Dividing God's Land

On December 23, 2016 the United Nations passed a resolution, with the US representative abstaining, to enforce their original division of Palestine and to create a two-state solution.

Many Christians are crying foul, as if the Palestinian state has no right to exist. They cite Joel 3:2, where God says He will judge those who “have divided up My land.” But prophecy is not always what men think it is. Oftentimes, in order for prophecy to be fulfilled, God has to blind people, for if they truly understood it, they would try to avoid it or would work against it.

A good example of this is when the chief priests crucified Jesus. (No, it was not the Romans who did it.) None of them understood that the sacrifices all prophesied of Jesus and His death on the cross to redeem the world. They did not know that it was necessary for Him to die to fulfill His mission. Their only motive was to prevent Him from claiming the position as Messiah, because He would have fired them from their positions of power and (worse yet) He would have made peace with the Romans!

So they blindly crucified Him, thinking they could dispose of their problem, not realizing that they were, in fact, fulfilling prophecy. Furthermore, the priests had to do it, because they were the only ones eligible to offer acceptable sacrifices to God at that time. There was no prophecy that commanded non-priests (such as the Romans) to make such a sacrifice.

So also has God blinded most of the Christians today in regard to the prophecy of the restoration of Israel and, in particular, the division of “My land.”

The Partition of Palestine

On November 29, 1947 the United Nations passed the Palestinian Resolution after debating it for eight days. The resolution called for a “Partition of Palestine,” giving the Zionist Jews a “homeland,” a portion of Palestinian land. That resolution did not call for a Jewish “state,” but only set up a Jewish “homeland.” That point, in fact, was debated hotly before it was passed. In other words, the UN did not give the Zionists the right to create their own Jewish “state.” The State was declared by the Zionist leaders on May 14, 1948, and this went beyond the terms of the UN resolution. From that point on, the Jewish state was at odds with the United Nations, but in spite of resolution after resolution, the US either vetoed them or the Israelis ignored them.

Nonetheless, the Church hailed this division as a great fulfillment of prophecy. At the time, no one raised the question of dividing the land, because that division benefited Zionist interests at the expense of the Palestinians. Zionists were given a piece of the pie, but the Zionists then wanted the whole pie.

Yet today, when the UN tries to enforce that earlier partition, the Zionist Christians are crying foul. They were happy to accept the 1947 resolution, but now they think it is a travesty. Why? Because in the interim, the Israelis have ignored more than 30 UN resolutions and have gone far past their mandate. Now they claim the entire land and blame the Palestinians for not leaving immediately. They blame the Palestinians for wanting a place to live. A Palestinian state does not have the right to exist! Conversely, they complain that the Palestinians deny the Jewish state’s “right to exist.” It is the pot calling the kettle black.

The Church was happy to accept a Palestinian state alongside of a Jewish homeland in 1947. They rejoiced when the resolution was passed. By the Spirit, they agreed to this. In fact, their entire foundation of modern prophecy rests upon that Palestinian Resolution that divided the land. Without it, the Palestinians own it all. Without it, there is no division of the land. Ignoring this, they appeal directly to prophecy, as if prophecy is divorced from His law. No, prophecy is based upon His law and to be valid, it must be fulfilled in a lawful manner. When prophecy is lawless, you can be sure that some are misunderstanding and misapplying it.

From the standpoint of spiritual authority, keep in mind that in 1947 the church under Pentecost still had full spiritual authority in the world, as they fulfilled the pattern of King Saul. Saul had not died yet, for the man reigned 40 years, and the church was to reign 40 Jubilees, ending in 1993. Hence, when the church, acting as Saul, agreed to the UN resolution in 1947, their decision was written in the courts of heaven—for better or for worse.

Fulfilling Prophecy by the Power of the Flesh

If you do not understand how this works, study the story of Joshua’s covenant with the Gibeonites and how God judged Saul for violating that covenant three hundred years later. Saul was a nationalist and thought that God did not care about Gibeonites. He believed that the land should not be divided and that only Israelites should inherit the land. He loved only Israel, after all, so he thought he could get away with killing or expelling these non-chosen people. But many years later God judged Israel with a famine. (2 Samuel 21:1).

When men try to fulfill prophecy by carnal understanding, they bring judgment upon themselves and other people. Jacob had to learn that hard lesson as well, after lying to his father (Genesis 27:19) to fulfill the prophecy that “the older will serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23). When men sin in order to make prophecy happen by the power of the flesh, it shows their lack of faith in the sovereignty of God. Their faith is not yet perfect.

Zionism is a Fleshly Movement

Zionism is based on the assumption that the Jews are allowed to duplicate the calling of Joshua in his conquest of Canaan. That conquest, accomplished by physical swords, was in turn based upon the Old Covenant (Exodus 19), where God came as fire, shook the mountain, and spoke the Ten Commandments. But the people were too fearful to hear the voice of God for themselves, so they ran from the mount and told Moses to hear God and to tell them what God said (Exodus 20:18-21).

This day was thereafter celebrated as the Feast of Weeks, which was later known by the Greek term Pentecost. Not having the ability to hear God’s voice for themselves cut them off from the provision of the New Covenant and postponed the fulfillment of Pentecost for 1480 years. When the 120 disciples gathered in the upper room to hear God’s voice for themselves, they fulfilled the feast where Israel had failed in the time of Moses.

The word of God is the Sword of the Spirit, by which the Great Commission was to be accomplished. The second Joshua (Jesus) knew the heart of His Father, and He understood that the Father’s desire was not to kill Canaanite unbelievers, but to convert them and incorporate them into His Kingdom. But to do this required a spiritual sword coming from one’s mouth as a sharp, fiery sword. This was the sword that the Israelites failed to receive under Moses. Being left only with physical swords, their mandate was to conquer Canaan by carnal warfare.

That Old Covenant, however, is no longer valid, for both Israel and Judah invalidated it by their persistent disobedience. Jesus brought in a New Covenant, which called for new and better methods of conquering and establishing the Kingdom. Zionism does not recognize that new method, even though it comes from the heart of God. So the Zionists have sought to exterminate the Palestinians or to drive them out of the land in the same way that happened under the Old Covenant.

Those who remain under the yoke of Judaism are blind to the New Covenant, thinking that the New Covenant is simply a revival of the Old Covenant. I understand that. But Christians ought to know better. Yet most Christians too are blind to the distinctions between the two covenants. This blindness causes them to support Old Covenant actions as if they are still valid. This is the “leaven” in Pentecostal offering (Leviticus 23:17), which can only be resolved by the “fire” of the Holy Spirit’s baptism.

This blindness causes Christians to act like King Saul. Though Saul’s anointing was valid, his methods were not, and in the end, Saul was replaced by David, who represents the overcomers.

The Jewish state was founded by carnally-minded Zionists who not only had rejected Jesus Christ but were also Jewish apostates. Judaism itself had long established the principle that Jews should not return to the old land until the Messiah had come. But Zionism broke that principle, and there are many Jewish groups today who are quite vocal about it.

Zionism is not founded upon the love of God, but upon the love for Israel. The difference is that the Father’s love is all-inclusive; the love of Israel is exclusive. The law of God commands Israel to apply the law of love equally to all men, including foreigners. The laws of the Zionists command men to kill or oppress their non-Jewish neighbors. When the Palestinians try to defend themselves, they are blamed for terrorism and murder.

But who started this terrorism and murder? It was not the Palestinians who immigrated to Europe to oppress the Jews and to take their land. Those who live by the Old Covenant do not really know God, nor understand His love or even His law. Jesus did, however, and that is why He treated Samaritans, Greeks, and even Romans with respect and with love. This aggravated the Jewish leaders to no end.

The Case of Mistaken Identity

Joel 3:2 says “they have divided up My land.” Who did this? It does not say directly. To learn the answer, one must look at Ezekiel 35 and 36. These are the prophecies about Edom (Greek: Idumea), the descendants of Esau who had desired to inherit that land and who begrudged Jacob for getting the land as his inheritance. The prophet puts words in Edom’s mouth, saying, “These two nations and these two lands [Israel and Judah] will be mine, and we will possess them” (Ezekiel 35:10).

Joel 3:19 lists Edom among the adversaries dividing “My land,” but Joel does not specifically tell us that Edom is the problem. But Ezekiel 36:5 speaks of “Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession.”

The Palestinians are not Edom, though some have tried to identity them as Edom for propaganda purposes. Anyone can look up the history of Edom or Idumea in any history book or any encyclopedia. All historians agree that Edom was conquered by Judah and forced to convert to Judaism around 126-125 B.C. Historians further tell us that from then on, the nation of Edom ceased to exist as a separate nation. In other words, as The Jewish Encyclopedia itself has said, “Edom is in modern Jewry.”

Hence, if you want to condemn men for “dividing My land,” look to Edom, which is in modern Jewry. They are the ones who have appropriated God’s land for themselves. They are the ones who have divided the land for themselves. A century ago they pressured the UN to divide the land in order to give Jewish immigrants a foothold. Once they established a foothold, then they “appropriated My land for themselves,” trying to take both Israel and Judah for themselves, as Ezekiel prophesies.

Zionists now call for divine judgment upon those who divide the land. They do not realize that they are calling for judgment upon the Israeli state itself. Few understand the principle of God, who shows mercy to the merciful. God often allows men to judge themselves by deceiving them into thinking that they are judging other people. God ends up judging men and nations by the very standard by which they judge others.

That is what is happening today. Christian Zionists have aligned with Jewish Zionists under the Old Covenant to pass judgment upon the Palestinians as if they were ancient Canaanites. But God has blinded their eyes in order to see what is in their hearts and judge all parties equally. Expect to see this come to a climax by the end of 2017, which is the 70^th anniversary of the Palestinian Resolution. We may also see a secondary event in May of 2018, marking the 70^th anniversary of the Israeli state, which was founded May 14, 1948.

For a more complete history of this, see my book, The Struggle for the Birthright.