Thriving in Jesus - Bob Josey - History of Israel Part 1

Bob Josey - The History and Future for Israel - Part One - Feb 18, 2024

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The History and Future of Israel and the Middle East

Part 1

I. The History of Israel and the Middle East

A. From the Curse to the Birth of the Messiah

Today we are going to begin a series on the History and future of Isarel and the Middle East. In the first part of this series, we will explore the History of Isarel and the Middle East. Another way to look at it is “How did the Middle East Get in Such a Mess? The second part of the series we will explore what the future looks like for the Middle East and the World.

There are 18 counties that make up the Middle East to in include Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. But as we study the subject at hand, we must remember that Israel is at the forefront and the center of it all. I once had a Bible teacher who gave his students a great piece of advice. He said that the world should watch Israel because they were the thermometer of the world.

To trace the events that occurred to get to the mess that the Middle East is in today, we must begin in Genesis. The foundations of what is going on in the Middle East are found in Genesis. The first event that occurred that has impacted and continues to impact what goes on in the Middle East is the curse of Satan and the promises God made in Genesis 3:15 as a result of Adam and Eve eating the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

After Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the tee of the knowledge of Good and Evil, God cursed the serpent, Satan, Eve, and the earth. The curse of Satan is what we want to focus on right now. Let’s read Genesis 3:15.

And I (God) will put enmity (personal hostility)

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her seed;

He shall bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel.

There are four avenues of conflict seen in Genesis 3:15:

1. God put Enmity between Satan and the woman. From Revelation 12:1-6 we find that the woman is Israel.

1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;

2 and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.

3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.

4 And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.

5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

2 God would also put enmity between Satan’s seed and the woman’s seed. Satan’s seed is the antichrist and the woman’s seed is the Messiah.

3 The Messiah would fatally crush the head of Satan at the cross that would be authenticated or validated at the resurrection.

4 Satan would temporarily bruise the heel of the Messiah at the

cross.

So, Genesis 3:15 is where it all began. Next, we move on to Noah who had three sons and from them came all people on the earth after the flood. After the flood, God began to narrow humankind as time moved toward the call of Abraham who would eventually be the father of a new nation called Isarel. Abraham and his descendants descended from Shem.

The next event that plays directly in the conflict today in the Middle East is the call of Abram. Elwood McQuaid in His’ book, It’s No Dream, page 18 says this about the call of Abram. “A branch was being grafted out of humanity through which the divine purposes would flow; around which all history would revolve; in which all biblical prophecy would one day triumphantly culminate. God was creating a new thing; Jehovah was forming His Isarel.

The impact of what occurred in the call of Abraham cannot be lightly passed over – it was not a casual event. Quite literally it would become the fountainhead of all biblical prescience. Consequently, it would become an essential study for all who aspire to understand history, and its most enigmatic element, the Jew.”

When God called Abram in Ur of Chaldees, both he and his father worshipped idols as we see in Joshua 24:2.

2 Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.

When God called Abram, it is said In the Midrash Genesis Rabbah 38, an extra

biblical Jewish writing, that Abram’s father, Terah, made and sold idols.

The Midrash tells the story that before God Abram, he minded the store when his father would be gone. A woman came with a plate filled with fine flour to sacrifice to the idols in the store. He took a stick in his hand, broke all the idols, and put the stick into the hand of the biggest idol. Abraham used this incident to teach his father a lesson. When Terah returned, he asked Abraham who had done this. Abraham told him that it was the biggest idol, to which Terah responded, “Don’t try to fool me! Do they know what’s going on?” He, Abraham, said to him, “Won’t your ears hear what your own mouth says?” “You’re being a hypocrite! You say that the idols could not have done this, that they have no intelligence or power, yet you somehow believe in them and sell them to others as gods. Father, listen to what you are saying!”

In Acts 7:2-3, during Stephen’s speech, he told the High Priest and others watching

that,

2 The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

3 and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’

So, God called a pagan from Ur of Chaldees to be the father of a nation that was supposed to be a light to the nations and the nation that would produce the Messiah who was prophesied beginning in Genesis 3:15. In Genesis 12:1-3 God made several promises to Abram. Some of these promises relate to the fact that Abram and his descendants would experience antisemitism, persecution, oppression, discrimination, and harassment from Gentiles and the Gentile nations. Let’s now read and discuss Genesis 12:1-3.

1 Now the Lord said to Abram,

“Go forth from your country,

And from your relatives

And from your father’s house,

To the land which I will show you;

2 And I will make you a great nation,

And I will bless you,

And make your name great;

And so you shall be a blessing;

3 And I will bless those who bless you,

And the one who curses you I will curse.

And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

God promised Abram that He would bless those who blessed him and his descendants and would curse those who cursed him and his descendants. We can see from biblical and secular history that God made good on those promises many, many times over thousands of years.

In Genesis 15 God made a covenant with Abram that included the promises God made in Genesis 12. We call this the Abrahamic Covenant. In this eternal covenant, there are three eternal promises that are the bedrock of the Covenant. Abraham and his descendants were promised Land, forever, Descendant forever, and Spiritual Blessings forever. These promises were extended in sub covenants called the Land covenant in Deuteronomy 29-30, the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7:14, and the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31. These covenant promises are weaved throughout the Old and the New Testaments.

Abraham’s wife was Sarah. God promised a natural born son to come from the womb of Sarah. But Sarah doubted and recommended that Abraham have a child with his handmaid, an Egyptian named Hagar. The baby’s name was Ishmael. After Ishmael’s birth. Sarah became jealous and Abraham sent Hagar away. While Hagar and Ishmael were in the desert, the Angel of the LORD appeared to her and told her about the following in Genesis 16:7-12:

7 Now the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.

8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

9 Then the angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.”

10 Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.”

11 The angel of the LORD said to her further,

“Behold, you are with child,

And you will bear a son;

And you shall call his name Ishmael (God hears),

Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.

12 “He will be a wild donkey of a man,

His hand will be against everyone,

And everyone’s hand will be against him;

And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”

This is another element of that is added to the plight of the Jewish people that would cause Israel problems for 3500 hundred years. Ismael became the co-founder of the Arab nations who would become a continual thorn in Israel’s side. Ishmael would not be the recipient of the Abrahamic Covenant, but in Genesis 18 the Angel of the Lord told Abraham that his natural born son would be born within a year, and he would be the recipient of the Abrahamic Covenant. His name was Isaac.

Isaac married Rebekah. They had two sons, Jacob and Esau. Before they were born, God told Rebekah that the older son would serve the younger son. Esau was the oldest and Isaac intended for the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant to go to Esau not the younger, Jacob. Did God tell Isaac what He told Rebekah or did Rebekah tell him what God had told her? In either happened, Isaac disregarded what God wanted. Through fenagling, Jacob ended up with the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. Esau became the cofounder of the Arab nations and ended up with his own promises and land in Genesis 27:39b -40.

“Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling,

And away from the dew of heaven from above.

40 “By your sword you shall live,

And your brother you shall serve.

But it shall come about when you become restless,

That you will break his yoke from your neck.

Esau would not enjoy the earth’s riches or heaven’s dew like Jacob’s descendants would. (cf. v. 28). The Edomites, Esau’s descendants, would live in a land less fertile than Cannan. Also, Esau would live by force, be subservient to Jacob until he broke the yoke, and be restless (cf. Ishmael, 16:12).

This break happened first under Joram (II Chron. 21:8–10) and then under Ahaz (II Kings 16:6, II Chron. 28:16–17). In subsequent history, when the Jews went into Babylonian Captivity, the Edomites left their territory at Mount Seir in the Trans-Jordan and moved into the southern part of Judah, where they became known as Idumeans.

Another watershed event came in Genesis 32:24-30.

24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

25 Then he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so, the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

28 He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

29 Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there.

30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.”

Jacob had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel.

Why did God call Isarel? Here are God’s Fourfold Purpose for Israel:

(1) to witness to the unity of God during universal idolatry (cp. Dt. 6:4 with Isa. 43:10-12);

(2) to illustrate to the nations the blessedness of serving the true God (Dt. 33:26-29; 1 Chr. 17:20-21; Ps. 144:15);

(3) to receive, preserve, and transmit the Scriptures (Dt. 4:5-8; Rom. 3:1-2); and

(4) to be the human channel for the Messiah (Gen. 3:15; 12:3; 22:18; 28:10-14; 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:12-16; Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Mt. 1:1; Rom. 1:3)." The New Schofield Reference Bible P. 1226.

In the Abrahamic Covenant there were other promises. There was a promise that Israel would be slaves in a country for 400 years. This occurred when Jacob and his sons went to Egypt during a severe famine while Joseph was second in command. They found help there from Joseph. They grew as a people and at the beginning of the Book of Exodus four hundred later, they were slaves because the Pharoah knew nothing about Joseph. We see antisemitism, persecution, and mistreatment of the Jews at God raised up a Jewish deliver from the Pharoah’s palace to liberate Isarel from slavery. After Moses delivered them from Egypt, God made them wander in the desert for forty years because of not trusting Him at Kadish-Barnea to lead and provide for them. During the 40 years in the desert, nations attacked them and mistreated them. We can see the blessings and cursing’s promise of Genesis 12:3 to be in effect.

Before going into the land, God gave Israel the Mosaic Law. The basic premise was that if they were obedient to the Torah, God would bless them. When they were disobedient, God would discipline them. The blessings and curses as laid out in Leviticus 26. You should take the time to read it. It will certainly give your insight into Israel problems because of their disobedience for 1400 years and how God used Gentile nations to discipline Israel. From 1440 BC at the time of the Exodus until God sent the 10 Northern tribes into captivity into Assyria, Israel was constantly at war with her neighbors. The two Southern tribes, Israel and Judah, went into captivity to Babylon for 70 years in 586 BC after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple and killed thousands of people. After they returned to Israel from Babylonia and Assyria under the leadership of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel, they no longer worshipped idols again, but they began to fall back into sin with the help of false shepherds and leaders.

The Events in Genesis that contribute to the mess that is in the Middle East today:

1. Genessis 3:15 – God putting enmity between Satan and Israel.

2. The promises made to Abraham and his descendants, the Jews, in the Abrahamic Covenant and its sub-covenants.

3. The birth of Ishmael and the promises God made to him and his descendants.

4. Isaac receiving the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant rather than Esau. The promises God made to Esau.

5. God changing Jacob’s name to Israel. From him, the first Jew, came the 12 tribes and the nation of Israel.

Questions and comments!

Next week we will begin with the birth of the Messiah.

2The History of Israel and the Middle East

B. From the Birth of the Messiah to the Birth of Israel

Then, Galatians 4:4 tells us that, “… when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law…” The Messiah that was prophesied in Genesis 3:15 4000 earlier and by the prophets of Israel had finally arrived, being born of a poor Jewish maiden in a animal shelter. He demonstrated through His’ teaching, His’ miracles, and the fulfillment of prophecy that He was the Messiah. But as prophesied in Isaish 53, the majority of the nation and its leadership rejected Him. As also prophesied in Isaiah 53, He died for the sins of not only the Jews, but also the Gentiles. Before His death, He prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem to include The Temple and the scattering of the Jewish people around the world in Luke 21:20-24.

20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near.

21 “Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city;

22 because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.

23 “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people;

24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The expression “the times of the Gentiles” is a period of history in prophecy that began in 605 B.C. with Jerusalem being overrun by Gentile Babylonians to include the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. This gentile abomination will continue through the Tribulation Period under the leadership of the antichrist, who will be a Gentile, until the second coming of Jesus the Messiah.

Judgment on Gentiles

After reviewing the two options above, Nolland (Nolland, Luke, 3:1002–03) suggests instead that the phrase “times of the Gentiles” refers to punishment meted out on Gentiles. Very often in the Prophetic Books of the Old Testament, after God punishes Israel for its sins through a foreign power (such as Babylon), He subsequently punishes that political entity (Isa 10; 13–14; 33; 47; Jer 50–51; Dan 9:26–27). In this reading, Luke 21:20–24 shows the destruction of Jerusalem, but with the “times of the Gentiles” in the second half of Luke 21:24, the text shifts to describing God’s retribution against Israel’s enemies (here, presumably Rome).

Timothy A. Gabrielson, “Times of the Gentiles,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

The nation of Israel is still in the diaspora even though they are back in the land. But to get a big part of the picture of Israel and the nations, we must go back in time to 570–632 when Muhammad started Islam which means ‘submission’, usually understood as submission to the will of Allah. Those who submit to Allah are called Muslims. Islam is the religion of the majority of the population of the northern half of Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua-New Guinea. There are substantial Muslim minorities in several European countries, Russia and the successor states of the former USSR in the Caucasus and Central Asia, India, and China.

The rise of Islam, while Israel was in the diaspora, changed the complexity of everything. It would not just be Arab nations who would be against the Jews and the nation of Israel when they returned to the land, but after rise of Islam, a religion for the most part that would solidify the Arab nations. Religions can be powerful.

63 BCE-313 CE Roman The Roman army led by Titus conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple at 70 CE. Jewish people were then exiled and dispersed to the Diaspora. In 132, Bar Kokhba organized a revolt against Roman rule, but was killed in a battle in Bethar in Judean Hills. Subsequently the Romans decimated the Jewish community, renamed Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina and Judea as Palaestina to obliterate Jewish identification with the Land of Israel (the word Palestine, and the Arabic word Filastin originate from this Latin name).

The remaining Jewish community moved to northern towns in the Galilee. Around 200 CE the Sanhedrin was moved to Tsippori (Zippori, Sepphoris). The Head of Sanhedrin, Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi (Judah the Prince), compiled the Jewish oral law, Mishna.

313-636 Byzantine

636-1099 Arab Dome of the Rock was built by Caliph Abd el-Malik on the grounds of the destroyed Jewish Temple.

1099-1291 Crusaders The crusaders came from Europe to capture the Holy Land following an appeal by Pope Urban II, and massacred the non-Christian population. Later Jewish community in Jerusalem expanded by immigration of Jews from Europe.

1291-1516 Mamluk

1516-1918 Ottoman During the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem were rebuilt. Population of the Jewish community in Jerusalem increased.

1917-1948 British Great Britain recognized the rights of the Jewish people to establish a "national home in Palestine". Yet they greatly curtailed entry of Jewish refugees into Israel even after World War II. They split Palestine mandate into an Arab state which has become the modern day Jordan, and Israel.

Theodore Herzel

Betw The Balfour Declaration the White Papers

From 1517 to 1917, what is today Israel, along with much of the Middle East, was ruled by the Ottoman Empire.

But World War I dramatically altered the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East. In 1917, at the height of the war, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour submitted a letter of intent supporting the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The British government hoped that the formal declaration—known thereafter as the Balfour Declaration—would encourage support for the Allies in World War I.

When World War I ended in 1918 with an Allied victory, the 400-year Ottoman Empire rule ended, and Great Britain took control over what became known as Palestine (modern-day Israel, Palestine and Jordan).

The Balfour Declaration and the British mandate over Palestine were approved by the League of Nations in 1922. Arabs vehemently opposed the Balfour Declaration, concerned that a Jewish homeland would mean the subjugation of Arab Palestinians.

The British controlled Palestine until Israel, in the years following the end of World War II, became an independent state in 1947.

Conflict Between Jews and Arabs

Throughout Israel’s long history, tensions between Jews and Arab Muslims have existed. The complex hostility between the two groups dates all the way back to ancient times when they both populated the area and deemed it holy.

Both Jews and Muslims consider the city of Jerusalem sacred. It contains the Temple Mount, which includes the holy sites al-Aqsa Mosque, the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock and more.

Much of the conflict in recent years has centered around who is occupying the following areas:

Gaza Strip: A piece of land located between Egypt and modern-day Israel.
Golan Heights: A rocky plateau between Syria and modern-day Israel.
West Bank: A territory that divides part of modern-day Israel and Jordan.

The Zionism Movement

In the late 19th and early 20th century, an organized religious and political movement known as Zionism emerged among Jews.

Zionists wanted to reestablish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Massive numbers of Jews immigrated to the ancient holy land and built settlements. Between 1882 and 1903, about 35,000 Jews relocated to Palestine. Another 40,000 settled in the area between 1904 and 1914.

Many Jews living in Europe and elsewhere, fearing persecution during the Nazi reign, found refuge in Palestine and embraced Zionism. After the Holocaust and World War II ended, members of the Zionist movement primarily focused on creating an independent Jewish state.

Arabs in Palestine resisted the Zionism movement, and tensions between the two groups continue. An Arab nationalist movement developed as a result.

Israeli Independence

The United Nations approved a plan to partition Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state in 1947, but the Arabs rejected it.

In May 1948, Israel was officially declared an independent state with David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, as the prime minister.

While this historic event seemed to be a victory for Jews, it also marked the beginning of more violence with the Arabs.

1948 Arab-Israeli War

Following the announcement of an independent Israel, five Arab nations—Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon—immediately invaded the region in what became known as the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Civil war broke out throughout all of Israel, but a cease-fire agreement was reached in 1949. As part of the temporary armistice agreement, the West Bank became part of Jordan, and the Gaza Strip became Egyptian territory.

How the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Began

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Arab-Israeli Conflict

Numerous wars and acts of violence between Arabs and Jews have ensued since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Some of these include:

Suez Crisis: Relations between Israel and Egypt were rocky in the years following the 1948 war. In 1956, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser overtook and nationalized the Suez Canal, the important shipping waterway that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. With the help of British and French forces, Israel attacked the Sinai Peninsula and retook the Suez Canal.

Six-Day War: In what started as a surprise attack, Israel in 1967 defeated Egypt, Jordan and Syria in six days. After this brief war, Israel took control of the Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, and Golan Heights. These areas were considered “occupied” by Israel.

Yom Kippur War: Hoping to catch the Israeli army off guard, in 1973 Egypt and Syria launched air strikes against Israel on the Holy Day of Yom Kippur. The fighting went on for two weeks, until the UN adopted a resolution to stop the war. Syria hoped to recapture the Golan Heights during this battle but was unsuccessful. In 1981, Israel annexed the Golan Heights, but Syria continued to claim it as territory.

Lebanon War: In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon and ejected the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). This group, which started in 1964 and declared all Arab citizens living in Palestine up to 1947 to be called “Palestinians,” focused on creating a Palestinian state within Israel.

First Palestinian Intifada: Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank led to a 1987 Palestinian uprising and hundreds of deaths. A peace process, known as the Oslo Peace Accords, ended the Intifada (a Arabic word meaning “shaking off”). After this, the Palestinian Authority formed and took over some territories in Israel. In 1997, the Israeli army withdrew from parts of the West Bank.

Second Palestinian Intifada: Palestinians launched suicide bombs and other attacks on Israelis in 2000. The resulting violence lasted for years, until a cease-fire was reached. Israel announced a plan to remove all troops and Jewish settlements from the Gaza strip by the end of 2005.

Second Lebanon War: Israel went to war with Hezbollah—a Shiite Islamic militant group in Lebanon—in 2006. A UN-negotiated ceasefire ended the conflict a couple of months after it started.
Hamas Wars: Israel has been involved in repeated violence with Hamas, a Sunni Islamist militant group that assumed Palestinian power in 2006. Some of the more significant conflicts took place beginning in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021 and 2023.

Israel Today

Clashes between Israelis and Palestinians are still commonplace. Key territories of land are divided, but some are claimed by both groups. For instance, they both cite Jerusalem as their capital.

Both groups blame each other for terror attacks that kill civilians. While Israel doesn’t officially recognize Palestine as a state, more than 135 UN member nations do.

In October 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally declared war on Hamas following a surprise deadly assault launched from Gaza by Hamas militants.

The Two-State Solution

Several countries have pushed for more peace agreements in recent years. Many have suggested a two-state solution but acknowledge that Israelis and Palestinians are unlikely to settle on borders.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has supported the two-state solution but has felt pressure to change his stance. Netanyahu has also been accused of encouraging Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas while still backing a two-state solution.

The United States is one of Israel’s closest allies. In a visit to Israel in May 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Netanyahu to embrace peace agreements with Palestinians. And in May 2018, the U.S. Embassy relocated to from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which Palestinians perceived as signal of American support for Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Palestinians responded with protests at the Gaza-Israel border, which were met with Israeli force resulting in the deaths of dozens of protesters.

een 70 Ad and May 14, 1948 11 nations occupied Isael.

The profound poem I about to read is attributed to two men

William Norman Ewer, a British Journalist (1885-1975) And

Leo Rosten, An American playwright (1908 – 1997)

How odd

How odd of God/

To choose the Jews

But not so odd

As those who choose

A Jewish God

Yet spurn the Jews

John 4:22 - Salvation is from the Jews. Baskets – The Bible and the Messiah

I have found that among many people who call themselves Christians, they love Jesus but care nothing about who God calls the Apple of His Eye, the Jewish people, the nation of Israel. They want to go to the Holy Land and walk were Jesus walked, but they care very little about the miracle in front of the own eyes – the regathering of Israel from being dispersed for 1900 years. Leviticus 26 and Deut. 28. Ez. 37 – Them bones, them bones, them dry bones.

The great Prussian Emperor Frederick often would test his chaplain with theological questions. Frederick, however, said he did not have time for long answers and explanations. He wanted simple answers that he could comprehend quickly. One day he asked his chaplain if he could provide simple and succinct evidence for the truth of the Bible. Frederick asked if the chaplain could provide the evidence in just one word. The wise chaplain responded that he could do just that.

“What is this magical word?” Frederick asked.

The chaplain replied, “Israel, your majesty. The people of Israel.”

A Brief History of Israel

1405-1382 BC – During this time Joshua, Caleb and the people of Israel invaded, brought under subjection, and divided the part of the land God promised to them.

1382-1043 BC – The era of the Judges of Israel

1043-931 BC – The United Kingdom era. This includes Saul, David, and Solomon.

931-605 BC – The Chaotic Kingdom – This era begins when Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, became King of Israel. Because his hard headiness, Israel was divided into two Kingdoms – the northern Kingdom called Israel with 10 tribes and the southern Kingdom called Judah with two tribes – Judah and Benjamin.

722 BC – The ten northern tribes were captured and sent to Assyria. This is called the Assyrian captivity (2 Kings 17).

605-538 BC – The two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, were taken into captivity by Babylonia. This is called the Babylonian captivity. The Temple was destroyed. It lasted from 605 BC to 538 BC (2 Kings 24-25). Daniel and his three friends were deported to Babylon during this captivity.

538-400 BC – There were three returns of the Jewish people from captivity to Israel and to rebuild the second Temple. This was led by Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.

400-4 BC- The 400 silent years in which no inspired Scripture was written. The story of Hanukkah occurred in this time period.

4 BC–29 AD – The Gospel Era - The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.

29-90 AD – Beginning of the church dispensation and the completion of the New Testament

70 AD – The destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and many Jewish people, and the scattering of the remainder of Jewish nation into the Diaspora by the Romans led by General Titus.

From 70 AD there have been ten periods historical time periods for the nation of Israel:

1. The Roman Period (70-325)

2. The Byzantine Period (325-614)

3. the Persian Period (614-634)

4. The Arab Period (634-1072)

5. The Seljuk Period (1072-1099)

6. The Crusaders Period (1099-1291)

7. The Mameluke Period (1291-1517)

8. The Turkish (Ottoman) Period (1517-1917)

9. The British Period (1917-1948)

10. The Israeli Period (1948-present)

History of the Land

Because of sin and disobedience, the northern ten tribes

(Israel) were taken into captivity to Assyria in 722 BC and the southern two tribes (Judah) were taken into captivity by Babylon in 605 BC There were three returns to the land of

Israel from exile (in 538, 458, and 444 BC). Even though

they returned to the land, the land was still being occupied by the Gentiles. During the life and times of Jesus the Messiah, the land was being occupied by the Romans. In AD 70 Titus the Roman General destroyed the Temple and began to scatter the Jews around the world. This is called the Diaspora.

1897 - the first Zionist Congress under the leadership of

Theodore Hertzil. The Zionist Congress adopted a resolution that they would work through diplomatic means to get a portion of Palestine for the Jews to live in that were

scattered around the world.

1917 - Great Britain through the Balfour Declaration stated

that they were in favor of the Jew having a homeland in

Palestine. Palestine was then under the control of Great

Britain. Great Britain took it from the Turks. They did not take the land from the Palestinians because there was never a Palestinian state as some would have you believe. All Jews and Arabs living in the land at that time until 1948 were called Palestinians.

1922 - The League of Nations, the forerunner of the United

Nations agreed with Great Britain that the Jew needed a

homeland in Palestine. They took no formal actions, however, concerning this matter.

1933-1945 - Hitler began to persecute the Jews. Jews tried

to flee to Canada, the U.S., and Australia but were denied

entrance because of quotas. Because of this some went to

Israel. Six million Jews were killed in WW II.

1938 - In the White Papers Great Britain restricts Jewish

immigration into the land of Palestine to 1500 per month.

1945-48 During this time period, many Jews tried to fleeto

Palestine. Great Britain tried to stop most of them from

entering. There were 100,000 British troops there and the

White Papers were still in force. Great Britain was

frustrated because of this and gave the problem to the United Nations. After this, Great Britain became a third class nation because of the blessing - curse principle found in Genesis 12:3. Every nation in history that has blessed

Israel and the Jew has been blessed and every nation that has persecuted Israel and the Jew has been cursed.

The UN voted in 1947 to partition Palestine between Jordan, the Arabs, and the Jews. Jordan which had not existed until then became a nation and took 80 % of the land. The other 20% was divided up between the Arabs (Palestinians living in the land) and Jews. Their would be a Palestinian state and a Jewish state.

May 14, 1948 - The rebirth of the nation of Israel which

numbered 620,000 Jewish people. Israel told the Palestinians that they could stay and live in the land. The Arab nations surrounding Israel which numbered 80 million told the Palestinians to leave because they were going to drive Israel

into the sea and then they could come back to occupy the

land. The Palestinians went to the West Bank.

May 15, 1948 - The Arab nations attacked Israel. Israel was outnumbered 40 to 1 but because God had His hand on the

situation there was a cease fire was announced in 1949.

Israel ended up with more land then they were given by the

UN The Arab nations would not absorb the Palestinians who left Israel and were living on the West bank in poverty.

1956 War - Nasser of Egypt closed the Suez Canal but Israel

opened it.