Focus Point # 21

I remember the experience as if it had happened just yesterday. Her name was Reba Vaughn. She had cancer in both breasts which had been removed. However, the cancer was still in her right shoulder and arm. I walked into her room in a Kaiser facility in La Mesa, CA. It was probably in 1967 or 1968. I was shocked almost to the point of turning around and walking out of the room. An emotional adjustment was needed. She was bed-ridden, of course, with her right arm supported on a ramp-like board with her hand about 5 inches elevated above her shoulder. Immediately she said, "Don't touch the bed Brother Bob." Tears flowed to the pillow but a smile stayed on her face. The open cancer covered part of her breastless chest area, over her shoulder and almost to the bicep area on her right arm. Her arm looked to me like it could just fall off. Almost all of the area was covered with a white powder. When I asked her what the white stuff was, she told me it was powdered sugar. They found that instead of eating at her body, the cancer was feeding itself on the sugar. Soon after that Reba died. Her soul and spirit went directly to Heaven. Her cancer was buried in a grave along with her dead body.

I reluctantly relate that true story to you because it reminds me of another cancer destroying life in our world today. And sad to say, all we're doing is applying the white powdered sugar. Oh, here and there we treat it aggressively with a form of radiation, chemo and sometimes even surgery. But I often wonder at the inconsistency of the treatment. After 9/11/01 we got out the knife and started operating on the cancer in Iraq and Afghanistan. Send in the troops! We didn't then and aren't now throwing sugar over there. But for the last 60 years we've been pouring on the white powdered sugar. Where? Just guess. Iran? - Yeah, right! Iraq? Wrong again. You know by now it's the small, democratic lighthouse in the Middle East - Israel, the strongest allies of the United States. And what do we do? We send them money and then tell them to capitulate and grovel to the PLO! If the UN and the USA would have given them the support they needed when they were recognized as a bon-a-fide national entity, the pot wouldn't have been boiling over for these last 60 years. Everybody, and I mean by that, every nation sitting in the UN knew, they'd been told that the surrounding Arab nations were going to come down on Israel with a vengeance as soon as they were born. And what did the UN do? They turned on CNN and watched. They didn't even get out the powdered sugar!

In 1947 the UN promised a piece of land to Israel and by the time the final agreement was reached it was less than the size of the State of New Jersey! In 1948 there were 600,000 Jews living in the land. The Arab nations surrounding Israel were Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Lebanon. Population - 80 million! And the first words out of their mouths - "We're going to push you into the Mediterranean Sea!"

On May 14, 1948, Truman signed the official recognition of the new Nation of Israel and on May 15, 1948 (one day later) several hundred thousand militant, radical Jihadist Arabs attacked Israel (64,000 Jews) from the North, East and South. That's tantamount to pitting the Super Bowl winning New York Giants football team against our Ray County, MO Pop Warner all star team! On October 15, 1948, the battle was over. And the Giants lost!!! The war stories out of that struggle were and still are nothing short of miraculous! And what did the United States and the United Nations do? They didn't even send any powdered sugar! One would think that after such a humiliating thrashing, the Muslims would know better. But no! They had to learn it all over again. After some pseudo peace overtures, other battle fronts continued to break out, like in the Sinai Desert and much to the chagrin of the ancestors of Pharaoh (you'd think they know better) the Egyptian army ran home, humiliated by the rag-tag bunch of Jews! Finally on February 24, 1949, the War of Independence officially ended.

Then on Monday, October 28, 1956, about 7 years after the War of Independence ended, the 8 Day War broke out. Only this time Israel started it. And the reason they did was, they watched a tremendous build-up of troops and equipment along their borders. So they beat the enemy to the draw. This was a critical time in history when many thought Armageddon was the next biggie. Egypt sunk ships and closed the Suez Canal. Israel and much of Europe's trade stopped cold. But the UN troops took control of the Suez Canal and tempers cooled off. Just after that scare, John Foster Dulles pulled the United States forces out, along with the left over UN troops. That turned out to be a big mistake. But at least Israel saved herself from yet another threat of total defeat.

From 1957 to 1966, few border scuffles took place, mostly Arabs agitating the Israeli villages. In the meantime, the Israelis did not sit on their hands. They built up a tremendous Army and Air Force. Egypt again got big ideas. The big agitator was Nasser in Egypt. He had dreams and hopes of being the primary spokesman for all Arab countries. With a Russian backed Syria and King Hussein of Jordan, a huge Arab troop build-up alerted the leaders in Israel. That 1966 battle lasted - get this - six days! The Israelis increased their land area from 8,000 square miles to 26,500 square miles! That was war #3 in 20 years! 679 deaths and 2,563 wounded. One would think the Arabs would learn. But by now the motives for war added another facet. Yes, their hatred was and still is satanic. And yes, they wanted to gain a victory over the Jews and benefit from the billions of dollars in improvements Israel had made in the land. Now, after 3 humiliating defeats, they seethed with revenge. The other bad thing about these 3 victories was Israel became over-confident and arrogant. So, whether by design or by accident, the Arabs kept Israel on the edge with military build-ups and then a lull. And for Israel to mobilize for war it would cost them millions of dollars every day. These were expensive false alarms for Israel.

In September of 1973, in one week, the United States sent Israel three warnings of another Arab attack. But at so many millions of dollars a crack just to alert and get ready, Israel paid no attention. So, on a high Holy day, Yom Kippur, October 6 - war broke out - big time! At 2:00 a.m., Egypt to the South, Syria in the North and East, with the largest troop numbers since World War 2, they were at it again. On the Arab side were 838,000 hate filled troops. On the Israeli side273,000 Jews. Again human logic and only human resources cannot and will never explain the outcome. On October 25, the war came to a merciful end. It was only the influence of the USA and UN that saved Syria and Egypt. Israel had fought their way to within 20 miles of Damascus and the Syrians were in total disarray. In the South the Jews had crossed the Suez Canal and could have gone all the way to Cairo. Again the UN saved the day for the Arab Egyptians. Sometimes it appears as though the US and UN throw powdered sugar on Israel. Duh!

Some years later Bettie and I were on a cruise ship, along with some Lemon Grove friends, that carried the Egyptian Ambassador from Egypt to Israel to sign a peace treaty between the two countries. You'll remember Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian president, died. He was shot and killed on a public platform as a result of negotiating with the Jews. The trigger man was not a Jew, but a fellow Arab. To this day the treaty holds. Egypt is not the threat to Israel that their fellow Arabs are. That says to me that it is possible to deal with the Arab people in such a way that Jews can live in relative peace with them. I'm sure there are still the nut case radicals in Egypt. They can be dealt with, but not with powdered sugar. The problem is, we deal with the Jihadists and the Hezbollah with real severity in one place and cow-tow down to them in another.

I repeat, all non-Muslim people in the world are considered infidels and according to the Koran, "All non-Muslims must be considered the enemies of Allah." The prime targets are the Jews and Americans. Why in the world any right thinking, freedom loving American would give an ounce of credibility to Jimmy Carter's headline grabbing trip to the Middle East is beyond my wildest imagination. Of all the known terrorists, Yasser Arafat was for sure an activist most, or all of his adult life. And what does our former president do? He honors his name by placing a wreath on his grave. That's right Jimmy Carter! Throw powdered sugar on....Israel!

I know I've gotten long winded here, but an overview of these last 60 or so years is vital to understand what's going on today. Don't get me wrong, Israel is not, nor has it ever been, guiltless and snow white clean. They are now and they are going to continue to be under divine discipline. And just like throughout the Old Testament, God is using an anti-Christ religion and culture to bring it all about to His honor and glory without ever compromising any of His divine attributes. Glory to His Holy name.

Until next time,

Blessings,
Bro. Bob Kleinschmidt