The Three Promises in the History of Palestine
When a
significant historical event occurs and then repeats itself — or something
closely resembling it — after a period of time, we say: "History
repeats itself."
Anyone
who reviews history, both ancient and modern, will find that the three promises
made to the Jews regarding their return to Palestine were remarkably similar —
in their causes and in their outcomes.
So was
this mere coincidence? Or were there hidden forces at play that caused history
to repeat itself not once, not twice, but three times in a row?
The
answer lies in the historical research that follows.
God's Promise
(1) Introduction:
The Jews
were a Semitic tribe that migrated from Ur of the Chaldeans in Iraq in 1921 BC,
under the leadership of Abraham, driven out by its people. They settled in
Palestine, the land of the Canaanites — but the Canaanites resisted them and
drove them to the edge of starvation, forcing them to migrate to Egypt. There,
the Egyptians oppressed and humiliated them in turn, ultimately compelling them
to return to Palestine, this time led by the Prophet Moses. That was in 1191
BC.
Moses led
them through the Sinai wilderness for forty years, seeking to uproot the spirit
of humiliation that had taken hold in their souls and prepare them to conquer
Palestine. Yet his efforts were in vain — they rebelled against him and refused
to enter Palestine, for it was home to a mighty people: the Philistines.
(My people, go into the holy land which God has ordained for
you––do not turn back or you will be the losers.) (Al-Ma'idah:21)
(They said,
‘Moses, we will never enter while they are still there, so you and your Lord go
in and fight, and we will stay here.’) (Al-Ma'idah:24)
And so Moses was compelled to lead them
toward Palestine from the southeast, to avoid the fierce Philistines who
inhabited the coast. He climbed Mount Nebo, facing Jericho, and the Lord showed
him the land of Palestine, saying:
"This is the land I swore to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your descendants. I have let you
see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross over into it."
Moses died, and Joshua son of Nun took
command after him. And Yahweh fulfilled His promise through Joshua. The text of
that promise follows:
My Servant Joshua
"Rise now, and cross the Jordan — you
and all this people — into the land which I am giving to them, to the children
of Israel. Every place the sole of your foot shall tread upon, I have given to
you, as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even to the
great river, the River Euphrates. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause
this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give
them."
This took place in the first month of the
year 2554 of Creation. And so this was the first promise ever given to the Jews
of returning to Palestine.
Joshua's orders to his army, upon the
conquest of Jericho, were harsh and unsparing. They put to the sword everything
in the city — man and woman, young and old, even the cattle, sheep, and
donkeys. Then they burned the city to the ground, along with everything within
it.
This savage brutality in conquest filled the
Canaanites and other inhabitants with deep hatred toward the Jewish occupiers,
leaving them watching and waiting for any opportunity to strike back. Yet
fortune favored the Jews — or rather, misfortune befell Palestine — for the
Canaanites were in the final stages of their power and glory, and this allowed
the Jews to settle in Palestine for a time.
However, their stay lasted no more than 645
years, during which they were constantly exposed to the raids of the local
people — the Canaanites from within and the Philistines from the coast. Then
discord crept among them, splitting them into two factions: the Kingdom of
Israel, with Samaria (Nablus) as its capital, and the Kingdom of Judah, with
Jerusalem as its capital.
(Jerusalem) — and the borders of these two
kingdoms never extended beyond the mountainous region of all Palestine.
The Jews did not do what was right in the
eyes of the Lord. They abandoned His worship and bowed down to cast idols of
Baal, offering sacrifices before them. All the chief priests and the people
multiplied their unfaithfulness, following the abominations of the nations
around them. They defiled the house of the Lord which He had consecrated in
Jerusalem. They mocked the messengers of God, despised His word, and scorned
His prophets — repaying with ingratitude the One who had shown them nothing but
goodness.
It was He who had brought them out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. He who had sent down manna and
quail. He who had made them a nation among nations.
The abhorrent deeds of the Jews stirred the
wrath of God. So He unleashed Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, upon the Kingdom of
Israel in 721 BC, who destroyed it and took its people captive to his kingdom.
Then He sent Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, against the Kingdom of Judah in
588 BC, who likewise destroyed it — putting the leading men of the Jews to the
sword within their own temple, sparing neither young nor old, neither maiden
nor elder. He burned the house of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, and
set all its palaces ablaze. He destroyed all its precious vessels, and carried
off those who had survived the sword to Babylon, where they served as slaves to
him and his sons.
(They were struck with humiliation and wretchedness, and they
incurred the wrath of God because they persistently rejected His messages and
killed prophets contrary to all that is right. All this was because they
disobeyed and were lawbreakers) (Al-Baqarah:61)
And so it was the will of God concerning the
Jews — whom He had chosen, as the Torah tells us, above all the peoples of the
earth to be His chosen people. And by that same will, this chapter of the story
of the Jewish national home in Palestine came to a close.
The Promise of Cyrus
The Babylonian captivity lasted seventy
years. Then Cyrus, King of Persia, inherited the Chaldean empire — and the Jews
began to weep and wail, pleading and beseeching, begging to return to
Palestine.
As a matter of calculated policy, Cyrus the
Zoroastrian presented himself as a believer in the God of Israel. In the first
year of his reign, he issued a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom,
declaring:
"The Lord, the God of heaven, has given
me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has charged me to build Him a house in
Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever among you belongs to His people — may the
Lord be with him, and let him go up."
Cyrus died and was succeeded by Artaxerxes,
who reaffirmed the promise of Cyrus in writing, in the following declaration —
the text of which reads:
"From Artaxerxes, King of Kings, to Ezra
the priest, scribe of the law of the God of heaven. A decree has been issued by
me that any person in my kingdom from the people of Israel, their priests, and
the Levites who wishes to return to Jerusalem may do so, and that the house of
the Lord God of Israel be rebuilt. And let it be known that all priests,
Levites, singers, temple servants, and ministers of this house of God shall not
be subject to tribute, tax, or toll."
This was issued in the seventh year of his
reign, 529 BC.
And so this was the second promise ever given
to the Jews of returning to Palestine.
The Jews returned to Palestine, in accordance
with this promise, defying both the will of God and the will of the land's
inhabitants. They rebuilt the Temple and restored the walls of the city of
Jerusalem — working with one hand and gripping their weapons with the other.
The leaders of the land — Sanballat the
Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arab — wrote to the king
in protest, saying:
"Search the record books of your fathers
and you will find, and will learn, that this city is a rebellious city, harmful
to kings and provinces. They have stirred up revolt within it from ancient
times — which is why this city was laid waste. We would have the king know that
if this city is rebuilt and its walls completed, you will have no portion in
the province beyond the river."
And so the people of the land fulfilled their
duty, warning the Persian kingdom of the consequences of such a policy.
Years passed, and the rule over Palestine
alternated between the Greeks and the Romans, as the city remained restless and
defiant — despite all that Pilate the Nabataean, Rome's governor over Palestine,
had done for the Jews. He had built bathhouses in Samaria (Nablus), brought
adequate water to Jerusalem from the springs south of the city, and constructed
two roads leading into Jerusalem from the north and east. This revived both
trade and pilgrimage traffic — a considerable source of increased revenue.
Such works, carried out by Pilate in service
of the Jews, would have warranted them erecting a statue in his honor. Yet on
top of all this, the unfortunate Pilate was forbidden by Caesar from allowing
revolts to break out on his watch, while at the same time being barred from
suppressing the incitement that the Jews were stirring up in Galilee.
The worst agitators were not the priests or
the men of law themselves, but rather the young men — full of claims and grand
speeches — who attended their gatherings and lectures. It was these who spread
among the common people a spirit of rebellion and unrest. They threatened Rome
while simultaneously bargaining with it. They hung large placards and posters
on the walls of Antonia, bearing inflammatory slogans that defamed both Pilate
and Caesar.
The Jews pressed on with their rebellion and
unrest until the Roman government despaired of finding any remedy for the
situation. So it dispatched Titus, the Roman commander, in 71 AD, who besieged
Jerusalem, then razed it to the ground along with the Temple, leveling it to
its very foundations. One million and one hundred thousand Jews perished by
famine, fire, and sword, while some 97,000 were sold into slavery — not to
mention the countless multitudes who perished elsewhere throughout Judea.
And so the words of Jesus, peace be upon him,
were fulfilled:
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill
the prophets and stone those sent to you. How often I have longed to gather
your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you
were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate."
And so it was the will of God — and by that
same will, the second chapter of the story of the Jewish national home in
Palestine came to a close.
The Balfour Promise
After the blow dealt by Titus, the Jews
remained scattered across the corners of the earth. Arab rule replaced Roman
rule in 637 AD, and the Arabs opened these lands in a just and humane conquest
— as evidenced by the following timeless order of conduct:
"Do not betray, do not deceive, do not
steal from the spoils, and do not mutilate. Do not kill a child or an elderly
man. Do not uproot or burn a palm tree. Do not cut down a fruit-bearing tree.
Do not slaughter a sheep, a cow, or a camel. And you will pass by people who
have devoted themselves in monasteries — leave them and what they have devoted
themselves to."
And so Arab rule — which lasted 880 years —
was a great blessing for the people, and particularly for the Jews, who owed it
a debt around their necks. Rule then passed to the Ottoman Turks in 1517 AD,
with the Arabs as partners in governance for 400 years.
In 1917, the British occupied Palestine, and
the Jews were put to the harsh test of experience for the third time. As a
matter of calculated policy, the British became the guardians of Jewish comfort
and security, and gave them a promise of migration to Palestine. Its text
reads:
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 view with favour the
establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will
use their best endeavours 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.
November 2nd, 1917
Lord Balfour British Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs
And so those who gave this promise differed
in place and time. From a promise spoken by God, to a promise spoken by a king,
to a promise spoken by a minister — and this was the third promise ever given
to the Jews of returning to Palestine.
The Jews then grew ambitious, seeking to
claim all of Palestine as their national home. The Arabs, the true people of the
land, protested against this and warned Britain of the consequences of such a
misguided policy.
Jewish defiance and rebellion against
London's authority continued to escalate. They grew accustomed to assassinating
British officials and carrying out acts of terror. They destroyed many
government offices and properties, blew up police stations with dynamite,
sabotaged railway lines, and openly defied the law by smuggling in their
illegal immigrants. Their attacks on security forces were relentless — while British
soldiers were not even permitted to fire upon their assailants, even when those
assailants killed their fellow officers. On top of all this, they distributed
various inflammatory pamphlets openly defaming the government of Palestine and
the authority of London.
Just as the Jews defied and mistreated the
British, so too did they take up arms against the Arabs in their own homeland —
the very people who had sheltered them in their lands, whose vast empire had
once been the only refuge for the Jews from the anti-Semitic persecution
stirred up against them by the West.
It was the British who had established the
Jews in Palestine, placing its commercial, financial, and economic reins in
their hands. It was they who had facilitated — by every means available — the
acquisition of land in Palestine to settle both their legal and illegal
immigrants, standing their full military might to protect them and bending
their parliament to hear their claims.
The Jews ought to have kissed the hand that
had shown them such generosity, rather than attempting to bite it. And they
owed the Arabs the deepest gratitude for holding on, to this day, with
admirable patience.
How strikingly similar is the Jewish revolt
against the British today to their revolt against the Romans in the past. The
entire world turns its eyes toward Palestine, watching with keen interest for
the conclusion of this sorrowful chapter — one that the men of politics seem
all too eager to replay for the third time.
People ask whether history repeats itself.
Will the Balfour Promise lead to the same outcome as the Promise of God and the
Promise of Cyrus?
The answer still lies within the conscience
of time. It is the near or distant future that will have the final word on the
Jewish national home. And the will of God stands above all.
You may also like:
The Future of the Jews in Palestine as Determined by Surah Al-Isrā’ (1/2)
The Future of the Jews in Palestine as Determined by Surah Al-Isrā’ (2/2)
Palestine Between Zionism and Colonialism
Source: Al-Risala Magazine, Issue No.
647.
