On His Side

August 20

“Look up to the skies. Who created all these stars? He leads out the Army of Heaven one by one and calls all the stars by name. Because He is strong and powerful, not one of them is missing,” Isaiah 40:26.

“Surely, Your goodness and love will follow me always, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” Psalm 23:6.

Believers in Christ stand on these promises. Isaiah 40:26 states that because of the strength of the God we serve, we will not be lost on that day when Jesus comes back in power with His legions of angels to do battle with the forces that have aligned themselves against all godliness.

In John 18:9, Jesus said, “I have not lost one of those you have given to Me." Because the Word affirms that everyone who trusts in Jesus will be saved, we are unshakable in our commitment to those assurances. We know the Word of God is “yea and amen,” II Corinthians 1:20, so we are resolute in our acceptance of His assurances to us.

Yet we know that both of these promises and many others like them in the Old Testament were made originally to the Jewish people. We respect them as the chroniclers of the Holy Writ and we honor them for their faithfulness in maintaining the integrity of God’s Word.

We know that their scribes were meticulous in copying the words the Lord had given to His prophets. We know they destroyed a whole page of writing if one jot or tittle were found to be in error. We know they copied each letter scrupulously and would not allow any error to mar the absolute veracity of God’s hallowed dictates.

We believe that goodness and mercy and love will indeed follow His people always and we believe and are sure that His hedge is around them today. Though the stirrings of hatred against them are being manifested not only by Hamas in Gaza but also in countries in Europe, we know that Israel has a shield around her that exceeds the hedge provided by her Iron Dome.

Why can we be sure God is guarding His people? We can be sure because the Word tells us He is. When all the world is gathered together against Israel, when Jerusalem is a burdensome stone to the entire earth (see Zechariah 12:3), we know the Holy One will be a defense to His people.

When all the nations of the earth are gathered to Jerusalem to fight against it (see Zechariah 14:2), God’s arms of protection will be wrapped around His people. And we know that in that day when He shows Himself to be strong in the behalf of His ancient people the Jews, we will see the fullness of His promise, “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you,” Genesis 12:3, come to pass.

May we not be found among those who poke their finger in the eye of God by hating those He loves. May we be found among those who are forever on the side of the Holy One.