Sound The Trumpet : The Blessing and the Curse

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“The Blessing and the Curse”
by Art Sadlier
December 1st, 2008

In the book of Deuteronomy, 3500 years ago the Lord promised Israel that if they would obey Him he would prosper them and bless their land. He also promised them that if they disobeyed He would bring a curse on them and their land. Israel did disobey the Lord and turned away from Him. As a result He brought a curse on them and made their land barren and desolate. For over 2000 years that curse was upon Israel and their land. (Lev.26:32-33) God also promised them that He would one day return them to their land and bless them again. In our lifetime we have seen God bring Israel back to her land and bless them and their land again. God has done this not because Israel has deserved it. He has done it for two reasons. First---He has performed this because He promised to do it, He is remembering His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Second---He has done it for the glory of His own name. (Ezekiel 36:21-24)

The extent to which the Lord has fulfilled His promises to Israel in our lifetime proves beyond any doubt that God is the living God who keeps His promises 3500 years after the fact. It also proves that Israel is God’s chosen people, no better or worse than any other peoples, but still chosen by God for a purpose.

GOD HAS BLESSED THE LAND FOR ISRAEL

Since their return to the land in our lifetime God has blessed the land in a remarkable way. The land has gone from desolation to productivity. It is a land of orchards and vineyards that ships fruit of all kinds around the world. Israel ships a billion dollars worth of produce to Europe each year. 3500 years ago God said it would happen. (Isa. 35:1, 27:6) The UN has reported that the soil of Israel is the most productive in the world. It produces 202 tons of tomatoes per acre, 1.2 million roses per acre, 32 tons of citrus fruits per acre.

GOD HAS BLESSED THE ISRAELI PEOPLE

The following facts prove God has kept His promise to bless Israel; these are just some of the blessings of God on the Israeli people since they have returned to the land. Israel the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world’s population, can lay claim to the following:

* The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.

* Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.

* Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel.

* The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel.

* Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.

* Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel.

* The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

* Israel’s $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.

* Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.

* According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry’s most impenetrable flight security. US officials now look (finally) to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.

* Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.

* Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people — as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

* In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the U.S. (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).

* With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world — apart from the Silicon Valley, U.S.

* Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U.S.

* Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.

* Israel has the highest average living standard in the Middle East.

* The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.

* On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.

* Twenty-four per cent of Israel’s workforce hold university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.

* Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

* In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at Risk in Ethiopia, to safety in Israel.

* When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world’s second elected female leader in modern times.

* When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day — and saved three victims from the rubble.

* Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship — and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.

* Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. (Hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union).

* Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as “conflict free.”

* Israel has the world’s second highest per capita of new books.

* Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.

* Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.

* Medicine… Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.

* An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U. S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.

* Israel’s Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, for cancer and digestive disorders.

* Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the camera helps doctors diagnose heart’s mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.

* Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70

* in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. Over 25% of its work force is employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well.

* A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the Clear Light device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct — all without damaging surrounding skin or tissue.

* An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California’s Mojave Desert.

* All the above while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth.

Only a hardened heart of unbelief can fail to recognize the hand of God on His chosen people. In Joel 3:2, the Lord has warned the world not to part (divide) Israel’s land, a warning is given of judgment to fall upon the nations that do. Nations be warned!

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13