There is a great deal of hatred toward the nation of Israel and the apple of God's own eye - the Jews. There are a couple of very wrong and dangerous views toward the nation and her people; first, you have replacement theology and, second, the Palestinians have the right to even a square inch of land in Israel. Replacement theology is a belief held by some that the New Testament church has replaced Israel, and all Old Testament covenants between God and His people no longer apply to them, but to the New Testament church.
I need to begin clearly boldly and standing firmly on the Word of God. There is neither a Palestine in Scripture, nor do the people have any right to the land of Israel- Not today, Not ever. "Palestine" means in the Hebrew, "Land of the Phillistines". If you have read Scripture, you will note the Phillistines are both the enemies of Israelites/Canaanites and they are Arabs. The only reference that could even be viewed is in regard to the Phillistines, who lingered in the Southern tip of Israel. So, then, how did Palestine come to be?
First, it is important to start at Genesis - THE VERY BEGINNING! According to the Book of Genesis, the land was promised by God to the descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac, and to the Israelites, descendants of Jacob. God handed the patriarchs and their seed the title deed to the land of Israel. Also worthy to note, Israel was also known as Canaan. We read in Genesis 15:6-11,"5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.7 And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. 8 And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? 9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away."
Let's look at the Biblical borders of the land God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will quote the Bible to minimize error or bias, ok? Genesis 15:18 says, "18 In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." Exodus 23:31-32, "31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee." ("The River" is the Euphrates.) In Numbers 34:1- And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof:) 3 Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward: 4 And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon: 5 And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea. 6 And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border.
7 And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor: 8 From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad: 9 And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan: this shall be your north border.10 And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham: 11 And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the order shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward: 12 And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about. 13 And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the Lord commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe:" Duteronomy 1, "
6 The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them."
While Israel was dormant for about 2,000 years after the Babylonian captivity, it rebirthed as a nation May 1948. There was another struggle, the Arab-Israeli or 6 day war, which occurred from June 5-10, 1967. It was fought between Egypt, Jordan, Syria (known at the time as the United Arab Republic), and Israel. This resulted in Israel becoming under it's own leadership and governance.
Palestine was never even a nation, so how did it become so prevalent in the news today?
"Many authorities have addressed the misconceptions
surrounding the word Palestine. The name derived from "other migrants
from the northwest, the Philistines. Though the latest arrivals, and
though they only exercised control over the whole country for a few uncertain
decades, they had been the cause of its name of Palestine. These Philistines
were an Aegean people, driven out of Greece and Aegean islands around
about 1300 B.C.E. They moved southward along the Asiatic coast and in about 1200
attempted to invade Egypt. Turned back, they settled in the maritime plain of
southern 'Palestine', where they founded a series of city-states."
"In other words, it appears that Palestine never was
an independent nation and the Arabs never named the land to which they now claim
rights. Most Arabs do not admit so candidly that "Palestinian identity" is a
maneuver "only for political reasons" as did Zuheir Muhsin. But the Arab world,
until recently, itself frequently negated the validity of any claim of an
"age-old Palestinian Arab" identity." (The Palestine Myth)
"The PLO was formed in Egypt, supported by the Arab League as an umbrella organization for anti-Israel militant groups. In 1968, Arafat’s Fatah joined the PLO and eventually dominated it. Over the decades, the PLO carried out thousands of attacks against Israelis and others around the world, including the first airplane hijackings." (The Israel E-Book)
The name "Palestine" is summed up to be a slap in the face of Israel. It was so named by Roman emperor Hadrian, in 135 ad, to incite rage in the Israeli people. Palestinians, One of the first Christian uses of the term Palestine is found in the works of
the Church historian Eusebius, who lived in Caesarea. He wrote around 300 A.D.,
as the Roman persecution of Christians was ending and the Emperor Constantine
began to accept Christianity as legal. Eusebius did not accept Hadrian’s
designation of Jerusalem as Aelia Capitalina, but he did use Hadrian’s term
Palestine. Eusebius considered himself to be one of the bishops of Palestine.
Thus, the anti-Israel, anti-Christian name of Palestine was assimilated into the
Church’s vocabulary as the Byzantine Empire was being established.Arabs in the area coined "Palestine" are nothing more than squatters, and the worldfront, through bogus "peace treaties" are giving the squatters more and more rights. These squatters are violent, calculating, and refuse to stop invading Israel's borders until they take the land over. Today, the leader of Egypt plans to take Jerusalem as it's capital. The divying up of Israel has got to stop. The Lord Jesus Christ is not coming to rule and reign from Palestine, but Jerusalem. The use of the term "Palestine" today is merely for propoganda tactics by the liberal media.
The Bible tells us "Whoever blesses Israel shall be blessed and whooever curses Israel shall be cursed." (Genesis 12:3).
I could write a book on this! If you are interested in this topic, contact me anytime and we can discuss it more....
God Bless,
Pastor Aaron
reverendamathews@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment