Harpazo - Vooraf

April 1, 2025

Ons Sal Verander Word Soos Wat Hulle Verander het.

 

“Kyk, ek deel julle 'n verborgenheid mee: Ons sal wel nie almal ontslaap nie, maar ons sal almal verander word, in 'n oomblik, in 'n oogwink, by die laaste basuin; want die basuin sal weerklink, en die dode sal onverganklik opgewek word; en ons sal verander word. (1 Kor. 15:51-52) 

“En Hy het voor hulle van gedaante verander, en sy aangesig het geblink soos die son, en sy klere het wit geword soos die lig.” (Mat. 17:2)

Gebeure wat die Gedaante Verandering Voorafgaan.

In al drie die sinoptiese Evangelies sien ons die fase van Jesus se bo- Galilése bediening opgevolg deur Sy terugkeer van die Siro Feniciese streke van Tire en Sidon. Dit is hier waar Hy eerstens baie duidelik Sy dood voorspel het en waar Hy die god van hierdie wêreld by Caeserea– Phillippi uitgedaag het. Dit is waar Pan in die Griekse mitologie ’n god was wat voorgegee het hy ’n mens was wat in ’n Griekse tempel aanbid was waar Keiser Augustus in dieselfde omgewing voorgegee het dat hy ’n mens was wat as ’n god in ’n Romeinse tempel aanbid was.

Dit was ook hier waar Jesus Homself geïdentifiseer het as die “Rots”en melding word gemaak van die poorte van die doderyk (Hades- Mat. 16:13-20) Die poorte van Hades was ’n kaskade in ’n grot, wat vandag nog in die westerse fasade van die Berg Hermon gesien kan word. In heidense Pan aanbidding was bokke godsdienstig geoffer na ’n seksuele daad met heidense Griekse priesters. Hierdie bokke was dan in die malende water by die ingang van die grot gegooi wat hulle onder die water ingetrek en verdrink het en net hulle karkasse het oorgebly.

As die malende water nie die bok in die onderliggende skeure ingetrek het nie dan het dit in die heidense denke van die Pan aanbidders beteken die offer was onaanvaarbaar. Dit is hier waar Jesus gekom het, nie as ’n mens wat voorgegee het dat hy ’n god was nie, of ’n god wat voorgee dat hy ’n mens was nie, maar eerder as ’n Joodse Messias wat beide 100% mens en 100% God is. Hierdie poorte van Hades het ’n populêre Joodse metafoor geword vir biologiese dood.

Jesus is die Rots van ons redding (1 Kor. 3:11) Hy is die Rots waarop Sy Kerk gebou sal word en biologiese dood sal as gevolg van die lewe wat Hy gee nie meer enige mag hê nie.

Deur die Opstanding en Harpazo is dit geen toeval dat die Messias as die “sondebok” (Seir (Azazel”) (Heb. 9) in plaas van die offer bok die sondebok sou word wat in ons plek sou sterf, en hierdie reuse rots waarop die tempels gebou was- sou vervang word deur die Kerk, dieselfde rots waaruit die lewende waters vloei in ’n direkte tipologiese ooreenstemming met die water wat uit die rots gevloei het wat Moses geslaan het. In 1 Kor. 10 verwys Paulus hierna.

Baie kan gesê word oor wat by Caesarea-Philippi gebeur het soos om te sê dat dit voor die opgaan na die Berg was waar die gedaante verandering plaasgevind het- dat Jesus hier vir die eerste keer van Sy eie dood gepraat het en Sy oorwinning wat Hy sou behaal oor die dood. Diegene uit die Opstanding en hulle wat nooit sou sterf nie sou daar wees —dit is- Harpazo.

Wat uniek kan wees oor Christus as ons sondebok is dat nie soos met die heidense bokke wat of onder die water na die onder wêreld ingesuig was om nooit weer gesien te word nie, wat van hulle ’n onaanvaarbare offer gemaak het, terwyl Jesus as ons sondebok inderdaad na die onderwêreld afgedaal het, dit is na Hades, waar Hy Homself aan die Ou Testamentiese heiliges openbaar het en weer uit die dood opgestaan het. Dit sou wees asof een van die bokke by Cesaréa-Filippi ingesuig was na die dieptes van die rotsagtige spelonk maar wat dan weer uit die dieptes van die rotsagtige spelonk opgestaan het wat geen mag oor dit gehad het nie.

Net so sou die graf ook geen mag oor Jesus en diegene wat op Hom as die Rots van ons Redding vertrou hê nie.

   Dit was hier waar Jesus die eerste keer gepraat het van die Opstanding en die Harpazo. Die konsep van Hades was eenvoudig ’n oorplasing van ’n bestaande Hebreeuse konsep van ‘Sheol’ in ’n Grieks terminologie en kultuur wat soos met Hades bestaan het uit twee gedeeltes wat geskei word deur ’n onoorkombare kloof. Aan die eenkant was daar “Abraham se bors” waar die Ou Testamentiese heiliges saam met die voorvaders rus in afwagting vir die offer en Opstanding van die Messias deur wie hulle en ons gered word. Dit is waarheen Jesus na Sy kruisiging afgedaal het in ’n gedeeltelike vervulling van die profesie van Jesaja 61 se Jubilee tema. “om vir die gevangenes 'n vrylating uit te roep”. Die ander kant van kloof is waar die ongeredde mense wag op die oordeel. Die misverstand rondom hierdie konsep is as gevolg van vertaling probleme in sekere Engelse Bybel vertalings oor die onderskeiding tussen ‘Sheol en Hades.

Die Gedaante Verandering.

“En ná ses dae het Jesus vir Petrus en Jakobus en Johannes, sy broer, saamgeneem en hulle op 'n hoë berg in die eensaamheid gebring. En Hy het voor hulle van gedaante verander, en sy aangesig het geblink soos die son, en sy klere het wit geword soos die lig. En kyk, daar verskyn aan hulle Moses en Elía in gesprek met Hom.

Toe begin Petrus vir Jesus te sê: Here, dit is goed dat ons hier is; as U wil, laat ons hier drie hutte maak: vir U een en vir Moses een en een vir Elía. Terwyl hy nog spreek, oordek 'n helderligte wolk hulle meteens en daar sê 'n stem uit die wolk: Dit is my geliefde Seun in wie Ek 'n welbehae het. Luister na Hom!

En toe die dissipels dit hoor, het hulle op hul aangesig geval en was baie bevrees. En Jesus het nader gekom en hulle aangeraak en gesê: Staan op en moenie vrees nie. Toe slaan hulle hul oë op en sien niemand meer nie, behalwe Jesus alleen.

En onderwyl hulle van die berg afklim, het Jesus hulle bevel gegee en gesê: Julle moet vir niemand iets van die gesig sê voordat die Seun van die mens uit die dode opgestaan het nie.

En sy dissipels vra Hom en sê: Waarom sê die skrifgeleerdes dan dat Elía eers moet kom? En Jesus antwoord en sê vir hulle: Dis waar, Elía kom eers en sal alles herstel; maar Ek sê vir julle dat Elía al gekom het, en hulle het hom nie erken nie, maar aan hom alles gedoen wat hulle wou. So sal die Seun van die mens ook deur hulle ly. 13- Toe verstaan die dissipels dat Hy met hulle van Johannes die Doper gespreek het.”  (Mat. 17:11-13)

In teenstelling met sommige latere tradisies in die Oosterse Ortodokse en die Roomse Katolieke groepe kan die berg waar die Gedaante Verandering plaasgevind het nie die Berg Tabor aan die noordelike kant van die Vallei van Jisreël wees nie, maar sekerlik die Berg Hermon waar die voorafgaande teks sê Jesus en Sy dissipels gedurende ’n sekere tyd heen gegaan het, alhoewel hulle die Berg Tabor in ses dae te voet kon bereik. Die vroegste manuskrip vertel ons dat die berg van Gedaante Verandering ’n baie hoë berg is terwyl die Berg Hermon dit nie is nie. (Mark. 9:2)

Dit was hier op die Berg Hermon waar Galiléa, die Golan Hoogtes (wat geken was as Bashan) en Libanon- bymekaar kom en waar een van die mees diaboliese episodes in die geskiedenis van die mens volgens die Boek van Jerash en buite Bybelse Joodse historiese geskrifte plaasgevind het.

Dit was hier in die dae van Jabes dat die “Nephilim ”-Reuse na die aarde toe gekom het en gemeenskap met die mense vroue gehad het uit wie bose reuse voortgekom het- volgens Genesis 6 en die Boek Judas met ’n vae verwysing in ander Skrif gedeeltes soos 1 Kor. 11. Maar waarna hierdie bose wesens afgekom het- het die Seun van die Mens opgegaan. Jesus gebruik weer geografiese simboliek soos by Cesaréa-Filippi waar Hy demonstreer hoe Hy die gode van hierdie wêreld uitdaag.

Die Berg Hermon is ongeveer 10,000 voet (+- 3000m) hoog en op die hoogste piek sneeu bedek vir meer as sewe maande van die jaar. Dit is nie altyd wolk bedek nie en dit wil ook voorkom asof dit met die lig helderheid in die Gedaante Verandering verhale ooreenkom met ’n natuurlike lig en ’n bewolkte agtergrond.

   Met net Petrus, Jakobus en Johannes as getuienisse het Jesus van gedaante verander. Die term wat gebruik word is dieselfde wat Paulus gebruik het as: “Ons sal verander word”- wat heel gepas “metamorfobies” beteken.

In Mat. 17; Mark. 9 en Lukas 9 het ons drie sinoptiese weergawes van hierdie gebeurtenisse. Die skitter van die Here se gesig is vir die Jode ’n beeld uit die profesie van Moses in Deut. 18:18 dat die Messias ’n Profeet soos Moses sou wees. Soos wat Moses van die Berg af gekom het en sy gesig as gevolg van die Shekinah geblink het, net so sou dieselfde gebeure hom ook met die Messias herhaal.

Die glansende gesig van Jesus en die voorkoms van sy kleed wat beskryf word as helderder as die son en so wit soos lig sou weer deur Johannes op die eiland Patmos in Openbaring een ervaar en in detail beskryf word. (Op. 1:14-16)

Johannes het Jesus as ’n mens geken, maar in minstens twee gevalle tevore soos in Op. 4:1 was hyself in die hemel opgeneem en het hy dieselfde Jesus in Sy Goddelike Heerlikheid aanskou en hy moes bonatuurlik versterk word om Jesus vir wie Hy werklik is in Sy Goddelike Heerlikheid te kon aanskou, ten spyte daarvan dat hy die Here as ’n man geken het wat geen gestalte of heerlikheid gehad het nie. (Jes. 53:2)

Die Verskyning van Moses en Elia aan die Apostels en hulle gesprek met Jesus.

Die onderwerp van hierdie gesprek was die Here se komende hemelvaart en wat Hy in Jerusalem sou doen. In werklikheid volgens Lukas 9:28 was die doel van hierdie gebeure nie die Gedaante Verandering nie maar om te gaan aanbid. Dit sou ’n moeilike klim vir die Apostels wees en hulle was uitgeput en vaak.

Dit het plaasgevind in die Tuin van Getsémané waar hulle saam met Jesus gaan aanbid het en waar hulle weer aan die slaap geraak het en hulle vinnig wakker gemaak moes word. (Mat. 26:45-46) Weereens, met ’n agtergrond verwysing na Hooglied van Salomo, praat Jesus van beide die wyse en die dwase maagde wat aan die slaap geraak het en wat ook haastig wakker gemaak moes word met die koms van bruidegom. (Mat. 25:5) Hierdie herhalende gebeurtenis is ’n verwysing na die toekomstige toestand van dinge wanneer Hy weer gaan kom.

Die Skrifte praat van ons moet werk terwyl dit nog dag is omdat die nag kom wanneer niemand kan werk nie (Joh. 9:4) en met die wederkoms van Jesus en die tyd van die Opstanding en Harpazo gaan mense weer haastig wakker gemaak word. Sommige sal slaap, maar ons sal nie almal slaap nie. (1 Kor. 15:51) Wanneer ons haastig wakker geword het sal ons Jesus in sy Heerlikheid sien. Dit was in hierdie wakkerword toestand dat Petrus, Jakobus en Johannes bewus geword het van die teenwoordigheid van Moses en Elia, wat die Wet en die Profete verteenwoordig het. Dit is die duidelikste beeld wat ons van die Perousia het- dit is die Opstanding en Harpazo.

Moses en Elia

Soos verteenwoordig deur Moses, het ons ’n getroue dienskneg van God wat biologies gesterf het—dit is- “Slaap” in die Here. As gevolg van Moses wat die rots twee keer geslaan het beteken dit tipologies ’n meervoudige kruisiging van Christus daarom kon hy nie in die Beloofde Land ingaan nie en hy het op die Berg Nebo gesterf. Ironies is dit dat kerke wat die ‘Mis’ (RKK)’ leer aanhang waar Christus sakramenties herhaaldelik sterf- in dieselfde sonde van Moses betrokke is waar Jesus herhaaldelik gekruisig word. Jesus het net eenmaal gesterf. (1 Pet. 3:18; Heb. 7:27, 9:12, 10:12, 14)

Moses verteenwoordig die Wet, maar die Wet kan nie red nie maar die Wet leer ons dat ons redding nodig het. Maar as gevolg van sy sonde, en omdat hy die Tora verteenwoordig wat nie kon red nie, maar wat ons leer dat ons ’n Redder nodig het, was dit onmoontlik vir Moses om oor die Jordaan in die Beloofde Land in te gaan, ’n beeld van om in die Millennium Heerskappy van Christus en Sy ewige koninkryk in te gaan. Maar met die Koms van die Messias het dit vir Moses moontlik geword om die Land in te gaan.

   Toe Moses vir God gevra het om in die Beloofde land in te gaan het God vir hom gesê hy moet Hom nie weer oor hierdie saak raadpleeg nie. (Deut. 3:26)

Die Ou Testamentiese Israelitiese heiliges wat getrou aan God onder die Tora gesterf het kon die Messiaanse Koninkryk ingaan omdat hulle die Messias herken het. In Moses sien ons dan ’n man wat gesterf het maar wat nou in Christus lewe.

Elia aan die ander kant was ’n man wat nooit gesterf het nie maar wat weggeraap is, hy was weggeruk en in die hemel opgeneem (2 Kon. 2:1-4) na ’n ernstige konflik met ’n bose vrou Isébel. (1 Kon. 2:1-4) Jesus gebruik hierdie bose vrou Jesebel as ’n metafoor vir geestelike misleiding wat die valse godsdiens in Openbaring 2:20 verpersoonlik wat die diensknegte van die Here verlei sodat hulle voedsel eet wat aan afgode geoffer word. (’n profetiese verwysing na eucharistiese transsubstansiasie van Thiatíre, wat in Grieks “die kerk van ewigigdurende offerande”- beteken, Jesus sterf weer en weer, basies net soos die sonde van Moses.) Dus in Elia se konflik met Isébel, voordat hy gesterf het, slag hy diegene wat aan Isébel se tafel geëet het. (1 Kon.18-)

Sonder enige twyfel is die eucharistiese afgodery in die naloop van die Protestante Reformasie verantwoordelik vir die bloed van ’n menigte martelare wat nie weer in dit betrokke wou raak nie maar wat so ’n wrede geding eskatologies geword het wat ook verwys na Jeremia se profesie oor die koeke offers aan die koningin van die hemel in die laaste dae van Juda (Jer. 44:17-19) wat ’n beeld is van die laaste dae van die kerk wat dieselfde temas van Babilon en Babilon die Grote respektiewelik dra.

Wat interessant is- is dat Moses – die een wat in die Here gesterf het, en Elia – die een wat nooit gesterf het nie maar wat weggeraap is, net soos Jesus verskyn. Soos wat die Skrifte sê, ons sal wees soos wat Hy is. (1 Joh. 3:2)

Dit is ook merkwaardig dat hierdie Ou Testamentiese heiliges deur die Apostels geken was. Met die Opstanding en die Harpazo sal ons outomaties weet wie Moses, Elia, Jeremia, Maria, Petrus, Paulus, Johannes en Rut is, en hulle sal ons ken soos wat die Nuwe Testament sê, Hy bring Sy Heiliges saam met Hom. (1 Tes. 3:13) So was dit hier op die Berg Hermon, die hoogste berg in Israel, hulle ontmoet die Here in die lug.

Dit is sekerlik die duidelikste beeld wat ons van die Opstanding en die Harpazo het. Dit maak nie saak of ons in die Here in die karakter van Moses ontslaap het nie, of nog in die lewe sal wees nie, of die vrou Isébel wat weer amok maak in Openbaring in die vorm van valse gelowe in lyn met Antichris, en hoe Elia haar ontvlug het, al wat saak maak is of ons in Christus is.

Ons sal almal word soos wat Hy is. Soos wat Paulus skryf, of ons dan lewe of gesterf het, ons is in die Here. (Rom. 14:8)

Die Groter Betekenis

Ons het ten minste drie direkte en baie duidelike redes om die Gedaante Verandering as ’n beeld van die Opstanding en Harpazo te verstaan, en ook ’n vooruitsig van ons toekoms met die komende Here met die Perousia.

Eerstens het ons twee baie duidelike Skrif verwysings wat die eskatologiese gedeelte verbind met 1 Korinte 14 wat handel oor die Opstanding en die Harpazo-- dit is die Perousia of die openbaring van Christus en Sy Gedaante Verandering. Dieselfde woord wat deur Paulus gebruik word vir “Sal verander word” (Metamorphoo”) is dieselfde woord wat deur Matthéüs gebruik word om te beskryf hoe die Here verander het met die Gedaante Verandering.

Tweedens, Petrus se misverstand om drie hutte te bou kan net verstaan word as die eskatologiese vervulling van die Loof Hutte Fees (Hag Sukkot) besig was om te gebeur. Vir Jode soos Petrus, Jakobus en Johannes het hulle geweet dat met die vasstelling van die Messiaanse Koninkryk (Die Millennium heerskappy van Christus) die Loofhutte fees gevier sal word en gebaseer sal word op die Profesie van Sagaria 14 wat volg op die wederkoms van Christus soos beskryf in Sagaria 12 en 13.

   Derdens, die Gedaante Verandering verhaal word in Mark. 9:1, Mat. 16:28 en Luk. 9:27 voorafgegaan deur die woorde van Jesus dat van Sy Dissipels die biologiese dood nie sal smaak nie, wat presies in die Opstanding hoofstuk deur Paulus in 1 Kor. 15: 51 herhaal word - “Ons sal nie almal ontslaap nie.”

Die direkte skakels van hierdie drie faktore wys baie duidelik dat die Gedaante Verandering van Jesus ’n tipologiese toekomstige beeld is van die Opstanding en die Harpazo gebeure soos wat dit deur Paulus voorspel is in 1 Kor. 15- met ’n verwysing na 1 Tes. 4:15.

Die Verkeerde Veronderstelling

Petrus wou drie hutte bou met die veronderstelling dat die Messias nou in Sy Heerlikheid geopenbaar sou word. Moses was saam met Hom en ook Elia wat die Apostels, soos wat al die Jode van die dag in ’n sekere mate verstaan- moet kom voordat die Messias kom, gebaseer op die profesie van Maleági 4:5.

Dit was Petrus se verwagting dat die Messiaanse Eeu nou ingewy sou word. Terselfdertyd vertel Lukas 9:34 dat ’n wolk oor hulle gekom het waarin hulle gegaan het en uit die wolk het daar ’n Stem gekom wat sê: “Dit is My geliefde Seun; luister na Hom” wat dieselfde gebeurtenis bevestig met Jesus se doop in Luk 3:22, Mat.3:17 en Mark. 1:11, en ook geprofeteer in Jes. 42:1. Dit was met die aanskouing van hierdie heerlikheid dat Petrus ’n verklaring gemaak het.

“--want Hy het van God die Vader eer en heerlikheid ontvang toe hierdie stem uit die luisterryke heerlikheid tot Hom gekom het: Dit is my geliefde Seun in wie Ek 'n welbehae het. En hierdie stem het ons uit die hemel hoor kom toe ons saam met Hom op die heilige berg was.” (2 Pet. 1:17-18)

Die afdaling van die wolk op die berg sou weereens vir enige Jood bekend wees wat hulle verstaan as die Shekinah Heerlikheid wat in die wolkkolom neergedaal het soos met Moses.

As gevolg van die hoogte was die natuurlike werwelwind ook vergelyk met die werwelwind wat Elia weggeneem het. (2 Kon. 2:1)

Dus, al drie die Persone van die Godheid was teenwoordig met die Gedaante Verandering. Met die Parousia sal al drie die Persone van die Godheid ook teenwoordig wees. Die Vader wat beveel, die heiliges- ingeslote die wat opgewek en weggeraap is wat die Here Jesus- die Seun in die lug sal ontmoet, en almal wat deur die Gees van God oorklee word. In Lukas se weergawe was Jesus in die wolk as die Seun van God wat ooreenkom met Jesus se teenwoordigheid in die Shekinah waaruit die Stem van die Vader gehoor was.

Ons het ’n ooreenstemmende gedeelte in die martelaarskap van Stefanus in Hand. 7:55 waar vertel word om met die Heilige Gees vervul te wees, het Stefanus ’n sigbare openbaring van die verhouding tussen die Vader en die Seun gesien terwyl hy tussen lewe en die dood gehuiwer het met sy marteling en ontvangs in die heerlikheid.

Dit is met reg dat baie sê dat ons in hierdie lewe maar net ’n gedeeltelike begrip van die Drie Eenheid van die Godheid en die Enigheid van die Vader en die Seun saam met die Heilige Gees kan begryp. Die gevangeneming en die begrip daarvan het vir Stefanus duidelik geword toe hy in die ewigheid ingegaan het vanwaar ons kan aanneem dat dieselfde waar sal wees ook vir ander gelowiges wat in Christus gesterf het.

Ons sal nie almal ontslaap nie maar volgens 1 Korinte 15 sien ons dieselfde openbaring van die natuur en die enigheid en tussenspel van die Drie Persone van die Godheid wat gedemonstreer word by die Gedaante Verandering- net soos hulle ook sal wees met die Episunagoge- dit is met die tyd van die Harpazo.

Die Seun sal in die wolk wees maar in die teenwoordigheid van die Vader, en dit is iets wat diegene wat weggeraap is in daardie oomblik ook sal aanskou. Hierdie Gedaante Verandering ondervinding is dalk die rede waarom die Apostels nie die nodigheid kon insien om in hulle geskrifte meer tyd toegewy het om die Drie Enigheid te verklaar nie.

  Vir Petrus, Jakobus en Johannes was dit nie ’n totale verborgenheid soos wat dit vir diegene sal wees wat weggeraap sal word nie, dieselfde met Stefanus.

Op ’n manier kan ons aan die Gedaante Verandering verhale dink soos wat hulle in Brittanje dink van ’n “movie trailer” of in Amerika as ’n “Coming attraction”. Dit moet so interessant wees dat ons moet uitsien om die volle verhaal te gaan sien, hoor en ondervind en wanneer ons Jesus, Moses, Elia, Petrus, Jakobus in die lug ontmoet.

Die tema van die ontmoeting van Jesus in die lug op ’n berg was nie vir Elia of vir Moses ’n nuwigheid nie. Waar God in ’n menslike gestalte verskyn het was dit altyd die Seun en nooit die Vader of die Heilige Gees nie, dit is ook wedersyds waar in die Ou Testament, niemand kan God sien en bly lewe nie, (Ex. 33:20) Daarom het God in ’n menslike gestalte verskyn as “Christofani”, dikwels as die “Engel van die HERE” of- “Ha Malach Adonai” (In Judaïsme geken as die “Metatrone”). Dit is die Here Jesus.

Die Engel van die HERE—dit is Christus—het aan Elia op die Berg Horeb, die berg van God verskyn en vir 40 dae en 40 nagte nie geëet nie, en hy het direk met God die Seun gepraat en die Here het voor hom verby gegaan. (1 Kon. 19:7-11)

Moses het ook vir 40 dae en 40 nagte nie geëet nie voordat hy die Berg van God betree en met God gepraat het. Beide hierdie twee Ou Testamentiese figure- Moses en Elia, kom weereens ooreen met die Wet en Profete, en hulle het tevore Jesus op ’n berg ontmoet. Die Gedaante Verandering was nie die eerste keer nie maar hierdie keer was die Apostels getuienis daarvan en deur hulle word ons aan die gebeure verbind.

Dit is interessant dat toe Petrus, soos wat die teks sê “verskrik” was, Elia en Moses sien opvaar dat hy drie hutte of tabernakels wou bou, en hy het nie besef wat hy gesê het nie. Dit was nog nie die tyd vir die lang verwagte Messiaanse Koninkryk nie omdat die Messias eers moes sterf en uit die dood opstaan; dit is hoekom die Here gesê het hulle moet vertel wat hulle gesien het nie tot na Sy Opstanding. (Mat. 17:9; Mr. 9:9) Hulle het nog nie die konsep van die “opstanding” verstaan nie. (Mr. 9:10) Dit is direk opgevolg deur Jesus wat in ’n bespreking van die profesië gepraat het van die koms van Elia voor die koms van die Messias. (Mk. 9:11-13)

Alhoewel Elia weer op ’n manier moet kom voor die Wederkoms van Christus, het Jesus geleer dat Elia alreeds op ‘n manier gekom het en dat Elia se gees op Johannes die Doper gerus het; maar op die berg van die Gedaante Verandering was dit nie Johannes die Doper nie maar Elia self wat wesenlik en letterlik gekom het. Hierdie twee aspekte van Elia wat beide in die gees deur Johannes gekom het, en wat werklik persoonlik gekom het, sal ’n beslissende faktor wees in die verstaan van die manier hoe Elia weer gaan kom voor die tweede koms van Jesus.

Die feit is, Johannes die Doper was alreeds deur Herodus (’n Tipe van die Antichris) vermoor in Mattheus 4 en Markus 6, ’n gebeure waarna Jesus in Mark. 9:13 verwys.

Dat dit ’n Eerste verkeerde veronderstelling in die Nuwe Testament sou wees sou nie waar wees nie, met die misverstand rondom die viering van die Fees van Tabernakels het hulle gedink dit is tyd van die finale Messiaanse vervulling. Inderdaad sien ons ’n gedeeltelike vervulling van dit in Johannes 7 met die rituele van “Simchat Beit Ha Shoy’iva”, met die uitgiet van die water wat uit die Poel van Siloam gekom het oor die Tempel Berg plaveisel waar Jesus gesê het: “Ek sal vir jou lewende Water gee.” (Joh. 7:37-39)

Met die triomfantlike intog volgens die Tempel Liturgie, ook geken as die Machzor vir Pasga, moes Psalm 113-118 met die ritueel gesing word met ’n klimaks koor wat sê: “Geseënd is Hy wat kom in die Naam van die Here”. Dit moes weer gesing word, alhoewel met die Loof Hutte fees in die Herfs met Palm takke geken as “Lulavim”. Die Messiaanse verwagting van die mense met die triomfantlike intog het hulle Hosanna vir Jesus gesing en uitgeroep:

  “Geseënd is Hy wat kom in die Naam van die Here”- en hulle het gedink Jesus gaan van die Romeine ontslae raak soos wat die Makkabeërs ontslae geraak het van die Grieke- en dan Sy Millennium Koninkryk vasstel. Maar in plaas van om die Heidene aan te vat en Sy koninkryk op te rig het die Here die geld wisselaars aangevat wat die geloof van Sy eie mense verdraai het vir wie Hy Hom voorberei het om te sterf.

Dus in Mat. 23 waar Jesus ween oor Jerusalem, sê die Here hulle sal Hom nie weer sien totdat hulle sal sê: “Geseënd is Hy wat kom in die Naam van die Here” nie, ten spyte van die feit dat dit presies is wat hulle Hom ’n paar dae terug met wuiwende palmtakke toegesing het toe hulle van Hom verwag het om ontslae te raak van die Heidene en om die Messiaanse Koninkryk op te rig.

Hierdie koninkryk egter, sal nie kom met ’n teken wat herken sal word nie, maar eerder deur Sy dood in ons plek opgevolg deur die opstanding en Pinkster wat nie ’n koninkryk van hierdie wêreld sal wees nie, dit is met Sy Tweede Koms wanneer die Huttefees gevier moet word en wanneer Jesus Sy aardse Dawidse Messiaanse Koninkryk gaan oprig.

Weereens, met die Seëvierende Intog en die misverstand van Petrus op die Berg van Gedaante Verandering, word nou deur die hele nasie afgespeel wat in Jerusalem as pelgrims aangekom het vir die Pasga, en dit was hierdie gebeure in Jerusalem, waar Jerusalem spesifiek genoem word, wat Jesus met Moses en Elia bespreek het. (Luk. 9:31) Dit is dus duidelik dat vir Jesus om te kom om Sy Koninkryk op te rig moet die Jode terug wees in Israel met Jerusalem as hulle hoofstad. (Mat. 23:39; Luk. 21:24; Sag. 12:1-10) Wanneer hierdie gebeure saamgevat word sal die Israeliete en die nasies saam die Hutte fees in Jerusalem vier. (Sag.14)

Dit is wat Petrus en die ander Apostels en die mense in die algemeen nie kon verstaan nie, dit was: “Een Messias met twee verskynings”: Die eerste keer vir versoening vir sonde en die tweede keer as die Dawid Oorwinnaar. Hierdie gebeure word in diepte bespreek in die boek: “The Final Words of Jesus” en- “Satan’s Lies Today” waar die twee beelde van die Messias in die Joodse denke, soos die Messias as die Seun van Dawid, wat ’n Oorwinnaar was, en die Messias as die Seun van Josef wat die Lydende Dienskneg was, wat in Judaïsme ook geken word as “Ben Ephraim”-bespreek word.

Samevatting

Die belangrikheid om die Gedaante Verandering as ’n paradigma te verstaan en om die Opstanding en die Harpazo te begryp- kan nie oorbeklemtoon word nie.

Dit is aan die woorde en lering van Jesus wat vir ons in die Gedaante Verandering verhale gegee is wat die basis vorm van Paulus se latere leringe in sy briewe beide in Korinte en Thesalonicence oor die koms van Jesus en ons eindbestemming in die Opstanding en Harpazo. In sy kern is dit waar Paulus sy eie Opstanding en Harpazo eskatologie gekry het wat onder die inspirasie van die Heilige Gees verkry en vir ons deur hom ontsyfer is.

In enige oorweging van die onderwerp oor die Opstanding en Harpazo moet ons konsep omraam word met die Gedaante Verandering verhale en die leerstellige beginsels wat hoofsaaklik deur Paulus vir ons gegee is.

J.P. Moriel / Harpazo preview / 08 /2015

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).