Independence Day - in Israel.

Today, in Israel, is known as Yom Ha’atzmaut. It is the anniversary of the Israeli Declaration of

Independence in 1948. It is officially observed on the 5th of Iyar according to the Hebrew calendar, although this date is often adjusted by a day or two in order to ensure that the Yom Ha’atzmaut festivities and the Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day) commemorations, that take place the day before, do not interfere with the observance of Shabbat. Today was the 69th anniversary of the establishment of the new State of Israel in fulfilment, many are convinced, of the Biblical prophecies concerning the nation - cf. Amos 9:14-15; Ezekiel 37:10-14; Jeremiah 16:14-15 et al.

However, there is another prophecy that is being fulfilled before our eyes. In Gen.18:17-18 we read these words of YHWH (the covenant name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob): "YHWH said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." (emphasis added; see also 22:18, 26:4).

So, how has this prophetic word been fulfilled? Well let me share just some of the achievements of the nation of Israel, since 1948 - and remember that, during that whole 69 years, she has had to deal with the enmity of most of the surrounding nations - with Iran, in particular, making no secret of its desire to see the nation destroyed, and every one of the Children of Israel dead.

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Did you know, for example, that 

• Israel designed the airline industry’s most impenetrable flight security system;
• Israel is the only country in the Middle East that based its principles of government on both democratic liberal values and on the values of the Biblical prophets;
• Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth;
• Israel has the world’s second highest per capita rate of published books;
• Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees;
• Israel has more museums per capita than any country;
• Israel developed the cell phone, Windows NT and XP operating systems, Pentium MMX Chip technology, the Pentium-4 microprocessor, the Centrino Processor, voice mail technology, and AOL Instant Messenger ICQ;
• Israel has the highest per capita rate of home computers in the world;
• Israel designed and implemented the Iron Dome Defense system;
• Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees in the world;
• Israel is second in the world in the number of start-up companies behind only the U.S.of A.;
• Israel has the world’s largest per capita number of biotech start-ups;
• Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce;
• Israel is a world leader in water renewal, recycling, desalination, and solar heating;
• Israel invented the drip irrigation system used around the world;
• Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for ;breast cancer
• Israel’s Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill that can view the small intestine from the inside to detect for cancer and digestive disorders?

On top of all of that, there is the almost unbelievable improvement in the natural environment where one can see the fulfilment of yet other prophecies. In Isaiah 35 we read: "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon." (vs.1-2). And when will this amazing transformation take place? When "... the ransomed of YHWH shall return, and come to Zion with singing;" (v.10). In other words, when the redeemed Children of Israel return to Jerusalem, and the land that YHWH promised to their forefathers.

Of course, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) executive committee, in its great wisdom (sarcasm should be noted!) decided today in another politicized, anti-Israel decision regarding Jerusalem, that everything Israel does in Jerusalem is illegal. As in the case of past anti-Israel resolutions, the text was authored by Arab states. No hint of bias there, then (further sarcasm!). Let those of us who love Israel, and the Jewish nation, pray for the nation, and against every anti-Semitic move by those who wish only her demise.

L'Chaim Yisrael!