Israel remembers its fallen |
Israel |
Written by Chris Perver |
Saturday, 21 April 2007 17:00 |
Israelis will observe a minute of silence at 8pm tonight as the nation remembers its fallen on Remembrance Day. Over 22,000 Israelis have died defending the Jewish state since the declaration of independence on May 14th, 1948. Israel has survived at least half a dozen wars with its Arab neighbours. Around six thousand soldiers lost their lives in the War of Independence, fighting against an Arab population that outnumbered them 100 to 1, and consisted of the nations of Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Some of the nations such as Egypt and Transjordan had much better military equipment that the Israelis, but in spite of this, Israel was successful not only in defending the nation from its Arab enemies, but gained much land as a result. A tiny country of 800,000 in 1948, the population of Israel now stands at over 7 million. Tomorrow the nation will celebrate Independence Day, the 59th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel. Quote: "Rabbi Goren explained, in a 1974 speech, how he came to set Remembrance Day just before Independence Day: "The merit of doing this fell in my lot.. We first thought of setting Remembrance Day on Lag BaOmer, the day that historically symbolizes the Bar Kokhba war, and that which is still celebrated by Jewish children as the day of Jewish strength. In this way, we thought that we could combine the heroism of our early ancestors with that of our own children in this generation. But doubts crept in. Would we not cause harm to the general significance, shrouded in mystery as it is, of that historic day? "One of the Fast Days, or during the Three Weeks in which we remember the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temples, was then proposed. But we could not accept the fact that the Day of Remembrance would be solely a day of mourning. It was felt that this day must be more than that. We must remember, we must grieve, but not only that - it must [also] be a day of... majesty and vision. "We realized, therefore, that we could not assign this day to any existing holiday. But the first Independence Day was rapidly approaching, and so we did what we did - without announcing it formally and without setting any specific format for the day. I went to Voice of Israel studios on the day before Independence Day and read aloud the Chief of Staff’s Daily Military Order, which he wrote according to my request. And so I became the narrator and the one who set Remembrance Day on what became its date." The existence of the state of Israel is much more than just a miracle. It is the direct fulfilment of prophecy, a promise of God that we have been privileged to witness in our lifetimes. Nations have tried to destroy the Jewish people. The nations that persecuted them have been destroyed themselves. The Jews were driven out of their homeland into over 100 different countries of the world, and after 1900 years they are returning in their thousands from those selfsame countries. Jeremiah 16:14-16 The Hebrew language became all but a dead language after the Diaspora. Today Hebrew is a living language and the mother tongue for people living in Israel... Zephaniah 3:9-10 The Romans renamed the land of Israel, "Palestine", in an attempt to blot out the remembrance of the Jewish people. Today a Jewish state exists in the same region, with the name of "Israel"... Ezekiel 37:11-12 During their 1900 years of separation, the land of Israel was barren and desolate. Today it blossoms as the Rose, and exports around 85% of the world's fruit. Ezekiel 36:35-36 And what does all this prove? What the Scriptures say, "the Lord liveth" and He is fulfilling His ancient promise to His people. All these prophecies have been literally fulfilled in our lifetimes, there is no disputing it. If these Scriptures prove that God exists and that what He says He will do, then it is important to know what the Bible states concerning you. The Bible states that to be righteous and just, God must judge our sins. The punishment for sin is eternal banishment from God in a place called the Lake of Fire. But God loved us so much, He sent His Son Yeshua (Jesus Christ) to take our punishment for us, so that we would never have to be in that awful place. Jesus Christ died on a Roman cross 2000 years ago, and bore God's wrath for the sins of the whole world upon Himself. God was satisfied with the price Jesus paid for our sins, and raised Him from the dead. Jesus Christ loves you, and wants you to be with Him in heaven for eternity. All God requires is that you accept that what His Son accomplished on the cross was for you, and He has promised that whoever comes to Him for salvation, He will not turn away (John 6:37). |
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