The Controversy of Zion

Last week I read that Palestinian President Abbas pointed a finger at  Israel, saying that it crossed red lines in Jerusalem. He also said that Israel damaged the chances for a peace process. He even called on the American administration to “stop the adventure which may ignite a religious war in the region.”

The clashes began as Arabs started to hurl stones at the Western Wall plaza and police forces stationed at the Mugrabi Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City. The Arab attacks on Jews followed a sermon that area residents said encouraged Muslim violence. Israeli police forces removed the stone throwers and stormed the Temple Mount compound, using stun grenades.

Let’s see, who started it? The Arabs! They even threw stones at tourists. What did the Israelis do? They sent their police to stop the stone throwers. – But who gets blamed for hindering the peace process? The Israelis.

On June 7th, 1967, the city of Jerusalem was reunited for the first time since its partition in 1948. On June 14, 1967, the rubble was cleared from the Western Wall Square. Once again, the holiest place for all Jews was open, and all were invited to visit. It was estimated that 200,000 Israelis visited the Western Wall, though they had to pass through six police barriers to reach the site.

Today, the Jews are again faced with the prospect of their beloved city being divided for the sake of appeasement. Israel faces not only the bias of the entire Arab world, and many in the European Union, it faces unwarranted bias from our own U. S. State Department’s refusal to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

So, to whom does Jerusalem belong?

Over 3000 years ago, G-D told King David: “…I have chosen Jerusalem, so that my name can be there: and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel” (II Chronicles 6:6). In (II Chronicles 33:4) he says: “My name will be in Jerusalem forever.”

In the Hebrew alphabet the letter Shin ש is the first letter in the name of God, Shaddai. Shaddai, meaning “the keeper of the doors of Israel”, is inscribed on the mezuzot on all the doorways of a Jewish home.The map above identifies the geography of ancient Jerusalem. Three valleys surround Jerusalem, the Kidron Valley on the east, The Refaiim Valley, just east of the City of Zion, and the Hinom Valley south and west of the City of Zion. Together with the Temple Mount and Jerusalem in their midst, they form the Hebrew letter Shin (high-lighted in red). Could it be that G-D constructed the geography of the region to fulfill the verses above and actually, and physically, put His name on Jerusalem? Is the “fingerprint of HaShem on Jerusalem for all to see? Maybe. Just a coincidence, perhaps, perhaps not, but it is something to meditate on.

The prophet Isaiah predicted: “The Law will go out from Zion, and the word of Adonai from Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 2:3)

The Almighty has preserved Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem has been leveled to the ground five times. Her people have been carried away captive, yet Jerusalem always rises from the rubble because G-D has ordained it through the centuries! –Jerusalem belongs to G-D.

It is therefore not wise to “mess” with Jerusalem, especially not the people who’s Koran never even mentions that city.

G-D takes a very dim view indeed of any nation that puts its hand to the division of His land. He has vowed to deal extremely harshly with those who do this. God has, He says, “a day of vengeance for the controversy of Zion.” (Joel 3:2; Isaiah 34:1-8)

It would be best for any nation not to mess with Jerusalem, because they will fall into the hands of the living G-D and the consequences will be awful.

The Rice Problem

 Last week the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, announced that it is restricting sales of rice – the latest sign of a global food shortage. Shoppers at Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart’s cash-and-carry division discount wholesale clubs are limited to four bags of rice per customer. It’s not as bad as it sounds; the bags are still 500 lbs each.

The limit applies to jasmine, basmati and long grain white rice.

Traditionally dependent upon rice as their main staple food, Asian nations such as India, China, Japan, Bangladesh, Philippines and Thailand were the first to “feel the pinch” of rising prices.

In the first quarter of this year alone, the international price of rice has risen by 68%. Rice-producing countries like Vietnam and India have curbed exports to keep domestic prices under control. There are fears that Thailand – the world’s largest rice exporter – could follow suit.  Rice shortages have sparked protests in several countries including the Philippines, Haiti and Egypt.

Deadly riots over the rising price of food erupted in Haiti on April 4, 2008, due primarily to a jump in the price of rice, “the main ingredient of the Haitian diet”. Six people were killed in the unrest, including a U.N. peacekeeping soldier on April 12, and the unrest only subsided on when the nation’s Prime Minister resigned and the government lowered the price for a bushel of rice.

Last week I heard in the news that the food shortage has even hit Israel with some supermarkets there rationing rice. In fact, some Israeli analysts said that rice prices will increase by 70% along with the costs of other major food items as the prices of oil increase.  

It seems that Israel has more than one” rice problem”!  It is called Condoleezza Rice, who works for the Bush Administration, and is trying to force Israel to give up its land for a terrorist democracy next to Israel, in the form of a Palestinian state. Condoleezza Rice has been the Bush Administration’s spearhead in pressuring Israel to make nice with the terrorists from within–who are supported by nearly every Arab and Islamic nation on earth.

The escalating advance of Islam throughout Europe and the United States is the real issue at the epicenter of the entire war on terror. Believing that the only way to peace in the Middle East is to allow the Palestinians a state of their own next to Israel has given the entire area a “Rice” problem.

Islam intends to conquer the world. Arab oil producers have embraced a policy of keeping the market constantly on edge… Jerusalem is the centerpiece of Islam’s strategy and America will be brought to her knees if she doesn’t recognize Islam’s war strategy and moves to defeat it.

Israel could use much more rice in its supermarkets and a lot less Rice in its national strategy. However you look at it, rice is today’s problem.