Against All Odds

Journalist Michael Greenspan was given an assignment that challenged him beyond anything he expected.  He went to Israel with a film crew to determine if the nation of Israel's amazing survival is a result of miracles.  The stories he heard and research he did caused this believe-no-one, search-it-out-yourself guy to consider the role of God's intervention in the history of modern day Israel. The 2007 13-part documentary called Against All Odds is the result of his assignment.

Echoes of some of the Bible's most amazing stories are a part of the nation of Israel.  In 1917 a company of British solders, led by Major Vivian Gilbert, defeated the Turkish army at Michmash, designing their battle plan after the way Jonathan (King Saul's son) and his armor bearer had routed the Philistines in that very place, three thousand years earlier.  The Turks surrendered and the mayor of Jerusalem handed over the keys of the city to the British army, preparing the way for the rebirth of the nation of Israel.  It was December 9, 1917, the exact day prophesied by Old Testament prophet Daniel.

Just one day after Israel was declared an independent nation in 1948 by the UN, armies from twelve neighboring nations attacked it.  The world watched as, with only five cannons and one tank, Israel fought back and defeated their enemies.

Story after story emerges from modern day Israel's turbulent history.  We see a strong gust of wind that blows across the desert, exposing hundreds of Syrian land mines so that the Israeli soldiers are able to cross to safety; the Jordanian army is closing in on Israeli soldiers who have used their last bullets but the army is turned back when they see, above the Israelis, "Father Abraham"; the eyes of the enemies are blinded hundreds of times to the teenager named Ezra who is carrying supplies for the army; for an hour a battalion of men walk through enemy fire yet not one is harmed; marauding Arabs attempting to destroy a Jewish village are turned back by angels with flaming swords.

There are many scriptures that assure us that God's plan was to restore the nation of Israel.  In Ezekiel 36:24 He said, For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.  This remarkable series, Against All Odds, gives us a glimpse into how He's doing it.