Calm before the Storm in the Middle East

By EARL COX
So now the three Biblically required attended feasts for the calendar year have ended. The Shemitah year is finished for this cycle and the four blood moons have appeared. The US did not stop the Iran Deal. The Pope met with Obama during the Days of Awe. And the world has not ended, at least not yet.
Though these events are thought to portend a particularly doomsday scenario they have not just as Y2K did not. Life goes on - even in the Middle East and in Israel. Same complaints, same problems, same joy in life events. Nothing has changed. It’s the status quo.
I wouldn’t take this with tongue in cheek however. We still have until the end of the religious year, 5776 to be precise, to find out what G-d may have in store. G-d is patient and has His own clock. Even His yardstick by which He measures things is different from ours. It would be best to be silent and listen to Him every day. The same letters in the word "listen" are the same letters found in the word “silent” only in a different order.
If it’s not the status quo then it’s the calm before the storm.
The Middle East remains in turmoil with no effective solution in sight. Migrant and war refugees are fleeing by the millions. Sectarian violence, wars and battles continue unabated. Brother against brother, cousin against cousin and so on. What else is new?
There is turmoil on the Temple Mount. But isn’t it true the Muslims are always complaining? This has escalated to contrived provocation by Muslim hate mongers who look for trouble. For such a Holy Mount there sure is a lot of fist sized rocks to be thrown around, Molotov cocktails, firecrackers, anger, in-your-face hostility and soccer playing. Is this how Muslims treat holy places?
It is thought that only in capitalist countries do the rich get richer. But you find it in the Middle East, Asia, North Africa … the Palestinian Authority. Even the Hamas elite is not so poor. It rakes millions off the backs of innocent Palestinian civilians but the civilians can’t do anything about it.
Well they could, but not everyone is ready to meet and greet the 72 virgins awaiting them. Maybe in their hearts they know this is simply a fantasy; a myth perpetrated by those who want total control over the lives of the people.
Anti-Semitism is relatively static as well given that it has not gone away. We hear about it more because it seems to be in vogue to stand in opposition to Israel and the Jewish people. To offend anyone else, except Christians, would be bigotry. But this is no longer news. It’s a fact.
If the European racists, I mean anti-Semites, would leave poor little Israel alone and concern themselves with their own set of problems it would be better for them and the whole world. I still remember the parental admonition to “Mind Your Own Business!” BDS campaigns will not put Israel out of business and are, in fact, hurtful to the Palestinians who work for the factories and industries being targeted by these campaigns.
I confess that the Russian invasion of Syria is not status quo but since nothing has happened yet, then in spite of it all, it is status quo at present. The US remains status quo, without a spine, words without teeth, same socialist push, same Muslim-leaning president and a comedian "trumping" the polls.
If there is a blip on the screen I will surely let you know. Right now we are on stand down.
This might be the best time to listen to G-d, repent of our sins and dead works and do good. The Judeo-Christian values instilled in us by the Almighty G-d, the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, expects nothing less.