Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, “and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’ Gen 48:3-4NKJV]
With the decision of the President Trumps government to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the fuss made by the Arab’s is very similar to the fuss made when Winston Churchill and President Eisenhower pushed through the United Nations, the allocation of the land area of Palestine to the Jews in 1948. The Jews had been through the most terrible case of gendercide where well over 6 million Jews had been exterminated in gas chambers by the Nazi hate machine, and now the survivors had no hope. Most lost their families, their livelihood and their homes. They had nothing. When Israel came into being in 1948, it gave them a place to go. No sooner had they arrived than the Arab’s attacked them with their armies. It appears it was God’s time to act and Israel’s fledgling army with very little equipment and untrained soldiers, but with God’s help, defeated the combined Arab armies of Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Saudi-Arabia. The cease fire line did not give Israel the West Bank or Gaza. It was not until in 1967 when the Arab armies once again tried to drive the nation of Israel into the sea, that they found that this time, Israel had a very much better army than before and Israel proceeded to teach the Arab’s a lesson by regaining, Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including the wailing wall and the Temple area.
Since this time Israel has remained under threat. The Arabs; regardless of the original resolution 181 of the United Nations where agreement for a Jewish nation in the Promised Land was passed, have not been happy with the division of the land and are trying to destroy Israel. The original concept was for the Jews to have Palestine and the Arabs to have the other mandated territory which was Jordon and Syria. All the noise put up by the Arabs ended with Jordon being all Arab and the remaining Palestine being divided. There seems to be a worldwide force propelling nations, not involved, to be against Israel and all it stands for. Believe it or not, many Christians and Christian organisations are against Israel in spite of God’s Word. “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counsellor?” “Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?” For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. [Rom 11:25-32 NKJV]. Yes all Israel will be saved and Christ will reign and be their King.
In Ezekiel 36 a wonderful promise is given to Israel which is in the process of being fulfilled before our eyes. The scorn and persecution of the world’s nations will melt away as they see Israel being re-created, and eventually turning to their Saviour. In Ezekiel 37 we see a description of Israel as it is, where it is like a valley of dry bones. Slowly they will grow into a people and then find their Saviour [Zech 12:10-14][Zech 13:1] the bones will grow into a nation and come alive to be a great kingdom under their Lord and Saviour.
People talk about Israel occupying part of Palestine, but in fact it is the Palestinians who are the occupiers. Israel has been given this land by God for an inheritance and no-one has the right to dispute it, or try and take it away or destroy it. In the theme music from the film Exodus some wonderful words were written by Pat Boone. “This land is mine, God gave this land to me, this brave and ancient land to me, and when the morning sun reveals her hills and plains, then I see a land where children can run free.” After years of persecution then at last the Jews could live without fear of persecution. It was theirs given to them by God.
The Temple Mount is the other bone of contention. The Mountain of Moriah or the Temple Mount as it is now referred to, was set aside by David when a plague against Israel was stopped there. The Temple Mount or Mount Moriah was bought by David on which to build an Alter to worship God after God stopped the plague. Solomon built the First Temple on that site [1 Ch 21:18-28][2 Ch 3:1]. The Second Temple was built there until it was destroyed by Titus and his army in 70AD. When the Muslims conquered the land and the Otterman’s ruled on this site they built the Dome of the Rock [692AD]. This has been a very much bone of contention since Israel took back Jerusalem. Under the peace agreement after the 1967 war, Israel handed back control of the site, the most holy site in Judaism and Christianity and the third most holy site in Islam, to the Waqf, the Jordanian group who guard the Temple Mount. The Mount at the moment has three buildings on it, the al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and the Dome of the Chain. The Dome of the Rock is situated where the Jews have been promised in the Bible the Third Temple will be built. Details of this Temple are given in Ezekiel Chapters 40 to 44. This will be built, we don’t know when, but at the moment Islam jealously guards the Temple Mount against the presence of the Jews on site. There is a great gulf between the present status of the Mount and the one that will see the Third Temple built and the time when the Lord returns to the Holy of Holies. [Ezek 43]. It will happen but when and how, remains an unanswered question. But it will, God said so.
Brian D Papworth
Representative for PWMI in the South Pacific.