Ok I am no Bible Expert but after reading the first Paragraph in the below
article I am very confused....does the Bible not go on and on about how
God
selected the Jews as his chosen people? And did God not promise them a
land
of their own......and is that so called Promised Land present day Israel?
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News
01/05/2006 16:48:12 EST Robertson Links Sharon's Stroke to Wrath
By SONJA BARISIC
Associated Press Writer
NORFOLK, Va. - Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested Thursday that
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for
"dividing God's land."
"God considers this land to be his," Robertson said on his TV program "The
700 Club." "You read the Bible and he says `This is my land,' and for any
prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give
it
away, God says, `No, this is mine.'"
Sharon, who ordered Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last year, suffered a
severe stroke on Wednesday.
In Robertson's broadcast from his Christian Broadcasting Network in
Virginia
Beach, the evangelist said he had personally prayed about a year ago with
Sharon, whom he called "a very tender-hearted man and a good friend." He
said he was sad to see Sharon in this condition.
He also said, however, that in the Bible, the prophet Joel "makes it very
clear that God has enmity against those who 'divide my land.'"
Sharon "was dividing God's land and I would say woe unto any prime
minister
of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU (European Union),
the
United Nations, or the United States of America," Robertson said.
In discussing what he said was God's insistence that Israel not be
divided,
Robertson also referred to the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister
Yitzhak
Rabin, who had sought to achieve peace by giving land to the Palestinians.
"It was a terrible thing that happened, but nevertheless he was dead," he
said.
People For the American Way Foundation, which monitors "The 700 Club,"
criticized Robertson's remarks, calling them "an implicit reference to
recent steps the prime minister has taken to advance the
Israeli-Palestinian
peace process."
"Once again, Pat Robertson leaves us speechless with his insensitivity and
arrogance," the group's president, Ralph G. Neas, said in a statement.
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for
Separation of Church and State, said a religious leader "should not be
making callous political points while a man is struggling for his life."
"Pat Robertson has a political agenda for the entire world, and he seems
to
think God is ready to take out any world leader who stands in the way of
that agenda," Lynn said in a statement.
Robertson spokeswoman Angell Watts said of critics who challenged his
remarks, "What they're basically saying is, `How dare Pat Robertson quote
the Bible?'"
"This is what the word of God says," Watts said. "This is nothing new to
the
Christian community."
In August, Robertson suggested on "The 700 Club" that American agents
should
assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has long been at odds
with
U.S. foreign policy. Robertson later apologized for his remarks, saying he
"spoke in frustration."
--
May Jiffy Bless You
'Jiffy smiles upon a sense of humor and is quick to smite those that
have none.' Or, if you prefer the New American Standard edition: 'Laugh,
or I'll kick yo' ass!'
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