By Tom Brennan
Learning to stand firm on principle with Israel as a model.
Back in the 1990’s there was a well done series on TV drawn from the Sharpe’s Rifles novel series. Sharpe is a sergeant in the British Army who saves the life of the Duke of Wellington and is promoted to Lieutenant. The British Army has always been characterized by the privilege of nobles and peers being able to buy commissions for their sons . How they ever won anything is a mystery considering the large number of total incompetents who had their commissions bought and paid for by their parents. Sharpe is the object or derision from the hoi-poloi in red and gold braid but he is the model for the riflemen. In one episode new recruits are “read their rights” and told about the fearsome Grenadiers of Bonaparte. Sharpe says they will keep coming up through three well placed volleys and then break. The riflemen had to stand through three volleys. The bluster and boasting of the recruits begins to run thin as he asks each “will ye stand”? Israel has withstood unbelievable odds since 1948. Still they stand. How do they do it? Today Christians are seeing the persecutions which Jesus/Yeshua foretold. Will we take the mark of the beast, compromise so our families can eat, so we can work and get paid, pay rent, buy gas and move about? It looks like the rest of the world is doing that in many ways. “Will ye stand”?
Despite the reality that many of the first Zionists were socialists, believed in many social, economic and even religious ideas that are opposed by observant Jews and Christians alike, Israel exists today as a result of their work and labor. Many Jews who fled Europe before the Fascist firestorm brought a more religious tone to the new settlements. 1948 saw a Jewish State with an official religious status as what we see today, and which stands today as a bulwark against a violent and usually dictatorial region beset by constant revolution and brutalities. Israel’s foundation is one of faith, that’s why they stand.
Recent reports state that this last Yom Kippur saw many secular or non observant Jews in Israel following the customs and traditions of the Day of Atonement. Perhaps the constant attacks from all sides, the undependable allies and the rise of The Caliphate as a return to the 7th century original Islam, a non-peaceful fire and sword Islam of Muhammad came as a shock to the modern mind. When we see our culture, our technology and energy-based civilizations under assault by single minded beings intent on our destruction, an internal need to rely on a stable and never-changing G-d becomes more evident. The old saying that there are “no atheists in foxholes” can translate into there are no non-believers in bomb shelters when Hamas or Hezbollah launch their rockets on innocent civilians.
Modern conventional wisdom considers negotiations, compromises and agreements among politicians as the only civilized route to follow. Anyone who stands fast, anyone who believes fully in a G-d Who never changes, a G-d Who will judge at the end of time, this is what our society today terms an extremist, a fanatic. “He Who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Israel stands, “will ye stand” too.
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