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Who divided the land?

The British controlled Palestine from 1917-1947 in the aftermath of World War 1. But the rise of Jewish terrorists such as Vladimir Jabotinski, Menachem Begin, and Yitschat Shamir finally forced the British government to put the problem into the hands of the United Nations. So from November 21-29 the UN debated the question and then passed UN Resolution 181, which divided the land between the Palestinians and the Jews. This was to take effect May 14, 1948.

War immediately broke out, as the Palestinians objected to the UN dividing their land. The Jews won the war and took more land from the Palestinians than the UN had apportioned to them. They attacked Egypt in 1967 and 1973 and took still more land. They attacked Lebanon in 1982 and took more land, including the Golan Heights from Syria. All of these wars were for the purpose of taking more land in the name of “security.”

In 1948 the church was ecstatic that prophecy about the restoration of Israel seemed to be fulfilled as so many had been forecasting. Christian Zionists considered this event to be solid proof that the Jews were the Israelites of biblical prophecy. They seemed to know nothing of the distinction between Israel and Judah, nor did they consider that the tribes of Israel were still “lost” to most of them.

Neither did any prophecy teachers understand the history of Esau-Edom and how Isaac foretold a time when Esau’s descendants would reclaim “the dominion” after his brother Jacob had taken the birthright in an unlawful way.

For present purposes, it is important to say also that these Christian Zionists fully accepted the division of the land, because it gave the Jewish immigrants the right to establish a state of their own. It was only decades later that they began to refer to Joel 3:2 and to reprimand the UN for dividing the land. In other words, they began to teach that the Jews ought to have the entire land “from the river to the sea.”

The point is that Christian Zionists who claimed that UN Resolution 181 gave “Israel” the right to exist later repudiated it by claiming that they had no right to divide the land. Palestinians, then, had no rights at all, they said, even though they had lived there for centuries.

The Timing of this Restoration

Joel 3:1, 2 says,

¹ For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, ² I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land.

Joel’s prophecy is not dated, and scholars have many different opinions about this. But it seems that Joel wrote about the time when Judah and Jerusalem were being taken captive by the Babylonians (604-586 B.C.). His prophecies were designed to cause the people of Judah to repent from their sins—which had caused the captivity.

But as we see so often, prophecies about many time periods can be thrown into one basket, making it appear that all of them take place at the same time. It is often hard to sort them out. Some prophecies (such as in Joel 3:2) are very incomplete and require us to go to other prophets for more details.

Moreover, when dealing with end-time prophecies, we must take into account the changes that took place when history moved from Old Covenant times to New Covenant times. Names and place names can have prophetic meaning rather than literal meaning. For example, Jehoshaphat means “Jehovah has judged.” Is the valley of Jehoshaphat to be taken literally or is it a prophetic picture of divine judgment in general?

Joel and Jeremiah

Jeremiah 19:10, 11 speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem that is so complete that it can never again be repaired. In other words, once this destruction occurs, there is no more possibility that the city will be restored. Therefore, Joel’s prophecy of restoration must occur some time prior to the time of utter destruction.

God restored the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem first when King Cyrus of Persia issued his edict in 534 B.C. allowing them to return under Zerubbabel to the old land to rebuild it. This was followed later by the edict of King Artaxerxes in 458 B.C., who authorized and paid for the reconstruction of the wall around Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah.

But at that time there was no great judgment of nations at the valley of Jehoshaphat. That appears to be an end-time prophecy attached to the prophecy of Judah’s restoration.

When Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D., this presented a second opportunity for the people of Judah to repent and be restored. They have failed to do so to this day. The conditions for Judah’s restoration have not been fulfilled, and yet men are convinced that Judah has been restored and that the Jewish takeover of Jerusalem in 1967 completed that fulfillment of prophecy.

But is this really the case?

We know from the laws of tribulation, especially in Leviticus 26:40-42 that God would not restore any of the tribes of Israel apart from repentance from their hostility (to Jesus Christ). The Israeli state has not repented, and they are doing the opposite of the Abrahamic calling to bless all nations.

Only by understanding the prophecy of Esau-Edom can we untangle the prophecies and see what is truly happening today. After Judah conquered Edom in 126 B.C., when the Edomites were converted to Judaism, Judah had two sets of prophecies to fulfill. Few seem to take this into account, but Edom received the dominion in 1948, as Isaac had prophesied long ago. This nation is labeled Israel, but in God’s eyes it is Edom.

Judah was not allowed to return prior to repentance, but Esau-Edom had the right to return on account of Jacob’s unlawful seizure of the birthright blessing. Esau’s apparent success has been mistaken for Judah’s restoration in Joel 3:2. Judah was restored in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah. Edom was given the land in 1948. And Jeremiah 19:11 will shortly come to pass, where Judah and Jerusalem will be destroyed fully.

Edom Eats Blood

Whereas Joel does not tell us precisely who had divided the land, Ezekiel tells us plainly in Ezekiel 35. It is Edom, which had taken over Mount Seir. Ezekiel 35:2 begins,

² Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it.

The Edomites had taken advantage of the demise of both Israel and Judah when they were taken captive to Assyria and Babylon. Edom thought that this was their big opportunity to inherit the land for themselves, the land which they had coveted for centuries. Ezekiel 35:5, 6 says,

⁵ “Because you have had everlasting enmity and have delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of the punishment of the end, ⁶ Therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will give you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you.”

This judgment is based on the law prohibiting men to consume blood. Leviticus 17:10 says,

¹⁰ And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.

The term damah means “blood.” It has various shades of meaning and application. It can mean bloodshed, as the NASB renders it in Ezekiel 35. Or, in a more positive sense, it can refer to one’s kindred, or bloodline. Yet in the case of Ezekiel, God condemns Edom for its violent tendency for bloodshed, because this is the spiritual meaning of eating blood.

Edom Divides the Land

Ezekiel 35:10 says,

¹⁰ Because you have said, “These two nations [Israel and Judah] and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,” although the Lord was there [to see them do this].

In other words, Edom, or Mount Seir, is condemned for dividing the land among their own families, considering it to be their inheritance. This is confirmed in Malachi 1:4,

⁴ Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins,” thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down, and men will call them the wicked territory and the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever.”

We see, then, that Joel does not identify the nation or nations that were to divide the land among themselves. For that we must go to Ezekiel and Malachi. Malachi shows how Edom has the spirit of Zionism (the desire to return), while Ezekiel shows how bloodthirsty they are. So in the past year the Zionists have exposed their hearts for all to see, and it shows their desire to eat blood, or to commit bloodshed.

Therefore, Joel’s statement about dividing the land is indeed directed at the United Nations, but more specifically it applies to the Zionist state, not to the Palestinians. The Palestinians are the victims of Zionist lust for blood and so Jerusalem will be judged in the manner stated in Jeremiah 19:10, 11. This is the meaning of judgment in the valley of Jehoshaphat as well. Whether or not something actually happens in that valley, we cannot tell until the prophecy is fulfilled. But we do know that divine judgment is coming.