Not forgetting Messiah Yeshua – the real Saviour of the Jews

We mark the centenary of the San Remo Resolution with several relevant reviews

Balfour Declaration motivated by Cabinet’s Christian faith.

A political document blamed by many for today’s Middle East crisis was motivated by the evangelical Christian faith of a uniquely international, cross-party, British war cabinet.

This was the claim of Jerusalem-based Canadian Rev Dr David Schmidt in a London lecture last week marking the centenary of the 1917 Balfour Declaration.¹

This refers to a letter to Britain’s Jewish leaders, signed by Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour, promising that the Government would do all in its power to facilitate a return to their ancient land of God’s chosen people who had been scattered throughout the globe for some 1,800 years.

They weren’t at the time in a position to do so, for the region then known as Palestine was under Turkish Muslim control, but the situation changed within weeks following the capture of Jerusalem by British and Allied forces under the command of General Edmund Allenby.

Balfour: God’s Plan and Israel’s Destiny

So it was that a brief 130-word letter became the basis for British rule of the territory, subsequently confirmed by the League of Nations (the UN’s predecessor) until such time as the Jews were ready for independence. But Britain later reneged on its agreement in a bid to appease Arab opposition. However, it did not stop the eventual creation of a Jewish state in 1948.

As a Bible-believing academic, Dr Schmidt is convinced that, far from being an embarrassing relic of the British Empire responsible for the current regional conflict, as many claim, the Balfour Declaration was part of God’s plan and Israel’s destiny, as foretold by the Old Testament prophets. “I believe what is written in the Bible regarding the Jewish people and prophecy; that the Jews would be exiled and scattered throughout the world, and in the last days return to the land in unbelief.”²

Such a time would be marked by an increase in travel and knowledge (Dan 12:4), among other phenomena, but specifically by fierce opposition of the nations to an independent state of Israel (Zech 14:2, Ps 2:1-6).

Dr Schmidt is convinced that, far from being an embarrassing colonial relic, the Balfour Declaration was part of God’s plan and Israel’s destiny.

Force of Christian Zionism

Various theories have been put forward for the motivation of David Lloyd George’s ten-strong War Cabinet of 1917 – such as empire expansion, remorse over Jewish persecution and even gratitude for the war efforts of Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, a top biochemist who had developed an important chemical ingredient for gunpowder.

But Dr Schmidt is convinced that Christian Zionism was at its heart, defining Zionism as the belief that Jews remain God’s chosen people and that they have a right to live in the land of Israel.

Though from different social backgrounds and representing all contemporary political parties, these magnificent ten were, for the most part, non-Conformist evangelical Christians – there were no Anglicans – who were familiar with the Old Testament and aware of biblical prophecy. Ironically, the only Jewish member strongly opposed the policy. Many Jews at the time saw it as being herded into a ‘ghetto’. But their opposition gradually faded as the Zionist movement gained momentum.

Lloyd George was the main figure behind the declaration, said Dr Schmidt. Though “ethically challenged” – he had a mistress, for one thing – the Welsh-born Liberal Prime Minister was raised on the Bible and retained a sentimental attachment to biblical values while not always living up to its high ideals.

Balfour too was steeped in the Bible from his Scottish Presbyterian childhood, believing that Christian civilisation owed an immeasurable debt to Judaism. He was motivated by what he called “the desire to give the Jews their rightful place in the world” and even gave theological lectures at Cambridge University.

He was highly accomplished, having already served as Prime Minister, and declared on his deathbed that aiding Jewish restoration was possibly the most worthwhile thing he had done. And he asked that the inscription on his tombstone should read, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,” quoting the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4:7.

Balfour was steeped in the Bible from his Scottish Presbyterian childhood.

Lloyd George’s War Cabinet

Also in the cabinet was Jan Christian Smuts, a Boer general in the South African War. Raised in the Reform Church, his early life was filled with Bible teaching and he predicted that, in generations to come, a great Jewish state would arise once more. In fact, Smuts argued for the biblical restoration of Israel all his life. He was the only Cabinet member who lived to see the re-born state when, as South African Prime Minister, he was the first to recognise the new country after the United States.

Edward Carson, a fiery criminal lawyer from Ulster, opposed Lloyd George on many other issues, but not this one.

Andrew Bonar Law, a Canadian raised by a Presbyterian minister, became Prime Minister in 1922, but died of cancer soon afterwards.

Labour politician Arthur Henderson was converted to Christ through the famed evangelist Gypsy Smith and was also a wholehearted supporter of the Balfour Declaration, as was fellow Labour member George Barnes, who loved the Jewish people.

Support also came from Alfred Milner (brought up in Germany) but George Nathaniel Curzon raised early objections. As a former Viceroy of India, he understood how the Muslims could rise up in opposition and believed the Jews would struggle to live in such “a desolate place”.

Edwin Montague, meanwhile, was opposed both to the declaration and to Zionism in general despite being a Jew himself, because it would force a nationality on people who had nothing in common, and become a Jewish ghetto.

Lloyd George’s ten-strong war cabinet were, for the most part, non-Conformist evangelical Christians.

Failure of Appeasement

In answer to questions, Dr Schmidt suggested that the failure of British foreign policy was not in supporting the Jews with their Zionist cause but, in having done so, trying to appease the Arabs as well so that in the end they pleased no-one.

The composition of the cabinet was also ironic, I believe, in that none of the many Christians among them were Anglicans, and yet it had been the Church’s Ministry among the Jewish people (CMJ), an Anglican society, who had done much to influence politicians about Jewish restoration since its founding in 1809 by William Wilberforce and others. In fact, the London meeting last week was sponsored by CMJ on behalf of the Balfour 100 (Christian) Committee.

Dr Schmidt holds a PhD in Middle Eastern political history focusing on the Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate, and has lived in Israel with his wife Susan since 1989.

Notes

1 Held at the City Temple, Holborn, on 25 January 2017. Hosted by CMJ UK.

2 He made the point that the early Jewish Zionists were not religious – “they were proud of the fact that they did not go to synagogue; they were in a sense Jewish atheists…” But now, he says: “Every year in Israel people are more spiritual and observant,” fulfilling Ezekiel’s prophecy of the dry bones coming to life.

Anti-Semitic protests reveal national rebellion against God.

The newly-retired chief executive of Christian Witness to Israel, one of several movements dedicated to sharing the gospel with the Jewish community, has warned of a "battle royal" over the Balfour Declaration this coming year.

Mike Moore was referring to the forthcoming centenary celebrations of the British Government's 1917 pledge to do all in its power to help Jews return to their ancient Middle East homeland. We have already witnessed the chaotic launch of a campaign to persuade the government to apologise for Balfour – a House of Lords meeting where Jews were even accused of bringing the Holocaust on themselves.¹

That led to the resignation from the Liberal Democrat Party of the meeting's host, Baroness Tonge. And the British Government has now supported an anti-Israel resolution at the United Nations that completely undermines legitimate Jewish rights to the city of Jerusalem and, in particular, Judaism's holiest site, the Temple Mount.₂

We have also seen a significant rise in anti-Israel protests on university campuses and elsewhere, causing London's Metropolitan Police to request organisers of pro-Israel gatherings not to disclose the venue of their meetings in the interests of their own safety.

Indeed, the UK Government has responded to these worrying developments by allocating over £13 million towards the security of its Jewish institutions following 924 reports of anti-Semitic incidents last year including 86 violent assaults.³

The former chief executive of Christian Witness to Israel has warned of a "battle royal" over the Balfour Declaration this coming year.

Balfour: from 1917 to 2017

Why is the Balfour issue in particular causing such a stir? The short answer can be summed up as rebellion against God and his plans, both for the salvation of all through his Son and for restoration of his chosen people – to the land promised them for millennia and to Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah known to Westerners as Jesus.

The timing of the declaration by Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur James Balfour in November 1917 could not have been more precise, coming just weeks before the capture of Jerusalem by British and Allied forces led by General Edmund Allenby, ending 400 years of rule under the Turkish Ottoman Empire and handing to Britain on a plate the means by which they could honour their pledge.

It could not have happened in today's politically-correct climate which has seen the Bible almost entirely marginalised from our culture – and certainly from the corridors of power. But in 1917 things were very different. Britain was at the zenith of its power and influence - largely, I believe, through honoring God and sending out missionaries to many parts of the world.

Biblical Revival and its Fruit

The preaching of the Gospel and the application of biblical teaching to everyday life had been going on for well over a century, courtesy of what has become known as the Great Evangelical Revival, which had a direct effect on the social welfare of the nation, considerably reducing the crime rate for one thing.

Crime rates fell dramatically throughout the 19th Century, so that by 1870 there were only 10,000 in the jails of England and Wales. But even more remarkable was the continuing fall over the next few decades, so that by 1910 there were only 3,000 prisoners in the nation's jails, despite the population rising from 25 to 35 million.⁴

Why is the Balfour issue in particular causing such a stir? The short answer can be summed up as rebellion against God and his plans.

With today's population at 60 million, our jails are full to capacity with 80,000 prisoners, and bear in mind that many Victorian inmates would only have been regarded as petty criminals today.

The contrast is staggering. There is no more room in our overcrowded prisons, and yet we live in a more lenient society (with some exceptions of course, such as the repeated injustice meted out to Christians).

Widespread Biblical Literacy

During the famous Welsh Revival in 1904, crime was almost non-existent in some places, leaving police with little to do, while the pit ponies (used down the coal mines) are said to have no longer understood the commands of their masters whose foul language had been cleaned up.

It was this revival of biblical Christianity that changed everything for the Jewish people. It meant that the generations preceding the Balfour Declaration were made aware that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob still has a special love for his chosen people, whatever they may have done to disown him, and that national prosperity was dependent on our blessing the seed of Abraham (Gen 12:3).

Men of influence understood this well – among them General Allenby himself, who had prayed for Israel's restoration as a young boy, and in the end was used by God to help bring it about.⁵ With the bridge to neighbouring Jordan named after him, Allenby is still honoured in Israel.

Britain's pledge to help the Jews recover their homeland could not have happened in today's politically-correct climate.

Not Today

Tragically, today's generation is biblically illiterate, knowing almost nothing of our precious Judeo-Christian heritage. On a recent train journey to London, I heard a young boy pointing at a tall church steeple in Grantham, Lincolnshire (typical of many in the land), asking his dad: "What is that? Is it Big Ben?" (We were still 110 miles from London). The irony is that Virgin Trains, who sold me the ticket, advertise their service with the slogan 'Be bound for glory', taken from the traditional gospel song This train is bound for glory.

Recent generations in this great country have rebelled against God, and a glorious future for ourselves and our nation is only possible if we get back on track with the biblical truth that tells of a Heaven to be gained and a Hell to be shunned.

Jesus is the only way to glory. If your intended destination is Heaven and eternal life, then you need to take the gospel train that leads to Jesus, who said: "I am the way, the truth and the life; no-one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

References

1 Battle ensues over Balfour, Israel Today, 3 November 2016.

2 Christians United for Israel UK, 5 December 2016.

3 World Israel News, 5 December 2016.

4 Hill, C. The Great Evangelical Revival. Prophecy Today UK, 30 September 2016.

5 Jonathan Cahn, TBN UK, 20 November 2016.

Shocking anti-Semitism as Britain prepares to celebrate.

As British Christians prepare to celebrate a famous milestone in Jewish history, battle lines are being drawn up and some shots have already been fired in anger.

Passions of indignation from left-wing politicians and others are being stirred in response to plans for marking the centenary next year of the Balfour Declaration, through which the British Government promised to do all in its power to facilitate the return to their ancient homeland of the Jewish people.

From Balfour to the Birth of Israel

Lord Arthur Balfour was British Foreign Secretary at the time, the Government having over the previous century been influenced by a succession of anointed Christian leaders – such as William Wilberforce, Charles Spurgeon, Lord Shaftesbury and Bishop J C Ryle – along with the fledgling Zionist movement among the Jews themselves.

As it happened, Britain was perfectly positioned to fulfil the pledge she had made within weeks of this announcement, when General Edmund Allenby and his forces marched into Jerusalem to end 400 years of Turkish rule over the region.

It should not, of course, have taken another 31 years for the Jewish state to be re-born, but this extraordinary political act clearly paved the way for this eventual outcome. And it is something for which British people can be justly proud, in spite of the unnecessary delays caused by appeasement in the face of Arab opposition.

The extraordinary Balfour Declaration paved the way for the Jewish state to be re-born.

New and Old Denials

But the tide of world opinion has once more turned against God's chosen people. In 2017 we will also be marking the 70^th anniversary of the United Nations vote recognising Israel - in which Britain shamefully abstained. But it was carried by the required two-thirds majority, to the great jubilation of world Jewry along with Bible-believing Christians across the globe who were excited by the imminent fulfilment of many ancient prophecies about the return of exiled Jews from the four corners of the earth.

But now this same body has denied historic Jewish ties to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, recognising them only as Muslim holy sites. Since Islam only emerged in the 7^th Century AD, and mountains of archaeological and biblical evidence point to Jewish existence in Jerusalem for thousands of years, how absurd is that?

As Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu put it, "To declare that Israel has no connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall is like saying that China has no connection to the Great Wall of China or that Egypt has no connection to the Pyramids."¹

Anti-Semitism in the House of Lords

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority leaders have – not for the first time – threatened to sue the British Government over Balfour! Perhaps this is what encouraged the outrageous meeting held last week in the House of Lords – called to launch a campaign to apologise for the Balfour Declaration – in which Jews were blamed for the Holocaust.

Hosted by Baroness Tonge, a former Liberal Democrat MP who sits as an independent, the meeting provoked concern about the level of anti-Semitic discourse in mainstream politics and sparked off the subsequent resignation from the party of the Baroness. An Israeli Embassy spokesman described the gathering as "a shameful event".²

Participants at the event said that some in attendance made anti-Semitic statements, including blaming Jews or Zionists for the Holocaust. Participants also reportedly drew comparisons between Israel and Islamic terrorists.³

Last week a campaign was launched calling for Britain to apologise for the Balfour Declaration.

This is just the latest in a series of such occurrences involving Tonge, who recently blamed Israel's treatment of Palestinian Arabs for the rise of anti-Semitism in Britain. In July this year she said that "the treatment of the Palestinians by Israel is a major cause of the rise of extreme Islamism and ISIS."⁴ Back in 2004, she said she would consider becoming a suicide bomber if she were an Arab living in the Palestinian Authority.

Violence on Campus

Also in London last week, police were called to the University College after anti-Israel protesters stormed an event organised by pro-Israel advocacy groups. Things were said to have "got out of hand" and officers apparently warned attendees to stay inside for their own protection.⁵

A similar event took place at King's College, London, earlier this year when protesters violently disrupted a talk by Ami Ayalon, ex-Commander of the Israeli Navy and former head of the Shin Bet internal security operation.⁶

The Ultimate Battle Lines

Attempts by the UN and others to rewrite history will ultimately fail because God will have the last word. In Zechariah 12:3, the Bible warns that a day will come when the nations will attempt to wrestle Jerusalem from the Jewish people. But they will only 'injure' themselves.

Better to give up opposing Israel now than face the fury of the Lord when he comes in his glory round about the time this prophesied event occurs (read Zechariah 12-14).

Jesus, the Jew, is coming back to reign on earth. Make sure you are on his side!

Notes

1 Ravid, B and Khouri, J. UNESCO backs motion nullifying Jewish ties to Temple Mount. Haaretz, 13 October 2016. See also Prophecy Today commentary, 14 October 2016.

2 Dominic Kennedy, The Times of London, 27 October 2016.

3 Arutz-7/Jerusalem News Network, 31 October 2016.

4 Ibid.

5 Algemeiner/Jerusalem News Network News Network, 31 October 2016.

6 Ibid.