Drumbeats of War - Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace
Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman said Sunday that peace with the Palestinians would not be possible this year, or even next generation.
There are many speaking out in Israeli mainstream media saying the same thing: that the peace talks are a chimera with no possibility of succeeding.
Iran agrees. From the heads of the Iranian government, to the bloggers and commentators on official news sites, they call the peace talks a fraud and a sham. Many articles today in mainstream US news highlight their continuing nuclear program.
Hamas… the key Palestinian antagonist against Israel… agrees violently. Although completely left out of the peace talks, they are the single most important player in any hope of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. They have expressed their displeasure by killing Israelis in the West Bank.
Yet Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority’s Abbas are all smiles and full of promise. Netanyahu projects an image full of confidence that the talks will work. Perhaps that is precisely because he knows they cannot work.
While official Israel swells with cordiality toward the Palestinians, official Israel is also taking aggressive action in Gaza and in Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed Palestinians on the first day of the talks. Since then, there has been continuing illegal overflights of Lebanon by Israeli warplanes, threatening the citizenry with mock air raids. Every day there are UAVs in the skies gathering intelligence, pinpointing military installations, hovering over Beirut for over 20 hours at a time.
Lebanon is doing everything they can, quickly, to increase their war readiness. A joint command for all Syrian and Lebanese Hizballah military power was suddenly established. Yesterday Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri apologized to Hizballah leader Nasrallah for ever thinking Syria was behind the murder of his father, saying “we made a mistake”.
I saw a photo of Nasrallah.. smiling happily. I don’t think I’ve seen that before in a released photo. He is sitting with Hariri… who is also smiling. It is the contented, relaxed smile of friends, after tension between them has been released. I think any doubts about the solidarity of Hizballah and the Lebanese Army were erased in that moment.
Nations of the West, including France, England, Australia, Canada… the list goes on… are advising their citizens to limit or cancel plans to travel to Lebanon, fearing for their safety. If people absolutely must go, it is advised they must stay out of the south, especially along the border with Israel.
Today Israeli sources say a mass campaign of violence has begun in Iraq. Sponsored by Syria and Iran, armed groups trained by Hizballah and the Iranian Guards have pierced Iraqi borders and now are on the loose throughout the nation.
The first incidents have already enfolded the US forces which have lingered in that fractured country. Our theater generals said they would keep the option open to reinsert combat forces if necessary. I do not know how the forces still in Iraq differ from combat forces, since they provided covering fire when violence broke out.
As I was looking at all that is occurring, I heard in my spirit very loudly and distinctly the phrase, “Peace, peace, when there is no peace.”
I knew it was from the Bible, but didn’t remember where. I looked it up. It appears more than one place, but I was drawn to Jeremiah 6. As I read it, I was astounded how it resonated with what is happening today.
Jeremiah wrote just before the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. Where Babylon was, is now Iraq.
Take a look and see what you think.
“Flee for safety, people of Benjamin!
Flee from Jerusalem!
Sound the trumpet in Tekoa!
Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem!
For disaster looms out of the north,
even terrible destruction.
I will destroy the Daughter of Zion,
so beautiful and delicate.
Shepherds with their flocks will come against her;
they will pitch their tents around her,
each tending his own portion.”
“Prepare for battle against her!
Arise, let us attack at noon!
But, alas, the daylight is fading,
and the shadows of evening grow long.
So arise, let us attack at night
and destroy her fortresses!”
This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“Cut down the trees
and build siege ramps against Jerusalem.
This city must be punished;
it is filled with oppression.
As a well pours out its water,
so she pours out her wickedness.
Violence and destruction resound in her;
her sickness and wounds are ever before me.
Take warning, O Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you
and make your land desolate
so no one can live in it.”
This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“Let them glean the remnant of Israel
as thoroughly as a vine;
pass your hand over the branches again,
like one gathering grapes.”
To whom can I speak and give warning?
Who will listen to me?
Their ears are closed
so they cannot hear.
The word of the LORD is offensive to them;
they find no pleasure in it.
But I am full of the wrath of the LORD,
and I cannot hold it in.
“Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the young men gathered together;
both husband and wife will be caught in it,
and the old, those weighed down with years.
Their houses will be turned over to others,
together with their fields and their wives,
when I stretch out my hand
against those who live in the land,”
declares the LORD.
“From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.
Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish them,”
says the LORD.
This is what the LORD says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
I appointed watchmen over you and said,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But you said, ‘We will not listen.’
Therefore hear, O nations;
observe, O witnesses,
what will happen to them.
Hear, O earth:
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to my words
and have rejected my law.
What do I care about incense from Sheba
or sweet calamus from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
your sacrifices do not please me.”
Therefore this is what the LORD says:
“I will put obstacles before this people.
Fathers and sons alike will stumble over them;
neighbors and friends will perish.”
This is what the LORD says:
“Look, an army is coming
from the land of the north;
a great nation is being stirred up
from the ends of the earth.
They are armed with bow and spear;
they are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride on their horses;
they come like men in battle formation
to attack you, O Daughter of Zion.”
We have heard reports about them,
and our hands hang limp.
Anguish has gripped us,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
Do not go out to the fields
or walk on the roads,
for the enemy has a sword,
and there is terror on every side.
O my people, put on sackcloth
and roll in ashes;
mourn with bitter wailing
as for an only son,
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.
“I have made you a tester of metals
and my people the ore,
that you may observe
and test their ways.
They are all hardened rebels,
going about to slander.
They are bronze and iron;
they all act corruptly.
The bellows blow fiercely
to burn away the lead with fire,
but the refining goes on in vain;
the wicked are not purged out.
They are called rejected silver,
because the LORD has rejected them.”
