Focus Point # 20

The story I'm about to tell you is true. I believe it to be one of the most significant, bonifide miracles in the post New Testament time. First, a little biblical background information.Jesus had been crucified, buried and resurrected from the dead. The tomb was emptied. He had been walking, visiting, eating and drinking with His disciples and other believers for some 40 days. The subject of many of those conversations could be summed up in just two words: "What's next?" Wouldn't that be what you'd want to know? Acts 1:3 says they talked about "The Kingdom of God." Jesus told His disciples to go back into the city (they were on the Mount of Olives, just to the East of Jerusalem). Go there, he said, and wait for the Holy Spirit whom He had promised He would send. (John 14-17)Their question then was, "Are you going to, at this time, restore again the Kingdom of Israel?" A very specific question, right? And His very specific answer was: "It's not for you to know the times (chronos, the sequence or the successions of events) or seasons (Kairos, the nature, the kind of era) Acts 1:6 & 7. Now notice and mark it well, Jesus did not deny that the Kingdom of Israel would be restored. He just said they would not know the when, nor would they know the nature, the kind of restored Kingdom. Most of you who are reading this Focus Point have studied the Bible and are aware of the coming Kingdom, but those disciples didn't know. Not long after that Mount of Olives experience, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army (70 A.D.) The great dispersion, the dispora, took place even prior to 70 A.D.. God purposely scattered the believers. One reason was to spread the gospel, another reason was so the Jewish believers wouldn't all die in Jerusalem destruction (70 A.D.). So from that time on, for hundreds of years, the Jewish people were to be without a land, without a Temple, without a government, without a military, without a currency and without a language.They were scattered all over the world, literally, for the next two thousand plus years. They were and are, hated, abused, molested, persecuted, maligned and murdered. Their beloved homeland? Well, here's the sad history:1. The Roman Period (A.D. 70-325) - 255 years2. The Byzantine Period (325-614) - 289 years3. The Persian Period (614-634) - 20 years4. The Arab Period (634-1072) - 438 years5. The Seljuk Period (1072-1099) - 27 years6. The Crusaders Period (1099-1291) - 192 years7. The Mameluke Period (1291-1517) - 226 years8. The Turkish (Ottoman) Period (1517-1917) - 400 years9. The British Period (1917-1948) - 31 years10. The Independent (Jewish) Period (1948-until middle of Tribulation)If you'll notice, there's no so-called "Palestinian period" on that list. That's because there has never been such a thing as a Palestinian nation or government. The thought or idea of such an entity was not even heard of until after the six day war between the surrounding Arab states and the little fledgling Nation of Israel (June 5-10, 1967).As you well know, during the late 1930's and well into the 1940's, Hitler and Stalin had a mandate from the devil himself to totally annihilate every last Jew they could find. Even after the war, Jewish people were hated and abused, being pushed around like orphaned waifs! The doors of England and the United States were locked tight! Not so today. The gates are opened to all! At least to the Muslims in England.Meanwhile, back at the ranch, during the Ottoman and British periods, Jerusalem and many other Judean cities were occupied with both Arabs and Jews. Then, known as Palestine, Jews and Arabs lived as friendly neighbors. Their kids played with one another, they worked side by side, they celebrated weddings and other happy events with one another. But - now here's the biggie! When talk of a British pull-out and the efforts of the Jewish people to petition for a homeland came, the Arab leaders stated to stir things up. In 1939 the British drew up a document called the "White Paper." The White Paper stated that Palestine would become an Arab state with a Jewish minority limited to 30% of the population. Well, without tredging through the details, that White Paper, in one stroke, broke the promises of the previous document called "The Balfour Declaration." Things got so bad between the Arabs and Jews, the Brits said, "We're out of here!" So they planned to leave - date set: 1948. That meant the Jews and Arabs would have to duke it out on their own. Total chaos? Yes and no.Here's the story: In Washington, D.C., God was at work through the upbringing and integrity of one Harry S. Truman. While in the U.S. Army, WW1, Harry met a fellow soldier, working with him in one of the supply units. This man was a Jew and they decided when they got out of the service they would open a haberdashery in Kansas City, MO. The store was located at 104 W. 12th in downtown Kansas City. It lasted two years and closed, but they remained close friends.President Truman brought to a quick and merciful end, WW2. But the Middle East was festering up again. (When has it done otherwise?) Some of the Zionist Jews were in America trying to raise dollars for the support of the Jewish people. Among them, Golda Meir and Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann. Eddie Jacobson, the president's long time friend, army buddy and business partner, boldly went to Washington D.C. to see the president. He pleaded with President Truman to see and talk to Chaim Weizmann for the purpose of drafting a formal and official recognition of a new State of Israel. Mr. Truman met with Chaim Weizmann and at first was opposed to such a move, but promised he would discuss it with his Cabinet. He later became convinced that he should honor their request. He held a very heated meeting in the Oval Office. Three were adamantly opposed. They were Gen. George Marshal, Dean Rusk and Clark Clifford. Three others were rather moderate. In the end, President Truman stood alone and signed the document!Someone had given the president a little sign about 8 or 9 inches long. it reads, "The Buck Stops Here." Of all the heroic things he did and stood for, none shines brighter in the annals of history than his signing of that document, without which the Nation of Israel would not have been born when it was.....May 14, 1948. Sixty years ago this coming May. That simple historic document reads:"This government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine and recognition has been requested by the provisional government thereof. The United States Government recognizes the provisional government the defacto authority of the new State of Israel."Three days later Russia signed on. So, for the first time since September 8th, 70 A.D., the Holy Land, by official Gentile action, the United Nations and two supporting, standing governments, recognized the Land of Palestine as belongin to the new State of Israel. Think of it....after one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight years, most of us reading this Focus Point, saw, we witnessed the beginning of the rattling of Ezekiel's vision in the Valley of Dry bones. That vision was given to Ezekiel in B.C. 587.Ezekiel Chapter 37.From B.C. 587 to 1948 A.D. you have 2,535 years. From 1948 A.D. to 2008 A.D. you have another 60 years, for a total of 2,595 years! Almost 3,000 years ago from Ezekiel's prophecy until now. And to think....we saw it happen. What a day we're living in.And my mind can't help but wonder - supposing that whole scenario hadn't taken place when Harry S. Truman was president? He was an ordinary kid, raised in a Baptist home in the Midwest with some real iblical values and an appreciation for a down-trodden, beaten up, abused race of people called the Jews.Supposing George W. had been the president. Or supposing it was Hillary, or a Liberal Palestinian supporting peanut farmer! And supposing it was none other than Barach Obama? Wow! Talk about God's perfect timing. Do you really think any of these people if they had been the president back in 1948 would have the guts to put their name on that document? I don't think so!I have no idea how many times down through the centuries the Jews have come close to extinction. Probably more than most of us think. And will it ever end? The latest? We don't have to look too far. It seems that the Israeli spy organization located the where-abouts of a long sought after enemy. One named Imad Mughniyah. Both the U.S. and Israel blamed him for bombings, kidnappings and highjacking over the last 25 years. He was one bad dude! So when the Mossad (Israeli CIA) found him....pow! Toast! Well, Imad, you live by the sword - you die by the sword. Now the Hezbollah, the guys wh live at the Arab end of Bush's "Road to Peace" are saying to the Zionists, the Israelis, "So you want war do you? Well, we have a right to defend ourselves and so we will."And here we go again. Jesus told His disciples, "It's not for you to know the times or the seasons." And they didn't. But we do. Not because we watch T.V. or read the newspapers. We have the Word of God.

Blessings,

Bro. Bob Kleinschmidt