Israel is the key to all end-time prophecy.

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Jul 14

The Jews

By Jim Fletcher

I like Jews. I like them a lot. More than that, I believe that God put a love for the Jewish people in my heart.

I just wanted to be upfront about my stance on the People the world obsesses over.

Sir Martin Gilbert said last year, “People don’t like Jews.” The British historian was not giving an opinion; he was stating a fact. I think he is correct. He was giving us a reason for some of the bizarre policies from the international community. You know, ways in which power-brokers the world over turn truth on its head: placing terror states like Syria on the U.N. Security Council; silence over Palestinian barbarism, while condemning Israel’s insistence on survival. Things like that.

I think Jew-hatred is a supernatural sickness. It infects otherwise healthy individuals. It is my opinion that a majority of people, if polled, would indicate either an indifference or hostility toward the Jews. It has always been this way, which is one of the most remarkable validations of the Bible, by the way.

For some reason, late in his life, Benzion Netanyahu has become a friend of mine. Whenever I’m in Israel, I like visiting with him. Now 97, the patriarch of a great Israeli family is sharp, engaging, and very wise. I’m sure he wonders why an evangelical from the American Midwest calls him.

And yet Benzion is a prime example of everything that is good about the Jews. He is fiercely nationalistic. He is discerning when it comes to human nature. He is principled. He has his detractors, because, as Charles Spurgeon once said, darkness hates the light.

Benzion guided his three sons to achieve great things in life. One, Yoni, became a legendary combat hero. Another, Iddo, is one of the most gifted writers I’ve ever known; he also finds time to be a physician! Of course, the third son, Bibi, was prime minister and the most eloquent spokesman for the Jewish state in the world today.

All three sons served in Israel’s elite commando unit, Sayeret Matkal. They are Zionists.

Thank God.

At a time when international opinion of Israel is hardening into something “not good,” there are people like the Netanyahu family that stand their ground. They see the world for what it is. People like that keep the rest of us alive.

Beyond that, there is the ethereal quality.

Benzion told me once about being a boy playing on the sand dunes of Tel Aviv. This was around 1920, when the city was still young. On Israel’s coast, today Tel Aviv is a bustling metropolis. “Then, there were only a few small buildings and the sun burned all day,” Benzion said. A stone’s throw from the beach (in the vicinity of Independence Hall), this section for me is a metaphor for Israel’s modern ascension. It is the sun shining on Israel’s rebirth, a miracle without peer in world history.

 Today’s Jewish state is new, the brightest of lighthouses showing us the way. For in it, one can plainly see the guiding hand of the Lord of History. No puny man can thwart Him. Hezbollah from outside seeks to kill Israel. Hamas does the same from within. There are reports now that the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas will “reconcile” with the killers from Hamas. No surprise there; they are vultures-of-a-feather.

The recent terror event in Jerusalem, in which a Palestinian worker drove his bulldozer through a street of panicked people, is indicative of the madness of the Arabs. The scene unfolded near the city’s central bus station, where a friend of mine maintains an office. God told us in Genesis that Ishmael would be a wild donkey of a man, and that no man could reason with him. Terror plots are snuffed-out on a daily basis by the Israelis, and unfortunately, some succeed. Daily. People are obsessed with killing Jews. “People don’t like Jews.” None of this makes sense, unless the Bible is true.

The international community cannot summon-up the moral courage to scream about the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. American diplomats fume about Jewish reluctance to give away everything for a paper peace. Israeli society is divided to some degree, not able to make up its mind whether peace initiatives are good or bad.

And yet.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God said that He is always watching, and that Jerusalem’s walls are ever before Him. God does not forget even one captured soldier. He also gave ample warning to the nations, long ago, not to do anything that would endanger the Jews. Finally, even in that fractured society, Israel today speaks with one voice, literally. A century ago, the scholar Eliazar Ben-Yehuda began to resurrect the ancient Hebrew language. Right at this moment, Israelis gathered from dozens and dozens of countries…speak Hebrew. Again, this is unparalleled in human history, this restoration of an ancient people.

It isn’t that the world doesn’t recognize these things. It’s that the world rejects them. Fundamentally, humans understand that there is a God who made everything. In fact, He predicted our rebellion. He provided and provides constant proof that He exists. But the international community continues its mad march to oblivion and doom.

Once, the Jews were few in their ancient land. The land itself was bleak. But on cue, the Jews came back. They ran and laughed and shouted on the sandy shore of the Mediterranean.

The world hates them. The world tries to ignore them. Scholars call them a coincidence, an accident of history. Their enemies plot against them.

But — thanks be to God — they are here.

 

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