lis 
 
 148 
 
 ZIONISM 
 
 '^s Relation to Prophecy. 
 
 Rtv FRANCIS L. DENMAN. M.A. 
 
 '-^^ * ^^P*''^ ^^^^ ^^ ' Prophetical Society, and printed by WSs& 
 '^ '^1 reqmeat. I^A 
 
 mYm^mmm 

 
 ZIONISM 
 
 AND 
 
 ITS RELATION TO PROPHECY. 
 
 Rev, FRANCIS L, DENMAN, M.A, 
 
 A Paper read at a Prophetical Society^ and printed by reqjiest.
 
 Zioqi^ni and it? Relation to ppophecij. 
 
 lONISM sums itself up in the love of the Jewish 
 2S nation for Palestine, from which country it has been 
 ^^^ so long divorced. To understand this modern 
 development, called " The Zionist Movement," one 
 must go back to the formation of the " Chovevei Zion " 
 (Lovers of Zion), which began about eight years ago. A 
 few young Jews, failing to obtain work, met in an upper 
 room, nearly opposite Spitalfields Parish Church, to discuss 
 what they should do for a living. They determined to go 
 to Palestine as agricultural colonists. The movement spread 
 until it became a great national undertaking, with flourishing 
 branches w^herever there are Jews. The Association has a 
 magazine, called "Palestina," some 22 quarterly numbers 
 of which have been issued. Their present programme, 
 practically the same as the first, is "(a) to foster the national 
 idea in Israel ; (b) to promote the colonization of Palestine 
 and neighbouring territories by Jews, by establishing new 
 colonies or assisting those already estabhshed ; (c) to diffuse 
 the knowledge of Hebrew as a living language ; (d) to 
 further the moral, intellectual and material status of 
 Israel" (Palestina, No. 22, p. 4). 
 
 This programme has been carefully carried out, and has 
 met with much success in Palestine ; the colonies 
 established and those assisted are prospering, and the 
 colonists themselves are thriving. 
 
 2098583
 
 Whilst the " Chovevei Zion " was working, there 
 arose a great Jewish national cry, prom], ted by the terrible 
 sufferings and persecutions endured on the Continent. The 
 leaders of the nation heard this, and as Anti-Semitism began 
 to be more accentuated, the question was raised, " Why 
 should we not return to Palestine and rid the nations ot 
 our presence ? " 
 
 As an antidote to this Anti-Semitic spirit, the Zionist move- 
 ment was started about two years ago. It hastened forward 
 what the Chovevei Zion had began. The prime mover was 
 Dr. Herzl, an eminent journalist, whose pamphlet, "The 
 Jewish State " (Nutt, Strand, i/-),has stirred the whole Jewish 
 nation. From its perusal one cannot but sadly see that 
 Zionism, though allowed by GOD, is of man's ordering. 
 The author says, "the misery of the Jews is the propelling 
 force " of the movement ; " the Jewish State is essential to 
 the world, it will therefore be created ;" "the Jews wish for 
 a State — they shall have it, and they shall earn it for 
 themselves." 
 
 To bring this about it is proposed to establish a Jewish 
 Chartered Company, with some fifty million pounds capital, 
 obtaining a guarantee from the Powers of the neutrality and 
 inviolability of a Jewish State in Palestine. The scheme 
 thus relies upon man for peace and safety, and not upon 
 GOD. A writer in \\\q Jewisli Chronicle (July 3, 1896) says 
 " the plan of the proposed state takes little account of the 
 religious and mystical elements of former projects, and, put 
 briefly, is an attempt not so much to fulfil prophecy as to 
 found a political centre for the Jewish Yace by the modern 
 system of state evolution, which begins with the Chartered 
 Company, and passes through the stages of a Crown Colony,
 
 that is a Turkish Crown Colony— to constitutional 
 autonomy." 
 
 The further quotations from Dr. Herzl's pamphlet, "The 
 Jewish State," prove that the movement is not religious. 
 " Our Ministers are to devote their energies to the service 
 of Zionism, and will inspire their congregations by preaching 
 it from the pulpit." "We shall let every man find 
 salvation ' over there ' (a phrase often used referring to 
 Palestine) in his own particular way. Above and before 
 all we shall make room for the immortal band of our Free- 
 thinkers, who are continually making new conquests for 
 humanity." 
 
 The question of a theocratic government being again the 
 distinguishing characteristic of the nation is thus discussed, 
 " Shall we end by having a theocracy ? No, indeed. Faith 
 unites us, knowledge gives us freedom. We shall therefore 
 prevent any theocratic tendencies from coming to the fore 
 on the part of our priesthood." Then come ominous 
 words, " every m.an will be as free and undisturbed in his 
 faith or his disbelief as he is in his nationality." The ques- 
 tion of a national banner is raised; it will have "a white 
 field, symbolizing our pure new life ; the seven stars the 
 seven golden hours of our working day." 
 
 The pamphlet concludes with the significant words, '' the 
 Jews wish to have a state and they shall have one. We 
 shall live at last as free men on our own soil, and die peace- 
 fully in our own home The world will be freed by our 
 liberty, enriched by our wealth, magnified by our greatness. 
 And whatever we attempt there to accomplish for our own 
 welfare will react with beneficent force for the good of 
 humanity." But it is this very wealth and greatness that
 
 causes the envy and ill-will of the nations ; and as Ezek. 
 xxxviii. 12-13 shows, will be one cause of their final judgment 
 in Palestine at the hands of the Prince of Rosh, Meshech 
 and Tubal (verse i. R.v). 
 
 Last August a world-wide conference of Jews, some 200 
 delegates being present, was held at Basle to discuss the 
 return to Palestine. Amid the many voices which were 
 heard there, one note of GOD was sounded by a Rabbi from 
 Mohilew ; he urged Zionism being carried out on a religious 
 basis ; he begged those present to believe in a personal 
 Messiah whom GOD would send as a Redeemer to bring 
 back His chosen people to their own land, so that the 
 Jewish people might once again be honoured amongst the 
 nations. 
 
 But this is not the view held by the promoters of Zionism. 
 They want to go back to Palestine now, under the protection 
 and guarantee of the European Powers, in order, as they 
 think, to get rid of their persecutions ; but the curses that 
 rest upon the nation are ordained of GOD, because of their 
 rejection of His Anointed, and their return to Palestine only 
 hastens the filling up of the cup of GOD'S wrath and 
 indignation. We know that GOD uses natural means to 
 produce supernatural effects, but it is not for man to adopt 
 natural means and think thereby to change times and laws 
 in order to bring about an event prophesied, which can 
 only be a miracle akin to resurrection. 
 
 This the " Chovevei Zion " believe, and therefore advocate 
 a more gradual policy. They therefore sent no official 
 representative to the Bas-le Congress. Their centre of 
 gravity is colonization, " colonizing Judaism " as ihcy express 
 it. They desire gradual practical work, achieving little by
 
 human means, but waiting for the realization of their ideals 
 to GOD'S own time. Hence they could not at first unite 
 with the Zionist movement. 
 
 In England Orthodox Jews feel that Zionism, if 
 carried out, would stir up their nests. They wish to be 
 regarded as Englishmen, following the old faith of Judaism, 
 Imked in some cases with the higher teaching of " the 
 Sermon on the Mount," "Christians without Christ " as 
 a Jewish minister once said ; but GOD says, " and that which 
 Cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We 
 will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to 
 serve wood and stone. As I live, saith the LORD GOD, surely 
 with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and 
 with fury poured out, will I rule over you : and I will bring 
 you out from the people, and will gather you out of the 
 countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, 
 and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. 
 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and 
 there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded 
 with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so 
 will I plead with you,saith the LORD GOD" (Ezek. xx. 32-36). 
 
 The Reformed Jews in England, who are becoming 
 practically Deists, are also opposed to Zionism. They adhere 
 to the half allegorical, half mystical creed that the restoration 
 of the Jews is to be a new Jerusalem — a figurative name, 
 representing the universal spread of the religious ideals of the 
 race. But to both " Chovevei Zion" and " Zionists," restora- 
 tion means restoration literally to Palestine. At the Exe- 
 cutive Committee of the Union of Rabbis in Germany, 
 July 6th, 1897, it was declared that "the efforts of so-called 
 Zionists to create a Jewish National State in Palestine are
 
 8 
 
 antagonistic to the Messianic promises of Judaism contained 
 in Holy Writ and in late religious sources." Speaking of 
 National Revival recently, in a sermon on Messianism and 
 Reform, the Rev. Joseph Morris said, "surely the Divine 
 Oracles were not about to be fulfilled in the person of one 
 who openly disbelieved them. Nor was this all the irony of 
 the situation. The new nationalist, if they were to be guided 
 by the utterances of its foremost exponent, carefully eschewed 
 religion. The coming salvation was to be brought nut by 
 faith and righteousness, but by a successful financial enterprise. 
 Was it any wonder that towards the close of the Zionist 
 Congress last summer a Rabbi expressed his fear lest in the 
 new Jewish state the religious Jew should be under a ban ? " 
 (Jewish Chro7iicle, April 15, 1898). 
 
 Generally speaking, the Jews of England hold back 
 from the Zionist movement ; many of them, it is true, look for 
 restoration, but only as a result of the good times promised 
 by the prophets ; whilst others hold strongly that there must 
 be a restoration to Judaism before a restoration to Palestine 
 is possible. Nevertheless, though English Jews show little 
 desire to go back, they do feel that something ought to be 
 done to relieve their persecuted brethren on the Continent, 
 and if colonization in Palestine will help that forward, they 
 are willing to show practical sympathy. To this end, after the 
 London Conference of Zionists on March 6th, 1898, it was 
 decided that all Zionist Societies should join their forces to 
 bring about the repossession of Palestine for the Jews. Thus 
 Dr. Herzl's original plan, though not adopted as a whole by 
 the nation, has aroused the Jews all over the world. They now 
 regard themselves no longer as scattered units, but as a nation 
 — the proud possessors of a unity of belief in the One GOD
 
 and with the possibility of Palestine being opened up as a 
 harbour of refuge from the storms of persecution on the seas 
 of the nations. " Our common history," says Dr. Herzl, 
 "has suffered a long break, and only in our own times, 
 through the latest marvel of travelling comnmnication, has 
 an unriersianding, and a union between the separated sec- 
 tions of our people become possible. The feeling of com- 
 munion, of which we have been so bitterly accused, had 
 commenced to weaken, when Anti-Semitism attacked us. 
 Anti-Semitism has restored it. We have, so to speak, gone 
 home. Zionism is the return home of Judaism, even before 
 the return to the land of the Jews." 
 
 Is this state of Judaism and the Jews a sign of the times ? 
 Is this the first stirring of the dry bones in Ezekiel's Vision ? 
 The Church of Christ as " the son of man" in Ezekiel xxxvii. 
 has been prophesying this century to the bones " in the open 
 valley." The results are world wide. The Jews are no 
 longer what they were ; in every country their intellectual and 
 physical qualities have brought them to the fore. In Com- 
 merce, in Law, in Politics, in Art and Science, and in the world 
 ofletters, the Jewish nation is gradually becoming pre- 
 eminent. One may say with the Psalmist, " there is no speech 
 nor language, where their voice is not heard." Power and 
 influence they have wherever they are. Christian prayer and 
 effort for their spiritual welfare has, in a very large measure, 
 brought about this change in their condition ; the chief result 
 being the addition of some 200,000 Jews this century into the 
 flock of the One Great Shepherd of the sheep. These facts, 
 together with the thrilling sense of its national existence, which 
 has of late aroused the Jewish people, seem to be pictured in 
 the vision of the prophet. " There was a noise, and behold a
 
 shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone 
 
 (v. 7). The Jews are now an active power, one with which all 
 nations have to reckon. Thus " when I beheld, io, t'e sinews 
 and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered 
 them above " (v. 8). " But," as the prophet goes on to say, 
 "there was no breath in them," i.e., no spiritual life, life in 
 GOD's sense of life — life in and through Messiah. Christians 
 are now called upon speciallv to j^ray to the Holy Spirit, 
 "Thus saith the LORD God ; Come from the four winds, 
 breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live " 
 (v. 9). In which case, and as a result, verse 10 may point to 
 a great spiritual awakening of the Jews just before the Second 
 Coming of Messiah, the LORD Jesus for HisChurch ; verse 11 
 would then be fulfilled after He has taken the Church to be 
 for ever with Himself, when the Jews in large numbers, we 
 have every reason to believe, would recognize that Jesus of 
 Nazareth, whose Name is great among the Gentiles now, was 
 the Messiah. These would form the basis of the godly rem- 
 nant during "the Day of the LORD," that "Day of His fierce 
 anger," and would be the meansof theconversion of manynow 
 undecided, "for when Thy judgments are in the earth, the 
 inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness" (Isa. 
 xxvi. 9). 
 
 How many Jews will return to Palestine in unbelief before 
 the LORD comes cannot be known, butthatthere will be many 
 Jews there then seems clear from Scripture. The land must 
 be prepared for the people, and the people for the land, 
 and both must be prepared for Antichrist — the " Beast 
 coming up out of the earth" (Rev. xiii. 2). These things 
 the Jewish national movements of to day seem to be 
 forwarding. The wrath of GOD upon the Jews finds its
 
 11 
 
 radiating centre in Palestine. It is '' in the midst of Jerusa- 
 lem" that the dross of the nation (Ezek xxii. i8, &c.) has to 
 be removed. They have to be gathered out of all countries 
 and brought "into their own land" before they are 
 cleansed and a new heart given and a new spirit put within 
 them (Ezek. xxxvi. 24, &c.). Moses in the Law (Deut. 
 XXX. 5. 6) also shows that circumcision of the heart, love to 
 the LORD and consequent life comes to the nation "in the 
 land." " The Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of burning," 
 (Isa. iv) which purges the nation, works " in Jerusalem." It 
 is " upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem" that GOD "will pour the Spirit of grace and 
 of supplications," so that "they shall look upon Me whom 
 they have pierced." It is likewise " in the land " that two 
 thirds of the nation "shall be cut off and die," and the 
 remaming "third part" be refined "as silver is refined." 
 And, again, it is "to the house of David and to the inhabi- 
 tants of Jerusalem" that "in that day there shall be a 
 fountain opened — for sin and for uncleanness" (Zech. 
 xii. xiii). And here let me say what I cannot but think is 
 the right interpretation of Zech. xiii. i, in spite of the 
 beautiful hymn which begins — 
 
 " There is a fountain filled with blood." 
 
 Zech. xii, 10 is the work of the Holy Spirit leading the Jews, 
 as it were, to the Cross, where they find life; just as of old, 
 when the people looked to the uplifted brazen serpent in the 
 wilderness ; whilst Zech. xiii. i is the work of the Koly Spirit 
 under the type of cleansing water, preparing the nation for 
 service. Saul of Tarsus, on the road to Damascus, finding 
 life, and Paul the Apostle at Antioch, separated by the
 
 12 
 
 Holy Ghost for service, are a type of the whole nation as 
 pictured in these two verses. 
 
 Thus we come to Isaiah Ixvi. Sufficient evidence has been 
 given to show that the Jews will return to Palestine in greater 
 or smaller numbers, and will attain to great prosperity (Zech. 
 xiv. and Ezek. xxxviii). The whole nation need not neces- 
 sarily at once go back, indeed very many passages prove that 
 the great gathering does not take place until Messiah "the 
 LORD of Hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, 
 and before His ancients gloriously " (Isa. xxiv. 23). The 
 whole nation did not return from Babylon after the captivity ; 
 but v.'hen the Jewish people once more — it may be in the near 
 future — are settled nationally in Palestine, they will doubtless 
 build a Temple in order to carry out their great thought, 
 that, in Jerusalem there may be " an house of prayer 
 for all people" (Isa. Ivi. 7), that thither — the fond belief of 
 many Jews -all the pious of the earth may flock at a time 
 when the whole world at the preaching of Jews will become 
 monotheistic in the present Jewish sense. That such a 
 Temple or vast Synagogue will be built seems evident ; 
 verse i implies that the LORD sees such built, yet future; 
 necessarily it will be erected in national pride of heart aris- 
 ing out of once more possessing their Holy City, so full of 
 tender inspiring memories of a sad yet withal glorious past. 
 Verse 6, too, also points to the same, " a voice of noise from 
 the city, a voice from the Temple"; the latter part of this 
 verse indicating that this voice is heard at the close of "the 
 Day of the L( )RD," when there will be "a voice of the LORD 
 that rendereth recompense to His enemies" (Isa. Ixi. 2; 
 Ixiii. 4). In view of this Temple, the following words, 
 occurring in a sermon of a leading London Rabbi are in-
 
 teresting, " But does the Return to Judaea necessarily imply 
 the rebuilding of the Temple ? Why should it not ? 
 What do we mean by the Temple ? The Temple of old, 
 situate in Jerusalem, served .as the House of God, to which 
 the Jews of all parts flocked at certain seasons of the year, 
 and it formed the national centre of the Jewish people. 
 And why should Jerusalem not again, under the new 
 condition of things as we foresee it, become the centre and 
 rallying point of Judaism, the source whence the instruction 
 of the Law is to go forth, and the Word of the Lord as ot 
 old ? Why should it not become once again the 
 custom to make pilgrimages at certain times and seasons, 
 and to worship before the Lord in His holy Temple at 
 Jerusalem ?" (Jewish Chronicle, June 4, 18977. 
 
 Naturall)^, also, the question arises, if a Temple, will the 
 sacrificial system be restored? On this point there is a 
 difference of opinion, both amongst Jews and Christians. 
 To quote from the same sermon, " on the one hand the 
 doctrine is taught in the very words of the Liturgy which 
 the Jew repeats during service, when he prays, that God 
 shall restore us to our own land, and there we shall prepare 
 before Him the ordained sacrifice, as in the days of yore : 
 on the other hand, there is the growing belief that the march 
 of civilization would not suffer a revival of the ancient prac- 
 tice of animal sacrifice for devotional purposes." But surely 
 the Word of GOD seems to indicate that such will be 
 restored, at all events in some form, though perhaps modified 
 and in close connexion with the custom of the Jews in 
 specially slaughtering their own meat. Isa. Ixvi. 3 
 apparently points to a renewal of such sacrifices, and that 
 it is most displeasing to the Almighty; whilst Dan. ix. 27
 
 14 
 
 and xi. 3 1 imply that they must be re-established on account 
 of the part that Antichrist has to take."* 
 
 In verse 5 we find two classes of Jews in the days of "Jacob's 
 Trouble" (Jer. xxx. 7). There are those afflicted ones to 
 whom the message comes, " Hear ye the Word of the LORD, 
 ye that tremble at His Word" (see v. 2), &c. These are 
 the godly Christian Jews who either were converted after 
 seeing and understanding the Coming of Messiah for His 
 Church (saved Jews and Gentiles), or through preaching 
 afterwards durmg the Tribulation. GOD has never left, no 
 not even in the worst days of Judah's rebellion, and never will 
 leave Himself without true witnesses amongst His chosen 
 nation, the Jews. Indeed there must be such to testify to 
 Antichrist being the false Messiah, the last one that shall 
 deceive the Jewish nation. To this faithful remnant the 
 prophetic word says, "Your brethren that hated you, that 
 cast you out for My Name's sake, said, Let the LORD be 
 glorified." "Your brethren," is the other class — the uncon- 
 verted Jews, probably and chiefly Rationalists and 
 Freethinkers, men and women deceived by Antichrist, whose 
 aim is first to get rid of the Hebrew Christians, because they 
 
 * The Eastern Antichrist — the beast that cometh up out of the earth, 
 the false prophet (Rev. xiii. 2), establishes himself in Jerusalem. That 
 he is a Jew is to be inferred from Dan, xi. 37, and elsewhere, and also 
 from the fact that orthodox Jews would not accept anyone as Messiah 
 unless professing to be of the tribe of Judah, and descended from David. 
 It is very striking in this connexion to read the words of Mr. Sydney 
 Montagu Samuel : *' Heaven may lead a man of great intelligence, but 
 of little faith, to become the precursor of the Messiah who is to be, 
 according to our belief, but a man of marvellous intelligence and power 
 of influence and organization." — " Jewish Life in the East " Appendix, 
 page 199.
 
 ^5 
 
 are witnesses for the truth before the LORD and His 
 Anointed. These they hate and cast out for the Name of 
 the LORD Jesus. The same afflicted brethren are referred 
 to in Isa. Ixiii. i6, where Messiah Jesus (the Redeemer who 
 shall yet come out of Zion and bring redemption to those 
 who now reject Him) is called " Father," and " everlasting," 
 one of the very names He was predicted to be called in 
 Isa. ix. 6, "Everlasting Father." The unbelieving Jews of 
 that day say to the faithful remnant, "Let the LORD be 
 glorified." This is said ironically, as if "you believe in 
 Jesus as Messiah, let Him come and save you now ; if He 
 is LORD let Him be glorified in delivering you ! " Just as 
 when the Christ of GOD was on the Cross, "the chief 
 priests mocking Him, with the scribes and elders, said, He 
 saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King 
 of Israel, let Him now come down from the Cross, and we 
 will believe Him " (Matt, xxvii. 41, 42). " But," continues 
 the prophetic word, "He shall appear to your joy," that is, 
 the joy of the faithful remnant, the Hebrew Christians of that 
 day; "and they," that is the unbeHeving Jews, "shall 
 be ashamed." 
 
 Verse 6 points, as mentioned above, to " the great and 
 dreadful day of the LORD" (Mai. iv. 5); the completion of 
 "the day of vengeance of our GOD" (Isa. Ixi. 2), "the day 
 of His fierce anger" (Isa. xiii. 13), "the great day of His 
 wrath " (Rev. vi. 17). Following this, and after the purging 
 of Zech. xiii. 8. 9, and the great battle of Zech. xiv. i. 2, 
 which may well form the conclusion of "Jacob's trouble" 
 (Jerr. xxx. 7), comes the new birth of the remainmg part of 
 the nation, the "all Israel" of that day which "shall be 
 saved" (Jer. xxx. 7, Rom. xi. 26) "with an everlasting
 
 i6 
 
 salvation " (Isa. xlv. 17) through a living and seeking faith, 
 which, Spirit inspired, looks upon Messiah Jesus when He 
 comes with His saints, when also " His feet shall stand in 
 that clay upon the Mount of Olives" (Zech. xiv. 4). 
 
 Verses 7, 8, and 9, refer to the time when the Jews, 
 as a nation, will be " born at once," " in one day," in other 
 words, when they become Christians. That will be a glad 
 day to the world ; for not till then will the great work be 
 "begun, continued and ended in GOD," foretold in Ps. Ixvii. 
 1-7; Isa. Ix. 3; Ixi. 6; Zech. viii. 13, 23; Rom. xi. 15. 
 How beautiful upon the mountains will be the feet of the 
 priestly nation "that bringeth good tidings" to the millions 
 of heathen, "that publisheth peace" to the "many 
 nations" which are now "far off"! How greatly will 
 "the tribes of the LORD" "rejoice in the strength of their 
 salvation," as, instead of sitting in the dark valleys of unbe- 
 Hef, overshadowed by "the spirit of mourning," they arise 
 saying, "0 house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in 
 the light of the LORD" (Isa. ii. 5). 
 
 May GOD in His mercy hasten that day, when His promise 
 will be performed, "As truly as 1 live, all the earth shall 
 be filled with the glory of the LORD" (Numbers xiv. 21). 
 
 " Even so, come, LORD Jesus" (Rev. xxii. 20).
 
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