RUN THE RACE
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| The runners set off http://www.itraveljerusalem.com/wp-content/ uploads/2014/12/Jerusalem-Marathon-2015-feateurd.jpg |
The fifth annual Jerusalem Marathon is under way as I am writing. Around 26,000 runners from 60 countries are participating. This is Israel's largest marathon and this year includes seven versions: the full 42.2 km marathon, a half marathon, a 10 kilometer version, 5 kilometers, a family run of 1.7 kilometers, a 16 kilometer wheelchair race, and a special 800 meter social race. The winner of the full marathon Davi Tedse from Ethiopia has already crossed the finish line with a time of 2 hours 18 minutes and 20 seconds. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/192569#.VQKXyJt01LM
The city has virtually come to a standstill because many of the central roads are shut down for the marathon. Schools, including the one where I work, and many businesses are closed. However the marathon brings a healthy boost to the economy of the city and hotels are booked out.
This event has caused me to think about the race of life, another kind of endurance test, in which we all, young and old, fit and not-so-fit, participate. Sometimes when I turn on the news or hear the often tragic stories of my friends and neighbors, I feel very weary of all the sadness and suffering we experience in this fallen world. But we must run on. The writer to the Hebrews put it this way,
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so
great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so
easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before
us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12: 1-2
And we might ask? To what does the ‘therefore’ refer? This will give us the key to endurance, the strength to go on, through the pain and the weariness, even that feeling of exhaustion. To find that answer we must read the preceding chapter where the writer reminds us of all those who have run the race before us by faith. The words ‘by faith’ appears 18 times in that chapter. Only by faith can we rise up above the trials and circumstances of our lives, running on and on, looking towards the goal, as yet unseen, which is Yeshua (Jesus). But from where can we draw such faith? Again we see the answer in Chapter 11 of Hebrews - from the witness of those who have gone before, beginning with Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, and many more;
“These
all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar
off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth…Therefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
Hebrews 11: 13,16
So, like the marathon runners of today, let us not give up, nor allow sadness or weariness to defeat us, but keep on running until the end so that we can obtain the crown of life, promised in the book of Revelation:
“To
him who overcomes,
·
I will give to
eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God…
·
(he) shall not
be hurt by the second death…
·
I will give
some of the hidden manna to eat.
·
I will give him
a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except
him who receives it…
·
I will give power over the nations…
·
I will give him the morning star….
·
(he) shall be
clothed in white garments…
·
I will not blot out his name from the Book of
Life…
·
I will confess his name before My Father and
before His angels…
·
I will make him a pillar in the temple of My
God, and he shall go out no more.
·
I will write on
him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem,
which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name….
·
I will grant
(him) to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My
Father on His throne…
Revelation 2 and 3.
Is that not a better
prize than a blue T-shirt and certificate! The goal is fabulous if only we can
find the strength to keep running to the end.
Trials and
temptations to give up come at us constantly. My beautiful and beloved city,
Jerusalem which has brought hope to the world through the witness of the Israelite
patriarchs and prophets throughout history, the writing of the holy Scriptures,
the testimony of the saints and the death and resurrection of our Messiah, is
again (or still) under threat from many enemies all around and within.
After a few months
of relative quiet (perhaps even terrorists don’t like the cold!), things are
heating up again with a rise in terror attacks within the city and its
environs. We are weary of it all but
there is no end in sight. Last Friday (6th March) five young
policewomen and a passing cyclist were injured when a Palestinian terrorist, Mohammad Salima,
21, slammed a car into the passengers waiting to board the light rail
train in the north of the city. After the attack the terrorist got out of his
vehicle with a butcher’s knife and attempted to stab passersby, but he was shot
and incapacitated by a Border Policeman and a Light Rail security guard at the
scene. http://www.timesofisrael.com/five-wounded-in-suspected-car-ramming-attack-in-jerusalem/.
Just a week earlier an
18 year old Palestinian stabbed a pedestrian at the intersection outside City
Hall. The Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barakat, became a local hero when he on his
way to work, noticed the attack, leapt from his car and together with his
bodyguards, disarmed and arrested the terrorist.. You can watch a video of this
feat caught on CCTV http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/WATCH-Jerusalem-Mayor-Nir-Barkats-bodyguards-tackle-Palestinian-terrorist-after-stabbing-attack-391824.
Against the background of terror at home, and ongoing and increasing threats from all around, Israelis will be voting in national elections this coming Tuesday. The main election issue will, as always, be national security but this time economic factors will also play a big part. With only 4 days to go, one of Israel’s leading newspapers, Yediot Aharonot, published a poll which would give the centrist - left Zionist Union Party, led by Isaac Herzog, a lead of 4 Knesset seats over Netanyahu’s right wing Likud Party.
Against the background of terror at home, and ongoing and increasing threats from all around, Israelis will be voting in national elections this coming Tuesday. The main election issue will, as always, be national security but this time economic factors will also play a big part. With only 4 days to go, one of Israel’s leading newspapers, Yediot Aharonot, published a poll which would give the centrist - left Zionist Union Party, led by Isaac Herzog, a lead of 4 Knesset seats over Netanyahu’s right wing Likud Party.
Even if Herzog’s
party were to win the majority of the votes on Tuesday, this would not
necessarily ensure he would be our next Prime Minister. Under our (crazy) system of proportional
representation each party is awarded a percentage of the 120 Knesset seats in
relation to the percentage of votes received. To form a government the winning
party has to form a coalition of at least 61 seats before it can be sworn in. This means that no party is ever likely to be
able to form a government alone. The party with the most votes needs to enlist
the support of other parties to form a coalition, and to do this they must win
the support of parties they have just been competing with. Needless to say a
lot of wheeling and dealing goes on to win that support and this gives the
smaller parties a great deal of political power. It also means the leader of
the winning party may not necessarily end up as Prime Minister, although he
usually does. According to The Guardian, “In the tortured
electoral mathematics of Israel’s coalition-building, Netanyahu still has a
theoretical marginal advantage with six potential parties he can negotiate with
to form a government, against Herzog’s five.” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/israel-elections-rising-panic-in-likud-ranks-as-opposition-gains-momentum.
If you want to know
more about the technicalities of Israel’s electoral system go to http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel-election-2015/1.646418
What would
constitute the best for Israel? I am at a loss to say. If Netanyahu wins we
will have a continuance of our present foreign and domestic policies, for better
or for worse. His economic policies are
serving to widen the gap between rich and poor, and this could lead to an
increase in internal social unrest. His foreign policies have contributed to
the standstill in negotiations with the Palestinians towards the so-called two
state solution, a deterioration in the relationship with the USA and an increased
isolation of Israel in the international community. If Herzog wins, he promises “hope for those who
felt excluded within Israel’s dysfunctional economy and for those who sought
the possibility of peace.” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/israel-elections-rising-panic-in-likud-ranks-as-opposition-gains-momentum. What exactly
does he mean by ‘the possibility of peace’ ? It means a stop to the expansion of
Jewish settlements in the Territories (West Bank regions of Judea and Samaria),
and a resumption of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority towards a
two-state solution. This latter is a bit worrying since Herzog’s main coalition
partner would likely be the powerful Joint Arab List currently the third runner
according to the polls.
All that remains is
for us to pray, vote and hold our breath, until the results are announced. The
bottom line is that it is God who raises up ‘kings’, and brings them down. Let
us pray that His will be done. Only He knows the details of His plans for the
future. May He give us righteous leadership and true peace.
He removes kings and raises
up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who
have understanding.
Daniel 2:21
