“For see how Yahweh comes in fire, …to assuage His anger with burning, His threats with flaming fire.” “For by fire will Yahweh execute judgement, and by His sword against all mankind. The victims of Yahweh will be many.” Isaiah 66:15,16 What have us humans done to deserve this fate? I say that it is because we have rejected the teaching of Yahweh’s Son, the Jewish Messiah, Yehoshua ben Yosef. He very clearly taught us the correct way to react to the attacks of our enemies. His tortuous death should rightly be regarded as the seal of that holy and profound teaching and as what we ourselves should be willing to endure in the name of loving our enemies. The leaders of the Chosen People rejected His Teachings and chose to participate in a “just war” against Roman occupation. Defeated and exiled, the Jewish nation had to live for almost two millenium without a country, without an army, at the mercy of their enemies. Against all odds, they survived without any capacity for warfare!
Interesting observations, Jeffrey. Were the Jews engaged in a just war with the Romans? It seems more that a small group of them, the Zealots, had rebelled against that rule; and the people themselves tended to look for a king – “the son of David” – to lead them in a just rebellion against their conquerors. A reverse of Exodus: the Jews drive out their masters.
And the Jews, it seems, suffered because they rejected and killed the man who threatened their already tenuous political stability. Who were the real Zealots? Jews like Barabbas? Or Ciaphas and his followers who said: “You do not know anything. It is better for one man to die than an entire people”? It seemed to Ciaphas that Jesus would destroy the Jewish nation by destroying the Jewish religion and the elder’s hierarchy. Little did Ciaphas know that rejecting Our Lord would result in the same thing, only much, much worse.
We should all be able to give our lives for Christ and for each other. The Cross is a lesson in warfare, much more poignant and universal than any battle fought between nations. Christ is our King, our new David; and He led us to victory over sin and death by sacrificing His own life in such a way as to be an indisputable example for all ages. Had Christ laid down His life in physical battle with the Romans, the image would have been mixed; and it would appear He died only for the Jews, not for all men, as He came to do.
That image should inform all of our actions in war and preparing for war. War should always be a last resort. It should involve as few deaths as possible on
both sides. (We in the West need to reconsider our “caged lion” fighting tactics). Peace should be the end of all wars. And no nation should attack another without grave cause.
I see postings mentioning Hitler and Imperial Japan, and how we had to resort to war to oppose “evil.” But Yahweh has never appointed us to be be the world’s policemen. His Son taught surrender and suffered greatly in order to demonstrate that Teaching. That is the true meaning of the Crucifixtion, not some maccabre “sacrifice” for the “forgiveness” of our sins. (The Son of Man has “authority to forgive sins”, so why would He need to undergo that brutal torture to get us forgiveness? Makes no sense. He can forgive all the sins He wants, anytime, anywhere!)
The fire is coming. We have prepared it ourselves. Our rejection of Yehoshua’s Teaching has led to the construction of our nuclear arsonals. That rejection further leads our nation to the support of the racist policy of Zionism in the middle east. People! Its no “accident of history!” Yahweh is setting us up! We will be learning the hard way that war is not the answer. WWIII and nuclear holocaust. “I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!”
For a more recent prophesy see Mother Shipton’s poem about the dragon’s tail. Its not pretty.
Beware of interpreting the mind of God too freely. His ways are not the ways of men, and His thoughts not those of men.
And remember the context in which Christ spoke of the fire he wished to set in the earth: the parables of the wealthy man who built a barn, but would die that night; the birds of the air and the lillies of the field; and the warning to prepare for the coming of the master. He spoke of those who had their minds on earthly matters, and were not preparing their hearts for His coming. He came to set a fire in the hearts of all men by His Passion and resurrection, and
how He must have wished it were all ready kindled. And how sorrowful all the stony hearts that would remain buried in the dust of the world must have made Him.
All good things to keep in mind.
God love you,
sandomenico
