“And the L-RD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets” (Leviticus 23:23-24).
There is mystery surrounding what is commonly called Rosh Hashanah (The Feast of Trumpets). Unlike the other six Messianic feasts, it has no name in Scripture. It is simply referred to as Yom Teruah (תְּרוּעָה: Day of alarm, or shouting, or trumpet blast). It is a memorial, but what is being memorialized is uncertain. Jewish liturgy describes it as Yom HaDin (Day of Judgment). Although it is to be on the first day of Tishri, the seventh month of the Hebrew year, ascertaining the day is dependent on atmospheric conditions that could obscure the delicate crescent of the new moon. It could be said: “of that day and hour knoweth no man.”
Paul writes of another trumpet blast in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52: “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
And again in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Monday, September 29, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
September 11, 2001
Various Arab conclaves through out the Islamic world celebrated this day seven years ago. In Gaza, Palestinians chanted, "God is Great" while handing out candy. In Nablus, guns were firing and Palestinian flags waving as hundreds poured into streets. In Sidon, fatigue clad guerillas of various factions fired rocket-propelled grenades into the air. In Beirut, Palestinians reveled in live footage of the televised conflagration, one jubilant participant even referring to the occasion as a “feast.” And in Arab East Jerusalem, young Arabs memorialized the occasion by honking wedding tunes on car horns. However, this “joyous” occasion was not for all to share. Various news agencies of the world were threatened not to cover the “celebration.”
"The FPA [Foreign Press Association] expresses deep concern over the harassment of journalists by the Palestinian Authority as police forces and armed gunmen tried to prevent photo and video coverage of Tuesday's rally in Nablus where hundreds of Palestinians celebrated the terror attacks in NY and Washington…. We strongly condemn the direct threats made against local videographers by local militia members and the attitude of Palestinian officials who made no effort to counter the threats, control the situation, or to guarantee the safety of the journalists and the freedom of the press.”
“Palestinian sources said PA officials stopped several television crews from broadcasting Palestinian celebrations of the suicide jet crashes in New York and Washington. They said PA Information Minister Yasser Abbed Rabbo and his aides telephoned foreign broadcast crews and said the PA would not be able to guarantee their safety if the footage is broadcast…. virtually all television crews failed to broadcast the tape of the celebrations” (Special to World Tribune.com, Thursday, September 13, 2001).
“Israel is demanding The Associated Press release a videotape of Palestinian celebrations held in the wake of Tuesday's terror attacks in the United States…. Israel claims the Palestinian photographer who shot the film and passed it on to The Associated Press received death threats…. The Associated Press yesterday refused to comment on reports that it had refrained from broadcasting the film following pressure from the Palestinian Authority” (Israel to AP: Release film of Palestinian celebrations, September 13, 2001).
“About 1,500 Palestinians… marched in a Gaza Strip refugee camp on Friday, burning Israeli flags and carrying a large poster of Osama bin Laden, who has been named as a key suspect in this week's terror attacks in the United States. After the rally, plainclothes Palestinian policemen questioned several journalists, including staffers of foreign news agencies, and confiscated videotape and film as well as camera equipment. An Associated Press Television News video was among the materials taken, and an AP photographer was warned by officials not to publish pictures of the bin-Laden poster” (The Associated Press Friday, Sept. 14, 2001).
"The FPA [Foreign Press Association] expresses deep concern over the harassment of journalists by the Palestinian Authority as police forces and armed gunmen tried to prevent photo and video coverage of Tuesday's rally in Nablus where hundreds of Palestinians celebrated the terror attacks in NY and Washington…. We strongly condemn the direct threats made against local videographers by local militia members and the attitude of Palestinian officials who made no effort to counter the threats, control the situation, or to guarantee the safety of the journalists and the freedom of the press.”
“Palestinian sources said PA officials stopped several television crews from broadcasting Palestinian celebrations of the suicide jet crashes in New York and Washington. They said PA Information Minister Yasser Abbed Rabbo and his aides telephoned foreign broadcast crews and said the PA would not be able to guarantee their safety if the footage is broadcast…. virtually all television crews failed to broadcast the tape of the celebrations” (Special to World Tribune.com, Thursday, September 13, 2001).
“Israel is demanding The Associated Press release a videotape of Palestinian celebrations held in the wake of Tuesday's terror attacks in the United States…. Israel claims the Palestinian photographer who shot the film and passed it on to The Associated Press received death threats…. The Associated Press yesterday refused to comment on reports that it had refrained from broadcasting the film following pressure from the Palestinian Authority” (Israel to AP: Release film of Palestinian celebrations, September 13, 2001).
“About 1,500 Palestinians… marched in a Gaza Strip refugee camp on Friday, burning Israeli flags and carrying a large poster of Osama bin Laden, who has been named as a key suspect in this week's terror attacks in the United States. After the rally, plainclothes Palestinian policemen questioned several journalists, including staffers of foreign news agencies, and confiscated videotape and film as well as camera equipment. An Associated Press Television News video was among the materials taken, and an AP photographer was warned by officials not to publish pictures of the bin-Laden poster” (The Associated Press Friday, Sept. 14, 2001).
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Sixteen Days of August
The closing ceremony of the XI Olympiad in Berlin, as portrayed in Leni Riefenstahl's 1936 celluloid chronology “Olympia,” was visually alluring: the Olympiastadion glowing, like a jewel at twilight; pillars of light emanating from encircling beacons; the deep resonance of the Olympic bell beckoning the youth of the world to return; the flags of the nations dipping in concert, each receiving a laurel; the translucent flag of five interlocking rings fluttering in harmony with trumpets and choir; the waning Olympic flame melting into the silhouette of a “Grecian” urn; and smoke peacefully ascending into a starburst convergence of unity and light.
When Germany’s Chancellor seized power in 1933, the honor of hosting the XI Olympiad had already been awarded to Berlin. But Hitler despised the “honor”! He despised the Olympic spirit of “peace and unity” in the context of individual accomplishment, racial equality, and national autonomy. His model was the Pax Romana (Roman Peace); peace born of an iron fist. The prophet Daniel describes the “peace” of this empire: “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it” (Daniel 7:7). And it was the victorious legions of Rome that determined the Roman Eagle to be the standard of the Third Reich; an anticipated millennium of peace historians identify as the Pax Germanica (German Peace).
The spirit of the Olympics was the antithesis of Hitler’s Gleichschaltung, a system eliminating individualism by regimenting virtually every aspect of German life, and enforcing that regimentation through the escalating invasiveness of a police state: abolition of freedom of speech and press, and all political parties but his own; opening the first concentration camp at Dachau; garnering support from industrialists like chemical giant IG Farben, the conglomerate who later supplied Dachau and other death camps Zyklon B; encouraging discriminatory measures afflicting Jews that eventually culminated in the 1935 Nuremberg Laws; and during the “Night of the Long Knives,” orchestrating the political assassination of Sturmabteilung (SA) leadership to solidify control over the military organization he once headed. Hitler despised the Olympic spirit. That is until Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels suggested that the prescheduled event be used to introduce the Third Reich to the world on German terms and turf. However, it quickly became more, an opportunity to propagate the Big Lie.
Hitler’s 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf describes a lie so "colossal [that no one] could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously". Although this infamous publication atributes the “Big Lie” to Jews, the allegation appears to betray Hitler’s envy of Jewish success in whatever endeavor they involve themselves. Interestingly, during those sixteen days of August, Hitler appropriates the same propaganda technique to propagate the “Aryan” myth....
When Germany’s Chancellor seized power in 1933, the honor of hosting the XI Olympiad had already been awarded to Berlin. But Hitler despised the “honor”! He despised the Olympic spirit of “peace and unity” in the context of individual accomplishment, racial equality, and national autonomy. His model was the Pax Romana (Roman Peace); peace born of an iron fist. The prophet Daniel describes the “peace” of this empire: “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it” (Daniel 7:7). And it was the victorious legions of Rome that determined the Roman Eagle to be the standard of the Third Reich; an anticipated millennium of peace historians identify as the Pax Germanica (German Peace).
The spirit of the Olympics was the antithesis of Hitler’s Gleichschaltung, a system eliminating individualism by regimenting virtually every aspect of German life, and enforcing that regimentation through the escalating invasiveness of a police state: abolition of freedom of speech and press, and all political parties but his own; opening the first concentration camp at Dachau; garnering support from industrialists like chemical giant IG Farben, the conglomerate who later supplied Dachau and other death camps Zyklon B; encouraging discriminatory measures afflicting Jews that eventually culminated in the 1935 Nuremberg Laws; and during the “Night of the Long Knives,” orchestrating the political assassination of Sturmabteilung (SA) leadership to solidify control over the military organization he once headed. Hitler despised the Olympic spirit. That is until Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels suggested that the prescheduled event be used to introduce the Third Reich to the world on German terms and turf. However, it quickly became more, an opportunity to propagate the Big Lie.
Hitler’s 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf describes a lie so "colossal [that no one] could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously". Although this infamous publication atributes the “Big Lie” to Jews, the allegation appears to betray Hitler’s envy of Jewish success in whatever endeavor they involve themselves. Interestingly, during those sixteen days of August, Hitler appropriates the same propaganda technique to propagate the “Aryan” myth....
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
How are the mighty fallen!
Hezbollah’s Nasrallah emerged from hiding on Ashura, Shiite Islam's holiest day. It was his first appearance since the conclusion of the 2006 war with the "cancerous entity" (his euphemism for Israel). He carried joyful “tidings” to almost two million of his followers: "We have the [Israeli] heads, the [Israeli] hands, the [Israeli] feet, and even a nearly intact [Israeli] cadavre from the head down to the pelvis." And men and women and children waving Hezbollah flags joyfully responded: “Death to Israel”!
"Now the Philistines [Palestinians] fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul…. And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa. And they stripped him, and took his head, and his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the tidings unto their idols, and to the people. And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the house of Dagon"
(1 Chronicles 10:2 – 10).
"Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him. And they wailed, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword…. And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, and said… Thy beauty, O Israel, upon thy high places is slain! How are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain upon you, neither fields of choice fruits; for there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan, the lovely and the pleasant in their lives, even in their death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan upon thy high places is slain! I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant hast thou been unto me; wonderful was thy love to me, passing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen…" (2 Samuel 1:11 – 27).
"… And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,all the valiant men arose, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the terebinth in Jabesh, and fasted seven days" (1 Chronicles 10:11 – 12).
"Now the Philistines [Palestinians] fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul…. And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa. And they stripped him, and took his head, and his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the tidings unto their idols, and to the people. And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the house of Dagon"
(1 Chronicles 10:2 – 10).
"Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him. And they wailed, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword…. And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, and said… Thy beauty, O Israel, upon thy high places is slain! How are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain upon you, neither fields of choice fruits; for there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan, the lovely and the pleasant in their lives, even in their death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan upon thy high places is slain! I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant hast thou been unto me; wonderful was thy love to me, passing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen…" (2 Samuel 1:11 – 27).
"… And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,all the valiant men arose, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the terebinth in Jabesh, and fasted seven days" (1 Chronicles 10:11 – 12).
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