FORMULA ONE JERUSALEM
Today I have an unexpected day off work thanks to the Formula One racing taking place in Jerusalem today. Most of the streets in the town center are closed off and the rest of the city is clogged with traffic, which would make it impossible to get our students home after school, and consequently it was decided to just close for the day. Such is life in this crazy, wonderful city.
Above is a photo of last year's event, against the backdrop of the Old City walls, and it shows the sometimes bizarre juxtaposition of the modern and the ancient, the mundane and the deeply spiritual, which is the essence of this city.
Just two days ago we celebrated Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most solemn day of the Jewish religious calendar. It is a day when even the secular refrain from driving cars or doing work, and most observe a 25 hour fast, abstaining from food and water. Even our Arab neighbors respect this holy day and do not drive around the streets. An eerie hush falls over the cities and highways of Israel. It never ceases to amaze me that traffic and business in this land, usually so frenetic, worldly and fast-paced, can just stop for a day.
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| The Main Entrance f rom Highway 1 into Jerusalem on Yom Kippur 2014 |
Today I was reading the story of David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12) and was struck by how like David this city and we the people of Israel are. David was a man who knew God and loved him. He was beloved of God, who even described him as 'a man after my own heart' (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22).
Yet David committed a great sin, he committed adultery with the wife of Uriah and then contrived to have Uriah killed in the battlefield in an action, which caused not only the death of Uriah, but several others of the valiant men of David's army. Nevertheless when God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David, David recognized his sin and repented of it from his heart, saying
Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
Create in me a clean heart, O God,(Psalm 51)
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
And God forgave him his sin as Nathan testified saying, " The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die" (2 Samuel 12:13). Nevertheless the consequences of David's sin did not go away, and we are still living with them today. His sin "gave great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme" (v. 14) and furthermore the LORD said to David,
" Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife". (2 Samuel 12:10)David was a man who lived his life with great passion. He was greatly beloved of God, and he did great good and executed many mighty feats in the power of God, but he was also capable of great evil and at least on this one occasion did great evil. So too is the nation of Israel. Israel is greatly beloved of God, the apple of his eye (Zechariah 2:8). Israel is again today a nation of great vibrancy, life and passion. It does great good to many people but it is also capable of evil. However when Israel will repent from her heart, just as David did, so too will God forgive her sins, heal her and restore her to her rightful place, the Land in which God dwells and from which His word goes forth.
And we know from the ancient prophesies that this day shall come. It will come at a time when all the nations of the earth will come up against Israel and besiege Jerusalem. But on that day God will fight on her behalf, destroying all the attacking armies and devouring all the surrounding peoples and judging every nation that has dared to touch the apple of his eye. On that day Israel as a nation will repent, turn back to God and recognize Yeshua (Jesus) as the LORD and repent of her sin in rejecting him. Israel will in that day all be saved (Romans 11:26).
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. 3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. 4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the Lord of hosts, their God.’ 6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem.
8 In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. 9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.(Zechariah 12: 2-6, 8-9, 10; 13:1)
As I listen to the newscasts and read the papers I see the nations around about in great turmoil and unrest, as the spirit of salafi Islam creates havoc in their midst. The West is rather belately trying to counter the spread of this ideology by attacking IS (the Islamic State) by military means. It will not work. The salafi ideology, which drives the IS, Al Qaida, Hamas, the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, and the myriad other terror organizations operating in the Middle East, thrives and prospers on violence. It draws to itself disaffected and angry young men looking for a justification for their violent inclinations. There is no shortage of such young men. The more the West attacks the ideology, the more it will see itself justified, and the more it will grow. Sooner or later salafi Islamist forces will gain control of most of the states of the Middle East and then they will turn their attention on Jerusalem and Israel. They themselves have made it abundantly clear that this is their ultimate goal, to conquer Jerusalem and claim the whole world for Islam (see the quotes in Netanyahu's speech below).
The Western bloc is weak and crumbling. It does not have the moral fiber to withstand such an onslaught. Even now we see a steady rise of anti-Semitism worldwide and an erosion of political support for Israel even amongst those nations we count as friends. Just this week, Sweden, an influential nation in Europe, declared its recognition of the (nonexistent) state of Palestine. Others are likely to follow. (For more on this go to http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/25386/Default.aspx)
Recently Barak Obama said in his address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2014, that
At the same time, we have reaffirmed again and again that the United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. Islam teaches peace. Muslims the world over aspire to live with dignity and a sense of justice. And when it comes to America and Islam, there is no us and them, there is only us -- because millions of Muslim Americans are part of the fabric of our country.This politically-correct statement only serves to underline the naivety and weakness of the Western nations. They are being infiltrated by the ideology of Islam but they are unable to counter it because they must always be seen as being 'politically correct'. We can no longer call a spade a spade.
So we reject any suggestion of a clash of civilizations. Belief in permanent religious war is the misguided refuge of extremists who cannot build or create anything, and therefore peddle only fanaticism and hate.
This not only prevents the Western nations from seeing things clearly, but leads to a confusion in which white is black and black is white.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
In the same speech Obama later said,
We recognize as well that leadership will be necessary to address the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.... The violence engulfing the region today has made too many Israelis ready to abandon the hard work of peace. And that's something worthy of reflection within Israel...
Because let’s be clear: The status quo in the West Bank and Gaza is not sustainable. We cannot afford to turn away from this effort -- not when rockets are fired at innocent Israelis, or the lives of so many Palestinian children are taken from us in Gaza. So long as I am President, we will stand up for the principle that Israelis, Palestinians, the region and the world will be more just and more safe with two states living side by side, in peace and security.(for full transcript of Obama's speech go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/24/remarks-president-obama-address-united-nations-general-assembly )
This not-so-thinly-veiled criticism of Israel represents a serious erosion of American support. It is the thin end of the wedge. Did Obama reflect on the reason why so many Israelis are becoming ready to "abandon the hard work of peace"? His and the western world's failure to recognize the true nature of the battle we are fighting, and their failure to stand with us as we fight, not only on our own behalf but on behalf of all the free world, undermines our resolve greatly. We Israelis feel tremendously betrayed and misunderstood when the world seems to swallow, without question, the blatant lies and misrepresentations of our enemies' propaganda. Is it any wonder we feel tired of the so-called 'peace process'?
A few days after Obama's speech Benjamin Netanyahu, our Prime Minister, addressed the same General Assembly saying,
Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Israel pray for peace, but our hopes and the world’s hopes for peace are in danger because everywhere we look militant Islam is on the march. It’s not militants. It’s not Islam. It’s militant Islam. And typically its first victims are other Muslims, but it spares no one: Christians, Jews, Yazidis, Kurds. No creed, no faith, no ethnic group is beyond its sights. And it’s rapidly spreading in every part of the world.
You know the famous American saying, all politics is local? For the militant Islamists, all politics is global, because their ultimate goal is to dominate the world. Now, that threat might seem exaggerated to some since it starts out small, like a cancer that attacks a particular part of the body. But left unchecked, the cancer grows, metastasizing over wider and wider areas. To protect the peace and security of the world, we must remove this cancer before it’s too late.
Last week, many of the countries represented here rightly applauded President Obama for leading the effort to confront ISIS, and yet weeks before, some of these same countries, the same countries that now support confronting ISIS, opposed Israel for confronting Hamas. They evidently don’t understand that ISIS and Hamas are branches of the same poisonous tree.
ISIS and Hamas share a fanatical creed, which they both seek to impose well beyond the territory under their control. Listen to ISIS’ self-declared caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. This is what he said two months ago: A day will soon come when the Muslim will walk everywhere as a master. The Muslims will cause the world to hear and understand the meaning of terrorism and destroy the idol of democracy. Now listen to Khaled Mashal, the leader of Hamas. He proclaims a similar vision of the future: We say this to the West -- by Allah you will be defeated. Tomorrow our nation will sit on the throne of the world.For the full transcript go to http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.618308
As Hamas’ charter makes clear, Hamas’ immediate goal is to destroy Israel, but Hamas has a broader objective. They also want a caliphate. Hamas shares the global ambitions of its fellow militant Islamists, and that’s why its supporters wildly cheered in the streets of Gaza as thousands of Americans were murdered in 9/11, and that’s why its leaders condemn the United States for killing Osama bin Laden whom they praised as a holy warrior.
If you have any doubt of the nature of Hamas, take a look at these photos of Hamas executions of so-called collaborators (none of whom were known by the Israeli security forces and none of whom had a fair trial) during the recent war in Gaza.
http://patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/628x4713-600x350.jpgAre these any less brutal and appalling than those of ISIS? And what of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the terror organization that now holds sway in the Sinai Peninsula? Yesterday it executed four so-called collaborators, and this is not the first time. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4577982,00.html
For more on this - hot off the press- go to http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/25391/Default.aspx
Wake up world!!!
If you agree with my analysis of the situation, I strongly recommend you not only pray fervently for Israel and the peoples of the Middle East, but also for your own nations and people. I firmly believe that all nations will be called to account before God as to how they have stood for or against Israel, and the time of testing is drawing very close. The Church too will be called to account. It is very sad that many Christian believers, both nominal and born-again, are deceived by the spirit of 'political correctness' and the erroneous teachings of replacement theology which claims that God has rejected Israel. I pray that we all will be found standing on the right side of the fence when the time comes. And that time is coming very soon, I believe. It is time to declare on which side you stand.
For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land...
Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for war!
“Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
But the Lord will be a shelter for His people,
And the strength of the children of Israel.
Egypt shall be a desolation,Excerpts from Joel 3.
And Edom a desolate wilderness,
Because of violence against the people of Judah,
For they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall abide forever,
And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted;
For the Lord dwells in Zion
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