Or Tzion Newsletters Archive, Vol. 23, Page 2

page 2

VOL. 23 NEWSLETTER JAN./FEB. 1995

The most recent massacre was a case in point³. The British newspaper, THE GUARDIAN, in its issue of January 23rd made it clear why the massacre was particularly objectionable: such terrorist attacks made it "harder to meet legitimate Palestinian expectations without which the process is doomed."

An even more offensive editorial appeared in THE WASHINGTON POST on the same day: "The terrorist group that acted at Netanya⁴ (of which the Islamic Jihad declared it was carried out in response to the killing of three Palestinian policemen and the assassination of Jihad leader Hani Abed) said the attack was a response to Israeli settlement activity and land confiscation in Jerusalem and the West Bank... Just as Palestinian terrorism drains Israeli support for peace, so Israeli land-taking drains Palestinian support."

It is difficult to imagine a more blatant use of the "moral equivalence" ploy: building houses on barren, abandoned hills⁵ equals mass murder as an impediment to peace. BUT IN THIS, TOO, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EXPECT A WASHINGTON PAPER TO BE MORE AWARE OF THE MONSTROUS INJUSTICE OF SUCH AN ANALOGY THAN ISRAEL'S PRIME MINISTER.

Certainly truth is cast down, vileness and falsehood exalted. Satan's strategy is a blatant perversion of values, where lies become "truth," whereas truth becomes offensive⁶. This strategy is particularly apparent when it involves Israel, but it does not stop there. It has made alarming inroads into the churches.

I appeal to you, therefore, by the Spirit of the Chief Shepherd, by Whom I am terribly concerned for your ability of discernment, be awake, alert and sober!

Study carefully the messages to the seven churches in the book of Revelation, especially the ones to Sardis, Laodicea, and Philadelphia. "...You have kept My Word and have not denied My Name..." is regarded by the Lord as such an accomplishment, that He promises to keep those who do this from the hour of trial which is coming on the whole world.

What's so special about this? Because a great number of believers will be affected by the perversion of values and truth, not steadfastly keeping HIS Word. Oh yes, they will keep SOME of the Word, but they will not JEALOUSLY GUARD and FAITHFULLY MAINTAIN HIS WORD in their hearts!

What, then, does "not denied My Name" mean? It does not allude only to the outright denial of His Name. It is much more encompassing. His Person, His mission, work, and commandments, all that He represents and fulfills are summed up in His Name. To be unfaithful to some or all of what Yeshua embodies is "denying His Name."

Hence, judging from the Lord so greatly rewarding those who have kept His Word and not denied His Name, this will prove very difficult to do. In a world, in which truth is being perverted and treated as offensive whereas falsehood is being exalted, it will require stalwartness to stick intrepidly to His Word and Name.

Therefore I urge you again: stay awake and alert in the Holy Spirit and let no one deceive you in any way.

³ "Eye on the Media," by David Bar-Ilan, THE JERUSALEM POST, Friday, February 3, 1995

⁴ NOTE: The non-descriptive term "acted" is applied to the horrid Beit Lid massacre. Yet Dr. Baruch Goldstein's desperate act of holy fury at the Machpelah cave, adroitly covered by CNN, BBC, NBC and SKY News, is labeled a "massacre," not an "act." What, I wonder, would the Media have labeled the deeds of Samson, of Mordechai (queen Esther's uncle) and the Maccabees? As a rule, we do not condone such acts of revenge. Yet to place Baruch Goldstein's deed on equal footing with the horrible terror attacks committed against Israelis for decades out of never-ending enmity and hatred, is unjust. Dr. Goldstein could no longer bear the cowardly indecisiveness, with which Israel's leadership took one slaughter after another of its citizens. His helpless anger at seeing the once valiant victor, Israel, so emasculated, and his fury at the perpetual perversions of truth and facts by the Arabs and at the unceasing barrage of false accusations, proved too much for him to endure. He was an American-Israeli, whose sense of fairness was unable to cope with the constant international pressure and prejudice brought to bear upon Israel, in cooperation with the Arabs' oppression. The man who vowed to save lives decided to return the terrorists' favor. Remembering the actual occasion for which the Jewish people commemorate Purim, he brought the deed Palestinians plot for Israelis upon their own heads. Alas, he is not a Bible hero. He is a "Jewish villain."

⁵ "Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land - surely now you will be TOO CROWDED for your inhabitants and those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children born in the time of your bereavement [exile] will yet say in your hearing: 'The place is TOO CROWDED for me; MAKE ROOM FOR ME TO SETTLE' (Isa. 49:19-20)."
"I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their OWN land; and I will feed them ON THE MOUNTAINS of Israel [Judea and Samaria], by the watercourses [Jordan], and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the MOUNTAIN HEIGHTS of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture ON THE MOUNTAINS of Israel (Ezek. 34:13-14, RSV)."

⁶ "Nowadays people seem to imagine that impartiality means readiness to treat lies and truth the same," said Charles Orde Wingate (1903-1944), a British soldier and outstanding "irregular" commander who, while serving as an intelligence officer in Palestine from 1936-39, organized The Special Night Squads of young Jewish settlers to repel with bold tactics Arab raids on Jewish communities along the Mosul-Haifa oil pipeline. Because of his ardent support for Zionism, Wingate was transferred from Palestine. His dream of commanding a Jewish Army within the British Army went unfulfilled. Wingate was called "The Friend" and he won the admiration and appreciation of the entire Yishuv. Many early Haganah commanders were pupils of his. They adopted his methods - the element of surprise, and unconventional fighting tactics.

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