By. Dejah Washington

As I’m sure everyone is well aware, the last few weeks in Israel have been the most tormenting weeks Israel has experienced in several years. Pictured below is a group of “African Hebrew Israelites” tending to normal life in Dimona, Israel. But for them, the government would make an announcement that would shock the nation. 

In sixty days, they will have to relocate back to the United States although the land that they currently possess rightfully belongs to them. So if this is the case, why are they being displaced? One answer to this remains: The Most High’s timing is the only timing we can subscribe to. 

Some may wonder why I elected to use quotation marks around “African Hebrew Israelites”; but, placing these three words back to back seems a bit redundant based on Scripture since we know that the Hebrews and the Israelites are the same group of people, and that due to their disobedience to The Most High, were scattered across the four corners of the earth and placed in captivity to their oppressors. 

This may all be a bit confusing since the last two weeks have been filled with news of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict which is another conflict rooted in tonight’s episode of “Whose Land Is It Anyway?” Come to find out, the state of Israel was sold to the Israelis by the British government in exchange for their help during WWII. Hm, sounds like a nice consolation prize considering that it was not their land, and those who inhabited it already did not own the land either. So now here we are, seventy-three years later, and the conflict has dramatically worsened. The death toll is well in the hundreds, thousands have been injured, and the streets of Gaza and Ashkelon are looking more and more like a battlefield. Zephaniah mentioned something about this. But how did all of this begin anyway? 

Several weeks ago, an Israeli court order ruled that any Palestinians residing in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood would be evicted and forced to turn their homes over to the Jewish settlers. Due to this, tensions rose rapidly and a full-time war is at the brink. Here is the breakdown of the most recent events: 

Friday, May 7, 2021: Israeli police raided al-Aqsa mosque with teargas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades leaving hundreds of Muslim worshippers injured. Many Palestinians already felt the heat from the Israelis following the eviction notices, so this action intensified the issue. 

Saturday, May 11, 2021: The Palestinians called it a day of anger. Almost 90,000 worshippers traveled to al-Aqsa mosque to continue worshipping and praying although Israeli soldiers and police created blockades in reaction to the protestors. 

Monday, May 10, 2021: The militant group, Hamas, fired rockets from Gaza into Israel hitting a school and some residences. In retaliation to this attack, Israeli police responded with several airstrikes hitting apartment complexes and and office buildings in the Palestinian territory of Gaza. Over a dozen reported dead, and many more injured. Israeli police raided al-Aqsa mosque once again for the third time in four days leaving many more injured.

Tuesday, May 11, 2021: More rocket fire and 

hints of a full-scale war are circulating as the 

violence continues between Israelis and 

Palestinians. According to witnesses, medical 

teams were blocked from reaching victims in 

the mosque due to Israeli police interference.

Wednesday, May 12, 2021: Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, says that operations will intensify between the two groups, and that a ceasefire is nowhere in the near future. Death toll in Gaza has risen to eighty and seven people in Israel.

Thursday, May 13, 2021: Daily airstrikes, rocket launches, protesting, rioting, and violence have engulfed the state of Israel. The death toll continues to rise and the violence is far from over. 

Sunday, May 16, 2021: Forty-two 

Palestinians are killed in Gaza due 

to more rocket attacks launched 

from Israel. This makes it the 

deadliest attack since the conflict 

began a week ago. 

So far, over 180 Palestinians have been killed due to the Israeli airstrikes. Given the fact that Netanyahu and other Israeli officials said that the violence is far from over, I’m sure that this toll will continue to rise in the coming weeks. 

But what does this mean for the twelve tribes, those who are the true inheritors of the land promised to the descendants of Abraham? 

As mentioned before, the first chapter of Zephaniah notes that The Most High will make a speedy riddance of those that dwell in the land and how Gaza and Ashkelon will be forsaken and a desolation. Interestingly enough, this is the same location of the violence that has been taking place in Israel at this time. Could this be the desolation that Zephaniah was speaking of? Is this yet another sign of the times? 

Continue reading through the entirety of Zephaniah to find out the surprise ending for the true inheritors of this land. The Most High spent all of Scripture speaking to a nation of people whom He specially created and selected. Ask YAH first and not man whose land it is; because calling this an ethnic cleansing might be the oxymoron of the decade.

Posted by:Dejyah YisraÉL