Two significant ‘proclamations’ are presently being made in Australia. One is the call ‘From the river to the sea Palestine shall be free’ – which effectively is a call to delegitimise and destroy the Jewish State of Israel. The other is to discredit the British, colonial connections to the establishment of modern Australia, as summed up through the phase ‘Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.’*
Yet one of the key outcomes of our Anzac heritage from both World Wars – where we sided with Britain – is the establishment of the modern State of Israel – which itself is part of Almighty God’s plan for worldwide redemption.
God’s Sovereignty in Creation
When Almighty God created the world He placed the land masses and waterways in certain locations. But the very heart of His plan of creation was humankind, with whom He desired a close personal relationship. This, however, all changed with the act of disobedience and treason by Adam and Hava in the garden of Eden, which resulted in the breaking of that relationship and the imposition of the penalty of death – upon them and their descendants.
Almighty God then began a plan to redeem and restore this relationship, centred upon the future coming of the seed of Hava (Eve), who would defeat Satan, the adversary of Almighty God. This plan also involved the spreading of humankind to all parts of the earth’s surface, hence in time Aboriginal people came to what is now Australia, and other groups including the Māoris went to what became known as New Zealand. Both these lands belong to Almighty God, who determined who would live there, and when.
Israel’s Land at the Centre of the World
The geographical centre of the world was the land of Israel, at the centre of which was the city of Jerusalem. Major trade routes lay in proximity to this land, and as a result major empires throughout history coveted this strategic ‘land between empires.’
Although being in the worst location for political and economic stability and peace, yet this was where Almighty God determined to bring forth His mighty plan of worldwide redemption – of bringing humankind back into a personal relationship with Himself.
Almighty God promised this very land by a covenant oath to Abram (Abraham), Isaac and Jacob (Israel) – and the children of Israel. He also promised that all peoples groups would be blessed through this Abrahamic covenant. The town mostly associated with these patriarchs and this covenant was Beersheba.
The Promised Individual Seed
The seed promised to Adam and Hava came from and to the people of Israel. He was Jesus. As the incarnate and perfect Son of God Jesus came to take the penalty of death which was upon all of humankind. This He did by first instituting the new covenant with Israel (Jeremiah 31: 31-37; Luke 22: 20), then vicariously dying on the cross – and rising from the dead on the third day, thereby proving that the penalty of death had been paid for.
He also came to fulfil the promises of the covenant with King David and to be the King Messiah of Israel – destined to reign from Jerusalem over redeemed Israel and the redeemed of the world. Yet the majority of the nation of Israel did not acknowledge Jesus as their redeemer and Messiah – so this message of redemption went out to the non-Jewish world. The redeemed of the nations became the Church. But what would become of the Israel that did not accept Jesus as the King Messiah? Would Almighty God reject them for their national disobedience?
God-forbid – a perfect God could not break His covenant oath. One’s character is dependent upon keeping their promises, sworn under oath, even when the other party disobeys. Yet many in the Gentile-led Church began to adopt the position that God had rejected the nation of Israel. Such an attitude resulted from witnessing the majority Jewish rejection of Jesus; the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD and exiling of the Jewish people from the land of covenant promise. This attitude deepened after the victorious Romans in 135 AD forbade Jewish people from living in the region surrounding Jerusalem and even renaming the land Syria Palestina – in order to erase the Jewish connection to the land of Israel.
Apart from a remnant the people of Israel then underwent a long period of separation from the land of Israel. It would require a miracle for their return. This exile became more pronounced when imperialist Arab Muslims took control over the land from the year 638 AD. A core principle of Islam was that the land of Israel was part of dar al Islam – the region of Islam. In such a worldview there was no place for a restored Jewish national entity. This position was furthered when from 1517 the land came under the control of the Ottoman Turkish Empire – who were the custodians of Islam.
The European expansion & discovery of Australia and New Zealand
The Ottoman Turks also monopolised all the major trade routes from the East – causing the prices of the previous commodities to increase in Europe and provoking the European powers to find alternate sea routes to the Spice Islands and India. As a result of this dynamic the European powers ‘discovered’ regions such as Australia and New Zealand, which from 1788 began to be settled by the British.
Although the British never always treated the local inhabitants in a dignified manner, yet they did introduce the message of Jesus – allowing the first inhabitants to receive pardon from the original sentence of death, and receiving a restored personal relationship with their Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Napoleon’s Invasion, the Suez Canal and Jewish Restoration Begins
The establishment of these new sea connections between Europe and the East meant the ‘land between empires’ lost its economic and geo-political significance. This changed, however, when the French under Napoleon invaded Egypt and the land of Israel in 1798-99, aiming to reach India and oust the British. They failed, but their endeavour provoked Britain into being aware of the importance of the ‘land between empires’. These events also provoked countless Christians in Europe, especially Britain, to pray for and proclaim that the time was nigh at hand for Israel’s restoration – to their Messiah and to the land of Israel.
Then over the following decades more Jewish people began to take up this call of restoration and the number of Jewish people returning increased. By 1897 these Jewish endeavours resulted in the formation of the Zionist movement. All the while Britain’s concern for the connection to India increased, especially after the French built the Suez Canal in 1869. Britain later took control over the Canal, as well as Egypt. The east side of the Canal mostly remained under Turkish control.
These developments set the stage for the dramatic events of the early twentieth century, when global conflict would intersect with long-standing biblical and geopolitical realities. As the First World War unfolded, the arrival of Australian and New Zealand troops in the Middle East would become unexpectedly connected to the future of the land of Israel. In the next part, we will explore how the Anzacs’ military campaigns — particularly the battles across Sinai and Palestine — played a decisive role in shaping the political circumstances that ultimately led to the establishment of the modern State of Israel.
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