Ephesus - Moriel Ministries

"MORIeL"
GOD IS MY TEACHER
October/December 2010 Cheshvan/Kislev/Tevet 5771
No. 44
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly

Thank You from the Administrator
v
MORIEL MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL
"MORIeL"
GOD IS MY TEACHER
DFrom the Office of the Administrator
Dear Friends of Moriel,
Thank You
Another year has come and gone and we have faced some difficulties and had some
great victories. From sick kids, health problems, to long time periods away from home
they have all combined to prove trying. But they also keep us looking forward to the
return of our Lord. Victories have included some expansion of our work into the Philippines.
While we are still in the beginnings of our work there, we do believe the Lord is
leading Moriel to expand our work there.
The tour Jacob and I took around the Pacific was long, but very profitable. Meeting
so many new brothers and sisters was such a blessing. There are so many people to thank
for their kindness, encouragement and support it would be too long a list to include here.
But please know I have a list of so many new brothers and sisters that I am now praying
for. So I thank all of our Moriel supporters for your prayers and kindness towards us,
May the Lord bless you all.
New Book by Jacob Coming soon!
This year we are looking forward to Jacob’s new book, “Shadows of the Beast: How
the Antichrist Will Be Revealed to the Faithful Church.” We are working on the final
corrections and hope to have it out soon in the New Year. So please pray we can get this
done. Jacob sees this as a companion to his latest book, The Dilemma of Laodicea and
hopes to start work on his next book, The Daniel Factor. These three books will be a
great ‘last days’ trilogy collection, and should prove very helpful to the Body of Christ.
Upcoming speaking tour
Jacob will be doing a winter tour in the United States before returning to England. He is
going to try to spend a little more time at home this year, cutting out his usual aroundthe-world
trip. He wants to go to Africa in late June, as he did not make it there last year,
followed by a shortened tour to the US and then the Greek study tour in late September.
Study Tour of Greece
Jacob will be leading a study tour of Greece in late September. When I went on
the first one I learned so much. There is a wealth of teaching and I am sure Jacob has
gathered even more to teach this time. He has stops planned where we did not visit last
time. Also, when we visited Vergina and the tomb of Phillip II of Macedonia everyone
was blown away. Very impressive! Get your reservations in early as Jacob likes to keep
his study tours more intimate. Details can be found on the website, or by e-mailing or
calling your local Moriel representative. Phone numbers or e-mail addresses are found
in the Quarterly or on the website.
Prayer Closet
Look for our new section in this Quarterly for prayer needs called, “The Prayer
Closet.” Drop in and help us in our biggest need.
Renewals
It is that time; you need to renew your free Moriel Quarterly subscription. We would
love to hear from you, so include a little note when you renew. We want to continue to
give away the Quarterly for free, so all we ask is you let us know you want it. Included
is an envelope for your ease in renewing.
In closing, thank you all again for your support and prayers. Without them we could
not do what God has called us to do. May you all be blessed.
David Royle
JAPAN
GEOFF TOOLE
morieljapan@yahooJP
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EPHESUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
JUST CALL ME “BARUCH” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
THE BOOK OF JONAH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
MORIEL SOUTH AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
EDITORIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
MORIEL JAPAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
AUSTRALIAN REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
RAMBLING ROSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
YOUR LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
MORIEL PRAYER CLOSET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
A GREEK JESUS OR A
HEBREW YESHUA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
In Peace,
David
Moriel Quarterly • December 2010

Jacob Prasch
Feature Article
EPHESUS
“Not Lasting” – First Century
EPHESUS
By Jacob Prasch
Editor’s Note: The following is actually a
reprint of the first chapter from Jacob’s latest
book, The Dilemma of Laodicea. Among other
things he explains that the seven churches in
Revelation 2-3 represent at least four things:
• Seven literal churches which existed at
the time of John’s writing in the 1 st Century.
• Seven types of churches which can exist
at any period of Church history.
• Seven general, overlapping periods of
Church history.
• Seven types of churches which will exist
in the Last Days leading up to Christ’s
Return.
From them we do not simply learn a lesson
about Church history, but how the spiritual
patterns of each foreshadow a final fulfillment
in the Last Days with a greater force and magnitude,
much in the character of Jesus’ own description
of “birth pangs”.
We believe Jacob has provided in this book
the ultimate tools of discernment by which any
church, organization, or spiritual movement
can be biblically examined to determine its true
spiritual character. Each age of the Church as
represented by each of the seven churches not
only carries unique strengths and weaknesses,
but provide a picture of how each fares under
spiritual attacks to undermine their good intentions.
And since each one is ultimately amplified
in the Last Days, every Christian needs to
understand how what occurred with each of the
seven churches is being replayed before our
very eyes today.
EPHESUS: “Not Lasting” – First Century
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus
write:
“The One who holds the seven stars in
His right hand, the One who walks among
the seven golden lampstands, says this:
“‘I know your deeds and your toil and
perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate
evil men, and you put to the test those
who call themselves apostles, and they are
not, and you found them to be false; and
you have perseverance and have endured
for My name’s sake, and have not grown
weary. But I have this against you, that
you have left your first love. Therefore remember
from where you have fallen, and
repent and do the deeds you did at first;
or else I am coming to you and will remove
your lampstand out of its place—unless
you repent. Yet this you do have, that
you hate the deeds of the “Nicolaitans,”
which I also hate.
“’He who has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches. To him
who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the
tree of life which is in the Paradise of
God.’” (Rev. 2:1-7)
The Ephesian Age
Ephesus differs from the other six of the
seven churches in that it refers to the Apostolic
or Ephesian age of the church up to the close of
the first century AD. Hence, unlike the other six
churches, it has no future application to another
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly

Feature Article – Continued
age in any primary sense prophetically although
the principles for which Christ both commends
and admonishes it apply to churches of all ages.
The original time frame of Ephesus is the age in
which the church existed at the time of John’s vision.
(The author holds to a classical Johannine
authorship – but the reasons for holding this position
are found beyond the scope of this work).
Ephesus, a Great City
Today Ephesus is a Muslim village called
Selsuk, which is a popular place to visit. According
to tradition it was the burial site of John
after he returned from prison on the island of
Patmos, and one can stand where some Evangelical
archaeologists from the United States
say he is buried. Ephesus is described in its letter
as having a special lamp among the seven
golden lampstands that no other church had
(Rev. 2:5). Because of its apostolic associations,
and because of its Jewish roots and its ability to
understand Scripture from the original Jewish
perspective, it was able to see things that other
churches were not. But that lamp was removed.
When visiting Ephesus today (the village
of Selsuk), one will hardly even find a nominal
Christian, let alone a born again Christian.
Visitors can explore the ruins of the Temple of
Artemis where the riot occurred during Paul’s
ministry (Acts 19:23-4). There is a place called
“Mary’s House” which, according to the tradition
of the Greek Orthodox Church, was the
place to which Mary retired with the apostle
John. For about £20 a personal tour will be provided.
However, although this is a place that
was associated with Peter, Paul, Barnabas, John
and later Polycarp — all pillars of the church—
today it is completely devoid of any form of
Christianity. It is amazing how that can happen,
how a place can be the center of so much of
God’s truth and history and yet practically turn
to nothing overnight.
John wrote the Book of Revelation around
AD 96, and in those days Ephesus was the
greatest port in Asia. Although Pergamum was
the capital city of the Province of Asia, Ephesus
was much larger with a population of around
250,000. It was considered to be the fourth largest
city in the Empire after Rome, Alexandria
and Antioch. Roads from Colossae, Laodicea
and Galatia reached the Mediterranean at Ephesus
via Sardis. Thus Ephesus was on the highway
to Rome. It boasted fabulous architecture
and impressive roads, including a seventy-footwide
tree-lined road running down to the harbor.
Ephesus was home to a 25,000-seat theater
and the Temple of Diana (also known as
Artemis) which is considered one of the seven
wonders of the ancient world. Built entirely of
marble, it was the largest building in the entire
Greek world. 36 of its 127 pillars, each sixty
feet high, were overlaid with gold so that it was
hugely extravagant and impressive to people
of the time. The image of Artemis in the center
was a squat, black, multi-breasted figure, an excavated
statue of which is on display in the Vatican
Museum. It bears a startling resemblance
to icons of Mary the mother of Christ. In fact it
was at the Council of Ephesus in the fifth century
that Mary was later proclaimed “Queen of
Heaven” and “Mother of God” in imitation of the
pagan worship of Diana (or Artemis) of Ephesus,
even though the Greek term “Theotikos”
– or “mother of god,” is nowhere found in the
New Testament. One need only read Acts 19, to
see how precious Artemis was to the Ephesians.
This same city identified so closely with
the apostolic church became foundational to the
later paganization that saw mainstream Christianity
transformed into a paganized and politicized
Christendom. There were also temples
to the Emperors Claudius, Nero and Domitian,
the latter housing a statue of the Emperor four
times larger than life-size, depicting Domitian
as Zeus, the ruler of the gods. A huge forearm
survives in a museum.
Later, when Christians were brought from
Asia to be flung to the lions in the arena in
Rome, Ignatius (c. 35 – c. 110), the third “Bishop
of Antioch” who was himself martyred,
called Ephesus “the Highway of the Martyrs.”
The Time of Emperor Domitian
Pliny (c. 61 – c. 113) complained about
Domitian’s practice of being addressed as “Dominus
et Deus Noster”— that is, “Our Lord
and our God.” The poet Statius called him “the
morning star,” a title the Bible gives to Jesus,
although Lucifer wanted to be that morning star.
Therefore Domitian, who introduced a terrible
persecution of Christians, is seen as a type of
Antichrist, the devil personified. Significantly,
as if to correct Domitian’s claim, John records
in his Gospel that Thomas acclaimed Jesus as
“My Lord and my God” (Jn. 20:28). Furthermore,
in His Revelation the final words of Jesus
are, “I am the root and descendant of David, the
bright morning star.” (Rev. 22:16)
There were many signs of the end of the age
in the first century. When James was martyred, a
man called Simeon became the senior pastor of
the church in Jerusalem. He remembered what
Jesus said and led the believers in Jerusalem to
a place called Pella. (See The Jewish War by Josephus).
All the believers were rescued because
when they saw the fulfillment of all the signs,
they took advantage of a temporary withdrawal
by Roman forces and fled Jerusalem. But the
Jews who remained through the siege of Jerusalem
by Titus in AD 70 suffered great tribulation
and even ate their babies, fulfilling the terrible
warnings of Deuteronomy 28. This happened
before when Jerusalem was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar
(Ez.5:10). This prefigures what will
happen again before Armageddon.
Persecution
The Emperor demanded to be worshipped
on the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10) one day a year.
Many Christians refused to bow down to a false
god. Peter and Paul were killed and Rome was
burned. This prefigures the death of the two martyrs
of Revelation 11, a word which also means
“witnesses.” Those events which actually happened
will be replayed at the end of the age. They
are a shadow of the final fulfillment to come.
Ephesus as a center of Pagan worship furnishes
a high definition image of the persecution
in the Last Days. The promenade leading
to the Agorra (market) was decked with a gate
containing the overhead inscription hailing Caesar
as the son of god. Hence, in order to buy or
sell, there had to be de facto recognition of the
claimed deity of the emperor. The Christians refusing
to do so found themselves excluded from
commercial life of the city and were unable to
buy or sell. Moreover, they were tied to poles
on either side of the promenade and set alight as
human street lamps to illuminate the way into
the market. This is a foreshadowing of what
Antichrist will attempt to do, linking one’s capacity
to engage in commerce with an implicit
recognition of his claimed deity.
Before the establishment of denominations
there was a degree of unity in the church which
was brought about by persecution. It will be the
same in the Last Days. In the early church there
existed the repeated teaching about the Last
Days. “When is He coming” was a common
concern, and when Jesus did not reappear people
began to get discouraged. So Jesus appeared
via his angel to say,
“He who overcomes…until the end…”
(Rev. 2:26)
But, “How long, O Lord, holy and true”
(Rev. 6:10)
“Until the number of their fellow servants
and their brethren who were to be killed
even as they had been, would be completed
also.” (Rev. 6:11).
It is a fearful thought, but just as there was
strong persecution in the early church, so there
will be again in the Last Days. Look at what
is happening today in China or North Korea to
born again Christians. Rome under Emperor
Nero burned Christians—citizens of his own
kingdom—and in the 16 th century the Church of
Rome burned its own members for reading the
Bible. The Last Days will indeed call for patient
endurance on the part of the saints (Rev. 13:10)!
Jesus the High Priest
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which
God gave Him…” (Rev. 1:1)
God gave it to Jesus.
“Then I turned to see the voice that was
speaking with me. And having turned I
saw seven golden lampstands; and in the
middle of the lampstands I saw one like
a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching
to the feet, and girded across His chest
with a golden sash. His head and His hair
were white like white wool, like snow; and
His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet
were like burnished bronze, when it has
been made to glow in a furnace, and His
voice was like the sound of many waters.
In His right hand He held seven stars, and
out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged
sword; and His face was like the sun shining
in its strength.” (Rev. 1:12-16)
Notice that Jesus appears dressed as the
new High Priest, replacing the Jewish High
Priest of Exodus 29. The High Priest was consecrated
by blood and had special garments, but
his blessings and calling were passed on to his
sons. Remember, Jesus is now the High Priest.
And just as the sons of Aaron were the priests
who carried on the ministry of Aaron, so all followers
of Jesus are priests who are to carry on
the ministry of Jesus who is the High Priest.
Moriel Quarterly • December 2010

Specifically, it is the ministry of priests to
bring sacrifices and intercede for the people. As
it says in 1 Peter 2:9,” all believers are priests.
There is no such thing as a Christian who is
not a priest. Anyone who is not a priest is not
a Christian or minister; anyone who is a Christian
is also a priest and a minister, a word meaning
“servant.” The idea of an ordained “priest”
under the New Covenant is entirely a human
invention. Therefore the whole debate about female
“priests” is utter nonsense. How an entire
institution can split over something which has
no basis to begin with defies logic!
… and in the middle of the lampstands I
saw one like a son of man, clothed in a
robe reaching to the feet, and girded across
His chest with a golden sash. (Rev. 1:13)
But the appearance of Jesus in Revelation
1 typifies the High Priest’s garments. He had
to wear a form of breastplate on His shoulders,
and a tunic that He must not remove. This tunic
represents the garment of salvation. The Mormons
wear a kind of underwear that they never
take off, and the pope wears a scapular, a form
of apron or vest. It sounds absurd, but this is
where they get the idea. On top of this, Aaron
wore a breastplate with twelve plates on his
chest representing the twelve tribes.
When a priest prays for someone’s toothache,
the prayer is said and done and the task
is completed. However, the breastplate represented
a burden, the burden of intercession
which the High Priest did not take off, day or
night, until the battle was won. If someone is
an intercessor, that burden is going to be on his
heart until it is answered and the battle won.
That is what Jesus is doing now; He is carrying
the burden of Israel and those adopted into her
by His work on the cross as the High Priest of
the New Covenant. But notice that Aaron had to
pass these garments on to his sons.
All believers have been given a measure of
faith by God and “without faith it is impossible
to please Him” (Heb.11:6). But not everyone
has the gift of faith. There is a special gift of
faith (1 Co. 12:9) and people who are intercessors
have this God-given gift and carry a burden
for a particular issue just as the Lord Jesus did.
But every believer should still, in a sense, carry
the burden that is on their shoulders and on their
heart, not only for Israel but also, by extension,
for the church—and for the lost.
Slain in the Spirit
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a
dead man. And He placed His right hand
on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the
first and the last, (Rev. 1:17)
Contrast this to Zechariah 4…
Then the angel who was speaking with me
returned and roused me, as a man who is
awakened from his sleep. (Zech. 4:1)
The phenomenon of being “slain in the
Spirit” occurs many times in both Testaments.
They fell down in God’s presence. But the term
comes from Revelation 1:17 where John says
he “fell at His feet as a dead man.” It happened
to Daniel in Daniel 10.
George Whitefield, was very disturbed
when he saw people being “slain in the Spirit”
at John Wesley’s meetings, but a few days later
it happened in his own meetings. Granted a lot
of it found today is just nonsense, pushing people
down or people getting stirred up emotionally
by a hypnotic and manipulative speaker.
Of course it may be counterfeited, but the real
thing is scriptural—it does happen.
“He said to me, “What do you see” And
I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all
of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and
its seven lamps on it with seven spouts
belonging to each of the lamps which are
on the top of it; also two olive trees by it,
one on the right side of the bowl and the
other on its left side.” Then I said to the
angel who was speaking with me saying,
“What are these, my lord” So the angel
who was speaking with me answered and
said to me, “Do you not know what these
are” And I said, “No, my lord.” Then he
said to me, “This is the word of the LORD
to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor
by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the
LORD of hosts. ‘What are you, O great
mountain Before Zerubbabel you will
become a plain; and he will bring forth
the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace
to it!” ’ ”
Also the word of the LORD came to me,
saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have
laid the foundation of this house, and his
hands will finish it. Then you will know
that the LORD of hosts has sent me to
you. For who has despised the day of
small things But these seven will be glad
when they see the plumb line in the hand
of Zerubbabel—these are the eyes of the
LORD which range to and fro throughout
the earth.”
Then I said to him, “What are these two
olive trees on the right of the lampstand
and on its left” And I answered the second
time and said to him, “What are the
two olive branches which are beside the
two golden pipes, which empty the golden
oil from themselves” So he answered
me, saying, “Do you not know what these
are” And I said, “No, my lord.” Then he
said, “These are the two anointed ones
who are standing by the LORD of the
whole earth.” (Zech. 4:2-1)
Somehow the architecture of the physical
temple reflects the truth of heaven, and somehow
it reflects certain truths about the church. That is
what Revelation tries to bring together, reflecting
Zechariah Chapter 4: the seven lampstands
in Revelation are the seven churches, and the
two anointed ones appear again in Revelation 11.
Some say they represent Moses who died physically,
Moses and Elijah whose body was taken
up by God; others say they represent Moses
and Enoch, for Enoch also walked into heaven.
It is interesting that the phrase “son of
man” appears in Revelation 1:13. Whenever it
occurs in the Old Testament it is teaching something
about Jesus. Daniel and Ezekiel are types
of Jesus. Ezekiel is a major type of Jesus. And
in Daniel 10:9 he says, “I fell into a deep sleep
on my face, with my face to the ground.” Daniel
evidently also fell down like one slain.
Paul writes:
Feature Article – Continued
“Boasting is necessary, though it is not
profitable; but I will go on to visions and
revelations of the Lord. I know a man in
Christ who fourteen years ago—whether
in the body I do not know, or out of the
body I do not know, God knows—such a
man was caught up to the third heaven.
And I know how such a man—whether in
the body or apart from the body I do not
know, God knows— was caught up into
Paradise and heard inexpressible words,
which a man is not permitted to speak. On
behalf of such a man I will boast; but on
my own behalf I will not boast, except in
regard to my weaknesses. For if I do wish
to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be
speaking the truth; but I refrain from this,
so that no one will credit me with more
than he sees in me or hears from me. Because
of the surpassing greatness of the
revelations, for this reason, to keep me
from exalting myself, there was given me
a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan
to torment me—to keep me from exalting
myself!” (2 Co. 12:1-7)
Paul was obviously talking about himself,
probably when “they stoned Paul and dragged
him outside of the city, supposing him to be
dead ” (Acts 14:19). It was a form of rapture;
he was somehow caught up into heaven. And
it also happened to Zechariah, Elijah, Ezekiel
and Enoch. Every one of those passages says
something about what is going to happen when
“the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who
are alive and remain shall be caught up (in Latin,
“rapturo,” hence the word “raptured” in the
AV) together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be
with the Lord.” (1 Th. 4:16-17)
When Jesus was transfigured on the mountain
(Mt. 17), suddenly there appeared Elijah who
never died, and Moses who died but his grave
could not be found. But they all had this same
glorious splendor, this white radiance. Whether
believers die or not, they shall all appear the
same. What is going to happen to them when
they die That is the big question which Revelation
explains. Somehow, perhaps after “sleeping”
for centuries, believers will all be caught
up to be with the Lord forever. People like Paul
and John had a glimpse of these things ahead
of time—“things inexpressible.” (2 Co. 12:4)
The Faithful Witness with a New Body
Next comes the concept of the faithful witness.
…and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead, and the
ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who
loves us and released us from our sins by
His blood— (Rev. 1:5)
Jesus is described as “the faithful witness.” But
in the Psalms...
“His (David’s) descendants will endure
forever. And his throne as the sun before
Me. It shall be established forever like the
moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful.
But You have cast off and rejected,
You have been full of wrath against Your
anointed (your Messiah).” (Ps. 89:36-38)
Hence in Revelation is described the faith-
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly

Feature Article – Continued
ful witness Jesus who was rejected but is alive
forevermore. Looking at the heavenly court in
Revelation it can be seen how God uses heavenly
or spiritual things to describe physical things.
His feet were like burnished bronze, when
it has been made to glow in a furnace, and
His voice was like the sound of many waters.
(Rev. 1:15)
Note that bronze has to do with judgment.
Therefore from now on we recognize no
one according to the flesh; even though
we have known Christ according to the
flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no
longer. (2 Co. 5:16)
Paul is saying what John said. They knew
Him in His glorified form. John knew Jesus intimately,
better than any other disciple; he rested
his head on Him at the Last Supper. Yet when
John saw Jesus in His glorified form it was like
the difference between a caterpillar and a butterfly.
After a life climaxing in death in the cocoon,
which represents the grave, the caterpillar
undergoes a change which brings forth this
beautiful new creation. Believers are destined
to follow Him. One day all believers will be
beautiful like the butterfly risen from the larva.
When they get to heaven and look in the mirror
they are not going to recognize themselves!
Salvation, Saved and Born Again
Notice that there are three aspects of salvation:
I have been saved,
I am being saved, and
I am going to be saved.
Similarly,
I have been born again,
I am being born again, and
I am going to be born again.
The past aspect of salvation is called “justification.”
Everyone has sinned by stealing, lying,
etc. but they have been justified—they have
been saved—because Jesus paid the price for
their sins, and they have repented and thanked
Him and stopped doing those things.
But at present, believers are still being
saved and are still being sanctified—continuously,
every day.
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone
wishes to come after Me, he must deny
himself, and take up his cross daily and
follow Me. (Lk. 9:23)
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it
is no longer I who live, but Christ lives
in me; and the life which I now live in
the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God
(by the faith of the Son of God - AV), who
loved me, and gave Himself up for me.”
(Gal. 2:20)
Every day in the life they now live they are
still being saved. The present aspect of salvation
is “sanctification.”
And in the future they are going to be saved.
“But the one who endures to the end, he
will be saved.” (Mt. 24:13)
That is redemption. It will be at the end of
the age, still to come in the future.
“But when these things begin to take
place, straighten up and lift up your
heads, because your redemption is drawing
near.” (Lk. 21:28)
Revisit the connection between Genesis,
John and Revelation discussed previously, and
the repeated appearance of both the garden and
the “Tree of Life.” This is why the Tree of Life
appears in the letter to Ephesus.
“To him who overcomes, I will grant to
eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise
of God.” (Rev. 2:7b)
What was lost in the Garden will be given
back. There is a three-way parallelism occurring
here:
1. Creation – that was Genesis;
2. New Creation – that is the Gospel, new
life in Christ now;
3. Re-creation – what will take place according
to Revelation.
The three go together. That is why the same
figures, the same symbols, the same language is
repeatedly employed throughout Scripture. For
example, what is seen in Revelation 6:9 The
martyrs crying out from under the altar, slain
because of the Word of God and the testimony
they had maintained. And what is under the altar
It is where the blood runs down into the
ground. What is portrayed in Genesis Able’s
blood cries out from the ground. And in John
The blood of Jesus gushes out onto the ground.
Or again, God separated the light from the
darkness in creation as recorded in Genesis. God
came to separate the light from the darkness in
the new creation. In John’s gospel Jesus came
as the Light of the world, but men preferred
darkness because their deeds were evil (Jn.
3:19). Unrepentant sinners still prefer darkness,
and much sin still goes on under cover of darkness.
But God can see in the dark. He knows everything.
And all repented sins are blotted out.
Believers must learn to walk in the light always.
And finally, in the re-creation in Revelation,
the Lamb is the lamp, and the glory of the
Lord is the light. (Rev. 21:23)
What Jesus Said to the Ephesians
There are three particular things in this letter
to Ephesus which require special attention:
First, false apostles;
Second, the loss of their first love;
Third, the practices of the Nicolaitans.
Jesus was described to each church with
some aspect of the vision of the deified Jesus
given to John in Chapter 1. To Ephesus, the
church whose name meant “not lasting,” He
was described as “the One who walks among
the seven golden lampstands,” and Revelation
1:20 specifies these are the seven churches.
So Jesus is in some way walking among all
of these churches. This is important because
Ephesus was a church that had lost its first love.
They had subscribed to the Greek mentality that
heaven is above and earth is below and separated
from heaven, so man is separated from Jesus.
Ephesus needed to be reminded that He continually
walks among the lampstands, among the
churches. He is continually with believers even
though He cannot be seen.
It is noteworthy that Jesus always began
with praise. (Paul did this in his letters, and everyone
could do well to follow the example.)
“‘I know your deeds and your toil and
perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate
evil men, and you put to the test those
who call themselves apostles, and they are
not, and you found them to be false; and
you have perseverance and have endured
for My name’s sake, and have not grown
weary.’” (Rev. 2:2-3)
Jesus points out their faithfulness and the
fact that they could not tolerate false apostles.
Notice how He commends them for having put
such to the test.
For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy;
for I betrothed you to one husband,
so that to Christ I might present you as a
pure virgin…
A true apostle is going to have as his central
goal the presentation to the bridegroom of a
pure, spotless, virgin bride.
… But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived
Eve by his craftiness, your minds
will be led astray from the simplicity and
purity of devotion to Christ…
Note that in Revelation there is the serpent
and the dragon—Satan’s two forms. The dragon
persecutes the church, the serpent seduces it.
Paul is warning about being seduced.
… For if one comes and preaches another
Jesus whom we have not preached, or
you receive a different spirit which you
have not received, or a different gospel
which you have not accepted, you bear
this beautifully. For I consider myself not
in the least inferior to the most eminent
apostles. But even if I am unskilled in
speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in
fact, in every way we have made this evident
to you in all things. (2 Co. 11:2-6)
Look what Paul said: “If one comes and
preaches a different gospel...” But what is a
“different” gospel Notice that it will be largely
correct. It will even appear correct at first
glance. If it did not, it would not deceive. But it
will always distort the one essential truth upon
which all other Christian truth is based:
Christ crucified,
Christ resurrected,
Christ coming again.
Christ died, Christ rose, Christ is coming
again. This is the essential truth. All other truth
has to be based on that truth. Jesus is the truth.
We have:
The truth of the cross,
The truth of the empty tomb, and
The truth of the Mount of Olives where He
will return.
All other truth has to be built on that threefold
truth. If somebody takes any other truth,
even though it may be a truth and makes it central,
then it distorts this threefold central truth of
Christ and Him crucified, Christ and Him resurrected,
Christ and Him returning. It not only
distorts, it obscures, and that which is obscured
is put out of the picture.
Those propounding the false Faith-Prosperity
gospel got hold of a truth. But that truth
is only valid if you look at it in the light of the
main truth: the crucifixion, resurrection and
promised return of Jesus. These people do not
emphasize the crucified life; they do not lay
it down. Instead they take millions for themselves!
So the central truth is replaced by another
truth and that alternative truth becomes
distorted into a lie.
Moriel Quarterly • December 2010

There are those who have taken hold of
God’s End-Times purpose for Israel and the
Jews, which is indeed a truth, but have made
Israel, and not Jesus, the central truth. And so
what happens The message of the cross gets
obscured. There are organizations whose ministry
has prioritized the task of carrying the Jews
back to Israel, loving them and blessing them
as best they can, but they have promised not
to proselytize. Can you imagine Peter, John or
Paul making such a promise
False Apostles
But what I am doing I will continue to
do, so that I may cut off opportunity from
those who desire an opportunity to be regarded
just as we are in the matter about
which they are boasting…
In other words, people who want to be considered
apostles. Jesus tells those with ears to
hear at Ephesus, “I know … you put to the test
those who call themselves apostles, and they are
not, and you found them to be false.” (Rev. 2:2)
Paul continues…
… For such men are false apostles, deceitful
workers, disguising themselves as
apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even
Satan disguises himself as an angel of
light. Therefore it is not surprising if his
servants also disguise themselves as servants
of righteousness, whose end will be
according to their deeds. (2 Co. 11:12-15)
And what is the context in which Paul is
speaking “Another gospel.” They take their
eyes off Jesus, off the cross, off the central message,
and it begins to go wrong. Every false
apostle makes that mistake in some way. They
take their eyes off the essential truth of Christ
and Him crucified, resurrected and coming
again, and begin to emphasize some other truth,
making it central. It always happens that way.
True Apostles
There are at least four kinds of apostles in
the New Testament. First and foremost there is
Jesus himself.
“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of
a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the
Apostle and High Priest of our confession;”
(Heb. 3:1)
Jesus is called the High Priest in Hebrews
and He is identified as, and appears as, the
High Priest in Revelation 1. But in the Greek
in Hebrews 3:1 it is the definite article—Jesus
is “the” Apostle. All other apostles must derive
their apostolic authority from Jesus, “the Apostle
and High Priest.”
But there are three other types of apostles.
First there were the original twelve. He appointed
(ordained) twelve, designating them apostles.
And when day came, He called His disciples
to Him and chose twelve of them, whom
He also named as apostles: (Lk. 6:13)
Then there was Paul. He was not one of the
original twelve, and some people teach that the
apostles acted presumptuously in selecting Matthias
instead of waiting for Paul, but that would
be a mistake. Carefully examine Acts 1:21.
When Judas committed suicide they looked for
someone to replace him from among the men
who had been with them the whole time that the
Lord Jesus went in and out among them since
the baptism of John. The other apostles were
disciples of John the Baptist and were probably
baptized by him before they were disciples of
Jesus. Paul was not.
So there was Jesus “the” Apostle, the
twelve, the almost unique case of Paul, and finally
there were men such as Apollos and Barnabas.
Barnabas was called an apostle in Acts
14:14. The word “apostle” simply means “away
from post” or “one who is sent.” The only kind
of apostle that can exist today are church-planting
missionaries sent out by their home church.
Where can the biblical model for churchplanting
missionaries be seen Acts 13, Paul
knew he was an apostle. God told him through
Ananias in Damascus, “he is a chosen instrument
of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles”
(Acts 9:15). He was called to be an apostle
to the Gentiles. But notice what happened. He
did not embark on that ministry until seventeen
years later when it was confirmed to the church
by the Holy Spirit. Then, and not until then, the
church sent him.
A lot of people today who are claiming to
be apostles (“God said to me” types) should
learn from Acts 13. Paul did not go out as an
apostle until it was confirmed to the church and
he was confirmed by the church, and sent together
with Barnabas. Did God send out only
Paul No, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for
Me Barnabas and Saul.” The basic New Testament
model is for plurality of leaders. Even as
a church-planting missionary, Paul was yoked
and in submission.
Some of the people claiming to be apostles
today are autocrats on an ego trip. They may
have started out right, but pride has overtaken
them. Too many churches are known as so-andso’s
church. That is not biblical. They are not
subordinate to anybody. Paul was always reporting
back to Antioch. On issues of doctrine,
in Acts 15, he submitted to the joint authority of
the elders and the other apostles. And he always
had Barnabas or Luke with him. That is the way
it was. There are many church-planting ministries
and ministers, but if they are legitimate,
they will be scriptural.
So whenever people are encountered who
call themselves “apostles,” the biblical requirement
is to test them to see if they are true apostles.
Jesus commended the church at Ephesus
because they tested such people.
Forsaken Your First Love
The second thing Jesus said to Ephesus
was that they had lost their first love. That happens.
When first “saved” the people around new
believers think they are crazy. There is the case
where a believer had been busted for drugs,
burned his draft card, and was thrown out of
private school, which was alright with his Dad.
But when he gave his life to Jesus, his father
pulled a gun on him!
When first saved, some new believers
might think they are the next Paul. They may be
clumsy, but they have a zeal. The church should
be run on the wisdom of the old sheep but on
the zeal of the newly born-again lambs!
Feature Article – Continued
Sadly, the lukewarm church so often takes a
zealous, newly born again Christian and makes
him a lukewarm one! They lose their first love.
Yet people who still have that enthusiastic first
love intimidate and convict others by the power,
sheer joy and passion of the Holy Spirit that
is in them.
The first-century apostolic church is often
regarded as the ideal church, and in some ways
it is. But believers then had their problems, too!
Yet they were not so very different to problems
facing the church today. Hyper-charismatic XE
“Charismatic” extremists in Corinth, people
with crazy ideas about the Last Days in Thessalonica,
legalistic Christians in Galatia who
wanted to add rules to the Gospel—it is what
happened then and it still happens now. There
is nothing new under the sun. But how did their
problems commence The way every problem
commences. What happens in marriage The
loss of one’s first love.
When my wife gets on my nerves, I just
think back to walking along the shore of the
Dead Sea holding hands with this Israeli girl
from whom I could not take my eyes off—this
girl I led to a confession of faith in Christ on the
streets of Jerusalem. I remember walking with
her by the Sea of Galilee explaining to her the
basic truths of the Bible. That is the person I fell
in love with, and that is the person who, in my
heart of hearts, I am still in love with. If you are
married, think back to that time and, husbands,
just love her. There is a natural tendency to forget
one’s first love. But everyone is supposed to
remember that first love for Jesus. He told the
Ephesians to remember it.
When genuine revival comes to a church everybody
is full of life and awe at the holiness of
God. But over time that first love is lost and eventually
what happens There are two things that
happen when people begin to lose this first love:
1. The quality and quantity of their prayer
life begins to decrease.
2. They lose their evangelistic zeal.
They do not have the same desire to tell everybody
what Jesus did for them. They get into
the excuse, “I am not an evangelist.” Not everyone
is an evangelist, but everyone is a witness.
Jesus declared, “You shall be my witnesses”
(Acts 1:8). There is nobody who cannot give
out tracts, knock on doors, talk to people oneon-one
and establish relationships. This is not
to say that everyone should all give out tracts
or knock on doors, but Jesus has a ministry as
a witness for every believer. Ask Jesus to show
you what to do. There is no Christian who is not
called to be Christ’s witness.
Hate the Practices of the Nicolaitans
‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the
deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also
hate. (Rev. 2:6)
Finally, Jesus actually commended the
Ephesian church because they hated the practices
of the Nicolaitans which He Himself hates.
The Bible usually interprets itself, and the
words “nico” and “laity” together mean “suppression
of the people” or “rulers of the laity.”
This implies a clergy class like the Levitical
priests who ruled or lorded it over their brothers.
Before Satan succeeded in introducing pa-
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly

Feature Article – Continued
gan practices into the church he tried to Judaize it. What happened in Galatia They were trying to circumcise the Greek converts. They taught the
Gospel of Jesus and then added, “But you must be circumcised as well.” Similarly today there are Seventh-day Adventists who believe that you must
not work on Saturday. They add part of the Law.
So instead of a priesthood of all believers, the Nicolaitans introduced a separate priesthood, a ruling class. It came in part from a Gnostic influence,
from the idea that there is some special, secret knowledge or power given only to certain specially-ordained people. Yes there are leaders; yes there
are elders, apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers; yes there are pastors, guardians of our souls, and thank God there are. But a special “priesthood”
Rulers over the laity And should such people be tolerated For anyone not under such people is there really no salvation for them as they would have
them believe
Once people claim some kind of apostolic authority and ability to control others lives, test them. Do they fit the pattern of biblical apostolic authority
Are they yoked and under authority themselves the way that Paul and Barnabas were Are they reporting back to Antioch or meeting the other
apostles and elders in Jerusalem to check out their Gospel Or are they Nicolaitans Jesus hate their deeds; He says so directly.
Whenever there arises a Nicolaitan priesthood or priestcraft, people are ultimately excluded or hurt spiritually and psychologically. Ireland has a
priest in every village, yet Ireland has the highest rates of alcoholism and schizophrenia in the world. But this is also seen in new churches. What they
call “apostolic authority”—whether from a pope or from a local heavy-handed pastor—could also be the mark of a Nicolaitan.
Conclusion
It should be each believer’s utmost desire and prayer, beginning with miserable excuses of Christians like themselves, that the church today would
return to its first love. When Jesus is continuously loved the way He was loved the day He was first recognized and believed upon, nothing can go wrong.
And He is going to take care of those who do love Him.
1 st 2 nd 3 rd 4 th 5 th 6 th 7 th 8 th 9 th 10 th 11 th 12 th 13 th 14 th 15 th 16 th 17 th 18 th 19 th 20 th
Apostolic Church
Pre-Nicean Church
Rise of the Institutional Church
The Dark Ages
The Reformation
Great Awakening
Apostate Church
On the lighter side . . . .
– 4 Worms Sermon –
Four worms and a lesson learned!
A minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon.
Four worms were placed into four separate jars. The first worm was put into a container of
alcohol. The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke. The third worm was
put into a container of chocolate syrup. The fourth worm was put into a container of good
clean soil. At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results:
• The first worm in alcohol – Dead!
• The second worm in cigarette smoke – Dead!
• The third worm in chocolate syrup – Dead!
• The fourth worm in good clean soil – Alive!
So the Minister asked the congregation, “What did you learn from this demonstration”
Maxine who was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said, “As long as you drink,
smoke and eat chocolate, you won’t have any worms!”
And.....That pretty much ended the service.
– Author unknown –
Moriel Quarterly • December 2010

Danny Isom
Guest Author
J u s t C a l l M e “ B a r u c h “
Baruch 3:14
Learn where is wisdom,
where is strength,
where is understanding;
that thou mayest know also where is
length of days, and life,
where is the light of the eyes,
and peace.
This is the message which Jeremiah the
prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when
he had written down these words in a book at Jeremiah’s
dictation… — Jeremiah 45:1a (NASB)
At this very moment, even among
the most loyal and long-time participants
in Moriel Ministries, I am
the most envied. Sitting on my little ol’ hard
drive is the first full draft of Jacob’s book on the
Antichrist. It has been more than two years in
the making and I am sure we will see full distribution
in early 2011, but I do not think I am exaggerating
that this book is (a) completely different
than all the other books Jacob has written
to date, and (b) nothing like anything I have ever
come across either on the specific topic of the
Antichrist or End Times eschatology in general.
The reason it is hiding out on my hard drive
is I have become what I most often describe as
“Jacob’s stenographer” Jacob’s a gifted speaker
and anointed teacher of Scripture; he is, however,
“technology challenged” to put it as politely
as possible. So we have devised an arrangement
to effectively overcome his handicap: Jacob
dictates, I type. My current favorite biblical figure
is obviously Baruch.
Now before we get TOO excited about the
NEXT book, I want to mention his LATEST
release, The Dilemma of Laodicea. I transcribed
Jacob’s 8-part conference The Seven Churches
of Revelation (which can be purchased as a set
of MP3’s from the Moriel website) and then Jacob
“filled in the gaps”, dictating as fast as my
fat little fingers could type. As someone who is
closer and more personally intimate with these
books and their content than anyone other than
Jacob right now, I want to make something clear
that every person interested in Jacob’s teaching
should know: You need BOTH of these books.
Before you jump to conclusions, like Baruch
I am not getting any kind of royalties or
kick-backs or sales commission. I am trying
to convey, in the strongest possible terms, that
these books are companions to each other. (I
have been advocating that Moriel do some kind
of packaging of the two together when the Antichrist
book comes out.) One of the oft-repeated
pearls of wisdom Jacob offers in both books
is that if you cannot learn from the past, you
will not have a clue for the present. Yes, there
is the final Antichrist to come, but the many antichrists,
and particularly the spirit of the antichrist,
have been actively engaged throughout
the whole of Church history. What they have
done in the past provides a picture of what they
will do again in the Last Days.
Jacob shows us that each of the seven
churches represent at least four things:
• They are seven literal churches which existed
at the time of John’s writing Revelation.
• They are seven types of churches which
have existed during every age of the Church.
• They are seven types of churches which will
exist in the Last Days.
• They are seven broadly, over-lapping periods
of Church history beginning with the 1 st
Century Church to this present hour.
This chart provides a visual representation
of the seven churches as broadly, over-lapping
periods of Church history:
But this graphic shows how each one mirrors
an exact period of Church history leading
up to this present day:
If there is a better example of “Those failing
to learn from history are doomed to repeat
it,” I have no clue what it might be.
Here is why the book is titled, The Dilemma
of Laodicea. Aside from the obvious connection
that we are living in the last age characterized
by an apostate church in the character
and behavior of Laodicea, consider the actual
pattern of the End Times. Jesus describes it as
“birth pangs”. (Mt. 24:8) Consider how the literal
teaches about the spiritual.
Literal birth pangs at first come very far
apart and milder in effect. Then they begin to
come with greater frequency and with multiplied
strength. As the moment of birth draw
ever nearer, the pangs increase into a final wave
with the worst pain imaginable. The final ones
make the first ones to appear as nothing in comparison.
This is the precise model for the End
Times. The pangs have been relatively spread
out over the seven ages of the Church, increasing
along the way, but with the most power and
repetition in the final age of Laodicea leading
up to the birth of God’s final judgment known
as “Jacob’s Trouble,” that final 3-1/2 year period
of the Great Tribulation.
But what Jacob effectively teaches in The
Dilemma of Laodicea is that something is going
to happen in the last age of the Church that
never happened before. Whereas each age is
characterized by different approaches by Satan
to both deceive and persecute God’s people, the
final age will experience them ALL! The intensity
of eschatological “birth pangs” is such
that every deception, every persecution, every
effort by Satan which characterize each age
of the Church throughout history will ALL be
multiplied and focused in these final birth pangs
leading up to “delivery”. In reality, nothing new
happens in the final age of the Church, just a
repetition of EVERYTHING that has ever happened
before with a strength and intensity unlike
anything ever experienced.
This is why I say that this book is a vital
companion to the upcoming book on the Antichrist
titled, Shadows of the Beast. In that book
Jacob focuses on how the faithful Church will
be able to identify the ultimate Antichrist; in
The Dilemma of Laodicea Jacob has captured
how to recognize the Antichrist by what he does.
I would also suggest that The Dilemma of
Laodicea is the ultimate tool of spiritual discernment.
I have come to realize that this book provides
the basic framework for a biblical understanding
of what is a move of God, a counterfeit
of Satan, or something rooted in the flesh. It will
become readily apparent by scriptural standards
whether any particular organization, movement,
or ministry is truly operating according
to the Holy Spirit or not. For that alone it is
worth making a permanent part of your library.
Finally, I would strongly suggest that those
of us who are able should purchase and distribute
copies of these books as much as possible.
The so-called mainstream “Christian” publishing
houses do not even screen such manuscripts
much less publish them, so the hope for the use
of their distribution power is probably not realistic.
It is going to be up to us to see that they get
where they need to go. You would think with all
the interest in and sky-rocketing sales of Christian
fiction in this area that such an offering
might have a ready-made market that a for-profit
business such as a publishing house would be
eager to exploit. But those are not the times we
are living in. It will take those who hold dear the
Truth of God’s Word to see non-fiction books
dedicated to speaking the plain truth placed in
the hands of those who most need to read them.
In His Love,
Danny Isom, Servant@WalkWithTheWord.org
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly

Special Interest
Jacob Prasch
THE BOOK OF
J O N A H
By Jacob Prasch
J O N A H
Before we look at the Book of Jonah let us
briefly look to the Acts 2:24 and 27.
“And God raised Him up again, putting
an end to the agony of death, since it
was impossible for Him to be held in its
power.”
In verse 27 we have a quote from the book
of Isaiah and the Psalms,
Because thou wilt not abandon my soul to
Hades, nor allow Thy holy one to undergo
decay.
It was impossible for death to hold Jesus
in its power: it was a theological, spiritual and
logical impossibility.
We are told in the book of Hebrews that
Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son
– as a type of Christ – because even then he
knew that God could raise his son up from the
dead to fulfill his purpose. (Heb. 11:17) It is an
example of how God puts somebody in a “death
situation” with the assurance that his resurrection
power is going to be found in it. With these
things in view let us examine the Book of the
prophet Jonah.
The word of the LORD came to Jonah
the son of Amittai saying, “Arise, go to
Nineveh the great city and cry against it,
for their wickedness has come up before
Me.” But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish
from the presence of the LORD. So he
went down to Joppa, found a ship which
was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and
went down into it to go with them to Tarshish
from the presence of the LORD.
The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea
and there was a great storm on the sea
so that the ship was about to break up.
Then the sailors became afraid and every
man cried to his god, and they threw
the cargo which was in the ship into the
sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had
gone below into the hold of the ship, lain
down and fallen sound asleep. So the captain
approached him and said, “How is
it that you are sleeping Get up, call on
your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned
about us so that we will not perish.”
Each man said to his mate, “Come,
let us cast lots so we may learn on whose
account this calamity has struck us.” So
they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
(Now in Proverbs 16.33 it says, “the lot is
cast into the lap, but its every decision is from
the LORD.”)
Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On
whose account has this calamity struck
us What is your occupation And where
do you come from What is your country
From what people are you” He said to
them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord
GOD of heaven who made the sea and the
dry land.”
Then the men became extremely frightened
and they said to him, “How could you do
this” For the men knew that he was fleeing
from the presence of the LORD, because
he had told them. So they said to
him, “What should we do to you that the
sea may become calm for us”—for the
sea was becoming increasingly stormy.
He said to them, “Pick me up and throw
me into the sea. Then the sea will become
calm for you, for I know that on account of
me this great storm has come upon you.”
However, the men rowed desperately to
return to land but they could not, for the
sea was becoming even stormier against
them. Then they called on the LORD and
said, “We earnestly pray, O LORD, do
not let us perish on account of this man’s
life and do not put innocent blood on us;
for You, O LORD, have done as You have
pleased.”
So they picked up Jonah, threw him into
the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.
Then the men feared the LORD greatly,
and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord
and made vows. And the Lord appointed
a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah
was in the stomach of the fish three days
and three nights.
We’re not told it was a whale. The Jews
translate this literally as in modem Hebrew leviathan.
Whales are not usually indigenous to
the Mediterranean, we don’t know what kind
of fish it was, we just assume it was a whale.
(Strictly speaking, of course, a whale is a mammal
not a fish – it has no gills).
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God
from the stomach of the fish, and he said,
“I called out of my distress to the Lord,
And He answered me. I cried for help
from the depth of Sheol; You heard my
voice. For You had cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas, And the current
engulfed me. All Your breakers and
billows passed over me. So I said, ‘I
have been expelled from Your sight.Nevertheless
I will look again toward Your
holy temple.’ Water encompassed me to
the point of death. The great deep engulfed
me, Weeds were wrapped around
my head. I descended to the roots of the
mountains. The earth with its bars was
around me forever, But You have brought
up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
While I was fainting away, I remembered
the Lord, And my prayer came to You,
Into Your holy temple. Those who regard
vain idols Forsake their faithfulness, But
I will sacrifice to You With the voice of
thanksgiving. That which I have vowed
I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord.”
Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it
vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah
the second time, saying, “Arise, go to
Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it
the proclamation which I am going to tell
you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh
according to the word of the Lord. Now
Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a
three days’ walk. Then Jonah began to go
through the city one day’s walk; and he
cried out and said, “Yet forty days and
Nineveh will be overthrown.”
(Now the word here for “overthrown” is
nechpakeh. It is the same word used in Genesis
for the destruction of Sodom, the most terrible
destruction and judgment on a city that the Jews
10 Moriel Quarterly • December 2010

had a record of in the Torah. By using that particular
term nechpakeh it would have conjured visions
of what God did to Sodom and Gomorrah.)
Then the people of Nineveh believed in
God; and they called a fast and put on
sackcloth from the greatest to the least of
them. When the word reached the king of
Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid
aside his robe from him, covered himself
with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. He
issued a proclamation and it said, “In
Nineveh by the decree of the king and his
nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or
flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or
drink water. But both man and beast must
be covered with sackcloth; and let men
call on God earnestly that each may turn
from his wicked way and from the violence
which is in his hands. Who knows, God
may turn and relent and withdraw His
burning anger so that we will not perish.”
When God saw their deeds, that they
turned from their wicked way, then God
relented concerning the calamity which
He had declared He would bring upon
them. And He did not do it.
But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became
angry. He prayed to the LORD and
said, “Please LORD, was not this what
I said while I was still in my own country
Therefore in order to forestall this I
fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are
a gracious and compassionate God, slow
to anger and abundant in lovingkindness,
and one who relents concerning calamity.
“Therefore now, O LORD, please take my
life from me, for death is better to me than
life.” The LORD said, “Do you have good
reason to be angry”
Then Jonah went out from the city and sat
east of it. There he made a shelter for himself
and sat under it in the shade until he
could see what would happen in the city.
So the LORD God appointed a plant and it
grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his
head to deliver him from his discomfort.
And Jonah was extremely happy about the
plant. But God appointed a worm when
dawn came the next day and it attacked
the plant and it withered. When the sun
came up God appointed a scorching east
wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s
head so that he became faint and begged
with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is
better to me than life.”
Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have
good reason to be angry about the plant”
And he said, “I have good reason to be angry,
even to death.” Then the LORD said,
“You had compassion on the plant for
which you did not work and which you did
not cause to grow, which came up overnight
and perished overnight. Should I not
have compassion on Nineveh, the great
city in which there are more than 120,000
persons who do not know the difference
between their right and left hand, as well
as many animals” (Jonah 1:1-4:11)
It is important to understand that this is a very
arid climate; it is not that the air conditioning is not
working – this was a grueling situation to be in.
Jacob Prasch
The idea of not knowing the difference
between their right hand or their left hand in
the Hebrew text is this: there is the term “yad”
– “right hand” is “yemani”, as in, “If I forget
you, 0 Jerusalem, may I forget my right hand.”
Im eshcacak yerushalim tishcah yemani. (Ps.
137:5) (Some versions mistranslate it “my right
hand forget her skill” – that is not what it says
in the Hebrew).
The Right Hand of the Lord in the Bible
“The Lord will bring salvation with his
night hand”. Isaiah has the same “to whom has
the arm (same Hebrew word yad) of the LORD
been revealed” (Is. 53:1) The right hand is a
type of Jesus in the Old Testament. What it is
basically saying is “these pagans do not know
the way of salvation, they do not know the difference
between the right hand and the left hand,
they do not know how to save themselves.” It is
the right hand of the Lord that brings salvation.
That would be the implication from the Hebrew
term – the right hand.
The Book of Jonah was probably written
during the reign of Jeroboam, somewhere between
814 and 783 BC. We also know from
history that there was an Assyrian king who
became a monotheistic king whose name was
Adad-Nirari III, reigning roughly from 810 to
782 BC. (There was actually one Egyptian pharaoh
who became a monotheist and there were a
couple of kings of Babylon who became monotheists
– see the Book of Daniel). It may have
been this king who turned to the true God.
Jews were always called to be lights to the
Gentiles, even in the Old Testament. They did
not do it the same way we do it now, but if salvation
was to come from the Jews, as Jesus said
in John 4, they were still to be His witnesses
to these nations and show them the true God.
Today rabbis complain about “Christians” proselytizing
Jews, forgetting that the Jews themselves,
based on what Moses originally decreed,
were supposed to be out trying to win people to
believe in the true God! The very fact that they
are not doing that shows that they are no longer
practicing a true Judaism.
The Story of Jonah
He was reluctant to go to Nineveh and not
without good reason. These were, to say the least,
not the nicest people in the world. They were
“bad people”, total heathens. More than that, as
a Bible-believing Jew, he would have read the
prophecies of his predecessor the Prophet Amos
and he would have seen what God decreed and
predicted through Amos about Nineveh. So Jonah
would even have had a biblical basis for
not wanting to go there. It was not just that he
knew God would have compassion on them but
that they might kill him. He knew that, on the
face of it, they were destined for judgment as
the Prophet Nahum had predicted (and this happened
at a later point when they turned back to
their pagan ways). He had good reason not to go.
Jonah’s name “Yonah” in Hebrew means
“a dove”. What images would this conjure up
One is in John 2:16. Jesus drove the people out
of the temple who were selling doves. (This
comes from Leviticus 14. A dove was an animal
deemed suitable for sacrifice and as such it was
a type of Christ as all these animals were). In
the Song of Solomon 1:5, he tells the lover that
her eyes are like doves because doves are monogamous
birds and they only have a relationship
with their partners, they do not procreate
with other doves. So too in Genesis 8, first Noah
sends out a bird that the Torah would later decree
to be “unkosha” – a raven, but the second bird
he sends out is a dove. All these images would
have been conjured up in the minds of Jews.
In the New Testament in Matthew 3:18, the
Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus as a dove. All
these images might highlight some aspect of Jonah
and his character but probably the most important
is found in the Davidic Psalm 55:4-6…
My heart is in anguish within me, And the
terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear
and trembling come upon me, And horror
has overwhelmed me. I said, “Oh, that I
had wings like a dove! I would fly away
and be at rest.
The idea conveyed is wanting to escape
from the calamity that has come upon you, and
Jonah was a man that wanted to escape.
But what about this calamity What does it
mean for us What we have to understand about
Jonah is the first thing we have to understand
about all the Hebrew Prophets: every single
Hebrew Prophet is a type of Jesus, a type of the
Messiah; every one of them foreshadows Him
as to who he would be and what he would do.
There is no Hebrew Prophet whose life does not
foreshadow or typify the Messiah who would
come after them to bring in the Redemption
about which they prophesied.
Jonah as a Type of Jesus
Special Interest
The first place we read about Jonah Scripture
is in 2 Kings 14:25…
He [Jeroboam] restored the border of Israel
from the entrance of Hamath as far
as the Sea of the Arabah, according to
the word of the LORD, the God of Israel,
which He spoke through His servant Jonah
the son of Amittai, the prophet, who
was of Gath-hepher.
Notice that Jonah was sent to his own people
the Jews first. Only after this was he sent to
the Gentiles. In Matthew 15:24 we read…
But Jesus said, “I was sent only to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. “
Jesus was first sent only to His own people,
then only at a later point was He sent to the non-
Jews. We are told that Jonah was from this particular
area Gath-hepher. Gath-hepher is in walking
distance from Nazareth. There was something
unique about Jonah in this, and it was something
the Sanhedrin itself overlooked in John 7:52…
They answered and said to him, “You are
not also from Galilee are you Search and
see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”
(or as they say in the same chapter, verse
41) “The Messiah is not going to come
from Galilee, is he”
No prophet comes from Galilee They were
wrong. Jonah came from Galilee! He is the only
one except for Jesus who was from Galilee.
In Jonah 1:4-6 a terrible storm comes. The
word for “wind” in Greek in the New Testa-
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 11

Special Interest – Continued
ment is “pnuema” and in the Hebrew it is, of
course,” ruach”, but in both it is also the word
for “Spirit”. During this storm sent by God, Jonah
sleeps in the boat and the other people are
frantic about this, “How can you be sleeping in
the boat during the storm” Let us briefly examine
Mark 4:37-38…
And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and
the waves were breaking over the boat so
much that the boat was already filling up.
Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on
the cushion; and they woke Him and said
to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we
are perishing”
What happens to Jonah prefigures what
will happen to the Lord Jesus. Jonah becomes
a type of Christ.
Let us understand this a bit more. In Jonah
1:12 it says, “Pick me up and throw me into the
sea then the sea will become calm for you.” Jonah,
of his own choice, was willing to lay down
his own life to bring salvation to others, including
Gentiles. It states is John 10:17-18…
For this reason the Father loves me because
I lay down my life that I might take
it again, no one is taking it -from me but
that I lay it down of my own initiative.
Jonah was willing to lay his life down to
bring salvation and deliverance to others so the
Messiah, who Jonah prefigures, was willing to lay
His life down so salvation would come to others.
And in Luke 11:30…
For just as Jonah became a sign to the
Israelites, so shall the son of man be to
this generation.
We know from Kings that Jonah was the
son of Arytittai. He prophesied during the
reigns of Jeroboam, both of them a very bad
man and king. (There were two Jeroboams:
one was as bad as the other.) At the preaching
of Jonah the Gentiles repented when the Jews
would not; at the message of Jesus the Gentiles
accepted what He said at a time most Jews did
not. Not all Jews rejected him – not all Jews
rejected Jonah, but basically it was the Gentiles
not the Jews who repented in the days of Jonah
and it was the Gentiles not the Jews who repented
in the days of Jesus.
Jonah 1:17 tells us that, “The LORD appointed
a great fish”.
The Lord sent the Storm
Jonah prayed in the stomach of the fish…
he said. “I called out of my distress…
and He answered
me”,
etc. (Jon. 2:1)
The Lord appointed the storm, the Lord appointed
the great fish. This was a “death experience”.
Some argue from the Hebrew text that
Jonah may have actually died biologically from
the implications of what “Sheol” could mean.
But certainly the connotation would be there of
a “death place”. It was the Lord who appointed
Jonah to a place of death; the Lord consigned
him to it.
In Acts 2:23 we are told,
‘this man, delivered up by the predetermined
plan and foreknowledge of God.
In Isaiah 53:10 it was the will of the Lord
to smite Him. Jonah was delivered up by the
foreknowledge of God to a place of destruction,
Jesus was delivered up by the foreknowledge of
God to a place of destruction. Jonah “died” in
the sea, as it were, having a death experience.
(Whether he died or not people may debate but
his death experience took place in the sea.)
The Davidic Psalm 69 is Messianic prophecy
in the literary genre of Hebrew poetry. It is
in this Psalm, for instance, we read…
They gave me gall for my food, And for
my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
(Ps. 69:21)
…a prophesy of what would happen when the
Lord Jesus was on the cross. However, this Psalm
which looks ahead to the death of Jesus begins,
Save me, O God For the waters have
threatened my life. (Ps. 69:1)
Metaphorically then the death of Jesus is
represented in Hebrew prophesy as a drowning
experience.
We often sing that wonderful hymn, “When
peace like a river attended my soul; when sorrows
like sea billows roll”. This was written by
Mr. Stockwood but what many people do not
know and what I did not know until five or six
years ago is that he composed it after his family
drowned where, of all places, a building of the
American Colony Hotel now stands in Jerusalem.
It was after his family died that he actually
wrote it in Jerusalem. The idea of “sea billows
roll” is the drowning experience that happened
to his family, but also in biblical typology particularly
the Psalms. When people are under
this kind of death experience, it is alluded to as
drowning and points to Jesus.
We are told in Jonah 3 that both man and
beast in sack cloth and ashes repented after he
told these people to repent because God would
destroy the city in forty days. And the king goes
on to say in verse 8…
“Who knows, God may turn and relent
and withdraw His burning anger so that
we will not perish.”
I once received a long email from somebody
trying to justify people who predict things
that do not happen. He was trying to justify Rick
Joyner, Gerald Coates and similar personalities
by saying, “Well, was Jonah a false prophet
Look at what Jonah predicted and it didn’t happen.”
That was his argument to justify these false
prophets! However, the text of Jonah makes it
very clear that it was a conditional prophecy
that says “if you do not repent, then this is what
is going to happen.” He never said that it was
going to happen no matter what; it was conditional.
It is an unfit comparison, but they always
have to pervert Scripture out of context.
Nonetheless we see that Jonah gave a direct
message of repentance because the judgment is
coming. In the Gospel of St. Matthew 4:17, Jesus
began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.” Jonah gave a message of repentance
so that judgment could be averted just
as it was with Jesus and his disciples. “Save yourself
from this wicked generation.” (Lk. 11:29)
“So I said, ‘I have been expelled from
Your sight.’” (Jon. 2:4)
The Hebrew says that Jonah was expelled
“from before the presence of God”. God could
not look upon him, would look upon him, that he
was cast away from before God’s eyes. It parallels
what occurred in Matthew 27:46, “Eli Eli Lama
Sabachthani” - “My God, My God, why have
You forsaken me” Jonah was cast away from
the presence of God’s sight and would not look
upon Jonah; so God would not look upon Jesus.
According to Jonah 1: 17 he was three days
and three nights in the stomach of the great
fish and, as Jesus of course tells us in Matthew
17:39-40, that is a picture of the resurrection. As
Jonah was three days in the stomach of the great
fish, so Jesus would be three days in a tomb.
Jonah is, like all of Israel’s Prophets, a type of
Jesus. He teaches about the Messiah who would
come after him as every Hebrew Prophet does.
When we read their lives carefully they each
teach something about the Messiah and Jonah
is no exception.
Jonah is given over to this death experience
but there were things in Jonah’s life that were
blocking him from being conformed to what
God wanted him to be.
He resisted God’s will. He didn’t want to
do what God wanted him to do and, again, not
without good reason: he knew what Amos had
said about this nation and he knew these people
were bad. Who wants to be sent to a place like
that where you might get killed
Secondly, he lacked the compassion of
God. He understood the judgment and anger of
God but he lacked the compassion of God and
he was very good at something which we say in
Yiddish – treching, complaining. Trech, trech,
trech – complain, complain, complain. What
God was asking him to do was very difficult,
to go to a people he did not even like, a people
who were going to hate him because he was not
one of them. In terms of the ancient world he
was from the West and they were from the East.
Just by virtue of the fact that he was a Hebrew,
a believer in the true God – not a Pagan
– and that he was from the West of the known
world and they were from the East, he would
become a target just by going there. His complaint
was not without good reason. The things
he was concerned with were valid points, humanly
speaking. It was difficult for him to understand
how God could have such compassion
on such barbarians.
For me it would be like, I suppose, going to
fundamentalist Muslims who put a bomb on an
airplane at Lockerby, or who want to kill my Israeli
family, or perhaps like a Jew being sent as
an evangelist to the generation of Germans who
carried out the Holocaust. There were good reasons,
humanly speaking, why he could not feel
or experience the compassion of God for these
people. These were bad men.
The Jonah within Us
It says the word of the Lord came twice to
Jonah. Now the word for “word” in Hebrew is
12 Moriel Quarterly • December 2010

“davar”, but in Greek its “logos”. It does not
mean a message so much as it means a person.
Jesus is the Logos/Davar in the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit was
only for certain people at certain times: high
priests, kings and prophets. But the Holy Spirit
still communicated Jesus to them the way He
does to us. It was only Jesus’ identity that was
not there but it was still Him. When it says “the
word came” it means “the Lord Jesus came”; it
was a Christological encounter with Christ in
Old Testament terms. Again, when Adam heard
God walking in the Garden, that was Jesus.
When Jacob wrestled with the Metatrone (angel
of God), it was Jesus. Jesus was in the Old Testament
the same as in the New. When the word of
the Lord came, it was an encounter with Christ.
When the Lord asks us to do things we do
not want to do, or when there are things in my
character or your character that are blocking
what God wants, the Lord is not going to give
us just a message, he is going to come to us.
Jesus is going to stand in front of us, and we
are going to “see” Him. The message is going
to be obvious once He comes and we will know
what is wrong with us! It is the encounter with
the person, not just the word or the message or
a letter or a telegram, a fax, an Email – it is the
person. When Jesus comes to us we will know
where we stand when we stand in front of Him.
The Name of Jonah
In the Hebrew part of the world today Jews
normally name their children after dead ancestors
but in Scripture they named them after
biblical characters in Israel’s history. In Hebraic
thought “son of” does not simply mean
offspring – biological descent or pedigree – it
means “in the character of”. In Matthew 16:17
Jesus said, “Blessed are you Simon bar Jonah”
which is, of course, Aramaic and not Hebrew.
The Hebrew would be “ben Jonah”. Now why
is Jesus calling him by his surname as well as
his first name True his father’s name was Jonah
but there is more to it than that: it is providential
that Peter’s name was “Bar Jonah”; he is in the
character of Jonah and so are you and so am I.
They go to the place Caesarea Philippi, a
place where the Greeks had worshipped Pan
and a place where the Romans worshipped
Caesar Augustus. In Matthew 16:22 Peter was
very angry and wanted Jesus to deal with and
judge these pagan Gentiles for defiling the
Holy Land just as Jonah wanted the Lord to
judge the Gentiles. Jonah did not want to go
to the Gentiles did he Neither did Peter in
the character of Jonah. In Acts I0, the story
of Cornelius and the “non-kosher” food, Peter
did not want to go to the Gentiles just as
Jonah did not. “You are Bar Jonah” – “Peter,
you are in the character of Jonah, you do not
like these Greeks and Romans; you are in the
character of Jonah who did not like the pagans
either. You are in the character of Jonah who
did not want to go where I wanted him to go.”
“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were
younger, you used to gird yourself and
walk wherever you wished; but when you
grow old, you will stretch out your hands
and someone else will gird you, and bring
you where you do not wish to go.” (Jn.
21:18)
This Peter in the character of Jonah who
did not want to go.
In Galatians 2:11-12 we see Peter in the
character and attitude of Jonah…
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed
him to his face, because he stood
condemned. For prior to the coming of
certain men from James, he used to eat
with the Gentiles; but when they came, he
began to withdraw and hold himself aloof,
fearing the party of the circumcision.
Jonah did not want to get involved with
these Gentiles, nor did Peter Bar Jonah want to
get involved with Gentiles!
There are a lot of people I do not want to
get involved with. As a younger believer I went
through terrible, terrible battles of hatred, and I
do mean hatred. I remember I saw the film The
Hiding Place about Corrie ten Boom and what
the Nazis did to these Christians and the believers
in Holland who protected Jews, how they
murdered the old man and raped the women
and so forth – and I was so angry. I began praising
God for creating hell not just for Nazis but
for Germans – I hated Germans. When we take
our tours to Israel and go to Yad Vashem (the
Holocaust memorial) I stay in the bus; I do not
go in there. I remember once I visited the Nazi
death camp at Dachau where the Germans did
the experiments on the Jewish children. I just
think of my own children. I think even of that
little girl hiding in the movie Schindler’s List. I
could just picture my son Eli in that situation. I
battled with hatred towards Germans.
My father was in the American military in
the Second World War. His family was from
Merseyside as was his mother. (She left before
the war and came back after the war.) When my
father came with the American Navy, he saw
what the Germans did to Liverpool, how they
destroyed everything including where his mother
was from. And I had this hatred of German
people. It took me a long time through the Lord
bringing German people into my life – whom I
love and who are believers – to lose this hatred.
There were some people who hated Gypsies:
“these people are crooks, they are connivers”.
But there was someone along the road who
had the compassion of the Lord for the Gypsies
and now they are the fastest growing church in
the United Kingdom, lives radically changed.
To take another example, I have been attacked
by Muslims even in England – physically
attacked by gangs on Speakers’ Corner
for preaching the Gospel – and it is not a racial
thing. But when I read what the Muslims do in
Pakistan to Christians or what they do to Christians
in Saudi Arabia I get angry. I look at the
Amnesty International website and I just get so
angry. One of the great blessings of my life, one
of the great thrills of my life, was when I spoke
about Islam in Auckland, New Zealand and
some Iranians, who had just come to New Zealand
from Iran – Shia Muslims, repented and
accepted Jesus and renounced Mohammed and
the Quran and became believers. I know people
who were anti-Semitic before they got saved:
some crooked Jewish landlord did something to
their Aunt Milly thirty years ago and so they hated
Jews. But after they got saved the Lord gave
Special Interest – Continued
them a love and a burden for the Jews they could
not explain and they could not even understand.
There are things in us, things that are not
irrational, things that have some logical basis,
sometimes even an apparent biblical basis.
There were reasons Jonah did not like these
people. He had read what Amos said about
them, he had read what God was going to do,
so it was not totally irrational. In fact, it was totally
rational. There were good, logical reasons
humanly speaking, but he could not see and understand
the compassion of God.
“Single mothers on Council Estates be
warned: you have five kids from three different
yobbos and we are having to support them.
Why do I have to pay taxes and support my
family To pay for these kids Why don’t these
yobbos that you pick up in the pub support
their own kids Why should I have to” It is
rational but where is the compassion of Jesus
for these single mothers It is not altogether irrational,
but where is the compassion of Jesus
I’ve known yobbos who have become saved, I
have known Muslims who have become saved,
I have known prostitutes who have become
saved, and I have known drug addicts who have
become saved – I used to be one! Where is the
compassion of Jesus
So Jonah gets plunged, God creates a
storm, God appoints a death and there he finds
himself buried in the guts of a fish, underneath
the Mediterranean somewhere between Turkey
and Tel Aviv. This particular experience is one
of the things in Scripture which theologically
teaches about life after death. But it also is one
of the things that reveals something about what
will happen to Jesus when He died on the cross
for our sin, when His Father could not look
upon Him, when His Father’s voice went into
the depths of Sheol and raised Him from the
dead. We are told in Acts 2:24 that death itself
could not contain Jesus Christ, the grave was
not strong enough to contain him, death itself
was not strong enough to control Jesus or to
hold him in.
we are afflicted in every way, but not
crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down,
but not destroyed; always carrying about
in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the
life of Jesus also may be manifested in
our body. For we who live are constantly
being delivered over to death for Jesus’
sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be
manifested in our mortal flesh. So death
works in us, but life in you. But having the
same spirit of faith, according to what is
written, “I believed, therefore I spoke,”
we also believe, therefore we also speak,
knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus and will
present us with you. (2 Cor. 4:8-14)
As it is stated by the Prophet Hosea, the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus is our resurrection
because his death is our death.
He will revive us after two days;
He will raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him. (Hos. 6:2)
Jesus’ death is our death; His resurrection
is our resurrection. Could death contain Jesus
No! Can death contain you or I Because of Jesus,
no! There is no shortage of things in my
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 13

Special Interest – Continued
life that block what God is wanting me to be nor
things in my life that are blocking me from really
doing what God is wanting me to do. Sometimes
I feel like I am being put to death when
I complain about my neck, when I complain
about being rejected by so much of the popular
church because I will not go along with what is
going on. Then I get a copy of a newsletter and
read of Christians living in almost sub-human
poverty, imprisoned, and their families unable
to support themselves. My kids have a roof over
their head so what do I have to complain about
Yes, my neck hurts but I have pills. There are
people whose necks hurt and they do not have
the money for a pill.
Why is it that ministries who teach the
truth are always struggling for money but the
ones who are corrupt rake it in Because they
struggle for money too only they are expanding
their corruption! Honest ministries are trying to
expand the truth; they have to struggle and trust
God. Death works in me.
Why, Lord, if I am teaching the truth I was
only upholding the Trinity yet people who were
part of Moriel began using my name at one time
to endorse people who denied it. When I took
the stand, they slandered me; they said I was
mentally unbalanced from my automobile accident.
(Maybe I am unbalanced, but not from my
automobile accident.) Who needs this What
those people did was wicked but the real question
is why did God allow it What is God saying
to me in this God will deal with them but
what is He saying to me
When my neck hurts the way it does today,
(I am going to have to take a pill pretty soon)
what is God saying to me What is God saying
to you when you are in the fish’s guts Remember
Jesus said He is like Jonah. It seems like
God himself banishes us from His presence. We
are behaving in a way we think is reasonable
and at least it is not irrational. We had reason on
our side but we are in this bad situation. Sometimes
it is lousy employment, sometimes no
employment, financial hardship, health problems,
problems in the church, problems in the
ministry, problems in the family, problems in
the marriage – problems, problems, problems.
It seems like the Lord has banished us from His
presence. He put us in a tomb, He left us in a
grave. Oh, not the Ninevites, not the Mormons
or the Muslims, not the yobbos or the prostitutes!
He puts us in the grave.
He has banished us from His sight, but
death could not contain Jesus and death cannot
contain you either. I have said a thousand times
the test of a true Christian is not that they do not
have trials. On the contrary, if you do not have
trials you are not a Christian. We have tribulation
in the world. The test of a Christian is not
that we do not go into the fish’s guts, the test of
the trial is what happens when we are inside of it.
There are direct parallels in the Psalms to
what happened to Jonah in that fish’s gut.
The cords of death encompassed me,
And the torrents of ungodliness terrified
me.The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The
snares of death confronted me. In my distress
I called upon the LORD, And cried
to my God for help; He heard my voice
out of His temple, And my cry for help before
Him came into His ears. (Ps. 18:4-6)
We may have been banished from his sight
but not from his ears.
Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your
waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your
waves have rolled over me. (Ps. 42:7)
Just like Jonah.
The cords of death encompassed me And
the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I
found distress and sorrow. Then I called
upon the name of the LORD: “O Lord, I
beseech You, save my life!” Gracious is
the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is
compassionate. The LORD preserves the
simple; I was brought low, and He saved
me. Return to your rest, O my soul, For
the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
For You have rescued my soul from death,
My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the LORD In the
land of the living. (Ps. 116:3-9)
Even if you die there is a resurrection, there
is a millennial kingdom.
Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the
death of his godly ones. (Ps. 116:15)
Even if we die we see him not in the land
of the dead but in the land of the living. What
does Job say
“As for me, I know that my Redeemer
lives, And at the last He will take His stand
on the earth. “Even after my skin is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall see God;
Whom I myself shall behold, And whom
my eyes will see and not another. My heart
faints within me! (Job 19:25-27)
Even if we die we will see the goodness of
the Lord in the land of the living.
“Out of the depths I have cried to You O
LORD”. (Ps. 130:1)
When we are in the depths we have been
banished from God’s own presence. Our arguments
are rational – at least to our own mind,
and certainly they are logical and even to a degree
biblical. There we are in the stomach of
the fish, the waves have overtaken us and we
are not only drowning but are perhaps drowned.
The bars of Sheol give us no way out and we
cannot even see the Lord; He has banished us
from His presence. But these Psalms don’t tell
us He looks upon us, they say he hears. Then
and only then did the fish regurgitate Jonah out
onto the beach. He must have looked a mess
and smelt even worse, but he was ready for action!
When we go through a mess like this we
might not look so good. †††
Copyright © 2008 by Moriel Ministries (www.MorielMinistries.org).
Permission for personal and/or notfor-profit
use freely granted, commercial use strictly
prohibited. Scripture taken from the NASB.
Quotes of the QUARTER !
For friends near and far, for friends we have
never seen or met, but are co-workers in
Christ.
“Friends always show their love. What
are brothers for if not to share troubles”
– Proverbs 17:17 –
The Dilemma of Laodicea
Description: The Dilemma of
Laodicea is the last of the seven
churches before Jesus returns.
Scripturally and logically the contemporary
church of the 21st century
is conspicuously in the character
of that church at the close of
the 1st century. Immediately after
His message to Laodica shifts
into it apocalyptic panorama of
events global, cosmic, and celestial
which unfold culminating
with the establishment messianic
kingdom following an unprecedented
spectrum of cataclysmic
events. The first problem Laodicea
had and has is its blindness
to its true spiritual state in the
eyes of God at the precipice of an
avalanche of prophetic events that
will constitute the final outcome
of the church of Israel and The
Jews and finally the human race.
It is a church from which Christ
has been excluded; indeed locked
out as he knocks, how many of
this church will let Him in before
it is too late. Laodicea faces a dilemma
as old as it is new, what is
that dilemma The dilemma ventures
beyond both its blindness
and luke warn state addressing
rather the very causes. It is only
those whom Christ corrects who
will be prepared for His coming.
Author Bio: Jacob Prasch is a
Hebrew-speaking evangelist to the
Jews and a Bible teacher elaborating
on the original Judeo-Christian
background and hermeneutics of
the New Testament. He has also
been a conservative voice for biblically
based discernment among
moderate Pentecostals and Charismatics
opposed to the seductions
prevalent in today’s church.
NEW !!
J
A
C
O
B
P
R
A
S
C
H
14 Moriel Quarterly • December 2010

David Royle
Moriel South Africa
MORIEL MISSIONS
SOUTH AFRICA
SEPTEMBER 2010
Dear Brothers and Sisters
Greetings in Jesus
Summer is almost upon us and it’s been
nice to feel the hot sun on our faces and also
see Ebyown teaming with New Life. The
Geese have chicks and so do the Chickens who
have become laying machines. In fact I have
just been over to the Church and found 7 eggs,
four in the corner and three on the shelf of the
pulpit where my water usually goes, Chris has
just found 10 under his hut and later today we
are sending the kids on an egg hunt. The kids
as well are enjoying the turn in the weather and
everything now is done outside in the sunshine.
I have just come back from a trip to the
UK where I was able to catch up with family
and friends. As a child I had good memories of
the seaside and going crabbing with my Dad,
I have had the urge to do something with my
grand kids and so we had a day at the beach
and went looking for pool life in Conwy North
Wales. It seemed strange that I had come from
the Southern hemisphere where life is blooming
and coming to the UK where autumn has
come along. New Life and then death all on
the same planet at the same time. The Bible
says there is a season for everything Ecc 3:1-8
1. There is an appointed time for everything.
And there is a time for every event
under heaven—
2. A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what
is planted.
3. A time to kill and a time to heal; A
time to tear down and a time to build up.
4. A time to weep and a time to laugh; A
time to mourn and a time to dance.
5. A time to throw stones and a time to
gather stones; A time to embrace and a
time to shun embracing.
6. A time to search and a time to give up as
lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7. A time to tear apart and a time to sew
together; A time to be silent and a time
to speak.
8. A time to love and a time to hate; A
time for war and a time for peace.
The truth of these words is all around us
and impacts our lives and our ministry. I really
get a feel as I type that times are changing and
although we have our plans and visions for the
future I get a sense of anticipation that God is
going to surprise every one of us.
On a practical level, Ebyown is planting
is seeds and veggies for the coming year. The
compost that has been built up from all our
rubbish has produced food for the next generation
of plants and 8 barrow loads have been
placed in the soil and the children have spent
time putting in seeds etc.
The children are mostly well, Luke has
some lumps on his head which we think are
glandular and Prudence has had a bad case of
skin and lip blisters. N’tombi and Carlos who
both have bad chests at the best of times have
had to use their inhalers more often than usual
due to the seasonal winds that we get this time
of year.
All the kids are looking forward to family
coming over for visits. My sister Joanne who
acts as my PA in the UK and her husband Dave
are celebrating 25 years of marriage and are
having a vow renewal at Aletheia on the 1st
of November. They are coming with their two
lads Dan and Andrew along with our parents
Baden and Brenda. Then we have Anthony my
eldest son and his wife Liz along with their
children Abi and Levi coming on the 7th of
October. Everyone is excited and I am sure that
the church will be full for the renewal service.
MISSIONS COLLEGE
From January 2011 I will be going down
to the Cape once per month to teach various
theological subjects beginning with Hermeneutics
and Exegesis 101. If you want to some
along for a full day of teaching on a Saturday
watch this space for date, time and venue.
Later on in 2011 we hope to have Tom Chako
flying out from the UK. Tom went to London
Bible College with Jacob Prasch and is a good
friend to ourselves and Moriel. Tom originates
from India and I hope to have him teaching in
Joberg, Durban and Cape Town, subjects and
venues to be announced.
Meanwhile for teachings from Jacob
and a whole host of friends, contact Chris on
“mailto:morielmissionscollege@gmail.com”
for a catalogue
ALETHEIA COMMUNITY CHURCH
The ‘I ams’ of Jesus has been the subject
the last few weeks with Jesus describing
himself as “The Bread of Life” and this
week “Living Waters”. On October 11th our
son Anthony will be sharing from the word of
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 15

Moriel South Africa – Continued
God and giving his dad a rest. Anthony has
grown into a fine expositor of the word so
why not come and hear him
We meet African time around 10:30am
on Sundays for fellowship, the word and the
Lords table. If you want to visit then e-mail us
for directions.
We were also blessed by Trinity Methodist
Church this week when we received 20 cases
of Peanut butter, 240 jars in total. Far too much
for us although Prudence made lots of peanut
butter cookies. The majority were distributed
around other homes, some went to some widows
on Kwazenzele and some to people who
have found times hard along with the gospel.
PRAYER REQUESTS
• Family visit to Ebyown
• Health of the children in particular, Carlos,
Luke, N’tombi and Prudence
• Relocation to Western Province
• What are the Lords plans for the Ebyown site
here in Gauteng
• Our daily Provision
• Aletheia Community Church
• Missions College
• The New Video On Demand teaching platform
• Dave’s arthritis of his spine and shoulder giving
him discomfort, please contact South Africa,
David Royle, mailto:moriel.david@
gmail.com
TEACHING BY, Anthony Royle
Test of Faith: Production of works
This is my third look at the series of tests
of faith from the epistle of James. We began
with ‘how faith responds to the Word of God’.
(if you want these notes please ask) Last time
I spoke on ‘how faith responds to social distinctions’.
Today we are moving on to ‘faith
that produces works’.
The epistle of James was and still has
been a controversial book. It almost didn’t
make it into the cannon of scripture. Martin
Luther wanted it to take it out of the cannon
during the reformation because of the books
emphasis on works. Many theologians today
have difficulty with the epistle claiming
a contradiction between James and Paul’s
teaching that Justification is by grace through
faith alone. We have to deal with this issue
before we can understand what James was really
writing about.
Some liberal critics, notably Robert
Eisenman, have reconstructed first century
church history to show a division between
Paul’s gentile church and the Jewish church
headed by the likes of James and John. However,
in the book of Acts we see that James and
Paul knew each other and were always in total
agreement on fundamental doctrine. Paul was
also submissive towards James’ leadership on
more than one occasion. Some have taught
that James is refuting Paul’s teaching in this
epistle, claiming that Paul is the ‘vain man’
in verse 20. The epistle of James is one of the
earliest books written in the New Testament
and is before the ministry of Paul. See how the
historical situation changes the way we look at
this passage in James. We need to understand
the historical setting to get the picture.
What James is dealing with people claiming
to have faith, yet neglecting to put their
faith into practice. Paul in contrast in the epistle
to the Romans was dealing with legalism.
They were both looking at the same principle
but from two different angles.
For Paul counteracting legalism he was
demonstrating the ‘way of Salvation’, whereas
James was concerned with the life of the
justified believer counteracting and early for
of antinomianism, which is the view that because
of God’s grace there is no need to obey
laws or commandments. Now the Torah, the
Old covenant was not applicable to them,
they saw it fit not have to do any good deeds.
Both Paul and James deal with two different
extremes of the spectrum on how faith and
works relate to one another.
Secondly Paul was writing of the works of
the law- Torah observation. James’ definition
of work is works that are motivated by love and
faith. Torah observation didn’t bring Salvation,
works cannot bring Salvation as Paul writes, but
James say a saving faith will produce works.
Thirdly, the meaning of justification is
different. Paul’s use of justification is acquittal
whereas James means vindication. Paul was
talking of justification of sin standing before
God, James was talking of the justification or
vindication of ones profession of faith before
God and man.
So you can see that there is no contradiction
between these two men. In fact they complement
each other to give us a fuller sense of
what faith is. It wasn’t that clear to some of the
early church as some emphasized faith as just a
belief and others as Torah observation. Faith is
also not that easily defined today. I am always
amazed when reading church history that 2000
years later we still deal with some of the same
problems. Many Christians treat faith a private
affair in which they just believe in something.
Others put good works as reason for their
salvation, though they have little or no faith.
So what does James have to say about
faith and works What is his main point of
their relationship and his summary statement
on this issue.
James 2:26 For as the body without spirit
is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
There are three aspects of faith. First we
have ‘the faith that was once and for all delivered
to the Saints’- doctrine- or creed. We
also have faith as our belief in God and His
promises. And then we have faithfulness-our
works- the embodiment of faith. Each one of
these aspects relates to us has individuals. We
each have a body, mind and soul. Each of these
aspects God desires for our love, faithfulness
and worship. God wants us to worship him
with all our heart and trust Him. He wants us
to use our brains and to know God. He wants
us to worship with our bodies putting it to use
for His Kingdom. We can sin with these three
aspects and we can be faithful with them too.
The problem is we favour one aspect of
faith over the other and when we neglect one
aspect, we then neglect a true and living faith.
James uses the example of faith being dead
without works. Just as the body needs a soul,
just as our body needs a mind, faith needs
works to be alive.
I have heard it been said by many Christians
on a number of occasions that they have
a ‘simple faith’. That’s ok because even if you
have the faith the size of a mustard seed then
you can move mountains. But what they mean
by simple faith is that they don’t care about
doctrine or using their brains for God. They
just believe in God and that’s that. Well without
doctrine as part of our faith is like a body
without a brain. By definition they become
brain dead Christians. Now on the other hand
there are those who have a lot of knowledge
but no heart or any application to what they
have learnt. This faith is dead too. A brain
can’t survive without the body. James writes
in 2:19 that the demons believe in one God and
tremble. The Jew would at least confess twice
aday reading Shema Yisrael adonai Elohenu
Adonai Echad- Hear O Israel the Lord your
God is One Lord. This mirrors the Christian
confession that God is one yet three and three
in one- a basic doctrine that we would all confess
to. But in verse 20 ‘wilt thou know O vain
man recognise that faith without works is dead
’ The question seems to be in surprise that the
reader does not understand this basic truth.
There needs to be all three of these aspects
to faith working in harmony to produce
a living and active three dimensional
faith. Because when three work in harmony
it resembles the Tri-unity of God where three
work in harmony. We are Imageo Dei beings,
created in the image and likeness of God- He
wants us to reflect His glory. God wants 3-D
Christians, not 2-D caricatures of what we
think a Christian should be. He wants a deep
faith, not something shallow. He wants something
of substance, not a cardboard cut out.
It’s this 3-D faith is what is tested. I noted
my first sermon from James that James writes
about two kinds of testing at the beginning of
his epistle. The first that God send trials and
situations in which he wants us to respond to
in faith. The second test is temptation to sin,
but this test isn’t from God but from our own
lusts. James deals with these two different
tests in their relation to faith and works. How
does faith and works respond to everyday situations
God sends our way and how does faith
and works respond to the lusts of the flesh.
God wants us to be faithful but we undergo
so much temptation to sin in these areas.
We also have to deal with unbelief, we have
to deal with error and false doctrine. I have
three main reasons what hinders a believer in
failing to produce work. Two I’ve taken from
our portion of scripture and a third I have observed
that is in the church today.
Let’s begin with the biggest hurdle for
any believer- apathy- don’t you agree
James uses an example of apathy in James
2:15-16.
15: If a brother or sister be naked, and
destitute of daily food,
16 Moriel Quarterly • December 2010

16: And one of you say unto them, Depart
in peace, be ye warmed and filled;
notwithstanding ye give them not those
things which are needful to the body;
what doth it profit
In this hypothetical situation there is a response
that would seem faithful to the person
in question. The person has the faith or belief
that his blessing upon departure to be warmed
and filled would indeed occur. That seems like
faith to a lot of people. Lost your job and no
money ‘Yes, sure God’s got a wonderful plan
for your life,’ would be a popular response
today. Seems like the faithful response but
James asks what does it profit We say we can
have faith but where is the evidence There’s
a lot of talk- ‘I believe this, I believe that’ but
the way we truly know what you believe is
when its tested. But its really sad when apathy
is disguised as faith.
The second reason Christians fail to have
a faith that produces work is I believe its down
to this- we want to hold onto a faith that isn’t
sacrificial. We like to have a faith that benefits
us. If we just believe with our hearts and
we are saved by nothing we say and do then
what does that cost us The reality is faith
costs us. In the example James brings to say
‘be warmed and filled’ might seem faithful to
some but what does it cost us
We say privately that we are Christians
what does that cost us Very different to proclaiming
it publicly. Faith costs. Jesus told his
disciples to count the cost. He wanted them to
realise that holding onto this face would meet
adversity and would mean sacrifice.
James uses two Biblical characters to
highlight the point he was making. The first
was Abraham, also known as the father of all
who believe.
21: Was not Abraham our father justified
by works, when he had offered Isaac his
son upon the altar
22: Seest thou how faith wrought with
his works, and by works was faith made
perfect
23: And the scripture was fulfilled which
saith, Abraham believed God, and it was
imputed unto him for righteousness: and
he was called the Friend of God.
God called Abraham to take his son of
promise, Isaac, and sacrifice him. This was an
event that was given much theological commentary
during the inter-testamental period
and in the day of James. The initial readers
of the epistle of James would understand the
point James was making of Abraham being
declared as friend of God. Initially Abraham
believed and it was imputed upon him as righteousness,
as the Apostle Paul points out. So
Abraham was already justified in the sense of
acquittal of sin. But His faith was being called
into action. God was asking Abraham to make
a great sacrifice.
I often think of my own faith and how it
applies in the care and well being of my children.
God has given me an awesome responsibility
to be a Father to Levi and Abigail. I aim
to be faithful to that calling by doing what is
Moriel South Africa – Continued
best for them. Recently we have been looking
at schools for Levi to start in September. Obviously
we want Levi to go to the best school
possible. We want Levi to be well educated as
well as a school that is safe, disciplines well
and will support us in bringing Levi up with
Christian ethical values.
However in terms of faith would we be
willing to sacrifice Levi’s education if the
Lord would call us as missionaries to a country
with a poor education system Would we
have the faith to depend on church support
to go full time into the ministry to feed and
cloth our children. Would be willing to go to a
country where Christians are persecuted
It’s easy to say we have faith but to live
by faith in such away you are willing to make
a sacrifice that affects your children is something
quite difficult. Would I be willing to do
it Its not been tested yet because I’ve not
been called- bt I place my hope in God now by
making some sacrifices in taking time away
from family to preach away on occasions, to
do evangelism. I’ve turned down work promotions
and went from being full time to part
time so I could start Bible college because I
have been called to do that.
James also uses the example of Rahab.
25: Likewise also was not Rahab the
harlot justified by works, when she had
received the messengers, and had sent
them out another way
Rahab put her life in jeopardy to help the
two spies, which also effected her mother , father,
sister and brothers. She had heard what
happened at the Red Sea between Israel and
the Egyptians and said her heart melted. But
what if she just believed and did nothing
Might have been a different story for those
two spies. But Rahab had the faith to help
those two men and was vindicated, justified
by her faithfulness.
When we have wonderful examples such
as Abraham and Rahab to show us the cost
they were willing to receive for their faith- a
relative and everyday example such as clothing
and feeding someone seems so little by
comparison. In light of what Jesus did for you
and I by going to the cross to pay for our sins
further puts everything perspective. Jesus was
willing to go through al that pain and suffering,
showing faith and obedience to the Father-
what are we willing to show faith and
obedience to Him.
It becomes a small ask to share the gospel
with our neighbour. It becomes a small ask to
help those who are in poverty. It becomes a
small ask to take one day of the week to come
and worship God and fellowship with His
people. But sometimes its the small things that
people lack the faith for. The parable of the
Talents best illustrates this point.
Matthew 25:14-30 (King James Version)
14: For the kingdom of heaven is as a
man travelling into a far country, who
called his own servants, and delivered
unto them his goods.
15: And unto one he gave five talents, to
another two, and to another one; to every
man according to his several ability;
and straightway took his journey.
16: Then he that had received the five
talents went and traded with the same,
and made them other five talents.
17: And likewise he that had received
two, he also gained other two.
18: But he that had received one went
and digged in the earth, and hid his
lord’s money.
19: After a long time the lord of those servants
cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20: And so he that had received five talents
came and brought other five talents,
saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me
five talents: behold, I have gained beside
them five talents more.
21: His lord said unto him, Well done,
thou good and faithful servant: thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will
make thee ruler over many things: enter
thou into the joy of thy lord.
22: He also that had received two talents
came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst
unto me two talents: behold, I have
gained two other talents beside them.
23: His lord said unto him, Well done,
good and faithful servant; thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will
make thee ruler over many things: enter
thou into the joy of thy lord.
24: Then he which had received the
one talent came and said, Lord, I knew
thee that thou art an hard man, reaping
where thou hast not sown, and gathering
where thou hast not strawed:
25: And I was afraid, and went and hid
thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast
that is thine.
26: His lord answered and said unto
him, Thou wicked and slothful servant,
thou knewest that I reap where I sowed
not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27: Thou oughtest therefore to have put
my money to the exchangers, and then at
my coming I should have received mine
own with usury.
28: Take therefore the talent from him,
and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29: For unto every one that hath shall
be given, and he shall have abundance:
but from him that hath not shall be taken
away even that which he hath.
30: And cast ye the unprofitable servant
into outer darkness: there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
The wicked servant had the least amount
of talents but could not be faithful with them.
Although, again, he was faithful in his own
eyes because he kept what he was given. We
hold onto our beliefs and our doctrine but do
we put it to good work, into good use The
wicked servant was scared of coming back to
his master empty anded so he hid his talent.
This parable uses money to describe faith in
the way we understand use of money because
man values money and will do anything to
gain more than he has and not loose what he
has. How much more should we be with faith
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 17

Moriel South Africa – Continued
The frightened servant lost out on gaining so
much more when he failed to put the talents to
good use. You stand to loose so much more if
you fail to put your faith to good use.
The third reason why someone’s faith will
not produce works is that some Christians are
put off by this because of past experiences.
Maybe we’ve failed at some point and find it
hard to get back up or stretch ourselves again.
Maybe you’ve gone through an experience of
heavy shepherding where a Pastor has put too
much pressure on you. Maybe you’ve felt peer
pressure from other Christians to do something
you thought you must do by taking on an extra
responsibility but it never worked out. So now
you’re afraid of when the Lord calls us to do
something that seems like a huge sacrifice.
There are differences between pressure
from other believers and the call of God. Fear
God and not men. Sometimes its hard to hear
God through the noise of this world and fuzz
of the doctrines of men. But Our faith says
that the Lord who created the universe has the
power to make his will known to you. He’s
been speaking to man since the beginning from
walking with Adam and Eve in the garden, to
writing laws on tablets of stone telling us not
to lie, murder and steal, to sending prophets to
show where people were failing and what to
do, to sending his Son as a living example and
revelation of His divine character, to sending
His Holy Spirit who writes the New Covenant
on our hearts leading us into all truth. God will
make His will known. Do we have the faith to
submit to it and carry it out We know its true.
We believe and love the truth. But do we act
upon it. Faith will produce works. Salvation
isn’t faith and works but faith THAT works.
God wants 3-D Christians. In which area
you are lacking in may God challenge you this
morning to grow deeper in your faith.
MORIEL
I N
S O U T H
MISSIONS
A F R I C A
Quotes of the QUARTER !
For friends near and far, for friends we have
never seen or met, but are co-workers in
Christ.
“Two are better than one; because they
have a good reward for their labour.
For if they fall, the one will lift up
his fellow: but woe to him that is
alone when he falleth; for he hath not
another to help him up.”
– Ecclesiastes –
T
H
E
D
I
L
E
M
M
A
O
F
L
A
O
D
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D I L E M M A
NEW !!
T H E
O F
L A O D I C E A
J A M E S J A C O B P R A S C H
The Dilemma of Laodicea is
the last of the seven churches
before Jesus returns.
Scripturally and logically
the contemporary church
of the 21st century is conspicuously
in the character
of that church at the close
of the 1st century. Immediately
after His message to Laodica shifts
into it apocalyptic panorama of events
global, cosmic, and celestial which unfold
culminating with the establishment
messianic kingdom following an unprecedented
spectrum of cataclysmic events.
The first problem Laodicea had and has
is its blindness to its true spiritual state in
the eyes of God at the precipice of an avalanche
of prophetic events that will constitute
the final outcome of the church of
Israel and The Jews and finally the human
race. It is a church from which Christ has
been excluded; indeed locked out as he
knocks, how many of this church will let
Him in before it is too late. Laodicea faces
a dilemma as old as it is new, what is that
dilemma The dilemma ventures beyond
both its blindness and luke warn state addressing
rather the very causes. It is only
those whom Christ corrects who will be
prepared for His coming.
Author Bio: Jacob Prasch is a Hebrewspeaking
evangelist to the Jews and a
Bible teacher elaborating on the original
Judeo-Christian background and hermeneutics
of the New Testament. He has also
been a conservative voice for biblically
based discernment among moderate Pentecostals
and Charismatics opposed to the
seductions prevalent in today’s church.
18 Moriel Quarterly • December 2010

Jacob Prasch
Editorial
The New Vatican Attack on Israel as an Occupation of Biblical Lands
The New Vatican Attack on Israel as an Occupation of Biblical Lands
So what else should be expected from a pope who in his youth wore a swastika, the uniform of a Nazi, and fought for Hitler and the
Third Reich, who now heads the same church that perpetrated the Inquisitions, and who operates from the same Vatican that shielded
Nazi war criminals from justice with its infamous ‘Rat Lines’ When has the apostate Church of Rome ever NOT hated Jews The latest
Vatican action simply promulgates and continues their long evil history. So what else should be expected from a harlot church who fundamentally
rejects the Word of God It stands to reason that if Rome rejects the Bible, it will reject that the Scripture teaches the biblical
land is the land of Israel, not an Islamic-Arab redefined Palestine.
Given the fact that the Vatican is proprietary custodian of perhaps the largest collection of biblical archeological treasures in the
world, one would expect it would be among the first to recognize by definition that an indigenous people cannot be called an ‘occupying
presence,’ and that the archeological record shows the Jews to be the indigenous people group. This, despite the fact that the same archeological
record preserved in its own museums proves that Roman Catholicism is not biblical Christianity but a pseudo-Christianization of
the pontifical religions of Pagan Rome. Cardinal John Henry Newman even admitted that at least 70% of the rites, rituals, customs, and
traditions of Roman Catholicism are of Pagan origin in His treatise, The Development of the Christian Religion. Thus their own archeological
record means no more to them than their falsely claimed Canon’s Scripture to which they do not adhere either. It stands to reason
therefore that the Vatican would throw the archeological record out the window.
I have been to the Vatican museums multiple times. The Canons are simply manuscript displays in the Scriptorium of the Vatican Library
for the tourist industry. They charge people to view them, the artifacts are simply displays in the museum for which tickets are also
sold, and shows it is just part of the tourist trade. Cannon and archeology are not about truth or faith to them, but about business. From its
corrupt banking system witnessed in the Ambrosiano scandal to the papal regalia, that is all the Vatican has ever been about — temporary
political power and money. Religion is simply the means to wealth and power; this is Roman Catholicism and always has been.
It was not the Israelis, but the Muslims in Gaza who burned down seven Roman Catholic churches when a pope quoted an early
Byzantian Episcopal source concerning Islam which the Muslims did not like. Neither is it the Israelis who are demanding the right to
build a mosque in front of the Roman Catholic Church of the Annunctiation in Nazareth, claiming it as an Islamic holy site. It stands to
reason therefore that in the dirty politics of the Vatican, the papacy will try to placate the Muslims at the expense of Israel. Jews will not
burn the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but fortunately when He returns, Christ certainly shall.
Alas, we see documented evidence in the international media that Joseph Radzinger (alias Pope Benedict XVI) was himself centrally
involved in the Vatican orchestrated conspiracy to protect pedophile sex criminal Roman Catholic clergy at the expense of the children
whose lives they destroy. It stands to reason that such a demonic old vulture from the pit of hell and a child of Hitler should seek to regain
moral credibility quickly, and what easier way to do it than to return to traditional European Roman Catholic, Jew kicking.
We are reminded that it was the Iranians who armed and funded the Islamic Hezbollah and drove the Christians out of their land
and homes in Southern Lebanon, and that the largest portion of those refugees were Marionite Roman Catholics who were subsequently
absorbed and continue to be protected by Israel. Radzinger, of course, says nothing of this. Why should he It is bad for Vatican politics
and that is exactly what the pope, the Vatican, and the entire antichrist Roman Catholic system is all about.
The pope is antichrist, and at Moriel we do not care what an antichrist said about Israel and the Jews; we only care what Christ said
about Israel and the Jews. And Christ said they would return to their land and capital in preparation for His return to Jerusalem. (Lk.
21:24; Mt. 23:38-39; Zech. 12:1-10) But we not only declare what Christ said about Jerusalem, we also declare what Christ said concerning
the harlot church and false religious system of the world in league with its corrupt political and economic system represented by
Rome in the New Testament: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!” (Rev. 18:2)
Jacob Prasch
PAX VOBISCUM (Latin For “Shalom”)
Copyright © 2008 Moriel Ministries. All rights reserved.
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 19

Moriel Japan 2010
Geoff Toole
moriel japan
News from the Far East/Autumn Report 2010
Hello and greetings in Jesus’ Name from
Moriel Japan.
I am in Sydney this week, shaking from
the souvenir (some tropical disease) I bought
back from Saigon a few days ago. Nevertheless,
there is much to tell of recently.
The Japanese Front
Praise the Lord for the successful June
meetings with Jacob Prasch and David Lister.
There were many new faces. Mostly those
with an interest in Hebrew roots, and a few old
AOG believers like myself. The messages were
received well with our interpreter, Daisuke,
deserving a gold medal, no doubt waiting for
him at the judgment seat. All meetings were recorded
and have been placed on the internet to
get the message out as fast as possible. Many
people requested more written material to read
over and take it all in at a slower pace.
We have finally published our article on
PDL and the Emerging Church. The content
and information, similar to that in Roger Oakland’s
“Faith Undone” and other discernment
ministries will be perhaps the first that anyone
in Japan will read. We pray that people will get
a better idea of where the Emerging church,
Contemplative spirituality and Purpose Driven
are coming from and see that it is yet another
deception, fulfilling prophecy.
The next teaching sessions are planned for
this year. We will have two sessions on “The
Antichrist”in Kobe. We are particularly excited
about this topic as it will be new to everyone.
There are no Barrys, Hals or Chucks over here.
Most Christians have little knowledge or idea
of just what ‘antichrist’ means. With more examples
recorded and posted on the net it won’t
be long before people start picking up the message
and reading midrashically themselves.
On the Streets
This summer we have focussed more time
on street evangelism in Amagasaki, a working
class city next to Osaka. The suffering of many
families there is clear due to the ongoing economic
recession. Many good opportunities to
share the gospel have come so far. We have decided
to spend each weekend at the same town
square so that any who want to come to us with
questions will always be able to. Still, it has
been a slow process.
Philippines
The last trip to Romblon in the Philippines
was great. The response was the best yet. Pastors
gathered from the local churches for a two
day seminar (admittedly with free food). Day
one was an introduction to Midrash using the
examples of Jonah and the grain offering. All
those who attended are excited about a followup
seminar, even without free food.
Q and A time again focussed on charismatic
issues, anointing, faith prosperity etc. There is
a long road ahead for some churches who have
been caught up in every error and superstition
under the sun, yet I sensed that their attitude
was right and God will deal with them step by
step. Certainly their eyes were opened and many
professed to feeling rebuked by the Holy Spirit.
Also it was a pleasure to be able to distribute
the concordances purchased by Mark and
Carrie. The pastors were all encouraged to make
them available to all of their church members.
Praise God for His faithfulness. This is
the same island where our previous seminar
was cancelled by a certain supervisor. Praise
the Lord also for saving me from a mix up with
the airplane tickets, losing my wallet, losing my
voice, dengue fever, a typhoon, a smoke filled
church, and a LOT of mud. All of which appeared
at some stage in the week.
Saigon
Vietnam is suffering from the serpent and
the dragon right now. I knew about the dragon.
I met pastors who cannot return to their church
due to a government decision to halt all church
activity until the next communist meeting there
in March. For many years I have known about the
dragon, but this is the first time to see deception
in the church. It was very sad and disappointing.
Although six Moriel messages have so far
been translated into Vietnamese, for various reasons
the door does not yet appear to be open. The
PDL and faith prosperity nonsense have beaten
us into Vietnam, along with an unwillingness
to listen to arguments against them on the part
of certain leaders. Pray for Vietnam that voices
will arise among them calling them back to biblical
truth. On the whole, it can still be described
as a comparatively pure church, but once that
serpent gets its foot in the door, so to speak…!
Perhaps significantly, the town where I
challenged the pastors about the Purpose Driven
life was famous for its production of ‘snake
wine.’ We also drank ‘bird’s nest in a can,’ made
from the saliva of swallows apparently, on that
day. I can’t help but think that the birds have
started nesting in the branches.
*I had a wonderful few weeks of fellowship
in Australia, meeting old friends in Sydney
and new ones in Queensland. Thank you to all
for your kindness.
Autumn update
*Praise God. The Summer is ended and at
least one person was saved! We were delighted
to baptize Mr Kashihara in our local river two
weeks ago. He has had a great conversion for
which we give thanks to the Lord.
*The Anti-Christ seminars went well and
are now posted on the website (bi-lingual).
Our next project is ‘The Future History of the
Church’ series which we plan to hold in Tokyo
in late November.
*Daisuke is due to marry the daughter of our
close brothers in Christ in the Philippines. We welcome
Jean next year to our fellowship in Japan.
Prayer
Pray with us for our outreach in Amagasaki.
Pray that those who have taken the tracts and listened
will return to find out more. We are praying
at the moment about relocating our church
to the working class city of Amagasaki where
we have been focussing on recently. Please pray
that God will make His will known. Perhaps
Daisuke and Jean will live in the new church
as we begin more outreach to younger kids.
Please pray also for our Tokyo seminars later
this year. Also for Peter Danzey’s meetings in
Tokyo and Kobe early next year as I return the
gruelling schedule he had for me this summer!
Baruch, who was born 3 months premature is
now almost completely restored. There remain
almost no ill-effects from his early ordeal.
Thank you for your prayers.
Geoff Toole
20 Moriel Quarterly • December 2010

Geoff Toole
Moriel Japan 2010
m o r i e l j a p a n ~ 2010
“The double challenge.
Erroneous religion and
erroneous English”
Manoah up to his ankles
Baruch on his bike
Our by the river
moriel japan
“Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come”
Daisuke’s baptism sermon
Kashihara San . . .
...and Yuto celebrate the 2nd birth
PHOTO ALBUM
This is a volcano near our town called Daisen. Daisen means
Big mountain!
Daisen, Big mountain!
m e m o r i e s
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 21

Moriel Australian
Margret Godwin
AUSTRALIANnews
Australian Report –December 2010
Australian Report December 2010
Greetings Dear Family in the Name of Our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ.
It seems very strange to be writing this report at the beginning of November but due to the printing constraints we have to get finished
up earlier & earlier. I could not but help think that it certainly is the way of the world nowadays. Everything must be in the diary; we need
to book earlier and earlier regardless of the occasion. In the shops all the Christmas fare has been out for the past couple of months and
all the advertising brochures are so full of toys and gifts. I clearly remember last Christmas eve I was at one of the larger grocery stores
and it was half an hour before closing and the manager was getting the staff to pull down all the decorations and put up the Easter egg
display – that was on the 24 th of December. As I watched (standing in the check-out queue) I felt so very sad and isolated and thought to
myself “Where is my Jesus in all of this”
Just as there was no room at the Inn for our Jesus – there was no room for Him in this warehouse of greed and commercialism.
Last month my best friend “the dishwasher” started leaking water – the plumber came – oh just throw it out and get a new one he
says. I eventually found a wonderful man “Mr. Brown” who has a tiny little repair place – having been there for over thirty years – guess
what, he came straight away to the house (some 25 km) and with some silicone fixed it immediately. How wonderful!
I guess what I am saying in my round about way is, whilte the world tells us we need “more” Our Lord is saying “you have very little
need of it BUT far more of Me, My service fee is acknowledgement of me and I am on call 24 hrs a day. Praise Him.
As is the way in Australia we tend to follow everything American (sorry to insult intended to our American brothers and sisters) and
we have just been inundated with “Halloween” which sadly seems to be growing year by year. In our local nursing home the staff were
all dressed up as witches, etc. Children were knocking on the door (all of whom I have never seen before) and as I drove to the next town
from us I thought I had arrived at Salem. I ignored the doorbell but have decided that I am going to go out and purchase some good little
Christian children’s books in readiness for next year and guess what the “door knockers” are going to get
As reported earlier in the year Jacob will not be coming to Australia in 2011, but God willing he will be here in 2012. The Board has
to watch his health and travelling such vast distances does take its toll.
We are blessed however to have Dr. Calvin Smith in March and Pastor Dave Royle (Ebyown South Africa) in May. So watch out for
those dates.
As we draw another year to a close I must thank all our readers for their support both prayerfully and with gifts, bless you. To all the
Moriel volunteers especially Pam, Vic, Trish, Les, Gail and Cleone, Vicki, Charlie and Trish thank you all. Thanks also to our wonderful
network of pastors around Australia.
And last but not least my dear Nigel in New Zealand, who is always ready to help me through life’s ups and downs, he is a treasure.
To all those on their own (for whatever reason) please watch out for them and if able make sure that somewhere over the holiday
season you invite them for a meal or go visit them, take Jesus with you and I can assure you – it will be the best time you can imagine.
My love to each of you and may the Lord keep you safe until we come together again.
Marg
Messiah Comes/12 Jews Speak
.... a couple of people said you were life changing!
Marg’s helper... I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look
at it for hours – Jerome K. Jerome
22 Moriel Quarterly • December 2010

Margret Godwin
Rambling Rose
ambling
o s e
R a m b l i n g
Hello Family,
R o s e
Instructions:
Now following several conversations I had at different venues when Jacob was here, if you are
reading this page and haven’t read the main article, STOP and get yourself off to the front page, if
you don’t, this page may self destruct in the next ten seconds, Well not really, but I am sure you get
the point. Off you go and we will catch up later.
Re-registration
Now while I am issuing orders, did you fill in your re-registration form in the last issue, if not
you had best get a wriggle on or else you will miss out on the March issue.
Special Celebrations
Two lovely couples have celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversaries. Pastor John Phillips &
his beautiful bride Joan. John is a life long friend of Jacob and a member of the Moriel Australia
Board. He is the pastor of Victory Fellowship in Gosnells, Perth W.A. Joan of course has been his
right hand all through their ministry.
Don & Gloria Moyle are members of Pilgrim C/F at Pakenham. Despite incredible health setbacks
they are always there for us all with a smile and encouragement.
Our most loving congratulations to you all. What an inspiration you are to all couples. May you
have many more wonderful years together.
Another special celebration is the 70th birthday of our dear
friend Celia Baker of Wedderburn (she will skin me alive when
she reads this). Sadly Celia lost her dear mum just a few weeks
earlier and decided she was not going to celebrate her birthday,
but as you will see we had other ideas.
At Long Last
Despite having moved here 10 years ago and having had a
new garage built (9 X 9 metres and some 20 feet tall or more) I
had never completely got around to cleaning it out and getting
rid of all those boxes, most of which was Moriel stuff - well no
more. My son Peter, his wife Pauline & son Michael and his
brother in law Craig came on Monday along with our Pammie,
and wow have they done a wonderful job! I am considering
conducting tours of this eighth wonder of the world. Now I
have to tackle the 9 th being the office. Maybe one miracle for
the year is enough.
Holiday Break-up
We will be closing the office on Tuesday, December 21, st 2010 and re-opening on Monday,
January 31, st 2011.
As usual the phone, e-mails and post will be cleared every few days so you can still write, place
your orders and leave messages. We all need a rest as it has been a big year.
I pray you all have a restful and enjoyable holiday season and while the world tells us to, take
time to smell the roses, may you find beautiful quiet moments with the Lord and with each other.
In Him whom we love and serve
Marg
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 23

Letters & Comments
Your Letters and
Comments
AMERICAN LETTERS
Question:
Dear James,
I just wanted to thank you so much for
the enlightened revelation that I found of
yours on the grain offering. God woke me up
with Hebrews 9 and Leviticus 2 ...and was
struggling to understand the fullness of it..
when reading your notes I realized many other
scriptures God has been sharing with me
lately is starting to make a bit more sense..
but I will continue to sit as His feet and allow
Him to give me the complete fullness,
but thank you for sharing this on the net..it
truly was a great help. Let you continue to be
blessed in the fullness and wisdom of God
Spirit in understanding and Knowledge.
Shalom
B
An E-mail From a Rabbi To Me. How
Do I Reply To Him
Dear Jacob or David Lister,
I saw an article on the site “what Jews
Believe.” The article stated that Jews do not
believe that animal blood sacrifices were
never absolutely required for forgiveness of
sins and that other things like flour would be
sufficient. He was speaking from Lev 17.
I decided to reply to that using the verses
he quoted in a diplomatic way as to avoid upsetting
him on my very first communication.
The first email is from me (in blue) followed
by his answer (in black).
Would you be able to help me answer
this rabbi
Thanks
John Chingford
• Dear Rabbi Federow
I read your article with interest. Some
very good points made!
You mentioned that God forgave the sins
of Ninevah even though no blood was sacrificed.
Where in the Book of Jonah does it
say that God forgave their sins It says that
He no longer sent the judgement on the City
because Ninevah repented. It does not say
that their sins were forgiven. As Leviticus
17 states “it is the blood that makes atonement
for one’s life. Just because God did not
judge does not mean they were able to have
a unique and close relationship with God, but
their City was spared - at least for a short period,
because it was judged later on.
God had compassion on that City and
spared it because they repented. It says God
loves all people and has compassion, but
compassion is not forgiveness. God is a God
who changes not. His ways are always perfect
and just. If God states that the benefits of
forgiveness are only attained through blood
sacrifice then that can NEVER change. God
may be merciful but He remains true to Himself
because God cannot lie.
I would be very interested in what you
think of my thoughts on this.
Now to what you wrote regarding to 1
Kings 8. I confess that Solomon did ask God
to forgive (without sacrifice) if the people
were exiled in another land and unable to
sacrifice. I will start with possibly a weak
explanation to start with. Remember it was
Solomon’s prayer but was Solomon correct
in what he prayed for Did God state that He
would answer that prayer Assuming that
God inspired Solomon to pray that prayer,
then God would accept non sacrifice if His
people could not sacrifice whilst in exile.
That does not mean that if they ARE able to
sacrifice for sin that they don’t need to any
more, because they would have no excuse.
The fact of the matter is that they DID continue
the practice of animal sacrifice until CE
70. Why did they continue if not necessary
Regarding the flour sacrifice, the verse
states it was poured UPON the animal sacrifice
thus becoming mixed in the blood sacrifice.
So those who were poor could share in
the blood sacrifice and ALL could be forgiven.
Yours respectively
John Chingford
Answer:
Hi John!
The fact that Gd did not punish Ninevah
means that their sins were forgiven. If
you wish to see this differently, that is your
choice, but when Gd chooses not to punish, it
means He has forgiven.
Regarding Leviticus 17:11, did you notice
the verse before it Did you read the
verse after it The whole paragraph regards
not eating blood that is meant for the altar.
Christians rip the verse out of its context and
come up with a meaning, and interpretation
that is UnBiblical.
Lev 17:10 And whatsoever man there be
of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that
sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of
blood; I will even set my face against that soul
that eateth blood, and will cut him off from
among his people. Lev 17:11, For the life of
the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to
you upon the altar to make an atonement for
your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an
atonement for the soul. Lev 17:12 Therefore
I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of
you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger
that sojourneth among you eat blood.
The verse is saying that IF one chooses
blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, as
there were other ways to obtain forgiveness,
then the blood goes on the altar, not in one’s
mouth. That is all it is saying, and it does not
limit forgiveness to only blood sacrifices as
my web site shows.
And when was the blood of your human
jesus poured on the altar
You claim that Gd never changes. Okay,
then when did Gd change His mind from,
“Everyone shall be put to death FOR HIS
OWN SIN,” of Deuteronomy 24:16 to your
christian belief that Jesus the man died for
the sins of all
When did Gd change His mind from Hosea
11:9, ‘For I am Gd and not a man,’ to your
Christian belief that Jesus the man was also
Gd Which of course, has more in common
with Hellenism and other pagan faiths than
with Judaism. Even Dionysus had a human
mother and Zeus for a father. So did Hercules.
As well as numerous other pagan gods.
You claim that you are interested in my
thoughts on the matter. You will pardon my
disbelief. Most of what i get are those who
just wish to sharpen their debating skills. I
am not here to debate, just to explain what
Jews believe.
No, the blood was never poured on the
animal sacrifices, that was an idea invented
by Christian polemicists. Besides, the text
never says it is the animal sacrifice below
that did the atoning, but rather the flour itself,
even if there was animal sacrifices below it.
But there is nothing to show that the blood
was poured over animal sacrifices, except in
the mind of Christians who need to think that
in order to maintain their unBiblical beliefs.
Again i ask, when was the human blood of
Jesus poured over an altar
Solomon was correct in his prayers. For
you to not believe they were is to go against
the Bible. The fact that Solomon felt he could
pray that prayer, means that he knew it was
acceptable, and therefore not in his mind that
Gd had to have a blood sacrifice for the for-
24 Moriel Quarterly • December 2010

giveness of sin. Unless you think Solomon
the wise would pray for the impossible It
is just not a Biblical idea that Gd demands
a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.
Furthermore, Gd explicitly states that human
sacrifices are an abomination to Him,
and something He hates. So who died on the
cross Was it Jesus-the-god or Jesus-the-human
If it was Jesus-the-god, like Dionysus,
then, sorry, Gd cannot die. If it was Jesus-thehuman
then all you have is a human sacrifice.
And what Jews practiced animal sacrifice
until 70 Only those Jews in Israel. The
vast majority of Jews never went back under
Cyrus of Persia, as i wrote on the web site,
and could not have cared about the Temple,
because they knew that they didnt need a
blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, as
we are taught in Hosea 14:2.
Answer:
First of all the ancient sages disagree.
They translated Leviticus 17 to state in the
Septuagint that without the shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness of sin.
Secondly, the Torah states repeatedly
that the sacrifices were to make atonement as
does the rabbinic tractate YOMA.
Thirdly, when there was no temple or
interest in it in the post captivity period, the
prophets Haggai and Ezra both gave The
Word of HaShem to rebuild it and reinaugerate
the sin sacrifices.
Fourthly, Nineveh was a pagan Gentile
culture. Other rabbis including Rashi maintained
that the Hebrew sacrifices were not
only national and personal for the Hebrews
but the Hebrews were to make ritual atonement
for the Gentiles. While we disagree
with Rashi’s misunderstanding of Isaiah 52
&53 in this regard, his understanding of the
principle is correct.
It should additionally be noted that some
commentators (both Jewish and non Jewish)
interpret the two leavened wave offerings of
Hag Shavuoth as representative of Jew and
Gentile.
Jacob Prasch
Question:
Dear Sir.
I am grateful for your written questions
for J Ws on the moriel site. My personnel
question is about the beings popularly called
“alien grays” Are they bad Angels
I feel they are real! I could say much
about them as I have loved them. Yet I also
know they smell horrible from they element
of Sulphur. Also I know they are horrible in
other ways. I believe that the Bible describes
beings like them as being Demons.
Yet I still like them. I don’t want to like
them, I just do. I don’t like pictures of body
organs but I like science. In my mind with Jesus
my feelings about them have become less
careless of other peoples sensibilities and I
am willing to admit my tendencies can be in
error. I am a sinner. But am hoping to hold the
hand of mercy before my chances are gone.
In Jesus love explains all beyond the impatience
of fear.
God bless your caring craftings.
J G
Answer:
Dear Mr. G:
I have to say this is a very different letter
than we normally receive here at Moriel.
To me, what you have written seems to come
from a confused mind and one that lacks
peace. So, first off, from what you have written,
I could conclude that you are being deceived
by the god of this world, for (the one
true) God is not a God of confusion but of
peace, ... If you believed Him and His Word,
you would not be writing from this state of
mind, “admit(ing) my tendencies can be in
error.” You are not in a “tendencies of error,”
my friend, you are in error. First you have
exceeded that which is written (1 Cor. 4:6).
Next, you are believing, The devil, the father
of lies (John 8:44) who is deceitful... for Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of light.
(2 Corinthians 11:13-14) and is the prince of
the power of the air, and you seemed to have
the spirit that now works in the children of
disobedience working in you (Ephesians 2:2).
You are looking for mercy, “before my
chances are gone,” then the answer is simple,
repent of your fascination, “love” and “your
carelessness” in dealing with these powers,
rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual
wickedness in high places. (Eph. 6:12)
Surely you know that the working of
Satan (is) with all power and signs and lying
wonders... (and you are risking much in
believing this) strong delusion, and that if
you should (continue to) believe a lie... (2
Thessalonians 2:9b,11b) You will perish into
darkness with satan and these fellow angels.
After repentance of these things, pray for
protection from wrong influences, and put
God’s Word into your heart, mediate on it,
dwell on it so that you can become renewed
in your mind and in your heart. Trust in Him
fully, Him alone. Be guided by His Word and
do not trust your feelings, for they will guide
you into the ditch.
May the Lord be merciful, but please
turn to God fully, completely, before it is too
late.
In Peace,
David
Letter:
Dear Moriel,
Just reading, I get so informed about the
world events in you magazine. I thank you!
I once hear on the radio on how the Government
trains their secret service men in how to
spot a phony money, and that (is by) having
them handle the real thing. (They train) For a
long time and then when a phony bill comes
along, bingo they catch it. Well, it the same
thing when I keep reading and hearing the
word of the Bible. I know what (is) fake and
what is the Truth and your magazine proves
it (backs up His Word) all the time. I read
Letters & Comments
what Jacob has to say, along with the other
commentators and writers of your magazine
and I am encouraged. Here is a donation to
be use as it is needed.
Greg G.
Answer:
Thank you Greg for you encouragement and
your kind donation.
In Peace,
David
David,
PLEASE let Jacob know how his book
has taught us, & also ratified some of our own
discoveries, and is such a sobering and book
for today.
Praise God that He has given him the
insight to write this. I’m sure it will not be
popular, but for those who choose to flee
from all the false, heretical, experiential, organised
church programs and traditions we
find here in the USA, nothing more than evil
masquarading as light. This book is one such
document that lays out the trappings and failings
that we can so easily fall into (if we take
our heart, ears & eyes off Him). I am in the
zone of just abiding, being encouraged to
stay strong, and to encourage those around
me to remain in him.
Please tell him thank you,
Tony
AUSTRALIAN LETTERS
Dear Moriel Ministries,
• I was enthralled with your srticle on
rain. I know “we can do all things in Christ,”
but when I read your words; my whole world
changed.
So thank you
Mrs R of Victoria
• I have enjoyed the studies these few
years and look forward to the Moriel website
each week. My early years in the Baptist
church as a pre-teen and onwards taught
me much that is not at all evident anywhere
I have looked. Moriel has not only bought
back at lot of that old teaching, it has deepened
it. I am more staggered each day I understand
Gods plan for mankind started before
Adams creation. There is unfortunately
hardly anyone to share your work with now
as the market driven church has created so
many self content children that do not want
to know about anything more.
Keep up the good work & thank you to
the whole Moriel Team.
Mr H of Western Australia
• There are so many to pray for out there
but “The Word” says “The fervent prayer of
a righteous man availeth much.” So we must
keep praying.
Mrs A of South Australia
December 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 25

Moriel Prayer Closet
A Greek Jesus or Hebrew Yeshua”
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 –
“If two of you shall agree in touching anything
they shall ask, it shall be done of
them by my father which is in heaven.”
– Matthew 18:19
• Prayer for Dave Royle and Ebyown as
they move to a new location on the West
ern Cap next year
• Pray for Jacob’s health
• Pray for protection for our ministries in
South Africa and the Middle East
• Pray for traveling mercies for Jacob &
all our Moriel people as they go to differeent
countries to bring GOD’s word
• Pray for David Lister’s job situation
• Pray for the health of our Moriel Children
• Pray for our Moriel staff and volunteers
and their unsaved family members
• Pray for David Hocking, see website for
updated information
On behalf of all at Moriel we continue to
thank our brethren for their prayers.
A Reader Writes:
watched this [Internet video on a “Greek Jesus or Hebrew Yeshua”] and found it fascinating…The
man giving the seminar believes strictly in the text of the Old Testament (does not
I
believe Jesus is the Messiah), but because he is a Hebrew scholar, he is able to shed light on some
interesting aspects of the New Testament. Turns out much of the New Testament may have been
written first in Hebrew, translated into Aramaic, and then into Greek. Very convincing evidence of
this. Hope you can watch….
Jacob Responds:
These other arguments some have tried to influence you with such as the New Testament being
written in Hebrew, etc. are unsubstantiated and the cause of propagating such notions is
generally the domain of pseudo-scholarly charlatans.
There is but one historic reference in the Patristic literature that Matthew’s Gospel, according to
Heggisippus/Papias, was originally written in Hebrew, but that may simply have been the Hebrew
dialect of Aramaic (similar to something called the Peshita text). Even the earliest Syriac texts of the
New Testament we have on record are translated from Greek. The body of Gospel narrative fragments,
megilot (scrolls), and codices number about 10,000 (some dating to the 1st Century), and
the total number of New Testament source copies is about 20,000. By comparison there are only for
instance 420 of Ceaser’s Conquests. With such a massive volume of manuscript material (far outweighing
anything other from the ancient world), it is unthinkable that there is not a single Hebrew
manuscript anywhere if the original authorship were indeed in Hebrew.
While Semitic languages and thought do underlie the Greek texts, there is no definite way to say
that the underlying Semitic language is Hebrew and not a Hebrew form of Aramaic. In fact, the internal
evidence of the pericopes containing Aramaic sentences spoken by Jesus tend to support Aramaic.
The Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research (Dr. Joe Francovic, Dr. Roy Blizzard, Dr. Ray
Bevan supported by late Professor David Flusser) attempted a scholarly reconstruction of source
manuscripts by forensic linguistics, but after many years they can prove nothing and have no manuscript
or archaeological proof of these theories. These at least are the more serious academics examining
this proposition. Most of the others are frankly “know-nothing” charlatans and not even truly
qualified ancient Near Eastern linguists or manuscript historians. Do not even bother paying any
attention to such ridiculous people.
The overwhelming mass of hard evidence supports a largely Greek authorship of the New Testament
in the original autographs which mainly quote the Septuagint (not Hebrew texts), and most of
the evidence supports the liklihood of Yeshua and His Apostles having spoken mainly a Hebrewized
(and probably Galilean) dialect of Aramaic. All manuscripts moreover, call the Messiah “Jesus”.
This is a massive and complex area of study that we cannot delve into at length by email, and
frankly anyone who is not literate in Koina and Attic Greek, Biblical Hebrew, and Syriac should
not even get involved in such endeavours. Even those experts who are so qualified (both believers
and non-believers) are often divided in their summations and interpretation of complicated details,
linguistic nuances, etc.
There are frauds of every description from Gail Riplinger to the cultic “Sacred Name” movement,
to hyper-messianic extremists who are misleading many sincere but undiscerning Christians
with what amounts to pure, ultra-speculative unadulterated rubbish. Recognize that religious hypeartists
and con-artists run around all the time claiming erroneously to have discovered something
“new” or rediscovered some “secret” knowlege that is old. Some of these people are mere connivers;
others among them are deluded by their ignorance, blinded by spiritual pride and border on
Gnosticism. Moreover, pseudo-scholars are, quite honestly, “a dime a dozen”.
No authentic ancient copy of Matthew’s Gospel exists. It was translated a century ago into Hebrew
from Greek by Franz Delitzche, a Jewish believer in Jesus and an amazing scholar.
We are not the top experts in the world by any means, but although she is a mathamatician by
profession, my wife has an Israeli degree in biblical Hebrew and Aramaic where Dr. David Flusser
himself was one of her professors at Hebrew University. I am fluent in Hebrew, read Greek, etc. and
I studied under the best at London School of Theology (LBC) and at Cambridge. Among others, I do
conferences with Dr. Randolph Price of the Qumran archaeological commission, I have met Professor
Larry Fischman of The Dead Sea Scrolls Commission, and I work closely with Dr. Siam Bhayro
– probably the leading saved Evangelical Ancient Near Eastern linguist and language scholar in the
world. None of these take such nonsense as the “Greek Jesus, or Hebrew Yeshua” garbage seriously
and neither should you.
A nice Jewish girl like yourself who believes in Yeshua as her Messiah should get into a good
solid fellowship with good doctrine and avoid the kooks whose abundant ranks appear to be almost
everywhere.
Every Blessing In Messiah,
Jacob Prasch
Moriel Ministries
(Philippians 1:6)
26 Moriel Quarterly • December 2010