THE APPLE OF HIS EYE
G-d calls the nation of Israel "the apple of his eye." In the Bible, G-d uses the phrase, "the apple of his eye" to show how much he valued Israel. Before G-d changed Israel"s name from Jacob, it is said in Deuteronomy 32:10 (KJV), "He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye." This verse showed that G-d carefully protected Jacob, who was later named Israel. King David knew how important "the apple of the eye" was when he recorded in Psalms 17:8, praying, "Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings." King David wanted the L-RD to guard him carefully just as He would his own eye. Finally, in Zechariah 2:8 G-d said to his people through the prophet Zechariah, "For thus saith the L-rd of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye." The L-rd was warning other nations through the prophet Zechariah that they should not bother his people, the Israelites.
Historically, G-d gave Abram a blessing before he turned him into Abraham. Abram, which meant "Exalted Father," was given a promise by G-d after being commanded to "get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father"s house, unto a land that I will shew thee." G-d promised him, "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3)." G-d promised Abram land saying, "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee (Genesis 13:14b-17)," Next, G-d made a covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates; (Genesis 15:18)." Then, G-d changed Abram"s name into Abraham, which now meant "Father of Many Nations", and established his covenant with him saying, "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a G-d unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their G-d (Genesis 17:8)." Also, in Exodus 23:31, G-d told them the boundaries of the land, "And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the seaof the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee."
If someone poked you in the eye, that would really hurt! That is what happened to G-d"s eye! Some people have poked G-d in the eye! ""for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye (Zechariah 2:8)." The important leaders of the United States and Israel have made some bad decisions to poke G-d in the eye. They did this when they made bad decisions that would affect Israel negatively. They did this when they divided their Israeli land and gave it up to their Arab neighbors for a peace that never comes " the so-called "Peace Talks." The problem with these mistakenly-called "Peace Talks" is that the Arabs, or so-called Palestinians, do not talk or act peacefully. They may talk "Peace, Peace" in English in front of the international media, but in the Arabic language, they talk of destruction and annihilation of the Jewish people (Koenig, 23). This was shown true when Iran"s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that they should wipe out Israel, while thousands of Iranians chanted "death to Israel," "death to America (Israel My Glory, 5, July/August 2006)." Indeed, their violent actions and countless suicide bombings show clearly that they are not a peaceful people nor is Islam a peaceful religion. Ever since Israel became a nation again on May 14, 1948, there have been five wars, specifically in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, and the 2000-2004 Intifada (Koenig, ix), which were violent attempts to take away the Israel land. The Arab people did not want this land when it was wasted and empty. They wanted it only after the Jewish people cultivated it, after it became fruitful and prosperous (Koenig, xvi). The Arab people, such as the nations of Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, and Sudan (Koenig, 223), who are the descendants of Ishmael, about who was fortold by G-d that "he will be a wild man: his hand will be against every man, and every man"s hand against him"; (Genesis 16:12a), are hostile to the Jewish nation. In fact, G-d warned the Israelites ahead of time in Exodus 23:32 not to make contracts with such violent and oppressive men, "Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me; for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee." Also, God commanded Israel not to give away their G-d-given land in Ezekiel 48:14, 29, "And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the first fruits of the land: for it is holy unto the L-RD." In Ezekiel 48:29, G-d further stated, "This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the L-rd G-D." The only dividing that is supposed to be going on is between the tribes of Israel, not outside of the nation of Israel, and certainly not to other nations who want to destroy them.
However, on October 24, 2004 the WashingtonPost.com reported that the Israeli Parliament had voted 67-45 on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon"s plan to disengage or withdraw from the Gaza Strip. On August 12, 2005 the USINFO.STATE.GOV reported that President Bush was in favor of Jewish withdrawal from their lands in return for peace with the Palestinians. It reported that he supported the decision of then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to trade Jewish land for false hopes of Mideast peace. On August 15, 2005, Jewish people had to start evacuating their homes in the Gaza Strip (AP news). Moreover, another 1,000 people also had to withdraw from four northern West Bank settlements (Cleveland JewishNews.com). By August 23, 2005, Israel had completed Gaza Strip and West Bank pull-outs. (Wikinews).
Remember what G-d had said to Abram? "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:" On the same day, August 23, 2005, the Katrina Hurricane started to form (Wikipedia). Hurricane Katrina is known to be the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes so far. It is the third strongest to ever hit the United States. (Wikipedia). It is eye-opening to see that there is a pattern in the United States related to bad decisions concerning dividing Israel"s land and the formations of hurricanes or natural disasters that hit America. In fact, Bill Koenig, a Washington Correspondent, authored a book called, Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel, which shows that recent hurricanes such as Hurricanes Lili, Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Claudette, Isabel, Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne all occurred at times connecting to the land of Israel and the U.S. leaders pressuring it to divide and give away their land to their enemies. In addition, unprecedented numbers and the severity of tornadoes, floods, and fires also have occurred at the same time with America"s negative disregard of Israel"s land and of G-d"s Word. More specifically, solar flares, the Space Shuttle Columbia explosion, Anthrax Attacks in the mail, Tropical Storm Allison, the worst drought/heat wave, and the infamous 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers in New York are among other catastrophes related to support of "Peace Talks" and a "Palestinian State"(Koenig ). American leaders such as President Bush Sr., President Clinton, and now President W. Bush have all made negative decisions concerning Israel"s land by pressuring them to give up their lands. Land for peace does not work! America has paid the consequences for poking God in the eye. Up until May 2006, there have been 57 catastrophes related to these "Peace Talks." (Koenig). The only thing about these "Peace Talks" that is successful is that they break America into broken pieces.
The world needs people to support the land of Israel to keep their G-d-given land. In the U.S. presidential history, U.S Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman, (Koenig, 158) have all supported Israel"s right to grow as a nation, even if nominally. It"s dismaying to see that talks of dividing the land again are resurfacing. We need to stay away from that. We the people need to recognize that our best interests are in defending the right of Israel to be their own nation that keeps their own land for their own people. Whenever we try to divide their land, we end up getting hit back. We need to sow protection and concern for Israel and help support them. Even Warren Buffet, one of the most successful stock holders, is successfully financial in his dealings because he is a pro-Israeli stock holder. By the way, he gave a lot of his money to the Bill Gates Foundation. We will be blessed when we do what is right concerning Israel. Furthermore, the divestment (or taking away) of church funds from Israel is in the wrong. So-called Evangelicals calling for a support of taking away the land of Israel and dividing it up are ignorant of G-d"s Word, and they are following a devilish program, unbeknownst to them, which is called Replacement Theology. We need to know that it is in our best interest to help the chosen people of G-d to follow the promises of God. After all, the same G-d that gave promises to Israel is the same G-d who has given promises to the church. I speak facetiously when I ask this: if God does not keep his promises, though he certainly does, then how can we claim that he will be faithful, though he certainly is, to the church? It is in our best interest to give good treatment of Israel and to support them to keep their own land. We need to stop bothering them to divide their land. We the people of America and others who are concerned about making a historical difference need to take care of Israel just like they would take care of "the apple of his eye." Our final defense is that we all get right with G-d and go back to the Word of G-d the Torah. After all, G-d takes care of us as the apple of his eye.
[/align]
__________________
The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. Zephaniah 1:14
פרץ
The Apple Of His Eye
