| Highlights of DAWN | July 1977 |
The Ever-Simmering Middle East
LONG ago God made a covenant with Israel wherein he promised to be their God, to watch over them, and to bless them in basket and in store. (Lev. 26:1-12,15,18,33; Deut. 28:5) If they failed to keep covenant with him he would scatter them among the nations of the world. (Deut. 28:15,25) They did break the covenant, and they were scattered, beginning with the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in A.D. 70.
But God had also promised that he would regather the Jews to their land. We who are living today have seen this most remarkable and long-foretold event brought to pass by the providences of the Lord. First the Lord sent fishers (the bait being the inducement of having their own homeland), and later he sent hunters (persecutors) to drive them back to the land.—Jer. 16:15,16
There are two interesting scriptures dealing with the relationship between the Jews and the Gentiles with which all Bible Students are familiar. One of these is a statement by our Lord. Looking down the years toward the end period of the Gospel Age, Jesus said, “Jerusalem [Israel] shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”—Luke 21:24
The times of the Gentiles are shown in the Scriptures to be a long period that began when God withdrew his recognition of the kingdom of Israel as his typical kingdom. This occurred in 606 B.C., when the crown was taken from Zedekiah and Jerusalem was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar’s army and laid in ruins.—Ezek. 21:25-27
During the following period of 2,520 years the rulership of the world was left in the hands of the Gentiles. Through the Prophet Daniel, God said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.” (Dan. 2:37) This arrangement has been the premise on which the kings of the earth have long claimed to rule by divine right.
History confirms that this 2,520-year period ended in 1914, when the First World War began, virtually destroying the Gentile kingly dynasties that had for so long ruled the world. As a result of that war, circumstances developed that gave impetus to the opening up of Palestine for the return of the Jews to that land in growing numbers. Toward the end of the war the region had fallen into British hands. Anxious for Jewish help, England in 1917 issued the Balfour Declaration, promising its support in establishing a national home for the Jewish people.
Later (1924) Palestine became a British mandate, and under Britain’s beneficent rule Jews in moderate numbers returned to the homeland. Although the return of the Jews began slowly, through the inducement of having their own homeland again, it gathered momentum under the growing persecution of the Jews in the 1930’s. (Jer. 16:15,16) In 1947 the United Nations divided Palestine into two independent states, one Jewish and one Arab. Although the Jews formed the State of Israel in 1948, neither side has ever accepted the partition, each vehemently claiming the entire land as its own.
Ever since the return of the Jews to Palestine the Middle East has been in a state of turmoil. It could hardly have been otherwise, for the land that was allotted to Israel by the United Nations was already occupied by Palestinian Arabs. Indeed, the land had long been regarded as their own ancient homeland by the Palestinians who, like the Jews, are also descendants of Shem, one of the three sons of Noah (hence, Shemite, or Semite).
But although the existence of this tragic people, before and since their regathering to the land, has been troubled and precarious beyond the lot of most, the Scriptures indicate that additional suffering is in store for them. Speaking of the time following their regathering to their homeland, the Prophet Jeremiah wrote:
“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 [There is fear, and not peace, margin]. 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 a paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble.”—Jer. 30:3-7
The Prophet Ezekiel, speaking of this same terrible time of Jacob’s trouble, shows that Israel will be attacked by a powerful force from the “north quarters” after they, Israel, have been “gathered out of many people,” and “brought forth out of the nations.” (Ezek. 38:1-8) Most Bible Students believe this prophecy points to Russia as the attacking force. But why should a rich and powerful Russia attack the tiny nation of Israel?
Russia’s economic system, like that of other industrial nations, depends heavily on oil to operate its vast industrial, agricultural, transportation, and military complex. Although presently self-sufficient in oil resources, recent intelligence reports indicate that Russia will need to import oil sometime in the next decade; and the greatest known oil reserves in the world are in the Middle East. However, the United States (which is Russia’s only powerful rival, and an ally of Israel) is already heavily dependent on Middle East oil for its own economic welfare. Russian control of Middle East oil, if that were possible, would not only assure Russia’s own future needs but could cripple the economies of the United States, Europe, and Japan and bring the entire Western World to its knees.
But the little nation of Israel, well-supplied military ally of the powerful United States, sits stubbornly astride the road to Middle East oil. Thus Israel virtually serves as a strategically situated military outpost for the United States, guarding the lifeline of Western World oil and Western World well-being. As long as the United States continues to support Israel, it seems unlikely that Russia would attack that little nation.
However, if our understanding of the prophecy is correct, at the time of Jacob’s trouble Israel will be standing alone, her earthly allies having forsaken her. Speaking of this time, Jeremiah says, “All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not.” (Jer. 30:14) Some translators render this passage, significantly, “All your allies have forgotten you.” (See Moffatt, Amplified.)
Since the United States and Israel are such close allies, how could it happen that in her final great need the Scriptures indicate that Israel will be alone? What possible circumstance would induce the United States to abandon her ally and her friend? This is an interesting point, for the prophecies seem to suggest that so long as Israel has earthly allies, the final phase of Armageddon will not occur.
Of course, we do not profess to know just what conditions might arise to isolate Israel from “her lovers.” We can only watch as world events unfold under the guidance of the Lord and according to the outworking of his divine plan of the ages.
However, the recent elections in Israel may point to one such possibility. As all know, the situation in the Middle East has long been fraught with grave danger. The United States and the United Nations Organization have been striving to keep Israel and her Arab neighbors from engaging again in open warfare. Many serious observers fear that a new war in the Middle East could lead to a conflict between the two great superpowers, with results for all mankind too terrible to contemplate.
Such a possibility is heightened as a result of the recent Israeli elections. Damascus (Syria) Radio stated on May 19, “The chances of war under the Labor Party [old government] were 99 percent. Under the Likud [new government] they have risen to 100 percent.” Secretary General Kurt Waldheim of the United Nations has also said since the recent elections, “I would not exclude another military confrontation between Israel and the Arab nations.”
What, specifically, have the recent Israel elections to do with this? What has suddenly changed? Simply, that the newly elected officials came to power on the basis of their belligerently stated intention to keep as Israeli territory all lands taken in the 1967 War. This, of course, includes the “occupied” West Bank of the Jordan and the Gaza Strip, both of which are regarded by Palestinian Arabs as their own homeland. The Palestinians assert that they will never give up this territory, while the new political leaders of Israel just as vehemently state that Israel will not relinquish this land.
Menachem Begin, the new head of government in Israel, has frequently declared that Israel should annex the occupied West Bank of the Jordan “on the ground that it was part of ancient Israel.” Such a move might readily move the Arab population to revolt. This does not seem to bother Begin; and to prove that he means what he has so often said, he recently spent some time at an illegal settlement in the occupied territory, which was a part of Jordan from 1948 until the 1967 war. But Begin does not refer to this land as “occupied.” He calls it “the land of liberated Israel.”
Contrariwise, while speaking recently at Notre Dame University, President Carter plainly said the United States expects Israel to live up to its commitment to withdraw from all occupied Arab territory. “Should Begin resist concessions,” says The New York Times, “the Carter Administration might apply pressure by threatening to reduce assistance or denying Israel advanced weapons.” Since a sufficient number of Israelis feel about the occupied territory as Mr. Begin does to have elected him head of government, one wonders just how far an obdurate Israel can be pushed.
The increased gravity with which the Arab nations regard the situation can be seen in the recent visit to the United States of Crown Prince Fand Ibn Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, heir apparent to the Saudi throne. His visit at this critical juncture in Middle East affairs highlights the important (though alterable) political and economic ties between his country and the United States, and their mutuality of interest in many areas.
Saudi Arabia is opposed to the spread of Communism in the Middle East and also in Africa, as is the United States. Saudi Arabia now produces about 10 million barrels of oil a day, which is vital to the economies of all the Western World, including the United States. Saudi Arabia expects to spend about 60 billion dollars in the United States during the next four years for goods and services. Saudi Arabia already has invested some 15 billion dollars in American enterprises, and doubtless many more billions will be so invested. With Saudi Arabia possessing such vast political and economic power, which she has already hinted could be used, how long could or would the United States support an uncompromising Israel? How long before Israel’s last powerful ally would forsake her? How long, in the face of another Arab oil embargo, would the patience of the United States with Israel endure?
“The Saudis want to keep and even strengthen their ties with the United States,” says the U.S. News & World Report (May 30, 1977). “But in return they expect the United States to force Israel to make concessions to the Arab nations. If the U.S. is unable to do this, … the Saudis will abandon their moderate stand. As a long-time resident of the kingdom and a confidant of Fand puts it: ‘Carter is on the hook. Either he delivers or we are headed for an international catastrophe.’”
Of course, Israel may be forced to come to terms with her neighbors. “Things are rarely as good or as bad as they sometimes appear in the Middle East,” says Joseph Sisco, former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs. And that may be true of the present state of affairs in the Middle East. It may develop into real trouble; it may drag on innocuously; or it may blow over for the present.
But should Israel remain adamant with respect to the conquered land, how long would the United States support her in the face of Arab demands and Arab political and economic power? And if the United States did abandon Israel, might that open the way for an attack on Israel by her enemies?
That there will ultimately be an attack on Israel, we know. That Israel will be isolated at that time seems to be indicated by the Scriptures. That Jehovah God will save her, destroying her enemies, we are also told in the Scriptures. (Ezek. 38 and 39; Jer. 30:1-14) We do not know when all this will take place; but world events, including those in the Middle East, seem to be building toward a climax.
The other scripture we mentioned at the beginning of this discussion was written by the Apostle Paul. He wrote, “Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved.”—Rom. 11:25,26
In this passage, Paul is referring to a different period of time—one that began with the failure of the Jews as a nation to recognize Jesus as their Messiah at his first advent. A few Jews did so recognize and accept him, but the great majority did not; thus it was “blindness in part.” We know this period of blindness has not yet ended, because Jews in general still do not accept Jesus, and because “all Israel” has not yet been saved. The removal of that “blindness,” and that “saving” will be the work of the millennial reign of Christ and his faithful overcomers of the Gospel Age now drawing to a close. And before that kingdom reign of the Christ can begin, the “fullness of the Gentiles” must have come in, to make up the preordained number of the little flock.
We are well and humbly aware that prophecy is more easily discerned after it has been fulfilled, rather than before. Therefore, we merely offer these thoughts as suggestions. But we sincerely believe that as spirit-begotten students of God’s Holy Word, waiting and earnestly praying for the establishment of that promised kingdom of righteousness which will bless all the families of the earth, including Jews and Arabs, we will all be deeply interested in the prophetic outcome of world events. And so, Lord, we continue to pray for the coming of that glorious kingdom, when all the children of Shem; indeed, when all the children of Adam, may rejoice together in the blessings of that wonderful day!