THE EMMAUS WALK PRESENTS:
But why has Israel been scattered among the nations during these long centuries? To understand this we must consider the promise given by the prophet Moses of the blessings which would be upon the nation if she were obedient, and then the solemn warning of judgment that would come, should the people disobey the Law. Instead of a blessing, they would inherit a curse and be cast out from the land which the Lord their God had given them:
"And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people from one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known...among the nations thou shalt find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest..." (Deut. 28:53-65) [The 4 million or so Jews in America, are they also included in this scripture, though they seem to have found rest in America as American citizens? But that may rapidly change under Pharaoh Barack Hussain Obama's anti-semitic, anti-Israel administration, and they will be uprooted by anti-semites' persecution, yes, here in America, and then move to Israel, as many as can get away. Ron Emmanuel, Obama's chief counsel, is Jewish, but we know that in history Jews have bitterly persecuted fellow Jews, and even in recent times, Henry Kissenger, an Austrian Jew in background and Secretary of State under the anti-semite Richard Nixon, refused the first urgent appeal by Israel for military supplies in the Yom Kippur war when Israel was assaulted on all sides on her holiest day and was being pushed to the point of collapse and extinction.
The strong connection of America's Jews with the liberal Democrats for decades may now be fraying and coming to an end, as they wake up to the fact that the Democrats are mostly all anti-semitic and anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian, whereas the conservatives and Republicans are mostly fervent friends of Israel. This coming separation from the Democrat and liberal party as well as the exodus from America to Israel for America's Jews truly is part of the chastening of Israel and the Jews by the Lord, to stir up their cosy nest in America these last 200 years or more, like the mother eagle stirs up her nest to get the eaglets so uncomfortable they take to the air and learn how to fly and become independent eagles.--Ed].
This judgment had a fulfillment to the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. It was finally fulfilled in A.D. 70, after the destruction of Israel's chief city, Jerusalem, by the Romans. But although the chastening of Israel, during the long centuries that have elapsed since has been severe, it was ot to be forever. Eventually, as the prophecies declared, the children of Israel would return to their land.
The promise that the narion, after centuries of chastisement and dispersion throughout the world should in God's time be gathered and returned to Palestine is spoke of again and again by the prophets. Ezekiel 36 is an example of many such prophecies.
"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land...A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God...Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be filled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that which was desolate; I the Lord have spoke it, and I will do it" (Ezek. 36:24, 26-28, 33-36).
The story of the restoration of Israel to the land of Palestine is a remarkable one. During World War I, British war industry ran short of a certain chemical called acetone, required in the production of vital munitions which were necessary to the successful prosecution of the war. Officials of the British govrnment appealed to Dr. Chaim Weizmann, a brilliant Jewish chemist, and explained their difficulties to him. He accepted the challenge and soon discovered the solution to the problem. [This element of acetone was found in a certain nut, I believe, which he was able to procure in quantities in Britain that would provide the British war industry in its manufacture of explosives. This was an absolutely critical discovery, as Germany had cut off the supply of it to Britain.--Ed.].
Anticipating a successful conclusion to the great conflict, the British government asked Dr. Weizmann what honor he would accept as a reward for his notable contribution to the war effort. He replied by saying that he did not ask anything for himself, but expressed a hope that something might be done for his people, the Jews, who had suffered so much and so long in the various nations throughout the world.
So it came about the Zionist aspirations were given recognition in the Balfour Declaration on November 1, 1917, which proclaimed that the British government looked with favor upon Palestine's becoming a homeland for the Jews.
A little over a month after this, Jerusalem was in the hands of the British [Talk about God's marvelous timing of miracles, which is a sign of the Providence of God--Ed.], and the League of Nations later confirmed the Balfour Declaration. Consequent to this decision, a mandate of the Holy Land was given to Britain, thus making the way clear for the Jews to begin immigrating to Palestine. [Much land was bought by money Lord Rothschild, the great British and Jewish banking magnate, which he donated so that the waste land could be bought by the Jewish settlers from the Arab absentee owners--Ed.]
Immediately, a great change in their country began. Millions of trees were planted by the new settlers. The waste swamps were drained. By means of hard, intensive labor the land was brought back from the desolate state. Roads were built. Modern machinery was imported. Villages and communal settlements sprang up in many places. Jewish population increased until today it has reached the two million mark.
The judgments on the children of Israel and their dispersion throughout the world came to pass as the prophecies declared. Today, after 1900 years, they have returned once more to their homeland, as the prophecies also said. How was it possible that the Scriptures could predict so unerringly these events thousands of years in advance? Only because the prophets spoke by the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit of God.
