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The survival and success of the Jewish people in regaining the land that God promised Abraham spans thousands of years of history. Author Coates has gathered corroboration for the special place that Israel holds in the world, beginning with the original gift of the Holy Land described in the Old Testament. Israel is a religious seat for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Coates examines two negative forces that deny the importance of the small nation: anti-Semitism and “replacement theology.” The former has been extant throughout recorded Western history. The latter holds that Christianity replaced and rejected Judaism and with it the primacy of Israel as the Jewish nation. Many ancient prophecies refer, Coates believes, to the current divided and conflicted situation in the region today. The author’s conviction is that when the Jews acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah, he will then return to a fully united Jerusalem.
Coates, a pastor as well as a teacher, has organized his thesis carefully. Each chapter begins and is filled with quotations about the subject matter from observers as diverse as Mark Twain, David Ben-Gurion, and Harry Truman. As would be expected, sacred writings from the Old and New Testaments and the Koran are heavily drawn upon. Also prominent among the source material is modern documentation, almost up to the minute, about the state of Israel, its formation, and continuance. The author explores in its many aspects the remarkable rise of European Jews following their near extinction in World War II to their occupancy of one of the ten strongest countries in the world. He expresses a toleration that is rare and laudable as he analyzes the many thorny issues of concern not only for Israel as a nation but also for members of the three great religions who have a stake in its spiritual future.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review