Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

Authored By  :
Published On :
Last Updated :

NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



Continuing our discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the Palestinians have made it rather clear that they will not settle for anything less than East Jerusalem being the capital of a state that is based upon 1967 borders. For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- and most Israelis for that matter -- reject the Palestinian claim to East Jerusalem. As most Christians know, an undivided city of Jerusalem is the bedrock of conservative Jewish politics.

In my view, the Palestinians have demonstrated to the world that they have attempted to resolve the situation through diplomatic means for thirty-four years now. While it is in fact true that certain radical Palestinian elements within their midst have done some very atrocious things which have cost the lives of innocent Israeli civilians -- which is indeed inexcusable, and which I discuss more in the series entitled "Palestinian Suicide Bombers and Middle East Peace" -- at the same time, it is also true that the Palestinians are by no means alone in their guilt. Extreme violence has been committed, and blood shed, on both sides of the fence.

Any honest person who is willing to lay aside their personal prejudices, should be able to recognize that there are simply no innocent parties in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Israelis are equally to blame, as a number of exposés of the behind-the-scenes operations of the Mossad have revealed. In fact, with the events of recent months, the Israelis haven't even tried to hide the fact that they have sent some of their operatives on missions to assassinate some members of Hamas, and have succeeded in doing so. Furthermore, the excessive use of overwhelming force by the Israelis when confronted by Palestinians using crude rockets and stones is deplorable.

Laying aside the outright violence and bloodshed, the Jews' current treatment of the Palestinians as basically marked, card-carrying, corralled animals who find themselves under constant military observation is totally unjustifiable.

For those of you who may object to this point of view, I ask you to consider for a moment exactly how you would feel if your community suddenly found itself placed under what really amounts to a severe form of undeclared martial law. Suppose that this situation was declared, not because your community had really done something wrong, but only because there was a suspicion that someone in your community might do something wrong. How would you personally feel about this? Undoubtedly, you would feel quite angered and upset about it. Suppose you and your neighbors decide to complain to the authorities and inform them that how your community is being treated is not justified. Wouldn't you be surprised if, rather than being treated with decency and respect, you are either imprisoned, roughed up and questioned, or at the very least your name is blacklisted as a possible troublemaker? If so, consider then some of the other possible effects that martial law might have on you and your community:

1. Food is rationed and in short supply at your local supermarket.

2. It is difficult, if not impossible, for you to get to your place of work on time, if your job even still exists.

3. Your basic utilities such as power and water have become unreliable due to the declared state of emergency.

4. Tension is extremely high as neighbors begin to lose trust in each other and in their government.

5. Your patience and forbearance become almost non-existent, and you are plagued with bouts of depression.

6. Price-gauging has become a common occurrence and your money no longer meets your basic needs.

7. Your children are traumatized because on their way to school everyday, they are forced to pass by checkpoints manned by armed guards who are already under a lot of pressure due to previous protests by angered citizens.

8. Your communication with the outside world is monitored and possibly restricted.

9. Periodically a law-abiding neighbor in your community is unexpectedly taken in for questioning, and is then placed under arrest without any apparent reason, and without due process of law. You are told he or she is a drug dealer, although you know for a fact that it really is not true.

10. You are accidentally shot, and possibly killed, because one of the young nervous armed guards misjudged a particular movement you made, or an expression on your face.

11. You are taken in for questioning, or arrested, simply because you happen to know a certain person, or because you are of a certain race.

12. You are placed under house-arrest for no apparent reason.

13. Your house is ransacked and/or destroyed by authorities while you are away at work. Neighbors are told you had a bomb factory in the cellar, even though everyone knows that you are a respectful, law-abiding citizen.

14. Your husband or wife is arrested under unsubstantiated charges, while your children look on and cry in shock.

15. When you are out shopping, going to work or school, or taking care of personal business, you are taunted and jeered at by people of another ethnic group who do not like you.

If you think that the above list is somewhat exaggerated, then I urge you to take a closer look at some areas of the world where one ethnic group is oppressed by another. If you do, you will quickly discover that the above points are in fact quite accurate; and that there are even worse things happening which I haven't mentioned such as group executions, torture, rape, etc. These symptoms may not all be present at the same time in any particular situation, but some of them will be present.

Perhaps while you are looking for a place where incidents of this nature might have happened, or may still be occurring, you might want to take a closer look at how the Israelis have treated the Palestinians over the decades. Upon doing so, you may acquire a more compassionate understanding regarding the Palestinians' current frustrations. Undoubtedly, some of you who have been brainwashed and indoctrinated by pro-Israel organizations such as CUFI, will be tempted to fire back in Pavlov dog fashion with a response such as the following:

"Now just wait a minute! Those Palestinians are terrorists! They deserve everything that is happening to them! Have you already forgotten about the victims of those crazy suicide bombers? Every one of those Palestinians is no doubt just a mentally-unbalanced terrorist in waiting! Just watch, read or listen to American or Israeli news! That will clear up any doubts you may have about those evil people! They are very dangerous fanatics! They just want to push the Jews into the sea!"

As I have already made clear, no, I have not forgotten about the suicide bombers; but neither have I forgotten about all of the innocent Palestinians who have been unfairly detained, arrested, imprisoned, beaten up, shot at, wounded or killed by nervous Israeli soldiers who are armed with real bullets; while the Palestinians -- some of whom are of school age -- have only wielded rocks. While it is true that a person can be harmed by a rock, from a long distance -- which is really the case in many of these incidents -- a metal bullet is more accurate and deadly, even if it is rubber-coated. It is an established, verifiable fact that over the years, thousands of Palestinians have been killed by the Israelis.

Of course, if all you ever do is read the Jewish-controlled press, you will never know any of these things. You will only learn the Israeli point of view, and you will be convinced in your mind that you have the full truth. Either that, or you will purposely ignore those things which conflict with what you want to believe, even if they do happen to be true. Now, if you are foolish enough to doubt Jewish control over the American mass media -- and over American life in general -- then let me again encourage you to read the series entitled "Welcome to Greater Israel, USA!". It will probably shock any open-minded person; particularly the part that exposes Jewish influence and control in America.

Let me make it clear that I am not politically motivated in any of the statements that I have made here. In fact, as my regular readers will already know, I do not become involved the politics of the world, because my citizenship is not of this current world, as I explain in a number of my articles such as "The Heavenly Vision: Have You Got It?". While I do not become involved in the political process itself, for the sake of my readers, from time to time, I do find it necessary to comment on political issues, so that they may know the truth.

Furthermore, being as I am a Christian with a conscience for standing up for what is right, I do believe in trying to look at things fairly as God sees them, and not as biased men tend to see them. As the Lord told the Prophet Samuel when he was erroneously going to anoint Jesse's eldest son Eliab as the new king of Israel:

". . . Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."


If you happen to hold the aforementioned negative point of view concerning the Palestinians, allow me to ask you a few questions. Suppose it is believed that a suspected terrorist has purchased bomb supplies in your town's hardware store. Because of this suspicion, the FBI -- the Federal Bureau of Investigation in America -- decides to arrest the store owner and all of his employees under suspicion of possibly being accomplices to the crime. Later, the whole town is placed under martial law because the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms -- or BATF -- is suspicious that some kind of large underground terrorist organization might be working out of it. In other words, they have become convinced that the man who is suspected of being a terrorist is just the tip of the iceberg.

Some time later, it is discovered that the man who had been accused of being a terrorist, simply purchased a few screws at the hardware store in order to repair a loose panel on his pickup truck. Of course, that part of the story is never published in the media. Furthermore, even though the man's reputation has been severely tarnished, to the point that he has lost his job, and all of his friends as well, government officials state that they aren't in the business of offering apologies, even when they have obviously been wrong.

Here is another example. Imagine that it has been discovered that a suicide bomber was living in your city at the time he committed a certain horrible crime. How would you feel if your city's image is seriously marred, to the point that the economy is negatively affected by it, and anyone who travels outside of your city is treated with prejudice and disrespect, simply because they are associated with your city?

Or consider this scene: Suppose that a certain serial killer is living in the apartment right below you where he secretly sexually abuses unwary women. Then, to get rid of all of the evidence, he cooks up a nice flesh stew every week. Are the police going to come in and arrest everyone living in that apartment complex, under the suspicion that they might all be related to the serial killer and chef extraordinaire, and thus may possibly have similar culinary tastes?

As a final example, consider a certain militia group that is living in a remote area of a certain state within the United States of America. Here is a group of men who, similar to a lot of Americans, are becoming a bit upset with the way the American government is running things. They are tired of the political, moral and spiritual corruption they see occurring all around them; so they decide that they are going to take matters into their own hands, and do things there own way, even if some of their activities and methods are considered to be on the border of breaking the law. Regardless of what their real crimes are, or are not, is the government going to clamp down on the entire state where they are located, just because of those few men who had a mind of their own?

Of course, the previous, obviously-exaggerated scenarios are simply meant to emphasize a few key points. For example, you can't punish a whole town, community, city, state, country or ethnic group because of the crimes or negative actions which have been committed by one or a few individuals. You can't begin to treat everyone with suspicion and disrespect, simply because a few individuals have gone to the extreme in their views and with their actions. You cannot simply throw a particular race of people all into one lump and stereotype them; that is, make sweeping generalizations concerning what they are like, how they think or what they might do.

As some of my readers will know, I have lived outside of the continental United States for almost thirty years now. As a result, a lot of the things I know and understand regarding current life in America is based upon what I read online in the news, and in other areas of the Internet. Based on that information alone, I have absolutely no desire to return to the United States. In fact, I find it a rather scary place.

Why do I feel this way? Because if I allow my opinion about the United States to be crafted by that information alone, I am forced to believe that America is a land that is full of nothing but corrupt politicians, a rich upper class which continually oppresses the poor, warmongers who pick fights overseas based on questionable motives, drug pushers and drug addicts, high school shooters, prostitutes, militant gays and lesbians who are intent on taking over the country, murderous abortionists, drunks, illegal aliens who suck off of the government and steal jobs from people who are more deserving, pedophiles and other child abusers, atheists who want to totally remove God and faith out of government and out of the public square, racists and other hate groups, gang members, members of organized crime, rapists, and Americans who own ten guns each.

Now, if you are an American, were you offended by my words? Do you think that I have a balanced understanding of what it is like to live in modern-day America? Or would you strongly object and point out that not all Americans are like that? Would you endeavor to convince me that despite the outward appearance, there are actually still a lot of great, honest, peaceful, hard-working, God-fearing people who live in the USA, even if I may be unable to see it as an outsider who is just looking in? Do you see my point? The Scriptures clearly inform us that the Lord does not like a false balance; and that can be applied to many things in life, and not just to weights and measurements. In fact, when we stereotype some person or ethnic group, we are measuring them against what we personally view as being normal and right. Consider the following verses:

"A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight."


"Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good."


To stereotype someone is being biased, narrow-minded and prejudiced to the extreme. Not everyone is a serial killer, or a cannibal, or a rapist, or a terrorist, or a pedophile, or a drug dealer, or a drunk, or a political radical, or a racist, or any of the other things that I mentioned in the previous paragraph. If we want to stereotype people, then based upon what I have learned from the news regarding the USA, perhaps the entire American nation should be locked up forever and the key thrown away!

Obviously, many of you will not agree with this; so why do you read your Jewish-controlled news, and then ignorantly clump together the Palestinians as if they are all nothing but violent criminals who wear suicide vests? There are no doubt many fine Palestinian citizens. Just like the rest of us, they are fathers, mothers, young married couples, little children, working people, students, etc. I suspect that the majority of them are probably struggling to survive a lot more than the average American family. Thank the Lord, some of them have even embraced Christianity.

A subjugated and controlled people -- as the Palestinians are -- can only endure so much abuse. Eventually, they run out of patience and choose to resort to less-than-honorable means to pursue their goals of political, economic, social and religious freedom. While it is not right for them to resort to violence, neither is it right for them to remain oppressed. Through their actions, Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government have made clear that they are not really interested in peace. If they were, they would immediately desist in settlement expansion in the West Bank, because they know that it is only infuriating, frustrating, and alienating the Palestinian people even more, and driving them away from the bargaining table.

It seems a bit ironic to me that a people who once felt the ire of Adolf Hitler, the wrath of the Inquisition, the sword of the Crusaders, the iron-fisted might of Rome, the force of Nebuchadnezzar, the wrath of the Assyrians, and the whip of the slave masters of Egypt, should at this current time treat another people -- their half-brothers no less -- with such disdain and disrespect.

Of course, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is really just a microcosm of the problems which exist in the Middle East. If there is anything that can be said regarding the Middle East, it is that it has long been an area of conflict, civil unrest and discontentment. Aside from the fact that the region has been carved up between the Sunnis and the Shi'ites -- which has resulted in tensions that are literally centuries old -- the current situation is aggravated by the grave developments in Syria, the ongoing war of words between Israel and Iran, the rise of Islamic-leaning governments in nations cross the Middle East and North Africa as a result of the "Arab Spring" -- the full effects of which are still unknown -- the limited water resources which has resulted in tension between various nations, the Iraqis' frustration with Turkish jets crossing over into Iraq in order to pursue the Kurds, and a number of other issues.

In a word, one is given the impression that the Middle East is a boiling, seething pot that could possibly explode if the temperature is not turned down in some of these areas very soon. For example, if Israel were to attack Iran in the near future due to the United States' reluctance to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, it could easily plunge the Middle East into a major war with Israel at the center. Unlike Syria and Iraq which were attacked by Israel in previous years, it is quite possible that Iran will seek to retaliate. If this were to occur, other nations which hate Israel might not just sit idly by. Let's not forget the events of 1967 and 1973.

On another front, as current news reports have been stating, the problems in Syria have already begun to spill over into neighboring countries as war refugees flee to Turkey, Iraq, etc. Even now, there are indications that both Iran and Iraq are supporting the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria; either by providing al-Assad with fighters and military hardware, or else by allowing said shipments to pass through their own air corridors, despite international condemnation of the bloody atrocities which are being committed by the Syrian leader.

Regardless of what eventually happens concerning the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, as I have been teaching for quite a number of years now, based on my current understanding of the Bible, my gut feeling is that another full-scale Arab-Israeli war will occur. As long as Israel remains a thorn in the side of the Arabs, eventual war is assured. We need to recognize that the millennia of accusations and counter-incriminations, pride, arrogance and mistrust which have separated these two peoples is not something which can easily be overcome in a matter of a few weeks, months or years. Once this war begins, it will be very difficult to stop. In fact, it may be totally impossible to stop until one side has been obliterated by the other.

As I was working on this article, I happened to hear some baby chicks outside my window being led by their mother hen. Immediately the following verses came to me:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."


Perhaps you may consider the above incident to be a mere coincidence. However, I believe that it is a confirmation sign from the Lord. Contrary to the view that is held by certain American Christians who anticipate a miraculous victory by Israel over her enemies, as I explain in such articles as "The Great Tribulation and the Rapture", I hold the opinion that sometime in the near future, Israel, and Jerusalem in particular, is going to be invaded and brought to desolation; just as she has been a number of times in the past by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Romans. As we have seen, these nations were sent by the Lord to judge and punish the Jews, due to their sins.

At this current time, Israel is so proud of, and has placed so much confidence in, her military might. In her foolish pride, she probably takes great comfort in the fact that she has an arsenal of nuclear weapons as well. She is no doubt very convinced that if a major war does break out in which she is the primary target, she will be victorious, and will subdue all of her enemies, as she has done in the past. By even adopting this dangerous attitude, apparently, she does not even recognize the error of her ways.

As I point out in other articles such as "Psalm 83 War False Doctrine Exposed" and "Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth", in his pride, King David made the very same mistake. David wanted to conduct a census in order to determine exactly how large and how powerful his army really was. He was gloating in the arm of flesh. He had forgotten that it was the Lord who had given him his greatness and everything that he owned. In other words, motivated by his vanity, David wanted to take a little bit of the credit to himself. He wanted to savor the moment, when in reality, all honor, glory and credit belongs to the Lord alone. Consider the following verses:

"And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people. And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel. And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer: Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtimhodshi; and they came to Danjaan, and about to Zidon, And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beersheba. So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men. And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly."


As I explain in the aforementioned articles, because of the king's pride, vanity, self-confidence and haughtiness, God chastised him and knocked him down a few notches. The Lord had to remind David in a very clear way that He alone was the true source of the king's power and victory over his enemies. Sadly, as the following verses reveal, this turned out to be a very expensive lesson for King David to learn. As a result of the king's disobedience in instructing Joab to conduct the census -- even though Joab and the other army captains were against the idea of conducting the census -- seventy thousand men were slain:

"For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man. So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men."


While we don't know exactly when King David wrote it, the following verse that is found in Psalm Twenty clearly shows the lesson that the king learned from that sad incident:

"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God."


Please go to part three for the conclusion of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

---

---

Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.