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Key to unlock this chapter is this: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die(v.20)". When God breathed into the nostrils of Adam he made him a living soul. The same creative faith that created everything else is in terms of sentient things. Shape and form of objects are outward manifestation of divine Will that would never err. Glory of divine Power we see but do we see our soul as God would? Does it glorify Him or our own? But soul is what each of us make of by the manner we live by faith. It must speak to God as deep calls unto deep essentially 'the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Co.4:6)'
How do we translate Trinity in personal terms?
God created man in 'our image' signifying it is a multilayered image. In terms of body ageing is a manifestation of it. similarly his propensity to work with the spirit of the times in order to get a head start over others is what spirit of man denotes. Consequently with effort we make sense of the words of others sometimes past the words actually spoken and what is really lurking in the shadows. It only goes as far our physical world is concerned. Thus the prophet could confront Gehazi and say,"And he said unto him, Went not mine heartwith thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee?(2 Ki.5:26a)." When we receive the indwelling Spirit we receive it by faith so in the manner we pursue intentionally things of God we do not further notice the former is quite gone. Here also in loving God with all mind and heart we are led by the spirit. God hates double minded person who preaches Jesus as well as run after as Gehazi did to gather wealth. He is like the man whose latter state is much worse than before (Matt.12:42-45).
There is a day in which soul of man should come for judgment. It is is a day of reckoning. It is what God meant after he put Adam as his steward.
Zion is qualified as planted by God 'and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:'. Eminence speaks for its elevated position takes our eyes to the verse in the Book of Psalms,"Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.(48:2)"
God's promise through Prophet Ezekiel makes it clear. 'I will plant it.' For this reason we find the tree of life first revealed in the middle of the Garden of Eden quite remarkable. "And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads(Ge.2:10)".
Number four here indicates four cardinal directions upon which the word of God holds sovereignty so it must occur in God's Time. It like an arrow of time looks to the end times where also Time is as determined by God. Thus Adam is a stand in for Jesus Christ and Jesus is 'last Adam' by the same argument. Thus the Bible is to be understood as God document where Jesus Christ as the Son reigns supreme as Alpha Omega aspect, the beginning and the ending, Adam, Noah, Moses and several others being represented in him. "I the Lord have spoken it' spoken by prophets validate this. Moses spoke as was commanded of God also Ezekiel.
God had in the beginning reserved waters above the firmament (Ge.1:7) which signified His mercy. What does God tell Moses?'For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion(Ro.9:15)'. This pure river in the city of God flows outwards signifying the new earth.
'Upon this mountain' -in short Zion as planted by God has nothing to do with Jerusalem or Israel per se but for the whole earth.
"Thus saith the LordGod; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent."
Here we have peculiar title of Messiah from the root of Jesse but a branch nevertheless. He is also a high priest but not after the Order of Aaron. " 'Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: "for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch."(Ze.3:8)" What does it mean here? 'Changes are coming' surely. When Jesus turned over the money changer's tables and drove away commerce from the Temple grounds it showed the old heart of mart and rigid legalism would be abolished. No more moral humbug but those who worshiped God in Spirit and truth.
The tender one refers to Zerubbabel a grandson of King Jehoiachin, but he was pointing to one whose kingdom shall replace all others."And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (Dan.2.44).
Zerubabbel ( Ezra 2:2) played a part in rebuilding the temple after return from captivity, High Priest Jeshua and Zerubabbel led the captives home. Jeshua a variant of Joshua, the Hebraic name of Jesus meaning God saves. Significance of the name is not merely coincidental. Zerubabbel laid the foundation of the temple (Zec.4:9)." He and Jeshua were equal in rank the former as the king or Governor while Jeshua was the High Priest. This double honor of Priest King we find first mentioned in Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of the most high God. The Spirit is accurate with persons and their due place in the Salvation Plan of God. Zerubabbel and Joshua were merely stand in for Messiah.
"Moreover the word of theLordcame unto me, saying,Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;"
"For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon." (2 Ki.24:20). In v.10 we read of Zedekiah's capture. " But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho;" (Je.52:8). King Nebuchadnezzer was amenable to deal kindly with Judah but his overtures secretly made to Pharaoh of Egypt and on being found out his breaking of oath, the king of Babylon dealt harshly with him. From the manner events came into play it becomes apparent that God was in control and Israel could not have escaped divine chastisement.
Does anyone in possession of an advantage give it away without securing much more from the deal? It must be attributed to God who prompted the conquering king first to set fair conditions for peace than make him a terrible example to other vassal-kings. Why did Israel foolishly persist in defying him? The rebellious house of Israel chose themselves such harsh punishment. Do we see Israel any more enlightened after so many persecutions including a holocaust in recent times? God writes history and while man on winning a battle of dubious worth may crow his own glory. There are several more wars ahead for those who refuse to learn from God's warnings. It is what war on terror has shown us. Sheer indifference to the lives of Palestine civilians in the manner Israel bulldoze their way into Gaza comes up before God whose patience is similar to the fair conditions set by Nebuchadnezzar. ripe for disaster. Zedekiah reneged. God asks, 'Shall he prosper?
And the word of theLordcame unto me, saying,/Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel."(vv.1-2)
A riddle can be framed like a puzzle a famous example of which is the one the Sphinx asked Oedipus. The Hebrew root for it suggests a riddle would need serious thought. We have a famous example of the riddle asked by Samson after tearing a lion to pieces.(Jud.14:14). A parable on the other hand compares two ideas but thing that is compared to the other holds consistency. For example the Parable of the Sower works for this reason: the condition of the heart being varied the message heard and understood by people also varies. Seed falling on a stony ground produces different result than one fallen on the wayside. In this connection a fable relies on fictitious players often animals as in the fables of Aesop to convey a moral mostly implied.
This chapter is a riddle evidently. Topic is set by God himself and the prophet is to compose it. It is a companion chapter in spirit to the Gospel of St Matthew where Jesus sets forth a parable on the kingdom of heaven and also explains it. (Matt.13). Prophet Ezekiel however is required to speak on the covenant breaking Israel, touching upon the consequences that shall follow when King Zedekiah renege on his oath to the King of Babylon. For the exiled nation it surely must have come raw and a view from inside the furnace as to the events taking place beyond. Thus the topical matter is a springboard for hinting at the shape of things to come. Apostasy of Israel forms the theme of the riddle and besides the folly of the king of Judah secretly turning to Pharaoh of Egypt serves a sharp rebuke on the house of Israel that went whoring after other gods when betrothed to God.
The message to YOU is everything that is written in his word.
You will either believe the message or not believe the message.
The writers of the NEW Testament never used the words that describes God and God's saints in the Old Testament.
Do you believe the angel of the Lord was Christ.
If so, and you were resurrected with Christ as ONE FLESH, why wouldn't you be an angel.
Most things are symbols, not literal little creatures with with six wings and eyes on every side.
God Bless YOU!
You are right in that we are a royal priesthood! ( 1 Peter 2:9)
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
You stated. "We do not know if we are descended from the 10 tribes that were dispersed across the world. But God knows. And his chosen are not a matter of fleshly lineage anyway, but spiritual lineage from Christ.
IF we were descendents from the 10 tribes that were dispersed across the world, wouldn't that make us fleshly lineage instead of spiritual lineage from Christ?
If we are Israel today then this verse would apply to us. 1 Peter 2:7-8. (...unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.)
Israel still holds to the levitical priesthood.
Today Israel is not a priesthood at all!
Today there is 12 lost tribes. "Spiritually"
If you think they has had a tough history, In the future it gets worse!!
In a sense they are worse than the Arabs, considering they has had God in their midst and is in continuance rebellion.
But the represents what the law can do.
And some of us is worse than they are considering we trample over the blood of Christ with the Holyspirit in the world.
We have reject Christ and his true teachings without the "thousands of years of having a religion worshipped by our fathers that saw the miracles and so much history that is hard to turn from.
Hebrews 10:26-31.
God bless and Goodnight.
God bless our faithfulness.
The end of "The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 4)
On September 13, 1993, Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin and Arafat signed the Oslo "Declaration of Principles"--a mockery of the League of Nations' "Declaration of Principles" in 1922--and Israel recognized Arafat and the PLO. In fact, Arafat never kept one provision of this agreement. He couldn't without betraying Islam and suffering the same fate as Sadat. He began immediately over radio and television to apologize in Arabic for Oslo, telling Muslim audiences that he was following the Prophet's example by entering into a temporary cease fire that would lead to Israel's destruction.
Muhammad's treaty of Hudaybiya--a 10-year ceasefire agreement with his own tribe, the Quraish of Mecca--set the legal precedent. Two years later, on a pretext, with an army of 10,000 he took over Mecca with its Ka'aba. Such a ceasefire is agreed to only when the Muslims are too weak to pursue conquest, and is broken as soon as they have the power to renew the attack. Such is the law of war and peace in Islam, as established by Muhammad. No Muslim has the authority to change it.
Tommorow see "The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 5) (Conclusion)
By Dave Hunt.
God bless.
The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 4)
In 1988 Arafat (the worst mass murderer of modern times other than Hitler, Stalin and Mao) condemned all forms of terrorism and recognized Israel on paper. Lying to the enemies of Islam is honorable. Arafat's re-invention as an icon of peace was childishly simple: he vowed to reform--and presto--his heinous crimes of four decades were as though they had never been. Under pressure from the world, Israel made the huge mistake of believing this evil man and making him its "partner for peace."
The Madrid Peace Conference in October 1991 brought together delegates from Israel, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon along with "Palestinians." Next came secret PLO-Israeli talks in Oslo in January 1993.
In a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Rabin, September 9, 1993, Arafat said: "The PLO recognizes the right of Israel to exist in peace and security commits itself to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence [and] affirms that those articles of the Palestinian Covenant which deny Israel's right to exist...are now inoperative and no longer valid and undertakes to submit to the Palestinian National Council for formal approval the necessary changes " As a reward for this transparent lie,
President Clinton promised to pay 500 million dollars to the PLO and its agencies. In exchange, Arafat solemnly swore to comply with all terms of the Oslo Accords.
See Part 22.
Interesting take on the Solomon idea. My thoughts are that ever person is a "foreign wife" to Christ prior to us being brought to God through Christ. We were enemies of God, as Paul says, and dead in our sins. When we are brought into faith and become untied to Christ, we no longer are "foreign" to Him, but "known".
My other though was that the promises of God concerning a "chosen priesthood, holy nation" were, in the wilderness, in the flesh, were the Israelites, (all tribes not just Jews). And this chosen people in the spiritual sense is the Church, as Paul says in Galatians.
Sometimes we forget about all of the tribes when we speak about God's chosen people. I think the only reason that the Jews were in the land of promise from their captivity was so that Jesus would be born in this land from the tribe of Judah.
We do not know if we are descended from the 10 tribes that were dispersed across the world. But God knows. And his chosen are not a matter of fleshly lineage anyway, but spiritual lineage from Christ.
Thanks for the food for thought, Jema.
NOTE;
I would like to pause here for a second to ask how do you see Galatians 4:21-31 ties into all this?
Paul is not talking to Muslims here, He's talking to those who desire to be under the Law!!
Paul is using Issac and Ismael allegorically to present an on going issue in the Church today!
Back to Dave Hunt.
The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 4)
By Dave Hunt.
The naivete of Western leaders in attempting to bring peace is illustrated no better than through former President Jimmie Carter. On March 26, 1979, he hosted at the White House the signing of a "peace treaty" by Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Carter wanted to quote one verse each from the Bible and the Qur'an about peace. There are some 400 such verses in the Bible, but his speechwriters, after much searching, could find only one verse about peace in the Qur'an.
Carter optimistically declared: "In the Koran, we read: 'But if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou also incline towards peace, and trust in God...[Surah 8:61].' So let us now lay aside war.... We pray God...that these dreams will come true."
Islam's "dream," however, is not what Carter and Israel hoped. The verse says "Allah," not God--and Allah hates Jews! Surah eight is titled Spoils of War and it is all about fighting and plunder in the conquest of the world for Allah and Islam. Verse 65 says, "O Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight...." Verse 67 says, "It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land."
The very verse Carter so naively cited declares that the only "peace" Islam offers to anyone is to those who surrender to its conquests and convert to Islam. As noted above, Sadat's reward was assassination at the hands of fellow Muslims for daring to establish "peace" on any other basis than conversion to Islam. In so doing, he had betrayed Islam itself.
See Part 21.
The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 4)
By Dave Hunt.
This theme is prominent in publications officially distributed by Ministries of Education in Muslim lands. For example, in Jordan, a book used in the first year of high school declares, "Israel was born to die. Prove it." A book for the second year of Junior High in Damascus declares: "The Jews are vile, greedy, enemies of mankind." In Syria, a 5th grade book boasts: "We shall expel all Jews from all Arab countries." In Egypt, a textbook for the first year of junior high urges students: "The Arabs do not cease to act for the extermination of Israel." A 9th- grade textbook declares: "Israel shall not live if the Arabs stand fast in their hatred.... Even if all the human race and the devil in hell conspire to aid her, she shall not exist."
When I present such facts to audiences, I see many eyes glaze over in unbelief. It is nearly impossible for anyone with a normal conscience to accept the fact that a religion in our day literally calls for the extermination of an entire people. Not a few fanatics, but Islam itself is Israel's chief and most determined enemy.
The Arabs were converted to Islam by the sword, and that is how they became the battering ram in this battle for Israel's survival. It is really a war between God and Satan that will finally come to its climax at Armageddon. How did we arrive at the present state where an enemy that is determined to annihilate Israel is looked upon as her "partner for peace"?
See Part 20.
The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 4)
Hitler's Mein Kampf is still a bestseller in Muslim countries. The Palestinian Peace Prize for Culture was awarded to Abu Daoud for his book telling how he planned and carried out the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
What about Today?
Textbooks in Syria today lead pupils to the "inevitable conclusion...that all Jews must be annihilated." Calls for annihilation of Jews still resound throughout the Muslim world, such as the Friday sermon in Gaza's Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan mosque, Oct 14, 2000: "Have no mercy on the Jews...kill them...and those Americans who...established Israel here, in the beating heart of the Arab world...." That very day, two Israeli reservists took a wrong turn into Ramallah and were literally torn apart by a frenzied mob--an event that was cheered when the grizzly details were shown on Palestinian T.V. Hamas Leader, Mahmoud al-Zahar, a surgeon, expressed Islam's sentiment, "From our ideological point of view, it is not allowed to recognize that Israel controls one square meter of historic Palestine." In view of Islam's passion to destroy Israel, "peace" plans are a macabre joke!
Muhammad's command that all Jews must be killed is not an obscure teaching which one must search to find. It is in today's textbooks in Islamic schools worldwide, including, for example, the Muslim Academy outside Washington D.C. This declaration is continually repeated in Mosques and on Muslim radio and TV.
See Part 19.
The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 4)
My wife, Ruth, and I together with our four children, ages 8-15, were in Egypt at that time, as eyewitnesses to Arab intentions. On an Egyptian freighter from Alexandria to Beirut, I sat in the lounge with wild-eyed, shouting Arabs around me, watching the Arab arms buildup under Nasser. We saw the complete confidence with which the Arab world, momentarily united behind Nasser in this common goal, prepared to exterminate the Jews. We were heading for Jordan in our VW micro-bus when the Lord graciously redirected us north through Syria. We crossed into Turkey safely just hours before war broke out.
Israel had no choice but to make a preemptive strike in self-defense. The destruction of the Egyptian and Syrian air forces on the ground and the conquest of the Arab armies in what became known as the "Six-day War" is history, another fulfillment of Zechariah 12:6: "In that day will I make the governors of Judah like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again."
Nasser never recovered from the blow to his ego, and died of a heart attack in 1970. He was succeeded by Anwar Sadat. The latter is remembered for making "peace" with Israel, for which he was murdered by the Muslim Brotherhood.
The real Sadat is revealed in an open letter he wrote to Hitler after the latter's death, expressing the hope that the Fuhrer was still alive, and sympathizing with his just cause against the Jews. Similarly, Egyptian columnist, Ahmad Rajab (Al-Akbar, 4/18/01), wrote: "Thanks to Hitler, blessed memory, who on behalf of the Palestinians, revenged in advance, against the most vile criminals on the face of the earth. But we do have a complaint against him--his revenge was not enough."
See Part 18.
The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 4)
On May 16, 1967, Nasser ordered UN peace-keeping forces to leave the Sinai. By May 18, Egyptian troops were massed in the Sinai on Israel's border and Syrian troops had done the same on the Golan. The "Voice of the Arabs" broadcast, "The sole method we shall apply against Israel is total war, which will result in the extermination of Zionist existence." On May 20, the Syrian Defense Minister declared, "Our forces are now entirely ready...to explode the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland...to enter into a battle of annihilation." On May 22, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to all Israeli shipping. It was an act of war. On May 27, Nasser threatened, "Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel.... We will not accept any coexistence with Israel...."
On May 30, Nasser announced, "The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel...while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation...the critical hour has arrived." Iraq's president thundered, "The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified. This is our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy which has been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear--to wipe Israel off the map." Such is still their intent. In fact, no Arab map then or now shows Israel's existence, as already noted.
See Part 17.
NOTE;
This Post by Dave Hunt is for better understanding the conflict going on today and what has been going on in Israel for ever.
God has always protected them from annihilation. EVEN WHILE HE PUNISHED THEM!!
On to Part 17
The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 4)
By Dave Hunt.
These territories, so much in the news today, were held by Jordan and Egypt for 19 years and used as terrorist launching pads against Israel until the latter was forced to take them in the Six-day War in 1967. During those 19 years, not one word was ever heard from the Arab world about a "Palestinian state." It was the Arabs, not Israel, who put the "refugees" in the camps and have kept them there ever since.
What About the PLO?
One often hears the complaint, "Just move the borders back to 1967 and that will bring peace." It was in 1964, however, during those 19 years when Jordan and Egypt held the West Bank and Gaza, that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed. What was "liberation" intended to accomplish at that time? The PLO charter declared that the very existence of Israel was illegitimate, that the Jews were merely citizens of the countries where they happened to live all over the world, not entitled to a land of their own, and that the intention of the Arabs was to take all of "Palestine" for themselves and literally "exterminate" the Jews. The logo of the PLO shows "Palestine" as comprising the entire territory from the Mediterranean to the River Jordan. For Muslims, Israel does not exist.
To Egypt's National Assembly, March 26, 1964, Gamal Abd-Al Nasser, who founded the PLO in Cairo ("Palestinians" in the camps had nothing to do with it), declared that the problem was "the very existence of Israel." On March 8, 1965, he boasted, "We shall enter [Palestine] with its soil saturated in blood." Shortly thereafter he declared, "We aim at...the eradication of Israel." The Arab world had spent 19 years for this war, and they were supremely confident that they would destroy Israel.
See Part 16.
The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 4)
God, Ever Faithful to His Promise
Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948, brought an immediate attack against the poorly armed Israeli settlers by the regular armies of five Arab nations, with tanks and planes. In a BBC interview May 15, 1948, the Arab League declared, "The Arabs intend to conduct a war of extermination." The entire world expected that massacre to occur. Instead, exactly as God had promised, the poorly armed Israeli settlers routed the Arab armies.
That the Arab Muslims have suffered humiliating defeat in every war they have launched against Israel has only made their determination to destroy Israel to the glory of Allah grow ever stronger. God, Ever Faithful to His Promise
Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948, brought an immediate attack against the poorly armed Israeli settlers by the regular armies of five Arab nations, with tanks and planes. In a BBC interview May 15, 1948, the Arab League declared, "The Arabs intend to conduct a war of extermination." The entire world expected that massacre to occur. Instead, exactly as God had promised, the poorly armed Israeli settlers routed the Arab armies. That the Arab Muslims have suffered humiliating defeat in every war they have launched against Israel has only made their determination to destroy Israel to the glory of Allah grow ever stronger.
In the 1948 war of independence, Jordan (which England had created out of land that the 1922 Declaration of Principles of the League of Nations had recognized belonged to the Jewish people) took what is now known as the "West Bank." Egypt took the Gaza Strip. All Jews were expelled and all Jewish property was destroyed or confiscated.
See Part 15.
The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 3)
There is a law in Islam that once Muslims have possessed a territory in their conquest of the world (as commanded by Allah through his prophet Muhammad), that land can never be relinquished. Islam cannot tolerate having territory which it once controlled regain its independence. Nor can non-Muslims reign over Muslims. Having taken Jerusalem in 641, Muslims controlled all of what had once been Israel for centuries. The Turkish Ottoman Empire held the entire Middle East for 400 years until 1917. It is therefore an unacceptable reversal of Islamic history for Jews now to be in control of any of their Promised Land. Thus, as soon as the UN partitioned "Palestine" in 1947, the Arabs rioted in protest.
So long as Israel retains autonomy over one square yard of land in the Middle East, it is an affront to Islam and declares to the world that Islam is a false religion, Allah a false god, Muhammad a false prophet, and the Qur'an a false revelation. This is the issue--and all the talk of "peace" without recognizing and changing this teaching of Islam is both a fool's dream and a fraud.
See Part 14.
"The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 4)"
The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 3)
Why the Jews?
In the last century there were more than 100 million displaced refugees (about 15 million in the creation of India and Pakistan). None ever go back nor does the United Nations concern itself in any attempt to send them back. This is the rule and practice. Ah, but there is one exception--the "Palestinians" must be received back to Israel in order to destroy her. Nothing aroused Satan's hatred and the wrath of Islam like the birth of the nation of Israel. It must be annihilated. And here Islam itself is the driving force, not a few "extremists." Islam promises Muslims victory against the Jews as well as against the entire world.
Instead, they taste only humiliation in every attack they launch. Israel, on the other hand, in spite of being under God's judgment, enjoys His protection in many ways, as foretold: "In that day will I make the governors of Judah like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about" ( Zech 12:6). The wars of 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973 have borne eloquent testimony to the truth of Scripture: "If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say; If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they have swallowed us up quick, when their wrath is kindled against us Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth" ( Ps 124:1-8).
The Arabs' repeated defeat at the hands of Israel is for them both embarrassing and maddening. The Imams blame this shame upon the departure from true Islam by the masses of Muslims. They are whipping up a worldwide revival of fundamentalist Islam as the way to regain Allah's blessing and thereby defeat Israel.
See Part 13.
The Islamic Threat To Israel (Part 3)
The Arabs who fled Israel in 1948 (in spite of Israel's urgent invitation to remain to build a new country together) did so at the insistence of the Arab military. They were warned that those who remained would be considered traitors to the Arab cause. Most of those who fled never saw an Israeli soldier. They are the only "refugees" in the Middle East as far as the world is concerned and to whom all the sympathy is given. Jewish refugees count for nothing. The families of those who did not flee comprise about 25 percent of Israel's citizens today and have full voting rights. Some are even members of the Knesset, in spite of their opposition to Israel's existence. In stark contrast, no Jew can be a citizen of any Muslim country, where the few remaining have almost no rights.
One would expect that the Jewish refugees, numbering about twice as many at the time and having fled indescribable persecution in Muslim lands, would be more than a fair exchange for the Arab refugees. Jews would never want to go back to these Muslim lands, and have been well absorbed into normal Israeli life. But the Arab "refugees" (in spite of the Arabs possessing 700 times the land given to Israel, and with vast sums of oil money available for assistance) have been deliberately kept in squalid camps as a festering sore to support Islam's controversy with Israel. They have multiplied into millions and would literally destroy Israel if the world could ever force Israel to receive them back. On October 11, 1949, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Saleh el-Din, declared that in demanding the return of the refugees to Palestine [i.e., Israel], "the Arabs intend that they shall return as masters.... More explicitly: they intend to annihilate the state of Israel."
See Part 12.