Christian Zionism – part 1

Christian Zionism – part 1

Christian Zionism – part 1

Jewish Opposition to Zionism

There should be no doubt in anyones mind that the Jewish people have endured tremendous persecution throughout the ages and persists to this day. It appears to me though that most of today’s anger towards the Jewish people revolves around the land of Israel and the conflict with the displaced Palestinian people.

On closer investigation into the term ‘antisemitism’ I discovered that there are many angles of attack that all seem to be branded as ‘antisemitic.

I have included below some content which sets out to describe what ‘antisemitism’ is and it’s many disguises in the world today – articles by Ellen Wexler and Rabbi Sacks.

What I find the most interesting, is to find how outspoken the religious sector of Judaism is with regards to the state of Israel and its legitimacy to exist – refer videos.

 My interest in this topic is solely from the perspective of understanding Scriptural Truth and not any political agenda or interest,

Before continuing, the reader needs to remember that the Jewish people do not recognise the Renewed Covenant i.e. the New Testament, and therefore any understanding of the New Testament believer pertaining to the future land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem should differ greatly from that of the Jew. For instance the book of Revelation reveals that the New Jerusalem is the ‘Bride’ of Yahushua and is not a reference to a section of land in Israel called Jerusalem. This is how Bible scholars should see the future Jerusalem anyway – emphasis on ‘future’.

The same principle applies to Israel. When one unpacks the story of Jacob’s name change to Israel then one discovers who New Testament Israel is. This is a reference to those people who have wrestled with their flesh nature, which opposes righteousness, and have overcome their flesh nature to submit wholly to the will of the Almighty.

There is much more detail/Scripture to back this claim up but I do not want to digress here.

Having said the above, all New Testament believers in the Messiah should understand and recognise the Jewish people as our lost brother. After all Jacob had twelve sons which eventually split up into the two separate kingdoms – North and South. The majority on New Testament Believers/Christians are seen as the lost Northern house/kingdom – the ‘Prodigal son’.

New Testament believers are the wild olive which has been grafted into the olive tree – Romans chapter 11:

For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root beholy, so are the branches.

And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.

Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in hisgoodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.

For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?

Romans 11:15-24

 

Romans chapter 2 defines who a New Testamnet Jew is:

 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is thatcircumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Romans 2:28-29

 

Following my investigation into the term ‘antisemitism’ it does appear to me that this label would be applied to anyone who criticises or maligns anything to do with Jewishness, whether it be Judaism as a religion or Israel as a country. It has become equally apparant to me that the more religious group of Jewish people i.e. the vast majority of Torah observers, are very critical of the existance of Israel as a sovereign country. A quick search on ‘Google’ images of ‘Jews against Zionism’ will reveal how big this opposition is.

 Many Christians and others would probably think that most Jews are united in their view concerning the land of Israel today. This is however not the case. According to the statements made by the Rabbis in the video material provided It appears that mostly secular Jews are the patriotic people.

There are many Christian church groups and organisations who stand in support of Isreal as a sovereign state and believe that the formation of Israel as a country is the fulfilment of Biblical prophecy. The vast majority of religious Rabbis it seems, would disagree with this view.

My view is that the Father is Almighty and Sovereign. It is clear that He has allowed the formation of Israel as a country and Jerusalem as it’s capital city. Whether it appears to be legitimate or not to us, it is clearly the will of the Almighty for this time. The New Testamant Scripture reveals a change though, which is soon coming. Until that time comes we are faced with the world as it is – in it’s fallen state.

I would like to express my view that I am against any human rights abuse, or the persecution of any indiviual or group, based on either their ethnicity or religion. We must embrace the teaching of our Messiah Y’Shua in that he did not come the first time 2000 years ago to judge but rather to set free. The time for judgement is coming when Y’Shua will judge all people as the King of Kings and Master of Masters.

Until then let us keep our peace and pursue righteousness in our own lives.

I have provided you with some material below to enlighten you and possibly broaden your traditional view on this subjcet.

 

After reading the following and watching the video footage – You decide.

 

The Semantics of Anti-Semitism

BY ELLEN WEXLER

In the late 1800s, a German writer and political agitator named Wilhelm Marr published a pamphlet called “The Way to Victory of Judaism over Germanism.” The idea was that Jews and Germans were locked in perpetual conflict, which could only end, Marr worried, with one group’s victory over the other. And the Jews were ahead.

Today, Marr is credited with coining the term “anti-Semitism.” Compared to previously existing words, anti-Semitism “was meant to be a kind of technical term,” says Ken Jacobson, deputy national director of the Anti-Defamation League. It described an attitude based on ideas about Jews as a race, and it was intended to foster a scientific basis for hatred.

But since Marr’s time, the term “anti-Semitism” has evolved. As scholarship on the subject grew, the available vocabulary expanded. Today, its definition—and its boundaries—are uncertain. “Anti-Semitism” is but one of a convoluted, interconnected web of similar words—including “anti-Judaism,” “anti-Zionism,” “Judeophobia” and “Zionophobia.”

What, for instance, is the difference between “anti-Semitism” and “anti-Judaism”? David Nirenberg, author of Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition, makes a nuanced distinction: Anti-Semitism takes aim at real Jews, while anti-Judaism opposes a broader system of thought. When the word “Judaize” first appeared in a conversation between the New Testament’s Paul and Peter, it referred to Christians who wanted—mistakenly—to observe Jewish laws. For early Christians, Judaism became associated with a misguided set of beliefs: taking something too literally, or placing too much emphasis on the law. Over the years, anti-Judaism took on a broader meaning: Someone could be accused of acting like a Jew for displaying greed or lending money. “If you read any source about the economy, say, from roughly the 12th century to the present,” says Nirenberg, “people are constantly talking about certain forms of relationship to money, certain uses of money, as being Jewish.” These prejudices played out everywhere from Shakespeare to Marx. The hatred of Judaism, and the need to fight against it—even in communities that had never met a Jew—became a constant in Western culture.

Some historians see anti-Judaism as a religious prejudice and anti-Semitism as a racial prejudice. But this framework is contentious. “The distinction that’s made between anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism is a fallacious one,” says Brown University professor David Kertzer, who has written extensively on the Vatican’s role in modern anti-Semitism. In 1987, Pope John Paul II commissioned an investigation into this matter. The verdict was that, while the church had promoted anti-Judaism—or prejudice based in religion—it had not encouraged anti-Semitism. But “this narrative, while comforting,” says Kertzer, has no basis in reality. The church “had been involved in modern anti-Semitism right from the very beginning,” and Nazi messaging relied heavily on Christian imagery.

“Anti-Semitism” is but one of a convoluted, interconnected web of  similar words.
After the Holocaust, the world’s conception of anti-Semitism changed. When the horrors of the Holocaust became known, overt prejudice was no longer publicly acceptable. “People refrained for quite awhile,” says Jacobson. “But then along came this convenient thing, the State of Israel.” With the new country came a new vocabulary; words like anti-Zionism and anti-Israel entered the lexicon. In some cases, these prejudices drew on older ones: Criticizing the young country became “a convenient cover for those who had anti-Semitic attitudes but didn’t want to be seen that way.”

Still, “we hardly ever simply say that any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism,” Jacobson adds. “That’s absurd.” In fact, before Israel’s founding, many mainstream Jews were anti-Zionist—some Orthodox Jews feared Zionism’s secular focus, while some Reform Jews preferred to focus on a worldwide Jewish community—and some Jews, for various reasons, still identify this way. But when contemporary groups, Jewish or secular, reject Zionism, they are often labeled anti-Semitic.

Today, debates about anti-Zionism are fraught—“Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism?” headlines ask—and the line between political critique and outright prejudice is hazy. “I don’t think the criticism of Israel today is necessarily anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic,” says Nirenberg. But if critiquing Israel becomes “a particularly important part of overcoming evil in the world,” he adds, “you have to ask yourself why.” Jacobson says there’s legitimate criticism of Israel, there’s criticism obviously motivated by prejudice—and then there’s everything in the middle, where the distinctions are harder to parse. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement sometimes falls into this third category, he says. “Many people behind BDS are anti-Semitic, but that doesn’t mean everyone who supports BDS is anti-Semitic.”

Judea Pearl, an Israeli-American computer science professor at UCLA, rejects that framework. “It is a grave mistake,” he says, “to calibrate the evils of anti-Zionism by the extent to which it resembles, or leads to, or encourages anti-Semitism, as if anti-Zionism is the lesser of the two evils.” In recent years, Pearl, whose son, Daniel, was murdered by Pakistani terrorists in 2002, has been pushing a new term: “Zionophobia,” which he defines as “the irrational fear of Zionism.” For Pearl, the word describes not just a political stance, but an immoral one: denying Jewish nationhood and self-determination. “Islamophobia” already holds a place in the public discourse, and he hopes that Zionophobia will be seen in a similar light. It “reminds us that religion does not have a monopoly on human sensitivity, and that Zionism has a moral dimension to it.”

With the addition of “phobia,” prejudices are framed as psychological phenomena. In 1882, Russian writer and activist Leon Pinsker used the term “Judeophobia,” which he considered a psychological disorder—specifically, a “psychic aberration”—that could be inherited and could not be cured. Still, for the most part, describing prejudice using the language of phobias is a modern phenomenon, related to psychology’s cultural dominance in the 20th century, says Jacobson.

The history of prejudice against Jews is complex, and so is the language we use to describe it. Most of the time Jacobson sticks with “anti-Semitism.” But even then, he says, “one has to use it sparingly and appropriately.”

https://momentmag.com/semantics-anti-semitism/

 

 

Anti-Zionism is the new anti-Semitism

(Rabbi Sacks writes for Newsweek)

 

On March 27, speaking to the Sunday Times, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams expressed his concern at rising levels of anti-Semitism on British university campuses. There are, he said, “worrying echoes” of Germany in the 1930s. Two days later, in The Times, Chris Bryant, the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and a senior member of the British Labour party, warned that the political left was increasingly questioning the right of the state of Israel to exist, a view he called a “not too subtle form of anti-Semitism.”

Across Europe, Jews are leaving. A survey in 2013 by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights showed that almost a third of Europe’s Jews have considered emigrating because of anti-Semitism, with numbers as high as 46 percent in France and 48 percent in Hungary.

Nor is this a problem in Europe alone. A 2015 survey of North American Jewish college students by Brandeis University found that three-quarters of respondents had been exposed to anti-Semitic rhetoric. One third had reported incidents of harassment because they were Jewish. Much of the intimidation on campus is stirred by “Israel Apartheid” weeks and the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign against Israel. These have become what Easter was in the Middle Ages, a time for attacks against Jews.

Something is clearly happening, but what? Many on the left argue that they are being wrongly accused. They are not against Jews, they say, only opposed to the policies of the state of Israel. Here one must state the obvious. Criticism of the Israeli government is not anti-Semitic. Nor is the BDS movement inherently anti-Semitic. Many of its supporters have a genuine concern for human rights. It is, though, a front for the new anti-Semitism, an unholy alliance of radical Islamism and the political left.

What then is anti-Semitism? It is not a coherent set of beliefs but a set of contradictions. Before the Holocaust, Jews were hated because they were poor and because they were rich; because they were communists andbecause they were capitalists; because they kept to themselves and because they infiltrated everywhere; because they clung tenaciously to ancient religious beliefs and because they were rootless cosmopolitans who believed nothing.

Anti-Semitism is a virus that survives by mutating. In the Middle Ages, Jews were hated because of their religion. In the 19th and 20th centuries they were hated because of their race. Today they are hated because of their nation state, Israel. Anti-Zionism is the new anti-Semitism.

The legitimization has also changed. Throughout history, when people have sought to justify anti-Semitism, they have done so by recourse to the highest source of authority available within the culture. In the Middle Ages, it was religion. In post-Enlightenment Europe it was science. Today it is human rights. It is why Israel—the only fully functioning democracy in the Middle East with a free press and independent judiciary—is regularly accused of the five crimes against human rights: racism, apartheid, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and attempted genocide. This is the blood libel of our time.

Anti-Semitism is a classic example of what anthropologist René Girard sees as the primal form of human violence: scapegoating. When bad things happen to a group, its members can ask two different questions: “What did we do wrong?” or “Who did this to us?” The entire fate of the group will depend on which it chooses.

If it asks, “What did we do wrong?” it has begun the self-criticism essential to a free society. If it asks, “Who did this to us?” it has defined itself as a victim. It will then seek a scapegoat to blame for all its problems. Classically this has been the Jews.

Today the argument goes like this. After the Holocaust, every right-thinking human being must be opposed to Nazism. Palestinians are the new Jews. The Jews are the new Nazis. Israel is the new crime against humanity. Therefore every right thinking person must be opposed to the state of Israel, and since every Jew is a Zionist, we must oppose the Jews. This argument is wholly wrong. It was Jews not Israelis who were murdered in terrorist attacks in Toulouse, Paris, Brussels and Copenhagen.

Anti-Semitism is a form of cognitive failure. It reduces complex problems to simplicities. It divides the world into black and white, seeing all the fault on one side and all the victimhood on the other. It singles out one group among a hundred offenders for the blame. It silences dissent and never engages in self-criticism. The argument is always the same. We are innocent; they are guilty. It follows that if we—Christians, members of the Aryan race or Muslims—are to be free, they, the Jews, or the state of Israel must be destroyed. That is how the great crimes begin.

Jews have been hated because they were different. They were the most conspicuous non-Christian minority in pre-World War Christian Europe. Today they are the most conspicuous non-Muslim presence in an Islamic Middle East. Anti-Semitism has always been about the inability of a group to make space for difference. No group that adopts it will ever create a free society.

The hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews. In a world awash with hate across religious divides, people of all faiths and none must stand together, not just to defeat anti-Semitism but to ensure the rights of religious minorities are defended everywhere.

History will judge us by how we deal with this challenge. We must not fail.

 

 

 

 

The following videos are listed from the shortest (8.37min) to the longest (1hr29).

 

The 70th Palestinian Nakba Day – The Jewish perspective

Jews Worldwide Mourn 70 Years Existence of ‘Israel’ A Rebellion against the Almighty And a Disaster for Humanity

 

Rabbi Dovid Weiss:

Zionism has created ‘rivers of blood’ | Talk to Al Jazeera

The Jewish scholar explains why Zionism and Judaism are not necessarily the same thing and why he believes that Israel as a state is not legitimate.

 

Rabbi Dovid Weiss on Judaism, Israel and Zionism.

Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss speaks about Judaism, Israel and Zionism. He shares the view that the state of Israel goes against the teachings of the Torah and that Judaism has been used and manipulated for political aims at the expense of the Palestinian people.

 

 

A documentary interview with Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss and Rabbi Moshe Dov Beck.

The documentary film is about the connection and differences between Judaism and Zionism.

 

 

Donna Nevel Zionism vs Antisemitism

Criticism of Israel, or of Zionism, which is an ideology, has become rampant, leading to accusations of anti-Semitism. A discussion between a jewish activist and a Jewish radio host, challenging labels of Anti-Semitism because people criticize Israel or advocate for BDS

 

The Business of Televangelism

The Business of Televangelism

The Business of Televangelism

 

 

Love them or hate them, Televangelists are woven into the very fabric of American life. Make no mistake about it, while the world of Televangelism has a 24/7 global reach, virtually all of the TV ministers hail from, live in, and operate out of the US. This is not to say that you won’t find any Televangelists in other countries – of course there are, but compared to the US operators, those based in other countries are small time operators, at best.

 Here in the US though, it is big business. How big, no one really knows, because all of the high profile ministers and their churches keep their financial records confidential. There’s no transparency, and according the American tax law, there doesn’t have to be.

 The reasons for this are easy to understand. In the US, we’ve had a tradition of building a wall of separation between Church and State that dates back as to the earliest days of our nation. That cuts both ways though: The Church stays out of government, and the government stays out of Church business.

 Unfortunately, the almost complete lack of oversight can (and has) led to a number of high profile abuses and excesses, and it may be causing at least some people in government to start to question whether they’ve been a bit too permissive where Churches (especially ones with large media footprints) are concerned.

 Who The Big Players Are

 The core doctrine of the Televangelist seems to be this: If you plant a seed in the form of cash, by giving it to one of these churches, then your seed will grow, and you’ll wind up getting the money you donated back, many times over.

 Exactly how or when you’ll get your money back is never explained. This, apparently is in God’s hands, and He hasn’t been terribly forthcoming about such things. In the meanwhile, even though we cannot peer directly into the financial records of the biggest Churches run by Televangelists, we can get a fairly good idea what they’re doing with all the money people keep sending them by examining the net worth of the ministers who run these Churches.

 That then, is where we’ll start. Now, understand that the people we’re about to mention all make basically the same claim. God blesses those who do His good work by providing them with riches, so according to these people, they deserve the riches they have, because it’s a sign that they’re doing what God wants them to do.

 To many, this may seem like a self-reinforcing “prophecy.” If you, as a Televangelist, can convince large groups of people who don’t have money to send you more than you can actually afford to send without skipping a meal, you can buy a multi-million dollar jet and a whole slew of multi-million dollar mansions (just call them “parsonages” and it’s fine with the IRS), and somehow convince yourself that it’s okay, because after all, God must want you to have these things, since you have them. Somehow the part about telling people that if they send you money, they’ll reap a return down the road just never enters into the equation.

 At any rate, here’s the list of the top Televangelists in the country, as ranked by their net worth:

 Kenneth Copeland – With a net worth of more than $760 million dollars, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, who jointly run Kenneth Copeland Ministries, are the 800-pound gorillas of the Televangelism world. They have more wealth than the rest of the name on the top list combined. His ministry’s campus is a sprawling 1500 acre estate near Fort Worth, Texas, and includes not just a church, but also a private airstrip, and a deluxe hanger for the ministry’s $17.5 million dollar jet. The ministry also owns a $6 million dollar “parsonage” which sits on the shores of a lovely lake, and is used to house the hard working minister and his family.

 ◊ Pat Robertson comes in a very distant second, with a still-hefty net worth of $100 million. His biggest claims to fame are the Christian Broadcasting Network, which operates out of Virginia, and an unsuccessful Presidential bid in the 1980’s. So much for the separation of Church and State.

 ◊ Benny Hinn – Weighing in with a net worth of $42 million, Mr. “Miracle Crusade” holds his meetings and revivals in major stadiums across the country and televised around the world.

 ◊ Joel Osteen – The media darling has a net worth of $40 million, and has one of the largest churches in the country, despite having almost no actual religious training. He inherited his church from his father, and took it up a notch when he moved the church to an old stadium that the city was abandoning.

 ◊ Creflo Dollar – Founder of World Changers International, more recently better known as being the guy who told his global congregation to “plant seeds” (code for sending him money) so he could buy a $65 million dollar jet that he wanted. Sadly, he got the money from people eager to plant seeds and reap eventually goodness in return for their generosity. Something about this message just seems to resonate with those who have little, and guys like this take full advantage.

 ◊ Billy Graham – With a net worth of $25 million, Billy Graham is the elder statesman of Televangelism, and is markedly different from everyone else on the list. Where the others use the meme “plant seeds” by sending me money, Billy Graham is, by all accounts, the genuine article. He puts his money where his mouth is. For instance, he was active in the civil rights movement and personally posted bail for Martin Luther King Jr., on numerous occasions. He also refused to speak at events that were segregated. Basically, you could say that Billy Graham is a minister who uses media to get his message out to more people, as opposed to being a businessman using the church to pretend to be something he’s not. He’s one of the (few) good guys in the business.

 It should be noted that most of these ministers and the Churches that they lead DO have missions in third world countries and they do spend some fraction of their money feeding and clothing the poor and doing the actual work God’s message talks about.

 It is equally clear, however, simply by looking at the parade of mansions, private jets, extensive security details, and skyscrapers built not to glorify God, but to glorify the ministers who built them, that significant portions of the donations they receive aren’t doing anything that could even remotely be described as “God’s Work.” 

 The Hall of Shame

 Part of what makes us cringe at high profile Televangelists is the fact of their excesses. The other part though, is the fact that their personal lives are often quite different from the gospel they preach. They can’t seem to live up to God’s ideal any more than the rest of us. The problem with that is that they use other people’s money to fund their lavish lifestyles. Then, of course, there’s a special subcategory of particularly slimy practices. Here, in no particular order, are the worst of the worst offenders:

 ◊ Gloria Copeland – Regularly tells her audience not to seek medical treatment like chemotherapy. Instead, they should be “planting seeds” (sending money to the Copeland Ministry) so God will bless them with a cure.

 ◊ Mike Murdock – Many of Mike’s followers are poor. So poor that they can’t afford to send him the money he needs to maintain his lavish lifestyle. His solution? He’s told his followers on national TV that if they put their donation on a credit card, that God will erase their credit debt for them. That’s disgusting.

 ◊ Robert Tilton – Best known for “speaking in tongues” on live TV, an ABC expose on the man revealed that he spent 67% of his on-air time asking for money. Unfortunately, Tilton’s ministry seems to be all about Tilton. He used his money to purchase his half million dollar vacation home in Florida, and is fifty-foot Carver yacht, among other things. The ABC expose found that most of the prayer requests his organization receives are simply thrown in the landfill, after the cash is removed.

 ◊ Jim and Tammy Bakker – Their well-known explosion was all over the news back in 1989 with fraud and infidelity being the twin missiles that brought the rising stars in the Televangelism world down. In addition to defrauding the public to help fund Heritage, Mr. Bakker was caught having a threesome with a church secretary named Jessican Hahn and John Wesley Fletcher in a Clearwater, Fl. Resort. The Bakkers were the founders of Heritage USA, which, back in its day, was a Christian Theme park and the third most popular theme park destination in the country, that featured, among other things, a life-sized version of the upper room, where the Last Supper was held. Although the Bakkers raised more than enough money to finish the Grand Tower, it was never completed, and to this day, nobody’s quite certain where all the money went, or why the church kept asking for more.

 ◊ Terry Smith – The pastor of Canyon Creek Baptist Church is a real piece of work. Not only was he caught having affairs with a variety of women who came to the church seeking marriage advice, but to help support his habit, he was arrested for shoplifting condoms! A relatively small fish in the pond we’re talking about, but put here to highlight the fact that even the guys who don’t have a truly global reach will often abuse what power and privilege they’ve got.

 ◊ Oral Roberts – Most famous for making a teary-eyed plea to his followers in 1987, warning them that God would “call him home” unless his ministry raised $8 million. His stunt actually pulled in $9.1 million. Nobody really knows why God insisted on that specific amount of money, or what was ultimately done with it. It remains a mystery.

 ◊ Jimmy Swaggart – Compared to many other Hall of Shame members, Swaggart really isn’t all that bad. So he’s been caught spending church money on a few high-dollar hookers. What’s wrong with that, right?

 ◊ Bob Larson – Mr. Larson might not be as big, or as well-known as some of the others, but in a lot of respects, he’s the poster child for everything that’s wrong with the industry. He’s been accused of plagiarism, been caught with hookers, been caught on film walking out of gay bath houses, molested a string of secretaries, and more. His answer to those charges? It wasn’t him. He claimed to have been physically impersonated by demonic doubles. Simply unbelievable.

 The list goes on, but you certainly get the idea. For every “good guy” using media to expand his (or her) reach and do God’s work, there appear to be several whose goal is to simply abuse the system and rake in as much money as possible before they’re caught.

 The bad news is, they are almost never caught. The IRS has only audited 3 churches since 2009. Three. You’re almost as likely to win the lottery as you are to be audited by the IRS if you run a church, and it’s incredibly easy to found one. Almost depressingly easily, actually.

 The Bottom Line

 Clearly, there are few people who would make the claim that one must make a vow of poverty in order to sincerely do God’s work (although our current Pope might disagree). It is equally clear though, that the biggest names in Televangelism have gone too far in the other direction. The signs of their excesses are everywhere, and if they were genuinely interested in doing God’s work, then one would imagine that the money they make would be better spent on more programs for the poor than on the sixth, tenth, or thirtieth multi-million dollar mansion for the ministers, their friends, and extended family.

 It’s hard to reach any other conclusion except that these people aren’t actually running Churches at all. They’re running vast corporate, self-serving empires that only masquerade as Churches in order to take advantage of lax IRS rules where Church oversight is concerned.

 Author: Nat Berman 

 https://moneyinc.com/dissecting-multi-billion-dollar-business-televangelism/

 

Please  read my article 

‘ A House of Merchandise’, 

inspired by the following Scripture: 

 

And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

John chapter 2 verses 13-17

And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;

Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.

 

 Luke chapter 19 verses 45-46

The Star of David

The Star of David

The Star of David

Why is it that some believers in the New Testament Messiah, Yahushua, embrace the Jewish emblem – the Star of David. Could it be because these believers are naively led to believe that this emblem is from Scripture somewhere and somehow has become lost to Christianity.

Do these believers feel that by embracing this emblem that they are drawing closer to their Biblical roots?

What is the origin of this emblem and what meaning does it hold for believers in Y’Shua?

After reading the following and watching the video footage – You decide.

The Israel Flag and the Emblem

The Star of David

The following information was taken off the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website – link below:

Unlike the menora (candelabrum), the Lion of Judah, the shofar (ram’s horn) and the lulav (palm frond), the Star of David was never a uniquely Jewish symbol. The standard name for the geometric shape is a hexagram or six-pointed star, composed of two interlocking equilateral triangles. In a classic article, Gershom Sholem shed light on the history of the “Star of David” and its connection with Judaism and tried to answer the question whether it was appropriate to include it in the national flag or state emblem.*

One of the first Jewish uses of the Star of David was as part of a colophon, the special emblem printed on the title page of a book. Sometimes the printer included his family name in the colophon; or chose an illustration that alluded to his name, ancestry, or the local prince, or a symbol of success and blessing. The idea was to differentiate this printer’s books from those of his competitors and to embellish the title page. Colophons are as old as the printing press itself.

According to Sholem, the motive for the widespread use of the Star of David was a wish to imitate Christianity. During the Emancipation, Jews needed a symbol of Judaism parallel to the cross, the universal symbol of Christianity. In particular, they wanted something to adorn the walls of the modern Jewish house of worship that would be symbolic like the cross. This is why the Star of David became prominent in the nineteenth century and why it was later used on ritual objects and in synagogues and eventually reached Poland and Russia. The pursuit of imitation, in Sholem’s opinion, led to the dissemination of an emblem that was not really Jewish and conveyed no Jewish message. In his opinion, it was also the reason why the Star of David satisfied Zionism: it was a symbol which had already attained wide circulation among the Jewish communities but at the same time evoked no clear-cut religious associations. The Star of David became the emblem of Zionist Jews everywhere. Non-Jews regarded it as representing not only the Zionist current in Judaism, but Jewry as a whole.

* G. Sholem, “The Curious History of the Six Pointed Star; How the ‘Magen David’ Became the Jewish Symbol,” Commentary, 8 (1949) pp. 243-351.

 

The Star of David is an outstanding example of the variable significance of symbols. The power of the message they convey stems less from the original use in history. At first the Star of David had no religious, political, or social connotations whatsoever. It gained a very powerful connotation precisely as a result of its terrible abuse by the Nazis.

The blue and white stripes which symbolize a life of purity, guided by the precepts of the Torah, and the Star of David, which symbolizes rebirth and new life for the Jewish people, tie the State of Israel, through its flag, to the past, present and future. This is evidently why the Zionist flag prevailed over the political considerations that had prompted the leaders of the new state to propose substitutes for it.

source – https://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/aboutisrael/israelat50/pages/the%20flag%20and%20the%20emblem.aspx

 

King Solomon’s Seal

What is the relationship or connection between the Star of David and King Solomon’s Seal?

Does this relationship outline the origin of the Star of David that is used as the emblem for Israel?

The following information was also found on the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website – link below:

‘Set me as a seal upon thy heart’

(The Song of Songs which is Solomon’s, 8:6)

King Solomon, the son of King David, established Jerusalem as the city of justice and peace. His name reflects the original name of the city, Shalem. Solomon is said to have been given both “wisdom and knowledge”, this is usually taken to mean wise government, the ability to distinguish morally between good and evil, and a thorough understanding of the universe. “Behold I have given you a wise and understanding heart; there has been none like you before you, nor after you shall any arise like you” (Kings 1, 3, 12).

The legend of King Solomon’s Seal, of the wondrous signet ring which he received from heaven, is common to Judaism, to Christianity and to Islam. King Solomon’s Seal, whose base is on the ground and whose tip reaches heaven, symbolizes a harmony of opposites, whose significance is manifold as much as it is multi-cultural. It reflects the cosmic order, the skies, the movement of the stars in their spheres, and the perpetual flow between heaven and earth, between the elements of air and fire. The Seal, therefore, symbolizes super-human wisdom and rule by divine grace.

In 1536 ce, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent ordered extensive restorations on the Temple Mount and converted the church which had been built on Mount Zion during the Crusader conquest into a mosque. By building this mosque, Suleiman linked himself both to Solomon the son of David and the Davidic Messiah who, according to Christian belief, is Jesus. It was Sultan Suleiman’s messianic consciousness which led him to develop the link between himself and King Solomon. On the walls which be built around Jerusalem are stone decorations in the form of two interlocking triangles Stars of David, known to Moslems as Khatam Suleiman and to Jews as Khatam Shlomo (King Solomon’s Seal) whose function was to protect the city. The symbol of the hexagram, the star-like figure formed by two triangles, has many connotations, especially when it is enclosed by a circle; super-natural powers have been attributed to it in many parts of the world since ancient times. Beyond the Jewish national associations which have only become attached to it in the last few hundred years, the abstract element of the figure (which is connected to the celestial stars) and its geometrical completeness make it a universal symbol. Together with the five-pointed star (the pentagram, which is of much earlier origin) the hexagram represents the development of mathematics and geometry by the Greeks and their successors around the Mediterranean.

Through geometry, in which the Pythagoreans and their followers saw cosmic symbolism, the hexagram and the pentagram became an expression of heaven and its reflection on earth, the divine and its reflection in creation and of the connection between heaven and earth, between the macrocosm and the microcosm, and between spirit and matter.

Islamic civilization was a vibrant crossroads of culture through which the achievements of the ancient world flowed into modern-day Europe, through which information passed from east to west and back again, and in which various ethnic groups of different languages and religions lived side by side and contributed to cultural advancement.

King Solomon’s Seal combines strength and beauty, symbolism and illustrative quality and all within a geometric figure, the most important characteristic of Islamic art. The Moslem artist’s love of geometry allows the true essence of King Solomon’s Seal as a symbol of the connection between the two worlds to be expressed; in this context, it symbolizes the link between science, beauty and metaphysics, with elements of medicine and magic, astronomy and astrology, the art of irrigation and its influence on the garden, and the symbolic connection between pleasure gardens and the Garden of Eden, between the sky and architectural domes and on traditional cosmology and its connection to religion.

Today, the hexagram is known as the “Star of David” and is seen as the definitive symbol of Judaism the term is even used in Islamic countries. There is a degree of confusion about its origins, name and associations. In Europe, the pentagram is usually known as King Solomon’s Seal, while the hexagram is known as the Star of David; and it is often assumed that this was always the case. However, the evidence points to the gradual evolution of the hexagram from a Roman cosmological symbol to a religious and magical symbol which was not specifically connected to one religion or people. Research suggests that both motifs were used by different religions and that the clearest meaning of the hexagram is associated with magical techniques to ward off evil forces. Professor Gershom Scholem, the noted scholar of the Kabbalah (Jewish mystic writings) studied the protective function of the hexagram and its entry into Judaism from Islamic traditions. In a series of articles on the Star of David and its history, Scholem made the following claims:

First: The hexagram is a universal symbol, whose Jewish associations developed gradually. It began as the symbol of the Jewish community in Prague, probably in the 14th century, though it might have been only in the 17th century. It was recognized as the symbol of the Jews as a whole in the 19th century.

Second: Several Jewish and Christian examples of the hexagram and other decorative motif, exist from the ancient period and later on in Islamic art. In the 13th century, the motif passed from copies of the Bible, which had been transcribed in Islamic countries, to Hebrew manuscripts in Germany and Spain. In Spain, until the 13th century, the hexagram was known as King Solomon’s Seal by the Jews; from the 13th until the 15th century, both names were used simultaneously. It was only later that the term Star of David gradually became dominant in Ashkenazi communities, while King Solomon’s Seal became identified with the pentagram.

Third: The hexagram or the pentagram, appear first on “magic” mezuzot (doorpost scrolls) and later on various talismans in literature. The magic drawings of the hexagram and the pentagram were known as seals, in keeping with the idea that a person “stamps himself” with these signs in order to protect himself from harmful spirits. This term is connected to the legend of King Solomon who controlled the demons by means of a special signet ring on which was engraved the Tettragrammaton. The seal only had power for one thing to provide protection from malevolent forces.

It is possible that the hexagram served as a symbol of the Temple at an early stage in its development. A Jewish drawing from the tenth century is the earliest example of the connection between the two symbols; we do not know whether its origins in Jewish tradition were earlier, or whether it reflected a connection with Islamic art. In Spain, starting in the 13th century, Jewish religious books were decorated with Stars of David, sometimes as the colophon in books written in micrography. The hexagram had appeared earlier as a decoration used to fill spaces or to show the divisions within chapters in both Hebrew and Arabic manuscripts. In some Hebrew manuscripts from Spain, several Stars of David have been drawn next to verses which speak of the longing to return to Zion.

source – https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/mfa-archive/1999/pages/king%20solomon-s%20seal.aspx

 

 

King Solomon’s Seal is used extensively in Kabbalah. A Kabbalah website had the following to say about King Solomon’s Seal:

King Solomon, the son and heir of King David, builder of the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem, was considered to posses the wisdom of nature. It was believed Solomon could speak the language of animals and spirits, and submit the spiritual world to serve justice for the benefit of men.

King Solomon Seals presented here are attributed to King Solomon, who was given the knowledge associated with the King Solomon Seals creation of the seals by an angel of the Lord.

According to ancient traditions the various seals were used by the magic-wise monarch in magical rituals to evoke spirits in order to achieve benevolent and just goals.

How the seals have become part of kabbalistic magic (Jewish ,mysticism) and also valued by the occult in other forms of medieval and even Eastern magick, is not yet clear and is a matter of historical, archeological and spiritual research and investigation. So is true for the use of the seals in different rituals. While some of the letters and markings on the seals can be recognized, a great many of them are obscure, at least to those who do not possess the ability to understand their true nature. Some of the Seals are represented in our jewels.

King Solomon’s seals are known as symbols which are used to write amulets and talismans, aside from being talismans for exorcism or summoning demons. Each symbol has its own specific text that was written on parchment. Some of the icons that appear here are used for reunion relationships, finding a match, marital harmony, removing the evil eye or witchcraft, exorcism and all kinds of ghouls from home or the environment, success and livelihood, love, keeping away of disaster or illness, health and recovery from illness. Among the icons that appear here, there are also symbols that are used to cause damage like a curse, suicide, diseases, disasters, etc.

Details and images of the designs available can be viewed on their website:

https://www.p-kabbalah.com/seals-incantations-and-virtues/king-solomons-seals/

 

Star of David

The Mystical Significance

 The Star of David appears to be widely used in Kabbalah. Chabad.org had the following information to offer regarding the mystical significance of the Star of David:

This same website, in an article entitled ‘What Is Kabbalah?’, states the following:

‘Judaism stripped of Kabbalah is a body stripped of its soul.’

(https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1567567/jewish/Kabbalah.htm)

Kabbalistic Insights Into the Star of David

The Star of David is a symbol commonly associated with Judaism and the Jewish People. In Hebrew, it is called Magen David (“Shield of David”). A six-pointed star, the Star of David is composed of two overlaid equilateral triangles, one pointing up and the other pointing down.

Two Triangles in the Star of David

The Zohar (3:73a) states, “There are three knots connecting [three entities] one to another: the Holy One, blessed be He; Torah; and Israel.” The Jewish soul connects to its Creator through the study and observance of Torah. The triangle represents the connection between these three entities.

The essence of the soul connects with G‑d’s essence through the study of the teachings of Kabbalah

These three entities are each comprised of a pnimiyut(inner dimension) and a chitzoniyut (external dimension). The Torah is comprised of both exoteric teachings (the Talmud, Jewish law, etc.) as well as esoteric teachings (the Kabbalah). G‑d’s “revealed” energy permeates and provides existence to all worlds, but His essence is completely hidden, transcending all of creation. Similarly, the soul (which is a reflection of G‑d) has a revealed element, that level that expresses itself within and vivifies the body, as well as an essence that transcends the body.

The double triangle of the Star of David (Magen David) symbolizes the connection of both dimensions of G‑d, Torah and Israel: the external level of the soul connects to the external expression of G‑d via studying the exoteric parts of Torah; the essence of the soul connects with G‑d’s essence through the study and application of the teachings of Kabbalah.

The Seven Fields of the Star of David

Kabbalah teaches that G‑d created the world with seven spiritual building blocks—His seven “emotional” attributes. Accordingly, the entire creation is a reflection of these seven foundational attributes.

They are: chesed (kindness), gevurah (severity), tiferet (harmony), netzach(perseverance), hod (splendor), yesod (foundation) and malchut (royalty).

These attributes are divided into three columns: right, center and left:

    Gevurah     Tiferet Chesed
       Hod      Yosed Netzach
   Malchut

Correspondingly, the Star of David contains seven compartments—six peaks protruding from a center.

The upper right wing is chesed.

The upper left wing is gevurah.

Correspondingly, the star contains seven compartments—six peaks protruding from a center

The upper center peak is tiferet. Kabbalah teaches that tiferet finds its source in keter, “the Crown,” which is infinitely higher than all the divine attributes which are involved in the “mundane” pursuit of creating worlds.

The lower right wing is netzach.

The lower left wing is hod.

The center is yesod. Yesod is “Foundation,” and as such, all the other attributes are rooted in, and rise from, this attribute.

The star’s bottom that descends from its belly is malchut—the attribute that absorbs the energies of the higher six attributes and uses them to actually descend and create everything—and to “reign” over them.

source – https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/788679/jewish/Star-of-David-The-Mystical-Significance.htm

 

 

Below are a few videos which provide some more insightful history of the Star of David.

 

The Septuagint

The Septuagint

The Septuagint

About a year ago whilst researching a New Testament topic I was motivated to consult the Greek translation of the Old Testament to do some ‘fact checking’. This research though led me into some investigation of the Greek translation commonly known as the ‘Septuagint’. I was under the impression that the Septuagint (Old Testament Greek translation) was the original, or at least a copy of the original translation.

To my surprise I discovered that the original undertaken by 70 or 72 elected Jewish scholars in the mid-3rd century BCE was no longer available and is basically lost apart from some fragments. The word Septuagint is from the Latin word ‘septuāgintā’ and literally means ‘seventy’.

This original Greek translation – the ‘Septuagint’, was only a translation of the first five books (the Torah) of the Old Testament as well and not the whole Old Testament.

My conclusion and understanding from my research on this issue is that there are many Greek Old Testament Translations available today which incorrectly reflect the title ‘Septuagint’ which are in fact not. The word ‘Septuagint’ has been misleadingly used as a generic term to describe any Greek translation of the Old Testament

This is misleading many researchers and is resulting in many erroneous teachings. Many scholars are consulting these works as though they are accurate translations of the original Hebrew. These translations reflect many errors and as such should not be accepted as valid or suitable reference material.

These translations are not the work and effort of dedicated, meticulous Jewish scribes as believed.

One should consult the original Hebrew text for factual and accurate referencing and should, in my opinion, ignore these inaccurate translations. They are a not a source of Truth.

The Jewish Rabbis consider these works as detrimental to the message of the original Hebrew Tanach and I support their view in this regard. Yet again we are being deceived into accepting erroneous works as valid and true.

The original Hebrew is the only reference work that holds True value for any scholar in search of Biblical Truth. The Greek translations of the Old Testament available today and in fact the Greek New Testament documents as well have only served to mislead and confuse Christians and create the mess that exists today.

The following video will provide some insight into the view from a rabbinical perspective.