Why believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
Why do I believe there is a God? Why do I believe in the God of the Bible? Simply because there are Jewish people. Not merely Jewish people, but thriving Jewish communities in the ancient Promised Land—Israel.
Perhaps that sounds a bit far fetched, but think about it for a moment. Name one other nation that has been repeatedly conquered by hostile nations, has been dispersed to the four corners of the earth over a span of 2,000 years, has been subjected time and again to persecution, oppression, and genocide, and has returned to their ancestral lands, with their language, religion, and culture intact. None exists—except for the Jewish nation.
Science proves time and again through repeated models in history, that any people group removed from its homeland assimilates into the surrounding community within two generations. Some elements of the original culture may remain, like a recipe or a song, but their identity as a unique society vanishes within two generations. This has happened time and again over multiple centuries—except for the Hebrew people.
Image: Vashishtha Jogi
Certainly there have been Jewish communities that have assimilated and lost their Hebraic identity. It is commonplace even today. But consider this: after two thousand years, they are still an identifiable, unique people with their religion, language, and culture intact.
As if that were not miraculous enough—they are a people who since 1948 have had a nation reborn without a military takeover! The social sciences and historical records prove that this is absolutely impossible, and yet—despite all earthly wisdom, experience, and knowledge—and to the frustration of some—Israel is a reality nonetheless.
Why? Because there is a God in heaven who keeps His promises.
The earliest was to Abraham, repeated to his son Isaac, and to his grandson, Jacob:
- And the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” (Genesis 12:7).
God has never changed His mind.
He makes another remarkable promise through the prophet Jeremiah:
- Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day, And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also shall cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD, “If the heavens above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the LORD (Jeremiah 31:35-37).
Another promise from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with no cut-off date. Further, that chapter goes on to talk about Jerusalem being established, a new temple being erected and never being conquered again. Read the Bible, and you will find many more promises like this to the House of Israel and to the House of Judah. How many times throughout the centuries have civilizations attempted their own form of Hitler’s “Final Solution” to exterminate Abraham’s line and rid them from the earth? Yet, they continue to survive.
Category: Biblical Studies, Spring 2017
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