by Bill Nugent
Article #24
Another amazing phenomenon that confirms the divine inspiration of the Bible is the survival of the Jewish people through centuries of persecution. The Jews are God’s chosen people and their survival as a distinct ethnic group that continues to hold to a form of biblical faith is nothing short of miraculous. One social scientist has said that the Jews have defied every rule of assimilation. If the Jews were just another ethnic/religious group they would have been assimilated centuries ago.
It is like God took a test tube and dipped it into the sea of humanity and collected a small group of people that would be His chosen people. God did experiments, so to speak, on this test tube full of chosen people. God developed a special love relationship with the Jews. It was through the Jewish people that the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, would come to redeem humanity.
God did not ignore the rest of humanity in the centuries before the coming of Jesus of Nazareth. It is true that the Jews were on center stage but God had provided a sacrificial system for the Gentiles under the covenant of Noah described in the ninth chapter of Genesis. The Jews had the covenants of Abraham and Moses. The Gentiles had the covenant of Noah. Both Jews and Gentiles had been given a sacrificial system that both atoned for sin and prefigured the atoning work of Messiah Jesus who would come centuries later.
In the New Testament in Romans 11:28-29 it is written that the Jews are “beloved for the father’s sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” This means that the Jews are still a special people in God’s sight. God did not and will not revoke the gifts and calling of the Jewish people.
There are no Philistines or Hittites or Edomites today. These were once great nations in Bible times but have been blended out of existence. God has preserved the Jews down through the centuries despite the terrible persecutions they suffered. In medieval times when the Bible was a banned book even Christians (Christian in name only!) persecuted the Jews. The persecutions of the Jews under Pagan Rome and Nazi (Pagan) Germany were far worse.
The rebirth of the state of Israel in the Middle East on her ancient homeland was both miraculous and clearly prophesied in the pages of the Bible. The Old Testament in Zechariah 12:10 and the New Testament in Revelation 1:7 prophesy that the nation of Israel will, in the end-times, recognize Jesus as her Messiah.