This Generation - Afrikaans

April 1, 2025

Hierdie Geslag!

Mat. 24:34‐: “Voorwaar Ek sê vir julle, hierdie geslag sal sekerlik nie verbygaan voordat al hierdie dinge gebeur het nie.”

Hierdie vers en die woorde: “Hierdie Geslag” uit die Olyfberg rede het al tot baie spekulasies, misverstande, profetiese uitlatings en voorspellings aanleiding gegee wat nie gewerk het nie.

Die word aangeneem uit die verhaal van die Eksodus dat die geslag wat in die woestyn omgekom het veertig jaar geduur het, dit sou beteken dat ‘n Bybelse geslag dan veertig jaar moet wees.

Hierdie idee was deur Hal Lindsey in sy groot verkoopstuk “The Late Great Planet Earth,” uitgedra waar hy gespekuleer het dat iets apokalipties in ‘n veertig jaar siklus vanaf die geboorte van Israel moet gebeur.

Die Gees van Waarheid en die gees van dwaling

Daar is twee weergawes van die foutiewe verklaring van die woord “hierdie geslag”? Die eerste gaan oor ‘n beweging met hulle Post Millennialisme siening en hulle moderne volgelinge, die Koninkryk Nou en die Oorwinnaars bewegings (Die dwaling dat die Kerk die wêreld moet oorwin voordat Christus kom om Sy Koninkryk op te rig, Christus sal kom vir ‘n triomferende kerk.) Dit is egter ‘n direkte teenoorgestelde wat die Woord van die Here leer. Jesus kom nie VIR ‘n triomferende kerk nie maar MET ‘n triomferende kerk, ‘n Kerk wat weg geraap is. Dit is die SAAD van die vrou wat die slang se kop verbrysel en nie die vrou, die Kerk nie. Romeine 16:20: “En die [God van vrede] sal die Satan spoedig onder julle voete verbrysel.?” Dit is die Wederkoms van Jesus wat die finale oorwinning ‘n finale oorwinning maak.

Post? Millennialiste vergeet dat die vroeë Apostoliese kerk voor die Raad van Nicia byna almal pre millennialiste was. Daar was ketters soos Soirthis, wat ‘n pre millennium volger was, maar daar is geen indikasie dat die apostoliese kerk geglo het aan enigiets anders as dat daar ‘n letterlike Millennium regering van die Here Jesus sal wees nie.

Nadat Konstantyn die Romeinse Ryk verchristen het en die kerk deur Augustinus van Hippo geplatoniseer is om die sogenaamde verchristening van die Roomse Ryk te akkomodeer, het hulle ‘n nuwe Eskatologie nodig gehad; ‘n nuwe leer basis om die Laaste Dae te verklaar. Terwyl Jesus gesê het dat Sy Koninkryk nie van hierdie wêreld is nie het die “Christendom” gesê o’ ja dit is! Dit is die oorsprong en die basis van die dwase denkrigting van die post millennialisme.

Inderdaad sal die sagmoediges die aarde beërwe, maar as daar nie ‘n aarde is nie hoe sal hulle dit beërwe? En vir die idee dat die kerk die aarde gaan oorneem, en dat Satan alreeds vir ‘n duisend jaar gebind is, moet daar gevra word: Wanneer het die duisend jaar van vrede dan begin?

Diegene wat Augustinus volg glo nie aan die Y2K nie maar aan Y1K? die dwaling dat Christus sou teruggekeer het aan die einde van die eerste Millennium. Met die aanbreek van 999 n.C. het mense begin om hulle grond, geld en kastele, ens. aan die Pous en die kerk te gee. Ons weet egter dat Jesus nie in 999 n.C. onder Pous Sylvester gekom het nie, en niemand het hulle geld terug gekry nie! Dieselfde mense, soos Gary North in Amerika, het begin om die idee van Y2K aan te blaas met wilde dwase spekulasies oor die wederkoms van Christus. Daar was mense soos Brae in Amerika, en ander wat probeer het om te beweer dat die gebeure van die Olyfberg rede totaal in vervulling gekom het in 70 n.C. met die verwoesting van Jerusalem.

Hulle het beweer dat “ Hierdie geslag” moet diegene insluit wat in die lewe was toe Christus op die aarde was en wat die vernietiging van die Tempel gesien het. Dit sou ongeveer 40 jaar later gewees het wat hulle sou gepas het. Maar in vers 21 sê Jesus dat daar ‘n Verdrukking sal wees wat van die fondasie van die wêreld af nie sal wees nie en ook nie weer sal wees nie.

Daar was ander verdrukkinge vir beide die Jode en die kerk wat baie swaarder was as dit wat in 70 n.C gebeur het toe die Romeine die tempel verwoes het, so het hierdie verklaring deur die toets van die geskiedenis gefaal. By dit alles is die Olyfberg rede nie net Mat. 24 nie maar Mat. 24 en 25. In 70 n.C. het Jesus nie die bokke van die skape geskei nie ook het die Here nie aan die mense hulle ewige beloning gegee wat gebaseer word op dit wat hulle met hulle talente gedoen het nie.

Wat seker is? is dat die dinge wat in 70 n.C. gebeur het ‘n voorspel, ‘n skaduwee was van dinge wat in die laaste dae gaan gebeur daarom is dit belangrik om dit te bestudeer.

In 70 n.C. was die kerk uit Jerusalem gered onder die leierskap van Simeon, ‘n neef van Jesus wat Pastoor was van Jerusalem nadat die Apostel Jakobus gemartel was. Hulle het gevlug na ‘n plek met die naam van Pella wat ook ‘n tipe was van die wegraping, net soos wat dit gebeur het op Pinksterdag is dit ‘n voorbeeld wat in die laaste dae gaan gebeur. Maar nie dit wat Joel gesê het en dit wat ons lees in Handelinge 2, ook nie dit wat ons lees in Mat. 24:29 het in 70 n.C. gebeur nie: ??“die son verduister word, en die maan sal sy glans nie gee nie??” dit het net gedeeltelik in vervulling gekom. Daar was ook nie ‘n unieke Groot Verdrukking voor of na 70 n.C. nie, dit is dinge wat nog gaan kom wat gebaseer is op die gebeure van 70 n.C. met die uiteindelike vervulling met die Wederkoms van Jesus.

Die gelykenis van die vyeboom en die ander bome

Die ander misverstand met betrekking tot “hierdie geslag” is die pre? millennialiste wat besef dat dit ook ‘n toekomstige betekenis het en hulle gebruik dit om datums te bepaal. Hulle glo met reg dat daar ‘n toekomstige vervulling van die Olyfberg rede gaan wees, dat daar ‘n Antichris sal wees, ‘n terugkeer van die Jode na Israel, en ‘n toekomstige 1000 jaar regering van Jesus op die aarde.

Hulle neem die gelykenis van die Vyeboom in Mat. 24:32?34 “??? Wanneer sy tak al sag word en sy blare uitbot, weet julle dat die somer naby is. So weet julle ook, wanneer julle ál hierdie dinge sien, dat dit naby is, voor die deur. Voorwaar Ek sê vir julle, hierdie geslag sal sekerlik nie verbygaan voordat al hierdie dinge gebeur het nie.” En hulle gebruik die veertig jaar konsep in die Eksodus vir ‘n geslag as basis en die feit dat Israel in Mei 1948 weer ‘n volk geword het en dan bereken hulle: 1948 na ‘58 na ‘68 na ‘78 na 1988 en kom tot die gevolgtrekking van ‘n datum vir die Wederkoms. ‘n Persoon met die naam van Edgar Whisenant het ‘n boek geskryf: “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Could Be in 1988.”

In 1987 op Yom Kippur, die Joodse dag van Ootmoediging was daar ‘n Baptiste fundamentalis prediker van Amerika wat op Speakers Corner in Londen gestaan het en vir Moslems vertel het dat hy binne 48 uur weg sal wees, en natuurlik was hy na die datum nog daar, hy het ‘n openbare gek van homself gemaak en vernederd die land verlaat. Maar die volgende jaar het dieselfde man weer na vore gekom met nog ‘n datum, hy het gesê: “Dit was nie in 1987 nie maar 1988” Hierdie mense was nie hierdie hiper charismate nie, hulle was fundamentele Baptiste! Hulle het gekke van hulleself gemaak deur om datums vir die Wederkoms te bepaal wat nie gewerk het nie en daarmee het hulle ook ‘n bespotting van Bybelse Profesie gemaak.

Baie mense verstaan dat die hergeboorte van Israel die Vyeboom is wat begin bot, maar is dit?

Daar is geen twyfel dat die terugkeer van die Jode na die nasie Israel ‘n profetiese merkwaardigheid is nie; die verhoog word opgestel vir die Groot Verdrukking ? ha tekufot tsorat Yacov – soos wat Jeremia die profeet sê: “? 'n tyd van benoudheid vir Jakob? (Jer. 30:7) Daar is geen twyfel dat Israel deur die Antichris mislei gaan word nie. Daar is ook geen twyfel dat Israel weer terug gekeer het vir wat Daniël sê die 70 ste Week nie, daar is geen twyfel dat hierdie dinge besig is om te gebeur nie. Maar is hierdie dinge die enigste betekenis van die vyeboom? Het hierdie beeldspraak dalk ‘n ander betekenis?

Wanneer die Heilige Gees ons ’n meervoudige weergawe gee van dinge dan moet ons dit deeglik ondersoek, biddend en ons moet alles bestudeer in die lig van vergelyking van al die weergawes.

In hierdie geval het ons nie net Mat. 24 en 25 nie maar ook Lukas 17, 21 en Mark 13. Jesus het nie gesê: “Wanneer julle die vyeboom sien”? punt? nie! Hy wys vir ons: Leer die gelykenis van die

vyeboom EN die ander bome, nie net die vyeboom nie. Die gelykenis van die vyeboom en die ander bome kom van uit Boek Rigters 8?9.

Die seuns van Gideon, 70 van hulle, was deur Abimeleg uitgewis en net Jotam, wat die gelykenis van die vyeboom en die ander bome geken het? het die bedrieër herken.

“Toe sê al die bome vir die steekdoring: Kom jy, wees koning oor ons!” (Rigt. 9:14) Die Steekdoring wou omdat die olyfboom dit nie wou doen nie omdat die wingerdstok dit nie wou doen nie. Aan die einde maak die ongeloof en ontrouheid van God se mense die ‘n pad oop vir die bewind van die Antichris. Dit is die uiteindelike betekenis van die vyeboom.

In Judaïsme is die vyeboom ‘n metafoor van die boom van die lewe ? Eytz Hayim? dit wat ons sien in ‘n millennium konteks van Esegiël 47 en die skeppings verhaal in Genesis, en dit wat ons sien in die einde van die Boek Openbaring. “En die blare van die boom is vir die genesing van die nasies.” In die Bybel is vyeblare ‘n metafoor vir goeie werke. Ongeredde mense sal altyd probeer om hulleself te regverdig deur hulle goeie werke.

Elke “godsdiens” is vasgestel op ‘n werke gebaseerde regverdigheid. Die regverdigheid van die Evangelie is nie gebaseer op werke nie, Christene doen nie goeie werke om gered te word nie, hulle doen goeie werke omdat hulle gered is.

Daar is meer aan die vyeboom as die nasie van Israel maar die hoof aspek van Israel met betrekking tot die Vyeboom is dat Jesus die vyeboom vervloek het. Hoekom? Omdat hy blare gehad het maar nie vrugte nie. Israel het die werke maar nie die vrugte van die Heilige Gees nie.

Die blare verskyn gewoonlik dieselfde tyd as die vrugte. In die Midde Ooste sal die son die vrugte verbrand as die blare hulle nie beskerm nie. Geloof sonder die werke is dood. Maar dit was nie die seisoen vir vye toe Jesus gekom het nie! Die Seun van die Mens kom op ‘n tyd dat niemand dit verwag nie.

Maar die dag en die uur weet niemand nie

Jy kan nie die Wederkoms van die Here bereken op die basis van ‘n geslag van 40 jaar nie, ook kan jy nie die dag bepaal op die basis van die hergeboorte van Israel nie. Ons kan ook nie spekuleer dat dit net Jerusalem beteken nie en begin bereken vanaf die tyd dat die nasies nie meer Jerusalem sal vertrap nie. In 1967 het die Jode beheer gehad oor die Tempelberg, dus vanaf 67?77, na 87 na 97? dus sal dit in 2007 wees en sal Jesus terug wees omdat Jerusalem nie meer deur die Nasies vertrap is nie.

Maar Jesus het gesê totdat die tye van die nasies vervul is, maar Jerusalem is nog steeds onder die voete van die Heidene. Die Israeli Generaal Moshe Dayan het ‘n eensydige beheer oor die Tempelberg aan die Moslems gegee. Die Moskee van Omar, met ‘n opskrif uit die Koran wat sê:

“God het nie ‘n Seun nie”? is op die Tempelberg, net so die Moskee van Al?Aqsa. Dit is nog steeds onder die voete van die Heidene, die tye van die nasie is besig om uit te loop? maar dit is nog nie verby nie.

Na hulle Soort

Dit is nooit wys om te spekuleer oor die Wederkoms van Christus nie en die korrekte verklaring oor “hierdie geslag” het komplikasies. Ons het die Hebreeuse woord Dor en Min?Dor la Dor? “van geslag tot geslag.” Dor is ‘n biologiese geslag; Min is? “van ’n soort” soos verwys na die Boek Genesis.

God het die spesies na hulle soorte geskape? let op die onmoontlikheid van Darwinisme.

Daar is absoluut geen bewyse dat ‘n hersaamgestelde DNS oor die genus grens in die natuurlike omgewing verander nie, en nou dat die Mens begin het om betrokke te raak in biogenetiese ingenieurswese en die oordrag van DNS oor die genus grens? loop ons die gevaar om monsters te ontwikkel. Dinge kan baie maklik verkeerd loop en alle dinge wat die gevalle mens vir boosheid kan gebruik? sal hy gebruik!

Kan kernkrag energie vir ‘n goeie doel gebruik word? Ja, maar die gevalle mens sal dit ook vir verkeerde dinge gebruik, dieselfde met biogenetiese ingenieurswese. Die wêreld is in die hande van die Bose.

As hulle spesies kan kloon of nuwes kan uitvind gebaseer op verkillende DNS vermengings dan kan ons nie langer seker wees dat die monsters waarvan ons lees in Openbaring net simbole is nie maar ook ‘n werklikheid! God het hulle gemaak na hulle soort of? “Min” in die Hebreeuse Teks, en nie basters nie.

Daar is nou rotte wat al 1% menslike breins het as gevolg van biogenetiese veranderinge. Kan u dink wat gaan rotte doen met ‘n menslike denke? Die teoretiese moontlikhede kan nie buite rekening gelaat word nie. Min is ‘n soort van en is ook die wortel van die Hebreeuse term vir seks en seksuele reproduksie? minee. Maar, geslag? dor? is ‘n heel ander Hebreeuse woord. Die probleem kom wanneer ons hierdie Hebreeuse term in Grieks weergee.

Die woord gennao in Grieks is baie naby aan min. Jesus is die monogenes? “die eniggeborene.”

Gennao beteken “begotten? eniggebore.” Dit is ook die wortel van die woord Genesis. Maar die woord wat in Mat. 24 gebruik word is genne[ a ] en nie genna[ o ] nie. Die konteks en sy aansluitings bepaal wat dit beteken.

Daar kan twee moontlike betekenisse wees. Dink aan die Engelse woord “blue.” Dink aan ‘n blou beker, dit is duidelik hy is blou, dit verwys na die kleur. Maar “blue” in Engels is ook ‘n metafoor om sleg te voel. Daar is ook ‘n soort musiek wat deur die swart Amerikaners uitgevind is naamlik die “Blues.” Rhythm & Blues is ook ‘n soort Joodse musiek, dit is beide opgewek en ook terneergedruk.

Wat beteken blue dan? Is dit ‘n kleur of is dit ‘n metafoor vir om sleg te voel? Wel, die omstandighede sal dit verklaar. So is dit in die geval van gennea. Gennea kan byna ‘n sinoniem wees vir gennao, wat van die selfde soort beteken omdat dit betrekking het op die gemeenskaplike afstamming. Om gebore te word uit dieselfde oorsprong kan byna ‘n sinoniem wees vir gennao, of dit kan ‘n bestek van tyd beteken of dit kan ‘n metafoor soos “blue” wees.

Byvoorbeeld: Daar is ‘n vliegtuig wat 747 genoem word. Hulle word al vanaf 1960 gemonteer.

Die volgende generasie (geslag) sal die 787 wees, ‘n vliegtuig wat aanmekaar vanaf Rio de Janeiro na Tokyo kan vlieg, dit is die volgende generasie. (geslag) As ons ‘n 747 neem wat in 1968 gemonteer is en 20 jaar terug geskroot is, en ons neem een wat in 1995 gemonteer is en wat nog vlieg, dan is hulle nog steeds van dieselfde generasie / geslag, hulle is van “dieselfde soort.” Dit is die 787’s wat die volgende generasie / geslag is. Op dieselfde manier kan die betekenis van gennea vasgestel word, deur die woord verband.

In Mat. 24:34 beteken dit “van ‘n soort” omdat ons ‘n geslag van Jesus is. Hy is die monogenes? die Eniggeborene van die Vader? en die Kerk is saamgestel deur hulle wat wedergebore is. Ons is gebore in ‘n geestelike opset, ons is gebore uit dieselfde soort, wedergebore uit die Gees, en ons is van dieselfde soort. Wat Mat. 24 vir ons sê is dat die Kerk nie sal nie verbygaan nie, diegene van hierdie soort wat uit Jesus gebore is sal nie verbygaan totdat al hierdie dinge gebeur het nie.

Hierdie gebeure sal hulleself herhaal maar op ‘n baie groter skaal as dit wat in 70 n.C. gebeur het.

Dit is wat die pre millennialiste nog altyd geglo het, maar die post millennialiste kan dit nie begryp nie.

Die oordele oor Egipte en die gebeure wat plaasgevind het in die Boek Eksodus is ‘n beeld van wat met die hele planeet in die Laaste Dae gaan gebeur. Dit is ‘n herhaling, maar dit beteken nie ‘n geslag van veertig jaar nie.

Wie het ons Boodskap geglo?

Hierdie dinge het tot groot verwarring aanleiding gegee wat veroorsaak het dat Christene, ware gelowiges geminag is. Hulle het geëindig waar die seun geëindig het wat wolf, wolf uitgeroep het, in hierdie fabel het hy so baie wolf? wolf uitgeroep dat toe die wolf regtig daar was het

niemand hom geglo nie. Netso sal Satan as hy nie mense kan mislei nie, sal hy hulle in dinge soos die Y2K of die wegraping in 1982 / 1993 laat deel neem. Hoe meer Satan valse alarms kan uitstuur hoe meer sal mense dit nie glo wanneer die ware alarms begin weerklank nie.

Hierdie dinge word nie noodwendig deur mense met verkeerde motiewe gedoen nie, maar deur Christene wat graag die regte dinge wil doen. Maar in plaas daarvan om die regte klanke uit te stuur blaas hulle ‘n valse basuin soos wat Paulus in Korinte waarsku en wanneer dit kom by die ware basuine gaan niemand luister nie.

Ons het nou gekom by ‘n punt waar onmoontlike dinge begin gebeur. In ons moderne media aangedrewe samelewing kyk die wêreld vandag na Hollywood inplaas van na die Kerk. Daar is flieks soos die “End of Days” met Arnold Schwarzenegger, mense kry hulle eskatologie daarvan!

Mense sal dink: “Wel dit kan nie die Antichris wees nie.” “Dit kan nie van ‘n profetiese belang wees nie; die prent was nie so nie.” Moet nie dink dat mense nie so sal reageer nie, daar is baie mense wat so gaan dink.

Wat erger is as die wêreld wat na Hollywood kyk, is dat wedergebore Evangeliese Christene hierdie dinge omhels soos die onbybelse film: “The Passion of the Christ.” Hierdie prent was deur ‘n man gemaak wat ‘n self erkende tradisionele Katoliek is, wat erken het dat die prent nie net op die Evangelies gebaseer is nie maar ook op die openbaringe van ‘n Rooms Katolieke mistieke vrou Anne Catherine Emmerich. In hierdie prent dryf Mel Gibson met sy eie hande die spykers deur die metacarpus van Jesus inplaas van die radius, wat natuurlik inpas by die RKK superstisie van die stigmata.

Mel glo ook nie dat dit nodig is om in Jesus Christus te glo vir redding nie. (Dit is heel duidelik dat hy nog nooit tot redding en bekering gekom nie.) In sy onderhoud met Diane Sawyer, Maandag, die 18 de Februarie 2004 was dit soos volg: Diane: “ Toe ons met Gibson en sy akteurs gepraat het? het ons gewonder, sou dit beteken dat met sy (Gibson) se tradisionele siening, dat die deur na die Hemel geslote is vir Jode, Protestante, Moslems?

Mel Gibson: ??“Dit is glad en geheel nie die geval nie. Dit is moontlik vir mense wat nie eens Christene is nie om in die Koninkryk van die Hemel in te gaan, dit is net makliker? ek moet dit sê want dit is wat ek glo.”

Diane Sawyer:?? “Ons het ‘n geen stop kaartjie?”

Mel Gibson:???“Wel, ja, ek sê dit is ‘n makliker rit van waar ek is en ek moet dit glo.”

In Augustus 2004 was daar deur ‘n Australiaanse koerant man ondersoek gedoen na wat se impak die film “The Passion” op Mel se lewe gehad het, hy het gesê: “Ek het nou baie meer geld as wat ek ooit gehad het en ek het nie nou meer nodig om sulke vrae te antwoord nie.” Met

ander woorde hy het die fliek gemaak om geld te maak? ‘n Bybelse en historiese onakkurate film. Die Evangelie sê: ? “want as julle nie glo dat dit Ek is nie, sal julle in jul sondes sterwe.” (Joh. 8:24) As iemand nie wedergebore is nie kan hy nie in die Koninkryk van Hemel ingaan nie.

By dit alles sê “wedergebore” Evangliese predikers dat hierdie prent baie goeie Evangelisasie materiaal is? As die Kerk na Hollywood toe gaan vir haar Evangelie hoekom sal ongeredde mense nie Hollywood hardloop vir hulle eskatologie nie?

Wanneer die ware dinge begin gebeur, wie gaan dit glo? Die tekens van die tye en wêreld gebeure toon duidelik dat Christus se Wederkoms baie naby is. Afval en misleiding in die kerk is ‘n baie duidelike teken. Dit is merkwaardig hoe vinnig die ekumeniese beweging, gelei deur agente van Lucifer soos Chuck Colson, wedergebore Christene se voete onder hulle uit geslaan het met die idee dat die Roomse kerk Bybels is.

My moeder se familie is Katoliek, maar jy moet wedergebore wees; redding is nie deur sakramente nie, nie deur ‘n ex opera operato ritueel nie. Om vir die dooies te bid is die sonde van towery, transubstansiasie is kannibalisme en afgodery. Die Apostels het die drink of eet van bloed verbied, maar as geredde Christene nie deur ‘n Chuck Colson kan sien nie, wat gaan gebeur as die ware misleiding kom? As geredde Christene nie deur hierdie valse akteurs en geld predikers, mammon aanbidders wat hebsug ‘n deugsaamheid noem, op die TV kan sien nie, wat gaan hulle doen wanneer die ware vervalser kom?

Die Hebreeuse profete vertel vir ons dat een van die dinge wat ons in die Laaste Dae moet doen is om die basuin na ons mond toe bring, soos wat ons lees In Joel 2: Blaas die basuin op Sion, blaas die basuin op my heilige berg.

In hierdie boodskap se historiese opset het dit te doen met die inval van Nebukadnezar, die Babiloniese leër, die sprinkane is ‘n beeld van die Babiloniese inval. In Openbaring 9 sien ons ook die demoniese leërmag van die Antichris. In die Vineyard beweging en hulle denominasies soos die Holy Trinity Brompton in London? spring hulle rond en sing:

“They run on the city, they run on the walls, great is the army who carries His Word.” Hulle sing oor die Babiloniese leërmag van Satan en die Antichris en hulle dink hulle sing oor hulleself? Die Kerk triomfeer!? Uitvindsels van mense onder die inspirasie van Satan.

Want ons is almal ook deur een Gees gedoop tot een liggaam

Dit is waar, hierdie geslag sal nie verbygaan totdat al hierdie dinge gebeur het nie. Wel hierdie dinge is besig om te gebeur. Ons is hierdie geslag, wat beteken dit?

Beteken dit dat dit ‘n waarborg is dat jy in die lewe sal wees wanneer Jesus kom? Nee, miskien kan jy, miskien ek ook, miskien ook nie? maar dit sal diegene wees wat uit God gebore is, hulle wat wedergebore is, die gennao? wat van “die soort is,” dit is hulle wat hier sal wees wanneer dit gaan gebeur wanneer Hy kom, en Hy kom!

As Hy nie gou gaan kom nie sou Satan nie so vasberade gewees het om so intensief misleiding te versprei nie, en wat van al die vele valse leraars en profete in hierdie geslag?

Daar is geen Bybelse logika vir wederkoms datums in die jaar 2000 of in die jaar 1000 of in 1988 nie. Netso om te beweer dat Jesus se Wederkoms in die Jaar 2007 moet wees.

Ware Christene moet hierdie dwalende spekulasies oorlaat aan kultus leiers soos die JW’s, wat dit verdien om gekke in die openbaar van hulleself te maak deur die bepalings van datums.

Die enigste ding wat ons verseker kan weet is dat Hy verseker binnekort gaan kom!

Maranata? kom gou Here Jesus! †††



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
Please click this link:https://mailchi.mp/christianconcern.com/action-alert-street-preaching-22-04-26?e=f1df30be3f
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).