Signs Of The Times (Part 123 of 0)

Signs of the Times – Part unknown

A Time of Peace and Safety

Many of the wars that have been raging for years appear to be coming to an end. A cease fire has been called in the Iran-Iraq war. The Soviet Union has agreed to pull out of Afghanistan. Vietnam has agreed to talk about ending its occupation of Cambodia. South Africa, Cuba and Angola appear ready to negotiate a plan to get the Cubans out of Angola and grant independence from South Africa to Namibia.

Editorial writers and commentators have been speculating on the reasons for the relative calm that seems to be coming over the world. The weariness of the belligerents is one major factor. A more cooperative attitude between the Soviet Union and the United States is seen as perhaps even more important. In many of the trouble spots of the world the concerted action of the major powers through the United Nations, has brought the belligerents to the bargaining table whereas, before, the superpowers were allowing many third world nations to play them one against the other.

How long the euphoria will continue remains to be seen. One commentator has noted that September marks the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the infamous Munich Pact with Adolph Hitler. The agreement that a naive Neville Chamberlain extolled as “peace in our time.” A year later the most terrible war in history enveloped the world and af­fected in some way the lives of nearly everyone on earth. In I Thess. 5:3, the apostle Paul wrote that the unenlightened will be speaking of peace and safety when the destruction of the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night, but the children of light are prepared at all times.

A Barrier to Soviet Expansion Removed

The death of Pakistan’s President Zia ul-Haq and 29 others, including two American officials, in a plane crash in August removes from the scene the man some observers credit more than any other with the failure of the Soviet Union to win a victory in its eight year war in Afghanistan. Zia provided the leadership to place his nation in strong opposition to Soviet designs and provide the conduit for United States military aid to reach the Afghan resistance.

Although the successor to Zia is pledged to continue his policies, most observers agree that Pakistan will probably be weaker in the future. Zia’ s successors are thought to be less inclined to risk Soviet military retaliation for the support of the Mujahedin rebels and also less inclined to tolerate the domestic political problems created by the taking in of millions of Afghan refugees.

According to the report of United Nations observers, Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan is progressing on schedule and is expected to continue to do so. But with Zia gone, the pressure by the Mujahedin rebels on the puppet government in Kabul may falter and leave the Soviet puppet regime in control of the centers of population. If the new Pakistan leadership falls under Soviet domination, it will leave Turkey as the last pro-western nation on the Soviet Union’s southern border, from Europe to Vietnam.

Global Food Scarcity Predicted

As if droughts, global warming trends and ozone holes were not dreary enough, the think tank, World Watch Institute, reports that the world’s reserves of food grains will fall from 101 days to 54 days by the beginning of 1989, the sharpest one year drop ever in international grain stockpiles. Although the drop in itself is not expected to create an immediate crisis, the trend, if continued, may well mean food scarcity and higher prices in the 1990’s.

Drought in many parts of the world is blamed, with good harvests in Europe, India, and the Soviet Union being insufficient to offset the losses. Other factors affecting the long-term trend include lowering water tables due to excessive irrigation, soil erosion and reduction of the amount of land available for farming due to development to accommodate burgeoning populations.

Although some experts are hopeful that in the long term yields may be increased somewhat by new technology, they agree that another year of declining harvests may mean famine for many of the marginal food producing countries. Rising prices will seriously affect the food-aid programs such as Ethiopian relief. In 1973, when the grain stockpile dropped to 57 days, grain commodity prices doubled. With funds for third world aid already scarce, the outlook for victims of drought or disaster looks grim in the future if divine providence does not intervene.

Jordan Presents the PLO with an Opportunity

After King Hussein made his historic declaration in which he abandoned all Jordanian claims to the West Bank and Gaza territories, the question of how Israel should react was hotly debated in the Israeli government. These territories that Israel has occupied militarily since the 1967 war have been increasingly troubled by clashes between the civilian population and the Israeli mili­tary authorities. There has always been a faction in the Knesset that favored outright annexation of these territories regardless of world opinion. Since King Hussein’s declaration, the strength of this faction has grown dramatically. There is also much opposition to allowing an independent Palestinian state to be established.

Over the years, Israeli leaders have taken comfort in the fact that the Palestinians have been too disunited to agree on a policy that would get the backing of world opinion in favor of an independent Palestinian state. Now with Jordanian ties to the territories broken, the PLO is being challenged to play the role of the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Hard line Israeli politicians fear now that if the PLO were to accept United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 as well as recognize Israel’s right to exist, the U.S. government would pressure Israel to negotiate with the PLO over the future status of the territories.

Recently, repressive measures have been taken by the Israeli government which critics say are designed to destroy the infrastructure of a potential Palestinian state. A federation of 108 Palestinian charities, a press association, a federation of 45 trade unions and the professional societies of Palestinian lawyers, doctors and engineers were closed as organizations considered fronts for the PLO.

The Fatah, Yassir Arafat’s faction of the PLO is said to be testing the waters among the European Community countries regarding the formation of a government in exile to fill the void left by Jordan. Application for membership in the U.N. is also being considered but U.N. experts virtually rule out any such possibility on the grounds that the PLO controls no territory.

The many months of turmoil in the territories have opened to public debate a wide range of ideas for the solution of the problem. These range from the expulsion of the Arab population and annexation of the territories to direct talks with the Palestinians and unilateral withdrawal. In polls taken among the adult Jewish population in Israel, the pendulum is shown to be swinging in the direction of moving the Arabs out, a position which, if adopted, is almost certain to have serious public relations consequences among friends and foes alike.

Revival of Hebrew Language Considered Miracle by Scholars

Twenty years before the reestablishment of Israel as a nation, the great Semitic-language scholar, Theodor Noldeke, considered the Jewish goal of establishing Hebrew as a national language to be as remote as the dream of an independent homeland. He later was glad to admit that miracles had occurred on both counts. Contrary to the predictions of many experts, the once-dormant language of Biblical texts has grown from a base of about 7,500 words to become a viable modern language of over 150,000 words.

To assure the continued growth and use of the language, the Israeli Knesset in 1953 established the Academia Lelashon Ha’Ivrit — the Academy of the Hebrew Language — to continue and expand the work of the Hebrew Language Council founded in 1890. In addition to researching the historical roots of the language, the academy’s chief role is the day-to-day guidance of the nation in the maintenance of a clear and comprehensible medium of expression. It sets standards for grammar, pronunciation and spelling as well as developing the constantly expanding vocabulary needed for the functioning of a modern society.

Part of the Academy’s work is research into ancient writings. A major project is the compilation of a computerized concordance of Hebrew documents dating back to the 2nd century B.C. This is a step towards a complete lexicon or dictionary of Hebrew writing of all ages. Progress in the work is limited by funds available but promoters of the Academy have been seeking and receiving worldwide support.

The Academy is not without its critics, however. Some writers question the wisdom of enforcing purity of the language so vigorously that natural expression is hampered. Whether the language would survive without constant monitoring is also questioned since there is a very strong tendency to take foreign words intact and merely write them in Hebrew characters. One of the tasks of the Academy is to Hebraicise these words when they appear.

Thus, although the language has miraculously revived, much effort is needed to keep it alive. The student of the Scriptures may well wonder what will be its place in the future age when all the earth is of one language.

Rebellious Archbishop Excommunicated

The reforms that followed Vatican II were never popular with many conservative members of the Roman Catholic Church. Among the policies objected to are dialogue with non-Christian religions and the replacement of the Latin mass with the vernacular mass.

French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre has for years been a leader of the dissidents but until recently has been unwilling to break completely with the church. Last month, Lefebvre precipitated the first schism in the Roman Catholic Church in over 100 years when he raised four priests to the rank of bishop without papal mandate.

According to church law, this calls for immediate excommunication and the Vatican confirmed that Lefebvre and the four bishops were out of the church. Lefebvre, of course, considers the sanctions irrelevant since, in his estimation, the Vatican has departed, from the true faith. Now it remains to be seen if his followers, which he claims are in the millions worldwide, will make the difficult decision to stand up for what they believe.

Midwest Drought Renews Greenhouse Speculation

As the worst drought in 50 years withers the nation’s crops and makes its rivers unnavigable, scientists told the United States Congress that 1988 is well on its way to becoming the warmest year on record. Average temperatures worldwide have been rising for over a century and the five warmest years have occurred in the 1980’s. Scientists attribute this trend to the activities of the world’s burgeoning population that result in the discharging of ever larger quantities of the so-called “greenhouse” gases into the atmosphere.

While scientists say the greenhouse effect may not have specifically caused this year’s drought, they testified that droughts in the North-American interior are probably becoming more frequent because of the global warming trend.

Other scientists, while admitting that the rising temperatures in the last 100 years match predictions for the greenhouse warming, say the temperatures are still within range of the often poorly understood natural variations in climate. Since the length of time that accurate records have been kept on a global basis is relatively short, many feel that the evidence is not yet overwhelming enough to make the massive changes in policy necessary to reverse the trend politically feasible. Climate changes are only one of the many problems that the human race seems incapable of solving and bears out the words of the prophet that “it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”

French Jews Warned of Anti-Semitism

The growing strength of the extreme right wing National Front party, which received 4.5 million votes in the recent French presidential elections, has “lit a warning light for French Jews,” according to the Jerusalem Post. A number of Israeli Jewish emissaries working in France are using the threat of increased danger of persecution to urge emigration to Israel.

The French Jewish population is estimated to be 700,000 of which about 1,000 return to Israel each year. The goal of the Israeli “Aliya” Department is to encourage more Jews from all parts of the world to emigrate to Israel.

Jews of Yemen in Dire Straits

A letter from Yemen’s beleaguered Jews recently reached Israel calling for help in extricating them from their “hell” and charging that Israel is not responding to their pleas. The Yemenite Jews wrote: Our brothers, you know our suffering in exile and that we are living in hell, and our troubles are innumerable. We ask anyone who receives this letter to pass it on to the government of Israel. We have sent many letters but we believe that in Israel people are asleep and are ignoring us.”

They go on to plead with anyone getting the letter to help them emigrate to Israel – “with the help of God and of the government of Israel.”

Soviets’ Role in Mideast Increases

Israeli Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, met recently in Madrid with two senior Soviet officials, Aleksan­der Zotov and Aleksander Weber, who expressed the Soviet Union’s willingness to consider Israel’s views on the Middle East. On arriving in Madrid for the meeting, Peres said that the position of the Soviet bloc is “becoming more and more important” in the Middle East peace process.

Church of England Takes Step Toward Women Priests

The Church of England’s governing General Synod took one of many steps towards the ordination of women as priests when it voted by a narrow majority in favor of a bill that the Archbishop of Canterbury warned may break the church in two. Although favoring in principle the ordination of women, Archbishop Robert Runcie feels the time is not right for the measure and voted against it.

The bill has 13 more stages to go through including a final two-thirds vote of the General Synod before it can be put in effect around 1992. Consent of Parliament is also a requirement. Many members, including priests and bishops, have threatened to leave the church if women are ordained as priests.

Anglican churches in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Hong Kong already have women priests and are next expected to consider the question of women bishops.

A Scourge of Locusts Plagues Africa

In some parts of the world, the devastation wrought by that small insect, the locust, is nearly as bad as that of the fearsome plague described in Exodus 10:15 and the ability of mankind to prevent it is little better than it was then. Senegal, Upper Volta, Mali, Niger and Chad are desperately poor nations in that region of Africa just below the Sahara known as the Sahel. Just beginning to recover from a devastating drought and famine, many of these nations could find themselves back in famine conditions if the predicted loss of 20 to 30 percent of this year’s food crop takes place.

Experts at the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome predict the possibility of a resurgence of famine in these countries because conditions are right for vast swarms of locusts to move south and be blown across the region by a seasonal wind that usually occurs around June. A mobile spraying task force of planes, helicopters and jeeps is being assembled to try to cope with the problem. People who live in remote regions are being encouraged to report quickly to authorities any swarms they see so the insects can be sprayed.

Which insecticide to use is a matter of dispute. Dieldrin is considered the most effective insecticide for this purpose but it is a long-lasting chemical that has been shown to cause cancer. Its use has been banned by some North African countries as well as by the United States and other Western na­tions, making control of the insect more difficult.

The destructiveness of these insects is difficult to imagine. A typical swarm is said to cover about 150 square miles and each square mile can contain more than 100 million insects. The swarm is capable of eating hundreds of tons of vegetation in a single day.

Death of PLO Leader Stirs Protests

Although Israeli officials either denied involvement or refused to comment, the killing of the second in command of the Fatah faction of the PLO was typical of clashes between Palestinian and Israeli underground operations over the years. Khalil al Wazil, also known by the name Abu Jihad, was gunned down in his Tunis home in the pre-dawn hours of a Saturday morning in April by a hit team firing silenced sub-machine guns.

Although Yassir Arafat is the recognized leader of the PLO, Wazil was involved in most of the organization’s top decisions and was credited with coordinating and sustaining the uprisings in the occupied territories after the initial spontaneous clashes with Israeli police, which evidently were not the work of any organized group. Wazil is believed to have planned numerous terrorist attacks against Israel, among them the Negev bus attack earlier this year and the takeover of the Israeli embassy in Bangkok in 1972. He also directed the recruitment and training of terrorists and was involved in the planning of attacks on Israel across the Lebanese and Syrian borders.

Because of Wazil’s immense popularity among West Bank and Gaza Palestinians, the assassination touched off some of the most violent rioting to date. Some observers have cited Wazil’s fanaticism and brutality as a key element in giving the PLO the unrealistic expectation that its intense terrorist activity would aid the Palestinian people in gaining the better conditions they are seeking.

2600 Years of Jewish-Babylonian Exile Celebrated

As the modern state of Israel prepared to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its independence, the time seemed appropriate to open a new museum at the Babylon Jewish Heritage Cultural Center in Israel. From the sixth century B.C., when Nebuchadnezzar carried thousands of Jews into captivity in Babylon, until the mid-20th century when persecution drove them back to Israel, there has been a remnant who preserved their Jewish identity in the land that is present-day Iraq. In all that time, true to the words of Psalm 137, “they remembered Zion.” The culture they developed in the land of their exile will now be preserved in this Museum at Or Yahuda in Israel.

Although, after 70 years of captivity, Zerubbabel led many of the captives back to rebuild the Jerusalem temple and others returned later under Ezra and Nehemiah, many remained and prospered by the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Jewish learning and law were preserved and the Babylonian Talmud was completed here at the end of the fifth century. Until the 11th century, when the European Jewish communities eclipsed this community, it exerted a dominant influence on world Jewry.

At times through the centuries, persecutions were endured but at other times the community prospered. The eagerness with which these Jews embraced modern methods of business, commerce and education gained them not only an elite position in the Iraq of the 19th and early 20th centuries but persecution as well. By the mid-1930’s, their status was changed when laws were passed that had a restrictive effect on their livelihood and freedom of movement.

The anti-British and pro-Hitler policies of the Arab government in 1941 led to a bloody pogrom in which hundreds of Jews were murdered. Names of those who died are commemorated in the museum along with recognition for those Moslems who sheltered their Jewish neighbors. Many Jews were helped to escape to Israel by the Zionist underground and finally, in 1950, an operation named Operation Ezra and Nehemiah took 120,000 who were allowed to leave on condition that they relinquish their citizenship and their financial assets.

A number of the leaders of the Israeli government are of Iraqi descent, including the speaker of the Knesset, the minister of finance and the minister of health. The exhibits at the museum are reminders of the truth of the prophetic word that the God who scattered Israel would, in due time, return them to the land of promise.

Pope Names Arab to Jerusalem Role

When the position of Patriarch of Jerusalem for Catholics of the Latin rite became vacant recently due to retirement, Pope John Paul II appointed a Palestinian Arab Catholic to the post, according to a news service report. Although the Vatican is said to deny a political motive for the appointment, it will be the first time since the patriarchate was established in 1847 that someone other than an Italian-born prelate has held the top position.

The new Patriarch, Monsignor Michel Sabbah, 54, a Palestinian born in Nazareth, will replace Giacomo Gi­useppe Beltritti, 77, who has resigned because of his age. Two other Palestinian Arabs hold auxiliary positions in the Latin rite church which is part of the main segment of the Roman Catholic Church under the direct authority of the Pope.

A People Who Dwell Securely in a Land of Unwalled Villages (Ezk. 38)

A Brooking’s Institution study by a panel of Middle East specialists entitled “Toward Arab-Israeli Peace: Report of a Study Group” was reviewed in a recent issue of the Jerusalem Post and some of its conclusions are interestingly relevant to Bible prophecy. For nearly a year, a prestigious panel that included many former U.S. government specialists, such as former U.S. Ambassadors to Israel and Egypt, met at Brookings, the Washington think tank, to prepare the report which they hope will serve as a useful guide to the next U.S. administration.

“We envision a future in which borders would not be physical barriers” the study says. “Citizens of one political entity could live safely, and with recognized rights, elsewhere in the region; and economic transactions and movement of individuals would be subject to few restrictions.”

A 1975 Brookings study was highly influential in shaping the Middle East policy of the Carter administration. The new study, in which both American Arabs and American Jews were involved, calls for “creative thinking in trying to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict.”