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6/29/2019

The Gaza Giveaway

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THE GAZA GIVEAWAY: It is 14 years since Israel gave away the Gaza strip to the Palestinians. Every resident and every soldier was evacuated.

This was done without any negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The latter did nothing to gain this territory. Nothing.

It was done in the interest of peace. Prime Minister Sharon of Israel wanted to show good will towards the Palestinians so that they would change their nasty, terroristic behavior, like lobbing Qassam rockets into Jewish residential areas. Many of Gaza’s Arabs, not even known as “Palestinians,” commuted to jobs in nearby Israeli work places.

Prime Minister Sharon decided to give to the Gazans a sign of peace. He also wanted to please President Bush. His own party, the Likud, wanted no part of relinquishing any land, but other Israelis thought that Palestine hostility could be reduced by a sign of goodwill--an inducement--a gift of land sweetened with trade and travel agreements.

There was NO reciprocal movement from Palestinian leaders. It was a total one–sided peace effort—testing the formula of “land for peace.”

After the Israelis left Gaza:
The Jews gave up 21 greenhouses and a multimillion-dollar export business. Some sources say that half were demolished before the withdrawal, and half were looted by the Palestinians after the fact. Another source says that American Jews bought these greenhouses for the Palestinians to start up their own businesses; for many of these Gaza workers had been employed there. That was not to be. They were vandalized and left in a useless condition. Sources say that some were transformed into terrorist training camps.

It wasn’t long before the weapons stockpiles in Gaza started growing; and then mortars and rockets again began falling into southern Israel–residential areas and all. And that’s the way it is—right up to the present day.

* * * * * * * * * * *
An article recently appeared in Commentary Magazine (Jewish) with an update.

Gazans are still sending missiles as well as flaming balloons across the border. According to reports, Gazan children are being paid to skip school and rush the border so that militants right behind them can fire at Israel. As they have been for some time, the children are being used as human shields!

But what is really important is this: After Israel’s evacuation, Hamas became the controlling authority in Gaza after killing members of the PLO and overthrowing that regime. Supporting them now is the Shiite regime of Iran!
And also this: the Egyptians have been involved in a mediation attempt between Israel and Hamas. Recent missile barrages from Gaza are probably precipitated by Iran. Why: In order to disrupt the negotiations.

The Commentary article reports the following:
Iran is now heavily involved…
Iran is now disrupting the negotiations for a cease-fire…
Iran is now encouraging violence on Israel’s southern border so that Hezbollah can rain down missiles on the northern border, keeping the Israel Defense Forces engaged and guessing.

Hezbollah (Iran’s proxy) has an estimated 150,000 rockets in its arsenal, including a growing number of precision-guided missiles.
Commentary says that “a major Gaza offensive could backfire and hasten a conflict with Iran.”

Also from Commentary Magazine:
“Hamas has been throwing mortars and rockets into Israel from Gaza since the breakdown of the peace process in 2001. Israel made the problem inadvertently worse when it vacated the Gaza Strip in 2005.” (page 24) !!!
You see, Israel disengaged from Gaza in large part because her leaders wanted to keep in the good graces of U. S. leaders. The U. S. leaders were fixated on this familiar paradigm: If Israel is to have peace, it must abdicate land it has acquired. Many Israelis used to agree with this. But now, this paradigm is increasingly being rejected by the Jewish Israeli populace.

QUESTION: When the ancient Hebrews were repeatedly attacked by the ancient Philistines, did they think they could negotiate their way to peace?

ANSWER: No. They just cowered. They suffered ignominy. That is, until a man named David became king--a king who waited on the Lord and asked Him in prayer over and over again: “Shall I go down to battle with Israel’s army?” And when God answered “yes,” David would lead the army of the Lord to battle and defeat the ungodly hosts.

LESSON: The modern Israeli Defense Force hasn’t yet learned to do as King David did. And so they look to America for answers and warily watch Iran with their modern HUMAN INTELLIGENCE.

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I am exalted among the nations;
I am exalted in the earth.”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
— Psalms 46:10-11

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6/22/2019

The Worldwide Return (…from the farthest corners)

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But you, Israel my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
The offspring of Abraham, my friend;
You whom I took from the ends of the earth,
And called from its farthest corners…
— Isaiah 41:8-9

Since the beginning of the 20th century, millions of Jews have left their homes in approximately 100 countries to move back to their homeland in Palestine—from nations on every populated continent and from many islands of the seas.

The Lord of the Nations was calling Jewry from the world’s farthest corners.

QUESTION: Has there been anything like this scattering of a single nation of people to the ends of the earth…and then its gathering? Anything like it in history?

ANSWER: No, indeed!

The prophet Ezekiel prophesied this wondrous phenomenon two and a half millennia ago:

As a pleasing odor, I will accept you when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. You shall know that I am the Lord when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your ancestors.” (Ezekiel 20:41-42)

QUESTION: Yes, God was calling them, but what human factor or factors are there in the movement?

ANSWER: #1: Widespread and severe persecution of the Jews.

ANSWER #2: Expulsions. Mainly from so-called “Christian” countries in Europe and Russia.
Expulsions of the Jews from the nations took place from the time Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A. D. Many expulsions. Some were from nations that eventually changed their policies and invited the Jews back such as England. Expelled: 1290 A. D.—Readmitted: around 1650.
In Germany, expulsions and readmissions came frequently one upon another producing a back-and-forth movement.

The Reasons for the Expulsion of the Jews

The failure of Gentile Christian groups to convince the Jews to convert.
The envy and hostility of merchants.
Chief among the motives: hatred of the Jews, disgust with the poor ones and
envy and resentment of the rich Jews.

The expulsions meant loss of property, sickness of body and spirit with many diseases, and the feeling of having no place in the world….except their ancient homeland.

The Desire to Return

Historically, the return to Palestine—to Zion—had lived as a hope, a dream, a prayer and an article of faith for the observant Jew down through the ages. After nineteen centuries of wandering, they began to return to the homeland. During that time, they had been praying in their synagogues: “Save us, God our Savior; gather and deliver us from the nations that we may give thanks to your holy name.” (The Koren Siddur [prayerbook]) They yearned to experience life once again in Jerusalem, Judea and the hills of Galilee.

Opposition to the Return

Yet, opposition was strong even among their own people! Many Jews in the early 20th century participated in this opposition, and that resistance was fierce. Their loyalty to their adopted nations was strong.
These Jews insisted that they constituted a separate religion—Judaism--but NOT a separate nation. They insisted that the Jewish people were meant to live among the nations to be an asset. They didn’t believe in the prophecies of their return to the land that Yahweh gave them. They were staying where they were!

So, you had (1) first of all, the need for the return because of persecution and expulsions throughout history, (2) secondly, the profound longing for the ancient land among some of the Jews, and finally (3) the resistance to return among many who had been assimilated into Gentile society.

But the return did begin with waves of Jewish immigrants (called alijahs), and when, after World War II, the British left Palestine, those waves became huge. Getting out of Europe was a necessity. And moving from North African and Middle East nations was then forced—another instance of expulsion.

Some of the nations with the largest number of Jewish immigrants moving to the new state of Israel from 1948 to 2012 are these:
Romania – 276,586; Iraq – 131,138; Iran – 76,934; Argentina – 59,925; Libya – 35,000; India – 28,702; Germany – 19,905; South Africa – 19,378. There are many more.

But….the place with the largest population of Jews was the Soviet Union—mainly Russia and the Ukraine.
The door had been locked shut from getting out of Russia and the Soviet Union. It was not that the Jews didn’t try. They were forced to remain in place by the Czarist and Communist regimes. There in the Soviet Union their only places to live were called—get this: PALES OF SETTLEMENT! Well, well, well. That is apartheid, you know.

However, due to the pressure that came from other nations and the prayers of believers, especially in the United States and Canada, the Russian leaders finally began issuing permits to leave. The small beginnings of release picked up speed and soon became an avalanche of visas issued. By 2012, the number of Russian and Ukrainian Jews making “Alijah” meaning “to go up”, that is, to the Holy Land– was 1,214,993!

Yes, God Almighty was gathering His Chosen People
But it didn’t happen until He called them.

Finally, God was saying “NOW!” The birthing pangs were acute. And the Jews were brought from the farthest corners of the earth. They were being gathered from the nations where they had previously been scattered by the Lord God.

And then, they could proclaim: “Break forth together into singing You waste places of Jerusalem.”
— Isaiah 52:9

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6/16/2019

Russia in the Latter Days

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Basis: Ezekiel Chapters 38 and 39

The Prophet Ezekiel speaks of a nation…
–“from the remotest parts of the north.” (38:6) “…come from your place out of the remotest parts of the north.” (Ezekiel 38:15) What nation would that be?

THAT WOULD BE RUSSIA!

RUSSIA’S PURPOSE: “…to seize spoil and carry off plunder…

ANOTHER RUSSIAN PURPOSE: “…to assail inhabited places…and [to assail] the people who were gathered from the nations who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center (navel) of the earth.” (38:12)

What people have been gathered from the nations?

THAT WOULD BE ISRAEL!

When is this to happen? “After many days…” (38:8); “In the latter years.” (38:8)

Where is this to happen?: Israel: “A land restored from war, a land where people were gathered from many nations, which had long lain waste.” (38:8a) REPEAT: “Its people were brought out from the nations and now are living in safety.” (38:8b) “…who live at the center (navel) of the earth.” (38:12)

THAT WOULD BE ISRAEL!

“You [meaning the nation from the remotest parts of the north] will devise an evil scheme.” (38:10)

THAT WOULD BE RUSSIA!

People with them: “Many peoples are with you.” (38:6c) “In the latter days, I will bring you [Russia] against my land,” says the Lord God. (38:16) Yes, it is the Lord God’s land given to the Jewish People as part of His covenant with them.

And yes, God at times uses a relatively godless nation to serve His purposes. He will get the glory through His defense of His Chosen People in His/their land.

QUESTION: Is Russia really a relatively godless nation?

ANSWER: Some facts about that question–
Anne Garrels in Putin Country. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2016 speaks of one Russian woman who honestly confessed that “there is a war against us, not with weapons, but a kind of spiritual war from the outside perhaps because we are so vulnerable, but we are guilty too because we give in to the worst influences—to moral degradation.”

All during the Communist reign, atheism was the official belief, taught and enforced by the government.

Today, the Russian Orthodox Church is closely allied with the corrupt and all-powerful government. When Putin successfully ran for a third term, Orthodox Patriarch Kirill described his victory as “a miracle of God.” Garrells cites polls showing that about two-thirds of ethnic Russians now say they are Orthodox, though many of these same people also testify that they don’t really believe in God. (p. 122) This is a people who are unwilling to acknowledge God and to recognize evil even when it strikes them in the face.

QUESTION: Where faith in God is absent, how much respect for law and for one’s neighbor would be present? You can answer that.

REMEMBER: Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union “the Evil Empire.”

REMEMBER BACK FURTHER: The Soviet Union has a long history of repression. Tens of millions of Russians were imprisoned, exiled or murdered by Joseph Stalin and his henchmen. Many who disappeared were thrust into the gulag—the forced labor camp system begun by Lenin and not closed until the 1950’s. They labored under the threat of execution or starvation in frigid climates. There were hundreds of these camps with 2,000 to 10,000 prisoners in each one.

This Russian Orthodox Church finds it difficult to criticize Josef Stalin; it chooses to dwell on what they call his positive achievements.

REMEMBER BACK EVEN FURTHER: The pogroms. This word “pogrom” literally means “to wreak havoc.” These occurred in Russia in the 19th and 20th centuries. Settlements of Jews were attacked by gangs of Russians, with looting, gang rapes of the Jewish women, the destruction of homes, killing the residents and pillaging the stores owned by Jews. All this was done by gangs of hundreds or thousands of Russians. Sometimes it was done with the government’s blessing and others by local men who were never held accountable by that government.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Russia, this nation, predominately godless and in great part immoral, has recently moved into Syria, making it more difficult for the U. S. and Israel to establish peace and order in the Middle East.

Russia has threatened to jam the satellite navigation, airborne radar and communications systems of combat aircraft in the eastern Mediterranean with their most advanced anti-aircraft missiles.

Russia is thus working to gain a strategic advantage over NATO through its new capabilities.

The European countries have always been fearful about Russia moving into the Middle East. And now,
Russia is moving in with the intent to remain, right on Israel’s border. Yes, on the border of Israel!

It looks like Ezekiel’s prophecy is onto something.

Netanyahu….Beware of Russia.

To all people of Christian faith: Consider Ezekiel’s statement that such a development will occur in “the latter days.”

QUESTION: Why then is God sending Russia down to invade the land of His Chosen People Israel?

ANSWER: To get glory for Himself, vindicate His Chosen People and punish the nation that has persecuted them from time immemorial.

SCRIPTURAL ANSWER:
“In the latter days I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I display my holiness before their eyes.” (38:16”

NOTE: I did not use the names Gog and Magog, on which there is a difference of opinion about the identification of the name and location, since I’m keeping these blogs limited to a certain length. There is a difference of opinion on their identification.

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6/3/2019

Psalms 105: 24-25 and the State of Israel

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My, what parallels there are between Israel of old and present-day Israel!

As I point out in my book, Israel the Chosen, when the Jews in modern times began to settle in Palestine it was then ruled by Ottoman Turkey—a progressively corrupt and cruel administration. The land itself was riddled with wars between villages and raids by Bedouins in which it was a common practice to:

cut down trees,
destroy crops,
fill wells with stones and
break down reservoirs and cisterns.

The Ottoman Turks were OK with that as long as they got their taxes.

When the Jewish immigration movement expanded following World War I, the land had a transformation. Industries and a labor movement were established, and through the hard work of swamp-drainage and cultivation, the land became productive. As the above Psalm says above:

“The Lord made his people very fruitful.”

At the same time, the enemies of the Jews began to spew forth their venom. The Arabs hated the Jews even before the return of the Jews.Then, it was because they despised them. But upon the beginning of the rebirth of Israel, it was because they now feared them, for, as the Psalmist says, the Lord “made them stronger than their foes.”

Rising up amidst the “House of Islam” is this tiny powerful nation–to the Arabs “a cancer in the body of the Arab nation,” a “dagger in the heart of the Arab” as other Arabs call it. A tweet from Iran’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says that “[Israel] has no cure but to be annihilated.”

Should we be surprised? Not at all. Not those who read the scriptures—the Tenakh (Old Testament). “…whose hearts he turned to hate his people.” Same situation as in ancient times.

QUESTION: Why would the Lord turn the hearts of Israel’s neighbors to a hatred of His people? That is a strange work of God! So let’s consider that. Let’s ask, “what if…?”

DEEPER QUESTIONS:
--What if the neighbors of Israel accepted the Jews?
--What if there was acceptance and interaction between these two peoples—the Jews would fraternize with idolaters? A multitude of friendships would form—sexual encounters would happen–intermarriages galore between Jews and those of other religions.

That did happen in Israel’s history—intermarriage between Jewish and Moabite, Jewish and Samaritans, Jewish and other foreign women who practiced abominations.

QUESTION: But what ULTIMATELY would happen??

THE ANSWER–SIMPLE: then the Israelites would lose their distinct identity. Then the religious practices would become blurred, mixed up. Then the commandments of the Lord would be modified or worse yet, forgotten.

That is happening today in America. Many recent reports of American synagogue leaders are being published revealing the alarm in the Reform and Conservative branches of Judaism.

The covenant between the Lord God and the Hebrew people had to be strong, for the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a jealous God. There is none like Him, He is the God of creation and redemption, and His people are a Chosen People—chosen to be a witness and a blessing to the whole world.

So if the Muslims/Arabs became friends with and friendly to the Israelis, it could mean trouble—big trouble for the covenant. Therefore…it is better that they NOT get along.

IT IS BETTER SO THAT the Jews in the new State of Israel will again learn to trust in their God.

IT IS BETTER THAT there NOT be children of mixed marriages, so that the Jews remain Jews and bear witness to the One and Only True God.

IT IS BETTER THAT the Israelis be threatened by their neighbors, so that they will trust in the God who brought them into being and still loves them.

QUESTION: Why don’t any of the peace efforts work? Could it be that the Psalmist is right yet again? Note the last two lines:

…whose hearts he then turned to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.

The chapter in my book on “The Peace Offers” tells of how Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and President Bill Clinton struggled to induce Yassir Arafat to accept the Declaration of Principles in the year 2000. Did it work? NO! Barak conceded much; but Arafat went into the talks with no strategy, no flexibility and unprepared to give.
Yet the signing took place.

Arafat’s approach to negotiations was just like Mohammed’s: make a treaty with the enemy; make it so that it anesthetizes the opposition. Then later, surprise the enemy with attacks.

So, shortly after the handshakes between Arafat and Rabin on the White House lawn, Arafat proclaimed to his Palestinian audience on Jordanian television that his agreement should be understood in terms of Mohammed’s “Plan of Phases”—the PLO would get what territory it could from further negotiations and then….use that land as a base for pursuing its ultimate goal of Israel’s annihilation. (SEE: p. 150 of Israel the Chosen)
Arafat was doing just what was described in the Psalm--dealing craftily with God’s people.

How much insight into the modern situation we can acquire by checking out these powerful statements of the Tenakh (Old Testament).

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the Lord of nations. Watch….and be wise.

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Israel The Chosen

The Gaza Giveaway

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The Worldwide Return (…from the farthest corners)

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Russia in the Latter Days

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Psalms 105: 24-25 and the State of Israel

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