Global Evangelism - John Hagee Ministries - (originally published 1996)

Before the mid-20th century, those who believed in a literal fulfillment of Bible prophecy were held up to ridicule. After all, there was no political entity known as Israel, Jerusalem was under Gentile control, and the Jewish people were scattered over the face of the earth.

But, exactly as prophesied in Scripture, the Lord has gathered the exiles from the four comers of the world (Jer. 23:8, Ezek. 36:24). And, exactly as Isaiah prophesied, a nation was born "in a day" (66:8), and Jerusalem is once again the capital of a Jewish state.

The World Zionist Organization (WZO) was founded at the First Zionist Congress (1897) convened by Theodore Herzl in Basel, Switzerland, with the aim of facilitating the return of the Jewish people to its ancient homeland, the Land of Israel, and reviving Jewish national life in the country. Its primary objective, the establishment of a legally secured, internationally recognized Jewish state In the Land of Israel, was attained in 1948.

Since then, the WZO has worked, mainly in the Diaspora, to promote Zionism through activities focusing on the unity of the Jewish people and the centrality of Israel in Jewish life; encouraging the "In gathering of the exiles"; strengthening and reinforcing the state; fostering Jewish education in Jewish communities worldwide; and defending the rights of Jews everywhere.

For more information and detail about this and other prophetic signs read the "Beginning of the End"

The State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14,1948. less than 24 hours later, the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq invaded the country, forcing Israel to defend its sovereignty, which had been recognized by the international community. In what became known as the War of Independence, the newly-formed, poorly-equipped Israel Defense Forces repulsed the invaders in fierce intermittent fighting, which lasted for some 15 months, claiming over 6,000 Israeli lives (nearly one percent of the country's total Jewish population at the time).

During the first few month 1949, direct negotiations were conducted under U.N. auspices between Israel and each of the invading countries (except Iraq, which refused to negotiate with Israel), resulting in armistice agreements. The coastal plain, Galilee and the entire Negev were within Israel's sovereignty; Judea and Samaria came under Jordanian rule, the Gaza Strip under Egyptian administration and the city of Jerusalem was divided, with Jordan controlling the eastern part, including the Old City, and Israel the western sector.

For more information and detail about this and other prophetic signs read the "Beginning of the End"

"Eretz-Israel (the Land of Israel) was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance, and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books."

"Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland ... they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community, controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself."

"The State of Israel ... will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations."

'We extend our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land"

For more information and detail about this and other prophetic signs read the "Beginning of the End"

Passed by the Knesset on the 20th of Tammuz, 5710 (July 5, 1950), the Law of Return grants the right of aliyah to every Jewish person around the world. Aliyah, from the Hebrew word meaning "ascent" or "flight:" refers to the large-scale immigration of Jews to their national homeland.

In 1994 the Israeli cabinet reaffirmed their commitment to the right of aliyah, saying, "The Government of Israel absolutely rejects any idea of restricting the immigration of Jews to Israel and sees itself as obligated to implement the Law of Return the essence of our Zionist outlook - In all its aspects"

For more information and detail about this and other prophetic signs read the "Beginning of the End"

1882-1903 First Aliyah from Russia
1904-1914 Second Aliyah, mainly from Russia and Poland ·
1919-1923 Third Aliyah, mainly from Russia ·
1924-1932 Fourth Aliyah, mainly from Poland ·
1933-1939 Fifth Aliyah, mainly from Germany
1948-1952 Mass immigration from Europe and Arab countries ·
Early 1980s Operation Moses, first wave of Ethiopian Jews
1989 Mass immigration of Soviet Jews begins
1991 Operation Solomon, second wave of Ethiopian Jews

For more information and detail about this and other prophetic signs read the "Beginning of the End"

Since 1948, a total of 2.5 million immigrants have arrived in Israel. Some 795,000 of them (32%), came from the former Soviet Union; 71,000 are from the United States.

Since the collapse of communism there has been a tremendous influx of Jews who had long desired to flee persecution by the Soviet state. From the beginning of 1989 until the end of May 1994, 500,000 immigrants arrived in Israel from the former Soviet Union. This is the largest group of immigrants ever to have arrived in Israel from a single country. Today, these immigrants constitute 10% of Israel's population. Almost 20% of these immigrants were employed in professional occupations before making aliyah; almost 40% of them had completed at least 13 years of education.

The Ministry of Absorption works to help immigrants integrate into Israeli society. Special programs have been developed to help Ethiopian Jews. This group of immigrants has had the most difficulty because of their lack of educational opportunities in Ethiopia. Most of the Ethiopian immigrants are subsistence farmers; when they arrive in Israel they are offered training as skilled workers and helped to find jobs in industry.

For more information and detail about this and other prophetic signs read the "Beginning of the End"

When Egypt moved large numbers of troops into the Sinai Desert (May 1967), ordered the U.N. peacekeeping forces (deployed since 1957) out of the area, reimposed the blockade of the Straits of Tiran and entered into a military alliance with Jordan, Israel found itself faced by hostile Arab armies on all fronts. Having failed to restore the arrangements agreed upon following the 1956 Sinai Campaign, Israel invoked its inherent right of self defense, launching (June 5, 1967) a preemptive strike against Egypt in the south, followed by a counterattack against Jordan in the east and the routing of Syrian forces entrenched on the Golan Heights In the north.

At the end of six days of fighting, the previous cease fire lines were replaced by new ones, with Judea, Samaria, Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights under Israel's control. Consequently, the northern villages were freed from 19 years of recurrent Syrian bombardment; the passage of Israeli and Israel-bound shipping through the Straits of Tiran was ensured, and Jerusalem, which had been divided between Israel and Jordan since 1949, was reunified.

For more information and detail about this and other prophetic signs read the "Beginning of the End"

The Information for the Prophetic Signposts was compiled from resources available on the World Wide Web. Check these websites for Information on Israel and the Jewish people.

Israel Foreign Affairs Ministry
Embassy of Israel, Washington, D. C.
The Jerusalem Post

Global Evangelism - John Hagee Ministries