The Church of Smyrna - Japanese
April 3, 2025
スミルナ――『没薬』より：『埋葬のための油注ぎ』――第 2・3 世紀
スミルナの都市
スミルナ（現代のイズミル）は「ト・アガルマ・テス・アシアス――アジアの喜び」とし て知られていた宝石のように美しい場所でした。スミルナは当時も今も深い海に接する港 街であり、35 マイル（約 5.6 キロメートル）南にあるエペソとは激しいライバル関係にあ りました。紀元前 600 年頃にその町は地震によって破壊され、紀元前 4 世紀まで再建され る事はありませんでした。10 万人の人口を抱え、海の傍にはキュベレーの神殿を持ち、さ らにはアポロや、アスクレーピオス、アフロディーテー、またゼウスに捧げられた目を見 張るような神殿がありました。この都市は、発展した科学とぶどう酒の貿易で繁栄し、ラ オデキヤのように薬でも有名でした。
『また、スミルナにある教会の御使いに書き送れ。 初めであり、終わりである方、死んで、また生きた方が言われる。
「わたしは、あなたの苦しみと貧しさとを知っている。――しかしあなたは実際は 富んでいる――またユダヤ人だと自称しているが、実はそうでなく、かえってサタ ンの会衆である人たちから、ののしられていることも知っている。あなたが受けよ うとしている苦しみを恐れてはいけない。見よ。悪魔はあなたがたをためすために
、あなたがたのうちのある人たちを牢に投げ入れようとしている。あなたがたは十
日の間苦しみを受ける。死に至るまで忠実でありなさい。そうすれば、わたしはあ
なたにいのちの冠を与えよう。
耳のある者は御霊が諸教会に言われることを聞きなさい。勝利を得る者は、決して 第二の死によってそこなわれることはない。」』』（黙示録 2 章 8 節－11 節）
注目すべき事柄は、スミルナという名前がギリシア語の『没薬』を意味する言葉から取 られたことです。没薬は基本的に埋葬の時、死者の体に塗るために使われていました。ヨ ハネ 19 章 39 節では、ニコデモがイエスの体に塗るための没薬を持ってきたとあります。 雅歌の中で没薬は、花婿が没薬の山に上ると描かれている箇所でそれとなく触れられてい ます。
『そよ風が吹き始め、影が消え去るころまでに、 私は没薬の山、乳香の丘に行こう。』（雅歌 4 章 6 節）
乳香とはいけにえをささげる時に焚かれたもので、その山は当然のことながら、イエス が処刑されたカルバリの山を指し示しています。
スミルナは、おおよそ使徒の活躍した後の 2・3 世紀、つまりニケア公会議以前の時代か ら、コンスタンティヌス帝（紀元 321 年）やニケア公会議（紀元 325 年）までの時代と関 連しています。
イエスは黙示録 1 章のご自身の描写の中から、それぞれの教会が思い出すべきひとつの 側面を教会に念押ししました。スミルナはイエスが死に、そしてその死からよみがえった ことを思い起こす必要がありました。迫害は終わりではありません。その後に永遠のいの ちがあるのです。
「わたしは、あなたの苦しみを知っている」すべての教会と同じように、イエスは悪い ことを扱う前にまず何が正しいかを示します。スミルナは（フィラデルフィアと同じよう に）イエスが何の悪い点も見出さなかった教会です。その理由は、その教会が迫害を受け ていたからでした。文字通りにひどく迫害されながらも、信仰を保っている教会を批判す るのは非常に難しいことです。
ロンドンのソーホー（Soho）という町はフランスから来たユグノーと呼ばれる人たちが定 住した町です。ユグノーとは聖書を信じるクリスチャンで、ローマ・カトリック教会の手 によって激しく迫害された人たちです。「聖バーソロミューの日（8 月 24 日）」に人々は聖
バーソロミューの虐殺を思い起こします。当時のローマの権威者たちは、彼ら（ユグノー
達）に平和と安全とを約束し、公の会合を開くために招きました。しかしユグノー達が現 れた時、ローマの聖職者たちは彼らを処刑したのです。それは虐殺でした。このような迫 害のためにユグノーの生存者たちはイギリスへ移り住みました。ある者は北アイルランド に行き、帽子や織物、レースなどの貿易を始めました。他の者たちはホワイトチャペル周 辺のロンドンの東の端に定住しました。
結果としてソーホーは言うならばイギリスの「バイブル・ベルト（聖書の影響が強い地 域）」となりました。そこには当時おそらく世界のどこよりも多くのクリスチャンが密集し ていたでしょう。彼らは毎日祈祷会を開き、聖書研究を行っていました。そしてユグノー たちは家から家へと回っていました。しかし今日ソーホーはロンドンの売春街となってい ます。かつては主が崇められ、みことばが学ばれ、福音が宣べ伝えられ、クリスチャンた ちが日ごとに祈りや礼拝のために集まっていた場所が、ポルノと売春の巣窟となったので す。物事が逸れていくのに長い時間はかかりませんでした。そしてこのようなことこそが 今日の西洋世界で私たちが目にしていることなのです。
未来の歴史的・預言的な対型
サタンがスミルナの教会を地域的な迫害によって『十日の間』苦しめたことは、一般的 にキリスト教に敵対的だった一連の皇帝たちによる大きな迫害の 10 の期間を指すと言われ ています。皇帝たちはしばしばユダヤ人に対して反ユダヤ主義的な傾向を持っていました
。これは蛇と女の間に敵意を置くと書かれている創世記 3 章 15 節の預言と関連しています
。帝政ローマから教皇制によるローマ、また異端審問、鉄のカーテンの時代のソビエト主 義、また現代の原理主義イスラムに至るまで、アブラハム、イサク、ヤコブの神学的子孫 に敵対する者は、ヘブル人族長たちの人類学的子孫にも敵対します。真実の教会と、イス ラエルの両方が神の契約の民であり、預言的な神の救いの計画がその民にかかっています
。それゆえ、真実の教会とユダヤ人はこれまで、繰り返し同じ迫害者の標的となってきた のです。
ユダヤ人の絶滅にやっきになっているサタンの霊は、真実の教会をも絶滅しようと精を 出しています。ローマから始まり、教会に敵対した国々の大部分がどれもユダヤ人に対し ても敵対しました。ティトスが行った紀元 70 年のユダヤ人に対するエルサレムでの衝撃的 な出来事は、教会を迫害したネロによって受け継がれました。同じような傾向がクラウデ ィオス帝の治世にも顕著でした。二世紀に入ると、使徒の後の教会が始まりました。時を 同じくして、シメオン・バル・コクバに率いられたユダヤ人第二の反乱により、ユダヤ人 はエルサレムから除き去られ、聖書のイスラエルの地からのディアスポラ（離散）へと至
りました。ディアスポラはハドリアヌス帝の治世に勢いを増しました。その事と同時に、
それに続く一連の気の狂ったような皇帝たちによる教会への多くの恐ろしい迫害が起こり ました。その皇帝たちすべてが多神教を信じる異教徒であり、大半の者がバイセクシャル
（両性愛者）でした。
ローマ皇帝たちが自ら招いた道徳的退廃のために、それまでキリスト教徒に突き付けられ た故無き訴えがユダヤ人にも突き付けられ、すべてのことに関して彼らが責められていた ことは驚くべきことです。この種の非難はキリスト教徒の虐殺を正当化するために使われ
、コンスタンティヌス帝がローマ帝国を外見上だけキリスト教化した時に終わりましたが
、ユダヤ人に対しては継続されました。それはただ帝政ローマの権力によって実行されな くなっただけであり、教皇制ローマの教皇権によって継続されました。教皇制ローマの教 皇権は、いわゆる神聖ローマ帝国の下にその放蕩を続けました。この過程はネロとティト スによって初歩的な面を見せていましたが、スミルナの教会の性質をもって表される 2 世
紀から 4 世紀の時代にはっきりとした様相を呈しました。スミルナのクリスチャンが現地 で直面していたものは、2 百年間、ローマ帝国の中にあった教会を襲ったことの前触れで あり、縮図であったのです。
ドミティアヌス、マルクス・アウレリウス、セプティマス・セベリトゥス、カリグラ、 デキウス、ディオクレティアヌスらは、集中して迫害が行われた 10 の主要な期間を指揮し た皇帝たちです。異教ローマのポンティフよりも、教皇制ローマのポンティフ（教皇）た ちの方がより多くのキリスト教徒とユダヤ人を殺すことのできる鋳型を形成しました。実 際、私たちがすでに見てきたように、真実の教会はポンティフのパンテオン（古代ローマ の神殿）の外に置かれるレリギオ・イリシタ（違法な宗教）となりました。再び現代世界 において、私たちは同じことをヨハネ・パウロ 2 世（本名カロル・ボイティワ）とベネデ
ィクト 16 世（本名ジョセフ・ラッツィンガー）の教皇権において目撃しています。どちら
も自分達がいかなる全ての信仰とローマ・カトリック（彼らが主張する使徒ペテロの正当 なるキリスト教）との間の『橋渡し』だと自称しており、新生した、聖書的な福音主義を 非難しています。このような人たちはペテロの後継者ではなく、本来のポンティフの後継 者、帝政ローマの反キリスト的皇帝たちの後継者なのです。
神に背くことは政治的、道徳的退廃へとつながる
私たちが目にしている西洋民主主義国家での、政治的また経済的、社会的退廃が、西洋 の道徳的、霊的退廃の反映であることは疑う余地がありません。イギリスの国会の外壁に はラテン語で、「パテル・ノステル・クイ・エス・カエリス――天におられる我々の父」と 掲げられています。最近のテレビで発表された統計によると、現代、国会議員の大半が全
く何の宗教も信仰していません。その中で多数派なのが名ばかりの英国国教会員たちです
。その次に来るのが多くの無神論者や不可知論者たちで、次にイスラム教徒、仏教徒、ヒ ンドゥー教徒、ユダヤ教徒（救われていないユダヤ人たち。昔のディズレーリ首相はユダ ヤ人クリスチャンでした）、カトリック教徒などが続きます。これらの人々が、イギリス で実行されていたエラストゥスの教会システムを採用した政府のもとで、投票により司教 たちを任命しています（エラストゥス 1524－1583 ハイデルベルクの医者で、教会の権威 が世俗の政府を従わせるべきだと教えた人物）。このイギリス国会の中で神の存在さえも 信じていない幾人かの者たちが、英国国教会の聖職者を任命しているのです！
誰にも惑わされないように
エバはイスラエルの象徴、また教会の象徴であり、彼女は蛇によって惑わされました。 聖書中で蛇は欺きを表しており、一方、竜は迫害を表しています。スミルナでは蛇と竜が 同時に教会を攻撃していました。
マタイ 7 章 15 節や使徒 19 章、第二ペテロ 2 章はすべて偽預言者や偽教師について警告 しています。初代教会は外側にいた偽預言者からだけではなく、内側の者からも挑戦を受 けており、そちらのほうがはるかに破壊的でした。初代教会では当時アリウス主義者たち がいました。アリウス主義者とはアリウス（紀元 250－336）から名前を取られた者たちで
、イエスが創造された存在であるとし、イエスの神性を否定しました。今日それはエホバ の証人として再び現れています。「日の下に何も新しいものはない」――逆にその反対の主 義も存在し、『イエスだけ』が神であると信じ、御父をないがしろにする人たちもいます
現在カンタベリー大主教のローワン・ウィリアムズ（Rowan Williams）は、ドルイド教
（ケルト人社会における宗教）の式典に参加することに何の抵抗も感じない人物で、複数 の信仰を受け入れるリベラルです。彼は明らかに同性婚の許可や、同性愛者の任職に精を 出しています。ウィリアムズ大主教は、あのブレア政権（国会の民主主義的権威の多くを ブリュッセルの選挙によらないヨーロッパ政治へと手放した政権）によって任命されまし た。彼らはイギリスの経済的先行きとイギリスポンドを、選挙で選ばれた政府とイギリス 銀行の手から取り上げて、実質的にドイツ連邦銀行の後継である、フランクフルトの欧州 中央銀行の手に置きたがっています（訳注…ユーロ圏に入り通貨を統合し、EU とイギリス 経済を一体化しようとする試み）。イギリス女王は自身の持つ『国王の裁可（国王が持つ 法を発効させる権利）』を一体どのように 1972 年の欧州共同体議員立法（European Communities Act 1972）に与えてしまったでしょうか。女王はその決定によって自身の主 権、すべての統治者が守ると誓うものを明け渡してしまいました。
最近、BBC の国会記者は個人的な意見を表明しました。彼の立場は、国会民主主義制度
がヨーロッパの官僚主義に変換されたことで、ヨーロッパが今まであった民主主義の原則 から実質的に離れたと語っていました。非選出者たちからなる委員会は提案を作り、ただ ヨーロッパの国会へ助言を求めるだけになっています。国会はただの諮問機関（参考意見 を聞くだけの団体）となっているのです。
過ちや、失敗、問題があったとしても、ピューリタンたちが民主主義の伝統を設立する のに大きな役割を果たしたことは忘れてはならないことです。現代まで受け継がれた民主 主義の制度は、宗教的自由や良心の自由、信心の自由、また福音宣教の自由の出現と密接 に関連していました。ピューリタンと彼らの先駆者たちはローマ教会と英国国教会双方の 手によって非常に苦しめられました。彼らは今ある民主主義の伝統を聖書の価値観によっ て設立したのです。聖書的なユダヤ・キリスト教の道徳的原則から逸れてしまうとき、そ れらの原則の上に建てられている制度はひび割れ、それと共に消滅してしまいます。これ が今基本的に起きていることです。物事が良い状態から悪い状態へ、悪い状態から最悪の 状態へ変わるのに大した時間は必要ではありません。
ソビエト連合や、チェコスロバキア、ユーゴスラビアなどの東ヨーロッパの連邦国家は 崩壊し、選挙によらずに選ばれた中央集権的な社会主義エリートによって国々は支配され なくなりました。その一方で、西ヨーロッパは連邦国家に破滅を招いたその中央集権化さ れすぎた体制に傾こうとしています。現在の政府はイギリスをまさにこの方向へと推し進 めようとしているのです。聖書的なキリスト教から離れると、聖書的キリスト教がその形 成に貢献した議会民主主義から離れてしまうのです。
ローワン・ウィリアムズ大主教はドルイド教の祭典に参加し、ウェールズの神話の中で ドラゴンとして表されるケルト人の神の子の名前を儀式的な名前として受け取りました。 今日では黙示録が反キリストを竜と象徴していることは何の興味も引かないようです。そ れゆえ、彼が黙示録を『さまよう文章』と呼んだことが 2002 年 1 月 6 日のデイリーテレグ ラフ紙に引用されたのは何も不思議ではありません
「安っぽい紙に文字がびっしりと書かれ、次から次へと偏執的な妄想と 悪意で満ちている。それは聖職者がよく受け取る悲惨で、精神不安定な 者の手紙のようだ」
カンタベリー大主教にとって、イエスさまによって与えられたヨハネの黙示録は神の聖 なる言葉でもなければ、「偏執的な妄想と悪意で満ちている」ものなのです！
迫害への備え
イエスはスミルナの教会に、差し迫った迫害について警告されました。
『まことに、神である主は、そのはかりごとを、ご自分のしもべ、預言者たちに示 さないでは、何事もなさらない。』（アモス 3 章 7 節）
多くの国の歴史を通して、真実に新生したクリスチャンたちは当たり前に享受できるべ きもののために迫害されました。これが東ヨーロッパやローマ・カトリック教国、イスラ ム教国、社会主義国家などでの現実でした。現代、私たちが当たり前に受けている自由が 存在する理由は、16 世紀や 17 世紀の聖書を信じるクリスチャンの血によってそれが勝ち 取られたからです。しかしいったん人が聖書の真実に背を向け、主とその戒めから離れる やいなや個人の自由はそれと共に無くなってしまいます。そしてそのことが今起ころうと しているのです。イエスさまが現代西洋世界の教会に迫害に備えるよう呼びかけているこ とには疑う余地がありません。それはスミルナの教会に警告を与えたことと同じなのです
初代の信者たちの信仰はヘブル人への手紙に見出せます
『…またほかの人たちは、さらにすぐれたよみがえりを得るために、釈放されるこ とを願わないで拷問を受けました。』（ヘブル 11 章 35 節）
初代信者たちは、この人生とこの世で繁栄するためにイエスさまが死なれたと考えてい ませんでした。彼らは来るべき御国で自分たちが繁栄するためにイエスさまが死なれたと 考えていたのです。
『また、ほかの人たちは、あざけられ、むちで打たれ、さらに鎖につながれ、牢に 入れられるめに会い、また、石で打たれ、試みを受け、のこぎりで引かれ、剣で切 り殺され、羊ややぎの皮を着て歩き回り、』（ヘブル 11 章 36 節－37 節）
メルセデス・ベンツやキャデラックに乗って移動したわけではありません
『乏しくなり、悩まされ、苦しめられ、――この世は彼らにふさわしい所ではあり ませんでした――』（ヘブル 11 章 37 節－38 節）
今日有名で、繁栄した説教者の多くがしているように、五つ星ホテルに泊まるなんてこ
とはありえなかったことでしょう！
『荒野と山とほら穴と地の穴とをさまよいました。この人々はみな、その信仰によ ってあかしされました…』（ヘブル 11 章 38 節－39 節）
これが初代教会の信仰でした。彼らはイエスがこの世でのリッチな生活を送らせるため に死なれたとは考えませんでした。イエスが死なれたのはもっと良い世界で、遥かに素晴 らしい生活を与えるためなのです。
『神の国は今』神学
そのような偽りの教理を信じることは「支配主義神学」であり、または「神の国は今」 神学とも呼ばれます。これは現代のカリスマ派やペンテコステ派の大半で非常に多くなっ てきています。基本的にそれはイエスが戻って来る前に教会がイエスのために全世界を征 服し、イエスのために御国を設立するという考えです。教会が今、その神の国だと主張し ます！それはまた「実現された終末論（over-realized eschatology）」とも呼ばれます。こ れは大きなムーブメントで、現代のイギリスやアメリカの多くの主要な福音派指導者によ り暗黙的に承認されています。よくある表現の中では、それは後の雨／神の子らの現れと いう異端的な要素とひとつになっています。それは 1940 年代のペンテコステ主義の主流に よって批判されていたもので、超カルヴァン主義的な再建主義と一緒になっています。そ の超カリスマ派の支持者たちの中にはアメリカ人で反イスラエルの説教者リック・ゴドウ ィン（サンアントニオにあるイーグルズ・ネストチャーチで、あからさまになった金銭ス キャンダルの件で有名）がおり、一方、改革派再建主義者たちはローザス・ラシュドゥー ニー（Rousas J. Rushdoony）やギャリー・ノース（Gary North）、デイビッド・チルトン
（David Chilton）などさまざまな神権主義者たちを引き込んでいます。
この種の非聖書的な教理はとても嘆かわしいもので、全く間違っており、キリストの体 にとって潜在的に非常に危険なものです。そして突き詰めれば聖書的ではなく、ただの希 望的観測です。イエスご自身が次のように明らかにされました
『人の子の日に起こることは、ちょうど、ノアの日に起こったことと同様です。ノ アが箱舟に入るその日まで、人々は、食べたり、飲んだり、めとったり、とついだ りしていたが、洪水が来て、すべての人を滅ぼしてしまいました。
また、ロトの時代にあったことと同様です。人々は食べたり、飲んだり、売ったり
、買ったり、植えたり、建てたりしていたが、ロトがソドムから出て行くと、その
日に、火と硫黄が天から降って、すべての人を滅ぼしてしまいました。 人の子の現われる日にも、全くそのとおりです。』（ルカ 17 章 26 節－30 節）
パックス・ロマーナと国際化の中でのスミルナの生活
貧しい国での人々への搾取など植民地主義には否定的な面がありますが、肯定的な面も あります。たとえばより最近の『パックス・ブリタニカ（イギリスによってもたらされた 平和）』ではイギリスははるかに危険な帝国を寄せ付けませんでした。東にはロシア、西に はフランスやスペインなどローマ・カトリック帝国が存在しました。イスラエルではイギ リス政府がバルフォア宣言を破棄し、ユダヤ人を約束された地に帰さず強制収容所で滅ぼ されるままにしたことなど、イギリス政府が行った悪事をみなが知っています。しかし現 代のイスラエルには道路設備、ハイファ港、空港などが存在します。その国の大半の社会 基盤はイギリスによって建設されたものなのです。
世界には人々が植民地主義をただ純粋に求めていた場所があります。ジブラルタルの人 々にスペイン人になるべきだとか、フォークランド諸島の人々にアルゼンチン人になるよ うに、また香港の人々に中国人になるように言ってみたらどうなるでしょう。彼らはむし ろイギリス人になることを望みます。それはコインの裏表です。またアジアやアフリカの 多くの国々でイギリスが去った後に何が起こったかを見てみてください。
これは搾取的な植民地主義や帝国主義を擁護しているのでは決してありません。しかし 言わんとしていることはコインに別の面があるということなのです。パックス・ブリタニ カの下でイギリスは状況が異なっていたなら極度の問題を抱えていたような世界に、相対 的な安定と、相対的な繁栄をもたらしました。イギリスは当時、その社会に存在した聖書 的な影響によって神に祝福されていたと多くの人々が個人的に信じています。イギリスは 200 年間にわたって、どの国よりも多くの宣教師たちを送り出しました。ウィリアム・ケ アリーやハドソン・テイラーなど多くの宣教師たちを思い出してください。今日もオペレ ーション・モビライゼーション（Operation Mobilization）や、ユース・ウィズ・ア・ミッ ション（Youth with a Mission）、クライスト・フォー・ザ・ネイションズ（Christ for the Nations）などの団体がありますが、かつてイギリスから出て活動していた真実で聖書的な 宣教団体と比べると、影もかたちもありません。
第二次世界大戦の後に『パックス・アメリカ』が訪れました。当時ソビエトの脅威があ
りましたが、NATO の下にアメリカはイギリスと手を組み、基本的にヨーロッパに平和を
もたらしました。征服した国々を占領し、搾取することとはかけ離れて、アメリカはドイ ツや日本を自由市場を持つ西洋的民主主義国家に変え、繁栄と豊かさをもたらしました。 これはすべてを肯定しているのではありませんが、イギリスが多くのクリスチャンで溢れ
、多くの宣教師を送り出す国となったとき神がイギリスを祝福されたように、その同じ理 由で神がアメリカを祝福されていたのです。第一にアメリカはどの国よりもイスラエルを 祝福し守ってきました。また第二にアメリカは現在宣教師を最も多く送り出し、多くの国 に最も多い額の宣教費を捻出しています。今日では宣教に使われるお金の 4 分の 3 がアメ リカから出てきたものです。もしこのような現実がなければアメリカの妊娠中絶率だけを 考えてみても、神の裁きはもっと早い時期に下っていたことでしょう。
一方でスミルナの時代には『パックス・ロマーナ』が優勢でした。ローマ人は他の勢力 を抑えながら、さまざまな学派から自分たちの哲学を作り出していました。フェニキヤ人 からは交易路を取り、あらゆる場所に道路設備を建設し、そのうちのあるものは現在も残 っています。イスラエルでは『ヴィア・マリス』と呼ばれる『海の道』の跡が見受けられ ます。ローマ南部の地下墓地の近くには『ヴィア・アッピア』と呼ばれる『アッピア街道
』が残存しています。ローマ人たちは社会正義のための裁判のシステムを作りました。ま た彼らは自分たちの言葉であるラテンを国際公用語（リンガ・フランカ）とはせずに、ギ リシア語をもってきました。そしてその決定によって福音が広がったのです。バビロン捕 囚の後には非常に大規模なユダヤ人のディアスポラ（離散）が起こりました。それゆえ、 ローマ帝国中の主要な町々には確立されたユダヤ人共同体がありました。それだけではな く、ヘブライ語聖書（タナク）のギリシア語翻訳である七十人訳が登場し、当時の国際公 用語で利用可能となったのです。それゆえパックス・ロマーナの時代に福音は異邦人の間 で広がる条件が揃えられたのであって、神は実際にそれを用いていました。その反面、パ ックス・ロマーナは自分たちに頼り、従順である者たちだけに平和と繁栄を与えました
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 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.
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).
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.”
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? 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 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 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).
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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).
