Israelis were moved and inspired to see how God’s promises to the Jewish people in the Bible came to pass in miraculous ways. Then they discovered the ultimate promise: the Messiah who would give them a new heart.
Ariel: When you think about how the people of Israel are still alive – we’ve returned to our land after 2,000 years from all over the world, revived our language, reestablished our state, caused the desert to blossom, won wars – there are two options: either we did this all on our own, or we also had help from above.
So we’d like to examine this issue together, but before that, let me ask you: Do you know anyone who could write out everything that would happen to a certain people, massive things that haven’t happened to any other people, and then those things would actually happen?
Rami: I don’t think so.
Sharon: No.
Liran: No.
Shani: No way.
Yigal: No, why? Do you?
Ariel: There’s a book that described in advance what would happen throughout the history of the people of Israel, and we’d like to take a look together at what’s written in this book and see if those things actually happened. We know the book: It's the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). But many things we’re going to see together right now, almost no one in Israel has ever seen.
So we’d like to read some passages from the Scriptures together and talk about whether these prophecies really happened or not. Let's start the journey!
The People of Israel Live
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According to the Hebrew Scriptures, God promised that the people of Israel would be an eternal people: “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant” (Genesis 17:7).
He also promised that only if the sun and moon and stars disappear will we cease to exist as a people (Jeremiah 31:35-37).
Ariel: So the sun, the moon, and the stars are still here, and what about the people of Israel?
Shani: Still here.
Merav: I really think this is from above – that it truly is from God. Here he promised it, and I believe he is fulfilling it.
Ariel: All the empires and superpowers that have sought to destroy us until now no longer exist, but we’re still here. What do you think about that?
Sharon: I think we’re a people who aren’t willing to give up.
Yigal: Yes, you get the sense that we’re part of something bigger than ourselves.
Shani: That we are strong – but we’ve done it on our own.
Rami: The people of Israel will always be here, forever, alive and well.
Liran: We’re the eternal people, and we will remain.
Ariel: Of course, when you look at our history, not everything went smoothly.
The Miraculous Return to Israel
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According to the Scriptures, God gave us a book that shows us how to live and succeed, and warned that if we would not live this way, we’d be scattered throughout the world in a long exile (Deuteronomy 28:64).
But he didn’t leave us without a hope and a future – more than 60 times he promised in the Hebrew Scriptures that he would bring his people back to the Land of Israel.
Here’s one example: “This is what the Lord God says: ‘I will gather you from the peoples, bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel’” (Ezekiel 11:17).
Ariel: It was written that we’d be in exile, and then we’d return. Did that happen?
Sharon: Yes, we came back.
Merav: That really did happen.
Ariel: And actually this is the only time in all history that a people who were expelled from their country succeeded in returning to their homeland after such a long time.
Yigal: It's quite amazing, considering that we weren’t here for so long.
Ariel: It'd be interesting to hear, where did your family come from?
Liran: Persia, Morocco, Bulgaria.
Rami: From Morocco.
Avner: My father came as a little boy from Iraq.
Shani: Poland and Russia, and on my father's side – from Persia.
Ariel: But our return was actually just the beginning. There were other promises.
Resurrection of the State and Language
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God also promised that we’d revive the Hebrew language (Zephaniah 3:9), that we’d reestablish our state (Isaiah 66:7-8), and that we’d build the nation, as it’s written, “I will bring back…my people Israel; they shall build the desolated cities and inhabit them” (Amos 9:14).
Avner: After seventy years you see the land – it’s renewed. No one can believe that we built such beautiful cities out of the wilderness.
Ariel: Hebrew is the only language that was a dead language, then came back to life. For almost 2,000 years no one spoke Hebrew as a mother tongue.
Sharon: We have a language that is too beautiful for it to die.
Bar: Actually, I didn't know that. Very interesting.
Water from Heaven
Ariel: Now for something unbelievable: When we came back, there was a serious problem here – there wasn’t enough water. The author Mark Twain was here 150 years ago, he traveled around the whole country, and said he hardly saw a tree or a bush. Everything was a wasteland.
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According to the Scriptures, God promised: “For I will provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen” (Isaiah 43:20).
A British scientist discovered: From the beginning of Zionism to the mid 1900s, the amount of rainfall in Israel increased 2.5 times!
Ariel: It didn’t increase gradually, but instead, with each immigration of Jews to Israel there was also a sudden increase in the amount of rain. What do you think about that?
Shani: I don't think it's something from heaven.
Avner: It's from heaven. God sent rain from heaven. He had mercy on the people of Israel.
Sharon: Amazing!
Ariel: Guess what year had the highest rainfall for the entire period.
Liran: Give me a hint.
Shani: Based on the questions so far, I’d say 1948.
Ariel: Nice, you got it!
Liran: Just at the right time!
Rami: The establishment of Israel, 1948 – that’s beautiful.
Ariel: That rain also helped us make the wilderness blossom, because it was written in the Scriptures that when the people of Israel would go into exile, the land would become a wilderness, and only once we’d return, it would blossom again (in Ezekiel 36 for example).
Against All Odds
Ariel: There was something else amazing that happened here.
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According to the Scriptures, God said that when we’d return to Israel, many nations would seek to destroy us, but he promised that ultimately we would win (Micah 4:11-13).
The day after the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel, five powerful and well-equipped armies declared war on us, countries with a population that was 75 times larger than ours.
The British had forbidden us from purchasing weapons or conducting military training.
We had no planes, no tanks, no heavy machine guns, no artillery, no armored vehicles, no anti-tank or anti-aircraft weapons.
Ariel: And what happened in the end?
Liran: We won!
Sharon: We won and survived, and we’re here!
Shani: Ultimately we won.
Ariel: Also in '67, when there was a huge coalition that came against us and no country in the world stood by us, not even the USA, people expected us to be wiped off the map. But we not only won, we finished it in six days. You know why?
Shani: So we could rest on the seventh day!
History Written Ahead of Time
Ariel: When you look at the big picture: We’re the only people who ultimately returned to their homeland, the only people who revived a language, the only people who experienced all these wonders of the rain and the blossoming of the desert. Not only did all these unique things happen, but all of this was also written in advance 2,700 years ago and more.
Of course, we’re so grateful for all the soldiers and all the pioneers, and there’s no doubt that they played such a critical role in the establishment of the state, in the wars we won, and so on. But the question is whether that’s all that was needed? Could humans alone have done all these things we’ve seen so far?
Shani: Uh…
Merav: All these things seemed so unrealistic and impossible, but they happened. So yes, I think we had help from above.
Avner: If you dig deeper and think a bit, then you see: We have help from above.
Bar: It seems to me like it was a lot of coincidences.
Sharon: It's not only a miracle, but I believe there is also a hand directing and orchestrating all of this.
Ariel: Often we’re so busy that we can miss the miracle that is taking place right in front of our eyes. Every day that we are here in the Land of Israel, speaking Hebrew, seeing the blossoming of the land, we are part of a miracle! Israel is actually one of the most powerful proofs that God is faithful to his promises, and that you can trust what he says in the Hebrew Scriptures. And what’s interesting is that God also said in the Scriptures why he’d bring us back – he wants to give us a new beginning.
A New Heart, a New Spirit
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“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).
Sharon: Beautiful!
Ariel: Do people here need a new heart?
Sharon: Yes, lots of people.
Liran: Yes, we need a paradigm shift.
Avner: Yes, everyone does whatever they feel like – sexual immorality, corruption, stealing, slander. Definitely, we as a people need an overhaul.
Ariel: Each one of us needs to also ask ourselves, is there something in me that needs to change, that isn’t honoring God?
Sharon: Everyone has evil thoughts sometimes. Everyone has something they need to be cleansed of.
Ariel: For example, if we look at the Ten Commandments, it says not to lie. So have you ever lied?
Liran: Yes.
Yigal: I've done it once or twice, times a bajillion, yes.
Shani: For sure.
Ariel: Have you ever stolen something, even downloaded something that didn't belong to you?
Shani: Yes.
Yigal: Yesterday.
Ariel: You know, when we’re honest with ourselves and look inside, we can see that out of our hearts come all kinds of behaviors like selfishness, pride…
Rami: True.
Ariel: greed, lies, jealousy.
Bar: We’ve all sinned in these things in one way or another.
Ariel: It’s God who gave us life, who brought us back to this land, who did so many miracles and wonders, who sent the rain – but instead of saying, “Wow, thank you God, I want to honor you,” we’re basically living our own way. We’ve essentially turned ourselves into God.
God himself is the source of life and love and joy, and everything we’re looking for. But when we sin, it cuts us off from him because he is holy.
If someone were to drink and drive and then hit someone, and then they were to say, “Judge, I'm really sorry for what I did, but I also help those in need, I do a lot of good things,” what would the judge say to him?
Liran: There are laws we have to follow, and we must give an account of our actions.
Ariel: True. None of the good things we've done can cancel out the bad we've done – we still deserve judgment. Think about it, someone who saw all the evil we’ve ever thought, ever said, and ever done – none of us can stand before him and say, "I am righteous!" Right?
Merav: Yes.
Bar: Absolutely.
Ariel: The Scriptures say that we’ve sinned against an eternal God, so we deserve eternal punishment. It’s called hell.
Yigal: Wow!
Ariel: Yeah, it's quite serious. But…there’s also good news! God is not only a judge, but he’s also a father who loves us, and he brought us back – just like we read – to give us a new heart, to give us forgiveness and a new beginning with him here on earth, and also forever.
And he said he would do all this through the Messiah. Just like how on the Day of Atonement we’d bring a sacrifice that would atone for us – it would die in our place – God said that the Messiah would be the perfect sacrifice who would take all our sin upon himself.
How to Identify the Messiah
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According to the Scriptures, God promised the Messiah would:
- Be a descendant of King David (Jeremiah 23:5-6)
- Come before the destruction of the Second Temple – in other words, 2,000 years ago (Daniel 9:24-26)
- Be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
- Be rejected at first by his people, yet would give his life to atone for our sins and then rise from the dead (Isaiah 53, Daniel 9:24-26)
- Bring many non-Jews to faith in the God of Israel (Isaiah 42:1-7, 49:5-6)
Yigal: Wow!
Ariel: Is there someone that comes to mind?
Liran: No.
Merav: No.
Bar: No.
Sharon: No.
Rami: I don't know.
Yigal: There’s a guy like that. I think he’s pretty well known, isn't he?
Shani: Yes!
Ariel: There is only one person in all history who fulfilled these prophecies and dozens of other prophecies about the Messiah. It's Yeshua, Jesus.
Sharon: Ah, Yeshua. Yes, he’s the Messiah, I know that.
Ariel: Yeshua who…
Rami: Their Yeshua.
Ariel: That’s just it: He's not theirs. He's ours, he's Jewish! Think about it, he’s a descendant of King David. You can't be more Jewish than that, right?
Sharon: He’s a wonderful person who healed others’ wounds.
The Greatest Love in the World
Ariel: He came before the destruction of the Second Temple, he was born in Bethlehem, our people rejected him at first – just as it was written about the Messiah. He suffered and died in our place – he gave his life for us. But he rose from the grave in Jerusalem. There were 500 Jewish people who saw him alive after he died.
Then they realized, “Wow, he really is the Messiah! He conquered death!". And they began spreading the Good News around the world that there is forgiveness and eternal life through him, and hundreds of millions of Gentiles believe in the God of Israel because of him, just as it was written about the Messiah.
He didn't come to establish a new, separate religion – that's what many people think. He came to bring us back to the God of Israel and to give us the new heart that we read about, and also to change us from the inside, so that we can learn to love one another. About a million Jewish people today have realized that he is the Messiah of Israel. And he changed our hearts.
Just as it is written about the Messiah in Isaiah 53:6, “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.”
You, I, and all of us have sinned in all kinds of ways, but he said, “I'll take their place, I'll die in their place.” Think about it: He loved you so much that he was willing to take all the punishment you deserved upon himself. This is the greatest love ever.
If we will turn from our own way to God's way and believe in the God of Israel and in the Messiah he sent – Yeshua, then we’ll receive a new heart, forgiveness, a renewed relationship with God, and eternal life. What do you think about that?
Liran: Amazing, what can I say? I’m speechless!
Bar: This is very interesting. What a deeply moving story.
Ariel: We’d like to give you two gifts: This is a short and sweet booklet about the miracle of Israel. And this is the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, which is actually the most widely distributed book in the world. It was written by Jewish people about the most famous Jewish person in history – Yeshua.
Sharon: Thanks. This is great – now I can read it more.
Ariel: Is this worth considering and looking into?
Merav: Yes, I think it is. I've never heard this before, and it's really intriguing! So yes, it’s worth looking into this and reading.
You also can get these gifts for free! Click here to sign up for our newsletter and get the booklet about the miracle of Israel for free. And click here to read the Bible.
If you have questions or you’d like to know more, we’d be glad to speak with you. Let’s talk!
