Gideon Bibles in Hotel Rooms - Promoting Christianity or Zio

[abduLMaria]

i got a copy of a Gideon bible.  it was interesting to see "Suggested Readings" -

"Deliverance of Israel from Egypt"

"The Babylonian Captivity of Israel"

"Revival of Israel after Captivity"

it made me wonder if the Gideon's organization might be a Zionist-backed organization.

so i looked at their website
http://www.gideons.org/Splash.aspx

about their history -

"A Lasting Vision

The Gideons International, founded in 1899, serves as an extended missionary arm of the church and is the oldest Christian business and professional men's association in the United States of America. Here are some highlights from our long history of service:

The Idea—In the autumn of the year 1898, John H. Nicholson of Janesville, Wisconsin, came to the Central Hotel at Boscobel, Wisconsin, for the night. The hotel being crowded, it was suggested that he take a bed in a double room with Samuel E. Hill of Beloit, Wisconsin. The two men soon discovered that both were Christians. They had their evening devotions together, and on their knees before God the thoughts were given which later developed into an association.

First Meeting Called —On May 31, 1899, the two men met again at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where they concluded to band Christian commercial travelers together for mutual recognition, personal evangelism, and united service for the Lord. They decided to call a meeting in Janesville, Wisconsin on July 1, 1899, in the Y.M.C.A.

"We shall be called Gideons."—Only three men were present at that meeting: John H. Nicholson, Samuel E. Hill, and Will J. Knights. They organized with Hill as president, Knights as vice president, and Nicholson as secretary and treasurer. Much thought was given to what the name of the association should be, and after special prayer that God might lead them to select the proper name, Mr. Knights arose from his knees and said, "We shall be called Gideons." He read the sixth and seventh chapters of Judges and showed the reason for adopting that name.

Effective Witnesses in Hotels—In view of the fact that almost all of the Gideons in the early years of the association were traveling men, the question quite naturally arose regarding how they might be more effective witnesses in the hotels where they spent so much of their time. One trustee went so far as to suggest that The Gideons furnish a Bible for each bedroom of the hotels in the United States. He commented, "In my opinion, this would not only stimulate the activities of the rank and file of the membership, but would be a gracious act, wholly in keeping with the divine mission of the Gideon Association." This plan, which they called "The Bible Project" was adopted by the convention at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1908.

Church Support—It is interesting to note that the practice of the churches contributing to the support of the Gideon Scripture program originated with a pastor. Just two months after the 1908 Louisville Convention, a state convention convened in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. National Secretary Frank Garlick and Mr. A. B. T. Moore attended a meeting of the Ministerial Union, and after their program they asked if Brother Garlick could address the ministers on the work of the Gideon Association. He spoke of the needed Bible distribution, and at the close of his 10-minute address, Mr. Moore's own pastor, Dr. E. R. Burkhalter, First Presbyterian Church, arose and moved, "...that Gideon Bibles be placed in all local hotels and that the Union be responsible for the funds." The motion was unanimously carried and a committee appointed to apportion the cost to the churches, according to their strength.

A Worldwide Effort—It's been nearly 100 years since The Gideons International placed the first Bible in a hotel room in Montana. Today, The Gideons are organized in more than 180 countries around the globe and print Scriptures in more than 80 languages. Through God's grace and to His Glory, more than 1.3 billion Bibles and New Testaments have been placed by The Gideons, and the work continues . . ."

I have found that some Christian churches promote a "if you want to go to Heaven, you have to support Israel" type gospel, so that for them, to promote Christianity is near-equivalent to promoting Zionism.  especially since it is a covert promotion, which is one of the signatures of the Zionists.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideon_(Bible)
from Wikipedia

Gedeon (Hebrew: גִּדְעוֹן, Modern Gidʻon Tiberian Giḏʻôn), also known as Jerub-Baal (from the Hebrew "let Baal plead"), is a judge appearing in the Book of Judges, in the Bible. His story is told in chapters 6 to 8. He is also named in the Epistle to the Hebrews as an example of a man of faith. He is the son of Joash, from the clan of Abieezer in the tribe of Manasseh. The name Gideon means "Destroyer," "Mighty warrior," or "Feller (of trees)."

As is the pattern throughout the book of Judges, the Israelites again turned away from God after 40 years of peace brought by Deborah's victory over Canaan and were allowed to be attacked by the neighboring Midianites and Amalekites. God chose Gideon, a young man from an otherwise unremarkable clan from the tribe of Manasseh, to free the people of Israel and to condemn their worship of idols.

Very unsure of both himself and God's command, he requested proof of God's will by two miracles, performed on consecutive nights and the exact opposite of each other:

    36Then Gideon said to God, "You say that you have decided to use me to rescue Israel. 37Well, I am putting some wool on the ground where we thresh the wheat. If in the morning there is dew only on the wool but not on the ground, then I will know that you are going to use me to rescue Israel." 38That is exactly what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the wool and wrung enough dew out of it to fill a bowl with water. 39Then Gideon said to God, "Don't be angry with me; let me speak just once more. Please let me make one more test with the wool. This time let the wool be dry, and the ground be wet." 40 That night God did that very thing. The next morning the wool was dry, but the ground was wet with dew. (Judges 6:36-40, Good News Bible)

An 18th century Russian icon of Gideon (Iconostasis of Kizhi Monastery, Karelia, Russia).

On God's instruction, Gideon destroyed the town's altar to the foreign god Baal and the symbol of the goddess Asherah beside it. He went on to send out messengers to gather together men from the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, as well as his own tribe Manasseh in order to meet an armed force of the people of Midian and the Amalek that had crossed the Jordan River and were encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.

However, God informed Gideon that the men he had gathered were too many – with so many men, there would be reason for the Israelites to claim the victory as their own instead of acknowledging that God had saved them. God first instructed Gideon to send home those men who were afraid. Gideon then allowed any man who wanted to leave, to leave; 22,000 men returned home and 10,000 remained. Yet the number was still too many, according to God:

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being un-schooled in religion, i wonder how the Gideon Bible differs from the King James or other Christian Bibles.

1.  Has the Bible been twisted or edited in a way that promotes support of Israel (with the frequently hidden but very real cost paid by the Palestinians)
2.  Is the Gideon organization controlled by Zionists ?
3.  Is there a meaning contained in the use of the word Gideon to name the organization ?  since the original Gideon seems to have done something along the lines of rescuing a group of Jewish people, i wonder.

when i see an organization giving away tens of millions of Bibles, i can't help but wonder what their motivations might be.