The promised land of Israel

may ask: Is the Promised Land really necessary for the survival of the Jewish nation? Many if not most of the Jewish people passionately believe that the Promised Land, bequeathed by God to Abraham and his descendants, the Jewish people, is absolutely necessary for the survival of the Jewish nation. They also believe that other nations and their leaders should not pressure Israel to divide the Promised Land since this will be violating God’s will and will be placing Israel’s very existence at risk. Unfortunately, there are world leaders today and in the past who think that dividing the Promised Land is the key to peace in the Middle East. Various attempts had been made in the past to remove a portion of the Biblical Promised Land from Israel through diplomatic efforts. But strangely and mysteriously, every time there is a serious diplomatic efforts to remove a portion of the Biblical Promised Land from Israel, a severe catastrophe/disaster would occur. Bible-believing Christians believe that the occurrence of disasters/ catastrophes at about the same time as international conferences advocating the removal of a portion of the Biblical Promised Land from Israel are not merely coincidental but are a fulfillment of the Biblical prophecies on blessings to those who support Israel and curses to those who harm Israel.

To this day, people are still asking the question: Are the Jewish people and Israel entitled to the Promised Land? Let me share with you seven reasons advanced by US Senator James M. Inhofe in a speech delivered in the Senate Floor on March 4, 2002, as to why Israel is entitled to the so-called Promised Land. (Reference: http://www.internationalwallofprayer.org/A-007-SenatorInhofe-Peace-In-Middle-East.html)

1. “The first reason is that Israel has the right to the land because of all the archeological evidence. Every time there is a dig in Israel, it does nothing but support the fact that Israelis have had a presence there for 3,000 years. They have been there for a long time. The coins, the cities, the pottery, the culture – there have been other people, groups that are there, but there is no mistaking the fact that Israelis have been present in that land for 3,000 years.

“It predates any claims that other peoples in the regions may have. The ancient Philistines are extinct. Many other ancient peoples are extinct. They do not have the unbroken line to this date that the Israelis have.

“Even the Egyptians of today are not the racial Egyptians of 2,000, 3,000 years ago. They are primarily an Arab people. The land is called Egypt, but they are not the same racial and ethnic stock as the old Egyptians of the ancient world. The first Israelis are in fact descended from the original Israelites. The first proof, then is the archeology.

2. “The second proof of Israel’s right to the land is the historic right. History supports it totally and completely. We know there has been an Israel up until the time of the Roman Empire. The Romans conquered the land. Israel had no homeland, although Jews were allowed to live there. They were driven from the land in two dispersions: One was in 70 AD and the other was in 135 AD. But there was always a Jewish presence in the land.

“The Turks, who took over about 700 years ago and ruled the land up until about WWI, had control. Then the land was conquered by the British. The Turks entered WWI on the side of Germany. The British knew they had to do something to punish Turkey, and also to break up that empire that was going to be a part of the whole effort of Germany in WWI. So the British sent troops against the Turks in the Holy Land.

“One of the generals who was leading the British armies was a man named Allenby. Allenby was a Bible-believing Christian. He carried a Bible with him everywhere he went and he knew the significance of Jerusalem.

“The night before the attack against Jerusalem to drive out the Turks, Allenby prayed that God would allow him to capture the city without doing damage to the holy places.

“That day, Allenby sent WWI biplanes over the city of Jerusalem to do a reconnaissance mission. You have to understand that the Turks had at that time never seen an airplane. So there they were, flying around. They looked in the sky and saw these fascinating inventions and did not know what they were, and they were terrified by them. Then they were told they were going to be opposed by a man named Allenby the next day, which means; in their language, “man sent from GOD” or prophet from GOD.” They dared not fight against a prophet from GOD, so the next morning, when Allenby went to take Jerusalem, he went in and captured it with-out firing a single shot.

“The British Government was grateful to the Jewish people around the world, particularly to one Jewish chemist who helped them manufacture niter. Niter is an ingredient that was used in nitroglycerin which was sent over from the New World. But they did not have a way of getting it to England. The German U-boats were shooting on the boats, so most of the niter they were trying to import to make nitroglycerin was at the bottom of the ocean. But a man named Weitzman, a Jewish chemist, discovered a way to make it from materials that existed in England. As a result, they were able to continue that supply.

“The British at that time said they were going to give the Jewish people a homeland. That is all a part of history. It is all written down in history. They were gratified that the Jewish people, the bankers, came through and helped finance the war.”

(To be continued)

This column continues to give out copies of the Holy Bible for free to those who cannot afford to buy their own copies. If interested, please send your letter-request to Ms. Nelly Favis Villafuerte, 5233 LRV Building, Fahrenheit St., Palanan, Makati City. Kindly mention if it is the Tagalog, English, Cebuano, or Ilocano Bible that is preferred.

Be joyful and forgiving!

(Comments may be sent to Ms. Villafuerte’s email: villafuerte_nelly@yahoo.com)