Telling the truth in the Days of Noah

 

The grass is browner on the other side

 Sometimes we read in Bible about the sins of days gone by, and say to ourselves, “This could never happen in our day! It’s only describing ancient times. We are not primitives like those people. Their grass was parched and brown, but our spiritual grass is green!”

Messiah’s Last Days description of the world’s spiritual condition immediately preceding His return to Jerusalem gives pause for thought:

The Scriptures speak plainly of days ahead and the spiritual dynamics facing all who live at that time.

King David asks – How many of earth’s inhabitants do good?

This is the reason why David cries out, “Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults!” (Psalm 19:12). Isaiah mournfully echoes the same lament regarding the spiritual condition of many of his people: “For they are not a people of discernment” (Isaiah 27:11). Human history – and that includes Jewish history – shows that the flocks of humanity’s tribes are flecked with sin and self-deception. The testimony of the Jewish prophets does not shrink from speaking the truth, even when it hurts:

Messiah Yeshua brings this point home as He interacts with some Jewish leaders who had come to listen to His teachings:

Our beloved teacher Moses shares a heartbroken word of pastoral caution with us: “Beware that your hearts are not easily deceived” (Deuteronomy 11:16). And Obadiah 1:3 adds, “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you.”

Self-deception and spiritual corruption are a universal problem – they affect both Jews and Gentiles:

This was the condition of mankind in the days of Noah and David, in the days of Isaiah and Messiah Yeshua. It is also the condition of humanity in our day. We stand under the shadow of a similar destiny as did Noah’s relatives and friends.

The spiritual dimension

 Corruption, rebellion against God’s character and His ways – all have spiritual roots:

Mankind is struggling against the blowback of Adam and Eve’s sin. Death, lies, sickness, moral corruption and perversion – these have all been loosed on God’s originally perfect planet. These viruses have infected the hearts and souls of all flesh. They have touched kings and queens; prime ministers and politicians; coalitions and oppositions; capitalists and communists; billionaires and paupers; security forces and criminals; medical professionals and patients.

The Fourth dimension

Sin has also touched the media, known as ‘the press’ or ‘the Fourth Estate’ – specifically in its capacity to advocate, to frame and to influence political issues and understandings.

There was time in the Western world when TV news commentator Walter Cronkite was known as “the gold standard of journalism.” In those halcyon days, most American citizens trusted their government, their President, their police and their newspaper and television news. The past ten years has seen a precipitous drop in media credibility, much of it bi-partisan. Media ‘spins’ and portrayals of current events (e.g., BLM,  the mollycoddling of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, earthshaking social tremors in matters of gender, etc.) have left many confused and concerned. Those who hold to a Bible-based or Scripture-influenced worldview often are in shock, trying to read between the lines as they watch TV news or read the paper. How are we to really know what is happening and what it all means?

The words of Messiah Yeshua have peculiar resonance for us now: “And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold” (Matthew 24:12). In Bob Dylan’s Slow Train Coming, he references “masters of the bluff and masters of the proposition – but the enemy I see wears a cloak of decency . . .” The world is becoming deeply disillusioned with their secular prophets, whose less-and-less believable pronouncements are covered with just the faintest veneer of righteousness. As Yeshua said in Matthew 23:27, these pundits “are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”

‘1984’ is approaching

 The growing realization that many politicians, governmental leaders, security and intelligence forces, medical professionals and corporate autocrats are not to be automatically trusted (or even trusted at all), is shaping a reality which seems prophetically close to George Orwell’s dystopic vision in ‘1984.’ The following quotes are prescient in their sharpness:

The word, the Spirit and boot camp

 As an increasing amount of people feel the pillars of society shaking, they are beginning to ask the same question that Paul Simon voiced in ‘You can call me Al:’ “Who’ll be my role model, now that my role model is gone?”

For those who accept the revelation of Messiah Yeshua in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, there are some tried and true guidelines for us here.

Guideline #1 – Knowing the word and how to use it:

Guideline #2 – Drawing closer to the Holy Spirit in intimacy:

Guideline #3 – Going through a ‘boot-camp’ of training in continuing personal discipleship with the Lord:

Watching the foolish become wise

 We are all called to learn to trust God, His ways and His word in increasing measure. Though that may mean choosing a path which is mocked by the world, a path that is rejected by worldly authorities and powers, there is a blessed reward: “Take care that no one deceives himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written: ‘He is the One who catches the wise by their craftiness’ and again, ‘YHVH knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are useless.’ So then, no one is to be boasting in people” (1 Corinthians 3:18-21).

When it seems nearly impossible to make sense of what secular ‘prophets’ are declaring in the media, then it has come time to press in to God, His word and His Spirit to receive burning answers directly from the Throne of Heaven!

How should we then pray?

Would you pray for the nation of Israel at this moment in time?

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org

“And you are not to fear what they fear” (Isaiah 8:12)

It has been said, “Two Jews, three opinions!” Our Hebrew nation has a long recorded history of theological debate, especially regarding rabbinic law and related discussions. In the Talmud (the rabbinic commentary on the Bible, codified between 400-500 A.D.) multiple perspectives and differences of opinion are recorded regarding each and every issue discussed. This rhetorical methodology eventually has become part of Jewish thought – hence the above proverb. 

An apocryphal tale recounts how one yeshiva student advised his younger brother (who was entering his freshman Talmud class), “If you find yourself not paying attention in class and the teacher calls on you for an answer, just say that the issue is a machloket (Hebrew for ‘a matter of dispute’). You will nearly always be right.”

Messianic Jews are made of the same flesh and blood as the rest of our Jewish brothers. We too have areas of dispute and disagreement. But one thing distinguishes us from our rabbinic fellow Jews – our ultimate source of authority. Whereas in rabbinic Judaism differing opinions often co-exist (sometimes uneasily), most Messianic Jews agree that our perspectives need to honestly reflect and accurately represent the exegetically based truths that the Bible teaches: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Regrettably, some teachings coming out of the Messianic Jewish community do not always accurately reflect Biblical truth. Not every dynamic ‘prophetic revelation’ coming from Messianic spokesmen responsibly represents the word of God. This newsletter considers a handful of relevant examples which show us the need to exercise greater discernment in these areas. “Do not quench the Spirit, do not utterly reject prophecies, but examine everything. Hold firmly to that which is good, abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22).

 Identity – Jewish, rabbinic or Gentile?

 In Ephesians 2:11-11 (KJV) the Apostle Paul tells us about the incredible gift of Messiah Yeshua’s Good News: both Jews and Gentiles can enter as fully equal co-citizens into the one Jewish commonwealth through repentance and faith. When they become part of the body of Messiah, men are not transformed into women, and women do not become men. Jews do not turn into Gentiles, and Gentiles do not become Jews. The rich do not become poor, and poor do not suddenly become rich. We become born-again Jews, born-again Gentiles, born-again men and born-again women. We become co-equals, co-citizens – yet with continuing God-breathed callings: Jews remain Jews, Gentiles remain Gentiles, etc.

The bedrock message of the Gospel is that Jews and Gentiles enter into one spiritual body without going through any kind of ‘trans’ process. Gentiles do not need to convert to rabbinic Judaism and, in any event, cannot become Jews.

According to the Bible, Jews are defined as the patrilineal descendants (‘the seed’) of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:

There is a teaching among some streams in the Messianic Jewish movement that advocates Gentiles converting to rabbinic Judaism if they want to be an integral part of Messianic Jewish congregations. This false teaching is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of apostolic teaching, and muddies the clean waters of the gospel. “Remove the false way from me, and graciously grant me Your Teaching” (Psalm 119:29).

Is all Jewish teaching kosher?

There are some streams in the Messianic Jewish movement which advocate for an abiding authority to be ascribed to rabbinic teachings. They convey the impression that rabbinic perspectives are more authentic, more Jewish and more authoritative that those of Jews and Gentiles who follow Messiah Yeshua and the New Covenant scriptures. This is not the place to explain in great detail why this perspective is askew. For more information see https://davidstent.org/product/how-to-be-messianic-without-becoming-meshuggeh/ for greater detail on these matters.

Often these rabbinic advocates quote Yeshua’s words: “Then Yeshua spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and comply with it all” (Matthew 23:1-3). But they sidestep Yeshua’s conclusion in the verses immediately following regarding the glaring spiritual problem of many of these self-appointed teachers:

Yeshua explains to us in His Great Messianic Commission that dependable teachers not only teach the principles of the kingdom; they also disciple believers how to follow these principles. They not only teach the truth; they do the truth.

When a teacher of the Bible says one thing from the podium, and does the exact opposite in his private life, he is deceived. He is not worth following:

Kosher Messianic leaders do not encourage their followers to ‘kiss the rabbinic ring,’ or to honor those aspects of Jewish tradition that run roughshod over the Hebrew Scriptures. There are some wonderful nuggets to be found in rabbinic writings, but there are also other tidbits which can bring spiritual shipwreck and malady.

Messiah Yeshua’s sober words are worthy of our consideration:

Two recent examples of such spiritual blindness can be seen in the use of rabbinic liturgy without the necessary discernment and sifting, and in the support by some Evangelicals in efforts to rebuild the Third Temple and raise red heifers for rabbinic sacrifice.

Jewish spiritual identity– based on Mosaic Covenant-rabbinics or the New Covenant?

 A measure of confusion exists in some areas of the Messianic Jewish movement regarding how to relate to the Mosaic covenant. Since Orthodox (and even secular) Jews view Mosaic observance (as interpreted by rabbinic teaching) as the touchstone of Jewish identity, some Messianic Jews struggle with trying to sidestep rejection by the Jewish community through touting Mosaic-rabbinic ‘observance credentials.’ There is a studious avoidance in some circles of declaring that we Messianic Jews are followers of the New Covenant. Instead, some of us declare that the New Covenant is simply a ‘renewed Mosaic covenant.’ This sidestepping finds its origins in rabbinic attempts to avoid the clear declaration of Jeremiah 31:31-32:

The apostolic declaration is more than clear on this matter:

The disciple whom Yeshua loved (see John 13:22-24) cautions us here: “Little children, guard yourselves from idols!” (1 John 5:21)

Does prophecy describing the Jewish people find its most prophetic fulfilment in non-Jewish events?

The past 14 years have seen the rise and rapid spread of a few teachings which take Hebrew prophecies concerning the Jewish people, and apply them as really referring to various international events among the nations. There is no question that certain biblical principles can be applied to various and sundry nations in a secondary sense – without robbing those prophecies of their God-breathed and God-intended priority relevance to the sons and daughters of Jacob. Regrettably, some of these ‘new prophetic teachings’ replace the Jewish people and insert other events as the prophetic culmination of Hebrew Last Days oracles.

Two examples of this new form of Replacement Theology: [1] teaching which states that Isaiah prophesies about the events of September 11, 2001; [2] teachings misinterpreting Isaiah 19 in order to create a distorted and unbiblical Last Days theology regarding a supposed mediatorial role of Egypt and the non-Abrahamic Islamic world in Israel’s salvation and protection.

Isaiah’s prophecies regarding Israel can be spiritually applied in a secondary and pastoral sense to other nations, but that is not the main thrust of those prophecies. Isaiah 19 does refer to a Last Days role for Egypt, but that passage is quite sobering in its future rebuke of Egypt and of prophesied coming judgments on that nation – and not only of some wonderful End Time blessings after those shakings are past.

Gathering inaccurate usages of the word of God under the umbrella of ‘Messianic Jewish revelation’ or ‘Middle Eastern revelation’ does little to straighten that which is crooked. “What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted” (Ecclesiastes 1:15). God wants us to accurately handle His word.  

Messianic Jewish fears

 The Psalmist declares: “YHVH is for me; I will not fear! What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6). Yet Saul of Tarsus once confessed that he had “conflicts on the outside, fears inside” (2 Corinthians 7:5). The past few years have seen a dynamic across the globe of “people fainting from fear” (Luke 21:26). The people and State of Israel (now celebrating our 75th birthday as a sovereign nation) are no exception.

The past four months have seen well-funded and superbly organized demonstrations against the government. The majority of the spokespeople at these rallies are leaders of the political parties which have recently lost the latest round of elections. Their message (which stays on target throughout) is consistent: Israel is in mortal danger from the man who has been Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister and who has garnered the clearest electoral majority in many years.  The slogans being used to instill fear into the hearts of Israelis include the charges that this government is a threat to democracy; that it is fascist; that it wants to set up an anti-democratic dictatorship; and that those religious parties supporting PM Netanyahu are going all out to establish a rabbinic-halachic dictatorship similar to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Interestingly, these talking points are the same ones as Israel’s long-hemorrhaging left-wing parties have espoused over the past thirty years.

It is helpful to focus on the last of these abovementioned points ever so briefly. Israeli talking heads in the media and at recent demonstrations express the most fear about a rabbinic (or halachic) take-over of the Jewish state. And certainly, there are those parties in the present coalition who would like to ram through laws establishing a rabbinic theocracy. This could entail suppression of Conservative, Reform and Messianic Jewish expressions of faith; limitations on women’s rights in the marketplace and in social settings; a creeping enforcement of religious adherence on Israel’s Jewish citizens, etc.

At the same time, it should be understood that the majority of religious Jews in the country would not support such drastic steps, preferring a ‘live-and-let-live’ approach of mutual toleration. To draw a parallel to the American social experiment, most Evangelicals would not want to enforce Christian behavior on secular Americans, though they would advocate for the limiting or banning of abortion (which is considered  to be infanticide by biblical standards). Most Israelis (80% approximately) are not religious, yet their grandparents and great-grandparents certainly were. There is a tenderness among many Israelis toward moderated expressions of Judaism, of the holidays, of Jewish music, thought and philosophy. Those are user-friendly aspects of Judaism that much of Israel appreciates or at least tolerates.

But the stridently vocal shouts of thuggish voices (some of which are fringe members of Bibi Netanyahu’s present coalition) have seeded the soil of the Holy Land with fears. And much of the reaction of the demonstrators is based on such fears, and they express these fears openly and even with attenuated hatred. Many Orthodox Jews who see this rising secular hostility feel like hunkering down and pressing forward in defense of their way of life and their legal protections and advocacy.

How do Messianic Jews (and some Messianic Gentiles) fit in? Many Messianic Jews have suffered in the past (and not too distant past) from organized anti-Messianic groups which often have under-the-table government support. This has been the case since the 1950’s. Some have been denied civil rights; have experienced job discrimination and firing; have been picketed and had posters slapped up around their homes; have seen their congregations attacked, even with chief rabbis leading the charge; have had their marriage certificates refused, their passports withheld, their foreign spouses refused recognized immigration status, their meeting facilities cancelled, etc. More than all other Jewish Israelis, Messianic Jews in Israel have experienced such intolerance and persecution on our own flesh, from those who are also our own flesh and blood. So it is understandable why some Messianic Jews would side with the propagandistic narrative being foisted on an unsuspecting public by a media apparatus adversarially opposed to the present government in all of its permutations.

Yet the present divide and fostering of hatred from opposition-based political and corporate forces in Israel is regrettably influencing some local Messianic Jews, including some leaders as well. There is a groundswell knee-jerk reaction of “rally ‘round the flag, boys!” which can be seen in the writings of various Messianic leaders. Religious and Orthodox Jews are being ‘tarred and feathered’ and described as a threat to Israeli democracy. The right wing of Israeli politics (the electoral majority) are being typecast as fascists and supporters of dictatorship, as destroyers and troublers of Israel (see 1 Kings 18:17-18).

Some Messianic Jews are coming out to join demonstrators who are cursing the government and its leaders, calling for civil disobedience and even refusal of military service in defense of beleaguered Israel. It seems that some have forgotten the scriptural admonitions here:

How should we then pray?

Would you pray for the nation of Israel at this moment in time?

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org

Passover flames

Passover is known as both the Feast of Freedom and the Festival of Redemption, and it is the most intimate family celebration of the Jewish calendar year. I remember how my Kievan Jewish grandmother Rivka prepared for Passover delicacies for us: concord grape wine prepared weeks in advance; gefilte fish and matzah ball soup; tzimmes (glazed carrots with honey and raisins); beef brisket with prunes. The memories are perhaps even sweeter than the food.

Today the majority of Jews who keep the Passover are celebrating it in the Exile, as Moses prophesied even before the children of Israel entered the Promised Land:

We sons and daughters of Jacob are in the middle of process – we are coming out of Exile and returning to our Land. But the majority of us still feel overly comfortable in the lands of our scattering – the Diaspora. Here is a tale of an unusually bittersweet Passover – a night to remember.

 Preparation

On April 18, 1943 the eve of the Nazi aktion, the SS and Police chief in Warsaw, Obergruppenführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg was replaced by SS and Police Leader (SS- und Polizeiführer) Jürgen Stroop. Stroop had extensive experience in partisan warfare and had artillery and tanks at his disposal, as well as approximately 2,000 soldiers and police. These forces surrounded the Warsaw Ghetto on the night of April 18. April 19 would be the first night of Passover, and April 20 would be Adolf Hitler’s 54th birthday. “No one was sleeping in the ghetto that night. Everybody spent the time packing the most necessary articles, linen, bedding, food and taking it down to the bunkers. The moon was full and the night was unusually bright. There was more movement in the courtyards and streets than by day” (Tuvia Borzykowski, Between Tumbling Walls, p.48).

Around midnight, the two Jewish underground guerilla organizations – Żydowski Związek Wojskowy (The Jewish Military Union) and Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (The Jewish Combat Organization) – fanned out throughout the ghetto, banging on gates and doors, raising the alarm. By 0200, all Jewish fighters (only several hundred) were in position and waiting. Outside the ghetto were the sounds of the revving of trucks and tanks, and the marching of infantry. On that day the Jewish population of the Warsaw ghetto population was approximately 45-50,000.

A Jewish resistance fighter recalled the morning of that final battle: “Monday, April 19, was the day before Passover, and the first day of Spring. Sunshine penetrated even to the cheerless corners of the ghetto, but with the last trace of winter the last hope of the Jews had also disappeared. Those who had remained at their battle stations all night were annoyed by the beauty of the day, for it is hard to accept death in the sunshine of Spring.”

Alexander Donat, another ghetto fighter, felt a sense of Jewish destiny unfolding before his eyes: “Suddenly I felt beyond life and death. I felt sure we were going to die; but I felt a part of the stream of Jewish history. We were part of an ancient and unending stream of immortal tradition that went back to Titus and his Roman legions ravishing Jerusalem, to persecution in Spain under Isabella and Ferdinand, to Khmelnitsky massacres, and to more recent pogroms and massacres.”

Shoshana Baharir, a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, testified about that foreboding April 19:  “It was Passover eve, 1943, and we had arranged everything in the house in preparation for the holiday. We even had matzot (unleavened bread), everything. We had made the beds . . .  The policeman who lived with us always told us everything that was going to happen . . . He told us, ‘You should know that the ghetto is surrounded – with Ukrainians. Tonight will not be a good night.’ He had heard this. We took all our belongings and went into the bunker. Why wait? . . . So we took what we still had at home, whatever food we had, everything, and went down into the bunker. And waited.”

Invasion of the ghetto

 Simha Kazik, a ghetto fighter, explained: “On April 19, at four in the morning, we saw German soldiers crossing the Nalewki intersection on their way to the Central Ghetto, walking in an endless procession.” Their orders were to arrest and deport ghetto Jews who did not possess officially required permits. “Behind them were tanks, armored vehicles, light cannons, and hundreds of Waffen-SS units on motorcycles. ‘They look like they're going to war,’ I said to Zippora, my companion at the post. Suddenly I felt how very weak we were. What force did we have against an army, against tanks and armored vehicles? We had nothing but pistols and grenades. I didn’t get depressed. Finally, the time came to settle accounts with them.”

At 0600 the first German detachment crossed into the ghetto. Jewish ghetto fighters concealed in neighboring buildings opened fire with sub-machine guns, grenades, and small homemade bombs. Several Nazi soldiers were killed or wounded. A second, larger battle took place later that morning at the intersection of Gęsia, Nalewski, Miła and Zamenhofa streets. The Nazis were surrounded on all four sides and suffered extensive casualties. Two German tanks were set on fire with Molotov cocktails. A strategic retreat was in order as Nazi forces prepared for a period of intensified urban combat.

Here are three stories of Jews who experienced and survived this ‘Passover amidst the flames.’

Keeping traditions alive

Roma Frey was 24 years old that Passover, recalling how she and her family tried their best to make their basement as nice as possible for the holiday, “We tried to put the candles on the table, and a white table cloth . . . The table was made of a wooden board resting on a few things underneath . . . We acknowledged to ourselves and to God that we want to keep the traditions. That’s what we felt in our hearts, we remembered our grandfathers, the hard times, slavery and our slavery, and here we have hardly a hope to survive even just one day or night.”

He never missed a Seder

Itzchak Milchberg was 12 years old in April 1943. He had watched while his father was shot. His mother and two sisters had been deported, most probably to Treblinka. His uncle Feivel remained inside the Warsaw Ghetto. Itzchak passed as a German, selling contraband cigarettes outside of the ghetto walls. But he returned to the ghetto to be with his uncle for Passover. “I had never missed a Seder.”

With bullets ricocheting around him, he ducked into his uncle’s candle-lit bunker. Sixty people were crowded into that tiny space. “The building was shaking,” he said, “People were crying.” His uncle Feivel embraced him in Yiddish, “Ir vet firn di seder mit mir - You’ll perform the Seder with me.” Some people cried out, “God led us out of Egypt. Nobody killed us. But here, they are murdering us!” Uncle Feivel whispered into his nephew’s ear: “You may die, but if you die, you’ll die as a Jew. If we live, we live as Jews. If you live, you’ll tell your children and grandchildren about this.”

The Seder began but there were no bitter herbs, “There was plenty of bitterness already,” Itzchak said. He and his uncle recited the Haggadah from memory. “We did most of the prayers by heart,” he recounted. “The Seder went very, very late.”

Itzchak snuck out of the ghetto before dawn through the sewer system. For a week he smuggled arms through those sewers to the Jewish fighters, until he was caught on the sixth day of the Uprising. He was placed on a train deporting him to Treblinka extermination camp, but jumped off on the way. He survived the Holocaust thanks to a Catholic family in Warsaw. After the war he moved to Canada, raised a family of his own and fulfilled his uncle’s charge to tell his children and grandchildren about that 1943 Seder night – Passover in the flames.

The Last Passover

That first day of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising blended into the first evening of Passover. All across the ghetto, Jews in their cramped hiding places remembered the Exodus from Egypt with whatever meager provisions were available. Matzot were baked with coarse dark flour. Warsaw’s Jews were determined to celebrate the feast as had been done since the days of Moses.

One ghetto fighter whose mind was totally not focused on Passover but on the Nazi incursion was Tuvia Borzykowski. He had been searching an apartment looking for supplies, and that basement flat happened to be the home of 60-year-old Rabbi Eliezer Yitzchak Meisels. Meisels had left Łódź, his hometown, along with some followers after the Nazi invasion, hoping that Warsaw would be a safer location. Meisels’ flat was littered with shattered glass and broken furniture. In the middle of this chaotic scene stood a table set for Passover. So Borzykowski sat down to celebrate Passover with the rabbi against the background of a ferocious battle which they all knew they were destined to lose.

Borzykowski, a member of the Jewish Fighting Organization, described that Seder: “Amidst this destruction, the table in the center of the room looked incongruous with glasses filled with wine, with the family seated around, the rabbi reading the Hagaddah. His reading was punctuated by explosions and the rattling of machine-guns. The faces of the family around the table were lit by the red light from the burning buildings nearby” (Tuvia Borzykowski, the Yiddish book ‘Tzvishn Falendikeh Vent’ [Between Collapsing Walls], p.48).  Borzykowski survived the war and later helped found Kibbutz Lochamei Hageta’ot (Ghetto Fighters Kibbutz) north of Akko and Haifa.

Another witness to this Seder was Zivia Lubetkin, a ghetto fighter. She gave testimony at the Eichmann Trial in Jerusalem about this Passover: “I also remember that on the second day - it was the Passover Seder - in one of the bunkers by chance I came across Rabbi Meisels . . . This time, when I entered the bunker, this Jew, Rabbi Meisels, interrupted the Seder, placed his hand on my head and said: ‘May you be blessed. Now it is good for me to die. Would that we had done this earlier [ed. joined the uprising]!’”

God can deliver from the fire

 The prophet Daniel proclaims that YHVH the God of Israel can deliver His people from the fire. But even if He does not deliver them, they will still remain faithful to Him:

In the case of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, the God of Israel miraculously delivered them from the fire:

A day of shaking is yet coming on the whole world, and the Jewish people will not be exempted from it. A promise remains that Jacob’s children will be saved out of that day of distress and that, after it passes, King David will be raised from the dead, and will reign over the entire world from Jerusalem under the blessed oversight of his Greater Son Messiah Yeshua.

As we celebrate this Passover, let’s remember the mighty works of YHVH, and that He will purify and rescue His people from all their enemies – even as He did in ancient days in Pharaoh’s Egypt.

The one constant

 One of the most beloved Passover songs sung at the Seder is “V’hi sheh’amda,” extolling the God of Jacob for His protective promises in the Abrahamic Covenant:

Though one third of Jacob’s children were cruelly murdered in the Nazi Sho’ah, the Lord God of Israel preserved the rest of His Jewish people and opened the gates of return for their homecoming to the Promised Land. God’s promise to curse those who dishonor and attempt to destroy His Jewish people abides today as well. And it stands firm in the face of those modern troublers of Zion who have risen up to destroy the children of Jacob in our day.

How should we then pray?

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org

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