THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL FULFILLS BIBLE PROPHECIES

by Bill Nugent
Article #48

Many prophesies in the Bible predict that the land of Israel will be restored to the Jewish people in the latter days. The latter days can be understood as the time just before the second coming of Jesus Christ. Israel’s restoration comes as no surprise to anyone who’s ever read the 12th, 13th and 14th chapters of the book of Zechariah or the 24th chapter of the book of Matthew (esp. verses 15 – 20).

Long before the Jewish State was declared in 1948, Puritan theologians such as John Owen (1616 – 1683) wrote of the necessity of the Jews being restored to their ancient homeland before the second coming of Jesus Christ. The Christian dispensationalist authors of the 1800s also understood and wrote about the Bible’s prophecies of a restored Israel.

Zechariah 12:3 says “And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” Over in Psalm 105:8-11 there is a clear statement of God’s promise to give the Holy land to the children of Israel. The Lord emphasizes the point by saying that it is to be given to the Jews for “a thousand generations.”

This brings us to the current crisis in the Middle East. The West Bank is the very heart of the holy land. God gave this land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the ancestors of the Jews. Abraham (Gen. 12:6-7) and Jacob (Gen. 28:11-19) were standing in what is now the West Bank when they received the promises of the land directly from God!!! Isaac received his promise from God in Gerar which is in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip (Gen.26:1-6). Let’s consider the following facts:

1. In the 1880s, when Jewish pioneers arrived, they found a barren underpopulated land that had a small remnant of Jewish and Muslim inhabitants.
2. The Jews purchased land, developed it and employed local Muslims and Jews.
3. In the early days the Muslims welcomed the Jews and worked for them. Other Muslims migrated to the area to obtain jobs working for the Jews.
4. The British Mandate (passed by the League of Nations Sept. 29, 1922) specified that the land west of the Jordan was to become a Jewish homeland while the land east of Jordan was to become an Arab Muslim State.
5. The 1947 U.N. partition plan unjustly reduced the Jew’s portion of the land west of Jordan allowing Muslim possession of the West Bank.
6. The Arabs repeatedly attacked the Jews from bases in the West Bank and other areas.
7. In 1967, in a defensive war, Israel conquered and occupied the West Bank.
8. Jewish settlers built towns and cities in the West Bank, regarding the West Bank as Jewish land on the basis of the Bible and also on the basis of the historical precedents set in the British Mandate.
9. Muslim terrorists operating from the West Bank continued a terrorist campaign against Jews and even accelerated that campaign while Israel was recently withdrawing.

It is this writer’s opinion that to allow a Palestinian State on the West Bank would simply reward terrorism. If we negotiate with terrorists and make concessions to terrorists every terrorist group all over the world will be encouraged to commit more acts of terror to achieve their goals. If you reward terrorism you get more terrorism. What if terrorists get nuclear weapons five years from now and deliver a fierce ultimatum? What if 25 years from now terrorists get a stockpile of hydrogen bombs or antimatter or who knows what and decide to force a change in the foreign policy of the U.S. or Europe or Japan or India or all of the above?!!! Maybe it’s a good thing to nip terrorism in the bud.

Terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah have repeatedly stated their intention to annihilate Israel. The West Bank is mountainous and receives a large percentage of Israel’s rain. It is Israel’s watershed, hence it is a large part of Israel’s water supply. We would have every reason to expect that the Palestinians would cut off Israel’s water and then cut the Israeli’s throats! Without the West Bank Israel would be backed up into a hard to defend plain by the seashore. An Arab conquest of Israel would be a likely scenario and would result in a mass murder of Jews to rival Hitler’s holocaust!

The Jews have a right to dwell within secure borders in their ancient homeland from both a biblical and secular (British Mandate, etc.) perspective. They also have a right to defend themselves. The Arabs already have 21 countries which is an abundance of land and oil. Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bible prophecies are being fulfilled in our time.

 

(C) 2016 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish for Christian outreach.