, 1998.

Friedman, David. They Loved the Torah: What Yeshua’s First Followers Thought about the Torah.
Clarksville, MD: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2001.

Lewis, David. Can Israel Survive in a Hostile World? Green Forest, AR: New Leaf Press,1994.

Twain, Mark. Innocents Abroad. 1869.

Wikopedia, online encyclopedia, www.wikopedia.org

Wilson, Marvin. Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith. Grand Rapids,
MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1989.

All Scripture is taken from the New King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

Pictures:

www.israelimages.com/Naftali Hilger

www.israelimages.com/Garo Nalbandian

Many pastors, Bible teachers, and lay people have written and asked if they can use these notes for preaching and teaching. The answer is a resounding “yes”! It is our hope that the information contained herein will be disseminated over and over again, whether through the spoken word or by photocopying and redistributing these teachings. “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3).

For the full version of this teaching letter please visit www.bridgesforpeace.com or click on the link provided above.