Crusaders Or Jubilee

I've recently noted on news reports that some Muslim terrorist factions refer to the USA and UK forces as crusaders. That reference is to the time that several waves of European armies tried to take back Palestine and Jerusalem from Arab forces that conquered "the holy land". They succeeded for a time and had established small crusader states around a few cities.

There has been some good material written about these events, it certainly constituted a violent period of history, no lack of brutality and wild misbehavior on all sides. In the prophetic record there are allusions to the conflict between the forces of the Christendom and Islam. The time of the 7 trumpets of Revelation are partly concerned with these conflicts, armies, darkness, destruction, a very bad time for all. But the primary lesson is that other Christians and Jews have suffered at hand of both sides.

But note that the European response was primarily defensive, it followed centuries of Muslim/Arab aggression throughout Palestine, North Africa and Spain. Robert Spencer has a book out, it's been on the NYTimes bestseller list and has been ignored by most of our media. It's The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades, I recommend it if you want a snap shot into this most awful period of time and how it relates to today's world violence. The roots of many eastern European and middle eastern ethnic and political upheavals go back to that period.

So when you hear American personnel or politicians referred to as crusaders, remember what the conflict is all about. It's in large part a conflict between religions, not a few simple political mis-steps by today's politicians. The United States and England don't have to apologize for standing up for what is right. Our support of Israel is something to be proud of, our support for human rights is a good thing. The support for what is right has been a major achievement of modern European and American culture. It's the prophetic Jubilee of Leviticus 25. Humanity is regaining a sense of their individual rights. Israel deserves that same right, to exist, to be at peace and to function among nations in a positive way.

In harmony with the ancient law of Jubilee that Israel observed we see the repossession of the land by it's rightful owners. See Leviticus 25. This jubilee has taken a long time to reach fruition. Conflicts occuring in today's Israel show the lack of respect by many who completely deny Israels' Divine right to the land. That's the key to biblical Zionism, a return to the land.