Tag Middle East

Hillary to Israel: Don’t Count on Me!

Allen Frederick 1 Comment

Robert Randle is a fellow writer over at Faithwriters.com and this article just begged to be shared with as many people as possible. I have included it here for all my regular readers and will be adding it to the “Pop Goes the Gospel” blog carnival being published later this month. This is such a timely and appropriate article in light of all that is happening in the United States of America under the current Obama administration. These are frightening times and exciting times, I guess it all depends on how you view God’s provision and providence.

Hillary Clinton’s comment may be a wake-up call for Israel
By Robert Randle

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent statement at the summit called AIPAC should have been a reality check for the Israeli people; not to mention, another glaring example of American hubris. While avowing unrelenting support for the nation of Israel, she went on to say that with all the sophisticated weapons and technology being developed by the enemy, [in light of this continually evolving situation], “WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO PROTECT ISRAEL ANYMORE.” This unfortunate comment should have caused some consternation among the Israeli political leadership including Benjamin Netanyahu and Barak Ehud; as well as outrage among Israeli citizens and other people as well. It says that if America wasn’t around to scare away all the enemies and haters of Israel who are bent on her destruction or annihilation, she would not even exist. Perhaps Israel needs to rethink its relationship with the United States, Western European countries, and her role within the United Nations as well.

In the Jewish Bible [“TANAKH“] there are some lessons to be learned from the Jews depending on or soliciting for military deliverance from other nations instead of their God. In 2 Kings 16: 1, 7, 9, King Ahaz of Judah paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser to save them from the armies of the Kings of Syria and Israel. Also, in 2 Kings 17: 1, 3-4, King Hoshea of Israel conspired with the King of Egypt to come to his aid against Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, and when the Assyrian King uncovered the plot, he imprisoned King Hoshea and besieged the capitol [Samaria] for three years and carried away the people captive.

Later in 2 Kings 18: 17, 19-21, 32b; 19: 16, 19-22, 32-34, Rabshakeh, the Chief of Staff for Sennacherib King of Assyria taunted King Hezekiah and the people along the wall in Judah [the city of Jerusalem], and speaking for King Sennacherib, said, “Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD [Adonai??] should [can] deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” (Cp. 18: 35). What is instructive for the political leaders of modern-day Israel is what King Hezekiah did as recorded in 2 Kings 19: 1, 20, 32, 34: And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth [and ashes??], and went into the house of the LORD. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ’Because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib King of Assyria, I have heard.’ ” “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the King of Assyria: ’He shall not come [set foot] into this city [Jerusalem], Nor shoot an arrow there, Nor come before it with shield, Nor build a siege mound against it. “For I will defend this city [Jerusalem], to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”

Ironically enough, the remnant of the children of Israel [tribe of Judah, no doubt] wanted to return back to Egypt, the very country which their ancestors were enslaved, as it says in Jeremiah 42: 9a, 10a, 13-14; 43: 7a: Thus says the LORD, “If you will remain in this land, then I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. “But if you say, ’We will not dwell in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the LORD your God, saying, ’No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we shall not see war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell.’ ” So they went into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the LORD.” Eventually Egypt was defeated and Israel went into captivity, anyway (Cp. Jeremiah 46: 1-28).

The people of Israel as well as the rest of the world needs to recognize that God has on occasion punished the Jews for their transgression of His Law [Torah], which included plagues (diseases), military defeat, captivity and exile into foreign lands, but nevertheless, as it says in Proverbs 21: 31: The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the LORD. God will protect Israel from her enemies and will gather them from all the nations around the world to settle them in the land promised to the patriarch Abraham and codified in the Law [Torah] given at Mount Sinai; irrespective of the negotiations between the United States, Israel, the UN and the Palestinians about the settlement issue in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

Finally, it is not about having fighter jets with “STEALTH TECHNOLOGY” traveling at several times the speed of sound or having some of the best pilots in the world, or how many nuclear bombs they have, or equipping their soldiers with the latest in body armor and sensors to detect chemical, radiological, and biological weapons, and other such capabilities to wage modern warfare. The very opposite existed for their ancestors who were at a tactical disadvantage in almost every encounter before their enemies; especially when it came to the development of iron weapons. The one thing Israel had, though, was unwavering ’faith’ in the promises of God and as long as she trusted in the LORD, Israel was victorious. The people of Israel need to be reminded of this because their sacred Scriptures teach:

Exodus 14: 14
The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.

Deuteronomy 1: 30
The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes.

1 Samuel 17: 47
Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear [weapons]; for the battle is the LORD’S, and He will give you into our hands.

Zechariah 4: 6b
So he answered and said to me, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts [YHVH Sabaoth].”

The Jewish people, their military and political leaders need to return [repent] to their LORD God through living according with the Law [Torah] and not adopt the customs of America and Western Europe. When this happens, the blessings which come to Israel will flow throughout the entire world and we will all be better off because of this.

Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
March 23, 2010
pbks@hotmail.com

pbks@hotmail.com
http://choirboy51.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com–CHRISTIAN WRITERS–MAKE A WEBSITE

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Stirring up the hornet’s nest

Allen Frederick 3 Comments

And behave to your fellow men just as you would have them behave to you.  Luke 6:31 (WEY)

Hamas, stop dragging Israel into fighting.

Image by ShadoWalker Photography via Flickr

 

Countless truces and ceasefire agreements have been made and broken in the never ending struggle between Hamas and Israel. Each one pointing the finger at the other for the reason the hostilities have not ceased. They started it would be the cry from each side.

 

"This year alone, Hamas, which expressly calls for the obliteration of Israel, has launched approximately 3,000 rockets and mortar bombs into Israeli

civilian centers, always for the purpose of killing and maiming

Israelis if possible, and terrifying those who are not actually hit. In the last week or so, Hamas has fired some 200 rockets and bombs into Israeli communities." Source:http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/12/30/the_suffering_that_hamas_causes/

The world cries for peace in the middle east and yet one of the two parties involved in the peacemaking process vows to annihilate the other party involved. Passive watchfulness does not protect a citizenry from violent, lawless attacks on innocent civilians. Sitting by and watching bombs fall on your cities and towns does nothing to stop violence or render peace.

"Under these circumstances – circumstances which would have continued without end had the Israelis failed to act – it seems clear that the Israeli military response was not merely a necessary one. It was, regrettably, the only one left." Source:http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/12/30/the_suffering_that_hamas_causes/

"Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, utilizing homes, schools and community centers as launching pads, content in the knowledge that if innocent Palestinian civilians are caught in the cross-fire, it will be Israel that is criticized. This amounts to a sort of Daily Double of human rights violations: the use of innocent Palestinians as human shields for the infliction of violence upon innocent Israelis.

It is Hamas that perfected the use of the suicide bomb, by which young Palestinians were induced to kill themselves so that Israelis could also be killed. It is somehow apt that Hamas should be forever associated with the suicide bomb, for in a larger sense Hamas has proved to be an instrument of the demise of Palestinians in Gaza.

Hamas’s persistent call for the annihilation of Israel through jihad, its unequivocal rejection of any peace with Israel under any circumstances, its seizure of Gaza through a coup d’etat, its repression of women and freedom of expression, and its embrace of Iran have all disgusted the international community, which will have little to do with it. Hamas has likewise repelled numerous Arab governments, which might otherwise have been expected to dip into their ample reserves of petrodollars to provide much-needed aid and foreign investment to Gaza, but which have steered clear of it." Source:http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/12/30/the_suffering_that_hamas_causes/

If you do not wish to be stung
then do not stir up a hornet’s nest.

And yet we hear from some that Israel’s response to these senseless terrorist attacks is too extreme. What should Israel do? Should they start shooting off 3000 rockets back at the Gaza strip and kill innocent people like Hamas terrorists do? Is that the measured response the world wants Israel to engage in? Or should they just continue to sit back and watch as more and more rockets are launched into their cities and more innocent Israeli lives are lost? Would it be more palatable to the world if Israel would just surrender their nation to these terrorists?

I for one stand firmly with Israel in this conflict. I believe they should do everything they can to guard and protect Israeli lives and safeguard their borders from terrorists. At the same time Israel is doing everything it can to surgically strike at terrorist targets, but because, as the Boston Globe states, these cowards hide behind civilian populations, it is extremely difficult to wage a fair fight when one side continues to play hide and seek behind women and children.

The only way to maintain peace in Israel is when Hamas quits firing rockets. Until then Hamas has waged war with Israel and therefore they shall reap what they have sown. They shall have it done unto them as they have done unto Israel. I shall continue to stand with Israel as they attempt to root out the radical Hamas elements from amongst the Gazan citizenry and thereby return peace to the area. Until then let us pray that more innocent life is not lost during this war on terror.

 

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O Little Town of Bethlehem

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

 

I have been blessed by receiving Worthy Devotions in my inbox each day for over a year now and I wish to share just one of the many insightful messages I have received from this Jewish writer. A Jewish perspective can add valuable insight to a study of the bible, and so it is with this topic of Jesus being born in Bethlehem. Once again we can see the intricate design of God throughout the biblical narrative. If you are not already receiving Worthy Devotions in your inbox each day I would recommend that you sign up for an email subscription today. You will be blessed for having done so.

Micah 4:8;5:2 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

There are many who are not aware of the very deep significance of Bethlehem,Yeshua’s (Jesus’) birthplace. Everyone knows that Bethlehem was a place where shepherds grazed their sheep, and where the Messiah was to be born, but do not realize that it was a town designated as the birthing place for lambs which were used for the Passover sacrifice. The Scriptures give significant details about this little town lying slightly south of Jerusalem.

 

In Micah 4:8 we read about the “watchtower of the flock”, or in Hebrew, “Migdal Edar.” According to the “Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah“, by Alfred Edersheim, a Jewish believer in the late 1800’s, Migal Edar was the location where the Messiah was to be revealed. This watchtower stood as a place of protection for the city from approaching enemies, but it was also utilized by shepherds to watch over the specific flocks from which sacrificial Passover lambs were taken.

The shepherds who were tending these particular flocks were no ordinary shepherds. They were specifically trained by the Rabbis for a holy task. They had to insure that, as much as possible, every lamb was free of any blemish or injury, in order to be used for the Passover sacrifice. Since they were instructed by the Rabbis, they almost certainly knew of those passages in the Targums (Aramaic translations) and the Mishna associating the birth of the Messiah with “Migdal Edar”. For example, Migdal Edar is translated in one of the Targums as “The Anointed One of the Flock of Israel.” It is also written in the Mishna that “He spread his tent beyond Migdal Edar, the place where King Messiah will reveal Himself at the end of days.”

Those shepherds had strong hints of Messiah’s advent in the very town where they lived, so that when the angelic host appeared announcing his arrival, they responded immediately and went to worship Him. We too have increasing signs of His soon Second Coming. Are we also prepared to respond? Our readiness to act in faith and worship will show how well we understand the signs of our own times. With so much work to be done, let us stay awake and be inspired by the expectation of his soon arrival – for, just like those shepherds of Bethlehem, we truly were born for such a time as this!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

 

George, Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah
Currently in the Negev Desert, Israel

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Armageddon and an Independent Palestinian State

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Image via Wikipedia

By Don Costello

There is much talk in the news lately about the formation of a Palestinian state. It has become a major goal of President Bush. I believe that he is making the worst mistake of his Presidency. Biblically the West Bank, as it is called today is part of the land that Almighty God covenanted with Abraham to give his descendants through Isaac. Even more important is the fact that one of the reasons Jesus Christ is coming back at Armageddon is to destroy the people trying to steal the land of Israel away from Him and Israel. Although the Golan Heights are included in that Covenant, I want to focus on the area of the West Bank because that is the area the whole world is trying to make an independent Palestinian state.

A crucial element of this debate for the Bible believing Christian is that the West Bank as it is known today is referred to in Scripture as “Judea” and “Samaria” or “the mountains of Israel”. In 1999, the magazine “Christians for Israel” published an article documenting this entitled, “The Mountains of Israel”, by Karel van Oordt and Pee Koelewijn. There is also a book entitled, “The Mountains of Israel” by Norma Archbold that refers to this.

According to scripture, from the time when Lot and Abraham separated until after God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham lived on the plain of Mamre, which is present day Hebron in the West Bank. The events of Genesis 15 of the cutting of the covenant and the giving of the land occurred at that very place. In these scriptures we see the elements of the ancient Middle Eastern covenant. In Genesis 15:9, the animals are chosen, in verse 10 they are divided and laind against one another and in verses 17 and 18 the participants pass through the divided animals. The purpose for this according to Unger’s Bible Dictionary was to confirm the covenant, “by slaughtering and cutting the victim into halves, between which the parties passed, to intimate that if either of them broke the covenant it would fare with him as with the slain and divided beast.” The element not mentioned in the Genesis passage but most definitely took place at the time of the oath in Ezekiel 47:14 (NIV) where God, “swore with an uplifted hand”, to give the land to Israel. We get that impression from Jeremiah 34:14, which says the LORD will punish those, “which have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof.” The picture we see when all these elements are included is when the LORD was passing through those pieces, He was swearing with an uplifted hand He was going to give Israel the land.

According to Isaiah 62:4, God is married to Israel and the land. The New American Standard Version says, “It well no longer be said to you “”Forsaken”” Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “”Desolate””; But you will be called, “”My delight is in her,”” and your land, “”Married.”” It is no wonder then that the first three verses of Ezekiel 36, which deals with the mountains of Israel, i.e. the West Bank, are laced with a very stern warning from God in the spirit of a jealous husband. Ezekiel 36:5 says the LORD is speaking, “in the fire of my jealouslyagainst the rest of the nationswho appropriated my land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and scorn of soul.” The LORD God in Jeremiah 12:14 (NIV) calls those nations “wicked neighbors” who would “seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel.” Continue reading “Armageddon and an Independent Palestinian State” →