Posted on 05/01/2002 5:14:43 PM PDT by hope
The whole world is being drawn into the current conflict over the Holy Land. The Bible predicted that just such a situation would develop in the "Last Days." As predicted, two ancient peoples are at the center of the controversy, the Arabs and the Israelites. The Arabs call the land Palestine. The Israelites call it by its ancient name, Israel. There are unique and extraordinary circumstances in the history of these people, which cause much misunderstanding by most people today.
First, they both originated from the same forefather – Abraham – 4,000 years ago. The Israelites, commonly called "Jews" today, descended from Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. The Arabs descended from Abraham through Ishmael and Esau.
Second, God chose Abraham's line through Isaac and Jacob to be the recipients of several covenants that established them as his special representatives on earth. Basically they were chosen for the following purposes:
In order to accomplish these purposes, God made unconditional promises to them that involved making them a unique nation with an everlasting title deed to specifically defined land.
Historically, the descendents of Ishmael and Esau have felt that somehow they were cheated. This created an enmity that has smoldered and burst into flames at various times in history.
God forewarned the Israelites through Moses that their nation would twice be destroyed for failing to obey Him. The second destruction would be far more severe than the first – the people would be scattered throughout every nation under heaven. They would be persecuted and have no assurance of life. This was literally fulfilled, beginning with the Roman destruction of Israel and Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (Deuteronomy 28:64-68 and Luke 21:20-24).
This dispersion began to draw to a close in May of 1948 when, against all odds, Israel was reborn as a nation.
This has created unique problems for the world. Never before has a people been scattered for almost 2,000 years, remained virtually a nation in exile, returned to claim their ancient homeland and then been reborn as a nation. The Arabs and all Muslims say Israel has no right to this land because they took it for Allah by Jihad, or holy war, centuries ago. According to their belief, Mohammed ascended to heaven from Jerusalem. Therefore, it is considered their third holiest place.
The secular world, especially Europe, sees the state of Israel as a nuisance that hinders the free flow of oil from the Arab nations. So they mostly side with the Arabs for economic reasons.
There are two different attitudes toward Israel's right to statehood in the Holy Land among Christians. One group interprets Bible prophecy in an allegorical sense and says that Israel forfeited its covenant rights when it rejected Jesus as Messiah. A few in this group say that Israel in any event can never be given the land by God until they repent and believe in the true Messiah.
Then there are those Christians (and I am one of them) who simply take at face value what God has promised the Israelites. The prophecies of Ezekiel chapters 36 through 39 are one example. They all focus on the present Arab-Israeli conflict, which closely precedes the Messiah's coming to set up God's promised kingdom to Abraham's believing descendents.
First, God warns all of the nations that surround Israel, "Thus says the Lord God, 'Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.'" (Ezek. 36: 5) "Edom" refers to the Arabs descended from Esau. The surrounding nations are all Muslim today.
Note that God says, "My Land." The Muslims don't own it, neither do the Jews – God owns it. He gives it to whom He chooses and not on the basis of human merit.
Second, God declares to whom and why He is going to give the Holy Land, "Therefore, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God, 'It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord …" And then, "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean … I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. …" (Ezek. 36:22-26)
The Bible clearly shows that God is going to give "His Land" to Israel. Not because they deserve it, but because His great name is at stake – God cannot break a promise. It is after this that God will bring the Jews to repentance and give them a new heart. He will accomplish this through delivering them from a coming war that will almost destroy the world.
God disciplines His own for disobedience, but He never disowns them. We who are Christians can thank God for that, or we would have all been disowned. God has thrown his gauntlet into the arena with His promises to Israel. And Hell will freeze over before He fails to fulfill them, though the whole world tries to prevent it.
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Thank you. That is the most concise explanation yet for the insane actions that horrified the world on 9/11.
Trotsky and friends.
The establishment of a territorial base for Jewry in Palestine or any other country is conceivable only with the migrations of large human masses. Only a triumphant Socialism can take upon itself such tasks. It can be foreseen that it may take place either on the basis of a mutual understanding, or with the aid of a kind of international proletarian tribunal which should take up this question and solve it.
Leon Trotsky
On the Jewish Problem by Leon Trotsky
God wrote the Bible.
I think the Bible is a good written guide to collective wisdom of mankind
I couldn't possibly agree less. This is why the Bible is filled with prophesy.
Many of the prophesies, (written many centuries before Christ) dealt with a coming Messiah. The details of this Messiah's life, death, lineage and mission were all spelled out centuries before Jesus was born...
Then by a wiiiiiiiiild coincidence, Jesus shows up at exactly the right moment. And by a further wiiiiiiiiiild coincidence, this uneducated tradesman, just happens to posess the greatest wisdom, and highest moral teaching the world has ever seen.
And this humble carpenter, (whose birthdate the world sets it's calendars to, and whose teachings form the basis for much of the code of ethics in the civilized world), He just happens to be born in the exact city, be a decendant of the exact lineage, and died in exactly the way it was prophesied.
It's something to think about, Dale.
Thinkin' Gal suspected that the irreverent humor might be an indication of short freeperdom here #10
In #17 I was sarcastic with my "Freedom of Religion" crack.
I suppose there ARE too many lines to read between.
It also said "Those who hate know who they are and those who are lost are without a clue"...YOU have certainly proven my point! You want a Godless society, China is a good place to look and real estate is cheap.
God makes no junk. "Made in China" is about WallMart crap. The Chinese are NOT God's "seconds". Neither are the multitude of "savages" not yet delivered "The Word". EVERY human life, Hope, - even those who come and pass without "knowing" Christ - are as equal candidates for eternal happiness as you and I. . . . even the Chinese
Dieing He destroyed our sins, Rising He restored our life, Lord Jesus come in glory!
I did no such thing, Hope, and you KNOW it.
My observation dealt with evil based in faith . . . in the blasphemy - the HIGHEST form of blasphemy - which is using God's name to justify human evil.
The MURDERERS of 9/11 had faith. The suicide MURDERERS have faith. The settlers have faith.
Faith ought to be the foundation from which inner courage, peace, kindness . . . spring forth. Faith ought not be a "Land Deed" that is at odds with the "County Recorder".
I agree with Hal in the article, although I'd go a bit further and state we're still in a time of the Gentiles. So although I believe in the Abrahamic Covenant and would rather be blessed 50 times over by supporting Israel, I also place priority on following God's will and plan in all things first. I believe one can both follow God's will and support Israel in that land, although I also recognize that for a period of time, Gentiles will prevail.
Phil, I think that TQ's "problem" is related to a quantum paradox WRT to dead cats. See, it's like this. My cousin, Muon, was in this box and we never heard from "him" for such a long time . . . still have not, for that matter. Who knows what became of Muon. . . Perhaps my uncle, "Bottom Quark" has bumped into him. All things are possible. Anyway, Leonhard, whenever I get in a tight fix that is mathematically impossible to escape from I find a worm hole, Euler up, and escape.
I guess that Sharon and Arafat are off the hook. . . helpless pawns . . .
As the song goes, "That's all she wrote. I sent yer saddle home."
(It goes to the faith/fact conundrum.)
Whoever it was has a whole lot of explaining to do. That Trotskyite cat used France as a litter box. Went in some other countries too.
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