Beyond The Basics

With the Global Isaiah 62 Fast wrapping up this week, I want to take the opportunity to share some thoughts I have on Isaiah 62 and on Israel in general.

Millions of believers across the world have joined together in prayer for Israel for these 21 days and this is so encouraging to me. And the thought occurred to me: Does Israel know we are praying for her? Does Israel know she is loved by so many Christians around the globe?

It turns out, the answer is no, Israel has no idea:

Which means we can’t stop praying for Israel.

Father, we ask right now that You would use these 21 days as a catalyst to increase prayer for Israel day and night until all Israel is saved (Isaiah 62:6; Romans 11:26). We pray that they would recognize that people all over the world are praying for them and that their hearts would be moved to repentance because of the compassion and love of the Gentiles toward that nation.

Unfortunately, there are many people that believe Israel has been rejected by God forever. Here is what Isaiah 62 says:

You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is In Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married (Isaiah 62:4).

Ok, but Dan, isn’t that talking about spiritual Israel? Meaning the Church?

No, it’s not, and here’s how we know:

1. There is absolutely zero indication in this passage or anywhere else in the Bible that indicates that this should be interpreted in any other way than its most literal, plain meaning. This prophecy was directed towards the nation of Israel so that’s who it applies to. We need to always allow the Bible to interpret the Bible.
2. The mention of the land makes it very clear the prophet is referring to physical Israel. The Gentile Church, or spiritual Israel, does not occupy any land, at least not in any meaningful, consolidated way. “The land” in the Bible always, without fail, refers to the specific geographical location of the nation-state of Israel.

Everybody with me so far? Great. Now that we have that out of the way…

I find this verse so encouraging because even though there are many Christians out there who will call Israel Forsaken and Desolate, those same Christians will one day see God’s love and mercy revealed to Israel in an undeniable way and they will then call Israel My Delight Is In Her and Married. I don’t believe this verse is just talking about hostile Gentile nations and how they see Israel. Much of the hostility towards Israel throughout the centuries has come from the Church itself and I believe this will change one day. I believe the entire body of Christ will delight in Israel as God delights in Israel. I believe we will recognize her as God’s chosen people once again.

I encourage you, if you have never prayed for Israel, now is a great time to start. Find some other believers, find a local prayer room, tune into the web stream at www.ihopkc.org. It doesn’t matter how you do it, but let God’s heart for Israel touch yours and let your heart be softened toward God’s chosen people.