The modern state of Israel is a young country born merely 69 years ago. It is a small nation with approximately 8.5 million people in an area the size of New Jersey that has been plagues with conflict, war and terrorism even prior to becoming a state, and certainly since then. It is therefore surprising that Israel has developed to become one of the leading and most innovative countries in the world in fields as diverse as high-tech, bio-medical, agrotech, renewable energies, defense systems and many more.
Dozens of technologies that have changed the world were either developed in Israel or by Israelis. Some surprising examples are the Flash Drive (aka disk-on-key) that forever changed how we store and transfer data. What is less known is that it was developed by an Israeli company called Mirabilis and was bought out by another Israeli-owned company – SanDisk. Another Israeli development are the Intel 8088, Centrino, Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, Skylake and Kaby Lake processor chips, designed and developed by the Israel Intel team. More examples include Instant Messaging, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), WhatsApp, Waze social navigation, the Amazon Kindle, the PillCam and many more.
Israel’s economy is sturdy and resiliant, and Israel is a proud member of the OECD group of economically developed nations. It boasts a robust and stable economy, ranks number one in the world for inflation stability, and continues to have a low unemployment rate. During the recent 2008-2009 global recession, when most developed nations declined into negative growth, Israel’s economy remained strong with positive growth demonstrating that although dependent on foreign economies, it is still strong intrinsically.
How then has the nation of Israel achieved such astounding breakthroughs and achievements, despite its small size and much opposition? The answer is simple – this is God’s doing! There is no other way to explain how a people that was dispersed among the nations for 2,000 years were regathered back to the Land given to them by God thousands of years ago. There is no other explanation to how their ancient but dead and unspoken language was revived to be their official language and their small and inexperienced military force (the IDF) was repeatedly victorious against multiple enemy armies that far outnumbered them in all parameters. And, in the midst of so many difficulties, Israel has become a shining light of innovation, advancement, economic stability and democracy in a region where many still live under tyranny and in poverty.
God foretold of these events through the prophets of Israel thousands of years ago. The prophet Ezekiel said: “For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land… Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.” -Ezekiel 36:24-29
Zechariah said in chapter 1 verse 17, “Thus saith the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity…”, while the prophet Jeremiah said, “I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first… all the nations of the earth [which] will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the abundant prosperity and all the peace that I make for it” (33:7,9).
This is the time when God is restoring Israel and making her the head of the nations. This is seen through her miracle rebirth as a modern nation in 1948 and continued successes on all fronts. Believers around the world not only have the opportunity to bless Israel and be blessed (through investment possibilities in Israel’s economic success, donations etc.) but also are called to do so. Will you respond to the call?