The nation of Israel has just commemorated an miraculous event – on May 14th it was the 75th anniversary of the formal declaration of the State of Israel.

Every year, around this time, Israel makes an abrupt transition from sorrow to joy. First the country comes to a halt for Memorial Day. Families visit army cemeteries; television channels show the names of fallen soldiers. Then, as day turns to dusk, mourning turns to joy in celebration of Israel’s independence.

The Bible says that Israel are God’s chosen people (Deuteronomy 7v6) but that He would scatter them across the world because they repeatedly disobeyed Him (Leviticus 26v33). The Bible also tells us in Ezekiel 37v21-22 that God would regather them and give them their own land at a future time. These events regarding Israel were foretold long before they happened, but they did happen! It seemed extremely unlikely that Israel would be regathered and given their own land for nearly 2000 years. Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans in about AD70 – but in 1948 this is exactly what happened, by the Will of God.

If you read on in Ezekiel 37 you will notice that this does not fit with the current situation in Israel. Verse 24 talks about God’s servant David being king over Israel and verse 25 says he will be their prince forever. You may know that King David died many years ago (1Kings 2v10), however God has been faithful to keep His promise to regather His people to give them a land and we can be confident that He will keep the rest of His promises. He will send His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, back to the earth and there will be a resurrection (making alive those that have died) and ultimately a whole world ruled in peace for us to be a part of, if we choose to follow Him and accept His invitation to forever (Jeremiah 29v11).