Isaac, Jacob, Esau and Yom Kippur.

For some months recently, I have been leading a Bible Study class in Genesis. Torah studies, without the Hebrew, for Christians! I have learned a great deal in the process of preparing the studies. A simple summation would be that Genesis is the DNA of the Bible. It is amazing how much is in Genesis. Some of it is hidden away in the genealogies, some is explicit in prophecy, some implied  by repeated patterns of events. When I say that Genesis is the DNA of the Bible, I don't just mean the Torah or the Tenach. I mean the New Testament as well.

It's a bit late for The Day of Atonement, but before I look at Succoth, I want to look at the Divine appointment that precedes it. We've already considered Yom Teruah here.

I am indebted to David J. Zucker's fascinating article in the Jewish Quarterly for a radical insight that opens the eyes to what was really happening when Jacob apparently deceived Isaac. That's right - apparently.

From his work and my studies, I constructed a series of questions to help someone new to this understanding and this depth of study to understand the complexity of the deceit that was being practiced - on Jacob!

This is copied from the Bible Study. For the sake of the lazy - and my argument, I have put in some of the answers.

The Christian interpretation is mine and not David Zucker's.

 

Genesis 27

It is generally thought that Jacob and Rebekah wickedly deceived a blind, old man. This is because people do not read the Bible carefully.

1. Genesis 25:23. Whom does the LORD choose? Do think that Isaac would be ignorant of the LORD’s words to Rebekah?

 Jacob.  No.

2. In Genesis 25:27 what do we learn about Jacob’s character? Translations may vary.

 Quiet man.

Isaac and Rebekah have a problem. How do they give the birthright of the firstborn son to the second-born? Jacob has already established that it was his by a trade-off but that has not been confirmed by Isaac.

3. Whose life is made bitter by the actions of Esau? Gen 26:35

 Rebekah's

4. Compare what Isaac says to Esau 27:2 – 4 with what Rebekah reports to Jacob 27:7. What is, the very important, difference? Who is being deceived here?

 The use of the NAME of the LORD. Jacob

At this stage we have to wonder, is Isaac disobeying God by seeking to bless Esau or is something else going on? We know that Isaac and Rebekah loved each other. Gen. 25:67 and 26:8.

5. Esau is dispatched to hunt game (27:3). Rebekah prepares goat kids (27:9). Since when does venison taste like goat? The word venison used to mean ‘anything hunted’. The Hebrew word in the account means ‘anything hunted’. Is Rebekah’s cooking clever enough to make fresh kid goat taste like game? Can this be done? How many goats? This will be important.

She'd be an amazing cook.  Several of my Bible Study group are used to cooking goat. They didn't think it could be done.   Two.

6. Jacob doesn’t protest at his mother’s plan. He thinks that the blessing is about to go astray. He sees a flaw in the plan and fears a curse. He does not want to be seen as mocking his father. What does Rebekah use to simulate Esau’s hairy arms and neck? 27:16  The kidskins.

Really? Do you believe that would work? Do you know any man whose arms are hairy as a goat. Be serious.

7. Gen 27:13. Rebekah is not afraid of the curse. Why not? There is more than one possible answer. She knows God has chosen Jacob. Isaac is in on the deception

8. Gen 27:18 Isaac asks for identification when he hears a voice. But in Gen 27:22 he clearly is able to identify the voice. It’s not Alzheimer’s. Why does he want Jacob to identify himself? To implicate himself in the deceit.

9. Six times Isaac challenges Jacob. (vs. 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26). Is he really that unsure and is he really that gullible? If Isaac is party to a ruse, what is he trying to do?

He's seeing if Jacob is strong enough to go on and also he is getting him deeper into the deception

10. vs. 20. Jacob reflects what he thinks Isaac said to Esau. It also shows that Jacob knows where the blessing originates. What does the phrasing tell us about Jacob’s relationship with God? Your God ( and not yet my God). No real relationship.

11. 27:27 The smell of Esau’s garments appear to do the trick, but look at what Isaac says and what he does not say. What’s missing? He says 'my son' and not 'Esau'.

12. Vs. 23 states that Isaac did not recognise Joseph on the basis of his ‘hairy hands’. This seems to rule out a ruse by Isaac. However, see Exodus 36: 14 – 28 and Leviticus 16:3 – 10. What do the goats signify?  The tabernacle and the goats for Yom Kippur. Atonement. Covenant.

In addition to its use for tents, this cloth of goats' hair was also, probably, what is called sackcloth: "The sun became black as sackcloth of hair" (Rev. 6: 12). This was used in mourning and afflicting the soul, as in repentance: "They would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes" (Matt. 11: 21). But Jacob was still wrong to do what he did. Zech. 13:4.

13. What does the garment signify? What should it NOT be used for?

 A prophet's garment of hair. Deception.

14. Esau arrives, prepares savoury food and presents himself before Isaac vss. 32 – 33. What is different between this account and vss.18 ff? Note particularly the behaviour of Isaac. One question only.

15. Why does Isaac tremble?

Is he afraid of Esau?

Is he afraid of God? (Seeking to bless Esau instead of Jacob)

Is he acting in order to fool Esau?                                                                                              

Is he angry at being deceived?

Is he full of conflicting emotions?

Is the Holy Spirit causing him to say, “Yes and he shall be blessed”?

All of the above?

And your reasons are...?

Work this one out for yourselves.

The Hebrew for ‘did not recognise’ is complex – as far as I can tell. Sometimes it can mean almost the exact opposite e.g. pretending you are someone else. It also sounds like the Hebrew word for being made lame; see Gen 32:25. This is where I need a rabbi! (To help with the Hebrew)

16. Esau’s reaction. Look at Hebrews 12 and especially vs 17. Sometimes we can go too far.

First he cries, then he begs and finally he accepts Isaac’s explanation and puts all the blame on Jacob. What is the one thing he never does? Blame himself.

17. Isaac’s blessing for Esau is more of a prophecy and translation is important here. It is worth looking at vs.39 in the KJV (AV). Isaac is deliberately ambiguous, but what understanding did Esau have of it? How do we know? He doesn't like it and he plans to break the yoke sooner rather than later. Murder.

Esau has gone from blame to hate to planning murder. However, Rebekah intends to defuse the situation. She will send Jacob to her brother. She never sees Jacob again but she does succeed in her aim of, eventually, reconciling the brothers. She also has a plan for Jacob vs. 46.

18. Does anyone come out of this whole affair without reproach?

If you need the answer for this, you haven't been paying attention. 

 © G. I. Goodson 09.12.2012

 

Rosh Hashshana, Yom Kippur and Israeli victory.

Israel Today has published a commentary which argues that the Jews are not properly observing the Law over the High Holidays. As a result, Israel is not enjoying God's blessing as it should. Israel Today is published by Jewish believers in Jesus/Yeshua as The Christ/Ha Moshiach. In essence, it argues that it is the sighting of the New Moon in Jerusalem that governs the start of Yom Teruah and not the astronomical calculation of when it should be. It also argues that the rules that applied when Israel was not in the Land no longer apply today and should be abandoned. The also argue that failure to obey the Law has resulted in a lack of complete and swift victory over all Israel's enemies.

Are they right? I did some simple research. Make of it what you will.

According to this website the New Moon was 2.37 PM on the 5th of September. It would have been almost impossible to see it. It is this sort of calculation that was used to set the date.

However, TorahCalendar.com has a different calculation. They reckon it was Saturday Sept 7th. If you look at the data below then prophecy students will gasp at the year that they claim has just started.

Saturday, 7 Sep 2013 C.E.
15:55:25.33 UT
5:55 PM IST Local Time

Sunset ending Shabbat
& beginning Yom Rishon
Starting Day 1 of Month 7
Creation Year 5999   (my emphasis).
Creation Day 2,190,728

Torah Calendar also publish a date for the Birth of the Messiah, but it is based on an astrological reading of verses in Revelation and, in my opinion, they are completely wrong. Daniel is where they need to go for their data and  I believe that the Torah forbids all forms of divination which would include astrology (but not astronomy). 

They argue for Wednesday 7th Sept 3BC which would have been Yom Teruah. I think it was Friday/Saturday 14th Sept. 5BC, which was Tabernacles. I will post more on this in the near future.

See also here for Yom Teruah as Sept 8. 2013  also this:

 http://whenisthenewmoon.com/feast-date-calendar/

Truly, no man knows the day or the hour.  

New Moon 6/10/2013

New moon sighted from Jerusalem by Yoel Halevi at 7:43pm

 

Picture from Hebrew in Israel on Facebook.

Who surrounds Israel? Melanie Phillips gets it.

As I said to the vicar after church this evening, "If you were a Middle-East dictator trying to fight off the Muslim Brotherhood/Al Qaeda and hold on to a modicum of liberty and stability to whom would you look?"

Obama has failed in his bid to get the Brotherhood encircling Israel, but has succeeded in getting Russian influence to do exactly that. 

In her latest blog post , Melanie Phillips analyses Obama's failure and achievements. She also sees Putin as the victor in this débacle. However, she can see that Obama is not a complete failure. In fact, he may not be a failure at all...

And why shouldn’t the First Narcissist preen? For he has achieved precisely what he wanted, his true goal that I described in this blog when Obama first ran for President: to extend the reach of the state over peoples’ lives at home, to emasculate the power of America abroad, and to make the free white world the slave of those he falsely characterised as the victims of that white world’s oppression.

He has achieved it, to the letter. Iran’s putative victims of its imminent nuclear arsenal of holy war against the non-Islamic world are now, terrifyingly, on their own.

Melanie Phillips gets it. So does Putin, and maybe even Obama, but do you...?

                                                                   Lies, all lies.

Barnabas Fund launch urgent Syria petition.

Barnabas fund launch urgent Syria petition.

Sign here and you can download and get your Church to sign up.

Copied wholesale from Barnabas Fund:

Syria’s destructive civil war has now been raging for more than two years, and millions of helpless Christians are caught in its crossfire with no-one to defend them.

Syria used to be one of the easiest places in the Arab world to be a Christian. The Church has existed there since Biblical times. In the book of Acts it was on the road to Damascus, capital of today’s Syria, that Saul was stopped short in his mission to destroy the early Church. The risen Christ asked him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). It was in Damascus that Saul regained his sight after being struck blind, and it was here that he was filled with the Holy Spirit, was baptised and began his ministry as an apostle.

Until early 2011, Syria’s churches were large (about 10% of the population), and Christians were respected by the Muslim majority. They were allowed to worship and practise their faith without much official interference. But all this has changed dramatically for the worse since hostilities between the government and opposition forces broke out.

Tens of thousands of Christians have been displaced from their homes by threats and violence, as mainly Christian areas have been invaded or attacked. The city of Homs was almost completely cleared of its population of 50-60,000 Christians. Houses have been ransacked, and believers kidnapped for ransom or gruesomely murdered. Some Christians have even asked the kidnappers to kill their loved ones outright rather than have them hideously tortured. Many churches and other Christian buildings have been bombed.

Some desperate Christians are now fleeing to Lebanon or are attempting to cross over to Europe to escape the dangers. Syrian Christian leaders are concerned that the Church in their country may be wiped out altogether, despite its long history. “I am not very optimistic that our Christian community will survive,” said one.

Barnabas was a member of the first church in Damascus.

 

Conflicting Claims: You decide.

A couple of videos just in:

If this is the aftermath of a gas attack, where are the gas masks, the Chemical Weapons suits, the showers etc. etc?

Western Journalism really doesn't like Obama, I mean really doesn't like him. So take this with a pinch of salt, which is not to say that it is a lie. By their fruits ye shall know them.

The only things that we can be certain of are that we are being lied to - and Christians are dying. Sorry to be so cynical.

And Israel is still the only Middle Eastern country where Christians are safe.

Ending the Silence - more on Islamic persecution of Christians.

Regular readers will know that this blog counts Daphne Anson as a friend. Recently, she posted two links on my post Eretz Zen etc. I have now followed up those links.

The first is German from Spiegel Online . It suggests that both sides are exploiting Christians for their own purposes. The second is from an organisation called the Gatestone Institute. This is a secular body that includes people of Islamic origin. Consequently, their article has to be taken seriously.

 

Daphne called it heartbreaking. The stories are heartbreaking. The silence is heart-shattering.

 

A church in the Syrian village of al-Duwayr, after an attack by Islamist militiamen. 

(Image credit: Syria Report)

 It is time for Christians in the West to stand up on behalf of their Middle-Eastern brothers and sisters.

 It is time for U.S. American Christians to stand up to their President.

Please forward this to every Christian Leader, religious or political, that you know.

It is time to end the silence.

And Israel is still the safest middle-Eastern country in which to be a Christian.

See also my post Stop the Silence!

Praying together - an introduction to the benefits of a prayer triplet.

Back in the Old Testament/Tenach there is a set of Psalms known as the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120 - 134/135). These Psalms were sung by Jews when they made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem at the appointed Feast e.g. Passover. They might also have been sung by the Choirs of the Temple on the steps

At Jerusalem, they would make sacrifices and once a year on the Day of Atonement the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and the Presence of  the Lord. It was to be hoped that he would survive this encounter and pronounce God's blessings on the nation for another year. He alone had this dangerous privilege and only if all the sacrifices were acceptable to God would he live.

But, almost at the end of the Psalms of Ascent there is a very interesting claim. Psalm 133 suggests something far more amazing than being able to enter the Presence once a year.

133 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
    when brothers dwell in unity!
² It is like the precious oil on the head,
    running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
    running down on the collar of his robes!
³ It is like the dew of Hermon,
    which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
    life for evermore.

ESV

Unity amongst brothers is like being anointed High Priest, and not just any High Priest but the very first Levitical priest/cohen,  Aaron. Then we are told that it is like the dew on Mt. Hermon where the LORD has commanded the blessing of life for evermore.

Unity amongst brethren confers an anointing which grants the privilege to enter the Presence and the blessing of Eternal Life, which has to be in the Presence of the LORD.

This is mind-boggling stuff, but the New Testament develops this to a whole new level.

Jesus gives His disciples the following promise: For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them ( Matthew 28:20)

Jesus is claiming to be God, as only God can do this, to wit: grant entry into the Presence. His Name is The Name (Ha Shem) that can grant this privilege. He can only do this if He is God and there is an acceptable sacrifice that allows this to happen.  The acceptable sacrifice is His death on the Cross and the veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom.

Now any two or three believers, met in His name, any where at any time can gain access to the Presence of the LORD  because He has promised to come to them. The God of the Bible (Old and New) is the God who comes seeking us. The true believer has access to the Throne of God and more than that is seated with Christ. 

Ephesians 2:6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Jesus does not refuse the Christian praying alone, indeed He encourages us to pray. However, corporate prayer has a blessing of its own. In fact, it has many blessings, but they all flow from this special anointing and blessing that David sang about and that Jesus gained for us.

Corporate prayer is not simply a lot of people listening to one person pray. That can be corporate, but it can also be a lot of people listening to one person say words. Corporate prayer is where all share in prayer.

If you are like me, praying on your own can be difficult. Life has far too many distractions and disturbances. Corporate prayer in small groups helps to strengthen private prayer.  It is also a place where we can gain the confidence to pray publicly, where we can learn to use the gifts of the Spirit and where we can grow in fellowship and in Christ. 

I would urge all Christians to find two or three others that they trust and join in a prayer triplet on, at least, a weekly basis. It does wonders for your spiritual life and growth and you will rejoice in some amazing answers to prayer. I know this because I have been able to put it into practice at several periods throughout my life and when I have not been able to do this I have lost out in consequence.

There is much more to write about prayer triplets, which is why this is described as an introduction. In due course, I hope that you will become better acquainted with the prayer triplet.

Every blessing in Christ Jesus.

Great song, right sentiment but singing about it isn't enough. Prayer with Jesus is the Way into the Presence.

Eretz Zen, Jeremy Bowen and the Christians who speak Aramaic.

If Eretz Zen is to be believed, and he has a lot of video footage to back his case, then Obama and the West are totally on the wrong side of the conflict in Syria.

At last the truth about the persecution of Christians by the rebels has surfaced in the Mainstream Media. We were treated to the sight of the BBC actually featuring a Christian story sympathetically. And then, miracles never cease, to find that the reporter is Jeremy Bowen! Here, here and here. The words of the Greek orthodox Patriarch in this last one are very significant. He pleads with Obama not to bomb them.

This is an answer to prayer as these truths were being hidden from sight while the case for war was being made.

World Net Daily features more information from Eretz Zen about the activities of the rebels.It appears that they are very afraid of Christians as more dangerous than chemical weapons. They also allege that communion bread is a pork meat derivative! Echoes of Matzos made with blood?

The Daily Mail's report has pictures of the beautiful mountain village now being fought  over by the opposing sides as well as reports of forced conversions to Islam.

It would appear that the villagers speak Aramaic. A language in common use across the Middle East in New Testament times and probably the common language of many Jews in Israel including Jesus and His disciples. Greek was the other main language of the Eastern Roman Empire. Hebrew was already becoming confined to the educated classes.

Aramaic speaking Christians just outside Damascus? I have to wonder if they are the descendants of the Jews (as well as possible Gentile converts) who had believed in Jesus as Messiah and fled the persecutions by Saul until he was converted on the road to Damascus.

Every Blessing for Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat Shuva

Sorry no sound.

America's future?

I predicted the demise of the USA here. It's not exactly earthshaking. No earthly kingdom survives divine judgement, except Israel and only because they have a covenant.

Now Forbes have got in the act. This is how they see the the future of the USA;

http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2013/america-next-decade.html

Follow the link to see the whole picture.

It's time the truth was told.

I don't have that many viewers and fewer regulars, but I do have some and I appreciate all of you. Now I want to ask you all to do your very best to publicise what follows for the sake of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/syrias-al-qaeda-freedom-fighters-invade.html

Over at Cranmer is the linked article. The following quote:

It has been tweeted out, but is grossly under-reported. As Presidents Obama and Hollande prepare to bomb the evil President Assad to kingdom come, those righteous Al-Qaeda freedom fighters have slaughtered a garrison of the regime's soldiers and were then somehow forced to invade the predominantly Christian village of Maloula. The report is patchy, but German intelligence doesn't seem to be able to intercept nuns' telephone conversations.

Courtesy of  our friend Daphne Anson is the following link: http://frontpagemag.com/2013/raymond-ibrahim/al-qaeda-vows-to-slaughter-christians-after-u-s-liberates-syria/

The link pretty much says it all. Except that it seems not everyone is asleep. 

It seems that a lot of the US military aren't too keen on fighting for Al-Qaida. See this article at WND.

  And this isn't the only one.

Why does the Mainstream Media promote the enemies of the West? Why does Obama support the Muslim Brotherhood/Al-Qaida?

Why are we being dragged into a war that no-one wants to fight? 

Yet again Goodson's Law provides an unpalatable answer . It's time that the USA took internal action to solve its problems. 

An update from Barnabas Fund:


 

And finally,

 http://barnabasfund.org/UK/News/Archives/Open-letters-from-Barnabas-to-Cameron-and-Obama-on-Syria-28-August-2013.html

Israel is still the only Middle Eastern country where Christians are safe.

Rosh HaShanah/Yom Teruah in the New Testament? No man knows the day or the hour...

When the disciples asked Jesus about the sign of His coming and the close of the Age (Matthew 24), He replied ,"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." Which seems to Gentile Christians to settle the matter. Date-setting is forbidden!

Well, sort of... 

Actually, as far as the Church is concerned date-setting is impossible. However, as far as Israel is concerned it is an entirely different story - sometimes. 

Not everyone will agree with what follows. There is room for debate, but this is my understanding of what all this signifies.

Date-setting is impossible for the Church because we have been set a performance target. In Romans 11:25, Paul writes of the 'fullness of the Gentiles'. We can argue about exactly what that means, but we cannot argue that it is a performance target and the fulfillment of it is known only to God the Father. Whenever and however that target is met then the Church (The Bride) will be called up to meet  the Groom (Jesus) in the air.

 The following passage is commanded to be used when a brother or sister in Christ dies:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,4 that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and rwith the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so vwe will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 - 18 

This passage describes what is sometimes called the Rapture, or even a 'Secret' :-D Rapture!  The only secret is that we don't know when it will happen!

Look at the noise! 

A cry of Command. As a cadet, I was told I had a good voice of command. The Regimental Sergeant Major meant that I could be heard on the parade ground and didn't sound like a wimp.

The archangel's call. If you watch something like the 'Trooping of the Colour' or other large parades, the command is then relayed by others.

The sound of the Trumpet of God. On a really large parade or battlefield, the command is relayed by a suitable trumpet call. In this case, will it be something like reveille? (Preferably the UK version, please? ;-) )

In what way is this a secret?!

Note where the Lord meets the Bride - in the air! In other words, on Satan's turf. That's the definition of victory.

The point about the first of the Autumn feasts ( Fall US) is that it could only be proclaimed once the first sliver of the new moon had been spotted by two or three reliable witnesses. Thus no man knew the day or the hour.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:51 - 52   that the trumpet that sounds will be the last trumpet. This is not the final trumpet to be sounded, but the last in the series of shofar blasts on Yom Teruah.

 

God Himself will blow the shofar as we learn from Zech. 9:14 

Thus starts the Day of the LORD. This is not a one day event or even a three-week fulfillment of the Autumn Feasts. 

The shofar calls an assembly, prepares for battle, announces judgement and celebrates the coronation of a king. It's the battle and the judgement that spread out the time-line. 

The seventieth week of Daniel and the seven last years of Revelation are the hiatus between Yom Teruah and the rest of the feasts. This is not unusual. There has been a two thousand year hiatus between the Spring and the Autumn feasts.

There is a lot more to explain and I will do it in later posts. I will also try to show more of the links between the Tenach and the New Testament. After all, they are both Jewish collections.

Related posts on prophecy and the Feasts. 

http://thealmondrod.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/when-was-jesus-born.html

http://thealmondrod.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/prophecy-prediction-and-psychics.html

http://thealmondrod.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/your-exile-is-over-end-of-wandering-jew.html

http://thealmondrod.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-risen-jesus-mary-cant-touch-him-but.html

I wanted to post a full sounding of all the shofar blasts for Yom Teruah, but I have not been able to find anything properly played, accurate and suitably reverent. Can anybody help?

"L'shanah tovah tikatev(i) v'taihatem(i)"

Happy New Year.  Enjoy this video.

 

The Lord’s Coming Salvation

1 Awake, awake,
put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for there shall no more come into you
the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
be seated, O Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.

3For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 4For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. 5Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. 6Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.”

7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
9 Break forth together into singing,
you waste places of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.

11 Depart, depart, go out from there;
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,
you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
for the Lord will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

He Was Wounded for Our Transgressions

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;^a
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle^b many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.

---

Footnotes:
a 13 Or shall prosper
b 15 Or startle

The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV® Text Edition: 2007. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Intrusive Google

As far as I can tell, Google+ and/or Google analytics have been asking for Gender and Date of Birth before you can comment. I think I have disabled this. I am most sorry as this is not my doing.

The Almond Rod

Jews, Israel, Zionism...Cause or Cure?

Daphne Anson has posted here about a terrible article available here. Said article accuses the Jews of gassing the Syrians to provoke war. Daphne recalls what happened when the Black Death ravaged Europe.

Her linked article on the Black Death suggests that Jews were singled out because they were not suffering to the same extent. The reason being the benign effect of the Levitical hygiene laws. According to the book 'None of these Diseases' by S.I. McMillen M.D. (and since updated), it was the application of the Levitical principle of quarantine that brought the disease under control. The mob blamed the Jews, but there were cooler heads in the Church (only they had the power and the knowledge) who reasoned it out and enforced the Levitical rules. Grimly ironic that the Jews were blamed for being the cause when, in fact, they had the cure.

It behooves Christians to remember what St. Paul had to say about the Jews. 

Romans 9:
1I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,^a my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

For Christ read Anointed or Messiah. It all means the same.

In other words, Paul is saying that without the Jews we Gentile Christians would have nothing.

Whenever rogue clerics and others tell us that Israel, the Jews or Zionism is the cause of all evils, we need to remember the Word of God, which we would not have were it not for the Jews.

Paul again: http://biblehub.com/1_timothy/6-10.htm
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

The Jews are no more or less responsible for the evils of this sinful world than anyone else. They are not the Cause...

But they still have the Cure .

 

Stop the Silence! Christian Persecution in the Middle East.

For technical reasons, Daphne Anson was unable to post this video on her blog and has asked if I would. Having seen it, I didn't need asking twice.This has to go viral across the West. Other governments need to be challenged.

The facts of Christian persecution are shocking. The solidarity of Israel with Christians is humbling. 

You can sign the petition here.

 After viewing this video you can also see what Israel is doing with wounded Syrians by following this link:

http://news.yahoo.com/ignoring-taboos-syria-war-wounded-treated-israel-143212700.html