Israel Book and Movie
Israel has really been in the spotlight this week. President Trump paid a visit to Israel on his first foreign trip. On May 23, the Christian Broadcasting Company (CBN) released an excellent movie about the 1967 Six-Day War and the retaking of Jerusalem, In Our Hands. Originally it was scheduled to show one night only, but the tremendous turnout prompted CBN to host another showing on June 1. Details on the movie website: http://www.inourhands1967.com. The executive producer, Gordon Robertson, writes in a monthly newsletter: CBN has just released an exciting new film called In Our Hands: The Battle for Jerusalem. It is a thrilling docudrama showing how Israel recaptured Jerusalem...the story of Israel's 55th Paratrooper brigade. With firsthand interviews and historical reenactments, this exclusive film focuses on the soldiers who fought for Jerusalem and announced to the world, "The Temple Mount is in our hands!" For the first time since King David, Jerusalem was conquered from the east and was no longer trodden under the foot of the Gentiles.
Movie DVD Now Available
CBN is now offering a copy of the DVD of the movie for a special gift of $15 or more. It can be ordered by mail, phone, or Internet. Mail - 977 Centerville Turnpike, Virginia Beach, VA 23463. Phone - (800) 700-7000. Internet - CBN.com
BOOK REVIEW
As America Has Done to Israel by John P. McTernan. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 2008.
Israel has really been in the forefront of my mind since reading John McTernan’s book, As America Has Done to Israel. His thesis statement is found on the back cover: “There is a direct correlation between the alarming number of massive disasters striking America and her leaders pressuring Israel to surrender her land for ‘peace.’”
His disclaimer is bold, “The facts reported in this book are irrefutable, but my interpretations of these facts are open to question…. God said of Abraham…in Genesis 12:3, ‘I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.’ This book proves the promise is to be taken literally.” p. 17
McTernan presents an “honor roll” of American presidents who have been champions of the Jewish cause. They include George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Van Buren, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, and Richard Nixon. Washington’s personal physician who stood beside him during Valley Forge was Jewish, Dr. Philip Moses Russell. Lincoln, on Jan. 6, 1863, revoked the infamous General Orders No. II of General Ulysses S. Grant that would have expelled all Jews from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Many other little known tidbits from U. S. history show that Jews indeed played a historical role in the development of America.
The Addenda section of the book has some historical documents that I don’t recall seeing in any U. S. history book. They are worthy of inclusion, documents such as Washington’s letters to Jewish congregations and the Blackstone Memorial of 1891.
Chapter 5, “A Tale of Two Countries,” traces the history of America’s treatment of the Jews and her subsequent prosperity. Juxta positioned with that account is the sad history of Russia’s cruel treatment of the Jews and her failure to become an advanced society, a vivid illustration of the curse/blessing promise.
Replacement Theology – The author is aware that “replacement theology” is a growing school of thought among Christians, pp. 131ff. This position says that “Christians” have replaced “Israel” in biblical prophecies; thus, it doesn’t matter if Israel is a country. Some wonderful Christians hold this view. The author, as well as some other wonderful Christians, believe that God’s covenant with Abraham included “the land” because it was an everlasting covenant with the Jews, not contingent upon their obedience. McTernan believes that God “never abrogated the everlasting covenant concerning the land of Israel.” p. 48 (Genesis 17:7-8; Psalms 105:9-10) He sees a lack of the teaching of the Second Coming of Jesus as the root cause of spiritual anemia in the church. (pp. 269-273, 295-296) A physical country (Israel) is needed for the fulfillment of some 2nd Coming prophecies.
Sadly, McTernan reports some instances of America turning her back on the Jews or Israel. His first example is striking and embarrassing! Ever heard of Camp Siegfried on Long Island, NY, or the Great Hurricane of 1938? Neither had I.
It was a camp of approximately 45 acres, about sixty miles east of New York City. Here’s the embarrassing part. It was one of the twenty-eight camps owned by a German-American group known as the Bund. It once had an Adolf Hitler Street. It gets worse! “On August 14, 1938, the largest Nazi rally outside of Germany took place—on American soil! The New York Times reported that forty thousand people attended this rally.” (p. 43)
But…
about 3 weeks later, Camp Seigfried was wiped out by the Great Hurricane of 1938. (named before hurricanes were given male or female names) It traveled along Adolf Hitler Street.
“This happened during the time the president of the United States [FDR] turned his back on Czechoslovakia and the Jews. Along with the rest of the world, the president was feeding into Hitler’s plan of world domination and annihilating world Jewry. In September 1938, the national headlines were Hitler and the hurricane….” (p. 46) This hurricane had an unusual development and duration pattern.
The author sees this as no coincidence. Then, beginning with p. 150 through p. 222 McTernan does a masterful job of tracing the downward spiral of “peace plans” and corresponding natural disasters, beginning with President George H. W. Bush in October, 1991, at the Madrid Peace Process. Time and again the seated president had storm disasters to occur in his state while he was working against the State of Israel. Many of us have wondered if the disasters were God’s judgements for our national sins, which are many.
Part II of the book deals with future prophecies concerning Israel. They are too complicated to present here, but are extremely convincing, enough to say to our leaders, “Don’t mess with Texas, or rather Israel.”
I highly recommend reading the book and watching the movie to have a more enlightened view of Israel’s history. The movie especially leaves the viewer with the pathos inside the Jewish mindset that said for centuries, “Next year, Jerusalem.”