ISRAEL AND THE WAR

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11669, 8 April 1916, Page 3

ISRAEL AND THE WAR

PROPHETIC THEORY OF BRITAIN'S SUPREMACY. A " Churchman/ 1 writing in the "Daily Graphio," says:— I hare been re-reading Jn a sixpenny edition a remarkable little book on the Zost Tribes by the late Reader Harris, K.O. It enjoyed a vogue eight years ago. "In ftte light of the world-war it is wonderfully interesting, and we must bear in mind that to a vast number of people the war derives its greatest significance from Biblical prophecy. The author began his inquiry with a desire simply to know the truth; he closed it convinced that the British race contains the descendants of 'the Ten Tribes. He cites Old Testament proprecies about Israel, which correspond exactly to the supremacy of the British r?ce. He shows the identifications in these respects: Israel is to coloniso. the desolate heritages and cause tho " deserts to blossom ias the rose; Israel is to develop into a, company of nations; Israel is to lend _to many nations ; Israel shall be known in history as a nation which suppresses slavery and tyranny ; Israel is to he a maritime people; Israel is to rule over many nations and to be ruled by none; Israel, is to have a separate political existence and to become a great people; Israel is to become heir of the world. To illustrate this argument, take, for example, Genesis xxii. 17 and xxiv. <3O: " Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies." Great Britain holds Gibraltar, which opens the Mediterranean to our navies; Malta, a strategical base of the first importance; Singapore, the gate of the East; Malacca, Hong Kong, Aden, the Khyber Pass; .and, in addition, stretching right across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, a string of fort vfive coaling stations for, British ship's. Great Britain holds the gates of her enemies in a very remarkablo degree. And the prophecy of our sea-power is m Psalm, lxxxix. 25: "I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers." Throughout the author is pursuing the; literal meaning of the words of Scripture. " The same God who o av c victory rto Israel in the lied Sea "are victory to Britain against the Spanish Armada and at the battle of Waterloo In the Prayer Book, in the liturszv of the Church of England, we daily confess : ' It is God alone who fighteth i'or US- Is there any other nation possessing in its national ritual such a deof all the prophecies about Israel which are fulfilled by the British race he i holds to be the observance of the Sab-' bath (Ex. xxxiJ 16. 17); and he quotes Dr Ryle, the Jate Bishop of Liverpool, who asserted " without hesitation that the only countries on the face of the globe in which you will find a trus observance of the Sabbath are Great Britain and 'her colonies." When 'I think of the immensity of the British Empire, which literally encircles the earth (and is to 'grow, iu spite of ourselves, as a result of the war), and of our invincibility—•' Xo weapon that , is' formed against thee shall prosper " —J own to finding this book beautifully inspiring at present. And I say with Reader Harris: " Let us not, like Esau, despise our birthright The supremacy of the British race is not due to any inherent good in us, bur to the. sovereign gift of God. who saves us. Let ir> therefore cry: 'Not unto us. O Lord, not unto ns, but unto Ti>y nil me be'the glow, ior Xby mercy and for Thy truth's sake.' "