A Cup of Trembling

Genesis 12:1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Given the nature of the founding of the nation of Israel, it is no wonder the prime focus of the entire world has been and remains upon this tiny little land approximately the size of New Jersey. No (yet discovered) oil, no vast wealth or resources, no great population, no present threat to their neighbors – and yet…here we constantly watch little Israel, founded by God, (and now re-founded by God.)

Israel remains a petulant thorn in the side of those who are ignorant (blatantly unobservant) of God’s role in history. It is thought rational in the world these days to discount God’s wishes and to deny the existence of Satan, but that does not make it true, (any more than disbelieving gravity will help you when you jump out of a tenth-story window.)

Here’s the truth: You cannot change God one iota by what you think of Him. He is, in fact, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

And God has certainly said that all those who bless Israel will be blessed, and all those who curse Israel will be cursed. It really doesn’t matter how men strive to achieve a political end with a “two-state” solution, attempting to coerce Israel into a division of their rapidly-dwindling land in order to appease an enemy, (Satan, really,) who will never be appeased. God has profoundly warned any one who would seek to divide God’s Land. (The Land of Israel is God’s Land.)

Joel 3:1 "For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land.

And so, here we are, (the U.S.,) Israel’s sole remaining ally in the world today, and we are placing ourselves in judgment. How will we respond? Will we be led by God’s Word - or will we seek to find our own way? God’s way brings a blessing. Our own way promises to bring a curse. Has not God said it?

Isaiah 51:21 Therefore please hear this, you afflicted, And drunk but not with wine. 22 Thus says your Lord, The Lord and your God, Who pleads the cause of His people: "See, I have taken out of your hand The cup of trembling, The dregs of the cup of My fury; You shall no longer drink it. 23 But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, Who have said to you, 'Lie down, that we may walk over you.' And you have laid your body like the ground, And as the street, for those who walk over." 

-  Pastor Bill