Many have requested it, so we’ll do it! Our new Bible study God’s Faithfulness to Israel: A Guarantee of His Faithfulness to Us, is now available in two different formats. The 4-week study will be posted in pdf format here, or you can follow along daily on this blog. The choice is yours
There are 5 lessons each week and the purpose of the study is to prepare our tour group to seek out and discern the many evidences of God’s faithfulness seen in Israel. In doing so, we hope to deepen our own faith as we live out our lives in this messed up world. You can join us in study whether or not you are travelling to Israel with us. Then, once the study is done, keep your eyes here for live updates from Israel!
Here is our Intro, and stay tuned for Week 1, Lesson 1 tomorrow. New lessons will follow for the next 4 weeks. Enjoy!
Introduction
If God is not faithful to Israel, what hope do we have as Christians? Israel is God’s guarantee to those of us who have put our faith in Him, that He will indeed be faithful to us!
The Bible records, and the land of Israel proclaims God’s faithfulness! As we travel there and see the evidence of His faithfulness with our own eyes, my prayer is that, as we realize new depths of His faithfulness, our own faith in Him will grow deeper. For those of you not traveling with us, but following along virtually, I am asking for God’s supernatural favor upon you to be able to see in your mind’s eye what we will see through our physical eyes! (Follow along on Looking4theBlessedHope.com. There will be pictures and updates!)
But why is God’s faithfulness to us, and our faith in return, so important? Because even on the best days, it is only the faithfulness of God that sustains us. Unfortunately, in our earthly existence, “best days” may be far and few between. In fact, the Bible tells us to prepare for chaotic, difficult times in these last days. Our need to be firmly anchored in God’s faithfulness has never been greater, so I believe the Lord has appointed you for this trip (real or virtual) to reveal His faithfulness in incredible ways.
To discover chaos and difficulty brewing today, we simply need to consider Bible prophecy in today’s news. These things are happening before our eyes:
- Cashless system (Revelation 13:16-18) – how often do you use cash? What could possibly go wrong!?!
- Global government (Revelation 13:7) – could the EU and/or the UN be precursors? And they have done a wonderful job so far, right!?!
- Global religion (Revelation 13:12) – do all religions lead to God? Let’s just all hold hands, sing kumbaya and worship the same god…really!?!
- Rise of the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:7-9) – his spirit is already at work.
- Rampant deceit and delusion in the world (Daniel 8:25, 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12)
- Deception through prosperity – paying people to stay home and not work.
- Deception through fear – COVID was made more than it really was.
- Deception through technology – AI technology is becoming prolific and being used for evil purposes, though we’re told it is technological “advancement.”
- Disregard for human life – According to WHO statistics, 73 million babies/year (worldwide) are murdered in the womb.
- Perilous times (2 Timothy 3:1-5) – these things are rampant. Do you encounter them?
(Find out more about Bible Prophecy in Today’s Headlines here.)
Friends, prophetic, deceitful, delusional, and perilous times are upon us. Beyond that, we all live in our own day-to-day difficulties. Financial pressures, marital pressures, parental pressures, mental pressures, emotional pressures, career pressures, relational pressures. They come at us from all sides, and without the faithfulness of God to depend upon, where do we turn?
We must turn to the Faithful One who gave us His Word, and who demonstrated His faithfulness to His chosen people in His chosen land! While in Israel, we will see clear evidence with our own eyes, and will find that He demonstrates His faithfulness to us just as clearly!
Notice how God miraculously ties us to the faithfulness He shows to the Jewish people. Hebrews 11:13-14 describes heroes of the faith as strangers and pilgrims on the earth…seeking a heavenly homeland, and such we are! In Ephesians 2:12-13, 19 the apostle Paul paints a picture even more vivid:
12 …at that time you [Gentiles] were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
Not only were we strangers and pilgrims on the earth, but we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise. Israel was the commonwealth in which God chose to do His work and deliver the covenants of promise. We had no hope! But because God longed to pour out His faithfulness on us, as well as His chosen people, we were brought near by the blood of the Jewish Messiah…Jesus Christ! He adopted us as His chosen!
Most of us are not Jews or Israelites, but it is important to understand that Judaism is the seat and root of our Christian faith, and it is found in Israel! Israel is our spiritual commonwealth! (Perhaps that is what makes Israel feel like home to many who visit!) Consider our heritage, based in Israel:
- God entrusted His Word to the Jewish people. (Romans 3:1-2)
- The patriarchs of our faith were Jewish. (Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Paul, the apostles, etc)
- The prophetic Word of God is undeniably Jewish.
- Though God’s covenants with the Jewish people are forever Jewish, Christians reap the benefits. (Example: The New Covenant is what brought salvation to the world.)
- Israel gave us Jesus, the Messiah! (In case you missed it…Jesus was a Jew!)
God intends Israel to be an object lesson for us! While not perfect, God set Israel apart for a unique purpose: to be the vehicle of world redemption! We are benefactors of that unique purpose.
We continue to live in this fallen world, desiring a “better, heavenly home,” but for now we are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). Our eternal home is in heaven, but we serve in this foreign land at the pleasure of Him who sent us. Just as ambassadors are called home when their mission is complete or danger is imminent, so we will be called home when our work here is done, and before the tribulation befalls the earth!
Do not expect Israel to be that “better, heavenly home,” but expect to see glimpses of God’s faithfulness that will one day usher us into the New Jerusalem, our eternal heavenly home! Even now, He is preparing that celestial city for us. But until then, we gaze upon the earthly city of Jerusalem, a vague shadow of what is to come!
So, we introduce our tour theme: Israel is God’s guarantee of faithfulness to us!
This strange, foreign, chaotic planet we inhabit is filled with evil and is difficult to navigate, but our time here is temporary. The battles we face are spiritual ones, testing our faith through fire and deeply rooting it in the Faithful One. As ambassadors, we serve at the pleasure of the One who stationed us here, and we know He will ultimately save us from this world by calling us home to inhabit the celestial New Jerusalem! Therefore, we rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory!
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:6-9)
As we journey together through the land of Israel, let us fix our eyes on the Jewish Messiah (Jesus), the Faithful One, who actively guides us and directs us through every storm of life. Our journey to Israel is an active lab assignment, designed to explore new depths of His faithfulness. It will equip us to live out our faith more completely as we live out the last days here on planet earth!
Enjoy the journey and our quest for deeper understanding of God’s faithfulness. We will study together through 4 weeks, each having 5 lessons designed to prepare you for what we will see in Israel, and how God’s faithfulness is seen in each of those things. Studies will be released on each of the four Sundays leading up to our departure on February 17, 2023:
- Week 1 (January 15-21): Intro and God’s Faithfulness Revealed in Israel’s Past
- Week 2 (January 22-28): God’s Faithfulness Revealed in Israel’s Present
- Week 3 (January 29-February 4): God’s Faithfulness Revealed in Israel’s Future
- Week 4 (February 5-11): Israel: God’s Guarantee of Faithfulness to Us
Please pray our spiritual eyes and ears are open to see the evidence of God’s faithfulness!
PS: Come back tomorrow for your “daily dose” of God’s faithfulness!
Looking for the Blessed Hope 