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The Return of Israel
After Centuries of Exile,
They Came Home!
By J. R. Church
The return of the Jews to reestablish
their national homeland is one of the
most important fulfillments in all of Bible
prophecy. Many Old Testament prophets
wrote about this event. Among them was
Jeremiah, who gave a description of Is-
rael’s unique return:
“Turn, O backsliding children, saith the
Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will
take you one of a city, and two of a family,
and I will bring you to Zion” (Jer. 3:14).
Please note the detail
“one of a city, and two
of a family ...” This is
exactly what happened
in the late 1940s when
the beleaguered Jewish
people fled the ravages
of war-torn Europe and
Germany. Oftentimes a
Jewish immigrant would be heard to say
something like this, “I am the only one in
our family from Berlin who has survived.
But I’ve just met one other member of the In 1948, many Jewish farmers were still plowing with horses. Times were primitive,
family who has also survived — my uncle but the future looked bright as the nation of Israel was birthed among the nations
from Hanover.” of the world. The return of the Jews to their ancient homeland was one of the most
In each story the name of the town important fulfillments in all of Bible prophecy. It was a “super-sign!”
might differ; the country might be Poland Through the centuries, however, the the English felt about the Jews from the
or Austria. Rather than an uncle it might Jews managed to maintain their identity as 13th to the 16th centuries.
be a married sister or a cousin or a neph- a people. They kept their faith in the book It is said that the Christian religion in-
ew. But the essential feature of Jeremiah’s of the Law, in the writings of the rabbis, flicted the worst sufferings upon the Jew-
prophecy remained the same — “one of a and in the observance of the Sabbath. Year ish people. Christian anti-Semitism de-
city, and two of a family.” Yes, the proph- after year, around the Passover table, they clared that the Jews were guilty of deicide
ecy has come to pass — even in the small- would declare, “Next year in Jerusalem!” — the murder of God. Many believed that
est detail. After 1,813 years of wandering Throughout the long centuries the Jew- the Jews were under a perpetual and irre-
among the nations of the world, suffering ish people suffered. There was the slavery vocable curse. False rumors followed the
severely in every generation, a remnant of imperial Rome and the Crusades of re- Jews wherever they went. It was generally
has returned. The Jew is back in his land. ligious Rome. In A.D. 1290 the Jews were believed that the Jews murdered Christian
expelled from England. For 300 years no children in order to use their blood for secret
Earlier Attempts Failed Jews were allowed in the country. When ceremonies connected with the Passover.
The modern Zionist movement is the cul- Shakespeare wrote his play, “The Mer- When the Bubonic Plague swept across
mination of many attempts down through chant of Venice,” he personified the Jew- medieval Europe, the Jews were blamed.
the centuries to restore the nation of Israel. ish people in a single villain and called While a fifth of Europe’s population died
In almost every century efforts were made him Shylock. The character projected a of the Black Plague, the Jews were not
to return the people and restore the nation, stereotype of a people who were thought affected. Because of this the Europeans
but all failed until, in the providence of to be treacherous and covetous, whose accused the Jews of poisoning the water
God, the prophecy was to be fulfilled. only profession was usury. This is the way and bringing on the plague. Little did they
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know that the Jews managed to escape
the Bubonic Plague simply because they
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David Reubeni
In 1525, David Reubeni appeared in
Prophecy in the News airs on Sky Angel
Western Europe and sought to raise an Thursday 11:30 PM (CT)
army to conquer Palestine. He came from
the east and announced that his brother fled to Turkey, rose high in the favor of their unbelief and restore them to their
was the ruler of a Jewish kingdom in the the sultan. He was given the title, Nasi — land. In 1621 Sir Henry Finch published a
Middle East near the Promised Land. He Duke of Naxos. He was given an island in book entitled, The Restoration of Jews, in
even presented himself to the pope and, the Aegean Sea and was granted rights to which he wrote that “all the Gentiles shall
amazingly enough, the pope received him, the Tiberias region of northern Palestine. bring their glory into thy empire.” Such a
endorsed him, and sent him off with a let- Joseph Nasi planned to use his great statement provoked immediate and violent
ter of recommendation to the king of Por- wealth and influence to settle a large num- opposition in both the church and state.
tugal, Charles V, who was emperor of the ber of Jewish families around the Sea of James I considered the book personal li-
Holy Roman Empire. Galilee. He was going to obtain silk worms bel and arrested the elderly Sir Henry and
The Jewish people throughout Europe as a means of livelihood for his colony. his publishers. Though they were held only
rallied to David Reubeni and felt that the However, before the plan could be carried a few weeks, it had a chilling effect upon
time had finally come to return home. Un- out war erupted between Turkey and Ven- 17th century English theologians. Still, de-
fortunately, when Reubeni finally reached ice. In the turmoil, Joseph Nasi fell from spite opposition and persecution, the idea
Charles V, he was arrested and executed. favor and lost his favored position. Again had taken root and would continue to grow
The resulting 15th century inquisition in Jewish hopes were dashed. among the Puritans and others. Someday,
Spain and Portugal seemed to seal their But with that failure in the 16th century they said, the Jews will reestablish the na-
fate. Jews were forced to convert to Ca- there arose another ray of hope — this time tion of Israel!
tholicism or die. In many cases if the coming from England. With the translation The biblical concept of a restored Jew-
church was not satisfied that their conver- of the Bible into English in the 1500s, a ish nation flourished in England between
sion was genuine, they died anyway. renewed confidence in the authority of the 1640 and 1666. It was believed that the re-
Toward the end of the 15th century (ac- Scriptures began to emerge. Christians in turn of the Jews to their homeland would
cording to one pilgrim) the city of Jeru- England finally understood the prophecies usher in the messianic era.
salem was almost desolate of inhabitants. of a restored Israel. There was a flurry of ideas. Among them
Only 4,000 families lived in Jerusalem. Of was the belief that the English were mem-
these, only 70 families were Jewish, and Francis Kett bers of the ten lost tribes of Israel. This
they were “of the poorest class, lacking In 1589, Francis Kett expounded upon gave rise to the theory called “British Is-
even the commonest necessities.” Such the theory of a regathered Israel. Unfortu- raelism.” The English were Anglo-Saxons
was the description of an early pilgrim nately, his theory was not well received. and the word Saxon was thought to be a
on the plight of the Jews in Palestine. The He was declared a heretic and burned at derivative of the term “Isaac’s sons.” The
desolation of the land had somehow come the stake. But the idea survived. Other Danish people were considered descen-
to stand for the miserable state of the Jew- Elizabethan churchmen, including the Pu- dants of the tribe of Dan and the city of
ish people. Both were desolate; both were ritans, began to speak and write about the Denmark was thought to be a derivative of
in hostile hands; and both awaited God’s predicted Jewish homeland — the restora- “Dan’s mark.”
redemption. tion of Israel.
Sabbatai Zevi
Joseph Nasi Sir Henry Finch In 1666, a Jewish tradesman in Smyrna
In the 16th century, the Jews again ex- Most early theologians believed that gained widespread attention when he pro-
perienced a brief moment of hope. Joseph the Jews would convert to Christianity, claimed himself the Jewish Messiah. His
Nasi, a wealthy Portuguese Jew who had whereupon God would forgive them for Continued on Page 33
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Continued from Page 7 Hope of Israel, linked the messianism of the dispensation of Grace. Perhaps the in-
name was Sabbatai Zevi. He announced the Puritans with the messianic hopes of fluence of John Nelson Darby, more than
that he planned to lead his people back the Jews. In the book, he accepted the Pu- any other, was one of the primary influ-
to their homeland. Hopes revived. Some ritan notion that the Indians of the New ence that led to the birth of Israel in 1948.
thought the time had come and that the World made up the ten lost tribes of Israel.
Messiah had finally appeared. His studies in the book of Daniel, coupled
Sir Lawrence Oliphant
Sabbatai Zevi traveled to Constantino- with a prophecy from Deuteronomy that In 1878, Sir Lawrence Oliphant, a mem-
ple to see the Sultan. But he found that he the Jews would be scattered from one end ber of the British parliament, set out to se-
had taken on an impossible task. He had of the earth to the other, convinced him cure the land of Gilead east of the Jordan
hopes of taking the Sultan’s crown, but that those Indians must be Jews. River for the Jewish people. In 1880, he
instead became a prisoner of the Turk- Furthermore, he believed that England went to Constantinople to see the Sultan.
ish ruler. It is said that he was given the must readmit Jews within her borders. He It is said that the land of Gilead (north-
choice of converting to Islam or dying. worked together with British Christians to ern Jordan) was bought from the Turkish
This self-proclaimed messiah of the Jews bring this about. Manasseh Ben Israel be- government for the purpose of resettling
converted to Islam and, once again, hopes lieved in the return of the Chosen People, the area with Jewish immigrants. Follow-
were dashed. but many Jews during the 17th and 18th ing the British invasion of 1917, and the
centuries did not agree. overthrow of the Ottoman Empire, Jewish
Samuel Gott hopes for occupying the ancient land of
Several books on the return of the Jews Joseph Priestly Gilead were revived. However, three years
surfaced in those early years. One book The idea of a restored Israel was largely later, in 1922, Winston Churchill, British
was entitled Nova Solyma, written by a Christian concept. It was the evangeli- Secretary of the Colonies, partitioned the
Samuel Gott and published anonymously cal Christian community over the past 200 land of Palestine, creating the Hashemite
in 1648. It was a utopian novel about the years that promoted a Jewish return to kingdom of Transjordan, and giving the
return of the Jews to their homeland. Its their national homeland. In 1787, Joseph land of Gilead to the Arabs. Yes, Gilead
author was said to have been influenced Priestly, a world-renowned naturalist, phi- was bought and paid for, but the Jews
by John Milton, author of Paradise Lost. losopher, and theologian, proposed that were never allowed to possess their terri-
However, the book disappeared, but sur- Jews acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah, tory. King Abdullah of Jordan reigns over
faced again in 1902. come to the end of their sufferings, and re- Gilead today — refusing to recognize pre-
turn into the Holy Land. vious Jewish ownership of the territory. Sir
Johann Amos Comenius Suggesting that the Jews acknowledge Oliphant moved to Haifa in the 1880s in
Another book of the period was called Jesus as the Messiah was disgusting to the order to assist Jewish immigrants returning
The Way of Light, by Johann Amos Come- Jews in 1787. In fact, David Levi, the first to their homeland. He died there in 1888.
nius, who foresaw a Messianic age that Jew to translate the Pentateuch into Eng-
would be preceded by the restoration of lish, responded to Joseph Priestly with an-
Theodor Herzl
the Jews in their homeland. Its author ger and revulsion. Most of the devout Jews The name of Theodor Herzl is forever
was a Czechoslovakian living in England. of his day were not anticipating either the inscribed in history as “the father of mod-
His book was published in Latin in 1667. coming of the Messiah or a return to their ern Zionism.” In 1897, he conducted the
However, it also dropped out of sight and, ancient homeland. first World Zionist Congress in Basel,
in 1938 was rediscovered, translated into In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, having Switzerland. He said: “At Basel I founded
English, and published. Both of these invaded Palestine, was called upon by the the Jewish state! If I said this out loud to-
books, among others, were 300 years British Christian Restoration Movement to day I would be greeted by universal laugh-
ahead of their time, for they espoused the grant the Jews a homeland. They believed ter. In five years, perhaps, and certainly in
idea of a restored Israel. that the fall of the Turkish Ottoman Em- fifty years, everyone will perceive it.”
Some Puritans in the early 1600s ad- pire was inevitable and felt that the time Seven years later, in 1904, Theodor
opted the idea that the Indians in the new had come for the return of Israel. Napo- Herzl died. But exactly 50 years later,
world must be the ten lost tribes of Israel. leon’s victory was short-lived, however, on November 29, 1947, the United Na-
This concept was later espoused by Joseph and his retreat after only one month ended tions voted to establish a Jewish state in
Smith, founder of the Mormans. However, the hope of restoration. There were a lot of Palestine. Though it was not intended as
recent genetic studies have found no mito- people during the 19th century who em- a prophecy, the dream of Theodor Herzl
chondrial DNA markers that link the Indian braced the idea of a restored Jewish state. came to pass.
tribes of North and South America to a Se- They were men like John Nelson Darby,
mitic background. The Indians are clearly John Adams, Robert Browning, and Ben-
William Hechler
linked to Caucasian ancestry — not Semitic jamin Disraeli. Theodor Herzl was a Jew. But behind
ancestry. Many strange theories arose in the the scenes, a Christian clergyman worked
wake of the Protestant Reformation and the John Nelson Darby to bring Herzl’s dream to reality. His name
translation of the Bible into English. How- John Nelson Darby was born in 1800, was William Hechler. He became con-
ever, not all theories were based upon an grew up to become an Anglican clergyman vinced from his study of Bible prophecy
accurate interpretation of Scripture. and, around 1830, began teaching the pro- that 1897 was the crucial year for the res-
phetic Scriptures. He and George Wigram toration of the Jewish state. When he read
Manasseh Ben Israel founded a group known as the Pilgrim Theodor Herzl’s book, Der Juden-Staat
Perhaps the most significant Jewish Brethren and began teaching Dispensa- (“The Jewish State”), Hechler went to
leader in the 1600s was Manasseh Ben Is- tional theology — the biblical concept that Herzl and volunteered to help him bring
rael, rabbi of Amsterdam. His book, The the Messianic kingdom would soon follow the vision to reality.
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Early in his career, William Hechler had and the eventual establishment of the Jew- and after will I send for many hunters, and
served as a tutor to the children of Fred- ish state. The return of Israel was a Jewish they shall hunt them from every mountain,
eric, Grand Duke of Baden, who was the movement encouraged and aided along the and from every hill, and out of the holes of
uncle of Kaiser Wilhelm. He persuaded way by Bible believing Christians. the rocks” (Jeremiah 16:16).
the Grand Duke and other members of the Two kinds of people, designated by
German royal family that the Jewish state
Birthpangs of a Nation the Lord, were to be responsible for the
should be restored — he had shown them The rebirth of the state of Israel is the regathering of Israel and for the reestab-
his biblical charts and diagrams. most important fulfillment of Bible proph- lishment of the nation — the fishers and
Hechler was British. Herzl knew that ecy in the twentieth century! Jeremiah pre- the hunters. A fisherman draws his prey
the British Christian community believed dicted that the Exodus would pale when toward him with bait and a hunter drives
in the prophetic return of Israel and would compared with the final return of Israel: his prey away from him by fear.
probably be his strongest ally. He was “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith In my opinion, the evangelical Christian
right. Evangelical Christianity has always the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The community has fulfilled the prediction of
stood on the side of the Jewish people. Lord liveth, that brought up the children of the fishers. For the past 400 years Chris-
This remarkable Christian clergyman, Israel out of the land of Egypt; tians have encouraged and aided the Jew-
William Hechler, arranged a two-hour au- “But, The Lord liveth, that brought up ish people to return to their homeland —
dience for Herzl with Grand Duke Fred- the children of Israel from the land of the believing that such a return must precede
eric, and in October 1898, also arranged north, and from all the lands whither he the Second Coming of Christ. The fishers
a meeting with Kaiser Wilhelm. They met had driven them: and I will bring them of Jeremiah could well have been the ones
both in Constantinople and Jerusalem. again into their land that I gave unto their designated by Jesus as “fishers of men.”
The tireless efforts and prayers of Wil- fathers” (Jeremiah 16:14-15). Every attempt over the past 400 years to
liam Hechler on behalf of Theodor Herzl This is an absolutely amazing proclama- restore the nation of Israel has been pro-
should not be forgotten in history. tion. For more than 3,000 years the Cho- moted by Christians, sometimes behind
In 1902, the World Zionist Congress was sen People have celebrated their deliver- the scenes, but they were there. William
offered the Sinai for settlement. The British ance from Egypt with the observance of Hechler, aid to Theodor Herzl, was a
had control of the land and offered to give Passover. Year after year, around the Pass- Christian. Lord Balfour was a Christian.
it to the Jews. The plan collapsed and in over table, the Jews commemorate those General Edmund Allenby was a Christian.
1903, the African territory of Uganda was days when Moses led the Israeli Exodus We were the fishers! The Balfour Decla-
offered to the World Zionist Congress. out of Egypt. However, at the close of ev- ration did not create the Jewish state, but
Herzl was willing to accept a homeland ery Passover meal, the Jews look forward it prepared the way for one. Lord Balfour
in East Africa, but Hechler argued that ac- to living in the Promised Land. They close believed in the restoration of Israel. On
cepting Uganda would destroy all hopes the meal with the declaration, “Next year December 9, 1917, the British army, under
of resettlement in their true homeland of — in Jerusalem!” the leadership of General Allenby, took the
Palestine. In August 1904, Theodor Herzl Jeremiah wrote that the day will come city of Jerusalem. It is said that Allenby
died and when the World Zionist Congress when this great Passover deliverance will dismounted his horse and entered the city
met again, it abandoned the Uganda plan. pale when compared with the second in- on foot, for he, being a Christian, felt that
Between 1904 and 1915 some 40,000 Jew- gathering of the Jews from all lands — the only conqueror who had a right to ride
ish immigrants arrived in Palestine nearly particularly from the land of the north, into the city would be the Messiah Him-
doubling the Jewish population. which includes Germany, Poland, and self, Jesus Christ.
Russia. That is how much more impor- So Allenby walked through the gate into
General Edmund Allenby tant this second worldwide exodus will be the city of Jerusalem under the mandate
In 1917, General Edmund Allenby con- when compared to that first exodus out of of the Balfour Declaration. What an his-
quered Palestine and liberated the city of Egypt. Little did they know how important toric day! Evangelical Christians around
Jerusalem, carrying out the Balfour Decla- their plans really were — when Theodor the world rejoiced and Jewish people also
ration which stated, “His majesty’s govern- Herzl convened the first World Zionist rejoiced. Hope was high for the restoration
ment views with favor the establishment Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897! of Israel. However, along with the fishers
in Palestine of a national homeland for the Their efforts in the eyes of God would far God promised to send hunters. Perhaps
Jewish people.” The Balfour Declaration exceed the original exodus! However, Is- they were the persecutors — the infamous
— issued on November 2, 1917, — did not rael’s rebirth was not an easy one. It was Nazis of Hitler’s Germany.
create a Jewish state, but prepared the way attended by war and heartache. The birth
for events which led to its establishment of Israel was bathed in blood, fulfilling the Herbert Samuel
in 1948. prophecies of the Bible, which refers to it In 1920, the first British High Com-
Please note: General Allenby was a as the “birthpangs of travail.” missioner was appointed in Palestine. His
Christian; William Hechler was a Chris- name was Herbert Samuel, a Jew who
tian; and the British Restoration Move-
Fishers and Hunters worked to improve conditions for the new
ment was a Christian movement — all in- Jeremiah elaborated upon their suffer- settlers. He also established Hebrew as the
fluenced by the prophetic teachings of John ing. He described the second exodus as be- third language of the country.
Nelson Darby and the Pilgrim Brethren ing greater than the first. Then, in the next Almost from the beginning there were
movement. Over the past 500 years, with verse, he gave a vivid picture of the vari- problems between Arabs and Jews. The
the development of the printing press and ous agents God would use to bring about policy and method of the British govern-
the translation of the Bible into English, the deliverance of the Jewish people: ment differed decisively from those of the
Protestant Christianity saw a gradual re- “Behold, I will send for many fishers, Turks who had ruled the area for 400 years.
turn to the literal interpretation of the Bible saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; There was a large influx of Jewish immi-
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grants from various backgrounds, cultures, Jews. Between 1933 and 1935, the Jews Jerusalem. From that point on, the situa-
and languages. The whole character of the paid more than $20 million to Arab land- tion in Jerusalem degenerated rapidly into
country was undergoing a radical change. owners. They bought swampy, rocky, and a state of undeclared war. Jews and Arabs
The Arabs, who strongly resented all of sandy soil. Then they drained the swamps, were no longer willing to live side by side.
this, began to organize anti-Jewish riots. watered the deserts, and planted trees and The city was split up into a number of
In 1919, the Zionist movement made crops. During those years they developed armed camps — some controlled by Jews
an agreement with Emir Faisal, leader of an almost uncanny skill for making barren and others by Arabs.
the Arabs, and thought that they could live land produce abundant crops. Officially the British were still respon-
peaceably side-by-side. However, in 1921 The world had scoffed, saying that the sible for the maintenance of law and order.
Faisal’s brother, Abdullah, moved into Jews didn’t know anything about farming The military forces at their disposal were
eastern Palestine with a band of guerrillas. — only banking. Everywhere else in the more than sufficient to enable them to
At that time Britain controlled Palestine, a world Jews had made very poor farmers, carry out their task effectively. However,
large area of territory, which covered not but excellent financiers. In Israel, however, they did not do this. Instead, they openly
only modern-day Israel, but what became they have become the world’s most profi- tolerated — at times even supported — the
the country of Jordan as well. Because of cient farmers, yet could not seem to con- looting and murders carried out by armed
the uprisings of Arabs against the Jews, the trol their own inflation. The inflation rate bands of Arabs against the Jews. They also
British tried to placate the Arabs by giving for the past several years has been severe. used their military superiority to prevent
them four-fifths of the territory. The government even changed the cur- Jews from acquiring the weapons needed
rency from the Lira to the biblical Shekel. to defend themselves.
Winston Churchill Still, inflation continued out of control.
In 1922, Winston Churchill (British The Birth of Israel
Secretary of the Colonies) recognized Ab-
World War II On May 14, 1948, British forces finally
dullah as the political leader of the Arabs When World War II broke out in 1939, withdrew from Palestine and the state of
and, with a stroke of his pen, partitioned many Jews between the ages of 18 and 50 Israel was officially proclaimed. Within
Palestine, creating the Hashemite king- volunteered to serve in the British army. By a week, however, all of the surrounding
dom of Transjordan. The border was to be the end of the war more than 26,000 Jews Arab nations declared war and set about
the Jordan River Valley from the Lake of from Palestine were serving in the Jewish to destroy the tiny new nation. More than
Galilee in the north, through the Dead Sea, brigade. Meanwhile, most of the Arabs in 40 million Arabs — with modern well-
and south to the port of Eilat on the Gulf Palestine were either indifferent or pro- equipped armies — declared war on a na-
of Aqaba. From the very beginning, Jews Nazi. In fact, in 1941 the Jerusalem’s Arab tion of less than 640,000 people, whose
were denied access to the land east of the leadership visited Germany and offered volunteer army had been assembled on a
Jordan, while at the same time, the Arabs Arab assistance to the Nazis’ so-called “fi- few days notice — with no heavy equip-
were allowed to immigrate west of the Jor- nal solution to the Jewish problem.” ment — only an assortment of handguns
dan into Israeli territory. However, in spite of Jewish support for and rifles.
Winston Churchill’s concessions to the Britain and Arab support for Germany, Humanly speaking, it was impossible
Arabs did not put an end to their opposi- the British continued to restrain the Jews for Israel to survive. The proverbial birth-
tion. The Arabs continued to riot against and appease the Arabs. After World War pangs were so intense, it looked as if the
the Jews. In 1929 Arab hatred exploded II ended, tensions between the Arabs and baby would die. But slowly the tide of war
over the issue of Jews praying at the Wail- the Jews continued to increase. The British turned against the Arabs — by the end of
ing Wall. This led to the massacre of 70 de- would not allow a large influx of Jewish 1948, virtually all of the invading Arabs
fenseless Jews in Hebron on the Sabbath. immigration from war-torn Europe. Those had been forced to withdraw. The state of
In spite of all these difficulties, Jew- who escaped German concentration camps Israel had been established. It was a mira-
ish development continued to flourish. were placed in British internment camps. cle, but the Jews survived. It was not easy,
In the mid-1920s, Jews from all over the The British occupiers of Israel’s home- but the Israelis managed to win against
world immigrated to Israel. They settled land continued to placate the Arabs and overwhelming odds — just as Isaiah said
the towns and the cities — built factories, restrain the Jews. Finally, the Jews felt it they would:
shops, hotels, and restaurants. Construc- necessary to drive out the British and take “Who hath heard such a thing? who
tion and road-building became major in- control of their own destiny. Jewish under- hath seen such things? Shall the earth be
dustries and everywhere the Jewish people ground organizations began to retaliate for made to bring forth in one day? or shall
settled, Arabs came to take advantage of what was considered to be both British and a nation be born at once? for as soon as
the higher wages and better living stan- Arab discrimination. Zion travailed, she brought forth her chil-
dards resulting from Jewish development. dren” (Isaiah 66:8).
Jewish population rose by 375,000
The United Nations Vote That is exactly what happened on May
between World War I and World War II, On November 29, 1947, the United Na- 14, 1948. Israel was born as a complete
while the non-Jewish population increased tions voted to partition western Palestine nation with its own government, armed
by 380,000. It is interesting to note that the into two separate states — one Jewish and forces, and all necessary administrative
Arab increase was largest in the areas of the other Arab. In 1922, the British had functions.
intensive Jewish development and negligi- given four-fifths of the territory of Pales- It is true that everything had been im-
ble where there was little Jewish activity. tine to the Arabs — calling it Transjordan provised hastily and on a small scale, yet
During the early 1930s, some 164,000 — but in 1947, the UN carved away again all the necessary ingredients were there to
Jews settled in Palestine. Many of the more than half of the Jewish homeland and make Israel a nation within its own bor-
Arab landlords took advantage of the situ- gave it to the Arabs. They moved the bor- ders, “... for as soon as Zion travailed, she
ation and sold their useless land to the der from the Jordan River to the heart of brought forth her children.” u
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