IS R A E L L IV E S AGA IN ! First In A Prophetic Series By George T. B. Davis*
tion, came the United Nations’ decision to partition Palestine. This would permit the Jews to establish a State of their own on a portion of the land; and would give the Arabs their portion. After the partition plan was announced, there fol lowed increasing conflict between the Jews and the Palestine Arabs. Great Britain announced that on May 14, 1948, she would end her Mandate and would withdraw from Palestine. And the Jews announced that the day after the British withdrew from Palestine, the new Jewish State would be proclaimed. These events took place as announced. On May 15th the Jewish State was proclaimed, and the same day there began the invasion of Palestine by the Arab armies of the sur rounding countries. But the hand of God was guiding and helping the chosen people. The whole world was amazed to see the comparatively small Jewish population of Palestine defeating the armies of 'five invading Arab nations. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob gave the Jews the victory over their foes that He might bring to pass the fulfillment of His own Word in restoring them to their ancient homeland after long centuries of dis persion. During our stay in Haifa and other parts of Israel, we heard remarkable stories of the way in which the Lord gave deliverance to the Jews during the recent Arab-Jewish con flict. At the pension on Mount Carmel, where my wife and I stayed on our recent Palestinian trip, only room and break fast could be provided for the guests. So we had our noon and evening meals with our dear friends who lived next door. We shared our rations together; and the extra food we had brought with us helped greatly. Our hostess prepared the meals on a kerosene stove, which is all that most housewives have for cooking in that land. One day while sitting around the table in the small apart ment of our Mount Carmel friends, we were told a stirring incident of the Lord’s working in the recent Palestinian war. We were deeply interested. We got pen and paper, and sitting there with them, we recorded a number of remarkable nar ratives as they related them to us. They were really modern miracles of the Lord’s working today on behalf of His ancient people. The first story related a stirring event that turned the tide of the battle for the city of Haifa. They stated: “ The Arab forces from Iraq came down to Palestine and into Haifa. For several weeks there was severe fighting between them and the Jews. But shortly before the Passover, 1948, the fighting suddenly ended in a dramatic manner. The Jewish forces had some rifles, but were entirely without heavy weapons of war. The Iraqui forces were well armed with machine guns, and heavy weapons, which they had mounted on Arab house-tops in Haifa. “ One night about 400 young men of the Jewish Haganah forces crowded into closed busses that were reinforced with iron at the sides to shield the men from the bullets. In the darkness of the night they drove the busses right into the main Arab quarter of Haifa. Suddenly the young men rushed out of the busses shouting and making a great deal of noise and firing the few rifles they had with them. “ The Arab soldiers were panic-stricken and fled for their lives! This was the turning point of the battle for Haifa. Some of the Arab residents of the city had already fled on the advice of the Iraqui officers. The rest of the Arab popu lation of Haifa left the city the following day. Some of them went on boats across the bay to Acre, while many of them trudged along the road to Nazareth. T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
Sunrise over Tiberias
X ONG ago God gave the Promised Land to the children of Israel by a series of marvelous and miraculous events. 'The chosen people crossed the River Jordan on dry ground. The walls of Jericho fell down flat before them. The sun and moon stood still while Joshua defeated the armies of the five kings of the Amorites. For about 1500 years, except for their captivity in Babylon, the Jews dwelt in their own land. But since their rejection of the long-promised Messiah, they have been away from their homeland for almost 2000 years. The prophet Ezekiel, by divine inspiration, foresaw the regathering of, Israel in the latter days, and the establish ment of the Jewish nation upon the land. He uttered these remarkable words: “ Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land : And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel” (Ezek. 37:21,22). Again the prophet says: “ The cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded: And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezek. 36:10,11). These scriptures are being fulfilled today before the eyes of the entire world. In the brief space of thirty-one years, great multitudes of the children of Israel have gone back to their ancient heritage ; and have founded an independent Jewish State—for the first time in 2500 years. In November, 1917, the Balfour Declaration was proclaimed, giving the Jews a national homeland in Palestine. In 1922, the League of Nations gave Great Britain the Mandate over Palestine, and entrusted to her the task of carrying out its provisions. And the Jews began to go back to the Land and to transform it. During the years that followed, many tens of thousands of Jews went back to the Land of their forefathers, in spite of the opposition of the Arab leaders and the restric tions of immigration imposed by the Mandatory power. In November, 1947, just 30 years after the Balfour Declara- *Executive Secretary of the M illion T estaments C am paign s . Reprinted from the book, I srael R eturns H ome A ccording to P rophecy , obtainable at 1505 Race Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Page Eight
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