Modern Israel will soon celebrate its 75th anniversary. Those 75 years have been full of difficulties and tragedies. But they have also been a time of astounding miracles. The Six Day War in 1967 provides a spectacular picture of God working in modern times. There are hundreds of stories of God doing the kind of miracles in that war that He did in the days of Abraham, Moses, and David. But we should not find that surprising because the miraculous permeates the entire history of modern Israel.
Last week in this space, I talked about the world’s response to this miracle. The United Nations has officially dubbed it a “catastrophe.” On November 30th of last year, the UN passed a resolution to commemorate “Nakba Day” (“the day of catastrophe”). That commemoration will come in part at “a high-level event” to be held in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations building in New York City.
The Nakba specifically refers to Palestinians who became refugees during the Arab war on Israel in 1948. But the new Israeli government did not push them out. Arab nations ordered them to leave. UN resolutions in 1947 laid out a plan for two states — a Jewish one and an Arab one. Israel accepted this arrangement, but the Arab nations rejected it. They chose to defy the United Nations and go to war with Israel instead.
Bear in mind the Arab nations expelled more Jews during that time (over 810,000) than the number of Palestinians who left Israeli lands (710,000). Heeding the false promises made by invading Arab armies, Palestinians chose to leave Israel. But Jews were forced to leave Arab nations.
The obvious injustice toward Israel in all of this staggers the mind. Why? What mysterious force pushes men toward the unreasoning hatred of Jews that has characterized so much of the world for so many centuries?
Psalm 2:1 asks, “Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?”
Is this rage about Jews, or is it about something deeper? The next two verses of the 2nd Psalm give the answer. “The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed.”
This Psalm depicts the world’s leaders taking counsel together against God. When it says, “and against His Anointed,” it has an immediate meaning and a long-term meaning. In the first instance, it was a reference to the king of Israel at that time, probably David. But “anointed one” literally means “Messiah.” Long term, this means Jesus. Their rage against Israel, Jews, and Judaism is really a rage against God the Father and God the Son.
In world history, God has worked through the nation of Israel in special ways. Through Israel’s prophets, God spoke to the world. And when the time was right, it was through Israel that God sent His only begotten Son into the world. In both of these ways, God chose Israel as a gateway for Himself into our world. He could have done it any way He wanted, but He chose to do it like this. He chose Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants.
Even though they, too, have repeatedly rebelled against God, they still hold their special place in God’s plan for planet earth. They have paid and continue to pay a tremendous price for their rebellion, but their place in God’s plan will never change. So, Satan repeatedly stirs up the kingdoms of the world against them.
The Bible Exposition Commentary by Warren W. Wiersbe puts it well. “From the tower of Babel to the crucifixion of Christ to the battle of Armageddon, the Bible records humanity’s foolish and futile rebellions against the will of the Creator.” Today, that rebellion often manifests itself in blind hatred of Israel.
