“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen. 12:2-3)

There are some things that happen to us that can be placed under the heading of “coincidence”, like a “chance” meeting of an old friend, or the “luck of the draw” in the office party. Other events occur as “unexplainable twists of fate” yet result in changes for generations to come. Such is the case with the United States support of Israel.

  During World War II, the United States was anxious to maintain good relations with Saudi Arabia, primarily because of the need of their oil to keep our military moving. According to published records, President Roosevelt promised King Saud that the United States would make no policy decisions about the land of Palestine without consulting the Arabs. On April 5, 1945, Roosevelt reiterated that promise in writing. However, one week later, and only three months into his third term as President, Roosevelt died.

  Roosevelt was replaced by Vice President Harry S. Truman who had supported the establishment of a Jewish State, even before WWII. Truman’s resolve was strengthened by the revelation of the Nazi atrocities which became known as the holocaust! Speaking in Chicago in 1944, then Senator Truman said, “Today, not tomorrow, we must do all that is humanly possible to provide a haven for all those who can be grasped from the hands of the Nazi butchers. Free lands must be opened to them!”

  Truman’s zeal for the Jewish State weakened during his years as President, not because of a lack of love for the people, but because of the pressure of his political advisors on one side and the unrealistic demands from the Jewish leaders on the other. Early in 1948, the issue dominated the political agenda. The Jews exclaimed that a Jewish State was vital to their existence as a people, and they expected assistance from the United States to get the United Nations to make it happen.

  After a private meeting with a Jewish Leader on March 13, 1948, President Truman made a commitment: “If a Jewish state were declared and the United Nations stalled in its drive to establish trusteeship, the President of the United States would immediately recognize the new State." On May 14, 1948, at 6:00 pm, David Ben-Gurion stood before the Jewish Assembly and read the proclamation of nationhood, and the state of Israel was created. At 6:11 p.m. the White House released the announcement: "The government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine, and our recognition has been requested by the provisional government thereof. The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the new State of Israel." That statement not only allowed the dreams of Jews around the world to become reality, but it also allowed the age-old predictions of the ancient prophets came to pass – that after being scattered around the world for almost 2000 years, the Jews would be allowed return to THEIR homeland and to rebuild their nation – the “birth pang” that signaled the second coming of Jesus Christ!
  There were those who said President Truman’s support of the formation of a Jewish state was not borne out of his desire to help the Jewish people, but out of his desire to be reelected as President. If that be true, Truman not only went against the opinions of all of his supporters and advisors, but he also went against public opinion. However, in a speech in October 28, 1948, President Truman said, “It is my responsibility to see that our policy in Israel fits in with our policy throughout the world; second, it is my desire to help build in Palestine a strong, prosperous, free and independent democratic state. It must be large enough, free enough, and strong enough to make its people self-supporting and secure!” To everyone’s surprise, Truman came from behind to defeat Dewey to win the presidency for another term. To this day, President Truman is recognized as the man responsible for Israel becoming a nation.

  Again, one can call it coincidence or happenstance or a twist of fate, but neither choice changes the facts. One president publicly vowed to prevent Israel from becoming a nation, and in a few days he died. His successor vowed privately to recognize Israel as an independent nation, and against all odds, is miraculously elected to a second term. But regardless of intent, because of President Truman’s support, an alliance was formed between Israel and the United States that has been maintained for more than 60 years, regardless which political party controls the Congress and/or the White House, and should one desire to graph the progress and growth of the United States, as well as its struggles and declines, there is no doubt that it would parallel the level of our national support for the nation of Israel.
  Many evangelical leaders have seen the correlation between America’s success and our support of Israel. In 1980, Jerry Falwell said of Israel: “I firmly believe God has blessed America because America has blessed the Jew. If this nation wants her fields to remain white with grain, her scientific achievements to remain notable, and her freedom to remain intact, America must continue to stand with Israel.” John Hagee, Pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio said, “The Jewish people gave the world Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets, of whom there were ‘not a Baptist in the bunch!’...The Jewish people do not need Christianity to explain their existence, but Christians cannot explain our existence without Judaism. The roots of Christianity are Jewish.”
  While the amount of our financial support to Israel has always been debated, our unwavering loyalty to our only reliable ally in the Middle East was never questioned, until Presidents, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and now Obama, began pressuring Israel to give up portions of its land in exchange for the “promise” of peace with the Arab people. Last week, following the narrative of previous presidents, President Obama opened the floodgates of destruction upon us as he called upon the nation of Israel to show their willingness to make peace with the Palestinians by giving up the land they acquired in the 1967 war with Egypt and in the 1973 war with Syria. In both wars, Israel was attacked by large forces, and suffered great losses, but they were able to defeat their enemies or force them into a cease fire!
  Since 1967, Israel has already given up much of the land it conquered, showing that it is willing to compromise land for peace. But each time they gave up an inch of land, their enemies wanted more, because it’s not about the land – it is their desire is to destroy Jerusalem and to eradicate the Jews from the earth. Modern-day Israel IS the land God promised Abraham 4000 years ago, and to give away even an inch of it to anyone else is to go against God Himself, and those who do, or even asks Israel to, becomes an enemy of God!

  In his book, “Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel, Bill Koenig identified 49 catastrophic events that happened on the same day, or within 24-48 hours of hours of the U.S. government putting pressure on Israel to give up her land for promises of peace. These catastrophic events include the storm of the century and the floods of 1993, the fires out west, the car bombing of the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993, and the attack upon America in 2001. What do these record-setting events have in common? These 49 events include nine of the ten costliest insurance events in U.S. history, six of the seven costliest hurricanes in U.S. history, three of the four largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history, nine of the top ten natural disasters in U.S. history, the two largest terrorism events in U.S. history- and they all transpired on the very same day or within 24-hours of U.S. presidents Bush, Clinton and Bush applying pressure on Israel to trade her land for promises of peace or making public statements pertaining to Israel’s covenant land and/or calling for a Palestinian state.

  Well, look at what happened in the Midwest this weekend – just about 48 hours from our President’s remarks! The death toll from the massive tornados is 90 and rising. According to the Wall Street Journal, this tornado season is the deadliest since 1953, with 454 people killed in 50 deadly twisters that have hammered the South and Midwest. Again, some would say this is just the result of normal, seasonal weather patterns, and that may be true. But if we believe God is sovereign over all, in all and through all, then that includes the direction and the intention of the storms. The hymn writer, William Cowper agrees! After a serious study of Psalm 147:10-11 he wrote these great words:
      God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, the clouds ye so much dread;

Are big with mercy and shall break, in blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace;

Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

  While he has throttled back a little since last Thursday, and he has tried to explain his position little better, our President put the United States on a collision course with God over Israel’s covenant land. For if the United States government forces Israel to give up any part of the land God gave them, especially if it includes any part of the Old City of Jerusalem, we had better be prepared for another “natural disaster”! We know there will come a time, in the last half of the Great Tribulation, when all nations of the earth will come against Israel. But we also know who is going to win that battle! In Zechariah 12:9, God said, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem!”
  Christians especially should remember, biblically speaking, the Jews are the "chosen people of God" and dearly loved by Him. In Deuteronomy 7:6-8, the Bible says: “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh King of Egypt."

  Christians especially should also remember that our salvation is “through” the Jews! (John 4:22). Everything we know about God, about Christ, about the Holy Spirit, about Salvation, Redemption and Everlasting life has come to us through the Jews; our Bible is a Jewish Book, and our Savior is a Jewish Savior. It is true that modern-day Israel is a very religious but unbelieving people, especially regarding the fact that Jesus Christ was and is the Messiah. But we must also remember where we are on God’s timetable of His-story! Today, there is a remnant of believers in Israel, just as there is a remnant in every other nation, as some people are being saved in response to the preaching of God’s Word.
But soon that “age of grace” will be over, and the true believers in Jesus Christ will be manifest. The rapture will remove the true believers of every tongue, tribe and nation, and the rest will be left behind to endure the Tribulation. All of this is “according to God’s divine purpose and plan!

  In my research for this article, I came across a letter written by John Adams to Francis Adrian Vanderkemp, a Unitarian Minister. The letter is dated February 16, 1809:
   
   I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation.
   If I were an atheist, and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate
   had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations.  
   If I were an atheist of the other sect, who believe or pretend to believe that all is
   ordered by chance, I should believe that chance had ordered the Jews to preserve
   and propagate to all mankind the doctrine of a supreme, intelligent, wise, almighty
   sovereign of the universe, which I believe to be the great essential principle of all
   morality, and consequently of all civilization.

  As God told Abraham, 4000 years ago: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  If you are holding on to John 3:16 as the assurance of your eternal salvation, you had also better be holding on to Genesis 12:2-3 as your “channel of blessing” in this life! – Wayne Edwards – Mature Ministries