Who Has the Rights to the Holy Land?

Who Has the Rights to the Holy Land? The Jews or Arabs?

Introduction

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Who has the rights to the Holy Land? The Jews or the Arabs? Who was there first? What does history show us about this issue? What does the future look like in this troubled part of the world? Currently, there is a war going on between Hamas and Israel, and many other countries are getting involved. Things look chaotic and uncertain. Everything that is happening is because of the dispute over who has the rights to the Holy Land.

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If you want to know about who has the rights to this land and understand the root cause of the conflict, read on to find out. Let's explore this issue and see what the truth is.

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Let’s Define Some Names and Terms

1. Secular Arabs – These are the descendants of Ishmael, one of Abraham’s sons.

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2. Muslim Arabs – These are the believers in the Islamic faith, who are generally Arabs, which was founded by Muhammad in around 610 AD.

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3. Secular Jews – These are Jews who are not religious and do not follow the Jewish faith.

4. Religious Jews – These believe and practice Judaism.

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5. Palestine & Palestinian – Roman Emperor Hadrian first used these terms in around 132 AD. He used them after a major conquest and destruction of Israel to eradicate the Jews due to their uprisings. He changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina and the country of Israel to Palestine. He used the word Palestine to refer to the Philistines, one of Israel’s enemies from around 1400 to 1000 BC. His intent was to erase the names of Israel and the Jews and disassociate them from the Holy Land. However, during the time of Hadrian, there were no Philistines that lived. Nonetheless, he did this to eliminate the name Israel and replace it. The term fell out of use during the Byzantine era in around 324 AD and wasn’t used again until 1948. It is used in these latter times by some to promote the idea that the Jews today have no right to their God-given homeland. However, many use it as it has become the common name for the Holy Land. I don’t like to use the word much because there are no original Philistines from the time of the Canaanites living in the Holy Land today, and the original intent of the word was antisemitic. However, I will use it on occasion for understanding and clarity purposes.

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The Conflict Is Mainly Between Muslim Arabs and Jews

Now, this discussion is not about all Arabs and is not intended to be anti-Arab. I have a number of Arab friends and have met many Arab people while in the Holy Land who are wonderful folks. God loves all people and wants them to come to the saving knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ, who proved to be divine and fulfilled countless prophecies proving this. Both the Jews and Arabs need Jesus Christ, along with all of us. He is the only hope for peace and salvation. Every person is equal and created in the image of God.

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I also want to say that I feel deep compassion for the innocent people caught up in war. Wars are ugly, destructive, and sad.

What Is the Conflict About?

The basic conflict is over who has the right to exist in the Holy Land. The Muslim Arabs claim they are the rightful owners of all the Holy Land and want no state of Israel at all, and Israel says they have a right to exist in their homeland.

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What Is the Root Cause of the Conflict?

To really understand this conflict, we must go back in time to around 4,000 years ago to the time of Abraham and his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. From the descendants of these two brothers comes the conflict that has gone on for the last 4,000 years.

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Who Has the Right to the Holy Land?

God should have the last word on this issue, as He is the Creator and owner of everything. Let’s see what God says. To do this, let’s look at the Abrahamic Covenant God made with Abraham regarding the land of Israel as found in the Bible.

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The Abrahamic Covenant consists of three promises God established with Abraham.

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1. A Land

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2. A Nation or People

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3. A Lineage – Through the lineage of Isaac would come Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

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The Abrahamic Covenant

The Abrahamic Covenant is given numerous times in Genesis chapters 12-17 and continually reaffirmed throughout both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

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You will notice that the Bible uses the name Abram before it is later changed to Abraham, which means father of many nations.

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God promises a land and a people: Genesis 13:14-17

The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”

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God promises Abraham a son: Genesis 15:18

On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.

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After waiting a long time without Abraham and Sarah having a child, Sarah tries to fulfill this promise through her handmaid, Hagar.

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The birth of Ishmael: Genesis16:11-12

After Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, there arose bitterness between Sarah and Hagar. Then God describes the kind of person Ishmael would be.

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“Behold, you [Hagar] are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

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What do we see here?

​1. The bitterness between Sarah and Hagar begins the conflict we see today. Later, this bitterness would include Ishmael and Isaac.

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​2. Ishmael will be a wild donkey of a man and will be against everyone and everyone against him. We certainly see this throughout history.

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The fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant would come through Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, not through Ishmael.

Genesis 17:15-22: And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” 22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

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What do we see here?

1. The Abrahamic Covenant, an everlasting covenant, would be through Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah.

God’s covenant would not be through Ishmael.

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2. Ishmael would be the father of a great multitude, which are the Arab people.

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3. Through the Abrahamic Covenant, fulfilled in Isaac, would come Jesus Christ, the prophesied Savior.

Galatians 3:13-14, 16: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

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16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.

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What do we see here?

1. The genealogies of the Bible, which oftentimes we think are boring, are so important. They prove that Jesus Christ fulfills the lineage aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant that dates back to around 4,000 years.

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2. Prophecy is what sets the Bible apart from any other writing. It contains very specific, detailed prophecies.

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So, in summary, the Abrahamic Covenant, which is the major storyline of the Bible, includes three major aspects:

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1. A Land through Abraham’s son, Isaac, and his offspring, which today is known as the Holy Land.

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2. A Nation or people through Abraham’s son, Isaac, and his offspring, which today are called the Jews or Israelis.

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3. A Lineage – Through the lineage of Isaac would come Christ, the Savior of the world.

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The Role of Islam in the Conflict

The religion of Islam, which came into being in around 610 AD, completely denies the Bible’s storyline and radically changes it.

Muslims believe that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mohamad and gave him a number of revelations from around 610-632 AD. The Quran and Muslim theology believe the following:

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1. The Abrahamic Covenant was intended for Ishmael and his offspring, not Isaac and his offspring.

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2. The Holy Land is for Ishmael and his offspring, not Isaac and his offspring.

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3. The promise of a nation or people is through Ishmael and his offspring, not Isaac and his offspring.

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4. Jesus Christ is not the Savior but just a prophet, and Mohamad is greater than Jesus and is the last prophet.

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5. It denies the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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6. It believes the Bible is corrupted and that the Quran is the true revelation from God.

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Note: This Muslim belief cannot be true because the Dead Sea Scrolls, written around 100 BC, 700 years before Mohamad, verify that the Old Testament we have today is the same as what was written in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

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Also, Islam does more than just claim the Bible has been corrupted. It denies about 95% of the Bible is even true. For example, the New Testament's main theme is that salvation is through Jesus Christ and how to live and serve Him as a result. Islam denies all this. So, saying the Bible has been corrupted is not an accurate statement. The truth is that Islam rejects virtually all of the Bible and what it teaches.

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6. Mohamad is the main example of how we should live. This even includes marrying children, as Mohamad married a 6-year-old girl when he was 51 and then consummated the marriage (had sex with her) when she was 10 years old. Marrying children is extremely common among Muslims.

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The Bible’s Claim About Islam

According to the Bible, Islam is completely opposite to what the Bible teaches and is an antichrist religion. This explains why they hate Christians and Jews so much. The Jews believe in the Old Testament, and Christians believe in both the Old and New Testaments.

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Will the coming Antichrist be a Muslim?

Many believe that the Antichrist will be a Muslim. This makes sense as Islam theology believes in a coming world leader called Mahdi. He will make a peace treaty for seven years, rule from the temple in Jerusalem, intend to kill all Jews and Christians and force all people to worship Allah. This Mahdi is exactly what the Bible describes as the Antichrist. Also, there is no other religion that is so against Christians and Jews like Islam.

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Additionally, Muslims believe Jesus will return to earth from heaven. But in their version of Jesus, he returns as a Muslim and will tell all the Christians that what the Bible says about him is wrong. He will destroy Christianity and demand that everyone convert to Islam and set up Islam as the one world faith.

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As you can see, Islam is anti-Bible and totally changes what the Bible teaches about the Abrahamic Covenant, which includes a land, a people, and a lineage. And most importantly, it teaches that Jesus was not who the Bible claims He is.

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Jesus warned about this when He was on earth. In Matthew 24:3-5, when Jesus was talking about the end times it says: “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

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What Islam teaches is the very thing Jesus warned believers to be on the lookout for and not to be deceived by it.

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So, at the root of the conflict we see playing out on the world stage right now is a spiritual conflict that began thousands of years ago and continues to this day. This conflict was experienced and prophesied in Psalm 83:

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Do not keep silent, O God!

Do not hold Your peace,

And do not be still, O God!

2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult;

And those who hate You have lifted up their head.

3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,

And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.

4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation,

That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”

5 For they have consulted together with one consent;

They form a confederacy against You:

6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;

Moab and the Hagrites;

7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;

Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

8 Assyria also has joined with them;

They have helped the children of Lot. Selah

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Islamic World Conquest Through Jihad Explains the Conflicts in Israel

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The theology of Muslims is to conquer the world for Allah and institute Muslim rule over the entire world. This rule is also known as Sharia Law. After this is done, they say, then peace will finally come to the world. This is why, since the inception of Islam, Muslims have been engaged in conquering land for Allah. This can be clearly seen in its nearly 1500-year-old history. Therefore, Islam is a violent faith that conquers lands and peoples for Allah by whatever means necessary, as taught in the Quran. We can see this in the following quotes and teachings of Islam.

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​1. World conquest and Jihad is taught in the Quran and Islamic theology.

Quran 8:60: And prepare against them all the power you can muster, and all the cavalry you can mobilize, to thereby Allah’s enemies and your enemies.

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By using terrorism, governments and people yield to Muslims because of fear. They see the horrifying acts of terrorism and don’t want to make the devoted Muslims angry so they won’t be terrorized.

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Quran 8:39: Fight them until there is no more persecution, and religion becomes exclusively for Allah. But if they desist—Allah is Seeing of what they do.

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Quran 47:4: When you encounter those who disbelieve, strike at their necks. Then, when you have routed them, bind them firmly. Then, either release them by grace, or by ransom, until war lays down its burdens. Had Allah willed, He could have defeated them Himself, but He thus tests some of you by means of others. As for those who are killed in the way of Allah, He will not let their deeds go to waste.

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Quran 9:14: Fight them. Allah will punish them at your hands, and humiliate them, and help you against them, and heal the hearts of a believing people.

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Quran 9:29: Fight those who do not believe in Allah.

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The theology of Islam promotes the raping and sexual slavery of women if it’s done in connection with Jihad. That’s why the men are generally killed, and the women taken into slavery.

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2. Jihad groups, like Hamas, use as part of their warfare, placing their rockets and military operations behind women, children, schools, hospitals, mosques, and so forth. This way, when these places are targeted and destroyed, they can cry out that horrific abuses have been done to their innocent places and people.

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​3. According to the current leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Mahmoud Abbas, no Jews would be allowed to live in the land of Israel unless they converted to Muslim if a State of Palestine was created. This is completely opposite to what the state of Israel allows. Israel has many Arab citizens, has Arabs in their government leadership, and allows for complete freedom of religion.

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​4. According to a Muslim statement, Muslims should not submit to any form of government that is not Muslim, and no non-Muslim government has the right to rule Muslims. And if they do, Muslims have the duty to dislodge non-Muslim governments from power by any means possible.

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​5. Under Muslim-run countries, there is no separation of church and state. The government rules as a theocracy for Allah. This is also known as Sharia Law.

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​6. When Muslims conquer countries, they persecute and pressure non-Muslims to convert, or life will become unbearable for them, even to the point of execution.

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​7. They also destroy all religious sites like churches, synagogues, and so forth. They do this to show dominance and conquest. This is why they built the Dome of the Rock exactly over where the temple once stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

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​8. In Islamic Jihad, it is okay to lie to defeat non-Muslims. This is partly what happened with the recent Hamas invasion of Israel at the time of this filming in 2023, where they killed around 1,400 people and kidnapped around 220 people. They told Israel they wanted peace. Therefore, Israel let their guard down and were deceived.

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​9. It is also commonly promoted that Islam is a peaceful religion. This is done to deceive the ignorant. History and Muslim theology clearly state that Islam’s purpose is to conquer the world for Allah through Jihad, which is war by all means necessary.

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​10. There are also terrorism and death sentences in Islam for those who leave Islam or convert to another religion. This includes honor killings, imprisonment, and persecution within Muslim-run countries. I have personal Arabic friends living in Israel who have left Islam and are under threat from family members and other Muslims who want to kill them.

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​11. Many Arabs and Arab Muslims just want to live in peace and live their lives. However, the devoted Islamic Jihadists are the ones causing most of the trouble. That’s why when peace agreements are made between Israel and Arabs, the Jihadists increase their terrorism. This was clearly evidenced by the OSLO agreement that President Bill Clinton oversaw. The peaceful Muslims don’t do or say anything contrary to the Jihadists out of fear for their lives. So, it’s the devoted Jihadists who control most of the Arab countries. Again, the goal of the devoted Jihadists is to conquer the world for Allah.

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​12. The devoted Jihadists reject peace because, in their view, peace is losing ground and yielding power. According to them, it stops the progress of conquering the world for Allah.

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​13. The Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as Hamas, is a Palestinian Islamist militant group founded in 1987. The group’s primary objective is to establish an independent Islamic state in all the Holy Land. To accomplish their purpose, they want to eliminate Israel from the Holy Land. Hamas is known for its armed resistance against Israel and has been designated as a terrorist organization by many countries.

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​14. The group’s charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic society in what they call “historic Palestine.” Hamas has been governing more than two million Arabs in the Gaza Strip since 2007.

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​15. In summary, the Quran, Muslim theology, Mohamad’s life, and Muslim history all call for Jihad to punish and fight for Allah in the conquest of the world.

Quran 9:14: Fight them. Allah will punish them at your hands, and humiliate them, and help you against them, and heal the hearts of a believing people.

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This is what the Bible says about Islamic Jihad.

John 16:2-3: They will ban you from the synagogue, yet an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering a service to God. 3 These things they will do because they have not known the Father nor Me.

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Is Israel Occupying the Holy Land Unjustly?

Let’s look at a brief history of the Holy Land.

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1. The Holy Land was promised to Abraham and his descendants by God and first inhabited by Abraham in around 2000 BC. This promise would come through Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah.

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​2. Later, God commanded the Israelites to drive out the Canaanites from the Holy Land because of their extreme wickedness. This happened in around 1406 BC when the Israelites entered the Promised Land.

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​3. The nation of Israel became the world’s dominant power under the kingships of King David and King Solomon in around 1000 BC. It was a vast empire.

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​4. Because Israel disobeyed God in many ways, He allowed foreign countries to conquer and subdue them. Many Jews were exiled. The first conquest happened in 722 BC by the Assyrians and 586 BC by the Babylonians. However, there always remained a Jewish presence in the Holy Land, and Jews returned from exile back to Israel.

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​5. Over the next 2,500 years, until 1948, the land of Israel would be ruled and occupied by the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Mameluke Muslims, Crusaders, Ottoman Muslims, and the British. However, there always remained a Jewish presence in the Holy Land during all this time.

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​6. After Israel’s rejection of Christ, their Messiah, God would judge them severely, as prophesied by Jesus. This resulted in the destruction of Israel and Jerusalem in 70 and 132 AD.

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​7. However, God had a plan and purpose for Israel and prophesied He would regather them into a nation again in the last days. This was fulfilled in 1948.

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​8. In 1917, the Ottoman Empire fell because of World War I and the League of Nations entrusted the British with overseeing the Holy Land. This included all of the country of Jordan today, as well as all of Israel.

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​9. At this time, the Ottomans, by formal cession, gave the Holy Land to the League of Nations, who, by international law, gave it to Great Britain, known as the British Mandate, to facilitate a homeland and nation for Israel.

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​10. After much fighting and tension between Britain, the Jews, and the Arabs, Britain handed the Holy Land over to the UN (United Nations) to facilitate the conflict.

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​11. In November of 1947, the UN voted to recognize Israel as a state, and the British Mandate would end on May 15, 1948.

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12. On May 15, 1948, after Israel was recognized as a state by the UN and the British Mandate ended, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria invaded Israel. Israel was victorious and won the war.

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13. Egypt ruled the Gaza Strip, and Jordan ruled the West Bank from 1948-1967.

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14. After the Six-Day War in 1967, when Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan were planning an attack on Israel in their attempt to take full possession of Israel, Israel launched a preemptive strike and won the battle. They took possession of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

15. In 2005, Israel gave the Gaza Strip away to Arab leadership in exchange for peace. They also gave the Sinai Peninsula away to the Egyptians in exchange for peace as well. Therefore, Israel has not occupied the Gaza Strip for many years now. It has been under Arab control since 2005 and under Islamic Hamas leadership since 2007. Hamas receives billions of dollars in aid each year to better the country. Unfortunately, they spend most of it on terrorism and their own personal wealth instead of on building a better country for the people living there.

16. In addition to Israel giving full control to Arab leadership in the Gaza Strip, there are many areas of the Holy Land where Arabs have full control.

17. Most Arabs living in Israeli-controlled areas are very happy as the standard of living is much higher. The Arab-controlled areas, and especially the Gaza Strip, are where the standard of living is very low.

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18. Today, there are around 9 million Jews and 2.1 million Arabs living in Israel. Many of the Arabs vote, serve in the military, hold office, are parliament and supreme court members, university professors, and doctors. They are very happy, peaceful, and supportive of the state of Israel.

19. Israel has accepted every two-state solution in the Holy Land, but Arab leadership has rejected every proposal. The Arab leadership wants Israel removed entirely from the Holy Land. This is their stated goal. Therefore, Arab leadership does not want peace but the elimination of the state of Israel.

20. It would be good to mention that there have been wars since the beginning of time. Kingdoms have risen and fallen. If Israel is wrongly occupying the land, then should the Muslims give back all the land they conquered over 1500 years and possess today? For that matter, should every country over the entire history of the world return conquered land? And if so, how far back do we go? War is just a reality of this fallen world, and it’s unrealistic to return all land to its original occupiers. And if we use history as the measure of the right to occupy land, then Israel has more rights to the land because they conquered it in 1406 BC. The Muslim Arabs didn’t conquer it until around 631 AD, then lost it later.

21. In all of the history of the Holy Land, there has never been a Palestinian State. In fact, as mentioned earlier, the term Palestinian fell out of use after the Byzantine conquest of Israel in around 324 AD and wasn’t used again until around 1948.

22. The main reason Israel is now against a two-state solution is that if they give the West Bank to Arab leadership, they will have the same issue they face today with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. From the West Bank, rockets could then reach every part of Israel, and their existence would be threatened. And with the stated intent of Muslim Arab leadership to totally eliminate the Jews, this would be a dangerous reality.

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Israel Becoming a Nation Fulfills Bible Prophecy

In Ezekiel chapter 37 is a vision Ezekiel received about a valley of dry bones. These bones represent the nation of Israel and how God would regather them into their homeland in the last days. This was fulfilled in 1948 when Israel was recognized by the UN and the International Community as being its own country.

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Ezekiel 37:11-14: Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the entire house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 14 And I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’”

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This amazing prophecy has been fulfilled and lets us know that the Bible is God’s word and true, as only God knows the future.

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We must realize that the creation of Israel as a state is God’s doing. It fulfills His master plan for the nation of Israel. God is the Lord and owner of everything, so we must realize it is His will for the nation of Israel to exist. Nothing will change His plans. Therefore, the fact that Israel is a state is ultimately by God’s sovereign work and plan, not people’s.

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Faith Lesson

1. God is the Creator and owner of everything. This includes all the earth and the nations on it. He raises up nations, and He removes nations according to His good purposes. God gave the Holy Land to Israel through the Abrahamic Covenant, so they have a right to exist in their homeland.

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2. Other people lived in the Holy Land besides the Jews as well. Some of these were people from other nations whom the Assyrians and Babylonians brought in, some joined in the Jewish faith like Ruth, and some lived there because the Jews failed to conquer them in the conquest of the Promised Land in 1406 BC. According to the Jews, other nationalities are welcome to live in the Holy Land as long as they are peaceful. However, terrorists are a huge problem.

3. The Jews have agreed to virtually every peace treaty presented to them. They even gave up the Gaza Strip to the Arabs for peace and the Sinai Penisula to Egypt for peace. However, in the case of Gaza, they have only received terrorism and war. That's why Israel is not in favor of a two-date solution. All they would likely get is another Gaza in the middle of their country, where rockets could easily reach every part of Israel.

4. According to the devoted Muslims who follow the Quran, they are not interested in peace because that would be failure to conquer the world for Allah. Therefore, peace is not an option, and they will continue to fight against the Jews and all non-Muslim countries moving forward. 

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5. God has a plan for Israel, and He will be the one who defends them supernaturally. God will fulfill this major prophecy as He has fulfilled every other one. You can count on that.

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6. God loves both the Jews and Muslims, and for that matter, all people and desires that everyone comes to salvation through Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

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