Tempology of the Temple - Afrikaans

April 1, 2025

Die tipologie van die Tempel

Baie mense vra die vraag: Gaan die Tempel weer herbou word?

Daar is vir baie jare al verskeie instansies besig met argeologiese opgrawings, rondom die tempel soos bv. deur die Hebreeuse universiteit se departement van oudhede. Dr. Kaufman van hierdie universiteit het ook opgrawings gedoen onder die tempel berg en opnames gedoen met die oog daarop vir die heroprigting van die tempel, en dit sal niemand verbaas as daar wel weer 'n tempel gebou word nie, maar dit is 'n ingewikkelde onderwerp, en om dit te verstaan moet ons by die begin begin.

Verskillende Woorde vir Tempel.

Daar is drie hoof woorde in Hebreeuse en Griekse taal vir 'tabernakel' of tempel.

In Hebreeus is die woorde: 'Mishkan', wat Tabernakel, of woonplek beteken, en 'Beit' wat huis beteken, en 'Haikhol' wat tempel beteken. Bogenoemde word in verskillende kontekse in die Ou en Nuwe Testament gebruik. Die mees belangrike deel van die tempel of die tabernakel om te verstaan is die volgende: Dit is die Heilige Woonplek van God. Die woord 'Shekinah' verwys na die Heilige Gees, wat in 'n wolk en vuur manifesteer. Die woord kom van die Hebreeuse wortel woord 'Shekhan' wat 'woon' beteken. Dit is waar ons die woord 'Mishkan', 'God se woonplek', een van die woorde wat vir tempel gebruik word, gekry het.

Die Tabernakel.

Die sewe hoof tabernakels in die Bybel.

Johannes hoofstuk een sê: "??en die Woord het vlees geword en onder ons gewoon" Die Griekse woord is 'Kataskenoo', wat beteken: 'Om 'n tent op te slaan', wat verwys na die Joodse woon tradisie.

Die eerste Tabernakel word in Hebreeus genoem:?'Hah?ohel', wat 'n Tent van ontmoeting is.

Dit was 'n dinamiese Tabernakel wat mobiel ontwerp was en deur die Leviete onderhou was. As dit gedurende die nag opgeslaan was, het die verkillende stamme van Israel in 'n spesifieke orde rondom hierdie Tabernakel kamp opgeslaan. (Num.2:1?31)

Hierdie stamme was natuurlik die voorvaders van Israel, die Twaalf seuns van Jakob, en die Nuwe Testamentiese opvolgers was die Twaalf Apostels.

Die tweede tabernakel is die eerste tempel, die tempel van Salomo.

Die derde tabernakel is die tweede tempel, die tempel van Serubabel, wat later die tempel van Herodus genoem was toe hy dit vergroot het. Hy het inderwaarheid die gesig van Esegiël as 'n bloudruk gebruik vir die bouwerk wat op die Grieks Romeinse styl gebaseer was om die Romeine te beïndruk.

Die vierde tempel wat Esegiël gesien het is moontlik die Millenium Tempel.

Die vyfde tempel: Jesus het van Sy fisiese Liggaam gepraat as die Tempel, (Joh. 2:19?21)

Die sesde tempel: "Weet julle nie dat julle 'n tempel van God is en die Gees van God in julle woon nie?. (1Kor.3:16)

Die sewende en die laaste Tabernakel is die Kerk, of die gemeente.

In bykans sewe plekke in die Nuwe Testament word die Kerk die Tabernakel van God genoem. (1Kor.3:16?17 / 6:19 / 2Kor. 6:16/ Ef.2:21 / Opb.3:16 / 21:3)

Elkeen van hierdie sewe Tabernakels volg die volgende patroon: Dit is ontwerp in 'n vorm van kamer binne in 'n kamer, binne in 'n kamer. Daar is 'n 'Sanctum sanctorum', die Allerheilige, wat in Hebreeus genoem word: 'Ha?kodesh kodeshim'. Dan is daar die middel hof, en 'n buite hof.

1Kor.3:16: "Weet julle nie dat julle 'n tempel van God is en die Gees van God in julle woon nie"?. Die buite hof, of die plek van die Heidene, vergelyk met ons fisiese liggame, dit is wat almal sien en waarmee almal kontak het. Net binne die buitehof van die tempel in Jesus se tyd was daar waarskuwing aangebring vir die Heidene wat hulle beveel om nie verder te gaan nie, 'n fisiese grens. Dan was daar die Heilige plek waar die Leviete ingegaan het om offers te bring. En laastens is daar die Allerheiligste waar God se Gees woon.

Die mees innerlike mens.

Dit is baie belangrik om die volgende te verstaan. As die buite hof wat almal kan sien ons fisiese liggame is, dan is die heilige plek ons siel, ons emosies, verstand en denke. Die Hebreeuse woord is 'Nephesh'. En binne in ons siel is daar 'n ander hof, dit is ons gees, ons mees innerlike mens. In die Nuwe Testament is die hart gebruik as 'n metafoor vir die mees innerlike mens en in die Ou Testament was dit die niere.

Demoon besete Christene.

Kan Christene demoon besete wees? Die antwoord hang af van wat u meen by demoon besete. Christene kan demonies besete wees in hulle buite howe. Demone kan die liggame van Christene, hulle emosies en gedagtes aanval, en Christene kan onder demoniese verdrukkings wees, maar demone kan nié in die mees innerlike 'Christen' mens ingaan nie. Dit kan net met ongeredde mense gebeur. Die enigste manier waardeur 'n Bybelse gelowige se mees innerlike mens binngedring kan word deur demone is wanneer diegene in 'n totale verlorenheid teruggeval het, soos wat met Saul gebeur het.

Ongelukkig kan mense wat gevang is deur die Bevrydings Bewegings nie die onderskeiding maak tussen hierdie verskillende soorte mense nie en bevind Christene hulself in omstandighede waar hulle oorreed kan word dat hulle demoon besete is.

Daar is 'n verskil tussen verdrukking en oorheersing, want daar is 'n afsny punt vir Satan wat betref hoe ver hy met 'n Christen gelowige kan gaan.

Mure van Skeiding.

Soos ons alreeds gesien het bestaan die tempel uit 'n kamer, binne in 'n kamer, binne in 'n kamer, en hier kry ons die mure van skeiding. Die mees belangrike skeiding was die Behangsel tussen die Heilige en die Allerheilige, wat van bo tot onder geskeur het toe Jesus gekruisig is. (Mat.7:51)

Daar was 'n muur van skeiding tussen die plekke waar die priesters ingekom het, en tussen die plek waar die gewone mense mag ingekom het, en 'n ander skeiding by die hof waar die vroue kon ingekom het.

Vroue was deur 'n fisiese grens geskei. Die priesterorde was geskei van die gewone mense deur 'n grens, en die hoë priester was geskei met 'n fisiese grens tussen hom en die res van die priesters en die res van die mense. En buite om al hierdie plekke was daar 'n muur wat die Jode van die Heidene afgeskei het. Al hierdie skeidsmure tussen die verskillende plekke en mense was die resultaat van die skeiding tussen die onheilige mens en die Heilige God.

Abraham se Kinders

Die Jode het gedink dat hulle spesiaal is omdat hulle fisiese afstammelinge is van Abraham. Jesus sê egter vir hulle dat God instaat is om vir Abraham kinders uit die klippe te kan laat verrys. Wat Christus hier in beeldspraak gesê het was dat Hy uit die Heidene, Christen gelowiges kan maak, en hulle so dan ook erfgename van Abraham kan maak. Op Palm Sondag het die Jode uitgeroep "Hosanna, Hosanna, aan die Seun van Dawid" en sommige van die Fariseërs in die menigte het aan Hom gesê: "Meester, bestraf u dissipels! En Hy antwoord en sê vir hulle: Ek sê vir julle, as hulle swyg, sal die klippe uitroep. (Luk.19:39?40)

Wat Jesus hier gesê het was dit: "As julle Jode My nie erken as julle Messias nie, dan sal die Christene dit doen"

Stene met sement saamgevoeg.

"Kom na Hom toe, die lewende steen wat deur die mense wel verwerp is, maar by God uitverkore en kosbaar is; en laat julle ook soos lewende stene opbou, tot 'n geestelike huis, 'n heilige priesterdom, om geestelike offers te bring wat aan God welgevallig is deur Jesus Christus". (1Pet.2:4?5)

Ons as Christene is hierdie boustene. Die Hebreeuse woord vir gemeenskap kom van die werkwoord 'Chabar', wat?'saamvoeg' beteken, met verwysing na stene wat saam gesement is. Dit is een ding om na 'n kerk te gaan, maar dit is heetemal 'n ander saak om deel te wees van 'n gemeenskap. As jy kerk toe gaan sit jy tydelik by mense, maar as jy gaan om saam met hulle in gemeenskap te wees, dan is jy soos stene wat met sement saamgevoeg is.

'n Gebou met net hier en daar 'n steen is net soos 'n kerk met mense wat net kerk toe kom en nie in die gemeenskap deel het nie.

Die Gebou van God

Ons is God se medewerkers, ons is God se akker, God se gebou. (1Kor.3:9)

Hierdie is 'n Griekse Teks, maar Paulus verwys hier na die idee van 'Binyon',? "Wat God gebou het" Ons, wedergebore Christene, is God se boustrukture, God se geboue, God se Tempels! ?? "So is julle dan nie meer vreemdelinge en bywoners nie, maar medeburgers van die heiliges en huisgenote van God, gebou op die fondament van die apostels en profete, terwyl Jesus Christus self die hoeksteen is, in wie die hele gebou, goed saamgevoeg, verrys tot 'n heilige tempel in die Here, in wie julle ook saam opgebou word tot 'n woning van God in die Gees". (Ef.2:19?22)

Let op dat die Griekse woord 'Skenoo', 'saamwoon', dieselfde wortel het as die Hebreeuse woord 'Mishkan' of 'Shekinah', wat 'God in Gees' beteken.

Christus, is die plek waar God woon. Moet nooit sê daar is nie 'n tempel nie, want daar is, en sal altyd wees!.

Christene is die boustene van die tempel en die Apostels is die fondasie stene, en Koning Jesus is die Hoeksteen. Ps.118:22: Die steen wat die bouers verwerp het, het 'n hoeksteen geword". Die ware profete, en ons as wedergebore Christene, bou op hierdie fondasie.

Apostels

Daar is vyf soorte apostels in die Bybel. Apostel in Hebreeus beteken 'Sholakh';? Die een wat gestuur is om die kerk te vestig. Die Griekse woord is 'Apostolos' wat dieselfde betekenis het. Eerstens is Jesus die Apostel genoem, die Een wat gestuur is, met 'n bepaalde klousule, want Koning Jesus is uniek, en alle ander apostoliese gesag moet van Hom af kom.

Tweedens is daar die uniekheid van die twaalf apostels.

Die twaalf apostels kom ooreen met die twaalf groot vaders, of die twaalf seuns van Jakob in die Ou Testament. Omdat al die mense van Israel afstammelinge is van die twaalf stamme van Israel, is ons as Christene op 'n manier die geestelike afstammelinge van die twaalf apostels. Die apostels is die fondasie waarop die kerk gebou is. Koning Jesus as die Hoof Apostel, en dan die twaalf apostels, en nie eens Paulus het die kwalifikasies gehad van die oorspronklike twaalf nie. Hy verklaar dat hy niks agterstaan by dié uitnemende apostels nie want hy het dieselfde gesag gehad, (2Kor.11:5) maar hy erken dat hy die minste is van die Apostels omdat hy die kerk vervolg het. In Opb. 4 sien ons die 24 Ouderlinge, en hulle word twee keer in die Boek Openbaring genoem, en 'n redelike gevolgtrekking kan wees dat hulle die twaalf stam vaders en die twaalf apostels is, want dit is 'n ewige volmaakte getal waarvan Paulus nie een is nie.

Derdens, toe hulle vir iemand gesoek het om Judas te vervang, het hulle iemand gekies wat afkomstig was vanaf die doop tydperk van Johannes. (Hand 1:15?26) Na die twaalf apostels is daar die unieke geval van Paulus, hy was iemand wat dieselfde gesag gehad het as die twaalf apostels maar kon nie met hulle kwalifikasies in sekere omstandighede mee doen nie. Hy was nie teenwoordig vanaf die doop van Johannes af nie.

Vierdens; Ons sien dat daar ook ander apostel was. "Ek bedoel dit, dat elkeen van julle sê: Ek is van Paulus, en ek van Apollos, en ek van Céfas, en ek van Christus" (1Kor.1:12). Daar is Koning Jesus wat

totaal uniek is. Daar is Céfas (Petrus) wat een van die twaalf was, en daar was Apollos, 'n vierde groep. Hy was nie soos Paulus nie, en hy was ook sekerlik nie soos een van die twaalf nie, maar hy het 'n apostoliese bediening gehad.

Vyfdens is daar vandag apostels in 'n vorm van kerk bouers. Hulle is nie pastore of predikante nie, want sodra hulle 'n gemeente gevestig het, moet hulle voortgaan en 'n ander gemeente oprig. Hulle is ook gewoonlik nie goeie herders nie, maar hulle is goed om gemeentes opterig.

Apostoliese gesag

In die konteks van Efesiërs beteken die fondasie hoofsaaklik die twaalf apostels, met Paulus die apostel van die vroeë kerk wat die Bybel geskrywe het, en die Ou Testamentiese Profete. In hierdie proses is daar 'n groot waarheid.

As 'n kerk of gemeente gevestig word, dan sal sy fondasie die apostels wees waarop dit gevestig is, en net in hierdie konteks kan apostoliese gesag gevestig word, maar onthou een ding: Die Hoof Nuwe Testamentiese anker is die Skrifte.

Die vraag is; Bestaan apostoliese gesag vandag nog? Ja, dit bestaan in die Skrifte van die Nuwe Testament: Die lerings wat opgeteken is in die Skrifte van die apostels,??Dit is apostoliese gesag, en nie swaarhand Fariseër leiers (Base) nie;??"Jy moet dit en dat doen wat 'ek' sê"

Dit is die gesag van die Skrifte alleen, en niks ander nie. Wees in julle pasoppens vir mense wat hulleself die titel van apostel oplê en wat dink dat hulle deel is van die fondasie en ook dink dat hulle die gesag het wat die Woord van God of die Heilige Gees vir niemand gee of gegee het nie. Al soort apostels wat ons vandag het, is kerkplanters.

Apostoliese gesag soos wat die apostels gehad het is bewaar in die Skrifte van die Nuwe Testament, en hierdie gesag het nog altyd en sal altyd net te doen hê met die Skrifte, en nie met politiek nie. Tweedens is hierdie gesag altyd uigeoefen in meervoud, en nie soos die huiskerke van vandag met hulle swaarhand leiers wat daarop aanspraak maak dat hulle "die Apostel" is nie!

Die Heilige Gees sê: "En terwyl hulle besig was om die Here te dien en te vas, het die Heilige Gees gesê: Sonder nou Bárnabas en Saulus vir My af vir die werk waarvoor Ek hulle geroep het". (Hand.13:2) Jesus stuur die apostel uit in pare. (Mark 6:7) In die Boek van Handelinge, toe hulle wou gesien het wat in Samaria gebeur, het hulle twee apostels gestuur. (Hand 8:14) en nie net dit nie, daar was ook 'n groepsooreenkoms dat hulle onderdanig sal wees aan die Algemene raad in Handelinge 15. Pasop vir mense wat hulleself die titel van apostel toe?eien. Hierdie mentaliteit bestaan in vandag se huiskerke en sekere kerke??dit is on?Bybels.

Die Liggaam van Christus

"??maar, terwyl ons in liefde die waarheid betrag, in alles sou opgroei in Hom wat die Hoof is, naamlik Christus, uit wie die hele liggaam??goed saamgevoeg en saamverbind deur die ondersteuning wat elke lid gee volgens die werking van elke afsonderlike deel in sy mate??die groei van die liggaam bevorder vir sy eie opbouing in liefde". (Ef.4:15?16) Efesiërs verbind die taal van die argitektuur met die taal van

www.Moriel.org

anatomie en die struktuur. Ons is die Liggaam van Christus se beendere, vlees, oë en voete, ens. "Hoe lieflik is op die berge die voete van hom wat die goeie boodskap bring, wat vrede laat hoor, wat goeie tyding bring, wat verlossing uitroep; wat aan Sion sê: Jou God is Koning!" (Jes.52:7)

Dit is na hierdie Skrif waarna Paulus verwys in Efesiërs?"???en as skoene aan julle voete die bereidheid vir die evangelie van vrede" (Ef.6:15) Ons is die Liggaam van Christus, wie is die voete? Dit is die evangeliste. Die lamp van jou liggaam is jou oog; en as jou oog reg is, dan is jou hele liggaam vol lig. (Luk.11:34)

Die oog sien en is die onderwyser.

Goeie gedrag is baie belangrik, maar weet u wat? Die Nuwe Testament plaas baie meer klem daarop dat Christene twee maal soveel aandag aan die opregte Skriftuurlike leringe (dogma) moet gee as aan hulle gedrag, hoekom? As ons nie die regte leerstellings het nie sal ons ook nie die regte gedrag hê nie.

Die Tabernakel van Dawid

"Daarna sal Ek terugkom en die vervalle hut van Dawid weer oprig, en wat daarvan verwoes is, sal Ek weer oprig en dit herstel, sodat die oorblyfsel van die mense die Here kan soek, en al die nasies oor wie my Naam uitgeroep is, spreek die Here wat al hierdie dinge doen. Aan God is al sy werke van ewigheid af bekend". (Hand.15:16?18)

Hierdie Profesie kom uit Amos 9:11: "In dié dag sal Ek die vervalle hut van Dawid weer oprig, en Ek sal sy skeure toebou en sy puinhope herstel, en Ek sal dit opbou soos in die ou tyd"; Voordat die tempel deur Salomo gebou was, was die Tabernakel die tent van Dawid wat in Shiloa was. Dawid se Tabernakel was dinamies, en bedoel op te beweeg alhoewel dit normaalweg in Shiloa gevind was. Amos profeteer dat die Tabernakel van Dawid weer herstel sal word, en op die een of ander manier moes ons van 'n vasstaande gebou weer beweeg na iets dinamies.

Hand.15 leer vir ons dat hierdie dinamiese struktuur wat aan hierdie profesie voldoen die Gemeente is. Die Gemeente is weer die Tabernakel van Dawid.

Pilare van Apostoliese gesag

"??en toe hulle merk die genade wat aan my gegee is, het Jakobus en Céfas en Johannes, wat as pilare geag is, aan my en Barnabas die regterhand van gemeenskap gegee, sodat ons na die heidene en hulle na die besnedenes kon gaan;" (Gal.2:9) Die oorspronklike twaalf apostel erken die apostoliese bediening van Paulus en Barnabas, maar die twaalf apostels was erken as die Pilare. Daar was twee pilare in die tempel, "Boas en Jakin" (1Kon.7:21) Boas beteken: In Sy Krag, en Jakin beteken: Hy sal bevestig, of:? Yahweh sal bevestig. Pilare hou die dak bo, en as die pilare meegee sal die dak inmekaar stort.

As die apostoliese gesag faal dan sal die hele gebou inmekaar stort, en ongelukkig is die apostoliese gesag besig om in duie te stort. Hoekom? Dit is omdat die kerk besig is om weg te beweeg van die leringe van die apostels na 'n restorasie Teologie wat 'n totale valse konsep het van aposoliese gesag. Let op dat die fisiese dele van die tempel geken kan word aan die verskillende soorte Christene. "Wie oorwin, Ek sal hom 'n pilaar in die tempel van my God maak, Opb.3:12) Daar is nie 'n tempel in die Ewige

Stad nie, maar daar is 'n Tabernakel, want Koning Jesus is daar; die hele plek is 'n Tabernakel, maar nie 'n gebou nie, of 'n tempel assulks nie. Omdat dit met die kerk te doen het is daar nie 'n tempel in die hemel nie, 'n Tabernakel, ja, maar nie 'n tempel nie (Opb.21:22)

Die oorwinnaars sal die pilare wees. Om 'n opregte apostel te wees, of 'n opregte kerkplanter, moet jy bo alles iemand wees wat 'n oorwinnaar is.

Kyk na die lewe van die apostels: Hulle het verskriklike opposisie, vervolging, dwaalleer en verraad gehad, maar bo dit alles het hulle oorwin!

Die oprigting van die Tempel Plek waar die HERE woon)?

In so baie plekke, oor en oor lees ons in die Nuwe Testamant dat die Kerk geïdentifiseer word met met die Tabernakel. God het altyd 'n Tabernakel gehad sedert die eerste een. Maar nou is hierdie Tabernakel ons. Koning Jesus praat van Sy Liggaam as die Tempel. "Jesus antwoord en sê vir hulle: Breek hierdie tempel af, en in drie dae sal Ek dit oprig". (Joh.2:19) Die kerk is die Liggaam van Christus, en wat met Koning Jesus gebeur het, gebeur met ons. Die Hebreeuse taal is oorhoofs afhanklik van drie letters, party maal twee, maar meestal drie wat die wortel is. As enige twee Teologiese woorde dieselfde wortel het, dan is hulle gewoonlik wetenskaplik verbind en daardeur ook Teologies gebonde. Die wortel van Hosea??

?Hoshea (DVYU) is 'Shin' (V) Jesaja is Yeshiyahu (YUWDVW). Joshua is Jehoshua (DYVYUW). Jesus is Jeshua (DVW) Waar ookal die 'SH' klank in Hebreeus voorkom het dit iets in gemeen met redding. "Hy sal ons ná twee dae lewend maak, op die derde dag ons laat opstaan, sodat ons voor sy aangesig kan lewe". Hos.6:2)

Jesus se opstanding word herleef of herhaal in die ondervinding van die kerk in die laaste dae. "Jesus antwoord en sê vir hulle: Breek hierdie tempel af, en in drie dae sal Ek dit oprig". (Joh.2:19) Dit is wat gebeur het met Koning Jesus se Tempel, Sy Liggaam, en dit gaan op die een of ander manier met ons gebeur, en dit is baie belangrik as u Matt. 24 lees.

Almal het die boustrukture van die Herodiaanse tempel bewonder: En Jesus sê: "Nie een steen sal op die ander bly staan nie" Koning Jesus het hier verwys na die profesië van Daniël. Die Messias moes kom en sterf voor die tweede tempel vernietig sou word. Op een of ander manier word die verwoesting van die tempel verbind as 'n tipe van wat met die kerk gaan gebeur aan die einde. Die boustene is neergewerp maar word in glorie heropgerig in die ewige tempel, net soos die Liggaam van Christus.

Die Huwelik en die Tipologie van die Tempel

As u die verhaal van die tempel en sy geskiedenis en tipologie verstaan, dan sal u ook die redes verstaan waarom God sê dat die huwelik heilig en rein moet wees. As u 'n Christen is en u het 'n vrou, dan is haar liggaam die tempel van die Heilige Gees, en u betree nie God se Tempel op 'n onverantwoordelike wyse nie, en dit beteken ook nie dat dit onsinlik of sonder genot is nie, dit beteken dat ons hierdie tempel moet betree sonder sonde.

Seksualiteit in die huwelik is soos die hoë priester wat die tempel betree, of soos Christus wat in Sy bruid, die kerk, ingaan en wat veroorsaak dat die huwelik vrugtevol is. Ons is geskape na die beeld en gelykenis van Christus.

Die seksdaad oorspeel geestelike dinge. "Hou die huweliksbed ongeskonde" "Weet julle nie dat julle die tempel van die Heilige Gees is nie?" Hasidiese Jode verstaan hierdie konsep, en hulle sê dat die "Shekinah" woning maak oor die huweliksbed wanneer 'n huweliks paartjie liefde maak. Hulle het hierdie geestelike aspek van die Woord van God verstaan.

Venootskap tussen Jood en Heiden.

Hiram, (wat 'n Heiden was) koning van Tire het sy diensknegte na Salomo gestuur toe hy gehoor het dat hy as koning gesalf is in plek van sy vader, want Hiram was altyd 'n vriend van koning Dawid. (1Kon.5:1)

En hier sien die beeld van die kameraadskap tussen Jood en Heiden. Onthou dat Dawid gewoonlik gesien word as 'n tipe van Christus. Jesus word altyd genoem: Yeshua ben Dawid. (Jesus die Seun van Dawid) Hiram stuur 'n boodskap aan Hiram en sê: "Daarop laat Salomo aan Hiram weet: U weet self dat my vader Dawid geen huis vir die Naam van die HERE sy God kon bou nie vanweë die oorlog waarmee hulle hom omring het, totdat die HERE hulle onder sy voetsole gebring het. Maar nou het die HERE my God my rus gegee rondom; daar is geen teëstander en daar is geen onheil wat dreig nie. En kyk, ek is van plan om vir die Naam van die HERE my God 'n huis te bou soos die HERE met my vader Dawid gespreek en gesê het: Jou seun wat Ek in jou plek op jou troon sal sit, hy sal die huis vir my Naam bou. Gee dan nou bevel dat hulle vir my seders uit die Líbanon kap, en laat my dienaars saam met u dienaars wees, en die loon van u dienaars sal ek u gee net soos u sê; want u weet self dat onder ons niemand is wat verstaan om bome te kap soos die Sidoniërs nie". (1Kon.5:2?6)

Let op hier: Niemand weet hoe om die bome te bewerk soos die Heidene nie: "Net toe Hiram die woorde van Salomo hoor, was hy baie bly en sê: Geseënd is die HERE vandag wat vir Dawid 'n wyse seun gegee het oor hierdie groot volk. Daarop laat Hiram aan Salomo weet: Ek het gehoor wat u my laat weet het; ék sal doen alles wat u verlang insake die sederhout en die sipreshout. My dienaars sal dit van die Líbanon na die see afbring, en ék sal daar vlotte van maak op die see, tot by die plek wat u my sal laat weet, en ek sal dit daar uitmekaar laat neem; dan kan ú dit laat wegneem; en ú moet doen wat ek verlang deur voedsel aan my huis te lewer".(1Kon.5:7?9) (Onthou dat die Sidoniërs ook baie goeie seemanne was) "So het Hiram dan aan Salomo sederhout en sipreshout gelewer, soveel as hy wou hê". (1Kon.5:10)

Dawid het die goud en silwer verskaf wat Salomo nodig gehad het om die Tempel te bou, wat hy het van sy vader ontvang het, maar hy gebruik die Heidene om meer bou materiaal in te bring as wat nodig was om hierdie tempel te bou.

??"terwyl Salomo aan Hiram gelewer het twintig duisend kor koring as voedsel vir sy huis en twintig kor uitgestampte olie; so het Salomo aan Hiram jaar vir jaar gelewer. En die HERE het aan Salomo wysheid gegee volgens sy belofte, en daar was vrede tussen Hiram en Salomo, en hulle twee het 'n verbond gesluit" (1Kon.5:11?12). Salomo was die seun van Dawid wat vrede gebring het tussen Jood en Heiden, maar blywende vrede tussen Jood en Heiden sou net kom deur Jesus Christus, die Seun van Dawid.

Minerale van Verlossing.

" Stuur my dan nou 'n kunsvaardige man om goud en silwer en koper en yster en purperrooi en bloedrooi en pers stowwe te bewerk, en wat verstaan om figure uit te sny saam met die kunstenaars wat by my in Juda en in Jerusalem is, wat my vader Dawid bestel het." (2Kron.2:7)

Die kleure van hierdie edelgesteentes het 'n baie spesiale betekenis. Hoe verder in die tempel in beweeg word, en hoe nader aan die allerheilige, hoe duursamer was die minerale waarmee vervaardiging plaasgevind het. Die beweging was van brons na silwer en na Goud. Brons het te doen met vuur. Die verbronsde altaar was van brons en was 'n tipe van die kruis. Die enigste manier om by God uit te kom is deur die kruis. Hierdie brons altaar was gemaak uit spieëlbeelde van vroue (Eks.38:8) Hulle het nie glas in daardie dae gehad nie en spieëls was gemaak van 'n tipe koper wat gepoleer was tot 'n spieël afwerking.

Die idee hier was dat hulle hulleself oorgee vir diens aan die Here. Hulle het die dinge gebruik wat hulle verhoog het om 'n tipe van die kruis te maak.

Silwer het altyd tedoen met die prys van redding. Jesus was verraai vir dertig stukke silwer (Matt.26:15) Die Leviete moes hulle eersgeborenes vrykoop met silwer. (Num.18:15?16))

Dan is daar die Allerheiligste van Goud. "'n Deugsame vrou is die kroon van haar man," (Spr.12:4)

Goud is Goddelikheid.

Diamante word gevorm onder hoë druk en temperatuur, en wanneer ons die liedjie: "Crown Him with many Crowns" sing, dan is dit die gemeente wat Koning Jesus Christus as ons Koning, kroon. Die kerk is veronderstel om die glorie van Jesus te wees, soos die kroon op 'n koning se hoof, die kroon wat se goud en diamante gevorm is deur vuur, en dit is ook een van die redes dat ons deur verdrukkinge sal gaan. Dit is die vuur wat die edelgesteentes edel en rein maak. Salomo het mense nodig gehad wat moes weet om hierdie dinge te bewerk.

"Stuur ook aan my seder??, sipres?? en sandelhout van die Líbanon af, want ek weet dat u dienaars verstaan om die hout van die Líbanon te kap; en kyk, my dienaars sal saam met u dienaars wees, naamlik om hout in menigte vir my gereed te maak, want die huis wat ek gaan bou, sal groot en wonderbaar wees. En kyk, ek gee as voedsel aan die houtkappers wat die bome kap, aan u dienaars, twintig duisend kor koring en twintig duisend kor gars en twintig duisend bat wyn en twintig duisend bat olie".(2Kron.2:8?10)

Bome, graan, water, olie en wyn.

Laat ons begin met bome. Jesus maak die blinde man gesond wat gesê het dat hy mense soos bome sien beweeg. (Mark.8:24) Die bome van die veld (Die bedienings veld) sal hulle hande klap. (Jes.55:12) Ons sal genoem word 'bome van geregtigheid' (Jes.61:3) Bome verteenwoordig verskillende dinge op verkillende plekke in die Bybel, en hier verteenwoordig hulle die mense van God. Ons graan, geestelike voedsel, is die Woord van God. "Werp jou brood op die water". "Die Brood wat Ek julle gee".

Verskillende soorte vloeistowwe verteenwoordig die Heilige Gees in verskillende aspekte. Jesus sê aan die vrou by die fontein dat Hy vir haar "Lewende water" sal gee. (Joh.4:10) Jes. 44:3 wys vir ons dat die Lewende Water God se Gees is. Wyn is die vreugde van die Gees, en so word die Heilige gees voorgestel deur verskillende vloeistowwe in verskillende kontekse in die Skrifte. En so word verskillende vakmanskappe deur verskillende mens gebruik om die struktuur van die tempel van God te bou.

Boustene, Pilare en bome

Verskillende dele van die tempel verteenwoordig verskillende soorte Christene, en die Jode het die bloudruk daarvan. Dawid het hierdie bloudruk vir sy seun gegee, net soos wat die Vader dit vir Sy Seun gegee het (Albei was die Seun van Dawid) Die Jode het die graan, olie, edelgesteentes, die goud en die silwer en al die materiaal. Die Heidene het die getalle en die kennnis en die mannekrag, die tempel kon nie net deur die Jode gebou word nie, en ook nie net deur die Heidene nie, daar moes samewerking kom tussen Jood en Heiden om die tempel te bou, die een kon nie sonder die ander nie. Niemand het kennis gehad soos die Heidene om die bome te bewerk nie. Wie is die grootste sielewenners in die geskiedenis? Sedert die vroeë kerk is dit die Heidene. Die groot evangeliste: was Spurggeon, Billy Graham, D.L Moody, Die Wesleys, George Whitefield ens, Niemand het geweet om die bome te bewerk soos die 'Goy' (Die Heidene) nie. Nie net dit nie, hulle het ook die bome op die see laat drywe.

Die Fondasie is die Jode

Die aarde is gewoonlik die beeld van Israel, maar die see verwys normaalweg na die nasies of die Heidene. Die Heidene het die bome na Jerusalem gebring. Seders van die Libanon en denne bome is die beeld van soorte Christene en die grootste gedeelte van die tempel het bestaan uit die Heidene of die nasies, maar die fondasie was deur die Jode gebou, en is onder die grond. Wanneer 'n baie hoë gebou opgerig gaan word word daar gewoonlik 'n beeld daarvan vertoon op die konstruksie gebied. Dan word daar maande lank deur rots en grond gegrawe todat 'n mens begin wonder wat het geword van al die planne, en dan skielik eendag staan die gebou daar.

Die mees belangrike komponent van so 'n baie hoë gebou is sy fondasie, want 'n 100 verdieping gebou kan nie opgerig word sonder 'n baie stewige fondasie nie.

God het vir twee duisend jaar met die Jode gedeel voordat die kerk gebore is.

Dit het baie lank geneem maar toe die fondasie voltooi is, wat het gebeur op Pinkster dag? Daar staan die gebou, en ons sien nie die fondasie stene nie want hulle is onder die grond, maar wanneer ons die 100 verdieping gebou sien weet ons met 'n groot sekerheid dat daar 'n baie stewige fondasie moet wees al kan dit nie gesien word nie. Met die oprigting van die kerk is daar geen verskil nie, daar is 'n baie stewige en diep fondasie wat deur die Jode gelê is, en dit vergelyk met die Skrifte in Romeine 11.

Ons sien nie hierdie wortels nie, maar hulle is daar, en as die wortels nie daar is nie, dan sal die boom doodgaan. As God klaar is met die Jode, dan is Hy ook klaar met die kerk.

Die Verborgenheid : Samewerking tussen Jood en Heiden

Die Heidene het geweet hoe dinge gedoen moet word en het ook die mannekrag daarvoor gehad en hulle het ook geweet hoe om die bome by Jerusalem te kry, 'n tipe van die hemelse Jerusalem. Wat het die Jode vir die Heidene gegee? Die bloudruk, die graan en die olie, (Die Heilige Gees was op Pinkster dag uitgegiet op die Jode. (Onthou Jerm.31: 31 "Daar kom 'n tyd, sê die Here, dat Ek met Israel en Juda 'n nuwe verbond sal sluit", nie met die Babtiste of die Apostolies nie, nee, die Nuwe Verbond is gesluit met die Huis van Israel en die Huis van Juda.

Die Jode het die Woord van God, die Bloudruk, vir die Heidene gegee. Die Jode het die fondasie verskaf, maar die Heidene het die gebou opgerig. Dit was God se Plan van die begin af, en Paulus noem dit die verborgenheid van die Evangelie. Vrede en samewerking tussen Jood en Heiden in belang van die oprigting van 'n Tempel vir die HERE onse God.

Toe die Nuwe Tempel gereed was, is die oue afgebreek.

Die Kerk word altyd die Tabernakel van Dawid genoem (Amos) Dit moet dinamies wees. Die 'koms uit Egipte' spreek van die kerk se uitog uit die wêreld op pad na die hemel met die Heilige Gees as Leidsman.

Die Egiptenare het die materiaal verskaf wat later nodig was vir die bou van die Tabernakel. God neem die dinge van die wêreld en gebruik dit tot Sy Eer.

Sal die tempel herbou word? Oor en oor leer die Bybel vir ons dat die Kerk, die Gemeente die Tempel is. In die Boek van Handelinge in die gang van Salomo was die tempel onder die oordeel volgens Daniël 9, maar terwyl die tempel onder hierdie oordeel gestaan het, was God alreeds besig om die Nuwe Tempel op te rig en toe die Nuwe Tempel gereed was het die oue geval, en dit moes val, hoekom?

"Hiermee maak die Heilige Gees duidelik dat die pad na die Allerheiligste toe nie oop is so lank as die voorste gedeelte van die verbondstent bestaan nie". (Hebr.9:8) Die verwoesting van die fisiese tempel wat deur Daniël geprofeteer is het in 70NC gebeur, en dit was beklemtoon deur Christus in die Olyfberg Rede (Matt.24/ Luk.21) Die verwoesting van die fisiese tempel was eenvoudig die natuurlike refleksie van die Verwoesting van Jesus se Liggaam. Nadat Koning Jesus op die kruis vasgenael was vir ons sondes moes die fisiese tempel verwoes word. Die Taalmud vertel ons dat op Yom Kippur, die dag van Verootmoediging, was daar 'n skarlaken rooi band gehang voor die Allerheilgste, en as die mense se sondes vergewe was sou hierdie band wit geword het, en as die mense se sondes nie vergewe is nie het die band rooi gebly. Vir veertig jaar voordat die tempel verwoes is, vanaf die Kruisiging van Koning Jesus, het hierdie band nie weer wit geword nie.

Die mense se sondes is nie meer onder die Wet vergewe nie. Die tempel moes vewoes word want terwyl dit nog gestaan het, het dit die skeiding tussen die sondige mense en Onse Heilige God verteenwoordig. Skeiding tussen die Hoë Priester en die Skrifgeleerers, tussen mans en vroue en tussen Jood en Heiden.

Gered om te dien

"?? God het ons gemaak wat ons nou is: In Christus Jesus het Hy ons geskep om ons lewe te wy aan die goeie dade waarvoor Hy ons bestem het". (Ef.2:10)

Ons is nie net gered om hemel toe te gaan nie, nee, ons is ook gered om iets in hierdie wêreld te doen. U is soos een van Salomo se werkers as u 'n Jood is, of soos een van Hiram se werkers as u 'n Heiden is. God het vir u 'n taak, en u taak is om te help om hierdie tempel te bou. Die Boek Nehemia het dieselfde idee: Verskillende groepe mense wat saam werk om die mure van Jerusalem te herbou, netso is u gered om ook u deel by te dra in hierdie taak. As u nie u steen lê nie sal God iemand anders kry om dit te doen wat Hy vir jou en my gegee het om te doen. Voordat ons wedergebore is, voordat die wêreld geskape is, het God iets in gedagte gehad vir ons om vir Hom 'n Tempel te bou, en daar is nie 'n wedergebore Christen in hierdie wêreld wat nie iets het om te doen nie, want ons is gered om te dien.

Die gemeenskaplike rykdom van Israel

"Hou dan in gedagte wat julle vroeër was. Van geboorte was julle heidene, en julle is "onbesnedenes" genoem deur dié wat hulleself "die besnedenes" noem, al is die besnydenis net mensewerk aan die liggaam. In dié tyd was julle sonder Christus, uitgesluit uit die burgerskap van Israel, ver van God af sonder deel aan die verbonde en die beloftes wat daarmee saamhang, sonder hoop en sonder God in die wêreld. Maar nou is julle een met Christus Jesus. (Christus Jesus het 'n ander betekenis as Jesus Christus. Christus Jesus het altyd te doen met Christus nadat Hy verheerlik is) Julle wat vroeër ver van God gelewe het, het nou naby gekom deur die bloed van Christus. Christus is ons vrede, Hy wat dié twee, Jode en nie?Jode, een gemaak het. Deur sy liggaam te gee, het Hy die vyandskap afgebreek wat vroeër soos 'n muur skeiding gemaak het. Die wet van Moses met al sy gebooie en bepalings het Hy opgehef, en deur vrede te maak, het Hy in Homself dié twee, Jode en nie?Jode, tot een nuwe mensheid verenig. Deur sy dood aan die kruis het Hy 'n einde gemaak aan die vyandskap en dié twee met God versoen en tot een liggaam verenig" (Ef.2:11?16)

Daar is geen manier om in die Allerheiligdom te kom as die skeiding nog bestaan het nie. Omdat Jesus se Liggaam vernietig is, moes die tempel vernietig word. Die tempel verteenwoordig die skeiding tussen Jood en Heiden, en toe Jesus gesterf het, het Hy hierdie skeiding vernietig, en so is die tempel wat ontwerp was om die mens hiervoor te onderrig ook vernietig.

Jesus is ons Vrede

"Toe Hy gekom het, het Hy die goeie boodskap van vrede gebring: vrede vir julle wat ver van God was, (Dit is die Heidene) vrede ook vir dié (Die Jode) wat naby was. Deur Hom het ons almal, Jode en nie? Jode, deur die een Gees vrye toegang tot die Vader. Julle is dus nie meer ver van God af nie, nie bywoners nie, maar medeburgers van die gelowiges en lede van die huisgesin van God. Julle is 'n gebou wat opgerig is op die fondament van die apostels en die profete, 'n gebou waarvan Christus Jesus self die hoeksteen is. (Hier word verwys na die Hebreeuse idee, 'Mishkan', van die Hebreers, en 'Kataskenoo' in die Grieks) In Hom sluit die hele gebou saam en verrys dit tot 'n heilige tempel vir die Here, in wie julle ook saam opgebou word as 'n geestelike huis waarin God woon. (Ef.2:17?22)

Hierdie skeiding het bestaan omrede die sonde. Jesus sê: "Breek hierdie Tempel af en Ek sal dit oprig" Hy praat van Sy Liggaam. Die Ou Tempel was verwoes, en die Nuwe een, die Kerk, of die Gemeente, wat in die pilaar gang van Salomo ontmoet het, was opgehef in die plek daarvan.

Jesus se 'Liggaam' was gekruisig, maar Sy Verheerlikte Liggaam het in die plek daarvan gekom.

Die ware kerk sal aan die einde gekruisig word maar sal opgewek word in heerlikheid. Toe Christus gesterf het was die natuurlike tempel verwoes omrede die heidene nie langer geskei was van die Jode nie, en so is die natuurlike muur van skeiding afgebreek. Jesus Christus is ons Middelaar en ons vrede, en ons sal een wees. In Jerusalem, in die midde van die Intifada en die haat kan u sien hoedat Jood en Arabier saamwerk. Hulle sing in Hebreeus, Arabies en Engels: "He is our peace".

Die Skeiding tussen man en vrou moes gaan

Die ortodokse Jode se gebed is soos volg: Dankie Here dat ek nie as 'n hond of 'n heiden gebore is nie"

Daar is verskille tussen mans en vroue??verskillende funksies, maar gemeet teen die standaarde van die ou wêreld, het die Jode baie meer agting vir vroue gehad as die Heidene, en dit kan in die Midde Ooste gesien word. As u wou gesien het hoedat vroue behandel was buite Judaisme of gedurende die voor Christen era in die Midde Ooste, kan u net kyk na die Moslem kultuur. Niemand sê 'n woord oor hoedat klein meisietjies deur hulle broers gemollesteer word nie. In stedelike en landelike plekke in Egipte sal u in wonings kameel swepe teen die mure sien, maar dit is nie vir kamele nie, dit is vir die vroue! Die Islamietise man kan van sy vrou skei en onder die Islamietise wet toesig oor die kinders verkry en die vrou het geen reg om enige iets op te eis nie. Al wat die man hoef te sê is om drie keer te sê: "Ek skei jou" en dit is wettiglik klaar met haar! Hierdie manne dwing hulle vrouens om hulle te ontklee en dan word hulle aangerand, dit is hoe vroue behandel was in die outyd.

Die Jode het egter hulle vroue sekere regte toegelaat onder 'Hal achah' wat nie buite die Joodse konteks verkry is nie, hoofsaaklik in die outydse era. Dan was Christenskap amper soos feminisme, met Paulus wat sê dat vroue op dieselfde vlak geag word en mede erfgename is in Christus, en Petrus sê dat ons in liefde onderdanig aan mekaar moet wees.

Dit beteken nie dat die man nie meer die hoof is nie, dit beteken dat die vrou net 'n mede erfgenaam in Christus is. Die Joodse stelsel gee aan die vrou 'n baie hoër status as enige van die Heidense stelsels van wat vroue behoort te wees. Maar die kerk het iets ingebring wat heeltemal afgewyk het van hierdie standaarde.

Die man is die hoof van die vrou.

Die Griekse idee was dat elke man drie vroue kon gehad het, die man kon by?vroue aangehou het wat basies net 'n seks afleidings middel was, en 'n minares vir intelektuele aanpasbaarheid, en hy moes 'n vrou hê wat die ma van sy kinders sal wees.

In die Christen denke egter het net een vrou aan al drie hierdie funksies voldoen en het dit totaal teen die Griekse en Joodse denke gegaan wat alreeds bo die Heidense idee verhef was. Die muur van skeiding was alreeds afgebreek. Dit beteken nou nie dat daar geglo moet word in vroue priesters predikante of

herders nie. Ons lewe steeds in 'n gevalle wêreld, en mans sowel as vroue is steeds onder die vloek van die val. Vroue is baie meer misleibaar as mans in geestelike misleiding. Hulle is egter baie meer sensitief en kan die Stem van die Heilige Gees baie maklikker hoor as mans. Wanneer 'n vrou en haar man saam bid, sal dit gewoonlik deur die vrou wees wat God praat, en so is dit in baie gevalle ook so dat die vrou maklikker tot bekering kom as die man. Maar omrede die vrou baie meer sensitief is as die man is dit ook so dat sy baie maklikker die stem van 'n ander gees kan hoor.

Die slang het die vrou mislei. Dit is waar die idee van die Hoofskap vandaan kom, en God se plan is dat die Hoof aangestel is vir beskerming, en nie vir oorheersing of verdrukking nie. 'n Man is hoof van die vrou soos wat Christus die Hoof is van die Kerk of die Gemeente is. Dit word deur God van 'n man verwag dat hy homself aan sy vrou sal gee, net soos wat Christus Homself aan die Gemeente gegee het, maar aan die ander kant moet die vrou die verantwoordelikheid en gesag van die man erken, dit is 'n beskermings model en nie slaaf / baas instelling nie, dit is 'n wêreld denke.

So moes die muur van skeiding tussen Jood en Heiden, priester en gewone mense en onderdrukkers afgebreek word. Ons is almal priesters, want die Liggaam van Christus is 'n koninkryk van priesters. Voordat Satan die kerk verheidens het, het hy dit ge?Judafiseer. Die Rooms Katolieke stelsels is gebou op twee dwalinge van die kerk: Judafisering en Heidenisme. Heidenisme het later, hoofsaaklik na Konstantyn, gekom. In plaas van 'n priesterskap vir alle gelowiges het hulle weer 'n terugeval na priester orde beginsel. Om terug te beweeg na onder die Wet is waarteen Paulus die Galasiërs gewaarsku het.

Die hele Kerk van Engeland het in twee gedeel oor die instelling van vroue as priesters.

Maar die vraag is nie: Moet ons vroue predikers hê nie? Nee, die vraag is: Hóekom moet ons enigsins vroue predikers hê? Die hele onderwerp is vloeibaar, en tog verlaat die mense die kerk oor dit.

Wanneer 'n Anglikaanse Biskop die opstanding van Christus en Sy maagdelike geboorte verloën, en hulle in die openbaar erken dat hulle homoseksueel is, en hulle voorstanders word van Hinduisme en Moslems en toordokters in hulle kerke, het ons niemand hierdie kerke sien verlaat nie, hulle is net gewillig om uit te loop oor iets wat nie volgens hulle Bybelse standaarde is nie. (Moenie inmeng met my godsdiens nie?!!)

Instede dat daar 'n Tabernakel soos die van Dawid is waar God se Gees beweeg, beweer die Katolieke strukture dat Hy in 'n kerkgebou in 'n klein kassie is op 'n altaar, wat hulle reken die tabernakel is, waar hulle die eucharist bewaar, en hulle sê dit is waar Hy woon!: Dit is om terug te beweeg na onder die Wet. Rooms Katolieke stelses is die Judaifisering en verheidening van die Christendom. "???'O, Onverstandige Galásiërs, wie het julle betower om die waarheid nie gehoorsaam te wees nie, (Gal.3:1) Hierdie valse leerstellings moes gaan want dit het die priesters en die gewone mense van mekaar geskei. Die Skeidsmuur moes skeur want dit het God geskei van die sondige mense, en Koning Jesus het ons Geregtigheid geword, en ons word as geregverdig gereken deur ons beleidenis en geloof in Jesus Christus onse Here, en so is die skeidsmuur tussen God en die mens afgebreek. Die dood van Jesus Christus het die skeidsmuur tussen ons en God en tussen Jood en Heiden, en man en vrou afgebreek.

Met die Kruisiging van Jesus het die voorhangsel in die tempel van bo na onder geskeur, en dit het van binne gebeur. God werk altyd van binne na buite, maar die wêreld doen die teenoorgestelde.

Met die gee van die bloudruk van die oprigting van die Tent van samekoms het die Here van binne na buite gewerk.

Jesus het 'n nuwe tempel gebou waar Jood en Heiden, vrou en man, priester en gewone mense nie meer van mekaar en van die Heilige God geskei is nie

Die oprigting van die Gruwel van Verwoesting

Sal daar nog 'n tempel gebou word, wat gebaseer sal wees op Thessalonicense?

Die aanduiding is dat dit dalk kan gebeur, maar onthou, toe die fisiese tempel verwoes is in 70 NC, wat die vervulling van die Profesie van Daniël is, was dit net 'n refleksie van die diepere geestelike betekenis van wat ons lees in Hebr.9. Toelating tot die Allerheiligste was nie moontlik voordat die buiteste (die vleeslike) gedeelte wat 'n tipe was, nog staande was nie. Dit se duidelik in Hebreers dat hierdie tempel 'n afbeelding was van wat in die Hemel is, en die verwoesting van die fisiese tempel was net 'n afbeelding van 'n groter en diepere geestelike gebeurtenis. As die fisiese tempel en die gruwel van verwoesting opgerig sal word, sal dit net 'n baie diepere geestelike waarheid ontbloot.

Wanneer u sien dat intergelowe begin saamsmelt in 'n Christelike kerk, dan is die mens en Satan besig met die oprigting van die gruwel van verwoesting, dit het alreeds begin. Wanneer u homoseksuele priesters begin sien optree en sien en hoor hoedat mense die maagdelike geboorte en die Opstanding van Jesus verloën, dan sien u die oprigting van die gruwel van verwoesting. Dit is geen ongewone om te dink dat die antichris in die Christendom aanbid sal word nie.

Die tempel is alreeds herbou, en dit is ons, en dit is nie meer 'n gebou van stene en klip nie, en die tempel wat opgerig sal word sal niks anders wees as die gruwel van verwoesting nie. †††



By David Passmore May 30, 2026
Staying The Course Amidst Isolation Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Living in Israel one gets the feeling that the metaphorical walls are closing in. Israel's reputation is being tarnished all over social media and the mainstream media, and this is reflected in massive public disdain towards this country. We are constantly told that there is near consensus amongst academics and commentators that a genocide was committed in Gaza. The very legitimacy of the state is brought into question. The majority of Americans are now hostile towards Israel. There is real fear that the next U.S. administration will turn against Israel. Even if this were to happen passively, by the U.S. refraining from exercising its veto power towards Security Council Resolutions condemning Israeli actions this could be catastrophic. Internally it is a fractured society leaning increasingly right wing which further alienates Israel from world opinion. An example in point is how Ben Gvir mocked the most recent participants of a global aid flotilla to Gaza. Such conduct further agitates outrage at Israel. The left-wing media presents the ruins of Gaza as a mortal wound in Israel's side. When the world observes this level of carnage no degree of public relations can ameliorate the sense of indignation towards Israel. We can liken the situation of Israel to that of a depressed person. All he sees is hopelessness and gloom. But this isn't the first time that the Jewish nation has been faced with such darkness. Things change and we don't know how the geo-political map will reconfigure in the future. We need to ride out this storm and keep going. On a historical note, the situation is reminiscent of what our ancestors faced when we returned from the Babylonian exile to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was faced with constant lies and conspiracies designed to entrap him by hostile actors: Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab. They employed deception, slander and ridicule in order to maintain their political eminence. There was also a certain sense of abandonment amongst the Jews in Israel then as in our own day. We read in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah about the anguish of the leadership in Israel concerning the lack of assistance from the Babylonian diaspora towards the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and the Temple. Only 20% of the exiles returned to the land. It was largely the poor who returned. Most of the affluent, established Jews remained in Exile. This is a continuing theme in Jewish history. It is also important to observe that from its very beginnings there were bible believing Christians who spearheaded the return of the Jews to their land. The idea of organizing a return of the Jews to Israel began as a Protestant Restorationist objective that can be traced to 17th century Puritan England. The protagonists of the Cromwellian Republic viewed themselves as the new Israel fighting the Papist forces of Satan. Alongside this, interest grew in the notion that biblical prophecies pertaining to the return of the Jews to Israel were a necessary precursor for the return of Christ. The growth of the British Empire in the 19th century lent political clout to Christian Restorationism with specific missions to the Jews established. Although there had been a longing to return to Israel as written in the thrice daily Amidah prayer, Jewish Zionism arose in the midst of mid nineteenth century nationalism and was further fermented by European antisemitism. It was an altogether secular enterprise. Although Israel's situation appears rather stark, we can draw strength from the Providence afforded to our ancestors in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah when they too were faced with defamation. This is also an opportunity to grow closer to our natural allies in the evangelical world who from the beginning of Zionism were steadfast supporters of the project to establish a Jewish homeland in Israel.  (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).
By David Passmore May 25, 2026
Signs of the Times Tony Pearce ‍ ‍ Left, right or center – is our democracy in danger “Things fall apart, the center does not hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” W.B Yeats ‘The Second Coming. ’ ‍ ‍ Labour’s losses in the council elections and the battle for succession to their unpopular leader Kier Starmer have raised the possibility that we may soon have our seventh Prime Minister in ten years. Local elections saw Reform and the Greens make sweeping gains, leading Green Party leader, Zack Polanski to say that we are seeing ‘the end of the old two party system’. Maybe we are. In which case what comes next? Will we head to the far left, the far right or will the center hold on to power? Or will it end with ungovernable chaos as unqualified people take control of local and national government? Behind all this there are fundamental questions, ‘What is government for? Who does it represent and where is it going?’ ‍ ‍‍ ‍ According to the Bible (Romans 13) the purpose of government is to promote good and restrain evil. The government has the right to raise taxes for the common good of society and people should pay them. In 1 Timothy 2 Paul encourages us to pray for the government that ‘we may live a godly and peaceable life’. In other words, pray that the government will create an orderly and peaceful society and not interfere with our right to set up communities that teach and preach the Word of God. The situation becomes more difficult when we see government promoting things which are harmful and restraining things which are good and clamping down on freedom of speech with a threat to our ability to live a ‘godly and peaceable life’ ‍ Since becoming a Christian in my early twenties, I have wrestled with the question of how our faith applies to contemporary political issues. I started this quest on the left politically after leaving university and working as an English teacher with sympathies for Marxism. I then became a born again Christian in 1970, and joined my late wife Nikki in evangelizing the radical left, by handing out leaflets at their marches and demonstrations in London and attending their meetings to discuss matters of faith and politics with them. ‍ ‍‍ ‍ We had some good discussions with people and hope we made some consider the Christian alternative. However as we looked at Marxism from a Christian point of view and its practice in Communist countries, we understood that behind this ideology there is a strong anti-christian spirit. It denies the existence of God and promotes the idea of human perfectibility by our own effort. This is exemplified in the words of the Internationale, the socialist battle hymn, ‘No saviour from on high delivers, no faith have we in prince or peer, our own right hand the chains will shiver, chains of hatred, greed and fear.’ This Antichrist spirit led to the persecution of Christians in the Communist countries of eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and China. Far from creating the socialist paradise on earth that Lenin wrote about in ‘Socialism and Religion’, it created a society ruled by hatred, greed and fear, controlled by secret police, prison camps and responsible for the death of millions. ‍ ‍ In western society we have witnessed the growth of ‘cultural Marxism’ a movement aimed at infiltrating and changing society from within, rather than fomenting the workers’ revolution. Labour’s Fabian Society, with its (now discarded) logo of the wolf in sheep’s clothing, has been engaged in this process since the beginning of the 20th century. Social change really took off with the permissive society in the 1960s, which succeeded in changing traditional values, especially in the area of sex and the family. It replaced biblical values with a new ‘morality’ that is fundamentally anti Christian. These ideas have permeated large swathes of our society including the education system, the judiciary, the Civil Service, much of the media, mainstream political parties (including even the Conservative ‘wets’ and parts of the established church). ‍ ‍ Melanie Phillips describes the results of this in her book, ‘The Builder’s Stone.’ ‘Having decided that the West was rotten to the core, western elites set out to create a new culture that would usher in the brotherhood of man and eradicate hatred, prejudice, and war. Their Brave New World junked biblical religion with all its constraints on behaviour and revolved instead around self gratification. Everybody had the right to live as they wanted; nobody could say that their way of life was better or worse than anyone else’s; no one had the right to say that their culture was better than any other culture. That was ‘racism.’ At the heart of all this was the doctrine that there was no such thing as objective truth. Everything was relative; everything was a matter of opinion. Because there was no truth feelings became more important than facts. So the West abandoned the codes of morality, conscience, truth and lies, personal responsibility, and duty to others in favour of a culture of the self. In the process it junked its inherited traditions and biblical codes on which western culture was based.’ ‍ Britain changed from being a society that respected values based on the 10 Commandments and the teaching of Jesus Christ to one that discarded them for relative values. Ideas of ‘diversity, inclusion and equity’ became the norm, together with and a form of ‘tolerance’, that is really very intolerant if you oppose it. This ‘tolerance’ means accepting the virtues of multiculturalism and humanism and believing that all gods are equally valid or true (or none are). We must also accept that all lifestyles and family arrangements including homosexual and transsexual ones are just as valid as traditional two parent heterosexual families, with a father and mother committed to each other in lifelong matrimony looking after their own children. ‍ As society accepts this radical change in how we view culture, morality and religion, we are told not to criticize other cultures and world views or imply that they are anything less than equal to the culture, morality and faith derived from the Bible. ‍ All this has not improved society. Instead we have a collapse of values with no central idea to hold it together, just a group of competing ‘communities’ which are often only united in opposition to the traditional values and culture of Great Britain. A good example of this is the ‘red – green alliance’ of radical leftists and Islamists who come together to denounce Israel and campaign to ‘globalise the Intifada’. In practice this means a world wide war against Israel and Judaeo-Christian society and a desire to replace it with their version of either Islamism or Communism. However if one of them were to come to power, you can be sure that the Islamist’s would get rid of the leftists or vice versa. In fact that happened in Iran’s 1979 revolution, when Islamist supporters of Khomeini and Communists came together to get rid of the Shah. Then the Islamists seized power, turned on the Communists and wiped them out. ‍ Alisteir Heath wrote in the Daily Telegraph: ‘Ruined by decades of political vandalism, the Britain we knew and loved, a land of stability, pragmatism, and ancient freedoms, is no more. Today’s UK is uglier, impoverished, volatile and disorderly. We’ve lost our level-headedness. Anger and frustration have become our defining emotions. Our institutions have wasted away, and we have been taught to despise our history. The decline of family, community and faith have led to alienation, dependence on welfare and the rise of novel ideologies, mostly secular but also sectarian, turbocharged by social media. While the state becomes unnervingly authoritarian, the air reeks of insurrection and every variety of extremism. The British public’s sense of betrayal is as well-founded as it is dangerous. The machinery of state is incompetent and self-serving, a vehicle for social engineering in the global interest.’ ‍ ‍ ‍ Criticism of this process now risks being classed as ‘hate crime’ with a growing authoritarian society monitoring social media posts and public teaching of alternative ideas in ways which risk shutting down free speech in our society. A Christian teacher Enoch Burke is currently in prison in Dublin after he was suspended from his job and jailed after refusing to accept and teach transgenderism in the school. ‍ ‍ ‍ Nick Timothy, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, got into trouble when he questioned mass Muslim prayer in Trafalgar Square. He wrote: ‘Mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination. The adhan – which declares there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger – is, when called in a public place, a declaration of domination. The domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook.” He is right in this. Allah hu Akhbar actually means Allah is greater, greater than your God, Muhammad is greater than Jesus and the Koran is greater than the Bible. ‍ ‍ ‍ Tim Dieppe of Christian Concern for our Nation wrote: “The fact that we have mass Islamic prayer in Trafalgar Square at all is indicative of the massive culture change that we have seen in the last few decades. A culture change that was not voted for or ever agreed to by the British people. And, a culture change that can hardly be described as having been entirely beneficial to our culture as a whole. I only need to mention grooming gangs involving mostly Pakistani Muslim men , sharia courts, honour crimes, terror attacks, the assassination of an MP, an attempt to blockade Parliament, mass antisemitic marches through London, a convicted terrorist standing for local elections, sectarianism, and many other examples to make the point. Earlier this month, the Government gave Muslims special protection with the adoption of an official definition of anti-Muslim hostility .” ‍ ‍ ‍ You are not really supposed to question this in public life today. A message circulating on social media is an apt commentary on all this. ‘First they overlook evil, then they permit evil, then they legalise evil, then they promote evil, then celebrate evil, then persecute those who call it evil.’ Soviet dissident Solzhenitsyn wrote: ‘A Communist system can be recognised by how it spares criminals and criminalises its opponents.’ ‍ ‍ ‍ The root cause of all this is the rejection of God and biblical values. The 18th-century French philosopher Joseph de Maistre coined the phrase "people get the government they deserve." David Pawson followed up on this idea, arguing that in democratic societies like ours, the moral and spiritual condition of a nation's citizens is directly reflected in the leaders they elect. If the general public abandons moral truths, they will inevitably vote for governments that reflect those same compromises. David Pawson taught that God may use governmental leadership to judge or bless a nation, depending on the people's obedience. He noted that Hebrew prophets saw wicked rulers as a form of divine judgement on a society that has strayed from God's laws. Therefore a nation's ultimate hope rests on repentance rather than just political change. His conclusion is that Christians should actively stand for moral truth in society. He believed that the church is meant to influence culture upward, and that a decline in national morality inevitably leads to deteriorating governance. ‍ ‍ ‍ Sadly much of the church today has become the ‘salt that has lost its savour’ through compromise with antichristian forces in society and government. It may be too late to save our country and western democracy as social and economic pressures create a collapse of democracy and push us either towards anarchy or dictatorship. ‍ ‍ ‍ Yeats’ poem quoted at the beginning of this article ends with the enigmatic line ‘Some rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born.’ Most likely he is referring to the coming anti-Messiah who is labelled the Beast in the book of Revelation. Many believe his is now waiting in the wings to replace the true Messiah (born in Bethlehem) and bring in the dictatorship prophesied in Revelation 13. The Bible indicates that the Beast or Antichrist will have power for a moment, but it will be short lived and doomed to destruction at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. Then the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God and of His Messiah and He shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 11.15) and the ‘government shall be on His shoulder’ (Isaiah 9.6). ‍ ‍ ‍ Maranatha come Lord Jesus. ‍ ‍ ‍ Water, water nowhere and not a drop to drink. (Apologies to the Ancient Mariner) ‍ ‍‍ ‍ While nations worry about supply of oil and gas as a result of the war in the Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a much more vital commodity for human survival is water. And it is in short supply in a growing number of nations. ‍ ‍ As of 2026, over 25 countries face extremely high water stress, with the most severe crises located in the Middle East and North Africa. This region is home to the world's most water-stressed nations, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, and Libya. India and Pakistan face critical water scarcity due to overexploitation of aquifers and population density. Much of Africa , Somalia and Ethiopia in particular are facing severe shortages due to drought and climate change. Mexico and parts of the United States (particularly Texas and the west coast) are experiencing significant water shortages and declining groundwater levels. ‍ ‍ ‍ Iran is facing a severe, multi-year water crisis as of May 2026, with major cities like Tehran, Mashhad, and Karaj approaching the point where taps could run dry due to depleted reservoirs. Groundwater is depleted across most of the country, and nineteen provinces are experiencing severe drought. The crisis is driven by a combination of climate change and decades of poor water management, including excessive dam construction and inefficient, water-intensive agriculture. China is facing a severe, multi-faceted water crisis defined by extreme scarcity in the north, widespread pollution, and mismanagement, threatening its food supply and economic growth. ‍ ‍ ‍ Several countries are significantly affected by upstream dam construction that reduces downstream water flow, causing, environmental, and diplomatic crises. These countries include Iraq, heavily impacted by dams built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by Turkey and Iran, leading to reduced water for agriculture, destruction of forests, and increased sandstorms. Egypt and Sudanface significant water security risks due to the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laosare affected of dams built by China on the upper Mekong River ‍ ‍ One country which bucks this trend is Israel. Israel manages its water resources by transforming a chronic shortage into a surplus through large-scale desalination, extensive wastewater recycling, and a centralised national water carrier system. The agriculture sector has shifted away from freshwater, using treated effluent instead. Advanced drip irrigation technologies are widely used to minimise waste. Israel has exported its water technologies to countries around the world, particularly Africa where it has given advice on how to use limited water resources to great effect. ‍ ‍ ‍ Without water no society on earth can survive. Bible prophecies indicate that water shortage and pollution will be a global problem in the last days. Most obviously no water equals no food, so famine is an inevitable result of water shortages. Jesus warned of this as a sign of the last days in Matthew 24.7. Revelation 8.10-11 speaks of something called ‘Wormwood’ falling on rivers and springs of water causing it to become bitter and many to die from drinking it. ‍ ‍ Prophecy speaks of the two great rivers of the ancient world, the Nile and the Euphrates, being affected by a crisis causing the Euphrates to dry up (Revelation 16.12) and the Nile to become contaminated and its waters turn foul (Isaiah 19.5-11). Isaiah 24 speaks of a curse devouring the earth in the last days causing the earth to be ‘defiled (or polluted) under its inhabitants.’ ‍ ‍ ‍ According to the New Scientist, there are massive amounts of water hidden deep beneath the Earth's surface. Scientists have found evidence of a reservoir of water three times the volume of all surface oceans combined, located roughly 250–400 miles underground within the mantle. ‍ ‍ ‍ It may be that the Lord will release this water to replenish and clean up the earth in the Millennial kingdom when ‘waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.’ Isaiah 35. Zechariah 14.8-9 says, ‘In that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.’ Zechariah 14.8-9. See also Ezekiel 47. ‍ Rethinking Russia ‍ Things are not going well for Vladimir Putin in his ‘special military operation’. Four years after invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russia is not making advances and actually losing ground. Russia is losing as many as 25,000- 35,000 casualties a month and over 1.2 million have been killed and wounded since the war began. Ukrainian skills in drone warfare have destroyed large quantities of Russian equipment, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery and rocket systems, helicopters, and naval vessels. ‍ ‍ Russia is spending an estimated 40% of the entire federal budget on the war effort. As a result of this and western sanctions, Russia is increasingly unable to fix chronic infrastructure problems at home. During the bitter Russian winter thousands of people were left without heat, light, or even water. All forms of transport, trains, trucks and planes, are facing logistical problems, making it difficult to transport goods and people across the vast Russian regions. Russia is on the way to an infrastructure collapse that will likely take decades to recover. ‍ ‍ Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov warned the State Duma that Russia's faltering economy risks stoking a 1917-style revolution. He demanded urgent financial and economic measures by autumn to avert a potential economic collapse. This raises the danger of the Russian Federation fracturing. The Caucuses are restive, the far east is looking to China and Siberia is facing an acute problem as a result of melting permafrost, causing buildings, bridges and pipelines to collapse. ‍ ‍ In the present circumstances it is hard to see how Russia could lead the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel (Ezekiel 38-39). Some have said that it is more likely that Turkey is the lead power in the War of Gog and Magog. They say that Meshech and Tubal are not Moscow and Tobolsk, but regions of modern Turkey. Erdogan’s Turkey is backed by an Islamist world view hostile to Israel, seeking the recovery of its Ottoman Empire. He has his eyes on taking control of Jerusalem. Turkey is possession of a large land army already stationed in the region, some of it occupying part of Syria. ‍ ‍ The alternative is that the War of Gog and Magog is some way off, possibly part of Armageddon, giving time for Russia to recover from its present distress. We wait and see, but meanwhile spare a thought and a prayer for the people of Ukraine and Russia, suffering as a result of Putin’s futile war, oppressed by his corrupt dictatorship and facing an economic and social collapse caused by his failed policies. ‍ ‍
By David Passmore May 25, 2026
Trump's Visit with Xi Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM The tempest path of Sino-U.S. tensions came to a head during Trump's first term in office with the outbreak of Covid. Many commentators believed that the deterioration in relations was in terminal decline and that a major confrontation in the straits of Taiwan was fast looming. Trump held China responsible for the spread of Covid, insisting that he would pursue reparations. The election of Biden halted this commitment. Biden sought a non-confrontational policy towards Beijing. In the aftermath of the disastrous premature withdrawal from Afghanistan handing that country over to the Taliban and the Russian invasion of Ukraine under his watch, Biden became too preoccupied to assertively engage with China. Chinese State media portrayed Trump's visit as being rather unremarkable in the context of other foreign dignitaries lining up to meet Xi, pointing out that just a week later Putin would arrive in Beijing. China manifests that it is winning the trade war that Trump began in 2018, beating America at its own game of capitalism. They frame the U.S. as being in a position of weakness because China is able to source whatever products they buy from the U.S. elsewhere like oil from Canada, and soybeans from Brazil. The oil, soybeans and 200 Boeing's Xi agreed to purchase from Trump were presented as a mere gesture to placate Trump as China has already bought 350 Air Buses in the last year. China would have the world believe that it is only semi-conductors where America has the edge. Here China hints that it is not likely to buy H200 Invidia Chips because it would mean that China will always lag behind the U.S. in building their AI tech. China's major contention and concern is that the U.S. may impose export controls to contain China. China's strategy instead is to invest massively on indigenous innovation. China wants to become an innovation powerhouse that will export its own Chips to the Global South. China is fast catching up with America's lead in AI with the launch of Deep Seek and they claim similar progress with Chip making. China is now ostensibly only eight months behind the U.S. on Large Language Models. Running contrary to this narrative Trump insists that China is desperate to trade with America. China's economy has now peaked. Emblematic of this stagnating growth is rising youth unemployment. China is no longer America's biggest trading partner. Trump has shifted manufacturing back to the U.S. and Trump believes that China can't revive its economy without America. Lined up to meet Xi with Trump were the heads of some of America's biggest Tech Corporations. Corporations like nvidia seek a relaxing of export controls for Chips as they want short term profits, ignoring the risk that China will reverse engineer this technology. More broadly, China and the U.S. are playing a geopolitical chess game spanning the globe. Trump outmaneuvered China in Latin America with the removal of Maduro from power in Venezuela. China is exploiting its influence on Iran in order to get Trump to refrain from taking more active steps towards the defense of Taiwan. Indeed, Trump didn't say anything about Taiwan during his visit. Trump's instincts are of a transactional approach towards alliances, where he is only willing to underwrite defense assistance if allies pay up as an insurer would. It is also important to note that saber rattling the Taiwan card also serves the CCP agenda to distract internal dissent concerning the state of the Chinese economy. Most imminently Trump needs China to pressure Iran to open the Straits of Hormuz and get oil prices down before the midterm elections. China has largely insulated itself from the Gulf energy impact due to stockpiles. Trump would also like China to stop providing Iran with GPS for its missiles. Other Chinese weapons systems and technology sold to Iran have failed to perform well against U.S. and Israeli military hardware. Matters boil down to a leverage between whatever Trump can do on Taiwan, China can do on the strait of Hormouz with Iran. Human Rights concerns, espionage and the alarming rate of Chinese acquisition of U.S. land have been placed on the back burner for the time being.  (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).
By David Passmore May 17, 2026
Moriel & Jacob Prasch request prayer for Phil Malone and family “Please keep me and my family in prayer. My mum passed away on 13th May at the age of 93. It's a time of mourning, but may it be a time for the Gospel of Christ to be preached to my unbelieving family, especially my brother.”
By Mea Fredrickson May 13, 2026
Moriel & Jacob Prasch request prayer for Sister Joanne Rizzetto, wife of Pastor Dave Rizzetto of Church of The Open Door in New York City. Joanne has developed painful complications and adverse side effects from medications following knee surgery. May The Lord intervene for healing and give guidance to her physicians. Lord, we humbly ask you to intervene in the life of our dear sister. We know you can do all things and that you hear our prayers and consider your servants. Please put a stop to the adverse reaction. Restrain and reverse its effects and restore our sister so that she can continue to serve you in the ministry that you have called them to. We do glorify Your Name. We don't ask as those who treat you as our debtor, but as those who have tasted your goodness and found such mercy and compassion at your feet. Grace and peace and mercy be with Joanne and Pastor Dave.
By David Passmore May 5, 2026
Will Lebanon miss its golden opportunity? Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Converging new facts on the ground have transformed the political landscape in Lebanon. With Assad removed from power in Syria, a vital lifeline of arms supplies for Hezbollah originating in Iran has diminished. Hezbollah suffered considerable losses in its last round of fighting with Israel. The decapitation of its leadership with the targeted pager attack inflicted a severe blow. Hezbollah's new leader Naim Qassem is a weak substitute for the charismatic Nasrallah who was assassinated by Israel in 2024. Hezbollah in its frail state foolishly fell into line with Iran's instruction to join the fighting against Israel following the recent American-Israeli war with Iran. This was contrary to the wishes of the Lebanese government which was fearful of the inevitable destruction that would be wreaked by the Israeli response. The differing attitudes to Israel amongst Lebanon's population is reflective of its ethnic composition. The predominant groups in order of plurality are Christians, Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims with a smaller minority of Druze. The major concern of most Christians in Lebanon is the dire state of their economy. They have no appetite to further their plight by invoking Israel's rage. During the colonial inter war period the French envisaged the demarcation between Lebanon and Syria as carving out enclaves for Christian and Druze control. Within Lebanon there would be a shared government that by convention would have the Executive power split between a Christian President, a Sunni Prime Minister and Shia Speaker of Parliament. The Christians in southern Lebanon (particularly Maronite Catholics) saw themselves as being anthropologically descendants of ancient Phoenicians as opposed to an Arab identity where the Arab Christians were largely Eastern Orthodox. The schism between the Maronites and the Arab Eastern Orthodox dates back to the time of the Crusades. The Maronites were culturally French, speaking French as their main language and held precedence in much of the Lebanese economy. The first threat to Lebanese stability and cohesion was settled by the U.S. Eisenhower administration in 1958 which landed Marines in an amphibious operation. A repeated attempt at this by the Reagan administration in 1983 ended in a military disaster for the U.S. due to suicide bombings by Iranian controlled terrorists. Israeli efforts to bring in stability during the Lebanese Civil War in conjunction with its Lebanese Christian allies led by Major Saad Haddad likewise came to calamity when the Sabra and Shatila revenge attacks took place following the assassination of Lebanese leader Bashir Gemayel. The ''Good Fence'' policy of an Israeli friendly free Lebanon zone in Southern Lebanon eventually ended badly following Menachem Begin's second incursion into Lebanon called ''Shalom HaGalil'' aimed at stopping the PLO rocket attacks on Israeli border communities like Metulla, Kiryat Shmona, Naharya, Rosh Hanikra, Tzfat and Carmiel. The proxy Israeli occupation from the Israeli border to the Litani river became an imbroglio that many in Israel viewed as Israel's Vietnam with widespread domestic protest and a collapse of morale within the IDF. Eventually Israel absorbed Christian war refugees from Lebanon, while the Vatican and most of the Christian world turned their backs on the Lebanese Christians. Lebanon was then saddled with two states within a state. The first was in the aftermath of Black September in 1970 when King Hussein of Jordan defended his Hashemite throne and government from Yasser Arafat's attempt to take over Jordan due to Jordan having a 70% Palestinian Arab demographic majority. The Jordanian legion drove tens of thousands of its pro Arafat Jordanian citizens into Lebanon, creating a population base for the first state within a state under Arafat. However the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and other factions had their niche interests. Courtesy of the Israeli Air Force Arafat relocated what he saw as his government in exile to Tunisia. This was a missed opportunity by the Lebanese government to assert its autonomy and full territorial control by making a Camp David type peace with Israel inclusive of economic and mutual security provisions. Instead an Iranian backed Syrian intervention replaced Arafat's state within a state with a new one that morphed into Hezbollah. The fall of the Assad regime and the Israeli counter-offensive against Hezbollah re-presents Lebanon with the opportunity that it once lost. The predominantly Christian controlled Lebanese military could and should operationally coordinate with the IDF, to obliterate and remove Hezbollah as the Israelis relieved Lebanon of Arafat's state within a state. Such a rapprochement would likely have strong American and possibly French and British support, allowing Lebanon to be at a non-combative peace with Israel along the lines of Egypt and Jordan, and now some of the Emirates. The natural comradery of the Lebanese Druze community with the Israeli Druze and the pro-Israeli Druze of Syria would additionally re-enforce a regional harmony, as would the Maronite Christian community in Israel with their co-coreligionists in Lebanon.  (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).
By David Passmore May 5, 2026
PASTOR JOHN ANGLISS It is with profound sadness that we learned of the temporary separation from our friend and brother Pastor John Angliss. We look forward to being reunited with John in the millennial reign of Christ and indeed in God's Eternal Kingdom. Jacob Prasch visited John a few weeks ago in the UK while John was in hospice care having been diagnosed preterminal in his illness. While medically correct, it was of course a misdiagnosis. John is now cancer free and is alive and well in the presence of Jesus awaiting us in glory while his mortal body is being renewed for resurrection and immortality. In the meanwhile, during this temporary season of bereavement we do request prayer for his beloved wife Mary and for his congregation, The Ark Fellowship in England near Reading, England. Because he has recently arrived in the USA and is scheduled to address the Moriel Canada branch conference in Winnipeg, Jacob Prasch will regrettably not be able to attend the memorial service in Britain. Our condolences however are very much with Mary and our brethren in the UK who like us knew and loved Pastor Angliss. John was one of a minority of faithful voices who upheld a traditional biblically based Pentecostalism in the era of counterfeit revivals and apostasy that overtook most of British Pentecostalism. John was a faithful friend of Israel & The Jews standing on the prophetic purposes of God for Israel and the salvation of the Jews. John was a loyal friend to Moriel and Jacob Prasch and a colleague of David Pawson and Derek Prince, both of whom likewise stood by God's promises to Israel. John was also a founding leader of CMFI - the Christian Ministerial Fellowship International, former pastor of Three Mile Cross fellowship , and former board member of Focus On Israel (a Pentecostal Ministry to the Jews). While this separation is temporary, John's eternal gain will be our temporary loss. O GRAVE - WHERE IS THEY VICTORY, O DEATH WHERE IS THY STING ? Hosea 13:14 / 1 Corinthians 15: 55-57
By David Passmore April 28, 2026
We made it this far: Israel at 78 Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Since the last anniversary milestone of Israel at 75, we have been embroiled in relentless wars. Citizens had little respite to enjoy this year's festivities, coming on the heels of a lull in fighting on the Iranian and Lebanese fronts. We are constantly waiting for a breakthrough on the horizon that will normalize our relations with our neighbors and secure our position on the world stage. It is acutely exhausting to be the focus of the world's attention. But also there is a sense of inevitability accompanying the Zionist project. Specifically that Israel is destined to be central in the wider region and global affairs. Why is this? Is it due to it being a western transplant? Being geographically positioned on the crossroads of three continents? Religious believers would point to prophetic fulfillment. It is short sighted to only look at how our problems are rooted in today’s' reality. Greater forces are at work that will dictate the direction that Israel is heading. The Jewish diaspora will likely find itself in a growing precarious position that will lead to increasing Aliyah (immigration to Israel) and will perhaps ferment the emergence of a second Jewish commonwealth that will not need to heed international pressure in the same way that todays' polity finds itself doing. In this light it is interesting to ponder how our posterity would view our predicament and gains. And I frame matters in these terms with intentionality. We are enmeshed in a seemingly intractable conflict with the Palestinians, and yet Israel has made great gains particularly in the technological fields. There is a current of thinking that perceives Israel's way out of its quagmire is by making itself indispensable to technological advancements. We don't know how tomorrows' world will be shaped by the rapidly advancing AI revolution but so far Israel has proven to be uniquely adaptable and innovative to technological change. This has proved to be a boon to Israel's economy, as have offshore natural gas discoveries being developed in concert with Greece, Greek Cypriot and American energy interests that are geographically and strategically removed from any Straits of Hormuz shipping impediments that strangle the Persian Gulf deposits shared by Qatar and Iran. On another note we should contextualize the situation. How different are Israel's challenges from other nations? Is Israel any less stable than other countries (particularly in the region)? Israel doesn't find itself uniquely challenged to define its identity (most European countries do also, particularly in light of immigration). Nor does the government experience any more volatility than other comparable democracies. Israel's real problems lay in the nature of how its Jewish citizens desire to govern themselves. It is arguable whether the judicial reform protests that occupied public discourse in pre-October 7th Israel would have led to serious civil strife. But it is without doubt that this impasse was allayed by the external attack. The underlying tensions remain unresolved and there are many ways that they could play out. It has been framed as a battle for Israel's soul. Israel's enemies predict that Zionism is imploding and that the State won't survive another 5-10 years. Supporting this claim, they point to Israel's increasing alienation and growing pariah status on the international stage. Our Prime Minister has been indicted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Even public opinion in our staunchest ally the U.S. has turned sharply against Israel. With 80% of the Democratic Party being anti-Israel in a growing climate of anti-semitism we have even witnessed the shift of Alan Dershowitz to the Republican Party which must be seen as emblematic of a trend. There is apprehension in Israel of a post-Trump America dominated by the Democrats. However, these seeming incontrovertible facts may be offset by other measures of fortitude. This may be partially countered by the high investment by Silicon Valley in the Israeli Hi-tech sector, making Israel an asset for purposes of Research and Development in America's AI race against China. New opportunities for economic relations have also been opened with Arab nations through the Abraham Accords and with the powerhouse India. Furthermore, it is difficult to imagine a world in which Israel's technological prowess will not carry the sway of western decision makers in the long run. Israel's 78th anniversary is a moment to take pause and not catastrophize what the future may behold. The entire world is currently in a state of transformation and Israel is not an outlier in this context.  (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).
By David Passmore April 23, 2026
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By David Passmore April 14, 2026
A critical juncture in NATO'S future Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM NATO was originally established in 1949 to keep the Russian hordes at bay from toppling those European countries not forked over to the Soviet sphere of influence at the Potsdam conference. Europe lay in ruins. Britain had passed on the torch of global hegemony to the U.S. by tacitly acquiescing to the decolonization of its Empire when Churchill and Roosevelt agreed terms of the Atlantic Charter for the post-war new world order in 1941. So from its start NATO was very much an American driven endeavor. American money with the Marshall plan was propping up western European economies and its military might was forming the bulk of their defensive capabilities. The lopsided nature of this dynamic has informed how tensions have persisted and recently erupted in the Alliance. During the Cold War the U.S. felt obligated to shoulder the costs of underwriting Europe's security in light of the broader interests to keep the Soviet's in check. Following the fall of the Iron Curtain European complacency became a sticking point with the 'peace dividend' further exploiting American largesse. European NATO allies spent ever smaller percentages of their GDP on defense expenditure at U.S. expense. Now in a multi-polar world U.S. and European perceived threats are less aligned. This was first tested in the aftermath of September 11th when for the first time NATO elected to trigger its article 5 collective defense protocol. And since then the U.S. has sought to continue to expand the traditional theatre of operations beyond Europe's borders. No longer is Russia perceived by America as being a proximate existential threat to its interests, but rather containing Chinese expansion in the Pacific arena. Parallel to NATO a discrete 'five eyes' intelligence sharing alliance comprising the Anglo-sphere (the U.S., U.K., Canada and New Zealand) emerged. This stands at the center of the U.S. – U.K. 'special relationship'. A relevant question would be can this signals intelligence (NSA-GCHQ) partnership persist should the U.S. withdraw from NATO? Conventional thinking would have led one to believe that with Brexit the U.K. would naturally pivot towards closer U.S. relations but under Starmer the U.K. is distancing itself. European powers misrepresent the present conflict as an aggressive, rather than defensive U.S. adventure while they themselves are more likely to be at risk. In this the Starmer government resembles the Labor party led committee for nuclear disarmament in the 1980's. It opposed the Thatcher supported deployment of U.S. cruise missiles in response to the Soviet SS20's pointed at Britain's cities. The British left branded their response to Soviet strategic escalation to U.S. aggression. This time however there is for the moment no Thatcher to bring common sense into an equation dominated by emotionally driven ideologies in the face of an aggressor with definite aims. In terms of the Russian-Ukraine conflict we are reverting to the old question dating back to the Napoleonic war era: to what extent is London happy with the European nations fighting it out alone for dominance of the continent. Britain was never willing to accept a single power in control. Many variables will dictate what kind of world emerges from the current conflicts in Ukraine and Iran. How will power be extracted from potential gains? What will be the strategic impact of this? What is sure, in the age of Trump this pattern of reliance on U.S. muscle is becoming quickly exhausted. Dating back to the Roman Empire, a factor in the decline of major powers has always been astronomical military spending, a budgetary demand that the U.S. under Trump is no longer willing to shoulder alone. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).