Hanukkah Part 2 - Afrikaans

April 1, 2025

Die Joodse Vakansie Seisoen.

In Johannes 9 doen Jesus ‘n Messiaanse wonderwerk: Hy gee sig aan ‘n persoon wat van sy geboorte af blind was.

“En toe Hy verbygaan, sien Hy 'n man wat blind was van sy geboorte af. En sy dissipels vra Hom en sê: Rabbi, wie het gesondig, hierdie man of sy ouers, dat hy blind gebore is?” (Joh. 9:1?2)? “Wie het gesondig, hy of sy ouers?”

In Levitikus 23 word daar drie Pelgrims feeste beskryf wat die Jode van oral af gekom het om in Jerusalem te vier.

Die Lente feeste is: Die Pasga (Pesach) en “ha Shavu’ot” (Weke, Pinkster), en die Herfs fees van Tabernakels? “ha Sukkot”. Maar in Jesus se tyd het Hanukkah ‘n vierde fees geword wat deur baie Jode in Jerusalem gevier was. (Alhoewel dit nie deur die Tora voorgeskryf word nie.) In plaas daarvan om al die pad van Galiléa af te kom net om weer om te draai om later terug te keer vir Hanukkah, want dit was daardie dae ‘n lang reis te voet, het hulle in Jerusalem rondgestaan tot met die fees. Dit is ook moontlik dat Jesus dit ook gedoen het. So het dit die Joodse vakansie seisoen geword wat vanaf herfs tot vroeg winter geduur het, baie vakansie dae aanmekaar.

Die vraag oor blindheid.

In teenstelling met die Heidense wêreld waar geleerdheid net vir die aristokrasie bedoel was, moes elke Jood instaat wees om die Tora te kan lees om so God te kon aanbid, so was om blind te wees dus gesien as ‘n vloek. Jesus se dissipels vra vir Hom: “Rabbi, wie het gesondig, hierdie man of sy ouers, dat hy blind gebore is?” En Jesus antwoord: “Hy het nie gesondig nie, en sy ouers ook nie; maar die werke van God moet in hom openbaar word.” (Joh. 9:2?3)

“Wie het gesondig, hierdie mens of sy ouers?” Jesus sê: “Nie een nie.”

Sondes wat nie bely is nie kan siektes veroorsaak soos wat ons sien in 1 Korinte en Psalm 32, maar om te beweer dat sekere siektes of geboorte afwykings die resultaat van sekere sondes is? is belaglik, Jesus sê baie duidelik dit is nie so nie.

Die Here begin om die Hanukkah tema te ontwikkel deur om Homself te identifiseer as die Lig van die Wêreld wat ook die doel van die Hanukkah Feesviering in Johannes 10 is.

Johannes is die mees feesvierende Evangelie van die vier, dit is waar Jesus voorgestel word as die Paaslam, hier word Jesus ook die meeste geopenbaar as die vervulling van die feeste. Deur ‘n groot gedeelte van Johannes se Evangelie sien ons hoedat Jesus in en uit Jerusalem beweeg, of waar Hy besig is om Homself voor te berei om te gaan of om terug te keer. Johannes is ook baie Jerusalem georiënteer en ook baie ernstig om aan te dui dat Jesus die vervulling van feesdae is. Hier bring Jesus ook die onderwerp van lig op soos wat die mense op die ligte gefokus het wat ook die Jode voorstel as ‘n lig vir

die nasies. “Ek moet die werke doen van Hom wat My gestuur het, so lank as dit dag is; die nag kom wanneer niemand kan werk nie. So lank as Ek in die wêreld is, is Ek die lig van die wêreld.” (Joh. 9:4?5)

Die Jode was geroep om die “owr goyim”? die lig vir die nasie te wees, ‘n lig vir die wêreld. Jesus vorm die klei met speeksel en sit dit op die oë van die jongman. “En toe Hy dit gesê het, spuug Hy op die grond en maak klei van die spuug en smeer die klei aan die oë van die blinde man en sê vir hom: Gaan was jou in die badwater Silóam, wat vertaal word: Uitgestuur. En hy het gegaan en hom gewas; en hy het siende teruggekom.”(Joh. 9:6?7) Gaan was jou in die badwater? die Poel van Shiloach, Shiloach is dieselfde woord waarvan ons die woord “Apostel” vandaan kry, een wat ‘n “gestuurde” is. Die poel van Silóam was ‘n poel aan die einde van Hiskia se tonnel. Hierdie water kom vanaf die Kidron en vloei dan deur ‘n tonnel in die Poel van Shiloach, dit is vandag nog daar. “Een wat gestuur is.” Gaan was jou in die Poel van Silóam. “Hy antwoord en sê: Die man wat Jesus genoem word, het klei gemaak en op my oë gesmeer en vir my gesê: Gaan na die badwater Silóam en was jou. En ek het gegaan en my gewas en ek sien.” (Joh. 9:11)

Die Reddende boodskap van die wonderwerke.

Die genesende wonderwerke van Jesus moet so verstaan word: Dit was wonderwerke wat net die Messias kon doen. Wanneer ‘n neurologiese vesel dood is kan dit nie herlewe nie. Wanneer ‘n optiese senuwee dood is gaan ‘n persoon nie weer sien nie en tot vandag toe sal dit net ‘n wonderwerk deur God wees wat so ‘n senuwee sal kan herstel. Jesus het wonderwerke om drie redes gedoen:

Die eerste is duidelik God se liefde, tweedens was wonderwerke die embleem van Jesus se Messiasskap, en derdens is dit op ‘n manier ‘n demonstrasies van redding. Die genesende wonderwerke in Johannes se Evangelie het altyd te doen met redding. In Johannes 5 sê Jesus vir die verlamde: “Staan op en neem jou bed op en gaan en sondig nie meer nie.” (Joh. 5:11?14) Hierdie was ‘n geval waar sonde hierdie verlamming veroorsaak het. Hoekom het Jesus vir hom gesê: “Neem jou bed op” as hy dit nie meer nodig gehad het nie?

Dit was omdat dit ‘n stuk hout was waaraan sy vlees gebonde was. Wat Jesus gesê het was dit: “Neem jou kruis op, lewe die lewe van die kruis en sondig nie meer nie.” Figuurlik gesproke, in Midrasj is dit wat Jesus gesê het. Die mens het dit nie meer nodig gehad nie. Ons is almal lam totdat ons die kruis opneem.

Ons kan nie in die Gees wandel voordat ons die kruis opneem nie, ook is ook almal blind totdat ons Jesus sien. Maar let op, Jesus sê: “Gaan was jou in die Poel van Shiloach” Hier sien ons weereens die doop. Die herstel van sig is altyd in verhouding met gehoorsaamheid aan die Here. Hoe meer jy Sy Wil doen hoe duideliker gaan jy sien.

Jy kry dit egter nie alles op een slag nie. Wanneer iemand wedergebore is sien hulle in die begin nie alles nie. Maar die doop maak mense se oë oop, jy begin jou redding verstaan as jy saam met Jesus begrawe is en saam met Hom opgestaan het.

Die verwerping van die wat gered is deur die wat ongered is.

Die tema ontwikkel verder. Hierdie seun was by die volwasse stadium (bar mitzvah). “Sy ouers antwoord hulle en sê: Ons weet dat hy ons seun is en dat hy blind gebore is; maar hoe hy nou sien, weet ons nie;

of wie sy oë geopen het, weet ons nie. Hy is self oud genoeg, vra hom; hy sal vir homself praat.” (Joh. 9:20?21). Let op dit is sy eie familie wat hom verwerp. “Die bure dan en die wat hom vroeër gesien het dat hy blind was, sê toe: Is hy nie die een wat gesit en bedel het nie? Ander sê: Dit is hy. Ander weer: Hy lyk na hom. Hy antwoord: Dit is ek.” (Joh. 9:8?9) Hy bly sê: “Dit is ek” Hulle sê: “Ons dink dit is hy, maar dit kan nie hy wees nie, dit is iemand wat soos hy lyk!” Ander sê dit was hy en hy sê: “Dit is ek” Dit is hoe ongeredde mense altyd sal reageer wanneer iemand wedergebore raak, jy is nie meer dieselfde mens vir hulle nie.? “Dit kan nie hy wees nie? Jacob Prash? Die dwelm verslaafde! Ek het altyd by hom dagga gekry! Hy het in die hoër skool met drugs gesmokkel? dit is nie hy nie! Dit lyk soos hy!”

Ongeredde mense dink altyd so. Hulle sal altyd deurmekaar raak oor ons identiteit wanneer ons Jesus leer ken het. Maar sy familie kon dit ook nie hanteer nie. Onthou hierdie gebeure is in ‘n Joodse opset. In vers 22 sê sy familie dit omdat hulle bang was vir die Jode, omdat hulle alreeds besluit het dat as iemand Jesus bely sal hy uit die Sinagoge geban word. Dit is om hierdie rede waarom sy ouers gesê het dat hy oud genoeg is om vir homself te antwoord. (Joh. 9:22?23).

Soos wat ek altyd oor Johannes gesê het, daar is ‘n groot vertalings probleem met die woord “Jood” (Ioudaios) hier in konteks. Dit beteken nie dat al die mense Jode was nie, hulle was almal Joods, Jesus was “Joods” Dit beteken dat die godsdienstige instelling rondom Jerusalem en die Judeërs, die mense wat beheer uitgeoefen het? Joods was.

Ook in die moderne Israel sien ons meer godsdienstige Jode en baie meer godsdienstige invloede in Jerusalem as wat jy sal sien in Haifa of Tel Aviw. Dit beteken die Judeërs, die godsdienstige instellings? die Sanhedrin en die mense wat hulle beheer. Jesus open sy oë en daar word aan ons vertel dat Jesus hom gesien rondloop het. Jesus het gehoor dat hulle hom uit die sinagoge geban het, en Hy vra hom: “Glo jy aan die Seun van die Mens?” Ons het ‘n spottery in Israel gehad, maar dit is nie grap nie.

Wanneer ‘n “frum” (‘n Ortodokse Jood) tot redding kom dan het sy familie vir hom ‘n begrafnis gehou, maar wanneer ‘n Moslem tot redding gekom het dan het hulle ook vir hom ‘n begrafnis gehad, maar dit was sy eie begrafnis. Wel wat sê dit? Jesus het hom gevind? “Jou familie mag jou verwerp maar Jesus gaan jou vind.

Die resultaat van moedswillige blindheid.

Jesus vestig Sy aandag op die Fariseërs en sê vir hulle: “As julle blind was sou julle nie sonde gehad het nie, maar omdat julle sê “ons sien” bly julle sonde.” In Johannes 9 vergelyk Jesus die moedswillige blindheid van die Fariseërs met die onwillige blindheid van hierdie jongman. Ons word almal blind gebore, maar vanuit God se perspektief is daar ‘n groot verskil tussen blindheid en moedswillige blindheid. Diegene wat onwillig blind is sal altyd die genade van Christus oproep maar die moedswillige blindes sal altyd die oordeel van Christus oproep.

Dit stel die verhoog op vir Hanukkah wat terug gaan na Psalm 23. Dit gaan terug na die tyd van Makkabeërs. “Kan julle nie sien wat aangaan nie? Hulle verbied die lees van die Woord van God, hulle verbied die rituele besnydenis (“brit milah”) hulle bring heidense gebruike in die Kerk? dit is afgodery. Kan julle nie sien wat hulle besig is om te doen nie?”

Verwerping van die Waarheid vir die Valsheid.

Dan lewer Jesus Sy pastorale rede wat teruggaan na Psalm 23. Dit was ‘n Makkabeërse sinspeling na dit omdat hulle die ware herders was. Die meerderheid van die geestelike leiers het saam met die mense gegaan: “Hulle sal 'n vreemde nooit volg nie, maar van hom wegvlug, omdat hulle die stem van die vreemdes nie ken nie.”(Joh. 10:5)

Karaktertrekke in Johannes se Evangelie, meer as in al die ander Evangelies, en ook meer as Paulus, verwys heel dikwels na die Antichris. In sy Evangelie deel hy met die Antichris; in sy Brief (1 Joh.)verwys hy na die Antichris en in die Boek Openbaring openbaar hy hom.

In sy Evangelie haal hy Jesus aan met verwysing na die man van wetteloosheid: “Ek het gekom in die Naam van my Vader, en julle neem My nie aan nie. As 'n ander een in sy eie naam kom, hóm sal julle aanneem.” (Joh. 5:43). “Julle gaan My verwerp maar die valse Christusse gaan julle volg.”? en uiteindelik ook die Antichris. Hy sal ‘n ooreenkoms met hulle aangaan en hulle mislei.

In enige omstandighede verwys Johannes op een of ander manier na dinge met betrekking tot die Antichris. Wel dit is algemene waarhede maar later word dit ‘n eskatologies waarheid. “Diegene wat werklik aan My behoort is hulle wat die verskil gaan ken tussen Christus en die Antichris. “Voorwaar, voorwaar Ek sê vir julle, wie nie by die deur in die skaapstal ingaan nie, maar van 'n ander kant af inklim, hy is 'n dief en 'n rower.

Maar hy wat by die deur ingaan, is 'n herder van die skape. Vir hom maak die deurwagter oop, en die skape luister na sy stem; en hy roep sy eie skape by hulle naam en lei hulle uit. En wanneer hy sy eie skape uitgebring het, loop hy voor hulle uit; en die skape volg hom, omdat hulle sy stem ken.” (Joh. 10:1? 4).

As jy die Bybel glo, as jy die Heilige Gees het, dan sal jy weet of iets reg of verkeerd is, jy sal weet. “My skape ken My stem.” “Hierdie gelykenis het Jesus aan hulle vertel; maar hulle het nie verstaan wat dit was wat Hy tot hulle gespreek het nie.” (Joh. 10:6).

“Daar het toe weer verdeeldheid onder die Jode gekom oor hierdie woorde. En baie van hulle het gesê: Hy is van die duiwel besete en is kranksinnig; wat luister julle na Hom? Ander het gesê: Hierdie woorde is nie van 'n besetene nie; 'n duiwel kan tog nie die oë van blindes open nie.” (Joh. 9: 19?21)

Weereens as jy in die Gees van Jesus wandel en jy bedien in Sy Karakter dan sal diegene wat moedswillig blind is dieselfde oor jou sê.

Jesus by Hanukkah.

Kyk na vers 22. By hierdie tyd was dit die aanvang van die Fees van her? toewyding in Jerusalem; dit was Hanukkah, dit was ‘n spesifieke tyd. Al die ander dinge wat in Hoofstuk 9 en 10 aangaan is dinge wat die verhoog opgestel het vir dinge wat gaan kom. Dit is winter en Jesus wandel in die Tempel in die pilaar gang van Salomo.

Die pilaar gang van Salomo kan vandag ongeveer Oos van die Moskee van Aqsa op die Tempel Berg gevind word, by die suidoostelike hoek wat uitkyk na waar die Kidron begin oorgaan in die Tyropean. Dit is waar die Apostel Jakobus later gemartel is, hulle het hom hier van ‘n toring afgegooi.

“En die Jode het Hom omring en vir Hom gesê: Hoe lank hou U ons in onsekerheid? As U die Christus is, sê dit vir ons ronduit. Jesus antwoord hulle: Ek het dit vir julle gesê, en julle glo nie. Die werke wat Ek doen in die Naam van my Vader, dié getuig van My.” (Joh. 10:24?25)

Nou die term “werke” hier dra die bybetekenis? “semeion mipla’ot”, “wonders en tekens”. “Dit getuig van My.” Dit gaan terug na Johannes 5, die vyf dinge wat van Jesus getuig. “Maar julle glo nie, want julle is nie van my skape nie, soos Ek vir julle gesê het. My skape luister na my stem, en Ek ken hulle, en hulle volg My. En Ek gee hulle die ewige lewe, en hulle sal nooit verlore gaan tot in ewigheid nie, en niemand sal hulle uit my hand ruk nie. My vader wat hulle aan My gegee het, is groter as almal; en niemand kan hulle uit die hand van my Vader ruk nie. Ek en die Vader is een. Die Jode het toe weer klippe opgetel om Hom te stenig. Jesus antwoord hulle: Baie goeie werke het Ek julle getoon van my Vader. Oor watter een van dié werke stenig julle My.” (Joh. 10:26?32). Onthou nou dat ons uit die Misjna weet wat alles in die Tempel was. Die enigste klippe wat in die Pilaar gang van Salomo was kan net die klippe van die afgebreekte altaar wees.

In die verhaal van Daniël, profeteer die profeet wat met Antiogus Epifanus en die Makkabeërs gaan gebeur.

Antiogus is ‘n hoof tipe van die Antichris wat ‘n vark voor ‘n afbeelding van Zeus geoffer het op die altaar in die tempel, ‘n Griekse god aan wie hy sy eie karaktertrekke gegee het, hierdie is ‘n belangrike tipe van die Antichris. En die altaar? die klippe van die altaar (die Mizbeach in Hebreeus) was heilig.

Die Jode kon nie die klippe weggooi nie maar hulle kon ook nie meer daarop offer nie omdat hulle verontreinig was met varkbloed? ‘n onrein dier wat aan ‘n vreemde god geoffer is. Hulle het nie geweet wat om daarmee te doen nie, hulle kon dit nie weggooi nie en hulle moes ‘n nuwe altaar bou en die ou klippe het hulle in die tempel gestoor totdat die Messias kom. Hulle het geglo dat die Messias met Hanukkah sou kom en aan hulle sou sê wat om met die klippe te doen.

Die Messias het gekom en wat maak hulle met die klippe? Hulle wou Hom daarmee stenig. Dit is moeilik om te glo dat dit nie die klippe was wat die Misjna beskryf het nie want daar was geen ander klippe in die pilaar gang van Salomo nie. Die Misjna beskryf alles in detail wat in die tempel was, dus alles in ag genome volgens die historiese bewyse kan ons geredelik aanvaar dat dit die klippe van die altaar was wat daar gestoor was.

“Die Jode antwoord Hom en sê: Dit is nie oor 'n goeie werk dat ons U stenig nie, maar oor godslastering, en omdat U wat 'n mens is, Uself God maak. Jesus antwoord hulle: Is daar nie in julle wet geskrywe: Ek het gesê, julle is gode nie? As dit húlle gode noem tot wie die woord van God gekom het, en die Skrif nie gebreek kan word nie, sê julle vir Hom wat die Vader geheilig en in die wêreld gestuur het: U spreek godslasterlik??omdat Ek gesê het: Ek is die Seun van God? (Joh. 10: 33?36)

Die Reaksie van Verwerping.

Ons moet verstaan wat “julle is gode” beteken. Die beste manier om dit te vertaal is om dit met die klein letter “g” van El? Elohim te verduidelik.God is die God van die heelal. Hy het ons geskape na Sy Beeld en om oor die skepping te heers.

So is ons dus dan ‘n god oor die skepping, ‘n god ondergeskik aan die God wat die Skepper is, ons as mense wat ageer as God se adjudante. Maar na die verbeuring van hierdie status as gevolg van sonde het Satan die god van hierdie wêreld geword. (2 Kor. 4:4). Maar nie “God” nie. Ons moet die konteks verstaan. Satan het die god van die wêreld geword in plaas van die mens. Met ander woorde? vir ‘n kameelperd is die mens god, ons het heerskappy en mag.

‘n Kameelperd se verhouding tot ons is dieselfde as die van ons tot God. Ons weet God is die Skepper.

Dit is die betekenis van “julle is gode”. Dit is nie die klein godjies idees wat deur Ken Copeland en Paul Crouch gepromoveer word nie.

Terwyl ons na die Beeld van God geskape is? is Jesus NIE geskape na die Beeld van God nie. Jesus is God wat mens geword het. Die Volheid van die Vader woon in Hom liggaamlik. As jy wil weet wie God is kyk na Jesus. Onder die Wet, die Tora kon jy weet van God, die Jode het van God geweet deur die Tora. In die Ou Testament kan jy dinge van God weet maar onder die Nuwe Testament kan jy Hom ken. Daar is ‘n groot verskil tussen om te weet van God en om Hom te ken. As jy Jesus ken, dan ken jy ook God. Jy ken Hom nie so goed as wat jy wil nie of so goed as wat jy hom nog gaan ken nie, maar jy ken Hom. En voordat ons in die Hemel kom sal ons ‘n kans kry om Hom beter te ken.

Maar Jesus gebruik die term: “Ek is die Seun van God”? dit verwys terug na Johannes 8 waar Jesus die term: “ego ami” – “EK IS die EK IS” gebruik. Dit is presies hoe GOD Yahweh Homself in die Boek Exodus aan die Hebreërs deur Moses geopenbaar het, dit is waarvoor hulle Hom wou stenig. “As Ek nie die werke van my Vader doen nie, moet julle My nie glo nie; maar as Ek dit doen, al glo julle My nie, glo die werke, dat julle kan erken en glo dat die Vader in My is, en Ek in Hom.” (Joh. 10:37?38). Hier is Jesus in ‘n argument konsep van “achtut”, ‘n enkelvoud? die “Shama”, dieselfde term wat gebruik word in die huwelik status vir ‘n eenheid, hoe twee mense een in die vlees word.

“Toe het hulle weer probeer om Hom gevange te neem, en Hy het uit hulle hand ontkom. En Hy het weer oor die Jordaan gegaan na die plek waar Johannes eers gedoop het; en Hy het daar gebly. En baie het na Hom gekom en gesê: Johannes het wel geen teken gedoen nie, maar alles wat Johannes van Hom gesê het, was waar. En baie het daar in Hom geglo.” (Joh. 10:39?42).

Vergelyk die Teologie.

Dit is die Hebreeuse fees van wonders en tekens. Kyk na die Teologie van Jesus en vergelyk dit met die teologie van die moderne kerk. Dit het begin by John Wimber. Hy was die mede skrywer, saam met Kevin Springer, van ‘n boek met die naam van “Power Evagelism”. Hy het ander mense soos Nicky Gumble van Holy Trinity Brompton beïnvloed. Die gedagte was dat as ongeredde mense wonders en

tekens sien? dan sal hulle glo? wonders en tekens was dus die sleutel tot geloof. Wel, sonder om na die onderwerp te kyk waar so baie van die wonders en tekens ‘n hoop strooi was? gemeet teen mediese bewyse? is dit waar? Sal wonder en tekens veroorsaak dat mense hulle lewe vir Jesus gee?

As dit waar is hoekom het Jesus dan gesê: “Vir watter van die tekens stenig julle My? Hy het ‘n blinde persoon weer laat sien en wat is hulle reaksie? Hulle wou Hom in elk geval nog doodmaak. As wonder en tekens die sleutel is na geloof hoe verklaar jy Hanukkah in Johannes 10? Onthou hierdie tekens VOLG. (Mark. 16:20)

Die enigste ding wat Jesus moes gedoen het is Hy moes vir Herodus ‘n vertoning gelewer het dan sou hulle Hom nie gekruisig het nie. Al wat Hy moes gedoen het was die “Kenny / Benny” toertjies: Lewer ‘n vertoning. “??'n Slegte en owerspelige geslag soek na 'n teken,??”(Mat. 12:39). Wanneer jy sien dat mense om mense soos Kenny en Benny begin saamdrom en na Holy Trinity Brompton of na Kensington Temple stroom, dan sien jy ‘n bose en owerspelige geslag wat na wonders en tekens soek.

Ek is nie ‘n stakings aanhanger nie, ek glo aan al die Gawes van die Gees, ek glo aan wonderwerke. Die idee dat die Gawes van die Gees opgehou het by die Apostels is ‘n Bybelse dwaling.

God doen nou nog steeds wonderwerke. Hy maak nog steeds mense gesond, maar daar is die Ware en daar is die Valse. Net omdat dit wat ons vandag sien ‘n klomp strooi is beteken nie dat die ware nie meer gebeur nie.

Ek het die Ware gesien. Maar ek sal liewers niks wil sien as wat ek na nagemaakte dinge moet kyk nie. “Hierdie tekens volg” maar hulle was nooit die fokus punt nie. Ek het nog altyd gesê Jesus het nooit ‘n wonderwerk dienste gehou nie, Hy het wonderwerke gehad maar nie ‘n wonderwerk diens nie. Hy het ook nooit genesing dienste gehou nie, Hy het genesing gehad maar nie genesing dienste nie, wat Hy gehad het was bekerings dienste.

Die plek waar hulle geglo het.

Waar het hulle geglo? Waar het hulle die vertoning gesien? Waar het hulle die tekens gesien? Waar het hulle wonderwerke gesien? Nee. Alhoewel Johannes geen wonderwerke gedoen het nie was alles wat hy oor Jesus gesê het die Waarheid. Kom geloof deur dit wat gesien word? Nee, dit is nie (Johannes) John Wimber nie maar Johannes die Doper. “Geloof kom nie deur wat ons sien nie. “Die geloof is dus uit die gehoor, en die gehoor is deur die woord van God.” (Rom. 10:17).

Die eerste dinge wat Jesus gedoen het toe Hy met Sy bediening begin het was dat Hy na die Jordaan gegaan het om gedoop te word. Hoekom die Jordaan? Ons moet die konnotasie tussen die Jode en die Jordaan verstaan. Dit is waar Josua die eerste keer in die land ingekom het, met ander woorde wanneer dinge so sleg gegaan het vir so lank, dan moet jy terug gaan na waar dit begin het. Terwyl Johannes geen tekens gedoen het nie was alles wat hy oor hierdie Man gesê het waar, baie het daar in hom geglo. Nie waar daar wonderwerke gedoen was nie, maar waar die Woord gepreek was. Wonders en tekens is nie, en was ook nog nooit die sleutel tot geloof nie.

Die Verkeerde sienswyse.

Die Jode het ‘n verkeerde sienswyse van Hanukkah gehad, ‘n verkeerde idee van toegewydheid. Hanukkah was nie eenvoudig ‘n toewyding nie maar ‘n HER? toewyding. Weereens die tempel was verontreinig. Mense gaan nie weer glo totdat die tempel her? toegewy is nie. Mense gaan nie weer glo totdat die ware Evangelie gepreek word nie.

Bewaar die Frank Sinatra opnames vir Johannesburg se Stadsaal – en nie vir die huis van God nie. Dit is wat dit sê. Johannes het geen wonders en tekens gedoen nie. “Vir watter tekens stenig julle My?” Hulle het dit heel verkeerd verstaan. Wat hulle wou hê? wat die Jode wou gehad het was ‘n Messias wat in die karakter van die Makkabeërs moes kom om van die Romeine ontslae te raak soos wat die Makkabeërs van die Grieke ontslae geraak het. Maar so lank as wat hulle gedink het dat Jesus ‘n politieke Messias was wat vir hulle die koninkryk sou gee? was almal vir Hom. Toe hulle egter uitvind dat in plaas daarvan dat Hy regs draai na die vesting Antonio, het Hy links gedraai en die geld predikers uit die tempel gejaag en dieselfde klomp skreeu toe “Kruisig Hom.” (Luk. 23:21)

Jesus was nie bekommerd oor die Romeine nie; God kon enige tyd na hulle omgesien het. Jesus was bekommerd oor mense wat met die Woord van God handel gedryf het, wat teer op die Bloed van die Lam. Die Makkabeërs was nie bekommerd oor Antiogus nie, hulle het ‘n groot probleem met Menlaus gehad: “Raak ontslae van hom dan sal God ons help om van Antiogus ontslae te raak.”

Vandag is dit dieselfde ? raak ontslae van Nicky Gumble dan sal God ons help om ontslae te raak van Alan Williams en homoseksuele leraars en wie ook al. Dit gaan oor die verraaiers. “Nee, raak ontslae van die Romeine!” Nee jy verstaan nie, hoekom is die Romeine hier? Julle wil hê dat Ek moet doen wat Makkabeërs gedoen het? Hoe het Antiogus al die mag in die hande gekry? Dit is as gevolg van die sondes van julle vaders; omdat julle voorvaders samesweerders was; omdat die wat geweet het dat dinge verkeerd was stil gebly het in plaas daarvan om vir die Waarheid op te staan. Hoe het die Romeine daar gekom? Op dieselfde wyse. Die Herodiane het met die Romeine saamgesweer. Raak ontslae van die Herodiane en dan die Sanhedrin ens.

Vandag is dit dieselfde.

Jesus begin met ‘n klein groepie, dit is wat die Makkabeërs gedoen het. Jesus het nie teen die Romeine getuig nie? almal het geweet wie hulle is? Hy het teen Sy eie mense getuig wat van beter moes geweet het.

Wil jy vir my sê dat Billy Graham nie weet dat dit verkeerd is om die Pous van Rome as ‘n groot geestelike leier op te lig nie? Dat die leiers van Holy Trinity Bromption nie weet dat dit verkeerd is om die boeke van ‘n Druid te motiveer wat homoseksuele as predikers aanstel nie? Dit is presies dieselfde ding, dit is siek. Die verhoog is opgestel vir die koms van die Antichris. Die openbare lees van die Woord van God gaan verbied word, dit is “haat spraak”. Hulle sê dit in Kanada en in Swede en dit gaan hier ook gebeur en baie van die sogenaamde kerk leiers gaan daarmee saamstem. God soek vir iets wanneer dinge so verkeerd gaan, vir Makkabeërs. Die Here soek mense wat sien dat Menlaus die vyand is. God soek mense wat wil opstaan en standpunt inneem, vir mense wat ‘n prys wil betaal, vir mense wat waarlik weer Sy huis wil her toewy. Dit gaan nie van bo af kom nie, dit gaan kom van gewone mense. Nie

van groot groepe en groot gemeentes nie, dit het nog nooit gebeur nie en sal ook nie. Dit gaan van klein groepies kom, klein gemeentes. Verwag teleurstellings, moeilikheid en verraad, maar Daniël het geprofeteer dat aan die einde sal hulle oorwin en hulle het oorwin. (Dan. 11:45) Openbaring profeteer dat ons sal oorwin en ons sal. Die stilbly van goeie mense is oorwinning vir slegte mense. (For wicked men to triumph, good men must merely remain silent.) Dit is nie in die Bybel nie maar die beginsel is waar. Hulle soek tekens, vertonings, maar dit is nie wat mense sal laat glo nie, as dit die geval was sou Suid Afrika al lank gelede tot redding gekom het, herlewing sou al lankal gekom het. Maar dit werk nie so nie. Dit is dinge wat uit die hart moet kom.

Wie gaan vandag teen Menlaus opstaan?

Ons kyk uit vir iets, vir mense wat nie bang is om die Swaard teen Menlaus op te neem nie; mense wat teen evangeliste op die ekumeniese pad gaan opstaan. Mense wat teen mense soos Steven Weiser sal opstaan wat op ‘n platform saam met Moslems staan en Israel veroordeel en dit sy Christelike bediening noem. Hy sê niks van al die Christene, ons broers en susters wat in die Moslem wêreld vermoor word nie. Maar hy staan saam met Moslems in ‘n kerk op dieselfde platform, ‘n Anglikaanse kerk en veroordeel Israel. Hy, Steven Weiser is my eerste vyand, hy is God se vyand, nie die Moslem nie. My eerste vyand is nie ‘n aartsbiskop wat homoseksuele as predikers aanstel nie maar Nicky Gumble wat hom promoveer en weergebore Christene mislei deurdat hulle sy boeke lees en hom vereer. Klink dit radikaal? Die Makkabeërs was radikaal en hulle is die enigste wat gaan oorwin! Die tempel is verontreinig, wil jy ‘n Makkabeër wees? Ek kan dit nie vir jou antwoord nie. Wat ek vir jou kan vertel is dat jy verwerp gaan word, jy gaan ‘n teiken wees. “En die verstandiges onder die volk sal baie tot insig bring; maar hulle sal struikel deur swaard en vlam, deur gevangenskap en berowing, dae lank.” (Dan.

11:33) Diegene wat insig het gaan baie mense se oë laat oopgaan maar sommige van hulle gaan deur die swaard val totdat hulle gelouter en gereinig is. “En van die verstandiges sal sommige struikel, om onder hulle loutering en reiniging en suiwering aan te bring tot die tyd van die einde??want dit sal nog duur tot op die vasgestelde tyd.” (Dan. 11:35). Ek kan vir jou sê om by die Makkabeërs aan te sluit en daar sal oorwinning en seëninge wees. Ek kan jou alles van die Makkabeërs vertel maar wat ek nie vir jou kan vertel nie is of jy regtig ‘n Makkabeër wil wees of nie wil wees nie, dit is ‘n vraag wat jy vir jou self moet antwoord. Ek? Ek staan in Modi’in. Ek werp my lot by Jehuda, Mathias, Jonathan, Eleazar. Ek het lankal besluit. Ek geniet dit nie om ‘n Makkabeër te wees nie, maar ek weet eendag sal die tempel weer her? toegewy wees en weereens sal daardie lamp in God se Huis brand.

Groete in Jesus. †††

Staying the course amidst isolation

By David Passmore • May 30, 2026
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

By David Passmore • May 25, 2026
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. ‍ ‍

Trumps visit with Xi

By David Passmore • May 25, 2026
Trump's Visit with Xi Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM The tempest path of Sino-U.S. tensions came to a head during Trump's first term in office with the outbreak of Covid. Many commentators believed that the deterioration in relations was in terminal decline and that a major confrontation in the straits of Taiwan was fast looming. Trump held China responsible for the spread of Covid, insisting that he would pursue reparations. The election of Biden halted this commitment. Biden sought a non-confrontational policy towards Beijing. In the aftermath of the disastrous premature withdrawal from Afghanistan handing that country over to the Taliban and the Russian invasion of Ukraine under his watch, Biden became too preoccupied to assertively engage with China. Chinese State media portrayed Trump's visit as being rather unremarkable in the context of other foreign dignitaries lining up to meet Xi, pointing out that just a week later Putin would arrive in Beijing. China manifests that it is winning the trade war that Trump began in 2018, beating America at its own game of capitalism. They frame the U.S. as being in a position of weakness because China is able to source whatever products they buy from the U.S. elsewhere like oil from Canada, and soybeans from Brazil. The oil, soybeans and 200 Boeing's Xi agreed to purchase from Trump were presented as a mere gesture to placate Trump as China has already bought 350 Air Buses in the last year. China would have the world believe that it is only semi-conductors where America has the edge. Here China hints that it is not likely to buy H200 Invidia Chips because it would mean that China will always lag behind the U.S. in building their AI tech. China's major contention and concern is that the U.S. may impose export controls to contain China. China's strategy instead is to invest massively on indigenous innovation. China wants to become an innovation powerhouse that will export its own Chips to the Global South. China is fast catching up with America's lead in AI with the launch of Deep Seek and they claim similar progress with Chip making. China is now ostensibly only eight months behind the U.S. on Large Language Models. Running contrary to this narrative Trump insists that China is desperate to trade with America. China's economy has now peaked. Emblematic of this stagnating growth is rising youth unemployment. China is no longer America's biggest trading partner. Trump has shifted manufacturing back to the U.S. and Trump believes that China can't revive its economy without America. Lined up to meet Xi with Trump were the heads of some of America's biggest Tech Corporations. Corporations like nvidia seek a relaxing of export controls for Chips as they want short term profits, ignoring the risk that China will reverse engineer this technology. More broadly, China and the U.S. are playing a geopolitical chess game spanning the globe. Trump outmaneuvered China in Latin America with the removal of Maduro from power in Venezuela. China is exploiting its influence on Iran in order to get Trump to refrain from taking more active steps towards the defense of Taiwan. Indeed, Trump didn't say anything about Taiwan during his visit. Trump's instincts are of a transactional approach towards alliances, where he is only willing to underwrite defense assistance if allies pay up as an insurer would. It is also important to note that saber rattling the Taiwan card also serves the CCP agenda to distract internal dissent concerning the state of the Chinese economy. Most imminently Trump needs China to pressure Iran to open the Straits of Hormuz and get oil prices down before the midterm elections. China has largely insulated itself from the Gulf energy impact due to stockpiles. Trump would also like China to stop providing Iran with GPS for its missiles. Other Chinese weapons systems and technology sold to Iran have failed to perform well against U.S. and Israeli military hardware. Matters boil down to a leverage between whatever Trump can do on Taiwan, China can do on the strait of Hormouz with Iran. Human Rights concerns, espionage and the alarming rate of Chinese acquisition of U.S. land have been placed on the back burner for the time being.  (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).

Prayer request for Phil Malone

By David Passmore • May 17, 2026
Moriel & Jacob Prasch request prayer for Phil Malone and family “Please keep me and my family in prayer. My mum passed away on 13th May at the age of 93. It's a time of mourning, but may it be a time for the Gospel of Christ to be preached to my unbelieving family, especially my brother.”

Please Pray for Joanne Rizzetto, Pastor Dave Rizzetto's wife

By Mea Fredrickson • May 13, 2026
Moriel & Jacob Prasch request prayer for Sister Joanne Rizzetto, wife of Pastor Dave Rizzetto of Church of The Open Door in New York City. Joanne has developed painful complications and adverse side effects from medications following knee surgery. May The Lord intervene for healing and give guidance to her physicians. Lord, we humbly ask you to intervene in the life of our dear sister. We know you can do all things and that you hear our prayers and consider your servants. Please put a stop to the adverse reaction. Restrain and reverse its effects and restore our sister so that she can continue to serve you in the ministry that you have called them to. We do glorify Your Name. We don't ask as those who treat you as our debtor, but as those who have tasted your goodness and found such mercy and compassion at your feet. Grace and peace and mercy be with Joanne and Pastor Dave.

Will Lebanon miss its golden opportunity?

By David Passmore • May 5, 2026
Will Lebanon miss its golden opportunity? Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Converging new facts on the ground have transformed the political landscape in Lebanon. With Assad removed from power in Syria, a vital lifeline of arms supplies for Hezbollah originating in Iran has diminished. Hezbollah suffered considerable losses in its last round of fighting with Israel. The decapitation of its leadership with the targeted pager attack inflicted a severe blow. Hezbollah's new leader Naim Qassem is a weak substitute for the charismatic Nasrallah who was assassinated by Israel in 2024. Hezbollah in its frail state foolishly fell into line with Iran's instruction to join the fighting against Israel following the recent American-Israeli war with Iran. This was contrary to the wishes of the Lebanese government which was fearful of the inevitable destruction that would be wreaked by the Israeli response. The differing attitudes to Israel amongst Lebanon's population is reflective of its ethnic composition. The predominant groups in order of plurality are Christians, Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims with a smaller minority of Druze. The major concern of most Christians in Lebanon is the dire state of their economy. They have no appetite to further their plight by invoking Israel's rage. During the colonial inter war period the French envisaged the demarcation between Lebanon and Syria as carving out enclaves for Christian and Druze control. Within Lebanon there would be a shared government that by convention would have the Executive power split between a Christian President, a Sunni Prime Minister and Shia Speaker of Parliament. The Christians in southern Lebanon (particularly Maronite Catholics) saw themselves as being anthropologically descendants of ancient Phoenicians as opposed to an Arab identity where the Arab Christians were largely Eastern Orthodox. The schism between the Maronites and the Arab Eastern Orthodox dates back to the time of the Crusades. The Maronites were culturally French, speaking French as their main language and held precedence in much of the Lebanese economy. The first threat to Lebanese stability and cohesion was settled by the U.S. Eisenhower administration in 1958 which landed Marines in an amphibious operation. A repeated attempt at this by the Reagan administration in 1983 ended in a military disaster for the U.S. due to suicide bombings by Iranian controlled terrorists. Israeli efforts to bring in stability during the Lebanese Civil War in conjunction with its Lebanese Christian allies led by Major Saad Haddad likewise came to calamity when the Sabra and Shatila revenge attacks took place following the assassination of Lebanese leader Bashir Gemayel. The ''Good Fence'' policy of an Israeli friendly free Lebanon zone in Southern Lebanon eventually ended badly following Menachem Begin's second incursion into Lebanon called ''Shalom HaGalil'' aimed at stopping the PLO rocket attacks on Israeli border communities like Metulla, Kiryat Shmona, Naharya, Rosh Hanikra, Tzfat and Carmiel. The proxy Israeli occupation from the Israeli border to the Litani river became an imbroglio that many in Israel viewed as Israel's Vietnam with widespread domestic protest and a collapse of morale within the IDF. Eventually Israel absorbed Christian war refugees from Lebanon, while the Vatican and most of the Christian world turned their backs on the Lebanese Christians. Lebanon was then saddled with two states within a state. The first was in the aftermath of Black September in 1970 when King Hussein of Jordan defended his Hashemite throne and government from Yasser Arafat's attempt to take over Jordan due to Jordan having a 70% Palestinian Arab demographic majority. The Jordanian legion drove tens of thousands of its pro Arafat Jordanian citizens into Lebanon, creating a population base for the first state within a state under Arafat. However the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and other factions had their niche interests. Courtesy of the Israeli Air Force Arafat relocated what he saw as his government in exile to Tunisia. This was a missed opportunity by the Lebanese government to assert its autonomy and full territorial control by making a Camp David type peace with Israel inclusive of economic and mutual security provisions. Instead an Iranian backed Syrian intervention replaced Arafat's state within a state with a new one that morphed into Hezbollah. The fall of the Assad regime and the Israeli counter-offensive against Hezbollah re-presents Lebanon with the opportunity that it once lost. The predominantly Christian controlled Lebanese military could and should operationally coordinate with the IDF, to obliterate and remove Hezbollah as the Israelis relieved Lebanon of Arafat's state within a state. Such a rapprochement would likely have strong American and possibly French and British support, allowing Lebanon to be at a non-combative peace with Israel along the lines of Egypt and Jordan, and now some of the Emirates. The natural comradery of the Lebanese Druze community with the Israeli Druze and the pro-Israeli Druze of Syria would additionally re-enforce a regional harmony, as would the Maronite Christian community in Israel with their co-coreligionists in Lebanon.  (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).

Pastor John Angliss

By David Passmore • May 5, 2026
PASTOR JOHN ANGLISS It is with profound sadness that we learned of the temporary separation from our friend and brother Pastor John Angliss. We look forward to being reunited with John in the millennial reign of Christ and indeed in God's Eternal Kingdom. Jacob Prasch visited John a few weeks ago in the UK while John was in hospice care having been diagnosed preterminal in his illness. While medically correct, it was of course a misdiagnosis. John is now cancer free and is alive and well in the presence of Jesus awaiting us in glory while his mortal body is being renewed for resurrection and immortality. In the meanwhile, during this temporary season of bereavement we do request prayer for his beloved wife Mary and for his congregation, The Ark Fellowship in England near Reading, England. Because he has recently arrived in the USA and is scheduled to address the Moriel Canada branch conference in Winnipeg, Jacob Prasch will regrettably not be able to attend the memorial service in Britain. Our condolences however are very much with Mary and our brethren in the UK who like us knew and loved Pastor Angliss. John was one of a minority of faithful voices who upheld a traditional biblically based Pentecostalism in the era of counterfeit revivals and apostasy that overtook most of British Pentecostalism. John was a faithful friend of Israel & The Jews standing on the prophetic purposes of God for Israel and the salvation of the Jews. John was a loyal friend to Moriel and Jacob Prasch and a colleague of David Pawson and Derek Prince, both of whom likewise stood by God's promises to Israel. John was also a founding leader of CMFI - the Christian Ministerial Fellowship International, former pastor of Three Mile Cross fellowship , and former board member of Focus On Israel (a Pentecostal Ministry to the Jews). While this separation is temporary, John's eternal gain will be our temporary loss. O GRAVE - WHERE IS THEY VICTORY, O DEATH WHERE IS THY STING ? Hosea 13:14 / 1 Corinthians 15: 55-57

We made it this far: Israel at 78

By David Passmore • April 28, 2026
We made it this far: Israel at 78 Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Since the last anniversary milestone of Israel at 75, we have been embroiled in relentless wars. Citizens had little respite to enjoy this year's festivities, coming on the heels of a lull in fighting on the Iranian and Lebanese fronts. We are constantly waiting for a breakthrough on the horizon that will normalize our relations with our neighbors and secure our position on the world stage. It is acutely exhausting to be the focus of the world's attention. But also there is a sense of inevitability accompanying the Zionist project. Specifically that Israel is destined to be central in the wider region and global affairs. Why is this? Is it due to it being a western transplant? Being geographically positioned on the crossroads of three continents? Religious believers would point to prophetic fulfillment. It is short sighted to only look at how our problems are rooted in today’s' reality. Greater forces are at work that will dictate the direction that Israel is heading. The Jewish diaspora will likely find itself in a growing precarious position that will lead to increasing Aliyah (immigration to Israel) and will perhaps ferment the emergence of a second Jewish commonwealth that will not need to heed international pressure in the same way that todays' polity finds itself doing. In this light it is interesting to ponder how our posterity would view our predicament and gains. And I frame matters in these terms with intentionality. We are enmeshed in a seemingly intractable conflict with the Palestinians, and yet Israel has made great gains particularly in the technological fields. There is a current of thinking that perceives Israel's way out of its quagmire is by making itself indispensable to technological advancements. We don't know how tomorrows' world will be shaped by the rapidly advancing AI revolution but so far Israel has proven to be uniquely adaptable and innovative to technological change. This has proved to be a boon to Israel's economy, as have offshore natural gas discoveries being developed in concert with Greece, Greek Cypriot and American energy interests that are geographically and strategically removed from any Straits of Hormuz shipping impediments that strangle the Persian Gulf deposits shared by Qatar and Iran. On another note we should contextualize the situation. How different are Israel's challenges from other nations? Is Israel any less stable than other countries (particularly in the region)? Israel doesn't find itself uniquely challenged to define its identity (most European countries do also, particularly in light of immigration). Nor does the government experience any more volatility than other comparable democracies. Israel's real problems lay in the nature of how its Jewish citizens desire to govern themselves. It is arguable whether the judicial reform protests that occupied public discourse in pre-October 7th Israel would have led to serious civil strife. But it is without doubt that this impasse was allayed by the external attack. The underlying tensions remain unresolved and there are many ways that they could play out. It has been framed as a battle for Israel's soul. Israel's enemies predict that Zionism is imploding and that the State won't survive another 5-10 years. Supporting this claim, they point to Israel's increasing alienation and growing pariah status on the international stage. Our Prime Minister has been indicted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Even public opinion in our staunchest ally the U.S. has turned sharply against Israel. With 80% of the Democratic Party being anti-Israel in a growing climate of anti-semitism we have even witnessed the shift of Alan Dershowitz to the Republican Party which must be seen as emblematic of a trend. There is apprehension in Israel of a post-Trump America dominated by the Democrats. However, these seeming incontrovertible facts may be offset by other measures of fortitude. This may be partially countered by the high investment by Silicon Valley in the Israeli Hi-tech sector, making Israel an asset for purposes of Research and Development in America's AI race against China. New opportunities for economic relations have also been opened with Arab nations through the Abraham Accords and with the powerhouse India. Furthermore, it is difficult to imagine a world in which Israel's technological prowess will not carry the sway of western decision makers in the long run. Israel's 78th anniversary is a moment to take pause and not catastrophize what the future may behold. The entire world is currently in a state of transformation and Israel is not an outlier in this context.  (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).

Council attempts to shut down and censor local church’s evangelism efforts.

By David Passmore • April 23, 2026
Please click this link:https://mailchi.mp/christianconcern.com/action-alert-street-preaching-22-04-26?e=f1df30be3f

A critical juncture in NATO's future

By David Passmore • April 14, 2026
A critical juncture in NATO'S future Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM NATO was originally established in 1949 to keep the Russian hordes at bay from toppling those European countries not forked over to the Soviet sphere of influence at the Potsdam conference. Europe lay in ruins. Britain had passed on the torch of global hegemony to the U.S. by tacitly acquiescing to the decolonization of its Empire when Churchill and Roosevelt agreed terms of the Atlantic Charter for the post-war new world order in 1941. So from its start NATO was very much an American driven endeavor. American money with the Marshall plan was propping up western European economies and its military might was forming the bulk of their defensive capabilities. The lopsided nature of this dynamic has informed how tensions have persisted and recently erupted in the Alliance. During the Cold War the U.S. felt obligated to shoulder the costs of underwriting Europe's security in light of the broader interests to keep the Soviet's in check. Following the fall of the Iron Curtain European complacency became a sticking point with the 'peace dividend' further exploiting American largesse. European NATO allies spent ever smaller percentages of their GDP on defense expenditure at U.S. expense. Now in a multi-polar world U.S. and European perceived threats are less aligned. This was first tested in the aftermath of September 11th when for the first time NATO elected to trigger its article 5 collective defense protocol. And since then the U.S. has sought to continue to expand the traditional theatre of operations beyond Europe's borders. No longer is Russia perceived by America as being a proximate existential threat to its interests, but rather containing Chinese expansion in the Pacific arena. Parallel to NATO a discrete 'five eyes' intelligence sharing alliance comprising the Anglo-sphere (the U.S., U.K., Canada and New Zealand) emerged. This stands at the center of the U.S. – U.K. 'special relationship'. A relevant question would be can this signals intelligence (NSA-GCHQ) partnership persist should the U.S. withdraw from NATO? Conventional thinking would have led one to believe that with Brexit the U.K. would naturally pivot towards closer U.S. relations but under Starmer the U.K. is distancing itself. European powers misrepresent the present conflict as an aggressive, rather than defensive U.S. adventure while they themselves are more likely to be at risk. In this the Starmer government resembles the Labor party led committee for nuclear disarmament in the 1980's. It opposed the Thatcher supported deployment of U.S. cruise missiles in response to the Soviet SS20's pointed at Britain's cities. The British left branded their response to Soviet strategic escalation to U.S. aggression. This time however there is for the moment no Thatcher to bring common sense into an equation dominated by emotionally driven ideologies in the face of an aggressor with definite aims. In terms of the Russian-Ukraine conflict we are reverting to the old question dating back to the Napoleonic war era: to what extent is London happy with the European nations fighting it out alone for dominance of the continent. Britain was never willing to accept a single power in control. Many variables will dictate what kind of world emerges from the current conflicts in Ukraine and Iran. How will power be extracted from potential gains? What will be the strategic impact of this? What is sure, in the age of Trump this pattern of reliance on U.S. muscle is becoming quickly exhausted. Dating back to the Roman Empire, a factor in the decline of major powers has always been astronomical military spending, a budgetary demand that the U.S. under Trump is no longer willing to shoulder alone. (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).