News of Earth
in the Light of Heaven

History under the Written Word of God, the Bible, and the Living Word, Jesus Christ
as it Comes to the Light of Common Day
 

NEWS ITEMS

  on Israel and Its Middle Eastern Setting
in the Current of World Events
1997-2003

 

 

Rev. Dr.  Robert E. Donaldson

 

Presented by World Wide Web Witness Inc.

 

©

 

July 2003

 

 

 

PREFACE

and

INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

Israel is but ONE of the prophetic foci of the Bible. CHRIST is far more significant.

 

Just as Israel is the VEHICLE for prophecy,

 

leading on to Christ, the Messiah whom that nation rejected, though members of it became the apostles of the Christian Church, writing not only its Old but is New Testament, and Christ was Himself born into this nation as predicted, where predicted, when predicted, how predicted, with the personal results predicted, the national results predicted and the international results predicted:

 

so Christ is the ONE CONVEYED!

 

Some seem to imagine that prophecy in the Old Testament sense, ceased with the advent of the Saviour who, as such, was and had to be God in the flesh (Isaiah 43:10-11, 53, Psalm 2, 45). He was in fact, for the same reason, the Creator in the flesh (Isaiah 44:24, 45:18, Colossians 1:15ff., John 1:1-3, Micah 5:1-3). Hence His incarnation is not some serial event: it is epochal, final and conclusive. Nothing is to follow it but judgment (Acts 4:11-12, Ephesians 1:10), although of course in speaking of 'incarnation' one equally portrays in this setting, all that followed in Himself, that is the miraculous verification of His role, in healing and word and power, the crucifixion and rejection by Jewish authorities as foretold, the resurrection of the body, the testimony of the 40 days, the prophecies of His lips, their fulfilment, the construction of His church, it significant recent falling away (II Peter 2, II Thess. 2), in preparation for the devil's messiah, the man of sin, that delusive copy-cat nonsense soon to sit astride the world for a short season before the trials are concluded.

 

The Saviour, being God, however, is not limited by this or that action of His own people, or those who use His name. The destination of His prophecies are as far as the millenium, the resurrection and the eternity in heaven!

 

It is true that His redemption as a man is wrought once, for it is given to man once to be born, and once to die (Hebrews 9), and He is not given to suffer often, but ONCE (Hebrews 9), having already paid for the sin of all who receive this gift, once and for all. Yet to try to stifle the scope of God's word to end with the advent of Christ, even His prophetic words, is mistaken. Prophecy is no more required to stop with the manifest work of redemption, than is eternal life to stop with the resurrection.

 

To be sure, it is no mistake to remove all EXTRA-BIBLICAL babbling. The canon is closed (Revelation 22), no addition to the THINGS being permitted, or subtraction to the WORDS. However, it is not limited in its APPLICATION. Yet if Christ forecasts what is to be before He returns, so be it (Matthew 24 is full of such prediction). It will be as it always has been, when first by the Spirit of Christ (I Peter 1:10-12), and then  by His own lips on earth, He, the eternal word of the living God, declares His mind to man, and then does it (Amos 4:11, Isaiah 43:24ff.).  Indeed, as the last reference indicates, it is His good pleasure to make HIS WORD WORK in complete divergence from the words of mere pretenders. There is only one God; look, and find for yourself, there is nothing else like His word. He says it; He does it, though it take 3000  years for a span of His bridge.

 

If prophets before Him, led by the Holy Spirit (not something subsidiary), were moved to present truth, there is no terminus which man can appoint, as if to put the word of God in irons, as to when the predictions must cease to have effect. Obviously,  as in Isaiah 24, Micah 7, Psalm 45, Isaiah 11, Joel 3, Psalm 110, Isaiah 51:6 and so forth, they cover events to the very dissolution of the universe, and this, it is not accomplished at the time of the incarnation, nor was it supposed to be, for many and vast were the foci subsequent to that event, as one sees in Daniel 12, with the general resurrection, for example. In this, II Peter adds to the entire revelation, in Ch. 3, where specific details of the farewell to the universe are provided; except that the term 'farewell' is here so metaphorical that it should be given substitute, with the term 'marching orders', for it departs as a scene spoiled by sin, to the rubbish, to the destruction, to the end of its working life.

 

Israel (cf. SMR Appendix A), for its part,  is indeed a focus for divine prediction till Christ's feet come in the midst of judgment to Mount Olives (Zechariah 14, cf. Micah 7: Galloping Events Ch. 4, The Biblical Workman Ch. 1,*3, Ch. 3, *3, Great Execrations ... Ch. 4). It is like the Gentile world, given its due focus, and God has not resigned in terror before the philosophic intrusions of man, who either add their traditions like Romanism, or subtract His declarations, like those who LIMIT the Holy One of Israel (not recommended - Psalm 78:41), which is rather like two children, one putting wadding in the father's mouth, the other dribbling his own contrived words and telling his younger brother that dad said THIS TOO! It is not good, so to act in the presence of Almighty God, and truly, where His word is concerned, it is HIS, not available for manipulation, delimitation or addition.

 

Hence it is of the utmost significance that that lonely little nation, Israel, be not neglected in biblical coverage. So deceived, so mistreated, so abused, so thieved from, so murderously assailed, it is a nation so abandoned by so many for so long, and one which moreover certainly GOD has disciplined, that it is an exhibit of the wages of sin, which being amply shared by other nations, is by no means a ground for presumption by Gentiles (Romans 11:18ff.). If Israel, says God, fell for its unbelief, let the a Gentile beware; for if Israel were torn from its trunk, the 'olive tree' of the parable, how much more can the Gentile remain without foundation, hope or life, never having been instituted in the beginning, if unbelief fulfils its career in pagan hearts.

 

No, this divine discipline of Israel does this mean that the Gentiles may rescind as in the USA recently, laws precluding 'same-sex marriages', that abomination of misrepresentation of the term 'marriage' to preclude normal progression of the race on the designed plan, and then not expect that they too will receive judgment for their pains! God is not mocked by this one or that, this country or that. Nor does it mean that Moslems in Sudan can behave in ways which begin to make even Hitler seem rather restrained, as they savage and maul, killing even little children, making slaves of people whose minds cannot, whose spirits do not share their active delusion which has seized them, in all denial of common humanity (cf. New Life, p. 3, June 26, 2003) which details some of the atrocities, even supplying names, from mission quarters).

 

Small wonder Colin Powell was there to relay to them the conditions for their being removed from that list of States which support terrorism. How could they fail to be on it! Yet even this is not all. These merely express the ferocity of unsated faith, the subjective passion which does not rest in the Lord; and in many other ways does modern man show his indifference to the word of God, His willingness to contravene it, and to ignore what it decrees, has decreed and continues to cause to happen.

 

It is to be painfully acknowledged, that though one loves both the USA and Israel, yes and indeed Europe, among others, yet the seeds of spiritual corruption, when sown, gain crops. The first actively seeks further dismantling of Israel, if not indeed a division of their ONLY sacred capital; Israel continues to ignore the requirements of faith in their own Messiah as a necessary condition of peace; and Europe continues on its anti-Israeli  attitude in this, that whether in its pronouncements or in the UN, it does little to change from the dismantling approach it has for so long shown.

 

Sow indeed the wind, and reap the whirlwind! What can be done ? Pull up the weeds or expect the crop! Repentance is the profound need for Jew and Gentile alike, outside Christ, for in this, there is no difference! (Romans 3:22-23).

 

Meanwhile in the vast scope of divine prophecy, which is as a light in a dark place until the day dawns as II Peter 19, an events future in the days of Peter's words, and as  in Revelation 21-22, when we know as we are known (I Corinthians 13), there is need to be alert and aware concerning Israel, one of the great signals for the return of His Majesty, the Lord Jesus Christ. Laugh at Israel if you must, at its blowing the trumpet, or if you prefer, ringing the bell for the last lap in the race to the finishing line of the returning Messiah, in its restoration of Jerusalem to its own hands as required in Luke 21:24 before Christ should return. Scorn, if you are so inclined, its failure to hear its OWN TRUMPET, by its OWN RETURN to the control of Jerusalem, and to realise for its OWN PART that this means its own time is near, for the vast outpouring of the Holy Spirit, forecast by Zechariah, when they repent of the crucifixion, in large numbers. It is however, not comic, but tragic; and will be, until it repents.

 

Laugh if you will, for this too is predicted, a scornful dismissal (cf. Psalm 2), but it is GOD who, as He declares and forecast, will laugh at the folly of neglect of His Son, the Saviour. It is not a harsh laugh, but it is one filled with an irony which mingled with the tenderness of PROVIDING SALVATION scorns those who are not prepared to admit their (spiritual) poverty, so that they might be freely enriched (cf. Revelation 3:17-18).

 

Here, if you will, is the physician who has given His own life to prepare the antidote to the judgment of sin and its noxious diseases, who being despised in his death, is unimpressed with those who insist on dying while despising his provisions. He did not come to call the RIGHTEOUS (self-righteous) but SINNERS. Those too delicate to see their sin, can keep it and its consequences. Those who, despite their declivities and proclivities, are repentant and receive Him by faith for His identity, the Lord, and His work, total atonement (II Corinthians 5:17ff.), may rejoice. It is DONE FOR THEM! What would you expect when the Creator deals with your sin, some sort of partnership about your rebellion!

 

It is not so (Ephesians 2:1-10), and could never be so, for the name by which man must be saved is that of CHRIST, in which Robert Smith or John Brown are not seen to inhere!

 

It is the same for Israel, as that epic little nation continues its place in this epochal hinge, where the door swings open to the coming Age, when Christ returns. Jerusalem, to be "trampled down" by the Gentiles UNTIL THEIR time was up, is now back in Jewish hands (Luke 21:24); and Israel, to be blind UNTIL the same Gentile era was up, is to be awakened. Blind ? It is also deaf to the trumpet which it is itself blowing (cf. Isaiah 42:18ff.).

 

"Hear, you deaf;

And look, you blind, that you may see.

 

"Who is blind but My servant,

Or deaf as My messenger whom I send?

Who is blind as he who is perfect,

And blind as the Lord’s servant?

Seeing many things, but you do not observe;

Opening the ears, but he does not hear."
 

"The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake;

He will exalt the law and make it honorable.

But this is a people robbed and plundered;

All of them are snared in holes,

And they are hidden in prison houses;

They are for prey, and no one delivers;

For plunder, and no one says, "Restore!"

 

"Who among you will give ear to this?

Who will listen and hear for the time to come?

Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers?

Was it not the Lord,

He against whom we have sinned?

For they would not walk in His ways,

Nor were they obedient to His law."

 

As however you see in that equally Messianic chapter, 49,

 

"Indeed He says,

‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant

To raise up the tribes of Jacob,

And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;

I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,

That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’

 

"Thus says the Lord,

The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,

To Him whom man despises,

To Him whom the nation abhors,

To the Servant of rulers:

'Kings shall see and arise,

Princes also shall worship,

Because of the Lord who is faithful,

The Holy One of Israel;

And He has chosen You.'

 

                           "Thus says the Lord:

'In an acceptable time I have heard You,

And in the day of salvation I have helped You;

I will preserve You and give You

As a covenant to the people,

To restore the earth,

To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;

That You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’

To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’

 

" 'They shall feed along the roads,

And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.

They shall neither hunger nor thirst,

Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;

For He who has mercy on them will lead them,

Even by the springs of water He will guide them.

 

"I will make each of My mountains a road,

And My highways shall be elevated.

Surely these shall come from afar;

Look! Those from the north and the west,

And these from the land of Sinim.'

 

"Sing, O heavens!

Be joyful, O earth!

And break out in singing, O mountains!

For the Lord has comforted His people,

And will have mercy on His afflicted.

 

"But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me,

And my Lord has forgotten me.'

 

" 'Can a woman forget her nursing child,

And not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Surely they may forget,

Yet I will not forget you.

 

'See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

Your walls are continually before Me.

Your sons shall make haste;

Your destroyers and those who laid you waste

Shall go away from you.

 

'Lift up your eyes, look around and see;

All these gather together and come to you.

As I live,' says the Lord,

'You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament,

And bind them on you as a bride does.

 

'For your waste and desolate places,

And the land of your destruction,

Will even now be too small for the inhabitants;

And those who swallowed you up will be far away.' "

(On these matters, see  especially, With Heart and Soul... Chs. 4ff..)

 

The long persecuted people, whose waste and desolate places, whose land, a site of destruction has long paraded itself, is to become notable again, not only in military address (predicted to precede the mass conversion to come, when they would look on the One whom they pierced). Here is the 'nursing child' (as in Hosea 11:1ff), which had run far away. Here is the one whom the Lord cherished, which EVEN THEN went far from Him. Here is the land which like an adulteress (Ezekiel 16, 20, Hosea), turned from the One to whom she was by covenant 'wed', and brought upon herself the desolations predicted from Moses on (Deuteronomy 32, Leviticus 26), being brought back as there,  by the hand she despised. It is near. Already the land and the capital Jerusalem, are as God foretold.  Already the astonishing assemblage of 'friendly' and hostile nations, acts with almost one heart, to deprive this people even further. But God has other plans, and in a little, this will, as always in His word, be seen. Meanwhile, note it, those who seek further to pillory and deprive Israel of its unconditional heritage

 

As for so long foretold (Joel 3, Micah 7, Zechariah), Israel long despised, long assailed, long treated as dross, will become gloss in the Lord; not all, only the remnant, but what would you! It is to come, and the long horror of despising its glory will cease, as will the Gentile habit of imagining that here at least is someone to despise, despite their own so often acutely despicable behaviour, not least towards the Jew!

 

All is in readiness, as for some great operation by many skilled surgeons; but here, it is but One, on whom they are to look, even on Him whom they pierced (Zechariah 12:10), in the midst of those terminal wars leading to His personal return (Zechariah 12-14). This is the operation which counts, when despite and in the midst of all the varied fulfilments of His covenants, God brings man to Himself, in terms of that Messiah which staggeringly, Israel both was used to foretell in profound detail, and then hosted, hoisted and rejected.

 

Meanwhile, tracing the developments of the various antagonists, protagonists and agonists, if one might coin a term, those creating agony by hatred and presumption, those who attack Israel to grasp what God has given, it is here that we find no small thing. It is not that Israel is entirely right, far from it, for it has yet to return to its  God; but it is not that it is entirely wrong, for God Himself has brought her back as He promised (cf. SMR Ch. 9), and having done so, and brought Jerusalem back as He promised, despite all the fulminations of Allahs or those who affect to follow that human invention which is NOT at all the name of God, but of one created (cf.  More Marvels... Ch.  4), in fact simply the production of one of the false prophets as foretold by Christ (Matthew 24:24), He comes to His own pre-stated conclusion. With  God,  a conclusion is not only an inference or deduction; it is an end!
(cf. Isaiah 46:10).

 

God will act. He is on record to this effect (cf.  SMR pp. 502ff., Ch. 9), and in so acting, He will not leave any doubt, any more than He has done in all the other actions which, having forecast, He has performed, including the timing, as in that of Christ's own death date (cf. SMR pp.886ff.).

 

It is therefore apt and fruitful to watch the Gentile Age ending and the Restoration of Israel proceeding, until that happy culmination when, its eyes at last opened, it is restored to the One who created it. If Israel is not currently, AS A NATION, listening to its own trumpet blast in terms of the biblical predictions of the returning Messiah, already slain, now to rule, so be it. Is this any excuse for the Gentile in whose ears the sound is blasting ?

 

In the following pages, NEWS ITEMS from the last 7 years are taken in the order of their production, so that this will allow a time-event series in progression. It includes of course evaluation of events in biblical terms, and it is inspiring to watch the unfolding of the flower which, despite the current calamities, will eventually adorn the Gospel as multitudes of Jews, those from whom the Christian apostles were drawn, return to their spiritual homeland.

 

Meanwhile, the physical one reminds all that God is PRACTICAL, as one who makes the Universe MUST BE, and though a Spirit, and hence not limited as material  and programmed or delimited things like man, are, He is abundantly able to deal with exquisite sensibility with the heart of man. If GOD says THIS IS THEIR LAND! He means it. IF GOD SAYS, for such and such sins they will leave it for a time, they do and they did; and if God declares He will restore them to it, this He does and indeed has done. If GOD says that they will fight amazingly effective wars against enormous numerical disproportion in their enemies who will assail them, this is done, and it has already been done in 1948, 1967, 1973.

 

Moreover if God says that the Gentiles are with Israel, nations of sinners, and that unbelief will give them the same end as has been seen in the beginning with Israel, when it has forfeited much of the care of its God, then take heed! Blindness is not so excusable in those who have sight, nor deafness in those whose hearing is so acute, that they thunder their own music, with drums of denial and cymbals of self-satisfaction, to ensure they do not hear.

 

Let us then watch the flower unfold, and see how God deals with the sowers of weeds. Let us continue to see how He deals so graciously with those who repent of such sowing, whether in mind, body or spirit, whether in antagonism to God in this way, or that, contrary to His word.  God speaks, and His mind is made clear (Amos 4:11), and it is time to heed.

 

These news items, then, spread from 1996 to 2003, and are often very detailed, giving some sense in the process, of historical development.

 

For reasons of ease of cross-reference, the original news numbers are retained.

 

 

NEWS ITEMS

 

The music of this world is not yet agreeable to the spiritual ear. Yet its progress is predicted, its path clear and its destiny eventual destruction. In this, victory will be regained first through correction upon the return of the Lord, Jesus Christ; and secondly through the production of a new heavens and a new earth - like a new novel. What will be very novel will be this: in this, righteousness will dwell and celestial peace will rule in willing hearts.

Then, as now, but then manifest in meaning before all, will be the song,

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing! .... Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever... (Revelation 5:12,13).

Now we return to the present state of the patient, earth! to the pilgrimage of some in Christ, and to the corruption of many without Him.

Now it is to the rumble or refinement of events, covered in advance in their tenor and often in their detail by the word of God, which rules and lives for ever. THAT, it is just a matter of fact. To this, history consistently says, AMEN!

For all items, SMR refers to The Shadow of a Mighty Rock (q.v., No.4, Home Page: Library).