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INTRODUCTION: Middle East conflicts are in the news daily. The Bible teaches that Jerusalem will be the focal point of the world's unrest in the final days. I continue an extremely brief and necessarily incomplete outline of Jerusalem and Israel. I hope this outline will encourage you to study more about the most important city of God, a city sacred to both Jews and Christians. In the last newsletter, I briefly discussed the early history of Jerusalem and Israel.
FOLLOW-UP FROM LAST WEEK: I omitted from last week's newsletter part of history I wished to mention, and I will briefly outline this history as follows:
During Roman rule and Rome's eventual adoption of Christianity (under Constantine the Great [AD 303-337]), Jerusalem became a distinctly Christian city. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built over the traditional site of Jesus' burial. Numerous Christians made pilgrimages to this and other holy sites.
The Turkish dynasty of the Seljuks ruled Jerusalem cruelly during the eleventh century, and began expanding their territory toward Europe. Alarmed at Turkish control of Christian holy sites and Turkish expansion toward Europe, Pope Urban II organized the First Crusade. He encouraged Christians to travel to the Middle East to regain control of significant Christian holy sites. In AD 1099, Godfrey of Bouillon captured Jerusalem for the Crusaders.
The "Christian" Crusaders slaughtered Muslims and Jews with abandonment, and proved to be extremely cruel rulers. Some crusaders occupied the Temple Mount and began digging there. What they found is only conjecture, but some believe they found great treasure buried by the Jews during the conflicts with the Roman legions. After years of digging, these "poor knights" sworn to defend Christianity became known in ca AD 1118 as the Knights Templar (Knights of the Temple). The "poor" Knights Templar returned to Europe, all wealthy beyond belief. They established Europe's banking system, which has been extended to today's central banks of the world's nations. The Masonic Order (Freemasonry) sprang from the Knights Templar.
In AD 1187, the Muslims, under Saladin, recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders. In AD 1517, the Ottomans captured Jerusalem. Jerusalem remained part of the Ottoman Empire until the twentieth century (the end of World War I), and Jerusalem remained a poor, neglected, sparsely populated village.
PRESENT-DAY JERUSALEM: Recall that the Jews have been dispersed into all nations, a period known as the Diaspora. The Diaspora actually began in ca. 605 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar began enslaving the Jews and exiling them to Babylon. For various reasons, Jews have never completely controlled the Promised Land (the land promised by a covenant of God to Abraham and his seed). Because Israel has been trampled upon by Gentiles during this time, it has been called "the time of the Gentiles." Recall that present-day Israel (Palestine) was part of the Ottoman Empire, a Muslim empire during this time centered in present-day Turkey.
The Ottomans neglected Palestine. The land was divided into several districts (sanjaks), but little official attention was paid to the people living in this land. Jerusalem— assumed to be "the farthest mosque," named Al-Quds— is mentioned in the Koran but never identified by a proper name.
In 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, an Alsatian Jew, was courtmartialled on charges of espionage for Germany and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island. By 1896, it was evident that Dreyfus was innocent, but the French government hid proof of his innocence. The injustice was eventually exposed, and this matter— known as the Dreyfus affair— divided Europeans' loyalties and fueled anti-Semitism. The reporter who exposed Dreyfus’ innocence, Theodore Herzl, concluded that Jews could never be accepted in a Gentile world.
After beginning a dialog with European Jewish leaders about the treatment of Jews, Zionism was born. Zionism, named after Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, stressed the need for a Jewish homeland in the Middle East.
Meeting in 1897, Zionists asked Great Britain to establish such a homeland in the British colony of Uganda. This request was refused. God surely intervened and caused rejection of this suggestion, because He never intended for Abraham’s children— God’s Chosen People— to occupy Uganda.
Instead of giving the Zionists land in the British Empire, Great Britain suggested the Jews should return to their ancestral home of Palestine. Palestine at that time was an almost completely neglected part of the Ottoman Empire. Some European Jews did re-locate in Palestine, but most stayed in Europe. Life in Palestine was difficult and dangerous, whereas life in Europe was easier, more refined, and safer.
During World War I (1914-1918), a British scientist and a Jew, Chaim Weizmann, developed synthetic acetone. Although this discovery may seem unimpressive, it permitted Britain and her allies to manufacture smokeless gunpowder. Before this discovery, battlefields became seas of smoke after a few volleys of gunfire. Artillery and rifle fire was inaccurate, as soldiers could not see their targets. Armies could not fire with precision, and often mistakenly fired upon their own positions. Smokeless gunpowder shifted the advantage of war to the Allies and shortened the war effort.
A grateful British government asked Dr. Weizmann what "boon" (reward) they could give him in recognition of his contribution to the war effort. Weizmann, a Zionist leader, asked that his "boon" only be that his people (the Jews) would be given a national homeland. Lord Balfour, a high-ranking British official, had become interested in the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy, especially through the prophecy interpretation writings of John Darby.
Balfour, favoring a Jewish homeland, wrote a brief, supportive letter. This letter, dated November 2, 1917, became known as the Balfour Declaration, and reads as follows:
— — — — —
Dear Lord Rothschild:
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by the Cabinet. "His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country." I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation. Yours sincerely,
— — — — — The Balfour Declaration became a significant document in the formation of Israel. This document was the first political recognition of Zionist aspirations by a global power (Great Britain). During World War I, British policy shifted toward the idea of establishing a Jewish home in what was then called "Palestine" (Eretz Yisrael). The Ottoman Empire, a Muslim empire, controlled the Holy Lands for four centuries (1517 - 1917). The Ottoman Empire was defeated along with her ally, Germany, and lost the Holy Lands at the end of World War I. Great Britain assumed control of Jerusalem in 1917, and legally became responsible for administration of the city in 1922, under a mandate of the League of Nations. This mandate divided the Middle East holdings of the Ottoman Empire between two peoples— the Arabs and the Jews. The Arabs were awarded 80 per cent, the Jews 20 per cent of the land. Even though the Palestine awarded to the Jews was desolate, in ruins, and sparsely populated, the Arabs became intensely jealous of the neglected wasteland awarded to the Jews. Under British rule, the Jews and Arabs segregated themselves into different parts of the Holy Land, age-old hatreds were rekindled, and the struggle for Jerusalem and Palestine was intensified. Mark Twain visited Palestine in 1867, and commented on the sad, disgraceful place this once mighty gift from God had become. The British Empire appointed Haj Amin al-Husseini, a radical Muslim and passionate Jew-hater, to be the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. He campaigned to recognize Jerusalem as Islam’s third holiest city. (The order of Islamic "holiness" is: Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem.) Under Nazi control of Germany a few years later, Husseini immigrated to Germany to support the Nazis during World War II. He openly gloated about the Nazi death camps in which millions of Jews were murdered. Of interest, Husseini’s grandson later became a member of Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority cabinet. The British Empire had been courting Arabs even before World War I ended for two reasons:
Arthur James Balfour
Great Britain stayed busy between the world wars, making deals with a number of countries, such as the Sykes-Picot Agreement. I will not attempt to summarize these agreements, except to say that they often were contradictory and promised the same land to different peoples. Many groups found favor with the British in closed rooms, it seems.
At the end of World War I, Britain was in the uncomfortable position of having promised all things to all people. To resolve the problem, French and British leaders took a map of the Middle East and drew freehand borders of countries— creating Syria and Lebanon and dividing former Mesopotamia into Iraq and Transjordan. When the British sought to honor the Balfour Agreement and give Palestine to the Jews, the Arabs protested, demanding Palestine as well, by citing another contradictory document, the McMahon Declaration.
French and British diplomats showed complete lack of understanding of the Middle East and insensitive disregard for customs and ethnic alliances. They drew national borders through ancient tribal lands, placing the same tribe in two different countries. They placed ancient enemies together in the same country. They set up a geographical and political situation which was destined only to a perpetual state of hostilities and war. After the 1921 San Remo Conference, the British further reneged on the Balfour Declaration, stating their officials had earlier "misspoken," that His Majesty’s government did not mean that all of Palestine should become a Jewish state, but only part of it.
In following years, British policy repeatedly changed, with increasing favor being shown to the Arabs. In 1939, the British government even asked the Nazi government to "discourage travel" of Jews to Palestine. These Jews, in reality, were only attempting to escape Nazi persecution.
Consider this: Only God knows how many Jews were exterminated in Nazi concentration camps because they could not flee to a Jewish homeland in the Middle East. Jews were not the only ones to suffer from this shameful policy, however. Before World War II, the British Empire was the dominant empire in the world. Great Britain prided itself that it was the empire "on whose flag the sun never sets." Thereafter in just a few years, the empire crumbled. Colonies, influence, and power were lost. The British government is now only a shadow of the world power it once was. God’s promise to Abram (Abraham) in the Abrahamic Covenant is forever relevant (Genesis 12:3a): "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you...." This promise has been invoked before Great Britain felt God's punishment. For example, Spain declined in standing, wealth, and importance after persecution of the Jews in the fifteenth century. This promise stands today as a warning to America. If America turns her back on Israel, which appears to be happening, God will surely judge (punish) America. In fact, judgment may have already commenced.
In the 1930s, Germany, the loser in World War I, faced not only the humiliation of defeat but was also deeply affected by the grinding poverty of the worldwide Great Depression. From this background of German discontent and shame rose a Satan-possessed leader, Adolf Hitler and his evil Nazi Party. Hitler soon found a scapegoat on which to blame Germany’s defeat and poverty— the Jews. At first, the Nazis only stole the Jews’ property and herded them together in ghettos. The Nazis later invoked the Final Solution. This solution was to cleanse (exterminate) Jews and other "inferior people" from the face of the earth. Jews were sent to concentration camps in occupied Poland and elsewhere. They were used for slave labor. They were slaughtered like domestic animals— their fat rendered into soap, their skin made into lampshades, their bones sold as fertilizer, and their gold dental crowns deposited in the national treasury. With typical German efficiency, Jews were herded into gas chambers for mass executions. A commonly accepted number is that the Nazis coldly murdered six-million Jewish men, women, and children for no reason, except that they were children of Father Abraham.
After World War II, two sentiments emerged:
Goodwill toward Jews soon faded, though. When the photographs and stories from the concentration camps faded from memory, "pitiful Jews" soon became "problem refugees." All of the Jews’ property had been confiscated or destroyed during the war. Surviving Jews had no home, no money, no property. They were at the mercy of the governments which had conquered the Nazis.
Following World War II, Zionism changed from a religious ideology to a passionate desire for self-preservation and self-determination. Zionists argued that Jews would be safe only if they had a homeland of their own. In 1947, the United Nations (UN) proposed that Palestine be divided into a Jewish State and a Palestinian (Arab) State, and that Jerusalem would belong to neither, but would remain an open city under international control. The Arabs rejected this U.N. Partition Plan. The Jews declared an independent state of Israel, and occupied a tiny sliver of land along the Mediterranean Sea on May 15, 1948. Surviving European Jews— formerly the doctors, lawyers, musicians, merchants, and teachers of Europe— became Israelis in Palestine— men and women ill-equipped for frontier life in a hostile land. They once again sought just to survive.
Upon learning of the establishment of a Jewish state, Muslims began pouring into Palestine. British immigration policy discriminated against Jewish immigration, but favored Arab immigration. The British government disarmed the Jews, while heavily arming the Muslims. However, Jews smuggled in weapons to defend themselves with great cunning and certainly with God’s help. Jews claimed a small strip of land in the Middle East, calling it Israel, on May 14, 1948. On the very next day (May 15, 1948), a greatly superior force of Arabs, the Arab League, attacked the Jewish settlers, with the sole purpose of driving the Jews completely out of their new land. This still is the goal of Arabs, the sons and daughters of Abraham through Ishmael, to expel from the Holy Land the Jews, the sons and daughters of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob.
The Jews were greatly outnumbered by manpower, weapons, and military training. By all human reasoning, the Arabs should have easily won. But, the Jews won! It did not matter how many soldiers or how many weapons the Arabs had, the Israelis had One more "Soldier." That One was the Lord God Himself! God’s Word had promised that He would bring the Jews to their Promised Land one last time, and that they would never be defeated or divided again. God faithfully keeps His promises. There is no nation or group of nations in the world which can defeat Israel now, because the hand of God protects this nation for His purpose. To know God’s promise to return the Jews to their land one last time, never again to be defeated or divided, read Ezekiel, chapters 36 and 37, including Ezekiel 37:21:23: "Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God."'"
During 1948-1949, the Jews fought the War of Independence. During this war, forces from the Kingdom of Jordan succeeded in dividing Jerusalem. At war's end, Jordan (Arabs) controlled East Jerusalem (including the holy sites in the Old City) and Jews (Israelis) controlled West Jerusalem.
Over-confident Arab leaders in 1948 encouraged Muslims to leave Israel, to remove Arabs from danger, while they purged Jews from the land. The intention was that Arabs would return and claim the entire land, without the presence of Jews. The Arab refugees were not absorbed into Arab countries, even though vast land was available for them. The Arabs failed to claim the Jews' land because Israel was not defeated and Jews still owned the land. This self-inflicted dilemma is the origin of the Palestinian "refugee" problem, so dramatically presented in liberal media newscasts. Note well:: "Palestinian refugees" fled Israel through Arab leaders' plotting, not because of actions of the Israeli government.
In 1950, Israel proclaimed Jerusalem to be her capital. In 1980, Israel strengthened her claim on Jerusalem, by calling Jerusalem the "eternal capital" of Israel. Between 1949 and 1967, both sides fortified the dividing line between East Jerusalem and West Jerusalem.
In 1967, Jordanian forces in East Jerusalem began shelling Jewish positions in West Jerusalem, and the Six-Day War commenced. The Israelis won this war, gaining land of tremendous strategic importance, expanding Israel's border, and reuniting Jerusalem. Ownership of this captured land— Golan, Gaza, and the West Bank (former Judea and Samaria) and Jerusalem— has been a source of intense contention since 1967.
Palestinian Arabs were offered Israeli citizenship, but the majority of them declined. Jews and Arabs became more segregated in Jerusalem, with the Jews living almost exclusively in West Jerusalem and the Arabs forming a majority in East Jerusalem (including the Old City and the Temple Mount).
The Temple Mount is a 35-acre tract of land, which contains holy sites for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The First (Solomon's) and Second (Herod's) Temples were built on this site, and the Third (Elijah's) Temple must be built here in the future.
As prophesied, dissension over Jerusalem has deepened; hostilities have become open and frequently violent. In 1993, secret Jewish-Arab negotiations resulted in the Oslo Accords and the subsequent Declaration of Principles. Among other provisions, the Palestinian responsibility over most aspects of life in the Gaza Strip and urban areas of the West Bank resulted, through a new administrative body, the Palestinian Authority (P.A.). Palestinian elections were provided for. The first election in 1996 elevated Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman Yasser Arafat to become the P.A. president.
Soon after the election, Israeli-Palestinian negotiations were scheduled to continue. Anti-Israeli terrorism by the Palestinians escalated. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995. A stronger Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stalled the peace talks in 1997. Netanyahu made some concessions to the Palestinians, e.g., the removal of Israeli troops from the West Bank town of Hebron, but also provoked the Palestinians, e.g., the establishment of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem.
In October 1998, Netanyahu and Arafat signed a land-for-security agreement, which provided the following:
In November 1998, Israel made the first of three scheduled withdrawals from the West Bank, but shortly thereafter voided the agreement, claiming that the P.A. had not kept its part of the agreement. The peace process concerning eventual disposition of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank stalled once again.
In 1999, Netanyahu was defeated by Ehud Barak in the election for Israel's prime minister. Barak and Arafat entered into negotiations at Camp David (U.S.A.) in the summer of 2000, but reached no agreement. Both sides claim that there was agreement by both sides on all issues, except one— Jerusalem. Arafat demanded Jerusalem (especially East Jerusalem) for the capital of Palestine. Barak refused to give up Jerusalem (especially East Jerusalem). The parting statements, as the Camp David meeting concluded, were reported to be as follows:
Zechariah 12:2-3 was again underscored in this unsuccessful negotiation attempt. Through active shuttle diplomacy, Arafat garnered support from all Muslim countries, Russia, various former U.S.S.R. allies, and the European Union. Muslim terrorist groups pledged to continue waging jihad (holy war) and intifada (uprising) against Israel to support Palestinian independence. Israel remains in a constant state of preparation for war.
Since September 2000, jihad has been waged against Israeli citizens. This jihad commonly has consisted of cowardly attacks— homicide bombings— by Palestinian Arabs, who strap explosive belts on themselves and mingle among innocent Israelis citizens.
In February 2001, Ariel Sharon was elected prime minister. The Quartet (four entities composed of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia) issued a "roadmap to peace" (officially, "A Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"). The roadmap favored the Palestinian Authority at Israel’s expense and against Israel’s best interests, but resolved nothing.
The Palestinian Authority (P.A.) "elected" a prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas. For the sake of brevity, I will not recount the many issues which have recently caused and continue to cause unrest in the Middle East. Recent happenings have been in the news frequently, and should be fresh in your mind. Recall that Iran and, probably, Syria have or soon will have weapons of mass destruction (including limited nuclear weapons), and harbor intense hatred for Israel. The United Nations and western governments continue to pull back any support for Israel in favor of Arabian-Muslim nations.
One bright spot, in my opinion, is that Benjamin Netanyahu has been elected Israel's prime minister. I believe he understands what is necessary to protect Israel.
We are witnessing the beginning of the fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy (Zechariah 12:2-3):
FUTURE ISSUES: Next week, I will discuss the Mosaic (Israel's) feasts. God gave these feasts as a foreshadow (prophecy) of the Messiah. I will discuss mainly the three spring feasts, which prophesy the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. I will write mostly of Passover— the Christ in the Passover. Please be sure to read this Messianic prophecy next week. Passover begins this year (2009) at sunset on April 8. Please call any Messianic Jewish church in your area to see if that church will observe a Messianic Passover Seder for the community. If space is available for this Seder, by all means try to attend. A knowledgeable Messianic Jewish Seder leader should inspire you and strengthen your faith. In the following week, I will outline the conflicts in the Middle East as an age-old conflict between the sons and daughters of Abraham.