Exceptionality of Israel
I was recently reading the book of Amos, which contains a prophetic statement concerning the Jews and the land of Israel that is presented in Amos 9:14-15. Though I have read this passage numerous times, it took on a special significance during this reading that I heretofore had never noticed!
We need to refresh our memory about these verses before I go on with the article: “And I will bring the captivity of {i.e. I will release from captivity, Amp. Ver.} my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; and they shall make gardens and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, says the LORD thy God.” (Amos 9:14-15)
The personal pronoun “I” is meaningfully used in these two verses three times, so that there can be no confusion concerning who it is that is making these declarations. The last five words of the passage settles any unnecessary confusion about His identity: “says the LORD thy God.” In fact, the word “LORD” in all caps is repeated 15 times in Jeremiah chapter 30, and this chapter has only 24 verses. This repetition plainly emphasizes that this divine actor is no one other than the Great Jehovah God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things!
He says that He will again bring His people Israel to their land, so they can rebuild its cities, farms and lifestyle that was enjoyed during their rich past. Moreover, He makes it unambiguously clear that they will never again be “pulled out of their land.” And I personally believe that this transition began in the latter part of the 19th century and continues now and will not terminate until it is totally complete!
Of Scriptural importance to this aspect of Israelite prophecy are such passages as Deuteronomy 30:1-6, Ezekiel 36:28 and Jeremiah 30:1-24. I also found it interesting that the land mass of modern Israel is approximately 1/19,700th of the total land mass of the earth; by comparison the USA has a land mass about 3.8 million square miles, which means the USA is 473 times larger than Israel. Additionally, Israel is 5.2 times the size of Rhode Island and 1.5 times larger than Connecticut, about 8.3% smaller than New Jersey and 24.3% smaller than Massachusetts, etc.
So, what’s the point? There are several casual observations: 1. Israel has overcome overwhelming difficulties, wars and constant bombings, yet she is incredibly successful in all matters of life. Israel has a significantly large air force; in many points of comparison her air force is second only to the USA. 2. She has a thriving economy based in agriculture and science, in the top 5 to 10 of world leaders. 3. She has a significant number of Nobel prize winners. 4. She houses the location of the birth of the Savior, as well as His return; and she provided the people to which He came, from which He is racially associated. 5. To only Israel is the great Creator called the “God of Israel”. Never have you read that God is the God of America, or of Canada, or of England, etc, 6. She is responsible for the authorship of the holy Scripture, and the location of the descending of the Holy Spirit. These descriptions can go on and on, but my page is full…These divine endowments, holy accomplishments and eternal purposes, all provide a level of exceptionality that makes Israel (including her God, her history, her people and her land and her future) incredibly superb – the people of God!
