Foreign Secretary regrets our turning back refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s apology over Britain’s treatment of Jews during the Mandate of Palestine is an encouraging development to be greatly applauded.

But it has been a long time in coming. Not from him, I mean, but from successive British Governments. He is believed to be the first holder of this office to have acknowledged our criminal behaviour over the plight of Jewish refugees trying to escape the Nazis.

Described by Mr Hunt as a ‘black moment’ in history, it involved denying entrance to the very homeland we had pledged to help recreate for the Jews at the time they needed it most. And Britain has been under a curse ever since, fulfilling the negative part of Genesis 12:3 – that those who curse the seed of Abraham would face judgment.

Mr Hunt was addressing the annual Parliamentary reception of Conservative Friends of Israel, hailing the “very strong relationship” between Britain and Israel and declaring Israel’s right to self-defence as being “absolutely unconditional”.

But he added: “There have been some black moments when we have done the wrong thing such as the 1939 White Paper which capped the number of visas issued to Jews wanting to go to the British mandate of Palestine.”¹

A Step in the Right Direction

Anne Heelis, who heads up a group² dedicated to comforting those who suffered as a result of British Mandate policies, said this “wonderful development” had come just a day after confession for our role was made during a Holocaust memorial service in Northern Ireland.

“Hundreds of thousands of Jewish people could have escaped death in the Nazi concentration camps if they had been allowed free entry into their ancient homeland, but Britain cruelly blocked this way of escape by severely restricting Jewish immigration,” Anne said.

Those who had been praying for a change of heart were “deeply grateful” for this development, but though Mr Hunt’s remarks were “most welcome”, they did not amount to an apology.

The Foreign Secretary’s apology over Britain’s treatment of Jews during the British Mandate is an encouraging development to be greatly applauded – although it is just the start of what is needed.

“They are indeed a wonderful answer to prayer and a great encouragement to continue praying with broken hearts for our Government to make a full apology to Israel. There is still a deep wound in the heart of many Israelis as a result of Britain’s misconduct of the Mandate.”

Rosie Ross, whose organisation Repairing the Breach has also been working with those who suffered under the Mandate, said Mr Hunt’s statement was “a major breakthrough” that was clearly an answer to prayer, some of which has been specifically targeted at the Foreign Office.

She plans to thank Mr Hunt personally and also looks forward to a full apology.

Reneging on Our Promise

The Atlit detention camp, near the port of Haifa, where many ‘illegal immigrants’ were held by the British. Photo: Gemma Blech.

Because the 1917 Balfour Declaration – promising to do all we could to aid Jewish repatriation – had subsequently been legitimised both by the 1920 Treaty of San Remo and the League of Nations in 1922, Britain had all the delegated power she needed to rescue many thousands of God’s chosen people from disaster.

But she failed to act because of Arab opposition, choosing to pursue a policy of appeasement that had never worked with Hitler. And we are still suffering the consequences, with the Middle East up in flames, the rest of Europe in turmoil and Britain in particular in a state of utter chaos and bewilderment.

We lost our empire, beginning with India in 1947, along with much of our power and influence and, as we succumbed increasingly to secularisation, we broke loose from our moral moorings. We also lost our sovereignty as we got sucked into the godless European whirlpool which further weakened our Judeo-Christian foundations.

All this leaves us frantically splashing about in an ocean of confusion with our political elite engaged in a desperate bid to avoid carrying out the people’s wish of regaining our national pride.

Blessing or Curse?

I pray that Mr Hunt will stick to his guns, and I would like to encourage him by emphasising the undeniable link – at both an individual and a national level – between political longevity and treatment of the Jews.

It is worth noting, for example, that the three longest-serving British Prime Ministers of the modern era – Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair – were unflinching in their support for the Jews. I mentioned Wilson last week (see The Forgotten Friend of Israel). Mrs Thatcher not only helped save a Jewish girl’s life from the Holocaust but also served her strongly Jewish constituency faithfully throughout her Parliamentary career. Mr Blair inaugurated the annual Holocaust Memorial Day to help ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Britain had all the delegated power she needed to rescue many thousands of God’s chosen people from disaster, but she failed to act because of Arab opposition, choosing to pursue a policy of appeasement.

Others, including Neville Chamberlain, Anthony Eden, James Callaghan and even Winston Churchill, disappeared from the political scene after letting God’s ancient people down.³

Where are the great empires of the past – Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek and Roman – who have treated the ‘apple of God’s eye’ (Zech 2:8) with disdain? They are buried in the dust of history.

Operation Mordechai

With this in mind, Christians United for Israel UK has launched ‘Operation Mordecai’ to highlight the threat to Israel and the West posed by Iran, with the primary aim of ensuring that Britain positions itself on the right side of history by defending Israel against tyranny.

The campaign takes its inspiration from the biblical account of Esther’s cousin Mordecai who, having heard of a plot to annihilate the Jews, sought the Lord, warned about what was planned and took action.

Let’s not go the way of Ireland, Amnesty International or Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. Ireland is currently pushing through legislation designed to boycott the sale of Israeli products from so-called “illegal settlements in occupied territories”.⁴ They are referring to Judea and Samaria, which is the heart of Israel though obviously disputed by those who oppose the Jewish right to the land (which, as I said, is theirs by international treaty as well as God’s sovereign word).

Amnesty International is calling for a boycott of Israel’s tourism industry in the same region, accusing them of “occupation, human rights violations and war crimes”.⁵

Paul Charney, chairman of the Zionist Federation of the UK and Ireland, said the humanitarian organisation thus demonstrates its lack of neutrality by whitewashing any Palestinian culpability for the conflict.

“Amnesty must recognise the incitement, the children’s television programmes encouraging violence and terrorism, and the salaries to convicted terrorists under the Palestinian Authority’s ‘Pay to Slay’ policy, to name but a few of the many disgraces which bear much responsibility for the current situation.”

He added that such boycotts harm the very people they wish to help.

Friend or Foe?

Returning to our relationship with the Jewish state, Labour ties with its sister party in Israel were officially cut last year over its handling of anti-Semitism, which bodes ill for any potential Labour-led British Government.

It was in 2016 that Mr Corbyn refused an invitation from Isaac Herzog, then leader of Israel’s Labour Party, to visit Israel and tour the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum.

Herzog, now Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, is reported to be “extremely distraught” by what is happening in Britain’s Labour Party.⁶

Christians United for Israel UK has launched ‘Operation Mordecai’ to ensure that Britain positions itself on the right side of history by defending Israel against tyranny.

So should we be. And our Foreign Office has a bad record of dealings with Israel; so let’s hope Mr Hunt’s statement signals a turning of the tide.

For we do not wish to be numbered among Israel’s enemies, of whom the Psalmist wrote: “’Come’, they say, ‘let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.’” (Ps 83:4).

And Psalm 146 adds: “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing” (verses 3-4).

References

1 United with Israel, 1 February 2019.

2 Nachamu Ami (Comfort ye my people – Isaiah 40:1).

3 Pawson, D. Defending Christian Zionism. Terra Nova Publications, p152/3.

4 Haaretz, 29 November 2018.

5 United with Israel, 30 January 2019.

6 Jerusalem News Network, 30 January 2019, quoting the Jerusalem Post.

We must return to our roots – Labour PM Harold Wilson was devoted to the Jewish cause

I confess that the article I am about to write was initially intended only to address the important issue of roots – both of Christianity and of Western civilisation as a whole.

But I have been somewhat diverted along a different route, which I shall explain. So stay with me as I will eventually return to the roots of my story.

Labour’s History

In looking up a verse from Isaiah, where he refers to the “root of Jesse” (one of many prophecies of the coming Messiah, Jesus), I was reminded¹ of the fact that former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson had made much of a text from this passage in support of his Zionist views, spelt out in his book The Chariot of Israel² and clearly inspired by his strong Christian faith (I am reliably informed that both Harold and his wife Mary were Bible-believing Congregationalists, to which he also owed his brand of Christian socialism).

The text in question, Isaiah 11:11, refers to a second return of Jewish exiles,³ which trumps the notion that such prophecies were all fulfilled with the return from Babylon so that modern Israel has no right to their ancient land today.

I believe this is very significant in light of the ongoing controversy over rising anti-Semitism within the Labour Party, of which Wilson was a long-time leader and the only occupant of No. 10 Downing Street to have won four general elections.

By contrast, current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has openly embraced those who wish to destroy Israel.

Current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has openly embraced those who wish to destroy Israel.

Our Godly Heritage

Writing for the Jewish Chronicle on the 50^th anniversary of Wilson’s first election victory,⁴ Robert Philpot dubbed him “the forgotten friend of Israel” who sprang to her aid in 1967 and 1973 and whose first overseas visit after leaving office in 1976 was to Israel, where he received an honorary doctorate and inspected a forest near Nazareth that had been named after him!

In Parliament he described the Jewish state “by any test…the only democracy in [the] region” and his book was described by his Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer Roy Jenkins as “one of the most strongly Zionist tracts ever written by a non-Jew”.

Tragically, however, his devotion to the cause of Israel contrasts sharply with today’s Labour left from whose ranks he originally hailed.⁵

Which takes me back to my starting point, for the survival of our Judeo-Christian civilisation will depend entirely on whether we remain connected to our biblical roots. If we cut ourselves off from our godly heritage, the ‘sap’ that gives us life, direction and purpose will no longer flow, with the result that our culture will wither and die like a tree pulled from the ground.

Gentiles Grafted In

Though some of the UK has just been blanketed in snow, nevertheless it’s that time of year when we begin to witness the shoots that produce flowers like snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils pointing the way to another springtime. These beauties come from roots (or bulbs) buried in the ground for many months.

Christianity was the new spring in the purposes of God that emerged from the roots of Judaism. According to St Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians, who had to be reminded that God was not finished with his chosen people, Gentile believers “now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root [of Israel]…You do not support the root, but the root supports you,” he thundered (Rom 11:17f).

If we cut ourselves off from our godly roots, the ‘sap’ that gives us life, direction and purpose will no longer flow, and our culture will wither and die like a tree pulled from the ground.

This should encourage us to put our trust squarely in the God of Israel, and his Son, the Jewish Messiah, Jesus, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David” (Rev 5:5), also prophesied by Isaiah as “the root of Jesse” (Isa 11:10) who will draw the nations (Gentiles) to himself.

In this respect it is also significant that there is a strain of Gentile ‘blood’⁶ in Jesus, through his ancestor Ruth, the Moabitess, King David’s great-grandmother, a wonderful woman of virtue who threw in her lot with her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi.

Spring is Coming

Still on this theme, Isaiah’s discussion of roots is related to a springtime for the nation of Israel that surely speaks of today, with its reference to a second return from exile, this time not just from Babylon but “from the four quarters of the earth” (Isa 11:11f) including “the islands of the sea” considered by some theologians to refer to the British Isles.

This passage also speaks of a coming millennial age of perfect peace when “the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together…They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:6, 9).

As for Israel, the Lord speaks emphatically of final restoration through the Prophet Amos, concluding with the words: “I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted…” (Amos 9:15).

References

1 See Defending Christian Zionism by David Pawson (Terra Nova Publications, 2008), p104.

2 Ibid.

3 The text begins: “In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people…”

4 Wilson, true friend of Israel. The Jewish Chronicle, 27 October 2014.

5 It is only fair to record that after chairing the debate in Parliament to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (January 27), my own MP, Dame Rosie Winterton (Labour, Doncaster Central) said: “It is shocking that many British Jews are considering leaving this country…We must support those in our community who feel threatened. This means tackling and condemning anti-Semitism wherever we find it, including in the Labour Party.”

6 Obviously not actual blood, as Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit through the virgin Mary, though certainly ancestral as Jewish genealogy would confirm.

Battling with cancer, Billy Graham's daughter urges support for endangered Israel

Nearly three-quarters of a century has passed since the Red Army liberated the notorious Auschwitz death camp on 27 January 1945, a date now marked by the annual Holocaust Memorial Day here in Britain and elsewhere.

It is held with the intention of ensuring that it never happens again. But alas, anti-Semitism is back to haunt us, proving the point often made that we never learn from history.

Taking Sides

In the UK, we face the dreadful possibility of having a Prime Minister with strong anti-Israel sympathies if the party currently holding onto power by the skin of its teeth does not get its act together.

In the US, they have witnessed the ghastly spectre of a congresswoman who took ‘swearing in’ quite literally as she launched a profanity-laced tirade against President Trump upon taking office.¹

Democrat Rashida Tlaib and Representative Ilhan Omar are the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, with the latter having already expressed her opposition to Israel.²

Anti-Semitism has also been cited among issues affecting the Women’s March movement in America.³ In fact, it is on the rise worldwide, with left and right forming an unholy alliance against God’s chosen people.

Anti-Semitism is back to haunt us, proving the point often made that we never learn from history.

On the other hand, there is increasing support for Israel from unexpected quarters. Take Brazil, for instance. Its new President, Jair Bolsonaro, has boldly declared his intention of following the US lead in moving his embassy to Jerusalem. And Wilson Witzel actually requested the sound of a shofar to accompany his inauguration as a Brazilian state governor, so strong is his support for the Jewish state.⁴

Sheep and Goats

So, what does this mean? Nations, communities and individuals are lining up for battle (whether knowingly or not) in anticipation, no doubt, of the day of judgment when the sheep are separated from the goats (see Ezek 34:17; Matt 25:31-46; Joel 3:2) on the basis of how they treated the Jewish people.

In the midst of all this, the silence from most leaders of the Christian Church has been deafening – just as it was in Germany and elsewhere during the Shoah. I guess this is largely because of the dangerous and heretical Replacement Theology that has certainly swept through much of the British Church.

We should be witnessing stirring calls from our pulpits to stand with the Jews, but somehow church leaders don’t see the connection. That’s because they have been disconnected from the roots of their faith, and have forgotten that we worship the God of Israel, who has sent his Son as Messiah, first for the Jews and also for the Gentiles.

We owe them everything – the Law, the Prophets, the Patriarchs, the entire Bible (Luke being the only Gentile author) and most of all Jesus, who will soon return as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev 5:5).

As the world lines up for battle, the silence from most leaders of the Christian Church has been deafening.

Message of Warning

Anne Graham Lotz.

That the Jewish state is once more under severe threat was illustrated by the surface-to-surface missile fired into Israel by Syrian-based Iranian forces on Sunday.⁵ Thankfully, it was successfully intercepted.

Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of the late evangelist Billy Graham, is currently suffering severe side-effects from cancer treatment which she believes could be a message for Israel.⁶

Recalling that God had some of his prophets live out the message he gave them, she wonders if her current life and death battle relates to the Jewish nation, reborn just a week before she came into the world.

“The warning I feel deep within is that Israel is in danger of a surprise attack in this, her 70^th year,” she writes, urging them to return to the Lord (Joel 2:12-14) and us Gentiles to pray for the peace of Jerusalem “and for the whole House of Israel”.

If we truly love Jesus, we will love the Jews – as many of our Arab friends testify on finding peace and reconciliation at the Cross. Wake up, Church!

References

1 Jerusalem News Network, 6 January 2019, quoting INN.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid, quoting Algemeiner.

4 JNN, 6 January 2019, quoting Jerusalem Post and INN.

5 JNN, 23 January 2019, quoting Israel Today.

6 Joy! News (South Africa), 17 January 2019, sourcing Steve Warren at www1.cbn.com.

The streetfighter’s lethal weapon and the surgeon’s abortion instruments.

As London-based newspapers noted with horror that the new year had been marred by yet more fatal stabbings, it was another statistic that really shocked me. And it’s one that points to what lies behind the eruption of violence on our capital city’s streets.

While we remain obsessed with focusing on the symptoms, rather than the causes, of our problems, we will get no closer to a solution.

Knife crime has risen to frightening levels which have left London’s streets apparently now more dangerous than those of New York, long notorious for its gang warfare. But this shocking dilemma is met only with cries for more police, and more funding for law enforcement generally.

And yet in the midst of this comes news that abortion remains the biggest cause of death by far in our blood-soaked world. Whereas 8.2 million people died from cancer in 2018, almost 42 million abortions were recorded. In other words, for every 33 live births, ten infants were aborted.¹

Violence Breeds Violence

The connection is obvious: violence breeds violence. We slaughter babies in the womb by the million – legally in most cases – and wonder why violence on an unprecedented scale has erupted on our streets. And I am aware that there are other, often related, factors such as broken homes causing lost and unloved young men to seek ‘family’ elsewhere.

At a time when there is a major focus on research into killer diseases – and there has undoubtedly been much success with discovering new cures for cancer – anti-abortion fundraisers would more likely be harangued or beaten up than receive open public support.

And yet the Bible says: “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it?” (Prov 24:11-12).

We slaughter babies in the womb by the million and wonder why violence on an unprecedented scale has erupted on our streets.

While every victim of senseless knife crime is a tragic statistic, the mass slaughter of innocents that goes by the euphemistic name of ‘choice’ for women whose lifestyle is unsuited to raising children, is a blot on Western civilisation in general, and British society in particular.

Abortion was the leading cause of death worldwide last year.After all, there was a time when we led the way with missionary zeal in proclaiming the efficacy of a Judeo-Christian culture based on the Ten Commandments, one of which states with the utmost clarity: “You shall not murder.” (Ex 20:13).

But as soon as we jettisoned our commitment to those values, many of the nations we have influenced followed suit.

Our only hope as a nation is in returning to the God-given laws Moses was given on Mt Sinai – laws that Christ subsequently enabled us to follow through his Spirit in our hearts.

Attempt to Thwart God’s Plans

The slaughter of innocents is essentially a mark of rebellion against God – and the devil himself is behind it.

In anticipation of the birth of Moses, the Egyptian Pharaoh tried to prevent God’s will from being fulfilled by murdering every male Jewish infant (Ex 1:22). Moses was a ‘type’ of the Messiah to come, in that he led God’s people out of slavery towards new life in the Promised Land. Jesus went further by redeeming all who trust him from slavery to sin.

But when Christ arrived on the scene some 1,500 years after Moses, King Herod ordered the slaughter in Bethlehem of every child under the age of two (Matt 2:16).

In both cases, God was about to usher in a wonderful new era – and Satan tried to stop it.

The slaughter of innocents is a mark of rebellion against God – and the devil himself is behind it.

In more recent times, when six million Jews were mercilessly slaughtered in the concentration camps of Germany and Poland, one-and-a-half million children were among them.

Once again, God was about to introduce a glorious new epoch for Israel, with Jews back in their ancient land and many recognising Jesus as Messiah. satan tried to stop it in an unspeakably monstrous way. Yet, even so, he failed in his ultimate objective, but at a terrible cost of precious lives because so few who were in a position to do so lifted a finger to help.

Devil Doomed to Defeat

It’s interesting that the legalisation of abortion in Britain in 1967 happened to coincide with a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the old established churches. Whenever God wants to do something special in revealing his presence and power to sinful humanity, satan seeks to spoil his plan.

Ultimately, however, the devil is doomed to defeat and will take all his allies with him into the pit of everlasting fire known as hell (see Rev 20:7-10).

St Paul writes: “The God of peace will soon crush satan under your feet” (Rom 16:20).

My new year message to abortionists, and all who support them, is: Stop this satanic slaughter!

References

1 Jerusalem News Network, 4 January 2019, quoting Life News. The estimate of 42 million abortions is conservative; the real number is likely to be higher - perhaps 56 million or more, according to WHO data gathered by Snopes.

Shameful treatment of Jewish ‘illegal immigrants’ recalled as migrant crisis takes hold

Among the incidents reported over a Christmas period during which I was largely preoccupied with the death of my dear mother were the illegal immigrant crisis and the potential disaster of a rogue drone that brought Gatwick Airport to a standstill. There is a poignant connection between the two that has an important message for Britain in the new year.

Jews trying to escape the gas chambers were once prevented by the British from entering their own fatherland, a nation that has now come to our rescue by providing the technology used to ground the unmanned flying machine.

Before, during and immediately after World War II, British soldiers were ordered to deal with ‘illegal immigrants’ to Israel, and the grossly insensitive way in which they handled it still reverberates in the hearts of those who experienced it and their descendants.

The greatest injustice of that tardy episode in our history was the fact that Britain had been charged by the League of Nations to prepare the Holy Land for re-settlement by Jews who had been scattered and persecuted among the nations for almost 2,000 years.

It was thus an obvious refuge for Jews desperately trying to flee Nazi-occupied Europe. But in order to appease the region’s Arab population, who used violence and intimidation to discourage Jewish repatriation, we disgracefully limited the quota of immigrants.

Although we had recognised, finally, that you couldn’t negotiate with fanatical dictators like Hitler, we failed to apply the same lesson to our dealings with the Arabs of the Middle East.

Where Are You My Child?

The story of one particular family, as told by Aliza Ramati in Where Are You My Child? (published by Zaccmedia), is especially harrowing and helps to bring the current migrant crisis into perspective.

Theirs was a case of jumping from the frying pan into the fire – escaping from the Fuhrer’s claws only to be crunched by the jaws of the British lion. After fleeing Czechoslovakia in November 1940, they eventually joined 1,800 refugees boarding a rickety old ship designed to carry only 300 people.

The grossly insensitive way in which Britain handled Jewish immigration to Israel still reverberates in the hearts of those who experienced it and their descendants.

Because they didn’t have the necessary papers, the crew were reluctant to press on with any haste for fear of incurring the wrath of the authorities themselves, so the desperate passengers kept bribing them with jewellery and other gifts. But the journey was perilous, with much sickness and death. And when, after some months, they finally caught sight of Haifa, they were surrounded by the British navy who treated them like dogs before re-routing them to detention camps in the faraway Indian Ocean island of Mauritius as well as in Atlit, near Haifa.

The Exodus, the most famous ship carrying Jewish immigrants back to the Land. Photo taken in 1947, after the British boarded the vessel.Some were transferred to a bigger ship, the SS Patria, which was subsequently blown up and sunk with the loss of 250 lives.

The Haganah, an underground Jewish movement fighting the British, planted a bomb on the vessel with the apparent intention of only disabling it in order to prevent the deportation of its passengers, but the plan went horribly wrong.

As a result, the family at the centre of this true story got separated in the chaos following the explosion – husband from wife, and wife from baby, feared drowned. Another described swimming to safety through a sea of blood. But a Viennese man had saved the child, who was reunited with his mother some time later.

The family somehow survived their ordeals to realise their dream of settling in Israel, though it took a circuitous route via Mauritius where, with the help of the Czech consulate in South Africa, the storyteller’s grandfather enlisted as a Czech soldier fighting the Germans and was eventually posted to Israel, where he deserted in order to join the Haganah.

His wife, however, was treated with compassion by one British officer, who paid for it with imprisonment and who wrote: “I joined the British army with the intention of fighting the Nazis…To my sorrow, I was not sent to the battlefield, as I had hoped. Instead, I was sent here to assist in taking care of the Jewish illegal immigrants…I’m a soldier, and I must obey orders, but I am doing everything I can in order not to lose my humanity…”.

Exploring the Jewish roots of our faith adds clarity and insight to the truths of Scripture.

Connecting to Our Roots

The book is the product of a school ‘Roots’ project undertaken by 13-year-old Roni, who successfully traced the tortuous and heroic path of her ancestors with the aid of cassette recordings of her great-grandparents.
Family tree searches have become quite fashionable – and that’s a good thing as knowledge of our roots helps us appreciate the positive influences of past generations.

In the same way, it is vitally important and hugely enriching for Christians to explore the Judaic roots of their faith, adding clarity and insight to the great truths of Scripture which, of course, came to us through the Jewish people and patriarchs.

A better understanding of our roots might well have prevented much of the persecution suffered by Jews at the hands of ‘Christian’ Europe.

Western civilisation itself is based on the framework of biblical teaching perfectly reflected in Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, and if we cut ourselves off from its influence, we will lose the sap that gives us life, light, wisdom and compassion – and will wither and die as a tree does when cut off from its roots (see Rom 11:17f).

The future of our civilisation depends on remaining connected to these roots. Those who oppose Israel need to understand that we cannot do without them. Even the technology that brought down the drone at Gatwick was developed in Israel, whose expertise in dealing with terror is proving beneficial to all.¹

The future of Western civilisation depends on our remaining connected to our Judeo-Christian roots.

As for the Iranian and other migrants risking their lives trying to cross the Channel, there is a need for compassion, mixed with wisdom. Above all, we must not repeat the shameful response of the British to the Jews trying to escape the gas chambers.

Jesus famously said: “Do to others what you would have them do to you” – the so-called ‘golden rule’ – “for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matt 7:12).

References

1 Israeli anti-Drone Technology Helps Reopen London’s Gatwick Airport. United with Israel, 23 December 2018. 

European nations pay for defiance of God’s plan

As Christmas draws near, the gloomy prospects of Brexit proposals are somewhat overshadowing the bright lights of Britain.

Virtual civil war has broken out within the ranks of the political class, but there is a general blindness to the real cause of our troubles, which lies with our relationship – not with Europe – but with Israel.

Nations are trying to tamper with God’s dwelling-place on earth and are suffering serious injury as a result.

As writer and theologian Frank Booth reminded me, after Donald Trump moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2017 in recognition of the obvious, European leaders May, Macron and Merkel joined the voices raised against the decision. Look at them now!

Zechariah 12:3 says: “I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock [or heavy stone] for the nations; all who try to move it will injure [or grievously hurt] themselves.”

And Booth asks: “How can anyone who knows the slightest thing about the history of Israel deny Jerusalem as her natural historic capital?”

Signs of the Times

In the bleak midwinter, a popular carol, seems an apt description of the view ahead of us in the UK. But the hymn should also remind us of what life is really about, especially of how – 2,000 years on – we are still profoundly affected by the Christ child who came into the world to save us from our sin.

Bethlehem may have been his birthplace, but Jerusalem – just six miles away – was and is the key to the world’s future. It was there that our Lord died as the perfect sacrifice for sins, where he rose from the dead three days later, where he subsequently ascended to Heaven after appearing to more than 500 witnesses, and where he will return - probably in the very near future judging by the many signs of his coming already being fulfilled.

Nations are trying to tamper with God’s dwelling-place on earth and are suffering serious injury as a result.

The most obvious of these has been the re-birth and rise to prominence of the State of Israel, symbolised in the Bible as the fig tree (see Matthew 24:32-34). The blossoming of the fig tree has come about as a result of the return of Jews from every corner of the world to the land promised them some 4,000 years ago. All the world has witnessed this phenomenon, fulfilling an abundance of ancient prophecies (e.g. Jer 23:7f; Jer 31:16f; Ezek 36:24; Isa 43:5-7).

But as the scriptures also predicted, they would not be welcomed back to their homeland by their neighbours – hence the current upheaval in the Middle East.

So how does this affect the UK and why is this issue – and not Brexit – the source of our difficulties?

Britain’s Capitulation

Britain has been granted the inestimable privilege (by God himself and through international treaties) of facilitating Jewish repatriation. This was thanks to godly men like Wesley, Wilberforce and their evangelical successors, whose influence caused the Government of 1917, led by David Lloyd George, to issue a promise to do all it could to make this possible through what came to be known as the Balfour Declaration (signed by Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour).

Despite later reneging on this pledge and betraying the Jews – even refusing entry (to then British-controlled Palestine) to thousands of would-be immigrants trying to escape the Nazis – we at least got the ball rolling which enabled a reborn Israel to rise from the ashes of the ‘Valley of Dry Bones’ (Ezek 37) that was the Holocaust.

But as we kept caving in to Arab intimidation, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict worsened and our great empire – on which the sun never set – began systematically to fall apart in direct fulfilment of Genesis 12:3, promising blessing to those who bless the seed of Abraham and cursing to those who don’t.

In addition, Joel 3:2 guarantees judgment on the nations that have scattered his people and divided up their land. All the talk now is of a ‘two-state solution’, carving up territory designated (both by God and international treaties) as belonging to the Jews.

Jerusalem the Key

Jerusalem is the key to all this. Plans for dividing the city into east and west in order to achieve peace are actually a recipe for further bloodshed, as Israel’s enemies want all of it.¹ The last great war, the Bible says, will be over the status of Jerusalem, not Europe or the Far East.

Australia’s lukewarm attempt to please both sides of the divide by only recognising West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and holding off acceptance of East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital until a two-state solution is found, will cut no ice with God, who spits such lack of commitment out of his mouth as English folk might do with tepid tea (see Rev 3:16).

Australia’s lukewarm attempt to please both sides of the divide will cut no ice with God, who spits such lack of commitment out of his mouth (Rev 3:16).

While this position might be seen as a step in the right direction, Australia’s Pentecostal Christian Prime Minister Scott Morrison should note what has happened to Britain, Germany and France since Donald Trump’s brave decision to move his embassy to Jerusalem.

Taking their cue from the politically correct secularists, May, Merkel and Macron defiantly refused to follow Trump’s example, and all three are now in grave difficulties.

Open warfare over Brexit threatens to bring further chaos to Britain including the distinct possibility of a Government led by Jeremy Corbyn, an ally of terrorist groups wishing to obliterate Israel and who shows no sign of lancing the boil of anti-Semitism within his party.

Merkel, meanwhile, has a fragile hold on power as Germans express great frustration with the problems caused by mass immigration, and deadly street riots – led by a movement reported to be grossly anti-Semitic – have erupted in Paris in protest at Macron’s ‘reforms’.

Reaping the Whirlwind

Such a triple calamity can be traced back, quite simply, to defiance of the God of Israel and of his commandments which have formed the basis of Western civilisation.

We are reaping the whirlwind of anti-Semitism and godlessness after shamefully turning our backs on the God who bought our redemption when his Son was brutally murdered in his very own city (Ps 48:1-3).

The Bible is clear that our security as nations and individuals depends on our attitude to Jesus, to the Jews and to Jerusalem (John 3:16; Gen 12:3; Ps 122:6).

References

1 See also Senior Palestinian negotiator: all of Jerusalem on table, World Israel News, 18 December 2018.

No-one holds a candle to our Lord Jesus, who brought light and life to all who believe

As we approach the traditional season of Christmas, we (in the Northern Hemisphere) are all too aware of the gathering gloom of midwinter, and are anxious to help dispel the darkness with a multiple array of bright lights.

The Prophet Isaiah addressed this dilemma when he proclaimed that “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light” (Isa 9:2) – although he was thinking more of man’s spiritual condition than their general environment.

Written around 600 years before Christ, this is one of his many references to the coming Messiah, and points (in the preceding verse) to the very region where he would engage in most of his earthly ministry – “Galilee of the nations [or Gentiles]”.

In the midst of the oppression of Roman occupation, a Jewish virgin would give birth to a son, who would be ascribed a series of majestic titles including ‘Prince of Peace’.

Feast of Dedication

As with Christians, Jews at this time of year also light up the darkness with a glittering host of candles to celebrate Hanukkah, the feast of Dedication.

I well remember sharing the excitement of the occasion with Jerusalem residents five years ago, as joyful groups celebrated in restaurants festooned with brightly coloured lights and menorahs.

Though not among the prescribed seven feasts dating back to the time of Moses, Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish festival Jesus himself attended and is celebrated close to Christmas (appropriately, though not intentionally) to mark God’s miraculous intervention during the reign of the ruthless Syrian-Greek emperor Antiochus Epiphanes. He desecrated the Jewish Temple by sacrificing a pig there and blasphemously proclaimed himself God.

As with Christians, Jews at this time of year also light up the darkness with a glittering host of candles

Judah Maccabee led a brave and successful revolt against the tyrant in 164 BC and re-established temple worship (Hanukkah means ‘Dedication’) with the aid of the menorah (seven-branched candlestick) which burned miraculously for eight days despite having only enough oil for a day. The Greeks had polluted the rest.

In my opinion, the feast also foreshadows the coming of the Jewish Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), described as “the light of the world”, and I’m sure it’s no coincidence that it falls around the same time as Christmas (even though it is more likely that Jesus was born in the autumn) when much of the world is lit up with elaborate decorations to commemorate his birth some 2,000 years ago.

Messianic Jews (who do believe Jesus is their Messiah) celebrate both feasts and it is interesting to note that the sight of a menorah as part of the festive decorations is increasingly common.

The Only Hope for Peace

And yet, at a time when billions of people celebrate the coming of light into the world in the person of Jesus Christ, a dark evil casts a shadow over the place of his birth as sabre-rattling surrounding nations threaten the very existence of Israel.

Paradoxically, the spectre of Armageddon continues to loom each year just when the world focuses on the coming of the ‘Prince of Peace’.

Armageddon is not some sci-fi invention of a film-maker’s overactive imagination. It’s a reality; for there will come a time, very possibly in the near future, when the nations of the earth will clash in a catastrophic battle on the plains of Megiddo in northern Israel – the Bible makes this clear. But then the Messiah will return in power and great glory to put an end to war and usher in a thousand-year reign of absolute peace.

As my wife and I were reminded a few years ago in a Christmas card from the Jews for Jesus organisation, the baby born at Bethlehem is the only hope for peace in the Middle East.

Explaining the feast of Hanukkah, a Jews for Jesus spokeswoman said: “That is why each year we kindle our lamps, one light for each of the eight nights,” adding: “The Hanukkah Menorah has nine branches and we light each of the branches with the ninth candle, the shammas or servant candle. The light of the menorah reminds us of our Messiah Jesus, the Servant King, of whom the Apostle John said: ‘The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.’

“We can’t help but see the connection between the light of Hanukkah and the light that pierced the darkness when Yeshua [Jesus] was born. During this Hanukkah and Christmas season, let us remember that the light of the world has come among us to bring hope and life to all who believe.”

In my opinion, Hanukkah foreshadows the coming of the Jewish Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), described as “the light of the world”.

Shining in the Darkness

But as Jesus was misunderstood, so are his followers. As John also wrote: “The light [of Christ] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood [or overcome] it.” (John 1:5).

Conflict over Jesus’ claims was also apparent during the Hanukkah feast he attended. John writes: “Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe…’” (John 10:22-25).

Millions of Christians today testify to being among those who once walked in darkness, but have since seen “a great light”. Their testimony is the same as the slave ship captain turned hymn-writer John Newton, who so beautifully reflected the truths of the Gospel with the words: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.”

Freshwater fish found in surrounding sinkholes: is ancient prophecy being fulfilled?

A remarkable thing happened to me last week. I was studying the Book of Ezekiel in preparation for a weekend retreat when a friend forwarded news of another sign pointing to the imminent return of Jesus.

One of Ezekiel’s famous prophecies – widely thought to be allegorical rather than literal – may be about to be fulfilled, just as he said it would 2,600 years ago!

In short, life has been found at the Dead Sea!¹ Fresh water is now flowing into this Rift Valley expanse that has been unable to support life since the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah thousands of years ago, useful only for drawing tourists to sample its healing properties while floating unsupported. And freshwater fish have now been seen swimming in the surrounding sinkholes that have opened up in recent years as the sea, made up of 33% salt, has been receding.

New Life Foretold

In chapter 47 of Ezekiel, who prophesied while in exile in Babylon from 597 BC, the Prophet describes a vision of an increasingly deep river flowing from the Temple in Jerusalem down towards the Dead Sea, bringing new life wherever it flows and supporting the same kind of fish as those inhabiting the Mediterranean.

Ezekiel wrote:

He said to me: ‘This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah [the Jordan Valley], where it enters the Sea [the Dead Sea]. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea [the Mediterranean]. (Ezek 47:8-10)

The vision comes amid the latter part of the book dealing with the promised restoration of the Jewish people to both their Land and their Lord. And I believe the ‘resurrection’ of the dead stretch of water reflects a time (near the end of the age) when the fortunes of Israel – long forsaken and persecuted – will be turned around.

I believe the ‘resurrection’ of the dead stretch of water reflects a time (near the end of the age) when the fortunes of Israel will be turned around.

This is what the world is now witnessing, with the Jewish state emerging as a major player on the world scene with a thriving economy borne out of extraordinary innovation.

At the same time there is a growing movement of those who believe that Jesus is the long-promised Jewish Messiah, fulfilling the word that when the Jews are finally restored from all the nations to which they were dispersed because of forsaking God’s ways, they would be given a ‘new heart’ and, as with the Dead Sea, cleansed and ‘sprinkled clean’ of their sins (Ezek 36:24-26).

You’d Better Believe It!

Dead Sea sinkholes. See Photo Credits.The freshwater life that is returning to the shores of the Dead Sea may not be a total fulfilment of Ezekiel’s extraordinary vision – but it certainly heralds the fulfilment to come.

You can be sure that all prophecy in Scripture will be fulfilled to the letter. Around three-quarters of Ezekiel’s predictions (and 81% of Bible prophecies on the whole) have already been fulfilled with pinpoint accuracy.²

Take, for example, his prophecy of Tyre’s downfall. The Eastern Mediterranean fishing port would, he said, one day be razed to the ground and thrown into the sea, and the bare rock where it once stood would become a place for fishermen to dry their nets (Ezek 26).

No other city, before or since, has ever been thrown into the sea, writes author and Bible teacher David Pawson in his masterful work Unlocking the Bible. “When Alexander the Great came marching down towards Egypt with his great army, the people of Tyre simply got into their fishing boats and sailed to the island half-a-mile offshore, knowing that Alexander had an army but not a navy.”³

But when Alexander saw this, he commanded that every brick, every stone and every piece of timber in the city be used to build a causeway to the island, after which his army went across and defeated the people of Tyre.

Even today, fishermen’s nets are spread out on the bare rock of old Tyre, just as Ezekiel prophesied, while the modern city is out on the island with sand having silted up against Alexander’s causeway. If it’s in the Bible, you’d better believe it!

You can be sure that all prophecy in Scripture will be fulfilled to the letter.

Personal Blessings

Ezekiel also had a profound impact on my personal life almost exactly 18 years ago when a verse from chapter 9 confirmed to my then-new girlfriend Linda that she should marry me! I was widowed at the time and she had asked the Lord for assurance as to whether I was the right choice for her life’s partner. He subsequently spoke to her heart directly from a rather obscure verse which told of “a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side” (Ezek 9:2).

The Lord then said to her: “I want you to support the man with the writing kit!” And of course I’m forever grateful for that. I couldn’t believe the extraordinary change in her demeanour towards me when I next called at her home. She had heard from the Lord – and that changed everything!

Momentous Times

But we can all be assured that God is returning to his holy city because the end of this prophetic book actually tells us that it will be named ‘The Lord is there’ – a wonderful thought also reflected in Charles Wesley’s hymn on Christ’s return, which includes the majestic line, “God appears on earth to reign!” (see Zech 14:4).

A river of life from God’s throne is also depicted on the last page of the Bible in the Book of Revelation, which is all about what will happen in the days immediately preceding the Second Coming.

The biblical symbolism of life from the dead relates both to Israel (see Rom 11:15) and their Messiah. We are living in momentous times that could well usher in the return of our Lord. Watch and pray so that you (and your loved ones) are not caught unawares.

References

1 Rudee, E. Ezekiel's end-of-days vision revealed: Dead Sea coming to life. Breaking Israel News, 4 October 2018.

2 Unlocking the Bible, David Pawson.

2 Ibid.

Children’s author Roald Dahl rejected for coin image because of his unsavoury views

Proof, if it were needed, that it doesn’t pay to be anti-Semitic has come with the rejection of Roald Dahl’s image for British coins.

The Royal Mint, responsible for such decisions, has ruled him out for his virulent anti-Semitism, which should be taken as some consolation at a time when British society is rife with anti-Jewish sentiment – even a Kristallnacht 80^th anniversary vigil at Hyde Park’s Speakers’ Corner was broken up by men shouting “Kill the Jews” in Arabic.¹

Dahl’s Dark Side

Dahl’s views on the subject were apparently not widely known in spite of the fact that the immensely successful children’s author made no secret of it.

But his dark side was brought to light with the Royal Mint’s decision against honouring his achievements by dedicating a British coin to him. As Tony Rennell put it in the Daily Mail,² the honour went instead to one William Shakespeare “whose caricature of a Jew, Shylock, in The Merchant of Venice fed anti-Semitism for centuries.”

I think that’s a little unfair as the Bard did not make a habit of such sentiment. Dahl, on the other hand, was quoted in The Independent newspaper as saying: “I’m certainly anti-Israel and I’ve become anti-Semitic.”³ And he told the New Statesman: “Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them [the Jews] for no reason.”

Dahl’s anti-Semitism might have had him arrested today.

Rennell lists several other nauseous instances of Dahl’s anti-Semitism that might have had him arrested today (he died in 1990, aged 74). And while acknowledging that he remains one of the greatest children’s storytellers of the 20^th Century, Rennell suggests that the dark side to many of Dahl’s tales is a fair commentary on his life, with much evidence of cruelty and unpleasantness. Yet not even Jewish Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, when he shot the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) film, had any idea of Dahl’s rank anti-Semitism.

What really bothers me is that there is so much that is dark and gloomy in today’s literature, especially for children, as well as in TV drama. In fact, it’s an absolute obsession, reflected by the way in which Halloween is rapidly challenging Christmas for our kids’ attention as an increasing number of homes are decorated with various aspects of occult paraphernalia.

There is surely an urgency as never before to point our children to the “light of the world” (John 8:12).

Choose Life!

Dahl’s rejection for our coins reminds me of how America’s famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, fell spectacularly from hero to zero as soon as his Nazi sympathies were made public on a national radio broadcast.⁴ He ended his life in relative obscurity and even a star-studded movie about his magnificent flying exploits was a flop at the box office.

In other words, he brought a curse on himself. For the word of God says of Abraham’s seed: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse” (Gen 12:3).

Whatever anyone may think of the Jewish people, the Bible tells us quite plainly that they are God’s chosen people, with several references to them being his “treasured possession” (see, for example, Deut 7:6).

Whatever anyone may think of the Jewish people, the Bible tells us quite plainly that they are God’s chosen people.

Anti-Semitism is thus the evil end of the dark road of rebellion against our Creator. Hitler went all the way down that path, and not only destroyed himself, but also brought his country down with him, along with much of Europe.

A massive battle for the soul of our nation continues today – between good and evil, light and darkness, God and the devil.

Jesus warned: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt 7:13f).

Choose life!

Notes

1 The vigil was specifically held in honour of Jews murdered in Arab countries around the same time as Germany’s Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) in 1938, when 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed along with Jewish homes, hospitals, schools and synagogues, 91 Jews murdered and 30,000 arrested and sent to concentration camps. The London vigil was forcefully broken up by a group of men shouting: “Jews, remember Khaybar; the army of Muhammad is returning.” The cry relates to a 7^th Century atrocity when Muslims massacred and expelled Jews from the town of Khaybar, located in modern-day Saudi Arabia. Jerusalem News Network, 12 November 2018, quoting INN. Thanks also to Christians United for Israel here and here, both 9 November 2018.

2 The Daily Mail, 8 November 2018.

3 Ibid.

4 See Bill Bryson’s One Summer – America 1927; also A Nation Reborn by Charles Gardner, Christian Publications International, p139.

Why American Jewish attitudes need to change.

The results are in – and everyone is talking about how the mid-term elections have affected the balance of power in Washington.

Amongst Jewish communities in the US and abroad, understandably, questions are being asked about how the results affect Jewish interests: for instance, five Jewish Democrats were elected to senior House of Representatives positions, and the House’s leadership looks likely to remain staunchly pro-Israel, despite the election of some pro-BDS candidates.¹ And so on, and so on.

This is all interesting in its own right, but for those of us who take an avid interest in Israel and the Jewish people, there is a broader dimension that matters more than who is heading up the House Committee on Appropriations: the state of American Jewish political culture in general, and how this intersects with God’s purposes for the Jews, Israel and the whole world.

American Jewish Politics

Despite the obvious commitment of the Trump administration to Israel, American Jews notoriously lean left, with upwards of 70% identifying with the Democratic Party. This outstrips the general US public and starkly contrasts Israeli Jews, historically socialist, but who now lean to the centre and right.

American Jewish liberalism is strongly secular and includes a stereotypical left-wing rejection of Trump. Indeed, a poll caught my eye this week: 72% of American Jewry reportedly blame Trump for October’s awful synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, believed to be the deadliest anti-Semitic atrocity in US history.²

Their logic is much the same as that of Corbyn and much of the left-wing in Britain (see Charles Gardner’s article this week): anti-Semitism is seen as a purely far-right phenomenon; right-wing populism is seen as fanning the flames of the far-right; therefore, right-ring populists like Trump are solely and directly to blame if anti-Semitism is on the increase.

American Jewish liberalism is strongly secular and includes a stereotypical left-wing rejection of Trump.

But, there is an important difference emerging between the situations in Britain and the USA. In Britain, the penny is dropping amongst Jews that the left-wing is not immune to anti-Semitism either. The all-too-plentiful, high-profile scandals within the Labour Party have exposed this, and British Jews are getting the message: 90% now associate Labour with anti-Semitism and 40% are considering leaving the country, fearing for their own safety.³ The Campaign Against Antisemitism poll showed that British Jews now fear the far-left more than the far-right, with its chairman Gideon Falter remarking: “Many British Jews are mentally, if not physically, packing their bags.”⁴

In the US, however, no such comparable scandal has yet erupted on the left, and despite left-wing support for BDS and problems of anti-Semitism at left-wing rallies and on university campuses, American Jewry remains fixed upon the threat posed by the neo-Nazi far-right, though a comparatively tiny number of people. This is not to belittle the far-right’s capacity to wreak terror – as the Pittsburgh massacre shows – but it is to say, along with other commentators recently,⁵ that American Jews need to wake up to the fact that anti-Semitism can be found on both sides of the political spectrum, and that the left-wing isn’t necessarily their natural home.

Indeed, that American Jews embrace liberalism so unconditionally is cause for real concern. They end up blinding themselves to left-wing anti-Israel/anti-Semitic animosity and boosting a Party that has “embraced the identity politics, grievance culture and enraged narcissism that threaten to destroy American society”⁶ – and we might add, has brought the world the Iran Deal and repeated attempts to carve up Israel in the name of a ‘two-state solution’.

In the name of ‘authentic’ Jewish values they are actually embracing “the very antithesis of Judaism”, putting themselves “on course to destroy themselves as a community while aiding the left in the undermining of America”.⁷

This is the domestic picture. But there is another dimension to which all this matters even more: the global.

In Britain, the penny is dropping amongst Jews that the left-wing is not immune to anti-Semitism.

God’s Redemptive Purposes

We live in an extraordinary, unique period of human history: we are the generation chosen by God to witness the miraculous and final restoration of Israel to her historic homeland. In the last 150 years, we have seen wave upon wave of Jewish immigration back to the Land, legally signed over to them in 1948. As we write frequently in Prophecy Today UK, Israel’s journey since has been one of truly divine restoration, protection and blessing, despite enemies all around.

We also make frequent mention in Prophecy Today of how this fits with God’s covenant purposes for the Jewish people and his redemptive purposes for all Creation. While we will not discuss these in depth here, suffice to say that we believe it to be God’s purpose that the majority of the world’s Jews now return to their homeland, and that he is at work in the political and social affairs of the nations to this end.

Last year, we reached the tipping point: now, the majority of the world’s Jews do reside in Eretz Israel, in fulfilment of biblical prophecy.

Meanwhile, the largest group of diaspora Jews remains in the USA, and their political attitudes and voting habits bely a group that is highly secular, ultra-liberal and astonishingly out of touch with both domestic and global realities. Populous and prosperous, it is unsurprising that rates of American Jewish aliyah to Israel remain relatively slow. For this reason, I believe that God’s focus will be particularly on American Jews in the next few years.

Aliyah Rates Too Slow

At the current (relatively stable) rate of some 3,500 American Jews making aliyah per year, it will take well over 1,500 years for most of America’s 5.7 million Jews to transfer to Israel. If they are to be persuaded to uproot from a country that has been so welcoming and supportive for so long, the Lord might need to jolt them out of complacency.

Historically, he has done this in other countries by permitting anti-Semitism to proliferate until the Jewish people start to get the message – as we see at present in Britain. Far from anti-Semitism being a good thing, of course, it is woeful and a deep curse for those countries who fan its flames. However, that doesn’t mean that it does not have a stimulating side-effect on Jews that is ultimately positive, encouraging emigration back to the Land. There is a Christian parallel here: times of persecution are terrible, but they also classically unite, strengthen and grow the Church, furthering God’s purposes.

If our reading is correct, we may see many more events like Pittsburgh over the next years, as well as worsening anti-Semitism on campus, in the media and in US corridors of power.

Cultural Sea-Change Needed

Putting all these jigsaw puzzle pieces together, the emerging picture is very sobering: if our reading of the situation is right, then we are likely to see many more events like Pittsburgh over the next years, as well as worsening anti-Semitism on campus, in the media and in US corridors of power.

We cannot possibly rejoice in this. But we can at least pray that it would stimulate a cultural sea-change amongst American Jewry and a resurgence of conservative, biblical values, which (the statistics bear out) predispose greater support for Israel. This would lay the groundwork for the Lord to work his purposes out amongst this last great Jewish diaspora group, and one day lead them safely home.

References

1 Post-midterms: With Democrats retaking the House, Jewish leaders still see strong Israel support. JNS, 7 November 2018.

2 J Street poll: 72% of US Jews find Trump partly to blame for Pittsburgh shooting. Times of Israel, 7 November 2018.

3 Poll: 40% of British Jews Consider Emigration, 90% Cite Anti-Semitism. Breaking Israel News, 25 September 2018.

4 Ibid.

5 E.g. Jonathan S Tobin at JNS, Abraham H Miller for JNS, and Melanie Phillips.

6 Phillips, M. Jews and Conservatism: an idea whose time has come. 1 November 2018.

7 Ibid.