Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

"Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."¹

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."² He also created the first man and woman, Adam and Eveâ€"a simple story with profound consequences in that God created mankind with a free will and not as a puppet on a string. God put Adam and Eve to a test to see if they would voluntarily choose to follow his directions or go their own way. The test was simple: they were told that they could eat of the fruit of every tree in the Garden of Eden except for just one tree.³

There was nothing complicated about this choice until Satan, chief of the fallen angels, entered the picture. Ever since Satan attempted to overthrow God and was subsequently "dethroned from his high position in God's order."⁴ he has hated God and has used every form of deception possible in his attempt to destroy the apex of God's creation: mankind! To do this Satan deceived Adam and Eve by telling them a part truth (which can be the most deceptive form of lying there is), and in so doing lured them into disobeying God's directive and eating the forbidden fruit.⁵ In this act mankind chose to disbelieve God and reject his direction, and believe in and follow Satan's. This was the entrance of sin and evil into the human race, and the beginning of the battle between good and evilâ€"a battle that has continued ever since and rages as much as ever in today's world.

This battle increased significantly when Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel, chose to do exactly the opposite of what Adam and Eve did. He chose to believe God and follow his directives. Because of this God chose Abraham's descendants, the Israelites, to be the nation through which he would bring healing for mankind. God did this through the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world.⁶ Furthermore, when Christ returns to earth, he will come directly to Israel, and rule and reign throughout the millennium from Jerusalem.⁷

You can understand why, since the beginning of the nation of Israel, Satan has done and is still doing everything he can to totally destroy this nation.

According to the Bible the climax of world history will be when the nations of the world, headed by the Antichrist (Satan's emissary), will unite to come against Israel in an attempt to destroy her forever.⁸ This war, the like of which the world has never before seen, is known as Armageddon. At this point Jesus Christ will return to earth from Heaven, will rescue Israel and totally destroy the opposing armies. He will then set up his Kingdom and rule and reign on earth from Jerusalem for a thousand years⁹â€"after which he will create a new earth and a new heaven.¹⁰

In his first coming to earth, Jesus came as a servant to identify with lost mankind and give his life as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for mankind's sin and to save all who believe in him from the tragic consequences of sin and evil. Make no mistake, however, in his second coming Jesus Christ will come as King of kings and Lord of lords to rule and reign for all eternity.¹⁰

And Satan, the father of all deception, lies and evil, with his horde of evil followers, will be bound during the millennium and at the end be cast into hell forever.¹¹

Keep an eye on Israel. This tiny nation is without doubtâ€"in God's planâ€"the center stage for the world's final battle between good and evil. Thus, the more we see nations uniting to oppose Israel, the more we need to realize that the setting of the stage for the entrance of the Antichrist is accelerating. At the same time the setting of the stage for the second coming of Jesus Christ also will be accelerating. According to the Bible, Christ's return will be the end of world history as we know it.¹⁰

In the meantime every individual needs to choose whether he or she is on the side of God and goodâ€"or on the side of Satan and evilâ€"which will include being for or against Israel. About Israel, God promised Abraham: "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."¹² Beware to all nations who dare to come against Israel, or in the end they will find themselves fighting against God.

There is no neutral ground with God. If we are not for him, we are against him. As Jesus said, "Whoever is not with me is against me."¹³ And as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."

I urge you today to take a stand for good against all evil; for Israel against all who are anti-Israel, for Jesus Christ against all who are for anti-the-Christ, and for God against Satan. Just as it was with the first man and woman, every individual is called upon to make that choice.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please open the eyes of my understanding so that I can clearly see your purpose for me and for all mankind, and be fully aware of your plan for the climax of world history. Please give me the courage to make the choice to believe in and follow your directives and, in so doing, take an active stand for all that is good and of you, and a definite stand against all that is evil and of Satan, the devil. So help me God. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

NOTE: If you have never taken a stand for God, you can make a start today by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and in so doing, receive God's forgiveness for all your sins. For help go to: www.actsweb.org/christian.

  1. Psalm 121:4 (NIV).
  2. Genesis 1:1 (NIV).
  3. See Genesis 2:16-17.
  4. Isaiah 14:12-15.
  5. Genesis 3:3.
  6. Matthew 1:1.
  7. Zechariah 14:4.
  8. Revelation 16:12-16
  9. Revelation 20:1-6.
10. Revelation 21:1-3.
11. Revelation 20:1-3; 20:7-10.
12. Genesis 12:2-3.
13. Matthew 12:30.

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