6-5-4-3-2

See how good I am at this blog thing?
I can't even publish a short paragraph everyday! Que ridiculoso (or whatever!
So, here is 5 more "learnings" to make up for the past 3 days.

(My lame excuse: I was writing my last paper)

Today is technically my last day in Israel. I leave for Jordan tomorrow morning for a week, then I am flying from Jordan to Tel Aviv, from Tel Aviv home. So, I will be home in a week! So crazy.


Number 6
Time goes by so so so quick. I have always realized this, but I especially see this when thinking about the past year. Its literally insane how fast the time goes on.

Number 5
America is so young! Everyday I walk by rocks and structures that outdate America by hundreds of years. It blows my mind that when you look at how much can happen in 200 years in America, and compare it to how much we know has happened in other parts of the world in thousands of years, how little we actually know.

For example, if you study Egypt, you cover hundreds years of history before the Bible was really even begins its story. And yet, this can all be studied in a week or so.
Compared to America, where you could spend your entire life studying just world war II.

In other words, while American history is very, very, very, very, very,

very, very, very young, there is just as much history to study in that short period of time, as there is to study in 2,000 years of Egyptian history. This shows how little academia knows about the past. It also shows how fast man is progressing, and how significantly different we are today from ancient man.

Number 4
The Bible is the most complicated book I have ever read. When people say it is the most influential book in history, it is so true. It blows my mind how much of the world is influenced and driven by this book. On top of that, it is amazing to see how many ways people live out that influence. I will always be confused and perplexed by this.

Number 3
Everyday life is the key and point to life. In other words, the future is not life and the past is not life. Rather, the absolute basis of life is the present....and the only thing taking place in the present is your literal actions. The present is the only "tense" that can be physically acted on. The past and the future are all in the head. Therefor, cosmology and world-views are only valuable if they effect the present- which is your current state of actions.

I think this is why God calls for a literal, everyday 24-7 obsession over Him. This also is part of the logical reasonings behind the Torah. The only thing that prevents us from living right now the way He might desire is either because we are too worried about the future (and therefor living life in context to that worry), or we are afraid of our past (and therefor living life now in light of that). This result of this is the motive for life in the present changes and that may lead to ones everyday life not being lived to its fullest potential.

(I am not saying to not plan ahead or to not learn from the past; rather I am saying to realize that in the end, it is up to the present to create the future, and therefor the past. It makes no sense to concern oneself with thoughts of the future [cosmology for example] or past [history for example] if it does not influence the present... doing so is called "not living in reality")

The implications this has on the Bible is fascinating.

Number 2
Motive is the key to everything. Without motive, action (therefor, reality) is not worth living. Motive and action are the essential foundations of life.
This is fascinating because the Bible only gives us the actions, but never tells the motives behind the actions.
It is the interpretation of these actions without knowing the motive that is a key factor in the difference between how Christianity and Judaism understand the Bible.

Judaism seeks to find the motive behind the actions described in the text; therefor, the Oral Law. The motive is sought out, but the action of the text is still required. Example: Text says to keep Sabbath. The motive/ true intentions are sought for, but the action of "keeping sabbath" is still required, regardless of the understood motive to do so. This can result in extreme blind faith, or extreme legalism.

Christianity seeks to put the right motives into anyones actions. The result of this is that you can act how you want if your motives are good. The Bible is nothing but examples of this (the actions given in the Bible are only examples, and not necessarily the only result of any of the right motives... this is similar to Judaism but drastically difference) Example: The text says to keep Sabbath. But the presumed principal behind Sabbath is looked at. Therefor, you can keep Sabbath any day you want, as long as your motive lines up with the presumed motive to do so. This results in people having amazing motives for their actions, but can also lead to ones own justification for sin.

I firmly believe that an understanding of the two combined makes the most sense with what the text says. This is the role historical and social understandings behind the Bible can have.

History helps fill this gap, for the general sense of motive behind the text can become clearer with the understanding of the historical society of that time.

Number 1
The top thing I have learned deals with the results of my time here.
I hope to write about this within the first few weeks after I am back. I will need time to think about this.

In the mean time, this is the last blog I write from Israel! I can't believe I am leaving.

It has truly been beyond amazing.

I'm going to go camp in the desert for a week.

Byes.



Shalom!

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---------------

So, remember how I said I was going to try and write the "top 10" things I learned in order to significance??

Well, its too complicated. I've learned too much and I don't know what is necessarily more important than the others. That being said, I might expand this to more than just the top ten. we shall see. So thats that.

Number 8

Humans have changed drastically over the past few thousands years. For example, today we care more about entertainment and pleasure than any other generation on earth.
But the basic needs and defining actions that make us human have not changed at all. This creates a problem then for modern day man because our desires are not any where close to what are needs are. Ancient man cared about surviving...so finding food was a crucial part of everyday life. They worked in the dirt because of a desire to live. Eating was what was required to live, and the action of finding the food became integrated into everyday life and understanding of the cosmos. Today, we just want the food but don't want the actions to get it. Our motive to eat is not a desire for survival, but a desire for pleasure. We have the basic needs or survival, what becomes "culture" then today is not harvest festivals and the like, but rather entertainment. This I believe creates a huge gap between what life is and what life was like historically. This is also why Americans can't understand the 3rd world at all, regardless of how poor you are. And as far as the American Church goes, this creates friction with our understanding of the Bible because the Bible was written in and by a people group that had a drastically different understanding on how to live everyday life.

Mankind within the past hundreds years or so has accomplished what mankind for thousands of years tried to do: a way to have a cake and eat it too.

It's called going to Cub Foods and buying another one.

Number 7

Academia knows practically nothing. A lot of society today is based on what academia teaches, and ones ability to be involved in it. Knowledge is everything today. Just ask Google.
However, when it comes to history, we have to believe we think we know what we want to know.
Basically I am saying, all views and opinions, especially in context of Biblical history and theoogy, has some level of bias intertwined into someones explanatioon. The absolute best thing we can do, is take all of the data we have and then make logical sense of it. There will still be some bias (based on ones own personal reference and starting points), but the fact is, truth is truth and can be discovered. I however, do believe that my understandings should come between me and another human being.
Religion has caused so many problems in the world. Lets move beyond religion and start with relations.

More to come.



Shalom!

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4 Days Left

I have 4 days left in Israel.

This Saturday, I leave for Jordan for a week. I will be living with traditional, rural Bedouin in the desert wadis with the hopes of gathering a glimpse into what life was like back in the days of Abraham. The reason this can be done is because Bedouin life has barely changed in thousands of years.
So, you want the best modern day example of Old testament life, the only place left to find it is in the middle of no-where in Jordan. I am very excited. We have to go to the bathroom in the sand for a week. And kill our own sheep in order for the group to eat (Read Genesis 18 on hospitality expectations and that is basically what we get to experience).

Once I leave Israel, I will not be returning. I fly from Amman, Jordan to Tel Aviv to transfer to my flight home to the states in two weeks. Pretty crazy! 9 months has gone by so very fast.
Needless to say, this will probably be one of the last blogs I write while here. I am so far behind on my blogging...I just had a very hard time keeping up with it this semester ( the internet here has been exceptionally bad this semester). When I get home, I hope to update as best I can, but we will see!


I figured for the next 5 days, I will give a countdown of the top 10 things I have learned while being here (2 everyday for the next 5 days). These will range from a variety of topics, and I will try to order them from least significant to most significant.


Number 10

I love Minnesota.
You know the saying "you never know what you got till its gone?" Well, it is very true (which I've always known..but never imagined agreeing to it in terms of my home state). Don't get me wrong, I love Israel and have loved being here. But leaving MN has made me realize how amazing it is. Not being home for 9 months...going a year thus far without seeing snow or having the temperature below 0 (longest ever in my life), I am completely shocked at how much I missed it! On top of that, I've realized that rural-small-MN-nice-towns, do have a lot of the characteristics found in the common village of the Bible. This surprised me. Needless to say, while studying the cultural backgrounds of the Bible, there are many similarities I saw between ancient Israel and MN. The only explanation I can come up with is, the Christian Lutherans and such who immigrated to MN had some form of ancient connection (probably through Church historical traditions) with Jews who still had basic structural ideas from Israelite times. That or the similarities are just a part of being human. I know this seems crazy, but regardless where it started, there is a great sense of what true life is all about sprawled throughout Minnesota: family, God and land. The thing that is sad, is how fast this culture is disappearing. Feel free to blame my generation.

Number 9

The Palestinian/Israeli conflict is super simple and practically impossible to solve. Also, I don't believe that Christians should support Jews and forsake the Arabs as a result, or vice versa. I truly believe that as an American who has not grown up or lived in the heart of these conflicts, for myself to be very opinionated about the matter does not support the love of humanity but rather the destruction. I am not saying to not support the Jews or Arabs (I am in no way anti-semitic or racist at all). I am saying understand the conflict is way off of the American radar, and be careful on what you believe and say. I have watched Americans get in arguments over this issue and divide as a result of it; people who have no right to use a conflict they are not connected to in any way who end up hating each other in the end. This completely blows my mind now.


Well. There ya go. More to come in the next few days.
-Me



Shalom!

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Some Facts

So, I am writing this under the influence of David Householders blog "Being Pro Israel?". I will try to keep this short and my goal is to stick to the facts and other random, interesting things I have learned from various professors and my own observations from the past 8 months of being here in Jerusalem. I think these facts have interesting implications on anyones opinions on choosing a stance in supporting or not supporting Israel or the Palestinians.
Please Note: I am trying to be as neutral on the matter as best I can. I talk a lot about the West Bank here; please realize this does not reflect my own views but rather because the existence of the West Bank is the heart of the problem.

1. Jews and the local Arab population from Northern Golan down to the Gulf of Aqaba (roughly), west to the Mediterranean went to War on November 29th, 1947 from the result of the U.N. General Assembly and the declaration that Britain was terminating the Mandate that had been in place from the 1920's

2. Out of this war, the Nation of Israel was born

3. Out of this War, the people group known as Palestinian Arabs were born

4. When Britain pulled out of Palestine on May 15th, 1948- The Jews declared Independence and Israel was born

5. That very day, all surrounding Arab States attacked the new nation of Israel

6. These nations were: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and various other Arab nations

7. Not one of these nations motive was to support the Palestinian Arabs against Israel, but rather went to war against Israel with the hopes of securing land for their own nation

8. The motive to fight was not to support Palestinian Arabs

9. None of these nations except for Jordan were organized enough to fight by themselves or with each other. Why? Because they all had the same selfish motive for fighting against Israel: secure land for themselves. In other words, Egypt only wanted Israel to not exist if Egypt would benefit (in land) from its destruction. An argument can be made that this was so much the case, that a nation like Egypt or Syria would even hope for other Arab nations to lose if they could gain land. Conclusion: Israel was only good for not existing if the country fighting against it could take its land.

10. Jordan was the only nation strong enough to fight against Israel and won almost every battle they fought against Israel. So, Why did they not win against Israel? Because their enemy was not directly Israel. They wanted the land that eventually became the West Bank (West Bank of Jordan!)- they did not care as much about the land west of the west bank, today called Israel. Jordan stopped fighting once they captured the West Bank.

11. The fact is that the Arab States primary motive was not to support Palestinian Arabs

12. It was not until much later (50's, especially the 60's and 70's) that the Arab States realized that Israel was not going anywhere. As a result, they defaulted to the next best thing: support Palestine. The logic is, if they can't get the land themselves, then at least have other Arabs control it. The policy of the Arabs nations on Palestine has pretty much remained the same since this revelation.

13. Palestine today is completely separated and walled off from Israel. Some claim it is one big refugee camp- 3,000,000 people

14. Israel and the United States want a two state solution. This was the original idea passed in 1947; Israel has ALWAYS wanted a two state solution since the 1930's

15. For years, most Palestinians just wanted to move back to their homes in the lands of current day Israel. Now they are becoming more open to a two state solution. Some however, are not for peace and as a result lend to bombing and blowing people up as a solution.

16. The Palestinian Authority in Palestine has NEVER issued a currency. As a result, Palestine is 100% dependent on Israel for its economy. They use the Israel New Shekel (INS) for their currency.

17. Coca-Cola in Israel can cost up to 12 Shekels ($3-4) for a bottle.

18. Coca-Cola in Bet-Lechem can cost up to 8 Shekels for a 6 pack of the same bottles. Read this as: their economy SUCKS.

19. Check out this awesome company in Bethlehem: www.hopesew.org

20. If tomorrow the two state solution passed and the West Bank became it's own nation; chances are good it would probably collapse that very day. Why? It has no currency. The INS would become completely worthless in the West Bank. Heck, it is worthless in every Arab Nation. If you bring the NIS to Egypt and try to live for a week, you are in for one very hard week (and Egypt is at least neutral with Israel and still can't use the NIS!- Pre 2011 Revolt that is..I don't know what it is like now)

21. If the PA's (Palestinian Authority in the West Bank) economy is foundational on Israel, one can argue Israel deliberately tries to keep their economy and situation bad. Evidential from things as small as Israel going into Palestinian villages and cutting down all of the Olive Trees to destroy the economic base of that village; to as big as Israel's "persecution" and offensive procedures against the Palestinians.
One could say that Israel wants to keep the Palestinian economy in a poor state, because by doing so, it gives Israel the upper hand for negotiations, especially if the day comes when a two state solution is reached.

22. One could say that tomorrow, if Palestine collapsed, we would see 1948 and 1967 all over again. And, once again, Arab nations would fight for the land for their own selfish motives. One should look at existing Arab nations policies on Palestine: Why doesn't Jordan or Egypt, or Iraq or Iran or the UAE step in to help Palestine?? Because if it collapses they have a chance of expansion, especially Jordan. The Arab States are only as interested in Palestine if it exists. To attack it themselves would be suicide; but to wait around and see what will happen gives them the upper hand. One could say that Israel and the rest of the Arab States look at Palestine in the same light: selfish gain at its collapse, but they themselves can't initiate the collapse, because of nations such as the USA (If Hillery freaks out over settlements, what would the USA do if Israel took a direct, all out- military offense against Palestine like they did when they bombed Iran?)

23. When Jews build a new settlement in Palestine, they do not walk in an forcibly take the land from the Palestinians. Rather, they buy the land from the Palestinians.

24. When Israel builds new settlements in Palestine, they pay the local Palestinians to tear down their own homes and build new ones for Israel. The Palestinians do this for the money. It's a job. They may not want to, but will, sell their own land and move in order to start over with some money. This again, reflecting how bad Palestine's economy is and how dependent it is on Israel.

25. Re-read 23 and 24 with: Settlements in the West Bank provide jobs for Palestine.

26. The Gaza Strip is a nightmare and a mess. Americans need to start distinguishing between Palestinians who want to live, and Palestinians radicals who do not want to live and will die over all of these issues.

27. There are entire cities I myself, as an American, cannot go to because the threat from Gaza is too severe. Granted this limitation is put on me by my school and not directly the Israel Government, but that does not change the motive for such a rule.

28. Israel's primary offensive focus is against the radicals (terrorists). However, sometimes it is necessary to inflict problems on the peaceful Palestinians in order to inhibit the terrorists. Examples would be the Wall, along with cutting down Olive Trees.

29. The peaceful Palestinians do not like the terroristic Palestinians. However, some prefer the Terrorists over the Jew.

30. Normal Arabs in Palestine and Gaza are caught in a conflict between Israel and extreme Arabs who want their family land back.

31. I have not even touched on religious issues, specifically those of Messianic Jews and Palestinians Christians. In Summary: there are lots of really bad things going on here, and lots of really, really good things.

32. There is as much peace and love here as their is hate. But Jewish doctors in Tel Aviv doing heart surgery on Arabs from Gaza and Iran for free does not sell papers the same way a bus bombing will.

33. This list goes on and on...I have not even touched on hardly anything yet.

In conclusion, I think all of the above, along with many more details and issues that have not been stated, need to be thought about in a logical manner with one's own opinion, stance, and beliefs about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Especially if you are in neither of these groups.

I came to Israel last August as a 100% die hard for Jews. While I still support the existence of a Jewish State, I have ultimately learned some things that has completely changed my perspective: Simply put, commoners in Israel do not love their neighbors.

I hardly know anything about what is and has gone on over here. As a result of this, I can't take a honest stance and I should not take a stance. I have no right to. All I know is that both the everyday Jew and the Palestinian are hurting over the terrible evil that comes out of these problems.

I am not Jewish/Israeli nor Arab nor Palestinian. I am an American. The only true interests I can have as a result of that fact is how my own people treat and act toward each other and toward the people who are mixed up in this. I meet people that learn about the things the Arabs have done to the Jews, and because of one evil deed, they will become die hard Jewish sympathizers. I also meet people who hear one evil deed done by the Jews- like chopping down olive trees- and they support Palestine to the extreme point of being practically anti-Semitic. This is so illogical...if this is how we should choose to support something or not, we should have equal if not a more serious problem with America and Britain, and the rest of the imperialistic super powers who started all of this in the first place. Taking a stance on something based on emotional feeling resulted from acts of violence does not and is not going to solve anything. All that will do will promote division and keep the evil coming.

You know, America actually has a very similar situation like this on our own hands that most Americans don't give two thoughts about at all or even realize is an issue: the American Indians. How about the history of the American Indians? Should we, the children of European Immigrants give North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, (etc.) back to the descendants of the American Indians who lived their for hundreds of years before we got there? Most Americans today don't even realize this issue still exists....but think about the fact that we are only 3-6 generations away from these problems. That is not much longer than the beginnings of the Palestinian conflict, back to the 1st Aliyah in the late 19th Century. In other words, the American Indians were having the same problems with European intruders up to the same time that the Arabs were dealing with European Jews infiltrating their own land. If you take a stance for Arab or Jew, be prepared for the logical repercussions that has on the very idea of the land you call home. But that hits too close to home...so why should we worry about that?

The best stance anyone who is not Palestinian nor Israeli could have on these issues would be no different than what their stance is on Northern verses Southern Ireland, or any other civil-war-like situation or apartheid of any other nation outside our own....

like how they view imperialistic problems of St.Vincent and the Grenadines in the 18-20th Century.

What is St.Vincent and the Grenadines you ask?

Exactly.

How nice it would be if ignorant people who take a stance were this way about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict; that is, ignorant of the very existence of the nations instead of ignorant of the facts and drawing conclusions.

All you can do is study, but do not let your conclusions be the dividing point between you and anyone else. That only promotes devision.

You yourself are responsible for your knowledge and the actions you take based on it.




My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the Torah of your God, I also will forget your children.
(Hosea 4:6)









Shalom!

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#23-The beginning

British and Arab Understandings of World War 1

Coming into World War I, Britain was in support of the existence of the Ottoman Empire. Britain was in control of the Suez Canal, the only true major portal into and out of the Mediterranean Sea. Having the Ottomans as a buffer between Germany and Russia kept Britain’s interests in the Suez Canal steady. But when the Ottomans joined sides with Germany in the War, Britain was forced to fight against the Ottomans, ultimately endangering Britain’s strategic ownership of Egypt. Britain realized to not be in alliance with the Middle Eastern Arabs, would mean Britain would have no buffer between the Suez Canal and the Central Powers. But, having the Middle Eastern Arabs on their side would allow Britain to have a significant advantage over the Ottomans, because it would force the Arabs in Turkey to fight against the Arabs in the Middle East, weakening the Turkish Empire farther. Britain and the Arabs began to negotiate terms for which the Arabs would revolt against the Ottomans. These negotiations ultimately became one of the starting points for issues in the Middle East that pursue through today.
On July 14th 1915, Sayyid Hussein bin Ali also known as “the Sherif of Mecca” wrote a letter to Sir Henry McMahon, who was the High Commissioner at Cairo. This letter was the first of eight letters, dated from July 14th 1915-January 25, 1916. The letters negotiate the Arab’s terms in order to support Great Britain against the Ottoman Empire. In letter one, Hussein defines the wishes of the Arabs: That “England acknowledges the independence of the Arab countries” and that “England acknowledges the abolition of foreign privileges in Arab countries, and to assist the Government of the Sherif in an International Convention for confirming such abolition.” The letter shows that the Arabs motive for abolishing foreign control on its lands (I.E. the Ottomans) was for the requirement of independence in its lands. As the letters progress, the attitudes and the complete goals of Britain seem wishy-washy and undefined. In letter two, McMahon thanks Hussein for his support of Britain, but does not acknowledge the requirements that were presented. This in turn required Hussein in letter three to call Britain out on their “ambiguity and its tone of coldness and hesitation with regard to [their] essential point” ; which is of course, independence. McMahon’s response in letter four is that “it appeared to [him] that the time had not yet come when that question could be discussed in a conclusive manner.” The question is, if Hussein’s requirements for revolting against the Ottomans were clearly on the grounds of independence, why would McMahon suggest that the terms be discussed later? McMahon eventually does state what Britain was willing to give and allow the new Arab nation to possess. However, one does get the sense that Britain did not want to negotiate the Arabs independence until a later time. It might be suggested that Britain just wanted the Arabs help against the Ottomans, and then discuss terms after (fight now, talk later); perhaps even after the war was over. The most significant portion of the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence are from the fourth letter, dated to October 24th, 1916. Britain states what geographical lands they will allow to be part of the new Arab nation, and what would still remain under British control. Britain goes on to say “…Great Britain is prepared to recognize and support the independence of the Arabs in all the regions within the limits demanded by the Sherif of Mecca.”
In summary, the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence provides the grounds for why the Arabs would revolt against the Ottoman Empire. The result, according to the Arabs and Britain, would be Arab Independence and the formation of a new Arab country, with Britain supporting their action to do so. However, one key geographical area was not discussed: Palestine.
From the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, geographical boundaries are defined and understood. However, if one looks at the so called understood divisions, a problem is found. Figure 1 is a map of Palestine under the Ottoman Empire in 1915. These districts and the geopolitical terms are the ones that must have been understood between Hussein and McMahon in the Correspondence letters. Therefore, because these areas were already an Arab population under Ottoman rule, it is logical to say that Hussein had the understanding that these same lands (from the 37th degree north to the Red Sea in the south, to the Persian Gulf in the East ) would come under his power after the war was over. After the October 24th letter and the agreements that followed, based on a literal understanding of Britain’s exclusions from Arab control, the boundaries would exclude areas in the north: “the two districts of Mersina and Alexandretta and portions of Syria lying to the west of Damascus, Hone, Hama, and Allepo…should be excluded from the areas of demand.” Figure 2 is a map of the literal boundaries defined by Britain, including its exclusions . A close look at this map shows that the area of Palestine would belong to the Arabs. It is logical to suggest that Hussein agreed to revolt against the ottomans on the condition of independence for geological land in areas of predominate Arab populations, including Palestine.
The question needs to be asked: was this what Britain had in mind? Did Britain agree to give the land of Palestine over to Arab control? Britain seems to agree with what could be in line with the Arab understanding of the letters. Yet, as was shown, even as early on as letter two, Britain does not seem to want to deal with the results of the Arab Revolt, they just want the Revolt to happen. With a careful re-reading of the October 24th letter, one can see a slight mishap that could lead to mass confusion: Britain never defines its southern boundary. Britain states they want to maintain control of the lands “west of Damascus, Hone, Hama, and Allepo”, but never actually define how far south the line runs. Hussein must have assumed the southern border would run west from Damascus and end there, because that is the last city mentioned by McMahon. Had Britain, after World War One and the Arab revolt was over, done exactly what it suggested, that is, had it defined the boundaries as west of Damascus and no farther south of it (figure 2), then it would be safe to say that is what Britain had understood when it agreed with the negotiations.
All of this climaxes to what would leave any person on the edge of their seat in any good thriller. The letters had been sent and done. Hussein and the Arabs had their understanding that if they revolted against the Ottomans, Britain would back them in their quest for an Arab state “unified Arab state stretching from Aleppo (Syria) to Aden (Yemen)”, including Palestine. The British seem to be in agreement with all of this. As a result, Hussein called for the Arabs to rise up, and the Arab Revolt began in June, 1916 and ended in 1918.
However, in January of 1916 (officially passed in May), the British and the French had come to an agreement that became known as “the Sykes-Picot Agreement”. In this agreement, they divided up the lands into areas of British and French control (figure 3), and had made Palestine into a National Condominium. Lloyd George said that “a regime in the Holy Land ‘would be quite intolerable to ourselves…Palestine is really the strategic buffer of Egypt”. By leaving Palestine as a National Condominium, Britain left its control of the Suez Canal vulnerable. Britain needed to change the Sykes-Picot agreement in some fashion to give itself access to Palestine. With “the signatures not yet dry on the [Sykes-Picot Agreement]”, Britain began to find a way to accomplish this. The answer was with the Jews.
On November 2nd, 1917, Britain released a statement known as “the Belfour Declaration”. In this statement, they promise to allow the Jews to establish a Jewish National Home with Britain backing them up. The home would be in Palestine. This was done in order to give Britain continuous access into Palestine, ultimately in order to protect the Suez Canal. While Britain was making other agreements with France and the Jews, the Arabs had already started a revolt that they could not go back on; a revolt that started on the belief of independence in lands that Britain was giving away.
All of this eventually came to a head and exploded. Even through today, the end is still yet to be found. The Arabs proved their agreement and understanding of the McMahon-Hussein Agreement by the simple fact that they revolted. But the issue is far more complex from Britain’s point of few. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. Within months of the Correspondents ending and on through the Arab revolt, Britain was already dealing with France and eventually the Jews on what to do with the Middle Eastern lands. This is proof that Britain did not view the McMahon-Hussein Agreements the same way Sayyid Hussein bin Ali did. Both sides came to different understandings of the same agreement.
In Britain’s defense of its actions and dealings, they do have logical explanations as to why they did what they did. The Arabs believe Britain did not follow through with their promise. But Britain has many claims to suggest that the Arabs misunderstood those promises. As was shown to be true, Britain had dealings with France before and during the duration of the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence. The alliance with France was the reason why Britain could not take a full stance in agreement with the Arabs on lands partitions just yet. Also, the agreement that the Arab nations did agree to- that is revolution for independence- clearly shows that they needed British support to do so. “The term independence was merely a euphemism for supersession of Turkish rule by British and French in their respective spheres of interests.” Hussein must have had some understanding of what Britain’s intentions were, or else he would not have sought their support in the first place, for acknowledging that the Arab’s could not successfully revolt against the Ottomans unless the British were involved, means Hussein understood they were not free of the World Super powers of that time. Therefore, giving Britain the upper hand in negotiations; meaning what the British ultimately thought was agreed upon was important, not the Arabs understandings. “It was [the Arabs] who remained in debt [to the British], not the British.” In the end, the McMahon Correspondence holds no merit and Britain is not bound to them. “Neither Britain’s Allies, signatories to the Asia Minor Agreement, or the League of Nations endorsed it. From the point of view of international Law, the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence [have] no validity.”
When the dust had settled, the results of British policy with the Arabs leading up to and through World War I in the end had a significant impact on Palestine for the rest of the century. The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence led to the Arab Revolt of 1916. The Arabs acted in their own interests under the pretense of gaining independence and establishing an Arab nation with the authority of the British. The British negotiated and acted in light of their interest; ultimately to continue control of the Suez Canal. Britain’s previous negotiations with France and the Allied forces made Britain understand the McMahon-Hussein correspondence with less significance and an all together different understanding then the Arabs did. So the Arabs viewed the Sykes-Picot and Belfour Declaration as contradictory to the McMahon-Hussein Agreements, but Britain did not. Britain was forced to give France its interests in the Middle East, and saw in its own manner, the development of a Jewish National Home as the best way to keep its own interests in Palestine. Today, history shows that Britain did have the upper hand to call the shots, and played the situation to their advantage. Lieutenant T. E. Lawrence wrote “Arabs could be swung on an idea as on a cord; for the unpledged allegiance of their minds made them obedient servants.” However, no one can prove or disprove that it was Britain’s intentions to trick the Arabs into revolting for a cause that would not happen; Britain could not have known the future. Simply put, both sides agreed upon a lack of understanding of the other by not clarifying. The only safe conclusion to be drawn is that if the terms would had been negotiated more precisely and clearly, things today could possibly be dramatically different in the Middle East.


 
Works Cited
Friedman, Isaiah. The Question of Palestine. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1992.
Kaplan, Jonathan. The Zionist Movement Volume II Selected Organizational and Political Documents. Jerusalem, 1983.
Lawrence, T. E. Revolt in the Desert. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1927.
Palestine Remembered. 17 December 2001. 17 March 2011 .
Sachar, Howard M. A History of Israel From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.
Spencer, William. The Islamic States in Conflict. New York: Franklin Watts, 1983.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. 17th March 2011 .

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Shalom!

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#22: The Crossfire Between Heaven and Hell- Thoughts on Rob Bell

It has come to my attention the past few days that a teacher who I have come to respect more than any other teacher in Christianity has basically been called a heretic because of his teachings. It amazes me though that the eruption that has taken place over the past few days was not even initiated by what this pastor has taught, but by his questions.

I am of course talking about Rob Bell. Rob Bell has a new book coming out March 29th, 2011. The book is called "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived".After the publications description was released, John Piper posted on his twitter, "Farewell Rob Bell". Then, Justin Taylor of The Gospel Coalition wrote a blog claiming Rob Bell is a Universalist and a sheep in wolves clothes.

First, I want to point out the state of the obvious: the book has not even been released yet, and yet people are already up in arms over it. Therefor, we can't say if Rob Bell is a Universalist until we have read his book and it says otherwise.
Here is the promotional movie Rob Bell has made in regards to the book.



Rob Bell's book isn't out yet. So, in the end, neither John Piper, Justin Taylor, Billy Graham, George Clooney or Bono have any idea as to what Rob Bell's opinion on hell is. I mean, they have just as much right in guessing what Rob Bell is going to say in his book as Christianity has in guessing what Hell is like. That being said, based on Rob Bells video, Bell touches on an idea that I think is true: we don't have a clue.

Ya know, I find it ironic, because South Park has a unique way of portraying hell. Ironically, they have a clip portraying hell with Gandhi in it, which is what Rob Bell brings up in his movie:



Also, it should be known that in South Park, Satan is gay and in love with Saddam Husein. Oh. And priests, pastors, actors, billionaires, poor people, white people, black people, etc.; they all go to hell. Heaven is reserved for Mormons, and by the way the Mormon's act, most people prefer hell because the Mormons make heaven worse than hell (the reason why, is because Mormonism is the fluffiest, loveliest, hypocritically-nicest religious group out of them all- according to South Park).

What is my point?

Is South Park correct in their portrayal or idea of hell? While I think they have the wrong idea of heaven, in the end, who can say?
Do you know for a fact that the devil isn't gay and in a homosexual relationship with Saddam Husein? No. There is no way of knowing what hell is like.

Do we KNOW what the afterlife is like? NO. And anyone to suggest yes must be God themselves. All we know from Scripture is that heaven is to literally live in the presence of God...and hell is the direct opposite of that, which one CAN argue from Scripture that hell is a literal non-existence. Anything beyond that is just as ridiculous as South Park's portrayal or Dante's Inferno. I mean come on! Study the word hell! The actual word is only used 14 times in the whole Bible! And all 14 times, the word used is for the Gehenna Valley which is right outside of my window! Literally! I am literally living in hell based on an overly literal translation of the Bible.

And that is my point, and at least from Rob Bell's video...I think it is clear, and logical in light of Scripture: the theology of hell, and ultimately the after life is not up for us to decide for we simply do not know. We don't know what it is like, and in the end, it is not up for US to decide who is "going to hell" or not, whatever that may mean.
Therefor, and this is important, it is not a Gospel of salvation that is important for followers of God, but rather it is the relationship between anyone and God that counts. We shouldn't be running around telling people to accept Christ in order to be saved so they will not go to hell.
Rather we should be teaching people to accept Christ and hear the voice of God, so that they may know how to live life NOW-in today- for today starts eternity because the Kingdom is Here. If heaven is to literally live with God (which I can Scripturally prove is the case), then hell is very simply put, living without the presence of God.

And I know PLENTY of Christians who fall way below that line. Anything outside of Eden is hell. This world we live in now is hell.
But for me to speculate anymore than that is not OK. Scripture sure doesn't go any farther into it than that. And that is why it is the now-not the if that is important in our theology and our Gospel.

All ideas of hell are speculative, and therefor, just as ridiculous as people thinking they know what Rob Bell is going to say in his book before it comes out, and South Park saying Satan is gay. In other-words, the theology of hell is not the epicenter because it is all speculative. End of story.

When I posted this South Park video, a friend of mine told me that I did not need to post it. I asked why. He said "it is not exactly a great message."
That is exactly my point. South Park's portrayal of hell is a no better message than Christianities Gospel of repent or die. And both are NOT Scriptural.

In the end, Love really does win. And that is the point.
We need to focus on today; on living our lives now. We need to focus on the things Scripture makes overly clear on. Not things that are speculative. God tells us in His Word how to live life NOW. Sadly, most Christians ignore it. Instead, we tell people they are going to hell if they don't speak in tongues or are not following John Calvin (I have had people say this to me).

I think the Churches reaction to Rob Bell proves Rob Bell's point: Everyone is casting him out of the faith and claiming he isn't saved, and therefor going to hell, because he is suggesting that hell isn't the focus of the Gospel (and lo and behold he is Right!)-again, this is based on the movie. I don't know what he says in the book.

All Rob Bell seems to be suggesting from the video and the books description, is that we start the Gospel with today, with the present-which is a Gospel that requires life to be lived to it's fullest- verses a Gospel that requires the fear of death.
I think Christianity is ignorantly unaware of how condemning parts of its theology is to someone on the outside looking in. They accept what the Christian spitting in their face says and they say oh well. And never change because in the end, they'll just burn anyways. And that is bad when it is theology that is all based on speculation in the first place. I know this happens because it has happened to me.

I do know one thing: Yeshua did not have the ideas of hell nor the same emphasis on the gospel that Christianity does today...Scripture is clear on that.
Instead of focusing on that, He said to love God and our neighbor.

Love Wins. Live in light of that.

Shalom!

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#20-Restlessness

I can't sleep.




For the 7th day straight.

4:05 AM

My mind won't stop thinking....it's driving me nuts.




Shalom!

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#19-Engagement

Hey there friends! So it has been a long time since I last published a blog. Regardless, I will fill you in up through today the best I can.

The semester ended good. Went to Egypt, had a blast down there, came back and did nothing for December, and then my girlfriend Bekah Marzahn flew out and we backpacked around Israel for all of January.
How awesome.

Spring semester has started here. I have SO many thing I would love to type blogs up on...so many thoughts and so much I have learned that I feel obligated to share. I just don't have time to update this thing the way I had originally intended. There is just simply too much information. But I am trying....bear with me.


But thats not what this blog is about....a lot of people have asked and I have not answered yet, but this blog is to answer the details on me and Bekah's engagement.


Me and Bekah have the same birthday, and that has always been a big deal for both of us. This year Bekah was turning 21. So woop!

I had planned on proposing to Bekah for sometime now. In October, Stan Farr from Sar-Shalom was in Israel and brought the ring I was going to give Bekah. The ring is the same one my dad gave my mom...so it's pretty cool. But being I had known for along time I was going to do this when she came, I had all of the time in the world to plan something.

However, me and Bekah could not figure out for the life of us what we were going to be doing while she was in Israel, which is a long story. We were supposed to work on a kibbutz, bu that fell through so we ended up staying in hostels and such around the southern parts of Israel.

Needless to say, I had no plans on how or where to propose other then that I wanted to propose on our birthday. I finally decided that wherever we ended up at that time would just have to work.

We were in Eilat, still. After camping in Timnah Park for two days, we came back down to Eilat for one more day before heading to Mitzpe Ramon.

Now, leading up to our birthday, I had decided to do what Bekah calls "Birthday Week". Basically the birthday person gets a gift everyday for a week. For example, for my 18th birthday, Bekah had gotten me something that had to do with the number "18" everyday for a week...like 18 paper planes.

I am not that talented when it comes to planning such things, nor could I have attempted to be being we didn't know what we were going to be doing for January in advance. So, everyday for a week, while me and Bekah were wandering around doing nothing..I would spontaneous give her a random gift. Things like tea, or chocolate or something. But it was good, because I really wanted her to be surprised by the proposal..so by not having these elaborate plans for a week really made her surprised when I did propose. Which was what I wanted.

So our birthday came. We were at our hostel, and I spent the morning online trying to figure out what we could do that day in Eilat. Bekah was making pancakes..and holy cow they were the best pancakes in the world! She gave me 20 of them(cos' thats how old I was turning) and 21 for herself...they were very small....haha.

After we ate, I decided we were going to do something fun: I took Bekah to a fish spa. It's this crazy Japanese thing where you put your feet in a tub that has hundreds of these small Japanese sucking fish...and they eat the dead skin off of your feet. It is quite disgusting, but it was amazing. Bekah was shocked (as was I) because it was just so random.
After that we walked around trying to figure out what to do next....which turned out to be pretty much nothing other than trying to find where we wanted to eat that night.

Later on, Bekah found a wallet she liked, so I bought it for her. She thought that was the 7th gift of birthday week.

We went and ate at this restaurant down by the shores of the Red sea. I got a steak..and it was amazing, considering I have not had one since leaving America...Bekah got Tilapia and it still had its head on! It was crazy good food!

After eating, we went walking, I left Bekah and went and got two brownies from Aroma...I had these awesome Hebrew birthday candles I was going to put on them, and then propose after that down by the water.

Not happening. For whatever reason, when I came out of Aroma, the wind picked up like mad and the temperature dropped like crazy...I tried lighting the candles but they wouldn't light because of the wind...somehow through all of that I still managed to keep it all a surprised.

So we went to the hostel, I kicked Bekah out of the room, and set everything up in there. Brownies and birthday candles....birthday candles that when they are arranged right, say "Happy Birthday" in Hebrew.

But I did not have them arranged right being I had to re-set things up...so the "cake" really just had candles that had random Hebrew letters on them. Pretty funny.

She came in, saw the cake and what not...she blew them out..of course when she did so, the room got dark. When the lights came on I had the ring out and proposed to her.

On January 23rd, I asked Bekah to marry me.

Now, me and Bekah have dated for 4 years. We have known each other for 8 years. The details on our friendship and our relationship is a long one, but I will just say this was something we expected for a long time. So, I am happy it is all finally happening.


As of now, our wedding date is set for June 16th, 2012.

Shalom!

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#18-Turn and face the strain....

Note: Open this link. Cue music. Read:

OK..that's cheesy...oh well....


Well.

Semester is over.

Crazy.

I have so much to say.
So much to tell....I myself am behind on my own thoughts..I don't even know where to go from here. I feel now exactly how I did after my first trip to Israel: worn out and just done.

Needless to say, I don't actually have much to say.
My computer is unusable right now..meaning it will be awhile before I get pictures up...and I have a ton.

Especially from Egypt.

I am living on campus here through December...it is me and a few others. Its been good. Doing things I have never actually had to truly concern myself with in my life, mainly food...haha.

I am working on a project: a calendar that mixes the Gregorian and Hebrew calendars.....its a long explanation..I hope to have more about soon....let me know if you are interested.

In the mean time, here are my thoughts right now.

I am sad.
Sad in the sense of time moving on and by. Today I was really thinking back, "reminiscing about the good old days."
I just posted a comment on facebook, basicaly saying the same thing:

when did my generation grow up?
It blows my mind looking at how many people I know/knew who are now married, in the military, in college, etc.
it is so easy for me to look at my own life and downplay the things I am doing and have done, and where I am going,
but when I look at my freinds, man! Times have changed drastically. I can't believe the things people are doing. It amazing.

I don't feel like I have been part of it much...so much has gone on with myself over the past few years...I've had so many things on my mind...many things I never even let anyone know was even on my mind at all.

Things that distracted me from reality. Not daydreaming, but just trying to make sense of the reality I am in and I had put myself in.

I have met some amazing people here on campus....some of the coolest people I have met in years.

I haven't felt like myself the past few years, at least, not on a normal basis...
It is very easy to act like myself around the very select people at home I am OK with doing so...my heart is a extrovert.

Otherwise, 90% of the time, I really don't input much and I isolate myself...coming off very introverted to a lot of people.

This semester, I think one of the best outcomes of it, was the fact I got to just act like myself. I didn't shun myself because the people here were actually amazing enough where I didn't feel like letting them see who I am would be an absolute waste of time...to those reading this who really know me, you know what i am saying.

But it makes me curious as to what the past few years could have been like if I had held on to friendships I had and continued to do and be interested in things I used to be interested in that use to tie me together with people. I burned bridges very fast throughout high school, out of desire for my own future...now, I wish I had held on longer.

Life has been interesting the past few years.

I urge you, look at my generation. We are, in my own biased mind, the most unique generation to of lived so far.
it is going to be fascinating to see where life leads in the future...I hope to be a part of it more than I have been up until now.

Hell, why am I living in Jerusalem and yet, here I am sitting on a computer?

goodbye!


-me

#17-Where to now???

Well, its been a busy busy couple of weeks. I just got back from Jordan a few days ago. It was a great trip; it was my last trip for Physical Settings class (Geography). I am done with Physical Settings now, other than our final.

I leave for Egypt on December 4th....I am also done with that class other than the final.

Over the next 15 days, I have to memorize the whole semesters worth of Hebrew and basically the history of archeology in Jerusalem...it is overwhelming that one.

I've been thinking a lot about whats been going and in context to the big picture of why I am here. This blog is entitled "In the Desert", and I have explained why.
Our Jordan trip finished at Mt.Nebo, the place where Moses looked across into the Promised Land. That field study was pretty symbolic for myself in context to the "big picture":

In theory, I have physically left the desert.
As I have stated in my blog, my time in Israel has been a time for me to wander in my own wilderness; to find out where I am going in life.

I have physically followed the path of the Israelites. I have been ALL over Israel and Jordan. I know the trade routes, the rock types, I know the physical history of the Israelites as they left the Wilderness and attempted to live in the Land of Promise.

On a small scale, I have not spiritually accomplished this feat yet though....I have physically, but have not yet spiritually: I am still not who God wants me to be in order for me to enter the Promised Land.

On a large scale, I have reached this point though. I have a general idea on where I am headed and whats up: now its a matter of choice.

I see three distinct paths in front of me as to what to do with my life. I believe Adonai has given me the option to choose where to go....all of them are in His will.

In very fine summary:
1) Be done with school in a year, drum the rest of my life, live the Church scene, do youth pastor type stuff....etc.
2) go through academia, get a PHD, re-write the History of the Church, as in, show what has really happened, expose the lies and show the truth. Write books, do debates, define myself in the contexts of society...try and fit in with the way the world works. Maybe become a professor or a Messianic pastor.
3) Pursue #2 but from the world of the Messianic movement. Become a "Messianic Rabbi" in a sorts or something, or start a Synagogue/Community Congregation.

I can't really go into extreme details as to the differences in all three of these; especially #2 and #3.
A part of me really wants to just get some Joe-Shmoe job..like work at Menard's or something (Not that there is anything wrong with this! Some of the people I respect the most live this life) and drum as much as I can, with my Christian friends, at Crossroads and Sar-Shalom for worship, stay in the great awesome land of Duck-Duck-Grey-Duck (Minnesota), have a dinky little house somewhere, live the life that i have grown up around and have see so many people do.

However, a different part of me wants to go through Academia and get my PHD. All of this is coming out of one desire I have: exposing the truth.

I have a great idea for a thesis and study; amazingly it fits really well with things my girlfriend studies too (at least I think so…), so that helps:

I want to study and re-define the understanding of the 1st century Church and how that redefinition then sends a ripple through history. I would especially emphasize after the 1st century going especially up to Constantine's day. I want to use this redefinition to show the truth of the past 2,000 years of the theology and ways of the Church and in turn explain where it is all at today. That would then define what Messianic Judaism today is and why it is important for understanding the bigger, ultimate truth of the Scriptures. Also it would urge the Church to understand how Jews believing in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, changes the base theology of salvation and the gospel, which we would fine is exactly what the first century Church was like in the first place. The whole idea goes in a big circle: I end exactly where I started.

All of this would be based on so much of what I have already been studying, hence why I know I can do such a thing. I would do some serious studying on first, Jewish Culture of the Bible...which I have already done. Then I would do some serious studying on Roman/Hellenistic Culture, which I have done some of. Then I would study very, very specifically the lands of Turkey, through Archeology and Historical Geography. In other words, taking what I have learned here in Israel and applying the method to Asia Minor. From there I (and this where the beautiful mind of my girlfriend-Bekah-comes in) would take the Art History of the image of Christ throughout history, showing the connections of it to Greek mythological gods. Also show how the thinking of "the early fathers" is straight out of Egypt/Greek/Hellenistic/Greek Mythology ideology and how it lead to the destruction of Torah. This all would in and of itself explain the differences between Messianic Judaism and Christianity today. A part of this would also include the changes Judaism went through in this same time period as a result of what was going on with Rome...these changes I am talking about are the changes that took Judaism from what it was in the Bible to what Rabbinical Judaism is today. I would show the ancient Egyptian influence on Hellenism, and show that influence on Christianity and Judaism, show how this influences both sides today, and in turn will see that Judaism and Christianity today are the opposite of what I believe the 1st century Church REALLY was like, which I would have already defined and then would repeat that again in contrast to Judaism and Christianity. All of this would be oriented around basic theological teachings and understandings, archeology, art work, and comparing Egypt Mythology with Greek mythology and the connections this has to Christianity and how it is NOT what the 1st Century Church was like.
Make sense? It does in my mind…after a ton of research. I have gotten glimpses of all of this over the years, I really want to go all out on studying it and seeing what is there.

Over the past few years, I have been thinking about all of this stuff, however, it has been during this semester that I have realized how true it really is.

So, I have been thinking about going down this path. After Grad school, I am not sure what exactly I would do, other then probably spend the rest of my life elaborating and defending what I would do in Grad School.

Could be fun.
I have, over the past 2 years, looked online at every credible school I can find to see if there is a department or masters program that offers anything relatively resembling what I want to do for grad school.

Sadly, there is not.
I have looked through programs, I have even looked through thesis's that people have written that have anything to do with the church, archeology, and historical geography all combined. I have found nothing. It is almost as if no one has ever thought of studying the influence of Egypt and Rome on Christianity and the differences between the Church of the 1st century and the Church we see by Constantine's day.

The only desire I have to continue in school is to study this specific topic. I have, as of two days ago, found a school that looks intriguing in doing such a thing: New York University.

That be nuts. I don't even think I would make it in, much less afford it. Who know? We will see. But it has given me motivation, which is good.

So I can do that...or I can screw all of the above and become a hippy and live by a river in a VW van, living off of government issued cheese.

Just kidding...I know that is outside of God's will for me (at least anytime in the next 30 years of my life! HAHA!)

I could say heck with all of the above and study Messianic teachings and start a commune/congregation, like I had said in blogs past.

We will see.
Part of me really hopes ALL of this will become a reality (other than the van part...)...but I do not know how that could even begin to make sense or how that could happen. But it be amazing.

In the mean time, over the next year for sure, maybe 2 or 3, I plan on staying around good ol' Minnesota, work as much as I can with the awesome youth of Crossroads Church, start to try and work with the youth of Sar-Shalom, get a real job, and just play some music.

I should have a better understanding of all of this by may.





The Promise Land as viewed from Mt.Nebo

"And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face"
-Deuteronomy 34:10-


Shalom!

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#16-Now....

Hello everyone! It has been almost a month since my last post.

Things have been so busy with school work and classes. I have hardly had anytime to do anything....its nuts.

I have so much to say, yet so little to say. The past month has been interesting. So much has been happening, I am having a hard time getting my head around it all.


I have a very strong fever right now; so that stinks....have not been feeling to good.
I have so many pictures and so many videos I want to get on here, but our internet has been really slow lately and my computer has not been the most functional thing for some reason.

I am very behind on the things I want to do and put on this blog. In the meantime, below is a pictorial representation of whats been going on here. If you click on a picture, it will take you to PhotoBucket. You then can view the full size image and download it. Please do...some of these pics turned out really cool!

Here is basically all thats been going on:

-Negev Field Study: Last month we went to the Negev, it was marvelous. Lots of rock, sand, fighter planes and geology....basically everything I love in one package. ,Again, I have some sweet photos and videos on this trip; all i can really give you now are some slideshows (Click on a picture to view it full size):

Negev Day 1

Negev Day 2

Negev Day 3

A couple of weeks ago some people from Sar-Shalom were here in Jerusalem. I went and met them at Ramat Rachel kibbutz for Shabbat dinner and what not...it was so great to see people from back home. You guys were such a blessing to spend time with!

Then, the day after I met with Sar-Shalom people, I left for a field study in the Galilee. We went all over the place up there..it was great. Here are some pics from that study....

Galilee Field Study Day 1

Galilee Day 2

Galilee Day 3

The Galilee trip was cool. It was interesting though because there was not a single major aspect of it that was any different then the first time I had come here; that surprised me.

And just like 3 years ago, the Galilee gave me a headache and made me have to think over my life.


It was a cool trip.




Post Script: A new blog on what "worship" is and what it means will be coming soon!!!!





Shalom!

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#15-Responsibility

-NOTE: This blog is not the follow up blog to blog #14-


It is not my responsibility to change others.


This is a huge lesson I have been trying to learn for a few years.
Ever since I started studying the Bible in context to history, Judaism, and geography....I believed that because I had learned what I learned, and because it was SO life changing for me, that I needed to go and teach everyone what I had learned.

While based on Deuteronomy 6 and other such verses, we are commanded to teach others the truth of God and are accountable for living and acting on this truth....

I have learned that it is not my responsibility for others to accept what I have to teach.

I first learned this while going to the AA hall I was at for awhile: You can't change others, you can only change yourself.

The past year or so, I have really just been shredding myself apart because I felt like I have not been able to share the things I have learned.

I am so over thinking like that.
Last year at Northwestern, I was upset all year because I never met one person interested in what I had learned and was desperate to share....

My attitude has finally come around to accept that I can't change others or force them to care.
Not even with the things that changed myself.

Since I typed my blog "I went to the Wall to Meet God" where I shared some of the things I have been learning and experiencing and struggling with here in Israel....I've had some interesting things going with myself spiritually.

I said in that blog that I felt like I figured out what it is God is calling me towards: a communal type community living with others living with God.

However, I have had some clarifications on what this might not entail:

I do not want to teach the Bible as a career.
I don't want to be a professor.
I don't want to be a pastor.
I don't want to "be" a "teacher" in academics.
I don't want to be a pastor living with a bunch of people in a commune, taking the responsibility to "lead" them. That idea is so contradictory to what I believe. I don't want to take the place of God in peoples eyes. I don't want people to come to me for help. I want to help others but not feel like it is some responsibility of mine to do so. I want to help others draw closer to God because they want to draw closer to God...not because they need ME to do so. I don't want to be the Shepherd. I want to helps others see that HE is their shepherd.

No joke, as soon as I posted that blog, I had this HUGE desire to play music and drums that I never experienced or felt like before. It freaked me out.... because I was like 'Hey God...what the heck...I JUST felt sure on what I am doing..?" So, I may still do a commune...but not at all in the way that probably comes to your mind when you read that.

I really started to think about what I am doing.

I am going to college for 3 years to get a degree in a topic that I do not want to make into a career anywhere near the sense that everyone else who majors in what I am majoring in is.

It is automatically assumed that if you are a Biblical Studies Major, that you are going to Seminary...hands down.

But I have come to realize...ya know. I am not studying this stuff for other people.

I am studying this stuff because I LIKE it.
The fact is, I am terrible at school. just terrible at it. I don't deserve to or have any right to try and go down the path of my professors and become some great Bible scholar...I am a terrible student. I can't do this stuff the way the world has laid out.

So I am putting myself into some major debt to study a topic... (I actually think I concluded this midway through last year on, I just did not want to admit it)...that I don't want to do as a career.

In fact, the opposite. I want to teach people...but I don't want to rely on other peoples ability to accept what I teach to make a difference in how I survive in life or support myself.

If that is the case, I might as well quit now because I have learned that most people...or at least not enough people desire to learn about the Bible to make a career out of me teaching them. People don't care enough about the things I study for me to make a career out of.
So I have concluded this:

I am going to teach, however, it will be through books or other such mediums where I do it and people have the option to read it or not....in other words, the responsibility is on THEM to learn, not me to teach.

I don't care if I type up 30 page blogs on Microsoft word and people don't read it. I find it funny how many people tell me how long my blogs are and they either have not finished it or won't read it. I don't have a problem with it. Don't read my blogs out of obligation...read out of desire to want to learn. But I am not typing these for you...I type them for myself because they help me think.
I have really learned and started to live the idea that I am not going to run to every person and say "Listen!" Rather, I am not opening my mouth on things unless someone asks.

So I now am in a dilemma though....for what am I going to do to support my life and the future people who may rely on me for support in life?
Who knows!
The only group of people I actually truly care to teach...in the sense of a responsibility to help lead in life...and would do it for a living are the youth I have already taught...and based on how that has gone, I could be a youth pastor or something and love it.
But who cares! God will work it all out. I've been thinking about all this because I had a crazy dream last night that I could not get a job after graduation and couldn't pay my loans off and was sent to prison. Awesome.
I don't want that fear to be the very thing that causes me not to do what God may want me to do.

I like music. The only true natural gift I have in this world is drumming...I am going to enhance that and work at that.

Maybe do music full time? I don't know. It was interesting, because this past Sunday I walked half hour into the New City of Jerusalem to a music store in some mall (I really had no idea where I was). But I was going crazy for a pair of drum sticks. So I bought some and a practice pad...just for something to hit. I'm standing in line and this guy next to me is all like 'you play drums?" I'm like. Yeah.

Turned out he is the worship director for a local congregation...they meet right across the hall from the music store. He has been looking for a drummer. So I went to band practice and watched. I might start playing drums for them sometime soon.

But it was so shocking....because I was expecting God to put me in the places that would be a sign as to what I should be doing in my life. I still can't wrap my mind around how many things could of happened that would have made it so I would not of met him.

A few weeks ago I posted in our school paper that I was willing to teach a Bible study on the festivals....no one has responded. Its been like 3 or 4 weeks.

And God finds me a place to possibly play drums? Interesting.

So maybe in the future I will be doing more with music than I have been thinking.But I seriously would consider doing youth pastor stuff for awhile too. Who knows ya know?
However, as far as what to do with my desire to teach....I am glad I have finally come to the conclusion that I can teach everyday...through blogs right now, and in the future find another medium. I can offer to do things, but I do not have to rely on others to want to be taught in order to teach.

You don't want to learn what I have to say, don't read my blog! So simple, so refreshing.

I will teach in the future in a way where my life is not effected by others paying attention or not. Instead, I will just rely on God and work with the things He has already blessed me with.

I am a drummer. I am a teacher.
I am not a academic person. I would go mad trying to teach what I would like to teach going through the mediums of the Churches standards today....it probably would not even be allowed. How could I ever be an ordained minister when I don't agree with half the doctrine of most Churches today? I couldn't.
So oh well.

I'm just going to live my life....and attempt to follow God with all of my Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength.

because I can't change others.

Sweet.






Shalom!

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#14-To the Church of America, Italy, Canada, Russia, United Kingdom, Ireland, Mexi...

September 26th, 2010-18th Tishrei, 5771
Today has been a very interesting day. We went on a field study to the Land of Samaria today.

We first stopped at a lookout place called Alon (pronounced "Alone"). This is the area of the Red marker below on the map. It was extremely foggy around this area because of how intense the hills are. It creates rain shadows and temperature differences, so sadly the view was not very good today, no matter where we went.

But we got to Alon and we discussed and overview of the Land of Ephraim and Manasseh and the problems they create with the Biblical text. We studied some serious stuff today. I have to explain it in this blog.

Section A
At Alon (Red marker), we discussed the background of Joshuah's conquest of Canaan and the Lands of Ephraim and Manasseh (Samaria).

View The Land of Samaria in a larger map
THIS IS A FULL INTERACTIVE MAP. CLICK ON THE COLORS FOR MORE DETAILS.

If one studies the geology of Israel, along with modern day Archeology, one finds that the heartland of the Conquest of Israel under Joshua was this area: the Lands of Ephraim and Manasseh.

Joshuah 8:30-33: The very first permanent settlement of the Land under Joshua is in this area of Israel.
Joshuah 24:1: When Joshuah passes his leadership down, he does so in Sheckem, which is in Manasseh. Why? Because he passes down the baton at the heartland of the Land of the Israelites.

Joshuah 18:1-When the land gets divided up between the tribes, it is done so at Shiloh...in Ephraim. Why? Because you break up the land with the heartland as the foundation.

The support for Samaria being the heartland and focus of the Land and the tribes goes on and on.

Whats my point? Under Joshua and through the times of the Judges, the heartland of politics, culture, and religious activities is in Ephraim and Manasseh.

NOT JUDAH.

It is interesting because this is also the only area of Canaan with no conquest account written for it. Ephraim and Manasseh's account on being taken over under Joshuah has no record in the Bible. This could be because of the fact that Abraham and Jacob had already come to the land...to Shekhem (Jacobs Well) and therefor, the Land was already theirs...they just had not been there for 400 years. (This is exactly the same position Jews have on settling the West bank today...exact same situation).

Ephraim and Manasseh is the Heart of Israel.

NOT JUDAH.
NOT THE JEWS.

Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Torah.
The Land's of Samaria are as a place for worship.

Up until the time of David, Shiloh was the heart of all religious activities to God: It was where God put His name.

Shiloh (In Ephraim) was where the Tabernacle was permanently put.
Shiloh was where the Ark of the Covenant sat.

Shiloh was where God dwelt with His people.

So where and how and why did it all switch to Jerusalem?
I found myself asking this at 10 o'clock this morning

Section B
After Alon, we went from there to Mount Gerizim. This is the Green marker on the map below.



Mt.Gerizim is the location where the Samaritans had built a Temple.
Little history:

The Samaritans and the Jews never got along throughout the Bible, and by Jesus' day (2nd Temple period) they practically hated each other.
Why? Well, Ezra mentions that the Samaritans married outside of the Jewish line. So the Jews looked at them as lower than dirt.

However, the history here is so much more than that.
The Samaritans basically had their own "Jerusalem" on top of Mt.Gerizim.
They had a Temple that they would celebrate all of the Festivals and do all of the Sacrifices at.
The Jews hated them for this.

I was amazed when we got to the top of the Mt Gerizim and learned that today, in 2010, there are 800 Samaritans left in the entire world.
400 live in the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
400 live on top of Mt. Gerizim.

And to this day they STILL do the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb.
They still do the sacrifices. They still do things the way it was done over 2,000 years ago.
Today, the Jews don't hate the Samaritans like they did in Jesus' day.....or at least not as extreme.
Today, the feeling has gone from anger to jealousy.

The Jews are jealous of the modern day Samaritans because they can still perform sacrifices.
This raises a question: Why can they still do sacrifices but the Jews can't?

Location Location Location:

It goes back to Torah.

This blew my mind and made me even more curious over what has happened in the Lands of Samaria throughout history.
Remember my question above? Where, When, and Why did the move from Samaria to Jerusalem take place?
Well, while on the top of Mt.Gerizim, we had a brief tour/history talk about the place by the son of the current High Priest of the Samaritans.
And according to the belief of the Samaritans....
they don't believe God EVER moved His chosen city from Samaria to Jerusalem.

THAT is why they are still there.
That is why today they can still do the sacrifices.
The Jews can't because there is no alter on the Mount today where they believe God put His name.

AH ha! Now we have a big conflict that in my mind questions the authority and legitimacy of the rest of the entire Bible.

Christians you need to struggle with this. This questions the entire legitimacy of the whole Bible after the Torah (After Deuteronomy).

Here is what we have:

Two groups of people.

One group says that after the book of Judges, under the authority of God...David moved God's chosen dwelling location from Shiloh in Samaria to Jerusalem in Judah. The land's of Samaria loose the blessing of having God's dwelling place (the Tabernacle) in their Land. You can read the rest of the story in the Bible... because this is the story that the whole rest of the Bible follows.

The other group of people say that God never moved His chosen location. They say that it has ALWAYS remained the same. They say that the Jews are a cult of heretical heathens who distorted the truth of God. And what is the truth of God? The Torah. Which says that His chosen location to put His name is in Samaria...and to this very day that group of people have never left. And they still keep Torah. And they still do sacrifices. They do not believe the rest of the Old Testament from Joshua to Malachi is God's Scripture. Naturally, they think the New Testament is BS.

They hold as Scripture besides the Torah.
And they Live it.


OOH. There is a HUGE DILEMMA HERE.
This is big. This is probably one of the strangest, most confusing things I have heard in years.

I am happy that God showed it to me and answered it for me in one day...which is rare. Usually I have to go through turmoil to figure out whats going on.

At 10:00 Am this morning I found myself questioning why God moved His chosen city and people: the Tribe of Manasseh to the Tribe of Judah in Jerusalem.

At 11:30 Am this morning I find myself completely questioning my very faith in God.


Section C: The Answer
After Mt.Gerizim, we head to Shiloh (The Blue marker on the map below)



Quick Recap:
The Samaritans believe nothing is Scripture except the Torah. This means the Old Testament after Deuteronomy and the New Testament is false.

The Jews believe that Torah is Scripture. Along with Joshua-Malachi.

This means that the Samaritans DO NOT accept the only Biblical explanation as to why God moved His dwelling location from Manasseh to Judah.
The Jews do however.

What is the answer as to why God moved the location where He would put His name and where He would dwell?

It would be best if you would just go and read the whole book of 1 Samuel. The whole book tells the whole story.

But here is the gist of it:

1 Samuel 2:12-17 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD. (13) The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, (14) and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. (15) Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw." (16) And if the man said to him, "Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish," he would say, "No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force." (17) Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.

-The Sons of Eli are disobeying God. They made a making a mockery out of the Commands in the Torah.

1 Samuel 2:27-28 And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, "Thus the LORD has said, 'Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father (Joseph) when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? (28) Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel.

1 Samuel 2:29: Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?'

-God says it right there: The sons of Eli and Eli himself are breaking God's Torah by mocking the sacrifices.

Notice this though: The Hebrew here is fascinating.

The Hebrew word for honor your sons is כּבד כּבד or kâbad kâbêd (Strong's #H3513). We translate it as "honor" but it also means "to be heavy", or "to make weighty" or "to make fat".

Throw that back into the verse:

1 Samuel 2:29: Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and make your sons weighty (fat) above me by fattening yourselves (H1254-baw-raw') on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?'
There is a play on words here.

Continue (I am sorry but you have to read this!):
1 Samuel 2:30-36 Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: 'I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,' but now the LORD declares: 'Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor

-Guess what the Hebrew word used here for "Honor"? Thats right: kâbad kâbêd!


"and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed."- The Hebrew word used here is baw-zaw'! (H959)...it means "to scorn"!

In other words, the sons of Eli fattened themselves...they "weighted themselves up" and it built them up.
God says He will Fatten those up who Fatten HIM up...and scorn those who don't! (How logical is this verse?? Amazing.)
Ask yourself, what does it mean to "fatten" or make yourself more "weight" that is supposed to belong to God?

(31) Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. (32) Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. (33) The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. (34) And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. (35) And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever. (36) And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, "Please put me in one of the priests' places, that I may eat a morsel of bread."'"

-Look at the punishment God is giving the family of Eli for breaking the Torah!
Eli's sons are taking the Sacrifices that are supposed to "build God up"...and using it to 'build themselves up"
But God destroys them, for He ONLY builds those up who build HIM up first.

I want you to go read the reaction God has to this: He calls Samuel. (1 Samuel 3:10-19)

1 Samuel 4:1-21 tells how God let His GLORY leave Shiloh. The Israelites abused God and God let the Ark of the Covenant be taken by the Philistines.
The last verse of this story is this:

1 Samuel 4:22 "And she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured."
Guess what the Hebrew word for "glory" is here?


H3513: kâbad kâbêd:
"and she said, 'the weight (fat) of God has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured."

Question:
Why did the "weightiness" of God's glory (Oh man!) leave Israel?
So, what does it mean to "fatten" yourself up with things that are supposed to "fatten" God up?
It means you take the glory from God.

BECAUSE THE SONS OF ELI TOOK THE WEIGHT OF THE GLORY THEMSELVES.
They glorified themselves by breaking God's Commands.

Now all you John Piper fans (Read "Desiring God")....Christian Hedonists:
If the purpose of life is to glorify God,
how is that done?

BY KEEPING HIS COMMANDS. Sadly, Piper fails to say this in his book.

John 14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

"those who glorify me I will glorify" -1 Samuel 2:30


Sadly, the presence of God leaves Shiloh never to return.

The rest is History from there.


Section D

We are forced to look at this HISTORY (factual, non-debatable matter) lesson one of two ways (Logic says there are only two options here....)

We can say either:
1) The Samaritans are right. God never changed the location of His dwelling place. He never changed the People that He called and put His name on. If this is the case, the rest of the Bible is wrong. David was a heathen. The prophets are all wrong.
Jesus is not Messiah.

God does not change His dwelling place.

OR

2) God DID change His location of His Home and where He would dwell. He also changed who He would put His name on and where. This means that not only is the Torah true,but that the reason why God changed His dwelling place was because the leaders broke the Torah. It also means that David was a man after God's own heart and will; the prophets were right; and Jesus is the Messiah (I know some would disagree with me on this last one...but I am writing this for the Christian Church).

God can change His dwelling place.

What is the ONLY commonality between these two views?
TORAH. (This is so important to realize).
Notice, how the entire legitimacy of the Bible comes down to this one thing: Can God change where He will dwell once He has decided?

Now, because I know Christians, you will without a doubt and a second guess pick the second option.

Good. Do it. Pick the second option. I dare you.

What is the second option?
God can change where He dwells.

You pick this option because you believe that God, through Jesus, got rid of the law (I do not know how many times I have been told this very thing this week). You believe based off of 1 Corinthians 6:19 that through Jesus Christs death and resurrection, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit that God left the presence of the Temple that stood in Jerusalem and came and dwelt inside of man making MAN THE TEMPLE OF GOD.

Good I agree with you.

Except I don't.

YOU seriously need to think about the logic in this.
See, if you accept the Samaritans view, then really life is good. Just move to Mt.Gerizim and follow Torah. Ignore the rest of the Scriptures.....ignore what the prophets say to Judah when they break Torah and God threatens to leave their presence, ignore Christ as the Messiah.

BUT.
If you believe option number two...you are forced by the laws of logic and God in my mind, to accept everything that comes before it.

A=B B=C C=D -> A=D. It is called the Transitive Property.

So the premises for this belief is this and only this (remember how I said that the legitimacy of the Scriptures comes down to if God can change His dwelling place?)

-God can change His dwelling place.
Also remember though, that BOTH the Samaritan AND the Jew accept the Torah as the word of Adonai.

Now go re-read the entire Old Testament. Do it.

What do you find?

Oh. You find that IF God can decide to change His choice of dwelling, THEN He TELLS the criteria for Him to be able to stay in that location of Dwelling. (IF b then c: Therefor: b->c; call this premise "B"...I swear, this is all logically correct.)

Uh-Oh. My heart is beating a 130 beats per minute....people could dance to this stuff.

by 3:00 this afternoon while learning this stuff...

I started to think:
"Wait..Wait...wait...wait: God can change His dwelling place on earth?"

I mean, I obviously believed that, but then doesn't that mean that if God wants to change from Shiloh to Jerusalem..from Ephraim to Judah...
that He can just change from "Jews to Christians?"(If thats what you want to call it....)

Suddenly I found myself facing a thought that freaked me out...the idea of God abolishing His promise to Abraham; abolishing His Torah. Considering this just seemed so contradictory to everything I believe and tons of Scripture too. My explanation for WHY this is contradictory to Scripture is firmly grounded in Scripture. But that is a different blog and I am not going in to details on that right now.

Now, I KNOW I am going to get some Christian on here who will use this argument to say I am wrong...to say that God can change location AND change His Law: that the criteria for where He dwells is not the Torah.

but there is a WHOLE other way of looking at this:

The exact opposite. (I am using Logic variables here)
If God changes from Shiloh to Jerusalem (therefor, C{B->C} (God can change His dwelling (= C {Shiloh to Jerusalem}), then Jerusalem to the whole World (B{b->c}=C=D (Jerusalem to the Hearts of Man)...what does that mean? It means that God SAYS His premise for where He dwells is based on if man will hear and obey His commands...(A).
Start here:

Notice how I said earlier that BOTH options (The Samaritans or the Jews) accept the Torah. Interesting.
And based on Scripture, even though God changed the location of where He put His name...this does not go against Torah.

In fact, the opposite because God expected the SAME from Judah as He did from Manasseh.

-Jeremiah 7-
"The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: (2) "Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD. (3) Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. (4)(b) Do not trust in these deceptive words: 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.' (/b) (5) "For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, (6) if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, (7) then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
"Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. (9) Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, (10) and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are delivered!'--only to go on doing all these abominations? (11) Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD.

-Oh. That last verse should ring a bell....haha. Jesus is saying to Judah in His day the exact same thing Jeremiah was saying to Judah in His day: God will take His presence from you....and both are prophesying that God is going to move from the Temple to the Hearts of man!


The next verses are CRUCIAL:

Jeremiah 7:12-15 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel . (13) And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, (14) therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. (15) And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.


As it was in Shiloh, so it is in Jerusalem.

....By 4:00 PM I was beginning to understand....

Jeremiah 7:22-26
"For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. (23) But this command I gave them: 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.' (24) But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. (25) From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. (26) Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers."

This verse gives me chills.

Look at this:
"I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. (23) But this command I gave them: 'Obey my voice"

Oh man. I can't even explain right now what this means.

Next blog. I think this may have to be a two part. This verse is the Thesis to my entire belief system about Jesus and the fulfillment of Torah.

By 2:00AM I understood.
This is the best picture of Yeshua I have ever been blessed with personally.

Moral of the story:

As it was in Samaria, so it is in Judah.
As it is in Shiloh, so it is in Jerusalem.
As it is in the Tabernacle, so shall it be in the Temple
As it is in the Temple, so shall it be in those who call on the voice of the LORD.

"I am the LORD and I do not change"-Adonai

If you accept that God can change where He dwells, you better fear God like Jeremiah urged Judah to fear God....for God CAN change where He dwells, and the requirements for Him to dwell remain the same.

The differences between us today being the Temple verses Jerusalem and Shiloh, is God wont leave His Temple now. Because now there is no middle ground....or anywhere else to go...UNLESS Jesus is not the Messiah (In which case we all might as well be Samaritans!)

Now this gets fascinating.
When the people of Shiloh disobey God-God leaves.

However, when Judah disobeys God-God makes JUDAH leave.
In other words, God does not re-locate Himself anymore. He stays AND YOU need to change. Not Him.

Now, if we are the Temple of the LORD, you are either in or your out...and if you aren't obeying the VOICE of Adonai...you cannot be in. He won't leave you. He will cast you out. He will claim to of never of known you.

(I realize this is the only part of my argument that is not logically sufficient, for God obviously "left"-whatever that means...Jerusalem and entered the hearts of man, even though I just said God was not leaving anymore...but the reason why I am saying that now it is like it was at the Babylonian exile is because of Christ. What is God going to do, send another Messiah? NO. God is staying put, so now He doesn't know you if you are not in...again, unless Christ is not the Messiah.)

As it was in one Temple, it was ALWAYS the same in the others.
You give me ONE verse where this does not apply to our lives today....
if not, it applies MORE SO BECAUSE WE ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE WEIGHT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.

God's requirements for Him to dwell with man has been established for 1000000000000000000000000000+ years.
And His name is Yeshua.
And His word is the Torah.
And you need to KNOW Him.

God will not "move" His presence again like He did with Shiloh.
God will not "choose" a new people again.

"It is Finished."

You are either a part of this Temple for good or you or not.
But you have to OBEY THE VOICE OF GOD....there is no way around it.

Not the traditions of men!

Jeremiah 7:31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.

And until the Bride of Christ lets go of these traditions, it will never be the Bride Adonai has ALWAYS desired.
You FILL THE TEMPLE OF GOD WITH YOUR IDOLS OF MAN....YOUR TRADITIONS AND SCHEMES TO JUSTIFY YOUR WAYS.
YOU CRY "THE TEMPLE, THE TEMPLE THE TEMPLE...I AM THE TEMPLE.(Jeremiah 7:4) JESUS WON'T LEAVE ME."

But the fact is HE WAS NEVER WITH YOU.

FOR HE HAS SAID "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (22) On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' (23) And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of TORAH-LESSNESS (lawlessness).' (24) "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (25) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. (26) And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.


"I NEVER KNEW YOU" -Jesus

Section E-The Conclusion
God dwells where man obeys...for KNOWING God is to hear His voice and obey Him (A)
God can change where He dwells. (B)
God dwells in Shiloh. (-> C)
Shiloh breaks God's Commands (Torah). (C=-A=B)
God moves to Jerusalem.(D) (This proves B)
Judah breaks God's Commands (Torah).(D->-A=B)
Judah moves to Babylon.
God stays put.
Jesus comes and fulfills the ultimate role of the mediator between Man and God.
God dwells IN man. (E)
God stays if man KNOWS Him (E->A).
Therefor, if you don't know the Voice of God...He does not know you. (E->-A=B)

Nothing has changed throughout history. God expects from man what He has always expected from man.

A and B are always constant for God. His location may change but His premise for staying is always the same: Know and obey His voice.
If A then -B
If -A then B.
Read this as "If you know God's voice then He dwells in you and He will not leave."
But...
"If you don't know Gods voice then He does not dwell in you and will leave."

The requirement: KNOW the LORD-Yeshua..and to Know Him is to Hear His voice...to Walk in His Halakha. (Next Blog I will explain this!).. because as we can see, we have established that God can dwell where He wants to based off of His requirements.
So what are His requirements? Next blog.

If today the Church believes that God will still dwell in our hearts even if we do not follow God (as the Torah says), then mind you, we are no different than Shiloh or Judah. Read Jeremiah! That is exactly what Jeremiah warned Judah not to think and believe!
If you take the Commands of God out of this equation, you negate the whole thing. Why? Because the Torah was the foundation and absolute guarantee that God would dwell with man (heck, the Torah is how we knew the presence of God through Yeshua would dwell with man...read Luke 24:13-27)! This means that there is no sound way of saying that the Samaritans today are wrong if you get rid of the Torah still applying in our lives today! Because there is only two ways to look at this: either God can decide where to dwell (the Bible teaching), or He already decided in Samaria (the Samaritan teaching). But the premise is obeying Torah! So you get rid of that, you might as well move to Mt.Gerizim to dwell with God.

Ooh. This gets interesting.

If you study Scripture...Old and New...you find that THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE REQUIREMENT OF GOD FROM THE BEGINNING.
It was not about keeping Torah...it was about KNOWING God. There is a difference...again though, I will explain this in my next blog.

"On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' (23) And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you"

The Greek word here for Knew is "γινώσκω" (Ginosko)or ἔγνων(egnon)
It is the same word used in the Septuagint for Genesis 4:1-

"Genesis 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD."

The Hebrew word used is "ידע"
yaw-dah'

Yeshua is saying that if you don't KNOW Him like Adam KNEW His Wife...and that knowing resulted in a son (in other words a deep, intimate, relationship)...then you will not enter into the Kingdom of God....and God will not dwell in you....and you won't dwell with Him.

You should seriously read "Sex God" by Rob Bell if you want to get a fuller picture on what it means to have a deep, intimate relationship with God.

You will not be the Little Man of God's Eye (Deuteronomy 32:10) if you don't make God's Torah the little man of your eye (Proverbs 7)! Why? Because when you focus on the Torah and "make these words the forefront of your mind (Deuteronomy 6), as the Shema says....only THEN can you stare God back into His eyes...and only then does He see Himself in you... because He IS dwelling inside of you! The Torah is the bottom line of His will for how we live in this world.

And now we see the true reason why Shiloh failed and why Judah and the Jews have always failed, and therefor, we can truly understand the Gospel of Christ:

1 Samuel 2:12 "Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD."
The Hebrew here is Yaw-dah'!

1 Samuel 3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.
The Hebrew word here is Yaw-dah'!

BUT this verse right here gives us the answer to what it means to know the LORD.
Samuel did not know the LORD yet because Samuel had not had the Word of the LORD revealed to Him!

What does it mean to KNOW the LORD?

TO HEAR HIS VOICE...AND HIS VOICE IS HIS WORD.....HIS TORAH....HIS COMMANDS.

My next blog will be just on this and will prove once and for all what I am saying.
It will explain why Torah needs to be kept yet why keeping Torah is not the same as KNOWING the LORDS Word....and therefor, Torah does not give Salvation, but Salvation allows you to live the way God desires His followers to live! (Because THIS is Heaven...THIS is Shalom...This is Eden....read my past blogs to understand fully what I am saying.)

I will answer this question in my next blog: What does it mean to KNOW the LORD?

To KNOW the LORD is to Keep His Commands by Hearing His voice. Thats my answer, but I will Biblically prove it in my next blog.

So, if you want into this Temple.
This Temple of Messiah-the SON of Adonai-
Then you NEED to Hear His Voice and Obey His Commands.

God commanded Moses on what to put in the Tabernacle in Exodus 38.
VERY specific instructions.
Question: If Moses said "NO God...I will put in your Holy of Holies whatever I please"
Would God have still dwelt there?
NO.

And If God says to you-the Church-The Temple of Christ: "KEEP my Sabbath...enter my rest" and you say "No. I will do as I please."

Will God still dwell with US?
Don't count on it.
I pluralize "Us" BECAUSE in 1 Corinthians 6:19, when Paul calls us the Temple of God-the current dwelling place of Adonai,

He says YOU are the Temple. but the "you" there in Greek is ὑμῶν (Humos).
This is Plural.
We are not a bunch of little temples of God running around.
We all make up the one Temple of God...together.

Man, "Kawhal" makes sense to me....read my paper on EKKLESIA. See, I meet followers of God all the time who are on the right path with God. No problems. People who live above the Law without breaking it. I am not talking about our individual relationships with God. I am talking about OUR relationship with God.

We are the Temple.



To the Church of Christ:

You are Shiloh of the modern day.


The Tabernacle Plateau of Shiloh. Note it's emptiness.

Shalom!

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