The Definitive Battle For Palestine: An Exposition of Ezekiel 38 and 39

The Definitive Battle for Palestine is an engaging, dramatic exposition of the message of the 38^th and 39^th chapters of Ezekiel’s Old Testament prophecy. The exposition utilizes the format of drama with plot, characters, suspense and a surprising finale.

Ezekiel took the names of most of the characters in his cosmic drama from the table of nations found in the tenth chapter of Genesis. Usually, for contemporary American Christians, the names for many, if not most, of the actors in this drama are archaic and irrelevant. The Definitive Battle for Palestine brings these people to life. It traces their centuries-long careers, locates them in the modern world and gives insight into their current political and ideological tendencies and commitments. Names like Togarmah, Tubal, Put, Cush, Tarshish and Dedan come alive.

In the plot, Ezekiel’s basic cast of characters joins with others in a gargantuan military coalition which is committed to the destruction of the tiny state of Israel. First of all, the coalition is enticed by the desire to dominate the highly strategic geographic location currently occupied and controlled by Israel. They see this as an indispensable step in achieving their dreams of ultimate world domination. Also, the invaders are motivated by the vision of becoming heirs to the lush economic plums which are now being enjoyed by the Israelis whom they detest. But probably it is not only the current economic success of Israel which beckons the invaders, but the prospects of even greater treasure, like that sought through exploratory drilling for oil and gas, both in Israeli territory and in Israel’s offshore coastal waters in the Mediterranean.

But developing events prove that Israel is not totally without friends. God, at this most critical juncture, is able to call for an external “sword” on Israel’s behalf. At the same time, faced with unexpected difficulties, the internal cohesion of the invading coalition breaks down. At that desperate moment the forces of nature also conspire against the ranks of the coalition. The upshot is the total defeat of the invading myriads. At the close of hostilities, Israel is enriched by mountains of supplies forfeited by the defeated invaders and also gains broad international recognition of its rightful place in the family of nations.

Even more importantly, the war leads to a world-wide theological and ideological realignment, resulting in the dawn of an entirely new era for Judaism and Christianity on one hand, as well as for Islam and Communism on the other.

The Definitive Battle for Palestine will give Christians deep biblical, up-to-the-minute, understanding of world affairs and the role which the people of Christ should fill in the crucial times which lie just before us.

B.L. (Lee) Turner graduated from San Jose Bible College with a Bachelor of Theology Degree in 1947. In 1956, after having served nine-and-one-half years in evangelistic Christian ministry at Vancouver, Washington, he entered the graduate school of the University of Pennsylvania, where in 1959 he completed his M.A. Degree in South Asia Regional Studies. His thesis was A Contribution to the English Historical Cartography of Iran in the Early Islamic Period.

Following the completion of his studies at the University of Pennsylvania, he and his family sailed to Pakistan in August 1960 where they spent the next fifteen years in Christian evangelism, both urban and rural. During the early part of his stay in Pakistan, Lee also studied history and political science at the University of the Punjab in Lahore, Pakistan.

While living in Pakistan, Lee made several study and preaching trips to various sites throughout much of India. Also, due to a war between India and Pakistan in 1971, he and his family spent six months in Afghanistan during which he became acquainted with further aspects of that country's history and geography. As a board member of a U.S. Christian relief organization, in Africa he visited Sudan and Egypt several times, and in India he traveled to war-torn Imphal to help implement relief projects.

Toward the end of 1975, the Turners were no longer allowed to renew their visas and consequently had to terminate their residential mission work in Pakistan. On their way back to America, Lee and his youngest son, traveling by Jeep, pursued a six-month study-tour of the Middle East which included Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Jordan and Syria. During that tour Lee sent a series of letters home entitled Travel Letters From The Center Arena of History. Since 1975, Lee has made 22 trips back to Pakistan and several additional trips to India.

In 1971, as part of the Turners' mission outreach to the Urdu-speaking part of the Muslim world, they began shortwave Gospel broadcasts over the facilities of Far East Broadcasting Association, then situated in the Seychelles Islands. Those broadcasts have continued uninterruptedly and go out under the name of Awaz-e-Haqq (The Voice of Truth). That broadcast work has been expanded and is now carried on under the name of Key Communications, directed by Lee Turner. For additional information, visit www.keycom.org.