MT. SINAI/JERUSALEM
(Continued from page 4)
estine to Babylon. Seventy years
later a Jewish colony was sent
back to build a second temple at
J erusalem. Solomon's temple had
bee n destroyed by Nebuchadnez–
zar;s forces. But most of Judah,
the Jews, became scattered in
many nat ions in the Middle
East.
This Jewish colony, with its
religion, Judaism, considerably
altered from that
which carne through
Moses by the rabbis
after the time of Ezra
and N ehemiah, was
there at the time of
J esus. The temple had
been repaired and en–
larged by their ruler
Herod, who served the
Romans who then
ruled the world.
In A.D. 70 Roman
armies dest royed the
temple and J erusalem,
a nd the remaining
J ews were scattered.
Sorne very few centu–
r ies later Arabs moved
into that land.
The prophecies of the
Bible affirm that the
"Promised Land" shaJI
be restored to "the
HOUSE OF l SRAEL"–
nol
just Judah-at the Second
Coming of Christ, and that Judah
would be fighting there prior to
that time- as they are now, believ–
ing they are " Israel."
So the whole world , including
Israel and Judah, is confused and
mixed up as to
WHO
is
WHO
between Israel and Judah!
The Seven Modern Events
The first of the seven modern
events
1
want to cover is the
establis hme nt of the State of
Israel in Palestine by the United
Nations in 1948. I want to men–
tion here that Brit a in was
involved here. This event fo l–
lowed the British Balfour Decla–
ration of 1917. And, of course, as
February 1981
I have covered above, it was high–
pressured by the Zionist move–
ment.
The second of these modern
world-news events in the Middle
East was tbe four wars between
Arabs and Israelis, starting with the
war oflndependence in 1948.
The third event I wish here to
recount was my meeting with Prime
Minister Golda Meir, following
those four wars, the fourth ofwhich
was the Yom Kippur or October
warof 1973. I had been making fre–
quent visits to Israel since the fall of
WARM EMBRACE
is shared by Herbert
W. Armstrong and longtime Israelí Min–
ister of Tourism Moshe Kol.
1968, and was involved in a number
of projects there.
" I wish," said Mrs. Meir ear–
nestly, "that heads of Arab states
would sit across the table from
me in friendship. We could do so
much to help our Arab neighbors.
Our scientists and technicians
could help them into much
increased pros perity for their
peoples. Our musicians and lead–
ers in tbe artistic field could take
to tbem much uplifting and cul–
turallife. We could mutually help
each other."
That was a direct attitude from
the top in Is rael of tbe
"GtvE"
way, which mus t lead eventually
to world peace-after Christ's
coming. Since 1968
1
have been
personally involved in supporting
the International Cultural Center
for Youth CJCCY) in Jerusalem.
It is working with success to
bring cultural cooperation, in–
stead of competition, between
Israelí and Arab youth.
The lncredlble " DECLARATION
OF PEACE"
The fourth of these
seven modern events
was the most incredible
peace overture of mod–
ern times.
After four bitter
wars against Israel in
thirty years, President
Anwar ei-Sadat did an
unheard of thing. On
November 20, 1977, he
DECLARED PEACE,
not
war! At extreme per–
sonal danger and un–
precedented political
risk the Egyptian presi–
dent braved a personal
visit to J erusalem to
speak in peace to the
Israelí Knesset.
It
was the most sen–
~
sational
overture
~
toward international
t
peace made by a ny
head of state in our
t ime! Consider Mr. Sadat's posi–
tion at the time. Egypt was the
acknowledged leader of the Arab
world. Headquarters of the Arab
League was in Cai ro. Mr. Sadat
held high polít ica! prestige-per–
haps the highest-in the Arab
wor ld. He braved furious opposi–
tion from all other Arab nations
and their leaders in making this
trip.
It
required vision, a sense of
right agai nst opposition, and
extreme personal risk as well as
política! risk. How many would
have had the courage?
Result? Prominent Egyptians
and editors abroad were assassi–
nated. President Sadat's life was
threatened. He lost immediately
39