HAPPY HANUKKAH and MERRY CHRISTMAS

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas everyone! I always enjoy this time of year….a season of miracles!  That is the huge difference between the G_d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all false gods. He is a miracle working G_d! I have met many people recently who celebrate both holidays. “WHAT?” YOU SAY, THAT IS NOT RIGHT! Actually the only reference to Hannukah in the Word of G_d is in the New Testament where there is mention of Yeshua celebrating “The Feast of Dedication” (The Book of John chapter 10, verses 22,23). The reason for this is that Judah Maccabee had his huge victory in between the historical recordings of Israel’s history around 163 BC so Hanukkah is not part of the writings.
   The Holy Land was ruled by Syrian-Greeks (the Seleucids) who forcefully Hellenized the people of Israel. They even slaughtered pigs in the Temple! Miraculously, a small number of zealous Jewish men led by Judah Maccabee defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth at the time. They successfully drove the Greeks out of the Temple and out of Jerusalem. They rededicated the temple to the Almighty One of Israel, Yahovah, and restored it’s godly purpose so that future prophecies could be fulfilled. They purposed to keep G_d’s light burning in the Temple, but they found only enough oil to burn one day. It took 8 days to make the oil according to Temple law. Miraculously, when they lit the oil, it continued to burn for 8 days until they new oil was ready to be used! That is why a Hannukah Menorah has 9 candles instead of 7! The middle candle is the “Shamash” or “servant” candle and lights the other candles every night Hanukkah is celebrated.

    The New Testament records Yeshua’s birth, but the date is not mentioned. The tradition of celebrating in Dec. began with Constantine. He tried to assimilate Greek pagan holidays with biblical holidays, thus Dec. 25^th became the “traditional” date. Since there is not an exact date historically recorded, (although a census was being taken and shepherds were out so it probably was not winter) the world uses Dec. 25^th. The recording of Yeshua’s birth though is mentioned twice and from 2 different perspectives. These are written in the Book of Matthew and the Book of Luke.

    What is so amazing is that on the 8^th day, according to the law, Mary and Joseph brought their baby to the Temple to be dedicated. If Judah Maccabee had not fought and won back the Temple from the Greeks, this WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE! So we can say that the two holidays are miraculously connected by G_d! We can say of both events, the oil burning 7 extra days and the birth of Yeshua in Bethlehem that “A GREAT MIRACLE HAS HAPPENED HERE!” The G_d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a miracle working G_d. He does not change! He shows off His greatness to the honor of His Name. Blessings on you all, your families, your nations as you celebrate The Almighty One!

CHRISTIANS, JEWS BANNED FROM TEMPLE MOUNT IN JERUSALEM

By Aaron Klein
© 2011 WND
Temple Mount in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM – The Israeli government is currently banning all non-Muslims from ascending the Temple Mount, considered the holiest site in Judaism.
"It seems freedom of religion in Israel is only for Muslims and not for Christians and Jews," Danny Danon, deputy speaker of the Knesset, told WND, referring to the new restrictions.
Jerusalem Police spokesman Shmulik Ben Ruby confirmed to WND that Jews and Christians are restricted from entering the Temple Mount due to safety concerns over the main access gate for non-Muslims, known as the Mughrabi Bridge.
Yesterday, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat officially ordered the bridge to be indefinitely closed due to petitions from the city's Antiquities Authority citing fears the weakened wooden structure may collapse or catch fire.
There are 15 gates leading into the Temple Mount compound, 10 of which are in use, but for Muslims only.
The Mughrabi Gate, located at the Western Wall plaza, is the only access for non-Muslims to enter the site, meaning its closure now prevents Jews, Christians and any tourists from visiting until a replacement structure is built.
Ben Ruby said there are no immediate plans for any of the 10 entrances to the Mount to be opened for non-Muslims, citing security concerns.
A replacement bridge could take several months to build. Arab countries are already warning any construction in the sensitive area could lead to violence, claiming the Jewish state is using the bridge renovation to threaten the al-Aqsa Mosque, located on the mount.
"This is a serious step that shows the Zionist scheme of aggression again the Al Aqsa mosque," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told Agence France-Presse.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said the Israeli government received warning messages over the bridge reconstruction from the Egyptian and Jordanian governments.
"The Muslim Brotherhood is exerting pressure on them," he said of Egypt.
Jordan's foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, similarly weighed in, telling the Arabic-language Al-Rai network, "Jordan rejects any Israeli attempt to influence the holy sites in Jerusalem and the character and heritage of the city."
The Mughrabi Bridge is in serious need of repair. It was scheduled to be demolished and replaced with a sturdier structure, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the Jerusalem municipality two weeks ago to postpone the demolition due to the sensitivity of the issue and warnings from Egypt and Jordan.
Danon, from Netanyahu's ruling Likud party, told WND he spoke with the prime minister yesterday about finding a solution to accommodate Jewish and Christian visits.
"I believe we will see in the near future non-Muslims will be allowed to go back on the Temple Mount," he said.
Meanwhile, nationalist politicians and Temple Mount activist groups here are strongly protesting the new restrictions.
Knesset Member Uri Ariel said, "The closing of the Mughrabi Bridge cannot be an excuse for why Jews going to the Temple Mount will be delayed for even one minute.
"However, there is a vital need to build a replacement bridge," he added.
Yehuda Glick, chairman of the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation, told WND of the new restrictions: "The Israeli government doesn't know how to assert its own independence. When it comes to the Temple Mount, they are afraid of their own shadow."
Rabbi Chaim Richman, the international director of the Temple Institute, told WND, "This is another indication of the political, moral and spiritual bankruptcy of the Israeli government. The issue is not simply a bridge. It's about what direction we are going in as a people. Do we care about our heritage?"
Richman also blasted the international news media for "only reporting about the Hamas threats over the bridge. The big story is the barring of the non-Muslims by a Jewish government."
Temple history
The First Temple was built by King Solomon in the 10th century B.C. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Second Temple was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after Jerusalem was freed from Babylonian captivity. That temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in A.D. 70. Each temple stood for a period of about four centuries.
According to the Talmud, the world was created from the foundation stone of the Temple Mount. It's believed to be the biblical Mount Moriah, the location where Abraham fulfilled God's test to see if he would be willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.
The Temple Mount has remained a focal point for Jewish services for thousands of years. Prayers for a return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple have been uttered by Jews since the Second Temple was destroyed, according to Jewish tradition.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque was constructed in about A.D. 709 to serve as a shrine near another shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which was built by an Islamic caliph. Al-Aqsa was meant to mark what Muslims came to believe was the place at which Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ascended to heaven to receive revelations from Allah.
Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran. It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible 656 times.
Islamic tradition states Muhammad took a journey in a single night on a horse from "a sacred mosque" – believed to be in Mecca in southern Saudi Arabia – to "the farthest mosque" and from a rock there ascended to heaven. The farthest mosque became associated with Jerusalem about 120 years ago. According to research by Israeli author Shmuel Berkovits, Islam historically disregarded Jerusalem as being holy. Berkovits points out in his book "How Dreadful Is This Place!" that Muhammad was said to loathe Jerusalem and what it stood for. He wrote Muhammad made a point of eliminating pagan sites of worship and sanctifying only one place – the Kaaba in Mecca – to signify the unity of God.
As late as the 14th century, Islamic scholar Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya, whose writings influenced the Wahhabi movement in Arabia, ruled that sacred Islamic sites are to be found only in the Arabian Peninsula and that "in Jerusalem, there is not a place one calls sacred, and the same holds true for the tombs of Hebron."
A guide to the Temple Mount by the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem published in 1925 listed the Mount as Jewish and as the site of Solomon's Temple. The Temple Institute acquired a copy of the official 1925 "Guide Book to Al-Haram Al-Sharif," which states on page 4, "Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar unto the Lord.'" *(Which he paid for!)
The Temple Mount was opened to the general public until September 2000, when the Palestinians started their Intifada, or "uprising," by throwing stones at Jewish worshipers after then-candidate for prime minister Ariel Sharon visited the area.
Following the onset of violence, the new Sharon government closed the Mount to non-Muslims, using checkpoints to control all pedestrian traffic for fear of further clashes with the Palestinians.
The Temple Mount was reopened to non-Muslims in August 2003. Until the closure this week, the Mount was open to non-Muslims only Sundays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., and not on any Christian, Jewish or Muslim holidays or other days considered "sensitive" by the Waqf, the Mount's Islamic custodians.
During "open" days, Jews and Christians are allowed to ascend the Mount, usually through organized tours and only if they conform first to a strict set of guidelines, which includes demands that they not pray or bring any "holy objects" to the site. Visitors are banned from entering any of the mosques without direct Waqf permission. Rules are enforced by Waqf agents, who watch tours closely and alert nearby Israeli police to any breaking of their guidelines.

PM Netanyahu Begins Bible Class

                                                                                                                                           

Following in the footsteps of David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will begin hosting a regular Bible study group in his official residence for researchers, public officials and invited guests.

Netanyahu announced the study group on Friday at a ceremony marking 30 days since the passing of his father-in-law, Shmuel Ben-Artzi. The study group will be named after Ben-Artzi, a noted poet and Bible teacher.  Netanyahu said he was establishing the class to perpetuate love of the Bible.

LOVE OF THE BIBLE? Let’s see does this make any sense? Is Netanyahu suddenly becoming a religious fanatic? What significance does the Bible have for today? The history of Jerusalem? The description of Israel’s boundaries? The promises of G_d? The entire book of Isaiah confirmed by the Dead Sea scrolls? The history of victory and defeats for  Israel’s ancestors? Significant?

Just what if the G_d of Abraham, Isaac  and Jacob is real. What if He defines His character, His attributes, His faithfulness through this book? What if Israel’s leaders today, like King Solomon, ask G_d for wisdom and G_d answers like he did for Solomon? Or, what if, like King Hezekiah, Israel’s leaders trust in the Lord and the nation is given a plan to be totally delivered from its enemies? (185,000 of them in one night!). Okay, this one is a keeper!..... What if the economy in Samaria was to change over night because Israel’s enemies (in those days the Arameans) heard “what they thought was the sound of the Israeli military along with her allies” coming upon them. What if they all fled overnight in fear, abandoning all their belongings. And then suddenly, some homeless Israelis came across the town and announced to the surrounding towns that the plunder is to be shared and the whole economy is blessed overnight!

At this point, all you skeptics might be mocking even the thought of these things happening. However, it is wise to consider how many things written and prophesied in the Tanakh have already come to pass? Let’s begin with the rebirth of the land of Israel after 2000 years! The restoration of Israel as described in Jeremiah? Just Jeremiah 31:17 is enough to make one think! “So there is a hope for your future,” declares the Lord. “Your children will return to their own land,”

Last Sunday, at a ceremony in Sde Boker marking the 38th anniversary of Ben-Gurion’s death, Netanyahu recalled the first premier’s Bible study class, saying that his father-in-law used to attend.  “Ben-Gurion understood that the Book of Books is our mandate for our country, as he said in that same unforgettable statement before the Peel Commission in 1936,” Netanyahu said. “He viewed the Bible as the wondrous story of the Jewish people, the unique spiritual, cultural and historic heritage of our people, and also as one of the cornerstones of all of human culture.”

So for all you scoffers out there, maybe it’s time to give G_d’s book another glance. None of the alternatives have been very successful. Peace negotiations based on man’s wisdom and greed have not produced peace. Israel is standing very alone in the international community with nothing more than some lip service on her side. She has huge powerful militaries threatening to wipe her off the map. Maybe it would be wise to turn to a huge more powerful G_d who placed her on the map and seek Him for wisdom.

LET'S BLAME ISRAEL!

   I remember when I was young, and my parents would catch me doing something wrong. My first response was always to blame my younger brother (that was when he was still smaller than I was) or to blame the dog or the poor cat who usually lived a very unattached life when it came to family involvement. I usually got in more trouble for “blaming”someone or something other than myself than I would have gotten for the original crime. It’s now 40+ years later, and I have noticed in life, it seems to be our nature to not admit our mistakes. Of course, there are some who take it to extremes, like blaming George W. Bush for earthquakes, hurricanes and every natural disaster on the planet during his administration! Then there is the more “standard” age-old scapegoat, “Blame-the Jews-and-Israel”. The Jews have been historically blamed for plagues, economic collapses and Arab woes for hundreds, even thousands of years (remember Geshem blaming Nehemiah and the Jews for disobeying the King and messing up the wall in Jerusalem?)

   I have to say though, this new round of “blame-the-Jews” takes the cake for absolutely absurd! We have Howard Gutman, the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium whose parents are holocaust survivors, claiming that anti-Semitism in the Arab world is not the same as anti-Semitism in Europe. Anti-Semitism in the Arab world is justified by Israel’s actions. That’s Israel, the country that takes up less than 1% of the land surface in the Middle East! That’s Israel, who is targeted by “it’s partners for peace” with rockets that range up to 40 kilometers into its nation giving people 50-55 seconds to go into shelters. Of course, we should understand that when Israel was forced to give Gaza to the “Palestinian Arabs” (better known as Hamas) it was done so that peace would be negotiated, and Gaza would flourish as a vibrant community for a displaced Arab people – NOT SO A LAUNCHING PAD WOULD BE CREATED FOR 100’S OF ROCKETS INTO ISRAEL!

    If Ambassador Gutman was a rare occurence, he would not be worth mentioning, but Defense secretary, Leon Panetta became a recent new honorary member of the “Blame Israel” club as well!  Mr. Panetta kind of “lost his temper” with Israel last week and demanded Israel “just get to the damn table” and negotiate with the PA.  As an honorary “Blame Israel” member, Panetta told the audience at a Brookings Institute event that Israel needed to help the United States with its “outreach” to Arab states. He sounded surprised that the “Arab Spring” has resulted in the nations surrounding Israel falling into “Islamist domination” and encouraged Israel to help the U.S. with security objectives……uh, didn’t the President of the United States insist Hosni Mubarek leave? (Even though the man maintained peace with Israel and stability in the nation for over 30 years?) Is there any example of a peace loving Arab democracy in the Middle East? Or for that matter anywhere? I guess it’s just easier to Blame Israel – like there would be no issues if Israel were not stuck on the planet.

   All this aside, the blue ribbon, first prize for the best “Blame Israel” excuse goes to Norway! Yes, beautiful land of the midnight sun! Norway has recently experienced an unprecedented wave of violent rapes. 45 of the 48 recently reported were perpetrated by Muslim immigrants against local Norwegian women. A police report went public in Oslo referencing  that several of the rapists told their victims their religion gives them the right to dominate women in this fashion. SOMEHOW, this became an occasion to Blame Israel! I am sure you are wondering, “HOW?” I know I was! The government of Norway claimed that when the police report went public, it “served Israel and its policy of occupation”. As Norway’s justice minister concluded, “Israel must be glad to hear about it.” Yikes! That’s like getting caught beating up your little sister and your only response is, “she’s probably happy I’m in trouble.”  Stay tuned for future “awards” in the “Blame Israel” club.  Something tells me the competition is ready to gear up for a new season of play!

·         Blame Israel video under “Check This Out” is a must see!