Why Israel? Because the Bible declares Israel’s presence on the world scene is tangible evidence of an intangible God. Although habitual apostasies mark Israel’s history, their heritage has remained intact through four world kingdoms despite attempts by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans, and more recently the European Holocaust to disband or annihilate them. By all accounts, no people on the planet have suffered so much genocide, yet continue with such tenacity to survive. For nearly 2,000 years they were scattered among the nations, and then miraculously called back into existence as a nation in May 1948. All the algorithms in the world couldn’t have predicted this, but God’s prophets did. Isaiah says God alone can predict the future and make it come to pass. (Isaiah 46:9-10)

But why does world history chronicle such hatred toward the Jewish people? Well, someone else was present that day in the Garden of Eden when God spoke to Adam and Eve. “So, the Lord God said to the serpent … from now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He [the Seed of the woman] will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15) The book of Revelation clearly defines who this serpent symbolically represents. “This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world.” (Revelation 12:8-9)

The Bible equates Israel with the woman who will bring forth the promised Messiah Seed. Revelation 12 describes her as “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant, and she cried out in the pain of labor as she awaited her delivery … He [the dragon, or Satan] stood before the woman [Israel] as she was about to give birth to her child [Messiah], ready to devour the baby as soon as it was born. She gave birth to a boy who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” (Revelation 12:1-5) Here we find the outline of a spiritual warfare being played out on earth between the forces of darkness and the promised Seed, the offspring of Israel.

Sad to say, but the Bible predicts that at the end of time the nations of earth will unite to reject the coming Messiah. (Revelation 17:14) Since He is invisible until His appearing, they will first seek once again to rid the earth of His visible people, Israel. But God will intervene and destroy those nations, thereby saving Israel and convincing the world that He alone is God. The nations will have failed to understand one very important Biblical lesson: “As you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you.” (Obadiah 15) Tragically, many will not realize their own eternal destiny is inherent in the salvation of Israel. It’s a dire warning all need to heed: “Yes, you nations [who come against Israel] will drink and stagger and disappear from history, as though you had never even existed.” (Obadiah 16)