Imagine that the Creator God of the Universe has given you a square mile (640 acres) of land. He gives it to you to be the possession of your family forever, as long as the sun shines by day and the moon and stars by night.
      Would you cherish that piece of land? Would you do everything in your power to keep it from being taken over by other people? Undoubtedly you would.
      Suppose that when you first took over the land you found that a small family of people was living off on one corner, back in the woods away from the road. You learn that they have lived on the land for a long time, even though they do not have title to it. In other words, they are squatters. Not only are they living on your land illegally, they tend to be a rather dismal example to their neighbors. For one thing, they do not take care of the property, it is really a mess back there. Not only that, you now find out that they observe some rather bizarre religious rites. They are just not the kind of people you want your children associating with.
      On the other hand, they only occupy a small corner of the property. You do not really need this corner, since you just have a small family yourself, and the forty acres on the other side is all that you need at this time to provide a good living for your wife and children.
      Still, God has given it all to you. But where would these people go if you evict them? It seems cruel to throw people off of land they have been living on for a long time, especially when you do not really need it at this time. Why not just let them stay until your family grows large enough to need the land.
      So, you go down to talk to them. First you tell them they will have to leave. They resist. They argue. They threaten. You insist. They become angry. Then, suddenly, one of them produces a rifle. You back off and decide to let them stay for awhile. "Don’t want no trouble," you say. Maybe they will get tired of the place and move on.
      Time passes and a new problem arises. It seems that two of your sons have become attracted to a couple of the girls from this family. They have been going over to the ‘squatters’ and participating in this families strange religious rites. Unfortunately, their religious practices involve certain sexual acts, and the first thing you know, you are going to be a grandfather. At this point it is too late to evict them, for they are now a part of your family, whether you like it or not.
      It is not long before other strangers begin to appear on your property. "Who are you?" you ask. "Oh, we are distant cousins of the people who live on the corner," they reply. "Well, you can’t stay here, this is my land." "Really? And how long have you lived here?" "Oh, about five years. "Well, my cousin’s family has been living on this property for a lot longer than that, and he said it was all right for us to move onto the property. Besides, he said he was related to you. "But you don’t understand. God gave this land to me." "Which God are you talking about." "YHVH the God of all creation." "Sorry, we don’t recognize your God. We worship Baal."
      It is not long before more members of your family are sucked into the religious practices of these squatters. You begin to feel like you are losing control. Here God gave you this wonderful gift, but you did not take full possession of it as you should have done. Yes, it is definitely your land, but you must somehow take control.
      Fortunately, not all the boys in your family have gone whoring after the family on the corner. You still have a few stalwart sons who are as appalled as you at what is going on. So, you rally your faithful sons, arm yourselves and go down to the corner for a showdown. The battle is bloody, but in the end you prevail and the squatter family leaves for good. Your youngest son, David, proves to be the hero of the baffle.
      This is the way it should have ended, when the children of Israel came into the promised land. Sadly, it did not. To this day there are probably some descendants of those ancient ‘squatters’ who still live in the land of Israel. But the vast majority of those who claim to be ‘Palestinians’ are relative newcomers. In some rare cases they may be the very, very distant cousins of the people who lived millennia ago on a land that was not theirs. But the majority of them are latecomers, and are not related at all.

~ Who Is a Palestinian? ~

      "Several years ago a woman who worked in the Reagan administration decided to write a book about the people who lived and fought in the Holyland. She was pro Arab in her general outlook, and believed that the Jews were the usurpers of the land. After spending several months in Israel, and interviewing hundreds of Arabs and Jews, she changed her mind. She found that many of those who claimed to be ‘Palestinians’ had lived in Israel for only a very short period of time. In some cases, less than two years.
      There used to be a joke in California that anyone who lived there for more than five years was a native. This was because so many people moved there from other parts of the country, or immigrated there from other parts of the world. It was hard to find someone who had actually been born in California.
      It seems that the ‘Palestinians’ have done the so-called ‘native’ Californians one better. They are ‘native Palestinians’ after only a year or two in the land. They come as migrant workers and stay as self-proclaimed citizens.

~ The Dilemma of Israel ~

      The dilemma of Israel is what to do about the ‘Palestinian’ problem. If one believes that the Scriptures are God’s very own words, then there is no doubt that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews. Granted, a few of the ‘squatter families’ have been there for centuries. But the vast, vast majority of them have come in the last fifty to seventy years, primarily to obtain work from the Jews. Yet they claim that large portions of the land, given to the children of Israel by God, really belongs to them. They want their own ‘Palestinian’ state. They want Jerusalem to be it’s capital. If they had their way they would take over the entire country of Israel, from Dan to Beersheva, and throw out all of the Jewish people, to be dispersed among the nations once again.

~ The Scapegoat ~

      For the last two thousand years the Jewish people have been the scapegoats of the world. Having been driven from their homeland and dispersed into the nations of the world, they have lived for two millennia in hostile territory. Any other race of people would long ago have been assimilated into the countries in which they fled, and would have disappeared from sight. But not the Jews.
      Why? Because God is still married to the house of Judah. The marriage that was consummated at Mount Sinai is still binding, and God honors that marriage. Yes, He chastises His people from time to time, but He has never abandoned them or forsaken them, even when they, as individuals, may have believed that He had.
      God divorced the house of Israel, the northern ten tribe nation of the divided kingdom.

      "The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: ‘Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. And I said, after she had done all these things, "Return to Me." But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
      "‘Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.’"
(Jer. 8:6-8)

      Jeremiah goes on to relate how the house of Judah actually became worse that the house of Israel had been. But you can search the scriptures from beginning to end and you will never find that God ever wrote a bill of divorcement to the house of Judah.
      But God did punish Judah. He punished her time and again. He banished her from her homeland, but He always promised that one day He would bring her back. And bring her back He has done. A prophet of God spoke of the time when the dispersed children of the house of Judah would be brought back to their homeland.

"‘For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there.
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.
They have cast lots for My people,
Have given a boy in exchange for a harlot,
And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.’"
(Joel 3:1-3)

      The judgment of the nations is coming, of this Joel leaves us no doubt. Personally, I would not want to be in the shoes of Yassar Arafat, or any of those people who hate the Jews, and hate the nation of Israel, when that judgment comes.

"‘Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war!
Wake up the mighty men,
Let all the men of war draw near,
Let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, "I am strong,"
Assemble and come, all you nations,
And gather together all around.
Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD.

"Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, go down;
For the winepress is full,
The vats overflow--
For their wickedness is great.

"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
The sun and moon will grow dark,
And the stars will diminish their brightness."
(Joel 3:9-15)

      The Gentile nations will be defeated. But what about Judah and Israel?

"The LORD also will roar from Zion,
And utter His voice from Jerusalem;
The heavens and earth will shake;
But the LORD will be a shelter for His people,
And the strength of the children of Israel.

"So you shall know that I am the LORD your God,
Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem shall be holy, And no aliens shall ever pass through her again."
(Joel 3:16-17)

"But Judah shall abide forever, And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
For I will acquit them of bloodguilt, whom I had not acquitted;
For the LORD dwells in Zion."
(Joel 3:20-21)

      There are Christians who believe that the ‘unconverted’ Jewish people will suffer for all eternity in an ever burning hell. But Joel says very clearly that Judah will be acquitted, even though they had not been acquitted in the past.
      God has a plan for the Jewish people. He has been in control of their destiny ever since they were called to Him through His covenant with their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God also has a plan for the people of the house of Israel, even though they are currently in a state of divorce from Him. God will honor His promises.

"And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.’"
(Rom. 11:26-27)

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
May they prosper who love you."
(Psalm 122:6)

      DEW

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