REVIVAL TALK

Genesis 12:1-3 - “Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”      Why do we stand with a small Middle Eastern nation roughly the size of the U. S. State of New Jersey? We stand with Israel because the Jewish people are the covenant people of God. In a world filled with antisemitism and hatred for the Jewish people, we stand together with them against an enemy who seeks their destruction.      In Genesis 12:3, the Lord promises to bless those who bless the children of Israel, and He will curse those who curse them. Is this curse real? On October 7, 2023, Hamas brutally attacked Israel and killed innocent civilians, babies, and the elderly. The Taliban in Afghanis

        Psalms 122:1-9 This Psalm is a Psalm of David.  In these scriptures he writes about the joy of going to the House of the Lord.  Verse 1 reads, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  He continues in verse 6 with this admonition.  “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you.’” Why does the Bible encourage us to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem?”  Jerusalem was the one place among the twelve tribes of Israel that God chose to place His name.  Deuteronomy 12:5 reads, “But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.” The Lord promises blessing to those who are a blessing to His covenant people.  God spoke these words to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The name Jerusalem means, “City of Peace.”  I