{"id":2298,"date":"2014-10-01T19:19:27","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T19:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/?p=2298"},"modified":"2014-10-01T19:19:27","modified_gmt":"2014-10-01T19:19:27","slug":"i-will-bring-them-home-to-this-land-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/i-will-bring-them-home-to-this-land-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"I Will Bring Them Home to This Land Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Elisabeth Hinze
\nPart 1<\/a>
\n\"Judean<\/a>
\nSome days I\u2019m not too sure about the benefits of me having free will. Usually, those days come right after I\u2019ve used said free will to make the wrong choice. And I\u2019m left in the aftermath of that choice, pensively surveying the consequences. It\u2019s then that I can\u2019t help but think how much better I\u2019d be off if God made my choices for me.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not the only one pondering this free will phenomenon that God so unexpectedly bestowed on a foolish, strong-willed human race. In fact, the debate about free will is probably as old as time. Because all too often, we see free will on the one hand, and the plans of God on the other. And neither of these is in itself the issue. Because yes, we have free will. To choose, to go our own way and to follow our own path. But God also has plans. For my life, yes. For yours too. But I\u2019m talking about the plans of God on a more global scale. The big ones. The written in stone, or rather, in Scripture, ones. And it is these written in Scripture plans of God that no crafty opposition, no plots of evil and ultimately no free will can stop.<\/p>\n

Take Israel for example. God speaks of His plans for Israel \u2013 and how Israel fits into His plans for the world \u2013 extensively in the Bible. Derek Prince highlights 16 prophecies, 16 events almost, that would play out through the people of Israel in world history. Thirteen out of the 16 have already come to pass. The last two happened in our lifetime, before our very eyes.<\/p>\n

God scattered Israel to the four corners of the earth \u2013 just like He said. But there was a promise of return. Yet for more than two thousand years, the promise lay dormant without a whisper of fulfilment. And then, for no apparent reason other than it being His appointed time, God started leading the children of Israel back to the land from which He scattered them \u2013 just like He said He would\u2026<\/p>\n

After decades of supposed nothingness, it happened with astonishing speed \u2013 kind of like a tidal wave. Oh there was opposition, make no mistake about it. But the tidal wave couldn\u2019t be stopped. Kind of like the hand of God was in it. \u201cShall a land be born in one day? Or shall a nation be brought forth in a moment?\u201d (Isaiah 66:8). Rhetorical question really, in light of the One doing the asking. And so Israel was established as the Jewish homeland on 14 May 1948.<\/p>\n

Just like that, all that God said would happen when the Jews returned home started falling into place. The waste cities were rebuilt and inhabited. Vineyards and gardens were planted \u2013 with astonishing success (from Amos 9:14-15). Then came the crowning glory \u2013 Jerusalem was rebuilt \u2013 just like He said it would (from Jeremiah 31:38).<\/p>\n

Jeremiah 31:38 paints a word map of what Jerusalem would look like once reconstructed. Yet sixty years ago the fulfilment of that promise seemed unlikely. Reports from those who travelled through the once glorious city spoke about a scarcely-inhabited rubbled ruin. So unlikely did the fulfilment of the promise to rebuild Jerusalem seem that prominent Bible scholars interpreted it as a spiritual metaphor for restoration. Because the city itself was just not humanly possible\u2026 And then God\u2019s plan unfolded. Today Jerusalem is a thriving city, drawing admirers from far and wide to revel in her beauty. A city restored.<\/p>\n

Sixteen prophecies, 16 written in Scripture plans of God. Thirteen have been fulfilled. Three remaining\u2026 The next one in line says that all nations will turn against Jerusalem. Scary, but in light of recent events, sadly not inconceivable. It says that Israel stands without any worldly allies, facing all the snapping and snarling enemies surrounding her. The time of Jacob\u2019s trouble\u2026 \u201cbut he shall be saved out of it\u201d (Jeremiah 30:7). In the end, God promises restoration for Israel. \u201cAnd so all Israel will be saved\u2026\u201d (Romans 11:26).<\/p>\n

We read about God\u2019s plans for humankind in Scripture. And within those plans, God cast Israel as one of the major roleplayers. It\u2019s done. End of story. He\u2019s used and will continue to use Israel to accomplish certain things on the earth. And He Himself will accomplish certain things in Israel and on her behalf. Because He said He would.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, God has a plan and a purpose for each of our lives. But we have free will. And every day we make countless little (and not so little) decisions for or against the plan and purpose of God for our lives. Because that\u2019s what free will is all about. But it also implies that we carry the consequences of our choices.<\/p>\n

God also has a larger, more intricate plan for all of humankind. And Israel is intricately interwoven into those plans. I often hear people quote Genesis 12:2 where God promises to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse her. It\u2019s true. But there\u2019s something more. Because in the end it\u2019s not about Israel itself. It\u2019s about the God of Israel. And the plans that He\u2019s decreed.<\/p>\n

As custodians of free will the choice is ours: we can go for or against the plans that God has. The world can condemn and oppose, plot and scheme. But the fate of Israel equals the plans of God. The written in Scripture kind. And in a match between the will of man and the plans of God, take a guess who\u2019s going to win.<\/p>\n

\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"flickr\"<\/a>\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"flickr\"<\/a><\/div>Follow News from JerusalemShare this page with your friends
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By Elisabeth Hinze Part 1 Some days I\u2019m not too sure about the benefits of me having free will. Usually, those days come right after I\u2019ve used said free will to make the wrong choice. And I\u2019m left in the aftermath of that choice, pensively surveying the consequences. It\u2019s then that I can\u2019t help but more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[129,377,625,130,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-2298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-biblical-spiritual","8":"tag-god","9":"tag-gods-promises-to-israel","10":"tag-israeli-news","11":"tag-miracles","12":"tag-news-from-jerusalem","13":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2299,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions\/2299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}