Meeting Amalek on the Plains of History

Benjamin Netanyahu in the last two years has invoked the name of Amalek (a descendant of Esau, and a rabid Jew-hater).

The Amalekites were sworn enemies of the Israelites. From the region south of Jerusalem, one of the earliest biblical notes on this tribe comes from Exodus and describes the Amalekites attacking the Israelites that had left Egypt (Exodus 17).

In Genesis 36:16, Amalek is known as the “chief of Amalek” among the chiefs of the sons of Esau.

(Important note: the modern Arabs, particularly those known as “Palestinians,” have the same exact attitude as the ancient Amalekites. Blamers, focused on grievances, committed only to murder and war, rather than nation-building. It’s astonishing how these ancient traits have passed along through history. Nothing has changed in the Near East.)

One of the “controversial” passages from the Bible is the Divine command to wipe the enemy out, including children and livestock. The fact that the Israelites did not carry this out to the letter ensured that the problem would continue into the future. Far into the future.

Secularists (and too many Bible scholars) claimed for the longest that there was no proof of the Amalekites from history, but they existed for sure. Those same skeptics ascribe any modern linkage from Amalek to the “Palestinians” is purely symbolic. I very much disagree. The spirit of Amalek absolutely infests “Palestinian” culture, and in the individual minds that murder Jews. The animals that strangled the Bibas family to death in the Gaza Strip were full of the same demons.

So Netanyahu’s description is spot-on.

One has only to look at the continuing efforts to wipe Israel out, by her neighbors. That includes and especially the Qatar cabal.

Iran right now is not only working to rebuild its nuclear facilities, I’ve read a credible report that they are attempting to develop “pure fusion,” right now just a theoretical hydrogen bomb that is much harder to detect by Israel and the U.S. It bypasses the usual reliance on plutonium and uranium. Whether it can actually be done is another matter, but they are trying. I will say—with of course absolutely no evidence—that it would not surprise me at all if the Israelis already have such a weapon. Say, for use when a certain international army comes to Jerusalem’s doorstep.

Besides this, Iran is working hard to cozy up to Lebanon (which surprisingly is somewhat giving them the cold shoulder at the moment, fearful of incurring the wrath of the IDF) and Iraq. The extremely anti-Semitic Iraq is all-in on trying to wipe out Israel. Because of the shifting political landscape in Syria, Iran is scrambling to rebuild its terror infrastructure on Israel’s borders.

The Houthis are also still a threat. I will say it again, even if it’s unpopular: the Trump Administration’s pulling back at the brink of bringing down Tehran, along with the simultaneous shackling of Israel to finish-off Hamas…that will bring judgment on the West. God has Israel’s back, but no one else is promised Divine protection as the last-days prophecies heat up.

Jimfletcher761@gmail.com

www.patreon.com/TheGodThatAnswers

Rapid Response

It’s astounding how much Israel has had to adapt to new threats over the last 75-odd years. Constant vigilance. Consistent analysis. Forward thinking. Fluid plans.

Thankfully, the country’s military and intelligence capabilities are far beyond what their neighbors can muster. Of course, there are concerns about America now willing to sell advanced fighter jets to Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Very disappointing from the Administration, but some of us are realizing we are going it alone. It will never make sense that Israel had Hamas on the gallows, along with Iran. And apparently President Trump made them stand down.

Israel though is really really good at adapting.

We know there are shifting alliances all the time. The shifts used to come every few decades. Now they are every few months. The Abraham Accords I don’t think are the panacea many believe them to be. Expecting economic booms to counter or even blunt jihad is, I think, naïve.

Saudi Arabia’s mild overtures to Israel a couple years ago were more about finding a killer to erase the Iranian threat. Now that Iran is degraded in terms of their nuclear threat, the urgency is no longer there. So the Saudis are demanding that in exchange for “normalization” Israel must submit to a “Palestinian” state.

America does great things for Israel—moving the embassy, recognizing Israeli sovereignty on the Golan, etc.—but later imperils them with cozy moves toward Gulf States, all of whom do not like Israel, but would be interested in Jewish help in the areas of economics and technology.

So Israel has a long reality watching friends turn into foes, and vice versa. It never ends.

A report from The Jerusalem Post sees a new alliance shaping up for Israel.

“Senior officials from Israel, Greece, and Cyprus are discussing the possibility of establishing a rapid-response force composed of units from the armed forces of the three countries, three people familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post.

“The initiative is part of a broader effort to deter Turkey’s military and strategic activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, they said.”

Wow. Historically, at least in the modern era, Israel has had difficult experiences with those countries.

During World War 2, Greece’s 80,000 Jews were mostly exterminated by the Nazis. As in other countries, there individuals that helped save Jews, but Greece’s modern relationship with Israel has been uneven at best.

As of 2014:

“In Greece, population 10 million, the 5,000 Jews represent a small minority (3,000, mainly in Athens, and 1,000 in Thessaloniki). Despite denials on the part of most Greek opinion leaders and leaders of the Greek Jewish community, anti-Semitism does seem to exist in Greece, perhaps not so much in social behaviour, but rather as a latent structure. The Orthodox Church continues to include in the liturgy ritual of Good Friday anti-Jewish references and also the religious prejudices against ‘the Christ killers’ remain virulent. Anti-Semitic rhetoric in Greece usually takes the form of opposition to a conspiratorial conception of ‘Zionism,’ interpreted as a ‘Jewish plot for world domination.’”

As for Cyprus, there are currently only 100 Jews on the island of Cyprus, there is this growing bilateral relationship with Israel. Located south of Turkey and west of Lebanon and Syria, Cyprus is in the danger zone. Cyprus has only been independent since 1960. Believe it or not, in 1902 Theodor Herzl recommended that Cyprus become the new Jewish state!

While Cyprus is not big enough to threaten Israel, putting together the proposed strike force, to be a buffer with Turkey (a real villain in the area) is not a bad idea. We’ll see where all this goes with Israel/Greece/Cyprus, but it looks like we are in another period of fluid alliances for Israel.

The prophet Jeremiah of course told us long ago that Israel one day would wind up alone. We don’t know how close we are to that moment, but for now, Israel will leverage any help in the ongoing fight to stay alive.

Jimfletcher761@gmail.com

www.patreon.com/TheGodThatAnswers

(Help me keep the momentum going with my two new titles, The God That Answers by Fire and Zechariah 2. They really are great Christmas gifts as you line-up Bible studies for the New Year. Many thanks!)