The Feast of Tabernacles at the Wailing Wall. Moving The Embassy of the United Shursh to Jerusalem.
by Don Clasen
Dec. 17, 2017
On December 6, 2017, US President Donald Trump made a speech announcing his decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. As is so often the case in the endless parade of unintentional comedy that surrounds this man, his final sentence ended up slurred and unintelligible. It went something along the lines of, “God bless you. God bless Israel. God bless the Palestinians. And God bless the United Shursh…”
Comedians of course are having a field day with this gaff with everyone indulging their own pet theory. Mine is that he probably meant “the United States of America,” but had a panic attack with an “Oh, I didn’t include the Church” thought. At any rate whatever it was, some kind of a car crash of the mind took place and it all came out sounding the way it did. That it might have been nothing more than a “loose dentures” moment is yet another fascinating possibility.[1]
On the other hand, as my thoughts turned more troubled I wondered if it wasn’t something of a sign from God about the serious implications of the moment unfolding right before our very eyes. America’s obsession with giving Israel whatever it wants on a silver platter is turning this country into a land of intellectual mush. “Skulls full of mush” if you will, that charming phrase coined by right wing icon Rush Limbaugh when motivating the youth of America.
It’s also turning the nation of Israel into the poor little rich kid who’s too spoiled to know what’s good for him anymore. Even as Trump spoke, parts of my city of Los Angeles were engulfed in flames, wildfires borne of winds so wicked as to be worthy of Divine judgment overtones. It seemed even more ominous considering what parts of the city were being affected. The Skirball Fire as it came to be dubbed was sweeping through the incredibly posh area of Bel Air. It destroyed among other things a vineyard and estate owned by Rupert Murdoch.[2]
Murdoch estate, before.
During. Not to worry though. Aside from fire insurance, the $30 million lost here was more than recouped by his $52 billion sale to Disney. About 1700 times more.
Murdoch the owner of Fox News, a literal or at least de facto Mossad propaganda operation,[3] has done more than any other person to turn the minds of so many Americans into virtual mush. He has pushed conservatism into extremism, divided the American people, and rendered them so dumbed-down and hysterical as to become like hounds braying at the moon. The fact that authorities determined that the blaze began at a homeless encampment under the freeway had to add to the irony, considering the Agenda of Inequity (“iniquity” in the Bible) this man represents.[4]
The fact that this fire could have threatened the Skirball Center, one of the more endowed and influential Jewish cultural centers in the world was not lost on me either. Nearby are a number of Jewish academic institutions including a synagogue and God knows how many homes owned by prominent Jews as well. It all struck me as a message from the God of Israel along the lines of, “If you think you’re invincible, if you think you can make lies your refuge (Isa 28:15), if you think you can make money your strong tower to buy up politicians and academics (Ja 5:1-6), if you seek to monopolize all advantage to yourselves (as demonstrated by that recent heist of the US Treasury called the Tax Reform Bill), just remember that I can burn down everything you have in a moment of time whenever I want.”
Maybe one of those Divine titles in the Bible ought to be, “The God Who Levels All Playing Fields.” Trump’s choice for Treasury Secretary was Los Angeles resident and part-time Hollywood mogul[6] Steve Mnuchin who made a fortune throwing homeowners out on the streets (rather than work with them) in the aftermath of the mortgage meltdown crisis of 2008. So naturally in our upside down New Order world, Trump puts him in charge of all taxpayer money. I don’t know if he owns a house in that area or not but one day he might be out on the streets if these fires are a token of America’s future.
Getting Burned
Recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel may indeed be something of a watershed event for Israel and a classic case of, “Beware of what you pray for.” It’s a warning that applies to Christian Zionists as well of course, who should understand but obviously don’t. Instead they are falling all over themselves praising the President for “leadership like America hasn’t seen in a long time.” One pastor on the radio even went so far as to describe it as “the return of a lovely aroma not smelled since the days of FDR, Churchill and other giants of the past.”
Gag. When I hear things like that I think my head is about to explode.
Leadership? More like followership at best, and I’m trying to be charitable here. Mr. Trump understands the Middle East about as much as the man on the moon. What he does understand is that this will please his clueless Evangelical base no end as well as Bibi Netanyahu who has made it abundantly clear that he wants this done. He may have even been ordered to do this since he is so in hock to the Khazarian Mafia as has been made abundantly clear since he began running for the Presidency.[7]
The law to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem was passed in 1995 by near-unanimous vote, showing you the power of the Israel Lobby over our Congress.[8] That every President has signed six-month waivers since then is because all the nations of the world were in agreement that moving their embassies to Jerusalem was to be the last step in this “peace process” after a two-state solution was ironed out. Both states were to have Jerusalem as their capital but, you know, Israel has to have it all.
Thus, past US Presidents weren’t showing a “lack of leadership” with their endless waivers; they were just not about to throw away their biggest bargaining chip without getting something in return (forcing Israel to make peace and stop stealing Palestinian land). They also knew the US would lose its prestige as mediator/power broker. By handing over Jerusalem prematurely, Clinton, Bush and Obama knew the Palestinians would “fire” the US and turn to the UN, Russia or China to mediate it. Even before Trump’s speech the Palestinians had announced their intention to do just that if necessary.
The Trump White House apparently does have a “plan” if you can call it that, put together by his Chabad-trained 36-year old son-in-law Jared Kushner (which is to say Israel, hiding and manipulating as usual in the background.) “It seems to provide for a Palestinian State composed of several small isolated enclaves on the West Bank, without Jerusalem and without an army,” something no self-respecting Palestinian would ever accept.
Or trust. Netanyahu in his typically dismissive way then told the Palestinians there can still be peace if they would but admit to “facts on the ground.” What he means is the success of his tactic of agreeing to terms, then breaking them by openly grabbing more territory and daring the world to do something about it. Clinton, Bush and Obama were loath to reward such bad faith, bad faith Netanyahu confessed to at the end of his own last election when he bragged he had never been sincere about a two state solution anyway! Since 1996!
It’s bad enough when someone plays you for a fool. When they rub it in your face, knowing they can get away with it because of the power of the Israel Lobby and the intimidating narrative of eternal victimhood, you know they’re intentionally humiliating you. Try to challenge it and you’ll be accused of bigotry or “self-hatred”;[9] go along with it and they’ll laugh at you for being a wimp or sucker. It’s exactly what Jesus was referring to in His analogy to children in the marketplace (Lu 7:31-35).
So Trump, “the best negotiator ever” simply went ahead and rewarded him anyway. Some leadership. Some solution. It reminds me of the spoof of FDR (in that melodramatic voice of his no less) breaking into a radio show to announce that the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor, so he went ahead and unconditionally surrendered. Problem solved. “And now back to regular programming…”
Not one embassy in the world was willing to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem because they didn’t want to encourage Israel’s delinquency even more and because they all wanted Jerusalem to be an international city under UN oversight since it is “sacred to three major religions.”[10] But Israel—dogmatic, entitled and in-your-face—couldn’t care less about sharing it. Jerusalem is theirs because “God gave it to the Jews forever,” an opinion about as subjective as you can get.
The fact that a huge, global and very irritated religion (Islam) considers Jerusalem sacred to them too I guess isn’t a problem either. Considering Israel seems to be doing everything in its power to provoke a nuclear war between East and West (a “Clash of Civilizations”) and thinking they will emerge out of it as the “last man standing,” maybe they actually want to incite them. After all, this is how religious “faith” operates, especially the Masada kind.[11] It believes their “God” or esoteric “knowledge” will cause them to triumph no matter how risky or presumptuous their next move.
Breaking It Down
“Our Jerusalem is a mosaic of all the cultures, all the religions and all the periods that enriched the city, from earliest antiquity to this very day – Canaanites and Jebusites and Israelites, Jews and Hellenes, Romans and Byzantines, Christians and Muslims, Arabs and Mamelukes, Othmanlis and Britons, Palestinians and Israelis.
Our Jerusalem must be united, open to all, and belonging to all its inhabitants, without borders and barbed wire in its midst.
Our Jerusalem must be the capital of the two states that will live side by side in this country – West Jerusalem the capital of the State of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of the State of Palestine.”
-“Our Jerusalem” by Feisal al-Husseini and Uri Avnery, former member of the Knesset
Well, what should we think about Israel and the last days? Why should Evangelicals be so eager to rubberstamp any reckless move Benjamin Netanyahu or the elites of Israel (and the City of London financiers and occultists behind them) want if their ultimate goal is the complete subjugation of all Gentile nations?[12]
These are some huge questions and I’ve covered them in part especially in two of the most important articles on this website a few years ago.[13] I’ll start with a review of some of the basics.
-A wrong philosophy about Bible prophecy in general
Here’s a simple concept. There are two kinds of prophecies in the Bible, good ones and bad ones. When God makes a good one all you have to do is wait for the promised fulfillment. But if it’s a bad one, it’s always couched in the language of, “If you keep going this way, then this will happen to you.” (So therefore repent.)
The prophecies about the last days are obviously of the second kind, speaking of horrible judgments to come at the end of the age. The only really good thing that comes out of them is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to pick up the pieces of a destroyed earth and rebuild it so to speak (Rev 11:18b).
When Christians give the impression they are cheerleading the prospect of hell on earth, I don’t think I need to explain why that comes across as a bad witness! Furthermore, aggravating a situation instead of seeking peace because you think it will fulfill Bible prophecy is not the right thing to do. This in spite of Messers Trump, Netanyahu and an army of preachers behind them endlessly bombing you with mantra that, “This is the right thing to do.”
Even worse yet is when some people, such as fanatical Evangelicals in the Pentagon, are caught secretly collaborating with Israeli skullduggery in order to precipitate say, a war with Iran. Such things almost happened during the Bush and Obama administrations but for the grace of God.[14] How is any such aggression reflective of the character of the Messiah, the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6)?
It is not only extremely presumptuous to assume you’ve got carte blanche to do such things, but to do them in a way that subverts official policy of the United States while indulging in dirty tricks, both of which are roundly condemned in Scripture (Rom 13; 3:8). If Israel (or anyone else) insists on “going there” (because they’ve abundantly proven by their record their willingness to do so), then at least you’ve done your part to warn them not to. To be complicit in the crimes of others is itself a criminal offence.
-Misunderstanding prophecies of the return
It’s important to understand that when God says He’s going to do something, it doesn’t always mean it’s His perfect will or that He approves of the action. Sometimes it just means He’s going to allow it. Whether it proves to be a blessing or a curse will depend upon the state of a group’s relationship with Him. “Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not” (Isa 66:3,4).
American Evangelicals take a very simplistic attitude toward prophecies like Isaiah 11:11: ”And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.”
Here is a reference to a second re-gathering to the land, the first one being the return of Judah from Babylon around 536 BC. Ever since this prophecy was fulfilled in 1948, Church people have felt a need to support Israel unconditionally. This has meant giving a blank check to her under the rubric of many and various arguments, some derived from interpretations of Bible passages, most copiously provided by Israeli propaganda operations.[15]
It is important for Evangelicals to understand that Israel sees its return to the land as a reward for enduring centuries of persecution at the hands of first, the mean Romans, and now all the Gentile nations the Diaspora extended itself into. The rabbinic dogma that six million Jews would have to die before God would allow them to return to the land is of a piece with this delusional assumption.
The Fall of Jerusalem (70 AD) by Francesco Hayez
On the other hand, Christians are supposed to side with Jesus Christ Who pointedly stated that their ejection from Palestine and subsequent Diaspora was due to their having rejected Him, their Messiah (Lu 19:42-44). Not surprisingly, the ever-narcissistic Pharisees claimed the people lost the land because they did not listen to them. And nothing has changed since then. If anything, their hatred of Jesus and contempt for His people only increased with time along with the indulging of slanderous apocryphal fantasies about Him in the Talmud.
-Misunderstanding God’s purposes in allowing this to happen
Christians are very careless in their research and thinking about these predictions about a second re-gathering to the land. As seen above, they are pointedly not as a reward for Israel being faithful but because of God’s faithfulness to do what He had promised. And all He promises here is that He will ultimately restore a small remnant of the nation to Himself.
In His first appearance the Messiah saves Israel (and mankind as well) from themselves (their sins). At His second appearance He’s the conquering warrior that saves the nation from their enemies, from complete extermination at Armageddon. But it’s only a remnant that will be saved. The majority will perish (Ro 11:4,5; Zech 13:8,9).
Why? Because the second return of Israel to the land is something of a trap, God’s way of destroying once and for all this rebellious rabbinic movement that has so slandered His character throughout the earth:
And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand and a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out…
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you saith the Lord God.
And I will cause you to pass under the rod…And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me…
And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.
And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.
And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings…I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen whither ye went… be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
-Ezekiel 20:34-38,42-44; 36:22,32
We see here that the prophecies regarding this whole process are very complex. Some clues speak of the promised return itself as we’ve seen (Isa 11:11), some of the destruction of the Gentile armies that come against Israel (Eze 38,39). Others speak of the threat of complete extermination the Israelis will face at the height of their peril (Joel 2:1-14; Zech 14:1-2). Yet others speak of the way the Messiah rallies the Jews to keep fighting (Zech 12:1-8) and yet others that speak of the people turning on all the false prophets in their midst at the end (Zech 13:3).
Christians tend to like the ones about Israel’s enemies being destroyed. They like the one about Jerusalem being a burdensome stone to all the world in those days. But it’s a stone the world can’t avoid. Israel won’t stop disturbing the peace of the world in their obsessive drive to inherit the earth—their way, not God’s way (Rom 10:3; I Thess 2:15).
-The Church and the Zionists’ unwillingness to respect the role of time in the prophecies
The claim heard by Netanyahu constantly and his amen corner here in the States is that “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people,” or “Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital for 4000 years.”
Neither of these statements are true strictly speaking. From 70 AD to 1967, Jerusalem very clearly was not the capital of Israel. What Israel? The ten northern tribes (called Israel or Ephraim) had been carried off to Assyria to disappear into history while Judah was forced into this Diaspora, in spite of modern Israel’s attempt here at history revisionist hasbara.
As far as the eternal capital is concerned, strictly speaking Jerusalem belongs to God (Psa 48:2; Lev 25:23), not any given religion or nation. Least of all the Pharisees who were kicked out for their rejection of Jesus Christ, a rejection even more vehement today than it was 2000 years ago. The rightful “owner” of Jerusalem if anyone is Jesus Christ Whom the Father has ordained will rule it one day (Zech 14:9; Psa 2:2,6). Thanks for that “clear and certain sound” witness Church (I Cor 14:8), as you grovel before the narcissistic delusions of this little nation.
Furthermore it doesn’t even address the issue of whether God is that interested in “holy sites” anyway (Gal 4:21-31), nor how such controversies misrepresent His limitless Being (II Cor 6:16; Isa 66:1; Acts 7:49). Rather they are all born of carnal, earthly rivalries and the pride of life. All this strife over holy lands and holy sites is par for Islam and the Jerusalem “which now is, and is in bondage” (i.e., the “broken off branches”–Rom 11:17-24; Gal 4:25). What makes us think we, the “Jerusalem which is above” have a right to take sides with either of them (4:26)?
The rosy predictions about Israel found in the second half of Isaiah for instance, are mostly about Israel during the Millennial reign of Christ. In the prophets she is often likened to a harlot (Isa 1:21; Jer 3:1; Eze 16:15ff, etc). Israel in the last days is described as “Sodom and Egypt” for now, a near insult by God (Rev 11:8). Judah was described by the risen Christ as the “synagogue of Satan” (Rev 2:9; 3:9). Even to this day, Orthodox rabbis in Israel have a ritual of black magic curses cast on people they deem worthy of death (such as were cast on Itzhak Rabin).[16] Constantly reminding critics that “God is able to graft them back in again” (Ro 11:23) is stating something most critics are already aware of and comes with a condition anyway. “IF they abide not still in unbelief” (Rom 11:23).
-The complete lack of understanding each other’s vision of the future by both the Church and Zionist Israel
Since Evangelicals mistakenly assume that the religion of Judaism essentially consists of studying the Hebrew Scriptures (what we call the Old Testament) yet without seeing (or wanting to see) Jesus as the Messiah, they are “talking right past” Israelis and Jewish people in general when it comes to what the future holds. Because they assume Israel’s rabbis are busy pouring over the prophecies about the return to the land just like they are, they don’t realize they aren’t even in the same ballpark.
It is important to understand that the nation of Israel agrees with absolutely nothing regarding the Christian understanding of the prophecies about Israel and the last days. The reason for that is that the Hebrew Scriptures are never read or studied in Judaism but rather the opinions of the rabbis in the Talmud.[17] The “sages of the ages” have already studied the Scriptures for them and ruled on their meaning. Not only were these rulings not derived from proper expositional exegesis (systematic interpretation) of the text, but were distortions of the text and cherry-picked proof texts for what they wanted to promulgate (their own traditions and authority).
Moreover, Judaism is an evolutionary religion. The Law of Moses as recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures was but Judaism in its infancy to them. The second stage was the Talmudic era wherein God, they claimed, was forced (and agreed!) to submit to the rulings of the rabbis, their voice now authoritative over His. The third stage was the mainstreaming of the Kabbalah into the yeshiva curriculum, transforming the Personal God of Israel into an impersonal First Cause, the Ein Sof, out of which emanated a number of levels of reality (including subjective ones, which are merely human perceptions and usually mistaken). Thus, by de-personalizing God altogether, the rabbis have now put themselves completely in charge.[18]
The coming fourth stage of the Messiah will be characterized by ritual revenge on the goyim for centuries of “persecution of the Jews.” The only Gentiles that will be allowed to live during that time will be those who submit to the rabbinic-concocted Noahide Laws. Central to these laws for “righteous Gentiles” is the willingness to give up “idolatry,” especially the worship of Jesus Christ, their number one agenda item. In Orthodox Judaism, the official religion of the state of Israel, nothing is more important than their obsession with Jesus Christ and the need to wipe the memory of Him off the face of the earth.
Thus Israel’s vision of the future is entirely one of their own making in their own minds. They don’t foresee a disaster ahead for them because they don’t read the Scriptures, nor the prophecies, nor are encouraged to do so. They put their faith in their power to clandestinely create or provoke events that move their agenda forward, then dare you to tell the truth about it because that would be bigotry or self-hatred of course. Besides, studying the Talmud is tedious. Like five-times-as-many-words-as-in-the-Bible kind of tedious.
You would probably ask then, why don’t they explain this to us? Because it’s to their advantage not to, to lead you on, letting you think there’s common ground here, some kind of a Judeo-Christian joint Masada suicide pact perhaps. Mostly they want your continued rabid political support, thank you very much.
And if you think that Evangelicals egging them on into an apocalyptic disaster (albeit one they don’t believe in) is lost on them, think again. They know we think this will precipitate our being Raptured out first, a whole ‘nother delusion for another time, so they don’t respect your “love” for them anyhow.[19] That’s a role for scallywags like me.
What Then Does The Future of Jerusalem Hold?
There is one thing we Christians do believe (or are supposed to believe) about the future of Jerusalem, and that is the fact that for all of Netanyahu’s efforts, the city is supposed to be “trodden under foot of the Gentiles” for 42 months (Rev 11:2). But who might these Gentiles be? If the city becomes a real powder keg now, all the more so if the Jews do something provocative like build a third Temple, or in the aftermath of the Four Horsemen war (Rev 6:1-8), who would Israel be willing to let keep the peace but their colony America?
Seriously, I highly doubt they will accept UN troops protecting them, given the decades of UN resolutions passed against them. But maybe the Americans, if we’ve been subdued enough. What I mean by that is, terrorized enough by their President’s heavy, authoritarian hand to do this thankless task willingly. This is why I think Israel is willing the “break the back” of America through this President so that these young people will have little employment opportunities left but to join the military and fight Israel’s battles.
This will set up an interesting situation. For a few years I toyed with the idea that Netanyahu was on his way to becoming the Antichrist because (1) I was well aware of his ambitions to become Israel’s messiah and (2), I knew the Israeli people would never accept anyone but a fellow Jew.
When Mr. Trump came along, as I’ve said it caught me completely by surprise. I would never have thought the American people would actually elect such a flim-flam artist. Just that famous mouth of his is such a prominent clue about the Antichrist (Dan 7:8,20).
If I could give Donald Trump advice I would tell him to resign, get out now before he gets impeached and convicted, and before he sinks any deeper into the danger of becoming this infamous character. But if insists on staying, he could become this one who “guarantees” the security of Israel yet turns on his masters by the end. I can already see this prickly man’s resentment of Netanyahu’s control, his moments of inner emotional disgust, just as Obama experienced before him.
What!? Video unavailable in my country!? Why I’m shocked, just shocked! Maybe the look of disgust on his face toward his busom buddy was just a bit too embarrassing. Maybe we’re just not worthy of such information.
Maybe in my next article I’ll present my case on how Mr. Trump could fill this tragic role. Don’t be surprised if he fires Mr. Mueller in the meantime. To be continued.
Footnotes:
[1] Some have speculated that the President has dentures, a fact that someone as vain as him is probably loath to admit to, that they were coming out of place and thus the speech crash-landed. Others speculated on the man’s health and state of mind. I’m willing to cop to the dentures theory combined with a mental mish mash moment since the rest of the speech was perfectly lucid.
[2] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-06/rupert-murdoch-mansion-burning-down-la-wildfire-nbc
[3] It is said that Murdoch talks to Trump on the phone almost daily.
[4] I am sure Mr. Murdoch and all his endless admirers and sympathizers will miss the message in all this and may even instead go on a rampage against the homeless (Dan 12:10).
[6] Just like me! https://lorddonniebob.donclasen.com/6-the-part-time-mogul/
[7] It is very clear to me that someone is handing him lists of Federalist Society judicial nominations, an incredibly-radical right wing group, including some who have no background in law whatsoever. It is probably for this purpose that these craven Republicans in Congress have been putting up with Mr. Trump all this year. They may live to regret it.
[8] President Bill Clinton left it unsigned seeing as he was in the middle of trying to negotiate the Oslo Accords with Israel and the PLO. Less than two weeks later Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin was assassinated and the talks haven’t had a prayer ever since, especially once Netanyahu took his place in 1996. (To this day Rachel Rabin blames Netanyahu for stirring up the opposition to such a murderous pitch until someone actually shot her husband.)
[9] Just consider the arrogance of such a term. A Jew who dares to think for himself and not buy into the rabbinic narrative of superior status via birth must “hate who he is” (Ro 2:28,29). This seems to be a big psychological “payout” for Talmudic devotees, the feeling of superiority and if a Jew wants to exercise some humility and humanity, well, he must “hate who he is.”
[10] Well, certainly to two (Judaism and Islam) and only partially to one (Christianity). The teaching of the New Testament is that we, the believers are now the “Temple of the Holy Spirit” and that fighting over “holy land” and relics is carnal (Gal 4:24-26; II Cor 6:16). But since Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy build upon tradition instead of New Testament teaching directly, they still cling to such things and also lay claim to Jerusalem, though much less desperately.
[11] The Sicarii, a fanatical (and marauding) offshoot of the Zealots and dedicated to radical independence, attacked and occupied a Roman garrison at Masada around the time of the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD. When Rome finally breached the wall in 73, they found that 960 men, women and children had committed mass suicide rather than surrender. Israelis to this day consider it to be an inspiration to the nation and their most popular tourist attraction. Go figure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masada
[12] What this would look like would depend upon circumstance and opportunity, but that’s the general logic behind their concept of what it means to be the Chosen. The actual outcome is outlined in the prophetic scenario of the Second Coming, a subject we should be experts in.
[13] In “The Church’s Idolatry of Israel,” I expose the shallow and lazy thinking behind the Church’s attitude toward Israel, and in “Is The Problem Anti-Semitism or Anti-Gentilism?,” I go into some of the “logic” behind rabbinic thinking on the meaning of Chosen and the origins of the seemingly-endless friction between Judaism and the Gentile world.
[14] I.e., their efforts were thwarted. One noted instance was the theft of nuclear weapons from an Air Force base to use to start a war.
[15] One of the most common is the importance of “blessing Israel” lest we incur a curse—“I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee” (Gen 12:3). This was a simple promise made to Abram about his coming years of wandering and is not an absolute principle, something I covered in “The Church’s Idolatry of Israel” article.
[16] “Israelis Succumb To The Rabbi’s Curse,” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/israelis-succumb-to-the-rabbis-curse-1329692.html.
[17] They claim that all their commentaries on the Scriptures were completed with the Gemara and other works. There is no essential Bible study per se in Judaism today, certainly not expositionally, systematically and thoroughly. Talmudists use the Scriptures as an archaic and esoteric text for finding Kabbalistic numerological and word patterns and the like.
[18] In the full development of their doctrine, only the Jewish male is truly a human being, with the rabbi being the very consciousness of God (what we would call the Holy Spirit) on the earth. “Goy” means literally “between man and beast” in the Talmud. Don’t expect logic or Biblical revelation in any of this.
[19] In short, there is no Rapture before or during the Tribulation, only at the very end at the coming of Christ, to bestow glorified bodies on those believers who never pass through death first. It’s actually a fairly minor event and will in no way crash airplanes, etc.
