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.
1 comment:
Outstanding! Keep up the good work.
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