IN THE BIBLE:
The word Hebrew is found 48 times
The word Jew is found about 200 times
The word Israel is found 2,500 times
The word Arab is found once
The word Arabian(s) is found 18 times.
Where did the name “Hebrew” originate? Some scholars believe it is from Abraham’s grandfather whose name was “Eber.” Where did the name “Jew” begin? Most etymologists believe it is from the word “Judah.” After Israel had been scattered and most records lost from the destruction of invasions from Babylon and other empires, the majority of people who survived were in the tribe of Judah. The people of the lands around them began to refer to all of the children of Israel simply as Jews.
Where did the Name Israel originate? With God Himself. God’s promise to Abraham was that the land that God had led him to was to be his and his descendants forever. God repeated that promise to Abrahams son Isaac and then later to Isaac’s son Jacob. In Genesis 32:28 we read that God changed the name of Jacob to a new name: Israel, meaning Prince with God.
God made these promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) and later to King David and Solomon and to all Israel.
Notice, God’s promises are very specific:
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•First, is God’s promise of the land – Genesis 15:19
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•Second, is God’s promise to specific descendants – Galatians 3:16 and verses 19 and 29.
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•Third, God’s promise of a coming Future Blessing to all the Earth. Genesis 12:3 “in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” In the New Testament, Galatians 3:14 tells us that this blessing to all the nations of the earth is through Jesus Christ the Lord!
Israel is a Miracle!
I. The Ethnological Miracle
1.Abram of Ur
A.His Past:
a.From a Pagan Society yet Abram was not bound by those rituals
b.Abram was not a ‘super hero’, but simply a man like all others.
B.His Call: Without merit of his own. He was called by God in grace.
C.His Salvation: Genesis 15:6 – God Changed Abram’s Life
(1) There was a Name Change
(2) There was a Physical Change
(3) There was a change of mind
(4) There was a Spiritual change in his heart “When you become homesick for Heaven, you become sick of all else!”
D.His Covenant: Genesis 12:1-3
II. The Sociological Miracle
2,000 years of isolation, persecution and scattering – still the same customs, names, family customs; and even now 4,000 year-old laws are being observed in Israel.
(Orthodox Jews keep the Shabbat and other traditional and Old Testament laws. For instance, there are sections of Jerusalem that cars would be stoned if operated in that area on the Sabbath day, and signs are posted to warn ladies to be attired modestly lest trouble erupt. But Israel today is a modern democracy. Polls show the majority of citizens actually want less strict laws and only 12 per cent want more strict Sabbath laws.)
III. The Agricultural Miracle
The Arabs controlled the land for 1500 years and the environment worsened greatly. The land God had promised Abraham had been rich with milk and honey, but over the centuries of wars, neglect and abuse it had become a wasteland—desert with only a few pockets of fresh water. Areas of the formerly productive areas of the land had become swamps. Hundreds of square miles of hills that had been covered by forests had been reduced to barrenness and rocks.
Today, amazing changes in the land’s beauty and productivity have taken place after only 70 years since the re-establishment of the independent nation of Israel in their homeland. Where once there were swamps, deserts and rock covered hills you will see forests of trees, fruit growing orchards and groves, farms of vegetables. Bananas, apples, oranges and a variety of nut trees are flourishing in relatively tiny spaces. The Sea of Galilee is producing fish for commerce and for individuals. Irrigation is a fine art in Israel and the use of science and technology has helped make Israel a food-exporting nation!
IV. The Miracle of the Language
Never in history has a ”dead” language been revived to become the common language of a people or nation, except one: Hebrew.
Look at the contrasts of other languages:
Egyptian – The language of the richest, most influential nation on earth 4,000 years ago. Hebrew was the language of their slaves. Today Ancient Egyptian is still dead- Hebrew is alive and being spoken by 7 million people!
Chaldean – Ten times as many spoke this language as people spoke Hebrew 3,000 years ago. Both Chaldean and Hebrew died out. Today Hebrew is alive!
Latin – two hundred times as many people spoke Latin as spoke Hebrew 1,900 years ago. Latin was spoken extensively through out the Roman Empire that covered an area as large as the United States of America today! Yet, both Latin and Hebrew languages died out. Though Latin has and still influences the languages of many nations and scholars still study it intensely, there are many Latin words whose pronunciation is uncertain. HEBREW on the other hand is ALIVE and spoken today by little children in Israeli homes.
V. The Prophetic Miracle
May 14, 1948 The British High Commissioner for Palestine departed the land of Israel and on that same day the Jewish National Council met in Tel Aviv to proclaim the establishment of a Jewish State. The nation would naturally be named Israel and David Ben Gurion was appointed Prime Minister and Dr. Chaim Wiezmann was elected President of the Provisional Council. Although Jews had lived in their homeland in some numbers since their dispersion, there was for the first time in modern history a free and independent Jewish nation. The government would be based upon a democratic constitution with the possibility of Jewish people scattered in nations around the world to return to the home of their ancestors and to the land promised by God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The hope and prayers of the Jewish people would be that they would have their own nation, free from persecution, bloodshed and murders forced upon them by other nations simply because they were Jews.