217
June, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
With the introduc tion o f im p r o v e d breeds o f cattle and sheep, the development o f olive culture, the exploitation o f the vast chemical wealth o f the Dead Sea, and the f o u n d in g — by the Jews— o f hundreds of as yet small industries since the riots in 1929, Palestine is revealing such industrial, agri cultural, social, and ed ucational advance as would do credit to many another land. All this activity is a prep aration for the time when Palestine, recog nized by the Anti christ, will take her place among the na tions o f the earth as
chosen people, but that after a sharp trial, the great tribulation, Is rael would be deliv ered, and the days o f Messiah’s reign would see Israel enjoying all the blessings o f re- demptionjj Z ionism and P ales tine One o f the most re markable transforma tions in current history is the Jewish return to Palestine. The first settlements were made in 1882, with an al most constant increase o f new s e ttlem e n ts down to the present time, when 120 col onies are now estab lished in the Holy
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Courtesy of A. F. Futterer Modern Jewish Colonization Settlements Seen from the Range of Mountains Toward Nazareth
the Jewish State, and God will begin to reckon time again for Israel with the seventieth week o f Daniel’s great prophecy. It is quite significant in this connection that [Mussolini, in fine contract to Hitler, is showing much friendship for the Jews. He has appointed some o f them to high office in Italy. He lately founded a Chair o f the Romance Languages, especially o f Italian and Italian Lit erature, in the Hebrew University at Jerusalem. As the possibly almost immediate predecessor o f the Antichrist, as some believe, he is preparing the way for the Antichrist’s future dealings with the Jews o f Palestine^ t ~&x 7 C ompleting the J ewish R emnant Almost throughout the history o f Israel as a nation, from the days o f Elijah onward, there has existed in the midst o f the apostate people a remnant that has followed the Lord and received blessing from Him. Paul wrote about the existence o f this remnant in the present church dispensation (Rom . 11:5 ). One great purpose o f the preaching o f the gospel to the Jews, according to a com mittee o f the Convocation o f Canterbury, reporting in 1898, is to gather out this remnant. The present activity o f Jewish missions is doing much toward leading many Jews into faith in Jesus Christ. For many centuries after the time o f Constantine, the Jews were neglected. Then with the eighteenth century, various individual witnesses sought out the Jews. Stephan Schultz and his companions led more than a thousand Jews to Christ., In the nineteenth century, according to de la Roi, in his three-volume History of Jewish Missions, 204,541 Jews were baptized, while in the present century still larger numbers o f Jews are accept ing Jesus the Nazarene as their Messiah and Saviour. Since the Armistice alone, 90,000 Jews in Hungary have con fessed Christ. In all parts of the world are found Jews hungry for the truth o f salvation. Thus the remnant is being swiftly completed for the time when the Lord shall descend and gather His own to Himself. What About Modem Young People? On the inside front cover o f this issue o f the magazine, and on the page opposite the cover, there are interesting facts that you will not wish to overlook. If you have not already read them, please turn to these pages now.
Land. The present Jewish population in the land is about 225,000. Intensive agriculture and gardening are reviving the fertility o f the soil after the neglect o f centuries. Citrus culture is carried on by both Arabs and Jews. The area capable o f orange production runs to about 100,000 acres. The export o f oranges in the last season ran to 4,250,000 cases, o f seventy pounds each. The chief market for the Palestinian orange, said to be the best orange in the world, is found in Great Britain and Poland. When fully devel oped, the little land o f Palestine will furnish 40,000,000 cases annually, a total which compares with the 35,000,000 cases now produced in the United States each year. It is one of the finest feats o f the new Palestine trans formation that the deadly swamps have been drained and made healthful regions. Where the Arabs said that not even a bird could live in the swamps o f Esdraelon, there are now flourishing settlements, lighted by electricity furnished from the water power o f the Jabbok. The Arab villagers in the Valley o f Jezreel found the swampy region too un- healthful for them, and therefore moved to the hilltops on each side. The Jewish pioneers moved in and drained the swamps, and now one may see there many flourishing col onies. The eucalyptus tree was introduced from North Australia by the Jews in 1886, and its planting has trans formed the swamps, since the tree drinks up water and thus has dried the swampy regions. The eucalyptus is also an abomination to the mosquito. Thus the causes of f evers have been removed, and malaria is now almost unknown in Palestine. Isaiah foresaw this transformation and pre dicted the planting of the eucalyptus, a branch o f the myrtle fam ily: “ Instead o f the brier shall come up the myrtle tree” (Isa. 55:13). The Palestinian government is at last solving the prob lem o f a water supply for Jerusalem. Another recent de velopment is the necessary provision for fuel; a pipe line is being laid down across the desert to bring oil from the rich Mosul fields in northern Iraq, 620 miles, to Haifa. A railway is also being built alongside, which will soon be completed and will open the highway connection between Egypt and Assyria, predicted by Isaiah (Isa. 19 :23). The British government completed last year the new harbor at Haifa, which, with the railway and the oil line, will aid immensely in making Haifa the chief port, aside from Marseilles, o f the entire Mediterranean.
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