How could this happen to us? Why didn’t they defend us?
The people of Israel are in the most serious crisis of confidence since our state was founded, and many are asking, “Can we even trust in anyone anymore?”
The good news is, you can. You just need to know where to look.
Israel is a miracle. Look at what’s happened here in 75 years: a “start-up nation,” prosperity, achievements in many arenas, including in science and security. We’ve always been proud of “the Jewish mind” and trusted our strong military.
It All Collapsed
Until it all collapsed. The horrific massacre on October 7 left all of us in Israel heartbroken, in shock, and traumatized. No one believed the day would come when masses of Hamas terrorists would invade our country so easily.
On that dreadful Shabbat, thousands of Israelis found themselves in a nightmare that lasted for many hours, where barbaric terrorists were burning whole families, kidnapping the elderly and children, raping women, and slaughtering babies. Our souls can’t bear the weight and horror of what they experienced – alone, without protection, helpless. More than 1,400 people were murdered, thousands were injured, and over 200 were kidnapped to Gaza.
The Agreement Was Broken
How can we recover from such a horrible tragedy? Many feel that the agreement between us and our leaders has been broken, because they failed in their primary mission – to protect us.
We appreciate our leaders and military and all they’ve done for us, but after this tragic failure, can we really trust in them, and them alone? Maybe they’re not exactly all-powerful? Maybe all of us as humans aren’t as strong, wise, skilled, and good as we often tend to think?
So Where Will Our Help Come From?
So where will our help come from? The answer is found in the beautiful psalm: “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2).
Many people have a problem with that idea, but if we just look at our own history, we can see that if it weren’t for the God of Israel, there’s no way we would even be here. Actually, one of the most powerful proofs of the fact that God is faithful and that we can trust him is that the people of Israel still exist – and live in our land.
God has always fulfilled his promises to his people. Here are just a few examples from his agreement with us, from the covenant he made in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible):
- God promised that only if the sun, moon, and stars would disappear, then the people of Israel would cease to exist (Jeremiah 31:35-37). And we all know that in spite of all the attempts to destroy us, the people of Israel live.
- God, like a good father, gave us a book of instructions about how to live and succeed, and warned that if we didn’t follow them, we’d go into a long exile – and that also happened (Deuteronomy 28:64, Hosea 3:4-5).
- But God also promised that we’d return to our land (Ezekiel 11:17), we’d reestablish our nation (Isaiah 66:8), and revive the Hebrew language (Zephaniah 3:9-10). And here we are in our land, in the State of Israel, speaking Hebrew.
All these miracles haven’t happened to any other people in all history – we’re the only ones. Have you ever wondered why?
What is Our Purpose and Destiny?
The reason is that God has a purpose and a destiny for us. Listen to this amazing promise of his:
“For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezekiel 36:24-28).
Wow, what a good father. God has already fulfilled the first part of his promise – miraculously, he gathered us from every corner of the earth and brought us back to Israel. So we can be absolutely certain that he will fulfill the next stage as well. And now he’s inviting us to participate in this miracle.
God is the source of all the love, peace, and security we’re searching for, and he wants us to experience all those things. He wants to dwell in us, to fill us with his good Spirit, to give us a new heart.
Why Do We Need a New Heart?
But why do we need a new heart? Because – how do we put it lightly – our heart isn’t exactly clean. You know: the white lies, the covetousness, the jealousy, the hatred, the pride. God sees how we haven’t always honored him, how we’ve broken our part of the agreement, the covenant with him. So what do you think? Will a righteous God consider us “not guilty” on Judgment Day?
According to the Tanakh, we can’t trust in our own good deeds, because they can never cancel our evil thoughts and deeds (Isaiah 64:6).
And Now for the Good News
But the good news is, there is something we can trust in. Look at what God himself says in our Tanakh, in the book of Jeremiah:
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke…. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people…. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
We broke our part of the covenant with God, but he never stopped loving us, and in spite of it all, he wants to give us incredible gifts: He’s inviting us to receive forgiveness and to turn a new page in our relationship with him through this New Covenant.
But It Doesn’t End There
So how will God make this covenant? He promised to send the Messiah who would take all of our sin and punishment on himself and die in our place in order to atone for us, just as it’s written, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
But it doesn’t end there: God promised that the Messiah would rise from the dead in order to give us a new beginning and everlasting life with him (Isaiah 53, Psalm 16:10).
God also foresaw that in spite of hundreds of proofs, the religious leaders of the people of Israel would make a huge mistake and reject the Jewish Messiah. Look at how the Messiah is described in the Psalms: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22).
When the Puzzle Pieces Come Together
When you put all the puzzle pieces together that God gave us in order to identify the Messiah, we can see that the only one who fulfills all the criteria is Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth. The evidence is clear: Yeshua lived his whole life according to the Torah, the builders of religious Judaism rejected him, and Yeshua laid down his life and died for our sin. But God raised him to life on the third day, proving to us that Yeshua is indeed the Messiah! Hundreds of Jewish people testified that they saw Yeshua alive after he had been buried, and they didn’t change their testimony even when they were tortured and killed for it!
Through Yeshua, God made a new covenant with us – it’s not a separate religion, but rather the very covenant that the prophets of Israel predicted. What a comfort – Yeshua loved us until death. Through his resurrection he defeated death, and therefore he can grant eternal life to all who believe in him.
You don’t have to believe us – these are promises from God himself, and as we’ve seen, God is always faithful to fulfill his every word. We can trust in him.
Where do we go from here?
So where do we go from here? How can we fulfill our part in this covenant? All we have to do is to realize we’ve sinned, ask God to forgive us, believe in the God of Israel and in the Messiah he sent – Yeshua – and decide to follow him from now on.
We’d be glad to answer any questions you have. And if you’d like to start this new life right now, we’re here for you. You’re welcome to call or write to us privately. For more videos, and to read the Bible – the Tanakh and New Covenant – and other books for free, visit ThinkAgain.Life. For more about our ministry, visit TreeofLifeIsrael.org.
A Special Message
Shalom friends! During this critical time here in Israel, God is opening hearts to the Gospel in a powerful way.
By God’s grace, millions have watched our evangelistic videos in Israel, and more and more are coming to faith in their Messiah.
But right now, we’re not able to reach every seeker. Your fervent prayers for Israel’s salvation and your support can literally make the difference. Every $100 given helps us reach nearly 6,000 more Israelis with the life-saving message of the Gospel.
You can find out more about our ministry, receive our newsletter with inspiring stories and prayer points, and support at TreeofLifeIsrael.org.
Shalom and God bless!
