Signs that the Redemption is near?

For years, the American magazine, Sports Illustrated, has run a weekly mini-report entitled, “Signs of the Apocalypse” (or something like that).  It contains a one-or-two sentence announcement that features some weekly occurrence in the Sports world. Typically, it focuses on someone doing something really stupid. It highlights how incredibly awful highly-paid or famous people can be. Such   behaviour by those we honour, the piece suggests, is surely a sign that our world must soon end.

Mostly, these incidents entertain.

That magazine comes from America. We live in Israel, which follows a different religious and cultural orientation. So if someone in America thinks about Christian-inspired world Destruction, perhaps we can think about something different--a Jewish-inspired Redemption.

Consider now some recent examples from the news that, in some way—humorous and not so humorous-- might suggest that the world might be preparing for something New. If you don’t see how these headlines might pre-sage a Jewish Redemption, that’s okay. That just means that your ‘Redemption training’ isn’t up-to-date.

For May, 2013:

- Are we all Muslim now? (Al Jazeera)

 

- Hezbollah to receive ‘game-changing weapons’ from Syria (Al Arabiya)

 

- Abuse of Science: Hawking’s boycott of Israel is intellectually and morally disreputable (Times of London)

 

-Navy carrier jets 'can't land in hot weather' (The Guardian)

 

- King, Messiah, Major fastest-growing baby names  (New York Daily News)

 

-Group: 'Crazy' to Put Iran In Charge of UN Disarmament Panel (Arutz Sheva)

 

-'Al-Dura probe will spur honest Israel coverage' (Jerusalem Post)

 

-Muslim Imams Pray for Holocaust Victims at Auschwitz (Arutz Sheva)

 

- On the run for 13 years, cops nab fugitive wanted for attempted murder after he's caught urinating on KFC wall (New York Daily News)

 Does a debunked libel against Israel (the Al Dura story)  mean that the world now begins to see Israel as a beacon of peace?

Do criminals getting caught because they behave stupidly mean that justice is finally a reality—or is urinating on a fast-food restaurant simply a culinary statement?

Is naming your baby Messiah an unconscious signal that you are ready for Redemption? Or, does it mean simply you know what’s in the future, and you want to give your baby a ‘leg up’?

What does it mean when a prestigious newspaper (The Times of London) calls an anti-Israel scientist, ‘morally disreputable’? Does it suggest that world news outlets are ready now to promote morality and truth?

What are we to make of two apparently opposing headlines about Muslims—one that asks if we are all Muslims and one that shows Muslim clerics praying for Holocaust victims? Are we about to be converted--or are Muslims finally acknowledging Jewish history?

Perhaps more important, when expensive carrier jets cannot land in hot weather, does that mean nations are ready to think about changing swords into plowshares?

These headlines challenge us. They provoke.

 

Does putting Iran in charge of a UN panel on disarmament mean that the UN opposes these other signs of change—or does it mean that the UN has decided to move things along in its own way, by putting the fox in charge of the henhouse?

Naturally, it’s possible that all of these headlines are meaningless. They may have nothing to do with the Jewish Redemption. Perhaps we needn’t worry about these things. But then, the Times of London does step forward to fight against moral dishonesty about Israel.

What do you think that means?