The Scarlet Cord

April 3, 2025
“Come now, and let us reason together,”

Says the LORD, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. (Isaiah 1:18) 

Every year, on the Day of Atonement before the Temple was destroyed, the High Priest would put on a special white tunic with a red sash wrapped around his waist. He would wear this only once a year. He would take the two scapegoats (called seir la’azazel in Hebrew) and bring them through the streets of Jerusalem, foreshadowing Christ where people would spit on them, kick them, hit them with stones and curse them for their sin. One would be sacrificed; the other would be taken into the wilderness and pushed from a precipice. But before that, the High Priest would take the scarlet sash and cut it in half into two cords; one he would tie between the horns of the seir la’azazel released into the wilderness, the other he would hang before the “Qodesh Qodeshim”—the Holy of Holies in the Temple. 

The Jews believed that if their sin was forgiven on the Day of Atonement—Yom Kippur—the scarlet cord would turn white. We are told in the Mishnah (Jewish history) that for the forty years before the Temple was destroyed—in other words, from the time Yeshua was rejected as Messiah until the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, which both Jesus and Daniel predicted—it never turned white. Talmudic Judaism itself admits that the sins of the Jewish people were no longer forgiven on the Day of Atonement once Yeshua was rejected. 

We need to understand Old Testament atonement, or Yom Kippur. If the Hebrews had real faith and real repentance, the blood of the scapegoats would cover their sin until the Messiah came and removed them; it was a temporary provision.

It Speaks of Salvation

“…your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow” speaks of salvation. Consistently throughout Scripture we have the scarlet cord speaking about salvation.

‘The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet material and cast it into the midst of the burning heifer. (Numbers 19:6)

Notice that the scarlet cord—the scarlet fabric—is thrown into the fire with hyssop. Hyssop is paschal. When the Passover lamb was sacrificed they would dip hyssop into the towel and take the paschal blood and make the bloody doorposts and lintels in the form of a cross. David, in his Psalm of penitence said, “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Ps. 51:7). We have the hyssop, the blood, the cedar (which is the wood from which the cross may have been made) and the scarlet cord.

“…then the priest shall give orders to take two live clean birds…

(As there are two goats there are two birds.)

“…and cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop for the one who is to be cleansed.…As for the live bird, he shall take it together with the cedar wood and the scarlet string and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was slain over the running water. (Leviticus 14:4, 6) 

The running water is a picture of washing with the blood, but we also have the hyssop and the scarlet.

Judah recognized them, and said, “She is more righteous than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again. It came about at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were twins in her womb. Moreover, it took place while she was giving birth, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”

(This almost certainly had to be an act of providence or divine intervention in itself. Christian and Jewish obstetricians who have looked at this have said that normally this would not happen.)

But it came about as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out. Then she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez. Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and he was named Zerah. (Genesis 38:26-30) 

Notice that only the second born has the scarlet thread; only the second born has salvation. But the hand came out first. I am not a Calvinist, nonetheless the Scriptures are clear: “those whom He foreknew” (Rom. 8:29; 11:2). The Lord knows who is going to get saved even before we get saved. No place, however, is this scarlet cord more prominent or important than in the narrative of Rahab the harlot.

…unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household. (Joshua 2:18)
There is the scarlet cord; only those who have it will be rescued. The rescue narratives of Scripture such as the Exodus, Noah, Lot, the events of AD 70 and in this case Rahab, each of these prefigures the Rapture of the Church. We do not base doctrine on typology or symbolism, but we do use the typology and symbolism to illustrate and illuminate doctrine on a deeper level. It shows us what is going to happen.

Scriptures from a Hebraic Viewpoint

If a Jewish believer at the end of the first century was reading the Book of Revelation (there would have been no chapter divisions at that time) during the persecution of the Emperor Domitian, they would have read it quite differently than we do with a Western, Hellenistic mind. (Unfortunately, the patristic church fathers Hellenized a Hebraic faith. They took a Jewish Christianity and turned it into a Greek one.) They would have read it midrashically. They would have seen it as a midrash on the Book of Joshua. 

In the Book of Joshua is found seven days of marching around Jericho, but on the seventh day there was a subset of seven. Coming out of the seventh seven, they had to do it seven times. So, in Revelation, we have the same pattern with seven seals, but out of the seventh seven there is a subset of seven trumpets. 

When they marched around Jericho there had to be total silence (Josh. 6:10). And so, in Revelation 8:1, “there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” How time is applied to eternity is another matter, but there it is. There are the two spies who come into play in Joshua (Josh. 2). They prefigure the two witnesses (Rev. 11).

When the last trumpet—the last shofar, is blown in the Book of Joshua, “This city has been given to us by the Lord” (Josh. 6:16), and so when the last trumpet is blown in Revelation, “This world has become the Kingdom of our God and His Messiah” (Rev. 11:15). 

If we want to know the future, look at the past. The Book of Joshua—the rescue of Rahab, is just like the rescue of Lot in that it is not just simply a past event, it is a future one. The rescue of Noah is not just a past event, it is a future event. If we do not know what did happen, we are never going to know what is going to happen. That is how a Jewish believer at the end of the first century would have read the Book of Revelation. We need to read it with the mind of the original first century Christians, not with the mind of the sixteenth-century Reformers or fourth-century “church fathers.”

Rahab the Harlot

Rahab is quite a figure who is mentioned with favor three times in the New Testament (Mt. 1:5; Heb. 11:3; James 2:25). Why Rahab? Why is she given such favorable mention? She is the great-great-grandmother of King David. The royal line of David—the Messianic line through whom the Messiah the Savior would come, has Rahab as one of his direct ancestors; a Gentile prostitute. We have to understand that Abraham is a Gentile whom God converted to Judaism. There are two Gentile women in the genealogy of Jesus dating back to the line of David in Ruth and Rahab. Why is this? It is simply because the Messiah would be Savior of both Jew and Gentile.

Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. (Matthew 1:5)

This, of course, picks up where the Book of Ruth ends. The genealogy of Jesus actually begins in the closing verses of the fourth chapter of Ruth. The great-great-grandmother of the Messiah would be Rahab, this Gentile prostitute. She marries into a Jewish family after converting to belief in the true God.

By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace. (Hebrews 11:31) 

Here in the index of the faithful she is a role model. Why does God make this Gentile prostitute a role model of faith? 

In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? (James 2:25) 

The previous verse tells us…

You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2:24) 

Martin Luther began well, but he ended very badly. During the Peasants’ Revolt he said the peasants should be murdered. He said every Jew should be cornered into a corral and forced to confess Christ at the point of a knife. “We, the German nation, are to blame if we do not enslave these Jews to prove we are Christians.” (This is quoted extensively by Hitler in Mein Kampf.) Not only that, he ended his life a complete heretic. He denied the canonicity of the Book of Revelation and also the canonicity of the Epistle of James. He said it was not part of the New Testament canon because he disagreed with it. He did not understand the difference between “works of the Law” and “works.” Because he was reacting against medieval Catholicism—salvation by works, by sacraments, by indulgences, etc., he could not handle what James was saying because he really did not understand it. What James is saying is simply this: Christians do not do good works to get saved, they do good works because they have been saved. We are saved by grace through faith, but what do we mean by “faith”? The problem had to do with the English and Latin languages.

Faith & Faithfulness

In Hebrew, the word for “faith” is “emunah” from which we get the word “amen”; in Hebrew the word for “faithfulness” is “emunah.” It is the same word, like from the Book of Lamentations: “Great is Thy faithfulness” (Lam. 3:23) The Hebrew language makes no distinction between “faith” and “faithfulness,” and neither, technically, does the Greek—“pistis.” There may be a difference in the case endings, but the word for “faith” and the word for “faithfulness” is the same. In other words, if somebody’s faith is genuine, they are going to be faithful.

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)

A saving faith is not a mere, intellectual faith. Satan has an intellectual faith; Satan knows it is true. If it is a saving faith, there will be faithfulness. The problem is that instead of following the Hebrew or Greek, our translations generally follow the Latin Vulgate of Jerome. “Faith” and “faithfulness” are different in Latin. Hence, in English, we get the wrong perspective. If it is a saving faith, we will be faithful. 

The righteous will live by “faith” (Hab. 2:4)? The righteous will live by “faithfulness.” We are saved by grace through “faith” (Eph. 2:8)? We are saved by grace through “faithfulness.” (Commencing, of course, by the faithfulness of Jesus). Without “faith” it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6)? Without “faithfulness” it is impossible to please God. We make a distinction between “faith” and “faithfulness” because of translational complications we should not be making.

Lying to Hide the Spies

By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace. (Hebrews 11:31)

Rahab is commended because she hid these spies. Theologians are divided asking, “Did she lie?” “Was it right for her to lie?” But she is commended for what she did. I do not personally see it as a lie, but that she changed sides during a military conflict. I see it as military disinformation. Others may disagree, but I will relate a true story. 

I knew a lovely lady named Loki Nussenbaum, a Jewish lady. She and one brother lived in New York, but she has since gone to the Lord. I knew her in Israel. She became a believer at the age of fourteen and after becoming educated she became a missionary to the Bantu tribe in Angola. She was a remarkable woman who could speak Portuguese, French, Hebrew, Yiddish and German, but she could also speak Bantu, the native language of the bushmen to whom she was a missionary for many years until the communists took over Angola and kicked the missionaries out. Loki was incredible. 

Most of her family was murdered by the Nazis, including her father, mother, little sister and little brother. Loki and one brother escaped. They were smuggled by Christians from Belgium to Lausanne, Switzerland, at the age of thirteen, and a year later she became a believer. 

There were Christians in Switzerland who told her to look at Romans 13, their interpretation being that since politicians are God’s ministers, Adolph Hitler was a minister of God. They added that since lying was a sin, those who had lied to the Gestapo to smuggle her out had sinned. They told her since she now had a Christian testimony, she needed to go back and give herself over to the Gestapo even though they would put her in an oven. They actually told her this! These were people who were too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good. (I guess they did not like James’ epistle either.) At the age of fourteen she was very confused and actually contemplated doing it. Thank God someone with some sense got to her before she did so. 

Rahab is spoken of very highly. She is a role model for all of us. Let us see why King David’s great-great grandmother is spoken of so highly in the New Testament—this Gentile who married into a Jewish family after coming to believe in the Jewish God and was one of the people who was in the lineage of David and in the pedigree of the Messiah Himself, bringing salvation to all of us.

Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there.

This was a smart move, really. Who would ever think of looking for a couple of nice Jewish boys in a whorehouse?

It was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. “It came about when it was time to shut the gate at dark…

(Shutting the gate, it is getting dark—these are eschatological nuances.)

…that the men went out; I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued them on the road to the Jordan to the fords; and as soon as those who were pursuing them had gone out, they shut the gate. Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. (Joshua 2:1-11) 

(This pagan woman came to believe in the true God.)

She Knew What She Was


Who is going to be saved? If we are here at the time, who is going to be raptured? Only people who know what they are. 

 

Nobody has to tell a prostitute she is a hooker. I was a cocaine addict in my teenage years; no one had to tell me I was strung out and dealing drugs. Nobody has to tell a pimp he is a pimp; people like that know what they are. The most difficult people to get saved, of course, are religious people. Nobody has ever gone to heaven because of religion, but many people—countless people, have gone to hell because of religion. 

Rahab knew what she was. All have sinned, all fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). If we do not know we are morally bankrupt and spiritually abject before a holy and perfect God, we cannot be saved. Unless we know that we are no good, we will not know how good He is; unless we know that we cannot save ourselves and desperately need Him to save us, we cannot get saved. Remember, the enemy gets more people into hell with religion than all the immorality, all the covetousness and all the substance abuse put together. She knew what she was.

She Knew Joshua Was Coming


She was not like Rick Warren who tells us to avoid end-time prophecy. Fortunately she listened to the Word of God; she did not read the “Purpose Driven Lie.” She knew Joshua was coming. 

 

Even unsaved people have a sense that human history is coming to some kind of apocalyptic, catastrophic end. The Late, Great Planet Earth was a superficial book doctrinally, but many people were saved through that book in the 1970s. Why? Because it did what Jesus said by preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom (Mt. 24:14); it used end-time prophecy to present the Gospel. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 3:2). John the Baptist preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. In Matthew’s Gospel, He spoke three times as much about hell as He did heaven. When we use end-time prophecy, Yeshua says the Gospel of the Kingdom must be preached. It is the same Gospel of salvation, but it is presented in a certain eschatological character; it is prophecy used to engage unsaved people. 

Why are they going to fortune tellers, the occult, horoscopes and all this garbage? They want to know the future. Well, we know the future. Use prophecy evangelistically. That is the only way to successfully evangelize a post-Christian, neo-pagan, post-modern world; not the Emergent garbage, not the Purpose Driven garbage, not the Rob Bell garbage—the Word of God. Do what Jesus said—use prophecy to engage unsaved people evangelistically.

She Knew God’s Divine Plan for Israel


Thirdly, Rahab did not pay attention to people like John Piper; she did not adhere to Replacement Theology. She knew God had a divine plan for Israel. She knew that God’s prophetic agenda depended on His prophetic agenda for Israel and the Jews. 

 

Israel is a litmus test. If somebody is right about Israel, it does not prove that they are right about other things; there are plenty of crazy people who understand that God has a prophetic purpose for Israel. We have people who lift up “Jewishness” instead of “Jesus-ness” in the Messianic Movement, putting Gentiles under the Law and all kind of craziness. There are people like John Hagee and International Christian Embassy (ICE) saying Jews do not have to be evangelized. If somebody is right about Israel, that does not prove that they are right about other things; it is not that kind of a litmus test. It is not a litmus test for orthodoxy, but it is, however, a litmus test for heterodoxy. 

I have never found a single preacher, author, or theologian who is wrong about Israel who is not wrong about other things. If they deny the prophetic significance for Israel and the Jews, we can bet our boots they have other seriously wrong doctrine. Being right about Israel does not prove they are kosher, but being wrong about Israel proves they are not kosher. Do not pay any attention to them as they have nothing to say that is worth listening to that cannot be obtained elsewhere. 

It is no wonder John Piper is pushing Rick Warren; he was never any good. How can an endorsement be given to someone who says we must unite with Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists to bring in global peace? How can one promote someone with an antichrist agenda unless they are out to lunch to begin with? No one does something so crazy overnight. It proves something was always wrong. If they are wrong about Israel, they are wrong about other things.

The Temporal Work of Redemption


Rahab knew the divine plan, she also knew the signs of the times, but she knew something else, that redemption was not only eternal, but temporal. When Jesus died, He did die to save us from hell, and he did die to bring us to heaven, but He also redeemed us to do something in this life and thisworld. It does not matter what she did or what she was, it does not matter what we did or what we were. 

 

Before I emigrated to Israel, my church in New York had a rescue mission to street people, homeless people, alcoholics, drug addicts and teenaged prostitutes; we would rescue them. I never met a prostitute who was not a professional liar. They lie to their clients to pretend they like them—all they see is green. They lie to their pimps about how much they made (or not), and above all they lie to themselves. One has to be a liar to be a prostitute. So look at what Rahab did. When the authorities came looking for the two Israelite spies, her human skills were redeemed and transformed to be used for God’s purpose. 

When Bibles were not legal in China, I used to smuggle them in. When Bibles were not legal in Vietnam, I used to smuggle Bibles from Bangkok, Thailand into Vietnam, and before that from Hong Kong into China. Why? Because before I met Jesus I used to smuggle hashish from Toronto into Amsterdam. 

It does not matter what we did, it does not matter what we are; it only matters if we have been redeemed. God redeems the whole person. It could be a professional skill in medicine or law, it could be something from the humanities like writing or music—it could be anything, even something sinister like a prostitute or a drug dealer from the East Side of Manhattan. It does not matter what we did; it only matters if we have been redeemed. Whatever it is, the Lord is going to crucify the whole person. He is going to take it to the cross, then He is going to raise it up and use it for His glory. 

That is the total meaning of “redemption.” Remember that in Matthew 25, the gifts are given in proportion to the talents. That was some talent to have, but God used it. Rahab understood redemption.

The Victory is Already Assured


“Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”

 

(As we see in the Exodus narrative, as we see in the Lot narrative, as we see in the Noah narrative, God is in the business of saving whole families.)

So the men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.” Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall.

(Sounds like Paul in Damascus, does it not?)

She said to them, “Go to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not happen upon you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way.” The men said to her, “We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household. It shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free; but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear.” She said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

(Notice that twice it is reiterated, “Do not betray us” (Josh. 2:17, 20), and twice it is reiterated, “Tie the scarlet cord” (Josh. 2:18, 21). It becomes emphatic when it is repeated.)

They departed and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had sought them all along the road, but had not found them. Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they related to him all that had happened to them. They said to Joshua, “Surely the LORD has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us.” (Joshua 2:12-24)

Notice how the war is won even before the battle is fought. In Christ, the victory is already assured; the outcome is fixed in eternity. Even Luther realized that truth before he went off his rocker. He composed, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”—“Christ Jesus is He and He must win the battle.” There is no other possibility. Yes, things are tough and they are going to get tougher, dark and getting darker, but do not worry, I read the end of the Book, and in the end, because of Jesus, we win. There is no other possible outcome. The only question is whose side we want to be on. If we turn away from Jericho and turn toward the God of Israel, He will bring us into His family, and bring us into His people, and bring us into the lineage of the Messiah the same as He did with Rahab. We either perish with the kingdom that is fading, or we become a patriarch or matriarch in the Kingdom that is coming.

She Desired the Salvation of Her Family


I suppose that because prostitutes see the dark side of human nature for what it really is, and they see the dark side of themselves for what they really are, they know the depravity and depths to which a person can sink. Perhaps that engenders strong family values. Despite what she was and what she did, she desperately desired the salvation of her family. 

 

After our own relationship with the Lord, there is nothing more important in our lives than the salvation of our loved ones. It is more important than our own biological lives. Rahab desired the salvation of her family, and God desires the salvation of our families. May they repent and believe.

She Switched Allegiances


Then she switched allegiances and joined the other side. 

 

Yes, things are getting very unpleasant for Christians in the world, and I speak in places where the Church is persecuted. I was just with the Hmong people in Vietnam. They are impoverished—and I mean really poor. They are persecuted, and for the most part they do not have any Bibles, yet their churches are growing! They have nothing to hope in, nothing to trust in except Jesus. Their only hope for a better life and better world is the coming one. Remember, it was Smyrna who was really rich (Rev.2:9), and it was Laodicea, although materially and financially rich, who was broke (Rev. 3:17). The Hmong people are Smyrna; we are Laodicea. 

Rahab desired the salvation of her family and she switched allegiances. Someone who has switched allegiances and become part of the invading army has no problem. It is like Kaddafi, who was deposed as dictator of Libya. Who wanted to fight for him? He couldn’t win. But it is specified, “Do not go out” (Josh. 2:19). Just as it was with Lot, it is an application of, “Forsake not the fellowshipping together, one with another, especially as you see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:25).

She Was Told Not to Go Out & Not to Betray


If we have a Bible-based church that is centered on Christ with decent leadership, we are very fortunate. But there are many Christians in America, Australia, Britain and elsewhere who do not have this. I find more and more people meeting in homes and small groups simply because they can no longer find a biblically-based church where they live. It does not matter if someone meets in a tent out in the middle of a field, they must be in fellowship. If people are out of fellowship with other believers, it is because they are out of fellowship with the Lord. If they are in prison for the faith in Saudi Arabia, that is something different; God will take care of them. But the norm?

 

He who separates himself seeks his own desire, He quarrels against all sound wisdom. (Proverbs 18:1) 

When we see people who are chronically out of fellowship with other believers, they are actually out of fellowship with the Lord. Some claim they do not go because the church is filled with hypocrites. Well then, they ought to fit right in. No matter what they say, they quarrel against all sound wisdom. They are really seeking the desire of their own nature. They say, “I don’t need the church, I have Jesus!” If that was true, they would want to be in fellowship with other believers. They are quarreling against all sound wisdom; they seek their own desire—they lack sense. People who are out of fellowship in the last days put themselves in a situation of tremendous peril. If we cannot stand together, we will never stand alone. “Do not go out!”

When people leave the church (I am not saying a given congregation, but out of fellowship) they are going to backslide if they have not done so already. And twice it is reiterated, “Do not betray.” What did Jesus say was going to happen? “Many will fall away and betray one another” (Mt. 24:10). This is happening already, but it is going to happen big time. 

Just to begin with, let me tell you who is going to betray us tomorrow: the ones who tune into the idiot box and listen to Benny, Kenny and Joyce today. Those listening to the money preachers and their false promise, “You don’t have to suffer! You’re a King’s Kid! God wants you rich! Blab-it-and-grab-it! Just confess the victory and you won’t suffer!” When opposition and trials come, they are going to be the first ones to fall away, these people who listen to those religious liars who have a lying spirit. These money-preaching televangelists are at the forefront of the false prophets Jesus warned would come to deceive the elect in the last days (Mt. 24:24). Do not pay attention to any of them.

She Hangs a Scarlet Cord


But there, finally, hanging in the window of the room where Rahab gathered together her family, the scarlet cord is found. And here we are, all together where the scarlet cord is. Our sins are like scarlet, but they shall be white as snow (Is. 1:18)—the blood of the paschal lamb. 

 

In the house where I live in England, near the suburbs of London, there is on the door a “mezuzah”—the way the Torah is put on the doorposts of a Jewish family’s house. Then there is a sticker on the garage, “Jehovah’s Witnesses Welcome Here.” (I have a great time when they come over, though I have reason to believe I have been put on their black list and they tell their people to avoid me now.) But there is a third thing I still have to get: I want to hang a scarlet cord in the window. I have the sticker, I have the mezuzah, but I must get a scarlet cord. We all need a scarlet cord. 

How did Rahab get rescued? Why was she saved? Why did God bless her and use her so much? Why did she become a matriarch and a role model of faith and faithfulness? How did she become memorialized for all time in the Word of God and an ancestor to Jesus the Messiah Himself? How did a Gentile prostitute reach this stature? She was not just a shiksa, but a hooker to boot! It is not how low we have been, but how high we can go in Christ. She knew what she was.

Conclusion


If you have never trusted Jesus for your salvation, it is quite simple. Believe me, you are not the only person who has sinned. But even if you were, you are so important to God and He loves you so much that He would have come and been nailed to that cross just for you alone personally. Jesus did not die just for all of us, He died for each of us; that is how important you are to God. The price has already been paid. You are either going to repent and ask Him to forgive you, or you will spend eternity wishing you did. 

 

Rahab knew what she was, that she was no good. In and of myself, I am no good, and I do not know who you are, but take my word for it, the Scriptures say you are no good. Once you realize that, we can get someplace. In other words, if you want to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire, a place prepared for Satan and his angels (Rev. 20:10; 21:8), you do not have to be an upstanding member of society, you do not have to be a priest, a rabbi or a liberal minister, you do not have to be a member of the professional or business community, you do not have to be an outstanding citizen to go to hell, but it helps. 

On the other hand, if you want to be saved, you do not have to be a hooker like Rahab, you do not have to be swindler or crook, a cocaine addict like me or a drunk, you do not have to be immoral, you do not have to be a fornicator, you do not have to be debauched or a gambler in order to go to heaven, but it helps because at least you know what you are. All have sinned, all fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Rahab knew what she was.

Rahab knew Joshua was coming, and, believe me, Joshua is coming! We can call Him “Joshua,” we can call Him “Yehoshua,” we can call Him “Yeshua,” we can call Him “Jesus,” but He is coming. She knew that His coming depended on God’s plan for Israel. Wise Christians still know that. She knew the signs of the time and we should know the signs of the time as well. 

Her redemption was not just eternal, it was temporal. Whatever we are, whatever our background, God wants to turn it around and use it for His purpose and our blessing in the salvation of others. He takes all of us to the cross and crucifies our good points as well as our bad. On the other hand, He saves all of us; He saves our good points and bad and uses it all for His purpose and redemption. 

Rahab desired the salvation of her family. Every day and every time we think of it, we need to be praying for the repentance and salvation of our loved ones. There is nothing more important than our own walk with the Lord.

Rahab switched allegiances. We cannot trust in this world and the world that is coming. We cannot trust in this fallen kingdom of Satan and the Kingdom that is coming soon to replace it. We have to make a decision—to which kingdom does our allegiance belong? 

“Do not go out!” Stay in fellowship with others who believe the truth. One way to think of a church that holds to the Word of God is a lifeboat on a Titanic that is sinking. Remember, this is not a social club for nice people; it is a rehab center for sinners. 

“Do not betray!” Many will fall away and betray one another (Mt. 24:10). Be wary of those who follow false doctrines; they cannot be trusted. They may be Christians, they may say they are born again, they may be nice people, but if they are believing false doctrines, following false teachers, do not trust them. 

But above all, get ahold of that scarlet cord and hang it in the window. Though our sins are like scarlet, in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, they shall be white as snow. God bless.

Staying the course amidst isolation

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).

Signs of the Times - Tony Pearce

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

Trumps visit with Xi

By David Passmore • May 25, 2026
Trump's Visit with Xi Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM The tempest path of Sino-U.S. tensions came to a head during Trump's first term in office with the outbreak of Covid. Many commentators believed that the deterioration in relations was in terminal decline and that a major confrontation in the straits of Taiwan was fast looming. Trump held China responsible for the spread of Covid, insisting that he would pursue reparations. The election of Biden halted this commitment. Biden sought a non-confrontational policy towards Beijing. In the aftermath of the disastrous premature withdrawal from Afghanistan handing that country over to the Taliban and the Russian invasion of Ukraine under his watch, Biden became too preoccupied to assertively engage with China. Chinese State media portrayed Trump's visit as being rather unremarkable in the context of other foreign dignitaries lining up to meet Xi, pointing out that just a week later Putin would arrive in Beijing. China manifests that it is winning the trade war that Trump began in 2018, beating America at its own game of capitalism. They frame the U.S. as being in a position of weakness because China is able to source whatever products they buy from the U.S. elsewhere like oil from Canada, and soybeans from Brazil. The oil, soybeans and 200 Boeing's Xi agreed to purchase from Trump were presented as a mere gesture to placate Trump as China has already bought 350 Air Buses in the last year. China would have the world believe that it is only semi-conductors where America has the edge. Here China hints that it is not likely to buy H200 Invidia Chips because it would mean that China will always lag behind the U.S. in building their AI tech. China's major contention and concern is that the U.S. may impose export controls to contain China. China's strategy instead is to invest massively on indigenous innovation. China wants to become an innovation powerhouse that will export its own Chips to the Global South. China is fast catching up with America's lead in AI with the launch of Deep Seek and they claim similar progress with Chip making. China is now ostensibly only eight months behind the U.S. on Large Language Models. Running contrary to this narrative Trump insists that China is desperate to trade with America. China's economy has now peaked. Emblematic of this stagnating growth is rising youth unemployment. China is no longer America's biggest trading partner. Trump has shifted manufacturing back to the U.S. and Trump believes that China can't revive its economy without America. Lined up to meet Xi with Trump were the heads of some of America's biggest Tech Corporations. Corporations like nvidia seek a relaxing of export controls for Chips as they want short term profits, ignoring the risk that China will reverse engineer this technology. More broadly, China and the U.S. are playing a geopolitical chess game spanning the globe. Trump outmaneuvered China in Latin America with the removal of Maduro from power in Venezuela. China is exploiting its influence on Iran in order to get Trump to refrain from taking more active steps towards the defense of Taiwan. Indeed, Trump didn't say anything about Taiwan during his visit. Trump's instincts are of a transactional approach towards alliances, where he is only willing to underwrite defense assistance if allies pay up as an insurer would. It is also important to note that saber rattling the Taiwan card also serves the CCP agenda to distract internal dissent concerning the state of the Chinese economy. Most imminently Trump needs China to pressure Iran to open the Straits of Hormuz and get oil prices down before the midterm elections. China has largely insulated itself from the Gulf energy impact due to stockpiles. Trump would also like China to stop providing Iran with GPS for its missiles. Other Chinese weapons systems and technology sold to Iran have failed to perform well against U.S. and Israeli military hardware. Matters boil down to a leverage between whatever Trump can do on Taiwan, China can do on the strait of Hormouz with Iran. Human Rights concerns, espionage and the alarming rate of Chinese acquisition of U.S. land have been placed on the back burner for the time being.  (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).

Prayer request for Phil Malone

By David Passmore • May 17, 2026
Moriel & Jacob Prasch request prayer for Phil Malone and family “Please keep me and my family in prayer. My mum passed away on 13th May at the age of 93. It's a time of mourning, but may it be a time for the Gospel of Christ to be preached to my unbelieving family, especially my brother.”

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

By Mea Fredrickson • May 13, 2026
Moriel & Jacob Prasch request prayer for Sister Joanne Rizzetto, wife of Pastor Dave Rizzetto of Church of The Open Door in New York City. Joanne has developed painful complications and adverse side effects from medications following knee surgery. May The Lord intervene for healing and give guidance to her physicians. Lord, we humbly ask you to intervene in the life of our dear sister. We know you can do all things and that you hear our prayers and consider your servants. Please put a stop to the adverse reaction. Restrain and reverse its effects and restore our sister so that she can continue to serve you in the ministry that you have called them to. We do glorify Your Name. We don't ask as those who treat you as our debtor, but as those who have tasted your goodness and found such mercy and compassion at your feet. Grace and peace and mercy be with Joanne and Pastor Dave.

Will Lebanon miss its golden opportunity?

By David Passmore • May 5, 2026
Will Lebanon miss its golden opportunity? Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Converging new facts on the ground have transformed the political landscape in Lebanon. With Assad removed from power in Syria, a vital lifeline of arms supplies for Hezbollah originating in Iran has diminished. Hezbollah suffered considerable losses in its last round of fighting with Israel. The decapitation of its leadership with the targeted pager attack inflicted a severe blow. Hezbollah's new leader Naim Qassem is a weak substitute for the charismatic Nasrallah who was assassinated by Israel in 2024. Hezbollah in its frail state foolishly fell into line with Iran's instruction to join the fighting against Israel following the recent American-Israeli war with Iran. This was contrary to the wishes of the Lebanese government which was fearful of the inevitable destruction that would be wreaked by the Israeli response. The differing attitudes to Israel amongst Lebanon's population is reflective of its ethnic composition. The predominant groups in order of plurality are Christians, Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims with a smaller minority of Druze. The major concern of most Christians in Lebanon is the dire state of their economy. They have no appetite to further their plight by invoking Israel's rage. During the colonial inter war period the French envisaged the demarcation between Lebanon and Syria as carving out enclaves for Christian and Druze control. Within Lebanon there would be a shared government that by convention would have the Executive power split between a Christian President, a Sunni Prime Minister and Shia Speaker of Parliament. The Christians in southern Lebanon (particularly Maronite Catholics) saw themselves as being anthropologically descendants of ancient Phoenicians as opposed to an Arab identity where the Arab Christians were largely Eastern Orthodox. The schism between the Maronites and the Arab Eastern Orthodox dates back to the time of the Crusades. The Maronites were culturally French, speaking French as their main language and held precedence in much of the Lebanese economy. The first threat to Lebanese stability and cohesion was settled by the U.S. Eisenhower administration in 1958 which landed Marines in an amphibious operation. A repeated attempt at this by the Reagan administration in 1983 ended in a military disaster for the U.S. due to suicide bombings by Iranian controlled terrorists. Israeli efforts to bring in stability during the Lebanese Civil War in conjunction with its Lebanese Christian allies led by Major Saad Haddad likewise came to calamity when the Sabra and Shatila revenge attacks took place following the assassination of Lebanese leader Bashir Gemayel. The ''Good Fence'' policy of an Israeli friendly free Lebanon zone in Southern Lebanon eventually ended badly following Menachem Begin's second incursion into Lebanon called ''Shalom HaGalil'' aimed at stopping the PLO rocket attacks on Israeli border communities like Metulla, Kiryat Shmona, Naharya, Rosh Hanikra, Tzfat and Carmiel. The proxy Israeli occupation from the Israeli border to the Litani river became an imbroglio that many in Israel viewed as Israel's Vietnam with widespread domestic protest and a collapse of morale within the IDF. Eventually Israel absorbed Christian war refugees from Lebanon, while the Vatican and most of the Christian world turned their backs on the Lebanese Christians. Lebanon was then saddled with two states within a state. The first was in the aftermath of Black September in 1970 when King Hussein of Jordan defended his Hashemite throne and government from Yasser Arafat's attempt to take over Jordan due to Jordan having a 70% Palestinian Arab demographic majority. The Jordanian legion drove tens of thousands of its pro Arafat Jordanian citizens into Lebanon, creating a population base for the first state within a state under Arafat. However the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and other factions had their niche interests. Courtesy of the Israeli Air Force Arafat relocated what he saw as his government in exile to Tunisia. This was a missed opportunity by the Lebanese government to assert its autonomy and full territorial control by making a Camp David type peace with Israel inclusive of economic and mutual security provisions. Instead an Iranian backed Syrian intervention replaced Arafat's state within a state with a new one that morphed into Hezbollah. The fall of the Assad regime and the Israeli counter-offensive against Hezbollah re-presents Lebanon with the opportunity that it once lost. The predominantly Christian controlled Lebanese military could and should operationally coordinate with the IDF, to obliterate and remove Hezbollah as the Israelis relieved Lebanon of Arafat's state within a state. Such a rapprochement would likely have strong American and possibly French and British support, allowing Lebanon to be at a non-combative peace with Israel along the lines of Egypt and Jordan, and now some of the Emirates. The natural comradery of the Lebanese Druze community with the Israeli Druze and the pro-Israeli Druze of Syria would additionally re-enforce a regional harmony, as would the Maronite Christian community in Israel with their co-coreligionists in Lebanon.  (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).

Pastor John Angliss

By David Passmore • May 5, 2026
PASTOR JOHN ANGLISS It is with profound sadness that we learned of the temporary separation from our friend and brother Pastor John Angliss. We look forward to being reunited with John in the millennial reign of Christ and indeed in God's Eternal Kingdom. Jacob Prasch visited John a few weeks ago in the UK while John was in hospice care having been diagnosed preterminal in his illness. While medically correct, it was of course a misdiagnosis. John is now cancer free and is alive and well in the presence of Jesus awaiting us in glory while his mortal body is being renewed for resurrection and immortality. In the meanwhile, during this temporary season of bereavement we do request prayer for his beloved wife Mary and for his congregation, The Ark Fellowship in England near Reading, England. Because he has recently arrived in the USA and is scheduled to address the Moriel Canada branch conference in Winnipeg, Jacob Prasch will regrettably not be able to attend the memorial service in Britain. Our condolences however are very much with Mary and our brethren in the UK who like us knew and loved Pastor Angliss. John was one of a minority of faithful voices who upheld a traditional biblically based Pentecostalism in the era of counterfeit revivals and apostasy that overtook most of British Pentecostalism. John was a faithful friend of Israel & The Jews standing on the prophetic purposes of God for Israel and the salvation of the Jews. John was a loyal friend to Moriel and Jacob Prasch and a colleague of David Pawson and Derek Prince, both of whom likewise stood by God's promises to Israel. John was also a founding leader of CMFI - the Christian Ministerial Fellowship International, former pastor of Three Mile Cross fellowship , and former board member of Focus On Israel (a Pentecostal Ministry to the Jews). While this separation is temporary, John's eternal gain will be our temporary loss. O GRAVE - WHERE IS THEY VICTORY, O DEATH WHERE IS THY STING ? Hosea 13:14 / 1 Corinthians 15: 55-57

We made it this far: Israel at 78

By David Passmore • April 28, 2026
We made it this far: Israel at 78 Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Since the last anniversary milestone of Israel at 75, we have been embroiled in relentless wars. Citizens had little respite to enjoy this year's festivities, coming on the heels of a lull in fighting on the Iranian and Lebanese fronts. We are constantly waiting for a breakthrough on the horizon that will normalize our relations with our neighbors and secure our position on the world stage. It is acutely exhausting to be the focus of the world's attention. But also there is a sense of inevitability accompanying the Zionist project. Specifically that Israel is destined to be central in the wider region and global affairs. Why is this? Is it due to it being a western transplant? Being geographically positioned on the crossroads of three continents? Religious believers would point to prophetic fulfillment. It is short sighted to only look at how our problems are rooted in today’s' reality. Greater forces are at work that will dictate the direction that Israel is heading. The Jewish diaspora will likely find itself in a growing precarious position that will lead to increasing Aliyah (immigration to Israel) and will perhaps ferment the emergence of a second Jewish commonwealth that will not need to heed international pressure in the same way that todays' polity finds itself doing. In this light it is interesting to ponder how our posterity would view our predicament and gains. And I frame matters in these terms with intentionality. We are enmeshed in a seemingly intractable conflict with the Palestinians, and yet Israel has made great gains particularly in the technological fields. There is a current of thinking that perceives Israel's way out of its quagmire is by making itself indispensable to technological advancements. We don't know how tomorrows' world will be shaped by the rapidly advancing AI revolution but so far Israel has proven to be uniquely adaptable and innovative to technological change. This has proved to be a boon to Israel's economy, as have offshore natural gas discoveries being developed in concert with Greece, Greek Cypriot and American energy interests that are geographically and strategically removed from any Straits of Hormuz shipping impediments that strangle the Persian Gulf deposits shared by Qatar and Iran. On another note we should contextualize the situation. How different are Israel's challenges from other nations? Is Israel any less stable than other countries (particularly in the region)? Israel doesn't find itself uniquely challenged to define its identity (most European countries do also, particularly in light of immigration). Nor does the government experience any more volatility than other comparable democracies. Israel's real problems lay in the nature of how its Jewish citizens desire to govern themselves. It is arguable whether the judicial reform protests that occupied public discourse in pre-October 7th Israel would have led to serious civil strife. But it is without doubt that this impasse was allayed by the external attack. The underlying tensions remain unresolved and there are many ways that they could play out. It has been framed as a battle for Israel's soul. Israel's enemies predict that Zionism is imploding and that the State won't survive another 5-10 years. Supporting this claim, they point to Israel's increasing alienation and growing pariah status on the international stage. Our Prime Minister has been indicted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Even public opinion in our staunchest ally the U.S. has turned sharply against Israel. With 80% of the Democratic Party being anti-Israel in a growing climate of anti-semitism we have even witnessed the shift of Alan Dershowitz to the Republican Party which must be seen as emblematic of a trend. There is apprehension in Israel of a post-Trump America dominated by the Democrats. However, these seeming incontrovertible facts may be offset by other measures of fortitude. This may be partially countered by the high investment by Silicon Valley in the Israeli Hi-tech sector, making Israel an asset for purposes of Research and Development in America's AI race against China. New opportunities for economic relations have also been opened with Arab nations through the Abraham Accords and with the powerhouse India. Furthermore, it is difficult to imagine a world in which Israel's technological prowess will not carry the sway of western decision makers in the long run. Israel's 78th anniversary is a moment to take pause and not catastrophize what the future may behold. The entire world is currently in a state of transformation and Israel is not an outlier in this context.  (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).

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

By David Passmore • April 23, 2026
Please click this link:https://mailchi.mp/christianconcern.com/action-alert-street-preaching-22-04-26?e=f1df30be3f

A critical juncture in NATO's future

By David Passmore • April 14, 2026
A critical juncture in NATO'S future Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM NATO was originally established in 1949 to keep the Russian hordes at bay from toppling those European countries not forked over to the Soviet sphere of influence at the Potsdam conference. Europe lay in ruins. Britain had passed on the torch of global hegemony to the U.S. by tacitly acquiescing to the decolonization of its Empire when Churchill and Roosevelt agreed terms of the Atlantic Charter for the post-war new world order in 1941. So from its start NATO was very much an American driven endeavor. American money with the Marshall plan was propping up western European economies and its military might was forming the bulk of their defensive capabilities. The lopsided nature of this dynamic has informed how tensions have persisted and recently erupted in the Alliance. During the Cold War the U.S. felt obligated to shoulder the costs of underwriting Europe's security in light of the broader interests to keep the Soviet's in check. Following the fall of the Iron Curtain European complacency became a sticking point with the 'peace dividend' further exploiting American largesse. European NATO allies spent ever smaller percentages of their GDP on defense expenditure at U.S. expense. Now in a multi-polar world U.S. and European perceived threats are less aligned. This was first tested in the aftermath of September 11th when for the first time NATO elected to trigger its article 5 collective defense protocol. And since then the U.S. has sought to continue to expand the traditional theatre of operations beyond Europe's borders. No longer is Russia perceived by America as being a proximate existential threat to its interests, but rather containing Chinese expansion in the Pacific arena. Parallel to NATO a discrete 'five eyes' intelligence sharing alliance comprising the Anglo-sphere (the U.S., U.K., Canada and New Zealand) emerged. This stands at the center of the U.S. – U.K. 'special relationship'. A relevant question would be can this signals intelligence (NSA-GCHQ) partnership persist should the U.S. withdraw from NATO? Conventional thinking would have led one to believe that with Brexit the U.K. would naturally pivot towards closer U.S. relations but under Starmer the U.K. is distancing itself. European powers misrepresent the present conflict as an aggressive, rather than defensive U.S. adventure while they themselves are more likely to be at risk. In this the Starmer government resembles the Labor party led committee for nuclear disarmament in the 1980's. It opposed the Thatcher supported deployment of U.S. cruise missiles in response to the Soviet SS20's pointed at Britain's cities. The British left branded their response to Soviet strategic escalation to U.S. aggression. This time however there is for the moment no Thatcher to bring common sense into an equation dominated by emotionally driven ideologies in the face of an aggressor with definite aims. In terms of the Russian-Ukraine conflict we are reverting to the old question dating back to the Napoleonic war era: to what extent is London happy with the European nations fighting it out alone for dominance of the continent. Britain was never willing to accept a single power in control. Many variables will dictate what kind of world emerges from the current conflicts in Ukraine and Iran. How will power be extracted from potential gains? What will be the strategic impact of this? What is sure, in the age of Trump this pattern of reliance on U.S. muscle is becoming quickly exhausted. Dating back to the Roman Empire, a factor in the decline of major powers has always been astronomical military spending, a budgetary demand that the U.S. under Trump is no longer willing to shoulder alone. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).