The Sabbath - Afrikaans

April 1, 2025

Die Sabbat

Gen.2:2‐3: "En God het op die sewende dag sy werk voltooi wat Hy gemaak het, en op die sewende dag gurus van al sy werk wat Hy gemaak het. En God het die sewende dag geseën en dit geheilig, omdat Hy daarop gurus het van al sy werk wat God geskape het deur dit te maak."

Mat.12:1?8: "In daardie tyd het Jesus op die sabbat deur die gesaaides geloop, en sy dissipels het honger geword en are begin pluk en eet. Maar toe die Fariseërs dit sien, sê hulle vir Hom: Kyk, u dissipels doen wat nie geoorloof is om op die sabbat te doen nie.

Maar Hy sê vir hulle: Het julle nie gelees wat Dawid gedoen het nie??toe hy en die wat saam met hom was, honger gehad het??hoe hy in die huis van God gegaan en die toonbrode geëet het wat vir hom en die wat saam met hom was, nie geoorloof was om te eet nie, maar net vir die priesters alleen? Of het julle nie in die wet gelees dat die priesters op die sabbat in die tempel die sabbat ontheilig en onskuldig is nie? En Ek sê vir julle: Een wat groter is as die tempel, is hier. Maar as julle geweet het wat dit beteken: Ek wil barmhartigheid hê en nie offerande nie, sou julle die onskuldiges nie veroordeel het nie; want die Seun van die mens is Here óók van die sabbat."

Koning Jesus se koninkryk is nie van hierdie wêreld nie, en elke keer as die mens die Woord van die HERE gebruik om sy sosiale basis te herbou op die Wet van die Here, dan bring dit geestelike en Teologiese dood en 'n algemene morele en sosiale verval in die kerk.

Die Fariseërs was veroordeel omdat hulle die gebod van God én hulle menslike uitvindsels vir die mense geleer het. Satan sal altyd eers probeer om mense te oorreed om terug te val na Judaisme, om hulle sodoende weer terug te plaas onder die wet, en so probeer om mense se oë van Christus af te wend.

Matt.23:13/28: "Maar wee julle, skrifgeleerdes en Fariseërs, geveinsdes, want julle sluit die koninkryk van die hemele toe voor die mense; want julle gaan self nie in nie, en die wat sou ingaan, laat julle nie toe om in te gaan nie. So lyk julle ook van buite vir die mense wel regverdig, maar van binne is julle vol geveinsdheid en ongeregtigheid".

Daar is vandag baie pragtige mense wat onder 'n sagte wettiese stelsels dien, ten koste van die feit dat die Woord van die Here ons waarsku om nie slawe van mense te word nie, maar slawe van Christus.

1Kor.7:22?23: "Want die slaaf wat in die Here geroep is, is 'n vrygemaakte van die Here; so is ook hy wat as vryman geroep is, 'n slaaf van Christus. Julle is duur gekoop; moenie slawe van mense word nie."

Is dit nie verstommend dat mense baie van hierdie swaarhand leiers byna slaafs volg nie? Vandag kry ons mense wat baie graag die werke van God wil doen, hulle wil God wees! Die oomblik as mense die Wet van die Here begin aanwend om hulle doelwitte te bereik dan doen hulle presies dieselfde as wat die pous doen deur te sê dat hy in die plek van die Heilige Gees optree. (Vicarious Christos) Koning Jesus

het nie verniet gesê daar sal baie valse christusse opstaan nie, vandag kwalifiseer baie kerkleiers as Fariseërs, en antichriste want hulle gebruik die Gebod van die Here én hulle riglyne om tradisies te verkondig, dit my broer en suster is 'n dwaling.

Daar is net Een Regter van die Wet en dit is ons Hemelse Vader.

Jesus Christus het ons deur Sy Heilige Bloed vry gekoop van die Wet van sonde wat ons nie kon red nie, die Wet wys ons daarop dat ons 'n ander wet nodig het om gered te kan word.

Die Oosterse Ortodokse, en die Katolieke bewegings het alles verheidens deur mense eers tot Judaisme, onder die wet, te bekeer. Wat godsdienstige wetgewers sal probeer doen, maar wat die Katolieke nog altyd doen, is om die Bybelse gesag te herdefinieer en dit vir eie gewin aan te wend om sodoende hulle gesagstrukture, op die sosiale, politieke en finansiële gebied af te baken, en baie van hierdie heillose denkes is vandag in die kerke ingebou wat lei tot 'n afval want dit is niks anders as handel drywe met die Woord van die Here nie!.

Jes.10: 1 ?2 "Wee hulle wat heillose insettinge tot wet maak, en die skrywers wat moeite ywerig voorskrywe, om die armes van die gereg weg te stoot en om die ellendiges onder my volk van die reg te beroof, sodat die weduwees hulle buit kan word en hulle die wese kan plunder."

Om te verstaan wat die betekenis is om vry te wees van die wet van sonde en dood, die Mosaïse wet waar onder alle mense is, is soos volg:

Die Jode is meer aanspreeklik omdat hulle die Wet ontvang en neer geskrywe het as 'n Lig vir die Heidene. Die Godspraak en redding was eerste vir die Jode en hierdie verantwoordelikheid was op hulle geplaas.

Die Wet van Moses leer vir ons dat ons 'n sondige natuur het, daar is niks verkeerd met die Wet nie, want deur die Wet ken ons ons sondes. Die Wet maak dit egter vir ons baie duidelik dat ons 'n Messias nodig het, en ons het 'n sterker Wet nodig om ons van die eerste Wet te verlos.

Ongeredde mense het geen keuse nie, hulle moet sondig, gelowiges in Christus is nie meer onder die Wet nie, en behoort nie te sondig nie omdat hulle onder die Krag van die Heilige Gees is. Die doel van die Wet is dus om ons daarvan bewus te maak dat ons nie die Wet kan onderhou nie.

Die Wet is ons Tugmeester, nie om as Wet te onderhou nie maar as 'n beginsel.

Christenskap is 'n lewende organisme nie 'n organisasie nie, 'n Lewende Organisme wat deur die Heilige Gees van God gelei word. Die Letter maak dood maar dit is die Gees wat lewe gee. Baie dinge in die Levitiese wet is wette vir die Jode, maar vir die Christene is dit 'n beginsel, 'n fondament om op te bou. Neem maar die Tiende Wet.

In die Ou Testament was die Jode verplig om 'n Tiende van alles vir die Here te gee, hulle moes dit doen. Maar in die Nuwe Testament is dit vir die Christene 'n beginsel saak, ons gee omdat ons WIL gee, ons gee soos wat die Gees ons lei.

Die Gebod van die Here beveel ons mag nie Egbreek nie, maar tog het Moses dit toegelaat. Ook beveel die Gebod van die Here dat 'n man net een vrou moet hê, maar tog het Salomo baie vroue gehad, God het dit toegelaat. God het nie Moses of Salomo verwerp oor hierdie dinge nie. Die Beginsel van die wet is om ons daarop te wys dat as ons die beginsels begin oortree dan neem dit nie lank nie of daar kom 'n totale afval. Die Wet is vir ons 'n riglyn tot die openbaring van sonde, dit wat in ons lewens verkeerd is en wat ons weglei van ons Saligmaker, Jesus Christus. Sonde maak mense geestelik dood. Die Gees van God het nie gemeenskap met die werke van die duisternis nie. Kyk maar na die sewende (Sabbat) gebod; Jy mag nie egbreek nie. Hoerery in die gees gee aanleiding tot hoerery in die vlees. Jakobus 1:14? 15: sê vir ons baie duidelik dat elke boosheid begin as 'n gedagte, 'n begeerte, dit kom van die bose magte in die lug! Dit is 'n geestelike saak. "Maar elkeen word versoek as hy deur sy eie begeerlikheid weggesleep en verlok word. Daarna, as die begeerlikheid ontvang het, baar dit sonde; en as die sonde tot volle ontwikkeling gekom het, bring dit die dood voort."

Dit is ook wat die val van Salomo veroorsaak het, omdat vroue vir hom 'n afgod geword, het hy deel geword van die afgode wat die vroue in sy huis ingebring het, dit is nie vroue wat die afval veroorsaak het nie maar die ander gode, sy hoerery het aanleiding gegee dat hy weggehoereer het van God, hy het die beginsel van die Wet oortree en dit het hom tot afval gelei.

Koning Jesus opbenbaar vir ons die Geestelike beginsel van die Wet.

Mat.5:27?28: "Julle het gehoor dat aan die mense van die ou tyd gesê is: Jy mag nie egbreek nie. Maar Ek sê vir julle dat elkeen wat na 'n vrou kyk om haar te begeer, reeds in sy hart met haar egbreuk gepleeg het."

Die Wet is heilig want die Wet vertel vir ons wat ons is. Kan ons uit ons eie krag die wet onderhou? Nooit maar nooit, ons kan nie God se Werke doen nie!

Die Wet vertel vir ons dat ons Koning Jesus nodig het, ons het 'n ander wet nodig wat ons kan verlos van die eerste Wet. Koning Jesus het die Wet vervul, en as ons in Hom is dan lewe die Wet nie meer in ons nie, maar Jesus Christus, en deur Hom kan ons sonde oorwin en die wet kragteloos maak. As Koning Jesus Christus in ons lewe is dan rus ons van die Werke van die Wet, in Hom is ons rus, Hy is ons SABBAT.

Paulus skrywe in Handelinge 21:25 dat daar nie aan die Heidene Joodse rituele opgelê moet word nie, hy sê: "Wat egter die gelowiges uit die heidene betref het ons geskrywe en besluit dat hulle niks van dié aard moet onderhou nie, maar hulle net moet onthou van afgodsoffers en bloed en van wat verwurg is, en van hoerery." Broer Paulus skrywe nie die wet af nie, inteendeel, hy bevestig dit!

Die Wet sê ons mag nie ander gode dien nie want dit is hoerery, en net die Bloed van Jesus kan ons vry maak, die Lewe is in die Bloed! Hier word niks gepraat van tiendes, die Sabbat of dat hulle die Wet moet onderhou nie, nee, as Jesus Christus in ons woon dan is die wet dood, maar as ons sondig dan lewe die Wet.

Die Heilige Gees is ons Leer Meester, en die mens wat aan Koning Jesus Christus behoort sal die Beginsels van die Hele Skrif van Hom ontvang. Koning Jesus is ons Verlosser en nie mense nie. Hy alleen kan ons uit die doderyk uitroep.

Die Nuwe Verbond.

"Kyk, daar kom dae, spreek die HERE, dat Ek met die huis van Israel en die huis van Juda 'n nuwe verbond sal sluit; nie soos die verbond wat Ek met hulle vaders gesluit het op dié dag toe Ek hulle hand gegryp het om hulle uit Egipteland uit te lei nie??my verbond wat húlle verbreek het, alhoewel Ék gebieder oor hulle was, spreek die HERE." (Jerm.31:31?32)

As u 'n Heiden is moet baie mooi oplet wat hier staan, die Nuwe Verbond is met Israel gesluit en nie met die kerk nie, moet ook nie probeer om 'n Jood in die vlees te wees nie, God het u nie daarvoor geroep nie. Ons as Heidene wat as Christene tot bekering gekom het is ingeënt op hierdie olyf boom, dit is Genade, moet nie roem nie, die Wortel van die boom is Israel en die Jode.

Ons kan nie erfgename wees onder die Ou Testament nie, want ons Testateur, Jesus Christus, het vir ons 'n Nuwe Testament gegee en ons kan slegs onder die voorwaardes van die Nuwe Testament erfgename wees. Daar is niks verkeerd met die Ou Testament nie, want die Ou Testament leer vir ons die Beginsels waardeur ons erfgename kan word onder die Nuwe Testament waar dit vervul word.

Die sabbat 'n instelling teen afgode diens.

[U moet oplet dat nie die dag is wat verheerlik word nie maar die werke, die dag was deel van die werke. Die werke is of goed of sleg.]

Psalm 115:1?8: "Nie aan ons, o HERE, nie aan ons nie, maar aan u Naam gee eer, om u goedertierenheid, om u trou ontwil.

Waarom sou die heidene sê: Waar is dan hulle God? terwyl onse God tog in die hemel is; Hy doen alles wat Hom behaag. Hulle afgode is silwer en goud, 'n werk van mensehande.

Hulle het 'n mond, maar praat nie; hulle het oë, maar sien nie; ore het hulle, maar hoor nie; hulle het 'n neus, maar ruik nie; hande, maar hulle tas nie; voete, maar hulle loop nie; hulle gee geen geluid deur hul keel nie. Die wat hulle maak, sal net soos hulle word??elkeen wat op hulle vertrou."

Om in gemeenskap van die Heilige Gees saam te kom so dikwels as moontlik, is 'n manier om ons tot stilstand te kry en ons gedagtes weg te neem van die dinge van die wêreld.

Baie mense dien vandag afgode en hulle besef dit nie. God het die Hebreërs blind gemaak en vir die Heidene redding gebring. Die Hebreërs was egter moedswillig, hulle wou nie sien nie, dit is ook wat Hebreër beteken. Hulle het in die Beloofte Land gekom en agter ander gode aan gehoereer en die Here hulle God vergeet. Dit is presies wat die Christene vandag doen, God het nie verniet vir ons hierdie beginsel opgeteken nie. 'n Afgod is enige iets wat in ons lewens in die plek van die Here onse God kom, (Vicarious Christos,??'n ander gees.) dit wat vir ons meer beteken as die dinge wat tot ons saligheid kan lei.

Die Liefde vir die Here onse God is absoluut. Daar is niks verkeerd met die dinge wat God gemaak het nie, maar wanneer die dinge wat vir ons hier is die dinge word waarvoor ons hier is, dan het ons groot probleme. So word godsdiens onderandere vandag 'n afgod in baie mense se lewens. Godsdiens wat die persoonlikheid van 'n persoon aanneem. Die mense wat hulle maak, sal net soos hulle word??. Soos wat die sabbat vandag in moderne Judaisme 'n instrument in die hande van swaarhand leiers geword het om mense se lewens te regeer, en soos wat protestantisme vandag gedien word in plaas van die Here ons God, so het die Sabbat en Sondag vandag vir baie mense belangriker geword as die Evangelie tot redding en saligheid. Godsdiens het 'n afgod geword! Dit is interesant om te let dat die sabbat die Jode baie meer bewaar het as wat die Jode die sabbat bewaar het.

Vandag doen die kerk wêreld presies dieselfde, hulle heilig en aanbid die DAG met hulle eie beginsels, hulle probeer God dien met hulle afgode, maar hulle het die Here van die Werke vergeet, hulle is afgode dienaars in die Tempel van die Here!

Vyf beginsels van die Sabbat.

Eks. 20: 8?11: Gedenk die sabbatdag, dat jy dit heilig. Ses dae moet jy arbei en al jou werk doen; maar die sewende dag is die sabbat van die HERE jou God; dan mag jy géén werk doen nie??jy of jou seun of jou dogter, of jou dienskneg of jou diensmaagd, of jou vee of jou vreemdeling wat in jou poorte is nie. Want in ses dae het die HERE die hemel en die aarde gemaak, die see en alles wat daarin is, en op die sewende dag het Hy gurus. Daarom het die HERE die sabbatdag geseën en dit geheilig.

  1. Sabbatsrus
  2. ['n Tyd van heilige afsondering. ]
  3. In Hebreeus beteken Sabbat??'Shabath'??Rus. (Dit het niks met 'n dag te doen nie.) Die idee is NIE om absoluut bewegingloos te wees nie, dit beteken egter om alle tydelike, of siviele werke wat niks met ons saligheid te doen het nie, te staak.
  4. Ons sien in Num. 28:9 dat daar ander werke is wat geoorloof was om te doen, die lammers was 'n beeld van Christus wat geen sonde gehad het nie, die Lam van God.??"Maar op die sabbatdag twee jaaroud lammers sonder gebrek en twee?tiendes van 'n efa fynmeel as spysoffer, met olie gemeng, en die drankoffer wat daarby behoort."
  5. Hier word gepraat van die ewigheidswerke van ons geloof, dit wat te doen het met ons saligheid. Jak.2:26: "Want soos die liggaam sonder gees dood is, so is ook die geloof sonder die werke dood."
  6. So sien ons dan in Markus 6:2 en Handelinge wat die Ewigheids werke is: "En toe dit sabbat geword het, begin Hy in die sinagoge te leer, en baie wat Hom gehoor het, was verslae en sê: Waar kry Hy hierdie dinge vandaan, en watter wysheid is aan Hom gegee, dat ook sulke kragte deur sy hande plaasvind?"
  7. Hand.13:42?44:"En toe die Jode uit die sinagoge gaan, het die heidene versoek dat daardie woorde op die volgende sabbat tot hulle gespreek sou word. En toe die sinagoge uit was, het baie van die Jode en die godsdienstige Jodegenote Paulus en Bárnabas gevolg. Dié het hulle toegespreek en hulle probeer
  8. beweeg om in die genade van God te bly. En op die volgende sabbat het byna die hele stad saamgekom om die woord van God te hoor."
  9. Wat het Koning Jesus in die Sinagoges geleer? Dit was nie wat hierdie mense elke sabbat gehoor het nie, dit wat hulle ontvang het was deur die Heilige Gees geopenbaar. Die Heilige Gees het Jesus Christus, hulle Sabbat, aan hulle geopenbaar! Koning Jesus het aan hulle die Evangelie van Redding gebring:
  10. Rom.7:6 / 2Kor.3:6: Maar nou is ons ontslae van die wet waardeur ons gebonde was, aangesien ons dit afgesterf het, sodat ons dien in die nuwigheid van die Gees en nie in die oudheid van die letter nie.??wat ons ook bekwaam gemaak het as dienaars van 'n nuwe testament, nie van die letter nie, maar van die gees; want die letter maak dood, maar die gees maak lewend."
  11. 'n Gedenkdag.
  12. Num.20:16: "Toe het ons die HERE aangeroep, en Hy het ons stem gehoor: Hy het 'n Engel gestuur en ons uit Egipte uitgelei.??"
  13. Hoekom heilig ons tye tot afsondering, is dit nie omdat ons dankbaar is dat God ons ook deur Sy Seun verlossing gegee het nie? Is dit nie Koning Jesus wat ons óók uit Egipteland uitgelei het nie?. Hoe dikwels gedenk ons die Nagmaal, net eenmaal in 6 maande? Sê die Woord van die Here nie so dikwels as moontlik nie? Die Skrifte skryf nie vir ons 'n dag voor nie, want Koning Jesus is ons Sabbatsrus: Hy is ons Sewende Dag in die Ou verbond, maar in die Nuwe Verbond is Hy ons Eerste en Agste Dag: Ons Alfa en Omega.
  14. 1Kor.11:25?26: Net so ook die beker ná die ete, met die woorde: Hierdie beker is die nuwe testament in my bloed; doen dit, so dikwels as julle daaruit drink, tot my gedagtenis. Want so dikwels as julle hierdie brood eet en hierdie beker drink, verkondig julle die dood van die Here totdat Hy kom."
  15. Sameroeping / gemeenskap.
  16. Rom. 8:1 "Daar is dan nou geen veroordeling vir die wat in Christus Jesus is nie, vir die wat nie na die vlees wandel nie, maar na die Gees."
  17. Psalm. 133:1?3 "???Kyk, hoe goed en hoe lieflik is dit dat broers ook saamwoon! Dit is soos die kosbare olie op die hoof, wat afloop op die baard, die baard van Aäron, wat afloop op die soom van sy klere. Dit is soos die dou van Hermon wat neerdaal op die berge van Sion; want daar gebied die HERE die seën, die lewe tot in ewigheid!"
  18. Kosbaar is dieWoord van die Here. Die Heilige Gees is uitgestort op die Hoof van ons Hoë Priester, Jesus Christus, Hy is ons bedekking, Hy sal die Heilige Gees vir ons gee as ons deel is van Sy Gemeente.
  19. Soos wat ons Hemelse Vader gurus het van Sy werke so is dit ook Sy Wil dat ons moet rus van ons werke, dat ons saam met Hom in Sy Rus moet ingaan, nie die rus van die wêreld nie. God se Sabbatsrus is wanneer ons in gemeenskap deur die Heilige Gees saamgeroep word voor die Aangesig van onse Here Jesus Christus, ons Hoë Priester, om Hom in Gees en Waarheid te dien.
  20. Geheilig.
  21. Deut.5:12: "Onderhou die sabbatdag, dat jy dit heilig soos die HERE jou God jou beveel het."
  22. Om iemand of iets te heilig is om dit eenkant te plaas vir God. Opregte heiligheid is wanneer ons in God se teenwoordigheid kom. Toe Jesaja in God se teenwoordigheid gekom het, het God hom geheilig deur om sy lippe met kole vuur aan te raak, en eers toe was hy geheilig om in God se teenwoordigheid te kan staan, ons kan net tot God geheilig word as ons so dikwels as moontlik, deur die Krag van die Heilige Gees in die teenwoordigheid van Jesus Christus kan wees.
  23. Deur in gemeenskap met die heiliges te wandel sal ons nie na die vlees wandel nie maar na die Gees. As ons deur die Gees wandel dan is ons in ons Sabbatsrus.
  24. Dit is afsondering, Heiligmaking om in die Teenwoordigheid van onse Here Jesus Christus te kan kom, nou beteken die tydelike werke niks meer nie.
  25. 1Kor.6:11: "En dit was sommige van julle; maar julle het jul laat afwas, maar julle is geheilig, maar julle is geregverdig in die Naam van die Here Jesus en deur die Gees van onse God."
  26. Heb 10:10/14: "Deur hierdie wil is ons geheilig deur die offer van die liggaam van Jesus Christus, net een maal. Want deur een offer het Hy vir altyd volmaak die wat geheilig word. Judas1:1: "??aan die wat geroep, in God die Vader geheilig en vir Jesus Christus bewaar is"
  27. Die Jubeljaar.

Die Sabbat was gegee in die Wet van Moses. Voordat Adam en Eva geval het, het hulle alreeds 'n Sabbatsrus gehad, en dit is die beeld van die Jubeljaar, die vryspreek van al die gevangenis (Lev. 25:8?10) Wanneer ons in gemeenskap bymekaar kom en aan die Tafel van onse Here Jesus aansit, dan kyk ons vorentoe na daardie dag wanneer onse Here Jesus Christus op die wolke gaan verskyn. Wanneer die Jode die Pasge eet, dink hulle terug aan die dag toe die Here hulle uit Egipte uitgelei het en die Jode wat tot bekering gekom dink ook aan die Wederkoms van hulle Messias, ons Verlosser. Luk.21:28: "En as hierdie dinge begin gebeur, kyk dan na bo en hef julle hoofde op, omdat julle verlossing naby is."

Daar is verskillende Sabatte,??(Sheba:beteken?Sewe.) Daar is die gewone weeklikse Sabbat, dan is daar die Sabbat wat elke sewe jaar in die maand Tishri, die sewende maand gevier word, dan is daar die Jubeljaar wat elke 49 jaar, in die vytigste jaar, gevier word, wanneer die slawe vrygelaat word, almal 'n tipe van die sabbat.

[Lev.23:24 "Spreek met die kinders van Israel en sê: In die sewende maand, op die eerste van die maand, moet dit vir julle 'n rusdag wees, 'n gedenkdag deur basuingeklank, 'n heilige vierdag."]

Op die vyftigste dag na die Hemelvaart van ons Koning is die Heilige Gees uitgestort, maar daar is ook 'n ander Jubeljaar 'n groot Sabbat, 'n volmaakte Ewige Rus vir die vrygekooptes wat aan Koning Jesus behoort: 1Thes.4:16?17: "Want die Here self sal van die hemel neerdaal met 'n geroep, met die stem van 'n aartsengel en met geklank van die basuin van God; en die wat in Christus gesterf het, sal eerste

opstaan. Daarna sal ons wat in die lewe oorbly, saam met hulle in wolke weggevoer word die Here tegemoet in die lug; en so sal ons altyd by die Here wees." Loof die Here!

Die Sabbat is vir die mens.

Mark. 2: 27?28: En Hy sê vir hulle: Die sabbat is gemaak vir die mens, nie die mens vir die sabbat nie. Daarom is die Seun van die mens Here ook van die sabbat.

Deut. 5:33: "In al die weë wat die HERE julle God julle beveel het moet julle wandel, sodat julle kan lewe en dit met julle goed kan gaan en julle die dae kan verleng in die land wat julle in besit sal neem."

Eze 36:27: "En Ek sal my Gees in jul binneste gee en sal maak dat julle in my insettinge wandel en my verordeninge onderhou en doen."

Rom.8:1/4: Daar is dan nou geen veroordeling vir die wat in Christus Jesus is nie, vir die wat nie na die vlees wandel nie, maar na die Gees.??sodat die reg van die wet vervul kon word in ons wat nie na die vlees wandel nie, maar na die Gees.

Die wette was nie vir God gemaak nie maar vir die mens, die Here het vir ons lewensbeginsels gegee waardeur ons die ewige lewe kan beërwe. God is ons Maker, en Hy wil nie hê dat een mens verlore moet gaan nie. Koning Jesus het geword wat ons is en daardeur het God aan die mense getoon dat ons ook kan word wat Jesus is. Ons kan nie God word nie, maar ons kan word soos Hy. Wanneer die mens homself verhef en 'n god word dan begin dwalings intree, en een dwaling veroorsaak groter dwalings. Dit is wat die Fariseërs gedoen het, hulle het God se Wet geneem en dit aangepas deur hulle eie wette, mense instellings. Paulus, wat grootgeword as 'n Fariseër het nadat hy tot bekering gekom het gesê: Filp.3: 5:12: "Ek is besny op die agtste dag, uit die geslag van Israel, uit die stam van Benjamin, 'n Hebreër uit die Hebreërs; wat die wet betref, 'n Fariseër; wat ywer betref, 'n vervolger van die gemeente; wat die geregtigheid in die wet betref, onberispelik. Maar wat vir my wins was, dit het ek om Christus wil skade geag. Ja waarlik, ek ag ook alles skade om die uitnemendheid van die kennis van Christus Jesus, my Here, ter wille van wie ek alles prysgegee het en as drek beskou, om Christus as wins te verkry en in Hom gevind te word, nie met my geregtigheid wat uit die wet is nie, maar met dié wat deur die geloof in Christus is, die geregtigheid wat uit God is deur die geloof; sodat ek Hom kan ken en die krag van sy opstanding en die gemeenskap aan sy lyde terwyl ek aan sy dood gelykvormig word, of ek miskien die opstanding uit die dode kan bereik.

Nie dat ek dit al verkry het of al volmaak is nie, maar ek jaag daarna of ek dit ook kan gryp, omdat ek ook deur Christus Jesus gegryp is."

Paulus het alles gedoen wat die wet beveel het, maar toe hy Koning Jesus ontmoet het al hierdie dinge niks meer beteken nie, en al wat hy in belang gestel het was Jesus Christus sy Here, want Koning Jesus is die opstanding uit die dode. As ons in Jesus lewe lewe ons alreeds in die toekomstige Ewige Lewe. Dit is waarna ons moet jaag: Bekering is die lewe nou in Christus, wat later vervolmaak sal word.

Die verskil tussen die sabbat en die Dag van die Here.

Die verskil tussen die Wet en Genade is dat Koning Jesus ons Sabbat geword het.

Die Wet het te doen met 'n nuwe begin.

Die Dag van die Here het te doen met voltooing. Die Sabbat is 'n herdenking van die Ou Skepping.

Die Dag van die Here is 'n herdenking van die Nuwe Skepping. Die Sabbat is deel van die Ou Verbond van Werke.

Die Dag van die Here is deel van die Nuwe Verbond van Genade.

Die Sabbat was 'n opdrag volgens die Mosaiese Wet maar in die Nuwe Verbond is dit nie meer van toepassing nie.

Rom.1:1?6: "En neem hom aan wat swak is in die geloof, nie om oor sy gevoelens te oordeel nie. Die een glo dat 'n mens alles mag eet, maar hy wat swak is, eet groente.

Hy wat eet, moet hom wat nie eet, nie verag nie; en hy wat nie eet, moet hom wat eet, nie oordeel nie, want God het hom aangeneem. Wie is jy wat die huiskneg van 'n ander oordeel? Hy staan of val met betrekking tot sy eie heer; maar hy sal staande bly, want God is magtig om hom staande te hou. Die een ag die een dag bo die ander, die ander ag al die dae gelyk. Laat elkeen in sy eie gemoed ten volle oortuig wees.

Hy wat die dag waarneem, neem dit waar tot eer van die Here; en hy wat die dag nie waarneem nie, neem dit nie waar nie tot eer van die Here; en wie eet, eet tot eer van die Here, want hy dank God; en wie nie eet nie, eet nie tot eer van die Here, en hy dank God."

Hier sien ons baie duidelik dat geen mens 'n ander mens se gevoel kan oordeel nie, want God is die Kenner van die hart, niemand mag u verplig om dae te hou, of nie te hou nie, insluitend die hou van die sabbat. God alleen is die Wetgewer. Ons preek die Beginsels van die Wet.

Dit is die Gees van die Nuwe Verbond, hy wie aan die voete van Jesus Christus sit sal deur die Heilige Gees gelei word tot Eer en verheerliking van onse Hemelse Vader.

Wat u as wedergebore mens van die Here ontvang het, is vir u deur die Heilige Gees gegee en dit mag in my geval dieselfde wees of ook nie, die Here het weer vir my iets anders gegee, en al die beginsels is opgeteken in die Woord van die Here, dit is u en my Maatstaf.

Die Gawes van die Heilige Gees is nie vir ons nie maar deur ons, ek het niks, maar Koning Jesus het alles van my, dit wat ek gee, gee ek nie uit myself nie maar soos wat die Gees van God my lei. Prys U Heilige Naam.

U gaan eendag voor Koning Jesus staan en as u volgens u eie beginsels gaan probeer om God te behaag, is dit u saak, maar wee u as u ander kleintjies volgens u beginsels laat struikel het.

Die beginsels van die Dag van die Here.

Een van die Sewende dag Adventiste se profete, Allen G. White het 'n boodskap van 'n engel gekry om die sewende dag as die sabbat te herdenk, maar wie se engel was dit? En u wat die sewende dag weer ingestel wil sien, van wie het ù hierdie opdrag ontvang?

Kol. 2:18?23: "Laat niemand julle van jul prys beroof nie, al sou hy behae hê in nederigheid en verering van die engele en indring in wat hy nie gesien het nie, en sonder oorsaak opgeblase wees deur sy vleeslike gesindheid, en nie vashou aan die Hoof nie, uit wie die hele liggaam deur die gewrigte en verbindinge ondersteuning ontvang en saamgebind word en so met goddelike groei groot word. As julle dan saam met Christus die eerste beginsels van die wêreld afgesterf het, waarom is julle, asof julle nog in die wêreld lewe, onderworpe aan insettinge soos: raak nie, smaak nie, roer nie aan nie? ??almal dinge wat deur die gebruik bestem is om te vergaan??volgens die gebooie en leringe van mense, wat, alhoewel dit 'n skyn van wysheid het, in eiesinnige godsdiens en nederigheid en in gestrengheid teen die liggaam, geen waarde het nie, maar strek tot versadiging van die vlees."

Die Dag van die Here.

Die sabbat het die mense onder verpligtiging gehou om een maal per week die weeklikse sabbat te gehoorsaam, hulle moes dit doen. Die mens was gebonde aan insettinge en verordenige. Koning Jesus het gekom en ons van hierdie dinge verlos. Ons kan nie God onder dwang dien nie. Die wil van die mens was na die sonde val van Adam en Eva onder die invloed van Satan en sy bose magte, maar Koning Jesus het hierdie mag van Satan aan die Kruis vernietig, en hier het Koning Jesus weer die wil van die mens aan hom terug gegee.

Met die instelling van die Dag van die Here, die eerste dag van die week wat ook die Opstandingsdag van onse Here Jesus Christus was, merk ons dat die Kerk in Handelinge nie 'n ophef gemaak het van die dag nie maar dat die klem geval het op Jesus Christus en die Evangelie en nie op 'n spesifieke dag nie, want dit is nie wat verkondig moet word nie.

Soos wat die tyd aangestap het, het gemeenskaplike byeenkomste in die Naam van die Here al meer en meer verskuif na die eerste dag van die week naamlik Sondag. Ons sien dat Paulus soms die Sabbat, die sewende dag, byeenkomste, en ook die eerste dag byeenkomste, bygewoon het, dit het nie vir hom gegaan om die dag nie, maar Jesus Christus sy Saligmaker, en die ewigheidswerke wat lei tot redding van 'n verloregaande mensdom.

So sien ons dan in Handelinge dat hulle volhard het in die Leer van Jesus Christus nie net op die eerste dag nie maar elke dag. In die begin was hulle sabbat elke dag, en dit is waar ons weer moet kom, Jesus Christus en die Evangelie moet elke oomblik deur ons lewens verteenwoordig word, dit is die voorsmaak van die Ewige lewe nou wat later vervolmaak gaan word, en nie net Sondae nie of Saterdae nie.

Hand. 2:46?47: En dag vir dag het hulle eendragtig volhard in die tempel en van huis tot huis brood gebreek en hulle voedsel met blydskap en eenvoudigheid van hart geniet, terwyl hulle God geprys het

en in guns was by die hele volk. En die Here het daagliks by die gemeente gevoeg die wat gered is." Hand. 20:7 "En op die eerste dag van die week, toe die dissipels vergader het om brood te breek???"

Koning Jesus het ons vrygekoop van die wet.

Gal. 3:23?29: Maar voordat die geloof gekom het, is ons onder die wet in bewaring gehou, ingesluit met die oog op die geloof wat geopenbaar sou word. Die wet was dus ons tugmeester na Christus toe, sodat ons geregverdig kan word uit die geloof. Maar nou dat die geloof gekom het, is ons nie meer onder 'n tugmeester nie. Want julle is almal kinders van God deur die geloof in Christus Jesus; want julle almal wat in Christus gedoop is, het julle met Christus beklee.

Daar is nie meer Jood of Griek nie, daar is nie meer slaaf of vryman nie, daar is nie meer man en vrou nie; want julle is almal een in Christus Jesus. En as julle aan Christus behoort, dan is julle die nageslag van Abraham en volgens die belofte erfgename."

As ons deur die Heilige Gees in gemeenskap van die heiliges bymekaar kom om Jesus Christus te verheerlik dan verteenwoordig dit die heerlikheid van die toekomstige sabbatsrus:

Hebr 4:9?11: "Daar bly dus 'n sabbatsrus oor vir die volk van God; want wie in sy rus ingegaan het, rus ook self van sy werke soos God van syne. Laat ons ons dan beywer om in te gaan in dié rus, sodat niemand in dieselfde voorbeeld van ongehoorsaamheid mag val nie.

Maar daar is ook 'n groot waarskuwing vir ons opgeteken, daar is baie mense wat glo dat eenmaal gered altyd gered, en dat hulle kan lewe soos hulle wil, maar die Woord van die Here sê vir ons in Heb.4:1: "Laat ons dan vrees dat, terwyl die belofte om in sy rus in te gaan nog standhou, dit nie miskien sal blyk dat iemand van julle agtergebly het nie."

Mense probeer vandag die werke van God doen, maar dit is tevergeefs, God se Werke is absoluut volmaak en niks kan bygevoeg word nie.

Die sabbat is vir die mens en nie vir die Here nie, pasop vir mense instelling wat u weer onder die wet wil inlei. Moet nie deur u werke probeer om u Christenskap te bewys nie. Christenskap is lewens beginsel wat gefondeer is op die Woord van God. Ons Sabbat is Jesus Christus, die Openbaring van die Sewende dag. Die mens wat uit sy sabbatsrus beweeg en probeer om God te behaag deur die vlees, hierdie werke is tevergeefs.

Eff.2:13?19: "Maar nou in Christus Jesus het julle wat vroeër ver was, naby gekom deur die bloed van Christus. Want Hy is ons vrede, Hy wat albei een gemaak en die middelmuur van skeiding afgebreek het deurdat Hy in sy vlees die vyandskap tot niet gemaak het, naamlik die wet van gebooie wat in insettinge bestaan; sodat Hy, deur vrede te maak, die twee in Homself tot een nuwe mens kon skep en albei in een liggaam met God kon versoen deur die kruis, nadat Hy daaraan die vyandskap doodgemaak het. En Hy het die evangelie van vrede kom verkondig aan julle wat ver was en aan die wat naby was; want deur Hom het ons albei die toegang deur een Gees tot die Vader. So is julle dan nie meer vreemdelinge en bywoners nie, maar medeburgers van die heiliges en huisgenote van God??" Amen. †††


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).