The Gates of Jerusalem (~13.2 MB) - Moriel Ministries
The Gates of Jerusalem (~13.2 MB) - Moriel Ministries
The Gates of Jerusalem (~13.2 MB) - Moriel Ministries
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"MORIEL"<br />
GOD IS MY TEACHER<br />
June 2009 Nissan/Iyar/Sivan 5769<br />
No. 38<br />
by Jacob Prasch<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Gates</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Gates</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong><br />
by Jacob Prasch<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
Thank You from the Administrator<br />
MORIEL MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL<br />
"MORIEL"<br />
GOD IS MY TEACHER<br />
From the Office <strong>of</strong> the Administrator<br />
Dear Friends:<br />
Greetings in Jesus Name. I can’t thank you all enough for your prayers and<br />
support.<br />
David Royle<br />
Upcoming Spring Tour To Greece<br />
Next spring, Jacob is going to be leading a tour to Greece. This is only the<br />
second tour that Jacob has done there and I really enjoyed the first one. Walking<br />
where Paul walked. Standing on the Bema stone and preaching (and being<br />
translated) to the Greek Orthodox waiting in line to kiss the mural. I wouldn’t<br />
get out <strong>of</strong> the way till the gospel was preached. <strong>The</strong> ruins at Philippi, Colossi.<br />
It was an incredible tour and one not to be missed. Stay tuned for details here<br />
and on the website.<br />
Prayer Support<br />
As some <strong>of</strong> you know Sal and Di have now made the move from Ebyown<br />
to KwaZulu Natal and are picking up where Sal had planted a work several<br />
years back, but had to leave to pay <strong>of</strong>f his student loans. As some <strong>of</strong> you might<br />
remember these loans which were considerable were paid <strong>of</strong>f by generous supporters<br />
who wanted to get Sal back into the mission field. This was a real confirmation<br />
for Sal that he was to be in the mission field. Since then he has found a<br />
good wife and has returned full circle to complete the work he had started. May<br />
the Lord bless him and Di and the work <strong>of</strong> their hands.<br />
Emmanuel Church and Bookshop<br />
<strong>Moriel</strong> has been very privileged to support this work among the Muslims and<br />
we are hearing <strong>of</strong> its fruit. As you read the articles and see the pictures <strong>of</strong> the<br />
blanked out faces we hope you understand the danger <strong>of</strong> this work in the West<br />
Bank. <strong>The</strong> reports, some parts <strong>of</strong> which we cannot publish because <strong>of</strong> the danger<br />
for the individuals, are showing us that God is drawing Muslims out <strong>of</strong> Islam<br />
and into a saving relationship with Him. Pastor Najeeb lives in very austere<br />
conditions and on very little money. But life for nearly everyone in the West<br />
Bank is hard as those people who live there are used as political pawns against<br />
Israel and their poverty is shown to the world as Israel’s fault. But, this is also<br />
backfiring on them as the gospel is getting through and the riches <strong>of</strong> Christ are<br />
so appealing to the poor and downcast. Please continue to pray for this ministry<br />
and for the fruit it is bearing.<br />
Jacob is Coming<br />
We have Jacob’s next tour all set and we are looking forward to seeing all our<br />
friends and supporters again. All <strong>of</strong> you who call me on the phone at the ministry<br />
<strong>of</strong>fice I look forward to you dropping by the book table and putting the<br />
face to the voice. So, come over and introduce yourself. If you can’t make one<br />
<strong>of</strong> the conferences, please look for them on the internet or when we get them<br />
produced for distribution. Thank you all again for your prayers and support, we<br />
really can’t say it enough.<br />
In Peace,<br />
David<br />
TABLE OF CONTENTS<br />
<strong>The</strong> gates <strong>of</strong> jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3<br />
one law and one ordinance . . . . . . . . . . . . 9<br />
EXPOSING THE SHACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10<br />
RA<strong>MB</strong>LING ROSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11<br />
AUSTRALIAN REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13<br />
FYI/PERTINENT FACTOID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14<br />
MORIEL SOUTH AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15<br />
UTT Relief Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17<br />
Msindisi Monthly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18<br />
IMMANUEL NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20<br />
bezaleel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22<br />
NESSIM’S MUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24<br />
PUT YOUR HAND IN MY SIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25<br />
THE COMING PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS . . 26<br />
DAVID’S CORNER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29<br />
Your letters & comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
Jacob Prasch<br />
Feature Article<br />
by Jacob Prasch<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Gates</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong><br />
<strong>Jerusalem</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Gates</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
by Jacob Prasch<br />
by Jacob Prasch<br />
Introduction<br />
<strong>The</strong>n Eliashib the high priest arose<br />
with his brothers the priests and built<br />
the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it<br />
and hung its doors. <strong>The</strong>y consecrated<br />
the wall to the Tower <strong>of</strong> the Hundred<br />
and the Tower <strong>of</strong> Hananel. Next<br />
to him the men <strong>of</strong> Jericho built, and<br />
next to them Zaccur the son <strong>of</strong> Imri<br />
built. Now the sons <strong>of</strong> Hassenaah<br />
built the Fish Gate; (Nehemiah 3:1-3)<br />
Nehemiah comes to <strong>Jerusalem</strong> and<br />
sees the devastation—a terrible devastation.<br />
After weeping over the city he goes to<br />
the king and asks for a mandate to rebuild<br />
what has been left in ruins. But there is a<br />
spiritual meaning to what has been left in<br />
ruins when he rebuilds the gates.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se gates are a type <strong>of</strong> what is seen<br />
in the Book <strong>of</strong> Revelation—the twelve<br />
gates <strong>of</strong> New <strong>Jerusalem</strong>. At different times<br />
in history there were different numbers <strong>of</strong><br />
gates, but they have all basically been the<br />
same. To some extent they broadly resemble<br />
– or vaguely resemble – the pattern <strong>of</strong><br />
the gates present in the Old City <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong><br />
today, except that the city then was<br />
much, much smaller.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Sheep Gate and<br />
the Fish Gate<br />
<strong>The</strong> first two gates are the Sheep Gate<br />
and the Fish Gate. <strong>The</strong> Sheep Gate is the<br />
gate through which they brought the sheep<br />
into <strong>Jerusalem</strong> to be sacrificed in the temple.<br />
On either side <strong>of</strong> the Sheep Gate were<br />
the Tower <strong>of</strong> Hananel and the Tower <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Me’ah. “Hananel” means “God’s mercy,”<br />
or something to do with the mercy <strong>of</strong> God;<br />
“Me’ah” is the Hebrew word for “one<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
Feature Article – Continued<br />
hundred.” Remember when Jesus said if<br />
a shepherd loses one sheep he will leave<br />
the ninety-nine and go after the one (Luke<br />
15:3-7) It is like a dozen eggs: if one egg is<br />
missing you do not have a dozen. Or if one<br />
sheep is missing you do not have a proper<br />
flock. A proper flock had to be one hundred.<br />
Sometimes people go astray. Sometimes<br />
believers fall away. Sometimes young<br />
believers backslide. Sometimes, in times <strong>of</strong><br />
crisis, they wrongly feel that the Lord has<br />
abandoned them and they wander <strong>of</strong>f. But<br />
the Good Shepherd comes after them. He<br />
does not want to lose any. Jesus said, “My<br />
sheep will hear My voice” (John 10:27).<br />
Next to the Sheep Gate is the Fish<br />
Gate. “I will make you fishers <strong>of</strong> men”<br />
(Matthew 4:19). When you and I are born<br />
again we get “caught.” Remember when<br />
the apostles fished and they kept one hundred<br />
fifty-three, but they threw the others<br />
back <strong>The</strong>re are good fish and bad fish.<br />
Some people will go back to the world.<br />
But then it continues, and it talks about<br />
the different people according to their families<br />
and tribes who are rebuilding the gates.<br />
Now the sons <strong>of</strong> Hassenaah built<br />
the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and<br />
hung its doors with its bolts and bars.<br />
Next to them Meremoth the son <strong>of</strong> Uriah<br />
[Uriah means “My light is God”] the<br />
son <strong>of</strong> Hakkoz made repairs. And next<br />
to him Meshullam the son <strong>of</strong> Berechiah<br />
the son <strong>of</strong> Meshezabel made repairs.<br />
And next to him Zadok the son <strong>of</strong> Baana<br />
also made repairs. Moreover, next<br />
to him the Tekoites made repairs, but<br />
their nobles did not support the work<br />
<strong>of</strong> their masters. (Nehemiah 3:3-5)<br />
“<strong>The</strong>ir nobles did not support the work<br />
<strong>of</strong> their masters.” When people set out to<br />
rebuild what is devastated, when people<br />
set out to repair the gates <strong>of</strong> God, when<br />
people set out to restore what used to be,<br />
one problem is not being able to trust the<br />
nobles. So <strong>of</strong>ten it is found that the people<br />
who are thought to be the most ready and<br />
certainly the most capable <strong>of</strong> contributing<br />
the most, the people who have been saved<br />
the longest, the people who would seem to<br />
best know the Bible, the people who are the<br />
most educated or are the most affluent in a<br />
fellowship, will be the ones who are most<br />
reluctant to get on with beginning again.<br />
Most <strong>of</strong> the times God has worked<br />
through poor people—through the working<br />
classes. Where do big revivals take place<br />
in South America It is on the barrios; it is<br />
the slums. Where did John Wesley’s revivals<br />
take place in England It was among<br />
the coal miners; they were like the lowest<br />
<strong>of</strong> the working class. At that time working<br />
in the mines was a terrible job. <strong>The</strong>y had<br />
little kids, four years old, dying <strong>of</strong> black<br />
lung disease. When the coal miners would<br />
get saved their faces were black, just totally<br />
black with soot. And they came out<br />
<strong>of</strong> the mines and they would hear George<br />
Whitfield and John Wesley preach and they<br />
would begin crying because <strong>of</strong> their sins,<br />
and there appeared to be white streams going<br />
down the faces <strong>of</strong> these people. To be<br />
a coal miner was almost like being a drug<br />
dealer or a prostitute. It was a pr<strong>of</strong>ession<br />
associated with being a cutthroat because<br />
it paid so little that the miners probably<br />
could not make a living despite the harsh<br />
conditions. It was absolutely unspeakable<br />
social injustice. And that is where the Gospel<br />
prospered.<br />
This is not to speak against middle<br />
class people or educated middle class<br />
people, but the middle class people God<br />
will use in rebuilding a devastated church<br />
will be middle class people who become<br />
servants <strong>of</strong> the poor and <strong>of</strong> the working<br />
classes. Usually it will be working class<br />
people God raises up to become upwardly<br />
mobile who will get the thing going.<br />
Do not trust the nobles. Do not think the<br />
people expected to help rebuild the gates<br />
are going to take to the work too quickly.<br />
People like that tend to like their comfort<br />
too much, they tend to like their position,<br />
they do not like the boat rocked too much,<br />
they would rather make do with what they<br />
have. Because if they try to rebuild something,<br />
it is going to cost them something.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y do not need the trouble or the aggravation.<br />
<strong>The</strong> nobles do not support the work<br />
<strong>of</strong> the masters. <strong>The</strong>y should; some <strong>of</strong> them<br />
do. But generally it is the salt <strong>of</strong> the earth<br />
people who are going to get things done. It<br />
always was; it always will be.<br />
A middle class person should not take<br />
personally what I say. <strong>The</strong> intention is not<br />
to insult anyone’s class. But if it is going to<br />
happen, it is going to be because <strong>of</strong> the salt<br />
<strong>of</strong> the earth. If revival comes to Britain or<br />
to any <strong>of</strong> these societies, it will come from<br />
the inner city before it does the middle<br />
class suburbs. It will happen among singleparent<br />
families, it will happen to people<br />
who have been in prison, it will happen to<br />
people who have been unemployed – that<br />
is where these things tend to come from as<br />
it did in the days <strong>of</strong> Jesus.<br />
Who was it that responded to Him<br />
Harlots, tax gatherers, thieves, political<br />
dissidents like the Zealots – those people<br />
came to Jesus. Who rejected Him <strong>The</strong> religious<br />
people. It is no different now.<br />
As we look at the gates <strong>of</strong> the Old City<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong> today, God is showing us a<br />
lesson in history. As one walks through the<br />
Old City <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong> one is looking at not<br />
one thousand, not two thousand, but more<br />
than three thousand years <strong>of</strong> history from<br />
the time <strong>of</strong> the Jebusites onward. And those<br />
walls and those gates tell a story—a story <strong>of</strong><br />
revival and backsliding, <strong>of</strong> renewal and decline.<br />
And the same is true for the churches.<br />
Even the walls <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong> and its gates<br />
are a reflection <strong>of</strong> the history <strong>of</strong> the Jewish<br />
people, but also <strong>of</strong> what has happened<br />
through the centuries with the church.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Old Gate and the<br />
Ephraim Gate<br />
Joiada the son <strong>of</strong> Paseah and Meshullam<br />
the son <strong>of</strong> Besodeiah repaired<br />
the Old Gate; they laid its beams<br />
and hung its doors with its bolts and<br />
its bars. Next to them Melatiah the<br />
Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite,<br />
the men <strong>of</strong> Gibeon and <strong>of</strong> Mizpah,<br />
also made repairs for the <strong>of</strong>ficial<br />
seat <strong>of</strong> the governor <strong>of</strong> the province<br />
beyond the River. (Nehemiah 3:6-7)<br />
<strong>The</strong> next gate is the Old Gate. Next to<br />
the Old Gate there was another gate called<br />
the Gate <strong>of</strong> Ephraim. “Ephraim” means<br />
“fruitfulness” or “doubly fruitful.” <strong>The</strong><br />
Gate <strong>of</strong> Ephraim was at the beginning <strong>of</strong> a<br />
long valley—a depression called “the valley<br />
<strong>of</strong> the cheese makers” or the Tyropean<br />
Valley. This valley runs through the present<br />
center <strong>of</strong> the Old City <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong>,<br />
and visitors can see parts <strong>of</strong> where it was,<br />
the wall running parallel to it, where it has<br />
been excavated.<br />
A Christian will progress; there will be<br />
a choice: two more gates, the Old Gate and<br />
the gate <strong>of</strong> Ephraim. <strong>The</strong>y might be called<br />
like a sheep, they might be caught like a<br />
fish. When somebody’s first saved, the<br />
first few days are absolutely amazing. <strong>The</strong><br />
scales have fallen <strong>of</strong>f their eyes and now<br />
they see the truth. But after two or three<br />
days they begin to come to their senses, or<br />
so they think. “Is this real Is this what I<br />
really want to commit myself to Is this really<br />
the way I want to live my life Is it going<br />
to be like this, that I am not going to be<br />
able to go out and gamble, and get drunk,<br />
and take drugs, and sleep with women, and<br />
fool around with other men, and cheat on<br />
my wife Is this really for real” <strong>The</strong>n the<br />
social pressures begin. <strong>The</strong>ir old friends and<br />
their old desires return, and within a couple<br />
<strong>of</strong> days they are confronted with a choice.<br />
It is <strong>of</strong> Matthew 13, the parable <strong>of</strong> the<br />
sower and the seed at work. Three out <strong>of</strong><br />
four seeds do not end up so well. <strong>The</strong> way<br />
one might look at it, if three out <strong>of</strong> four fall<br />
away that is par for the course. It seems<br />
that the people who stay the most faithful<br />
to Christ are the ones who have paid<br />
the highest price for it, people who had to<br />
count the cost ahead <strong>of</strong> time.<br />
This is evident in a lot <strong>of</strong> places. Certainly<br />
it is seen in Israel among the Jews.<br />
<strong>The</strong> social cost is much higher than it is<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
for non-Jews most <strong>of</strong> the time. Among<br />
Muslims it is even higher. People like that<br />
will count the cost more carefully before<br />
they get saved. In Ireland it is Catholics. If<br />
they become Protestants they are seen as<br />
betraying their families; the cost is higher.<br />
When people get saved in prisons, sometimes<br />
people try to kill them, try to push<br />
them to the limit to see how far they can<br />
make them go before they react violently<br />
the way they used to. It is not easy. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
is a much higher cost involved with those<br />
kinds <strong>of</strong> people. People who get saved under<br />
those conditions will tend to be less<br />
likely to backslide.<br />
Other people find themselves in this<br />
situation: having come through the Sheep<br />
Gate, and having come through the Fish<br />
Gate, there are now two gates before us.<br />
Which one will you go through, the gate <strong>of</strong><br />
fruitfulness or the Old Gate Will it be the<br />
gate <strong>of</strong> back to the old ways, the old friends,<br />
the old interests And again, this Old Gate<br />
lies at the precipice <strong>of</strong> a decline <strong>of</strong> a long<br />
valley. A deep valley. <strong>The</strong> Tyropean Valley.<br />
Valleys in the Bible represent times <strong>of</strong><br />
trial. When opposition comes because <strong>of</strong><br />
the Word they fall away (Matthew 13:20-<br />
21). In the beginning they seem to grow<br />
very quickly, but they have no depth. After<br />
somebody gets saved they go through their<br />
first trials, sometimes prolonged periods <strong>of</strong><br />
trial. <strong>The</strong>y go through a valley.<br />
Something for Everybody<br />
Next to him Uzziel [”My strength<br />
is God”] the son <strong>of</strong> Harhaiah <strong>of</strong> the<br />
goldsmiths made repairs. And next to<br />
him Hananiah, one <strong>of</strong> the perfumers,<br />
made repairs, and they restored <strong>Jerusalem</strong><br />
as far as the Broad Wall. Next to<br />
them Rephaiah the son <strong>of</strong> Hur, the <strong>of</strong>ficial<br />
<strong>of</strong> half the district <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong>,<br />
made repairs. Next to them Jedaiah the<br />
son <strong>of</strong> Harumaph made repairs opposite<br />
his house. And next to him Hattush<br />
the son <strong>of</strong> Hashabneiah made repairs.<br />
Malchijah” [”My king is Yahweh”]<br />
the son <strong>of</strong> Harim and Hasshub the<br />
son <strong>of</strong> Pahath-moab repaired another<br />
section and the Tower <strong>of</strong> Furnaces.<br />
Next to him Shallum the son <strong>of</strong> Hallohesh,<br />
the <strong>of</strong>ficial <strong>of</strong> half the district<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong>, made repairs, he and<br />
his daughters. (Nehemiah 3:8-12)<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were things for men to do, and<br />
there were things for women to do. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
were things for people to do from all backgrounds,<br />
all trades, all pr<strong>of</strong>essions, all<br />
walks <strong>of</strong> life. Everybody was involved.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Valley Gate and the<br />
Refuse Gate<br />
Hanun and the inhabitants <strong>of</strong> Zanoah<br />
repaired the Valley Gate. <strong>The</strong>y built it<br />
and hung its doors with its bolts and its<br />
bars, and a thousand cubits <strong>of</strong> the wall<br />
to the Refuse Gate. (Nehemiah 3:13)<br />
<strong>The</strong> next gate is the Valley Gate, but<br />
that also leads to another gate called the<br />
Refuse Gate. Outside <strong>of</strong> the Refuse Gate<br />
was the garbage pit <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong> where<br />
the Tyropean Valley met two other valleys<br />
called the Valley <strong>of</strong> Hinnom and the Valley<br />
<strong>of</strong> Kidron. <strong>The</strong> Valley <strong>of</strong> Hinnom is where<br />
backslidden Judah sacrificed their children<br />
to Molech (2 Kings 23:10). Outside this<br />
gate where these three valleys came together<br />
was a garbage pit that burned day<br />
and night. That garbage pit was called<br />
“Gehennom” – “Gehenna.”<br />
When people travel with me around<br />
<strong>Jerusalem</strong>, I take them there and say,<br />
“Welcome to hell; I hope this is as close<br />
you ever get to going there.” This is literally<br />
hell outside <strong>of</strong> the Refuse Gate where<br />
these three valleys came together.<br />
Believers go through the Sheep Gate,<br />
they go through the Fish Gate, and if they<br />
decide to hold onto their crosses and keep<br />
following the Lord Jesus, they go through<br />
the Gate <strong>of</strong> Ephraim; they choose fruitfulness.<br />
<strong>The</strong> old nature comes up, and how<br />
does God deal with it <strong>The</strong>y go to the<br />
Valley Gate. God uses the valley, He uses<br />
difficulty, He uses times <strong>of</strong> trial to deal<br />
with the old nature. But when they come<br />
to the end <strong>of</strong> the valley they arrive at the<br />
Refuse Gate. Trials are difficult when going<br />
through them, but when they are over<br />
it can be seen how much garbage God has<br />
thrown out <strong>of</strong> a believer’s life. That is what<br />
He wants to do.<br />
”He who began a good work in you<br />
will bring it to completion in the day<br />
<strong>of</strong> Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)<br />
God wants to throw the garbage out<br />
<strong>of</strong> believer’s lives. And although it is<br />
something they may not like – and understandably<br />
no one likes it – one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
ways God removes the rubbish from each<br />
life is by bringing them into times <strong>of</strong> trial<br />
– He brings believers through the Valley<br />
Gate. What does it say in James Count it<br />
as all blessing, my brethren, when you go<br />
through these trials (James 1:2).<br />
Young believers <strong>of</strong>ten make a big mistake<br />
in misunderstanding that verse, and<br />
actually pray for trials. If praying for trials,<br />
the likelihood is they will be quickly<br />
granted. Someone might pray for a Mercedes<br />
– they might not get that – but if they<br />
pray for trials they can almost bank on it.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Fountain Gate<br />
Malchijah the son <strong>of</strong> Rechab, the<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficial <strong>of</strong> the district <strong>of</strong> Beth-haccherem<br />
repaired the Refuse Gate. He<br />
Feature Article – Continued<br />
built it and hung its doors with its<br />
bolts and its bars. Shallum the son <strong>of</strong><br />
Col-hozeh, the <strong>of</strong>ficial <strong>of</strong> the district <strong>of</strong><br />
Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate.<br />
He built it, covered it and hung its<br />
doors with its bolts and its bars, and<br />
the wall <strong>of</strong> the Pool <strong>of</strong> Shelah [that<br />
is the Pool <strong>of</strong> Siloach where Jesus<br />
would later heal the blind man and<br />
open his eyes] at the king’s garden<br />
as far as the steps that descend from<br />
the city <strong>of</strong> David. (Nehemiah 3:14-15)<br />
This Pool <strong>of</strong> Shelah, the Pool <strong>of</strong> Siloach,<br />
is where one enters to go through<br />
Hezekiah’s tunnel, and where the water<br />
was brought into the Old City.<br />
Not far away is the next gate: the Fountain<br />
Gate, where the Pool <strong>of</strong> Siloach was,<br />
where the water began to flow.<br />
As pointed out in passages such as John<br />
7:39 and Isaiah 44:3, this freshly clean water<br />
which came from the Pool <strong>of</strong> Siloach<br />
entered the city through Hezekiah’s tunnel<br />
was called “chay mayim” – “living water.”<br />
In Isaiah and John this is always a type or<br />
figure <strong>of</strong> the Holy Spirit.<br />
This needs to be understood in light <strong>of</strong><br />
the present situation. In many believers’<br />
sense <strong>of</strong> desperation over what is happening<br />
to this nation and the other Protestant<br />
democracies, and the state <strong>of</strong> the churches,<br />
with Islam and New Age taking over<br />
– Christianity is failing in these places.<br />
Christ is not failing, but the church is not<br />
winning. Ultimately the Body <strong>of</strong> Christ will<br />
be victorious because <strong>of</strong> Christ and His return,<br />
but right now we are losing. We are<br />
losing the battle to homosexuals, to New<br />
Age, to ecumenism, to every evil. However,<br />
for the people wanting to see something<br />
happening, who want to see the Living<br />
Water flow, and desire to see the fountain,<br />
they want to find it, but they are not willing<br />
to do what is necessary to make it flow.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y do not want to go back to the basics.<br />
<strong>The</strong> only way someone gets to the Fountain<br />
Gate is by going back to the basics.<br />
So many <strong>of</strong> the biggest churches do not<br />
even preach the Gospel. <strong>The</strong>y do not even<br />
talk about the blood <strong>of</strong> Jesus, or the cross,<br />
or repentance. Instead hey talk about power<br />
and victory over the world–the “Kingdom<br />
Now” stuff – without realizing that the only<br />
way someone is going to get the power or<br />
the victory is because <strong>of</strong> what Jesus did on<br />
the cross and when He rose from the dead.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y have it all wrong.<br />
So they do not want to go back and<br />
look at the choice that has to be made. <strong>The</strong><br />
choice believers make is whether they want<br />
the Old Gate. In order to define “backsliding”<br />
in its simplest terms, it could be said it<br />
means “hoping in this world.” When somebody<br />
is backslidden it means they are trusting<br />
in this world.<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
Feature Article – Continued<br />
What is someone supposed to do when<br />
there is a guy like Andrew Shearman saying,<br />
“I repent that I ever said that this world<br />
is not my home; this world is my home.<br />
Heaven’s not my destiny, it’s only a benefit.”<br />
This is what he is teaching. People<br />
like this are at the Old Gate; that is the<br />
gate he wants.<br />
Nobody wants to realize they have to<br />
go through a long valley, that there is a lot<br />
<strong>of</strong> garbage in their life. But even more importantly,<br />
there is a lot <strong>of</strong> garbage that has<br />
to be removed from the Body <strong>of</strong> Christ. Everyone<br />
wants the Living Water to flow, but<br />
it is not going to flow until God gets out the<br />
garbage that is clogging up the drains and<br />
clogging up the pipes and clogging up the<br />
water system. <strong>The</strong>re is too much rubbish<br />
that is clogging it up, and the Living Water<br />
cannot flow. So people go out, turn on a<br />
garden hose, and pretend it is raining. It is<br />
just one false thing after another. Toronto<br />
was going to do it, Lakeland was going to<br />
do it–but no actual revival came.<br />
Most people in Toronto never even<br />
heard <strong>of</strong> the “Toronto Blessing” except that<br />
they saw it on the news or something. It has<br />
had no impact; it is not even a big thing in<br />
Canada. It is only over here in Britain, and<br />
in Australia, and New Zealand, and in Europe<br />
that it is big; in America and Canada<br />
where it comes from, it is nothing. Very few<br />
people are into it. Very few churches are<br />
interested in it. When I went to that place,<br />
everybody in the Toronto Airport Vineyard<br />
Church (which has now been thrown out <strong>of</strong><br />
the Vineyard) was from some place other<br />
than Toronto. In fact, they were from some<br />
place other than Canada. It is not experiencing<br />
any kind <strong>of</strong> revival.<br />
Living Water does not flow that way. It<br />
flows after getting rid <strong>of</strong> the refuse, when<br />
the Lord has a free hand to do the things<br />
He needs to do in believers’ lives and in the<br />
churches to get rid <strong>of</strong> the garbage. When<br />
they get rid <strong>of</strong> the hype, and the “Kingdom<br />
Now,” and the Replacement <strong>The</strong>ology, and<br />
the ecumenism, and the prosperity/money<br />
preachers, then maybe the water will begin<br />
to flow because the plumbing system will<br />
no longer be clogged up with gunk.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Water Gate<br />
<strong>The</strong> next gate in succession is the Water<br />
Gate found at the other terminal <strong>of</strong> Hezekiah’s<br />
tunnel. <strong>The</strong>re is an underground<br />
tunnel that flows from the Fountain Gate to<br />
the Water Gate that was built by Hezekiah.<br />
It is still there. Visitors can walk through it<br />
if they like, if they are not claustrophobic;<br />
it is interesting.<br />
God does not want believers to<br />
just have a fountain; He wants them to<br />
have a pool. He wants them to be immersed<br />
in His Spirit. A Spirit-filled life.<br />
A Spirit-filled church. <strong>The</strong>re might be a<br />
certain amount <strong>of</strong> water as things stand,<br />
but not enough to do what God wants.<br />
People who are cessasionists–who say<br />
the gifts <strong>of</strong> the Spirit ended with the Apostles<br />
– have the Holy Spirit in some measure,<br />
but they are unwilling to open to the fullness<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Spirit, including the gifts. No one<br />
should ever seek the gifts above the Giver<br />
– first and foremost seek the Giver. But<br />
cessasionism is as wrong on one extreme<br />
as the excesses <strong>of</strong> Toronto are on the other.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is a balance. Who is going to burn<br />
their money because money can be counterfeited<br />
Nobody. Nobody should throw<br />
the baby out with the bath water, should<br />
they Unfortunately, some people do.<br />
After the Water Gate the journey continues,<br />
and they make repairs. It is a progression.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y go from the Refuse Gate<br />
down to the Fountain Gate. After the Fountain<br />
Gate they come to the Water Gate.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Horse Gate<br />
<strong>The</strong> next gate they come to is the Ophel.<br />
<strong>The</strong> temple servants living in Ophel<br />
made repairs as far as the front <strong>of</strong><br />
the Water Gate toward the east and<br />
the projecting tower. After them the<br />
Tekoites repaired another section in<br />
front <strong>of</strong> the great projecting tower and<br />
as far as the wall <strong>of</strong> Ophel. Above the<br />
Horse Gate… (Nehemiah 3:26-28)<br />
This is found on the east side <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong>,<br />
which exists today as the closest to<br />
the archeology <strong>of</strong> the original Old City.<br />
This wall would have been on the same<br />
location – or approximately the same location<br />
– as the present eastern wall facing<br />
the Mount <strong>of</strong> Olives, separated from it by<br />
the Kidron Valley. <strong>The</strong> Mount <strong>of</strong> Olives is<br />
here. Not far away then, as one turns east,<br />
is the Horse Gate.<br />
Horses in biblical times were not used<br />
for transport. In the ancient Near East, donkeys<br />
and camels were animals for transport.<br />
Sheep were used for meat and wool,<br />
cattle were used for meat, for hides, and<br />
for milk. A horse had only one purpose: the<br />
horse was the animal <strong>of</strong> war. It was used<br />
for pulling chariots and for mounted soldiers<br />
for cavalry. That is all.<br />
<strong>The</strong> greater point is that until believers<br />
have a Spirit-filled church and a Spiritfilled<br />
life, they are not really ready for war.<br />
<strong>The</strong> churches in this country are no<br />
longer in a spiritual state to take on New<br />
Age. <strong>The</strong>y are not in a spiritual state to<br />
take on Islam. <strong>The</strong>y could not win. Islam<br />
claims to have a moral agenda from Allah<br />
to restore with Shariah – Islamic law – a<br />
standard <strong>of</strong> morality that Christianity can<br />
no longer deliver. <strong>The</strong>y actually make that<br />
claim. <strong>The</strong>re would not be such crime in<br />
Britain if there was an Islamic state; there<br />
would not exist this thing <strong>of</strong> single-parent<br />
families in an Islamic state; there would<br />
not be any <strong>of</strong> this. Homosexuals <strong>The</strong>y kill<br />
them. Thieves <strong>The</strong>y chop <strong>of</strong>f their hands.<br />
Rapists <strong>The</strong>y castrate them. Feminists<br />
<strong>The</strong>y flog them. Shariah Islam can restore<br />
what this country does not have morally<br />
anymore. <strong>The</strong> churches in this country can<br />
no longer deliver a standard <strong>of</strong> moral righteousness.<br />
At one time they could; at one<br />
time they did – but they cannot anymore.<br />
<strong>The</strong> silliest, most absurd thing seen<br />
happening in the Western countries is with<br />
the Kingdom Now and the Restorationists<br />
who are saying, “Victory! Victory!<br />
Harvest! Harvest! Power! Power!” and<br />
the opposite is happening. An evangelical<br />
archbishop says Christians do not have all<br />
the truth and should look to the ones who<br />
are not even saved to get the rest <strong>of</strong> it. This<br />
is what is happening, and these guys are<br />
yelling “Victory!” and rolling on the floor<br />
laughing! It is absolutely absurd.<br />
Until there is a Spirit-filled Church,<br />
believers are not ready to go to war. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
cannot go through the Horse Gate until<br />
they go through the Water Gate, but they<br />
are not going to get any water until God<br />
gets rid <strong>of</strong> the refuse. And He is not going<br />
to get rid <strong>of</strong> the refuse until they realize<br />
that He has to get rid <strong>of</strong> it. <strong>The</strong> desire to<br />
trust in this world is refuse.<br />
Andrew Shearman, says that this world<br />
is his home Those who follow him do not<br />
even call it garbage. <strong>The</strong>y do not even recognize<br />
that is what it is.<br />
<strong>The</strong> East Gate<br />
After them Zadok the son <strong>of</strong> Immer<br />
carried out repairs in front <strong>of</strong> his house.<br />
And after him Shemaiah the son <strong>of</strong><br />
Shecaniah, the keeper <strong>of</strong> the East Gate,<br />
carried out repairs. (Nehemiah 3:29)<br />
<strong>The</strong> East Gate is sometimes called the<br />
Golden Gate. <strong>The</strong> East Gate is the gate<br />
that Jesus came through on Palm Sunday.<br />
<strong>The</strong> evangelical, Christian archeologist<br />
Dr. Jim Fleming is one <strong>of</strong> the people who<br />
discovered the Herodian stones under the<br />
present East Gate. What that means is everyone<br />
can be quite certain that the present<br />
East Gate is where the East Gate that Jesus<br />
came through was located. But it also is<br />
opposite a certain point on the Mount <strong>of</strong><br />
Olives where the High Priest had to stand<br />
with the red heifer on Yom Kippur and<br />
look through the East Gate into the Holy<br />
<strong>of</strong> Holies across the Kidron Valley. That<br />
would tend to verify the theory <strong>of</strong> Dr. Asher<br />
Kaufman <strong>of</strong> the Department <strong>of</strong> Antiquities<br />
at Hebrew University, who places the location<br />
<strong>of</strong> the original temple not on the exact<br />
site <strong>of</strong> the Mosque <strong>of</strong> Omar–the Dome <strong>of</strong><br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
the Rock–but about seventy meters north<br />
<strong>of</strong> it. In other words, in order to rebuild the<br />
temple, it would not be necessary to tear<br />
down the mosque. (That would be something<br />
if the Antichrist just had an ecumenical<br />
center up on the temple mount with<br />
Jews and Arabs worshiping together there.)<br />
<strong>Jerusalem</strong> is the center <strong>of</strong> controversy<br />
for all the nations. And somehow the Antichrist<br />
will have to bring a false peace. One<br />
way – this is not a prophecy, just a thought<br />
– one way it could happen, one way you<br />
could get Jews to negotiate over <strong>Jerusalem</strong><br />
– even Orthodox Jews – was if you got the<br />
Muslims to agree to rebuild the temple up<br />
on the temple mount. “OK, let us rebuild<br />
our temple. <strong>The</strong>n we will allow you to<br />
have east <strong>Jerusalem</strong>. You have yours; we<br />
will have ours; we will all live together.”<br />
It is interesting that the Israeli government<br />
asked the papacy, before Rabin was<br />
killed, to play a role in <strong>Jerusalem</strong> being,<br />
somehow, a united city <strong>of</strong> all faiths. <strong>Jerusalem</strong><br />
is holy to three false religions:<br />
Nominal Christianity – Visitors to the<br />
Church <strong>of</strong> the Holy Sepulcher will see the<br />
people kissing stones and praying to icons<br />
and idols <strong>of</strong> all sorts. This is open idolatry<br />
and superstition.<br />
Rabbinic Judaism – <strong>The</strong> false Judaism<br />
<strong>of</strong> the rabbis which denies its own Messiah,<br />
Yeshua.<br />
Islam – On the Dome <strong>of</strong> the Rock, on the<br />
outside <strong>of</strong> the periphery is a quotation from<br />
the Sorat in the Quran, “God has no son.”<br />
According to John’s epistle, that which<br />
denies the Father-Son relationship and denies<br />
Jesus is the Messiah is Antichrist. (1<br />
John 2:22) Already the Antichrist is setting<br />
himself up to be worshiped.<br />
This is not to say the temple has to be<br />
rebuilt, but simply saying it looks like it is<br />
going to be. Of course, the Abomination <strong>of</strong><br />
Desolations to be worried about is what is<br />
already happening in the churches: interfaith<br />
worship and ecumenism. <strong>The</strong> Church<br />
is the temple <strong>of</strong> God in seven places in the<br />
New Testament. <strong>The</strong>re are different Greek<br />
words: “oikos,” “naos,” “heiron,” etc. But<br />
in seven places it states the Church is the<br />
temple or the tabernacle now. So when<br />
there is interfaith worship with Hindus and<br />
Sikhs and Muslims and with Rome in socalled<br />
Christian churches, it can already be<br />
seen that there is a type <strong>of</strong> Abomination<br />
being set up in the temple. This is rebuilt in<br />
the image <strong>of</strong> the Antichrist. When it is ultimately<br />
set up it will only be a reflection <strong>of</strong><br />
what has already become a spiritual reality.<br />
<strong>The</strong> East Gate always has to do with<br />
the coming <strong>of</strong> the Messiah. <strong>The</strong>re is a<br />
prophecy in the Book <strong>of</strong> Ezekiel that the<br />
East Gate would be shut up after the Messiah<br />
entered. <strong>The</strong>re was a sultan <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Turks when the Turks occupied Israel who<br />
knew the tradition <strong>of</strong> the Jews that said the<br />
Messiah would have to come through the<br />
East Gate. And so he ordered it sealed up<br />
so the Messiah would not be able to come<br />
through it. He sealed up the East Gate.<br />
<strong>The</strong>n He brought me back by the<br />
way <strong>of</strong> the outer gate <strong>of</strong> the sanctuary,<br />
which faces the east; and it was shut.<br />
<strong>The</strong> LORD said to me, “This gate shall<br />
be shut; it shall not be opened, and<br />
no one shall enter by it, for the LORD<br />
God <strong>of</strong> Israel has entered by it; therefore<br />
it shall be shut. (Ezekiel 44:1-2)<br />
Jesus entered the East Gate on Palm<br />
Sunday. And this gate at the present time<br />
is sealed up. So after the Messiah went<br />
through this gate, it would be sealed up,<br />
and so it is. This prophecy was literally<br />
fulfilled. But it also says that God would<br />
enter through it. Jesus was God; He entered<br />
through the gate and this prophecy<br />
<strong>of</strong> Ezekiel 44:1-2 is literally fulfilled: <strong>The</strong><br />
coming <strong>of</strong> Jesus.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Gate <strong>of</strong> Judgment<br />
But then there is one more gate. In<br />
Hebrew this gate is called “the Gate <strong>of</strong><br />
Judgment.”<br />
When Jesus comes back, there will be<br />
a judgment. <strong>The</strong>re are two judgments: one<br />
for the saved and one for the unsaved. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
are two judgment seats <strong>of</strong> Christ: the “thronos”<br />
and the “bema.” <strong>The</strong> unsaved appear<br />
before the “thronos,” the Judge <strong>of</strong> the condemnation,<br />
and the saved are judged before<br />
the “bema,” the magnitude <strong>of</strong> their reward.<br />
Rebuilding the <strong>Gates</strong> Today<br />
This is a time when in most <strong>of</strong> the Western<br />
countries the gates are devastated, and<br />
when the Lord is calling for people who<br />
will mourn over the state like Nehemiah did<br />
and begin to rebuild. <strong>The</strong>re were men and<br />
there were women – people from all backgrounds,<br />
all pr<strong>of</strong>essions, working together<br />
as families. Different groups had different<br />
jobs. Different ones had different territory.<br />
And so it is going to be. Everyone is not<br />
going to have the same ministry, they are<br />
not all going to have the same territory, but<br />
they are all going to have the same objective:<br />
to rebuild that which was devastated.<br />
Nehemiah went to something that used<br />
to exist and no longer did; it was broken<br />
down. He did not try to rebuild the Fountain<br />
Gate first, or the Water Gate first,<br />
or the Horse Gate first. Forget about it.<br />
It would be nice to be in a good enough<br />
state that the churches could take on Islam,<br />
but they are not. Yet that does not<br />
mean no one should witness to Muslims.<br />
We should witness to Muslims. It does not<br />
mean no one should witness to New Agers,<br />
we should. Should we pray for their<br />
Feature Article – Continued<br />
salvation Absolutely. But what it means<br />
is that the churches in this nation are not<br />
in the condition to throw back those powers<br />
the way the churches are in the condition<br />
to throw it back in the Far East.<br />
We have to begin rebuilding things in<br />
the right order. Go back to the basics: <strong>The</strong><br />
Fish Gate, the Sheep Gate. “My sheep will<br />
hear My voice.” (John 10:27) <strong>The</strong> Lamb<br />
<strong>of</strong> God that was slain for us. <strong>The</strong> Gospel is<br />
simply not emphasized or preached in so<br />
many churches any more. <strong>The</strong> hymns are<br />
about anything and everything other than<br />
the blood <strong>of</strong> the Lamb. In the Vineyard<br />
hymnbook they had some 80 hymns, only 2<br />
<strong>of</strong> which mentioned the cross or the blood.<br />
We have to rebuild the basic gates: <strong>The</strong><br />
Sheep Gate, the Fish Gate. “I will make<br />
you fishers <strong>of</strong> men” (Matthew 4:19). We<br />
need places for people who are churchless<br />
because <strong>of</strong> Toronto and the rest <strong>of</strong> it, but<br />
we just cannot be clubs for Christians who<br />
have been abused. We just cannot be a refugee<br />
camp for people that have come out <strong>of</strong><br />
churches because <strong>of</strong> false doctrine and because<br />
they were being financially fleeced<br />
all the time. That is not good enough. We<br />
just cannot be a place where someone<br />
wants to come to because their church is<br />
ecumenical or Toronto-ized or whatever.<br />
That is a beginning, but we have to begin<br />
preaching the Gospel and going fishing.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se other churches are giving people<br />
hype; we have got to give them the truth.<br />
Getting God’s Plan<br />
for Evangelism<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the things believers need to begin<br />
doing is to pray that they obtain God’s<br />
plan for evangelism. Go back to the basic<br />
things: the Gospel – go fishing.<br />
Believers cannot cast their nets until Jesus<br />
tells them where to do it. He has to get<br />
in the boat and tell them where to cast the<br />
nets. But everybody can use a fishing rod.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is nobody who cannot witness dayto-day,<br />
and there is nobody who cannot ask<br />
the Lord for His plan: “Jesus, please get in<br />
our boat and You show us where to cast our<br />
nets.” We have got to get God’s plan for<br />
evangelism. Go back to the basics: <strong>The</strong> Old<br />
Gate, the Gate <strong>of</strong> Ephraim, the Valley Gate.<br />
Reversing the Current State<br />
This nation would not be in the state<br />
it is in, New Zealand would not be in the<br />
state it is in, Australia would not be in the<br />
state it is in, Great Britain would not be<br />
in the state it is in, except for one reason:<br />
these nations and societies are in the state<br />
they are in because the Church is in the<br />
state it is in. Believers are supposed to be<br />
the “salt” and “light” (Matthew 5:13-16).<br />
Until we repent there is not going to be any<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
Feature Article – Continued<br />
repentance in society.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is a lot <strong>of</strong> garbage–rubbish–stuff<br />
that is clogging up the water works. <strong>The</strong><br />
plumbing is jammed. Nobody wants to<br />
crawl down into a pit and clean it out. But<br />
that is what has to be done. <strong>The</strong>re is a lot<br />
<strong>of</strong> junk in the churches, and in believers’<br />
lives, that Jesus has to get rid <strong>of</strong> before the<br />
water can really flow again.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is no easy way out <strong>of</strong> this mess.<br />
<strong>The</strong> walls have to be rebuilt, the gates have<br />
to be repaired, there is a lot <strong>of</strong> work to do.<br />
We have got to clean out all the rubbish<br />
that is stopping up the drains and clogging<br />
up the water works; then the water can<br />
flow again. But the nobles are not going to<br />
support the work. It is mainly going to be<br />
ordinary people. This is how it always was<br />
and always will be.<br />
But if we follow God’s plan instead<br />
<strong>of</strong> man’s, that rubbish is going to go. And<br />
then the water will begin to flow. When the<br />
water begins to flow, it will fill the pool to<br />
result in a Spirit-filled Church.<br />
Satan does not like charismatic churches,<br />
but he is not afraid <strong>of</strong> them. Satan does<br />
not like Fundamentalist churches, but he<br />
is not afraid <strong>of</strong> them. But where there is<br />
found both Spirit and truth, a Church that<br />
is based on the Word <strong>of</strong> God and open to<br />
the fullness <strong>of</strong> the Spirit and the gifts <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Spirit, working in unison, that is the kind<br />
<strong>of</strong> church he does not want to see. And he<br />
will do anything and everything he can to<br />
prevent a church like that from coming. He<br />
will get the Fundamentalists to shut <strong>of</strong>f the<br />
gifts <strong>of</strong> the Spirit, to resist the Spirit, suppress<br />
the Spirit. He will use crazy charismatics<br />
to discredit the gifts <strong>of</strong> the Spirit.<br />
And then he will take the charismatics and<br />
make them loony and keep them away from<br />
the Bible, saying stupid things. I heard the<br />
case <strong>of</strong> a Pentecostal minister last week.<br />
Picking up the Bible, he said, “This book<br />
has failed us; we need more <strong>of</strong> the Spirit.”<br />
Yeah What spirit<br />
Now the garbage goes, then the water<br />
flows. <strong>The</strong>n we go to war. <strong>The</strong>n we mount<br />
up for battle. <strong>The</strong>n we hitch the horses to<br />
the chariots. <strong>The</strong>n we can take on the forces<br />
<strong>of</strong> darkness.<br />
Signs <strong>of</strong> the Time<br />
<strong>The</strong> East Gate–the coming <strong>of</strong> Jesus. If<br />
you asked me ten years ago why I thought<br />
Jesus was coming I would have told you<br />
what Barry Smith says: because <strong>of</strong> events<br />
in the Middle East, because <strong>of</strong> the reunification<br />
<strong>of</strong> Europe, the globalization <strong>of</strong> the<br />
world economy, the one-world money system<br />
and all this, I would have mentioned<br />
those things. I still agree with those things,<br />
more now than I did ten years ago. But it<br />
is not the main reason I believe Jesus is<br />
coming. <strong>The</strong> main reason I believe Jesus is<br />
coming is because <strong>of</strong> the level <strong>of</strong> deception<br />
in the church.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Archbishop <strong>of</strong> Canterbury—a<br />
“charismatic,” “evangelical,” “born again,”<br />
“Bible-believing” Christian, stands up in<br />
Wimbley in London and tells the leaders<br />
<strong>of</strong> the evangelical churches and denominations<br />
in this country that they do not have<br />
all the truth and that those who are not<br />
even born again do. <strong>The</strong>y have truth, too<br />
and we need their help That is crazy!<br />
A preacher stands up in the largest Assemblies<br />
<strong>of</strong> God churches in the U.S. and<br />
says that this world is our home. He repents<br />
<strong>of</strong> ever having sworn that this world<br />
is not his home.<br />
Jesus is coming; the East Gate. But<br />
when He comes, there will be a judgment:<br />
the final gate.<br />
Those gates were devastated in the<br />
days <strong>of</strong> Nehemiah, and those gates are<br />
devastated today. Nehemiah and those<br />
who joined him realized there was no easy<br />
way out <strong>of</strong> it. <strong>The</strong>y realized what had to<br />
be done, they rolled up their sleeves and<br />
they got to it, men and women alike. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
all had their own jobs, their own past, their<br />
own areas <strong>of</strong> work, but they realized it had<br />
to be done. <strong>The</strong>re was no easy way. It is<br />
exactly the same today.<br />
Those are the gates.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Baptist Union is not going to rebuild<br />
those gates; they have compromised<br />
with Rome. <strong>The</strong> Assemblies <strong>of</strong> God is not<br />
going to rebuild those gates. <strong>The</strong> Church<br />
<strong>of</strong> England is not going to rebuild those<br />
gates. Thirty years <strong>of</strong> “Charismatic Renewal”–where<br />
is the renewal <strong>The</strong>re is<br />
none. Those gates are not going to be rebuilt<br />
by the clergy or the leaders. <strong>The</strong> nobles<br />
will never support the work <strong>of</strong> their<br />
masters. Those gates are going to be built<br />
by the same kinds <strong>of</strong> people who always<br />
rebuilt them: people just like you. That is<br />
who is going to rebuild those gates.<br />
We have a lot <strong>of</strong> work, and the hardest<br />
job – the hardest task – is prayer. †††<br />
JP<br />
Jacob Prasch in the Philippines<br />
Jacob Prasch joined Roger Oakland<br />
and the Bryce Foundation missionaries<br />
(Bryce foundation is the Third World<br />
Missions branch <strong>of</strong> <strong>Moriel</strong>’s sister ministry<br />
- Understand <strong>The</strong> Times) in <strong>The</strong> Philippines<br />
for two series <strong>of</strong> pastor’s training<br />
conferences, two prison ministries<br />
and assistance to impoverished children.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ir work <strong>of</strong> Roger Oakland’s ministry<br />
is as difficult as our own mission<br />
work directed by Dave Royle in Africa.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se photos are the children who<br />
live in the stinking rubbish tips scavenging<br />
through garbage to survive; they even<br />
scavenge for food. <strong>The</strong> toxic fumes they<br />
constantly breath damage their lungs.<br />
I have enclosed photos <strong>of</strong> their homes<br />
in the rubbish heaps (if you want to call<br />
it a home)’. <strong>The</strong> poverty and disease<br />
<strong>of</strong> both little children are unbelievable.<br />
Jacob in the Philippines<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
Danny Isom Guest Author<br />
One LawOne Ordinance<br />
and<br />
“‘If an alien sojourns with you, or one who may be<br />
among you throughout your generations, and he wishes<br />
to make an <strong>of</strong>fering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the<br />
LORD, just as you do so he shall do. As for the assembly,<br />
there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns<br />
with you, a perpetual statute throughout<br />
your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be<br />
before the LORD.” (Numbers 15:14-16 [NASB])<br />
<strong>The</strong>re’s been something rattling around my slow<br />
and rusty brainpan concerning the buzz these past<br />
few years about the need for churches to make their<br />
services “seeker sensitive.” This is one <strong>of</strong> the cornerstone<br />
principles <strong>of</strong> the Purpose Driven and church<br />
growth agendas. While there’s an appealing ring to<br />
that phrase, something about its implementation has<br />
not settled quite right within me. Am I old fashioned<br />
Am I too set in my ways to change Maybe I’m just afraid <strong>of</strong><br />
change and standing in the way <strong>of</strong> progress<br />
Perhaps, but the gnawing inside me has actually been<br />
more along doctrinal lines than emotional, and I think these<br />
verses are helping the answer to congeal as to why I’m biblically<br />
uncomfortable with the concept <strong>of</strong> “seeker sensitive”:<br />
<strong>The</strong>re’s not supposed to be two sets <strong>of</strong> standards, only one.<br />
How will “seekers” know that they’re in the presence <strong>of</strong><br />
the Answer to their searching if they don’t see the Truth in our<br />
lives and actions Are we supposed to change the structure <strong>of</strong><br />
our worship and fellowship to portray something “less threatening”<br />
than we’d engage in if it were “just us” Doesn’t this strike<br />
you as problematic, if not outright hypocritical Are we really<br />
supposed to provide one face to visitors and then, when they<br />
“join the group,” tell them about the other meetings in which<br />
we wear our “real” face (I’m paraphrasing Rick Warren’s <strong>of</strong>tstated<br />
suggestion for putting <strong>of</strong>f the “hard stuff.”) It seems to me<br />
that at the end <strong>of</strong> this discussion what is really taking place is<br />
no longer focusing on Christ as the attractant, but on ourselves.<br />
“You are the light <strong>of</strong> the world. A city set on a hill cannot<br />
be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under<br />
a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all<br />
who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in<br />
such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify<br />
your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16 [NASB])<br />
<strong>The</strong> “seeker sensitive” advocates would have us re-interpret<br />
these verses to mean we should modify the light so as to more<br />
effectively attract seekers who might otherwise be intimidated<br />
by someone overtly and publicly living an exclusively Christian<br />
lifestyle. Do you really believe that Christ is providing a case for<br />
luring people in the same manner as stores that employ a baitand-switch<br />
tactic to show one thing in order to sell you something<br />
else<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re is to be one law and one ordinance for you and<br />
for the alien who sojourns with you.”<br />
We are to worship and fellowship in the same, genuine way<br />
regardless <strong>of</strong> who is present, because the only thing that’s going<br />
to actually change “the alien” is his response to His voice,<br />
not ours. If we want to make church more “seeker sensitive,”<br />
we need to make ourselves more sensitive to His voice so<br />
that those joining us will themselves listen just as attentively.<br />
Don’t you find it interesting that when Jesus raised<br />
Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-46) the only thing<br />
the people present could do was roll away the stone so<br />
“the dead” could hear Jesus’ voice I find it even more<br />
fascinating that just prior to the miracle taking place,<br />
Jesus confirmed with Mary that she truly believed He<br />
is the Messiah in whom there is resurrection from the<br />
dead. No one is asked to be something else for the<br />
benefit <strong>of</strong> those present who don’t believe; they’re instead<br />
required to affirm the quality and presence <strong>of</strong><br />
their faith publicly before all those present in order to<br />
be given an example <strong>of</strong> how true believers act in the presence <strong>of</strong><br />
Christ.<br />
I sometimes wonder if this doesn’t apply at times to “programs”<br />
developed within basically good, non-Purpose Driven<br />
churches. I agree we need to re-contextualize the Gospel to make<br />
it understood by children, teens, or specific groups with identified<br />
needs, but it can’t lead to establishing an alternate set <strong>of</strong> rules. It’s<br />
presentation may be different, or simpler, or paraphrased somehow,<br />
but it must always and ultimately conform to the one doctrinal<br />
standard for everyone in the whole Body <strong>of</strong> Christ.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were<br />
called in one hope <strong>of</strong> your calling; one Lord, one faith, one<br />
baptism, one God and Father <strong>of</strong> all who is over all and<br />
through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6 [NASB])<br />
Yes, we can become set in our ways, and be unwilling to change<br />
the things that probably have no absolute state: the style <strong>of</strong> music,<br />
how we dress when attending church, almost anything that has to do<br />
with external appearances. But when it comes to doctrine—matters<br />
<strong>of</strong> faith and how our life reflects them—there is no biblical justification<br />
for following one set <strong>of</strong> standards for Christians, and another<br />
when non-Christians are present. That’s not God’s purpose at all.<br />
In His Love,<br />
Danny Isom<br />
WalkWith<strong>The</strong>Word.org is, dedicated to personal and small group Bible<br />
study by teaching the basics <strong>of</strong> the Inductive Study Approach in concert with<br />
a weekly Bible reading plan. <strong>The</strong> ultimate goal is to apply God’s Word personally<br />
to the point that it becomes evident in our changed relationships with<br />
others so that the preeminent command <strong>of</strong> Scripture, to love others, is visibly<br />
fulfilled.<br />
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1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by “http://<br />
www.gospelcom.net/lockman/” <strong>The</strong> Lockman Foundation. Used by Permission.<br />
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Word web site.”Walk with the Word. Permission for personal and/or not-forpr<strong>of</strong>it<br />
use freely granted. Any questions or comments concerning go to Walk<br />
with the Word web site.<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
Guest Author<br />
Chris Lawson<br />
E x p o s i n g<br />
Pagan, New Age, And Occult Influences<br />
By Chris Lawson<br />
‘<strong>The</strong> Shack’s’<br />
William P. Young’s fictional novel “<strong>The</strong> Shackis still the #1 NY Times Bestseller, 36 weeks running, over 6 million in print. ”http://<br />
windblownmedia.com/<br />
However, THE SHACK is filled with New Age teaching, and pagan occult ideas that undermine the Gospel <strong>of</strong> Jesus Christ. (Go to<br />
see our SRN ‘<strong>The</strong> Shack’ archive page, http://www.spiritual-research-network.stirsite.com/theshack.html)<br />
Deep Concern For Those Being Influenced By <strong>The</strong> Shack<br />
This book is being used by many Christians as an evangelism tool and <strong>of</strong> late we have heard that it is being used as a Bible Study<br />
tool for a local church nearby.<br />
Sadly, several Calvary Chapel ministers [have endorsed], and many, many more in other fellowships and denominations, are not<br />
speaking out against this false teaching, and many are willing to carry the book in their bookstores. Some churches are even allowing<br />
William P. Young, the author, to come speak at their churches.<br />
From a biblical perspective as well as a former Calvary Pastor myself, I believe most Calvary Pastors would caution against endorsing<br />
or promoting this book, let alone using it to ‘teach us about God and Jesus’. I caution people regularly about this book and the false<br />
Gospel and occult teachings that it conveys.<br />
To note, ‘Papa’, the rolereversal female illustration for God the Father, is actually…. Papa: <strong>The</strong> Goddess <strong>of</strong> Nature and the Hawaiian<br />
Goddess <strong>of</strong> the Divine Feminine and Magnetism<br />
Some would say I am overreacting, but I am not. If you give the Bible teaching Pastors, the Christian Apologetics ministries, and<br />
the Christian Counter-cult and occult exposing ministries a fair chance, by reading the literature that we and many others have written, I<br />
believe you will see clearly too that THE SHACK is extremely problematic and downright heretical to no end.<br />
Caveat emptor! [Latin] for ‘Let the buyer beware!’<br />
If your pastor, church leaders, youth minister, church Elders, etc., have been loving and gleaning ‘new insights’ from THE SHACK,<br />
you ought to be doubly concerned…<br />
I say this after doing my own homework very extensively, and from many angles, and from examining this book in light <strong>of</strong> God’s<br />
truth - <strong>The</strong> Holy Bible!<br />
It is you, Christian and non-Christian alike that I am concerned for. I take the time…make the time, to research, write, investigate,<br />
cross examine, and more so that you will be warned <strong>of</strong> danger and pointed back to the Jesus Christ <strong>of</strong> the Bible, to sound healthy Bible<br />
teaching, and to churches that WILL not give in to the latest fad’s and winds <strong>of</strong> false doctrine. I am willing to spend and be spent for you!<br />
Lastly, I spent over ten years (1992-2003) serving my heart out, laboring, and ministering to people, who, some <strong>of</strong> which are now<br />
today gobbling up THE SHACK as if it were Gospel Truth. I never would have thought, in a million years, that some <strong>of</strong> these people<br />
would deviate from sound doctrine and give heed to the Christ-rejecting, God the Father-dishonoring, Holy Spirit-distorting teachings<br />
in this book.<br />
I appeal to you and your families as a brother in Christ who cares for your souls:<br />
Please consider reading some <strong>of</strong> the Articles and Book Reviews below, about William P. Young’s, THE SHACK.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se articles and reviews have been written by people who care more about the purity <strong>of</strong> God’s Gospel and the salvation <strong>of</strong> souls<br />
than the oooohhhh’s and the aaaahhhh’s <strong>of</strong> the crowds.<br />
In the words <strong>of</strong> Paul the Apostle: “O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the pr<strong>of</strong>ane and idle babblings and<br />
contradictions <strong>of</strong> what is falsely called knowledge - by pr<strong>of</strong>essing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen”<br />
(1 Timothy 6:20-21)<br />
Unwavering and for God’s glory alone<br />
Chris Lawson, President<br />
Spiritual Research Network<br />
<strong>The</strong>se articles and links can all be found on the BRAND NEW Spiritual Research Network ‘THE SHACK’ archive page.<br />
10 June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
Margret Godwin<br />
Rambling Rose<br />
ambling<br />
ose<br />
Rambling Rose<br />
Greetings dear family,<br />
You will note that this edition <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Quarterly is somewhat smaller than usual;<br />
this is due to our need to get the Australian<br />
mail out very quickly to allow a further<br />
advertising for the conference. So I do<br />
apologize, and we will make up for it next<br />
edition in September.<br />
Things have been very busy here in<br />
the <strong>of</strong>fice as we prepare for the forthcoming<br />
conference. It is a very fine art in determining<br />
how much and what material to<br />
prepare and, <strong>of</strong> course, budgeting so far<br />
ahead. But the Lord is so very gracious,<br />
and we have always been able to meet<br />
our financial responsibilities. Praise Him.<br />
A few weeks ago we had a pleasant<br />
surprise here in the <strong>of</strong>fice. Two travelers<br />
from South Australia, Davydd and<br />
Chris. <strong>The</strong>y had taken a trip from outside<br />
Adelaide round through Portland<br />
and the Great Ocean Road and then arriving<br />
in our area, East Gippsland. It was<br />
lovely to catch up with them, be it ever so<br />
brief. Davydd went <strong>of</strong>f armed with some<br />
20 CD’s <strong>of</strong> Jacob to listen to throughout<br />
their travels. It was interesting as Chris<br />
is legally blind and has, as I recall, about<br />
10% sight. I could not help but marvel at<br />
his excitement and enjoyment <strong>of</strong> the trip<br />
regardless <strong>of</strong> how little he could see. Isn’t<br />
it amazing how, when two likeminded men<br />
have fellowship together, just how wonderful<br />
a time that is Victoria put on her<br />
very best <strong>of</strong> autumn weather so we sat for<br />
some time on the verandah here with all<br />
that wonderful vitamin D seeping into our<br />
bones. Unfortunately I had an afternoon<br />
meeting so we had to cut our time short.<br />
While on the subject <strong>of</strong> touring, guess<br />
what my dear friend Delsa and I are going<br />
to be doing in July 2010 Well we are<br />
taking her fully restored KB2 1948 International<br />
truck (known affectionately as the<br />
Little Red Lady), hooking up the caravan,<br />
and are heading <strong>of</strong>f to Alice Springs. It is<br />
amazing that this little truck was built the<br />
year after I was born (so we are much the<br />
same vintage), and she is just as beautiful<br />
as the day she came <strong>of</strong>f the assembly line.<br />
We are most excited at the prospect. It will<br />
be a wonderful adventure and, <strong>of</strong> course,<br />
Jacob will be coming with us (not physically;<br />
he will be in the form <strong>of</strong> CD’s). <strong>The</strong><br />
outback may never be the same again!<br />
Just imagine the wonderful tales I will<br />
have to share with you. Of course I have<br />
demanded that all the snakes between here<br />
and the Alice all clear out. Lizards, spiders,<br />
goannas, etc. are fine, but no snakes!<br />
Little Red Lady<br />
Well it was 100 days yesterday since<br />
“Black Saturday” and the raging bush<br />
fires. A huge thank you for all the prayers<br />
and the financial support that came from<br />
our readers. <strong>The</strong> monies we were able to<br />
put right into the hands <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> the victims<br />
and the prayerful support was so very<br />
comforting to them too. Among all the carnage<br />
we tended to lose sight <strong>of</strong> our brothers<br />
and sisters in North Queensland who<br />
suffered from some <strong>of</strong> the worst floods<br />
ever recorded. Please continue to pray for<br />
all these people as they go about restoring<br />
their homes, etc. <strong>The</strong>re are still quite<br />
a number who have not as yet been able to<br />
bury their loved ones (lost in the fires).<br />
<strong>The</strong> rush is on now to get homes established<br />
before the onset <strong>of</strong> winter.<br />
A couple <strong>of</strong> our readers have just returned<br />
from Israel, having been on tour<br />
with Jacob. <strong>The</strong>y had the most incredible<br />
time, and I will bring their reports and photos<br />
in the next edition.<br />
This time last year I was in New Zealand,<br />
which has almost become an annual<br />
trip over the past three years. I go over to<br />
have time with Nigel (<strong>Moriel</strong> NZ) and his<br />
daughters and families. <strong>The</strong> first trip was<br />
for his 70th birthday in May 2005. His darling<br />
late wife Jenny had asked me to come<br />
over as a surprise for the celebrations.<br />
This year I had too much on so the dear<br />
old love had to celebrate without me. Bet<br />
it wasn’t as good as when I am there!!!!<br />
I said I would not tell you how old he was<br />
this year but I am sure you will be able to<br />
work it out.<br />
In having said that, I have to confess<br />
that since I hit the 60’s anyone in their 70’s<br />
now seems young to me. It’s amazing how<br />
we change our outlook isn’t it<br />
Have you seen some <strong>of</strong> these new style<br />
programs, i.e., “looking ten years younger<br />
in ten days” or something like that I find<br />
these new teeth veneers fascinating – how<br />
the dentist glues in these now “perfect”<br />
teeth over some <strong>of</strong> the most dreadful old<br />
and colored teeth. On the rare times I see<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly 11
Rambling Rose – Continued<br />
this I cannot help but thank God that I<br />
still have my own teeth and, apart from<br />
the convenience, I can still recall having<br />
to take my dear Nana’s dentures to<br />
be cleaned when I was little. She used<br />
to wrap them in a face cloth and I would<br />
race to the bathroom terrified that they<br />
would take on a life <strong>of</strong> their own and bite<br />
me. When I visited Shirley in the nursing<br />
home yesterday we got the giggles as we<br />
recalled our own memories <strong>of</strong> these things.<br />
Well my reason for sharing this with you<br />
was to lay the foundation for a very funny<br />
little happening to a dear un-named friend<br />
recently.<br />
This friend would normally put her<br />
dentures in a glass beside the bed, but for<br />
some unknown reason she popped them<br />
under the pillow (obviously she wasn’t<br />
afraid <strong>of</strong> a bite from the killer dentures).<br />
She was beginning to drift <strong>of</strong>f to sleep<br />
when her little dog (can’t name it or you<br />
will know who she is) needed to go outside<br />
to the toilet. She took him out, had a cuppa<br />
and went back to bed. Again she was just<br />
drifting <strong>of</strong>f when she heard the dog chewing<br />
on something at the end <strong>of</strong> the bed, and<br />
quietly thought to herself, “I wonder where<br />
he got the bone from.” All <strong>of</strong> a sudden she<br />
reached for her teeth and (horrors <strong>of</strong> horrors)<br />
no teeth! With one horrified leap she<br />
was out <strong>of</strong> bed, turned on the light, and<br />
here was her little canine delight with<br />
her dentures in his mouth. Thankfully he<br />
hadn’t done any damage, and she was able<br />
to retrieve them. <strong>The</strong>y were consigned to a<br />
container <strong>of</strong> disinfectant for a lengthy stay.<br />
I have to confess I could not stop laughing.<br />
This incident sent me on a quite pleasurable<br />
trip down “memory lane” thinking<br />
<strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> the visits by my Nana (I think<br />
she came about three times as she lived in<br />
South Australia) She had the most magnificent<br />
white hair way down past her waist and<br />
I used to love to brush it before she would<br />
put it up each morning with a huge number<br />
<strong>of</strong> tortoise shell combs. It was beautifully<br />
s<strong>of</strong>t and looked so elegant. When my mum<br />
used to wash it for her she would use the<br />
“blue bags” in the rinse water and it would<br />
give it the most beautiful silver lustre.<br />
<strong>The</strong> other memory was the huge<br />
whalebone corset with so many hooks and<br />
eyes it would take forever to do them up.<br />
And do you remember how beautifully<br />
s<strong>of</strong>t your Nana’s hands were<br />
<strong>The</strong> other great delight was the lolly<br />
jar. I cannot remember the name but I<br />
still have some <strong>of</strong> the jars; they contained<br />
boiled sweets, and the lid was made from<br />
Bakelite. Well my old darling was a magnificent<br />
seamstress and did beautiful fancy<br />
work. My mum, who hated sewing, would<br />
save up all her repair jobs for her to do.<br />
With eyesight failing, Nan could not see<br />
12 June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly<br />
to thread the needles so it was my job to<br />
do that and put them along the arm <strong>of</strong> the<br />
old club lounge chair. This chore always<br />
brought the lolly jar out for a wee treat.<br />
What a wonderful gift our memories are. I<br />
have so many <strong>of</strong> them <strong>of</strong> a much lovelier<br />
time. What about you<br />
Of course the laugh is on me some 50 years<br />
later as I have had to invest in one <strong>of</strong> those<br />
needle threaders because now I cannot see<br />
to thread my own (even with my glasses).<br />
Amazing how history repeats itself.<br />
Well dear family, I have taken up<br />
enough <strong>of</strong> your time and I hope I have not<br />
bored you with my reminiscing.<br />
My love to each and every one <strong>of</strong> you.<br />
God Bless,<br />
Marg<br />
French Fry Evangelism<br />
Hi Guys<br />
We got a call from Trinity Methodist,<br />
seems McCains wanted to donate chips<br />
and so they delivered 150kg to us for distribution<br />
to the poor. It appears that this<br />
will be a regular donation and so I thought<br />
why not contact the orphans and widows<br />
on Kwazenzele and give them chips in<br />
2.5kg bags. <strong>The</strong>y also received a tract in<br />
Zulu and English telling them Jesus loved<br />
and died for them and that they are welcome<br />
to worship with us this week. So<br />
lets pray that the Lord <strong>of</strong> the harvest will<br />
use these chips to build His kingdom.<br />
In Jesus<br />
Dave<br />
‘Ancient text’ seized in Israel<br />
Israeli authorities say they have recovered<br />
a papyrus document which appears to be nearly<br />
2,000 years old.<br />
<strong>The</strong> document measures 15cm by 15cm<br />
(6in by 6in), and contains 15 lines <strong>of</strong> ancient<br />
Hebrew script.<br />
It appears to be a legal instruction, transferring<br />
a widow’s property to her late husband’s<br />
brother.<br />
It was seized from two Palestinian men in<br />
a sting operation at a <strong>Jerusalem</strong> hotel, police<br />
said. <strong>The</strong> two could face several years in jail.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said<br />
on Wednesday that the scroll was an “exceptional<br />
archeological document, <strong>of</strong> the like but a<br />
few exist,” reported Israeli newspaper Haaretz.<br />
It said similar scrolls had been sold worldwide<br />
for sums as high as $5-10m (£3.3-6.6m).<br />
Precise dates<br />
According to the Israel Antiquities Authority<br />
(IAA), the document is written in a style <strong>of</strong><br />
ancient Hebrew primarily associated with the<br />
Dead Sea Scrolls.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se are scriptures and apocalyptic treatises<br />
thought to have been collected by an ascetic<br />
Jewish community which lived in the desert<br />
near the Dead Sea, and preserved by the dry<br />
climate.<br />
But it remains unclear exactly where this<br />
document was obtained, said police and archaeologists.<br />
Unusually, the first line <strong>of</strong> the document<br />
indicates a precise date, the IAA said - “Year 4<br />
[AD] to the destruction <strong>of</strong> Israel”, which could<br />
indicate either AD74, when <strong>Jerusalem</strong>’s Second<br />
Temple was destroyed, or AD139, the date <strong>of</strong> a<br />
Jewish revolt violently put down by Rome.<br />
<strong>The</strong> document appears to concern the transfer<br />
<strong>of</strong> property belonging to a widow called<br />
Miriam.<br />
State property<br />
<strong>The</strong> IAA’s Amir Ganor cautioned that the<br />
document would have to undergo laboratory<br />
analysis to authenticate it.<br />
But he expressed excitement about the discovery,<br />
suggesting that the “very important”<br />
document could “shed light on how the people<br />
<strong>of</strong> the period managed their affairs and supplement<br />
our knowledge about their way <strong>of</strong> life”.<br />
<strong>The</strong> two suspects were reportedly apprehended<br />
while trying to sell the document, by<br />
police and Israeli intelligence <strong>of</strong>ficers who had<br />
planned the operation for weeks.<br />
According to Israeli antiquities law all archaeological<br />
artefacts are state property.<br />
<strong>The</strong> arrested men could be charged with illegally<br />
possessing and trafficking the artefacts,<br />
and could face years in jail if convicted.<br />
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/<br />
fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/8036881.stm<br />
Published: 2009/05/06 19:31:52 GMT,© BBC MMIX
Margret Godwin<br />
<strong>Moriel</strong> Australian<br />
AUSTRALIANnews<br />
Australian Report – March 2009<br />
Greetings dear family in the Name <strong>of</strong> Our<br />
Lord Jesus Christ<br />
As I pen this wee report it is a very busy<br />
time at <strong>Moriel</strong> Australia. Currently we have<br />
Dave Royle and his wife Lyn from <strong>Moriel</strong><br />
Missions South Africa on tour here, and the<br />
beginning <strong>of</strong> July sees Jacob and Dr. Calvin<br />
Smith arrive for our 2009 conference.<br />
For such a long time we have been talking<br />
in months; now we are down to weeks, and<br />
that is almost frightening. So much to do<br />
and so little time. Praise the Lord our trust<br />
is in Him and not the fickleness <strong>of</strong> this old<br />
scribe.<br />
All those things that the<br />
Lord arranges<br />
Just recently there have been two or<br />
three things that have happened, and I have<br />
just about been blown away by the graciousness<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Lord. Yes we praise Him<br />
for His healing hands, His mercy and so<br />
on, but in this particular instance I am talking<br />
about the seemingly little things. For<br />
instance, recently a dearly loved couple<br />
from our fellowship had to relocate to the<br />
Port Macquarie area (coastal New South<br />
Wales). <strong>The</strong>y were very sad to be leaving<br />
the fellowship (such were we at the<br />
thought <strong>of</strong> losing them). Anyway, I said as<br />
they were leaving that I would, within the<br />
next couple <strong>of</strong> weeks, send a note to all our<br />
<strong>Moriel</strong> readers in the surrounding areas introducing<br />
John and Dorothy to them and<br />
asking them to watch out for them. In the<br />
meantime Dave and Lyn Royle had flown<br />
up there to preach and share with the folk<br />
there for one evening. Well I got a call from<br />
a most excited Mark Ryan (our host in Port<br />
Macquarie) to tell me that he had picked up<br />
the Royles and had decided to take them to<br />
a waterfront café to have c<strong>of</strong>fee. <strong>The</strong>y had<br />
not been sitting there very long enjoying<br />
their lattes in glorious surroundings when<br />
a lady’s voice rang out: “Dave Royle what<br />
are you doing here” Well, you may have<br />
guessed the rest. It was Dorothy and John.<br />
Needless to say, a wonderful time <strong>of</strong> laughs<br />
and friendship was shared. Now this is what<br />
I am talking about regarding the Lord and<br />
the smaller things. <strong>The</strong>re are 50,000 people<br />
and some 20 waterfront cafes in Port Macquarie.<br />
Dorothy and John had looked at an<br />
endless number <strong>of</strong> pamphlets, and prayed<br />
about which one they would go to.<br />
That evening John and Dorothy were<br />
able to attend Dave’s meeting. <strong>The</strong>y got<br />
to meet some <strong>of</strong> the local people and, <strong>of</strong><br />
course, Mark’s wife Debbie. An immediate<br />
relationship was established.<br />
This is my longwinded way <strong>of</strong> sharing<br />
about the “really not so little” things that the<br />
Lord has in hand.<br />
Praise Him. I could not help but wonder<br />
to myself how many times I have failed to<br />
miss so many <strong>of</strong> those wondrously incredible<br />
moments.<br />
Ebyown and the Royle Tour<br />
Dave and Lyn are halfway through their<br />
2009 Aussie tour and have brought us some<br />
updated photos <strong>of</strong> the children at Ebyown.<br />
I have included them, as I am sure you will<br />
love to see how much they have grown. In<br />
June they will be taking on three or four<br />
very handicapped children (the ones that no<br />
one else will take on). <strong>The</strong>se kiddies need<br />
virtually one-on-one care but as we have<br />
seen with Lizzie, S’phewi, and little Devon,<br />
just what a change can occur when these little<br />
ones are given into the Lord’s care along<br />
with love, good food and medical attention.<br />
Please keep Ebyown, the children, the<br />
caregivers, and future plans in your prayers.<br />
Things are especially precarious in South<br />
Africa now with the new president.<br />
Prayer Needs<br />
While on the subject <strong>of</strong> prayers, we<br />
have some other major needs that I know<br />
you will join in on and support;<br />
• Jacob’s wellbeing. Jacob has had a very<br />
hectic few months, and there seems to be<br />
very little rest time in the foreseeable future.<br />
He sounds very tired, so please pray for him.<br />
• Jacob and Calvin’s 2009 Aussie Conference.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ir travels and their families<br />
• A dear young brother named David who<br />
has been in intensive care for some weeks<br />
after he was accidently handed a cup <strong>of</strong><br />
boiling water to wash down his medication.<br />
His future is unsure as the water has done so<br />
much damage;<br />
(UPDATE ON DAVID: I have just had<br />
an e-mail from David’s family. Praise<br />
the Lord, he has been moved out <strong>of</strong> intensive<br />
care and is progressing toward<br />
recovery and healing.)<br />
• <strong>The</strong> state <strong>of</strong> Israel and the work being done<br />
there to bring people to accepting Jesus as<br />
the Messiah;<br />
• Pray for all missionaries wherever they<br />
are throughout the world<br />
• People in nursing homes here in Australia,<br />
the staff shortages are almost at crisis point<br />
• For those who have lost their loved ones<br />
recently<br />
• For the backslidden and unsaved families<br />
2009 Australian Tour<br />
Both Jacob and Calvin will be doing<br />
some other meetings while they are in Australia.<br />
You will find a list <strong>of</strong> those meeting<br />
on the inserted colored flyer.<br />
Calvin’s Book Launch<br />
We are thrilled to launch Dr Calvin’s<br />
newest book here in Australia at the conference.<br />
I have had the pleasure <strong>of</strong> reading this<br />
book and it is one you must not miss. (See<br />
the resource section <strong>of</strong> this issue for details).<br />
It is called “<strong>The</strong> Jews, Modern Israel<br />
and the New Supercessionism”: Resources<br />
for Christians<br />
Well dear family, it is time to draw this to a<br />
close. My love to you all.<br />
In Christ,<br />
Marg<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly 13
FYI<br />
<strong>The</strong> Madagascar Plan<br />
SHOAHEDUCATION.COM<br />
Hitler’s Homeland for the Jews<br />
SHOAHEDUCATION.COM<br />
DOCUMENT IN PUBLIC DOMAIN<br />
<strong>The</strong> Madagascar Plan, July 1940<br />
<strong>The</strong> Jewish Question in the Peace Treaty<br />
<strong>The</strong> approaching victory gives Germany the possibility, and in my view also the duty, <strong>of</strong> solving the Jewish question<br />
in Europe. <strong>The</strong> desirable solution is: all Jews out <strong>of</strong> Europe. <strong>The</strong> task <strong>of</strong> the Foreign Ministry in this is:<br />
• a) To include this demand in the Peace Treaty and to insist on it also by means <strong>of</strong> separate negotiations with the<br />
European countries not involved in the Peace Treaty;<br />
• b) to secure the territory necessary for the settlement <strong>of</strong> the Jews in the Peace Treaty, and to determine principles<br />
for the cooperation <strong>of</strong> the enemy countries in this problem;<br />
• c) to determine the position under international law <strong>of</strong> the new Jewish overseas settlement;<br />
• d) as preparatory measures:<br />
• 1) clarification <strong>of</strong> the wishes and plans <strong>of</strong> the departments concerned <strong>of</strong> the Party, State and Research organizations<br />
in Germany, and the coordination <strong>of</strong> these plans with the wishes <strong>of</strong> the Reich Foreign Minister,<br />
including the following:<br />
• 2) preparation <strong>of</strong> a survey <strong>of</strong> the factual data available in various places (number <strong>of</strong> Jews in the various countries),<br />
use <strong>of</strong> their financial assets through an international bank;<br />
• 3) negotiations with our friend, Italy, on these matters. With regard to beginning the preparatory work, Section<br />
D III has already approached the Reich Foreign Minister via the Department Germany [interior affairs], and has been instructed<br />
by him to start on the preparatory work without delay. <strong>The</strong>re have already been discussions with the Office <strong>of</strong> the Reichsfuehrer<br />
SS in the Ministry <strong>of</strong> Interior and several departments <strong>of</strong> the Party. <strong>The</strong>se departments approve the following plan <strong>of</strong> Section D<br />
III: Section D III proposes as a solution <strong>of</strong> the Jewish question: In the Peace Treaty France must make the island <strong>of</strong> Madagascar<br />
available for the solution <strong>of</strong> the Jewish question, and to resettle and compensate the approximately 25,000 French<br />
citizens living there. <strong>The</strong> island will be transferred to Germany under a mandate. Diégo Suarez Bay and the port <strong>of</strong> Antsirane,<br />
which are [sea-] strategically important, will become German naval bases (if the Navy wishes, these naval bases could be extended<br />
also to the harbors open road-steads Tamatave, Andevorante, Mananjara, etc.). In addition to these naval bases, suitable<br />
areas <strong>of</strong> the country will be excluded from the Jewish territory (Judenterritorium) for the construction <strong>of</strong> air bases. That part <strong>of</strong><br />
the island not required for military purposes will be placed under the administration <strong>of</strong> a German Police Governor, who will be<br />
under the administration <strong>of</strong> the Reichsfuehrer SS. Apart from this, the Jews will have their own administration in this territory:<br />
their own mayors, police, postal and railroad administration, etc. <strong>The</strong> Jews will be jointly liable for the value <strong>of</strong> the island.<br />
For this purpose their former European financial assets will be transferred for use to a European bank to be established for this<br />
purpose. Ins<strong>of</strong>ar as the assets are not sufficient to pay for the land which they will receive, and for the purchase <strong>of</strong> necessary<br />
commodities in Europe for the development <strong>of</strong> the island, the Jews will be able to receive bank credits from the same bank.<br />
As Madagascar will only be a Mandate, the Jews living there will not acquire German citizenship. On the other hand, the Jews<br />
deported to Madagascar will lose their citizenship <strong>of</strong> European countries from the date <strong>of</strong> deportation. Instead, they will become<br />
residents <strong>of</strong> the Mandate <strong>of</strong> Madagascar. This arrangement would prevent the possible establishment in Palestine by the<br />
Jews <strong>of</strong> a Vatican State <strong>of</strong> their own, and the opportunity for them to exploit for their own purposes the symbolic importance<br />
which <strong>Jerusalem</strong> has for the Christian and Mohammedan parts <strong>of</strong> the world. Moreover, the Jews will remain in German hands<br />
as a pledge for the future good behavior <strong>of</strong> the members <strong>of</strong> their race in America. Use can be made for propaganda purposes <strong>of</strong><br />
the generosity shown by Germany in permitting cultural, economic, administrative and legal self-administration to the Jews; it<br />
can be emphasized at the same time that our German sense <strong>of</strong> responsibility towards the world forbids us to make the gift <strong>of</strong> a<br />
sovereign state to a race which has had no independent state for thousands <strong>of</strong> years: this would still require the test <strong>of</strong> history.<br />
Berlin, July 3, 1940<br />
Signed, Rademacher<br />
PERTINENT “ ”<br />
14 June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
David Royle<br />
<strong>Moriel</strong> South Africa<br />
<strong>Moriel</strong> Missions<br />
Aussie Tour<br />
I have been to some beautiful places on my travels but this year it seemed everywhere we travelled<br />
had its own special view. This year Lyn was with me. Although I was working Lyn was taking a back<br />
seat and having some time out. That didn’t stop me asking her to fill in a couple <strong>of</strong> times and so she<br />
prepared a talk on how Ebyown began and the early days when we lived in Springs.<br />
It reminded me <strong>of</strong> how God can transform us in such a short time when Lyn showed us her powerpoint<br />
pictures <strong>of</strong> the children and how they used to be compared to how well they are looking now. <strong>The</strong><br />
talk was based on the word FAMILY since our text explains that God places the lonely in families. F<br />
is for foundations. A is for acceptance. M is for mission. I is for involvement. L is for love and Y is for<br />
yield. Lyn explained that family is all these things culminating in our yielding our lives to Him. We would like to thank everyone who<br />
spent time to come and see us and also the gracious hosts who gave us their homes to stay in. Also to Pete Danzy for organizing the<br />
Sunshine coast events and it was good to catch up with Phil in Rockhampton. But especially to Marg who organized our itinerary that<br />
took us from Sydney to Port Macquarrie, Sunshine coast to Tasmania and Melbourne. I also want to say thanks to Pam and Vic for all<br />
their hard work in coming to the meeting in West Brunswick<br />
Aletheia Community Church (Ibandla Leciniso lophakathi)<br />
<strong>The</strong> fellowship is really looking forward to the visit <strong>of</strong> Jacob Prasch. <strong>The</strong> service will be in English only on this occasion. But all<br />
are welcome. <strong>The</strong> time is 730 p.m. on Friday the 12th June. <strong>The</strong> fellowship continues to grow and our meetings are as follows Mon to<br />
Fri daily devotions 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Tuesday Bible study 7:30 p.m. Sunday school 9:45 a.m. Sunday breaking <strong>of</strong> Bread 10:30 a.m.<br />
All welcome.<br />
We have really been blessed by the arrival <strong>of</strong> Lina and Marijke who have taken over the Sunday school which begins every Sunday<br />
at 930 a.m. This month till June 16th Dave will be preaching on the attributes <strong>of</strong> God.<br />
“Psalm 68: 5-6 “A Father <strong>of</strong> the fatherless<br />
and a judge for the widow in His Holy<br />
habitation, God places the lonely in families”<br />
Ebyown<br />
We have had some birthdays in the Ebyown family. Lisa turned 10 and she was thrilled to received some<br />
nice trendy clothes. Luke as well was in the party mood and this month its polly. Hers will be special because<br />
she thinks Jacob is coming especially to see her as he lands on her birthday. In any case when Jacob comes its<br />
an ice cream party all round so there is going to be lots <strong>of</strong> fun.<br />
<strong>The</strong> children are all pretty fine. Prudence who has become resistant to her ARV’s continues to be strong.<br />
This month we will be taking care <strong>of</strong> two small boys who will be joining is from Tini Foster hospital. Both are<br />
in wheel chairs and suffer from CP and induced autism. Please pray for them and we will send pictures and<br />
some background when they arrive.<br />
We are also beginning some renovation work in the main house. Recently we have had an influx <strong>of</strong> rats and so we are going to take<br />
up the wooden floors room by room and fill in with concrete before tiling. <strong>The</strong> cost <strong>of</strong> the work will be an estimated R20,000 for four<br />
rooms and will have to be done over several months.<br />
New Kids are coming This Month<br />
As I have mentioned before we are in need <strong>of</strong> a larger vehicle that can take wheel chairs as well as<br />
children to hospital and clinic appointments, please pray for this.<br />
On top <strong>of</strong> this as well, the disabled would really benefit from a hydrotherapy pool. I am getting costs for<br />
this at the moment. <strong>The</strong> pool would be especially good for Deven, Letty, Simpiwe , Sibusisu and Paulina<br />
and any other child who comes to us with special physical needs.<br />
We also wish to thank supporters for their generous giving the last two months. Gifts have come in<br />
to buy first aid kits for the houses and also school material for our class rooms. May the Lord continue to<br />
bless you in the support for this work.<br />
“Give us today our Daily bread”<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly 15
<strong>Moriel</strong> South Africa<br />
David Royle<br />
We Need a Cook<br />
Ebyown is always looking to build its team here in South Africa. In the future we will be looking from January next year to recruit<br />
another teacher and a nurse to serve for a minimum <strong>of</strong> one year.<br />
But at the moment our most pressing need is to recruit someone with catering experience. Around 23 people need feeding every meal<br />
time and this is increasing. As you can imagine this puts a strain on Lyn although Marijke and myself chip in on occasions. This is not<br />
ideal as it means work needing attention from Lyn and Marijke the nurse have to be put to one side.<br />
What we can <strong>of</strong>fer is a minimum one year in a challenging environment. As usual everyone at times is a food critic but a caterer<br />
knows you can’t please everyone all the time. But we hope that this position that included return flight, food and accommodations will<br />
attract the right person with the correct qualification <strong>of</strong> bags <strong>of</strong> experience cooking for a large crowd. Please send your CV to:<br />
<strong>Moriel</strong>.david@gmail.com<br />
Prayer & Practical help<br />
Dave would love to come to your church and share about missions and also teach. If you would like him to come then contact us.<br />
• Please pray for my mum Brenda who has had to go through an operation to replace an artery in her kneck and faces another operation.<br />
• Our friend Neale Bennet went home to be with the Lord. We pray that the Lord comforts his wife Lillian.<br />
• Zaks mum also passed away please pray for Zak during these difficult times<br />
• Please pray for our teams in Tanzania and Kenya, particularly for PS Moses who is on mission in Uganda<br />
• God continues to be good during the credit crunch but we are so aware that we depend on Him for our daily bread.<br />
• Pray for Lina and Marijke . <strong>The</strong>y have settled well and are awaiting news on their visa so they can stay in South Africa. <strong>The</strong>y have both be<br />
come important members <strong>of</strong> our team.<br />
BEZALEEL<br />
<strong>The</strong> owners want to sell the house that they currently use. Bezaleel would love<br />
to purchase and has first option as this is a large family home with room for all<br />
the kids plus further development. <strong>The</strong> cost is estimated at R750,000 If the Lord<br />
burdens you to help with this then please contact a <strong>Moriel</strong> <strong>of</strong>fice near you.<br />
UK ADDRESS<br />
SA ADDRESS<br />
2 Cressington Close PO Box 10807<br />
Off Cedric Street Strubenvale 1570<br />
Salford M55JS Gauteng, South Africa<br />
Tel 0161 737 2996<br />
Pray for Sal & Di in Kwazulu<br />
DR Calvin Smiths New Book<br />
Full details <strong>of</strong> the book, including contents page, endorsements by leading scholars, biographical notes<br />
for each <strong>of</strong> the contributors, and purchase details are available at http://www.thechurchandisrael.com.<br />
<strong>The</strong> website also includes an interview with the book’s editor, Calvin L. Smith (Principal, King’s Evangelical<br />
Divinity School), who discusses its relevance in light <strong>of</strong> what is happening in the Church and how<br />
Christian responses to Israel is symptomatic <strong>of</strong> a wider ideological conflict taking place within Evangelicalism<br />
at the present time.<br />
A large portion <strong>of</strong> the word <strong>of</strong> God in the Old Testament is being misinterpreted or deliberately avoided<br />
by those who have adopted the teaching that the Christian Church has replaced Israel and that the ancient<br />
promises made by God to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David are now passé. However, Calvin L. Smith has<br />
edited a set <strong>of</strong> chapters in a new book that makes a vital contribution towards rectifying this imbalance in<br />
interpretation. May it spark a long-overdue discussion among Evangelical interpreters <strong>of</strong> all persuasions as<br />
well as one between Jewish people <strong>of</strong> the book and believers in the Christian Church.<br />
Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ph.D.<br />
Colman Mockler Distinguished Emeritus Pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> Old Testament<br />
President Emeritus, Gordon Conwell <strong>The</strong>ological Seminary<br />
Definition <strong>of</strong> Marrige from Websters Dictionary<br />
This excerpt is from a 1992 dictionary <strong>The</strong> dictionary’s new definition <strong>of</strong> marriage 2009<br />
Main Entry: mar·riage<br />
Pronunciation: \’mer-ij, ’ma-rij\<br />
Function: noun<br />
Etymology: Middle English mariage, from Anglo-French, from marier to marry<br />
Date:14th century<br />
1 a (1): the state <strong>of</strong> being united to a person <strong>of</strong> the opposite sex as husband or wife in a<br />
consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2): the state <strong>of</strong> being united<br />
to a person <strong>of</strong> the same sex in a relationship like that <strong>of</strong> a traditional marriage b: the mutual relation <strong>of</strong> married persons : wedlock c: the institution whereby<br />
individuals are joined in a marriage<br />
2: an act <strong>of</strong> marrying or the rite by which the married status is effected ; especially : the<br />
wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formalities<br />
3: an intimate or close union
Update from Understand <strong>The</strong> Times on the Myanmar Relief Fund<br />
On May 2, 2008 a devastating cyclone (Nargis) struck Yangon and area. For several days we<br />
were unable to communicate with any <strong>of</strong> our contacts in Yangon. As media reports from around the<br />
world the area began to televise the terrible loss <strong>of</strong> life and devastation <strong>of</strong> property, we were more<br />
and more concerned for our people each day that followed the disaster.<br />
Finally, about one week after the cyclone hit, word came from one <strong>of</strong> leaders that all the children<br />
and leaders <strong>of</strong> the four Bryce Lodges that we have in Yangon had survived. Although shaken,<br />
they were not harmed. We thank God for His protection over them.<br />
Following the disaster, the news media informed the world that sending aid to the people in<br />
this part <strong>of</strong> the world was essentially impossible because <strong>of</strong> reasons I will not discuss in this report.<br />
While thousands had perished, those who survived were without shelter and food. Many were left<br />
helpless, homeless and without any hope.<br />
As soon as we found out that our contacts in Yangon had survived and were OK, we decided to<br />
establish a Relief Fund that they could minister to the people in the disaster area. As foreigners were<br />
not welcome in the country to distribute relief, it seemed that God had placed us in a strategic place<br />
at a strategic time so that we could reach out to the needy through the Christians we were already<br />
working with. Thus the establishment <strong>of</strong> the Understand <strong>The</strong> Times Myanmar Relief Fund which<br />
was supported by people from around the world through funds sent by mail and online giving.<br />
Following the disaster, several <strong>of</strong> my friends and board members (on their own expense) traveled<br />
to Myanmar as tourists to deliver some <strong>of</strong> the funds that were received. As time passed, additional<br />
funds were deposited to the Myanmar Relief Fund which we have also been able to transfer<br />
to our contacts for distribution.<br />
During the month <strong>of</strong> January, 2009, I was able to travel to Yangon and spend several days with<br />
our leaders. This was the first time that I was able to go and meet our leaders in person since the<br />
disaster. <strong>The</strong>y showed me many photographs that visually depict the results <strong>of</strong> the disaster. Other<br />
photos show our teams ministering relief in the disaster areas and show the distribution <strong>of</strong> food and<br />
basic living needs. In every case, our representatives shared the love <strong>of</strong> Jesus Christ, not only in a<br />
physical way, but they also shared the good news <strong>of</strong> the gospel <strong>of</strong> Jesus Christ.<br />
Based on the situation in Myanmar, and the great concern that I have for our people, I am not<br />
able to mention specific places or specific names. Please know that this effort would not have been<br />
possible without your support and the dedicated and unselfish devotion that our UTT representatives<br />
exhibited in distribution <strong>of</strong> resources to very poor people in need – physically, financially and<br />
spiritually.<br />
<strong>The</strong> task <strong>of</strong> trying to report the scope <strong>of</strong> what was accomplished by the funds that were designated<br />
to the UTT Myanmar Relief Program is a difficult to do in words. <strong>The</strong>refore, I am going to<br />
post a number <strong>of</strong> photographs that were given to me so that you can see with your own eyes. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
photographs will be under the following headings:<br />
• Destruction to property and land<br />
• Distribution <strong>of</strong> physical aid - food and finance<br />
• Proclaiming the gospel<br />
• Traveling to the devastated areas<br />
• Rebuilding shelters<br />
I hope and pray that these photos will help tell the story <strong>of</strong> how the Myanmar Relief<br />
funds have been spent. Now that the disaster is behind, there is still much that we want to do.<br />
When I met with the leaders who were responsible for distribution <strong>of</strong> the resources, I asked<br />
them what they thought would be the best way to continue to work in the devastated areas where<br />
they had gone and taken their teams. All four leaders I met with agreed the best way to continue<br />
our outreach to the areas where they had gone would be to sponsor four full time missionaries who<br />
would live among the people (primarily Buddhist population) and share the gosple in the midst <strong>of</strong><br />
darkness on an ongoing basis.<br />
This would require funds to build a shelter that would cost approximately $500. Second, the<br />
support required to support a missionary would be approximately $100 a month or $1200.00 a year.<br />
In this way the UTT Relief Program with continue on an ongoing basis as funds are provided by<br />
sponsors.<br />
Please pray<br />
with us<br />
regarding . . .<br />
. . the support for<br />
these four<br />
missionaries !<br />
Roger Oakland<br />
By Roger Oakland<br />
UTT Relief Program<br />
Jacob’s USA Tour<br />
Cathedral City, CA<br />
Saturday, August 1, 2009 - 11:00 AM<br />
Ohav Shalom Messianic Congregation<br />
3500 Cathedral Canyon Dr<br />
Cathedral City, CA 92234<br />
760-775-0181<br />
Indio, CA<br />
Sunday, August 2, 2009 - 11:00 AM<br />
Central Baptist Church<br />
45520 Clinton Ave<br />
Indio, CA 92201<br />
760-347-0317 (local) /877-357-3033 (toll)<br />
San Jacinto, CA<br />
Sunday, August 2, 2009 - 5:00 PM<br />
Calvary Chapel San Jacinto<br />
1450 W 7th Street<br />
San Jacinto, CA 92582<br />
951-654-1401<br />
Chino Hills, CA<br />
Friday - Sunday, August 7 - 9, 2009<br />
Hope For Today Annual Israel & Bible<br />
Prophecy Conference<br />
Calvary Chapel <strong>of</strong> Chino Hills<br />
4201 Eucalyptus Ave.<br />
Chino Hills, CA 91710<br />
(909) 393-7100<br />
San Bernardino, CA<br />
Sunday, August 9, 2009 at 10:00 AM<br />
Community Church <strong>of</strong> Devore<br />
1431 Devore Road<br />
San Bernardino, CA 92407<br />
(909) 887-4249<br />
San Jacinto, CA<br />
Sunday, August 9, 2009 - 5:00 PM<br />
Calvary Chapel San Jacinto<br />
1450 W 7th Street (directions)<br />
San Jacinto, CA 92582<br />
951-654-1401<br />
Old Bridge, NJ<br />
August 15th & 16th, 2009<br />
Calvary Chapel Old Bridge<br />
123 White Oak Lane<br />
Old Bridge, NJ 08857<br />
(732) 679-9222<br />
Saturday, August 15th 6:00 PM<br />
Sunday services - 8:15, 10:00, & 12:15<br />
Laredo, TX<br />
Israel, <strong>The</strong> Truth Be Told Prophecy<br />
Conference<br />
Embassy Suites Laredo<br />
110 Calle Del Norte, Laredo, Texas,<br />
August 21-23, 2009,Tel: 1-956-723-9100<br />
Crafton, PA<br />
Saturday through Monday, Sept 4-6, 2009<br />
Evenings - 7:00 PM, Sunday - 10:00 AM<br />
Beth Hebron<br />
60 Belvidere Street, Crafton, PA 15205<br />
Phone; (412) 321-6154<br />
Email: morieldavid@yahoo.com<br />
Appleton, WI<br />
Friday through Sunday, Sept 11-13, 2009<br />
Calvary Chapel Appleton Annual<br />
Prophecy Conference<br />
Friday through Sunday, Sept 11-13, 2009<br />
Appleton, WI<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly 17
South Africa News<br />
Salvador Ung Hayworth<br />
– KWAZULU DIARY<br />
By Salvador Ung Hayworth May 16, 2009<br />
E-MAIL: msindisi@gmail.com<br />
WEBSITE; http://msindisi.googlepages.com<br />
Here we are, at the auction yard where<br />
Salvador used to live. An electrical extension<br />
lead comes out <strong>of</strong> the kitchen area<br />
where there is power, and we are typing this<br />
newsletter from the comfort <strong>of</strong> our truck.<br />
<strong>The</strong> sound <strong>of</strong> wind blowing through the<br />
trees can be heard, and behind, tree littered<br />
mountains surround us. As you can tell we<br />
are not in Gauteng anymore. We arrived<br />
in KwaZulu on the 16th <strong>of</strong> April after two<br />
weeks <strong>of</strong> staying at Allen and Sue’s place.<br />
During that time we visited friends in various<br />
areas, such as Mujuru and Morne and<br />
Doret Lombard. On the Sunday, Salvador<br />
visited Elijah ministries to hear PJ Contat<br />
speak on the Loving kindness <strong>of</strong> the Lord.<br />
While Salvador was there, Di stayed with<br />
Sue to set up for the Passover meal that we<br />
were celebrating in the afternoon. It was a<br />
wonderful time <strong>of</strong> communion with a number<br />
<strong>of</strong> people coming together, some from<br />
the old Aletheia group and Mujuru, with a<br />
number <strong>of</strong> people from Elijah <strong>Ministries</strong>,<br />
and Lina and Marijke who are working as<br />
missionaries at Ebyown. It was an occasion<br />
where participation was encouraged.<br />
Riaan, Mujuru and Mujuru’s friend, Abel,<br />
read Scripture. Allen read the Maggid. Sue<br />
read a devotion, Morne Rabie lead communion,<br />
and Lina and Marijke played Amazing<br />
Grace, with Lina on guitar and Marijke<br />
singing. It was lovely and tearful for us to<br />
be sent out to KwaZulu with their prayers,<br />
as that was our last Sunday in Gauteng.<br />
Arriving in KwaZulu has been a matter<br />
<strong>of</strong> unloading our stuff, and keeping bits<br />
stored in boxes until our hut is built. At the<br />
moment, we are staying in Phumulani’s hut<br />
and we are grateful for the dry weather. Although<br />
evangelistic ministry is set to start<br />
once our hut is built, Salvador has been organizing<br />
a couple <strong>of</strong> Bible studies that have<br />
started, and Di has started doing some <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Sunday school lessons using the material<br />
that Wendy Thome, from Elijah<br />
<strong>Ministries</strong>, has given. (We think that Celani<br />
wants a holiday from it).<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the Bible studies Salvador<br />
is doing is with the people that work for<br />
Mondi, and another is at Khambi with the<br />
some <strong>of</strong> the same people who attended it<br />
when he took it with Caleb.<br />
Aside from the organization <strong>of</strong> these<br />
studies we have visited the local clinic<br />
and local TB hospital for Di to get a feel<br />
<strong>of</strong> what there is out there medicalwise. In<br />
fact, Salvi had to take one boy to the clinic<br />
as he had scraped his side when falling<br />
from a tree and hadn’t had it seen to. Salvi<br />
met him at the communal tap while filling<br />
up our water containers, and his side was<br />
all infected. It looked like a white bubbly<br />
mess. <strong>The</strong> clinic cleaned him up, though<br />
the kid cried with pain, and gave him a<br />
course <strong>of</strong> antibiotics.<br />
During this first couple <strong>of</strong> weeks, Di<br />
had been struggling with adjusting to her<br />
new surroundings. Salvi has been using<br />
this opportunity to get more study done for<br />
his Bible college course. It was a lonely<br />
experience as Di doesn’t speak Zulu. So<br />
conversations were very short and unmeaningful.<br />
However, the Lord is gracious and<br />
after a few tears she received encouragement<br />
from His Word. God also has been<br />
using Edith Schaeffer’s book, <strong>The</strong> Tapestry,<br />
to gain a perspective <strong>of</strong> the reality <strong>of</strong><br />
missionary life on a day-to-day basis.<br />
This is not as a “happy-ever-after”<br />
experience, but a knowledge that God is<br />
walking with us when things are “clear as<br />
fog,” and with knowledge that He is working<br />
His purposes. God will not necessarily<br />
change the circumstances around us, but<br />
we will be changed from within.<br />
We were encouraged by the visit <strong>of</strong><br />
our friend Riaan and his daughter Bianca,<br />
who brought so many building supplies for<br />
our hut. He also helped us shop for other<br />
building material, as he knew what we<br />
will need. <strong>The</strong> Lord has been so good to us<br />
in moving the hearts <strong>of</strong> various people to<br />
contribute to the building <strong>of</strong> our hut. <strong>The</strong><br />
timing <strong>of</strong> their help has made us rejoice in<br />
the Lord. <strong>The</strong> way in which the Lord has<br />
provided has reassured us <strong>of</strong> God’s hand<br />
in bringing us to KwaZulu at this time for<br />
however long or however short He would<br />
have us here.<br />
It was great to have them visit and to<br />
share fellowship with us and Phumulani.<br />
Riaan used to live around this area and<br />
would love to come back again. At the moment<br />
he is looking for more stable work to<br />
meet the needs <strong>of</strong> his family. Please pray<br />
for him and his family as we are, that God<br />
would bless them as they obey Him.<br />
Around this time <strong>of</strong> the Lord ministering<br />
to Di we got news from Sue that her<br />
father had died. He wasn’t a believer but<br />
Sue managed to share the Gospel one last<br />
time before his death.<br />
We decided to go to Springs to be with<br />
Allen and Sue for three days. During this<br />
time we also visited Vita Nova, and Salvi<br />
visited home affairs in vain to check on his<br />
extension <strong>of</strong> visa application. He waited<br />
from 8 am – 3 pm for them to find out that<br />
his application hadn’t yet been taken to be<br />
approved! But while he was there he was<br />
able to chat with a Muslim lady who was<br />
claiming that the Qur’an was similar to the<br />
Bible and that the differences were minute.<br />
Salvi had to explain that the differences<br />
were what made the difference because the<br />
teaching that Jesus is the Son <strong>of</strong> God who<br />
died on the cross was the crux <strong>of</strong> the Gospel<br />
message. We also managed to visit Lorraine<br />
on the settlement, as well as Morne<br />
and Vicky. It was also good to see Masesi<br />
at Allen and Sue’s, enjoying her schooling.<br />
Sue’s stepmother didn’t want a funeral<br />
service, so there was a gathering in Allen<br />
and Sue’s home. In attendance were Sue’s<br />
two brothers (one <strong>of</strong> which flew in from<br />
the States), her stepmother, other family<br />
members, Riaan and his family, Morne and<br />
Vicky, and us. Allen and Sue’s son flew in<br />
from the UK and their daughter Roxanne<br />
was also there with her husband Braam.<br />
<strong>The</strong> support and love <strong>of</strong> the brethren at the<br />
occasion was a testimony to Sue’s family,<br />
and Sue took the opportunity to share the<br />
Gospel with them.<br />
Please pray that the Lord might touch<br />
their hearts to hear and respond to that message.<br />
<strong>The</strong> day finished with Allen, Sue, we<br />
and Riaan with his family, having fellowship<br />
and watching an interview with Francis<br />
and Edith Schaeffer. This was a huge<br />
encouragement to have a godly perspective<br />
in the midst <strong>of</strong> adversity, and by the end <strong>of</strong><br />
the evening we knew that God had brought<br />
us together for that time.<br />
So in the last week <strong>of</strong> us coming back to<br />
KwaZulu our outlook has been quite positive.<br />
Di has peace, and is looking forward<br />
to her two Zulu lessons each week with<br />
Celani’s daughter, Khetiwe. Di is enjoying<br />
teaching kid’s club, though this week we<br />
will be attending the funeral <strong>of</strong> an elderly<br />
lady that Salvi used to visit regularly at<br />
the Xulu Kraal. One <strong>of</strong> the past short-term<br />
missionaries, Marion Milne, also visited<br />
her once and had her photo taken with her.<br />
<strong>The</strong> family has decided to enlarge that photo<br />
and display it for the funeral. <strong>The</strong> lady<br />
died at a ripe old age <strong>of</strong> 102. Whenever we<br />
18 June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
visited she would always speak about Jesus,<br />
and said that the ancestral spirits are<br />
not the truth; Jesus is the truth. So we hope<br />
and trust that that was the belief and cry<br />
<strong>of</strong> her heart, and we trust that we may see<br />
her one day with a redeemed body that will<br />
never ail nor age.<br />
Yesterday a young lad named Mesuli,<br />
who used to attend the kid’s club, came to<br />
the church meeting. Salvi has been asked<br />
to preach the last couple <strong>of</strong> Sundays which<br />
he has done, preaching on James. After the<br />
meeting Mesuli shared that he had been attending<br />
a Bible study at school and seeking<br />
to share the Gospel with others but saw the<br />
need to know the Bible for himself. What<br />
an encouragement that was. Among other<br />
things, no doubt, God had used the years<br />
<strong>of</strong> attendance at kid’s club to feed into his<br />
life, which includes the labors <strong>of</strong> all those<br />
short-term missionaries that participated in<br />
its teaching over the last five years.<br />
Today the builder was supposed to arrive<br />
to start work on our hut but, alas, he<br />
hasn’t completed his current job. So we<br />
will have to wait another week. Salvi will<br />
visit him on Saturday to make sure he is<br />
still coming on Monday, or we will have to<br />
wait even longer for the hut to be started.<br />
Lastly, we would like to recommend a<br />
book edited by the principal <strong>of</strong> Salvi’s Bible<br />
college. Please read the following and<br />
feel free to check out the website.<br />
Hi, From Calvin<br />
My new book, <strong>The</strong> Jews, Modern Israel<br />
and the New Supercessionism: Resources<br />
for Christians, will be available from 5<br />
May. We’ve set up a Web site to promote<br />
it at http://www.thechurchandisrael.com.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re you’ll find biographical notes about<br />
the contributors (who include Tony Pearce<br />
and Jacob Prasch), sample pages (including<br />
the introduction and Mitch Glaser’s<br />
foreword), contents, and endorsements.<br />
We are blessed to have received endorsement<br />
from leading evangelical<br />
scholars such as Darrell Bock and Walter<br />
C. Kaiser.<br />
<strong>The</strong> main priority right now, before the<br />
book is released, is to create as much publicity<br />
as possible to build momentum so as<br />
to promote the book’s message. <strong>The</strong>refore,<br />
I would be grateful if you would consider<br />
helping by passing on details <strong>of</strong> the book<br />
and the Web site to as many Christians as<br />
possible. Also, the more Web sites linking<br />
to our site, the higher we can push the site<br />
up the Web rankings.<br />
Every blessing,<br />
Calvin<br />
God bless you all for your love and prayers.<br />
Salvi and Di<br />
Salvador Ung Hayworth<br />
Devotional 9<br />
Daniel 9 v 20:<br />
“I was speaking and praying<br />
and confessing my sin and the<br />
sin <strong>of</strong> my people Israel, and<br />
making my cry fall before<br />
Jehovah my God for the holy<br />
mountain <strong>of</strong> my God.”<br />
How amazing it is when we see someone<br />
put himself under the guilt <strong>of</strong> someone<br />
else. We would see such action as over the<br />
top. Here Daniel has read the book <strong>of</strong> Jeremiah.<br />
He recognized that his people were<br />
in exile for the sins <strong>of</strong> his nation, yet while<br />
being righteous himself he mourned the<br />
sins <strong>of</strong> his people and confessed them as<br />
his own sins. Such modern advice to Daniel<br />
would tell him not to put himself down;<br />
he couldn’t be put to blame for what his<br />
nation had done. Daniel, however, sees that<br />
he is much to blame as everyone else and<br />
this brings him on his knees before God.<br />
Daniel was sharing in his people’s<br />
punishment as an exile, and the reality <strong>of</strong><br />
God’s perfect holiness showed him his<br />
own sin as well as everyone else’s. <strong>The</strong><br />
first thing to note is that the conviction <strong>of</strong><br />
sin came from God’s Word. In verse 4 we<br />
see that the first revelation he receives from<br />
Scripture is <strong>of</strong> God’s nature, which is one<br />
“keeping the covenant and mercy <strong>of</strong> those<br />
who love Him, and to those who keep His<br />
commandments.”<br />
If we compare ourselves to other people,<br />
with all their flaws and sins, we can feel<br />
quite good about ourselves and think we<br />
are OK; we’re not as bad as they are. However,<br />
when we compare ourselves with the<br />
living God, perfect in all His ways, there<br />
is no comparison. Next to Him we are depraved<br />
sinners and have transgressed His<br />
perfect Law. Thus Daniel put himself in the<br />
guilt <strong>of</strong> his people and interceded for them.<br />
A friend <strong>of</strong> mine once said, “<strong>The</strong> more<br />
holy you become the more sin you see in<br />
yourself.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> nearer you get to God, the further<br />
away you realize you are. Do we see ourselves<br />
as alright in our spiritual walk, or do<br />
we have the same yearning as Daniel did to<br />
be counted righteous<br />
We are righteous by faith because <strong>of</strong><br />
Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection, and yet<br />
the man <strong>of</strong> God is not only content to confess<br />
faith, but he longs to see the outworking<br />
<strong>of</strong> that faith in his life. He longs for the<br />
day that he will be like his Savior, Jesus<br />
Christ, in nature as well as by faith. If we<br />
lack such conviction let us be like Daniel<br />
and search the Word until we get revelation<br />
<strong>of</strong> God’s holiness. <strong>The</strong>n we will never be<br />
complacent about our sin, as we will know<br />
how much God abhors sin.<br />
Today, seek God for a revelation <strong>of</strong> His<br />
holiness, with a determination that such a<br />
revelation will not remain in the halls <strong>of</strong><br />
memory but will be applied to your life by<br />
the enabling <strong>of</strong> His Spirit.<br />
”A world <strong>of</strong> nice people, content in<br />
their own niceness, looking no further,<br />
turned away from God, would be just as<br />
desperately in need <strong>of</strong> salvation as a miserable<br />
world – and might even be more difficult<br />
to save. – C.S Lewis<br />
Bible Texts taken from ‘Green’s Literal<br />
Translation’<br />
Y’varechecha Adonai<br />
COMMANDMENTS OF THE QUARTER !<br />
V. Honor your father and your<br />
mother, that your days may be<br />
long upon the land which the<br />
Lord your God is giving you.<br />
Vl .You shall not murder.<br />
Vll. You shall not commit adultery.<br />
Vlll. You shall not steal.<br />
lX. You shall not bear false witness<br />
against your neighbor.<br />
X. You shall not covet your<br />
neighbor’s house; you shall not<br />
covet your neighbor’s wife, nor<br />
his manservant, nor his maidservant,<br />
nor his ox, nor his donkey,<br />
nor anything that is your<br />
neighbor’s.”<br />
Rembrandt, (1659)<br />
South Africa News<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly 19
Immanuel News 2009<br />
Reverend Najeeb Atteih<br />
A journey to Jenin (West Bank)<br />
On Tuesday 21st April we woke up and prepared for our journey to Jenin. Jenin is<br />
a city in the West Bank, which we needed to travel to in order meet “ABDM” and his<br />
brother “E” (not their real names).<br />
I want to share how we came to know these people… E was a leader in the Hamas<br />
organization, and was shot by rivals from Fatah organization and badly wounded. He<br />
was taken from his house, and they put twenty bullets into him, right in front <strong>of</strong> his<br />
wife and six children.<br />
He was rushed to receive first aid in Jenin, but due to a bad infection in his leg, was<br />
soon transferred for further treatment to a hospital in Haifa. He ended up in Rambam<br />
Hospital, where he was put in a bed next to Pastor Albert Nessim. (Albert was the pastor<br />
<strong>of</strong> a congregation in Nahariya for many years until he passed to the Lord). For two<br />
weeks the two men were next to each other. Albert’s wife, Ruth, would come every day<br />
to visit and take care <strong>of</strong> him, and E’s brother ABDM would also visit each day.<br />
E was in a very serious medical condition and so was under anesthetic for most <strong>of</strong><br />
the time, unconscious, but Ruth and Albert tried to talk to his brother. However, ABDM<br />
could not speak either Hebrew or English, and Ruth and Albert could not speak Arabic,<br />
so they tried to find an Arabic speaking believer to help. <strong>The</strong>ir daughter, Miriam, knew<br />
<strong>of</strong> Pastor Najeeb and Elizabeth, and so was able to put them in touch. Ruth was delighted<br />
to hear news about these about Arabic speaking believers - and in Haifa as well! Pastor<br />
Najeeb went daily to visit, and spoke <strong>of</strong>ten with ABDM although E was still unconscious.<br />
He was able to share many things about the gospel, and the way <strong>of</strong> Jesus. He invited<br />
ABDM back to his home to wash, to change, to eat with them and to rest from time<br />
to time, and so the relationship grew.<br />
<strong>The</strong> doctors were also grateful for<br />
this Hebrew speaker to translate for<br />
their Arabic patient, as E’s leg had seriously worsened. <strong>The</strong>y asked Najeeb to explain to<br />
ABDM that he would have to have his whole leg amputated if he was going to survive.<br />
ABDM allowed Najeeb to pray regularly with him, to help him make the decision for<br />
his brother, and also to pray over E.<br />
After the operation, E gradually became conscious, and when he woke up, he saw<br />
Najeeb for the first time. Najeeb asked, “Do you know who I am” E replied that he<br />
didn’t know exactly, but he had felt someone with him <strong>of</strong>ten, and laying hands on him.<br />
“That was me,” said Najeeb, and told<br />
E how he had been praying for him in<br />
the name <strong>of</strong> Jesus. He was gradually<br />
able to share with E the gospel, and<br />
comfort him with the news <strong>of</strong> God’s great love for him. He assured E that although he<br />
had lost his leg, and experienced great trauma, that God’s love and care for him was<br />
eternal.<br />
During these two weeks, Pastor Najeeb never met Ruth Nessim – the times <strong>of</strong> their<br />
visits never seemed to coincide. Whilst E slowly recovered, sadly Ruth’s husband, Albert,<br />
passed away. Pastor Najeeb and Elizabeth met Ruth for the first time at Albert’s<br />
funeral, and have become dear friends since that time.<br />
E stayed in the hospital a further two weeks, and before the month was through,<br />
was able to return to Jenin. Pastor<br />
Najeeb invited ASDM to come to his<br />
congregation. <strong>The</strong>re, he met Ruth who encouraged him, and was able to give financially<br />
to help them and their families’ difficult situations. ASDM was overwhelmed<br />
– he expressed how glad he was to have found such wonderful people, who could be<br />
like a family to him in these circumstances. He said that Ruth was like a mother to<br />
him, and still writes letters to her, which Elizabeth translates from Arabic to Hebrew<br />
for her. From that time Najeeb, Elizabeth and Ruth got to know each other really well,<br />
and their congregations started to work together. Najeeb preaches at her congregation<br />
every two weeks, and Ruth developed a big heart for the Arab people, and started to<br />
learn Arabic.<br />
We can, as Arab servants, freely travel to the West Bank. However, on 21st April, it<br />
took us a long time to get through the border, but we didn’t give up. We had been sever-<br />
20 June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
al times before to Jenin to meet ABDM,<br />
but never saw E there. He had to make<br />
frequent trips to Jordan to get further<br />
treatments, and so we kept missing him.<br />
But we were determined to see E again,<br />
so the journey we made on Tuesday 21st<br />
was especially for this purpose.<br />
We entered and went to ABDM and<br />
asked him to take us to E’s home. When<br />
we arrived, we were shocked at the poverty<br />
and deprivation we saw. We sat outside<br />
with E and ABDM and another <strong>of</strong><br />
the servants from our church – Ibrahim.<br />
When Najeeb saw E, they shook hands and kissed. Again, Najeeb asked, “Do you know<br />
who I am” He replied, “How could I forget the man who prayed for me all the time<br />
We sat and Najeeb shared from the gospel, about God’s love and power to change and<br />
heal people. Elizabeth was the only one who was permitted to enter the house, as E’s wife<br />
could not see the men, but Elizabeth met with her and the children. <strong>The</strong>y talked together,<br />
and Elizabeth also shared the gospel with her. She was very pleased and glad to have<br />
Elizabeth visit her. Because Najeeb and Elizabeth saw the desperate needs that the family<br />
had, they also decided to give some financial help. Najeeb and Elizabeth are planning to<br />
continue to visit E at least once a month, and to take care <strong>of</strong> him and help support his family.<br />
E is now unable to work, and is bound to a wheelchair. He really needs a prosthetic leg,<br />
but that will cost lot <strong>of</strong> money– not just for<br />
the leg, but also the time in the hospital,<br />
the therapy he will need to start using it<br />
and so on. If you have it in your heart to<br />
help E and his family, and people like him,<br />
we would really appreciate your support.<br />
Please pray for us, because we are still<br />
without a car and we cannot serve the people<br />
if we don’t get a new car.<br />
Last week Najeeb was severely injured<br />
at his Knee. During the assembly he felt a<br />
pain and broke down. We did not know what<br />
happened and brought him to the hospital.<br />
He is now at home and cannot walk. He<br />
needs a surgery immediately by the 24th. We have to pay a certain sum private and the rest<br />
will be paid by the insurance company. Otherwise it will take approximately three months<br />
till he will be able to have a surgery. <strong>The</strong> surgery is approximately 4000 NIS. Please pray for<br />
him, especially on the day <strong>of</strong> his surgery and that he will recover fast and can be back at work.<br />
Greetings in the Name <strong>of</strong> the Lord Jesus,<br />
Rev Najeeb and Elisabeth Atteih<br />
Immanuel church – bookshop Haifa<br />
And Esau ran to meet him,<br />
and embraced him, and<br />
fell on his neck, and<br />
kissed him: and they wept.<br />
Genesis 33:4 & 5<br />
Reverend Najeeb Atteih<br />
And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the<br />
children; and said, Who are those with thee And he<br />
said, <strong>The</strong> children which God hath graciously given<br />
thy servant.<br />
Immanuel News 2009<br />
<strong>The</strong> water <strong>of</strong> life is the Word from GOD<br />
ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM FACTS<br />
1. Israel became a state in 1312 B.C., two millennia<br />
before Islam;<br />
2. Arab refugees from Israel began calling themselves<br />
“Palestinians” in 1967, two decades after (modern)<br />
Israeli statehood in 1948;<br />
3. After conquering the land in 1272 B.C., Jews ruled<br />
it for a thousand years and maintained a continuous<br />
presence there for 3,300 years;<br />
4. <strong>The</strong> only Arab rule following conquest in 633 B.C.<br />
lasted just 22 years;<br />
5. For over 3,300 years, <strong>Jerusalem</strong> was the Jewish<br />
capital. It was never the capital <strong>of</strong> any Arab or Muslim<br />
entity. Even under Jordanian rule, (East) <strong>Jerusalem</strong><br />
was not made the capital, and no Arab leader<br />
came to visit it;<br />
6. <strong>Jerusalem</strong> is mentioned over 700 times in the bible,<br />
but not once is it mentioned in the Qur’an;<br />
7. King David founded <strong>Jerusalem</strong>; Mohammed never<br />
set foot in it;<br />
8. Jews pray facing <strong>Jerusalem</strong>; Muslims face Mecca.<br />
If they are between the two cities, Muslims pray facing<br />
Mecca, with their backs to <strong>Jerusalem</strong>;<br />
9. In 1948, Arab leaders urged their people to leave,<br />
promising to cleanse the land <strong>of</strong> Jewish presence.<br />
68% <strong>of</strong> them fled without ever setting eyes on an Israeli<br />
soldier;<br />
10. Virtually the entire Jewish population <strong>of</strong> Muslim<br />
countries had to flee as the result <strong>of</strong> violence and pogroms;<br />
11. Some 630,000 Arabs left Israel in 1948, while<br />
close to a million Jews were forced to leave the Muslim<br />
countries;<br />
12. In spite <strong>of</strong> the vast territories at their disposal,<br />
Arab refugees were deliberately prevented from assimilating<br />
into their host countries. Of 100 million<br />
refugees following World War 2, they are the only<br />
group to have never integrated with their co-religionists.<br />
Most <strong>of</strong> the Jewish refugees from Europe and<br />
Arab lands were settled in Israel, a country no larger<br />
than New Jersey, USA ;<br />
13. <strong>The</strong>re are 22 Muslim countries, not counting Palestine.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is only one Jewish state. Arabs started<br />
all five wars against Israel, and lost every one <strong>of</strong> them;<br />
14. Fatah and Hamas constitutions still call for the<br />
destruction <strong>of</strong> Israel. Israel ceded most <strong>of</strong> the west<br />
bank and all <strong>of</strong> Gaza to the Palestinian authority, and<br />
even provided it with arms;<br />
15. During the Jordanian occupation, Jewish holy<br />
sites were vandalized and were <strong>of</strong>f limits to Jews. Under<br />
Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian holy sites<br />
are accessible to all faiths;<br />
16. Out <strong>of</strong> 175 United Nations Security Council resolutions<br />
up to 1990, 97 were against Israel; out <strong>of</strong> 690<br />
general assembly resolutions, 429 were against Israel;<br />
17. <strong>The</strong> U.N. was silent when the Jordanians destroyed<br />
58 synagogues in the old city <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong>.<br />
It remained silent while Jordan systematically desecrated<br />
the ancient Jewish cemetery on the mount <strong>of</strong><br />
olives, and it remained silent when Jordan enforced<br />
apartheid laws preventing Jews from accessing the<br />
temple mount and western wall.<br />
FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material<br />
the use <strong>of</strong> which has not always been specifically authorized<br />
by the copyright owner. We are making such material available<br />
in our efforts to advance understanding <strong>of</strong> religious, environmental,<br />
political, human rights, economic, democracy,<br />
scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes<br />
a ‘fair use’ <strong>of</strong> any such copyrighted material as provided<br />
for in section 107 <strong>of</strong> the US Copyright Law. In accordance<br />
with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this<br />
site is distributed without pr<strong>of</strong>it to those who have expressed<br />
a prior interest in receiving the included information for research<br />
and educational purposes. For more information go to:<br />
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish<br />
to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes <strong>of</strong> your<br />
own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission<br />
from the copyright owner.<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly 21
South Africa News<br />
B<br />
N<br />
Allen & Sue<br />
E Z A L E E L<br />
E W S L E T T E R<br />
bezaleel@saol.com<br />
June 2009<br />
Dear friends & nbsp;<br />
Events that have happened in our lives<br />
since we last wrote in March brought<br />
Ecc.3:1-8 to mind for me in a very<br />
personal way.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is an appointed time for everything.<br />
And there is a time for every event under<br />
heaven-<br />
• A time to give birth, and a time to die;<br />
• A time to plant, and a time to uproot<br />
what is planted.<br />
• A time to kill, and a time to heal;<br />
• A time to tear down, and a time to build<br />
up.<br />
• A time to weep, and a time to laugh;<br />
• A time to mourn, and a time to dance.<br />
• A time to throw stones, and a time to<br />
gather stones;<br />
• A time to embrace, and a time to shun<br />
embracing.<br />
• A time to search, and a time to give up<br />
as lost;<br />
• A time to keep, and a time to throw<br />
away.<br />
• A time to tear apart, and a time to sew<br />
together;<br />
• A time to be silent, and a time to speak.<br />
• A time to love, and a time to hate;<br />
• A time for war, and a time for peace.<br />
NASB.<br />
A few days after celebrating Passover<br />
together with God’s people and our family,<br />
and praying for Salvador and Dianne, they<br />
left for Kwa Zulu Natal to begin the work<br />
God has called them to among the Zulu<br />
people. For them both it is a time to plant<br />
and build up, a time to search out those<br />
who are lost, a time to speak the word <strong>of</strong><br />
God and to demonstrate His love to those<br />
He has sent them to. For us all there is sadness<br />
because we will miss them and the<br />
Sunday nights <strong>of</strong> bible study and fellowship,<br />
and joy as we look to what the Lord<br />
will do in and through their lives.<br />
If you recall in our last newsletter<br />
I spoke <strong>of</strong> a little boy Herman who was<br />
looked after by his grandmother and coming<br />
to us for homeschool. At the time I was<br />
concerned whether his grandmother would<br />
cope in the long term and as it turned out<br />
she didn’t. She progressively began to<br />
complain about Herman not cooperating at<br />
medicine time and numerous small things<br />
that are part and parcel <strong>of</strong> raising a child.<br />
He constantly wore the same clothes even<br />
though he had numerous outfits, was unwashed<br />
and poorly fed. <strong>The</strong>n one morning<br />
she literally dumped him at our door and<br />
said she no longer wanted him, and this<br />
sentiment pronounced in front <strong>of</strong> the child<br />
with no explanation or farewell. I told her<br />
to bring his things and I contacted his social<br />
worker. He stayed with us for the weekend<br />
and on the Monday she came to fetch Herman<br />
to take him back to the home he had<br />
come from. I was reassured by the fact<br />
that his social worker cared about him and<br />
promised to see to the urgency <strong>of</strong> having<br />
his tonsils removed that were so enlarged<br />
they obstructed his throat. (I had taken him<br />
to an ear, nose and throat specialist who<br />
had recommended surgery immediately.)<br />
She would also ensure that he would be<br />
enrolled in an ARV rollout programme in<br />
their area and I gave her enough meds for<br />
about two months. When she contacted me<br />
later on his tonsils had been removed and<br />
in the process they discovered a heart condition<br />
that will probably need operating on.<br />
I find it difficult to come to terms with the<br />
fact that a mother would abandon her own<br />
daughter’s child who in her early twenties<br />
had died <strong>of</strong> AIDS. <strong>The</strong> grandmother belongs<br />
to the ZCC (Zionist) church which is<br />
a mixture <strong>of</strong> Christian and ancestral belief<br />
which according to what she said to one <strong>of</strong><br />
my staff forbids their people to use ARV’s.<br />
Even though we were unable to take Herman<br />
into our home, I was somewhat comforted<br />
by the fact that we had enough presence<br />
in his life to intervene and speak out<br />
on his behalf because he certainly would<br />
not have survived with his grandmother.<br />
You may also recall that at the end <strong>of</strong><br />
last year we were unable to locate Little<br />
<strong>The</strong>mba after he had gone for a visit with<br />
his dad. When he eventually came home,<br />
he had been <strong>of</strong>f his meds for three weeks.<br />
We resumed treatment and the wonderful<br />
news is that when we did blood tests recently<br />
his results came back with an undetectable<br />
viral load, normal CD4 count, and<br />
with height and weight gain. We are deeply<br />
grateful to the Lord for this and for all your<br />
prayers. <strong>The</strong> downside <strong>of</strong> our news is regarding<br />
David, Little <strong>The</strong>mba’s dad. About<br />
the end <strong>of</strong> March we received a call from<br />
David saying that he had been arrested for<br />
carrying a forged South African identity<br />
document.<br />
It turns out he is Malawian which we<br />
were unaware <strong>of</strong> as Little <strong>The</strong>mba has a SA<br />
birth certificate. He faces deportation as<br />
well as criminal charges and we’ve had no<br />
contact with him since soon after his arrest<br />
when he was taken to a prison in Pretoria.<br />
When he spoke to me his concern was for<br />
Little <strong>The</strong>mba and I assured him we would<br />
take care <strong>of</strong> him. We are grateful that Little<br />
<strong>The</strong>mba was not with him at the time <strong>of</strong><br />
his arrest as who knows what would have<br />
become <strong>of</strong> him.<br />
We also had a visit from Masesi’s social<br />
worker questioning the validity <strong>of</strong> our<br />
homeschooling her. According to South<br />
African law if a child is not in school the<br />
grant can be withheld from the foster parents.<br />
According to the South African constitution<br />
it is within our rights to homeschool<br />
Masesi with her foster mother’s permission.<br />
Anne her foster mother, said to the<br />
social worker that if they wished to withhold<br />
the grant, the Lord would take care <strong>of</strong><br />
them as she would not move Masesi from<br />
our homeschool. That took tremendous<br />
love and courage from a woman in her fifties<br />
who lives in a shack in an informal settlement<br />
with no toilet, tap or electricity <strong>of</strong><br />
their own and who runs a small crèche to<br />
provide care to her neighbours little ones.<br />
Please pray that she may find favour with<br />
her social worker and that her grant will<br />
not be stopped. Since Salvi and Di have<br />
left, Masesi is dropped <strong>of</strong>f at us on a Monday<br />
and stays with us during the week and<br />
I take her home on a Friday. If any <strong>of</strong> you<br />
work with children and education and are<br />
looking for ideas on how to reach them I<br />
would highly recommend Susan Schaeffer<br />
Macaulay’s book For the Children’s sake.<br />
We have also included Masesi on the ARV<br />
programme we’re on with our pediatrician.<br />
Speaking <strong>of</strong> which, all our children had excellent<br />
results from their blood tests with<br />
good weight and height gain, normal CD4<br />
counts and undetectable viral loads. God is<br />
so good to us.<br />
During the last week <strong>of</strong> April, my dad<br />
died suddenly after a short illness. He was<br />
not a believer and I spoke to him <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Lord on the day he died. Although I have<br />
no assurance <strong>of</strong> my dad’s salvation, my<br />
Heavenly Father comforted me in my sorrow.<br />
Although Clayton, Salvador and Dianne<br />
had so recently left Springs, they returned<br />
to be with us from the UK and Natal<br />
<strong>of</strong> which we were so grateful.<br />
Just three weeks later a very dear<br />
friend <strong>of</strong> ours died <strong>of</strong> cancer just diagnosed<br />
less than two weeks previously. Neale and<br />
his wife Lilian have been involved with<br />
Bezaleel since its inception and when God<br />
laid it on our hearts to begin this work I<br />
22 June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
asked Neale to help me find a name for<br />
our home that would reflect the heart <strong>of</strong><br />
what we wished to do and I also wanted it<br />
to be a Hebrew name. In due time, Neale<br />
came back with the name Bezaleel, which<br />
means under the shadow <strong>of</strong> His wing. It<br />
was perfect because it embodied the truth<br />
that foremost God is the Father, shelter<br />
and provider <strong>of</strong> our home and in the fullest<br />
sense our children would find their home<br />
in Him. We were to look to Him for everything<br />
pertaining to life and Godliness.<br />
Psalm 91:4 He will cover you<br />
with His pinions, And under His<br />
wings you may seek refuge; His<br />
faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.<br />
NASB.<br />
Neale loved the word, was a faithful and<br />
constant friend and we spent countless hours<br />
together with Lilian poring over the scriptures.<br />
Lilian is on the board <strong>of</strong> Bezaleel and<br />
we cherish her friendship and faithfulness.<br />
Needless to say, I hit a low, or as Jacob<br />
so correctly put it, the end <strong>of</strong> the road as<br />
my head dropped and my eyes cast downwards,<br />
as the events <strong>of</strong> the last few months<br />
overwhelmed me, my concerns regarding<br />
the need for Dave and Lyn to sell their<br />
house we live in through their generosity<br />
so they may receive what is rightfully theirs<br />
and the need for a shelter for our children.<br />
<strong>The</strong>n by God’s grace His precious words<br />
came to remembrance.<br />
Psalm 121:1&2, I will lift my eyes<br />
to the mountains;<br />
From whence shall my<br />
help come<br />
My help comes from the<br />
Lord, Who made<br />
heaven and earth.<br />
Psalm 145:14, <strong>The</strong> Lord sustains<br />
all who fall, And raises up<br />
all who are bowed down.<br />
His word gives us courage and strength<br />
to move forward into the future, unknown<br />
to us but known by Him to whom we belong<br />
and have to do.<br />
We thank God for you, your love,<br />
prayer and support and may the Lord bless<br />
you all.<br />
Allen and Sue<br />
Quotes <strong>of</strong> the QUARTER !<br />
“America will never be destroyed<br />
from the outside. If we falter<br />
and lose our freedoms,<br />
it will be because we destroyed<br />
ourselves.”<br />
– Abraham Lincoln<br />
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent<br />
Special Interest<br />
Christians Risk<br />
and<br />
for <strong>The</strong>ir Faith,<br />
a Study Claims<br />
Christians are facing discrimination at work, and ridicule and rejection at home, according<br />
to new research.<br />
<strong>The</strong> first poll <strong>of</strong> Britain’s churchgoers, carried out for <strong>The</strong> Sunday Telegraph, found that<br />
thousands <strong>of</strong> them believe they are being turned down for promotion because <strong>of</strong> their faith.<br />
One in five said that they had faced opposition at work because <strong>of</strong> their beliefs.<br />
More than half <strong>of</strong> them revealed that they had suffered some form <strong>of</strong> persecution for<br />
being a Christian.<br />
<strong>The</strong> findings suggest a growing hostility towards religion in this country, which has<br />
been highlighted by a series <strong>of</strong> clashes between churchgoers and their employers.<br />
Church leaders, including the Archbishop <strong>of</strong> York, Dr John Sentamu, have urged<br />
Christians to “wake up” and defend their beliefs after the suspension <strong>of</strong> Caroline Petrie, a<br />
community nurse, for <strong>of</strong>fering to pray for a patient.<br />
Churchgoers are likely to be further concerned by new guidelines that warn that employees<br />
face dismissal if they share their faith with colleagues at work.<br />
Employers have been given new advice in a campaign, funded by the Government’s<br />
equality watchdog, that says people who evangelise in the workplace are “highly likely”<br />
to be accused <strong>of</strong> harassment.<br />
<strong>The</strong> guidelines have been drawn up by the British Humanist Association (BHA), an<br />
atheist group, with the help <strong>of</strong> a £35,000 grant from the Equality and Human Rights Commission<br />
(EHRC), a taxpayer-funded body.<br />
Andrew Copson, director <strong>of</strong> education at the BHA, claimed that attempts to convert<br />
colleagues could amount to harassment under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief)<br />
Regulations 2003.<br />
He said: “<strong>The</strong> law specifically protects people from being intimidated or confronted<br />
with a hostile environment in the workplace.<br />
“Systematically undermining someone’s beliefs or persistently attempting to convert<br />
someone would lead to the creation <strong>of</strong> a hostile environment.”<br />
However, legal experts have attacked the guidelines as “nonsense” and Christian<br />
groups have condemned them as “propaganda”.<br />
Churchgoers interviewed in the ComRes poll said that they are already facing discrimination<br />
at work and one in 10 churchgoers said they have been rejected by family<br />
members because <strong>of</strong> their religious beliefs.<br />
As many as 44 per cent said they had been mocked by friends, neighbours or colleagues<br />
for being a Christian, and 19 per cent said they had been ignored or excluded for<br />
the same reason.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y also claimed that they are being discriminated against at work, with five per cent<br />
saying they had been turned down for promotion due to their faith. <strong>The</strong> same number said<br />
they had been reprimanded or cautioned at work for sharing their faith.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re has been a series <strong>of</strong> cases over recent months featuring Christians who have<br />
been suspended after expressing their religious views, including a teacher who complained<br />
that a staff training day was used to promote gay rights.<br />
Churchgoers believe that these incidents reflect growing intolerance towards Christianity<br />
in Britain.<br />
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article contains copyrighted material the use <strong>of</strong> which has not always<br />
been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our<br />
efforts to advance understanding <strong>of</strong> religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic,<br />
democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ <strong>of</strong> any<br />
such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 <strong>of</strong> the US Copyright Law. In accordance<br />
with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without pr<strong>of</strong>it to those who<br />
have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational<br />
purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish<br />
to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes <strong>of</strong> your own that go beyond “fair use”, you<br />
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly 23
Israel Update<br />
Ruth Nessim<br />
from<br />
CJFM Report for New Year 2009<br />
Tel: +972 4 9826932 • Cell: +972 544 914 017 from Israel 0544 914 017 • P.O.Box 269, 22102 Nahariya, Israel<br />
Hello again and Shalom from Israel,<br />
<strong>The</strong> last weeks seem to be a never ending saga, with one event following another in quick succession. We hardly finish one saga and<br />
the next one is already on the doorstep. Within one short week, three leading brothers in Israel died, and two weddings took place, so<br />
that believers were running up and down the country from funeral to funeral and wedding to wedding, and sometimes we were meeting<br />
people we had not seen for years, on a daily basis. In spite <strong>of</strong> the many problems, it proved that we were really one big family supporting<br />
each other in joy and in sorrow. It was interesting to see how both Jews and Arabs were present at all these events, rejoicing or sorrowing<br />
together. One <strong>of</strong> which was the wedding <strong>of</strong> Carlos and Tanya, with whom we came to Britain for the CFI conference last year. If you have<br />
never seen Arabs rejoicing, and Jews rejoicing with them, you haven’t lived yet! I felt worn out just from watching them.<br />
As I write this letter, I must confess that I am in a state <strong>of</strong> nearly complete exhaustion. Yesterday, daughter Debbie gave birth to her 6 th<br />
child, a little girl, and I had to go <strong>of</strong>f to Carmiel to look after Miriam’s two children while she went to see her sister in Beersheva Hospital.<br />
We also had to visit a sister who lost her husband, as the custom here is not only to go to the funeral, but also to visit the family afterwards.<br />
Yesterday, also, a little boy was born to a on-too prosperous new immigrant couple in our assembly, and we will be hosting a Brit-Milah,<br />
(circumcision) next Thursday. So amidst all the gladness <strong>of</strong> the weddings and sorrow <strong>of</strong> the funerals, we are also celebrating new life.<br />
While we are on the subject <strong>of</strong> New Life, you may remember that we told you about a sister who has been coming to our meeting for<br />
about a year. When we did the first chapter <strong>of</strong> 1 st John, she cried because she felt she had sinned much, and that she could not be forgiven.<br />
We told her about the dying thief on the cross, and how Jesus had forgiven even him. Recently, at a birthday party, she whispered to me<br />
that she had committed her life to Jesus finally, so this is the second person within three months, one Arab and one Jew! <strong>The</strong> Arab sister<br />
is now volunteering to do many jobs in the meetings, such as keeping the bathrooms clean, and looking after the kitchen. In spite <strong>of</strong> her<br />
many problems, she radiates!! We are overjoyed but are still waiting for Cindy to give in, the one who said she is obviously living in<br />
darkness and likes it that way.<br />
Najeeb with ABDM and Z Najeeband Ibrahim sharing about Yeshua with ABDM and Z.<br />
Perhaps the event <strong>of</strong> the month was Najeeb’s visit to “X”, a town on the West Bank, with his wife Elisabeth and his assistant, Ibrahim.<br />
Israeli Arabs are now allowed to visit “X” on Tuesdays, but Jews not yet! So I just had to stay and pray. <strong>The</strong>y went to see the situation<br />
on the ground and to take pictures. I could not hold back the tears when Najeeb phoned me the next day. He had gone to “Z”.’s house,<br />
(the former Hamas fighter). <strong>The</strong>re he was welcomed with open arms, and when he asked “Z” if he remembered him, his answer was,<br />
“How could I forget you when you laid your hand on my brow and prayed for me to recover” <strong>The</strong> conversation got round to me, and he<br />
begged Najeeb to bring me to him, “I must meet this woman for myself, I have heard so much about her! If she comes over the border,<br />
we will take charge and care for her!” (More Hamas body guards)<br />
Elisabeth with some <strong>of</strong><br />
Z’s Children<br />
How I would love to go, but <strong>of</strong> course, I cannot go to “X”, I would not be allowed, but when “Z” gets his leg fixed, Najeeb will take<br />
me to Jordan to meet him. He said that “Z” is a really lovely person, and like his brother ABDM, was happy to hear the Gospel from<br />
Najeeb and look at the scriptures. He took a Bible and many books, and said he really wanted to learn about Jesus as much as he could.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ir eyes were opened when they came to “enemy” Israel, and could not find their enemies, only friends! I just rejoice that the Gospel<br />
is reaching into the homes <strong>of</strong> former Hamas people because <strong>of</strong> Albert’s illness and death. I still cry for Albert, but thank God and now<br />
cry also tears <strong>of</strong> joy when I see what has come out <strong>of</strong> this, but I miss him terribly. While on this trip, they also visited the home <strong>of</strong> Rami<br />
and Manar, the Christian couple whose 8 year old son must be handed over to the family <strong>of</strong> his dead father. <strong>The</strong>y are trying to get out <strong>of</strong><br />
Palestine with their son. But with little success.<br />
<strong>The</strong> meetings have been very blessed with the teaching <strong>of</strong> our regular Teacher, “M”, and Najeeb or sometimes Ibrahim, his assistant<br />
Pastor. We have also had a visit from another Palestinian (the husband <strong>of</strong> the above family from the same area as ABDM and his brother),<br />
and rejoice that we are able to host our brothers from the other side. <strong>The</strong>y sang to us in Arabic and played Arabic songs, and there were<br />
also a number <strong>of</strong> prayers in Arabic as well as Hebrew and English.<br />
Quite a number <strong>of</strong> people have requested to go on our PDF list, and others on the Arad news list. If any <strong>of</strong> you would like to register, I<br />
am still compiling these two lists, so you can add your names if you wish to. And if any one wants to come <strong>of</strong>f the newsletter list, we will<br />
not be <strong>of</strong>fended, just hit the reply button and write in the subject line, Yes for PDF, or Yes for Arad news, Or Remove from Newsletter list!<br />
God bless you all and thanks for praying,<br />
In Yeshua,<br />
Avi, Esther and Ruth<br />
24 June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
“After eight days again his disciples<br />
were within, and Thomas with them:<br />
then came Jesus, the doors being shut,<br />
and stood in their midst, and said, ‘Peace<br />
be unto you’. <strong>The</strong>n he said to Thomas,<br />
‘Reach hither thy finger, and behold my<br />
hands; and reach hither thy hand, and<br />
thrust it into my side: and be not faithless,<br />
but believing’. And Thomas answered,<br />
‘My Lord and My God’. (John<br />
20:2628)<br />
When after his resurrection, Jesus appeared<br />
to his badly frightened, and dejected<br />
disciples, He showed them His scars. He ate<br />
fish with them, spoke to them and rolled up<br />
His sleeves and opened His robe to show<br />
them His actual scars in hands and side.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the things this story illustrates is<br />
that Jesus truly “has come and remains in the<br />
flesh”. One <strong>of</strong> the heresies <strong>of</strong> the early church<br />
was the Docetic teaching. Docetism, from<br />
the Greek word Dokeo-def. ‘to seem’, is the<br />
teaching that Jesus only seemed to be Incarnate,<br />
He really wasn’t ‘in the flesh’, He didn’t<br />
really suffer anything, (God cannot suffer)<br />
and He only seemed to be Incarnate. <strong>The</strong> Koran<br />
<strong>of</strong> Islam incorporates Docetic teaching,<br />
in their emphatic denial that Jesus didn’t really<br />
die on the cross, Judas died in his place!<br />
<strong>The</strong> Surrealist painter Salvador Dali did a<br />
version <strong>of</strong> the Last Supper, which featured a<br />
Docetic Jesus - in the painting, you can see<br />
right through Him to the wall behind him!<br />
This story and indeed much <strong>of</strong> the resurrection<br />
narrative in John’s gospel would be<br />
an antidote to this heresy. Truly, Jesus Christ<br />
has come (and remains) in the flesh! <strong>The</strong> elements<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Gospel are so physical! <strong>The</strong><br />
cross, the heavy stone rolled across the grave,<br />
the fact that John had to stoop to enter the<br />
tomb on that resurrection morning, the sight<br />
<strong>of</strong> the empty grave clothes, which made both<br />
John and Peter instantly believe. One can almost<br />
smell the breakfast that Jesus cooked on<br />
a coal fire for the disciples, the fish Jesus ate<br />
in their presence, and <strong>of</strong> course the scars<br />
in Jesus hands and side, ”Handle me…”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Gospel <strong>of</strong> Jesus is far from ethereal;<br />
it is set in this world <strong>of</strong> time, space,<br />
matter, dates, historical events, and persons,<br />
“He was crucified under Pontius Pilate…”<br />
Peter and John, we are told, both believed<br />
upon seeing the empty grave clothes,<br />
but for Thomas it was the sight <strong>of</strong> the scars<br />
<strong>of</strong> Jesus, that made him into a believer. It was<br />
upon seeing those scars that this monotheistic,<br />
devout Jew made an otherwise unthinkable<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>ession, “My Lord and my God!”<br />
What kind <strong>of</strong> a God is the God <strong>of</strong> Thomas<br />
and the apostles God as a human A scarred<br />
God A God who allows his human enemies<br />
to inflict upon Him scars We worship a God<br />
Pastor Bill Randles<br />
P U T Y O U R H A N D I N M Y S I D E . . .<br />
M e d i t a t i o n o n t h e S c a r s o f J e s u s<br />
By: Pastor Bill Randles<br />
who has entered completely into the human<br />
condition, with all <strong>of</strong> its joys as well as all <strong>of</strong><br />
its sorrows.<br />
What is it to be human, if not to be<br />
scarred Who hasn’t borne the scars <strong>of</strong> disappointment,<br />
guilt, shame, frustration, futility,<br />
and betrayal time and again in this life<br />
To be human is inevitably to be hurt, whether<br />
the wounds be self inflicted or through the<br />
sinfulness <strong>of</strong> others, as Jesus said, ”It is impossible<br />
but that <strong>of</strong>fenses should come.”<br />
But in the Gospel we see that the God<br />
we worship has entered into the suffering<br />
<strong>of</strong> humanity, the cross was an identification<br />
with us, in guilt, shame, penalty and agony.<br />
<strong>The</strong> scars <strong>of</strong> Jesus bear witness to this.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the qualifications <strong>of</strong> Jesus as our<br />
heavenly high priest is his ability to know<br />
first hand our limitations, temptations and<br />
the suffering that sin has caused to abound in<br />
our world. Jesus sits at the right hand <strong>of</strong> God<br />
in heaven and bears the scars <strong>of</strong> the cross!<br />
Paul warned us that the Gospel <strong>of</strong> the<br />
scarred God would be a scandal to both<br />
Greek and Jew. <strong>The</strong> Greeks believed that<br />
‘the true God’ would be pure spirit - pure<br />
logic - impassable (beyond and incapable<br />
<strong>of</strong> suffering) and completely transcendent,<br />
unknowable. To the Jews, God is (and can<br />
only be) the omnipotent, invincible, awesome<br />
God <strong>of</strong> power and might! Where is the<br />
wisdom in a crucified God How could an<br />
all - powerful God be scarred What philosophical<br />
answers could there be in a Divine<br />
“man <strong>of</strong> sorrows, acquainted with grief”<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Jews require a sign, and the Greeks<br />
seek after wisdom: but we preach Christcrucified,<br />
unto the Jews a stumbling<br />
block and to the Greeks foolishness.”<br />
(I Cor. 1:2223)<br />
Neither Jew or Greek can discern in Jesus’<br />
scars what Thomas did. <strong>The</strong>y saw no power,<br />
nor wisdom in the crucified, scarred God. To<br />
see what Thomas and countless millions have<br />
seen down through the ages takes a revelation<br />
from God.If you can see God in the scarred,<br />
crucified Jesus, if you can see the power <strong>of</strong><br />
GOd and the wisdom <strong>of</strong> God in the cross,<br />
that is the sign that you are “being saved”.<br />
“But unto those who are called, both<br />
Jews and Greeks, Christ the power <strong>of</strong><br />
God, and the Wisdom <strong>of</strong> God” (1 Cor.<br />
1:24)<br />
To the demand <strong>of</strong> sinful man for answers<br />
to the problem <strong>of</strong> evil, death and<br />
suffering, God doesn’t <strong>of</strong>fer a philosophy,<br />
or a definitive and satisfactory thesis, he<br />
presents Jesus crucified, as the answer.<br />
To the <strong>of</strong>t-raised complaint that rises<br />
from sinners - “If God is an all powerful being…how<br />
could he allow…(fill in the blank)<br />
Guest Author<br />
Where was God at Dachau, or at Treblinka<br />
Where was He on 9-11 When will this supposed<br />
God show us His power and Love”<br />
<strong>The</strong> reply from heaven is nothing more or<br />
nothing less than the “despised and rejected<br />
…man <strong>of</strong> sorrows, fully acquainted with<br />
grief”, Jesus and His scars. Can you see the<br />
Wisdom and the power in this<br />
What answer for suffering and evil<br />
would satisfy man anyway If he eradicated<br />
all evil right now by His power (He could do<br />
this!) He would have to destroy everybody!<br />
Evil is not a substance out there somewhere;<br />
it is a plague that thrives in the hearts <strong>of</strong> all<br />
men everywhere.<br />
<strong>The</strong> God given answer and the power is<br />
revealed in that, to save sinful man, He would<br />
become a man and enter into our suffering,<br />
He would take responsibility before God for<br />
our sins. <strong>The</strong> scars <strong>of</strong> Jesus testify to this.<br />
Edward Shillito “got it”. He was an<br />
English Christian who endured the horrors<br />
<strong>of</strong> the First World War, and afterward<br />
wrote a poem which speaks powerfully to<br />
the meaning <strong>of</strong> Jesus’ scarred hands and<br />
side; He called it JESUS OF THE SCARS,<br />
If we have never sought, we seek <strong>The</strong>e now:<br />
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;<br />
We must have sight <strong>of</strong> thorn pricks on Thy brow;<br />
We must have thee, O Jesus <strong>of</strong> the scars.<br />
<strong>The</strong> heavens frighten us; they are too calm;<br />
In all the universe we have no place;<br />
Our wounds are hurting us, where is the balm<br />
Lord Jesus, by Thy scars we claim Thy grace.<br />
If when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,<br />
Only reveal those hands, that side <strong>of</strong> Thine;<br />
We know today what wounds are, have no fear,<br />
Show us the scars, we know the countersign.<br />
<strong>The</strong> other gods were strong, but thou wast weak;<br />
<strong>The</strong>y rode, but thou didst stumble to a throne,<br />
But to our wounds, only God’s wounds can speak,<br />
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.<br />
One day soon, the Jews who seek a<br />
sign will actually have a “Thomas experience”.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y don’t believe in Jesus right now,<br />
He wasn’t powerful enough for them, He<br />
was crucified - He didn’t bring peace to the<br />
World, so they can’t see God in Him! But we<br />
are told by the prophet Zechariah, that in the<br />
last days:<br />
“<strong>The</strong>y shall look upon whom they have<br />
pierced, and shall morn Him as an only<br />
son, and shall be in bitterness for Him<br />
as one is in bitterness for his firstborn”<br />
(Zech. 12:10)<br />
Like Thomas, seeing the scars for Jesus<br />
will cause them to believe, and own Him as<br />
“Lord and God”. We are told that on that day<br />
a fountain shall open up for cleansing:<br />
“In that day there shall be a fountain<br />
opened to the house <strong>of</strong> David and to the<br />
inhabitants <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jerusalem</strong> for sin and uncleanliness”<br />
(Zech. 13:1)<br />
Thus the picture in John <strong>of</strong> the handling<br />
<strong>of</strong> Jesus’ scars is a picture <strong>of</strong> the consummation<br />
<strong>of</strong> history, the final salvation <strong>of</strong> Israel<br />
and the end <strong>of</strong> the world. What a God! What<br />
a Savior! My Lord and My God!<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly 25
Guest Author<br />
Paul M c Guire<br />
T h e C o m i n g<br />
P e r s e c u t i o n <strong>of</strong> C h r i s t i a n s<br />
i n t h e C o m i n g O n e W o r l d G o v e r n m e n t<br />
world order, the United Nation, the North<br />
American Union, the Federal Reserve,<br />
RFID technology and foreign nations like<br />
Russia, India and China can be pr<strong>of</strong>iled as<br />
“rightwing extremists,” even though all <strong>of</strong><br />
these things are theoretically separate from<br />
the U.S. government. In addition, even if<br />
these entities did have something to do with<br />
the U.S. Government, U.S. citizen’s have a<br />
Constitutional right under the First Amendment<br />
to peacefully, and in a law abiding<br />
manner exercise their freedom <strong>of</strong> speech,<br />
freedom <strong>of</strong> religion and freedom <strong>of</strong> the<br />
press without fear government interference.<br />
In addition, in a manner very similar to<br />
the Hitler Youth, the Congress <strong>of</strong> the United<br />
States is passing a bill that is referred to<br />
as “Obama Youth Bill.” This bill will put<br />
millions <strong>of</strong> young people in the streets <strong>of</strong><br />
America to act as agents for Obama. Yet,<br />
in the legal language <strong>of</strong> the bill there are<br />
many passages which forbid any young<br />
man or woman who is a practicing Christian<br />
and attends church, volunteers for<br />
church ministries, attends or leads worship<br />
services and Bible studies or shares his or<br />
her faith in Christ from being part <strong>of</strong> this<br />
“Obama Youth” or national service corps.<br />
In other words, practicing Christians are<br />
not allowed to become a part <strong>of</strong> the national<br />
service corps. Based on the history <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Hitler Youth, it is not difficult to understand<br />
why this is put in the national service corps<br />
bills.<br />
For all the Evangelical Pastors who<br />
promoted President Obama, look carefully<br />
at the language <strong>of</strong> the bill. This bill’s title is<br />
called “Generations Invigorating Volunteerism<br />
and Education” (GIVE). It forms what<br />
some are calling “Obama’s Youth Brigade”<br />
and his goal is to enroll over one million<br />
youth. But, look at the anti-Christian nature<br />
<strong>of</strong> the bill.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bill would forbid any student in<br />
the brigade to participate in “engaging in<br />
religious instruction, conducting worship<br />
services, providing instruction as part <strong>of</strong><br />
a program that includes mandatory religious<br />
instruction or worship, constructing<br />
or operating facilities devoted to religious<br />
instruction or worship, maintaining facilities<br />
primarily or inherently devoted to religious<br />
instruction or worship, or engaging<br />
in any form <strong>of</strong> religious proselytization.”<br />
That means no church attendance or sharby<br />
Paul M c Guire<br />
M<br />
y spiritual mentor, Dr. Francis<br />
Schaeffer, who has been<br />
called the greatest Evangelical<br />
theologian <strong>of</strong> the last 100<br />
years, warned that as the anarchy increased<br />
in our world due to moral relativism, that<br />
totalitarianism would rise to control the<br />
chaos. Schaeffer issued that warning over<br />
30 years ago and said we had a brief window<br />
in which to preserve our religious freedoms.<br />
Dr. Schaeffer believed that the greatest contributing<br />
factor to the rise <strong>of</strong> totalitarianism<br />
was the fact that the Evangelical Church<br />
was accommodating to a growing humanist<br />
culture and not standing for Biblical truth.<br />
Nowhere is that more apparent than in the<br />
“Emergent Church Movement” and in the<br />
“Seeker-Friendly Movement,” but it is epidemic<br />
in the Evangelical culture as a whole.<br />
Tragically, what Schaeffer predicted would<br />
happen in the church and the culture is now<br />
happening before our eyes. Schaeffer stated<br />
that it did not matter whether or not the totalitarianism<br />
came from the left or the right<br />
because the results would be the same.<br />
With tears in my eyes, the words <strong>of</strong><br />
Dr. Schaeffer reverberate in my mind, as I<br />
watch the rise <strong>of</strong> a global totalitarian state<br />
and the great apostasy that the Apostle<br />
warned about in II <strong>The</strong>ssalonians. For the<br />
most part the Evangelical Church in America<br />
and Europe is the Laodecian Church that<br />
Christ warned <strong>of</strong> in the Book <strong>of</strong> Revelation.<br />
It is this the same Laodecian Church that<br />
existed in Nazi Germany before the Third<br />
Reich took control. <strong>The</strong> result <strong>of</strong> the Laodecian<br />
Church is the explosive growth <strong>of</strong> a<br />
humanist and world socialist government.<br />
This “Fourth Beast” which Daniel warned<br />
about will persecute true Bible believing<br />
Christians in America, Great Britain and<br />
around the world before the Tribulation begins.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Church is raptured before a literal<br />
Seven year Tribulation Period, but prior to<br />
that time there will be worldwide persecution<br />
in a manner that I do not believe most<br />
Evangelical Churches and their leaders are<br />
prepared for.<br />
In the United States, <strong>The</strong> Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> Homeland Security issued its “Rightwing<br />
Extremism: Current Economic and<br />
Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in<br />
Radicalization and Recruitment” Report.<br />
In addition, in many States, like Missouri,<br />
“Fusion Centers” have been set up based<br />
26 June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly<br />
on the MIAC Strategic Report – <strong>The</strong> Modern<br />
Militia Movement. This Government<br />
Report alleges that a violent “rightwing<br />
extremist” movement is trying to take over<br />
the nation. According to the definitions in<br />
these reports, Bible believing Christians<br />
are labeled as “rightwing extremists.” <strong>The</strong><br />
two reports appear to be anti-Christian propaganda<br />
created by left-wing and militant<br />
humanist “think tanks.” <strong>The</strong>ir strategies are<br />
reminiscent <strong>of</strong> Adolph Hitler’s “Enabling<br />
Powers” laws which the occult Third Reich<br />
used after the “Reichstag (Parliament building)<br />
was burned down by “terrorists. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
“Enabling Powers” gave Hitler the legal<br />
power to pr<strong>of</strong>ile and arrest anyone who was<br />
even suspected <strong>of</strong> being critical <strong>of</strong> the Nazi<br />
Party. Through using the “Enabling Powers”<br />
laws to pr<strong>of</strong>ile anyone as a potential<br />
terrorist, Hitler was able to grab dictatorial<br />
control <strong>of</strong> Germany in a matter months and<br />
killing 6-10 million Jews and Christians.<br />
Many civil liberties groups such as the<br />
ACLU and the Rutherford Institute headed,<br />
by the Attorney John Whitehead have <strong>of</strong> expressed<br />
grave concerns about the increasing<br />
“Police State” powers that began with<br />
the Bush Administration under the guise <strong>of</strong><br />
anti-terrorist legislation. Today a vast array<br />
<strong>of</strong> government agencies are using a wide<br />
range <strong>of</strong> anti-terrorist legalization to pr<strong>of</strong>ile<br />
and track law abiding citizen’s in something<br />
out <strong>of</strong> George Orwell’s novel “1984” which<br />
warned <strong>of</strong> the danger <strong>of</strong> totalitarianism<br />
built on the fear <strong>of</strong> terrorism. Orwell who<br />
was connected with the British Intelligence<br />
Agency MI5 saw the dangers <strong>of</strong> a global intelligence<br />
apparatus and attempted to warn<br />
the world about it before it was too late.<br />
<strong>The</strong> DHS “Rightwing Extremism:<br />
Current Economic and Political Climate<br />
Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and<br />
Recruitment” appears to target and pr<strong>of</strong>ile<br />
taxpaying and law abiding Americans who<br />
are conservative, populist politically, or<br />
Christian in their religious faith. <strong>The</strong> Report<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>iles all American’s who disagree<br />
with plans for world currency and a new<br />
world order. Millions <strong>of</strong> American’s are<br />
being pr<strong>of</strong>iled as terrorists, bomb-making<br />
militia members and white supremacists<br />
simply because they are critical <strong>of</strong> certain<br />
institutions that are technically completely<br />
separate from the American government.<br />
For example, American’s who express<br />
criticism <strong>of</strong> world government, the new
ing your faith.<br />
Here is part <strong>of</strong> the HR1388 Bill’s wording:<br />
SEC. 1304. PROHIBITED ACTIVI-<br />
TIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGA-<br />
NIZATIONS.<br />
Section 125 (42 U.S.C. 12575) is<br />
amended to read as follows:<br />
SEC. 125. PROHIBITED ACTIVI-<br />
TIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGA-<br />
NIZATIONS.<br />
(7) Engaging in religious instruction,<br />
conducting worship services, providing<br />
instruction as part <strong>of</strong> a program<br />
that includes mandatory religious instruction<br />
or worship, constructing or<br />
operating facilities devoted to religious<br />
instruction or worship, maintaining facilities<br />
primarily or inherently devoted<br />
to religious instruction or worship,<br />
or engaging in any form <strong>of</strong> religious<br />
proselytization.<br />
In other words Christians would not<br />
be allowed to be part <strong>of</strong> this Obama Youth<br />
Movement. Why do you think that is Dr.<br />
Orly Taitz, is a female attorney who lives<br />
in Mission Viejo, California. She is also a<br />
dentist and speaks five languages. According<br />
to an interview she gave in WorldNet-<br />
Daily, she was born and raised in Kishinev,<br />
the capital <strong>of</strong> the Republic <strong>of</strong> Moldova, a<br />
country in Eastern Europe that was formerly<br />
part <strong>of</strong> the Soviet Union. She compares<br />
the “Obama Youth Bill” to the Soviet Union<br />
which used children for slave labor and indoctrination.<br />
Dr. Taitz said, “Parents were not allowed<br />
to home school their children. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
were forced to enroll them in government<br />
schools. From the age <strong>of</strong> 6, all children were<br />
required to become young communists.<br />
You had to send your child to school, and<br />
your child had to be a member <strong>of</strong> the young<br />
communists,” Taitz said. “<strong>The</strong>re were no<br />
children who were not members. You had<br />
to do it. If you were one <strong>of</strong> the best, you<br />
become a member <strong>of</strong> the Communist Party.<br />
It was constant brainwashing. <strong>The</strong>re was no<br />
choice, and people resented that. <strong>The</strong>y were<br />
scared to speak up.”<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are parallels between what happened<br />
in the Soviet Union and Nazi, Germany<br />
and what is happening in America now.<br />
Bible believing Christians are being pr<strong>of</strong>iled<br />
as dangerous “rightwing extremists.”<br />
In Communist China churches and Christians<br />
are not allowed to preach or teach on<br />
Bible prophecy. In the same way Christians<br />
who believe in “end time’s prophecies” are<br />
to be pr<strong>of</strong>iled. <strong>The</strong> same thing is now happening<br />
in America.<br />
Paul M c Guire<br />
Guest Author<br />
<strong>The</strong>se “unnamed” “rightwing extremists,<br />
a term which is used over 47 times appears<br />
to pr<strong>of</strong>ile any taxpaying U.S. citizen<br />
who may hold one or more <strong>of</strong> the following<br />
beliefs and could be classified on an<br />
elaborate government computer network as<br />
a “rightwing extremist, militia member or<br />
terrorist. Any one <strong>of</strong> the following beliefs<br />
could classify an individual or groups as a<br />
terrorist:<br />
• Pro-life<br />
• Critical <strong>of</strong> the United Nations<br />
• Critical <strong>of</strong> the New World Order<br />
• Critical <strong>of</strong> the Federal Reserve<br />
• Homosexual marriage<br />
• Oppose the North American Union<br />
(which <strong>of</strong>ficially does not exist)<br />
• Critical <strong>of</strong> the income tax<br />
• Oppose illegal immigration<br />
• Fear foreign powers such as Communist<br />
China, Iran, Russia and India<br />
• If you are concerned that China and India<br />
are prospering economically while<br />
America is on the down turn<br />
• Critical <strong>of</strong> any <strong>of</strong> President Obama’s poli<br />
cies (abortion, homosexual marriage, etc.)<br />
• Concern about RFID chips<br />
• Belief in Bible prophecy or “End Time<br />
Prophecies”<br />
What is interesting about the above list<br />
is that a great deal with it has to do with<br />
things that have nothing to do with the individual<br />
nation. <strong>The</strong> only possible reason any<br />
national government would be concerned<br />
about its citizen’s objecting to things like<br />
new world order, world government, the<br />
United Nations, homosexual marriage, a<br />
regional global government like the North<br />
American Union, abortion, RFID chips and<br />
belief in end times prophecies is because<br />
this is what they are planning to promote in<br />
the near future. Otherwise why be bothered<br />
about it<br />
I would suggest to you that Bible prophecy<br />
is being fulfilled far faster than most <strong>of</strong><br />
us realize and that this why governments<br />
around the world are concerned about these<br />
things.<br />
Make no mistake about it across the<br />
U.S., Europe, Australia and other regions,<br />
Bible believing Christian are going to be<br />
persecuted before the Tribulation Period.<br />
However many Christians and Christian<br />
leaders think that if they “give up land for<br />
peace,” they will be left alone. That does<br />
not work for Israel and it will not work for<br />
the Church. Getting up and apologizing<br />
on national television for supporting traditional<br />
marriage as some American ministers<br />
have done, is not going to earn you acceptance<br />
from the world. Anymore than Israel<br />
giving up land for peace has brought about<br />
an end to terrorism. <strong>The</strong> answer is to obey<br />
the words <strong>of</strong> Jesus Christ when He tells us<br />
to “occupy until I come.” This is not a plea<br />
for a kind <strong>of</strong> Christian reconstructionism, it<br />
is simply Jesus telling us to faithfully proclaim<br />
the truth in season and out <strong>of</strong> season<br />
until He comes for His Church. Maranatha!<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is a coming a wave <strong>of</strong> persecution<br />
against Bible believing Christians<br />
in Western nations such as Great Britain,<br />
France, Germany, the United States and<br />
other nations. <strong>The</strong> Church in all <strong>of</strong> these<br />
nations is totally unprepared for the level<br />
and intensity <strong>of</strong> the assault that is to come<br />
against true Christians. First, <strong>of</strong> all the primary<br />
reason for such persecution is that<br />
the Church in Western nations has in many<br />
cases forsaken the true God and has turned<br />
to false gods. <strong>The</strong>y have chosen to leave the<br />
truth <strong>of</strong> God’s Word for the philosophy <strong>of</strong><br />
humanism. <strong>The</strong>y call themselves and Christians,<br />
but in reality they are worshippers <strong>of</strong><br />
what Dr. Francis Schaeffer used to call the<br />
“gods <strong>of</strong> personal peace and prosperity.”<br />
Pravda, the leading publication in Russia,<br />
which is still a Communist country,<br />
published an article by a blogger Mat Rodina.<br />
Rodina writes. “American Capitalism<br />
Gone with a Whimper,” dated April<br />
24, 2009. Rodina writes, “<strong>The</strong>n their faith<br />
in God was destroyed, until their churches,<br />
all tens <strong>of</strong> thousands <strong>of</strong> different “branches<br />
and denominations” were for the most part<br />
little more than Sunday circuses and their<br />
televangelists and top protestant mega<br />
preachers were more than happy to sell out<br />
their souls and flocks to be on the “winning”<br />
side <strong>of</strong> one pseudo Marxist politician<br />
or another. <strong>The</strong>ir flocks may complain, but<br />
when explained that they would be on the<br />
“winning” side, their flocks were ever so<br />
quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly<br />
power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches<br />
are scandalously liberalized in America.”<br />
Like it or not, whatever his motives,<br />
what Rodina has written in Pravda is true<br />
and this is why we are on the verge <strong>of</strong> an<br />
intense persecution in America and other<br />
Western nations. In America, we recently<br />
had a Pastor fined in San Diego County for<br />
holding a small Bible study in the privacy <strong>of</strong><br />
his home. A government worker allegedly<br />
asked his daughter things like “Do they say<br />
Praise the Lord” Do they sing Christian<br />
hymns” and “Do they pray etc.” By God’s<br />
grace it appears this fine will be rescinded<br />
but for how long<br />
In the United States we have Hate<br />
Crime legislation that will result in the arrest<br />
<strong>of</strong> thousands <strong>of</strong> Christians and their<br />
pastors, when this legislation is enforced.<br />
Hate Crime legislation will shut down entire<br />
churches and some pastors will go to<br />
prison for preaching the truth <strong>of</strong> the Gospel.<br />
In addition, we have stealth versions <strong>of</strong><br />
what is called the “Fairness Doctrine” ready<br />
to be legislated. This legislation will effectively<br />
shut down the preaching <strong>of</strong> God’s<br />
Word when it comes to morality or simply<br />
saying, “Jesus Christ is the Way the Truth<br />
and the Life no man comes to the Father but<br />
through Me.”<br />
June 1, 2009 the Associated Press ran<br />
an international headline <strong>of</strong> “Accused killer<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly 27
Guest Article – Continued<br />
raged against abortion. <strong>The</strong> story began by<br />
saying, “Ex-wife says suspect in doctor’s<br />
murder had virulent anti-government views<br />
WICHITA, Kan. - Scott Roeder harbored<br />
a burning, “eye-for-an-eye” anger toward<br />
abortion doctors. He once subscribed to<br />
a magazine suggesting “justifiable homicide”<br />
against them, and apparently likened<br />
Dr. George Tiller to the Nazi death-camp<br />
doctor Josef Mengele.” Now, I do not know<br />
<strong>of</strong> any Bible Christian who would in any<br />
way condone, approve <strong>of</strong> or promote the<br />
killing <strong>of</strong> Dr. George Tiller. I certainly do<br />
not, and I have never met anyone who does.<br />
But, pay very close attention to the wording<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Associated Press article when it<br />
uses terms like “rage against abortion” and<br />
“virulent anti-government views.” This<br />
is almost word for word the terminology<br />
that the Department <strong>of</strong> Homeland Security<br />
uses in classifying a terrorist and it is the<br />
legal language defining anyone who could<br />
be prosecuted for a “Hate Crime.” If you<br />
disagree with the United States government<br />
you are now “anti-government” and a terrorist.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is clear cut strategy coming to<br />
play here.<br />
<strong>The</strong> United States Department <strong>of</strong><br />
Homeland Security, and what are called<br />
“Fusion Centers” issued documents which<br />
classify individuals or groups who are<br />
“pro-life,” “concerned about a single issue<br />
like the sanctity <strong>of</strong> marriage,” “critical <strong>of</strong><br />
the United Nations,” and groups and people<br />
who believe in “End Times Bible Prophecy”<br />
are pr<strong>of</strong>iled as terrorists and “anti-government.”<br />
According to these publications, if<br />
you are critical <strong>of</strong> “Communist countries,”<br />
critical <strong>of</strong> the Federal Reserve,’ “critical <strong>of</strong><br />
Obama,” critical <strong>of</strong> the economic prosperity<br />
<strong>of</strong> China and India,” or any other single<br />
issue than you are “anti-government” and a<br />
“terrorist.”<br />
Now, anyone with a third grade education<br />
would understand that this is in clear<br />
violation <strong>of</strong> the Constitution <strong>of</strong> the United<br />
States and the Bill <strong>of</strong> Rights. In America,<br />
we have the Constitutional rights <strong>of</strong> “freedom<br />
<strong>of</strong> religion,” “freedom <strong>of</strong> the press”<br />
and “freedom <strong>of</strong> speech.” But these Constitutional<br />
freedoms are no longer legal<br />
certainties because the Constitution is<br />
perceived as an “evolving document” and<br />
judges are appointed who enact law based<br />
on their own feelings and international law.<br />
In this Alice in Wonderland legal world,<br />
any law is possible. Any law!<br />
<strong>The</strong> U.S. Government passed legislation<br />
for what is called the “Americorps,”<br />
which some critics are calling a potential<br />
“Hitler Youth Movement.” According to<br />
the law, if you are part <strong>of</strong> a church, attend<br />
worship services, sing in a choir or share<br />
your faith in Jesus Christ, than you are not<br />
allowed to be a part <strong>of</strong> the Americorps program<br />
which means you would be denied<br />
certain jobs and government benefits. This<br />
is just the tip <strong>of</strong> the iceberg.<br />
In nations like France, Germany, the<br />
United States, Great Britain, Australia and<br />
Canada there is sweeping legislation designed<br />
to restrict, fine and imprison Christian’s<br />
who believe the Bible literally. In Germany<br />
you had Christian Home Schooling<br />
children seized from their homes and sent<br />
away to secret psychiatric hospitals while<br />
their Christian mothers were strip searched<br />
by “storm troopers.” German police now<br />
escort German home schooling children to<br />
public school because the German courts<br />
have ruled that Germany cannot tolerate<br />
“parallel societies,” which simply means<br />
that the German government does not want<br />
Christian children taught Christian morality<br />
and a belief in God. <strong>The</strong>y want all children<br />
<strong>of</strong> the German State, as Hitler did, to<br />
be taught humanism and an anything goes<br />
sexual “morality.”<br />
Christians must stop being so naïve and<br />
understand that this is all part <strong>of</strong> an organized<br />
global plan driven by organizations<br />
like UNESCO, the United Nations and international<br />
legal documents like the U.N.<br />
Convention <strong>of</strong> the Rights <strong>of</strong> the Child.<br />
A friend <strong>of</strong> mine, and prominent Constitutional<br />
authority, John Whitehead, founder<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Rutherford Institute, recently wrote a<br />
legal opinion <strong>of</strong> what happens under Martial<br />
Law. Under Martial Law, Whitehead<br />
explained all <strong>of</strong> your legal rights are gone.<br />
Thus, if you have been arbitrarily labeled<br />
a terrorist because you believe in “Bible<br />
Prophecy,” you can be arrested without any<br />
appeal or trial.<br />
Christian’s in America are very naïve,<br />
they have little or no understanding <strong>of</strong> the<br />
realities <strong>of</strong> history. What happened in Nazi<br />
Germany, can easily happen here. In fact,<br />
there are many disturbing parallels between<br />
what is happening here economically, theologically<br />
and politically and what happened<br />
during the Weimar Republic.<br />
This is how it will play out. You are<br />
beginning to see very quickly two kinds <strong>of</strong><br />
Christians emerge in the United States and<br />
Europe. First, you will see an “Emergent<br />
Church,” that goes with the flow <strong>of</strong> humanistic<br />
secularism. In Nazi Germany, the term<br />
“Emerging <strong>The</strong>ology” was a term that was<br />
actually used. This will become the State<br />
approved Church, like the one Hitler approved<br />
<strong>of</strong> in Germany and currently exists<br />
in China. This type <strong>of</strong> Christian Church will<br />
be approved by a totalitarian state because<br />
it will empower that state through its complicity.<br />
Secondly, you will have the true Bible<br />
believing Church that will be persecuted<br />
because it stands for Biblical truth. This true<br />
Church will largely be driven underground<br />
as it is in China.<br />
It is absolutely crucial that we perceive<br />
current events through the lens <strong>of</strong> Scripture.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bible is very clear about what is going<br />
to happen in the last days. <strong>The</strong>re will be a<br />
one world economic system, a one world<br />
government and a one world religion. All <strong>of</strong><br />
that “Beast” system is emerging before our<br />
very eyes. Christian pastors and individual<br />
Christians who believe that they will find<br />
safety through accommodation to the culture<br />
are no different than the Jews who believe<br />
that giving up land will bring about peace.<br />
Both Christians who claim to know their<br />
Bible and Jews who believe a two-state solution<br />
and surrendering <strong>Jerusalem</strong> will lead<br />
to peace and safety will quickly discover<br />
that accommodation leads to persecution,<br />
death and slaughter. Let us remember that<br />
both Jews and Christians were saying right<br />
up until their deaths “it can’t happen here.”<br />
This is what most American Christians are<br />
saying, “It can’t happen here.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> fate <strong>of</strong> Israel and the fate <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Christian Church are inexorably linked together.<br />
<strong>The</strong> failure to stand for Israel by the<br />
Christian Church in America could easily<br />
lead to a terrorist attack which would bring<br />
in Martial Law and terrible persecution.<br />
In America I constantly here Christians<br />
say that “we are going to be Raptured out <strong>of</strong><br />
here” before any <strong>of</strong> that happens. That is not<br />
sound exegesis. I believe the Bible teaches<br />
a Pre-Tribulation Rapture. I believe that<br />
Christ, the Bridegroom, is coming to get<br />
His Bride, the Church before the seven year<br />
Tribulation Period occurs. I do not believe<br />
that the Church will be here during the Tribulation<br />
and I do not believe that the Church<br />
will see the revealing <strong>of</strong> the Antichrist. But,<br />
we must remember that Jesus Christ and<br />
the Apostle Paul never taught that the Rapture<br />
was strictly an American Rapture. <strong>The</strong><br />
Bible does not teach that the minute things<br />
get difficult in “America” that God is going<br />
to Rapture the American Church. <strong>The</strong> Bible<br />
simply does not teach this. Persecution<br />
and tribulation (not the Tribulation Period)<br />
are coming very quickly and the American<br />
Church, especially, must be prepared in<br />
practical ways. <strong>The</strong> Bible does not teach<br />
fatalism. It matters very much to God what<br />
we do now. Jesus Christ said, “Occupy until<br />
I come.” That word occupy has many implications,<br />
which does not include attempting<br />
to establish a theocracy. Jesus is coming<br />
very soon! Israel is God’s prophetic time<br />
clock. <strong>The</strong> nation s are about to be judged.<br />
But, we have been called to minister the<br />
Gospel Jesus Christ fearlessly. However,<br />
we must wake up! <strong>The</strong> hour is far later than<br />
we think. <strong>The</strong> Bridegroom cometh. Even so<br />
come quickly Lord Jesus!<br />
*Paul McGuire is a speaker at Calvary<br />
Chapel Bible prophecy conferences, a syndicated<br />
radio talk show host, television commentator,<br />
college pr<strong>of</strong>essor and author <strong>of</strong> 16 books<br />
including “<strong>The</strong> Day the Dollar Died.” paulmcguire.com<br />
28 June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly
Letters & Comments<br />
M a t t. 24:24 q u e s t i o n<br />
Jacob,<br />
My wife asked me a question about<br />
Matt 24:24 “..so as to lead astray, if possible,<br />
even the elect.” I can’t yet make sense <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Greek tenses, voices, etc, to know if it is saying:<br />
Negatively it is possible, but not probable.<br />
Affirmatively it is possible, remotely<br />
possible, or not at all possible etc.<br />
This summary I found on the internet<br />
seems correct:<br />
“If this verse is referring to an “elect” it is<br />
also saying that they can’t be deceived about<br />
FALSE CHRIST’S AND FALSE PROPH-<br />
ETS. It DOES NOT SAY they can’t be deceived<br />
about other things, since we have referred<br />
to those scriptures that show the whole<br />
world has been deceived and that the church<br />
has been subject to deception.”<br />
Could you tell me how you view this<br />
passage in the Greek text<br />
In Jesus,<br />
John Dunn<br />
Reply:<br />
Hi John<br />
Greetings in Jesus.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ‘voice’ is passive (planasai = ‘cause<br />
to error’; not exactly deceive) and the ‘mood’<br />
(ei dunaton; if possible or co-equally if it were<br />
possible) indicates it is not possible for the elect<br />
to be deceived into believing in the anti-christ.<br />
<strong>The</strong> context and co-text tells us that the<br />
elect (kai tous eklektos = ‘even the chosen’)<br />
are defined in the context by the co-text (the<br />
following verse 25) as those who heed the<br />
warnings given by Jesus beforehand in the<br />
previous verse (verse 24).<br />
Simply stated, the true elect can not be<br />
deceived into belief in the anti christ because<br />
and only because the true elect are those who<br />
forewarned by Jesus take on board His warning.<br />
<strong>The</strong> attempt to deceive them however<br />
will be made by the enemy. In the over-all<br />
context <strong>of</strong> Matthew’s Gospel moreover, the<br />
elect should not be confused with or hastily<br />
identified as all <strong>of</strong> those claiming to be believers<br />
(eg Matthew 7:22); Matthew 24 tells<br />
us many pr<strong>of</strong>essing Christians will be misled<br />
(Matthew 24: 5).<br />
In Matthew’s version <strong>of</strong> <strong>The</strong> Olivet Discourse,<br />
Verse 24 must also be interpreted in<br />
light <strong>of</strong> verses 10 & 11 where the same term<br />
in a different form (planasousin) is used.<br />
BEFORE the ultimate false prophet points<br />
people to the ultimate anti christ, false prophets<br />
will already be deceiving the church and<br />
many who had a true faith will ‘stumble’ in it<br />
Your Letters and<br />
Comments<br />
(literally ‘be scandalized’ by spiritual seduction<br />
in verse 10; usually translated as ‘will<br />
fall away’ but the actual term is not apostacize,<br />
although it inherently carries that implication).<br />
In other words, it is what <strong>Moriel</strong> and I<br />
have been warning about for years. People<br />
are already being sucked in by obvious false<br />
prophets like Benny Hinn and Rick Joyner<br />
now - they are being scandalized (the PTL<br />
club scandal, the Lakeland scandal etc.); that<br />
is - by ignoring Jesus’ warnings they are falling<br />
away by means <strong>of</strong> spiritual seduction into<br />
scandals.<br />
Unless they radically repent it is impossible<br />
for them not to be seduced by the ultimate<br />
false prophet into embracing the final literal<br />
anti christ - the man <strong>of</strong> lawlessness (the two<br />
beasts <strong>of</strong> Revelation chapt. 13), since they<br />
are already conned.<br />
I trust this helps and clarifies the issue.<br />
In Jesus,<br />
Jacob<br />
(Philippians 1:6)<br />
J o h n C h a p t e r 8:1-11<br />
Shalom Jacob.<br />
You wrote an excellent article on Christian<br />
Cults, and my family commend you for<br />
the biblical principles applied and woven<br />
into that article.<br />
Anyway, that is not the reason why I’m<br />
writing to you. I’m particularly concerned<br />
about the issue <strong>of</strong> John Chapter 8:1-11. Apparently,<br />
every footnote <strong>of</strong> every Bible translation<br />
contend that the earliest Greek manuscripts<br />
do NOT contain it. So HOW did it<br />
manage to creep into the latter codices <strong>The</strong><br />
same standard applies to Mark 16:9-19.<br />
According to the Aramaic English New<br />
Testament (AENT) Messianic scholar Andrew<br />
Gabriel Roth, he says that ‘’Considering<br />
the revisions, additions, adulteration and<br />
conflicts in the thousands <strong>of</strong> Greek manuscripts<br />
which surfaced since the Fourth Century,<br />
we know one thing: this segment was<br />
inserted a couple <strong>of</strong> hundred years after the<br />
time <strong>of</strong> Shlicha Yochanan (Apostle John), by<br />
the ‘paganistic’ Early Church Founders to<br />
support their ‘cunningly devised fables’ and<br />
their ‘ Heathenistic religious background’’.<br />
Elsewhere he says: ‘’This narrative is a fundamental<br />
pro<strong>of</strong> text for Christians to prove<br />
that Jesus forgives adultery with no consequences<br />
to the <strong>of</strong>fender. <strong>The</strong> woman caught<br />
in adultery suffered no consequences; therefore,<br />
Christians theologize that she is saved,<br />
which also makes them feel better about the<br />
adultery in their own churches. Because <strong>of</strong><br />
John 8, Christian leaders can now teach that<br />
adulterers are forgiven and need not make<br />
restitution. <strong>The</strong>re are no consequences in<br />
many Christian circles for adultery, which<br />
is why when Pastors, Priests and Reverends<br />
commit adultery and other evil sex crimes,<br />
they can continue right along with their ‘ministries’<br />
as if hardly nothing had happened’’.<br />
Does <strong>Moriel</strong> view John Chapter 8:1-11<br />
as part <strong>of</strong> God’s Inerrant and Eternal Word,<br />
even though it certainly was a fourth century<br />
plus forgery<br />
Doesn’t this support atheists, liberal thinkers<br />
as well as Islamic missionaries’ contentions<br />
that the Christian Bible has been plagiarized<br />
and corrupted over the centuries How do I<br />
explain to my Muslim friends that the Holy<br />
Scriptures has NOT been tampered with, but<br />
remains the eternal, immutable and inerrant<br />
Word <strong>of</strong> God Hope you can help with this.<br />
Shalom,<br />
Severiano David<br />
Reply:<br />
Thank you for your e mail.<br />
Unfortunately due to the constraints <strong>of</strong><br />
time <strong>Moriel</strong> & Jacob Prasch cannot re-echo<br />
detailed replies to questions where the issue<br />
is already addressed in recorded materials.<br />
In this case we would point you to Jacob’s<br />
recoding <strong>of</strong> Simcha Torah available through<br />
the <strong>Moriel</strong> website or quarterly.<br />
If someone isn’t familiar with academic<br />
theology it is difficult to give brief replies to<br />
questions about source criticism and form<br />
criticism (the branch <strong>of</strong> scholarly theology<br />
where your question is found). None-the-less<br />
we will reply this once but we cannot take<br />
the lengthy time to explain the background<br />
<strong>of</strong> source and form criticism. It is just not<br />
possible.<br />
Concerning the canonicity <strong>of</strong> John 8:1-<br />
11, the matter <strong>of</strong> Aramaic New Testaments<br />
is completely irrelevant as the Syriac manuscrips<br />
are themselves translated from earlier<br />
Greek manuscripts and there are no Aramaic<br />
sources in existence nor any that we can<br />
know ever existed.<br />
Very few early manuscripts contain<br />
verses 1-11 and some manuscripts place it<br />
not after Luke 21: 38 or elsewhere in John’s<br />
Gospel. <strong>The</strong> major exception being the manuscript<br />
‘Western Uncial D’. <strong>The</strong> issue however<br />
is not the historicity <strong>of</strong> the account or<br />
canonicity but the Johannine interpolation.<br />
<strong>The</strong> language in terms <strong>of</strong> construction, syntax<br />
and vocabulary are more Synoptic than<br />
Johanine particularly akin to Luke - Acts.<br />
June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly 31
Letters & Comments – Continued<br />
<strong>The</strong> direct co-textual reference in the<br />
messianic prophecy <strong>of</strong> Jesus in Jeremiah<br />
17:13 supports its historicity and canonicity.<br />
<strong>The</strong> contextual reference in this passage<br />
moreover matches the preceding chapter<br />
7 in the ‘living water’ typology <strong>of</strong> ‘Simcha<br />
Beit Ha Shoyivah’ on ‘Hag Sukkoth’<br />
(Feast <strong>of</strong> Tabernacles) and the festal theme<br />
which probably accounts for the interpolation<br />
by redaction.<br />
Taken together with Western Uncial D,<br />
and the probable patristic reference to the account<br />
by Papias as cited by Eusebius (H.E.<br />
III, xxxix, 16) there is little doubt that the<br />
event happened.<br />
Concerning the reliability <strong>of</strong> biblical<br />
manuscripts, the reliability <strong>of</strong> textual preservation<br />
is verified by the Dead Sea Scrolls <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong> Old Testament (25% <strong>of</strong> which are available<br />
in the public domain and all <strong>of</strong> which<br />
are in the hands <strong>of</strong> the Dead Sea Scrolls and<br />
Qumran Commissions composed <strong>of</strong> Jewish<br />
& Christian, theologically liberal & conservative<br />
scholars).<br />
Regarding <strong>The</strong> New Testament, the body<br />
<strong>of</strong> manuscript evidence for the Gospels alone<br />
exceeds 10,000 source manuscripts, fragments,<br />
papyrus fragments, and early codexes.<br />
Nothing like this exists for the Koran. <strong>The</strong> Islamic<br />
world will not even allow source critical<br />
scholarship <strong>of</strong> the koran. <strong>The</strong> only real Islamic<br />
scholars are in the West and are called<br />
Orientalists, who admit that at least the first<br />
500 source manuscripts <strong>of</strong> the Koran were<br />
boiled or burned. Islam is much more vulnerable<br />
to being discredited by source criticism<br />
than Judaism or Christianity. Most moslems<br />
either do not know this or do not want others<br />
to know it. In fact, they cannot even face<br />
the reality <strong>of</strong> it. As one example, the Satanic<br />
verses with rioting moslems demanding the<br />
death <strong>of</strong> Salman Rushdie is but well known<br />
case <strong>of</strong> this. Islamic scholars have known for<br />
centuries that the original copies <strong>of</strong> the koran<br />
contained the infamous ‘Satanic Verses’<br />
which were later deleted.<br />
Regarding the reliability <strong>of</strong> the New<br />
Testament we point you to F.F. Bruce’s<br />
book ‘<strong>The</strong> Reliability <strong>of</strong> <strong>The</strong> New Testament<br />
Manuscripts’,as a good easy-to-read<br />
reference.<br />
I trust this helps. But it is not possible<br />
for us to provide individual reiterations <strong>of</strong><br />
materials in our published or recorded materials<br />
and we cannot go into long explanations<br />
<strong>of</strong> matters <strong>of</strong> critical scholarship unless it is<br />
done through Kings Divinity School (University<br />
<strong>of</strong> Wales) with theological students.<br />
If you are interested in these fascinating and<br />
important yet complex subjects there are no<br />
short cuts for learning Greek, Hebrew etc.<br />
You may wish to prayerfully consider enrolling<br />
at Kings as an external student, but we<br />
cannot go into academic theology outside <strong>of</strong><br />
a proper academic format. <strong>The</strong>re is a hyperlink<br />
via the <strong>Moriel</strong> website, but it will require<br />
time, work and study. It would simply require<br />
too much time for us to explain the language<br />
background, manuscript histories etc. outside<br />
<strong>of</strong> a proper seminary framework.<br />
We would point you to our recorded &<br />
published materials, to Kings School <strong>of</strong> Divinity,<br />
and to authors such as FF Bruce, Craig<br />
Blomberg and others who have already written<br />
extensively on these subjects.<br />
Sincerely In Christ,<br />
<strong>Moriel</strong> & Jacob Prasch<br />
Jacob responded to the question <strong>of</strong> Jesus and<br />
the donkeys as recorded in the Gospels:<br />
<strong>The</strong> two donkeys fulfill the Messianic<br />
prophecy <strong>of</strong> Zechariah 9:9. <strong>The</strong> riding on<br />
the donkey “lowly” as a King contrasts to<br />
the fact that Kings rode horses.In His first<br />
coming, although a King, Jesus comes meek<br />
and lowly as a sacrifice for sin. In His second<br />
coming He arrives as a conquering King<br />
mounted on a horse (Revelation 19:11).<br />
This corresponds to the two conceptual<br />
pictures in Judaism <strong>of</strong> the Messiah as Ha Moshioch<br />
Be Yosef (Messiah Son <strong>of</strong> Joseph prefigured<br />
by Joseph in the Book <strong>of</strong> Genesis) also<br />
known as “Ben Ephraim” and identified with<br />
the suffering servant <strong>of</strong> Isaiah 52 and 53, This<br />
is the the first coming on a donkey. <strong>The</strong> Second<br />
coming is Ha Moshioch Ben David (Messiah<br />
Son <strong>of</strong> David), the conquering King who establishes<br />
the millenial kingdom in the character <strong>of</strong><br />
King David.<br />
<strong>Moriel</strong> has a teaching explaining this in<br />
depth: One Messiah, Two Comings. (This can<br />
be read online here or a DVD <strong>of</strong> the sermon<br />
obtained on our website.)<br />
Regarding the two donkeys, only Matthew’s<br />
version records two for which there are different<br />
proposed explanations. <strong>The</strong> best may be<br />
that Zechariah was using repetitive poetry (they<br />
were therefore to be the same animal). Because<br />
it was a baby donkey (”onen” in Greek) it had<br />
not been ridden on yet, so the mother (”polon“)<br />
was brought along to accompany it so as not to<br />
separate it from its mother.<br />
In sending for the donkeys Jesus may have<br />
been exercising the legal right <strong>of</strong> “agerion“ —<br />
or commandeering — that could be used by either<br />
a King or a rabbi (Jesus being both, hence<br />
two donkeys).<br />
I trust this helps.<br />
In Jesus,<br />
Jacob Prasch<br />
<strong>The</strong> original sender asked the follow-up<br />
question:<br />
I am well aware <strong>of</strong> Messiah Ben Joseph/<br />
Suffering Servant and Messiah Ben David/King<br />
(or Ephraim) as it relates to messianic prophecy.<br />
But I have a further question about the<br />
two donkeys. Do you see in the two donkeys<br />
an allusion or typology <strong>of</strong> Jesus moving from<br />
Old Covenant to New Covenant I was given<br />
an audio message from a pastor who explained<br />
the presence <strong>of</strong> two donkeys was unique to<br />
Matthew’s gospel because a particular allusion<br />
was made to Jesus transitioning from first<br />
<strong>of</strong>fering the Gospel to the Jews (older mother<br />
donkey) and then once refused, moving on to<br />
the new younger donkey <strong>of</strong> the church. This is<br />
not to imply a replacement theology but simply<br />
that Jesus was moving on to a new work, the<br />
church. Ever hear <strong>of</strong> that Do you think that is<br />
a credible interpretation<br />
Jacob replies:<br />
<strong>The</strong> two donkey/two covenant thing is<br />
speculative and without synoptic support<br />
or cognate text support.<br />
Midrash in the time <strong>of</strong> Jesus and Paul<br />
worked by the Midoth <strong>of</strong> Rabbi Hillel (grandfather<br />
<strong>of</strong> St. Paul’s tutor Gamaliel). <strong>The</strong> second<br />
principle is “Binyan Ab M’Shna Ketubim“,<br />
building a typological parallel from two texts<br />
to mutually illuminate each other with the same<br />
exegetical and typological considerations applying<br />
to both.<br />
In other words one would have to find at<br />
least one other biblical text where two donkeys<br />
work in tandem and where a symbolic or metaphorical<br />
use <strong>of</strong> a donkey was overtly ascribed<br />
to a covenant.<br />
Additionally, if one existed, for instance, in<br />
the Old Testament one would then need to see<br />
if the Greek term in the Septuagint (either “polon”<br />
in Greek or whatever) translated the varied<br />
Hebrew term “hamor”, “arad”, “pered”, “ayir”<br />
or “athon” as the same Greek word or words<br />
used in the Triumphal Entry narrative text <strong>of</strong><br />
Matthew. In fact, however, there is none.<br />
Donkeys are used to illustrate different<br />
things in Scripture, but there is not a single instance<br />
or context where a donkey overtly represents<br />
covenant as, for instance, “Living Water”<br />
represents the Holy Spirit, or “fruit” represents<br />
the fruit <strong>of</strong> the Sprit, or an altar represents the<br />
cross, etc.<br />
<strong>The</strong> kind <strong>of</strong> thing you describe is at best<br />
application; but if one sought some doctrinal<br />
basis based on the speculation (I am not suggesting<br />
the tape you refer to does that as I have<br />
not heard it) it would lean towards a Gnostic<br />
hermeneutic which is wrong.<br />
People can assign a figurative or symbolic<br />
meaning to almost anything (and Gnostics do<br />
so not merely to illustrate doctrine but to base<br />
doctrine on it, which always leads to serious<br />
doctrinal error). <strong>The</strong>re must be a corresponding<br />
text in context addressing the same issues and<br />
using the same figures <strong>of</strong> speech or types where<br />
the symbolic meaning is not nebulous.<br />
I trust this helps.<br />
In Jesus,<br />
Jacob<br />
32 June 2009 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly