Who Are the Jews - Afrikaans

April 1, 2025

Wie is die Jode?

Daar is vandag ‘n groot misverstand in die kerk met betrekking tot die ware identiteit van die Jode.

Wie is die fisiese afstammelinge van die twaalf stamme van Israel en waar pas die kerk in hierdie opset? Het God Israel verewig vergeet ten gunste van die Heidense kerk? Is die sekulêre burgers van die moderne Israel God se uitverkore mense? Dit is maar ‘n paar vrae wat deur Christene gevra word wanneer daar oor Israel gepraat word.

Kom ons ondersoek die probleem deur te kyk na twee Skrif gedeeltes wat deel oor die tye van die nasies. Een is in Romeine 11:25 waar Paulus daarmee deel uit ‘n redding aspek wanneer hy sê: Die tye van die Nasies kom tot ‘n einde.” Jesus deel daarmee uit ‘n nasionale profetiese aspek wanneer Hy in Lukas 21:24 sê:

“—en Jerusalem sal vertrap word deur die nasies totdat die tye van die nasies vervul is.”

God se doelwit vir die Jode is gedeeltelik en tydelik uitgestel alhoewel daar altyd individuele Jode is wat glo. Dit het nie net eendag geëindig nie. God het nie gesê: “Dit is nou genoeg? Ek gaan na die Heidene.” Dit begin in Handelinge 10 toe die eerste Heidene in die huis van Cornelius tot die geloof gekom het, dan is daar die bediening van Paulus.

Dit was progressief, dit was nie net eendag nog die Jode en daarna die Heidene nie — daar was ‘n oorgang periode en so sal dit wees wanneer die tye van die nasies tot ‘n einde kom, daar is ‘n oorgang periode wanneer God Sy genade weer van die Heidene na die Jode gaan draai.

Jesaja profeteer die wederkoms van die Messias en die vroeë kerk was almal pre millennium. Die Nuwe Testament profeteer die wederkoms van Christus in ‘n tyd wanneer God weer Sy genade oor Israel gaan herstel.

Israel se verharding was gedeeltelik en tydelik, God het vir Israel gesê: “Ek het jou geroep maar jy het My verbond gebreek, toe het Ek vir jou Jeremia gestuur maar julle het hom in die tronk gegooi. Ek het vir jou Jesaja gestuur maar julle het hom middeldeur gesaag, Ek het vir jou predikers van geregtigheid gestuur wat herlewing gebring het, Ek het vir jou koning Josia en Hiskia gestuur, Ek het vir julle Esra en Nehemia gestuur maar julle het hierdie herlewings vergeet. Julle het my verbond gebreek en nou het julle My Seun die Messias verwerp, Ek gaan na die Heidene.” Paulus sê vir ons dat daar ‘n tyd gaan kom wanneer die skoen aan die ander voet gaan kom. So het ons dan die Heidene en die Jode. Maar wie is die Jode?

In Genesis 12 is daar die vyf beloftes aan Abraham en dan het ons Paulus se beskrywing in Romeine 2:28?29 van wie ‘n ware Jood is. Paulus gebruik ‘n woordespel hier:

“Want nie hy is 'n Jood wat dit in die openbaar is nie, en nie dít is besnydenis wat dit in die openbaar in die vlees is nie; maar hy is 'n Jood wat dit in die verborgene is, en besnydenis is dié van die hart, in die gees, nie na die letter nie. Sy lof is nie uit mense nie, maar uit God.”

Die woord “Lof” is die sleutelwoord, dit is ‘n woordespel. Die woord “Jood” kom van die stam van Juda – Yehudah, sy wortel beteken om “God te loof”. Paulus sê sy lof is nie van ‘n mens nie, ‘n woordespel van wat ‘n “Jood” beteken: ‘n Lofpryser van God uit die stam van Juda.

Die Heidene Herdefinieer “Jood”

Die alledaagse definisie van wat ons vandag Jood noem het grootliks ontstaan by die Babiloniese ballingskap. Oorspronklik was hulle Israeliete genoem. Nou is dit interessant dat die term Jood eerstens op al die afstammelinge van Abraham, Isak en Jakob van toepassing was, hoofsaaklik deur Heidene en nie Jode self nie. Ons sien dit in die Evangelies. In Markus 15:32 word Jesus deur die Jode Koning van “Israel” genoem, maar in dieselfde hoofstuk in vers 2 word Jesus deur die Romeine die Koning van die “Jode” genoem.

Vir die Jode was dit “Israeliete.” Die idee van die populêre term “Jood” was iets wat grootliks gedurende en na die Babiloniese ballingskap ontwikkel het. Volgens 2 Konings 16 het ons die geografiese definisie van die inwoners van die Suidelike koninkryk van Judea. Die enigste wat ‘n Jood was? was die afstammelinge van die Judeërs wat teruggekeer het van die Babiloniese ballingskap. Oorspronklik was hulle “Israeliete” genoem wat van die Hebreërs af kom. 2

‘n “Israeliet” was ‘n afstammeling van Jakob, mense wat met God geworstel het? dinge met betrekking tot die Joodse karakter, die Joodse mense wat met God worstel. Jakob het met die Engel van die Here geworstel. Die rabbi’s noem dit die “Metatrone.” Ons weet dit is ‘n Ou Testamentiese manifestasie van Christus.

Nou, onthou, Jakob het die hele nag met die Engel van die Here geworstel totdat hy Sy gesig gesien het. In Bybelse tipologie is “Nag” die mees algemene metafoor vir die Groot Verdrukking. “Wagter, wagter hoe ver is die nag? Kom Hy in die tweede nagwaak of die derde? Hy kom soos ‘n dief in die nag. Werk terwyl dit dag is, die nag sal kom wanneer geen mens sal werk nie.” Jakob het met die Engel tot die einde van die nag geworstel. Ongelowige Israel gaan deur die hele verdrukking en dan sal hulle Jesus aan die einde van die verdrukking herken. Wanneer jy “Jakob” in die Bybel sien dan is dit etnies spesifiek tot die Jode. Hulle worstel met God. Maar voordat hulle ‘n nasie geword het, na die Eksodus, was hulle geken as “Hebreërs.”

Die Nuwe Testament ontwikkel dit verder, hier is ‘n Jood ‘n afstammeling van die Suidelike Israeliete, dit is van die Judeërs wat terug gekeer het van Babiloniese ballingskap deur die Hasmoniese periode na die Makkabeërs. In die Evangelie van Johannes egter stel hy dit uit ‘n spesifieke oogpunt. Hy gebruik die term “Jood” in ‘n unieke wyse in teenstelling met die ander Evangelies en dit het al aanleiding gegee tot groot misverstande en anti Semitiese denkes onder Christene, maar dit is nie die geval as ons die konteks reg verstaan nie. Ons het ‘n vertaling probleem van die woord “iudeos”. Johannes gebruik

hoofsaaklik die term “Jood” behalwe in Johannes 4 waar hy Jood gebruik as om te beteken? “‘n lid van die godsdienstige instelling” wat oorheers was deur die Sanhedrin wat in en om Jerusalem gewoon het.

Wanneer jy ‘n beskrywing sien soos: “as gevolg van die Jode” of “enige van die gelowige Jode” dan beteken dit hulle was almal Joods. Wat dit beteken is dat diegene wat partydig was vir die godsdienstige instellings, gewoonlik die Fariseërs? somtyds ook van ander sektes, maar almal was onder die oorheersing van Sanhedrin. Die Briewe en Handelinge gebruik die meer algemene term “Jood” in ‘n meer algemene wyse. Iemand wat nie Heidens is nie; iemand wat nie ‘n “gear” is nie; of iemand wat nie ‘n Samaritaan is nie.

Judaïsme.

Daar is drie hoof tipes van Judaïsme: Mosaik, Talmoedies en Isralie Juridies. Twee is geldig? een is nie. Die eerste? Mosaise Judaïsme waarvan ons lees in die Pentateug, die eerste Vyf Boeke van die Tenaag? die Ou Testament. Dit was ‘n Judaïsme wat nie bestaan het tot en met 70n.C. nie. Die Profeet Daniël sê dat die Messias moes kom en sterf voor die vernietiging van die tweede Tempel. Volgens die Mishna (volg Sanherin 96b) moes wie ook al die Messias was kom en sterf voor die vernietiging van die tweede Tempel. Wat ‘n feit is, is dat daar mense is wat Jesaja 53 as ‘n verbode hoofstuk beskou. Die Talmoed sê daar is ‘n vloek in Daniël 9 vir iemand wat dit lees. Hoekom? Die tyd van die koms van die Messias word hier beskryf. Die Messias moes kom en sterf. Baie Joodse mense worstel met die vraag: “As Jesus die Messias was, hoekom is daar nog steeds oorloë? Hulle verstaan nie. Daniël sê wanneer die Messias moes kom en sterf en oorloë en verwoesting sal wees tot die einde. Jesus bring ‘n wêreldwye vrede met Sy Tweede Koms.

In Judaïsme het ons twee beelde van die Messias: Mashiach ben?Yoseph en Mashiach ben?David – Die Seun van Josef en die Seun van Dawid. Met Jesus se Eerste koms het Hy gekom in die karakter van Josef, die een wat deur sy Joodse broers verraai is en in die hande van die heidene verkoop is. Sy broers het Hom nie met die eerste koms herken nie— hulle herken Hom wel met die tweede koms. En hulle het bitterlik saam met Josef geween en so sal dit weer wees met die Seun van Josef. Met Sy tweede koms is Jesus die Seun van Dawid wat die Messiaanse Koninkryk gaan oprig. Ja, Jesus sal vrede bring maar met sy eerste koms het Hy redding gebring. En so het ons Mosaïese Judaïsme, die Judaïsme van Moses wat nie bestaan het vanaf 70 n.C. nie.

Niemand wat die Bybel lees sal tot van die gevolgtrekkinge kom wat vandag voorkom nie. Daar is duisende mense wat tot wedergeboorte gekom deur net die lees van die Nuwe Testament. Niemand wat die Nuwe Testament lees sal ooit ‘n Jehova se Getuienis, ‘n Mormoon of ‘n Roomse Katoliek word nie. 3

En geen Jood wat die Tora lees sal glo dat Talmoediese Judaïsme die Judaïsme van Moses en die profete is nie, (In Hebreeus Moshe Rabeinu) Die woord “rabbi” word nie eers in Tenaag gevind nie. Dit is die tweede Judaïsme – dit is Talmoedies en dit was ingestel deur Rabbi Moshe Yochanan Ben ZaKai by die raad van Yavne in 90 n.C. Hy was Paulus se klasmaat uit die skool van Gamaliël en deel van die dieselfde groep rabbi’s wat deur Gamaliël opgelei was, die kleinseun van Rabbi Hillel van die Farisese skool van Hillel.

Dit is ‘n verhaal van twee rabbi’s, hulle was klasmaats: Rabbi Saul van Tarsus en Rabbi Ben ZaKai. Met die vernietiging van die tempel in 70 n.C.was Rabbi Yochanan Ben ZaKai in ‘n kis uit Jerusalem gesmokkel waarna hy ‘n raad saamgeroep het waar die Hebreeuse Kanon? die Ou Testament saamgestel was. Hy het gesê: Wel inplaas van ‘n tempel het ons nou ‘n sinagoge en inplaas van ‘n hoë priester het ons nou ‘n rabbi en in plaas van offers sal ons meer Mitsvot—goeie werke hê. Elke Jood sal een van hierdie klasmaats volg, of Yochanan Ben ZaKai wat geen versekering van saligheid het nie? of Rabbi Saul van Tarsus wat seker is van sy saligheid as gevolg van Yeshua wat sy Messias is.

Talmoediese Judaïsme is nie die Judaïsme van Moses en die profete nie, dit is ‘n mengsel, dieselfde soos in die geval van nominale Christene. Dit kom in verskeie vorms? Hassidiese (Kabalistiese gelowiges in Joodse Mistieke) Ortodoks, konserwatief en dan die Liberale Hervormers wat basies Humaniste is, ‘n godsdiens wat meer te doen het met kultuur en etiek as met ware geloof? dit is Talmoediese Judaïsme.

Dan is daar die derde soort Judaïsme? ook geldig, dit is wat Paulus en die Apostels onderhou het. Dit die Judaïsme wat sê dat Jesus die Messias is wat die Tora vervul het? Messiaanse Judaïsme. Maar in die Messiaanse beweging van die dag is daar die goeie, die slegte en die lelike.

Kom ons praat oor ‘n definisie van status wat ‘n Jood nie is nie. Paulus skrywe in Romeine 2:28?29:

“Want nie hy is 'n Jood wat dit in die openbaar is nie, en nie dít is besnydenis wat dit in die openbaar in die vlees is nie; maar hy is 'n Jood wat dit in die verborgene is, en besnydenis is dié van die hart, in die gees, nie na die letter nie. Sy lof is nie uit mense nie, maar uit God.”

Wat ons hier sien is geestelike en nie volgens die letter nie. Nou, hy is ‘n Jood wat dit in die verborgene, in sy hart is.

‘n Misvertaling van hierdie twee verse is een van die dinge wat vuur in die vervangings teologie geblaas het. “O’ ons is Jode in die verborgenheid, ons is aan ons harte besny.” Maar as jy ‘n brief ontvang kan jy nie ‘n uittreksel uit die brief neem en dit in isolasie van die ander inligting van die brief lees nie. Romeine is ‘n brief en hierdie vertolking is direk in teenstelling van dit wat jy verder in die brief lees, net in hoofstuk 11, en Paulus skryf onder die inspirasie van die Heilige Gees? Ruach Ha Kodesh, en daar word onderskeiding gemaak tussen die natuurlike en die ingeënte takke.

In Jeremia 31:31 lees ons:

“Ek sal ‘n Nuwe Verbond sluit (letterlik sny) met die huis van Israel en die huis van Juda, nie soos die verbond wat Ek met julle vader gesluit het nie.”

Hierdie verbond is nie met die kerk gesluit nie, Jesus het nooit ‘n verbond met die Kerk gesluit nie, Hy het ‘n verbond met Israel en die Jode gesluit. As God klaar is met die Jode dan is Hy ook klaar met ons. Gelukkig is die verbond nie afhanklik van die getrouheid van mense nie maar van God. God het van die

begin af geweet dat Sy mense ontrou sou wees en enige iets wat ek kan sê oor die ontrouheid van Israel kan ek ook oor die ontrouheid van ‘n teruggevalle Kerk sê.

Dit is waar dat Heidene? nie?Jode wat glo? die Jode vervang wat nie glo nie. Gelowige Heidene vervang die Jode wat afgekap is van hulle eie boom, maar dit is nie ‘n nuwe boom nie, dit is dieselfde boom. Ons sien nie die wortel nie maar as daardie wortel dood is dan is die boom ook dood, as God klaar is met Israel dan is Hy ook outomaties klaar met die kerk.

Wat van die tien verlore stamme van die noorde?

Die Skrifte vertel vir ons wat met hulle gebeur het. Die getroue mense van die Noordelike Koninkryk van Israel het in die dae van Koning Asa na die suide gekom terwyl hulle stam identiteit behoue gebly het.

Dit is waarom die brief van Jakobus gerig word aan die twaalf stamme. Anna? in die verhaal van die Geboorte in die Boek Lukas was uit die stam van Aser. 4

Die Mishnah in die 3de en 4de eeu gee vir ons verskillende verslae van mense se stam identiteite en volgens die Skrifte was hulle nooit verlore nie, van hulle het met Assirieërs getrou en die Samaritane geword. Ander weer het in die Assiriese Ryk ingeweef en die Joodse bevolking van sentraal Asië geword, of hulle is dood eenvoudig net opgeneem.

Romeine 2:28?29: sê vir ons:

“Want nie hy is 'n Jood wat dit in die openbaar is nie, besnydenis is dié van die hart.

Jeremia 9: 25?26 gebruik die term: Diegene wat besny is maar nie besny is nie. Hy sê van hulle:

“?? daar kom dae, spreek die HERE, dat Ek besoeking sal doen oor almal wat besny is, wat nogtans onbesnede is: oor Egipte en Juda en Edom??”

Let op hy plaas Juda tussen die Heidense nasies. Hoekom? As Jode hulle soos Heidene gedra dan is hulle nie beter as die Heidene nie, jy het jou Joodse erflating verwerp. Joodse mense wat hulle Messias verwerp het? het ook hulle Joodse erflating verwerp. Maar soos wat Paulus duidelik sê? hulle kan weer aan hulle eie boom ingeënt word.

God kan Jode maklik weer laat glo omdat Hy alreeds iets baie meer moeiliker gedoen het, Hy het Eskimos, Venezuelane, Sjinese, Europieërs laat glo in ‘n Joodse God. As God alle nasies in die vervulling van Jesaja 11:1 kan neem, die goyim sal kom na die wortel van Jesse; as Hy nie?Jode tot die geloof van hierdie veragte klein volkie kan bring, hoe maklik kan Hy nie Jode laat glo aan hulle eie Messias nie?

Besnydenis is ‘n metafoor vir bekering. Wat is die status van nie?Jode wat weergebore gelowiges is? Ons lees daarvan in Jesaja 56:3 en Efesiërs 2:12. Jesaja sê vir ons:

“En laat die uitlander wat hom by die HERE aangesluit het, nie spreek en sê: Die HERE sal my gewis afskei van sy volk nie; en laat die ontmande nie sê: Kyk, ek is 'n droë boom nie.”

God sal jou nie afskei van die Joodse mense as jy jou geloof in die Joodse Messias gestel het nie. Onthou, Abraham is die vader van almal wat glo, dit is omdat hy ‘n heiden was wat ‘n Jood geword het deur bekering. Etnies was Abraham beide ‘n Jood en ‘n Heiden, dit is hoekom hy die vader is van almal wat glo. Dit is waarom ons Heidene in die geslagsregister van Jesus sien? Hy het die Redder geword van almal wat glo. In Efesiërs 2:11?13 gebruik Paulus ‘n politiese term in die Griekse taal vir burgerskap.

“Daarom, onthou dat julle wat vroeër heidene in die vlees was en onbesnedenes genoem word deur die sogenaamde besnydenis wat in die vlees met hande verrig word, dat julle in dié tyd sonder Christus was, vervreemd van die burgerskap van Israel en vreemdelinge ten aansien van die verbonde van die belofte, sonder hoop en sonder God in die wêreld. Maar nou in Christus Jesus het julle wat vroeër ver was, naby gekom deur die bloed van Christus.”

Heidene is deur die geloof ingeënt in Jesus en deur aanneming en aartsvaderlike insluiting. By aanneming word die vader wettiglik die baba se vader en die moeder wettiglik die moeder. En met dit volgens die Skrifte beteken dit ook voorvaderlike insluiting. In 1 Kor. 10 skryf Paulus hoofsaaklik vir die Heidense kerk: “Ons vaders was almal onder die wolk en almal het deur die see gegaan??” Deur geloof in die saad van Abraham het Abraham die vader van almal geword en dit maak nie saak wat se ras jy is nie.

Tweedens, deur bekering, ‘n verandering van geloof. Daar is twee soorte bekering. Wanneer ‘n Boeddhis tot redding kom dan is hy nie meer ‘n Boeddhis nie, wanneer ‘n Hindu tot bekering kom dan hou hy op om ‘n Hindu te wees, en wanneer ‘n Jood tot redding kom dan is daar ‘n ander woord wat gebruik word vir bekering – dit is teshuva. Hy draai van sonde na God en sy Joodse identiteit word volbring. Heidene kom tot bekering, Jode word volbring? teshuva.

Ons sien dit soos in ‘n geval waar ‘n swart Afrikaan baba van heidense afkoms deur ‘n Poolse Christelike familie aangeneem word. Hy word ‘n Pool deur ‘n wettiglike aanneming en hy is verander tot die Christendom. Maar dan word hy groot en trou met ‘n Poolse meisie, hy word Pools deur ‘n huwelik verbintenis en hy leer om Pools te praat en hy word ‘n pool deur kultuur, maar hy is nog steeds swart. So is dit wanneer ‘n nie?Jood ‘n gelowige in Jesus word.

Deur aartsvaderlike insluiting word hy nie ‘n Jood nie maar ‘n seun deur aanneming? deur bekering? Godsdienstige bekering. Of hy word ‘n seun deur ‘n huwelikse verbintenis omdat Christus die bruidegom is van ‘n oorheersende Heidense kerk. 5

In 1 Korinte 9 lees ons van ‘n kultuur aanpassing, wanneer Heidene Nagmaal gebruik dan herdenk hulle die natuurlike opvolger en betekenis van die Pasga, dit is die status van ‘n Heidense Christen. Dink aan hierdie verhongerde kind uit Afrika wat deur ‘n Europiese familie aangeneem is, met alle goeie bedoelings, wettiglik, huweliks of kulturele redes het hy soos ‘n Pool geword, maar hy is nog steeds en bly ‘n swart Afrikaan, hy behou sy identiteit, maar hy is net so goed as enige ander Pool. Mense is net so lief vir hom as vir enige ander Pool.

Dit neem nie minder liefde om ‘n kind aan te neem as om een te verwek nie. Hy het dieselfde wetlike regte, dieselfde wetlike status.

Dan is daar die wetlike definisie. Die eerste is die Israelse wet van terugkeer. Die vader van die Sionistiese Beweging het vir dekades lank hieroor geargumenteer. Ben Gurion het gesê: “ Laat ons vyande besluit wie ‘n Jood is.” Dit is wat hulle gedoen het. Omrede die Nazi’s gesê het dat as jy een Joodse groot ouer gehad het dan gaan jy na ‘n konsentrasie kamp. Die Israelse regering het gesê as jy een Joodse groot ouer gehad het dan het jy die reg om Aliya te maak en om na Israel te immigreer, dit was die oorspronklike wet van terugkeer.

Tweedens was daar die Hilachic standpunt in die Joodse godsdienstige wet. Volgens Hilachic kon dit deur huwelikse afkoms wees. As jou moeder Joods was of as jy ‘n Hilachic bekering tot Judaïsme gehad het, met ander woorde— die besnydenis, dan het jy ‘n aartsvaderlike insluiting ontvang as jou moeder Joods was.

Derdens was daar die Israeliese Rabbynse definisie van ‘n Joodse status wat dieselfde is as die Hilachic, uitgeslote die dryfsand van Israeliese politiek wat dinge erg kompliseer.

Van die ongeveer 55 nasies van die wêreld wat demokrasië is — is daar net een waar ‘n Jood nie godsdienstige vryheid het nie, en dit is Israel. Dit is die Israelse Rabbynse definisie van ‘n Joodse status. Hulle sê jy moet aanvaarbaar wees volgens die Shulchan Aruch, ‘n kodifisering van die Mitsvot deur Rabbi Yosef Karo van eeue gelede, en as jy nie die Shulcan Aruch aanvaar het nie dan is jy offisiël nie ‘n Jood nie. Dit het ‘n dilemma veroorsaak vir swart Afrikaanse Jode, die Falashe, dit het ‘n dilemma veroorsaak vir Jode wat van Indië af gekom het, ‘n Yehudin; en dit was ook ‘n dilemma vir enige Jood wat nie ortodoks was nie. ‘n Anti? Sionistiese Rabbi het nie ‘n probleem om ‘n rabbi te wees nie maar ‘n hervormde of liberale Rabbi kon nie ‘n lissensie kry nie. Weereens, ons praat oor hoe mense godsdiens vryheid van Jode weerhou het; ek stem saam dit was ‘n historiese tragedie, ‘n oneer, maar Israel weerhou vryheid van godsdiens vir Jode, en nog meer vir die Messiaanse Jode. Dit bring ons by die Israelse Wetlike posisie.

Verskeie jare gelede het hulle besluit dat ’n Jood nie ‘n Jood is as hy hom tot ‘n ander geloof bekeer het nie, vernaamlik as jy “mikve?brit” ontvang het, die water doop, al was dit ‘n politieke georiënteerde besluit.

Nou, as jy na hierdie vier wetlike definisies kyk wat bepaal wie ‘n Jood is in terme van ‘n wetlike status dan is dit duidelik dat daar geen konsensus bestaan nie. Daar is geen wetlike en geen godsdienstige konsensus nie. Hulle maak willekeurige besluite wat gebaseer word op politieke belange om ‘n Joodse identiteit te bepaal.

Skriftuurlike klassifikasies.

Maar wat sê die Skrifte? Die Tenaag, die Ou Testament is hoofsaaklik vaderlik maar met ‘n moederlike geslagsregister in Kronieke, en dan is daar die verhaal van Rut. Dit is baie belangrik. Ortodokse rabbi’s sal ‘n poging aanwend om die Messiasskap van Jesus en die belangrikheid van Nuwe Testament te diskrediteer op die basis van stambome. Maar wat hulle nie vertel nie is dat die Rabbynse literatuur self (Sanhedrin 25C) vir ons sê dat Lukas se stamboom deur Maria is.

“O’ ja, maar die Joodse identiteit moet deur die vader wees!”

Die rabbi’s sê dit moet deur die moeder wees. Die rabbi’s weerspreek hulleself, maar in Kronieke en Rut is daar ‘n voorbeeld van moederlike geslagregisters. Die Nuwe Testament is egter meer vry, dit kan vaderlik of moederlik wees. 6

Paulus het Timótheüs besny, onthou die besnydenis was nie oorspronklik deel van die Wet van Moses nie, dit was lank voor dit aan Abraham gegee. Besnydenis? brit?mila, het die gee van die Wet op die berg Sinia voorafgegaan.

As God ‘n groot nasie wou gehad het om Sy boodskappers van redding te kon wees, as God Sy Woord en Sy genade aan ‘n groot nasie wou gegee het kon Hy Babilon gekies het, of Assirië of die Grieke van die ou wêreld, of die slim besigheid mense, die Phoenisiane.

Ons moet onthou dat in die tyd van Dawid en Salomo toe Israel op sy kruin was, was hulle nie ‘n super moondheid nie, en Israel sal ook nie ‘n super moondheid wees tot en met die Millennium van Christus nie. Hoekom het God so klein volkie gekies? Dieselfde rede waarom Hy ons gekies het. Hoekom is dit makliker vir ‘n arm persoon om tot redding te kom as ‘n welgestelde persoon? Hoekom is dit makliker vir ‘n ongeleerde persoon om tot bekering te kom as ‘n geleerde? Sodat niemand kan roem nie. Minder grond vir trots, minder grond vir “Kyk na my.” Sodat ons kan weet dat ons niks meer is as onverdiende sondaars van onverdiende genade. Dit is hoekom God my gekies het.

Moet nie die natuur van uitverkiesing misverstaan nie, dit is nie vir status nie, dit is vir diens. Tweedens, voorregte kom met verantwoordelikhede. Seëninge het altyd ‘n teenvoeter. Romeine 1:16:

“—die evangelie is 'n krag van God tot redding vir elkeen wat glo,?”

Vir die Jood eerste, dit is waar, maar net so die nagevolge vir die verwerping daarvan, dit is beskikbaar vir die Jood eerste? dit is reg. Aan hulle behoort die Godspraak, die Nuwe Testament sê so. Redding is beskikbaar vir die Jode maar ook die resultaat vir die verwerping van die genade. Hoekom die ondersoek, die gasoonde, volksmoord? Hoekom anti Semitisme? Hoekom in hulle eie land, die Jode het geen vrede nie? Lees Levitikus 26, Deut. 28, en lees Deut. 18:18:

“Ek sal ‘n Profeet soos Moses vir julle opwek??”

Luister na Hom? die Messias. Ja, redding is beskikbaar vir die Jood eerste maar so ook die gevolge van die verwerping daarvan. ‘n Gelowige Heiden word ingeënt aan die boom; ‘n ongelowige Jood word afgesny van sy eie boom, wat ‘n tragedie!

Katolieke net soos Hervormde protestante het die kinderdoop in die plek van besnydenis geplaas, dit was ‘n nasionale verbond, die staatskerk. Mense het gedink hulle is in verhouding met God eenvoudig as gevolg van dat hulle gebore is in ‘n familie wat besny is. Dit is direk in teenstelling wat dit veronderstel was om te beteken? dit is nie volgens die Verbond wat met die vaders gesluit was nie.

Die Verandering.

Jeremia sê dit sal so wees wanneer die Messias kom.

Toe Johannes die Doper gekom het, en hier gebruik ons Joodse Midrasj om dit te verklaar? het hy gesê dat God Abraham se kinders uit die klippe kon verwek. Onthou wat het Jesus op Palm Sondag gesê met verwysing na die boustene van die Tempel. Wat Hy in Joodse metafoor gesê het was dat as julle My nie aanneem nie dan sal die klippe uitroep, as julle My nie aanneem en My nie erken as die Mashiach nie sal die Heidene dit doen? die klippe sal uitroep. 1 Petrus 2:5 verklaar:

“—ons is die boustene van die tempel.”

So, wat maak die tye waarin ons leef verskillend van die ander tye in die geskiedenis toe gelowiges gedink het dit is die Laaste Dae?

Dit was nie die eerste keer dat die gebeure in die Midde Ooste die middelpunt van die wêreld gebeure was nie. Ek glo dat wat nou in die Midde Ooste gebeur profeties belangrik is, maar dit is nie die eerste keer wat dit gebeur nie.

Die Plymouth Broeders het gedink Napoleon was die Antichris. Gelowiges in Engeland het gedink Mussolini was die Antichris. Gelowiges in Engeland het gedink Napoleon was die Antichris omdat hy die Midde Ooste ingeval het en probeer het om die Romeinse Ryk te her?konfedereer. Hy het ‘n kroon op sy kop gesit en homself Keiser gemaak. Hulle het gedink hy was die Antichris. 7

In die eerste eeu het die Messiaanse Jode gedink dit is die einde van die wêreld en toe hulle onder leiding van Simeon, die neef van Jesus uit Jerusalem ontvlug het? het hulle gedink dit is die einde van die wêreld, hulle het gedink die wegraping het plaasgevind.

Toe die vulkaan in die berg Vesuvius uitgebars het en die vulkaniese as in die atmosfeer die son en maan verduister het en die tempel vernietig was het hulle gedink Nero is ‘n Antichris figuur. Die Roomse Keisers het mense genommer, hulle het mense se koppe getel om finansiële beheer te verkry. Mense het gedink dit was die einde. Hoekom is hierdie tyd anders?

Daar is ongeveer sewe hoof tye en ten minste nie minder as ‘n dosyn ander belangrike tye waar Christene gedink het dit is die Laaste Dae. Wat maak ons tye verskillend van hierdie tye in die geskiedenis toe ware geredde wedergebore Christene gedink het dit is die Laaste Dae? Wat was toe weg wat vandag nie weg is nie?

My Israelitiese seun Eli was ‘n honderd jaar gelede weg, my vriend Kev was vyf honderd jaar gelede weg; my broer Larry was ‘n duisend jaar gelede weg; my broer Dawid was duisend vyf honderd jaar gelede weg, maar hulle is nie nou weg nie.

Die tye van die Nasies kom tot ‘n einde. Vyftien jaar gelede het die Amerikaanse kollege van Rabbi’s ‘n verklaring uitgereik wat sê dat meer Jode in die laaste agtien jaar in hulle Messias begin glo het as in die laaste agtien eeue. Dit was vyftien jaar gelede. Ons gaan ‘n tyd bereik wanneer hele sinagoges Jesus se

Messiaskap gaan aanvaar. Ek het vriende wat rabbi’s is? ortodokse rabbi’s wat tot redding en die geloof gekom het.

Wat het God vir Israel gesê toe die tye van die nasies begin het? “Vir eeue het Ek het My hande uitgestrek na julle o’ Israel, Ek het by julle gepleit om My verbond te hou, om voor te berei vir My Messias, maar julle het gerebelleer. Ek het vir julle Jeremia gestuur maar julle het hom in die tronk gegooi. Ek het vir julle Jesaja gestuur maar julle het hom middeldeur gesaag. Ek het die een na die ander profeet gestuur maar julle het hom tussen die voorportaal en die altaar gestenig. Ek het vir julle My boodskappers gestuur, predikers van geregtigheid? Israel, maar julle het hulle verwerp. Ek vir julle mense gestuur wat herlewing gebring het; Ek het Hiskia en Josia, Esra en Nehemia gestuur, maar julle het hierdie herlewings vergeet. Ten laaste het julle My Seun verwerp? nou gaan Ek na die Heidene.”

Maar nou kom die tye van die nasies tot ‘n einde. “Ek roep jou Heidense kerk; Ek roep julle Engels sprekende nasies; Ek roep julle Protestante demokrasieë; Ek roep jou Amerika; Ek roep jou Brittanje; Ek het vir jou My verbond gegee. Ek het vir julle John Bunyan gestuur maar julle het hom in die tronk gegooi. Ek het vir julle William Tyndale gestuur maar julle het hom op ‘n brandstapel gebrand. Ek het vir julle John Hus gestuur maar julle het hom ook verbrand. Ek het vir julle predikers van geregtigheid gestuur wat herlewing in Amerika gebring het; Ek het vir julle Jonathan Edwards gestuur; Ek het vir julle DL Moody en Billy Sunday gestuur; Ek het vir julle Dwight Moody gestuur, julle het hierdie herlewings vergeet Amerika! Julle het My Seun verwerp nou neem Ek my Genade terug na My mense van ouds? Israel.”

Dink julle dit is wat ek dink wat gaan gebeur? Ek sê dit deur die Gees van Jesus! Nee, dit is wat nou besig is om te gebeur. Voordat God Sy genade na die Heidene gebring het? het die tweede grootste insameling van Joodse siele in die tweede eeu plaasgevind, tot die wêreldse Joodse Historikus Max Dimont het gesê dat ten minste 25% van die Jode in Jerusalem Jesus as hulle Messias aangeneem het voor die rebellie van Bar Cochba in ongeveer 120 n.C.

Laat ons glo en vertrou dat God dit weer sal doen. Al wat ek wil sien voordat God Sy genade weer na Israel neem is dat Amerika en Brittanje nog een kans sal kry om tot bekering te kom. Israel verdien dit nie en ons ook nie, maar God is besig om Sy genade terug te bring na die Jode, die tye van die nasies kom tot ‘n einde en dit sal nie weer kom nie, die tyd is nou! †††

Urgent prayer request - India

By David Passmore • June 10, 2026
MAJOR PRAYER REQUEST - STEVE MITCHELL MORIEL ORPHANAGE (Andar Pradesh, INDIA) Please read the enclosed missions report from Moriel Missions Branch India: Our children need us and we put a lot of money into buying and then expanding the Moriel orphanage to take in more children. These precious orphan children are coming to Christ and the devil is angry. Until now we had opposition from radical Sheikhs at the Moriel Horeb church we built in Punjab, but the Hindu Authorities in Andar Pradesh have largely until now left us alone. The BJP government is however as wicked as Hamas or Hezbollah - only Hindu (I was in India when radical Hindus burned the Australian missionary family alive in their car; these are the ones who wanted to murder Steve Mitchell when Moriel helped to quickly get him out of the country some years ago). Some pastors have been murdered again in West Bengal. (Samuel, who oversees the Moriel orphanage went to Bible College with one of them). Because our orphan children are Dalet (treated as subhuman 'out casts' by the Hindu caste system), or from Muslim backgrounds, we have largely been been left alone and some of the local officials liked us. This is obviously not a good situation. Prayer is urgently requested. Please pray for Mark Masih particularly that they will not cancel his visa. They are now forbidding us from bringing any more bibles into the country. What would happen if Britain, Australia, or America outlawed Hindus from bringing the Bhagavad Gita into England, Oz, or the USA? MARANATHA Come Quickly Lord Jesus  "You Will Be Hated By Men For My Name's Sake" Matthew 10:22

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