Brit-Am Historical Reports (1 May 2017, 5 Iyar, 5777)
Contents:
1. Esau and the English Book of Jasher
2. Ancient Jewish History: The Bible On Jewish Links To The Holy Land
by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, Extracts.
3. Is Russia "Gog of the Land of Magog, the Prince Head [Rus] of Meshech and Tubal?"
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1. Esau and the English Book of Jasher
Graham Phillips, "Moses Legacy," 2002, speaks of the Book of Jasher.
He quotes from a work published Michael Martin in 1995. This is an English book from the 1500s.
It purports to be translated from a Latin work of the 1140s that was a translation of a Hebrew [?] original that had been obtained from Persia after having been taken there by Cyrus-2 in 539 BCE.
Originally it had been taken from Jerusalem by the Babylonian monarch Nebuchadnessar in 597 BCE
It depicts the Edomites as one of the Tribes of Israel.
Both Phillips and Martin assume the work is genuine.
To us it sounds like a forgery. it is interesting however that such forgeries exist.
Phillips also relates the early Christians to the Essenes and the Essenes to Edom.
The proofs given were to our mind not convincing but who knows?
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2. Ancient Jewish History: The Bible On Jewish Links To The Holy Land
by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-bible-on-jewish-links-to-the-holy-land
Extracts:
The Jews' link with the land of Israel and their love for it date back almost four thousand years. It began when God told Abraham to leave his homeland, Ur Kasdim, and go "to a land that I will show thee." Abraham had such great faith and trust in God that he left his home and community. He was reassured by the divine promise, "I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves" (Genesis 12:2-3).
.....In the words of the Bible, "On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'To your descendants I have given this land..."' (Genesis 15:18). It is interesting to note that the Hebrew verb used in the Scriptures is natati, meaning "I have given" (past tense). This passage implies that God had already given the land to the Jews at some earlier time, though this is the first record of such a promise. Rabbinic commentators suggest, however, that God had set aside the land of Israel for His people already at the time of Creation.
In other words, the Jewish rights to the land were always part of the very fabric of Creation. They are eternal and unconditional. God promised Abraham, "I will give to you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession."
..... Jews believe that those who cast their lot with Israel, praying for the peace of Jerusalem and the welfare of its inhabitants, will be rewarded by God's abundant blessing and countenance.
Israel is more than just the lifeblood of the Jewish people. It is God's land, the place where Divine providence is especially manifest. "The eyes of the Lord... are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year" (Deuteronomy 11:12). It is a "Very, very good land" (Nu. 14:7); "a blessed land" (Deut. 33:13); "the beauty of all lands" (Ezek 20:6).
The Jewish mystical tradition claims that the very air of Israel makes one wiser. The land will, it is said, stubbornly "refuse" to bear fruit unless the Jews, its natural caretakers and the inhabitants for whom it was created, dwell on and cultivate it. History bears out this notion. Modern Israel was a land of desert and swamp for centuries until waves of emigrating Jewish Zionists in the mid-nineteenth century began tilling its soil. Only then did the land blossom and give forth its produce: "For the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden..." (Isaiah 51:3).
... Israel, for the Jew today, is God comforting His people. "Comfort ye, My people." It is that miracle which gives us hope for our future after enduring such a long and dark past. As the prophets say, "For there is hope for thy future, and the children shall return to their borders."
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3. Is Russia "Gog of the Land of Magog, the Prince Head [Rus] of Meshech and Tubal?"
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(a) Consider the Following List of Allies of Russia
Who are Russia's closest and most important allies?
by David Trapp
https://www.quora.com/Who-are-Russias-closest-and-most-important-allies
Extracts:
Most important strategic allies:
India
China
Belarus
Kazakhstan
Iran
Syria
Countries with strong diplomatic ties to Russia:
North Korea (Russia's Love Affair With North Korea)
Cuba (Cuba strongly supported Russia's position in the 2008 South Ossetian war)
Serbia (Why Serbia is Strengthening its Alliance with Russia)
Vietnam (Exclusive: U.S. asks Vietnam to stop helping Russian bomber flights)
Laos (What's Behind Russia's New Nuclear Pact With Laos?)
Cambodia (Cambodia: Russia's Gateway to ASEAN?)
Thailand (Why Thailand is boosting ties with Russia and China | Asia | DW.COM | 08.04.2015)
Greece (Natons united front under threat after Greece signs arms deal with Russia )
Spain (Spain 'betrays NATO allies' hosting Russian warships - oh, really?)
Uganda Russia returns to Africa amid increasing isolation
Algeria Algeria buys Russian arms but keeps Moscow at arm's length
Malaysia Malaysia: US Loses Another Key Ally in Asia Pacific Region
Egypt How Russia Just Nabbed Egypt as a Military Ally, Out From Under the US' Nose
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(b) Compare the List below of Nations Allied with Gog and Magog. How Close are the Parallels?
Ezekiel 38:
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2  Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3 and say, Thus says the LORD God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.4 And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. 5 Persia [Iran], Cush [India?], and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all his hordes; Beth - Togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes, many peoples are with you.
For more discussion of this subject, see our Commentary on Ezekiel 38:1.
http://www.britam.org/Ezekiel36to40.html#38
Extract:
THE CHIEF PRINCE OF MESHECH: In Hebrew the word translated as "THE CHIEF PRINCE" is "Rosh" (literally meaning here "the head of") Meshech, i.e. the Leader of Mesheck but the word "Rosh" was also understood as a word in its own right. Some Christian(?) Commentators understood the word "Rosh" to hint at Russia.
Leon Poliakov, "The Aryan Myth" (1971, 1974), p.113: <<In Greek the translation of the Hebrew word rosh (= head, principal, chief) became a name, that of an eighth son of Japheth, in whom the Byzantines were anxious to discern the ancestor of the Russians. The Russians for their part were able to make use of another paronym because russyi means blond in Russian. The Russians believed that the future Emperor of the Universe would come from a blond nation which [in their opinion] could only be Russia.