PEACE, PEACE, WHERE IS THE PEACE ???

The rockets keep coming, and the troops are back
in Southern Lebanon, another Tisha B'Av has came and gone, where will this all end? Peace, Peace, that's all we've heard since Israel's rebirth in May 1948. Where IS the PEACE? On this blog I would like to explore some of the reasons why Israel is once again at war, and why PEACE still eludes her.

As I sit here this afternoon, I am a woman with a broken heart. As all of us who love Israel have done for the past three + weeks, I have been glued to my TV and the internet, trying to follow the latest news from Israel. Half of my heart is here in America dealing with the issues of my day-to-day life while the other half is with the people of Israel and this latest war. In the past few hours more rockets have landed in Haifa, the details of this latest attack on Israeli civilians can be found in the lead story from IsraelNationalNews.com, I've pasted the link to this article, which reads as follows:

Monday, August 07, 2006, 13 Av 5766

3 Dead, 160 Injured in Rocket Barrage on Haifa Three Israelis were killed and scores more wounded in a rocket barrage that slammed into Haifa a few minutes before 8:00 pm Sunday evening. more

My heart breaks for these innocent victims and their families. When will this horror end?

How many more rockets will hit Haifa and the communities of Northern Israel? Will Tel Aviv be next? What will be the outcome of yet another war? Only HaShem knows, but I believe we can find many of the answers that we're seeking in the Nevi'im (The Prophets), and the Kethuvim (The Writings). I would like to attempt to address this current crisis in the light of The Tanakh (The Holy Bible). I feel that the answers will become clear as we apply the Holy Scriptures, and that they will give us clear guidance to assure, not only Her survival, but also the ultimate glorious VICTORY of our BELOVED ISRAEL.

First, I would like to say that all the verses which I will be quoting will be taken from the JPS English Edition of The Tanakh (The Holy Scriptures). One of my favorite verses in the entire Bible is found in the Kethuvim (The Writings), Proverbs 3:5-7, where it reads, "Trust in the L-rd with all your heart, And do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths smooth. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the L-rd and shun evil." Here I believe is the key to the answers we are seeking. We must not rely on our own understanding. We must look to G-D for direction. We must acknowledge Him in all that we do and He has promised that if we do this, then He will make our paths smooth and it will be well with us in the end. We are instructed to fear HaShem and to shun ALL evil. If we will live by these simple teachings then we are guaranteed the VICTORY. Sounds simple enough doesn't it? So why haven't we seen the PEACE in our BELOVED ISRAEL that VICTORY brings? Because we haven't seen VICTORY, and why have we not seen VICTORY, because we have not lived by the teachings I just referenced. It's as simple and yet as complex as this. Now let's look a little deeper at the reasons why PEACE eludes us, though we seek it with all of our hearts.

The first words of this Scripture really sum it all up best, "Trust in the L-rd". To trust is, to rely on, to rest in, to believe with ALL our hearts, to lay ALL our worries before Him and KNOW that He is in TOTAL control. Trust in the L-rd, not in the United States, not in the U.N., nor the E.U., nor any other source, but in G-D alone. We cannot place our trust in our own abilities, our weapons, our politicians, our intellect, or even in our friends, it must be in G-D alone. The second part of this Scripture reads, "with ALL your heart", not a part of, but the whole. I said earlier that PEACE has eluded us though we have sought it with ALL our hearts, here is a big part of the problem I think. It is G-D that we are to seek with ALL our hearts and TRUST Him, not to seek after PEACE, but to seek after Him, the giver of TRUE PEACE.

A story is told, of a powerful and wealthy king who once commissioned a great work of art. He sent out the word throughout his vast kingdom, summoning the most accomplished artists in the land to paint for him a painting, for which he would pay an enormous sum, to whomever could capture the essence of PEACE on canvas. Many tried and many failed to capture the true nature of this elusive subject. At long last, an unknown artist came forth and presented his work before the king. The king marveled as the painting was unveiled. Upon the canvas the artist had portrayed with dark clouds and raging ocean waves, a scene of a tiny bird asleep in a nest, upon a limb which jetted out from a steep cliff, overlooking jagged rocks, and a swirling sea below. There were dark threatening clouds approaching and the winds were blowing fiercely, but the tiny bird lay sleeping, serenely in it's nest. The king, in amazement declared, "Truly, this IS PEACE". The moral of the story is that our PEACE should not be dictated by those circumstances in life which rage around us, but should rather be an inward constant assurance that, come what may, we are sheltered by G-D, the ALL POWERFUL, ALL KNOWING, EVER LOVING G-D, in whom we can safely TRUST.

The next part of the scripture instructs us, "And do NOT rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths smooth. Do NOT be wise in your own eyes; fear the L-rd and shun evil." How many of us have kept this part I wonder? Do we really acknowledge HaShem in ALL of our ways, or do we rely on our own understanding most of the time? We live in a day when good is called evil and evil is called good. We live in a modern secular society where political correctness is the law of this world, where Torah is rejected as out-dated, and seen as too harsh for our modern-day, liberalized lifestyles. May G-D help us. I was reminded of a story that I read years ago about a certain Rabbi's son who died and then was revived, and the father asked his son, what he had seen when he was dead, the boy responded, "Abba, everything was UP-SIDE-DOWN". The Rabbi thought for a moment on what his son had seen, and then he answered his son with, "No son, what you saw WAS right-side-up, it is THIS world that is UP-SIDE-DOWN". We are told in scripture to acknowledge HaShem in EVERYTHING that we do, but this world doesn't want to acknowledge Him, nor do they want to be reminded of Him. We who do want to acknowledge Him have allowed ourselves to be intimidated by the world, and for fear of their rejection, we fail to acknowledge Him. The verse tells us to fear the L-rd, NOT man, so why do we fear their judgments? We are told to fear G-D and to SHUN evil, and yet we embrace EVIL, and even allow it to be called GOOD, for the sake of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS. Shame on us ALL.

Israel is again fighting for her survival against heartless, blood-thirsty killers, terrorists who the world pities, while denouncing Israel as the aggressor, how UP-SIDE-DOWN is this? When will we wake-up and realize that it is HaShem that we should fear and NOT the opinions of mere men. For the sake of acceptance (whatever that is) we keep silent. We do NOT acknowledge G-D and His Torah, nor do we SHUN EVIL in our midst. Sadly, even in our BELOVED ISRAEL, those who practice what the TORAH calls abominations are allowed to PARADE themselves down the streets of Holy Jerusalem itself. As I write, the organizers of the World Gay Pride Day are at work in Israel. Their planned march has been TEMPORARILY POSTPONED, but for how long, and their other detestable events are going-on as planned. How do these abominations, being allowed to take place, ANYWHERE, in G-D'S LAND serve to ACKNOWLEDGE HIM? They DO NOT ! If HaShem is the G-D of Israel, and HE IS, then to allow these events inside HIS Land, is to fail to acknowledge HIM. We are told to SHUN EVIL, not to embrace it. When will we choose? As Elijah said, "CHOOSE YOU, THIS DAY whom you will serve". Let us ALL say with Joshua, "I and MY HOUSEHOLD, WILL SERVE THE L-RD". Joshua 24:15 JPS