Jerusalem: A Cup of Trembling

Jerusalem:
A Cup Of
Trembling
Behold, I will make Jerusalem
A cup of trembling unto all the people
Round about ... In that day will I make
Jerusalem a burdensome stone
For all people...
Zech 12:2-3

    The Middle East brew continues to simmer and thicken. Saddam Hussein has successfully pulled the wool over the eyes of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan by brokering a deal that Saddam will only keep as long as it suits his interests. Annan came back saying something like; "I believe this is a man we can deal with." That is exactly the same thing that Bob Dole said after his visit with Saddam Hussein sometime prior to the Gulf War. It seems that top ranking officials of democratic institutions will believe almost anything to postpone war, even when they know it is inevitable.
    In the Kurdish area of northern Iraq, much of the rich farmland has become a wasteland where nothing will grow because the groundwater has been permanently poisoned by the chemical weapons used by Saddam Hussein. Sixty Minutes, the CBS news magazine program, ran a feature on this, and other terrible results; the aftermath of Saddam’s chemical weapons attack on his own people, the Kurds of northern Iraq, in 1988.
    Recently a British doctor was secretly taken into this area of northern Iraq, to examine the people who have been plagued in the aftermath of Saddam’s atrocities. Accompanying her were video cameras to record what she found. It was absolutely sickening. Still photos taken just after the attack occurred showed dead bodies laying all over the streets. People contorted into grotesque shapes as they went through their death pangs. Dead mothers with their dead babies still in their arms, with looks of horror frozen on their faces.
    Now, some ten years later there is another kind of horror found among those who survived the attack. One of the most prevalent diseases is cancer, all types of which are raging within the population (70,000) of the city which suffered the attack. They suffer a cancer rate five times that of their neighboring towns. The TV cameras showed men who could not walk, a woman who had been driven mad, and all sorts of people with tumors, nervous system damage, and rampant skin disorders.
    Perhaps the most frightening aspect of it all is the large number of birth defects. The British doctor said the chemicals used had actually altered the DNA of the victims, and that genetic disorders would carry down through the generations, probably forever. Perhaps the many men and women who found themselves sterile from their exposure were the lucky ones. At least they would not have to see their descendants permanently mutated.
    Meanwhile, back in the US, it has been learned that the Washington DC demonstration against the US plan to attack Iraq, was organized by, and primarily composed of, people who are Iraqi/Americans. Of course they have every right to protest in this country just as much as anyone else. However, the news media made it appear that these demonstrations were a new grassroots ground swell of public opinion that was beginning to surface in the US.
    The Iraqi/Americans would like to see the US back a provisional government which would be placed in southern Iraq, and would wage a war of attrition against Saddam’s regime. That approach has been tried several times in the past, in other countries, and is a sure plan for failure. Just take a look at who is still ruling Cuba after almost forty years. A war of attrition does not work against tyrants, it only works against democracies who’s leaders tend to yield to public opinion when times become difficult.
    Most of the other Arab countries, except for Kuwait (which has much to lose if the US pulls out), have backed away from President Clinton’s plan to bomb Iraq. Can anyone blame them? They saw the lack of resolve displayed by the US when then President George Bush ordered General Schwartzkopf to turn around when his troops were almost in Baghdad. We did not remove Sad-dam when we had the best chance ever, does anyone believe that we would now, even if we could? Taking out Saddam with an air strike is a long shot at best. Besides, it’s against US law to specifically target the leader of another country.

So, the Butcher of Baghdad is off the hook again. Of course, Saddam’s ultimate target is Israel. If he could find a way to attack Israel, and get away with it, the other Arab leaders would embrace him as a hero. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA), led by Yassar Arafat, has gone on record as supporting Saddam Hussein. In 1991 the Palestinians cheered as the rockets fell on Tel Aviv. One wonders how they would feel if one of Saddam’s rockets loaded with chemical or biological warheads strayed off course and exploded in Gaza. We could expect they would find a way to blame it all on Israel.
In the Gulf War, Israel was attacked with Scud missiles by Iraq. All of the missiles carried conventional warheads, and miraculously, only one person died in the bombings, and that was of a heart attack. The US asked Israel to say out of the war, and Israel complied. It was probably wise that they did so, since an attack by Israel would likely have brought Syria and Jordan into the war on the side of Iraq. A total of thirty-nine missiles were launched against Israel. That number has striking significance when one compares it with the just punishment laid out for us in the Scriptures.

While forty stripes are allowed, it became the custom to give only thirty-nine. It is said this became the practice so there would be no danger of miscounting and going to forty-one, thereby causing humiliation. Paul mentions this practice in the Brit Chadasha (New Testament).

Israel is not a righteous nation any more than is any other nation of the modern world. The difference between Israel and the other nations is that Israel has a calling from HaShem to be a special people. In the Gulf War Israel received thirty-nine stripes (missile attacks) for their collective sins. It is alleged that after the thirty-ninth missile was launched, the Israeli Prime Minister sent the following message to Saddam Hussein: "If one more missile comes our way, Baghdad will be history." The missiles stopped. The Arabs may not like the Jews, but they do respect them.

Weapons of mass destruction are not only making news in relation to Iraq, they are headline news within the US as well. The arrest of two men in Las Vegas, Nevada, on a charge of possession of the deadly bacterial agent anthrax*, brought the reality of an Apocalypse to the attention of every American. For years the government and the news media have played down the danger of a terrorist attack against large US population centers. Now that discussion has exploded onto the television screens and into the newspapers and magazines all across America. The bottom line is this: no city in the entirety of the world is safe from such an attack. One crazy but intelligent individual, bent on destruction, could easily precipitate a nightmare similar to what is found described in the book of Revelation.
[*This charge proved to be false. What they actually were transporting was a harmless anthrax animal vaccine.]

    It is believed that dozens of nations either have, or are developing, biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction. Many of these weapons have been around for years.
    A recent news program, on the ABC television network, held an interview with a former Russian military officer and scientist who was in charge of a massive biological weapons plant. He told the news reporters that Russia had developed fifty-three different biological strains of disease, including a combined strain of smallpox and ebola. When asked if it would be possible to be immunized against all of these various diseases his comment was; "No one could survive fifty-three immunizations."
    What can a Believer do in the face of this type of terrible threat? Well, a certain amount of education might be helpful. Some diseases are highly contagious, while others are not. Antibiotics, if given early, might help an individual survive. The best physical defense is super cleanliness and a strong immune system.
    However, the bottom line is that we must trust our Father in heaven and our Messiah, Yeshua, totally and completely.