By: Frank J. Verderber
04/26/2018

BACKGROUND:

The recent Presidential decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel brought a fire storm from the Palestinian authorities, and as well, most of Islam. The U.N. Security Council meeting on the subject was vetoed by the U.S. – followed by a General Assembly vote that censured the U.S.A. [128 to 9] for going against a universal U.N. General Assembly mandate.(2)

However, the presidential action was properly warranted; according to Congressional mandate – via Law – by the, ?The Jerusalem Embassy Act? of 1995(1) – completed under the Clinton administration. It came into law without the President?s signature, since he failed to sign or return the bill in 10 days [See Article 1, Sect. 7, USC]. At the time, it was a mandate by the American public and Clinton did not want veto their desire.

In the aforementioned law, Congress allowed any future President to evaluate the mandate every six months, and decide if the time was right to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. Presidents Clinton, Bush II, and Obama, decided not to invoke the Congressional request. After one year in office, President Trump decided that the time was right. Citing a rational explanation that: a majority of Israel?s government buildings are in Jerusalem; and that they have had control since 1967; and that the US decision to Move our embassy was a sovereign desire of the people of the U.S.; and that keeping this problem in political limbo would not bring a peace resolution between Israel and the Palestinians.

The decision of President Trump did not give Jerusalem to Israel in perpetuity, because the USA cannot unilaterally give away what it does not own or control. However, it was viewed that way by the Palestinians, the Muslims nations, Western Europe and Commonwealth Nations.

Occasionally there are conundrums in the Bible that are difficult to understand and appear to demonstrate some error of God, or some anomaly that appears to demonstrate that God never kept his promise. Detractors of Christianity can?t wait to jump on a troubling verse or a parenthetical scripture.

One such event is found in 2Kg.3, where its reports that after an onslaught by the three armies of Israel, Judah and Edom, Mesha, king of Moab, made a human sacrifice of his first son to the god Chemosh. This action appears to have resulted in a win over the armies of the Hebrews and their vassal state Edom [the children of Esau]. The win was the last chance for Moabite survival, and that of its capital Kir Hareseth – the last major stronghold and population of the Moabites.