Ever since the Simchat Torah pogrom in southern Israel – some ten months ago – and now what is, in effect, war with Hezbollah in the north – the very existence of the Jewish state is under threat.
This not the first time this has happened, by any means. The last time was during the first few days of the Yom Kippur War nearly 51 years ago. Then there was the lead up to the Six-Day War in 1967 when many Israelis feared the threats of Abdul Nasser of Egypt and his Arab allies to wipe the Jewish state off the map and ‘to drive the Jews into the sea’– and many feared that was a distinct possibility. But the Lord intervened. Israel was stunned by the victory, and so was the whole world, and especially Israel’s enemies.
And then there was the War of Independence in 1948, which many observers thought Israel would not survive. There are many who believe that this is the war that Israel is still fighting today – and certainly there is truth in that.
Let us go back the miracle of 1967. What the Lord did then was to hand back the land that had been stolen by Egypt and Jordan in 1948/49 – i.e. Gaza, Judea & Samaria and, of course, Jerusalem. By the way, Gaza was part of the Mandate of Palestine, and therefore designated as part of the ‘Jewish National Home’ in 1922. Israel also gained the Golan Heights and the whole of the Sinai Peninsula. Israel almost immediately exercised full sovereignty over the whole of its historic capital city and the Golan Heights – the latter for security reasons, butlater formally annexed it.
However, the government of then Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol, decided they did not want to rule over the million or so Arabs living in Gaza, Judea and Samaria (who, at that time, were not known as ‘Palestinians’) and so they decided to apply the principle of ‘Belligerent Occupation’ and govern these territories under military administration. As Professor Avi Bellpoints out in Whose Land? Part Two, which is entitled The Law of Occupation and the Status of Jerusalem, (see also Episode 13 on our YouTube channel), a nation is not required in international law to apply the principle of Belligerent Occupation to territory when it has the legal right of sovereignty (i.e. its own territory), but it may do, if it so wishes.
While the reasons for the decision of the Israeli government in 1967 is entirely understandable, along with its desire for peace with its Arab neighbours, was it in line with the purposes of God? For the same reasons, in 1993 the Israeli government was prepared to enter into the Oslo Accords. Again, one could pose the same question with ‘Oslo’. I would suggest that the evil fruit that these decisions have borne for Israel indicates that God’s blessing is not on Israeli government policy in regard to the territory He restored to them in 1967.
One of the most dangerous aspects of the existential threat that faces Israel now is that most of the nations of the world – and particularly the United Nations, the European Union, the recently elected British government, the Biden Administration – are determined to impose a hostile Palestinian state on Israel in its own Biblical heartland. Without doubt this is the result of the rewriting of history and ‘lawfare’ on behalf the terrorist Palestinian leadership – aided and abetted by the UN et al – which is hell-bent on the eradication of the Jewish state. But could it also be that Israel’s failure to exercise full sovereignty over Judea and Samaria following the 1967 War left the door open for this dangerous situation? Had Israel exercised full sovereignty then, it is unlikely the ‘two-state’ paradigm would have become the political ‘sacred cow’ that it now is.
As the ancient Israelis wandered the Sinai desert, the Lord gave Moses a command: “See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers – to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – to give to them and their descendants after them”. (Deuteronomy 1:8)
Just as the promise of God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that the land of Israel would be an everlasting possession for their descendants is valid to this day, so is the command to Moses to possess it. This command is repeated many times in the Torah. Most of us who are Christians and have walked with the Lord over a period of time have come to realise that if there is an area of disobedience in our lives, while it may not affect our salvation, it does affect the blessing He bestows upon us. Passages both in Leviticus chapter 26 and Deuteronomy 28 indicate these principles apply to the nation of Israel in no uncertain terms.
Often while in Israel I have visited the Western Wall, which is the holiest place in Judaism where Jews can pray without interference. But even this place is disputed – the nations of the world consider it to be part of “Occupied Palestinian Territory”. Many years ago when I was there, as I was praying and observing the Orthodox, the Ultra-Orthodox and the not-so-orthodox Jews, the Lord spoke to me very clearly. He said: “My people are in exile in their own land.” I knew exactly what He meant. Even though Israel exercised sovereign jurisdiction over the whole of Jerusalem in 1967, the government gave executive control of Judaism’s holiest site – the Mountain of the Lord (Zechariah 8:3) – back to the Muslim Waqf. What the Lord was saying to me was that even though Israel is back in their own Land, the nation is still under the thumb of the nations.
One would have thought that the Palestinian slaughter of more than 1,200 Jews – the largest single-day massacre since the Shoah – on Simchat Torah last year – would have killed off any discussion of a ‘two-state solution’ – at least for a long, long time. But no, even Israel’s foremost “allies” such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are doubling down on this delusional and destructive paradigm and are pressuring Israel to accept it – even as a matter of urgency.
The Palestinian leadership – both Hamas and the PLO – want one thing: the destruction of the Jewish state. To this day their respective founding charters specify this, and the international community knows it, even if they choose to ignore it. Is this not the time for Israel to obey what the Lord commanded and to possess the Land in its entirety? That means nothing less than doing what the Lord gave the opportunity for in 1967 – the exercising of full sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. There are many God-fearing people in Israel – even if it is a relatively small minority – who believe this has to happen.
Now, here is the really controversial bit. The Lord also commanded through Moses:
“You shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess … but if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.” (Numbers 33: 53 & 55)
It doesn’t take a genius to see that this warning of Israel’s suffering that was given to Moses for failing to carry out this command has actually come to pass before our eyes! Does this mean the expulsion of all non-Jews? I do not believe so at all. First of all the Lord is merciful, and so is Israel. Second, 20% of Israel’s population is Arab, and the vast majority are faithful and proud Israeli citizens who live peacefully side-by-side with their Jewish neighbours. Also there are those who live under the PA who call themselves ‘Palestinians’ who would be prepared to live peacefully under Israeli sovereignty, but by no means all of them. If Israel were to implement the Lord’s command undoubtedly the wrath of the world would come down on her, to an even greater extent than it has done already. As it is, Israel isbeing accused of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide – all falsely – when actually it is the other side that wants to rid the land of its Jews, as the chant “From the River to the Sea Palestine shall be free!” is clearly calling for. At least 70% of all those who call themselves ‘Palestinian’ – both in Gaza and the so-called West Bank – support the massacre of October 7. These people – as well as those who support their cause around the world – are not only enemies of the Jewish state, but they are enemies of the God of Israel.
The whole ‘Palestinian’ claim to the Land of Israel is a historic and legal fabrication, even if the rest of the world wants to swallow the lies they propagate. I believe that if Israel obeys the Lord in this matter, He will truly intervene on Israel’s behalf – and supernaturally if necessary – as He did in 1967. There is a promise in Deuteronomy 7:17-19. In part it reads: “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’ – you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt … So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.” I would suggest, too, that what applies to Judea & Samaria, also applies to Gaza, which is part of Judah’s inheritance.
The battle for Israel is a spiritual battle. It always has been through Israel’s long history, and it will continue to be until Messiah returns. Obedience to the Lord requires faith – real faith – and that is what pleases Him.
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