Page 687 - Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible Christianity. Based on the King James Bible

ZIF - ZIONISM

when again blood was sent into her streets, and her but the heavenly Jerusalem needs no restoration! [See
wounded fell in the midst of her. Israel, Jerusalem, Prophecy, Zionism.]
Suppose now that the names of Tyre and Zidon had ZIONISM. The modern movement which began in
changed places—that it had been said Tyre was to live, earnest after the horrors of the Jewish persecutions of
and Zidon to be utterly destroyed and never to be World War I and II, and which led to the creation of the
rebuilt, how complete would have been the refutation modern state of Israel. The following history is from the
of Ezekiel’s claim to speak the name of the Lord! But
how is it that this interchange of names did not take New 20th-Century Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge:
place? How is it that the city which has never been After the Roman expulsion of the Jews from
rebuilt is that of which this very thing and no other is Jerusalem in A.D. 135, this ‘Zion’ idea [being identified
prophesied, and that the city which has continued to with Jerusalem] was never divorced from Jewish
exist is that which by the prophet is beheld as existing? thinking, and Jewish prayers (both individual and
And, even though this could be explained, a harder corporate) reiterated the desire to return to their
question remains. Zidon, like many another ancient homeland.
city, might have dwindled into insignificance, so that,
in its misery and defencelessness, it should have The actual term ‘Zionism’ was not used until the
offered no resistance to any, and have tempted no 1890s. literature, Jewish nationalism, and a fresh
one’s cupidity. How has it happened that these words outbreak of anti-Semitism stimulated groups such as
of the prophet paint her as she has been, and as she is Hoveve Zion (‘Lovers of Zion’) to raise money to send
today—a place of strength which age after age has Jewish settlers to Palestine (a name the Romans had
been fought for, and has been passed on, wet with given the land to sever its connection with Judaism). ...
blood, from one possessor to another? There is one By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Jews had
explanation in which alone, far though it takes us, the
mind will rest with perfect satisfaction. It is, that He purchased more than 100,000 acres from large
speaks here whose thought grasps the ages, and before landowners and had reclaimed fertile cultivated areas
whom the future has no veil, and who, in these proofs from marsh areas and deserts. Jewish urban areas also
of His faithfulness, writes on man’s heart the expanded, and in 1909 a group of Jaffa Jews founded
assurance, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Tel Aviv, destined to become modern Israel’s largest city.
words shall not pass away” (John Urquhart, The Pre-modern Zionism emphasized a religious motive
Wonders of Prophecy). [See Bible, Inspiration, Prophecy, and quiet territorial settlement. With the publication of
Tyre.] the small booklet entitled Der Judenstaat (The Jewish
ZIF (brightness, illuminated). The second month of State: An Attempt at a Modern Solution to the Jewish
the Hebrew sacred year, corresponding to parts of April Question) by Theodor Herzl in 1896, however, political
and May (1 Ki. 6:1). Also called Jyar. The harvest Zionism was born and with it the modern conception of
(Potts). [See Calendar.] Zionism.
ZIHA (victory, brightness). Ezr. 2:43. Der Judenstaat and subsequent articles and speeches,
ZIKLAG (pouring out of water). Jos. 15:31. Herzl expounded political, economic, and technical
ZILAH (a shade). Ge. 4:19. efforts that he believed were necessary to create a
ZILPAH (gathering together). Ge. 29:24. functioning Jewish state. The First Zionist Congress met
ZILTHAI (the shade of the Lord). 1 Ch. 8:20. in 1897 and over 200 delegates from all over the world
ZIMMAH (a chain, thought). 2 Ch. 29:12. adopted the Basel Program. This program stressed that
Zionism sought to create a legal home in Palestine for
ZIMRAN (great wild goat). Ge. 25:2. the Jewish people and would promote settlement,
ZIMRI (song of God, praise of God). 1 Ki. 16:9-20; 2 create worldwide organizations to bind Jews together,
Ki. 9:31. strengthen Jewish national consciousness, and obtain
ZIN (a small palm tree, shrub). 1 Ch. 23:10. consent of the governments of the world.
ZINA (ornament). 1 Ch. 23:10. Herzl’s thinking was purely secular; in fact, he was
ZION. The name “Zion” means citadel and it an agnostic. The majority of his followers, however,
originally referred to one of the hills of Jerusalem that were Orthodox southeastern Europeans. ... Shortly after
was conquered by David (2 Sa. 5:7). It came to refer to his death in 1904, approximately 70,000 Jewish people
the entire city of Jerusalem. We see from the parallelism had settled in Palestine. ... Zionism would be
in Isaiah 2:3 that Zion and Jerusalem are the same. In transformed into a mass movement and political power
Hebrews 12:22, “Zion” refers to the heavenly Jerusalem, during World War I. The British issued the Balfour
but in the Psalms and the other Old Testament Declaration in 1917 which bestowed favor upon the
prophecies it refers to the earthly Jerusalem. Prophecies establishment in Palestine of a Jewish national home.
such as Isaiah 51:3 and 52:1 describe Zion’s restoration,

Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity 687