Blessings or Hostility

Leviticus 26 contains a prophecy concerning Israel's long term history. It shares some basic elements with the preceding chapter, 25 which describes the Jubilee arrangement. The most central concept is ownership and blessings of the land that YHWH gave to Israel. Lev 26 adds prophetic (predictive and reactive) dimensions to Israel's occupation of the land.

On a very basic level the disobedience of Israel that Moses warned against would have direct reactive consequences. Israel's disobedience got them involved in many conflicts that resulted in several national disasters. On a higher level they also followed the predicted prophetic scheme that Moses relates in Lev 26. They were scattered from their land after a troubled history that started with the wilderness wanderings, continued to the capture of the 10 tribes by Assyria and ended with their deportation by Babylon. The prophet Daniel mentions the desolations of the land in Dan 9. The land of Israel suffered several times in many long centuries Even with a restoration in the period of the Persians, the people and the land eventually fell victim to a nearly complete scattering and desolation at the hands of Rome. That desolation was noticed in many European explorations of the holy land during the 19th century.

The lesson of Moses ends with a hopeful note, God would remember his covenant with the people of Israel, he will bring them back to the land. It's not comfortable assimilation among the nations. God says he will not reject them, vs 44, that's a long term promise that bridges over the long diaspora to modern times. He wants them in the land that he gave to the fathers. God says to Israel:


40 If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me--
41 I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies--or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity,
42then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land.

This has been happening during the past century. The increase of even greater blessings will follow the repentance of the people of Israel. These are the words of the Torah. To the Jewish people, now is the time of opportunity.

Without walls #2

Ezekiel 38 mentions a time when Israel will be described as without walls. A text in Zechariah suggests this could be a figure of speech of Israel being so powerfull that it had little to worry about. That is still a possibility.

But, while watching and reading the news this week I noticed something that might suggest another way this could happen. That's by unilateral withdrawal and disarming under political pressure. The Israeli disengagement is in large part related to a sad decline in US-Israel relationships. The US with all of it's global interests and concerns has taken the role of trying to broker a deal between the Arabs and the Israeli's. Without US pressure I doubt Israel would have considered pulling it's citizens out of Gaza. None of our politicians cares to mention that the PA and it's allied terrorist networks have done nothing to fulfill their side of the peace process. Nevertheless there's our US representative Condi' Rice leaning on Israel again. See the CNN account of this: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/11/15/rice.mideast.ap/index.html.

The nations are standing around Jerusalem, they are telling Jerusalem and the Israeli's what they have to do. This is an unacceptable situation for any independent nation to experience. This is much like the situation in Luke 21:20-24, the city is surrounded by those who want to rule over it, even to destroy it. The nations are behaving badly...again....

While peace is clearly the desired end in mind I can't help but see this continuing political pressure as detrimental instead. When the PA, Hamas, Hizzbulah, etc continue to threaten Israel in no uncertain terms, why does the US and the EU pretend this doesn't represent a real threat to Israel and to themselves as well ? This isn't make believe, this is real and the troubles coming will apparently escalate beyond any pretense of control. In order to really fix the problems in Israel and it's neighbors there needs to be some honest problem solving. Politics will never overcome the feelings and passions of the parties involved. We're in the time that the weak are saying they are strong, we are in the era when judgment will occur in the valley of Jehosaphat.

Israel must increasingly look to God for passage through this modern era of trial. Israel will make peace, but only with the help of God, then all of their neighbors will also be at peace. Isa 2:2-4 and Zechariah 8. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Persia Cush Put

There's a very specific text in Ezekiel 38 that appears to describe some of the political alignments occuring in the middle east. Actually it's remarkable how little has changed in that area, it's basically the same set of players. It's only that Persia isn't being so nice to the Jews as they were in the days of Cyrus. Too bad there's no queen Esther to get rid of the modern Haman types in Iran.

vs 5 "Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, 6 also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you..." These are ancient alliances in the named places, could the "many nations" be alluding to outsiders backing up the local tough guys threatening Israel? It's not clear who that would be but there are no shortage of countires that wouldn't like to take a piece out of Israel.


and in Ezekiel 30 I noticed another listing:
"Cush and Put, Lydia and all Arabia, Libya and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt".

Nation lists have been an important aspect of Israelite history, all the way back to Genesis. At the very least they paint a broad canvas of circumstances surrounding important events in early times. Likewise today, I think they are useful in prophecies like Ezekiel in pointing out circumstances that Israel is subjected too by the nations. But the end of these alignments against her will come. The time for the incoming kingdom of God to take visible action is ripe.

Palestinian Authority The Mask is Off Again

I've been watching the daily news about the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Abbas the current leader of PA has been getting accolades from Pres Bush and other world leaders for his leadership. In reality his contribution to the peace process has been minimal, if anything. I don't see how anyone can take these people as serious peace partners except out of desperation.

Here's the latest bit of evidence in this regard. From the Arutz Sheva site is this item:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=92492

"The armed wing of Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority and of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, has called for wiping the State of Israel off the map. "

So much for peace. It's unfortunate to watch our leaders pretending that their making progress in regard to peace. In conjunction with the Jordanian attack on Nov 9 the path remains clear. The news media can't hide the fact anymore that most of this trouble is coming from one segment of the world's population. They are using the M word for two current big stories, from Jordan and from France. What I read and hear says that M's even want the credit, it's a declared war against Zionism, Israel and by association the entire European and American world. There's no secret here, only wide spread denial of reality.

There's going to be much more of this to come, there's only one end possible. Events continue to demonstrate that no one has solutions that are going to work. It's leading to a new beginning for the whole world. Believe it or not the time is coming when every nation will make peace with Israel, there will be peace in the world. Jerusalem, not Mecca, will be a house for prayer for all of the nations.

Iran on the radar screen

I've been thinking about the words being issued from Iran these past days. It just happens that Ezekiel 38 contains a list of the nations that will come against Israel in the climax of the time of trouble. One of those nations in Persia which is present day Iran. The threats emminating from the Iran's leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejadis are very worrisome to Israel, even palestinian Arabs are concerned. The big problem consists of the apparent willingness to use nukes. That wouldn't leave much of anything in the whole area around Israel. Besides the intent of destroying Zionism and Israel, they would also take out a large part of the palestinian, Jordanian and Syrian peoples.

At the world without Zionism conference held in Tehran the Iranian president was very clear about his intentions. See some of the articles at Muslim World Today site. The text of his speech is summarized at: http://www.muslimworldtoday.com/iranian4.htm. This represents an agressive stance that won't be limited by conscience and consequences as US and USSR leaders were during the cold war era.

I don't care to take some of the prophecies too literally but there are suggestions that the upcoming war against Israel will manifest violence of a new intensity. See Zechariah 14 and Joel 3. But this time it's going to be the final episode of evil. God will rise up to send his messiah to deliver Israel, Isaiah 41:8-16, Daniel 12:1. Israel will no longer have to bear the abuse of other nations, they will assert their rightful place in the world and stand succesfully against their enemies. Then Jerusalem will be recognized by the nations when they see God protecting and ruling over his people. At that time the problems of the region will be resolved as Assyria and Egypt join with Israel in peace. See Isa 19 "the third part". Then the nations of the earth will be able to find peace and redemption as well. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

French Riots starting to look like Israel

The news from Paris is very sad, riots and conflict is spreading across the country. There is a lesson in all of this, it's not as simple as saying France is racist or has neglected the Muslim community. The lesson concerns how the French government is dealing with the problem. Right or wrong they are using force to supress the violence. For an excellent analysis of the mental model of the rioters see the article by Theodore Dalrymple in City Journal. http://www.city-journal.org/printable.php?id=1885. This is a big fuzzy story that begs to be resolved by our media and policitians, it remains to be seen if anyone of stature will have the courage to say what is actually motivating people and what should be done to address those motives.

The large influx of immigrants into France has resulted in a major social problem. Quantitatively they have a difficult path ahead, millions of poor, largely uneducated people. Ohh, there's one more thing, most of them are Muslim which makes assimilation into French society that much more difficult due to it's incompatibility with democracy, Judaism and Christianity That adds to the complexity of the situation for the French. Last, it is said that Al-Qaeda is scurrying around recruiting. France has a really big headache here. It appears that several other western nations will have to start making the same choices. England's Muslims are calling for sharia law and Islamic rule over at least portions of that country.

See the report at Debka File Website. The riots are not spontaneous discontent as reported on the US media. http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1107

My point is this, Israel has been the roughly the same boat for several decades, in fact they built their country in the midst of a similar demographic and religious conflict matrix. But, the world has largely criticised Israel for how they handle present day violence and social situations. There is a striking resemblance of present French troubles to what Israel has been saturated with for years. So maybe it's time for the world to give Israel the same benefits and understanding that France is receiving. Maybe it's time to recognize where the root of the problems for each country originate. I'm talking about jihad, whether blatant violent jihad or demographic floods it amount to the same overwhelming of non muslim countries. Read Bat Yeor's Eurabia if you want to get a load on this trend.

There won't be peace in any of the 2 dozen of more of this type of world social conflicts until people really decide they want peace. The people of Islam have to renounce violence, world conquest and other types of Jihadist goals. Unfortunately for today's society, my view is that this present day religious violence is part of the overturning process that the Bible says will tear down the present world order. The aftermath will be the peaceable kingdom of God visibly established on the earth. A more immediate set of questions arise. Will France become Islamicized? Will France shift politically more against Israel ? Will France be one of those in Ezekiel 38 who ask "are you come to take a spoil? ", asking because they may become nationally impotent to do anything more? These are possibilities.

Zech 12 tells of those who will be broken if they mess with Jerusalem. France certainly falls into that category if you follow their history since the 1919 Paris peace conference through more recent arms shipments into the middle east and political opposition to Israel in the UN and the EU.

Isa 2 tells of the time when nations will beat swords into plowshares, when all peoples will go to Jerusalem to learn of the God of Israel. Gone will be the time when various national, ethnic and religious groups all try to take over Israel. I believe this vision will come...soon. I sure hope it does, the human race is really hurting and only God's kingdom can cure that pain.

Themes of Hosea

This is a paper that I wrote some time ago. It's still relevant to the impending salvation of God to be manifested to Israel and by extention to the nations/gentiles.

Hosea - A Parable of Saving Love

The book of Hosea covers a period prior to the destruction of the northern 10 tribe kingdom, called Israel and Samaria. Ephraim, a subdivision of Israel, is mentioned frequently throughout as an example of faithlessness to God's covenant. The overriding theme, however, is that no matter how badly Israel and Ephraim act, God will continue to remain faithful to them because of his compassion and unrelenting, pleading, (even alluring) love. The story line is built on 2 kinds of family relationships, marriage and sonship.

The principal lesson in the whole of Hosea is demonstrated by the command that Yahweh gave to Hosea to marry a wife of prostitution in chapter 1. The metaphor is continued in another picture of an adulterous woman in chapter 3. The emotional import of what happens is obviously as distasteful to Yahweh as it is to the modern reader. Within the book of Hosea itself several clues are given as to how these acts are symbolic . They are figurative of the relationship of the Israelite nation to its God, its husband. The figures may appear extreme, but the lesson was too -- the issues end in life or death.

The products of Israel's illicit activities were unlawful children that God would not care for. On the contrary, he "would have no compassion on them" (Hosea 2:4), although he eventually would on the unfaithful mother-- Hosea 2:23.

The picture of sonship is described in chapter 11. God chose Israel as his son, by demonstrating his love to them by acting on their behalf. In verses 3-4, "I took them in My arms; but they did not know that I healed them....I bent down and fed them". God took Israel out of Egypt to care for them, but they didn't appreciate their good fortune . God casts Israel in the role of a faithless but still beloved son. Verse 8 "How can I give you up?..."
Corresponding to these figures are the realities of what God intended to convey. He was speaking of the land, the people and the covenant made with them at Sinai. Their possession of the land, as an independent, prospering national entity, was ultimately at stake.

That the narrative is built on figures is shown by the following considerations.
1. In Hosea 1:2,4,6 and 9 Hoeas is given instructions followed by the phrases "and I will.." or "for I will...". In each place Yahweh is acting in correspondence to the symbol, which in turn is chosen in reaction to specific indiscretions of the people.
2. In chapter 2 and 3 the imagery is directly connected by God himself becoming one of the participants of the picture, in these cases as a compassionate, forgiving husband.
3. In Hosea 12:10 we read "I have also spoken to the prophets, and I gave numerous visions; and through the prophets I gave parables." This is God's way of speaking to his people.
4. The frequent references to past history, such as their deliverance from Egypt during the great Exodus under Moses, frame the whole book in a much larger context than the perceived short term, inscrutable actions of an erratic prophet.
5. In like manner, the distant future is brought in at several places to explain how there is hope for the people, because Yahweh is faithful, even if they are not.
The basic issue of the book of Hosea is the lack of obedience of Israel in their relationship with YAHWEH, the one who picked them out of the wilderness: Hosea 9:10 "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first {season.} {But} they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame, and they became as detestable as that which they loved. " The pattern was Divine compassion in the face of infidelity.
The other basic point of the book is God's response to that lack of obedience. That has two aspects, one immediate, the other far off. In the near future from the time of this narrative, the kingdom of Samaria was to be thoroughly vanquished and humiliated by those with whom she had been illicitly involved. But in spite of this gloomy prospect, clear notes of hope are sounded. Israel will be recovered , and she will return to a covenant relationship with her husband.

It should be noted that since the 10 tribes were never fully recovered from the Assyrian dispersion (9:3, 17) , fulfillment of this prophecy is yet future. Some interpreters maintain that the return from Babylon in about 539-519 BCE ended God's promise to the kingdom of Judah. However, while 2 Kings 23:15-20 narrates some of Josiah's effort to cleanse the land, it proved to be futile in restoring the people.

Several unambiguous prophetic foregleams are given in Hosea:
1:10 Yet the number of the sons of Israel Will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered; and it will come about that, in the place where it is said to them, "You are not My people," it will be said to them, "{you are} the sons of the living God."

2:15 "Then I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt."

2:19 "And I will betroth you to me forever; yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in loving kindness and in compassion,"

3:5 "Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days."

5:15 "I will go away {and} return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek me. "

6:1 "Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn {us,} but He will heal us; He has wounded {us,} but He will bandage us. "

6:11 "Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I restore the fortunes of My people. "

11:9 "I will not execute My fierce anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. "

12:9 "But I {have been} the LORD your God since the land of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of the appointed festival. "

14:1 "Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
14:4 I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them."

Hosea is also cited in several pivotal texts in the New Testament. These build on the long term optimism of Hosea's prophecies, sometime adding a positive note where Hosea is still pessimistic. Some of these are prophecies that recall the original setting with a future positive outcome. In all Hosea was of Israel, his words belong to Israel, the covenant people of God.

The list of quotes comes from Quotations in the New Testament, Robert Bratcher, United Bible Societies, 1987.

Hosea 1:6,9 1 Peter 2:10 (A) Identifying those who are chosen, 1:1, as being the people of God, those who have received mercy. In the case of Peter's epistle this may have been referring to Jews who believed in the Messiah.

Hosea 2:23 Rom. 9:25 Identifying those who are called, vs. 24, as being 'the people of God', those who are 'beloved' of God. Hosea clearly means Israel, Paul is being inclusive of gentiles in his use of the text without specifically changing the original meaning.

Hosea 2:1 (1:10) Rom, 9:26 Those that 'were not my people', have become 'sons of the the living God.' This provides the basis for Paul's claim that gentiles (from the nations) could become sons of God as well as those of Israel. They do not replace Israel, but are added to the Sinai covenant community through the Abrahamic promse.

Hosea 1:10a Rom. 9:27-28 Along with Isa 10:22-23, the number of Israel is as the sand of the sea. In Hosea, the unquoted portion of the verse continues as "the Children of the Living God.". Paul here describes inclusion of the Jewish remnant with those Gentiles called to righteousness by faith, vs 30.

Hosea 2:1, 23 1 Peter 2:10 (A) Peter addresses those in Christ inclusively, as does Hosea.

Hosea 6:5 Eph. 6:17 (A) The sword of the spirit, the word of God, corresponding to Hosea's phrase, " slain them with the words of My mouth". An allegorical use of the sword.

Hosea 6:6 Matt. 9:13; 12:7 "I desire compassion, not sacrifice", so Jesus calls those who are sinners (and know it) , not the righteous. Anyone in covenant relationship with God could be included in this phrase. To Israel it speaks to Torah, from Jesus we hear the same application to his Jewish audience.

Hosea 10:8 Luke 23:30 (A); The last prophesy of Jesus ministry refers to the daughters of Jerusalem and her children, who "say to the mountains, fall on us...:. As in Hosea's time, the people of Israel were facing impending disaster again at the hands of Rome.

Hosea 10:8 Rev. 6:16 (A) The mountains will be called upon to hide the kings of the earth from Him who sits on the throne and the Lamb, during the day of wrath. Happens twice.

Hosea 11:1 Matt. 2:15 God calls his son from Egypt, originally Israel, by analogy Jesus follows this same path. In modern times Israel has again been called out of all of the captivity of worldwide Egypt.

13:14 1 Cor. 15:55 The challenge of death is overcome. It loses its power.
God overcomes death - sheol / hades - through Jesus Christ.
In Hosea 13, we find our final topic of consideration, the ransoming figure of deliverance.
"Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight (13:14)." The original answer to this was no, but through the power of resurrection God has enabled an answer to this awful question.

As stated in the narrative of Hosea, the statements are phrased as challenging questions to Ephraim. The implication at the time of Hosea's prophecy was that God would not rescue/ransom the nation from its punishments. But Hosea 14:1-2 identifies the rescue that will come when it reaches the point of repentance. In prophetic terms, we have yet to see natural Israel take that step. In Hosea 14:4-6 we read "I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them. His shoots will sprout, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like {the cedars of} Lebanon." The ransoming work is held in abeyance until repentance is reached by Israel, as we read in Hosea 6:1-3, "come let us return.." The marriage state or covenant will be restored with the same people who were delivered over to the terrible wrath of Yahweh for a time".

Book- IBM and the Holocaust

I read this book a while ago, it's got a fascinating account of how IBM got it's start in the genocide business. Author is Edwin Black, he did a good job on this one. Very troubling story, but worth knowing about. IBM supplied punch card storage in an early form of computerization to help the Nazi party track Jewish populations across Europe. Their business plans coincided with Nazi conquests, an unbelievable compromise of democratic and humanitarian values on the part of IBM. It's a sad commentary on western civilization that technology is often used for evil as much as it is for good. Of course, the money helps ease the consciences of those troubled by the details of mass murder. Of IBM doesn't do that kind of thing anymore, right? Or any of the other arms dealers giving high tech weapons to terrorist nations like Syria? The best weapons always seem to go to those that have no legimate need. Even the internet has become a weapon, it's both a blessing and a curse. All examples of "Let the weak say I am strong" Joel 3.

The time that Babylon will stand accused before God is upon us, history and current world events clearly demonstrate the moral bankcruptcy of our governments and businesses. Revelation 18 and Jeremiah 50-51 show the impending down fall that is coming. High tech violence won't fix the world's problems, it won't fix the grievances of the poor and the wronged. Israel is growing and prospering against all the wishes of her foes. The Jewish people should not assimilate, but turn back to their God, turn back to their land, stand in the power of God. Jeremiah 50:4-8 "flee"; Jeremiah 51:2o shows how the tables will eventually turn in favor of Israel.

It's time for Jews and Christians to stand together against the world system of darkness. Support Israel, support God's people wherever they are. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray for "thy kingdom come."