The Yellow Star

The Yellow Star

Auschwitz_outerwear_distinguish_yellow_Star_of_DavidThe book The People of the Sign is, among other things, an exploration from the inside of the Sign of the Mosaic Covenant.  The book outlines, in living detail, what it was, and what it did for the 12 tribes of Israel, which had just been freed from Pharaoh’s oppressive clutches. In a sense it placed a Yellow Star on a people destined to stand in the gap, at the End of Days.  My upcoming conclusion to the saga – The Rod of Iron – answers the questions raised by the first two volumes, especially questions related to Jewish Identity.  After 2,520 years of punishment, culminating – unfortunately – in the Holocaust, those identified by the Yellow Star would be virtually forced by these circumstances to reassemble in the Promised Land.  This fulfilled God’s divine purpose – whether they liked it or not.

Yes, you read that right.

This wasn’t known to me a the time I began writing this trilogy, but by the time I completed the manuscript this handwriting was clearly on the wall, even for those like me, who weren’t looking in that direction.  And the presence of this nation of Jews is at the center of the unraveling of an entire civilization.  Let’s look at a few examples of the madness

It is common practice to blame the refugee situation in the Arab world on Israel, but as this link clearly shows, the chronic nature of the Palestinian Refugee problem is a symptom of a broader illness, one which is not caused by having a stable Democratic Multicultural regime (Israel) in the region.  Against this backdrop of 18 million refugees, and more and more armed unrest, we have Iran pulling the nose of the West, on it’s way to armed nuclear status.  And speaking of pulling the nose of the West…

Jews excluded from kristallnachtGlobally it is becoming cool to hate Israel.  This video which portrays the threat to Jewish student leaders in the U.S. is chilling.  The resurgence of global antisemitism, which prior to WWII had its roots in Russia and Europe and as a result of the Holocaust went underground for 60 years, has resurfaced with a vengeance.  But I’m not aware of it ever having such a foothold here.  Right now it seems to be gaining ground.  Here’s another nearly unbelievable headline.  Jews are being excluded from a Kristallnacht memorial. You can’t make this stuff up.

Large segments of humanity are clearly applying the Yellow Star to the only Jewish state on the planet, which has been fighting for the right to exist since before it was born.

But the backlash against this hatred will be severe.  The People of the Sign suffered in Egypt, and their boy babies were put to death.  Moses survived, and once God acted to free them, the armies of Pharaoh were powerless to bind them again with the shackles from which they had been freed.  The modern enactment of this was more severe, more extreme.  And it is the world of Islam that today is playing the role of Pharaoh.

This short 2013 video from Jordanian TV is an example of how hatred pours forth and empowers the accelerating showdown between Islam and Israel.  IUMS Member Tareq Hawwas delivers this Antisemitic diatribe in a manner that seems calm and reasoned, starting slow and building to this mind-boggling set of unbelievably evil comments: “They have a good understanding of finances, and therefore… when they were dispersed throughout the world in the days of Hitler…  Incidentally, most of what is said about the massacre is exaggeration and lies.  If only Hitler had finished them off, thus relieving humanity of them.  But Hitler was more merciful than they are themselves.  They exploited this minor incident in order to extort the world.”

When respected “Scholars” are instructing the masses in this manner, it is not surprising that the entire region is aflame.  What is surprising is that the rest of the world allows, and even encourages the raging fire.  In the end, all of us will be sucked into that vortex in one way or another.  At that time, we should remember the song of Moses, and it’s introduction from Exodus chapter 13.  “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.”

106_Conrad_Cichorius,_Die_Reliefs_der_Traianssäule,_Tafel_CVIYellow Star or not, the People of the Sign have paid their dues.   After 2,520 years the Times of the Gentiles are ended.  As nations gather around Jerusalem with the evil intent of creating a valley of death the returning remnant of Israel need fear no evil.  The Rod of Iron will ensure that the Iron Dome will be effective.

 

Recognizing Hate

Recognizing Hate

A few days ago I blogged about Sweden’s decision to recognize a Palestinian State.  Now a non-binding British vote delivers a crushing majority for recognition of what Gatestone calls a “Racist, Terrorist, Apartheid State”.

Meanwhile, $5.4 Billion in reconstruction aid has now been promised to the Gaza strip with no requirement to disarm, nor any legitimate controls to ensure it won’t be used to rearm for war. Au Contraire – Iran is broadcasting its intentions to continue arming the Palestinians for more wars against Israel.  This linked article labels recent attacks from Gaza “the start of the ‘divine promise’ of destroying the Jewish state.”

And to complete the picture, Abbas promises a period of peace which dovetails nicely with Iran’s successful negotiations to buy the time and space that it needs to create nuclear weapons.

Recognizing hateRecognizing hate should lead to condemning and counteracting it.  Instead, when it comes to hatred against Israel, we recognize it as legitimate.  We fund it.  We give it statehood.

How on earth did we as a species arrive at an insane condition in which millions of fanatical people have become intent on destroying a tiny nation built by survivors of one of the most, if not the most, horrifying genocides ever committed?  And if that wasn’t enough, millions of “enlightened moderates” blame the victim as justification to support, arm, fund and thereby encourage the hate of the fanatics!

The short answer, imho, is that human hypocrisy is a primary source of all evil.  I like to define hypocrisy as the creation / acceptance of false equivalencies and the application of double standards.  These subtle manifestations of bias and duplicity aggregate up with horrendous results.

There are longer answers, which also provide insight into the aggregation of such hypocrisy, and also the antidote to it.  If you are interested in my take on this topic, please cast your vote for my upcoming book The Rod of Iron which provides a more complete answer.

The Covenant Signs

The Covenant Signs

The Mosaic CovenantThe People of the Sign tells the seemingly tall tale of a wild and woolly journey crossing virtually every terrain known to man.  The protagonist (yours truly) is tossed across these landscapes by disorienting childhood experiences and navigates toward a new home in Christ using a compass on which True North is defined as the Sign of the Mosaic Covenant.  The resulting school-of-hard-knocks lessons leave our hero scanning the skies trying to connect the dots of the heavenly stars in an effort to escape a dead end.

The sequel, The Hardness of the Heart, drops the reader in waters more profound, with circular waves spreading out in a wider, but no-less relentless search for answers.  The rudder of the Sign of the Mosaic Covenant is replaced by a greater understanding of the Signs that Christ gave.  In the current, however, we find that these 2,000 year old answers are not current enough.

On the shore beckons a third volume, The Rod of Iron (please click and vote to help land its publication date) which provides a road map updated with additional Covenant Signs, designed to better orient us in the present day. Understanding where we are at in the divine unfolding of humanity’s destiny, in the clear light of these Covenant Signs, is the primary aim of this trilogy, especially the concluding volume.

We see the tide of radical and militant Islam, for example, challenging our understanding of the Christian Covenant, which is focused on Loving our neighbor, or to use a more ancient formulation of that principle, our brother.  I submit that lessons laid down at the time of Adam, wherein Cain slew Abel, and God asked him about it, are pertinent to this discussion.  The question for us is whether we are willing to be our brother’s keeper, or if we follow in the way of Cain?

To find out how we should behave, in order to be the former, we can fast forward from Cain to Noah.  Upon close examination we learn that the Covenant Signs are fractal patterns of importance to subsequent history.

Sign of the Noachian CovenantSome say the Noachian Covenant is unconditional. I say this is not entirely true. Yes, the promise encompassed in its Sign is unconditional – but God lays out conditions that go along with that unconditional promise. Look at Genesis 9, especially verses 4-6, and consider how they integrate with the promise in the Sign of the Rainbow.

9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.
6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
11 And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

My point may seem to advocate vigilante justice, and there may in fact have been a time and place for that.  But as we roll through history, accumulating the lessons of Moses and Christ, we find that we are required to set up systems of justice that incorporate the requirements of all the Covenants.   It is our responsibility to establish courts and the rule of law, and to implement national systems, to resist evil doers and administer the just punishment required by law, while our personal burden is to love and forgive.  Without both of these, neither is possible.

Are the Signs of the Covenants represented in the Zodiak?Such insights are, IMHO, critical for those who wish to understand how God has been developing His creation, over time, particularly the pinnacle of His creation – Man. The Covenant Signs are critical to find our route on the spiritual road map.  The Covenant Signs not only help us understand the direction we need to take, they show us the only path to our intended destination.

The Rod of Iron adds so much more to this discussion, and I hope you’ll take a moment to click on the link and vote for it.  In the meantime, if you’re interested in actively engaging in a dialogue on this and related topics, please join us in The People of the Sign facebook discussion group.

The Rod of Iron

The Rod of Iron

Ancient images feature The Rod of IronOn September 11, I announced that I had finished the manuscript to The Rod of Iron, now a formal book idea at Something Or Other Publishing.  Casey Kasem, who was a close radio companion of mine throughout my troubled early teenage years, summed up the approach to this manuscript with his famous byline: “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”  As I wrap up the manuscript review process, I look somewhat apprehensively forward to finding out if my editor feels I’ve measured up to Casey’s mentoring.

The very personal journey mapped out by the trilogy has been a long and winding road that, as The People of the Sign points out, predates my time on earth.  Certainly I’ve spent much of my intellectual, emotional, and spiritual life mining ancient history, in particular that which was recorded in or related to the Bible.  In college, for example, I joined the City of David archaeological expedition. But The Rod of Iron explores even more ancient territory.

From an archaeological perspective, the book joins the ancient temples of Göbekli Tepe to prophetic writings dating back 5,000 years. From a narrative perspective, it integrates theories that predate the planet, describing the first moments of the creation that unfolded space-time.  And philosophically, it explores the fractal patterns revealed by the fabric that originated, envelops, and permeates us, to provide what I believe are new hypotheses about who and what we are.

The Rod of Iron explores how our consciousness is fulfilling our destiny to emerge as Sons of God with similar creative capacities, albeit in infinitely weaker and more limited forms.  I hope you’ll click on the link and give it your vote.

QtubIron Pillar - a mysterious Rod of Iron

One example of a mysterious Rod of Iron.

Along the way — and by that I mean the path I chose when I initiated this audacious process — the trilogy that got written went well beyond what I had originally envisioned.  The act of putting pen to paper forced the documentation of many questions that demanded answers.  The fact that I had already published both the first volume and its sequel, The Hardness of the Heart, forced me to continue swimming in waters more profound than my inherent ability to negotiate.  The burden I laid upon myself drove me repeatedly to books, articles, events, mentors, ideas, and most importantly, my knees, in a desperate search for answers that would satisfy my admittedly obsessive quest for coherence. “Truthy,” superficial answers were not satisfying to me, nor did I believe they would satisfy those who would undoubtedly challenge the evidence I was presenting.  Instead, I continued to dig deeper and reach higher, drawing ever-larger circles in my efforts to solve riddle after puzzle after mystery to my own satisfaction in what one reviewer called a “relentless search for truth.”

In writing The Rod of Iron, a desire to more fully understand the purpose of the Tower of Bab-El story was but one mysterious “X Marks the Spot” starting point, or elusive destination (I wasn’t really sure which). But as the manuscript finally finished writing itself, I was astounded to find a pattern of dots connecting our modern era to that which the citizens of Bab-El sought to attain.

So to those few fans of the first two volumes and to the many others I hope will explore my work, I offer up The Rod of Iron in the hope that even critics will accept it as a fascinating and surprising end to the journey that began with The People of the Sign.  It was my ambitious goal to generate, over three volumes, momentum leading to a crescendo worth the considerable effort needed to digest the vast internal and external territory covered along the way. I hope that by testing my outrageous hypotheses against historical events and modern science, and explaining intricate relationships using articles from Scientific American, Indian Legends, and official government websites, I’ve created a story as riveting as the unraveling of mysteries was to me.

It is my aspiration that after reading my trilogy you will never again view the universe, nor current events, nor the significance of your own existence, in quite the same way.  The Biblical Rod of Iron was prophesied to accomplish such a major transformation.  I’m not claiming that my trilogy fulfills this,   but it does unyieldingly encourage its readers to take an entirely new look at the Rod of Iron prophesied to be wielded by Christ at His return.  Please take a moment to cast your vote for my book and we’ll keep you updated on the progress toward publication.

QutbIron Inscription

The inscription on the QutbIron.