The Old Testament shows that agricultural settlements were numerous in

the Jordan Valley; and thus far fifty new settlements from Dan to Beersheba

have risen beside ancient sites which Biblical archaeologists have re-

identified; and at nearly every one, some ancient water supply has been

found.  Dr. Walter Clay Lowdermilk, expert on soil conservation and crops,

has advised the Israelis in line with Biblical indications as to where

certain crops were grown; and thus the best areas today for wheat, olives,

grapes, and flax have been found.

Noting from the Bible that great herds of sheep and cattle grazed in

the Beersheba area in ancient times when water must have been more plentiful

than now, archaeologists have found in the hills remains of rock dykes,

connected to form an intricate drainage system, which conserved all the rain.

By renewing this ancient drainage system, 40 small dykes on 65 acres of land

have resulted in lush green grass for 300 sheep.  Inasmuch as Isaac,

centuries ago, dug wells in that region, search has revealed 37 cisterns hewn

out of the limestone, and now storing 20,000 gallons of water over a radius

of six miles.

In May of 1948, the Israelis successfully used Biblical examples

of battle strategy in defence of their State when the Syrians attempted to

invade.  In December, 1948, soldiers discovered in the Negev an ancient road

mentioned in the Bible, which enabled Israel to deal with Egyptians harassing

the Israeli settlements; and the war ended soon thereafter.

In the rehabilitation of the Land, the Bible has helped the Israelis

decide what kinds of trees to plant.  Abraham first planted a tamarisk tree

in Beersheba (Gen. 21:33 R.V.), and the Israelis have found the tamarisk to

be one of the few trees that thrives in the south where yearly rainfall is

less than six inches.

(A. M. F. Monthly and The Midnight Cry).

The reader may, possibly, question the right to consider this term in a

volume dealing expressly with prophecy, for prophecy deals with 'things to

come'.  That is quite true.  The only justification for its presence here is

that there are some systems of teaching that read Ephesians 1:4 somewhat as

'According as He hath chosen us in Him, Before the Setting Up of His

World Order (on the earth)'.

This interpretation is not new, it was advanced to the present writer

some forty years ago by a Christadelphian student, and the reader, who may

have met with it recently, may be interested to read our reaction to this

interpretation and consider the Scriptural reasons given for its rejection.

This verse is lifted out from Ephesians, explained, translated and

interpreted, without the slightest recognition of the cogent fact that the

words translated 'before the foundation of the world' occur in two other

parts of Scripture.  It matters not whether the omission be due to ignorance

or whether evidence is being suppressed, such omission is unworthy of a

Christian teacher.  The two other references are: