military

Israel is noted by the nations as one of the most advanced military and technological nations in the world. Their successive wins at various wars have given them confidence in their strategies and protocols. The recent success of Pillar of Cloud in the Gaza Strip with Iron Dome and now David’s Sling missile busters coming online have added to that feeling of confidence in their abilities. This feeling will nearly prove their undoing. Why?

They need to rely on God. But they don’t.

I’ve mentioned this before. In the blog entry titled “Israel, Iran, and Heavenly intervention,” I’d written-

“Of course, we would love to see some heavenly intervention that will stop them, to wake up some morning and learn that they’ve given up on their nuclear intentions,” Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told reporters at the Pentagon Thursday during a joint press conference with Leon Panetta, his American counterpart.”

I had mentioned yesterday that Israel’s current military success is a wonderful thing, culturally, in that the citizens of the nation have a bit more reassurance that they can live through the day without a terrorist rocket falling on them. But in the long run it is actually counterproductive spiritually, because as long as they rely on themselves they will not rely on the Holy God of Israel. You see the Defense Minister’s next statement:

“You cannot build a strategy based on these wishes or prayers.”

Oh yes you can. Elisha did.

A week later in a blog entry titled Mysterious site 911 raises eyebrows, I’d repeated the mantra that over-reliance on one’s military and under-reliance on God is a bad thing-

“Israel is becoming more security conscious every day. Their reliance on their military is a good thing, otherwise I’m sure that as a nation they would have been obliterated by now. And, after all, it is God who allowed their successes so far.

However, there is such a thing as over-reliance. … Their continued run of success will only make them ever more reliant on their military and further from remembering that God is behind it. As a matter of fact the Israel Defense Force tweeted, “Our job is to minimize the need for a miracle, even in Hanukkah. We must always be ready.”

Minimizing the need for a miracle, which only comes from God, is really saying they minimize the need for God.

The Israelites of today will drift further and further from Him, until He uses Russia-Turkey-Iran’s military might to draw them back to Himself. That alliance is prophesied to attack Isrel in the last days…ans almost win. It is God who saves Israel.

“I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel.” (Ezekiel 39:7)

Now finally someone of Israel is urging Israel to turn to God and not their military for confidence. Rabbi Dan Dorsch, the Assistant Rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston, New Jersey, wrote this on Sunday in Haaretz. Here is an excerpt:

From Pillar of Defense to Hanukkah: Why Jews mustn’t glorify military might
Why isn’t Hanukkah in the Torah? Perhaps because the sages did not condone military prowess divorced from God’s presence.

Having arrived at Hanukkah following Operation Pillar of Defense, I believe the words of our sages still speak to the nature of modern military conflict. Like myself, I believe our sages would be proud to be associated with the fine, dedicated, brave modern Maccabees of the Israel Defense Forces, who protect and defend our Jewish state. Yet, as the State of Israel and the Jewish people move forward proudly from that operation into Hanukkah, I believe our sages might also take care to remind us that triumph in battle can never be a true Jewish path toward holiness. Instead, they would probably remind us that the very Hebrew name of the operation, Amud Anan – which refers to God’s protective “pillar of cloud” as He led the Jewish people out of Egypt through the desert — reminds us that a Jew must ultimately never draw his or her strength from might or power, but from God’s spirit.

Hanukkah reminds us that in ancient times, armies fought brutal campaigns and crusades falsely in the name of God and glory. But, as Jews, we only fight as a last resort because it is necessary to live, and so that we may spend our days drawing closer to God in peace.

For Jews, our true path toward holiness must be drawn from the wellsprings of our faith. We may celebrate victory but must never glorify military might. Instead, we must long for the day when all of the peoples of the world will finally put down their arms and live in peace.

They do long for peace, and well they should. However, that day of peace will only come when the Lord returns to establish His Kingdom. However, the Rabbi’s yearning for the peace that is promised is a good thing, because we all must pray for the peace of Jerusalem. (Psalm 122:6)

Meanwhile, here is a verse that the Rabbi quoted-

“Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6).

Homosexuality. Boy, oh boy, is that a loaded topic these days. But it shouldn’t be. It is clear from the bible that it is a sin, just as greediness, covetousness, lying, or stealing are sins. Jesus came to seek and save the lost from ANY sin, His power and love transcends them all. Any repentant appeal to Jesus will result in deliverance from sins and forgiveness of them, accompanied by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to resist further sin as a growing Christian.

However, it is also clear from the bible that a society’s decline will be parallel to its sexual sins. Morality begins with the body (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Promiscuity, adultery, homosexuality, pedophilia and finally bestiality is a progression that clearly illustrates the sinfulness at root of any culture.

I wrote this week of a situation of rampant and accepted pedophilia reported in Hollywood child acting circles. In that article, I referenced Dr. David Reagan’s article on homosexuality being an end times sign. He outlined a progression in the bible of a decline of a culture related to its sexual sins, which in a moment I’ll take further, into the end time.

Dr. Reagan wrote: “The description of Noah’s society is found in chapter one of Romans. Paul writes that the society was characterized first of all by the rejection of God and the worship of Man (Romans 1:18-25). Because of this stubborn and foolish rejection of their Creator, God “gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity,” and there was an outbreak of sexual immorality (Romans 1:24). When they still refused to repent, God “gave them over to degrading passions,” and there followed an epidemic of homosexuality in which “women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural” and men likewise “abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another” (Romans 1:26-27). Notice the progression here. Man begins to worship himself, his own knowledge, and cleverness. As Man begins to worship himself, God is set aside, together with His moral laws. The result is an outbreak of sexual immorality. This leads ultimately to an epidemic of homosexuality, one of the final signs of the moral collapse of any society.”

I agree with his interpretation of Paul’s warnings in Romans. A sign of the soon coming of Jesus is the level of perversion and immorality in the world. How do I know this? Jesus said that the end time will be like the Days of Noah. (Matthew 24:37; Genesis 6:5). Jesus also said that it will be like the Days of Lot. (Luke 17:28). We have this reminder from Peter from 2 Peter 2:6: “he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men…” and Jude 1:7 repeats the same warning: “In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”

The progression is clear. First there is a rejection of God, then immorality, then adultery, then perversion. Because sin never has an end, a bottom, a final disposition, but simply keeps going, perversion will continue to get worse and worse. I’ll show you that in a moment. God does not like perversion, and homosexuality is a perversion.

Today I found a page on GotQuestions.org site of the 20 Most Frequently Asked Questions. I think it is interesting that 4 of the 20 are related to sex. They also have a site where the 20 most frequently visited articles are listed. On both lists, the ‘frequently asked questions’ and ‘most visited articles’, the question asking if homosexuality is a sin appears on both.

Now, earlier I mentioned the deepening of perversion. Satan can take anything good, like sexual union within marriage, and cheapen and deepen the perversion of it to incredible lengths and depths. Adultery is bad enough. Homosexuality is worse. Pedophilia is a scourge that barely bears thinking on. So what does it say when our American culture repeals the law against sodomy in the military, AND at the same time legalizes bestiality? It happened this week.

“The White House is dodging questions about why a Senate defense authorization bill not only quietly overturned sanctions on sodomy between consenting adults (so as to allow gays to serve openly) but also dropped another provision in the U.S. military’s criminal code: prohibitions against bestiality among military personnel.”

Of course, the implications of homosexuality’s damage to individuals within our culture isn’t a problem for organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, but PETA is “Bugged over Bestiality“. After all, a camel can’t give consent like a gay man could.

I truly do not like writing about unsavory topics like earlier this week of the Hollywood pedophilia or today over the bestiality brouhaha. But I feel it is important to remember the warnings from Jesus, Paul, Peter, and Jude about the progression of sexual sin and what it reflects about a culture … and what that reflection means in terms of imminent judgment.

“Family Research Council President Tony Perkins told CNSNews.com that the move is “all about using the military to advance this administration’s radical social agenda.” As Genesis 6:5-8 and Gen 6:11-12 shows us it doesn’t matter who is promoting a radical agenda, if it is contrary to God’s word and it is saturated far enough into the culture and the hearts of men, God will put a stop to it.

Now, the saturation of perversion into society hasn’t reached its full expression. It feels like it to mature Christians when we read things in today’s news like this, but it hasn’t. After the rapture the Holy Spirit will be removed from His restraining ministry (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8) and sin will reach its fullest expression. (Daniel 9:24). At that time, people won’t just be reading about it in newspapers. They will be seeing it on the street.

His longsuffering and patience is so beyond our capability to understand it! The Lord is holy most of all, and He will see to it that the ungodly are judged, but even at that, He waits…waits… waits for those whom He has elected to come to repentance, even tolerating the most base and disgusting sin for a time. We serve an amazing God.
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Category: military

Not by might, says God to Israel, but by My Spirit

Sexual sin of a culture is illustrative of nearness of judgment