Zion, wake up!

Wake up, Zion!  You have forgotten your enemy.

Look, Zion! Your enemy does not linger or sleep. He rises before dawn while you sleep. He calls to those who would destroy you. He worships your death. He wants your death.  He prays for your death.

You sleep.

Zion, oh, Zion, your enemy refuses to sleep. He cannot sleep. His lust for your death keeps him awake.

Zion, wake up! Your G-d has blessed you. Your G-d fulfils His Promises to you. Your G-d is ready to protect you.

Zion, why do you so ignore your G-d? Why do you tell the world that it is your hand—not His Power—that has wrought miracles in this desert land?  Why do you tell the world you do not need your G-d?

Zion, wake up! The world wants to believe in something. The world yearns to believe.

The world sees your Bible. It knows what your Bible says about you—and your G-d.

The world sees what your G-d has done for you. The world also sees how you reject your G-d.  

Zion, you provoke the nations of the world. You reject the  G-d who has done so much for you; how can the nations not reject you?

Zion, what do you celebrate? You celebrate your science, not your G-d. You sing of your technology, not your G-d.

You honour hundred-million- dollar high-tech buy-out deals.  You praise your intellectual, medical and business triumphs.

Zion, you forget your roots. You forget your land. You forget your G-d.

You forget your enemy.

Instead, you celebrate the beauty of your women. You promote your beaches. You build Cinemaplexes.

You forget your enemy.

Your enemy will not sleep. Your success enrages him. Your beauty makes him hate you.

Zion, you worship technology, not G-d.  You praise computer enhancements. You forget your G-d.

Your enemy does not forget his god. Your enemy praises his god. Your enemy worships his god. Your enemy says he god wants you dead. Your enemy believes his god.

You don’t believe your G-d.

Zion, you are asleep. You do not praise your G-d. You do not build for your G-d. Instead, you believe in sports teams. You praise sports heroes.

You believe that winning a basketball championship in Europe will open doors for you (“Maccabi Tel Aviv wins Euroleague championship”, Haaretz, May 18, 2014). It won’t.

A sports championship won’t make the nations love you. It won’t make you ‘one of them’.

It makes you hated. It awakens the world’s desire to destroy you. It provokes Jew-hate (“Maccabi Tel Aviv Victory Sparks Torrent of Anti-Semitic Abuse, Arutz Sheva, May 20, 2014).

Zion, wake up. You will never be one of them. You will never be loved by them.

You were not one of them when Assyria rose to power. You were not one of them when Babylonia rose to power. You were not one of them when Rome ruled. You were not one of them when Nazis ruled. You were not one of them when Barak Hussein Obama ruled.

G-d did not make you to be one of them. He did not make you to be loved by them. He made you to be great for Him. He made you to be the miraculous nation that works wonders in the desert and dedicates itself to Him.

Zion, G-d made you to serve Him. He made you to lead the nations, not bow to them.

Zion, you are not one of them. You have never been one of them. You will never be one of them.

You are Zion. You live alone in the desert. You do not serve ‘them’. You serve G-d.

Zion, Wake up! The world prepares to turn against you. Religions send their leaders to walk upon your holiest ground. Nations join with terrorists to cut your Jerusalem in half. They lust for your holiest places. They lust for what you ignore.

Zion, wake up! G-d calls to you. He holds out His hand to you. This is the Hebrew month of Elul. This is the month each year when He leaves His Palace to call to you, ‘return to Me, my beloved, return’.

Zion, wake up! G-d yearns for your love. He wants you as His treasure. He is ready for you. All you have to do is reach out to Him.

Will you?