Today the non-Jewish world dictates to the Jews how Israel should pander to their enemies, and Israel sheepishly obeys. Just as the Jews of Gideon's day were fearful of offending the peoples of other gods, so Israel's present leadership is afraid of offending the non-Jewish world. Today Israel fights her enemies by cover of night, as though Jews should feel ashamed of turning back her enemies from the gate. Gideon may have been afraid of offending "his father's household," but he got the job done: he broke the idols of Baal and cut down the Asherah-tree regardless.
In the Book of Judges the story is told of how the Jewish hero Gideon was commanded by G-D to choose only those soldiers who "lapped with their hands to their mouths" for the coming battle with the Midianites. "Whoever fears and trembles," he was instructed to send home. Next to be given their leave were "everyone who laps from the water with his tongue as a dog laps" and "everyone who kneels on his knees to drink." As an ex-middleweight boxer, I believe I have a special insight into the prerequisites the G-D of Israel required of the 300 Jewish fighters eventually chosen to contend with the Midianites. And it's all about prudence. ˇˇ Anyone who's ever watched a boxing match will notice that seldom do fighters actually swallow the water given them in the corner, between rounds. There is a reason for this: if too much water is swallowed, the fighter will suffer debilitating cramps or become unnecessarily pervious to the pain caused by "body-shots" to his midsection. Many of Gideon's army remaining after the fearful were sent home were also winnowed out because they were not mindful of the impending combat. Only those who "lapped with their hands to their mouths" were deemed fit for battle because these men were thinking like fighters; they were anticipating the martial challenges ahead of them. These fighters were conscious of the terrible consequences of losing a one-on-one to such a cruel enemy as a Midianite because of a body cramp.
The situation faced by the State of Israel today is not so dissimilar to that faced by the Jews of Gideon's generation. Today the State of Israel is also confronted with an enemy who is quite willing to destroy her completely. And today, as in Gideon's time, Israel's survival is impeded by those who refuse to consider the religious voraciousness of her enemies. The Midianites intended that whoever "aggrieved" Baal "should die by morning." Many of Israel's Muslim enemies are of the same mind, although some fools choose not to believe this. ˇˇ Today, Israel's Jews are continually threatened by a preponderant Islam whose Arab adherents are "aggrieved" by the very existence of a sovereign Jewish homeland in their midst. Compounding this obtrusive danger is the fact that many of Israel's leadership, like the fearful and imprudent of Gideon's generation, have wilfully ignored every indication of impending military confrontation. They are afraid of sounding like "hawks" in Western ears at a time when sounding like hawks in Middle Eastern ears is not a bad idea. These are the politicians whose sycophantic rhetoric, although pleasing to Western leaders, has done nothing but besmirch the proud history of the Jewish people and belie the careful dedication of the Israeli Defence Force to the survival of the Jewish people of Israel in a predominantly Muslim (and therefore anti-Jewish) Middle East.
What was the Oslo Accord but the abdication of Jewish pride and history in return for a dangerous nothing. Arafat, the king of terrorists, had no intention of recognizing the "right of the State of Israel to exist" nor of renouncing terrorism. What was the "Disengagement Plan" but a perfidy without precedent: Jewish families forced from their homes, not by SS or Gestapo or European collaborators but by Jewish soldiers under orders from Jewish leaders within the borders of a Jewish Israel at the behest of a non-Jewish world.
"I am peace," wrote the Psalmist, "but when I speak, they are for war." Times have not changed for Jews living in the Middle East. There has never been a shortage of enemies there for the Jewish people. But instead of dealing resolutely with these enemies, Israel's leadership continues to plead with them and bargain with them, as though they were somehow anything but implacable. How much time is required for the Jewish leadership of Israel to fully comprehend what it takes to conquer such an enemy? They are lapping like dogs and kneeling on their knees when they should be envious of those prospicient Jews who are spoiling for a fight. The men of Ephraim were offended that Gideon had not summoned them to fight with him against the Midianites. When was the last time an Israeli politician was offended by not being summoned to fight an enemy of the Jewish people?
Today the non-Jewish world dictates to the Jews how Israel should pander to their enemies, and Israel sheepishly obeys. Just as the Jews of Gideon's day were fearful of offending the peoples of other gods, so Israel's present leadership is afraid of offending the non-Jewish world. Today Israel fights her enemies by cover of night, as though Jews should feel ashamed of turning back her enemies from the gate. Gideon may have been afraid of offending "his father's household," but he got the job done: he broke the idols of Baal and cut down the Asherah-tree regardless.
Gideon and his 300 finally came out from under the cover of darkness and conquered the Midianites. HaShem had told him to "go with this strength of yours," and so he did. The Jews of Israel today need a leader with this kind of personal strength. Is Mr. Netanyahu that kind of leader? I don't know. But what I do know is that the equivilant of Gideon's 300 are residing somewhere in Israel today. All they need is a Gideon to seek them out.
What is always impossible for me to comprehend is the fact that Muslims of all nationalities--even those raised in Western democracies--are much less bothered by the deaths of innocent bystanders who happen to get in the way of Muslim protesters than they are of someone drawing cartoons or making movies about the Prophet Mohammed; they are sensitive to little things, like cartoons or tasteless movies mocking their endlessly eventful religion, yet are insensitive to murder and bloodletting on any scale.
I believe Israel is on the verge of being destroyed by enemies more focused on her destruction than are Israel's friends focused on her survival: time to drop the meaningless discussions about impotent political tripe and, instead, focus our attention also on the uniqueness of the Jewish people--virtuous peculiarities that have not only distinguished them from all other peoples but have also deftly aided them in surviving their brutal enemies; time to concentrate on the necessity of ensuring a Jewish presence in this world, without which, as I believe, the non-Jewish peoples of the earth would descend into a darkness of cruelty and outright anarchy.
The journalist Richard Cohen has written, "The Arab world is the last bastion of unbridled, unashamed, unhidden and unbelievable anti-Semitism. Hitlerian myths get published in the popular press as incontrovertible truths. The Holocaust either gets minimized or denied....How the Arab world will ever come to terms with Israel when Israelis are portrayed as the devil incarnate is hard to figure out." This anti-Jewish hatred intoxicating the Muslim Middle East today, however, did not begin with the Third Reich shrilling it into the Arab air waves from radio stations in Berlin but from the pages of the Koran and the many "hadiths" following afterward.
No Western power is going to give credence to Israel's arguments against a two state solution (which would be nothing short of an Islamic "Final Solution" for the Jews of Israel) if they are moved in any measure by the slander and delegitimization being shouted from the rooftops by those Christian propaganda machines I mention above. No purchase of truth will be made regarding this pressing matter so long as Presbyterian and United Church clergy are burrowing underneath to bring down the Torah-prescribed ideal of Zionism.
Definition: King's Calendar Chronological Research
The Premise: Between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE (but continuing down to at least 104 BCE), Sectarian redactors transcribed the legitimate 'solar year' chronological records of Israel and Judah, into an artificial form, with listed years as each comprised of 12 months of 4 weeks of 7 days, or 336 days per year, thus creating a 13th artificial year where 12 solar years existed.
When the Synchronous Chronological Data provided in the Books of Kings and Chronicles for the Divided Kingdom Period are measured in years of 336 days, the synchronisms actually align. [Refer to Appendix 5. to see how it synchronises the Divided Kingdom Period]
About the KingsCalendar Publisher
R.P.BenDedek is the owner and Editor of KingsCalendar.com which was originally set up to publicize his research results into the Chronology of Ancient Israel. Those results were published under the title: 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran'.
Whilst there have been many attempts to solve the chronological riddle of the Bible's synchronisms of reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah and their synchronism with other Ancient Near Eastern Nations, no other research is based on a simple mathematical formula which could, if it is incorrect, be disproved easily. To date, no one has been able to dismiss the mathematical results of this research.
Free to air Academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
During the current economic downturn, this book has been drastically reduced in price but will eventually rise as the economy improves.
Check the Chapter Precis Page to see details of each chapter and to gain access to the Four Free to Air Chapters
R.P. BenDedek writes social commentaries and photographic 'Stories from China' both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing columnist at Magic City Morning Star News in Maine USA.
(He has been teaching Conversational English in China since 2003 and currently (2013) is teaching in Suzhou City Jiangsu Province.)
General formula for Biblical Data conversion:
The formula for constructing the artificial calendar was:
'X' times 364 equals 'Y' days'Y' days divided by 336 equals 'Z' artificial years.Values are:'X' = any given number of 'real/solar' years364 = perceived days in the sectarian calendar'Y' = number of days calculated336 = number of days in an artificial year'Z' = artificial years = 1.083'X' and represents the original number of the converted years plus 8%.To reverse the process by hand:'Z' years times 336 equals 'Y' divided by 364 equals the Number of 'X' years converted.
To see how effective this method is, SEE:Appendix 5:Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE:
The Principle of Linear Causality
The King's Calendar is a very simple approach to Biblical Chronology. It substitutes a value of 336 days for every year listed in Scripture. As far as the Divided Kingdom is concerned, when you use this 336 day year value, the synchronisms actually work. To see how effective this method is, SEE:Appendix 5: Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE
Because it is a mathematical system, the King's Calendar must abide by certain mathematical rules, the most important of which, is that if you change any date for any day, month, or year every other day, month, or year is effected and must also change. It's like a 'domino effect'. Chronological references cannot be 'forced' to fit, and nor can they simply be ignored or 'compressed' as is the usual case with historians and archaeologists.
If any King's Calendar chronological determination disagrees with anything in the history books, it must argue the case as to why the history books are wrong, or why the evidence for an assertion is untrustworthy. If the King's Calendar successfully defends its' position, then the history books cannot be treated as definitive, and if the King's Calendar is 'proven' wrong, then every other chronological reference it provides is also wrong.
Because of this, the King's Calendar Chronological Reconstruction of Israel's history is unique, in that its' methodology can be scientifically (mathematically) tested and demonstrated to be either true or false. Its' chronological predictions are able to be 'proved' or 'disproved'.
Rules of Evidence Series at Kingscalendar.
Part 1. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology Part 2. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology Part 3. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology Part 4. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology
