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The Ever Widening Chasm between Christians and the U.S. Government
Following Jesus’ death and resurrection, the number of Jewish people in Israel believing in Him as the Messiah grew rapidly. Their numbers continued to grow for 40 years, and in 70 A.D. after the Romans destroyed the Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakki asked the Roman general in Jerusalem, Vespasian, for permission to open a small school in the seacoast town of Yavneh.
Vespasian consented, and Zakki, along with a small group of leading rabbis, went to Yavneh and modified a Jewish benediction in an attempt to drive Nazarenes (a sect of Judaism consisting of Jewish believers in Jesus) from Jewish congregations. They were fearful that the Nazarenes’ practice of fraternizing with gentiles would eventually lead to the assimilation of most, if not all, Jews.
According to the Babylonian Talmud, Berakoth 28b-29a,
“Our Rabbis taught: Simeon ha-Pakuli arranged the eighteen benedictions in order before Rabban Gamaliel in Jabneh. Said Rabban Gamaliel to the Sages: Can any one among you frame a benediction relating to the Minim [Nazarenes]? Samuel the Lesser arose and composed it.”
The benediction they modified is known as the birkat ha-Minim, and this is how the modified portion read after changes were made:
“And for Nazarenes let there be no hope, and let all wickedness perish as in a moment; let all thine enemies be speedily cut off, and the dominion of arrogance do thou uproot and crush, cast down and humble speedily in our days. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who breakest the enemies and humblest the arrogant.”
Jewish people were expected to recite this benediction three times a day, and when called upon they were expected to read it aloud in the synagogue. Obviously, Nazarenes could not read it or recite it, because it was a condemnation of them and their faith. When they refused to read it or recite it, they were identified as Nazarenes, and they were no longer welcome in the synagogues. Thus, this benediction effectively divided Jewish Christians from other Jews—a situation that persists to this day.
Modern-day Jews will not recognize this language in the birkat ha-Minim, because it was changed again once Nazarenes were effectively driven from the synagogues. This is how it reads today:
“And for slanderers let there be no hope, and let all wickedness perish as in a moment; let all thine enemies be speedily cut off, and the dominion of arrogance do thou uproot and crush, cast down and humble speedily in our days. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who breakest the enemies and humblest the arrogant.”
According to Lawrence Schiffman, Vice-Provost of Undergraduate Education at Yeshiva University and author of Who was a Jew?: Rabbinic and Halakhic Perspectives on the Jewish-Christian Schism, the rabbis meeting in Yavneh never questioned the Jewishness of Nazarenes. Rabbinic law at the time prescribed the conditions under which a person was considered Jewish. Either their mother had to be a Jew or they had to convert to Judaism. For males, conversion required immersion, acceptance of the Torah, and a sacrifice. If a person met those conditions, he was considered Jewish no matter what he believed and no matter how he acted.
The great divide between Jews and Christians in Israel intensified during the Bar Kochba Rebellion–132 A.D. to 136 A.D. Bar Kochba led a fight to oust Romans from Israel. During the first year of the campaign, Nazarenes fought alongside other Jews to overthrow the Romans. Then Rabbi Akiba, one of the most famous rabbis in Talmudic Judaism, announced that Bar Kochba was the Messiah. After his pronouncement, Nazarenes could not continue supporting Bar Kochba or the cause he was leading. When the revolt ended in failure, Nazarenes were branded as traitors for having withdrawn their support, and leading rabbis of the day retaliated by forbidding contact between Nazarenes and other Jews and by openly questioning their Jewishness.
Is history repeating itself? The answer is “yes”. According to Breitbart,
The Pentagon has released a statement confirming that soldiers could be prosecuted for promoting their faith: “Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense…Court martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis…”.
The statement, released to Fox News, follows a Breitbart News report on Obama administration Pentagon appointees meeting with anti-Christian extremist Mikey Weinstein to develop court-martial procedures to punish Christians in the military who express or share their faith.
(From our earlier report: Weinstein is the head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and says Christians–including chaplains–sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in the military are guilty of “treason,” and of committing an act of “spiritual rape” as serious a crime as “sexual assault.” He also asserted that Christians sharing their faith in the military are “enemies of the Constitution.”)
Being convicted in a court martial means that a soldier has committed a crime under federal military law. Punishment for a court martial can include imprisonment and being dishonorably discharged from the military.
As you would expect, the Pentagon issued a statement “clarifying” its position on this issue after the public outcry began:
The Department of Defense (DoD) issued a statement today ‘clarifying’ its earlier statements about possible prosecution for military personnel who share their religious beliefs with other military personnel. This comes the day after a law firm began its investigation into the matter.
[…]
Christensen issued a statement today saying that “Service members can share their faith (evangelize), but not force unwanted, intrusive attempts to convert others of any faith or no faith to one’s beliefs (proselytization).”
The words in parentheses are in the original statement.
ADF is “troubled” by both the new comments as well as the original statement. The law firm filed a Freedom of Information Act request Tuesday to investigate the DoD’s position on military personnel sharing their faith.
No matter what the outcome of the investigation is, this much is becoming crystal clear: the Obama administration is waging a war against Christians in the United States, and he is doing little or nothing to protect persecuted Christians around the world. The U.S. military is his chosen vehicle for remaking the face of America and for denying security on a selected basis. You would have to be a complete ignoramus or an imbecile not to recognize this fact.
If Christians respond as I suspect many of them will, they will not reenlist nor will they join the U.S. military. That will hasten the ever widening chasm between Christians and the U.S. government and in due course will leave America’s security in the hands of non-Christians for the first time in our nation’s history. One can only speculate about the broader negative consequences associated with this misguided action on the part of our nation’s political and military leaders, but I fear that they might dwarf those of the rabbis who campaigned to rid Judaism of the Nazarenes.
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Daniel 9: 4-6
I prayed to Yahweh my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land.”
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback. It’s also available for free in PDF format.
- God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
- “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
- Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)
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Hamas is No Peace Partner for Israel
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Hosea 4: 6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
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Western source: Israel hits Syria weapons transfer again
‘IAF strike in Syria targeted arms from Iran’
Man who crossed Lebanon border returns to Israel
Peres slams UN HR group that depicts Israel as evil
Scottish church: Jews not entitled to Holy Land
Netanyahu heads to China for Iran, Syria talks
‘Israel to join Turkey, Arab states to stop Iran’
The Boston bomber, Miranda rights and Israel
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Report: IDF Hit ‘Game-Changing’ Hizbullah Weapons
Following Syria Strikes, IDF Moves Iron Dome to North
Israeli Man Seriously Wounded in Rock Attack
PA Chairman Abbas Travels to China for State Visit
Buenos Aires Book Fair Promotes Iranian Anti-Semitic Theories
‘Cuban Five’ Member Must Renounce US Citizenship: Court
Arabs Torch Jewish Vineyard in Samaria
Report: Pentagon Can Destroy Fordow
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The Times of Israel
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Israeli forces on high alert in Golan Heights
Israel reportedly rejects 1967 lines ‘precondition’
Congressman warns against US redefining its red line on Syria
Readying new Syria push, US feels out Russia again
Fayyad slams Palestinians’ history of ‘failed leadership’
Fayyad denies giving interview in which he slammed Palestinian leadership
Israeli team to bring hard-earned post-trauma expertise to Boston
No one wants to bury Boston bomb suspect
Kazakh man linked to Boston suspect a ‘normal teen’
US authorities comb woods near bomb suspect’s college
‘We’ve not confirmed any strike on Syria,’ says top Defense Ministry official
Hundreds flee Syrian city after reported massacre
Lebanese FM: ‘Israeli air breaches’ danger to region
Danes, Finns upgrade Palestinian diplomatic status
Azerbaijan jails three over Eurovision ‘terrorist plot’
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New York College Jewish Students Target of Vicious Anti-Semitic Attack
Winning high school runner disqualified for giving thanks to God
Second ‘Gabriel Stone’ may exist, says scholar
ADL Calls on Palestinian Leadership to “Unequivocally Condemn” Murder of Israeli Jew
Canadian Woman Comes to Terms With Her Jewish Identity 70 Years Later
Israel PM: Root of Palestinian conflict ‘not territorial’
Wanted Benghazi men: FBI seeks info on 3 in Benghazi attack
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Barry Shaw: The closing of the academic mind in Ireland— In January of this year, in the tiny Irish town of Cahersiveen, teachers of impressionable teenagers led them into the streets with placards reading “Free Palestine.” Post-Christmas, these schoolchildren were still wearing their red and white Christmas hats. Symbolically, it had become a religious thing to save the Palestinians. When asked who they were freeing Palestine from, a trio of bright young faces answered, “From the Jews.” Such is the level of education in that beautiful little town.
Petra Marquardt-Bigman: Stormfront Material from Columbia University Professor Joseph Massad—In one of his recent columns for Al Jazeera, Columbia University professor Joseph Massad holds forth on the topic of “Israel and the politics of boycott.” He casually claims in this piece that “the Zionists…were pioneers in their use of boycotts to effect racial separatism,” while “the Nazis would be latecomers to the tactic.” In other words, the Nazis were just imitating “the Zionists”…
Jay Adler: A Campaign of Willful Blindness on Terrorism—On April 15, 2013 at 2:49 p.m. two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Most of us know the details, more or less – the three dead, 264 wounded and maimed, the days of fear, of investigation and pursuit, the two Chechen brothers, one a radicalized Muslim now dead, the other apprehended.
Anav Silverman: Evyatar Borovsky: A Settler With an Actor’s Legacy—In the recent media coverage of Evyatar Borovsky’s murder, the 31-year-old father of five young children was described in several international reports as a “hardline settler.” Borovsky, who hailed from the community of Yitzhar, was on his way to a theater rehearsal when he was stabbed to death by a Palestinian on the morning of April 30 at the Tapuach Junction, a central point for busses and hitchhiking used by Arabs and Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria.
John Ransom: Maxine Waters Set to Run Finance if Dems Win House in ’14—Barack Obama has promised to take back the United States House of Representatives in 2014 by using his Organizing for Action superhero/super PAC as his weapon. And if that happens the country faces the prospect of this old socialist, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Graft, Theft, Shakedown), becoming the chair of the House Financial Services committee. Just imagine super-liberals Sens. Ron Wyden (D-DeathState), or Chuck Shumer (D-EastCoast) teaming up with Waters to re-write Dodd-Frank banking law to make itmore liberal.
Todd Starnes: Air Force Officer Told to Remove Bible from Desk—An Air Force spokesperson said personnel are not allowed to proselytize but are free to express their personal religious beliefs so long as it “does not make others uncomfortable.” But a critic pointed out an Air Force officer was told to remove a Bible that was on his desk. “When on duty or in an official capacity, Air Force members are free to express their personal religious beliefs as long as it does not make others uncomfortable,” Lt. Col. Laurel Tingley said in a statement to Fox News. “Proselytizing (inducing someone to convert to one’s faith) goes over that line.”
Larry Kudlow: April Jobs Aside, We’re Falling Behind—The really good news from April’s employment report is that all the pessimistic, end-of-the-world, spring-swoon forecasters were wrong. It wasn’t a fabulous report. But it handily beat Wall Street expectations. Stock markets soared on the news. The bad news, however, is that the U.S. continues to fall further behind its own long-term trends for jobs and economic growth. And lately, hours worked — a key labor measure — have begun to fall.
John C. Goodman: Study Devastating for ObamaCare Backers—Within the White House, within the Democratic chambers in Congress and among the (overwhelmingly liberal) health policy community there was considerable anguish this week. The reason: a new study finds that (as far as physical health is concerned) there is no difference between being in Medicaid and being uninsured. It’s hard to exaggerate what a blow this is to the people who gave us the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). Everything about ObamaCare ? from the money we are spending to the damage being done to the labor market to the hassles the whole nation is going through ? depends on one central idea: that enrolling people in Medicaid will give them access to more health care and better health.
Mike Shedlock: Obamacare Affects Part-Time Employment Yet Again—At a business level, the penalty for not offering a qualified healthcare plan is $2,000 per person, for companies that have more than 30 full-time employees.
As I have discussed before, Obamacare is behind the surge in part-time employment as corporations have been cutting hours worked and hiring more part-time workers to make up the difference.
Humberto Fontova: FBI’s “Most-Wanted Terrorist” Laughs at U.S. Justice From Cuba—This week the FBI announced a $1 million reward for “information leading to the apprehension” of Joanne Chesimard also known as Assata Shakur who they named a “Most Wanted Terrorist.” Chesimard is the first woman to make the FBI’s list. The New Jersey State Police Dept., who also wants her, added another $1 million to the pot. Convicted cop-killer (of a New Jersey State-Trooper) and “domestic terrorist” Chesimard has been living in Cuba since 1984 as a Castro-coddled celebrity of sorts. And it’s not like bounty hunters can operate freely in a Stalinist country. So the $2 million may be symbolic. As in the U.S. Justice dept. putting on a game face and saying: “Look Castro, we’re serious here!”
Bob Beauprez: Benghazi: Still looking for Answers, Part II—Yesterday we posted the first of a three part report by Fox News regarding the assault on the U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi, Libya last September. Below are the second installments that aired last evening. In the first, the identity-concealed Special Operator reveals that the Obama Administration knows the identity of the mastermind of the Benghazi attack that left four Americans dead, but is “sitting on the information” and taking no action. That’s because the Administration “doesn’t want to upset anybody” in Libya according to the Special Operator.
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Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now. There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Other Books by Neil Snyder
- Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days. Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall. Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace. With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
