Part 4: Israel, Now with Teeth
On that day when Allied soldiers arrived at the death camps and saw the survivors of Hitler’s holocaust, war torn and battle weary men where deeply shocked by the sight of emaciated bodies hanging on to life by a thread. Thousands of people with decimated families were literal walking skeletons.
Ezekiel 37:1-5
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus sayeth the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.
Ezekiel 37:12-14
Therefore prophesy and say unto them, thus sayeth the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, sayeth the Lord.
According to the Hebrew perspective, death and exile are synonymous. Therefore; if death is exile, then restoration, or returning from exile, is resurrection. As soon as the graves are opened, then God brings them back into the land.
Despite the attempt at a “final solution” God brought forth a remnant out of the death of the Holocaust and into the land of Israel just as Ezekiel had predicted. Because of the Holocaust, the European Jews and also many from around the world, pushed for the re-establishment of a homeland. This is an amazing event that no other nation can make a claim to. Nowhere in the history of mankind.
Two thirds of European Jews were annihilated, and God used the seemingly impossible series of events to work out a way to restore the Promised Land and establish it as the homeland for an Israeli people who had long, long ago become a lost nation. In a place called Palestine, named by the Romans of old, the population consisted of Muslims, Christian Arabs, foreigners, and a handful of Jews. As I have said, Israel as a nation did not exist at that time, but in 1948, the United Nations voted to partition the land of Palestine, (with the Soviet Union casting the deciding vote), and the Jews once again had a nation of their own.
Harry Truman, then United States President, also voiced support for the new nation. There are those who say that Truman believed himself to be a type of “Cyrus”, the ancient King of Media-Persia who paved the way for the Jews to return to Israel from their captivity.
Ezekiel 37:1-5
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus sayeth the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.
Ezekiel 37:12-14
Therefore prophesy and say unto them, thus sayeth the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, sayeth the Lord.
According to the Hebrew perspective, death and exile are synonymous. Therefore; if death is exile, then restoration, or returning from exile, is resurrection. As soon as the graves are opened, then God brings them back into the land.
Despite the attempt at a “final solution” God brought forth a remnant out of the death of the Holocaust and into the land of Israel just as Ezekiel had predicted. Because of the Holocaust, the European Jews and also many from around the world, pushed for the re-establishment of a homeland. This is an amazing event that no other nation can make a claim to. Nowhere in the history of mankind.
Two thirds of European Jews were annihilated, and God used the seemingly impossible series of events to work out a way to restore the Promised Land and establish it as the homeland for an Israeli people who had long, long ago become a lost nation. In a place called Palestine, named by the Romans of old, the population consisted of Muslims, Christian Arabs, foreigners, and a handful of Jews. As I have said, Israel as a nation did not exist at that time, but in 1948, the United Nations voted to partition the land of Palestine, (with the Soviet Union casting the deciding vote), and the Jews once again had a nation of their own.
Harry Truman, then United States President, also voiced support for the new nation. There are those who say that Truman believed himself to be a type of “Cyrus”, the ancient King of Media-Persia who paved the way for the Jews to return to Israel from their captivity.
In Jeremiah, 30:7, the prophet spoke of a time known as “Jacob’s trouble”, which is believed to be seven years in length. The Holocaust period lasted from 1938 until 1945, a period of seven years, and the resulting environment from this period, was instrumental in the rebirth of the state of Israel.
Traditional Christian eschatology includes a future period of seven years also identified as the tribulation or Jacob’s Trouble. Jacob worked for the daughters of Laban for two separate periods of seven years a piece. This type of future and past equivalence is no great stretch for those used to studying the intricate workings of prophecy.
The eventual outcome of this analysis would seem to imply that despite the Holocaust and also the restoration to the Israeli lands, Jacob is still not completely joined to the one they truly love. This only happens after the second period of seven years of labor. As I had said in the first installment, the restoration is in the process, as Jews from all over the globe return to the land. And this is still happening. Jeremiah 16:14-15 makes it clear that when this return happens, it will make the exodus from Egypt look like a trivial thing. Ezekiel makes it clear that when they do first re-enter the land, that they will spend many days fighting those who resist what God has ordained.
Ezekiel 37:10
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
Traditional Christian eschatology includes a future period of seven years also identified as the tribulation or Jacob’s Trouble. Jacob worked for the daughters of Laban for two separate periods of seven years a piece. This type of future and past equivalence is no great stretch for those used to studying the intricate workings of prophecy.
The eventual outcome of this analysis would seem to imply that despite the Holocaust and also the restoration to the Israeli lands, Jacob is still not completely joined to the one they truly love. This only happens after the second period of seven years of labor. As I had said in the first installment, the restoration is in the process, as Jews from all over the globe return to the land. And this is still happening. Jeremiah 16:14-15 makes it clear that when this return happens, it will make the exodus from Egypt look like a trivial thing. Ezekiel makes it clear that when they do first re-enter the land, that they will spend many days fighting those who resist what God has ordained.
Ezekiel 37:10
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
After the first destruction of Jerusalem, and the captivity of Judah, the Jews returned to the land with Nehemiah and Ezra, but they never did assemble a great army. The Maccabees put together a resistance movement against the Greeks in which the Temple was cleansed and re-dedicated. This gave us an historical basis for the Feast of the Dedication or Hanukkah. There are several such Jewish resistance movements, both successful and tragic, down trough the ages. These organized militias however, were hardly considered armies.
Since the nation of Israel has reemerged, however; they have become known for their amazing ability to fight for and defend the land.
Ipso facto:
1) The War of Independence - 1948
2) The War with Egypt - 1956
3) The War of Liberation - 1967
4) The Yom Kippur War - 1973
5) The War with Lebanon - 1981
Israel survived these wars, and in completing the will of God for Israel, they will continue to survive future wars. Keeping in mind that they are surrounded by those who would get rid of them, it would be beyond stupid not to be ready and prepared to meet the attacks that will surely come.
One can only hope that leaders like President Obama will come to a better understanding as to why Israel simply cannot just give up land in the nation of Israel.
More on this next time.
Since the nation of Israel has reemerged, however; they have become known for their amazing ability to fight for and defend the land.
Ipso facto:
1) The War of Independence - 1948
2) The War with Egypt - 1956
3) The War of Liberation - 1967
4) The Yom Kippur War - 1973
5) The War with Lebanon - 1981
Israel survived these wars, and in completing the will of God for Israel, they will continue to survive future wars. Keeping in mind that they are surrounded by those who would get rid of them, it would be beyond stupid not to be ready and prepared to meet the attacks that will surely come.
One can only hope that leaders like President Obama will come to a better understanding as to why Israel simply cannot just give up land in the nation of Israel.
More on this next time.
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