ISRAEL UPDATESeptember 21, 2003 - On September 13, 1993, Yasser Arafat, then President Bill Clinton, and Yitzak Rabin signed the Oslo I Accord on the White House lawn. It was heralded as a beginning of a Utopian Age of peace and prosperity.
Casualty reports of the period from September 1993 to September 2000 are staggering. Since the start of the Intifadah in September of 2000 to September 10, 2003, the Israelis have suffered 5,862 wounded and 859 deaths. There have been 18,693 terrorist attacks in this same time frame – that’s an average of 519 per month!
The Palestinian casualties number 2,452 dead and 24,468 wounded during this same period. Meanwhile, both sides have suffered horrific financial losses.
Now, it has been said a thousand times that you don't make peace with your friends, but rather you make peace with your enemies.
It is also true the Israelis have been at war with the Palestinians in one way or another for more than 50 years.
And it could be said that there have been many agreements made in the name of peace that have been violated.
But the truth of the matter is that the sheer numbers of dead and wounded, along with the vast loss of revenue is not due to the unwillingness of Israel to negotiate peace. From 1979 to the present, the Israelis have conceded nearly 99 percent of the territory seized in the 1967 war… And what do they have to show for it?
As we have passed the 10th anniversary of the Utopian Age of peace and prosperity, we can say emphatically, “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” I Thess 5:3
September 21, 2003 - The seventh and final type of Pharisee is referred to as a Pharisee from fear, whose relationship to G-d is one of trembling awe.
Is interesting to note the Hebrew verb for G-dly fear is “yare” – denoting the idea of standing in awe.
Not as much in fear, but rather reverence, as the Israelites feared after what G-d did to the Egyptians as told in Exodus 14:31.
They were also compared to Job, not just psychological fear, but we know Job feared G-d enough that he chose to hate evil. Job 1:1
Paul was a good Pharisee who wrote of this principle in Phil 2:12, “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
The principle here does two things. First it deals with G-d on a person to deity level, and second, doing this correctly will cause us to realize it is a serious thing to work out this salvation.
While the Scriptures name few Pharisees, we can understand there were two good groups. We find that Jesus addresses specific groups, rather than an entire movement.
To understand the seven types of Pharisees is to understand the church. We cannot lump all groups into one. It was not the doctrinal system that was wrong, but rather how people applied it to their lives.
It is interesting to note there were 32 Sects of Judaism during Jesus' day. After 2000 years, only two groups survive - the Church of Jesus and Rabbinical Judaism that came from the Pharisees. It is all part of G-d's plan.
To be continued . . .