| Highlights of Dawn | January 1974 |
Anxious Eyes on Israel
“You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” —Amos 3:2
ONCE more the eyes and ears of the whole world are apprehensively directed toward that long-festering sore spot on the world body known as the Mideast. Indeed, for the last one hundred years that area has claimed the attention of the world to an ever-increasing degree, reaching a high in 1948 when, in spite of bitter opposition from the surrounding Arab nations, the Jewish state of Israel was finally established in what has long been known as Palestine, the land that God some four thousand years earlier had promised to Abraham and to his seed as an everlasting possession.—Gen. 13:14-18
From the very earliest time of their recognition by God as his people, their survival was at the expense of constant struggle. They were fervently hated by their enemies, often defeated in battle and taken into exile, and finally, following the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70, were scattered among the nations of the then known world. And the fact that despite unimaginable hardships, that small nucleus of a nation that was born so long ago has today a place, however tenuous, in the roster of the nations of the world is one of the most remarkable circumstances in the history of the human race, as well as outstanding proof of the faithfulness of God’s promises.
The implacable hatred which her Arab neighbors bear toward Israel is today perhaps at its very peak. Four times over the few years since 1948 the Arabs have sought by going to war to annihilate the Jews and destroy the new-born nation; and Arab bitterness has only been heightened by the fact that each time they have met with humiliating defeat. Over the same period seven different truces have been effected, and seven truces have been broken, while the whole world has watched with breathless concern.
The reason for this genuine anxiety is, of course, that far more is involved in that conflict of small nations than mere boundary lines between Israel and her Arab enemies; for the two great nuclear powers have taken opposing sides in the dispute, the Russian government supporting the Arab cause, and the United States giving its aid to Israel. When the latest of the many wars between the adversaries recently broke out and it appeared that the Arab nations were about to suffer another ignominious defeat, Russia took steps which the United States interpreted as a threat to intervene directly in the conflict.
The United States immediately reacted by setting its own military forces on precautionary alert, thus sternly signaling to Russia not to make any further moves. Although a confrontation between the two great powers was thus scarily averted, for a brief time it was a matter of touch-and-go in a situation that could possibly have led to long-dreaded consequences for the nuclear-threatened world civilization. And doubtless once more a frightened and shaken world asked itself, Just what is happening; where might this all lead to? And serious students of God’s Word, those ever-watchful observers of world events, would inquire, Just where does all this locate us on the divine stream of time; and what may we expect next?
Through his Word, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Heavenly Father has graciously revealed to us his plan of salvation for the sinful world of mankind. He has given us many of the details concerning that plan. He has spoken in glowing, heart-warming terms of his promised kingdom of righteousness; he has revealed Jesus as the Redeemer and Restorer of the whole world of mankind; he has called attention to the privilege of running for the prize of the high calling; he has identified Jesus and his church as the long-promised seed of blessing through whom all the blessings of the kingdom would flow; he has described the wondrous joy that shall reign in that restored paradise of everlasting life, when sin and death and tears and sorrows shall have been forever banished.
This understanding of his plans and purposes for mankind is the sole privilege of those whom he has called, and no others for the present. He has revealed these things to us by his Spirit. The world cannot comprehend these wonderful promises. And how we rejoice in this hope-inspiring knowledge! But our Heavenly Father did not stop there. In addition to telling us so many of the details of the ultimate, magnificent outcome of his plans, he has revealed to us the many steps, over many ages, by which he purposes to bring that plan to its happy culmination. Not only did he unveil to us the glorious final picture, but he recorded in his Word the many prophecies whereby we, his people, might trace the stately steppings of his design for the restitution and everlasting blessing of all mankind. And it is this gracious inclusion in his Word of truth of those many prophecies whereby we can follow the progress, the flowering, of that plan, that gives body and substance to our understanding, and life and breath to our faith. And thus our intense interest in world events.
This ability to trace the fulfillment of prophecy is an unmeasurable blessing to the follower of our Lord Jesus. It reveals God’s great plan as being the work of an all-wise, all-loving, and all-powerful Creator who never sleeps, and never errs. It shows his plan to be an orderly one, covering great expanses of time; but a plan, none-the-less, which is proceeding surely and inevitably to its loving conclusion. And so as we see the prophetic Word fulfilled, it increases our trust in the Heavenly Father’s wisdom, power, and faithfulness, and strengthens our assurance in the realization of those promises whose fulfillment is still future, and for which we daily pray. It shows us where we are on the stream of time. And, so very importantly, it renews our zeal to be faithful to the end. What a loving, wise, and gracious Heavenly Father is ours!
Think, for instance, of the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning Israel’s being scattered among the nations if they departed from Jehovah’s ways. Their ultimate scattering as foretold was indeed a tragic experience; but even in their affliction and grief, discerning Jews would receive some comfort in the knowledge that their Jehovah God was thus shown to be One who was constant, who spoke truth, and dealt justly, even as he promised.
Consider the fulfillment of the many prophecies concerning Jesus: the place and manner of his birth; his sufferings, his rejection by his own people; his foretold miraculous powers; and the circumstances of his death. But even as our Lord endured all the hard experiences, they served at the same time to confirm his faith in his Heavenly Father, and in the Scriptures wherein they were recorded.
Recall, too, the promise to Abraham, “In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 28:14) So long forgotten, it must have seemed! And then, at last, the coming of that true Seed of promise, and the recognition and appreciation by the apostles of that outstanding and encouraging development, that further unfolding, of the wonderful plan of God! How the realization that God’s plan was indeed going so grandly forward must have stimulated the Apostle Paul and the others in their resolve to lay down their lives, and to strive to be accounted worthy to be members of that seed of blessing, as thus they saw God’s purposes steadily proceeding toward their glorious fruition, and saw too that he was ever faithful in that which he had promised!
Then we have the many prophecies of the Gospel Age: the development of the great antichrist system, so clearly delineated, and fulfilled in such particularity; the call and development of the church, unseen, unsung, unknown; the signs of our Lord’s presence, the time of trouble, the increase of knowledge, the harvest, and the proliferation of corruption and immorality and distress of nations at the end of the Gospel Age—all foretold, and all fulfilled. And while we do not rejoice in distress and trouble, yet as we see these things come to pass, we look up, and lift up our heads, knowing that our redemption draweth nigh.
Finally, there are the many prophecies foretelling that marvelous, present-day miracle—the regathering to their own homeland, after centuries of suffering in the lands whereunto they had been scattered. Of the people of Israel, the Prophet Ezekiel wrote, “Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings; their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: and I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.
“But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.”—Ezek. 36:16-24
This remarkable prophecy was uttered by Ezekiel more than five centuries before Christ. In due time the nation was scattered; and in due time we who are alive today have witnessed the amazing regathering of the people, even as the Lord had so long ago foretold through his prophet. Under similar circumstances, almost any other people would eventually have been absorbed by the nations wherein they found some sort of refuge; but through all their trials and vicissitudes and over long, troubled centuries, their identity as a people was preserved. For God had made a promise—he promised to return them to their land.
The Prophet Jeremiah also foretold the scattering of the Israelites, indicating that their lot would not be a happy one. “Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not show you favor.”—Jer. 16:13
Jeremiah then tells of their ultimate regathering to their own land, and the means whereby this would be accomplished. “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.”—Jer. 16:14-16
In the last one hundred years through the providences of the Heavenly Father, forces were set in motion to open up the land of Palestine for the return of the Jews. Over the years, small numbers of Jews responded to the baits held out to induce their return; but the catch of the fishermen being small, the hunters were turned loose to drive greater numbers of Jews to return to the land. The ensuing atrocities inflicted upon that people mark some of the blackest pages in the history of mankind; but many more Jews were thus induced to return to Palestine—enough, indeed, to finally establish a formal government in 1948 as the nation of Israel, which thereafter took its place among the nations of the world in the General Assembly of the United Nations.
And thus, some twenty-five hundred years after it was recorded in the Scriptures, has this remarkable prophecy concerning the regathering of the Jews been miraculously fulfilled before our very eyes. And we who are living today are witnesses to the fact that another great step forward has been taken; another milestone passed, in the progress toward its final culmination of God’s great plan. How it increases our faith in God and in his Word, and our zeal to serve the Lord!
But precisely where do we now find ourselves in relation to the divine stream of time? As we continue the fascinating study of God’s remarkable dealings with his chosen people, we find many scriptures which picture the ultimate happy lot of the Jews. In the 36th chapter of Ezekiel’s prophecy, after recording God’s promise that he would regather them out of all countries and return them to their own land (36:24), the prophet continues, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”—Ezek. 36:25-28
The Prophet Jeremiah also foretells the regathering of the Jews (Jer. 23:3) and then continues, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called. THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”—Jer. 23:5,6
The same prophet presents much the same joyous picture in the 32nd chapter: “Behold; I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: and I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.”—Jer. 32:37-40
There are other prophecies of a similar nature which describe the return of the Jews, not only to their land, but to their God, when they shall be cleansed “from all their iniquity,” when God will also “pardon all their iniquities,” and “Jerusalem shall dwell safely.” “And thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people.”—Jer. 33:1-16; Ezek. 34:22,23
This latter group of prophecies describes a time following the regathering of the Jews to their land when they shall be once more in harmony with Jehovah God; a time when their iniquities will have been forgiven; a time when they shall enjoy peace, and “dwell safely.” Although briefly stated, in point of fact these prophecies cover an undisclosed span of time which extends from some time after their regathering all the way over to the establishment of the kingdom; and the blessings so beautifully described by the prophets which, ultimately, are to be the lot of the Jews, are the blessings of peace and life to be enjoyed only in the kingdom. For although they have indeed been regathered to the land, yet surely their sins have not been removed; and surely they are not now in harmony with Jehovah God. And surely, they do not now “dwell safely” in the restricted sense of being secure from attack by their many enemies, as has so lately been demonstrated.
Obviously, there is a period of time between the time of the regathering of the Jews on the one hand, and the establishment of the kingdom and the time of their truly dwelling safely on the other hand, during which some further aspects of God’s plan are yet to come to pass. One of these is the completion and gathering home of the little flock. Another is Jacob’s trouble. And it is the scriptures relative to this latter event that give us an approximation of our position on the stream of time as it relates to God’s plan.
The Prophet Jeremiah shows plainly that the return of the Jews to their land is not immediately to be followed by their enjoyment of the blessings of the kingdom. To the contrary, their return to the land is but the prelude to great and terrible tribulations upon Israel. He writes, “Lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”—Jer. 30:3-7
Notice how the Prophet Zechariah describes this same period: “Behold, the day of the Lord [Jehovah] cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.”—Zech. 14:1-3
Jeremiah says it is the day of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. Zechariah tells us the same thing, but additionally he marks out who it is that will save Israel. It is not their own armies; it is not the United States. The Lord shall go forth, and fight against Israel’s enemies. The Lord himself, and he alone, will be Israel’s savior when her enemies are on the verge of crushing her. And thus the victory and the glory will be wholly the Lord’s.
Following his description of Jacob’s trouble, Jeremiah says, “there is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up; thou hast no healing medicines. All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not.” (Jer. 30:13,14) As of this moment, Israel still has a few friends, of which the United States is the chief. But in the final assault, if we read the Scriptures aright, she will find herself abandoned and alone, so far as human aid is concerned.
Indeed, despite her present sympathy for the beleaguered little nation, the United States will find herself sorely tried in the months ahead, for already Israel’s enemies are applying severe pressure on this nation by seriously reducing deliveries of essential quantities of oil—oil that is vitally needed to keep power companies, transportation systems and factories running, and hospitals and homes heated. Sustained curtailment of the supply of crude oil could mean severe shortages of all kinds of products including food and clothing, and already restrictions and regulations aimed at conserving all forms of energy have been announced by the authorities.
The Arab nations—Israel’s enemies—are shrewdly using their near-monopoly of the world’s oil supply as a potent political weapon to force the United States to pressure Israel into yielding to their demands. It will be interesting to watch the outcome of this maneuver.
Before closing, we must examine one more scripture. It is found in the 38th chapter of Ezekiel, in the 8th verse of which the prophet tells of the regathering of the people of Israel, to “dwell safely” in their own land.
The prophet then describes how Gog and all his bands (a cryptic description of Israel’s attackers from the “north quarters”) shall “think an evil thought: and … say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.”—Ezek. 38:10-12
In the prophecies discussed before this one, in each case the context of the passages clearly places Israel’s period of “dwelling safely” as taking place after Jacob’s trouble and during the kingdom reign. But now we find in the prophecy just quoted (Ezek. 38:10-12) that Israel shall be “dwelling safely” before that final great and terrible assault upon the little nation.
The explanation is to be found in the broad meaning of the Hebrew word which is translated “safely” in these texts. In all of the prophecies considered the word “safely” is translated from the Hebrew word “betach” which Prof. Strong defines as follows: “safely, both the fact (security) and the feeling (trust): assurance, boldly, without care, careless, confidence, hope, safe,” etc. Thus we see that the Hebrew word “betach” can mean to be safe and secure in fact (as Israel will indeed be when the kingdom is established); or it can mean to have confidence, hope; to be dwelling without care, or boldly, as seems recently to have been the consistent attitude of Israel’s leaders and people, largely as a result of her many remarkable victories over powerful enemies that greatly outnumbered her. But one may be “confident” of something, and yet be subjected to disappointment.
Indeed, it is interesting to observe that in this passage (Ezek. 38:11) which describes regathered Israel as those “that are at rest, that dwell safely,” the translators themselves suggest an alternative rendering of “confidently” (see margin). It is also interesting to note that after Gog has been defeated by Jehovah, the Lord sends “a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly (Heb., betach, margin confidently).” (Ezek. 39:6), We find a similar use of this same Hebrew word “betach” in Isaiah 47:8,9 which is a description of the evil that befalls the literal city of Babylon: “Therefore hear now this, thou art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly [betach], that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: but these two things shall come to thee in a moment, in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood.”
And this feeling of high confidence, boldness, has been characteristic both of Israel’s leaders and its people. Time and again in numerous speeches her eloquent foreign minister Abba Eban made it abundantly clear that Israel had no intention whatever of relinquishing any portion of her captured Arab territory. And an Israeli cab driver in Jerusalem, on being asked by a visiting foreigner what Israel would do if Russia attacked her, boldly replied, “We will give Russia just what we have given the Arabs.” This attitude of utter confidence in her ability to deal with her enemies seems fittingly to describe the Israel of recent years.
But God’s purposes go marching grandly on. Israel was long ago scattered among the nations. She has at long last been regathered to the promised land. She has taken her place among the nations—precariously, but confidently. She is surrounded by bitter enemies who are backed by a powerful nation to the north, and her enemies have repeatedly expressed their undying determination to annihilate her.
But Israel still has a few lovers, of greater or lesser constancy. The United States hopes to persuade Israel to come to some kind of terms with her adversaries. It is not altogether unlikely that part of the reason inspiring these efforts is the hope of a resumption of the flow of oil from the Arab states. And that seems to be about where we are today.
And what of the future? The Scriptures seem clearly to indicate that eventually the little nation will be attacked by an overwhelming force. Her supporters will either have deserted her or been removed. But the Scriptures are equally clear that when the attackers descend to take a spoil, and when the nation is hard-pressed, even to the point of defeat, Jehovah God will step in and fight for his people as he did in the day of battle, the victory will be his, and he will be glorified in the eyes of the Jews and of the world. And then the kingdom, wherein not only his ancient people, but all the world, will truly dwell safely. May thy kingdom come!