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12 And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered. 13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him. 14 And while they were yet talking with him, came the king’s chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.
We may here observe,
I. How little Mordecai was puffed up with his advancement. He came again to the king’s gate (v. 12); he returned to his place and the duty of it immediately, and minded his business as closely as he had done before. Honour is well bestowed on those that are not made proud and idle by it, and will not think themselves above their business.
II. How much Haman was cast down with his disappointment. He could not bear it. To wait upon any man, especially Mordecai, and at this time, when he hoped to have seen him hanged, was enough to break such a proud heart as he had. He hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered, as one that looked upon himself as sunk and in a manner condemned. What harm had it done him to stoop thus to Mordecai? Was he ever the worse for it? Was it not what he himself proposed to be done by one of the king’s most noble princes? Why then should he grudge to do it himself? But that will break a proud man’s heart which would not break a humble man’s sleep.
III. How his doom was, out of this event, read to him by his wife and his friends: “If Mordecai be, as they say he is, of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, though but in a point of honour, never expect to prevail against him; for thou shalt surely fall before him,” v. 13. Miserable comforters were they all; they did not advise him to repent, and ask Mordecai’s pardon for his bad design against him, but foretold his destiny as fatal and unavoidable. Two things they foresaw:–
1. That Haman would be disappointed in his enterprise against the Jews: “Thou shalt not prevail to root out that people. Heaven plainly fights against thee.”
2. That he himself would be destroyed: Thou shalt surely fall before him. The contest between Michael and the dragon will not be a drawn battle; no, Haman must fall before Mordecai. Two things they grounded their prognostications upon:–
(1.) This Mordecai was of the seed of the Jews; feeble Jews their enemies sometimes called them, but formidable Jews they sometimes found them. They are a holy seed, a praying seed, in covenant with God, and a seed that the Lord hath all along blessed, and therefore let not their enemies expect to triumph over them.
(2.) Haman had begun to fall, and therefore he was certainly a gone man. It has been observed of great court-favourites that when once they have been frowned upon they have fallen utterly, as fast as they rose; it is true of the church’s enemies that when God begins with them he will make an end. As for God his work is perfect.
IV. How seasonably he was now sent for to the banquet that Esther had prepared, v. 14. He thought it seasonable, in hopes it would revive his drooping spirits and save his sinking honour. But really it was seasonable because, his spirits being broken by this sore disappointment, he might the more easily be run down by Esther’s complaint against him. The wisdom of God is seen in timing the means of his church’s deliverance so as to manifest his own glory.
4 And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 5 And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. 6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself? 7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, 8 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: 9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour. 10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. 11 Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
It is now morning, and people begin to stir.
I. Haman is so impatient to get Mordecai hanged that he comes early to court, to be ready at the king’s levee, before any other business is brought before him, to get a warrant for his execution (v. 4), which he makes sure that he shall have at the first word. The king would gratify him in a greater thing than that; and he could tell the king that he was so confident of the justice of his request, and the king’s favour to him in it, that he had got the gallows ready: one word from the king would complete his satisfaction.
II. The king is so impatient to have Mordecai honoured that he sends to know who is in the court that is fit to be employed in it. Word is brought him that Haman is in the court, v. 5. Let him come in, says the king, the fittest man to be made use of both in directing and in dispensing the king’s favour; and the king knew nothing of any quarrel he had with Mordecai. Haman is brought in immediately, proud of the honour done him in being admitted into the king’s bed-chamber, as it should seem, before he was up; for let the king but give orders for the dignifying of Mordecai, and he will be easy in his mind and try to sleep. Now Haman thinks he has the fairest opportunity he can wish for to solicit against Mordecai; but the king’s heart is as full as his, and it is fit he should speak first.
III. The king asks Haman how he should express his favour to one whom he had marked for a favourite: What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honour?v. 6. Note, It is a good property in kings, and other superiors, to delight in bestowing rewards and not to delight in punishing. Parents and masters should take a pleasure in commending and encouraging that which is good in those under their charge.
IV. Haman concludes that he himself is the favourite intended, and therefore prescribes the highest expressions of honour that could, for once, be bestowed upon a subject. His proud heart presently suggested, “To whom will the king delight to do honour more than to myself? No one deserves it so well as I,” thinks Haman, “nor stands so fair for it.” See how men’s pride deceives them.
1. Haman had a better opinion of his merits than there was cause for: he thought none so worthy of honour as himself. It is a foolish thing for us thus to think ourselves the only deserving persons, or more deserving than any other. The deceitfulness of our own hearts appears in nothing so much as in the good conceit we have of ourselves and our own performances, against which we should therefore constantly watch and pray.
2. He had a better opinion of his interest than there was reason for. He thought the king loved and valued no one but himself, but he was deceived. We should suspect that the esteem which others profess for us is not so great as it seems to be or as we are sometimes willing to believe it is, that we may not think too well of ourselves nor place too much confidence in others. Now Haman thinks he is carving out honour for himself, and therefore does it very liberally, v. 8, 9. Nay, he does it presumptuously, prescribing honours too great to be conferred upon any subject, that he must be dressed in the royal robes, wear the royal crown, and ride on the king’s own horse; in short, he must appear in all the pomp and grandeur of the king himself, only he must not carry the sceptre, the emblem of power. He must be attended by one of the king’s most noble princes, who must be his lacquey, and all the people must be made to take notice of him and do him reverence; for he must ride in state through the streets, and it must be proclaimed before him, for his honour, and the encouragement of all to seek the ruler’s favour, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honour, which had the same intention with that which was proclaimed before Joseph, Bow the knee; for every good subject will honour those whom the king delights to honour. And shall not every good Christian then honour those whom the King of kings delights to honour and call the saints that are on the earth the excellent ones?
V. The king confounds him with a positive order that he should immediately go himself and put all this honour upon Mordecai the Jew, v. 10. If the king had but said, as Haman expected, Thou art the man, what a fair opportunity would he have had to do the errand he came on, and to desire that, to grace the solemnity of his triumphs, Mordecai, his sworn enemy, might be hanged at the same time! But how is he thunderstruck when the king bids him not to order all this to be done, but to do it himself to Mordecai the Jew, the very man he hated above all men and whose ruin he was now designing! Now, it is to no purpose to think of moving any thing to the king against Mordecai when he is the man whom the king delights to honour. Solomon says, The heart of the king is unsearchable (Prov. 25:3), but it is not unchangeable.
VI. Haman dares not dispute nor so much as seem to dislike the king’s order, but, with the greatest regret and reluctance imaginable, brings it to Mordecai, who I suppose did no more cringe to Haman now than he had done, valuing his counterfeit respect no more than he had valued his concealed malice. The apparel is brought, Mordecai is dressed up, and rides in state through the city, recognized as the king’s favourite, v. 11. It is hard to say which of the two put a greater force upon himself, proud Haman in putting this honour upon Mordecai, or humble Mordecai in accepting it: the king would have it so, and both must submit. Upon this account it was agreeable to Mordecai as it was an indication of the king’s favour, and gave hope that Esther would prevail for the reversing of the edict against the Jews.
It is a very surprising scene that opens in this chapter. Haman, when he hoped to be Mordecai’s judge, was made his page, to his great confusion and mortification; and thus way was made for the defeat of Haman’s plot and the deliverance of the Jews. I. The providence of God recommends Mordecai in the night to the king’s favour, ver. 1-3. II. Haman, who came to incense the king against him, is employed as an instrument of the king’s favour to him, ver. 4-11. III. From this his friends read him his doom, which is executed in the next chapter, ver. 12-14. And now it appears that Esther’s intercession for her people was happily adjourned, De die in diem–from day to day.
The Record of Mordecai’s Loyalty.
B. C. 510.
Esther 6:1-3
1 On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. 3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.
Now Satan put it into the heart of Haman to contrive Mordecai’s death we read in the foregoing chapter; how God put it into the heart of the king to contrive Mordecai’s honour we are here told. Now, if the king’s word will prevail above Haman’s (for, though Haman be a great man, the king in the throne must be above him), much more will the counsel of God stand, whatever devices there are in men’s hearts. It is to no purpose therefore for Haman to oppose it, when both God and the king will have Mordecai honoured, and in this juncture too, when his preferment, and Haman’s disappointment, would help to ripen the great affair of the Jewish deliverance for the effort that Esther was to make towards it the next day. Sometimes delay may prove to have been good conduct. Stay awhile, and we may have done the sooner. Cunctando restituit rem–He conquered by delay. Let us trace the steps which Providence took towards the advancement of Mordecai.
I. On that night could not the king sleep. His sleep fled away (so the word is); and perhaps, like a shadow, the more carefully he pursued it the further it went from him. Sometimes we cannot sleep because we fain would sleep. Even after a banquet of wine he could not sleep when Providence had a design to serve in keeping him waking. We read of no bodily indisposition he was under, that might break his sleep; but God, whose gift sleep is, withheld it from him. Those that are ever so much resolved to cast away care cannot always do it; they find it in their pillows when they neither expect nor welcome it. He that commanded 127 provinces could not command one hour’s sleep. Perhaps the charms of Esther’s conversation the day before gave occasion to his heart to reproach him for neglecting her, and banishing her from his presence, though she was the wife of his bosom, for above thirty days; and that might keep him waking. An offended conscience can find a time to speak when it will be heard.
II. When he could not sleep he called to have the book of records, the Journals of his reign, read to him, v. 1. Surely he did not design that that should lull him asleep; it would rather fill his head with cares, and drive away sleep. But God put it into his heart to call for it, rather than for music or songs, which the Persian kings used to be attended with (Dan. 6:18) and which would have been more likely to compose him to rest. When men do that which is unaccountable we know not what God intends by it. Perhaps he would have this book of business read to him that he might improve time and be forming some useful projects. Had it been king David’s case, he would have found some other entertainment for his thoughts; when he could not sleep he would have remembered God and meditated upon him (Ps. 64:6), and, if he would have had any book read to him, it would have been his Bible; for in that law did he meditate day and night.
III. The servant that read to him either lighted first on that article which concerned Mordecai, or, reading long, came to it at length. Among other things it was found written that Mordecai had discovered a plot against the life of the king which prevented the execution of it, v. 2. Mordecai was not in such favour at court that the reader should designedly pitch upon that place; but Providence directed him to it; nay, if we may believe the Jews’ tradition (as bishop Patrick relates it), opening the book at this place he turned over the leaves, and would have read another part of the book, but the leaves flew back again to the same place where he opened it; so that he was forced to read that paragraph. How Mordecai’s good service was recorded we read ch. 2:23, and here it is found upon record.
IV. The king enquired what honour and dignity had been done to Mordecai for this, suspecting that this good service had gone unrewarded, and, like Pharaoh’s butler, remembering it as his fault this day, Gen. 41:9. Note, The law of gratitude is a law of nature. We ought particularly to be grateful to our inferiors, and not to think all their services such debts to us but that they make us indebted to them. Two rules of gratitude may be gathered from the king’s enquiry here:–
1. Better honour than nothing. If we cannot, or need not, make recompence to those who have been kind to us, yet let us do them honour by acknowledging their kindnesses and owning our obligations to them.
2. Better late than never. If we have long neglected to make grateful returns for good offices done us, let us at length bethink ourselves of our debts.
V. The servants informed him that nothing had been done to Mordecai for that eminent service; in the king’s gate he sat before, and there he still sat. Note,
1. It is common for great men to take little notice of their inferiors. The king knew not whether Mordecai was preferred or no till his servants informed him. High spirits take a pride in being careless and unconcerned about those that are below them and ignorant of their state. The great God takes cognizance of the meanest of his servants, knows what dignity is done them and what disgrace.
2. Humility, modesty, and self-denial, though in God’s account of great price, yet commonly hinder men’s preferment in the world. Mordecai rises no higher than the king’s gate, while proud ambitious Haman gets the king’s ear and heart; but, though the aspiring rise fast, the humble stand fast. Honour makes proud men giddy, but upholds the humble in spirit, Prov. 29:23.
3. Honour and dignity are rated high in the king’s books. He does not ask, What reward has been given Mordecai? what money? what estate? but only, What honour?–a poor thing, and which, if he had not wherewith to support it, would be but a burden.
4. The greatest merits and the best services are often overlooked and go unrewarded among men. Little honour is done to those who best deserve it, and fittest for it, and would do most good with it. See Eccl. 9:14-16. The acquisition of wealth and honour is usually a perfect lottery, in which those that venture least commonly carry off the best prize. Nay,
5. Good services are sometimes so far from being a man’s preferment that they will not be his protection. Mordecai is at this time, by the king’s edict, doomed to destruction, with all the Jews, though it is owned that he deserved dignity. Those that faithfully serve God need not fear being thus ill paid.
Proverbs 13:19
19 The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.
This shows the folly of those that refuse instruction, for they might be happy and will not.
1. They might be happy. There are in man strong desires of happiness; God has provided for the accomplishment of those desires, and that would be sweet to the soul, whereas the pleasures of sense are grateful only to the carnal appetite. The desire of good men towards the favour of God and spiritual blessings brings that which is sweet to their souls; we know those that can say so by experience, Ps. 4:6, 7.
2. Yet they will not be happy; for it is an abomination to them to depart from evil, which is necessary to their being happy. Never let those expect any thing truly sweet to their souls that will not be persuaded to leave their sins, but that roll them under their tongues as a sweet morsel.
- Matthew Henry Commentary
Proverbs 13:20
20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Note, 1. Those that would be good must keep good company, which is an evidence for them that they would be good (men’s character is known by the company they choose) and will be a means of making them good, of showing them the way and of quickening and encouraging them in it. He that would be himself wise must walk with those that are so, must choose such for his intimate acquaintance, and converse with them accordingly; must ask and receive instruction from them, and keep up pious and profitable talk with them. Miss not the discourse of the elders, for they also learned of their fathers, Ecclesiasticus 8:9. And (Ecclesiasticus 6:35), Be willing to hear every godly discourse, and let not the parables of understanding escape thee.
2. Multitudes are brought to ruin by bad company: A companion of fools shall be broken (so some), shall be known (so the LXX.), known to be a fool; noscitur ex socio–he is known by his company. He will be like them (so some), will be made wicked (so others); it comes all to one, for all those, and those only, that make themselves wicked, will be destroyed, and those that associate with evil-doers are debauched, and so undone, and at last ascribe their death to it.
- Matthew Henry Commentary
Matthew 10:8
Freely ye have received freely give.
1 Corinthians 3:6, 9
I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase – For we are laborers together with God.
For the churches in these days to pray, “Thy Kingdom Come,” and then spend more money on jewelry and cigars than in the enterprise of foreign missions looks almost like a solemn farce.
God has no blessings for stingy pockets.
When I hear requests for prayer for the conversion of a son or daughter, I say to myself, How much is that parent doing to win that child for Christ?
The godly wife who makes her daily life attractive to her husband has a right to ask God for the conversion of that husband; she is co-operating with the Holy Spirit, and repaying her heart’s request.
God never default’s; but He requires that we prove our faith by our works, and that we never ask for a blessing that we are not ready to labor for, and to make any sacrifice to secure the blessing which our souls desire. – Theodore L. Cuyler.
- Daily Meditations for Prayer.
From time to time, I’ll recommend–hope you don’t mind–reading (for newer subscribers) or rereading an old article that has some current value. In an attempt to explain how countries develop successfully or stagnate, I wrote “Barack Obama and the Cruise Ship Theory of Underdevelopment: A Formula for…Permanent Underdevelopment.” It shows how well-meaning policies of the kind in power in much of the West today make things worse. Hope you might consider taking a look.
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By Barry Rubin
It should be getting pretty hard even for Western leaders to ignore the Turkish regime’s growing alliance with their enemies. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Lebanon included a very dangerous statement that must not go unnoticed.
Lebanon, of course, is now a virtual satellite of Iran, another strategic factor Western countries and media don’t seem to be comprehending. This relationship is symbolized by the recent exchange of visits by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri.
Here’s what Erdoğan said that crossed the line into something new and extremely dangerous: if Israel attacked Lebanon or the Gaza Strip, ”We will not be silent and we will support justice by all means available to us.”
The prime minister understood what he was saying. “By all means available to us” implies Turkish military support for Hamas and Hizballah in fighting Israel. That doesn’t mean, of course, that Turkey would send troops or even military supplies, but it is basically a declaration that includes both possibilities. Erdoğan didn’t even restrict himself to cases when the terrorist groups he favors would be acting defensively. If Hamas or Hizballah launch an attack on Israel and Israel retaliated, Erdogan has now bound Turkey to support the aggressors.
None of this is accidental. Erdoğan is indeed impulsive but he knew what he was saying. And he also knew that the United States would do nothing against him as a result of this statement, nor would the Europeans. Still, how is threatening to join a war against Israel going to advance Turkish membership in the European Union?
To leave nothing to doubt, a Turkish newspaper interviewed two pro-Hizballah people who were enthusiastic in agreeing with the above analysis. One said, “Turkey is moving closer to the so-called ‘resistance axis.’ [The Iran-led bloc that includes Syria, the Iraqi insurgents, Hamas, and Hizballah.] It is edging toward a definitively anti-Israeli stance.”
Another added, “What struck me about Ahmadinejad’s visit was that he was sounding more like Erdoğan.”
Might it be a matter of concern when a NATO ally offers to go to war, or at least fully to the aid, of two terrorist groups and Iran? Could urgent action be required when a U.S. ally sounds like a revolutionary Islamist country that is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, covertly helps kill American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, calls for Israel’s extinction, and is reaching toward getting nuclear weapons?
Nero, according to the legend, celebrated Rome’s burning by playing on his fiddle. Obama doesn’t even notice that the U.S. position in the Middle East is being incinerated.
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). The website of the GLORIA Center is at http://www.gloria-center.org and of his blog, Rubin Reports, http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com.
Here’s my one-sentence deinition of U.S. airport security:
Let’s intensively search fifteen million people not just at random but–even worse–using silly profiling guidelines that misdirect our focus in the hope of finding one or two terrorists a year who, if they exist at all, are using innovative tactics that will get by our procedures.
If this approach could be justiifed by protecting people’s lives than it could be acceptable. But it isn’t.
And the moment someone says they do not support profiling on the basis of what categories might be more likely to be terrorists–on anything other than the grounds that it is not legal under existing law–they have absolutely nothing worthwhile to say about counterterrorism. Any policies based on anything other than profiling who is going to be a likely terrorist, in regard to who is actually committing terrorism, endanger the safety, privacy, and pocketbooks of everyone who they are supposed to be protecting.
Please be subscriber 17,928 (and daily reader 19,928). Put your email address in the upper right-hand box of the page at http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com [Note: For those following this closely we have raised our daily reader figure due to a consistent readership rise on the GLORIA site.]
We rely on your contributions. Tax-deductible donation via PayPal or credit card: click Donate button, top right corner of this page: http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com/. By check: “American Friends of IDC.” “For GLORIA Center” on memo line. Mail: American Friends of IDC, 116 East 16th St., 11th Floor, NY, NY 10003.
By Barry Rubin
If anyone tells you that the United States is a nest of Islamophobia and that’s a huge problem that must be atoned for by all sorts of measures, just give them the official FBI hate crime statistics. The numbers are now out for 2009 and can be seen here.
The report and the site are very badly organized and the numbers vary somewhat in the different tables vary slightly But the proportions are consistent. The number of antisemitic attacks on Jews is almost nine times higher than there are attacks against Muslims.
From 2008 to 2009 the number of anti-Muslim attacks rose by one percent. During the same time period, the number of attacks on Jews went up by six percent, an increase six times greater.
So despite thousands of terrorist attacks, the arrests of would-be Islamist terrorists, the killings of American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan by Islamist radicals, America has proved remarkably immune from actively hating or trying to hurt Muslims in the country.
In the main chart, the number of religious attacks is given as 1,303. Of these, 931 were against Jews and 107 against Muslims. Of the remainder, 51 were against Catholics, 38 against Protestants, 109 were against other religions, 57 against more than one religion, and 10 against atheists or agnostics. That “other religions” category is confusing. If that means Sikhs, Hindus, and Buddhists face as many attacks as do Muslims that would suggest a very big problem that isn’t being addressed.
Of course, there are still 3199 racially motivated hate crimes (against African-Americans, 2284); 777 ethnically inspired ones (483 against Hispanics); and 1223 against homosexuals.
Note however that in proportional terms a Jew is two to three times more likely to suffer some kind of hate crime than an African-American. The difference is that the overall intensity of individual incidents against African-Americans is more severe but this statistic still gives a sense of the situation. (Note)
Here’s what’s interesting.
Which mass media outlets will report how much the numbers differ from the perceptions that many of them have worked so hard to promote?
How many mainstream publications will carefully avoid pointing out who the real main victims of hate crimes are in today’s America? Note how many mass media outlets cover this story while avoiding the facts laid out above.
Is anyone going to do some soul-searching or change their behavior regarding the bashing of Jews and Israel, especially on campuses?
Will people in academia, media, and government sing the praises of America as a remarkably tolerant society when it comes to religion?
UPDATE: I am told that the CNN coverage explained none of the above points, focused on hate crimes against homosexuals, and blamed an upsurge in “fundamentalist” Christianity for these attacks.
[Note: African-Americans are roughly four to six times more numerous in the American population but suffer only a bit more than twice as many hate crimes.]
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). The website of the GLORIA Center is at http://www.gloria-center.org and of his blog, Rubin Reports, http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com.
NATO DECIDES TO LEAVE AFGHANISTAN, BUILD MISSILE SHIELD
A grand NATO to-do took place in Lisbon, Portugal over the weekend, and the member nations agreed to a couple of major items. First, NATO will withdraw from Afghanistan starting in early 2011 and slowly hand over all control of the fight there to the Afghani government. Second, a missile defense shield will be built in Europe after all – with the assistance of Russia. Whether or not there is a specific enemy bloc to align against, the allies are preparing to defend one another.
The second day of the summit was dedicated to Afghanistan. Twenty-eight countries are represented in the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, and all 28 signed an agreement with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai to hand over control of the war to his government starting in early 2011. Afghanistan is scheduled to be NATO-free by the end of 2014.
The NATO member nations have also finally agreed to build a missile defense shield in Europe. In the past, Russia has loudly protested the building of a missile defense system like this. Since Russia is now involved in its development, however, the massive defense program can go forward.
There are several prongs to the European missile defense shield, to which America will contribute a great deal. The US will provide Aegis ships capable of ballistic missile defense and will build land-based SM-3 interceptor sites in Romania and Poland. Detection systems complete with the best technology in sensing and shooting down missiles will be distributed in a variety of places to keep the shield flexible and able to protect the entire continent. The system will allegedly be capable of protecting all European allies, not just the few major countries. As Article 5 of the Washington Treaty makes clear, NATO is like the Three Musketeers – all for one and one for all. When it’s convenient, at least.
The Obama Administration has worked diligently to “reset” US relations with Russia, and this weekend was no different. The US and Russia agreed to join together in joint missile defense exercises and to cooperate on a ballistic missile threat assessment. The New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) has been sent to the Senate to ratify since the first START treaty expired last December. If ratified, the US would massively reduce its nuclear weapons stockpiles. US Vice President Joe Biden wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal to sell the treaty, arguing that it is vital in the effort to “reset” relations with Russia and to improve “global security.”
Beril Dedeoglu of Today’s Zaman asks why only Russia and the United States are planning to reduce their arms. Why not France or the UK?
“The purpose of NATO’s missile shield is to destroy missiles equipped with nuclear or conventional warheads before they reach NATO member countries’ territories. In other words, if one targets, let’s say, France, the missile will be eliminated without France [sic] needing to respond. One wonders why there isn’t any nuclear disarmament initiative in Europe while the US and Russia are busy implementing the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).”
Why not reduce arms throughout Europe? Ah. Because the leaders of France and the UK may recognize something that globalists always seem to forget in their conviction that global unity means global peace. They forget that the best laid plans of mice and men often gang agley (“go awry”), as Robert Burns so aptly wrote. If the missile defense system doesn’t work after all, France and the UK do not want to be caught flat footed. If the enemy infiltrates the missile defense system, or if a rogue NATO member country decides to attack, or if the leaders of NATO themselves become dangerous tyrants, the UK and France will both have a little backup protection. The US has far more nuclear weapons than any other country in the world. If the Senate ratifies the treaty, the US is still not getting rid of all its weapons. It will simply reduce its number to something closer to what the rest of the world has, (and will lose some of its defensively-useful brow-beating power in the process).
The Lisbon Summit appears to have produced results that could bring greater peace to Europe and the world. In the end, however, the world is a highly unpredictable place, and the enemy of world peace is not a simple thing to nail down. It is good to increase cooperation and understanding, but putting faith in world governments to bring true peace has always led to disappointment. It is only by the Prince of Peace that true global peace will ever reign.
In the meanwhile, let’s not stop praying for those making these major decisions. As Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Tim 2:1-4:
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. ”
In the fall of 1621, 50 English colonists and about 90 native Wampanoag men gathered together to feast and play games. Nearly 400 years later, American families gather together to feast and watch football. After gorging, family members nap – in order to be their fittest at 3am when they will Kung Fu their way into the mall. Black Friday brings out the Jackie Chan in anybody.
As marvelous as these Thanksgiving traditions are, they seem to leave out one major thing; the giving of thanks. Lest we forget, the big point of setting aside this Thursday in November was “as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens,” according to Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln offered some additional suggestions, should the American people lack ideas about how to make the most of the day. He said:
“And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.”
We’ll forgive the great president for his run-on sentence and take his meaning seriously. We also want to add to his list of recommendations and offer our readers some additional ideas about making this coming Thursday a day truly dedicated to our wonderful God and Savior.
The Thanksgiving Scroll. Place a large piece of construction paper on or near the front door along with strips of paper and pens and glue sticks or tape. As people enter, they must write down things they are thankful for and attach them to the scroll. Soon, the entire scroll will be filled with gratitude. (For fun, have the kids cut the scroll into a specific shape, like a tree or a turkey, and cut the gratitude papers into leaves or feathers that are added to the tree or turkey.) These words of thanks can be read by all in honor of God’s goodness.
Table Thanks: Many families go around the table and have all feast members vocalize the things they are thankful for. There are variations on this theme.
Toasting: Ask those at the table to offer a toast, even if just raising a glass of apple juice or egg nog, toasting God for His greatness. Indian Corn: Set one or two ears of Indian corn next to each plate and as the thanks-givers take their turns, they place an ear of corn into a basket. At the end, the basket becomes the center-piece for the table and serves as a reminder of all the good things God has done. Bible Verses: Write verses of praise and thanksgiving on cards that are placed at each place setting, and have everybody take turns reading their verses and offering the things that they themselves are thankful for.
Kitchen Conversations: Turning off the football game will make a lot of people grouchy and not at all thankful. However, there is great joy to be had in taking time during the evening’s one-on-one conversations to tell about all the great things God has done. Whether the year has been difficult financially or physically or emotionally, it can be a salve to focus on God’s faithfulness in caring for us through the struggles. We human beings like to focus on the negative. Let’s use this opportunity to focus on how loving God is and encourage our friends and family by the excellent things He has been doing in our lives.
Jesus Christ is alive. He rose from the dead, and He conquered sin and death for us. That alone is enough to be worthy of all our praise and thanks for all eternity. Let’s truly enjoy Him and all his additional benefits and kindnesses this year and make this Thursday the best Thanksgiving ever. A little Kung Fu for the Kingdom will have more lasting profit than even the best Black Friday conquest.
1Chronicles 16:34 - “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.”
Psalm 18:46-50 - “The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me. He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.”
Psalm 30:11-12 - “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.”
Psalm 75:1 - “Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
Psalm 106:1-2 - “Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise?”
Psalm 106:48 - “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.”
1Corinthians 15:57-58 - “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 2:14- “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.”
1Thessalonians 5:16-18 – “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
1Timothy 2:1 – “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;”
1John 3:1 - “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:”
Rev 11:15-17 - “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.”
1John 4:19 – “We love him, because he first loved us.”
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