I've planned to write an article before on why we should pray for Israel. But now, I have decided to share a short but very comprehensive article about praying for Israel. I would like to quote what Lt. Col. Bentzi Gruber's statement in a documentary about the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). He said, "We are a very unique and democratic country in this area (Israel). We are 5.5 million Jews surrounded by 600 billion Muslims." This is one reason why we should pray for peace in Israel. In this rift between the Muslim-Arab nations and Israel, there are civilians who are also affected, lots of casualties, wounded people, including the helpless children. Anyway, still clueless on why we should pray for Israel. Read the article below.
---
Why should
we pray for Israel? Does the Bible instruct us to? Should we also be
praying for the peace of Jerusalem like the Old Testament prophets
sometimes did? Should a Christian be obligated to pray for Israel? In Psalm 122:6 it says, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure.”
God’s Chosen People?
God calls Israel the “
apple of His eye”
which is a term of endearment (Duet. 32:10, Zech. 2:8). God adds a
blessing to those nations and people who bless Israel and a curse on
those who curse Israel (Gen. 12:2-3). Do these
blessings
and cursings still apply? I do not see why they don’t since God
changes not (Malachi 3:6). God was seen as the husband of Israel (Jer.
3:14). God is evidently still concerned over Israel, saying in 2
Chronicles 6:6, “
Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.” Wherever God places His name is where He still places His love. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, knowing what their fate held, “
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it” (Luke 19:41).
This may be the very reason that God has
prospered the United States. America is one of the few nations that
have chosen to be her ally but that seems to have recently began to
change. When America withdraws her support and defense of Israel, God
could take His hand of blessing off of the U.S. Perhaps He has already
begun to do so since relations with Israel have cooled off lately.
Israel is surrounded by hostile nations
and a religion (Islam) that seeks her destruction. A blessing is
pronounced over those who will pray for and bless Israel (Numb. 24:9).
God will never abandon Israel and in the end, Israel will be saved by
God Almighty (Malachi 3:6, Romans 11:1). Since Paul commands Christians
to pray for governmental authorities and leaders, (
Rom 13:1-7)
why should we not also be praying for peace in the Middle East and in
particular, for Israel? No, Israel is not perfect and she has made many
mistakes, but they are God’s chosen people (Duet. 6:3-4).
Listen to what the prophet’s and Old Testament writers say about Israel:
Isaiah 48:12 “Listen to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last.”
Psalm 105:43 “He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy.”
Isaiah 41:8-9 “But
you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of
Abraham my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its
farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have
chosen you and have not rejected you.”
Deuteronomy 7:8-9 “But
it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your
ancestors 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. 9
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God,
keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love
him and keep his commandments.”
Deuteronomy 14:2 “For
you are an holy people unto the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen
you to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are
upon the earth.”
Why We Should Pray for Israel
There are dozens of Scriptures where God says that we should
pray for the peace of Israel. In Psalm 122:6
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure.”
Not only does this say that we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem,
and by extension, Israel, we read that “those who love you [will] be
secure.” This is a clear signal that God would be pleased that we pray
for Israel’s peace and safety because God is not giving up on Israel
(Rom 10:1).
it says, “
In the New Testament, Paul prayed for Israel’s salvation, saying, “Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved”
(Rom 10:1). If Paul is telling the church that his heart’s desire is
to pray for Israel and that “they may be saved” that should clearly be
our prayer for them also. Believers today are grafted into the natural
olive tree – described as ethnic Israel – for we are “fellow citizens
with God’s people and also members of his household” (Eph. 2:19).
Romans 11:24 is clear about this: “After all, if you were cut out of
an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were
grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these,
the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!”
What about the Lost 10 Tribes of Israel?
Perhaps you have heard about the lost 10
tribes of Israel which were separated from Judah when the Northern
Kingdom was taken into captivity by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17). The
fact is that nothing is lost to God. They are lost to history perhaps,
but to God, never! Revelation 7:4-8 says that these tribes are not lost
if God knows where they are:
“Then I heard the number of those
who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe
of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the
tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of
Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of
Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar
12,000, from the tribe of Zebulon 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph
12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.”
The Remnant of Israel
God has not rejected His people Israel and today we are Jews who are ones inwardly as Paul writes in Romans 2:29 “No,
a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision
of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s
praise is not from men, but from God.” Neither has God rejected His chosen people. Paul testifies to this fact in Romans 11:1-2 “Did
God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a
descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject
his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in
the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel.”
Further, Paul says that “If some of
the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot,
have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing
sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do,
consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted
in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you
stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid” (Rom 11:17-20).
“I do not want you to be ignorant of
this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has
experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles
has come in [or has been saved]. And so all Israel will be saved [true Israelites, whether ethnic or spiritual, e.g. Rom 2:29], as
it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn
godlessness away from Jacob [Israel]. And this is my covenant with them
when I take away their sins” (Rom 11:25-27). This does not mean
that all of Israel will be saved…the entire nation and all Israelites of
all time, but those who come to believe in Jesus Christ. This will
happen someday when Israel finally recognizes Jesus Christ as the
Messiah. The nation will finally accept Him as the Prophesied One.
Today there are Messianic Jews who
already believe that Jesus is the Messiah. The national stock of Israel
will join these Messianic Jews, but not until the “fullness of times”
or when the last person is saved prior to Christ’s return as King of
kings and Lord of lords. That time appears to be fast approaching.
Jerusalem means “king of” (Jeru) “peace” (Salem). Jerusalem is
anything but peaceful right now but the King of Peace is coming. Until
then, believers ought to be praying for the peace of Israel and for the
King of Peace to come soon. Even so Lord, come quickly. That is my
prayer and I hope you will join me in praying for His Kingdom to come
and for the peace of Jerusalem and for Israel.
(
Note: The author of the above article is Jack Wellman. He is a Christian author, freelance writer, and pastor at the Mulvane (KS)
Brethren church in Mulvane, Kansas. Jack has attended Southern
California Seminary. His books are inexpensive paperbacks that are
theological in nature: “Teaching Children The Gospel/How to Raise Godly
Children“, “Do Babies Go To Heaven?/Why Does God Allow Suffering?“, and
“Blind Chance or Intelligent Design?, Empirical Methodologies & the
Bible“. Jack is a father and grandfather who has a BA in history, one
in education, and one in science.)
