The Day of the Lord

April 3, 2025
The Return of Elijah's Ministry

We’re looking at the “Day of the Lord”. Now, in Hebrew the day of the Lord is not called “the Day of the Lord”, it’s actually called the “Day of Yahweh”.

From the fall of man, until that time, it is “the time of Satan”. Jesus said directly that Satan is the god of this world. This will intensity in the Last Days. Certain things happen. What happens is this: God is the God of history. He exercises lordship over history. But with the manifestation of Antichrist, we’re told in the book of Daniel he will think to change the laws and the times. (Daniel 7:25) And they will be given into his hand for two “times, a time, and a half time”. Revelation and Daniel both break the last seven years of history into two halves of two “times, a time, and a half time“ – 3-1/2 lunar years, 1,260 days by the lunar calendar, thereabouts.

There are a number of things that teach about this “times, time, and a half time”, one of which foreshadows it – prefigures it – is what happened in the days of Eliyahuw Hanawbe, Elijah the prophet. Remember, it was 3-1/2 years when it did not rain. During that time he was in conflict with Ahab and Jezebel. Understand the pattern – this is Jewish midrash. Naboth‘s vineyard was coveted. Jezebel turns the king Ahab against Elijah because Elijah tries to defend Naboth’s vineyard. The wicked woman turns the king against Elijah.

Jesus uses Jezebel as a metaphor for the spirit of false religion in the book of Revelation. “You tolerate the woman Jezebel who beguiles My servants, who seduces My servants.”

John the Baptist – “Yochannan Hamadvil” – and Elijah – “Eliyah Hanawbe” – have the same spirit. They’re not the same person, but they have the same spirit, same anointing, same commissioning, same calling, same character. John the Baptist comes before the First Coming of Christ in the spirit of Elijah. And again, the wicked woman Herodias turns Herod against “Elijah”. It’s the same pattern.

We have to understand that will happen in the Last Days. The vineyard – that is, Israel – will be coveted. In fact, the church will be coveted. Christendom will be coveted. At this time during this period, the ministry of Elijah will again come into play in some way. The false religious system of the world personified in Jezebel will turn the political system against God’s people, bringing it into conflict with Elijah. What happened with Elijah happens with John, and it happens again in the Last Days. There is nothing going to happen that has not already partially happened. Now, the Last Days will be singularly unique, but there are things in the past that foreshadow it. If you want to know what’s going to happen, look at what did happen. Prophecy is pattern. Having said this, let’s understand what “the Day of the Lord” is.

The Day of the Lord

We’re going to look at the “Day of the Lord” as it concerns both Israel and the church. 2 Corinthians 1:14.
Just as you did partially acknowledge us, that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.
This is not the “Day of Yahweh”, but the “Day of the Lord Jesus”. The New Testament explains in greater depth and in greater detail something the Old Testament Hebrews only understood in parts. We know that the “Day of the Lord” is inaugurated with the return of Christ.

Matthew 24:22, look at what is says carefully. In the Olivet discourse, Jesus says this:
And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.

That word there is “koloboo”. “Koloboo” in Greek is how they translate the Aramaic. It is a word for “amputate”. Had it not been cut short – had it not been amputated – nobody would survive. You think of gangrene in a limb or an extremity. No orthopedic surgeon takes any delight in amputating someone’s limb. But if you have medistatic bone cancer, osteocarcinoma, or if you have a form of gangrene, and it’s a question of letting the body die or amputating the limb, he will amputate the limb in order to save the body. That’s the way it is. It will take a radical intervention by the Lord Jesus in the form of an amputation to preserve human existence. There’s going to be an amputation.

Once that amputation takes place, once the faithful are removed, God pours out His wrath on the kingdom of Antichrist. He pours out His wrath on the kingdom of Antichrist. We must draw a distinction between “tribulation” and “wrath”; they’re different words in Greek. God’s people – the faithful church – will never experience the wrath of the Lord. But the cohorts of Antichrist will experience the wrath of the Lord. The “Day of the Lord” takes place when the church is removed. The faithful bride, the faithful church is literally amputated, taken out of here. When that happens then God pours out His wrath. This is the “Day of Yahweh”, the “Day of the Lord”.

We’re told in the Hebrew Scriptures – one of the passages – “be ye not anxious for the day of the Lord”. (Amos 5:18-20) We shouldn’t want it to come. We should want Jesus to come, but the “Day of the Lord” is something completely different.

The Babylonian Captivity

Let’s begin looking, please, for the book of Joel, the Hebrew prophet Joel. Joel was the first prophet who prophesied for the Babylonian captivity. And like all of Israel’s prophets, Joel prophesied for at least three time frames. He prophesied for his own time and the events leading up to the Babylonian captivity, he prophesied for the First Coming of Jesus, and he prophesied for the Second Coming of Jesus, sometimes all in the same breath, certainly in the same passage. When we read Joel, or prophets like him, we have to always be aware what was for his own time, what was for the First Coming of Christ, and what’s for the return of Christ. Or what is for a combination – both, when things happen again. What happened with the Babylonian captivity teaches about what will happen in the Last Days.

Now, you remember Nebuchadnezzar built the image, didn’t he, to be worshiped. Nebuchadnezzar desecrated the Jewish temple. The image – if you read the dimensions in Aramaic – it comes to six-hundred and sixty-six with the steps and so forth in the book of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar entered the “Beautiful Land”. And in the last days of Judah before the captivity, the people were being misled by their leaders. There were only a few people like Jeremiah and Barach telling the truth. The people on a popular level chose to follow the false prophets who were telling them things like, “Victory’s coming.” “Blessing is coming.” 

“Prosperity is coming.” They were being given this one message by all these prophets. People like Jeremiah were giving the opposite message. The people on a popular level chose to follow the false prophets and negate the voice of the true ones. The Last Days will be the same way. Most of Christendom will follow the false prophets and reject the people telling the truth. Israel will reject the true voices God has sent to it: Messianic Jews, Jewish believers who preach the Gospel. They would rather follow the deceptions of the rabbis. What happened then will happen again.

It Happened Again

Now, it also happened in 70 A.D. The same, exact pattern that happened in the last days of Judah with the Babylonian captivity happened in 70 A.D. In the Olivet discourse, Jesus begins talking about 70 A.D. before He talks about anything else. “Not one stone will be thrown down upon another”. Pay attention.

The mystery religions of Babylon that began with the Tower of Babel, with Nimrod – those mystery religions that began in Babylon – made their way through Asia Minor, particularly the city of Pergamum, “where Satan’s throne is”, and from there into the Greco-Roman world. Today those same mystery religions are preserved in things like Free Masonery, Roman Catholicism, the Greek Orthodox Church, and so forth, but the root of those things is in Babylon. The early Christians identified Rome with Babylon because they knew that Rome had become the new home of those mystery religions. That’s why in his epistle, Peter writing from Rome says, “She who is in Babylon greets you.”

The Babylonians destroyed the first temple on Tishah be’Av, roughly the 9th of August. They surrounded the city as Jeremiah predicted. The Romans destroyed the second temple in 70 A.D. the exact, same day: Tishah be’Av. The first temple and second temple were destroyed the same day. But it was only the early Christians who understood this is the same as Babylon. The Jewish believers escaped. They remembered what Jesus said, “When you see it surrounded, flee to the mountains.”

A Type of Rapture

After the apostle James had been martyred, a cousin of Jesus names Simeon was the pastor – the senior pastor – of the church in Jerusalem. The Romans inexplicably withdrew the siege very temporarily and the Jewish believers escaped to a place called “Pellah”. Not “Petra”, but “Pellah”. They thought that was going to be the Rapture. And in fact it was a type of the Rapture, but they escaped. The way that those believers escaped before all hell came upon Jerusalem is exactly what will happen in the end.
If you want to know what the “Day of the Lord” will be like, read Josephus’ “The Wars of the Jews”. What happened inside Jerusalem after the believers escaped is what will happen to the whole planet. It’s a microcosm of what will happen to the whole planet. Starvation became so terrible, women began fighting over afterbirth. They were waiting for women to deliver babies so they’d have something to eat. That is what happened in Jerusalem. More than that, the partisans – their own people, the sikim, the Zealots – were more cruel and barbaric than the Romans were. It was something inside the city as well as outside. The “Day of the Lord” is prefigured by what happened in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. after the church was removed.

Now there are many other things in the Bible that teach about the “Day of the Lord”, what this period will be like, but for our purposes think of what happened in 70 A.D. Only those who followed Jesus made it out of there; the others were left and something terrible happened. And it will happen again.

Now, in 70 A.D. when the Romans destroyed the temple, they set up Pagan incense on the temple mount where the Holy of Holies had been and began worshiping the incense, worshiping their gods where the Holy of Holies had been. After the believers escaped, they understood this to be the “shiqqutzim meshomem“ – the “Abomination of Desolations.” Once again, what happened then is a microcosm, a shadow, a picture of what will happen at the end.

Now, I’ll go through this again for the sake of new believers. Joel prophesied about the Babylonian captivity. What happened at the time Joel prophesied – predicted – is a picture of what will happen in the Last Days. But it also fulfilled partially in 70 A.D. What happened in 70 A.D. as Jesus warned in the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24, that is a picture of what the “Day of the Lord” will be like. Only it will not just be something local in Jerusalem, it will be the entire planet; an entire planet of people going through that kind of a situation. Can you imagine an entire planet of people waiting to fight over a maternal afterbirth to have something to eat? Can you imagine? If you read Josephus, it is shocking. It is horrific.

Now, Jeremiah laments this. The book of Lamentations is called “Eichah” in Hebrew, and it’s read on Tishah be’Av. It’s read the day the temples were destroyed. Ritually in the synagogues to this day, the rabbis read the book of Lamentations – “Eichah” – where Jeremiah laments the destruction that took place. Only Jeremiah was also rescued, wasn’t he? He got out of there with his followers. Before this happens, the faithful people always have a ticket out. Our task in this conference is to make sure you have a ticket.

The Insects

With this in view, turn with me to the book of Joel, chapter 1. “Yo’el Hanawbe”.

The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

Verse 4.

What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten;
What the swarming locust has left, the hopping locust has eaten;
And what the hopping locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.

Joel uses insects the way that Daniel uses monsters. These insects are pictures of political entities – invading political entities. Daniel generally uses beasts, Joel uses insects, the book of Revelation uses both. Notice there are four swarms of locusts, four different swarms of locusts. The Babylonian captivity of the Jews took place in four invasions. Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians invaded four times, and each time there was a greater and greater deportation of Jews.

This idea of a systematic deportation is exactly what happened in the Holocaust of the 1930’s and 40’s. They built a wall around the Jewish ghettos – the “shtettles” – and they would deport a certain amount the first time, a certain amount the second time, a certain amount the third time, and then the rest the fourth time. That’s exactly what happened with the concentration camps in the 1930’s and 40’s, very much in the character of Nebuchadnezzar; the same demonic spirit.

Deception in the Last Days

Now, you’ve got these four swarms of locusts. Look what follows it in verse 5. What does Joel say?
Awake, you drunkards, and weep;
And wail, all you drinkers of wine,
Because of the sweet wine
For it’s been cut off from your mouth.

Understand the deception being perpetrated against the body of Christ today. I’m going to speak very directly.
This is a Calvary Chapel. In the earlier years of Calvary Chapel, Chuck Smith kicked somebody out of Calvary Chapel essentially. His name was John Wimber. He was part of Calvary Chapel and Chuck Smith booted him out, gave him the boot – in effect. Because he began teaching things that were based on experience instead of on Scripture: Experiential Theology. Wimber went into mysticism, he went into Gnosticism, he went into New Age philosophy putting it into Christian terms. And he would later align himself with people from Kansas City who said they were prophets. One of these people, Mike Bickle, said the rapture of Elijah was a judgment. Telling people “rapture” of God is a “judgment”? “Elijah was too negative”, so God had to remove him in judgment.

Another one of his prophets was Bob Jones. That was his name. A man found to be in serious sexual immorality (this was publicly known – I’m not throwing mud), but another was Paul Cain. Paul Cain, John Wimber, Mike Bickle – they came to England and they had a big, huge conference in London in August of 1990. And they told the people from England and from other places that the “Latter Day Rain” was going to happen, the “Manifest Sons” would be revealed, there’d be a great outpouring of God’s Spirit. And this revival would come and begin in England and then spread to Germany and then into continental Europe.

Well, it so happens I live in England (most of the time), and I can tell you that since the “great revival” prophesied for October of 1990 – that’s when they said it would happen – five times more mosques than churches have been built in England. For every church that’s been built, five mosques have been built since 1990. The Methodists close one church a week, the Church of England closes two to three churches a week, one mosque a week opens in England. They prophesied falsely, they predicted things that didn’t happen, and they made these predictions in the name of the Lord. It was then revealed about two years ago that Paul Cain is an alcoholic and a homosexual. But you had all of these Charismatics (and I am a Charismatic – I certainly am not a Cessastionist) following people who were making these predictions, who were alcoholics, who were homosexuals, and were telling people things they wanted to hear.

The people cheered them. They believed this was the “Latter Day Rain”, the “Manifest Sons”. And then they went on to say they were “the locusts who were going to devour”. We’ll come to that in a moment. Look at the next verse, 5.
Awake, ye drunkards, and weep.

The same churches who follow the Kansas City crowd followed people from Toronto, Canada and later Pensacola, Florida. And there was a South African gentlemen (who doesn’t like me) named Rodney Howard-Browne. (He actually denounced me in front of about 8,000 people in Melbourne, Australia because I put out a video showing what he was doing.) And he actually goes around singing a song – I’m not kidding you, this is the song – “Drinking at Joel’s Place”. He sings a song, “Drinking at Joel’s Place”, telling people to get drunk in the Holy Ghost and to fall in hysterics.

Now, that is what they are saying about the book of Joel. Look what Joel says about the book of Joel. They say they’re drunk, Joel says sober up. They say to laugh, Joel said to weep. No revival has ever begun with people laughing. Every revival has begun with people weeping in repentance.

Can There Be Revival?

Can there be a great, End Times revival? The Bible speaks more – much more – of a great, End Times falling away, of a great, End Times apostasy than it does a revival. Now, there is to be a second outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Israel and the Jews during this time. That is true. But it will come during the time of “Jacob’s Trouble”. During “HaTekufa ha Tsorat Yakov”, the darkest hour of their history that takes place at this period. It will not be a happy time.

If revival comes – pay attention – it will be like the revival before the Babylonian captivity. What was the revival before the Babylonian captivity? It was the revival of King Josiah. The sin had become so treacherous, particularly the genocidal sacrifice of Jewish children to demons like Molech under King Manasseh. King Manasseh sacrificed and killed all these kids. So even though a repentance did come, even though a revival did come, God said the axe won’t fall in your lifetime because you’ve been faithful, but the axe still must fall; things have gone too far. Pay attention.

I don’t say revival can’t come. I don’t say the “Day of the Lord” cannot be, in theory, be delayed. But the axe must fall. Why? Look at it. 40 million babies aborted in the United States in non-therapeutic abortions since “Roe vs. Wade”. 40 million! Had they not done that, the Social Security system would not be in trouble. That same generation responsible for “Rove v. Wade” is now going to reap the whirlwind...euthanasia will be the next battle. The demands on the public health care systems, on Social Security, “We can’t let these people go on living into their 90’s and into their 80’s with improved medicine – we have to let them die.” Otherwise the system – mark my words – it will go from “voluntary” euthanasia to “involuntary” euthanasia. That fetus had no choice about being aborted, neither will that generation that aborted them. They will reap what the sowed. It is inevitable that the judgment of God must come on the western world. It must fall on the Protestant democracies.

If revival comes, the most you can do is delay the inevitable. Things have gone too far. “If my people, who are called by My name will turn and pray, I’ll heal their land” – that is true; but it can only be true in the way it was in the days of Josiah. Things have just gone too far. Too far. This is not to say we shouldn’t pray for revival – we should – but understand when it comes it will only delay the inevitable. A chance for more people to be saved. God will increase and return His grace ultimately back to His ancient people Israel.

Sober Up

So for this to come about, Joel is saying, “Sober up.” Today, major denominations are telling people, “No, get drunk”. The word is “sobreizo” in Greek. We’re told to practice self-control. The fruit of the Spirit is “egkrateia” – “self control” – they are saying be out of control. If someone is not in control of themselves, the Holy Spirit is not in control of them.

I went to Toronto, Canada on business and I visited that lunatic asylum with the cross on the roof to see what was going on. The first thing that I noticed was that everyone was talking about experience, nobody was talking about Jesus. And they kept saying, “I couldn’t control it! I couldn’t control it!” Well, the fact that you couldn’t control it proves it’s not God. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control.

Just think of somebody that used to be an alcoholic who becomes a Christian. An alcoholic, let’s say. I was a cocaine addict when I was a teenager, but let’s say somebody’s an alcoholic. The Lord delivered me from cocaine – actually He did – but for somebody else, the Lord delivers them from alcohol addiction. If that person goes into a pub or a bar and begins drinking again, is the Holy Spirit in control of them? No. A beer to them is what cocaine is to me: death. If the Holy Spirit was in control of them, they’d be in control of themselves. When people sin, the Holy Spirit’s not in control of them, are they? When we sin, the Holy Spirit’s not in control of us at that instance. We’re grieving the Holy Spirit. “I know it’s God, I just couldn’t control...” The fact that they couldn’t control it proves it’s not God we’re told twice in the New Testament. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is “egkrateia”. Now, notice that they’re saying the diametric opposite of what Scripture says.

Blow A Trumpet

Chapter 2:1 of Joel.
Blow a trumpet in Zion,
Sound an alarm on God’s holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the day of the Lord is coming near;
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains,
A great and powerful people;
Their like has never been seen before,
Nor will be again after them
To all the years of all generations.
Fire devours before them
A flame burns after them.
The land is like the garden of Eden before them
But after them a desolate wilderness,
Nothing escapes them.
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, they run.
As with rumbling of chariots
They leap on top of the mountains,
Like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble,
Like a powerful army drawn up for battle.
Before them people are in anguish;
All faces grow pale.
Like warriors they charge,
Like soldiers they scale the wall;
They each march each his way,
They do not swerve from their paths.
They do not jostle one other,
Each marches in his path;
They burst through the weapons,
They are not halted.
They leap upon the city,
They run on the walls;
They climb up into houses,
They enter through the windows like a thief.
The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and the moon are darkened
The stars withdraw their shining.
The same as the Olivet discourse.
The Lord utters His voice before His army;
For His camp is exceedingly great,
He who executes His word is powerful.
For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome,
Who can endure it?
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“Return to Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, weeping and mourning;
Rend not your garments but your hearts.”
Return to the Lord,
He’s gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love
And He relents.

But they wouldn’t blow the trumpet in Zion. This corresponds in figure to the Hebrew Feast of Trumpets. Today, the rabbis gave the Feast of Trumpets a completely different meaning than the Scripture does. “When the people in the city hear the shofar, will they not tremble?” It’s a convocation and a warning. It’s the Jews being regathered to Israel for the Great Tribulation. The Jews are not going back to Israel for a picnic or a blessing; they’re going back to be deceived by the Antichrist, to make a covenant with death, and to go into a holocaust in which two-thirds of them will be wiped out.

My children were born in Galilee. My own children are Israeli Jews born in Galilee. I firmly believe in the prophetic purposes of God for Israel and the Jews, I believe in Israel’s right to exist as a nation. I’m appalled at the pressure America and other governments put on it to acquiesce to Islamic barbarism. Nonetheless, I’m still left with the fact that there is no peace without the Prince of Peace. There is no blessing without the atonement of the Messiah.

When you see Jews getting on planes and ships going to Israel, they may as well be getting on a train going to Auschwitz or Buchenwald. There are organizations claiming to be “Christian embassies”, claiming to be “wings of eagles” who say, “Just get the Jews back to Israel and God will save them.” Two-thirds of them are going to be wiped out. Yes, all Israel will be saved, those who look upon Him who they pierced will be saved, but the others are going to be killed. The Jewish people need Jesus the Messiah. Do not support any organization or ministry that does not give the Jews the Gospel.

Now, one of the reason our ministry supports Brad Antolovich – Calvary Chapel Jerusalem – is because, oh they’re bringing Jews back from Ukraine and Russia, and they’re helping Jews with humanitarian aid, but they’re giving the Jews what they need the most: the Good News of Yeshua the Messiah. There are good ministries and there are bad ones. Unfortunately, a lot of the money goes to the bad ones.

Changing the Meaning

The rabbis changed the meaning of Trumpets. You know what they call it now? “Rosh Hashanah.” “Happy New Year”. Now, biblically they should be saying, “Oy v’voy”, “Woe upon woe!” When the trumpet is sounded, let the people tremble. But instead of saying, “Oy v’voy”, “Woe upon woe!”, the rabbis are telling Jewish people to say, “Happy New Year!” But they’re not saved; they don’t know their Messiah, Yeshua.

What do you do when the church, when its leaders instead of telling people to sober up are telling them to get drunk? Or instead of telling them to fall down and weep, they’re telling them to fall down and laugh. Israel’s blind, the church is blind. So much of Israel is blind. Only a small remnant, albeit a growing remnant of Jews, no the truth that Jesus is the Messiah. The proportions are not much different. In a Calvary Chapel you general don’t see the same degree of error you see in most other churches and denominations today, but they’re all going with this kind of stuff, one fad after another. Pensacola, Pepsi-Cola, Purpose Driven, anything as long as it’s not biblical, they’re going to do it.

Pay attention. Jesus said directly, “When you see these things happening, lift up your head, your redemptions draws near.” The book of Revelation is the only book of the Bible with a special blessing promised for reading it. There’s a blessing for reading all of it, but there’s an actual, literal blessing – Jesus promises a blessing for reading it. So who are people listening to? Events are happening in the Middle East today, but the Scripture warned us. Things are happening in Europe. The re-confederation of Europe in non-democratic Europe is exactly what Daniel said and is happening today. “When you see these things happening, lift up your head, your redemption’s draws near.” We see the “Day of the Lord” drawing near, so who are people listening to? I’ll tell you who they’re listening to: They’re listening to a man in California named Rick Warren who said don’t study Bible prophecy, it’s a diversion. Jesus says when you see this stuff happening, you better get into this book and understand what’s going on. “Oh no, don’t do that”, says Rick Warren. Who cares what Jesus Christ said? Why do we need Him when we have the Purpose Driven? I can prove it; he said it, as well as at least a dozen other things co-equally as crazy and as dangerous. You see the deception?

Increasing Deception

There are three kinds of people in God’s economy as the “Day of the Lord” draws near: There’s the Jews, the Gentile nations, and the church composed of both Jew and Gentile. There’s the Jew, the Gentiles, and the church.
Satan has the Jews deceived; they don’t recognize their Messiah, except for a faithful remnant. Satan has the nations deceived. That leaves the church. He’s trying to deceive you and me.

When they asked the Lord Jesus at the Olivet discourse, “What will be the sign of Your coming at the end of the age?”, He spoke of wars one time, rumors and wars one time, famines one time, earthquakes one time, pestilence one time – one time, one time, one time – persecution one time, but He warned of deception perpetrated against the Elect four times. In fact, the first words out of His mouth – “Lord, what will be the sign of Your coming at the end of the age?” – “See to it that no one leads you astray.” The first words out of His mouth. He warned about deception perpetrated against you and me, your family and my family, your church and my church – He warned about that four times more than any other sign of the end.

If you asked me when I was a young believer back in the early 70’s, or even if you asked me 15 years ago, or even 10 years ago, why I though it was the Last Days, I would tell you, “Israel, the European Union, destruction of the environment, globalization of the world economy” – I would have told you all that stuff. Now in fact, I’m even more convinced that stuff is prophetically significant now than I was 10 years ago; I’m even more convinced that stuff is prophetically significant now than I’ve ever been. But it’s no longer the clearest signs. The clearest signs of the return of Jesus and the approach of the “Day of the Lord” is deception perpetrated against the Elect: The numbers and caliber of the people who are believing it and buying into it and subscribing into it.

How can anybody in their right mind think they can be out of control when the Bible says be in control? How can anybody in their right mind say don’t study prophecy, when Jesus said we should? Deception. He’s got the Jews, he’s getting the church. “Blow a trumpet”. No, it is not “Happy New Year”, it is “Oy v’voy”.

The Locust Armies

Now these armies of Babylon, represented by locusts, appear again in the book of Revelation. In other words, what happened with Nebuchadnezzar is a shadow of what will transpire eschatologically in the future, the Apocalypse. You understand? What happened with the Babylonian captivity will happen again. Turn to Revelation 9, please.

And the fifth angel blew his trumpet...

(Now, remember the trumpets.)

...and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and air were darkened with smoke from the shaft.

What does it say in Joel? The sun will be darkened, a star will fall from heaven.

Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth. And they were given power like the power of scorpions on the earth.

Well, here’s the locusts, they’re coming again. Look what they did the last time. So what does the church do? What should we do? We should blow this and warn people Jesus is coming. “No, don’t do that,” says Rick Warren. “That’s a diversion.” What are they doing? Can you believe it? These locusts are the demon cohorts of Antichrist. These locusts, who had a literal fulfillment in the Babylonian army, are a picture of the demon cohorts of Antichrist in Revelation 9.

I have been – not to churches – to stadiums. Stadiums – not with hundreds, not with thousands, but with tens of thousands of born again Christians, supposedly – and you know what they were singing?

“We run on the city, we run on the walls,
Great is the army who carries his word.”

They think they’re thinking about themselves. They think they’re singing about them. They think, “Daddy’s locusts”. These are the great army. Yes, it’s called Yahweh’s army, it’s His army of judgment to bring His own people to repentance like the Babylonians were. They’re actually singing about the demon cohorts of Antichrist and they think they’re singing about themselves.

The Absence of Doctrine

“Blow a trumpet in Zion, Zion. Here we come. Latter Day Rain, Manifest Sons, the Manchild, Kingdom Now.” This whole global peace plan, you know what it is? Kingdom Now theology. Over-realized eschatology, post-millenialism. Hyper-Charismatics don’t have any doctrine; they go by experience, feelings, mysticism. They don’t have any doctrine.

So where do they get their doctrine? They go to hyper-Calvinists called “Reconstructionists”, the followers of Rushdoony, David Chilton, Greg Bonson, Gary North. Reconstructionists, people who believe that the church has to take over the institutions of government and finance and establish the kingdom of God before Jesus comes. So you have a hyper-Calvinist kook and a hyper-Charismatic kook, where does this Charismatic get his eschatology? Where does a “kook” get his doctrine? Well, quite obviously and quite logically, he gets it from another kook.

• “Kook” + “Kook” = “Kingdom Now”.
• “Kook” + “Kook” = “Manifest Sons”.
• “Kook” + “Kook” = “Manchild”.
• “Kook” + “Kook” = “Global Peace Plan”.

There is a global peace plan, but you know what bothers me most about Rick Warren’s “Five Point Global Peace Plan”? It’s not God’s. It’s about education, it’s about social welfare, it’s about all those things, but it doesn’t talk about the Gospel. It doesn’t even talk about salvation.

They are being set up for this. They actually sing this. They’re singing about Antichrist’s army and they think it’s about them! Pay attention. David Hocking and myself were talking about this in Germany. Remember when Jesus warned, “When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases like the heathen do”? In Hinduism it’s a mantra. Over and over and over and over. The whole “Mary” thing in Catholic countries is so strong you can’t tell them, “Look, Mary says she needs a Savior” because they’ve said too many rosaries. Like Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister said, “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it’s the truth.”
They get into the mantra. So we have what some people call the “7-11 choruses”: 7 words, repeated 11 times. Where do these people get their theology? They get it from mindlessly singing choruses as if they were a mantra. The people in these churches who went to this lunacy – you see, there’s no exposition of the Word, they just sing and sing the same thing over and over, but it doesn’t dawn on them much of what they’re singing is not even Scriptural. They become inundated by it like a mantra. It is the same as Hinduism .

The Eastern Invasion

This is the third time – third time – eastern religion has permeated – invaded – the western church. Jeremiah warns of it in chapter 5: “My people are filled with influences from the east.”

The first time it happened was with the post-Nicean fathers, particularly in Alexandria; that was the first time eastern religion invaded western Christendom, with the Gnostics.

The second time was when the Crusades brought the influences of Hinduism and Sufi Islam into Europe. The second time was the Crusades. The whole thing with little girls dressed like brides for the community and counting their prayers on beads, that was all copied from Muslims and Hindus. The flagellation things in the monasteries and convents, that was all copied from Shi’a Muslims. That was the second time.

This is the third time eastern religion has invaded the western church.

2004, the National Pastor’s Conference in San Diego, the keynote speaker – I’m only telling you what was on the agenda – 11:30 to 1, Rick Warren. After a coffee break, you know what the next session was? Yoga. It’s on the Internet. (At least it was.) The National Pastor’s Conference! These are Evangelical pastors! Yoga! They don’t have a clue what’s happening.

That day should not overtake us like a thief. He’s coming like a thief in the night, but it shouldn’t overtake us like a thief. It’s going to shock people, it’s going to surprise them, but it should not shock or surprise us. Let’s look. What should we be doing?

The Proper Context

Turn with me again to the book of Joel 2.

Blow the trumpet in Zion,


...verse 15...
Call a solemn assembly,
Gather the people, consecrate the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children, even nursing infants,
Let the bridegroom leave his room
And the bride her chambers.
There’s a reason for that. Remember Jesus warned they’ll be marrying and given in marriage?
Let them gather between the vestibule and the altar,
Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers weep
And say, “Spare Your people, O Lord.”
Make not Your heritage a reproach,
A byword among the nations.
Spare Your people, O Lord.

A “text”, out of context, in isolation from its co-text, is always a “pretext”. Satan is great at taking Scriptures out of context. Look what he did with Jesus. He tried it with Jesus. That whole argument between Satan and Jesus in Matthew 4 was from the book of Deuteronomy. Satan would pull a verse out of context, Jesus would answer him in context. Whatever Jesus answered was from Deuteronomy because everything Satan raises from Deuteronomy – he was great at taking certain verses out of context. It’s simple: A text, out of context, in isolation from its co-text, is always a pretext.

So they’ll point out in Peter’s charigma in the Book of Acts 2 that he quotes from Joel 2:28.

Afterwards it shall come to pass I’ll pour out my Spirit on your flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy.

That’s true. But first of all, in its context, it’s mainly focused on Israel and the Jews. Secondly, it doesn’t precede calamity, it follows it. They’re buying into a big lie. Buying into a big lie. It doesn’t matter what you say.

Does It Matter To You?

Last week I was in Hawaii and the Lord put in my way the biggest con-artist, false prophet, money preacher in the world. Eyeball to eyeball, I with him. Eyeball to eyeball, I told him he was a false prophet, that I can prove he’s made these predictions in the name of the Lord that didn’t happen, that he needs to repent and get out of the ministry. It doesn’t matter what I told him. No, it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have told him. Ezekiel says tell them anyway, even if they won’t listen. It’s like serving an indictment, but they won’t listen. It just doesn’t matter to them. The question is, does it matter to you? Do you want a ticket out of here? The “Day of the Lord” is coming.

There is a message. The message is not, “Get drunk”, the message is not to lose self-control, the message is not, “Happy New Year”. The message is you pick up your Bible; this is the message. What does it say in Amos? “Set the trumpet to thy mouth.”

Blow a trumpet in Zion.
Sound an alarm in my holy mountain,
The day of the Lord draws near.

You see CNN today? You watch Fox News today? The “Day of the Lord” draws near. But when the biggest preachers in the world are giving the flock the opposite message, what chance will the sheep have from these wolves when their own shepherds give them over?

No, there is a message. The message is the “Day of the Lord” indeed draws near.

Blow the trumpet in Zion,
Consecrate a fast, call an assembly, a solemn assembly,
Gather all the people, consecrate the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children, even the nursing infants.

Remember what Jesus said about the nursing mothers.

Let the bridegroom leave his room
Let the bride her chamber.

Blow the trumpet in Zion,
Sound an alarm in God’s mountain!
The day of the Lord draws near

Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord weep
And let them say, “Spare thy people, O Lord.”

God bless. 

 

 

 

 

How AI is transforming defensive capabilities against drones

October 12, 2026
Written by - Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Examples abound in history of how the responses to innovations in technology that disrupted and transformed the nature of warfare have taken a delayed time to be adapted. Chain mail and armour had to be altered and bolstered to repel arrows from the English Longbow in Medieval Europe, but this didn't occur in time to the dismay of the French at Agincourt. It took the Spanish decades to redesign their cumbersome Galleons that lay prey to the swifter English ships. Napoleonic era field tactics were still being employed during the American Civil War, with mass charges mowed down by the Gatling barrel machine gun. Trench warfare was only later embraced during WWI. With the cheap manufacture of drones and the advances in AI a new chapter has opened in how war is waged in our own time. The conflicts in Ukraine and Iran have demonstrated how asymmetric warfare has become as much an economic calculation as a game of cat and mouse. Drones (and relatively cheaply manufactured ballistic missiles by Iran) are being shot down at great expense. AI which has been extensively deployed for target identification in Gaza is also proving to be a vital tool in hunting incoming drones. But as in the delayed development of military countermeasures historically, drones are ahead of AI in the battlefield. This is reflected in the enormity of Russian military casualties that have fallen victim to Ukrainian drones. AI is able to cut through the 'background noise' of distracting projectiles, birds and other debris to home in efforts to eliminate the actual drone target. The magic formula is speed and precision. Humans can detect and assess a threat, but AI can process radar, cameras and other sensors almost instantly, and with increasing accuracy predict where a drone intends to strike. When swamped with a wave drone attack, AI acts to identify and track the multiple threats. AI can also help decide how to respond. Depending on the system, the response could involve electronic warfare, an interceptor drone, a missile or a gun-based system. Ukraine has installed automated machine gun turrets instructed by AI to protect Kiev. In some cases, humans still make the final decision to engage, while AI handles the calculations and tracking required to make that decision quickly. More broadly, drone warfare is becoming a contest between autonomous systems. The challenge is no longer simply building a better missile or a better drone. It is building a system that can see the threat first, understand it quickly and respond before the drone reaches its target. In that sense, AI is becoming a critical part of air defence. The advantage may increasingly belong to whoever can make the fastest and most accurate decisions—not necessarily whoever manufactures the most expensive weapons. AI's pace of progress is exponential. It is beyond comprehension what capacity could be realized in even the next 2-3 years. The combination of drones, robotics and AI may render the traditional military hardware of tanks, frigates and fighter jets almost functionally obsolete. The development of AI's course of military application will be largely directed by the conflicts where it is deployed. In the pre-AI world of 1987, the black Friday market crash during the Reagan Administration saw a dangerous drop in the Dow, where computer analysis issued sell orders against a background of Reagan's massive budget deficits. Amidst Reagan's budget deficits this created an environment where social security was looted to fund defence spending. A supposed conservative President ran a fiscal policy with simultaneous increases in the Pentagon budget, coupled with tax cuts. The computer generated sell off was beyond the functional control of brokers and market makers, while the Soviets attempted to engineer market irregularities affecting the American economy which had further global ramifications due to massive American trade deficits with Japan under Reagan. The current Securities exchange environment is at best no less complex now. Given the spectre of what transpired in 1987 with computerised over control of stock exchange trading, and a shadow hanging over the bond market we are left to ponder could another such scenario be triggered in the age of AI? And even more illuminous prospect over shadows us now with the question can AI gain a decision-making operational capacity over command-and-control decisions. Certainly, for tactical weapons systems or even a doomsday scenario with Russia, China, India or Pakistan placing nuclear launch control in the hands of AI that could result in an exchange that either the US, Britain, France or Israel would be forced to react to. Without scaremongering it is necessary for strategic planners to prevent the nuclear powers that be from arriving at the precipice of such an abyss.

Interconnected Conflicts: The Risk of a New Thirty Years' War. By Rubin Rothler - LLB, MLB

September 21, 2026
The interlinked nature of third-party involvement in the ongoing conflicts in Iran and Ukraine has increasingly come to the fore in recent weeks. It emerged that China has not only been providing Iran with radar systems, navigation tools, and electronic warfare technology, but also high-resolution satellite imagery and geospatial data to direct its rockets. The same great-power relationships that are shaping the Middle East are affecting the conduct and constraints of the war in Ukraine. It is apparent that a reciprocation in kind is dictating Russia's conduct towards the US in Iran. Intelligence and targeting support mirror similar U.S. assistance to Ukraine. But this picture becomes murkier when considering the backroom accommodations Trump is willing to give Putin. Recently, Trump pressured Zelensky to stop targeting Russian diesel infrastructure, saying the attacks were causing a shortage of the fuel that is "hurting the world." The U.S. national average price for diesel, which is used by trucks, trains, ships, and farm equipment, rose above six dollars a gallon for the first time last Thursday. Such interventions demonstrate how developments on the battlefield in Ukraine can no longer be considered independently of wider economic and geopolitical calculations. China has been using tankers that are already at sea, when that runs out the American blockade will create shortage problems for the Chinese economy, as China no longer gets Venezuelan oil and is reliant on Iran and international spot market prices. The war with Iran is now spreading to Yemen, with the Houthis attempting to replicate the Iranian chokehold model perfected in the Strait of Hormuz. The strategic importance of controlling or threatening critical maritime chokepoints is central to the wider contest. What happens in the Gulf can therefore have consequences for shipping, energy markets, and military calculations far beyond the immediate theatre. So far, the US has declined Saudi requests to slow the Houthi advance. Neither Turkey nor Egypt seems inclined to come to Saudi Arabia's aid. This is despite the signing of a very recent mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan. More developments can happen in these conflicts on an average day than can be afforded mention, but they should be increasingly understood as interconnected parts of a wider geopolitical confrontation. Assistance in one theatre triggers reciprocal action in another. Consequently, these cease to be discrete, containable conflicts and are extending into prolonged multinational conflicts. There is a distinct possibility that these may become frozen conflicts over time. A more terrifying eventuality is something more akin to the Thirty Years' War, which was fought in the first half of the 17th century in Europe. It is important to remember that this calamity, which ravaged Europe, began as a localized rebellion that gradually drew in more and more powers. The initial religious nature of the fighting gave way to political struggles. The mechanism by which a localized conflict becomes a multinational struggle offers a historical warning worth considering. The danger today is that a collection of individually distinct conflicts could become sufficiently interconnected that containing any one of them becomes increasingly difficult. Iran, Ukraine, Russia, China, the United States, and the conflict involving the Houthis are already linked by military assistance, intelligence, energy, trade, and strategic competition. The question, therefore, is no longer simply how any one of these conflicts ends. It is whether they can remain separate conflicts at all.  (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

By David Passmore • September 12, 2026
Moriel & Jacob Prasch request prayer for our sister in Jesus - Wendy Blomkamp, widow of Brother Fred Blomkamp (now with The Lord), the founder of Moriel South Africa Branch (not to be confused with Moriel's Ebyown Aids Children's Mission in South Africa founded by David Royle). Wendy, (an equestrian rider of all things) is originally from West Yorkshire, England but has lived most of her life in South Africa and is currently in retirement in the USA. Unfortunately, Wendy is diagnosed with inoperable pre terminal cancer with cardio pullmonary complications. The Lord will either intervene supernaturally or call her home. We request prayer for Wendy and her beloved family and wisdom for her physicians. In Christ, All at Moriel

What would happen to Israel if the House is controlled by Democrats, and if the Republicans lose control of the Senate?

By David Passmore • September 7, 2026
The US midterm elections are around the corner and the results could have profound effects on US foreign policy concerning Israel. Much has been said about this vote being a referendum on Trump's unpopular war with Iran. But it can equally be said to be about Trump's other foreign policy engagements that are viewed rather more favourably like the overthrow of Maduro in Venezuela and his replacement with a pro-American regime. With Israel the picture is less clear. It used to be a given that Israel enjoyed bipartisan support on the Hill. You could count on the fingers of one hand the number of politicians opposed to supporting Israel - the occasional fringe Democrat representing a singular Michigan constituency with a high Arab origin demographic, or a rare odd ball Republican preaching strict isolationism. This dynamic has shifted quickly in the last decade. The Democrats have all but abandoned any inclination of a pro-Israel position. Even establishment figures like Chuck Schumer have been pressured to side with the Party's radical left wing. With 60-80% of Democrats now anti-Israel, Israel can no longer rely on Jewish Democrats to oppose anti-Zionism or antisemitism. The most outspoken Democratic member of the Senate advocating a pro-Israel position, Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is being pressured to resign and leave the party even by Pennsylvania's Jewish Governor Shapiro and Soros sponsored Philadelphia Prosecutor Krasner. This is happening concurrently with mass endorsement from 170 leading Hollywood Jewish actors writing a letter of support for Mark Ruffallo - despite his antisemitic comments naming Jewish investors supporting a Hollywood studio mega merger as being associated with apartheid genocide. However most shocking, were the comments by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel who stood before an audience of Jewish Democrats last weekend telling them they may need to sacrifice the safety, and even the future, of their own people in exchange for saving the rest of humanity. Such rhetoric is contrary to basic human instincts of survival and self-preservation. If any other nation were suggested this course of action, I wonder what their response would be? On the Republican side the foreboding sense of an altering course towards Israel no longer seems so distant. The anti-Israel faction in the Republican party led by Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes are now being supported by Vice President Vance. Jewish kingpins in the Trump Administration such as Witkoff and Kushner have been tied to business dealings in N.Y. with the Muslim Brotherhood controlled Qatari government through its business holdings. Should Republicans lose control of the Senate while Democrats take the House, Israel could find itself having to drastically re-access its relationship with Washington. We wouldn't see an immediate break in ties. American military, intelligence, technological and strategic cooperation with Israel is too integrated into the core of US institutions and corporations that would take a protracted period to dismantle. However, the power of Congress is in no way feeble. Congress controls funding, foreign-assistance legislation, sanctions, arms-related legislation and, perhaps most importantly, the political milieu in which an administration operates. A Democratic House combined with a Senate no longer controlled by Republicans could place enormous pressure on Trump to alter his attitude towards Israel. Practically this could entail demanding further accountability from Israel over military operations in Gaza, and the West Bank Settlers causing civilian casualties and property damage. Military aid could face more conditions or restrictions, but an immediate cutoff is unlikely. Israel has historically depended upon the presumption that regardless of who was President, there would be a robust enough bipartisan coalition in Congress to prevent a major deterioration in the relationship. Now the opposite appears true. Israel is taking the gamble of solely relying on a friendly President like Trump getting elected to maintain cordial relations. With the erosion of even much of Jewish American support for Israel and the hijacking of the Democratic party by a pro Islamist socialist left seen in Mamdani and others, Israel is forced to confront the inescapable reality that the last strong bastion of support for it is the Republican Party's evangelical base. But even younger voters in this key demographic are beginning to question support for Israel. The hostility displayed by the Haredim in Jerusalem and elsewhere against Christians including evangelicals, is to say the least counter-productive to the national interest. To attack the one friend Israel has left with a proven track record of loyalty and is vital to pro-Zionism internationally, is particularly detrimental to the national interest. It is Iran with its Mahdiist interpretations of jihad and sharia as a religious ideology that drives its hatred of Israel and the USA, and The West, to the detriment of the interests of the majority of the Iranian populace who want non hostile co-existence.  Such religious fanaticism and ideologically fuelled hatred ought not be given place in Israeli Judaism. It too, will generate adverse consequences for the majority of Israelis, including religious moderates, who desire an ongoing friendship with Evangelical Christians whose theology is not one of anti Semitism, but of proven Philo-Semitism and pro Zionism.

Don't bit ethe hand that feeds you - Irish hypocrisy towards Israel

By David Passmore • August 21, 2026
Don't bite the hand that feeds you - Irish hypocrisy towards Israel Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Amongst European nations, Ireland in recent years has gained the reputation as being the leading anti-Zionist country. The Irish Republic has never been favourably inclined to Israel. It only established an Embassy in Tel Aviv in 1996. In poll after poll the vast majority of the Irish public have indicated hostility towards Zionism and strong support for Palestinian Statehood. The curious aberration to this is that in British Ruled Northern Ireland support is demarcated along sectarian lines. Catholic Republican areas predictably tend to ardently support the Palestinian cause, while Protestant Unionist communities are overwhelmingly pro-Israel. Perhaps some credence can be given to sentiments of traditional Catholic antisemitism hardwired into the Irish psyche as contributing towards this disposition. It was certainly odd that the Irish government promptly sent a delegation to the Nazi German Ambassador in Dublin to convey condolences after news of Hitler's suicide broke at the end of WW2. But more concretely if you were to ask the average Irish protester on a pro-Palestine march the basis of their empathy for the Palestinian cause, they would point to the ostensible parallels between the Irish experience of fighting for independence from British colonial oppression to the plight of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. Further remonstrations on a diplomatic level concern the actions of the IDF interreacting with Irish Peace Keepers in Southern Lebanon that have caused the deaths of several Irish Peace Keepers over the decades in friendly fire incidents. Ireland has contributed the most peace keepers to this mission per capita and the government has condemned Israel for these deaths that they view as avoidable. This animosity towards Israel is unbalanced. There are reasons to consider that Ireland and Israel have a shared experience of national liberation. Both countries fought the British in the pursuit of independence. Both countries made great efforts to resurrect their ancient languages for modern wide scale use. Both the Irish and Jews form major diaspora communities in New York. Despite all this Ireland ranks as Israel's second largest export market after the US. The preponderance of Israeli exports to Ireland comprises electronic integrated circuits, micro-assemblies, and tech manufacturing components. American multinational colossal tech corporations like Intel are substantially engrossed in this trade through the chain of supply. Ireland and Israel are hubs for design and manufacture of high-tech hardware components for US corporations. So, due to the nature of the most prosperous and competitive sectors of their respective economies, Israel and Ireland are inextricably bound in bilateral trade ties. Resolutions from the Irish government to impose sanctions on West Bank originating produce is merely perfunctory rhetoric. Such actions amount to a drop in the bucket in terms of impact to overall trade. The stark reliance of Ireland on advanced Israeli aviation equipment recently caused a spectacle when Ireland's new government jet struggled to land in heavy fog due to it being ordered without an advanced Israeli made navigation system. This was directly due to a short-sighted government decision not to buy Israeli military technology. There is a marked disparity between the official position of the Irish government designed for domestic public consumption and the economic policies that it actually pursues towards Israel. The government is acutely aware that the US is massively invested in the Irish economy and they don't want to do anything to jeopardise this. Washington demands that their enterprises in Dublin are intertwined with operations in Israel. The Irish government dare not even prevent US military supply flights refuelling at Shannon Airport on their way to Tel Aviv. The Irish government knows that times change and now the gripping social issue is the anti-immigrant/anti-Islam popular street protests. Soon the anti-Israel protests could become a mere side show only really promoted by Sinn Fein given the pressing ramifications of mass migration. So, in the meantime certain politicians will rile against the occupation, purported genocide and pass paltry sanctions against insignificant produce from the West Bank. All the while making hand over fist in money with the Israelis where it really matters in tech.  (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).

The tide has Changed

By David Passmore • July 31, 2026
The Tide Has Changed Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM The America that Netanyahu touched down on is a changed America. The death of Lindsey Graham represents a changing of the guard. Graham was a staunch Israeli ally who will most probably become an increasingly rare breed in Washington. Sixty percent of Americans now hold a unfavourable view of Israel which politicians are finding difficult to ignore. It was once unthinkable to believe that New York City with such a strong Jewish electoral base and influence on all sectors of economic and cultural life would have a mayor that is so hostile to Israel to such an extent that he is calling for the arrest of its Prime Minister. From all accounts Netanyahu was cordially welcomed at the White House. The official press release stated that the talks were constructive. What is more telling is what was left unsaid particularly concerning the proposed sale of F35's to Israel's new regional adversary -Turkey. Trump is keen to find a swift resolution to the Iran War, while Netanyahu is opposed to a premature departure. When the US and Israel initiated their attacks on Iran over five months ago, Trump and Netanyahu appeared united in the War's goals and purpose. But as the protracted conflict has staggered to topple the Iranian regime fractures have emerged. Much has been said about the imminent political realities both leaders face. The Republicans could take a big hit in the November midterm elections should the war continue and global energy markets be negatively impacted. Netanyahu is anxious to demonstrate a big win to the Israeli public with the upcoming October election. In Israel, the Iran War is not viewed in isolation, but rather as an extension of the response to the colossal disaster of the October 7th massacre. Netanyahu must rehabilitate his reputation as a competent steward of national security having had the greatest loss of civilian life in an attack happening under his watch. Aside from the Iran issue, Trump is being pressured by Erdogan to insist upon Israeli withdrawal from Syrian territory pre-emptively seized by Israel following the toppling of Assad. Trump has also indicated disapproval of the extent of continuing Israeli measures against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, questioning the proportionality employed. Netanyahu is not in an envious position. Throughout his tenure and political career, he lauded his ability to engage successfully with the American public by zealously advocating Israel's position. Yet under his government Israel's reputation has plummeted in the US. Trump may be the last US President to extend such overwhelming bilateral support to Israel. The days of politicians like Lindsey Graham are fast ending. While John Fetteman and Marco Rubio appear to be remaining more solid, even some of the most warmly inclined leading Republican and Democrat voices like Donald Trump and Rahm Emanuel have nuanced their support for Israel. The tide has shifted and will at best level off if not continuing to shift further.  (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).

The Saudi Nuclear Deal: An attempt to alter the Regional Balance of Power

By David Passmore • July 24, 2026
The Saudi Nuclear Deal: An attempt to alter the Regional Balance of Power Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM The initiative to develop a civilian nuclear program in Saudi Arabia with US assistance isn't new. There were concrete plans discussed towards these ends during the first Trump Administration. The recent announcement to actualize this deal follows the geo-political regional tumult in the wake of the Iran War. Several dimensions of motivation underlie the US decision. An overarching US strategic agenda is to keep the Saudis firmly in the American sphere of influence. Washington knows all too well that the Chinese and Russians are eager to offer their nuclear technical assistance to the Saudis in order to draw them closer to their camp. On a personal note, the nuclear agreement is a significant achievement for Bin Salaman. The Saudis have long had designs to diversify their energy supplies. Having a civilian nuclear program also adds prestige to Saudi Arabia as an emerging market economy. For the US, a monopoly on contracting companies for the requisite construction offers lucrative economic opportunities. Although the Civilian Nuclear deal does not allow the enrichment of Uranium, the Saudis will be in a position to do so if Washington gives the green light. This will act as a counterbalanced threat hanging over the Iranians. After the recent flare up of renewed fighting with Iran due to their lack of adherence to the moratorium of understanding, something had to budge in Trump's estimation. A reconfiguration of the power balance in the Gulf by introducing the potential of Saudi Arabia to be able to acquire nuclear weapons shifts the dynamic and places further pressure on Iran to strictly abstain from nuclear proliferation. Despite Israeli concerns about the agreement, Trump sought to assuage their alarm by making it contingent upon Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with them. Given the inherently unstable nature of an autocratic Saudi regime Israel views a diplomatic relationship with the Saudis as being on precarious footing in the long term. Israel is already forced to contend with the implications of one nuclear armed Muslim state - Pakistan and it will further weaken its own deterrent capability if another similarly capable hostile neighbour were to emerge in the future. The roles of Turkey and Qatar in all this foray are a wild card. Officially Turkey is served under the NATO nuclear umbrella for defence that is subject to US control. However, its civilian nuclear program remains in its infancy. Now with the Saudi deal, Erdogan may be inclined to exert pressure on the US to help accelerate his own nuclear program. Just as Erdogan's efforts to acquire F35 fighter jets from the US greatly disturbed Israeli military planners, a heightened Turkish nuclear ability will intensify this fear. Qatar views itself as pursuing its own independent foreign policy that has managed to remain rather neutral during the current war, thereby escaping the ire of Iran's strikes on US regional assets. Overall, the Qatari government has grown closer to the Turkish vision for the region and so likely isn't particularly amiable to the Saudi agreement. Ultimately the Saudi deal is a gamble. Many will see it as throwing more fuel on the fire which will further imperil the tinder box region and heighten tensions. But Trump finds himself at a continuing impasse with a stubborn regime in Tehran that is leveraging their geographic hold on the straits of Hormuz to inflict damage on the global energy markets. Iranian strikes upon US Arab regional allies have underscored the de facto alliance between Israel and the Arabs against Iran and its Shia proxies. The US hopes to use the Saudi nuclear deal as a means of making this alliance official by having Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords as a pre-condition.  (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).

Circling the Wagons

By David Passmore • July 14, 2026
Circling the wagons Ruben Rothler LLB, LLM Israel is a society riddled with tension and division. It is sociologically, if not politically miraculous that a country drawing Jews from all over the world is able to exist at all. The army affords a degree of integration as a melting pot. But this is only a marginal source of national unity in the overall scheme of things. More so are the myriads of external threats that face this small country. In the former generation the Ashkenazi (Jews of European descent) - Sephardic (Jews of Oriental descent) divide was far more pronounced. The dominant Ashkenazi establishment held the reins of political and economic power which was resented by the Sephardim. However, due to a combination of inter-marriage and political accommodation much of the chasm that separated these distinct groups was forged. Menachem Begin (an Ashkenazi politician) in 1970 successfully ran on the Likud Party ticket with a campaign that brought Sephardic Jews under his conservative political umbrella. Later the immigration of Russian Jews following the end of Communism would add a whole new dimension to the Israeli demographic milieu. The younger generation of these immigrants tended to adapt well to Israeli society and contributed much to the economy. The wider division in Israeli society that crosses ethnic lines concerns that between religious and secular Jews. This can be further bifurcated to the clash between the secular and specifically ultra-orthodox Jews (Haredim) as distinguished from the national religious Jews (Dati Leumi). The Secular and the Religious generally part on what they envisage a Jewish State to entail. Religious Jews desire the State to strictly adhere to the stipulations of Jewish Law (Halacha), while at present Halakhic influence is largely limited to certain areas of Family Law concerning Jewish citizens. Wider considerations of promoting a socially conservative political agenda would also be forefront amongst the religious mindset broadly. Secular Jews view the imposition of such proposed measures as a serious infringement of their civil rights. With regard to the Haredim, the bone of contention looms larger, in that this group is fundamentally opposed to participating in society at large. This is acutely manifested in diminished contribution to the work force and a refusal to be conscripted into the army. The 2023 judicial reform protests posed a significant threat to social civil order. The nation appeared to be bitterly divided into two opposing camps. This split reflected broader divisions concerning visions of how the country should be governed. The judicial reforms would have weakened the Supreme Court's ability to render the Executive branch accountable. However, the Supreme Court was also accused of using its considerable powers to promote a socially liberal agenda. Left wing secular Israelis tended to oppose the proposed reforms while those on the right (which included the majority of Religious Jews) supported the reforms. Every weekend droves of protesters were brought onto the streets causing major disturbances to traffic. The polarising nature of this impasse threatened the future of Israeli democracy. It was the October 7th attack that brought a swift end to this public debate and civil strife. The nation instinctually united in response to this common existential threat. The judicial reforms were shelved for a future point when the urgent security threats subsided. However, as the war dragged on the enduring issue of Haredi refusal to conscript into the army became more pronounced. Mounting casualties combined with ever increasing manpower demands to field troops on the multiple theatres of action on which the IDF is engaged has depleted the ranks, and the army is now in much need of fresh conscripts. Haredi belligerent refusal to participate in the pressing national defence has escalated from being a political debate to a matter of very practical vital importance. Overall we can observe that the challenges to national unity in successive generations since the establishment of Israel has recurrently been ameliorated by the common necessity of defence towards outside threats. Most recently we can see this happening with regard to the global anti Semitism and anti-Zionism that has been raging since the October 7th atrocities. These hostile attitudes have paradoxically acted as a force which promotes nationalism and a sense of national cohesion in Israel that otherwise might not functionally exist.  (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).

A Divided Nation

By David Passmore • July 8, 2026
A Divided Nation Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM The Haredi community has had a complicated, paradoxical relationship with the State since its founding. Rooted in a Talmudic precept that the Jews are forbidden to resettle the land of Israel en masse by force before the coming of the Messiah, the secular democratic State of Israel presents itself as blasphemous by its mere existence. Yet due to practical considerations such as the need to obtain funding for its religious academies the Haredi leadership reached a settlement with the State's founders that exempted Haredi men from being conscripted for military service. This was at a time when the Haredi population in Israel was relatively small. Over the past decades this demographic ballooned until the point that soon the majority of Jewish children in Israel will be born into Haredi families. Such a situation is clearly unsustainable. Recently the Knesset's (Parliament's) Haredi parties have pressured their coalition partners in government to codify Torah Study as part of the Country's Basic Laws. This was purposefully done to elevate the status of their institutions to be on parity with service in the IDF. Israel is yet to promulgate a written Constitution, so legislation classed as a Basic Law holds Constitutional status for all intents and purposes. These moves by the religious parties represent a back door power grab to enshrine in law very significant hurdles to prevent the enlistment of Haredi men. The burden of Israel's defence is comparatively massive for a country its size and it is vastly disproportionately shouldered by the secular population. Until now there have been political initiatives to conscript the Haredim. But given the huge manpower shortages emerging in the wake of near continual conflict on multiple fronts since the events of October 7th this matter has become urgent and not merely a theoretical discussion of what is fair and equitable. It is important to draw a distinction between the Haredim and national religious Jews (Dati Leumi). The Haredim adhere to a lifestyle entirely committed to observance of Jewish Law and Talmudic study. This is embraced to the exclusion of gainful employment and participation in wider society. They are either outrightly opposed to Zionism or consider themselves non-Zionist. Conversely, followers of the national religious movement in Israel although being observant of Jewish law and learning would alongside this pursue secular professions. Furthermore, they are ardently Zionist and disproportionately serve in IDF combat units. This is often done within the framework of a program called Hesder Yeshiva that combines religious learning with military service. Efforts to cater a similar model for accommodating Haredi participation in the IDF have so far failed to make substantial gains. Such measures designed to override Haredi objections to service based upon modesty concerns by strict segregation of the sexes in these specially formed units have failed to appease the Haredi leadership. For them, any form of military service is considered a dereliction of their duty to fully devote themselves to a Torah lifestyle. They argue that their Talmudic learning and prayers are in itself a form of national service and act to protect the Jewish people spiritually from enemy attack. It is as if two parallel societies exist within Israel. And the trajectory of separation between the two is only growing. The Haredim are cloistered away in their Yeshivas, immersed in lives devoted to adhering to the stipulations of Jewish law. While the particulars of actually running the State is left to the Secular. The Haredim desire all the benefits of subsidizing their lifestyle without contributing to society. What we really have going on here at source is two profoundly different and opposing ideological visions of what is important in life and what is the purpose of a Jewish State. At the State's founding these divergent perspectives were more manageable. Ben Gurion only had to contend with one religious party –the National Religious Party. Later in 1970 Begin aligned with the NRP to form a coalition government that also brought Sephardic Jews under the Likud umbrella which had the effect of bringing unity to the country by bridging the Ashkenazi-Sephardi divide. However, over time Israeli politics has seen a proliferation of religious parties, gaining further leverage as king brokers in forming governments due to the proportionate representation voting system which secular Israelis not uncommonly view as political blackmail. (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).

Why Is It Always Israel? | Zechariah 12 Is Happening Before Our Eyes

By David Passmore • June 29, 2026