Israel: God's Chosen People...still? (Pt. 1 Of 2) Series

The Nazis established Auschwitz in 1940 in the Polish suburbs, building a complex of camps that became central to Hitler’s pursuit of a “Final Solution to the Jewish question.” Nazis would end up murdering over 6 million Jews throughout the holocaust.

As prisoners arrived, young children, elderly, and adults were separated and immediately executed. Daily mass executions, starvation, disease, and torture transformed Auschwitz into one of the most lethal and terrifying concentration camps and extermination centers of World War II.

All Jews were tortured, regardless of their age or gender.

In January 1945, Soviet soldiers liberated the camp to find unspeakable horrors as the result of the Nazis.

Estimates suggest that Nazis murdered 85 percent of the people sent to Auschwitz.

The Holocaust will forever be burned into history as one of the most disgusting displays of antisemitism this world has ever seen. At the time, historians and perhaps even the elderly still today, remember and recall the prophetic promises that God gave in the Bible that he would forever watch over his people, Israel.

Passages like Zechariah 2:8, Deuteronomy 32:11-12, Deuteronomy 33:29, or Psalm 121:4-7.

On October 7th, 2023, the Palestinian terror group, Hamas, opened a gruesome and brutal attack upon Israel.

We are over a month into this attack and innocent people, from both nations, are still dying.

This has led to many asking the question, will God still preserve His people, Israel?

Here’s what I hope to cover today….

When was the nation of Israel established?

Was Israel still God’s chosen people through disobedience?

Is modern-day Israel and modern-day Jews still God’s chosen people?

What are some lies people believe about Israel today?

What is the Christian’s responsibility towards the conflict in Israel?

So, when was the nation of Israel established?

Before we can learn about when Israel was established, I think it’s important to learn a little bit of an overview on why Israel was such a critical part of the Messiah.

In the garden of Eden, when mankind chose to disobey God and bring sin into the world, the relationship between God and man was changed. No longer will man walk with God in the cool of the garden. No longer will man stand before God as a perfect being. That changed. In Genesis 3:15, we read what scholars call the protoevangelium.

A fancy word that means “the first gospel proclamation.” “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” This proclamation was that, yes, Satan would deal a devastating blow to mankind. But ultimately, through the fulfillment of the Messiah, God would be victorious. Meaning, mankind will be victorious if they choose to obey God.

Obedience to God for us today began with Abraham.

Abraham was the first of the Hebrew patriarchs. He’s a figure revered by all three monotheistic religions – Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Abram was called upon by God to leave his homeland of Ur, which was in Mesopotamia, for the purpose of being the father of many nations.

Genesis 12:1-4 says this…

“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.” So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” Abraham obeyed, unquestioningly, the commands of God. By doing so, he received a promise and a covenant that his seed, the seed of Abraham, would inherit the land of Canaan.

Hebrews 11:8-10 says this… “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Skipping down to Hebrews 11:13 says… “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

Abraham would not ever possess this land of Canaan that God promised to him. But it was counted to him as faith because he knew that God would deliver on His promise to his seed. And He certainly did. Israel would possess this land of Canaan by Joshua’s leadership.