The Old Lion and the Jews - Jim Fletcher - http://www.raptureready.com/rap15.html
I recently read a fascinating book, Churchill's Promised Land: Zionism and Statecraft. The British icon (I think of him as the second greatest man in history) had a complex view of Zionism, but author Michael Makovsky notes that by the end of his life, Winston Churchill was a committed Zionist (He died in 1965 at 91).
Churchill, as early as 1906, advocated for a Jewish state. He understood the concept and supported the Jews regarding Big Picture items, yet in 1921, he committed 75 percent of Palestine to an Arabian prince, and he was silent at the time the Balfour Declaration appeared in 1917. He pushed for closer relations with the new state of Israel after 1948, but did little to help the fledgling state fight off vicious invading Arab armies. Perhaps he was exhausted from winning World War 2!
Churchill agreed with 19th century Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who said: "The Lord deals with the nations as the nations dealt with the Jews." This calls to mind Joel 3:2-"I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land."
For his part, Churchill was not afraid to confront anti-Semites in British government, just as he had not been afraid to confront appeasers who cowered before Hitler. Makovsky relates this in Churchill's Promised Land:
"Churchill liked to judge which events were historically significant and which were not, and both early in his career and near the end of it he declared the restoration of a Jewish state in the Promised Land to be of exceptional historical significance. Eventually, Zionism became very dear to him and integral to his worldview, and he supported it at great political cost, contributing to his unpopularity among his colleagues and other members of the political and government establishment."
I think in the story of Churchill and Zionism we can see how the Lord works through history.
It is enormously difficult for many of us today to watch national and international leaders get it so wrong with regard to Israel. It is dismaying to watch the White House and European capitols capitulate to Muslims, and denigrate Israel in the process. We long for a Churchill.
But that is not how history is unfolding. In fact, we see the Lord's hand. One hundred years ago, in the pre-Jewish state days, there were enough leaders in the British government to be friendly enough to the Jewish cause that the road was paved for the state a generation later. Churchill played an integral part.
Now, however, as we see history wind down, we long for another Churchill. If he were on the horizon, or already with us, though, the Lord's redemptive plan would not be near.
It is a bitter thing to live in an era in which government leaders capitulate to murderers and those who want to use nuclear weapons to kill us all (it defies logic, doesn't it?), but the fact is, we no longer live in Churchill's time, when men and nations had the fortitude to oppose evil.
Now, we see the stage set for the things the Lord has promised us: His people in their ancestral land, surrounded by demonic enemies, will soon be totally alone. At least in terms of allies and friends of influence.
It is then though that He will roar from Zion and fight for His people.
It would have been fun and magnificent to live in the time of Churchill. The old lion was inspiring.
Yet we as people of faith look forward to the end of history, and to the appearing of the Lion of Judah.
Men, even great ones, are still men. That is why we need our Redeemer.
And He is coming soon.
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