Fire and Wood

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Dec 24, 2015 at 06:18

Hello, Yehuda -- or, for a Biblical play on words -- "Good Morning, Israel!"

I agree with you, and disagree with Daniel, concerning Islamic State. They will be with us a long, long time. You put the matter this way:

"(IS) represents a rejection of Western or even Eastern influence in a region it seeks to dominate in the name of Allah."

You got the horse before the cart there; whereas Daniel and the others have been putting the cart before the horse: IS doesn't consist of the ground that it controls, the way the Westphalian States of the UN do; IS is an idea, which consists of the thing it represents.

I wish the FBI, the CIA, the President of the US, the State of Israel and the rulers of the world could look at what I just said, and take it to heart. The countries of the world are like wood; IS is like a fire. You defined IS by what it represents: "a rejection of Western or even Eastern influence". Do Daniel, or the world leaders, think that this "rejection of Western or even Eastern influence" will go away, after Raqqa is taken and Syraq is transformed into a wasteland? No, it will not. It will continue to smolder, all over the Islamic world, waiting for fresh fuel to touch it and for a favorable wind to blow.

These are things one must consider, when dealing with a "Culture of Death" like the Jihadist movement.

By the way, notice that I said IS will be with us for a long time. They won't be with us forever. There are other "cultures of death" in town, such as Judaism and Christianity. Hitler thought he would have destroyed the Jews, when the last body was gassed and stuffed into the oven. But God took the heat in the crematorium smokestacks, the souls of the Jewish people, collected them together and put them into the hearts of other Jews. The result was the State of Israel, which will never be destroyed.

The true church of Jesus, my Messiah, is also such a culture of death. Our lord was killed at the stake; but his spirit was revived and quickened his body. That body rose to heaven and disappeared from view; but its spirit was poured into the hearts of his followers. They, in turn, were likewise killed; and as a pagan contemporary commented, "The blood of Christians is seed": The more they die, the more they live; until now, they cover the earth with their teaching.

We are dealing with fire here; but the world leaders are dealing with wood; because they are wooden heads and eventually, they too will burn. But because their spirits are dead, their fire will dissipate and be no more.

I'm not saying this to promote IS. The spirit of Islam is also a dead spirit, just like the spirits of the world leaders. They have a heat that stays with the embers, and sets aflame new kindling that touches it; but eventually those embers, too, will cool and die; and the fire will be snuffed out. But the Jewish people, and the people of Jesus, will live forever; because our spirit does not die with the embers: God collects our spirits, and they live forever.

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