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The Amish Voice 10
What if you were to wear the same shoes for 40 years. Do you
think they would last for that long? ______
God was taking care of His chosen nation all these years.
Enemies Attempt to Destroy Israel
After the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they came
into the land of Canaan. Moses was dead and Joshua was their
new leader. Now the nation faced another problem. Other
nations were already living in the land of Canaan (see Deut.
7:1). Were these nations stronger or weaker than Israel (Deut.
7:1)? ___________ Do you think that these nations were going
to be very happy when the children of Israel come into the land
and claim the land for themselves? ______ Israel was in for a
fight! Would this tiny nation of Israel be destroyed?
As we read the book of Joshua, we learn that the children of
Israel conquered all of these nations and they won their battles!
How could they conquer nations that were stronger and mightier
than they were?
What was their secret weapon (Deuteronomy 3:22)?
_______________ _________________
When we face problems that are too big for us, we need to
remember that God can be our secret weapon, too!
Many years later the Philistine army tried to destroy the children
of Israel. Their hero was Goliath — perhaps the strongest and
tallest man on earth at that time.
Were the Philistines able to destroy the children of Israel (1
Samuel chapter 17)? ___________
Israel is Captured by the Enemy
Remember that mosquito pest we talked about at the beginning
of this lesson? Finally, the man captured the mosquito in a jar
and carried it away. It seemed like that would be the end of Mr.
Mosquito.
As time went on, the children of Israel turned away from the
Lord and did what was evil in God’s sight. They served other
gods and worshipped idols. Because of their sins, God allowed
the enemy to capture them and to carry them away into a
foreign land. First the Assyrians came and carried away many
Jews into captivity. Later, the Babylonian army came into Judah
and destroyed the city of Jerusalem and captured the Jewish
people and carried them away into the land of Babylon. We read
about this in 2 Chronicles 36:19-20. It seemed like this would
be the end for the nation.
But 70 years later, God worked in the heart of a king named
Cyrus, and he allowed the Jewish people to return to their land
(2 Chronicles 36:19-26). About 50,000 people returned (Ezra
2:64-65). The nation survived.
God’s Promises to Israel
God promised Abraham that out of him would come a great
nation. God is not going to let that nation be destroyed. In
Jeremiah 31:35-37, God said something very important about
the nation of Israel. In this passage, God tells us that one of
three things must happen if the nation of Israel is to be
destroyed. If none of these three things happens, then the nation
of Israel will never be destroyed and will never stop being a
nation. Let’s see what these three things are:
1) The day-night cycle must be stopped
(J er emiah 31:35-36).
God is saying, "If you want the nation of Israel to stop being a
nation, then you must find a way to stop the day from coming
after the night and stop the night from coming after the day."
2) The heavens must be measured
(J er emiah 31:37). God is
saying, "If you want the nation of Israel to stop being a nation,
then you must be able to tell Me how many stars there are in
My Universe."
3) The foundations of the earth must be searched out
(Jeremiah 31:37). God is saying, "If you want the nation of
Israel to stop being a nation, then you must be able to dig a hole
to the center of the earth." Will man ever be able to do this?
______
God will not break these promises to Israel! If the enemies of
Israel want to be successful, then they need to find some way to
stop the sun from rising, they need to start building much better
telescopes, and they need to get busy digging to the center of the
earth! The Jews do not need to worry. Their future is quite safe!
Haman’s Wicked Plan
In the days of Esther, a proud and wicked man named Haman
hated the Jewish people and wanted to destroy them. He was
able to get the king to pass a law (an unalterable decree) which
said that on a certain day all of the Jews (men, women, and
children) in the whole kingdom would be destroyed (Esther
3:13).
If you were living in the days of Esther, it would seem as if the
nation of Israel would be destroyed and would cease from being
a nation. It looked like there was no hope. It seemed like the
Jews would be killed and the nation would come to an end. But
remember, God promised that this would never happen (see
Jeremiah 31:35-37). WHAT DID HAPPEN? Who did perish
and die (Esther 7:10)?___________________
The nation Israel did not perish, but Haman did! The one who
wanted to destroy Israel was destroyed! The nation of Israel
lived on!
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