Monthly Archives: June 2019

The Jews Today

There are Two main cities in Israel, but they could hardly be more different.  Jerusalem is still centred on the old walled city: historical, Palestinian/Israeli, choked with tourists, so ‘religious’ that parts virtually shut down for the Sabbath, and the orthodox Jews make their presence felt with their black hats, ringlets and public praying – reminiscent of the Pharisees of Jesus Christ’s day.

Tel Aviv is humming. Centred on the beach. The Sabbath sees the streets almost empty, but the beach is crowded with sun worshippers, an endless parade of hedonistic, sun bronzed Israelis, macho, muscled IDF soldiers, and still feminine girls, despite their gun toting service in the army for three years. There is no Sabbath on the beach. The musak never stops and it seems half the population is racing back and forth on electric scooters and bikes, some carrying two or three people at highly dangerous speeds.

It used to be that there were 3 kinds of Israelis. The orthodox religious black hats, the liberal religious Jews, and the secular Jews with no religion. Now we are told that a fourth group is emerging, combining a liberal, free and easy approach with a nationalistic bent, almost like the state has replaced their religion, maybe due to their experience in their army. This seemed more evident in Tel Aviv.

In fact, neither city appeals. Christ was rejected in Jerusalem, Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”,  and Tel Aviv  has never known Him.

The Jews have been replaced  as God’s chosen people by Spirit Begotten Christians of all races – Spiritual Israelites, Galatians 3:28, ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’  They are the ones who will assist Christ in the reconstruction of both cities, after the coming Great Tribulation, and in their rule, after Christ’s return, in the future Kingdom of God.

The Dangerous Liberal Left

In a very interesting article in the Jerusalem Post, Maayan Hoffman came out with, maybe without realising it, some very Biblical truths,  quoting from Dr Michael D Evans at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference:      “The Liberal Left has convinced America and Israel [in fact the whole West] that the war on terror cannot be won through military action.” He went on to say that the liberals are “attempting to  fracture even our will to win,” the war on terrorism.

The Liberal Left tactic is better just to talk with people, since we are basically all the same and reasonable at heart, rather than  bring criminals to justice or stop them committing crimes.”

“The Liberal Left kills the soul. The terrorists kill the body,” he said.     “It is very important for you to fight…. the ideological terror war that exists.”  “It exists.”

 

This is essentially the message brought to us in the Bible.  We have chosen sin, helped along by Satan, and it is part of Satan’s plan to bring down the entire West, to undermine any concept of right and wrong, of good and evil,  so that we are simply left  with shades of grey to chose from.

Leviticus 26:18-19, ‘And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.’ (Read the whole chapter to receive God’s warning)

The fact is that we are not all basically the same and reasonable at heart, because  the Koran differs from the Bible and preaches hatred and violence rather than love,  which is why its fruits are so bitter, why the jihadis delight to blow up  men, women and children, and expect to be rewarded  with 70 virgins in Paradise.

The result if we don’t fight, is what we see in Syria and the Moslem lands; a nightmare,  for Satan loves to see humans kill each other. No wonder half the Moslems try to flee to the Christian West!

Why Western Troubles?

In Israel today there is apparently growing concern about the Western assault on Jewish symbols and the rising tide of anti- semitism in the West.

Now it seems that the Star of David  and the Kippah, which Jewish males wear on their head, are not safe to wear in Germany. Angela Merkel has said, “I cannot advise Jews to wear the kippah every where, all the time in Germany.”  But she allowed pro- Iranian protesters to march through Berlin shouting anti- Israel slogans, and waving banners reading “Zionism is racism’ and ‘Child Murderer Israel’.

Why is it that , though a third of the world’s flags contain a religious symbol such as the cross or the Muslim crescent, the star of David is banned in some nations, or unsafe to wear?   No other symbol is unsafe in the West, where Jewish cemeteries are often defaced  and claims are made such as ‘ Israelis behind ISIS’ or ‘The holocaust never took place.’

Why do we see antisemitism growing in the halls of academia, where it masquerades as anti- Zionism, hiding behind the mask of pseudo- intellectualism and creeping into the mainstream?  This rewriting of history attempts to legitimise the case against  a Jewish homeland, and is  finding its way into our parliaments and Congress where it has never been seen before.

Read the book of Hosea to see that God is angry at His people for forgetting Him and His Laws.  Israel (That is, Britain  and the US,  part of the 10 Tribes)  have rejected their God, and Jerusalem holds Gay Pride marches, in their hypocrisy.

Hosea 8:14,  ‘For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples [Islamic mosques etc.]; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.’

Last time in Jerusalem ?

It’s been years since I was here in Jerusalem, actually the largest city in Israel, as well as its capital. I found it hot and rather humid in comparison to winter in Australia.

I  took my first drive out to a village South of Jerusalem, called Tekoa, the hometown of the Prophet Amos.  The GPS in the car took me a long way round through several Arab villages, something the Jews would never contemplate. But when I ended up in a dead end, it was a kind Palestinian who got in his car and led me to the correct route.

Arriving at a Tekoa, it was obviously a Jewish town, though it was surrounded by the West Bank. The comparison was clear: neat, tidy,  trees, shade, no litter or rubbish, and the infrastructure quite Western. I felt sorry for the inhabitants of the West Bank, who had been unable to achieve the same facilities.

In fact Jerusalem ranks as Israel’s poorest city, and I suspect that the 36.5% who are Muslim figure in that number. Christians are just 1.8%. Strangely for a Western county, Jewish women produce an average of 4.3 children and the Arabs 3.3% (2017).  In total 31% are religiously observant.

But here, something new is happening. A new Interior Ministry report shows a significant increase the numbers of the city’s Arab residents requesting Israeli citizenship, up 47%  from 2015. most Arabs are “residents” not citizens. They are entitled to social services and rights like health, National Insurance and employment rights, but do not hold passports or citizenship.

Citizenship brings better jobs, use of Ben Gurion Airport and safeguards the rights of residents of Jerusalem. These new applicants often try to hide it from the Palestinian Authority and Hamas activists, but secretly many of them already have passports.

This trend reflects a recognition that maybe the Arab leadership are making many mistakes. Who would want to live in Syria, or Iraq?  Israel is obviously better, and many Arabs must be asking what could be the cause of those very bitter fruits in their nations?