Gary Varvel: Past Iowa Caucus winners

Plus: Why Israel is called God's chosen people

Jan 17, 2024

I drew this cartoon before the Iowa Caucus for Counterpoint.Substack.com. The only point I’m making is that the 4 winners of the Iowa Caucus have failed to win the White House. Perhaps, Donald Trump’s landslide victory is a snapshot of a nation that is sick and tired of President Biden’s failed policies.

I hear from conservatives who don’t like the former President. I get it. I do. But barring a miracle from God, it looks like people are asking themselves, “am I better off today than I was 4 years ago?” Others are infuriated with Democrat prosecutors’ trumped up court cases and ballot banning. Still others want to return to the energy independence and booming economy and believe Trump 2.0 will deliver.

I’m asking for God’s will to be done in America as it is in heaven. I’m trusting in:

Daniel 2:20-21 which says, ““Praise the name of God forever and ever,
for he has all wisdom and power.
²¹He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.”

GOD’S CHOSEN

Dallas Jenkins’ popular TV show is called, “The Chosen.” The Jewish people are called God’s chosen people.

Deuteronomy 7:6 says, “You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.”

But why? Why did God choose the Jewish people and what are they chosen for?

My goal in this series is three-fold: To increase the faith of believers, to lead unbelievers to the truth and to help everyone understand God’s plan for Israel’s past, present and future.

If you think it’s not fair that God chose one nation as his favorite, consider what one Jewish prophet wrote:

“You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.” (Amos 3:2) Yikes.

Remember: “To whom much is given, much is required…” (Luke 12:48)

ISRAEL’S PURPOSE

What was Israel chosen to do?

In Romans 9:4-5, the Apostle Paul lists the benefits that God gave to Israel. The 3 main jobs God chose them to do are:

Through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s descendants, a Savior would be born who would die for the sins of all nations.
Abraham’s descendants were to receive and record the word of God so that the rest of the nations could know God.
Abraham’s descendants were supposed to evangelize — spread the knowledge of God to rest of the nations.

Has Israel fulfilled God’s purpose?

Well, as prophesied, a Jewish virgin gave birth to Jesus, the Messiah (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 2:7). But the Jewish people failed to recognize Him as their Messiah, they rejected Him and the Romans crucified Him. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to His followers.
God’s word was written down by Moses, the prophets and other Jewish writers. Then scribes made copies for the world to see.
But the Jews failed to evangelize the rest of the nations.

Although the Jewish disciples of Jesus Christ started the first Christian church which was made up of thousands of Jewish believers, most of the followers of Christ today are Gentiles.

According to a 2021 Pew Research poll, only 26 percent of Jews believe in the God of the Bible. And only 1 percent of Jews believe in Jesus today. One for Israel is just one of several ministries that are reaching Israelis with the Good News of Yeshua (Jesus). A Jerusalem Post story reports that there are 280 confirmed fellowships in Israel with 15,323 Jewish people who worship Jesus.

This is one example that there is a growing remnant of Jewish followers of Jesus today.

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he told the Jews, “I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Matthew 23:39)

The Bible said this unbelief would happen. But God has a plan to change Israel’s unbelief to faith which I plan to cover in Part 3: The future of God’s Chosen.

Part 2 coming Friday: Biblical history of God’s chosen

RIGHT VIEWS

Fox News Business: NO CHARGE! Chicago-area Tesla charging stations lined with dead cars in freezing cold: 'A bunch of dead robots out here.'

HUMOR ME

HUMOR ME: Fix my cartoon with a snarky remark. Email your entries to gary@garyvarvel.com. Winners announced in Friday’s newsletter for paid subscribers.

Thanks for what you do. I work for OFI and was pleasantly surprised to see the mention in your lesson on "God's Chosen." If you have any questions about the ministry in Israel or what God is doing through OFI, shoot me an email at trent(at)oneforisrael(dot)org. Keep up the great work, Brother. In HIm, Trent

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1 reply by Gary Varvel

Kevin Dzuban

Excellent lesson on "God's Chosen." Looking forward to your take on the 144,000 evangelistic Jews in Revelation – which I suppose will make up for the Jewish failure to honor Jesus thus far.

2 more comments...

Gary Varvel: Past Iowa Caucus winners

Plus: Why Israel is called God's chosen people

GOD’S CHOSEN

ISRAEL’S PURPOSE

Part 2 coming Friday: Biblical history of God’s chosen

RIGHT VIEWS

HUMOR ME

My latest essay series:

My Series of Essays on God’s Timeline

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