Mezuzot Part 1 - Japanese

April 3, 2025

メズザー(門柱)1

士師記 14 章を読みましょう。

『サムソンはティムナに下って行ったとき、ペリシテ人の娘でティムナにいるひとりの女を見た。彼は帰ったとき、父と母に告げて言った。「私はティムナで、ある女を見ました。ペリシテ人の娘です。今、あの女をめとって、私の妻にしてください。」すると、父と母は彼に言った。「あなたの身内の娘たちのうちに、または、私の民全体のうちに、女がひとりもいないというのか。割礼を受けていないペリシテ人のうちから、妻を迎えるとは。」サムソンは父に言った。「あの女を私にもらってください。あの女が私の気に入ったのですから。」』(1 節-3 節)

罪はとても簡単にまつわり付くものです。サムソンは不信者の女に弱かったのです。ここでの問題はその女の人種ではありません。中央アフリカのイスラム系民族を除いて女性が割礼を受けることはないのですが、問題なのは彼女の信仰だったのです。その当時、ユダヤ人が非ユダヤ人と結婚するということは、今日、信者が不信者と結婚することと等しいものでした。ですから、言い換えると、大切なのはその女の信仰だったのです。

サムソンは不信仰の女に魅かれる傾向を持っていました。15 章においては、その傾向のために大きなトラブルに陥ります。神は摂理と言われるような目的にしたがって、彼との関係の中で働かれていたのですが、サムソンはトラブルに巻き込まれていました。15 章 18節では、

『そのとき、彼はひどく渇きを覚え、主に呼び求めて言った。「あなたは、しもべの手で、この大きな救いを与えられました。しかし、今、私はのどが渇いて死にそうで、無割礼の者どもの手に落ちようとしています。』

とあり、サムソンのこの女との関係は次第に彼を苦境に陥らせ、最初は彼女の父親と、次にはペリシテ人と争いを引き起こしました。これが彼の記録されている、不信仰の女との最初の闘いでした。

私たちはサムソンに関して他の『ナザレ人の誓い』という説教を提供していて、そこでは髪の毛に関しての象徴も含み、ミドラッシュを扱っています。また、箴言 5 章に出てくる邪悪な女のことも扱っており、それは遊女に自分の力を明け渡すことについて語っていま

す。これは「ペシェル(pesher)=深い霊的な意味」です。さて、それでは今から士師記

16 章の「ペシェット(peshet)=本文の直接的、明らかな意味」を見てみましょう。

『サムソンは、ガザへ行ったとき、そこでひとりの遊女を見つけ、彼女のところに入った。』(1 節)

彼はもう一度行いました。彼はまた不信仰の女を見つけたのです。罪はとても簡単に付きまとうものです『…彼女のところに入った』これはヘブライ語では“ボー・ラー(bow l'ah)”といいます。他の説教から知っているかもしれませんが、ひとりの人が他の人に入ると、三人目の人が創造されます。私たちは神のかたちに造られ、「セオポモーフィック

(theopomorphic)」的な男性、また女性です。私たちの中の神のかたちがあるというこの特徴のために、姦淫と不品行は神の目からとても深刻なものなのです。これらの性的な罪は、私たちの中の神のかたちを、汚し、歪めるものなのです。イギリスにある私の家の門柱には「メズザー(mezuzah)」と呼ばれて、ヘブライ語の“シェム(shem)”という文字が書かれてある小さな箱があります。シェムはヘブライ人の信仰告白の最初の文字でもあります。福音書の中で、人々がイエスに最も大切な戒めは何かと聞いたとき、イエスは、

「シェマ イスラエルアドナイ エロヘヌ

アドナイ エハッド、バルク ハ・シェム

(Shema Israel Adonai Elohenu Adonai ekhad baruch Ha Shem

=イスラエルよ。聞け。われらの神である主は、唯一の主である。)」

また

『心を尽くし、思いを尽くし、知性を尽くし、力を尽くして、あなたの神である主を愛せよ。』(マルコ 12 章 29 節-30 節)

と言いました。“エハッド(ekhad)”という言葉は複合体のひとつという意味です。ひとりの神という言葉は、アダムとエバが一体(エハッド)になると言われたときに使われたのと同じ言葉です。神のかたちとその似姿は再び創造されるのです。

私の門柱にある小さな箱はメズザーといいます。しかし、メズザーは実際には古代ヘブライ人の文化での門柱それ自体であり、そこに付ける小さな箱は門柱にちなんで名付けられました。出エジプト記において、人々はヒソプを過越しの子羊の血に浸し、それをメズザーである門柱の上に、十字の形に血を塗りました。この話にまた戻ってきたいと思いま

す。

夫は妻と結ばれて、ふたりはエハッドになる。“結ばれて”と訳されたヘブライ語は「ダバック(daveq)」というものです。ユダヤ教で神と結ばれるということは「ダバクート

(devequt)」と呼ばれます。「パヨート(payoot)=巻き上げたもみあげの毛」をした正統派ユダヤ人を見るなら、彼らがある身振りをしているのを見るでしょう。それは彼らにとって神と結びつくことを示しているのです。彼らは“ズンズミム(zumzumim)”と呼ばれる「聖なるひらめき」というものを受取ろうとしています。現代ヘブライ語では、「ダバック」という言葉はのりに対して使われ、ヘブライ語でセロテープとは「ナー・ダバック(nyr daveq)」文字通り「貼り付くひも」という意味です。しかしながら、聖書の中でその言葉によって伝えられている概念は、のりというよりかはむしろ、強力な瞬間接着剤のようなものです。のりと瞬間接着剤の違いとは何でしょうか?のりは貼り付きますが、接着剤は固着します。接着剤は高分子化合物を形成します。高分子化とは、ただその時貼り付いているだけではなく、分子レベルで固く付着しているということです。そこには高分子化によって、同じ原子価になっているのです。これと同じように、サムソンはこの不信仰の女と結びついたのです。

続きを読んでみましょう

『このとき、「サムソンがここにやって来た」と、ガザの人々に告げる者があったので、彼らはサムソンを取り囲み、町の門で一晩中、彼を待ち伏せた。そして、

「明け方まで待ち、彼を殺そう」と言いながら、一晩中、鳴りをひそめていた。しかしサムソンは真夜中まで寝て、真夜中に起き上がり、町の門のとびらと、二本の門柱(メズゾート)をつかんで、かんぬきごと引き抜き、それを肩にかついで、ヘブロンに面する山の頂へ運んで行った。』

ここでの柱は鉄(ヘブライ語では「バルゼル=(barzel)」)で作られていました。サムソンが十字架のように負っていた重荷は、木と鉄で作られていました。

彼の弱さがきっかけとなって、このような困難に陥ったのは最初ではありません。パウロはこれを「まつわりつく罪」と呼びました。広告業界のおかげで、人間の性は春のファッションから歯磨き粉まで、あらゆる物を売るための手段となっています。そして私は 87 歳から下の年齢で性的な誘惑に苦しんでいない人を知りません。この世とサタンは一緒になって、広告業界を使い、MTV から雑誌の広告まですべての物によって人間の性を動物的なレベルまで堕落させているのです。

サムソンの状況を考えると、私たちは彼の弱さが何であったかが分かります。あなたや私

にとって、それは性的なものでないかもしれませんが、すべての人が何らかの弱点を持っています。また、ただあなたと私がそれを持っていることだけでなく、敵もそれらについて熟知しているのです。大学生のとき、私の生活の中心はコカインやセックス、マリファナ、ロックンロール、クラシック音楽などでした。また、マルクス主義者であると公言しながら、コカインはお金がかかるのに気付き、その堕落した状態を維持するために高度な教育を受け、良い仕事に就くことが自分には必要だと思っていました。何てひどい偽善者だったのでしょうか!まだ信仰が未熟なときに、自分の弱さが何であって自分に対しての敵の最大の武器は何であるかを聞かれていたなら、私はコカインや大麻だと答えたことでしょう。しかし、後になってから考えると、薬物乱用ほど神が私に完全な救いを与えてくださったことを知りません。マリファナは言うまでもなく、私はタバコを吸っている人がいる同じ部屋にさえいることが出来なくなりました。また、このような物やマリファナを吸っている人たちがいるパーティーに行き、そこで誘惑を受けなかっただけではなく、その人たちに、私を中毒から救ってくださった神の力、また神がより優れたものをくださったことを証しすることが出来ました。薬物の乱用に関して、私はそれが堕落に引き込むものだと思っていたのですが、神は私に完全な勝利を与えてくれたのです。他の人はそれに苦しんでいるかもしれませんが、私は今何の問題も抱えていません。それは私の弱さではありません。私の弱さとは次のようなものです。

イングランドでは車がとても多いものです。ある日、私は自宅から百人ほどの教会に講演 をしに向かっている途中だったのですが、前方にヨーロッパのナンバープレートの、18 か ら 22 くらいの車輪が付いたトラックが、何マイルにもわたって交通を麻痺させていました。

そのトラックを何とか追い越したとき(そのとき 40 分も遅刻していたのですが)、その運転手は片手に携帯電話を持ち、もう一方の手にタバコを持っていました。それを見ると私は彼を銃で撃ちたくなりました。私の憤りはそれ自体正しいものであったかもしれませんが、その人を葬り去りたいというのはまた違ったことなのです。

私の弱さとは強烈な怒りです。聖なる怒りと怒り心頭になることは大きく違います。イス ラエルが金の子牛を造りそれを拝んでいたとき、モーセが十戒の書かれた石の板を取って、山からそれを投げ捨てたのは聖なる怒りです。イスラエルが律法を破ったことを悟らせた のです。私がそのトラックの運転手を銃で撃ってしまいたいと思ったのは、聖なる怒りで はありません。また、発する言葉が正しくても、それは自動的に正しい怒り、聖なる怒り であるということはありません。私はこのことを『ツァドクの息子たち』というテープで 語っています。これが私の個人的な弱さなのです。

またもうひとつ他の弱さの例を挙げましょう。救われた信者であっても、その人にとって

アルコールがただの飲料ではなく、薬物になっている人を知っています。夕食と共にワイ

ンをたしなむことや、ランチとビールを一緒にすることは彼らにとって不可能なのです。このような信者はいかなる種類のアルコール飲料であれ、個人的な弱さのために、少しも近寄ってはならないのです。

保険会社は医学について何も知らないかもしれませんが、確実にお金のことについては熟知しています。それゆえ、彼らは統計について精通しているのです。あなたが保険契約の用紙に記入するとき、最初に見る質問は、あなたがタバコを吸うかどうかというものでしょう。タバコを禁煙すると、自動的にリスクの低いカテゴリーに入れられます。反対に、タバコを吸い始めるやいなや、統計的にリスクの高いカテゴリーに入れられるのです。また、一分間タバコを吸うと、その人の寿命から一分差し引かれると言われています。言い換えると、タバコ一本であってもあなたの寿命を縮めているのです。ですが、救われた信者であってもタバコがその弱さとなっている人たちを知っています。彼らは一日、二日はタバコ無しに過ごすかもしれませんが、相変わらずその習慣に戻ってきてしまうのです。クリスチャンの中には、このことを問題にするのをあざける人もいますが、教会の外を歩いているときに、たまたまタバコに火を灯しているのを見かけられると、その人の証は無くなってしまうのです。「そうなんだ、イエスさまが私の人生を変えてくれたんだよ。ところで、ライター持ってる?」

「あなたの隣人のものをほしがってはならない」(出エジプト 20 章 17 節)――それなら、クリスチャンはなぜギャンブルが出来るのでしょうか?私は正直言って分かりません。それらのものは現代の技術によって促進されています。代用物による罪、かつてもそうだっ たのですが、それが罪深さを軽減するように考えられています。例えば、外出して浮気を し、配偶者を裏切ることがなくても、今夜何千人もの新生したクリスチャンがチャットル ームで、ネットによる代用物で浮気をしていることは明らかです。インターネットでそれ をし、実際に外出して行うことはないのですが、どういうわけか、それはまだマシである と考えているのです。しかし、神は自分の妻や夫以外に少しでも情欲を抱くなら、あなた は姦淫したと言われます。このような罪深いチャットを行っている者が何千といるのです。私はこのようなことをしたために、深刻な苦しみに陥ったクリスチャンの女性を具体的に 知っています。

「まつわりつく罪」それはあなたにとって性的なことであるかもしれないし、そうでないかもしれません。また、薬物の乱用かもしれませんし、そうでないかもしれません。暴力や激しい気性かもしれません。それが何であっても、すべてのクリスチャンは、継続的に陥る何かしらのことを抱えています。私が会った最も敬虔な人々でさえ、明らかな弱さを抱えていました。聖書を見ると、ノアやアブラハムなどの族長たちも、老齢になってもそ

の人格には欠点があったことが分かります。パウロが「まつわりつく罪」と呼んだような

罪は、彼らのいのちが尽きて死に至るまで神が取り除こうとされていることが分かります。パウロがまつわりつく罪とギリシア語で書いたとき、彼は過去形を使わず、『私はその罪 人のかしらです。』(1テモテ 1 章 15 節)――と書き、彼自身信者であっても現在形を使 いました。

サムソンのまつわりつく罪は不信仰の女に対する情欲でした。さきに士師記 15 章では、そ

の罪が彼を困難に陥らせましたが、神はそこから救われたことを見ました。しかし 16 章において、彼は再び行いました。罪に屈すれば屈するほど、ますます深みにはまり、状況はさらに危険なものとなります。今回彼は目のあたりまで、泥沼にはまってしまったようです。彼を陥れようとする者たちによって囲まれていました。

悪魔は官能的な快楽に興味はありません。また、罪とつかの間のかかわりを持つ快楽にも 興味はありません。『悪魔の手紙』を読んだことがあるなら、その点においてC・S・ルイ スは大いに的を得ています。その本では年上の悪魔が若い悪魔に対して、クリスチャンに どうやって罪を犯させるかをアドバイスをしていて、快楽について慎重であるようにと警 告を与えています。なぜなら、それは彼らの敵である神によって造られたものだからです。そして、年上の悪魔は獲物を誘惑するために、快楽を堕落させるなら慎重にしなければな らないと指摘します。そうです、悪魔にとってつかの間の快楽という罪はエサにしかすぎ ないのです。サタンはどのようなものであれ、誰かが快楽を楽しむことを望んでいません。彼の望みはただ人々が地獄に行くことです。永遠のこちら側、また人の頭では神の愛を完 全に理解することはできず、また、サタンの邪悪さを完全に理解する事はできないので す。

もう一度、士師記 16 章のサムソンが窮地に陥った箇所に戻りましょう。そこで彼は包囲されていたことに気付きます。彼は何をすべきなのでしょうか?言い換えると、あなたや私が、自分が行った同じ愚かなことのゆえに、窮地に陥った場合何をすべきなのでしょうか?サムソンの敵はいつ彼を奇襲しようとしていたでしょうか?真夜中ではなく、夜明けでした。サムソンは安らかに寝ていましたが、真夜中にとび起きました。もし、彼が夜明けまで待っていたなら、敵は襲いかかっていたことでしょう。

これを私たち自身の生活に適用するなら、あなたが再び窮地に陥り、困難の中にいると気付いたなら、その時は以前よりも状況が悪いのですから、すぐさま正常な状態に戻すのを遅らせてはいけません。ただちにそうするのです!ちゅうちょすることは自分自身を標的にすることです。敵はあなたを、そして私を食い尽くそうと待ち受けています――悪霊は実在するのです。サムソンは床からとび起きなければならないにも関わらず、すぐさまそ

の状況を修正しました。あなたが自分自身を、罪の中で快適にしてしまうその瞬間、その

身を危険な立場に置いていることになるのです。

このようにサムソンはとび上がりました。しかしながら、彼は囲まれたままでした。彼は このわなからどうやって逃れたのでしょうか?また、私たちが手をつけてしまったものか ら、逃れるためにどのようにしたら良いのでしょうか?サムソンはイエス・キリストの十 字架、木と鉄でできたメズザーをつかみました。困難に陥るには何万もの道がありますが、そこから抜け出すにはひとつの道しかありません。サムソンは十字架を取り、肩にかけ、 それを持って出て行きました。ただちに正常に戻すこと―すぐに十字架を取るのです。

ここに熱烈な説教者がいます。しかし、この熱烈な説教者について一言語らせてください。かつて私が結婚する以前、まだ奉仕や神学校に入ってない頃、まだイスラエルにも行って いないとき(私はニューヨークにいました)、私はまだ幼い信者であったのですが、マン ハッタンの東側に住んでいて、少し年上の魅力的な女性に出会いました。私はその人の誘 いに間違った仕方で乗ってしまったのです。彼女に証をする代わりに、彼女の気のある素 振りに反応してしまいました。いつの間にか、私は彼女とタクシーの中にいました。その 後間もなく、気が付くと彼女とバスタブの中にいました。そしてついに、私は彼女とベッ ドの中にいたのです。私はイエスを知る以前に行っていたような道を歩み、当然のなりゆ きに身を任せる寸前にまでなっていたのです。直前になって、自分は一体何ていうことを しているんだと自問し、どうやってこの状況から逃れるかを考えるようになりました。私 の肉はそのままを望んでいました。しかし、私は「主なるイエスよ、私のしたことを見て ください!私は愚か者ですが、主よ、この状態からどうにか抜け出させてください」と言 い、祈りました。私がそのとき何を彼女に言ったか覚えていませんが、彼女をひどくいら だたせたことでしょう。私が何を言ったかを具体的には思い出せませんが、彼女が言った 言葉は忘れることができません。彼女は部屋中を走り回って、私に向かって叫び「出て行 け、出て行け!」と言いました。私の古い性質は罪を欲していましたが、新しい性質はた だそこから逃れたかったのです。少しでも遅らせることは命とりになります。脱出するに はただひとつの道しかありません。肉を十字架につけるのです。

神はサムソンに対してと同じように私にも恵み深い方でした。サムソンはメズザーを―鉄と木でできた物――持ち上げ、山に上りました。その後何が起こったのでしょうか?読みすすめてみましょう。

『その後、サムソンはソレクの谷にいるひとりの女を愛した。彼女の名はデリラといった。』(16 章 4 節)

案の定、サムソンは同じことをくり返したのです!彼は出て行って、違う女を見つけたの

です!サムソンがこのようなことを実際何度したかは分かりません。しかし、少なくとも聖書に記されている回数、彼はそうしたことでしょう。最初のときは、困難に陥った様子を見ました。二度目は、窮地に陥りました。今回彼はどうなるのでしょうか?

あなたにとってのまつわりつく罪は、性的なものではないかもしれませんが、サムソンにとってまさにそれが弱さでした。しかし疑う余地の無いことは、あなたもそれをひとつは持っており、私もそうであるということです。あなたはそれが何かを知っており、神はご存知であり、言うまでもなく敵もそれを知っています。あなたが相変わらず陥り続ける、愚かで、ばかで、頭足らずのことがあるはずです。ではサムソンはどうしたのでしょうか?

『すると、ペリシテ人の領主たちが彼女のところに来て、彼女に言った。「サムソンをくどいて、彼の強い力がどこにあるのか、またどうしたら私たちが彼に勝ち、彼を縛り上げて苦しめることができるかを見つけなさい。私たちはひとりひとり、あなたに銀千百枚をあげよう。」』(16 章 5 節)

救われていない人はただひとつのことを気にします。それはお金です。その値段が良ければ未信者はどんなことでもたいがい行います。今、デリラはサムソンをくどくために、お金を約束されました。事態は変化していました。敵はその戦略を変えてきたのです。今までは、サムソンに対しての彼らの試みは、機会を狙っているだけでした。しかし今、彼らは手はずを整え、わなにかけようとしているのです。伝道者の書で言われているように、不義の結果はすぐには現れないので、人々はそれから逃れることができると誤って考えているのです。聖書は罪について注目すべきことを述べています。というのは、聖書は罪を擬人化しており、それが私たちを欺くことができると言うのです。欺くことができるのはサタンだけではなく、見分けることに失敗すると他の人が私たちを欺くだけではなく、私たちが自分自身を欺くだけでなく、罪そのものも私たちを欺くのです。そのまつわりつく罪は、あなたがそれを持ちながら、うまくやっていけると思わせるのです。

サムソンの敵の戦略は今はもう変わりました。なぜなら、彼らは偶然の出来事を通して彼を陥れることはできないと気付いたからです。相対的に言って、あなたが何か悪いことを行って、自分自身に困難を招くことは良いことです。一旦、自分がうまくやってのけて罪の結果を刈り取ることが無ければ、そのときあなたは――ただそのことを知らないだけで

――本当の困難に陥っているのです。

これは人が初めてタバコを買い、吸ってみようとするときに非常によく似ています。体は

ニコチンとタールを吸ったことの反応で、あることを訴えかけようと激しくせきをするの

ですが、代謝的に慣れてしまうとせきが止まり、真実と全く正反対にも、そのことが大丈 夫であるかのように思ってしまうのです。実際にはその人は統計的に、呼吸器疾患、循環 器疾患、またあらゆる種類のガンの候補者となっています。タバコは発がん性物質を含ん でいるのですが、一旦せきがとまってしまうと、問題や危険が過ぎ去ってしまったかのよ うに簡単に考えてしまうのです。喫煙者はせきをしているほうが良いのです。少なくとも、タバコが良い物でないことが分かるのですから。

6 節から続けましょう

『そこで、デリラはサムソンに言った。「あなたの強い力はどこにあるのですか。どうすればあなたを縛って苦しめることができるのでしょう。どうか私に教えてください。」サムソンは彼女に言った。「もし彼らが、まだ干されていない七本の新しい弓の弦で私を縛るなら、私は弱くなり、並みの人のようになろう。」そこで、ペリシテ人の領主たちは、干されていない七本の新しい弓の弦を彼女のところに持って来たので、彼女はそれでサムソンを縛り上げた。彼女は、奥の部屋に待ち伏せしている者をおいていた。そこで彼女は、「サムソン。ペリシテ人があなたを襲ってきます」と言った。しかし、サムソンはちょうど麻くずの糸が火に触れて切れるように、弓の弦を断ち切った。こうして、彼の力のもとは知られなかった。デリラはサムソンに言った。「まあ、あなたは私をだまして、うそをつきました。さあ、今度は、どうしたらあなたを縛れるか、教えてください。」』(16 章 6 節-10 節)

サムソンは火遊びをしていたのです。彼は一晩 10 万円で売春婦と床をともにし、隣の部屋では売春宿の主人が弾丸を込めた銃を持っていたような状況だったのです。そこで彼はゲームをしていました。同じように、罪に対して態度が軽薄であり、それをうまくやってのけると考えたのです。それはゲームのようなものになります。ロシアン・ルーレットも同じようなゲームです。銃弾を銃身に入れ、それを回転させます。共にそれを遊んでいる人だけがどのシリンダーに銃弾があるかを知っています。カチ…カチ…カチ…と音がし、遅かれ早かれ、おそらく意外にも早く“バン”という音と共に終わりが来るのです。

11 節『すると、サムソンは彼女に言った。「もし、彼らが仕事に使ったことのない新しい綱で、私をしっかり縛るなら、私は弱くなり、並みの人のようになろう。」そこで、デリラは新しい綱を取って、それで彼を縛り、「サムソン。ペリシテ人があなたを襲ってきます」と言った。奥の部屋には待ち伏せしている者がいた。しかし、サムソンはその綱を糸のように腕から切り落とした。』

戦略は二度目にほんの少し変化しただけだということに注目してください。

『デリラはまた、サムソンに言った。「今まで、あなたは私をだまして、うそをつきました。どうしたらあなたを縛れるか、私に教えてください。」』

ここでデリラはサムソンを殺そうとしていたのですが、彼を不品行のために責めていました。これは法王が小児愛者の宗教の指導者でありがら、子どもたちの人生を破壊している性的に異常な聖職者を保護している一方で、イラクに爆弾を落とすのは道徳的ではないと言うようなものです。彼は自分の教会が堕落の汚水を垂れ流しているのに、他の人にどのようにして道徳的になるべきかを教えたがっているのです。

『…どうしたらあなたを縛れるか、私に教えてください。」サムソンは彼女に言った。「もしあなたが機の縦糸といっしょに私の髪の毛七ふさを織り込み、機のおさで突き刺しておけば、私は弱くなり、並みの人のようになろう。」』

ここで何が起こっているのでしょうか?少しずつサムソンはわなにかかってきているのです。今彼はデリラに彼の力の秘密がその髪と関係していると明かしました。危険が増してきたのです。私たちの人生で、罪を何度かうまくやってのけたとき、私たちは自信を持ち不注意になります。そして彼がしたように危険を引き寄せてしまうのです。それはカジノや競馬場に行くようなものです。勝算がどんなときでもあるのなら、彼らは何も仕事をしていないはずです。

ここで起こっていることを理解しましょう。彼はなぜ神との関係における自分の秘密を、 不信仰の女に明らかにし始めたのでしょうか?彼女は近所の女でもなく、魔性の女であり、おまけに“シクセー(shikseh)”(訳注…異邦人女性の軽蔑した言い方)でした。サムソン はイスラエルの中ですてきな女性を見つけることができなかったのでしょうか?彼は聖な る結婚関係以外で持ち出してはならない秘密を共有し始めました。なぜなのでしょうか? それは結合したこと「ダバック」のゆえです。誰かと寝てしまうと、接着剤で覆われるこ とを避けることはできません。

私は幼い信者のころ、ニューヨークで国連の向かいに住んでいました。私はそこでひとりの魅力的なイタリア人女性と同棲していて、彼女は料理も他のこともうまくできる人でした。その関係はふたつのことによって支えられていました。ひとつはフェットゥチーネ・アルフレード(パスタ)であり、ふたつ目は皆さんの想像に任せます。イエスに従い始めたころ、当時ジューズ・フォー・ジーザス(Jews for Jesus)のリーダーが私に、結婚するか出て行いくかのどちらかにしなければならないと言いました。なので、私は彼女に出て

行くよう言いました。そして、残ってた薬物を取り、ご存知の通り、窓から投げ捨てまし

た。それは 20 階下の1番通りに落ちました。私がいつも指摘してきたように、そのときポーランドの大使が外交官としての特権を持っていたことは良かったことです。でなければ彼は留置所で愚痴をこぼすことになっていたでしょう。私はその女性を主に導きました。今私は世界中にあるどんな教会でも行くことができ、それらの教会にいる女性は信仰にあっての姉妹であり、それ以上でもそれ以下でもありません。しかし、そのイタリア人の女性に会うなら、私はそこにあってはならないものがあるような気にいつもなるのです。もしあなたが、離婚の苦しみに耐えた人と話すなら、彼らはそれが取り返しのつかない損害を与えたと語ってくれることでしょう。


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
Please click this link:https://mailchi.mp/christianconcern.com/action-alert-street-preaching-22-04-26?e=f1df30be3f
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).
By David Passmore April 9, 2026
Please keep brother Malcolm Betts from the New Life Pentecostal Church, Winsford in prayer. He is suffering from heart failure, valve problems and spinal stenosis. Your prayers for healing and intervention are coveted. Also, Malcom’s daughter Laura-Louisa is having complications with her pregnancy. Her baby boy is due on the 22nd of April and was in a breach position, however he is now moved to an oblique position which carries serious risk and possible surgical intervention. Laura is also at risk of postpartum haemorrhage. Please pray for the midwives and obstetricians skill and wisdom. Please also pray for Malcolm’s sister Susan who has sepsis in her leg. And please pray also for Sheila Carlisle. She is undergoing knee replacement surgery.