Wave maker

Anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise – not because of bad Jews, but because bad anti-Semitic people are increasingly engaged in evil anti-Jewish actions. Jewish people and Israelis should not be deceived: changing our behavior, our appearance or our location will not stop these anti-Semitic outbreaks. These venomous attacks will continue to grow until Messiah returns.

Satan is going for broke on this one. His strategy is to stir up a massive worldwide wave of anti-Israel hatred, and then to use the momentum of that wave to launch a no-holds barred attack on all Jews everywhere.

In the meantime, can we negotiate with Hitler?

The Western world is blind as it negotiates with jihadi powers (Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemeni Houthis, Qatar, etc.). Nearly ninety years ago Britain was blind when it negotiated with Hitler in Munich and betrayed Czechoslovakia. J.D. Rockefeller was similarly blind when his companies (Standard Oil of New Jersey [Exxon] and Standard Oil of California [Chevron]) refueled Nazi naval forces, according to a March 31, 1941 U.S. State Department report. Standard Oil regularly shipped fuel through Spain to Switzerland for the use of Wehrmacht troops in France. At a US Congressional hearing on September 22,1947, Judge Charles Clark declared that “Standard Oil can be considered an enemy national in view of its relationships with I.G. Farben – after the United States and Germany had become active enemies” (Charles Higham, Trading with the Enemy, New York: Delacorte Press, 1983, page 62). Major magnates like Ford, GM, ITT, IBM and even the Bank of England were all blind as they pursued lucrative business operations with Hitler. Doing deals with Hitler was good for American business – up to the point when Pearl Harbor threw a spanner into the works.

The God of Israel looks at business deals and peace treaties through different eyes. Nearly 3,500 years ago YHVH spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai and severely warned the Jewish people about cutting a covenant (entering into a treaty obligation) with any of the foreign tribes then living in the land of Canaan. As long as these Canaanites were not spiritually submitted to the God of Israel, they would bring spiritual confusion and deception to the people of Israel. A false peace and a counterfeit coexistence would lead to the breaking down of God’s walls of protection over Israel within the land, to subsequent foreign military invasion of the land of Israel and finally to exile for the Jewish people.

Snares in the West

There have been a handful of Western-shepherded pseudo-peace treaties: the 1978 Camp David Accords; the 1993 Oslo Accords; POTUS Bush’s 2003 Road Map for Peace; and the 2020 Abraham Accords.  Each one has assumed that Israel would hand back chunks of the Land promised by the God of Jacob to the people of Israel – in exchange for a paper-based quicksilver and quasi-recognition of Israel by the Jewish people’s mortal enemies. Each of these agreements has fallen by the wayside, with Israeli politicians, scholars, commentators (here, here, here and here) and the majority of the populace no longer believing in the viability of these agreements.  Both Egypt and Jordan’s cold peace agreements have been shaken time and again nearly to the point of collapse, while the PLO and Hamas have continued to engage in bus bombings and rocket attacks in their Islamist intifadas – jihadi terror, massacre of civilians and even all-out war.

Over the years a Western worldview has evolved: surely Israel’s Palestinian enemies have inalienable rights to the Promised Land – better rights than what the Hebrew people had – and the Jewish state must shrink for peace to exist in the Middle East. This Western perspective not only brings the curse of the God of Jacob down on these nations aligning themselves with these demonic lies; they open a highway to hell for those lending a hand to jihad. The two most detailed descriptions of Messiah Yeshua’s return to Planet Earth involve Him bringing judgment on the nations who invade, who divide up and who despoil the Jewish people and their land (Zechariah 14:1-4; Joel 3:1-2). 

This satanic deceiving of the West dovetails with classic Islamist jihadi strategies and Last Days vision – the Jewish people must be exiled from Israel and destroyed by the mujahidin, the jihadi armies of Mohammed. These goals are not only laid out with unmistakable clarity in the Quran and Hadith; they are trumpeted in the Hamas Charter, revealing that this terror group will never end its jihad against Israel until the Jewish state and its people are totally destroyed. Here are a few of those murderous articles:

Snares from the East

Hamas and its fellow-jihadis in Syria’s  ‘Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’ (‘Organization for the Liberation of the Levant’; abbreviated HTS), Hezbollah in Shi’ite Lebanon and Iraq, Qatar and Houthi Yemen – as well as its overwhelmingly popular support among Egypt’s, Bahrain’s and Saudi Arabia’s Muslim Brotherhood – all are seeking Israel’s destruction. So how can the USA, the UN, the EU and a host of other nations strongly advocate that Israel lay down its weapons, declare a ceasefire, retreat from Gaza (a portion of the Land promised by YHVH to the Jewish people in Joshua 15:47) and consent to Hamas holding onto Jewish corpses and live Israeli hostages, releasing them in stages? The current negotiations spearheaded by the US, Egypt and Qatar violate God’s clear warning in Exodus 34:12: “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst!”

The Muslim Brotherhood’s primary agents in the news today are Qatar, Turkey and Hamas. Qatar is the primary funder of Hamas’ jihadi terror attacks on Israel, but also hosts the US Army’s CENTCOM in Doha, as well as the world’s major source of anti-American and anti-Israeli propaganda through its national TV channel al Jazeera. Qatar has subsidized US universities, colleges, think-tanks, congressmen, newsrooms and corporations to the tune of $100 billion. Over the past two decades, it has poured billions into the purchase of American-made weapons and business investments ranging from real estate to energy plants. Since 2017, it has spent $225 million on lobbying and public-relations efforts in the nation’s capital. Most of the recent virulent spread of anti-Jewish riots on America’s streets and university campuses is connected to the efforts and oil-generated wealth of this Gulf State.  Qatar’s sponsoring of Hamas is influencing Americans, driving a wedge among US citizens and cracking the social and religious foundations of that country. The recent Washington D.C. murder of the two Israeli Embassy staffers (Yaron Lischinsky and his soon-to-be fiancée Sarah Milgrim) was another one of the results of a groundswell of subsidized anti-Semitism – the transplanting of Jew-hatred from the Arabian Gulf to the waters of the Potomac.

This is the war that never ends

Western talking heads announce every day with increasing boldness that a deal with Hamas is at hand. Yet Hamas makes it crystal-clear that there will be no deal with Israel, no accommodation with the Jewish state. The nature of this ‘never-ending battle’ is revealed in an LBC TV (Lebanon) interview with Hamas Politburo member Ghazi Hamad on October 24, 2023 regarding the jihadi atrocities of October 7, 2023:

The God of the Bible is not only the God of Israel; He is the God of Joshua the warrior and the settler. In the Scriptures God fights for Israel and publicly identifies with her:

The prophet Isaiah wants us to know that God identifies with the Jewish people, both sympathetically and empathetically, “In all their affliction He was afflicted” (Isaiah 63:9). The Jewish people are as close to Him and as tender in His sight as His own eyes, “Behold, he who touches you (Zion) touches the apple/pupil of His eye” (Zechariah 2:8). The God of Israel is Captain of YHVH’s armies. It is He who sent Joshua into battle against Jericho, and it is He who granted them victory (Joshua 5:13-6:5).

The Captain of YHVH’s armies is still the Captain of Israel’s armies, as Paul reminds us: “In relation to God’s choice [the Jewish people] are beloved on account of the Fathers [i.e., the Patriarchs]; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28-29).

Rise up, o men and women of God!

It’s time for the body of Messiah rise up. Believers need to awaken from spiritual slumber and discern that hateful anti-Jewish deeds of darkness are happening across the planet. The day is here when worldwide anti-Semitic attacks gather momentum and morph into a satanic sword against the Jewish people.

How shall 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 or credit card) through: https://davidstent.org/

Never again?

Imagine there’s no anti-Semitism

In the movie Schindler’s List, a group of Polish Jews huddle around an old oil barrel in the Jewish ghetto in Kraków. As they warm their hands over burning scrap wood, one of them confidently proclaims, “There’s nowhere down from here. This is it! This is the bottom. The ghetto is liberty!” This fellow was full of hope. He could not imagine that things would get worse. But his was an appalling misreading of the situation.

A recent discussion I had with an American Jewish friend touched on the current explosion of anti-Semitism in the USA.  He insisted that anti-Semitism was not on the rise in the Land of the Brave; that the best professional surveys indicate that no problems are on the immediate horizon; and that the really dangerous location for Jews is Israel. But the levee continues to rise – as Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie sang in 1929 – and anti-Jewish attacks (whether on university campuses, in the media, on the streets or demonstrating across from Jewish schools, synagogues and community centers) are surging to levels last seen in Nazi Germany of the mid-1930’s.

When one recalls that the percentage of popular support for the Bolsheviks and their violent Communist Russian revolutionary movement in February 1917 was less at that time than today’s spreading plague of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli hatred, it might be time to sit up and take notice.

When anti-Semitism raised its ugly head in Germany of the 1930’s, most nations pooh-poohed the matter. It’s just overly excitable Jews trying to drag us into their paranoid delusions, said many. The Jewish people deserve it, others opined; they are simply too successful in business. Even today, some well-known Christian ministers as well as TV personalities slyly whisper that the Jews are the power behind all thrones, supposedly controlling the banks, the media, the world economy, the arts, etc. We are living witnesses to the fact that each one of these anti-Semitic charges from the 1930’s are ricocheting around us in broad daylight. These poisonous words echo in the public square, in religious conferences, at the plenum of the U.N. and from some evangelical pulpits.

Genocide against the Jews

Jewish communities in the West responded to the October 7, 2023 Hamas jihadi terror-pogroms with bold declarations: “Not in my lifetime!” “Not on my watch!” “Never again!” And over 80 years ago, the Jewish people voiced similar reactions in response to the disasters of the Shoah (the Holocaust). In that context, the term ‘never again!’ was a call to the descendants of Jacob never to forget how the Nazi anti-Semites murdered their relatives, destroyed their communities and turned their flourishing culture into powder and ashes.  The phrase ‘never again’ has been used in many official commemorations and appears on many Holocaust memorials and museums, including at Treblinka extermination camp and Dachau concentration camp.

Jews with longer memories use the term ‘never again’ to recall events further back in history – the Destruction of the Second Temple (70 A.D.), the agonies of the Exile of the Hebrew people from their Promised Land (721 B.C. to the present), and the pogroms in Eastern Europe (the late 1800’s and early 1900’s).

In 1972 Meir Kahane of the radical Jewish Defense League authored a book outlining his vision of Jewish history titled ‘Never Again! A Program for Survival.’ Kahane said, “Our motto ‘Never Again’ does not mean that ‘it’ [a holocaust] will never happen again. That would be nonsense. It means that if it happens again, it won’t happen in the same way. Last time, the Jews behaved like sheep.”

The term ‘never again!’ has been a catalyzing call to remember the murderous legacy of anti-Semitic history and to proactively prepare for the defense of the Jewish people and their national homeland (the state of Israel) from these rabid forces – whether Marxist-leftist, fascist-extreme right wing, or jihadi Islamist.  According to Aaron Dorfman, “Since the Holocaust, the Jewish community’s attitude toward preventing genocide has been summed up in the moral philosophy of ‘Never Again.’” In other words: the Jews will not allow themselves to be victimized again. Eric Sundquist notes that “the founding of Israel was predicated on the injunction to remember a history of destruction – the destruction of two Temples, exile and pogroms, and the Holocaust – and to ensure that such events will never happen again.”

Universalizing the Holocaust while blaming the Jews for genocide

The United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights  in 1948 because “the international community vowed never again to allow” the atrocities of World War II. The Genocide Convention was adopted the same year. 

But today the forces of PC (political correctness) have blurred and universalized the term ‘never again,’ appropriating it as a political slogan of the moment – whether it be the promotion of gun control or infanticide/abortion, or even as an anti-Semitic slogan to be used against the Jewish state’s post-October 7, 2023 efforts to crush the terrorist forces of Hamas (which are attempting to destroy Israel and replace it with a jihadi dictatorship). 

An example of this ‘woke’ appropriation came to light in an internal debate within the Frankfurt School of neo-Marxist ‘critical theory.’ Its most prominent living member, Jürgen Habermas, in a November 13, 2023 statement, declared that the “never again” principle must above all lead to a German commitment to protecting Jewish life and Israel’s right to exist. His neo-Marxist colleagues vociferously disagreed, accusing Israel of genocide. Here is an excerpt from his response to their anti-Semitic declarations:

Black, green and red – the colors of poison

Today most American Jews tend to see the murder of Jews primarily as a right-wing or white racist/fascist (often symbolized by the color black) phenomenon. Yet in fact it is international jihadi and Islamist Jew-hatred (often symbolized by the color green) which is the prime mover in this field, closely followed by woke and Marxist-Leninist leftist movements (often symbolized by the color red) – like the recent murder of the Israeli Embassy couple in Washington D.C. Right-wing Judenhass (hatred of the Jews) actually comes third in this ignominious line.

The modern explosion of Western anti-Jewish attacks has been catalyzed by a synthesis of Muslim immigrants (bringing their centuries-old anti-Jewish Islamist attitudes and history) and woke-anarchist-communist violent street activism (which in turn owes much to the recent Black Lives Matter and Antifa movements).

Lady Liberty and a Jewish torch

Emma Lazarus was a Jewish American activist, an author of poetry, prose, and translations. Born in New York City in 1849, she wrote a sonnet in 1883 which would have deep prophetic significance. This poem was titled ‘The New Colossus’ and it was inspired by the arrival in America of the French-casted Statue of Liberty. Its lines are inscribed on a bronze plaque, fixed to the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.  Lazarus was much involved in aiding Jewish refugees who were fleeing anti-Semitic pogroms in eastern Europe. She saw her sonnet as a way to express her empathy for these refugees. Here are a few lines from that poem:

“A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning,

  And her name – ‘Mother of Exiles.’

 From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome;

Her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

‘Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she with silent lips.

‘Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’

The Statue of Liberty commemorates many wonderful dreams, hopes and visions. And, at the same time, the Holy One of Israel made sure that, every time they approached that statue and read the words of that plaque, America and all the nations would be reminded of YHVH’s love for Israel, His promises to Jewish people, and His unshakeable commitment to protect the sons and daughters of Jacob from the demonic scourge of anti-Semitism:

Anti-Semitism in the Home of the Free

Many Jewish people worldwide have thought of America as an exception to the rule of Jewish history: they assumed that the USA will never again be faced with anti-Jewish pogroms, exiles, concentration camps or genocidal slaughter. There has been a lightness of spirit for many North American Jews – that perhaps once and for all they have broken free from the anti-Semitic chains of Europe and the Middle East. “Persecuted Jews?” they say. “That won’t apply to North America! That view of Jewish history was written for another time – a more ancient period when things were different!”

In our next newsletter we will look at the catalysts which have led to and accelerated this explosion.

How shall 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 or credit card) through: https://davidstent.org/

Running the race well

Murder most foul

On Wednesday evening May 21 at 9:08 pm, two Embassy staffers at the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. – Israeli Yaron Lischinsky (age 30) and his soon-to-be fiancée American Sarah Milgrim (age 26) – were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. Both were Messianic Jews – Jewish people who had come to the conviction that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world. Yaron was a research assistant whose responsibilities included monitoring political and social developments in the Middle East. Sarah helped coordinate a variety of travel to Israel, including political, religious and other groups (like visitors studying climate change).

They had been attending a reception hosted by the American Jewish Committee (an advocacy group that supports Israel and fights antisemitism). This ‘Young Diplomats Reception’ is an annual reception bringing Jewish young professionals aged 22–45 together with the diplomatic community in order to advocate on behalf of critical domestic and global issues facing the Jewish community. The theme this year was connected to “bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza through Israeli-Palestinian and regional collaboration.” It was titled “Turning pain into purpose.” Attendees heard from members of the Multifaith Alliance and IsraAID nonprofits on humanitarian diplomacy and “how a coalition of organizations are working together in response to humanitarian crises throughout the Middle East and North Africa.” Yaron and Sarah were shot as they were exiting the event.

The shooter was Elias Rodriguez, an approximately 31-year old Hispanic from East Albany Park or Avondale in northeast Chicago near Wrigley Field. In 2017 Rodriguez was affiliated with the far-left ‘Party for Socialism and Liberation [PSL].’ A 2017 article in ‘Liberation’ (a newspaper associated with that Marxist-Leninist group) mentioned that group member Elias Rodriguez gave a speech at a protest against a Chicago policeman accused of shooting Laquan McDonald. That article quoted Rodriguez as asking whether Americans want “a nation of cities dominated and occupied by massive corporations where only the rich and white can live and the vast majority of us must live on edges of the city and society.” Rodriguez added in that article: “The wealth that Amazon has brought to Seattle has not been shared with its Black residents. [Amazon’s] whitening of Seattle is structurally racist and a direct danger to all workers who live in that city. ” 

On October 8, 2023, after the Hamas-led attack on Israel, PSL Central Committee member Eugene Puryear helped organize a rally at New York City’s Times Square in support of Hamas’ October 7, 2023 terror attack on Israelis, during which he stated: “[T]here was some sort of rave or desert party where they [Israelis] were having a great time, until the resistance came in electrified hang gliders and took at least several dozen hipsters, and I’m sure they’re doing very fine despite what the New York Post says”

A LinkedIn profile appearing to be Rodriguez’ mentioned that he previously worked as a production and logistics coordinator and oral history researcher for ‘TheHistoryMakers,’ a nonprofit aimed at preserving the stories of African Americans. On an X account being investigated by the FBI as appearing to belong to Rodriguez, the owner of that account declares “Escalate For Gaza, Bring The War Home,” accuses Israel of “genocide” and concludes: “Free Palestine — Elias Rodriguez.” According to open source intelligence, an X profile has surfaced (@kyodo.leather) that seems to belong to Rodriguez. The account started to actively publish on X in October 2023, just two weeks after October 7, and posted content including a video calling to “bomb Tel Aviv” and the words “De@th 2 Amerikkka” and “Happy New Year, Death To Israel.”

After shooting the couple from behind and then ‘confirming’ the murders with a total of 21 9mm bullets, Rodriguez whipped out a red keffiyeh associated with Hamas and kept chanting “Free, free Palestine.” A total of twenty one 9 mm bullets and a handgun were recovered from the scene. According to a complaint filed by the FBI, which was unsealed on Thursday, Rodriguez told police at the scene, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.” 

When anti-Semites murder Jews in Washington D.C.

Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, noted: “The person who shot these two young people dead last night shouted ‘Free, free Palestine.’ This was done in the name of a political agenda to eradicate the State of Israel. The State of Israel is now fighting a war on seven fronts. This is the eighth front in the war to demonize, to delegitimize, to eradicate the right of the State of Israel.” This shines light on a 900-word signed manifesto which was uploaded to the internet less than one hour after the murders (pre-planned by Rodriguez). In that post Rodriguez (purportedly) declared (regarding anti-Israel demonstrations) that “thus far the rhetoric has not amounted to much.” He advocates “the morality of armed demonstration,” and declares: “I am glad that today at least there are many Americans for which the action will be highly legible and, in some funny way, the only sane thing to do.”

Tal Naim, spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, noted that “for six months, we had dozens of people demonstrating with signs, calling us child murderers, pouring red water on us, which is like blood spilled in Gaza. This is the reality of embassy employees . . . An American citizen who turns on his television – and I’m not even talking about the networks, because that’s much more hackneyed – sees shocking images from Gaza, and many of them are fake. He gets images of destruction, hunger, blaming IDF soldiers for all kinds of crimes – and that definitely affects public opinion here.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the shooting, saying in a statement, “Yaron and Sarah weren’t the victims of a random crime. The terrorist who cruelly gunned them down did so for one reason and one reason alone – he wanted to kill Jews. And as he was taken away, he chanted, ‘Free Palestine!’ This is exactly the same chant we heard on October 7th. On that day, thousands of terrorists stormed into Israel from Gaza. They beheaded men. They raped women. They burned babies alive. They butchered 1,200 innocent people and took 251 innocent people hostage to the dungeons of Gaza. A short time afterwards, Chancellor Scholz of Germany visited Israel. And after he saw the horrors, he said to me, ‘These Hamas terrorists are exactly like the Nazis.’”

The assassination of these two Messianic Jews set off alarm bells across the world – especially among those who are still shocked by murderous Islamist terrorism and the vicious deeds of their supporters and fellow travelers. Our immediate family are friends of Yaron’s family, and two of our sons were friends of Yaron.

Running the good Jewish race

Whether in life or in death, Yaron and his beloved Sarah’s lives testify to their unshakeable faith in Israel’s Messiah Yeshua. Yaron had faithfully attended a Messianic congregation in Jerusalem where one of my sons (part of the leadership) had a close connection with him. He was a courageous and kind young man, asking the hard questions and rejoicing in biblical answers. Sarah was hoping to be immersed as a believer in Yeshua on her planned upcoming trip to Israel, where Yaron was planning to propose to her and to give her an engagement ring. All this was cut short by the despicable assassination.

Yaron and Sarah’s boldness about their faith may have been difficult for some to grasp, whether it be an occasional Christian notable, an Israeli diplomat or a brilliant American Jewish spokesman – people who might be uncomfortable balancing Yaron’s Jewish identity simultaneously with his Messianic Jewish faith. Some preferred to refer to Yaron as a non-Jewish Christian, or to Sarah as simply Jewish. But Yaron and Sarah were not ashamed of their Messianic faith, and were similarly proud of their Jewish identity. Let us honor both their memory and their testimony by remembering them as they defined themselves.

Interestingly enough, two secular websites were clear on these matters: one Israeli official who knew Yaron noted to CNN that Yaron identified as Jewish, while Wikipedia clearly stated that Yaron practiced Messianic Judaism. We are also thankful that Ron Prosor, Israel’s Ambassador to Germany, described Lischinsky as “a true lover of Israel” who dedicated his life “to the State of Israel and the Zionist cause.”

The words of Paul echo down to us as he speaks about his upcoming martyrdom in Rome:

In the same way, Yaron and Sarah fought the good fight finished the course and kept the faith. They are truly American and Israeli martyrs, whose lives were taken up to heaven in Kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of the name of the God of Israel and His Messiah Yeshua.

Sha’ul (Saul/Paul’s original Hebrew name) did not see himself as an ex-Jew who had now become a Gentile Christian, but as a shaliach (an emissary) of the Jewish Messiah. Indeed he declared on numerous occasions:

Shape-shifters and lengthening shadows

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Ring Trilogy,’ Gandalf declared:

Thomas Fuller, a 17th-century English historian, said in his 1732 work ‘Gnomologia’: “It is always darkest just before the day.” And David Crosby echoed those words in in his 1969 epic song (‘Long Time Gone’: “But you know the darkest hour is always, always just before the dawn”

Time to pray and to be ready for what Isaiah prophesied:

How shall 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 or credit card) through: https://davidstent.org/

Beauty, oil and passion

It has been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The Middle East seems to be a very beautiful place – especially to superpowers, to asset management firms, and to military and petrochemical industries. Why are tycoons and moguls so attracted to the Islamic world? What draws them to Riyadh, to Doha and to Abu Dhabi?

The essence of beauty

Four-star U.S. General and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Wesley Clark once spoke bluntly, “The truth … about the Middle East is, had there been no oil there, it would be like Africa. Nobody is threatening to intervene in Africa” (General Wesley Clark, 92nd Street Y Cultural Center, New York City. 27 Feb 2007). NY Times journalist Thomas Friedman once commented in a similar vein, “We are the addicts. The oil producers are the pushers” (attributed in Commodities: 50 Things You Really Need To Know).

The ‘beauty in the eye of the beholder’ in the Middle East involves some of the planet’s biggest supplies of petroleum and natural gas buried beneath the shifting sands of Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia (three of the top five suppliers).

Bob Dylan spotlights this dynamic on his Grammy-award winning album, where the song ‘Slow Train Coming’ won the 1980 GMA Dove Award:

In an article titled ‘The Fall Of The House Of Saud’ (May 2003, The Atlantic), Bob Baer explains:

“Not all the wishing in the world will change the basic reality of the situation:

The Islamist oil wars

Problems arise when the eyeglasses of the West get smeared with Gulf oil; it clouds political vision, resulting in compromised and fuzzy ethical decisions. This was why Baer titled his 2004 book ‘Sleeping With the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude.’  One analyst has stated: “For bankers, the most important thing is to keep the channels of international finance open, no matter what the human cost.”

The violent jihadi ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood is not changing any time soon. And Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Qatar, Turkey, the Houthis, etc., are all on board for the very bumpy ride.

“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil!”(Jeremiah 13:23). The Deputy Head of Hamas’ Political Bureau Moussa Abu Marzouk agrees with Jeremiah, noting in 2006 that “Hamas changes neither its skin nor its principles and it will deal with the West on this basis” (JP Thurs Feb 2 2006, page 6). Hamas Chairman and Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal stressed that same point in March 2017: “We were and we still are in an open war with the criminal enemy [Israel] . . .  [Hamas] insists on the choice of jihad and resistance – Hamas’s greater and first strategy . . . Hamas is not changing its skin.”

It is instructive to hear the perspective of Ephraim Halevi, former head of the Mossad (Israel’s equivalent to the C.I.A.), in his article ‘Rules of conflict for a world war’ (JP, Fri July 8 2005). Halevi now heads the Center for Strategic and Policy Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem:

Desert deception

King Solomon cautions his listeners to beware of neighbors with evil agendas: “One who hates disguises it with his lips, but he harbors deceit in his heart. When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, because there are seven abominations in his heart. Though his hatred covers itself with deception, his wickedness will be revealed in the assembly” (Proverbs 26:24-26).

The deceptiveness of oil politics has formed cataracts on Western eyes.  The jihadi world is diligently pulling strings, manipulating Western (and even some Israeli) fears, trying to force all resistance to jihadi strategies to come to a shuddering halt.  But jihad – Islamist holy war – is not a low-grade fever which can be blithely ignored by paying a hefty ransom to its perpetrators. Western media paint a picture for their listeners, that the Arabian Gulf oil barons are threatening an oil-based ‘jihad-Mafia option.’ To paraphrase U2’s Bono: “Just give us what we want, and no one gets hurt!”

Here are three mini-quotes from Bob Dylan which speaks to this above dynamic:

A good name is better than good oil, says the Preacher, the son of David, in Ecclesiastes 7:1.

The passions of God

While the world may seductively offer great power, wealth and reputation in exchange for toeing the line, Messiah Yeshua shows us another way:

The nation that chooses God’s heart and His priorities, that runs after His passions – that nation will be blessed with peace and prosperity. Pray for the leadership of your nation, that they will receive a revelation of YHVH’s heart and priority passion for the Jewish people; that they will shape their Middle East policies based on a biblically informed heart – protecting and blessings the sons and daughters of Jacob.

How shall 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 or credit card) through: https://davidstent.org/

Coconuts, elephants and leopards

There is a time-honored confidence trick known as the shell game or coconut shell game, often played for money. A ball or an object is hidden underneath one of three coconut shells as they are quickly shuffled back and forth on a flat surface. The player attempts to point out the shell which covers the hidden object. In most cases the hapless victim and his money are soon parted, since he was unable to keep track of the coconut shells.

In a similar manner, the fast-paced events of the past week in the Middle East could easily confuse any bystander. What lies underneath each coconut shell on the diplomatic table: Is it peace? Is it war? A new Golden Age for the Middle East? Or is it something similar to the apocalyptic Munich Agreement of September 1938? A lot depends on uncovering the secrets of men’s hearts (see Psalm 44:21; Daniel 2:29; 1 Corinthians 14:25). We need God to shine His divine spotlight on what is motivating the leaders of Syria and Qatar, of Saudi Arabia and the USA.

The ideal leader

The ideal leader in God’s sight (according to the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 17:14-20) is a man who weighs matters, makes and implements his decisions based on the Scriptures. His heart must not be influenced by pursuit of power or wealth. Based on these guidelines, sad to say, there are precious few godly leaders in our world today.

Being a world leader does not guarantee wisdom or godly policies, for “foolishness is set in many exalted places” (Ecclesiastes 10:6).  Political strategies fashioned by godless leaders can sometimes bring destructive results: “YHVH knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are useless” (1 Corinthians 3:19-20). But when Biblical foundations are present, godly geopolitics can bring blessing and not futility.

Solomon son of David was the wisest man who ever lived: “Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt” (1 Kings 4:29-30). Yet Solomon ended up disqualifying himself from the throne by his chasing after ‘girls, gold and glory.’ Toward the end of his life, David’s son summed up what he had learned: “The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

God’s scalpel cuts deep into the torso of humankind, exposing fat, muscle and bone: “For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The rollercoaster of Middle East events is being crafted by YHVH to expose the thoughts and hearts of many peoples and leaders.

The elephant in the living room

The Western world is for the most part ignorant of what the Arabic-speaking world thinks, what the Islamic community believes, and what Muslim sensitivities are. The secularized West is mostly unaware of what the Quran teaches, and of how the concept of military jihad is central in the Muslim world. For those who would want to broaden their understanding on these matters, a good place to begin is David Pryce-Jones’ penetrating book ‘The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs’ (1989, Harper & Row).

Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Mordechai Kedar, senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, served for 25 years in IDF military intelligence specializing in Syria, Arab political discourse and mass media, Islamic groups and Israeli Arabs. An expert on the Muslim Brotherhood, his take is worth considering: “Given Islam’s pervasive entrenchment in Palestinian society (and for that matter in all Middle Eastern societies) – even Yasser Arafat and most of the PLO’s founding generation were Muslim Brotherhood members in their young age – the acceptance of Israel’s existence by Muslims communities, both within Israel and abroad, will only be feasible upon their realization of the Jewish state’s overwhelming strength and invincibility. Only a powerful, well organized, highly determined and militarily invincible Israel can stand a chance of surviving in its violent and merciless neighborhood.”

This can be described as ‘the strong horse’ principle. In mid-November 2001, Osama Bin Laden spoke to a room of supporters, discussing the September 11th terrorist attacks: “When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse. This is [the] goal . . . following the doctrine of Muhammad.” Bin Laden saw Islam as the strong horse, and Christian America and the Jewish state as the weak horses.

Journalist Lee Smith based the name of his book The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations on Osama bin Laden’s quote. Smith states that strength or “violence is central to the politics, society, and culture of the Arabic-speaking Middle East, and that Arab politics is driven by the ‘strong horse’ principle.” “Bin Ladenism is not drawn from the extremist fringe but represents the political and social norm [of the Arabic-speaking Middle East].” According to T. Edward Donselm (writing in the Arab Studies Quarterly), Smith sees revived modern Islamism using the fourteen-hundred-year old tool of jihad to restore Sunni Islam once again to world supremacy.

Dr. Daniel Pipes (director of the Middle East Forum and Taube distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University) applies Bin Laden’s ‘strong horse’ principle to Israel’s role in the Middle East. Israel serves as ‘a proxy strong horse’ for both the United States and the Saudi-Egyptian bloc in the latter’s Cold War rivalry with Iran’s bloc. Pipes explains that non-Arab actors in the Arab world must demonstrate force and staying power – otherwise they lose. “Being nice – say, withdrawing unilaterally from southern Lebanon and Gaza – leads to inevitable failure.  More broadly, when the U.S. government flinches, others (e.g., the Iranian leadership) have an opportunity to ‘force their own order on the region.’ Walid Jumblatt, a Lebanese Druze leader, has half-seriously suggested that Washington [should] ‘send car bombs to Damascus’ to get its message across and signal its understanding of Arab ways.”

Pipes concludes that the ‘strong horse’ paradigm helps us to comprehend the Arabs’ cult of death, honor killings, terrorist attacks, despotism and warfare. Pipes acknowledges that the strong-horse principle may strike Westerners as crude, but it is nevertheless a cold reality that outsiders must recognize, take into account, and respond to. An awareness of how life is lived and war is waged ‘in the hood’ known as the Middle East, is essential for Israel’s survival.

How to get the spots off the leopard

Hatred and rejection of the Jewish people are deeply imbedded in the Islamic scriptures – both the Quran and the hadith (Islamic authoritative commentaries). Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar, Iraq, Iran and Turkey all flow with that anti-Semitic stream, following centuries-old traditions calling for the crushing and elimination of Israel. These perspectives and prejudices are deal-breakers when it comes to establishing peace between Islamist nations and the Jewish state. Poisonous roots must be eradicated. Ancient hatreds must be recognized, repented of and rejected. All of the spots must be removed from the anti-Semitic leopard.

A simple declaration that there is now going to be ‘a new partner to the Abraham Accords’ will not in itself ultimately achieve something. And by the way: neither Syria, the United Arab Emirates or Morocco are descendants of Abraham – based on both the Bible, their own history and traditions. Their ancient roots are respectively from Aram (Genesis 10:22), Shem (Genesis 10:26-29), and Hamitic Berber (Genesis 10:6-14). See my book ‘Jews, Arabs and the Middle East: a Messianic perspective’ for a more in-depth look.

At a June 2009 meeting between POTUS Obama and Saudi King Abdullah, the King referred to “the historic and strategic ties between our two countries . . . that go back to the time of the meeting between the late [President] Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the late [Saudi] King Abdul-Aziz.” Abdullah was referring to that historic February 14 1945 meeting on the deck of the USS Quincy as it lay anchored on Egypt’s Great Bitter Lake at the close of WWII. There the Saudi King asked and received a promise from Roosevelt that the USA would “do nothing to assist the Jews against the Arabs and would make no move hostile to the Arab people.” These assurances were confirmed in a letter dated April 5 1945 and signed by Roosevelt, acting in his capacity as the Chief of the Executive Branch of the US government. Of paramount importance to King Abdullah was that America would not assist or defend the Jewish people in the coming clashes with the Islamic mujahidin (jihadi armies).

Islamist terror groups – be they PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards, Iraq’s Kata’eb Hezbollah, or Syria’s HTS (‘Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham,’‘Organization for the Liberation of the Levant’; abbreviated HTS).) – all are committed to the total destruction of the Jewish state and the Israeli people. They base these goals on orthodox Islamist principles, backed up by extensive quotes from the Quran and the Hadith. Not only terror groups but also Islamist states (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Syria and the regions of Gaza, Houthi Yemen, and West Bank areas under Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah control) are also committed to the same anti-Jewish goals and strategies.

A new ‘Golden Age for the Middle East’ will not happen apart from the Islamic world undergoing deep repentance (as described in Isaiah 19:16-22 as Egypt’s future lot). A glut of Islamist gold invested into US military and computer/AI industries will also not achieve spiritual or physical restoration for the Arab world. Sadly, the curse of the God of Jacob rests on the Islamic world, based on Genesis 12:3. The principle is straight out of the Abrahamic Covenant: “I will bless those who bless you. And him who dishonors you I will curse!” (Genesis 12:3 ESV).

How shall we then pray?

Here are three major snares facing the international community. It is worth praying for your country and neighborhood about these issues:

As  well, we encourage you to pray with us:

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 or credit card) through: https://davidstent.org/

“Behold, I know the plots you devise against me”

Nehemiah was commissioned by the God of Israel to travel across the deserts of Iran and Iraq into the Promised Land, seeking the physical restoration of Jerusalem. He quickly set about rebuilding the defensive walls of the city which had been burned and razed by Babylon and Edom (Psalm 137:7). But events on the ground had shifted over the previous 100-150 years. The tribes of Judah and Shimon had been exiled to the rivers of Babylon (see Psalm 137:1), while the enemies of the Jewish people had swarmed into the city of Jerusalem, exerting pagan control over the Temple Mount.

One of these enemies was Sanballat the Horonite (Nehemiah 2:19) – either a Moabite from Horonaim near Ammon (see Jeremiah 48:1-5), or a Samaritan from Beth Horon (as per Josephus Antiquities XI, Chapter 7). Another foe was Tobiah the Ammonite official (with possible Jewish family roots), and a third adversary was Geshem (or Gashmu) the Arab. Nehemiah was well aware of their enmity and their plotting against him: “Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall . . . [they] sent a message to me, saying, ‘Come, let’s meet together at Kfirim in the plain of Ono.’ But they were plotting to harm me” (Nehemiah 6:1-2). The Philistines of Ashdod (near Gaza) joined in this political-military conspiracy (Nehemiah 4:7). Together, the enemies of Israel were intent on crushing the restoration of the Jewish people to their Holy Land and to their royal city.

Job in his day spoke of Zophar’s evil machinations: “Behold, I know your thoughts, and the plots you devise against me” (Job 21:27). Nehemiah received divine discernment and courage regarding his contemporary Middle Eastern enemies. David and Asaph also prophesied about present and future enemies in the Psalms:

But what about our day? As plots thicken before our eyes, what can we discover about the schemes which the enemies of Jewish restoration are hatching, and how is the God of Israel exposing those conspiracies in our day?

When sweet and bitter waters mix

The words of James drive home a powerful point: Sometimes in diplomacy, sweet and bitter water flow out of the same spring. Such things rarely happen in nature, but they do happen in politics:

Though recent political events in the USA have radically and positively changed attitudes and actions toward the Jewish state, there is still a strong residue of anti-Israeli sentiments and strategies hidden deep within the US State Department, intelligence agencies, the oil industry and tycoons. The uncovering of significant State Department support for Hamas and anti-Israel jihadi forces over the years is being spotlighted with greater precision at this moment in time.

Funding Israel’s enemies

Recent investigative reporting has shined the light on some unsavory lizards creeping silently under Washington’s cobbled streets. Many of these exposés are connected to US government funding flowing through USAID (the United States Agency for International Development) to Hamas-related activities and organizations, as well as to jihadi Islamist bodies.

The Washington Free Beacon reported on February 10, 2025:

Rivers of sweet and bitter waters are indeed joining together. The American government has for years been surreptitiously supporting Hamas while publicly avowing its undying commitment to the Jewish state.

Dividing up the Promised Land

Many are not aware that the U.S. intelligence community has had backdoor connections and a significant working relationship with the PLO since 1969, at the height of its involvement in Middle East and world terrorism (see our November 9, 2023 newsletter – https://davidstent.org/caiaphas-kissinger-and-the-cia/).

A recently declassified U.S. State Department document sheds light on long-standing and secret U.S. policy and strategies regarding Israel’s borders. At a Paris meeting between Henry Kissinger (U.S. Secretary of State) and Sadun Hammadi (Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs) (www.gwu.edu/%7Ensarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB193/HAK-12-17-75.pdf) on December 17, 1975. Kissinger communicated a ‘no-nonsense’ US foreign policy regarding Israel in the following selected quotes:

These shocking quotes show where the deeper strategies of the U.S. State Department lie.  Israel’s borders must be shrunk in order to weaken its military and political standing in the Middle East. A Palestinian state needs to be established on land which has been pried away from Israeli control. These perspectives continue to guide many in the U.S. State Department and in American intelligence. Knowledge of these perspectives can guide intercessors in their prayers for leaders and diplomats in the US and elsewhere, for these talking points are part and parcel of British, European and Russian strategies as well.

Sponsoring political putschs and street riots against a friendly government

In a March 26, 2025 letter from the U.S. Congress’ Jim Jordan (Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary) and Brian Mast (Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs) addressed to Dr. Eliad Shraga (Chairman, Movement for Quality Government in Israel), the following was stated:

The U.S. Congressmen further requested:

In an investigative report by Adam Kredo in The Free Beacon dated July 12, 2016 (see also his recent article of March 6, 2023), reference was made to a U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee in Investigations disclosure “that the Obama administration provided U.S. taxpayer dollars to the OneVoice Movement, a liberal group that waged a clandestine campaign to smear and oust Netanyahu from office.” Evidently such American State Department political undermining did not begin during POTUS Biden’s tenure, but has older and more weathered roots.

As noted over the past few years, street protests and riots aimed at overthrowing Israel’s elected government have been led by a handful of frustrated and ambitious Israeli ‘ex-leaders’ – ex-Prime Ministers, ex-IDF Generals, and some ex-heads of State Intelligence (SHABAK and Mossad). Funding for demonstrations (in both the US and Israel) and PR costs has been provided by USAID, as well as by other well-known Foundations. Here are four newsletters which give detailed information and sources about these events (which have convulsed Israeli society, and continue to do so, even though POTUS Trump is now attempting to clean these Augean stables:

Exposing the rot

The blowback from the horrific jihadi pogroms carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023 lanced a pus-filled boil in Israeli society. Toxic discharge has been splattering on the people of the Jewish state ever since.

Information about Israeli failures and fiascos surrounding that terror attack have surfaced in the media. Some of it is certainly yellow journalism and anti-government propaganda funded by both USAID and by the blind ambition of failed former leaders in Israel. But pressing questions remain regarding criminal negligence by top leaders in the IDF, AMAN (IDF Military Intelligence), SHABAK (Israel’s General Security Services – similar to FBI), a ‘woke’ (left-leaning and falsely labeled ‘progressive’) activist judiciary, corrupt politicians, and a quasi-treasonous media. All are in some measure allied with ‘deeper state’ forces in other countries, some who are considered Israel’s allies. Nepotistic connections and ‘old boys networks’ are being exposed, shaking Israeli confidence in the formerly unshakeable reliability of many top leaders. In particular, SHABAK’s mollycoddling of leftist rioters while spying on right-wing Knesset members and citizens has raised clanging alarm-bells on both sides of the political aisle. Troubling comparisons are being made between top SHABAK directors exercising draconian powers of arrest and interrogations against the Prime Minister’s aides, and the dark shadow of the former East German Stasi (Ministry for State Security/Ministerium für Staatssicherheit).

As William Shakespeare said it in ‘Hamlet’: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (spoken by Marcellus, Act 1, Scene 4).

And as far as regards the nations, about to stumble blindly into the God of Israel’s soon-coming Judgment Day – as Joel 3 and Zechariah 14 chart out for us – it might be helpful remind ourselves that there really is a divine game plan being played out. It is described in our recent newsletter: https://davidstent.org/why-are-the-peoples-plotting-in-vain/. Three major pitfalls facing the international community are:

The secret war against the Jews

In 1948 the US State Department opposed the establishment and recognition of a Jewish state. It had also opposed the rescue and immigration of European Jews from Hitler during WWII.  US Secretaries James Forestall (Navy, Defense), General George Marshall (State, Defense), John Dulles (State) and Allen Dulles (CIA Director), as well as business magnate and later Vice President Nelson Rockefeller – they and many more were opposed to recognizing and aiding the fledgling Jewish state.

In their magnum opus The Secret War Against The Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed The Jewish People (by John Loftus & Mark Aarons, St. Martin’s Press, 1994), the authors reveal how many Western countries, especially the United States and Great Britain, profess on the surface to be ardent allies of Israel yet, behind the scenes, have worked for years through their intelligence services to betray Israel and her secrets to her Arab enemies. A more detailed background of these issues is available at our newsletter link:   https://davidstent.org/shakings-weighings-and-divisions-syria-annapolis-and-the-return-of-yhvh-part-three-of-three-cutting-israel-down-to-size/.

It is indeed a comfort to remember the promise of the God of Israel amidst the barking and yapping of the “dogs who have surrounded” Israel. Even though “a band of evildoers has encompassed” the Jewish people (see Psalm 22:16), the Psalmist boldly declares that “YHVH nullifies the plan of nations; He frustrates the plans of peoples!” (Psalm 33:10).

How shall 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 or credit card) through: https://davidstent.org/

Prophets and the Exodus

Jewish people across the entire planet will be celebrating Passover (in Hebrew, Pesach) on Saturday evening. The God of Israel gave our people specific instructions to commemorate the holiday on the exact time of day when the twelve tribes of Israel began their Exodus from the Land of Egypt. The nation of Israel still sanctifies the eve of that Day with a Passover seder (commemorative meal).

Another fascinating aspect of the Passover concerns the tying-in of the prophetic to this holiday. The waters bubbling up from this prophetic well have world-shaking significance for both the Jewish people and the Gentiles.

 

 

The daughter of a lion is also a lion

The first time the word ‘prophet’ is used in the Bible is with reference to Abraham. Abimelech the ‘sheikh’ of Gerar was visited in a night dream by the God of Abraham, who informed the pagan king that he was about to be put to death by divine judgment for having kidnapped Sarah. Abimelech protested that he had only kidnapped Sarah, but had not yet had relations with her. God responded to his plea, saying:

YHVH calls Abraham a prophet, and explains that Terah’s son (Genesis 11:26) has the ability to bring healing to people for whom he prays. The progeny of a lion are also lions, and the Jewish nation – the descendants of the prophet Abraham – are also prophets. YHVH declares in Psalm 105:15 that He rebuked the kings of the Middle East, warning them to be aware of His protection on the seed of Abraham and the children of Jacob:

Moses is aware of God’s heart and strategic calling on Israel, as his declaration reveals: “If only all YHVH’s people were prophets, that YHVH would put His Spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:29). Paul also was in sync with this divine perspective, according to his statement in 1 Corinthians 14:5: “Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but rather that you would prophesy. And greater is the one who prophesies than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the congregation (ἐκκλησία/ekklesia in Greek) may receive edification.”

Miriam the sister of Moses is described as a prophetess in Exodus 15:20, while Aaron the brother of Moses is described by YHVH as functioning as a prophet to Moses (see Exodus 7:1) – one who receives words of divine origin and communicates them to the whole nation: “Then YHVH said to Moses, ‘See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.’”

Moses, the prophet par excellence

Among a nation of prophets, and born into a prophetic family, Moses nevertheless stands out as the first among equals. The God of Jacob declared to the whole nation of Israel:

The final words of the Scroll of Deuteronomy emphasize this point:

The anonymous prophet

Whereas Moses was the most famous of the prophets, the Book of Judges tells us about an anonymous prophet whose calling was to remind the nation of Israel of their disobedience to Moses’ covenantal commands. He was faithful to his calling, as Moses was faithful to his vocation:

The prophetic calling of Israel

The God of Israel laid out a prophetic calling in Numbers 6:22-27, which is known today as ‘the Aaronic Benediction’:

Then YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘In this way you shall bless the sons of Israel. You are to say to them:

‘YHVH bless you and keep you;

YHVH cause His face to shine on you and be gracious to you;

YHVH lift up the light of His countenance upon you and give you peace.’

So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and then I will bless them.”

Aaron and his descendants (the Jewish high-priesthood) were to ask YHVH three times to shine the light of His face upon the entire Jewish people. This radiating glory had been seen on Moses’ face every time he met face-to-face with YHVH (see Exodus 34:29-35). The Aaronic prayer was asking the God of Israel to shine so strongly upon the entire Jewish people, that all the nations of the world would see His glory and bow in worship before YHVH.

An anonymous writer of one of the Psalms – a music director himself from the family of Aaron – composed a song which was to be accompanied by an orchestra of stringed instruments. Using Aaron’s benediction/prayer, he intercedes before God, asking Him to shine His face on the Jewish people – in order that all the nations (to the ends of the earth) would fear YHVH, come to know YHVH and be saved by Him:

Israel’s shining face brings about the revival of the nations

Isaiah was granted prophetic insight into how the God of Israel would bring this all to pass. He saw the day when YHVH’s light would shine upon the Jewish people – at a time when the nations would be dwelling in gross darkness. World revival would come when God’s light would reflect off Jewish faces and transform the darkness of this planet’s peoples:

The Apostle Paul mirrors this Last Days vision, describing Israel’s spiritual fulfillment as bringing “much greater riches to the Gentiles” and the Jewish people’s acceptance of Messiah Yeshua as bringing “life from the dead” to the entire earth (see Romans 11:11-15). From Abraham the prophet to Moses the ‘super-prophet,’ to the entire Jewish people shining God’s reflected glory onto the faces of all nations – the Passover story and the Exodus from Egypt are bound up in YHVH’s prophetic calling on the sons and daughters of Jacob.

As Paul emphasizes in his conclusion of Romans chapter 11, “in relation to God’s choosing, [the Jewish people] are beloved on account of the Patriarchs. For the gifts and calling of God [on Israel] are irrevocable!” (Romans 11:28-29). Happy prophetic Passover!

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 or credit card) through: https://davidstent.org/

A Messianic perspective on the Kabbalah

The past three decades have seen a renaissance of popular interest in the Jewish roots of the New Testament faith. The Jewish face of Jesus (or Yeshua, His original Hebrew name), like some long-buried archeological mosaic, is gradually appearing out of the sands of antiquity. Today a significant minority of the Christian book-buying public is fascinated by titles dealing with the Jewishness of the Christian faith.

Some of these books offer captivating insights into the history, archeology and religious life of Yeshua’s’ contemporaries. Other books convey less than kosher teachings while nevertheless appealing to the same public. Not all that glitters is gold, and not all that is Jewish is necessarily praiseworthy. Numbers 16 points out that both Moses’ humility and Korah’s arrogance were intrinsically Jewish phenomena. It is, of course, only when Jewishness is combined with godliness that it is of much value in every way, as Paul succinctly states in Romans 3:1-2. Godly Jewishness must be faithful to the Apostles’ teaching and to all the Scriptures. This is our presupposition as we examine the world of the Kabbalah.

Kabbaláh (also spelled Cabbala, Qabbalah) is a Hebrew word which means ‘something received’ – in this case, a received tradition passed on from generation to generation. The kabbalistic tradition is a mystical tradition within Judaism which claims to possess mystical truths about the nature of God, heavenly realities, perspectives on the origins of evil, and both a detailed angelology and demonology. Furthermore, this tradition claims to be based on supernatural revelation.

How should believers in Yeshua relate to Kabbalah? Is there any spiritual advantage in studying its arcane secrets? Readers here are for the most part aware of the present reality of the Holy Spirit’s ministry, as well as the subtle deceptiveness of spiritual warfare. It is with pastoral concern and caution, therefore, that this article offers some instruction to those interested in passing safely through the minefields of kabbalistic mysticism.

A HISTORICAL THEOLOGY OF KABBALAH

 

Early roots of the Kabbalah (First - Eighth Centuries A.D.)

The late Second Temple period (100 B.C. - 70 A.D.) was a tumultuous time in Judea. A cruel and crushing ‘pax Romana’ (‘Roman peace’) caused the ancient Jewish Messianic hope to burst into flames. Various false messiahs rose up in Israel (e.g., Acts 5:36-37; 21:38) offering a military solution to Roman rule. In the end the Zealot revolt culminated in the destruction of both the Herodian Temple and Jerusalem, and led to a further scattering of the Jewish people across the Mediterranean basin.

Radical religious changes were occurring in Pharisaic (later called ‘Rabbinic’) Judaism, as well as in the budding Messianic (later called ‘Christian’) movement. These two hundred years were times of great religious creativity as well, witnessing the rise and proliferation of extracanonical books (books not part of Scripture). These scrolls and papyri dealt with the period of the last days (apocalyptic). ‘Apocalypse’ comes from the Greek apokalypsis and means the ‘unveiling of divine hidden revelation.’ Apocalyptic Bible books would include Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah and Revelation. These new books attempted to prepare the faithful for the soon-coming judgments of God and the speedy return of Messiah. Their style and content imitated the Bible’s prophetic and apocalyptic portions. Prophecies about the eschaton (final or last events) would include Genesis 49; Numbers 24; Deuteronomy 30; Isaiah 24-27, 56-66, etc.

This literature has been recognized as not meeting the grade of Scripture regarding both its prophetic accuracy and its theological content. These books are classified as either apocryphal (outside the Jewish and Protestant canon), pseudepigraphal (some of these writers forged the names of biblical heroes as the false authors of their works) or sectarian (e.g., the Essene/Qumran/ Dead Sea scroll literature).

During the middle second century B.C. the pseudepigraphic Book of Enoch attempts to bring new revelation about Yahweh’s awesome theophany (or ‘appearing’) in Ezekiel 1:4-28. This author speculated that Yahweh’s chariot (Heb., mérkaváh) is a mystical or symbolic key, representing the order of the unseen divine world and the hidden secrets of redemption. Within a few centuries these speculations would be deeply influenced by Oriental Gnosticism, and grow into Merkavah mysticism (Heb. ma’aséh mérkaváh).

By the close of the second century A.D. the Gemara describes a child who received a revelation of the hidden meaning of the ‘glowing metal electrum’ (Heb., hashmál) referred to in Ezekiel 1:27 (“whereupon a fire went forth from hashmál and consumed him”) in Talmud Bavli, Hagigah 13a. Four rabbinic sages are similarly described as searching out spiritual experiences through ecstatic contemplation of Merkavah mysticism. One died; one became insane; one forsook rabbinic Judaism and only one returned both Orthodox and sane. (TB Hagigah 14b; Shabbat 80b; Sukkah 28a; Berachot 7a; Hullin 1b; Megillah 25b).

Due to these powerful and dangerous spiritual encounters, the rabbis sought to place severe limitations on Merkavah studies: “The ma’aséh bereshit should not be expounded before two persons, nor the ma’aséh mérkaváh before one person, unless he is a sage and already has an independent understanding of the matter” (Mishna Hagigah 2:1). Other conditions for study were eventually added – teachings should be communicated in a whisper; a high level of intellectual ability was required; the initiate had to be a male at least thirty years old; certain ethical qualities and later physical characteristics were also required. (see TB Hagigah 13b; Seder Eliyahu Rabbah, chapter 29).

Essentially what is being discussed here is a human attempt to obtain hidden or occult information about heavenly realities. The human writers of Merkavah mystical works assumed that they were able to accurately assess the truths of their own revelations. Yet the spiritual forces they unwittingly unleashed were potentially and frighteningly destructive. As well, the symbolic and allegorical interpretations of Scripture used by the mystics resulted in teachings which were diametrically opposed to the plain teaching of the Torah of Moses. Merkavah mystics were wooing Israel into a spiritual stupor, and though they were receiving real revelation, that revelation was coming from spiritual forces not obedient to Yahweh and to His word (n.b., Deuteronomy 18:9-14; Psalm 103:20-21; Isaiah 8:19-22).

Merkavah mysticism was the spiritual precursor of the Kabbalah. Its books give detailed descriptions of the spirit-world of ‘the Chariot’; the technical and magical means which assist the ascending soul through the eight levels of spirit-palaces and firmaments; the empty visions and angels of destruction which try to confound him; the magical seals, containing the secret names of God, which are presented to the spirit doorkeepers of each level; etc. These demonically inspired teachings are “very similar to a number of important texts preserved among the Greek magic papyri and to Gnostic literature of the Pistis Sophia type” (Gershom Scholem, “Kabbalah”; Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 6, p. 500,). Gershom Scholem, the world’s leading expert on Kabbalah, notes that “the growth of Merkabah mysticism among the rabbis constituted a Jewish and rabbinic Gnosticism” (ibid, p. 498).

Other beliefs peculiar to Merkabah mysticism include Shiúr Komáh (Heb., ‘the measurement of the body’), a description of God’s mystic body which is in turn a symbolic blueprint for a Gnostic view of Creation. This perspective re-interprets salvation to mean something very different from ‘the four spiritual laws’: God is separated from His creation; redemption/salvation occurs after the ascending soul attains sufficient magical and occult knowledge (Greek, gnosis); these keys allow the ascending soul to pass through successive layers of evolving spirit worlds, eventually arriving at his ultimate destination.

Merkavah mystics began to use the Torah and the Psalms in magical ways. Based on the occult teaching that each Hebrew alphabet letter has its own secret meaning (Heb. gemátria), these mystics reinterpreted the Scriptures, grouping biblical verses together not for their exegetical meaning but for their numerological values and magical powers.

Babylonian and German developments (Eighth - Ninth Century A.D.)

In Babylonia further developments included conjuring up angelic princes on the day before the Day of Atonement; the doctrine of middót (Heb., hypostatic beings) - lesser forces employed in the creation of the world (the result here, says Scholem, is that “the monotheistic theory of creatio ex nihilo loses its original meaning and is completely reversed by the esoteric content of the formula” [ibid., p. 569]); and the belief in the transmigration of souls. In Germany the Hasidéi Ashkenáz (Heb. ‘pious ones of Germany’) practiced stringent asceticism. Many were considered prophets or masters of the Holy Spirit and claimed divine revelation.

Franco-Iberian developments (Twelfth - Fourteenth Centuries A.D.)

The central transitional figure between Merkavah mysticism and Kabbalah was Isaac the Blind of Narbonne, France who died ca. 1235 A.D. He developed a contemplative mysticism leading to communion with spiritual forces through meditation on the ten Sefirót (enigmatic Hebrew word referring to emanations from God) and on the havayót (the heavenly essences). These Sefirot were gradually understood to be the Godhead divided into planes of existence which exist “as lights, potencies, and intelligences, each of unlimited richness and profundity, whose content man could study and seek to penetrate. Each one was like ‘a world unto itself’” (ibid., p. 569).

The highest Jewish legal and religious authority in Spain, Nachmanides (the RAMBAN, d. 1270), embraced kabbalistic doctrines and contributed to their spread among Jewish theologians of his day. Another great light of kabbalistic teaching was Abraham Abulafia (1240-1292) who wrote textbooks on how to practically apply kabbalistic principles including breathing exercises and trances so that the initiate would eventually move into a mystic state which he labeled “prophetic”. Finally, Isaac ha-Kohen of Spain developed the theory of a demonic parallel series of emanations, later known as the sitra áchra (Aramaic, ‘the other side’), which were the evil and opposite balance to the Sefirot in this dualistic worldview.

The Zohar and Moshe ben Shem Tov de Leon (Spain ca. 1285 A.D.)

The Séfer ha-Zóhar (Heb., Book of Radiance, Splendor or Emanation) was written largely between 1280 and 1286 by Moshe ben Shem Tov de Leon in Guadalajara (a small village northeast of Madrid). The book was pseudepigraphic, de Leon falsely crediting its revelations to Shimon bar Yohai, a second century A.D. Galilean sage. According to Scholem the aim of the Zohar was “to attack the literal conception of Judaism... (T)his was accomplished by emphasizing the supreme value and secret meaning of every word and Commandment of the Torah” (ibid., p. 534).  Under the guise of ‘hidden revelation’, de Leon put the finishing touches on his intended heart-transplant operation for Judaism.

From now on, in Kabbalistic Judaism the literal meaning of the Bible that Yahweh gave to Moses would be supplanted by a secret and occult meaning representing a supposedly more spiritual and deeper significance – one, however, that would come not from the Bible but from demonic sources. “The Kabbalah represented a theological attempt, open to only a relative few, whose object was to find room for an essentially mystical world-outlook within the framework of traditional Judaism without altering the latter behavioral norms” (ibid, p. 638).

Lurianic Kabbalah and Safed (Upper Galilee ca. 1550 A.D.)

In the year that Columbus departed for the New World, Ferdinand and Isabella forced Spain’s Jewish population to flee across the Mediterranean to Turkish lands, or be forcibly converted to Catholicism. The Inquisition caused many Jews to wonder if a catastrophe of such magnitude could be the portent of the end of days. This resulted in the spread of kabbalistic hopes and a renewed eschatological emphasis in kabbalistic thinking. The rise of the false messiah David Molcho and the break-up of the Catholic Church due to Martin Luther were also seen as portents of the apocalypse. At this time the new center for kabbalistic studies was shifting to Safed in Palestine.

An unknown kabbalist summed up the times:

Revelations now were coming from spirit-beings known as maggidim (Heb., ‘recounters’) - supposedly angels or sacred souls who spoke through the lips of the kabbalists or made them write down revelations. The most important kabbalist of this period was Isaac Luria Ashkenazi, the ‘Ari’; (Heb., ‘the lion’; 1534-72). Lurianic teachings were thoroughly Gnostic in character, stressing tzimtzum (Heb. contraction’) – a contraction of the divinity in order to make a vacuum within which divine emanations could create the universe.

Tikkún (Heb., ‘repairing’ or ‘restoration’) involved a process whereby the sparks of the feminine aspect of divinity which are lodged in the klippót (Heb., ‘shells’ or ‘husks’) of matter can be liberated and fly upwards to re-unite with the masculine aspect of divinity. This ‘releasing of sparks’ results in ‘the sacred marriage’ between God and the feminine Shechináh (the glory or presence of God), and it has become the focus in many modern Hasidic movements. From this perspective salvation is not the redemption of human souls by atonement, but the releasing of imprisoned sparks which are trapped in nature or in people. This freeing is done either by magical techniques, or by outwardly obeying the Law of Moses and its rabbinical traditions, while inwardly focusing on kabbalistic and magical meanings and formulae. Scholem states: “The Gnostic character of these ideas, which constitute a new mythology in Judaism, cannot be doubted” (ibid, p. 547.)

 

MAGIC & PRACTICAL KABBALAH

Gershom Scholem states:

CHRISTIAN KABBALAH

Gershom Scholem gives us a brief historical perspective on the Christian use of Kabbalah:

Dr. Jakob Jocz adds a Messianic Jewish perspective:

A modern example of such excessive zeal is seen in the work The Great Mystery or How Can Three Be One? by Tzvi Nassi (a.k.a. Hirsch Prinz; Rabbi Tzvi Nassi, 91 pp., no date, publishing house or city given, p. 89.). Prinz quotes liberally from the Zohar and from other kabbalistic writings, coming to his final conclusion:

Prinz’s conclusion, based on the Zohar, is that the doctrine of the Trinity was a cardinal article of faith of the Pharisaic and Rabbinic Jewish Synagogues prior to Yeshua and up until the 200’s A.D.! Since Prinz’s dating of the Zohar is inaccurate by a minimum of 1200 years, his hypothesis cannot stand the test of scrutiny.

Dr. Jocz again makes a valuable contribution:

CONCLUSION

The Kabbalah and its traditions are an admixture of men’s thoughts and spiritual revelation from the second heaven – revelation from the enemy of our souls. Its presuppositions are Gnostic and magical – philosophies condemned by the Apostles Paul (1 Timothy 6:20; Colossians 1:15-18; 2:1-10, 15-23) and John (1 John 2:18-23; 4: 1-6; 2 John 7-11).

Though temptation may come upon us, wakening within us a curiosity to consider revelation from demonic sources, “the people who know their God will display strength and take action, and those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many” (Daniel 11:32b - 33a). “Little children, guard yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).

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 or credit card) through: https://davidstent.org/

The thorns of prophecy

During the latter part of January 2025 Rachel and I went on a ministry/family trip to the USA. Immediately after our return to Israel, I (Avner) came down with a strong case of bacterial pneumonia – high fever, intense shakings, sweats, brain fog and much physical weakness. I eventually ended up in Beersheva’s Soroka Hospital for a few days, responding well to strong antibiotic treatment. I received excellent care from the primarily Arab Bedouin medical staff. At this point I am home, gradually regaining strength (about 80% back to normal). Fever, sweats and shakings are gone. Mental clarity is nearly fully recovered. Sense of humor is untouched. Prayer is appreciated for a full and speedy recovery.

So much has happened during this last month in our fast-moving world. In particular, in the Middle East, head-spinning and earth-shaking events continue at break-neck speed. Yet the Scriptures’ prophetic perspective and spiritual wisdom still speak with clarity, authority and truth to all who would listen. Our generation is moving so quickly that we could well be missing the main thrust of the divine story: God, the Great Referee, is operating on the playing field of this planet – for His glory and for the salvation and restoration of His chosen people Israel.

Thorns in your eyes

God warned Moses and Joshua that the Jewish people would be confronting mortal enemies who were still living in the Promised Land. He gave the Hebrew nation clear instructions on how to deal with these enemies, and soberly warned Israel of specific consequences if His commands were to be ignored (see Judges 1):

The armies of Israel were to make no covenant or agreement with the ‘inhabitants of the land’; they were also to tear down their religious sites. If Israel allowed their foes to co-exist with them in the Promised Land, YHVH declared: “Know with certainty that YHVH your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you. But they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which YHVH your God has given you” (Joshua 23:10-15). The God of Jacob promised that, if Israel did not follow YHVH’s commands on this matter, “YHVH will bring upon you all the warnings, until He has eliminated you from this good land which YHVH your God has given you.”

Edom and Amalek – all in the family

Over 2,600 years ago, about 600 B.C., the prophet Ezekiel described Edom/Esau as Israel’s sworn enemy:

Eight hundred years before Ezekiel entered into prophetic ministry, Moses had already pinpointed the coming significance of Esau’s firstborn grandson Amalek: he was described in the Scriptures as an arch-enemy of the Jewish people: “Timna was a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz” (Genesis 36:12). The background to this enmity is explained in Exodus 17, at the Battle of Rephidim:

Wiping out the name of Amalek

 

The God of Israel’s commandment to destroy Amalek is something very serious in His eyes.

 

The principle here is straight out of the Abrahamic Covenant: “I will bless those who bless you. And him who dishonors you I will curse!” (Genesis 12:3 ESV). In Moses’ day the Amalekites attempted to slaughter the Jewish people – exactly what Hamas jihadis tried to do to Jewish people on October 7, 2023 in the Gaza border area. YHVH’s response to Amalekite atrocities was not to proffer a Camp David peace treaty or an Oslo Peace Accords. The God of Jacob didn’t even suggest the possibility of a ceasefire, or the exiling of all Amalekites to another country. YHVH’s orders were straight to the point: Israel is ordered to slaughter Amalek, to wipe out even the remembrance of that people from the face of the earth. How many people today would consider these commands of the God of the Hebrews to be politically correct?

Deadly serious about Amalek

 

YHVH’s determination to remove Amalek from the rosters of mankind is something that some people have difficulty comprehending. King Saul was one such person.

The God of Israel sees the dividing up of the Promised Land and sharing it with the Jewish people’s enemies as major rebellion against His will. Such a step disqualifies kings and brings exile upon the Jewish people. We live in sobering times, when both the majority of the world and a significant percentage of the Jewish people are not tracking with the abiding nature of these commandments of God; they have no problem ignoring these divine principles. Yet the word of God has not changed.

Jewish history and enemies of the Jews

The Jewish calendar of feasts and fasts is replete with the names of our enemies – those who tried to commit genocide against the Israeli nation, and nearly succeeded in doing so. Egypt’s Pharaoh, Sinai’s Amalek, Balak of Moab and Balaam his professional curser, Edom, Haman of Persia – this is a partial biblical list of our historical foes.

Psalm 83 lists eleven enemy nations who are trying to carry out genocide against the Jews: Edomite Palestinians, Ishmaelite Bedouin, Moabite Jordanians, Sinaitic Hagrites and Amalekites, Lebanese from Gebal and Tyre, Central Jordanian Ammonites, Gazans from Philistia, Northern Iraqis from Assyria, and Southern Jordanians descended from Lot. The upcoming Feast of Purim reminds us of how another nation – Iran - nearly wiped out all the Jewish people living in the Persian Empire. And once again, in our day Iran’s shadow falls across the doorstep of the Jewish nation, glowing with nuclear energy.

In modern times, Islamist and jihadi enemies have become part of the equation. According to the words of the Hebrew prophets, these nations are taking counsel to divide up, occupy and rule the Jewish homeland, actively pursuing the murder of the sons and daughters of Jacob.  They are backed up at the UN, strengthened by the EU and USAID, and trained and armed by superpowers of East and West. These Islamist forces push counterfeit strategies directly opposed to biblical principles: they strive not to bless Israel but to curse her; not to liberate the Jewish people but to enslave them; not to bring life to the Hebrews but to annihilate Jacob’s seed. And in a perverse reversal of Genesis 12:3 and Romans 1:16, they strive to actuate these demonic strategies “ to the Jew first.”

The Bible’s most-wanted list of enemies of the Jews

In Ezekiel chapters 25, 35 and 36, a comprehensive list of Middle Eastern enemies of the Jewish people is given. Their sins against Israel are detailed and coming judgments are described. Here are the countries, their sins against Israel, and their judgments:

Ammon

Moab

Edom

Philistia

Edom

Prophecy about Gaza

About 720 BC, Isaiah prophesied concerning a Last Days military invasion of Gaza (the Philistine Plain) by the combined forces of Israel’s armies. This invasion will conquer all of Gaza, as well as possess the Edomite/Palestinian West Bank, all of Jordan and other unnamed Arabic speaking peoples east of Israel.

Current events show us that this End of Days oracle is not far off.

 

When the God of vengeance arises

When Messiah Yeshua returns, He will not have a long-stemmed rose between His teeth. On the contrary. According to Revelation 19:11-16:

The New Covenant Messiah, “out of whose mouth comes a sharp two-edged sword” (Revelation 1:15-17), is the same Lord spoken of in Psalm 137:7-8:

 

The God of the Bible is not only the God of love and of mercy; He is also the God of justice and vengeance, though many believers sidestep these aspects of His divine character. Psalm 94:1-10 enlightens us:

The enemies of the Jewish people are very much alive. Their murderous malice shimmers before us. God is raising up His Ezekiel 37 army to confront and vanquish Israel’s foes. Our prayers to Him need to recognize His multi-faceted nature: the God of victory is also the God of vengeance. We are to call on Him for His strategies and heart to be fulfilled – not only for international repentance, but also for His glory, His victory and His holy vengeance.

 

 

How shall 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 or credit card) through: https://davidstent.org/

The Black Riders of Jihad

Jihadi terror is not new – it has ancient roots. Though some in the West see themselves as ‘post-Christian,’ many in the Islamic world look back with longing for the ‘Golden Age’ when mujahidin (jihadi armies) terrorized North Africa, the Middle East and southern Europe – Muslim warriors on horseback, armed with sabers and black flags. That black flag traces its roots to the very beginning of Islam: it was traditionally carried into jihadi battle by Muhammad and his armies.

Magnus Ranstorp, an expert on Islamic fundamentalist movements and the Research Director of the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defense College, notes that modern jihadi groups – al Qaeda in Iraq, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (active in Yemen and Saudi Arabia), and the al-Shabab group in Somalia – all use the same flag. “The most important thing is the color. This raya (راية), the solid black flag, was the Prophet Mohammed’s war banner. This flag compresses time and space – it harks back to where they came from and where they are going. It is not just the color of jihad and of the caliphate, but it represents the coming of what some believers see as the final battle and the day of resurrection.” There is an Islamic End-of-Days element in the flag, pitting the forces of Islam against the Christian West. “This symbol tells us where they have come from, the sacredness of their mission and what they want – a caliphate.” “In the contemporary Islamist movement, the black flag is used to symbolize both offensive jihad and the proponents of reestablishing the Islamic Caliphate.”

There is a connection between the Islamist desire for the return of the Caliphate, and the activist terror tactics of jihad – the return of the Black Riders of jihad. For some historical and literary context, see the Nazgûl, and the oprichniki.

The aching vacuum

Islam began not with a whimper but with a bang. There are four stages which can help us to understand the Muslim past and how many Muslims understand their future.

The first stage was the revelation Muhammad received from a demonic spirit-being who called himself ‘Jibril’ and conveyed teaching that God’s name is not YHVH; that the Jewish people’s calling has ended; that Yeshua is not the Son of God; that He did not die on the cross; that every knee must bow not to Yeshua but to allah through Muhammad’s message.

The second stage was that this message must be declared to the whole world (in Arabic, da’wah). If it is received, the hearers become Muslims. If it is rejected, jihad (Islamic holy war) is declared against those who have not bowed the knee to the Jibrilian revelation. The choices here are three: convert under threat; become a slave-status dhimmi (Arabic for ‘protected’, but in reality a second class citizens with few civil rights and needing to pay a punishing tax called the jizya); beheading or some other form of killing.

The third stage was the caliphate – the governmental and organizational solidification of the Islamist dictatorship in all the countries that Islam conquered.

The fourth stage was the blunting of jihadi expansion in such countries like France (Charles Martel and the Battle of Tours/Poitiers in 732 A.D.); Vienna (the Siege of Vienna in 1529, and the Battle of Vienna in 1683); the Reconquista or ‘Reconquering’ of al-Andalus/Spain between 722 and 1492 A.D.. Combined with a waning of jihadi zeal and the growth of Islamic prosperity, Islamic theology began to declare a new definition – ‘dar al-‘Ahd’/ ‘dar al-Sulh’ (‘the house of truce’ or ‘house of treaty/conciliation’) – instead of continuous military jihad leading to full Islamist conquest of the world. This breakdown in Quranic Islamist strategy was described and rebuked by Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328). He adamantly insisted that Islam’s weakenings and defeats were due to Muslim adoption of Western culture, ideas and practices and a slacking of prosecuting jihad. The modern Salafi movement agrees, believing that these former empires lost their greatness because they had fallen away from ‘authentic Islam.’ Only a return to strict (‘salafi’) interpretation of Islamic shari’a  law and a restoration of caliphate government would make Islam great again. That was (and remains) their perspective.

Two strategic questions guide modern Islamist revivalists:

The Egyptian Godfather and his four-fold cord

The collapse of the Ottoman/Turkish caliphate in 1924 led to movements for a revival of the Caliphate. The first major one was the Muslim Brotherhood, spearheaded by Hassan al-Banna. The vision of the Muslim Brotherhood as per al-Banna: the formation of an Islamic state governed by shari’a and a return to a society modelled after that of Muhammad and his first followers. The purpose of the Muslim Brotherhood was and remains: to restore Islam to the global power and dominance over Christendom that it had wielded for more than a thousand years; and, to return Islam to its divine destiny – the unification of all regimes under the banner of the Caliphate, the universal Islamic state.

Four of Al-Banna’s disciples became the apostles of jihad: Egyptian Sayyid Qutb, Jordanian Abdullah Azzam, Yemenite/Saudi Osama bin Laden and Egyptian Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966), an Egyptian political theorist and revolutionary, was a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood and is considered the ‘father of Salafi jihadism,’ and ‘intellectual godfather of Osama bin Laden.’ His philosophy underpins those of both al-Qaedaand ISIS.  Here are four links to articles explaining his significant influence on jihadi thought and action:

Qutb was the founding father and leading theoretician of the contemporary extremist movement, and was one of the two most influential Muslim thinkers of this century (the other being Indian Abul A’la Maududi). Most Sunni Islamic revolutionaries base their models of revolution on Qutb’s epic book ‘Milestones.’ William McCants, of US Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center, notes that the jihadi enemies of the West “cite Sayyid Qutb repeatedly and consider themselves his intellectual descendants. ”

Whereas Hassan al-Banna tried to build an Islamic society from the bottom up, Qutb developed a top-down approach, focused on removing non-Islamic rulers and governments. He advocated the use of violence to establish Islamic rule, inspiring thousands to take up the cause of “establishing God’s rule on earth” (i.e., the Caliphate). But Qutb struggled with the reality that most Muslims were not zealously committed to jihad. His perspectives can be condensed to the following three Arabic words:

Jahiliyya – originally meant to describe pre-Islamic ignorance and barbarism, Qutb expanded the term to include both the whole non-Muslim world and most of what is considered the Islamic world, since they are not ruled by a strict interpretation of shari’a (original Islamic law).  Instead of adopting al-Banna’s dream of establishing an Islamic state in Egypt after a systematic and patient Islamization, Qutb called for a revolutionary vanguard which would first establish an Egyptian Islamic state by violent jihadi revolution.

Shari’a (original Islamic law) – Qutb scorned and spurned the Islamic scholars and medieval commentators, declaring that they had departed from the original early Islamic teachings of Muhammad. Their religious structures (and the states that support them) are all ‘takfir’ – heretical, and should be removed. A valid caliphate is only one which uncompromisingly holds to the teachings of Muhammad without compromise.

Violent jihad –  Al-Banna and Qutb both advocated violent jihad. Qutb now provided an Islamist theological basis for violent jihad against Muslim governments as well. Specifically: Jihad is to encompass the entire world. All current Muslim governments are heretical, because they do not uncompromisingly obey shari’a. Therefore, jihad must be carried out in all countries that do not obey shari’a  law. Any place where the Islamic shari’a  law is not enforced and where Islam is not dominant is seen by Qutb and his followers as ‘dar al-Harb’ – the territory of war and hostilities.

Qutb’s blend of Islamist and Nazi anti-Semitism

Qutb was influenced by classical Islamist anti-Semitism, and he faithfully passed on what had been transmitted to him through his religious training. To this foundation he added classic Nazi racist teachings of Judenhass – Jew-hatred. Here are some examples of his teaching:

From Jordanian Jenin to Russian Jihad

Sheikh Abdullah Yusuf Azzam was born in 1941, in the village of Silat al-Harithiyah northwest of Jenin (then Jordan), just south of Afula in modern Israel.  He studied Islamic Law (shari’a) at Damascus University’s Sharia College and at Cairo’s al-Azhar University. He later developed the slogan  “Jihad and the rifle alone: no negotiations, no conferences and no dialogues!”.  In the mid-1970’s he lectured at King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where one of his reverent students and later aide-de-camp was Osama bin Laden. In 1981 Azzam moved to Pakistan, becoming one of the top figures in the Afghani jihad against the Russians in Afghanistan. The Islamic epicenter of Saudi Arabia heavily funded his jihad activities at that time. In 1984 he co-founded MAK (Maktab Khadamāt al-Mujāhidīn al-'Arab), a pre-al-Qa’eda organization for recruiting jihadi warriors to face combat against Russian forces in Afghanistan. In November and December 1989 he established a vanguard jihadi organization known as ‘al-Qaidah al-Sulbah’ (Arabic for ‘the solid base’). Azzam wrote an article at the time in the monthly al-Jihad (April 1988) declaring a global Islamic jihad:

In December 1987 Azzam maintained close contact with Hamas as it was being established, as well as with Palestinian Islamic Jihad. This was no surprise, since both groups were birthed out if the same parent movement – the Muslim Brotherhood. Both Azzam and Hamas founders had been Muslim Brotherhood members. Azzam called Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin “the symbol of the firm position of the Islamic movement.” Azzam’s closeness of heart to Hamas is seen in his book ‘Hamas: The Historical Roots and the Charter’, where he declares that only Hamas is capable of restoring Palestine into Muslim hands.

Abdullah Azzam worked with the CIA to arm and train Taliban jihadi fighters against Soviet Forces in Afghanistan. Azzam’s Islamic perspective was that three things were necessary for an Islamic End-of-Days scenario:

This apocalyptic Islamist scenario is the prime motivator for the jihadi terrorists of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza and the West Bank; for HTS (Hay’at al-Tahrir as-Sham) in Syria; for much of Turkey’s leadership; for Islamic State/Da’esh in Iraq and Syria; etc. The Muslim vision for the restoration of the Caliphate, for world Islamic control and for crushing defeat of Israel and the West, is something that most Westerners (and even many Israelis) do not fully grasp. Much prayer and dedicated intercession is needed on these matters.

 

How shall 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 or credit card) through: https://davidstent.org/

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