Is the Tanakh inspired, or is it not? The Bible has been around for many years, and it continues to be revered and upheld as a light to follow, yet there are some who would tear it apart and say that it is not inspired. How can we know? How can we know if even a modern prophet speaks truth? And what is our bottom line?
Most Jews will agree that the written Torah is the basis for all the other books of Tanakh. What is the purpose of those other books? There are books of prophecy, books of praise, books of wisdom, poetry, accounts of conquest and the history books of Joshua and Judges, Samuel, and others. In fact, history is scattered all through the Tanakh. Is it to be discarded or ignored because it is not Torah? There are rules for measuring prophets given in the Torah.
What does the Torah say about Prophets?
“I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. But the prophet, that shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word which YHVH hath not spoken? when a prophet speaketh in the name of YHVH, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which YHVH hath not spoken: the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him.” (Deu 18:18-22).
So for those who are saying there is nothing important about the teachings of the prophets, read this again! This is a prophecy of a prophet to come after the time of Moses and the admonition is to hearken unto him, but also before anyone obeys a prophet, he is to be tested. How? Read this part again…
“… But the prophet, that shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word which YHVH hath not spoken? when a prophet speaketh in the name of YHVH, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which YHVH hath not spoken: the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him.”
So the prophet must speak in the name of YHVH, what he prophesies must come to pass, and he must not speak in the name of other gods. We also must be certain that the prophet is in agreement with the entire Torah or he or she is a false prophet. The Torah stands as an eternal covenant.
“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which YHVH commanded him.” (Exo 19:5-7)
“And Moses wrote all the words of YHVH, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the mount, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. … And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that YHVH hath spoken will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which YHVH hath made with you concerning all these words.” (Exo 24:4, 7-8)
Deuteronomy: for whom was this covenant?
“These are the words of the covenant which YHVH commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. … Ye stand this day all of you before YHVH your God; your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and thy sojourner that is in the midst of thy camps, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water; that thou mayest enter into the covenant of YHVH thy God, and into his oath, which YHVH thy God maketh with thee this day; that he may establish thee this day unto himself for a people, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he spake unto thee, and as he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, but with him that standeth here with us this day before YHVH our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day” (Deu 29:1, 10-15)
If we study closely the words in these passages, we will see that the covenant was made during the life of Moses, especially given on Sinai and written down by Moses. This was the basis of law for all time.
Adding and subtracting?
If we return to the test of a true prophet as seen in the verses above, then there is another purpose for prophets. They are not ever allowed to change the Torah, not to add to nor subtract anything from what was given to Moses.
“And now, O Israel, hearken unto the statutes and unto the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which YHVH, the God of your fathers, giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of YHVH your God which I command you.” (Deu 4:1-2)
“What thing soever I command you, that shall ye observe to do: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” (Deu 12:32)
So now, for those who would throw the baby out with the bath water…
There is a definite purpose in the presence of prophecy, as a guide to current situations. Yet we must understand the bottom line–the principles of the Torah, or we will fall into error. And as far as the prophets in the Tanakh, check them out! Are they in line with Torah? Obviously a prophet is not allowed to make new laws for the people to follow, but they may give rebukes and warnings when God’s people are in error. And this should always be based on Torah law-(the 5 books of Moses, nothing more!)
When we read in Psalms that the angels are the servants and ministers of the Eternal, should we doubt it? Does this contradict the Torah and the events written there about the work that angels did for the forefathers?
“Bless YHVH, ye his angels, That are mighty in strength, that fulfil his word, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless YHVH, all ye his hosts, Ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. ” (Psa 103:20-21).
If we read the Tanakh and find any contradiction to the written Torah, then we have a reason to discard that contradiction, but if not, then the wisdom given in these books is for us to enjoy and to make us wise and profitable in our endeavors.
Somewhere around 4000 years ago, just before the flood, if we take the timeline of the Bible to be accurate, YHVH declared that the earth was unredeemable and began the quest to find any righteous who might be living. If he had not found Noah, we who inhabit the earth today may have never seen the light of modern day. For some of us, it isn’t so hard to imagine the extent of wickedness to which the world had fallen at that time for we see our world today in a similar condition, excusing every type of sin imaginable; rape of little children, murder, thievery, almost every sexual aberration imaginable and other things not even mentionable. And what is worse, the authorities are hesitant to punish this evil. Children are taken from parents who refuse them a sex change.
Image from Freepic.com
But Noah found favor with the Creator being the only righteous person He could find upon the earth. But what of that world that we know so little about other than the giant craters and jutting mountains that stand as a witness to the Bible’s story? Is it all just a myth as many like to claim, basing their beliefs on “scientific” discoveries that predate the creation of our world to millions of years ago? And rather a massive celestial explosion, “a big bang” if you will, as its Designer rather than a loving God who carefully planned each and every creature with the idea of a harmonious universe?
As we look at the pre-flood story, a lot of questions come to mind. Chapters 4 and 5 of Genesis (Bereshit) are especially intriguing. After Cain slew Abel it seems that Adam did not recognize him as his son for it was only upon the birth of Seth 130 years later that he claimed a son in his likeness (image).
“And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:” (Gen 5:3 KJV)
What happened to create such anger in Cain that he slew Abel? Why so close to the time of Gan Eden, did we find this overpowering urge to sin? I know about what the Catholics teach about Original Sin. But there is a verse in this story that shows clearly that people are not forced to obey a so-called “fallen nature:”
“But on Cain and his offering he (Elohim) did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then YHVH said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”” (Gen 4:5-7 NIV)
Very early on we see that sin can create an urge to act out, but as the Creator pointed out to Cain, “you must rule over it.” Humans are not subject to sin, it presents itself, but it must be resisted. Cain followed his inclination and that began a process of evil that continued right up until the time of the flood. His lineage was not noted for good morals. This is why Adam was relieved when he begat Seth who was in his image. After taking of the fruit in the Garden, Adam himself was not recorded as having sinned in any other way. Chapters 4 and 5 are about the two lineages from Adam. The one through Cain which was markedly evil and the one through Seth that showed very little evil. It is almost as if the power of good was manifest through this royal lineage–the lineage of Seth that continued up until Noah. At the time of the flood Noah was the only one of this lineage still alive. His father Lamech had died and Methuselah, his grandfather died the year of the flood. An outstanding example from this lineage is Enoch, who walked with Elohim after the birth of his son, Methuselah.
“When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” (Gen 5:21-24 NIV)
We do not see men who walked with God among Cain’s descendants. Why? It is often taught by religious groups that people from all levels of sin can repent and change. We can take what is said about sin extending to the 3rd and 4th generation (see following verse) and assume that this lineage never ever corrected their ways, repeatedly sinning and thus extending and amplifying the urge to sin on down the line.
“Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them, for I YHVH thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me,” (Exo 20:5 ASV)
But why the striking contrast in the two lineages? It seems that the righteous lineage from Seth actually carried some kind of extra inherent blessing as two of this line were mentioned as walking with Elohim. (Enoch and Noah).
But what happened in chapter 6?
The sons of Elohim took the daughters of man and procreated with them because they were fair to look upon.
Who were the sons of Elohim? Many say the angels were seduced by these women and thus the mighty giants were formed and thus God had to put an end to the world as it was then. But, I have a lot of problems with that assumption. I thought Angels only serve the Eternal, that they are without free will. How would they be tempted? They were not subject to the knowledge of good and evil as the descendants of Adam were after the choice our first parents made at the tree. Also, an angel does not have human flesh so how could he/she create children. These are eternal beings that serve before the Throne of the Most High continually. They are not of the same DNA. How does one mate with an angel if they are not made of flesh and blood?
We must remember that there is nothing in Tanakh that says that Angels ever sinned.
“The Hebrew Bible reports that angels appeared to each of the Patriarchs, to Moses, Joshua, and numerous other figures. They appear to Hagar in Genesis 16:9, to Lot in Genesis 19:1, and to Abraham in Genesis 22:11, they ascend and descend Jacob’s Ladder in Genesis 28:12 and appear to Jacob again in Genesis 31:11–13. God promises to send one to Moses in Exodus 33:2, and sends one to stand in the way of Balaam in Numbers 22:31. Isaiah speaks of מַלְאַךְ פָּנָיו “the Angel of the Presence” (“In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old”) (Isaiah 63:9). The Book of Psalms says “For He Will give His Angels Charge over you, to keep you in all your ways” (Psalms 91:11).” Wikipedia, see link here.
Not only that, if angels were susceptible to temptation with humans and could be distracted from their appointed missions, how could humans trust that God was dealing rightly with them? What if they changed the words of the message that they were sent to bear? Wouldn’t they be wiped out by the great YHVH?
So who were the “sons of God” mentioned in chapter 6 if not the men of the royal righteous lineage of Seth? And could a human ever be exalted to be called a “son of God”? Are there instances in the Bible where men are called Sons of God?
Sons of YHVH:
“And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith YHVH, Israel is my son, my first-born:” (Exo 4:22 ASV).
“When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, that shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;” (2Sa 7:12-14 ASV)
“Yet I have set my king Upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of the decree: YHVH said unto me, Thou art my son; This day have I begotten thee. ” (Psa 2:6-7 ASV)
“Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith YHVH.” (Jer 31:20 ASV)
“Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” (Hos 1:10 KJV)
It is very clear from these verses that humans can be called “sons of God.”
So who were the Sons of God in the book of Job?
“Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before YHVH, that Satan also came among them. And YHVH said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered YHVH, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And YHVH said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil.” (Job 1:6-8 ASV)
So we have Satan which is an angel created for a special work-that of being an adversary to mankind. The word Satan is used several times in the Tanakh and it always means adversary. It does not always refer to an angel and a fallen angel it is not. It is true that the Satan is rebuked for attacking the High Priest, Joshua in Zechariah. Why?
“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of YHVH, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. YHVH said to Satan, “YHVH rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”” (Zec 3:1-2 NIV)
What can be said about a Satan that is assigned the work of finding the evil among mankind and reporting it. He seems to be set up as a prosecuting attorney, framing mankind in the courtroom of the Universe.
Back to Job
The others gathered at the assembly were called “Sons of God.” Satan notably comes “also among them”. He is not one of them. He comes as an imposter. We already discussed men who walked with God. We also know of Elijah who was taken up in a fiery chariot. Can these be the sons of God mentioned in the first chapter of Job? Or could those gathered there be representatives of unfallen worlds? Could it be that Satan comes to the meeting as the representative of this fallen world? (Since Adam no longer is living). He clearly is not welcome there among them, but God allows him to accuse Job and sends him back to earth to test him. The story is heartbreaking. But in this, Satan shows his work. If he had not been limited, he would have destroyed Job along all the other things he lost.
Based on my earlier suggestion, the Sons of Elohim took wives from among the descendants of Cain who were very beautiful women. Their offspring became renowned in the works of evil. They were called Nephalim (the fallen ones).
This is not the whole story, however. There were strange creatures that roamed about the earth. In ancient mythology of different pagan cultures, there are stories of odd creatures, Centaurs, half men and half beast, giants, perhaps including the well documented dinosaurs which never made it on the ark. Where did these come from? Where did Og come from? Og appeared after the flood and was finally killed during the time of conquest before Moses died.
In my speculation, one of the women on the ark may have had DNA from a Nephalim relative. Or perhaps Ham himself was the son of one of these women. No verse says that Noah had all three children from one woman. The strangeness in having 3 children would force them to be triplets or from a different woman or women if they were born in the same year. The other possibility is that the Bible merely summarized the birth of the sons of Noah as happening in his 500th year? It seems out of character considering all the other timelines and begats that are written before and after this time. Was Noah tempted with one of these women and then took their son on the ark?
The sin of Ham.
After the flood, Noah planted a vineyard and upon drinking the wine, became very drunk. Perhaps the change in the earth made fermentation possible at this time. Obviously, either he planned to get drunk or he drank and didn’t know about alcohol. Perhaps he was depressed, but he was seen by Ham uncovered in his bed. Now accidentally seeing his father naked, was not the sin, but scoffing about it and doing something which provoked a curse on his son Canaan, certainly was.
“When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.” He also said, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”” (Gen 9:24-27 NIV)
What Ham had done it does not say, but it could have involved some kind of sexual act and it could have produced Canaan. Did he have relations with Noah’s wife? Is it possible that just joking about it to his 2 brothers was what happened? Yet why was Canaan cursed if he was not involved? It leaves a lot to be imagined, and perhaps we should not explore further, yet how is it that Og, who was a Rephaite, a giant and was a descendant of Canaan, came to possess that strange DNA if Ham or Canaan had not some type of warped DNA from the time before the flood? This points strangely to one of the women on the ark or even the wife of Noah, or a former wife who might have been the mother of Ham.
But we don’t know anything for certain and therefore the elephant in the room still looms large but without definite identification. I hope you found it enjoyable to search for hints in Scripture and find things that might be bigger than our current understanding. For now, we must leave Ham and Canaan alone, but the questions certainly indicate something went wrong. That something we may have to wait a while to discover.
We still don’t know much about the Nephalim except that they came about by the Sons of Elohim cohabiting with the daughters of man of which I am certain that these women were of the lineage of Cain. One thing I believe we can be sure didn’t happen is the assumption that angels or aliens mated with women bringing about the mythical characters portrayed in paganism. These creatures may have existed, but it was not by mating with angels or aliens. Perhaps they experimented in crossing animals with humans. Some sources claim this has been a practice even in recent years.
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Every year, Jews read this parasha very quickly, and most take very little time to scrutinize it. If we look at it closely, we see that there are things that do not seem to line up with what we know about the world today. There are some hidden things that we probably will never fully understand, based on our perspective of life today.
So here are a few thoughts and observations. I do not claim pre-existent knowledge, but please check out the logic. It rings clearer than some of the fiction that is written about those times.
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The idea of Eve claiming to get a “man from Yehovah” when Cain was born has been understood by some that she had a child by someone other than Adam, perhaps she slept with the serpent. But I believe she simply remarked when she was surprised by the birth of their first child and gave credit to the Creator for giving her a child. Some Christian theology says that Eve was looking forward to the “messiah” who would come and save the world from the mess they were now in. But this is not indicated anywhere in the Torah or Tanakh.
Then there was the incident of the sacrifices brought by Cain and Abel. Yehovah smiled upon Abel’s sacrifice but ignored Cain’s. What can we make of this? There is nowhere that the Torah that says they or our first father and mother were instructed about making a sacrifice. I often consider that they somehow knew about sacrifices but, again, nothing is mentioned previously. One thing we do know, and that is that Cain did not bring the best of his produce. The verse says:
“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Jehovah. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering, he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” (Gen 4:3-5 ASV)
So whom was the anger about? Why did Cain blame Abel for what the Creator chose to favor? Was YHVH showing partiality? Was this a teaching moment about sacrifices? Why did Cain not honor the Eternal by bringing the choice fruits of his harvest? It appears he brought just average fruit. It specifies that he brought the “fruit of the ground” which was not tree fruit. Was this “fruit” somehow of less value? It does not specify that it was the best of the crop.
Perhaps these sons of Adam had an idea of the covenant that was to be written out much later on Sinai. It seems clear that the sacrifices that they brought were not sin offerings, or were they? There was never any written instruction before this incident about atonement. Were they somehow taught to make sacrifices and somehow Cain was doing his own thing?
This raises the question about the eternal nature of the Covenant. If the Covenant was to be everlasting and if even the Creation was accomplished by the principles of Torah, then why would they not know about sacrifices for pleasing the Creator by returning to him the best of what they had labored to produce? Was this a test of their minds? And if so, then Cain showed very little respect, and certainly no gratitude to the Creator. Could it be that tithing started here?
People tell me that tithing started at Sinai, but why then did Abraham know about it when he tithed the spoils of war to Melchizedek?
A glaring problem that raises its head is; who were the divine beings that took the beautiful women who were daughters of men and procreated with them, producing nephilim? The word Nephalim in Hebrew means “fallen ones”, it does not mean demon’s offspring. Were they indeed angels?
Some versions of the Bible interpret the verse to say: divine beings, but the Hebrew says Bene Elohim (sons of God). This does not mean necessarily that they were angels. They could be righteous men.
Hear me out if you will. I do not believe that angels can mate with humans, (they are of a different order) nor do I believe that divine beings were tempted to procreate and produce strange creatures (nephalim) with these beautiful women, producing men of renown. What renown might mean, I am not sure, unless they were strong to do evil and became famous for their wickedness. My best thinking has to do with the two lineages that descended from Adam. There was the lineage of Cain which clearly was noted for its immorality, and by the way, it is never stated that Cain was in Adam’s image. On the contrary, there was Seth, whom the Bible does claim was after Adam’s image. (See Genesis 5:3). As we look down the genealogy from Seth until the flood, we see two distinct types of men. Those of Seth’s lineage who were noted as righteous, including Enoch and Noah, who walked with God. Apparently, this lineage was in Adam’s image. But the lineage of Cain somehow fell short of achieving this righteous or noble stature. Then, if I am correct, the sons of Elohim would have been those from the righteous lineage of Seth and the daughters of men would have been from the lineage of Cain. So, when they intermarried, the world became a mixture of good and evil to the point where Noah, who was the only one left of the lineage of Seth was chosen to repopulate the earth. However, it appears that one of the wives, whether of Noah or one of his sons, maybe Ham, was of Cain’s lineage. Why? Because of the curse put on Canaan, the son of Ham when he saw his mother’s nakedness, and what that means, I am not going to discuss here. Ham himself was not declared righteous, as was Shem, which makes me wonder about Noah’s wife. Were there two lineages from Noah, just as there were from Adam?
But this is all a mystery and remains in the shadows to be explained in the world to come.
I hope you enjoyed studying with me. I am open to hear your thoughts. Please comment or write to me.
Is anyone in Israel NOT afraid? Times are tough in the Holy Land and if we did not believe in the Divine purpose for the Land, we might all move to the North Pole and huddle together until the bombs stop falling.
This morning we were awakened at 6:10 a.m by the Emergency Alerts call telling us to get to the shelter as there was a prediction of bombs coming our way.
We get these calls almost daily. I am getting used to them, if that is possible, but for the fact that a friend of ours was hurt yesterday by the windows that exploded inside her house, I am once again up tight. Again! Still, I ventured out to the store for a few groceries this morning. Nothing happened. Yes, I am triggered and unpredictable! I realize that people outside the Land don’t get it.
So, I try to philosophize and grasp hold of any meaning there may be out there. I try to comfort myself in the Bible.
Here is the latest miracle I want to take hold of. There were over 200 Ballistic Missiles launched towards Israel from Iran last Tuesday. We saw them from our porch. It was an amazing firework show, to say the least! These are huge, powerful two-part missiles. They should have killed thousands of Israelis. But they didn’t kill anyone but an Arab from Gaza that just happened to be in Jericho. One missile came down and landed on him as he was walking across a vacant lot. This is just too out of the ordinary to be real! Why only one person in all of Israel killed? Why was it someone who had come from Gaza? Why did it happen in Jericho? Is there anything about conquering the land that began at the very beginning in Jericho?
Well, that is where it all started when after 40 years of wandering, Israel came in to conquer the land! And by the way, this happened a couple of days before the first day of Tishri which most Jews call Rosh Hashanah, but it is called Yom Teruah in the Bible (Day of trumpets and shouting.) Hey, what happened to make the walls of Jericho fall down? Trumpets? Shouting? This is almost too much of a fit to be real! So a couple of days before the feast of trumpets, a missile misses its mark and comes down in Jericho and kills someone escaped from Gaza! What should that tell us about conquering the land that has been taken from us? For me, it is a very clear signal. Maybe others are picking up on this!
It is indeed time to defy the world and take back the land promised to us by our Creator! Another conquest of Canaan. Some say we have to wait for the Messiah, I don’t think any more waiting is necessary. We are very close to the end of the prophecies, and most of us would love to see YHVH swoop down and do it all for us. The taking back of the land since early in the 20th century has always been by brave men and women who had no other choice, rather than go back to concentration camps. Even now, the majority of the world would be happy to see Jews in ghettos or wiped off the face of the globe. Why this attitude? Is it because somehow they know that Jews are somehow destined to rule the world? They, when they connect to the Creator of the Universe, are the very essence of peace for the future of this world. Israel, as a nation, has the highest moral compass of any nation in the world.
But, all of my rationalizing aside, why do I still sit trembling as I hear more and more alerts? I want it to get over so I can go back to my life. But if I think about it, I realize that life will never be the same again. There will be no getting back to the old ways. This war is the beginning of the end and the beginning of the future, and we are in a transition period between these two realities. Can we hang on a little longer? Hashem must hear our fears and help us to take hold of faith and trust, emunah and bitachon!
I contemplate the miracle involved in that every one of those missiles is able to kill hundreds of people, but no Israelis were killed other than the lone Gazan in Jericho. There was another report of an incident in Jordan where one missile fell short of the Land of Israel and killed 200 people. Whether this is exaggerated, or not, is irrelevant when we think of the power of the Almighty God of the Universe and His watch over Israel. As the verse goes:
¿Quién traerá a los marginados y a los hijos de aquellos que alguna vez estuvieron perdidos en la diáspora? Todos hemos soñado con alguien, tal vez un ser divino o un superhéroe, que buscaría a los judíos perdidos y a las diez tribus y traería una parte de ellos de regreso a la tierra de Israel. Sabemos que no todos regresarán, porque solamente será un remanente el que será reunido. Y, sin embargo, ¿de qué se trata esta reunión? ¿Y cómo se llega a ser seleccionado?
¿Cómo se probará la valía de aquellos que deseen venir? ¿Se les dará todo, pasaje gratuito, beneficios a la llegada y un gran envío para ayudarlos a venir? ¿O será necesario un sacrificio de su parte? ¿Hasta qué punto habrá lucha? ¿Qué pasa con los viejos y los niños? ¿Cómo harán todos para que esto suceda?
En los últimos 2000 años, muchas personas perdieron la vida en programas, holocaustos y masacres masivas. Muchos sufrieron congelación en los pies al caminar por montañas nevadas con zapatos rotos y poca ropa para escapar de las atrocidades. Algunos tuvieron la visión de regresar a la tierra. Algunos incluso vinieron. La voz interior fue todo lo que tuvieron para impulsarlos a construir un hogar en Tierra Santa para sus descendientes. ¿Qué pasa ahora? ¿Será más fácil esperar y dejar que alguien más se encargue de los detalles?
Los descendientes de quienes aceptaron el catolicismo, en lugar de enfrentarse a la guillotina o la pira del mártir, pueden tener que tomar algunas decisiones. ¿Van a reunir de alguna manera el valor suficiente para enfrentar la muerte si es necesario para ser incluidos entre los llamados a la tierra y seguir el pacto de Dios? ¿Vendrán a Israel a luchar con sus propias manos si es necesario para luchar contra los enemigos de Israel y ganarse la vida para sus familias? ¿Sus hijos o sus padres les impedirán venir? ¿Qué pasa con los hogares y las mascotas? ¿Cuánto vale para ti?
Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, los judíos en Europa fueron masacrados en masa, simplemente porque tenían sangre judía. ¿Por qué? ¿Y dónde estaba el Dios del Pacto en este momento? Es una gran pregunta, una que creó muchos ateos judíos. Muchos, incluso en la tierra de Israel, realmente no creen en un Dios como este. Nadie sabe realmente la respuesta a esa pregunta. Pero aunque esto es un misterio, ¡la preciosa tierra de Israel fue comprada con la sangre de estos mártires! Sus descendientes a menudo tomaron cualquier camino que pudieron por tierra y mar para regresar al desierto aullante de lo que entonces se llamaba Palestina. Era una tierra completamente desolada, llena de pantanos y desiertos y con poca productividad, ¡pero una tierra para gente libre, incluso con sus enormes desafíos! Y el coraje y el esfuerzo humano de los que vinieron y con su propio sudor y sangre, fue lo que drenaba los pantanos, plantaba viñas, restauraba los lugares desolados. Este coraje y esfuerzo es lo que ha convertido la tierra de Israel en un país habitable, productivo y libre, el único país democrático en Medio Oriente. ¿Podemos hacer menos?
¡No pensemos que la tierra de Israel nos va a ser entregada sin precio! He visto a mucha gente venir y, cuando les resulta difícil, dar media vuelta y volver corriendo a las comodidades de su país de origen. Y todo esto después de haber desperdiciado preciosos recursos que Israel felizmente les concedió. ¡Israel no es para los temerosos! ¡Es para guerreros, agricultores que trabajarán hasta desmayarse, soldados que morirán por la tierra de Israel si es necesario!
¿Es esta voz, la que impulsa a la gente al sacrificio, en realidad la voz del Mesías? ¡Puede ser!
Si miramos las promesas de la Biblia, es fácil pensar que Alguien Más nos va a recoger. Pero ¿y si la voz que nos llama es una convicción del alma de que debe ser parte de la tierra? ¿Qué pasa si esa convicción es en realidad obra del Mesías, que unió a los verdaderos hijos de Jacob y los trajo a la tierra?
¿Hay quienes trabajarán para traer a los ancianos, a los discapacitados y a los niños que no pueden hacerlo por sí mismos? ¿Dónde están los líderes entre nosotros? ¿Quién irá por nosotros? ¿Dónde está Moisés ahora? ¿No estarían estos líderes realmente haciendo la obra del Mesías? ¿Y de quién es la voz que nos está llamando?
“También los hijos de extranjeros que se unen a Yehovah para ministrarle y amar el nombre de Yehovah, para ser sus siervos, todos los que guardan el sábado para no profanarlo, y se aferran a mi pacto; incluso ellos Los traeré a mi monte santo, y los alegraré en mi casa de oración; sus holocaustos y sus sacrificios serán aceptados sobre mi altar; porque mi casa será llamada casa de oración para todos los pueblos. , que reúne a los desterrados de Israel, dice: Aún juntaré a él a otros, con los suyos que están reunidos.” (Isaías 56:6-8)
Dice este pasaje, que Yehovah traerá a los hijos del extranjero, pero ¿quiénes son las manos y quiénes están designados para hablar por Él? ¿Quién los sacará? ¿No son estas manos y voces humanas?
“Y oí la voz del Señor que decía: ¿A quién enviaré, y quién irá por nosotros? Y dije: Aquí estoy; envíame a mí”. (Isaías 6:8)
