TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................ 1
CHAPTER 1
ANCESTRY OF THE MIDDLE EAST...................... 2
CHAPTER 2
BEFORE THE DIASPORA.......................................... 6
CHAPTER 3
AFTER THE DIASPORA........................................... 10
CHAPTER 4
REBUILDING OF ISRAEL....................................... 12
CHAPTER 5
MIDDLE EAST WARS................................................ 18
CHAPTER 6
MIDDLE EAST PEACE............................................. 31
CHAPTER 7
SITUATIONAL DEVELOPMENT........................... 36
CONCLUSION........................................................................................... 45
Map of middle east......................................................................... 47
© Samuel Lamb
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Aug. 2009 Update.
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INTRODUCTION
Scripture references: Gen 17:19-21,
16:1-3, 11-12, Deu 30:5-10.
The
center of the world is the Middle East, especially Israel. Despite her small
size, Israel has been chosen by God to become a great nation and the birthplace
of Jesus. Geographically, Israel is in the center of the world. Before the
discovery of America, there were three major continents: Europe, Asia, and
Africa aside from Australia and the Arctics. Israel is at the center of these
three main continents. Now all eyes are on Middle East. Thus, geographically,
spiritually, and politically, Israel is the center of the world.
There
are two major powers in Middle East - Israel and Arabs. Both groups are
fighting for Palestine and are opposing each other. To find out the ownership
of this land, we need to look at her history corroborated by the Scripture.
Believe it or not, the future political development of Palestine has long been
revealed in the biblical prophecy.
Middle
East, particularly Israel is also the battle ground of WW III and Jerusalem is
sought after by many. From the Middle East political development, we know that
the return of our Lord is imminent. Because Middle East is at the center of the
world, we ought to pay special attention to the Middle East problem. Some
people may feel that we should emphasize Christian living rather than prophecy.
Let us not overemphasize Christian living and ignore prophecy. Scripture is
multifaced and we must also preach all aspects of the Bible, especially the end
times. We should not ignore the prophecy regarding Christ's return.
CHAPTER 1
ANCESTRY OF THE MIDDLE EAST
Both groups in the Middle East share the same ancestor, Abraham. To understand the true picture, let us look at their origin.
I. Looking at the East from Europe
Why is she called "Middle East"? Middle East is the East. Asia is east of Europe and includes the Far East, Middle East, and Near East.
Far
East: Japan and China are the countries in Asia most far from Europe and are
therefore called Far East.
Middle
East: Central Asia was called Middle East previously, eg. Afghanistan, Iran,
etc.
Near
East: West Asia is closest to Europe, thus the east coast of Mediterranean Sea
is called Near East by the Europeans, eg. Israel and the Arab countries.
Far
East, Middle East, and Near East were the original geographical names. Later,
Middle East and Near East were collectively called "Mid-Near East",
now referred to as Middle East. Looking from Asia, this area is in the west and
is called West Asia; but looking from Europe, it is in the east and called
Middle East. Now when we understand that Middle East refers mainly to Israel
and the Arab countries, let us look into their ancestry.
II. Ancestry of Israel
Yisrael
is translated to Israel in English. The territory of Israel formerly known as
Canaan was the land of Canaanites. There were no Israelites or Arabs. Both
Israelites and Arabs had the same ancestor, Abram (Gen 25:9), later renamed
Abraham (Gen 17:5).
Abram's
father, Terah lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. Kaldi, Kaldai was in southern
Babylon, the original Shinar (Gen 11:2). Ur, now Mugheir was at the south end
of Euphrates River. God called Abram, but Abram's father, Tarah took him and
"set out from Ur of the Chaldeans.…" (Gen 11:31). They came to Haran
first, but Terah died in Haran (Gen 11:32).
In
Haran, God said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your
father's household and go to the land I will show you." (Gen 12:1). The
land God referred to was Canaan, Abram then left Haran, "and they arrived there"(Gen
12:5). This is today's Israel. Because they waded from Ur of the Chaldeans,
they are referred to as Hebrews. "Hebrew" means wading to the other
side.
God
promised that Abram will become a great nation: "I will make you into a
great nation..." (Gen 12:2). Later, God changed his name to Abraham (Gen
17:5), and confirmed the covenant Gen 17:1-8). Abraham begot Isaac. Isaac begot
Jacob. Later, God changed Jacob's name to Israel (Gen 32:28) and confirmed with
him the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 35:9-12). Abraham is the ancestor of Israel;
Jacob's new name became the name of the nation of Israel. The Hebrews were
later called Israelites. They are God's chosen people, chosen by God.
III. Ancestry of Arabs
Abraham
begot Isaac (Gen 21:3) through his wife, Sarai. Isaac inherited Abraham's
estate and God's promised blessing.
1. Ishmael
Before Abraham begot Isaac, he begot
Ishmael through Sarai's Egyptian maidservant, Hagar (Gen 16:1-15). Ishmael was the ancestor of Arabs (Gen 16:1-3,
11-12). Ishmael had twelve sons who became the tribes of Arabs (Gen 17:20,
25:13-16). Ishmael was born through man's plan and belonged to the flesh (Gen
16:1-2), After Isaac was born, he was teased by Hagar(Gen 21:9).
Islam means "committed to God"
and Muslim means "man who obeys the Islamic law". Islamic (Muslim)
countries including Arabs and Persians acknowledge Ishmael to be their
ancestor. But Canaan did not belong to them because their ancestor waded from
Ur of the Chaldeans. Ishmael and Isaac could not live together under one roof
(Gen 21:8-10). It is no wonder that the Arabs and Israelites cannot tolerate
one another today.
2. Esau was also the ancestor of Arabs
(Gen 25:22-26)
Abraham was the ancestor, he begot Isaac
and Ishmael. Isaac begot Esau and Jacob. Jacob's offsprings are the Israelites;
Esau's offsprings the Arabs. Esau "was also called Edom" (Gen 25:30),
he married a Hittite woman (Gen 26:34). Edom was southeast of the Dead Sea with
an area of 17000 km2. Esau's offspring, Edom (Oba 18) was a sinful nation, especially
violent to Israel (Jol 3:19). In addition, Syria is an offspring of Esau. In
summary, Edomites were also Arabs.
From the 19th century, archeologists
discovered records of Edom in Egypt and Assyria, again confirming the
reliability of Scripture. Israel's ancestor, Jacob and Arab's ancestor, Esau
were the grandchildren of Abraham. They fought at home and up to the present
time, Israelites and Arabs continue to oppose each other. Edom's offspring was
east and north of Israel. God never appeared to Esau and did not promise Canaan
to his offspring. They lived in the hill country of Seir: "...Esau the
father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir." (Gen 36:9, see the
whole chapter for detail).
3. Lot was also the ancestor of Arabs
Ammon and Moab southeast of Israel were
also Arabs. Abraham's nephew, Lot was drunk and begot two sons through his two
daughters. They became the ancestors of Moabites and Ammonites (Gen 19:30-38).
They were born of incest. Moab and Ammon were east of Jordan River, today's
Jordan. God never promised them Canaan.
4. Palestine
Israel is also called Palestine. Now
there is a Palestinian country inside the country of Israel. Greek
"Palaistina" originated from Hebrew "Pelescheth". It was a
district called Philistines in the Old Testament (Gen 10:14), later called
Palestine. The Aegeans invaded Egypt in 1900 BC and returned from Caphtor to
Palestine in defeat in 1200 BC (Deu 2:23. Jer 47:4). They occupied the coastal
plains from Joppa to Gaza including five cities: Gaza, Ashkelon, Azotus. They
traded with Canaanites. Later, the area was called Palestine, in Arabic
"Philistine".
The ancestor of Arabs was Abraham.
Abraham waded from Ur of the Chaldeans to Canaan. Therefore, Canaanites were
not Arabs.
CHAPTER 2 BEFORE THE DIASPORA
Today,
both Israelites and Arabs claim the land of Israel. Let us look into the
history from the formation of the Israel as a nation to the diaspora to
determine the ownership of Canaan.
I. Israelites
This
was God's promise to Abraham (Gen 12:1-7).
The
period from Abraham's entrance to Canaan to the diaspora (2091 BC to 70 AD) was
2161 years. Excluding the 430 years in Egypt and the 70 years of exile to
Babylon (2 Chr 36:21), the Israelites actually occupied the land for 1661
years.
1. Formation of the nation
God called Abraham to leave Ur of the
Chaldeans to build a nation in Canaan (Gen 12:1-7). Because of the severe
famine, they went down to Egypt (Gen 12:10). Later, they returned from Egypt
(Gen 13:1) and God appeared to him again to affirm the covenant (Gen 14-15).
God again affirmed the covenant to Isaac (Gen 26:2-4) but did not transfer the
covenant to Ishmael. Finally, God affirmed the covenant to Jacob (Gen
28:13-15). Jacob had twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel (Gen
35:22-26) according to Jacob's blessings to his sons (Gen 49:28).
2. Israelites went to Egypt
Because of the famine in Canaan, Jacob
went with his sons to Egypt at the age of 130 years (Gen 47:9). The Israelites
stayed in Egypt for 430 years and were eventually led out of Egypt by Moses
(Exo 12:41).
3. Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40
years (Num 14:32-34) and later, led by Joshua, crossed River Jordan to enter
Canaan (Jos 1:1-4).
4. Israelites entered Canaan
Before the formation of the nation of
Israel, this was the land of the Canaanites. They were semi-nomads who moved in
from the Arab Peninsula in 3000 BC. However, they were not Arabs. They settled
west of Jordan river including the Gaza district. This area later belonged to
Israel. The Canaanites were offsprings of Ham (Gen 10:1-20), ie. The offspring
of Ham's fourth son, Canaan (Gen 10:6-14). After the Israelites entered Canaan,
their priority was to conquer the Canaanites because God had commanded them to
wipe out Canaanites (Exo 23:23-24). At that time, there were seven tribes in
Canaan: "Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites
and Jebusites." (Jos 3:10-11). The Canaanites worshipped snake, sun, and
idols. The Philistines also worshipped the serpent (Isa 14:29-31). They never worshipped
Jehovah and were always enemies of Israelites.
Joshua led the Israelites to conquer
Canaan (Jos 1:1-3). The first city to conquer was Jericho after they entered
Canaan (Jos 6). However, Joshua failed to wipe out the Canaanites (Jos 13:1-2).
Because the Israelites sinned, God left behind several tribes of Canaanites
(Jdg 2:8-23, 3:1-3, note 2:8,12,14,21,23).
5. Period of judges
The judges ruled for 300 years (Jdg
11:26). The period of 450 years from Joshua's entrance to Canaan until Samuel
is known as the period of judges (Act 13:20).
6. Period of kings
There were three kings in the 120-year
period of united kingdom. Saul reigned for 40 years (Act 13:21), David 40.5
years (2 Sam 5:4-5), Solomon 40 years (1 Kin 11:42).
Divided kingdom (930-586 BC): After
Solomon's death, Israel was divided into north and south kingdoms.
(1)
North kingdom of Israel: capital - Samaria, the first king Jeroboam (1 Kin
12:20), last king Hoshea (2 Kin 17:1-6). Assyria conquered Samaria in 722 BC
and Israel was ruled as a province by an Assyrian governor. Then, the entire
north was wiped out and many people exiled to Assyria (2 Kin 15:29, 17:6,23,
18:11). They never returned from exile (1 Chr 5:26). The northern kingdom
existed only 207 years (930-722 BC). There were a total of 19 kings, none of them
was good.
(2)
South kingdom of Judah: capital Jerusalem, (930-586 BC), total 344 years, 137
years longer than Israel. There were 19 kings, eight of whom were good.
Jerusalem fell in July, 586 BC (2 Kin 25:1-21, 2 Chr 36:19-20). King of Babylon
destroyed the temple and the kingdom of Judah ended.
7. Between exile and return
People of Judah were exiled to Babylon
(606 BC) (2 Kin 25:22-30, 2 Chr 36:2-23, Jer 40-44). They were exiled for 70
years (606 - 536 = 70) (2 Chr 36:21). Afterwards, Judah was ruled by Persia for
205 years (538-333 BC)
8. After the return
This was at the end of Old Testament. For
400 years after Nehemiah, the Old Testament was silent. Then Judah was occupied
by Greece and Rome until the birth of Jesus:
(1)
Greek rule (333-142 BC)
(2)
Hasmonean kingdom (Maccabeans) (142-63 BC)
(3)
Roman rule (63 BC-313 AD)
9. Diaspora
Roman general, Titus conquered Jerusalem
in 70 AD and killed approximately one million Jews. They burned Jerusalem and
the Israelites scattered throughout the whole world until 135 AD. They settled
mainly in Britain, France, Italy and Germany, later Russia, Eastern Europe and
North America.
II. Arabs
After
studying the process of the formation of nation to diaspora, we know for
certain that the land belongs to Israel. But let us determine if this land
belongs to the Arabs by studying the same period. In the "Palestinian
Meeting" held by the United Nation in 1945 in San Francisco, Saudi
Arabia's special envoy Cheik Hafiz Wabba declared publicly: "We are
offsprings of Abraham and blood children of Ishmael. He was Abraham's
first-born and should inherit Abraham's estate, this land.". No doubt,
Ishmael was older than Isaac but Ishmael was born of the second wife, a
maidservant and God did not promise him this land. Isaac was the legitimate
offspring and received the direct promise from God to inherit Canaan, the land
of flowing milk and honey. After the nation of Israel was formed, the arab
countries were along the borders and were conquered one after another by Israel.
Philistine
at the west (later Palestine): they occupied the west coast. They were finally
conquered by David (2 Sam 8:1, 21:15-22, 1 Chr 18:1).
Aram
at the north (Syria): David defeated them (2 Sam 8:5-6,13).
Moab
at the east surrendered to David (2 Sam 8:2, 1 Chr 18:2).
Ammon
at the east submitted to David also (2 Sam 10:10,14, 12:26-31). After the Jews
returned from Babylon, the Moabites and Ammonites were never admitted to
Jehovah's assembly (Neh 13:1, Isa 15:1, Jer 49:2, Eze 25:8-11).
Edom
at the east was defeated by David (1 Chr 18:12-13).
From the above history of Israel, this
land does not belong to the Arabs.
CHAPTER 3 AFTER THE DIASPORA
During
the Israeli occupation, the land did not belong to Arabs. Now let us look at
the history of occupation in the period of more than one thousand years between
the diaspora and the return.
I. Roman Empire
The
diaspora began in 70 AD and the Israelites were completely scattered throughout
the world by 135 AD. The land was governed by Roman Empire until 331 AD.
II. Byzantine Empire
After
Constantine, the land was occupied by Byzantine Empire (330-636 AD). They built
dome- and cross-shaped structures.
III. Islamic Army
The
Islamic army controlled the land from 633 to 1099 AD, first the Arabs until
1077 AD, then the Seljuks, finally the Fatimids.
IV. Crusaders
The
Crusaders ruled for 200 years from 1099 to 1291 AD. They were overturned by
Saladin, the Kurd (1187-1193 AD), and regained control from 1193 to 1291 AD.
V. Marruck
Marruck
ruled from 1292 to 1516 AD.
VI. Turks
The
Turks governed for 400 years (1517-1917) and Israel became part of the Ottoman
Empire. The Turkish emperor, Ottoman occupied the land (Eze 16). Egypt gained
control in 1832 but lost to Turks in 1841.
VII. Great Britain
Britain
took over Jerusalem which was occupied by the Turks. The Turkish soldiers said:
"The British have new weapons and tanks, but we can close the city gates
to block them.". The east gate of Jerusalem is on a hill with tombs on the
slope in front of the gate. The early British tanks were unable to climb hills.
The Turkish army said: "If we close all the gates except the east gate for
our own use, the tanks can not enter.". But the prophet Ezekiel prophesied
that the gate will remain closed until the coming of Messiah (Christ) (Eze
43-44). Before the Turks opened the east gate, the new British fighters dropped
fliers from the air to order the Turks to surrender immediately. The fliers had
the signature of General Allenby on them. The Turkish army mistook Allenby to be
Allah bey (son of God) and surrendered. On December 9, 1917 (Sept. 24 on Jewish
calendar), Turks retreated from Jerusalem (Hag 2:10-20). The British general
Edward Allenby victoriously occupied Jerusalem on Dec. 11.
CHAPTER 4 REBUILDING OF ISRAEL
Israel
had no hope of rebuilding. It was easier for the rebuilding of India without
the diaspora. But the biblical prophecy must be fulfilled (Eze. 3:24). Israel's
fall was surprising, so was her rebuilding. There is only one country in the
entire world which can preserve the same nation, religion, culture, and
language for 3300 years. Israel was governed by Britain for 30 years from 1918
to 1948. The area west of Jordan river is known as Palestinian zone and east of
Jordan river as Kingdom of Jordan.
I. Zionism Movement
Before
the "rebuilding", people must "return". Theodore Herzel, an
Austrian journalist and publisher was a Jewish leader. He promoted the return
and rebuilding in his book "The nation of the Jews" in 1896. This
book shook the entire world. He advocated another exodus with Mount Zion their
destination, hence called "Zionism". He began the "Zionism
Movement" in Switzerland in 1897 and introduced the concept of return and
rebuilding. The year 1997 is the 100th anniversary of the Zionism Movement. The
first Zionism Movement Convention held in Basel, Switzerland on 8/29/1898 was
attended by 197 delegates. Dr. Lippe led the prayer and many wept. Herzel spoke
and became the modern Moses. This movement was vehemently opposed by Turkey.
There was a Jew named Chaim Weizmann who later became the first president of
Israel. He was born on 10/27/1874. His parents died in the 1880 massacre in
USSR. He was a Jewish refugee and had strong desire for the rebuilding. He was
an active participant and attended the Second World Zionism Convention in 1898
at the age of 24 years. In 1901, he obtained a chemistry doctorate in Germany
and joined the Zionism Movement in the same year. He believed that Jews would
only have hope by returning to the land. But his idea was opposed by king of
Britain. In 1906, he was appointed chemistry professor at the University of
Manchester in England. There, he met Ernest Rutherford, an atomic physics
professor who consulted him regarding the secrets inside the atom. Weizmann
suggested the idea of radiation research which Rutherford adopted. In 1911,
Rutherford discovered three sources of radiation inside an atom: α,β,
and γ.
He declared to the world: "The atomic nucleus consisting of neutrons and
protons is at the center of an atom enveloped by electrons like a small
universe." He won the Nobel prize and was knighted by the British crown.
Thus, Weizmann gained entrance into the upper class through him and paved the
way for Israel's rebuilding. Through Rutherford, Weizmann befriended Arthur
Balfour, British prime minister from 1902 to 1905. He was a navy officer at the
beginning of WW1 and ambassador in 1917. He was a close friend of Rutherford.
In March, 1915, Britain and France lost the war to Germany. 50,000 people died.
Balfour appointed Weizmann as the technical expert for the Navy Preparatory
Research Institute in 1915. In the same year, Weizmann invented a smokeless
bomb. In 1916, the British and French attacked Germans again and killed one
million Germans and burned more than 100 ships. Balfour recommended Weizmann to
British king who wanted to award him. Weizmann said: " I have no personal
desire but that my people can return home".
II. The Balfour Declaration
In
WW1, Britain imported nitrogen from Chile to manufacture weapons. Later, she
was unable to get the supplies because Germany controlled the Atlantic Ocean.
Weizmann proposed to obtain nitrogen from the air and solved the problem.
Because the Jews made contributions to Britain, they were allowed to return to
Israel. The Balfour Declaration was made on 11/2/1917 to allow Jews to return
and purchase land under the control and protection of Britain. This was
supported by US president, Wilson. Britain appointed a Jew, Herbert Samuel as
the first Palestinian governor. Weizmann immediately led a Zionism delegation
to Israel. In 1917, the Israel population was 85,000. Under British protection,
Christians were also able to live peacefully. The Hebrew University headed by
Weizmann was started in Jerusalem. Weizmann was the chairman of the World
Zionism Convention held in London in 1920. The decade of 1920-1930 was known as
the Age of Weizmann. The League of the Nations formally accorded the land to
Britain to mandate on 7/24/1922. From 1918 to 1948, Britain ruled the land
Israel including Israel and Gaza on the west coast.
III. The UN's Mandate
In
the beginning of 1947, Britain still did not allow Jewish immigration to
Israel. Later, Britain passed over the problem to the UN which formed a
"Palestinian Issue Committee". UN passed the "Palestine
Partition Plan" no.181 on 11/29/1947 to allow the Jews to stay. This was
opposed by the Arab countries. UN decided to grant Israel independence on
10/1/1948. However, of the 27,816 km2 area in Palestine, only 15,200
km2 was given to Israel. Angered by the UN decision, Britain
withdrew in May instead of October to let Israel self-destruct. Thank God, the
nation of Israel was rebuilt at last on May 14!
IV. Rebuilding of Israel: 5/14/1948
1. 5/13/1948
Jerusalem made the Jewish Convention declaration and prepared to declare the
formation of Independent Jewish Nation on May 16. Without waiting to May 16,
Israel became independent at last at 14:01 on 5/14/1948 (16:00 Beijing time).
The Jewish leaders congregated in the Tel-Aviv museum and officially declared
the formation of nation of Israel.
2. They intended to use the name Jew because
most of the then returnees were Jews. But because they considered the original
name was Israel, they decided to use the same name, Israel. In fact, the Bible
prophesied long ago that the nation, Israel would be rebuilt: "...I will
bring you back to the land of Israel" (Eze 37:11-12). In the following
verses 15 to 23, Judah will be reunited with Israel. After mentioning the
reunion from verse 15 to 20, Israel was used as the name of the nation in the
following verses.
3. Dr. Chaim Weizmann as president
In 1901, he joined the Zionism Movement.
During WW1, he made contributions to Britain and obtained the Balfour
Declaration. In 1920, he became a good friend of Einstein. As a result, through
many channels, he invented the atomic bomb for USA. This paved the road for the
rebuilding of Israel. Many thought that USA helped Israel to be rebuilt when in
fact Israel helped USA to invent the atomic bomb. On the day of the rebuilding
of Israel, President Weizmann read aloud Isa 43:5-10.
4. David Ben Gurion as prime minister
He read the Declaration of independence
and immediately raised the Star of David flag.
5. Flag
rectangular, white background, a light
blue wide strip on top and bottom. The flag colors were white and blue which
were the colors of the Jewish prayer shawl. In the center of the white portion
is a six-ray star called the Star of David, also called David's shield. This
was produced according to the flag of the 1891 Jewish Rebuilding Movement. This
fulfilled the biblical prophecy: "Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout
to them; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles." (Isa 13:2).
6. The national emblem: The central pattern is a
7-pronged lampstand. The six stems represent the six days of creation, the
center stem the Sabbath. On each side of the lampstand are painted a white
olive branch to represent the different nationalities.
7. The former USSR was the first to recognize
Israel.
Then many of Israel's generals belonged
to the left-winged united workers' party. USSR hoped that they would gain power
and make Israel a satellite country of USSR. But Ben Gurion was belonged to the
western right wing and struggled with the left wing. When the left wing was
wiped out in 1/1949, USSR and Israel became enemies. US President Truman
recognized Israel 11 minutes after Israel's rebuilding, followed by Britain and
France. On 5/11/1949, Israel became the 59th member of UN. She established
diplomatic relationship with China in 1992.
8. Population
Israel had a population of 650-710,000
which increased to 5.6 million at the end of 1996; there are 1.2 million Arabs.
9. Area
At the time of rebuilding, the area of
the entire Palestine was 27,816 km2. Israel occupied 15,000 km2, mostly coastal
fertile land; the Arabs occupied 12,000 km2 of poor land in divided plots.
10. Israel will not be destroyed again
This is the biblical prophecy:
"Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all
generations." (Jol 3:20). " '...I will plant Israel in their own
land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,' says the
Lord your God." (Amo 9:11-15, Jer 31:36) The Arab countries think that
Israel should not be allowed to be rebuilt and call them "Jewish
Rebuilding Theory". Strange! Any country can be rebuilt, but not
Israel?! All of the countries in
the world were formed after conquering tribal territories. But after the
formation of the nation, no others can invade them and they also cannot invade
other countries. Let us not mistake the "tribal land" God gave Israel
as invaded territory. To rebuild, Israel must claim back her own land. But Arab
countries claim that Israel invaded their land while Israel claim it to be
theirs. Therefore, wherever Israel fought, she said: "This is ours".
If Israel is destroyed again after the rebuilding, biblical prophecy would not
be true. However whatever God says must be done.
CHAPTER 5 MIDDLE EAST WARS
Ever
since the rebuilding of Israel, the Arab countries have been trying to conquer
Israel. They have started five Middle East Wars. Being geographically
surrounded, it should be easy to conquer Israel. However, Israel gradually
regained lost territory in the five wars and is getting stronger. She regained
21,501 km2, 81.6% of the entire area of Israel. As a result, 1.5-2.5
million Palestinians fled to other countries as refugees. In actual fact, the Palestinians
occupied Israel's land after the diaspora rather than Israel occupied their
land after her rebuilding. From 1948 to 1982, Arab countries started five wars.
I. Five
Middle East Wars
1. 5/15/1948-1/7/1949 (8 months)
All of the wars were meant to annihilate
Israel. The first war was the most obvious, being started the day after her
rebuilding. Three hours after Israel's rebuilding, the surrounding Arab
countries united in wars on 5/15.
(1) Six united Arab countries and two
teams attacked Israel:
Arab
Liberation Army 5,500, Salvation Army 5,000, Lebanon 2,000, Syria 5,000, Outer
Jordan 7,500, Egypt 5,000, Iraq 10,000, Saudi Arabia and Yemen units, totalled
100,000 soldiers, yet Israel only had 30,000 people. A few hours after the rebuilding, King of Jordan,
Abdullah Hussein and the united Arab army led the "Outer Jordanian
Army" to attack Israel from the east and took over Mount Olive and Mount
Zion, a large piece of land west of Jordan river in order to include it in the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (On 7/20/1951, as soon as King Abdullah set foot in
the mosque, he was shot dead.) On the third day, Egypt attacked Tel-Aviv and
Jerusalem from the south in two teams. Jordan invaded the old city of Jerusalem
and the area west of the river. Syria conquered the strategic Nazareth south of
the sea of Galilee. Lebanon took over the plains west of Nazareth. Iraq invaded
the hill area north of Jerusalem. Although these attacks started in full force,
changes were evident in a few days. On 5/19, Israel defeated Syria at the sea
of Galilee. On 5/29, both sides ignored the cease-fire order from UN.
(2)
The inner conflicts of Arab Union (Arabs were always suspicious of each other):
Egypt,
Syria, and Lebanon attacked from the south and north, Iraq and Jordan came in
to Haifa and Jerusalem after crossing the river. The Arab Army had an advantage
but there were inner conflicts: King of Outer Jordan wanted to be the
Commander-in-Chief, but Syria and Egypt did not submit to him. Even though had
worked out a joint plan, they each went their own ways on entering the Holy
Land. One month later, Arab Union was held in check.
(3)
Israel counter-attacked in July and won:
On
July 9-18, Israel counter-attacked, known as the "Ten-Day Attack".
The most fierce fighting was in the Nahrel-Mugatta riverbanks southwest of sea
of Galilee (Kishon in Psa 83:9). Israel made a battle plan and attacked at
night to take back Nazareth and entered the Galilee district. From 7/18 to
10/15, 600,000 Jews returned from Europe. Military and material support was
added daily. On 10/15, Israel reversed her disadvantage and won. Israel was
able to take foothold in the valleys. The enemy's corpses were everywhere. There were 1
million refugees. After Israel's victory, they came in two groups to the
Galilee hills in the north, and Tel Aviv - Negev desert defense line in the
south. On 11/16, UN again ordered cease-fire. After the cease-fire, the wealthy
Jews of the world bought firearms, especially equipment for the air force.
(4)
On 7/1/1949, Israel reclaimed a large plot of land (not the two hills in
Jerusalem) and expanded her territory from 14,000 km2 to 21000 km2. God scolded
Israel's enemies: "...made my land their own possession...will also suffer
scorn." (Eze 36:5-7) At the time of rebuilding, Israel was not united and
did not have weaponry (Jer 31:4), but after the war, the 30,000 soldiers with
light weaponry increased to an army of 100,000 with mechanical equipments.
Eventually, they won in Gaza and fulfilled Isa 43:1-3. From 4/1955, USSR
declared: "Middle East is a close neighbor and USSR cannot ignore the
events in Middle East". In September, USSR provided large quantity of weaponry
to Egypt.
2. 10/29/1956-11/6/1956 (8 days) the Suez Canal
War, Jordan, Egypt, Syria versus Israel
(1) Cause:
On 7/23/1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser
overturned the former government to become prime minister. On 6/23, USSR loaned
money to Egypt to build the Aswan Dam and helped them to build up the defense
army. USSR and Egypt established the "Moscow-Cairo Spoke-center".
Egypt took over the control of Suez Canal, thus cut down the profits of Britain
and France. A united Egypt-Syria commander center was established vowing to
sweep away the shame of the first Middle East war.
(2) War breaking out:
In the afternoon of 10/29/1956, Israel
descended from the sky in Sinai to fight Egypt. On 11/30, Britain and France
bombed the air base and burned 260 Egyptian planes. Egypt withdrew from Sinai.
Israel reclaimed Gaza strip and parts of Sinai. 1,600 Egyptians died, 5,000
injured, 6,200 captured or disappeared.
(3) Israel beat the many with few (Deu
32:30):
Israel swept the Sinai Peninsula to the
Canal in 100+ hours. This was stopped by USSR's negotiation, otherwise even
Cairo, the capital of Egypt would have been in war. Later, Egypt signed a
15-year treaty with USSR.
3. Six-Day War, 6/5/1967 - 6/10/1967
Egypt and the neighboring Arab countries
were intent on destroying Israel but the plan was leaked so that Israel was
prepared.
(1) Before the war:
Egypt
wanted to clear her shame and formed the Republic of United Arab with Syria in
2/1958 to join forces of the south and north. In the same year, Iraq was told
to withdraw from the Bagdad Treaty controlled by USA. In 1964, Egypt supported
the foundation of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and in 1969, formed
an accord with USSR. In 3/1967, USSR pushed Egypt to order the UN troops out of
Sinai Peninsula. In the air battle at the Israel border on 4/7/1967, six Syrian
fighter planes which were made in USSR were shot down. At that time, the new
Syrian president, Hafex Assed was strongly opposed to Israel. USSR made up
false information: "Israel plans to attack Syria and Egypt". Thus
Egypt sent vice president Sadat to USSR. On 4/29, USSR declared: "We do
not request or hope for military conflicts in the Middle East." Sadat was
distressed! He left USSR for North Korea on 5/4. When he returned to Moscow on
5/13, USSR again provided false information. On 5/14, Sadat brought the false
information home to Egypt and the situation was very tense. On 5/15, Egypt
decided to reinforce troops in Sinai and requested the withdrawal of UN troops,
thus stepping on the road to war. On 5/22, Nasser declared the closing of
Strait of Tiran and cut off Israel's passage to Red Sea and Suez Canal. Egypt
opened fire on Israel and Israel decided to fight back on 5/23. Syria and Egypt
joined forces with Jordan on 5/30.
(2) The war officially broke out:
a.
At 9 am on 6/5 (the first day), Israel bombed 25 peripheral airports of Egypt,
Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. The largest war was the secret attack of Israel's air
forces on 10 Egyptian airports. Israel's first Boeing 40 took off followed a
few minutes; later by the second jet. Israel was aware of the weakness of
Egypt's Soviet-made radar - scanning blind spot. Egyptian radar troops were
unable to detect and Israel's jets were able to fly low over Egypt's 10
airports from Mediterranean Sea. At that time, the Egyptian pilots had just
awakened and the airport controller had not yet reported for work. Israel was
able to bomb 300-400 Egyptian planes in three hours. 1/3 of the pilots died. In
the same afternoon, the British-trained Jordanian army was completely wiped out,
52 Syrian planes were damaged, and 30+ Arab radar stations were destroyed.
Egypt had 580 Soviet-made military planes including 380 fighter planes; Syria
had 172 and 136 respectively. Israel attacked the air force bases of Egypt,
Syria, and Jordan suddenly and weakened their strength considerably in half a
day.
b.
On 6/7, Syria attacked north Galilee but was forced back by Israel. On the same
day, Israel attacked Syrian border and occupied Golan Heights. In the
afternoon, Israel destroyed Jordan airport and occupied the entire west bank of
Jordan River, thus fulfilling Psa 85. At 10:15 in the evening, Israel reclaimed
the old city of East Jerusalem. Minister of Defense, Moshe Dayan worshipped at
the wailing wall saying: "We have returned to the Holy of the Holiest in
the Holy Land and will never leave this city again." He ordered the
demolition of the small Jordanian houses in front of the wailing wall to make a
large square. He also tore down the obstacles and the partition between the
east and west parts of the city to make it into a united city.
c.
On 6/9, Israel attacked east side of Suez Canal and took over the Sinai
Peninsula in only 3 days (80% of Egyptian oil wells were in Sinai), closed Suez
Canal and occupied Gaza district.
(3) Result:
In
1967, Israel started to unify the land. In 6 days (130 hours), Egypt fell like
landslide. A large quantity of Soviet-made weaponry and gunpowder was looted.
Israel's sudden attacks defeated 13 countries in the south and north and
reclaimed 4x the original land size. The casualty of Israel was 679 men, of the
Arabic army 450,000. Israel used 100 million US dollars' worth of weapons
whereas the Arabic army used 2 billion dollars. Thus, the prophecy of Mic 5:8-9
was fulfilled. God made the Gentiles suffer scorn. Egyptian president Nasser
was an extraordinary person. He overturned the empire, got free from
colonialism, was a leader of the Arabs and Africans. Yet he lost ground. After
the Six-Day war, he called 2 conferences, one held at the capital of Sudan:
adamantly refused to reconcile, recognize, or to negotiate with Israel; the
other conference held in Moroccan capital, Rabat. However,because the Arabs
lost 2 billion dollars, they no longer heeded him. He unified Egypt, then
Africa, finally intending to unify Muslim countries. He intended to destroy
Israel but lost.On 9/28/1970, he died from a heart attack. Egyptians now truly
feared Israelites (Isa 19:16-17).
4. 10/6-24/1973 (18 days)
called the War of day of Atonement or
Holy War. Syria and Egypt attacked Israel again. They called it the Yom Kippur war.
Many predicted the end of Israel, yet Israel lost initially and won at the end.
(1) Before the war:
Nasser again wanted to clear his shame.
He visited Moscow in 1/1970 and signed an agreement with USSR. In March, 20,000
of the Soviet army, navy, and air force arrived. The situation was tense. Forty
Sam style missile projectors and 100 fighter planes came to the west bank of
Suez Canal. Egyptians did not know how to operate the machinery and USSR sent
people to Egypt to teach them. In September, USSR helped Syria to complete the
construction of the Soviet missile base. Egypt and Syria asked for the Soviet
Union's permission to declare war. Yet USSR maintained the nonfighting and
nonreconciling situation in order to train political agents. USSR also wanted
to control Syria and Iraq. She wanted to establish an army and missile base to
isolate and surround USA's 5th and 6th teams of ships. USSR spent 10 billion US
dollars for military expenses. Just when they were ready to declare war, Nasser
died of a heart attack on 9/28/1970 before he had time to prepare a will. There
was a coup in Egypt on 5/13/1971. Anwar Sadat became president. He was a Suni
Muslim and was not an extremist. As soon as he took office, he wanted to clear out
the left wing. He knew USSR's "nonfighting, nonreconciliatory" tactic
was not sincere in her intention to help the Arab countries. On 6/1/1972, he
made 7 queries to Moscow but was ignored by Breznerv. In July, he evicted 20,000
Soviets. On the 17th, USSR withdrew in hatred. Sadat and Syrian president Hafez
Assed worked out a plan to attack Israel on the public holiday of the Day of
Atonement (Oct. 6) from the south and north with Jordan from the east in order
to wipe out Israel once for all. Egypt and Syria had 832 Soviet-made fighter
planes, 48 bombers, 86 large military transporters, 118 M-6 and M-8
helicopters, totalling 1,084 planes. Israel had only 468 planes.
(2) Open-fire:
On Israel's Day of Atonement on 10/6, all
the troops retreated to the back to pray. This was also the 4th day of Muslim's
fast. 623 years ago, Mohammed conquered Mica and started the Islam religion.
Syrian president Assed met with Egyptian president and decided to attack on
this day. They calculated that the tide of Suez Canal was the lowest and
slowest, therefore the easiest to build a bridge. This was a Saturday, Israel's
Sabbath. God had said, if anyone should disturb the Sabbath, His anger would be
upon him. The Soviet satellites observed that the Israelites were retreating. The
first group of 300 Syrian tanks came across Golan Heights at 1:50 pm without
any opposition. The Israel army was retreating and was not prepared because of
the holiday. Syria crossed the front line of Golan Heights and went straight to
the Benoit Yakov bridge over Jordan river in the Jewish district northeast of
Jerusalem. Once this bridge was lost, Jerusalem would fall. Egypt crossed the
Suez Canal by force on 10/6 and broke across Israel's defense line along the
canal. In the morning of the 7th, Egyptian tanks attacked and took control of
three important war paths of Jerusalem.
(3) Israel turned defeat into victory. Syrian
tanks were heading for Jerusalem, but suddenly ran out of oil 8 km away from
Jerusalem. Several hundred tanks waited along river Jordan for the oil
supplier. It was dusk and Israel's "Lion Cub" plane flew low from the
Jordan river and dropped gas bombs. In less than 30 minutes, 300 tanks were
destroyed! Israel reclaimed even more territory. Israel turned around to fight
Egypt at the "Big Bitter Lake". Next morning, the sun was
particularly strong. Egyptian tanks were heading northeast from south in the
direction of the sun. The focusing lens of the tanks was of no use. The tanks
Soviet Union gave to Egypt were only suitable for cold climate and had no
air-conditioning. Israel's tanks came from USA and were air-conditioned. They
were heading south away from the sun. Although Israel had only 100 tanks, they
were able to destroy all of the Egyptian tanks in 2 hours. Israel closed to
Cairo and cut off the back road of Sinai Peninsula. As a result, Israel turned
defeat into victory. Egypt lost in 3 days. If there were no sun that day, Egypt
would have won, but God blurred their vision through the sun. Israel was like
the "woman in labor" (Mic 4:9-12). UN ordered cease-fire. Under the
advice of Kissinger, Israel obeyed on 10/22.
5. On 6/6/1982
during the Iran-Iraq war, the 5th Middle
East War was Israel versus Syria and Lebanon.
(1) Before the war:
In 1973, USSR began to arm Syria.
Although Syria had lost 300 tanks, USSR provided them 800 new T-62 tanks and
added 6,000 counter-tank missiles. After the war in 1973, USA introduced peace.
Israel withdrew a little from Suez Canal and allowed the Canal open in 1975.
Israel returned the oil from Sinai to Egypt. In 1974, PLO not being a country,
was given an UN observer position. In 1975, opposed by Israel, UN Security
Council recognized PLO as a mobile government. Lebanon became Middle East
battlefield after 1974. PLO's plan to topple Jordanian king Hussein failed and
moved in to Lebanon after being evicted from Jordan. In 1977, the news of
Egyptian president Anwar Sadat's visit to Jerusalem for peace shook the world.
The negotiation failed in a few months. USA intervened in 1979 and established
a peace treaty. Israel returned Sinai to Egypt. On 10/8/1980, USSR and Syria
signed a 20-year "Friendship Agreement". In 4/1981, Syria attacked
Lebanon, set up Soviet-made missiles at Bekaa Valley, supported PLO in the
south of Lebanon, and attacked west of Galilee in Israel's north. Israel
counter-attacked. Syria and PLO were defeated. On 6/7/1981, Israel sent a team
of planes to drop 16 bombs and destroyed all of Iraq's nuclear equipments in 2
minutes. On 10/6/1981, Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat was inspecting
ceremoniously the military in Cairo. Just as he was standing happily on the
inspection platform, a tank passed by. Several killers jumped out and killed
him (Please refer to Exo 31:14) !
(2) Official open-fire:
Victory
over Syria on 6/6/1982: Israel demolished in 6 minutes Syria's Sam-6 missile
base in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanese capital, Beirut. In the following 2 air
battles, Israel shot down 80 Syrian fighter planes without losing one of her
own. This war was known as "Tomorrow's War" (electronic war) and
shook the world. The British-Argentine war was only "Yesterday's
War". Please refer to Deu 32:30, Lev 26:8! Israel was really like the
"lion of the forest" (Mic 5:8-9). During these Middle East wars, the
Arab countries disintegrated from within. They mobilized 200 million people
from 22 countries, they also had oil as weapon and Soviet's full support. They
were still repeatedly defeated by Israel. The other Middle East wars were meant
to annihilate Israel but Israel will never again be uprooted (Amo 9:11-15). The
situation of failing through several stages was "...as though a man fled
from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his
hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him." (Amo 5:19) "Fled
from a lion", the lion refers to Britain. Palestine was governed by
Britain. Israel's rebuilding was "fled from a lion". "Only to
meet a bear", bear symbolizes USSR (large). USSR was the first to
recognize Israel but became an enemy later and joined the Middle East war.
Israel will be suppressed especially by USSR and the nation of the north in the
first half of the 7-year Tribulation (Eze 38:39). "Only to have a snake
bite him", the snake symbolizes antichrist. Israel will be attacked by
antichrist in the later 3 1/2 years of the Great Tribulation (Rev 12:7,9), 2/3
will die and only 1/3 (the whole house) will be saved. Israel will not be
annihilated after the rebuilding (Jol 3:20).
II. Iran-Iraq War (9/22/1980 to 1988, 8 years)
1. Before the war
Iraq was the earliest to prepare for
nuclear war. In 1974, France helped her to build a nuclear reactor named after
the French prime minister at a cost
of 27.5 million US dollars. It was finished in 1980. An important equipment for
manufacturing nuclear bomb, hot cell was purchased from Italy at a cost of 50
million US dollars. Israel prime minister Begin implemented the "Babylon
Action Plan" to destroy this reactor. In the evening of 6/7/1980, 6 F-15
fighters and 8 F-16 bombers entered Iraq just before sunset. When the Iraqi radar
troops saw them and questioned them through cable, Israeli pilots answered in
excellent English and Arabic: "We are Jordanian planes in
flight-training." Jordan always had good relationship with Iraq with
planes flying between them. The Israeli planes flew into the atomic bomb
research center at 6:30 pm and destroyed the center in 2 minutes by dropping 16
tons of gunpowder from an altitude of 2,000 meters. The Iraqi high-shooting
canons missed them, the nuclear factory's protecting planes did not move, and
the Soviet-made Sam-6 missile was not fired. Later, Israeli planes flew back
safely. The Arab countries called an Arab Union representative meeting on 6/11
at Baghdad and vowed to revenge. On 7/29/1980, UN passed the resolution to
order Israel to withdraw before 11/15 (100 days) from the "Arab
territory" occupied by Israel before 6/1967 including Jerusalem, but
Israel refused to withdraw. Next day, on 7/30, Israel congress passed the law
and declared Jerusalem as Israel's "never divided capital". Iraq and
Saudi Arabia decided on 8/7 to cut diplomatic relations with countries that
recognize Israel. In 4 days, 9 Arab countries supported this decision. It
looked as if the Arab countries would unitedly attack Israel.
2. Iran-Iraq war
At this tense moment on 9/22/1980, the
Iran-Iraq war broke out. Both countries were Islam opposing Israel together.
But they now have conflicts and the whole Arab world was divided to two
factions. In order to resolve the conflicts, they were unable to fight Israel.
On 9/16/1980, 40+ Islamic countries met together but were unable to reconcile.
The war officially broke out on 9/22 and caused a split in the Arab countries.
3. After 8 years of war
The casualty of both countries was more
than 500,000, twice the number from the five Middle East wars. The damage was
500 billion US dollars. Just as the Arab countries intended to annihilate
Israel, the Iran-Iraq war lasted 8 years followed by Syria-Lebanon conflicts
for several years. Of course, these were all in the hands of God.
III. Persian Gulf War
On
1/17/1991, Iraq said that if she was attacked, she would destroy Israel first.
When the countries including Iraq were planning to invade Israel, the issue of
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait suddenly appeared. Troops from multiple countries
appeared in Kuwait (fulfilling Isa 13:3-4). Thus, Arab countries again were
unable to fight Israel. Iraqi president, Sadam Hussein said: "I am
Nebuchadnezzar II". At the beginning of the war, he fired missiles at
Israel several times hoping for Israel's counter-attack in order to avert the
attention of Arab countries and jointly attack Israel. But USA told Israel not
to react. As a result, Israel had little damage. When the war ended, Iraq
failed and yet Israel was at peace!
In
the past 5 Middle East wars, Israel won every time, at the Gulf war, she won
without fighting. The Bible prophesied that Israel will not be destroyed again
after the rebuilding until Christ's return (Jol 3:20, Amo 9:14-15).
CHAPTER 6 MIDDLE EAST PEACE
After
the rebuilding of Israel, the Arab countries continued to fight with the
Israelites for land. Both sides have been developing weapons. But eventually,
there will be peace in the Middle East because "While people are
saying,'Peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly......"
(1 Thess 5:3) First, there will be peace in the Middle East, then the seven
years of tribulation will come. In Rev 6:2, we learn that there is the
"white horse" which represents peace followed shortly by the
"red horse" or war. Ever since the rebuilding of Israel , they have
been fighting for land and the wars never ended. Not until after Israel and
Palestine signed the peace agreement on 9/13/1993 was there finally the
beginning of peace in Middle East.
I. UN Resolution
Some
people say that Israel was able to rebuild only with the help of UN. Now let us
look at the UN's mandate:
1. On 11/29/1947, the Palestinian division plan
internationalized Jerusalem.
2. On 11/22/1967, UN passed the Resolution no.
242 and ordered Israel to withdraw from the land she occupied as a result of
the Six-Day War including Jerusalem; the Palestinian territory previously owned
by Arabs must have complete political independence.
3. On 12/6/1988, UN resolved that "Israel
is not a country which desires peace". and advocated all countries to cut
diplomatic relations with Israel. Later, UN again resolved in Geneva to force
Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories.
II. Camp David System
Camp
David is situated in the suburb of Washington, DC. From 9/5/1978 to 9/15/1978,
former US president Carter organized a Middle East peace conference between
Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israel prime minister Menachem Begin. The
Camp David Peace Agreement was signed and the foundation of peace between the
two countries was built. In 4/1982, Israel returned Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
But the Arab countries opposed and removed Egypt from the Arab cam#p. This was
not an official Middle East peace agreement but rather the beginning of the
peace agreement. After this, Islam powers were more dependent on the help of
the Soviet Union's weaponry.
III. USA's Attitude
1. Carter: planned Camp David system as
mentioned above.
2. Reagan: On 12/8/1988, when UN asked all
countries to terminate diplomatic relations with Israel, Arafat was refused
entry by Reagan. On 12/16, USA met with PLO in Tunisia.
3. Before 1991, USA was pro-Israel. She wanted
Israel to fight for her to oppose USSR's gulf war. Later, USA made a 180o turn
in her Middle East plan and proposed the "New World Order". USA
became world police. USA used to be a country that belongs to God but she
disobeyed the Bible.
4. Bush's proposal: Of the 75% of oil in the
Persian Gulf, the Anglo-American companies account for 60%. In order to protect
her oil profits, there had to be a Middle East policy to urge for peace. To
please the Arab countries, USA compromised and agreed with the UN to divide
Palestine. The west bank including Bethlehem, Shechem, Hebron was given to
Arabs, and Jerusalem was divided into the east and west halves. East Jerusalem
was given to the Arabs. Ezekiel prophesied that Israel "...will never
again be two nation..." (Eze 37:22) but USA did not follow the biblical
prophecy. The peace conference was controlled by USA so that Middle East would
provide for the USA. On 10/30/1991, the Middle East peace conference was held
in Madrid. The meeting was reconvened on 4/29/1993.
IV. Middle East Peace Treaty began
1. Israel-Palestine peace agreement
(1) New nation:
There was never a Palestinian nation
before except for the formation of PLO in 5/1964. On 11/15/1988, the Palestine
national committee passed the Declaration of Independence at the 19th special
meeting and requested the withdrawal of Israel from Jerusalem. They also
declared Jerusalem to be their capital. The Palestine nation was born. Arafat
read the Declaration of Independence. On 3/29/1989, he became president.
Algeria was the first to recognize her because their ancestors were brothers.
Palestine nation includes west bank of Jordan and Gaza district. They used
Arabic. Half a month after the nation's birth on 11/29/1988, UN supported her
with 121 votes. USA and Israel opposed, Britain declined to vote. Palestine is
a thorn of Israel. Her birth as a nation is against the promise of the Bible.
Thus, UN also negated the biblical promise.
(2) Signing of the peace agreement
At 11:15 on 3/13/1993, Clinton, Arafat of
Palestine nation, and Rabin of Israel went on stage at the south lawn of the
White House. Clinton held the hands of both men to make peace (Isa 28;14,18,
14:31-32). At 11:40, Israel's and Palestine's ministers of foreign affairs
drafted the "Declaration of Palestinian Self Administer Gaza and Jericho
Principle".
On 12/16/1993, Israel's security troops
closed the four Jewish quarters in the west bank of Jordan river.
On 5/4/1994, both sides formally signed
the final peace agreement in Cairo: Israel gave Gaza and Jericho to Palestine.
Joshua led the people across river Jordan. The first city to take was Jericho
(Jos 6), Solomon at last unified "...over all the kingdoms west of the river,
from Tiphsah to Gaza......" (1 Kin 4:24) Now Rabin gave away the
"head and tail" to Palestine! So, many people were saying that Rabin
sold Israel.
On 10/23/1998, Israel and Palestine
signed the peace agreement in the White House. Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to
withdraw 13.1% from the west bank of Jordan, opening the Middle East Peace!
2. Israel and Jordan signed the peace
treaty
(1) Kingdom of Jordan:
Jordan is east of Jordan river. Before
the formation of nation, she was called "outer Jordan". The Kingdom
of Jordan was formed in 1946. At the time of Israel's rebuilding, she occupied
Jerusalem and a large area west of the river. In 1950, she grew stronger after
swallowing Arabia and Palestine and was renamed "Hashemite Kingdom of
Jordan". In 1967, she joined Egypt and Syria to destroy Israel but failed.
Jordan was chased out of East Jerusalem and west bank fulfilling Psa 83. Now
Jordan is made up of several tribes: Moab, Edom, Ammon, Hashemite, Bedouins,
and Palestine.
(2) signing of the peace treaty:
On 9/14/1993, Israel and Jordan signed a
peace negotiation framework agreement at the US Congress. On 7/25/1994, Rabin
shook hands for the first time with Jordanian king Hussein and signed the joint
declaration in the White House terminating the 46-year-long war situation.
Hussein I self claimed to be the offspring of Mohammed when in fact he was
Ammonite. Unfortunately Rabin respected Jordan's "special effect" in
Jerusalem's mosque and gave high priority to Jordan during the negotiation
regarding this city's permanent status.
On
10/17/1994, Rabin and Jordanian prime minister drafted the peace treaty in
America.
At
2 pm on 10/26/1994, Israel and Jordan signed the official Peace Treaty. On
11/27, both countries established diplomatic relations.
3. Later, others will also want to make peace
treaty with Israel
(1) Syria will probably be the next one
to make peace:
Syria is northeast of Israel, a stubborn
northern enemy of Israel, has a population of 9 million. Assyria comprised the
main part of the historical Great Syria and was the source of today's Syria.
The Assyria mentioned several times in the Bible refer to today's Syria (Isa
10:20-30). In 733 BC, Assyria occupied Palestine. From 1517 to 1917, the
Ottoman Empire ruled Palestine for 400 years. On 4/14/1946, the French army
retreated and Syria became independent.
(2) Others:
On 11/1/1994 during the Middle East -
North Africa finance conference held in Casa Blanca, Morocco, the "Casa
Blanca Declaration" was made. Morocco, Tunisia and Israel set up benefit
bureaus to establish low-grade official relationshi#p. The six Gulf nations
removed partially the sanctions against Israel. Following Egypt, Jordan,
Tunisia, and Morocco, Oman was the fifth nation to establish
"low-grade" diplomatic relationship with Israel.
CHAPTER 7
SITUATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Will
the future situation be war or signing of peace treaty? We will find out what
the Bible says about the development.
I. Israel's Final Territory
The
Bible not only tells us that Israel will not be pulled out after the rebuilding
but also outlines Israel's future boundaries.
1. The east border is the Euphrates River
"...to the great river, the
Euphrates……." (Gen 15:18) Euphrates is a large river in Babylon. This
means that Israel's future east boundary will be to Babylon's Euphrates river.
2. The west border is the Mediterranean
Sea:
"...to
the Sea of the Philistines……" (Exo 23:31), "...to the Great Sea on
the west" (Jos 1:4). The coast of Philistine was along the Mediterranean
Sea, also called the Great Sea.
3. The south border is the river of Egypt
"...from the river of Egypt to the
great river, the Euphrates" (Gen 15:18), "...from Egypt to the great
river" (Mic 7:12).
4. The north border is Assyria and
Lebanon
"...from the desert to
Lebanon..." (Jos 1:4), "...people will come to you from
Assyria..." (Mic 7:12). Assyria includes today's Syria.
No matter how they fight for land, God
has already determined Israel's future boundaries: east to Babylon, west to
Mediterranean Sea, south to Egypt, north to Syria and Lebanon. This will be
fulfilled.
II. Exchange Land for Peace
After
the rebuilding of Israel, the Arab countries have always been wanting to
annihilate Israel. On failing, they fought for land and insisted that Israel's
past territory was theirs. The condition of peace treaty was to have Israel
exchange land for peace. Israel was rebuilt and regained a major part of the
land, but now she had to give away land to gain peace.
1. Rabin was the first man to exchange land for
peace. Therefore, many people say that he sold Israel
Yitshak Rabin was born in Jerusalem on
3/1/1922 and grew up in Tel Aviv. He was Israel's ambassador in Washington for
five years beginning 1/1968. He was the first prime minister to be born in
Israel. From 9/1984 to 3/1990, he was the minister of national defense. In
6/1992, he became prime minister. The name Rabin is similar to rabbi.
"Rabin" means the head of many (ra, ruler or head; bin, many).
According to Dan 9:27, antichrist will make a treaty with many. Antichrist is
the last one to make peace treaty, but Rabin was the first one.
"Head" can also be interpreted "the first of many". He
started making peace treaties and exchanging land for peace. To make treaty
with Gentiles and their gods was wrong: "Do not make a covenant with them
or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land...... ." (Exo
23:32-33, Isa 14:31-32) But the Bible still prophesied that the Israelites
would make covenants with them. Israelites make a treaty with the Arabs to
obtain peace in Middle East, then the seven years of tribulation will come.
However, to exchange land for peace was not in God's will, hence Rabin was
murdered soon after (11/4/1995). This "head" fell off him. In Gen
15:17, "When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot
with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces." Connecting
the Hebrew letters, this verse becomes "fire, fire, bad rabin", Rabin
was cut up like the meat offering. He did not glorify God.
2. Shimon Peres succeeded Rabin as prime
minster
"Peres" means divide. He has
divided the land! He is also "flying eagle" meaning faster. When he
was sworn in as prime minister on 11/22/1995, there was an earthquake of 6.2
Richter scale. This was God's warning for him not to give away land (Lev
25:23). But he wanted to give away even Bethlehem and Jerusalem to Palestine,
Golan Heights to Syria. Thus, he soon lost power! The eagles fly fast: he gave
away land fast and fell from power fast!
III. Fighting for Land
We
are talking about the land God gave to Israel. However, the Arabs never let go
ever since Israel's rebuilding. But they have no land title whereas the
Israelites have the deed of the land - the Bible.
1. Jerusalem
Jerusalem is the holy land passed down by
Israelites' ancestors. From the time David became king to 1004 BC, David
succeeded in breaking down the defense line of Jerusalem and made it a center
of monotheism. He made Jerusalem the capital. The year 1996 was Jerusalem's
3000th anniversary.
In 1967, Israel reclaimed the old city of
Jerusalem and tore down the dividing wall to reunite the east and west parts of
the city.
On 7/30/1980, the Israel legislature
passed the law and declared east and west Jerusalem as Israel's "never to
be divided capital". The Arabs fight for Jerusalem without any legitimate
ground because this is Israel's capital.
2.
Jericho
Jericho is "a city of palm
trees" with barren rocky hills surrounding it. It is northeast of
Jerusalem.
Province of Jericho: 365 km2, population
35,000.
Town of Jericho: 25 km2, population 16,000.
Joshua led the Israelites across the
Jordan river to enter Canaan, Jericho was the first city to be conquered, so of
course, it belongs to Israel.
3. Hebron
This is in the south part of the Judea
hills west of the river approximately 40 km from Jerusalem with an area of 10
km2. There are 120,000 Arabic inhabitants but only 450 Jews (52 families) in
the Hebron Jewish district. Hebron has an important holy place of Islam, the
Mosque. Hebron was promised to Israel by God. Here were the tombs of Abraham
and the offsprings (Gen 25:7-10, 23:12,19). In Hebron, David "reigned over
Judah seven years and six months" (2 Sam 5:5). The Jews said: "It is
as holy as Jerusalem in our hearts". In 1950, Hebron was included in
Jordan as a provincial capital. In the "six-day war", 1967, Israel
reoccupied this city and sent three camps of soldiers to stay there. The Jewish
immigrants were unwilling to leave Hebron.
4. Gaza District
The Gaza District is in southwest Israel
with an area of 350 km2, 750,000 Palestinians and 4000 Jews. This was given to
Israel by God "...as far as Gaza..." (Gen 10:19). Joshua did not
conquer it (Jos 13:1-2), later God told Judah to take it (Jos 15:47). "The
men of Judah also took Gaza.….." (Jdg 1:18). Finally, Solomon ruled over
Gaza and "all the kingdoms" (1 Kin 4:24). In 1967, Israel recovered
Gaza. At the end of 1996, there were one million Palestinians.
5.
West Bank
When Joshua led the Israelites across
Jordan River, the first place they set foot on was the West Bank of Jordan
River. God told Joshua to cross the River in order to give the entire land to
Israelites (Jos 1:1-4). It has an area of 5295 km2, one million Palestinians,
100000 Jews. In the third Middle East war
on 6/5/1967, Israel regained the land
from Jordan.
6. Sinai Peninsula
Israelites left Egypt to reach Sinai
desert. This proves that Sinai did not belong to Egypt. Israelites entered
Canaan, so it did not belong to Israel either. In the second Middle East war on
10/29/1956, Israel regained important sites of Gaza and Sinai. In 1982, Israel
withdrew from Sinai.
7. South of Lebanon
This was a mountain near Tyre along the
northwest coast of Israel. This was promised by God to Israel: "...Every
place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from
the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates river to the western sea."
(Deu 11:22-24) In 3/1978, to protect her safety in the north, Israel reclaimed
an area of 1,100 km2 in southern Lebanon. In 6/1982, Israel attacked Lebanon.
After the Israeli army withdrew, a safety zone of 850 km2 was still kept.
8. Golan Heights
This is narrow hilly area running between
south and north situated in southwest Syria. The altitude is 1,000 m and area
1150 km2. It was Israeli territory, God gave it to the tribe of Manasseh:
"...Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites." (Deu 4:43, Jos 20:8, 21:27,
1 Chr 6:71). Golan belonged to the half tribe of Manasseh east of river Jordan
and was south of Dan. Of course, it belonged to Israelites.
Golan Heights is strategic for battles as
it looks down the Galilee in the west and controls the major route to Damascus
in the east. Jordan River originates from Golan Heights and is a precious
resource in the arid Middle East. There are several volcanos in the north,
plateaus for farming in the central region. There were 108 farms, 163 villages
in the old days. After Israel's rebuilding, it was occupied by Syria. During
the 3rd Middle East war on 6/9/1967, Israel reclaimed 1,200 km2. 12,000 Jews
lived in the 32 residential areas. Another 400-510 km2 was regained by Israel
during the 4th Middle East war. After the 2 wars, approximately 150,000 Syrians
left Golan Heights. Under the urging of US Secretary of State, Kissinger, Syria
and Israel signed an agreement on 5/31/1974 to have the Israeli army retreat
630 km2 in the east and to set up a 2 km wide neutral zone for the UN troops.
In 1978, Israel had 28 residential zones. On 12/14/1981, Israel legislature
passed the Golan Heights law and decided to implement Israeli law in the Golan
Heights. Syria joined the Middle East peace conference held in Madrid on
10/30/1991. Israel said on 8/5/1993: "If Syria agrees to peace, the
establishment of diplomatic relationship, and open up the border to allow
trade, Israel will withdraw from Golan Heights just as she withdrew from Sinai
in 1982. On 12/19/1994, UN resolution no. 497 was passed to request Israel's
complete withdrawal from Golan Heights. This was opposed by USA. Israel
proposed to withdraw the army in stages over 3 years. When Peres became prime
minister in 1995, he wanted to give Golan Heights to Syria.
Ⅳ. Implementing peace
Israel's
rebuilding led to her reclaiming the lost land which resulted in Arabic
refugees. Thus, they looked unfavorably upon Israel. In order to obtain peace
in the Middle East, Israel must give up a lot of territory. The Gentiles declared
to build their nations on Israeli territory. Yet, they will fail eventually. At
present, they won the recognition of several countries as well as UN's support.
UN Resolution 338 and 242 divided up Israel into small plots and Jerusalem into
east and west halves: east for Muslims, west for Israel. The UN assembly
decided on the "exchange land for peace" principle.
We
know that east Jerusalem is the location for the temple, Mt Zion and Mt Olive.
God said: "I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of
Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be
two nations or be divided into two kingdoms." (Eze 37:22) But UN and USA
said: " Israel will become several nations". Palestine continued to
lose but was not wiped out, She eventually became a nation on Israel's
territory and Israelites' thorn (Jdg 3:1-4). There are several other countries
occupying Israel's territory.
1. Signing of agreement
Rabin was the first man to sign Middle
East peace treaties; the last will be Antichrist who will make a seven-year
covenant with Israel and then will the seven-year tribulation begin:
"While people are saying, 'Peace and safety', destruction will come on
them suddenly...... ." (1 Ths 5:3) Revelation also forewarns that there
will first be peace and then enter the tribulation: the first seal being the
white horse (Rev 6:2), ie. peace, then the second seal being the red horse (Rev
6:4), ie. war. As we watch the beginning of peace in the Middle East, we know
the day of Lord's return is near!
2. Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu: Benjamin means
"son of the right hand"; Netanyahu is "given by God",
"unity". He wants to unite the nation according to God's will. He was
born in Tel Aviv on 10/21/1949. He studied business and architecture in USA and
was familiar with USA's political style. On 5/29/1996, he became Israel's prime
minister at the age of 46. As soon as he was elected, he went to pray at
Jerusalem's wailing wall. He supports Middle East peace but not in exchange for
land. At present, he is opposed by many countries especially the Arabs. But the
relationship became tense again between USA and Iraq! This is God's arranging.
He maintains "The Great Israel Plan" and objects to dividing
Jerusalem. He continuously attacks Peres' weakness. He spoke at the White House
on 7/10/1996 and voiced that the entire Jerusalem is the permanent capital of
Israel. He objects to the founding of Palestine nation and the yielding of
Golan Heights to Syria. On 9/15/1996, he said: "I will maintain my basic
policy", "Only things like Jerusalem are holy". He said again on
11/26/1996: "I will ignore the pressure of international request for
Israel to stop rebuilding and will expand the Jewish residences in the West
Bank and Gaza district.". This is the second largest of the 144 Jewish
districts with 15,000 inhabitants. It divides the Palestinian
self-administrative zone in the West bank into several small zones. On
12/2/1996, Israel warned Arab countries not to attack Israel and that they are
unlikely to win the battle of words. Minister of Foreign Affairs, David Levi
strongly rebuked Egypt. On 12/10/1996, Israel's foreign affairs department
declared in writing: "Settling Jewish immigrants in Gaza and West Bank is
not against the international law because it was allowed and supported by the
former British administration especially on the nationally owned land.",
"Resettling immigrants is also not contradictory to the Geneva treaty
passed in 1949 regarding protection of inhabitants under siege because Israel
never admitted to occupying the West Bank and Gaza by military force. At the
same time, Israel agrees to respect human rights in these districts just as in
any other place. Jews also have the right to live in West Bank and Gaza".
The paper pointed out: "The Oslo Agreement ruled that in the five-year
transition period of Palestinian self administration, Jewish immigration zones
are allowed to exist." On 12/11/1996, Israel government allowed building
of new Jewish residences in east Jerusalem. This was the first residential
district in Arabic Jerusalem built by Israel. But Israel still faces
difficulties. US president Clinton said on 12/16/1996: "Israel's financial
aid to Israeli inhabitants in West Bank and Gaza only produces obstacles to the
progress of peace in the Middle East". He also advocated a repeat meeting
between Israel and Palestine to solve the problem of Israeli army's withdrawal
from Hebron. On 12/23/1996, Israel agreed to the expansion plan in Golan
Heights and US ambassador in Egypt criticized Israel's building of residential
zones. At the end of 1996, Israel agreed to withdraw from Hebron. At dawn on
1/15/1997 at the border of Gaza and Israel, Israel drafted the agreement to
withdraw from Hebron beginning 1/17 and to give 80% of the city to Palestine. This
was under USA, Arabic and international pressure. The road is still windy but
no matter what happens, peace in the Middle East will be achieved before the
seven-year tribulation. May God give her strength to act according to the
Bible!
3. God chose Israel
Israel is God's chosen people. Christ was
born in Israel. God wanted to make Israel the head of nations in the
millennium. God gave Jews special wisdom: majority of the scientific advances
in USA was invented by Jews. Recently, Israel invented new missiles better than
those of USA.
CONCLUSION
The
Bible prophesied long ago the two camps of Israel and Arabs, especially the
situation after Israel's rebuilding. From the development of the situation, we
really know: God exists, the Bible is from God, the day of Lord's return is
near.
We
ought to pay special attention to the development of the present Middle East
situation. The peace treaties will continue to be signed but there will be a
few twists before Christ's second coming. Whether peace will be achieved
through land exchanges or through war depends on Netanyahu's perseverance.
Whichever the case may be, there will be peace before the seven years of
tribulation ( 1 Thess 5:3, Rev 6:1-4 ). When Antichrist signs the final
seven-year peace covenant, Israel will live "... in safety" (Eze
38:8) and "...without walls and without gates and bars" (Eze 38:11).
Why will they live in safety without gates and bars? The Arabic nations will
have all signed peace treaties with Israel including Europe's representative,
Antichrist's seven-year covenant so that the Israelites will tear down the
walls. Jerusalem will be without gates and bars because no one will attack them
so that they can live in safety. However, this kind of peace is false,
temporary. "While people are saying, 'Peace and safety', destruction will
come on them suddenly." (1 Thess 5:3)
Russia
and the country of the North will attack Israel at the beginning of the seven
years of tribulation (Eze 38-39).
Egypt
(king of the South) will try to destroy Israel: "Egypt rises like the
Nile, like rivers of surging waters? She says, 'I will rise and cover the
earth; I will destroy cities and their people.' " (Jer 46:8) "Cities"
refers to Jerusalem. Egypt will finally be head of south Arabic nations,
"King of the North" is headed by Russia. "They will also invade
the Beautiful Land..." which refers to Israel. Egypt and many countries
will almost be annihilated: "He will extend his power over many countries;
Egypt will not escape." (Dan 11:41-42, Eze 29:9-12)
Syria
planned to burn Israel in 1967 on the Galilee plateaus. But she will be
punished: "An oracle concerning Damascus: 'See, Damascus will no longer be
a city but will become a heap of ruins.' " (Isa 17:1) Damascus is the
capital of Syria, it is the oldest city in the world to be inhabited and yet,
it will be destroyed. Jordan was combined from Moab, Ammon, and Edom.
Jordan
has already made peace with Israel and will be saved: " 'Yet I will
restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come', declares the Lord." (Jer
48:47) "Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of Ammonites."
(Jer 49:6) "...but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered
from his hand." (Dan 11:41)
Israel
will run away from Antichrist in the seven years of tribulation: "The
woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the
place prepared for her in the desert...… ." (Rev 12:14) This
"woman" is Israel. She will escape to Edom, Moab, and Ammon east of river
Jordan. Finally, they will be saved by Christ (Zec 13:8-9).
In
the millennium, Israel will obtain the territory given by God and become the
head of nations. As we watch the development of the Middle East situation, we
know that God is sovereign. We believe that Israel cannot be destroyed. At the
end times, we need to pay attention to prophecy. Do not forget that we must be
wary (spiritual growth) in order to welcome Christ's return: "...you will
do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until
the day dawns and the morning stars rise in your hearts." (2 Pet 1:19)
Jan. 22, 1997.
Map of the Middle
East
