“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortable to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” (Isaiah 40:1,2)
It has been our observation that not many of the Truth groups are speaking comfortably to Jerusalem, and they especially need encouragement now. That Servant said in 1910 that he “attempted to tell Israel the good tidings that God’s set time to remember Zion had come. But seemingly that was too early. God’s set time for Israel to hear was still future. I am still waiting for God’s own time and way for the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:1,2.” (Sermon Book, page 480, par. 1)
Fulfillment of prophecy: But now the set time has come (Psa. 102:13). Israel has received the “double” [kophel - as a thing folded in the middle] for all her sins, and has been returned to her homeland. The period of her disfavor, from A.D. 33 to 1878, was to be of the same length, 1845 years, as the period of her favor from the death of Jacob to the death of Christ. Since 1878 favor has returned to Israel, even though it doesn’t seem like it with all the trouble they are having, but the fact of the matter is that no power can expel them from their homeland. “The Lord said to Abram… I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee.” (Gen. 12:1-3) “Behold, I will make thee [Jacob] fruitful… I will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.” (Gen. 48:4) “Fear thou not, O Jacob, my servant: for I am with thee: for I will make a full end of all nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure.” (Jer. 46:28)
“Thus hath said the Lord who bestoweth the sun for a light by day, the ordinance of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirreth up the sea that its waves roar. The Lord of Hosts is his name. If these ordinances ever depart from before me, saith the Lord, then also shall the seed of Israel cease from being a nation before me during all time.” (Jer. 31:35,36)
Thus we are able to say, with strong assurance, the Jews are to have their Biblical Homeland for an everlasting possession; and no force on earth will be able to evict them from it. “I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.” (Amos 9:15) And those that give them help will be correspondingly blessed; and those that hinder them will be cursed. This restoration of the Jew to their Homeland is a beginning of Restitution. Israel as a nation will be the first among the nations to come into harmony with the new order of things. However, God foretold that Israel would return nationally before they recognize the Messiah, before the blessings of His Kingdom begin, before the New Covenant is made with them (Jer. 31:23-34).
The fact that they are returned in a non-converted condition is one reason they are now having so much trouble. Another reason is that there are forces that want to destroy Israel completely. We know they will not succeed, but she needs our comfort and as much help of all kinds that we can possibly give.
“Things To Come? Before the rebirth of the Jewish State of Israel, a tradition existed in the Diaspora that one part of the Jewish home would always remain unfinished. This was a reminder that at any moment anti-Semitism could again erupt and force the Jews to hastily leave and find refuge, however tenuous, somewhere else.
“Israel was reborn in 1948, after nearly two thousand years of persecution and slaughter culminating in the Holocaust, in which one third of the world’s Jewish population was systematically destroyed. With a Jewish state, Jews finally believed that at least they had a refuge to escape to should they be threatened. But something terrible has happened since the Islamist atrocity against America on September 11, 2001.
“Throughout Europe, and many other parts of the world, Jews are now witnessing a return of a virulent strain of anti-Semitism fueled by the terror launched by Yasser Arafat against Israel. This may seem paradoxical. How can Israel, which is the victim of terror on a scale no other nation can even comprehend, be portrayed as the aggressor and Jews, by extension, be demonized…
“But Britain, like so much of Europe, has changed. Enormous populations of Moslem, Arabs have entered France from North Africa. Moslems from Indonesia have entered Holland and many Turks and Arabs live in Germany. The Jewish population of Great Britain is shrinking through assimilation and now numbers less than three hundred thousand, compared to a Moslem population of 3,000,000 who entered Britain over the years from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Strident anti-Jewish statements are routinely spewed in British mosques and British universities. Many Christian Churches too are reverting to the ancient hatred of Jews, rooted deep in Christian theology, and now on widespread display once again.
“Melanie Phillips, in an article in Britain’s Spectator titled ‘Christians who hate the Jews’ writes of the old and hateful doctrine of the Church, which was suppressed after the Holocaust, but has been revived under the influence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She writes, ‘this doctrine is called replacement theology which, in essence, says that the Jews have been replaced by the Christians in God’s favor, and so all God’s promises to the Jews, including the land of Israel have been inherited by Christianity’…
“One Palestinian Christian cleric, who is highly influential and who preaches liberation theology, Father Naim Ateek, is a regular visitor to Portland. At a recent appearance in a Portland church, Ateek was challenged by local members of Bridges for Peace who reminded him of the inalienable rights of the Jewish people to their ancestral and Biblical homeland of Israel. Father Ateek dismissed them in a sneering tone, as ‘Oh you are those Old Testament Christians’…
“As Melanie Phillips adds, ‘the neurotic insecurity of the most persecuted people on earth is being fed by Arab terror. British Jews caught between Christian replacement theology, Islamist blood libels, and a hostile media, suddenly find that Britain is a colder place.’
“As Christian evangelicals, firm supporters of Israel, found in the Portland church a few weeks ago, there is the same hatred of the Jews and the Jewish State here in America. Could the unthinkable shake Jewish Americans to the core? Could Jewish Americans live to see another Holocaust, this time of 5,000,000 Jews in Israel? And could Jews in America see their golden age crumble and be forced to pack their bags?”
(Excerpts from Victor Sharp, a writer on Jewish history and the Arab-Israel dispute. He lives in Portland, Oregon. Reported in Bridges For Peace, April 18, 2002)
The above shows what a terrible time the Jews are experiencing. We trust the Lord that He will preserve them in their land. But, in the meantime, they are in need of a lot of support and encouragement. They need us to remind them of God’s promises to them, but they also need material support. It has been suggested to us that one good way to help is to contribute to their Ambulance Fund. That can be done through American Red Magen David For Israel. The address is: ARMDI, 888 7th Avenue Suite 403, New York, NY 10102-0009. Put the word Ambulance on your contribution.
Now, there have been more reports of an increase in anti-Semitism activity in France, Germany and Italy, as well as in Great Britain. It is very evident that we are in the “day of preparation” (Nahum 2:3,4) and those who cannot see that the Parousia Harvest is complete are not aware of the “day of thy visitation” (Luke 19:44), nor the Times and Seasons in which we are living (1 Thes. 5:1,2,4)
That Servant writes of the “day of preparation” thusly: “The ‘Day of His Preparation’ would be the day or period of time when the Lord God would prepare or make ready the elements and conditions for the new dispensation, sometimes alluded to as ‘The Golden Age of Prophecy.’ As a matter of fact, are we not living in a period of transition? Marvelous changes are being wrought out, old things are passing away and new conditions are being developed.” (Question Book, page 759) And this is true more so now than when it was written.
It was That Servant’s mission to gather the Saints into the “unity of faith.” The position God wished His people to accept during the Harvest is shown in Isa. 52:8: “Thy watchmen… shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.” Note the Berean Comments on this: “In the harvest of the Gospel Age, clearly, harmoniously.” It was Brother Russell’s Stewardship Doctrine centering about Restitution that brought “unity of faith” for the first time in history to God’s people as a collective group. It is true that St. Peter preached Restitution (Acts 3:19-21); and it is true that St. Paul was “caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Cor. 12:4); but it is also true that the general Church of that time had not come to the “unity of faith,” had not come to a clear understanding of Restitution. However, all in the Gospel Harvest were reasonably clear on the Restitution doctrine.
Read what Brother Russell says in Volume 4, page 610: “’They [the disciples] answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? [Where will these be taken?] And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body [carcass, the food], is thither will the eagles be gathered together.’ (Matt. 24:28; Luke 17:37)
“The lesson is that in that day, when the Lord is gathering His ‘elect’ from the four winds of heaven - from every quarter of the Church - He will attract them as eagles are attracted by food, for which they have a keenness of vision and appetite; that in due time the Lord would provide the proper food, and His true people would recognize it and be gathered to it - the ready and worthy taken and the others left.
“The food of ‘present truth’ now provided by our Lord, and the gathering of His saints by and to it, fits the description of the prophecy exactly… Where and when before was there ever such a public recognition of all who trust in the precious blood of Christ and who are consecrated to him, as the one household of faith, all brethren, and the one and only Lawgiver Christ, regardless of human creeds and dogmas upon other subjects? Never and nowhere since the days of the apostles, so far as we may judge.” (Written 1897)
Therefore a prophet (Brother Russell) accomplished the first of two purposes for which the servants of the Church were appointed - “till we all attain the unity of faith.” He also accomplished the second of these purposes - “the measure of the full stature of the anointed one.” (Eph. 4:13, Dia.) When the last one was reaped in September 1914, there also for the first time was reached “the full stature of the anointed one” in that the Body was then full and irrevocably complete unto that unity which “every joint supplieth, to the effectual working in the measure of every part.” (Eph. 4:16) Can it be said that the “watchmen” have seen “eye to eye” since 1916? No! Nor can it be said that this oneness is something attained by the Saint Class beyond the veil, because there would be no need for them to be “watchmen” then.
Brother Russell said in 1892: “Ah! Were it not that the Lord has favored us with a share in the work of gathering out the bride and helping to make her ready for the marriage of the Lamb, we would be here in Jerusalem and, by the grace of God, would do a part in the great work now due of turning away blindness from Jacob (Rom. 11:25).” (Reprint 1395, col. 2, par. 2)
But what of those consecrated since 1916? Brother Russell saw that the Apostle Paul said, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27) So he did likewise. He saw that St. Timothy said there were four elect classes. “But in a great house there are vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour and some to dishonour [less honour].” (2 Tim. 2:20)
The great house is the Household of Faith. The vessels of gold are the Little Flock, the silver, Great Company, wood the Ancient Worthies and earth the Youthful Worthies, those of honour, converted Jews, and those of less honour, converted Gentiles. Here we have four elect and two non-elect classes.
Joel 2:29 also lists four elect classes and says that the spirit will be “poured out” upon the Old Men and the Young Men [the Ancient and Youthful Worthies]. The Ancient Worthies understood everything of God’s Plan that was due in their day. So the Youthful Worthies understand all that is due in their day, which includes all that the Saints understand, except the begettal of the Holy Spirit. But they have the Holy Spirit in that they have the disposition, mind and influence of God, given through Jesus. Thus, if faithful, they develop the fruits and graces of the Spirit. This is attested in Heb. 12:23, which speaks of the “spirits of just men made perfect.” The context shows that this is at the beginning of the new dispensation and the Saints will be glorified at that time and will not be “men.” At that time, the Worthies will have characters that have been tested, tried and found faithful.
We call the fourth elect class Youthful Worthies in contrast to the Ancient Worthies and because they will be associated with them. You may call them by another name, if you so choose. Brother Russell referred to them as the “unbegotten consecrated between the Ages.”
These two classes will cooperate together in the Millennium to instruct the world in truth and righteousness. They will take their instructions from the Glorified Christ.
“THE INTIMACY BETWEEN THE KINGDOM AND ITS EARTHLY ‘PRINCES’”
“As we should expect, the communication between the two phases of the kingdom will be easy and direct; and thereby the supervision and instruction of mankind will be complete, the ‘princes’ (Psa. 45:16) being the channels of divine communication. This seems to be the intimation of Jesus’ words to Nathaniel: ‘Hereafter you shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God [the messengers of God the ‘princes’ of the new age] ascending to and descending from the Son of Man.’ (John 1:51, Dia.) Was not Jacob’s dream of the ladder between heaven and earth, and passing to and fro of messengers, a prophecy as well as a dream, predicting the coming communication between the Heavenly Kingdom and the world, in which work, as one of the communication messengers, Jacob was to have a share in the blessing of the world? We believe that it was so intended (Gen. 28:10-20).” (Volume 4, page 629)
This does not mean that the Worthies will literally ascend to heaven in order to receive their instructions. We are not given explicit information as to how the two phases of the Kingdom will harmoniously operate; but we have an illustration of the manner in which they may operate in God’s dealings with Israel through their representatives, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, the prophets, etc. But they will be able to communicate with The Christ in some way, possibly talk directly with them as God did with some of those ancients mentioned. The world will not be able to communicate directly with God or The Christ until the end of the Kingdom when all are perfect. These Worthies will be the examples among men, and their perfection will be an incentive to the world to strive to attain the same perfection.
This Millennial position is a very great reward for the faith and obedience of these Worthies. But the fullness of their reward comes after the Millennium, when they will be changed from human to spirit beings. Reprint 5182 proves that by their being of the antitypical Millennial Age Firstborn and Levites without inheritance in the land, that the Ancient Worthies will be made spirit beings after their Millennial work. Some of these arguments prove this of the Youthful Worthies, as much as of the Ancient Worthies. (See Question Book, page 152, question 2.) How can anyone not desire to be of such a class with such great rewards? We do not know what their station will be, but there are two places vacant in heaven - the one occupied by the Logos, before He came to earth, and Lucifer’s place that Satan formerly occupied.
It is not our intention to urge anyone to consecrate just for the reward. We merely bring out the rewards to show that the subject of the Worthies is not a minor one, but is a doctrinal question, and one of no small importance, affecting the standing of thousands of people now consecrated and more that will consecrate. The trial of these two classes is not for life, as the Saints, but for faith and obedience. The Ancient Worthies suffered much - some as much as the Saints. And it is possible some of the Youthful Worthies will have to suffer a great deal during this Time of Trouble in order to be faithful and obedient.
The various Truth groups say very little, if anything, about the Ancient Worthies enumerated in Hebrews, chapter 11. Why is that? Is it possibly because they realize that the Youthful Worthy class will be associated with them and they do not want to bring attention to the fact of such a class existing?
“Question (1911) - If any consecrated now and fail to be begotten of the Holy Spirit, where would the Lord place them? Answer - We would presume that if they are faithful, as the prophets of old were faithful, to the extent of laying down their lives in the service of righteousness and truth, that God would give them a share some way with the Ancient Worthies. In other words, that if such should pass into the Time of Trouble to a considerable degree, and there lose their lives because of faithfulness to the Lord, that He would do just the same for them that He will do for the Ancient Worthies - they will be counted in with the Ancient Worthy class.” (Question Book, page 152)
What does all this have to do with the Jews? Jesus said to the Jews, “Ye shall see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 13:28) The Jew, long used to striving to do, and of trusting of works of obedience to the Law to secure for him God’s blessing will be to his advantage in the dawn of the Millennial Age, and no one will be more ready for the strict requirements and Laws of that Age than he, after his blindness as to Christ and the value of His sacrifice for sins shall have passed away; for works are required after faith in Christ, though not accepted before.
“So the Millennial favors will be to the Jew first, even as by reason of the covenants, etc., the Gospel favors were offered to them first. And so it shall be finally as Simeon prophesied: ‘This child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel.’ And the time for raising up that nation, so long fallen from favor, is at hand.’ (Vol. 3, page 256)
It should be clear to anyone that our beloved Pastor thoroughly believed, and was in full accord with the teaching of St. Paul in Rom. 1:16 - “Salvation is to the Jew first” - not only in the Great Salvation but also in the Common Salvation (Heb. 2:3 and Jude 3); and also with the Apostle John in John 4:22: “Salvation is of the Jews.”
In Isa. 2:3 we are told that “Out of Zion [the Christ Company in Heaven] shall go forth the law; and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem [The resurrected Worthies who will be the visible government here on earth - “princes in all the earth” (Psa. 45:16) and who will be assisted by the faithful orthodox Jews as missionaries, the “first” to receive the blessings of the New Covenant. (Jer. 31:31)].”
We will close with Joshua’s words of assurance to the Jews: “And behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing failed thereof.” (Josh. 23:14)
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WHAT KIND OF A MAN IS SADDAM HUSSEIN?
Our political and military leaders are asking this question, "What kind of a man are we fighting?" The answer to this question was written in the Bible about 4,000 years ago. Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac: Ishmael by Hagar, an Egyptian, when Abraham's wife Sarah was unable to conceive. Some years later God performed a biological miracle and permitted Sarah to give Abraham a son Isaac, the "seed of promise." These two sons of Abraham each had twelve sons which became two mighty nations which later became known as the nation of Israel and the Arab nation or Ishmaelites.
The Arabs or Ishmaelites are described in Genesis 16:12 (Rotherham): "But he will be a wild ass of a man, his hand against every one, and every one's hand against him — yet in presence of all his brethren shall he have his habitation." Genesis 16:10 states that Ishmael's seed, the Arabs, "shall not be numbered for multitude."
The Ishmaelites and posterity have lived by prey and plundering, robbers by land and pirates by sea. Genesis 16:12 states that Ishmael would dwell in the presence of all his brethren — viz., Moabites, Edomites and Israelites. They have been continually at war with the rest of the world and yet never defeated. They did not acknowledge Alexander the Great as conqueror. Alexander objected to this insult and determined to punish the culprits but died before he could accomplish his mission.
When the Romans invaded the East and subdued adjoining countries, they were never able to reduce Arabia to a Roman province. Time after time enemies sought to invade but were always forced out.
About the 7th Century A.D., Mohammed appeared on the scene and set the desert and the Mid East aflame. Ishmaelites under Mohammed strengthened and extended their power. Under his successors these Arabs, imbued with their new and false religion and their hereditary thirst for blood and pillage, developed into a ferocious horde and carried the Islam banner throughout Asia, Africa and even into Spain.
Since the fall of their Muslim empire, the Turks have made repeated attempts to subdue these Arabs, but instead of succeeding they have been obliged for several centuries to pay them yearly tribute, to permit the converted Turkish Moslems to have a safe passage to Mecca, the "Holy City" where Mohammed the Ishmaelite was born.
Others, Gallas, Trajan, Pompey and Augustus, have been unsuccessful in conquering the Arabs — the Ishmaelites. Emperor Severus, a Roman, laid siege and even made a breach in their defenses, but insurrection broke out in the ranks. As an unseen power protected these Ishmaelites, Emperor Trajan sought to conquer them in about A.D. 110. Whirlwinds, swarms of flies, lightning, thunder, hail, apparitions in the sky, heat and thirst all helped to repulse these Italians every time they attacked. And so down the stream of time God's hand seems to have been on the Ishmaelites. In spite of commerce and intercourse with others, they remain the same fierce, savage, intractable people like their ancestors.
This people, with the Jews excepted, have for 4,000 years withstood the enmity as a distinct people from their beginning with Ishmael.
Compare Arabs and Jews:
(1) Both descendants of Abraham; (2) Both practice circumcision; (3) Both originally had 12 patriarchs or heads of tribes and (4) Both marry among themselves.
A contrast: Israel scattered — Deut. 28:64; Ishmael stayed at home — Gen. 16:12.
The land promised to Abraham and his seed is given in Genesis 17:6‑8: "And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
Also in Genesis 22:16‑18: "And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." The stars of the heaven and the sand which is upon the seashore indicates a heavenly and earthly phase of Christ's Kingdom. In Jeremiah 31:31 God promised to make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. When this covenant is established with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, He will bless them and through them "all the families of the earth."
The Ishmaelites too will be blessed thru the nation of Israel. "And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation." (Gen. 17:20)
In Isaiah 2:2,3 we read: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."
The Jews are to be gathered from the four corners of the earth where they have been dispersed until God gathers them by the hunters and fishers. (Jer. 16:16) "And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." (Isa. 11:12)
The headquarters of the Kingdom will be Jerusalem and from there flow throughout the world.
God did not promise Ishmael and his seed the land of Canaan. Isaac and his seed were promised the land from "the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." (Gen. 15:18‑21; Ex. 23:31; Deut. 1:7,8; 11:24; Ezek. 48:1‑29)
A similar picture is presented in the two sons of Isaac: Jacob and Esau. Saddam Hussein will be defeated eventually because God has promised Canaan to the Jews. "He is faithful that promised." (Heb. 10:23)
(Reprint No. 495, by Brother Roy Ekroth)
In the May 13, 2002, Time magazine there is a special report on “The Sinister World of Saddam.”
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NEW WAVE OF NORTH AMERICAN ALIYAH TO BEGIN NEXT MONTH
“This July a planeload of almost 400 new immigrants may signal the onset of a new wave of American aliyah [immigration to Israel]. The large group - probably the largest single planeload of immigrants to arrive in Israel from countries other than Russia, Ethiopia and Yemen is sponsored by a new foundation that has set as its goal no less than to ‘ultimately change the face of North American Aliyah.’
“The organization, Nefesh B’Nefesh - Jewish Souls United - was formed last year to ‘revitalize North American Aliyah and to expand it for generations to come by removing the financial, professional, social and logistical obstacles that are preventing many ‘would-be immigrants from fulfilling their dream.’ Co-founder Tony Gelbart specifies: ‘There indeed are hundreds of individuals [and families with] student debts, loans, tuitions, etc., and by the time they pay off their debts, they and their children are already too settled in their communities to make Aliyah. We decided to eliminate those hurdles.’
“The organization, wishing to ‘send an unmistakable signal of North American-Israeli Jewish solidarity and joint determination to strengthen the State of Israel,’ awards financial grants based on financial need to potential immigrants. Those who remain in Israel for three years or more need not repay the monies at all. Some 535 people have gone or are going through the Nefesh B’Nefesh Aliyah process.
The financial assistance granted to Nefesh B’Nefesh recipients comes from private, corporate and foundation donations. One group in particular, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), contributed $2 million to the cause. ‘When we presented the project to IFCJ founder, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein,’ Gilbert said, ‘he pledged his support without hesitation.’
Nefesh B’Nefesh also assisted in alleviating aliyah obstacles such as housing, jobs, social acculturation and the like, in cooperation with established aliyah organizations, the Jewish Agency, and government of Israel. Co-founder and Executive Director Rabbi Joushua Fass stated, ‘Imagine people all over the globe understanding that Israel is not just a haven for those who are fleeing, but that Israel itself is a primary choice for those who have alternatives, current stability and comfort. This plane will hopefully send an unmistakable message of solidarity to Israel citizens… and it will send an unquestionable message to all of our friends and relatives in North America that they can do it too. This is the first plane of many to follow.’” (Arutz 7, from Bridges of Peace, June 14, 2002)
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“Russian Woman’s Sight Restored: Titana Sofanova, a non-Jewish woman who was blinded when she attempted to uproot a booby-trapped sign reading, ‘Death to the Jews,’ has been cured by Israeli doctors. She was traveling on a highway near Moscow with her mother and daughter when she saw the sign. Offended by the message of hate, she stopped the car and tried to uproot the sign - and the ensuing explosion sent shrapnel into her right eye and caused bleeding in the left eye; and she was left practically sightless. The Union of Jewish Communities in Russia decided that this humanitarian case was its responsibility and arranged an all-expense-paid trip to the Ophthalmologic Department of Tel HaShomer Hospital in Israel, where in fact doctors were able to restore her eyesight. Philanthropist Lev Levayev told Arutz 7 today, ‘This was an act of courage by a non-Jew, and for sure, we and the entire People of Israel are obligated to this woman.’ Levayev said that all her family’s needs related to this incident would be covered.” (Arutz 7, from Bridges of Peace, June 14, 2002)
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“Inquisition Queen: Spanish Jewish community leaders are rightsizing a proposal by the majority of the country’s 80 Roman Catholic bishops to move ahead with the canonization of Queen Isabella I, who with her husband, King Ferdinand V, established the Spanish Inquisition and subsequently expelled all Jews in 1492.”
(World Jewry, April 2002)
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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST
Dear Brethren: Warmest greetings in His precious Name!
I am glad to send you this report about an experience that the Bausches had a few weeks ago in Israel. One of the Arabs killed in the suicide bombing of a café in Haifa was the nephew of a good Arab friend of theirs. Lev and Hava went to the funeral and tried to be a comfort to the family, whom they had known and visited for some years.
What impressed Lev and Hava Bausch that they communicated to me had to do with the reaction of their Arab friend, the uncle of the young man killed in cold blood at the Haifa café, operated, incidentally, by Arabs. (It seems that many Arabs of the Galilee are involved in the restaurant business in Israel.)
The uncle told Bausches that he “hated” the suicide-bomber (even though he was a fellow Arab!). Lev had had arguments, friendly, with this Arab friend over the years about the Palestinians, so it surprised Lev that now the Arab friend expressed hatred for the suicide-bomber.
Lev said to him, somewhat humorously, “Why, you are becoming half Jewish!” “No,” replied his Arab friend, “three-quarters.”
Of course, it proved that a change of heart could take place in an Israel-Arab citizen, but sadly, at what cost. We often wonder why the Lord permits these horribly tragic massacres in Israel, which, by the way, have opened the eyes of many Jewish Israeli to the futility of being kind to their Arab neighbors. That is why, especially since the cruel Passover bombing in Netanya, some 85% of the Israeli support Ariel Sharon and his policy of routing out the murderers in various “West Bank” cities.
Yet they are “kind” to the Palestinians, foregoing an easier way of destroying the terrorists by bombing them from the air, instead going in on foot, soldier by soldier, to save civilian lives, even though the Israeli solders, in turn, lost many of their own men. An article from The Jerusalem Post points up the sensitivity of the Israeli soldier encountering bobby-trapped houses in those Arab towns, yet having time to hand food and water to beleagured civilians.
Lev and Hava Bausch continue to be valuable ambassadors for Bible Students by living in Israel. Pray for them and support them. Their bed-and-breakfast business is down drastically.
Yours for the peace of Jerusalem, Elva Lanowick (FLORIDA)