Kashrut and Famine - Afrikaans

April 1, 2025

Verbode voedsel

Die Hebreeuse dieet wette vind ons in Deut.14 en Lev. 11 waar dit meer omvattend is.

En die HERE het met Moses en Aäron gespreek en aan hulle gesê: Spreek met die kinders van Israel en sê: Dit is die diere wat julle mag eet van al die viervoetige diere wat op die aarde is.

Alles wat onder die diere gesplitste kloue het, en wel heeltemal gesplitste kloue, en herkou dit mag julle eet.

Maar die volgende mag julle nie eet nie van die wat herkou en van die wat gesplitste kloue het: die kameel, want hy herkou, maar het geen gesplitste kloue nie onrein is hy vir julle; en die das, want hy herkou, maar het geen gesplitste kloue nie onrein is hy vir julle; en die haas, want hy herkou, maar het geen gesplitste kloue nie onrein is hy vir julle; ook die vark, want hy het gesplitste kloue, ja, heeltemal gesplitste kloue, maar hy herkou nie onrein is hy vir julle. Van hulle vleis mag julle nie eet nie en aan hulle aas nie raak nie onrein is hulle vir julle.

Dit mag julle eet van alles wat in die water is: alles wat vinne en skubbe het in die water, in die seë en in die riviere dit mag julle eet. Maar alles wat geen vinne en skubbe het in die seë en in die riviere nie, van al die gewemel van die water en van al die lewende wesens wat in die water is 'n gruwel is dit vir julle. (Met ander woorde skulpvis) Ja, 'n gruwel moet hulle vir julle wees; van hulle vleis mag julle nie eet nie, en hulle aas moet julle vir 'n gruwel hou. Alles wat geen vinne of skubbe in die water het nie 'n gruwel is dit vir julle.

En die volgende moet julle van die voëls vir 'n gruwel hou hulle mag nie geëet word nie, 'n gruwel is hulle: die arend en die lammervanger en die aasvoël; en die kuikendief en die valk volgens sy soorte; elke kraai volgens sy soorte; en die volstruis en die naguil en die seemeeu en die kleinvalk volgens sy soorte; en die steenuil en die visvanger en die steunuil; en die silweruil en die pelikaan en die klein aasvoël; en die groot sprinkaanvoël, die reier volgens sy soorte, die hoep hoep en die vlermuis. Al die insekte met vlerke wat op vier pote loop 'n gruwel is hulle vir julle.

Maar die volgende mag julle eet van al die insekte met vlerke wat op vier pote loop: wat bokant die pote springbene het om daarmee op die grond te spring. Van hulle mag julle die volgende eet: die treksprinkaan volgens sy soorte en die boomsprinkaan volgens sy soorte en die springer volgens sy soorte en die voetganger volgens sy soorte. Maar al die ander insekte met vlerke wat vier pote het 'n gruwel is hulle vir julle.

En deur hierdie diere word julle verontreinig elkeen wat aan hulle aas raak, sal tot die aand toe onrein wees; en elkeen wat van hulle aas dra, moet sy klere was en sal tot die aand toe onrein wees aan al die diere wat gesplitste kloue het, wat nie heeltemal gesplits is nie, en wat nie herkou nie. Onrein is hulle vir julle; elkeen wat aan hulle raak, sal onrein wees.

En alles wat op kaal pote loop onder al die viervoetige diere onrein is hulle vir julle; elkeen wat aan hulle aas raak, sal tot die aand toe onrein wees. Ook hy wat hulle aas dra, moet sy klere was en sal onrein wees tot die aand toe. Onrein is hulle vir julle.

En die volgende is vir julle onrein onder die ongediertes wat op die aarde wemel: die mol en die muis en die akkedis volgens sy soorte, en die krimpvarkie en die geitjie en die klipsalmander en die koggelmander en die verkleurmannetjie.

Hulle is vir julle onrein onder al die ongediertes; elkeen wat aan hulle raak as hulle dood is, sal tot die aand toe onrein wees. En alles waar een van hulle op val as hulle dood is, sal onrein wees; enige houtvoorwerp of kledingstuk of vel of sak, elke ding waarmee werk gedoen word; dit moet in die water gesit word en sal tot die aand toe onrein wees; dan sal dit rein wees.

En elke erdevoorwerp waar een van hulle in val alles wat daarin is, sal onrein wees, en julle moet die voorwerp self stukkend breek; enige voedsel wat geëet word waar water op kom, sal daarin onrein wees; en enige drank wat in so 'n voorwerp, van watter soort ook, gedrink kan word, sal onrein wees. En alles waar iets van hulle aas op val, sal onrein wees; 'n bakoond of 'n drievoet moet stukkend geslaan word; hulle is onrein, en onrein moet hulle vir julle wees.

Maar 'n fontein of put, 'n versamelplek van water, sal rein wees; maar hy wat aan die aas daarin raak, sal onrein wees. En as van hulle aas val op enige saad wat gesaai word dit sal rein wees. Maar as daar water op die saad gegooi word, en van hulle aas daarop val, dan sal dit vir julle onrein wees. En as daar van die diere wat julle as voedsel dien, doodgaan, sal hy wat aan die aas raak, tot die aand toe onrein wees; en hy wat van dié aas eet, moet sy klere was en sal onrein wees tot die aand toe. En hy wat dié aas dra, moet sy klere was en sal onrein wees tot die aand toe.

En al die ongediertes wat op die aarde wemel, is 'n gruwel dit mag nie geëet word nie.

Alles wat op die buik seil en alles wat op vier pote loop, ook alles wat baie pote het, naamlik al die ongediertes wat op die aarde wemel julle mag dit nie eet nie, want dit is 'n gruwel.

Moenie julle self 'n gruwel maak deur enige ongedierte wat wemel nie: julle moet jul daaraan nie verontreinig, sodat julle daardeur onrein word nie. Want Ek is die HERE julle God; toon dan dat julle heilig is en wees heilig, want Ek is heilig; daarom, verontreinig julle self nie deur enige ongedierte wat op die aarde kruip nie. Want Ek is die HERE wat julle uit Egipteland laat optrek het om julle God te wees. So moet julle dan heilig wees, omdat Ek heilig is.

Dit is die wet oor die diere en die voëls en al die lewende wesens wat roer in die water en aangaande al die wesens wat op die aarde wemel, om te onderskei tussen wat onrein en rein is, en tussen die diere wat geëet en die diere wat nie geëet mag word nie. (Lev. 11:1-47)

Gebrek aan Voedsel is Hongersnood.

Gedurende die intertestamentiese periode het Israel die Makkabeërs gehad, hulle het nie profete gehad nie. Daar was geen profete vanaf Maleagi tot op Johannes die Doper nie. Johannes het in die gees van Elia gekom en God se mense gevoed gedurende hierdie hongersnood.

“Kyk, daar kom dae, spreek die Here HERE, dat Ek 'n honger in die land stuur, nie 'n honger na brood nie en nie 'n dors na water nie, maar om die woorde van die HERE te hoor. (Amos 8:11) Die manier waarop Elia die heidense vrou en haar seun gevoed het is ’n tipe van die bediening van Elia wat in die Laaste Dae weer gaan plaasvind.

Openbare Gesondheid.

Hierdie dieet wette is interessant. Jesus sê: “Nie wat in die mond ingaan, maak die mens onrein nie; maar wat uit die mond uitgaan, dit maak die mens onrein.” (Mat. 15:11) Dus is daar ’n dieper betekenis aan hierdie woorde as net ’n openbare gesondheid riglyn. Kom ons kyk.

In die outydse Midde Ooste waar daar nie verkoeling was nie en ’n woestyn omgewing waar diere roof om te oorleef was daar ’n groot risiko vir voedsel vergiftiging soos deur trichinosis en

botulisme. Vark en skulpvis wat nie behoorlik gevries of behoorlik gaar gemaak was nie het die potensiaal gehad om mense dood te maak. So, daar was ’n wettige mediese rede om nie hierdie soort voedsel te eet nie.

Gedurende ’n Hongersnood sal mense Enigiets eet.

Antropoloë vertel dat in ’n hongersnood, al is onder goed opgevoede mense, sal mense enigiets eet. Daar was gevalle soos waar mense wat in ’n skeeps ongeluk betrokke hulle aan kannibalisme skuldig gemaak het en hulle vriende en familie geëet het.

Kyk na vers 47, daar word ’n onderskeiding gemaak tussen dit wat eetbaar en nie eetbaar is nie, tussen dit wat rein en onrein is, dit wat onrein is- is ’n gruwel, afstootlik- walglik en net die idee om dit te eet is iets wat jou siek moet laat voel. Hierdie dinge is ’n gruwel vir jou; rotte, slange vlermuise, kokkerotte- is afstootlik en ’n gruwel vir jou. Maar in ’n hongersnood wanneer mense honger genoeg word gaan hulle enigiets eet, hulle sal tot mekaar eet.

God het Vlees Geword.

“In die begin was die Woord, en die Woord was by God, en die Woord was God. En die Woord (Logos) het vlees geword en het onder ons gewoon--” (Joh. 1:1,14).

Die woord “gewoon” in Grieks is kataskenoo (In die Griekse vertaling van die Hebreeuse werkwoord is dit om te tabernakel. In Hebreeus is dit mishkan (waar die woord Shekinah vandaan kom. Mishkan het te doen met God se woonplek. Wat Johannes sê is dat dieselfde God wat teenwoordig was by Israel van ouds, die Shekina wat in die tabernakel, die Mishkan gewoon het, het nou vlees geword.

God het Mens Geword.

Die outydse Grieke was dualiste, hulle het verstaan wat logos was, God se kreatiewe en gesalfde (salvic) agent, maar hulle konsep was die van ’n gees-verrukkende Wese.

Die oomblik wanneer daar gepraat word van God het mens geword, die Woord het vlees geword, dan kon die Grieke dit nie hanteer nie. Hulle het geglo dat alles wat vlees of fisies was boos was, en alles wat geestelik is- is goed. Alle fisiese dinge was gesien as in die gebied van ’n minder god. Maar let op hoedat hierdie idee die Bybel se waarheid verdraai. Die Bybel sê nie dat alles wat vlees of fisies is sleg is nie, die Bybel sê alles wat fisies is- is gevalle, dit het tydelik in die gebied van Satan gekom, Satan se leuens sal altyd die waarheid verdraai.

Dualisme.

Dualisme onder die Grieke was verdeel onder twee filosofiese groepe: Die Stoïse en die Epikureïeise. Die Stoïsynse denkes sal altyd alles wat fisies is minag en 'n monoteïstiese lewenstyl aanhang wat gefondeer word op die sterflikheid van die vlees. Die Epikuréïene het weer 'n wellustige sorgelose lewenstyl nagestrewe, hulle het geglo dat net dit wat in die geestelik realm is van belang was. Beide groepe leer dat daar 'n skeiding bestaan tussen die vleeslike en die geestelike wêrelde. Johannes se leer- dat God mens geword het, het direk teen die dualistiese idees van die Grieke gebots. Dualisme het baie gesigte en Christian Science is een daarvan.

Wat sê Christian Science? My liggaam lieg vir my, dit wat verkeerd is maak nie saak nie, dis net fisies, dit is net die geestelike dinge wat saak maak. Dood is 'n illusie, ouderdom is 'n illusie. Mary Baker Eddy, die uitvinder van Christian Science het egter self 'n slagoffer van die ‘onwerklikheid’ van ouderdom en siekte geword, en 'Voila, la grande', die illusie van die dood! Mense soos E.W. Kenyon, Kenneth Hagin en Kenneth Copeland is groot voorstanders van dualisme wat hulle uit Christian Science geleer het.

Die Bybel sê ons is geroep om in hierdie wêreld te wees maar nie van hierdie wêreld nie. (Joh. 15:18-19 / 16:33 / Rom.12:2 / Gal.6:14 / Kol. 2:20 / Jak. 4:4 / 1Joh. 2:15,17). Ons is nie geroep om [on]natuurlik te wees nie, ons is geroep om [bo]natuurlik te wees.

Met onnatuurlik word bedoel: Die leer dat as God wou gehad het dat die geestelike man of vrou moes swaarkry, en dat hulle gelukkig moet wees om swaar te kry-- is 'n onchristelike idee. Dit is nie normaal nie maar onnatuurlik- godsdienstige hoogmoed- masochisme!

Kyk na die voorbeeld wat Jesus gestel het. Jesus het gesê: "Vader laat hierdie beker by My verbygaan” Jesus wou nie hierdie Bitter Beker drink nie maar tog sê Hy: “Laat U Wil Geskied.”

Dit is onnatuurlik om te beweer dat die geestelike gelowige wil of moet swaarkry as dit die Wil van God is! Dit is egter bonatuurlik om te sê: “Here, ek weet alles werk ten goede vir diegene wat U wil nastrewe. As dit wat U vir my bestem het U wil is, skenk my U Genade om vir U te ly.” Ons is geroep om natuurlik of om bonatuurlik te lewe, en nie onnatuurlik nie. Die vroeë kerk het teen hierdie radikale dualiste en gnostisisme en alles wat daarmee saam gegaan het opgetree, vandag egter herleef dit weer deur die Hiper Geloof Leraars.

Die Woord het Vlees geword.

Die Woord het vlees geword (Joh. 1:14) Toe Jerome ‘vlees’ in Latyns in die Vulgaat vertaal het, het hy nie corpus- liggaam gebruik nie maar carnum. Die Griekse woord vir vlees is sarx. Die Woord- Logos het vlees (sarx) geword, dit het letterlik vleis geword. Die Griekse woord vir vleis- sarx is dieselfde woord.

Die Hebreeuse woord vir vleis- barsah is dieselfde woord vir vleis- vlees. Die Latynse woord vir vleis is carnum. “Voorwaar, voorwaar Ek sê vir julle, wie in My glo, het die ewige lewe.

“Ek is die brood van die lewe. Julle vaders het die manna in die woestyn geëet en het gesterwe. Dít is die brood wat uit die hemel neerdaal, sodat iemand daarvan kan eet en nie sterwe nie. Ek is die lewende brood wat uit die hemel neergedaal het. As iemand van hierdie brood eet, sal hy lewe tot in ewigheid. En die brood wat Ek sal gee, is my vlees wat Ek vir die lewe van die wêreld sal gee” (Joh. 6:47-51) Op dieselfde wyse wat die Woord Vlees- sarx geword het.

So, die brood wat Jesus gegee het is Sy sarx- Vlees.

Vers- 52 “Die Jode het toe met mekaar gestry en gesê: Hoe kan Hy ons sy vlees gee om te eet?” Ons kan daarvan seker wees dat die Sanhedrin, wat midrasj geken het, verstaan het wat Jesus vir hulle gesê het.

“En Jesus sê vir hulle: Voorwaar, voorwaar Ek sê vir julle, as julle nie die vlees van die Seun van die mens eet en sy bloed drink nie, het julle geen lewe in julleself nie. Hy wat my vlees eet en my bloed drink, het die ewige lewe, en Ek sal hom opwek in die laaste dag. Want my vlees is waarlik spys, en my bloed is waarlik drank. Wie my vlees eet en my bloed drink, bly in My en Ek in hom.

Soos die lewende Vader My gestuur het, en Ek deur die Vader lewe, so sal hy wat My eet, ook deur My lewe. Dít is die brood wat uit die hemel neergedaal het--nie soos julle vaders die manna geëet en gesterwe het nie; wie hierdie brood eet, sal tot in ewigheid lewe.” (Joh. 6:53-58)

Jesus praat oor Homself as die brood wat van die hemel neergedaal het. Die manna in die wildernis was ’n tipe, Jesus is die anti- tipe. Ons moet die teks in sy konteks lees, maar aan die ander kant moet ons dit ook in die konteks van die hele Bybel lees.

Die Rabbis sê- matzos- die brood wat by die nagmaal gebruik word, stem ooreen met die vlees van die lam. Dit moet gestreep en deursteek wees omdat dit ooreenstem met die vlees van die lam. “Maar Hy is ter wille van ons oortredinge deurboor,--- en deur sy wonde het daar vir ons genesing gekom.” (Jes. 53:5)

Toe Jesus gesê het dat die brood Sy Vlees was het Hy met die Rabbis saamgestem, dit wys op die Paasfees en dit gaan terug na die Boek Eksodus waar die manna begin val het.

Dit het niks met die R.K. Kerk te doen nie.

Die R.K.K. sal probeer om mense te oortuig dat die Nagmaal van die Here die sleutel is tot die ewige lewe, maar dit is absurd. In hulle kategismus sê hulle dat sonde vergewe word deur die sakramente van die doop en boetedoening, en nie die Eucharistie nie, hulle weerspreek hulle eie leerstellings. (R.K. leerstellings weerspreek altyd hulleself, net soos die Mormoonse leer) Vir Johannes (6:47-58) om te praat oor die Nagmaal van die Here, sal dit moet gaan oor die Laaste Maal toe die Here die Nagmaal ingestel het.

Die Laaste Maal moes plaasgevind het met die Pasga tyd in Jerusalem. Die teks sê vir ons dat die Pasga nog nie aangebreek het nie, en dit vind nie plaas in Jerusalem nie. So hier word nie gepraat van die Laaste Maal van die Here in ’n primêre sin van die woord nie.

Waarvan hier gepraat word is oor die brood wat in die wildernis geval het- ’n tipe van Jesus, en Jesus sê dit is Sy Vlees. “Voorwaar, voorwaar Ek sê vir julle, wie in My glo, het die ewige lewe.” (Joh. 6:47) Geloof is gelyk aan wat jy eet, hoe werk dit? Die Woord het vlees geword.

Die Woord, die Logos het vlees geword. Eet die sarx, glo die Woord, jy moet die teks in konteks lees, dit het niks met die leer van transsubstansiasie te doen nie, dit is kannibalisme, dit het ook sekerlik niks te doen met die Laaste Maal nie. Jesus sê: Doen dit as ’n herinnering aan My. (1 Kor. 11:24-25). Jesus gebruik die taal van die Hebreeuse offer herdenkings.

Die Roomse Katolieke Mis is nie dieselfde offer as die offer op Golgota nie, as jy verstaan dat die Nagmaal van die Here ’n Joodse Pasga is, ’n Joodse zikharon (herdenking) Exodus 12:14, 13:9, 17:14, 28:29, en Levitikus 23:24, ens.) Dit is net wanneer jy die Laaste maal van sy Joodse agtergrond skei dat jy kan argumenteer dat dit dieselfde offer is. Maar in die Joodse konteks wat Jesus vir ons gee, kan dit nie so wees nie. Dit is ’n herdenking, “doen dit as herdenking aan My” Dit is herdenking vir wat Jesus gedoen het op dieselfde wyse as wat die Pasga Maal ’n herdenkings is van die verlossing uit Egipte.

Hy wat glo, eet.

Die Woord het vlees geword, “Eet My vlees.) wat beteken dit? Dit beteken Eet My Woord, neem dit vir jouself. Dit is nie iets nuuts nie, dit is wat die profete geleer het en selfs die apostels het dit geleer. “Ek het U woorde gevind en dit geëet.” (Jer. 15:16) Neem dit in en glo dit.

Soos wat Jesus sê, hy wat glo eet My vlees.

“Maar jy, mensekind, luister na wat Ek jou sê; wees nie wederstrewig soos die wederstrewige huis nie; maak jou mond wyd oop, en eet wat Ek jou gee. Toe kyk ek, en daar was 'n hand na my toe uitgesteek, en daarin 'n boekrol! En Hy het dit voor my uitgesprei; en dit was beskrywe op die voor- en agterkant, en daarop was geskrywe klaagliedere en gesug en wee.” (Eseg. 2:8-10)

“Daarna het Hy vir my gesê: Mensekind, eet op wat jy vind; eet hierdie rol op, en gaan spreek met die huis van Israel. Toe het ek my mond oopgemaak, en Hy het my dié rol laat eet en vir my gesê: Mensekind, laat jou buik eet, en vul jou ingewande met hierdie rol wat Ek jou gee. En ek het dit geëet, en dit was in my mond soos heuning so soet.” (Eseg. 3:1-3)

Esegiël het die boekrol geëet, hy het die Woord van God geëet.

“En ek het na die engel gegaan en aan hom gesê: Gee my die boekie. Toe sê hy vir my: Neem en eet dit op, en dit sal jou maag bitter maak, maar in jou mond sal dit soet wees soos heuning. Toe neem ek die boekie uit die hand van die engel en eet dit op, en in my mond was dit soet soos heuning; maar toe ek dit geëet het, het my maag bitter geword.” (Op.10:9-10). Eet die Woord!

Ons sien hierdie konsep in die O.T. en die N.T. Jesus het niks nuuts geleer nie, dit is wat die profete voor Hom en na Hom geleer het. Die Woord het vlees geword. Eet My Woord! Geloof is gelyk aan eet, tot die Roomse Katolieke heilige Bernard het dit ook gesê. Die Woord het vlees geword, Sy eie selfstandigheid, die Woord van God het vlees geword.

Jy word wat jy eet.

Metabolies is jy wat jy eet. Jesus se kern- Sy Woord, Sy Leer is Hy Self. Wat jy ookal eet word deel van jou. Dus, wanneer jy iets geestelik eet, dan word jy wat jy eet.

Aardse diere wat deur die Jode geëet kon word- dit wat kosjer (rein) was, is tipes van Jesus Self. Lam is Kosjer. “Dáár is die Lam van God wat die sonde van die wêreld wegneem!” (Joh. 1:29).

Bokke is kosjer. “Maar die bok waarop die lot vir Asásel gekom het, moet lewendig voor die aangesig van die HERE gestel word, om oor hom versoening te bewerk deur hom vir Asásel in die woestyn te stuur.” (Lev.16:10)

Beeste is kosjer. “En hy het jongmanne van die kinders van Israel gestuur; dié het brandoffers geoffer en as dankoffers bulle vir die HERE geslag.” (Ex. 24:5)

Elkeen van hierdie offers is op ’n sekere wyse ’n tipe van Christus. Eet dit wat kosjer is, eet die Woord. As iemand nie kosjer is nie bly weg van hom af. Die probleem kom wanneer jy begin om hulle woorde te eet, dit gaan jou siek maak. Eet wat gesond is, eet wat rein is.

Maar as mense honger genoeg word, as daar ’n hongersnood is- gaan hulle enigiets eet, hulle sal tot mekaar eet. Ons moet die Joodse idee van om vleis te eet verstaan.

Met betrekking tot Melgisédek Heb. 5:11 lees ons: “waaroor ons veel te sê het wat swaar is om te verklaar, omdat julle traag geword het om te hoor.” Wat ons hier sien is ’n tipologie en midrasj. Melchizedek (Gen.14:18-20, Ps.110:4) is ’n Christophanie (’n voorafgaande vleeswording manifestasie van Christus) ’n Ou Testamentiese tipe van Jesus. Die skrywer sê: “Ek wil vir julle leer wat tipologie en midrasj beteken, maar julle het die kapasiteit om te verstaan verloor.”

Baba Voedsel.

“Want hoewel julle vanweë die tyd leraars behoort te wees, het julle weer nodig dat 'n mens julle die eerste beginsels van die woorde van God moet leer, en julle het weer behoefte aan melk en nie aan vaste spys nie. Want elkeen wat melk gebruik, is onervare in die woord van geregtigheid, omdat hy 'n kind is. Maar vaste spys is vir volwassenes, vir die wat geestesvermoëns besit deur die gewoonte geoefen, om goed van kwaad te onderskei.” (Heb. 5:12-14)

Weereens: Ek wil vir julle vleis, vaste spys gee om te eet, ek wil julle vertel wat die tipologie en midrasj van Melchizedek beteken, maar ek kan nie, ek moet weer vir julle melk gee.

Terug na die Basiese Dinge.

“Daarom moet ons nie bly by die begin van die prediking aangaande Christus nie, maar na die volmaaktheid voortgaan sonder om weer die fondament te lê van die bekering uit dooie werke en van die geloof in God, van die leer van die doop en van die handoplegging en van die opstanding van die dode en van die ewige oordeel. En dit sal ons doen as God dit toelaat.” (Heb. 6:1-3)

Ons is vandag presies weer in dieselfde situasie. Ons moet terugkeer na die basiese dinge, mense het die fundamentele leer soos bekering, die doop, die ewige oordeel- vergeet. Mens sê daar is nie ’n Hel nie. Die kerk het weer melk nodig, nie vleis, vaste spys nie, melk sal ’n groot verbetering wees. Hindus drink bees urine, hulle dink dit is heilig en ek weet van baie Charismate wat die geestelike ekwivalente daarvan drink. Melk sal ’n groot verbetering wees. Klink dit afstootlik? Wel, dit is veronderstel om afskuwelik te klink. ’n Gruwel is dit vir julle. Net die gedagte daaraan moet jou laat siek voel.

Mense wat nie onderskei nie sal enigiets eet.

“Maar vaste spys is vir volwassenes, vir die wat geestesvermoëns besit deur die gewoonte geoefen, om goed van kwaad te onderskei. (Heb. 5:14) Hulle weet hoe om die Woord in werking te stel; as mense nie ’n onderskeiding kennis van die Woord het nie, en hoe om dit in werking te stel nie, as hulle nie ’n werkende kennis van die Woord het nie, sal hulle nie kan onderskei nie. As jy nie kan onderskei nie gaan jy verseker enigiets eet, kosjer of nie.

“En ek, broeders, kon met julle nie spreek soos met geestelike mense nie, maar soos met vleeslike, soos met klein kinders in Christus. Ek het julle met melk gevoed, nie met vaste spys nie, want julle was nog nie daartoe in staat nie, en julle is nou nog nie daartoe in staat nie, omdat julle nog vleeslik is; want aangesien daar onder julle jaloersheid en twis en tweedrag is, is julle nie vleeslik nie en wandel julle nie na die mens nie?” (1 Kor.3:1-3)

Dink aan ’n baba wat leer kruip voordat hy kan loop, dit maak nie saak wat hy in die hande kry nie, dit gaan mond toe, alles smaak soos lekkers. Ma vat alles weg wat in die pad kom en sit dit op ’n plek waar die kind dit nie in die hande kan kry nie- omdat die kind nie kan onderskei nie. Net so is dit met Christene wat nie opgelei is in die regte leer en die Woord van geregtigheid nie, hulle sal enigiets eet, vernaamlik as hulle honger genoeg is.

Melk sal ’n groot verbetering wees, Paulus betreur dit en hy sê: “As julle maar net wil melk drink dan kan ek julle uitneem vir ’n heerlike stuk vleis.”

Kou die Koutjie.

Diere wat nie herkou nie, of wat nie ’n gesplete hoef het nie- is onrein. “En hierdie mense (Die (Bereane) was edelmoediger as dié in Thessaloníka; hulle het die woord met alle welwillendheid ontvang en elke dag die Skrifte ondersoek of hierdie dinge so was.” (Hand.17:11)

Die Bereane het hulle koutjie gekou. Om die koutjie te kou is nie om op te gooi nie, dit is om dit weer op te bring- om dit te oordink, te herkou en dan in te sluk en dan op te neem in jou metabolisme.

Baie Christene vandag het totaal vergeet hoe om die koutjie te herkou. “Wel, as Jacob Prasch of Derek Prince dit gesê het, dan moet die waar wees!” Nee, nee! Paulus sê ons moet oordeel al is dit wat hy gesê of geleer het. (Gal. 1:8) Jesus sê: “Maar julle, laat jul nie Rabbi noem nie, want een is julle leermeester: Christus, en julle is almal broeders.” (Mat. 23:8)

Kou die koutjie. Eet die voedsel, bring dit weer op, bid daaroor, ondersoek die Skrifte, kyk of dit so is en as dit waar is sluk dit in, anders- spoeg dit uit!

Wolwe

“Maar pas op vir die valse profete wat in skaapsklere na julle kom en van binne roofsugtige wolwe is.” (Mat. 7:15) Wolwe kan Christene namaak. Hulle kan lyk soos skape, maar in die werklikheid is hulle valse profete. Hulle vlees- dit wat hulle leer- is nie rein- kosjer- nie, moet dit nie eet nie, afskuwelik is dit vir jou.

Slange

“Slange, addergeslag, hoe sal julle die oordeel van die hel ontvlug?” (Mat. 23:33) Satan is ’n misleier, die slang het die vrou mislei. Eva is ’n tipe van Israel en die kerk.

Godsdienstige leiers met ’n vals leer kom in die karakter van die slang. Jesus sê hulle gaan Hel toe as hulle- hulle nie bekeer nie. (Jesus gebruik die subjektiewe gemoed hier. Die subjektiewe gemoed in Grieks hier impliseer ’n onsekerheid. Wat Jesus sê is: Dit is moontlik vir jou om nie Hel toe te gaan nie, maar dit is baie onwaarskynlik dat jy nêrens anders heen sal gaan as Hel toe nie.

Valse leraars seil soos slange, hulle is misleiers, hulle kom in die karakter van slange. Moenie hulle eet nie. Gee pad van mense wat geestelike misleiding uitdra. Kan jy jouself indink om ’n slang op te tel en om hom te eet? Sal jy ’n adder eet? Nooit! Wel bly weg van die adders en hulle leerstellings. Moenie dit eet nie. Is die eet van slange ’n gruwel vir jou? Net die idee om ’n voorspoed prediker se leer te eet moet vir jou ’n gruwel wees.

As jy iemand sien wat ’n voorspoed prediker se boek lees, laat dit vir jou wees soos iemand wat aan ’n rot smul! Dit is wat hulle doen. Laat dit ’n gruwel vir jou wees. Net die idee van ’n vuil giftige ondier moet vir jou afstootlik wees, dit is om vals leerstellings te eet.

Aasvoëls.

“Waar die liggaam lê daar sal die aasvoëls saamkom.”(Mat. 24:28) Aasvoëls val die liggaam aan, hulle teer op dit wat dood is, op die vervolgde kerk. Moenie dit eet nie! Aasvoëls moet afstootlik wees. Jy sal mense kry wat op liggame teer wat besig is om te sterf.

Hulle sal ’n kerk wat in die moeilikheid is kry en sogenaamde wonderwerke verkondig om die probleem op te los, maar al wat hulle doen is om ’n been en ’n arm weg te dra sodat hulle- hulle eie dinge op ’n ander plek kan gaan doen. Aasvoëls is nie kosjer nie, afstootlik is hulle vir jou.

Varke

“En hulle het aan die oorkant van die see gekom in die land van die Gadaréners. En toe Hy uit die skuit gaan, kom daar dadelik uit die grafte Hom tegemoet 'n man met 'n onreine gees, wat sy verblyf in die grafte gehad het. En niemand kon selfs met kettings hom bind nie; want hy was dikwels met voetboeie en kettings gebind, en die kettings is deur hom uitmekaar geruk en die voetboeie stukkend gebreek; en niemand was in staat om hom te tem nie.” (Mark 5:1-4)

Bomenslike fisiese en intellektuele kragte is twee karaktertrekke wat heel dikwels op demoon besetting dui. Bykans elke aantekening in die Bybel van demoon besetting gaan gepaard met irrasionele gedrag. Mense wat hulle self in die vuur gooi, wat in grafte woon ens. Demoon besetting kan bykans uitgesluit word in gevalle waar daar nie irrasionele gedrag teenwoordig is nie.

“En altyd, nag en dag, het hy aangehou om te skreeu op die berge en in die grafte en homself met klippe stukkend te slaan. En toe hy Jesus van ver af sien, hardloop hy en val voor Hom neer en skreeu met 'n groot stem en sê: Wat het ek met U te doen, Jesus, Seun van die allerhoogste God? Ek besweer U by God om my nie te pynig nie. Want Hy het vir hom gesê: Onreine gees, gaan uit die man uit! En Hy vra hom: Wat is jou naam? En hy antwoord en sê: Legio is my naam, want ons is baie.” (Mark 5:5-9)

Nou as julle dit wil glo, daar is ’n president van die Assemblies of God Bybel kollege in Australië wat ’n artikel in hulle nuusblad The Evangel geskryf het dat die man se naam Legeo was en nie die duiwels nie. Dit is ’n man wat veronderstel is om ander predikers op te lei. Mense sal enigiets eet, is dit nie so nie?

“Toe smeek hy Hom dringend om hulle nie uit die land weg te stuur nie. En dáár teen die berge het 'n groot trop varke gewei, en al die duiwels het Hom gesmeek en gesê: Stuur ons in die varke, sodat ons in hulle kan vaar. En Jesus het hulle dit dadelik toegelaat; en die onreine geeste het uitgegaan en in die varke gevaar, en die trop--daar was omtrent twee duisend--het van die krans af in die see gestorm en in die see verdrink.” (Mark 5:10-13) Varke is nie kosjer nie.

In Galiléa was daar heidene, nie-Jode, en miskien ook Jode wat nie die Joodse tradisies onderhou het nie- wat varke aangehou het. Om te verstaan wat hier gebeur moet ons verstaan wat die midrasj beteken. “Moenie wat heilig is, aan die honde gee nie; en gooi julle pêrels nie voor die varke nie, sodat hulle dit nie miskien met hulle pote vertrap en omdraai en julle verskeur nie.” (Mat. 7:6)

Wie is die varke? Dit is mense wat die Evangelie bespot en verwerp. Wat gebeur met hulle? “Dan sal Hy ook vir dié aan sy linkerhand sê: Gaan weg van My, julle vervloektes, in die ewige vuur wat berei is vir die duiwel en sy engele.” (Mat. 25:41)

“En die duiwel wat hulle verlei het, is in die poel van vuur en swawel gewerp--” (Op. 20:10)

In Markus 5 is die See van Galiléa ’n beeld van die poel van vuur en swael. In Openbaring gaan mense wat die Evangelie bespot en verwerp na dieselfde plek as die duiwels.

Skulpvis.

Kom ons kyk na vis. Ek was saam met ’n marine bioloog van die Kaap in Suid Afrika na ’n akwarium. Dit is ’n tenk wat uitgelê is volgens die ondersee se omgewing rondom Suid Afrika

wat toegerus is met verskeie seediere. Wat my opgeval het was die skulpvis. Hulle is aasdiere van die bodem van die see en hulle eet afval. Hulle is nie kosjer nie- so, jy word wat jy eet, jy word afval.

“En Hy sê vir hulle: Kom agter My aan, en Ek sal julle vissers van mense maak.” (Mat. 4:19)

Die apostels het hulle visnet ingegooi en vis gevang eers nadat Jesus vir hulle gesê het waar om vis te vang. Ons kan getuig en getuig maar totdat Jesus nie vir ons sê waar ons- ons nette moet ingooi nie, sal ons nie baie vis vang nie. Ek sê dit nie om persoonlike getuienis of Evangelisasie te ontmoedig nie, dit gaan oor evangelisasie programme en kruistogte, dit is dinge wat deur die Heilige Gees gelei moet word, anders gaan ons nie baie vis vang nie.

Maar hoe lyk skulpvis? Die Boek Openbaring praat van die Aarde en die See (Op.5:14, 7:1-3, 10:2,5,6,8, 12::12, 14:7) Daar is twee diere, een uit die See (Op.13:1) en die ander een uit die Aarde. Die aarde het te doen met Israel. Die see het te doen met die nasies. Hoekom is die nasies in oproer? (Ps. 2:1) Skulpvis is geslote en so diep onder die see dat hulle nie met ’n net gevang kan word nie. Skulpvis het te doen met mense in gebondenheid wat vol van gemorskos is.

As jy nie die regte kos eet nie gaan jy beslis die verkeerde kos eet. Hulle eet gemorskos en dit is wat hulle geword het. Hulle is so diep in die wêreld stelsels vasgevang dat hulle nie gered gaan word nie. Hulle is toegesluit vir die Evangelie, moenie hulle eet nie!

Sade.

As een van hierdie onrein diere op ’n saad sou val voordat dit geplant was- dan kon die saad (en die vrug wat daaruit sou kom) geëet word.

“En as van hulle aas val op enige saad wat gesaai word dit sal rein wees.” (“And if a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing which is to be sown, it is clean.”) (Lev. 11:37) Hoekom?

“Voorwaar, voorwaar Ek sê vir julle, as die koringkorrel nie in die grond val en sterf nie, bly dit alleen; maar as dit sterf, dra dit veel vrug.” (Joh. 12:24) “Dwase mens! Wat jy saai, word nie lewendig as dit nie gesterf het nie.” (1 Kor. 15:36)

Dit is die kataboliese proses. Binne in ’n saad is daar ’n kiem. Die saad val in die grond en sterf en die nuwe skepsel kom uit. Net so is dit met ons, die ou skepping word met Christus geplant. Met die doop sterf ons saam, ons word saam met Hom begrawe en ons staan saam met Hom op. Ons verheerlikte liggame wat eendag sal verskyn sal anders wees van dit wat ingegaan het. Dit maak nie saak wat die saad doen nie, wat die ou skepping doen nie, jy kan ’n homoseksueel, ’n prostituut, dwelmsmous, alkoholis of ’n krimineel gewees het, dit maak nie saak wat die ou skepsel gedoen het nie, as dit in die grond geval en gesterf het is die voedsel rein.

Verkleurmannetjies.

’n Verkleumannetjie is nie kosjer nie. Wat is ’n verkleurmannetjie? Die Hebreeuse woord vir verkleurmannetjie is dieselfde as die Hebreeuse woord vir skynheilig. ’n Verkleurmannetjie is onrein, moenie dit eet nie! Pasop vir skynheilige mense.

Moenie die os muilband nie.

“Want in die wet van Moses is geskrywe: 'n Os wat graan dors, mag jy nie muilband nie. Is dit miskien oor die osse dat God Hom bekommer? Of spreek Hy inderdaad om ons ontwil? Ja, want om ons ontwil is dit geskrywe, omdat hy wat ploeg, op hoop moet ploeg; en hy wat dors, op hoop om wat hy hoop, deelagtig te word.” (1 Kor. 9:9-10)

Hier word gepraat van goeie en opregte predikers wat waardig is om deur ’n bediening beloon te word. Predikers wat die Woord van die Here reg sny en leer, mense wat waardig is om deur ’n bediening gedra te word. Moenie die os wat trek muilband nie. Osse is rein en opreg, jy kan dit wat hulle leer glo en volg. Jy kan hulle eet, maar nie varke of slange of wolwe nie.

Duiwe.

Duiwe is kosjer- hulle is tipes van Jesus. Duiwe is een van die vyf soorte diere wat God Abraham beveel het om te offer.(Gen. 15:9) In die Wet van Moses moes hulle geoffer word oor “lopende water”, (Lev.14:5) wat die “wassing met water deur die Woord” simboliseer. (Ef. 5:26)

Luister na die diere.

Daar was rein en onrein diere. Dierkundig weet ons nie wat al die diere van Levitikus was nie. Van hulle het seker al uitgesterf, ander is dalk nie meer inheems tot die Midde Ooste nie, maar die wat ons wel ken of wat ons in die Bybel kan identifiseer, leer ons iets oor ons geestelike dieet. As mense honger genoeg raak sal hulle enigiets eet- muise, rotte, vlermuise, akkedisse, Koninkryk Nou, Eukumenisme, Noem Dit en Eis dit, Voorspoed Geloof. “Die moet ’n gruwel vir jou wees.”

Die Bybel sê oor en oor dit moet ’n gruwel, afstootlik vir jou wees. Hierdie verskillende geestelike onrein voedsel moet vir jou ’n gruwel wees, kry hulle uit jou gestel uit, hulle gaan jou siek maak.

Die idee om ’n Benny Hinn leerstelling te eet moet vir jou dieselfde wees as om ’n rot te eet, dit moet jou siek laat voel. “’n Gruwel vir jou is dit.” Die Boek van Mormoon- ’n Gruwel is dit vir jou! Die Wagtoring- ’n gruwel is dit vir jou! Dit moet jou siek laat voel, dit is onrein in die Oë van die Here.

Die Dood in die Pot.

“Weer het Elísa in Gilgal gekom, en daar was hongersnood in die land; en terwyl die profete- seuns voor hom sit, sê hy aan sy dienaar: Sit die groot pot op en maak 'n kooksel klaar vir die profete-seuns.” (2 Kon. 4:38)

Daar is hongersnood in die land, daar is niks om te eet nie, maar mense moet eet.

“Toe gaan een uit in die veld om groente te versamel; en hy het wilde ranke gekry en daarvan sy kleed vol karkoere gepluk en gekom en dit in die kookpot stukkend gesny; want hulle het dit nie geken nie.” (2 Kon. 4:39) As mense honger genoeg is sal hulle enigiets eet.

“Daarna het hulle vir die manne opgeskep om te eet; maar net toe hulle van die kooksel eet, skreeu hulle en roep: Man van God, die dood is in die pot! En hulle kon dit nie eet nie.” (2 Kon. 4:40)

Daar is dood in die pot. As jy giftige voedsel eet, vark of skulpvis wat nie gevries was nie, dan kan jy sterf van botulisme of trichinosis. Die dood wag. Maar wat het Elisa gedoen? “Maar hy sê: Gaan haal dan meel (graan) En hy gooi dit in die pot en sê: Skep uit vir die mense, dat hulle eet. En daar was niks verkeerds in die pot nie.” (2 Kon. 4:41)

Jy sit die graan by, mense wat die graan eet sal nie siek word van hierdie ander dinge nie. Hulle gaan nie aangetas word deur valse leerstellings nie. Hulle sal nie deur die ekumeniese beweging, die Koninkryk Nou Teologie, Noem dit en Eis dit- ingesluk word nie. Die graan, die waarheid, gesonde leer -maak valse leer- die gif- skadeloos.

Wat God Gereinig Het.

’n Gruwel is dit vir jou! Rotte, slange, ongediertes en die wat hierdie dinge leer- moet vir jou ’n gruwel wees. Moenie eers daaraan dink om na CD’s of DVD’s van hierdie mense te luister nie, bly weg van hulle kruistogte, moenie hulle boeke lees nie, net soos wat jy ook nie ’n rot sal eet nie, laat dit vir jou ’n gruwel wees. Maar as mense honger genoeg raak sal hulle alles eet!

Kyk wat het met Petrus gebeur:

“En die volgende dag, terwyl hulle op pad was en naby die stad kom, het Petrus omtrent die sesde uur op die dak geklim om te bid; en hy het baie honger geword en wou eet; en terwyl hulle besig was om klaar te maak, het daar 'n verrukking van sinne oor hom gekom: hy sien die hemel geopend en 'n voorwerp soos 'n groot laken na hom afdaal, wat aan die vier hoeke vasgebind is

en op die aarde neergelaat word. Daarin was al die viervoetige diere van die aarde en die wilde en kruipende diere en die voëls van die hemel.” (Hand.10:9-12)

Hier word verwys na Levitikus 11 en Deut. 14, voedsel wat nie kosjer was nie en wat ’n gruwel was en Petrus het dit geweet.

“Toe kom daar 'n stem na hom: Staan op, Petrus, slag en eet! En Petrus sê: Nooit nie, Here, want ek het nooit iets onheiligs of onreins geëet nie.” (Hand.10:13-14)

Met ander woorde wat Petrus hier sê is: Ek kan nie onrein dinge eet nie.

“En weer het die stem vir die tweede keer na hom gekom: Wat God rein gemaak het, mag jy nie onheilig ag nie. En dit het drie maal gebeur, en die voorwerp is weer in die hemel opgeneem.” (Hand. 10:15-16)

En Petrus sê vir hulle: “Julle weet dat dit ongeoorloof is vir 'n Joodse man om met iemand van 'n ander volk omgang te hê of hom te besoek; maar God het my getoon dat ek geen mens onheilig of onrein mag noem nie.” (Hand. 10:28)

Hierdie geding gaan oor die persoon, dit het niks met ras te doen nie, dit gaan oor wat die mense glo. Die Romeine in Paulus se tyd het ander gode aanbid—Jupitor en al die res van die Romeinse algodedom.

Honde

Dink aan Jesus en die Siro-Feniciese vrou wat vir Jesus gevra het om haar dogter gesond te maak. “Maar Jesus sê vir haar: Laat eers die kinders versadig word; want dit is nie mooi om die brood van die kinders te neem en vir die hondjies te gooi nie.” (Mark. 7:27)

Wat is honde? Ps. 22:16: “Want honde het my omsingel; 'n bende kwaaddoeners het my omring; hulle het my hande en my voete deurgrawe.”

Hond was ’n vernederende Joodse term vir heidene. Dit is nie mooi om die brood van die kinders vir die honde te gooi nie. Dit is nie ’n rassistiese aanmerking nie.

Jesus was net so lief vir hierdie Heidense meisie as vir enige van die Joodse meisies. Maar wat Jesus gesê het was: “Vrou, jou godsdiens is nie goed vir menslike gebruik nie. Ek gaan nie brood vir honde gee nie, word ’n mens.”

In die gesig wat Petrus gehad het- (Hand 10) wat verteenwoordig die onrein diere? Heidene, ongelowiges- Honde. Dit was die onrein diere van die gesig. “Petrus eet! Aanvaar dit!” “Verskoon my Here, daar is kosjer deli net ’n entjie verder in die straat, ek raak nie aan dit nie!” “Petrus, eet!”

God maak onrein mense rein, Hy het die Heidene gered, Hy het hulle ‘eetbaar’ gemaak, Hy het hulle geloof gereinig, Hy het hulle verteerbaar gemaak. God kan enige mens reinig, ook Christene wat afgedwaal het en geestelike rotte en kokkerotte begin eet het, God kan tot hulle ook gesond maak as hulle tot bekering kom.

Moet Indië Hongerly?

Toe ek ’n klein seuntjie was in New York was daar ’n tyd toe die Monsoon reëns in Indië baie swak was en daar was ’n hongersnood in Indië. Die tweede mees bevolkte land in die wêreld het ’n massa hongerdood in die gesig gestaar, en daar was ’n groot veldtog gehou met die opskrif: “Moet Indië Sterf?”

Die graan produserende nasies van die wêreld soos Argentinië, Amerika, Kanada en Australië- het groot graan bydraes gemaak. Mense oor die wêreld het geld geskenk. “Moet Indië Sterf?”- was ’n groot veldtog. Dit was die tema op kennisgewing borde, koerante, televisie, boeke- noem dit. Baie Amerikaanse boere in die Midde Weste was gelowiges- en hulle het hulle tiende graan bedrae vir Indië gegee, en so ook ander hulp agentskappe, ek sal dit nooit vergeet nie.

Daar was ’n tydskrif in die Verenigde State wat ’n volblad aan die tema gewy het. Die opskrif het gelui: “Moet Indië Sterf?” en onder aan die bladsy het daar gestaan: “Hoekom Nie?

Daar was ’n foto van twee maer Hindu seuns, erg verhonger en uitgeteer en letterlik op die punt om te sterf.

Die seuns het aan ’n groot sak graan vasgehou en aan die eenkant op die sak het gestaan: “United States Emergency Wheat –NOT FOR SALE–a gift from the people of America to the people of India.” Terwyl die twee seuns die sak vashou was daar koei wat besig was om die graan te vreet!

Regverdigheid verhoog ’n Nasie.

’n Valse geloof sal altyd hongersnood en die dood bring. Kyk na lande waar hongersnode plaasvind, dit konsentreer rondom plekke soos Latyns Amerika, Afrika en Asië waar heidenisme, katolisisme en afgodery hooggety vier.

Ek sê nie dat Christene immuun staan teen swaarkry nie, maar die een is ’n refleksie van die ander – hulle was honger en besig om te sterf terwyl daar kos reg voor hulle was.

Die Bybel sê: “Daar sal ’n hongersnood wees om die Woord van God te hoor”

Vandag is daar alreeds hongersnood, maar dit gaan baie erger raak. Wat gaan gebeur in ’n vervolging as daar nie Bybels is nie en geen Christen byeenkomste toegelaat word nie, soos in Saudi Arabië of in Iran?

Wanneer dit na lande kom soos Brittanje of Suid Afrika, wat gaan hulle doen? Nou is daar nog oral goeie voedsel beskikbaar maar hulle eet dit nie. Wat gaan gebeur as daar nie kos is nie? Wie gaan eerste wees om te sterf? Dit gaan diegene wees wat nie die kos wil eet wat reg voor hulle is nie wat eerste gaan sterf. Dit was ’n tragedie met daardie twee Hindu seuns in Indië. Die tragedie was nie net eenvoudig dat hulle gesterf het nie maar eerder omdat hulle gesterf het met kos voor hulle monde.

Die Hongersnood wat ek in vandag se kerke sien, waar mense enigiets eet, letterlik enigiets, en dit maak nie saak wat dit is nie, hoe siek of hoe giftig dit is nie, dit is ’n tragedie. Maar die groter tragedie is: Daar is nog steeds baie graan in die silo’s.

God Seën,

Jacob Prasch †††

08/2013 / vertaal.


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).
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. ‍ ‍
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).
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.”
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.
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).
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
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).
By David Passmore April 23, 2026
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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).