Dear Brother,
You ask me “Whose side are you on?” in regard to the conflict in the Middle East. My answer is: “I choose to be on the Lord’s side.”
The Lord God does not change sides. We can choose to be on His side, or not. Like the Lord spoke through His prophet: “The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him, and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you, but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you,” 1Chronicles 15:2b. My position is to search the Scriptures for the Truth and abide by it. God is no respecter of person in judgment: “… but in every nation he that worketh righteousness is accepted with Him,” Acts 10:34-35.
Your question is ‘loaded’; that is: it assumes that there are only two sides, the Muslims and the “Israelis”. We do not have to choose between these two options, or between the lesser of two evils. When Jesus was confronted with the conflict between two brothers regarding their inheritance rights, He refused to judge the case, Luke 12:13-14. He came to teach, promote, and exercise the higher Law of God’s Kingdom. He came to put the axe to the root of the tree, not just to lop off a limb here and there, but to establish the eternal Law of God in the hearts of the people. How would Jesus solve the petty conflicts of everyday life? Matthew 5:38-48: “turn the other cheek,” “give him your coat and your cloke,” “give to him that asketh… and would borrow…,” “love your enemies,” pray for your persecutors.
In conflicts we are to judge carefully because we will be judged by the same judgments that we judge by. Yet, sometimes we are required to make righteous judgments, Matthew 7:1-2. This Scripture is a warning that we should be careful to make righteous judgments, for the law is the same for us as for them. Judgment is one of the weightier matters of the law which should be kept, Luke 11:42. Jesus taught us how to make “righteous judgment”: John 7:24. John 7:51states the requirement that we hear the case before we pronounce judgment.
So, in regard to our position to the conflict in the Middle East, I have found the following:
Underlying all of the surface conflict is the fact that there are two religions at war with each other over territory and power, “Judaism” and Islam. There are many similarities between the two religions. I find that Islam was not in existence, as such, until many centuries after the New Testament history, and that it has taken much of its teachings from the Talmud of the "Jews." However, the religion called “Judaism” today is the direct offshoot of the Pharisaism of the New Testament and can therefore be judged by the Biblical record.
Their “traditions” were strongly condemned by Jesus. These “traditions” were what they called the “oral law,” which they declared to have been given to Moses on Sinai orally and passed down orally to them. They teach that the “oral law” was superior to the written law of the Bible. Jesus strongly and firmly refuted their doctrines by saying: “It is written….” After the New Testament era, they put their “oral law” into writing in what is known as the Talmud. They consider their Talmud to be their sacred Scriptures.To judge their case, you should know what the Talmud says.
Here is what their Rabbis have to say about it as quoted from the website www.come-and-hear.com.
:
“We are proud to bring you four avenues of research into the Babylonian Talmud — the Jewish Book of Oral Law.
“In ancient Israel, traditional laws were passed down by word of mouth from teacher to student, from one generation of Sages to the next. The Oral Law was the traditional learning of the Pharisees, a religious sect and political party. The Sadducees were the religious and political rivals of the Pharisees. The Pharisees eventually committed Oral Law to writing sometime between two thousand and fifteen hundred years ago.
“The Oral Law can now be found in the Talmud, which contemporary rabbis tell us is the primary book of law for Jews. Contemporary rabbis are directly attuned with the Pharisees of Jesus' time through long and intensive study of the Pharisaic teachings in the Talmud.
"The Talmud is, then, the written form of that which in the time of Jesus, was called the Traditions of the Elders." — Rabbi Michael L. Rodkinson
“and
"The Jewish religion as it is today traces its descent, without a break, through all the centuries, from the Pharisees." — Universal Jewish Encyclopedia”
Knowing what their Talmud teaches, we have a reference to the Biblical account of the Pharisees of the New Testament. Jesus pronounced “woe” upon them in Matthew 23; Luke 12:1; and many other references too numerous to mention.
Until you have seen their doctrines, you have not heard their case and so are not yet qualified to make a righteous judgment. Since Jesus' judgment of them is recorded for us in Matthew 23, I believe Jesus. I choose to believe Jesus. He is the Righteous Judge.
You ask me “Whose side are you on?” in regard to the conflict in the Middle East. My answer is: “I choose to be on the Lord’s side.”
The Lord God does not change sides. We can choose to be on His side, or not. Like the Lord spoke through His prophet: “The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him, and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you, but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you,” 1Chronicles 15:2b. My position is to search the Scriptures for the Truth and abide by it. God is no respecter of person in judgment: “… but in every nation he that worketh righteousness is accepted with Him,” Acts 10:34-35.
Your question is ‘loaded’; that is: it assumes that there are only two sides, the Muslims and the “Israelis”. We do not have to choose between these two options, or between the lesser of two evils. When Jesus was confronted with the conflict between two brothers regarding their inheritance rights, He refused to judge the case, Luke 12:13-14. He came to teach, promote, and exercise the higher Law of God’s Kingdom. He came to put the axe to the root of the tree, not just to lop off a limb here and there, but to establish the eternal Law of God in the hearts of the people. How would Jesus solve the petty conflicts of everyday life? Matthew 5:38-48: “turn the other cheek,” “give him your coat and your cloke,” “give to him that asketh… and would borrow…,” “love your enemies,” pray for your persecutors.
In conflicts we are to judge carefully because we will be judged by the same judgments that we judge by. Yet, sometimes we are required to make righteous judgments, Matthew 7:1-2. This Scripture is a warning that we should be careful to make righteous judgments, for the law is the same for us as for them. Judgment is one of the weightier matters of the law which should be kept, Luke 11:42. Jesus taught us how to make “righteous judgment”: John 7:24. John 7:51states the requirement that we hear the case before we pronounce judgment.
So, in regard to our position to the conflict in the Middle East, I have found the following:
Underlying all of the surface conflict is the fact that there are two religions at war with each other over territory and power, “Judaism” and Islam. There are many similarities between the two religions. I find that Islam was not in existence, as such, until many centuries after the New Testament history, and that it has taken much of its teachings from the Talmud of the "Jews." However, the religion called “Judaism” today is the direct offshoot of the Pharisaism of the New Testament and can therefore be judged by the Biblical record.
Their “traditions” were strongly condemned by Jesus. These “traditions” were what they called the “oral law,” which they declared to have been given to Moses on Sinai orally and passed down orally to them. They teach that the “oral law” was superior to the written law of the Bible. Jesus strongly and firmly refuted their doctrines by saying: “It is written….” After the New Testament era, they put their “oral law” into writing in what is known as the Talmud. They consider their Talmud to be their sacred Scriptures.To judge their case, you should know what the Talmud says.
Here is what their Rabbis have to say about it as quoted from the website www.come-and-hear.com.
:
“We are proud to bring you four avenues of research into the Babylonian Talmud — the Jewish Book of Oral Law.
“In ancient Israel, traditional laws were passed down by word of mouth from teacher to student, from one generation of Sages to the next. The Oral Law was the traditional learning of the Pharisees, a religious sect and political party. The Sadducees were the religious and political rivals of the Pharisees. The Pharisees eventually committed Oral Law to writing sometime between two thousand and fifteen hundred years ago.
“The Oral Law can now be found in the Talmud, which contemporary rabbis tell us is the primary book of law for Jews. Contemporary rabbis are directly attuned with the Pharisees of Jesus' time through long and intensive study of the Pharisaic teachings in the Talmud.
"The Talmud is, then, the written form of that which in the time of Jesus, was called the Traditions of the Elders." — Rabbi Michael L. Rodkinson
“and
"The Jewish religion as it is today traces its descent, without a break, through all the centuries, from the Pharisees." — Universal Jewish Encyclopedia”
Knowing what their Talmud teaches, we have a reference to the Biblical account of the Pharisees of the New Testament. Jesus pronounced “woe” upon them in Matthew 23; Luke 12:1; and many other references too numerous to mention.
Until you have seen their doctrines, you have not heard their case and so are not yet qualified to make a righteous judgment. Since Jesus' judgment of them is recorded for us in Matthew 23, I believe Jesus. I choose to believe Jesus. He is the Righteous Judge.
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