21/01/2025
THE ROLE OF ISRAEL IN THE END TIMES (Part 3).
The third /final return
Even though as early as 1871, a few Jews had been able to manage to settle there, their settlement was beset with many problems. Ten years later in 1881, 25,000 Jews had settled on the land. The desire of the Jews to have a homeland and a sanctuary moved them to establish two organizations in 1882 when Alexander iii was on the throne as Czar of Russia which many thousands of Jews fled west in hope of finding freedom from persecution. The purpose of the two organizations was a setting up of a Jewish homeland in the land of Palestine.
The first organization was called HOVEVE ZION or "Lovers of zion". It was a worldwide movement meant to promote Jewish settlement in Palestine. The second organization was a small group called *BILU" composed of people who actually went to Palestine and began to work in the land inspite of the objections from the Turks. In 1895,however,a dramatic event set one man's heart afire for the cause of zionism. His name was Theodore Herzl. Herzl, a Jewish Austrian newspaperman had gone to Paris to cover the public humiliation of Alfred Dreyfus, a French soldier convicted of collaboration with Germany.
Dreyfus, a Jew had attended a famous academy in France and rose to the rank of captain. He had assimilated in the European culture and society overcoming race and religious barriers. Now he was accused of giving French military information to the German military attache at Paris. Despite scanty evidence, a secret court martial condemned Dreyfus to public humiliation and life imprisonment on Devil's Island. This public humiliation of Dreyfus took place in January 1895. Theodore Herzl stood with the crowd and heard them begin to cry "kill the traitor, kill the Jew". As the Jewish writer listened to the screams of the mob, a shock wave moved through his entire being. Herzl heard that, that same crowd was in effect crying for his blood. An awful awakening sent Herzl into seclusion to write a book of 100 page entitled "Der Judenstact - The Jewish State".
In 1897, two years after the publication of the book, Herzl called the first World Zionist Council to session in Basle, Switzerland. The name of those determined to bring about the return to their land would now be called ZIONISTS- so named for Mount ZION in Palestine. Herzl was elected the InternationaI Executive. A Jewish fund was established as well as a land bank to make it possible to purchase land in Palestine. A flag was chosen with blue and white colors. The hope was designed as the national anthem. The foundation of a nation has been laid. The dry bones were coming together. By 1914, there were about 100,000 Jews in Palestine mostly in the areas of Jerusalem. Though Herzl was no longer living around this time (because he died in 1902), his dream was beginning to materialize. Preparations were being made for the birth of a nation then World War I broke out. Although World War I brought some great difficulties, God used that to prepare his people for a nationhood.
First positive thing that came out from the first World War.
The first positive thing that came out from the war was the issuing of what is known as the 'Balfour Declaration'. Wanting Israel to be on their side, the British Foreign Secretary - Arthur James Balfour on November 2nd,1917 sent the following declaration to Lord Rochschild expressing British sympathy with the cause of zionism : "His majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national homeland for the Jewish people and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it's being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and the religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights of political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. British support for the establishment of a Jewish state was now on paper and declared to the world.
The second positive thing that came out from the World War I.
The second positive thing was that a month later following the Balfour Declaration, December 9th 1917, General Allemby freed Jerusalem from the Turks. His forces liberated Jerusalem without firing a short.
The third positive thing from World War I.
The third positive thing was the public and official appreciation given to Dr Chain Weizmann - a Jew, for his contribution to the war effort of the allies. Weizmann who was born in Russia in 1874 studied chemistry in Germany and then taught at a universities in Switzerland and England. During World War I, he developed an improved method of making acetone which is used in making explosives. The Prime Minister of England credited Weizmann with saving the British Army because of his work in providing explosives. (He would later become the first president of the state of Israel). Following the war, the newly formed League of Nations approved the providing of a national homeland for the Jews as outlined in the Balfour Declaration. All seemed now ready for the state of Israel to be established but there were to be difficult times ahead. The British mandate in Palestine didn't turn out as the zionists had hoped. Disappointments lingered as the Jews had to keep peace with the Arabs who were already on the land. The British therefore placed
rediculously small immigration quotas on the Jews. In 1930, a Royal Commission of Enquiry under Agricultural and Settlement Expect Sir John Hope Simpson concluded that only 20,000 settlers could be admitted to the land without forcing the Arabs out. At that time there were approximately 850,000 Arabs and 170,000 Jews.
One tragedy of World War I was that even though the allies won the war but they lost the peace and that was the unfortunate aspect of it. That was partly due to the bitterness borne in a young Austrian corporal in the German Army by name Adolf Hi**er. Angered at the humiliation brought to his people by the Treaty of Versailles which ended the war and bitter about society in general, Hi**er set out to get revenge. Adolf Hi**er's political success, making him the dictator of Germany became one of the most regrettable developments in the twentieth century.
Please stay tuned for the final part.
