Resources: • Adventist Mission Website: http://wjafc.globalmissioncenters.org/
This website is the new resource provided by the Office of Adventist Mission of the General Conference of the Seventh-day
• Website: www.jewishadventist.org
We pray every week for the leaders of the Jewish Ministry,
Shabbat Shalom Newsletter
746
2 September 2017 11 E l l u l 5 7 7 7
Professional Urban Development: The WJAFC provides:
Shalom Adventure Magazine online: www.ShalomAdventure.com
If you would like to read articles, watch videos, learn things about Judaism and Israel, this website is just for you.
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WJAFC: If you would like to share with people, this forum on facebook is a good place for that.
• Photos: https://get.google.com/albumarchive/1131446298409925652
- Professional Urban training for Jewish Ministry
91?source=pwa We have posted a lot of pictures on Internet during the last years. Don’t hesitate
- Teaching for theological students
• Russian Website: http://www.boruh.info/ This website is in Russian, many articles
- Help to plant new congregations. - Support for AdventistJewish dialogue with scholars and rabbis
to look at them.
and the parasha are posted on it every week.
WJAFC Paris
A weekly Journal of information and training published by the World Jewish Adventist Friendship Center Under the umbrella of the General Conference —Office of Adventist Mission
Journal of Information and Training — Issue 746 — 2 September 2017 / 11 Ellul 5777
Carlos Muniz English Edition: Richard-Amram Elofer
Richard Amram Elofer
Russian Edition: Alexandra Obrevko French Edition: Sabine Baris Spanish Edition: Jael Wells Cuellar Portuguese Edition: Carlos Muniz Dutch Edition: Hubert Paulleta
Hubert Paulleta 8
Emails: English: richard@elofer.com Russian: sashok_l@mail.ru French: sabinebaris@gmail.com Spanish: jael_wells@hotmail.com Portuguese: cdmuniz@gmail.com Dutch: hpauletta@hotmail.com
Credit photos: Richard Elofer, Alexandra Obrevko, Jael Wells Cuellar Hubert Paulleta, Laurent Baris and Advent Digital Media
for more information: contact us at www.jewishadventist.org
Alexandra Obrevko
Sabine Baris
aExEt_yI;k
This issue
A must website. To subscribe to our newsletter. To download some resources (Hebrew Sabbath School, and other documents). To order the book “Comfort, Comfort my people…” and many other things. •
Shabbat - Ki-Tetze
News 1 Parasha’s comments 2-4 Haftarah 4-5 Apostolic Writings 5 Stories & Traditions 6 Inspirational Corner 6, 7
Weekly Jewish-Adventist Journal of Information
We pray every week for the Jewish Friendship Ministry. I suggest our partners to pray from September 3 to 9 for Joseph and Yvette du Mesnil d’Engente and their team who are working in Paris, one of the greatest Jewish city in the world. They have the project to open a Jewish Adventist Cultural Center in Paris. Let’s pray for this project and their work.
News
Concert in Buenos Aires
We have been informed by the Jewish Adventist community Beth Bnei Tzion in Buenos Aires that they have organized a great event on August 26. It is a musical show with 20 musicians and singers on stage written by Nelly Gómez and based on writings and poems of children who were living in the GhettoCamp of Terezin (Theresienstadt in German) concentration camp located in Czech Republic.
Jewish Children on Stage in Terezin, © https://
blogs.mediapart.fr/yves-faucoup/blog/300416/terezin-oudessine-moi-un-ghetto
Month of Ellul, Month of Joy, Teshuvah and Slichot
This Month is a special month for the Jewish people, it is the month before Tishrei, the 7th month of the Jewish religious calendar. That means the Autumn feasts of Rosh Hashanah (Feast of the Trumpets) on Tishrei 1, Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), on Tishrei 10, and Succoth (Tabernacle’s Feasts), on Tishrei 15. Rosh Hashana is the new year day for the Jewish people, the first day of Yamim Noraïm (Days of Awe) which precedes the great day of judgment. When G-d is judging his people for their actions of the previous year. The Jewish people consider the month preceding Tishrei as a month of Joy (they are going to be forgiven), of Teshuvah (repentance) and forgiveness, reciting the Slichot (prayers of forgiveness) every morning from August 23 through September 20, Rosh Hashanah being celebrated on September 21.
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he Torah describes the only permissible way a woman captured in battle may be married. If a man marries two wives, and the less-favored wife bears a firstborn son, this son’s right to inherit a double portion is protected against the father’s desire to favor the child of the favored wife. The penalty for a rebellious son, who will inevitably degenerate into a monstrous criminal, or for some commentators who acted to interrupt the Jewish relationship with G-d, worshipping idols is stoning. - A body must not be left on the gallows overnight, because it had housed a holy soul. - Lost property must be return. - Men are forbidden from wearing women’s clothing and vice versa. - A mother bird may not be taken together with her eggs. - A fence must be built around the roof of a house. - It is forbidden to plant a mixture of seeds, to plow with an ox and a donkey together, or to combine wool and linen in a garment. - A four-cornered garment must have twisted threads - tzitzit - on its corners. - Laws regarding illicit relationships are detailed. - When Israel goes to war, the camp must be governed by rules of spiri-
Ki-Tetze
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Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19 A Spiritual War
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he parasha starts speaking about war “When you go out to war against your enemies,” (Deuteronomy 21:10), however, we have spoken enough about physical war, that is why the Jewish people have not seen here only physical war, but also spiritual war, especially because this parasha is read during the last month of the Jewish year, the month of Ellul, the last month before the Feast of the Trumpets and Yom Kippur. The month of Ellul is a special month dedicated to Teshuvah (repentance). The Jewish people are speaking about the great conflict between good and evil, but first as a battle that we have to fight on the inside of man. They said that there is a Yeitzer Tov (good inclination) and a Yeitzer Hara (evil inclination). It is very difficult to fight the Yeitzer Hara, that is why they know that man is not left alone in this war, heaven is helping him (Shabbat 104a). As disciple of Yeshua haMashiach we know that Yeshua overcame the Yeitzer Hara and its initiator who is the enemy of the universe, enemy of the God and his
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creation, his name should be known in order to fight him, it is the great Satan, the great adversary who is fighting God from the creation. Yeshua gives us the benefit of his victory, and is ready to fight for us at any time. However, in order to fight successfully the Yeitzer Hara, with the help of Yeshua, it is important to experiment Teshuva (repentance), that is why the text of the parasha is read as: if we will only accept to go out and wage against the enemy (the Yeitzer Hara) we will be victorious because Mashiach and Hashem will hand it over to us.” In another tradition, the inner struggle in man is compared of the struggle man faces during the time of prayer. The Yeitzer Hara tries to distract every person during this communion time with God. That is why again, the best advice we receive is from this parasha, “go out to war” one of the weapon to fight this war is prayer. In order to demonstrate to the enemy of the universe that his distractions will not succeed to separate us from God our Creator, and our Savior. When we are aware of this battle we are even more motivated to pray and to attend our spiritual assembly in order
not to fight alone but with our brethren who are fighting the same battle. Yeshua knew very well what was at stake when he said, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38), watch and pray, here is the key for the success in this battle.
Our Legacy
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s we have just seen in the previous comments, there are different readings and ways to interpret the Bible. Here is a text, which is about the legacy we leave to our children when we die. “Then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons,” (Deuteronomy 21:16), It is important to ask this question: What we will give to our sons and daughters from this life. For some people it is very important to leave material security to their children, for that, they are working very hard, reminding what they had from their parents. Nobody will say that is not good, it is good to leave to our children what we did not have when we were young, but there are much more important things that we must be careful to let
credit: photobucket.com
Parasha for this Week
Parasha Overview: Ki-Tetze
“If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.” (Deuteronomy 22:6–7)
to our children as our legacy if we want to see them again for eternity. Some of us had the good luck to be born within a family of believers, with parents who instructed them about Love, loving their neighbor, loving God, and about a loving G-d full of kindness for us, who takes care of us. We were instructed about the Bible and its commandments, about the Messiah who has accepted to die for us. That is certainly the greatest legacy we received, that we could leave to our children. That is why the Jewish tradition says that the word Vehayah, which starts our verse indicates Simcha or Joy (Vayikrah Rabbah 11:7), it is worthy to rejoice when we leave as a legacy to his children our most valuable possessions, which are our knowledge of God, His Torah, and Yeshua hamashiach. If we have not, it is maybe not too late to think again about our legacy
Double Portion For The Firstborn
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nother Jewish way to interpret the Bible is through the guematria or numerical values of the Hebrew alphabet. The Torah says: “He shall
acknowledge the firstborn… by giving him a double portion of all that he has” (Deuteronomy 21:17), it has been a custom in the Jewish people to give a double portion of the inheritance to the first born. They said that the very word for “firstborn” has been coined with this idea of the double portion. The Hebrew word for firstborn is bechor a word composed of three letters The first letter is Beth, which is right after Aleph, the numerical value of Aleph is 1, and the numerical value of Beth, double it, it values 2. The second letter is Chaf and follows the letter Yod, the numerical value of Yod is 10 and the numerical value of Chaf, double it, it values 20. The third letter is Resh which follow the letter Kof, the numerical value of Kof is 100 and the numerical value of Resh, double it, it values 200. Thus the Hebrew , is word for firstborn formed with 3 letters which have the value of 2, 20 and 200, each letter doubling the preceding Hebrew letter, to indicate that the firstborn will receive a double portion than his siblings.
בכר.
ב
ב
כ
כ
ר
ר
בכר
The Rebellious Son
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he Torah states, “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother,” (Deuteronomy 21:18), here again it is good to know a little of Hebrew in order to understand what the Hebrew Bible says about this son who is ben sorer umoreh. It is very difficult to understand how a father can rebuke one of his sons, and let the elders to stone him, since the text continues saying: “Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones.” (Deuteronomy 21:21). First, we have to know that the Gemara (Sanhedrin 71a) affirm that there never was a ben sorer umoreh nor will there ever be one. This is a comforting statement which is also affirmed by a parable that Yeshua told to his talmidim (disciples), it is the story of a father who had two sons, the older was very obedient and always followed the recommendation of his father, but the younger son, was a rebellious son, even more than that, he wished that his father would die in order to inherit from him, but since his father was not ready to die, the younger son
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tual purity. - An escaped slave must not be returned to his master. - Taking interest for lending to a Jew is forbidden. - The people of Israel are not to make vows. - A worker may eat of the fruit he is harvesting. - Divorce and marriage are legislated. For the first year of marriage, a husband is exempt from the army and stays home to make rejoice with his wife. - Tools of labor may not be impounded, as this prevents the debtor from earning a living. - The penalty for kidnapping for profit is death. - Removal of the signs of the disease tzara’at is forbidden. - Even for an overdue loan, the creditor must return the collateral daily if the debtor needs it. - Workers’ pay must not be delayed. - The guilty may not be subjugated by punishing an innocent relative. - Because of their vulnerability, converts and orphans have special rights of protection. - The poor are to have a portion of the harvest. - A court may impose lashes. - An ox must not be muzzled while threshing. - It is a mitzvah for a man to marry his brother’s widow if the deceased left no offspring. - Weights and measures must be accurate and used honestly. - The parasha concludes with the mitzvah to erase the name of Amalek, for, in spite of knowing about the Exodus, they ambushed the Jewish People.
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his Shabbat is the fourth Shabbat after Tisha B’Av. We are in a period called Shiva D’nechemta— ”Seven weeks of comfort.” The seven Haftarot of the weeks between Tish’a B’av and Rosh Hashana are prophesies of comfort and hope for Israel and G-d’s people at large. This text is a very special text of comfort since the first verse is not clear for everyone. In this text G-d is speaking about two wives; the first one is the “desolated” (divorced) wife and the second one is still married. “Sing, O barren one who did not bear; burst into song and shout, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married, says the L-rd” (Is. 54:1). The Brit Hachadasha has clearly identified these two women as Sarah and Hagar. (Gal 4:24, 26). The desolated wife, Hagar, represents Israel and the married wife, Sarah, represents the kehila (church). However, in the text of Isaiah there are more blessings for the desolated (Hagar or Israel) than for the married (Sara, the kehila) “For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married” (Is 54:1).
“You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself.” (Deuteronomy 22:11–12)
credit: Richard Elofer
Haftarah Overview Isaiah 54:1-10
said to him, “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.” (Luke 15:12), that is really a rebellious son, but the father did not go to the elders of the city in order to report him to the authority in order to receive his punishment and maybe to be stoned, no, the father was a loving father at the image of G-d who is loving everyone, innocent and guilty. The reaction of the father was very positive and “he divided his property between them.” (Luke 15:12), of course he reserved a double portion of the property for the oldest, but he shared his possession. This loving attitude was rewarded, because at the end of the story the younger son came back and asked forgiveness to his father for what he did. As introduction to this comment, I said that it is important to understand the Hebrew words used in this verse in order to understand the severe sentence G-d pronounced against this son. He is called in the Bible as ben sorer umoreh: The word moreh can also mean “a teacher.” Not only does he conduct himself badly, but he is also teaching and influencing others to follow him. If he kept his actions to himself, the Torah would not take such a harsh stance toward him. Since, in addition to being a sorer “one who turns away from Hashem” he
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is also a moreh “teaching” others and having a bad influence and so he must be stopped immediately. The younger son of Yeshua’ story was not teaching others, he just kept his desires for himself, and the loving behavior of his father saved him.
A Virgin Young Lady
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he Torah says: “then the father of the young woman (Na’ar) and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her (Na’ar) virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. And the father of the young woman (Na’ar) shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to marry, and he hates her; and behold, he has accused her of misconduct, saying, “I did not find in your daughter evidence of virginity.” And yet this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloak before the elders of the city. Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip him, and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman (Na’arah), because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife. He may not divorce her all his days.” (Deuteronomy 22:15–19). In Hebrew, the mark of the feminine is the final vowel “a” written with the letter Hé (h), that is why Na’ar means young boy, and Na’arah means young lady. In this text, while it is
spoken about a young lady who would not be found as a virgin by her husband, the word used is spelled Na’ar (Nun-‘Ain-Resh) three times, and one time with the right spelling in the verse 19. In the Hebrew Bible I have, it is a mistake, that is why next to this word, the editors have written what they think the correct spelling is between parenthesis or brackets—na’arah instead of na’ar. For the Jewish tradition there is no mistake, and the fact that the word is written in a good spelling in verse 19 demonstrates that Moses, who is the author of this text, knew this word perfectly and did not make any mistake. Here is an explanation given by Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky “The man who slanders his wife that she is lacking virginity is accusing her of being out on the streets like a na’ar, a young lad — and not a na’arah, a young lady whose place is at home. Since, he is accusing her father of not giving her a proper education and supervision. The father plays an active role in her defense. When it is established however, that the husband made a false accusation, he is fined one hundred silver shekels which he must give to the father who indeed raised his daughter to behave exactly as is proper for an Israelite young lady. The conclusion is that it is important to trust the text of the Bible even though some people say that there are mistakes in the Bible.
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Apostolic Writings — Ephesians 5:21-6:4
arasha Ki-Tetse speaks about family life and relationships between males and females, wife and husband, parents and children. The Apostolic Writings present the same concern about family relationships. And these concerns and advice come from Rabbi Shaul, a Pharisee who accepted Yeshua, in the first century. His advice starts with general principles of submission. He gave to the believers who were in Ephesus a communal advice: “submitting to one another.” (Ephesians 5:21). Submission to one another, in the new community of Yeshua. Respect we should have for one another is also through submission to one another. Then about family relationships his principles are very balanced: about relations between wife and husband he said “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22), here Rabbi Shaul is certainly playing with Hebrew words in his mind, knowing that the Hebrew word for husband is Ba’al, which means also “Master” and “Lord.” He continues, “Husbands, love your wives, as Mashiach loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25) and he completed his advice saying about the relationships between parents and children “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” Reminding each one the 5th commandment, which says “Honor your father and mother” (Ephesians 6:1–2) Shaul knew that parents and especially the fathers have to respect their children saying: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger” (Ephesians 6:4). A very modern concept which is called today “child abuse.” The great motiva-
tion of all these recommendations is “love” that is why the illustration of the first relationships, between wives and husbands, is illustrated by the love of Mashiach for his community, his love was so great that he gave his life for her. Today it is not popular to say to a woman that she should “be submitted to her husband,” all abuses in this world help us to understand this reluctance. It is because of all these violences and abuses that the Seventh-day Adventists have reacted by launching a worldwide campaign called “EndItNow” Such an so important cause that even Ted Wilson, the President of the Seventh-day Adventists has published a written and video statement to condemn all kind of abuse (http://www. adventistreview.org/churchnews/story5386-seventh-dayadventist-church-presidentsstatement-on-end-it-now). All violences and abuses to women and kids have to be stopped. When Rabbi Shaul addresses men about this submission and relationships, he asks them to love their wives, “as Mashiach loved the church and gave himself up for her,” (Ephesians 5:25). A woman who loves her husband will be very happy to be submitted to her husband, if she feels such love from him, she knows that with such love, her husband will do only good things for her and his family, he will not use his position to abuse the family. That is why this wife will be willing to talk with him and to consider his point of view. Another aspect of this mutual respect is when husbands will be loving husbands who are ready to give possibilities to their
wives to express their opinions on the business of family. Good husbands will discover that women have a very sensitive intuition, that they feel many things that their husbands don’t feel, and it would be better for them to listen to and to follow their advice and intuitions. On another level, leaders are necessary at every level of society, but these leaders should not be despots. Yeshua was a leader in his time, he was the leader of the twelve at the beginning of his ministry and of hundreds if not thousands at the end of his time on earth. He was a servant leader, not a leader who tried to impose is view. When John and James came with their mother asking a special place in his kingdom, he did not rebuke them harshly, he was very diplomatic saying, something they did not understand at first, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” (Matthew 20:22), it was not the right time for this distribution of role. Yeshua exercised his role as a Servant-Leader when he washed the feet of his disciples during the last Seder of Passover. All these behavior of Yeshua, the Lord and Messiah, are good examples for the role of a husband within his family and in his relationship with his wife. Thus, I recommend to each parent, and each wife and husband to be motivated by love in their mutual relationships. If the father doesn’t tease his children, if he doesn’t cheat on his wife and the wife doesn’t cheat on her husband, the atmosphere of the house will be wonderful and an example for every family who has not yet accepted Yeshua. And all the members of the family will be happy.
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The text then continues to comfort the desolate woman: “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace; for you will forget the shame of your youth, . . . For your Maker is your husband, . . . the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer . . . For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will gather you. . . . . but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the L-rd, your Redeemer ” (Is 54:2-8). G-d continues to love His people, as compared with Hagar, who although Abraham divorced her, he continued to love her and she was taken back, according to Jewish tradition, as Ketura. This means that for Israel, G-d has not cancelled His covenant with His historical people, even though He opened His arms to the Gentiles in the kehila, “My covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the L-rd, who has compassion on you. . . . All your children shall be taught by the L-rd, and great shall be the prosperity of your children. In righteousness you shall be established” (10-13).
Stories and Traditions
Pastoral Care
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Inspirational Corner v Strict order and thorough sanitary regulations were enforced, measures indispensable to the preservation of health among so vast a multitude. It was necessary also that perfect order and purity be maintained. God declared: “The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy.” (Deuteronomy 23:14). (EP 262)
abbi Yaakov Weinberg, of blessed memory, treated his students as his children and exhibited tremendous self-sacrifice for them. Although he was the spiritual guide for thousands, constantly being called regarding life and death issues, and issues involving the wellbeing his nation as a whole, he was able to live the maxim that a believer must always be concerned for his assembly. Even though a Rabbi/ pastor should care deeply about the great issues and problems facing his nation he can’t do so at the expense of ignoring the ‘smaller’ issues of his next door neighbor. Whether the issue was of grand, national scale or one where his students needed assistance with things of lesser significance, Rav Yaakov was always self-sacrificing. Let us cite a few examples from Rav Yaakov’s life. For a number of years, Rav Yaakov traveled every week to a small community in East Lexington, near Baltimore. A small band of young couples had invited him to expound on religion, secular and isolated though they were. The group eventually built a synagogue. Due to a lack of funds, they built it themselves. One of the members related that she remembered Rav Yaakov nailing shingles on the roof and stringing electric wire for the new Sanctuary. She further related that many of
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that group later had become Sabbath observant and sent their children to day schools. Rav Yaakov once went missing from the Yeshiva for two days because a student expressed an intent to divorce his wife. For two days, Rav Yaakov counseled them in an effort to save the marriage. Another time, a young teacher phoned from out-of town because he was lacking success in his new position. Convinced that he could not help him over the phone, Rav Yaakov flew at his own expense to observe the teacher in action, met with the principal and the teacher, and made suggestions. During the week of the shiva (Seven days) mourning for Rav Yaakov, an old woman phoned the house, apparently unaware of Rav Yaakov’s passing. She inquired as to why she did not receive the money for her medicine that week. The family immediately surmised that their father must have been personally sending the money. Not wishing to burden her yet with the tragedy, they explained that perhaps the address had been lost. “For 20 years you have been sending money to the same place and now you lost the address?” She replied incredulously. There was a time when Rav Yaakov, at the frantic request of a small Yeshiva, spent a few months as its ‘temporary Rosh Yeshiva, Dean’. Rav Yaakov slept in a house owned by the Yeshiva, but the house had no heat. An electric heater was installed in his room. The
students became concerned when Rav Yaakov caught a winter cold that did not go away. One student went into Rav Yaakov’s room to make sure the heater was working properly. When he checked, the heater was nowhere to be found. The yeshiva’s cooks, a Russian immigrant couple, slept in another part of the house, and for some unknown reason, no one had thought to take care of the heat in their quarters. Rav Yaakov had secretly moved the heater from his room to theirs because, “I didn’t want them to catch a chill,” he later explained. Yitzchak studied with Rav Yaakov every Thursday night for many years. He would anxiously wait all week, gathering and saving his questions to ask Rav Yaakov. One Thursday, Rav Yaakov went to Atlanta for a family celebration and Yitzchak did not expect Rav Yaakov to be at the session so he didn’t come to Rav Yaakov’s house that night. On Friday night, Yitzchak wished Rav Yaakov his usual Shabbat Shalom. Rav Yaakov asked him “Where were you last night? I was waiting for you.” Yitzchak said, “I thought you were out of town.” Rav Yaakov replied, “I was away but I left the celebration early and took an earlier flight so I could be back for our session.” Rav Yaakov knew how much Yitzchak enjoyed their weekly study time together so he cut short his own pleasure for the sake of his student.
Kids Parasha Ki-Tetze
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Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19
“If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain.” (Deuteronomy 23:24–25)
http://www.bnai-tikkun.org.nz 7
Inspirational Corner v The Amalekites were
not ignorant of God’s character or of His sovereignty, but they had set themselves to defy His power. The wonders wrought by Moses before the Egyptians were made a subject of mockery. They had taken oath by their gods that they would destroy the Hebrews and boasted that Israel’s God would be powerless to resist them. They had not been threatened by the Israelites. Their assault was unprovoked. To manifest their defiance of God they sought to destroy His people. The Amalekites had long been high handed sinners, yet God’s mercy had still called them to repentance; but when the men of Amalek fell upon the wearied and defenseless ranks of Israel, they sealed their nation’s doom. Over all who love and fear Him, God’s hand extends as a shield; let men beware that they smite not that hand; for it wields the sword of justice. (EP 207)