THE NATIONS IN UPROAR (GENESIS 15:1-21)
There is a story a number of years ago when John Kennedy was president of the United States, and Nikita Khrushchev was Premier of the Soviet Union, and Golda Meier was Premier of Israel. The three of them got together for a peace conference and decided to pray about the concerns on their heart.
John Kennedy asked God: “Will there be peace in America between the blacks and the whites?” God said, “Not in your lifetime, not in your lifetime.”
Nikita Khrushchev asked God: “Would there ever be peace between the United States and Russia?” God said: “Not in your lifetime, not in your lifetime.”
Golda Meier asked God: “Will there be peace between the Arab and the Jews?” God said, “Not in my lifetime, not in my lifetime.” (Eldon Reich, Sermoncentral.com)
A lot has changed since 9/11. Some say the last days are here, others suggest that the world is at the brink of war, and still some others deduce that God is judging America for her economic system, moral bankruptcy, spiritual decline, violence on fellow Americans and arrogance in the world.
The reason for 9/11 right from the horse’s mouth or Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian-born doctor of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network, was stated as such: “America is the head of criminals by creating this Israel, this continuous crime for 50 years. The Muslim nation shall not accept this crime.” (New York Times, “Bin Laden Taunts U.S. and Praises Hijackers” 10/8/01).
In fact, Iran’s President Ahmadinejad unapologetically called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/27/wiran27.xml
To understand current events and things to come, one has no need to look anywhere but to the past, specifically at God’s promise to Abram in Genesis 15. Genesis 15 is pivotal to the understanding of the nature, scope and gravity of God’s promise to Abraham and, specifically, his descendants, the Jewish people and nation. When Abram and Sarai were old, childless and past the age of childbearing, God appeared to him again with the promise of a son, an heir and countless generations of children.
What are the terms of God’s promise to Abraham? Why is He faithful and just even when His chosen people are fickle, fearful and faithless?
God’s Promise to Abraham is Professed
15:1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” 2 But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Gen 15:1-6)
When my wife’s nephew Joshua was ten years old, he wrote, signed and dated this declaration to his mother: “I promise that I only play 25 minutes, the rest of the 5 minutes are use for turning off the computer or finishing the game. Also, when I promised that if I finish playing or doing things that I enjoy, I have to do my duty such as home work, house work, etc. I have to keep my promises. Promises are to be kept in order for my parents to trust me.” To hold him responsible, Joshua’s mother cosigned her name a line below his, and the statement was taped to the computer desk as a reminder.
Unfortunately, the promise did not work, so the youngster signed another one the following year, sticking the note to the refrigerator which says: “NO (double underline) T.V. or computer game till ALL (underline) homework and piano practice are done.” On the bottom of the new statement were these words: “Things need to do everyday (responsibilities): piano, homework, Chinese 15 minutes (optional - if there is time).”
Although Joshua forgot the second one in a hurry, his father added that all was not lost. He explained, “He got the principle of it.”
Man’s promises are corny, flaky and shaky, but God’s promises are true and trustworthy. Man may lie to you - not God. He is not a man that he should lie (Num 23:19). Hebrews 6:18 says it is impossible for God to lie. Abram was ready for his servant Eliezer (v 2) to be his heir and to benefit from his vast fortune, but God told Abram that a son coming from his body or belly will be the heir. Eliezer’s ineligibility, exclusion and disqualification couldn’t be any clearer.
Abram, who had never had an actual two-way conversation with God up to this point, asked God for clarification (v 4). When God promised him that innumerable descendants would come from his aged, going downhill, past the prime body, Abram, remarkably, believed. The first occurrence of the words “believe” and “righteous” in the Bible is forever associated fittingly with Abraham, who is the very picture and embodiment of belief and righteousness. God’s promise to Israel was secure because of Abraham’s belief, not Israel’s behavior, and his righteousness, not Israel’s results.
Hebrews 11:11 says, “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age - and Sarah herself was barren - was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.” Abraham believed that Gods’ promise to him was firm, rock-solid and good as gold. Romans 4 records that against all hope, Abraham in hope believed (Rom 4:18), without weakening in his faith (Rom 4:19) or wavering through unbelief regarding the promise of God (Rom 4:20) and was fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised (Rom 4:21).
Abraham had his weak, fearful and tasteless side and moments, as demonstrated by his lie to Abimelech (Gen 20:11), but he considered God faithful (Heb 11:11) and the promise secure because God swore by His own name (Heb 6:13-14).
God’s Protection of Israel is Proven
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
(Gen 15:12-16)
As Abram fell into a deep sleep, God further added that the Israelites would experience discrimination, slavery and oppression for four hundred years in Egypt, the kind that even in deep sleep, Abram could feel its force, terror and misery. Yet, no length of persecution, amount of damage or severity of pain can remove God’s promise.
The covenant God made with Abram is a binding, an unconditional and everlasting covenant. History attests to the fact that the Jews, God’s chosen people, have overcome captivity, exile and tragedy no matter where they go, who they face and how they were treated, whether in Egypt, Assyria or Babylon. The survival of the Jews and the Jewish nation is one of the strongest arguments for the existence of God and the inspiration of the Bible. Thomas Newton’s assessment was right on target: “The preservation of the Jews is really one of the most signal and illustrious acts of divine Providence.” The critics that laughed, scoffed, and discredited the Bible for prophesying Israel’s restoration before the present Jewish state existed were effectively silenced with the emergence of present-day Israel.
There are three unkind ways to suffer: suffering without reason, suffering without end and suffering without support.
Time and again, the Jewish people were scattered all around the world, only to return to their beloved land. They had suffered through three prolonged periods in history – 400 years in Egypt, 70 years in Babylon and the longest period of more than 1,850 years, which is from the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. until restoration of the present Jewish state in 1948.
Prior to the emergence of the modern Jewish state, the Jews were just a minority in a sea of Arabs who had guaranteed rights. At the sixth Jewish Zionist Congress in 1903, Uganda was even considered as an option for a Jewish homeland. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/timeline/text/index.html
The Jews had their first break in the First World War when Turkey, allies of Germany and Austria, lost the First World War and surrendered the land to the British. As a gesture to the Jews who fought alongside them, the British promised in the 1917 Balfour Declaration to help create a national home for the Jews in Palestine. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/timeline/text/index.html
Two dates forever marked Israel’s sovereignty and supremacy. The first was May 14, 1948, the day the British withdrew from Palestine. The United Nations, the Soviet Union and the United States included, had passed a resolution to recognize Israel’s right to exist out of emotional, moral and political reasons. During the Second World War, 6 million of an estimated 7.5 million Jews in Europe were shot, gassed or killed in the cruelest way imaginable. Another figure puts it close to one-third of the world’s Jews. The plan called for Palestine to be divided into roughly equal halves, with Jerusalem and religiously significant surrounding sites under the control of a separate international authority. The Jews accepted the plan, but the Palestinian Arabs rejected it. The British, for its best interest, gave up power after twenty-five years of colonial rule because Egypt from the south, Jordan from the east, Syria and Lebanon from the north and their Muslim ally Iraq were set to unleash their anger upon the newly-established Jewish state. However, the new Jewish state of 650,000 people soundly defeated the five Arabic nations of 40 million people and wrested control of about 70 percent of what had been Mandatory Palestine.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/timeline/text/time3.html
The next date is the Six Day War in June 1967. The Egyptian-led forces that battled Israel had a frightening line-up: Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, and Jordan. They call it the David and Goliath battle. On June 5, 1967, Israel launched a surprise attack on Egypt. Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria, Sinai and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, and East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan – four times the land Israel had previously - before a cease-fire was agreed upon.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/timeline/text/time4.html
Attempts to exterminate Gods’ chosen people will often come but it will always fail and never succeed. The unconditional and unyielding love of God is the key to understand Israel’s comeback, resilience and destiny. In fact, even three strongest tests will not change God’s love: the might of Egypt (v 13), the passing of time and the death of Abraham, God’s beloved friend. Further opposition, determination and cooperation of Israel’s enemies would not separate the Lord from the apple of His eye (Deut 32:10).
Israel will experience sorrow and suffering, but she will receive strength and sustenance and will overcome persecution and danger. Although Israel’s odd behavior, aggressive tactics and independent ways sometimes vexed, tested, embarrassed, frustrated and even alienated her staunchest supporters, God’s promise is irremovable by force because of Abram’s faith. Paul asked in Romans 11:1, “Did God reject his people? By no means!” The Gentiles are engrafted branches and not replacement branches (Rom 11:17-19).
God will punish Israel for her unbelief, but He will never reject or abandon her. Rejecting or casting away Israel is not in God’s dictionary, according to Paul in Romans 1:1-2. For the sake of his great name (1 Sam 12:22), the LORD will not reject his people or forsake his inheritance (Ps 94:14), even though Israel had a history of rejecting Him (Jer 15:6).
God’s Provision of Land is Permanent
18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-- 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.” (Gen 15:18-21)
In the Fiddler on the Roof a young Jew pleaded for an answer from his rabbi just as the Jewish people in the little Russian village of Anatevka were being chased out of their small community on the eve of the anti-Tsar Communist Revolution in 1905. He asked, “Rabbi, we’ve been waiting for the Messiah all our lives. Wouldn’t this be a good time for him to come?” The rabbi answered, “Certainly, my son, but we’ll have to wait for him someplace else. Meanwhile, let’s start packing.”
God’s promise of land and its boundaries in the covenant made with Abram are stipulated in verses 18-21. Until today, Israel does not have control of the lands once captured at the height of King David’s reign. This could only mean that more Arab-Israeli disputes are on the way and the United Nations will be caught in the middle; however, the United States’ support for Israel will not change because of Jewish ties to Israel, the Evangelicals’ support at home and American interest in the Middle East. We can all expect to see more Palestinian uprisings and unrest, Jewish restrictions and retaliation, international intervention and investigation in the future until Jesus the Messiah returns.
Even though God is faithful to His promise to Israel, He has not forsaken the nations. God has an inheritance for Israel and her neighbors. Jeremiah 12:14-16 says, “This is what the LORD says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country. And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’--even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal--then they will be established among my people.”
Isaiah says, “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” (Isa 19:23-25)
Though the Palestine and Israel conflict is unresolved, Israel has made some progress with her neighbors. The America-sponsored Camp David peace accord between Israel and Egypt was a step in the right direction. In 1979, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed the accord despite accusations of betrayal from other Arab countries. Egypt and Israel agreed upon mutual recognition and permanent peace, with Israel returning the Sinai in 1982 and Egypt receiving substantial U.S. aid. http://www.time.com/time/europe/timetrails/israel/is790409.html
In 1994, after 46 years in an official state of war, Jordan and Israel announced formal agreement on a peace treaty, the first such pact between Israel and an Arab nation since the treaty with Egypt in 1979. http://www.time.com/time/europe/timetrails/israel/is941031.html
At the beginning of the new millennium, the Palestinians and the Israelis had an opportunity for peace but could not seal an agreement to end 52 years of conflict. Sovereignty over Jerusalem and its holy sites remained irresolvable. http://www.time.com/time/europe/timetrails/israel/is000807.html
Conclusion: God’s plan for Israel is to be a light to the world (Isa 42:6) and a blessing on earth (Isa 19:24) and that all peoples on earth will be blessed through her. (Gen 12:3) Hatred, violence and death consume evildoers and their countries. Are you an ambassador of Christ (2 Cor 5:19-20) and a light to the world? As Christians, have you prayed for Israel’s peace (Ps 122:6), her harmony with her neighbors (Gen 20:17) and her contribution to the world (Is 42:6)? Have you prayed for war victims and their families, the nations and her leaders, peace on earth and God’s kingdom coming?
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
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