Israel is in the news today in lots of different ways, and people have lots of opinions. But I want you to know Israel is a special place. Israel is the “Bible land.”
All the important things of human history that God has planned, both from the past, present, and future, are focused largely within what I call “the Golden Triangle.” It’s about five and a half miles long, a mile wide at the most. That’s why Israel is so unique.
In this triangle, and around that triangle as well, God said that there would be a unique people, the Jewish people, and through them, the Messiah would come. This Messiah would be the descendant of Abraham and also of King David. He would be born in Bethlehem, just five miles from Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is incredibly important. This is the only place on earth where God has chosen to make His name known so that you and I might know Him and have a relationship with Him. In the old days, God chose this place. It is here that Jewish people set up the temple and followed God’s instructions, and here that God met/tabernacled with them. Down the valley, there is Bethlehem, where Jesus was born—the incarnation. Within the golden triangle, everything about Jesus is going to unfold.
There are a lot of people who attack the incarnation. Satan doesn’t want you to believe that there is a second person of the Trinity, Jesus, who left the glory above, coming to earth in the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and then dying 30 years later as a substitute—right there in the golden triangle—on the cross so that you and I might have everlasting life.
When they took Him down from the cross, He promised, like God had promised to the prophets 1000 years earlier, that His body would not undergo decay. They put Him in the tomb, and three days later, the tomb was empty because He had resurrected from the dead.
What makes Jesus different? How do you know that Jesus is the Son of God? The Bible says God declared it! God shouted that Jesus is the Son of God by resurrection power.
You may think, “Well, that’s 2000 years ago. I didn’t even learn American history; why in the world would I worry about ancient history?” Because this ancient history determines where you are today in relationship to God and what your future looks like.
It was here, in that golden triangle, where God made his name known, where Jesus came, where Jesus died, and where Jesus was raised on the third day.
Do you know that right now, Jesus has ascended into heaven? He is seated at the right hand of the Father on high, and He’s saving for Himself a people for His own possession from every tribe, tongue, and nation. See, it doesn’t matter what your skin tone is. It doesn’t matter what your passport is. It doesn’t matter what your language is. The reality is that you and I are descendants, and we have the same problem: sin. Jesus is the only solution, and He comes out of this golden triangle.
When Jesus comes back, where does He show up? In the Golden Triangle, on the Mount of Olives.
When you stand on that Temple Mount, you can look down and see Bethlehem, where He was born. When you look to the north, you see where He was crucified and where the empty tomb is. And when you look across to the east, you see the Mount of Olives, where Jesus is going to come and touch down in the future.
Your past, present, and future, in regard to sin and a relationship with God, all happen in that golden triangle. That’s why the Land of Israel matters, and this is what the Bible describes.
