Posted on 05/13/2010 10:14:39 AM PDT by pastorbillrandles
Balaam On Being Paid to Curse Israel
Part 1
By: Pastor Bill Randles
I will bless those that bless you and curse those who curse you and in you all the families of the world will be blessed. Genesis 12:3
Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me, peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom thou (Balaam) bless is blest and he whom you curse is cursed. Numbers 22:6
Perhaps the most misunderstood story in the Bible is that of Balaam, the pagan prophet. When it is told, it is usually related as a morality story, merely a caution against greed in ministry. The love of money indeed is part of the story - as well as the danger of false prophets and corrupt ministers. But lately I have come to realize that there is an eschatological dimension to this story that too often is unappreciated. It is amazing how current and relevant the story of Balaam really is to today’s geo-political situation.
The story takes place at the end of the Exodus; at the time the children of Israel were preparing to possess the land God had given them. Once again the immediate neighbors of Israel take exception to their rights to the land. The ancestors of the modern Arabs, Jordanians and ‘Palestinians’ feared the Israeli occupation of the land, having full knowledge of what God had done to Egypt and through them to Og, one of their chief Kings.
And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. Numbers 22:2-3
Balak, the king of the Moabites, as it turned out, had nothing to fear from the Israelites, not knowing that God had commanded them not to dispossess the Moabites.
And the LORD said to me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give you of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession. Deuteronomy 2:9
This scenario is a current event, for there is nothing the modern state of Israel would welcome more than to live in peace with her hostile neighbors.
Balak, fearing Israel, and knowing he couldn’t prevail militarily with them, set out to hire someone who could “curse” Israel. The word “curse” in this sense is a Hebrew word which means to “hollow” them out, to “drain” them of their confidence.
Is this not the modern situation also? Arab neighbors of Israel, frustrated by their inability to dispossess Israel out of the land, have been using their newly gained petro-wealth, and the power that goes with it, to literally hire people to curse Israel! They have been able to successfully deny the very legitimacy of Israel in the minds of many. Oil money has successfully lobbied political leaders, educators, the media and a good many of those who are in position to shape the ideas and perspectives of the rest of us, to take a belligerent stance against Israel.
Billions of petro dollars have poured into the coffers of institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Georgetown University, and Fox News, as well as into the campaign chests of numerous western politicians, all in the interest of selling us the story line which delegitimizes Israel, and romanticizes Islam’s version of history. There are many Balaam’s!
Perhaps the last straw is the seduction of leaders of the confessing Christian church into “cursing Israel”. No less than the Pope himself leads the charge in delegitimizing Israel’s claims to the Holy Land, as here recounted in a Jerusalem Newswire story dated May 17, 2009 entitled,
“Pope to ‘Palestinians’, Israel is Your Forefather’s Land”
“The Biblical land of Israel is actually the "land of YOUR forefathers" Pope Benedict told the Palestinian Arabs in Bethlehem last week. With this statement the pontiff, who has now departed Israel after five days of meddling in the country's affairs on a "pilgrimage" he called "a mission of peace," authenticity on the massive deception that is "Palestinian nationhood”.
At the start, in the middle, and at the end of his visit - which was hosted by the State of Israel at no small expense to the taxpayers and mass disruption of Jerusalemites' lives - the head of the Roman Catholic Church voiced his strong support for the creation of a Palestinian state on Jewish lands.
His first and last statements to this effect were made unabashedly in front of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - who has been trying to sidestep international demands that he surrender Israel's biblical heartland to the Arabs.
Speaking at PLO Chief and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' palace in Bethlehem, where he went to conduct a large mass, the pontiff spelled it out:
"The Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with its neighbors, within internationally recognized borders,"
The World Council of Churches, the United States Presbyterian Church, and a host of other church groups too numerous to mention have condemned Israel, divested themselves from Israel, in short have “cursed” Israel, in the sense of hollowing out their confidence, sense of legitimacy and validity as a nation. Balaam lives!
The reward has not always been money, however, as was the case with Balaam. These church groups siding with terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, against the only legitimate democracy in the Middle East, imagine that they are “speaking truth to power”, as they “curse Israel”. The image of themselves as guardians of the human rights of the Palestinians is reward enough for these false Christian groups.
Perhaps the most tragic of all is the erosion of the rock solid support which evangelicals have had for Israel. In the American Thinker article “Splitting the Evangelicals from Israel”, Ed Lasky cites Replacement Theology, the testimony of certain Palestinian Christian leaders, and former US President Jimmy Carter as part of the influence turning many once pro-Israel Christians against Israel. This is a portent that doesn’t bode well, even as the story of Balaam doesn’t end well for anybody but God’s chosen people. Stay tuned for part 2.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/01/splitting_the_evangelicals_fro
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The ADL is so far left that they have no credibility; in fact they will go farher to reach out to islam than to anyone to the right of Shimon Peres. Pull the other one.
So you're an agnostic Jew. And you still haul out your Jewish cred??
In short, you should be quiet.
Lol.
I think we may have our wires crossed here. I have met and get newsletters from Jews for Jesus. I can tell you 100% they are not anti-semetic. These are the people to whom I was refering.
See, a Jew who convert to the Yashua / Yahwe whatever cult becomes whatever demonination he converts to and is no longer a Jew. So what you want is the erasure of Jews. QED. Your mouth is your owen.
First of all, what's an owen? You said that "[y]our mouth is your owen."
Secondly, you're correct IN PART. Obviously Jews can be anti-semites just like everyone else was. Think of the Kapos in World War II who helped the Nazis herd the Jews into the gas chambers like they were cattle.
The conversion of Jews to other religions is not a problem. Again, I'm 100% ethnically Jewish (although agnostic), so I'm going to go toe to toe with you on this. Are you even Jewish? First of all, if you're not, then you need to stop posting. If you are Jewish, then you're just misguided, man. Messianic Judaism is no more of a cult than any other religion is. If someone born to two non-converted Jews later converts to Christianity, then yes, that person is no longer religiously Jewish. They are still ETHNICALLY Jewish, however. Hitler rounded up thousands or tens of thousands of Jewish converts to Lutheranism and Catholicism. Most of these Jews had converted back in the 19th century. Hitler's Gestapo did their investigations and those Jews got sent to camps along with all of the religious Jews. So stop trying to make this out to be a BINARY issue of Jewish/Non Jewish.
Judaism is a race in some respects, for those whose families have been Jewish for generations. If you're ethnically Jewish, then get a DNA profile from a website if you don't believe me. Swab the inside of your cheek and send it off. In a week or so you'll get a detailed report confirming that your DNA can be traced back to Jewish groups populating the Middle East centuries ago.
Judaism is a religion in some respects, for those who converted or whose families converted to Judaism. Sammy Davis Jr. was Jewish even though he had no Jewish blood running through his veins. He still enjoyed all of the advantages and disadvantages of being Jewish.
Judaism is a citizenship in other respects. Jews tend to stick together and help out their own. Racists use this against us and try to say that we are supremacists and don't care about other Jewish people. This is garbage, however. Jews help out plenty of non-Jews as well through good works, philanthropy, etc.
But you can certainly start believing in Jesus and remain Jewish. If you have a Jewish surname, for example, do you think that people won't still assume that you're ethnically Jewish? If you have some Jewish physical traits common in approximately 40% of the Jewish American population (from my own experience with my Jewdar at temple growing up), then you'll still be thought of as Jewish. And if Hitler were alive today, and still running Germany, he would have put your Messianic butt in a camp just like he wanted to do to all of European Jewry. It's blunt, but it's the truth.
Lastly, to discuss your statement that people want the erasure of Jews through conversion. That doesn't even make sense. Hitler tried to erase Jews by killing them. That's how you erase a group. Why are you focusing on conversion? Studies show that ~55% of Jews in America are marrying outside the faith? Are these Jews anti-semitic, Hardraade? Are they trying to erase the Jews? Give me a break, dude. They're simply marrying who they love, just like Jews who take Jesus as their saviour are doing what they feel is right.
Who are you to tell them that they aren't Jewish? They're still ethnically Jewish assuming that they were before. People who hate Jews won't suddenly stop hating them because they converted to Christianity. Again, this is not a black and white issue. I hope other Freepers read this and see exactly what you're trying to do here and how it is not acceptable. You're lashing out at people who are your friends and agree that Israel should remain a free nation, a Jewish homeland in the Middle East. Shame on you. You don't represent me.
“Balaam; being paid to curse Israel”
We just studied this at my church the past couple of weeks.
Most Freepers reading these posts know that I am right and you are wrong. Open your eyes, man. The real anti-semites are right in front of you. Islamists, leftists, white supremacists. You don't need to invent new enemies to distract from the fact that we have many real enemies at present.
Maybe these critters are leading you astray a little.
Anyway, don't take my word for it: The director of a counter-missionary group Torah Atlanta, Rabbi Efraim Davidson, stated that "the Jews for Jesus use aggressive proselytizing to target disenfranchised or unaffiliated Jews, Russian immigrants and college students" and that "their techniques are manipulative, deceptive and anti-Semitic.
One of my many failings. However, I don't regard seculars or Christians as Jews. Judaism will earn you membership, non-judaism will earn you non-membership.
Stop the presses! Where's his proof that they are anti-Semitic? I, too, have never heard any evidence that Jews for Jesus are an anti-semitic group.
Again, I ask you, Hardraade: If these people are anti-semitic, then why are they trying to convert Jews? If you ask them why they want to convert Jews, then they will tell you that they want them to be able to come to heaven with the Christians. How is that anti-Semitic?
You know what anti-Semitism would be? Anti-semitism would be Christians excluding the Jews from the discussion and not telling them about the path that they believe will take someone to heaven. That would be anti-Semitic.
I have no dog in this fight. I'm agnostic. If someone tries to talk to me on campus (as they have) and tells me about how believing in Jesus can save my soul and let me enter the gates of heaven, then how exactly is that anti-Semitic? It's actually pro-Semitic. The Christians trying to do this care SO much about the souls of Jews that they are trying to save them. I sometimes get emotional when I talk about this, but the Christians who attempt to talk to Jews about converting to Judaism are not unlike the Christians who were deemed to be of the Righteous Among the Nations. Like the Christians of today, the Christians who saved Jews from the gas chambers and Einsatzgruppen during the Shoah were looking out for the Jews. For you to slur them by calling them anti-Semitic is disgusting. I'm ashamed to know that you're a fellow Jew. I really am. I just hope Freepers know that not all Jews are like you.
You're not the arbiter of who is Jewish and who is not Jewish. You're simply one Jew, just as I am. Your opinion carries no more weight than mine. Hitler killed secular Jews by the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. Who are you to tell their descendants that their ancestors (who may or may not be secular or believe in Jesus) were not Jewish? That's disgusting. Israel lets people with Jewish ancestry emigrate under the Law of Return even if they are not secular. They also let Messianic Jews emigrate now thanks to an Israeli Supreme Court decision on this matter. Obviously, Israel also lets converts to Judaism emigrate. Thanks to that decision on the Messianic matter, it doesn't matter what you happen to believe as a religion. If you can prove that you have an adequate amount of Jewish ancestry, then you can convert.
P.S. - Hardraade, I'm sure that the roughly 50% of secular Jews in Israel will be happy to hear that they're not Jewish, at least according to you. Especially the families of the secular IDF soldiers who gave their lives defending Israel and continue to do so. You're spitting on their graves when you post this stuff. How can you call YOURSELF Jewish and actually post such stuff? How?
Last word of the second paragraph should be “emigrate”, not “convert”. Doh.
And G-d spoke all these words, saying:
2
I am HaShem thy G-d, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
4
Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
5
thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I HaShem thy G-d am a jealous G-d, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;
End of story.
Agreed the most anti-semitic thing of all is to not tell my people of thier need for Yeshua. Thanks for your sticking up for us.
I guess we can do this though. I mean I have Google as well. Here, this verse seems pretty on point:
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6
46For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.
Need to believe in Moses? Moses wrote of the Nazarene in Deut 13. We do believe in Moses and that is why we reject the man from Nazareth. We take Deut 13, 28 and 30 very seriously.
We do not need to convert to the Greek heresy of the NT. We do not need a god-man human sacrifice, expressly forbidden by G-d. We do not need to drink his blood (forbidden Lev 17:10) or eat his flesh. This is not The Messiah of G-d.
No where in the Jewish scriptures does it say that you need to accept a god-man mediator to have a relationship with G-d.
No prob, but I am actually part of the US (if you mean Jews). Not sure if you saw it above, but I am an agnostic Jew, born to two Jewish parents. I can only trace my family tree five generations back on ancestry.com, but all of those people were Jewish as well.
We Jews descend from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Old Testament states that a covenant was established with the Jews. We are the keepers of the books and the heirs to the promise that God made with the three fathers of Judaism. But this doesn't necessarily mean that Jews are automatically saved. If someone takes Jesus as their saviour, then it is only natural to believe that the Jews are also required to accept Jesus to enter heaven. While they may be in a privileged position as the chosen people of God, they must accept Jesus to enter heaven. What is illogical about that?
Romans 1:16 says this: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."
Now if you believe in the New Testament, then the essence of this passage is that the Jews screwed up. They were supposed to believe in Jesus first, but they passed. So the apostles of Jesus preached to the non-Jews. Why would they pass? They were poised to inherit a role much like the Cohanim played in ancient Judaism? They were going to be the first believers in Jesus.
I have a 1917 JPS Hebrew Scripture, translated from the Masoretic Text, darlin’. Words spoken by G-d to Hebrews. I sure don’t need to “google” it.
You are quoting from the New Testament.
Words spoken by a MAN to MEN via a third party.
Heck of a difference, wouldn’t you say?
Hardly. To Christians, the New Testament is simply the completion of the Old Testament. For generations after the death of Jesus, all of the followers of Christianity were Jews. It only became dominated by non-Jews when it spread to the four corners of the globe. Is Christianity not simply the more complete version of Judaism? Jesus himself was Jewish, born to a Jewish mother. Is it not correct to attempt to save those descendants of the chosen people in the Old Testament?
That is a horrible counter argument since Jesus did not fullfill the requirement of Messiah and in fact created along with his followers a whole new salvation program. That means that G-d is a liar and is a deceiver. (G-d forbid)
they must accept Jesus to enter heaven. What is illogical about that?
Because it is contrary to G-ds word. G-d gave one salvation program and one law. Again, G-d can not introduce a new salvation program without making himself out to be a liar and a deciever. Furthermore, the 3rd temple will be built, sacrifices are returning and therefore Jesus cant be the once for all sacrifice, the finished work. (aside from the whole list of biblical reasons about sacrifices and atonement)
but they passed.
We passed because he did not meet the requirements for Messiah. Even Christians acknowlege that and is why there is the doctrine of the second coming. Frankly, no one can call the Messiah..."The Messiah"....until he has accomplished ALL that is prophesied, until such time, he is a false messiah or failed messiah.
Ummm. No. Earliest Christians were Jews, but limited. Paul went to the gentiles because Jews stayed Jews.
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