Genesis 12:3 reads as follows:

“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Simply, people and nations are judged on how they treat God’s chosen people.  There may be other factors in God’s judgment of a people or a nation such as violence before the flood but the treatment of his people Israel is certainly something that God does not take lightly.  Read the following words from Deuteronomy 32 -

“For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

So the Lord alone did lead him…”

And similar words are mentioned in Zachariah 2:8 but with a little more caution for anyone who thinks to harm his people, it is written “for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.”  Simple equasion, you touch Israel, you poke the almighty God in the eye.  Pharaoh in the Old Testament found this out as did many other nations of old some of which would be permanently destroyed for their treatment of Gods people, like Tyre and Zidon for example (Ezekiel 26 & Joel 3). 

And what about in these last days?  God has clearly fulfilled his promise in bringing his people back to their land.  The question is, is there any indication of God’s thoughts about Israel’s treatment today?  Joel 3 is clearly speaking of today in the following words from verse 1 & 2:

“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.”

The New King James Version puts it this way, “And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel”

If that was not enough, these words are from Ezekiel 36:1-10

“Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord:

Thus saith the Lord God; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:

Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:

Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;

Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.

Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen: (“suffered the reproach of the nations” – RSV)

Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame. (“shall themselves suffer reproach.” – RSV)

But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.

For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:

And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:”

So what are the nations around doing today?  Well that depends on the nation, but almost across the board they push Israel to give up territory to the boarders of 1967.  Further to that many including the UN today are pushing for Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza.  And have you heard of anything more ridiculous?  First off, Hamas is a recognized terror group, why is anyone pushing Israel to give into their demands? Even with the blockade Hamas managed to smuggle in rockets to target the whole of Israel’s population.  I’ve got an idea…. Lets lift the blockade and see what gets brought in.  Even the fact that Israel is pushed into a cease fire is crazy.  No other nation would put up with what Israel does, since Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip over 11,000 rockets have been launched at her.  There is no such thing as land for peace with the so called “Palestinians.”  In fact in 2000 Israel offered 97% of the West Bank and 100% of the Gaza strip to Yasser Arafat, and for the 3% of the West Bank Israel would keep they would enlarge the Gaza Strip and join the two with a highway.  Israel was turned down because it is not peace that the “Palestinian” leadership wants, it’s the annihilation of Israel.

Now on this point of giving up land, it must be said that any land that Israel has gained since 1948 was won in defensive war.  This is very important because territory won defensively is much different than territory won offensively (not that it really matters because I believe that God has given them back their historic homeland and what the world says is tough.)   That said this does show the hypocrisy of the nations. 

All Israel has ever wanted is peace, that is the truth.  Unfortunately Israel still finds herself surrounded by those that want her destruction, inside and outside her borders.  As a Haretz article headline read “Hamas: Heavy on the fire, light on the cease.”  I think the words of Psalm 120 are very fitting – “My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.  I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.”  I don’t know if there is a better verse to describe the situation Israel finds herself in.

The Prime minister of Canada is unique in this and his governments support of Israel.  Concerning the current conflict in Gaza he released the following statement:

“The indiscriminate rocket attacks from Gaza on Israel are terrorist acts, for which there is no justification. It is evident that Hamas is deliberately using human shields to further terror in the region.

“Failure by the international community to condemn these reprehensible actions would encourage these terrorists to continue their appalling actions. Canada calls on its allies and partners to recognize that these terrorist acts are unacceptable and that solidarity with Israel is the best way of stopping the conflict.

“Canada is unequivocally behind Israel. We support its right to defend itself, by itself, against these terror attacks, and urge Hamas to immediately cease their indiscriminate attacks on innocent Israeli civilians.

“Canada reiterates its call for the Palestinian government to disarm Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups operating in Gaza, including the Iranian proxy, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”

What we said at the beginning of this program was that simply, people and nations are judged on how they treat God’s chosen people.  What brought this question to a head is unlike the position of Canada most nations are criticizing Israel, and in some cases outright supporting Hamas.  These nations include Britain and even the US under Obama’s lead.  A very interesting opinion piece was written in the English paper the Daily Express by Leo McKinstry titled “We will pay a terrible price for supporting Hamas.”  The following is from that article:

“…all this populist anti-Israeli posturing is dangerous. It shows not the slightest grasp of the reality of Islamist aggression in the Middle East and the depth of the challenge that Israel faces.

In practice denouncing the Jewish state means siding with the malevolent, murderous forces of jihadism, a stance that not only represents a complete inversion of morality but a ­suicidal disdain for the interests of western civilisation.

With their habitual self- righteousness Miliband and Ashdown claim that Israel is losing the propaganda war.

“Israel has lost the support and sympathy of the world,” said Ashdown yesterday, speaking in his self-appointed role as spokesman for the planet’s citizenry.

However, Israel is fighting a real war, not a propaganda war.

It is up against a fanatical enemy – the Hamas ­terror network, dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state.

The idea, sedulously cultivated by western appeasers of radical Islam, that the Palestinian movement is innocent is absurd.

The present conflict was started by Hamas firing rockets at Israeli civilians and since the beginning of July more than 2,800 of these ­missiles have been launched.

Britain would not tolerate an ­aerial assault without striking back so why should Israel?

The fact that Hamas’s rockets have inflicted only a few casualties is a reflection of their poor technology, not of their users’ lethal intent.

Moreover Hamas has constructed a series of tunnels into Israel with the aim of inflicting more deadly attacks. Israel, like any other nation, has a duty to defend itself by destroying this terrorist infrastructure.

In this context the parrot cry for negotiations is fatuous. Hamas, an offshoot of the infamous Muslim Brotherhood, is not interested in a peace settlement, only in the annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people. Its founding charter, drawn up in 1988, proclaims that “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.”

Last week an Imam in a Palestinian mosque declared: “Our doctrine in fighting you, the Jews, is that we will totally exterminate you. We will not leave a single one of you alive.”

So on what aspect of anti-Semitic genocide is Israel ­supposed to negotiate with Hamas?

Instead of traducing Israel western politicians and the media should face up to the terrifying global threat of fundamentalist Islam, of which Hamas is a key part.

…

Rather than ­carping from the sidelines ­western politicians should ­support that goal. Israel is a bulwark of ­civilisation against Islamism. Ultimately we will pay a terrible price if we betray this heroic nation.”

The Italian Foreign Affairs Commission President Fabrizio Cicchitto led a delegation to the Knesset and said he was “trying to convince the US and European community that we may be exposed to the threat of terror just like Israel.”  This is something that nations should be considering in voicing against Israel, terrorists will not stop at Israel.  In fact as the United States has started bombing the terrorists in Iraq some are starting to worry if they will be able to strike back.  Time ran an article on August 10^th entitled “Experts Warn of Terrorism Blowback From Iraq Air Strikes.”

In his book entitled The Islamic Tsunami David Rubin makes the following comment:

“The return to the Land of Israel is an ongoing process that is central in the redemption of the entire world.  Even if all Islamic terrorists united, they would be unable to stop this process.  They may cause death and wounds and great destruction, but in the end they will fail.  As I see it, the bigger question is where the rest of the free world will stand in this process – it, too, is threatened by the monster of Islamic terrorism.  Will the world stand strong with Israel in its noble battle and stop the Koranic terrorists from taking over the free world?”

As we said at the beginning Israel’s future is bright, very bright.  Nations that are hypocritically turning on the Jews however may find a rough road ahead. 

Zachariah 8:23 - “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.”

Thanks for tuning into the Bible in the News.  May this next week herald the return of the Lord Jesus Christ - if not, come back again for another edition next week!