Jesus taught the five points of the Gospel of the Kingdom:
• The pre-eminence of the individual
• The will as the determining factor in man’s experience
• Spiritual fellowship with God the Father
• The loving service of mankind and its supreme
satisfactions
• Transcendency of the spiritual over the material in
human affairs
Reading news of the situation in Israel is extremely disturbing to me as a Jew and as a woman of Mormon faith and experience. The talk about a jihad (holy war against outsiders) against Israel is against all moral principles that our scriptures teach us. As children of a loving Heavenly Father we are given the inalienable right to the pursuit of our own happiness and the freedom to do so, in America, in Israel, in Islamic countries, everywhere.
This Satanic plan of jihad, a struggle against an outside force with intent to overtake and enslave, is not a “holy war”, as they claim. Holiness translates as a spiritual quality, a religious belief worthy of complete devotion to God. A holy person is clean of any blemish, anxious to do the peaceful work of the Father – loving service to mankind. The Adversary (Devil) is the true author of this Luciferian plan of murder and mayhem. True, there are scriptural prophecies that foretell the Jewish nation will continue to be besieged and nearly conquered by its neighboring nations. Yet Israel has to this point in time survived the rockets, missles, threats and wholesale destruction promulgated and forced upon her and continually promised by the twenty-two antagonistic countries that surround her. There is nothing holy about aggression directed toward others.
I maintain that Israel is so important to our Savior Jesus Christ that no man’s war will be able to “wipe it off the map”. I also believe that divine intervention will be needed in Israel’s future in order to save her and convert her to the Lord.
Rather than the Arab belief that a war against “unbelievers” the Jews, is holy – meaning acceptable to the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – let us first remember that same God declared Israel a holy nation (Ex 19:6) because God taught Abraham that his descendents “… shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”. Israel was chosen to be a peculiar (unique) people unto God, …”above all the nations that are upon the earth”. (Deut 14.2 KJV).
This directly contradicts the jihadist view of a holy war against neighboring Israel. They have sworn to destroy Israel because they desire her land for their own. This is in violation of the sixth, ninth and tenth (holy) commandments warning against murder, bearing false witness and covetousness, not to mention Heavenly Father’s constant admonition to love our neighbors and serve them with charity and compassion.
Why were the Israelites declared a special people to Heavenly Father? The great Hebrew patriarchs vowed their loyalties and lives to the glory of God, making eternal covenants with Him. The Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 17:5-6, Abraham 2:9, 3:14) is unconditional between Heavenly Father and his posterity. It promises to bless the faithful with truth, priesthood ordinances, exaltation, land (dimensions: Gen 15:18-21, also Deut 30:1-10) and eternal increase.
The prophet Nephi wrote: “Wherefore, our father hath not spoken of our seed alone, but also of all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenant which should be fulfilled in the latter days; which covenant the Lord made to our father Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed” (1 Ne. 15:18).
God sent to the Hebrew people His prophets holding the holy Aaronic (Levitical) and Melchizedek priesthoods. The Aaronic Priesthood symbolizes the keys (responsibilities) of the ministering of angels to administer in outward ordinances including baptism and more (See Doctrine and Covenants 107:20). Those holding the Melchizedek Priesthood have the ability given them to manifest the power of Godliness on earth (D&C 84:20). This granted power holds the keys to all spiritual blessings on the church. Named after a great high priest who lived during the time of the prophet Abraham (see D&C 107:2-4; also Alma 13:14-19), these spiritually necessary offices give worthy men the power to administer to mankind upon the earth, to bestow upon them all the sacred blessings and miracles that God has covenanted for us.
Heavenly Father also instructed the Hebrews to construct holy temples to Him (1 Kings 5f). These buildings are dedicated to the Lord for worship, and prayers. In the temple sacred ordinances are performed for the living and dead, because to become an eternal family and return to God’s presence is the main purpose of God’s Plan of Salvation.
The twelve tribes of Israel were chosen to be in a covenant with Heavenly Father because of their indomitable character and their agreeing to make exclusive obligations to their God. He tells them this in Torah, calling them “a holy people” (Deut 14:2). It is the mission of the Jews to live a holy life as God’s priest people. Those who choose to kill Abraham’s posterity, effectively cancelling out the opportunity for the Jewish people to fulfill their sacred covenants, will finally and definitely deal with the wrath of God.
I urge those who believe the Islamic concept of jihad as it relates to their religious duty to cleanse from inner struggle with sin, to abandon their goal of conquering a country outside their own eternal souls.
I call upon the enemies of Israel to repent and come unto Christ. In Ether 12:27 (Book of Mormon) we read: And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men …
And wo unto them who shall do these things away and die, for they die in their sins, and they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God; (Mor 10:26 Book of Mormon)
We come unto the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who is full of mercy, grace and forgiveness. I implore those who would destroy the Chosen People of Israel, in the name of Jesus Christ, to turn unto peace one to another, nation with nation. Only when this is achieved will the demands, threats, epithets and aggression cease, and the real problems can be seen and dealt with reasonably and with foresight.
With His help and guidance, all things are possible (Matt 19:26).