Typology of the First Born - Moriel Ministries

"MoRIEL"
GOD IS MY TEACHER
April/June 2010 Iyar/Sivan/Tamuz 5770
No. 42
T Y P O L O G Y of T H E
IN THIS ISSUE: “ The Value of Signs & Wonders”
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly

Thank You from the Administrator
MORIEL MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL
"MoRIEL"
GOD IS MY TEACHER
Dear Friends of Moriel:
S
Jacob and David to visit the Far East
Starting on June 14 th Jacob and I will make a big circle around the Far East, starting
in Japan, moving onto Singapore, then to Australia and ending in Tasmania and
New Zealand. We would both ask for your prayers for traveling mercies and that we
will complete everything we need to do while there. Also, prayers for our hosts and
God’s blessings on them.
Jacob to Land in America Summer / Fall Tour
You will find Jacob’s current schedule on page 13 of this Quarterly. But, we are still
working on some dates, so check the website for the latest information
Prayer Needs
Jacob’s health . . . While he has his heart issues under control, he is still battling
to find the right balance of medications for his neck. His current meds are causing
stomach complications and irritations of the stomach lining. Please pray the doctors
will find the right balance.
Please pray for Dave and Lyn Royle and their health issues.
We are still in need of a teacher to come and assist Dave and Lyn in the work in
South Africa.
Also, for our work in the Philippines and future expansion of the work in Vietnam.
Ruth Nessim who recently had a heart attack and is recovering and the work there
that was stated by her and her husband. Pray for the Gould family as they have come
along side Ruth to help her with the burden.
Pray for my good friends Alec and Anne as they have their first child and God will
be with them.
Pastor Najeeb and family, and his work in Israel among the Arabs. Also, that God
would provide a vehicle for him as his work takes him into the “West Bank” as he often
has to work around this issue by relying on others when they have the time to help.
I would request further prayer for me as I transition our of secular work into full
time ministry work. I hope I can do this in the next year or two. As with many the issue
of health care and financial concerns looms large for me, but I know God is able,
so please pray God will increase my faith (Luke 17:5, And the apostles said unto the
Lord, Increase our faith.) and keep me following Him. Also, my health issues.
Prayer is always Moriel’s biggest need and we ask for it all the time. So, we thank
you in advance for your prayers on our behalf, we also thank you for your finical
help. May the Lord bless you all for your continue help in this ministry.
In Peace,
David Lister
Moriel Ministries United States
David Royle
Phone: 412 321 6154
JAPAN
Geoff Toole
morieljapan@yahoo.co.jp
Phone: +81 795063508
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TYPOLOGY OF THE FIRSTBORN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
THE VALUE OF SIGNS & WONDERS . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
bezaleel NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
IMMANUEL NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
YOUR LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
MORIEL SOUTH AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
MORIEL JAPAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
FYI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
ISRAEL REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
IN MEMORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
144,000 TEACHING OF THE JEHOVAH’S
WHITNESSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
JUDAIC STUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
THE BACK PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

Jacob Prasch
Feature Article
T Y P O L O G Y of T H E
Introduction
In 1 Corinthians there are only two men:
Adam and Jesus. We are either in the character
of the first Adam or the second. When we look
at Esau we have to understand his relationship
to this other Adam.
The American Indians, anthropologists tell
us, have a tradition that the first man was a red
man, a man with a red complexion. The Hebrew
word for a human being or a man is “ben adam”
– literally “a son of Adam”. Adam’s name
comes from the Hebrew word for “earth” – “adamah”.
The earth is “adamah”, “Adam” is derived
from “adamah”, and a human being is “a
son of Adam” who is made from the earth. But
the word for “earth” – “adamah”, comes from
the Hebrew word “adom”, meaning “red”. In
Israel the soil basically has a reddish clay in it.
Whatever in the Middle East is not sand is reddish
because of the clay so to them that is what
earth is. So there is red clay soil (“adom”) that is
the “adamah”, and from that comes Adam and
from that comes the human race. There is an
area of southern Jordan called “Edom” meaning
the same thing as “red” and named after Esau.
The Firstborn and the
Secondborn
In the book of Genesis there is this repeated
contrast of the firstborn and the second and the
firstborn hating and persecuting the secondborn
continually. It begins with Cain and Abel, then
we see the same thing with Ishmael and Isaac,
then we see it again with Jacob and Esau, and
again with Joseph and his older brothers: the
older persecuting the younger but God coming
to favor the youngest. The reason this is seen in
the book of Genesis is because it is a picture of
the two natures. There is a Cain and an Abel in
you, there is a Jacob and an Esau in me. It is not
the one who is born who gets the birthright and
the blessing, it is the second-born. Jesus said,
“You must be born again”. (Jn. 3:3) In order
to have the birthright and the blessing, the first
birth is never good enough; it is the second birth
that is necessary.
If someone has only been born from their
mother they are born of water, they are not born
of Spirit. They have no blessing and no birthright
from God. Their future is the grave and
judgment. The only thing they have to look forward
to, the only future they can be sure of is a
crematorium, and that is only the beginning of
the fire. On the other hand, those who are born
the second time have a different future – they
have a birthright; they have a blessing.
When someone is born of the first Adam
they are born with Adam’s fallen nature. By nature
we reject God’s love, by nature we rebel
against His authority, by nature we cannot be
what we know we should be. He made us in His
image and likeness, (Gen. 1:26) but we cannot
be even what we know we should be and the
reason that we know it is because we are made
in His likeness.
I recall that before I was a Christian what
I wanted to do, among other things, was sleep
with as many girls as possible. When I was a
teenager, when I was at University, it was one
of my top priorities. However, if somebody was
sleeping with my sister I would want to break
his head. If somebody was doing to my sister
what I was doing to somebody else’s sister, or
God forbid what somebody was trying to do to
my daughter – things I did to somebody’s else’s
daughter I would want to shoot them. I was a
hypocrite. I could not live up to my own standard.
I would not want somebody defiling my
own daughter or my sister. Unless they loved
her and married her in the way of God, I would
not want anyone touching my sister or my
daughter, but did it stop me from going out and
doing what I knew was wrong I would not want
my little brother to go out and take the drugs I
was taking. I was just a hypocrite. I could not
live up to my own standard. Neither can you.
The reason you cannot live up to your own
standard is because it is not your standard, it
is God’s. If God says, “Be holy as I am holy”,
(Lev. 19:2) how can we meet His standard We
cannot because of the way we are born. We can
never meet His standard. That is why there must
be a second birth.
Second Birth
In a nutshell before we look at this story,
second birth is simple. When someone is born of
the first Adam they are in rebellion against God.
They confirm his seed. In other words, if God
created “Jacob and Pavia” or “Ethel and Peter”
instead of Adam and Eve, we would have done
the same thing they did. It is easy to pin it on
them, but we would have done the same thing.
So God Himself comes in the person of man in
the form of Jesus and pays the price for our sins
– the wrong things we did, He pays the price for
with His own life. And if He raised Him from
the dead to eternal life, He will raise us up. That
is the second birth. We accept Jesus, turn from
our sins, put our faith in Him, and accept what
He did for us on the cross.
Christians use the cliché “personal Savior”
without thinking what it means very often.
What “personal Savior” really means is
not only do we have to accept Him personally,
but it means if I were the only person who ever
sinned He would have had to come down and
go to the cross just for me or just for you. We
must accept Him personally because when He
went to that cross He went to that cross for us as
if we were the only person who ever sinned for
all the wrong things they have done – and there
is no one who has not done wrong things. That
is the second birth. We ask God to forgive our
sins and put our faith in Jesus. We ask Him for
the power to turn from sin, die with Christ, and
become a new creation.
This is why I do not sleep with anyone’s
daughter or anyone’s sister anymore, that is why
I no longer put cocaine up my nose anymore, because
of the second birth. When I was born the
first time, that was my life; my life was my death.
As with Cain and Abel, the firstborn always
teaches about the old nature in Genesis.
Remember what God told Cain when he was
banished “Its desire is for you, but you must
master it”. (Gen. 4:7) Sin’s desire if for us. What
is sin’s desire To put us in hell. Sin’s desire is
to put us in hell forever. Jesus said directly that
this was the god of this world. It desires to put
us in hell forever. “But you must master it”
There is no way we can master it until we have
had the second birth.
But the firstborn will always hate the secondborn.
Our old nature will always hate the
new one. Ishmael will always hate Isaac and
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly

Feature Article – Continued
ultimately Esau will always hate Jacob.
The Root of Bitterness
See to it that no one comes short of the
grace of God; that no root of bitterness
springing up causes trouble, and by
it many be defiled; that there be no immoral
or godless person like Esau, who
sold his own birthright for a single meal.
For you know that even afterwards, when
he desired to inherit the blessing, he was
rejected, for he found no place for repentance,
though he sought for it with tears.
(Hebrews 12:15-17)
This is a warning to Christians. It is not
simply warning unsaved people, it is warning
Christians – carnal Christians. The question
is whether we are a carnal Christian. A carnal
Christian is somebody who has been saved but
lives their life in the character of the old creation.
As it says in Proverbs, “The backslider in heart
will have his fill of his own ways”. (Prov. 14:14)
A carnal Christian is someone who despised
their birthright, who forsakes the blessing. It is
sort of like someone who swims from Liverpool
to Dublin and they begin to drown, and half-way
across God in His mercy drops them a life jacket
allowing them to float and swim on to Dublin,
but they take it off. That is a carnal Christian.
“See to it that none of you comes short of
it” we are told in Hebrews. (Heb. 12:15) Do not
be immoral. And it particularly warns of a “root
of bitterness”. Why Because Esau had a root of
bitterness toward Jacob for something that was
largely his fault. A “root of bitterness” – a resentment
toward somebody will devour us more
than it devours them. Vengeance is the Lord’s.
(Dt. 32:35) There is nothing we are going to do
to anybody that is going to compare to what is
going to happen when they appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. Jacob was there and
Esau had a root of bitterness against him. One
of the things that causes us to fall short is a root
of bitterness. No matter what we have against
somebody else, God has a lot more to hold
against us. But then it goes on to say he was
immoral, selling his birthright for a single meal.
There are people – even ministers – who
have a wife who loves them, they have children,
they have a ministry, and they go out and commit
fornication one time or adultery one time and it
destroys everything. They lose their family, they
lose their marriage, they lose their name, they
lose their ministry, they lose it all in just one
shot. It is an example of the fleeting pleasures
of sin. A carnal Christian will lose the blessing
over one shot, one fling. Afterwards he (Esau)
desired to inherit the blessing but was rejected.
Unrepentant backsliders and unsaved people
– those in the character of the first birth and of
the firstborn Esau – a time will come when they
will desperately want a relationship with Jesus.
A time will come when they will desperately
want it; they will seek for it but it will be too late.
For someone who has had this second birth
but are still of the firstborn, the Bible tells us,
“Now is the appointed time; today is the day of
salvation”. (2 Cor. 6:2) If one should die tonight
they have lost it forever and forever is a long
time. Just imagine a hellish eternity that after
a hundred billion years you will not have even
begun to serve your sentence. There is no end
to it. A time will come when people will desire
it, they will crave it, they will do anything to get
it, but they will not get it. In fact the Hebrew
prophet Jeremiah said they will earnestly seek
the Lord but will not find Him in the Last Days.
The same as the Jews in the Captivity in Babylon
began to realize that Jeremiah was right and
Ezekiel was right then some of the survivors
began to earnestly seek God but they found out
it was too late. The Last Days will be like that.
People can reject the Gospel of Jesus, they can
reject God’s forgiveness now, or even as believers
they can despise their birthright and live
carnally. A time will come when they will do
anything to get what they can have right now
but they will not get it.
If that is the way someone is living, if they
are living in the old creation, either because they
are a carnal Christian, a backslider who comes
to church, or because they were never saved to
begin with (they were never born again), a time
will come when they will want it. A time will
come when they want what these other people
have, a time when a wife wants what their husband
has, when a child wants what their parents
have, when a husband wants what a wife has.
They will want it but they will not get it. They
can get it now. The firstborn will always despise
the second.
Those who are of the first creation do not
like Christians. As a matter of fact, the old creation
in me does not like the new one. The old
man in me does not like the new man. The Ishmael
in me does not like the Isaac. The Esau
in me does not like the Jacob. The Yehuda in
me does not like the Joseph. That is one of the
reasons the Bible says we will get a new name.
(Rev. 2:17) When we are born we are given a
name; when we are born again we get another
name. This happened to Jacob – his name was
changed to “Israel” after he met the Lord. In
the book of Genesis when he behaved like a
new creation the text calls him “Israel”; when
he behaves like the old creation it goes back to
calling him “Jacob”. So too I have a new name.
There is the one my parents gave me – “James”
which comes from my father’s grandfather, but
then there’s my name in the Book of Life. When
we are born we get a name, when we are born
again we get another name.
The Birthright
The old creation is Esau and Esau always
hates the new creation. He has a different point
of view. Only the new creation – only the one
who is the secondborn can inherit the birthright.
Only the one who is secondborn can inherit the
blessing.
“But he shall acknowledge the firstborn,
the son of the unloved, by giving him a double
portion of all that he has, for he is the
beginning of his strength; to him belongs
the right of the firstborn. If any man has a
stubborn and rebellious son who will not
obey his father or his mother, and when
they chastise him, he will not even listen
to them, then his father and mother shall
seize him, and bring him out to the elders
of his city at the gateway of his hometown.
(Deuteronomy 21:17-19)
He loses the birthright. The birthright included
a double portion, a double blessing and
the headship of the clan. That was something
in Esau’s case which was despised. There is a
double blessing but the firstborn will not get
it. Because all of us have despised our Father
and all of us have gone astray from Him, the
blessing comes to the secondborn. The natural
man cannot get the blessing; the natural man or
woman cannot inherit the birthright.
The Battle of the Brothers
I again point out there are definite, prophetic
signs happening today in the Middle East
that the following passage speaks of for which
we have the teaching, “Jewish-Arab Reconciliation”.
The very things we see happening in the
Middle East in the news are things the Bible predict
will happen. And the struggle between these
two brothers is being fulfilled in history today.
The LORD said to her, “Two nations are
in your womb; And two peoples will be
separated from your body…
… Jew and Arab. The battle in the Middle East
today is between two brothers.
And one people shall be stronger than
the other; And the older shall serve the
younger.”
When her days to be delivered were fulfilled,
behold, there were twins in her
womb. Now the first came forth red, all
over like a hairy garment; and they named
him Esau.
Notice “red”. Remember the relation to “Adam”
– “adamah” and “adom”. It is the natural man,
the sons of Adam.
Afterward his brother came forth with his
hand holding on to Esau’s heel…
The Hebrew word for “heel” is “aqeb” from
which we get the name “Ya’aqob” – “Jacob”. It is
really not “supplanter”, that is the way they translate
it. It comes from “heel”. He grabbed his heel.
…so his name was called Jacob; and
Isaac was sixty years old when she gave
birth to them. When the boys grew up,
Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of
the field…
…he used to bring his father venison…
…but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in
tents. Now Isaac loved Esau, because he
had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved
Jacob.
This is always a big mistake. We should
love our children co-equally the way God does.
But the other thing is that children inherit their
fallen nature by birth, but that is reinforced by
environment. When Jacob began to supplant his
brother his mother put him up to it. She was a
cunning, scheming, conniving woman and she
put that into her kid.
So often I see things in my own children,
particularly my son when he does something
obviously wrong, and I know where he got it. It
goes from generation to generation. We are born
that way and that is why we must be born again. It
is amazing. For people who abuse their children
99% of them were abused children themselves.
Most alcoholics were children of alcoholics.
Most compulsive gamblers where children of
Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

compulsive gamblers. They are born that way
in the character of the firstborn, the natural man.
When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came
in from the field and he was famished…
(A better translation would be “weary”.)
…and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me
have a swallow of that red stuff there, for
I am famished.” Therefore his name was
called Edom. (Genesis 25:23-30)
First Esau comes and says, “I am famished;
I am weary. Let me have some of that red stuff”.
Therefore his name was called “Edom” – “red”.
However, he was red when he came out of his
mother’s womb. “Red” from “adom” – “Adam”
the natural man. The old creation, the old nature,
will always look for the things of the world. The
natural man will always gravitate to what is
natural to him. “Red” seeks “red”. He was born
red, the earth is red, “Give me some red stew”.
This presence of “adom” in the Hebrew text in
the way it used is showing he is just going after
his old and own nature. We each have a natural
nature. The firstborn will always be inclined to
what it knows. It knows unrighteous anger, it
knows bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness,
lust, and pride.
But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.”
He does not con him out of his birthright; he
says, “Sell it to me”.
Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so
of what use then is the birthright to me”
He despises his birthright because he is driven
to the red. The red man goes after the red stew
because that is all he knows.
And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so
he swore to him, and sold his birthright to
Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and
lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose
and went on his way. Thus Esau despised
his birthright. (Genesis 25:23-34)
And of course after that he did a lot of other
things he should not have done. The minute we
despise our birthright we break our parents’ heart.
One of the things I get the most mail about
is Christian parents with unsaved or backslidden
children. They try to bequeath their birthright
to their kids but they fall away from Jesus.
What a grief. Usually they come back. The
Bible says, “Raise a child in the way he should
go and when he is old he will not depart from
it”. (Prov. 22:6) Usually they come back. The
question is how much of an unnecessary mess
of their lives did they make and how much unnecessary
grief did they cause their parents and
themselves before they do come back. This hits
home with me because I have a sister who married
an unsaved guy. It bothers me every day.
God forbid my children should fall away. We
can read what happens to Esau.
The Firstborn In Us
The literal Hebrew text is more like, “Let
me gulp that stuff down”. The natural man will
want to gulp down the things he is naturally inclined
to. Let us look at Esau the firstborn – the
unsaved, the old creation in us. (Biblical psychology
is not secular.) The first thing we see
about him is that he is someone who insists on
instant gratification. The firstborn – the old creation,
the natural man – insists on instant gratification.
He wants it and he wants it yesterday.
She wants it and she wants it now. It is like a
kid in a theme park; they do not know what they
want first, they just want it now. The old nature
– the natural man’s/the natural woman’s instinct
is for instant gratification.
When we find a carnal Christian, one of the
first characteristics is one who looks for instant
gratification. “We want a big church and we want
it now”. So they think by getting some gimmick
or some fad or whatever program is popular at
the time they are going to get a big church.
Maybe they will until the fad is over and then
they have no church. The little church which begins
to build slowly on something solid may not
have gotten quite as far, but what it has it has.
When we see Christians chasing fads and
going along with any gimmick, that is the mark
of a carnal Christian, someone living in the old
creation. When we see a leader following every
fad, every trend, that is the firstborn not the
second. Show me a move of God that was sporadic.
They might have had a “take off” point,
but there was quite a foundation. The disciples
of Jesus had been the disciples of John the Baptist
for some years before Jesus came. God was
laying a foundation. It took a long time. King
David spent many years in the wilderness before
his empire expanded. But the old creation
wants instant gratification.
And so they behave carnally. “Let me gulp
it down”. “It looks good; we will have it”. Maybe
it is not so good. But when we see people like
this who are a carnal Christian. Unsaved people
cannot help it. For people who are not born again,
“red” seeks “red”. That is what they are by nature.
They do not know any better, they have no
reference point except to live as the firstborn.
But believers should not live as the firstborn,
they should live as the second. When we begin
demanding instant gratification we begin to
despise our birthright and forsake the blessing.
I cannot help but notice that the most successful
churches I see – the Calvary Chapel
movement in America, David Wilkerson’s
church in New York, the Assemblies of God in
Italy – anything unbiblical they banish. They ban
Benny Hinn, they ban Morris Cerullo, they ban
Toronto – they do not have this garbage. They
are not looking for instant gratification, they
look for basic things: evangelism, discipleship,
prayer. Then their churches get big but they stay
big. It is not like when the fad is over and the people
go somewhere else to have their ears tickled.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up,
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s
daughter, choosing rather to endure illtreatment
with the people of God than to
enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering
the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures of Egypt; for
he was looking to the reward. (Hebrews
11:24-26)
The Deferred Blessing
The new creation will always look to the
future blessing. Moses did not look for gratification
in this life. It says he looked forward to
the Messiah; he looked to Jesus.
Feature Article – Continued
By faith Abraham, when he was called,
obeyed by going out to a place which he
was to receive for an inheritance; and he
went out, not knowing where he was going.
By faith he lived as an alien in the
land of promise, as in a foreign land,
dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob,
fellow heirs of the same promise; for he
was looking for the city which has foundations,
whose architect and builder is God.
(Hebrews 11:8-10)
Abraham was promised the land but he did
not try to claim it in his lifetime. The firstborn,
the old creation, looks for instant gratification.
What is Kingdom Now Theology Carnal
Christianity. The Restoration Movement, Triumphalism,
Dominionism – they are all carnal
Christianity. “The meek shall inherit the earth”
(Mt. 5:3) when Jesus comes back. No doubt it
will be inherited…when He comes back. We see
people wanting to possess it now in the full sense.
Forget about it! It is under God’s judgment. But
the carnal Christian wants to be gratified now.
The example of real faith in Hebrews 11
were men who looked to a deferred blessing.
Abraham was promised it but he looked to a deferred
blessing. Moses was promised! He could
have had it then on a silver platter through Pharaoh’s
daughter as a son of Pharaoh. He could
have had it. It is amazing in Antiquities by Josephus,
in the secular history of Moses, his position
in Egypt was similar to Joseph; he was a
big wheel. He could have had it. It is the carnal
Christian who looks to have it now.
A lot of bad things come out of America
including who I would not even call “bad” but
false Christians. Too bad they do not talk more
about the true Christians who came from the
States. One was a missionary to South America
called brother Jim Elliot. He and five others were
martyred by the Indians. His wife Elizabeth
remained a missionary to the same tribe who
killed her husband. Jim Elliot said, “No man is
a fool to give up what he cannot possibly keep
in order to gain what he cannot possibly lose”.
“You Christians – you do not go out to get
drunk, you do not gamble, you do not have any
fun!” We have plenty of fun. But if that is what
your hope is in, you cannot take that with you.
When you are dead your are dead, Jack. The
point is that for man to die is after judgment.
Nobody is a fool to give up what he cannot keep
in order to gain what he cannot lose. It is the
people who are not Christians who are foolish,
and the time will come when they will know it,
but it will be too late. The firstborn seeks instant
gratification. Human nature, human psychology,
that is the old man in you/the old woman in
you and me. We have two names.
Susceptibility
The second characteristic provided in Genesis
25 is he was automatically susceptible to
being conned. When people despise their birthright,
when they live as the firstborn instead of
the second, when they are given to carnality
they are automatically prone to being conned.
When I talk to the Gypsy pastors they tell
me what the Gypsy culture was like before they
were saved, and they made their money as swindlers.
They report from the time they were little
kids how they knew how to swindle. To see
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly

Feature Article – Continued
God’s Spirit moving among these Gypsies and
to see their lives transformed is amazing. And
they always tell you the easiest to con is a greedy
man. They look for the greedy because they are
the ones that can be taken for the most. When
we live in the old creation, when we live the life
of the firstborn instead of the second, we automatically
predispose ourselves to being conned.
Have you been to Toronto You have been
conned. You made a contribution to Morris Cerullo
You have been conned. You paid a tithe to
one of these lunatic fringe Assemblies of God or
Elim churches promoting this heresy You have
been conned. We have all been conned by the
devil who tries to make us trust in this world –
that is a big enough con. But when the new birth
happens we should not be conned anymore. The
firstborn will always set himself up to be conned.
But then they get conned financially. One
money appeal after another, one letter looking
for money after another – they are not looking
for anything honest. They are not looking to
help poor people in the Third World or Eastern
Europe or for legitimate missions or evangelism.
It is heresy, hype, con-artistry.
Esau’s name was changed to Edom – “red”,
“of the earth”, “natural”. And the natural man is
looking for the natural things.
Confusing “Needs”
with “Wants”
The third thing we see is this: “I am about
to die! I’m gonna die! Gimme some stew!” He
was weary and he was hungry, but he was not
going to die of exhaustion; he was not going to
starve or become anorexic. The Esau within the
firstborn, the natural man of Adam, will always
exaggerate his essential needs. Such confuse
“needs” with “wants”.
Sometimes the only thing we really need is
the grace of God. “My grace is sufficient”; (2
Cor. 12:9) “I will never give you more than you
can handle”. (1 Cor. 10:13) It says in Timothy
if God gives us food and clothes we should be
content. (1 Ti. 6:8) By virtue of being a Working
Class person living on a Council Estate, living
off the dole, such should realize they are better
off than two out of three people in the world. A
Middle Class person is better off economically
than three out of four people in the world.
I have been down there several times and I
do not know why they call it “The Third World”;
it is “The Two-Thirds World”. I can provide examples
of people in Africa and Asia who would
love to come live in a Council Estate in England.
They do not care about the graffiti and the
crime because it is a lot better than what they
are putting up with. Most would not believe the
stuff encountered there. Not that I am diminishing
the prospects of the urban unemployed in
our own country, but there is just no comparison.
You cannot even compare it.
The firstborn will always exaggerate their
essential needs. “I need this!” “I need the latest
gimmick, the latest thing for my computer!”
I am not saying there are not legitimate needs
and I am not saying that wants are necessarily
wrong, but covetousness Covetousness is a
sin. And when people begin to covet, sin leads
to sin; one sin leads to another. When someone
begins to covet someone else’s wife, the next
thing you know they are not happy with their
own. The next thing you know they are into
adultery or fornication or something like this.
Covetousness leads to other sin. People begin
coveting riches. The Bible does not say money
is the root of all evil, it says “a love of money” is
the root of all evil; by longing for it many have
wandered away from the faith. (1 Ti. 6:10)
What can be more perverted than when the
church of Jesus Christ in a materialistic age, in
a materialistic society where we should be saying,
“Materialistic things are not the solution”
and giving a positive witness to everybody else
instead does the contrary We have one liar on
TV after another telling us to “name-it-andclaim-it”,
destroying our very testimony to a
materialistic age and making us look the same
as they are. In fact, as Christians, they look
even worse except that they are not real Christians;
they are carnal Christians. They are the
firstborn, they are Esau. They are not the sons
of Jacob, they are not the sons of Isaac, they
are the sons of Esau. They despise their birthright,
they want it now, they do not want their
deferred blessing, they do not want “the meek
shall inherit the earth” (Mt. 5:5), they want
Kingdom Now, they want prosperity now, they
want it now. The firstborn always exaggerates
his essential needs. “I am about to die!”
It may seem crazy but when I went to Bible
college I would say 50% of the female students
admitted their primary reason for going to Bible
college was to find a Christian husband. “If you
can’t find one here, where can you find one”
There is only one man who is going to meet their
needs and it is not their husband. One’s husband
will only meet their needs to the extent that he
is God’s vehicle in their life. The wife will only
meet the husband’s needs only to the extent that
she is God’s vehicle. But if someone’s husband
is an “Esau” instead of a “Jacob”, they are not
going to meet the needs because he is a carnal
Christian. Oh, I grant that they need a man, the
question is which man The natural desire to
get married I can understand it. The biological
clock is a reality. Pick up a copy of Brother Andrew’s
newsletter. Read about Christians in prison
camps. They have an essential need maybe.
“I am driven by lust!” “I used to do this
and do that before I was a Christian and I want
to get a wife!” “The Bible says it is better to
marry than to burn with passion!” That is true
and the Bible does say it. But the idea that
somebody’s lust problem is going to disappear
if they get married That is not reality. First deal
with your lust problem, then get married. I do
not care how good-looking someone’s wife or
their boyfriend is, their problem is not simply
the biological drive, their problem is sin. It does
not work that way. Such people will not be content
with any wife or any husband whose sin is
unaddressed – that is the essential need. But the
“red” goes to “red”. “Just give me!”
Distorted Values
The fourth thing we see is he had distorted
values. The secondborn will always value what
God values. The secondborn will always cherish
the things that are most important as God sets
them. But not the firstborn. Esau will always
have distorted values. “What good is a birthright
to me” “What good is this new birth”
“What good is this ‘second birth’” “I wanna
have some fun!” “I wanna have some sex!” “I
wanna have a good time!” “What good is that
stuff to me” “I want to get somewhere in this
life!” It says in Ecclesiastes even if someone
does they are going to wind up just as dead as
someone who did not. (Ecc. 3:19-20; 9:2) “The
end of the matter is to love God and keep His
commandments”. (Ecc. 12:13)
“All this stuff of heaven and Jesus – what
good is it to me now” “Day to day, week to
week, I am just trying to go out and make a
living, trying to get some enjoyment out of a
difficult life!” If you think your life is difficult,
come with me to Nigeria; I will show you a difficult
life. I will show you a mother who cannot
feed her baby, I will show you Christians
being persecuted by Muslims, I will show you
a difficult life. I complain about my neck hurting
when Christians in Saudi Arabia have their
heads chopped off at the neck.
Esau always distorts his values. Carnal
Christians always have distorted values – they
never value most what God does and God values
the things that will matter most a million
years from now.
The first question should be, “Will this
matter a million years from now” Unless the
Lord comes first, the reality of death is going
to separate us from the ones we love the most.
Husband, wife, parents, children – unless Jesus
comes back first, which He may do, death
is going to separate us. Of course, if you are
a Christian, you do not have to be away from
your family forever. You do not have to be away
from your husband or wife or children. If they
are Christians and you are a Christian we can
see each other again. That is true, but that is the
birthright. Whoever begins hoping in this world
begins to despise that birthright.
Marriage is for here. The relationship will
continue in heaven but it will not be a marriage,
we will be one in Christ. And if someone is not
married, is that going to matter a million years
from now Being married is not the ultimate
treasure. The firstborn values things that are of
temporary value, the secondborn values things
of eternal value. The old creation values things
that will perish, the new creation values things
that will endure forever. Does someone desire
a relationship The only relationship worth
anything is one that is going to endure forever.
I thank God I will be with my wife and children
a million and a billion years from now not
because of the first creation but the second one.
That is my birthright, the birthright bequeathed
to me when Jesus gave His life for my sin on the
cross and rose from the dead to give me eternal
life. That is my birthright. I do not want to despise
my birthright.
Blaming Someone Else
Then he said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob,
for he has supplanted me these two
times He took away my birthright, and
behold, now he has taken away my blessing.”
And he said, “Have you not reserved
a blessing for me” (Genesis 27:36)
“He swindled me twice!” No, the second
time derives from Esau despising his birthright,
not that Jacob was right in what he did, or at
least not in the way he did it. He did not swindle
him, Esau despised it; he sold it. Then it says he
Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

sought for it earnestly but could not find it. The
Esau that is in the firstborn, the natural man/the
natural woman, will always blame other people
for the mess they make of their own lives.
“Oh, my mother was an alcoholic and our
father left us!” That may be, but that is the firstborn.
What about the secondborn We have a
new Father when we are born again. The firstborn
– the old creation, will always blame others
for the results of their own sin.
Esau never admits his own culpability. It
is always a refusal to take responsibility for the
results of his own decisions. Unsaved people
are like that, they cannot help it; that is their
nature. “Red” goes to “red”. Christians should
know better, but a carnal Christian does not.
Oh, he may know better, but he does not live
better. Are you living as the firstborn or are you
living as the secondborn
The Father Still Wants
Them Back
And He said, “A man had two sons. “The
younger of them said to his father, ‘Father,
give me the share of the estate that
falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between
them. And not many days later, the
younger son gathered everything together
and went on a journey into a distant country,
and there he squandered his estate
with loose living. Now when he had spent
everything, a severe famine occurred in
that country, and he began to be impoverished.
So he went and hired himself out to
one of the citizens of that country, and he
sent him into his fields to feed swine.
Now in the Jewish context this would have
been quite foul. A pig is a non-Kosher animal.
“And he would have gladly filled his stomach
with the pods that the swine were eating,
and no one was giving anything to
him. But when he came to his senses, he
said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men
have more than enough bread, but I am
dying here with hunger! I will get up and
go to my father, and will say to him, “Father,
I have sinned against heaven, and in
your sight; I am no longer worthy to be
called your son; make me as one of your
hired men.” ’ So he got up and came to his
father. But while he was still a long way
off, his father saw him and felt compassion
for him, and ran and embraced him
and kissed him. And the son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and
in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be
called your son.’ But the father said to his
slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe
and put it on him, and put a ring on his
hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the
fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
for this son of mine was dead and
has come to life again… (Luke 15:11-24)
As it says in Jude’s epistle, backsliders in
the church are twice dead. They went from spiritual
death to life and then they are dead again.
(Jude 10-11)
If someone is like that, if they want the inheritance
now, if they are not willing to wait for
the deferred blessings, if they are not willing to
wait for when it will not perish and where they
keep it forever, they are going to wind up eating
with pigs. But the Father still loves them and
wants them back now.
Conclusion
There are many aspects to this parable, one
is the Jewish people having gone away from God
and will come back again. Another is the fallen
nature of man generally. Adam wanted it there
and then. He did not want to eat of the Tree of
Life, he wanted it his way; he ate of the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil. But it also teaches
about backsliders. The old creation wants it
now. What good is it if you cannot keep it It is
only good if you can keep it. That is the birthright.
Carnal Christians despise their birthright.
The backslider of heart will be filled with his
own ways. (Pr. 14:14) What are his own ways
What is a carnal Christian’s way What is a carnal
church’s way They want it now. They insist
on instant gratification. “Red” seeks “red”.
Second, they are susceptible to being
conned. That is why they go to Toronto, that is
why they are taken in by all this stuff.
They exaggerate their essential needs.
They are not content – they covet. They distort
their values, wanting things that will not last.
They despise the birthright that gives them the
inheritance to the things that will.
And then on top of all that they do not take
responsibility for their own decisions.
The firstborn hates the second. Esau hates
Jacob. The old creation in me hates the new creation.
The old creation in you hates the new one.
Our unsaved family does not like us. “Esau” –
“adom” – “from Adam”: a natural man. That is
all he is, that is all he can be, he can do no other.
He cannot have the blessing. Esau cannot have
the blessing. Esau cannot have the birthright because
he forfeited it because of his sin.
If you have not been born again, if you have
not repented of your sin and trusted Jesus for
your salvation, God has that birthright for you.
He has that blessing for you! He wants to take an
“Esau” and turn him into a “Jacob”. He wants to
take a firstborn and make him a secondborn. You
can do that right now by accepting Jesus as your
Savior and following Him as the Bible teaches.
But what of the one who made that decision
but they still continue to live as an “adom”
They are still filled with their own ways. They
are not committed to any church, they will go
out the door and live like a worldly, unsaved
person with distorted values, distorted priorities,
wanting instant gratification. All they are
doing is despising their birthright. A time will
come when they will seek it and seek it desperately
but they will not find it.
You may think what I am saying is crazy.
You may have not become a new creation. You
may be a son of Adam. You may not have been
born again. A time will come when you will desperately,
desperately want the birthright I have
in Jesus Christ, but you will not find it. Now is
the appointed time. Today is the day of salvation.
God bless. †††
Feature Article – Continued
About the Cover
The Red Canyon is carved in beautiful red
sandstone. One of the unique features of
Eilat Mountains (Israel) is the richness of
rocks made of granite, limestone and sandstone.
This creates beautiful formations in a
relatively small area, giving it its rich colors,
high peaks, steep slopes and ravines.
Although the amount of precipitation in this
area is very low (about 15 millimeters per
year), and floods are rare, water throughout
the years managed to carve the canyon through
the soft sandstone. The photo illustrates
the rare but powerful effect of the water.
Guy Shachar, is not only a photographer but
has a Masters degree as a Geographer. His
photography serves as a goodmeans for him
to show and explain the world to people. To
see more of his beautiful photography check
out his website below.
‘The Redcanyon’, by Guy Shachar, www.guyshachar.
com, by permission for one time use.
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly

Guest Author
Danny Isom
S i g n s & W o n d e r s
t h e v a l u e o f
. . . . . . . .
Signs & Wonders
“But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs” (Matthew 24:8)
T h e V a l u e of
Signs & Wonders
S i g n s & W o n d e r s
t h e v a l u e o f
Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the
peoples, nations, and men of every
language that live in all the earth:
“May your peace abound! It has
seemed good to me to declare the
signs and wonders which the Most
High God has done for me.
“How great are His signs And how
mighty are His wonders! His kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom And His
dominion is from generation to generation.
(Daniel 4:1-3)
To have a Gentile write in Scripture
about his coming to faith in the One True
God is an attention grabber in and of itself,
but whereas so many people throughout
Scripture are documented as remaining unchanged
spiritually after witnessing a sign
or wonder, here we have someone who actually
testifies to being changed by them.
But if you just flopped open your Bible and
began reading Daniel 4 you would probably
think Nebuchadnezzar is referring to
the signs and wonders connected to the
events in this chapter and miss the fact
that these are actually the culmination of
a series of signs and wonders. Yes, Nebuchadnezzar
witnessed some very amazing
signs and wonders recorded previously in
Daniel 2 and 3 but the fact is that he did not
allow them to change his heart. No, having
missed the greater application of what God
was teaching through those other signs and
wonders, Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony
here is that after one final round of signs
and wonders he finally “gets it”.
In Daniel 2 we are provided with the
account of how God provided an amazing
dream to Nebuchadnezzar but no one
could explain its meaning to the king except
through Daniel. What was the king’s
public confession after witnessing these
signs and wonders
The king answered Daniel and said,
“Surely your God is a God of gods
and a Lord of kings and a revealer of
mysteries, since you have been able to
reveal this mystery.” (Daniel 2:47)
It is an acknowledgment of sorts but far
from a ringing endorsement of recognizing
how much the king of the earth needed the
King of Heaven.
And what was Nebuchadnezzar’s
public confession after all the brouhaha
in Daniel 3 after witnessing the signs and
wonders associated with the persecution
of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego for
their faith in the One True God
Nebuchadnezzar responded and said,
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach
and Abed-nego, who has sent
His angel and delivered His servants
who put their trust in Him, violating
Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

the king’s command, and yielded up
their bodies so as not to serve or worship
any god except their own God.
Therefore I make a decree that any
people, nation or tongue that speaks
anything offensive against the God of
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego
shall be torn limb from limb and their
houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch
as there is no other god who
is able to deliver in this way.” (Daniel
3:28-29)
He appears to be drawing a little
closer, but this is still far from a personal
confession of a changed heart. In effect
Nebuchadnezzar has personally witnessed
signs and wonders which he himself acknowledges
could come from no one but
the God of Israel, but spiritually he continues
life unchanged. So now God is going
to provide signs and wonders yet again for
a third time, but these are going to belong
to a very different category than those previously
experienced.
Having repeatedly failed to learn the
right spiritual lesson so as to be changed
from the heart by signs and wonders which
demonstrated God’s sovereignty and character
benignly, now the king of the earth is
going to experience signs and wonders that
express the King of Heaven’s judgment. He
could have learned from signs and wonders
that witnessed to the truth, now instead
he will learn from signs and wonders
rendering judgment for rejecting that truth.
Yes, Nebuchadnezzar’s remarkable
testimony provided to us in Daniel 4 is
actually a lesson in how God uses signs
and wonders in general and how they work
on the heart specifically. God repeatedly
reached out with a “carrot”, so to speak,
but repeated rejection of His peaceful
gestures ultimately warranted an extreme
“big stick” in an attempt to save even the
most stubborn heart. God’s first choice was
not to put Nebuchadnezzar through seven
years of punishment, it was the only option
left because of the repeated choices Nebuchadnezzar
made to reject every previous
approach of the One True God. Nebuchadnezzar
did not really believe the signs and
wonders provided as an outreach, but he
certainly believed after the signs and wonders
of judgment.
To my mind this is the overall principle
behind Jesus’ own teaching that when
it comes to the End Times, signs and wonders
will increase with frequency and intensity
analogous to increasing birth pangs
leading to a birth.
“But all these things are merely the beginning
of birth pangs” (Matthew 24:8)
The “silence” or gap between each
wave is meant to provide the time to learn
Danny Isom
and properly apply the greater spiritual
lesson from the last round of events. But
if we study all the signs and wonders predicted
to come it becomes clear that they
begin to transition from things that testify
to our need for a personal relationship with
Christ, to judgment for consistently refusing
to heed those calls, to ultimately culminating
in the expression of God’s wrath
– destruction for steadfastly refusing to
submit. The purpose of signs and wonders
is not to provide God with the opportunity
to show off His power, but to make an ever
greater appeal to change from the heart.
When I was a teenager our local pastor
became terminally ill and yet he was
miraculously cured, a medically verifiable
fact by his doctors and the local hospital.
Did we start having healing crusades Did
we start laying hands on everyone who was
sick Did he become the object of veneration
for having experienced a miracle No,
he came back empowered with the Word
of God like never before in his life and initiated
revival preaching repentance and a
return to God’s Word and ways with unbelievable
results. To my knowledge no one
else in the course of his ministry was ever
healed of anything or experienced anything
I would call “supernatural”. There was a
greater message attached to the sign that
turned out to be far more important than
the sign itself.
It would be easy at this point to launch
into a tirade against the many individuals,
groups, and even movements who place an
undue priority on seeking signs and wonders.
But equally amiss, in my opinion, are
those of us placing an undue emphasis on
the signs and wonders of these Last Days.
Over the past 62 years we have received
enough fulfillments of specific prophecies
in God’s Word to shake us permanently
out of ever living comfortable in this old
world. We have already witnessed enough
to irrevocably change us from the heart
and to induce us to heed the greater lesson
of these things which calls us into an ever
greater personal relationship with Christ.
We should actually be more motivated in
sharing the Gospel and working while it is
still day than ever before. But what do you
suppose is going to happen to those who,
like Nebuchadnezzar, acknowledge God
is working but go on living unchanged
Sooner or later it will escalate to judgment,
and eventually to the very wrath of God.
I would submit that this is already the
case. I believe what we are experiencing
in the Western world is not simply evil
running amok or strictly the eternal battle
between Satan and the Church, but much
is judgment from God for a Church that
has willfully chosen to no longer be salt
and light to the world. To be sure the End
Times will play out exactly according to
God’s will, but I am not convinced every
single thing we have been witnessing in
recent years is specifically an End Times
event predicted in the Bible. There is also
the reasonable possibility that in addition
to those things there is an increase in frequency
and intensity because, like Nebuchadnezzar,
so many are simply not paying
attention, not learning the right lesson, not
repenting and returning in earnest. I have
no doubt that many of the things we are
witnessing testify of His imminent return;
I equally believe many of the things we are
witnessing are the result of hardened, unrepentant
hearts who are risking having to
learn things the hard way.
I am not praying that I will see any new
signs and wonders. I am praying I will see
more hearts yield to the greater message
behind the signs and wonders we have already
seen.
In His Love,
Danny Isom
Servant@WalkWithTheWord.org
Guest Author
This Must Be How Real
“Christians”
Pray These Days
This entry posted by MORIEL Ministries
I thought
he said during his campaign
that he was a
christian
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly

South Africa News
Allen & Sue
In this newsletter we would like to ask
for prayer to insure the continued care
of our children in our home without
the fear of them being placed elsewhere. We
have just received news from our social worker
that calls for changes in direction for Bezaleel.
Before I begin I’d like to share regarding
God’s goodness to us in terms of His prompting
and provision. At the beginning of the
year the Lord prompted me to bring our home
into order during the coming year in a practical
sense. I.e. sorting through things, keeping
what we need, giving away what we don’t need
and so on. I was sure it had something to do
with the house. As you know, we were looking
to the Lord for the house we’re living in as
the owners are selling and the ability to purchase
it is beyond our reach. Friends of ours,
knowing our plight visited us and said they
have a house that would become available in
about a years time that will meet the needs of
a large family such as ours. It is still in Springs
which facilitates the continuation of visits
for some of the children from their dads. We
are very grateful for their faithfulness to the
Lord and we pray His blessing on their lives.
I am humbled by the love of our heavenly
Father in a world reeling from one crisis to another,
creating fear and uncertainty around the
world and seeking to encroach on our lives.
The Lord in His unfailing character shows
Himself as faithful, true and unchanging. We
serve a God who is the same yesterday, today
and tomorrow, the Alpha and Omega of
our lives and His world. When change comes
upon us that is beyond our control, we know
we can run to Him who tells us that He has
not given us a spirit of slavery leading to fear
again, but a spirit of adoption as sons and
we can safely hide under the shadow of His
wing. Romans 8:14-25 and Revelation 1:8.
We were informed today that another provision
for childcare, namely Foster Cluster
Care (something we investigated a number of
years ago when it was still at discussion stages)
has been gazetted and passed into South
African law. It falls somewhere between foster
care and residential care (i.e. children’s
homes or villages). Also leans more to the side
of residential care in terms of requirements for
registration and services rendered by the department,
or NGO one is working with. Unregistering
of such a home also carries with it
a lot of red tape. According to South African
law, one can only foster up to six children.
But, because of the crisis South Africa faces
with regards to HIV/AIDS, this appeared to
open a window where allowances were made
for some people to foster more than six children.
Besides our three adult children, we
have one adopted child, eight legal foster children,
two children living with us by private arrangements
(with their respective fathers) and
one child who stays with us on weekdays for
the purposes of homeschooling and who goes
home on weekends and school holidays. Now,
because of the new law it puts our arrangement
in jeopardy because it places us beyond
the perimeters of the new law. We have two
viable choices so as not to lose any of the children.
Firstly, to register as a foster cluster care
home or secondly, to adopt some of the children
to bring us back under the perimeters of
the new law. Allen and I believe by the direction
of the Lord and among other reasons our
age (getting older has a wonderful way of reminding
us how finite we are) have agreed not
to take any more children into care and that
decision has not been an easy one on our part.
The children we now have require a tremendous
amount of care simply by their number,
homeschooling, their medical conditions and
the very real reality of what the future holds
in terms of the life expectancy of our HIV
positive children. Also the strain from the care
they will need and the heartache if their ARV
treatment fails as well as our commitment to
prepare the children for adult life in a world
where finding ones feet is not always easy. In
discussion with our social worker we believe
it best to adopt the three younger children. We
are not allowed to adopt any of our children
who have known living parents, which four
of our children do. She has urged us to begin
proceedings as soon as possible and we will
go to children’s court next week to make the
application for adoption. We will cease to receive
the grants for the children but the Lord
has shown His faithfulness to us in the past
and our hope is in Him. We will look to the
Lord in terms of adoption of the other children
at a later stage.
Thank you for taking the time to read this
and allowing us to share our burden with you.
We cherish your prayers and we know that
within all the changes taking place He is our
Peace and we pray that all things be done for the
children’s sake and to the glory of His Name.
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to
you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let
not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
Yours in Jesus,
Allen and Sue
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to
you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do
not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
–John 14:27
NASB
Allen and Sue’s granddaughter
giving Ruth a kiss . . . . . !
Your righteousness is like the mountains
of God; Your judgments are like a great
deep O Lord, You preserve man and
beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness,
O God! And the children of men take
refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They
(F)drink their fill of the abundance of
Your house; And You give them to drink
of theriver of Your delights.
–Psalm 36:7
Rosie and Ruth . . . .
Bezaleel Introduction: Bezaleel is a
family home in the Springs Community
providing permanent care for children
affected and infected with HIV/AIDS
within the context of a family. Aims:
(1) To provide a loving environment,
medical care, anti-retroviral treatment
required and an education within the
structure of foster parenting; and (2) to
be available for education concerning
HIV/AIDS and provide support to those
interested in fostering children living
with AIDS.
10 Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

Reverend Najeeb Atteih
Immanuel News
Ha i f a
mmanuel
hurch
B o o k s h o p H a i f a , I s r e a l
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the Name of Jesus. Much has
happened in March and April we would like
to share with you. These include the, Feast of
Purim and the Feast of the Passover. For both
events we were able to celebrate with Jewish
congregations. At the first congregation, Najeeb
spoke about the Book of Esther, it really was a
great joy and blessing.
On the March 21 st , we celebrated Mother’s
day in our congregation. We invited our beloved
sister, Ruth Nessim, and gave her a plaque to
honor her for all her love, care and support as a
mother to the members of the Immanuel Congregation.
We also invited a number of other
women whom very little interest is shown.
Some people even tried to prevent them from
coming on this occasion. Thank God they came,
they were blessed and encouraged by the message
and the humble gift that they received on
this special day.
Passover found us again at the Nahariya
Congregation with Sister Ruth and the members
of the congregation. She reports that we
livened up the proceedings, and they are always
very joyful when we come. We took some
German guests with us, who also enjoyed the
occasion, seeing Jews, Arabs and strangers together
remembering the Exodus from Egypt,
and more importantly, Messiah’s sacrifice for
us in taking away our sins, and breaking down
the middle wall of partition between us, making
one new man!
This month was filled with visitors from
abroad, including students from the States, two
German families, another three students, and
two more men from Germany. We hosted some
of them in our small apartment, and it was really
a time of blessing. We had a wonderful time
together, full of love, harmony and encouragement
to focus on the Lord and serve Him. The
young people needed lot of help and direction
on how to lead their lives, and thank God we
were able to help them in this too.
Two families came to visit us in the Bookshop,
bringing greetings to us from another
German family. They were accompanied by
their daughter, a medical student who was doing
one month’s intensive course at the Rambam
Hospital, the largest hospital in Haifa.
They loved the bookshop, and were blessed
by our sharing. They accepted our invitation to
visit our home for cup of coffee, and it was very
good time, especially for the other couple who
were in need of lot of encouragement, particularly
the wife, who needed to stand strong in the
Lord. They were both members of the Lutheran
Church for many years, but after their son came
to know the Lord, they began to attend Baptist
Church, where their son is youth Pastor. They
attended there for about 10 years, but she had
not been baptized. Now they were wanting to
visit the Sea of Galilee, We encouraged them
to do so, gave them directions, prayed with
them and they went off happily. They called us
at night, asking if they could visit us straight
away. As they entered and began to share with
us, we saw that the woman was very tearful as
she related her experiences on the Sea of Galilee
tour, and that she had remembered at this
time, what we had told her about God’s love,
and how she should stand strong in the Lord,
and that each of us was called to serve the Lord
also. This had reached deep into her heart, and
she asked if she could get baptized and if Pastor
Najeeb would do this for her. After questioning
her about salvation and her understanding
of the Gospel, all of which she answered from
her heart, we agreed to baptize her and began
to prepare for the trip the next day, which happened
to be Sunday. We called some members
of our congregation to join us, it was a great
day of joy to baptize this woman in the Sea of
Galilee, as she so much wanted to be baptized
in Israel, and she was blessed by the Arabic
prayers and worship. She could not thank us
enough for this wonderful baptism. As Najeeb
and the lady emerged from the water, an Indian
man was standing there, and immediately asked
Pastor Najeeb to baptize him too.
Najeeb asked him:
1. “Do you believe that you are sinner and in
need of salvation
2. “Do you believe that Jesus Christ died and
rose to give you salvation
3. “Do you believe that he is Lord and that he is
the Son of God”
To all these questions he answered “Yes”,
and then when asked why he wanted to be baptized,
he replied, “He is my Saviour and I want
to follow Him!”
After this they went down into the water,
with songs and worship. Heaven was full of joy
that day as two had accepted the Lord and followed
Him in Baptism, taking a gift instead of
buying one!
L. is Russian woman, who came into the
bookshop to buy gift to send to relative in Russia.
As we served her, we looked for way to
bring her the Gospel, and asked if she were of
Christian or Jewish background. She answered
that she was Christian, but she didn’t believe in
anything! Najeeb then told her that he could see
that she was carrying heavy burden on her back,
and had no hope of better life.
“What good life”, she rejoined, “There is
nothing good on this earth”
“You are absolutely wrong”, Najeeb replied,
“God is good, and He gave us salvation
that we might have a better life”.
“OK If God is good, then why does He let
people suffer”
“God does not make people suffer. There
is verse in the Bible that says, “What so ever a
man sows, that shall he also reap”. Many times
we blame God for our situation and think that
He is the cause of everything, forgetting that we
often bring ourselves into this situation. If you
allow me to, I can pray for you.” She agreed
and Najeeb prayed aloud for her. Suddenly she
began to cry. Then we knew that something
had happened and God had touched her heart.
When Pastor Najeeb finished praying for her,
she began to tell us about her life, and shared
that she is not married and lives with her daughter,
and has no help in supporting her and has to
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 11

Moriel Alert !
do everything alone, and finds it every difficult
to manage.
We encouraged her to accept the Lord, for
He is our real Abba and the only one that she
can trust. We also encouraged her to attend a
Russian speaking church, and offered to find her
the right one. Of course, we did not let her leave
without the Word of God, and gave her Russian
Hebrew Bible, explaining that even if she did
not understand everything, she should begin in
John’s Gospel and read one chapter every day.
She was so happy, that when she left, she forgot
to buy the gift she came in for.
Every other Friday, we have Bible Discipleship,
each time meeting in the home of different
one of our members. The couple in whose home
we met last Friday invited two couples from
their neighborhood. The older couple had lost
their son, who had worked at factory as security
guard, and they don’t know whether he committed
suicide or killed himself accidentally.
The mother explained that he was in his room
cleaning his gun. She heard shot, and when she
went to his room, she found him dead. They are
very miserable and brokenhearted, and in poor
psychological condition. The mother cried during
the whole service. The other couple was
their eldest son and his wife, who although married
live their own lives apart from one another
and do what they want! They have two small
children aged four years and one year, and work
very hard and long hours to satisfy their lusts.
It is like a Sodom and Gomorrah situation.
The children receive little attention from their
parents, and look to their grandparents for affection
and help. The woman is very beautiful,
and thinks that with her beauty she can achieve
many goals. She has obviously never read Proverbs
31:30, “Favor is deceitful, and beauty is
vain; but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall
be praised”.
At the end of the meeting, they were
amazed by what they had heard, and started
to repent and ask forgiveness of the Lord. We
are following up this family, as we cannot yet
say that they have committed their lives to the
Lord, but they are ready to come and hear God’s
Word. Pray for the Salvation of this family and
that they will have peace in their lives.
With our warm greetings to you in Jesus,
Rev Najeeb and Elizabeth Atteih
P.S. We are still praying to God and trusting
for the provision of a car. We travel a lot to
all parts of Israel, and even into the Palestinian
territories where we also have an outreach to
needy families, Moslems and Christians alike.
We are also involved in reconciliation between
Israelis and Palestinians, and when possible
take Jewish friends with us. This has a big impact
on the lives of Palestinians when they see
Arabs and Jews working together and loving
one another. Please thank all our friends who
have contributed so far.
Quotes of the QUARTER !
George Whitefield , said:
“Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger
in your journey, but strive for the mark set
before you. ”
Dear Brethren in Jesus,
We lost another one of our children in Africa. It was Mouse (Moses). It is always very
difficult spiritually and emotionally for all of us when this happens. But it inevitably too
often does. It is especially heart breaking for the Moriel missionaries who take care of these
children and above all for Dave & Lyn in particular. It is the kind of thing you mentally expect
but can never get use to. It is our first loss since little ngel went to be with Jesus. Moriel
Ebyown is the only family these mostly HIV babies and small children, some of which are
orphaned, have ever known or had. Little Mouse never even had much of a chance.
There are few things more painful than burying a child. Please keep Dave & Lyn and our
missionaries and the children they care for in prayer.
Below is Dave Royle’s brief letter. There is nothing more to say. Whenever this happens
there never really is except: “ Come Quickly Lord Jesus”.
In Christ,
Jacob Prasch (Moriel)
• Dear Friends,
We have some sad news. As you know we had to take Mouse to hospital with serious
health issues. Today we found out he went to be with the Lord. He was only 6.
We rest assured that the merciful God we serve will gather these young ones in His
arms and that all hid disabilities and pain have been taken away in the twinkling of an eye.
In Jesus
Dave and Lyn
WITH GREAT SADNESS . . . . . .
Psalm 68:5-6
5. A father of the fatherless
and a judge for the
widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
6. God makes a home for
the lonely; He leads out
the
prisoners into prosperity,
only the rebellious
dwell
in a parched land.
Mouse
Psalm 68:5-6
5. A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
6. God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the
prisoners into prosperity, only the rebellious dwell
in a parched land.
• Dear Friends,
We are praying my brother. Times like these show us the reliability of God as the Father
of mercies and God of all comfort. His grace is sufficient and so much needed. We weep with
you as you weep. God bless with you all.
In Christ,
Claude
• Brethren:
“We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly...” Romans 8:23.
“I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” 2 Samuel 12:23
Tony
12 Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

Letters & Comments
Your Letters and
Comments
American LETTERS MARCH 2010
The purpose of this message is to sincerely
thank you all at Moriel Ministries and
in particular Jacob Prasch for all the awesome
teaching we have been so blessed to watch and
listen to on-line.
You may not be aware but there are still
parts of this country that are in the dark when
it comes to a lot of what your ministry is warning
about concerning false teachings and false
teachers in these last days.
People here do NOT know about Rick Warren
and what he is trying to do. Mention the
emergent church and people here look at you
like “ who are they and what is that” It may be
hard for you to believe - doing what you do -
that there is actually still an ignorance out here
about such things - but - I assure you that there is.
People here are very open to visits by representatives
of IHOP and Fresh Fire Ministries
and churches here support such conferences, I
believe partly out of ignorance. Folks here do
Bible studies (without the Bible) and use other
materials that teach Kingdom Now Theology,
but when you try and explain it to them, they
really can not see error in any of it at all.
I could go on but that is the REALITY of
how poor the teaching has been here concerning
these matters.
It was only by the grace of God and
through many prayers for the gift of “Discernment”
that we were lead to your ministry. The
teachings have been clearly Holy Spirit guided
and have made a huge difference in our lives
and have begun to provide us with information
to share with others concerning so many
things unfortunately including the need to divorce
themselves from a church that is clearly
in doctrinal error and perhaps even suffering
from the judgement of God concerning being
“blinded’ because of their choosing to remain
in error.
We are in the MINORITY here, hugely
in the minority, and it is very difficult to find
others to fellowship with, but we are praying
GOD will lead others of like mind/spirit to us
so we can worship in our home together.
THANK YOU for your work, thank you
for taking the time to respond to my emails
when I have had questions and please let Jacob
know WE PRAY FOR HIM. His teachings
have enlightened us on so many areas and
we consider ourselves to be blessed to have
discovered your website.
God RICHLY bless you
P & G
If there is any chance to get a sermon posted
by Jacob concerning the Holy Spirit, we
would deeply appreciate it. We have heard
him speak briefly on it in other messages,
but perhaps there is a message somewhere
explaining more from the book of Acts on
the work of the Holy Spirit. Baptism in the
Holy Spirit, gifts indwelling etc, much confusion
it seems.
Again THANKS
Question:
Shalom my brother,
I am A from Singapore. Happy Pesach
and the Lord bless you abundantly.
Lately I have been chewing on the question
of Judas Iscariot’s tribe. Many a time
when I look at the name Judas, the tribe of
Judah came into mind. However, I noticed
the name Iscariot/Simon and looked into
the Bible Dictionary and came up with the
place where Iscariot lived....the man from
Kerioth.......associated with the zealots. That
does not tell me the tribe.......could it be the
tribe of Dan by any chance Why I think
so Genesis 49:17 shows me the character
and Revelation 7 shows me Dan is missing!!
Would appreciate your insight from the
Hebriac perspective. Toda raba.
In Christ Alone,
A
Answer:
Dear A:
Others have speculated this about the
tribe of Dan based in part on the absence of
that tribe from Revelation 7.
A medieval tradition called ‘Lacunae’
later said Judas (without any biblical support)
was from the tribe of Ruben. Some
traditions, also devoid of solid scriptural
support, assert he was from the Tribe of
Benjamin.
Although inconclusive, most of the internal
scriptural evidence (how be it tenuous)
suggests that Judas was from the Tribe
of Judah for three reasons.
a) Two of the Three villages called ‘Kryot’
as mentioned in Joshua were in the tribal
region of Judah (the third was across the
Dead sea).
b) Judah is a tribal name more commonly
used within that tribe.
c) Judas (Yehuda in Hebrew) is typified by
Judah (Yehuda) who betrayed Joseph for
Silver.
There is not much more that can be
stated with certainty.
In Christ,
JJP/ Moriel
Jacob’s USA Tour
Chino Hills, CA
Hope for Today Israel and Bible
Prophecy Conference
August 6-7, 2010
Calvary Chapel of Chino Hills
4201 Eucalyptus Ave.
Chino Hills, CA 91710
(909) 393-7100
Abundant Life Church
(Assembly of God)
August 8, 2010, 9 AM and 11:00 AM
82665 Miles Ave.
Indio, Ca, 92201
(760) 610-4566
Munford, TN
Munford First Baptist Church
Sunday, August 15, 2010
10:15 AM and 6:00 PM
1253 Munford Ave., Munford, TN
38058
(901) 837-6325
Laredo, TX
2nd Annual Laredo Bible Conference
Friday thru Sunday, August 20-22, 2010
Embassy Suite Hotel
110 Calle Del Norte, Laredo, TX 78041
(956) 723-9100
Pittsburgh, PA
Beth Hebron
Friday thru Sunday, Sept. 3-5, 2010
60 Belvidere Street, Crafton, PA 15205
Phone; (412) 321-6154
Email: morieldavid@yahoo.com
Appleton, WI
Calvary Chapel of Appleton
Friday through Sunday,
Sept. 10-12,2010
2136 E. Newberry St.,
Appleton, WI 54915
Phone: (920)735-1242,
Fax: (920) 735-9265
Email: cchapel@ccappleton.org
Winnipeg, Manitoba
20th Winnipeg Prophecy Conference
Friday thru Sunday, Sept. 17-19, 2010
Victoria Inn
1808 Wellington Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 13

Moriel South Africa
David Royle
Moriel Missions
When Jerusalem fell to the
Greco Syrian tyrant Antiochus
Epiphanies it fell
twice. The first time was
gradual assimilation to
the Greek culture that was first introduced
by Alexandra the great and whose precepts
were inherited by his military successors
throughout the remnant of that once great
yet brief empire. The Vision that Alexander
had was to see the whole world transformed
by a single language and culture; this in turn
was the thrust of this madman come megalomaniac
whose political and military pressure
turned the rulers of Jerusalem’s religious
class upon themselves. The New Greek
thought in the form of Hellenism was pitted
against the traditions of Rabbinic Judaism
and the new usurped the old with the result
being the political and cultural domination
of Greco-Syria.
The second time Jerusalem fell, it fell
thoroughly militarily. While away on military
campaign in Egypt, it was reported that
Antiochus had fallen in battle and so the
ruling Hellenist party pronounced themselves
rulers. Hearing this news the returning
despot hit the Jewish people hard. Many
thousands were murdered; Judaism was outlawed,
punishable by death. The Temple and
the Holy of Holies were desecrated and the
abomination of desolation was erected in the
form of a statue to Zeus baring the face of
Antiochus himself. Thus the persecution of
the Jews and the annihilation of Judaism by
the sword had begun.
Well what does this have to do with the
Ebyown community living on the outskirts
of the city of Springs Plenty I think because
the pattern that devastated a city so long ago
is evident here in South Africa and maybe
even in your city you can recognise a commonality
between our situation and the situation
Jerusalem found itself in two centuries
before The Messiah came. Let me explain.
In 1991 when I first visited South Africa,
the nation was at a crossroads. HIV/
AIDS was just coming into its own. HIV
was a challenge to the church that to this
day, it has never accepted fully apart from a
few exceptions. While the only real answer
to HIV is a change of heart through the gospel
of Jesus Christ; a challenge that should
have been met with true biblical evangelism;
what is it we observed Traditional churches
expounding a social gospel which sends HIV
infected Zionists unconverted to Hell (that
is the ZCC Zionist Christian Church that is
neither Christian or Zionist) or the new hyper
charismania gospel which is no gospel
at all but in fact a ‘DR Feel Good Cult’ that
panders to the West’s anonymous so called
brethren, whose destination is no more and no
less than the HIV infected Zionist.
Through its lack of unbiblical leadership
South Africa and Springs itself, has pandered
after every wind of doctrine its hireling leaders
have allowed into their sheep pens. Rhema
was the first big player. Ray McCauley a charismatic
leader; at the beginning did some notable
things such as the integration of Black and
White believers during an apartheid regime.
This though went hand in hand with teachings
borrowed by Kenneth Hagin and more recently
Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar and Benny
Hinn which ensured that the Black brethren
who were set free from the Black N’songomas
(Witch Doctors) were now bound and shackled
by the mainly White N’songomas teachings
of “God wants you rich”. While some
black brethren walk 20 kms to Rhema placing
all they have in the offering Buckets so
God will bless them, the White N’songomas
fly around in private jets, drive Mercs and live
in palaces. As with the Black N’songomas,
the only ones getting rich are those proliferating
this unbiblical occultist trash.
Although I cannot be too accurate chronologically,
the second thing I observed was
Alpha. Alpha for kids, Alpha in prisons and
again the merry go round of un-regenerated
so called brethren hit the Nation and the Cities
churches as congregation’s swapped membership
lists to experience the latest fad.
Third was the Spiritual Warfare movement
(you may notice that all these fads are still
around and have amalgamated into a pseudo
Christian cult) To my shame this is something
I promoted myself till I woke up and smelt the
coffee so to speak. Things that don’t work and
are unbiblical outside the realms of eisagesis
are promoted as true and factual when in reality
they are delusional lies.
Transformations was round four of our
church merry go round. Even though blown
out of the water by factual objective journalism
and the exposure of its proponent as a
Universalist, the masses decided to believe the
lie. What Paul said in 2Thessalonians 2:10-12
is presently being fulfilled, “And with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that
perish; because they received not the love of
the truth, that they might be saved. 2:11 And
for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,
that they should believe a lie: 2:12 That
they all might be damned who believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Round five was a mixture of different personalities
ranging from the oneness teacher
Tommy Tenney whose derogatory remarks
concerning scripture paved the way for TD
Jakes and others. To Bruce Wilkerson who
at best was a mixture of pop psychology and
American smaltz.
Next was what I believe to be the most
dangerous manifestation to hit South Africa
and perhaps Christendom as a whole, is Rick
Warren’s Purpose Driven Church, Life and
now Purpose driven community. Purpose
Driven is the latest in a long list of man made
philosophies, which akin to the Hellenism of
the second Temple period has hit the body of
Christ hard. Bit by bit, biblical literacy has
been undermined, little by little; one step at
a time Christian integrity has been shattered.
Gradually and irreversibly discernment has
been eroded, preparing us for oneness teachings
and now the nice respectable face of Rick
Warren who unashamedly declares his desire
for one world church and one billion foot soldiers
which can only be achieved through unity
with Rome, certain cults and other faiths.
Finally and more recently we have been
exposed to what is known as the emergent
church. The emergent church did not appear
overnight but has primarily been an evolution
of the ecumenicism we have been observing
and warning about for years. But now it
has been manifest with such insidious teachings
that denigrate the Cross, substitutionary
atonement and comes with the introduction of
mystical Roman Catholic teachings and New
age meditation techniques that are thoroughly
alien to Biblical Christianity
The result on a city beleaguered by every
wind of doctrine and led by spineless shepherds
is an amalgamation of every man made
philosophy that has gone before and who dare
speak against it Jeremiah was right 5:30-31
says “A wonderful and horrible thing is committed
in the land; 5:31 The prophets prophesy
falsely, and the priests bear rule by their
means; and my people love to have it so: and
what will ye do in the end thereof ”
They prophecy falsely! The bemused
twittering that entail’s prophecy nowadays, is
evident in almost every church. With no discernment
through the word how can a believer
understand the implications of speaking for
the Lord things that don’t come true
The priests bear rule! Anyone who apposes
is marginalized and treated as a pariah.
The Purpose Driven Philosophy has been
steam rolled upon congregations by sacerdotal
leaders. Those who question are treated as
trouble makers.
The people Love its so! O yes to feel
the spirit give you your goose bump fix for
another week while in between there is adultery,
theft and murder. Where is sanctification,
14 Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

where is integrity Where is Truth Gone with
the discernment that has been sucked out of
the mind and heart of every true believer.
But what will you do in the end Well,
the city of Springs has fallen. Like Jerusalem
it has first of all been conquered by
philosophy and culture. Every church and
Sunday school is either Purpose Driven, Willow
Creek, Alpha and all is underpinned by
TBN. The saddest fact is that like Jerusalem
the people of God have been divided, brother
against brother, sister against sister, parents
against children. Sadly even discernment
ministry against discernment ministry as one
by one we fall to fleshly compromise. The
new ways against the old ways, the remnant
that once represented everything that is orthodox,
now marginalized as a fringe group.
I am not a prophet, nor would want to
be, but common sense and observing the way
God has dealt with His people; must teach us
that after conquering through philosophy and
assimilation into a culture, there must come
oppression through one form of violence or
another. But as Jeremiah says, “what will you
do at the end of it”
Israel at its most desperate always had
a remnant. During this abominable time Israel
had a few who revolted and stood their
ground against the overbearing forces that
persecuted them. In a small village some kilometres
from Jerusalem, people stood their
ground and heralded a rallying cry that saw Israel
for a few years gain independence again.
As a worshipping community, now marginalized
through modern pop culture and
grievous heresy. As a worshipping community
that has seen violence with the destruction of
property in Bloemfontein and the slanderous
insults of sacerdotal despots here in Springs,
we too must head the call to stand firm for
the faith once and for all handed down to the
saints and appose the faith propagated by the
Bill Hybels and Rick Warrens of this world
and handed down to an apostate church until
He comes again.
A father of the fatherless and a judge
for the widows, Is God in His holy
habitation. God makes a home for
the lonely; He leads out the prisoners
into prosperity, Only the rebellious
dwell in a parched land.
–Psalm 68: 5-6
Woolly Jumpers From
Ozz & Beyond
The last few months has seen us have a
brilliant time distributing knitted clothing to
children as far apart as Tanzania, Kwazenzele
South Africa and through Aletheia
Community church Endicott. Supporters
in Australia, Tasmania and the back and beyond
have rallied to the idea of making wool
hats, coats, gloves shoes and even dolls for
children in poor areas.
We have had contributions sent to Marg at
Moriel’s Australia office where they were sent
over to South Africa much to the shock of the
David Royle
local Post Office who received 14 cases plus
for us to pick up.
The African winter is coming soon,
here in the Highvelt in the rural areas it can
get down to freezing at night time and some
mums struggle to keep their youngsters warm,
however with your help this will make things
a lot easier.
We would like to thank everyone for their
magnificent help, may God Bless you.
New House Fellowship
in Benoni
I had to come 6000 miles to meet Dave
Newman a man from my old town of Eccles.
Its funny that God would bring people who
lived 2 streets away to meet in South Africa.
Dave has been attending Aletheia for
awhile and felt burdened by the Lord to plant
a fellowship in his locality. We were really
pleased to see him do this and now we have a
place for people to go in that vicinity. Please
pray that this fellowship would be a great success.
And honor the Lord. If you would like
to attend give Dave Newman a call for directions.
0824514784
Ebyown
It was with great sadness that we said
goodbye to Lina and Marijke in late February.
To date we have not been able to replace
them which unfortunately means that as a registered
children’s home we have not been able
to comply with government rules. This along
with other problems has unfortunately meant
that we have had to deregister and become a
regular foster home.
This will effect the way that we run in
the future because as a home the government
have placed upon us so many restrictions. For
example to remain registered we have been
told that Lyn and I must leave the property
and live off site. As this is against the principles
we set out from the beginning of being
a place where children are situated in a family
we cannot comply with this.
This also means that some of the children
who are registered to the home as an
entity have to be found new placed. As you
can imagine we are heart broke that these kids
who were rescued from terrible circumstances
must now be placed in government care.
However the good news is that we continue
the work God has given us and provide
a loving family home for 10 –14 children, we
will just have to do it a little differently.
Government has made our position difficult,
they have provided us with no funds, limitations
in the work we do and have asked that
we employ professional staff with no salary
support and now they want us to leave the site.
We value your prayers on what will be
a difficult few months ahead. Thank you for
your love, prayers and ongoing support.
In Jesus—Dave
“Rightousness exhalts a nation but
sin is
–Proverbs
a disgrace to any people”
14:34
Moriel South Africa
Enter The Ginger Ninja
This month we have had the pleasure of
James Lee our nephew visit for a month at
Ebyown. He actually should have gone home
on the 17th April but with the Volcano eruption
in Iceland and the disruption to the airways
he has had to stay till the 2nd of May.
James has made himself useful around the
place spending time with the children and helping
Dave and Chris mow the grass. The kids
have really loved having him around as James
is currently studying to be a football couch
with a placement with Bolton Wanderers FC.
It has been fun watching him get used to
the African life, especially his reaction to our
Flora and Fauna, Spiders and Rats. He will be
taking home many memories of his Rat hunting
sessions, South African Beef (Best in the
world) and his trip to Suikerbosrand.
We hope to have him again next year and
hopefully his sister will also be joining us for
a spell. So here’s wishing James the “Ginger
Ninja” a good flight home and all the best with
his studies.
*TEACHER REQUIRED
Ebyown needs a teacher to help Lyn with
the education of the children. To remain a
home school and assist in the adoption process
of some of the children we need to establish
that we can provide a solid educational
environment to the South African High Court.
Therefore if you can come and spend a year
as Lina did last year you would be most welcome.
• Period of work one year
• Food and housing given
• Working with children with many challenges
• Must have an education qualification
If this is something you would like to do and
want more information then please contact us at,
Moriel.david@gmail.com
Prayer & Practical help
Dave would love to come to your church
and share about missions and also teach. If you
would like him to come then please contact us.
• Please pray for the children and their health
problems.
• Please pray for Dave and Lyn and their
health issues.
• Please continue to pray for Salvi and Dianne
as they pioneer in Kwazulu.
• Please pray for Ebyown as it goes through
the process of deregistration.
• Please pray for Dave’s Aussie and New Zealand
tour May 12th to June 2nd.
• We are still in need of a teacher to come and
assist us in the work. If you have a burden to
come over then please contact us.
• We are also praying that the Lord will provide
a husband and wife to pastor Aletheia in
the near future.
• We praise God for His provision
• We praise God for His Grace
• We praise God that He took Mouse to be with
Him. If you would like to contribute to the
ministry or be involved then please contact us.
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 15

Moriel Japan 2010
Geoff Toole
moriel japan
News from the Far East
Since our last report we have had an
eventful time here in Japan. Slowly but
surely Moriel teaching is gaining attention
and people are beginning to ask the right
questions.
Osaka Seminar
The first Moriel Japan seminar was held
in Osaka in February. Geoff and Daisuke
presented the Seven Feasts teaching to an
interested group of people including pastors
and teachers from various Christian
backgrounds. People are excited about midrash
and the new insight it brings. Most
of those who attended are supporters of
Israel and aware that Israel is important
but the typology and midrash are new to
many. Lots of people took home translated
articles and we have had some requests
for more material over the Internet. It is
a small beginning but we are excited that
things are underway.
Jacob and David to ‘Rai-Nichi’
This June, Jacob and David Lister will
Rai-Nichi -come to Japan. They will come
to Kobe for two days of teaching and then
we are planning a day in Tokyo. Over the
three days we hope to make some good
audios and videos. Japanese are busy
workers and travel is expensive here,
so the CD’s and DVD’s will be of
great value. Also, surprisingly, many
Japanese still have little access to the
Internet or do not like reading online.
It will be a great blessing to meet
Jacob and David again as well as to
introduce them to the Christians in
Kansai.
Discernment
We have found a few interesting
things lately. Firstly, the idea of exposing
error is quite unknown here. Some readers
demand to know if we take responsibility
for naming false teachers. One writer
came to the conclusion that either Jacob is
a false teacher or her whole denomination
is deceived. With a gently written response
I explained the issues with ‘Cho Yonngi’
and his fourth dimension ideas, and a week
or so later she wrote again explaining that
with shock she had realized the error and
hoped that her church would leave its
group. Perhaps that will not happen, but
praise God for opening her eyes.
First Things First
After a few such letters we felt the
need to start at the beginning. Before we
deal with other issues, Roman Catholicism
and its false gospel need to be exposed
here, because the average sincere Japanese
Christian has no idea what Roman
Catholicism teaches. Many evangelicals
are openly ecumenical or offended when
Catholicism’s teachings are criticized. Our
first discernment article relates to the doctrine
of salvation comparing the bible and
Catholicism. This being done, we will have
a basis for dealing with Purpose Driven
which is so popular in Asia. Next stop will
be Cho Yonngi and the Word Faith movement.
Pray for us as we write these articles.
For most it will be the first time they have
ever heard anyone analyze their favorite
teachings according to the Word of God.
By the way, regarding Reiki, the New Age
phenomenon gaining popularity throughout
the western world, it apparently began
in Japan, but 90 percent of its teachings and
practices were developed in the West. Actually,
most Japanese have never heard of it.
Philippines Ministry
We returned from our teaching trip to the
Philippines yesterday. Our planned seminar
was canceled at the last minute by one of the
‘birds nesting in the branches,’ but praise
God an alternative seminar was organized
within a few days. A friendly local Pres-
16 Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

yterian church opened their doors to us.
My four year old son continually asked,
“Is this a different Philippine Which
Philippine are we going to tomorrow” A
funny question but there are so many islands
there, each one with its own network
of fellowships. Jacob’s books have been
received well by many and opposed by a
few. Many are asking for as much as they
can get their hands on. This time we conducted
a two day seminar for thirty new
people. The topic was Anti-Christ and
prophecy, but as usual the question and
discussion time revolved around Purpose
Driven and the emerging church. The dangers
of a ‘book based’ teaching rather than
a bible based teaching were emphasized
and the hermeneutics of Text, Context
and Co-Text were discussed in depth. On
another island we gave a teaching on the
mark of the beast as opposed to the seal
of God. Again it was a great opportunity
to share midrash and discernment, this too
was well received. We are planning another
‘Moriel Library’ to provide a stable
source of teaching there as well as a seminar
in August. Praise God for His Grace
to our brethren in the Philippines. Thanks
to Carrie from Moriel USA who supplied
the funds for Strong’s Concordances to be
distributed in Tablas Island. Many pastors
and Christians have little or no access to an
exhaustive concordance.
Family
In our family here, one year old Baruch
has developed remarkably well after
his birth at 26 weeks. His oxygen machine
will be disconnected tomorrow as his lungs
have almost fully recovered from their jelly
like condition at birth. The doctor was
surprised and we are thankful to God.
Prayer
• Please pray for the Osaka and Tokyo
seminars and recordings so that we may
spread the teachings far and wide. It will
also provide a small income to support the
printing costs.
• Please pray for the August Seminar
in the Philippines and establishment of the
library of Moriel books and other good
resources.
• Please pray for our Contacts in the
Philippines that they would clearly and
boldly stand for the truth with us.
• Praise the Lord! In Japanese, Lord is
‘Shu’ .
Geoff Toole
Geoff Toole Moriel Japan 2010
(The two kids sleepy on the way home)
Tired missionaries.
(Travelling on a bus.) Daisuke, Geoff and Elliot
Would you trust this man
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 17

FYI
PERTINENT “ ”
Countries eligible to sit on the
United Nations Security Council:
Countries not eligible to sit on the
United Nations Security Council:
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoro Islands
Congo
Costa Rica
Cote d’lvoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea
Democratic Republic
of the Congo
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Republic of Korea
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the
Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
SSo Tome’and Pripcipe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Swaziland
• Sweden
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
The Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia
Togo
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Viet Nam
Yemen
Yugoslavia
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Israel
Believe it or not, Israel is the only one
of the 185 member countries ineligible to
serve on the United Nations Security Council,
the key deliberative group of the world
body. Even Iraq is eligible. So is Iran. And
so, too, are Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Sudan
and Syria. Why is it that these seven
nations, all cited by the U.S. State Department
as sponsors of terrorism, are eligible
to serve rotating terms on the Security
Council, yet Israel, a democratic nation and
member of the UN since 1950, is not
To be eligible for election, a country
must belong to a regional group. Every UN
member state—from the smallest to the
largest—is included in one of the five regional
groups. By geography, Israel should
be part of the Asian bloc but such countries
as Iraq and Saudi Arabia have prevented its
entry for decades. But only Israel among all
UN members is denied the right to belong
to any regional group. As a temporary measure,
Israel has sought acceptance in the
West European and Others Group (WEOG),
which includes not only the democracies of
Western Europe but also the United States
and other Western countries.
The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan,
on March 25, 1998, called for an end to this
injustice to Israel and “the normalization of
Israel’s status within the United Nations...”
Moreover, several countries, including the
U.S., Australia, Canada and Norway, have
expressed support for Israel’s admission
to WEOG, but the 15-member European
Union refuses to act.
Thus, without membership in a regional
group, Israel can never be elected to
serve a term on the Security Council or, for
that matter, to the other most important
bodies of the UN system, such as the Economic
and Social Council, the World Court,
and the Commission on Human Rights.
From the Atlas Shrugs website – Permission
given by Atlas Shrugs (Pamelar Geller), http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com
18 Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

Ruth Nessim Israel Report
from
CJFM Report June 2010
Tel: +972 4 9826932 • Cell: +972 544 914 017 from Israel 0544 914 017 • P.O.Box 269, 22102 Nahariya, Israel
“Give thanks to the Lord for
He is good. For his mercy
endures forever.”
This was in any case going to be
a packed newsletter, and I had
hoped to entitle it, The month
that was. I never suspected
in my wildest dreams that it would almost
end as it did, and we are all thankful for the
Lord’s mercies to us, so I will start at the end
of the month and work backwards!
On the 28 th of May, I set out via the last
train for Haifa, to do a small translation job
for Pastor Najeeb and Elisabeth Atteih, and
arriving at the appointed Haifa Station, found
great difficulty walking up the stairs. A few
deft questions from Pastor Najeeb, and I was
on my way to an emergency clinic, from where
the doctor on duty instructed me to go straight
to the Hospital. While sitting in Najeeb’s car,
I had a massive heart attack and was rushed to
the Rambam Hospital where they did an angiogram,
and discovered that one artery was
100% blocked, one 90%, and two were 50
% blocked. On the table, one vessel ruptured
and had to be fixed, and my heart stopped,
but they managed to introduced three stints,
I was released home for further treatment
six days later, and I am praising God to be
alive, although I must obviously take things
a lot easier for quite a while to come! I had
so many visitors, that one nurse asked what
I did to get so many people to visit. So I explained
that I belonged to the Messianic Jewish
Community, at which she said, “I know
them, I live next door to the Congregation
in Kiryat Haim. They are very nice people”
As I was released on a Thursday, I was
able to go to the Shabbat meeting where I
was given a rumbustious welcome! I could
not help remembering Albert, and how that
after his death, I was left to keep the meetings
together until our preacher was well
enough to come again. I had felt so alone
and as if everything was on my shoulders.
Three and a half years later, I came home, the
new young South American musicians were
seated in front with our professor from the
States, and another young man was translating.
Everything was ordered and prepared,
including the food, and I could just sat back
and enjoyed the fellowship knowing that in
the meantime God has raised up new leaders,
additional musicians, other translators, and
more young people, as well as others who
come. So we do give thanks for the changes
that have taken place in Nahariya.
The month began off with the return of
a real old-sinner, who on his own admission,
has caused many problems by his life
style, but now announced his intention to
follow the Lord, and trust him. He still has
along way to go, but we thank God for everyone
who comes to repentance. He needs
our prayers to overcome his many problems,
but no one is beyond the grace of God. At
the same time, we had the visit of an elderly
Jewish retired doctor and his charming wife.
Their son is a backslider, but they still love us
and always invite us to join them for meals.
As we sat in one very classy restaurant as
their guests, there was much opportunity to
share the Gospel, and what God has done and
is doing in our lives and they always listen
with attention. Their son recently had a very
nasty vision set-back, and is suddenly unable
to see to drive. We pray that his may really
bring him back to the Lord. Frederika celebrates
her 96 th birthday on the 13 th , please
continue to pray for her salvation. She finds
it difficult to believe that Jesus is really the
Messiah, and needs a revelation of who He
is! Two Sinhales Bibles and a Sinhalese New
Testament arrived, which we hope to hand
over soon. A big thanks to all who wrote and
prayed.
Bethlehem
On Tuesday 25 th , I was finally able to visit
Bethlehem again and see ABDM’s Mongoloid
child. He made the long journey with his
wife and three of his four children. Again, he
was robbed of all the Olive Oil he was bringing
for us, but fortunately they could not take
what we were bringing him, this injustice
grieves us. The little boy is obviously very
weak, and has two holes in his heart, but he
is hoping to bring him to an Israeli hospital
for treatment, hopefully Rambam, so he can
visit us. When Najeeb informed him that I
had had a heart attack, he cried! I cried when
I heard that his baby had Down’s Syndrome.
I wish to God we could always share each
other’s sorrows instead of hating each other.
What a miracle of the grace of God. We also
saw Sammy, he helps so many people who
have no money to buy food, and thank God
we are also able to help there. This was only
a day trip, there were others who phoned and
wanted to see us, but this must be left for another
time.
For those of you who prayed about the
young couple who were trying to get married,
one officially a Palestinian Moslem
Background believer, and the other an Arab
Christian, we have good news in that they
were finally were able to get all their paperwork
straight. We hope to have a blessing in
Bethlehem, and a legal wedding in Cyprus
early next month! They are a lovely young
couple, and I was overjoyed to hear the news,
and I might recover in time to make the celebration
In Bethlehem.
Pastor Najeeb, Elisabeth and daughter
Kareen are in The USA until the end of the
month, and are greatly missed.
Perhaps the news of the month is that
to our surprise, son Michael and Annie and
their two children are selling their lovely
apartment in Haifa to move to Nahariya, to
help with the work here. Michael has some
leadership experience, as well as being a musician,
and translator. After an initial period,
it is expected that he will be able to take on
some of the responsibilities of a growing
congregation. This turn of events was quite a
surprise for us, and we take it as one of God’s
blessings that he is showering upon us.
We also ask prayer for Rania, the mother
with her little five month old baby who is
staying with us. Though also Moslem background,
she too has mad a profession of faith
this past month. Pray also for her safety, and that
of the baby from the vengeful hand of Islam.
With our warm greetings in the Lord,
Ruth Nessim, Avi, Esther, and the leadership
and ministry team!
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 19

In Memory
M o i s h e r o s e n
Notes: photgraph of Moishe Rosen taken from http://www.jewsforjesus.org
Passing of Jews for Jesus Founder
From David Brickner, Executive Director
of Jews for Jesus
Moishe went to be with his Messiah and
Lord on Ma y 19th. We are rejoicing for him
but appreciate your prayers for the Rosen
family and for our whole ministry as we
mourn our loss. In lieu of flowers, the family
wishes that gifts be made in his honor
to Jews for Jesus [1], 60 Haight Street, San
Francisco, CA 94102 for the Moishe Rosen
Center in Israel. You can do this online at:
jewsforjesus.org/moishetribute [2]
Jacob’s Thoughts
I (Jacob Prasch) writing from Holland
mourn the passing of my friend and our
brother Moishe Rosen, founder of Jews for
Jesus. Few have had the impact on my own
life and ministry as Moishe Rosen and I am
hardly alone in saying this.
I was saved through a twisted cult called
Children of God and subsequently in another
called Forever Family (later named Church
of Bible Understanding). These cults damaged
others and me both spiritually and psychologically,
yet God had a purpose for me
being in both for a season. They had a radical
zeal in the age of a lukewarm church that was
tragically misplaced and misdirected where
backslidden leaders misled and abused members
of these terrible groups. But the zeal
itself was real. I spent the first years of my
new life in Jesus being confused in these crazy
groups or simply backslidden (the groups
themselves were backslidden like their leaders
Mo Berg and Stuart Traille), men who began
right but ended badly — very badly.
Enter Moishe Rosen, Jews For Jesus had
the same zeal and radical approach to evangelism
even in the face of opposition and as
close to persecution as believers could get in
the USA. Having attended the Jewish Community
Center in my youth there was a cultural
element that appealed to me. The emphasis
on Old Testament Messianic typology
and the Messianic theology I learned from
Jews For Jesus, academics like Rachmiel
Fryland (who was on the verge of becoming
a rabbi when the holocaust interrupted his
plans before he was saved) and my father in
the Lord Dr. Louis Goldberg of the Jews For
Jesus board who performed the nuptials for
my Israeli wife Pavia and myself.
Jews for Jesus was a very different organization
in those early days, a tribe of Jewish
hippies. Indeed, Moishe got in trouble
with established Jewish missions societies
for reaching out to the hippies not dissimilar
from the ordeal faced by Chuck Smith
in the early days of Calvary Chapel. It was
quite a time indeed. Jews For Jesus had the
radicalism of the other “Jesus Freaks” (as we
were then known), but due to Moishe Rosen
instilled the stability the other groups lacked
due to the kind of people he involved in Jews
For Jesus along with some tremendous Bible
teaching.
As with any dynamic leader, Christian
or secular, and as he knew himself, Moishe
had both his strengths and weaknesses. He
made wise decisions and as he refers to in his
departing letter, some he wished he had not
made. But he never regretted having accepted
His Messiah Yeshua and bringing the Good
News of the true Messiah back home again to
Israel and putting the Jews on the map once
again. Although I knew Moishe was like myself
— Pre-Millennial in his doctrine — I
regret now that I never asked Moishe if he
personally had the sense that what he was at
the forefront of doing was of prophetic eschatological
significance vis a vis the predictions
of Romans 11 for the Natural Branches
to be grafted back in again.
One thing I know for sure is that I would
not be in the ministry today if it were not for
the way that God used Moishe Rosen and
Jews For Jesus in my earlier years as a believer.
In fact I may not have been walking
with Yeshua at all. It was through Jews For
Jesus that I began to stabilize and grow in
my faith in the aftermath of my experience
in cults and being saved out of the erratic
drug culture of the 1960’s early 70’s in a very
turbulent era sociologically, politically, and
spiritually complicated by my later cocaine
addiction and strong involvement in the occult
and in the Marxism I came to adhere to
as a science student.
Due to the influence of Moishe, Jews For
20 Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

Jesus also provided financial assistance to me
on two occasions to help get through seminary.
It was also one of Moishe’s proteges,
Sam Nadler — at that time Jews For Jesus
leader in New York, who encouraged me to
immigrate to Israel. Without Jews For Jesus
I would have never met my wife and led her
to her Messiah.
Not only would I not be in ministry without
the way that God used Moishe Rosen,
but Moriel Ministries would not exist either.
Moishe said I had an analytical mind
and a very good memory and encouraged
me at a missions conference when I first began
in ministry. I could never have believed
that Moriel would be a global ministry with
branches in Africa, Asia, America, Britain,
Australia, New Zealand, etc.
It is to me a confirmation and a lasting
encouragement that in his final words he
echoed two of my own very key concerns.
Many people know I have been at odds
with those who attempt to bless Israel and
the Jews at the expense of withholding the
Gospel. My struggles with The International
Christian Embassy, figures like John Hagee,
Jan Luckoff, Jan Willem Van der Hoven, and
Malcom Hedding among others and with
organizations such as Exobus, Bridges For
Peace, and Ebenezer Fund were never directed
against people caught up in scripturally
unbalanced organizations. On the contrary, in
an age of growing anti-Semitism and anti-Zionist
bias I appreciate their positive support
and Philo-Semitism — howbeit a misguided
Philo-Semitism. I have rather been motivated
by a God-given desire to see Jews and
non-Jews saved and the command of Jesus
to proclaim the Gospel to Israel carried out.
Moishe highlights these same concerns in his
farewell tome.
Secondly, his final comments underscore
our own convictions at Moriel at the extreme
axis of the Messianic Movement which lifts
up “Jewishness” (or a version of it) more
than it does Yeshua-ness. Even in his departing
I have a theological and ideological ally
in my old friend Moishe. I did not always
agree with him (although I usually did), but
I certainly agreed with him on the issues that
counted most.
What can I say Or what can anyone say
who knew Moishe Praise God he is now
with Yeshua. As Moishe said in his leaving
letter : “I’ll see you in the air”. Indeed I will.
J. Jacob Prasch
Moishe Rosen’s Final Letter
Dear friends,
If you are reading this, it means that I
have gone on to my reward. As I write this, I
can only think of what the Scriptures say and
that is, “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard,
neither have they entered into the heart of man
the things that God has prepared for those
who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9) Well,
I have a big curiosity and by now, I know.
I don’t suppose that I will be writing you
any new material, but there are a few articles
in the works that might still come through.
As I go, I feel that I have left a number
of things undone. I think everyone must feel
that way. There were words of appreciation
that I looked for an occasion to express, but
they didn’t come. There were words of regret
that I would have expressed to others. And
there were words of encouragement that I
had for all who were believers.
I’d like to encourage you to stay with
Jews for Jesus. I was the Executive Director
until 1996. Many things have changed. Some
of them definitely for the better and others
that I can’t say were for the worst, but things
that I would not have thought to do. Nevertheless
the core of what Jews for Jesus stands
for is still central.
As I go, one of the things that concerns
me deeply is how much misunderstanding
there is among believers. I never thought I
would live to see the day when those who
know the Lord and are born again were supporting
the efforts of rabbis who, frankly, not
only didn’t know Christ, but didn’t want to
know Him.
To be an honest ministry, it can only
come from the Holy Spirit; and the Holy
Spirit can only indwell those who have the
new birth and are born again. Therefore, I
would urge you to think very seriously before
you support any “ministry” that involves
Jewish people and doesn’t actually bring the
gospel to the Jews.
Likewise, I am concerned over something
else that I never thought that I would
see or hear and that is, Jews who have become
believers in Jesus and have important
positions in ministry yet feel that their primary
purpose is to promote Jewishness and
Judaism to the Jews.
I hope I can count on you to show love
and respect for the Jewish people, but Jewishness
never saved anybody. Judaism never
saved anybody no matter how sincere. Romans
10:9 & 10 make it clear that we must
believe in our hearts and confess with our
mouths the Lord Jesus in order to be saved.
There are no shortcuts. There is no easy way.
Within Judaism today, there is no salvation
because Christ has no place within Judaism.
Aside from these concerns, I want to
say that I feel as I have always felt that we
stand on the edge of a breakthrough in Jewish
evangelism. Just a little more. Just another
push. Just another soul – and we will have
reached critical mass where we begin generating
that energy that the whole world might
know the Lord.
I would also encourage you to be faithful
to those Bible-teaching, Bible-preaching
churches that give spiritual food. More than
ever, the church needs faithful members who
can be an example to the young people coming
in. Maybe there are some features about
your church that keep you from being enthusiastic
– look around and see if there might
In Memory
be a better church for you. If there is, join
it and enjoy it. If your church is doing a lot
right, then stay where you’re planted.
I don’t expect that Jews for Jesus will be
undergoing any turmoil because of my demise.
For many years, the leadership has been
in competent hands, but this is a time when
there needs to be some encouragement. The
executive director and the staff need to hear
that you intend to continue standing with us.
Anything done for Christ will last. Anything
you do to help and encourage Jews for
Jesus at this time will have lasting effects on
all of us. So instead of saying “good bye,” I’ll
just say, “until then – I’ll see you in the sky.”
Moishe
That if you confess with your
mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe
–Romans
in your heart that God
10:9–
raised him
from the dead, you will be saved.
(NIV)
~ With Great Sorrow ~
“The Lord
is near to
those who
mourn”
Stewart Dool Now with Jesus
It is with great regret that we announce the
loss of our friend and brother Stewart Dool,
director of Intercessors For Britain (IFB).
Stewart has gone home with Jesus to his
reward after having been a solid voice for
truth and righteousness in an age of decline
both in contemporary society and the church.
His battle with motor neuron disease has been
cruel and while we rejoice his suffering temporal
is ended and his blessings eternal have
commenced, we express our deepest condolences
in Jesus to his beloved wife Jenny and
their children for whom we request prayer.
We also request prayer for the future of the
much needed ministry of IFB.
Until we are rejoined with him we shall
always remember Stewart as a staunch friend
of Israel and the Jews with a desire to sees
Jewish souls reconciled to their Messiah.
Stewart’s gain is indeed our loss.
In Jesus,
Jacob Prasch & Moriel
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 21

Guest Author
Mike Oppenheimer
The 144,000 teaching of the Jehovah’s Witnesses - Their Big Lie
The number 144,000 is used in only one
book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. It appears
only three times, two of them for man and
one for the measurement of the New Jerusalem
that is going to come from heaven. Learning
from the Bible about this selected group that
is to preach the gospel through the tribulation
period does not bring you to the same conclusion
that is taught by the Watchtower to all
Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The 144,000 is the most crucial teaching
to the Witnesses. The whole organization is
built upon it. It divides their members into two
classes, the heavenly and earthly class. This is
the Watchtowers big lie that keeps them in error
and in bondage to their organization. “Does the
Bible show that some people will go to heaven
Yes, the Bible does teach that a limited number
go to heaven for a special reason” (Watchtower
2/15/1984 p. 4). The odds are that the visitor at
your door with the Watchtower or Awake magazine
isn’t one of them. I haven’t met one yet in
over 20 years.
Paul states in Galatians 1:6-9 that anyone,
even an angel, that preaches anything other
than that which he preached, is anathema, or
accursed Paul scolds the Jews who opposed
them, “Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles
that they might be saved” (1 Thess. 2:16). Hmm,
seems the Watchtower has repeated this same
injustice to their own members. The 144,000
is viewed as a literal number, representing a
limited group within their organization who are
to become spirit sons of Jehovah. Being “born
again” is exclusive for the 144,000 who alone
have Christ as their mediator and are in the new
covenant. “Who and how many are able to enter
it. The Revelation limits to 144,000 the number
that become a part of the Kingdom and stand
on heavenly Mount Zion” (Let God Be True,
p. 136). Called “the little flock” taken from
Christ’s statement, “Fear not, little flock...” The
other Jehovah Witnesses are known as “other
sheep” I have which are not of this fold...”
(John 10:16). The “little flock” are to be spirit
sons that will be in heaven ruling with Christ,
the “other sheep” (the majority of Jehovah’s
Witnesses) are to be physical inhabitants of the
restored earth. The fact is; no Jehovah’s Witness
will go to heaven, not even the 144,000 because
they do not have Jesus as their mediator in the
accurate Biblical sense. Putting this aside, we
need to examine their view and use it to exit
their members out into a real relationship with
God with Jesus Christ in its center. This teaching
of a limited number going to heaven did not
come from their founder Charles Taze Russell.
Russell originally taught that all the members
of the Watchtower were “anointed,’ they, as the
144,000 were Spiritual Israel and have the heavenly
hope. The early Watchtower teaching was
that all Jehovah’s Witnesses go to heaven. There
was no paradise earth teaching for a separate
group, no two destinations for their members.
Russell died in 1916 and Judge Joseph
Rutherford became the new president. It was
under his leadership that many things began to
change, especially the teaching on the 144,000.
Rutherford (1869-1942) following the pattern
of their founder by proclaiming the end, predicted
that in 1918 God would destroy churches
and millions of their members. Rutherford
started prophesying that Armageddon was right
around the corner. Using the fast approaching
Armageddon the Jehovah’s Witnesses worked
harder than ever under Rutherford’s leadership.
He taught that the only way to escape the impending
judgment and destruction was to join
the Watchtower organization. This program
continued for years. This became the impetus
to grow the organization even in modern times;
making it a matter of survival by being one of
the faithful Jehovah’s Witnesses when Armageddon
does occur.
Under Russell’s leadership the membership
was way under 100,000 so they were safe. Their
membership rose to 4,000 in 1919 and was continuing
to increase under Rutherford, “In 1931
there were 50,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses” (in 50
lands) (Mankind’s Search for God p. 359 1990).
By 1930’s they ran into a new problem, they
were approaching the 144,000 number. The
next several years they doubled, “In 1943 there
were only 126,329 Witnesses in 54 countries”
(Ibid. p. 360). The Watchtower had to deal with
all these extra people. Because they had been
previously taught there was only one calling, all
were going to heaven. Rutherford had new light
from God. In other words, speaking ex - cathedra
like the Pope he changed their whole system.
This would be the most significant change in
the organizations doctrine that continues today.
The doctrine introduced by Rutherford,
second President of the Watchtower said from
1935 onward, “At the end of May of that year
a five-day convention of Jehovah’s Christian
Witnesses was in session... the president of the
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society discussed
the subject of ‘the great multitude, ‘spoken of
in Revelation 7.9-17, Authorized Version. He
made it clear that the ‘multitude’ was no spiritual
or spirit begotten class, would not attain
the angelic nature in heaven so as to assist the
144,000 joint heirs with Christ. It was a distinctly
an earthly class with hope of endless
perfect human life in the earthly paradise under
Christ’s kingdom” (Holy Spirit, 1976, p. 156)
So he invented two classes, a heavenly class
and earthly class. An earthly “Great Crowd”
was created, by Judge Rutherford out of necessity.
A second- class of people that were subject
to and dependent upon the heavenly class who
alone would be part of the new covenant and
have Christ as their mediator.
The one calling; that all Jehovah Witnesses
were going to heaven was held UNTIL 1934
-5, when Rutherford changed this. “For some
19 centuries after this there was only one calling,
the heavenly one” (United in Worship of
the only True God p. 111). The 144,000, called
the heavenly class would go to be with Jesus
in heaven, the other group, known as the other
sheep, the “great crowd,” have a great privilege,
to live on earth in the Millennium in perfect
conditions. This is why no Jehovah’s Witnesses
wants to go to heaven today. To them it is better
to be on paradise earth with their family having
perfect harmony with the nature (this what their
drawings depict), than to be with the Lord Jesus
in heaven. Not to be able to live on the future
restored paradise on earth is repulsive to the average
witness, and they do not understand why
anyone would want to be separate from friends
and family and be banished to heaven.
They had also taught those of the 144,000
that have died had been raised in 1918 to life in
heaven with Christ Jesus when Jesus, according
to Watchtower theology, moved into Jehovah’s
temple. “Has this spiritual resurrection taken
place Yes, back in chapter 26 we learned that
it took place when Christ came to Jehovah’s
temple in 1918” (Paradise Lost to Paradise
Regained p. 231). “It was God’s will for the
awakening of the remnant on earth to follow
the 1918 heavenly resurrection of anointed
ones who died prior to that time” (Watchtower
7/15/60 p. 440). “In the capacity of priests and
kings of God they reign a thousand years with
Christ Jesus” (Let God Be True, p. 137). “It
was an invisible resurrection” (From Paradise
lost to Paradise Regained p. 192 1958)
So how many were resurrected How
would anyone know if it was an invisible resurrection
Imagine being a lawyer to prove
one’s innocence and you tell the judge here is
the evidence but you can’t see it. That’s what
they want their people to believe, and they are
so trusting that they accept it.
But this presents another problem, the Bible.
The Watchtower takes the position that Paul
called profane and Idle babblings. In 2 Tim.
2:17-18 Paul names Hymenaeus and Philetus
who have strayed concerning the truth, saying
that the resurrection is already past; and they
overthrow the faith of some.” The Bible teaches
the Dead are raised and the living transformed
at the same time, not years apart (1 Thess. 4:16-
17). The resurrection is not to just certain few
that no one will see as is an invisible spirit resurrection
(which is not possible, all were physical).
“Who are those 144,000 …they are faithful
followers of Jesus Christ specially chosen
to rule in heaven with him. …Since the days
of the apostles, God has been selecting faithful
Christians in order to complete the number
144,000” (What Does the Bible Really Teach
22 Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

p. 78-79) The Watchtower taught that the “little
flock,” began with the apostles, was nearly
filled by the year 1935. “With the reestablishment
of true Christianity near the end of the
last century, more were called and chosen. But
it seems that in the mid-1930’s, the full number
of the 144,000 was basically completed.”
(Watchtower Aug. 15, 1996 p. 31) So the church
apostatized and restored by Russell, really
The Watchtower in its first report of partakers
of the meal were 36,372 (Bulletin, March
Extra, 1935, p. 2 )Lets’ say for the sake of math
that the 144,000 were being chosen since the beginning
of the church using the number 36,372.
This leaves 107,628 (source: Outnumbered -
exploding the myth of the 144,000 by Russell
Warren) The Bible states in Acts 2:41 and Acts
4:4, there were 8,000 believers in Jesus in the
first few weeks of the church. When we subtract
from the number of: we have only 99,628.
After we crunch the numbers we see how few
were chosen to go to heaven throughout history
according to their doctrine. This leaves approximately
50 chosen anointed ones each year.
That’s a single person from one third of the nations
throughout 1,900 years of the church up
until this year. Hardly believable, even by their
own doctrine and numbers.
Of the 144,000 that are allowed to take
the once a year memorial meal (communion)
10,187 partook of it in the 1976 celebration of
the Memorial of Jesus’ death. The Memorial
meal in 1984, they had 9,081; at the 1987 “Memorial”
8,808; in 1991 8,850; in 2,000 8,661;
in 2005 8,524; for approximately 20 years the
number stayed within the same range. the numbers
began to steadily increase since 2005. In
2008 there was almost a 10% increase in the
number of partakers over 2007! 2009 there
were 10,857. The numbers have been going up.
Seems that a number of Jehovah’s Witnesses
have changed their mind and WANT TO GO
TO heaven, they want Jesus to be their mediator.
But they are being lied to, they can’t, because
their doctrine on this; its not biblical, it is
elitist and a travesty to those who desire eternal
life. They keep them from having Jesus be their
mediator by denying who Jesus is and what His
crucifixion actually means. Yet they continue to
say “over the years the number of those who
are truly anointed has been getting smaller”
(Watchtower Jan. 15, 2000 p. 13) They ignore
their own numbers “ … the number of anointed
ones on the earth has decreased over the
decades…” (Watchtower Feb. 15, 2009 pp. 27-
28). Really How does this work out with “…it
seems that in the mid-1930’s, the full number of
the 144,000 was basically completed” (Watchtower
Aug. 15, 1996 p. 31).
“As time has gone by, some Christians
baptized after 1935 have had witness born to
them that they have the heavenly hope. Thus …
we cannot set a specific date for when the heavenly
hope ends” (Watchtower May 1, 2007 p.
31). Of course they can’t, especially when the
numbers are increasing instead of decreasing.
But 85 years ago they did.
The Big Lie
“Consequently, those of the “great crowd”
expect to remain on earth forever and to share
in bringing it to a Paradise state” (Watchtower
Mike Oppenheimer
Aug. 15, 1980 p. 17). So what are they doing
in heaven Rev. 19:1 - “After these things I
heard what was as a loud voice of a great crowd
in heaven” Rev. 7:9 - “look! a great crowd ...
standing before the throne” The Bibles qualifications
for being part of the 144,000 (Revelation
Chapter 7:3-8) They are all chaste men who are
saved on earth, none of them are married, they
cannot be women Rev. 14:4. Rev. 14:5: “And
in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are
without fault before the throne of God.” No deceit
meaning no lies, not falsehoods and without
fault means they are blameless. This alone
excludes them from this Organization.
They are all Jews by birthright, they do
not become “spiritual Israel.” Rev. 7:4: “And
I heard the number of those who were sealed.
One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the
tribes of the children of Israel were sealed.” The
term children of Israel is consistently used of the
people of Israel distinguished from Gentiles, so
the 144,000 cannot be Gentiles, not one of them.
Gen. 32 onward this term is consistently used
of those with Jewish descent, Exodus 1:1-5.
The 144,000 are all identified by tribe, divided
by the exact number of 12,000 from each-
Rev. 7:5-8 v. 5 “of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand
were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve
thousand were sealed; James 1:1 uses this same
application to Israel (12 tribes: Rev. 21:10-12).
No one on earth today that meets these
qualifications for the 144,000 found in Revelation
7 and 14, for the simple reason God has not
begun to seal them. The Bible teaches they are
“sealed” on earth during the “great tribulation,”
at the 7th seal when God’s wrath is to come.
Have the 6 seals have already been opened
Can a Jehovah’s Witness prove the seals were
opened for almost 2,000 years; that we have
been and are now in the tribulation
The doctrine of sealing
144,000 since the beginning of
the church is pure fantasy.
There is also another blatant error by the
Watchtowers interpretation, Rev. 7:7-9: “after
these things” are those who come out of the
tribulation from the result of their evangelizing.
The great multitude are mostly gentiles from all
the nations, while the 144,000 are strictly Jews.
The great crowd comes OUT of the great tribulation
because of their preaching. How is any of
this possible then or today if the Bible says they
are all sealed in the tribulation (Rev. 7)
Where’s the great multitude being SAVED
by the anointed Jehovah’s Witnesses TODAY.
The Bible says it is a number one no one could
number (there are less than 7 million JW’s). In
Greek the highest number was 10,000 (myriads)
times 10,000 is used by Jude. This great crowd
is only seen after the 144,000 are sealed, which
is still in the future! This great crowd comes out
of the tribulation from the 144,000 and others
preaching the gospel, in other words they are
dead and are now in heaven around the throne,
they were killed by the campaign of the False
Messiah (Rev. 13:7; Rev 12:11; Rev. 17:6).
The location of the great crowd - “before the
throne,” “BEFORE THE LAMB” (Rev. 7:11),
and We know the Lamb is in heaven Not on earth
(his throne is in heaven Rev. 1:4;4:5,6). But here
is the kicker, the switcheroo that the Watchtow-
Guest Author
er has pulled on their own hard working members.
Rev. 7:14-15 the great crowd -”These are
the ones who come out of the great tribulation,
and washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb” (even the NWT has
this). They “made them white in the blood of
the Lamb,” which makes them partakers of the
New Covenant. They are the ones that serve in
heaven; it is the great crowd, NOT the 144,000.
Another point that should not be overlooked,
the great crowd are waving palm
branches which has to do with salvation. It is at
the Feast of Tabernacles that this is done (Neh.
8:15). It was done when Jesus rode into Jerusalem
on donkey (Zech. 9:9) when they thought
He was to be with them to set up the kingdom.
The Watchtower teaches, “the 144,000
members of the Israel of God have properly
partaken of the emblems during the Memorial
of Jesus’ death, and only with them did Jesus
make his covenant for a Kingdom” (The Watchtower
p. 31, Feb. 1, 1998). Numerous statements
like this are consistently taught through
their magazines. “This great crowd” of “other
sheep” that is forming today is not in the new
covenant” (Watchtower, 4/1/79, p. 31)
Who is mediator for the millions of Jehovah’s
Witnesses that are not part of the 144,000
NO ONE, they have none. The Scripture teaches
that sin is paid by Jesus’ death. Heb. 9:15:
“Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant by
means of death.” Without him being your direct
mediator your sins cannot be forgiven, you, removal
of guilt and a restored relationship to God.
I Tim. 2:5 says there is only one mediator,
all believers have Jesus as their mediator. The
way is through Jesus Christ crucified. Without
Jesus being your mediator you are not in covenant
with God (Heb. 9:14). Rev. 13 tells us if
you are not found in the lambs book you have
no eternal life, not in heaven nor on earth. The
Watchtower teaches Jesus died, went out of existence
and was raised a spirit creature. I Tim.
2:5 Jesus is a man, a human, not a spirit creature
(he is still God in the flesh). The Bible teaches
all priests were taken from men. There is only
one eternal high priest.
Their 144,000 teaching has more holes than
Swiss cheese, it is probably the most insidious
doctrine found in any of the cults. It is keeping
people from a relationship with God. The
Watchtower fulfills exactly what Jesus scolded
the Pharisees on in Matthew 23:13: “Woe to
you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in
men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor
will you let those enter who are trying to.”
Lets do all we can to get them the message
of salvation in Jesus Christ.
Mike is the director of Let us Reason ministries,
www.letusreason.org. They are an apologetic
and evangelistic ministry to the cults and
religions in the melting pot of Hawaii. Witnessing
to the Jehovah’s witnesses I find this to be
one of the most engaging and effective topics
we can discuss with them. This is a condensed
version, the complete article is in 5 parts and is
filled with quotes posted in the Jehovah’s Witness
section.
In Christ’s service,
Mike O
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 23

Judaic study
Jacob Prasch
What
Mdoes Ithe Word
Dof God
RActually ASay About
S
Midrash
H
SORTING FACT FROM FICTION
What does the Word of God Actually Say
About Midrash
“Now the remainder of the deeds of of Abijah,
and his ways and words are written in the
‘MIDRASH’ of the Prophet Iddo”. (2 Chronicles
13:22)
(Directly from the God-given text of original,
divinely inspired Hebrew canon.)
“As to his sons and many oracles [burdens]
against him, and the reconstruction of the
House of God, behold these are written in the
‘MIDRASH’ of the Book of kings. Then Amaziah
his son became King in his place”.
(2 Chronicles 24:27)
(Directly from the God-given text of original,
divinely inspired Hebrew canon.)
Yes friends, it is a fact; it is there in Scripture.
“MIDRASH” is plainly taught in the Word
of God. It is cited as a valid historical source
and as a theological source of a prophetic interpretation
of scriptural events and biblical history.
GOD PUT IT IN HIS WORD – NOT
JACOB PRASCH OR ANY MAN.
There are examples of pseudo-Scripture
such as the Gnostic Gospels of Thomas, etc.
and non-Apostolic pseudigraphical Epistles.
We are even told in Scripture that there were
forged and counterfeit Epistles circulated in the
1st Century by heretical deceivers in the early
church who tried to deceive believers into believing
they were authored by the actual Apostles
(e.g. 2 Thessalonians 2:2). So too there are
later post-apostolic rabbinic mishrashim (midrashic
writings of later rabbis) having no more
to do with scriptural references to Midrash than
the later Gnostic forgeries of the Gospel have to
do with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Those today who reject Midrash out of
hand normally do not even know what it is.
Those rejecting Midrash and those citing its inclusion
in God’s Word because of later rabbinic
distortions of Midrash are no different than the
later Marcionite heretics who wanted to throw
out Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as corruptions
in a time when Gnostic literature was becoming
rife in the early church; they do and say
the same precise things today. Such so-called
“scholars” and “experts” are dangerous because
they do not know Greek and Hebrew but rather
pretend to have expertise where they have none.
(Much like the Jehovah’s Witness cult founders
Charles Tase Russell and Judge Rutherford
and home economics teacher Gail Riplinger of
the King James Version-Only Movement who
also cannot read biblical languages. She is also
a categorical fraud misrepresenting herself as
knowing things she has been publicly proven
not to know).
Such dishonesty, pseudo-academic pretense,
and phony scholarship is particularly true
of ultra-Calvinist Peter Glover and Richard Engstrom,
Barbara Aho, Wendy Howard, Wendy
Buester, Tom Lamb, and Victoria Dillen of the
cultic Ruckmanite extreme axis of the KJV-Only
lunatics who lift up a 17th Century translation of
a translation above the original Hebrew, Greek,
and Aramaic autographs which God inspired.
God’s Word itself however, teaches plainly
that the authority and priority is on the original
languages of the original divinely inspired
manuscripts (Nehemiah 8:8) and not on a translation
of a translation produced between 17 and
23 centuries later after initially God breathed
His Word and inspired its authorship.
It is not that we have a problem with the
KJV itself or with the legacy of godly men like
Tyndale and Coverdale. As we have written
multiple times, the KJV is a valid translation that
God has used and is superior to most modern
translations in its accuracy. We say this despite
the fact that King James himself was an Anglo-
Catholic homosexual son of the Roman Catholic
Mary Queen of Scots who, like his mother,
murdered born again Christians and drove the
Puritan Pilgrims out of Britain and into Holland
or across the Atlantic on the Mayflower. These
persecuted Christians, of course, rejected what
they saw as a Roman Catholic 1611 KJV that
included the Apocrypha as Canon and listed
Roman Catholic feasts of Mary as holy days
and so forth. They preferred the Geneva Bible
to the KJV for bringing the Gospel to America.
Yet we still respect the KJV, but have no respect
for KJV Only-ism or the proven charlatans who
propagate it such as Gail Riplinger.
It is little wonder that most of the disinformation
about Jacob Prasch regarding what
God’s Word says about Midrash are from this
Ruckmanite camp. They must hold up their
17th Century translation of a translation above
what God breathed for the same reason that
Rick Warren’s followers use Eugene Peterson’s
The Message or some other twisted paraphrase.
If they dislike or disagree with something that
God placed in His Word they simply mis-translate
it out of His Word and remove it.
Unfortunately the KJV, otherwise a very
good translation overall, in this particular case
mistranslates what God inspired as “Midrash”
into “stories”. (Other versions use “treatise”).
We take issue with how the Hebrew has been
translated for this particular word, not with the
quality of the KJV overall.
God warns us of those who subtract from
His Word. The translators of the KJV themselves
certainly did not have this aim; most
were heroically martyred for the name of Jesus
and were faithful to the best manuscript record
available to them at a time of upheaval and persecution.
Those with their anti-Semitic Jew-hating
agenda who simultaneously and hypocritically
claim to worship the God of the Jews and
believe in the Jewish Messiah reject what God
originally breathed by rejecting Midrash. Hence,
they need a translation that does not accurately
translate or footnote the places the term occurs.
Jesus (Yeshua) is still rejected by most
of His own people due to the lie of Talmudic
Judaism invented by rabbis, but God has not
rejected them (Romans 11:1), will graft them
in again (Romans 11: 25), still loves them as
a nation and a people for the sake of the Patriarchs
(Romans 28:29) even in their lost state of
unbelief, and has never withdrawn His elective
or prophetic calling of them (Romans 11:29).
To them moreover still belong “the oracles of
God” (Romans 3:2) and the New Covenant
was made with them (Jeremiah 31:31, Romans
9:4). The tense of the Greek word “belongs” is
present continuous active – the covenants and
Scriptures still belong to Israel; non-Jews are
merely grafted in and unbelieving Jews are cut
off until and unless they accept Christ.
Those rejecting that Midrash is found in the
Scriptures boast against the natural branches –
which Christians are commanded not to do (Romans
11: 18), for the covenants with Israel and
patriarchal promises are the ‘”reza” or “root” of
the church. They seek to turn what was given as
a Jewish book into a non-Jewish one; they Hellenize
a Hebraic faith and are as wrong on one
extreme as Judaizers seeking to place believers
into bondage to Mosaic Law and compulsory
Torah observance are on the other.
Secondly, because “Midrash” is in there,
they remove content from the Word of God.
(Deuteronomy 4: 2, Revelation 22: 19) God
warns that such people doing this will be proved
to be liars (Proverbs 30: 6). That is exactly what
God calls such people: “liars”. But what does
the New Testament teach us about Midrash
What are the differences between scriptural and
rabbinic Midrash What does Jacob Prasch and
Moriel think of Talmudic Judaism
1. Talmudic Judaism is not the Judaism of
Moses and the Prophets; it is a false religion
mixing truth and error, camouflaging both error
with truth and elements of truth with error. It is
a fabrication of the rabbis predicted in Jeremiah
2 that rejects its own Messiah Jesus (Yeshua)
who is the promised “fountain of living waters”
(Jeremiah 2:13, John 7). It replaces what God
gave Moses with a distortion largely invented
by Yochannon Ben Zakai, Rabbi Akiva, the
Gaonim, Rashi, Rambam, Railbag, Isaac Luria,
and later chassidic mystics like Baal Shem Tov.
Caballah and its arch work Zohar is occult in
origin and nature and is a pseudo-Judaization of
Babylonian Gnosticism. Much as Liberal Protestantism,
Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism,
and cults such as Mormonism distort and
re-write Christianity into a system that is unbiblical,
the rabbis did the same with Talmudic
24 Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

Judaism. Jacob Prasch and Moriel have never
once taught or believed anything else although
some of the aforementioned KJV-Only personalities
falsely claim we have.
2. Concerning Midrash itself we simply
recognize what is found in Scripture regarding
it as we do with any other scriptural truth
that God placed in His Word. As with typology,
Midrash is a truth and an exegetical reality that
God uses to illuminate and illustrate, but we
never base doctrine on it.
3. At least since the era of Puritan Scholar
John Lightfoot to the 19th Century German
scholars Bilderbeck and Strauss, various
conservative Evangelical scholars have often
maintained that the Apostles used Midrash in
authoring the New Testament and in their hermeneutical
interpretations of Old Testament formula
citations. Since the discovery of The Dead
Sea Scrolls it has been shown that the New Testament
exegetes the Old Testament along the
same lines as the Qumran literature. This has
produced an avalanche of interest by mainly
conservative scholars from the Evangelical axis
who have taken up this investigation agreeing
(with such as the renowned Evangelical scholar
Dr. T. S. Doherty who puts it) that the New
Testament is not mainly “Midrash” but “midrashic”.
From Professor Daryl Boch’s recognition
(originally pioneered by Jacob Prasch in a
non-academic format) that prophecy is pattern,
to Dr. R. N. Longenecker to Moises Silva to Dr.
E. E. Ellis, the ranks of Evangelical theologians
accepting the Midrash proposition have swelled
hugely – mainly precipitated by the Qumran
Scrolls, especially Q 10. There has also been
a recognition of New Testament uses of Midrash
by Jewish scholars academically sympathetic
to Evangelicals led by Dr. David Daube.
Unfortunately there have been those who
do not appear to grasp even the fundamentals
of Midrash such as liberal John Shelby Sponge
(who did not accept the offer by Jacob Prasch
to public debate in Adelaide, Australia). Sponge
attempts to argue that Midrash negates literal
meaning which reveals a convoluted understanding
that midrashic peshet interpretations
of Scripture depends upon the literal meaning
and historicity of the peshet. Sponge would
likely be laughed out of any serious academic
symposium or forum examining New Testament
uses of Midrash.
Another such personality is self-professed
midrashic Bible teacher John Young from Manchester,
England. Mr. Young is not fluent in
Hebrew. To claim to teach Scripture midrashically
without a high level of competence in
Hebrew is akin to misrepresenting oneself as
a physician who is not expert in anatomy or
an architect who is not expert in blueprints. It
amounts to nothing short of pure theological
quackery. The John Sponges and John Youngs
are sad exceptions. The scholarly tradition of
academic inquiry into conservative Evangelical
midrashic hermeneutics dates back to the 17th
Century to the era of John Lightfoot. Yet unfortunately
in an age of non-accredited online
degrees and phony credentials, we can probably
expect more of the same instead of less.
4. Formula citations (such as the way Matthew
2:15 handles Hosea 11:1) have allowed
anti-conservative Evangelical liberal scholars
Jacob Prasch
such as Oxford Professor James Barr to enjoy a
field day in undermining doctrinal orthodoxy as
evangelically interpreted and defined. The effective
response to Barr and his ilk is the apologetic
use of Midrash, demonstrating that with the use
of midrashic exegesis of such interpretations as
found in the Gospel narratives or in Galatians
4, Jude’s Epistle, etc. are logically coherent
and in exegetical context once Sitz im Leben is
not separated from the hermeneutic. The New
Testament authors were 1st Century Jews using
the hermeneutics of that time and culture and,
with this in view, the New Testament handling
of the Old Testament makes total sense without
resorting to the extrapolated argumentation attempted
by Dr. Walter Kaiser (an otherwise apt
and worthwhile scholar in our opinion). If we
ignore what Scripture reveals with reference to
Midrash and what Midrash reveals from Scripture,
we throw away a powerful, logical, and
scriptural weapon in the defense of doctrinal
orthodoxy and divine inspiration.
5. The Apostle Paul cum Rabbi Shaul of
Tarsus makes it clear he was from the Pharisaical
School of Hillel, a disciple of Gamaliel (the
grandson of Hillel per Acts 22:3, Acts 5:34).
While Paul counted efforts to be justified by the
Law as “dung,” we see repeatedly the use of his
education that would have been largely predicated
on the Seven Midoth of Rabbi Hillel. Paul’s
ability as a rabbi who had been saved precisely
fulfills the teaching of Jesus as to what happens
when a “scribe who has become a disciple of
the kingdom of heaven…brings out of his treasure
things new and old”. (Matthew 13:52)
This was recognized by Peter who understood
Paul was better geared than he to explain more
complex doctrinal issues (2 Peter 3:15-16).
A classical portrayal of St. Paul writing
midrashically is Galatians 4:21-31. As with the
Matthean formula citations in the Nativity Narrative,
there is no other way to make scriptural
or logical sense of why he interprets Scripture
as he does. It is pure Midrash.
These are the scriptural facts. As hermeneutic,
as literary genre, and as prophetic interpretation
of history, Midrash is found in and taught in
God’s Word. If rabbis distorted it, tell me what
does false religion — be it Christian, Jewish or
otherwise — not distort It is not reasonable to
reject the validity of something that is true just
because it is counterfeited. It is a poor scholar
or teacher who would tell us to do so. Anyone
who has ever suggested that I have even once
ever maintained we must look to extra-scriptural
rabbinic sources to interpret God’s Word
is lying or never actually read my teachings on
using Midrash. Likewise, anyone who suggests
that Midrash is not found in God’s Words is also
a liar or uneducated. God’s Word is true and if
it says “Midrash” I believe and accept it. To reject
one bit of God’s Word is to reject all of it.
In Jesus,
Jacob Prasch
For I am confident of this very thing, that He
who began a good work in you will perfect it
until the day of Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 1:6)
Judaic study
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June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 25

American News
David Lister
http://dryicons.com
Is God Through with Israel
5 Witnesses Who Say No!
Today with the rise of Replacement
theology, the question should be asked, “Is
God though with Israel” In the Book of
Romans Paul answers the question very
succinctly, “Has God cast away His people
God forbid! For I also am an Israelite!”
And from there Paul continues his
epistle, which is set in a courtroom, following
the traditional courtroom procedures
used in the Roman Empire. There will be
a charge; there will be some indictments;
the counts that tell you your charge is correct.
Then there will be an opportunity for
defense. Finally, there will be a verdict.
And since we’re all in the courtroom lets
look at some of the witnesses Paul calls to
the stand to answer the question, “Is God
through with Israel and is there a future in
God’s plan for the Jews
First to the stand is Paul himself (Rom.
11:1). After asking “Has God cast away
His people” Paul replies, “God forbid!”
So, the question is asked and answered.
But if God is through or has He cast away
His people Israel, then how do we explain
Paul’s conversion, after all he is an Israelite
(Acts 9, 22, 26) We could easily see
that his conversion is an illustration of the
future conversion of the nation of Israel.
As Paul stated he was “one untimely born”
(1Cor. 15:8) and further points out in 1
Timothy 1:16 that God saved him,
“Yet for this reason I found mercy,
so that in me as the foremost, Jesus
Christ might demonstrate His
perfect patience as an example (or
pattern KJV) for those who would
believe in Him for eternal life.”
Paul’s conversion accounts in Acts
show us very little about our own salvation
experience as none of us seen Christ
in glory or actually heard Him speak from
heaven. We have not been blinded by the
heavenly light, nor thrown to the ground.
So, in what way, then, is Paul’s conversion
“a pattern or example” It is an illustration
of how the nation of Israel will be saved
when Jesus Christ returns to establish His
kingdom on earth. You find details of Israel’s
future restoration and salvation written
in Zechariah 12:10-13:1. The nation shall
see Him as He returns (Zech. 14:4; Acts
1:11; Rev. 1:7), then recognize Him as their
Messiah, repent, and receive Him. This is
similar experience to that of Saul of Tarsus
on the Damascus Road in Acts 9. Now this
is why Paul used himself as the first witness.
The fact that he was saved does not
prove that there is a future for Israel. Rather,
what is important is the way he was saved.
Next Paul calls Elijah to the stand to
testify in verses 2 through 10 of Romans
11. The fact that most of the nation has
rejected Christ is no proof that God has
finished with His people. In 1 Kings 19,
Elijah thought that the nation had totally
departed from God, but he discovered that
there was remnant of 7,000 true believers.
Remember there never was a time
when the entire nation of Israel had been
true to the Lord. Paul pointed this out by
drawing a distinction between Abraham’s
natural children and his spiritual children
(Romans 2:25-29). He talked about
a remnant in Romans 9:27 quoting Isaiah
10:22-23. All true believers come to faith
the same way as Abraham, they have to
believe in God in order to receive His righteousness
(Rom. 4:1-5; Gen. 15:6). Sharing
in the covenant by being circumcised
did not guarantee their salvation, no more
than being sprinkled with water, or taking
26 Moriel Quarterly • June 2010

communion does. salvation is always by
grace and not works (Rom. 11:5-6). Grace
and works cancel each other out. Paul had
shown that Israel tried to please God by
works (Rom. 9:30-10:4) and thus they reject
and refuse to submit to His righteousness
as most “religious” people today. The
saved remnant of Elijah’s day as well as
the saved remnant of believing Jews of
Paul’s day and those today prove that God
was not through with His people. But the
question on the juror mind might well
be, “What had happened to the rest of the
nation” They had been hardened (a better
translation than “blinded” in the KJV
(Rom. 11:7). When people resist the Truth,
like Pharaoh did, their hearts harden. Quoting
Isaiah 29:10 to support his evidence
referring to Deuteronomy 20:4 statement,
and also referred to Deuteronomy 29:4.
As the evidence piles up Paul uses one
of the most important of the messianic
psalms, Psalms 69:22-23 to show that Israel’s
privileges and blessings turn into burdens
and judgments. These religious practices
(sacrifices, festivals, etc) should have
shown and pointed them to Christ, instead
they became a snare that kept them from
Christ. The same thing happens today, God
has set before us a banquet table, and instead
most people turn it into a snare. People
depend on, or trust in traditions, baptisms,
communions, going to church instead of
trusting in the One who can save them.
Paul closes Elijah’s testimony be stating
that “Hardness in part is happened to
Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has
come in” (Rom. 11:25) There is believing
Jewish remnant today, just as there was in
Elijah’s day, this is evidence that God still
has a plan for His people.
Now Paul brings The Gentiles to the
stand (earlier Paul had used the Gentiles to
prove the Jews were guilty of sin (Rom.
2:1-3). so on redirect he now uses the same
witness to assure Israel of a future restoration.
Follow the legal deduction here, first
the Jews reject the Gospel, so He sends it to
the Gentiles, they believe it and are saved.
Then three things happen to Israel, they
fall, are diminished and cast away (consecutively
in Romans 11:11,12, 15). Yet, none
of these suggest a final judgment for Israel.
Since God had promised the Gentiles
would be saved, we see that because of Israel’s
fall this becomes true. It is important
to understand that the Old Testament promises
to the Gentiles were linked to Israel’s
“rise”—her entering into her kingdom
together (See Isaiah 11 and 60). So, how
shall they “rise” Paul explains this “mystery.”
In Ephesians 3, this scared secret, not
revealed in the Old Testament, is that God
introduces The Church were both Jew and
Gentile can be one in Christ (Eph. 2:11-
David Lister
22). so, is the Kingdom program for Israel
out No. It is merely set aside for a time.
Paul shows that the Gentiles have a vital
ministry to Israel, to help her rise again,
for we are to provoke Israel “to jealousy”
because of our spiritual riches we have in
Christ. As Christians we have “all spiritual
blessings” in Christ (Eph. 1:3) and we use
these blessings, to again, provoke Israel. As
we provoke them to jealousy, we will see
“their fullness or fulfillment” (Rom. 11:12)
and their “receiving or acceptance” (v.15).
Today, Israel is fallen spiritually, but when
Christ returns, the nation will rise again.
God links His promises to Israel to the sun,
moon and stars, as His promises never to
fail, (Jer. 31:35-37). Israel while cast away
today, one day will be received again!
Now Paul brings the Patriarchs to the
stand, using imagery from the sacrifices to
help us to understand Israel’s future. Paul
helps us to see Israel’s future by drawing
on her past.
In Numbers 15:17-21 the first part of
the dough was to be offered up to God as
a symbol that the entire lump belonged to
Him. We see this same idea in the Feast of
First Fruits, with the sheaf offering symbolized
the whole harvest (Lev. 23:9-14).
The idea is simple, when God accepts the
part, He sanctifies the whole.
We understand Paul’s argument like
this: Since God accepted the founder of the
nation, Abraham, He set apart his descendants
as well. God also accepted the other
patriarchs, Isaac and Jacob, in spite of their
sins or failings. This means that God must
accept the “rest of the lump”—the nation
of Israel. Please keep in mind that Paul was
not discussing the relationship of individual
believers to God, but the place of Israel
in the plan of God.
Paul next uses the imagery of the Olive
tree, a symbol of the nation of Israel (Jer.
11:16-17) to understand the future of Israel.
We all know a tree is supported by its root
system. Paul uses the patriarchs who founded
the nation of Israel as the root. Since
God made His covenants with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, and He cannot deny them
or change them. Thus, it is God’s promise
to Abraham that sustains Israel even today.
Paul pictured non-believing Jews as
branches broken off the tree. Then he explains
that other branches (Gentiles) were
grafted into the tree to share in the life of
the tree. This “grafting in” was “contrary
to nature as usually a cultivated branch is
grafted into a wild tree and shares its life
without producing its poor fruit. But in this
case, it was the “wild branch” (the Gentiles)
that was grafted into the good tree!
We cannot say that the olive tree, with
its natural and grafted branches, is a picture
of the church In the church, “there is
American News
no difference”; believers are “all one in
Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Today we are
not seen by God as Jews or Gentiles. The
olive tree illustrates the relationship between
Jew and Gentile in the program of
God. The “breaking off of the branches”
is the equivalent of “the fall or stumble”
(Rom. 11:11), “the diminishing or failure”
(Rom. 11:12), and “the casting away or
rejection” (Rom. 11:15).. To read into this
illustration the matter of the eternal destiny
of the individual believer is to abuse the
truth Paul was seeking to communicate.
The Gentiles entered into God’s plan
because of faith, and not because of anything
good they had done. Paul was discussing
the Gentiles collectively, and not
the individual experience of one believer
or another.
Paul warned the Gentiles that they
were obligated to Israel, and therefore
they dared not boast of their new spiritual
position (Rom. 11:18-21). It is worth noting
that, according to Bible prophecy, the
professing Gentile church will be “cut off”
because of apostasy (See 1 Tim. 4; 2 Tim.
3 and 2 Thes. 2). While there is no hope
for the apostate church, there is hope for
apostate Israel! Why Because of the root
of the olive tree. God will keep His promises
to the patriarchs, but God will break
off the Gentiles because of their unbelief.
The root is still good. God is still the “God
of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob”. His promises never fail.
The last witness is God Himself. In
verse 25 we see God’s timing. The blinding
(or hardening) (Rom. 11:7) of Israel
as a nation is neither total nor final: it is
partial and temporary! So, how long will it
last “Until the fullness of the Gentiles be
come in” (Rom. 11:12). While God is taking
out a people for His name, individual
Jews are being saved. But when the time of
the Gentiles is up, God will once more deal
with the nation of Israel. It is important to
note the little word “until”, as it assures us
God knows what time it is!
In Isaiah 59 and 60 God has promised
to save His people. The statement that,
“All Israel shall be saved” does not mean
that every Jew who has ever lived will be
converted, but that the Jews living when
the Redeemer returns will see Him, receive
Him, and be saved (Zech 12-13). We cannot
spiritualize these prophecies of national
restoration for Israel and apply them to
the church today.
Paul next reminds us of God’s covenant.
We know Israel was chosen by His
grace. God chose Israel in His grace and not
because of any merit in her (Deut. 7:6-11;
9:1-6). If Israel wasn’t chosen because of it
merit, then how can it be rejected because
of its sin “Election” means grace, not merit.
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 27

American News – Continued
Today non-believing Jews are “enemies”
of the gospel, yet they are “beloved for
the fathers’ sakes.” God will not break His
covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!
Paul knows as we do that “God is not a
man that He should lie; neither the son of
man, that He should repent” (Num. 23:19)
and since he is “the Lord”, and He does not
change (Mal. 3:6). By His very nature He
does not change or repent. God’s gifts to
Israel, and God’s calling of Israel, cannot
be taken back or changed, or God would
cease to be true to His own perfect nature.
The fact that Israel may not enjoy her gifts,
or live up to her privileges as an elect nation,
does not affect this fact one bit. God
will be consistent with Himself and true to
His Word (See Rom. 3:3).
Now, God’s grace is invoked brought
to the stand. Because of the unbelief of the
Jews, we Gentiles are saved. Paul repeatedly
reminded the saved Gentiles that they had
a spiritual obligation to Israel to “provoke
them to jealousy” and Israel’s hardness is
only “in part” which means that individual
Jews can be saved. If God can save Jews by
His grace and mercy today, why can’t He
save them in the future God has included
all “in unbelief” both Jews and Gentiles so
that all might have the opportunity to be
saved by grace. “There is no difference.”
God chose the Jews so that the Gentiles
might be saved. Israel became exclusive
and failed to share the truth with the
Gentiles. They thought that the Gentiles
had to become Jews in order to be saved.
But God declared both Jews and Gentiles
to be lost and condemned. This meant that
He could have mercy on all because of the
sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
Finally, God’s wisdom is shown. Only
a God as wise as our God could take the
fall of Israel and turn it into salvation for
the world! If one thinks that God does not
know what He is doing, then they don’t
know Him. God is too wise to make plans
that will not be fulfilled. Israel did not allow
Him to rule, so He overruled!
Paul’s five witnesses, all agree, there
is a future for Israel. She will recover from
her fall and enter into her fullness when Jesus
Christ returns and sit on David’s throne
and Israel will “reconciled” and “received,”
and it will be like a resurrection!
In Peace,
David
Why did the United States immediately recognize the State of Israel
Margaret Truman said it was the most difficult decision Harry Truman ever faced as president.
Should he support the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, or shouldn’t he
Presidential advisers and the government were split. Clark Clifford, Truman’s legal counsel,
strongly favored recognition. The Jews deserved a sanctuary after the horror of the Holocaust, Clifford
argued. Besides, the new state would likely come to pass whether Truman urged it or not.
But the Department of State, including the highly respected Secretary of State, George Marshall,
advised against it, as did much of his cabinet. Truman greatly admired Marshall and had said,
“there wasn’t a decoration big enough” to honor Marshall’s leadership during World War II. At a
White House meeting on May 12, 1948, Marshall objected to quick US recognition of a Jewish
homeland. It would look as if Truman was angling for Jewish votes, he said, and might endanger
access to Arab oil. He went so far as to say that if Truman went ahead and recognized the new state,
then Marshall would vote against him in the coming election.
Truman made his own decision. Two days later, May 14, 1948 Israel was born at the stroke
of midnight, Jerusalem time. The United States announced its recognition of the new nation only
11 minutes later.
Danial Pipes, in reviewing Michael T. Benson’s book Harry S. Truman and the Founding of
Israel makes these observations about Truman’s decision:
Everyone knows that Harry Truman provided help to the Zionists because he could count votes,
and there were few Arab votes in 1948. That, anyway, is the thesis developed by John Snetsinger
in 1974 and since repeated ad nauseum. Well, it turns out not to be true. In a masterful and exciting
presentation, Benson proves that Truman’s policies resulted not from nose-counting but from
deeply-held beliefs. His pro-Israel outlook “was based primarily on humanitarian, moral, and sentimental
grounds, many of which were an outgrowth of the president’s religious upbringing and his
familiarity with the Bible.” Extensive research into Truman’s biography and earlier career shows
his impressive consistency. Benson, of the University of Utah, establishes Truman as a studious child
and deeply religious young man who, when he unexpectedly found himself in the Oval Office, lived
faithfully by his precepts. In the case at hand, he expressed sympathy for Zionism as early as 1939
and reiterated his views many times subsequently.
Truman’s determination had great importance; of the many momentous issues in his presidency,
he personally involved himself most directly with what he called the “puzzle of Palestine.”
In Benson’s words, these personal interventions against the entirety of the American foreign policy
establishment “constantly rescued” the Jews from defeat. The author concludes that the standard
account of Truman risking U.S. security interests for cheap political advantage is deeply unfair to
this most moral and honorable of American presidents.
“God is not a man that He
should lie; neither the son
of man, that He should
repent”
–Numbers 23:19–
28 Moriel Quarterly • June 2010
US State Department
Telegram, May 14, 1948
Palestine Facts website
(http://palestinefacts.org),
Retrieved June 7, 2010.
Today, in 1948, Israel is declared an independent state. It is immediately
attacked by all of its Arab neighbors. There were no settlements
at the time. Also, no occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip or Golan
Heights. Israel was attacked simply because it existed. It continues today.