Did God condemn the Jews to wander until Messiah comes but blessed every other tribe of Israel with a national inheritance? Does that make sense? Is God fair? Is Israel so much holier than Judah? Or could it be, as Herbert W. Armstrong taught in The United States and Britain in Prophecy, that Israel's punishment was to last for 2,520 years (Lev. 26:21)?
After that time, around A.D. 1800, because of Abraham's obedience, God decreed that He would bestow His blessings. Did that 2,520 years of punishment apply only to the Northern Kingdom of Israel? Does God have a double standard? Once God removed the Kingdom of Judah wasn't it His responsibility to restore it at the appointed time?
Did the Anglo-Saxon and European peoples take these prophecies into their own hands? Were they able to create their countries with no divine mandate, signs and miracles, or prophetic leadership?
For those who have eyes to see, the biblical countries came into being by divine mandate since only God determines the rise and fall of nations. Many of our founding fathers were inspired of God, in spite of themselves, to accomplish our Manifest Destiny. God's overall plan is greater than any single man.
God stirred up Theodore Herzl to inspire the Jewish people with the biblical idea of having a Jewish State again. He wrote and spoke about it extensively, planting the seed of holy imagination in Judah's mind.
Later, during the British Mandate, the British began to "look favorably" upon the establishment of an independent Jewish Homeland, watering that holy seed. The Balfour Declaration was part of a divine mandate to restore Judah to "Palestine" (a satanic word the Romans used in an evil attempt to erase our father Israel's name off the map - Ps. 83:4).
God utilized political Zionism for His purposes, just as He utilized America's rebellion against the English throne. On the surface, neither were so special or righteous, but both were instrumental in fulfilling prophecy.
As for the treatment of the former inhabitants of the lands that God decreed for His people, whether Arabs or Indians, I'm sure the Canaanites would offer scathing condemnation but others would see God's purpose being worked out, however imperfectly to limited human vision. God addresses any injustices in His own way and time (2 Sam. 21:1-14), but dismisses those charges that exaggerate or exploit them to deny our basic biblical right to the lands He has chosen for us (Acts 17:26).
As the Greeks are representative of all Gentiles, so the Jews are representative of all Israel. It is to Israel, specifically to the Jews, that God has committed the "oracles of God" (Rom. 3:2). The oracles of God includes the DIVINE COVENANTS AND PROMISES (Rom. 9:4-5). The Jews hold, in trust, the biblical land deed/covenant to the Holy Land for all Twelve Tribes.
GOD MADE A LAND-COVENANT WITH ISRAEL (Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 15:18; 17:8; 26:3; 28:13; 35:12). Not once did God promise the Holy Land to the "Palestinians" so Bible-believers must reject their illegitimate claims. Those who attempt to justify foreign occupation of our land or terrible treatment of our people because of our sins are condemning themselves before God (Isa. 47:6; Jer. 50:7; Zech. 1:15).
There are many Scriptures that speak of a REPRESENTATIVE AMOUNT OF JEWS living in Israel before the return of the King Messiah, Yeshua. Shamefully, God's ministers, and consequently the Church of God, have often been blind to what God is doing in Israel today. We've failed to see the wonders that God has wrought, the types that foretell of greater things to come.
We've been ignorant of the biblical principle of duality and have nit-picked the prophecies demanding all or nothing. With that limited vision we would've argued with Peter on Pentecost/Shavuot about Joel's prophecy being fulfilled. However, it certainly was - in part (Acts 2:16-21).
Consider the following:
God promised to "save Zion, and build the cities of Judah" (Ps. 69:35). (He doesn't refer to them as "Palestinian" cities) God has faithfully done that by rewarding Jewish efforts and respecting their blood, sweat and tears (Isa. 61:4; Ps. 102:13-14). God has used the Jews to make the desert blossom as the rose and protected them during this conversion process, just as Moses requested (Deut. 33:7).
I praise God for having blessed me, from Toledo to Jerusalem, to have lived in eight kibbutzim (collective-farms) throughout Israel that have helped to fulfill these pioneer prophecies, including during Operation Desert Storm.
God clearly prophesied through Zechariah chapters 12-14 that the Jews would again be living in their ancient capital of Jerusalem, with their own rulers, and that the "United Nations" would oppose them and ultimately be defeated.
Zechariah also shows the long-awaited recognition of Yeshua by the Jews as God's Son and Judah's Firstborn and the heartfelt repentance of the political (House of David) and religious (House of Levi) establishment. In fact, Yeshua said that the Jews in Jerusalem wouldn't see Him again until they had this necessary change of heart (Matt. 23:39).
Zechariah also reveals that the Jews would again be a formidable military power in the Middle East with God working in and through and for them. Many Israelis know that God has been their true General and performed many miracles on their behalf. I've heard Gershon Salomon, chairman of the Temple Mount Faithful, recount his miraculous experience of divine protection on the Golan Heights many times.
It's important to note that God has inspired the holy prophets to write about real flesh and blood Jews living in Israel - not Jewish imposters.
Why? Because those suffering from the sickness of anti-Semitism are out to spread doubt and confusion about Israel's Jewish identity. They publish slanderous hate literature attempting to poison minds against the Jews by promoting quack racial theories and Nazi propaganda.
It's nothing less than Satan's desperate efforts to deny that God has the power to fulfill prophecy. Bible-believers reject their bitter lies knowing God's Word is true.
Zechariah also agrees with the New Testament prophecies that reveal Jerusalem as a thriving Jewish city that will suffer under a harsh Gentile occupation just before the Messiah arrives in time (Rev. 11:2; Zech. 14:2).
Yeshua will liberate Jerusalem and secure it as His headquarters. Jerusalem, the site of David's Throne, will be the seat of God's government. Yeshua, like the prophet Daniel, foresaw that Jewish-Christians would be living and working in a Jewish State. They'll witness the historic restoration of animal sacrifices and their abrupt cessation by an evil European force, quickly followed by the "abomination of desolation" that triggers World War III (Matt. 24:15-16; Dan. 12:11).
Meanwhile, the Church of God (or select individuals if the Church continues to shirk its responsibility) must ANNOUNCE TO THE CITIES OF JUDAH (the prophecy doesn't refer to them as "Palestinian" cities or "Israeli-occupied") that Messiah's about to appear!
We're to boldly offer Judah the hope and comfort that a TRUE PEACE is coming and to get ready for it (Isa. 40:1-3). We're to help prepare Israel for the shock of a GLORIFIED YESHUA REVEALED AT LAST (vs. 5) and lead them to expect an audience with a DIVINE KING whose ROYAL RADIANCE will illuminate every nation.
We must identify Yeshua as the "Son of Man" from Heaven that Daniel previewed (Dan. 7:13-14), and stress that Zechariah gave an "eyewitness account" of this same DIVINE SAVIOR descending from Heaven to reign as LORD from Jerusalem over the whole earth (Zech. 14:3-4, 9, 16).
Remember this is no small task, and is quite controversial, since the Jews are still looking forward to a human leader to save them from all their troubles.
The Two Witnesses will be the most influential in reaching the cities of Judah from Jerusalem (Isa. 40:9; 52:7-8), effectively knowing their mindset and culture (unlike so many others), but the Church of God should still do what we can now.
These exciting Scriptures clearly prove (they're not assumptions) that with God nothing is impossible: the Jews would again be living in an independent Israel, resurrected from the dust of history just prior to Messiah's coming, with Jerusalem as their capital, complete with an effective fighting force, having been restored to their ancient cities and energetically transforming the land from barren desert to productive fields - all with God's blessing (Ezek. 37:1-14).
These Scriptures glorify God as faithful and we should praise Him that His Word is good and true. Amen.
| David Ben-Ariel is a Christian Zionist writer in Ohio and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog. |
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