Some people ask, "Why doesn't God just do one miracle that I can see so that I know He is real?" Well, have you considered the nation of Israel?
Now let me start by saying that God has done many miracles that demonstrate that He is real. Creation itself testifies to his existence and his power. How else could we be here? In addition, the resurrection of Jesus is the most well attested historical event in ancient history and validates the Christian faith.
But I know that many are not satisfied. Maybe you want something you can see happen in the here and now. I would submit to you that Israel is just such a miracle. I'm not saying you have to agree with Israel's politics, but I am saying the very existence of Israel is a powerful witness to the truth of God's Word.
Consider what the Bible says about the existence of the nation of Israel:
"This is what the Lord says:
The One who gives the sun for light by night,
who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar-
the Lord of Hosts is His name:
If this fixed order departs from My presence-
this is the Lord's declaration-
then also Israel's descendants will cease to be a nation before Me forever."
-Jeremiah 31:35-36
What a bold promise, made nearly 600 years before the birth of Christ! If Israel ever ceased to be a nation, the Bible would be proven false. God did say the Israelites would be scattered to all the nations of the earth, but they would continue to exist as a people who could and would be brought back to the land of Israel. We see this promise in Jeremiah 30:11, Genesis 17:7, Ezekiel 36, and many other places in the Bible.
So, let's suppose that God is not real and the Bible is not His Word. What should we expect to see? Israel, like every other nation-state in ancient Mesopotamia, should have long since ceased to exist. Perhaps, you think there are other exceptions, maybe Egypt? True, the Egyptians in Egypt today can argue they are the descendants of the ancient Egyptians. However, the religion, culture, language, and type of government is completely different. Egypt was also never expelled from its homeland. Any other nation that was- the Phoenicians, Hittites, Moabites, Philistines, Arameans, and many more, ceased to exist in a relatively short period of time.
Unlike all the others, relatively insignificant Israel was basically banished for 1800 years and has returned as a Jewish state, with the Hebrew language, with the ancient Jewish festivals and customs still practiced. Where else in all of human history has anything like this even come remotely close to happening? Not only have Israelites returned to their homeland, but they have returned from nations on every corner of the globe - just as the Bible predicted.
God went on the record, revealing to the ancient prophets the most unlikely of histories for a people. There is no reason to think this prophecy would be anything other than the occasion for the rapid and certain death of the idea that God is behind the Bible. Unless, of course, God is real, Israel has a special God-given role in history, and you can trust the Bible.
Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. You can listen to previous programs online here: http://www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html
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