Hello, Crossroads Family !
This is a quick note before I head out of town tomorrow for most of the rest of the week. Lord willing, I’ll be back Thursday evening. I’ll be attending EFCA One which is the national conference of the Evangelical Free Church of America. The first time I attended this national conference was in 1987 in Fullerton, California, when Diana and I and our one baby were missionary candidates with the Evangelical Free Church Mission !
It will be a blessing to re-connect with denominational leadership and other pastors and laypeople from all over the U.S. who belong to the Evangelical Free Church. There will be worship services and training sessions each day and a business meeting tucked in there somewhere. Thank you for praying for me and for our denomination ! The more connection Crossroads can build with people in the EFCA, the stronger we will be as a church. If you’re going to take some vacation time out of town this summer, try attending an E-Free church near where you’ll be.
Thanks for the big response to the upcoming 24-hour prayer vigil ! If you haven’t signed up for a time slot, you still may — please do ! I would love for as many in our church as possible to take part. I consider this one of the most important things we’ve done as a church in the ten years I’ve been here. God will bless this united effort of bringing ourselves before Him in thoughtful, extended prayer. Check with Catherine for how you can still be a part ! We’ll pray from Monday, June 30, starting at 6 am, through Tuesday, July 1, at 6 am. Thank you !
Don’t forget we have a picnic planned for this coming Sunday following the worship service. If you haven’t signed up for a side, dessert, or drinks to bring, please let Diane Ray know what you would like to bring ! This would be a great Sunday also to bring a friend to church ! We’ve reserved the pavilion at the upper part of Radio Springs Park. There are picnic tables there but bring lawn chairs if you would like !
We’ll have our final spring/summer Sunday Night Home Group this coming Sunday night. We’ll meet at KJ & Alexandra’s at 6 pm. I’ve enjoyed this study very much — more than I realized I would. I hope you’ll join us for the final session in which we’ll take a look at what God’s Word says about the future of Israel and the Jews. Israel is really God’s timepiece for the unrolling of end-time events, so these prophecies about Israel have an impact on us as well.
Below is a summary of last night’s Home Group study on how the Jews who were dispersed all over the world starting in the year 70 came back together as a new nation in 1948 ! The existence of the Jewish people is a testimony to God’s faithfulness and to the veracity of the Bible.
Have a great week ! Keep praying for each other ! Good news today — Lola Vestal was able to go home from the hospital ! More good news — the potholes in the church parking lot were patched today !
— Tom
Home Group Summary — June 22, 2025
How did the dispersed Jews come back together to found a new nation in May 1948 ? This return of the Jews from their dispersal all across the globe is an event spoken of in many places in the Bible. Deuteronomy 28-30 is a good starting point if you’d like to read those prophecies. (By the way, as concerns the Jewish diaspora, it’s believed that the first Jews to migrate to what is now the United States came here in 1654 and settled in a place called New Amsterdam. New Amsterdam is now New York City.)
The idea for a homeland for the Jews began to take shape well before World War II ; in fact, enthusiasm for the idea began to develop in the 1880s, then really gained momentum during and following World War I. At the close of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was divided up into territories that came under the administration of some of the victorious European nations.
Some important events in that process were the following :
The Balfour Declaration (1917)
British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote a letter to Chaim Weizmann, an influential Jewish chemist in England, promising, on behalf of the King of England, a Jewish homeland in Palestine. (The Brits took control of the Holy Land in 1918 when General Allenby defeated the Turks there.) Some historians think Balfour made this promise to the Jews primarily so England could gain financial support for the war from Jews living in America and elsewhere.
San Remo Conference (1920)
This was a formal international meeting held in San Remo, Italy, after the conclusion of the war, for the purpose of determining the division of the Ottoman Empire. The conference laid the foundation for twenty-two Arab states and one Jewish state. The Balfour Declaration was used to develop the final San Remo resolution, thus transforming the Balfour Declaration from a simple letter into a legally binding document under international law. At the time, Arab leaders had no objection to the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. The British mandate of Palestine (land at that point theoretically promised to the Jews) would cover area on both the west and east sides of the Jordan River.
British Mandate confirmed by the League of Nations (1922)
In July 1922, the League of Nations confirmed the San Remo resolution and the British administration of Palestine. However, at that same time the House of Saud was consolidating power in Arabia to the detriment of another powerful Arab family, the Hashemites. As a result of the conflict there, the Hashemites asked for land and a nation of their own. A decision was made to take about 78% of what had been promised to the Jews and give it to the Hashemites — what would become the new nation of Transjordan (today, Jordan). The Jews would be allowed to settle only west of the Jordan River under this new decision.
U.N. Partition Plan (1947)
After twenty-five or so years, the British wanted out of Palestine. A special United Nations committee spent months traveling the Middle East, interviewing and conducting meetings with both Jews and Arabs, trying to facilitate a peaceful transfer from British oversight to Jews and Arabs. By this time, many Arab leaders had changed their minds about a Jewish homeland. They expressed their feelings that the land of Palestine should be an Arab nation where Jews could live only as a minority. As a result of this new pressure on the British and the U.N., the land west of the Jordan River was also divided between Jews and Arabs, the Jews being given just over 50% of that part of the land, mostly the Negev which is desert. Arabs were given the West Bank (land which the Bible calls Judea and Samaria) and Gaza. Jerusalem would be a city under international control. These 1947 dividing lines are sometimes still today referred to as the “Green Line,” the first attempt, nearly 80 years ago, at a two-state solution.
Three Wars
Immediately following their declaration of independence in May 1948, Israel was attacked by Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Syria and yet miraculously won the war ! During that war for independence, Transjordan moved in to take its own control of the West Bank. Two more wars (1967 and 1973) produced more changes still : In 1967, Israel took the West Bank from Transjordan and also gained control of the Gaza Strip, Sinai, the Golan Heights and Jerusalem. Sinai was later given back to Egypt ; Gaza was given to Palestinian Arabs in 2005 ; and the West Bank is currently under control of the Israeli military, though administrative and civil authority in parts of the West Bank belong to Arabs.
Let’s continue to watch and pray over events happening in the Middle East and all around the world. Can the Gospel of Jesus Christ somehow be advanced in the midst of these conflicts ? Following the events of October 2023, many Jews are open to questions about the meaning of life and what answers might be found in the Scriptures. God is working among Arabs and other Muslims as well. Iran has historically had a strong Christian population.
Our world leaders need great wisdom. We see in history some leaders making promises then changing their minds, creating confusion and hard feelings. Two American presidents — Truman and Nixon — intervened on behalf of the Jews because of Bible teachings they had received in their childhood. Truman saw himself as a kind of “Cyrus” figure. Donald Trump was also given a “Cyrus” label by some when he moved the United States embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018, thus recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In fact, Jerusalem has never been the capital of any other nation in history, unless perhaps we could call it the capital of the Jebusites in the days of Joshua.
The end-time prophecies in the Bible (found in Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Revelation, and even spoken of by the Lord Jesus in the Gospels) can only take place if the Jews are back in the land. The fact that they are in the land today is extremely significant. We’re told in Zechariah 12 that Jerusalem will be a heavy stone for all people and that one day all the nations of the earth will gather against it (Zechariah 12:3). We seem to have a taste of that conflict already in our day. If we want to know what time it is on God’s watch, we need only keep our eye on the Middle East ! “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” says Psalm 122. Ultimate peace will come only with the arrival of the Prince of Peace.
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