What, all of it, Boaz?

>>To understand the relationship between Israel and America... Read the Old Testament book of Nehemiah and then Esther.<<

But I expect this is the bit you mean:

"Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel. And next unto him builded the men of Jericho. And next to them builded Zaccur the son of Imri. But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. And next unto them repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz. And next unto them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel. And next unto them repaired Zadok the son of Baana. And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their LORD." Nehemiah 3: 1-5

Sounds to me more like post-Katrina New Orleans.

Incidentally, how does the Old Testament relate to a country that - at that time - was inhabited by iron-age tribes? The only possible linkage I could see would be via a form of sub-Nostradaman analogy, where a passage such as the above is translated to "...and it shall come to pass in the year of the white fire that the lion will tear out the throat of the wildebeeste...".

Just kidding, of course. But it would be more informative if you would be specific, Boaz, as to which part of Nehemiah/Esther you have in mind.

Deliberate vagueness Pericles :) *it worked* .. you read up.. well done old son.

The point, now to be more specific, is the 'historical context' of God protecting his elect. Not the whole of the Israelite nation, but the 'remnant'... which is a lot like the 'true' Church.. it isn't every bum on every pew.. it's those for whom Christ lives inside.

Next time you meet a Jew... ask "who was Haman?"... you might get some passionate answers.

Haman was a man with a most interesting family pedigree. I've covered this before, but it bears repeating.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haman_%28Bible%29

He was the son of Hammedatha the Agagite....

Agagite ? what's an Agagite ...hmmm ok.. we find he was a king of the Amalekites which Israel was tasked to utterly wipe out.

Is it any surprise that he (Haman) in turn, when he has the ear of the Persian King, Ahasuerus, that he tries to get all Israelites wiped out ?

All I'm saying, is that in the bigger picture, Israel is covered by the promise to Abraham in Gen 12:1-3 "those who curse you, I will curse"

So.. this is how the middle east can be understood. As to the question of whether history bears this out ? You make the call.

VALLEY OF DRY BONES
You might find Ezekiel 37 quite informative about the return of the Jews to the land... but while that did apply to a restoration from exile.. if you read the full rest of the book, you should gain the impression it has a dual fulfillment aspect.

When it comes to the Jews.. it seems God has his man... in the right place at the right time.. to always avoid total calamity.

That was my point.

The really sad thing, Boaz, is that I believe you are serious.

>>All I'm saying, is that in the bigger picture, Israel is covered by the promise to Abraham in Gen 12:1-3 "those who curse you, I will curse" So.. this is how the middle east can be understood<<

You are suggesting that a 'curse", made thousands of years ago by an imaginary voice from the sky, has relevance in this post-nuclear age?

One of the problems is that so many other folk hear voices too, saying completely contradictory things.

The upshot of this is that "the voice" appears to give the individual license to take action that normal people would consider murderous, inhumane or just plain antagonistic. Particularly against those whose "voice" comes from a different source.

The most dangerous part is, of course, that "listening to the voice" means that the individual doesn't have to take the moral responsibility upon himself, for the killing and the mayhem.

It was God wot dunnit.

Pathetic, really.

Incidentally Boaz, I notice you didn't even have the courtesy to answer the question, while you were busy being patronizing.

>>Deliberate vagueness Pericles :) *it worked* .. you read up.. well done old son.<<

The question asked...

>>which part of Nehemiah/Esther you have in mind<<

It is a favourite trick of yours, to make claims that you then fail to substantiate. But I would have thought that at least you'd have a biblical quote available at a moment's notice...

[“The Arab world appears to want Palestinians everywhere but in their countries.”]

The family of the Patriarch Abraham, Palestinians and Jews, lived peaceably in their own country for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Atheist Zionist Europeans. The Zionists brought with them European ideas of racial superiority and began ethnic cleansing pogroms of dispossession/displacement of one half of the indigenes. Biblical tales quoted as proof of ownership unfortunately faith is not fact besides, Zionists claim Atheism, eliminating Biblical imperatives.

[“The extended kingdoms of David and Solomon, on which the Zionists base their territorial demands, endured for only about 73 years...Then it fell apart...[Even] if we allow independence to the entire life of the ancient Jewish kingdoms, from David’s conquest of Canaan in 1000 B.C. to the wiping out of Judah in 586 B.C., we arrive at [only] a 414 year Jewish rule.”]
See.........[“Arab and Jew in the Land of Canaan.” By Illene Beatty]

[“The ONLY way there will be peace in the middle-east is when the Arabs stop teaching their children to hate so much.”]

The religious Arab and the religious Jew have lived together as you would expect “kinfolk” to live, in peace and harmony since their common patriarch Abraham spawned the brothers that birthed the two off shoots. Their God, “Hashem, Allah” established separate Covenants with the two tribes promising peace and prosperity for their allegiance, worship and obedience.

This has always been the bane in the side of Europeans and the European Church as they have always believed that they had been “grafted” onto the root stock of Judaism.

Hence the incessantly constant reference by Europeans to the so call “Judaic-Christian”..... (insert whatever you want here). Religious Jews cringe every time this contrived nexus is quoted as the two beliefs could not be further apart and actually Xtianity is considered a “heresy” in Judaism and Islam.

Violence, hatred and bigoted racial superiority ideas only began when Zionist ethnic European people started to arrive and displace one half of the indigenes purposely driving a wedge in between the sister religions of Judaism and Islam.

............continued

The article is fine except that it is far too gentle in what is proposed for dealing with Israel. We need to recognize that the UN made a monumental mistake in allowing it to be created where it is, and to kick the Zionists out of the region so that a fair and just peace can be established.

Even back in Moses time the Jews were a troublesome lot, illegally amassing armaments whilst they were citizens of Egypt "so that they could protect themselves" whilst they left the land that had nurtured them to look for their imagined "promised land". Led by the madman who reckoned he saw his god in a burning bush, the one who told Pharaoe that a few natural disasters were plagues engineered by his god, the Jews wandered around the desert for a while before establishing themselves in Jerusalem. Quite likely, with their illegally amassed armaments, they created havoc amongst existing local populations if their behaviour in modern times is any guide. But they were then apparently satisfied for a while, following their crazy practices of killing animals as sacrifices to their vicious god.

In the time of the Roman empire, The Romans kicked the Jews out of their homeland, something that they didn't seem to find necessary with other populations. If only the USA would be so brave!

By the time of the second world war the Jews had again drawn unfavourable attention to themselves by their weird beliefs and practices, leading to another disaster for them. Their behaviour since the founding of modern Israel has been even worse.

It's high time something decisive was done but, as the article points out, the Jews nurtured in the USA prevent the action coming from there. Australia isn't much help either, with former PM Rudd pledging Australia's unshakable friendship with the warlike, stubborn, nuclear armed little country that is Israel, and Julia Gillard visiting there on a sponsored holiday designed to twist her mind before she even became PM.

God has a lot to answer for!