Wise Men Still Seek Him l High Frontier

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” ~ Isaiah 9:6 (KJV) . . . “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.” ~ Revelation 11:15 (KJV)

My December 5, 2013 message, on the final day of Chanukah, was prompted by the rarity that the first day of Chanukah coincided with Thanksgiving — the first time since President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to be a national holiday in 1863. My December 24, 2014 Christmas Eve message was on the last day of Chanukah; so Jews and Christians were sharing a joyous celebration — potentially more consequential for America than the commercialized interests that profit from it.

This year, Chanukah (December 6-14) was midway between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Though there is no overlapping period, I thought it worthwhile again to spend a message reminding those of both faiths of elements of our common heritage — whether giving thanks for our many blessings or articulating our fears and hopes for an uncertain future. Let us stand together — especially in view of the cancerous Jihad threatening the Holy Land of our common heritage and metastasizing even into our midst in America.

There is comfort to be found in this history and our Forefathers’ commitment to Liberty, to which we should rededicate ourselves. They confronted daunting challenges — and were buoyed by their Faith and prevailed against the existential threats of their time. Should we do less?

America’s Thanksgiving traces its heritage to 1621, when the Pilgrims thanked God for their freedom from despotic conditions in Europe and their sustenance in America. Chanukah commemorates the Maccabees’ successful rebellion in 162 BC, and their subsequent cleansing and re-dedication of the Jewish Temple which had been desecrated by the Syrians. Christmas is about God’s forgiveness and gift of eternal life to those who believe in His Son, Jesus.

Both celebrate Liberty granted by Almighty God, referred to in the Declaration of Independence as “Nature’s God” and the “Creator.” In gaining their independence from King George III and establishing a new republic, our Founding Fathers drew upon the Maccabee’s extraordinary victory over the Syrian army, as discussed in my 2013 message. They also demonstrated the victory of the few over the many, right over wrong, moral over immoral, truth over lies, faith over cynicism and opportunism, long-term conviction over short-term convenience. A few summary examples of this lesson for today follow:

The Maccabees were role-models for Paul Revere (of April 18, 1775 midnight ride fame), who was referred to as “a modern day Maccabee” and the organizers of the December 16, 1773 Boston Tea Party, who realized that there were no free lunches for freedom-seeking nations.
The Maccabees’ sacrifice and political-incorrectness also inspired Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” March 23, 1775 speech from the floor of the Second Virginia Convention in St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia.
During Chanukah 1777, George Washington at Valley Forge became acquainted with the spirit of the Maccabees while contemplating the plight of his ill-equipped, weary troops. He noted: “Perhaps we are not as lost as our enemies would have us believe. I rejoice in the Maccabees’ success, though it is long past…It pleases me to think that miracles still happen.” The Continental Army then implemented the battle tactics of Judah the Maccabee — and with God’s support, the rest is History…
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, inspired by the Maccabees, proposed that “Rebellion against Tyrants is obedience to God” be placed on the American official seal. The Maccabees, also a tiny minority of “rebels” fighting an oppressive super-power, prevailed due to their conviction-driven determination. So did our Founders.
“In God We Trust,” America’s motto on our coins, echoed the Maccabees’ battle cry, adopted from Moses’ battle cry against the builders of the Golden Calf — literally translated as “Whoever trusts God; join me!”
A statue of Judah the Maccabee is displayed at the West Point Military Academy, along with those of other great military leaders: Joshua, David, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Hector, King Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon — “the Nine Worthies.”

Chanukah commemorates a national Jewish liberation holiday and a series of battles led by Judah, mostly in the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria, the home of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In 143 BC, Shimon the Maccabee — who succeeded his brothers, Judah and Yonatan — defied an ultimatum by the Syrian emperor, Antiochus (Book of Maccabees A, Chapter 15, verse 33) and declared an end to the “occupation” of Jerusalem, Jaffa, Gaza, Gezer and Akron: “We have not occupied a foreign land; we have not ruled a foreign land; we have liberated the land of our forefathers from foreign occupation.”

Sound familiar? Shimon’s statement remains valid. Israel again faces pressure to withdraw from its homeland. Should we not stand strongly with Israel, our Founding Fathers, and others who seek liberty?

I believe we Christians should find encouragement from the One whose birth we now celebrate.

In the Maccabees’ celebration after the liberation of the Temple, it was believed there was only enough consecrated oil to keep the Menorah symbol of Devine light burning for one day, but the small bottle of oil miraculously lasted for eight days. Thus, Chanukah was called the Feast of Lights or Festival of Lights/Feast of Dedication.

As by many Jews over the ages, it was celebrated in the Jewish Temple by Jesus of Nazareth, as reported in John 10:22-30 of the New Testament, when He claimed: “I and My Father are One.” Surely He would stand with all seeking liberty today — especially in His people’s ancient land.

Jews believe the Messiah promised by the Prophets of the Old Testament is yet to come; Christians believe he already came and this Friday will again celebrate His coming, continuing presence and promised return.

This same Jesus (Yeshua) had earlier instructed his followers that “You are the Light of the World . . . Let your Light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” Lest we forget, this is America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and challenge still.

Our annual period of celebration is dampened by the fact that America’s Judeo-Christian heritage is under siege — from within by “political correctness” that in the name of “tolerance” disparages the laws of Nature and Nature’s God. From without by many around the world who reflect Iran’s mullahs in calling for Jihad against the “Little Satan” Israel and the “Great Satan” America.

Some refer to this Jihad as World War III, though our leaders have refused to acknowledge the war that our enemies have declared. Perhaps most dangerous are Iran’s Shia mullahs — thanks especially to the terrible “unsigned” UN nuclear deal orchestrated by our leaders, which assures Iran of nuclear weapons that can be carried by its existing ballistic missiles and satellite launchers to attack Israel and America.

The pending release of $150 billion in sanctions, even after Iran’s recent launch of nuclear capable ballistic missiles in violation of past United Nations’ resolutions, assures an existential threat to us both — not only by Iran directly, but also by their paid surrogates, including the Sunni Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) that is massacring Christians and desecrating/destroying their churches.

Lest we forget, as in the time of the Maccabees, Israelis have for centuries not been permitted to worship in their Temple. Is there a modern Judah?

And for us Christians, “Come, Lord Jesus . . . we need thee every hour.”

Bottom Lines.

So far, our leaders have refused to identify our adversaries and their underpinning sharia theology/ideology so that effective strategies can be developed to defeat them. This must change.

On a positive note, the recent jihadi attacks in Paris and San Bernardino — and the presidential campaign — have aroused public consciousness of this threat. But last week’s passage of the Omnibus Appropriations Act will support a flood of un-vetted refugees into America—and that increases the threat of more jihadi attacks in America.

Future messages will continue dealing with these common threats to all we hold dear — and regrettably America’s faltering efforts to deal with them, generally without seeking guidance from the Almighty God of Israel and Christians, worshiped by the Maccabees and our Founders.

For today, let us simply give thanks for all we have and hope to be — and seek the Messiah, whether we believe it will be His first or second coming. Speaking as a Christian, I will simply say that “Wise men still seek Him” — as they did in the Christmas story.

I refuse to say, Happy Holliday . . . A belated Happy Chanakah, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Blessings to all.

Near Term High Frontier Plans.

We will continue to inform our readers of the looming threats we confront — and where appropriate urge them to engage in countering that threat. Our leaders are failing at their sworn duty “to provide for the common defense.”

We will press for building the most cost-effective ballistic missile defenses possible and working with South Carolina folks to build a coalition to engage constructively with private citizens and their local and state representatives and other authorities to work with the SC National Guard in understanding and responding to the existential threats to the electric power grid.

We are especially focused on the nuclear power reactors that produce 60-percent of SC electricity — and more generally 20-percent of the nation’s electricity.

If it can be assured that they “operate through” a major blackout of the electric power grid — and I believe it can, then these reactors can play a very important role for resurrecting the grid over an extended time and supporting the general public’s survival in the meantime.

What can you do?

Join us in praying for our nation, and for a rebirth of the freedom sought, achieved and passed to us by those who came before us.

Help us to spread our message to the grass roots and to encourage all “powers that be” to provide for the common defense as they are sworn to do.

Begin by passing this message to your friends and suggest they visit our webpage www.highfrontier.org, for more information. Also, please encourage your sphere of influence to sign up for our weekly e-newsletter.

Encourage them to review our past email messages, posted on www.highfrontier.org, to learn about many details related to the existential manmade and natural EMP threats and how we can protect America against them. I hope you will help us with our urgently needed efforts, which I will be discussing in future messages.

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E-Mail Message 151222