Colin Badger - Class 6: That Generation Shall not Pass Away

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   Brother Colin Badger is going to give us a talk entitled, That Generation Shall Not Pass Away, and we've taken a reading from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 21. Brother Colin, please. Good evening, everyone.

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   Our subject this evening is intended to stimulate our minds as we consider the prophecy of Daniel from a perspective that's a little different than the series that I am carrying through this week, but it is a perspective that should stimulate all of our minds as we come closer to the ending of this year and the beginning of 1988. Perhaps you have noticed in some of our literature in the last few months, the Christadelphian magazine being a case in point, that 1988 will be celebrating 40 years, one generation, it would seem, from the time of Israel's birth of nationhood, that is, from the period of about 1948 until 1988.

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   That 40-year period marks off what we understand generally to be a generation period. There are exceptions. We can find places in Old Testament and New where there seems to be an indication that at times a generation that at times a generation might be a little longer and at times a little shorter. But 40 is the predominant number in Scripture of a generation.

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   And as we look, brothers and sisters, at what symbolizes God's witness in the world, over and above perhaps any other witness, the witness of the Jew, which Isaiah tells us is a witness that God is. We need to keep our eyes focused on the Jew and on the nation of Israel and on the events in the Middle East, I believe especially in this next year.

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   We have to be cautious about trying to be prophets, which we are not. But knowing how often the 40-year period has played a very significant part in marking off significant advances or regressions at times in Israel's history and knowing that it is a period of probation so often in Scripture as well, we do well to look carefully at the Middle East in this next year, especially 1988.

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   The Jew now is back in his land. All has not yet been accomplished in terms of him having complete control over the sanctuary area. But you know, our studies this week in the book of Daniel touch base on a number of accounts with this interesting time that we now find ourselves about to approach.

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   For consider those words that we just had read by Terry this evening. Luke chapter 21. See how the prophecy of Daniel is related to the warning of our Lord. In your patience possess ye your souls. When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. In the account of Matthew and in Mark, at exactly the same place, the words refer us to the desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet and that him that understandeth go back and read.

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   The prophecies of the Master in the Olivet Prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem by the hand of the Romans in 70 AD are brought to a climax at this section in the Olivet Prophecy. And in the language of Luke, Jerusalem is described as being encompassed by armies and that defines the desolation. Whereas as we've said in both Matthew and Mark, the warning is that it's the desolation or the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel.

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   Putting the three gospels together, we can see that the desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet is none other than those armies which will encompass and desolate Jerusalem, which of course are the Romans. That touches base with the prophecy of Daniel then. But let's pursue this just a little further. Verse 21, Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains and them which are in the midst of it depart out and let none of them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

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    For these be the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Jesus is drawing our attention to the fact that when these events finally come to their climax, there will converge all things that have been written concerning these days of vengeance. And we go a little further. But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days.

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    For there shall be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations. Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. When did the times of the Gentiles begin?

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    They began when the Gentiles had dominance and control over Israel. When did that begin? The very time period we're studying this week. For it was by the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar that for the first time Israel became captives to the ruling powers of the Gentiles, to the nations of men. It was the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar's image.

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    It was the beginning of the times of the Gentiles. It's interesting to see how this is brought out in the book of Daniel. I'd like you just to go back to that prophecy. We'll have perhaps worn out some of the pages by the end of the week.

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    There's more than one way in which the times of the Gentiles are referred to in the prophecy of Daniel. Now, what is most interesting is to make the following observation. Have you ever noticed how time in Daniel is marked off by Gentiles and how rulership is marked off by Gentiles in the book of Daniel?

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    In fact, just survey the prophecy with me, would you, brothers and sisters? For we begin the prophecy of Daniel by reckoning time according to the rulership of the first Gentile that we meet. In Daniel 1, verse 1, in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem and besieged it.

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    There we have it. From that point, we see Jewry subjected to the hand of the Gentiles. A period of time that was to be stretched right across time to the time of the Master and then picked up by him and shown that it will extend until that great stone comes out of the mountain until, in other words, he returns.

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    Now, as we go to Daniel chapter 2, therefore, verse 1, time is reckoned by the Gentile, ruler, Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel chapter 2, verse 1, in the second year in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Turn to Daniel chapter 3, the first name that comes to our attention is a Gentile, Nebuchadnezzar, ruling over Israel. Look how it comes to us again in Daniel 4, verse 1.

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    First name, Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel chapter 5, verse 1, very first word, Belshazzar, a Gentile. Daniel chapter 6, verse 1, it pleased Darius, a Gentile, a Gentile ruler. Daniel chapter 7, verse 1, time is reckoned by the Gentiles. In the first year, not of a king of Israel, not of a king of God's choosing, but in the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon.

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    Daniel chapter 8, verse 1, in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a Gentile. Now the rulership switches. Daniel chapter 9, verse 1, we're in the period of the Medes and Persians, but the very first thing it said has something to do with time. In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, the seed of the Medes, who's ruling?

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    The Gentiles. It's the times of the Gentiles. Daniel chapter 10, verse 1, in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, the Gentiles rule. Daniel chapter 11, verse 1, also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, time according to the Gentile rulers. But then, you may say the pattern is broken, and it is broken.

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    It's broken in Daniel chapter 12, and very significantly broken in Daniel chapter 12, because who's the first one mentioned in Daniel 12, in verse 1? A Gentile ruler? No. It's at that time shall Michael, one like unto God, stand up, the great prince, not Darius, not Cyrus, not Belshazzar, not Nebuchadnezzar. For now, this is the time when the times of the Gentiles are about to fade back and to be overtaken and usurped by Christ.

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    at that time, not the times of the Gentiles anymore. This is the time of Michael. This is the time of the Lord Jesus Christ coming to effect the change and to reverse the fortunes of his people. And thus, Daniel 12 breaks the pattern, because as we proceed through that chapter, the kingdom of God comes.

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    You see how the book of Daniel sets for us the stage of the times of the Gentiles. But we haven't exhausted the links with Daniel as we look at the master's words. Verse 24 again, They shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations. Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles.

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    Now, if you have a Bible margin, let it direct you to that Old Testament source. For, beside the term trodden down, your margin likely directs you to Daniel chapter 8. Third link with Daniel in these very few words. Daniel chapter 8, verse 12 and 13 to start, and then we'll lead to the section that the master is alluding to.

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    Verse 12, And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice. Of course, this is referring to that little horn that comes up out, in verse 9, comes up out of that beast described as the he-goat. First, he had one horn, then he had four horns, and then, as we read, one little horn, verse 9, comes up from that beast.

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    And as we proceed, verse 12, a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression. and it, this little horn, cast down the truth to the ground and it practiced and prospered. Then I heard one saint speaking and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot.

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    That's why your margin in that Luke passage directs your attention back to Luke 8 and verse 13. In part, the language of the master is quoting from that prophecy in Daniel chapter 8. The time that has a link with this little horn that comes out of this area of the world, small at first but then magnifying itself, and during which time this little horn power will destroy and tread down the place of sacrifice, desolate it, and most importantly, the host of Israel will be trodden under its foot.

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    So Jesus, here in Luke 21, referring to the armies of Rome, quotes or alludes to Daniel chapter 8 in his language of treading down. And appropriately, because Daniel chapter 8 verses 12 and 13 is speaking of the rise of the Roman power in that area of the Mediterranean, it's in context. It relates to his language of desolation.

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    It relates to who the desolator began to be, the one who would expel the host and trod that host underfoot until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. see how careful we need to be when we read the words of Scripture. For there in those very few verses are three very important links with the prophecy of Daniel.

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    The work that we're doing this week in that prophecy should no doubt help to alert us to those kind of connections and make better sense of them. Our intention this evening, though, brothers and sisters, in particular, is to examine some of the interesting characters that have played a part on the stage of Gentile times.

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    Characters on the Gentile stage, most of whom were Gentiles, that have played very important and dramatic parts in the fortunes of Israel and especially in her latter-day restoration.

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    We are familiar with the words of Ezekiel 37. A valley of dry bones. The prophet was taken to that valley and as he surveyed this morbid scene, rather eerie, no doubt, he saw bones scattered, didn't he, all through the valley. And step by step, by an enacted parable, the prophet Ezekiel sees the restoration of Israel bone to bone, skull, ribs, parts of the legs, parts of the arms, flesh, sinew, brought together in stages, as it were, step by step, in very important segments, until finally we have a body with no breath.

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    And the prophet is told he will prophesy. And breath is breathed into these corpses. And we're told by interpretation right in Ezekiel 37 that this vision, the angel tells Ezekiel, is a vision of the lost tribes of Israel, really. it is a parable of the restoration of Israel. Do you know, it's most interesting, brothers and sisters, that the plight of Israel in this vision should be pictured as though they were dry bones.

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    Brother Thomas, in a rather obscure and often neglected section of Elpis Israel, refers to this prophecy, and I want to share part of his quotation with you. It's a section entitled The Lord's Supper, and in the modern version of Alpis Israel, it's on page 297.

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    Brother Thomas says this, The bread and wine of the Lord's Supper are the remains of the Passover, which are to be shared by the circumcised of heart and ears, until Christ comes in power and great glory. I am, says John Thomas, I am informed by a Jew that when they eat the Passover, they eat no lamb, but have a dry bone of one on a dish, and that all who celebrate take hold of the lip of the dish and unitedly offer a petition.

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    This, says John Thomas, is remarkable. They have slain the true lamb, which the believers of the gospel feed upon, while only a dry bone remains to them, strikingly illustrative of themselves. And he refers, John Thomas does, to Ezekiel 37. Isn't that curious? That as they now celebrate the Passover, they should have but a dry bone on the plate.

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    how entirely ironic, considering the language of prophecy that describes them in their unrestored condition, although it still comes together in pieces, with that of being dry bones, no light, no flesh. And certainly, when John Thomas wrote Elpis Israel, it was even more appropriate for him to see the irony that Jews would celebrate the Passover with dry bones and put only a dry bone to their lip, for they had rejected the Lamb of God, and it was because of their rejection the nation has become such a dry bone.

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    Something else to notice, and we're just sharing with you, brothers and sisters, an assortment of facts and figures which we believe perhaps are not known as well as other main general facts. In a book, which I would highly recommend, it's in paperback form by Max DeMont, called God, Jews, and History, just notice the incredible nature of DeMont's statements when he describes the restoration of Israel.

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    DeMont says, world events and the needs of the Zionists embraced each other at the most propitious moments, the most appropriate moments, as if on a divinely prearranged, planned parenthood. schedule, by the way, DeMont is not a Christian writer. He's not an apologist for the Jewish religion or Christianity, but look at his choice of terms as he, a researcher and historian, surveys the events that led to the restoration of Israel up to 1948 at the most propitious moments, as if on a divinely prearranged, planned parenthood schedule, fostering five Palestinian immigration waves at the right times and in the right succession.

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    These are known, by the way, perhaps you know the terms, as the Aleahs. We contribute to youth Aleah. These are known as the five Aleahs in Jewish history. The first Aleah, says DeMont, brought about the following events. In the first wave of 1880 to 1900, came the tillers of the soil, he means from Europe mostly, to break the ground.

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    In the second Aleah, or the second wave, of 1900 to 1914, came the scientific farmers and laborers to the country's agriculture. In the third wave, of 1918 to 1924, came the young people, the entrepreneurs, that means the businessmen, the speculators, to build cities, found industries, organize an army, and establish educational institutions. Now in the fourth wave, the period of 1924 to 1939, came the intellectuals, the professionals, the bureaucrats, to draw blueprints for democracy and statehood.

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    It was, of course, during this time especially, the likes of Ben-Gurion and others began to take an active interest and even from a distance before they immigrated, began to control the destiny of the birth of a new nation. The intellectuals, such as Ben-Gurion, such as, of course, Golda Meir, and others, began to take an active and intellectual interest and influence in the building of the nation just at the right time.

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    In the fifth wave, after World War II, came Jews from every walk of life to fill the gaps in all ranks. What did DeMont say? At the most propitious moments, as if on a divinely prearranged Planned Parenthood schedule, the right time and the right succession of Aleahs. You see, brothers and sisters, it's not mere coincidence that when we analyze that most detailed prophecy concerning the restoration of Israel, that her restoration is described in waves or in steps.

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    First, the bones are gathered together. Then there is muscle and sinew. Then flesh. Then finally, life itself, breath. Then they stand upon their feet and the two sticks are brought together in the prophet's hand and the nation is one. David, their king, shall rule over them, says the prophecy. It was in succession that the bones and the bodies of Israel came together and it is in succession that her restoration was realized.

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    How remarkable are these prophecies as a ground for faith and confidence and the importance of keeping our eyes on Israel and her developments. At this point, I'd like to share with you the names of and the roles of some lesser known characters that have played a most fascinating part in the restoration of those bones.

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    I'm going to go back now into the 1600s in history. I'm going to introduce you to a man called Manasseh ben Israel. Manasseh ben Israel. Well, who was Manasseh ben Israel? He was a Jew living in Holland in the 1600s just prior to the main immigration and exploration to North America, especially to the area of New York.

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    He was a Jew who lived in Holland in a small little community, but a growing community in the area of Amsterdam. And as that community of Jews grew, they grew because the rest of Europe at that time was expelling the Jews and they gravitated to Holland where they received asylum. Now, if you take a look at Max Deamont's book, the one we just previously referred to, Max Deamont has a whole chapter on this period of the Jews in Holland in the 1600s.

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    And Deamont brings attention to the man Manasseh ben Israel. Why was he important? Because he went across the British Channel to Cromwell, the leader of the Puritans. And he begged Cromwell to allow the Jews of Holland to immigrate across the Channel and settle in Britain. Well, Cromwell and the Puritan spokesmen were rather hesitant.

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    But Cromwell was a wise and judicious man in many ways from a worldly point of view. Cromwell needed money. Cromwell needed support for his wars, which the Puritan government, temporarily, of course, didn't last too long, were affecting across Britain. So he listened carefully to the appeals of Manasseh ben Israel. Do you know what one of the proofs were from Manasseh ben Israel's argument?

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    Manasseh ben Israel argued with Cromwell on the basis of Daniel 12, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. He argued from the restoration passages that we know so very well. He argued to Cromwell that if Cromwell believed, as all good Puritans did, in the return of Jesus Christ to set up the kingdom on earth, the Jews had to be restored.

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    But before they could be restored to their land, they had to be scattered throughout all the lands of the Gentiles. This is explained very carefully by Max Deamont in his book. Cromwell listened, and he was a man, as a Puritan, who believed in the restoration of Israel. In a book, another one, called England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Belfort, the Bible and the Sword by Barbara W. Tuchman.

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    It's been reviewed in one of our magazines. This section of history is dealt with in parallel with Deamont's book. And Barbara Tuchman explains how Manasseh ben Israel appealed to the conscience of the Puritans in England, Cromwell in particular, just as Max Deamont catalogs it. In fact, I'll quote from Tuchman just momentarily. Tuchman also points out that the Puritans were people who believed strongly in a revival of the Hebrew language.

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    They brought in scholars from all over Europe to teach their Puritan leaders the ancient language of Hebrew. The Puritans often called their children by Old Testament names. And they were intensely interested and absorbed almost more in the Old Testament than they were in the New. See, these people, these Puritans, had a sympathy for the Jews that was already prepared.

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    So when the Jews of Holland, through the leadership of Manasseh ben Israel, appealed to the Puritan conscience, the soil was ready. And thus began a large immigration of Jews from Holland to England. It's entirely interesting to note that as a result of that connection, the Dutch East India Company was formed, which under partly British enterprise and financing, sent explorers around the world to find short passages to China in the Orient.

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    And it was through the financing of the Dutch East India Company on which a Jew, at least one time and sometimes two Jews, sat with financial backing. And they in part provided the finances for the first exploration of New York City and up through the Hudson. Intensely interesting that the New World was partly financed and explored in its earliest stages by a company that had Jewish backing that had been brought about in part by a Puritan interest from a Jewish appeal.

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    What's also interesting is that this little nest of Jews in Holland became so significant in the Netherlands that they finally became known as the New Jerusalem. That's what the community was called, the New Jerusalem. I'd like Jess, brothers and sisters, to quote from Tuchman's book concerning Manasseh ben Israel and the significant part that he played and these Dutch Jews played in the stirring of the bones, in the beginning, really, of the Restoration period.

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    I'm going to quote Tuchman if I may. In the period covered by previous chapters up to 1600, Palestine had been to the English a land of purely Christian associations, though lost to the Christian world through the unfortunate introduction of Islam. Now it came to be remembered, now it came to be remembered as the homeland of the Jews, the land carrying the scriptural promise of Israel's return.

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    Starting with the Puritan ascendancy, the movement among the English for the return of the Jews to Palestine began. Isn't that interesting? Starting with the Puritan ascendancy, the movement among the English for the return of the Jews to Palestine began. with the Puritans came an invasion of Hebraism transmitted through the Old Testament. Isn't that interesting?

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    A revival of interest in Hebrew itself. As one proceeds through these books, one discovers how significant it was back in the 1600s as the new world is about to be explored that ever so slowly Jews emigrate across the channel. Jews begin to become intensely important to English concerns and a ruling group in England, the Puritans, begin to revive an interest in Hebrew and as a result of that, in turn, they have a sympathy for the restoration of Israel.

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    We come a little further. to the time of Napoleon. Napoleon effected, brothers and sisters, another step forward in this restoration process. Because this is not so well known, I thought we might share this with you this evening. Did you know that Napoleon in 1807 called a Sanhedrin meeting of all the Jews across his domain?

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    He called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. Now as you read how this was convened, it sent electric shocks through all of Israel. That is, through the Israelites that were scattered in Europe. Jews from all over Europe were beckoned to consider whether or not they could be one of the representatives in Napoleon's calling of the Sanhedrin.

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    You might wonder, why would Napoleon call a Sanhedrin meeting? Because Napoleon was a shrewd man. He too, like Cromwell and the Puritans, needed money. And to effect financial backing for his many campaigns across Europe, he needed the sympathy of the Jews. He also needed the unity of Europe. So, he played into their hands just a certain amount to affect their loyalties.

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    And after six months warning and preparation, Jewry organized herself across Europe and almost every country in Europe sent at least one or two representatives to Napoleon's Sanhedrin. Well, what's the point? historians admit, Max DeMont in particular, that this was the bringing together of a sense of national spirit and reality amongst the Jews in Europe.

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    It brought their minds together for the first time. Consider the persecuting periods that had gone through the time of the Crusades and up through the Middle Ages and through the period of the Renaissance. All during those years, Judaism had no recognition. And important people that were Jews across Europe didn't always communicate with one another.

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    But now, unwittingly, Napoleon had brought together representatives all over Europe and convened them together and gave them a chance to talk. to talk about Jerusalem, to talk about Israel's fortunes. And without intending to, he stirred the bones and he helped to bring back a nationalistic spirit in dispersed Jewelry in Europe. How unknowingly, but now, in the early 1800s, without even intending to, Napoleon was preparing the path for the Zionist spirit that would be born only in a matter of about 40 years from the time of his Sanhedrin.

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    And thus, in the early 1800s, in the early 1800s, significant characters are called by God to the stage. First, in the person of Rothschild, representative of a wealthy family centered in France, but having influence in the wineries, in the banks, and in the businesses across Europe. And Rothschild himself had lived and overshadowed the period of Napoleon's Sanhedrin.

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    His family members had experienced it. Enter another man on the stage, a Jew by the name of Montefiore, who, with financial backing, made seven trips, at least, to the land of Israel. Many Jews, of course, in Europe at that time had never seen Israel. Montefiore was so enraptured by his homeland that he began to write books.

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    Where did the money come from? Well, he had some himself, but now the stage was ready. The stirring of the nationalistic spirit through the Rothschilds, through Montefiore, and earlier through Napoleon's Sanhedrin. And the interest that began to be awakened in Jewry that was in England, who were growing in their enterprising and in their money, now began to work together as the wheels slowly turned and the spirit of Zionism was begun to be sown in Europe.

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    Later on, a man called Weitzman, the first real leader in Israel, in the birth of the new nation, Kayyem Weitzman, as a young boy, was to read of the travels of Montefiore as he sat at home in Europe, in Russia. This Russian Jew, Kayyem Weitzman, was enthralled by the writings of Montefiore as he made these successive visits to Israel.

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    In fact, Montefiore financed the building of the first windmill in Israel and its site is still there today. You can go and visit it when you're in Israel. You see what was happening? Not only do we have a Rothschild with the financing that's needed, the Montefiores, which now begin to visit Israel, come back to Europe, write books about Israel, and stir the nationalist conscience and the beginnings of the Zionist spirit.

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    You've got leaders as young boys now in the 1800s like Kayyem Weitzman that are going to be influenced by this stirring and provide leadership when the nation of Israel is to be born.

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    When one surveys the role of some of these early characters, brothers and sisters, one can't help but be amazed at how the various events came together at the right time as Deemont says and the right place. Let me just quote from several sources here about some of these important characters that are about to come on the scene and prepare the way for the restoration of Israel.

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    I'm quoting now from a testimony magazine back in 1967. An article entitled Zionism and the Belford Declaration. The next great statesman Brother Craddock writes, thrown up by the Zionist movement was a Russian Jew. Dr. Kayyem Weitzman destined to become the first president of the reborn nation of Israel. Living with his parents as second class citizens within the Jewish pale at Pinsk in Russia, this boy, when 11 years of age, had studied his Torah and also read the writings of another famous Jew, Sir Moses Montefiore, describing his seven visits to Palestine by permission of the Turkish overlord.

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    The boy, Weitzman, was moved at the account of the desolate condition of the few paltry hundreds of Jews existing in a plight of indescribable indescribable destitution.

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    Weitzman, too, was to play a most interesting role while he was still in Europe. I'll continue just a section here. Growing up to manhood, Kayyem Weitzman left Tsarist Russia and traveled to Switzerland and on to Britain. To Britain, which from the time of the Puritans had developed, according to Barbara Tuchman, as you follow her chapters through from the Puritan period, Britain's leaders had developed a kind of sympathy, a religious interest in the restoration of Israel.

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    And by the time Weitzman and Montefiore and then Theodore Herzl began to stir the bones of Israel in Europe in order to get them interested in the restoration of Israel and the Zionist cause, Britain's leaders had inherited from Cromwell's period an interest and an understanding of Ezekiel's prophecies, Daniel's prophecies, Jeremiah's prophecies. So much so that at the time of Robert Roberts, Lord Shaftesbury would communicate by letters with Robert Roberts and they would agree on the Eastern question through communication.

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    Robert Roberts sent Lord Shaftesbury, who was a contemporary with Kayim Weitzman. He sent him a copy of Anatolia, the doctor's work on the restoration of Israel and an exposition of Daniel as it was viewed as part of the Eastern question. And Shaftesbury wrote back to Robert Roberts and told him he concurred 100% with his conclusions and his analysis of Daniel's prophecy.

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    Who was Shaftesbury? He was but one of a number of British individuals at the executive and presidential or prime, which is presidential, excuse me Stephen, the presidential level at the premier level of government in Britain, at the parliamentary level, better said, who were there at the right time and with the right disposition.

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    And in Barbara Tuchman's book, she shows that Lord Balford, Lloyd George, people like Shaftesbury, people like Palmerston, who were contemporary with Robert Roberts and Dr. Thomas for a while, were part of a whole generation of British individuals who had this consciousness and this background and this interest in the restoration of Israel and that it had its roots back from the seeds sown at the time of Manasseh ben Israel.

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    So there was a pertinent connection. Now we see how the bones begin to stir and how individuals like Shaftesbury would even communicate with our Robert Roberts and concur in his perspectives with the doctor's interpretation of the Eastern question. Enter now another figure on the stage, one by far of the most significance in the characters that we're talking about.

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    Theodore Herzl. By far a man that was more important than probably any of them put together. For it was in the writings and the fervor of the Zionist cause through the pen and the lecturing of this man that the bones of that valley really began to take motion and come together. A few things about our friend Theodore Herzl that you might find interesting.

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    How did Herzl first get an interest in the Zionist cause? Well again, Max Deamont and Tuchman's book show that Herzl was now part of a generation of Jews in Europe who, through Napoleon's Sanhedrin, through the consciousness of the Jews in Holland about a restoration of Jewry, through the interest shown by the Rothschild family, and through the writings of Moses Montefiore, a rising generation of Jews in Europe that wanted a solution to what now became known in the papers across Europe as the Jewish question or the Jewish problem.

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    And it's remarkable to study the life of Theodore Herzl. You know, he was a very young man really, although he looks fairly old in this overhead. He died still before 40. It was in his mid-30s that he took the Zionist cause up. And do you know what stirred his interest? It was a scandal in Europe.

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    In France, a man by the name of Dreyfus, which became known as the Dreyfus Affair, a man by the name of Dreyfus was put on trial. He had been in the French army and he was dismissed. There was an accusation that Dreyfus had in fact become a traitor in the French army. The trial went on for weeks and all of Europe watched carefully as to what would happen to Dreyfus.

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    This man in the French army, do you know why? Because Dreyfus was a Jew. The trial ended and he was put to death. There was a stir all across Europe. Cries of anti-Semitism rang through. Papers covered the whole conclusion of the matter. And according to Herzl's own confession, it was the Dreyfus Affair that stirred his interest in the cause of his people.

86. 44:30

    It was through a scandal in the French military that drove Herzl to begin writing a pamphlet entitled The Jewish State. And in February 1896, it came to light of day. For Herzl then, in 1896, published a book attempting to answer the Jewish problem that he had witnessed through the Dreyfus anti-Semitism feeling. The Jewish State.

87. 44:57

    And in the article that I'm quoting from in the testimony, I'd like you to just realize what is important about Herzl's point here. First, he convened in 1897 in Basel the first Zionist conference from which and after which Herzl then formed what was known as the Zionist movement or the Zionist organization. Herzl's diary is available to us.

88. 45:27

    And if we turn to the 3rd of September 1897 in Herzl's diary, here's what Herzl wrote at Basel. This day I founded the Jewish state. If I were to say that today I should be met with universal laughter. All he had done is convened a council or a congress. The council had convened on the 3rd of September Herzl went home.

89. 45:58

    The congress was dismissed and in his diary look at his perceptions. This day I founded the Jewish state. There was no Jewish state. There was only a congress. So sure was he. If I were to say that today then I should be met with universal laughter in 5 years perhaps and certainly in 50 everyone will see it.

90. 46:26

    Now you calculate 1897 add 50 years brings you to 1947. 1947. Isn't that interesting? Let me reinforce it from a statement from Alphus Israel. Page 440. Dr. Thomas. The restoration of the Jews is a work of time and will require will require between 50 and 60 years to accomplish. That's Dr. Thomas in Alphus Israel.

91. 47:02

    And here's Theodore Herzl saying that within 50 years he is certain the Jewish state will be a reality. And here's Dr. Thomas saying in Alphus Israel within 50 years if not 60 the state of Israel will be a reality. Interesting. Two men separated miles apart but whose consciousness concerning the Jewish problem was one and the same in part.

92. 47:34

    not from political motives but from the understanding of the truth. Dr. Thomas could say that and be so certain. Theodore Herzl had just come home from a congress no more than that and was certain so that in his diary he knew that the nation of Israel was now a reality. Remarkable isn't it?

93. 47:57

    Lesser and greater known characters who played their part on the stage of Europe and then finally in America and then in Britain stirring together the bones that would come together and bring about the nation of Israel. The coincidences are remarkable to note. Another page in the story. As you come up to the time of 1917 Kayyem Weizman just before 1917 has a professorship at the University of Manchester.

94. 48:34

    Weizman is a professor in chemistry. That's interesting. Come back to that in a moment. Kayyem Weizman is a friend of a friend who knows Lord Belfer and one day in a most interesting meeting Weizman is introduced to Lord Belfer in a very congenial conversation. His friend Belfer was the editor in chief of the Guardian magazine.

95. 49:06

    Not the Guardian magazine but the Guardian newspaper still a newspaper available in Britain today. Kind of an elite type of newspaper with very quality articles. I remember seeing it when I was in South America with some of the British brothers and subscribed to it. But this man who looked after the Guardian was interested in Kayyem Weizman meeting Lord Belfer for what reason I don't know.

96. 49:29

    But he arranged a meeting of the two and as I say it was congenial. There too was an event in history. For later on in his life when he was in the nation of Israel and he wrote his memoirs in reflection of his life Kayyem Weizman was to say that his meeting with Lord Belfer was an important moment in Israel's history.

97. 49:54

    Why? Because as the First World War brought to an end in 1917 the Ottoman Turk Empire it by the same fact introduced the beginning of the rise of the nation of Israel as we all know. and the man who was significant behind the scenes besides Shaftesbury and his men was Lord Belfer. And Belfer became a very close friend of Kayyem Weizman so much so that when Belfer was dying on his bed within hours of him expiring he allowed one man to come in and see him a Jew called Kayyem Weizman.

98. 50:42

    Weizman was allowed to be the last person to see Lord Belfer die. That was after the First World War and after 1917. Why were those men by then so close? Because prior to the drafting of the Belfer Declaration the sympathies of the Zionist movement as articulated by Kayyem Weizman had a profound influence on this document.

99. 51:08

    this is a complete lift of the message that was conveyed from the Foreign Office in November 2, 1917. Dear Lord Rothschild, this is Lord Belfer speaking, you know these words I'm sure. I have with much pleasure in conveying to you on behalf of His Majesty's Government the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations.

100. 51:33

     This is Belfer writing, which has been submitted to and approved by the Cabinet. His Majesty's Government view 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. Lord Belfer inspired, familiar with Kayyem Weizman who whispered in his ear who appealed to him behind the scenes to support the cause of a national homeland for Jewry as a result of the fall of the Turkish Empire.

101. 52:10

     Two men, one Jew, one Gentile. A Britisher who was typical like Shaftesbury and others of a generation in Britain that knew their Bibles. In Trutman's book she describes how literate Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Palmerston, Lord Shaftesbury, Lord Belfer, Lloyd George were in their Bibles. She labors to show the proof that these men knew their Bibles and they knew the Zionist cause and they understood it from a long chain of interesting coincidences in the British establishment and the literacy of the Bible and the Zionist cause in British society in the Victorian era.

102. 52:58

     It's remarkable, isn't it, brothers and sisters, as you contemplate the facts of history as we come now to 40 years since 1948 of the nationhood of Israel and we wonder, don't we, as we look over the horizon in this next year whether something rather significant will happen as it affects the fortunes of Israel.

103. 53:21

     I'd like now, brothers and sisters, to return full circle to the prophecy of Daniel. I'm going to conclude with some facts which are interesting, I believe, because they're not so well known. You know, I'm sure, from this week and from your previous studies that Daniel has a number of very complex time periods.

104. 53:45

     Some of them relate, we believe, to Gentile persecuting powers like that described by the period of time, times, and half a time in Daniel chapter 7. But there are also, as I'm sure you know, time periods given in the prophecy of Daniel that relate to the fortunes of Israel. I'd like to share some rather remarkable information with you.

105. 54:09

     First, we've talked about the importance of 1917, haven't we? In Daniel chapter 12, and we won't turn there now, in Daniel chapter 12, there's a time period given concerning the desolating of the land and the holy people. It's a period of 1,260.

106. 54:33

     Bible students, other than John Thomas, believe that in working out that period, in Daniel chapter 12, 1917 would be a critical year in the fortunes of Israel. Now, those books are in record and they're available today as having been written well in advance of 1917. I have two books on my shelf back home that were published in the mid-1800s, both written by a man called Grattan Guinness.

107. 55:04

     And in Grattan Guinness' book, according to Daniel 12, he worked out the time period as terminating in 1917. Now, it's interesting that in 1917, the Ottoman Turkish Empire collapsed through the work of the British and their involvement in Palestine. Lord Allenby, General Allenby, on behalf of the British military, had the privilege of marching into Jerusalem and signing, of course, and receiving the terms of capitulation from the Turkish rulers.

108. 55:49

     Allenby had read Grattan Guinness as a matter of fact. And I'll show you the proof for that in a moment. Allenby, another Britisher, with this heritage and background, had read Grattan Guinness' prophecy that 1917 would bring about a reversal of the condition of Jewry and begin the reestablishment of her nationhood. Grattan Guinness was familiar with that.

109. 56:14

     What is also interesting is in that very year, an Arabic coin was minted. And on one side is 1917. And on the other side, in these letters here in green, it was written in Arabic numerals 1335. That coin is owned by a brother back home in Ontario. He has shown it to me and put it in my hand.

110. 56:44

     1917 on one side, 1335 according to the Arabic calendar, the Muslim calendar, on the other. Do you know what? As a result of the capitulation of the Turks to Allenby, they, the Muslims, no longer kept, officially kept, that calendar system. It began in year one of the Koran's writing, or at least year one, rather, I should say, in the flight of Muhammad, not the beginning of the Koran.

111. 57:17

     In the flight of Muhammad, year one in the Koran, or in the Koran calendar, the Muslim calendar. And by their own capitulation, they stopped minting coins according to the Muslim calendar as of 1917. So this was a most significant coin. 1917 on one side, 1335 on the other. And in Daniel chapter 12, I shouldn't have said 1260, I meant 1335.

112. 57:43

     In Daniel chapter 12, the time period for this desolation by the desolator, this desolation of the people of Israel, is spelled out as being 1335. Now,

113. 57:57

     how did Daniel know that in 1335 lunar years, which was the calendar used by the desolator, the calendar used by the Muslims, would bring him to 1917? And in that very year, there'd be a coin minted 1335 on one side, 1917 according to English reckoning on the other. I took a book in university, which I have here in part, you'd need to blow it up to see the proof, that has the Muslim calendar in the back of my university textbook.

114. 58:32

     And in the back, it shows that 1917 was 1335 in the Muslim calendar. Now, we mentioned Lord Allenby. When he died, his obituary was written up in the Daily Telegraph for May 15, 1936. I'm going to blow it up. Here's what it read. It's called Lord Allenby's Triumph. It's his death in 1936, but keep in mind, he was the one who came into Jerusalem in 1917 and brought about the capitulation of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of Israel began.

115. 59:11

     It said this, predestined, subtitled, Sir Beauvoir, who later was to preach a sermon at St. Martin in the Fields, consoled him, Allenby, with the biblical predictions contained in a book published in the 80s, that's the 1880s, called Light for the Last Days. These all point to 1917 as the year of the delivery of Jerusalem from Turkish rule.

116. 59:38

     And then, it says, Allenby was much impressed by a prophecy which was to prove so remarkably accurate, so accurate, that when Allenby got to the outskirts of Jerusalem, he got off his horse and walked in. He refused to go into Jerusalem and accept the Turkish capitulation by being on a horse. Why? According to those who have done his autobiography, he was so impressed with Grattan Guinness' writings and the reality of 1917 being the very year, according to the understanding of the 1335 period, Daniel chapter 12 was fulfilled in part in that prophecy.

117. 1:00:27

     One final sharing. In the 1840s, and the publication date is 1868 here at the bottom of my copy, but it was first published in the 1840s in the States, a book called Reason and Revelation or The Province of Reason in matters pertaining ! to divine revelation defined and illustrated and the paramount authority of the Holy Scriptures vindicated, a man called R. Milligan, president of the College of the Bible in Kentucky University, wrote his understanding of Daniel chapter 8.

118. 1:01:07

     Just turn there as our closing passage. Milligan, pondering over the clash of the ram and the he-goat in Daniel chapter 8, was interested in working out the time period for this desolation. desolation.

119. 1:01:29

     It is described as a period of 2300 and your margin shows evenings and mornings. Milligan reasoned that the beginning of this was the beginning of the clash and the supremacy of Greece over Persia as the he-goat and the ram clashed together at the Battle of Granicus in 334 B.C. Now in his book, look what he writes.

120. 1:01:58

     Follow carefully his reasoning. With this caution to the reader, this is a footnote comment, I will add a few words here touching the probable time when the sanctuary will be cleansed. It seems most probable, however, that this period, 2300, is to be reckoned not from the rise or the birth of the ram, but from the time when he was first attacked by the he-goat, that is, the rise of Greece in 334 by the Battle of Granicus in which Medo-Persia is defeated.

121. 1:02:34

     And then Milligan says, if this assumption is warranted by the context, it fixes the beginning of this period, that's a period of desolation, to the spring of the year 334 B.C. and consequently, it will terminate in the spring or about the middle of A.D. 1967.

122. 1:03:00

     Isn't that remarkable? And there we have it. In 1967, in the beginning of June, in the spring still of that year, the Jews retake in part that very important area of the sanctuary. They do not yet have total possession of it, but Bible students who were aware of such predictions before the time and the writings of Milligan were stirred in their hearts at the accuracy of the fulfillment of these time periods concerning Israel.

123. 1:03:39

     Brothers and sisters, in conclusion, let us take heart at what has been fulfilled. Let us look at this new year to come with a cautious eye on the fortunes of Israel, the difficulties in the Persian Gulf, which may indeed eventuate into another important advance in the fortunes of Israel and help us all to prepare for the coming of our Lord.