It seems that in the time of Jesus, the Jews and Samaritans had hated each other for 600 years. "The Samaritans were descendants of the surviving Israelites of the northern kingdom who intermarried with the newly imported alien population after the fall of Samaria in 722 BC." (The Lion Handbook to the Bible, p 497) The Jews saw them as a heretical sect, especially after they built their own temple on Mt Gerizim. Perhaps, the final straw of rejection and disdain. It was a Jewish king who destroyed this temple in 128 BC. Yet, the Jews and Samaritans had so much in common. The believed and worshipped the same God and both accepted the Torah, the first five books of the Bible as their authority. Both waited the coming of a prophet like Moses - the Messiah.
Do the people of Israel have a new set of Samaritans to hate? The Palestinians or the Gazans or Hamas or the Iranians, perhaps?
Or, Jeremy Corbyn - the JC of Islington North instead of the JC of Nazareth?
Just as the Jews longed for a Messiah to overthrow their Roman rulers 2000 years ago, is the boot on the other foot today in that part of the holy land that the state of Israel has designs on - Judea and Samaria?
In other words, do the Palestinians, in Gaza and in Judea and Samaria, regard their Israeli occupiers in the same way that the Jews, 2000 years ago, regarded their Roman occupiers?
Is the state of Israel the new Rome for the people in the internationally recognised Occupied Territories, that many Jews and Christians call Judea and Samaria?
Is raising these questions so indicative of the new anti-Semitism on the Left in the UK today?
For 600 years, the people of Israel regarded the Samaritans as their enemy. Yet, the Israelities had so much in common with this Jewish sect. For the next 1900 years, the Jews were dispersed and, then in more recent centuries they were the subject of enmity from the West and from the Western Christian Church. From 1948, the Jews regarded some Arabs, many Muslims, all Palestinians, every Gazan, Hamas en bloc and, the nation of Iran - all as their enemies.
When it comes to the Luke 10 story or parable of the Good Samaritan, is it acceptable to ask if Jesus the Jew was being deliberately provocative or even disloyal to his compatriots in putting his own religious leaders in such a poor light and, to cap it all, to put their enemy as the hero - the hated Samaritan?
He seems to have been putting himself and his fellow Jews down and putting their enemies, the Samaritans on a pedestal to be admired. Or, is there no significance in Jesus choosing a Samaritan as the hero?
Or, was Jesus giving an example of what it means, practically, to love your enemies, to do good to those who hate you, to bless those who curse you and to pray for your persecutors?
The story in modern dress
For the Judaeo-Christian nations today, is a modern day Samaritan, our 70 year old traditional enemy, Russia? But we Westerners would call them the Bad Samaritan, of course but Jesus would see some good in the Russians and put one Russian in a story to put them in a good light. Or is politicising the parables of Jesus unacceptable, for they are meant for personal, private holiness by individual, born again believers?
Or, does the West view the Robbers in the story as wicked Russia beating up our allies like Ukraine and occupying Crimea?
The 89 year old Father of my church and retired leader has wondered if the State of Israel is behaving as the robbers beating up the poor defenceless Gazans. The 2014 July/August war killed over 2200 including about 500 children and the 2018 boundary protests killed over 140 Gazans and one Israeli soldier.
Who would you class as a modern day, walk on by, do nothing, priest and levite in the story?
Were we the priest and levite in knowing but doing nothing to save the Jews, the Roma and all the other minorities and outcasts in the 1930s and 40s in Nazi ruled Germany?
"And who is my neighbour?"
The shocking thing about this story is that we are being told that our neighbour is Hamas, Hezbollah, the suicide bomber, the terrorist, the Gazan and the Palestinian. Our neighbour is our enemy to whom we are to do good. But, never, the enemy is our neighbour! Unfortunately, Israel has made enemies of some neighbours by giving nothing and wanting more. Yet, it has made peace treaties with two of its neighbours - Egypt and Jordan.
Showing posts with label Judea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Judea. Show all posts
Friday, 20 July 2018
Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Not the meek, but the brave, the bold and the violent will inherit the earth (Matt 5 v 5)
The brave, the bold and the hard men go out, explore, conquer and claim land as their own. Very cheeky but, so typical of us lot!
I think, our grab and brag ways around the globe can be likened to an octopus with its tentacles reaching out to every corner of the planet to claim land and people for ourselves. Our Empire was the biggest and best for the worst behaviour humanity has ever seen.
Jeremy Paxman, in his TV series on the Victorians, with their fast expanding empire, quoted a saying of theirs, "Grab and brag; occupy and fortify"!
The brave, the bold and the violent will control the earth's resources and get what they want.
Those who inherited the earth fully supported the Arab Spring and the replacement of leaders they no longer liked.
The brave, the bold and the violent will spend four years trying to overthrow their enemy, President al-Assad of Syria.
The brave, the bold and the violent will overthrow the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The new military leaders got a slap on the wrist from the United States of the World for their undemocratic ways.
The brave, the bold and the violent will oust the elected, pro Russian, President Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine to put in their pro Western man, Petro Poroshenko. Killing protesters in a revolution to get a leader sympathetic to the West!
The brave, the bold and the violent will take ever more land in Judea and Samaria to house the fast growing State of Israel.
The brave, the bold and the violent will stamp out any chance of there ever being a state for the Palestinians.
Only the meek share land with their neighbours.
Only the meek allow themselves to be governed by whoever.
Only the meek allow themselves to be incorporated into a Fascist state or a Communist state or an Islamic state without fighting back, violently.
(How do Christians interpret that catastrophe for the Jews, from a theological perspective? eg: Exile for Israel from the Promised Land to Babylon when they disobeyed the Lord God. They were also without their Promised Land from 70 AD to 1948. 1900 years dispersed around the world? 1900 years of exile? What brought that about?
The overthrow of President Mosadeq of Iran over his nationalisation of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. We put in our own man - the Shah of Iran - to secure our influence and his country's co-operation with the Christian, freedom-loving, democratic upright West is Always Best.
The shooting down of the Iranian airbus by an American warship. The Lockerbie downing of our American airliner followed later in the same year. But we never learnt the lesson. Never made the connection!
James Cook (1780s) claimed New Holland (Australia) for Britain: "an illegal theft of a continent from its indigenous people" (Vanessa Collingridge on 'Timewatch' 19 March 2015)
Why were those indigenous people so ungrateful that they never thanked their lucky stars that they were discovered by the White Christian nations?
The brave, the bold and the tough claim for themselves what they find, then colonise and turn them into their peoples, their slaves.
The brave, the bold and the get-up and go make their own empire and maintain their control by coercion, force, violence, killings, warfare.
The brave, the bold and the tough claim for themselves what they find, then colonise and turn them into their peoples, their slaves.
The brave, the bold and the get-up and go make their own empire and maintain their control by coercion, force, violence, killings, warfare.
I think, our grab and brag ways around the globe can be likened to an octopus with its tentacles reaching out to every corner of the planet to claim land and people for ourselves. Our Empire was the biggest and best for the worst behaviour humanity has ever seen.
Jeremy Paxman, in his TV series on the Victorians, with their fast expanding empire, quoted a saying of theirs, "Grab and brag; occupy and fortify"!
The brave, the bold and the violent will control the earth's resources and get what they want.
Those who inherited the earth fully supported the Arab Spring and the replacement of leaders they no longer liked.
The brave, the bold and the violent will spend four years trying to overthrow their enemy, President al-Assad of Syria.
The brave, the bold and the violent will overthrow the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The new military leaders got a slap on the wrist from the United States of the World for their undemocratic ways.
The brave, the bold and the violent will oust the elected, pro Russian, President Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine to put in their pro Western man, Petro Poroshenko. Killing protesters in a revolution to get a leader sympathetic to the West!
The brave, the bold and the violent will take ever more land in Judea and Samaria to house the fast growing State of Israel.
The brave, the bold and the violent will stamp out any chance of there ever being a state for the Palestinians.
Only the meek share land with their neighbours.
Only the meek allow themselves to be governed by whoever.
Only the meek allow themselves to be incorporated into a Fascist state or a Communist state or an Islamic state without fighting back, violently.
The meek go for more subtle ways to fight back - if they can.
Only the wise and meek Judeo-Christian West maintain democracy and capitalism and introduce education for girls, cricket and voting for Afghanistan, after 13 years of warring on the Afghans (I mean the Taliban - those vicious Muslim extremists who will not accept our good and perfect Western ways - like our demon democracy that is not even based on fair votes!)
Only the wise and meek Judeo-Christian West have their massive arsenals of weapons of mass destruction to stop them being attacked by the Russians, the Communists and the Muslim extremists.
Only the wise and meek nations stop other nations from acquiring weapons of mass destruction - if they possibly can.
Only the wise and meek Judeo-Christian nations imposed sanctions on Russia for taking back Crimea after 60 years but, not on themselves for war crimes on Gaza and, before that the years of war of aggression on Afghanistan and Iraq - of course not; silly me to even think such a thought!
Only the meek put out their tentacles in taking for themselves land around the globe and, in the years of this century, exhibiting: Guantanamo Bay, rendition, torture, coups, aggression, illegal unnecessary wars and, now, drones to do our killings for us without fear of our heroes taking any casualties. They get away with it because they are the rich and powerful nations that are part of the Christian, capitalist, democratic, pleasure-seeking, freedom-loving West.
The supposedly meek, Judeo-Christian Western powers, have indeed inherited the earth.
Unfortunately, over these last 101 years of UK wars somewhere around the world, first Christian Western powers threw their weight around in the Middle East and, then, the Jewish people in the State of Israel since 1948, have all set a very bad example to the Muslims. Some of them have, finally, flipped to form Islamic State. We have sown the wind and are now reaping the whirlwind. We opened Pandora's box. Our violence, I think, bred their violence. Revenge leads to yet more revenge. The radical Muslims have finally learnt our violent, coercive, death-dealing from drones, ways. Except, we are all safe and secure in our homes, as long as we don't go anywhere near the Muslim majority countries.
EVIDENCE:
Letting the Arabs (Muslims) down after the Christian nations' war of 1914-18.
Yet, the Arabs were fighting on our side thanks, largely, to Englishman, T E Lawrence.
France and the UK were given the Mandates to rule certain countries in the Middle East. The UK was given Palestine. We quickly threw in the towel when Israel's terrorist gangs got to work and the State of Israel was soon born without the agreement of a single, surrounding Arab nation.
Only the wise and meek Judeo-Christian West maintain democracy and capitalism and introduce education for girls, cricket and voting for Afghanistan, after 13 years of warring on the Afghans (I mean the Taliban - those vicious Muslim extremists who will not accept our good and perfect Western ways - like our demon democracy that is not even based on fair votes!)
Only the wise and meek Judeo-Christian West have their massive arsenals of weapons of mass destruction to stop them being attacked by the Russians, the Communists and the Muslim extremists.
Only the wise and meek nations stop other nations from acquiring weapons of mass destruction - if they possibly can.
Only the wise and meek Judeo-Christian nations imposed sanctions on Russia for taking back Crimea after 60 years but, not on themselves for war crimes on Gaza and, before that the years of war of aggression on Afghanistan and Iraq - of course not; silly me to even think such a thought!
Only the meek put out their tentacles in taking for themselves land around the globe and, in the years of this century, exhibiting: Guantanamo Bay, rendition, torture, coups, aggression, illegal unnecessary wars and, now, drones to do our killings for us without fear of our heroes taking any casualties. They get away with it because they are the rich and powerful nations that are part of the Christian, capitalist, democratic, pleasure-seeking, freedom-loving West.
The supposedly meek, Judeo-Christian Western powers, have indeed inherited the earth.
Unfortunately, over these last 101 years of UK wars somewhere around the world, first Christian Western powers threw their weight around in the Middle East and, then, the Jewish people in the State of Israel since 1948, have all set a very bad example to the Muslims. Some of them have, finally, flipped to form Islamic State. We have sown the wind and are now reaping the whirlwind. We opened Pandora's box. Our violence, I think, bred their violence. Revenge leads to yet more revenge. The radical Muslims have finally learnt our violent, coercive, death-dealing from drones, ways. Except, we are all safe and secure in our homes, as long as we don't go anywhere near the Muslim majority countries.
EVIDENCE:
Letting the Arabs (Muslims) down after the Christian nations' war of 1914-18.
Yet, the Arabs were fighting on our side thanks, largely, to Englishman, T E Lawrence.
France and the UK were given the Mandates to rule certain countries in the Middle East. The UK was given Palestine. We quickly threw in the towel when Israel's terrorist gangs got to work and the State of Israel was soon born without the agreement of a single, surrounding Arab nation.
The State of Israel was born and remains growing in strength and size out of warfare and victory from aggression and land grabs.
It also helped to salve our conscience over doing so little to stop the Nazi genocide in Poland and Germany in the 1930s and 40s. The House of Commons showed itself to be anti-Semitic in the '39-'45 war.
(How do Christians interpret that catastrophe for the Jews, from a theological perspective? eg: Exile for Israel from the Promised Land to Babylon when they disobeyed the Lord God. They were also without their Promised Land from 70 AD to 1948. 1900 years dispersed around the world? 1900 years of exile? What brought that about?
Was it a really big disobedience to Yahweh that brought about the attempted genocide of His Chosen People by a formal and long-standing Christian nation in the 1930s and 40s?)
WHY IRAN IS NOT IMPRESSED BY AMERICA, ISRAEL, UK
The Christian nations' record in the Muslim Middle East has been disastrous and reprehensible:-
Us lot - the supposed meek and mild of the earth - are much, much more guilty of the most terrible discrimination, expulsions and persecution of the Jews than any Muslim peoples down the centuries.
Yet, the Muslim countries have been our Number One target since 1838 (First Afghan War to 1842, Wikipedia).
The Suez Crisis of 1956, when UK, France and Israel ganged up against Egypt to get back the Suez Canal under their ownership. Even the United States was horrified and, with Russia, condemned it!
The overthrow of President Mosadeq of Iran over his nationalisation of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. We put in our own man - the Shah of Iran - to secure our influence and his country's co-operation with the Christian, freedom-loving, democratic upright West is Always Best.
The shooting down of the Iranian airbus by an American warship. The Lockerbie downing of our American airliner followed later in the same year. But we never learnt the lesson. Never made the connection!
We Brits fought four wars in Afghanistan and failed to win decisive victories in a single one of the wars!
In the first, the entire mighty British Army was wiped out, apart from one very lucky survivor in 1842!
This century's fifth war, lasting twenty years, was catastrophic for the Afghans - even as we ignominiously sneaked out with our tails between our legs. ("What are foreigners, like them, doing coming to the UK in small boats? It should never be allowed." After we messed up their land, too!!)
No wonder, after this despicable record of illegality and war crimes, Iran calls America and Israel the Great Satan. Quite right, too. I'm ashamed of my country's behaviour.
TIM WELLER
TIM WELLER
Thursday, 16 January 2014
Using God as a fire extinguisher
USING GOD AS A FIRE EXTINGUISHER - for emergency use only
Christianity is not an insurance policy against death and misfortune. In fact, it’s the exact opposite, for the sun rises on the righteous and the unrighteous; the rain falls on the just and the unjust. When Les, Christ-like, God fearing, what you see is what you get, the genuine article, Les Hardwick loses his beloved wife so prematurely, it does destroy my faith in a loving and just God. It also shook his faith, from what he told me. God cannot possibly be a God of love, justice and who is able to protect His own. Les should have been the very last person whom the Lord should have allowed to lose his wife in 2000.
Therefore, as I see it, we have
the problem of Christians suffering. Indicating a God who does not care, even about His own people.
the problem of Christians suffering. Indicating a God who does not care, even about His own people.
the problem of the Bible - favouritism for one tribe, only, for one set of peoples, only. God promised that their ancestors would bless the rest of humanity but the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims, the children of Abraham, have most certainly not been a blessing to everyone else. In fact, they have been at each others throats and the Christians have, for centuries, been somewhat domineering around the world - to put it mildly. This, contrary to what their founder flatly rejected in one of the three temptations in the wilderness of Judea.
the problem of human ecocide - very short-lived human species when compared with very long-lived dinosaurs.
the problem of human intolerance of each other and their inability to live in peace one with the other.
the problem of the vast majority of the best Christians - the Bible believing, born again ones - being quite content with having employment in the arms industry, the armed forces and voting for the war parties. Coercion, force and aggression is acceptable for the most virtuous, sanctified and holy of people.
the problem of abortion and voluntary euthanasia being more evil than killing the born in time of war.
the problem of human stupidity - especially over foreign, military, transport, economic and energy policy - not much left after than list. But, actually, we humans are homo sapiens - "wise man" - so we can't be that stupid!
the problem of the infinite, immensities of space, of nothingness yet the existence of earth created by the human construct of ‘God’.
the problem of how God came about, if He was not thought up by humans.
the problem of religion being pre-scientific. It was, quite naturally, an outcome of humans needing to keep in with Nature - the sun, wind and rain, for their very survival and comfort. Not surprisingly, it developed and grew as humans grew in size and in dominance of all other livings things on earth. Now, an over dominance that is likely to be our own undoing.
the problem of human ecocide - very short-lived human species when compared with very long-lived dinosaurs.
the problem of human intolerance of each other and their inability to live in peace one with the other.
the problem of the vast majority of the best Christians - the Bible believing, born again ones - being quite content with having employment in the arms industry, the armed forces and voting for the war parties. Coercion, force and aggression is acceptable for the most virtuous, sanctified and holy of people.
the problem of abortion and voluntary euthanasia being more evil than killing the born in time of war.
the problem of human stupidity - especially over foreign, military, transport, economic and energy policy - not much left after than list. But, actually, we humans are homo sapiens - "wise man" - so we can't be that stupid!
the problem of the infinite, immensities of space, of nothingness yet the existence of earth created by the human construct of ‘God’.
the problem of how God came about, if He was not thought up by humans.
Monday, 5 November 2012
"But its OUR land, not yours!"
OPEN LETTER TO RUTH JACOB, who showed the film on Israel at our church in September.
So say both the Palestinians and the Israelis. Both are wrong and both are right. Both can't compromise. "The Israeli/Palestinian congflict is not black and white. "Both are the good guys and the bad guys ... (this is) a clash between wrong and wrong ... a tragic clash between right and right ... (neither) pro Palestine nor pro Isarel but pro peace." said Amos Oz on 'Start the Week' on 5 November 2012. Both will not share with the other, so both suffer and have less than the best - especially the Palestinians who are under the cosh, dominated and controlled.
Do you believe that the greater boundary of the Promised Land (Joshua 1 v 4) is a legitimate ambition for Israel once all of Judea and Samaria falls into its hands?
Why do you think Israel is surrounded by enemies? Is this really something to be seen as a badge of honour, as the film seemed to think? For many evangelical Christians, Israel is likened to God. Israel is hated by the surrounding countries because as Jesus said, "As they hated me, so they will hate you." The very hatred for Israel by all its surrounding countries shows how Biblical prophecy is being fulfilled and is proof that God is slowly but surely working His purposes out in the Middle East for His greater glory.
Self defence against intermittent/interminable rockets coming over the border turns out, from time to time, to be an all out, large-scale military attack, invasion and re-occupation of Gaza, as we saw in Dec 2008 to January 2009. Is that fair enough?
Do you want a state for Palestine, provided it is Gaza and it is Judea and Samaria that officially become part of Israel, along with East Jerusalem?
It seems to me, that evangelical Christians, like those who saw the film on Israel at Hasbury Christian Fellowship in September, back Israel every step of the way. They do so as part of their work to help God give all the land, promised to only Israel and not to the Arabs, from the cedars of Lebanon in the north to the deserts of Sinai in the south and, from the great river Euphrates in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west (Joshua 1 v 4). Evangelical Christians do so to make sure that Bible prophecy is fulfilled. Only in this way is Armageddon (the end of the world) and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus hastened.
In other words, the solid Christian support for Jews and Israel, come what may, has an ulterior motive - to boost their own cause, to hasten the end of the world and, to turn Jews and Israelis into born again Christians, like themselves!
So say both the Palestinians and the Israelis. Both are wrong and both are right. Both can't compromise. "The Israeli/Palestinian congflict is not black and white. "Both are the good guys and the bad guys ... (this is) a clash between wrong and wrong ... a tragic clash between right and right ... (neither) pro Palestine nor pro Isarel but pro peace." said Amos Oz on 'Start the Week' on 5 November 2012. Both will not share with the other, so both suffer and have less than the best - especially the Palestinians who are under the cosh, dominated and controlled.
Do you believe that the greater boundary of the Promised Land (Joshua 1 v 4) is a legitimate ambition for Israel once all of Judea and Samaria falls into its hands?
Why do you think Israel is surrounded by enemies? Is this really something to be seen as a badge of honour, as the film seemed to think? For many evangelical Christians, Israel is likened to God. Israel is hated by the surrounding countries because as Jesus said, "As they hated me, so they will hate you." The very hatred for Israel by all its surrounding countries shows how Biblical prophecy is being fulfilled and is proof that God is slowly but surely working His purposes out in the Middle East for His greater glory.
Self defence against intermittent/interminable rockets coming over the border turns out, from time to time, to be an all out, large-scale military attack, invasion and re-occupation of Gaza, as we saw in Dec 2008 to January 2009. Is that fair enough?
Do you want a state for Palestine, provided it is Gaza and it is Judea and Samaria that officially become part of Israel, along with East Jerusalem?
It seems to me, that evangelical Christians, like those who saw the film on Israel at Hasbury Christian Fellowship in September, back Israel every step of the way. They do so as part of their work to help God give all the land, promised to only Israel and not to the Arabs, from the cedars of Lebanon in the north to the deserts of Sinai in the south and, from the great river Euphrates in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west (Joshua 1 v 4). Evangelical Christians do so to make sure that Bible prophecy is fulfilled. Only in this way is Armageddon (the end of the world) and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus hastened.
In other words, the solid Christian support for Jews and Israel, come what may, has an ulterior motive - to boost their own cause, to hasten the end of the world and, to turn Jews and Israelis into born again Christians, like themselves!
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