An Israeli Massacre

An Ancient Lesson for Today

In order to drive into all of our hearts and minds the vital message that massacres are abominable to Allah and will finally result in punishment from Him, Allah Himself instructed His Prophet Hosea to do a very strange thing. He told him to name his first born son the name of the location of a very famous massacre which was well known to the Jews of that day and to many Jews of this day, "Jezreel". This symbolic name of his son would a constant reminder to Israel's people that God would soon punish the extended regal family and the entire Israeli Kingdom for the horrible massacre which their new Kind had orchestrated at Jezreel.

The two precise punishments which the massacre triggered were: 1) the beginning of the end of the northern kingdom of Israel. And 2) the breaking of Israeli's military might which in symbolic language was breaking her "bow".

The Prophet's next child was also given a symbolic name which was actually a third part of the punishment for the massacre and other wickedness. The name Lo-Ruhamah meant "not loved". So this precious baby was given a symbolic name which expressed the unpleasant reality that both God's love and His forgiveness were being withdrawn from the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

The Prophet Hosea makes it clear that the Jezreel massacre triggered these three punishments even though the Prophet Elijah had clearly prophesied that such a massacre would occur as a punishment and consequence for the wicked acts of King Ahab but especially for the wickedness of his wife, Queen Jezebel.

Israel, the US and other nations and organizations in the Middle East will be exceptionally regretful if they do not seriously ponder the certain judgment in store today for those who orchestrate and perpetrate massacres. This certain judgment continues to be a dark storm-cloud hanging over the heads of the perpetrators and orchestrates of the Middle Eastern bloodshed. This ominous judgment remains no matter how many justifications the perpetrators invent in order to excuse the abhorrent, rebellious acts. The bottom line is that Allah can neither be bullied nor deceived.

As the people of Israel watched the two children, Jezreel and Lo-Rahma grow up, each time they heard the symbolic names of these two children spoken and observed them and living among them, they were not allowed to escape a painful reality. Horrible acts of bloodshed committed at Jezreel had been the trigger which was bringing their once proud kingdom of Israel, down, down, down.

Yet, for those rebellious people of Israel's Northern Kingdom, the symbolic names given these two children of Allah's Prophets were not enough. You would think that names signifying the place of a massacre, and signifying that Israel was no longer loved, would have been a sufficient warning.

But Allah decided differently, in order to make certain an ominous message would penetrate the stubborn minds of the people of Northern Israel, a third child was given a name that carried one more shocking message. Allah instructed His Prophet to name his third child, a baby girl, Lo-Ami, meaning "not my people". Tragically, the barbaric shedding of blood by the king of the northern kingdom of Israel had set in motion the naming of three previous Jewish babies three symbolic names, each carrying an ominous message: Child one-The place a horrible massacre occurred, child two-the people of the Northern kingdom were no longer loved by God, and child three-the people of the Northern Kingdom were no longer God's people.

Yet, there was another message which has a blazing relevance to the enormous bloodshed occurring in the Middle East today. Significantly, Allah revealed this message by showing a vivid contrast between His own relationship with the two Kingdoms which had previously been one Kingdom, but who were now often bitter enemies. The contrast was that Allah would no longer love the people of Northern Israel, and would no longer consider them as His people. But in extreme contrast to his rejection of the Northerners, He would continue to love the Southern Kingdom of Judah and would continue to consider them as His people because they had not been involved en extreme bloodshed.

Additionally, in order to emphasize His strong repugnance for the massacre which had started the Northern kingdom down a road which finally lead to its own self destruction, there was another important lesson to be learned. This additional significant contrast is also revealed by Allah's Prophet Hosea in the very first chapter of the book which bears his name.

While the Southern kingdom of Judah would experience salvation totally without weapons through the Almighty, the Northerners would experience the exact opposite of the Southern kingdom's salvation. The Northern kingdom would experience destruction despite their use of weapons. This kingdom would have its "bow" broken, the very bow which they had so unwisely depended upon for their salvation and security. And where does the Prophet emphasize that this breaking of their trust in weapons will take place? He tells us that the breaking of their bow will occur at the very location where they had committed the massacre which had initially laid the foundation for their separation from Allah and thus for the downfall of their entire kingdom. Their bow or trust in weapons would be broken in the bloody valley of Jezreel.

Then, Allah further maximized the contrast between how He goes about bringing security to people and nations with the futile and ugly attempts of men to bring about security. He emphatically announced through His Prophet that His own intervention and activity to bring His salvation to the Southern kingdom would have absolutely nothing to do with that kingdom using killer weapons in order to save themselves.

In order to drive into their hearts and mind that God could save people without men, organizations and nations resorting to bloody massacres, Allah specifically announced the following five realities regarding the method he would choose to use in order to save the Southern kingdom.

1)      Their Salvation would not be by the bow. (NOT A.K. Forty Seven submachine guns hand-held surface to air, heat seeking missiles, Improvised explosive devices, road side bombs-Kalishnikoff rifles, etc.)

2)      Their salvation would not be by the sword(NOT racket propelled grenades, bomb strapped to bodies, machine guns, booby traps, land mines, etc. )

3)      Their salvation would not be by battle (NOT shock and awe, bombs, tanks verses small arms fire, hand grenades, humvees, etc.)

4)      Their salvation would not involve horses and horsemen( NOT apache helicopters, F16s, penetrating nuclear bomb, aircraft carriers, torpedoes, pinpoint or saturation bombing, bulldozers, etc.)

In contrast, in a total rejection of all of man's bloody methods of supposedly achieving security, their salvation would be initiated and accomplished by the Lord their God.

Are there significant lessons in these symbolic names and events from which leaders of nations and organizations which are presently fighting, killing, maiming and occupying in the Middle East, should learn? The harsh reality is that even Allah does not force organizations, nations or individuals to understand valuable lessons if those organizations, nations and individuals are committed to not hearing Allah speak to them through valuable lessons from the past. But, He will make certain that the callously disobedient will pay the heavy price of terrible and inevitable consequences for being too stubborn or too foolish to learn.

Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursuer you. (Hezekiel / Ezekiel 35:6)