The Israel Conflict. Part 2
Examining Israel as a nation on the brink of this exacerbating conflict reveals its intrinsic significance beyond its inhabitants. Israel, as a collective entity, is subject to divine providence extending beyond the confines of its populace. Despite the turmoil affecting the self-identified Jews and neighbouring nations, some aspect of Israel's presence is guaranteed to endure indefinitely into the future. At some point, this will be just half of Jerusalem and at another the centre of the world. The land of Israel was promised to the Israelite’s and came with conditions. Today, there appears to be a complete rejection of the idea of conditional ownership.
The commencement of Israel can be traced back to Abraham, with the exact timing varying depending on the source. This event is generally believed to have occurred between 2095 and 1980 BC, a time frame that can be better understood by examining the ages of mankind. Three distinct ages have transpired: the current era, characterized by the belief in Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross for our redemption; the subsequent age, the Abrahamic age, where our righteousness is our means of salvation and faith is equated with righteousness; and the initial age of righteousness alone, the Adam age. Each of these ages spans approximately two millennia, albeit with slight variations, counted in days. A notable date within this chronology is the resurrection of Jesus and the emergence of the current age on the 7th of April 29 AD, marking precisely 2000 years since 1971 BC, the year pinpointed as the inception of the idea of the nation of Israel. Abraham believing God and leaving the land of Haran and sojourning to Canaan.
The foundation of Israel took root during the time of Issac, eventually leading to a pause in Egypt. The Israel we recognize today emerged when Joshua led the Israelites back over the Jordan River, approximately in 1400 BC. Following this, they entered the era of the Judges, which spanned four centuries.
Subsequently, four monarchs ruled over the entirety of Israel. Solomon's reign marked the fulfilment of all the territories pledged to Abraham, thus realizing the land promises made to him regarding Israel.
Following the era of these monarchs, Northern and Southern Israel encountered a split. In 722 AD, the Assyrians conquered Southern Israel, a historical event that remains quite enigmatic. Legend has it that ten tribes were seized and only two evaded capture. Numerous unfounded speculations exist regarding the fate of these so-called lost tribes. To begin with, the Levies dispersed throughout Israel, while Simeon found itself located south of Jerusalem, encircled by Judea, and Dan extended deeply into Judea. Additionally, sections of Ephraim managed to retain their independence.
Subsequently, the Southern kingdom succumbed to Babylon's forces 140 years later, thereby fulfilling Jehovah's warning that neglecting adherence to his teachings and principles would result in expulsion from the land. This period saw Israel becoming a part of the Babylonian Empire until its subjugation by Greece. The language of trade transitioned from Sanskrit during the Assyrian and Babylonian reigns to Greek dominance under the Hellenistic rule.
During a century spanning from 167-67BC, some of Israel enjoyed independence under the rule of the Maccabees until the arrival of the Romans, who asserted control over the region. Throughout this period, Greek served as the predominant language of communication. Israel remained under varying forms of Roman governance until the Arab invasion of the Holy lands in 638AD, enduring approximately 700 years of Roman rule. In 691AD, Caliph Abd el-Malik oversaw the construction of the Dome of the Rock, where he inscribed declarations affirming the belief in one God and the prophethood of Mohammad. While commonly presumed to refer to the Islamic prophet Mohammad, these inscriptions were, in fact, intended to placate followers following a rebellion instigated by a military leader, come prophet, named Mohammad in 690AD. Apart from references in the Koran, there exists no substantial evidence supporting the existence of the Islamic prophet Mohammad. However, that's a story for another day.
In the year 1099 AD, the Crusaders successfully repossessed Israel and upheld its presence for more than 140 years, notwithstanding intermittent challenges encountered in Jerusalem. As time passed, their grip on the territory gradually weakened until it slipped away piece by piece. Over 200 years later, the Mongols emerged victorious as they conquered the final strongholds.
Throughout this era, despite the ruling elite being predominantly of European descent, marriages between the local populace and Arabs became increasingly prevalent. After a span of 160 years, the ethnic boundaries between the Israeli and Arab populations dwindled to the point of being indistinguishable. The spread of corruption within Christianity eroded their connection to divine shielding, ultimately leading to their downfall, mirroring the fate of those who came before them.
Subsequently, Islam had firmly established itself and reclaimed dominance over the region, ousting the Mongols. Due to Christianity's tarnished beliefs, a considerable portion of the population willingly converted to Islam. Those who remained faithful to their Christian beliefs often fled, while many faced persecution and death.
The next significant shift occurred with the ascension of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1517AD, the Holy Lands came under the rule of the Turks, who governed it from Damascus. After exactly 400 years, they relinquished control in 1917AD. This time-span of 400 years holds significant biblical symbolism, just like the Romans’ 700 years of reign, the Crusaders’ 140 years, and the Assyria to Babylon invasions being 140 years apart. This historical timeline unmistakably demonstrates the divine influence of Jehovah over these events, reassuring us that nothing is beyond His control.
Let's now turn our focus back to the Turks. Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilds the city walls of Jerusalem and the city begins to grow slowly. It was not until 1860 was there development outside the city walls. In 1882, there was a surge of immigration from Russia and a second one in the early 1900s. At the same time, there were movements around the world to re-establish Israel.
During the 1st World War, there were two battles that bought about the end of the Ottoman Empire. The first seemed to be a loss at Gallipoli. The Ottomans may have had a massive army, but only 800,000 were highly trained modern military. 500,000 were deployed at that battle, of which half were killed or wounded. A shock to the army and all of Turkey. The results were mass desertions. The next battle at Beersheba was a major defeat for the Turks and an end to the Turks as a military force. Both of those battles involved the ANZAC forces and without the bravery and fierceness of those troops you would not have seen the conditions for Israel to be established. Armies from the furthermost parts of the earth. In 1917, the Balfour Declaration was signed to establish an Israeli homeland. More Jews immigrated and established businesses. This created jobs and Arabs came from all over to work in them. The population grew from the low 200,000’s to nearly a million in 25 years.
The state of Israel was established in 1948. The Israeli’s went from buying the land to confiscating it from the Arabs. This resulting in the Arabs fighting back and in turn the Arabs being massacred. The surrounding Arab nations came to the rescue of the Palestinians. This was Israel until the 1967 war. In 1964, the Arab League was formed and there was agreement among the nations. This gave the Arab nations a lot of confidence, which led to big talk and a lot of posturing. In 1967, they started to get threatening and moved armies up to the border. There was never any real threat of them starting a war, so the deployments were not serious. Egypt, moved a large part of its army near the border with no logistical support and very little ammunition. A stunningly stupid thing to do, and Israel could not control its temptation to attack them. This resulted in a crushing defeat for the Egyptians and the loss of the Sinai Peninsula. They eventually gave this back, and the second of three times Egypt would lose the Sinai. They recaptured all the land lost during the 1948 war, plus added the Golan Heights, which they still hold. This bit of land is the only land where they can be called the occupiers. The land has remained the same for the most part since then.
This land given to the Israelite's long ago under the conditions that they remain true to Jehovah. This land that today is considered the LGBT capital of the world. With some of the worst abortion and euthanasia laws in the world. Where injustice against the poor and weak in out of hand. It is plain to see that the punishments of old are about to sweep the land again. The promised land had conditions for its occupation. God’s love is unconditional, however, like salvation, belonging to the land is very conditional.