President George Bush has just arrived in Israel.  He will be driven up toward Jerusalem from near where Jonah left for Tarshish to escape the directives of G-d, and the same place that Peter first brought the Gospel to the Gentiles. He will drive up through the valley that Joshua made the sun stand still in battle, and past a Muslim Arab village where Israeli Jews and Arabs join peacefully together daily to eat and shop, a pro-Israel village that is very blessed, called Abu Ghosh (I wonder if it will be pointed out to him, or if you have heard of this?).  He will be driven up through the beautiful Mountains of Judah, now covered with pine forests hand-planted by the Jewish Zionists. Then he will enter the city of Jerusalem now under the tightest possible security.

 

Jerusalem- a city with no vital natural resources, little water, virtually no industry, and sits on no important trade routes. It is a city that , now thriving under Jewish sovereignty and care, is open to all to visit, pray, and play, which under previous Muslim sovereignty was closed to Jews and others, and abused and made desolate.  So why now all the fuss over it?  Jerusalem is a symbol at the heart of the world 's history, a symbol of G-d, and a meeting place of all possible views of deity, a place where all the irreconcilable ends of the universe meet.  It is here that the representative of the world's current most powerful nation today will meet with the leadership of this tiny country, and that of its neighbors who have long been its enemy. What is at stake here is, for the sake of "peace", the dividing of this city of Jerusalem, and the rest of the Land of Israel into two states (remembering that this land is about 1/8th the size of Colorado).  "Land for peace", they call it.

 

Yesterday we participated in the forming of a human chain around the Old City of Jerusalem, an act to communicate to the US president that most of us Israelis are against the dividing of the heart of the world in two.  This is the city called in the Bible, the City of the Great King- YHVH the Creator Himself, and of kings David and Solomon and Hezekiah, and of King Yeshua, King of the Jews. It is the city from which went forth from the Jews the knowledge of the one G-d and the morality and Law that shaped the heart and behaviour and thought of much of the world, especially the Western, Judeo-Christian world. Here yesterday I stood and blasted the shofar (ram's horn) unto heaven- which drew a slew of cameras of the international media over to film.  I then had the amazing opportunity to speak in French, Hebrew, Portuguese, and English to French, Canadian, Brazilian, Israeli TV, and to CNN and Fox news (one friend called me and saw me on Fox).  I hope the sound of the shofar was heard around the world (Joel chapter 2).

 

"Land for Peace" is a novel idea, especially in that land is so real and measurable, whereas "peace" is so abstract, almost so undefinable one is not always sure when one has it.  In trading this land with the Palestinians who have no peace amongst themselves (which is true of most of the Arab Muslim world), one must wonder how they indeed spell "peace"- most probably "piece", as in "piece by piece" of territory as defined in Islam's stated quest to conquer the world.  From whence will they find that Peace to trade for Land?

 

Israel actually tried that experiment in Gaza, evicting some 7000 Jewish families from their homes of over thirty years, and destroying those homes to leave a "Judenrein" land for the Palestinians to cultivate, which is what they said they want.  Instead they visciously destroyed and burned the synagogues (in an orgy reminding one of Kristallnacht), and cultivated nothing but more violence.  Israel's reward is the DAILY rocketing of Israeli towns from that abandoned land.  Nice neighbors (Jeremiah 12:14-17).

 

With such a failed experiment to ponder, what makes one think that another similar withdrawal of land for peace will succeed with Palestinians who have no reliable leadership or stable governing body or popular consensus, and who are fighting amongst themselves? Perhaps one must instead consider the ancient wisdom of the Biblical prophecy that speaks of a time when G-d would restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem that He will gather all nations down into the valley of Jehosophat (which means, "YHVH has judged", and He will enter into judgement with them on behalf of His people and inheritance, Israel, for they have "divided My land".  You can read it for yourself in the Prophet Joel chapter 3.

 

Nevertheless, we all enter into times foretold, when ultimate questions regarding the fate of nations and individuals are being presented before the world, not the least of which is being revealed by science itself in the micro- and macrocosm, asking, "What came before and created the 'Big Bang' ? (such a simple and child-like description of the Creation). And therefore I would ask you to "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:6), and for President Bush to make wise and Godly decisions regarding the Holy City and Land.

 

Yours in Jerusalem,

Elhanan