The Order and the Master

Submitted by Michael S (United States), May 8, 2015 at 02:43

Hello, YJ

I began reading your piece in some detail, but had to continue to the end with a mere scan. My vision is not what it used to be, even with glasses; so I cannot read much. What I did read was excellent, and I agree with all of it.

I will make a comment about the logic used, however: There is much mention of the role of the UN in determining Israel's boundaries (and, in fact, of its very existence). Until recently, international bodies such as the UN did not play any role in recognizing states and their boundaries; these were matters (since about 1648) of treaties between sovereign states.

Up until the end of WWI, the European powers divided up the whole world between themselves, and settled thorny issues by convening "congresses" of the major recognized powers. After WWI, this "Congress Europe" system was replaced by the League of Nations, which notably did not include the world's most powerful country, the USA. It was this League which mandated that a Jewish homeland be established in what is now, essentially, Israel (minus Golan), Jordan and Gaza. After WWII, the League was replaced by the UN, and the Mandate of Palestine was continued by Britain as a UN mandate.

Once the British unilaterally quit the mandate (under pressure from the US and others), Palestine west of Jordan indeed underwent a "vacuum of sovereignty", which was filled by Israel and aggressor armies from Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Temporary cease-fire lines were agreed upon, which were changed 19 years later, after the Arab states precipitated another war.

Under the old "Westphalian System" of complete sovereignty for states, all of Palestine (i.e. Israel & Jordan, etc.) would have been the property of the UK, to do with as they wished; and after they quit the land, it would have been the property of Israel and the other victors, to do with as they wished. The same would have been true after the 1967 adjustments.

Under the "Post-Westphalian" arrangement, especially since the founding of the UN in 1945, state sovereignty has been under continual attack, worldwide; and this fact, in itself, is bound to have a major impact on the future of Israel. As an example of this loss of sovereignty, I will give a few examples:

Israeli law is based mainly on the Common Law system it inherited from the British. Britain itself has a Common Law system, based upon a tradition of centuries of cases; but in more and more matters, the British are subject not to their native Common Law courts, but to international courts based on Civil Law: The European Court, the International Court of Justice, and special courts pertaining to various trade and other treaties. In this respect, they have lost a great deal of sovereignty to supra-national bodies. The US and other countries of the world suffer similarly; and this loss of sovereignty is an ongoing process. A major objection to the proposed Transpacific Partnership, for example, is that constitutionally-enacted labor and business legistation in the US and its constituent states will be usurped, taking jobs and rights away from American workers and consumers.

I have been interested in Bible prophecy since the early 1970s. One passage that used to puzzle me, was Zech 14. In this passage, it was prophesied that in the "end times", Israel would be attacked by "all the nations of the world". Israel has never been a very powerful country, save for a brief period around 1000 BC when its neighbors were relatively weak (This was the time of David and Solomon); and since the Romans conquered Israel in 63 BCE, the Jewish state and people have been relatively insignificant in world affairs (as opposed to world imaginations). I wondered, therefore, how it was that the entire world, including great powers and superpowers, would find it expedient to ally with one another to attack such an insignificant state.

The answer to these musings was the United Nations, which has taken upon itself to usurp the sovereignty of countries like Israel, and manipulate them with sanctions and physical force. Such a gross violation of Israel's sovereignty, contrary even to the founding charter of the UN, will certainly happen in the near future. It will happen not at any legally pre-defined moment, but at such a time that the US and the other permanent members of the UN Security Council deem fit for it to happen. The UN, therefore, has sorted out for me a rather vexing issue in Biblical understanding.

The laws and conventions, therefore, that are being used and will continue to be used against Israel, are fairly recent inventions; and the brave "New World Order" that is orchestrating them is likewise very young. Israel's claims, on the other hand, do not arise out of any world order; they arise out of the word of the God of Israel, whom people across the globe recognize as the Creator and Master of the Universe. A confilct will certainly arise between this unseen Master and the equally unseen Order; and indeed, that conflict is going on today in people's minds. My money and my life are with the Master.

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