When speaking at Bible Schools, visiting teachers are often asked to provide a “light” evening. The following was presented at two schools.
Dear Brother Thomas,
I have not had the pleasure yet of becoming personally acquainted with you save through your writings, nor will my name be familiar to you for the simple reason that I was not born until 80 years after your death I am a Christadelphian, one of the community of believers who have held fast to the Truth you so diligently sought and proclaimed We owe you a great debt of gratitude for your labors on our behalf.
Over 100 years have passed since you fell asleep in Christ That the return of Christ has been so long delayed, so contrary to your expectations, will no doubt come as a surprise for you at the resurrection Yet we do not lose heart World affairs unambiguously declare the imminence of Jesus’ great day, and we wait with heads and hearts uplifted, rejoicing that our redemption draws near.
Given this assurance, it doesn’t seem terribly unreasonable to be writing a letter to you.
What a change!
Lying in bed the other night it occurred to me how strange the world will seem to you when you awake Did you ever consider what a changed world you lived in from, say, the apostle Paul? Did you ever wonder by what means he would be made aware of those changes when he awakes? Perhaps it will be the work of angels to “bring him up to date” or perhaps it will be the work of fellow saints It would seem a large assignment, seeing how much the world changed between the first and 19th centuries.
But those changes pale m comparison with the changes of this 20th century You once described 1848 as an annas mirabilis, a “year of marvels” The technological advances and historical events of this twentieth century are such that you will surely call this a “century of marvels”, it is a century that has no rival.
Just for instance sitting on my desk here is an implement that I can use to talk with virtually anyone, anywhere on earth In a matter of seconds, I can be carrying on a conversation with brothers and sisters in Australia, with each of our voices faithfully and instantaneously reproduced in the other’s hearing How does this wonder work, you ask? By electronically conveying my voice over wires from my house, off to a station where it is transmitted through the air to a satellite circling the earth, which then transmits the same signal to a station in Australia, whence it is conducted to the house of my Australian brother or sister Astounding? Something reserved only for the rich and powerful? Not any more the “telephone” is such a commonplace item that almost every home in the western world has one, and few people feel that they could live without it.
I would imagine you will find the technological advances of this century bewildering Man has invented great flying machines, “airplanes,” making travel over great distances simple I went on a business trip recently, traveling by airplane to Alaska from the east coast of the United States in about 14 hours.
Please do not think I am raving I speak the cold sober truth when I tell you that men have traveled to the moon, circled it, landed on it, and returned safely This and a thousand other technological marvels are only one part of the picture — in fact, the unimportant part.
Remarkable historical events
What is truly remarkable is the history of this century Knowing what a keen student of world affairs you were, I’m sure you will find it captivating God’s hand has clearly been at work in human affairs There is so much to write, I will first focus on God’s dealings with the Jews, later, I will write about the moral and social conditions of the 1990’s.
Where to begin in describing modern Jewish history? I suppose we need to go back to just shortly after your death, and consider the conditions faced by Jews in Russia Czarist oppressions that began before you were born reached their apex toward the end of your life Jewish villages were ransacked in vicious “pogroms”, assault and rape were commonplace Jewish boys under 10 years old were conscripted into the military for 25 years of mandatory service.
Such conditions led to massive emigration Britain and the United States, once having had doors open to oppressed Jewish refugees, became fearful of the overwhelming flood At the same time, the stirrings of the Zionist movement — a movement among many of the Jews to resettle Eretz Israel — were beginning to enthuse Jews around the world A charismatic Jewish leader named Theodor Herzl was the chief promoter of the idea He said (1898).
“I am introducing no new idea, on the contrary, it is a very old one It is a universal idea and therein lies its power, it is old as the people, which never, even in the time of bitterest calamity, ceased to cherish it This is the restoration of the Jewish State, we shall live at last, as free men, on our own soil, and die peacefully in our own home”
Zionist aspirations meshed with the far from altruistic goals of the British Government Britain offered the Zionists a place m East Africa, a sore temptation, given the circumstances of their oppression But this offer was rejected a Zionist spokesman, Chaim Weizmann, explained it this way to Arthur Balfour, a leading member of the British Parliament “Suppose you British were scattered, and someone offered you Pans, instead of London, would you accept it?” To which the response came, “But London is ours” “Yes,” said Weizmann, “and Jerusalem was ours when London was a marsh.”
Door opened to Israel
There have been, in this century, two wars of such far reaching import as to be designated “World Wars” Details of these wars will have to wait for future letters their horror is unspeakable there were tens of millions of lives lost and hideous weapons of mass destruction were developed and used The airplanes of which I spoke earlier were used to ram fiery death from the skies But for now I will only speak of some consequences of these wars One was the demise of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in 1918 at the end of World War I The British seized on this as an opportunity to protect their trade routes to India (Just as you anticipated in Elpis Israel)and appealed to the newly formed League of Nations to be given administrative control over “Palestine.”
With this goal in mind, the British government issued a declaration of sympathy with the Zionist cause In 1917, Arthur Balfour, British Foreign Secretary, issued what is now known as the “Balfour Declaration”
Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet
“His Majesty’s Government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation
Yours,
James Balfour
The exact wording of this declaration was incorporated into an internationally recognized treaty, the “Palestine Mandate”, which established British Government in the land
British help erratic
British motivation for this move was not altruism, there was always a mixture of feelings regarding the Jews, and some of the principal British administrators of the Holy Land were not terribly sympathetic to the Zionist cause For that matter, some of the leading European Jews, Jews who wished to be assimilated in the nations of their diaspora, were opposed to the creation “of Palestine as the Jewish homeland” (the wording of Balfour’s statement as originally advocated by Weizmann), they were partially responsible for the more ambiguous wording I’ve reproduced above.
The British Mandate over Palestine lasted until 1948 During the 1920’s and 1930’s many European Jews, and even some Jews from the United States, made their way to Palestine. They were supported by tremendous generosity of wealthy Jews around the world, they bought malarial swamps from the Arab population, drained them, and made the desert blossom But it was a difficult time, the ancient animosity of Jew and Arab grew and was reinforced, especially through the manipulations of Arab leaders For example, m 1929 Arab riots were directed at the Jewish settlers as a result of rumors that the Jews intended to defile the Moslem holy places These rumors were without foundation, planted by the Moslem “Mufti of Jerusalem” in an effort to solidify his political control.
Meanwhile, in Europe it became clear that Germany had finished its wounds from the first World War, and was rapidly preparing to seek revenge The humiliation Germany had experienced, including unrealistically punitive financial reparations to France, had bred a hostility that was embodied by Germany’s new leader, Adolph Hitler He was an utterly evil man, and like other evil rulers, used the perennial anti-Semitism of his nation to unite the German people behind him In 1919, he suggested the need of a national policy of which “the final objective must be the removal of the Jews” In his acceptance speech as leader of the Nazi party (1920), he said “It is our duty to arouse, to whip up, and incite m our people the instinctive repugnance for the Jew”
During the period of the British mandate over Palestine, many German Jews left their homes behind to seek peace in Eretz Israel.
An incredible thing happened For all that Britain had promised to support Zionist aspirations in Palestine, that support disappeared in the 1930’s, just when it was most needed A second world war was on the horizon England, desiring support against Germany and knowing that the Jews in Palestine would not side with Hitler, wanted to win over the Palestinian Arabs to their side And so, despite clear warnings of an imminent catastrophe, the British Government cut off Jewish immigration to Palestine in 1937, closing the door on many tens of thousands of Jews, who, as it was to turn out, had been fleeing for their lives.
Horrors of the Holocaust
The inevitable war came m 1939, with Germany first taking Austria, later Holland, Denmark and Poland, attacking France, Russia, and England For six years the world was in turmoil, from Europe to the Mediterranean, and into Africa, war even spread into Asia and to the Pacific Ocean, where Germany’s Japanese allies set out for conquest bringing the United States into the conflict.
While the world fought Hitler, Hitler fought a second battle, the goal of which was to bring about “the final solution of the Jewish problem” How can I describe the unthinkable — what I am about to tell you is a horror of horrors With grim efficiency, Germany rounded up almost all of the Jews in its own territory, and most in the territories it had conquered They were tightly packed into cattle cars and transported hundreds of miles to concentration camps — death camps There they were stripped of clothes and possessions, families were separated, the very young, the very old and the sick were immediately killed m enormous gas chambers The healthy were gradually worked to death, tortured, used as human guinea pigs in medical experiments, most soon died of starvation and exposure Six million Jews perished.
Britain’s efforts to win over Arab support were not fruitful as the Arabs joined m on the side of Hitler When the war ended in 1945, considering all the Jews had been through and recognizing the Arab world had been united with Hitler, one would think Britain would have allowed the remnant of the Jewish community to go to Palestine But a madness seemed to govern British administration of the Palestine mandate Jewish immigration was severely limited in a vain attempt to appease the Arabs of Palestine Nothing, however, could stop the flood of immigrants that came to the shores of Palestine They came in leaking, overloaded vessels, looking for the hope Herzl had expressed They came despite being fired on by British military vessels Always they came The words which best express it are Jeremiah’s.
“Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together a great company shall return thither.
“They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn
“Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock
“For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he” (Jeremiah 31 8-11)
Israel is established
World opinion so turned against Britain’s handling of the refugee problem, and there was such turmoil in Palestine, Britain decided she wanted out of the Mandate In 1947, Britain turned the matter over to the newly formed United Nations, the decision was made that Palestine should be partitioned into Jewish and Arab states, with equal shares of Jerusalem.
The Arab world was furious and vowed to destroy the new Jewish nation before it came into existence But on May 14, 1948, the British mandate ended, and a new nation named Israel was declared Five Arab armies were ready to pounce, their intention to “drive the Jews into the sea” Against impossible odds, Israel prevailed.
The conflict has continued over the last 50 years Israel has become stronger and stronger, militarily and economically, she has prevailed in war after war, frequently victorious when destruction seemed inevitable In 1967, Israel captured Jerusalem and made it her capital And the words of Zechariah are being fulfilled, “I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against ” Just a few weeks back, the Palestinian Arab leader, Yasser Arafat, said “Jerusalem is the core of the Palestinian cause, it is the key to peace and war m the region Peace will not be realized until Jerusalem returns to its legitimate owners as the capital of the independent Palestinian state”
The return is close
It would appear that Mr Arafat has a thing or two to learn But then, so does Israel In the main, Israel is a completely secular nation Her attitude is very well summarized by a statement of her first prime minister, five days after the nation came into existence.
“Never have we lost faith in the conscience of mankind Always we shall demand of the world what is Justly ours But morning and evening, day m and day out, we must remind ourselves that our existence, our freedom, and our future are in our own hands Our own exertions, our own capacity, our own will, they are the key” (David Ben Gunon, May 19, 1948).
Now we wait the time when “the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn away from transgression in Jacob”
Your brother in the hope of Israel,
Bill Link, Jr
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One