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Genesis 48:14, 19
And Israel reached out his right hand, and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands intentionally, for Manasseh was the first-born. [The Amplified Bible].
But his father refused, and said, I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and shall be great; but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations. [The Amplified Bible].
God acts independently of the claims of priority based on time of birth when he chooses men. He too “crossed His Hands” in the case of Seth over Cain; or Shem over Japheth; of Isaac over Ishmael; of Jacob over Esau; of Judah and Joseph over Reuben; of Moses over Aaron; of David, whom He chose over all his brothers; and of Mary over Martha.
- The Amplified Bible: page 65
This prophecy begins to be fulfilled “from the days of the Judges onward, as the tribe of Ephraim in power and compass so increased that it became the head of the northern ten tribes, and its name became of like significance with that of Israel; although, in the time of Moses, Manasseh still outnumbered Ephraim by 20,000 [Keil].
Joshua, whom Israel so long regarded as their ruler, was an Ephramite, the Ark of the Covenant was placed in Shiloh in the territory of Ephraim, which increased the tribe’s prestige. How could Jacob have prophesied Ephraim’s supremacy so positively, except by divine inspiration?
- The Amplified Bible: page 66.
Proverbs16:8
8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
Here, 1. It is supposed that an honest good man may have but a little of the wealth of this world (all the righteous are not rich),–that a man may have but little, and yet may be honest (though poverty is a temptation to dishonesty, Prov. 30:9, yet not an invincible one),–and that a man may grow rich, for a while, by fraud and oppression, may have great revenues, and those got and kept without right, may have no good title to them nor make any good use of them.
2. It is maintained that a small estate, honestly come by, which a man is content with, enjoys comfortably, serves God with cheerfully, and puts to a right use, is much better and more valuable than a great estate ill-got, and then ill-kept or ill-spent. It carries with it more inward satisfaction, a better reputation with all that are wise and good; it will last longer, and will turn to a better account in the great day, when men will be judged, not according to what they had, but what they did.
- Matthew Henry Commentary
Proverbs 16:9
9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
Man is here represented to us,
1. As a reasonable creature, that has the faculty of contriving for himself: His heart devises his way, designs an end, and projects ways and means leading to that end, which the inferior creatures, who are governed by sense and natural instinct, cannot do. The more shame for him if he do not devise the way how to please God and provide for his everlasting state.
2. But as a depending creature, that is subject to the direction and dominion of his Maker. If men devise their way, so as to make God’s glory their end and his will their rule, they may expect that he will direct their steps by his Spirit and grace, so that they shall not miss their way nor come short of their end. But let men devise their worldly affairs ever so politely, and with ever so great a probability of success, yet God has the ordering of the event, and sometimes directs their steps to that which they least intended. The design of this is to teach us to say, If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that (Jam. 4:14, 15), and to have our eye to God, not only in the great turns of our lives, but in every step we take. Lord, direct my way, 1 Thess. 3:11.
- Matthew Henry Commentary
The Duties of Kings.
________________________________________
Proverbs 16:10
10 A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.
We wish this were always true as a proposition, and we ought to make it our prayer for kings, and all in authority, that a divine sentence may be in their lips, both in giving orders, that they may do that in wisdom, and in giving sentence, that they may do that in equity, both which are included in judgment, and that in neither their mouth may transgress, 1 Tim. 2:1. But it is often otherwise; and therefore,
1. It may be read as a precept to the kings and judges of the earth to be wise and instructed. Let them be just, and rule in the fear of God; let them act with such wisdom and conscience that there may appear a holy divination in all they say or do, and that they are guided by principles supernatural: let not their mouths transgress in judgment, for the judgment is God’s.
2. It may be taken as a promise to all good kings, that if they sincerely aim at God’s glory, and seek direction from him, he will qualify them with wisdom and grace above others, in proportion to the eminency of their station and the trusts lodged in their hands. When Saul himself was made king God gave him another spirit.
3. It was true concerning Solomon who wrote this; he had extraordinary wisdom, pursuant to the promise God made him, See 1 Kings 3:28.
- Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 141:2
Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
As incense is carefully prepared, kindled with holy fire, and devoutly presented unto God, so let my prayer be…
Whatever form his prayer might take his one desire was that it might be accepted of God. Prayer is sometimes presented without words by the very motions of our bodies: bended knees and lifted hands are the tokens of earnest expectant prayer.
Certainly work, or the lifting up of the hands in labor, is prayer if it be done in dependence upon God and for His glory: there is a hand prayer as well as a heart prayer, and our desire is that this may be sweet unto the Lord as the sacrifice of eventide. – C.H. Spurgeon
If our prayers are as incense they will ascend to God with a sweet and acceptable fragrance and will be pleasing in His sight. They must however be prayers of the heart ascending from fires of intensest love to God if they are to be as incense.
- Daily Thoughts for Meditation
A basic principle is to look at the underlying interests and perceptions of specific governments and states, not the immediate headlines, if you want to know what countries or mass movements are going to do. Over and over, however, we see stories that prove false in a few days yet probably leave a lasting impression to the contrary on readers.
For example we keep seeing phony trend stories can be said about Hamas or Hizballah moderating, Hamas and the PA reconciling, a great new deal offered by Iran over the nuclear issue, and many other such items.
That thought is prompted by a recent flurry of stories that the Palestinian Authority is about to return to negotiations with Israel. In fact, for reasons I’ve outlined repeatedly in this blog (relating mainly to the radical nature of internal Palestinian politics) that isn’t going to happen for a long time.
Another story we keep hearing is about how Russia or China are about to support real sanctions on Iran. Yet every time an official from those countries makes a statement it is to the contrary. Here’s the latest from Oleg Rozhkov, a high-ranking Foreign Ministry official. And note he is very clear:
“We are not got going to work on sanctions or measures which could lead to the political or economic or financial isolation of this country. What relation to non-proliferation is there in forbidding banking activities with Iran? This is a financial blockade. And oil and gas. These sanctions are aimed only at paralyzing the country and paralyzing the regime.”
And that’s a regime with which Russia is quite friendly.
I just wrote a piece pointing out that since the Obama administration wants the EU to endorse the sanctions, it needs a unanimous vote there. This means that countries like Luxemburg and Sweden can now block, or water down, sanctions. Yet it doesn’t end even there! As Der Spiegelexplains, reporting on what EU leaders are saying:
“But the West also wants to secure the backing of countries such as Brazil, Turkey and the Gulf states for sanctions. That would make it harder for Iran’s leadership to argue that it’s being victimized by a `Western conspiracy’ or the `vassals of Israel.’”
This is crazy. Nothing will make it harder for Iran’s leadership to make such arguments because they will do so no matter what happens! How long will it take to get all these countries on board? How minimal they will demand sanctions to be! And Turkey is now practically Iran’s closest ally.
Here is a serious crisis where the Western states want to avoid Iran getting nuclear weapons or a war erupting to stop that from happening. Yet they are either frozen into near passivity or want to do less than the minimum and throw away the time available for peaceful and effective action. True, they are somewhat affected by a desire not to lose money from trade with Iran, yet Britain, France, and Germany along with others are ready to move forward.
What is lacking? While a number of elements can be cited the number-one item on the list should be: the lack of American leadership. I don’t here mean some kind of bullying or ordering, but I do mean a serious type of determination, prodding, and belief that the United States should lead even if not everyone is in the consensus.
This situation reminds me of an old Romanian joke used to explain about corruption. The lights are turned out, a piece of ice is passed around for a while, and then the lights are turned back on. “See,” says the host, everyone’s hands are wet but there’s nothing left.
So what will be left of sanctions and when will there be any? Not much and not soon.
And what is going to be left of American leadership?.Same as above.
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). His new edited books include Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict and Crisis; Guide to Islamist Movements; Conflict and Insurgency in the Middle East; and The Muslim Brotherhood. To read and subscribe to MERIA, GLORIA articles, or to order books.To see or subscribe to his blog, Rubin Reports.
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By Barry Rubin
There has been a huge international controversy about the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a leading Hamas terrorist, in Dubai on January 19. I have no idea who did it but have some points to make on the subject.
1. Generally speaking, media coverage almost never (in Europe) or only minimally (in the United States) talks about what Mabhouh actually did to merit his end. The New York Times had the following paragraph at the very end of its story:
“Mr. Mabhouh had a role in the 1989 abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers, and was also involved in smuggling weapons into Gaza, Israel and Hamas have said. Israel officials say the weapons came from Iran.”
It would seem that there would be more discussion of the deeds of such people so they are not portrayed, at least implicitly, as innocent victims. Readers could weigh the assassination against their crimes, which would otherwise go unhindered and unpunished. Mabhouh was probably in Dubai arranging more arms’ shipments from Iran so that Hamas could go to war again, causing deaths on both sides. He was a real war criminal, in contrast to the bogus ones fabricated by the terrorist-sponsoring dictatorships which seem to have so much influence on the “human rights” agenda.
2. As long as Western states do nothing to help bring Hamas or Hizballah terrorists to justice, and since Israel has no way of getting these people before a court, it has no option other than the extra-judicial one. Remember that an Israeli cabinet minister is more likely to face prosecution in the United Kingdom nowadays than a terrorist who has murdered Israeli civilians.
Some European countries–France and Italy have admitted as much regarding past deals–have secret agreements with terrorist groups to allow them to operate freely as long as they don’t do attacks within the country. Other terrorists–like the Palestinians who hijacked the Achille Lauro cruise ship and murdered an American citizen or one of the Libyan masterminds of the Lockerbie plane bombing that killed scores of passengers, mainly Americans–have been released from prison without completing their terms.
This point of international culpability in letting certain terrorists escape or function isn’t brought up, explained, or seriously discussed: What do you do if specific people are attacking you and there’s no other option to stopping them? If the United States could assassinate Usama bin Ladin or other top al-Qaida terrorists whom it could not capture shouldn’t it do so? Of course it should.
3. There is a cliché when talking about counter-terrorism to the effect that getting a specific individual doesn’t matter as there is always someone to replace him. But in terrorism, as in other aspects of life, there are more effective and less effective individuals. Since Israel eliminated Hamas’s master bombmaker—who not only made bombs but trained others–in 1995, less capable people replacing him in that line of work have managed to blow themselves up a lot.
The terrorist Imad Mugniya, who someone killed in Damascus, was a unique individual since he had personally worked with the Palestinians, Hizballah, Syria, and Iran. Given his energy, ability, and connections he was not really replaceable.
Mabhouh was in a similar position, the top Hamas arms’ procurer who enjoyed the trust of the Iranians and who knew how to get lots of rockets and other equipment quickly and consistently.
These are not people who merely carried out a specific attack but those who make possible the staging of dozens of attacks.
Of course, terrorism doesn’t go away—expecting that it will do so is a Western act of wishful thinking—but the point is to reduce the number and effectiveness of attacks, and thus the number of casualties.
There are other advantages to eliminating key terrorist operatives. Often it can spark factional conflicts which make terrorist groups spend more time on internal battles. It also sparks mistrust among terrorist partners. If Mugniya can be assassinated in the neighborhood of Damascus that is the most secure place in all of Syria, can Iran and Hizballah trust Syria? Where did the leak occur? Who is infiltrated by the enemy?
Indeed, though outsiders may understate this reality, there is more than a seed of suspicion planted. Perhaps Iran or Syria or Fatah or some other faction in Hizballah killed Mugniya? Perhaps Fatah or Iran or some other faction of Hamas killed Mabhouh.
By the way, although it doesn’t seem to make the headlines so much, other countries including the United States (certainly in Somalia and Yemen) have taken out specific terrorists. Doing so more would be a good idea, if the cases are carefully selected and in the absence of any option to grab them from some state providing safe haven.
Proposition One: if you truly understand that the terrorist groups are going to try to kill you no matter what you do, it removes the fear of making them angry.
Proposition Two: If you know the world is going to criticize you no matter what you do, it removes the fear of making them angry.
That’s Israel’s situation. It is also the situation of a lot of other countries which admittedly face a lower level of risk but also don’t realize the first proposition. At the same time, though, they have far fewer problems with the second.
But what’s at issue here is not revenge for past attacks but the prevention of future ones, a very careful and well-informed thinking through of what actions would weaken terrorist adversaries and save the lives of the civilians they are aiming to kill.
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). His new edited books include Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict and Crisis; Guide to Islamist Movements; Conflict and Insurgency in the Middle East; and The Muslim Brotherhood. To read and subscribe to MERIA, GLORIA articles, or to order books.To see or subscribe to his blog, Rubin Reports.
Exodus 1:9
He said to his people, Behold, the Israelite are too many and too mighty for us – they outnumber us both in people and in strength. [The Amplified Bible].
Is there in all human history a more amazing spectacle than the Exodus? A family of 70 immigrants grows into a race of slaves.
Suddenly, according to God’s detailed and pre-announced plan, they are seen flinging away the shackles of generations of slavery, and emigrating to a new country and a new life, with miraculous deliverances rescuing them from destruction again and again.
The marvel of the Exodus grows in wonder when, more than 3,000 years, we see the same race, often persecuted almost to extinction, carrying out in startling detail God’s predictions for their amazing national revitalization and prominence “in the last days.” [Adapted from many historians].
- The Amplified Bible: page 69
Exodus 2:4, 15
And his sister [Miriam] stood some distance away, to learn what would be done to him.
When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh’s presence and took refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well.
They launched the ark not on the Nile only, but on God’s providence. He would be captain, steersman, and convoy of the tiny bark. Miriam stood to watch. There was no fear of fatal consequences, only the quiet expectancy that God would do something worthy of Himself. They reckoned on God’s faithfulness, and they were amply rewarded, when the daughter of their greatest foe became the babe’s patroness [F.B. Meyer in ‘Through the Bible Day by Day]. – The Amplified Bible: page 70.
“There was true heroism in the act, when Moses stepped down from Pharaoh’s throne to share the lot of his brethren.
But it took many a long year of lonely waiting and trial before this strong and radiant nature could be broken down, shaped into a vessel meet for the Master’s use, and prepared for every good work….One blow struck when God’s time is fulfilled is worth a thousand struck in premature eagerness” [F.B. Meyer in ‘Moses, the Servant of God,’ adapted].
- The Amplified Bible: page 71
Exodus 40:7
And you shall set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.
Why was it necessary for one exact position for the laver to be demanded of Moses by God?
Those who have published charts of the tabernacle furniture arrangement, with the laver off to one side or the other of the door into the sanctuary, have missed a point here.
The laver was to be placed directly “between [the doors of] the tent of meeting and the altar of burnt offering,” thus completing the CROSS made by the arrangement of the furniture, from the ark to the altar.
It could have no significance to the Jews of that time, but the One Who planned it had those in mind to whom Christ would one day say, “And these [very Scriptures] testify about Me!”
How fitting that at the foot of that Cross there should be the altar, picturing our complete surrender, and the laver, picturing our cleansing, that we may enter in through Him Who alone is “the Door” to the eternal Holy of Holies [John 10:1-9].
- The Amplified Bible: page 119
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