Dwelling in a Sukkah: The Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles)

Dwelling in a Sukkah: The Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles)

Leviticus 23 summarizes Israel’s Holy Days.

39 “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest 0 On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters 43 so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

So much of Israel’s celebration is based on memory and re-enactment. Faith was based on the foundation of the wonderful works God had done in Israel’s history. Despite the discipline of wandering in the desert for 40 years due to Israel’s disobedience, the period was still one of miraculous provision. Israel ate supernatural food and had the supernatural provision of lasting clothes. The eighth day following the seven days of the feast was a day of special assemblies. Rabbinic Judaism urges our people to keep all in the Torah that does not require the Temple. We can still live in a Sukkah for 7 days. We can still take the species and wave them before the Lord proclaiming his provision and sovereignty over the world. On the 8th day in Israel and the day after in the Diaspora, we celebrate the end and the beginning of the readings of the Torah. It is wonderful to celebrate the Feasts in Israel. The climate for harvests and celebrations is part of the timing of Holy Days.

However, there are some amazing other features. Numbers 29:12-29 describes the national sacrifices to be brought during the Feast. It was noted by the Rabbis that the number sacrificed over a week added up to 70 bulls. This number represents all the nations of the World (this is from Genesis and the nations noted after the Tower of Babel). The idea is that Israel is the priestly people who interceded for all nations and offered salvation for the nations. This connects to the many passages of the Prophets and the Psalms that proclaim that all nations will come to the knowledge of God, and that will be accomplished through events of the last days taking place in Israel. Sukkot thus celebrates the vision for all nations to be in the Kingdom of God as we read in Zechariah 14. After that final war against Israel, all nations will celebrate the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles)

One other reasonable speculation is that Yeshua (Jesus) was born on Sukkot and circumcised on the 8th day. The calculation for the time of Zechariah the Priest, the pregnancy of his wife, and then Miriam months later with Yeshua fits well with the time of Sukkot and also fits a feast period when there would be no room in the Inn. He took upon him the tent of a human body in the Incarnation.

We rejoice during this Feast despite a terrible time of war in our Land against fierce enemies. In the midst of this Feast and war, we are now planning to begin the full-time program for Jerusalem Bible Institute.

Chabad Rabbi Calls for Change in Israeli Public Education

The lead Chabad Rabbi in Tel Aviv put a large ad in the Jerusalem Post’s weekend edition. In it, he decried secular education in Israel that was leading Jews in Israel away from believing in the Torah, the Exodus, the God of the Bible, and Israel’s election. This, he argued, would undercut the state of Israel and its passion for its survival and prosperity. He then pointed to a million Israelis who have left Israel and are assimilating in the West more than the Diaspora Jews themselves. There are other factors for leaving; one is the high cost of living, especially housing, and the super high prices are connected to a corrupt system here.

But of course, the Rabbi was right but ignored the elephant in the room. If Israelis return to faith in the Torah, they yet do not want to return to Halacha, to the minutiae of Rabbinic Orthodox practices and constraints. Conservative and Reform Judaism maintain traditions but do not really believe the Biblical supernatural events really happened. So in Israel, Orthodox Rabbinic Judaism is the only choice, is the state religion, and in charge of all marriages and conversions. Reform and Conservative are super tiny here.

Messianic Judaism is the best answer to the dilemma. We bring people back to faith in the Bible and the election of Israel. We also have a wise approach to Rabbinic Halacha. We evaluate it by the whole Bible and do not feel compelled to submit to it but affirm that which is good. Sadly, many Messianic Jews in Israel are not that Jewish in orientation, unlike in the Diaspora, for they are more Evangelicals in the Hebrew language. More change is needed.

However, short of becoming Messianic Jews, could there be a new Judaism?

In the Land that respects the Torah, the Prophets, and the good things in the Jewish heritage without coming under the constraints of Rabbinic Halacha. I would love to see someone work on that as well.

PROJECT 2025

I am writing this little essay due to the political hot potato Project 2025, a blueprint for government change from a conservative point of view. Democrats vilify it. They claim that Project 2025 is the playbook for a possible next Trump term. The former President claims he has had nothing to do with it, that he has not read it and will not, and that it is not its playbook. The Democrats claim that Project 2025 is an extreme right-wing agenda that will set the country back. Republicans do not defend it but probably wisely say little because Democrats will pick and choose parts out of context and prosecute their case against Republicans on the basis of such misrepresentations. I read some of the names of those who gave leadership to different chapters or sections of the document and knew them to be brilliant, credible, and not extreme. However, were others extreme and suggesting extreme and dangerous policies? I have read many studies from the Heritage Foundation and other think tanks whose leaders were part of this project. Heritage is usually very credible.

So, what is a person like me to do? I am an informed person who seeks to apply biblical worldview thinking to politics. See my book Social Justice. In this book I promote the idea that love and Justice are one and that a truly just social order is one that promotes the lifting up of the greatest number of people. I argue that a free enterprise society with checks and balances on corporate and governmental power is the most successful. Justice is based on God’s law, the universals that can be derived from the Bible, and on empirical evidence of what works. With this understanding, I decided to review the 2025 Project. It is 880 plus pages, large dense pages. It was no easy task, but how can I evaluate the many claims that are being made? I could not find a good and comprehensive defense of the project or a fair and serious critique, so I decided to work my way through it.

Here is a very short summary of my key takeaways. No, it is not a radical crazy radical right-wing agenda but is the product of brilliant and serious thinkers whose articles should be read and weighed. The book is primarily dealing with the Executive Branch of the Federal Government and all its agencies. The administrative state, all its agencies, is so large and vast that it is difficult to get one’s arms around it. So, the 2025 Project gives more information on the vast federal government than anyone could want. It is an education. The Executive Branch of the Government is far larger than the rest of the government put together and very powerful. Here is my review.

The Massive Labyrinth and Its Waste

The project describes every agency and significant sub-agency. Each one is a vast labyrinth in itself with huge budgets and government administrators and sub administrators galore. The documented waste, duplication, inertia, civil service employees who resist change, corruption, and cronyism are beyond what we can imagine. Truly as Lawrence Peter argued, in government agencies inefficiency is ubiquitous since people are often promoted beyond their competence. (The Peter Principle.) This reminds us of Ronald Reagan and his Grace commission which sought to address this. But since then, the waste and corruption of government has grown back and is probably worse than ever. There must be a radical evaluation on the basis of efficiency and the government in size has to be radically reduced. Can anyone get their hands around these agencies and reform them? We hope so. They swallow up much wealth.

Agency Mission Creep, and Corruption

One aspect of the administrative state and its agencies is mission creep. Over and over again agencies and their leaders stretch the boundaries of their legal congressional mandates and involve themselves in regulations and initiatives that were not approved by Congress. This is a way for elites to gain progress in their political and social directions without the necessity of legislation and democratic debate. The various authors show this in agency after agency. I will detail some examples. It is the characteristic of leftist elites to bypass legislative and democratic processes to gain their end in hidden ways through the bureaucracy.

CRT. DEI, Transgenderism, ESG

A few years ago, we were told that Critical Race Theory was an academic theory and was not being applied in our schools or in government policy. This was a lie. The cultural formation left has made CRT ubiquitous in most government agencies. This began with President Obama, was somewhat halted under President Trump but now has returned with a vengeance. CRT promotes appointing and promoting people by their particular race and ethnicity above others who may be more qualified. This racial/ethnic orientation and quota system was not passed by Congress and not approved by the democratic process but is being applied throughout the agencies and in its policies promoted for other nations, in education and so much more. CRT partners with its twin ideas, DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion. DEI is not interested in diversity of thought or political or religious views. DEI means that every government agency, every corporation, and every institution is to reflect the proportion of embraced groups that are disadvantaged. Blacks and Hispanics especially are favored, but Asians need not apply! There is a pecking order. Such racial discrimination was rejected by the Supreme Court, but the agencies of the Federal Government are fully promoting these unconstitutional directions. This replaces the right orientation for disadvantaged groups, programs, and opportunities for the poor that will qualify many for advancement.

CRT partners with transgenderism and the promotion of the LGBTQ+ agenda. These alternative lifestyles are endorsed and promoted and makeup one of the groups for special treatment and promotion. They were disadvantaged and are now to be promoted. These policies need to be eliminated.

ESG, Environment, Social, and Government is another left orientation that seeks to force corporations and banks to act to only favor those who embrace a more radical environmental agenda that can lead to much poverty, Social brings us back to DEI and go Government to leadership that promotes all of this. Businesses that run a full ESG and DEI can be refused financing and de-platformed. This discrimination must be halted.

Restoring and Incentivizing Marriage and Family

Contrary to false claims, Project 2025 does not seek to eliminate welfare but like the Clinton administration, seeks to incentivize work. It also seeks policies that incentivizes marriage and family stability as the building block of success. While there are successful children from single parent situations, the percentages of success show differentials that are huge and are in favor of an intact family with a mother and father. This may be one emphasis that is hated by the left that seeks to equalize all types of living arrangements. Incentivizing family should be expressed in welfare programs, education, and government programs in housing and adoption. This affects policies on adoption that should favor intact two parent families with a mother and father and should not discriminate against religious families that promote traditional marriage.

Rejecting transgenderism as a policy implies rejecting education that fosters transgender ideas in children in our education system and even promotes transgender transition for children. This can lead to confusion in children. It also rejects transgender biological men in women’s locker rooms, shower rooms, and sports. There is a rejection of Biden’s fiat re-interpretation of Title 9 to apply protections for women in sports to include biological boys and men who identify as girls or women. This also affects the Department of Health and Human Services in its policies promoting transgenderism.

Abortion, National, and International

Though our nation is divided on the issue of abortion the Agencies of Government are all in on promoting it, in Health and Human Services and even in foreign policy from the State Department and through the influence of the largesse of foreign aid. The 2025 project does not call for a ban on abortion but for regulation and an end to late-term abortion. Despite all the professions in favor of multiculturalism, contrary to our laws, the Federal Agencies dealing with foreign nations strong-arm these nations to embrace pro-abortion policies and the LGBTQ+ agenda This is profoundly contrary to the traditional cultures of many nations. Such policies and arm-twisting are seen as colonialism. And it is! Conservatives may be pro-life but generally seek to see abortion limited to the first trimester.

Education

The union monopoly education system in the U. S. is a disaster in many locales. Morals (Immorality) are promoted contrary to family religious beliefs. Think of the defense of the pornographic in the school and those who oppose it are claimed to seek censorship. Often performance in schools is very poor. The solution is that money should follow the parents who can choose their schools. This is the key for many of the poor underclass to escape their poor-performing schools and to escape poverty. This is a key policy that is greatly needed. If money follows the student the parents can choose religious schools, private schools, or public schools. Some think the Education Department should be eliminated. It imposes mandates against the will of many parents. Of course, funds can be given so that the poor can choose a better education, but that does not require a department. Education should be locally controlled. School choice is a key to a better future.

Environmental Ideas

The 2025 Project claims to be pro-environment but not in a radical way where we destroy the fossil fuel industry and do not by world statistics improve the environment but have policies that will lead to poverty. Banks should not be able to refuse business on the basis of this part of the ESG agenda. The Environmental Protection Agency needs to be reined in for it regulates beyond its congressional mandate.

Cancel Culture and Big Tech

It is crucial that cancel culture be opposed and Big Tech needs regulation to not de-platform and demonetize what is contrary to their politically correct ideas. Only calls for violence, pornography and real hate (not made-up hate such as promoting traditional marriage!) should be censored. Monopolist issues with Big Tech and the internet need to be addressed.

Trade

There is a very good discussion on international trade, tariffs and prosperity with different points of view presented. The dangers of trade with China and its nefarious behavior are dealt with.

The Department of Justice

The Department needs to be depoliticized. It is severe with pro-life demonstrators who slightly cross red lines but have been soft on violent behavior against pro-life centers. Crimes from the left (think of George Floyd, Minneapolis burning, and Seattle). It puts out warnings on parents at school boards but allows more serious crimes to be unprosecuted. A return to law-based enforcement is crucial

This is a very small summary. It is classic conservative not radical. So why the big reaction? It is that the authors are credible people whose positions threaten the Democratic elite. That is about it.

But do note, that though President Trump is not connected to the 3025 project, former members of his administration are. His own policy paper recently put out tracks with the 2025 project.

ISLAM AND THE LAST OF THE LAST DAYS (ESCHATOLOGY)

Three books which I mentioned in a past article argue that Islam will be the final Antichrist movement and the opponents of God’s people in the final battle in the Last Days. George Otis Jr. argued this in the Last of the Giants and looked at the powers of darkness behind Islam as the last and greatest powers in opposition to Yeshua and his Kingdom. Otis majored in spiritual warfare in this book. Dr. Brad Long of Presbyterian Renewal Ministries takes a similar spiritual warfare direction in his writings. Then in more recent years, Walid Shoebat in God’s War on Terror and in several other books presents this case, that Islam will be the last Antichrist power before the return of Yeshua. Joel Richardson makes a similar case in his The Islamic Antichrist.

The Case for Islamic Fascism being the Last Day Power under the Antichrist

Generally, the argument is put forth that Islam presents a false Messiah that supersedes Yeshua. It denies that Yeshua came in the flesh which is the Antichrist spirit according to John in I John 4:3 and has become the primary persecutor of Christians around the world. Islam is the great cult that broke from Christianity. In addition, Richardson and Shoebat argue that the lineup of the nations against Israel in the Last Days Wars is Islamic. Both argue that we have to look out from Israel as the center and not the United States or Europe. Then the lineup of nations is clear. They argue as historian Dr. Edwin Yamauchi, formerly of Rutgers and then Miami University in Ohio, that the northern power fits Turkey more than Russia and these ancient tribes of Ezekiel 38, 39 were in Turkey. Some of those who hold to the traditional view that Russia is in view in these chapters believe that these tribes moved north to Russia. Yet the case of Shoebat and Richardson does have to be weighed and is a serious proposal. However, I am not in this article centering on the exegesis of the Biblical texts but want the center to emphasize Islam and especially the more radical Islamic Fascism. I did review a book on this platform by that name by a former Islamic fascist, Hamed Abdel-Samad. Shoebat also was a former radical Muslim.

Defining Islamic Fascism

What do I mean by Islamic Fascism? Like Nazi Fascism, it is a worldview with a foundational doctrine of seeking to take over the world by any means that will work. This includes immigration, war, manipulation, and more. All strategies and actions that advance Islamic rule are legitimate. Islamic Fascism does seek to be rational concerning what strategy is best at the time and does not want to engage in war pre-maturely which would lead to defeat. However, power assertion and violence are foundational and legitimate as means of extending their fascist rule.

In addition, Islamic Fascism produces governments that are ruled by authoritarian or dictatorial regimes. Islamic Fascism has embraced the most extreme traditions of the suppression of women, unlike more moderate countries like Indonesia. However, Islamic Fascism seeks to supplant the moderate Muslim governments. It is well to note what happens to women after the fascists take over. They are at least head covered and, in some cases, covered to the point that only eye slits are allowed. They live in movable tents. In Afghanistan, they have brought women into bondage and ended education for them. The United States leaders will someday have to account for their cruel abandonment. Western feminists hardly voice any concern about the greatest oppression of women on the planted today.

The Simple Theology and Eschatology

Islamic Fascism has a simple theology. They proclaim that there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet.” Mohammed is the number one leading prophet in all of history in this view. The way to the best world is to force all infidels to become Muslim or die or if there is some mercy to submit to servitude and live as second class. It at best then produces a true apartheid system for non-believers and women.

Islam has its one eschatology and vision of the Last Days wars when Islam will triumph over all. In addition, the Shiites, or 12th’ers believe in the return of the 12 leaders of Shiite Islam during a cataclysmic war to bring Islam to victory. Some believe that Iran would start such a war in the hope of deliverance. Iran is the primary force for the Shiite version of Islamic Fascism. They partner with Sunni Fascists, but this is pragmatic. Ultimately, they would have to fight it out in the future and historically were very at odds.

Anti-Israel, Jewish, and Anti-Christian

Islamic Fascists are virulently against Israel and the Jewish people. They also are vehemently against Christians and have slaughtered them in Nigeria, Kenya, and multiple other nations. Even in Mozambique, the Bakers in Iris Ministries have lost leaders to Islamic barbarism. One leading pastor was beheaded.

Israel right now is fighting a war against Islamic Fascism. This is a better term than terrorism since terror is a strategy, not the foundational worldview. Iran, the Houthis, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Shiite Fascists of Iraq and Syria, and more surround Israel. They are all Islamic Fascists.

The Weakness of the West

The West is weak and in danger of defeat when they will not face the ideology of the enemy or even name it rightly. In addition, they do not recognize in the present war, that any agreement is temporary until the Islamic Fascists attain sufficient power to attack again. The issue with the Gaza war is not only their military but that the population is brainwashed by the Fascists and mostly embrace the worldview.

Their Simple and Powerful Theology

Their theology is simpler and easier to understand theology than Naziism. It is more dangerous as it motivates its people with the promise of eternal rewards. It is growing and more and more are being radicalized. One submits to God and Islamic law for eternal rewards.

Russia and China in Alliance

Russia and China allied themselves with the Fascists to weaken the West, but their turn will come someday. It is an alliance of convenience. Amazing how the Islamic Fascists give China a pass on the destruction of their Muslim minority, but it is all part of the pragmatism!

Should the West go to War

Should the West go to war to defeat Islamic Fascist nations? Yes, and the longer the West waits the worse it will be. Even now these fascists are a fifth column in many Western nations. But ultimately this war has to be won by prayer and by supernatural miracles in the preaching of the Gospel. What level of power will be poured out on God’s people to resist this? Much more than we now see. If the Book of Revelation is rightly interpreted, it points to revival and a great harvest as well as martyrdom. But we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony and love not our lives even to death. (Rev. 12:11)

Yes, Islamic Fascism may be the Last Days’ power of evil to oppose Yeshua and his people, His Kingdom.

Israel’s Radical Right Religious Nationalists Where should we as Yeshua’s Disciples stand? The First Century Zealot Movement, Parallel to Today

In the first century, there was a Messianic movement that believed that the way to see Israel’s redemption was to rise up against Rome in revolt and to cast them out of the Land of Israel. They were the Zealots. The Sadducees opposed the Zealots. They controlled the priesthood and the Temple and were the party most in collaboration with Rome. The Pharisees also mostly opposed the Zealots. Many of these two parties believed that the Zealots would bring destruction upon Israel. Indeed, this fear is manifest in the plan of Caiaphas to arrest Yeshua since the idea of proclaiming someone the Messiah could bring the wrath of the Romans, and the level of autonomy and rule that Romans allowed would be lost. “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man dies for the people than that the whole nation perish.” (John 11:50)”

Many think that Yeshua chose two disciples from the Zealots, Judas Iscariot, and Simon the Zealot. Of course, He chose them for a different path, but some think Judas never really left his Zealot leanings. This may have been a factor in his frustration and betrayal. Yeshua’s predictions about the destruction of Jerusalem were based on the failure of Israel under its leaders to realize their time of visitation in Him, and hence destruction would come. However, in addition, He no doubt anticipated that with His rejection, false Messiahs would lead Israel to destruction. (False Messiahs did not enter by the legitimate door but were as thieves and robbers. (John 10:1 ff.) At the time of His arrest, He warned that those who take up the sword would perish by the sword (Matthew 26:52.) This could also be an anticipation of the terrible destruction that would happen due to the Zealot revolt. They rejected Him and thus the Zealot revolt came.

We can look back now and see the sad history. After Rome offended the nation with an idolatrous standard set up in Jerusalem, the Zealots finally led a revolt and gained control of the nation. The fight was valiant and the people resisted the Romans for four years, but then, alas, all was lost.

Today’s Zealots in the Land of Israel

We are today seeing the same spirit in the radical nationalist Orthodox Jews who believe that the way for Israel’s messianic redemption is to take all the land and remove the Palestinian Arabs. As the late Rabbi Meir Kahani, who led the Koch Party, said, “They must go.” “Take the whole Land by force,” is a good description of their program. To achieve this, their young adults set up illegal outposts in Samaria and Judea (the West Bank) with the hope that they will become towns. The State of Israel sometimes dismantles them and sometimes legalizes them under the pressure of their one major coalition partner, Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength), under Itamar Ben Gvir. Some of these Zealots in West Bank towns/settlements abuse Palestinian Arab farmers, uproot trees, and do violence to them. This is not to overlook the terrible violence against Jewish residents in these territories by Arab terrorists. The zealots of today believe that the way forward is to act in faith and take the whole Land that is promised. It is this faith action that is understood by them as the kind of faithfulness that will bring redemption. Amazingly some Evangelical Zionists support this orientation. I one time asked a zealot what should be done with the Arabs, and he said, “Kill them.” This certainly is not the spirit of Yeshua and does not show the humility that should be our orientation on the basis of the teaching of the Bible. Here are some biblical considerations.

Attaining the Full Borders of the Land is a Conditional Promise

Deuteronomy 19:8, 9 clarifies that the full attainment of the borders of Israel was conditional upon obedience to the Covenant of Moses and obedience to His Torah/Law. “Carefully obey all these laws I’m giving you today. Love the Lord your God, and always do what he wants you to do. Then the LORD your God will enlarge your land as he promised your ancestors, giving you the whole Land he promised them.”

For us as Messianic Jews, we add the important fact that our people have not yet repented and recognized Yeshua. However, an Orthodox Jew should look at the Torah and say, do we measure up sufficiently to believe we can at this time attain the full promise of the Land? Only about 1/5 of the Jewish population of the Land seriously seeks to obey the Torah. One would expect therefore that we would have difficulty in attaining the full Land promise and that the struggles we are having fit the condition of the Jewish people of this Land today. How is it that today’s Orthodox zealots do not see this? Their actions may bring disaster, not redemption. We add the rampant sin in this nation, the abortions, the support for homosexual sexual relations, the support for radical LGBTQ agendas, and more.

This zealot orientation is noted by democratic nations. I totally disagree with President Biden and his administration interfering with Israel’s elected government. Senator Schumer calls for a change of government in Israel. The Biden Administration points out their difficulty with Israel’s radical right-wing government leader partners and the zealot behavior in the West Bank and with the treatment of Palestinians by the Army. They even want to sanction an ultra-Orthodox army division today over mishandling a situation two years ago under the previous government. This is a terrible policy in the midst of this hard war we are now fighting. This Orthodox army division is not made up of only the radical nationalists but includes the ultra-Orthodox. They have a range from being against the existence of the State of Israel (Satmor) to being pro-Israel but not willing to serve in the army and finally those who will accommodate army service. For the anti-state Orthodox, the state delays the coming of the Messiah who alone can set up the legitimate state. However, this essay is about the ultra-nationalist Orthodox. These Orthodox need to read their Torah and realize that their program is foolish.

The Biblical Picture of Today’s Return to the Land

In addition, the most important text on Israel’s return to the Land in this period is Ezekiel 36:24 ff which states that Israel will return to the Land before she is given a new spirit and the Holy Spirit within that will move them to be an obedient people. Texts about Israel in the Age to Come describe the full borders of an obedient Israel at that time under the rule of the Messiah. The borders are more extensive than from the Jorden to the Mediterranean! But that is after this age. In Zechariah 12 and 14, we read about war and the probability that we have not attained the full promise until the Messiah comes in Zech. 14 and until we look upon him whom we have pierced and mourn for Him (Zech. 12:10)

Supporting Israel to Act Pragmatically

What shall our council then be? It is that Israel has to act pragmatically. We on the one hand recognize God’s hand in regathering and hope in Amos 9 that we will never again be uprooted. However, the government needs to make the best decision based on what is most likely to bring security to the people. Arabs west of the West Bank are citizens of Israel and it would be well for Israel to be more just in the distribution of services, roads, infrastructure, building permits, and police protection. What to do with the West Bank? There is nothing in the Bible that says everyone has to be a full citizen of a state as developed in the 19th century. Robust autonomy for Arab areas, no military arms, and passports for a type of residency could be linked to Israel or Jordan. Or after a generation of education in peace, there could be a state, but this seems unlikely. As for Gaza, it can be freed again as it was in September 2005, but only after a generation of education for peace with the Jewish state. Until then the freedom can only be partial.

These are difficult issues. Though we can imagine solutions, there may not be one that can be implemented before the Messiah returns. But we should resist the idea that we can take the whole land and expel the West Bank Arab Muslims. “They must go,” is probably not going to happen! This would bring the wrath of the world against Israel.

For us, let us pray and believe for revival in the Land that will reach even to Gaza and the West Bank so that many Jews and Arabs will come to faith in Yeshua.

What We Believe in the Heart

For many Western analysts, the problems of the world are rooted in the material conditions of the people. Then, some problems are rooted in a sense of the lack of dignity and self-determination. Applying this to the Israel-Arab-Palestinian situation, some look to solve the problem by creating good material prosperity and by giving the Arabs of Judea and Samaria their own state. While I would not decry the significance of material provision and dignity (see my book Social Justice), this analysis leaves out the most important factor. It is that war and peace are often determined by what people believe in their hearts. As the famed psychologist-biologist Bruce Lipton argued, you always act on the basis of what you truly believe in the heart. What you believe in the heart is often not what you profess with your mouth. That profession is often just repeating what is socially expected.

The factor of what is believed in the heart is really what is at the root of so much terrible destruction and pain. It is also the root of great progress and redemption. Let’s take a few examples.

What the colonial powers believed about the native American populations, that they were inferior, that they could be enslaved, and that they could be treated as inferiors at every level was behind 350 years of atrocities. Even the idea of those who were professing Christians, first Spanish Catholics, and then Puritans, the fact the natives were pagan was a reason to mistreat them rather than to show love and care to win them. The contrast with David Brainard, Jonathan Edward’s son-in-law in the 18th century, who gave his life for them, is great. However, this was due to what he believed in his heart both about the Native Americans and about the Gospel. How few professing Christians really believed what the Bible taught about all humans being in the image of God! This implies treating people with love, as ends and not means, as the great philosopher Immanuel Kant taught.

Antisemitism is a great case in point. It is based on terribly bad beliefs/convictions, that the Jews are evil and worthy of persecution and death, either because of their racial inferiority or because of their religious perversity by which they deserve persecution. All sorts of conspiracy theories are rooted in the belief that Jews are evil. The horrors that resulted from these beliefs are beyond calculation.

Then let’s look at the issue of the African slave trade and slavery in America. Those involved in this terrible practice and system convinced themselves that African peoples were not fully human and were therefore rightly subjected as slaves to white people. When one reads the writings of southern slave owners and the slave traders, it is clear that there was no heart conviction of the wrong of their practices. Some did not have real conviction of the inferiority of blacks. Jefferson knew that his statement that “All men are created equal,” and endowed with inalienable rights by their creator conflicted with his owning slaves. He submitted to the system despite his misgivings. Washington also knew it was wrong and compromised like Jefferson. He freed his slaves at his death. They needed the slaves for their farms! We see here that people can be conflicted and act contrary to what they know. This is what the Bible calls a divided heart. The challenge is to see people have deep enough belief or conviction that is good that they live by what they believe. However, it is possible to live without deep belief or conviction. We call this being shallow. The convictions of the Evangelical Abolitionists were so strong that they organized and sacrificed to eliminate slavery, first in the United Kingdom in the amazing movement of William Wilberforce and then in the United States. We think of Charles Finney and Harriet Beecher Stowe, her famous clergy relatives and so many more. Without the Evangelical Abolitionists, it is questionable whether slavery would have ended. Lincoln told Stowe that her writings caused the Civil War. Yet within two decades both North and South reneged on the 14th Amendment and allowed the most terrible discrimination and the elimination of equal rights until the Civil Rights Act of the 1960s.

When we analyze the Israeli-Arab conflict in the Land we see how belief plays out. Most Israelis believe in their hearts that it is necessary to have a Jewish state, a place for self-determination, in the light of the history of antisemitism. Right-wing religious nationalists believe that only the Jewish people should have a state in their ancient Land that stretches from Hermon to the Red Sea and from the Jordan to the Mediterranean. They have such heart conviction that they will establish settlements in the areas of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) though they are not legal by Israeli law. The mandate to settle the whole Land, for them, requires them to ignore human law.

The largest source of conflict in this Land is not that Israel is a colonial imposition on the indigenous population. First of all, Israel came into existence against colonial opposition. Its first settlements were not under the colonial power of the United Kingdom, but Turkey and Britain only supported the Jewish settling in the Land for a few years after World War I when Turkey lost control of the Land. Many Arab inhabitants of the Land today are descendants not of indigenous people, but immigrants. Many have seen over many years that the Israeli-Arab conflict is at root not about material prosperity or dignity but is a matter of heart convictions, and deep religious beliefs. The idea of Dar Al Islam is that the Land once controlled by Muslims is Islamic land and must never again be ruled by infidels. This deep religious commitment means that the state of Israel must be forever resisted until it is destroyed. While poverty might open some up to radical preachers, many of the radicals were quite wealthy. Witness Ben Laden and the attack on America in 9/2001!

As an observer of Israel and the Middle East for many years, and more intensively since I became a leader in the Messianic Jewish world (June, 1972) I am convinced that the deep convictions or beliefs held by the Arabs in this land are the primary barrier to peace. When Mahmoud Abbas walked away from the peace offers in 2007 and 2008, he sealed the fate of the Arabs to not have another state, at least for the foreseeable future. Why? Did Abbas share the religious convictions about Dar Al Islam? It is hard to know. However, he could rightly fear for his life if he accepted a peace plan that embraced the acceptance of the Jewish state of Israel. Since then, with Hamas in power in Gaza and a great influence in Judea and Samaria in the Arab villages, it is hard to see a peace plan that could be accepted. A massive change in education and then a change of heart conviction will be needed. A recent article in the Jerusalem Post from Friday, March 16th, noted the great problem is the deep belief in Islamic Fascism and the commitment to martyrdom in the quest to eliminate Israel. See the book Islamic Fascism by Hamed. That is what the mini-holocaust of Oct. 7, 2023, was about. All atrocities are acceptable as methods to destroy Israel. Until the West sees that the big problem is the belief system and the depth of conviction/belief that motivates Arab Muslims to lay down their lives and commit any atrocities for it, the West and the rest of the world will not grasp the true situation. In addition, the antisemitic beliefs mean that Jews do not have to be treated as sacred beings in the image of God. This belief in the Image of God is the greatest foundation of humane behavior.

What is Civilization?

This is just a little piece of reflection on what is civilization. For some civilization refers
to societies with civilized behavior. This would be connected to the word civil and hence
treating people in civil or respectful ways. However, many writers treat the meaning of
civilizations as societies that are well organized, powerful, or produce sophisticated art,
or sophisticated technology. Civilizations are extensive in territory, like Rome,
European civilization, or Chinese civilization in its classic period with its amazing art
forms and incredible bureaucracy with civil service exams and stratified class
distinctions. Some point to inventions and advances.

The Bible does not divide people based on the idea of whether or not they are civilized
in the above terms. Rather, the center of Biblical evaluation is whether a society is just
and good. The Greeks gave us the idea of the transcendentals, truth, beauty, and
goodness. The Bible indeed reflects these transcendentals and gives them definitions.
Let’s drop the term civilization and replace it with what is a good society. A great and
good society attains a high level whereby its people pursue truth, goodness, and beauty
as defined by Scripture and its collimation in the life and teaching of Yeshua.

Such a society first of all promotes the treating of all people with love, dignity, and
justice based on the idea that they are all equally created in the image of God. This
means that love and kindness are established values. Justice is pursued as an order of
righteousness where every person can attain his or her God-intended destiny. This
destiny begins with loving and knowing God. Every person has a God-intended good
destiny to exercise gifts and talents as God distributes and to exercise such gifts for the
benefit of all. Love is the passionate identification with others that seeks their good
guided by God’s Law. Good is defined by the destiny fulfillment of each individual. It is
not equality of wealth but sufficient wealth to fulfill one’s destiny. Of course, it includes
food, shelter, education, and provision for families and communities.

Various cultures, even outside of Biblical influence, can be evaluated by how much they
attain to these norms. Romans 1 and 2 teach that people have something of the law of
God in them and are better or worse to the extent that they live out the law that is more
or less perceived intuitively or by experience. H. Richard Niebuhr in his Christ and
Culture makes Christ the measure for evaluating what is good in various cultures and
what is bad and to be discarded and what can be transformed through Christ.

In the light of Biblical norms for evaluating cultures, we realize that even the history of
the “Christian West” shows an incredible failure to live out biblical norms but that
selfishness, rationalizations for power, and greed, too often were dominant. Such evil
has been defended in the name of Christianity. Dr. Peter Hocken rightly uses the idea
of “The Glory and the Shame” as the title of his book showing the great things and the
shameful things in Church history. Human beings terribly mess it up in their sin. We see
this in the history of the United States with wonderful ideals in the Declaration and the
Constitution but a terrible history in dealing with native Americans, black slavery, and
then the abandonment of the equality ideals that were to be enforced after the Civil War.

Germany considered herself the height of civilization in her philosophy, music, art, and
scientific progress. They then gave rise to Nazism and the Holocaust. So much for
Civilization!

When we read the Torah, then the Gospels and Epistles we see an orientation toward
life, the treatment of people, and love that the world and even the Church in history was
challenged to really understand and live out. This is the center of righteousness and
real civilization. It is not whether urban or rural or highly educated or simple. It is rather
that the center is how biblical norms are perceived and lived out.

Reverence for Law

A coherent and safe society requires just laws and reverence for law. Nowhere in world history does reverence for law attain the height of the revelation of the Law from God at Mt. Sinai. We see that reverence in the movie The Ten Commandments. That movie actually reflected the reverence for law that was so well established in the United States at that time. However, we do note the unjust laws that deserved protest, the Jim Crow discrimination laws, and discrimination policies that targeted Jews and African Americans in many parts of the United States.

The great philosopher at the end of the 18th century, Immanuel Kant, argued that society would fall apart if there was not a general reverence for law. He also argued that belief in God and rewards and punishments after death were necessary to sustain an adequate reverence or fear so that society would be law-abiding.

All societies, however, that attained greatness, whether ancient China, India, Babylon, or Egypt maintained a reverence for law. The problem in many societies was that the ruler was above the law and in some cases was considered divine with the authority to make law. This was not the case in Biblical Law. Indeed, Biblical Law requires the King to submit to the Law and precludes him from making laws contrary to God’s stated Law.

Paul in Romans 13 councils disciples of Yeshua to be submitted to the authorities and law of the land (so far as it does not contradict Biblical Law, as in Acts 5). If there is a contradiction, then for conscience’s sake, we must disobey and suffer for our protest. Paul also argues in Romans 2 that those who were not given the Law of God do rightly perceive much that is just and true though not on the level of Biblical Law.

One of the most painful aspects of our societies in the West and especially in the United States is that political leaders do not fulfill their oaths to uphold the law. The remedy for this disobedience to the law, the double standards in enforcing the law, and even a gross intention and action to ignore and not enforce the law, is impeachment. Officials that violate the law can be removed by legislatures. However, in the United States today political leaders are stymied by disagreement on upholding the law and do not remove officials that violate their oaths to uphold the law. Obedience to the law has been undercut by the claim that the law in general in the West was a manifestation of white supremacy and systemic racism. This leads to disdain for the law. We see the same disregard for immigration law. If the law is not good, legislatures can change it, but it must not be ignored by the political officials who can decide without legislative authority what laws to enforce and what to ignore. Most of the law system in the West has been good and much based on a combination of Biblical law and some very wise Roman laws. British common law was also based on these sources.

However, this lack of reference for law today translates into social anarchy and puts us on a road that is leading to dystopia. At Christmas season many watch the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. One recalls the vision experience of Jimmy Stewart as the lead actor, being shown a world where he never existed. The wicked Mr. Potter gains total control of the town and renames it Pottersville (nothing against the town of the same name on the southern end of Schroon Lake, New York). He does not revere law and exercises despotic power. When reverence for law is lost, those who have despotic power control the society. People obey out of fear for their lives but not out of respect for good law. The result is the dystopia of Pottersville, full of crime, prostitution, homelessness, poverty, grime, and despair. What a great paradigm for what is now happening in the United States. Our cities have become like Pottersville.

Messianic Judaism, like Reformed Christianity, is strong in upholding the Law of God, the Torah. When you read my book Jewish Roots, I hope you enjoy the presentation of the role of the Law of God as a constitution for ancient Israel to produce a just and model society. The Law does not save us but shows the goodness of God in his intention to organize societies in a just, humane and loving way.

The Disappointing Elections in the United States on Tuesday: A Israel-American Messianic Jewish Response

Conservatives and Evangelicals hoped to see great gains on election day in the United States, but the results were painfully disappointing. In spite of crime, inflation that has been devastating for middle-class prosperity, and the open borders issue, the Republicans did not make significant gains in the key races. All this despite President Biden’s polling with very poor approval ratings.

The most alarming and disappointing result for me was Ohio approving an abortion change to its state constitution that makes abortion legal through all nine months of pregnancy. National liberal groups poured money into this contest. While national polls previously showed that most would approve of abortion restrictions and preclude it after 15 weeks (closer to the European standard) this radical change to the constitution passed.

The second most disappointing election was in Virginia. The governor, Republican Glenn Youngkin, was elected in 2021, on a platform to support parental rights in education and to see woke and LGBTQ indoctrination removed from schools. He gained control of the Virginia Lower House of Representatives. The hope was that he would hold the House and gain the Senate. He supported an abortion ban after 15 weeks which had not yet passed. He lost both the House and the Senate. The struggles over education continue locally with some materials in children’s libraries being pornographic and the transgender issue boiling where biological boys and teens are permitted to use girl’s bathrooms and locker rooms. Louden County Virginia has become nationally famous for the struggle. Younkin was backing the conservative parents in this battle. This has certainly been a setback.

Some Republicans did win governor’s races, but a red state Kentucky (Republican) re-elected their Democratic governor.

Many thought that with election of Youngkin, Virginia was an indicator that the country was changing in a positive way, but now we realize that abortion is deeply ensconced in both blue states and purple states like Virginia that can go either Republican or Democrat.

This leads to comments on the law. Some misunderstand the view of Christians who desire a return to the law that is more in accord with the Jude0-Christian heritage of the United States. We see in this misunderstanding the alarm of some on the left due to the very strong Evangelical faith profession of the new speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson. They think Christians want to impose their faith/values on the nation and paint them like fundamentalist Muslims. However, most of these folks want a return to some of the values in the country that prevailed historically. This was not a radical harsh society.

It is well to respond with some reflections. Unless there is a dictatorship or control by an elite that represses the rest of the population (more a potential of the left today than the right), the laws of a society reflect the moral consensus. There can be tolerance for the dissenters but when there is truly a strong democratic aspect to a society, the minority cannot impose but has to win the consensus and become the majority in the society. For example, the consensus 60 years ago was that abortion was terribly evil and should be illegal. That consensus was lost and now it appears that legal abortion is the consensus. The law now reflects that consensus.

There are some important takeaways from this election.

Many are only now realizing how deeply committed the majority are to abortion in many states. It trumps other issues, even the economy, crime, education, open borders, and more. This is the reason many lost at the polls.
That the people are so choosing for abortion is bringing their states and perhaps the country into judgment. This is not something now imposed by the courts, but something chosen in elections, in referendums on abortion. People voted for more pro-abortion politicians. The United States is indeed in great peril of the judgment of God. God does judge nations by his most basic law standards. Abortion is the most painful manifestation of evil in our society.

This all raises a larger question on how to see reform in the United States. Yes, we want to see our laws more in accord with the Bible, but how much can be gained by the political processes if there is not a change in the moral consensus of society first? Yes, we should be involved in civic life and bring better laws where we can, but changing the consensus is the more crucial matter. For me, that means that without a mighty revival and reversal of the decline in the Evangelical Churches of America (by this I include Pentecostals and Charismatics) there is not much hope. These elections convince me more than ever that we will not see much progress before a great national revival in the Church that will affect the consensus of the society.

The Law of the Lord is Perfect Restoring the Soul (Ps. 19:7)

Ps. 19:7 in some translations says, “the law of the Lord revives the soul”, whereas other versions say “restores the soul”. The Hebrew can be translated both ways and probably includes both. Soul can be understood as the person, but in my understanding is a reference to the person in his thinking, feeling and willing. Wholeness from a God perspective would be intended.

This verse is a key for our modern problem of disintegration. We are living in a time in the west where the individual and the society is in disintegration. This is a manifestation of rebellion against God as described in Romans 1, where human beings claiming to be wise become fools and worship the creature rather than the creator. As such, a reprobate mind is the result.

One great manifestation of this disintegration is in transgenderism. How is it that a biological male can now identify as a female and visa versa? How is it that we have come to give hormones to prevent normal puberty? How is it that we cut off natural and well-functioning organs, breasts, genitals and sometimes replace them with non-functioning copies of the opposite sex genitals? How is it that men compete in women’s sports and change in women’s locker rooms? And the younger in schools?

With regard to using preferred pronouns to affirm transgender people, we even use they for those with what used to be called multiple personality disorder. Integrating different aspects of a person into one integrated person was normal in the goal of psychiatry. Now we affirm them not only in those who claim to be non-binary (sometimes more male and sometimes more female) but embrace even multiple personalities. We call these “they.” Thank God the pronoun you can be singular or plural!

But there are other symptoms of social disintegration. The majority of students in poor communities graduate and are still illiterate. Crime is rampant but it is considered racist to stop the crime and prosecute criminals. The poor suffer the most from the crime! Then the homeless who are drug addicted take over parks and sidewalks. Businesses and stores close. No one seems to know what to do or how to care for them. There does not seem to be enough money, and forced shelter is said to be wrong. Then marijuana is legalized, and studies say it is indicated in mental illness.

What is the ultimate philosophy behind this? It is the idea that each person can look within and intuit their authentic meaning and define themselves. It is a radical idea of freedom first developed 65 years ago by French existentialism. It is based on nothing but a self-description from philosophers looking within. Jean Paul Sartre embraced this radical idea but said it does lead to nausea since such radical freedom leaves one ungrounded and feeling faint! His solution was to hold to one’s decision as if it were an absolute given.

It is no surprise that this social and individual disintegration leads many to depression, drugs, and suicide. It is personal and social disintegration at a mass level which disintegration is supported by radical politicians and the culture elite in our universities.

The biblical answer is the Gospel. The Gospel says we are created in the image of God and do not self-define. We are redeemed by Yeshua. We give up radical freedom for a freedom that lives within boundaries. There are guard rails! God creates us male and female. He creates us for monogamous marriage. He defines what is lawful and what is not. In submission to God, we submit to his Law by the power of the Spirit. Truly the Law of the Lord or the Instruction of the Lord restores the soul. The individual and then the society becomes integrated or restored. In that restoration is peace and prosperity. As Billy Graham said in his 90s, “I know who I am, and I know where I am going.” He gives us the grace to be male and female even if traumas and abuse turn us toward wanting to be something else, for in his power we can embrace the way He made us. May we be examples, joy filled people who attract people because we have been revived and restored.

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