How is it that the tiny nation of Israel (not quite the size of New Hampshire) is the ground-zero religious and political firestorm of the world? How does it endure even though it is the only free market, democratic nation in a sea of more than a dozen other nations who by-and-large would like to see it annihilated? What is so important about it that men have battled each other through centuries of dust and blood and whatever else, all over a seemingly insignificant piece of real estate?

The answers to these questions certainly won’t be found in news headlines; they are best learned by reading the true historical record—the Old Testament—from start to finish. Next, one would do well to turn to the New Testament and witness a small band of ordinary men, an apostle who began by persecuting those he later came to join, and an array of others, all of whom under torture leading to death refused to renounce what they believed, which was this: a dead Jewish carpenter walked out of his grave in Jerusalem and changed the world.

For that I am eternally grateful. So you will understand if right on the brink of launching into a full-scale defense of the faith—“the case for Christ,” you might say; or in this instance, “the case for Israel”—I will instead follow the feeling of a spontaneous prayer arising from within. I have learned by now to go where such things lead:

“Thank you God for promising to Abraham a great nation on a preselected stretch of land. Thank you Jesus for walking out of your tomb in the heart of that land, proving you were the long-awaited Messiah; for defeating Satan by becoming a sacrifice—the way to salvation for those who will choose it; for the promise that you are coming back to gather us together—soon, I believe—to consummate the divine plan that has been unfolding before men’s eyes since Adam and Eve walked the Earth. Most especially today, Lord, thank you for your enduring protection of the remarkable Jewish people and the holy nation of Israel. In your precious name, amen.”

I hope this encourages you to pray for Israel today.

Kevin Murray

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