Israel Today
Dec.13, 2000

Christians for the most part find themselves in sympathy with the tiny nation of Israel. That, in part, is because Israel is perceived as the underdog in a struggle for survival in which the whole world seems to be aligned against them. In reality, however, there is probably more to it than just sympathy for the underdog. After all, the press, by and large, seems to convey the idea that it is the Palestinians who are the underdog and should gain the world's sympathy.

Christians––at least serious Christians––are influenced in their thinking by the Bible they read. They know where their roots are. They identify with names like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and are aware that Jesus Christ, their living Savior, is the Son of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They are also aware that God, in His Word, promised the land to Israel and pre-wrote through prophecy the present day history of that nation and her struggles to occupy the land. Therefore, as that history unfolds exactly according to the prophecy, Christians tend to align themselves on the side of the prophets.

It sometimes seems frustrating to see Israel, to whom the prophets were sent, through whom the Savior of the world was born and to whom He is coming again as their king, struggling in unbelief against a people who have been pledged to their total destruction for centuries. The final outcome is secure because of God's promise, but the path to that final outcome is paved with immense suffering because of their refusal to believe the God who is visibly fulfilling His promise in spite of their stubborn unbelief.

Perhaps world opinion perceives Israel as a fledgling nation that had its beginning in 1948 when "Palestine" was designated as the place for its conception. Such a view, of course, would ignore four thousand years of recorded Israeli history. Israel's deed to the land it now occupies goes back, not 5 decades to 1948, but 4 millennia to about 1920 BC when God promised the land to Abraham.

Abraham, by birth, was a citizen of Ur of the Chaldees, a city near Babylon which would lie in what is now Iraq. God called him to go to a land that he would show him. Abraham obeyed, and the Lord directed him to the land of the Canaanites. Abraham, contrary to God's direction, took with him his nephew Lot. It was not until Lot was separated from him that God showed Abraham the scope of his new inheritance.

"The Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, 'Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward and southward and eastward and westward: for all the land that thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever…arise, walk through the land in the length of it and the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.' Then Abram removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there and altar unto the LORD (Jehovah)" Gen.13:14-18

For the next 730 years the history of Abraham's family unfolded, during which time the family branch upon which the focus of the spotlight of that promise would fall became evident.

God spoke to Abram saying, "…'He that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.' And He brought him forth, and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars if thou be able to number them:' and He said unto him, 'So shall thy seed be.'…'I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it.' " Gen. 15:4-7 "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, 'unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates.' " Gen. 15:18

To Abraham were born two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. "Abraham said unto God, 'O that Ishmael might live before thee!' And God said, 'Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee…but my covenant will I establish with Isaac…' "

Later, conflict arose between Ishmael, who had been born to Abraham through a household servant girl, and Isaac who had been born to Abraham through his wife, Sarah. Sarah said to Abraham, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." When Abraham found that Grievous, God confirmed Sarah's command. God said, "Hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called."

Isaac became Abraham's heir, and Ishmael became the father of twelve adversarial nations. And that remains the case to this day. Isaac, in the course of time fathered a son named Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel. Israel was the father of twelve sons who were the patriarchs of the twelve tribes that comprise the nation of Israel to this day.

At the time God promised the land to Abram He told him also that his descendants would be servants for four hundred years in a land that was not theirs. Gen. 15:13 This came to pass. When the family of Jacob numbered only seventy souls they migrated from Canaan (Palestine) to Egypt because of a devastating drought that had created a famine. There, exactly as God had foretold, they became slaves to the Egyptians. About four hundred years later, when God led them out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses, they were a nation of over two million people returning to the land that God had promised Abraham many years before. Moses died before they crossed the Jordan River into Canaan's land. However, he had already conquered the inhabitants of what we know today as the country of Jordan, which was part of God's promised land, and had deeded it to the tribes of Rueben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh. (see Numbers chapter 32)

Joshua succeeded Moses. He led Israel across the Jordan River, and under his leadership the rest of the land that God had promised them was occupied. It is on the basis of this ancient inheritance that Israel stakes its claim to the land and to the city of Jerusalem which is its ancient capital. More than a thousand years BC the first temple was built there for the worship of Jehovah, and nearly fifty years before that Jerusalem was declared the capital city of the nation of Israel. This history is indisputable being recorded by both biblical and secular historians. The book of Joshua describes the possession of the land, its borders and the divisions among the tribes. No piece of historic literature could be more available to anyone interested in researching these facts.

But many a political campaign has been won by convincing the voters of the veracity of some myth, by inventing some fraudulent track record, by taking a position on an issue with no intention to stand there, or by making promises while intending never to honor them. We understand that because we experience elections every four years. We see the distortions of the truth and we realize that they are believed as credible by an astonishing number of people too lazy to check the facts, or too gullible to see the inconsistencies that discredit the claims.

But no one has successfully hatched a more preposterous story than the so-called Palestinians under terrorist Yassar Arafat. They have invented a role that never was, a history without any basis of fact, and a religious heritage that is as imaginary as Alice in Wonderland or the Wizard of Oz. They have manufactured out of whole cloth a nationality, a history and a heritage that has never existed, but has been accepted without question by a large percentage of the world. They have conjured enough credibility that the legitimate nation they seek to deceive, displace and annihilate has been lured into negotiations with a totally bogus usurper.

Joseph Farah, who describes himself as an Arab-American journalist, writing for WorldNetDaily notes with interest that prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, there was no serious movement for a Palestinian homeland. He observes that in the six-day war, Israel repossessed Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem, but not from Yassar Arafat. They captured them from Jordan's King Hussein. "I can't help but wonder" Farah says, "why all these Palestinians suddenly discovered their national identity after Israel won the war."

"The truth is that Palestine is no more real than Never-Never Land," says Farah. In 70 AD the Romans attacked Jerusalem, destroying the temple and endeavoring to bring the nation of Israel to an end. They called the land Palestine, after the Philistines, whom Israel had conquered many generations previous. That name has stuck to the territory which has, until 1948 been controlled by powers other than the local inhabitants. Besides the Romans it has been ruled in more recent times by the Ottoman Empire, and from World War I until 1948 by the British. During that time Arabs have lived there, and Jews also have resided in the land of Palestine, but it has not been an identifiable nationality.

"Palestine has never existed––before or since––as an autonomous entity" says Joseph Farah in a column dated Oct. 11, 2000. "There is no language known as Palestinian. There is no distinct Palestinian culture. There has never been a Palestinian land governed by Palestinians."

The land divided by Moses to two and a half tribes of Israel on the east side of the Jordan River was taken by war from the kings of Moab, Ammon and Bashan, three nations which comprised most of what is Jordan today. (see Numbers 21: 10-25). The nation of Israel, because of idolatry and disobedience to God, was later dispersed from the land that God had given them to be theirs forever. But God promised that in the latter days He would restore them to their inheritance, and that they would ultimately live there in peace under the divine reign of their Messiah, Jesus, son of David.

During the time of their dispersion the land of promise has been in other hands. God's word declared that the Holy places of Israel would be trodden under the foot of Gentiles for a time. That has been the case. In 1923 that portion of Israel's land east of the Jordan River, under British rule was named Jordan. In 1946 it along with a portion of the west bank became an independent Arab Nation under the rule of King Hussein. In 1948 Israel was restored to a portion of her land against the vehement protests of the surrounding Arab nations who swore to drive her out of the land and into the sea.

A extremist group was formed under the leadership of terrorist Yassar Arafat, calling itself the Palestine Liberation Organization, dedicated to the demise of the nation of Israel. On July 31 1988, since Israel had now repossessed it, Jordan's King Hussein announced that he would cede the West Bank to the PLO and abandon the area ruled by his family from 1948 to 1967.

This has added fuel to the passion of the PLO to destroy Israel. It has also given them some legitimacy in the eyes of the world who think they are a displaced people with a right to be restored to their own nation. Not so! They are in fact bandits who have acquired a questionable deed to a piece of property that is not theirs as recently as twelve years ago. This does not make them a nation or give them a nationality.

No doubt there are some moderate voices among the Palestinians, but to understand the Arab-Israeli conflict one must realize that the objective of the PLO, indeed of most of the Arab world, is to eliminate Israel. Journalist David Kupelian, writing for WorldNetDaily on Dec.4, 2000 said, "Based on an enmity many trace back to Abraham, most Arab leaders …still cling to "Jihad", the struggle to "reclaim Palestine" as a holy mission. …Current Mideast leaders … continually fan the ancient fires of hatred toward Israel that first burst into flame against the modern Jewish state one day after its establishment in 1948."

"This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacre and the crusades," said Arab League Secretary General Azzam Pasha on May 15, 1948 when one day after Israel declared its independence five Arab armies invaded the new state.

Regardless of negotiations and even promises that the PLO may make, their purpose remains unchanged. Following are a few of the thousands of notable quotes, which reveal the mindset of Israel's Arab enemies.

"The Arab nations should sacrifice up to 10 million of their 50 million people, if necessary to wipe out Israel … Israel to the Arab world is like a cancer to the human body, and the only way of remedy is to uproot it, just like a cancer." Sud ibn Abdul Aziz, King of Saudi Arabia, AP Jan. 9, 1954.

"There has been no change whatsoever in the fundamental strategy of the PLO, which is based on the total liberation of Palestine and the destruction of the occupying country. … On no account will the Palestinians accept part of Palestine and call it the Palestinian state, while forfeiting the remaining areas which are called the State of Israel." Rafiq Najshah, PLO representative in Saudi Arabia, June 9, 1980.

"The struggle with the Zionist enemy is not a struggle about Israel's borders, but about Israel's existence. We will never agree to anything less than the return of all our land and the establishment of the independent state." Bassam Abu Sharif, a top Arafat aide and PLO spokesman, May 31, 1986

"The establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip does not contradict our ultimate strategic aim, which is the establishment of a democratic state in the entire territory of Palestine, but rather a step in that direction." Salah Khalaf, Jan.25, 1988

"We will enter Jerusalem victoriously and raise our flag on its walls … We will fight you [Israelis] with stones, rifles, and 'El-Abed' [Iraqi missile]." Yassar Arafat, March 29, 1990.

"The hands of the U.S. are fully stained with the blood of the Palestinians. There is only one possible solution to unrest in the Middle East, namely the annihilation and destruction of the Zionist state." Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Kamenei, Dec. 31, 1999.

A most remarkable aspect of this vicious war against Israel is "Jihad". It is a religious exercise carried out ostensibly to liberate Islam's holiest sites. Children are indoctrinated almost from birth to hate Israel and to believe that their greatest hope for Paradise is to die in Jihad. Indeed, failure to participate in Jihad, many children are taught, will bring upon them the wrath of Allah.

But one is caused to wonder why the Muslims regard Jerusalem as one of their Holy sites since it is never mentioned in the Q'uran. Muslims do not make pilgrimages to Jerusalem, but to Mecca. They don't pray toward Jerusalem, they pray toward Mecca. When they are called to prayer in Jerusalem they turn their backs on their so-called holy sites and pray toward Mecca. We who are not Muslims do not understand.

However, one thing we do understand, the ancient hatred of Ishmael's descendants for the children of Jacob will not be resolved by negotiations as long as the PLO is fanatically committed to the religious conviction that Israel must be annihilated. This bitter engagement will continue as new generations are taught from infancy that it is the will of Allah that Israel be driven from the land, and it is their religious duty to help make it happen.

The Word of God teaches us that the tension will escalate until all nations are gathered together against Jerusalem to battle. The Prophet Zechariah forewarns that Israel will suffer the loss of two thirds of her people and will still remain in the land. We do not know what events will precipitate the offensive of all nations against this tiny land, but we do know that Israel, in spite of the most brutal and devastating losses, will occupy it until the end. In fact it would seem, from Zechariah's report, that it is these trials that will turn the nation of Israel ultimately to seek his Messiah. Come quickly Lord Jesus.

The portion of Jordan outlined constitutes the the kingdoms of Edom, Ammon and Bashan which fell to the Israelites before they crossed Jordan to occupy the Land of the Canaanites. All that land was given to Israel forever.