As an Apostolic Christian I believe it should be returned to the Jews. Contrary to the beliefs of much of the world today, they have been more than willing to share the land of Israel with the Arab people. The majority of the wars and fighting have been AGAINST Israel since its inception beginning with Balfour Declaration of 2 November 1917. It was drafted by Zionist leaders, revised and approved by the British war cabinet, and forwarded by Lord Arthur Balfour, the British foreign secretary, to Lord Rothschild, a Zionist philanthropist and one of its drafters. It consisted of a single sixty-seven-word paragraph: "His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country." (Hurewitz, 1979)
This was one of a number of contradictory promises Britain made during World War I. Needing Arab support against the Ottoman Empire, Britain promised in the Husayn - McMahon Correspondence (1915 - 1916) to support the establishment of an independent Arab nation, which Arabs understood to include Palestine (which Britain later denied); and needing French and Russian support, it promised in the Sykes - Picot Agreement (1916) to rule the region, including Palestine, with its allies.
In the Genesis 17 passage, God changed Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai's name to Sarah. The sign of the covenant, circumcision, was established. God gave this sign as a reminder of his promise. God explicitly stated that the land he promised Abraham and his descendants was an everlasting possession. God also explicitly stated that the covenant went through Isaac (v. 21) not Ishmael. (Genesis 17:2-9 and Deuteronomy 1:7-8). While several of the Arab peoples descend from Abraham through Ishmael, they are not in the line of promise which is the line of Isaac and Jacob. Therefore, they have no Scriptural claim to the land promised to Abraham and his seed.
Also, the Arabs living in Israel at the time of the first emigration of Jews to their homeland were offered the opportunity to stay and live in peace with the Jews. Unfortunately, this was discouraged by neighboring Arab countries and the conflict continues to this day. The beginning of the modern Jewish return to Eretz Yisrael - the Land of Israel -, which laid the foundations for the establishment of the State of Israel, were due to a combination of three causes:
* the age-old devotion of the Jews to their historic homeland,
* the wave of pogroms in Russia and
* the efforts of an active minority convinced that the Return to the homeland was the only lasting and fundamental solution to the Jewish problem.
The Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional and eternal. In the Genesis 17 passage, God changed Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai's name to Sarah. The sign of the covenant, circumcision, was established. God gave this sign as a reminder of his promise. God explicitly stated that the land he promised Abraham and his descendants was an everlasting possession. God also explicitly stated that the covenant went through Isaac (v. 21) not Ishmael. (Genesis 17:2-9 and Deuteronomy 1:7-8). While several of the Arab peoples descend from Abraham through Ishmael, they are not in the line of promise which is the line of Isaac and Jacob. Therefore, they have no Scriptural claim to the land promised to Abraham and his seed.
The boundaries are given for the title deed (v. 18, cf. Exodus 23:31 "I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you.)" At the present time the Arabs have deep bitterness and conflict over Israel's place in the Middle East and her present borders. Most Arabs refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist in the Middle East and many will not rest until the nation is destroyed. God, however, has declared that this will never happen. Indeed, God has promised that in a future day he will fulfill his covenant to Abraham and establish Israel's borders from Egypt to the Euphrates River. The new boundaries will be vastly more extensive than Israel's current borders. They will include the lands from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, western Iraq, and northern Saudi Arabia. These countries would do well to be good neighbors to Israel in anticipation of the day when God will fulfill his covenants and Jesus of Nazareth, the son of David, will reign as King from Jerusalem.
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Apostolic Believer In One God, Jesus