GENTLE BREEZE
By Nelly Favis Villafuerte
(Part VI)
To this day, the eyes of the world are focused on the Promised Land of Israel. World leaders had made various attempts in the past to remove a portion of the Biblical Promised Land from Israel through diplomatic efforts. Remember the international group referred to as the Quartet, composed of the United States, Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union? It was this group that introduced for the first time their “Roadmap for Peace” plan whose goal was to remove the restored land of Israel in the name of peace.
On the day representatives of Quartet met in US, the “worst weather in US history” began a rampage that included 562 tornadoes and over 1,500 hail storms. Then not long after it ended across the Atlantic in Europe, the other main participant in the Quartet, the European Union experienced the worst heatwave in over 250 years. After it had finally ended, a staggering 50,000 lives had been lost. Such an event with its timing certainly qualifies for a fulfillment of the prophetic warning. (Quoted from the book The Coming Mideast War and Peace Treaty by David Brennan)
It is indeed a mystery that everytime there is a diplomatic effort to divide a portion of the Biblical Promised Land, a severe catastrophic disaster would occur. Let me share with you an incident in the US to illustrate this statement.
After the victory of US over Iraq in the Desert Storm War, the US president recommended a so-called comprehensive peace plan for Middle East. On October 30, 1991, the Madrid Peace Plan was convened in Madrid, Spain. The famous words of the US president then were: “Territorial compromise is essential for peace.” On the very same day while the US president was speaking on October 30, 1991, in Madrid, Spain, a strong and exceptionally rare storm took place and ravaged the entire East Coast of America from Maine to Florida. This storm, considered the most powerful storm that ever happened became known as the “Perfect Storm.” Remember the book (by Sebastian Junger) and the movie later made by that name? The height of the ocean waves of Perfect Storm were over 100 feet high. This is unprecedented in America. Perfect Storm is also known as the No-Name Storm. Damage from the storm was more than US$200 million.
Surprisingly too, is the fact that the Perfect Storm heavily damaged the summer home of the US president then who initiated the Madrid Peace Plan. Coincidence?
In my article two weeks ago (Part IV), I started sharing the seven reasons advanced by US Senator James M. Inhofe in a speech delivered on the Senate floor last March 4, 2002 – as to why Israel is entitled to the so-called Promise Land. The first four reasons were quoted in Parts IV and V. (Reference: http://www.internationalwallofprayer.org/A-007-Senator-Inhofe-Peace-In-Middle-East.html)
- “The fifth reason Israel ought to have their land is that she is a strategic ally of the United States. Whether we realize it or not, Israel is a detriment, an impediment, to certain groups hostile to democracies and hostile to what we believe in, hostile to that which makes us the greatest nation in the history of the world. They have kept them from taking complete control of the Middle East. If it were not for Israel, they would overrun the region. They are our strategic ally.
“It is good to know we have a friend in the Middle East on whom we can count. They vote with us in the United Nations more than England, more than Canada, more than France, more than Germany – more than any other country in the world.
- “The sixth reason is that Israel is a roadblock to terrorism. The war we are now facing is not against a sovereign nation; it is against a group of terrorists who are very fluid, moving from one country to another. They’re almost invisible. That is who we are fighting against today.
“We need every ally we can get. If we do not stop terrorism in the Middle East, it will be on our shores. We have said this again and again and again, and it is true….
“Since its independence in 1948, Israel has fought four wars: The war in 1948 and 1949 – that was the war for independence; the war in 1956, the Sinai campaign; the Six-Day War in 1967; and in 1973, the Yom Kippur War, the holiest day of the year, and that was with Egypt and Syria.
“You have to understand that in all four cases, Israel was attacked. They were not the aggressor. Some people may argue that this was not true because they went in first in 1956, but they knew at that time that Egypt was building a huge military to become the aggressor. Israel, in fact, was not the aggressor and has not been the aggressor in any of the four wars.
“Also, they won all four wars against impossible odds. They are great warriors. They consider a level playing field being outnumbered 2 to 1.
“There were 39 Scud missiles that landed on Israeli soil during the Gulf War. Our President asked Israel not to respond. In order to have the Arab nations on board, we asked Israel not to participate in the war. They showed tremendous restraint and did not. Now we have asked them to stand back and not do anything over these last several attacks.
- “The seventh reason is that I believe very strongly that we ought to support Israel; that it has a right to the land. This is the most important reason; Because God said so. As I said a minute ago, look it up in the book of Genesis 13:14-17 which says: “The Lord said to Abram, “Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are northward, and southward, and eastward and westward: for all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed forever. ... Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it to thee.”
“That is GOD talking.”
(To be continued)
This column continues to give out copies of the Holy Bible for free to those who cannot afford to buy their own copies. If interested, please send your letter-request to Ms. Nelly Favis Villafuerte, 5233 LRV Building, Fahrenheit St., Palanan, Makati City. Kindly mention if it is the Tagalog, English, Cebuano, or Ilocano Bible that is preferred.
Be joyful and forgiving! (Comments may be sent to Ms. Villafuerte’s email: villafuerte_nelly@yahoo.com)