A few years ago in my younger years the Bible teaching we received was the complete Bible not just chosen sections of it. We were taught what Jesus said, how to live a Christian Life, Spiritual growth how from a new convert having milk and the older Christian progressing to stronger meat. We happily preached on street corners the pure Gospel of Jesus and His love and forgiveness. That He was coming again and we had to repent and go to Him for forgiveness. We were also taught of His second coming and the details of it. We knew quite clearly of what we had to do to avoid the terrible things that mankind would bring upon himself if we neglected so great a salvation. Now it seems door after door is closing. Hal Lindsey’s book the “Late Great Planet Earth” opened the eyes of a lot of people and caused them to want to know more. Their eyes were also opened by such men as John Darby, Fred Tatford, John Walvoord and others that pointed out that 25% of the Bible is prophecy of things to come and those who neglected it were not teaching the whole word of God.
One minister in the USA has recently pointed out that these days seem to have gone. He said they used to regularly speak from church to church on the return of the Lord Jesus and could not keep up with demand. Today about 90% of these doors have closed. It is not just indifference. It is outright hostility towards topics that a few years ago generated great enthusiasm. We seem to be in the days of 2 Peter 3:3. The mocking and scoffing generation of end time events. Half the general Church population look with disdain at the Nation of Israel and instead of accepting the creation of that nation as a miracle of God and the fulfilment of prophecy [Ezek Ch 37], they look upon them as evil occupiers who are constantly causing harm to the poor Palestinian’s. Strangely enough those less militant Arab people who live in the land of Israel seem to prefer to be under Israeli rule than that of the local Palestinian’s.
The root of this situation is ignorance. Although the Church leaders seem to be quite happy with the situation, many of their congregation seem to want to know, and certainly a desire by the people in the street to find out is very strong. A few years ago I manned the “Second Coming Stand” for the Open Air Campaigners at the Easter Show in Hamilton. The general public constantly asked about what was going on in the world and did the Bible say anything about it. Strangely many who asked were churchgoers. Satan fights desperately to silence the Church and make Gospel messages weak and lacking in convicting words. As one American Evangelist recently put it; “Satan seems to have successfully closed our pulpits to the message of the second coming”. Our own Ron Diprose wrote a book on the subject of Replacement Theology where a large part of the Christendom has transposed the prophecies about the restoration of the Lord’s earthly people, the Jews, as referring to the Christian Church as they say the Church has replaced Israel. However the Bible says “So I say, Has God put his people on one side? Let there be no such thought. For I am [Paul] of Israel, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not put away the people of his selection.” [Romans 11:1 NKJV].God keeps His promises and the promise to Israel of one day them having their own land, and the Messiah being their king and Saviour will come to pass, God says it will take place. God has said it, it will happen. [Ezek 37:15-23][Dan 2:44-45].
If we just go over the situation where many people have swallowed the propaganda put out by certain Arab leaders. In 1917 when the British army defeated the Turk’s who ruled over the Palestine area it was decided that for the time being it would be made into a British protectorate, as there was no such thing as a Palestinian Nation. This land area was then ruled by Great Britain until after the WW2. The newly founded United Nations asked what was to be done with these lands which covered quite an area which are now called Israel and Jordon. It was ruled that the Jews should have what was deemed their homeland and the Arabs should have Jordon and Syria. The Arab’s did not like this at all as they considered Israeli territory as theirs. After wars in 1948 when Israel was first formed, 1967, and 1973 the Arab’s went away licked their wounds and decided that some more subtle means was necessary. Arafat an Egyptian by birth living in Jordon, was so much trouble to Jordon that he was expelled. He ended up in Israel championing the cause of the Arab’s, who had left Israel when the Jews took over and now could not get back. After a lot of Propaganda he made out that the ex-Palestinian Arabs had had their land stolen by Jews when the land of Israel was formed. There was never any so called Nation of Palestine, it was territory ruled by the Romans, then the Byzantine Empire, and then by the Ottoman Empire until the British took over. Other areas around were ruled by either France or Britain and after the relief from the Ottoman’s by the Allied Armies in 1917. Palestinians were those who lived there, and comprised both Jews and Arabs. The land in that area became in 1948, Israel, Jordon and Syria. The latter two being mainly Arab. Hence the Nation of Israel was formed by the United Nations and has as much right to be in the area as Syria and Jordon have, the rest is just “story telling” by the leaders of the so called Palestinian Arabs. Now after 69 years I think anyone’s claim in the Arab world to the land of Israel is purely imaginary. They are just good liars and story tellers. So don’t believe what people tell you and the only aggressors in the whole business are those who want the Land of Israel.
There is a lot to come before peace comes to the land of Israel. As we finish this subject, just look at Psalm 83, most Biblical scholars think this is a prophecy not just a prayer, as all the nations mentioned, are the old names for the nations who wish to destroy Israel, which they will never do. God has said it and it will happen. [Zech 12:1-5].
Brian D. Papworth