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Subject: Lost
Tribes/Commentary: SPAIN AND THE JEWS by Yair Davidi
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Lost Tribes/Commentary: SPAIN AND THE JEWS
by Yair Davidi
[britam@netvision.net.il]
JERUSALEM, D.C. (DAVID'S CAPITAL), Yom Shlishi (Third Day -
"Tuesday"), 18
Shvat, 5760 (Christian Date: January 25, 2000) (Muslim
Date: 18 Shawal,
1420), Root & Branch:
BEGINNINGS: TARSHISH
An area on the west coast of Spain is referred to in the Bible as
Tarshish.
Some say that the name Tarshish could also be applied to
the Atlantic
Ocean region in general. King Solomon together with the
Phoenician King
Hiram of Tyre sent ships to Tarshish. The prophet Yonah
attempted to flee
to Tarshish.
Spain at that time was relatively sparsely populated. After
ca. 700 B.C.E.
a population of people of Phoenician culture came to Spain.
They bore
Hebraic-like names and were pushed from the southeast coast to
the
northwest and from there moved to the British Isles and
Gaul. They had
arrived after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel
(in ca. 720
B.C.E.) and Irish legends and other factors suggest that they may
have been
of Israelite descent. At all events their religious
practices were largely
pagan and in that sense they were not Jewish.
These people had brought with them the knowledge of iron
processing. After
the Phoenicians there was an upsurge in the cultural level of
native
Spanish peoples as well as invasions of groups such as the
Carthaginians
from North Africa. The Carthaginians believed themselves to
be descended
from the ancient Canaanites whom the Israelites had driven out of
the
Promised Land.
The presence of this element in Spain could partly explain the
vicious
Jew-hatred ("anti-Semitism") and outright sadism later
displayed by a
portion of the Spanish population. In the north and west of
Spain there
later emerged a people of Celtic culture.
THE ROMANS AND CHRISTIANITY
The Romans first entered Spain in 218 B.C.E.. After about a
hundred years
they gained control of the whole country. In 312 C.E. the
Roman Emperor
Constantine converted to Christianity and much of Spain followed
in his
stead. Jewish influence in Spain at this stage is shown by
the Church
Council of Elvira in 305 C.E. forbidding the Christians of Spain
to live in
Jewish houses, or to eat with them, or for Jews to bless the
produce of
Christian fields.
THE GOTHS ARRIVE
In 409 C.E. the Vandals, Suebi, and Alans invaded Spain.
They were
followed by the Goths or Visigoths who subdued the country by 585
C.E. The
Visigoths at first belonged to the Arian Church, which disagreed
with the
Roman Catholic Church on doctrinal matters. The Arian
Church was
pro-Jewish in many ways. Many Goths (of whom the Visigoths
were a section)
converted to Judaism. The Goths also ruled over southeast
France in which
area as well as in Spain the terms "Goth" and
"Jew" were for a time
interchangeable.
SPAIN IN THE BIBLE AND THE DESCENDANTS OF DAVID
Spain is mentioned in the Biblical Book of Obadiah 1:20:
"The exiled of
Jerusalem who are in Sepharad".
Targum Yehonathan (Aramaic Bible Translation of Yehonathan)
translates
"Sepharad" as "Aspamiah", meaning
Spain. The Jewish Bible Commentator
Rashi says, "These are the descendants of Judah who were
exiled to
Sepharad...the translation of Sepharad is Aspamiah" [i.e.
Spain].
Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra says that this is referring to the exile
by Titus
(the Roman Emperor who destroyed the Second Temple in 70 C.E.) of
Jews to
Spain. The Radak (Rabbi David Kimchi) says the same.
The Abarbanel says
that whole settlements in Spain were founded by exiles from
Jerusalem who
included families descended from King David.
CATHOLIC PERSECUTIONS OF JEWS
In 587 C.E., Recared, the Visigoth king in Spain, converted to
Roman
Catholicism and at once began a persecution of the Jews.
The persecution
of the Jews was partly due to a power struggle against the
Visigoth
nobility who protected the Jews and used Jews as their
agents. The king,
the Church, and the common Spaniards were all against the
nobility. By
getting at the Jews they were weakening the Visigoth aristocracy.
A frontal attack on the Visigoths was difficult since these
already had a
reputation for assassinating their monarchs and were not happy
with the
change of religion.
MUSLIM INVASION
In 711 C.E. Muslims from North Africa invaded Spain and conquered
most of
it. The Muslims consisted of Arabs and Berbers. In
some areas they
employed Jews to help them garrison conquered areas. The
Muslims were
defeated in France by Charles Martell whose son, Pepin, took a
Jewish woman
as one of his wives. This woman was apparently the mother
of Charles the
Great (Charlemagne) who became the first Holy Roman Emperor and
founded the
Carolingian dynasty.
In Spain Christians from the north began to slowly reconquer the
country.
In places where the Spaniards were under French Carolingian
influence they
were pro-Jewish. Elsewhere, they were initially hostile but
soon saw the
economic value of Jews in helping them repopulate and stabilize
regions
that had been reconquered from the Muslims.
Under the Muslims, the Jews in Spain were relatively well treated
but there
were periodic persecutions. Life with the Arabs was always
volatile and
unpredictable.
In the Eleventh Century C.E. Bachya Ibn Pakuda wrote "Chovot
HaLavovot"
("Duties of the Heart") which is one of the great
classics of moral and
spiritual contemplation.
Shmuel haNagid was vizier and commander of the army of Granada
from
1030-1056 C.E. Jealous Arabs murdered his son.
In 1146 C.E. the Almohads (who were Berbers from Morocco) in the
south of
Spain forced their Jewish subjects to become Muslims. Many
Jews fled to
the Christian areas though some remained and were faithful to
Judaism in
secret.
CHRISTIAN RECONQUEST
By the 1250s C.E. most of Spain had been reconquered by the
Christians.
The Muslims retained control of the Kingdom of Granada in the
Southeast.
There was a blood libel [when Christians accused Jews of
murdering
Christian children to use their blood in Jewish religious rites]
in
Saragossa in 1250 C.E. and a series of persecutions and
anti-Jewish
measures.
In 1263 C.E. there was a Disputation [deadly medieval form of
"interfaith
dialogue" forced on Jews by Christians] in which the Jews
were not allowed
to speak freely and as a result of which the great scholar
Nachmanides left
Spain.
In 1267 C.E. Nachmanides settled in Jerusalem and helped
re-establish
Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel.
Despite many difficulties Jews often lived well in Christian
Spain and in
1294 C.E. it was recorded that 22% of the total revenue of the
Kingdom of
Castille was derived from the Jews.
In the decade 1280-1290 C.E. the Zohar was made public.
This period evidenced a flowering of Kabalistic (Spiritual
Mysticism based
on the Bible) studies. In 1340 C.E. a great halachic work,
"The Turim",
was published. Hasdia Ibn Crescas (a major Jewish
philosopher) in the
1370s taught in Barcelona in the northeast of Spain.
In the 1390s C.E. there were riots and persecutions against the
Jews and
many became Christians out of fear or due to coercion. Some
of those who
became Christian remained Jewish in secret. Other Jews
however adopted
Christianity with great fanaticism and helped persecute their
former
brethren.
In 1413 C.E. there was another Disputation as a result of which
the Talmud
was censured and Jews persecuted. In this Disputation, Joseph
Albo (who
wrote an important work on the Articles of Faith) defended the
Jewish cause.
In 1489 C.E. the Christian Kingdoms of Aragon and Castille united
when
their rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella [Ed. Note: Ferdinand
the Fool and
Isabella the Idiot, who were stupid enough to expel the Jews of
Spain in
1492], married each other.
EXPULSION OF THE JEWS FROM SPAIN
In 1492 C.E. Muslim Granada surrendered to Ferdinand and
Isabella, the new
Catholic Spanish Monarchs. One of the conditions of Muslim
surrender was
that the status and rights of the Jews should be respected, but
this
agreement was broken and the Jews expelled. Not only that
but in 1492 C.E.
all of the Jews were expelled from Spain. Altogether
possibly more than
200,000 Jews were exiled.
About 100,000 of the exiled Spanish Jews then went to Catholic
Portugal
from which they were expelled in 1496-97 C.E. after their
children had been
taken away from them. The expulsion from Spain was
accompanied by great
hardship. Those who were expelled lost most of their
possessions and many
of them were later robbed, raped, and sold into slavery or
murdered in the
course of their enforced wanderings.
Great names of Spanish Jewry included some of the greatest and
most
original thinkers that have ever existed. Some of them were
veritable
geniuses and truly holy men. They included writers of
religious and
philosophical works whose written word is often the best possible
expression of literacy known in the annals of humanity.
A very small sampling of luminaries of Spanish Jewry include
names such as
Alfasi, Yehudah HaLevi, Iben Ezra, Maimonides, Solomon Iben
Gabirol,
Kimchi, Ibn Tibbon, Ibn Gikatilla, Abudarham, Albo, Crescas and
Nachmanides.
CONVERSOS
Jews who did not wish to be expelled could convert to
Christianity and many
did. These are known as "Conversos",
"Marranos", or "Anusim". There were
about 300,000 (or more) of them. Some of these
"converts" attempted to
maintain Jewish customs and beliefs. This was an offence
against
Catholicism.
The Catholic Inquisition had been introduced into Spain in 1481
C.E.
Jewish converts to Christianity tended to intermarry with
remnants of the
old Visigothic nobility. They were hated by the common
people and by
elements within the Catholic Church.
The monarchy used the Catholic Inquisition as an additional tool
in its
relentless struggle to curb and control the aristocracy. It
was often
required to demonstrate a "purity of blood", meaning
proof that one
had no Jewish ancestors. Hundreds of thousands of people
were questioned
by the Inquisition that tortured and them and burned many of them
alive.
A great number of those murdered were of Jewish descent.
The activities of
the Catholic Inquisition had ethnic as well as religious
implications. The
Conversos were often pro-English. Amongst the conversos
were Christopher
Colombus, who discovered America, as well as the three men who
financed the
voyage of Colombus, a good portion of the crew on the ship of
Colombus, and
the first known white man in that era to set foot on American
soil.
[Prof. Benjamin Netanyahu (father of Benjamin Netanyahu, former
Prime
Minister of Israel) is one of the foremost world authorities on
the history
and study of the Conversos]
Many Conversos later settled in the New World and it has been
claimed that
a good portion of the people of the southern United States and of
Mexico
bearing Spanish names may have Converso blood.
There is historical record of Jews in New Mexico as far back as
the early
1500's C.E. (closer to 1540's). These were the Marranos, Jews who
fled
Spain, Portugal and Mexico, during the Catholic Inquisition that
began
in Spain under Tomas de Torquemada [Editor: Torquemada the
Twerp].
Conversos also went to France, where they intermarried with the
Huegenots,
or to Britain and Holland where they often returned to the Jewish
fold.
By the Statute of Limpieza in 1547 C.E., purity of ancestry from
the
"taint" of converso blood as well as freedom from any
accusations of heresy
by the Catholic Inquisition were made conditions for all future
Catholic
ecclesiastical appointments.
In 1556 C.E. Philip II gave his royal approval to the statute on
the
grounds that "all the heresies in Germany, France and Spain
have been sown
by descendants of Jews" [Editor: Three cheers for
heretics].
As far as Germany and France were concerned, this remark was
sheer fantasy,
and it is especially ironic that, just at this time, Pope Paul
IV, at war
with Spain, described Philip II himself quite correctly as a
Marrano, or
descendant of Jews [Encyclopedia Brittanica].
Shalom from Jerusalem,
by Yair Davidi
[britam@netvision.net.il]
--------------------------------------------------
ABOUT YAIR DAVIDY:
YAIR DAVIDY is the founder of Brit-Am Israel, an organization
that conducts
research on the Lost Ten Tribes. Mr. Davidy is the author
of "Ephraim",
"The Tribes" and "Lost Israelite Identity:
The Hebraic Origin
of Celtic Races". Mr. Davidi publishes "The
Tribesman", a magazine devoted
to research on the Lost Ten Tribes.
ABOUT THE LOST TRIBES FELLOWSHIP:
The Lost Tribes Fellowship of the Root & Branch Association
conducts
research on the Lost Ten Tribes.
***********************************************************************
Commentary from Eddie Chumney:
The following article
is from an Orthodox Jewish
organization in Israel who believes that the restoration of the
two house of
Israel
(all 12 tribes) MUST happen BEFORE the coming of King Messiah.
This
is a fundamental belief among Orthodox Jews for the coming of
King
Messiah.
***********************************************************************
From "Temple Mount Faithfull" <gershon@templemountfaithful.org>
To: <tmf-list@templemountfaithful.org>
One of the main conditions and a
major event in the last-day redemption of Israel in which
we are now
living is the regathering of Israel from all over the world back
to
the promised land of Israel. It happens now as an exciting
fulfillment
of prophecy and the Word of G-d.
*** The regathering of the Jewish People, including the Ten
Tribes,
was always a testimony, and even a condition, for the coming of
Mashiach ben David. ***
The other two conditions are the reestablishment of the State of
Israel in the land of the covenant, which happened in 1948, and
the
rebuilding of the temple which is to come. Privileged is the
generation in Israel and even all over the world which will
personally se the fulfillment of the end-time godly prophecy for
Israel.
All the prophets prophesied about this major end-time event of
the
regathering of the people of Israel from all the corners of the
world.
The prophet Isaiah states in chapter 49:12-23;
"Behold, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the
north and
from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. Sing, O heavens;
and
be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing O mountains; for
the
Lord has comforted his people, and has mercy upon his afflicted.
But
Zion says, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten
me. Can
a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have
compassion
on the son of her womb? Yes, even they may forget, but I will not
forget you. Behold, I have engraved you upon the palms of my
hands;
your walls are continually before me. Your children shall make
haste;
your destroyers and those who destroyed you shall go away from
you.
Lift up your eyes around, and behold; all these gather themselves
together, and come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall
surely
dress yourself with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them
on
you, as a bride does. For your destruction and your desolate
places,
and the land of your destruction, shall now be too narrow for
your
inhabitants; and those who swallowed you up shall be far away.
The
children who were taken away from you shall say again in your
ears,
The place is too narrow for me; give me room to dwell in. Then
shall
you say in your heart, Who has borne me these, seeing I have lost
my
children, a solitary, an exile, and a wanderer to and fro? and
who has
brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where have
they
been? Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up my hand to
the
nations, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall
bring
your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried upon
their shoulders. And kings shall be your foster fathers, and
their
queens your nursing mothers; they shall bow down to you with
their
face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet; and you
shall know that I am the Lord; for those who wait for me shall
not be
ashamed."
In this prophecy, Isaiah mentions the land of China very clearly
in
v12 and it is so unique that recently even in China a lost Jewish
community was discovered. This great prophet also sends a call to
all
the nations to be a part and to assist in the godly
regathering of
the people of Israel in this great time and in 49:22-23 he states
very
clearly that they will do so.
Jeremiah prophesied in the same way and even gives the plan as to
how
G-d will regather the people in the last days. "And I
will make you
pass with your enemies into a land which you know not; for a fire
is
kindled in my anger, which shall burn upon you. O Lord, you know;
remember me, and be mindful of me, and revenge me of my
persecutors;
take me not away in your long suffering; know that for your sake
I
have suffered insult. Your words were found, and I ate them; and
your
word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called
by
your name, O Lord God of hosts." (Jeremiah 15:14-16)
"Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; and
all your
adversaries, every one of them, shall go to captivity; and those
who
plunder you shall be plundered, and all those who prey upon
you will
I give for a prey. For I will restore health to you, and I will
heal
your wounds, says the Lord; because they called you an outcast,
saying, This is Zion, for whom no man cares. Thus says the Lord;
Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob's tents, and
have
mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be build upon
her own
mound, and the palace shall stand where it used to be. And out of
them
shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry;
and
I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also
glorify
them, and they shall not be small. Their children also shall be
as
before, and their congregation shall be established before me,
and I
will punish all who oppress them. And their nobles shall be of
themselves, and their governor shall proceed from their midst;
and I
will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach me; for who is
this
who engaged his heart to approach me? says the Lord. And you
shall be
my people, and I will be your God. Behold, the stormy wind of the
Lord
goes forth with fury, a continuing stormy wind; it shall fall
with
pain upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord
shall
not return, until he has done it, and until he has performed the
intents of his heart; in the latter days you shall consider it.
At the
same time, says the Lord, will I be the God of all the families
of
Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus says the Lord, The
people
who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel
sought for rest. The Lord has appeared to me, far away, saying, I
have
loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have remained
true to
you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of
Israel; you shall again be adorned with your tambourines, and
shall go
out dancing with those who make merry. You shall yet plant vines
upon
the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall
enjoy
the fruit. For there shall be a day, when the watchmen upon Mount
Ephraim shall cry, Arise, and let us go up to Zion to the Lord
our
God. For thus says the Lord; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and
shout
on the hilltops of the nations; proclaim, praise, and say, O
Lord,
save your people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring
them
from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the
earth,
and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and
she who
labours with child together; a great company shall return there.
They
shall come weeping, and with supplications will I lead them; I
will
make them walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, where
they
shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my
firstborn. Hear the word of the Lord, O you nations, and declare
it in
the islands far away, and say, He who scattered Israel will
gather
him, and keep him, like a shepherd keeps his flock. For the Lord
has
redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him who was
stronger
than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of
Zion, and
shall flow to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine,
and
for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd; and
their
soul shall be like a watered garden; and they shall not languish
in
sorrow any more. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both
young men and old together; for I will turn their mourning to
joy, and
will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I
will
satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall
be
satisfied with my goodness, says the Lord. Thus says the Lord; A
voice
was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel
weeping
for her children refused to be comforted for her children,
because
they were not. Thus says the Lord; Refrain your voice from
weeping,
and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says
the
Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And
there
is hope for your future, says the Lord, that your children shall
come
again to their own border. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself thus; You have chastised me, and I was chastised, like a
bull
unaccustomed to the yoke; turn me back, and I shall be turned;
for you
are the Lord my God. For after I had returned away, I repented;
and
after I was instructed, I struck upon my thigh; I was ashamed and
even
confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Is
Ephraim my
dear son? Is he a darling child? For whenever I speak of him, I
earnestly remember him still; therefore my inward parts are
troubled
for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, says the Lord. Set up
road
marks for yourself, make signposts; set your heart towards the
road,
the way on which you go; turn back, O virgin of Israel, turn back
to
these your cities. How long will you go about, O you faithless
daughter? for the Lord has created a new thing in the earth: A
woman
shall court a man. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel;
Again they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its
cities, when I shall bring back their captivity; The Lord bless
you, O
habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. And there shall
dwell
in Judah itself, and in all its cities together, farmers, and
those
who go forth with flocks. For I will satisfy the weary soul, and
I
will replenish every sorrowful soul. Upon this I awoke, and
looked on;
and my sleep was sweet to me. Behold, the days come, says the
Lord,
that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with
the
seed of man, and with the seed of beast." (Jeremiah
30:14-31:26)
"But do not fear, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O
Israel;
for, behold, I will save you from far away, and your seed from
the
land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest
and at
ease, and none shall make him afraid. Do not fear, O my servant
Jacob,
says the Lord; for I am with you; for I will make a full end of
all
the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full
end of
you, but correct you in due measure; yet I will not leave you
unpunished." (Jeremiah 46:27:28)
"The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the
wind of
the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was
full of
bones, And he led me around among them; and, behold, there were
very
many in the open valley; and, behold, they were very dry. And he
said
to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord
God,
you know. And he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say
to
them, O you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the
Lord
God to these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into
you, and
you shall live; And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up
flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you,
and
you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord. And I
prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a
noise,
and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to its
bone.
And as I beheld, behold, the sinews and the flesh came up upon
them,
and the skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.
And
he said to me, Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and
say
to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds,
O
breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. And I
prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and
they
lived, and stood up upon their feet, a very large army. Then he
said
to me, son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel;
behold,
they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are clean
cut
off. Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:
Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to
come up
out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And
you
shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O
my
people, and brought you up from your graves, And I shall put my
spirit
in you, and you shall live, and I shall place you in your own
land;
then shall you know that I, the Lord, have spoken it, and
performed
it, says the Lord." (Ezekiel 37:1-14)
"Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and
rejoice with
all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away
your
judgments, he has cast out your enemy. The king of Israel, the
Lord,
is in your midst; you shall not see evil any more. On that day it
shall be said to Jerusalem, Do not fear, O Zion! Let not your
hands be
slack. The Lord your God is in your midst; a mighty one who
saves, he
will rejoice over you with joy; he will be silent in his love, he
will
joy over you with singing. I will gather those who mourn far away
for
the solemn assembly, who were of you, who had borne for you the
burden
of insult. Behold, at that time I will undo all who afflict you;
and I
will save her who limps, and gather her who was driven out; and I
will
get praise and fame to those who have been put to shame in all
the
earth. At that time I will bring you back, and at that time I
will
gather you; for I will make you a name and a praise among all the
people of the earth, when I restore your captivity before your
eyes,
says the Lord." (Zephaniah 3:14-20)
"Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when the plowman
shall overtake
the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; and the
mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
And I
will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they
shall
rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant
vineyards, and drink their wine; they shall also make gardens,
and eat
their fruit. And I will plant them upon their land, and they
shall no
more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,
says the
Lord your God." (Amos 9:13-15)
"Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,
Thus says the
Lord of hosts; I was zealous for Zion with great zeal, and I was
zealous for her with great fury. Thus says the Lord: I have
returned
to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem
shall
be called the City of Truth; and the mountain of the Lord of
hosts the
Holy Mountain. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women
shall again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with
his
staff in his hand for the fullness of days. And the streets of
the
city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus
says
the Lord of hosts: If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant
of
this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in my
eyes?
says the Lord of hosts. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I
will
save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
And I
will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem;
and
they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in
righteousness." (Zechariah 8:1-8)
The people who are now living in Israel are now seeing great
miracles
and the daily fulfillment of these great prophecies. The future
will be
even more exciting and we should expect great godly events and
the
word-by-word fulfillment of prophecy. We thank G-d for this and
blessed
are those who trust and love the G-d of Israel
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