R.C.Macaulay wrote:
Cont'd thread from Thomas...
Granted that Russia has a siege mentality ever since Napoleon went
ice fishing in the Volga, can this simple reason explain the causes
and effect ?
The country is ruled by a criminal gang.
Shades of the children of Esau and Jacob with a sprinkling of
Japeth's Gog and Magog kinfolk.
Speaking of Ezekiel 38 - 39, Putin visited Tehran and presumably
concluded a treaty of friendship last month. He has been saying that the
Russians will come to the defense of Iran if we attack.
Howdy Thomas,
Do not pass go or past chapter 36 of Ezekiel before 38-39 cuz you will
miss the point in chptr 36 verse 2 and verse 5 if you wanna get the
joke mentioned in 2 Chr. 20: vs 23. Right outa a playbook like Vince
Lombardi.
I'm sorry, Richard, I don't get it. I know explaining a joke may kind
of wreck it, but would you mind doing so anyway?
2 Chr is from the time of "Israel ascendant", of course, and Ez. from
much later; Ezekiel was active during the Exile, and he was preaching
not in Israel but in Babylon.
Ez is also one of the most important books in the Bible, and your quote
36:1-12 is one example of why: It's a sermon to the Israelites telling
them in no uncertain terms that they _will_ be returned to Israel, and
that the mountains of Israel _will_ once again be theirs. It is quite
possible that Ezekiel, single-handed, was responsible for the remnant of
the Israelites remaining "a nation" and not simply allowing themselves
to be assimilated, as were the "lost 10 tribes" which were carried into
exile earlier and apparently vanished.
If it had not been for Ezekiel there might very well have been no
post-Exile Judaism, and there would consequently be no Christianity --
or Islam -- today.
A lot of people, upon reading the book of Ezekiel, come to the
conclusion that Ezekiel was stark staring nuts. But if you keep in mind
the milieu in which he was working, then his crazy talk becomes
comprehensible as the powerful preaching which it actually was.
Richard
