Yom Ha-Atzma'ut
(Israeli Independence Day)

The state of Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948 -- or on the Jewish calendar, 5 Iyar 5708, in an unprecedented return of an ancient people to their historical homeland after nearly 2,000 years of exile..

Since 1949, that important anniversary, under the name of Yom Ha-Atzma'ut, or "the day of Independence," has been celebrated by the Jewish people, both within and without the borders of modern Israel on the 5th of Iyar, although it is moved forward to the preceding Thursday if the 5th of Iyar happens to be a Sabbath (as is the case in 2001!)
Customs

Like all Jewish holidays the festivities begin on the evening of what Westerners would call the day before. (the Jewish day begins at sundown) Public buildings are edged with colored lights (like Christmas lights in America). Of course, there are flags and Star-of-David banners hanging from buildings and lampposts and even flying from cars. Bands play patriotic songs, some old traditional Jewish melodies, some new Israeli compositions.

Street vendors sell tiras (corn on the cob) and plastic squeaky hammers (huh?!) This is beyond doubt the oddest custom to typify this holiday in Israel: the custom of bopping total strangers over the head with a toy hammer which emits a high pitched squeaking noise when it hits! Why? Why not? It seems to be just one of those things that somebody started one year and it caught on and became a tradition.

Spraying people with "silly string" string is another custom in the same vein.

Of course, there are fireworks, too, and a joy to watch over the flood-lit walls of the Old City. The following day there are speeches, parades and barbecues.
Biblical Significance

Although never mandated as a holiday in Scripture, the return of Israel to her ancient land is loaded with significance to those who believe the Bible.

The relationship of the people of Israel to the promised land is a recurrent theme throughout Scripture. From before they ever entered the promised land, the prophets foretold that they could lose it and be scattered across the earth:

"If you do not follow all the words of this law (Torah) . Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other . . . Among those nations you will find no repose . . . You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life." -- Deuteronomy 28:52,64-66.

However, God also promises that restoration will be possible:

"Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back." -- Deuteronomy 30:5

In 70 AD, Jerusalem was destroyed, the great temple burned. The Jewish people were scattered. For eighteen centuries they were a nation without a country. In the various lands of their exile they suffered the most vile persecutions: the Inquisition, pogroms, and the Holocaust in Germany are just a few of the most familiar examples. Yet, somehow they survived as a people. In just the past fifty years, history has witnessed something remarkable: the fulfillment of a large body of prophecy, as the people of the Bible began to come home.

The thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel has much to say about the Jewish people coming home:

"But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you; you will be plowed and sown, and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. I will cause people, my people Israel, to walk upon you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance; you will never again deprive them of their children." -- Ezekiel 36:8-12

The famous story of the dry bones is a prophetic vision recorded in chapter 37 of Ezekiel. In this vision, Ezekiel sees dry human bones coming together into complete skeletons, and flesh miraculously appearing on them. After the vision, the Lord speaks to Ezekiel:

"Then he said to me: 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD." -- Ezekiel 37:11-14

"The LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob, Nations [i.e., "Gentiles"] will take them and bring them to their own place." -- Isaiah 14:1,2

Prophecy declares that the land would become a desert, and then be brought back to life, with water and trees:

"I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together." -- Isaiah 41:18,19

And:

"This is what the LORD says: 'In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to : restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances,. . ." -- Isaiah 49:8

"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In this place, desolate and without men or animals -- in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest : their flocks. In the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,' says the LORD. -- Jeremiah 33:12-13

"They will say, 'This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden" -- Ezekiel 36:35a

The people would return from distant lands

"See, they will come from afar -- some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan. . ." -- Isaiah 49:12

"I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will show myself holy among the nations. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your fathers." -- Ezekiel 20:41

The prophet Jeremiah speaks specifically of a return from the north:

"'However, the days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when men will no longer say 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt, ‘but 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers.'" -- Jeremiah 16:14

(This must be important: it is repeated almost verbatim in Jeremiah 23:7!)

A people once decimated would again be numerous:

'Though you were ruined and desolate and your land laid waste, now you will be too small for your people' -- Isaiah 49:19

"'Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember me. They and their children will survive, and they will return. I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon, and there will not be room enough for them.'" -- Zechariah 10:9-10

The people would rebuild a land of ruins

'. . . your descendants will dispossess nations, and settle in their desolate cities.'

-- Isaiah 54:3

'Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with dwellings.' -- Isaiah 58:12

"'I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild : ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,' says the LORD your God." -- Amos 9:14-15

Jerusalem would be enlarged:

"'The days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when this city [Jerusalem] will be rebuilt for me form the Tower of Hannanel to the Corner Gate. The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the LORD. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished." -- Jeremiah 31:38-40

What's in store for Israel's future?

Chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel describe an invasion from a nation in the far north, with her allies, ending in a miraculous victory for Israel. The invasion is to occur at a time when Israel has dropped its guard, during a time of peace. God will stop this enemy with an earthquake, rain, hailstones and burning sulfur. It will take the Israelis seven months to bury the dead, and seven years to dispose of the rubbish.

There will be a new temple in Israel, and the sacrificial system will be reinstated.

A false Messiah will come (the Antichrist), apparently as the head of a confederation of European states. He will make a treaty with Israel for seven years. In the middle of the seven years he will put an end to the sacrifices in the temple.

Israel will be attacked on every side, but Messiah will finally appear and establish peace.

Conclusion
God has not forgotten his people Israel. If God has made good on his promises to preserve them in their exile, to gather them back, and to restore the land, surely his promises for the future are also reliable -- especially the promise of Messiah.
"So what? I'm not Jewish!"

You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate the Messiah; his work affects everyone. What is his work? Prophecy about Messiah is two-fold: on the one hand he was to "be bruised for our iniquities" and "smitten of God, and afflicted" (Isaiah 53). On the other, he is the heir to the throne of David, to be the king of the Jewish people forever. (Ezekiel 37:25)

Messiah's work is:

1. Spiritual -- To make peace between Man and God.
2. Political -- To make peace on earth.

World peace will someday be a reality, when Messiah brings it. But that is still in the future. Peace with God is available now. Peace in your soul is available now. Messiah Jesus (or "Christ." "Christ" is Greek for "Messiah") has already accomplished the supreme sacrifice that "Takes away the sins of the world." (John 1:29) Salvation is "of the Jewish people" (John 4:22) but for everyone (Rom 1:16). And it's free. Just ask. (Romans 10:13)

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

-- Yeshua. (John 14:27

 

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