THE WORLD’S LONGEST WAR - Pt 1

An Overview of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

1 The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Part 1 Handout - May 19, 2021

Trouble in the East s we watch the news with its unsettling reports of the ongoing military conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas, it’s important that we keep in mind that behind all of the conflict is a long history of animus between A the Jews and Palestinians, dating centuries back.

At the center of the conflict is one four-letter word: land. Both groups have staked their claim to the land of Israel, and have been fighting about it for centuries, so much so that it has morphed into one of the most volatile topics of international politics, with many countries weighing in on one side or the other. But the question remains, Whose land is it? To whom does this highly contested piece of real estate belong? For the answer, we have to go back to the very beginning .

The Abrahamic Covenant In one of the first covenants made, we read of God making an agreement with Abraham to be the father of the Jewish nation. And as a part of this covenant, He references the land he would show Abraham, upon which he was to build this great nation of Jewish people.

Word Check: • Genesis 12:1-3 Commentary: Notice how in verse 1, God tells Abraham to “go from his country … “to the land I will show you.” The land He’s referring to is the land of Canaan, today know as Israel.

2 The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Part 1 Handout - May 19, 2021 An Eternal Covenant fter making his original covenant with Abraham back in Genesis, chapter 12, God comes back five chapters later and expands the covenant by promising Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan as their possession for all A of eternity. Word Check: •Genesis 17:7-8 Commentary: Notice the verbiage God uses in verse 8. He says: •“The whole land of Canaan… I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you.”

Two Observations Worth Noting 1. God said that He gave them the “whole land of Canaan.” This means, not a piece of it or some of it, but all of it. Key Question: Exactly How big is this land that was promised? •Genesis 15:18 The span of land goes from the River of Egypt on the west (The Mediterranean) to the great Euphrates River on the East. •So the land God gave to the Jews spans from the Mediterranean Sea on the West, all the way to the Euphrates River on the East side. This is a fairly large chunk of real estate.

3 The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Part 1 Handout - May 19, 2021

Not Even All of It! hat’s interesting to note is that if we look at a map of Israel, and observe the tiny strip of land Israel now claims as hers, we would be shocked to discover that she’s only occupying a small W piece of the land that was actually given to her as Abraham’s descendants. • Modern Day Israel: 8.019 square miles in area. • Comparable: In size, Israel is comparable to the state of New Jersey • The entire region is 26,790 km (about the size of Hawaii) In fact, if Israel were occupying all of the land promised to her, she would have control over not only present-day Israel, but Lebanon, the West Bank of Jordan, as well as significant parts of Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. So one can certainly understand her willingness to fight over the little strips she does have. • However, scripture teaches that it’s not until the Millennium that Israel will actually occupy all the land God gave them in His Covenant.

2. God said that He gave them the land of Canaan as an everlasting covenant, which meant that it wasn’t just for that day and age, but it was for always—forever. • This means that whether we’re in the period of A.D. 70, 2070, or even the Millennium Period itself, all of the land belongs to Israel. • Remember that because the entire earth is the Lord’s (Psalm 24:1), He and only He gets to decide what land goes to whom.

4 The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Part 1 Handout - May 19, 2021 The Jewish Diaspora Early in their history, God warned the Children of Israel that if they turned away from Him, and worshipped idols, they would be driven from their land of inheritance. Word Check: • Deuteronomy 4:25-27 And unfortunately, because they ignored His warning, they were displaced several times:

Assyrians Conquer Israel (Northern 722 BC Scattered Kingdom) (Lost Tribes)

Babylonians Conquer Judah 586 BC Scattered (Southern Kingdom)

5 The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Part 1 Handout - May 19, 2021

Romans Destroy Scattered Jerusalem A.D. 70 to the 4 corners of the earth

In response to the Jewish revolt of A.D. 66—spawned from over 3600 Jews having been massacred—the Roman emperor Titus, and his troops, destroyed Jerusalem and burned down its temple, causing thousands of Jews to flee to virtually all over the globe (virtually every continent). This is referred to the Jewish Diaspora, and was the biggest of them all! • Note: Diaspora comes from the Greek word “Diaspeirein,” which means “to scatter, spread about.” FYI: In all three diasporas—but most notably in the last one—the Jews’ absence left a vacuum in Israel that neighboring people eventually filled in.

6 The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Part 1 Handout - May 19, 2021 A Prophecy Like No Other! undreds of years before the diaspora of A.D. 70, God, through the pen of the prophet Ezekiel, prophesied the return of the Jews to their homeland in a remarkable way. HWord Check: • Ezekiel 36:24-28 Note God’s words: “I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land.”

The Rebirth of a Nation For hundreds of years, most people paid little or no attention to Ezekiel’s prophecy, until the year of 1948 when—in an unprecedented event—thousands of Jews returned to their homeland of Israel. And upon their return, they re-founded the nation of Israel, making it an official state. • In fact, it was on May 14th, 1948 that the Jewish leaders made the official declaration of the establishment of the Jewish State to be known as the State of Israel. Adding their official blessing, it was on this very day that the United States recognized the new state of Israel. In his book What in the Word is Going On? Dr. David Jeremiah observes the following: “Never had a decimated ancient people managed to retain their individual identity through almost twenty centuries and reestablish their nation in their original homeland.” This was a prophecy that came true, just as God had foretold it through the pen of His prophets! But it’s important to know that this regathering of the dispersed Jews was just the beginning of the regathering process, because the rest of the re-gathering will take place during the Millennium Period.

7 The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Part 1 Handout - May 19, 2021

Millions More Still At Large Today there are nearly 5.4 million Jews living in Israel itself; however, there are still millions scattered abroad. There are another 5 million who live in the United States alone, and a significant Jewish population remains scattered throughout the rest of the globe.

You’ve Got Company! ow nice it would’ve been if, upon their 1948 return to their homeland, the Jews had returned to an empty land. How perfect this would’ve been! But only in a perfect world… because much to Htheir dismay, upon their return, there were others who had already taken up residence there, and had made the land their home for the many decades the Jews had been gone. Enter the Arab people (alias the Palestinians), whose inhabitance of the land would prove to be the catalyst of the longest war the world has ever seen!

8 The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Part 1 Handout - May 19, 2021