p. 5 | Why Palestine Is the Storm-Center

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Mar 17, 1904

Why Palestine Is the Storm-Center

By William Ambrose Spicer

In views of the last-day conflict of the nations given to Joel the prophet and to John in the Revelation, each saw the forces gathering round the land of Palestine.

“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near. . . . Let the heathen [the nations] be awakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.” Joel 3:12.

“For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God almighty. . . . And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Rev. 16:14-16.

In all the grouping of the forces, one can see plainly that if this present war in the far East should involve other European nations, the critical point would be transferred to the near East, as the Eastern Mediterranean is called. Palestine becomes the center of conflict for two reasons, its geographical position and its religious associations. Sentiment and superstition enter into the wars of nations, as well as commercialism.

As to the geographical position of Palestine, which has made it a historic meeting-place in the conflicts of the nations, Maspero, the historian of Egypt and ancient civilization, says:—

Some countries seem destined from their origin to become the battle-fields of the contending nations which environ them. Into such regions, and to their cost, neighboring peoples come from century to century to settle their quarrels and bring to an issue the questions of supremacy which disturb their little corner of the world. The nations around are eager for the possession of a country thus situated; it is seized upon bit by bit, and in the strife dismembered and trodden under foot. . . . From remote antiquity Syria was in the condition just described. By its position it formed a kind of meeting-place, where most of the military nations of the ancient world were bound sooner or later to come violently into collision.

It was there that the “king of the north” and his ally turned back Napoleon, as he marched toward Constantinople, a reverse, which, he said, “changed the destiny of the world.” As to-day it overlooks the Suez Canal, the water gateway between Europe and the Orient, it becomes all the more a strategical point. Because in ancient times it was the central point on the highway of the East and West, the Lord set his people there. The light might have shone out from that center as from a city set on a hill. The sequel shows how sadly short the chosen people came; yet nevertheless God so overruled that he bore witness to all the world by his dealings with this land and its people. And now superstitious and perverted views, based on these associations, help to complicate the political situation, adding the religious reason to the geographical for making Palestine the central point of contention. Nothing more embitters war than the intermixture of religious jealousies. The London Spectator, commenting on the relation of Palestine to the political situation, says:—

People often ask how it is that the future of Palestine presents such difficulties. The reason is simply that Jerusalem—you can not separate Jerusalem from Palestine—is the sacred city of so many creeds and warring faiths. Not only is it the holy place of all the Christian churches, and two of them quarrel bitterly over it—the Greeks and the Latins—but it is also one of the most sacred places in the Mohammedan world. Mecca and Medina are hardly more sacred than the Mosque of Omar. That is a fact which is often ignored by Europeans, who forget that to turn the Mohammedans out of the temple enclosure would disturb the whole Moslem world, from the Straits Settlements to Albania. We must never forget that Mohammedan pilgrims from India visit Jerusalem, just as Christian pilgrims visit it from Europe. Lastly, Jerusalem is profoundly sacred to the Jews, and the Jews are beginning to be locally numerous and important. Most certainly there are no elements of difficulty wanting in the problem of the future of Palestine.

This suggests how naturally the Turk will transfer his seat to Jerusalem, “the glorious holy mountain,” when driven from Europe. It was really a quarrel about the “holy places” of Palestine that precipitated the Crimean War. It is well known that under the excuse of protecting pilgrims and religious settlements of various sects, the door for interference by the powers is always kept open. We can plainly see to-day why this point is to become the storm-center in the coming whirlwind of world-wide war. We are getting into this region with our missionary forces. Progress is reported by the workers. It is good to think of the everlasting gospel of peace being sounded once more over that land, before it becomes the scene of the final struggle. Exalted highly in the divine program of history, it becomes at last the meeting-place of universal war and ruin.

W. A. S.