From Eliyahu:

Shalom friends, 

"Repent or perish!" is not the sort of thing many modern Christians would expect Jesus to say. It comes across as harsh and uncompromising, demanding conformity to a higher standard - or else. Modern Christianity has conceived a far more tolerant Jesus than that, a far more comfortable and accepting Jesus. A Jesus, in fact, who always forgives and accepts everyone, no matter what they do. This Jesus, actually the Yeshua of Scripture, seems foreign and alarming, and therefore somehow "wrong" to many Christians. Yet, call Him Jesus or Yeshua, He did, in fact, say those words. Why?

As in this popular picture to the right, fundamentalist Christians think "Repent or perish!" is a warning against the dangers of hell. It is portrayed as a warning about the afterlife, where Christians are depicted as crossing over to the streets of gold in heaven, while all others are shown descending into eternal torments in hell. While it is true that salvation is only through the Son of God, the heaven-hell scenario has absolutely nothing to do with Yeshua's words in Luke 13:3. In fact, Yeshua's "Repent or perish!" statement is not about the afterlife at all. In context, it is about this life, not the afterlife, and that is obvious from the surrounding verses. As a person who actually has respect for the Scriptures, it offends me when I see the Bible used this way. The Scriptures are not just a compilation of proof texts that can be ripped out of the Bible to be used to support popular religious ideas. Luke, for example, is a narrated story with historical context and meaning. To learn from it requires preserving the integrity of that context and meaning - not just trying to make it say what you want it to say. Perhaps, if we are talking about repentance, using the Scriptures with integrity, for a change, would be a good place for Christians to start.    

So why did Yeshua say "Repent or perish!"? We will be looking into that in detail at our online meeting tonight, but here are a few points to consider. Yeshua was speaking to Jews of His day who were alarmed at the unexpected deaths of some other Jews. The unstated question they were all worried about was essentially: "could I suddenly be killed like these other Jews were?" The worry was about death, not the afterlife. Yeshua's "Repent or perish!" statement is simply telling those Jews: 'if you keep doing what they were doing you will have the same outcome - you will be killed too.' Thus, they should turn back from that self-destructive behavior to avoid death. That's it. It's that simple - or is it?

Turning back from self-destructive behavior doesn't seem that simple for people, if you observe history at all. Sir Winston Churchill put it this way:

“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

And repeat it we do. Human's always seem to think they can ignore the lessons of history because their case is different somehow. Other's who drive drunk have gotten into terrible accidents that killed people - "but I can hold my booze better than that!" Other's have ruined their own lives taking illicit drugs - "but I can control my drug habit!" On and on the excuses for ignoring history go, piling up the bodies along the way. Stubborn stupidity leads to death. Is that not the message we should get from this?

While this is true of individuals, it is equally true of entire countries.

We are seeing this folly in America today, as the lessons of freedom from the past are being abandoned in favor of deadly dreams that have long since been proven false by history. America was founded on the Biblical ethic that we are all created equal by the God of the Bible. Out of that fact flows God-given rights to individuals, some of which are enumerated in the Constitution. The purpose of the Constitution is actually to prevent government from abusing or circumventing those God-given rights of the governed - to constrain government from amassing illicit and oppressive powers. Despite America's faults and failures, this God-centered worldview powered America to the status of the foremost and richest country in the world.

Now, in the eyes of half of the country or more, the foundation of all of that national success is obsolete. Socialist politicians are now publicly saying the Constitution is outdated. Socialism, that is Marxism, that is Communism lite, is the new rising star. Far from seeing government as a potential oppressor, the socialist left thinks government should control virtually everything, and they are working hard to make that a reality. In fact, the real goal is a globalist socialist order, which is why the socialist left sees the destruction of America as we know it as a good thing. This, of course, is crazy. It completely ignores the positive history of success that America has enjoyed as built upon its God-centered foundation, while also ignoring the hideous history of socialism, which is responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths in the 20th century. Will there be a civil war? It has already started, we just haven't gotten to the more overt stages yet.

So, will the brave patriots hold the line against the socialists, ultimately defeating them? In a word: no. Oh, they are trying, and will continue to try, but their beloved America is already past the tipping point. In the end they will not be able to pull it back. The lessons of Biblical and world history, as well as Biblical prophecy, make this clear. Another thing that is clear from history is that those patriots, at least most of them, will not be willing to accept that reality. They believe in their cause, that they are in the right, and that God will give them the victory. That's what the Jewish patriots believed who defended Jerusalem against the Babylonians, only to be defeated and slaughtered at their hands in 587 BC. That's what the Jewish patriots believed who defended Jerusalem against the Romans, only to be defeated and slaughtered at their hands in 70 AD. In both those cases national sins had amassed all the way to heaven and the day of judgment had come. America is no better, and has no right to expect a different outcome than the Covenant people of YHWH.

To survive imminent catastrophic events we must accept where we are in the flow of time. These are the last days. If you really understand the message of Luke 13, and respond to it, you don't have to perish with those who fail to learn from history. There is a way, and we will be talking about that at our live Tsiyon meeting tonight.             

Join us tonight for our live Tsiyon meeting, at 8 PM CST at Tsiyon.Net. Survival is still possible.

Shalom,