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Paradox: Sunni vs Shiite - Why Neither Understand IsraelReader comment on item: Israel's Arabs, Living a Paradox Submitted by M. Tovey (United States), May 1, 2012 at 12:21 First, to respond to your specific request: "to understand Islamic laws or the theological position of the Islamic people by an open mind," this would require reciprocity. You might try to understand from your perspective, if you have not already reached that conclusion, that the view I have of the world and its problems is worlds apart from yours. And I believe you already know the reason why – because it is what is required of your adherence to things Islamic and my adherence to the things of Yeshua HaMashiach. The Hebrew Holy Bible from the beginning described the pathetic condition of humanity in its quest for independence from the Almighty G-d of Israel, the Ruler of the universe and Judge of all things. Islam tries to take the Holy Bible to task for one reason and one reason only – because it was antithetical for non-Jewish people to grasp what is written from the ancient times and the spiritless factions in the church of the time could not witness the Gospel because the few that believed the truth were overrun by the majority that fell away. It was the opportunity for some replacement theology and the Islamic Prophet filled the bill. Try it from this perspective: the Torah, the law, does not save. Practicing sacrifices in order to be obedient to the law does not save. No man, or woman for that matter, can do anything in and of themselves in order to prove themselves acceptable to Almighty G-d. Look inside yourself and if you could be truthful about this, you would acknowledge this as I did more than thirty-five years ago. There was always something not right about this thinking that a man can prove himself to G-d. Then came the truth about Jesus, Whom I now prefer to call Yeshua. The Catholic Church did not tell me about Him, neither did the Protestant Church I was brought up in. They ALL failed to tell me about Yeshua. Judaism and Islam failed to tell me about Yeshua, Issa as some Muslims will try to call Him. By the love of Yeshua I was shown the truth about Him from independent Biblical study; and I believed and was saved. Later, I read some of Calvin's works, and of some of the works of the early church 'luminaries' as you call them; none of them instilled in me what was necessary to have a special and individual relationship with my LORD and Savior Yeshua HaMashiach. So, how did I obtain that? Only the LORD can provide the details of how He led me to Himself by the power of His Holy Spirit. I had heard the stories of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, of His virgin birth, of His miracle-working journeys in and around Judaea while it was under Roman control. I heard about the jealousies of the religious elite of that day; these individuals smug in their ritualistic mentalities going about and calling Jesus all sorts of names in their demonically inspired pride, trying so hard in using the same trash talk we hear today as people still try to kick dirt in Jesus' face. But He put up with it, right up to the time the religious elite brought Jesus before the Roman authority to have Him put to death on false charges. In the days of the Jewish high holy day of the Pesach, He was scourged, beaten and put to death; three days afterwards, His grave was found empty by the first witnesses and authorities. So many witnesses revealed the truth of His resurrection, that for that time, no one would be able to quash the facts; not then, not ever, as you can tell now. You and all those who do not want to believe may have your opinions, but what remains is the truth of Jesus Christ; and it is He that holds my life in His hands and I am content to remain there forever. Now what we know about Islam is that the full intent of the dictates of the Islamic Prophet is to replace the truth of Yeshua HaMashiach, yet in the long run it should be realized that Islam will never be able to replace the truth about Jesus Christ. A reality check is that when one realizes the Israel exists because Jesus Christ says so, then there would be the reality that you cannot mess with Israel with impunity and expect to not pay the consequences. Every empire and national entity, from the Babylonians to the Romans, crusaders to the Khosros, Britain and the United States has paid a price for 'messing' with the apple of Almighty G-d's eye. Do you think that Iran, by employing what they believe is their own fundamental way to impress their intentions against Israel and against Israel's Redeemer that they will be held immune from the catastrophic consequences coming for doing so? They have already brought themselves to the edge of their own destruction and have no clue what they have done. I feel sorry for the regular people for what their government has done. Let us look briefly again (I'll not belabor the details) at the embassy situation that went so badly for the United States: you put up a strange set of reasons for why; but you apparently do not know the real reason why - actually too few do understand. Everything, literally and virtually everything that occurs relating to Israel in the Middle East surrounds what is happening to, from, for and against Israel. All one has to do is look at the face of the Cheshire cat named Arafat as he shook President Carter's hand and you will begin to understand why Carter lost control. That is the basis and continuing reason the United States seems to struggle with Islam; because there is always the intimated underlying issues the United States has with Israel; not with Iran; Iraq; Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc., etc., etc; they are symptoms of the cause of not dealing righteously with Israel. Bottom line: you cannot mess with the truth of Yeshua HaMashiach; cannot mess with the apple of His eye, Israel; cannot alter the destiny of the world that struggles to maintain independence from the WORD of the LORD when in reality the world is compelled to follow every word of the Hebrew Holy Scriptures, whether one wants to or not. It is written: His WORD does not come back to Him void. By your own intimations, that is what Iran is heading for. So, that is why I maintain my relationship with Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ as a disciple of His; because even if others do not believe His sacrificial death on the cross or His resurrection to the right hand of Almighty G-d, His WORD is still true and is manifest in His dealings with Israel; and if the leaders of Iran, or anyone else for that matter, do not get that truth in the minds and hearts, then what happens next will be on their own heads. Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". Reader comments (90) on this item
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