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9/3/2019

Jewish Vision Impairment

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Who is blind but my servant?...
Who is blind as my dedicated one…
Or blind as the servant of the Lord….
He sees many things, but he does not observe them.
~ Isaiah 42

Saul of Tarsus, temporarily blinded

GOD’S DIAGNOSIS OF HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE: Blindness has set in.

QUESTION: Is this the only time they have had this malady?

ANSWER: No. Many times in biblical history, the smart Jews were creating their own civilization. But they weren’t looking closely at their own deteriorating culture.

QUESTION: What about today’s European and American Jews, in particular?

ANSWER: The Jewish people are intelligent and are filling high posts of endeavor in politics, education, science and technology. But there is something wrong. They have lost their cultural/religious moorings. Many of their rabbinical leaders see and acknowledge it.

In the magazine, First Things, David Klinghoffer says this: “We American Jews know…in our soul, that we have gone astray….”

Leonard Fein in his book Where Are We? The Inner Life of America’s Jews: “We have neither the vocabulary nor the categories for serious conversation [about the religious life]….So we avoid the subject which is not hard to do since our friends and neighbors, for the most part, also prefer to avoid it.” Pp. 218-219

The vision problem stems from Israel’s renunciation of faith. Oh yes, they may refer to “their faith”; but what I am speaking of here is not something subjective: “my faith” and “your faith”. Not that….but this: faith in the biblical sense—faith in the living God Who speaks and judges and blesses. The source of that faith is the covenant—the covenant outlined in the Torah—that which the synagogue attendees profess to honor. That source is the Covenant.

The vision problem stems from Israel’s refusal to worship the Lord with heart and soul….indeed, from ignoring God altogether.

Some of the Jews to whom I have spoken will not acknowledge God. They blame their lack of faith on the Holocaust. They say: “How can I believe in a God who permits such a catastrophe?

QUESTION: What were the Jews doing before the Holocaust in Germany? They were ignoring God, ignoring their Jewish heritage, intermarrying with Gentiles, and many of them even ignoring and denying their very identify as Jews. But, the Nazis were skilled and determined to find every single person’s identity in order to exterminate, to the best of their ability, any trace of Jewish ancestry. What an irony!

Therefore, because of the Nazi crimes, the identity of every strain of Jewishness in the population was uncovered.

The Jewish identity which many German Jews wanted to cover was revealed. They cast it off in whole or in part in order to be integrated into liberal German society and later in order to escape the Nazi concentration camps. They rejected Judaism-- its tradition, peculiar laws and what they felt was its odd appearance.

QUESTION: What are the Jews doing today? We know that they have been restored to their land, with about half of them having made their return. And the eyes of the Israelis are gradually becoming open to their source of life. But what about the American and European Jews?

Today’s Jews in America and Western Europe, are generally affluent, self-sufficient and ignorant of the Law and the Prophets. They crave the respect and honor of their environment. They have gone much of the way towards complete assimilation.

Even by their own standards, the picture is not good. The synagogue used to occupy the central position in the Jewish community. Now, attendance is at a low point, and consistent participation is light.
That which is preached from the Reform Jewish pulpits is usually a rehash of the positions of the Democratic Party.

The Jewish population is in a steep decline in both America and Europe. Racial intermarriage is at an all-time high, and with it the loosening of family ties.

The Jewish birthrate is exceedingly small, indicating that the preservation of the Jewish community is not of much value to young couples.

But all of this is not the basic cause of the Jewish cultural and spiritual downward spiral. It is this: There is very little interest in the Word of the Lord. Indeed, that very phrase is so strange to the modern Jew that he would run from any discussion of it. And that is the basic cause of the Jewish vision problem. They do not see. They do not understand. And they flee from anyone who would want to discuss this subject.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Yet….with all their obstinance, God has not given up on His people. Listen! He follows up on His criticism, with this: “I have called you by name, you are mine….you are precious in my eyes.” (Isaiah 43:1, 4)

God has not turned into an anti-Semite! These are His Chosen. He is facilitating their return to the land. And He will renew their spirits.

Eventually, they will have their eyes opened! Eventually they will see that their destiny is bound up with the Messiah to whom they have turned a blind eye. But the day is coming when their eyes will be opened!
In the prophecy of Zechariah we find this amazing portrayal of the Chosen People. WHERE? In Jerusalem, of course.

“And I [the Lord God] will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him….” (12:10a)

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8/26/2019

In Jordan, It Is Forbidden To Say "Israel"

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Recently, I had the privilege of having breakfast with a missionary who went for a short trip to Jordan.

This is what I heard from him concerning Israel, neighbor of Jordan.

No one is allowed to pronounce the proper noun, “Israel.” Since my friend had some contacts in Israel, he had some things to tell his Arab contacts in Jordan. So in conversation, he replaced the name “Israel” with “the people over the border.”

NOTE: Most of his conversations were with the leaders of the Christian congregation in Jordan. There, too, the ban applied.

MAPS including Israel—Also banned! In Jordan, as with other places in the Middle East, Israel is not on their maps.

They’re playing “Let’s Pretend.”

If they could, it seems like Jordan, like ancient Moab, would seek to have a curse placed on Israel.

QUESTION: Don’t Jordan and Israel have a peace treaty in effect?

ANSWER: Yes…signed in 1994. In Washington D. C. there gathered together President Clinton, King Hussein and Prime Minister Rabin of Israel where they signed the “Washington Declaration.” That piece of paper proclaimed that “the state of belligerency between Israel and Jordan has been terminated” and included other nice-sounding words.

Yet…King Hussein continued, in agreement with his people, to make false charges against Israel, accusing the Israelis of killing Arab children en masse. And NOTE this: the Jordan street got no news of the peace agreement through Israeli television, only from Al-Jazeera.

A Recent Word from Jordan
Jordanian Academic Dr. Ahmad Shahrouri, professor at Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, spelled out his thinking about the Jewish people—Jordan’s neighbors.

In a television address on July 14, 2019, he said that all the land of Palestine belongs to the Palestinians, insisting that the Muslim conflict with the Jews is an existential conflict. He described the Palestinians as that land’s eternal people who have lived there for 7,000 years. He says that just because the Jews passed through that land for what he says was just a 70-year period in ancient history, it gives them no rights whatever to the land.
This is a professor at the University of Jordan, state-supported, the oldest, largest and most prestigious university in Jordan.

Much could be said about the privileges that Palestinians enjoy in Israel, but this one is key: the Arabic language is a required course in all Israeli schools. Many more Palestinian privileges are enumerated in my book: Israel the Chosen.

Dr. Shahrouri blasted the present State of Israel and all Jews in that land by this statement: “It is either us or the Jews in Palestine. When Jews say Jerusalem is theirs, I want to smash their heads.” (MEMRI, July 14, 2019)
To the Muslims of the Middle East, Israel is a cancer in the body of the Arab nation. You see, geographically, Israel is right there in the middle of Muhammed’s body.
The Rejection is so complete that one must not and cannot speak that hated particular proper noun-- I S R A E L .

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Desired Curse

In the Old Testament story of the ancient Israelites trudging towards the Promised Land (Numbers 22-24), the king of Moab (just east of the Dead Sea) refused permission for the Israelites to use the Moabite road north. Instead, he found a prophet who he hoped would pronounce a curse on the Israelites. The prophet he found was a non-Israelite whom the king was certain would comply—Balaam.
But though Balaam wanted to please the king of Moab, he found he could not. He couldn’t, because the Lord God of Israel, God Almighty, so impressed that old prophet Balaam, and the sight of Israel in such a beautiful and orderly encampment--also so impressive, that it made a curse impossible.
So instead, we have Balaam’s poetically beautiful BLESSING upon Israel which is recorded in Numbers Chapter 24. (The whole story is in Numbers 22-24)
The oracle of Baalam, the son of Beor,
The oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
The oracle of him who hears the words of God,
Who see the vision of the Almighty….
How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,
Your encampments, O Israel!
Like palm groves that stretch afar,
Like gardens beside a river,
Like aloes that the Lord has planted,
Like cedar trees beside the waters…
He crouched, he laid down like a lion
And like a lioness, who will rouse him up?
Blessed are those who bless you,
And cursed are those who curse you.
(Numbers 24:4-9)

And so, the leaders of Jordan would do well to come to terms with the chosen people of the Lord: your curses will not work; your threats are meaningless; and it would be well with you if you would accept those whom God is blessing (though your religion sees the Jews as descendents of pigs and monkeys.

NOTE: The present-day nation of Jordan includes, in its territory, the ancient territory of Moab where the plan to curse Israel was originally hatched. Israel’s history is Israel’s present!

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8/16/2019

Slicing Up the Promised Land

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“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty, walk before me and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you and will make you exceedingly numerous…And I will give to you and your offspring after you the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:1-2, 8 NRSV)

QUESTION: What disagreement about land is the most publicized in the whole world?

ANSWER: Palestine/Israel.

SOME HISTORY: When planning to pick up and travel to a land that God had promised him, the patriarch Abram decided to take his nephew. He and Sarah had no children, so Lot was picked to inherit the land. Uh-oh. Taking a family relative complicated matters for Abraham.

A DUST-UP: After settling in the land of Canaan, the herdsmen of Lot and the herdsmen of Abraham quarreled about who was getting the best tracts of land for cattle grazing.

Look at that! Very soon after arriving in the Promised Land, fights over the land! Abram had been directed there by the Lord God (Yahweh). He went there in response to the promise…in faith.

But Abram “kept his cool” and let Lot choose which part of the land he wanted. Lot, without trying to be evenhanded, chose the most productive tract. Kind Abram—selfish Lot.

Slice—slice—slice up the Land.

The territory Lot took was not only fertile--it included the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. People. Society. Pleasure. But Lot and family were soon to be forcefully taken out of the city by two angels before disaster struck.

Reflecting the sexual promiscuity of being brought up in Sodom, his two daughters made their father drunk on two successive nights, each of them laying with him and becoming pregnant.

The two sons of those incestuous relations were Moab and Ammon. From them came two idolatrous nations that sought to issue a curse upon Israel. Later, the Israelites yielded to the temptation to worship the gods of Moab and Ammon and indulge in promiscuous sexuality.

This all began with Abram’s choice to take Lot with him to the Land.

And Lot’s choice of the most fertile land and the two exciting cities.

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

In the late 19th century, yearning for the land prompted many European Jews to make their dreams come true by boldly heading for Palestine. Two main movements, called alijahs, happened before the conclusion of World War I. Then, by the Providence of God, the British who had been among the conquerors over the Ottoman Empire, set forth the Balfour Declaration which specified that all of Palestine should be the homeland of the Jewish people after nearly two thousand years of being kept out by Gentile empires. The League of Nations ratified this action in “The Palestine Mandate.”

But the British, who were overseeing Palestine, cut it up--not once, but again and again. To please an indolent Arab leader, 80 per cent of the land was handed over by the British to Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, second of three sons of the Sharif of Mecca. That land is now Jordan.

Since then, no Jews have been permitted to own land there. (apartheid)

Then in 1936 the Palestinians made war against the Jewish community. What did the Brits do? You guessed it: to pacify the Arabs, their plan was to slice up the little land yet again into a truly tiny sector—only 5,000 square kilometers for the Jews. The land as set aside for a Jewish homeland under the Palestine Mandate had been 116,700 square kilometers! (1)

But the Arabs refused even this. To them, a treaty was the same as surrender. Today, the Peace Process is almost universally accepted as the way to apportion the Land. Every stage of the modern “Peace Process” is consumed with the issue of who gets what slice of “The Land.”

It is assumed by most observers that Israel will again have to give up land “taken” by the Israel Defense Force during the Six-Day War of 1967 when combined Arab nations vowed to throw the Jews into the sea—land known as “the West Bank,” but is in fact Samaria and Galilee.

Over and over again throughout history, the Land has been divided and apportioned out, most often by those who have no appreciation for its original Giver.

NOTE: Today, the maps of the Middle East, published by the Arabs, completely omit the name of Israel and all references to it. The Land is unnamed or improperly named.

You see, from Abraham’s time to the present, dividing the Promise Land has been a situation for the world to watch.

NOTE: Today, the Jihadists and much of the rest of Middle East Arab Muslims want ALL the land of Israel. Why? Because they lack sufficient land in which to live? Obviously not. They believe that once a land is Allah’s, they have a solemn obligation to keep it, and that it is Allah’s will that they use any means necessary to recover it—lies, theft, murder, war—anything.

QUESTION: What was the condition of the land of Palestine before the Jews began to immigrate there a little over a century ago? ANSWER: Nearly all of it was swampy and barren under Muslim/Ottoman rule.

NOTE: ONCE THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB ASSIGNED THAT LAND TO ISRAEL, IT COULD NEVER PROSPER UNDER ANY OTHER OWNERSHIP.

QUESTION: What slicing plan will come next?
(1) Mitchell Bard, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Middle East Conflict. (Indianapolis: Alpha Books, Macmillan USA, Inc., 1999), 119.

* * * * * * * * * * *

NOTE: For a captivating and more complete account of the Promised Land, see Chapter 4, “The Land” in Everest’s recent book, Israel the Chosen: Her Identity, Land, Enemies, Religion and Messiah.

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7/6/2019

The U.S.-Russia Meeting in Jerusalem

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THE U.S. - RUSSIA MEETING IN JERUSALEM
Israel’s image in the field of global diplomacy is enhanced. And are they proud! You see, only three leaders were present in last month’s (June 2019) tripartite summit—one each from Russia, the United States and….Israel! They met in Jerusalem (city of peace).

The host, Benjamin Netanyahu and Meir Ben-Shabbat, Israel’s Foreign Minister, entertained U. S. National Security Advisor, John Bolton and his Russian counterpart, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev.

The purpose was to discuss the Iranian military presence in Syria.

You see, Netanyahu wants to play nice with the Russians. The purpose of this policy: to permit Israel to keep bombing the Iranian armament build-up in Syria and, in the best of all possible worlds, get Iran out of Syria.

* * * * * * * * * * * *
It’s a pathetic attempt, for a number of reasons. For one, the Russians are not in love with Israel or the Jewish people. They’ve never been.

Displays of Russian Jew-Hatred

Example: In 1985, the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public published a brochure entitled Criminal Alliance of Zionism and Nazism. (Zionism, of course, is the historic movement to facilitate the return of the Jews to their homeland.)

The Russian anti-Zionist brochure stated that the movement of German Jews to Israel had made it easier for the Nazis to fight World War II and that “Zionists had colluded ‘in the genocide against the ‘Slavs, Jews [!] and some other people of Europe.”’

This is typical and also ridiculous, as is most all anti-Semitic literature. But it had a wide audience in the Soviet Union as part of a massive anti-Zionist program. It was an effort to portray Zionism as evil. It associated Zionism with racism, fascism, Nazism, genocide, imperialism, colonialism, militarism and apartheid. In this campaign hundreds of books and thousands of articles were published in the USSR, some being translated into foreign languages. Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism became a regular feature of films, lectures, radio broadcasts and news cartoons.

These charges are still being made, especially the charge that Zionists are in the forefront of sinister world-wide organizations--that they determine the foreign policies of the United States and Great Britain, the world financial system, the mass media and communications systems. It is blamed for practically everything sinister in the world.

This propaganda is still widespread in Russia today and has spread to the Muslim nations and to the world at large.

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

But now….Israel is proud to entertain the Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev. Netanyahu pushed for this meeting, thinking he could affect Russia’s policy.

But Russia’s policy is intertwined with Iran’s policy.

True, Putin has agreed to a no-conflict policy with Israel as Israel bombs Iranian arsenals and bases in Syria. But the justified fear is that when Russia wants to strengthen its position, it will threaten the Israelis and attempt to force the U. S. out of the Middle East.

QUESTION: Why did Vladimir Putin approve of this trilateral meeting? Not a difficult question. He is gaining influence in Syria and the Middle East. FACT: Even if Russia would agree to a ceasefire, they could not be trusted to keep the agreement.

CAUTION: At a meeting in November of 2015, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of State John Kerry reached an agreement on principles put forth earlier in Vienna, including a cessation of hostilities and a timetable for new governance. The Syrians nixed the agreement.

CAUTION: In July of 2013, the Russians promised that the Iranian forces would move out of their areas at least 85 kilometers. It didn’t happen. Iran-based militia elements stayed put and, reportedly, switched to Syrian military uniforms to avoid Israeli air strikes.

QUESTION: What does this reveal about Prime Minister Netanyahu and his administration?

ANSWER: To me, it says this: They seem to have no faith in the God Who has chosen and preserved their race.
You may say: ‘You, Everest, are being naïve.’ Yes, it may sound so in our age of unbelief. Yet, some of our own previous presidents, in time of war, have done so. President Franklin Roosevelt’s D-Day prayer is an example. You can check it out.

Israel’s future is at stake, and what do you think sustains them? Is it only their smarts, their desperation to preserve their homeland and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)? Those are proximate causes, but not the ultimate cause. It is the sovereign purpose of the Lord God to preserve them. Sadly, Israel will suffer because of her unbelief even though her preservation is guaranteed by the covenant with Yahweh, the Lord.

In Israel, there are too many scoffers--too many who disregard the ways of the Lord. And I fear that this attitude prevails up to and including the heads of state.

But the Lord says:

I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior….
I am God, and also I henceforth I am He;
there is no one who can deliver from my hand….
I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the creator of Israel, your King.
-- Isaiah 43:11, 13, 15
Alas, for those who go down to Egypt for help
and who rely on horses…
but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel…
The Egyptians are human, but not God.
--Isaiah 31:1, 3

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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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5/14/2019

Insults Thrown At the Jewish People

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NOTE THIS PROPHECY:

“Thus says the Lord God: ….I am speaking in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the insults of the nations; therefore I swear that the nations all around you shall themselves suffer insults….

See now, I am for you; and you shall be tilled and sown; and I will multiply your population….No longer will I let you bear the disgrace of the peoples.” (Ezekiel 36:5-7, 9, 15)

* * * * * * * * * * *

QUESTION: Is there any one race of people who have been more subject to insults than the Jews?
COMMON INSULTS: “You dirty Jew.” “Jews are vermin.”

FRONT PAGE STORY: From a front-page story in the highly-regarded, government-controlled Al-Ahram newspaper—Cairo put out this fictional report: Israeli doctors injected 305 Palestinian children with the AIDS virus. (New York Times Magazine, May 11, 1997)

A SERMON FROM A MUSLIM SERVICE: Saudi sheikh Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, imam and preacher at the Al-Haram mosque, most important mosque in Mecca. He beseeched Allah to annihilate the Jews and urged the Arabs to give up initiatives. Why? Because the Jews are…

“the scum of the human race, the rats of the world, the violators of pacts and agreements, the murderers of the prophets and the offspring of apes and pigs.” (MEMRI Special Report, no. 11, June 16, 2003)

Educated To Hate Jews: “The hatred of Israel and our obligation to pursue jihad was worked into every subject we discussed in school. Peace was never discussed as an option, and we were made to feel that peace with Israel would bring only shame to our Arab pride. Because of this, the word ‘Jew’ instilled terror into the core of my very being….

Jews were portrayed as devils, pigs, and an evil, occupying foreign force.”

(from Now They call Me Infidel: A Muslim Shahid’s Daughter, Nonie Darwish. New York, Penguin Group, 2006, p. 9) Ms. Darwish lived and attended school in Cairo and Gaza.

Insulting Jews in Today’s Germany: “Heinz Peter Meidinger, head of Germany’s teachers association, said a particular hot spot of anti-Semitism seemed to be schools, many of them in Berlin, where children from migrant families made up between 70% and 100% of students….The very word ‘Jew,’ Mr. Meidinger said, is now a generic term of abuse in some school yards.” (wsj.com/articles’germany-struggles-with-an-unfamiliar-form-of-anti-semitism-1522584002) Observers say that the cult of anti-Semitism is spreading once again.

Very sad to say:

In Russia, the Middle East and other nations, here are examples of ongoing slander against the Jews:

The age-old accusation that Jews have used and still do use the blood of Christian children in making their Passover matzos.
The attempt to spread Jew hatred by accusing the affluent Jews of controlling everything.
In Egypt and Jordan, the lie that Israel distributes drug-laced chewing gum and candy to kill children and to make women sexually promiscuous.
President Assad of Syria once said that Israel “is more racist than the Nazis.
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion remains a best-selling book in present-day Arab countries. Among other slander, it accuses “International Jewry” of “limitless ambition, inexhaustible greed and hatred beyond imagination.” The book purports to expose diabolical aims and methods of world-wide Jewry. Examples: These “elders of Zion” are planning to undermine the morals of the Gentile world, take over the world’s economies, control the press throughout the world and ultimately destroy civilization as we know it. This book, long ago proven to be a fraud, was composed by Russians living under the Czars.
Needless to say, examples of such venom could be multiplied.

NOTE AGAIN THE PROPHECY FROM EZEKIEL: “Thus says the Lord God: ….I am speaking in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the insults of the nations; therefore I swear that the nations all around you shall themselves suffer insults….”

God the Lord has spoken against those who by both word and deed abused His people. They have spoken with malice towards His people, and He will speak in His jealousy against these nations.

Matthew Henry says: “The righteous God, to whom vengeance belongs will render shame for shame. Those that put contempt and reproach upon God’s people will, sooner or later, have it turned upon themselves…” (Matthew Henry, Ezekiel 36)

A warning: The nations that promote Jew-hatred are having trouble with their economies today. Poverty abounds. The nations that permit Jew-hatred are not as strong as they would like to be. Their growth is stalemated; their citizenry is self-centered; their people are lacking purpose.

From Ezekiel:

The Lord says: “See now, I am for you; and you shall be tilled and sown; and I will multiply your population….No longer will I let you bear the disgrace of the peoples.”

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5/13/2019

Second Servant Section: Isaiah 43:1-10

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The “Servant Sections” have to do with Israel as the Lord’s Servant, whereas the “Servant Songs” which are also in Isaiah have to do with the Messiah. For more on this, see Chapter 13 in Everest’s book: Israel the Chosen.

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But now, thus says the Lord, he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,
And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
When you walk through fire, you will not be burned,
And the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…
Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you,
I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you.
I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the West I will gather you:
I will say to the North, “Give them up,” And to the South, “Do not withhold.”
Bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth….
You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
And my servant whom I have chosen,
So that you may know and believe me,
And understand that I am he.
Before me, no god was formed,
Nor shall there be any after me.

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Israel The Chosen

Jewish Vision Impairment

In Jordan, It Is Forbidden To Say "Israel"

Slicing Up the Promised Land

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The U.S.-Russia Meeting in Jerusalem

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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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Insults Thrown At the Jewish People

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Second Servant Section: Isaiah 43:1-10

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