It is my goal to provide a biblical framework as we consider the question “Why Israel?” These articles are certainly not exhaustive on the subject; but they are designed as introductory content for Christians who are not familiar with the purpose(s) of Israel in God’s big story.

Let’s break down the “why Israel” question into a series of smaller questions.

• If God was involved in Israel’s rebirth as a nation, then why Israel, why not Lebanon or Peru or some other nation?
• Is there a physical counterpart to the spiritual kingdom which Christians embrace?
• Is God faithful to keep all his promises or only the New Testament promises?
• Is all the Bible still relevant or only the New Testament?
• Did God cast off forever the Jewish people because of their rebellion and disobedience?
• And most importantly, does God change?

Do the scriptures provide any guidance as you consider these queries?

You are probably aware that the lineage of Israel is traced through their ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There was no chosen people or Israel prior to these patriarchs. In fact, God had disinherited humanity at the tower of Babel (prior to the call of Abram)¹.  Later, after destroying Babel and confusing the people’s language, he began the story of redemption with the call of Abram (first a man, then a family and finally a nation).

As you encounter the name “Israel” throughout the Old Testament, it is fascinating to ponder with a question, ”Am I reading about a man, a people or a land?” Recall the story with me. Jacob on his way to meet up with his estranged brother Esau, wrestled all night with the angel of God. At daybreak Jacob refused to allow the “angel” to leave without blessing him.  So, in that place, the Lord blessed him by changing his identity from Jacob to Israel (Gen. 32). Then through his offspring, Jacob grew to become a nation (Israel), in possession of a land (Israel). God was establishing an everlasting connection between the family of Abraham and the land to which he was called. It seems that Jacob/Israel has been wrestling with God since that time.

If we take a moment to summarize, God was faced with a dilemma after the events of Genesis chapters 3 – 11. He loved humanity and wanted mankind to be part of his family, but how does he bring them back from their evil ways?  His plan was to begin again with a man and his wife.  If it helps, we might think of Abram & Sarai as a reconstituted Adam and Eve, and Israel as a reconstituted people of God living in his reconstituted garden (the land of Israel). 

If this seems to be a theological stretch, consider that Abram and Sarai would need a place to live just as did Adam.  That place was identified as “the land that I will show you.”

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”
Genesis 12:1

Later in the context of the last days, in the words of Ezekiel, God confirms his vision for a renewal of Eden with its inhabited people.

On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt.  And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by.  And they will say, This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ 
Ezekiel 36:33-35

Ezekiel is remembering all the way back to Eden and then prophetically looking into the future to see the land of Israel completely restored as the garden of Eden.

As we move forward, keep the questions we asked earlier in mind and let me know if the answers begin to come into focus. In the next section, we will look briefly at how the land and specifically Jerusalem became God’s eternal city.