Land Of Israel - Part Four

Our message this week is a fulfillment of Bible Prophesy. Yes, Jehovah God does exactly what He promises, He keeps all His promises! Our Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 15:18, "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates." God repeated this same message numerous times in Genesis. Bless His Holy Name!

How did the actual establishment of the State of Israel take place? The United Nations called for the establishment of Arab and Jewish States in Palestine on November 29, 1947.This plan was rejected by the Palestinian Arabs and most of the surrounding Arab Nations. Following the UN proposal, Arab militants launched attacks against the Jewish communities trying to stop this planned establishment of a Jewish State. However, Jewish Defense Forces took control of the land proposed for the Jewish State. 

When the British Mandate ended on May 14, 1948, the Jewish Government declared the formation of the State of Israel. The Israeli Government immediately declared full civil rights for those living in Israel whether Jew or Arab. The Jewish population at that time was 650,000. Across the Jordan River, Transjordan opposed the new State of Israel and commenced with warfare against this new state. 

At the same time, United States President Harry S. Truman had a very difficult decision to make. An American Jewish businessman named Eddie Jacobson was a friend of President Truman and shared with him how the Jews were being mistreated in Germany. Jacobson also convinced President Truman to meet with Zionist Leader Chaim Weizmann. However, President Truman's advisors in the American Government had various opinions and the Secretary of State objected to the State of Israel. President Truman was taught as a child by his mother about God's plan for the formation of a State of Israel. As a result, the United States recognized the new State of Israel 11 minutes after it was formed. What A Mighty God We Serve!

In our next message we will start learning that the New State of Israel was not received well in the Middle East. Please Stay Tuned.

Blessings,

Frank

        

The Land Of Israel - Part Three

As part of our study of the land of Israel, in the previous message we learned that two British men in the early nineteen hundreds felt that the Jewish People should have their own land and nation. Lord Balfour made a declaration called The Balfour Declaration saying, "Palestine should become the home of the Jewish People." We will study in this lesson how this declaration was received.

In July 1922 the League Of Nations empowered Great Britian with the Mandate for Palestine in which Great Britian was charged with establishing a Jewish home in Palestine. The land allocated to the Jewish People by the League Of Nations had Syria as its northern border, Transjordan as its eastern border, Egypt as its southern border and the Mediterranean Sea as its western border.

How was the Balfour Declaration and its approval by the League Of Nations received? Unfortunately, it was strongly opposed by neighboring Arab States resulting in violence during 1920, 1921, 1929 and 1936 through 1939. There were attempts to establish talks between Jews and Arabs that never took place. The British Government even proposed dividing Palestine into a Jewish and Arab State that was rejected by the Arabs. As history illustrates, this same conflict continues to the present day!

This conflict led Great Britian in May of 1939 to develop what was known as the White Paper putting restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine. The result of this was it became very difficult for the Jewish People attempting to flee from the Holocaust. However, they developed a network of immigration activities assisting the Holocaust survivors to come back to Palestine. Between 1945 and 1948, 85,000 Jews were brought back to Israel in secret using dangerous routes. Some were caught and sent back to Europe or put in detention camps.

The next lesson will look at the steps taken to establish the State Of Israel! Stay Tuned. 

Blessings,

Frank       

The Land Of Israel - Part Two

Our new series is about the physical land of Israel - past, present and future. In our first message we learned that God spoke numerous times to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob proclaiming that He would give to them and their descendants the land "From the river Egypt to the river Euphrates." This information is found in Genesis 15:18.

How did the concept of the Jewish people living in their own God-Given land actually take place? We need to first realize there is a connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem going back 3,000 years to King David who established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Jerusalem was the center of the Jewish people's faith and identity. King Solomon built the first Temple in the tenth century which was destroyed in 586 B.C. A second temple was built a century later but was destroyed in 70 A.D.

Currently, some of the Jewish people are still dispersed around the world because of their disobedience to God. Even in their dispersion, God's people desire to be back in Israel saying, "Next Year In Jerusalem." This dispersion is still active today but many Jews are moving back to Israel on a regular basis.

Let us go back to the original question for this message - how did the idea of a particular land for the Jews designated by God come into being? Toward the end of the 19th Century dispersed Jewish people started believing they were not safe because of Anti-Semitism. As a result, the concept of a State of Israel surfaced and this became known as Zionism.

A Jewish man, Chaim Weizmann, invented an important material needed for arms production in Great Britain. Two important British government leaders, Lloyd George and Lord Balfour took notice of Chaim and started a Zionism Movement proposing the return of the Jews to their own land. 

As a result, Lord Balfour made a declaration known as the Balfour Declaration stating that "His Majesty's Government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." Please stay tuned for our next message describing in detail the response to the Balfour Declaration! 

Blessings,

Frank

The Land Of Israel

Today starts a new series in which we will study Israel from the time it was proposed by Jehovah God to Abraham through today. Israel is the most contested piece of land throughout history. In fact, there have been 3,700 terror attacks in 2022. We will look at Israel's history, current day Israel and its future.

How did the concept of a particular piece of land to be given by God to His Chosen People take place? Numerous times in the Book Of Genesis our Lord clearly describes to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He is giving to them and their descendants a particular piece of land.

In Genesis 12:2 God says to Abraham, "I will make you into a Great Nation." It is important to understand that God is talking to Abraham but it is intended for Abraham and his descendants through Isaac, Jacob, David all the way to Jesus. Also, the Great Nation has a twofold meaning referring to the physical land but also to a nation of people who became the Jewish People.

Jehovah God in the Abrahamic Covenant describes the land He is giving to His Chosen People in Genesis 15:18 saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates." Please note this is a much larger piece of land than current day Israel. Studying this in greater detail will be in future messages.

Following are messages by God describing the land He will give to His Chosen People:

To Abraham: Genesis 13:14,15 "Look from the place where you are - northward, southward, eastward and westward for all the land which you see I give to you."

To Abraham: Genesis 17:8 "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan."

To Isaac: Genesis 26:3 "Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands."

To Jacob: Genesis 28:4 "And give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger, which I gave to Abraham."

To Jacob: Genesis 35:12 "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you."

The Word of God clearly shows He gave the current land of Israel, including Judea and Samaria, to His Chosen People, The Jewish People.  Next week we will start looking historically at how the land of Israel became a reality. Stay Tuned!

Blessings!

Frank