Israel Today reports that “according to the 2019 edition of the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, which ranks 169 countries according to factors that contribute to overall health. Israel is 25 spots ahead of the United States.” Israel is the 10th healthiest nation in the world. (www.israeltoday.co.il)
Israel continues to be the land that flows with milk and honey. In Ezekiel 20:6, the Bible speaks of the land of Israel as a land “flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.” Israel is one of the few countries in the world that provides its citizens with all the food they eat. They import very little. I know from my tours that the food in Israel is fresh, delicious, tasty, and prepared by Israeli chefs in the hotels where we stay. They also provide us with an incredible variety of foods at each meal.
On August 2, after warning Turkey’s Islamist President Recep Erdogan that he would do so, U.S. President Trump imposed sanctions upon Turkey. President Trump has been calling for the release of an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who was arrested and imprisoned in Turkey in October, 2016 on false charges that he was involved in terrorist activity. For more than a decade, Erdogan has been aggressively and steadily leading Turkey into the radical Islamic fold in the Middle East. While Turkey is still a part of NATO, it has been alarming that no other country in NATO has had the courage to step up and condemn Turkey for its radical Islamic actions in the last decade.
Recently 232 Jews from North America immigrated to their ancient homeland – Israel. There are more Jewish people living in Israel than any other nation. That mark was just reached a few months ago. Since the beginning of the 20th century the world has watched a miracle in the making. According to many biblical prophecies, the Jewish people are doing what no other people group has ever done – go back home and help rebuild a nation that was dead. In both of Mike’s August Bible studies he will speak about this amazing miracle. His message is entitled: “The Miraculous Return of the Jewish People to Israel.”
Israel is now officially recognized within Israel as ‘a Jewish state.’ The “Israel’s Knesset, by a vote of 62-55 with two abstentions, passed the contentious ‘Jewish Nation-State’ bill into law Thursday morning, July 19, making it the 14th Basic Law. ‘122 years after Herzl published his vision, we have stated by law the basic principle of our existence,’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said from the Knesset podium. Arab [representatives] denounced the new law as ‘racist’ and declared that it heralded the ‘death of our democracy.’ The law declares Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people and codifies Jewish symbols of the state, including the Menorah on various official documents and seals, the status of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and national holidays centered around Jewish traditions and customs.” (