Fall of the House of Saul

April 3, 2025

God Ceases Communicating with Saul

1 Samuel 28:6:

"And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets."

We are not certain what Urim and Thummim were, but we do know they were two kinds of stones in an ephod case on the high priest's chest. Urim has to do with the Hebrew word for lights; this is how they discerned God's leading and direction in some circumstances in Old Testament Israel.

We see in 1 Samuel 28:6 that God stopped giving light to King Saul; He stopped hearing King Saul. Saul's leadership was at this point totally backslidden, and had become treacherous. When leadership backslides, something else happens: God stops speaking to that leader or those leaders. God would not speak to Saul by prophets – perhaps God would send him false prophets, but no longer any true prophet, such as Samuel. One of the things that take place in this kind of situation is that God removes prophetic voices.

We don't think of it this way, but God does: The death of Samuel was not bad for Samuel. Samuel didn't want his sleep disturbed as we see in 1 Samuel 28:15. However, Samuel's death was bad for Saul.

"When a righteous man perishes, no one takes it to heart" (Isaiah 57:1)

That is a judgment of God. When God removes true prophetic voices, that is one of the final phases of His judgment. I personally believe that the untimely death of our friend Larry Thomas was God's judgment on the Assemblies of God; I don't believe God ever intends to give another warning to the Assemblies of God in America. I believe He will simply let them go their way into apostasy and decline, which in fact they already have begun to do.

What happens when God stops speaking to backslidden leaders? When we look at verses 11 through 16 of 1 Samuel 28, we see what Saul did:

"Then the woman said, 'Whom shall I bring up for you?' And he said, 'Bring up Samuel for me.' When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, 'Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!' And the king said to her, 'Do not be afraid. What do you see?' And the woman said to Saul, 'I saw a spirit (divine being) ascending out of the earth.' So he said to her, 'What is his form?' And she said, 'An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle.' And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down. Now Samuel said to Saul, 'Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?' And Saul answered, 'I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.' Then Samuel said: 'So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy?'"

The Divine Strategy in Starting a New Work

God let Saul go on and on and on while David was growing stronger. This is one recurrent principle you will see in God's dealing with His people. He spends a long time getting something new ready, focusing more on quality than on quantity. Once the quality has been founded, then the quantity comes. God will not allow the old thing to fall until He judges that the new thing is ready to take its place. God told Joshua that He would not give the whole land to him all at once; (Exo 23:29-30; Deut 7:22) (He allowed the Philistines, Canaanites, Jebusites and so on stay in the land for a season, “lest the land lie fallow”. God will even let something bad stay in place until He has made something good ready to take it over.

When Jesus came, died, and rose from the dead, there was a brief time period of about forty years during which there were two covenants that were technically in simultaneous effect: the Temple was not destroyed for forty years following the establishment of the New Covenant. This was a chance God gave the Jews to repent and accept Jesus as the Messiah before the Temple was destroyed in fulfillment of Daniel and Jesus' prophecies. (Math 24:1-2)

It is the same with Saul. God does not remove Saul all at once; not until David is ready to take over – and by David we don't simply mean David himself but his men as well, the outcasts of Israel whom God had trained up in the wilderness. Then and only then did Saul fall. In the same way, we will not see large denominations fall overnight. They fall progressively for a time, and then something comes which precipitates their going into a nosedive. God will keep them in place until something new is ready to take over.

Readying the New to Replace the Old

As I travel around the world, I do see that something new is beginning to take over. Sometimes it is found in a small country church; other times it is found in a mega-church such asTimes Square Church or Brooklyn Tabernacle, both in New York City. There are many such places; they tend to be independent Pentecostal churches. This is not exclusive, but they do seem to be the ones whom God spends a long time getting right, building them up qualitatively. Once He obtains the right quality of leadership and people involved, He then begins adding to their numbers. There is no explosive growth in the beginning.

All of David's choice men did not come to him at once, and two things had to occur before all Israel came to him. First, David and his men had to be made ready. Those outcasts of Israel had to become leaders. If a church begins to grow very large, it is important to know how many of the people could lead home groups and Bible studies, how many could take leadership roles, how many could go and plant other churches. We always say we're waiting for the Lord, and there is certainly a truth in that. But the other side of that coin is that the Lord is waiting for us.

The quality of teaching found in the churches and people whom God is raising up to found something new is vastly superior to that which is found in most churches. This is particularly true of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, most of which no longer have a clue. Here is the question, then: Are you waiting for God, or is God waiting for you? Someone can hear good Bible teaching week after week, but at what point is he ready and willing to put it into operation to feed other people? Not until we have reached that point can we begin to have legitimate, explosive growth. Remember that on the Day of Pentecost, the church began with only 120 members; but they were ready, so that was all it took.

The Last Phase of the House of Saul Part 1: When the World has More Integrity than the Church

But what will happen? The last phase of the house of Saul. Read with me, please, in 1 Samuel 29 beginning with verse 1:

"Then the Philistines gathered together all their armies at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel. And the lords of the Philistines passed in review by hundreds and by thousands, but David and his men passed in review at the rear with Achish. Then the princes of the Philistines said, 'What are these Hebrews doing here?' And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, 'is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me.'"

Point 1: The Philistines knew that David did no wrong and at least wanted to behave honorably toward him. Saul also knew that David did no wrong. Many people with Saul knew David had done no wrong, but were out to get him anyway. This is phase 2 of the final days of Saul's house: When the world, the lost, the unsaved, has more integrity than does the church, it is a sick thing. Federal prosecutors brought down Jim Bakker. Why? Because the hireling pastors of America did not have the courage or integrity to do it first. So the world, knowing he was corrupt, showed more integrity than the church.

Exploitation of the Poor

One after another, Copeland, Hagin, Fred Price and so on and on – they prey on the poor and exploit them. Think about it – who are they mainly ripping off? The poor, the unemployed, single-parent families, ethnic minorities, people in the inner cities. They promise these people this, that, and the other thing. It's one thing to take it from the haves; but when you take it from the have-nots you have reached a new low. "He who oppresses the poor is a reproach to his Maker." (Pro 14:31) When you exploit the poor, it is a personal affront to God. In God's economy the rich are supposed to help the poor, the clever to help the simple – when you begin ripping people off who are already at a disadvantage, you are a reproach to your Maker. The world sees through this, and again, has more integrity than the church.

There is not a single television network in America that wouldn't remove a known con artist from their programming schedules. These are secular broadcasting companies – they put on lewd, violent programs that represent degenerate views of human sexuality – they do low things, but not as low as the things the so-called Christian networks will do. ABC has more integrity than TBN, though I don't like ABC. When you stand up and speak against this corruption, the world knows you're telling the truth. This is phase 1: When the world has more integrity than God's so-called people.

Part 2: When Saul's House Goes Too Far - The Occult

The second thing for which God is waiting is for the house of Saul to go too far. At what point have they gone too far? When they go into the occult. Arguably the most serious form of occult practice seen in the Bible is the sin of necromancy, or communicating with the dead. If a believer goes to be with the Lord, until the Rapture and Resurrection when we meet them in the air, we have one indirect line of communication left to them: We may talk to the same Jesus they may talk to. By the Holy Spirit, He transcends time, space, and eternity. Only He may cross that barrier and be both in time and in eternity simultaneously. The case we just read about with Saul is a special event that God allowed one time only.

When you see religions fooling around with the dead, it is a serious matter. We are not just talking about the spooky movie stuff that kids like; it's something more than Ghostbusters.Mormonism, for example, is big-time into this thing with the dead. The same is true of Roman Catholicism – when you walk into a Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox church, look at how dark it is. Also observe all the statues of dead people they put up before which people light candles and burn incense. Similarly, what do you see in Shintoism, the Japanese practice of ancestor worship? The same things. It is the spirit of death. At Lenin's tomb in Moscow, they've re-embalmed his corpse and made him into a godlike figure. This is the spirit of death. Even the architecture and atmosphere of these places reflects what they are; look at a cathedral and see how startling a resemblance it bears to a haunted house. Little children find these churches spooky when they go in. The literal darkness of these places reflects their spiritual darkness.

Only the Lord can transcend time, space and eternity. When someone else tries to put him or herself in the position to cross over this barrier between the temporal and the eternal, they are putting themselves in Christ's place. This is the spirit of Antichrist – “anti” literally means “in place of”. It is something grossly demonic. It isn't just that they're fooling around with the dead, but that they are attempting to do something that only God may do. All false religions will put man in God's place in some way.

Benny Hinn has stated on national television that the ghosts of Kathryn Kuhlman and Amy Semple-McPherson appeared to him in his room at night. This man communes with the dead, and has proclaimed that fact on so-called Christian television. The Bible calls this demonic – the man is an absolute necromancer. Yet none of this matters – neither that he said it nor that he did it – people still accept it as being from God. The church has proven her willingness to accept the demonic.

The Misguided Loyalty of Saul's Army

Saul's armies continued to follow him. Even people who knew Saul was wrong, such as his own sons, continued to maintain their loyalty to him. In the same way, even people who know these churches are wrong will remain loyal to them. This is very serious. Once you have reached this point, judgment cannot be far off. I am absolutely convinced that what happened to the PTL Club, with Bakker's scandal and all that, will also happen to TBN and Benny Hinn. It'll go down the same way.

There will come a crisis, and out of it will emerge something new. We read this in 2 Samuel 5:1:

"Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron …"

God's judgment on these people who have now gone into the overtly occult is inevitable. They were already involved long ago in many occultic things; an example would be Morris Cerullo with his Holy Ghost miracle handkerchiefs to take away debt – this is a practice called fetishism.

So what is delaying God's judgment from falling? Something that will emerge from the chaos that other people can come to and find the right way forward. Not until the new thing is ready will God allow the old thing to fall, although His judgment is now inevitable. I honestly believe we have now reached the point at which God told Jeremiah not to even pray for certain people any more. (Jer 7:16; 11:14; 14:11) Samuel basically asked Saul, "What do you want me to do about it?" I personally no longer even pray that people such as Benny Hinn will repent – I don't believe it is possible now, because God has given them over to their deception. I truly believe that the Lord has instructed that we ought not to even pray for TBN any longer. They have been given over by the Lord to the demonic practices they embraced.

Know Your Enemy

Let us continue in 1 Samuel 29:4:

"But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; so the princes of the Philistines said to him, 'Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads of these men? Is this not David, of whom they sang to one another in dances, saying: "Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands"?'

Then Achish called David and said to him, 'Surely, as the Lord lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight. For to this day I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me. Nevertheless the lords do not favor you. Therefore return now, and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.' So David said to Achish, 'But what have I done? And to this day what have you found in your servant as long as I have been with you, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?' Then Achish answered and said to David, 'I know that you are as good in my sight as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, "He shall not go up with us to the battle." Now therefore, rise early in the morning with your master's servants who have come with you. And as soon as you are up early in the morning and have light, depart.' So David and his men rose early to depart in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel."

David knew his enemy. Something happens in churches: we tend to become Amish. The Amish people are a Mennonite sect whose ancestors in Holland were truly saved Christians. Most of them today, however, are virtually cultic and are unsaved. One of the reasons they went wrong was the sin of “party spirit”. Another mistake they made, however, was that they forgot how to be in the world but not of it. When a group becomes so introspective that they lose their capacity to understand and relate to unbelievers, it becomes evangelistically ineffective.

I don't advocate Christians listening to heavy metal music – personally, I hate the stuff. However, I do advocate understanding what it is. How else will you witness to people who do listen to it? It is stupid to spend hours of your time watching one idiot thing on television after another. But it's good to know what the world is watching and how they're thinking – that's their worldview. David learned to know his future enemy. The way that he overcame the Philistines was in having once become one; he wasn't ethnically a Philistine, of course, but he rode with their army. The Philistines for their part might have overcome the Amalekites if they had kept David; God might have blessed them if they had blessed David rather than ostracizing him. However, that was their loss.

David knew his opponent. People who were saved out of the world generally have an advantage in witnessing because they know the way unsaved people think. Personally, I don't have a great burden for drug addicts. One would think that I should, since I was once one of them. When I was a teenager I was addicted to hard drugs. I was fooling around with heroin by the age of 16, but once I got to college my god was cocaine. Maybe being around drug addicts reminds me too much of what I used to do and be, and that's why I don't like it. Seeing junkies reminds me of things about myself that I would much rather forget ever were; perhaps that is true. I do understand the drug culture, however; I understand the way a junkie thinks, what makes him tick. Holy huddles are detrimental. “Be in the world, but not of it”. David knew his enemy. Too many Christians are insular, ignorant of what the world is like. The usual exception to this is those churches which are worldly themselves. Largely, therefore, you have two rotten choices: be insular, or be worldly. Neither one is Biblical. It is no more Biblical to be Amish than it is to be worldly; rather there is a balance: “in it, but not of it”.

Notice that the Philistines accepted David up to a point. The world will always, always, always end up rejecting Christians; Christians have rejected the world already. Unsaved people only ever accept a Christian to a certain point. Never trust an unsaved person. Let me repeat that: never trust an unsaved person. Even if you are married to one, do not trust him or her beyond a limited point. "The whole world is in the power of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19); "Satan is the god of this world". (2 Cor 4:4) If a person is not covered by the blood of Jesus directly or indirectly, he or she is working for the god of this world, the devil. Again: never trust an unsaved person; at some point they will turn against you.

The House of Saul vs. the House of David

David leaves the Philistine army. Now, let's go on to read chapter 30:

"Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day,"

(The third day usually alludes typologically to the Resurrection; however, I won't go into that now

"that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken away captive. Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, 'Please bring the ephod here to me.' And Abiathar brought the ephod to David."

Let's understand what is happening here: God was no longer speaking to Saul through Urim and Thummim; instead, He was speaking to David through Urim and Thummim, giving David the light. People can have a bigger army, a bigger church, and a bigger name; but if God is no longer speaking to them, what good will that do for them?

Part 3: Saul's House is Defeated

The first characteristic of Saul's army is that it has less integrity than the world. The second characteristic of Saul's army, we saw, is that they go into the occult. The third is that they can no longer get the victory. The churches in this character cannot defeat Islam, which is rising in America, even in the Midwest. Neither can they defeat Mormonism or New Age, nor any other enemies of God. They have absolutely no power to stop abortion and homosexuality from being taught in public schools.

To review once more the characteristics of Saul's army: First, they have less integrity than the world. Second, God stops speaking to them and they go into the occult. Third, they cannot gain victory. The occult is rampant in the church: most of the visions and pictures they receive are clairvoyant, their prophecies are at best psychological or at worst occult, and now there is necromancy. Let's look at what happens to the house of David as the house of Saul goes into all this.

A Closer Look at David's House

David seeks the Lord. Remember, he is in dire circumstances: He has a small army, he is losing people, and he's even losing loved ones. He is up against both an external and an internal enemy.

Faithful churches these days find themselves in much the same situation. It's not enough to find ourselves up against a radical homosexual community – remember, homosexuals cannot procreate children; this is why they want yours, with their demands to have their lifestyle taught in schools and to lead Boy Scout troops, to take your little boys camping. But it's not enough to have that to deal with – on the other side, we've got Saul. We've got occultic churches. We're small, we're fighting on two sides, and we're paying a tremendous personal price.

Yet in David's day, that was where God was speaking. Saul had the numbers, but couldn't gain the victory. He had the name, but God was no longer speaking to him. I would rather meet in a closet with five faithful Christians who study God's Word, who hear Him through that Word and by His Spirit, than meet in an arena with five thousand of Saul's people. I don't care how many they have – they can't gain victory, and God isn't speaking to them. Better to be with a small group of people or in a small church where God is speaking – that's all there is to it. What good is it, after all, if God is not there?

Verse 8 of chapter 30:

"So David inquired of the Lord, saying, 'Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?' And He answered him, 'Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.' So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind." 'Besor' is the Hebrew word for 'gospel'. "But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.

Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights." Again, when you see this, you have a typological reference to the Resurrection. "Then David said to him, 'To whom do you belong, and where are you from?' And he said, 'I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. We made an invasion of the southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to Judah, and of the southern area of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.' And David said to him, 'Can you take me down to this troop?' So he said, 'Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this troop.'

And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled." It is here comparing the four hundred who fled with the four hundred who were with David; there was a balance. "So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all. Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, 'This is David's spoil.'

Now David came to the two hundred men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near the people, he greeted them."

We looked at the phases of Saul: No longer hearing from God, having less integrity than unbelievers, into the occult, and unable to gain victory. Now we look at David: He had come to know his enemy firsthand – he did not know about his enemy, he knew his enemy. There is no light at the end of the tunnel; rather there is more darkness at the end of the tunnel. After that comes the light. Things get worse before they get better. The final phase, or test, of the new army, the new church, the new move of God, that which is in the character of David, is when it affects families.

Families are the cell groups of a church. No congregation is going to be any healthier than the families, which make it up. It doesn't matter how good the Bible teaching is, or how good the worship is, or how good the fellowship is; what happens in the church is never going to exceed the sum total of what happens in family devotional times or when husbands and wives pray together. In order to accurately gauge a person's spirituality, you must see what kind of husband and father or wife and mother he or she is.

The Test of True Leadership

There is one big acid test, which puts you in danger of losing things precious to you, even people whom you love. It is certainly the enemy attacking you – God isn't doing it. However, God does allow it up to a point and for a season for His own reasons.

David always typifies Christ as King and Shepherd. For instance, when Saul's sons remained loyal to their father instead of to David, that is a type of what Jesus said in Matthew 10:37:

"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me".

However, notice that David suffered the same things his people suffered. In the same way there is nothing that we go through which Jesus, our Leader, has not already gone through. The characteristic of a godly leader: he suffers the same loss as his people. Look out for someone who stands up in a pulpit to tell you how to be spiritual with his mouth while his own life is not showing you how. Talk is cheap. Biblical leadership is always by example. This may affect different people in different ways: for me, certainly the demands of interim periods of family separation due to my being an itinerant minister have been a test. It is not easy to be away from my wife for weeks at a time. I've never had an affair, but you know what? There was a time, too, when Jim Bakker never had an affair. It only takes once; how does one stand up?

David lost things and people whom he loved for a short period and then he got them back. The test will come to different people in different forms. But God's future leaders will have been so tested in everything that everyone will know that they'll be able to stand up. God already knows who can and can't stand up – when He lets us be tested, it isn't for His own benefit, so that He can find out our strength. He wants us to know ourselves, and He wants the Body at large to know. Remember that His Word says, “Let the leaders first be tested. (1 Tim 3:10) We're told to look at leaders' family lives and similar things, yet today the church has leaders who get divorced and remarried. This is a sick thing.

So yes, the trial and testing is the enemy's doing, yet because God allows it you will know that you can stand. You will have a confidence you would not otherwise gain. Now, of course you must trust in the Lord and not in yourself –

“Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”.(1 Cor 10:12)

-- but when you've been tested, you know you have kept your eyes on the Lord and are capable of keeping them there. He who is able to keep you from falling will do so; you know this because you've been so tested, and the Body of Christ also knows it. That is a leader whom God's people will follow. When things get tough, that is the kind of person whom others will look to. People want to identify with others who are stronger than themselves. For all of us, of course, that would be Jesus; so when you see a leader, don't look at him. Rather, look at the work of God in his life. That is the source of his strength and in a crisis someone who has been sorely tested and has passed the test is the sort of person who will be trusted. The last thing anyone wants in a medical emergency is an indecisive physician. You want someone experienced, who knows exactly what's happening and how to deal with it. The same applies for a leader in the church. David suffered the same loss as his people.

Then, look at this: those people, his people, talked about stoning him. You want to be a leader? How do you know when you are a leader? You know you're a leader when 2 Timothy 4:16-17 applies to you. When you are betrayed and stabbed in the back by the very people you gave your life and your guts for, yet you avoid becoming embittered or resentful. When things get tough, the people blame the leaders. What did the people say to Moses in the wilderness – “Why did you bring us out here to die?” (Num 16:13) What did the disciples say to Jesus in the boat – “Why did you bring us out here to drown?” (Math 8:25) And here we see what they say and do to David – “We followed you, and now look what happened to us, we've lost our families.” They turn on the leader. Family is where people are the most vulnerable: when marriage and children are at stake, that is when someone's faith will be tested the most, and it is very, very hard.

Emotional Exhaustion/The Source of Strength

Look at verse 4:

"David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep."

They reached the point of emotional exhaustion. Job did the same. I knew a Jewish man named Gershom: the Nazis killed his parents, his brother, his two sisters with their families, his wife and his five children right down to the baby. He himself narrowly survived the concentration camp. The next forty years of his life the man spent in hell. He was a zombie. He had grieved so much and so hard that he no longer had any emotional capacity for grief, until the day he accepted Jesus, Yeshua, as the Messiah in Haifa, Israel. He read the Bible and began to scream and cry, saying that he had finally found a Jew who had suffered more than he had. It was the first emotion that man was capable of displaying in over forty years.

Christians do good works because we've been saved, not in order to get saved. A person must reach the point where he or she realizes, “I cannot save myself; it has to be a gift.” We must know that we are totally lost, helpless, and unable to do one single thing for ourselves – then we can get saved. It is a point that must be burned into each Christian's soul; we should never forget that. Just as we cannot save ourselves, so we cannot sustain ourselves. David “strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (v. 6). He trusted in and sought the Lord in his crisis. Just think: he had these people with him in the wilderness that had forsaken all to join him there. They're being pursued on one hand by Saul and on the other by the Amalekites. Then they lose their families and want to stone him. On top of all his other problems, David himself had lost his own family. What a mess, yet he sought the Lord his God, and asked whether he should pursue the troop.

The natural propensity of the flesh in an emergency is always to take immediate action. In a crisis, we should never, ever, ever make any decision before seeking the Lord. If it must be made in a second, pray "Lord, help me". The flesh will always want to take over in an emergency. (We deal with this on our 2 Samuel 5 & 6 tapes.) David doesn't do this, however. In that crisis it would have been easy to assume, “of course we have to go after the troop,” but instead of that David stops and seeks the Lord, and God gives him the green light.

Crossing the Brook of Besor

Next, David crosses the Brook of Besor. Besor, again, means “gospel”. Notice that it is not enough to come up to the brook; they had to cross it. I repeatedly point out that Jesus never said to make converts, but rather to make disciples. (Math 28:19) The first Biblical step of discipleship is always crossing the Brook of Besor – baptism. Four hundred of David's men cross the brook, but two hundred are unable to.

I know how far I have come. I have been tested in most of these things, probably to some degree in all of them, even right down to the family thing. I've been sued by other Christians, attacked by Orthodox Jews and gangs of Muslims; I'm not saying that I'm a hero, but I know how far I've come. I also know, however, how far I have not come.

The Baggage Attendants

Let's look at verses 22-31:

"Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said, 'Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man's wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.' But David said, 'My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.' So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, 'Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord' - to those who were in Bethel, those who were in Ramoth of the South, those who were in Jattir, those who were in Aroer, those who were in Siphmoth, those who were in Eshtemoa, those who were in Rachal, those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, those who were in the cities of the Kenites, those who were in Hormah, those who were in Chorashan, those who were in Athach, those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to rove."

Two hundred of David's men couldn't make it. However, for one thing, someone must watch the baggage. I could not do half of what I do if I did not have the kind of wife that I have. She is the helpmate God gave me and there is a reason for that. Not every wife could handle her husband being away so much. Pavia is also praying for me while I'm away; that's my reference point, my focus point. When I wake up in the morning I often don't know what country I'm in until I think about it. Not everybody can do what I do. Not everybody can do what Bill Randles does. Not everybody can do what you do. But there are people who don't do with us what we do, yet are with us in spirit.

Someone has to watch the baggage. These were people who rode with David, who had proven their loyalty, but were simply unable to go as far as other people could. David did not try to disenfranchise these people. He wanted them to get a piece of the pie. Remember what Jesus said in His parable of Math 20:1-6. In verse 12 some of the laborers hired by the owner of the vineyard are complaining:

"'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'"

In the same way, you sometimes hear Christians complain, "I've been a Christian for 60 years and now this guy who got saved six months ago is going to the same heaven I am?" God does not see things this way. God sees this: Whatever we have learned, we know He has given us the grace to learn. I learned what I learned in the same way David learned it, and if God uses you in the future, you will learn it that way too. I also know what I am in the process of learning, and God has given me the grace and strength to learn that also.

Grieving for Saul

In conclusion, 1 Samuel 31:1-5:
"Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul's sons. The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armor bearer, 'Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, les these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me.' But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. And when his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him."

What is David's reaction to the death of Saul, who had been his enemy? In 2 Samuel 1:17-27 it says this:

"Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher"

(Jasher in Hebrew means “straight”.)

"'The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! Tell it not in Gath, Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. O mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, Nor fields of offerings. For the shield of the mighty is cast away there! The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, From the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan did not turn back, And the sword of Saul did not return empty. Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions. O daughters of Jerusalem, weep over Saul, Who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury; Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan was slain in your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, Surpassing the love of women. How the mighty have fallen, And the weapons of war perished!'"

Only then did the tribes of Israel join themselves to David.

I have learned by God's grace how to fight the Philistine. I am not afraid of Islam or Mormons or Roman Catholicism or Orthodox Jews. I know how to witness to those people; the Lord taught me. I do not boast of it, but I know what He taught me. I know what it's like to be tested for taking a stand. I know what it's like to be rejected, even by my friends. I know what it's like to be betrayed by people who know I am right, but are looking out for themselves instead of for the sheep. I have learned most of those things the hard way. But what the Lord is teaching me now, and those like me, is how to be gracious.

I need to come to a point where I can say, "Boy, the Assemblies of God had some mighty men of God in their day. Boy, you know, Pat Robertson began right. Wow, but Jimmy Swaggart was once a man of God; what happened to him can happen to me if I'm not careful. ‘How the mighty have fallen’ – I didn't want this to happen." I know how to be angry with Saul; but I am just learning how to grieve over what has become of him. Saul is going to fall; his days are numbered. Saul's house must fall – they have gone into the occult and there is no longer any way out or any hope for them. This story includes a very rare case of God allowing someone to come back from the dead; when Samuel does, he asks Saul, "Why do you ask me about it? The Lord has become your adversary." God is their enemy; the question is when are they going to be hanging the dead from the walls of Mount Gilboa? When will the house of Saul fall? When will their corpses hang rotting on the walls of Beth Shan?

When I can grieve over it.

Conclusion

That's how far I have come and that's how far I have yet to go. I can only speak for myself, not for you or for your church. What I can tell you is that this is what is going on, and this is what will happen. When is God going to add to your numbers? When Saul falls. When is Saul going to fall? When you know your enemy. When you've been tested to the utmost and have stood faithful. When you've known rejection. When your family life has been affected. When you have become emotionally exhausted to the point of having no strength left, and when the Lord's strength is then magnified in your weakness. When you've crossed the Brook of Besor and learned how to be gracious to others. Then Saul will fall; then the tribes of Israel will join themselves to David at Hebron, the place of fellowship.

I know how to be disappointed over what has happened in the church. I know how to be angry about it, and there is a holy anger. But we must also learn to grieve. That is when Saul will fall and when David's house will rise. I know how far I've come. How far you've come in this process is a question you must answer. How far your church has come will be self-evident.

Oh, Saul is going. TBN is going, Hinn is going. Something new is rising. But when will Saul and his sons die on Mount Gilboa? When I can be as grieved as I am angry.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Signs of the Times - Tony Pearce

By David Passmore • May 25, 2026

Signs of the Times Tony Pearce ‍ ‍ Left, right or center – is our democracy in danger “Things fall apart, the center does not hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” W.B Yeats ‘The Second Coming. ’ ‍ ‍ Labour’s losses in the council elections and the battle for succession to their unpopular leader Kier Starmer have raised the possibility that we may soon have our seventh Prime Minister in ten years. Local elections saw Reform and the Greens make sweeping gains, leading Green Party leader, Zack Polanski to say that we are seeing ‘the end of the old two party system’. Maybe we are. In which case what comes next? Will we head to the far left, the far right or will the center hold on to power? Or will it end with ungovernable chaos as unqualified people take control of local and national government? Behind all this there are fundamental questions, ‘What is government for? Who does it represent and where is it going?’ ‍ ‍‍ ‍ According to the Bible (Romans 13) the purpose of government is to promote good and restrain evil. The government has the right to raise taxes for the common good of society and people should pay them. In 1 Timothy 2 Paul encourages us to pray for the government that ‘we may live a godly and peaceable life’. In other words, pray that the government will create an orderly and peaceful society and not interfere with our right to set up communities that teach and preach the Word of God. The situation becomes more difficult when we see government promoting things which are harmful and restraining things which are good and clamping down on freedom of speech with a threat to our ability to live a ‘godly and peaceable life’ ‍ Since becoming a Christian in my early twenties, I have wrestled with the question of how our faith applies to contemporary political issues. I started this quest on the left politically after leaving university and working as an English teacher with sympathies for Marxism. I then became a born again Christian in 1970, and joined my late wife Nikki in evangelizing the radical left, by handing out leaflets at their marches and demonstrations in London and attending their meetings to discuss matters of faith and politics with them. ‍ ‍‍ ‍ We had some good discussions with people and hope we made some consider the Christian alternative. However as we looked at Marxism from a Christian point of view and its practice in Communist countries, we understood that behind this ideology there is a strong anti-christian spirit. It denies the existence of God and promotes the idea of human perfectibility by our own effort. This is exemplified in the words of the Internationale, the socialist battle hymn, ‘No saviour from on high delivers, no faith have we in prince or peer, our own right hand the chains will shiver, chains of hatred, greed and fear.’ This Antichrist spirit led to the persecution of Christians in the Communist countries of eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and China. Far from creating the socialist paradise on earth that Lenin wrote about in ‘Socialism and Religion’, it created a society ruled by hatred, greed and fear, controlled by secret police, prison camps and responsible for the death of millions. ‍ ‍ In western society we have witnessed the growth of ‘cultural Marxism’ a movement aimed at infiltrating and changing society from within, rather than fomenting the workers’ revolution. Labour’s Fabian Society, with its (now discarded) logo of the wolf in sheep’s clothing, has been engaged in this process since the beginning of the 20th century. Social change really took off with the permissive society in the 1960s, which succeeded in changing traditional values, especially in the area of sex and the family. It replaced biblical values with a new ‘morality’ that is fundamentally anti Christian. These ideas have permeated large swathes of our society including the education system, the judiciary, the Civil Service, much of the media, mainstream political parties (including even the Conservative ‘wets’ and parts of the established church). ‍ ‍ Melanie Phillips describes the results of this in her book, ‘The Builder’s Stone.’ ‘Having decided that the West was rotten to the core, western elites set out to create a new culture that would usher in the brotherhood of man and eradicate hatred, prejudice, and war. Their Brave New World junked biblical religion with all its constraints on behaviour and revolved instead around self gratification. Everybody had the right to live as they wanted; nobody could say that their way of life was better or worse than anyone else’s; no one had the right to say that their culture was better than any other culture. That was ‘racism.’ At the heart of all this was the doctrine that there was no such thing as objective truth. Everything was relative; everything was a matter of opinion. Because there was no truth feelings became more important than facts. So the West abandoned the codes of morality, conscience, truth and lies, personal responsibility, and duty to others in favour of a culture of the self. In the process it junked its inherited traditions and biblical codes on which western culture was based.’ ‍ Britain changed from being a society that respected values based on the 10 Commandments and the teaching of Jesus Christ to one that discarded them for relative values. Ideas of ‘diversity, inclusion and equity’ became the norm, together with and a form of ‘tolerance’, that is really very intolerant if you oppose it. This ‘tolerance’ means accepting the virtues of multiculturalism and humanism and believing that all gods are equally valid or true (or none are). We must also accept that all lifestyles and family arrangements including homosexual and transsexual ones are just as valid as traditional two parent heterosexual families, with a father and mother committed to each other in lifelong matrimony looking after their own children. ‍ As society accepts this radical change in how we view culture, morality and religion, we are told not to criticize other cultures and world views or imply that they are anything less than equal to the culture, morality and faith derived from the Bible. ‍ All this has not improved society. Instead we have a collapse of values with no central idea to hold it together, just a group of competing ‘communities’ which are often only united in opposition to the traditional values and culture of Great Britain. A good example of this is the ‘red – green alliance’ of radical leftists and Islamists who come together to denounce Israel and campaign to ‘globalise the Intifada’. In practice this means a world wide war against Israel and Judaeo-Christian society and a desire to replace it with their version of either Islamism or Communism. However if one of them were to come to power, you can be sure that the Islamist’s would get rid of the leftists or vice versa. In fact that happened in Iran’s 1979 revolution, when Islamist supporters of Khomeini and Communists came together to get rid of the Shah. Then the Islamists seized power, turned on the Communists and wiped them out. ‍ Alisteir Heath wrote in the Daily Telegraph: ‘Ruined by decades of political vandalism, the Britain we knew and loved, a land of stability, pragmatism, and ancient freedoms, is no more. Today’s UK is uglier, impoverished, volatile and disorderly. We’ve lost our level-headedness. Anger and frustration have become our defining emotions. Our institutions have wasted away, and we have been taught to despise our history. The decline of family, community and faith have led to alienation, dependence on welfare and the rise of novel ideologies, mostly secular but also sectarian, turbocharged by social media. While the state becomes unnervingly authoritarian, the air reeks of insurrection and every variety of extremism. The British public’s sense of betrayal is as well-founded as it is dangerous. The machinery of state is incompetent and self-serving, a vehicle for social engineering in the global interest.’ ‍ ‍ ‍ Criticism of this process now risks being classed as ‘hate crime’ with a growing authoritarian society monitoring social media posts and public teaching of alternative ideas in ways which risk shutting down free speech in our society. A Christian teacher Enoch Burke is currently in prison in Dublin after he was suspended from his job and jailed after refusing to accept and teach transgenderism in the school. ‍ ‍ ‍ Nick Timothy, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, got into trouble when he questioned mass Muslim prayer in Trafalgar Square. He wrote: ‘Mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination. The adhan – which declares there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger – is, when called in a public place, a declaration of domination. The domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook.” He is right in this. Allah hu Akhbar actually means Allah is greater, greater than your God, Muhammad is greater than Jesus and the Koran is greater than the Bible. ‍ ‍ ‍ Tim Dieppe of Christian Concern for our Nation wrote: “The fact that we have mass Islamic prayer in Trafalgar Square at all is indicative of the massive culture change that we have seen in the last few decades. A culture change that was not voted for or ever agreed to by the British people. And, a culture change that can hardly be described as having been entirely beneficial to our culture as a whole. I only need to mention grooming gangs involving mostly Pakistani Muslim men , sharia courts, honour crimes, terror attacks, the assassination of an MP, an attempt to blockade Parliament, mass antisemitic marches through London, a convicted terrorist standing for local elections, sectarianism, and many other examples to make the point. Earlier this month, the Government gave Muslims special protection with the adoption of an official definition of anti-Muslim hostility .” ‍ ‍ ‍ You are not really supposed to question this in public life today. A message circulating on social media is an apt commentary on all this. ‘First they overlook evil, then they permit evil, then they legalise evil, then they promote evil, then celebrate evil, then persecute those who call it evil.’ Soviet dissident Solzhenitsyn wrote: ‘A Communist system can be recognised by how it spares criminals and criminalises its opponents.’ ‍ ‍ ‍ The root cause of all this is the rejection of God and biblical values. The 18th-century French philosopher Joseph de Maistre coined the phrase "people get the government they deserve." David Pawson followed up on this idea, arguing that in democratic societies like ours, the moral and spiritual condition of a nation's citizens is directly reflected in the leaders they elect. If the general public abandons moral truths, they will inevitably vote for governments that reflect those same compromises. David Pawson taught that God may use governmental leadership to judge or bless a nation, depending on the people's obedience. He noted that Hebrew prophets saw wicked rulers as a form of divine judgement on a society that has strayed from God's laws. Therefore a nation's ultimate hope rests on repentance rather than just political change. His conclusion is that Christians should actively stand for moral truth in society. He believed that the church is meant to influence culture upward, and that a decline in national morality inevitably leads to deteriorating governance. ‍ ‍ ‍ Sadly much of the church today has become the ‘salt that has lost its savour’ through compromise with antichristian forces in society and government. It may be too late to save our country and western democracy as social and economic pressures create a collapse of democracy and push us either towards anarchy or dictatorship. ‍ ‍ ‍ Yeats’ poem quoted at the beginning of this article ends with the enigmatic line ‘Some rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born.’ Most likely he is referring to the coming anti-Messiah who is labelled the Beast in the book of Revelation. Many believe his is now waiting in the wings to replace the true Messiah (born in Bethlehem) and bring in the dictatorship prophesied in Revelation 13. The Bible indicates that the Beast or Antichrist will have power for a moment, but it will be short lived and doomed to destruction at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. Then the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God and of His Messiah and He shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 11.15) and the ‘government shall be on His shoulder’ (Isaiah 9.6). ‍ ‍ ‍ Maranatha come Lord Jesus. ‍ ‍ ‍ Water, water nowhere and not a drop to drink. (Apologies to the Ancient Mariner) ‍ ‍‍ ‍ While nations worry about supply of oil and gas as a result of the war in the Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a much more vital commodity for human survival is water. And it is in short supply in a growing number of nations. ‍ ‍ As of 2026, over 25 countries face extremely high water stress, with the most severe crises located in the Middle East and North Africa. This region is home to the world's most water-stressed nations, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, and Libya. India and Pakistan face critical water scarcity due to overexploitation of aquifers and population density. Much of Africa , Somalia and Ethiopia in particular are facing severe shortages due to drought and climate change. Mexico and parts of the United States (particularly Texas and the west coast) are experiencing significant water shortages and declining groundwater levels. ‍ ‍ ‍ Iran is facing a severe, multi-year water crisis as of May 2026, with major cities like Tehran, Mashhad, and Karaj approaching the point where taps could run dry due to depleted reservoirs. Groundwater is depleted across most of the country, and nineteen provinces are experiencing severe drought. The crisis is driven by a combination of climate change and decades of poor water management, including excessive dam construction and inefficient, water-intensive agriculture. China is facing a severe, multi-faceted water crisis defined by extreme scarcity in the north, widespread pollution, and mismanagement, threatening its food supply and economic growth. ‍ ‍ ‍ Several countries are significantly affected by upstream dam construction that reduces downstream water flow, causing, environmental, and diplomatic crises. These countries include Iraq, heavily impacted by dams built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by Turkey and Iran, leading to reduced water for agriculture, destruction of forests, and increased sandstorms. Egypt and Sudanface significant water security risks due to the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laosare affected of dams built by China on the upper Mekong River ‍ ‍ One country which bucks this trend is Israel. Israel manages its water resources by transforming a chronic shortage into a surplus through large-scale desalination, extensive wastewater recycling, and a centralised national water carrier system. The agriculture sector has shifted away from freshwater, using treated effluent instead. Advanced drip irrigation technologies are widely used to minimise waste. Israel has exported its water technologies to countries around the world, particularly Africa where it has given advice on how to use limited water resources to great effect. ‍ ‍ ‍ Without water no society on earth can survive. Bible prophecies indicate that water shortage and pollution will be a global problem in the last days. Most obviously no water equals no food, so famine is an inevitable result of water shortages. Jesus warned of this as a sign of the last days in Matthew 24.7. Revelation 8.10-11 speaks of something called ‘Wormwood’ falling on rivers and springs of water causing it to become bitter and many to die from drinking it. ‍ ‍ Prophecy speaks of the two great rivers of the ancient world, the Nile and the Euphrates, being affected by a crisis causing the Euphrates to dry up (Revelation 16.12) and the Nile to become contaminated and its waters turn foul (Isaiah 19.5-11). Isaiah 24 speaks of a curse devouring the earth in the last days causing the earth to be ‘defiled (or polluted) under its inhabitants.’ ‍ ‍ ‍ According to the New Scientist, there are massive amounts of water hidden deep beneath the Earth's surface. Scientists have found evidence of a reservoir of water three times the volume of all surface oceans combined, located roughly 250–400 miles underground within the mantle. ‍ ‍ ‍ It may be that the Lord will release this water to replenish and clean up the earth in the Millennial kingdom when ‘waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.’ Isaiah 35. Zechariah 14.8-9 says, ‘In that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.’ Zechariah 14.8-9. See also Ezekiel 47. ‍ Rethinking Russia ‍ Things are not going well for Vladimir Putin in his ‘special military operation’. Four years after invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russia is not making advances and actually losing ground. Russia is losing as many as 25,000- 35,000 casualties a month and over 1.2 million have been killed and wounded since the war began. Ukrainian skills in drone warfare have destroyed large quantities of Russian equipment, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery and rocket systems, helicopters, and naval vessels. ‍ ‍ Russia is spending an estimated 40% of the entire federal budget on the war effort. As a result of this and western sanctions, Russia is increasingly unable to fix chronic infrastructure problems at home. During the bitter Russian winter thousands of people were left without heat, light, or even water. All forms of transport, trains, trucks and planes, are facing logistical problems, making it difficult to transport goods and people across the vast Russian regions. Russia is on the way to an infrastructure collapse that will likely take decades to recover. ‍ ‍ Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov warned the State Duma that Russia's faltering economy risks stoking a 1917-style revolution. He demanded urgent financial and economic measures by autumn to avert a potential economic collapse. This raises the danger of the Russian Federation fracturing. The Caucuses are restive, the far east is looking to China and Siberia is facing an acute problem as a result of melting permafrost, causing buildings, bridges and pipelines to collapse. ‍ ‍ In the present circumstances it is hard to see how Russia could lead the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel (Ezekiel 38-39). Some have said that it is more likely that Turkey is the lead power in the War of Gog and Magog. They say that Meshech and Tubal are not Moscow and Tobolsk, but regions of modern Turkey. Erdogan’s Turkey is backed by an Islamist world view hostile to Israel, seeking the recovery of its Ottoman Empire. He has his eyes on taking control of Jerusalem. Turkey is possession of a large land army already stationed in the region, some of it occupying part of Syria. ‍ ‍ The alternative is that the War of Gog and Magog is some way off, possibly part of Armageddon, giving time for Russia to recover from its present distress. We wait and see, but meanwhile spare a thought and a prayer for the people of Ukraine and Russia, suffering as a result of Putin’s futile war, oppressed by his corrupt dictatorship and facing an economic and social collapse caused by his failed policies. ‍ ‍

Trumps visit with Xi

By David Passmore • May 25, 2026

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

Prayer request for Phil Malone

By David Passmore • May 17, 2026

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

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

By Mea Fredrickson • May 13, 2026

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

Will Lebanon miss its golden opportunity?

By David Passmore • May 5, 2026

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

Pastor John Angliss

By David Passmore • May 5, 2026

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

We made it this far: Israel at 78

By David Passmore • April 28, 2026

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

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

By David Passmore • April 23, 2026

Please click this link:https://mailchi.mp/christianconcern.com/action-alert-street-preaching-22-04-26?e=f1df30be3f

A critical juncture in NATO's future

By David Passmore • April 14, 2026

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

Urgent Prayer request for Malcom Betts, his daughter and others

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.