Have you ever wondered how the simple, but profoundly meaningful, design of Israel’s flag came about? Well, here is what’s behind it.

The white background with two blue stripes represents the tallit (Jewish prayer shawl). According God’s Word, the tassels of the tallit had to be blue and attached to the tallit (Numbers 15:37-40). Biblically speaking, blue represents heaven and holiness, and tassels have a royal connotation. One for Israel says this about tassels: The tassels were God’s way of giving the people of Israel a tangible reminder to keep his commandments, a bit like a piece of string tied round your finger or a knot in your handkerchief.

The simple background of a white flag with blue stripes says a lot about God’s relationship with His people: white represents the purity brought about through sacrifice, and blue represents the heavens. Tassles are a visible reminder of God’s love, and of his calling of Israel to be a kingdom of priests.

Against the blue and white background stands the bold figure of the Star of David. While the menorah is the ancient symbol of Israel (and is seen much in Israeli culture), the 6-pointed star has been used since the 14th century to represent the Jewish people. In 1897, it became the symbol of Zionism (the quest for a Jewish homeland), and since Israel’s rebirth in 1948, it has adorned the flag.

Sadly, the star is not really godly, but it does represent Israel in modern days. When God creates, Satan works hard to distort, twist and counterfeit. But counterfeits don’t replace the real thing, they simply coexist. It was by the hand of God that Israel was reestablished, and that was “the real thing!” The modern state of Israel, though, is subject to the enemy’s ploys and has succumbed to many of his temptations.

But God has always been faithful to His people, regardless of their reciprocal faithfulness. We know that God called Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from a pagan land, and later rescued the tribes of Israel from Egypt. God gave Moses the Torah on Mt Sinai, and He preserved His people throughout history, to this very day!

Now, in our day, God is calling them home and continues offering them salvation through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, one of their own! The two stories exist side-by-side and are represented by the Israeli flag. Good and bad comingle, but God knows which is which, and He will sort it all out in the end.

Astoundingly, Israel’s flag is the perfect representation. The chosenness of the kingdom of priests and the people of Israel, and their permanent, covenantal relationship with their divine God. The symbol also suggesting the enemy’s interference in it all.

Based on God’s faithfulness to His people, we can rest assured of His faithfulness to us as well…even at our worst! Oh what a Savior!