--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Roe, Watkin L. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 21 number: 2 published: 1917-12 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Watkin L. Roe, "Is the Shadow Lifting from Palestine?," *Improvement Era* 21, no. 2 (December 1917): 137–143.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2102unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2102unse start_page: 137 end_page: 143 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1917-12) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2102unse publication_year: 1917 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1917, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Is the Shadow Lifting from Palestine? — Is the Shadow Lifting from Palestine? By Watkin L. Roe When one views the startling events which are taking place throughout the nations of the world, there is much cause for speculation and wonder — speculation of what great holocaust will happen next, and wonder that the prohpecies of old are being fulfilled so "that they follow fast on each others' heels." While viewing the changing conditions of the world, the dis- ruption of monarchies, autocracies, potentates and powers, I have been led to study somewhat the prophecies relative to the — — chosen people of God the Jews the offending branch of Israel — and I often have asked myself the question, while viewing these drastic changes, how the prophecies with regard to this race are being fulfilled. Many writers in the Bible have prophetically and inciden- tally referred to what would happen to the children of God who had enjoyed the blessings which he had sent them through — the Prophet Moses and others if they proved disobedient to the commandments which had been given them through their chosen leaders. Probably the most vivid portrayal of the con- ditions of the Jews will be found in God's words to Moses, the leader of the race, as found in the 26th chapter of Leviticus. It probably is not necessary to read the entire chapter, although it is given up entirely to prophetic utterances in reference to these conditions. But take the words of the Lord from the 30th verse we find: And / will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols and my soul shall abhor you. And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries into deso- lation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors. And / will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies which dwell thereon shall be astonished at it. And / will scatter you among the heathen and will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. "Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sab- baths, when ye dwell upon it. And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness of heart in the land of their enemies, and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them, and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword, and they shall flee when none pursueth. And they shall fall upon one another as if it were before a sword, when none pursueth, and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 138 IMPROVEMENT ERA And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands, and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. // they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary to them; and have brought them into the land of their en- emeies; if then their circumcised hearts be humbled and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity; Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them; and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity, because even because their soul abhorred my statutes. And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt, in the sight of the heathen that I might be their God: I am the Lord. Every part of this prophetic heart-to-heart talk has been literally fulfilled.Have they not become a hiss and a byword among the nations? Have they not been massacred, and cut up and decimated by their enemies, until it seemed that they would be entirely cut off from the face of the earth? By following the history of the Jews, or rather the most important epochs of that nation, the prophetic words to Moses have most certainly come to pass. When Jerusalem was in the plenitude of her power, when the race had become arrogant, desecrated the works of God, had vilified and stoned the proph- ets, and had turned their eyes to other images of worship; when they had blasphemed the Father and had violated the sanctity of the Holy of Holies when the laws, customs and governments, ; both religious and otherwise, had been overthrown and newer, and to them better forms had been instituted, then the cup of bitterness began to overflow, and the judgments which God had promised to his disobedient people began to be showered upon them tenfold. The invasions of Cyrus, King of Persia, Ptolemy, rving of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, not forgetting the all-conquering Romans under the Caesars, and the various no- madic tribes as mentioned in Holy Writ, all tended to fulfil the truthfulness of the words uttered to Moses on Sinai's mount. After they were driven into captivity and their land had become desolate, the home of alien tribes and half-breeds, the land deteriorated, became arid and forbidding. The Jews, after being forced into captivity, were subjected to all the indignities which human flesh has been heir to. Their daughters have been forced into marriage with those not of their belief,although to the credit of the Jew, wherever it has been IS THE SHADOW LIFTING FROM PALESTINE? 139 possible, the iron-clad rule of their race not to marry other than a Jew has been adhered to. However, it remained for the Roman dynasty to complete the work of decimation and destruction, and Jerusalem was re- duced to ruins of stones, not one being left upon another. The Jew has always been looked upon as a despicable being and unworthy to be classed in the same category as the rest of mankind, and the nations into which the people had been driven completed the work of decimation, and in complete fulfilment of the prophecies "they have been brought low." As a people they have been subjected to the venom and hate of all nations, and, being driven to and fro, they were sub- jected to like treatment, first at the hands of the Musselman, the unspeakable Turk, the Servians, Albanians, the Russian and German, in fact, most all the European countries made the prophecy of a "hiss and a byword" only too true. It was while the two great powers of Turkey and Russia were so maltreating the race that caustic comments from writers not of the race were directed towards these two nations, and because of this unwel- come publicity a little more latitude was given to the people, and massacres and mobbings were done under cover. But as the hand of God had been turned against his people and they had been scattered according to promise, in like man- ner was influence going to be used to bring them back to their own and return them to their own land, a humbled and more devoted people. England and America began to interest themselves in this matter, and by the strangest of conditions the Jews became a great power in these two countries. It was during the time when England was figthing the Russians in the Crimean war that the Jew was really recognized in world politics. England needed money the worst kind. She had borrowed from every conceiv- able source until it was suggested by some wise man in Britain that the great Jewish house of the Rothschilds might be able to help England out of the difficulty. The Rothschilds were ap- pealed to, and after considerable conference, the money was forthcoming, England paying to the Rothschilds the enormous rate of interest of 20 per cent. This money was not fully paid until many, many years afterwards, but it laid the foundation of that great money loaning house on a solid basis, and unlocked the doors of the financial world to the wealth, worth and char- acter of the Jewish race. As time went on and one influential Jew after another rose up, financially great, they began to interest themselves in the condition of those of their own race in other countries, not so well conditioned as they themselves, and work was commenced with many of the great powers for an amelioration of conditions. 140 IMPROVEMENT ERA With the Russian, very little could be done; massacres con- tinued to be the order on the most flimsy charges, and the posi- tion of the poor Israelite was deplorable. In the meantime the Jews were becoming the great financial backbone of the world, and they worked hard with the different governments with whom they did business until even Russia began to modify her laws. Not so many years ago, Abdul Hamid, the "sick man of Europe," who, by the wag of his finger had caused the massa- cre of thousands of Jews, was a little tight for money, and he, like the rest of the kings of the world, appealed to the Jewish money-lenders. Finally, a large sum was loaned to the Turkish court, and one of the conditions was, that the Jews would be granted more latitude, more autonomy, and the violence against the race would be stayed. Life at last seemed to be worth living, and great strides were made by the badgered people. But while the treacherous Turk had granted such privileges to the Jews, his secret emis- saries carried death and destruction to the remote corners of his empire, the killings continued, and through a rigorous press censorship the true facts and conditions were never made public. Again the influential Jew began to work, and by and by, through evolution of time, the shaky throne of Abdul Hamid began to quake and totter. While this was going on, such great Jewish philanthropists as Baron Henry de Rothschild, and his brothers in England and France, Baron de Worms and Mr. Hirsch, of New York, and other prominent men began the Zionist movement, which move- ment had in view the emigration of their kith and kin to Pales- — tine back home, as it were — and as a body they asked the Sultan of Turkey for land grants and privileges looking to the re-peopling of Palestine, but the Turk, looking upon this with the eye of suspicion, refused to consent to such a movement. In 1838, about eight years after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been brought into active being, the Prophet Joseph Smith and the leaders of the Church sent Apos- tle Orson Hyde on a mission to Palestine. This mission was for the purpose of lifting the curse which was upon the land, he having gone there through a revelation which had been given to the Prophet Joseph. The mission of Apostle Hyde was carried out, a fervent prayer was offered up to the Father with the plea that the curse be lifted from the country, and the people of the Jewish race be allowed to return and re-people the waste places. Thus the word of the Lord was sent from Zion to Jeru- salem, and it can truthfully be said from that date to the present time, conditions over the face of the entire world have changed. The nations of the earth became more tolerant, and the Jewish IS THE SHADOW LIFTING FROM PALESTINE? 141 movements looking to the emigration of the people back to the land of their forefathers had begun, until now it has become an obsession with them. Something seems to impel them to go back. The Spirit of God has enlightened their understand- ing and seems to urge them to make every effort to go back, and thus from the lifting of the curse by an accredited apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the spirit of desolation which has reigned over Palestine, seems about to be lifted. And so, while the Sultan of Turkey refused to consider land grants — another movement of epoch-making importance was taking place in the land of the Saracen. The people of Turkey were taking upon themselves the spirit of freedom. Abdul Hamid was besieged from within and without. The young Turks were chafing under his rule, while the nations of the earth were be- coming impatient at the trickery of the Sultan. His secret emis- saries tried to squelch the spirit of independence, and many of the leaders of the new revolt were beheaded. But it was of no avail. The young men were fired with patriotism that brooked no opposition from such a ruler as "the sick man of Europe," so they began demanding greater freedom. They got it. Step by step they built up a powerful following within the inner circles of the Turkish kingdom, and before he knew it, his throne had been undermined, Abdul Hamid had been deposed, and was driven into exile the most execrated ruler of Christendom. In the meantime the Jews had become prominent in another country, not so very far from the chosen land of the Zionist movement. In the northern part of Africa, along the banks of the Nile, was the new land of promise of the Jewish race. Fin- anciers saw that if the Nile could be dammed, that a vast stretch of country could be made fertile and would produce enormous crops. It only needed the water to bring the waste places up to verdure and fruitfulness. And at a cost of something like $30,- 000,000 (loaned principally by Jews) the great Assuan dam was built, the waters backed up and forming a lake for over one hundred miles, and this, one of the really great irrigation enter- prises, through British pluck and Jewish money, is today a land of promise, and but a few days' journey from the confines of Palestine, so that it looks as if the Jews had mathematically calculated that even if Palestine were acquired under some suit- able suzerainty, that it would not in time be big enough to hold one-tenth part of her people. And of this new movement, Mr. Israel Zangwill had this to say in 1910: So by this means a new country, full of promise, was opened up, and abiding place the land that Ptolemy once reigned over, is likely to be the of the people that he conquered and drove into captivity. The recent upheaval in Turkey where the "new Turk party came to be 142 IMPROVEMENT ERA the principals in power," has supset the calculation of many a grasping European monarch. For years the massacres went on against the Jewish race and Christians generally, some were so bad that it caused a shudder to — pass around the world but these European monarchs sat unmoved, not dar- ing to do anything to hurt the feelings of the "unspeakable Turk." They watched with avaricious eyes the decadence of the Turkish empire, and speculated with themselves, who would be the first at the land grabbing. They dared not make any overt act against the ruler of the faithful; they were avaricious, they were inhuman. But the young Turks were not made of such flimsy stuff. They looked upon Abdul Hamid as much human as they were themselves, so they began to organize, organize, organize, until the storm clouds which had gathered in the east in 1909 developed the pro- portions of this new power that was startling in the extreme. Time went — on the despicable ruler lost his nip with the army. The general people began to gather until the storm which had been brewing broke forth in all its fury and Abdul Hamid woke up one morning and found himself without a throne, depending on the mercy of his captors. But the new party, while endeavoring to be fair, were the marionettes upon which the monarchies of Europe juggled. America was the first to offer congratulations, and by the way, American scholars and teachers were in the front rank with the young Turks for the inauguration of freedom. Then, when it was seen that the sultan had fallen, never to rise again, the Eu- ropean monarchies began to be felicitous. They offered the glad hand of fellowship and wanted to be in at the finish. The new Turkish dynasty began to abrogate some of the vindictive laws on the Turkish statute books; the people were given freedom of speech; and things seemed to be ripe for the establishment of a republic. The restrictions to a certain extent which had been upon the Jews as a people were done away with, and many priv- ileges were granted to them. Concessions were made on the Mesopotamian plains; vast engineering works and irrigation en- terprises were under way, backed by Jewish capital, and these concessions had been granted because much Jewish money had been loaned to the Turkish government. The Zionists were getting nearer to their goal. But their hopes were again to be blasted. These vast op- erations were put a stop to. The opening of the great world war which has engulfed practically the entire world is putting a new aspect on conditions. At the beginning of the war maybe — — the Armageddon of the ages it was thought that the hopes of the Jewish people had again been shattered, and for the first two years of the war the leading men of the Jewish race used their money to ameliorate the conditions of the war-afflicted portion of the Jewish race. It is needless to go into detail and tell of the sacrifices that the Jews are being called upon to bear in this frightful holo- caust of strife, bloodshed and murder. Israel Zangwill estimates that there are over one million Jews fighting in the ranks of the IS THE SHADOW LIFTING FROM PALESTINE? 143 German and Allied armies — at this writing there may be con- siderably more. was hardly to be considered that as long as It this war continued that the benighted people of Judah would think of the establishment of a home in Jerusalem. Yet out of the vortex of strife, again conies the voice of emancipation. Again comes the great Jewish scholar, Israel Zangwill, and other prominent Jews working with the English government, and who say that when the war is over, it is not improbable that a Jewish republic will be established in Palestine, under the suzerainty of Great Britain, where the Jewish people will be able to go and build for themselves homes, with Jewish money; and again make the land flow with milk and honey— and it might not be — out of the realms of reason to add again build the temple and make the surroundings suitable for what? Well might people of the Jewish race ask for what? An inherent instinct seems to — impel them onward to this goal yet they do not know the reason. But the reason is, for again welcoming the Son of Man, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Prince of Peace, who shall "set his foot on the mount and it shall cleave in twain." Viewing events as they are fast drawing to a focus, I cannot see anything unreasonable in this. Already the British or Al- lied army, composed of English, French, Canadians, Anzacs, Hindoos, Africans, and many others are sweeping methodically and systematically on towards Jerusalem. Not to wipe out Jeru- salem with shot and shell, but as voiced recently by an English paper, to envelop the city, and compel the 250,000 Turkish sol- diers massed there to surrender. No more will the shafts of war and murder be directed towards Jerusalem. All classes of people seem impelled with a common purpose to wrest the land from the hands of Saracen, like Richard the Lion Heart tried to do centuries ago. Following the allied armies a permanent railroad is being built across the Sinai desert, vast engineering works are being prosecuted as the army goes on. It is not only a war of retro- gression but a war of progression. Within the near future we shall hope to hear that "the king of the north," as the Prophet Daniel saw, "shall have planted his standard between the seas, and there he will go down and there will be none to help him." By way of Bagdad and the Mesopotamian plain other allied armies are working, and it will surely only be a matter of months when the scene of operations will be shifted to the eastern front. The complete enveloping of the infidel Turk will have taken place, and the prophecies uttered over those eastern countries will have in part been fulfilled. America has not been behind in this "back to Jerusalem movement," because President Taft sent as the first ambassador