Israel

Why Pray for Israel?

By Jon Taylor

At Waters Edge Elim Church we make an effort to bless, support and devote prayer meetings specifically to the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. The question is why do we place such an emphasis in this particular ministry? Moreover, why should we pray for Israel in a specific rather than a general sense? We need to establish whether the Jewish people are unique in God’s plans and purposes today? Also has the church now replaced Israel because many of their number rejected Jesus the Messiah at His first coming?

To answer the above questions I will turn to scripture to provide clarity.

The Abrahamic Covenant

Firstly God established an everlasting (Gen 17v7, 8, 13, 19) and unconditional covenant with Abram and his people. Gen 12v1-3 reads ‘Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your fathers house To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Also God promised Abram that His descendants would be given land with definite parameters. ‘On the same day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates’ (Gen 15v18)

Since the Abrahamic covenant is everlasting and unconditional and as God is unchanging and is faithful regarding His promises we will be blessed if we choose to bless Israel and likewise we shall be cursed if we decide to curse Israel. In addition we should remember that Israel has been apportioned a specific area of land which I shall mention more of in the next section.

The Land Covenant

Although the Abrahamic and the Land covenant are unconditional there are blessings and curses reliant on obedience and disobedience listed clearly in Deuteronomy 28 verses 1-68. It must be remembered that God is entirely in control of the land situation and doesn’t intervene randomly or sporadically but purposefully. (See Ezekiel 47v13-48v9 for the specifications of the borders and division of the land amongst the tribes of Israel)

Deut 30v1-4 reads “Now it shall come to pass when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you.’(italics added)

Notice the above is exactly what is happening today. Yes the Israelites did exit Egypt and the Jews returned from Babylon but they certainly were not driven amongst all nations. In AD70 Jerusalem was overthrown and the people were scattered across the world until Israel became a nation on May 14th 1948 (See the prophecy in Isa 66v8-9) and Jewish people have returned from over a hundred nations. Furthermore Amos 9v11 confirms that “I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up From the land that I have given them, says the Lord.”

Has the Church replaced Israel ?

The short answer is no! Jeremiah 31:37 reads ‘This is what the Lord says; 'Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundatins of the earth below be searched out will I reject all of the descendants of Israel because of all they have done declares the Lord.'

Also Paul, who was formerly of the straightest sect of the Pharisees and tutored at the feet of Gamaliel writes ‘I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom he foreknew.’ (Rom 11v1-2 italics added)

Lastly Revelation 7 lists the 144,000 sealed of Israel with 12,000 from each tribe respectively. To say this relates not to Israel but instead to the church is distorting the true rendering of scripture and is making an implication based on opinion without any scriptural evidence to justify that viewpoint!

Prayer Points

1. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (see Ps51v18, 122v6)
2. Pray that the Jewish people would recognise Jesus as their Messiah.
3. Pray for, witness and show kindness to the Jewish community in Bournemouth. We should always be ready to provide a defence for anyone asking us the reason for the hope within us. (1 Pet 3v15)
4. Pray for Moti Klimer in his full-time work with Sabra that are committed to the above prayer requests mentioned. In particular, that they may be used by God greatly for his purposes to make the Jews envious of the salvation of the Gentiles.

Contact

If you would like to express your comments or raise questions feel free to e-mail me on jguytaylor@hotmail.com and by God's grace I shall try to provide a helpful, biblically based answer!

Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance.  Registered Charity 251549 (England & Wales) SC037754 (Scotland)