The Battles of Israel

In The Beginning

After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.--Ezekiel 38:8

Israel’s history has been one of warfare. Jerusalem has been dominated by a long string of conquerors:

1. Babylon in 606 B.C.
2. Medo-Persia in 536 B.C.
3. Ptolemies in 270 B.C.
4. Seleucids in 179 B.C.
5. Hasmoneans in 165 B.C.
6. Rome in 66 B.C.
7. Byzantium in 324 A.D.
8. Muslims in 636 A.D.
9. Crusaders in 1099 A.D.
10. Saracens in 1187 A.D.
11. Franks in 1229 A.D.
12. Malamukes in 1258 A.D.
13. Tartars in 1291 A.D.
14. Ottomans in 1516 A.D.
15. Britain in 1878 A.D.

An examination of some of these battles and many that preceded them is the subject of this issue of The Herald. These articles are described in detail in the Table of Contents on the right.

With all the bloody wars of the past, Israel’s experiences with conflicts continue. The war of independence in 1948 was followed by armed battles of 1956, 1968, and 1973. Today Israel faces the intifada and scores of suicide bombings by her Palestinian neighbors. Still ahead is the battle predicted in Ezekiel 38 and 39. One of the future wars, prophesied in Psalm 83, is examined in our verse-by-verse selection for this issue.

Despite the struggles ahead we are assured that in the end God will fight for Israel and bring her through victorious, heralding a new age of peace and prosperity, not only for Israel, but for her Arab foes and the rest of the world as well.