Is Israel Still the Promised Land? ~ Michael Josephson

Is Israel Still the Promised Land?
There is a doctrine today called "Replacement Theology" that states that the nation of Israel is no longer God's chosen people; that Israel has been replaced by the Christian Church. If this is true, how do you explain the miraculous re-birth of the nation of Israel after some 1,900 years--and it's survival against overwhelming odds?
As the Apostle Paul wrote in the New Testament, "I ask then, 'Did God reject his people [Israel]? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham ... God did not reject his people.... [for] God's gifts and his call are irrevocable'" (Romans 11:1-2; 29 NIV).
While the nation of Israel rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah, God has not done away with his chosen people. As God's Word also says, "Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles [non-Jews] has come in. And so all Israel will be saved." Romans 11:25-26 (NIV).
God also promised the nation of Israel: "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse..." Genesis 12:3 (NIV).
May this be a warning to all who oppose God's chosen people, the Israelites--including some of America's leaders.

5. What About the Arab--Israeli Conflict?
1. Nationhood and Jerusalem: Israel became a nation in 1312 BC, two thousand (2,000) years before the rise of Islam.
2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.
3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 BC, the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand (1,000) years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.
4. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 lasted no more than 22 years.
5. For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.
6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned even once in the Koran.
7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.
8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.
9. Arab and Jewish Refugees: in 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty-eight percent left (many in fear of retaliation by their own brethren, the Arabs), without ever seeing an Israeli soldier. The ones who stayed were afforded the same peace, civility, and citizenship rights as everyone else.
10. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.
11. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands is estimated to be the same.
12. Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own people's lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.
13. The Arab-Israeli Conflict: the Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.
14. The PLO's Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them.
15. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.
16. The UN Record on Israel and the Arabs: Of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel.
17. Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel.
18. The UN was silent while 58 Jerusalem synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians.
19. The UN was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
20. The UN was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.
-- Reported having been written by a Christian professor.
Submitted by Al Rowley.
Ed. Note: I doubt if there will ever be a "lasting" peace in this part of the world until the "Prince of Peace" -- Jesus Christ, comes again.

6. Giving Up the Good "Now" for a Better "Later"
By Michael Josephson of Character Counts (679.5)
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