We need to address the spiritual issues first

I closed yesterday's TorahBytes message by stating, "While some might think that our (i.e. the Jewish people's) salvation lies in political and military solutions, it is actually the other way around." I would like to elaborate on the relationship between the spiritual and the natural realms with regard to Israel's security concerns.

Biblically, the spiritual and moral aspects of life are the prime influences upon natural outcomes. Over and over again we read how God would bless us and help us in response to our obedience to him. While this is true, we need to be careful how we judge circumstances. When people are going through trouble, we must not jump to conclusions, assuming that these troubles are due to disobedience. This was the mistake that Job's "friends" made. Still, this is a general principle of Scripture.

This doesn't mean, however, that we should not deal with societal issues. But if we want lasting solutions, it would do us well to look at the spiritual and moral condition of our society first before addressing the actual problems. But the spiritual issues are just the beginning. In most cases, at some point, we need to also address the practical issues as well.

In the case of the Israel, as I mentioned yesterday, the main cause of our insecurity as a people is spiritual, whether that insecurity be the national insecurity experienced by the State of Israel or the more general insecurity that we have known for much of our history -. Our relationship with God affects everything. While the principle I described above applies to all nations to some extent, they apply to Israel in a particular way due to our specific covenant relationship with God.

Bible believers should understand this. Those who love Israel and claim faith in the Messiah should know this. If we want to see Israel blessed. If we want to see the State of Israel live without ongoing threat of harm, we need to bring this truth to them. To simply emphasize political and military solutions, without addressing the basic spiritual ones, will do them no good in the long term.