Big Little Israel

As I write this, friends of mine are winging their way to Israel for one of those trips-of-a-lifetime. Had I been offered the same opportunity, I would have declined. Holy Land tours are quite the thing among evangelicals "pilgrims" (people like me), but there are too many "loose cannons" (pun gleefully intended) in that part of the world for my liking.

By the time you finish reading this, I will likely have finished reading something myself, namely, a book whose premise is as follows: When America turns its back on Israel (read: sides with one of her many enemies) some physical disaster takes place in the Lower 48. That seems to be a stretch until you read all the overwhelming evidence. I only wish there was a newspaper out there with some courage and integrity that would pass along this information.

Then there is the best prime minister in Canadian history (in my personal opinion)—that would be Stephen Harper, Maurice—who made it very clear that he (and Canadians, by extension) will defend Israel no matter what, regardless of who is against him.

And lastly, Israel has invited the thirty-three Chilean miners over for Christmas cheer, in light of their renewed interest in God. That would suggest some connection between God and the Holy Land, methinks. Sixty-nine days in an underground pit can do wonders for one's awareness of things spiritual. There's even talk that this offer may extend to fifty-five others: their immediate and extended family members.

I don't know if it was me or what, but Israel seemed to be very much in the news these past few days. Of course, there is the negative side, where there is hardly a day or a week that Iran isn't threatening to turn Israel into a parking lot, but I won't grace those imbecilic rantings to even anything more than a passing comment.

I have a strong bias towards Israel (how'd you guess?), even though I am not Jewish. I don't even use the word "jew" as a verb-- as in, "I want to jew his price down." In fact, I hardly know any Jews, unless you count Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. I only know them through their written epics, with some fairly thorough investigation of their respective lives, warts and all. I should add at this juncture a slight caveat to my non-war bent (from last week): I do enjoy reading about Israel's present-day heroics, especially in the spy department. I am so amazed that a country so small can do so much clever damage to so many fiends with so few casualties of their own.

A recent email laid out in no uncertain terms the disproportionate number of Jews that have won Nobel Prizes, especially when compared to those, say, of the Muslim culture. If memory serves me correct, I believe it was something like 165-5. I would venture to say that no other nation has produced winners like Israel, ever—and that is all the more remarkable because they have only been a nation, this time around, since 1948.

The scrub land that they were presented with by Great Britain has become a veritable Garden of Eden (though there is no direct connection with that Garden and Israel: it actually was in what we know as southern Iraq). The ability of the Jews to turn any little thing into a big thing, any weak thing into a strong thing is beyond my comprehension. You might say they have the true "Midas touch" at every level—be it academics, economics, agriculture, and technology.

Even as a war machine (again, as much as I hate war, I recognize its place), Israel is completely unlike any other country. One scrawny country of a few million has fended off many countries of many more millions, time after time after time. How they do it, I cannot say. If Israel was a horse, I'd bet on it every time. If it was a neighbour, I'd have the best sleep ever. But it's neither horse nor neighbour, just a great country that needs our support as much as possible. 

You may read here in months to come even more favourable copy about Israel. Or you may want to read another Book about Israel's incredible past, challenging present, and breath-taking future.