continued from part 2
PROPHECY OF ISRAEL FULFILLED
I'm reading a scripture from St.
Luke 21:24. It reads like this. "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." This is a very pertinent scripture that is found in the writing of Luke, in the Gospel of St. Luke. It is also a terse statement. There is a terse statement in this verse that is related to another portion of the Word of God. This statement is "Until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." This is a very important statement. It has a great meaning, and it is described in a very definite sense in the Bible, as a time when Gentile power shall come to an end as it pertains to the matter of the little country called Jerusalem or called Israel, today.
When it comes to the matter of the nation of Israel today, the focal point of world history has been upon that little area of country, Israel. For, from that country, not only has come forth some of the ancient thrilling stories of all time, which includes Abraham and his seed, but also from that little area of the world has come the Savior which has brought salvation to mankind. And at our present hour, that little area of the world has now become the focal point of unrest and distress to the international leaders of all mankind. You ask some of the questions that surround it and we answer with this. It has been prophesied throughout the Word of God that this little area would be a concentrated position in the time of the end. The war in the middle east is an outgrowth of conflicting claims that go back to biblical days. If you will remember that, it will help you.
When Abraham was ninety years old, according to the Bible, the Lord appeared unto him and said, "And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession;" You will find this in
Genesis 17:8. Abraham had a son named Isaac to whom the Jews trace their origin. According to the Bible, God confirmed his everlasting covenant with Isaac and through his son, Jacob, with every succeeding generation of the Hebrews. However, Abraham had another son named Ishmael, from whom the Arabs claim their descent. According to the Koran, God promised Ishmael that he and his seed would be dominant. Today, the descendants of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael are fighting for possession of the land of Canaan, which the Arabs call by its Roman name, Palestine, and the Jews call Israel. This tangled, emotional-laden dispute can perhaps best be understood as a rivalry between the people who once regarded themselves as close cousins if not as brothers.
The Jewish nationalist movement, known as Zionism, had its origin in the nineteenth century in eastern Europe. They believed that by returning to Palestine and regaining contact with the soil that gave birth to a Jewish religion, culture, and nationhood, they could regain their sense of dignity. In 1903, Britain offered Zionists an autonomous territory, Uganda, then a British territory. But, the Zionists turned it down, insisting on Palestine. The Zionists saw their real chance to regain the Palestine of the Holyland when it became a theatre of fighting. Under a British-French agreement of 1916, Britain was to take control of Palestine and Iraq after the war while France took Lebanon and Syria. Long before the war ended, the Zionists began bringing pressure on Britain to restore Palestine as a Jewish homeland.
The result of these pressures was the 1917 Balfour declaration named after the Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour in which Britain said she would view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and would use her best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this objective. Under British civil rule, established in 1920, under a mandate of the League of Nations, Arab extremist attacks on Jews were often matched by Jewish terrorism. Tension rose so high that a British royal commission in 1937 declared the mandate unworkable and recommended the petition of Palestine into an Arab state comprising two-thirds of the territory and a Jewish state. This formula formed the basis of a petition plan adopted ten years later by the United Nations' General Assembly. The Arabs refused to recognize the petition. As soon as the British mandate ended and the state of Israel was proclaimed in May, 1948, the neighboring Arab states invaded Israel. After several aborted truces, the war ended January 7, 1949.
Under armistice agreements, Israel added 2,380 square miles, mostly in Negev and West Galilee, to the 5,760 square miles assigned to the Jews under the United Nations' petition. The neighboring Arab countries received more than 700,000 Arab refugees driven from their homes in Palestine. Most of them found refuge in Jordan. The armistice agreements established four mixed armistice commissions, each with representatives of the countries involved and the United Nations' chairman. However, the commissions were unable to keep the peace. Palestinian refugees often stole across the borders at night to take fruit and vegetables from the fields that had once been their own. More serious raids followed. Israel embarked on a policy of reprisals and intensification of raids on both sides resulted in the Israeli invasion of Sinai on October 29, 1956. This invasion was supported by Britain and France with hope to use the opportunity to reoccupy the Suez Canal, nationalized by Egypt earlier in 1956. The Israeli attack was a success. In seven days, the Israelis routed 35,000 Egyptian troops, killing 3,000 of them. And, today, we are now looking at the shambles of war that apparently was started by the hostility of Arabs and is now in complete dominance of the Israeli nation.
We look at these things with a good deal of concern. Somebody says, "Is this a prophecy of the Bible coming to pass?" My friend, if you are acquainted with the Bible, it ought to bring you face to face with the fact that prophetically, there is a very definite trend that is developed in the theme of Bible prophecy. And that is, that one day the land of Palestine or Jerusalem, would be restored to the Israelites, and when it was restored, it was a very definite signification that the Lord Jesus Christ would soon return for his church. And, at His return, that there would come in a desolation and a tribulation such as the world has never seen.
The question that is being asked today as we view the spread of the war theatre in that country is, "Is this the hour that we are looking for? Is this the time that the Bible speaks about? Is this the moment in world history that all eyes focus upon Jerusalem as a time of prophecy fulfilled?" My answer to that is this: There never was a time in history when Bible has found such close prophetic fulfillment as it has in this moment. If ever there was a time when the Bible finds itself as an interesting book concerning fulfilled prophecy, it has to do with the condition that now exists in the theatre of war between the Israelis and the Arabs. And, not only does it have a most timely Bible relationship, but the fact that the old Jordanian city is now in the hands of the Israeli nation means that there is the possibility, the very, very important possibility, that the complete homeland of the Israelites will be given to them; and then, there will start a rebuilding of all the related holy Hebrew Shrines that would foretell the return of Jesus Christ. For, Jesus taught, when the fig tree would bud (that fig tree, of course, is Israel) that this was the time of the coming of the son of man.
I would call your attention, everyone that is listening to me today, to the fact that we are seeing many things take place in Bible prophecy that is most amazing and most astonishing. In one instance, while this prophetic fulfillment of the material condition exists over in Jerusalem, right now the Lord is pouring out His Holy Spirit upon hungry hearts. I do realize that many people are not willing to heed the voice of God about the call of that Spirit. But, while this war is continuing, God is calling with His voice to the hearts of men and women all over this world, to come to a place of prayer, and to seek the face of God, and to kneel in repentance as they recognize the close proximity of the return of Jesus Christ.
Yes, my friend, the Bible is a true book of prophecy. And, today, we are beginning to see the astonishing events that have been prophesied a long time ago. As a boy, I heard preachers preach that these things would come to pass. They seemed so remote. Today, we are sitting on a tender box-a tender box of realism. The world could go up in a smoke of torment and fire and at the same time, Jesus Christ could return for his church. We are living in a day that is most astonishing. But, at the same time, it is very promising. For in the midst of the trouble of the war, my Lord is coming back to earth again. Our cry to you today is to get ready to meet your Lord; for this is the hour; for this is the time; for this is the moment that is prophesied by the Word of God.
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