Land. You see, Israel has had a great love for Zion for centuries. Although they have been offered other nation al homelands, such as the ones in Venezuela, or Uganda, none was feasible for them. In 1897 at Basel, Switzerland the first Zionist Con gress was convened. Events that transpired there and in successive days will be our subject in the next message in this series.
them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.” In Isaiah 49:14 it is declared, “But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.” This speaks of Israel in exile. The Jews believe that God has for gotten them. It seems to be a case of “out of sight, out of mind.” Then in a beautiful analogy, the Lord asks, “Can a woman forget her suck ing child? that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb ? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands: thy walls are continually before me. The children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold; all these things gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth” (Isa. 49:15-18). Whatever a wedding day may be in its fulness, it is most cer tainly the bride’s day. She is decked out in marvelous bridal attire. So Zion is seen here as a personifica tion of a woman whose children are her adornment. God will multiply His children in spite of men like Hitler and Stalin. How remarkable it is that both Jeremiah and Isaiah indicate God’s great purpose in bringing His people back to the Holy Land. While some people believe that the hope of Israel began somewhere in this century, they are quite in correct. The great hope of Israel was there long before the Balfour Declaration in the 1920’s. Their na tional anthem gives excellent evi dence of this fact, for its very title is “The Hope.” While orthodox Jews celebrate the Passover in exile and dispersion today, for they are scat tered all over the world, they pray that God may grant that they shall do it in a coming year in the Holy
Dr. J. Richard Chase, Academic vice president of Biota, adjusts one of the plaques which was recently presented to the school honoring Biola College for its leadership in the field of Christian education. Presentations were made by city, county, and state authorities during a recent "Biola Month" emphasis held throughout La Mirada. H OW t h r il l in g it is to see the lit eral fulfillment before our very eyes of God's prophetic Word con cerning the Holy Land! This is the great hope of Israel. In the latter part of the 19th century, after the awful Anti-semitism in France where they tried to obliterate the Jew, it was clearly seen by Zionists that their only hope was for a national homeland. In 1897 at Basel, Switzer land, the first historic Zionist Con gress was convened; Herzl wrote in his diary, “I have seen this day the founding of the State of Israel. If I were to say it openly, I would be laughed at and scorned. In fifty years everyone will see it.” Interest ingly enough, that was 1897. Exactly fifty years later, in 1947 in the fall of the year, the United Nations di vided Palestine into a Jewish state 4
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