Did A Turkish MP Bring A Curse Down Upon Himself By Cursing Israel? Some Are Reporting That He Did.
Hasan Bitmez, Turkish MP, moments before his heart attack.
An opposition politician in Turkey named Hasan Bitmez was giving a speech in Turkish Parliament on December 12, 2023, and in the speech he was rebuking the leader of the political party in power for taking actions that Mr. Bitmez believed hurt the Palestinian cause and which, in his estimation, did in fact amount to aiding Israel in their war against the Hamas forces embedded among the Palestinians. He is quoted by one source as having just spoken the words (translated to English): “Israel will be smitten with the anger of Allah.” He was in effect cursing Israel as he rebuked the opponents of his party who he claimed were effectively aiding Israel. During part of his speech it is reported that he read from a poem which had these line:
“Even if you escape the torment of history, you will not be able to escape the wrath of God.” End quote.
He had a sign at the podium that is reported to read: "Murderer Israel. Collaborator AKP." {AKP is the rival political party he spoke against.}
His speech reportedly contained an accusation against his own present Turkish government of having..."an endless love of Israel."
His speech accused Israel of being involved in 'an ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.'
And suddenly, while there speaking against Israel and his political opponents from another party that he accused of aiding Israel, he fell down on the floor holding his heart. He was rushed to the hospital and died there within a couple of days. Some reports say his autopsy reported that it was from occluded heart vessels, a heart attack of some sort.
Mr. Bitmez fell as he finished his speech. He soon died at the hospital. May his soul be saved and may his family be comforted. God can save the soul of any He chooses.
This man left behind a wife and child, I read. They are probably going through a very hard time. I am sorry for their grief and loss. He must have been well thought of by those who knew him and elected him. He certainly had a great chance of being a better man than me and I am not judging him. I am not trying to hold him up as a pariah. May his sins be forgiven, whatever they were! But what an auspicious moment in which to die, considering God's words about those who speak about His chosen people Israel, because they are descendants of Abraham: from Genesis 12:3 "I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you." Could this be an example of this? It is possible that it is. The words were the right sort of words...the timing was the right sort of timing. And it was a high profile and very public death such that it could plausibly serve as a reminder, an example and a warning to many. God has seemed to publicly punish such speech several times on video or film in our age, though as is often the case, many argue it is only coincidence.
Well, things happen. A person who gives speeches regularly is more likely to be giving a speech when their death occurs. I would acknowledge that...who wouldn't? And among all of those who are enemies to Israel (whom God long ago identified as His peculiar and chosen people) and who give speeches, and who die while giving a speech, and who curse Israel in that speech, there must be some number...some percentage of chance and probability...that correctly estimates the likelihood of experiencing that death just at the moment within that speech when you curse Israel out loud. I'm sure the chance is not zero. There is bound to be some small part of the time when death is just randomly likely to occur at that exact second in time. But that said...it's an awfully small chance!
Look, we all are going to die unless we're raptured, right? And death comes when and as it comes. In Psalms it mentions that God knew all of our days before the first one came to pass. But it doesn't say that we all receive the type of death He preferred for us. We all have been given, by our Maker, the option to make our own choices. A staggering number of those choices are bad ones! We all know that. Humans are truly terrible at governing ourselves. And maybe God gave us free agency to make such choices as we choose to so that we would, in the end, be the first to acknowledge that we are a disaster at governing our own behavior and choosing our own paths. Perhaps somewhere in the midst of our lives it sinks in that it is better for us to be a servant to a just and righteous King than to be king of our own poor mismanaged souls. But God does both reward...and punish. He both forgives much and many and often, but in the end judges all things.
How holy is the Father Almighty? He created all life on Earth. No one can even enter his presence against his will. In the Bible, 2 Samuel 6, when Uzzah the Priest reached out to stabilize the Ark of the Covenant that King David was bringing to Jerusalem because the oxen pulling the wagon had stumbled, he was struck down dead for daring to touch the Ark even though it seems from what you can easily glean from those verses that he had meant well. But God determined how to view Uzzah's action. The offence against God's untouchable holiness was apparently weighed to be greater than the presumed goodness of his intentions. A priest like Uzzah would have known the laws of Moses. Numbers 4:15 said that nearly anyone who touched the Ark of the Covenant would die. Only the sons of Aaron were to ever touch it - and then, only when necessary - for packaging it up when they had to follow God's guiding cloud by day or guiding pillar of fire by night to relocate their wandering tribes whenever God's visible presence rose from the Ark of the Covenant and set out. For exactly 40 years of wandering in the Sinai Desert things were done this way.
The Father's immensely high and powerful holiness is probably too much for our corrupted flesh and minds to fully envision.
How holy is Jesus? Even the evil spirits in the demon possessed people would kneel in front of Jesus during His ministry and say something like, "I know who you are! The Holy One of God." Scripture says that every knee in Heaven bows at the speaking of His name, for He is the Son of God. The actual voice of the Father was heard from the heavens saying:
“This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased!” Matthew 3:17 End Quote
How Holy is the Holy Spirit? Annas and Saphira lied to the Holy Spirit and fell down dead. And 'mocking the Holy Spirit' is the unforgivable sin. The Holy Spirit distributes gifts, powers of the Holy Spirit, to those whom He chooses, allowing men and women receiving the gifts to do what cannot naturally be done by humans.
It is best by far not to lay unwelcome hands on the things important to Yahweh or on what is His. It is best by far not to speak ill meaning words about Yahweh or what is His. The scriptures say that there is nothing God is not aware of. We do not 'sneak one by' our Lord. We are warned to try to have thoughts that are worthy, speech that is worthy, and actions that are worthy. Jesus healed people and forgave their sins. But it is preserved that He would also then tell them, at least part of the time, to 'Go, and let your sins be few.' or 'Go, and sin no more.'
So it is good for us to remember that not all of God's punishment is immediate, and not all of God's pleasure is immediately shown either. One thing that this leads to is that the sinful have the courage to sin. And the faithfully obedient get a chance to show how committed they really are, given that they are taking faith in a reward that is as yet unseen.