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Israel: The Prophetic Connection

John Tweedie - The Miraculous Return to Zion

October 3, 2025 | 28:37

John Tweedie - The Miraculous Return to Zion
Dr. John Tweedie hosts from outdoor scenes in Israel, as he shares God’s Word, chapter by chapter. Other experts provide insight throughout.
#Israel #Bible #Prophecy #Study #Archaeology #BiblicalArtifacts #Theology

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Israel: The Prophetic Connection | John Tweedie - The Miraculous Return to Zion | October 3, 2025
  • How many
  • 00:00:01.796 --> 00:00:03.030
  • Nations have been displaced out of their ethnic homeland?
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  • Not once, but twice.
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  • And yet have found their way home again.
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  • The answer next on this episode
  • 00:00:12.206 --> 00:00:14.875
  • Of the prophetic connection.
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  • Soft music
  • 00:00:17.878 --> 00:00:51.145
  • The answer to the question is that only one nation can make
  • 00:00:52.279 --> 00:00:56.250
  • The claim
  • 00:00:56.250 --> 00:00:57.485
  • To have been dispersed twice out of their ethnic homeland,
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  • And yet have found their way home again.
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  • That nation is israel.
  • 00:01:03.657 --> 00:01:06.127
  • And of course,
  • 00:01:06.127 --> 00:01:07.361
  • That was prophesied on the lips of many of the hebrew prophets
  • 00:01:07.361 --> 00:01:10.898
  • Who said, israel would go into exile
  • 00:01:10.898 --> 00:01:13.167
  • Because of our disobedience,
  • 00:01:13.167 --> 00:01:14.935
  • But god would bring them back again.
  • 00:01:14.935 --> 00:01:18.038
  • Listen to the words of the prophet ezekiel, who prophesies
  • 00:01:18.038 --> 00:01:22.409
  • The return of israel in verse one of his exile.
  • 00:01:22.409 --> 00:01:25.880
  • 36 and you, son of man, prophesy
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  • To the mountains of israel, and say, o mountains of israel.
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  • Hear the word of the lord.
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  • Behind me
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  • You can see the mountains
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  • Of israel on the western shore of the dead sea.
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  • And god speaks to these mountains
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  • And all of the mountains in israel,
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  • And actually to the rivers as well.
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  • And he tells them to be ready
  • 00:01:48.002 --> 00:01:50.271
  • Because he is bringing his people home.
  • 00:01:50.271 --> 00:01:53.340
  • Now, ezekiel gave this prophecy
  • 00:01:53.340 --> 00:01:55.843
  • In babylon 20, 500 years ago,
  • 00:01:55.843 --> 00:02:00.314
  • But the prophecy was fulfilled
  • 00:02:00.915 --> 00:02:03.217
  • Because i'm standing in the land of israel today,
  • 00:02:03.217 --> 00:02:05.753
  • And the people of israel are back in the land,
  • 00:02:05.753 --> 00:02:09.056
  • And israel is a free nation.
  • 00:02:09.056 --> 00:02:11.992
  • Again, the question is how did this return
  • 00:02:11.992 --> 00:02:17.164
  • Come about?
  • 00:02:17.498 --> 00:02:20.801
  • The nation of israel
  • 00:02:21.268 --> 00:02:22.970
  • Has experienced two major dispersions and forced
  • 00:02:22.970 --> 00:02:26.040
  • Exiles during her nearly 4000 year history.
  • 00:02:26.040 --> 00:02:29.577
  • Yet against all odds, she exists today.
  • 00:02:29.577 --> 00:02:33.314
  • Amazingly, israel can make the unique claim
  • 00:02:33.314 --> 00:02:36.650
  • She is the only nation on earth to have found her way back
  • 00:02:36.650 --> 00:02:40.221
  • After an astonishing 1878 year exile.
  • 00:02:40.221 --> 00:02:44.792
  • First, we have to appreciate
  • 00:02:45.392 --> 00:02:46.760
  • That all of jewish history is miraculous.
  • 00:02:46.760 --> 00:02:48.862
  • For better or for worse, things happen to us
  • 00:02:48.862 --> 00:02:51.665
  • That don't happen to anyone else.
  • 00:02:51.665 --> 00:02:53.667
  • I mean, i think the person who best summed it up
  • 00:02:53.667 --> 00:02:55.703
  • Is the first prime minister of israel, david ben-gurion,
  • 00:02:55.703 --> 00:02:59.006
  • Who, by the way, wasn't a religious man at all.
  • 00:02:59.006 --> 00:03:01.275
  • He was like a bundestag, very left wing economically.
  • 00:03:01.275 --> 00:03:04.445
  • But he knew his bible.
  • 00:03:04.445 --> 00:03:05.613
  • He knew his jewish history. and he has a great quote.
  • 00:03:05.613 --> 00:03:08.015
  • He said, a jew
  • 00:03:08.015 --> 00:03:09.049
  • Who doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist.
  • 00:03:09.049 --> 00:03:11.785
  • But for better or for worse, things happen to us
  • 00:03:11.785 --> 00:03:14.755
  • That don't happen to anyone else.
  • 00:03:14.755 --> 00:03:16.657
  • That we, the teeny tiny jewish people,
  • 00:03:16.657 --> 00:03:18.726
  • Would,
  • 00:03:18.726 --> 00:03:19.660
  • You know, be told that we are going to be
  • 00:03:19.660 --> 00:03:20.694
  • This light two nations yet
  • 00:03:20.694 --> 00:03:21.862
  • Be the most hated people to wander the earth,
  • 00:03:21.862 --> 00:03:24.365
  • Exiled and dispersed for thousands of years.
  • 00:03:24.365 --> 00:03:26.600
  • Multiple exiles.
  • 00:03:26.600 --> 00:03:28.202
  • Very few nations have been exiled even once.
  • 00:03:28.202 --> 00:03:30.037
  • If you look in the ancient world.
  • 00:03:30.037 --> 00:03:31.805
  • There are so many nations that are running around.
  • 00:03:31.805 --> 00:03:33.907
  • Hyksos, phoenicians, mycenaeans,
  • 00:03:33.907 --> 00:03:35.609
  • Babylonians, ancient egyptians. they're all gone.
  • 00:03:35.609 --> 00:03:38.646
  • And we beat them all.
  • 00:03:39.146 --> 00:03:40.214
  • Like the jewish people outlasted all of these people.
  • 00:03:40.214 --> 00:03:42.916
  • We all lasted 2000 years of exile scattered to the world,
  • 00:03:42.916 --> 00:03:46.520
  • The greatest hatred wandering around.
  • 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:48.455
  • And then to come back and reestablish a state.
  • 00:03:48.455 --> 00:03:52.026
  • And that out of a desert, it blooms.
  • 00:03:52.026 --> 00:03:53.827
  • You read mark twain's description and innocents abroad
  • 00:03:53.827 --> 00:03:56.764
  • Of how barren, how rocky, barren, a pulse of injury
  • 00:03:56.764 --> 00:03:59.833
  • The landscape is. and then you see israel today.
  • 00:03:59.833 --> 00:04:02.169
  • The jewish national fund has planted 250 million trees.
  • 00:04:02.169 --> 00:04:06.507
  • Israel is the only country in the world
  • 00:04:06.507 --> 00:04:07.708
  • That has more forests at the end of the 20th century.
  • 00:04:07.708 --> 00:04:09.643
  • At the beginning.
  • 00:04:09.643 --> 00:04:10.678
  • It's all miraculous. it's all supernatural.
  • 00:04:10.678 --> 00:04:12.746
  • It's all like david ben-gurion says.
  • 00:04:12.746 --> 00:04:14.248
  • There's only one explanation for it.
  • 00:04:14.248 --> 00:04:16.383
  • God says at the beginning to abraham,
  • 00:04:16.383 --> 00:04:18.285
  • Go into the land of israel, and i will make you into a nation.
  • 00:04:18.285 --> 00:04:22.256
  • God says, i will.
  • 00:04:22.256 --> 00:04:23.791
  • I will have unique relationship with you.
  • 00:04:23.791 --> 00:04:25.993
  • My eye is always on you.
  • 00:04:25.993 --> 00:04:27.194
  • But because i am involved in your history, jewish people,
  • 00:04:27.194 --> 00:04:30.497
  • Things are going to happen to you
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  • That don't happen to anyone else.
  • 00:04:31.699 --> 00:04:33.767
  • All of jewish history is a violation
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  • Of the laws of human history.
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  • But it's a great proof of the supernatural.
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  • There's a higher power in human affairs.
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  • Thomas newton,
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  • The bishop of bristol
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  • In england in the 18th century, has a beautiful quote.
  • 00:04:43.877 --> 00:04:46.914
  • But just to summarize the best line,
  • 00:04:46.914 --> 00:04:48.816
  • He says,
  • 00:04:48.816 --> 00:04:49.883
  • The preservation of the jew is the single greatest
  • 00:04:49.883 --> 00:04:52.720
  • Act of god's providence in human history.
  • 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:55.923
  • And jewish history is the clearest demonstration
  • 00:04:55.923 --> 00:04:58.492
  • That there was a higher power in human affairs.
  • 00:04:58.492 --> 00:05:01.295
  • Many nations and empires throughout history
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  • Have sought to dominate or destroy israel.
  • 00:05:04.798 --> 00:05:08.068
  • All have failed.
  • 00:05:08.068 --> 00:05:09.703
  • But why?
  • 00:05:09.703 --> 00:05:11.271
  • What happens to nations that oppose israel
  • 00:05:11.271 --> 00:05:14.942
  • Is that they end up passing away
  • 00:05:14.942 --> 00:05:17.444
  • And fading into the background of history?
  • 00:05:17.444 --> 00:05:20.914
  • The assyria, it's the babylonians, the egyptians,
  • 00:05:20.914 --> 00:05:25.119
  • The the greeks, the romans, even the nazis of modern times.
  • 00:05:25.119 --> 00:05:30.524
  • These regimes have risen and fallen,
  • 00:05:30.524 --> 00:05:33.594
  • And yet the jewish people have endured and persisted
  • 00:05:33.594 --> 00:05:38.065
  • And are yet a nation rising again today.
  • 00:05:38.065 --> 00:05:41.435
  • It's a testimony to the faithfulness of god
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  • And god's covering grace upon
  • 00:05:44.538 --> 00:05:47.341
  • His choice of israel.
  • 00:05:47.341 --> 00:05:53.414
  • Can a nation be born in a day?
  • 00:05:54.014 --> 00:05:56.450
  • This is the question one of israel's major prophets,
  • 00:05:56.450 --> 00:05:59.520
  • Isaiah, asked rhetorically, some 2700 years ago,
  • 00:05:59.520 --> 00:06:03.891
  • Shall a nation be born at once in a day?
  • 00:06:03.891 --> 00:06:06.927
  • Isaiah 66, verse eight.
  • 00:06:06.927 --> 00:06:10.264
  • The question
  • 00:06:10.597 --> 00:06:11.698
  • Was answered on may 14th, 1948, when david ben-gurion,
  • 00:06:11.698 --> 00:06:15.936
  • Who became israel's first prime minister
  • 00:06:15.936 --> 00:06:18.105
  • In the modern era, read to a listening world
  • 00:06:18.105 --> 00:06:20.507
  • The declaration of independence of a new nation,
  • 00:06:20.507 --> 00:06:24.144
  • A nation that would henceforth be known by its ancient and god
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  • Given name, israel, a name which means prince
  • 00:06:27.915 --> 00:06:32.052
  • With god.
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  • The seed for israel's rebirth had been sown
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  • Some months earlier when, on november 29th, 1947,
  • 00:06:43.931 --> 00:06:49.002
  • The united nations voted to partition
  • 00:06:49.002 --> 00:06:51.472
  • What was then known as palestine into two states,
  • 00:06:51.472 --> 00:06:55.042
  • One for jews and the other for arabs.
  • 00:06:55.042 --> 00:06:58.445
  • While arabs quickly rejected the proposal, the jews embraced
  • 00:06:58.445 --> 00:07:01.882
  • It, believing that half a pie was better than none at all.
  • 00:07:01.882 --> 00:07:06.220
  • On the strength of the u.n.
  • 00:07:06.820 --> 00:07:08.055
  • Mandate, ben-gurion seized the initiative, and on
  • 00:07:08.055 --> 00:07:11.492
  • May 14th, 1948, israel was born.
  • 00:07:11.492 --> 00:07:15.295
  • Or more precisely, reborn after nearly 2000 years of exile,
  • 00:07:15.295 --> 00:07:19.600
  • Which began
  • 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:20.701
  • When the armies of rome sacked jerusalem in a.d. 70.
  • 00:07:20.701 --> 00:07:24.905
  • In their capture of jerusalem,
  • 00:07:25.506 --> 00:07:27.407
  • Roman legionnaires showed little mercy to the jews.
  • 00:07:27.407 --> 00:07:31.178
  • Thousands were slaughtered in the streets of the holy city,
  • 00:07:31.178 --> 00:07:34.381
  • While survivors were forced into slavery
  • 00:07:34.381 --> 00:07:36.984
  • Or if they managed to escape into exile.
  • 00:07:36.984 --> 00:07:40.487
  • Jewish historians refer to this tragedy
  • 00:07:41.355 --> 00:07:43.790
  • As the diaspora or dispersion,
  • 00:07:43.790 --> 00:07:47.461
  • A historic turning point which explains why jews
  • 00:07:47.461 --> 00:07:50.564
  • Whose genetic roots are in israel are found in virtually
  • 00:07:50.564 --> 00:07:53.800
  • Every nation under the sun.
  • 00:07:53.800 --> 00:08:01.575
  • The destruction of jerusalem and the dispersion
  • 00:08:02.543 --> 00:08:04.978
  • Which followed, brought to an end
  • 00:08:04.978 --> 00:08:06.413
  • Several years of jewish revolt, which began with an uprising
  • 00:08:06.413 --> 00:08:10.250
  • Against the romans in the year 66 a.d.
  • 00:08:10.250 --> 00:08:13.654
  • While small pockets of resistance
  • 00:08:13.654 --> 00:08:15.355
  • Remained after 70 a.d., especially at the desert
  • 00:08:15.355 --> 00:08:18.592
  • Fortress of masada, captured later in 73 a.d..
  • 00:08:18.592 --> 00:08:21.962
  • Roman military might had effectively,
  • 00:08:21.962 --> 00:08:24.831
  • If not brutally, broken the back of the resistance movement.
  • 00:08:24.831 --> 00:08:28.936
  • Today, this tiny jewish nation continues
  • 00:08:28.936 --> 00:08:31.238
  • To flourish in a very tough middle eastern neighborhood.
  • 00:08:31.238 --> 00:08:34.608
  • A testament, perhaps, to the god who has kept his promises
  • 00:08:34.608 --> 00:08:38.812
  • To the jewish people.
  • 00:08:38.812 --> 00:08:42.783
  • Don't go away.
  • 00:08:43.116 --> 00:08:44.151
  • After this short break, doctor
  • 00:08:44.151 --> 00:08:45.552
  • John tweedie returns with his teaching.
  • 00:08:45.552 --> 00:08:50.724
  • Our media today is filled with
  • 00:08:51.325 --> 00:08:53.060
  • Traveling reports and disturbing news everywhere you look.
  • 00:08:53.060 --> 00:08:56.229
  • It seems that the world is falling apart.
  • 00:08:56.229 --> 00:08:58.098
  • This could not be more true for the people of israel,
  • 00:08:58.098 --> 00:09:00.400
  • Facing threats of destruction from the neighboring countries,
  • 00:09:00.400 --> 00:09:03.270
  • And calls for sanctions against or around the world.
  • 00:09:03.270 --> 00:09:05.872
  • Israel must deal with the challenges
  • 00:09:05.872 --> 00:09:07.674
  • Few other countries will ever face,
  • 00:09:07.674 --> 00:09:09.509
  • Making it even more difficult to provide for her
  • 00:09:09.509 --> 00:09:11.745
  • Most vulnerable citizens. yet
  • 00:09:11.745 --> 00:09:13.714
  • See, for i and their partners are making a difference.
  • 00:09:13.714 --> 00:09:16.316
  • When you give to see farai,
  • 00:09:16.316 --> 00:09:17.784
  • You are donating to charities within israel that provide food,
  • 00:09:17.784 --> 00:09:20.787
  • Clothing and so much more for those in need in the holy land.
  • 00:09:20.787 --> 00:09:24.091
  • When you become a partner for the first time
  • 00:09:24.091 --> 00:09:25.826
  • With a monthly donation of $25 or more, and as a thank you,
  • 00:09:25.826 --> 00:09:29.262
  • You will receive
  • 00:09:29.262 --> 00:09:30.330
  • The dvd set prophetic dreams and visions in daniel.
  • 00:09:30.330 --> 00:09:33.533
  • And you will also receive
  • 00:09:33.533 --> 00:09:34.735
  • The bi monthly newspaper call now
  • 00:09:34.735 --> 00:09:36.670
  • With your monthly donation of $25 or more.
  • 00:09:36.670 --> 00:09:39.072
  • 1-888-206-1986 or visit
  • 00:09:39.072 --> 00:09:43.543
  • C4i america.com and make a difference in israel today.
  • 00:09:43.543 --> 00:09:49.249
  • For. them.
  • 00:09:49.549 --> 00:09:58.091
  • It's very early morning
  • 00:09:58.592 --> 00:09:59.726
  • As i stand on the western shore of the dead sea.
  • 00:09:59.726 --> 00:10:03.697
  • The sun has just come up over the mountains of moab,
  • 00:10:03.697 --> 00:10:06.166
  • Which are in the kingdom of jordan,
  • 00:10:06.166 --> 00:10:08.035
  • Casting its rays
  • 00:10:08.035 --> 00:10:09.236
  • On the mountains of israel, which you can see behind me
  • 00:10:09.236 --> 00:10:12.906
  • And over my right shoulder.
  • 00:10:12.906 --> 00:10:14.307
  • A very famous symbol of israel.
  • 00:10:14.307 --> 00:10:17.344
  • Its name is masada,
  • 00:10:17.811 --> 00:10:19.880
  • From the hebrew siddha, which means fortress.
  • 00:10:19.880 --> 00:10:24.051
  • And this has been a fortress in israel's history.
  • 00:10:24.051 --> 00:10:27.487
  • In fact, it's a very famous fortress.
  • 00:10:27.487 --> 00:10:29.990
  • And today it's a symbol of israel's past
  • 00:10:29.990 --> 00:10:33.927
  • And also really of its presence, because it symbolizes
  • 00:10:33.927 --> 00:10:38.398
  • That israel remains free today.
  • 00:10:38.398 --> 00:10:42.402
  • But the story of masada is found in the context
  • 00:10:42.402 --> 00:10:45.872
  • Of the second dispersion of the jewish people
  • 00:10:45.872 --> 00:10:48.375
  • From their homeland,
  • 00:10:48.375 --> 00:10:50.110
  • Which occurred
  • 00:10:50.110 --> 00:10:51.244
  • Under the empires of rome and the roman legions that
  • 00:10:51.244 --> 00:10:54.214
  • Occupied the land
  • 00:10:54.214 --> 00:10:56.016
  • In the year a.d.
  • 00:10:56.416 --> 00:10:58.852
  • 66. the jews had had enough of the romans,
  • 00:10:58.852 --> 00:11:02.089
  • And so they rose up against them.
  • 00:11:02.089 --> 00:11:04.324
  • And this insurrection lasted for eight years.
  • 00:11:04.324 --> 00:11:07.260
  • And it really ended here in the spring of the year 8074,
  • 00:11:07.260 --> 00:11:13.166
  • When the romans finally conquered masada.
  • 00:11:13.166 --> 00:11:16.570
  • But they had a battle on their hands in order to achieve
  • 00:11:16.570 --> 00:11:19.840
  • That, jerusalem fell in the year 8070.
  • 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:23.143
  • The romans killed
  • 00:11:23.143 --> 00:11:24.878
  • Hundreds of thousands of jews in the streets of the holy city
  • 00:11:24.878 --> 00:11:28.882
  • In actually, in fulfillment of a prophecy
  • 00:11:28.882 --> 00:11:31.251
  • That jesus had given, they pulled down
  • 00:11:31.251 --> 00:11:33.854
  • The second temple, the temple of king herod,
  • 00:11:33.854 --> 00:11:36.656
  • And they removed all the stones.
  • 00:11:36.656 --> 00:11:38.658
  • And jesus had prophesied that not one stone would be left
  • 00:11:38.658 --> 00:11:42.462
  • Standing upon another that would not be pulled down.
  • 00:11:42.462 --> 00:11:45.866
  • Well, having destroyed the temple, having conquered
  • 00:11:45.866 --> 00:11:48.869
  • Jerusalem,
  • 00:11:48.869 --> 00:11:50.103
  • The romans weren't satisfied, because in their philosophy
  • 00:11:50.103 --> 00:11:53.073
  • Of war,
  • 00:11:53.073 --> 00:11:54.241
  • If there was any resistance left anywhere in the country,
  • 00:11:54.241 --> 00:11:57.377
  • Then their conquering was not complete.
  • 00:11:57.377 --> 00:12:01.414
  • So they dispatched the 10th legion down here,
  • 00:12:01.414 --> 00:12:04.851
  • Because there were jewish zealots who had fled to masada.
  • 00:12:04.851 --> 00:12:07.854
  • When the romans began to approach,
  • 00:12:08.622 --> 00:12:11.024
  • With ever increasing numbers of legionnaires.
  • 00:12:11.024 --> 00:12:14.828
  • And on masada there were more than 900 jewish
  • 00:12:14.828 --> 00:12:17.464
  • Men, women and children, some 350, 400 fighting men.
  • 00:12:17.464 --> 00:12:22.736
  • And this fortress could easily be defended
  • 00:12:22.736 --> 00:12:25.338
  • Even against 10,000 roman legionnaires.
  • 00:12:25.338 --> 00:12:28.942
  • And the romans understood that.
  • 00:12:28.942 --> 00:12:30.610
  • And so they built a siege wall around masada,
  • 00:12:30.610 --> 00:12:34.247
  • Thinking they will starve them into submission.
  • 00:12:34.247 --> 00:12:37.150
  • But the people on top had more than enough water,
  • 00:12:37.150 --> 00:12:39.452
  • Because herod, the king who had developed the masada,
  • 00:12:39.452 --> 00:12:43.490
  • Had built cisterns to collect the water.
  • 00:12:43.490 --> 00:12:46.626
  • 2 to 4in of rain in a given year.
  • 00:12:46.626 --> 00:12:49.362
  • But this ingenious, if paranoid king built
  • 00:12:49.362 --> 00:12:53.200
  • Cisterns into the mountain,
  • 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.268
  • And so the water could be stored,
  • 00:12:55.268 --> 00:12:57.003
  • And they had more than enough water
  • 00:12:57.003 --> 00:12:58.738
  • To the extent
  • 00:12:58.738 --> 00:12:59.973
  • That they would pour it off the walls, just to antagonize
  • 00:12:59.973 --> 00:13:02.642
  • The roman soldiers suffering from the desert heat down below.
  • 00:13:02.642 --> 00:13:07.314
  • The romans had a four hour march from the oasis,
  • 00:13:07.314 --> 00:13:10.550
  • And then getty to my left, up the coast of the dead sea.
  • 00:13:10.550 --> 00:13:14.187
  • And they had to bring water from there and imagine to supply
  • 00:13:14.187 --> 00:13:18.558
  • 10,000 soldiers suffering
  • 00:13:18.558 --> 00:13:21.695
  • In the heat, of the summer sun.
  • 00:13:21.695 --> 00:13:24.865
  • Anyway, the romans then decided that we'll never conquer
  • 00:13:24.865 --> 00:13:28.935
  • This militarily unless we build a ramp.
  • 00:13:28.935 --> 00:13:31.638
  • And they built a ramp on the far side.
  • 00:13:31.638 --> 00:13:33.440
  • And i'm sure that we can give you, shots of that.
  • 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:37.043
  • In this particular episode.
  • 00:13:37.043 --> 00:13:39.479
  • They used jewish slave labor to do it
  • 00:13:39.479 --> 00:13:42.582
  • So that the jews on top wouldn't fire
  • 00:13:42.582 --> 00:13:45.518
  • On their fellow countrymen building the ramp.
  • 00:13:45.518 --> 00:13:48.588
  • Well, it took a while, but in the spring of 80, 74,
  • 00:13:48.588 --> 00:13:52.726
  • I think on the eve of passover, the ramp was ready
  • 00:13:52.726 --> 00:13:56.229
  • And the assault from a roman assault tar could begin.
  • 00:13:56.229 --> 00:14:00.533
  • Well, the romans did
  • 00:14:01.001 --> 00:14:03.536
  • Climb over the walls of masada,
  • 00:14:03.536 --> 00:14:06.539
  • But to their great dismay, it was an empty victory
  • 00:14:06.539 --> 00:14:10.010
  • Because they found on top the bodies of the men, women
  • 00:14:10.010 --> 00:14:12.913
  • And children who had chosen mass suicide
  • 00:14:12.913 --> 00:14:16.016
  • Rather than surrender to the romans, their leader.
  • 00:14:16.016 --> 00:14:20.153
  • It is our banner
  • 00:14:20.553 --> 00:14:22.255
  • Had given a speech the night before,
  • 00:14:22.255 --> 00:14:24.291
  • Realizing that the next day the romans would come over the top
  • 00:14:24.291 --> 00:14:28.228
  • And said to the people, better we die as free men and women,
  • 00:14:28.228 --> 00:14:32.432
  • As jews who have freedom than become the slaves of rome.
  • 00:14:32.432 --> 00:14:36.836
  • And imagine what will happen to your women
  • 00:14:36.836 --> 00:14:38.605
  • And children if they're taken captive.
  • 00:14:38.605 --> 00:14:41.741
  • As the story goes, we know what happened
  • 00:14:42.609 --> 00:14:44.811
  • Because two some women
  • 00:14:44.811 --> 00:14:46.813
  • And some children hid in one of the cisterns,
  • 00:14:46.813 --> 00:14:49.215
  • And they survived to tell the story.
  • 00:14:49.215 --> 00:14:51.451
  • And the jewish historian josephus josephus
  • 00:14:51.451 --> 00:14:54.721
  • Records it in his history of the jews.
  • 00:14:54.721 --> 00:14:59.459
  • So that's the story of masada behind me.
  • 00:14:59.459 --> 00:15:02.862
  • And when it fell, the dream of israel,
  • 00:15:02.862 --> 00:15:06.399
  • In a sense, died with it for nearly 2000 years.
  • 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:12.172
  • But the dream
  • 00:15:12.539 --> 00:15:13.940
  • Was not dead completely, because all through history,
  • 00:15:13.940 --> 00:15:17.711
  • The jews knew that
  • 00:15:17.711 --> 00:15:18.845
  • The prophecies of the hebrew prophet said that while,
  • 00:15:18.845 --> 00:15:22.515
  • Dispersion would occur,
  • 00:15:22.515 --> 00:15:25.385
  • They would also return from their exile.
  • 00:15:25.385 --> 00:15:27.954
  • God had promised,
  • 00:15:27.954 --> 00:15:30.256
  • And the dream must have seemed so empty, especially during
  • 00:15:30.256 --> 00:15:34.127
  • The second world war, when the holocaust was taking place
  • 00:15:34.127 --> 00:15:37.731
  • And the nazis were systematically
  • 00:15:37.731 --> 00:15:39.499
  • Killing the jews in europe.
  • 00:15:39.499 --> 00:15:42.769
  • And yet the jews would say, for there were never completely
  • 00:15:42.769 --> 00:15:46.039
  • Hopeless, they would say, expressing their faith
  • 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:49.175
  • Next year in jerusalem.
  • 00:15:49.175 --> 00:15:52.512
  • Well, three years after the second world war,
  • 00:15:52.512 --> 00:15:55.482
  • The flag of israel was flying over the fortress of masada,
  • 00:15:55.482 --> 00:15:59.652
  • And it became then a symbol of israel's return.
  • 00:15:59.652 --> 00:16:03.990
  • Israel's victory over all empires
  • 00:16:03.990 --> 00:16:06.793
  • Who have since disappeared into the sands of time.
  • 00:16:06.793 --> 00:16:09.929
  • And israel lives again, exactly as god had promised,
  • 00:16:09.929 --> 00:16:14.601
  • And they surely would have been relying on promises
  • 00:16:14.601 --> 00:16:18.138
  • Like these prophecies.
  • 00:16:18.138 --> 00:16:19.906
  • Ezekiel 36 beginning in verse one.
  • 00:16:19.906 --> 00:16:23.610
  • And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of israel.
  • 00:16:23.610 --> 00:16:27.614
  • But surely that included masada, and say,
  • 00:16:27.614 --> 00:16:30.950
  • O mountains of israel, hear the word of the lord.
  • 00:16:30.950 --> 00:16:33.920
  • Thus says the lord god, because the enemy has said of you,
  • 00:16:33.920 --> 00:16:38.191
  • The ancient heights have become our possession.
  • 00:16:38.191 --> 00:16:41.061
  • Therefore prophesy and say, thus says the lord god,
  • 00:16:41.061 --> 00:16:45.498
  • Because they made you desolate
  • 00:16:45.498 --> 00:16:47.367
  • And swallowed you up on every side,
  • 00:16:47.367 --> 00:16:49.402
  • So that you became the possession
  • 00:16:49.402 --> 00:16:51.171
  • Of the rest of the nations,
  • 00:16:51.171 --> 00:16:53.440
  • And you are taken up by the lips of talkers
  • 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:55.842
  • And slandered by the people
  • 00:16:55.842 --> 00:16:57.610
  • Meeting the people of the nations.
  • 00:16:57.610 --> 00:16:59.646
  • Therefore the mountains of israel
  • 00:16:59.646 --> 00:17:01.381
  • Hear the word of the lord god.
  • 00:17:01.381 --> 00:17:03.383
  • Thus says the lord god to the mountains, the hills,
  • 00:17:03.383 --> 00:17:06.786
  • The rivers, the valleys, the desolate places,
  • 00:17:06.786 --> 00:17:09.255
  • And the cities that have been forsaken,
  • 00:17:09.255 --> 00:17:11.291
  • Which became plunder and mockery
  • 00:17:11.291 --> 00:17:13.460
  • To the rest of the nations all around.
  • 00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:16.729
  • Therefore, thus says the lord god,
  • 00:17:17.464 --> 00:17:20.066
  • Surely i have spoken in my burning jealousy, i guess,
  • 00:17:20.066 --> 00:17:23.403
  • Against the rest of the nations, and against all edam.
  • 00:17:23.403 --> 00:17:27.807
  • I'm standing this morning on the west shore of the sea,
  • 00:17:27.807 --> 00:17:31.044
  • This dead sea.
  • 00:17:31.044 --> 00:17:32.545
  • But i'm looking at the mountains of moab,
  • 00:17:32.545 --> 00:17:35.048
  • And the dome is part of the kingdom of jordan.
  • 00:17:35.048 --> 00:17:38.017
  • And he's speaking to the nation that is across the dead
  • 00:17:38.017 --> 00:17:40.854
  • Sea from where i'm actually standing.
  • 00:17:40.854 --> 00:17:43.990
  • Who gave my land to themselves as a possession
  • 00:17:43.990 --> 00:17:47.427
  • With wholehearted joy and spite for mines
  • 00:17:48.294 --> 00:17:51.798
  • In order to plunder its open country?
  • 00:17:51.798 --> 00:17:55.969
  • Therefore prophesy concerning the land of israel, and say
  • 00:17:55.969 --> 00:17:59.072
  • To the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys.
  • 00:17:59.072 --> 00:18:02.108
  • Thus says the lord god, behold, i have spoken in my jealousy
  • 00:18:02.108 --> 00:18:06.346
  • And my fury, because you have borne the shame of the nations.
  • 00:18:06.346 --> 00:18:10.583
  • Israel has borne the shame of the nations.
  • 00:18:10.583 --> 00:18:13.553
  • Therefore, thus says the lord god,
  • 00:18:13.553 --> 00:18:15.822
  • I have raised my hand in an oath, that surely
  • 00:18:15.822 --> 00:18:18.658
  • The nations that are around you shall bear their own shame.
  • 00:18:18.658 --> 00:18:22.262
  • But you, o mountains of israel,
  • 00:18:22.896 --> 00:18:25.832
  • You shall shoot forth your branches, and yield
  • 00:18:25.832 --> 00:18:28.768
  • Your fruit to my people israel, for they are about to come.
  • 00:18:28.768 --> 00:18:33.740
  • When i teach this to classes, i speak about the return,
  • 00:18:33.740 --> 00:18:40.146
  • The restoration, the rebuilding, and the renewal of israel.
  • 00:18:40.146 --> 00:18:44.584
  • Because all of this is in his zeal.
  • 00:18:44.584 --> 00:18:47.086
  • 36 for you are about to come.
  • 00:18:47.086 --> 00:18:51.424
  • That verse speaks of the return
  • 00:18:51.424 --> 00:18:54.194
  • In verse nine, for indeed i am with you,
  • 00:18:54.194 --> 00:18:56.629
  • And i will return to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.
  • 00:18:56.629 --> 00:19:00.466
  • And that's the
  • 00:19:00.800 --> 00:19:01.901
  • Restoration of israel, where since the beginning of the
  • 00:19:01.901 --> 00:19:05.271
  • 20th century, more than 250 million trees have been planted
  • 00:19:05.271 --> 00:19:10.743
  • In what was virtually a treeless land.
  • 00:19:10.743 --> 00:19:14.347
  • So israel, the land itself, has been restored.
  • 00:19:14.347 --> 00:19:17.617
  • Even here in the desert,
  • 00:19:17.617 --> 00:19:18.851
  • We see patches of green and new palm trees being planted,
  • 00:19:18.851 --> 00:19:22.889
  • And the land is blooming again, exactly as the prophets said.
  • 00:19:22.889 --> 00:19:27.660
  • And then god says in verse ten, i will multiply men upon
  • 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:31.231
  • You all the house of israel, all of it.
  • 00:19:31.231 --> 00:19:34.400
  • And the cities shall be inhabited.
  • 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:36.402
  • And the ruins rebuilt.
  • 00:19:36.402 --> 00:19:38.404
  • So that's the rebuilding phase of israel.
  • 00:19:38.404 --> 00:19:41.074
  • And they are building on the ancient places
  • 00:19:41.074 --> 00:19:43.843
  • That were destroyed by their enemies.
  • 00:19:43.843 --> 00:19:46.679
  • But there is a fourth phase, and we can call it renewal.
  • 00:19:46.679 --> 00:19:50.516
  • It's a spiritual renewal that has begun, but
  • 00:19:50.516 --> 00:19:53.686
  • That is not complete in verse 16.
  • 00:19:53.686 --> 00:19:57.156
  • Moreover, the word of the lord came to me saying, son of man,
  • 00:19:57.156 --> 00:20:01.394
  • When the house of israel dwelt in their own land,
  • 00:20:01.394 --> 00:20:03.529
  • They defiled it by their own ways and deeds.
  • 00:20:03.529 --> 00:20:06.899
  • To me their way was like
  • 00:20:06.899 --> 00:20:08.601
  • The uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity.
  • 00:20:08.601 --> 00:20:11.571
  • Therefore i poured out my fury on them for the blood
  • 00:20:11.571 --> 00:20:14.641
  • They had shed on the land,
  • 00:20:14.641 --> 00:20:16.042
  • And for their idols with which they had defiled it.
  • 00:20:16.042 --> 00:20:19.679
  • So i scattered them among the nations,
  • 00:20:19.679 --> 00:20:21.547
  • And they were dispersed throughout the countries.
  • 00:20:21.547 --> 00:20:23.850
  • I judged them according to their ways and their deeds,
  • 00:20:23.850 --> 00:20:27.620
  • And they had been well warned that this would happen
  • 00:20:27.620 --> 00:20:29.689
  • If they disobeyed god and violated his covenants.
  • 00:20:29.689 --> 00:20:33.593
  • When they came to the nations, wherever they went,
  • 00:20:33.593 --> 00:20:36.229
  • They profaned my holy name when they said of them,
  • 00:20:36.229 --> 00:20:39.132
  • These are
  • 00:20:39.132 --> 00:20:40.400
  • The people of the lord, and yet they have gone out of his land.
  • 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:43.436
  • Meaning this makes no sense if they're the chosen people.
  • 00:20:43.436 --> 00:20:47.206
  • And then verse 21, but i had concern for my holy name,
  • 00:20:47.206 --> 00:20:51.010
  • Which the house of israel
  • 00:20:51.010 --> 00:20:52.578
  • Had profaned among the nations wherever they went.
  • 00:20:52.578 --> 00:20:55.882
  • And then this therefore say to the house of israel,
  • 00:20:55.882 --> 00:21:00.219
  • Thus says the lord god, i do not do this for your sake,
  • 00:21:00.219 --> 00:21:04.290
  • O house of israel, but for my holy name sake,
  • 00:21:04.290 --> 00:21:07.393
  • Which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.
  • 00:21:07.393 --> 00:21:12.598
  • So there's god's explanation, the reason he brings
  • 00:21:12.598 --> 00:21:15.802
  • Israel back, to demonstrate to the nations that they are
  • 00:21:15.802 --> 00:21:19.172
  • The chosen people, and in spite of their violation
  • 00:21:19.172 --> 00:21:22.375
  • Of the covenants that they made with him,
  • 00:21:22.375 --> 00:21:25.411
  • He would keep his word and bring them back
  • 00:21:25.411 --> 00:21:27.980
  • So that his name would be honored in the world.
  • 00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:31.551
  • Now, as we continue on in the sequel, 36,
  • 00:21:31.551 --> 00:21:33.986
  • We read that god will take from them
  • 00:21:33.986 --> 00:21:35.922
  • A heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
  • 00:21:35.922 --> 00:21:39.292
  • He promises spiritual renewal of the people of israel,
  • 00:21:39.292 --> 00:21:43.796
  • And he'll remove from them the uncleanness
  • 00:21:43.796 --> 00:21:46.799
  • Of their idolatrous ways and the ways in which
  • 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:50.737
  • They dishonor his holy name.
  • 00:21:50.737 --> 00:21:54.574
  • So they have come back to the land.
  • 00:21:54.574 --> 00:21:57.777
  • But all of the struggle
  • 00:21:57.777 --> 00:21:59.645
  • That they've had
  • 00:22:00.046 --> 00:22:00.947
  • In order to achieve this return,
  • 00:22:00.947 --> 00:22:04.117
  • And that struggle was really heightened
  • 00:22:04.117 --> 00:22:06.419
  • During the second world war and the holocaust, which claimed
  • 00:22:06.419 --> 00:22:09.789
  • One third of all of the jewish people living on planet earth.
  • 00:22:09.789 --> 00:22:14.293
  • And it could have been the end of israel, except
  • 00:22:14.293 --> 00:22:17.663
  • God had promised
  • 00:22:18.064 --> 00:22:21.467
  • To bring them back
  • 00:22:21.467 --> 00:22:23.436
  • And god would keep his promises.
  • 00:22:23.436 --> 00:22:26.873
  • More about that after this short break.
  • 00:22:26.873 --> 00:22:39.652
  • If you're not already a christian, you can become one.
  • 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:43.156
  • The bible says,
  • 00:22:43.156 --> 00:22:44.223
  • If you confess with your mouth the lord jesus christ
  • 00:22:44.223 --> 00:22:47.093
  • And believe in your heart that god raised him
  • 00:22:47.093 --> 00:22:49.028
  • From the dead, you will be saved.
  • 00:22:49.028 --> 00:22:52.098
  • C4i, that simply means we are christians
  • 00:22:52.932 --> 00:22:56.102
  • Who care about israel,
  • 00:22:56.102 --> 00:22:58.304
  • And somebody needs to care for the people of israel today
  • 00:22:58.304 --> 00:23:01.107
  • Because they are suffering so much.
  • 00:23:01.107 --> 00:23:03.142
  • First of all, with a massacre that occurred on october
  • 00:23:03.142 --> 00:23:06.145
  • 7th, 2023, and then rocket barrages from the gaza strip
  • 00:23:06.145 --> 00:23:11.317
  • And more recently, ballistic missiles from iran.
  • 00:23:11.317 --> 00:23:15.087
  • We're here to help the less fortunate,
  • 00:23:15.087 --> 00:23:17.457
  • The hungry, the homeless, children at risk,
  • 00:23:17.457 --> 00:23:20.426
  • Special children that need 24 seven care.
  • 00:23:20.426 --> 00:23:24.397
  • But we can't do it alone.
  • 00:23:24.397 --> 00:23:25.731
  • We need your help. please.
  • 00:23:25.731 --> 00:23:27.834
  • You'll see the numbers on the screen.
  • 00:23:27.834 --> 00:23:30.102
  • You'll see the websites that we have.
  • 00:23:30.102 --> 00:23:32.238
  • Please go to the phone or go to the website.
  • 00:23:32.238 --> 00:23:35.374
  • Make a donation.
  • 00:23:35.374 --> 00:23:36.609
  • Stand with us to stand with israel's less fortunate people.
  • 00:23:36.609 --> 00:23:42.148
  • Thank you. for.
  • 00:23:42.515 --> 00:23:49.522
  • Later,
  • 00:23:49.722 --> 00:23:50.857
  • As we conclude this episode on the miraculous return
  • 00:23:50.857 --> 00:23:53.993
  • To zion of the jewish people fleeing europe
  • 00:23:53.993 --> 00:23:57.897
  • After the holocaust
  • 00:23:57.897 --> 00:23:59.365
  • And trying to come to the homeland that was israel.
  • 00:23:59.365 --> 00:24:02.935
  • They still face major obstacles.
  • 00:24:02.935 --> 00:24:05.738
  • The land at that time was known as palestine,
  • 00:24:05.738 --> 00:24:08.508
  • And under the british mandate for palestine.
  • 00:24:08.508 --> 00:24:11.477
  • Obstacles were standing in the way of those wishing to return.
  • 00:24:11.477 --> 00:24:15.515
  • The british government in 1939
  • 00:24:16.115 --> 00:24:18.985
  • Had produced a white paper limiting jewish emigration here,
  • 00:24:18.985 --> 00:24:23.589
  • And even in 1945, at the end of the second world
  • 00:24:23.589 --> 00:24:26.993
  • War after the holocaust.
  • 00:24:26.993 --> 00:24:28.794
  • British ships out in the mediterranean
  • 00:24:28.794 --> 00:24:31.697
  • Were intercepting jewish refugee boats,
  • 00:24:31.697 --> 00:24:35.902
  • And those that were captured were taken to various places,
  • 00:24:35.902 --> 00:24:39.672
  • But many were brought to this camp.
  • 00:24:39.672 --> 00:24:42.275
  • It's called the athlete detainee camp.
  • 00:24:42.275 --> 00:24:45.611
  • It's in a sense, a concentration camp concentrated
  • 00:24:45.611 --> 00:24:49.315
  • On jewish detainees primarily.
  • 00:24:49.315 --> 00:24:53.119
  • And they were brought here
  • 00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:54.253
  • Because britain did not want the jewish population
  • 00:24:54.253 --> 00:24:58.024
  • Of what was known as palestine to increase.
  • 00:24:58.024 --> 00:25:01.761
  • And so they were captured.
  • 00:25:01.761 --> 00:25:03.296
  • They were brought here.
  • 00:25:03.296 --> 00:25:04.797
  • Now it looks, for all intents and purposes,
  • 00:25:04.797 --> 00:25:07.533
  • Like the camps that the nazis used in europe.
  • 00:25:07.533 --> 00:25:11.871
  • So imagine the psychological effect of people
  • 00:25:11.871 --> 00:25:15.408
  • Who had escaped, in fact, even survived the holocaust,
  • 00:25:15.408 --> 00:25:18.611
  • Made their way here on, ships that were very cramped.
  • 00:25:18.611 --> 00:25:23.516
  • In fact, they had to stay off the deck, as part of the means
  • 00:25:23.516 --> 00:25:27.687
  • Of trying to evade the british naval brockley.
  • 00:25:27.687 --> 00:25:32.525
  • And look at behind me,
  • 00:25:32.992 --> 00:25:35.094
  • You can see
  • 00:25:35.094 --> 00:25:36.195
  • The corner of the huts where they were accommodated,
  • 00:25:36.195 --> 00:25:39.966
  • And you can see the towers that they faced that were
  • 00:25:39.966 --> 00:25:42.969
  • Reminiscent of the concentration camps of europe.
  • 00:25:42.969 --> 00:25:46.505
  • And actually there are two barbed wire fences.
  • 00:25:46.505 --> 00:25:50.276
  • And in between those fences, british soldiers patrolling
  • 00:25:50.276 --> 00:25:53.846
  • With german shepherd dogs.
  • 00:25:53.846 --> 00:25:56.816
  • And of course, off to my right here, the showers.
  • 00:25:56.816 --> 00:26:01.220
  • And imagine how they felt stepping under those, showers
  • 00:26:01.220 --> 00:26:05.491
  • That had been used in the concentration camps of europe.
  • 00:26:05.491 --> 00:26:08.861
  • And we're not, in fact, showers.
  • 00:26:08.861 --> 00:26:10.563
  • But were gas chambers disguised as showers?
  • 00:26:10.563 --> 00:26:14.200
  • What the jewish people have had to endure just to survive.
  • 00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:19.238
  • If they survived the holocaust, if they survived
  • 00:26:19.238 --> 00:26:22.241
  • The british naval blockade in the mediterranean,
  • 00:26:22.241 --> 00:26:25.478
  • Then they had to survive this as well.
  • 00:26:25.478 --> 00:26:28.614
  • Now, the british were not killing the jewish people.
  • 00:26:28.614 --> 00:26:31.817
  • They were simply trying to limit jewish emigration to palestine
  • 00:26:31.817 --> 00:26:36.155
  • That was still under their mandate from 1945 to 1948,
  • 00:26:36.155 --> 00:26:40.960
  • And it ended with the rebirth of the nation of israel,
  • 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:44.063
  • And that then the british were gone.
  • 00:26:44.063 --> 00:26:46.599
  • But until that happened.
  • 00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:48.801
  • Capture, internment, these things were
  • 00:26:48.801 --> 00:26:51.937
  • The order of the day.
  • 00:26:51.937 --> 00:26:53.272
  • Under the british mandate.
  • 00:26:53.272 --> 00:26:57.043
  • The miraculous return to zion
  • 00:26:57.677 --> 00:27:00.413
  • Occurred against all odds, and even after the war was over,
  • 00:27:00.413 --> 00:27:06.018
  • They were still fighting obstacles every step of the way
  • 00:27:06.018 --> 00:27:09.855
  • Just to get to their homeland.
  • 00:27:09.855 --> 00:27:11.791
  • To be jewish in the promised land.
  • 00:27:11.791 --> 00:27:15.494
  • Story of struggle, but a story nevertheless
  • 00:27:15.494 --> 00:27:19.665
  • Of incredible survival.
  • 00:27:20.166 --> 00:27:20.166