Hannukah - Japanese
April 3, 2025
エゼキエル 8 章 9 章
ジェイムズ・ジェイコブ・プラッシュ
エゼキエルとはヘブライ語で、「神の力によって」という意味です。彼の奉仕はまさに、ただ神の力によって実行されたものでした。預言者たちの名前は大抵の場合、神が定めたその人の奉仕の特徴を描き、表現しています。
エゼキエルは、初めイザヤによって預言され、後にエレミヤが預言したバビロン捕囚の到来の直後に登場しました。それは最終的にエゼキエルの時代に始まったのです。民が悔い改めなければ来ると言われていた、その裁きが実際に始まっていたのです。それははっきりと神の裁きとして始まったのですが、人々はそれを神の裁きではないと否定していました。すべてのことが行き詰っていましたが、人々は勝利が来ると主張し続けていたのです。これは今日の状態に似ています。『勢いのある教会(The Unstoppable Church)』（より正確に今の状態を言い表すなら“勢いのあるモスク”ですが）というような本があったりします。彼らの体は実際には重病にかかっているのに、自分の体に対して嘘を付いているようなものなのです。人々は単純に、事実に目を向けたがりません。イザヤやエレミヤが最初から現実に起こると予告していたことを、認めたがらないのです。
エゼキエルは神の裁きは継続し、ますます悪くなると予告しました。その理由は民の罪が継続し、さらに悪くなっていたからです。彼らは神の裁きが来ているのを見ても、悔い改めることをしなかったのです。また、このことは黙示録の中でもほのめかされています。神の裁きが頻繁になり、激しくなってきても、人は心をかたくなにし、神を呪い、罪にとどまったとあります。エゼキエルの時代にもそうであり、終わりの時代にもそうなるのです。エゼキエルは黙示録と深い関連があり、同じことを示しています。
エゼキエル 9 章 4 節『主は彼にこう仰せられた。「町の中、エルサレムの中を行き巡り、この町で行なわれているすべての忌みきらうべきことのために嘆き、悲しんでいる人々の額にしるしをつけよ。」』裁きが始まる前に、神の家、神の町の中で行われている忌みきうべきものを見る人たちがいます。また、神は言われます。「本当に私のものである者たちにしるしをつけよ。間違っていることを見て、何が間違っているかを理解し、嘆いている者にしるしをつけよ。裁きが来る前にしるしをつけるのだ。」
『また私は見た。もうひとりの御使いが、生ける神の印を持って、日の出るほうから上っ
て来た。彼は、地をも海をもそこなう権威を与えられた四人の御使いたちに、大声で叫ん
で言った。「私たちが神のしもべたちの額に印を押してしまうまで、地にも海にも木にも害を与えてはいけない。」』（黙示録 7 章 2 節－3 節）黙示録 13 章に至っては、獣のしるしに関して書かれており、主の与えられるしるしと獣のしるしは、互いに排他的であるということが分かります。
歴史と考古学によって、エゼキエルで言われているしるしはヘブライ語の「トブ(tov)」という文字であったことが知られています。今日、ヘブライ語のトブという文字は H
に足が付いたような形に書かれます。しかし、捕囚以前のイスラエルでは傾いた十字のように書かれていて、おそらくその原型は直立の十字でした。したがって、エゼキエルの時代の神のしるしは実際に十字架のしるしだったのです。
黙示録 9 章 4 節『そして彼らは、地の草やすべての青草や、すべての木には害を加えないで、ただ、額に神の印を押されていない人間にだけ害を加えるように言い渡された。』もう一度、神の裁きが来る前に彼の民にはしるしがつけられます。教会は患難に入りますが、その最も酷い状況からは救い出されるのです。しかしながら、その中のある時期は耐え忍び、主にしるしをつけられ、何らかのかたちで守られるのです。終末に登場する 14 万 4 千人の奉仕者たちは、確実に主のしるしを持っています。イスラエルの子孫たちはエジプトにおいて裁きの大半を経験しました。出エジプトで記されている同じ裁きがこの世の終わりに再現されます。そして、それは黙示録で起こることの主な予型なのです。暗闇や水を打つことなどがそうです。ヘブライ人たちはある部分は経験しましたが、最も酷い中からは救い出されました。それと同じことが世の終わりにも起こります。神はご自分の民にしるしをつけるのです。
主のしるしという考えは、もちろん黙示録から始まったことではなく、エゼキエルですらなく、トーラーからであり、出エジプトで言及されています。出エジプト 13 章 9 節『これをあなたの手の上のしるしとし、またあなたの額の上の記念としなさい。それは主のおしえがあなたの口にあるためであり、主が力強い御手で、あなたをエジプトから連れ出されたからである。』
エゼキエルに戻ってみましょう。裁きがやって来る前に、忌みきらうべきものとその悪とを見て、嘆く者たちは―その心が真実に神のものとなっている者たちは―十字架のしるしが付けられました。また黙示録では、忌みきらうべきものを見て、嘆く者たちに十字架のしるしがつけられるのです。
エゼキエルの時代にその裁きは始まっていました。捕囚が開始されていたにもかかわらず、
民は「ああ、ただ私たちは一時的に痛手を負っているだけだ。長続きはしない。」と言って
いましたが、実際は、ネブカドネザルはユダヤを 4 回に分けて侵攻し、その度に結果はひどいものとなっていたのです。それはあたかも悪の波が次々と来るように、先にあったものより悪くなるのです。そのように神の裁きは来ます。しかし、神の民はしるしがつけられます。彼らは真実に神のものなのです。
エゼキエルの幻は主に神殿周辺に関してでした。エゼキエル 47 章は千年王国の幻であり、ヘブライ語で「シムカ・ベイト・ハ・ショイバー(Simchat beit Ha Shoyivah)」と呼ばれる神殿の丘で水を注ぎ出す儀式を背景にしています。それはハ・スコット(Ha Succoth)と呼ばれる仮庵祭が祝われていたときでした。ヨハネ 7 章もこのことを示唆していて、その意味はいつも千年王国についてでした。
私はニューエイジ“クリスチャン”であるパトリック・ディクソン(Patrick Dixon)が意識の変化した状態について話しているのを聞きました。彼が言うには、聖書の中でいつも神の臨在が現れるとき、人々は理性を失い、普段とは違った意識に入ると言っていました。これはトロント・ブレッシング(Toronto Blessing)などを受け入れることが出来るという彼の弁護なのです。その例として、彼はペテロがイエスの山で姿が変わったことを取り上げ、彼は幕屋を作りたいという愚かで、おかしなことを考えたと言っています。ディクソンはそれをばかげたことと考えているのです。私は彼に次のことを示し、それは何もばかげたことではないと指摘しました。つまりペテロはその変貌が、ユダヤ人の祭りである仮庵祭のメシアによる成就だと考えていたのです。モーセとエリヤがメシアと共にその姿が変えられたので、何もばかげたことではなく、ペテロはそれが千年王国の到来だと考えたのです。明らかにディクソンはこのことを一度も考えたことがないようでした。その文脈において、ペテロの行為は全く理性的なものだったのです。彼は私に「どうしてそう言えるのか？あなたはそこにいたのか？ペテロと話したことがあるのか？」という質問をもって答えてきました。私はそれに対して、「私は第二神殿期の仮庵祭のメシア的な象徴がどのようであったかを知っている」と言いました。これに対してはディクソンも返す言葉が無かったようでした。このように現代はどうしても、さまざまな毒が大きな釜に入っているような状態なのです。
エゼキエルの神殿：「神殿の象徴(The Typology of the Temple)」のテープでは、ギリシヤ語とヘブライ語において少なくとも七箇所で“神殿”に関する単語、ナオス(naos)、オイコス
(oikos)、ヒエロン(hieron)、べト・ミシュカン(beth mishkan)、ベト・ミグダシュ(beth
migdash)、ハ・ヘカル(Ha Hekal)、これらが色々な箇所で教会の象徴として用いられていることを詳しく教えています。そして例えば、１ペテロ 2 章 5 節では『あなたがたも生ける石として、霊の家に築き上げられなさい。』とあり、コリント人への手紙では教会は神殿
と呼ばれており、エペソ人への手紙の 2 章・4 章では神殿は教会の象徴です。また、使徒の働きではダビデの幕屋を建て直すことが語られていて、それはアモス書の『その日、わたしはダビデの倒れている仮庵を起こし、その破れを繕い、その廃墟を復興し、昔の日のようにこれを建て直す。』（9 章 11 節）という箇所の引用です。新約聖書は少なくとも、これは部分的に異邦人の教会において成就されたと明らかにしています。また、反キリストについてのテープでは、荒らす憎むべき者に関して語っており、ダニエル書で語られた至聖所である聖なる場所に、彼が立つことについてです。このことは歴史の中のいくつかの時点で部分的に成就されました。その最も顕著な例がアンティオコス・エピファネス (Antiochus Epiphanes) によって成就されたときです。またこのことも「ハヌカー
(Hanukah)」のテープに収録されています。
エルサレムに神殿が再建され、憎むべきものがそこに建てられるとしても、それが物理的な神殿に関して起こることですが、それはただ霊的に起ころうとしていることの反映でしかないのです。イエスが十字架上で死んだとき、神殿の幕は上から下に裂けました。このことは罪深い人間と聖い神との隔たりが、もはや無くなったことを示しています。物理的な奇跡はその物理的な神殿で起こりました。しかし、それは一番大切なことではありません。一番大切なことはその奇跡が象徴していることです。私たちの大祭司であるイェシュアが罪のためにささげられたために、人間はもはや神から離れてはいないのです。したがって、荒らす憎むべき者についてもその通りです。憎むべきものが何らかの形で神殿に建て上げられるとしても―私はそれが実際に起こることを確信していますが―それはただ単に霊的に起こることの前兆なのです。反キリストは神の家で礼拝されたがります。このことは反キリストについてのテープで扱われています。そこではアラム語での荒らす憎むべき者について説明しています。
エゼキエルは主の家で忌みきらうべきことを見ました。もう一度、8 章 1 節から始まる 2
章を読んでみましょう：
『第六年の第六の月の五日、私が自分の家にすわっていて、ユダの長老たちも私の前にすわっていたとき、神である主の御手が私の上に下った。私が見ると、火のように見える姿があった。その腰と見える所から下のほうは火で、その腰から上のほうは青銅の輝きのように輝いて見えた。すると、その方は手の形をしたものを伸ばし、私の髪のふさをつかんだ。すると、霊が私を地と天との間に持ち上げ、神々しい幻のうちに私をエルサレムへ携え行き、ねたみを引き起こすねたみの偶像のある、北に面する内庭の門の入口に連れて行った。なんと、そこには、私がかつて谷間で見た姿と同じようなイスラエルの神の栄光があった。その方は私に仰せられた。「人の子よ。さあ、目を上げて北のほうを見よ。」（災いはいつも北からやって来ます）そこで、私が目を上げて北のほうを見ると、北のほうの祭壇の門の入口にねたみの偶像があった。』（8 章 1 節－5 節）
“人の子”とは終末的な称号であり、他のすべての預言者たちと同じく、イエスを何らか
の形で示しています。イエスは終わりの時代に関して神の子とは一度も呼ばれませんでした。彼の再臨について語られているとき、それはいつも人の子がやって来ると書かれています。
『この方は私に仰せられた。「人の子よ。あなたは彼らのしていることが見えるか。イスラエルの家は、わたしの聖所から遠く離れようとして、ここで大きな忌みきらうべきことをしているではないか。あなたはなおまた、大きな忌みきらうべきことを見るだろう。」』（8 章 6 節）
またここにおいても、荒らす憎むべき者が示唆されています。
『それから、この方は私を庭の入口に連れて行った。私が見ると、壁に一つの穴があった。この方は私に仰せられた。「人の子よ。さあ、壁に穴をあけて通り抜けよ。」私が壁に穴をあけて通り抜けると、一つの入口があった。この方は私に仰せられた。「入って行き、彼らがそこでしている悪い忌みきらうべきことを見よ。」私が入って行って見ると、なんと、はうものや忌むべき獣のあらゆる像や、イスラエルの家のすべての偶像が、回りの壁一面に彫られていた。また、イスラエルの家の七十人の長老が、その前に立っており、その中にはシャファンの子ヤアザヌヤも立っていて――彼は名前をも明らかにします！――、彼らはみなその手に香炉を持ち、その香の濃い雲が立ち上っていた。この方は私に仰せられた。「人の子よ。あなたは、イスラエルの家の長老たちがおのおの、暗い所、その石像の部屋で行なっていることを見たか。彼らは、『主は私たちを見ておられない。主はこの国を見捨てられた』と言っている。」さらに、私に仰せられた。「あなたはなおまた、彼らが行なっている大きな忌みきらうべきことを見るだろう。」ついでこの方は私を、主の宮の北の門の入口へ連れて行った。するとそこには、女たちがタンムズのために泣きながらすわっていた。この方は私に仰せられた。「人の子よ。これを見たであろうが、あなたはなおまた、これよりも大きな忌みきらうべきことを見るだろう。」そして、この方は私を主の宮の内庭に連れて行った。』（8 章 7 節－16 節）
旧約聖書の中では、神の宮を進んで行くにつれてさらに聖い場所に至ります。
『すると、主の宮の本堂の入口の玄関と祭壇との間に二十五人ばかりの人がおり、彼らは主の宮の本堂に背を向け、顔を東のほうに向けて、東のほうの太陽を拝んでいた。この方は私に仰せられた。「人の子よ。あなたはこれを見たか。ユダの家にとって、彼らがここでしているような忌みきらうべきことをするのは、ささいなことだろうか。彼らはこの地を暴虐で満たし、わたしの怒りをいっそう駆り立てている。見よ。彼らはぶどうのつるを自分たちの鼻にさしている。だから、わたしも憤って事を行なう。わたしは惜しまず、あわれまない。彼らがわたしの耳に大声で叫んでも、わたしは彼らの言うこと
を聞かない。」この方は私の耳に大声で叫んで仰せられた。「この町を罰する者たちよ。
おのおの破壊する武器を手に持って近づいて来い。」見ると、六人の男が、おのおの打ちこわす武器を手に持って、北に面する上の門を通ってやって来た。もうひとりの人が亜麻布の衣を着、腰には書記の筆入れをつけて、彼らの中にいた。彼らは入って来て、青銅の祭壇のそばに立った。』―青銅の祭壇は十字架の象徴です―『そのとき、ケルブの上にあったイスラエルの神の栄光が、ケルブから立ち上り、神殿の敷居へ向かった。それから、腰に書記の筆入れをつけ、亜麻布の衣を着ている者を呼び寄せて、主は彼にこう仰せられた。「町の中、エルサレムの中を行き巡り、この町で行なわれているすべての忌みきらうべきことのために嘆き、悲しんでいる人々の額にしるしをつけよ。」また、私が聞いていると、ほかの者たちに、こう仰せられた。「彼のあとについて町の中を行き巡って、打ち殺せ。惜しんではならない、あわれんではならない。』（エゼキエル 8 章 16 節－
9 章 5 節）
神はご自分の民に害を及ぼすことを許しませんでした。また、彼はご自分の者にはしるしをつけ、残りの者は打てと命じました。黙示録では、木々に害を加えないように命じられています。―『野の木々もみな、手を打ち鳴らす。』（イザヤ 55 章 1 節－2 節）―木々は神の民を象徴しています。これがエゼキエルでも起こったことなのです。
神はエゼキエルを取り、忌みきらうべきことを次々に見せました。それはますます悪くなるばかりでした。彼が最初に見た忌みきらうべきことに注目してみましょう：ねたみの偶像、主の家での偶像礼拝です。ヘブライ語での「礼拝する」という言葉は「ヒシャタクヴァー(hishtakvya)」といい、不定詞では「ヒスタカヴォート(Histachavot)」すなわち「ひれ伏す」ということです。誰でも像や彫られた偶像の前にひれ伏し、拝むならそれは偶像礼拝です。ハイ・カトリックやローマ・カトリック、これらのものは偶像礼拝です。
この話は次のように始まりました。神はエゼキエルを天と地の間に持ち上げて、「見よ。今あなたは天から、わたしが見るように見ている。彼らがわたしの家、わが聖所、会見の場所でしていることを見たか。」と言いました。エゼキエルはそれを見て、驚きました。しかし、神はエゼキエルに「これがわたしの家、わが聖所での偶像礼拝である。しかし、人の子よ、あなたはさらに忌みきらうべきものを見ることとなる。」と言われます。その後神は神殿の中へとさらに奥へと彼を導かれます。そこでは、はうものや忌むべき獣のあらゆる像や、イスラエルの家のすべての偶像が、回りの壁一面に彫られていたのです。ここでの
「忌むべき」とはヘブライ語で「シェケツィム(shektzim)」というもので、異邦人女性を軽蔑した言い方の「シクセー(shikseh)」という言葉はこれから来ています。黙示録において、サタンにはふたつの攻撃する形態があると、私が言っているのを聞いたことがあるでしょうか。蛇と竜です。竜は迫害者としてのサタンです。また、蛇とは欺くものとしてのサタンです。これらのはうものも「シェケツィム」と呼ばれ、それは「ねばねばした爬虫類」
という意味です。それらは古代中近東で行われていたヘビ崇拝などから来た悪魔の象徴で
すが、インドの西部に至るまでヘビ崇拝が行われています。荒らす忌むべき者はそこから取られたものです。主の家の中にいる悪霊：この時点でただの偶像礼拝が、明らかな悪霊崇拝になっていくのです。
しかし、神はそれからエゼキエルに言われます。「あなたはさらに悪いものを見ることになる。わたしの家でさらに忌みきらうべきものを見るのだ、人の子よ！」そして神は宗教指導者たち―レビ人やコヘニム(cohenim)などの“牧者たち”―をあちらこちらで名指しで呼びます。また彼はシャファンの子ヤアザヌヤが彼らの内に立っていたと書いています。そこにいるべきではない人々、いるはずのない人々が香を持ってそこにいるのです。香は聖徒の祈りを象徴しています。しかし、それらの祈りは本当の神にはささげられていないのです。彼らは真実の神を礼拝していません。パウロは１テモテ・２テモテにおいて、ヨハネは３ヨハネにおいて、信者たちを過ちに引き込もうとする指導者たちの名前を公に挙げました。使徒と預言者たちはためらうことなく、そのような者たちの名を明らかにしたのです。
このエゼキエルの箇所において、偶像礼拝が行われており、明らかな悪魔崇拝があり、また神の指導者たちが民をそこに引き込んでいました。神は主の家でそのように指導者たちが悪事に加担することは、何にも増してひどく忌みきらうべきことであると宣言しています。
『あなたはなおまた、大きな忌みきらうべきことを見るだろう。』その次に神がエゼキエルに見せられたのはタンムズ礼拝でした。タンムズは乳飲み子の神であり、彼の母であるマドンナに抱きかかえられていました。ローマ・カトリックのマドンナと子どもという考えは、タンムズ礼拝をカトリック化したものです。そうでしかありません。エレミヤ 44 章では、女たちが天の女王のためにパン菓子を焼いている光景に出くわします。これはカトリックのマリア崇拝と同じものです。タンムズに関して言うと、イエスは無力な幼児として描かれ、一方でその母は力のある独立した大人として表現されています。このような考えのもと、マリアが私たちの共通の贖い主であり、共通の仲介者であり、共通の救い主であるとカトリックは主張しているのです。彼女は今まで存在した女性の中で最も偉大であることは事実です。しかし、彼女自身、救い主が必要であると言いました。
『あなたはなおまた、大きな忌みきらうべきことを見るだろう。』そう神はエゼキエルに言いました。
『人の子よ。あなたは彼らのしていることが見えるか。』まず、それはねたみの偶像であり、
次に悪霊でした。その次に指導者たちが手をつけたものとは―より知識があるべき者たち
が民を迷わせます―タンムズ礼拝でした。この次には何が来るのでしょうか？
『あなたはなおまた、大きな忌みきらうべきことを見るだろう。』神はエゼキエルを玄関と祭壇の間にある内庭に連れて行きました。そこで彼が見たものは公然と太陽を拝む者たちでした―公然と他の神々に祈っていたのです。これらのバビロンの宗教は単なる礼拝以上のもの、不品行などをも含んでいます。不品行と偶像礼拝は共に起こります。古代ギリシヤではそれは神殿娼婦でしたが、その起源はギリシヤ以前にさかのぼります。礼拝の中での性の堕落です。サタン崇拝にかかわりを持つすべての成人式は、何らかの性的な儀式を含んでいます。ロザラム(Rotherham)にいる、私の知っているクリスチャン女性の娘は、サタン的なカルトに参加していました。そこで大祭司がサタンと関わり持たせるため、彼女を“結婚”させたのです。儀式のすべてが性的で汚らわしいことで満ちていました。この女性は当然のことながらとても動揺していました。
状況はますます悪化していきます。民はそれを無視していましたが、イザヤやエレミヤが来ると、初めから警告していた神の裁きが実現していたのです。彼らは来るべき裁きを否定し、罪にとどまっていました。その一方で、指導者たちはそこに立ち、「もはや主はこれらのことを、本当には気遣っておられない。すべてはゲームなのだ。ただこれは私たちの仕事なのだから。」と言います。聖職者の中の多くのフルタイムの奉仕者たちが―彼らの中には福音派もいますが―奉仕がただの職業にすぎなくなっているのです。奉仕は仕事になっていて、召命でもなく、情熱をもってするものでもなく、神が天職として与えたものではなくなっているのです。ただ彼らの義務になってしまっています。
最終的に神は言われます、「真実にわたしのものである者たちにしるしをつけよ」。もはや望みはなくなりました。神はそのようなことを見て嘆いている者以外、あわれむことも惜しむこともなくなるのです。神はエゼキエルを天にまで上げて「わたしの聖所を見よ」そう言われると、彼は衝撃を受けました。また、神は「またそこにはあなたが見たものを見、ひどく驚いた者たちがいて、彼らはわたしの家で忌みきらうべきことが行われているのを見て嘆いているのだ。その偶像礼拝、不品行、また彼らの指導者たち自身が民を引き込んでいるのを嘆いている。これらの者たちにはしるしがつけられる。しかし、わが裁きは下ろうとしている。さらにあなたは忌みきらうべきことを見ることになるだろう」と言われ、
「人の子よ。あなたは彼らが行っていることを見たか。忌みきらうべきことをさらに見る
ことになる」と主は言われます。
白魔術を行う者が歴史上初めて、イギリスの大学で多神教のチャプレンになりました。「スーザン・ラドーン(Susan Ladourne)がリーズ大学で、オカルトを信じた生徒をカウンセリ
ングするために職務を引き継いだ。29 歳の魔術師は、魔術や多神教の儀式や礼拝をもって、生徒を指導する。」 しかし、これよりもさらに忌みきらうべきことを、私たちは見ます。一体どのようなものなのでしょうか？祭司たち―知識を持ち合わせているはずの者―が不品行に身をまかせ、魔術を受け入れているのです。いいですか、国教会のチャプレンであるサイモン・ロビンソン牧師(Rev. Simon Robinson)は魔術師にも果たすべき役割があるとしてそれを受け入れ、次のように言いました「私たちはすでにさまざまな宗教からチャプレンを採用している」。祭司たちは忌みきらうべきことや偶像礼拝が行われている中、香を持ち立っていました。彼らは「大丈夫、神は見てはいない」と言うのです。これがまさにエゼキエル書において起こっていたことです。「神は見てはいない」とコヘニムは言い、同じ事をレビ人も言いました。また、これはイギリス国教会の聖職者が今日言っていることなのです。
「あなたはなおまた、わたしの家で大きな忌みきらうべきことを見るだろう。」と主は言われます。ヨークシャー・イブニング・ポスト(Yorkshire Evening Post)によると「一緒に住むことはもはや罪ではない―イギリス国教会は家族の価値観について姿勢を一変した」そうなのです。私は罪の中に生きていました。イエスが私の心の中に入ってきたとき、私はニューヨークに住んでいて、向かいの通りにいた、とても魅力的なアメリカ系イタリア人の女性と暮らしていました。そのとき、私は残りの薬物を取り、窓から 20 階下に投げ捨てました（それをガーナへ行く大使が拾って、自分のものにしたと思います）。そしてジューズ・フォー・ジーザス(Jews for Jesus)の当時リーダーだったサム・メードラー(Sam Madler)が私に言いました。「あなたは結婚するか、そこから出ていくかしなければならない。たとえ、あなたたちが一緒に寝ていないとしても、罪があるように見え、あなたの証を台無しにすることになる。」そこで私は彼女をキリストに導きました。よい証と信仰を保とうとして私は唯一の選択肢を選びました。つまり彼女に出ていくように告げたのです。
ここで言いたいのは、私がしていたことが間違っていると言われて、クリスチャンとしてそのままやっていけなかったということです。『結婚がすべての人に尊ばれるようにしなさい。寝床を汚してはいけません。』（ヘブル 13 章 4 節）―もう彼女とはベッドを共にしないとしても、それは罪のように見えると言われたのです。証をし続けてきた私の隣人たちは、彼女と寝ていないということを信じはしなかったでしょう。しかし現在、イギリス国教会は一緒に住むことはもはや罪ではないと言っているのです。私は福音主義カリスマ派であると聞いていた、ジョージ・カーレイ(George Carey)大監督の、公式のイギリスの住所であるランバート官邸に電話をかけました。私は電話をし、かけ返してくれるようメッセージを残しました。彼らは私が何を望んでいるのか知りたがっていたので、『結婚がすべての人に尊ばれるようにしなさい。寝床を汚してはいけません。』という新約聖書の箇所があるのに、どうやって結婚せずに寝床を聖く保てるのかと大監督に聞きました。それからという
もの返事は一切来ていません。
「あなたはなおまた、わたしの家で大きな忌みきらうべきことを見るだろう。」と主は言われます。ギリシヤ語の「デモノイ(demonoi)」とヘブライ語の「シェディム(shedim)」は、
1 コリントと申命記で使われていて、他の神々や悪霊たちのことを述べています。旧約と新約はどちらもそれを告げています。エゼキエルははうものや悪霊などのシェディムが、神の聖所、主の家で崇められているのを見ました。カンタベリー大聖堂に行き、自分自身の目で異教徒の間でなされている礼拝を見てください。アンセルム・チャペル(Anselm
Chapel)に行き、仏教徒、イスラム教徒、ヒンドゥー教徒、シーク教徒などの礼拝で溢れていて、“クリスチャン”たちがそれを受け入れているのを見てください。『あなたはなおまた、大きな忌みきらうべきことを見るだろう。』
A Divided Nation Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM The Haredi community has had a complicated, paradoxical relationship with the State since its founding. Rooted in a Talmudic precept that the Jews are forbidden to resettle the land of Israel en masse by force before the coming of the Messiah, the secular democratic State of Israel presents itself as blasphemous by its mere existence. Yet due to practical considerations such as the need to obtain funding for its religious academies the Haredi leadership reached a settlement with the State's founders that exempted Haredi men from being conscripted for military service. This was at a time when the Haredi population in Israel was relatively small. Over the past decades this demographic ballooned until the point that soon the majority of Jewish children in Israel will be born into Haredi families. Such a situation is clearly unsustainable. Recently the Knesset's (Parliament's) Haredi parties have pressured their coalition partners in government to codify Torah Study as part of the Country's Basic Laws. This was purposefully done to elevate the status of their institutions to be on parity with service in the IDF. Israel is yet to promulgate a written Constitution, so legislation classed as a Basic Law holds Constitutional status for all intents and purposes. These moves by the religious parties represent a back door power grab to enshrine in law very significant hurdles to prevent the enlistment of Haredi men. The burden of Israel's defence is comparatively massive for a country its size and it is vastly disproportionately shouldered by the secular population. Until now there have been political initiatives to conscript the Haredim. But given the huge manpower shortages emerging in the wake of near continual conflict on multiple fronts since the events of October 7th this matter has become urgent and not merely a theoretical discussion of what is fair and equitable. It is important to draw a distinction between the Haredim and national religious Jews (Dati Leumi). The Haredim adhere to a lifestyle entirely committed to observance of Jewish Law and Talmudic study. This is embraced to the exclusion of gainful employment and participation in wider society. They are either outrightly opposed to Zionism or consider themselves non-Zionist. Conversely, followers of the national religious movement in Israel although being observant of Jewish law and learning would alongside this pursue secular professions. Furthermore, they are ardently Zionist and disproportionately serve in IDF combat units. This is often done within the framework of a program called Hesder Yeshiva that combines religious learning with military service. Efforts to cater a similar model for accommodating Haredi participation in the IDF have so far failed to make substantial gains. Such measures designed to override Haredi objections to service based upon modesty concerns by strict segregation of the sexes in these specially formed units have failed to appease the Haredi leadership. For them, any form of military service is considered a dereliction of their duty to fully devote themselves to a Torah lifestyle. They argue that their Talmudic learning and prayers are in itself a form of national service and act to protect the Jewish people spiritually from enemy attack. It is as if two parallel societies exist within Israel. And the trajectory of separation between the two is only growing. The Haredim are cloistered away in their Yeshivas, immersed in lives devoted to adhering to the stipulations of Jewish law. While the particulars of actually running the State is left to the Secular. The Haredim desire all the benefits of subsidizing their lifestyle without contributing to society. What we really have going on here at source is two profoundly different and opposing ideological visions of what is important in life and what is the purpose of a Jewish State. At the State's founding these divergent perspectives were more manageable. Ben Gurion only had to contend with one religious party –the National Religious Party. Later in 1970 Begin aligned with the NRP to form a coalition government that also brought Sephardic Jews under the Likud umbrella which had the effect of bringing unity to the country by bridging the Ashkenazi-Sephardi divide. However, over time Israeli politics has seen a proliferation of religious parties, gaining further leverage as king brokers in forming governments due to the proportionate representation voting system which secular Israelis not uncommonly view as political blackmail. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).
New Paragraph
THE CAPTION AT THE HEAD OF THE POSTER IMAGE FOR THE MOVIE ‘DISCLOSURE DAY’ BOLDLY DECLARES ‘WE DESERVE TO KNOW’ Indeed, we do need to know the truth. But will we find it in Stephen Spielberg’s new movie ‘Disclosure Day’? Could it just as well be entitled ‘DECEPTION DAY’? In an interview with USA Today Spielberg says that evidence of non-human contact has become “overwhelming” to him. He has suggested that his film could raise significant theological questions for Christians. But will it? For us Christians - No, not on our watch! The movie raises no questions for those who accept the proven accuracy of God’s Word, the Bible. The film, which is capturing the imagination of the public, only confirms exactly what scripture tells us about what are in fact extra-dimensional beings. ALIENS OR FALLEN ANGELS? God inhabits the heavenly realm along with a vast array of angels. Because Lucifer, a created angel, wanted to usurp God as ruler of the universe, he was expelled to another realm outside of our time and space, along with one third of the angels who rebelled with him. These fallen angels manifest themselves as demons who can appear on earth and disappear at will. Spiritual hosts of wickedness exist in heavenly places, wherever this realm is, it is not the place where God dwells. ARE ALIENS BENEVOLENT? In the movie, the ‘aliens’ are portrayed as friendly beings who want to help mankind in a time of crisis. If the aliens are really demons, not visitors from outer space, this is a dangerous delusion. Whitley Striber in his book ‘Communion’ writes on encountering ‘aliens’; ‘I felt an indescribable sense of menace. Whatever was there seemed so monstrously ugly, so filthy, so dark and sinister. Of course they were demons. They have to be.’ Many others have reported similar malevolent experiences. During the movie, Daniel claims to have had an encounter with extra-terrestrials during which he received a special gift of empathy, which is regarded by him as the ultimate superpower. However, there is only One who completely understands our human frailty. We read this concerning Jesus: ‘For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did not sin.’ (Hebrews 4 v 15). Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11 v 28) END TIMES DECEPTION Before he was crucified, Jesus warned his disciples about these last days in which we are living. The first words he used in this context were: “Watch no one deceives you. For many will come in my name saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” Deception was top of the list! Later, the Apostle Paul wrote about these days: ‘The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.’ (2 Thessalonians 2 v 9) Have you received the love of the truth? Have you received Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life? If not, you are in great danger. Perilous times are here and they are only going to get worse as man turns more and more away from his maker. Things will only change when Jesus returns soon to establish his own Kingdom on earth, where justice and peace will rule. JESUS, OUR ONLY HOPE! The Bible says all human beings are sinners. The message of Jesus is simple; repent and believe the good news, that God wants humanity, his highest creation, to be reestablished in relationship with him. His plan was simple: to give his life in unconditional love for every human being that has and ever will live, by shedding his blood on a Roman cross. In doing this, we can receive forgiveness of sins. Our old life will then be buried with him, giving us new life with the hope of an eternal future of true peace, love and joy, with freedom from pain and tears. Why ignore such a great gift of salvation? If you do, your fate will be sealed for eternity in hell, which is a real place without God, and thus without love, to face only eternal consequences of punishment. We condemn ourselves to such a fate. REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE! Jesus loves you and asks that you repent and believe in him. It would be the best and safest decision of your life! If you commit your life to him, he will give you a new heart, you will be a new person inside. You will also gain a new desire for all that is right and true. And his Holy Spirit will give you an ability to discern the lies of the age we are living in. ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave us his only son, that whosoever believes in him, will not perish, but have eternal life.’ (John 3:16) FINALLY, A RECOMMENDATION All that is described in this leaflet has been open, in the light for millennia. On the other hand, the theory of extra-terrestrial life has been hidden in darkness, awaiting ‘Disclosure Day’. Which would you prefer to believe, the Word of God, or the word of Stephen Spielberg? I made my choice years ago, and have never regretted it! If this message has spoken to you, just call upon Jesus in a short prayer. Confess to him that you are a sinner in need of salvation. Ask him in sincerity to forgive you and to fill you with his Holy Spirit. You will then become what the Bible describes as being ‘born again’. (John 3 v 7) Then you need to seek a Bible believing church where you can be baptised and become part of a group of believers who can help you get to know Jesus more and more fully. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8 v 32)
Prayer request for Teerth Sond Petitioned Prayer-Supplication/Personal Prayer/ Collective Prayer/Thanks Giving Prayer Our Dear brethren in Yeshua, my family & myself Teerth request your prayers in The Spirit that the latest drugs Ramicirumab & Pacilitaxel will destroy the cancer cell in the Authority Of The Lord Yeshua in The Power of The Holy Spirit. Targeted Petition: Please stand with us in prayer & fasting; The Lord will target the 2cm legion & that it will be cast out of my Liver in the love (agape), compassion, kindness, grace, mercy of God. I do not deserve it because of me- but By His Stripes we are healed for His Glory. This will allow the main operation to go ahead (which should have been done 18 months ago). Step by Step in the leading of The Holy Spirit and the in the Lord Step by Step, as our beautiful sister Beryl said, has worked on my Spiritual man- thank you Lord for waking me up. Lord raise me up for your glory forever because of your love to me, the family & fellowship- an unworthy sinner saved by your grace & love. Email sent to my Oncologist & my Local MP: Greetings Natasha & Dr Mano Joseph Hope All Is Well Thank you for our meeting today. At our meeting we discussed my MRI & CT scans which were done in May 2026. We discussed the operation on my oesophagus which I believe is the best option. (This should have been done 18 months ago). My Kidney operation will be done- non evasive- Lord willing within the next month. Will you be talking to Mr Chacravaty about this? The liver must be targeted first- this is wisdom and the latest radiotherapy treatments available- proton therapy-radiotherapy atezolizumab and bevacizumab sorafenib lenvatinib regorafenib cabozantinib durvalumab and tremelimumab At the meeting we discussed the next CT & MRI scans to be held end off July. Wouldn't it be to better to have them in August so by then I've had 4 full treatments on the latest medication. Also we have Zolbetuximab on compassionate usage- all glory to The Lord. After all the past wrongs I have no doubt now Dr Joseph you will pursue the best for me and family. Dear brethren- King Manasseh, David, Hannah, The Church For Peter, James, The Lord Jesus Christ for example made petitions onto the Lord. We pray as one body to cast off the illness in the Power of The Holy & The Authority Of Yeshua. The Great Physician who came for the ill. To lay out raised hands 🙌🏽 upon the head of our Lord. ABBA/Daddy/Lord in your mercy have mercy on us. Love you all in Yeshua our Lord & God. Teerth, Family & Fellowship
The End of an Extended Honeymoon – Are Trump and Netanyahu Parting Ways? Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM The Israeli public had high hopes for Trump. Unlike his predecessors, he consistently endorsed Israeli measures of self-defence in the different theatres of conflict in which it had to contend. Further to these ends Trump shared in Netanyahu’s determined agenda of preventing the Iranians from pursuing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. During Trump's first term he tore up Obama's negotiated settlement with the Iranians concerning enriched Uranium, echoing Netanyahu’s position that it didn't go far enough. Now in his second term Trump partnered with Israel in a war with Iran that turned out to lack clearly defined goals. The campaign required resolve on the part of America that it wasn't willing to commit. After an initial lightning blitzkrieg that decapitated the Iranian leadership, the Persians dug in and the conflict became a protracted war of attrition hinging on Iran's stranglehold on the straits of Hormuz that could only be realistically lifted by placing boots on the ground or an intensified air war directed against Iranian coastal positions and the destruction of Kharg island, or at least the viable threat to obliterate Kharg island if Iran did not acquiesce. It transpired that Trump and Netanyahu underestimated the resilience of the Iranian regime, thinking that it had already received a near mortal blow during the prior popular demonstrations. So now we are left with a situation where Trump is exasperated with this protracted endeavour and appears to be aiming his frustration towards Netenyahu. A sticking point is Israel's continued occupation of Southern Lebanon. Iran is insistent that Israel withdraw its forces from there as a precursor to fully committing itself to a final status agreement with the U.S. to put an end to its nuclear aspirations. With the midterm elections looming Trump seems to be desperate for an exit strategy from this war. From Israel's perspective the fight against Hizbollah is an inextricable part of the Iranian equation. The IDF has invested massive resources and personnel in the hopes of quashing the Iranian proxy once and for all. Netanyahu is determined to build on the momentum achieved after the spectacular pager attack in 2024. After the catastrophic Hamas massacres of October 7th, the majority of the Israeli public is unwilling to tolerate a capable hostile force on its borders. Trump's proposed solution to this dilemma unrealistically suggests that Syria should take on the role of disarming and removing Hizbollah from Lebanon. In the ultimate reckoning of international relations, America doesn't have iron clad allies, but rather interests like any other nation. If, (as appears to be occurring now) U.S. and Israeli interests fail to align the two countries will cease to act in unison and there may be a rupture in relations on the not-too-distant horizon. Trump has indicated that Israel owes him big time. He has asserted that were it not for his decisive actions they would have been obliterated by Iran's missiles. This is nothing to say of the robust diplomatic support Trump has lent Israel in such forums as the United Nations Security Council and sanctioning officials of the International Criminal Court. Netanyahu is acutely aware of what may be next after Trump. The way public opinion is turning against Israel it is unlikely that the next administration is going to be any way near as friendly as Trump has been thus far to Israel. Trump too of course is mindful of this turning tide opposing Israel. The Iran war has been unpopular to his domestic audience, and the President has been caricatured as Netanyahu’s stooge doing Israel's bidding. Another major consideration for Trump is the colossal impact that the war has had on his other major regional allies: the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia. They have received the brunt of the Iranian backlash that has effectively targeted their energy infrastructure and trading routes. They, along with the Europeans have been exerting pressure on Trump to end the conflict and reopen the Straits of Hormuz regardless of whether the most favourable terms of Iranian capitulation are achieved. Israel, however important a strategic asset and technological powerhouse will not override these broader concerns that are endangering global energy markets. An unspoken factor is Trump's propensity for a belligerent severing of his relationship with allies in the political sphere. His public displays of hostility with former political allies such Senator Ted Cruz, Governor Ron Santos and Elon Musk demonstrate a temperament that the same kind of falling out could invoke with strategic allies as well as those political. Both Trump and Netanyahu are approaching the sunset of their political careers and are naturally inclined to deeply consider the legacies they will leave behind. In the international sphere Trump projected himself as a peacemaker from a position of strength. But as many commentators have pointed out, the war with Iran demonstrated the limits of U.S. power. Trump appraised Iran as low hanging fruit that could be swiftly toppled like Venezuela. However, when push came to shove and the only prospect of landing a decisive blow demanded a massive ground offensive on the scale of the Iraq war, he bottled out and sued for a premature peace that will leave Netanyahu in the cold. Netanyahu is anxious to rehabilitate the injury inflicted on his reputation of the greatest disaster to have occurred in Israel's history having happened on his watch. Eliminating Iran as the great regional adversary pulling the strings of its proxies would have done much in this regard. Neither leader is able to craft their legacies as they would have wanted. Trump is choosing the perceived option of mitigating the damage done to his legacy in foreign affairs. He is trying hard to sell his Iran deal as being more than what Obama bargained in terms of guaranteeing a nuclear free Iran. But as further details of his proposal are leaked this is becoming a tall order. Netanyahu is faced with October elections and he may decide to stay the course in Lebanon as otherwise he will seem weak to most voters. Should this happen, we will be in uncharted waters as it will thwart Trump's designs for an immediate end to this affair.
The Battlefield for Israel's Reputation Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Israel has enjoyed strong U.S. support since its founding. Within eleven minutes of Israel's Declaration of Independence Truman recognized the Jewish State. Under the Kennedy administration the Pentagon sold advanced missile systems to Israel. However, it was the 1970 attempted PLO takeover of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan that demonstrated to the U.S. Israel's regional prowess and indispensability for implementing Washington's agenda. During Arafat's attempted Coup Syria mobilized its forces on the Jordanian border in support of the PLO's bid to dislodge the ruling Hashemite dynasty. Upon Washington's direction the IDF also mobilized its army upon its border with Jordan, thereby deterring the Syrians from taking further action. From then, the Pentagon and U.S. military planners invested heavily in promoting Israel's defence. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War disaster Nixon's massive air lift came to Israel's aid. For decades U.S. diplomatic and military support for Israel was a non-partisan issue. Both Democrat and Republican members of Congress voted nearly unanimously in support of measures concerning Israel. However, in the mid 2010's this began to change. To the extent that now 80% of Democrats hold views in opposition to Israel and this is reflected in how their representatives are acting. It is difficult to praise an exact moment when this turning point occurred. For years Democrat grassroots activist groups across the nation were lobbying their local representatives about their attitudes to Palestine and the mass student protest movements following the Gaza war built upon this momentum. The dual standards by the academic establishment were riddled with hypocrisy as if by the same criteria Israel is condemned for its responsive self-defence counter attacks in Lebanon and Gaza, Britain and America would be similarly indicted for what they did to Dresden, Hamburg and Berlin in response to Hitler. This is facilitated by the funding of Western Universities by Qatar and other Islamic interests associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. There is alienation between Israelis and the traditional left-centre Jewish Diaspora in the U.S. with a third of New York Jews voting for Mandani a vehement anti-Zionist in the New York Mayoral election. This is counterbalanced by a growing Jewish Right in America led by Ben Shapiro, David Ruben, Dennis Prager, Mark Levin and Trump advisor Steven Miller who are in political harmony with the Evangelical Right. The Republicans are also approaching a crossroads. Just as the Democrats have been hijacked by the Woke Left there has emerged a virulently anti-Zionist Woke Right led by Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes and Candace Owen who are also attempting to hijack the Republicans. What is alarming here, is the fact that the majority of young Republicans under forty now hold an unfavourable view of Israel. So, it is very much a matter of fighting for the future of the Republican Party. The growing populist movements in Britain and Europe may counter the anti-Zionist and anti- Semitic political activities of the Muslim vote and their left-wing allies. In any eventuality, even if the least favourable trajectory of U.S. public opinion were to further materialize it is unlikely to dismantle the massive military and intelligence sharing cooperation between the U.S. and Israel. The Pentagon views Israel as far too big of a strategic asset in a volatile region to cut ties with. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).
MAJOR PRAYER REQUEST - STEVE MITCHELL MORIEL ORPHANAGE (Andar Pradesh, INDIA) Please read the enclosed missions report from Moriel Missions Branch India: Our children need us and we put a lot of money into buying and then expanding the Moriel orphanage to take in more children. These precious orphan children are coming to Christ and the devil is angry. Until now we had opposition from radical Sheikhs at the Moriel Horeb church we built in Punjab, but the Hindu Authorities in Andar Pradesh have largely until now left us alone. The BJP government is however as wicked as Hamas or Hezbollah - only Hindu (I was in India when radical Hindus burned the Australian missionary family alive in their car; these are the ones who wanted to murder Steve Mitchell when Moriel helped to quickly get him out of the country some years ago). Some pastors have been murdered again in West Bengal. (Samuel, who oversees the Moriel orphanage went to Bible College with one of them). Because our orphan children are Dalet (treated as subhuman 'out casts' by the Hindu caste system), or from Muslim backgrounds, we have largely been been left alone and some of the local officials liked us. This is obviously not a good situation. Prayer is urgently requested. Please pray for Mark Masih particularly that they will not cancel his visa. They are now forbidding us from bringing any more bibles into the country. What would happen if Britain, Australia, or America outlawed Hindus from bringing the Bhagavad Gita into England, Oz, or the USA? MARANATHA Come Quickly Lord Jesus "You Will Be Hated By Men For My Name's Sake" Matthew 10:22
Staying The Course Amidst Isolation Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Living in Israel one gets the feeling that the metaphorical walls are closing in. Israel's reputation is being tarnished all over social media and the mainstream media, and this is reflected in massive public disdain towards this country. We are constantly told that there is near consensus amongst academics and commentators that a genocide was committed in Gaza. The very legitimacy of the state is brought into question. The majority of Americans are now hostile towards Israel. There is real fear that the next U.S. administration will turn against Israel. Even if this were to happen passively, by the U.S. refraining from exercising its veto power towards Security Council Resolutions condemning Israeli actions this could be catastrophic. Internally it is a fractured society leaning increasingly right wing which further alienates Israel from world opinion. An example in point is how Ben Gvir mocked the most recent participants of a global aid flotilla to Gaza. Such conduct further agitates outrage at Israel. The left-wing media presents the ruins of Gaza as a mortal wound in Israel's side. When the world observes this level of carnage no degree of public relations can ameliorate the sense of indignation towards Israel. We can liken the situation of Israel to that of a depressed person. All he sees is hopelessness and gloom. But this isn't the first time that the Jewish nation has been faced with such darkness. Things change and we don't know how the geo-political map will reconfigure in the future. We need to ride out this storm and keep going. On a historical note, the situation is reminiscent of what our ancestors faced when we returned from the Babylonian exile to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was faced with constant lies and conspiracies designed to entrap him by hostile actors: Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab. They employed deception, slander and ridicule in order to maintain their political eminence. There was also a certain sense of abandonment amongst the Jews in Israel then as in our own day. We read in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah about the anguish of the leadership in Israel concerning the lack of assistance from the Babylonian diaspora towards the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and the Temple. Only 20% of the exiles returned to the land. It was largely the poor who returned. Most of the affluent, established Jews remained in Exile. This is a continuing theme in Jewish history. It is also important to observe that from its very beginnings there were bible believing Christians who spearheaded the return of the Jews to their land. The idea of organizing a return of the Jews to Israel began as a Protestant Restorationist objective that can be traced to 17th century Puritan England. The protagonists of the Cromwellian Republic viewed themselves as the new Israel fighting the Papist forces of Satan. Alongside this, interest grew in the notion that biblical prophecies pertaining to the return of the Jews to Israel were a necessary precursor for the return of Christ. The growth of the British Empire in the 19th century lent political clout to Christian Restorationism with specific missions to the Jews established. Although there had been a longing to return to Israel as written in the thrice daily Amidah prayer, Jewish Zionism arose in the midst of mid nineteenth century nationalism and was further fermented by European antisemitism. It was an altogether secular enterprise. Although Israel's situation appears rather stark, we can draw strength from the Providence afforded to our ancestors in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah when they too were faced with defamation. This is also an opportunity to grow closer to our natural allies in the evangelical world who from the beginning of Zionism were steadfast supporters of the project to establish a Jewish homeland in Israel. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).
Signs of the Times Tony Pearce Left, right or center – is our democracy in danger “Things fall apart, the center does not hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” W.B Yeats ‘The Second Coming. ’ Labour’s losses in the council elections and the battle for succession to their unpopular leader Kier Starmer have raised the possibility that we may soon have our seventh Prime Minister in ten years. Local elections saw Reform and the Greens make sweeping gains, leading Green Party leader, Zack Polanski to say that we are seeing ‘the end of the old two party system’. Maybe we are. In which case what comes next? Will we head to the far left, the far right or will the center hold on to power? Or will it end with ungovernable chaos as unqualified people take control of local and national government? Behind all this there are fundamental questions, ‘What is government for? Who does it represent and where is it going?’ According to the Bible (Romans 13) the purpose of government is to promote good and restrain evil. The government has the right to raise taxes for the common good of society and people should pay them. In 1 Timothy 2 Paul encourages us to pray for the government that ‘we may live a godly and peaceable life’. In other words, pray that the government will create an orderly and peaceful society and not interfere with our right to set up communities that teach and preach the Word of God. The situation becomes more difficult when we see government promoting things which are harmful and restraining things which are good and clamping down on freedom of speech with a threat to our ability to live a ‘godly and peaceable life’ Since becoming a Christian in my early twenties, I have wrestled with the question of how our faith applies to contemporary political issues. I started this quest on the left politically after leaving university and working as an English teacher with sympathies for Marxism. I then became a born again Christian in 1970, and joined my late wife Nikki in evangelizing the radical left, by handing out leaflets at their marches and demonstrations in London and attending their meetings to discuss matters of faith and politics with them. We had some good discussions with people and hope we made some consider the Christian alternative. However as we looked at Marxism from a Christian point of view and its practice in Communist countries, we understood that behind this ideology there is a strong anti-christian spirit. It denies the existence of God and promotes the idea of human perfectibility by our own effort. This is exemplified in the words of the Internationale, the socialist battle hymn, ‘No saviour from on high delivers, no faith have we in prince or peer, our own right hand the chains will shiver, chains of hatred, greed and fear.’ This Antichrist spirit led to the persecution of Christians in the Communist countries of eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and China. Far from creating the socialist paradise on earth that Lenin wrote about in ‘Socialism and Religion’, it created a society ruled by hatred, greed and fear, controlled by secret police, prison camps and responsible for the death of millions. In western society we have witnessed the growth of ‘cultural Marxism’ a movement aimed at infiltrating and changing society from within, rather than fomenting the workers’ revolution. Labour’s Fabian Society, with its (now discarded) logo of the wolf in sheep’s clothing, has been engaged in this process since the beginning of the 20th century. Social change really took off with the permissive society in the 1960s, which succeeded in changing traditional values, especially in the area of sex and the family. It replaced biblical values with a new ‘morality’ that is fundamentally anti Christian. These ideas have permeated large swathes of our society including the education system, the judiciary, the Civil Service, much of the media, mainstream political parties (including even the Conservative ‘wets’ and parts of the established church). Melanie Phillips describes the results of this in her book, ‘The Builder’s Stone.’ ‘Having decided that the West was rotten to the core, western elites set out to create a new culture that would usher in the brotherhood of man and eradicate hatred, prejudice, and war. Their Brave New World junked biblical religion with all its constraints on behaviour and revolved instead around self gratification. Everybody had the right to live as they wanted; nobody could say that their way of life was better or worse than anyone else’s; no one had the right to say that their culture was better than any other culture. That was ‘racism.’ At the heart of all this was the doctrine that there was no such thing as objective truth. Everything was relative; everything was a matter of opinion. Because there was no truth feelings became more important than facts. So the West abandoned the codes of morality, conscience, truth and lies, personal responsibility, and duty to others in favour of a culture of the self. In the process it junked its inherited traditions and biblical codes on which western culture was based.’ Britain changed from being a society that respected values based on the 10 Commandments and the teaching of Jesus Christ to one that discarded them for relative values. Ideas of ‘diversity, inclusion and equity’ became the norm, together with and a form of ‘tolerance’, that is really very intolerant if you oppose it. This ‘tolerance’ means accepting the virtues of multiculturalism and humanism and believing that all gods are equally valid or true (or none are). We must also accept that all lifestyles and family arrangements including homosexual and transsexual ones are just as valid as traditional two parent heterosexual families, with a father and mother committed to each other in lifelong matrimony looking after their own children. As society accepts this radical change in how we view culture, morality and religion, we are told not to criticize other cultures and world views or imply that they are anything less than equal to the culture, morality and faith derived from the Bible. All this has not improved society. Instead we have a collapse of values with no central idea to hold it together, just a group of competing ‘communities’ which are often only united in opposition to the traditional values and culture of Great Britain. A good example of this is the ‘red – green alliance’ of radical leftists and Islamists who come together to denounce Israel and campaign to ‘globalise the Intifada’. In practice this means a world wide war against Israel and Judaeo-Christian society and a desire to replace it with their version of either Islamism or Communism. However if one of them were to come to power, you can be sure that the Islamist’s would get rid of the leftists or vice versa. In fact that happened in Iran’s 1979 revolution, when Islamist supporters of Khomeini and Communists came together to get rid of the Shah. Then the Islamists seized power, turned on the Communists and wiped them out. Alisteir Heath wrote in the Daily Telegraph: ‘Ruined by decades of political vandalism, the Britain we knew and loved, a land of stability, pragmatism, and ancient freedoms, is no more. Today’s UK is uglier, impoverished, volatile and disorderly. We’ve lost our level-headedness. Anger and frustration have become our defining emotions. Our institutions have wasted away, and we have been taught to despise our history. The decline of family, community and faith have led to alienation, dependence on welfare and the rise of novel ideologies, mostly secular but also sectarian, turbocharged by social media. While the state becomes unnervingly authoritarian, the air reeks of insurrection and every variety of extremism. The British public’s sense of betrayal is as well-founded as it is dangerous. The machinery of state is incompetent and self-serving, a vehicle for social engineering in the global interest.’ Criticism of this process now risks being classed as ‘hate crime’ with a growing authoritarian society monitoring social media posts and public teaching of alternative ideas in ways which risk shutting down free speech in our society. A Christian teacher Enoch Burke is currently in prison in Dublin after he was suspended from his job and jailed after refusing to accept and teach transgenderism in the school. Nick Timothy, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, got into trouble when he questioned mass Muslim prayer in Trafalgar Square. He wrote: ‘Mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination. The adhan – which declares there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger – is, when called in a public place, a declaration of domination. The domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook.” He is right in this. Allah hu Akhbar actually means Allah is greater, greater than your God, Muhammad is greater than Jesus and the Koran is greater than the Bible. Tim Dieppe of Christian Concern for our Nation wrote: “The fact that we have mass Islamic prayer in Trafalgar Square at all is indicative of the massive culture change that we have seen in the last few decades. A culture change that was not voted for or ever agreed to by the British people. And, a culture change that can hardly be described as having been entirely beneficial to our culture as a whole. I only need to mention grooming gangs involving mostly Pakistani Muslim men , sharia courts, honour crimes, terror attacks, the assassination of an MP, an attempt to blockade Parliament, mass antisemitic marches through London, a convicted terrorist standing for local elections, sectarianism, and many other examples to make the point. Earlier this month, the Government gave Muslims special protection with the adoption of an official definition of anti-Muslim hostility .” You are not really supposed to question this in public life today. A message circulating on social media is an apt commentary on all this. ‘First they overlook evil, then they permit evil, then they legalise evil, then they promote evil, then celebrate evil, then persecute those who call it evil.’ Soviet dissident Solzhenitsyn wrote: ‘A Communist system can be recognised by how it spares criminals and criminalises its opponents.’ The root cause of all this is the rejection of God and biblical values. The 18th-century French philosopher Joseph de Maistre coined the phrase "people get the government they deserve." David Pawson followed up on this idea, arguing that in democratic societies like ours, the moral and spiritual condition of a nation's citizens is directly reflected in the leaders they elect. If the general public abandons moral truths, they will inevitably vote for governments that reflect those same compromises. David Pawson taught that God may use governmental leadership to judge or bless a nation, depending on the people's obedience. He noted that Hebrew prophets saw wicked rulers as a form of divine judgement on a society that has strayed from God's laws. Therefore a nation's ultimate hope rests on repentance rather than just political change. His conclusion is that Christians should actively stand for moral truth in society. He believed that the church is meant to influence culture upward, and that a decline in national morality inevitably leads to deteriorating governance. Sadly much of the church today has become the ‘salt that has lost its savour’ through compromise with antichristian forces in society and government. It may be too late to save our country and western democracy as social and economic pressures create a collapse of democracy and push us either towards anarchy or dictatorship. Yeats’ poem quoted at the beginning of this article ends with the enigmatic line ‘Some rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born.’ Most likely he is referring to the coming anti-Messiah who is labelled the Beast in the book of Revelation. Many believe his is now waiting in the wings to replace the true Messiah (born in Bethlehem) and bring in the dictatorship prophesied in Revelation 13. The Bible indicates that the Beast or Antichrist will have power for a moment, but it will be short lived and doomed to destruction at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. Then the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God and of His Messiah and He shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 11.15) and the ‘government shall be on His shoulder’ (Isaiah 9.6). Maranatha come Lord Jesus. Water, water nowhere and not a drop to drink. (Apologies to the Ancient Mariner) While nations worry about supply of oil and gas as a result of the war in the Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a much more vital commodity for human survival is water. And it is in short supply in a growing number of nations. As of 2026, over 25 countries face extremely high water stress, with the most severe crises located in the Middle East and North Africa. This region is home to the world's most water-stressed nations, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, and Libya. India and Pakistan face critical water scarcity due to overexploitation of aquifers and population density. Much of Africa , Somalia and Ethiopia in particular are facing severe shortages due to drought and climate change. Mexico and parts of the United States (particularly Texas and the west coast) are experiencing significant water shortages and declining groundwater levels. Iran is facing a severe, multi-year water crisis as of May 2026, with major cities like Tehran, Mashhad, and Karaj approaching the point where taps could run dry due to depleted reservoirs. Groundwater is depleted across most of the country, and nineteen provinces are experiencing severe drought. The crisis is driven by a combination of climate change and decades of poor water management, including excessive dam construction and inefficient, water-intensive agriculture. China is facing a severe, multi-faceted water crisis defined by extreme scarcity in the north, widespread pollution, and mismanagement, threatening its food supply and economic growth. Several countries are significantly affected by upstream dam construction that reduces downstream water flow, causing, environmental, and diplomatic crises. These countries include Iraq, heavily impacted by dams built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by Turkey and Iran, leading to reduced water for agriculture, destruction of forests, and increased sandstorms. Egypt and Sudanface significant water security risks due to the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laosare affected of dams built by China on the upper Mekong River One country which bucks this trend is Israel. Israel manages its water resources by transforming a chronic shortage into a surplus through large-scale desalination, extensive wastewater recycling, and a centralised national water carrier system. The agriculture sector has shifted away from freshwater, using treated effluent instead. Advanced drip irrigation technologies are widely used to minimise waste. Israel has exported its water technologies to countries around the world, particularly Africa where it has given advice on how to use limited water resources to great effect. Without water no society on earth can survive. Bible prophecies indicate that water shortage and pollution will be a global problem in the last days. Most obviously no water equals no food, so famine is an inevitable result of water shortages. Jesus warned of this as a sign of the last days in Matthew 24.7. Revelation 8.10-11 speaks of something called ‘Wormwood’ falling on rivers and springs of water causing it to become bitter and many to die from drinking it. Prophecy speaks of the two great rivers of the ancient world, the Nile and the Euphrates, being affected by a crisis causing the Euphrates to dry up (Revelation 16.12) and the Nile to become contaminated and its waters turn foul (Isaiah 19.5-11). Isaiah 24 speaks of a curse devouring the earth in the last days causing the earth to be ‘defiled (or polluted) under its inhabitants.’ According to the New Scientist, there are massive amounts of water hidden deep beneath the Earth's surface. Scientists have found evidence of a reservoir of water three times the volume of all surface oceans combined, located roughly 250–400 miles underground within the mantle. It may be that the Lord will release this water to replenish and clean up the earth in the Millennial kingdom when ‘waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.’ Isaiah 35. Zechariah 14.8-9 says, ‘In that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.’ Zechariah 14.8-9. See also Ezekiel 47. Rethinking Russia Things are not going well for Vladimir Putin in his ‘special military operation’. Four years after invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russia is not making advances and actually losing ground. Russia is losing as many as 25,000- 35,000 casualties a month and over 1.2 million have been killed and wounded since the war began. Ukrainian skills in drone warfare have destroyed large quantities of Russian equipment, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery and rocket systems, helicopters, and naval vessels. Russia is spending an estimated 40% of the entire federal budget on the war effort. As a result of this and western sanctions, Russia is increasingly unable to fix chronic infrastructure problems at home. During the bitter Russian winter thousands of people were left without heat, light, or even water. All forms of transport, trains, trucks and planes, are facing logistical problems, making it difficult to transport goods and people across the vast Russian regions. Russia is on the way to an infrastructure collapse that will likely take decades to recover. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov warned the State Duma that Russia's faltering economy risks stoking a 1917-style revolution. He demanded urgent financial and economic measures by autumn to avert a potential economic collapse. This raises the danger of the Russian Federation fracturing. The Caucuses are restive, the far east is looking to China and Siberia is facing an acute problem as a result of melting permafrost, causing buildings, bridges and pipelines to collapse. In the present circumstances it is hard to see how Russia could lead the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel (Ezekiel 38-39). Some have said that it is more likely that Turkey is the lead power in the War of Gog and Magog. They say that Meshech and Tubal are not Moscow and Tobolsk, but regions of modern Turkey. Erdogan’s Turkey is backed by an Islamist world view hostile to Israel, seeking the recovery of its Ottoman Empire. He has his eyes on taking control of Jerusalem. Turkey is possession of a large land army already stationed in the region, some of it occupying part of Syria. The alternative is that the War of Gog and Magog is some way off, possibly part of Armageddon, giving time for Russia to recover from its present distress. We wait and see, but meanwhile spare a thought and a prayer for the people of Ukraine and Russia, suffering as a result of Putin’s futile war, oppressed by his corrupt dictatorship and facing an economic and social collapse caused by his failed policies.
