The light of Israel will not go out!
Happy Hanukkah memories from a Part-Jewish Yorkshire scribe
By Charles Gardner, Special to the ASSIST News Service
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (ANS – Dec. 13, 2015)
-- Fond memories of my time in Jerusalem during the Hanukkah festival
two years ago have come flooding back this week. I remember well the
colourful light displays amidst a carnival atmosphere as the
nine-branched menorah was lit at restaurants, malls and other meeting
places around the city, though I suspect there is a mood of caution and
anxiety this year in view of the spate of terror attacks on individual
Jews innocently going about their daily routine.
The
festival of course marks God’s intervention during the reign of the
ruthless Syrian-Greek emperor Antiochus Epiphanes who desecrated the
Jewish Temple by sacrificing a pig there and blasphemously proclaimed
himself God. Judah Maccabee led a brave and successful revolt against
the tyrant in 139 BC and re-established temple worship (Hanukkah means
“dedication”) with the aid of the menorah which burned miraculously for
eight days despite having only enough oil for a day. The Greeks had
polluted the rest.
In
an apparent reference to the festival (not a biblical feast as such),
Jesus said: “I am the light of the world.” (John 8.12) And in that
respect at least, the eight-day festival’s proximity to Christmas is
entirely apt.
So
how much has changed over the past two thousand-plus years? Not a lot,
except that Israel has survived repeated attempts at genocide. But they
will not be wiped out, as Iran and the various Islamist terror
groups have pledged to do. Indeed, the spirit of Antiochus lives on as
enemies from the same region are still bent on Israel’s destruction.
Politicians need to understand that it isn’t just about ISIS and their
evil plans; they are part of a network of terror groups all with the
same aim – to wipe out Israel. The Hamas charter states that Israel will
only exist “until Islam abolishes it” and that “There is no solution
for the Palestinian question except through Jihad.”
The
current Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has yet to condemn a single
one of the many murders of Israelis during the recent months of terror
on the streets of Jerusalem and elsewhere in the Jewish state. He tells
the international community he is against terror while describing the
multiple stabbings and shootings as a “peaceful uprising”1. So when Arab
Palestinians kill Israeli parents in front of their children, it is not
to be condemned as terror because it is an expression of “peace”. What
sort of crazy, upside-down world are we living in? And Abbas has openly
admitted calling for this violence that he describes as peaceful.2
Should he not be arrested for incitement to murder?
The
response to all this from the wider world is equally topsy-turvy.
Britain has sanctioned air strikes against ISIS in Syria, but has
repeatedly condemned Israel for taking forceful military action against
terror groups out to destroy them. Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn was
against such action (in Syria) and, for once, I agree with him as it
will only further stir up a hornet’s nest.
The
ultimate hypocrisy comes from the United Nations, originally set up to
ensure lasting world peace but effectively making things worse with a
never-ending series of condemnatory resolutions against Israel while
ignoring the many dictatorial regimes where human rights hardly exist,
much less democracy. Following the terror outrage in Mali, the UN
offered its “full support”, but in the case of Israel has offered none.3
In my opinion, this international body is a sick joke.
But
have no fear! The Bible makes it clear that the God of Israel will
ultimately triumph over his foes. While preparing for my first book on
this subject, Israel the Chosen, I was very nearly wiped out
too, but God miraculously delivered me! I was still working as a sports
editor by day, and under quite some stress at the time, so I spent my
lunch-break at the imposing Selby Abbey (nearly a thousand years old)
where I prayed and then wandered up the aisle to read the pulpit Bible,
which was opened at the Book of Revelation chapter 12 – a passage about
‘the woman and the dragon’. It’s a picture of how the devil tried to
kill the baby Jesus, but the infant was snatched from his grasp. It also
proved to be a prophecy of what the rest of the day had in store for me
as I had a serious car crash on the way home, with the entire driver’s
side front wing of the car ripped off. But I escaped without a scratch.
The dragon had set a trap for my doom, but the Lord was watching over
me. I was working on a book dedicated to the spiritual re-birth of
Israel, and the devil was determined to stop me in my tracks.
In
the same way, Israel is hemmed in on all sides and under severe
pressure, with terror threats on a daily basis, but Elohim has the last
word. For there will come a day when he “will set out to destroy all the
nations that attack Jerusalem”. (Zechariah 12.9)
But
as always with the Lord, justice is mixed with mercy – as Naaman
discovered at another time in Israel’s history. He was commander of the
King of Syria’s army – “a mighty man of valour”, but also a leper. A
young Jewish girl, who had been taken captive on one of the Syrian
raids, took pity on her master, saying that the man of God (Elisha)
could heal him of his leprosy. He took up her suggestion and, after he
had obeyed Elisha’s instruction to wash himself in the Jordan seven
times, “his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young
boy” (2 Kings 5.14), at which point he declared: “Indeed, now I know
that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.”
We
too should desire the same mercy for our enemies as God showed to
Naaman. And even though modern Israel has not yet fully returned to the
Lord as a nation, many are displaying the compassionate attributes of
our God – like the Israeli doctors on the Golan Heights who treat
wounded Syrian soldiers and those who carry out life-saving surgery on
Arab children with heart defects.
So
we must pray that both mercy and justice will prevail, and that the
mass of humanity that is so utterly confused and perturbed by a world
full of violence will call out on Jesus, the Prince of Peace, and
declare as Naaman did: “Now I know that there is no God in all the
earth, except in Israel.” (2 Kings 5.15)
This
article is largely inspired by a recent newsletter from my friend David
Soakell of Christian Friends of Israel, to whom I owe grateful thanks.
2 Ibid
3
Five Israelis were killed by Palestinian Arab terrorists on November 19
2015, the same day as terrorists attacked a hotel in Mali, killing 20.
The UN pledged “full support to the Malian authorities in their fight
against terrorist and extremist groups” but told the Israeli government
that it was “imperative to restore calm” – David Soakell, CFI.
Photo
caption: 1) Sharing Hanukkah celebrations with fellow diners at a
Jerusalem restaurant during my 2013 trip. (Photo: Charles Gardner). 2)
Jewish family enlying the Hanukkah celebrations. 3) Charles and Lindia
Gardner.
About
the writer: Charles Gardner is a veteran Cape Town-born British
journalist working on plans to launch a new UK national newspaper
reporting and interpreting the news from a biblical perspective. With
his South African forebears having had close links with the legendary
devotional writer Andrew Murray, Charles is similarly determined to make
an impact for Christ with his pen and has worked in the newspaper
industry for more than 41 years. Part-Jewish, he is married to Linda,
who takes the Christian message around many schools in the Yorkshire
town of Doncaster. Charles has four children and eight grandchildren.
Charles can be reached by phone on +44 (0) 1302 832987, or by e-mail at chazgardner@btinternet.com . Charles Gardner is also author of Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com
** You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).
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