ISRAEL

Born into a promise for Abraham's seed,
Through the 12 Sons of Jacob the Tribes were decreed,
They lived loved and thrived with The Lord at their head,
Sometimes they were blessed and sometimes they were bled.

They prospered under Joseph in Egypt afar,
But eventually became slaves, bearing the scars,
But Moses led them out from bondage to free,
To become the great People they were destined to be.

Led by the Lord through the lands of the "Ites",
His strength gave them courage and power to fight,
They conquered all who stood in their way,
Taking their promised land, driving enemies away.

God passed on his Statutes, Rules and Laws,
Taught them his ways and gave them a cause,
He sent Prophets and Judges to keep them in line,
But that didn't always work, only sometimes.

Both good and bad Kings came and went,
David and Solomon the best by a large percent,
The Kingdom was famous and wealthy and grand,
True Milk and Honey and not Desert Sand.

God would send punishment if they strayed off track,
Philistines, Assyrians then Babylonians on the attack,
And the People were taken away from their land,
At the mercy of conquerors and all their demands.

But of course, the time came for punishment to cease,
For God to restore and give the people increase,
So back to Israel they went to rebuild and restore,
And wait for the expected King and Saviour.

But in time came the Greeks and Hellenistic rule,
Maccabean Revolts and Seleucid Fools,
Temple Desecration and Religious Restrictions,
A time of much testing and foreign afflictions.

A short time of freedom and then Romans came,
They made their own rules and play their own game,
Crucified Thousands and enforced Roman law,
Which upset the people like never before.

So Israel rose up and caused a lot of trouble,
Bursting the Roman Governor's bubble,
Until enough was enough, and the Legions came,
And wiped Israel off the map once again.

This latest of Judgements was to last a long time,
A totally different paradigm,
Their Temple and Religion was gone, the people had sinned,
A diasporic nation they were scattered to the wind.

If only they had recognised their God given Messiah,
If only the Priests hadn't treated him as a Pariah,
But they wanted Barabbas when given the choice,
They screamed for him at the top of their voice.

So the Arabs moved in and took over the place,
The Talmud was invented to fill an empty space,
They Jews survived Pogroms, Hatred and Persecution,
The Rabbi's constantly looking for resolution.

But now they are back in their God given Land,
Surrounded by enemies but making their stand,
Prophecy fulfilled, the last days draw near,
A World that knows comfort will soon know great fear.

So please Pray for Israel, Gods chosen people of old,
Because he has a plan for them yet to unfold,
They're a lot tougher now as their enemies learned,
And they're not budging until the Lord's returned.