The Last Days - Afrikaans

April 1, 2025

Wat Die Heilige Gees Baie Duidelik Vir Ons Oor Die Laaste Dae Se?

Ons weet uit die Evangelies dat die jaar 2000 N.C. gekom en gegaan het. Ons weet ook uit die historiese tydsberekening van Keiser Augustus dat daar tussen twee en vier jaar verskil is tussen die Joodse Maan Jare en die Gregoriaanse datum stelsel. Met ander woorde, die jaar 2000 is al alreeds verby. Dit was egter 'n groot storie vir die Westerse Wêreld met betrekking tot rekenaarstelsels en al die gedoentes daarom.

 Teologies is daar vir ons wat op die Wederkoms van onse Here Jesus Christus wag, nie 'n afwagting op 'n Wêreldse Millennium nie, maar op die Millennium van onse Here Jesus Christus. So sien ons dan ook die Globalisasie van die wêreld ekonomie, en 'n her?konfederasie van die nasies in die Romeinse ryk en 'n Pouslike Ryk, ook sien ons 'n al swakker wordende demokratiese federale Europa wat verval in 'n ekumeniese stelsel, en ook 'n menigte van omgewings faktore wat strek van seismologiese tot verwarmings besoedeling, en etniese suiwering prosesse by baie nasies wat aan die orde van die dag is. Dan is daar nog die die wêreld se soeke na 'n valse vrede in die Midde Ooste en ook oral in die wêreld. Dan sien ons ook die die misleiding van die Evangeliese kerk, 'n kerk wat al minder voorbereid is vir die Wederkoms van Christus. Al hierdie dinge dui daarop dat ons sekerlik die dag van die Wederkoms van onse Here Jesus Christus nader.

Maar deur die Genade van ons hemelse Vader sien ons ook die gelowige oorblyfsels wat deur die Heilige Gees bymekaar gemaak en voorberei word. Hierdie is die gelowiges wat nie wil betrokke wees met dinge soos die wêreld millennium partytjies en die misleiding in die hipper Charismatiese en Calvinistiese bewegings nie. Hierdie oorblyfsel is die mense wat daarna strewe om saam met Koning Jesus in die Nuwe Millennium te regeer.

Maar 'n baie belangrike aspek van onse Hemelse Vader se voorbereiding van die getroue oorblyfsel, is om hulle voor te berei vir wat ná die Wederkoms van Koning Jesus gaan plaasvind.

Een van die mees duidelike en baie belangrike profesieë wat in die Nuwe Testament opgeteken is, gaan oor wat gaan gebeur net voor die Wederkoms van Koning Jesus Christus, wat vir ons opgeteken in die Brief van Paulus aan Timotheüs. Die toestand in die eerste eeuse kerk verwys in sekere opsigte tipologies na wat die toestand van die laaste eeuse kerk gaan wees.

As ons vandag na al die gebeure rondom kyk dan is natuurlik baie moontlik (Baie sal nie saamstem nie) dat ons nou in hierdie era in beweeg, en dit is met hierdie agtergrond dat Paulus die Brief aan Timotheüs geskrywe het:

1Tim.4:1?16:

  • Maar die Gees sê uitdruklik dat in die laaste tye sommige van die geloof afvallig sal word en verleidende geeste en leringe van duiwels sal aanhang
  • deur die geveinsdheid van leuenaars wat gebrandmerk is in hulle eie gewete,
  • wat verbied om te trou en gebied dat die mense hulle moet onthou van voedsel wat God geskape het om met danksegging gebruik te word deur die gelowiges en die wat die waarheid ken.
  • Want alles wat deur God geskape is, is goed, en niks is verwerplik as dit met danksegging ontvang word nie;
  • want dit word geheilig deur die woord van God en die gebed.
  • As jy hierdie dinge aan die broeders voorhou, sal jy 'n goeie dienaar van Jesus Christus wees terwyl jy jouself voed met die woorde van die geloof en van die goeie leer waarvan jy 'n navolger geword het.
  • Maar verwerp onheilige en oudwyfse fabels, en oefen jou in die godsaligheid.
  • Want die liggaamlike oefening is tot weinig nut, maar die godsaligheid is nuttig vir alles, omdat dit die belofte van die teenwoordige en die toekomende lewe het.
  • Dit is 'n betroubare woord en werd om ten volle aangeneem te word;
  • want hiervoor arbei ons ook en word ons gesmaad, omdat ons gehoop het op die lewende God wat 'n behouder is van alle mense, insonderheid van die gelowiges.
  • Beveel en leer hierdie dinge.
  • Laat niemand jou jonkheid verag nie, maar wees 'n voorbeeld vir die gelowiges in woord, in wandel, in liefde, in gees, in geloof, in reinheid.
  • Totdat ek kom, moet jy aanhou met voorlesing, vermaning en lering.
  • Verwaarloos nie die genadegawe wat in jou is nie, wat jou gegee is deur die profesie met die handoplegging van die ouderlinge.
  • Wees vlytig in hierdie dinge, leef daarin, sodat jou vooruitgang vir almal duidelik kan wees. Hierdie Boodskap deur die Heilige Gees deur Paulus, bevat die Apostoliese Instruksies wat deur die Heilige Gees deur Paulus aan Timotheüs gegee is, om dit aan alle mense te verkondig, (1Tim. 4:6&11) Hierdie Kanon van die Nuwe Testament sluit alle gelowiges van alle tye in, en die woordverband van hierdie Skrif verwys na die eskatalogie? na die Laaste Dae.

Die eerste saak wat in hierdie Brief duidelik na vore kom is dat die Heilige Gees baie duidelik verwys na 'n afvalligheid. Die Griekse woord is 'Apostasontai', die toekomstige term van die woord 'Apostasia', wat

beteken: 'Om weg, of uit te beweeg'. Dit is dieselfde woord wat gebruik word in 2Thess.2:3 wat verwys na die Antichris en die groot afval. (Moriel het by verskeie geleenthede gewaarsku dat die ekumeniese beweging, die hipper Charismatiese en Pinkster bewegings en die Liberale teologie, ens. baie beslis deel is van van 'n wêreld wye aanslag op die kerk) Paulus profeteer dieselfde afval in verband met die antichris in 2Thessalonicense, maar in die Brief aan Timotheüs deel Paulus meer op 'n pastorale vlak met betrekking tot hierdie gebeure. Ons kan sê dat Paulus in 2Thessalonicense baie meer direk met die afval deel, terwyl hy in 1Timotheüs meer deel met die omstandighede in die kerk wat aanleiding gaan gee tot hierdie gebeure. Paulus se optrede is die van 'n senior herder wat baie ernstig by 'n jonger herder daarop aandring dat hy die skape baie ernstig moet waarsku en beskerm, en dit sluit ons in, teen die dinge wat aan die kom is.

Die eerste gevaar hier is dat Christene dink dat hulle nie afvallig kan word nie. (Die denke van eenmaal gered altyd gered) Maar iemand kan nie afdwaal van iets waarin hy nog nooit gewees het om mee te begin nie. Die Bybel waarsku ons uitdruklik en baie duidelik van 'n groot, 'n masiewe afval, en die denke dat dit net ongeredde mense is, is fataal. Hulle kan nie deel wees van 'n afval waarvan hulle nog nooit deel was nie, want Satan het nie 'n saak met die ongereddes nie omdat hy hulle al reeds in sy mag het, hy soek egter die uitverkorenis. Hierdie denke is Teologies en logies absurd. Net so was die Brief aan die Hebreers geskrywe aan die Joodse Gelowiges wat in gevaar gestaan het om van die Geloof afvallig te word en terug te val onder die Wet toe hulle voor 'n vervolging gestaan het. Net so is dit ooreenkomstig ook absurd om voor te stel dat diegene wat die Kennis van die Waarheid ontvang het en 'n offer vir hulle sonde gehad het, en wat nou in gevaar is, dat hulle nie gelowiges is om mee te begin nie, en dat hulle nie afvallig kan word nie, word weerspreek in Hebr.10:26.

Die woord wat hier vir afval gebruik word is 'Parapito' (Wat verwant is aan 'Apostasia) wat afkomstig is van die werkwoord: Om te 'Apostatise'. Hier is ook 'n dubbele onlogiese?? Hoe kan iemand afvallig word van iets waaraan hy nog nooit geglo het nie? Tweedens, om te sê dat 'n ongelowige deel kan hê aan die Werke van die Heilige Gees is ook 'n totale leuen. Dit is die teologie van liberale Christene soos Desmond Tutu wat reken dat die Hindoes ook 'n deel kan hê aan die Heilige Gees, dit is absoluut nie die Teologie van die Woord van die Here nie, en sulke verdraaide redenasies is totaal absurd.

Instede daarvan om 'n Skrifteks in sy woordverband te bestudeer en toe te laat dat die Skrif Homself verklaar, word dit geherdefinieer om by die denke van die spreker aan te pas, dit is misleiding.

In alle redelikheid moet ons erken dat toe Johannes Calvyn sy leerstellings van van volharding geformuleer het, (Eenmaal gered altyd gered) het hy probeer om die ketterse middeleeuse Roomse kerk teen te staan wat mense in gebondenheid geplaas het. Maar oplossings vir 'n dwalings is nie nog groter dwalings of 'n ander dwaling nie, die oplossing is om terug tegaan na die Waarheid.

Ons is natuurklik verewig verseker in Koning Jesus Christus met dien verstande dat ons vrye wil wat deur die kruis herstel is, maar wat deur Wedergeboorte in beslag gelê word om in Koning Jesus Christus, deur die samewerking van die Genade van God, standvastig te bly staan.

Deur die ontkenning dat die vrye wil van die mens, wat die mens verloor het by die sondeval in Eden, herstel is by die Kruis, ontken Calviniste, (Net soos in die geval van die Rooms Katolieke, maar in 'n ander opset) die volle Krag van die Kruis van Koning Jesus. Ironies is dit dat een van die grootste misleidings die misplaasde idee is dat 'n gelowige nie afvallig kan word nie. Hierdie gurusstelling is van die duiwel en hy kry 'n menigte pragtige mense in die Hel met hulle godsdiens.

Niemand kan ons uit die Hand van ons Vader ruk nie, maar ons kan self ons herstelde vrye wil misbruik om Hom te verlaat of om nooit werklik tot bekering te kom nie. Dit is waarom V16 vir ons baie duidelik sê dat ons self verantwoordelik is vir ons redding: "Let op jouself en op die leer; volhard daarin; want deur dit te doen, sal jy jouself red sowel as die wat jou hoor".

Hierdie Skrifteks vertel vir ons baie duidelik dat dit net diegene is wat vooraf gewaarsku is en wat absoluut daarop agslaan, wat kan seker wees van hulle redding, en dit sluit nie diegene in wat ontken dat gelowiges nie afvallig kan word nie. Die Heilige Gees sê uitdruklik dat dit is wat gaan gebeur! (1Tim.4:16)

Leringe Van Duiwels

Hiervandaan vertel Paulus ons deur die Heilige Gees hoedat die gebeure van die Laaste Dae en die en die gepaardgaande misleiding sal begin, en hy dui aan dat daar geveinsde leunaars in die kerk sal wees wat demoniese lerings sal propageer om die Christene te mislei. Die Heilige Gees Spreek nie deur Paulus met sagte strelende 'verskoon my' woorde, wanneer Hy hierdie misleiers beskrywe nie, en ook maak Hy geen verskoning vir hulle nie. Hierdie is nie goeie mense wat in 'n dwaling beland het nie, maar baie slegte mense wat soos wat Jeremia sê, ons nie eens vir hulle moet bid nie. (Jerm.14:11) Paulus plaas ook nie al die blaam op die duiwel nie. Die leringe kom van duiwels maar hierdie bose leringe word deur bose leiers in die kerke vir die waarheid verkondig. Aanvanklik is die leerstellings in 'n sagte wettiese vorm wat Nomianisme genoem word, wat ingestel is op sekere voedsel wat geëet en nie geëet mag word nie. Dit is ook nie hier die geval dat hierdie mense hulle net onthou van sekere voedsel omrede dit vir hulle 'n getuienis in die gemeenskap is nie, of omdat dit vir hulle 'n persoonlike keuse is nie, nee, hulle verkondig dit as 'n Skriftuurlike voorvereiste. Hierdie is om terug te beweeg na Judaisme, dit is ook nie die Judaisme wat die oorsprong van die Christelike geloof is nie, maar dit is 'n terug beweeg na 'n godsdienstige gebondenheid. Dit is ook nie 'n toeval dat die Sewende dag Adventiste, Mormone en die hipper Messiaanse ekstremiste en ook die Katolieke ens. betrokke is by sulke demoniese praktyke wat mense weer in gebondenheid van die voedsel wette en mense wette wil plaas nie. Ons kan nie pragtig en skoon en heilig probeer lewe op die gebooie van mense nie, die basis is óf die Woord van die Here óf die gebooie van die mense, u moet self kies. Om die wet en die genade te meng is 'n mengsel, en God haat mengsels!

Een groot gevaar wat uit die Post Millennium, en die 'Dominion' Teologie uit vloei is die Oorbeklemtoning van die Eskatalogie wat beter bekend is as die Kingdom Now beweging.

In 'n meer ernstige graad is die gereformeerde herboures, (Dit is die Calvinistiese idee van goddelike heersing waar die kerk al die regering se wettlike instansies oorneem en 'n goddelike regering instel voor die koms van Christus, wat ook gebaseer is op die polisie staat idee van Calvyn , Knox, Zwingli en

die Massachusetts Purityne.) wat nou deur die Charismania bewegings voorgestel word as 'n restorasie van die aarde, soos voor die sonde val van Adam, voor die Koms van Christus.

(Let maar op in nuusberigte hoedat die kerke al meer begin inmeng met staats instellings omrede die goddeloosheid wat al meer aanleiding gee tot 'n globale verval asgevolg van die verrotting wat binne in die huis van die Here begin het)

In Britanje, gedurende die bose uitbreking van die Toronto dwaling, het een van die Anglikaanse kerke wat tot vandag toe nog die dwaalprofete van Kansas City in Sheffield na volg, op die Nasionale TV senders verskyn waar die mense halfnaak en bostukloos in die kerk rondgedans het om sodoende aan die wêreld te toon dat hulle oppad is na die tyd van Adam en Eva soos voor die sonde val. Net soos wat die mens voor die sondeval net vrugte en groente geëet het en geen vleis nie, is natuurlik ook deel van hierdie wettiese voedsel instellings.

Met die besoedeling van die New Age denke in die Evangeliese kerke via die Vineyard bewegings en skrywers soos Clark Pincock, William De Artega, Patrick Dickson en Yongee Cho, is 'n menigte geredde Christene blootgestel en beïnvloed deur alle vorme van New Age denkes.

Dit is dan ook nie 'n toeval dat in baie plekke die idees van Hollistiese medisynes en vegetaristiese idees 'n weg begin vind het na 'n verhewe geestelikheid wat 'n ander bedekking ontvang het en nou genoem word die 'Evangelie tot Heiligmaking' wat natuurlik deur duisende Christene, wat die Skrifte verontagsaam aanvaar word. (verstommend)

Hiervandaan beweeg Paulus na die lering wat mense sal verbied om te trou, 'n lering van duiwels wat tot vandag toe nog deur die Roomse Katolieke Kerk as wet onderhou word, en hierdeur word die verordening van die natuurlike huweliksinstelling verwerp.

Die uitwerking van hierdie dwaling word duidelik in die Roomse kerk geopenbaar deur die plaag van homoseksualisme en kindermolesteerders onder hulle leiers omdat hulle ook afgewyk het van konvensionele owerspel tegnieke.

Vanaf die klooster hoerhuise (godsdienstige bordele) in die Donker Eeue en in die Herlewings tydperk tot en met dieselfde skandale in die tye van vandag (Kyk maar na die nuusberigte) wat tot regerings tot 'n val gebring het, en die seksuele skandale wat deur 'n Roomse priester gepleeg is met klein seuntjies wat aan die lig gekom het,?? Dit alles is die resultaat van hierdie leringe van duiwels!. Wanneer die natuurlike en die morele standaarde vernietig word, dan kom die onnatuurlike en die immorele standaarde as 'n plaag in die plek daarvan. (1Kor.7:9)

Die oorsprong van hierdie duiwelse leerstellings kan by Augustyn van Hippo gevind word wat onder die invloed van die Mancheanisme sekte was waarvan hy 'n lid was voordat hy hom tot die Christendom bekeer het onder die toesig van sy leermeester Ambrose van Milaan. Die Mancheane het 'n gnostieke leerstelling gehad wat leer dat alle dinge wat fisies is, verkeerd is omdat dit deur 'n 'minderwaardige god' beheer word. Augustyn het hierdie denke in sy godsdiens beginsels ingebou deur te sê dat die enigste goeie ding van 'n huwelik is om kinders te hê wat selibaat is. (Hulle kinders is met ander woorde

www.Moriel.org

nie gebonde aan hierdie huwelik nie) Terwyl Augustyn sekere eer verdien omdat hy die Palagietiese dwaling verwerp het, wat die oorspronklike sonde van die mens nie erken nie, het die bose dade wat deur die eeue in die naam van Christus gepleeg is soos die kruistogte en die vervolging van die 'Afvalliges', (Inkwisisie) deur die invloed van Augustyn ontstaan wat die idee gehad het dat die kerk brute vervolging kon toepas om mense tot bekering te dwing. Dit is ook Augustyn wat verantwoordelik is vir die dwaalleer van die Post Millennialisme idee wat weg beweeg het van Pre Millennianisme van die vroeë Apostoliese Kerk. Dit was ook Augustyn wat Christelikheid geherskryf het as 'n Platoniese godsdiens en met die idee van die Sigbare en die Onsigbare kerk na vore gekom het wat 'n voetstoel vir Konstantyn was waardeur die Christendom as 'n godsdienstige instelling van die Romeinse Ryk onderskrywe is.

Tragies is dit dat toe Johannes Calvyn met die Hervorming van die Kerk betrokke geraak het, het hy nie terug beweeg na die Bybelse riglyne soos wat die Ana Babtiste gedoen het nie, maar het hy terug beweeg na die leerstelling van Augustyn, en net soos in die geval van Augustyn was sy einde ook 'n Mengsel tussen die Waarheid en die valsheid.

Dit is ook ironies om te weet dat beide die Roomse Katolieke en die Hervormde Protestante afkomstig is van Augustyn, albei beklemtoon verskillende aspekte van dieselfde man se leerstellings en geloof terwyl hulle sekere aspekte deel. Die staat van die Huwelik was een van die dinge wat die Hervormers korek gehanteer het toe hulle die verwronge idees verwerp het as 'n demoniese leerstellings Maar die Heilige Gees sê uitdruklik dat hierdie denke weer na vore gaan kom aan die einde van die tyd.

In Amerika is 'n kerk: 'The Churh of Bible Understanding', 'n kultus wat gelei word deur Stuart Trail, wat uit die 'Jesus beweging' uitgegroei het, maar net soos wat die 'Children of God' beweging ontaard het in 'n demoniese kultus, het een van hierdie beweging se evangeliese groepering 'n beleid van eerbare kuishuid aanvaar. (Hulle leer om nie te trou nie)

Kommerwekkend is dit ook om op te let dat Bill Gotthard in sy seminare dieselfde rigting begin inslaan, en die potensiële gevaar is al reeds baie groot.

Gotthard ontmoedig huwelike tot op die ouderdom van 30 jaar, maar dit is 'n ginakologiese feit dat vroue wat nog nie by die ouderdom van 30 jaar 'n kind gehad het nie, 'n hoë kliniese risiko loop van onvrugbaarheid en miskrame en ook 'n hele aantal geboorte probleme en afwykings by hulle babas. Problematies is dit sekerlik dat Gotthart geensins enige mediese óf Teologiese kwalifikasies het nie.

Dit is dat ook nie verbasend dat Gotthard se broer betrokke was by 'n seks skandaal wat sy Illinois basis guruk het nie. Maar nog steeds is daar baie pastore en predikante wat hulle jeug gemeentelede aanmoedig om sy seminare by te woon! Nog meer verontrustend is egter die hande vattery met die Roomse Katolieke kerk om hulle te aanvaar as 'n Christelike beweging, nie teenstande die feit dat hulle leerstellings van duiwels aanhang!

Goeie Voeding En Nie Fabels Nie

In Vers 6 deur 'n Griekse woordespel, speel Paulus die dwaalleer van die verbod om voedsel te eet, of deur die slegte voedsel te vergelyk met opregte Leerstellings wat as Goeie Voeding verklaar word.

(Entraphomenos, wat goeie voeding beteken) Paulus neem dit verder deur om die valse leertellings te vergelyk met fabels, (Versinsels) of soos dit in die Grieks weergegee word as 'Muthos' wat Mites of godeverhale beteken, iets wat onheilig is. Hierdie onheilige versinsels is aan die orde van die dag in baie Charismatiese en Pinkster bewegings as dit getoets word teen die Charismata van die vroeë kerk en die Woord van die Here.

Dit is uit versinsels soos hierdie dat die Mancheanisme dualistiese mitise geloof wat Augustyn aangehang het, geleer het dat seks innerlik onbegeerlik is omdat dit 'n fisiese handeling is, en soos hierdie sekte se denkes was/is, is alles sleg wat fisies ingebore is. [Hierdie valse lering van duiwels word direk teengestaan deur die Skrif in 1Joh.}Want die Woord (Logos) het Vlees geword.]

Uit hierdie leerstelling kom daar die volgende: Die eerste is demoniese leerstellings (In hierdie geval, die verbod teen die huwelik) Die tweede is hierdie leuenaars, wat Paulus hulle noem, wat hierdie demoniese dwalings verkondig.

In Vers 2 noem Paulus hierdie leuenaars in Grieks 'Psuedologon' wat 'n valse 'Logos' beteken, en meer korrek is dit 'n demoniese vervalsing van die Woord wat Vlees geword het,??Koning Jesus wat Homself in die Vlees, deur die Heilige Gees geopenbaar het as die Lewende Woord in die Skrifte.

Onthou dat die tema van 2Thess.2 en 1Tim.4 albei die afval van die laaste dae aanhaal, en in albei kan die verhouding tussen die komende antichris en die afval gesien word. In 2Thess is hy die seun van verderf, 'n valse christus, (In plek van) In 1Timotheüs word die term 'Psuedo?logon' gebruik wat 'n valse logos (In plek van die Ware Woord) beteken. Daarom sien ons in 1Tim.4 dan instede daarvan dat die Ware Logos in die vlees openbaar word, gaan daar 'n valse Logos kom wat sal sê dat alles wat vlees, sleg is. (Dit is ook een van die hoof kenmerke van die antichris in 1Joh.4:1?3) Instede daarvan dat die Ware Logos Homself deur die Persoon van die Heilige Gees, in die Lewende Woord openbaar, word die valse logos deur 'n bonatuurlike wyse in 'n fabel geopenbaar. (Soos hierdie goudstof en goue tande wat so ophef maak) Instede daarvan dat die Ware Logos gepreek word deur die getroue diensknegte van die Here, soos Paulus en Timotheüs, word die logos nou gepreek deur 'n valse teruggevalde leuenaar wat alles die resultaat is van 'n godslasterlike valse kennis.

Dit, soos wat die Woord van die Here dit in hoofstuk 4 vir ons vooruit gesê het, het presies so gebeur, en dit gebeur vandag weer, maar die heel laaste keer, wanneer die laaste geboorte pyne die geboorte voorafgaan, dan gaan daar 'n totale afval wees, soos wat die Woord van die Here, deur die Heilige Gees deur Paulus en Timotheüs dit vooruit aan hulle gemeentelede en aan ons gesê het.

Die Redder Van Alle Mense

Hiervandaan gaan Paulus verder met 'n lys van persoonlike vermanings en aanbevelings aan Timotheüs en ook aanmoediging soos wat die Here Jeremia gesê het dat hy nie moet toelaat dat hy deur sy jonkheid ontmoedig word nie. (Jerm.1).

Ons hemelse Vader meet die ouderdom van 'n mens deur hoe lank 'n persoon Hom ken en ook aan 'n persoon se geestelike rypheid, en nie deur mense kennis en die biologiese aardse ouderdoms jare nie.

Met ander woorde 'n Wedergebore Christen se ouderdom word bepaal van die dag van sy / haar se geestelike wedergeboorte

Baie van Paulus se vermaning in verse 4?8 kan net so toegepas word op baie opregte gelowiges van vandag, maar in vers 10 openbaar die Heilige Gees deur Paulus dat 'God Die Redder van alle mense is', en baie belangrik: 'Die wat waarlik en opreg Glo'. Hierdie is beide 'n Christologiese en 'n Soteriologiese verklaring met betrekking tot ons redding, waardeur die Heilige Gees Paulus inspireer om die twee Skriftuurlike dwalings en misleidings baie duidelik moet aanhef, want die Here onse God het deur Sy alomteenwoordigheid dit vir ons vooruit gesê wat in die tyd na die apostels gaan gebeur en ook in die tye van vandag. Die eerste is dat daar mense gaan wees wat gaan ontken dat ons Redder, Koning Jesus Christus, ook God is, en die tweede is die Calvinistiese denke dat Koning Jesus net gesterf het vir die sondes die uitverkorenis en nie vir die sondes van die wêreld nie. In hierdie selfde Brief verklaar die Heilige Gees deur Paulus dat dit die Wil van God is dat ALLE mense tot redding moet kom (1Tim.2:4) Petrus skrywe ook : 2Pet.3:9: "Die Here vertraag nie die belofte soos sommige dit vertraging ag nie, maar Hy is lankmoedig oor ons en wil nie hê dat sommige moet vergaan nie, maar dat almal tot bekering moet kom".

Die HERE ons God is Ewig, en is nie aan tyd gebonde nie. (Dit is waarom die verlede, die hede en die toekomstige dinge terselfdertyd in die Boek Openbaring plaasvind) Dit is waarom tyd relatief tot die ewigheid nie bestaan nie en dit is waarom die getal mense wat gered is / word voor die fondasie van die wêreld verordeneer is, maar met die vleeswording van die mens het God 'n TYD tafel ingestel en so tyd van die Ewigheid afgeskei om sodoende Redding tot alle mense te bring wat sal agslaan op God se onverdienstelike Groot Genade. Relatief tot die sfeer van tyd verklaar die Here dat Hy geen behae in die benarde toestand van die afvalliges het nie, maar dat Hy begeer dat almal tot bekering moet kom.?? Eseg.18:4: "Kyk, al die siele is myne; soos die siel van die vader, so die siel van die seun??hulle is myne; die siel wat sondig, dié moet sterwe".

Petrus wat in sy Rede Joël aanhaal sê: Hand. 2:21: "En elkeen wat die Naam van die Here aanroep, sal gered word". Met ander woorde die mens wat na Jesus Christus toe kom, wat antwoord op die Roepstem van die Heilige Gees, wat Christus leer ken het deur die Woord van God, dit is die persoon wat gered sal word, en niemand anders kan hier vir jou instaan nie. Die Heilige Gees het geweet dat misleiding en valse leerstellings gaan kom wat die Pragtige Waarheid gaan vervals en wat die Soewereine Genade van die Here aan enige iemand beskikbaar gaan stel deur misleiers wat eendag Sy Kerk gaan infiltreer, mense wat goedkoop handel dryf met die Genade van onse Here, mense word vertel dat hulle gered is wat nooit die geval is nie en hier maak die Here in die Skrifte voorsiening daarvoor. Die dwaling van die Hervormers in hulle denke oor die Soewereiniteit en die uitverkiesing van onse Here het deur die eeue baie groot skade aan die kerk aangerig. Dit is egter nie al die Calviniste wat so radikaal opgetree en sover gegaan as om 1Tim.4:10 effektief uit die Kanon van die Skrifte te vertaal nie.

Die vertaling was daarop gemik om te leer dat Koning Jesus NIE die redder van alle mense is nie. [1Tim.4:10: Afrk.83: Met hierdie vooruitsig span ons ons kragte in en stry ons, want ons het ons hoop op die lewende God gevestig, wat die Verlosser is van alle mense, van almal wat glo] Dit is die hipper

Calvinistiese ekstremiste wat leer dat God sekere mense geformeer het om ewig in die Hel te brand, terwyl die Woord van die Here duidelik sê dat dit die Wil van God is dat alle mense tot bekering moet kom.

As daar na die Calvynse komentaar: "Seneca's De Clementia" gekyk word dan sal gesien word dat die oorsprong van die Hervormers se Skrif eksegese afkomstig is van die Humaniste en nie uit die Bybel nie. 'n Oorsig van die Calvinistiese Post Millennium denke en Erastianisme, ('n Staats kerk) en die kinderdoop, openbaar dat hulle kerkleer van die Roomse Katolieke kerk afkomstig is. As die Skrifte geondersoek word vir die Calvynse Hervormers denke van 'n Verbond Teologie, waar God net twee verbonde gesluit het, een met Adam en een met Abraham, (Waaruit die Vervangings Teologie ontstaan het) dan kan dit nie gevind word nie. Bo en behalwe dit is die Calvinistiese denke oor die uitverkiesing verbind aan die filosofiese basis van die fatalistiese stellings van die Inja Allah van Islam, en nie aan Christelike leerstelling nie.

1Timotheüs 4:10 spreek duidelik sy misnoë uit teen die Calvinistiese denkes wat God se Genade beperk en wat die Bloed van Koning Jesus beperk om vir alle mense Redding te bring.

Maar dit is ook waar dat die Here van die begin af weet wie aan Hom gaan behoort, dit is diegene wat gaan agslaan op Sy Roepstem en hulle tot Hom bekeer. Ons kan ons nie self red nie, ook kan ons nie tot bekering kom as die Here ons nie self uit die doderyk uit roep nie. Maar God het geen mens geformeer vir die Hel nie! Die Hel is gemaak vir Satan en sy engele. (Matt.25:41) Onse Here is 'n God van Liefde en wil dat ALMAL tot redding kom.

Maar almal sal Hom nie aanneem nie, en onse Here weet wie hulle is wat Hom gaan aanneem en wie nie. Koning Jesus is God en Redder van alle mense, en baie duidelik is dit die Gelowiges. Ons glo, óf wat Paulus deur die Heilige Gees opgteken het, óf ons glo Calvyn!

Goddelike Balans

Gee ag aan die Woord van die Here en verwaarloos nie Gawe wat jy ontvang het nie.

In Vers 13 vermaan Paulus dat aandag gegee moet word aan die lees van die Skrifte, DEUR VOORLESING, VERMANING EN LERING. As hierdie drie belangrike riglyne nie in 'n bediening teenwoordig is nie sal so 'n bediening in 'n afval beland. Vandag kan ons dit baie duidelik waarneem deur die drastiese daling van gemeente lede getalle van die Verenigde Gereformeerde, Metodiste, Prebiteriaanse en baie ander kerke. Die BBC in Engeland het in 'n statistiek getoon dat gemeente lede getalle in hierdie kerke met 36,000 gedaal het. Daar word egter 'n groot groei in ledetalle van Oosterse gelowe en ander kultusse waargeneem, alles dui daarop dat die vermaning van Paulus absoluut verontagsaam is.

Dit is opmerksaam dat eerste doelwit wat Paulus aanhaal die: 'LEES VAN DIE SKRIFTE' is. Die eerste kerk was afhanklik van Skrifte wat op perkament of boekrolle aangeteken is en wat dus assulks voorgelees moes word, nie almal het boekrolle gehad nie, maar vandag is dit merkwaardig hoeveel mense kerk toe kom sonder 'n Bybel en wat sit en luister na 'n seremonie sonder om enigsins belang te stel wat in die Woord van die Here staan. Geloof kom deur die Woord van God, en die klem val hier op die lees van die Skrifte. Vandag egter, in plaas daarvan om 'n skrif gedeelte te lees en dit te bespreek en te verklaar

volgens die Skrifte, word net hier en daar 'n paar verse aangehaal en dan volg dit met 'n bespreking wat totaal buite konteks van die gegewe Skrifteks is en wat dan as 'n preek bedien word. Ons moet Skrif met Skrif vergelyk en nie Skrif met mense denke nie! Dit is waarom die Here ons waarsku om nie baie leermeesters te wees nie, want diegene wat leer sal 'n groter oordeel ontvang. (Jak.3:1)

Tweedens beveel Paulus dat die SKRIFTE gebruik moet word in Bybelse onderrig. Soos wat Watchman Nee gesê het: Daar is 'n groot verskil tussen Ware Kennis en gewone inligting.

Die Bybel is nooit vir ons gegee om ons kennis te verryk vir die doel van kennis nie, maar die Woord van die Here is aan ons gegee om ons lewens te verander. Paulus gebruik die Griekse woord 'Paraklesio'?? wat beteken om af te smeek soos in 'n vermaning met die oog op vertroosting, en is direk verwant aan die Griekse woord 'Parakletos' (Paraclete) wat 'n beskrywendte titel van die Heilige Gees is wat ons tegemoet kom as ons Trooster, maar die Heilige Gees se hoofdoel is om Jesus Christus, die Woord wat vlees geword het, te openbaar en te verheerlik.

Die Gees en die Waarheid is gemeenskaplik afhanklik van mekaar en nie gemeenskaplik eksklusief nie. Die Heilige Gees handel volgens die Geskrewe Woord want Hy is Geïnspireer.

Dit bring ons by die derde bespreking van Paulus.

Lering, in Grieks is 'Didasklia' wat in die Nuwe Testament 'Skrifuitleg' beteken. Hierdie woord kom direk van die Griekse woord 'Didaskein' wat die 'Geskrewe Woord' van die Here is. Die Heilige Gees noem dit die Lering van Koning Jesus, en om die Skrifte te verwerp is om Jesus Christus self te verwerp. In Skriftuurlik Woordverband is die Lering van die Heilige Gees absoluut gefondeer op die Skrifte en die Skrifte alleen, en om te probeer om met mense denke die Here te verheerlik is 'n dwaling wat aanleiding gee tot misleiding.

Paulus se rede is absoluut eerstens gefondeer op die Skrifte waardeur hy vir Timotheüs aanmoedig om nie die Geestelike Gawe wat hy ontvang het te verwaarloos nie.

Die woord vir gawe hier is 'Charismatos', 'n Genade Gawe wat aan 'n induvidu geskenk is om die Liggaam te bedien, dit om 'n persoon toe te rus vir die bediening wat in hierdie geval verbind word met die gawe van 'n profetiese bediening.

As daar nie in 'n bediening 'n ferme Bybelse Skriftuurlike basis bestaan nie, dan kan daar nie 'n Bybelse Charismatiese basis bestaan nie, en alles sal gebonde wees aan 'n on?Bybelse Charismatiese bediening. (Wonders en tekens) Bybelse Charismatiese, en Bedienings Gawes is tot stigting van die gemeente en dit is gereedskap wat ons nodig het om die taak wat ons opgedra is te kan uitvoer. (1Kor. 12:4?5) Hierdie is die 'Talente' waarna Koning Jesus verwys het, en ons sal geoordeel word navolgens hoe ons dit belê het tot eer en verheerliking van onse Here Jesus Christus. (Matt.2514?26)

Een van die redes waarom die duiwel vervalsde charismatiese gawes gebruik is om dit onaanvaarbaar vir mense te maak en daardeur die mens ongewapen in 'n geveg in te stuur. (1Kor.14:23) Dit is ook waarom Satan mense gebruik om die Genade Gawes af te skryf as iets wat net in die apostels se tyd gebeur het

en dat dit nie meer vandag bestaan nie. Satan gebruik ongeredde mense om te sê dat mense sielsiek is wat deur die Heilige Gees gelei word in 'n openbaring van Charismatiese Gawes.

Romeine 11 deel met die Profetiese Doelwit van ons Hemelse Vader vir die Jode, en Romeine 12 begin waar Paulus leer oor die verbintenis tussen die Charismatiese en die Bedienings Gawes. Daar is nie hoofstuk skeidings in die oorspronklike Griekse Teks nie, en so is dit vir 'n baie goeie rede dat Paulus die uitverkiesing van Israel verbind met die Charismatiese Gawes in Rom. 11:29, (Die woord wat hier gebruik word is ook Charismata) wat dit duidelik maak dat die Jode én die Charismatiese Gawes nie opgehou bestaan het nie.

As enige mens of instelling vir u vertel dat daar 'n verskil is tussen Eerste Kerk en wat die Kerk van vandag behoort te wees, dan moet u weet dit is 'n misleiding, want die Woord van die Here het nog nooit verander nie, die Here gaan nie terug op Sy Heilige Woord nie. Die rede waarom Paulus die Roeping Gawes en die Charismatiese Gawes verbind met Romeine 11:29, is omrede die dwalings wat sê dat God die Gawes in die vroeë Kerk be?eindig het, en ook die dwaling wat leer dat God klaar is met die Jode. Paulus noem diegene wat onkundig in die Charismatiese Gawes is 'Idiotai' wat idiote, swaksinnig beteken! (1Kor.14:23) .

In 1Korinte 13 sien ons dat die Gawes sal aangaan todat die 'volmaakte' gekom het, wat in die woordverband van hierdie Skrifteks verwys na die 'Perousia' : Die Wederkoms van Koning Jesus Christus en nie na die Kanon van die Nuwe Testament nie. 1Korinte 1:7?8 sê baie duidelik dat die Charismatiese Gawes sal aangaan tot met die Wederkoms van Koning Jesus Christus.

Paulus lê baie klem op die waarheid van 1Tim. 4:15 wat hy opdra aan Timotheüs waardeur hy hom aanspoor om die pyn te verdra wat sal volg as hy hierdie Waarheid aan alle mense bring, (Gered en ongered) as 'n getuienis vir die wat verlore gaan, maar ook as 'n voorbeeld en 'n regverdiging van sy bediening aan die Kerk. (Ook diegene wat op hom neergekyk het asgevolg van sy jeugdigheid) Paulus sluit sy Rede af deur baie ernstig by Timotheüs, en by ons, aan te dring om baie versigtig op ons bediening en lerings te let, want dit is nie net genoeg om die Regte Lerings te leer nie as ons gerdrag nie daarby pas nie. Daar is mense wat dink dat as hulle reg lewe dan kan hulle maar sekere dwalings ignoreer, maar die Heilige Gees wat deur Paulus spreek sê nie so nie. Verkeerde leerstelling sal sekerlik lei to verkeerde optredes, en as ons gedrag en ons leerstelling reg is, dan is daar nie 'n rede vir ons om vir so 'n afval te vrees waarteen die Heilige Gees ons uitdruklik waarsku nie, maar ons sal wees soos in vers 16: "Let op jouself en op die leer; volhard daarin; want deur dit te doen, sal jy jouself red sowel as die wat jou hoor".

Spreuke 2:1?5: MY SEUN AS JY MY WOORDE AANNEEM EN MY GEBOOIE BY JOU BEWAAR, SODAT JY JOU OOR LAAT LUISTER NA DIE WYSHEID, JOU HART NEIG TOT VERSTAND; JA, AS JY NA DIE INSIG ROEP, NA DIE VERSTAND JOU STEM VERHEF, AS JY DAARNA SOEK SOOS NA SILWER EN DIT NASPEUR SOOS VERBORGE SKATTE, DAN SAL JY DIE VREES VAN DIE HERE VERSTAAN EN DIE KENNIS VAN GOD VIND. †††



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).