Damning new evidence of Jewish blood on UK hands

Javid resignation triggered by prayer breakfast sermon

Domestic trouble and strife contrasts with peace process abroad

Webinar reveals long-hidden truth about Jewish land rights

Will Britain stand with Israel in the end times?

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘31st October, Destiny’s Date?’ (DVD, 2017, Heritage Resources).

This year sees two major anniversaries centred upon the date of 31 October: the centenary of the Balfour Declaration and the 500^th anniversary of the start of the Reformation, when Luther presented his 95 theses to challenge the practices of the dominant Roman Catholic Church.

The value of this new DVD, presented by Kelvin Crombie, is that it links these events (and two others also on 31 October) and concludes by asking whether this is merely coincidence or whether there is an ultimate destiny behind it all.

The Significance of Beersheba

The DVD is set out in 12 chapters of varying lengths (between six and 18 minutes) and starts with a minute-long trailer (which is also the opening of chapter 1). In some ways the presentation is a slow burner with a lot of preparatory material, starting with the importance of Beersheba in Abraham’s time. For the later significance of this same geographical place we have to wait until chapter 10 - but it is well worth waiting for.

The climax of the DVD is very powerful as the drama unfolds. The mounted attack on Beersheba under General Allenby, and the War Cabinet’s deliberations on what would later be known as the ‘Balfour Declaration’ are skilfully interlinked to produce a tension that is suddenly relieved: God has been in charge all along. His purposes will not be thwarted.

As the drama unfolds, events are skilfully interlinked and the tension is ultimately relieved: God has been in charge all along and his purposes will not be thwarted.

Slices of History

Each chapter is based upon a slice of history and we are kept well informed of where we are on the timeline. The first two chapters cover the period from the time of Abraham right up to the 15^th Century, picking out necessary background material. Chapter 3 (1453-1798) is the longest at 18 minutes and looks at the dynamics of change brought about by the Ottoman Empire and the Reformation.

Chapters 4 and 5 start with Napoleon’s invasion of the Holy Land (1799) and his call to the Jews to return, and conclude with the second of the four ‘31 October’ events: the arrival of Kaiser Wilhelm II into Jerusalem in 1898 to open the new German church there. The significance of this gradually unfolds in the rest of the DVD.

Chapters 6 and 7 cover the alliances being formed in the period before the First World War and the start of the War itself. Chapter 8 explains the military and political ramifications of the Dardenelles campaign and the landings at Gallipoli. Here we see the beginning of the role that Lord Balfour would play in the years to come.

Chapter 9 is an excellent presentation of the events of 1916-17 leading up to the meeting of the British War Cabinet on 31 October to consider the request of Lord Rothschild for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. But simultaneously we are constantly reminded of what is happening ‘on the ground’ there as the future of Palestine is being fought out under General Allenby. Was it coincidence that the date for the assault on Beersheba was also set for 31 October?

Chapter 10 brings both strands to their conclusion: victory at Beersheba and the chance to push on to Jerusalem, and the Declaration of the British Government concerning a Jewish homeland (2 November 1917). Each needed the other - and God ensured that both happened.

Each chapter is based upon a slice of history and we are kept well informed of where we are on the timeline.

How God Shapes History

Throughout the DVD the question is constantly posed: is it possible that the Jews could ever return to the Land as stated by Old Testament prophecies? At times it seemed impossible or at least a distant dream. By the end of the DVD we can see how God shapes history and in particular how he has kept his promises to his ancient people. We are left in no doubt that history from 1917 onwards is also under God’s direction and prophetic hand.

This DVD is highly recommended for personal edification and can also be useful for group study and discussion, though due to its length certain sections may have to be omitted and replaced by a verbal summary.

31 October, Destiny’s Date? (123 minutes) is available from Re-vived for £11.99. Also available from CFI, CMJ and on Amazon. You can also watch the trailer on Youtube.

We review two booklets from Christians for Israel (CFI), ahead of the Balfour centenary.

A Nation Called by God: Britain’s Role in Israel’s Restoration (2017, multiple authors)

This booklet is an extended version of a previous booklet, published by Love Never Fails, which in turn was an expanded version of a recorded message given by Ken Burnett. This final edited and expanded version includes extra material from Burnett’s original sources as well as from additional sources. The result is a more comprehensive picture of the relevant history leading up to the Balfour Declaration as well as more details of developments that occurred in the 20^th Century.

The booklet is set out simply and starts by referring to a little-known work by Franz Kobbler entitled The Vision Was There (published in 1956). The theme is clear from the beginning that God chose Britain as a ‘servant nation’, appointed to shepherd Israel under God’s overall sovereignty of history.

There are sections on the usual people and groups that were instrumental in this cause: the Clapham Sect, Spurgeon, Ryle, CMJ. By the halfway point of the booklet we have reached the Balfour Declaration, described as the culmination of the British movement for the restoration of Israel.

God chose Britain as a ‘servant nation’, appointed to shepherd Israel under God’s overall sovereignty.

The booklet continues by commenting that “Sadly, through our scarred history since 1917, Britain has done far more to obstruct Israel’s restoration than to assist it” (p14). A list of 11 examples of this ‘opposite policy’ occupies three pages (pp18-20) and the booklet ends with what is perhaps its main intention: a call to repentance.

The final word is given to Derek Prince, an adapted transcript of an audio recording of a message he gave in Jerusalem on 1 June 2003, a few months before he died there in September 2003. At the end there is a page of references for further reading which brings this well-produced and timely book to a helpful conclusion.

A Nation Called By God (26 pages) is available from CFI for £2.50.

90 Years On: Legal Aspects of Jewish Rights in the Mandate for Palestine (Roy Thurley, 2010)

This is a short but well-produced and glossy booklet (with colour maps), produced from material presented at the 90^th anniversary conference commemorating the San Remo Agreement. As for its message, it makes a very worthwhile contribution towards a better understanding of the aftermath of the Balfour Declaration and the subsequent British Mandate.

Of particular interest are the key points listed concerning the British Mandate for Palestine. For anyone who has not studied the legal aspect of this before, this will be a revelatory discovery.
The conclusion is that the Jewish State draws its legality from the San Remo Agreement of 1920, a fact that counters much of the misinformation spread in recent times, especially that which uses the United Nations Partition Plan of 1947 (Resolution 181) as its basis.

This is a worthwhile contribution towards a better understanding of the aftermath of the Balfour Declaration.

The only modification to the Mandate for Palestine was the creation of the Emirate of Trans-Jordan in 1946 (now Jordan). Thus the provisions of the Mandate to the land west of the Jordan remain applicable to this day. It soon becomes clear that the expression ‘illegally occupied territory’ is totally inapplicable to Israel’s presence in what has become known as the West Bank as well as other areas that were assigned to Israel under the 1920 San Remo agreement.

The booklet concludes that those who would deny Israel’s right to the territories it recaptured in 1967 should be challenged, and the fallacy of such claims should be countered by the legal case set out in its pages.

90 Years On (10 pages) is available from CFI for £2.50.

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.