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AVoice Cries Out:
Hostages,
Arab Oil, Israel
and the U.S.
-The Real Origin of Ancient
Hatreds, andWay to Solution
T
HE WORLD NEWS
spot
li gh t has focused
heavily on the Middle
East, the hostage crisis
and the Camp David con
ferences for Middle East
peace.
But few know the real ori
gin of this boiling caldron of
historic hatreds. Few know
that this on-and-off continuing
emotional
conflict stemmed
from
a rivalrv between two women over
one m;n. 1t ls significant in a
manner little realized that present
peace etforts involve the l'nited
States and the Camp David
talks.
Vt 'fy recently I have had personal
conferences with the two �iddle East
\eaders--Prime Minister :'l!enachem
Begin in ,Jerusalem, and President
Anwar el-Sadat in Cairo. The vision,
courage and willingness of these two
leaders to "GIVE'' instead of "c;F.:T" is a
hopeful start in the u·ay toward Middle
East and even world pt"ace
Israel has been willin� to "r.1\'E'' back
to Egypt the Sinai Peninsula. And Pres
ldent Sadat showed
me
the architect's
rendering of the new $70 million pe-ace
center he plans to build
at
the hase of
�h. Sinai. He invited my participation
in this project, symbolic of the U'G.V to
world peace between nations and reli·
g1ons.
The project at Mt. Sinai is significant,
because some :1,500 years agn there was
an "eruption'' on Mt. Sinai . What
"erupted" was the one and only practi
cal and workable formula for world
peace'
That formula is simple. It is a way of
lile. It i� the way of "r.1vE" as opposed to
"GET." And the proposed peace center
there epitomizes the way of ··r,1,·1,:'' -
cooperate, mutual help. serve, share.
··Gr.1" is the way of self-centered covet-
mg. enn,:. it'alrnJs\" and hostile competi
tion le<1ding to strife, vinlence. war.
destrurtion
Hut anuallv \fiddle East anta�o
nisms had hf'e� implanted in Arab and
Israel peLJple� more than -WO years
before t\,e \h. Sinai ··eruption '" lt's an
intri
g-
u1ng �tnry, leadrng to present
activities of concern to us all.
On \1t. Sinai. some :l,SOO years ago,
the prophet \foses re<'eived the tables of
.. tone on which were written the peace
formula--- the wHy of life producti.. - e of
peace-the Ten Commandments. They
summarize thf' pnncipte of outt\owlni,::
love, the wav nf "(;1n:.""
lmnlved in 1he Camp David peare
talks were heads of three nations. pre·
dominant in whtch are three major reli
!{ion�..Judaism. rhristianity and Islam
Re!igwn has bf.en a prime factor in wars
throughnut history_ These three nations
ha\e a c-ornm11n ancestor. Abraham, AH
threP reli�ions regard Abraham and
\1nses as prophets And therein lie,� a
hlstnrv ,if roo.-., 's vital concern to the
lives of tJ. .; al/ 1
Abraham's wife. Sarah. was barren
and childless, considered in those davs a
severe reproach !',arah. the hiblical �ar .
rative �tales. asked Abraham to give her
a son bv her maid Hagar. When Hagar
hecam/ pregnant she despised Sarah
\\.'hen �arah treated her harshlv she
fled. Her son. Ishmael. becamf the
father of 12 ··dukes," who were the
progenitors of the Arab world of today
1
Later. the narrati-..,e cnntinue�. Sarah
became the mother of Isaac progenitor
of (he 1 :! tnhes of Israel. A jealous
hnstilltv has continued to our dav
bet1,1,·nn' the :\rah WLJrld and Israel
Hut ,...here does the l'nited States
r1�me int11 the picture·
1
The answer 10
that question 1s one of the most ex.clting.
eye·1)pening re,.:elations of buried and
""lost"" factual histon· e..-er 1nld�
Toda\ the l'nited· :-:.rates and Aritain
are hnth deeply invoked in this Vrhole
t'onlroversy. It was the Hriti.;,h Balfour
Oedaratinn that 1Jpen.ed
a
national
home for .Jews in Palestine. '.'low the
l.'nited �tales is lr'.\ . ln)? to brlnj!; peace tn
the \fiddle East. The l'nited States is
deeply invol\'ed also through rhe hos.
tage crisis in Islamic Iran.
But where are we, or rhe British,
referred to in the hii-torical narratives or
rhe prophecie,s o(the world's best se/ier
9
Theologians do not know. Approxi
mate\v a third or the entire Bihle is
proph.
ecy. fo(·using primarily on events
of NOW-and the verv near future. Yet
these prophecies hav� not been under
stood. They have remained a mystery,
nr source l)f wild speculation. The vital
kev to unlock their clear understanding
ha� been missing
That ... ital key is the identily of the
l'nited States and British nations in
biblical prophecy. Such small nations as
Ethiopia. Libya and Egypt are men
tioned, Ho.,..· could the United :,;tates be
overlooked
')
It isn't� It is explained in a
revealing bovk, The ( ·"nit rd .", ' totes and
Bnta\11 m Prnpht'cy We wdl present.
gratis, to those whose unprejudiced eyes
are willing to see, a softcover copv of the
astonishing, enlightening book, :2::10
pages. full-color illustrated. gratis on
request, no follow-up. Or. if you prefer,
)".JU may buy a distinctive hardcover
'""�
HERBERT 'J,j. ARMSTROSG
Pastor General
Worldwide Church of God
Pas.adena. C&lif.. 9\l'!:l
Or call toll fref'
(ilOOl 42:J HH
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