Wednesday, September 30, 2015

It's not nice to rejoice over someone else's misfortune

The influx of Muslims into Europe is in the news daily. Europe is being absolutely overwhelmed with myriad Muslims and Christians fleeing the tyranny of the Middle East. Every once in awhile, I see really mean Facebook threads and memes/posters and other respective Internet articles about these people, and honestly, it hurts my heart. It hurts because, regardless of their respective faiths, they are still humans just trying to stay alive. They have lost everything, risked their lives, walked hundreds of miles – many with babies and small children – and my heart goes out to them.

Yes, I’m positive many ISIS/Al-Qaeda thugs have seized the opportunity to sneak into Europe with them, creating a true dilemma that will surely plague Europe at some point in the very near future when those demons begin to unleash their agenda. (Most immigrants seem to want to go into Germany...and so my guess is, Germany will be the first country to be dominated by radical Islam…and for all I know, perhaps this is YHWH's retribution against Germany for killing 6 million of HIS people....Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19.)

Regardless, I am still heartbroken for all the innocents who were forced to flee and start all over again. Unless we personally have been bombed out of our homes, watched family members being shot/blown up, and been forced to flee on foot to another country, we have no right to promote ill will against anyone! I honestly don’t think God wants us to berate and make fun of these people. As a matter of fact, He even said so:

Proverbs 24:17 Do not exult when your enemy falls, And let not your heart rejoice when he stumbles; 18 Lest יהוה see and it be evil in His eyes, And He turn away His wrath from him.

5 comments:

  1. People need to quit casting stones (Mattithyahu 7 and Yochanan 8) if or when somebody else goes through trials and tribulations. Sorry about the Names. I am still learning Hebrew.

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  2. You're doing just fine, Kevin!

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  3. Instead of looking down on other nations and ethnic groups (especially from North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent), Americans need to put aside confusion and perplexity and realize that these nations and populations know their history as well as where their ancestors come from.

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  4. I need help with this one! I cannot stand what Islam is doing. May YHWH help me!

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    1. My friend Zach,

      We are in 100% agreement. We can't stand what Islam is doing either, but it would be wrong of us to convict all those fleeing the wars in the Middle East and not have some sympathy for them as our neighbors. We tend to think of our neighbors as only those of our faith, and indeed it is hoped that those lost to "Islam" and other misguided faiths would come to know the One True God, YHWH, but that is not completely in our power. Instead we have to be careful not to condemn first.

      You know the story of the "Good Samaritan", right? In Luke 10:25-37 we find a scribe asking Yeshua what he must do to obtain eternal life. Yeshua asked the scribe "What does Torah say?" The scribe replied (correctly): "To love Master YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself."

      Puzzled, the scribe said "Who is my neighbor?"

      It was then that Yeshua recited the parable of the Samaritan. You should reread it now, before I continue. It's Luke 10:30-37. ...I'll wait.

      ....You back?

      So the Samaritan is the only one who passed the man who had been robbed and had compassion on him, and when asked by Yeshua "Who had compassion on him [the man who had been robbed]?", the scribe clearly understood. Yeshua said "Go, do likewise also." (Verse 37). At this point most people talk about the Samaritan, the one who demonstrated compassion, and preachers and pastors teach we should strive to be more like the "Good Samaritan".

      But no one talks about the man who was robbed!

      Verse 30 only says that it was a "man" who went from Urushilm to Yerikho. We are not told who he was, what his faith was, nor even if he was a resident of Urishilim, and we don't even know if he was Torah obedient! All we know is he was a man, any man, who was beaten and robbed.

      Nevertheless, the Samaritan helped him. The Samaritan did not stop and ask if the man was worthy of his help. No, he simply helped.

      Fast forward to 2015. Who are the Samaritans? Who are those being beaten and robbed?

      My point is we must set aside what "Islam" is doing, and do the right thing. We must be the Samaritans and help those fleeing the war-torn lands. While Islam is touted in many circles as "a religion of peace", those with open eyes can see that certain factions of Islam clearly have no "peace" in their vocabulary and most certainly "ISIS" and "Al-Qaeda" fall into that bucket. (ISIS and Al-Qaeda would be akin to the "robbers" in the Good Samaritan story!)

      So what do we do? We help the victims and go after the robbers! So while we agree with you that "what Islam is doing" is repulsive, I think the story of the Good Samaritan tells us that we have to set aside our disdain for the robbers, and stop for a minute and help the victims.

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