Simchat Torah - Moriel Ministries

"MORIEL"
GOD IS MY TEACHER
January/March 2013
Sh’vat/Adar/Nisan 5773
No. 53
“Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps My Word, he shall never see death.”
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly

F
rom the Moriel team,
Jacob’s next tour:
"MORIEL"
GOD IS MY TEACHER
Jacob will be coming to America in early March but it
will be a brief tour. He has only one conference planned
for California this tour. For our Canadian friends, the
Calgary Prophecy Conference has unfortunately been
canceled. Jacob has a few engagements around
the country and we hope to see you there. Check
the our website for the latest news and speaking
engagements. Jacob is now at the end of a grueling
mission trip to the Far East and Africa. Please pray for
him as he returns home, also pray he gets a little rest
before he comes to America.
New Canadian Branch
Please pray for Steve Boot as he is opening our
newest branch, Moriel Canada. Pray he can work
through all the problems and concerns that go with
starting a new branch Also, please pray for Steve
and his wife as they decide on how to build this new
ministry. Here is the mailing address of the Moriel
Canada branch:
Moriel Canada
4909 49 Street PO Box 1122,
Athabasca, Alberta T9S 1A0 Canada
If you need any help in Canada please contact Steve
Boot.
New Website Design coming
The new website is due to come online very soon,
we are working out all the kinks. As a number of you
know the webstore can be a pain when it comes
to ordering. There is a conflict in the new Internet
Explorer 9 with our store and there is no fix right
now. But the new store will be so much easier and
have many more features that should enhance your
shopping experience.
The new website will also have many new features
that are going to be great and we would ask for your
prayerful support as we bring this new site online.
Jacob’s Itinerary
FOR
USA & CANADA
– Temple Sinai –
Friday and Saturday, March 1 & 2, 2013
Calvary Chapel Palm Desert/Temple Sinai
73-251 Hovley Lane West
6th Annual Bible Prophecy Conference
Middle East Mystery
Palm Desert, CA 92260
760-250-8027
– Community Church of Devore –
San Bernadino, Ca 92407
Sunday, March 3, 2013 -10:00 AM
1431 Devore Rd
San Bernadino, CA 92407
(909) 880-4161
– Believers in Grace –
Wednesday thru Sunday 7:00 PM
March 6 - 10 th
Sunday 10:00 AM
8600 C. Avenue
Marion, IA 52302
319-373-3087
– Calvary Chapel San jacinto –
Sunday March 17, 2013, 5:00 PM
1450 W 7th St
San Jacinto, CA
951-654-1401
*Graphics provided by ‘Shutterstock’ and
‘Wikipedia.’
Volunteers
Thank you so much to all those who volunteer to
help Moriel with transcribing Jacob’s sermons, we
were overwhelmed.
Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

featured articles
"MORIEL"
GOD IS MY TEACHER
4
October–December
Issue No. 53
SIMCHAT TORAH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
PERTINENT FACTOID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
PUBLISHED BY
MORIEL MINISTRIES
INTERNATIONAL
www.moriel.org
Moriel International Director
James Jacob Prasch
15
MORIEL SOUTH AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
MORIEL ISRAEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
ADMINISTRATOR
david Lister
Phone: 1•412•321•6154
Moriel AUSTRALIA, New zealand
& SINGAPORE
Margret Godwin
National Administrator
P.O. Box 112 Trafalgar Vic 3824
Phone: 03 5633 2300
Fax: 03 5633 2300
Mob: 0416 138 008
Email: moriel@vic.australia.com.au
moriel South africa
David Royle
1 Trade Street
Napier 7270
West Cape, South Africa
Phone/Fax: 0823739297
19
23
AUSTRALIANnews
MORIEL PHILIPPINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
RAMBLING ROSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
AUSTRALIAN REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
MORIEL JAPAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
MORIEL THAILAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
moriel United Kingdom
Allison Dodd
P.O. Box 201
Maldenhead Berks SL6 9FB
England
25
moriel japan
moriel United states of America
David Lister
P.O. Box 100223
Pittsburgh, PA. 15233-0223
Phone: 1•412•321•6154
Email: morieldavid@yahoo.com
MORIEL japan
Geoff Toole
Email: morieljapan@yahoo.co.jp
B a n g k o k S k y l i n e
R i c e f i e l d s C h i a n g M a i
26
Introducing our New missionary to . . .
thailand
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly

Feature Article
Jacob Prasch
Feast
of
Lights
“Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps My Word, he shall never see death.”
I
Introduction
Our subject today is an extended Bible
study from John 8. We begin in chapter 7
to get the background and continue into
chapter 8.
The gospel of St. John in Hebrew among
the first Jewish Christians was called Ha
Besora B al’ pei Yonathan, the good news
according to the mouth, literally, by the
lips of John. John and Matthew, Matitiyahu
(Matthew’s Hebrew name) are the two
most Hebraic, the two most Judaic, the two
most Jewish of the gospels. They are written
largely for a Jewish readership. Luke
has Judaic material that is not in Matthew
or John only because the Jewish Christians
would have understood things on which
Gentiles had to be instructed. Luke is the
most Gentile of the gospels, and Luke is
concerned with teaching Jewish concepts to
non-Jews. So, again, there is certain Jewish
material, Judaic material, in Luke not found
in Matthew or John, but Matthew and John
are the most Jewish of the gospels.
We need to understand John’s theme. We
are told at the end of the gospel that it was
written so the Jews of the first century
would believe. That doesn’t mean it is not
for us today, but it does mean we have to
understand what it meant for its own time.
John’s theme is Jesus is God. It points to
the deity of Christ more than any other of
the gospels. It points to His deity as the
incarnate logos, or what the Jews or the
Greeks called logos, what the Hebrews
called ‘Dvar’ or in Aramaic ‘Mamra.’ (We
have other teachings on this.) Nonetheless,
if a Jewish Christian at the end of the first
century were reading John’s gospel, he
would read it quite differently than most
of us would. He would say it is the story,
or the narrative, of the new creation. He
would also say this story is a midrash on
Braeshiek, on the book of Genesis. He
would say that John 1, 2, and 3, particularly,
and then continuing throughout the gospel,
is a midrash on the story of creation. The
new creation in John is a midrash on the
creation in Genesis. Midrash is the way
that Jews and rabbis, like Jesus and Paul,
interpreted scripture in the first century. It
is the midrash, an inquiring into.
In Proverbs 8, we have Jesus in the
creation. Then we link Genesis and John
with Proverbs 8. That is Jesus next to the
Father. He preexisted from eternity. So this
Jewish Christian reading John 1, 2, and 3
at the end of the first century would say,
“This is a midrash on the creation. This entire
story of the new creation is a literary
parallelism that illuminates the creation
story in Genesis.” This first century Jew
would say, “God walks the earth in the
creation in Genesis. Now the Word becomes
flesh?” God walks the earth in the
new creation in John. He would say, “God
comes to separate the light from the dark
in the creation in Genesis.” Now, God
comes to separate the light from the dark,
‘hoshek’ in Hebrew, ‘phos’ in Greek, in
John 1. He separates the light from the
dark in the creation, and He separates the
light from the dark in the new creation. The
first century Jewish Christian would say,
“In the creation in Genesis, you have the
small light and the great light. Now in the
new creation in John, you have–Yochanan
Ha Matbil and Yeshua Hamashiach, John
the Baptist, the small light, and Jesus, the
great light.” He would also say, “The Spirit
moves on the water and gives forth the creation
in Genesis, now born of water and the
Spirit. The Spirit moves on the water and
gives the new creation in John.” He would
say, “On the third day, God does a creative
miracle with water in Genesis, and Jesus
begins His public ministry with the miracle
on the third day at the wedding of Cana as
it says in John 2:1.” God begins His first
plan for man with a marital union with
Adam and Eve. Of course, man falls and
loses what God had for him. When Jesus
comes to restore that, He begins His public
ministry at a wedding.
More than that, in Judaism, the tree of
Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

life that we call Atz Hayim that we see in
Ezekiel 47 and in Revelation and Genesis,
is represented by a fig tree. The subject of
the fig tree is a complicated subject, but the
fig tree represents the tree of life. So, you
have the tree of life in the garden, but in
John 1:48, Nathanael asks Jesus, “How do
you know me?” Jesus answered, “Before
Philip called you, when you were under the
fig tree, I saw you.” Jesus obviously saw
him under a literal fig tree, but what Jesus
was really saying to Nathanael, in midrash,
in Jewish metaphor, was, “I saw you in the
garden, from the creation, from the foundation
of the world.” I’m not a Calvinist, but
God does know us from eternity, and He
does know who will be saved.
John is new creation that parallels the
book of Genesis. This is a theme that runs
throughout the entire gospel as well as
pointing to Christ as God becoming man.
In John 7, we have the background of the
Feast of Tabernacles which draws on the
imagery of the millennium in Ezekiel 47.
The meaning of the Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles
is the millennial reign of Christ. That
is why when Jesus comes back (Zechariah
12) and the Jews look upon Him Whom
they pierced when He sets up His millennial
kingdom, they begin celebrating the
Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14).
The Hebrews had three spring feasts
which were Passover, First Fruits, and
Pentecost, or Weeks. Jesus fulfills those in
His first coming, but in His second coming,
He fulfills the autumn feast, the final one,
the Feast of Booths, Hag Sukkoth, which is
what we see in John 7. In His first coming,
He totally fulfills the spring feasts but only
partially fulfills the autumn feasts. In His
second coming, He will fulfill the autumn
feast in its totality.
Now on the last day, the great day of the
feast, [Yeshua is His name] Jesus stood and
cried out, saying, “If any man is thirsty, let
him come to me and drink. He who believes
in Me, as the Scriptures said, ‘From his
innermost being shall flow rivers of living
water.’” This again draws on the millennial
imagery in Ezekiel 47.
The Latter Day Rain movement and the
Manifest Sons of God heresy, of course,
pervert this out of all context to arrive at a
lot of silly nonsense. I once watched a video
of a Pensacola meeting, and they were saying,
“The river is going to come through the
wall at exactly a quarter to 8. Don’t stand
here. You all might get swept away.” John
Kilpatrick’s wife was there. The women of
Pensacola (I call them the harlots of Babylon)
are all standing there and waiting for
the river to come through, and at a quarter
to 8 precisely, they all swoon. Now I am a
Pentecostal myself, but that is not Biblical
Pentecostal. That is absurdity.
Jacob Prasch
The meaning of Ezekiel is, of course, in
the millennium. Jesus draws on this background
when he says I will give you “living
water. But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom
those who believed in Him were to receive,
for the Spirit was not yet given, because
Jesus [Yeshua] was not yet glorified.” “I
will pour out My Spirit” as rain comes from
Isaiah 44:3.
Living water, what we call in Hebrew Mayim
Hayim, was formed by rain going into the
water table. It is a figure of the Holy Ghost.
Jesus says this to the woman at the well in
John 4 that He will give her living water.
Another characteristic of John’s gospel is
this. Jesus is speaking on a midrashic level.
He is addressing things in one context, but
the people are understanding Him only on
a natural level. You must be very careful of
this. There is something called Gnosticism
when the Bible is spiritualized with mystical
interpretations. Midrash never does
that. Midrash, Jewish hermeneutics, Jewish
interpretation, only uses symbolism to
illuminate, to illustrate doctrine. We never
base doctrine on it. When people base doctrine
on symbols that is very, very dangerous!
It is spiritual seduction. On the other
hand, to ignore Midrash is also an error. So,
living water is a figure of the Holy Spirit in
Isaiah 44:3, John 4, and John 7.
Some of the multitude, therefore, when
they heard these words were saying,
“This certainly is the Prophet.”
Others were saying, “This is the
Messiah.” Others were saying, “Surely
the Messiah is not going to come from
Galilee, is He? Has not the Scripture
said that the Messiah comes
from the offspring of David, and from
Bethlehem, the village where David
was?” (John 7:40-42)
They did not know where He was
born. They only knew Him by His Galilean
accent. There was a prejudice against Galileans;
in fact, it was later written in Talmudic
literature that a Galilean would not be
allowed to read the Torah in a synagogue
because he could not properly pronounce
the difference between the Hebrew letters
aleph and ayne. The rabbis did not like the
Galilean accent.
So there arose a division in the multitude
because of Him. And some of them
wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands
on Him. The officers therefore came to the
chief priests and Pharisees, they said to
them, “Why did you not bring Him?” [But]
the officers answered, “Never did a man
speak the way this man speaks.” The Pharisees
therefore answered them, “You have
not been led astray, have you? [No one of
the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him.]
But this multitude which does not know the
Feature Article
Law is accursed. ”Nicodemus said to them
(he who came to Him before, being one of
them), “Our Law does not judge a man, unless
it first hears from him and knows what
he is doing, does it?” They answered and
said to him, “You are not also from Galilee,
are you? Search, and see that no prophet
arises out of Galilee.” = And everyone
went to his home. (John 7:43-53)
Understand the background. This was the
last day of the feast that lasted a week. On
the last day of the feast was an elaborate
ritual called Simchat Beit Ha Shoyiva,
a festival of joy, when the Levites would
go to the pool of Shiloach, usually called
Siloam in English, almost the same word
as “apostle.” The Levites would take water
in a procession up to the Temple Mount
and pour the living water, Mayim Hayim,
out on the pavement. It was in reference to
this ritual that Jesus said, “I will give you
living water.” He was saying that He was
the Messianic fulfillment of what the feast
meant. He would be the One to give the
Holy Spirit just as He told the woman at
the well. Nicodemus pops up here in this
context. Again, Jesus was speaking on a
spiritual level, but the people were thinking
on a physical level. When Jesus said to
Nicodemus, “You must be born again. Are
you a ruler of the Jews? You don’t know
this?” As a member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus
knew midrash. He should have
known what Jesus meant by new birth. The
Jews had multiple concepts of new birth including
having the bar mitzvah, becoming
a rabbi, and getting married, but ultimately,
it was this thing the Messiah would do.
Lazarus is asleep. Jesus was speaking
of biological death. They thought He simply
meant that Lazarus took a nap. He’s
speaking spiritually. The people are thinking
physically.
So it is with living water. Jesus is
speaking spiritually. The people are thinking
physically. This was what was happening
in the gospels, and it was one of the
reasons the Sanhedrin hated Him. Instead
of being servants to the people, they used
their supposed knowledge of scripture to
make themselves overlords. They used their
knowledge to create a political, and certainly
financial, power base for themselves. “The
people do not know the Torah. They are
accursed. We know the Torah. Knowledge
is power.” This very much began to approximate
the Gnosticism of the pagans
who said, “We have the secret knowledge.”
Jesus did not like that. Ordinary people
were called the Am Ha Aretz, the people
of the land. This is found in Matthew, for
instance. It says the Pharisees knew He
spoke the parable about them, but He had
to explain it privately to the disciples. The
religious establishment knew what He was
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly

Feature Article – Continued
teaching, but they were going through the
roof because He was taking these mysteries,
what Solomon called “the words of the
wise,” and their riddles, and taking the interpretation
of Proverbs and of what we call
Hebrew, mashalim or mishla, parables and
giving it to the ordinary people.
He was giving it to fishermen. He was
giving it to farmers. He was giving it to
tradesmen. He was giving it to slaves. This
was the key to their power, and He was giving
it to ordinary people whom the religious
establishment thought were accursed. The
establishment did not like Him. He is
speaking spiritually. The people are thinking
physically, but then He begins explaining
what these spiritual things are. This He
spoke of the Spirit.
John’s gospel is the most festal. It has the
most to do with Jewish feasts. In John, we
clearly see Jesus as the fulfillment of the
feasts. He is the fulfillment of Hanukkah,
the Jewish Feast of Dedication in John
10. He is the Messianic fulfillment of Passover;
the Lamb of God Who takes away the
sin of the world. (If you went to Catholic
school, you have my sympathy, but perhaps
you remember your Latin, Agnus Dei
Qui Tolles Pecatamundi.) Here, it is Jesus
as the Messianic fulfillment of the Feast of
Booths, the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Hebrews had three pilgrim feasts.
They had Passover, and they had Pentecost-Hag
Shavuot (or Weeks) in the spring,
but at this time of year in the autumn, there
was another one, the Feast of Booths. By
Jesus’ day, after the Maccabees, there was
a fourth one. The pilgrim feasts were when
Jews came from other places to Jerusalem
to celebrate. That was Hanukkah. The time
between the Feast of Booths and the Feast
of Hanukkah could be less than two months,
sometimes seven weeks. Considering they
had to walk all the way down from Galilee
and then back again, often they would do
what Jesus did, just stay in Jerusalem with
friends or relatives, celebrate both holidays
at once, and then go home again. It was
the holiday season. One holiday season in
the spring ranged from Passover to Pentecost,
and a second holiday season in the
autumn ranged from Booths all the way
to Hanukkah, and these were both harvest
seasons. So, after people did the work, then
they would have a kind of religious holiday,
a kind of vacation in Jerusalem after
reaping the fruits of the harvest.
So everyone is in Jerusalem, and they
are contending with Jesus because He is
teaching the people these things. Notice
the attitude of the religious leaders. It is exactly
what you see today. “Who is this man
who is teaching the people things we don’t
want them to know? Who is this man who
is publicly exposing our corruption and
hypocrisy? Who is this man who is threatening
our power base by teaching them the
Word of God? These people are accursed!
They don’t know the Torah. We know!” Well,
in fact, they did not know. They did not
know at all. No prophet comes from
Galilee? What about Jonah? He was from
Gath Hepher less than two miles from
Nazareth. They did not know themselves.
They should have known, but they did
not. They were more concerned with church
politics and preserving their own financial
and positional interests. They say, “The
people are accursed!” They set themselves
up. Nicodemus is here. (The Greek prefix
“nico-“ is also the one used for Nicolaitians
which means “suppression of the people.”)
Nicodemus was a good man in the Sanhedrin,
but he tried to change the system
from within and failed. Today, in so many
of our denominations, some good people
are trying to change the system from within
but are failing. There are godly men in the
church, but other men and denominations
are ordaining homosexuals and opening
heroin rooms. There are some godly pastors
left within the Assemblies of God while the
national executive leadership has taken the
church from one heresy and deception after
another. There are people, like Nicodemus,
who are still part of the system trying to call
the church back to repentance or to implement
God’s standard but are frustrated by
the corruption of the system.
The state of Judaism, when Jesus came
the first time, very closely mirrors the state
of the church before His second coming
and is one of the things that testify to the
deplorable state of the church in the last
days, particularly in the West. It is the same
thing. “Who do these people think they
are?” They made themselves a clergy class.
“Who are you to question us?” It is the same
attitude we see today. Many people over
recent years have seen things which they
knew were not of God, perhaps deceptions
that were heretical or unethical, and they
try to go to the pastors of the leadership, but
these pastors have, basically, set themselves
up as overlords, and instead of dealing with
issues Biblically, they made everyone think
that they [the pastors] understood the Bible.
“Who are you to question us?” How many
people have encountered that attitude in the
past five years? We get similar numbers
of response in America, England, Canada,
New Zealand, and South Africa. That is
exactly what Jesus was up against, and it
is what we are up against today. They set
themselves up over you, making believe
they know things that they do not.
One person trumpeting pop psychology
today is a psychologist in the Assemblies
of God. I am not slinging mud. His name
is Allen Davies, and he was teaching New
Age visualization in his so-called Bible
College. He did that. I am just reporting
facts, not attacking. He makes himself out
to be this Biblically knowledgeable man
who is running a Bible college. He wrote
an article in Evangel Magazine where he
said the demoniac in Gerasenes, that the
man’s name was “legion.” The text, Mark
5:9, says the demon’s name was legion “for
we are many.” I do not expect everyone to
be able to read Greek or Hebrew. It is a plus
if you can, but I certainly expect a minister
with a degree in psychology to be able to
read English! Yet, these pastors and ministers
set themselves up over the people, not
knowing what they want you to think. “Who
are you to question us?” That is what they
say. This is not Biblical! “Who are you to
question us?” And if there is someone like
Nicodemus speaking up from within the
system, they put their feet down. “We’ll
take your credentials away!” And if you are
someone outside the system, like Jesus, they
will send a lynch mob after you if they can.
People ask why I am not comparing myself
to Jesus, and people ask why I walk
back and forth while I preach. It is more
difficult to hit a moving target. That is the
background. That is the introduction. Now
we get into Simchat Torah, John 8, the Jewish
background of John 8.
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
And early in the morning He came
again into the temple, and all the people
were coming to Him; and He sat
down and began to teach them. And
the scribes and the Pharisees brought
a woman caught in adultery, and having
set her in the midst, they said to
Him, “Teacher, this woman has been
caught in adultery, in the very act. Now
in the Law Moses commanded us to
stone such women; what then do You
say?” And they were saying this, testing
Him in order that they might have
grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus
stooped down, and with His finger
wrote on the ground. (John 8:1-6)
In the Greek text, when Jesus uses His
finger to write, this indicates that action is
emphatic.
But when they persisted in asking
Him, He straightened up, and said to
them, “He who is without sin among
you, let him be the first to throw a
stone at her.” And again He stooped
down, and wrote on the ground. And
when they heard it, they began to go
out one by one, beginning with the
older ones, and He was left alone, and
the woman, where she had been, in
the midst. And straightening up, Jesus
said to her, “Woman, where are they?
Did no one condemn you?” And she
Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said,
“Neither do I condemn you; go your
way. From now on sin no more.” And
therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying,
“I am….” (John 8:7-12)
Notice that term, “I am,” and how many
times it appears. The Greek word would be
Ego Ami. (I only know how to read Greek. I
do not know how to speak it. Jesus gets
closer and closer. There is a progression
here in the Greek text. Jesus gets clearer
and clearer in the progression through the
Greek text to identifying Himself as the
I AM. God. He is the God of the book of
Exodus. I AM who I AM identified Himself
to Moses. He gets clearer and clearer, the
way the text says I AM, until He finally
identifies Himself as God. Here is the first
I AM the light of the world. He who follows
me shall not walk in darkness but shall
have the light of life” (John 8:12).
The Pharisees therefore said to
Him,“You are bearing witness of
Yourself; Your witness is not true.” Jesus
answered and said to them, “Even
if I bear witness of Myself, My witness
is true; for I know where I came from,
and where I am going. You people
judge according to the flesh; I am not
judging anyone. But even if I do judge,
My judgment is true, for I am not alone
in it, but I and He Who sent Me.” [He
associates Himself with God.] Even in
your law [meaning the Torah] it has
been written, that the testimony of two
men is true. (John 8:13-17)
I have to point out here that there must
have been two witnesses against the woman
in order for her to be stoned under the
Torah, the Jewish Law. There had to be
two witnesses who were not guilty of the
same sin. Jesus is dealing in juridical terms
here. There must be two witnesses to verify
every fact that would bring any kind of indictment,
according to the Torah, and Jesus
is appealing again to the same juridical
principles from the Torah. Jewish Law with
rabbinic additions was later called halacha.
“I and He Who sent Me” in verse 17 is
the testimony of two which meant it was
true, or correct. In verse 18, Jesus says, “I
am He Who bears witness of Myself, and
the Father Who sent Me bears witness of
Me.” This points to a future event when
two liars are brought against Jesus at His
trial. This is the same idea and a continual
theme throughout the text.
“And so they were saying to Him, ‘Where
is your Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You know
neither Me, nor My Father; if you knew Me,
you would know My Father also.’” This
relates back to John 5 where Jesus told
the Hebrews, “If you believed Moses, you
would believe Me also.”
My family is Israeli, and I have been
an evangelist to the Jews for over twenty
years. I can tell you this. The problem of
the Jewish people is not that they reject
Christ. Their rejection of their Christ is not
their problem. Their rejection of their Messiah
is the result of their problem. Their
problem is that they reject the Torah.
They do not believe in Moses. If they believed
Moses, they would know Jesus is the
Messiah. Their problem is that they reject
Torah by substituting Torah with Talmud
or reading Torah through the prism of Talmud
as rabbinic commentary. This is much
the same as Roman Catholicism corrupting
the New Testament or liberal Protestantism
or Greek Orthodox corrupting the New
Testament, so the rabbis, after rejecting
Jesus, corrupted the Torah. If they knew
the Father, they would know the Son. If
they believed Moses, they would believe
Jesus was the Messiah. That is why I do
not witness to Jewish people from the New
Testament until I show them from the Old
Testament. That is my approach.
Look at verse 18. “I am He.” This is a play
on words from the Greek text again. “These
words He spoke in the treasury” (verse
20). Jesus always hits people where it hurts,
and the religious establishment was into
what they are into today. You know what is
going on? You know what is really in back
of all this hype artistry and manipulation?
Money. They copy these hype artists and religious
con men from American and South
African television, and they want to be
like these Americans with the big cars and
mansions, and of course, their ministries
become their tickets to a form of success
they could not have in the secular world.
With some sense of embarrassment, I
admit to being a Pentecostal preacher. The
old time Pentecostals did not have many
Greek or Hebrew scholars, but they knew
the Word of God. They knew their Bibles.
They knew why they believed what they
believed. They knew why they were premillennial.
They could give a coherent argument
why they believed the gifts of the
Spirit still operated in the church, not based
on experience but based on Scripture. They
could argue. There were some Pentecostal
scholars, academics, in America and Scotland,
but they are largely gone. There are
exceptions today, but most contemporary
Pentecostal ministry has become a dumping
ground for people who cannot do anything
else. Again, there are exceptions but
not many. These men in church leadership
roles would not have these cars, this international
travel, this income if they were
not Pentecostal ministers. They would not
be good enough to be dentists, plumbers,
skilled tradesmen, or professionals, so they
become Pentecostal preachers because
Feature Article – Continued
there is no standard anymore. Unless they
can rightly divide the Word of God according
to Timothy and Titus, they have
no Biblical right to be in the ministry,
most of them. They stand up, take some
verses out of context, give a lot of waffle
and hype, and they do not even know what
they are talking about. They are mindless
babblers. It is a disgrace. The Pentecostal
ministry has become a dumping ground
for people who cannot do anything else. It
becomes their ticket to some middle-class
success because they could not make it in
a secular profession or business. There are
exceptions. Faithland is an exception. Oak
Park is an exception. The Assemblies of
God where I would speak are exceptions,
but they are exceptions. The mainstream is
not what it was twenty-five years ago when
the Assemblies of God and other Pentecostal
movements rejected what we see now. They
would have nothing to do with William Branham
or E. W. Kenyon or A. A. Allen. They
rejected the Manifest Sons of God and the
Latter Day Rain movements in the 1940s
and 1950s. The very things their fathers
rejected, they have now accepted. These
Assemblies of God no longer exist in the
sense of what they once were. It is just another
movement with the same name. They
are gone. This kind of decline is terrible,
and it was that kind of decline that Jesus
was up against in the Judaism of His day.
“He said therefore again to them, ‘I
go away and you shall seek Me, and
shall die in your sin; where I am going
[a play on words again], you
cannot come.’ [I AM]. Therefore the
Jews were saying, ‘Surely He will
not kill Himself, will He, since He
says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot
come’?’” (John 8:21-22)
Notice the repetition of I AM. In the
Greek text, the progression is very clear.
When it says “the Jews,” it does not mean
people who are Jewish. They were all Jewish,
including Jesus. What it meant, and
there is a translation problem from the
Greek word iaodaoi, was the Judeans, the
religious establishment in and around Jerusalem
and those whom they influenced and
controlled as opposed to the rank and file
Jew. It refers to the religious aristocracy
and those whom they directly controlled
largely based in and around Jerusalem.
They are all Jews. So, when the text says
“they” wanted to stone Jesus, it meant the
religious establishment and those they controlled
around Jerusalem.
“And He was saying to them, ‘You are
from below, I am from above; you are
of this world. I am [I AM] not of this
world. I said therefore to you, that you
shall die in your sins; for unless you
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly

Feature Article – Continued
believe that I am He [I AM He], you
shall die in your sins’” (John 8:23-24).
This harkens directly back, and He
would have been speaking Aramaic from
the Targumim. It would have been exactly
Exodus 3:14. Now, He is almost calling
Himself God. He gets closer and closer
with the I AM expressions.
And so they were saying to Him,
“Who are You?” Jesus said to them,
“What have I been saying to you from
the beginning? I have many things to
speak and to judge concerning you,
but He Who sent Me is true; and the
things which I heard from Him, these I
speak to the world.” They did not realize
that He had been speaking to them
about the Father. (John 8:25-27)
Again, he is speaking spiritually. They do
not realize it. “Jesus therefore said, ‘When
you lift up the Son of Man, then you will
know that I am He, and I do nothing on My
own initiative, but I speak these things as
the Father taught Me’” (John 8:28). Notice
that He did nothing on His own initiative.
This ridiculous idea that we can go
around laying hands on every sick person
commanding them to be healed is absurd.
Jesus only laid hands on people as His Father
directed. If the Holy Spirit empowers
you in a given situation and you say, “That
cancer be gone,” it will be gone. If the
Holy Spirit empowers you to say, “Get out
of that deathbed,” that person will get out
of the deathbed. However, if you are going
around yelling and commanding it, ranting
and raving like an idiot, that is all you are
behaving like, an idiot. In Corinthians, Paul
uses the word “idiot” (idiota) for those who
are spiritually ignorant. You see people going
around commanding poor people to be
healed, and when they do not get healed,
that puts them under condemnation. “You
don’t have any faith.” This is just idiocy.
Can you imagine a precious, old saint of
God, say a widow on a pension, at the end
of her day; she is ill, sick, with nothing left
except her faith in Jesus. They have taken
all her money. All she has left is her faith in
Jesus, and they even want that too because
she is not being healed. At best, this is being
done out of ignorance, but however you
look at it, it is the worst form of psychological
cruelty because they are perverting
the Christian message to do it.
Jesus only did what He saw His Father
doing. He never used His divine power even
once. In Matthew 4, when Satan tempted
Jesus, Satan was trying to get Jesus to act
out of concert with His Father, to use His
divine power apart from the Father’s leading.
Jesus would not do it. He tried to get
Jesus to act in the flesh. Jesus would not
do it. The idea that you can go around demanding
this and speaking that into being
is Gnosticism. It is arrogance. It is motivational
psychology. But it is not Christianity!
Jesus said He only did what He saw His
Father doing. His only acts were the initiative
of the Father. “…but I speak these
things as the Father taught Me. And He
Who sent Me is with Me; He has not left
Me alone, for I always do the things that
are pleasing to Him” (John 8:28-29). He
walked perfectly in the Spirit as our
example. “As He spoke these things, many
came to believe in Him” (30).
Those who are sincere of heart will always
know spiritual authority as opposed
to heavy shepherding and Nicolaitanism.
They will know real anointing if they are
right with God, and they will know the difference
automatically. It will not even take
much discernment. They will know automatically
what is an anointing and what
is hype artistry. They will know automatically
what is spiritual authority and what is
heavy shepherding. “Many came to believe
in Him” (30).
“Jesus therefore was saying to those
Jews who had believed in Him, [Now,
He is touching the religious establishment.]
‘If you abide in My Word, then
you are truly disciples of mine; [This
idea of “word” goes back to John 1.]
and you shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free’” (31-32).
Elsewhere, Jesus is defined as the
Truth. This is another problem today. During
the laughing, drunken deception a few
years ago, one of that group tried to tell
Philip Powell that “God is bigger than
His Word.” Philip Powell, who used to be
an Assemblies of God executive in this
country, had too much integrity to keep his
mouth shut when the heresy began taking
over. Philip Powell showed this man in
Isaiah where it says, “God magnifies His
Word above His name,” and said, “Who
is right? You or the Bible?” He had no response
to Philip Powell. Philip was dead
right because the Bible is right. “You shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free.” After people have been in psychological
bondage to cult groups and then
they learn the truth, they are free.
“They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s
offspring, and have never yet been
enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say,
‘You shall become free’?’” (32). Jesus is
speaking about slavery to sin. He is speaking
spiritually. They are thinking physically,
temporally.
“Truly, truly,….” When you see the
words, “truly, truly” in the gospels, or “verily,
verily,” this tells you the original language
was not Greek. It tells you the original
language was Hebrew, or more likely,
the Hebrew dialect, Aramaic. In Semitic
languages, like Aramaic, Hebrew, Hamo
Semitic, other Chaldean dialects such as
Syriac or Acadian, to make something
emphatic, or to make it superlative, say it
twice. If you want to say, “It is very cold,”
you say, “cold, cold,” or “very warm” say,
“warm, warm.” When you say something
twice or you see that emphatic repetition,
that is driving the point, and it means the
rest of the text, everything that follows,
hinges on that verse.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who
commits sin is the slave of sin” (34). The
Greek text here is present continuous. The
Greek language has no present tense as
English does. In Greek, John is not John the
Baptist. First of all, he was a Pentecostal. In
Greek, he is John the Baptizer.
In John 8:34 , it says, “…everyone who
commits sin is the slave of sin.” That does
not mean that every time we sin, we are
slaves to sin. It means we do not practice
sin. “He who is born of God does not sin.”
It is present continuous active. Christians
may fall into sin, but they do not practice
it habitually.
And the slave does not remain in the
house forever; the son does remain
forever. If therefore the son shall make
you free, you shall be free indeed.
[Now He is getting close to calling
Himself God’s Son.] I know that you
are Abraham’s offspring; [Here He
is speaking anthropologically.] yet
you seek to kill Me, because My Word
has no place in you. I speak the things
which I have seen with My Father;
therefore you also do the things which
you heard from your father. They answered
and said to Him, “Abraham
is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If
you are Abraham’s children, do the
deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you
are seeking to kill Me, a man who
has told you the truth, which I heard
from God; this Abraham did not
do. You are doing the deeds of your
father.” They said to Him, “We were
not born of fornication; we have one
Father, even God.” Jesus said to them,
“If God were you Father, you would
love Me; for I proceeded forth and
have come from God, for I have not
even come on My own initiative, but
He sent Me. Why do you not understand
what I am saying? It is because
you cannot hear My Word. You are of
your father the devil, and you want to
do the desires of your father. He was
a murderer from the beginning, and
does not stand in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. Whenever he
speaks a lie, he speaks from his own
nature, for he is a liar, and the father
Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

of lies.” (35-44)
When you see the money preachers lying,
they are speaking from their own nature because
they are of their father, the devil. People
ask how can I speak so strongly about
preachers. How could Jesus tell them they
were of their father, the devil? I honestly
believe that John Avanzini, Kenneth Copeland,
and Benny Hinn are of their father,
the devil. “But because I speak the truth,
you do not believe Me” (45). If I were to
stand up here and lie to you, put on a show,
blow on you, put my coat on you, and con
all your money out of you, I would be acceptable
to the Sanhedrin. But if I tell you
the truth, I stand here condemned.
He who is of God hears the words of
God; for this reason you do not hear
them, because you are not of God. The
Jews, [that is, the Judeans] answered
and said to Him, “Do we not say
rightly that you are a Samaritan and
have a demon?” (47-48)
When you point out their heresy and
their con artistry, these people say you are
demonic. Many people did not go along with
the Assemblies of God bringing in Benny
Hinn or did not go along with the laughing
and drunken thing, and they were told
there was something demonic about them.
How many of you were told something like
that? They will always say something like
that and those who speak against it are told
they are demonic. We have a video of the
lawyer of Pensacola, John Kilpatrick, the
liar, lying about the vibrating girl. He lied
saying that she was from a good Christian
family, and he knew her parents when, in
fact, she grew up in a broken home. He
lied, and he was caught lying on video. He
also predicted, gave this big prophecy,
against Hank Hanegraaff who warned that
Pensacola was not of God. Kilpatrick said
God was going to bring down Hank Hanegraaff
in three months. Hank Hanegraaff
had a countdown on American radio, and
at the end of three months, he pronounced
John Kilpatrick a false prophet. While I
don’t endorse Hank Hanegraaff now, he
was right concerning this situation and at
the end of the three months, John Kilpatrick,
the leader of Pensacola, fell off a roof,
smashed his pelvis, and was brought out in
a wheelchair. The only one God brought
down was John Kilpatrick, and now the
women of Pensacola are coming to Kevin
Conner’s place. What do you expect?
“Jesus answered, ‘I do not have a demon;
but I honor My Father, and you
dishonor Me. But I do not seek My
glory; there is One Who seeks and
judges. Truly, truly, [There it is again.]
I say to you, if anyone keeps My word
he shall never see death” (49-51).
Again, this is present continuous active.
This does not mean you will not die. It
means death will not be a permanent, ongoing
state because of the resurrection.
The Jews [the Judeans] said to Him,
“Now we know that you have a
demon. Abraham died, and the prophets
also; and You say,‘If anyone keeps
My word, he shall never taste of
death.’ Surely You are not greater than
our father Abraham, who died? The
prophets died too; whom do You make
Yourself out to be?” Jesus answered,
“If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing;
it is My Father who glorifies Me,
of whom you say, ‘He is our God’;
and you have not come to know Him,
but I know Him; and if I say that I do
not know Him, I shall be a liar like
you….” (52-55)
Notice how He talked to these people
in front of the congregation where the biggest
religious leaders of the day were liars
and deceivers. That is what Jesus did. Now
I am not like Jesus, but I am supposed to
try to be like Him. I want to be like Him in
righteousness and in love, but I also want to
be like Him in truth.
…but I do know Him and keep His word.
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day,
and he saw it and was glad. The Jews therefore
said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years
old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus
said,. [There it is again. It is emphatic in the
Greek, in its meaning in the original spoken
Aramaic, or in Hebrew, Ani Hu Ani. This is
it! This is it!] I say to you, before Abraham
was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up
stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Him
self, and went out of the temple. (55-59)
This happens in the holiday season
between Feast of Tabernacles and
Hanukkah. Hanukkah is the Jewish Feast
of Miracles and Lights. Right after Tabernacles,
the morrow day when this takes
place is known as Simchat Torah, the Joy of
the Torah, which is the climax of the Feast
of Tabernacles. To this day, Orthodox Jews
take the Torah scrolls, and they dance with
the scrolls, and people throw rice at them
like at a wedding because the Jew is married
to the Torah. It is usually the members
of the Jewish community who have contributed
the most to the Jewish causes of the
synagogue who are invited to dance with
the scrolls. They are called the HARAN,
the bridegrooms. It is the only time during
the year that the little boys who have
not yet been bar mitzvahed are allowed to
pray the blessing in the synagogue. This
is Simchat Torah. The Jews read the Law
and the prophets the Torah and Ha Torah,
annually, an election, an annual liturgical
cycle together with the prayer book called
Feature Article – Continued
the Siddur. The annual cycle begins on
Simchat Torah. This very day goes back to
Genesis 1:1.
When Jesus gives a new law, it is the
idea of a new beginning, a harkening back
to the beginning, the creation and the new
creation. The theme of new beginning becomes
paramount.
Simchat Torah is the Jewish Feast of
Light. Two giant menorahs, lamps, with
seven candlesticks (like we see in Revelation
1) would be topped up with oil. At Hanukkah,
it had nine branches, but the normal
one in the temple had seven. They were
about three and a half stories high, pure
beaten gold, but hollow inside. It was at
this time of year that the Sanhedrin would
top up the tanks in the lamps with olive oil
that came from the Mount of Olives. This
was the time of year the lamps were filled,
and the wicks were trimmed.
It was against this background that Jesus
says, “I will give living water.” In verse 1,
He comes down from the Mount of Olives
and says, “I am the light of the world.” He
took what was being done in the temple
and applied it to Himself. These lamps are
symbols of the Word of God. Jesus says,
“You do not believe My Words?” What
are these words? “Thy Word is a lamp to
my feet, and a light to my path” (Psalm
119:105). The wise virgins will have oil
in their lamps. Faithful Christians will understand
the Scriptures when Jesus comes
back in the darkness at the end. Jesus is
taking the background of Simchat Torah to
explore and explain everything that is happening
here. To understand what this is and
how it works, we have to read about Simchat
Torah in Leviticus 23.
This is the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles.
You shall live in booths for seven days;
all the native-born in Israel shall live
in booths, so that your generations
may know that I had the sons of Israel
live in booths when I brought them out
from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD
your God. [There it is again.] So Moses
declared to the sons of Israel the appointed
times of the LORD. (Leviticus
23:42-44)
Notice the parallel between Leviticus
and John. John 8 is Leviticus 24 fulfilled
in Jesus. We have the end of the Feast of
Booths at the end of Leviticus 23, and the
beginning of Simchat Torah in chapter
24. The New Testament parallel of Leviticus
23 and 24 is the end of the Feast of
Booths in John 7 and then Simchat Torah in
John 8 when they go back to Genesis.
“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Command the sons of Israel that they
bring you clear oil from beaten olives for
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly

Feature Article – Continued
the light, to make a lamp burn continually”
(Leviticus 24:1). The Levites are bringing
the olive oil from the Mount of Olives to
the temple to trim up the lamps. In John
8:1, Jesus, the light of the world, comes
down from the Mount of Olives. He is
the light of the world. He is going to explain
the Scriptures. The Levites were very
sure about the lamp and how to fill it up
physically. Jesus was speaking about what
it meant spiritually. Outside the veil of testimony
in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall
keep it in order from evening to morning
before the Lord continually; it shall be a
perpetual statute throughout your generations.
He shall keep the lamps in order on
the pure gold lamp stand before the LORD
continually. (3-4)
In the ancient near East, in order to maximize
the amount of sun, or light, inside a
room, you have a convex, concave architectural
design. The windows were wide
outside with decreasing angulation, a funnel
effect, coming to the inside, so the sun
made spotlights to light a room. The temple
was the opposite, like a reverse triangle, so
the light of the Torah would shine out over
Jerusalem. The lamps represented the Word
of God, so they had to burn day and night,
so light would always be coming out of the
temple. His Word is the lamp, always shining
out over His people and over His city.
Then you shall take fine flour and bake
twelve cakes with it; two-tenths of an
ephah shall be in each cake. And you
shall set them in two rows, six to a
row, on the pure gold table before the
LORD. And you shall put pure frankincense
on each row, that it may be a
memorial portion for the bread, even
an offering by fire to the LORD. (5-7)
There are twelve cakes, one for each
of the tribes. The grain comes first. Only
after you had the grain did you have the
incense. We are told in Revelation that
frankincense represents the prayers of the
saints. It is our prayer and worship. Notice,
the grain must come first. There must be oil
in the lamp. The illumination of the Holy
Spirit through the Scriptures and the grain
must be there. Then and only then can there
be worship! There is no doxology without
theology. In other words, if the doctrine is
not right, there is no acceptable worship. The
Father wants to be worshipped in Spirit and
in truth. If you do not have the truth, the
Spirit is wrong. This takes place at the Jewish
Feast of the Bible, the Feast of Booths,
followed by the Simchat Torah.
In Nehemiah 8:1, at the Feast of Tabernacles,
living water flows. Ezra the scribe
stands. The book is opened, and in verse 8,
the men with Ezra and the Levites translate
the Law for the people. After their capture
by Babylon, most of the Jews did not know
Hebrew anymore. They knew Aramaic. So,
they were given the original meaning of the
words of the original language. The priority
of the original languages is Hebrew,
Greek, and Aramaic. This is more important
than any translation. God gave His
Word through these languages, and the priority
of the original languages comes first
when scripture is expounded.
Some of the King James only fanatics
actually are lifting up a seventeenth century
edition of a translation over the original
text. Some people in this country are
influenced by this identity movement and
neo-Nazis like Wendy Howard and Wendy
Booster on the Gold Coast. They are into this
idea that lifts up translations over the original
texts. In Nehemiah 8, they expound the
original meaning of the original language.
Notice, in verse 3, it was an all-day Bible
study from early morning to midday. The
people studied for hours, and then, and only
then, did the people stand up with their
hands raised and say, “Amen. Amen.” They
bowed down and worshipped. First, the
living water flows, and the Word of God
is preached and expounded. Then, when
people understand what God wants them to
understand, they worship Him in Spirit and
in truth. This is one of the reasons that after
thirty years the Charismatic movement has
totally failed to bring revival. It is the New
Age movement that has changed society,
not the Charismatic movement.
The New Age movement and the Charismatic
movement began at the same time
in the late 1960s when the Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi came to England to the Beatles,
the Rolling Stones, and Hollywood film
stars. This was the same time the Charismatic
movement got going. Both movements
declared they were going to spiritually
transform Western society. After thirty
years, which one has done it? Has the Charismatic
movement made it more Christian,
or has the New Age movement made it
more New Age? The New Age movement
has. The Charismatic movement has failed
shamefully and indefensibly. It has not
changed society. It has not changed the
church, and one of the reasons it has failed
so totally and miserably is that it is experiential
theology. It is not Bible based. In
a real move of God, the Jews expounded
the Scriptures. Then they worshipped. The
Charismatic movement said, “Who needs
this? We will just worship.”
So you have an Alpha course book? Put
a match to it. Jesus never said to make
converts. He said to make disciples. Alpha
is not Biblical. Alpha, among other things,
is nemocentric. It is based on the Holy
Spirit. Our faith is based on Christ. It is
Christocentric. In John 14 and 16, the Spirit
of God points people to Christ, never to
Himself. He lifts up Jesus. All this, “Good
morning, Holy Spirit; come Holy Spirit. We
worship you,” is not Biblical. We worship
the Holy Spirit? How? In the context of the
Trinity of God, yes, but not one place, not
one time is He ever prayed to alone outside
of the Trinity. That tells you that is not
His Spirit. Old time Pentecostals’ emphasis
on the Holy Spirit was to point people to
Christ. Old time Pentecostals used to sing,
“Give me oil in my lamp. Keep it burning.”
They loved the Bible. Some people say,
“We do not need the Bible. We just need
experience.” That is New Age. That is not
Christianity. Today, most of the Pentecostal
movement is theologically or philosophically
New Age. It is not Christian, and I am
a Pentecostal.
After more than thirty years, the Pentecostal
movement has failed, and it has
failed because there is no worship. What
we see today is the worship of worship,
the worship of experience. The purpose
of Alpha, according to Nicky Gumbel,
is the Holy Spirit weekend away to get
people the Toronto blessing. None of it is
Biblical. Again, Jesus never said to make
converts. They say, “Oh, so many people
are being saved.” Saved into what? The
Pharisees made converts, and they became
twice as much the sons of hell as they used
to be. In England, where Alpha comes from,
a poll was taken of over two hundred people
who took Alpha. Only four of them could
explain the gospel, and it is likely they were
saved before they took the Alpha course. If
you took Alpha, put a match to it. (We
have tapes and a book dealing with Alpha.)
I am only using this to illustrate a point.
There is no doxology without theology.
There is no right worship and praise without
right doctrine. The Charismatic movement
is a lot of garbage, but not Charisma,
not the gifts, but the movement has failed
and failed miserably. People have been
saved, but saved into what? A zoo?
In the Bible, first they top up the lamps
with the oil. The grain was there, and only
after the grain was there was there incense.
This is what Jesus was explaining. In
Leviticus 24:10, something happens. There
is a radical shift in the literary genre. It
goes from ritual prescription to a narrative,
a story, of a blasphemer with a false father.
What happens in John 8? Jesus speaks of
blasphemers with a false father. This very
text, Leviticus 24, is what the Jews would
have read concerning that feast day, but they
did not understand what they were reading.
Now the son of an Israelite woman,
whose father was an Egyptian, went
out among the sons of Israel; and the
Israelite woman’s son and a man of
Israel struggled with each other in the
10 Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

camp. And the son of the Israelite woman
blasphemed the Name [YHWH, I
AM] and cursed. So they brought him
to Moses. (Now his mother’s name
was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri,
of the tribe of Dan). And they put
him in custody so that the command
of the LORD might be made clear to
them. Then the LORD spoke to Moses,
saying, “Bring the one who cursed
outside the camp, and let all who heard
him lay their hands on his head; then
let all the congregation stone him. And
you shall speak to the sons of Israel,
saying, ‘If anyone curses his God, then
he shall bear his sin.’” (10-18)
Look at John 8 now in light of what is
happening in Simchat Torah. There are
similar elements. In Leviticus 23 and in
John 8, there are the lamp and olive oil,
shemen zayit, and Jesus comes to the Mount
of Olives where they get the olive oil. There
is a story of a stoning. There was somebody
who was anthropologically a Jew but paternally
had the wrong father. Jesus says in
John 8, “I know you are Abraham’s children,
but he is not your father.” Simchat
Torah in Leviticus 24 and John 8 are the
same day of the Hebrew calendar. (You will
not get this from commentaries which are
written by people who think Christianity is
a Greek, or Hellenistic, religion.)
Look at John 8 in light of the Simchat
Torah. The very day they bring the olive
oil from the Mount of Olives to put in the
lamp, Jesus comes down from the Mount of
Olives and says He is the light. A woman
is caught in adultery. Generally, the Jews
stoned people to death for most crimes.
Sometimes certain people were burned or
slain with the sword, but the normal capital
execution was stoning. Why? What does
Paul tell us in 1 Corinthians 3? The Law
of Moses was the Law of death engraved
on stones. It is a midrashic illustration. The
Law shows us we are condemned. Stoning
shows we are condemned by the Law. The
whole purpose of the Law is to show us that
we are fallen. We are condemned, we need
a Savior, and we cannot keep the Torah.
Through the example of the Jews, we cannot
keep God’s Law. The Jews exemplify
the human dilemma. God has a standard we
cannot keep, and it shows we need someone
who can fulfill it and keep it for us. We
need a Savior. The Jews are an illustration
of this “stoned people,” but now with a new
beginning, grace will triumph over mercy.
In the Greek text, Jesus writing with His
finger is emphatic. “Thou shalt not commit
adultery” is one of the decalogues, the Ten
Commandments.
All Torah is based on the Old Testament.
The New Testament is based on the Old
Testament. The New Testament is simply
the Messianic fulfillment of the Law and the
prophets. There is nothing in the New Testament
not found in the Old except for the
New Covenant, but the doctrine and teaching
are there. Again, the New Testament is
the Messianic fulfillment of the Law and
the prophets. The Law and the prophets,
however, are based on the Ten Commandments,
the Decalogue. All other Scripture
was given by God through human agency
written by people inspired by God, except
for the Ten Commandments. God wrote
those with His own finger. That is scripture
that was not the inspired of God because it
was simply The Word of God; God inspired
no else to write it. So, by Jesus writing with
His finger, He is showing Himself as the I
AM. “I gave the Torah.” This is the Simchat
Torah, the joy of the Torah? Jesus is showing
them what the joy of the Torah is. The
Law says we are condemned, but the real
joy of the Torah is that He Who gave the
Torah is here to save us.
This is similar to the Blue Laws we have
in the United States. A Blue Law is not normally
enforced. The Jews would not normally
stone a woman for adultery. Islam will
still do it with Sharia law, but the men usually
get away with it, especially if they are
connected with the House of Saud in Saudi
Arabia, but they will stone women. By the
second temple period, the Jews did not normally
stone adulterous women, but the law
was still on the books. They were just making
this woman a scapegoat. Her accusers
were fornicators themselves, virtually, but
they were only using her to try to hang Jesus.
She who knew she was condemned
found mercy, but notice what Jesus says
to her, “Sin no more.” The Hebrew word
for “to repent” is teshuva, literally to turn
from sin toward God. Jesus tells her, “Sin
no more.” Jesus did not come to judge. She
was judged already. The text does not say
she was not a sinner. He told her to stop
sinning the same as in John 5. Jesus condemned
the sin, not the sinner, but He told
her to stop doing it. People get saved and
need to stop abusing alcohol, stop smoking,
stop gambling, or stop sleeping around. We
have to stop! Holiness is not taught anymore,
and I am not talking about legalism.
I am talking about holiness.
So, Jesus begins writing. Remember that
you needed two witnesses, and He is using
juridical language and has the testimony of
two. “Where are your witnesses?” However,
the two witnesses could not be guilty of the
same crime, and Jesus begins writing, and
the accusers begin wandering away. Why?
The Sanhedrin would have known why
immediately. Look at Jeremiah 17:13. “Oh
Lord, the hope of Israel, All who forsake
You will be put to disgrace. Those who turn
away on earth will be written down,Because
Feature Article – Continued
they have forsaken the fountain of living
water, even the LORD.” John 4 says, “I will
give you living water,” and John 7, during
the Feast of Tabernacles says, “I give you
the living water.” Who is the fountain of
living water? Jesus, the Lord. The names
of those who forsake Him will be written
down. Jesus was writing their names. In
Revelation, there are earth dwellers and
heaven dwellers. “Woe to those who dwell
on the earth.” Either your name is written
in the Book of Life, your name is written
in heaven, or your name is written on the
earth. Those whose names were written
on the earth were so frightened that they
walked away from Him. They forsook the
fountain of living water (Jeremiah 17).
The biggest deception the devil has
raised up in the church is the faith prosperity
and Kingdom Now groups. Both
get Christians to trust in the temporal
world. Kingdom Now advocates that this
is our home. They try to get you to write
your name on the earth. The meek will inherit
the earth, in the millennium, but the
Kingdom Now people do not even believe
in the millennium. They think this is the
millennium. If Satan is bound, I want to
know who keeps letting him go? In John
8, the woman’s accusers walk away. So
the argument begins. Who has the right
father? Who has the wrong father? In Leviticus
24, they were Jews, but the blasphemer
had the wrong father. In John 8,
Abraham is not their father; their father
was the devil. The blasphemer in Leviticus
with the Egyptian father is the same. His
father is the devil. He blasphemed the great
I AM, the Name. With the woman caught
in adultery, He had penance. She had penance.
She was repentant. She turned from
sin. For her, the adulteress, there is forgiveness,
and that is the joy of the Torah. That
is the Simchat which means “joy,” the joy
of the Torah.
I have more hope for prostitutes than I do
for some of our biggest preachers. I expect
the prostitutes and pimps to be in heaven
before some of these people because prostitutes
and pimps do not take money from old
ladies on pensions and put them under guilt
and condemnation because they have a heart
condition. They do not exploit the poor and
unemployed by perverting the gospel. I
would expect to see a prostitute, pimp, or
homosexual repent and accept Jesus faster
than I would some main “Christian” leaders
today in many denominations. I am sorry to
say that, but I believe it is true. It is happening
here, and it is happening now. There is
hope for a woman caught in adultery. “Sin
no more.” She met Jesus and has the joy
of the Torah. He did not condemn her. She
was condemned already. The men who
thought they were the “holy Joes” had the
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly 11

Feature Article – Continued
false father. They were the ones Jesus put
under condemnation because they tried to
condemn Him.
It gets really interesting now. We are
building up to the Feast of Hanukkah. In
the story of Daniel, the prophet, Daniel predicts
what would happen with Antiochus
Epiphanes and the Maccabees. Antiochus
is a major type of antichrist who sported the
pig in the temple before an image of Zeus,
the Greek god, and to which Antiochus
gave his own features. The stones of the
altar, the mesabeach we call it in Hebrew,
were holy. The Jews could not throw the
stones away, but neither could they sacrifice
on them anymore because the stones were
defiled with pig’s blood, an un-kosher animal,
sacrificed to another god. Other gods
are demons to the Jews. Moses says they
are shedim. In Corinthians, Paul says they
are demonoid (in Greek). Hari Krishna is a
demon. Shiva and Krishna are demons. So,
the Jews did not know what to do with the
stones. Hanukkah is coming, and the stones
are stacked in Solomon’s portico. The Jews
believed that at Hanukkah, the Messiah
would come and tell them what to do with
the stones. They could not throw them away
because they were holy, but they could not
use them anymore because they were defiled.
They had to build a new altar. So,
the stones were stacked up in the temple
waiting for Messiah to come. Hanukkah
arrives. This situation comes to a climax
in John 10:31. So the stones are stacked
up in the temple, the people are waiting for
the Messiah to come and tell them what to
do with them, but when Messiah arrives,
they want to stone Him. Here they pick
up stones. Where did they get the stones?
From the temple. The Messiah came to tell
them what to do with the stones all right,
and they tried to kill Him for it.
The woman caught in adultery gives a new
beginning. Jeremiah said Messiah would
give a new testament, a new covenant. He
gave the Torah that said the woman was
condemned. That is why they were going
to stone her. The Torah was engraved
on stone. It condemns. But the joy of the
Torah points to the Messiah Who gives
salvation. If you are not a Christian, there
may be a lot of things here you do not understand,
but I can tell you this. You are as
guilty as that woman caught in adultery.
We have all sinned. “All fall short of the
glory of God.”
Perhaps you have seen these con artists
on television, these liars from America, and
you say, “I cannot believe that,” and you
are right. You should not believe men like
Benny Hinn or Andrew Evans. They are
deceivers. But that is not Jesus. The issue is
not Christianity. The issue is Jesus Christ.
You are as condemned as that woman,
but there is good news. There is Simchat
Torah, a joy of the Torah. The same God
who gave the Torah is here to save and forgive
you. There is very little hope for those
corrupt preachers, but if you do not know
Jesus, there is certainly hope for you. He
can forgive your sin and give you a new
life even today. He can say to you, “They
don’t condemn you? Well, I don’t condemn
you either. Sin no more.” What Jesus did
for her, he wants to do for you. I do not
care if you are a prostitute, a hooker, or a
junkie. (I was a cocaine addict when I was
in university.) I do not care what you are.
Jesus died for you anyway.
But there is joy in the Torah! He is here
to forgive you and give you a new life, and
He will do it! “Truly, truly I say to you, if
anyone keeps My Word, he shall never see
death.” Those religious hypocrites did not
keep His Word, and they are not keeping it
today. May He give us all the grace to keep
His Word.
God bless
Jacob Prasch †††
“Truly, truly
I say to you,
if anyone
keeps My
Word,
he shall
never see
death.”
Your Letters and
Comments
Question:
I heard Jacob speak as a guest on TruNews
radio program and was quite impressed with
his viewpoints. Would Jacob please answer 2
questions I have for him:
When does he believe the rapture of the
Church will take place in relation to the 7 year
Tribulation?
What does he think about the modern day
Apostolic Movement. Does he believe the office
of Apostle is relevant for today?
Thank you for your time and may God bless
you. V. O’Brien
Reply: Jacob Prasch and most of at Moriel
are intra-trib in our eschatology. The rapture
and resurrection take pace between the 6 th and
7 th seals of The Apocalypse. Pre-wrath has the
timing correct but is wrong about a number
of other issues such as the identity of the restrainer
and the nature of the great apostasy.
We cannot address these matters at length by
e-mail however and must refer you to Jacob’s
books and recorded teaching material available
on Amazon or through the Moriel website.
You may wish to read “Shadows of The
Beast” and listen to his series on ‘Understanding
the Rapture” and his Apocalypse DVD series
filmed on Patmos in Greece. The rapture
will not happen until the faithful church knows
the identity of the two beasts of Revelation
chapter 13 both of whom are antichrist but
more commonly referred to as the antichrist
and false prophet who will be both akin to,
yet unique from the many antichrist and false
prophets who precede ad foreshadow them.
Again, this an involved subject we cannot further
address by e-mail.
Some of Jacob’s friends and ministry colleagues
whose ministries we otherwise endorse
disagree with Jacob on this point ( some
strongly) and hold to a pre-trib position which
I for over 35 years I have remained convinced
is mistaken although many fine and
beloved brethren in Jesus staunchly cling to
it. In time The Holy Spirit will show them
the position is wrong while some are revising
their perspectives. Our argument is with
those who deny that their is a rapture such a
extreme preterists. We do not allow differing
views as to the sequence of events proceeding
the rapture or the exact point of its timing in
the sequence to become a basis for division
but only for discussion.
The New Apostolic Reformation Movement
however is utterly false. It is a deception
and C. Wagner and his ilk are demonstrable
false teachers and false prophets. We again
however would need to refer you to our web
site and to the: Come Let Us Reason and the
. . . . . Continued on page 24
12 Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

Chip Thompson
Pertinent Factoid
Ministering to the
“Unreached People Groups” of Utah
”
Note from David Lister:
I asked Chip Thompson to write the
following article to let our Moriel people
know about the work that Moriel we has
co-labored with and supported. Chip and
his family, are great evangelists to the Mormons
and he has a vibrant ministry that
reaches beyond the church he has planted
in rural Utah. Tri-Grace does year round
training teaching the truth of the gospel,
the defense of The Faith as well as how to
witness to Mormons in a way that not only
reflects the love of God but is effective in
communicating The Truth to them, opening
Mormons eyes, turning them from darkness
to light and from the kingdom of satan to
the Kingdom of God. May the Lord bless
them and please pray for them.
As unbelievable as the title of this article
may sound, it is sadly true. Much of rural
Utah is for the most part devoid of any type
of hands-on Christian ministry. There are
many rural counties in Utah that register
less than 1% Christian. And, virtually every
polygamist community in Utah has for the
most part been totally ignored by Christian
evangelists.
As examples, Sanpete County, the county
in which our ministry, Tri-Grace Ministries,
is located, is less than one half of one
percent Christian. And, for several years we
have conducted outreach in a polygamist
community, with over 10,000 residents,
that has a total of two Christians living in
their community—let’s see, what percentage
would that be? .0002% Christian! I
believe we are justified in saying that less
than 1% Christianity easily constitutes an
“unreached people group” and this statistic
would accurately describe approximately
half of the state of Utah.
It breaks our hearts that such large portions
of Utah have never been evangelized
for Christ. This truth is a mark of shame on
the United States of America which prides
itself as being the greatest Christian nation
on earth. When Jesus Christ commanded
his disciples, in Acts chapter one, to be his
witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
and to the uttermost parts of the earth, He
was instituting a pattern for His church
to follow. Like Jesus Christ’s disciples of
old, we must start in our own community
(for 1st century Christians—Jerusalem).
Next, we are to reach the geographic areas
surrounding our community, our county
and state (for the Lord’s Apostles—all of
Judea). We are next commanded evangelize
the outcasts of our nation (in Israel this was
Samaria). And, finally, we are to send disciples
to the uttermost parts of our world.
Christian churches in America have done
a great job of reaching those closest to them,
our “Jerusalem and Judea” and we have
done a valiant job of sending disciples to the
uttermost parts of our earth. What America
forgot was our “Samaria”—UTAH. Not unlike
Samaritans of old, the Mormons are the
religious outcasts of America. And just as
the Jews shunned and ignored the Samaritans,
even so America has to a large degree
shunned and ignored the Mormons. This
article will hopefully open our eyes to a
community of people, in the very heartland
of America, who desperately need Jesus.
My family and I moved to Ephraim,
Utah, 20 years ago. We moved to Ephraim
because of its desperate spiritual need. It
may be said that Utah is America’s last
spiritual frontier. Similar to Romans 15:20
where Paul says, “So I have made it my aim
to preach the gospel, not where Christ was
named, lest I should build on another man’s
foundation, but as it is written: ‘To whom
He was not announced, they shall see;
and those who have not heard shall understand’”,
even so we have labored to reach a
community of Mormons who, until our arrival,
had never heard the true gospel of Jesus
Christ. We can testify to the fact that we
regularly share our faith with Mormons who
have never spoken with a true Christian.
We share a message with you today
that Jesus shared with his disciples as they
passed through Samaria two thousand
years ago, “Do you not say, ‘There are still
four months and then comes the harvest’?
Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and
look at the fields, for they are already white
for harvest!” (John 4:35-36). Utah is a mission
field that is ripe for harvest. In the past
20 years, we have seen a vibrant Christian
community spring up in Ephraim, Utah.
We have shared our faith with multitudes
of Mormons and today the Ephraim Church
of the Bible is filled with EXMOS (EX-
MOrmon ChristianS). We rejoice in God’s
goodness and grace.
Doesn’t it seem as though Christianity
has a tendency to thrive in the most unlikely
places? When we moved to Ephraim 20
years ago our only expectation was to be a
light in a very spiritually dark place. We had
no clue what God was about to do, wow did
God surprise us. As we have labored, God’s
word has come alive for us—as Ephesians
3:20-21 says, “Now to Him who is able to
do exceedingly abundantly above all that
we ask or think, according to the power that
works in us, to Him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever
and ever. Amen.” God truly has blessed
exceedingly abundantly above all that we
ever asked or thought. We have found that
when we needed God the most, He came
through for us in miraculous ways. Humor
me for a few paragraphs as I brag about the
miraculous works of God in rural Utah.
My family and I started the Ephraim
Church in our living room 20 years ago.
And today, in a most unlikely place, a
150 year old 98% Mormon community,
the Ephraim Church is not only surviving
but thriving. In the past year and a half the
Ephraim Church has expanded its facilities
twice—first, by doubling the size of its
auditorium and second, by installing a 30’
x 70’ classroom building. And get this, the
classroom building was a free gift from the
Sanpete County Public School System—
nothing short of a miracle.
Seven years ago, the Ephraim Church
also started a full-blown college ministry
at Snow College (named after LDS Prophet
Lorenzo Snow) which later developed into
Tri-Grace Ministries. The TGM facility is
the most beautiful old Victorian house in
Ephraim, built in 1897, it’s worth is over
$300,000 and it was also a free gift from
God—another miracle. When we were required
by Ephraim City to acquire additional
off-street parking for the TGM facilities,
our Mormon neighbor sold us a small piece
of property for $10,000. As we were tearing
down an old shed that came with the
property we found a stash of $100 bills—
Seventy one hundred dollar bills to be exact
($7,000 which nearly paid for the lot).
As my Grandpa Butler used to say, “God’s
work done in God’s way will never lack
God’s supply”, so true. To God be the glory.
We have always viewed our ministry in
Utah as a “David and Goliath” type experience.
From the very beginning we prayed
that God would somehow make it possible
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly 13

Pertinent Factoid – Continued
for us to impact all of Utah for Jesus—a
task way beyond our limited resources. As
we entered the spiritual battlefield of Utah,
we seemed to be less significant that Davvid
and Mormonism seemed larger than
Goliath, but nothing is impossible with
God, right? Once again, God had a plan
that was bigger than ours.
Unbeknown to us, a few years ago a very
wealthy businessman was entertaining the
idea of joining the LDS Church. On the day
he planned to get baptized into Mormonism,
as he was entering the gates of Salt
Lake City’s Temple Square, a Christian
handed him a tract which exposed the lies
of the Mormon religion. This wealthy man
read the tract and God changed his mind
about joining the LDS Church. He was so
appalled by the fact that he had almost been
deceived into joining a religious cult that he
decided to expose Mormonism to the world.
He then created a video titled Jesus Christ /
Joseph Smith, A Search for Truth and gave
the Christian missionaries of Utah enough
DVDs to distribute one to every household
in Utah. (I don’t know the exact count but
hundreds of thousands would be an accurate
estimate.) Our ministry, had the joyful
responsibility of distributing these DVDs
to every household in rural Utah! By God’s
grace we were able to raise the funds for
postage and we flooded Utah with Jesus/Joseph
DVDs. This DVD distribution rocked
the Mormon world in ways we will never
understand. Not only did every home in
Utah receive a free DVD but these videos
were also sent to 19 different states and 9
foreign countries. This outreach so impacted
the LDS Church that we received our first
death threats (some by e-mail and others by
phone). But, like Goliath’s empty threats
against David and his God, these threats
were nothing more than positive evidence
that God had answered our prayers. What
a miracle—God is Good; All the Time.
We also want to share with you another
miracle of God’s grace, possibly the greatest
miracle of all. Six years ago our ministry
began an outreach to an isolated polygamist
cult (we will not use any community or personal
names for safety reasons). For those
who may be unfamiliar with Utah polygamists,
many of these communities are completely
closed to outsiders. The “prophet”
of one of these communities is locked away
for the rest of his life for sex trafficking (he
married 12 year old girls to dirty old men).
It is hard for us to describe the desperate
needs of these communities.
Six years ago, on a beautiful spring day,
we conducted our first outreach to a polygamist
community. As we entered the town,
it was buzzing with activity, but as soon
as we started distributing door hangers, it
immediately morphed into a ghost town.
Mother’s gathered their children, fled to
their houses, and peeked out at us through
closed blinds. The polygamist leaders followed
us in large pick-up trucks with darkly
tinted windows. We were obviously the first
“outsiders” to ever venture into this isolated
cult community. It was the weirdest and
most intimidating experience of my life.
Every year for the past six years we have
reached out with the love of Jesus to this
hurting community and every year, the icy
reception we at first experienced seems
to slightly melt away. Three years ago we
started inviting the entire community to a
free BBQ in their city park. The first year
we were thrilled when 50 people cautiously
attended the BBQ. In the years since we
have had as many as 300 local people come
to our BBQ and hang out with our mission
teams for hours at a time. We were told by
those attending our picnic that the polygamist
leaders warned their faithful followers
not to attend the “Devil’s BBQ”.
The greatest miracle we have seen in any
polygamist community happened about 8
months ago when the Lord called a young
Christian couple (two of Tri-Grace Ministries
former staff) to be full-time missionaries
to this polygamist group. God then
opened a door for them to move right into
the middle of this polygamist town. They
are the only outsiders who have ever been
allowed to live in town, and this miracle is
just beginning—we can’t wait to see how
God will use this couple to reach polygamists
for Christ in the years to come.
In behalf of the Christian ministries of
Utah, we would like to ask you to please
pray for us. We really need your prayers!
And, while you are praying, you might pray
what Jesus told his disciples to pray, “When
Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved
with compassion for them, because they
were weary and scattered, like sheep having
no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples,
‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the
laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of
the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’”
(Matthew 9:36-38). We really need
more Christians in Utah—how about you?
The move to evangelize Utah has begun
and we are making headway, but we have
a long way to go. By God’s grace we hope
to see the final spiritual frontier in America
convert to Christ and become one of Christianity’s
strongholds—It could happen, For
with God all things are possible! Right?
Chip Thompson
Founder and Director: Tri-Grace Ministries
96 E. Center St., Ephraim, UT 84627
Website: www.TriGrace.org
E-mail: Chip@TriGrace.org
moriel’s
prayer
closet
A Small corner of rest from the chaos
and tumult of the world around us....
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter
onto thy closet, and when thou
hast shut thy door, pray to thy
Father which is in Secret; and thy
Father which seeth in Secret will
reward thee openly.”
– Matthew 6:6 –
• PrayER - Moriel & Jacob Prasch requests
prayer for Doug Harris of Reachout Trust in the
UK in his ongoing battle with cancer. He has
had to be readmitted into hospital. We pray The
Lord will intervene and by God’s grace we wish
Doug a full recovery. Doug’s family thanks us
all for our love, prayer and support as they go
through this very difficult time. They are look
ing to Jesus, He is their Rockand Deliverer.
• PrayER - Moriel & Jacob Prasch request
prayer for Dave Hunt who is not doing so well
these days. Please lift him up not to suffer and
to pass into glory peacefully and lift his family
up and make them strong knowing that he
preached the Word for many seasons. Let him
hear these words from our Lord and Saviour,
“Well done my good and faithful servant.
• PrayER - Moriel & Jacob Prasch request
prayer for Debra Brisk, wife of Scott Brisk
who does the Moriel BeAlert! Deb has a condition
called complex regional pain syndrome.
Please pray for a successful surgery and a
speedy recovery.
• Prayer - Moriel & Jacob Prasch request
Moriel’s dear friend and close brother Ron R
has requested prayer for him, his daughter and
family. Two days ago his daughter was abducted
as she walked home from school and
repeatedly raped over these two days. Details
at this point are few as to how she escaped
these wicked men’s clutches. Ron’s daughter
is only 13 and Ron asks prayer for her recovery
both physically and mentally.
14 Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

David Royle
Moriel South Africa
Dear friends and family.
Its with thanksgiving I can bring you this
latest report from South Africa. The month
of January was really busy and although
better prepared against the elements we did
battle a bit with the recent rains. Nether the
less we have much to report.
The children had some mixed health issues
with Paulina getting a nasty infection
in her foot, but God is good and after some
prayer the infection went. This is an ongoing
condition with Paulina that has to be
monitored. She is a lovely kid and assists
me in the kitchen. I jokingly call her my
veggie Gimp as every potatoes or carrot
goes through her hands before it reaches
me, she cleans and peals everything and
samples along the way.
While camping out for a few months Lyn
has taken the opportunity to do environmental
studies, looking at ecosystems and
geology. Along the way we have seen on
our land Buck, snakes, Eagles, Mongoose
and all kinds of birds and insects.
Everyone is playing there part in the
Mount of Olives development. We have
taken delivery of another JOJO tank to harvest
rainwater. The steel structure is behind
time due to rain but the foundations for the
legs are in. The bulldozer has been nice and
busy clearing a path for the new house and
also clearing an area for a cottage for Chris
and also one for Abre. Abre has moved into
a cottage a few kilometers down the road so
he can be nearer to work and have his wife
and young son with him. Abre has been a
great addition to the Mount of Olives with
his handyman experience and local knowledge.
We are praying that he and his family
settle in well. Another edition to our camp
site are two new sheds. The larger one is
now our kitchen and living area which is a
welcome addition. It has been very cramped
since the first tents were destroyed, now we
can relax a little as a family. The smaller
shed has been turned into a sleeping quarters
for Chris and also the Moriel office.
We took delivery of 80 Olive trees as
well. This is the first phase of creating a
sustainable income for the home as the children
get older. The Olives we purchased,
thanks to the sponsorship of a sister in the
Lord, are good for both oil production and
also table eating.
Teaching
I have recently had a number of letters
regarding Sabbath keeping. In response I
thought it a good idea to run one of Jacobs
teachings on the subject. I hope you find it
informative.
Sabbath Keeping
Let no man therefore judge you in
meat, or in drink, or in respect of an
holiday, or of the new moon, or of the
sabbath days: Which are a shadow of
things to come... Colossians 2:16-17
I hear the following sentiment often...
“Nice website, but you’ve forgotten to tell
people that they must keep the Sabbath.”
What the writers are referring to is their
belief that we must keep the Saturday sabbath
just like the Jews did in the Old Testament.
These people are dead wrong and
they are out in droves. By and large they
belong to a cult called Seventh Day Adventistism.
Their founder is a false prophetess
named Ellen White.
As with a number of other articles that
I have written on this site, the one you are
now reading was born out of hearing the
same old false doctrine over and over--in
this case, sabbath-keeping. I hear from the
Seventh Day Adventists and I hear from
the Christian babes who are too weak in
the word to withstand their assaults. When
I got up this morning, 2/22/99, it was in my
mind to go ahead and write about it.
The only way to determine if something
is right or wrong is by the Bible. It is our
only source of truth. I cannot stress the importance
of Bible reading enough. When
you know the Book, people can’t fool you.
You won’t be tossed about with every new
wind of doctrine. You won’t be unsteady,
unsure and gullible. People tell me, “What
they are telling me sounds right.” Forget
about sounding right! What does the Bible
say, my friend? “Let God be true and EV-
ERY man a liar.” Don’t be lazy, read the
Bible. The sluggard will pay dearly.
When someone tells you some doctrine,
compare it to the scriptures. Isaiah 8:20–if
they speak not according to this word, it is
because there is no light in them.
How can you know if they are speaking
according to God’s word or not? You’ve got
to read and study it for yourself. The best
thing a Christian can do for their spiritual
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly 15

Moriel South Africa – Continued
growth is read the word of God and obey
it! If you do these two things you’ve got the
best you can get as a Christian. You’ll be
a strong built up soldier of the Lord Jesus
Christ and you will hear from the Lord.
The commandment we are looking at is...
Exodus 20:8–Remember the sabbath day,
to keep it holy.
Seventh Day Adventists will tell you that
you can’t be saved if you don’t worship on
Saturday which is ludicrous. They desire to
live under the Mosaic Law, yet they do not
perform the hundreds of ordinances that
it includes. Even if they did try to live by
the whole Mosaic law they would fail. If
they trust it for their salvation they will go
to hell. God has made only ONE provision,
Jesus (see John 3:36).
The SDAs keep selected portions of the
law based on the writings of their false
prophetess Ellen White who supposedly
got a new vision. There are no more new
visions–we will be judged ONLY by what
God has revealed from Genesis to Revelation.
Jesus said, “...the word that I have
spoken, the same shall judge him in the last
day.” (John 12:48)
As you read through this treatise look for
these points:
• The sabbath is a symbol/shadow/type of
the heavenly rest–book of Hebrews
• It does not matter what day you worship-
-don’t let man judge you in sabbath days-
-Colossians 2:16
• Gentiles not to be yoked down in Mosaic
law–Acts 15
• Christians met on the first day–Acts 20:7
I Corinthians 16:2
• Jesus said the sabbath was made for man’s
use, not man for sabbath–Mark 2:27
• Galatians is for those that would be under
the law
• Sabbath keeping is the only one of the ten
commandments that is not exhorted in the
New Testament
I will include some excerpts from e-mails
exchanged with a person coming out of
comments will be in italics. Also included
are some relevant scriptures along with
short expositions.
I read that it doesn’t matter what day
we keep the Sabbath, and felt freedom for
a short while and then thought about how
Jesus was keeping the Sabbath still.
A couple of things:
• Jesus was Jewish and He kept the whole
law as His fathers according to the flesh
did. He kept the law perfectly so He could
die in our place. The law could never save
anyone. In fact, it killed people--
Romans 7:9–For I was alive without the
law once: but when the commandment
came, sin revived, and I died.
By the law came knowledge of what sin
is. The law kills, it does not make alive.
Without the law, no sin would be imputed.
How would I know I was breaking the speed
limit if there was no sign? I could not be arrested
for there was no written law there.
But as soon as there is a sign and I exceed
its limit, I am a convicted as a lawbreaker.
2 Corinthians 3:6–Who also hath made
us able ministers of the new testament;
not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the
letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Does this mean that the law is bad?
Romans 7:7–What shall we say then?
Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had
not known sin, but by the law: for I
had not known lust, except the law had
said, Thou shalt not covet.
Let me give you an analogy. The law is
like a mirror. When I wake up in the morning
and look in the mirror I see that I need
to comb my hair and brush my teeth. I need
to wash my face. Do I then take the mirror
and proceed to brush my teeth with it? Do
I take the mirror and wash my face with it?
No. The purpose of the mirror is to show
me what kind of shape I am in. Likewise
the law showed us that we look terrible
spiritually. Every one of us has transgressed
God’s standards. When we look at the commandments
we know in our hearts that we
have broken them.
But God did not just show us our filthy
condition and leave it like that. In the fullness
of time, God sent forth His Son Who is
the answer to our sin problem. Jesus Christ
is the One that does the cleaning up–the law
could never clean you up. Just as a mirror cannot
brush your teeth, the law cannot cleanse
your spirit and make you righteous before
God. Only the blood of Jesus can do that.
Galatians 3:10-13–For as many as are
of the works of the law are under the
curse... But that no man is justified by
the law in the sight of God, it is evident:
for, The just shall live by faith.
And the law is not of faith: but, The
man that doeth them shall live in them.
Christ hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse
for us: for it is written, Cursed is every
one that hangeth on a tree.
Hebrews 9:22–And almost all things are
by the law purged with blood; and without
shedding of blood is no remission.
1 John 1:7–But if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
To be cleansed, you’ve got to be washed
in the blood. The law can’t cleanse you. It
can only condemn you and curse you.
We have all transgressed the law–that is
why it was given to us, so that we would see
that we were unclean and needed a Saviour.
The whole purpose of Jesus’ sacrifice was
to redeem us from the strict Mosaic law.
THAT is the new covenant in His blood.
We Christians are now free from the schoolmaster
that brought us to Christ and we are
now under the perfect law of liberty (James
1:25, 2:12)–we are free to do righteousness.
Galatians 3:24–Wherefore the law was
our schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
3:25 But after that faith is come, we are
no longer under a schoolmaster.
In Acts chapter 15 we find out about
Jews who tried to make the Gentiles keep
the law of Moses.
Acts 15:1–And certain men which
came down from Judaea taught the
brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised
after the manner of Moses,
ye cannot be saved.
Acts 15:5–But there rose up certain
of the sect of the Pharisees which
believed, saying, That it was needful
to circumcise them, and to command
them to keep the law of Moses.
The holy men got together to consider
the idea that Gentiles should keep the law
of Moses.
Acts 15:6–And the apostles and elders
came together for to consider of this
matter.
Peter rose up and said that even the Jews
couldn’t keep the law, why yoke the Gentiles
down with it?
Acts 15:7–And when there had been
much disputing, Peter rose up, and
said...
15:10–Now therefore why tempt ye
God, to put a yoke upon the neck of
the disciples, which neither our fathers
nor we were able to bear?
15:11–But we believe that through
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we
shall be saved, even as they.
James then gave his judgment concerning
what part of the law Gentiles should
observe.
Acts 15:13–And after they had held
their peace, James answered, saying,
Men and brethren, hearken unto me...
15:19–Wherefore my sentence is, that
we trouble not them, which from among
the Gentiles are turned to God:
15:20–But that we write unto them,
that they abstain from pollutions of
idols, and from fornication, and from
things strangled, and from blood.
The holy men then wrote letters of in-
struction--
Acts 15:23–And they wrote letters by
them after this manner; The apostles
and elders and brethren send greeting
16 Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles
in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.
15:24–Forasmuch as we have heard,
that certain which went out from us
have troubled you with words, subverting
your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised,
and keep the law: to whom
we gave no such commandment:
15:28–For it seemed good to the Holy
Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no
greater burden than these necessary
things;
15:29–That ye abstain from meats offered
to idols, and from blood, and
from things strangled, and from fornication:
from which if ye keep yourselves,
ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
To think about: What four things were
Gentiles commanded to keep from the law?
If the sabbath is so important, why didn’t
they mention it? I Cor. 6:9 and Revelation
21:8 talk about who will not inherit the
kingdom of God...non-sabbath keepers are
not mentioned. In fact there is no condemnation
in the NT of people who do not keep
a Saturday sabbath. Read Romans 14 and I
Corinthians 8 to learn about Christian liberty.
The following table shows how nine of
the ten commandments are exhorted in the
New Testament. The only one that is not exhorted
AT ALL is the fourth commandment,
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
Search the scriptures for yourself and see.
New Testament Exhortation
The TenCommandments
First Commandment
Matthew 4:10...Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve. 1 John 5:21–Little children,
keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
First Commandment
I am the LORD thy God...Thou shalt
have no other gods before me.
Second Commandment
Revelation 9:20....they should not
worship devils, and idols of gold, and
silver, and brass, and stone, and of
wood: which neither can see, nor hear,
nor walk:
10:7....Neither be ye idolaters, as were
some of them; as it is written, The
people sat down to eat and drink, and
rose up to play. 10:14 Wherefore, my
dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
Romans 2:22...thou that abhorrest
idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
Romans 1:23....And changed the glory
of the uncorruptible God into an image
made like to corruptible man, and
to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and
creeping things.
Galatians 5:19-21....Now the works of
the flesh are manifest, which are these...
Idolatry...as I have also told you in time
past, that they which do such things
shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness above,
or that is in the earth beneath, or that
is in the water under the earth. Thou
shalt not bow down thyself to them,
nor serve them.
Third Commandment
Matthew 6:9...Our Father which art in
heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Matthew 5:34-35....But I say unto you,
Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for
it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for
it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem;
for it is the city of the great King.
Third Commandment
Thou shalt not take the name of the
LORD thy God in vain.
Fourth Commandment
There is no commandment exhorting
sabbath keeping in the ENTIRE
New Testament. Rather, (1) we find
that we are to let no man judge us
when it comes to sabbath days (Col.
2:16), (2) we find Jesus saying the
sabbath was made for man, not man
for the sabbath (Mark 2:27), and (3)
we find that the seventh day sabbath
is a shadow of the true, heavenly
rest (Hebrews 4:4-4:11).
Fourth Commandment
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it
holy.
Fifth Commandment
Ephesians 6:2....Honor thy father and
mother; which is the first commandment
with promise;
Fifth Commandment
Honor thy father and thy mother.
Sixth Commandment
Revelation 21:8 ...murderers shall have
their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone: which is the
second death.
Galatians 5:19-21....Now the works of
the flesh are manifest, which are these.
murders they which do such things
shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Peter 4:15....But let none of you suffer
as a murderer,
Sixth Commandment
Thou shalt not kill.
Seventh Commandment
Galatians 5:19....Now the works of the
flesh are manifest, which are these;
Adultery...
Romans 2:22....Thou that sayest a man
should not commit adultery, dost thou
commit adultery?...
Moriel South Africa – Continued
13:9....For this, Thou shalt not commit
adultery...
Seventh Commandment
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Eighth Commandment
1 Peter 4:15....But let none of you suffer
as a thief...
Ephesians 4:28....Let him that stole
steal no more...
Romans 13:9...Thou shalt not steal...
Romans 2:21...thou that preachest a
man should not steal, dost thou steal?
Eighth Commandment
Thou shalt not steal.
Ninth Commandment
Revelation 21:8...all liars, shall have
their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone: which is the
second death.
Revelation 22:15....For without are
whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
1 Timothy 1:9-10....Knowing this, that
the law is not made for a righteous
man, but for the lawless and disobedient,
for the ungodly and for sinners,
for unholy and profane, for liars and
if there be any other thing that is contrary
to sound doctrine;
Ninth Commandment
Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbour.
Tenth Commandment
Ephesians 5:5....For this ye know, that
no whoremonger, nor unclean person,
nor covetous man, who is an idolater,
hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God.
Colossians 3:5....Mortify therefore
your members which are upon the earth;
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate
affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness,
which is idolatry Romans
Romans 1:29....Being filled with all
unrighteousness covetousness...
Romans 7:7...I had not known sin, but
by the law: for I had not known lust,
except the law had said, Thou shalt
not covet.
Romans 13:9...Thou shalt not covet...
I Corinthians 5:11....But now I have
written unto you not to keep company,
if any man that is called a brother be
covetous with such an one no not to eat.
I Corinthians 6:10....Nor thieves, nor
covetous shall inherit the kingdom
of God.
Ephesians 5:3...covetousness, let it not
be once named among you, as becometh
saints;
1 Timothy 3:2-3....A bishop then must
be blameless not covetous;
2 Timothy 3:2....For men shall be lovers
of their own selves, covetous...
Hebrews 13:5....Let your conversation
be without covetousness...
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly 17

Moriel South Africa – Continued
Tenth Commandment
Thou shalt not covet.
For those that would understand the true
meaning of the Old Testament ordinances,
feast days, sabbath days, etc. there is
the book of Hebrews. It contrasts the old
covenant with the new and shows us how
the old was simply a shadow of heavenly
things. Hebrews shows the superiority of
Jesus Christ in every aspect and how His
sacrifice did away with sundry washings,
etc. Jesus is better in every way.
• He is a better sacrifice than animals (9:23-
10:12)
• He is a better Priest than the Levitical priesthood
(6:20-7:24)
• He is better than Moses (3:3)
• He is came by a better tabernacle (9:11)
• He brings a better covenant. (8:6, 7:19)
• He offers better promises (8:6)
• He offers a better country (that is, an heavenly
Heb 11:16)
• He offers a better sabbath (4:4-4:11)
• He is better than the angels (1:4)
The whole of the Christian life is about Jesus
Who is the Best. Our true sabbath, our true
rest, comes when we pass to the other side.
• The religious people said that Jesus’ disciples
broke the sabbath by picking corn on
the sabbath day. Jesus responded by saying
that man was not made for the sabbath, the
sabbath was made for man. In other words,
God made the sabbath so that we could rest,
not so we could be under a whip to observe it.
Mark 2:24....And the Pharisees said
unto him, Behold, why do they on the
sabbath day that which is not lawful?
2:27....And he said unto them, The
sabbath was made for man, and not
man for the sabbath:
2:28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord
also of the sabbath.
I have read what the SDA’s say about the
scripture too. They are so good at covering
the beliefs. I just learned about the new
covenant and the freedom last week. Glory
to God. May you grow in the grace and
knowledge of Jesus Christ.
When I read Matthew 11:28, 29, 30 I
stopped and said to myself. “ his yoke is easy
and his burden is light. I want to know more.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaamen! These are some of
my favorite verses. We are not all yoked
down by the divers ordinances, we are come
into a living breathing relationship with Jesus
Christ. We love Him and show that love
by serving Him, He loves us and helps us as
we walk this pilgrim way. I can see I have
to leave the church now. How does one
leave a Sabbath that I have been keeping.
If you want to observe Saturday as your
day of rest, go ahead. It is not a crime. But
you must realize that every Bible believing
church that I know of goes to church
on Sunday so you will probably have to
change the day that you worship. In time,
as you grow in knowledge (start by reading
the book of Galatians), you will see that the
Sabbath was only a shadow or a figure or example
of our heavenly rest that we will enter
into one day (read the book of Hebrews).
The SDA believe that since the Pope wrote
out a 46 page letter on keeping the Sabbath
last year that the Sunday laws will go into
effect on the Dawn of this next new years.
I have read part of the popes letter, and
since this is one of the things that is coming
true it is scary to quit keeping the Sabbath.
As I said before my friend, forget about
what man says and look at what the Bible
says! Jesus said, “...the word that I have
spoken, the same shall judge him in the last
day.” (John 12:48) He didn’t tell us to listen
to what men say outside of the Bible.
He said “Sanctify them with thy truth THY
WORD IS TRUTH.” The Bible says “Let
God be true and every man a liar.” Believe
the Bible and make no provision for the influence
of man’s doctrine.
Why does God say, “remember the Sabbath
day to keep it holy?” (Ex 20:8) The
sabbath was given to man so that he would
get some rest from his labors and worship
God. But more importantly than our
physical rest, it symbolizes when we leave
our labors here on earth and enter into our
heavenly rest. Read the book of Hebrews
which opens up the meaning of the entire
Old Testament.
Another writer asked me a question about
sabbath keeping and then said, “In Romans
14:5-6, Gal.4:10-11 and Col. 2:16-17 Paul
had splendid opportunities to the tell the gentiles
to always keep God’ s Sabbath and His
ordained, appointed feasts but he did not.”
I responded, “The scriptures you list answer
your question completely. Let’s take
Colossians 2:16 for example, ‘LET NO
MAN THEREFORE JUDGE YOU in
meat, or in drink, or IN RESPECT OF
AN HOLYDAY, or of the new moon, OR
OF THE SABBATH DAYS.’” Romans 14
and I Corinthians 8 are excellent expositions
of Christian liberty. I have freedom,
bless God.”
I do indeed have respect to the concept
of the sabbath and on Sunday, I rarely do
more than go to church, cook, and relax.
Nevertheless, the sabbath was made for
man, not man for the sabbath. I have some
flexibility. Jesus is about freedom not about
being yoked up to a 10,000 pound wagon.
Dave Royle
Mount of Olives Project
18 Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

Elon and Hadass Moreh
Moriel Israel
Moriel Israel /January 2013
Moriel office in Northern Israel
It is rainy season here. It is cold and raining
outside, and as Israeli homes are designed
to disperse rather than retain heat, the
difference between outside and inside can
be small! It is the time of year for doing indoor
things; like filling in tax returns for the
previous year. If anyone has ever suspected
that Income Tax, VAT, the IRS/Customs
and Excise are agents of Satan, You will not
be surprised to know the P.O Box number
for our Tax Authority is 666666. It really is!
While the weather has precluded outdoor
activities I have been quite busy. There is a
batch of sermon transcripts that I have been
editing, inserting all biblical and historical
references and adapting for translation, an
article I have been working on to finish off.
I am also working as a historical editor and
source researcher for a book on the life of
Jesus, and providing support for the translation
of a classic Bible commentary into
Hebrew as few (if any) Israeli translators
are familiar with 17th Century English and
the Authorised Version. This plus a number
of other projects are keeping me busy at
present, however as we move into 2013 we
perceive that there is a change in the wind.
It seems that the LORD is opening a
door for us to ‘launch out into the deep’
(Luke 5:4) in a way we have not done previously.
So working in conjunction with local
congregations we hope to be involved
in raising the profile of Yeshua’s name to a
much higher degree, in our (what is for the
most part unreached) area. Preparations are
being made and we are very excited about
this; hopefully we will have something
to report about this in our next bulletin.
Moriel supported congregation
‘Kehilat HaDerekh’ in Karmiel
Pastor Yossi writes:
“We were blessed with special grace to
baptize 12 people into the faith, and that is
more than any previous year! Eight of them
are totally new believers; they are native
Israelis, new immigrants and immigrants
who have been in the country for a while.
The four others are children of believers.”
“One of those who accepted the Lord and
was baptised comes from an ultra orthodox
Jewish background. He would explode and
get very angry very easily. Now, after he
was born again, we can see how the Lord
Yeshua has been renewing his mind and
his actions, and we can see joy reflected
in his eyes! He is coming regularly to the
Shabbat services as well as to our midweek
meetings. He’s been set free from his anger
attacks, is in good relationships with other
people and has even become a good testimony
for the Lord in his family.”
“Throughout the year we have seen our
numbers growing, and our congregational
building is full every Shabbat. We have
grown to more than 130 people, (not counting
visitors!). The maximum capacity of
our building is 150. Our children’s’ classes
are also full and very crowded. Because of
this, we have been praying for a bigger place
to get together. (We have been renting our
current building for the last eight years.)”
“We are also in the process of renovating
and expanding our internet site. Some
people have already contacted us as a result
of visiting the site, and we hope the
site will further act as a way that people
will be able to “enter” and get to know our
congregation-especially those who live too
far away to physically visit the congregation.
We also pray that it will be a portal for
those who have questions and would like
to know more about our faith in Yeshua.
We are aware of the fact that the Internet
has become one of the main means of communication,
and in turn has become a very
important tool to spread the Gospel in this
generation! As a matter of fact, some of the
new believers have come to faith after being
exposed to the Gospel on the internet!
If you would like to visit our site we are at:
www.kehilathaderech.org”
Some thoughts on Israel and
the lifting of the vail.
I was considering this matter recently
and because of upcoming events, I thought
this might be of interest (please note this is
not intended to an exhaustive treatment).
But their minds were hardened: for
until this day remaineth the same vail
untaken away in the reading of the old
testament; which vail is done away in
Christ. But even unto this day, when
Moses is read, the vail is upon their
heart. Nevertheless when it (or he;
the verb is 3rd person masculine singular)
shall turn to the Lord, the vail
shall be taken away. Now the Lord is
that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is liberty. But we all,
with open face beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, are changed into
the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2
Cor. 3:12-18)
There are certain things about this passage
that used to puzzle me. However chief
among them was ‘when it (or he referring
either to an individual here or Israel as a
whole) shall turn to the Lord the vail shall
be taken away.’ Now I used to think, ‘The
vail is the hardening and needs to be lifted
first so that people can see the Lord and
turn to Him?’ But this is not correct. Paul
knew exactly what he was saying; the turning
to the Lord comes before the lifting of
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly 19

Moriel Israel – Continued
the veil (the hardening).
The problem with Israel in the wilderness,
in Paul’s day and even today in the
context of Jewish evangelism is not one of
revelation but an issue of the heart.
In the wilderness the children of Israel
had plenty of revelation. Just think about it.
They saw the mighty hand of God at work
in Egypt, a miraculous deliverance at the
Red Sea, the cloud of glory and the pillar
of fire, God’s daily provision of the manna.
Yet they moaned griped, tested the LORD
and rebelled. At the very moment of Moses
receiving the Law on Mount Sinai, they
were cavorting around the Calf of gold. The
Psalmist comments on that time in
the wilderness.
Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden
not your heart, as in the provocation,
and as in the day of temptation in the
wilderness: When your fathers tempted
me, proved me, and saw my work.
Forty years long was I grieved with
this generation, and said, It is a people
that do err in their heart, and they have
not known my ways. (Psa. 95:8-10).
From this we can see that even then in
the wilderness the Israelites were already
hardening their hearts.
In Isaiah 6 we read:
And he said, Go, and tell this people,
Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and
see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make
the heart of this people fat, and make
their ears heavy, and shut their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and understand with
their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Isaiah wrote this some 700 or so years
after the Israelites left Egypt (approx. 1500
BC). It wasn’t that the LORD had unconditionally
decreed before time began to
harden Israelites so they wouldn’t be able
to listen. Not at all, this was the LORD’s
reponse to 700 years of rebellious behaviour
and apostasy. The Israelites hardened
their hearts first, then when repentance was
not forthcoming the LORD hardened them
some more until they ate the fruit of their
doings, for we see in verse 11:
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he
answered, Until the cities be wasted
without inhabitant, and the houses
without man, and the land be utterly
desolate, And the LORD have removed
men far away, and there be a great
forsaking in the midst of the land.
Israel was devestated and left desolate.
But it was not for ever, only until repentance
was forthcoming. When the remnant
returned from Babylon, it was a chastened
people, done with the kind of blatant idolatry
that had plagued Israel in the past.
Elon and Hadass Moreh
However it was not too long before they
began hardening their hearts again in different
ways. By Yeshua’s tim,e in place of
true heart-faith in God, there had been a
drift into religious formalism, and worksrighteousness;
tradition and commandment
keeping became more important than the
Creator to whom the Torah was designed
to point us. This is a far more subtle and
deadly form of idolatry and has a heart
hardening effect. Note Jesus’ comments in
Matthew 13:
And the disciples came, and said unto
him, Why speakest thou unto them in
parables? He answered and said unto
them, Because it is given unto you to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it is not given. For
whosoever hath, to him shall be given,
and he shall have more abundance:
but whosoever hath not, from him
shall be taken away even that he hath.
Therefore speak I to them in parables:
because they seeing see not; and hearing
they hear not, neither do they understand.
And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By
hearing ye shall hear, and shall not
understand; and seeing ye shall see,
and shall not perceive: For this people’s
heart is waxed gross, and their
ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes
they have closed; lest at any time they
should see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and should understand
with their heart, and should be
converted, and I should heal them.
We see here that the people had closed
their own eyes, LEST they should see.
They didn’t really want the truth, or to be
convicted of their sin, that they could be
forgiven (‘heal’ here is a metaphor for ‘forgive’’,
see Mark 4:12). If we look at John
6:26 we see that the minds of most of them
were fixed completely on the material. Because
of this Jesus spoke the Word to them
in hidden fashion.
Scripture teaches us that when we persistently
harden our hearts and refuse to
repent God may add to that hardening. Interestngly
Matthew’s quote differs somewhat
from Isaiah 6; the different wording
is because in NT times the Hebrew text
was still unpointed (unvowelled) and in its
unpointed form the Hebrew admits either
the possibility of the Israelites hardening
their own hearts; or being hardened by an
outside agency, all depending on how one
vocalises the text. The LXX followed one
option and the Massoretes another, thus the
same passage teaches about hardening from
the human and divine perspectives. Be that
as it may; the effect of hardening is to make
us blind to the Word of God. In Romans 11
Paul alludes to Isaiah 6 in regard to God’s
hardening activity:
According as it is written, God hath
given them the spirit of slumber, eyes
that they should not see, and ears that
they should not hear;) unto this day.
He thus links Isaiah 6 with Isa. 29:10
which stated the following;
For the LORD hath poured out upon
you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath
closed your eyes: the prophets and
your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
And the vision of all is become
unto you as the words of a book that is
sealed, which men deliver to one that
is learned, saying, Read this, I pray
thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is
sealed: And the book is delivered to
him that is not learned, saying, Read
this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am
not learned. Wherefore the Lord said,
Forasmuch as (i.e Because) this people
draw near me with their mouth,
and with their lips do honour me, but
have removed their heart far from me,
and their fear toward me is taught by
the precept of men: Therefore, behold,
I will proceed to do a marvellous work
among this people, even a marvellous
work and a wonder: for the wisdom of
their wise men shall perish, and the
understanding of their prudent men
shall be hid.
If anything describes Rabbinic Judaism,
that is it. I have no doubt that Rabbbinic
Judaism is one of the mechanisms that God
used to harden or blind Israel to her Messiah.
The impression left when reading Rabbinic
literature is ‘so near but so far’. Especially
in regard to Messianic prophecy; it is clear
that they understood some things but were
unable to ‘join the dots’ and were groping
in the dark because of their rejection of divine
truth on certain critical issues. Even
though it has been this way for 2000 years,
this should not leave us despondent. While
God hardens in response to wilful and persistent
unbelief and rejection. He promises:
And ye shall seek me, and find me,
when ye shall search for me with all
your heart. (Jer. 29:13)
The Word of God will be opened to willing
and responsive hearts. I think many
who love and pray for Israel believe that
for some time we have been seeing the beginning
of Israel’s turning to the LORD;
though it may come in fulness only on the
wings of terrible national distress, when
Israel comes to an end of herself and is
forced to cry out to Him. We would ask
your prayers for this year, that as we scatter
the seeds here that the LORD’s grace
would go before us and it would find those
20 Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

seeking Him with all their heart.
Every Blessing,
Elon and Hadas
Paul Sevilla
Moriel Philippines
This is exactly the same pattern as we
see in God’s dealings with Pharoah.
First he hardened his heart and refused
to repent so God hardened it,
until he was broken.
There is not space to speak of it here
but the NT passages (Rom. 9-11, John 6:36-
44 etc.) mangled by Augustine (whose
impositions on scripture were later
continued and systematised by Calvin);
when restored to their proper context
are set against this background;
that is, God’s hardening and blinding
of His people being a response to their
unbelief not the cause of it.
Additional pictures from
Rambling Rose
Esther in front and her big brother Noah
Marg’s cutting her cake/Marg’s cake
Dear Bro. Jacob and Bro. David,
Grace be to you and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The parents of our dump children were glad because they had known the physical condition
of their children when Bro. Jacob Prasch and Dr. Hong Jie conduct a medical mission last
month of this year. Since then, we gave more attention to 3 kids who have a heart problem and
to one who have a cleft lip palate. We continue assisting and helping them,we regularly buy
the maintenance medicine of Romar and Shy Rose prescribed by cardiologist. About Jenna
Rose,a malnourished child,we regularly buy her personal vitamin and milk. The cardiologist
recommended a 3D Echocardiogram for Jenna Rose, that’s why we brought her to Philippine
Heart Center, Quezon City. and she was given a Doctor’s appointment on February 15.
This week, we assisted the parents of Rialyn Cali to James Gordon Hospital for the
surgery of her cleft lip. It was successfully done. According to the Surgeon, Rialyn will be
ready for next surgery after 3 to 4 months.
From the record of Dr. Hong Jie, 30% of the children have a poor dental, so we bought
a pair of toothbrush for them( one they use at home,one they use at feeding room). Now
they learn and enjoy brushing their teeth after meal.
Two weeks ago, mother of John Paul Camacho came and ask for help for J.P. who suffer
cough, cold and pleghm. We bought the medicine prescribed by the Doctor. As of now
he is relieve.
Parents joyfully express their thankfulness to the Lord , to Moriel Ministries and to all
supporters for all the blessings. Last Saturday, the Children Youth Hour was done outside. We
do it at Subic Bay seashore ( a minute of prayer,short devotion to God’s word, short games
and snacks). Before we leave,we distributed tracts. We are praying that the CYH dayout
will be regular ones every two months, so that they shall expose to do the Lord’s command.
I’m so glad, the parents
are active in attending
Bible Study. It is an indication
that they know and
experience personally the
blessings of God. It is our
prayer and hope that they
shall come to the knowledge
of truth and having
the right relationship with
Jesus Christ our Lord and
Saviour.
Thank you very much
for all your prayers and
financial supports for us.
May the Lord God continue bless each and every one and the ministry.
In Christ,
Ptr. Paul
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly 21

Rambling Rose
Margret Godwin
ambling
o s e March, 2013
Welcome to our first edition for 2013.
As I mentioned in the Australian Report we had to prepare our pieces in early November so if you will bear with me I will take this
effort back to around that time.
It was my birthday in late November, the date coinciding with an afternoon of prayer and hymn organized by our Elder Michael. This
being the second one he ran.
My reason for sharing this to tell you I have never in my life had a more wonderful birthday celebration. We all sat in the church and
while a couple of Hymns/chorus’ were set by Michael. Then he asked everyone to choose one or more of their favorites and those interspersed
between prayer time was so sweet to the spirit. It was also a lovely warm gentle coming together of old friends.
Pst LaBrooy (of Dandenong) offered Michael the use of his facilities and he and his family joined in. Both he and Michael’s family
are all gifted musicians, which made it extra special.
Our dear friends, Pst John Maisano, his wife & daughters Aghi & Mila and son-in-law Giovanni came along to join in the afternoon.
I should never wear mascara to these musical afternoons as most of the hymns I choose were my late husbands favorites (i.e. It is well
with my Soul, I saw & I beheld, The Old Rugged Cross and so many others. In having said
that, there were tears of joy, peace and prayer.
You often hear Jacob when preaching in Australia refer to “Sam the Greek,” well Sam his
wife Natalie and their children were there, also our dear Pam & Vic. I had best stop mentioning
names in case I left people out.
I would encourage your church group or home fellowship to get together other than you’re
scheduled times and invite friends and family along–it is a wonderful way to spend a Saturday
afternoon.
The surprise, surprise! There was a birthday cake. The photo I have included will not do
it justice but his incredible mud cake (made and decorated by Mila Maisano) from “Aunty
Marg’s garden.” All my favorites flowers were decorating the top, there was a chocolate
fence all the way round with several gates and the dearest little watering cans made out of icing around in the garden.
Ok I will change the subject–don’t want to make you jealous–but it was magnificent and I am sure it had a billion calories.
All too soon it was Christmas and as I stood in line at the supermarket (Christmas Eve)
I said to friend is there going to be a famine? The trolleys around me were over laden with
food (not gifts). I couldn’t believe it! The shops were only closed for the one day and yet
there was this fever pitch, grabbing off the shelves and so on. As my friend and I stood there
with my small basket I happened to notice that almost without exception that these almost
manic purchases were put on credit. We went home quite saddened–wondering where was
“Jesus” in all of this? Am I just getting old and cranky!
Christmas was spent with my daughter-in-law and all her family. I was made very welcome
but again where was “Jesus” I was so saddened that I made my apologies and came
home. Unfortunately there was little peace in that as when I got home I found my darling
little cat “Esther” had passed away during the day. I have had her and Noah (another rag
doll) for almost seven years and they were always here in the office with me. As soon as I
would begin to use the keyboard Esther would come and sit right on top of it. I do miss my little sweetie, as does her mate Noah.
Just as the Old Testament is the forerunner to the New Testament it is amazing how the everyday occurrences in our lives cause us to
wonder how the Lord sees us. What I mean is, the greed and manic behavior before Christmas what would the Lord be thinking, “I am
here come and spend time with Me” after we buried my little cat–knowing that she does not have a soul and that is the end for her how
would Our Lord anguish over one of us perishing with no hope of spending it with Him in paradise as was His plan.
The terrible bush fires and floods we’re experiencing here in Australia, our dear brothers & sisters in ChristChurch New Zealand who
after two years are experiencing earth quakes almost daily–what does He think “What will it take for My children to look unto Me.”
Please check your newsletter wrapper for some important updates, especially for those who would like to receive the “Quarterly”
electronically.
The other news (yet to be confirmed) is Jacob in Conference in June 2014. We propose to have it at the Bellgrave Conference Centre
(in the Dandenong Ranges here in Victoria). Fantastic facilities and accommodation. Jacob’s trips “down under” from now on will be
limited time & travel wise, as his health doesn’t recover from the journey as it used to. We will make it a three-day event so I encourage
you to start saving your pennies for airfares etc. I hope to be able to confirm the exact time etc in the June issue.
Also in the June edition we will have all the contacts etc for Moriel New Zealand. Because we have to have these reports in so early
for printing etc I couldn’t include them in this issue.
Well dear family it is time to draw this to a close as Carrie will be waiting for these reports. I must admit too that I have been watching
the cricket this afternoon–just as well the season is almost over. It wears me out bowling and batting for Australia. Yes I know in my
dreams. My love to each and everyone of you and to our Kiwi members I hope to catch up with some of you in April.
In Christ, *For additional pictures relating to this article see page 21
Marg
22 Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

Margret Godwin
Moriel Australia
AUSTRALIANnews
Australian/New Zealand Report – March Issue 2013
Greetings in the Name of Jesus & welcome dear Moriel
Family to 2013 and another year of sharing God’s Truth together
through Jacob’s teaching.
Another year of bringing together all the different countries
report. My how as that grown.
I remember our first newsletter in June 1999 with a total
of four pages. God has been so gracious to us. We now put
out the magazine at an average of 40 pages with reports from
USA, Israel, Australia, Japan, Philippines, South Africa, Singapore
and now New Zealand all getting the Moriel Quarterly
International Version. Quite a few countries before had generic
versions prior to this.
will read from the Mission report the Royle family have moved
to their new property. Due to the generosity of so many readers
their building is underway, “The Mount of Olives” project. I
will leave it to Dave to fill in the details.
We have also seen some wonderful results with the children
in the Philippines–The Dump Children as Jacob lovingly refers
to them. He (Jacob) has been there recently and sent back lots of
photographs. Some of them were so endearing but when one looks
closely one is unsure who the biggest kid is–the children or Jacob.
Again Geoff Toole (Moriel Japan) will share more with you
in the Japan report. We have however due to the great generosity
been able to help financially with feeding, educating, teaching
and medicines for the kiddies.
Due to a wonderful fellowship in Sydney funds have been
made to surgically improve this little lamb born with a cleft lip.
*Just as I completed
the Australian report I
received this report and
photograph of little
Rialyn following her
surgery. Praise the Lord
what an incredible
Aunty Pam difference. & Bridget
I must remind you our dear readers that we do enjoy receiving
your letters and getting your feedback on articles etc. This
helps us to improve our efforts and gives us new ideas.
It seems such a long time since we got together. It was early
November when I did the last report. So much seems to have
happened in this time and my New Years resolutions to use the
holiday break to firstly clean up my office has been an abysmal
failure and secondly I was going to visit some of our elderly
readers. With the hot weather and dreadful bushfires again I
failed. In having said that I have to tell you the complete truth–
while the heat and fires played a large part in my staying home,
the other reason was cricket (I just love the cricket). There, so
I have now confessed, ok!
So many things have been happening within Moriel. As you
I have heard
via Jacob & Geoff
Toole that there are
couple other little
ones with very serious
heart defects so
hopefully we will
be able to arrange
surgery and funds for this.
We are getting closer to New Zealand Moriel coming on line.
As you know that following our dear Nigel’s passing we have
been operating out of Australia with myself doing trips to Napier.
In some respects I am going to be sad to hand it over to Mike
& Diane as have met some wonderful Kiwi brothers and sisters
there and my quite extensive Kiwi family has certainly grown.
Would you believe that is a year since Nigel went to the Lord
on the 5th March? My goodness I do miss him so. I receive quite
a few letter from readers in NZ who share the same feelings
and some who say they greatly miss ringing him and his always
having time to chat or help whichever way he could. He was always
so patient–well almost always patient except when I would
call and he would say, “Fluffy I am in the shower–go away or
Fluffy I am having my dinner and no you cannot have any!”
If I were a gambler I would lay every cent I had on his turning
down anything we had to offer to swap places. When my
darling Ross was asked before his death would he swap places
he just gave this gentle smile and said “no way!”
At this point I am going to share something very beautiful
and intimate with you. I feel so humbled that I am the one to be
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly 23

Moriel Australia – Continued
Your Letters and
Comments
able to do so and this is with the express permission of this incredible couple.
To give you a little background Pastor Arthur Lear, his wife Glenys & children who
live in Perth, Western Australia. Arthur has for quite a long time suffering from that
horrendous Motor Neuron Disease and has been in hospice. When Jacob was here
last year I asked him to go and see Arthur. Very kindly Pst John Phillips took him
and Jacob was able to have time with Arthur and to pray with and for him. That is the
background.
On Monday I received this email – I cried, I prayed I rejoiced but was incapable for
many hours to write back – as you read this email I am sure you will understand.
Hi Marg
Glenys my wife is writing this for me. I wish to thank Jacob for coming to
see me when he was in Perth. It was much more than I anticipated and of
great encouragement.
The M.N.D. is taking it’s course with the paralysis almost complete, the
weaker I become the more I rely on Christ. Who uses my wife, nurses and
many friends as my hands and feet etc.
Last Sunday I was able to go to the fellowship as usual, but in the early
hours of Monday morning, my breathing started to fail altogether. Even
the machine could not cop. Arriving at the emergency ward, Glen was told
to call in the family. I was pronounced dead, and time was allowed to say
their goodbyes. Doctor and the staff gave their condolences for the loss.
But God had other plans
The family were left to say their goodbyes, Glen knew how I liked to have
my head massaged, and while she did that I opened one eye them two and
gave her a wink and a smile.
Doctors standing in the background were waiting for us to let them do
the necessary next step. On seeing me open my eyes one doctor exclaimed
”WOW!” and with other doctors came back to see me and the family was
ushered out into the relatives lounge.
Later that evening my wife received a phone call apologizing for the
morning’s condolences being given out and that the doctors and staff
were still talking about the miracle that happened that morning – Oxygen
saturation was 150 which is not compatible with life.
My prayer has been and is, that the name of Christ be glorified and His
Kingdom enlarged, and my passing be considered a ministry to fellow believers,
and a ministry of hope to those otherwise lost.
If my faith is real, as it is, it will be seen by those who observe, and my life
will speak louder than my tongue could ever be able to speak.
Thank you Marg for your part in contacting Jacob.
May God’s blessing, strength and wisdom, ever attend your ministry,
Jacob, and the work of Moriel go on from strength to strength.
I hope soon to be part of the cloud of witnesses. Hebrews 12. Yours in the
eternal love of Christ
Arthur Lear
By the time you are reading this our beloved brother may have already gone to be
with the Lord. Please keep Arthur’s wife and family in your prayers
As I pen this Pastor Bill Randles is preparing to fly to Australia for his 2013 Moriel
Tour. We are very excited about his coming and so looking forward to the messages he
shares. We will have all the details in the June issue of the Quarterly.
Thank you to all those who have replied to the annual re-registration both here and
New Zealand. Thank you for you prayers, your gifts and your encouragement. It is
most gratefully appreciated. Quite a number of people have elected to receive their
Quarterly electronically, BUT one must warn you to check your mailbox size. The
newsletter and attachments and documents are up to 5 megabytes in size.
Bye for now
In Christ, Marg
Apostasy Alert web sites. These subjects again
are simply too lengthy to engage in extended
dialogue about by e-mail and we regret we
cannot respond to any further inquiries in
this regard by e-mail but we must refer you
to internet, published, and recorded material
already in the public domain dealing with it.
There are at least four categories of apostolic
ministry in the New Testament from the Greek
‘apostolo’ and Hebrew “shaleoch.” The only
category of apostles operating in the church
today are church planting missionaries which
has absolutely nothing to do with the heretical
deception of the mainly American, Canadian
and South African New Apostolic Reformation
movement (Wagner, Joyner and that lunatic
Bill Johnson etc.) or of the mainly British &
New Zealand Restoration movement (Gerald
Coates, Roger Forster, Terry Virgo, Hudson
Salisbury). Neither does scripturally valid apostolic
ministry have anything to do with the
mysticism and neo gnosticism of Mike Bicel
and his drunken sex pervert Kansas City false
prophets. Such pathetic figures are at least as
deranged on one extreme as secessionists denying
that the charismatic Gifts of The Holy
Spirit still operate are on the opposite extreme.
We would additionally caution you against
the ecumenical movement, hyper Calvinism,
the Emergent Church, the Purpose Driven Lie
of Rick Warren, the TV money preacher, replacement
theology rejecting the prophetic
purposes if God for Israel and The Jews, and
the current Generation expounders of error in
contemporary vogue such as Mark Driscoll,
Yongee Cho, and John Piper.
Read the classics such as AW Tozer, John
Bunyan, Harry Ironside, Andrew Murray, FB
Meyer, Francis Schaffer, Charles Spurgeon,
John Wesley, JC Rhyle, Alfred Edersheim etc.
We will never go wrong with such solid Holy
Spirit guided teaching from God’s Word from
figures like these. The good expositors, scholars,
and authors in the contemporary church
worth reading are those like Warren Wiersby,
David Hocking, Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Paul
and Chuck Smith, Ray Yungen, Warren Smith,
Tony Pearce, Bill Randles, Jack Hibbs, Philip
Powell, Kay Arthur, Jo hanna Michaelson,
and Dave Hunt. Keep away from nuts like
the Apostolic Reformation advocates and the
con artist televangelist of the god- less channel
and TBN. Hinn, Copeland, Todd Benley,
Joyce Meyer, Morris Cerullo etc. They are all
propounders of a demonically orchestrated
last days delusion.
Stick to Christ and Him crucified and heed
only those who preach the cross, the empty tomb,
and His return with no heretical dogma or guile.
The Lord is coming soon.
In Christ, Carol
Moriel
24 Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

Geoff Toole
moriel japan
Moriel Japan
Time, circumstances and everything seems
against them at times, but they are all the
more happy to study God’s word and fellowship
together when they can, which is about
once a month. In that God’s hand is clear.
Please pray also for our evangelism this
year. Grant has taken a break and will return
back from visiting his family in the US
this March. When he returns God will have
to open up doors regarding Grant’s ministry
here. There are many options but we want
God to lead us. God is able to open doors
we haven’t even thought about!
News from the
Far East
March Report
2013
Moriel Japan – March 2013
It is the Year of the Snake in Asia now.
That means I have been around one 12 year
cycle so far, having arrived in September
2000. Looking back I can see all the kinds
of trouble I have given God as he has been
patient with my mistakes, bad attitudes
and tendency to trust in the flesh. Despite
that, it is good to look around and see the
ones who have been saved, and our Moriel
friends growing in their faith.
Yesterday I arrived back from Tokyo
where we held a one day session on the history,
archaeology and prophecy of Egypt.
We looked at the evidence of the Hebrews in
Egypt and then compared Joseph’s famine
and Moses’ plagues with similar end times
themes. The study was a real eye opener for
me personally, and I would encourage you
all to do it yourselves. Particularly comparing
the 12th chapter of Luke with Joseph.
In Kobe some new believers came and in
Tokyo Jenny brought her Chinese friend,
who is now a medical doctor and PHD scientist.
She says she understands the reality
of God, and she will now return to China.
She was surprised to learn that there were
any Christians in China. We encouraged her
to visit the underground church upon her
return. May the Lord continue guiding her.
As for the others, they are clearly growing
in their understanding, many having had
their eyes opened through Jacob’s translated
messages. Now that the seminar is complete
I would like to take it to the City Halls
and advertise it around about as a public
meeting, in the hope of reaching more
unbelievers. Japanese have a very limited
knowledge of modern history, especially
war time history, but many of them are surprisingly
familiar with ancient history. So a
lecture on Egypt may attract some people.
Late last year Peter, Grant and I had a
blessed time in Hokkaido with a small but
zealous group of believers. They were all
emotionally grateful for having heard the
message of midrash. One pastor drove hundreds
of kilometers and reported that he
could not sleep wishing that we could prepare
a midrash and discernment book in Japanese
for his fellow AOG ministers to read.
It is a possibility we are considering now. Although
the material is available on the website,
there are always those who trust a book
more than the internet, for what it is worth.
We are preparing to print Grain for the
Famine and More Grain in the Philippines.
It would be great if it were ready for my
April trip there this year. Such a book will
be a great resource there, and I pray that it
will reach many new people.
Please keep the Kawabe family in prayer,
who are still eager to continue their bible
studies and homeschool their children.
Tokyo seminar
Japanese Tatami room
Grant Multi-tasking. Sunday afternoon
church with Peter Danzey, Osaka Castle
In Christ,
Geoff
mj
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly 25

Moriel Thailand
Scott Noble
B a n g k o k S k y l i n e
R i c e f i e l d s C h i a n g M a i
Introducing our New missionary to . . .
thailand
Moriel Thailand January 2013 Update...
The history of Thailand extends back
not more than 800 years. Before that time
there were provincial kingdoms, but no unified
“Thailand.” In this long history parts of
Thailand have become colonies of surrounding
countries (such as Chiang Mai being
the colony of Burma for about 250 years),
but never has Thailand been the colony of
a western nation. Some attribute this to the
fact that Thailand yielded to the wishes of
other countries, making it unnecessary to invest
in colonization, and others attribute this
to the shrewdness and diplomacy of Thai
leaders. In contrast to surrounding countries
like Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, and
Cambodia which were colonized by western
nations, the word “Thai” means “free.” But,
what does this “freedom” mean?
This yielding and diplomatic history of
Thailand is also evident in modern culture.
Thai people are very open to listening to the
gospel and will rarely show any outward opposition,
but that doesn’t necessarily mean
they are ready to yield to the kingdom of
God in their lives. Jesus said that it’s the
truth which sets us free. Being “free” from
God is not freedom at all.
It seems that my wife’s Dad has applied
the Thai culture to his Christian life. He has
yielded to the kingdom of God in his life,
but he is still very diplomatic and yielding
when it comes to the hostility of his wife
(and she for her part is very unusual in Thai
culture, but at the same time the inevitable
result of this culture).
At the end of 2011 Khae’s Dad became
a Christian at a Christmas dinner at church.
He has endured for one year now, living
with his wife who was a former spirit medium,
who does her daily chanting to her
spirits (devils), and who has burned his
clothes, his pillow, his blanket, and even
one of his Bibles. She has also threatened
to murder him with a gun.
Last week we were praying that Khae’s
Dad could go to the New Year’s dinner
(December 30 th ) at the church. In diplomatic
Thai style he had not been going
to church lately, for fear of what his wife
would do. But, he assured us that he would
not turn back to Buddhism and that his
faith in God is steadfast. Still we prayed
that he would go to this dinner to take a
stand for God and to be blessed.
During the week it looked like he would
not be going. But, finally when the time
approached, the pastor’s wife (without
our asking her) came to Khae’s house in
Suphanburi and talked with Khae’s Mom.
She shared the gospel with her and also
offered some New Year’s gifts, only to be
refused. Then, she asked to bring Khae’s
Dad to the dinner. Mom was silent. The
pastor’s wife took this silence as a non-refusal
and brought Dad to church.
This was an answer to prayer. But, on
returning home and the next day, Mom
was furious. She threatened divorce and
scolded Dad with many rude words. But,
this is the Christian life- taking a stand for
the living God and facing persecution.
The kingdoms of this world do not understand
this. But, this is the way for every
true believer. Looking back at 2012 it is
a blessing to see Khae’s Dad still standing
for Jesus. He still needs to grow a lot
but he has persevered through some difficult
persecution and still gives thanks
to God. Also last year we saw one student
confess Christ, but like the seed that
had no roots she seems to have withered
already. It is too soon to tell though.
At the end of each year I keep a journal
record of how people are doing that we have
invested our lives into. This is pretty subjective,
since only God knows the true state
of people, but it does show us how people
are progressing or backsliding from year to
year, and inspires and challenges us to continue
working and praying for good fruit.
We are praying for other students from
the college and prisoners from the women’s
prison who have showed some interest in
the gospel but who have not yielded to Jesus
completely yet.
Concerning Khae’s Saturday class this
seems to be the most fruitful ministry endeavor
this past year. We were inspired to
start this class after visiting Iowa in 2012.
One factor was the godly families we saw
at our home church there. Another factor
was a comment our pastor made, quoting
from D.L. Moody...
26 Moriel Quarterly • March 2013

“D. L. Moody once said that at a certain
meeting two and a half people were converted
to Christ. A friend asked if he meant
two adults and a child. The facts were just
the opposite - two children and an adult.
When a child is led to Christ, a whole life
is saved!” - Dwight L Moody (http://dailychristianquote.com/dcqmoody.html)
Based on this, we decided to start a class
for children in our neighborhood. At first
this class was slow to begin, but now we
have some regular students from the Lisu
tribe who are already Christians, but perhaps
a little lukewarm, and also some children
who are not Christians. One of these
students, an older girl, 14 years old, from
a Buddhist family, has really become interested
in the gospel.
She has read through the entire New
Testament and comes with us to church
regularly. It is still too soon to tell if she
is born-again yet, because we don’t push
for decisions as much as we try to teach the
students God’s ways and let them decide
through God leading them. We want their
faith to be based in God, not based in depending
on us. Two other students in this
group have also showed an openness to believing
in God, too.
The most positive report I can give about
last year is of a former university student
who came to our Bible studies and with us
to church many times, but who was only
nominally interested for a couple of years.
Last year she really came alive in the Lord
and is preparing to be baptized. She has
also been sharing the gospel with her parents.
Praise the Lord Jesus!
2012 was a year in which our prayer
lives were revived also. There are many
false prayer gimmicks that are filtering into
the church through Catholic mystical teachings.
I wrote part one of a critique to this
last year and hope to write more. But, just
ordinary prayer- communicating with God
should be a priority for all Christians. God
is not looking for the super-spiritual people
who can “levitate” and see visions, etc. He
is calling ordinary Christians to fellowship
with Him - to set time aside to pray for the
things that are near and dear to the heart of
God- the salvation of souls and other concerns,
and to live the Christian life not in
our own strength, but by His Spirit.
Looking forward in 2013 we hope to be
more systematic in studying the Shan language.
I have a Bible study with two Shan
men now (in Thai)- one a young believer
and the other an unbeliever. But, we hope to
learn Shan so that we can share the gospel
with these people more. The rest of our ministry
remains mostly the same. Please pray
also for the many people we come in contact
with who don’t know the Lord. It’s our
desire to share the gospel wherever we go.
Scott Noble
&
Scott Khae
& Scott Khae
Khae’s Saturday class
Khae’s Saturday class
Moriel Thailand
Thank you for your support and prayers.
May 2013 be a blessed year for you in the
Lord Jesus!
Moriel Thailand February 2013 Update...
Bible Camp
Last weekend we had a Bible camp with
some of my college students. A couple
weeks ago at least 7 people expressed an
interest to come, but only 3 students actually
did come- two non-Christians and one
“cultural Christian” who I really doubt is
born again. God knows, but from my perspective
I think it’s better to be careful than
to just assume he’s saved and not take care
to teach him diligently.
It was a little disappointing that so few
students came, but I’m getting used to that,
working with this age group. We do make
this a matter of prayer though, even with
tears sometimes. But, even one lost sheep is
very important in the eyes of God...
“How think ye? if a man have an hundred
sheep, and one of them be gone astray,
doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and
goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that
which is gone astray? And if so be that he
find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth
more of that sheep, than of the ninety and
nine which went not astray.” (Matthew
18:12-13)
Looking back at our ministry over the
years we’ve only seen 1-2 people saved
each year. That is not many compared to
our effort and the vast need for salvation.
But, I would rather see people soundly
saved than just see people make a nominal
confession with no commitment. So, at this
camp we were still happy to see three students
come and study the Bible.
We began on Saturday and Khae’s usual
group of Saturday students joined us for
part of the day. In that group one young
lady has been coming to church with us
regularly and I think she is very close to being,
if not already in her heart, a Christian.
Another young girl has been very open and
interested when Khae teaches the Bible, but
recently her Mom decided that she doesn’t
want her coming here anymore. Her Mom
is a backslidden Christian (or maybe a cultural
Christian who never was born again),
who married an unbeliever. Now she wants
her daughter to study Chinese on Saturdays
instead of studying with us. There are many
strategies of the devil to pull people away.
During the camp we taught the students
a little about this, through the parable of the
sower. We also taught them about the worldwide
flood and dinosaur fossils that point to
that, and one of my former students gave a
talk on Buddhism, showing that those are
the unreliable teachings of men, telling us
to depend on our equally unreliable self.
March 2013 • Moriel Quarterly 27

Moriel Thailand – Continued
This got some good discussion going and
later in the day another brother gave a salvation
message. One student raised their
hand saying they would like to believe in
Jesus and follow him.
This morning (Sunday) we took this
group to church and again the students
received good seed sown into their hearts
along with some watering. God is the one
who gives the increase though, and it is too
early to tell what kind of soil is in the heart
of each of these students.
Translation into Thai and Research
Recently my former student has been
helping me to translate “A Dead Man Can’t
Help You” into Thai. Actually this brother
does most of translation but we review it
together. This is very slow work but I believe
it conveys the right meaning and pray
it will be used by God in Thailand.
In the coming months I hope to continue
researching and writing, “A Historical
Analysis of Mysticism.” I’m working
on part 2 now. It’s amazing how much this
has crept into the church. Here in Thailand
there is actually a “Christian” counseling
center which promotes Catholic mystics for
English speakers.
Women’s Prison
Also we’ve started teaching again at the
Women’s Prison, after stopping for about
two months because of the prison’s move
to a new location.
Ministry Opportunities at an Orphanage
and Kindergarten
Last Sunday I got to give a sermon at an
orphanage church south of town and last
week Khae and I went to a Buddhist Kindergarten
to give the gospel balloon presentation.
The teachers and one of the directors
also heard the gospel. It all went really well
until the end when the director told the children
if anyone hadn’t gotten a balloon yet
to come and see me. I got mobbed! But, it
was a good time and we plan to go again
tomorrow to share at the same school with
a different group.
Learning Shan
This afternoon we had another lesson
with our Shan teacher. We’ve been copying
verses from the Bible and he is explaining
the meaning of these to us as we learn
the letters and words. Our teacher is not a
Christian, but we pray that God’s Word will
bear good fruit in his life, bringing him to
know God personally.
Follow-up
There are some people that don’t believe
in “follow-up” in missions and evangelism.
On one hand they have a point, because
Young brother in the Lord
from the Shan Tribe
College students after a Bible camp
God’s Word is powerful and people can
learn a lot and grow just by opening up the
Bible and obeying what they read. But, on
the other hand, people are weak and prone
to deception when they are alone. “Where
no counsel is, the people fall: but in the
multitude of counsellors there is safety.”
(Proverbs 11:14) God has placed every
believer in the body of Christ. Especially
young believers are in need of help. Paul
told the Ephesians, “For I have not shunned
to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”
(Acts 20:27) He couldn’t have declared
“all” the counsel of God if he had only met
them one time.
In most of our ministry we try to have
follow-up, teaching young believers. Jesus
sent out his disciples as lambs among
wolves, but these “lambs” were also called
laborers (Luke 10: 2-3), who had a certain
level of maturity already from having
spent time with Jesus. Jesus told Peter to
“Feed my lambs...Feed my sheep...Feed
my sheep” (John 21: 15-17). Most good
things can be taken to a false extreme, such
as people becoming overly dependent on a
person instead of going to God, but nonetheless
God has given, “...some, apostles;
and some, prophets; and some, evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers; for
the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-12)
Speaking of teachers, last month Jacob
came to visit us for a few days and preached
two very good sermons. I was able to make
a video recording of one of them which has
Thai translation and have given this to others.
We pray for God’s grace and help to
teach young believers and encourage them
in God’s Word this year and to evangelize
and to see souls saved. In some of our ministry
such as making trips to Burma, we
don’t have follow-up, but we give them
gospels of John in their language and we
do go to generally the same areas.
We want to see many people saved, but
even one lost sheep that is found or one
wolf, that repents and becomes a new creature
in Christ, is something to rejoice over.
Let us not be weary in the labor that God
has given to each of us...
“And let us not be weary in well doing:
for in due season we shall reap, if we faint
not.” (Galatians 6:9)
“Then saith he unto his disciples, The
harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers
are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the
harvest, that he will send forth labourers
into his harvest.” (Matthew 9: 37-38)
Thank you for your prayers and support.
Peace in Christ,
Scott and Khae.
28 Moriel Quarterly • March 2013