Not a Pebble Will Fall

January 10

Any student of history can tell you that the Jews should not exist. The Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Hittites and their other contemporaries long ago passed from the realm of viable nations with mighty armies, but the Israelites exist today. In spite of being surrounded by enemies who have tried again and again to destroy them from within and from without, they exist—and they thrive. Why?

They have, from the beginning, been different from those around them. They did not worship idols as did their long-ago neighbors. They do not worship allah as do adherents of islam, the religion of their modern-day nemesis the Arab countries that surround them.

They were conquered by Rome and the heart of their culture was literally plowed under. They were dispersed throughout the known world. Yet they maintained their uniqueness in captivity. They were persecuted by the church as “Christ killers.” They were sent to the ovens by the Nazis. In every generation, they have been the target of vitriolic hatred and persecution. Yet they exist and they thrive. Why?

Amos 9:9 gives a glimmer of an answer to the “Why?” It says, “I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground." God’s ancient people have endured an onslaught against them. God has allowed this, but He has not, nor will He ever allow their destruction. His promise is written and it shall stand.