Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall
Chapter 4
Victims of Tradition
by David Ben-Ariel
True to His Word, God settled Israel in the Promised Land of
good and plenty, offering golden opportunities and every given
advantage. But unlike Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their descendants
took everything for granted, began to lose contact with God’s reality,
and actually forgot who rescued them from Egypt!
God warned Israel for years about the dangerous road they were
taking. He patiently tried every possible approach to reach them, and
exhausted various methods to get through to them before it was too
late. But He had nothing to show for it. All His efforts to work with
these “repeat offenders” hadn’t produced any positive results. God’s
people failed to respond to His message and only grew more
bullheaded. There was only one option left for disciplining Israel’s
deviants: NATIONAL CAPTIVITY!
Israel was imprisoned in exile! Jacob discovered how dreadful
wardens can be. Even Israel’s hardened criminals (Ps. 95:8) were
soft compared to their callous conquerors (Deut. 28:50). Subjected
to sadists, terrorized by torture, Israel begged and cried for God to
save them (Ps. 107:13). In their hell-holes, their “brain-cells” and
think tanks, they had plenty of time to reflect upon their wayward
lives (Isa. 24:22). When the heat’s on, it can result in some serious
soul-searching (Isa. 48:10). Usually it’s easier to learn and listen
when you’re down and out, because you have nothing to lose and
everything to gain: “And if they are bound in fetters, held in the cords
of affliction, then he tells them their [crime] and [what their problem
is]—that they have acted defiantly. He also opens their ear to
instruction, and commands that they turn from [their wrong ways and
life of crime]” (Job 36:8-10).
It’s typical to turn to God—when you’re in trouble (Hos. 5:15).
The true test of character is when you’re out of trouble: will you
remain in your new relationship? Israel had sued, in effect, for
divorce when they broke their vows and committed adultery
(idolatry). Prophets substantiated these charges. Israel was
convicted and led away, separated from their God-given country.
Humbled by circumstances, Israel became more ready and
willing to try and do what’s right. Captivity gave them sufficient time
to think things over and realize their relationship with God hadn’t
been the greatest. They remembered God’s attempts to patch things
up and their stubborn refusal to accept the “marriage counseling”
offered by the prophets.
Jacob had gone downhill fast and degenerated into a party animal
(deforming his God-given appearance). He let himself go and
indulged in degradation until his deportation. But finally sick of
sowing his wild oats and only heaping up more trouble for himself,
deprived of his “homelife” (that he had taken for granted) and
missing his homeland—Israel repented. Nothing could compare to
God (Hos.13: 9-11).
Incentive to Improve
Whenever our behavior gets out of control, GOD LETS US
LOSE CONTROL! When we’re held hostage to bad habits, and
refuse to let them go, WE GO INTO CAPTIVITY! A national lack of
discipline results in God sending CORRECTIVE PUNISHMENT!
Then we wake up and get with it, and beg God to save us. The whole
purpose is to bring us to our knees and senses. That’s the main reason
behind God letting us fall to Europe: to rise again in Christ!
God doesn’t demand perfection, but He does expect progress. His
message of love and forgiveness ought to encourage everybody to
make something of themselves. We’re to improve our lives. He even
offers us a loan (His Holy Spirit) to better ourselves, and He promises
to always stay by our side and see us through: “Fear not, for I am with
you be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes,
I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isa.
41:10).
God doesn’t kick you when you’re down, but helps you to get
back up and going: “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You” (Ps. 86:5).
God isn’t interested in our downfall or damnation, but in our
forgiveness and salvation. “For God did not send the Son into the
world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might
be saved” (John 3:17). God loves you!
National Heroes
Whenever Israel would change their ways—having second
thoughts during their distress, reconsidering their options in times of
trouble—God would send relief. A charismatic individual (or group
of individuals) would stand out from the rest, inspired with an urgent
sense of mission, and receive empowerment to rescue Israel. They’d
liberate their land, beat back their foes, and restore Israel to their God
(Judges 2:18).
These folk heroes were known as “judges.” God had chosen them
from all walks of life and from all areas of Israel. Many are familiar
with Samson, Deborah, or Gideon—just to name a few. The biblical
book of Judges is devoted to recounting their daring expeditions. But
their duties went far beyond the military—that was only a means to
an end (Zech. 4:6). They were more interested in waging war against
those causes for Israel’s relapse.
These guerrillas for God and commandos for Christ would save
Israel from their enemies, and then attempt to save them from
themselves. Israel was their own worst enemy. The army chaplains
had their work cut out for them to exorcise Israel of their demonic
practices (Ps. 106:37). They never truly eradicated the evil
influences of paganism, but they managed to keep the problem under
control.
As guidance counselors and parole officers, the judges prescribed
national therapy. They explored the reasons why Israel would fall off
the wagon and go on a backsliding binge. They urged the nation to
recognize their habitual pattern and exercise greater self-restraint.
How? By avoiding the Babylonian bars, the Canaanite clubs, and the
Egyptian dens of iniquity! Israel was cautioned against spiritual
promiscuity, and encouraged to stay sober and celibate. They were to
remain separate, act different, and be distinct from all the others, by
strengthening their ties with the GOD of the Hebrews.
Never Forget!
The judges were to champion Israel’s cause and remind them of
their humble origins. How we were a nobody, as good as dead,
enslaved to Egypt—but by God’s grace we were made over, in His
own image, at Mt. Sinai (Ezek. 16). We were to remember our roots:
because God is committed to the covenant that He made with our
fathers, He chose us as His People. We’re to NEVER FORGET how
unique our experience was: “For ask now concerning the days that
are past… whether any great thing like this has happened, or
anything like it has been heard… did God ever try to go and take for
Himself a nation from the midst of another nation… according to all
that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt… because He loved
your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them and He
brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power”
(Deut. 4:32-37).
But we haven’t been grateful! We’ve forgotten WE OWE OUR
EXISTENCE TO GOD! We need to live mindful of that fact and live
accordingly. If there’s a God, why live like there isn’t one? If Jesus
is the Messiah, then why ignore Him?
We’ve gone off into our own little worlds. Consequently, we’re
on the verge of a breakdown. Our nation’s about to collapse! We’re
going into captivity! We’ve trampled precious values for worthless
flings, and now permit perverts to redefine what’s “normal.”
Submerged in a moral morass, we suffer from gang violence,
abortion and AIDS, and yet the movie and music industries continue
to create more monstrosities. We need to stop those pyromaniacs
from throwing fuel on society’s fire. The coming holocaust is going
to burn us all!
We’ve been living a lie and have loved to indulge in deception.
“Don’t confuse me with the facts” has been our shameful attitude,
and truth has been treated like some social outcast. Therefore, God
threatens to use Europe to wake us up!
Crumbling Foundations
The judges were to warn us that we’ve forgotten the foundation
for our family’s stability and national security. We’ve downplayed
the roots of true religion and proper government: the Mosaic Law.
We’ve cut ourselves off from God’s covenant, undermined our
future, and divorced ourselves from reality. In short, we’ve been
acting like A BASTARD NATION! We’re to return to the faith of
our fathers, and end our strained relationship with them (Malachi
4:4-6). We haven’t been “like father, like son.” And we haven’t seen
eye to eye, because we’ve been distracted. We’re torn between two
lovers: God and mammon (worldly riches).
The American dream of religious freedom has been abandoned in
pursuit of mindless materialism! God says to seek first the Kingdom
of God and all these things will be added to you. But we’ve got our
priorities backwards. We’ve turned our blessing into a CURSE!
Joseph’s birthright, with all of its health and wealth, has been
idolized and abused! We’ve gone out of our way to corrupt the divine
image into self-made men and women (Deut. 8:17). We insist on
playing by our own rules and reject any thought of possible
consequences. Can justice be delayed forever?
Twisted Priorities
Since we’re A NATION LIVING IN SIN—Jacob disowns us,
Abraham doesn’t recognize us, and Isaac mourns our mixed
marriages. Israel’s birthmark was obedience to God (Gen. 18:19).
The rabbis have noted that, for all intents and purposes, the “Lost
Ten Tribes” are like Gentiles today. However, we’re to return to the
God, faith and works of our fathers. We’re to honor and respect them
by following our Father God: “Doubtless You are our Father, though
Abraham was ignorant of us, and Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, O LORD, are our Father [not the pope] our Redeemer from
Everlasting is Your name” (Isa. 63:16).
Each time God rescued us from others to serve Him again, we
promised to straighten up and get our act together and keep our part
of the bargain: God would be our GOD and we would be His people.
However, characteristic of our unfaithfulness, we continually broke
our promise and betrayed our faith (Hos. 6:7). We’ve neglected
God’s Word and have taken His truth lightly. How many people do
you know who read the Bible? And try to live by it? Today it’s
acceptable to know all sorts of sports figures, music trivia, and
entertainment facts, but remain totally ignorant about what the Bible
says! People are prejudiced against it that haven’t even read it.
Others have attempted to read it and couldn’t understand the old
English—so get a modern version. Don’t give up!
We “can’t afford” to tithe and yet somehow always manage to
find money for other things: cigarettes and beer, new clothes, another
car or cruise, etc. (Malachi 3:8-10). God says we’ve stolen from
Him! He’s put the whole nation under a curse. We keep piling up our
sins worse than the national debt. No wonder our money doesn’t
seem to stretch too far and it’s becoming more difficult to make ends
meet. We’re throwing away good money after bad each time we
withhold tribute to God (Hag. 1:3-11). There are spiritual factors
behind our economic crisis! It’s in our best national interest to obey
God and invest some time in personal Bible study.
Illegitimate Children
But instead of developing our relationship with God and staying
sober and celibate, we’ve whored around and given birth to pagans
(Hos. 5:7). That’s why God can’t accept us as His National Priest
since our lifestyle choice misrepresents Him! God doesn’t want any
part in our perversion. Since we’ve denied His natural order of
things, He won’t recognize our illegitimate children! He hasn’t
fathered them (Hos. 4:6).
God says we haven’t been humble and obedient like Abraham—
the father of the faithful—but are “…a rebellious people, lying
children, children who will not hear the law of the LORD…” and
don’t want anything to do with the truth. We don’t want to be shown
where we’re wrong, and we don’t want to hear about it (Isa. 30:9-11).
“So you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation that does not obey the
voice of the LORD their God nor receive correction” (Jer. 7:28).
We’ve orphaned ourselves and act like bastards!
Drunks and Whores
Instead of becoming a model-nation we’ve become a STRIPPER!
We’ve taken all the fine things that God’s given us and laid them out
before foreigners (Hos. 2:1-13). We’ve squandered our time and
energy in pagan ways and heathen practices. Therefore, God’s going
to STRIP AWAY OUR PEACE AND PROSPERITY! We’re going
to be left exposed to the elements and stripped bare before NAKED
AGGRESSION! Since we refuse to return to God, we’ll be sent back
into SLAVERY!
We’re a nation of DRUNKS AND WHORES—so God’s going to
let us hit bottom so hard it’ll appear we’ll never bounce back! God’s
no longer going to enable us to carry on in our ways, drinking
ourselves to death and dying for sex. We’ve gone from bad to worse:
“You have stricken them, but they have not grieved You have
consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They
have made their faces harder than rock they have refused to return”
(Jer. 5:3).
We’ve become so hard-hearted, so cold and cruel, nothing seems
to faze us anymore, but God’s taking away His protective shield (Isa.
5:5). We’re going to be ravaged by the weather and our enemies! But
we don’t attribute the dramatic increase in “natural disasters” and
crazy weather to a spiritual upheaval. We fail to see any connection
between our land and our lives, even though Solomon was wise
enough to know there’s a link (1 Kgs. 8:35-40). We should realize
that nature doesn’t have a mind of its own, but can be used by our
Creator to get us thinking (Jer. 5:20-25).
Eviction Notices
We’ve left God’s ways, throughout history, to follow men’s
ideas. We’d lose our love for the truth and become enamored with
error. Due to this spiritual insult and breach of contract, God would
send a number of eviction notices. He’d cite us for breaking our lease
and inform us we’d worn out our welcome. But we’d rip us those
notices and abuse those who delivered them: “And the LORD has
sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending
them [far in advance], but you have not listened nor inclined your ear
to hear. They said, ‘Repent now every one of his evil way and his evil
doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and
your fathers forever and ever” (Jer. 25:4-5).
We didn’t want to be reminded that God had set us free from men
to serve Him. We could only call the Holy Land home as long as we
remained holy! There were clauses that if we failed to make repairs
and keep the place clean, we could forfeit our biblical right to the
land and be DISINHERITED (Jer. 17:4).
When Egypt denied us religious freedom and imposed their
beliefs on our forefathers, God prepared the Promised Land to
accommodate His people. This Homeland was to serve as God’s
Sanctuary and Israel’s Haven. It offered us rest from politico-
religious persecution. We were now free to obey God and throw off
the shackles of human traditions. That was God’s Purpose for
bringing us out from under the illusions of men: “For He
remembered His holy promise, and Abraham his servant. He brought
out His people with joy, His chosen ones with gladness. He gave
them the lands of the Gentiles, and they inherited the labor of the
nations, that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws” (Ps.
105:42-45).
God promised Abraham, His servant, that He would choose his
descendants as His Servant-Nation—that’s why Israel is called the
“Chosen People.” Our deliverance from Egypt was only a type of our
future deliverance from Europe!
What we’ve seen, on a regular basis, is that we must be saved
from our sins—not just from men. Moses represented Christ who’ll
truly set Israel free from this vicious cycle of sin and slavery.
Because as long as Israel’s spiritual giants lived, the people followed
their example but Israel’s resolve died as soon as they did. Israel was
only faithful in being fickle. “Therefore You delivered them into the
hand of their enemies, who oppressed them and in the time of their
trouble, when they cried to You, You heard from heaven and
according to Your abundant mercies You gave them deliverers who
saved them from the hand of their enemies… and testified against
them, that You might bring them back to Your law… And they
shrugged their shoulders, stiffened their necks, and would not hear…
Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly [destroy] them
nor forsake them for You are God, gracious and merciful” (Neh.
9:26-31).
Chaos and Confusion
In between judges, SPIRITUAL ANARCHY reigned! Everyone
was on his own. It was “let your conscience be your guide,” and there
were as many “unlicensed guides” as there were Israelites. They had
rejected their common consensus: God’s law. Without the compass
of God’s commandments they quickly became lost in chaos and
confusion! From beginning to end, Israel insisted on doing their own
thing: “In those days there was no king [moral leadership] in Israel
everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
Doesn’t it sound like today? It depends on what you mean by “right!”
It’s been said, “Civilizations do not give out, they give in. In a
society where anything goes, eventually, everything will” (John
Underwood/The Boston Globe). Israel’s liberty enslaved them!
Without exercising the necessary self-restraint, Israel drowned in
self-indulgence. They had forgotten—and refused to remember—
GOD had set us free to obey Him. They forgot that self-denial’s
crucial for self-fulfillment. They rejected the character of God’s
commandments to cater to self-interests. Therefore, resisting the
Spirit, God gave them over to the flesh.
Playing “God” was Israel’s mortal wound. Demanding their
rights, they determined for themselves what’s right and what’s
wrong, rejecting God’s standard of good and evil. For example: God
had commanded the complete destruction of the Canaanites. As the
Life-Giver and Creator-Sustainer of the entire universe, God has the
prerogative of deciding who should live or die and if and when. Not
just for men, but for entire nations and/or peoples too.
The Bible records God’s verdicts on everything from individuals
to families, cities to nations—even the whole surface of the earth
once! Yes, the Hebrew God commanded Israel to participate in
“ethnic cleansing”—to commit genocide in His Name. God
authorized Canaan’s destruction and sealed their fate. But Israel had
“a better idea.” They wanted to be more humane and understanding
than God is, so instead of obeying God’s clear-cut commands, Israel
decided to compromise. They only killed some and spared others,
defying the Executive Order. God sanctioned Canaan’s death and
Israel pardoned them instead. And God does command capital
punishment: “…for [the minister of state] does not bear the sword in
vain for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him
who practices evil” (Rom. 13:4). Vengeance is God’s, but He often
takes it out through human instruments. There isn’t any
contradiction: “Thou shall not kill” is more properly translated
“murder” (Matt. 5:21).
After seeing time and again how twisted “Palestinian” parents
rejoice, and their people dance like demons in the street, whenever a
mass murder/terrorist attack has occurred, it’s easier to understand
how God knows some have already forfeited any future for
themselves and have condemned their own children.
Mercy of Fools
Israel paid dearly for their mercy of fools. It eventually cost them
their land and lives! We can’t afford to compromise with sin—it only
leads to catastrophe. Sin must be uprooted or we’ll defeat our
purpose. Israel’s promotion of “peace and understanding” robbed
them of what sense they did possess. Such a ridiculous “peace” only
served the interests of Israel’s enemies. It enabled the pagans to
prosper and grow until they could turn around and declare a
CULTURAL WAR against them (Deut. 7:1-16).
Israel’s liberal policy of “separate but equal” gave way to the
more dangerous “peaceful coexistence” (Judges 1:28). Did God try
and live with Satan? Did He just dismiss the attempted coup as an
“understandable” outburst of anger and frustration? Or did God
throw Satan and his insurgents out? It wasn’t an issue of whether
“there’s enough room for both”—it was an act of justice! Yet Israel’s
state of confusion attempts to live side by side with sworn enemies!
They’re actually dying to try anything but what God says.
The realist rabbi, Meir Kahane, was absolutely right. He cited Israel’s
reluctance to “sink to the level” of the Arab terrorists as the reason
they continue to be sunk six feet beneath them! Self-defense isn’t
about what you want to do, but what you’ve got to do to survive.
While the “Canaanite” minorities plot their takeover, waiting for
their first opportunity to revolt, Israel blindly engages in “peace
talks” and flirts with the false notion of “limited autonomy!” God
commands Canaan’s death—or at least EXPULSION! Two peoples
living on the same land, both claiming it by divine right, will never
know a “just and lasting peace” (Judges 11:24). Common sense
should tell us that much, regardless of “Mideast experts.” Until
decisive action is taken, and the biblical solution enforced, we’ll
only witness an escalation in this WAR OF ATTRITION.
Everything’s Upside Down
Part of the punishment to come upon our people is: “The alien
who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you
shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall
not lend to him he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail” (Deut.
28:43-44).
Today that’s happening! It’s going on right before our eyes! Mass
voter registration, “social mobility,” and “economic empowerment”
are running us right out of our own neighborhoods, public office and
the work place. The minorities in our midst have turned the tables
and reversed the roles—with our help! How sick. Reverse
discrimination is the law of the land. Quotas condemn and exclude
our own people. The WASPs are being chased by the “Canaanites!”
Minorities Out of Control
The Gentile animals stalk our land, rob us of our children, and
steal us blind (Lev. 26:22). We’re afraid to leave our homes, our
streets are unsafe to stroll, and our inner cities are a wasteland. Our
prisons are overflowing, welfare is overtaxed, and the white man’s
overburdened. Everywhere we look, the terror and devastation
testify we’re being CURSED FOR DISOBEDIENCE (Deut. 28:15).
Our national energy’s sapped, our strength’s drained, and our
resources spent. Foreigners have exploited JOSEPH’S
BIRTHRIGHT.
Our inheritance is almost gone. We’ve forgotten
“charity begins at home.” America’s too young to die, Britain’s
growing old and bald before his time, but we still refuse to go to our
Doctor: “Ephraim [the British Commonwealth] has mixed himself
among the peoples. Ephraim is [half-baked]. Aliens have devoured
his strength, but he does not know it. Yes, gray hairs are here and
there on him, yet [we still don’t get it]. And the pride of Israel
[America/Britain] testifies to his face [we’re confronted with the
facts and figures—they’re right before us], but they do not return to
the LORD their God, nor seek Him for all this” (Hos. 7:8-10). What
will it take? What do we demand?
Drowning in Debt
As we go further into NATIONAL DEBT AND DISGRACE,
instead of turning to God for divine assistance, we turn to foreigners
for loans! But it’ll be our downfall! Will Europe offer to bail us out?
Japan keep us afloat? Or will they forcibly put us into receivership?
Throw us into debtor’s jail? Require FORCED LABOR? Who
hasn’t heard of loan sharks (Hos. 7:11-12)? Or how they fly into a
frenzy over blood money? They won’t just break our bones—they’ll
BOMB OUR CITIES (Ezek. 6:6).
If Israel (the Anglo-Israelite and Jewish peoples) insists on
sacrificing national security (out of fear of world opinion, instead of
exercising faith in God), or sells themselves short because of UN/EU
politics, they’ll have signed their own death warrant! To submit to
this needless blackmail, or shamefully follow others orders, is
tantamount to treason!
Too many chant the mindless mantra of “Never again!” that
mesmerizes fools for peace at any price and rings hollow because the
Jews are going again, slowly but surely, through the lying peace
process of phased destruction. The only ones (thank God for the
precious few) who are making any fuss about it, dragging their heels
rather than go like sheep to the slaughter, are roundly condemned by
their own leaders and American administrations and worthless world
opinion as “enemies of peace,” “obstacles to peace,” and other name
brands because they don’t want to “rest in peace” but live and
prosper.
GOD is Israel’s One and Only! He’s our Husband and King.
We’re not supposed to allow other heads-of-state to push us around
or dare bully us with threats. Doesn’t a descendant of David (Queen
Elizabeth II), rule from God’s earthly Throne (1 Chron. 29:23)?
Aren’t we God’s earthly Kingdom (1 Chron. 28:5)? Didn’t we tell
the world to take notice when we defied pharaoh to obey God?
Wasn’t that Message loud and clear? Are we afraid to take a stand
now? Isn’t Israel’s KING able to back up His claims (Amos 5:6)?
Can’t He protect and reward those who risk it all to follow His lead?
Isn’t our GOD above and over all, and in control of everything?
Failing Foreign Affairs
Nevertheless, Israel—starved for this world’s affection and
seeking their approval (Jer. 4:30)—bent over backwards to oblige
every evil and support every cause (Ezek. 16:33). Since “two’s
company, but three’s a crowd,” Israel’s worship of the “Lord” (Baal)
and his mistress, the “queen of heaven,” left little room for the
Hebrew God (Judges 2:11-13). But just as well, because the
BIBLICAL GOD refuses to associate with such bad company (Ex.
34:14).
Israel fell for the foreigners, foolishly believed their lies, and
blindly loved their ways: “They did not destroy the peoples,
concerning whom the LORD had commanded them, but they
mingled with the Gentiles and learned their works…” (Ps. 106:34-
35). In doing so, Jacob scrapped God’s righteousness for human
ethics (Ps. 119:172), substituted pagan holidays for God’s holy days,
and forgot God’s blueprint to construct their own “new world order”
(1 Thes. 5:3).
In their mad rush to assimilate, Israel accepted Canaan’s chic
ways and downplayed their differences. This “progressive” stance
caused many to fall, and Jacob’s tolerance destroyed his own
immunity! Ancient Israel fell prey to every con-artist (painting pretty
pictures of peace), passing phase or new fad—drunk on the
ecumenical spirits. Yes, “…they have erred through wine, and
through intoxicating drink are out of the way the priest and the
prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, they are swallowed
up by wine, they are out of [their wits and gone astray] through
intoxicating drink they [can’t see or think straight], they stumble in
judgment [they can’t even walk a straight line]. For all tables are full
of vomit and filth no place is clean” (Isa. 28:7-8). The party’s over,
the place is trashed, and everybody’s going to wake up with a
HORRIBLE HANG-OVER!
It’s interesting to note that, during my days as a lowly kibbutz-
volunteer, the British were notorious for being drunks. They had
earned such a bad reputation that some kibbutzim and moshavim
wouldn’t accept any English volunteers. God condemns the
Sceptered Isle for being SPIRITUAL DRUNKS! He castigates
“…the crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim” (Isa. 28:1-3). Of
course, we’ve all been a bunch of drunks and whores, in love with
Babylonian babes and brew: “Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave
the heart… For the spirit of [promiscuity] has caused them to stray
[from the truth], and they have [whored around] against their God”
(Hos. 4:11-12). What nation hasn’t had one too many Catholic
concoctions (Rev. 17:2)? It’s past time to GET SOBER!
An Identity Crisis
Israel’s compromise tested cancerous, Jacob’s new
“understanding” proved contagious their “enlightened” attempts to
appease others diseased themselves! It ate away at the very fabric of
their biblical society. In pushing the “peace process” forward, Israel
fell backwards, sacrificed their divine culture, and became confused
about their own identity! Jacob’s experiment with civil rights
backfired, as their “equals” became emboldened at Israel’s expense!
Today, by the same token, MILITANT MINORITIES have a
dream: SUPREMACY. They only clamor for “equality” as a
stepping-stone for their real goal: replacing those in the positions of
power with their own kind. (Please notice I stress militant minorities.
There are many minority members who aren’t out to harm or
undermine Israelite culture and are a wonderful part of it).
Multiculturalism is mad and destroys national unity!
Likewise, the early Church faithfully kept the SEVENTH DAY
SABBATH (sunset Friday to sunset Saturday) for several hundred
years. Later, under political pressure and religious opposition, they
backed down. They allowed the observance of “the venerable day of
the Sun” back-to-back with God’s Sabbath. What a tragic mistake!
We’re still suffering the consequences.
By sanctioning Sunday services, the Church gave SUNday the
necessary clout to claim “equality.” That peaceful coexistence was
short-lived, however. Soon the Gentile “converts” managed to make
it illegal for Christians to keep the “Jewish Sabbath!” In 365, during
the Council of Laodicea, they forcibly substituted Sunday for the
seventh day Sabbath!
Earlier, to promote “unity”—NOT the truth—the Council of
Nicea (in 325 AD) ruled the Christian PASSOVER (commemorating
Jesus’ death) had to go! Whoever disagreed faced the death penalty!
Their religious fabrication supposedly emphasized Jesus’
resurrection—in direct violation of Christ’s command! Eventually
they stopped their charade of keeping Passover, and called their
celebration “Easter.” But they forgot to give it a Christian-sounding
name. Easter’s the Babylonian spring goddess—Baal’s playboy
bunny! They had given up the kosher Lamb of God for a rabbit trick!
In time, anything even remotely “Jewish” about the Church came
under attack! The Gentile minority-turned-majority demanded
changes to reflect their “universal” appeal. They wanted to appear
more inclusive—at the expense of the Church’s Jewish (read
biblical) heritage. They were intent on destroying the doctrines they
once held dear.
Changes… for the Worse!
Misguided ministers GUTTED THE BODY OF CHRIST and
were now picking at the bones (Micah 3:1-3). In their racist zeal,
they were throwing out the original truths and replacing them with
popular error. The early Church, with its now-derided leaders,
should’ve NEVER attempted to power-share! It only led to disaster.
They foolishly enabled their “equals” to oust them (3 John 9, 10).
Not everyone was thrilled about all the changes taking place. The
flood of “new truths” had come so fast and furious, many were
caught off guard (Rev.12: 15). They were simply unprepared for this
“scholarly” onslaught (Malachi 2:12). Some expressed concern,
others questioned what was going on, but everyone sensed
something just wasn’t right. It seemed almost overnight everything
they’d been taught was somehow wrong. Now there were
DIFFERENT MEANINGS given to biblical words, and supposedly
the Church now had a “deeper understanding” of various scriptures.
What was troublesome to longtime members, though, was that
these DOCTRINAL DIFFERENCES didn’t enhance or add to
whatever they already understood—it took away, undermined, or
totally denied what they’d PROVEN to be true. They felt that they
shouldn’t give these new “Christians” the time of day (Ga. 2:5) and
agreed with the words of the apostle Paul: “Do not be unequally
yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has
righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light
with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part
has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the
temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God?”
(2 Cor. 6:14-16). Therefore, they refused to surrender God’s truth,
accept a pagan truce, or enter into a marriage of convenience. They
knew better! And they weren’t going to deny God’s truth or ignore
it—despite charges of “refusing to grow” and “worshipping a man”
(Paul). They knew the true source of such slander (Rev.12: 10).
The Faithful Few
Those Church members, who remained faithful to the original
Christian beliefs and authentic practices, were forced to flee for their
lives. They became part of the “underground” and got involved in
“the resistance movement.” They had to hide out in the mountains
and valleys of Europe and Asia Minor to escape persecution and
death (Rev.12: 6). Beyond the pale of the pope, these “wandering
Jews” carried their “Sanctuary” with them, and its attendant truths
(Heb.11: 38). During their wilderness trek, God’s true Church would
retain its unique identity (John 17: 11). Though banished upon penalty
of death, these freedom fighters kept the FAITH alive (John 8:32).
They knew that God would end their exile, and waited patiently for
TRUTH to triumph over tradition!
Voices of Dissent
Israel’s attempts at evenhandedness only enabled the Canaanites
to encroach upon their cultural territory. Slowly but surely, Israel’s
biblical blueprint became blurred, their distinct identity smudged,
and their Manifest Destiny faded. They had forgotten their purpose
for living and lost their national zeal.
Therefore, God sent them patriotic messengers to remind them.
They warned their country was going down in defeat, if they didn’t
rise to the occasion. Israel rejected such lone individuals—crying out
in the midst of their spiritual wilderness—as uninspired and
backwards (Isa. 40:3). They despised their Message as too narrow-
minded, racist and behind the times. Strangely, every time Israel
backslid further, they proudly presented it as “progress!” They
resisted any change for the better, and fought against proposals to
restore their national faith and confidence. Israel opposed every
effort to “turn the clock back” and laughed at the idea that they were
going to lose the next big war (Hab.1:5-6). They wouldn’t hear of it
(Acts 7:51).
Not content to just leave well enough alone, the PRIESTS AND
POLITICIANS resorted to character assassination. The authorities
abused their positions of power and influence to stir up the people
against God’s “rabble-rousers.” They’d hatefully engage in
defamation and attack God’s truth with murderous lies. They often
put out a hit and signed contracts—to silence the critics of their
corrupt system—with their own blood. God blows their cover and
exposes their conspiracy with a vengeance! (Matt. 23:27-39).
God blasts our BLOODY LEADERS who’ve overstepped their
bounds! (Ex. 19:20-25, Zeph. 1:9, 2 Chron. 26:18). He condemns
those OLD GOATS who’ve bucked His system to keep their own!
(Ezek. 34:17). THEIR SLAUGHTER IS NEAR!
After vivid warnings and cries for change went ignored, God spoke to
our people in the only language we seem to understand: FORCE! Following
border attacks and terrorist incursions—and we still didn’t get it—
God let the Israelites lose. They wouldn’t serve God and give tribute
to His goodness, so they were left to pay tribute to tyrants and serve
men.
History Lessons
Whenever Israel made up their minds to follow God, they’d also
long for their homeland and beg to be taken back (Jer. 31:21). So a
man with a mission would appear “out of nowhere” and rescue our
endangered people (who had been brought back to their senses), and
restore their God-given liberties. He’d then proceed to rehearse the
history of our ancient nation—how God had set us free from Egypt
(and every other oppressor) to obey Him, and then warn us to
NEVER FORGET! Because “A nation that has forgotten its past can
have no future” and “He must indeed have a blind soul who cannot
see that some great purpose and design is being worked out here
below” (Winston Churchill). Our national saviors were to jog our
memories and remind us of our responsibilities; because “The
United States are under peculiar obligations to become a holy people
unto the Lord our God” (Ezra Stiles, then president of Yale, in 1783,
in a major address to the Assembly of Connecticut).
We were to know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that God had
called us to be His People, representing His government, to every
nation on earth. He had raised our level of consciousness, given us a
heavenly outlook, and wanted that reflected in our living standards.
We were to be free of men’s religious ideas and human reasoning (all
the other nations were flawed with them), and enjoy our new lease on
life. Once liberated from lies and delivered from deception, we were
supposed to always remember the reason we were saved from
treason: to SERVE GOD. After all, “God who gave us life gave us
liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed
a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble
for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot
sleep forever” (Thomas Jefferson).
Whenever Israel began to slip back into their old habits and took
their freedom for granted, and forgot that God had given them their
life and liberties, and didn’t want to hear about it, but developed the
dangerous attitude of “I don’t care” and “I don’t want to know”—
IGNORANT AND INDIFFERENT—God said, “Fine, if you’re not
happy serving Me, feel free to return to slavery!”
What You Want, Is What You’ll Get!
God gives us what we want, but we usually don’t take Him
seriously, UNTIL it’s too late! When the heat’s on and we feel the
pressure, but still maintain our “innocence” and wonder what’s
going on, God calls our bluff and lays it on the line: “Just as you have
forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve
aliens in a land that is not yours” (Jer. 5:19). If Israel’s so captivated
with TINSEL TRADITIONS, God lets their lies blind them: “But
My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have (nothing
to do with Me). So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to
walk in their own counsels”—to follow their own advice and get a
taste of their own medicine (Ps. 81:11-12).
Are we any different? Haven’t we also insisted on doing our own
thing? Don’t we take pride in the “I did it my way” approach? Didn’t
Adam and Eve curse us with that character defect? Isn’t it highly
offensive, in fact, ATROCIOUS, in God’s eyes, for His people to
begin to demand rights that He never offered? Rights that would,
with time, undermine the GREAT SOCIETY He’s building? Rights
to engage in activities that are contrary to His very purpose and hope
for mankind: that we should be created in His divine image? Rights
that fly in the face of common decency and aren’t sanctioned by the
Scriptures? Rights that are out of line and harmony with the holiness
we’ve been called to?
Only the serpent presents that which is TABOO as desirable.
He’s the god of rebels and leads them to self-destruct. You’ll either
serve God or Satan. It’s up to you to choose who your master will be.
But if we listen to the serpent, fall for his old line, and assert our
“independence” by eating the passion fruit, having had our minds
poisoned against God’s reason, then God lets us get addicted to the
strong drug of delusion: “Just as they have chosen their own way, and
their soul delights in their abominations, so will I choose their
delusions, and bring their fears on them because when I called, no
one answered, when I spoke they did not hear but they did evil before
My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight” (Isa. 66:3-4).
We’re going to be left alone! Just like we thought we wanted! But
we’re going to find out how scary isolation can be!
Questionable Standards
Who isn’t an “a la carte” Christian or Jew? What church or
synagogue wants God to order that they can only pick and choose
from a “kosher menu?” What Christian today feels any shame for
celebrating Christmas (shades of Saturnalia), or expresses heartfelt
remorse over observing an Easter-sunrise service? (Ezek. 8:16).
Who says we can now eat pork? Peter’s vision of the “unclean
animals” was about GENTILES whom God had cleansed. Read his
interpretation of it—after all, it was given to him to understand (Acts
10:28).
God’s people must accept GOD’S STANDARDS of good and
evil, right and wrong, clean and unclean—but we’ve thrown
everything in together and can’t seem to get things sorted out, having
taken a liberty with God’s word and law that He hasn’t given us.
“Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No!
They were not at all ashamed nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall [the slain] at the time
I punish them, they shall be cast down, says the LORD” (Jer. 6:15).
God’s going to put us back in our place! We’re acting presumptuous
when we follow man-made rules and regulations. We’re to follow
GOD—if we want to live!
Abominable Christians
Professing Christianity—steeped in unscriptural ways—enjoys
participating in every pagan abomination. They certainly don’t feel
any guilt or see anything wrong with it—because they’re reprobate
and blind! They don’t even realize their gall before God, who says
He can’t stomach their ways! “So then, because you are lukewarm
[useless], and neither cold nor hot [serve no definite purpose, as far
as God’s concerned], I WILL VOMIT YOU OUT OF MY MOUTH”
(Rev. 3:16).
God says He’s sick of our religious sins! He’s disgusted that those
who should know better, who say that they’re in shape, are spiritually
soft and flabby. They’re going to get a workout real soon to show
them their pitiful condition! They can shape-up, or get shipped out—
with all the other prisoners of war!
Instead of appreciating those honest enough to blow the whistle
(on baptized paganism and a growing apostasy), corrupt Church
officials rail against them—upset that not everybody’s so willing to
toe-the-party line (1 Kgs. 22:8). They foolishly flounder to excuse
themselves and deny that they’re involved in any wrongdoing. But
no matter how hard they try to whitewash their ways, or camouflage
their pagan practices with Christian-labels, they’re not fooling
anybody but themselves: “For though you wash yourself with lye,
and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before Me, says the
Lord GOD. How can you say I am not polluted, I have not gone after
the Baals?” (Jer. 2:22-23).
Jesus ISN’T Lord!
But we’ve followed false Christs! That’s why Jesus asked: “But
why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”
(Lk. 6:46). Whether we realize it or not, too many have given their
hearts to “another Jesus,” received “another spirit” and believed
“another gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4). How can professing Christians claim
they’re following Jesus when He kept the seventh day Sabbath and
they’re chasing after SUNday? Keep pagan holidays, when Jesus
only celebrated God’s holy days? Believe you go to Heaven or Hell,
when Christ taught the New Jerusalem will be established on Earth and the
wicked will be destroyed? (Rev. 21:2,8). Eat pork and shrimp and
lobster, when Christ would throw up at the thought? Weren’t we
warned about those who would pull a fast one about the times and
laws (Dan. 7:25)?
Jesus Versus His Message
But Jesus prophesied of this very thing, when He said many
ministers would come with a message about Christ—but not about
HIS MESSAGE! That’s how they’d mislead the masses and deceive
the world! They’d distract attention from Christ’s message, by
focusing in on Him.
Jesus was a Messenger, sent from Heaven, to deliver the Father’s
GOOD NEWS: GOD’S A KINGDOM that’ll rule all Earth, as well
as a ROYAL FAMILY (into which we can be born). Jesus warned
about the narrow “gospel” about Himself, but assured us He’d
restore the true gospel—the awesome Message He brought special-
delivery, with tender loving care—as a SIGN that we’re finally at the
end of this age (Matt. 24:5, 14). You’ve been given THAT sign! Will
you recognize its significance and wake up to what’s going on? God
help you to answer His call and respond to His message.
The Babylonian Whore
We can’t get away with the excuse that “everybody’s doing it.”
We’re to get as far away as we can from those traditions that have led
us astray. God says to run for your life (Jer. 51:9)! But some are still
falling for Rome’s father figure! The CATHOLIC WHORES have
sold-out and bought the Babylonian lies—as promoted by that pimp,
Simon Magus (Acts 8:9). Not to be outdone, the PROTESTANT
PROSTITUTES strut their stuff, sacrificing purity for paganism,
violating God’s laws for their lewd ways. Most Protestants know
who the Babylonian whore of Revelation 17:5 is and loudly say so.
What they don’t realize is that they’re condemning themselves also,
because “LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER!” (Ezek. 16:44).
God’s not tricked by traditions, and isn’t sold on religious ideas!
Jesus’ true followers aren’t defiled with deceit (Rev. 14:4-5).
They’ve learned to be honest. God doesn’t prostitute the truth to
make it more palatable (Deut. 23:17-18). He’s not so “easy.”
But traditional Christianity, like an adulterous woman, “…eats
and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done no wickedness’” (Prov.
30:20). TOO MANY CHRISTIANS ARE IN DENIAL! They sit
down at Baal’s corner bar and grill and make a pig of themselves—
eating unclean things! (Acts 15:29). But God’s not a slob! He doesn’t
lower His standards or forget His values (Rev. 3:20). Think about it:
Would Christ feel comfortable at your dinner table or worship
services?
Jesus’ virgins resist peer pressure. They don’t give in for a
SUNday dinner. But “Christianity” has cheapened itself! When God
got wind of their ways, He blasted their rank religion and rejected it
(Isa. 65:5). Their holier-than-thou attitude STINKS! It gets God
burning mad, and irritates Him to no end, that ministers keep
screwing their members and twisting the truth! Shamefully, people
prefer PERVERTED PREACHERS! Consenting Christians love
their lies! They delight in deception! But God condemns their
SPIRITUAL PREFERENCE as inexcusable! Jesus even exposed
certain cities of His day as worse than Sodom and Gomorrah, and
indicated that they would’ve repented given half a chance. He did
state that their “day in court” would be better than those who had
seen the Light and yet chose to remain in their traditional darkness
(Matt. 11:20-24). Christ didn’t sanction their choice— He denounced
their “alternative lifestyle.”
Idolatry and Immorality
God condemns our countries for IDOLATRY—not just for
immorality! We’ve got to come to see, know and realize that God
doesn’t go for us following traditions all starry-eyed. We’re
supposed to be in love with God’s way and follow His
commandments! We’ve got to get our priorities straight and stop
putting our ways before God’s (Ezek. 20:18-21).
If we stubbornly insist on observing pagan holidays, we’re
nothing more than idol-worshippers! When we rebelliously reject
God’s holy days, we’re worse than witches: “For rebellion is as the
sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (1
Sam. 15:23). Since we’ve rejected God’s word, He’s rejected us!
Europe’s about to forcibly remove us from office! We’ve
jeopardized our position as leader of the free world, and are already
staggering, having lost our biblical balance—it’s only a matter of
time before we fall!
It’s strange—but true! It’s actually the religious, the Christians
and Jews, who are immoral! Because we’ve polluted our land with
pluralism, flirted with foreigners and whored around with pagans,
God’s going to let them have their way with us! We’re going to be
RAPED AND BEATEN! Our enemies are going to strip us bare and
show us no mercy! They’re going to treat us like white trash! We
haven’t kept ourselves for God, so we’ll be given to others! We’re
going to be sent away (as slaves) in SHAME AND CONFUSION!
And, believe it or not, it’s our “trusted allies,” our “faithful friends,”
who are going to commit this date rape! It’s our INTERNATIONAL
LOVERS who’ll betray us (Ezek. 23).
Stubborn Religious Leaders
Jerusalem, symbolic of the Church (Heb. 12:22), is supposed to
be the City of truth and godly character based upon God’s liberating
law—instead we discover a dreadful description of it as “Sodom”
and “Egypt” (Rev. 11:8). Who was PROUD as Sodom, and as
STUBBORN as Egypt? God speaks to our proud religious leaders,
and addresses our stubborn national laity, in a less-than-flattering
way: “Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom give ear to
the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah…” (Isa. 1:10). Our
leaders are told to listen, and our people are supposed to pay
attention, to God’s word and law! The ministers have been GUILTY
of substituting their words for God’s. We’re not used to God’s tough
talk and rough language.
Taken to Task
God continues then, in Isaiah 1:11-15, with a series of questions
and comments. He wants to know what’s the purpose of our
organized religion, and starts tearing down its carelessly structured
beliefs. He says we’ve fallen into a rut and that routine’s our ruin!
God says He can’t stand our religious observances and hates our
spiritual pretense. It’s got to stop! Regardless of our prayers or
posture, God isn’t going to take notice or waste His time. Why?
Because we’re only going through the motions. We’ve only got the
shell, because we’ve thrown out the substance.
True religion is all about interpersonal relationships based upon
biblical principles. It’s to guide and assist us in our walk with God
and our interactions with each other. That’s why Jesus said, “‘You
shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets”
(Matt. 22:37-40).
Those two commandments show the way and encourage a more
meaningful and fulfilling life that’s outgoing and not self-centered.
Herbert W. Armstrong used to continually refer to true religion as
following the “way of GIVE” versus the “way of GET.” That’s why
James wrote: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father
is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep
oneself [untainted] from the world” (Jas. 1:27).
Obviously, our ancestors weren’t properly concerned for the
good and welfare of others. Charity only extended so far. Mercy was
in short supply and their love limited. It’s easier to talk the talk, than
walk the walk! Especially when it demands sacrifices or requires
sharing. What about you? Have you been happy to share your
blessings?
Silence = Death
We must plead on behalf of the innocent, and be the voice of those
without adequate representation. The greatest crime against
humanity is going on NOW! Yet millions of professing Christians
look the other way in shameful silence: ABORTION! It used to be a
country’s worst enemies who ripped up their pregnant women—now
we’ve turned on ourselves! DON’T ABORT OUR FUTURE!
Defend life: present the case of the preborn before the public, and
rescue them from the abortionist’s kangaroo court!
We’ve sacrificed our CHILDREN on the altars of convenience,
baptized our BABIES in blood, and trashed their grisly remains—if
they haven’t been sold for Nazi experiments. Where’s the MORAL
OUTRAGE been? Why haven’t we demanded that our government
intervene? STOP THE SLAUGHTER!
God sees the blood bath we’re permitting. He knows the hard
hearts, calloused consciences, and dishonest individuals that are
involved and will bring them to trial: “Shall I not punish them for
these things? says the LORD. And shall I not avenge Myself on such
a nation as this?” (Jer. 5:9). No wonder God’s going to allow our
enemies to be so cruel!
HITLER Will Judge Us!
Hitler’s Nazi Germany will rise up in judgment against our
hypocritical nations! We condemned them and now we’re acting
worse than they did! We didn’t buy their lame excuses of ignorance
or blind obedience, and yet today we try to hide our horrors behind
“it’s the law of the land.”
We allow DEATH CLINICS in major cities, and support those
mad doctors who ought to be tried for murder. We condemned those
German businesses who became rich at others expense, and yet our
land is filled with the abortionist’s BLOOD MONEY! It’s not a
God-given right to take the life of your child!
That some would argue it’s not a baby, and others attempt to
justify this carnage…. It’s obvious we’re under a CURSE if we can’t
even think straight! Our Puritan ancestors properly discerned,
“Whom God would destroy, He first sends mad” (Deut. 28:28). God
save us from ourselves: WE’VE LOST OUR MIND!
We’d better think twice, and change our minds and national
direction, before it’s too late. God wants us to clean up our act and
LEARN to start caring again. He tries to reason with us (if we’re not
too far-gone) and offers ready forgiveness. God admits how low-
down and undeserving we’ve become, but expresses confidence in
His mercy and Christ’s sacrifice, and says He’s got us covered—if
we’ll only return to God and our senses. If not, God will allow a
GERMAN-LED EUROPE to defeat us! The SWORD OF
NUCLEAR WAR is on its way! (Isa. 1:16-20).
Spiritual Sodomites
It’s not only the sinners who won’t take God’s advice—too often
the “saints” think they’re good enough already. The religious
authorities have always resisted change (Acts 7:51). They’ve refused
to repent and arrange the crucifixion of those who expose their error.
It’s the church councils and synagogue boards that get indignant
when told they’re wrong (Matt. 21:32). How dare the spiritual
sodomites, and religious sorcerers, question the credentials of God’s
spokesmen, wondering what theological seminary they’ve attended,
or if they hold any doctorate in divinity (Matt. 21:23, Acts 4:13).
What becomes clear is that the “unorthodox” have spent time with
God’s Word, and have prayerfully studied the scriptures—not
merely the works of misguided men.
Sly foxes try and trip them up by clever questions, attempting to
ambush their ability and sabotage their efforts (Matt. 22:15, 35).
Spiritual crooks rob the unsuspecting of the facts, and then engage in
every perverse act of defamation possible (Matt. 26:59). They can’t
refute what some are saying so they twist their words and
misrepresent their message (Acts 6:11). Such insecure “leaders”
(afraid they’re losing their grip on Church positions, and painfully
aware that their ignorance is showing), accuse those outside of their
“inner circle” as being false prophets. When God’s true servants set
the record straight, they’re reviled for turning things upside down
(Acts 17:6). When they disagree with doctrinal error, they’re
damned as dissidents (Acts 24:5). Those who stand up for what’s
right, exposing what’s wrong, uncovering spiritual graft and
corruption, are branded as heretics, murderously maligned, and
dismissed as cults!
The Apostle Paul spent time defending himself against dogs
nipping at his heels, trying to obstruct his missionary work and slow
down his progress. He’d prove their charges were groundless and
then defeat their purpose by testifying to God’s truth: “But this I
confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so
I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are
written in the Law and in the Prophets” (Acts 24:14). Despite
numerous allegations, he maintained his innocence and declared his
allegiance to God’s Word—unlike those who were following men’s
ideas with a BLIND OBEDIENCE!
Religious Opposition
As far as religion goes, God knows who’s who, and what’s what,
and will promote some to honor and demote others in disgrace:
“Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they
are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and
worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you” (Rev.
3:9). Of course, this refers, in part, to the early Jewish opposition
against Christianity, but it’s mainly exposing counterfeit Christians
who profess to be spiritual Jews. God bares them as “Christian
Satanists!” God’s Church, throughout history, has been besieged
from without and attacked from within. Don’t think it couldn’t
happen again.
We shouldn’t be afraid to speak up if our preachers are a pack of
wolves, or our leaders are a bunch of liars (Rev. 2:2). God expects us
to prove whether or not our ministers are a Godsend, and see if they
can pass the test. We’re not to let our guard down, or base anything
on dangerous assumptions, but cross-examine everything in light of
the biblical evidence (Acts 17:11). God holds us responsible for what
goes on behind closed doors, and wants us to make sure our home and
local congregation is in order, as well as being concerned for our
extended Church family. After all, it’s our salvation that’s at stake!
When you think about the hardships and difficulties we’ll have to
face and endure, as a result of RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION, ask
yourself why we should be treated any better than Jesus—the Truth
Incarnate—was (John 15:20). Remember: Jesus’ main opposition
wasn’t from the gangs, crack-dealers, or hookers. His worst enemies
came from the religious community—people who felt self-
sufficient. They didn’t want a spiritual Savior, just a national hero.
For a “religious experience,” try to help save God’s people from
paganism, or speak out against “Christian” lies, and you’ll know how
Jesus felt! God’s saviors have often had to be delivered out of
dangerous situations and threatening environments (Gen. 5:24).
In Mortal Danger
GOD HAS WARNED THIS NATION through his servant,
Herbert W. Armstrong. But our people have shown the typical
indifference. The SHOCKING TRUTH hasn’t really fazed them or
sunk in! We’re carrying on in our own ways, business as usual, just
like in the days of Noah and the time of Lot.
We’re not convinced, we’re not convicted—we’re complacent!
We don’t feel in any mortal danger, or sense an urgent need for
national reforms. We rest secure in our religion, sleep in our pews,
and dream repentance isn’t for us— it’s for the other guy. We’re hard
working, decent people—at least in public. What some parade in the
streets, others practice in private.
“God wouldn’t condemn us, Europe couldn’t conquer us—
you’re just being an alarmist, crying wolf like all the others.” But
what if this time it’s for real? What if God IS really warning us:
“BEWARE THE BEAST OF EUROPE?”
Maybe our religious practices aren’t so acceptable to God, but
does that mean He’d let us lose a war over it? Get taken captive and
sent away as slaves? Yes, believe it or not! But this time Jesus Christ
will save Israel! He’s our Supreme Judge (Isa. 25:9).
Two controversial figures will boldly declare GOD’S
JUDGMENTS and proclaim the LORD’S CONTROVERSY
(Micah 3:8 6:1-2), delivering a BLISTERING MESSAGE and a
SCORCHING CONDEMNATION—just before NUCLEAR FIRE
AND BRIMSTONE RAINS DOWN upon those who’ve rejected
GOD’S ULTIMATUM (Isa. 41:27 30:27)! The wise will hear this
THUNDER and take shelter (Rev. 10 Prov. 27:12).
It’s been said that history repeats itself because nobody listened
the first time. Who’s listening today? Does anybody care? THE
MESSAGE IS LOUD AND CLEAR: Another HOLOCAUST is
coming! That warning must roar from Jerusalem! That’s the
sensitive location where God will spark a NATIONAL DEBATE
and ignite an INTERNATIONAL CONTROVERSY (Jer. 15:10,
Rev. 11:10). It’ll shock the Jews and anger the Germans! Both will
immediately want to stop such “incitement”—calling it fear-
mongering and racist—but such persecution will only fan the flames
of this BURNING ISSUE (Isa. 54:15-16). God’s going to make sure
that everybody—from the least to the greatest—has had a chance to
HEAR AND HEED (Jer. 5:4-5).
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”
(Prov. 16:18). The historical precedent’s been set. We’re not an
exception or invincible (Lk. 13:3). Europe’s already making
preparations while we’re on our deathbed: victims of tradition. THE
UNITED STATES IS GOING TO FOLD; THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH’S GOING
INTO CAPTIVITY; AND ISRAEL’S GOING TO BE OCCUPIED!
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
Martin Luther King Day?
by David Ben-Ariel
I had a letter published in The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) and sent to President Reagan, pleading with him not to commit the folly of creating any foolish "Martin Luther King Day." Our fellow black Americans, generally speaking, still hated President Reagan after the fact and still don't practice the good things (there were some good things) King preached.
If we're to be judged by the content of our character rather than the color of our skin, why continue to demand quotas and curves and tolerate such racist organizations as the NAACP?
Why doesn't somebody do a documentary on those humble folk marching back then (with their useful idiot whites, too many liberal Jews) with a split screen exposing "niggas with attitude" (a black phrase), the rampant crime, outrageous rates of illegitimacy, unemployment by choice, gangs, welfare projects, black on black violence (not to mention assault on others), the "menace to society" mentality (another black phrase, thanks to excellent director Albert Hughes), disproportionate black prison population and the verbal lynching concerned blacks suffer mercilessly when they dare speak out against such inexcusable poverty of the spirit and moral degradation, slavery to sin and self-destruction?
It is appropriate on this black holiday (and that's what it amounts to, in all honesty), to consider this issue of race from a biblical perspective that those horribly brainwashed by the politically correct cult hate with a passion and rage against in vile anarchist fashion, drowning out any reason and voice other than their own.
Regardless, this biblical truth must be shared, must be made known, while we still have the freedom to exercise our God-given rights of speech and religion.
Is interracial marriage wrong? Did God intend for the races to be separate? Did God divide the nations to preserve distinct family ties?
The plain truth is made known in Race Matters.
David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer in Ohio and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.
Arnold's Office Refuses to Comment (update)
Arnold's Office Refuses to Comment
by David Ben-Ariel
The European Observer reported:
"Europe's far right parties are considering forming a pan-European movement together."
Will Arnold Schwarzenegger, frustrated by failures to run for the highest office in the United States, return home to Europe and triumph in the elections as the "born leader" of the pan-European movement's party? Will the EU's strong man then vent his anger against the United States and wreak havoc on the world?
When I called Governor Schwarzenegger's office the first time to inquire "Has Governor Schwarzenegger ever considered running for president of the European Union or would he consider it?" (Presently only possible when Austria has the EU presidency but the winds of change are blowing). The fellow said he was pretty sure he wouldn't. When I asked, "Is that a yes or a no," he said he hadn't heard him say anything about it. That's not what I asked. I wanted a concrete yes or no answer. Not a guess.
He then put me through to Lee in the Press Office who graciously took note of my questions and said if she found out anything she'd give me a call. I called again to leave my email, rather than just my phone number. Still didn't hear anything after some time, so I just called and she said they had no comment.
When pressed as to does that means Mr. Schwarzenegger doesn't plan to run for European office, or doesn't want to discuss it, for whatever reasons, she simply said "We don't have any comment for your book." When I said what should I say when I write about Arnold's refusal to answer a simple question, she said say the "Press office declines to comment." WHY?
Now, according to The European Observer:
Socialists urge political embargo against far-right group -- "The new far-right group – calling itself "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty" likely to be formally constituted next week- teams up a mixed bunch of anti-immigrant and xenophobic MEPs, with a leader who is awaiting a court verdict for questioning the Holocaust... Greens leader Monica Frassoni said the group's creation "is a sad reflection of the reality of today's Europe," but added that in practice, not much will change.
'The extreme right MEPs already sit in this house and the fact that they are organised in a political group will not give them more influence in the parliament. They will remain marginal.'"
Wishful thinking? Failure to face growing resentment over Muslim intimidation throughout Europe?
Nothing against Arnold Schwarzenegger personally, but my first thought and concern as an American born and raised here in our Promised Land, is why would we want a German (he was born in Austria, hence Germanic) in control of California on our strategic West Coast? Especially when, as Herbert W. Armstrong so correctly warned through the pages of The Plain Truth magazine and World Tomorrow broadcast (formerly headquartered in Pasadena, California), the Nazi movement only went underground and began to lay the foundation for their return. Germany's Fourth Reich (taking ugly shape and beastly form in the fascist EU) was to be funded by German industrialists throughout the world who were to seek key positions to enable them to abuse their authority to further Germany's grand design. Something to seriously think about as it increasingly appears mission accomplished.
How many German plants in America are serving the interests of Germany's budding Fourth Reich? It's not only German factories and German businesses in America proving “that basic thoroughness of the orderly German” (Johannes Gross), since the secret Nazis had predetermined such a strategy, but bought and paid for American prostitutes in diverse and perverse positions of power who aid and abet them. They expose our country to danger and will leave us infected as a nuclear wasteland!
Now that Herr Schwarzenegger is in control of California, he undoubtedly craves the presidency of the United States, especially since he's convinced he was "born to rule" and has more than an admiration for historical dictators, swaying millions. If he is unable to claim that coveted prize, would he, in fierce frustration, return to Europe and go after its reigns and ride the EU bull with the Bavarian pope's blessings?
David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.
by David Ben-Ariel
The European Observer reported:
"Europe's far right parties are considering forming a pan-European movement together."
Will Arnold Schwarzenegger, frustrated by failures to run for the highest office in the United States, return home to Europe and triumph in the elections as the "born leader" of the pan-European movement's party? Will the EU's strong man then vent his anger against the United States and wreak havoc on the world?
When I called Governor Schwarzenegger's office the first time to inquire "Has Governor Schwarzenegger ever considered running for president of the European Union or would he consider it?" (Presently only possible when Austria has the EU presidency but the winds of change are blowing). The fellow said he was pretty sure he wouldn't. When I asked, "Is that a yes or a no," he said he hadn't heard him say anything about it. That's not what I asked. I wanted a concrete yes or no answer. Not a guess.
He then put me through to Lee in the Press Office who graciously took note of my questions and said if she found out anything she'd give me a call. I called again to leave my email, rather than just my phone number. Still didn't hear anything after some time, so I just called and she said they had no comment.
When pressed as to does that means Mr. Schwarzenegger doesn't plan to run for European office, or doesn't want to discuss it, for whatever reasons, she simply said "We don't have any comment for your book." When I said what should I say when I write about Arnold's refusal to answer a simple question, she said say the "Press office declines to comment." WHY?
Now, according to The European Observer:
Socialists urge political embargo against far-right group -- "The new far-right group – calling itself "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty" likely to be formally constituted next week- teams up a mixed bunch of anti-immigrant and xenophobic MEPs, with a leader who is awaiting a court verdict for questioning the Holocaust... Greens leader Monica Frassoni said the group's creation "is a sad reflection of the reality of today's Europe," but added that in practice, not much will change.
'The extreme right MEPs already sit in this house and the fact that they are organised in a political group will not give them more influence in the parliament. They will remain marginal.'"
Wishful thinking? Failure to face growing resentment over Muslim intimidation throughout Europe?
Nothing against Arnold Schwarzenegger personally, but my first thought and concern as an American born and raised here in our Promised Land, is why would we want a German (he was born in Austria, hence Germanic) in control of California on our strategic West Coast? Especially when, as Herbert W. Armstrong so correctly warned through the pages of The Plain Truth magazine and World Tomorrow broadcast (formerly headquartered in Pasadena, California), the Nazi movement only went underground and began to lay the foundation for their return. Germany's Fourth Reich (taking ugly shape and beastly form in the fascist EU) was to be funded by German industrialists throughout the world who were to seek key positions to enable them to abuse their authority to further Germany's grand design. Something to seriously think about as it increasingly appears mission accomplished.
How many German plants in America are serving the interests of Germany's budding Fourth Reich? It's not only German factories and German businesses in America proving “that basic thoroughness of the orderly German” (Johannes Gross), since the secret Nazis had predetermined such a strategy, but bought and paid for American prostitutes in diverse and perverse positions of power who aid and abet them. They expose our country to danger and will leave us infected as a nuclear wasteland!
Now that Herr Schwarzenegger is in control of California, he undoubtedly craves the presidency of the United States, especially since he's convinced he was "born to rule" and has more than an admiration for historical dictators, swaying millions. If he is unable to claim that coveted prize, would he, in fierce frustration, return to Europe and go after its reigns and ride the EU bull with the Bavarian pope's blessings?
David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
The New German Nazism
The New German Nazism
By William E. Grim
I'm not Jewish. Nobody in my family died in the Holocaust. For me, anti-Semitism has always been one of those phenomena that doesn't really register on my radar, like tribal genocide in Rwanda, a horrible thing that happens to someone else. But I live in a small town outside of Munich on a street that until May of 1945 was named Adolf-Hitler-Strasse. I work in Munich, a pleasant metropolitan city of a little over a million inhabitants whose Bavarian charm tends to obscure the fact that this city was the birthplace and capital of the Nazi movement. Every day when I go to work I pass by the sites of apartments Hitler lived in, extant buildings in which decisions were made to murder millions of innocent people, and plazas in which book burnings took place, SS troops paraded and people were executed. The proximity to evil has a way of concentrating one's attention, of putting a physical reality to the textbook narratives of the horrors perpetrated by the Germans.
Then the little things start to happen that over a period of time add up to something very sinister. I'm on a bus and a high school boy passes around Grandpa's red leather-bound copy of Mein Kampf to his friends who respond by saying "coooool!." He then takes out a VCR tape (produced in Switzerland) of "The Great Speeches of Joseph Goebbels." A few weeks later I'm at a business meeting with four young highly educated Germans who are polite, charming and soft-spoken to say the least. When the subject matter changes to a business deal with a man in New York named Rubinstein, their nostrils flair, their demeanors attain a threatening mien and one of them actually says, and I'm quoting verbatim here: "The problem with America is that the Jews have all the money."
They start laughing and another one says, "Yeah, all the Jews care about is money."
You could have knocked me over with a feather. I half expected one of them to start talking about the historical veracity of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Here were four young, charming, well-educated Germans spewing forth anti-Semitic bilk that would have made Julius Streicher proud. I found that this type of anti-Semitic reference in my professional dealings with Germans soon became a leitmotif (to borrow a term made famous by Richard Wagner, another notorious German anti-Semite). In my private meetings with Germans it often happens that they will loosen up after a while and reveal personal opinions and political leanings that were thought to have ceased to exist in a Berlin bunker on April 30, 1945.
Maybe it's because I have blond hair and my last name is of German origin that the Germans feel that I am, or could potentially be, "one of them." It shows how much they understand what it means to be an American. Whatever the reason, the conversations generally have one or more of these components:
(1) It was unfortunate that America and Germany fought each other in World War II because the real enemy was Russia.
(2) Yes, the Nazis were excessive, but terrible things happen during wars, and anyway, the scope of the Holocaust has been greatly exaggerated by the American media, which is dominated by Jews.
(3) CNN is controlled by American Jews and is anti-Palestinian. [Yes, I know it sounds incredible, but even among the most highly intelligent Germans, even those with a near-native fluency in English, there is the widespread belief that the news network founded by Fidel Castro's best friend Ted Turner, who until recently was married to Hanoi Jane Fonda, is a hotbed of pro-Israeli propaganda.]
(4) Almost all Germans were opposed to the Third Reich and nobody in Germany knew anything about the murder of the Jews, but the Jews themselves were really responsible for the Holocaust.
(5) Ariel Sharon is worse than Hitler and the Israelis are Nazis. America supports Israel only because Jews control the American government and media.
For the first time in my life, then, I became conscious of anti-Semitism. Sure, anti- Semitism exists elsewhere in the world, but nowhere have the consequences been as devastating as in Germany.
Looking at it as objectively as possible, 2002 has been a banner year for anti-Semitism in Germany. Synagogues have been firebombed, Jewish cemeteries desecrated, the No. 1 best-selling novel, Martin Walser's Death of a Critic, is a thinly-veiled roman à clef containing a vicious anti-Semitic attack on Germany's best-known literary critic, Marcel Reich-Ranicki ( who is a survivor of both the Warsaw ghetto and Auschwitz), the Free Democrat Party has unofficially adopted anti-Semitism as a campaign tactic to attract Germany's sizeable Muslim minority, and German revisionist historians now are beginning to define German perpetration of World War II and the Holocaust not as crimes against humanity, but as early battles (with regrettable but understandable excesses) in the Cold War against communism. The situation is so bad that German Jews are advised not to wear anything in public that would identify them as Jewish because their safety cannot be guaranteed.
How can this be? Isn't this the "New Germany" that's gone 57 straight years without a Holocaust or even a pogrom, where truth, justice and the German way prevail amidst economic wealth, a high standard of living that is the envy of their European neighbors, and a constitution guaranteeing freedom for everyone regardless of race, creed or national origin? What's changed? The answer is: absolutely nothing.
My thesis is quite simple. While Germany no longer has the military power to enforce the racist ideology of the Nazis and while all extreme manifestations of Nazism are officially outlawed, the internal conditions--that is, the attitudes, worldview and cultural assumptions--that led to the rise of Nazism in Germany are still present because they constitute the basic components of German identity. Nazism was not an aberration; it was the distillation of the German psyche into its essential elements. External Nazism may have been utterly defeated in May of 1945; internal Nazism, however, remains, and will always remain, a potential threat as long as there exists a political and/or cultural entity known as Germany.
Now hold on a second, I hear many people saying. You can't possibly claim that Germans are as anti-Semitic today as they were during the years 1933-1945. It is true that Germany today is much different than during the Third Reich. What is different is that due to its total defeat by the Allies, Germany today is a client state of America and must do its bidding. That means repression of overt anti-Semitism. It's bad for business.
The other thing that has changed is that, even though Hitler lost World War II, he was phenomenally successful in carrying out his ideological agenda. Germany, indeed virtually all of Europe, is essentially "Judenfrei" (free of Jews) today due to the efficiency and zeal of the Germans as they perpetrated the Holocaust during the Third Reich. In fact, a very convincing case can be made that Nazism is one of the most successful political programs of all time. It accomplished more of its goals in a shorter amount of time than any other comparable political movement and permanently changed the face and political structure of several continents. Germany is wealthy, stable, relentlessly bourgeois and for all intents and purposes, free of Jews.
Yes, there is a tiny minority of Jews mostly centered in Berlin, and yes, there have been a number of Jews from the former Soviet Union who have emigrated to Germany, but most of the immigrants from Russia are not practicing Jews and do little if anything to promote a unique Jewish-German identity. The result of all this is that Germans today are able to reap the benefits of Hitler's anti-Semitic policies while paying lip service to the "need to remember."
Young Fritz doesn't have to be overtly anti-Semitic today because his grandfather's generation did such a bang-up job of the Holocaust. There just aren't that many Jews left to hate any more, and besides, the Germans have their old buddies, the Arabs, to do their hating for them. You might call the overwhelming German support for the Palestinians to be a form of anti-Semitism-by-proxy.
The German government has made cash payments to the State of Israel, as well as to individual Jews, to settle claims of murder, torture, false imprisonment, slave labor and genocide. Talk to most Germans and you'll soon discover that they think that the score has been settled between Germany and the Jews, that somehow the return of just a portion of what the Germans stole from the Jews is fair recompense for the deliberate murder of millions of people. If you think the Germans are truly sorry for what they did to the Jews, think again. There's never been an official "tut mir leid" offered by the Germans to the victims of the Holocaust and their descendants because that would admit culpability. Germany GmbH has paid off all claims against it without acknowledging responsibility in the same way that the Ford Motor Company engages in recalls of automobiles. It's all done to avoid liability.
German dialogue about the Holocaust is largely done in the subjunctive, passive mood: "Mistakes were made." But never: "We were wrong." The reason for this, I believe, is the myth of German superiority, overtly stated during the Nazi years, but still a major component of the German psyche.
Why is it that the Germans believe they are superior to all other nationalities? It is true that there have been many great German (and especially Austrian) composers, but Verdi is every bit as great a composer as Wagner. Literature? Yes, Goethe is one of the most important writers of all time, but as a dramatist he is a pale shadow compared to Shakespeare, and as a novelist he hardly compares to Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Engineering and science? Perhaps, but making good-quality cars is not on the same level as sending men to the moon and returning them safely. And we all know who figured out first how to make an atomic bomb. Cuisine, lifestyle, architecture? Now you've got to be kidding. Just think France and Italy.
No, the German belief in their superiority is a form of self-delusion and is based upon pretty thin gruel. Ironically, it may be that bad boy of German philosophy, Friedrich Nietzsche himself, who supplied the reason for this phenomenon. Nietzsche believed that moral systems and notions of national chauvinism were largely the result of ressentiment, that is, the members of a politically weak people band together in their resentment of their more powerful neighbors and convince one another that, while they may be politically weak, they are somehow "morally superior" to their competitors. This could very well explain the German superiority complex in the face of political weakness from the time of the Roman Empire to the Wilhelmine period beginning in the 1870s. It surely goes far to explain present-day German notions of superiority in the face of their devastating military defeat in World War II and subsequent relegation to second-tier status among the community of nations.
I have peviously mentioned that Germans overwhelmingly support the Palestinians as opposed to the Israelis, and that this overwhelming support represents a form of anti-Semitism-by-proxy. Germans may claim to be supporting the Palestinians because they think they are an "oppressed people," but let's be honest -- they are supporting the Palestinians and their Arabs handlers because the Palestinians and Arabs share the same ideals as the Nazis.
There's a long-standing history of German co-operation with the Arabs. In 1942 Hitler personally assured the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem that as soon as German forces conquered Great Britain, the Jews in Palestine (which was then under control of the British Mandate) would be exterminated. We should also keep in mind that the Arab terrorists who perpetrated the 9/11 atrocities did their planning in Germany. There are several reasons for this. The first is the well-known bungling and decentralized chaos of the German federal bureaucracy where literally the "links" hand doesn't know what the "rechts" hand is doing. The second is that Arab terrorists can count on a substantial number of Germans who share their anti-American and anti-Semitic views. The former members of the SS and Hitler's praetorian guards, along with their neo-Nazi supporters, who gather weekly in Munich beer halls, made Osama Bin Laden an "honorary Aryan" after the 9/11 attack.
Mein Kampf is also a best seller in the Arab world, especially in Saudi Arabia, America's putative "friend." Indeed, there is very little difference between the anti-Semitic rantings of Hitler and those of the so-called "spiritual leaders" of Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Al-Fatah. The Arabs also owe Hitler and the Germans big time. Hitler killed off the Jews, and Konrad Adenauer and his "democratic" descendants replaced them with the Turks. Yes, the Turks aren't Arabs, but they are Muslim, and although Turkey is a member of NATO and has foreign relations with Israel, many Turks identify and support their radical Arab co-religionists. Turkey remains as fragile a democracy as Weimar Germany during the 1920s. It wouldn't take much for Turkey to fall into the dark side of Muslim extremism.
The end results of Muslim immigration into Germany have been twofold: (1) It allows the Germans to feign liberalism and being open to freedom and diversity; and (2) By replacing the Jews they murdered with Muslims, who for the most part are as viciously anti-Semitic as were the Nazis, the Germans have cynically assured that those few Jews who remain in Germany will be unable to reassert political power even in a minority role.
German politicians have now begun to express anti-Semitic viewpoints as a means to curry favor with Germany's substantial Muslim minority. The most notorious example of this is Juergen Moellemann, the Jew-baiting second-in-command of the Free Democrat Party, the political faction that is most closely identified with business interests (favoring policies such as lowering taxes and reducing government expenditures) and other issues of a libertarian slant. Moellemann's strategy is quite simple. In a parliamentary system like Germany's where seats are awarded by proportional voting and in a party like the FDP which seldom garners more 10% of the vote, making an extremist anti-Semitic appeal to racist Muslims is an attempt to gain 1% or 2% of the vote which could result in the FDP becoming the minority partner in a coalition government if the Christian Democratic Party as expected wins the national elections in Germany in September. What is particularly worrisome here is that in CDU/FDP coalition governments in the past, the post of foreign minister has traditionally gone to the FDP. If this occurs again, Germany could shortly have the most anti-Semitic foreign policy since the days of Joachim von Ribbentrop.
A final point that I would like to make concerning the reasons for the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Germany is one that many will find at odds with the prima-facie evidence, or even appear to stretch the boundaries of common sense. Yet, I ask you to consider carefully my line of reasoning.
In many respects Germany got away with the Holocaust without paying much of a price. Yes, many Germans died as a result of German perpetration of World War II and the Holocaust, and yes, there was much physical destruction in the country, but the situation is like the little boy who steals a cookie from the tray when it is cooling on the kitchen table. For his efforts he may have gotten his hand slapped by his mother, but the stolen cookie remains eaten nonetheless.
After having committed the worst crimes in the history of humankind, the Germans were allowed to regain their sovereignty after only ten years, their infrastructure was completely rebuilt thanks to the generosity of the American people, and relatively few Germans were brought to trial for their monstrous crimes. Even those who were tried and convicted received relatively short sentences or had those reduced or commuted in general amnesties. For example, some members of the Einsatzkommandos, those Germans who, before the construction of the death camps, hunted and murdered Jews by the hundreds of thousands, received sentences of as little as five years imprisonment.
If there were true justice in the world, Germany would no longer exist as a separate country, but would have long ago had its territory divided up and dispersed among the Allies. It was an unfortunate historical coincidence that the Cold War began just as Germany was at last being brought to task for its many crimes and atrocities extending back to the First World War. The new threat of the Soviet Union took precedence over a just settling of accounts with Germany. The tragic result is that many of the countries raped and despoiled by Germany, such as the Czech Republic and Poland, are just now coming out of decades of economic decline, while Germany--fat, sassy, arrogant, self-satisfied, and essentially Judenfrei--has enjoyed four decades of undeserved economic prosperity.
We can't turn back the clock to redress all of the historical wrongs that have been committed by the Germans, but there are a number of things that can be done to assure that Germany can never again be in a position to threaten the rest of the civilized world. First and foremost is the realization that, while not all Germans are anti-Semitic, there is an anti-Semitic tendency within German culture that extends back to the time of Martin Luther. Germans are instinctively anti-Semitic in the same way that Americans are instinctively freedom loving. Anti-Semitism has been and unfortunately remains the default ideology of the German people. All things being equal, Germans will instinctively support the enemies of the State of Israel. Therefore, America will need to monitor closely and be ready and politically willing to intervene at a moment's notice in German affairs when it appears that Germany is back-sliding into anti-Semitism.
Additionally, it should be a goal of American foreign policy to oppose and to accelerate the dismemberment of the European Union. We must not allow German domination of the EU to accomplish through parliamentary maneuvering and brokered deals what Hitler and the Germans were unable to accomplish during the Third Reich. Given Germany's resurgent anti-Semitism (and that of France as well), a strong, German-dominated EU that tolerates and even benignly encourages anti-Semitism and is diplomatically allied with the Arab world, is potentially the greatest threat to Judaism since Nazi Germany and a major threat to the United States as well. The enemies of Israel are the enemies of the United States. Let all Jews and Americans stand united as we proclaim never again to both the Holocaust and 9/11.
William E. Grim is a writer who lives in Germany and is a native of Columbus, Ohio.
************************
Is Germany in Danger of Backsliding?
Germany's Fourth Reich Spreads Its Wings Over the World
Germany Behind the Mask: Monster or Marshmallow?
By William E. Grim
I'm not Jewish. Nobody in my family died in the Holocaust. For me, anti-Semitism has always been one of those phenomena that doesn't really register on my radar, like tribal genocide in Rwanda, a horrible thing that happens to someone else. But I live in a small town outside of Munich on a street that until May of 1945 was named Adolf-Hitler-Strasse. I work in Munich, a pleasant metropolitan city of a little over a million inhabitants whose Bavarian charm tends to obscure the fact that this city was the birthplace and capital of the Nazi movement. Every day when I go to work I pass by the sites of apartments Hitler lived in, extant buildings in which decisions were made to murder millions of innocent people, and plazas in which book burnings took place, SS troops paraded and people were executed. The proximity to evil has a way of concentrating one's attention, of putting a physical reality to the textbook narratives of the horrors perpetrated by the Germans.
Then the little things start to happen that over a period of time add up to something very sinister. I'm on a bus and a high school boy passes around Grandpa's red leather-bound copy of Mein Kampf to his friends who respond by saying "coooool!." He then takes out a VCR tape (produced in Switzerland) of "The Great Speeches of Joseph Goebbels." A few weeks later I'm at a business meeting with four young highly educated Germans who are polite, charming and soft-spoken to say the least. When the subject matter changes to a business deal with a man in New York named Rubinstein, their nostrils flair, their demeanors attain a threatening mien and one of them actually says, and I'm quoting verbatim here: "The problem with America is that the Jews have all the money."
They start laughing and another one says, "Yeah, all the Jews care about is money."
You could have knocked me over with a feather. I half expected one of them to start talking about the historical veracity of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Here were four young, charming, well-educated Germans spewing forth anti-Semitic bilk that would have made Julius Streicher proud. I found that this type of anti-Semitic reference in my professional dealings with Germans soon became a leitmotif (to borrow a term made famous by Richard Wagner, another notorious German anti-Semite). In my private meetings with Germans it often happens that they will loosen up after a while and reveal personal opinions and political leanings that were thought to have ceased to exist in a Berlin bunker on April 30, 1945.
Maybe it's because I have blond hair and my last name is of German origin that the Germans feel that I am, or could potentially be, "one of them." It shows how much they understand what it means to be an American. Whatever the reason, the conversations generally have one or more of these components:
(1) It was unfortunate that America and Germany fought each other in World War II because the real enemy was Russia.
(2) Yes, the Nazis were excessive, but terrible things happen during wars, and anyway, the scope of the Holocaust has been greatly exaggerated by the American media, which is dominated by Jews.
(3) CNN is controlled by American Jews and is anti-Palestinian. [Yes, I know it sounds incredible, but even among the most highly intelligent Germans, even those with a near-native fluency in English, there is the widespread belief that the news network founded by Fidel Castro's best friend Ted Turner, who until recently was married to Hanoi Jane Fonda, is a hotbed of pro-Israeli propaganda.]
(4) Almost all Germans were opposed to the Third Reich and nobody in Germany knew anything about the murder of the Jews, but the Jews themselves were really responsible for the Holocaust.
(5) Ariel Sharon is worse than Hitler and the Israelis are Nazis. America supports Israel only because Jews control the American government and media.
For the first time in my life, then, I became conscious of anti-Semitism. Sure, anti- Semitism exists elsewhere in the world, but nowhere have the consequences been as devastating as in Germany.
Looking at it as objectively as possible, 2002 has been a banner year for anti-Semitism in Germany. Synagogues have been firebombed, Jewish cemeteries desecrated, the No. 1 best-selling novel, Martin Walser's Death of a Critic, is a thinly-veiled roman à clef containing a vicious anti-Semitic attack on Germany's best-known literary critic, Marcel Reich-Ranicki ( who is a survivor of both the Warsaw ghetto and Auschwitz), the Free Democrat Party has unofficially adopted anti-Semitism as a campaign tactic to attract Germany's sizeable Muslim minority, and German revisionist historians now are beginning to define German perpetration of World War II and the Holocaust not as crimes against humanity, but as early battles (with regrettable but understandable excesses) in the Cold War against communism. The situation is so bad that German Jews are advised not to wear anything in public that would identify them as Jewish because their safety cannot be guaranteed.
How can this be? Isn't this the "New Germany" that's gone 57 straight years without a Holocaust or even a pogrom, where truth, justice and the German way prevail amidst economic wealth, a high standard of living that is the envy of their European neighbors, and a constitution guaranteeing freedom for everyone regardless of race, creed or national origin? What's changed? The answer is: absolutely nothing.
My thesis is quite simple. While Germany no longer has the military power to enforce the racist ideology of the Nazis and while all extreme manifestations of Nazism are officially outlawed, the internal conditions--that is, the attitudes, worldview and cultural assumptions--that led to the rise of Nazism in Germany are still present because they constitute the basic components of German identity. Nazism was not an aberration; it was the distillation of the German psyche into its essential elements. External Nazism may have been utterly defeated in May of 1945; internal Nazism, however, remains, and will always remain, a potential threat as long as there exists a political and/or cultural entity known as Germany.
Now hold on a second, I hear many people saying. You can't possibly claim that Germans are as anti-Semitic today as they were during the years 1933-1945. It is true that Germany today is much different than during the Third Reich. What is different is that due to its total defeat by the Allies, Germany today is a client state of America and must do its bidding. That means repression of overt anti-Semitism. It's bad for business.
The other thing that has changed is that, even though Hitler lost World War II, he was phenomenally successful in carrying out his ideological agenda. Germany, indeed virtually all of Europe, is essentially "Judenfrei" (free of Jews) today due to the efficiency and zeal of the Germans as they perpetrated the Holocaust during the Third Reich. In fact, a very convincing case can be made that Nazism is one of the most successful political programs of all time. It accomplished more of its goals in a shorter amount of time than any other comparable political movement and permanently changed the face and political structure of several continents. Germany is wealthy, stable, relentlessly bourgeois and for all intents and purposes, free of Jews.
Yes, there is a tiny minority of Jews mostly centered in Berlin, and yes, there have been a number of Jews from the former Soviet Union who have emigrated to Germany, but most of the immigrants from Russia are not practicing Jews and do little if anything to promote a unique Jewish-German identity. The result of all this is that Germans today are able to reap the benefits of Hitler's anti-Semitic policies while paying lip service to the "need to remember."
Young Fritz doesn't have to be overtly anti-Semitic today because his grandfather's generation did such a bang-up job of the Holocaust. There just aren't that many Jews left to hate any more, and besides, the Germans have their old buddies, the Arabs, to do their hating for them. You might call the overwhelming German support for the Palestinians to be a form of anti-Semitism-by-proxy.
The German government has made cash payments to the State of Israel, as well as to individual Jews, to settle claims of murder, torture, false imprisonment, slave labor and genocide. Talk to most Germans and you'll soon discover that they think that the score has been settled between Germany and the Jews, that somehow the return of just a portion of what the Germans stole from the Jews is fair recompense for the deliberate murder of millions of people. If you think the Germans are truly sorry for what they did to the Jews, think again. There's never been an official "tut mir leid" offered by the Germans to the victims of the Holocaust and their descendants because that would admit culpability. Germany GmbH has paid off all claims against it without acknowledging responsibility in the same way that the Ford Motor Company engages in recalls of automobiles. It's all done to avoid liability.
German dialogue about the Holocaust is largely done in the subjunctive, passive mood: "Mistakes were made." But never: "We were wrong." The reason for this, I believe, is the myth of German superiority, overtly stated during the Nazi years, but still a major component of the German psyche.
Why is it that the Germans believe they are superior to all other nationalities? It is true that there have been many great German (and especially Austrian) composers, but Verdi is every bit as great a composer as Wagner. Literature? Yes, Goethe is one of the most important writers of all time, but as a dramatist he is a pale shadow compared to Shakespeare, and as a novelist he hardly compares to Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Engineering and science? Perhaps, but making good-quality cars is not on the same level as sending men to the moon and returning them safely. And we all know who figured out first how to make an atomic bomb. Cuisine, lifestyle, architecture? Now you've got to be kidding. Just think France and Italy.
No, the German belief in their superiority is a form of self-delusion and is based upon pretty thin gruel. Ironically, it may be that bad boy of German philosophy, Friedrich Nietzsche himself, who supplied the reason for this phenomenon. Nietzsche believed that moral systems and notions of national chauvinism were largely the result of ressentiment, that is, the members of a politically weak people band together in their resentment of their more powerful neighbors and convince one another that, while they may be politically weak, they are somehow "morally superior" to their competitors. This could very well explain the German superiority complex in the face of political weakness from the time of the Roman Empire to the Wilhelmine period beginning in the 1870s. It surely goes far to explain present-day German notions of superiority in the face of their devastating military defeat in World War II and subsequent relegation to second-tier status among the community of nations.
I have peviously mentioned that Germans overwhelmingly support the Palestinians as opposed to the Israelis, and that this overwhelming support represents a form of anti-Semitism-by-proxy. Germans may claim to be supporting the Palestinians because they think they are an "oppressed people," but let's be honest -- they are supporting the Palestinians and their Arabs handlers because the Palestinians and Arabs share the same ideals as the Nazis.
There's a long-standing history of German co-operation with the Arabs. In 1942 Hitler personally assured the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem that as soon as German forces conquered Great Britain, the Jews in Palestine (which was then under control of the British Mandate) would be exterminated. We should also keep in mind that the Arab terrorists who perpetrated the 9/11 atrocities did their planning in Germany. There are several reasons for this. The first is the well-known bungling and decentralized chaos of the German federal bureaucracy where literally the "links" hand doesn't know what the "rechts" hand is doing. The second is that Arab terrorists can count on a substantial number of Germans who share their anti-American and anti-Semitic views. The former members of the SS and Hitler's praetorian guards, along with their neo-Nazi supporters, who gather weekly in Munich beer halls, made Osama Bin Laden an "honorary Aryan" after the 9/11 attack.
Mein Kampf is also a best seller in the Arab world, especially in Saudi Arabia, America's putative "friend." Indeed, there is very little difference between the anti-Semitic rantings of Hitler and those of the so-called "spiritual leaders" of Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Al-Fatah. The Arabs also owe Hitler and the Germans big time. Hitler killed off the Jews, and Konrad Adenauer and his "democratic" descendants replaced them with the Turks. Yes, the Turks aren't Arabs, but they are Muslim, and although Turkey is a member of NATO and has foreign relations with Israel, many Turks identify and support their radical Arab co-religionists. Turkey remains as fragile a democracy as Weimar Germany during the 1920s. It wouldn't take much for Turkey to fall into the dark side of Muslim extremism.
The end results of Muslim immigration into Germany have been twofold: (1) It allows the Germans to feign liberalism and being open to freedom and diversity; and (2) By replacing the Jews they murdered with Muslims, who for the most part are as viciously anti-Semitic as were the Nazis, the Germans have cynically assured that those few Jews who remain in Germany will be unable to reassert political power even in a minority role.
German politicians have now begun to express anti-Semitic viewpoints as a means to curry favor with Germany's substantial Muslim minority. The most notorious example of this is Juergen Moellemann, the Jew-baiting second-in-command of the Free Democrat Party, the political faction that is most closely identified with business interests (favoring policies such as lowering taxes and reducing government expenditures) and other issues of a libertarian slant. Moellemann's strategy is quite simple. In a parliamentary system like Germany's where seats are awarded by proportional voting and in a party like the FDP which seldom garners more 10% of the vote, making an extremist anti-Semitic appeal to racist Muslims is an attempt to gain 1% or 2% of the vote which could result in the FDP becoming the minority partner in a coalition government if the Christian Democratic Party as expected wins the national elections in Germany in September. What is particularly worrisome here is that in CDU/FDP coalition governments in the past, the post of foreign minister has traditionally gone to the FDP. If this occurs again, Germany could shortly have the most anti-Semitic foreign policy since the days of Joachim von Ribbentrop.
A final point that I would like to make concerning the reasons for the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Germany is one that many will find at odds with the prima-facie evidence, or even appear to stretch the boundaries of common sense. Yet, I ask you to consider carefully my line of reasoning.
In many respects Germany got away with the Holocaust without paying much of a price. Yes, many Germans died as a result of German perpetration of World War II and the Holocaust, and yes, there was much physical destruction in the country, but the situation is like the little boy who steals a cookie from the tray when it is cooling on the kitchen table. For his efforts he may have gotten his hand slapped by his mother, but the stolen cookie remains eaten nonetheless.
After having committed the worst crimes in the history of humankind, the Germans were allowed to regain their sovereignty after only ten years, their infrastructure was completely rebuilt thanks to the generosity of the American people, and relatively few Germans were brought to trial for their monstrous crimes. Even those who were tried and convicted received relatively short sentences or had those reduced or commuted in general amnesties. For example, some members of the Einsatzkommandos, those Germans who, before the construction of the death camps, hunted and murdered Jews by the hundreds of thousands, received sentences of as little as five years imprisonment.
If there were true justice in the world, Germany would no longer exist as a separate country, but would have long ago had its territory divided up and dispersed among the Allies. It was an unfortunate historical coincidence that the Cold War began just as Germany was at last being brought to task for its many crimes and atrocities extending back to the First World War. The new threat of the Soviet Union took precedence over a just settling of accounts with Germany. The tragic result is that many of the countries raped and despoiled by Germany, such as the Czech Republic and Poland, are just now coming out of decades of economic decline, while Germany--fat, sassy, arrogant, self-satisfied, and essentially Judenfrei--has enjoyed four decades of undeserved economic prosperity.
We can't turn back the clock to redress all of the historical wrongs that have been committed by the Germans, but there are a number of things that can be done to assure that Germany can never again be in a position to threaten the rest of the civilized world. First and foremost is the realization that, while not all Germans are anti-Semitic, there is an anti-Semitic tendency within German culture that extends back to the time of Martin Luther. Germans are instinctively anti-Semitic in the same way that Americans are instinctively freedom loving. Anti-Semitism has been and unfortunately remains the default ideology of the German people. All things being equal, Germans will instinctively support the enemies of the State of Israel. Therefore, America will need to monitor closely and be ready and politically willing to intervene at a moment's notice in German affairs when it appears that Germany is back-sliding into anti-Semitism.
Additionally, it should be a goal of American foreign policy to oppose and to accelerate the dismemberment of the European Union. We must not allow German domination of the EU to accomplish through parliamentary maneuvering and brokered deals what Hitler and the Germans were unable to accomplish during the Third Reich. Given Germany's resurgent anti-Semitism (and that of France as well), a strong, German-dominated EU that tolerates and even benignly encourages anti-Semitism and is diplomatically allied with the Arab world, is potentially the greatest threat to Judaism since Nazi Germany and a major threat to the United States as well. The enemies of Israel are the enemies of the United States. Let all Jews and Americans stand united as we proclaim never again to both the Holocaust and 9/11.
William E. Grim is a writer who lives in Germany and is a native of Columbus, Ohio.
************************
Is Germany in Danger of Backsliding?
Germany's Fourth Reich Spreads Its Wings Over the World
Germany Behind the Mask: Monster or Marshmallow?
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The Good News magazine will give you hope for an uncertain future and show you the Bible's solutions for the crises we see in the news and the difficulties you face in life.
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Tuesday, January 09, 2007
American detained in Jerusalem's Russian Compound
It seems like just yesterday, it's that fresh in my mind. Thankfully, God has used this horrible experience to further raise awareness of the plight of the Temple Mount suffering under Nazi-Muslim occupation, the daily religious discrimination against Jews and Christians upon the Temple Mount where they're illegally forbidden to pray or read the Bible, increasing calls by many for this deplorable situation to change.
For Zion's Sake,
David Ben-Ariel
American Detained in Jerusalem's Russian Compound
Nobody arrested me. I was DETAINED when I faithfully reported to the police office at 9 a.m. Monday morning, January 9, 1996 (day before my birthday) the day after The Jerusalem Post published on their front page an article shedding light on what they were doing in the dark.
After my initial interrogation of six and one half hours, the Thursday before, I reported, as demanded, to the police station Friday morning, Saturday morning, Sunday morning, and then Monday morning the fellow who had actually been nice to me, he said his name was Moshe, was ordered to serve me a deportation order. He expected me to sign it and, APPALLED, I purposely dropped the accursed paper from my hands and let it fall to the floor where it belonged! I refused to sign it.
They put me in that dungeon called the Russian Compound, built hundreds of years ago by the Turks, and which has since been toured by Israeli parliament members saying it should be torn down! I was in a cell made for ten and at one time we had twenty one people in it, with mats lying all over the floor and bed bugs crushed on the walls and everyone but me (by the grace of God) had welts on them from their bites!
We had one "bathroom" for all of us in that cell: it was a literal hole in the floor, and the shower pipe (no showerhead) was just over that hole, and a filthy sink, and everyone had to practically beg for toilet paper. I was there for over two weeks before my unjust deportation, after being brought before the Jerusalem magistrate (who refused to release me, being represented by famous Israeli lawyer Naftali Warzberger), and later before Israel's High Court who agreed there was no reason I shouldn't have been set free, that there was no risk of flight, but now they were just going to deport me since my citizenship request was denied.
The Temple Mount Faithful paid for all my legal expenses, recognizing the whole ordeal was politico-religious persecution against all of us, yet the Leftists targeted little ol' me!
Is it a crime to have an abiding love for Israel? To believe what's written in the Law and the Prophets concerning the Temple and our responsibility to construct it? To mourn that it hasn't been done yet? As the Jerusalem Talmud states: "every generation in which the Temple has not been built is as if the Temple were destroyed in it...." Isn't Israel's state emblem a gold menorah in between two gold olive branches?
Must I remain in exile, banished from the Land I love, because my hope, prayer, and dream is for Israel to fulfill what that symbol represents: the Temple and Israel's destiny to become a Light to all nations?
David Ben-Ariel, a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall, shares a special focus on the Middle East, reflected in hard-hitting articles that help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out Beyond Babylon.
For Zion's Sake,
David Ben-Ariel
American Detained in Jerusalem's Russian Compound
Nobody arrested me. I was DETAINED when I faithfully reported to the police office at 9 a.m. Monday morning, January 9, 1996 (day before my birthday) the day after The Jerusalem Post published on their front page an article shedding light on what they were doing in the dark.
After my initial interrogation of six and one half hours, the Thursday before, I reported, as demanded, to the police station Friday morning, Saturday morning, Sunday morning, and then Monday morning the fellow who had actually been nice to me, he said his name was Moshe, was ordered to serve me a deportation order. He expected me to sign it and, APPALLED, I purposely dropped the accursed paper from my hands and let it fall to the floor where it belonged! I refused to sign it.
They put me in that dungeon called the Russian Compound, built hundreds of years ago by the Turks, and which has since been toured by Israeli parliament members saying it should be torn down! I was in a cell made for ten and at one time we had twenty one people in it, with mats lying all over the floor and bed bugs crushed on the walls and everyone but me (by the grace of God) had welts on them from their bites!
We had one "bathroom" for all of us in that cell: it was a literal hole in the floor, and the shower pipe (no showerhead) was just over that hole, and a filthy sink, and everyone had to practically beg for toilet paper. I was there for over two weeks before my unjust deportation, after being brought before the Jerusalem magistrate (who refused to release me, being represented by famous Israeli lawyer Naftali Warzberger), and later before Israel's High Court who agreed there was no reason I shouldn't have been set free, that there was no risk of flight, but now they were just going to deport me since my citizenship request was denied.
The Temple Mount Faithful paid for all my legal expenses, recognizing the whole ordeal was politico-religious persecution against all of us, yet the Leftists targeted little ol' me!
Is it a crime to have an abiding love for Israel? To believe what's written in the Law and the Prophets concerning the Temple and our responsibility to construct it? To mourn that it hasn't been done yet? As the Jerusalem Talmud states: "every generation in which the Temple has not been built is as if the Temple were destroyed in it...." Isn't Israel's state emblem a gold menorah in between two gold olive branches?
Must I remain in exile, banished from the Land I love, because my hope, prayer, and dream is for Israel to fulfill what that symbol represents: the Temple and Israel's destiny to become a Light to all nations?
David Ben-Ariel, a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall, shares a special focus on the Middle East, reflected in hard-hitting articles that help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out Beyond Babylon.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Jewish prayers not permitted at Judaism's holiest site due to Arab terrorist threats
Police Minister: Rachel's Tomb Soon to be More Accessible
16:53 Jan 02, '07 / 12 Tevet 5767
by Hillel Fendel
Public Security Minister Dichter told religious MKs that he'll act to allow Jews to visit Rachel's Tomb without restrictions in a matter of weeks. The MKs confronted him with other issues as well.
The nine-member National Union-National Religious Party Knesset faction invited Dichter yesterday (Monday) to discuss several issues of concern. Dichter [pictured] served as head of the General Security Service (Shabak) until joining the Kadima party in early 2006...
* A major issue of discussion was that of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount. The police often prevent Jews from praying there at their most sacred site, in order to mollify the Arabs who threaten violence. Jewish prayer at the area known as the Small Wall, further north along the Western Wall, is also often restricted.
MK Uri Ariel said that this status quo must not be allowed to continue. "We must find the opportunity to change this situation, where Jews are not permitted to pray at their most sacred site," he said.
Dichter said that the issue is a diplomatic one that only the government can decide upon. MK Aryeh Eldad said that the Supreme Court had ruled clearly that individual Jews mut be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. It was agreed that Eldad would transmit a copy of the ruling to Minister Dichter for his perusal...
******************
Restore Jewish prayer upon the Temple Mount
David Ben-Ariel, Toledo, Ohio, USA/Menashe
MK Uri Ariel told Avi Dichter: "We must find the opportunity to change this situation, where Jews are not permitted to pray at their most sacred site." During a Root & Branch lecture in Jerusalem, Professor Nahum Rakover, then Deputy Attorney General of Israel, publicly agreed with me that it isn't illegal for Christians or Jews to pray upon the Temple Mount, even though it is forcibly prevented by the police. Professor Nahum Rakover basically said we're in this situation today because NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE WANT TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHT to that religious site.
Jews Must Demand Rights to Temple Mount
Restore Israeli Sovereignty Over the Temple Mount
Where's the Temple on the Temple Mount?
The Vatican Must Return the Temple Treasures!
A House of Prayer for All Peoples?
Third Temple Coming Soon to Jerusalem!
16:53 Jan 02, '07 / 12 Tevet 5767
by Hillel Fendel
Public Security Minister Dichter told religious MKs that he'll act to allow Jews to visit Rachel's Tomb without restrictions in a matter of weeks. The MKs confronted him with other issues as well.
The nine-member National Union-National Religious Party Knesset faction invited Dichter yesterday (Monday) to discuss several issues of concern. Dichter [pictured] served as head of the General Security Service (Shabak) until joining the Kadima party in early 2006...
* A major issue of discussion was that of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount. The police often prevent Jews from praying there at their most sacred site, in order to mollify the Arabs who threaten violence. Jewish prayer at the area known as the Small Wall, further north along the Western Wall, is also often restricted.
MK Uri Ariel said that this status quo must not be allowed to continue. "We must find the opportunity to change this situation, where Jews are not permitted to pray at their most sacred site," he said.
Dichter said that the issue is a diplomatic one that only the government can decide upon. MK Aryeh Eldad said that the Supreme Court had ruled clearly that individual Jews mut be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. It was agreed that Eldad would transmit a copy of the ruling to Minister Dichter for his perusal...
******************
Restore Jewish prayer upon the Temple Mount
David Ben-Ariel, Toledo, Ohio, USA/Menashe
MK Uri Ariel told Avi Dichter: "We must find the opportunity to change this situation, where Jews are not permitted to pray at their most sacred site." During a Root & Branch lecture in Jerusalem, Professor Nahum Rakover, then Deputy Attorney General of Israel, publicly agreed with me that it isn't illegal for Christians or Jews to pray upon the Temple Mount, even though it is forcibly prevented by the police. Professor Nahum Rakover basically said we're in this situation today because NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE WANT TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHT to that religious site.
Jews Must Demand Rights to Temple Mount
Restore Israeli Sovereignty Over the Temple Mount
Where's the Temple on the Temple Mount?
The Vatican Must Return the Temple Treasures!
A House of Prayer for All Peoples?
Third Temple Coming Soon to Jerusalem!
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Oprah Curses Her Critics from South Africa
Oprah Curses Her Critics from South Africa
Oprah Winfrey: "I say to the critics, be damned. Be damned because you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Oprah can do as she pleases with her money, or the money her predominantly white audience sends her for her pet projects, even if it includes "keeping a promise" to open a school for girls only that she made to that smooth talking terrorist in a suit and tie, Nelson Mandela (who is on record, singing about killing white people, didn't Oprah know that?) who was released from prison on condition he didn't enter politics (even though he should have hanged as a gun smuggling traitor -- didn't Oprah know that?).
Oprah's school for girls feeds the feminist beast that bellows women are the future salvation of the world. Oprah has mainly taken black girls from poor South African neighborhoods, which is her prerogative, but she shows her inexcusable ignorance about apartheid when she blames it for their level of poverty (it's been over for years Oprah and blacks from the rest of Africa clamored to get into South Africa under apartheid for economic advantages!).
Does Oprah blame apartheid for the poverty of those white girls turned away from her school because of their color? Sounds like Miss Oprah is just exposing more of the double-standard blacks get away with too often and don't like it when called on it. Shame.
Aid for Africa?
[6 Pics & Video] Nelson Mandela: The Songs They Sing about Killing Whites
YouTube - Nelson Mandela sings about killing whites
Nelson Mandela sings with his communist Nelson Mandela sings with his communist comrades about killing white people
SOUTH AFRICA IN PROPHECY
Black to Africa (Facing the Crisis in Black America)
South African Traitor Sells Story
Black Mark on Toledo
Diversity Demands: Segregate Now!
A Warning For America From South Africa
Black Racists Slaughter Whites in South Africa - Where's the Outrage?
Martin Luther King Day?
Race Matters
Chocolate Continent Awaits the Great Black Return!
Oprah Winfrey: "I say to the critics, be damned. Be damned because you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Oprah can do as she pleases with her money, or the money her predominantly white audience sends her for her pet projects, even if it includes "keeping a promise" to open a school for girls only that she made to that smooth talking terrorist in a suit and tie, Nelson Mandela (who is on record, singing about killing white people, didn't Oprah know that?) who was released from prison on condition he didn't enter politics (even though he should have hanged as a gun smuggling traitor -- didn't Oprah know that?).
Oprah's school for girls feeds the feminist beast that bellows women are the future salvation of the world. Oprah has mainly taken black girls from poor South African neighborhoods, which is her prerogative, but she shows her inexcusable ignorance about apartheid when she blames it for their level of poverty (it's been over for years Oprah and blacks from the rest of Africa clamored to get into South Africa under apartheid for economic advantages!).
Does Oprah blame apartheid for the poverty of those white girls turned away from her school because of their color? Sounds like Miss Oprah is just exposing more of the double-standard blacks get away with too often and don't like it when called on it. Shame.
Aid for Africa?
[6 Pics & Video] Nelson Mandela: The Songs They Sing about Killing Whites
YouTube - Nelson Mandela sings about killing whites
Nelson Mandela sings with his communist Nelson Mandela sings with his communist comrades about killing white people
SOUTH AFRICA IN PROPHECY
Black to Africa (Facing the Crisis in Black America)
South African Traitor Sells Story
Black Mark on Toledo
Diversity Demands: Segregate Now!
A Warning For America From South Africa
Black Racists Slaughter Whites in South Africa - Where's the Outrage?
Martin Luther King Day?
Race Matters
Chocolate Continent Awaits the Great Black Return!
Friday, January 05, 2007
Germany Has Nuclear Weapons!
Anybody who foolishly thinks that Germany does not have nuclear weapons (besides those the United States has on German soil) seriously needs to THINK AGAIN and beware the historic German element of surprise and blitzkrieg. Germany has nuclear weapons and undoubtedly has possessed nuclear weapons since Franz Josef Strauss.
"During the 1970s, US codebreakers found dramatic evidence that West German companies were selling the Sarin [nerve gas] secret to several Arab nations...
No one has ever examined the role of West German intelligence as a merchant of death for GRU clients such as Libya and Iraq. The greatest scandal may involve the German bankers...
Even more alarming are reports that West Germany is behind the secret proliferation of nuclear weapons. According to a former Argentine diplomat, a secret nuclear protocol was attached to a West German-Argentine Trade Treaty during the 1960s. The rationale was that West Germany was afraid that some day the Americans would pull out of NATO or withdraw their nuclear shield. Because of Soviet antipathy to German possession of the atomic bomb, it was decided to develop the nuclear weapons secretly by utilizing the large emigre communities of German scientists in Argentina and South Africa."
Unholy Trinity by Aarons & Loftus, pg. 273
Bavarian Pope Entrusts Germany To Lead Europe, Others Wary Of The Grand Inquisitor
Germany to Take the EU Bull by the Horns
Expect GERMANY to restore law and order to Europe and the world, even if it demands they wage world war to do it!
"During the 1970s, US codebreakers found dramatic evidence that West German companies were selling the Sarin [nerve gas] secret to several Arab nations...
No one has ever examined the role of West German intelligence as a merchant of death for GRU clients such as Libya and Iraq. The greatest scandal may involve the German bankers...
Even more alarming are reports that West Germany is behind the secret proliferation of nuclear weapons. According to a former Argentine diplomat, a secret nuclear protocol was attached to a West German-Argentine Trade Treaty during the 1960s. The rationale was that West Germany was afraid that some day the Americans would pull out of NATO or withdraw their nuclear shield. Because of Soviet antipathy to German possession of the atomic bomb, it was decided to develop the nuclear weapons secretly by utilizing the large emigre communities of German scientists in Argentina and South Africa."
Unholy Trinity by Aarons & Loftus, pg. 273
Bavarian Pope Entrusts Germany To Lead Europe, Others Wary Of The Grand Inquisitor
Germany to Take the EU Bull by the Horns
Expect GERMANY to restore law and order to Europe and the world, even if it demands they wage world war to do it!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Miriam Weiss: Holocaust Survivor and Kibbutz Mother
Miriam Weiss: Holocaust Survivor and Kibbutz Mother
Miriam Weiss: June 29, 1915 - January 4, 1997
Miriam Weiss and David Ben-Ariel,
Passover at Ramat Yohanan, 1990
(Click on image to enlarge it)
On that precious list of "Righteous Gentiles" (rare individuals who assisted Jews during the Holocaust) is the great name of Jan Bulski who risked his life and family in Poland to save my "kibbutz mother" -- Miriam Weiss -- who I met and was "adopted" by at Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan near Haifa in Northern Israel while a volunteer there from October 1982 to February 1983.
This is an excerpt from Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan, Restal Hotel, Tiberias, Israel -- a letter I wrote an American friend (without touching it up for spelling), July 27, 1989 from Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan, Israel:
"Miriam & I cried yesterday when she received a letter stating the man in Poland who hid her & saved her from the Gestapo & Holocaust, died. She opened up last week & told me what I hadn't known & how wealthy she was raised, how wealthy she married w/jewellery & furs & extensive rich contacts & travel in Europe & how happy she was, and had a cook for her & her husband & a maid also, & how after Hitler invaded Poland her husband immediately joined the underground buying weapons & insisting she move in w/friends for safety sake & how he was later captured by the Gestapo & murdered in Matthausen, Austria concentration camp & how sick w/grief & pain she was, she so loved him. And how one of the women who risked their lives to help save her later was caught attempting to save others & was murdered herself after being shipped to Ravensbruck concentration camp & how her mother was in the Warsaw Ghetto & sent to the gas chambers in Treblinka concentration camp. She cried when she spoke of how much pain can one take after her husband's death. Miriam just turned 74 about a month ago. I don't know how they handle such hell... She's been ill for the last 2 months & I feel helpless to help her..."
While writing this article to honor Miriam's memory and share history, I've practically gone mad looking for the fuchshia-colored paper I knew I had with her maiden name and the name of her Catholic Polish husband, a Gentile, one of four brothers who each owned the largest industrial banks in Poland, a paper I typed up in her home the day after she gave me detailed information about her life. I can't find it and wonder if I threw it out figuring Yad Vashem already has the information or what, but I can't imagine doing that as I would want to add my personal touch and memories to it. Perhaps it's all symbolic of the fears and frustrations of looking for lost family members, Holocaust survivors, and it's out of your control and so overwhelming.
Miriam said when Heydrich (Himmler?) thought things were going too slowly in Poland, he decided to round up a lot of people on "Black Saturday." That's when they took her husband away since he was involved in the Polish Underground. Miriam said she was in the Warsaw Ghetto with her mother (Miriam's parents were Zwi and Hana Hampel) but got out and was hid by a woman who was later sent to Ravensbruck herself for helping to rescue Jews. One night some drunk Poles came and banged on the door and told the woman they knew she was hiding "schwein, Jewish schwein," pretending to be Gestapo, and only left when they got a fur out of it. That's when the lady told Miriam she would have to go back into the Warsaw Ghetto until some other place could be found for her.
Miriam said that she had dyed her hair blond to look as Aryan as could be and wore a widow's veil and that the Nazi guards at the Warsaw Ghetto made a comment about how young she was to already be a widow. Later when another place was found for Miriam, she said her mother was so happy for her to get out but it was the last time she saw her and Miriam attributes her survival to her mother's prayers. Miriam said her mother was sent to Treblinka where she died, but a letter from Henia Seidman [Miriam's best Israeli-Polish friend] to me says she died in the Warsaw Ghetto. Miriam also said, if I remember correctly, that she was hid in a hole in the ground at Jan Bulski's place, and that the only thing to comfort her was a small vial of perfume she kept. I always gave her a gift of perfume for Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). Henia wrote Miriam was hidden in their kitchen. One thing for sure is Miriam said after the war everybody talked about where they were during the war and how hardly anybody could believe where she was hidden, as Jews weren't welcome there before the war! Miriam felt the Poles were more anti-Semitic than the Germans.
Miriam told me that she later arranged, after the Russians came, to make it to Berlin but you could never know for sure if the one you paid to help you get there would show up or come through and her help did, but she ended up in the Russian section of Berlin on Christmas Eve and was in a small room with no windows and mattresses on the floor with about 50 other people crammed in there. She said everybody hoped to get into the American quarter. She also said after the war there was so much food, almost too much food.
Miriam married someone I think she met that Christmas night in Berlin or knew him in Poland, Hanoch Eisenberg, and wandered with him in Europe and as Henia wrote, "the Joint brought her and her husband...to Italy. From Italy they went by ships to Israel, but in the time of English Mandate their ship was kidnapped and brought to Cyprus camps. In Cyprus they were perhaps a year and in 1949 they came to Ramat Jochanan."
Actually, Miriam had some friend or relative visiting Ramat Yohanan from Kibbutz Yagur who was reading a letter from her, as Miriam told me, and she started crying and Henia Seidman, being the soft-hearted woman she's known to be, asked her why and she told her how Miriam was so depressed in Cyprus and Henia said for her to tell her to plan to come to Ramat Yohanan. When Miriam first came to the kibbutz from Cyprus after Israeli independence, they called for Henia who was working in what was then the kitchen (not the big beautiful cheder ochel -- dining room -- they have today, she pointed out), practically a wooden shack, and although she had soot or something on her face her beautiful blue eyes shone through (and Henia had such beautiful blue eyes) and Henia and her mother hugged and welcomed Miriam as family. Henia's family left Poland before the Holocaust.
Miriam divorced Eisenberg who didn't want to stay on the kibbutz and moved to Tel Aviv. She later married - for one day - David Weiss from the kibbutz. I used to say hello to him and often saw him working at the kibbutz factory, Palram. A very short man, older, with white hair. I once ate with David and mentioned the Queen of England continued King David's dynasty, and was surprised he was familiar with the belief but appeared to dismiss it as "a nice story."
Miriam and Henia were both short Polish Jews. We would always sit together in the dining room and eat and they would carry on in Polish and some Hebrew and English. If you didn't know them you would think they were always arguing, but that's just how they talked, as I chuckle remembering them. The mail boxes were in the dining room too, and since it was easier for me to walk with my "long legs" and get Miriam's mail, I would. That's how I brought the letter to her that day when we found out Jan Bulski had died. I had only written him about once and sent him maybe $20 or more through some grateful Polish organization in Toledo, Ohio that would make sure he received it. They said it would be exchanged on the black market for more zlotys. He was a diabetic and did receive something monthly from Yad Vashem after Miriam and Henia saw to it. A tree was also planted in his honor on the "Avenue of the Righteous Gentiles" at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Miriam cried and said he didn't have to risk his life and the life of his family to save her but that he did and that he was such a good man. Henia and I just kept quiet and wept with her.
Miriam told me her family had their money from the tea industry. They bought and sold the famous Lyon tea from England and then repackaged it or whatever they did to make a profit. She loved the European concerts and later travelled with her husband all over Europe and North Africa. She said her love of music came from her mother.
Miriam had another kibbutz "son" like me, also an American, whose name is Joe from New Hampshire. She was going to leave him her photo-album. Joe travelled with her to Switzerland to visit a mutual friend whom Miriam tried to play matchmaker between him and her, but they remained friends and nothing more. Miriam used to ask why Moses couldn't have led the Children of Israel to Switzerland! People would speak of Miriam's sons as "Joe and Hoover." (I was born with the family name of Hoover but legally changed my name to David Ben-Ariel for religious reasons). Miriam used to exclaim, "Do you know how many people would love to have your passport? To be an American?" I would tell her that although I dearly love the United States I want to live in Israel and she would mellow and say something like, "Well, if that makes you happy, if that's what you want." She also worried that I would get killed like Meir Kahane for being so outspoken.
One of my many fond and funny memories is Miriam and I arriving somewhat late to a Sukkot celebration around the swimming pool at Ramat Yohanan, and there were plenty of people standing around and we looked for a place to stand and then she found a bale of straw to sit on near the front and then there appeared to be some confusion as the lady who was to lead the children's singing was frantically looking about and then discovered that Miriam was sitting on the folded banner that had the words to their song!
Miriam used to rest in bed after we ate in the afternoon and listen to her classical music (I gave her Grandma Vivian Hoover's classical albums) and read The Jerusalem Post and then sigh how she hated politics, comment that she was weary of world news, but she would continue to read the newspapers and listen every hour on the hour to the news on the radio as I read a book or wrote in her living room (where she displayed the Austrian crystal glass castle I once gave her for a gift, which I called "the Kingdom of Messiah" -- because of its brilliance -- and Joe's paintings adorned her walls...Miriam had an artist and an author for her sons).
Every time I visited Israel, I would head straight for Miriam's. The last time I saw her was in 1995 when her friends told me she had Alzheimer's. She had been moved from her apartment to the nursing home. They told me if she would remember anybody, it would be me. I went in and she was strapped in a wheelchair, wanting out, and wanting me to get her out and speaking German to me. (Miriam knew German, English, Polish and Hebrew). She held on to my arm so tightly, looking frightened, and I said, "Miriam, it's David. I'm American. Speak Hebrew or English. I don't know German." She was crying and I was crying. Another Miriam, originally from Berlin, was very angry about Miriam's deteriorating situation and said the Germans who doubted the Holocaust should hear Miriam reliving it and crying out for her mother, as if once wasn't enough! Henia wrote me that Miriam was born in Poland June 29, 1915 and died January 4, 1997 at Ramat Yohanan and was buried there and "got a very fine monument at our cemetery."
For greater insight into my beloved Miriam, I'll close with portions of a March 18, 1988 letter of commendation she wrote on my behalf to Joseph Tkach, Jr. of the Worldwide Church of God:
...my kibbutz son David Hoover...first came to our kibbutz seven years ago...he posted [actually somebody else did in the communal dining room] an article he had written about his struggle to free himself from drugs for all the members to read. A very brave thing to do since drug addiction is here considered a terrible social and personal crime. I invited him to visit me and we subsequently got to know each other well. David stayed on our kibbutz six months the first time. He worked hard and thus earned the respect of many members here. There was never any trouble. Quite the contrary. And David shared with us his Christian beliefs that had given him such strength to overcome his addiction...When I say he shared his beliefs I mean that he offered but did not force them upon us. As might be well known to you we are sensitive to any aggressive presentations of Christianity that denigrate our Jewish heritage. But David has a deep and affectionate respect for it. I myself am not religious and must admit that I am sometimes bewildered by his impressive knowledge of the Bible and Jewish customs but if it give his life fulfillment I am very happy for him...Over the past seven years David has come to Ramat Yohanan to celebrate Sukkot. He has stayed with me and is a very well behaved guest. He also corresponds with me regularly and started my subscription to Plain Truth which I do read with interest. Recently I continued the subscription. I might add that several other members of our kibbutz now read it too...I think confidence can be placed in him to represent your church here in the Middle East...
Sincerely,
Shalom,
Miriam Weiss
I yearn to return to Zion and visit Miriam's gravesite, but Ramat Yohanan just wouldn't be the same without her. And the dining room without Miriam or Henia...
Other articles that mention Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan:
Israel Work History (Worldwide Church of God)
Herbert W Armstrong and Worldwide Church of God Mentioned in Israeli Newspaper
Joseph Isn't Jewish!
Miriam Weiss: June 29, 1915 - January 4, 1997
Miriam Weiss and David Ben-Ariel,
Passover at Ramat Yohanan, 1990
(Click on image to enlarge it)
On that precious list of "Righteous Gentiles" (rare individuals who assisted Jews during the Holocaust) is the great name of Jan Bulski who risked his life and family in Poland to save my "kibbutz mother" -- Miriam Weiss -- who I met and was "adopted" by at Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan near Haifa in Northern Israel while a volunteer there from October 1982 to February 1983.
This is an excerpt from Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan, Restal Hotel, Tiberias, Israel -- a letter I wrote an American friend (without touching it up for spelling), July 27, 1989 from Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan, Israel:
"Miriam & I cried yesterday when she received a letter stating the man in Poland who hid her & saved her from the Gestapo & Holocaust, died. She opened up last week & told me what I hadn't known & how wealthy she was raised, how wealthy she married w/jewellery & furs & extensive rich contacts & travel in Europe & how happy she was, and had a cook for her & her husband & a maid also, & how after Hitler invaded Poland her husband immediately joined the underground buying weapons & insisting she move in w/friends for safety sake & how he was later captured by the Gestapo & murdered in Matthausen, Austria concentration camp & how sick w/grief & pain she was, she so loved him. And how one of the women who risked their lives to help save her later was caught attempting to save others & was murdered herself after being shipped to Ravensbruck concentration camp & how her mother was in the Warsaw Ghetto & sent to the gas chambers in Treblinka concentration camp. She cried when she spoke of how much pain can one take after her husband's death. Miriam just turned 74 about a month ago. I don't know how they handle such hell... She's been ill for the last 2 months & I feel helpless to help her..."
While writing this article to honor Miriam's memory and share history, I've practically gone mad looking for the fuchshia-colored paper I knew I had with her maiden name and the name of her Catholic Polish husband, a Gentile, one of four brothers who each owned the largest industrial banks in Poland, a paper I typed up in her home the day after she gave me detailed information about her life. I can't find it and wonder if I threw it out figuring Yad Vashem already has the information or what, but I can't imagine doing that as I would want to add my personal touch and memories to it. Perhaps it's all symbolic of the fears and frustrations of looking for lost family members, Holocaust survivors, and it's out of your control and so overwhelming.
Miriam said when Heydrich (Himmler?) thought things were going too slowly in Poland, he decided to round up a lot of people on "Black Saturday." That's when they took her husband away since he was involved in the Polish Underground. Miriam said she was in the Warsaw Ghetto with her mother (Miriam's parents were Zwi and Hana Hampel) but got out and was hid by a woman who was later sent to Ravensbruck herself for helping to rescue Jews. One night some drunk Poles came and banged on the door and told the woman they knew she was hiding "schwein, Jewish schwein," pretending to be Gestapo, and only left when they got a fur out of it. That's when the lady told Miriam she would have to go back into the Warsaw Ghetto until some other place could be found for her.
Miriam said that she had dyed her hair blond to look as Aryan as could be and wore a widow's veil and that the Nazi guards at the Warsaw Ghetto made a comment about how young she was to already be a widow. Later when another place was found for Miriam, she said her mother was so happy for her to get out but it was the last time she saw her and Miriam attributes her survival to her mother's prayers. Miriam said her mother was sent to Treblinka where she died, but a letter from Henia Seidman [Miriam's best Israeli-Polish friend] to me says she died in the Warsaw Ghetto. Miriam also said, if I remember correctly, that she was hid in a hole in the ground at Jan Bulski's place, and that the only thing to comfort her was a small vial of perfume she kept. I always gave her a gift of perfume for Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). Henia wrote Miriam was hidden in their kitchen. One thing for sure is Miriam said after the war everybody talked about where they were during the war and how hardly anybody could believe where she was hidden, as Jews weren't welcome there before the war! Miriam felt the Poles were more anti-Semitic than the Germans.
Miriam told me that she later arranged, after the Russians came, to make it to Berlin but you could never know for sure if the one you paid to help you get there would show up or come through and her help did, but she ended up in the Russian section of Berlin on Christmas Eve and was in a small room with no windows and mattresses on the floor with about 50 other people crammed in there. She said everybody hoped to get into the American quarter. She also said after the war there was so much food, almost too much food.
Miriam married someone I think she met that Christmas night in Berlin or knew him in Poland, Hanoch Eisenberg, and wandered with him in Europe and as Henia wrote, "the Joint brought her and her husband...to Italy. From Italy they went by ships to Israel, but in the time of English Mandate their ship was kidnapped and brought to Cyprus camps. In Cyprus they were perhaps a year and in 1949 they came to Ramat Jochanan."
Actually, Miriam had some friend or relative visiting Ramat Yohanan from Kibbutz Yagur who was reading a letter from her, as Miriam told me, and she started crying and Henia Seidman, being the soft-hearted woman she's known to be, asked her why and she told her how Miriam was so depressed in Cyprus and Henia said for her to tell her to plan to come to Ramat Yohanan. When Miriam first came to the kibbutz from Cyprus after Israeli independence, they called for Henia who was working in what was then the kitchen (not the big beautiful cheder ochel -- dining room -- they have today, she pointed out), practically a wooden shack, and although she had soot or something on her face her beautiful blue eyes shone through (and Henia had such beautiful blue eyes) and Henia and her mother hugged and welcomed Miriam as family. Henia's family left Poland before the Holocaust.
Miriam divorced Eisenberg who didn't want to stay on the kibbutz and moved to Tel Aviv. She later married - for one day - David Weiss from the kibbutz. I used to say hello to him and often saw him working at the kibbutz factory, Palram. A very short man, older, with white hair. I once ate with David and mentioned the Queen of England continued King David's dynasty, and was surprised he was familiar with the belief but appeared to dismiss it as "a nice story."
Miriam and Henia were both short Polish Jews. We would always sit together in the dining room and eat and they would carry on in Polish and some Hebrew and English. If you didn't know them you would think they were always arguing, but that's just how they talked, as I chuckle remembering them. The mail boxes were in the dining room too, and since it was easier for me to walk with my "long legs" and get Miriam's mail, I would. That's how I brought the letter to her that day when we found out Jan Bulski had died. I had only written him about once and sent him maybe $20 or more through some grateful Polish organization in Toledo, Ohio that would make sure he received it. They said it would be exchanged on the black market for more zlotys. He was a diabetic and did receive something monthly from Yad Vashem after Miriam and Henia saw to it. A tree was also planted in his honor on the "Avenue of the Righteous Gentiles" at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Miriam cried and said he didn't have to risk his life and the life of his family to save her but that he did and that he was such a good man. Henia and I just kept quiet and wept with her.
Miriam told me her family had their money from the tea industry. They bought and sold the famous Lyon tea from England and then repackaged it or whatever they did to make a profit. She loved the European concerts and later travelled with her husband all over Europe and North Africa. She said her love of music came from her mother.
Miriam had another kibbutz "son" like me, also an American, whose name is Joe from New Hampshire. She was going to leave him her photo-album. Joe travelled with her to Switzerland to visit a mutual friend whom Miriam tried to play matchmaker between him and her, but they remained friends and nothing more. Miriam used to ask why Moses couldn't have led the Children of Israel to Switzerland! People would speak of Miriam's sons as "Joe and Hoover." (I was born with the family name of Hoover but legally changed my name to David Ben-Ariel for religious reasons). Miriam used to exclaim, "Do you know how many people would love to have your passport? To be an American?" I would tell her that although I dearly love the United States I want to live in Israel and she would mellow and say something like, "Well, if that makes you happy, if that's what you want." She also worried that I would get killed like Meir Kahane for being so outspoken.
One of my many fond and funny memories is Miriam and I arriving somewhat late to a Sukkot celebration around the swimming pool at Ramat Yohanan, and there were plenty of people standing around and we looked for a place to stand and then she found a bale of straw to sit on near the front and then there appeared to be some confusion as the lady who was to lead the children's singing was frantically looking about and then discovered that Miriam was sitting on the folded banner that had the words to their song!
Miriam used to rest in bed after we ate in the afternoon and listen to her classical music (I gave her Grandma Vivian Hoover's classical albums) and read The Jerusalem Post and then sigh how she hated politics, comment that she was weary of world news, but she would continue to read the newspapers and listen every hour on the hour to the news on the radio as I read a book or wrote in her living room (where she displayed the Austrian crystal glass castle I once gave her for a gift, which I called "the Kingdom of Messiah" -- because of its brilliance -- and Joe's paintings adorned her walls...Miriam had an artist and an author for her sons).
Every time I visited Israel, I would head straight for Miriam's. The last time I saw her was in 1995 when her friends told me she had Alzheimer's. She had been moved from her apartment to the nursing home. They told me if she would remember anybody, it would be me. I went in and she was strapped in a wheelchair, wanting out, and wanting me to get her out and speaking German to me. (Miriam knew German, English, Polish and Hebrew). She held on to my arm so tightly, looking frightened, and I said, "Miriam, it's David. I'm American. Speak Hebrew or English. I don't know German." She was crying and I was crying. Another Miriam, originally from Berlin, was very angry about Miriam's deteriorating situation and said the Germans who doubted the Holocaust should hear Miriam reliving it and crying out for her mother, as if once wasn't enough! Henia wrote me that Miriam was born in Poland June 29, 1915 and died January 4, 1997 at Ramat Yohanan and was buried there and "got a very fine monument at our cemetery."
For greater insight into my beloved Miriam, I'll close with portions of a March 18, 1988 letter of commendation she wrote on my behalf to Joseph Tkach, Jr. of the Worldwide Church of God:
...my kibbutz son David Hoover...first came to our kibbutz seven years ago...he posted [actually somebody else did in the communal dining room] an article he had written about his struggle to free himself from drugs for all the members to read. A very brave thing to do since drug addiction is here considered a terrible social and personal crime. I invited him to visit me and we subsequently got to know each other well. David stayed on our kibbutz six months the first time. He worked hard and thus earned the respect of many members here. There was never any trouble. Quite the contrary. And David shared with us his Christian beliefs that had given him such strength to overcome his addiction...When I say he shared his beliefs I mean that he offered but did not force them upon us. As might be well known to you we are sensitive to any aggressive presentations of Christianity that denigrate our Jewish heritage. But David has a deep and affectionate respect for it. I myself am not religious and must admit that I am sometimes bewildered by his impressive knowledge of the Bible and Jewish customs but if it give his life fulfillment I am very happy for him...Over the past seven years David has come to Ramat Yohanan to celebrate Sukkot. He has stayed with me and is a very well behaved guest. He also corresponds with me regularly and started my subscription to Plain Truth which I do read with interest. Recently I continued the subscription. I might add that several other members of our kibbutz now read it too...I think confidence can be placed in him to represent your church here in the Middle East...
Sincerely,
Shalom,
Miriam Weiss
I yearn to return to Zion and visit Miriam's gravesite, but Ramat Yohanan just wouldn't be the same without her. And the dining room without Miriam or Henia...
Other articles that mention Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan:
Israel Work History (Worldwide Church of God)
Herbert W Armstrong and Worldwide Church of God Mentioned in Israeli Newspaper
Joseph Isn't Jewish!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Teddy Kollek, Herbert W. Armstrong and Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park
Teddy Kollek, Herbert W. Armstrong and Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park
Herbert W. Armstrong wrote to the members and co-workers of the Worldwide Church of God, May 21, 1978:
"On July 4 there will be a big '4th of July Celebration' in Jerusalem, hosted jointly by the Mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek, and myself. The city of Philadelphia had an exact duplicate made of the Liberty Bell--crack and all--and gave it to the city of Jerusalem. In the spring of 1976--Passover time--the Mayor came to me privately, and asked my help in building an important downtown park in Jerusalem, to be named the 'Liberty Bell Park.' Through the AICF [Ambassador International Cultural Foundation], I was able to agree to supply the children's playground area, at the very opening of the park. The park is now completed, and Mayor Kollek has asked me to be present on July 4 for the opening and dedication of the Liberty Bell Park."
This is a picture I took in 1983 of "A Children's Playground" monument that mentioned Herbert W. Armstrong and the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation. Click on the picture to enlarge it.
Excerpt from "Inside Jerusalem," an article I wrote in 1996 for The National Messenger:
Teddy Kollek: Former mayor of Jerusalem. I just happened to be walking past a dinner theatre he was coming out of at the time, so I took advantage of the opportunity to say "Shabbat Shalom" (it was the Sabbath) and shake his hand. When I mentioned Herbert Armstrong, he said, "I have fond memories of the old man." (He isn't looking too young himself!). I saw him again when I was waiting with Aryeh Gallin in the lobby of the Laromme Hotel for some friends. (It's next to Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park, where "The Children's Playground" was clearly designated as a gift from H.W.A and the A.I.C.F.--but not any more. When I first noticed this discrepancy years ago, I wrote a letter of inquiry to the WCG. but never received any reply).
I emailed Aaron Dean (Herbert W. Armstrong's personal assistant for years) Teddy Kollek's comments in August of 2000, and he responded and informed me:
"Is Teddy Kollek still alive? It would be good to see him again. He was a good friend. Mr. Tkach refused to maintain the park as contracted and I believe he wanted HWA's name out of there. Of course he abandoned his beliefs as well. Sad, but God is in control."
Politics in the Church of God Prevents Progress offers an update on the monument in Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park:
[The Philadelphia Church of God] even know I've given them contacts in the Middle East, in Jerusalem, Jewish leaders, and that it was me whom God used to contact the mayor of Jerusalem to get the HWA monument repaired (in the Liberty Bell Park in Jerusalem), and then I forwarded the information to Flurry (who didn't even say thank you and wasn't even aware of its woeful neglect that I knew about from being over there so many times). I'll bet you didn't know that, did you?
I had written an open letter to the mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski, that was published in The Jerusalem Post. His office contacted me to inquire about what groups or organizations I was referring to that would be interested in undertaking the financial responsibility for the monument's restoration and the rest is history.
Gerald Flurry wrote the Philadelphia Church of God members and co-workers in the July/Aug. 2001 Royal Vision magazine:
"In January 1997, the Philadelphia Foundation contacted the Jerusalem Foundation to inquire about the Herbert W. Armstrong Memorial Plaque that once rested in Liberty Bell Park. Several members had visited the park and were unable to locate the marker.
Alan Freeman of the Jerusalem Foundation informed us the park was being restored and the marker would be replaced upon completion.
In November 2000, after additional contacts, we were told that a new plaque would need to be produced. The Philadelphia Foundation agreed to provide the funds for the new plaque and to help support the maintenance and refurbishment of the Liberty Bell Park in the memory of Mr. Armstrong."
I'm very pleased that Herbert W. Armstrong's name has been restored to Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park and that I was honored to have something to do with it. You can view how it appears today by clicking on the link below:
http://www.pcog.info/images/Liberty%20Bell%20Park%20Plaque%20Closeup.jpg
Now I encourage the Philadephia Church of God (and others) to reach out to the cities of Judah and sponsor planting a forest or creating a park to honor Herbert W. Armstrong's memory and commemorate his close friendships with Israeli leaders. Mr. Armstrong said we should focus on Jerusalem. Why not?
Herbert W. Armstrong wrote to the members and co-workers of the Worldwide Church of God, May 21, 1978:
"On July 4 there will be a big '4th of July Celebration' in Jerusalem, hosted jointly by the Mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek, and myself. The city of Philadelphia had an exact duplicate made of the Liberty Bell--crack and all--and gave it to the city of Jerusalem. In the spring of 1976--Passover time--the Mayor came to me privately, and asked my help in building an important downtown park in Jerusalem, to be named the 'Liberty Bell Park.' Through the AICF [Ambassador International Cultural Foundation], I was able to agree to supply the children's playground area, at the very opening of the park. The park is now completed, and Mayor Kollek has asked me to be present on July 4 for the opening and dedication of the Liberty Bell Park."
This is a picture I took in 1983 of "A Children's Playground" monument that mentioned Herbert W. Armstrong and the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation. Click on the picture to enlarge it.
Excerpt from "Inside Jerusalem," an article I wrote in 1996 for The National Messenger:
Teddy Kollek: Former mayor of Jerusalem. I just happened to be walking past a dinner theatre he was coming out of at the time, so I took advantage of the opportunity to say "Shabbat Shalom" (it was the Sabbath) and shake his hand. When I mentioned Herbert Armstrong, he said, "I have fond memories of the old man." (He isn't looking too young himself!). I saw him again when I was waiting with Aryeh Gallin in the lobby of the Laromme Hotel for some friends. (It's next to Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park, where "The Children's Playground" was clearly designated as a gift from H.W.A and the A.I.C.F.--but not any more. When I first noticed this discrepancy years ago, I wrote a letter of inquiry to the WCG. but never received any reply).
I emailed Aaron Dean (Herbert W. Armstrong's personal assistant for years) Teddy Kollek's comments in August of 2000, and he responded and informed me:
"Is Teddy Kollek still alive? It would be good to see him again. He was a good friend. Mr. Tkach refused to maintain the park as contracted and I believe he wanted HWA's name out of there. Of course he abandoned his beliefs as well. Sad, but God is in control."
Politics in the Church of God Prevents Progress offers an update on the monument in Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park:
[The Philadelphia Church of God] even know I've given them contacts in the Middle East, in Jerusalem, Jewish leaders, and that it was me whom God used to contact the mayor of Jerusalem to get the HWA monument repaired (in the Liberty Bell Park in Jerusalem), and then I forwarded the information to Flurry (who didn't even say thank you and wasn't even aware of its woeful neglect that I knew about from being over there so many times). I'll bet you didn't know that, did you?
I had written an open letter to the mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski, that was published in The Jerusalem Post. His office contacted me to inquire about what groups or organizations I was referring to that would be interested in undertaking the financial responsibility for the monument's restoration and the rest is history.
Gerald Flurry wrote the Philadelphia Church of God members and co-workers in the July/Aug. 2001 Royal Vision magazine:
"In January 1997, the Philadelphia Foundation contacted the Jerusalem Foundation to inquire about the Herbert W. Armstrong Memorial Plaque that once rested in Liberty Bell Park. Several members had visited the park and were unable to locate the marker.
Alan Freeman of the Jerusalem Foundation informed us the park was being restored and the marker would be replaced upon completion.
In November 2000, after additional contacts, we were told that a new plaque would need to be produced. The Philadelphia Foundation agreed to provide the funds for the new plaque and to help support the maintenance and refurbishment of the Liberty Bell Park in the memory of Mr. Armstrong."
I'm very pleased that Herbert W. Armstrong's name has been restored to Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park and that I was honored to have something to do with it. You can view how it appears today by clicking on the link below:
http://www.pcog.info/images/Liberty%20Bell%20Park%20Plaque%20Closeup.jpg
Now I encourage the Philadephia Church of God (and others) to reach out to the cities of Judah and sponsor planting a forest or creating a park to honor Herbert W. Armstrong's memory and commemorate his close friendships with Israeli leaders. Mr. Armstrong said we should focus on Jerusalem. Why not?
MOUNT EPHRAIM – NEWSLETTER
The following is written by one of our British brethren, Stephen Spykerman. Other than myself, sad to say, he's the only Church of God member I've ever seen express in writing any heartfelt interest in "the cities of Judah." Is God now directing more hearts to focus on Jerusalem? I sincerely hope and pray so!
For Zion's sake,
David Ben-Ariel
***************
MOUNT EPHRAIM – NEWSLETTER
by Stephen Spykerman
NO: 4 - THURSDAY, 21ST DECEMBER 2006
Dear Friends,
THE TIMING WAS NOT RIGHT FOR OUR MOVE TO ISRAEL!
It is just over ten months since I last wrote to you all, and it certainly has been a most eventful time for our family. To start with we did not move permanently to Israel as planned because our heavenly Abba showed us through a whole set of incredible circumstances that it was not the right time for us to go. Although He did not say ‘never’ it was just a ‘not yet’ type of answer. Instead we ended up moving to Shaftesbury in Dorset. Our new address is: The Coach House 2 Woodmans Court Shaftesbury Dorset SP7 8PY Tel 0044 (0)1747 853131.
Shaftesbury is an ancient Saxon hilltop town, which was once the royal seat of King Alfred the Great. Our new house is in fact the gatehouse to 12 other properties at the rear. These 12 houses can only be accessed through our archway, and we rather like the association it congers up with the 12 tribes of Israel.
A MESSAGE FROM A FRIEND
Just a few days ago I received a memo from Steve Collins a good friend and fellow author on the tribes of Israel. He asked how things were faring with my work, and he kindly offered to link his new website with mine. This forced me to write to him to explain that I don’t have my own website as yet, although it is in the planning stage. At the same time I let him know that my manuscript has not yet been published, and I felt I owed him an explanation as to why it has not happened. The fact is that most authors in our field self publish their material usually from their own resources, and thus the question is, why have I not done the same thing?
THE COVENANT I MADE WITH MY HEAVENLY FATHER
When I first started to write, I made a covenant with my Father in Heaven that He would provide the funds to publish the work on the grounds that it was His work and not mine to bring the tribes of Israel back to the Land of promise. Ever since I have been bound by that covenant, and it surely has been a severe test of faith for me, especially so, because all my life up to that time I had always done pretty well everything in my own strength. Thus eight years ago I used this covenant as a way to bind myself to doing things His way and not the way of my old man.
OUR MESSAGE GOT INTO THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT
Nevertheless, Father has given me a few minor successes along the way, in that I was especially commissioned to write a booklet specifically addressed to the leaders of Great Britain. The booklet was to contain a message about Britain's Israelite ancestry and calling as a nation, as well as to warn her about the folly of her involvement in the European Union. Some 5,000 glossy beautifully illustrated booklets were printed, of which some 1,750 were placed in the hands of every Member of the House of Lords and the House of Commons in the British Parliament. The individually addressed envelopes containing the booklets were delivered by hand into parliamentary mailrooms on the Eve of Hanukkah 2004. The irony of this date is that the message about the hidden ancestry of the British people were delivered to Parliament exactly 87 years to the very day from the date of the liberation of Jerusalem on the Eve of Hanukkah in 1917, when General Allenby led his British and Anzac's troops into the Holy City.
A SIGN THAT ELOHIM USES FAMILIES
A further God-incident was that the inside man in the House of Lords who helped facilitate all of this was a descendant of this same general e.g. Lord Michael Allenby of Megiddo, whom I had befriended in previous years. It is a clear sign that our loving Father likes to use righteous families down the generations.
THE MESSAGE GOES TO BUCKINGHAM PALACE!
The booklet with its accompanying letter was also sent to Her Majesty the Queen, Prince Phillip and Prince Charles, as well as to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and many other Bishops and religious leaders up and down the country. As the message went to the leaders of the nation it had to be a work executed in high quality paper with full colour illustrations on every page, plus a most attractive cover. The booklet was called "GREAT BRITAIN Her Calling and Hidden Ancestry." It obviously cost quite a lot of money to do this, as the booklets were literally given away. Hundreds of copies were mailed to influential people outside the immediate parliamentary circle. The miracle is that all of this did not cost me a single cent, as everything was paid for by a most generous sponsor sent from above. I can honestly say that it greatly encouraged me at the time, and it strengthened my faith in the covenant I had made with my loving Father in heaven.
A NEW COMMISSION
Then last year I was asked to write a similar booklet to be directed at the leaders of America. The idea being that we repeat the same exercise by getting the message of America's hidden ancestry to the Members of both the Houses of Congress and the Senate, as well to the President, his Cabinet, White House Staff, and the Members of the fifty State Legislatures in the United States. Once again the funds were provided for the graphic design, and within the space of three months a magnificent lavishly illustrated booklet was ready for print, under the title of: "WHO ARE YOU AMERICA? Time to Lift your Prophetic veil!" The only problem was that we only had enough money left over to print just one hundred copies. Hence for the past eighteen months I have been using those master copies as a most precious form of seed corn, and have handed them out most sparingly.
OUR NEW BOOKLET GOT INTO THE WHITE HOUSE!
One thing I do know is that President George W Bush has been given at least one copy, possibly two. On a visit to Jerusalem last year I just so happened by another God incident to meet two people who just happened to have a close relative work at senior level in the White House. One of those was a prayer partner of the president who regularly participated in the presidential prayer breakfast. They each offered to get one of my booklets onto the Presidents desk. However, to date Abba has not seen fit to open the doors into America for this specially designed booklet containing His message about the Israelite heritage of the American people. My earnest hope is that day will come soon, as by now I have barely 20 booklets left.
THE PROPHETS OF OLD ALWAYS WENT TO THE LEADERS OF THE NATION
Having studied the lives of the prophets in the Bible, I noted that they invariably addressed their prophetic messages, exhortations, and warnings to the leaders of the nation, be it Israel, Judah, or both. The plain fact is that Our Heavenly Creator always held the leaders of His nation Israel primarily responsible for the conduct of His people. We know from the Scriptures that YHVH does not change, as the Word says; He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. For this reason I feel it is important that we follow the same principle and pattern today.
This is not to say that I would dare call myself a prophet, as I would not presume to equate myself with those great men. Nevertheless this does not mean that we cannot learn from those prophets, as I believe in going to the leaders of their nations in their day, they set an important example for us to follow in our time. For this reason I believe that the message of our extraordinary Israelite heritage must first of all go to the leaders of our nations. Following on from this principle it occurred to me last year that our message about the whereabouts of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel should also go to the leaders of Judah in the State of Israel. In fact there are a number of Orthodox friends; including several influential Rabbi's who have earnestly urged me to have the "WHO ARE YOU AMERICA? Booklet translated into Hebrew. They would like to see it placed in the hands of all Members of the Knesset, and Rabbi's in Israel, thus covering both secular and religious leadership of the nation. Now I think we have quite a precedent here! They are inviting me, a believer in Messiah Yeshua, to do this thing. Surely, this is unprecedented!
THE MESSAGE SIMPLY HAS TO GO TO JUDAH
Getting our message to the leaders of Judah does have tremendous appeal, and it does also resonate somewhat with the Word which states that, 'the Word of the LORD shall go forth from Zion!' The question in my mind is; does this WORD GOING FORTH FROM ZION INCLUDE HIS PROPHETIC WORD TO THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL? The Bible appears to answer with a big YES! After all, it is the Jews who have preserved the Scriptures for us, and it is fair to say therefore that all the Scriptures have come to us from Zion. Clearly the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, yes, and even the New Testament all came to us from Zion! Did not our beloved Saviour, Yeshua the Messiah of Israel, the King of the Jews, also not commission and send out His disciples from Zion with His Gospel of the Kingdom? Did His Apostles also not take His Kingdom Gospel message from Zion to the uttermost parts of the world?
THE KEY OF DAVID
In getting our message about the identity and whereabouts of Judah's lost prodigal Israelite brothers to the leadership of Judah we may well be unlocking the key of David, which will finally enable the call to the Tribes of Israel to go forth from Zion.
That call is for the Tribes to recognize their Israelite origins and return to the Land of their Fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I strongly feel that Judah, hard pressed as she is, by murderous enemies on all sides needs to know who and where her long lost Israelite brothers are. I believe that once the message has broken in Judah it will flow from Zion into our lands.
JUDAH HOLDS THE KEY
Judah is the key to the tribes coming back to Israel, as the Jewish State at the moment does not permit non Jews to settle in the land. At the moment Christians, who want to settle in Israel can do so only with a three month visa. Many thousands of dedicated believers have lived in the land for many years, whilst having to leave the country every three months, only to re-enter the land on a new three months permit. If the State of Israel could be made aware that these Christians are in fact Ephraimites, true descendants of Jacob from the Lost House of Israel, it may be willing to change the entry rules for those of us who want to return to the Land of our Fathers. In fact some of my rabbinical friends have already set up a small Orthodox pressure group to try to influence certain members of the Knesset in the Israeli government to make entry for the true friends of Israel a lot easier. They are attempting to persuade the Israeli government to relax the entry rules by granting Christian Ephraimites five year residential permits.
If this were to happen, according to some estimates, well over a 100,000 American Ephraimites would immediately commence their arrangements to emigrate to Israel, with many more from other Israelite nations joining them. They would come not like impoverished refugees, as they would bring all their not inconsiderable wealth with them to make a new home in the Land of their Patriarchal Fathers. What starts as a trickle is bound to soon become a flood, and thus before our very eyes we would witness the fulfillment of all those prophesies concerning the return of Ephraim e.g. the House of Israel in preparation of the ultimate reunification of the two sticks/trees of Judah and Joseph. (Ezekiel 37: 19-28 & Zechariah 10:6-8).
THE FOURTH ARAB ISRAEL WAR IS NOW IMMINENT
Frankly, you don't have to be a prophet to realize that another Arab-Israel war in the Middle East is now absolutely inevitable. The next war is described in great detail in Psalm 83 where David prophesies: "They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, "Come let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more." For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You!" (Psalm 83:3-5).
Since the foundation of the State of Israel this prophecy has already been fulfilled on three occasions, respectively in the 1948 War of Independence, the Six Day War of 1967, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Each time with Divine help Israel has emerged victorious, even though in the 1973 Yom Kippur War it was a very close run thing for the new nation.
Yet, when you read the account in the Book of Amos in chapter one you will note that when those same conspirators attack Israel for the FOURTH time YHVH will not turn away His punishment and His awesome wrath will utterly astonish the whole world. Amos chapter two makes it clear that both the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be punished at the same time. I believe in the case of Judah this will mean massive Jewish casualties, especially in the Tel Aviv/Haifa coastal areas. In the case of the House of Israel the Bible indicates massive economic fall-out from this now imminent Fourth Arab-Israel War.
A NUCLEAR WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
This war clearly is now at the door and we also need to realize that it almost certainly will go nuclear! I believe 2007 is going to see the war described in Isaiah 17, which, with prophetic certainty states that; "Damascus shall become a ruinous heap!" Can we even begin to imagine what the effects will be when Judah, with her back against the wall facing certain defeat, is forced to use her nuclear weapons against Damascus in order to prevent total annihilation? I believe that YHVH has a fourfold purpose with this next war.
YHVH’S FOURFOLD PURPOSE WITH THE COMING WAR
1st. To humble His people by administering correction to Judah. (Amos 2:4-5).
2nd. To bring to pass the first phase of His awesome judgments upon Islam, and the enemies of His people.
3rd. To bring to pass the second phase of His eternal covenant with Abraham in which He promised all the land between the Nile and the Euphrates to his descendants. This is outlined by the prophet Isaiah as follows: "To enlarge the place of Israel's tent, and to stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your chords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited." (Isaiah 34:2-3).
4th. As the State of Israel, in direct consequence of this war, annexes all of Southern Lebanon, nearly 90% of Syria, plus Gaza and all of the West Bank, and maybe a piece of Jordan to boot, she will be at least partially fulfilling the Divine plan to make room for the progressive return and settlement of her prodigal brothers of the House of Israel.
What a time this will be! What promise we have in the year that lies ahead of us! When we see it all happening before us on our T.V. screens, those of us who are looking to the establishment of His Kingdom, can then truly exclaim, WE LIVE IN THE DAWN OF THE AGE OF MESSIAH!!!!
WATCHMAN AND INTERCESSOR ARISE AND BE COUNTED
Yet, understanding all of this we cannot just sit there and wait for it all to happen. Now is the time for the watchman and the intercessor to arise and be counted as never before. For some of us it is also a time of action. Those of us who have had our eyes opened to understand these things do need to get our message about the whereabouts and identity of Joseph to the leaders of Judah before the war occurs. It will be a huge comfort to her to know that her tribal brothers have been found and that they are a hugely powerful people. My problem is that I am only a one man band, and I cannot do this job without help and the necessary resources. I do recognize of course that Abba, the Holy One of Israel, is my helper and the provider of all my needs, yet I also realize that invariably He uses ordinary people like you and me to accomplish His purpose.
THE ELUSIVENESS OF SUCCESS
In January last year I went to Jerusalem with the express purpose of getting our booklet translated into Hebrew. I had been given to understand that there were at least three suitable people who might be able to do the translation. Soon after my arrival I discovered that the first two individuals had fallen away. This left me with one individual well known to me, and I had the personal recommendation of his Rabbi to boot. Some friends of mine however expressed doubts about his ability. My mistake was that I did not consult Abba about this objection, but decided that I would have him sign a contract containing certain safeguards. As it turned out, when I had his test paper checked it proved unsatisfactory. Sadly his work was simply not fit for purpose, as we are planning to send our material to the top echelons of Israeli society, nothing but a work of excellence will suffice. I had learned a painful lesson.
TREADING WATER
This past year the work has simply lain dormant, and I felt I was treading water. Nevertheless, I felt a great peace about it as I realized it was just not quite the right timing in Father’s purpose.
All of sudden in the last few months a new urgency has arisen, and once again we are set to visit Israel on the 15th January for a ten day trip together with my wife Virginia. Although the primary purpose for the trip is to participate in a 'Sanctification' course in close proximity to the Palestinian territories, I sense that there is another reason why our presence is required, and I am led to expect Divine appointments whilst we are in the land. I have a sense that maybe this time around the correct translator will present himself to me on this trip. It will surely be a milestone for this work, and my prayer is that you pray our visit maybe crowned with success. Another important thing we want to do next year is to set up a brand-new website probably utilizing our existing domain of jerusalemcalling.com, as we wish the call to go out to the Tribes of Israel from the Holy City urging them to return to Zion. (Jeremiah 31:6).
Wishing you many blessings in Yeshua our soon coming Messiah,
Stephen Spykerman
MOUNT EPHRAIM PUBLISHING
The Coach House
2 Woodmans Court
Shaftesbury
Dorset SP7 8PY
E-mail: stephen@mountephraim.info
P.S. Can you think of a better way to bless Israel than to let the Jewish people know who and where their Lost Israelite brothers are? Our work relies on His providence which is invariably expressed through His people. You feel the Holy Spirit (Ruach haKodesh) is leading you to support the work of Mount Ephraim Publishing you can simply send a contribution to the above address.
For Zion's sake,
David Ben-Ariel
***************
MOUNT EPHRAIM – NEWSLETTER
by Stephen Spykerman
NO: 4 - THURSDAY, 21ST DECEMBER 2006
Dear Friends,
THE TIMING WAS NOT RIGHT FOR OUR MOVE TO ISRAEL!
It is just over ten months since I last wrote to you all, and it certainly has been a most eventful time for our family. To start with we did not move permanently to Israel as planned because our heavenly Abba showed us through a whole set of incredible circumstances that it was not the right time for us to go. Although He did not say ‘never’ it was just a ‘not yet’ type of answer. Instead we ended up moving to Shaftesbury in Dorset. Our new address is: The Coach House 2 Woodmans Court Shaftesbury Dorset SP7 8PY Tel 0044 (0)1747 853131.
Shaftesbury is an ancient Saxon hilltop town, which was once the royal seat of King Alfred the Great. Our new house is in fact the gatehouse to 12 other properties at the rear. These 12 houses can only be accessed through our archway, and we rather like the association it congers up with the 12 tribes of Israel.
A MESSAGE FROM A FRIEND
Just a few days ago I received a memo from Steve Collins a good friend and fellow author on the tribes of Israel. He asked how things were faring with my work, and he kindly offered to link his new website with mine. This forced me to write to him to explain that I don’t have my own website as yet, although it is in the planning stage. At the same time I let him know that my manuscript has not yet been published, and I felt I owed him an explanation as to why it has not happened. The fact is that most authors in our field self publish their material usually from their own resources, and thus the question is, why have I not done the same thing?
THE COVENANT I MADE WITH MY HEAVENLY FATHER
When I first started to write, I made a covenant with my Father in Heaven that He would provide the funds to publish the work on the grounds that it was His work and not mine to bring the tribes of Israel back to the Land of promise. Ever since I have been bound by that covenant, and it surely has been a severe test of faith for me, especially so, because all my life up to that time I had always done pretty well everything in my own strength. Thus eight years ago I used this covenant as a way to bind myself to doing things His way and not the way of my old man.
OUR MESSAGE GOT INTO THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT
Nevertheless, Father has given me a few minor successes along the way, in that I was especially commissioned to write a booklet specifically addressed to the leaders of Great Britain. The booklet was to contain a message about Britain's Israelite ancestry and calling as a nation, as well as to warn her about the folly of her involvement in the European Union. Some 5,000 glossy beautifully illustrated booklets were printed, of which some 1,750 were placed in the hands of every Member of the House of Lords and the House of Commons in the British Parliament. The individually addressed envelopes containing the booklets were delivered by hand into parliamentary mailrooms on the Eve of Hanukkah 2004. The irony of this date is that the message about the hidden ancestry of the British people were delivered to Parliament exactly 87 years to the very day from the date of the liberation of Jerusalem on the Eve of Hanukkah in 1917, when General Allenby led his British and Anzac's troops into the Holy City.
A SIGN THAT ELOHIM USES FAMILIES
A further God-incident was that the inside man in the House of Lords who helped facilitate all of this was a descendant of this same general e.g. Lord Michael Allenby of Megiddo, whom I had befriended in previous years. It is a clear sign that our loving Father likes to use righteous families down the generations.
THE MESSAGE GOES TO BUCKINGHAM PALACE!
The booklet with its accompanying letter was also sent to Her Majesty the Queen, Prince Phillip and Prince Charles, as well as to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and many other Bishops and religious leaders up and down the country. As the message went to the leaders of the nation it had to be a work executed in high quality paper with full colour illustrations on every page, plus a most attractive cover. The booklet was called "GREAT BRITAIN Her Calling and Hidden Ancestry." It obviously cost quite a lot of money to do this, as the booklets were literally given away. Hundreds of copies were mailed to influential people outside the immediate parliamentary circle. The miracle is that all of this did not cost me a single cent, as everything was paid for by a most generous sponsor sent from above. I can honestly say that it greatly encouraged me at the time, and it strengthened my faith in the covenant I had made with my loving Father in heaven.
A NEW COMMISSION
Then last year I was asked to write a similar booklet to be directed at the leaders of America. The idea being that we repeat the same exercise by getting the message of America's hidden ancestry to the Members of both the Houses of Congress and the Senate, as well to the President, his Cabinet, White House Staff, and the Members of the fifty State Legislatures in the United States. Once again the funds were provided for the graphic design, and within the space of three months a magnificent lavishly illustrated booklet was ready for print, under the title of: "WHO ARE YOU AMERICA? Time to Lift your Prophetic veil!" The only problem was that we only had enough money left over to print just one hundred copies. Hence for the past eighteen months I have been using those master copies as a most precious form of seed corn, and have handed them out most sparingly.
OUR NEW BOOKLET GOT INTO THE WHITE HOUSE!
One thing I do know is that President George W Bush has been given at least one copy, possibly two. On a visit to Jerusalem last year I just so happened by another God incident to meet two people who just happened to have a close relative work at senior level in the White House. One of those was a prayer partner of the president who regularly participated in the presidential prayer breakfast. They each offered to get one of my booklets onto the Presidents desk. However, to date Abba has not seen fit to open the doors into America for this specially designed booklet containing His message about the Israelite heritage of the American people. My earnest hope is that day will come soon, as by now I have barely 20 booklets left.
THE PROPHETS OF OLD ALWAYS WENT TO THE LEADERS OF THE NATION
Having studied the lives of the prophets in the Bible, I noted that they invariably addressed their prophetic messages, exhortations, and warnings to the leaders of the nation, be it Israel, Judah, or both. The plain fact is that Our Heavenly Creator always held the leaders of His nation Israel primarily responsible for the conduct of His people. We know from the Scriptures that YHVH does not change, as the Word says; He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. For this reason I feel it is important that we follow the same principle and pattern today.
This is not to say that I would dare call myself a prophet, as I would not presume to equate myself with those great men. Nevertheless this does not mean that we cannot learn from those prophets, as I believe in going to the leaders of their nations in their day, they set an important example for us to follow in our time. For this reason I believe that the message of our extraordinary Israelite heritage must first of all go to the leaders of our nations. Following on from this principle it occurred to me last year that our message about the whereabouts of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel should also go to the leaders of Judah in the State of Israel. In fact there are a number of Orthodox friends; including several influential Rabbi's who have earnestly urged me to have the "WHO ARE YOU AMERICA? Booklet translated into Hebrew. They would like to see it placed in the hands of all Members of the Knesset, and Rabbi's in Israel, thus covering both secular and religious leadership of the nation. Now I think we have quite a precedent here! They are inviting me, a believer in Messiah Yeshua, to do this thing. Surely, this is unprecedented!
THE MESSAGE SIMPLY HAS TO GO TO JUDAH
Getting our message to the leaders of Judah does have tremendous appeal, and it does also resonate somewhat with the Word which states that, 'the Word of the LORD shall go forth from Zion!' The question in my mind is; does this WORD GOING FORTH FROM ZION INCLUDE HIS PROPHETIC WORD TO THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL? The Bible appears to answer with a big YES! After all, it is the Jews who have preserved the Scriptures for us, and it is fair to say therefore that all the Scriptures have come to us from Zion. Clearly the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, yes, and even the New Testament all came to us from Zion! Did not our beloved Saviour, Yeshua the Messiah of Israel, the King of the Jews, also not commission and send out His disciples from Zion with His Gospel of the Kingdom? Did His Apostles also not take His Kingdom Gospel message from Zion to the uttermost parts of the world?
THE KEY OF DAVID
In getting our message about the identity and whereabouts of Judah's lost prodigal Israelite brothers to the leadership of Judah we may well be unlocking the key of David, which will finally enable the call to the Tribes of Israel to go forth from Zion.
That call is for the Tribes to recognize their Israelite origins and return to the Land of their Fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I strongly feel that Judah, hard pressed as she is, by murderous enemies on all sides needs to know who and where her long lost Israelite brothers are. I believe that once the message has broken in Judah it will flow from Zion into our lands.
JUDAH HOLDS THE KEY
Judah is the key to the tribes coming back to Israel, as the Jewish State at the moment does not permit non Jews to settle in the land. At the moment Christians, who want to settle in Israel can do so only with a three month visa. Many thousands of dedicated believers have lived in the land for many years, whilst having to leave the country every three months, only to re-enter the land on a new three months permit. If the State of Israel could be made aware that these Christians are in fact Ephraimites, true descendants of Jacob from the Lost House of Israel, it may be willing to change the entry rules for those of us who want to return to the Land of our Fathers. In fact some of my rabbinical friends have already set up a small Orthodox pressure group to try to influence certain members of the Knesset in the Israeli government to make entry for the true friends of Israel a lot easier. They are attempting to persuade the Israeli government to relax the entry rules by granting Christian Ephraimites five year residential permits.
If this were to happen, according to some estimates, well over a 100,000 American Ephraimites would immediately commence their arrangements to emigrate to Israel, with many more from other Israelite nations joining them. They would come not like impoverished refugees, as they would bring all their not inconsiderable wealth with them to make a new home in the Land of their Patriarchal Fathers. What starts as a trickle is bound to soon become a flood, and thus before our very eyes we would witness the fulfillment of all those prophesies concerning the return of Ephraim e.g. the House of Israel in preparation of the ultimate reunification of the two sticks/trees of Judah and Joseph. (Ezekiel 37: 19-28 & Zechariah 10:6-8).
THE FOURTH ARAB ISRAEL WAR IS NOW IMMINENT
Frankly, you don't have to be a prophet to realize that another Arab-Israel war in the Middle East is now absolutely inevitable. The next war is described in great detail in Psalm 83 where David prophesies: "They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, "Come let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more." For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You!" (Psalm 83:3-5).
Since the foundation of the State of Israel this prophecy has already been fulfilled on three occasions, respectively in the 1948 War of Independence, the Six Day War of 1967, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Each time with Divine help Israel has emerged victorious, even though in the 1973 Yom Kippur War it was a very close run thing for the new nation.
Yet, when you read the account in the Book of Amos in chapter one you will note that when those same conspirators attack Israel for the FOURTH time YHVH will not turn away His punishment and His awesome wrath will utterly astonish the whole world. Amos chapter two makes it clear that both the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be punished at the same time. I believe in the case of Judah this will mean massive Jewish casualties, especially in the Tel Aviv/Haifa coastal areas. In the case of the House of Israel the Bible indicates massive economic fall-out from this now imminent Fourth Arab-Israel War.
A NUCLEAR WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
This war clearly is now at the door and we also need to realize that it almost certainly will go nuclear! I believe 2007 is going to see the war described in Isaiah 17, which, with prophetic certainty states that; "Damascus shall become a ruinous heap!" Can we even begin to imagine what the effects will be when Judah, with her back against the wall facing certain defeat, is forced to use her nuclear weapons against Damascus in order to prevent total annihilation? I believe that YHVH has a fourfold purpose with this next war.
YHVH’S FOURFOLD PURPOSE WITH THE COMING WAR
1st. To humble His people by administering correction to Judah. (Amos 2:4-5).
2nd. To bring to pass the first phase of His awesome judgments upon Islam, and the enemies of His people.
3rd. To bring to pass the second phase of His eternal covenant with Abraham in which He promised all the land between the Nile and the Euphrates to his descendants. This is outlined by the prophet Isaiah as follows: "To enlarge the place of Israel's tent, and to stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your chords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited." (Isaiah 34:2-3).
4th. As the State of Israel, in direct consequence of this war, annexes all of Southern Lebanon, nearly 90% of Syria, plus Gaza and all of the West Bank, and maybe a piece of Jordan to boot, she will be at least partially fulfilling the Divine plan to make room for the progressive return and settlement of her prodigal brothers of the House of Israel.
What a time this will be! What promise we have in the year that lies ahead of us! When we see it all happening before us on our T.V. screens, those of us who are looking to the establishment of His Kingdom, can then truly exclaim, WE LIVE IN THE DAWN OF THE AGE OF MESSIAH!!!!
WATCHMAN AND INTERCESSOR ARISE AND BE COUNTED
Yet, understanding all of this we cannot just sit there and wait for it all to happen. Now is the time for the watchman and the intercessor to arise and be counted as never before. For some of us it is also a time of action. Those of us who have had our eyes opened to understand these things do need to get our message about the whereabouts and identity of Joseph to the leaders of Judah before the war occurs. It will be a huge comfort to her to know that her tribal brothers have been found and that they are a hugely powerful people. My problem is that I am only a one man band, and I cannot do this job without help and the necessary resources. I do recognize of course that Abba, the Holy One of Israel, is my helper and the provider of all my needs, yet I also realize that invariably He uses ordinary people like you and me to accomplish His purpose.
THE ELUSIVENESS OF SUCCESS
In January last year I went to Jerusalem with the express purpose of getting our booklet translated into Hebrew. I had been given to understand that there were at least three suitable people who might be able to do the translation. Soon after my arrival I discovered that the first two individuals had fallen away. This left me with one individual well known to me, and I had the personal recommendation of his Rabbi to boot. Some friends of mine however expressed doubts about his ability. My mistake was that I did not consult Abba about this objection, but decided that I would have him sign a contract containing certain safeguards. As it turned out, when I had his test paper checked it proved unsatisfactory. Sadly his work was simply not fit for purpose, as we are planning to send our material to the top echelons of Israeli society, nothing but a work of excellence will suffice. I had learned a painful lesson.
TREADING WATER
This past year the work has simply lain dormant, and I felt I was treading water. Nevertheless, I felt a great peace about it as I realized it was just not quite the right timing in Father’s purpose.
All of sudden in the last few months a new urgency has arisen, and once again we are set to visit Israel on the 15th January for a ten day trip together with my wife Virginia. Although the primary purpose for the trip is to participate in a 'Sanctification' course in close proximity to the Palestinian territories, I sense that there is another reason why our presence is required, and I am led to expect Divine appointments whilst we are in the land. I have a sense that maybe this time around the correct translator will present himself to me on this trip. It will surely be a milestone for this work, and my prayer is that you pray our visit maybe crowned with success. Another important thing we want to do next year is to set up a brand-new website probably utilizing our existing domain of jerusalemcalling.com, as we wish the call to go out to the Tribes of Israel from the Holy City urging them to return to Zion. (Jeremiah 31:6).
Wishing you many blessings in Yeshua our soon coming Messiah,
Stephen Spykerman
MOUNT EPHRAIM PUBLISHING
The Coach House
2 Woodmans Court
Shaftesbury
Dorset SP7 8PY
E-mail: stephen@mountephraim.info
P.S. Can you think of a better way to bless Israel than to let the Jewish people know who and where their Lost Israelite brothers are? Our work relies on His providence which is invariably expressed through His people. You feel the Holy Spirit (Ruach haKodesh) is leading you to support the work of Mount Ephraim Publishing you can simply send a contribution to the above address.
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