WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.640
Why should Christians support the nation of Israel?

2
00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:17.680
It is a legitimate question, and I think it's one that I want to talk a little bit about

3
00:00:17.680 --> 00:00:18.680
today.

4
00:00:18.680 --> 00:00:23.080
Hi, my name is Leigh Ann Friesman, and this is Restoring Word.

5
00:00:23.080 --> 00:00:30.920
I've had the opportunity to teach Bible for almost 30 years, and over and over again,

6
00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:33.280
that question comes up.

7
00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:40.640
Well, first and foremost, in the book of Zechariah chapter 2, the Bible tells us that Israel

8
00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:49.760
is the apple of God's eye, that he is continuously watching over his most holy place, the land

9
00:00:49.760 --> 00:00:51.920
of Israel.

10
00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:58.360
And another thing that really, really carries a lot of weight with me is, over the years

11
00:00:58.360 --> 00:01:03.160
when I've studied the Bible and I've looked at Bible prophecy, it said that in the last

12
00:01:03.160 --> 00:01:08.440
days God was going to bring his people back into the land, and that the land would be

13
00:01:08.440 --> 00:01:15.500
restored, and cities would not have walls, and he would bring them back.

14
00:01:15.500 --> 00:01:19.800
This is, I believe, from the book of Hosea, on silver eagle's wings.

15
00:01:19.800 --> 00:01:29.360
Do you know that when Israel was reestablished as a nation in 1948 by the UN, that it was

16
00:01:29.360 --> 00:01:32.760
a fulfillment of Bible prophecy?

17
00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:39.040
You see, God looks at things differently than we do.

18
00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:44.920
Everything is based on his timeline and when he is going to be doing things in the earth.

19
00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:52.920
And right now, we are living in one of the most exciting times imaginable.

20
00:01:52.920 --> 00:02:00.120
When Israel was reestablished as a nation in 1948, it drew the attention of Bible scholars

21
00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:02.160
worldwide.

22
00:02:02.160 --> 00:02:12.160
After that, Jerusalem came back into the hands of the Jews in 1967, after the 1967 war.

23
00:02:12.160 --> 00:02:16.720
Another amazing fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

24
00:02:16.720 --> 00:02:24.000
Later on, we see how certain types of watering system and irrigation allowed the land to

25
00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:26.560
flourish and bloom.

26
00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:34.720
People came from literally all over the world to find a safe, democratic place in which

27
00:02:34.720 --> 00:02:36.700
they could live in peace.

28
00:02:36.700 --> 00:02:41.600
And that's really the desire of the Jewish people.

29
00:02:41.600 --> 00:02:49.600
You know, after the Holocaust in 1947, the Holocaust survivors came on ships and came

30
00:02:49.600 --> 00:02:57.600
and built a place where they could live in peace, the original holy land.

31
00:02:57.600 --> 00:03:02.480
Well, how does that pertain to the Palestinians or the Arabs?

32
00:03:02.480 --> 00:03:09.280
I love the Palestinians and I love the Arabs and I pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

33
00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:12.400
But it really goes back to the book of Genesis.

34
00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:20.240
Do you believe that the Bible belongs to the ancestors of Isaac or to Ishmael?

35
00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:26.920
Well, I believe because I am a Christian and a believer that the blessings of God come

36
00:03:26.920 --> 00:03:30.840
down on the ancestors of Isaac.

37
00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:35.160
And through Isaac, we come through the 12 tribes of Israel and out of one of those tribes

38
00:03:35.160 --> 00:03:44.760
was Judah and out of Judah came King David and out of King David came Jesus, our Messiah.

39
00:03:44.760 --> 00:03:51.200
I love to study how Jesus fulfilled all of the feasts in the Old Testament.

40
00:03:51.200 --> 00:03:53.880
In fact, I'll be honest with you.

41
00:03:53.880 --> 00:04:00.640
There was a lot of things I kind of intellectually questioned and I questioned things I think

42
00:04:00.720 --> 00:04:06.400
by nature, I really want to see how all of those things line up.

43
00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:12.520
And after I finished Kevin Conner's book, The Feasts of the Lord, I knew that Jesus

44
00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:18.399
was the son of God, that he was the Messiah, that he fulfilled all of these Old Testament

45
00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:26.560
prophecies and that the land in which all of that happened was holy, that the people

46
00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:31.680
through which all of those promises came to pass were a holy people.

47
00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:33.760
God isn't finished with the Jewish people.

48
00:04:33.760 --> 00:04:36.480
He's not finished with the land of Israel.

49
00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:43.680
In fact, this really is one of the most exciting times to be alive.

50
00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:50.640
This Bible comes alive when you begin to look at the news and how he is moving today.

51
00:04:50.640 --> 00:04:57.000
Now, does that mean that I agree with every single decision that the Israeli government

52
00:04:57.000 --> 00:04:58.000
makes?

53
00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:00.040
No, but I don't agree.

54
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:05.840
with every decision that the United States government makes either. That's the beauty of

55
00:05:05.840 --> 00:05:14.160
Israel. It is a democracy. And as an American, I believe in freedom of speech. I believe in

56
00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:23.440
freedom of religion. I believe that my rights are given to me by God. And so as a democracy,

57
00:05:23.440 --> 00:05:31.200
I want to support those democracies, especially one of the most important democracies and allies

58
00:05:31.200 --> 00:05:41.200
that America has. Go through and begin to study those prophecies. See how God said things were

59
00:05:41.200 --> 00:05:49.120
going to happen in his word and how they have. Study how there are signs in the land that point

60
00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:57.600
to the importance and the significance of Israel and how now all of those signs are coming to pass.

61
00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:06.480
I support Israel because I support God's plan and I love the Jewish people and I believe God

62
00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:14.560
has a significant plan for the Jewish people in this day and hour. We're going to be doing a

63
00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:20.240
virtual tour to Israel and I hope you will join. Please like and subscribe to my channel,

64
00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:26.560
Restoring Word, and stay in tune for future updates. I'm going to be posting more information

65
00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:34.640
about our virtual tour and our tour and I enjoy sharing information with you and for you weekly.

66
00:06:35.520 --> 00:06:41.440
Thank you for listening and have a great day.

67
00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:45.060
you