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Who does Palestine Belong to Today?

Who does Palestine Belong to Today?. Introduction. Since WWII, the land of Israel has been the area of greatest conflict in the world . Hardly a day passes that the conflict between the Jews/Arabs there doesn’t make the news.

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Who does Palestine Belong to Today?

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  1. Who does Palestine Belong to Today?

  2. Introduction • Since WWII, the land of Israel has been the area of greatest conflict in the world. • Hardly a day passes that the conflict between theJews/Arabsthere doesn’t make the news. • Why? Thelandand issues about who ownsit--theJewsor thePalestinian Arabs. • And why are we so interested? Because this small country (about the size of NJ) is where most of thegreat events of the Bibleoccurred, including those involvingAbraham, Moses, DavidandJesus.

  3. Introduction • Also of international interest are all the claims that current events in the Middle East somehow fulfill Bible prophecy. • The whole system ofPremillennialismis built on the idea that the Jews must possess the land of Israel in order for Jesus to return, set up an earthly kingdom, and rule the world from Jerusalem. • To whom does Palestine belong?

  4. The Land of Palestine • Some facts about the occupants: • The namePalestinederives from the Philistines, a migrating people who lived there during the time of Abraham.(Genesis 10:13,14; 21:32) • The name Canaan derives from one of Noah’s grandsons—a son of Ham. • Current Palestinians are not related to either. Rather, they are Abraham’s descendants through Ishmael—his son born of Hagar, the handmaid.(Genesis 25:12-16)

  5. The Land of Palestine • Modern conflict over the land can be traced back toMay 15, 1948. • After WWII, led by the British, an effort was made to once again provide the Jews with a homeland in Palestine. • The United Nations had authorized partitioning the land and giving the Jews more than half of that west of the Jordan River. • In a war that broke out in 1948, the Jews managed to take control of 75% of it.

  6. The Land of Palestine • Modern conflict over the land can be traced back toMay 15, 1948. • Another war in1967resulted in Israel taking even more of the land. • Since1948the Palestinians have believed the Jews want to drive them into the desert, and the Jews believe the Palestinians want to drive them into the sea.

  7. The Land of Palestine • The conflict is actually much older. • In the days of Joshua, God gave Canaan to Israel and ordered the Canaanites destroyed. • “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.” {Joshua 6:3-6}

  8. The Land of Palestine • The conflict is actually much older. • God’s land promise was fulfilled completely:“So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.Not a word failedof any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel.All came to pass.”{Joshua 21:43-45}

  9. The Land of Palestine • The conflict is actually much older. • The KEYis:there isno yet-unfulfilled land promise; all was fulfilled. • “So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.” {Joshua 21:43-45}

  10. The Land of Palestine • The conflict is actually much older. • God’s promise to give Israel the land was conditional. • Joshua 23:14-16 • Deuteronomy 4:24-27 • Deuteronomy 28:63-65 • 1 Kings 9:3-7 (Solomon)

  11. Conditional Promise “Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed. Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the LORD your God promised you, so the LORD will bring upon you all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the LORD your God has given you. When you have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.“{Joshua 23:14-16}

  12. Conditional Promise “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the LORD your God to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.“ {Deuteronomy 4:24-27}

  13. Conditional Promise “And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known-wood and stone. And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul.“{Deuteronomy 28:63-65}

  14. Conditional Promise “But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then Iwill cut off Israel from the landwhich I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.“{1 Kings 9:6,7}

  15. The Land of Palestine • Because of Israel’s unfaithfulness, the land was seized by Assyria and Babylon. • Those taken toAssyriadispersed among the nations and largely disappeared. • Most taken toBabylondispersed; aREMNANTreturned to Israel, but it was governed by others—Persians, Greeks, then Romans.

  16. The Land of Palestine • Some siteDeuteronomy 30:1-3andIsaiah 10:20-23as evidence that the LAND belongs to the Jews. • But this promise was fulfilled when theremnantreturned after 70 years of captivity in Babylon. • EzraandNehemiahdiscussed this truth when they told about rebuilding the walls, gates, and temple in Jerusalem.

  17. The Land of Palestine • After Israel had largely rejected Christ and the gospel, Jerusalem and the entire Jewish worship system were destroyed in 70 AD. • During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He predicted Jerusalem’s destruction.{Matthew 24} • New-Testament books, such asGalatiansand Hebrews, show the temporal nature of the Old Law and Judaism. • Jerusalem’s destruction struck the final death blow to the Jewish system.

  18. The Land of Palestine • Between688-691,Muslims built a worship center calledThe Dome of the Rockon what was believed to be the site of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. • Thus, Muslims--people of largely Arab descent--ruled over Palestine. • Jews want to rebuild the temple on its original site, but they are incapable of re-creating the priesthood, etc. • Why raise an imperfect system? • Colossians 2:14; Ephesians 2:14-16; Hebrews 8:7,8

  19. Four Wrongs Contribute to Palestinian Conflict • The Jews were terribly wronged. • The Nazi Holocaust, which exterminated 6 million Jews throughout Europe, was horrific. • Jews were stripped of their property, and all rights, then murdered. • Even before the Germans began this process, Jews—because of their religion and culture—were often considered second- class citizens in Europe and even in America.

  20. Four Wrongs Contribute to Palestinian Conflict • The Jews were terribly wronged. • After WWII, many nations wanted to make up for the wrong done to the Jews by establishing a homeland for them. • But apparently, they gave little thought to who would be dispossessed of the land when it was given to the Jews.

  21. Four Wrongs Contribute to Palestinian Conflict • The Arabs were terribly wronged. • In 1948, Arabs who had lived in the land for centuries were uprooted. Their land, their homes, and their businesses were taken away, and they were forced to live in refugee camps. • Promises made to the Arabs by the world powers were never kept. • Thus, many Palestinians are very distrustful ofWesterners.

  22. Four Wrongs Contribute to Palestinian Conflict • Christians have been very wrong about Palestine. • Much of the Middle-East conflict is intensified because—for the past 200 years—professed Christians have been teaching that Israel’s return to Palestine is part of the Bible’s prophecy.

  23. Four Wrongs Contribute to Palestinian Conflict • Christians have been very wrong about the land of Palestine. • But the restoration of Israel prophesied in Scripture during the captivity was fulfilled in two ways: • Physically, by the return led by Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. • Spiritually, in the coming of Christ to establish His spiritual kingdom--not an earthly kingdom.{John 18:36}

  24. Four Wrongs Contribute to Palestinian Conflict • Christians have been very wrong about the land of Palestine. • Restoration would be accompanied by Gentiles turning to God.{Isaiah 11:1,10} • This was fulfilled in the establishment of Christ’s kingdom, the church.{Acts 2, 10,11} • Religious teachers greatly err in expectinganother restorationin the future.

  25. Four Wrongs Contribute to Palestinian Conflict • World powers have been terribly wrong with respect to Palestine. • Decisions have been made for political reasons that haven’t been fair to the Palestinians (large Jewish voting block in US). • Politicians have been greatly influenced by premillennial thought; thus, Palestinians haven’t been treated fairly.

  26. ConcludingThoughts… • Israel is a land of two nations— three religions. • One of the central problems is that the effort to correct crimes committed against the Jews has resulted in similar crimes being committed against the Arab Palestinians. • Giving Israel a homeland robbed the Palestinians of their homeland.

  27. ConcludingThoughts… • It is important that we teach against the falsehoods of premillennialism, because this false doctrine is greatly responsible for the conflict in Israel today. • We must understand that while Israel once was a holy land, itNO LONGER IS! • Holy implies special, set apart for God’s service. • That chunk of real estate serves no such purpose today.

  28. ConcludingThoughts… • People who know the truth know that salvation and Scriptural worship are possible anywhere in the world. • John 4:21-24 • Today, Christians--as individuals and the church collectively--are God’sTEMPLE. • Jesus prophesied that the Jerusalem temple would be utterly destroyed. • Today, we don’t need Jerusalem, or the land of Israel, to worship the Lord acceptably.

  29. ConcludingThoughts… • To whom does the land of Palestine belong? • It’s hard to say. But today’s Jews have no special right to it. • The issue would best be resolved by teaching the gospel of Christ to both the Jews and Muslims in the land. • Then they could live side by side as brethren, rather than enemies who, at the end of the day, both teach false religions.

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