JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Exploration, today’s Reason to Believe is the birth of the nation of Israel.

The story of the Bible reveals certain events that were humanly impossible. One example is the virgin birth of Jesus. Another example would be His resurrection from the dead. Yet another example would be the birth of Israel.

In Genesis 12, the call came to Abram, who would later be called Abraham, to leave his country and his people, and go to the land that the Lord would show him. The LORD said to him, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you.” Later, God told him, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” That statement is linked to the Gospel in Galatians 3:8, showing us that Jesus would be the ultimate fulfillment of the blessing that came through Abraham’s descendants, specifically, the nation of Israel.

Sarah, his wife, was beyond childbearing years. Yet, by God’s intervention, she became pregnant and gave birth to a son named Isaac. That was how the birth of Israel happened, which sends us the message, “what is impossible with man is possible with God.”

The birth of the nation of Israel is a reason to believe in God’s Good News.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com