God's Plan of Salvation

Introduction and Summary

After I was saved in 1998 I started reading the Bible regularly and for the first time began to understand what was being said. I was shocked to discover that, to a great extent, the teachings, focus, message and spirit of the Bible were in direct contrast to what I had learnt growing up in the world, not knowing Jesus and not knowing the Bible.

Falling in love with Jesus and accepting that the Bible was in fact the true revelation of God caused me to let go of things I had formerly believed to be true and this—at times—caused conflict with friends and family.

As I continue to walk with the Lord Jesus and to learn his character, both from communion with him, communion with other believers and from reading the Bible, I have begun to come to terms with persecution and misunderstanding from those who don't know him.

One of the issues I have had to deal with is the issue of Israel's place in God's plan of salvation. I began discovering the Bible's position on this issue in 1999 while I was in England. Refer to "How I fell in Love with Israel" April 2009

There is a position in the Christian church today called "Replacement Theology". Replacement Theology teaches that that the church has replaced Israel as God's chosen people and that God is finished with Israel.

This doctrine is contrary to what is written in the Bible.

Those of us who are born again, love Jesus and read the Bible are waiting with expectation for Jesus to return. After the rapture, Jesus will return to the earth with all the believers and set up his millenial kingdom in Jerusalem.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Thessalonians 4:14-17

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Corinthians 15:51-52

I provide more Biblical references below concerning the calling of believers into heaven to meet the Lord. This event is known as the rapture.

After the rapture there will be a period of great tribulation upon the earth. All the nations of the earth will attack Israel and there will be great destruction in the land.

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zechariah 14:2

Jesus will return on the clouds of heaven with all the believers that had been raptured.

and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

Zecheriah 14:5b

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Jude 1:14-15

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebrews 9:28

The Jewish people will see Jesus and believe that he is the Messiah finally crying out: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord and all Israel will be saved.

For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Matthew 23:39

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Romans 11:26-27

He will set His feet on the mount of olives near Jerusalem.

Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Zecheriah 14:3-4

Jesus will establish His millenial kingdom in Jerusalem.

The best way to discover God's truth is to know him personally by inviting him into your heart.

You can learn about him by spending time reading the Bible. Please read the references from the Bible that I have provided as they will clarify and confirm what I have written. May God bless you with an understanding of the scriptures.

God's Awesome Plan of Salvation

Since Adam sinned and sin passed onto humanity, God has been unfolding His plan of salvation to restore humanity to Himself. He has spoken to people directly and through His prophets so that his plan of salvation would be clear to all those that know Him.

Omniscient as he is, God already had a plan of salvation before Adam and Eve sinned. God himself performed the duty of highpriest and sacrificed an animal using the skin to cover Adam and Eve's sin. We know from scripture that their is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. Refer to: "He died for our Sins" April 2009

Man sinned. God had a plan of salvation even before the foundation of the world.

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:8

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

1Peter 1:18-21

He then proceeded to unfold his plan of salvation for a fallen humanity. He planned on establishing a people who would be His own. Through them, He would bring salvation to the whole of humanity.

He spoke to Noah and saved his family from the judgment of the flood. Only Noah, his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth and their three wives survuved the flood. Through these eight, the whole earth was repopulated. The people of Israel are descendants of Noah's son Shem: they are a semitic people.

God called Abram and changed his name to Abraham, which means, the father of all nations. He promised that He would make of Abraham a great nation and in him all the nations of the world would be blessed.

Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, who was renamed Israel and Israel had twelve sons who became the heads of the twelve tribes of the kingdom of Israel. King David and Solomon are descendants of Jacob's son Judah to whom was promised the kingship and from whom King Jesus the Messiah would arise. Jesus is also called the Lion of Judah.

Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Genesis 49:9-10

God communed with the nation of Israel throughout history with the purpose of communicating his word, bringing the Messiah into the world, restoring humanity to himself and ultimately establishing his kingdom on earth to reign from Jerusalem.

God was in constant communion with the people of Israel directly speaking to them Himself, through angels, through judges, kings and prophets.

The children of Israel rebelled against the Lord; nevertheless, God promised that he would be faithful to them, that He would never forsake them and that he would restore them in their land, with a king who would rule over them in righteousness. This king would be God himself, the Messiah and he would give Israel peace from their enemies and bring peace to the world.

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Revelation 1:7

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13-14

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7

The Messiah would also be a light to the gentiles and he would give the gentiles the opportunity to enjoy the blessings that God promised Israel.

I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
Isaiah 42:6-7

The Messiah would breakdown the wall of separation which separated the gentiles from Israel and would open the way for the gentiles to know God.

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Ephesians 2:11-19

We read here that the Gentiles were far from God. The gentile nations were idol worshipers and pagans: only Israel worshiped the one true God. The one true God is called, the God of Israel. Paul is saying that through Jesus the Messiah, the door has been opened for the gentiles to approach God, to be accepted of God and to receive the blessings that until that point had been reserved for God's chosen people, Israel.

God's has blessed the whole of humanity through the nation of Israel and salvation has come to the whole world through the tiny nation of Israel.

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Genesis 12:2-3

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2:2-4

God's truth has gone out to the world through Israel's prophets and Jesus the Messiah was born in Bethlehem in Israel into a Jewish family to a Jewish girl. He taught in Israel and commanded his disciples to teach the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matthew 10:5-6

But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matthew 15:24

Has God rejected His people Israel?

Let's have a look at what Paul says.

I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.
Romans 11:1-2

To the contrary. When the fulness of the gentiles comes in, all of Israel will be saved.

Through Israel's rejection of Jesus the Messiah, salvation has come to the Gentiles.

Jesus the Messiah, the Lamb of God, came to die for the sins of the world and his people, the Jews, were made unready to receive him so that salvation could go out to the Gentiles. Refer to "He came to die for our sins" April 2009

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Romans 11:25-32

God has blinded Israel for a season so that the gentiles can be blessed with the gift of salvation and when the time comes he will reveal himself to Israel and all Israel will be saved.

As Isaiah prophesies in chapter 29:10-12 and Paul quotes in Romans 11:8, God has poured upon Israel and spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, ears that they should not hear and a heart that does not understand.

For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
Isaiah 29:10-12

(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.

For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Romans 11:8-15

When Jesus ascended to heaven after his resurrection, accompanied by two angels, the disciples watched in awe. The two angels responded to the disciples saying: Why do you marvel? Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives in the same way that He left.

And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.

Acts 1:9-12

The Lord's return to His land and His people was also prophesied by Zechariah: And His feet will descend on the mount of olives.

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

Zechariah 14.4

Jesus will return to the land of Israel to save the Jewish people from their enemies. He will bring peace to the earth, set up his millenial Kingdom in Jerusalem and reign over the nations from there.

Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

Zechariah 14.3

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zechariah 12:9-10

As I have already mentioned, Jesus is also called the lion of Judah because he is a descendant of Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, who was also called Israel. King David was from the tribe of Judah. Jesus is also called the son of David. King David established his Kingdom with his capital in Jerusalem. Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem and Jerusalem has been the centre of Judaism for the last three thousand years. Notice the coat of arms of the city of Jerusalem.

As the inscription on the plaque on Jesus' cross stated in Hebrew, Greek and Latin for the whole world to understand: Jesus the King of the Jews.

And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Luke 23:38

So uncommon was the idea of gentiles being in communion with God and with the people of Israel, that after Pentacost when gentiles began believing in the gospel and getting saved, there was contention amongst the disciples as to what the gentiles had to do in order to complete their salvation. Some began teaching that the gentiles could not be saved unless they converted to Judasim and got circumcised.

After Jesus ascended into heaven the disciples received power when the Holy Spirit descended on them and they went out out proclaimed the gospel to all the people. When gentiles started responding to the gospel, believing in Jesus and getting saved the apostles were at odds with each other over whether it was at all possible for gentile to be saved without first converting to Judaism and being curcumcised.

And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 10:45

And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.
Acts 11:1-3

Peter goes on to explain to them how he had had a vision in which the Lord had told him not to consider anything unclean, for in the Lord all things are clean:

But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
Acts 11:9

And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Acts 15:4-9

We understand that salvation to non-Jews was not taken for granted by the disciples because the promises of a Messiah were to Israel.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:

If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.

Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 31:31-37

Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
Acts 11:17-18

The whole Bible is a testimony of God's faithfulness to Israel and through Israel his faithfulness to all humanity. If you really want to know God personally and intimately you must be born again.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:3

You will then receive the Holy Spirit and he will lead you in all truth.

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:16-17

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 14:26

The Lord Jesus is alive. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is alive. We are all sinners and we all need forgiveness. The God of Israel is waiting for you to call upon him so that he can give you new life.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:23

Don't be afraid and don't delay. He wants all to be saved.

Israel: The Jewish State

On Wednesday April 29th 2009 Israel celebrated 61 years since its establishment; nevertheless, amidst the festivities celebrating 61 years of independence were heard the questions of whether Israel should exist at all and if yes whether Israel has the right to be a Jewish state.

The Jewish State was extablished in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust, which claimed six and a half million Jewish lives. The Jewish people started trickling into their ancient homeland the late nineteen century after almost two thousand years of fleeing death and persecution in a hostile and anti-Semitic world. The state was to be, as envisioned by Theodor Herzl and Zionist leaders that succeeded him, a place of refuge for a victimised and battered people: security could only be achieved in a national homeland--a state for the Jewish people.

(see article on Theodor Herzl; April 2009)

In 1917 the Balfour Declaration drew up the British Mandate of Palestine which was intended to be the Jewish National Home.

In 1922, in response to Arab pressure, Britain violated the Mandate and cut off 77% of Palestine, and created the Hashemite knigdom of Transjordan forbidding Jewish settlement there. Over 70% of Jordanians are Palestinian Arabs.

The 1947 UN Resolution 181 recommended partitioning the remaining Palestine Mandate between Jew and Arabs. Jewish leaders accepted it even though their portion comprised only 13% of the original Mandate and 60% of it was the arid Negev desert. Arab leaders rejected the offer and instead went to war to seize the whole area and eliminate Israel.

"The war was declared by the Arabs, after their rejection of the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine (UN General Assembly Resolution 181) that would have created an Arab state and a Jewish state."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab-Israeli_War

David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the state of Israel on May 14 1948 a day before the British Mandate over Palestine was to expire. Israel was immediately recognised by the United States three days later by the Soviet Union and later by Iran, the United Nations and many other countries.

On the day that followed the declaration of the state of Israel, Israel was attacked by Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Jordan. They were aided by volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Lybia and Yemen.

If the Arabs had accepted the partition plan they would now be celebrating independence together with Israel. Instead, they have relentlessly attacked Israel and Israel has been forced to defend itself against the declared goal of total annihilation.

The question of whether Israel should exist and if the Jewish people are entitled to a state is, under natural circumstances, not even worthy of an answer; nevertheless, because it is Israel we are discussing, double standards and unfair, unwarranted criticism, judgment and anti-Semitism are the main characters thereby eliminating natural processes and responses and creating the need to justify and explain the existence of the state strictly for the purpose of educating those who are otherwise ignorant to the facts and influenced and swayed by erroneous public opinion and false propaganda supplied in abundance by the media.

It is pathetic that Muslims are offended by the representation of Israel on world maps and even more pathetic that any company of any nation would remove a country from a map for marketing purposes. What do they call the land between the Jordon and the Mediterranean? It cannot be called Palestine: such a state does not exist yet--although many a map does say Palestine. Is the land left nameless?

The state of Israel has existed since 1948, although there has been a continuous Hebrew/Israelite/Jewish presence in the land for 4000 years: Abraham led Hebrew tribes to the land and settled there 4000 years ago; Joshua and the Israelites entered and settled in the land 3,500 years ago and Jerusalem has been the centre of Judaism for the last 3000 years. I guess that is still not enough to get Israel on some maps.

The Muslim Countries are in Green.

Can you see Israel? It looks like two little red specks. It is under Turkey.

World Muslim Population: 1.2 Billion (1,200 Million)

The Jewish Population of Israel/World: 5.8 Million/15 Million

The Jewish people are entitled to a state after two thousand years of persecution and death as refugies in exile; the state has every right to be a Jewish state.

Let us examine for a moment the implications of this much discussed topic. What does it actually mean to have a Jewish State? Does is mean that it is a state only for Jews? Certainly not! There are 7,411,000 Israelis on the eve of Israel's 61st Independence Day, according to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Monday afternoon.

About 75.5 percent, or 5,593,000, of Israelis are Jews, 1,498,000 are Arabs (20.2%), while "Others" - immigrants and their offspring who are not registered as Jews by the Interior Ministry - number 320,000 (4.3%).

Jewish state simply means a democratic state with a Jewish majority that secures the Jewish character of the state by electing a government that guarantees the security of the Jewish people and protects the rights of its citizens to celebrate of the Jewish holidays, the observance of the Sabbath and the observance of Judaism. The argument that Zionism--the aspirations of the Jewish people for a national home--is racist should be perceived by each person in relation to his own national aspirations and loyalty.

In order for the state to preserve its Jewish character, it has to maintain a Jewish majority. Israel has a population of seven and a half million. 5.8 are Jewish and 1.5are Arab and there are about 300,000 who are neither Arabic nor Jewish. This means that approximately 25% of Israel's population is not Jewish. If there were to be a non-Jewish majority, as a democratic state, non-Jews could determine the future of a state that was founded as a national home for the Jewish people and Israel would lose its Jewish character.

Nations and states have a religious, cultural identity and character by default.

Consider that many countries have flags with a cross or a crescent moon, symbols which are clearly religious.

The European Union, with its long Catholic history, expresses its religious affiliation in its design of the European Union flag. The European Union has often been called a Christian club and has shown reluctance to accepting Turkey--a Muslim country of over 70 million--with fears that such a large influx of Muslims would jeopordise Europe's Christian character.

The circle of stars bears a striking similarity to the twelve star halo of the virgin Mary seen in Roman Catholic art. The flag's designer, Arsène Heitz, has acknowledged that the Book of Revelation (which is where the twelve-star halo of the Virgin Mary was first mentioned) helped to inspire him. Revelation 12:1 is cited to explain the symbolism: " A great sign appeared in the heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars". ( A crown of stars can be interpreted as a "Crown of Immortality"). It has been noted that the date the flag was adopted, 8 December 1955, coincided with the Catholic Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast decreed in 1854 by Pope Pius ix.

Contrary to what Islam and Roman Catholicism would have you believe, the Jewish people have never been out neither to proseletise nor to conquer.

In fact, the Rabbis make it considerably difficult for an individual to convert as a process of filtering out those who are in in for ulterior motives. You would think that considering the demographics problem that Israel has been facing that Israel would make conversion an easy process as a means of increasing the Jewish population; nevertheless, this is not the case: it is not easy to become Jewish.

Concerning land: the Jewish people have not had a state since the Roman expulsion in the second century A.D. and they haven't sought any other land to claim their own besides the land of Israel, their homeland and the land of their forefathers. The state of Israel has made concessions and land for peace agreements which have jeopordised its security for the sake of acheiving a peaceful existence.

History and a map of the world will show you that conquest and proselytising belongs to Roman Catholicism and to Islam.

A video I received on Muslim Demographics

The land mass under their possession and the sheer number of their adherence make it quite obvious that Islam and Catholicism have an agenda: convert and conquer or conquer and convert.

A video on the Issues being Discussed

I find it absolutely absurd that I have to put together an article to justify the existence of a nation; nevertheless, for reasons I have already mentioned and with the amount of negative publicity and misunderstanding surrounding the state of Israel, I consider it of utmost importance to provide the opportunity to see the issues presented from a different perspective.

The Jewish people are entitled to a state: the state has every right to be a Jewish state.

He Came To Die For Our Sins

Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34)

The Lord Jesus prayed these words while on the cross completing and fulfilling the very reason for which he came to this earth.

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. (John 10:17,18)

As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
(John 10:15)

Jesus the Messiah was born into this world to teach and to heal, to open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, to cast out evil spirits and to heal the crippled and rasie the dead.

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. (Isaiah 42:1)

To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. (Isaiah 42:7)

He performed miracles to show forth the mighty power of God and that people might believe in Him and when his time had come he offered himself a sacrifice for the sins of humanity.

John the baptist introduced him as "The lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world."

There cannot be remission of sins without the shedding of blood.

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22 )

Up until the destruction of the second temple in the year 70 A.D. , the priests of Israel offered up animal sacrifices to atone for their own sins and for the sins of the people. With the destruction of the temple, both the priesthood and animal sacrifices were rendered obsolete.

The Pharisees, who were the forebearers of rabbinic Judaism, naturally took asumed the role of rabbis and priests of the people of Israel. Animal sacrifices were no longer possible and when most of the Jewish people were exiled from their homeland by the Romans in 135 A.D. new laws and rituals were instituted to replace animal sacrifices with regards to atonement for sin.

Jesus, the Lamb of God and faithful high priest, sacrificed himself for the sins of the world fulfilling God's plan of salvation and rendering unnecessary both the priesthood and animal sacrifices.

For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
(Heb 7:26-27)

When Adam and Eve sinned they died spiritually and started dying naturally. Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden and from the presence of God. The virus of sin was passed on to their children and to all of humanity. Immediately after that first sin, the Lord himself, acting as high priest, offered the first animal sacrifice covering Adam and Eve's nakedness and teaching us that without the shedding of blood their can be no remission of sins.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

(Leviticus 17:11 )

Cain's offering of the fruit of the ground was not acceptable to God. Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and found favour in the eyes of the Lord.

Abraham was commanded to offer up his son of promise, Isaac. While they were travelling up to mount Moriah to the site of the sacrifice, Isaac asked his father, "father, we have the wood and the fire for the sacrifice, but where is the lamb?" Abraham answered, "God will provide for himself a lamb." The Lord prevented Abraham from harming Isaac. Abraham sacrificing His son was to be a picture of God's plan to sacrifice his own son Jesus, the lamb of God.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
(Isaiah 53:7-12)

To focus on Jesus' death and to throw blame on his accusers and harbour hatred and resentment towards those responsible for his crucifixion is to deny God's plan of salvation: Jesus the Lamb of God, came to die!

Jesus knew why he had come to earth. He knew that he was going to die. He knew that he would rise from the dead.

From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. (Matthew 16:21)

When revealing this to his disciples Peter responded in his defence:

Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
(Matthew 16:22-23)

Peter was concerned with Jesus' death and failed to see the miracle of the resurrection: Jesus is alive!

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

(Psalm 16:10)

He came to offer himself a sacrifice for our sins; he was raised from the dead; he appeared to many; he was taken up into heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father.

The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. (Psalm 110:1)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

Around 4000 B.C. Creation

Adam and Eve sin and are thrown out of the garden. The God of Israel—true high priest—makes an animal sacrifice to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness. There can be no remission of sins without the shedding of blood.

2000 B.C. - Abram is called

Ishmael is born.

Isaac is born and Abraham is commanded to sacrifice him to God as an offering. Abraham obeys and is prevented by the Lord who says that he will provide a lamb. This foreshadows the Lamb of God who is sacrificed for the sins of the world.

Jacob is born and after struggling with the angel of the Lord he is renamed Israel.

Israel has twelve sons who are to be the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. Israel blessed all of his sons before his death and Judah was blessed with the kingdom. King David was from the tribe of Judah, hence the name Judaea and the Jews. after the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity, all the people were reunited in Judaea.

Joseph is sold into captivity and after much suffering is instated to the highest position of authority in the land of Egypt after Pharaoh.

Jacob-Israel-and his eleven sons are brought to Egypt out of the famine in Canaan and they and their families settle in the land of Goshen. The people of Israel grow and multiply and are oppressed by the Pharaoh. This begins the four hundred and thirty years of slavery in Egypt.

Moses-a levite- is born at a time when Pharaoh is killing all the males of the people of Israel. Moses' mother places him in a basket and sends him floating down the nile to be found by Pharaoh's daughter and taken into Pharaoh's palace where he is raised as a son and prince of Egypt. When he is a man he discovers his past, kills and Egyptian to protect a fellow Israelite and flees to Midian where he marries and live until the Lord God of Israel reveals Himself to him and commands him to go to Egypt to set his people free.

Moses relunctatly goes to Egypt and God pours his wrath upon Egypt. The people of Israel are set free by the blood of the lamb on the door posts, led through the red sea and through the wilderness for forty years and into the land of Canaan which was promised to Abraham four hundred and thirty years earlier.

Moses dies and does not enter the land. Instead Joshua leads the people of Israel into the land. After Joshuas's death judges rule in the land.

My Testimony in Brief

I was born in Famagusta, Cyprus in 1973. In 1974, as a result of the Turkish invasion, my family and I moved to England until 1982 at which time we moved back to Cyprus and settled in a small coastal town called Larnaca.

After high school and the army I travelled to New York where I played music and went to University amongst other things.

In the beginning of 1998 whilst running a small home based computer business, my life long search for God culminated in me confessing my sins to the God of Israel, asking for forgiveness and being born again. I fell in love with Jesus and my life changed.

In the summer of 1998, after spending the last few months alone in elevated excitement reading the Bible and learning about Jesus, I decided to leave New York and travel back to Cyprus to lead a more quiet life.

In Cyprus I met many people from different walks of life who had had a similar experience to me: in fact what happened to them spiritually was identical to what had happened to me: they were born again.

I spent seven months in Cyprus living with my mother in Larnaca and spending a lot of time with my brothers and sisters in the Lord from a few different fellowships on the island.

In the beginning of 1999 I felt drawn to leave Cyprus and travelled to England where I spent the next five months working in a factory that made showerheads, selling ice-cream on an ice-cream van and enjoying wonderful fellowship with believers I had met in England. It is there where while reading the book of Revelation--it could have been any book of the Bible really--I began to fall in love with Israel and the people of Israel and set off on an amazing journey and a new life.

In August of 1999, I travelled back to New York and started studying History with a focus on Jewish history, Biblical criticism and Hebrew language.

In the spring of 2000 I started working at a French-American restaurant in the centre of Manhattan that I later discovered was owned and run by Israelis. My connection to the restaurant was the Greek general manager who left the following summer.

As my love for Jesus grew, so did my love for Israel. I was a member of the Hillel Jewish club at my university as well as the Intervarsity Christian fellowship. In the summer of 2002 I received a scholarship from my department--the Hebrew department--to take an intensive, advanced Hebrew grammar course at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, a seminary that trains conservative rabbis. I loved the course. Just before the course started, I met Dana, who was to become my wife. In September 2002, we left New York and after a brief stint in England and Cyprus landed in Israel.

We have three daughters, Emma, 16; Zoe, 12 and Sophia, 9.

We live in Rehovot, Israel.

Images of the Messiah: The Appointed Time

Joseph was the eleventh son of Jacob. Jacob is also called Israel. I suppose that Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son not only because, as the text says, he was the son of his old age-for he had another son by Rachel, Benjamin- but also because he was the most good in heart and obedient to the good will of his father.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. Genesis 37:3

His brothers also despised Joseph because of the love that the father had for him.

And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. Genesis 37:4

God reveals something to Joseph that will come to pass years down the road: He gives him two dreams which are alike in that Joseph becomes the saviour of his own family. When he repeats the dreams to his father and to his brothers, his brothers hate him even more; but his father keeps these things in his heart.

And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. Genesis 37:8

Years later, another son of Israel, Moses, is faced with a similar rebuke by one of his own brothers: When Moses saw two Hebrews fighting, he said to the offender:

"Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, "Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?" Exodus 2:13,14

It appears that God had revealed to Moses that the time would come when he would deliver the people of Israel out of the house of bondage by his hand; however, his own people who were in dire need of salvation and liberation were not yet ready to receive him.

Joseph is sold by his brothers into slavery and finds himself in the Kingdom of Egypt where God-- after much trial and temptation--raised him to a position of great authority in the land of Egypt: Joseph was second only to Pharaoh.

Meanwhile back in Canaan, Jacob is grieving for his son Joseph. Joseph's brothers know in their hearts that they have committed a great injustice. There is a famine in the land and Joseph's brothers are sent by their father to Egypt where there is much grain because of Joseph's wise and Godly stewardship.

Thence the dreams which Joseph had prophetically dreamt years before are in this very moment fulfilled: His brothers who had rejected him, and hated him because of the goodness of his heart and because of the hardness of their heart, have now come to bow down before Joseph, who has been raised by God, to a position of power and majesty: he is their saviour and deliverer.

We notice a pattern forming throughout the Bible: Those who are highly esteemed by men are not necessarily esteemed highly by God.

But the Lord said to Samuel: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7b

Joseph is first rejected by his own family, but is chosen by God to do a marvelous work of salvation. At the appointed time, the Lord opens their hearts and their eyes and they accept Joseph.

Moses is rebuked for his efforts to reconcile two of his brothers who are fighting and in effect is rejected as a leader, only to be accepted and followed at God's appointed time.

David--before becoming king of Israel-- had an almost identical experience after Samuel had anointed him. He went to the camp where Goliath was provoking the Israelites and he inquired about what was happening, with the intention of fighting the giant himself. He was ridiculed by his brother Eliab and rejected by the rest of his brothers.

And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. 1 Samuel 17:18

In Psalm 118 David says, “the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our sight.”

The Bible speaks of another king that arises, and is rejected by His brothers only to be accepted at the fulfillment of the age when God opens their eyes and their hearts. This one is the Messiah, the King of Israel.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:3-6

But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. Mark 6:4.

Read Posts in the Correct Order

Dear Readers,

Please make sure that all posts are read in the correct order.

They have been labelled: Part i, Part ii and so on and so forth.

As of yet, Blogger hasn't a way to re-order posts; I hope that future versions will include such a feature.


Happy reading,

Dionysis

Theodor Herzl: The Jewish State Part iii

Part iii

Herzl believed that the establishment of a Jewish State would see the end of anti-Semitism and therefore the end to the Jewish problem.

“If we only begin to carry out the plans, Anti-Senitism would stop at once and for ever. For it is the conclusion of peace.” 23

He failed to see how much the world would shrink due to technology, the mass media, and communications.

“In order to assess the status of Israel in the international community, it may be useful to look at the Middle East’s only democracy as ‘the Jew among the nations.’” 24

The nation of Israel is in the land; but it is surrounded by hostile nations.

“… No other civilized nation in the history of the world-including totalitarian and authoritarian regimes-has ever been as repeatedly, unfairly and hypocritically condemned and criticized by the international community as Israel has been over the years.” 25

Herzl saw that the Jews could not achieve national actualization while they were living as foreigners in foreign lands where they were not welcome, and where they were fiercely persecuted and denied the rights to live as citizens of the state. He recognized that the Jews were a nation without a home, and that they needed a home in which they may grow and conduct there own affairs in the way that they saw fit. Herzl did not see that eventually, the same international community in which they were suffering for almost two thousand years would bereave them of their freedom to conduct their political affairs in the way that they see fit.

Israel: The Jew among the nations is right!

For I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for war: The city shall be captured, the houses plundered, and the women violated; and a part of the city shall go into exile. But the rest of the population shall not be uprooted form the city. Then the LORD will come forth and make war on a day of battle. On that day, He will set His feet on the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall split across from east to west, and one part of the Mount shall shift to the north and the other to the south, a huge gorge. And the Valley in the Hills shall be stopped up as it was stopped up as a result of the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah.-And the LORD my God, with all the holy beings, will come to you. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one LORD with one name. 26

Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God, the LORD is One. 27

Theodor Herzl died in 1906, forty-two years before the declaration of the Jewish State by David Ben-Gurion on May 14th 1948. His work and his vision were truly prophetic and miraculous; and his leadership was of epic proportion. His words ring in our ears today:

“Therefore I believe that a wondrous generation of Jews will spring into existence. The Maccabeans will arise once again. Let me repeat once more my opening words: The Jews who wish will have their State.” 28

References

1 Lloyd P. Gartner, History of the Jews in Modern Times (Oxford, 2001), 251

2 Carl E. Schorski, The Journal Of Modern History (1967), 373

3 Essays and Addresses by Theodor Herzl, translated from the German by Harry Zohn, Zionist Writings, Volume One: January, 1896-June, 1898, (Herzl Press, New York, 1973), 16-17

4 Edited by Gideon Shimoni and Robert S. Wistrich, Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999), 162

5 Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943), 19

6 Ibid., 92

7 Ibid., 94

8 Edited by Gideon Shimoni and Robert S. Wistrich, Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999), 15

9 Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943), 17

10 Ibid., 18

11 Ibid., 76

12 Edited by Gideon Shimoni and Robert S. Wistrich, Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999), 140

13 Ibid., 87

14 Ibid., 122

15 Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943), 27

16 Essays and Addresses by Theodor Herzl, translated from the German by Harry Zohn, Zionist Writings, Volume One: January, 1896-June, 1898, (Herzl Press, New York, 1973), 13

17 Edited by Gideon Shimoni and Robert S. Wistrich, Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999), 322

18 Stephen M. Wylen, Settings of Silver (New York, 2000), 390

19 Edited by Gideon Shimoni and Robert S. Wistrich, Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999), 172-173

20 Ibid., 161-162

21 Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943), 63

22 Edited by Gideon Shimoni and Robert S. Wistrich, Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999), 304

23 Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943), 110

24 Alan M. Dershowitz, Israel: The Jew among the Nations (2002). Nativ is a publication of the Ariel Center for Policy Research (ACPR). ‘The doors of Nativ are open to diverse subjects and authors, on the understanding that all texts published will serve as stimuli for high-level debate on issues of vital interest to Israel.’

25 Ibid.

26 Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (Jewish Publication Society) Zechariah 14:1-5;9

27 The Holy Bible (King James Version) Deuteronomy 6:4

28 Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943), 111

Bibliography

Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943)

Zionist Writings, Volume One: January, 1896-June, 1898, (Herzl Press, New York, 1973)

Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999) Lloyd P. Gartner, History of the

Jews in Modern Times (Oxford, 2001) Stephen M. Wylen, Settings of Silver (New York, 2000)

The Holy Bible (King James Version) Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (Jewish Publication Society)

Theodor Herzl: The Jewish State Part 1

This is the first part of a paper on Theodor Herzl that I wrote at University in 2001

Theodor Herzl: The Jewish State (Part i)

Theodor Herzl was born in Budapest on May 2nd 1860 into a wealthy assimilated Jewish family. His parents did not teach him Jewish ways or customs; so he knew little about Jewish thought and Jewish writings. Herzl’s mother was educated in a secular institution; and his father had given up religious life, although Herzl’s grandfather was a religious Jew who knew some of the earlier pioneers of Zionism.

A native of Budapest whose prosperous family was German in its culture, with a grandfather who had known early proto-Zionist leaders, Herzl grew up in a conventionally liberal Jewish atmosphere with little Judaic knowledge. 1

Herzl’s mother encouraged him to study German literature, and Herzl became an avid reader. When he was just a young boy, he formed a small literary group with his classmates called ‘We’, in which they would study, and further their understanding of German culture. Even though he experienced anti-Semitism whilst growing up in Budapest, he never, until his conversion to the Zionist cause, ceased to be an ardent assimilationist.

“Even as experience consumed his hopes, his central concern still remained to save gentile society, in which case the Jewish problem would take care of itself.” 2

In 1878 after the death of his sister, the Herzl family moved to Vienna. In Vienna, Theodor Herzl studied law, and was a member of a fraternity until the day when the fraternity decided that it would no longer accept Jews as members. Those who were already members were permitted to remain; but Herzl decided that he would move on. He graduated in 1884 as Doctor of Laws. He found work in Salzburg; and faced again with the limited prospects of promotion in that city, he began to travel and write plays.

“I would have liked to remain in that beautiful city, but as a Jew I would never have been promoted to a judgeship. For that reason I said farewell both to Salzburg and to legal learning.” 3

In the interim, he got married and had three children; and in 1891, he was offered a post in Paris as the foreign correspondent for the Neue Freie Presse, a Vienna newspaper, although up until that moment he had no interest in politics. It is evident that these four years as a political journalist, equipped him with the knowledge, and instilled in him the compulsion to write his own thoughts on the solution to the Jewish question. Two months before he left Paris, in 1895, he wrote his monumental work, Der Judenstaat, The Jewish State. It was truly a prophetic work, and an objective solution to the Jewish problem, penetrating the Jewish Community from the outside, and stirring up emotions and hopes that had not been felt since Simon Bar Kochba led his military rebellion against the Roman Empire in 132-135 C.E.

It is interesting to note how his little prior involvement with the Jewish people, became to him a valuable asset in promoting political Zionism. He was not proposing a Jewish solution to the Jewish problem. He was not envisioning a Jewish state, but a state for the Jews.

'A nation has the right to a state’ was defined by Herzl not in terms of culture, language, folklore and history, but in terms of universal rights. 4

Herzl understood that the Jews could not live a liberated life in Europe, or anywhere in the world, because where the Jews go the Jews are persecuted.

The Jewish question exists wherever Jews live in perceptible numbers. Where it does not exist, it is carried by Jews in the course of their migrations. We naturally move to those places where we are not persecuted, and there our presence produces persecution. 5

Herzl is interested in the Jews having the opportunity to conduct their own political affairs, in a land that is their own, in a land in which they may raise their children in freedom, without discrimination or persecution; where they may reach the highest heights of their heart’s desire, because their state offers them the unhindered opportunity to do so.

“The Jewish people are at present prevented by the Diaspora from conducting their political affairs themselves. Besides, they are in a condition of more or less severe disability in many parts of the world.” 6

Herzl’s disassociation from the Jewish people--which until that point were a religious group with no substantial independent political voice--and his involvement and understanding of gentile politics, gave him a platform from which to preach a political message to the Jews: it was a gentile solution for a Jewish problem.

“This pamphlet is intended to open a general discussion on the Jewish Question. Friends and foes will take part in it; but it will no longer, I hope, take the form of violent abuse of sentimental vindication, but of a debate, practical, large, earnest and political.” 7

Herzl is calling for change. He himself experienced a change; and he is calling on his people to change.

“In 1895, Theodor Herz underwent a dramatic conversion from Austo-German assimilationist to Zionist.” 8

Herzl had his own conception of Jewishness; and it seems that he thought very little of the current Jewish capacity for successful political action. He criticizes the Jews for crying:

“We depend for sustenance on the nations who are our hosts, and if we had no hosts to support us we would die of starvation.” 9

After speaking of the lack of resourcefulness of the Jews, he says:

“But I do not want to take up the cudgels for the Jews in this pamphlet.” 10

Herzl wishes to arouse the people to a new and progressive way of thinking: A way of thinking that will provide the impetus for action that will open up for them a door out of the ghetto, and into their own place.

The ghetto subsists still, though its walls are broken down. 11

Herzl had never concerned himself directly with the Jewish problem until his conversion to Political Zionism, because he truly believed that the enlightened gentile society, of which he was a part, would gradually fully accept the Jews. Full emancipation, to Jews in Austria, was granted in 1887; but emancipation did not mean acceptance and assimilation.

References and Bibliography in the final part of this paper.

Theodor Herzl: The Jewish State Part ii

Part ii

The Dreyfus trial in 1894 served as a catalyst that would drive home the now undeniable realities and results of anti-Semitism in Europe, and the possibility of such outcomes due to anti-Semitism in any land where the Jews were merely guests.

In Austria, with the failure of Liberalism, and the ascendance to power of anti-Semite delegates in the municipal assembly-such as Karl Lueger of the Christian Social Party who was elected to mayor of Vienna in 1895-anti-Semitism acquired a political representation. This was a clear indication that the very existence of the Jews in Austria was at risk.

For Herzl this was a clear sign of the collapse of political stability in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in general and the undermining of the status of the Jews in particular. 12

Lichtenstein-co-founder with Karl Lueger of the Austrian Christian Social Party-declared that anti-Semitism was an integral part of his ideology and politics. He cited the antagonism towards the Jews, created by their domination of the Austrian credit business, as the main reason for the success of his party. 13

In France, in 1884, Captain Alfred Dreyfus was convicted in a court martial of selling French military secrets to the Germans. Although the evidence pointed to his innocence, false witnesses fabricated evidence that led to his conviction. When a new trial was held in 1898, and the accuser who was found to be with false testimony committed suicide, huge support arose from the masses to support his widow, and to cry out against the Jews. Herzl maintained that Dreyfus could not have been guilty of the crime of which he had been accused, because when a Jew reaches the desirable and honorable position of power and authority in gentile society-when one is accepted and thus assimilated-he will not risk losing this much-valued acquired status. The anti-Semitism that was stirred up in the masses during the Dreyfus Affair led Herzl to seriously consider a solution to the Jewish Question. All these elements combined necessitated the founding of a Jewish state.

In September 1899 in an article he wrote called “Zionism”, he wrote:

“You see, what made me a Zionist was the Dreyfus trial.” 14

"No human being is wealthy or powerful enough to transplant a nation from one habitation to another. An idea alone can compass that: and this idea of a state may have the requisite power to do so. The Jews have dreamt this kingly dream all through the long nights of their history. ‘Next year in Jerusalem’ is our old phrase. It is now a question of showing that the dream can be converted into a living reality." 15

Herzl is acknowledging that throughout all the centuries in the galut, the Jews have always had a desire in their hearts to return to the land of their forefathers. There has always been a connection between the Jewish nation, and the land of Israel. He says though, that the Jews have been dreaming about it throughout the centuries, without any action towards the realization of that dream.

He is the one who is putting forward the idea; and he is the one who is laying the groundwork, the foundation, for its materialization. He is the sublime figure that encapsulates this idea: he is the personification of this idea that has the requisite power to rise up a nation oppressed, to the military victories we see just forty two years after his death.

He made a journal entry in 1896, which suggests that he was aware of the magnetism that he held over the people:

"As I sat on the platform of the workmen’s stage on Sunday I experienced strange sensations. I saw and heard my legend being born. The people are sentimental; the masses do not see clearly. I believe that even now they no longer have a clear image of me. A light fog is beginning to rise around me and it may perhaps become the cloud in which I shall walk." 16

The first Zionist Congress took place in Basle, Switzerland, on August 29th 1897. The man responsible for organizing the congress and the central figure of the congress was Theodor Herzl. It was attended by nationalist Jewish leaders from all over the world. The aim of Zionism is to create a national home for the Jewish people. It is to bring the Jewish people from the Four Corners of the earth, to an internationally recognized and secure border in the land of Palestine. Herzl wrote in his diary on September 3rd 1897:

"If I were to sum up the Congress in a word-which I shall take care not to publish-it would be this: At Basle I founded the Jewish State. If I said this out loud today I would be greeted by universal laughter. In five years perhaps, and certainly in fifty years, everyone will perceive it." 17

Just over fifty years after this diary entry, this prediction is fulfilled.

Theodor Herzl was not the first to consider the foundation of a Jewish state as a valid solution to the Jewish problem; but he is the first to propose a tangible plan of action for the realization of such a cause. His objectivity due to his ignorance with regards to Jewish matters may have been his greatest asset.

Herzl decided that the only solution was for the Jews to have a state of their own. He was so unlearned in Jewish affairs that he did not know that many other Jews had proposed such a solution before him. Working only from his own thoughts, Herzl went home and wrote a book, The Jewish State, in which he outlined his proposal. 18

Herzl even claimed at a later time, that:

“Had I known Pinsker’s writings, I would not have written 'The Jewish State'.” 19

Innovative leadership is usually a function of the leaders’ freedom of maneuver. When he began, Herzl was free of any cultural conditioning. Unaffected by tradition, national images and historical precedents, he burst boldly into a flight of imagination. 20

The writings of Leon Pinsker and of Moses Hess and of Nathan Binbaum scan back almost three decades before Herzl ever considered political Zionism. Hovevi Zion, and other Zionist groups, existed and proposed the slow migration to, and settlement of the Jews in Palestine. Herzl viewed this method as a slow one; and as one that was not politically sound, because it did not involve or have the open support of the political powers of the time. Herzl wanted Zionism to be supported by at least one world power: he wanted the establishment of the Jewish State to be the product of the combined efforts of the Jewish people and the gentile powers. He wants to recruit gentiles to his camp, who will help with the fulfillment of his plan.

“I have already mentioned that honest anti-Semites, whilst preserving their independence, will combine with our officials in controlling the transfer of our estates.” 21

Although there are differences and disagreements between Herzl, and the already existing Zionist groups, Herzl’s shrewd diplomacy, dispels any clouds that obscure the clarity of his vision. He thus consolidates the efforts and the support of practically all groups, and gets the ball of Political Zionism rolling.

In his opening address at the First Zionist Congress, Herzl declared that ‘Zionism constitutes a return to Judaism even before a return to the land of the Jews.’ This sentence has been subjected to considerable interpretation; there were even some Orthodox who saw it as an expression of Herzl’s return to traditional Judaism. Yet there can be no doubt that this was not the meaning intended by Herzl. It was nothing more than a romantic call for return to the ‘ancient home; to the Jewish past and the sense of national togetherness, before the physical return to the land. 22