A Misconception:
The 1948 re-establishment of the modern-day nation of Israel was the greatest
prophetic sign ever fulfilled and a miraculous ‘act of God.’
Farthest thing from it. One only has to read the history of Zionism [the Jewish
nationalistic movement, 1800’s thru 1948] and you’ll discover how truly ungodly
it was. It’s a sad history of political maneuvering and racial hatred. What
passed as a national result, the costs have been huge and the conflicts
unending. What passed as a national rebirth for Jews uprooted in the process
hundreds of thousands of Arab residents from their homes. Tragically, support
for a Jewish homeland in Palestine was fueled by massive anti-Semitic
prejudices, hatreds, and persecutions in Europe, Russia and northern Africa.
This produced a century-long series of secular, political, and financial
manipulations designed to get the Jews “back in their land” – and “out of
ours.” Of course, these blatant acts of men were allowed by God. But the fact
was that Jews were not wanted in those nations at that time. Meanwhile, many
Christian associations in the West welcomed the movement as a step toward
fulfillment of a newly-popularized, “literal view” of end-times prophecy
(premillennial dispensationalism) and as hastening of the return of Christ.
Paradoxically, most Jews had no desire to leave their countries and return to desolate Palestine. But Jewish reluctancy gradually broke down in the face of accelerating hatred and persecutions. Returning Jews were even forced to buy land at highly inflated prices. Gradually, world opinion became outraged over British mishandling of the emerging Palestinian displacement problem. Devout Muslims in the area vowed to destroy the proposed Jewish state. But after much Holocaust guilt and political maneuvering, a final very close vote in the United Nations created the modern nation of Israel. Many sincere Christians here in America pointed to Israel’s 1948 statehood as proof the Jews still “God’s Chosen People,” and as a literal validation of their biblical faith. Sadly, while hoping for peace, most Zionists ignored or were blind to the fact that others, including Palestinian Christians, already occupied the land. These inhabitants were viewed as obstacles to be forcibly removed from their homes and villages that they had occupied for hundreds of years. What a mistake this has been. Still 20th- and 21st-century prophecy writers, after 1948, have provided plenty of end-times’ rationale for this anti-Arab or anti-Palestinian bias.
John Noe