The Rebirth of the State of Israel
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The restoration of the Jews to their own land was foretold
by God through the prophet Ezekiel 600 years before Christ. We read in Ezekiel
37 that he was shown a valley of dry bones "These bones" he was told
"are the whole house of Israel: Behold they say our bones are dried and
our hope is lost" Ezekiel 37 v11. This was the condition of Israel for
many long centuries, but the prophet was shown that this situation would not
continue forever. Ezekiel was told to prophesy upon the bones saying:
"O ye dry bones hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith
the Lord God unto these bones. Behold I will cause breath to enter into you,
and ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and cover you with skin, and
put breath into you, and ye shall live." Ezekiel 37 v4-6
The prophet did as he was commanded, and he saw a great
transformation take place. The bones came together, they formed completed
skeletons, sinews and flesh then came upon them, skin covered them, breath came
into them and they lived, standing up on their feet [Ezek 37 v10]. What did it
all mean? We are left in no doubt as to the answer:
"Thus saith the Lord God. Behold I will take the
children of Israel from among the heathen [nations] whither they be gone and
will gather them on every side, and bring them to their own land." Ezekiel
37 v21
The Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, said in
2005:
“In my opinion, the central message of the Holocaust
Survivors’ Conference—taking place 57 years after the Holocaust, at Yad Vashem
in Jerusalem, the Nation’s eternal capital—is the Jewish people’s capacity to
survive, and the realization of the prophecy of the dry bones with the
establishment of the State of Israel. ‘…Thus saith the Lord God: Behold… I will
bring you into the land of Israel. Ezekiel 37 v12.’ ”
Now, what does this have to do with the second coming of
Christ? Well the answer is twofold. Firstly it is clearly stated, that the
restoration of the Jews to their own land will be followed by the setting up of
Gods Kingdom on earth:
"I will make a covenant of peace with them ...... and
will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle shall be
with them Yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people." Ezekiel
37 v26-27.
The Fig Tree Sign
In Luke 21, we see the restoration of Israel is again
mentioned in symbol when Jesus said:
"Behold the fig tree, and all the trees. When they now
shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at
hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the
Kingdom of God is nigh at hand." Luke 21 v29-31.
The fig tree was, and still is today, a symbol of the nation
of Israel. The prophet Joel wrote:
"A nation is come up upon my land .... He hath laid my
vine waste, and barked my fig tree, he hath made it clean bare and cast it
away. The branches thereof are made white." Joel 1 v6-7.
The prophet Jeremiah likened the nation to good and bad
figs, and at that time they were so bad God said:
"I will deliver them to be removed into all the
kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt
and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them." Jeremiah 24 v9.
The 'evil fig state of Israel continued, but God had
decreed:
"I will set mine eyes on them for good and will bring
them again to this land, and I will build them and not pull them down. And I
will plant them, and not pluck them up". Jeremiah 24 v6
In the 1890’s with the problems caused by Anti-Semitism in
Europe, the idea grew for a home for the Jews where they could practise their
religion and live safely. The first Zionist Congress took place in the Swiss city
of Basle in 1897. Theodor Herzl called for the establishment of a legally
secured, publicly recognised home for the Jews in Palestine. The stumbling
block though was the Ottoman Empire, which flatly rejected proposals of a
Jewish State in Palestine, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1903,
Britain's Secretary for the Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain, hit upon a compromise
solution by offering the Jews a territory in Uganda, in East Africa. Another
proposal in the 1930s was for a Jewish homeland in the Kimberleys in Western
Australia, but that was abandoned.
The ANZACs were defeated when they fought the Turks at
Gallipoli in 1915. However, in 1917 they were stationed in Palestine when the
British forces were trying to gain control of the area from the Turks, to
protect their interests in the Suez Canal. The British forces were unable to
advance, and the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade was sent to
assist them at Beersheba. This was thought to be a suicide mission, but the
Australians turned the action into the “last great cavalry charge in history”.
The Turks were defeated, and the British went on to liberate
Jerusalem in December 1917. The Treaty of Versailles at the end of WWI formed
the League of Nations to prevent future wars through negotiation, diplomacy and
improving global welfare. New countries formed from the former Ottoman empire
included Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. Palestine was under a
British Mandate.
Many Jews had already settled in Palestine, buying property
from the Arabs. Continual strife between Jews and Arabs made the task of
Britain as ‘caretaker’ too difficult and the mandate for Palestine was
concluded when the United Nations voted for the establishment of a homeland for
the Jews in Palestine in 1947. On the 14th May 1948 the State of Israel was
proclaimed. Within days war broke out between the Arabs and the Jews, and has
continued until today, despite peace treaties.
Today millions of Jews can testify to the fulfilment of
God’s promise to return them back to their own land. The 'fig tree nation’ is
'shooting forth’ just as Jesus said it would. Thus the revival of Israel is a
clear sign that Jesus will soon return, just as he has promised, and set up the
Kingdom of God.
The revival of the Israeli ‘fig tree’ was to coincide with
the 'shooting forth of all the trees’, or other nations. Since the United
Nations, which replaced the League of Nations, started, membership
has grown from 50 countries in 1945 to 192 in 2007. The hand of God is at
work among the nations, drawing events to a mighty conclusion, when the Lord
Jesus Christ will reign in Jerusalem.
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