On December 1, 2012, Norbert Link will give the sermon, titled, “Idolatry in the Book of Judges.”
 
The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

News from every part of the world floods across our media—often in real-time! We are able to observe catastrophic disasters such as earthquakes and horrific weather disturbances; rebellions and wars; vile and indecent human degradation; and other endless affronts to virtue and peace.

What exactly are we witnessing, and how do all of these things relate to us on a personal level?

According to the Word of God, these are signs of the times, which herald the end of this age and the ushering in of the Kingdom of God!

In His wide-ranging statements about what signs would foreshadow just this time, Jesus warned His servants to “watch” and “to be ready” (Matthew 24:42, 44; 25:10, 13). Notice also what He said would be the prevailing attitude of the world in general:

“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37-39).

People are accepting the status quo—whatever it is at the moment. They don’t seem able to grasp the need to separate themselves from societies that are descending into the mire and from which God warns us to come out!

When you notice the evil, do you sigh and cry, or have you become so inured to the sin all around us that you just accept it as the inevitable way of the world?

We must not grow complacent with ungodliness—rather, we are to continue to be on guard, watching and even warning others of the impending punishment that evil-doing will suffer in God’s righteous judgment!

“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them” (Ephesians 5:1-7).

We report on the beginning of Egypt’s expected descent into dictatorship and rule by Islamists and continue with articles on Iran’s activities and the fragile and merely temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

We relate Iraq’s refusal to heed to American pleas and address the resignation of Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, which increases the likelihood of an Israeli attack on Iran, according to some commentators.

We speak of the unfriendly relationship between Israel and the German people; report on the abominable practice of bestiality in Germany and the rest of Europe; speak of more Christmas lies, and discuss the history and present status of Germany’s current capital, Berlin.

While the prospects of Greek bankruptcy have been averted, the British people would love to exit the EU. We also report on terrible weather conditions on the island.

In other news, we address frightening scientific developments pertaining to autonomous weapons and address the health risks of smoking and second-hand smoke.

We reveal amazing parallels between Thanksgiving Day and the ancient Israelites; speak of America’s disastrous economic situation and report on blasphemous comments during a televised American award show. We contrast this with a moving declaration of repentance from Uganda’s President and show, on the other hand, the terrible conditions within our so-called Christian churches.

We conclude with an article about the Pope’s appointment of additional cardinals with the view to the election of a successor. We briefly discuss unbiblical and dangerous voting practices, including in the political realm, which have taken hold of many Church of God members, showing another tendency of the ongoing apostasy in the Body of Christ. Please re-read Norbert Link’s Editorial in the last Update, No. 565, titled, “Beware of Apostasy in God’s Church.”

“The New Pharaoh” –Egypt’s Renewed Move to Tyranny

Newsmax wrote on November 22:

“Egypt’s president on Thursday issued constitutional amendments that placed him above judicial oversight and ordered the retrial of Hosni Mubarak for the killing of protesters in last year’s uprising. Mohammed Morsi also decreed immunity for the Islamist-dominated panel drafting a new constitution from any possible court decisions to dissolve it, a threat that had been hanging over the controversial assembly.

“Liberal and Christian members withdrew from the assembly during the past week to protest what they say is the hijacking of the process by Morsi’s allies, who they saw are trying to push through a document that will have an Islamist slant marginalizing women and minority Christians and infringing on personal liberties. Several courts have been looking into cases demanding the dissolution of the panel.

“The Egyptian leader also decreed that all decisions he has made since taking office in June and until a new constitution is adopted and a new parliament is elected — which is not expected before next spring — are not subject to appeal in court or by any other authority. He also barred any court from dissolving the Islamist-led upper house of parliament…

“The moves effectively remove any oversight on Morsi, the longtime Muslim Brotherhood figure who became Egypt’s first freely elected president last summer after the Feb. 11, 2011 fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak… Morsi not only holds executive power, he also has legislative authority… With two branches of power in his hands, Morsi has had repeated frictions with the third, the judiciary, over recent months. ‘Morsi today usurped all state powers [and] appointed himself Egypt’s new pharaoh,’ pro-reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on his Twitter account. ‘A major blow to the revolution that could have dire consequences.’…”

On November 23, BBC News wrote the following:

“US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Friday that the decree had ‘raised concerns’ in the international community… The rapid turn of events may have caught Washington by surprise… Only on Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Mr Mursi in Cairo and praised him for his efforts in brokering the ceasefire in Gaza.”

BBC News added on November 24:

“In a statement, the Supreme Judicial Council called [Morsi’s] move ‘an unprecedented attack on the independence of the judiciary and its rulings’ and called on him to reverse it. Judges and prosecutors in Egypt’s second city Alexandria have gone on strike in protest, saying they will not return to work until the decree is reversed.”

“Muslim Brotherhood Stands for Radical Islam”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 26:

“Abd al-Galil al-Sharnubi says he can only laugh at the thought that there are people in the West who still see the Muslim Brotherhood as ‘moderate Islamists.’ Sharnubi is a journalist and a Muslim — and he was a member of the Brotherhood for 23 years. He’s been familiar with the movement since he was 14, and he says that the Brotherhood could be the kiss of death for democracy in Egypt.

“Last year, Sharnubi, 38, left the Islamist organization. Since then, he says that his life has become a nightmare…  he warned his fellow Egyptians that the movement was undemocratic and authoritarian, and that leading Muslim Brothers were no less corrupt than politicians from the old regime. Many accused Sharnubi of spreading panic, saying that the Islamists should be given a chance. But the former member of the Brotherhood says that last week’s events show that he’s been right all along. The president’s ‘coup,’ says Sharnubi, provides just an inkling of the Brotherhood’s obsession with power.”

In an accompanying article, Der Spiegel wrote on November 26:

“Opposition leaders, including prominent Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, have refused to cooperate with Morsi until the edicts have been scrapped. ‘He grabbed full power for himself,’ he [said.] ‘Not even the pharaohs had so much authority, to say nothing of his predecessor Hosni Mubarak. This is a catastrophe — it [is] a mockery of the revolution that brought him to power and an act that leads one to fear the worst’…

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:  ‘…The reason for Morsi’s clumsily handled grab for complete power is obvious. The new Islamization of Egypt, the pet project of the Muslim Brotherhood, has arrived…’

“Conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘That Morsi has chosen exactly the moment in which he is being praised internationally for his role as mediator in the Gaza conflict to grant himself new powers shows just what a cold power-monger he is…’”

Egypt’s “democracy” will be short-lived. America and Europe have been extremely naïve in the matter of the Arab Spring, and Egypt will not be a friend of either one of the two Western power blocs—nor will it be a friend of Israel.

Egypt’s Uproar Continues

The Associated Press reported on November 29:

“An Islamist-dominated panel began a fast-track vote on a final draft of a new Egyptian constitution Thursday, pushing through the document despite liberals’ boycott in a move likely to stoke a deepening political crisis between the Islamist president and the opposition. The assembly, overwhelmingly made up of allies of President Mohammed Morsi, abruptly moved up the vote – which hadn’t been expected to take place for another two months – in order to pass the draft before Egypt’s Supreme Constitution Court rules on Sunday on whether to dissolve the panel.

“The vote escalates a confrontation that has already thrown Egypt into turmoil, between Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood supporters on one side and a largely secular and liberal opposition and the nation’s judiciary on the other. It was sparked when Morsi last week granted himself near absolute powers to neutralize the judiciary, the last branch of the state not in his hands…”

The Jerusalem Post added on November 29:

“Prominent assembly members including former Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa have withdrawn from the assembly, as have representatives of Egypt’s Coptic Church.”

Egypt’s Ongoing Persecution of Christians

The Associated Press reported on November 28:

“An Egyptian court convicted in absentia Wednesday seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a Florida-based American pastor, sentencing them to death on charges linked to an anti-Islam film that had sparked riots in parts of the Muslim world. The case was seen as largely symbolic because the defendants, most of whom live in the United States, are all outside Egypt and are thus unlikely to ever face the sentence. The charges were brought in September during a wave of public outrage in Egypt over the amateur film, which was produced by an Egyptian-American Copt.

“The low-budget ‘Innocence of Muslims,’ parts of which were made available online, portrays the Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, womanizer and buffoon. Egypt’s official news agency said the court found the defendants guilty of harming national unity, insulting and publicly attacking Islam and spreading false information — charges that carry the death sentence.

“The man behind the film, Mark Basseley Youssef, was among those convicted… Florida-based Terry Jones, another of those sentenced, is the pastor of Dove World Outreach, a church of less than 50 members in Gainesville, Fla., not far from the University of Florida. He has said he was contacted by the filmmaker to promote the film, as well as Morris Sadek, a conservative Coptic Christian in the U.S. who posted the video clips on his website. In a telephone interview Wednesday, Jones said the ruling ‘shows the true face of Islam’ — one that he views as intolerant of dissent and opposed to basic freedoms of speech and religion…

“Sadek, who fled Egypt 10 years ago and is now a Coptic activist living in Chantilly, Virginia… said the verdict ‘shows the world that the Muslim Brotherhood regime wants to shut up all the Coptic activists, so no one can demand Copts’ rights in Egypt.’

“The connection to the film of the other five sentenced by the court was not immediately clear. They include two who work with Sadek at a radical Coptic group in the U.S. that has called for an independent Coptic state, a priest who hosts TV programs from the U.S. and a lawyer living in Canada who has previously sued the Egyptian state over riots in 2000 that left 21 Christians dead.

“In a phone interview, one of the men sentenced who works with Sadek, Fikry Zaklama, said he had nothing to do with the film and hadn’t even seen it… Nader Fawzy, a 53-year old jewelry store manager and president of an international Coptic rights organization from Toronto, Canada, said he planned to file a lawsuit against the Egyptian government in Canada for what he said was a wrongful prosecution. He said he’s terrified of being kidnapped and spirited to Egypt. Fawzy, who came to Canada in 2002 from Sweden and lost his Egyptian citizenship in 1992, denied any involvement in the film… The other person is a woman who converted to Christianity and is a staunch critic of Islam.

“Some Christians and human rights groups worry that prosecutions for insulting religion, which existed to a degree under the secular-leaning regime of deposed President Hosni Mubarak, will increase with the ascent of Islamists to power in Egypt.”

Of course it will… and Europe will not stand idly by for long…

Ceasefire—How CAN It Hold?

The Times of Israel wrote on November 25:

“The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas which ended Operation Pillar of Defense does not include Egyptian guarantees to prevent the smuggling of weapons to Gaza, said a senior Hamas official on Saturday… This week, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad terror organization, which is closely allied with Iran, said that the group would continue to rearm in Gaza, reported Israel Radio. The published terms of the brief agreement do not appear to include a crackdown on weapons smuggling. However, a more comprehensive set of terms is expected to be hammered out in the coming days…

“Israel’s Channel 2 said Egypt had already intercepted one shipment of missiles en route to Gaza. It also said that in the talks, Israel has indicated a willingness to let Gaza fishermen sail out further from the Gaza coast, though it is insisting on maintaining its naval blockade to prevent weapons reaching Hamas by sea…

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the flow of weapons into the Strip on Wednesday night, following the announcement of the ceasefire. According to the prime minister, ‘Israel obviously cannot sit idly while our enemy reinforces itself with weapons of terror.’ He added that in a phone conversation that night with the US president, ‘we decided, President Obama and myself, that the United States and Israel would work together to fight the smuggling of weapons to the terror organizations — weapons, virtually all of which come from Iran.’

“After the eight-day conflict, during which the IDF conducted some 1,500 strikes on terrorist cells and infrastructure in Gaza and Hamas pounded Israel with roughly the same number of rockets and missiles, both sides are claiming victory.”

… and while they say, “Peace, Peace,” there is no peace. Note the next articles as well:

Iran Supplies Sudan and Hamas with Weapons

The Associated Press reported on November 24:

“Gaza’s ruling Hamas will not stop arming itself, the No. 2 in the Palestinian group told The Associated Press on Saturday, signaling tough challenges ahead for indirect negotiations between Israel and the Islamist militants on a new border deal for Gaza…  Hamas officials in Gaza have said they have developed a local arms industry… the group has received weapons from Iran since Israel’s last Gaza offensive four years ago. Hamas smuggles such weapons into Gaza through tunnels under the border with Egypt.”

The Jerusalem Post wrote on November 25:

“Israeli intelligence satellites have spied the loading of rockets and other material in Iran believed to be destined for the Gaza Strip… Iran began preparing the weapons shipment around the same time Israel and Hamas negotiated a cease-fire late last week. Last month, following an air attack on a weapons plant near Khartoum, the Defense Ministry’s director of policy and political-military affairs accused Sudan of acting as a transit point for weapons shipments to Gaza. Amos Gilad accused Khartoum of aiding and abetting terrorism, and said the Sudanese regime was ‘supported by Iran’ and was used as a route to transfer weapons to Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip via Egypt.

“Sudan accused Israel of attacking the military plant. The Sunday Times report also cited Israeli officials speculating that Iran could be moving longer-range ballistic missiles into Sudan, which could be aimed at Israel from the African country. The official added that Tehran would act to re-arm Hamas and other Gaza groups quickly, as it sees them as a necessary part of its response to a possible Israeli attack against Iran.”

Europe Supports or Abstains from Palestinian Authority Statehood Bid

The Times of Israel wrote on November 29:

“With the UN General Assembly expected on Thursday afternoon (New York time) to approve the Palestinian Authority bid to upgrade its United Nations status to that of a nonmember state, Germany announced that it would be joining the swelling list of European countries friendly to Israel that will not oppose the vote, but would abstain. ‘We didn’t take this decision [to abstain] lightly. We share the goal of a Palestinian state,’ German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Thursday in Berlin. ‘But significant steps toward statehood can only be reached as a result of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. From our point of view it is doubtful whether the step the Palestinians are planning today will advance the peace process. Rather, we fear that it could lead to a hardening of the situation.’

“Meanwhile, just hours ahead of the vote, Italy announced that it would be supporting the Palestinian petition, joining France, Spain, Cyprus, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium and other European countries. Beyond the US and Canada, very few UN members are expected to oppose the motion to grant Palestine nonmember status. Italian Premier Mario Monti telephoned Abbas to inform him of the decision. He also phoned Netanyahu to assure him that the decision does not mean any weakening of Italy’s traditional friendship with Israel.

“EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said that the change in the Palestinians’ status at the UN would not affect the European Union’s determination to resolve, through peace negotiations, outstanding final-status disagreements between Israel and the Palestinians, and would recognize a Palestinian state when the time was right… ‘The EU has repeatedly expressed its support and wish for Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations as part of a solution to the conflict… the EU reiterates its readiness to recognize a Palestinian State when appropriate.’…

“The US and Israel have led opposition to the statehood bid, though the move has broad support in the United Nations General Assembly with some 130 nations expected to vote yes on the matter. On Tuesday France said it would support the move, joining Spain, Norway, Denmark and Switzerland and a host of other countries. On Wednesday, Palestine Liberation Organization senior official Hanan Ashrawi urged the US to at least abstain, saying that voting no ‘would be seen as being really pathetic by the rest of the world’ and would hurt American interests in the Middle East. But US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday told reporters the US believes the Palestinians were going in the wrong direction to reach their goals. Clinton stressed that the ‘path to a two-state solution that fulfills the aspirations of the Palestinian people is through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York.’”

Der Spiegel Online added on November 29:

“The United Nations General Assembly is widely expected to recognize a Palestinian state on Thursday, but torn between political loyalties, Germany won’t be among the 193 member countries casting their votes on the controversial issue… Having strong European support strengthens the Palestinian bid for recognition in the face of US resistance, and they have likely found it in Austria, Denmark, Norway, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. Meanwhile the Czech Republic and the Netherlands appear to be leaning toward a ‘no’ vote, while Britain could abstain along with Germany…

“Germany, a key political ally of both Israel and the US, is in a difficult spot trying to maintain balance on this issue… Germany plays an important mediating role in the peace process, and the abstention may be an attempt to maintain that neutrality… But it is also a reflection of the country’s varied political interests on the issue, which include support of Israel as a key part of Germany’s post-World War II rehabilitation, using this relationship as a means of strengthening ties with Israel’s main ally, the US, and economic interests in the Middle East… Polls show that Germans are becoming increasingly frustrated with their country’s staunch support of Israel…”

As was to be expected, the UN subsequently voted “overwhelmingly Thursday to grant Palestinians limited recognition of statehood, prompting exuberant celebrations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip and immediate condemnations from the United States and Israel. The 193-member U.N. body voted 138 to 9, with 41 abstentions, to recognize Palestine as a ‘non-member observer state,’ a status that falls well short of independence but provides Palestinians with limited privileges as a state, including the right to join the International Criminal Court and other international treaty bodies… France, Italy and Spain [were] supporting the Palestinians, and Germany and Britain [were] casting abstentions” (The Washington Times, November 29, 2012).

Europe’s move away from Israel and towards the Palestinians should be duly noted.

Iraq Ignores American “Wishes”

Newsmax wrote on November 26:

“The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has ignored entreaties from the Obama administration and freed a top Hezbollah operative accused of murdering American soldiers. Vice President Joe Biden phoned Maliki on Nov. 13 and urged him to hold Ali Musa Daqduq accountable for his purported crimes; the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Robert Beecroft, made a similar appeal that day. But the Iraqis released Daqduq two days later, saying Iraq had run out of legal options to hold him, and he is now in Lebanon…

“White House press secretary Jay Carney said the Iraqis had assured the United States that Daqduq would be tried for his crimes… After his release, Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte said: ‘Many of us warned that the transfer of Daqduq to the Iraqis would result in his release. The administration ignored these warnings, and now a terrorist with American blood on his hands is walking free in Lebanon. There is little doubt that Daqduq is again collaborating with fellow members of Hezbollah in anticipation of their next terrorist attack.’ And Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsay Graham said in a statement: ‘The United States now has so little influence that it could not prevail upon the Iraqi government to extradite Daqduq to the U.S. to stand trial for his crimes.’”

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak Resigns

The Associated Press reported on November 26:

“Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday abruptly announced he was quitting politics, injecting new turmoil into the Israeli political system weeks ahead of general elections. Mr. Barak, Israel’s most-decorated soldier and onetime prime minister, said he would stay on in his current post until a new government is formed following the Jan. 22 balloting.

“His resignation could mean the departure of the most moderating influence on hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who holds a wide lead in polls and is expected to easily win re-election… [Barak’s] impending departure comes at a key time for Israel, as the nation… faces a looming decision on whether to attack Iran’s nuclear program…”

German-Israeli Relationship

Deutsche Welle reported on November 23:

“Despite German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s strong, traditional backing for Israel, some Germans are becoming more critical of the country and calling into question Germany’s unequivocal support.

“… more Germans [are] finding common cause with Palestinians… Many say that the Holocaust is no reason to ignore what they see as unjust Israeli policy. And as German leaders pledged their support for Israel this week, they balked at supporting airstrikes over Gaza…

“This change is a reflection of a wider shift in German views of Palestinians… public opinion has deteriorated recently over two landmark events: One was the 2006 Lebanon War, when Israel retaliated for a Hezbollah raid with a punishing assault that left 1,300 Lebanese and 165 Israeli people dead. The second was the 2008-9 Israeli invasion of Gaza, which resulted in 1,400 Palestinian mostly civilian casualties, sparking an international outcry… [Some are not supporting the] Jewish people by sending weapons to the Israeli government. And [they say that] we don’t do a favor to our Israeli friends by supporting the occupation, which is shameful. … the critical voices are growing…

“Gaza aside, another flashpoint for critique of Israel came last year from Nobel Laureate Gunther Grass. He published a poem in one of the country’s largest newspapers, saying that Israel is a threat to world peace. Israel banned him from entering the country in response. ‘Basically he expressed what a majority of German people think,’ said Professor Michael Wolffsohn, an historian at the University of the German Federal Armed Forces in Munich… he says German opinion of Israel is steadily and gradually getting worse. Israel consistently ranks among the least-liked countries among Germans…”

What this article is expressing is sad reality. Without any doubt, the majority—if not the VAST majority—of the German people are extremely critical of the Jewish state and of Jews in general. The public support of the recent outrageous court decision, declaring circumcision of boys to be a crime, is ample testimony for such regrettable development. However, the reaction to Gunther Grass’s poem was overblown and inappropriate. Please note the next article, and view our new StandingWatch program, “Growing Antisemitism in Germany.”

“Merkel Soothes Jewish Ire over Circumcision Row” –German Readers State Frightening Viewpoint

The Local wrote on November 26:

“Angela Merkel has tried to ease the concerns of Germany’s Jews over a disputed court ruling against circumcision, becoming the first chancellor to address the Jewish community’s annual council meeting… of the Central Council of Jews in Germany in the western city of Frankfurt on Sunday…

“In a ruling published in June, a court in the western city of Cologne judged the rite to be tantamount to grievous bodily harm, prompting international outrage and calls for more legal clarity. The ruling united Jewish and Muslim groups in opposition and German diplomats admitted privately that it had proved ‘disastrous’ for Germany’s international image, particularly in light of its Nazi past.

“Merkel was reported to have cautioned that Germany risked becoming a ‘laughing stock’ if circumcision were banned in the country. Last month, her cabinet passed a draft law to permit circumcision and clarify the legal situation. [The] Bundestag [or] German lower house of parliament [still has to approve the bill.]…

“Merkel also used the visit to reiterate Berlin’s support of Israel following eight days of violence in and around Gaza, which left 166 Palestinians and six Israelis dead. ‘Every country has the right to defend itself. This is not only the right but also the duty of every government,’ said Merkel.”

The official position of Angela Merkel and the German government is by no means shared by the majority of Germans. A representative selection of published comments to the above-quoted article speaks for itself:

“Angie messing with a court ruling. Hmmmm. Let me see. When did that happen before in Germany?”

“The article describes ‘international outrage’ over the ruling banning circumcision, as this played out over the months, there was also enormous outrage expressed by the other side, outrage that this is still permitted to be practiced in the 21st century. Why report on one side’s outrage, while ignoring the others?”

“I for one was outraged at the barbaric practice. ‘German diplomats admitted privately that it had proved “disastrous” for Germany’s international image, particularly in light of its Nazi past.’ Only in their minds, never saw it on the headline of any international paper.”

“International outrage over Germany’s civil laws can go to… Why should Germany be concerned what other nations think about our laws? Germany has among [sic] the most civilized and equitable civil laws in the world, secondary to none… Religious practices that contravene our civil laws should not be permitted to take precedence just because some religious fanatics want to practice and impose their antiquated religious beliefs into the German society. Germany has strict laws against child abuse, but yet we will allow the practice of circumcision of infants and minors (a clear example of child abuse) to continue, lest we offend someone’s religious beliefs. Where the… is the logic here? By the same token why not allow the Muslims living in Germany to have four wives? After all, it’s permitted in the Koran and [has] been their religious practice for the past 1432 years. Aren’t we afraid of offending their religious belief?”

“Genital mutilation is a barbaric practice that, if it was carried out by any other organisation, would be banned immediately but under the guise of religious freedom, they get away with it and even have the chancellor (another religious zealot) championing their cause. Religion is without doubt the main source of hatred in the world – the quicker we put away these childish myths, the sooner we can make some real progress.”

“When one practices religious acts in their former homelands that are acceptable and then find those same acts unacceptable in their new land, it is time to either obey the law or return to their former land.”

“Frau Merkel seems to have forgotten that she was voted into power to represent the Germans, not to support governments which blatantly commit war crimes, or religious radicals who live here and mishandle small children in unnecessary brutal rituals. The written German constitution not only guarantees the freedom of religion, but also the protection of children in accordance with international agreements. A government which is completely biased and continuously breaches its own basic laws cannot be trusted!”

These comments are by no means the exception to what many Germans think and believe. And they show indeed a degree of religious intolerance and hatred for the Word of God which is truly frightening.

The next article addresses a problem in Germany and other European countries, which must be corrected. But sadly, it’s all being approached from a short-sighted and faulty angle.

The Curse of Bestiality

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 26:

“Germany plans to slap a fine of up to 25,000 euros on people having sexual relations with pets, but zoophiles plan to fight the move. They say there’s nothing wrong with consensual sex and that the true violations of animal rights are taking place in the farming industry.

“The German government plans to ban zoophilia — sex with animals — as part of an amendment to the country’s animal protection law, but faces a backlash from the country’s zoophile community, estimated to number over 100,000. Zoophilia was legalized in Germany in 1969 and animal protection groups have been lobbying for a ban… Now the center-right government wants to outlaw using animals ‘for personal sexual activities or making them available to third parties for sexual activities and thereby forcing them to behave in ways that are inappropriate to their species,’ said Hans-Michael Goldmann, chairman of the parliament’s Agricultural Committee…

“Sex with animals has been banned in a number of European countries including France, Switzerland and even the liberal Netherlands. Sweden is preparing a ban too… But it’s still legal in Denmark… In most cases, the sexual partners are likely to be dogs because they are such common pets now. In the days of old, it used to be cows, horses, sheep, goats and pigs…”

It’s all about the “protection” of “raped” animals, while the absolutely despicable conduct of depraved humans engaging in these kinds of horrendous sins are not even addressed. God was very clear about the abominable nature of such terrible actions. But it IS also true that such conduct, initiated by humans, can change the nature of animals.

God stated very specifically, in Leviticus 20:15-16: “If a man mates with a beast, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the beast. If a woman approaches any beast and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the beast . They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.” God placed a specific curse on anyone who would engage in bestiality, compare Deuteronomy 27:21: “‘Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”

The entire nation was to understand that such conduct was abominable in God’s eyes. How many do understand it today—being caught and deceived by the liberal thinking of tolerance and rejection of any standards? The next article shows that our Christian nations are not afraid to lie to their children, if it is being done under the disguise of religion.

More Christmas Nonsense and Lies and Deceit

The Local wrote on November 27:

“Christmas may still be a way off, but German children are already getting in the spirit, sending letter to Jesus and regional versions of Father Christmas- and his helpers are busy replying – often in English. More than 3,000 have already arrived in [the] Christmas sorting office in Himmelstadt, Bavaria. These ones are addressed the Christkind, the infant Jesus who traditionally brings gifts to children in southern Germany on 24 December. That is just the beginning, said Rosemarie Schotte, who has run the Himmelstadt office for almost 20 years. ‘By the end of the season we’re sure to have more than 80,000 again,’ she said.

“Each one gets a reply in an envelope bearing a special stamp and of course the postmark showing where it was sent from – and, Schotte told The Local, if the letters are in English, they’ll receive a reply in English. Elsewhere in Germany, requests are made to instead to Father Christmas – the Weihnachtsmann or to St Nicholas, who delivers his gifts on 6 December. Seven special Christmas post offices receive the letters – whose numbers just keep growing… Most children send their Christmas wish lists… Many of the elves are volunteers; the postage and organisational costs are met by Deutsche Post… for the sake of frazzled parents up and down the land, let’s just hope that Santa doesn’t dish out too many rash promises amidst all the festive good-will.”

This does not really deserve or require any further comments, to describe a deceived unchristian civilization which claims to be Christian.

The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of Berlin

On November 22, Der Spiegel gave a few interesting facts about the history of Germany’s current capital, the city of Berlin:

“Berlin is currently celebrating its 775th anniversary…

“Although they deposed the Kaiser, once they’d lost the war [World War I], Berlin and Germany were internationally isolated, and the city’s growth slowed to a crawl in the years of the Weimar Republic. Berlin still managed to become a mecca of cultural modernity — at least until Adolf Hitler and his Nazi movement took over. But the city paid a high price for the violence that emanated from it during the Nazi years, bringing death to 60 million people in the war and during the Holocaust. In the spring of 1945, Berlin was in ruins. And before it had a chance to rise up from the ashes, it was split into two…

“The ancient Romans were responsible for Berlin’s status as a latecomer. At the time when the eternal city of the Tiber was the center of the world, Teutons lived in the swampy forests in the large Havelland area west of Berlin, where they offered up human sacrifices in a sacred grove. The Romans wanted nothing to do with these barbarians…

“It was only in 1871 that Berlin became what Paris and London had already been for centuries: the capital of a nation-state. It took so long for Berlin to attain this status because it took that long for Germans to come together into a single country. While the French, the English and the Spaniards were already establishing cohesive nation-states by the 13th century, German rulers were devoted to the idea of the Holy Roman Empire until 1806, after which they split into a collection of small states.

“When it came time to choose the city that would be the capital of the German Reich, Berlin wasn’t a foregone conclusion. Aachen and Frankfurt am Main in the west, and Erfurt in the east, were also in the running. In the end Berlin, as the capital of Prussia, by far the largest state in the new empire, was chosen…”

Berlin may or may not continue to be the country’s capital. Before the unification, the capital of West Germany was Bonn, but it is unlikely that Bonn will ever again reach such a status. The Bible tells us that the future leader of Germany will transfer his headquarters to Jerusalem, but he will still maintain a “seat” in Germany, where his “throne” will remain. However, the capital of a newly-formed core European power bloc may become Rome.

Greek Bankruptcy Averted

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 27:

“The 17 euro-zone finance ministers broke their deadlock with the International Monetary Fund on Monday night and agreed to release the next tranche of aid for Greece, which will receive a total of €44 billion starting next month in four installments to be paid by the end of March 2013. The December installment will comprise €23.8 billion for banks and €10.6 billion in budget assistance…

“Greece’s debt is rising faster than expected because the country remains mired in recession and has been slow to implement reforms… There was relief all round after the talks. Two previous marathon meetings had failed to produce an agreement. But the ministers had no choice but to come up with a deal this time… This catalogue of measures will likely suffice to avert a Greek bankruptcy for quite some time, assuming its recession doesn’t get even worse. But it doesn’t solve the Greek dilemma…”

In an accompanying article, Der Spiegel pointed out that Germany forgives Greece an amount of 730 million euros—a step which has critics in arms, even though the opposition party pledged their support for the deal, according to the Local. Germans are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with their main political parties.

Britons Want to Leave the EU

The Los Angeles Times wrote on November 25:

“Polls increasingly show more Britons in favor of leaving the EU than staying in. Anti-EU sentiment pervades British politics, with some Cabinet ministers openly calling for Britain to pull out, or at least for the question to be put to voters in a referendum. All this has thrown the government of Prime Minister David Cameron into a tricky position… Some political analysts warn that outside the EU, Britain’s global influence would sharply diminish, especially its role as a transatlantic bridge for the U.S. ‘The Americans have always told the Brits that “you guys are important for us because you have a big influence in Europe,”’ said Philip Whyte, a research fellow at the London-based Center for European Reform. ‘If Britain left the EU, you [in the U.S.] won’t be necessarily picking up the phone to London. Britain won’t be the first country you’d be calling; the first country you’d be calling would be Germany.’…

“Further distancing itself from the rest of Europe, Cameron’s government has declared its intention to opt out of some of the EU’s unpopular legal and judicial agreements, which critics say handcuff Britain’s own law-enforcement system… That kind of cherry-picking irritates Britain’s continental partners, many of which are drawing closer economically and politically to save the euro just as Britain, which has clung to the pound as its currency, pulls in the opposite direction. Some EU countries are beginning to wonder why they don’t simply show the door to such an uncooperative club member that seems determined to go its own way anyway.”

Britain Only Joined the EU to Slow Things Down

Bloomberg wrote on November 27:

“Britain has always had mixed feelings about the European project. From the start of the drive to ‘ever closer union,’ the U.K. feared being left out, yet never quite wanted to get with the program. In some ways, it signed up mainly to slow the whole thing down. Lately its doubts have grown. According to a new opinion poll, a clear majority of the British want to quit the European Union altogether.

“Increasingly the feeling is mutual. A partnership can tolerate only so much reluctance. In a television interview this week, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti (more tolerant of British ambivalence than many other European leaders) said he found that ‘the English manage to be quite exasperating when they ask, as a condition for remaining aboard this great European ship, particular exceptions, particular dispensations, that could amount to making holes in the ship and making it sail less well, if not sink altogether.’

“Those dispensations never end. At the creation of the euro, the U.K. recused itself… It wants nothing to do with parts of the EU’s planned response to the economic crisis, including proposals for a banking union and closer fiscal integration. London is unwilling, as always, to make EU budgetary contributions according to the same formula as other member states: Protecting Britain’s so-called rebate is ever the main goal of its policy on Europe…

“At some point, enough is enough. Maybe a separation on friendly terms would be better for all involved. Well, it might come to that, and it’s wrong to dismiss a British decision to leave as ‘unthinkable.’ Equally, though, since moving the country to a better location would be difficult, Britain ought to think hard about what divorcing Europe would mean… Leaving the EU doesn’t mean winning independence from it…

“In or out of the EU… Britain’s global weight will diminish, a function of the country’s continuing and inevitable relative economic decline…”

And so, Britain’s exit from the EU is just a matter of time…

Britain Plagued by Horrible Weather

Mail On Line wrote on November 27:

“People were forced to flee their homes last night as flood water and torrential rain caused ‘serious threats to life’ in villages in Cornwall… Intense downpours and gusts strong enough to bring down trees will continue to batter large areas of Britain today, weather forecasters warned last night.

“Two Atlantic storms will dump two inches of rain on already sodden ground across the South-West and Wales, bringing further flooding. Southern and eastern coastal areas will see wind speeds reach 70mph, while rain is expected to sweep across from the South-West into the Midlands and North in the afternoon…

“The forecast is grim news for the thousands who spent last week battling the harsh weather. At least 400 homes were flooded and the Environment Agency sent warnings to 9,000 householders at risk. Even before this weekend’s downpours the agency had 48 flood warnings and 173 lesser ‘alerts’ in place. Areas likely to be affected by fresh floods include Devon, Somerset, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.”

These horrible weather conditions are mainly in the west of the country – and concentrated more in the south west, which always seems to suffer the worst with floods and many people losing their homes, which is just terrible.

Like the USA, the UK has been moving away from God, but it seems that they can’t see the unrecognized connection between obedience and blessings, and disobedience and curses.

The Terminator Is Becoming Reality

International Business Times wrote on November 22:

“Judgement Day was meant to happen on August 29, 1997. At 2.14am Eastern Time, the machines were meant to become self-aware and launch a nuclear strike against Russia, thus triggering a global nuclear war and the beginning of the end of the human race. This [of] course never happened, because the Terminator and Skynet were only horrifying visions of the future as dreamed up by James Cameron in his 1984 film.

“However a real judgement day may not be that far off as governments around the world pour billions of pounds into the development of autonomous weapons systems which are slowly but surely taking control from the hands of humans. Playing the role of Sarah Connor and attempting to warn the world of impending doom is Human Rights Watch (HRW), which has just released a report called Losing Humanity – The Case against Killer Robots. The report calls for all states to ‘prohibit the development, production, and use of fully autonomous weapons through an international legally binding instrument.’…

“However, with the US government currently spending $6bn a year on autonomous weapons and their development, it is unlikely that they would be willing to throw that money away, particularly when they are espousing the benefits of these automated systems… The US military has openly stated that it is seeking to reduce human influence on its weapons systems, adding that it is looking to make its ground vehicles ‘fully autonomous’…

“… the UK… is heavily invested in another step on the road to fully automated weapons – unmanned aircraft. These aircraft are moving beyond the capabilities of the predator drones currently being employed in Afghanistan by the US military…

“For example, distinguishing between a fearful civilian and a threatening enemy combatant requires a soldier to understand the intentions behind a human’s actions, something a robot could not do… If a fully autonomous weapon carried out an unlawful killing, who is responsible? Options include the military commander, the programmer, the manufacturer, and even the robot itself, but none of these options is satisfactory. The report says: ‘Since there is no fair and effective way to assign legal responsibility for unlawful acts committed by fully autonomous weapons, granting them complete control over targeting decisions would undermine yet another tool for promoting civilian protection.’”

Smoking Dangerous for Body and Brain

BBC News wrote on November 26:

“Smoking ‘rots’ the brain by damaging memory, learning and reasoning, according to researchers at King’s College London… Dr Simon Ridley, from Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: ‘Research has repeatedly linked smoking and high blood pressure to a greater risk of cognitive decline and dementia, and this study adds further weight to that evidence…

“The Alzheimer’s Society said: ‘We all know smoking, a high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and a high BMI [Body Mass Index] is bad for our heart. This research adds to the huge amount of evidence that also suggests they can be bad for our head too. One in three people over 65 will develop dementia but there are things people can do to reduce their risk. Eating a balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, getting your blood pressure and cholesterol checked and not smoking can all make a difference.’”

California’s Fight Against Second-Hand Smoke

Newsmax wrote on November 26:

“18 cities and counties in California have banned residents from smoking — in their own apartments and condominiums. The communities have banned smoking in all existing and new multi-unit housing, according to the American Lung Association’s Center for Tobacco Policy and Organizing, which calls the effort ‘the next frontier in California’s ongoing efforts to protect its citizens from secondhand smoke.’

“A report from the organization states: ‘Although California has made great progress in getting secondhand smoke out of workplaces, for the many Californians who live in multi-unit housing breathing secondhand smoke which drifts from neighboring units, balconies and outdoor areas has become a real health problem.’… Many of the cities and counties’ bans include declaring secondhand smoke a ‘public nuisance.’”

Second-hand smoke is not only a nuisance, but it shows total disregard of selfish smokers for their own health and the health of others.

Thanksgiving, Turkey and Giving Thanks

The Times of Israel wrote on November 24:

“The Pilgrims found inspiration in the ancient Israelites… “William Bradford [was] a passenger on the Mayflower and later the governor of Plymouth colony… In ‘Of Plymouth Plantation,’ his journal of the Pilgrims, Bradford made comparative references between the Pilgrims’ voyage and the Israelites’ Exodus. Later in life, according to Stephen O’Neill, the curator of Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth Mass., Bradford ‘taught himself Hebrew,’ even writing a book of Hebrew exercises.

“According to Bradford’s journal, the Mayflower Pilgrims gave thanks upon their landing: ‘Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees & blessed ye God of heaven, who had brought them over ye vast & furious ocean,’ reads the text. ‘Let them therfore praise ye Lord, because he is good,’ wrote Bradford, quoting from Psalm 107, which in Hebrew begins with the word ‘hodu,’ ‘give thanks.’… ‘hodu’ also happens to mean ‘turkey’…”

Truly amazing….

President Obama’s Economic Policies a Disaster

The Investor’s Business Daily wrote on November 21:

“Anyone who thinks that President Obama’s economic policies will spur strong growth should consider U-Haul rates between California and Texas. Renting a 20-foot truck one-way from San Francisco to San Antonio, for example, will cost $1,693. But the U-Haul tab to go in the opposite direction is just $983… Put simply, far more people want to leave California for Texas than vice versa. Why? Because California’s economy is moribund while Texas’ is thriving…

“The problem is that Obama’s economic policies are pushing the country to be more like the California people are leaving and less like the Texas they’re flocking to. ‘Every dream program that the administration embraces — cap and trade, massive taxes on the rich, high-speed rail — is either in place or on the drawing boards’ in California, notes Joel Kotkin, executive editor of NewGeography. Like President Obama, California’s Gov. Jerry Brown pushed for a substantial new tax on the ‘rich’ that raises the top rate to 13.3%… Even before these taxes kick in, California was the fourth most heavily taxed state… Also like Obama, the state is regulation happy. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University ranks California as one of the four worst states in terms of regulations. The state also imposes one of the heaviest tax burdens on businesses. As a result, California consistently ranks at or near the bottom for business friendliness. And like Obama — who has pushed federal spending up to historic highs for the past four years — per-capita spending in California has climbed 42% from 2000 to 2010, even after adjusting for inflation. The state is now one of the biggest spenders in the country. The contrast in economic policies between California and Texas — which otherwise share many things in common, since both are big-population border states with lots of immigrants — could not be more striking.”

When state and federal governments are busy regulating and restricting the conduct of their “subjects” and taxing them heavily, such consequences are inevitable. God had warned ancient Israel, when they rejected Him and chose a king instead, that this was exactly what would happen (compare 1 Samuel  8:11-18).

Blasphemy During Soul Train Awards Show

NewsBusters wrote on November 26:

“Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx recently called Barack Obama ‘our lord and savior.’ This occurred at the previously recorded Soul Train Awards broadcast on BET Sunday.”

The published video of the broadcast showed the audience applauding when these blasphemous words were uttered. These are frightening developments for everyone involved in these actions. You might want to read a similar account, and its godly retribution, in Acts 12:20-23.

Unique Example of Uganda’s President

WND wrote on November 24:

“Should a president lead citizens in a national prayer of repentance? Uganda’s Christian president believes so. The Ugandan newssite New Vision reports President Yoweri Museveni celebrated Uganda’s 50th anniversary of independence from Britain at the National Jubilee Prayers event by publicly repenting of his personal sin and the sins of the nation… ‘We confess sins of idolatry and witchcraft which are rampant in our land. We confess sins of shedding innocent blood, sins of political hypocrisy, dishonesty, intrigue and betrayal,’ Museveni said. ‘Forgive us of sins of pride, tribalism and sectarianism; sins of laziness, indifference and irresponsibility; sins of corruption and bribery that have eroded our national resources; sins of sexual immorality, drunkenness and debauchery; sins of unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred and revenge; sins of injustice, oppression and exploitation; sins of rebellion, insubordination, strife and conflict,’ Museveni prayed.

“Next, the president dedicated Uganda to God. ‘We want to dedicate this nation to you so that you will be our God and guide. We want Uganda to be known as a nation that fears God and as a nation whose foundations are firmly rooted in righteousness and justice to fulfill what the Bible says in Psalm 33:12: Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. A people you have chosen as your own,’ Museveni prayed…

“Massachusetts pastor and activist… Scott Lively believes Museveni is a model for other national leaders… ‘Britain was at its height as a world power when it honored God as the Ugandan president has just done. America’s greatness has similarly diminished as we have shifted from a Christian to a secular-humanist country…’

“Homosexual activist groups have criticized the government of Uganda and Museveni for passing laws criminalizing homosexual behavior. A current bill before the Ugandan Parliament increases the jail sentences for homosexual acts and includes criminal penalties for those who encourage or promote homosexuality…

“Dave Daubenmire, PT Salt Ministries’ president and founder and social commentator, said the problem for Western nations goes deeper than the political leaders. The problem in the United States, he said, is the pastors. ‘Sadly, I think our lack of repentance is the fault of the pulpit. Individual Christians are so awash in sin that they think politicians are merely better at sin than they are,’ Daubenmire said. ‘There is no fear of the Lord…’

“He added that Christians too often play with sin. ‘Since we do not hate sin anymore, we don’t demand repentance,’ Daubenmire said. He quoted British 17th century statesman Edmund Burke, who said, ‘The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.’ Daubenmire said that in America, ‘good men have yielded power to evil men. Evil rules when evil men make the rules,’ he said.’”

Much of what is said in the article is true. Church pastors are teaching a way of life opposite to the Bible and are much to be blamed for the horrible sin-laden situation in the US and the UK. Note the next article as a further example.

Churches Conduct Concealed Weapons Training

The Daily wrote on November 26:

“In an effort to increase membership, a number of U.S. churches — including the Church of Christ congregation in this rural village 30 miles north of Columbus — are offering an unconventional public service: Concealed weapons training… Hundreds of students have enrolled in the 10-hour course, which meets the state requirements for earning a concealed weapons permit. The training includes two hours on a church member’s private shooting range…

“Preacher Jeff, as Marengo Christian’s Copley is called by his flock, likewise emphasizes the spiritual importance of being able to defend oneself. ‘Jesus advises his disciples to sell their cloak and buy a sword,’ he told The Daily. ‘He instructed his people to be prepared to defend themselves. It’s really hard to find someone in our congregation that doesn’t shoot somehow.’…”

The horrible misapplication of Scripture is ample evidence for the spiritual ignorance of quite a few American preachers. For a correct understanding of the meaning of Jesus’ words to His disciples to buy swords can be found in our Q&As on the matter. http://www.eternalgod.org/qapdf/2218 and http://www.eternalgod.org/qapdf/4026

Pope Appoints Six New Cardinals to Choose Successor

Fox News, USA Today and The Associated Press reported on November 24:

“Six new cardinals on Saturday joined the elite club of red-robed churchmen who will elect the next pope, bringing a more geographically diverse mix into the European-dominated College of Cardinals… [They] hail from Colombia, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, the Philippines and the United States… Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, seen by many to be a rising star in the church, visibly choked up as he knelt before Benedict to receive his three-pointed red hat, or biretta, and gold ring, and wiped tears from his eyes as he returned to his place… Benedict has said that… he was essentially completing his last cardinal-making ceremony held in February, when he elevated 22 cardinals, the vast majority of them European archbishops and Vatican bureaucrats…

“The College of Cardinals remains heavily European even with the new additions: Of the 120 cardinals under age 80 and thus eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope, more than half — 62 — are European… The issue of numbers is significant since these are the men who will elect the next pope from among their ranks: Will the next pontiff come from the southern hemisphere, where two-thirds of the world’s Catholics live? Or will the papacy return to Italy, which has 28 voting-age cardinals, after a Polish and German pope?

“The new cardinals do make the papal voting bloc a bit more multinational: Latin America, which boasts half of the world’s Catholics, now has 21 voting-age cardinals; North America, 14; Africa, 11; Asia, 11; and Oceana, one. Among the six new cardinals is Archbishop James Harvey, the American prefect of the papal household. As prefect, Harvey was the direct superior of the pope’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele, who is serving an 18 month prison sentence in a Vatican jail for stealing the pope’s private papers and leaking them to a reporter in the greatest Vatican security breach in modern times. The Vatican spokesman has denied Harvey, 63 from Milwaukee, is leaving because of the scandal. But on the day the pope announced Harvey would be made cardinal, he also said he would leave the Vatican to take up duties as the archpriest of one of the Vatican’s four Roman basilicas. Such a face-saving promotion-removal is not an uncommon Vatican personnel move…

“Cardinals serve as the pope’s closest advisers, but their main task is to elect a new pope. And with Benedict, 85, slowing down, that task is ever more present… 67 of [the current cardinals] were named by Benedict, all but ensuring that his successor will be chosen from a group of like-minded prelates. Saturday’s consistory marks the first time in decades that not a single European or Italian has been made a cardinal — a statistic that has not gone unnoticed in Italy. Italy still has the lions’ share of cardinals, though, with 28 voting-age ‘princes’ of the church.”

This structure, allowing for the designation of a pope by [ultimately, after 30 unsuccessful attempts] the simple majority vote of [currently] 120 cardinals, is not in accordance with the Bible, even though it comes closer than the adopted Presbyterian structure or the fully democratic structures of some churches. The sad part is that even some major Church of God organizations practice similar procedures (i.e., vote by majority of ministers or even members) to appoint the leader of their group, but the Bible does not endorse such practices.

Apart from the potential for political maneuvering and corruption, these procedures are opening up the floodgates for further unbiblical conduct—so, for instance, the concept that if this kind of voting is permitted for and endorsed by church ministers, what prevents members from voting, including  for candidates in governmental elections? Sadly, more and more members of certain Church of God organizations have been voting in the most recent US election—an unbiblical practice, which is strongly condemned by the Church of the Eternal God in the USA and our corporate affiliates in Canada and the UK. Please listen to Norbert Link’s recent video-recorded sermon, titled, “What Would Be Jesus’ Vote?” and our StandingWatch programs on the issue of voting, titled “Why I Don’t Vote”, and “Americans Voted For Nothing”.  Also, please review our two Q&As on the matter, which are both titled, “Why do you teach that a Christian should not vote in governmental elections?” http://www.eternalgod.org/qa/2259 and http://www.eternalgod.org/qa/2206  

Water Turning to Blood

Newsfeed.time.com wrote on November 27:

“It must have looked like a scene from Jaws: surfers and sun-worshippers fled Australia’s famed Bondi Beach as the water turned blood red. The alarming hue, however, was not the result of a tragic aquatic accident, but rather came from a crimson algal bloom… Algal blooms are most common in the spring and fall seasons, as water temperatures are higher and there are ‘greater movements in ocean currents.’ Australia, which is located in the southern hemisphere, is currently transitioning from spring to summer.”

The German mass tabloid, Bild, reported, that Australia has now a “Red Sea.” One is reminded of the prophecy of oceans turning into blood, which will happen in the future.

In the last two installments of this series, we discussed the views of numerous commentaries on the issue, and we saw from Scripture that the Sabbatical Year (also referred to as the Land Sabbath and the Year of Release; compare, for example, Exodus 23:10-11; Leviticus 25:1-7, 18-22), as well as the Jubilee Year (compare, for example, Leviticus 25:8-14), were laws for the nation of Israel, which were related to the Land of Canaan. The Year of Release and the Jubilee Year included also the cancellation of personal debts and the restoration of all real estate to its prior owner. Land was not to be sold forever.

We noted that these laws and regulations are of course not enforceable today, on a grand scale, as every nation today has its own laws which may quite differ in regard to cancellation of debts, transactions of real property or even the cultivation of farm land. Still, the Church of God has consistently taught that Christians should apply today certain PRINCIPLES, as much as possible.

Before we address in the final installment how this can be done, it is necessary to discuss in this installment two basically opposite viewpoints. Some, especially in the Jewish community, have come to the conclusion that the provisions regarding the Land Sabbath and the Jubilee Year are not applicable today, not even in principle. Others have concluded that the Church of God and its members today must follow and enforce these provisions, literally and in their entirety. Both extreme viewpoints are wrong.

For instance, an article posted by OUKosher.org, pertaining to the Sabbatical Year, tells us the following:

“According to tradition, it took Joshua seven years to conquer the Land of Israel, and another seven years to divide it among the various tribes and individuals. The Talmud tells us that only after these fourteen years, when the conquest of the land had been completed, was it endowed with kedushah, holiness, with respect to the observance of the various agricultural mitzvos. Thus, the fifteenth year after the entry into the Land of Israel was the first year counted for the purpose of determining the shmittah and yovel cycles. Every seventh year thereafter was to be observed as shmittah, the sabbatical year, and after seven such shmittos, the fiftieth year was to have special observances as yovel, the Jubilee year.

“Towards the end of the period of the first Temple, ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel were exiled. The Torah states concerning the Jubilee year, ‘You shall proclaim liberty to the land and to all its inhabitants.’ The Talmud derives from this statement that the yovel laws are binding only when all the tribes are present in the Land of Israel. Accordingly, during the last years of the first Temple period, the special mitzvos of the yovel were no longer Biblically binding (mid’oraisah).

“Many years later, after the destruction of the second Temple, the rabbis of the Talmud had a dispute regarding the interpretation of the Torah passages referring to yovel. If there is neither a majority of the world Jewish population present in the Land of Israel, nor a representation of each of the tribes, the yovel year will not be observed Biblically. Would the Biblical mitzvah of shmittah be similarly precluded? The accepted view is that of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, that the mitzvah of shmittah is Biblically binding only when the majority of the world Jewish population is living in Eretz Yisrael, and there can be an observance of seven shmittos leading to a yovel year. As a result, it is generally accepted today that the laws of shmittah are binding mid’rabonon, according to Rabbinic law, not Biblical law, since we do not yet have the majority of the world Jewish population living in Eretz Yisrael, nor can it be established that there is representation of each tribe present today in Israel.”

However, the Bible nowhere states this; therefore, the Rabbinic view must be rejected as being incorrect and unduly liberal.

But even under “Rabbinic law,” a way was found by man’s “ingenuity” to circumvent the application of the provisions regarding the Land Sabbath. The article, “The Land Sabbath in Modern Israel,” by Doug Ward, P.H., points out (www.biblesabbath.org):

“The weekly Sabbath is one of the foundations of the Torah, God’s wise and loving instruction for his people. The Torah also makes provision for the land of Israel to ‘rest’ every seven years (see Exod. 23:10-11; Lev. 25:1-7). In a sabbatical year (known in Jewish tradition as a ‘shemittah year,’ from a Hebrew word in Exod. 23:11 that means ‘let drop’), farmers are not to plant seed, prune their trees, or harvest crops. For that year the land becomes public property, and people may take what grows by itself according to their needs. The seventh year is also a time for cancellation of debts (Deut. 15:1-2) and release of indentured servants (Deut. 15:12-18)…

“After the destruction of the Second Temple and the failure of the two Jewish revolts, observance of the land sabbath became a moot point; there were very few Jewish farmers left in the land of Israel. During the Talmudic period, the shemittah year had only a theoretical existence as a topic for rabbinic discussion.

“Things changed in the late nineteenth century when there began to be enough Jewish farmers in Israel to make the land sabbath a real issue again. But because these Jewish farmers were very poor, rabbinic authorities feared that they could not survive a sabbatical year. Therefore it was decided that in each shemittah year, the agricultural land in Israel would be temporarily deeded to a trustworthy Gentile, allowing the poor farmers to continue working their land without technically being in violation of the commandment.

“This practice continues today in the modern state of Israel. In the last sabbatical year, which began on Rosh Hashanah in A.D. 2000, the temporary owner of Israel’s land was Hussein Ismael Jabar. Jabar, who also owns all the leavening in Israel each year during the Passover celebration, is a resident of Abu Ghosh, a town about eight miles west of Jerusalem…

“In Jewish tradition (based on Deut. 11:8-11), the land Sabbath is only applicable in the land of Israel. According to this tradition, God has a special relationship with the Promised Land. However, one rabbi [said] that such a relationship might extend to the entire world during the time of the Messianic Kingdom… Sabbatical principles should be of benefit to all followers of the God of Israel by allowing them to periodically rest from their labors and find rest in their Creator.”

The above-mentioned article also reports on experiences of farmers who voluntarily decided to keep the Land Sabbath:

“… since 1972 there has been a growing trend in actual sabbatical observance among Israeli farmers. Some farmers simply let their land go untended. Others harvest a crop but donate it to a central storehouse that sells the food to the poor at reduced prices. Participating farmers are reimbursed for their labor but not for their produce… A number of farmers spoke of the sacrifices they willingly made in keeping the land sabbath. A wheat farmer mentioned that wheat is planted in the late autumn during an ordinary year, shortly before anticipated winter rains. But since the shemittah year begins at Rosh Hoshanah, farmers plant the wheat a couple of months early in those years and hope for the best. This farmer, who participates in the food storehouse program, estimated that his farm loses about 2-2.5 million shekels ($450,000 to $570,000[US]) by observing the sabbatical year.

“Some of the interviewed farmers spoke of miracles and blessings that occurred during a shemittah year. A fruit grower recalled that in one sabbatical year, an unusually warm March had been followed by a late freeze in April, causing damage to that year’s fruit crop. Farmers who had pruned their trees had very little fruit that year, while those who had left their trees unpruned had a nearly normal crop. In another shemittah year, heavy winds had caused damage to the fruit crop, but again those who had left their trees unpruned sustained far less damage.”

Notice however that, in accordance with the Bible [not Rabbinic interpretation], as explained in the second installment of this series, fruit trees are not included in the provisions of the Land Sabbath, anyhow.

On the other hand, as mentioned, some maintain that the Church of God must enforce the Land Sabbath and the Jubilee Year in their entirety, and they are faulting the Church for not doing so. For instance, the following has been stated by one author (Richard C. Nickels, www.giveshare.org) who admits, at the same time, that he does not have the answers as to when or how to apply this:

“… in 1973, the Worldwide Church of God issued a policy on Land Sabbath, stating that it is only a principle. Their… teaching is that the Land Sabbath is not a binding law for which the transgression is sin. Thus, they acceded to the Jewish idea of watering down the Land Sabbath. Jewish Rabbis have abrogated the land rest law. Worldwide Church leaders have loosed members from obeying this law.

“When is the Jubilee year? When is the Sabbatical year? The issue is of major importance. Israel went into captivity for not obeying this law. This is a major area Herbert W. Armstrong never understood. Neither do we understand when we are to begin the Jubilee count. If God will send modern Israel into captivity for the same reason as ancient Israel, knowledge must be increased, and Israel must be warned… We look forward to the time when we will understand, and witness the fulfillment, of the Land Sabbath and Jubilee year.”

As stated, both the extreme “liberal” and extreme “conservative” views are wrong. It also needs to be pointed out that the Jews are in disagreement as to when the seven-year cycle of the Land Sabbath begins, culminating in the Jubilee Year. For instance, some point out that the next Land Sabbath should begin in the autumn of 2013, while others maintain, it should be in the fall of 2014.

The correct view has been taught by the Worldwide Church of God, under Herbert W. Armstrong, and later by the Global Church of God, and is being adhered to today by the Church of the Eternal God in the USA and its affiliated organizations, the Global Church of God in the UK and the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship, in Canada. We understand, among other things, that certain provisions within the context of the Land Sabbath and the Jubilee Year cannot be enforced by the Church, as they would have to be the subject of national law.  On the other hand, certain PRINCIPLES do apply today and can and should be followed. In the final installment, we will show you HOW.

(To Be Continued)

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

“Abgoetterei im Buch der Richter” is the title of this week’s German sermon. Its English title would be: “Idolatry in the Book of Judges.” It also covers Christmas, Christmas trees, worship of the Queen of Heaven, speaks of Samson, Gideon, his ephod, and Jephthah, and discusses covetousness.

“Growing Antisemitism in Germany” is the title of our newest StandingWatch program and it is presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. This sobering video relates some of the ominous events in Europe that are developing and which will soon culminate in outright violence! Here is a summary: While German Chancellor Angela Merkel backs Israel and the Jewish people, many Germans are becoming more critical. The strong public support of a court decision banning circumcision in Germany is just one example. Antisemitism has had a long history, even though Jesus Christ, the early apostles and the early New Testament Church were Jewish. Sadly, recent Jewish reactions to imagined injuries have added to antagonistic German feelings. The good news is that once the Jewish people accept Jesus Christ as their God and King in the Millennium, anti-Semitism will become a thing of the past.
 
For those interested in even more details about Europe’s emerging role as a world power, please read our booklet, “Europe in Prophecy“–here is the Introduction:

“The Bible tells us to watch and be ready for the return of  Christ. But watch what? With so much going on in the world, how can we distinguish between important and unimportant news? Just where do we focus our attention?
 
“We see a European power bloc developing. We hear of right-wing activities in Germany and Austria. We listen to the Catholic Church proclaim that it is the only true Church of Christ. Some speculate that these developments could lead to a European economic superstate with one single currency, one political and military system, and even one religion. But would this be a good thing? Would such a Europe be on good terms with the United States of America? Just what does it all mean?
 
“As surprising as it may seem, what is developing in Europe has been foretold, and is happening exactly as prophesied in the pages of a very ancient book—­­the Holy Bible. God inspired the writings in His Book, and His prophecies are real. No man could have foreknown these things, nor could any man have had the power to direct such events to happen exactly as told. But Almighty God has done just that. And He has made it possible for us to know what He is doing in world affairs—past, present and future (Amos 3:7). Without viewing history through the pages of the Bible, we cannot correctly interpret current events. So let us see where God says these events are leading.”

There is nothing new under the sun, but unless we get up early in the morning, we might miss the sunrise.  During the day—busy as we are—we might not even notice the storm clouds, and when the winds begin to blow and the rain comes pouring down, darkness has overpowered us, before we know it.  I’m talking in figurative terms, of course, speaking of doctrinal changes. They are like a dam which first allows a little bit of water to get through, until it breaks down entirely and the resulting devastating deluge tears down everything in its path; or they are like an avalanche, which buries everyone and everything under it.

Many of us have experienced abominable changes in the Worldwide Church of God (“Worldwide”), after Herbert W. Armstrong had died in 1986. Under the new leadership, a proverbial apostasy or falling away from the truth set in, destroying everything that Mr. Armstrong and those loyal to the truth had worked for. The changes were introduced subtly at first, and many were caught unawares, until the changes became bigger and swallowed up those who embraced them. Today, most unsuspecting, gullible or willingly ignorant “victims,” as well as the actively promoting perpetrators, have lost just about every aspect of the truth which they had once embraced.

We write about these horrible changes in the last section (“Why It Matters”) of our free booklet, “Are You Already Born Again?” If you don’t know the history of the apostasy in Worldwide, and how these changes were introduced, please read this booklet immediately.

Because, you see, the past will repeat itself—in fact, we are already seeing the beginning stages. Changes are taking hold in unsuspecting and trusting members of certain organizations, which are reminiscent, even though under a slightly different mantle, of what we all experienced in the days of Worldwide’s heresies and spiritual downfall. Make no mistake—the apostasy is not over, but ongoing, and it will raise its ugly head again with strong deception and persuasive temptation. Jesus said that because lawlessness (sin) will abound, the godly love (“agape” in Greek) of many (in the Church of God) will grow cold (Matthew 24:12), and many will be offended and betray and hate one another (verse 10).

When a Church organization changes established teaching and attempts to introduce “new truth,” one must ask the question, “Why is this being done? What’s the motive? What’s behind the move?” Now, sometimes, the leaders or those advising them might not know themselves where a particular change may lead, but Satan, the originator of everything in opposition to God and His truth, knows very well what he is doing, and whom he may be able to use to carry out his purposes.

Some are teaching now that the end-time apostasy, which Paul talks about in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, describes a major religious organization outside the Church of God, and it is claimed that the apostasy will set in with full force when that church becomes very influential and powerful. But this is most emphatically NOT what Paul is addressing here. (Compare also our Q&A in this regard). Paul is saying that in the end-time, when the man of sin is being revealed, an apostasy or falling away from the truth in the Church of God will occur, and many Church members will be deceived, because they did not receive and maintain the LOVE of the truth (verse 10). After all, the very word “apostasy” describes a falling away from the truth—it must be talking about the Church of God, which alone has the truth (compare 1 Timothy 3:15). How can an organization fall away from the truth, which it never had, to begin with?

The recent apostasy started, without any question, in Worldwide, after Mr. Armstrong died, but it is ongoing. And it will raise its ugly head again and become extremely powerful in the very near future. This means, God’s people will be severely tested, and many will fail. They must be warned today, not to fall for religious deception. Most in the Church might say: “It can’t happen to me.” But don’t be too sure. Paul warns us: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

Religious deception will not begin with obvious and big doctrinal changes. No Church of God organization will declare right away that the Sabbath and the Holy Days need not be kept anymore; that we are now free to eat unclean meat; or that we don’t have to tithe anymore. When Worldwide introduced its changes, they did not begin to address the “big ones”—they began by fooling around with seemingly minor issues, so that most did not even realize, at first, that real changes were being made.

Some changes might be tolerated or even accepted by some, because, so they reason, they are unimportant, non-salvational, or only a matter of semantics—changes related to concepts such as: Are we already born again? Are we allowed to serve on the jury or vote in governmental elections? Are we embracing the idea that Christ was created by God the Father? Are we saying that the Holy Spirit is God; that is, a separate and third entity?  Must we celebrate new moons today? Should we begin to create our own calendars for the determination as to when to observe the annual Holy Days? Should God’s ministers perform interracial marriages, or a marriage between a believer and an unbeliever? Should we teach that the Sacrifice of Christ has nothing to do with physical healing? Should we teach that the woman riding the beast in Revelation 17 is the USA riding Europe? Should we teach that Christ is going to return on Pentecost? Should we believe in a rapture and that we are going to go to heaven at some point in time? Should we teach that the marriage supper is going to be celebrated in heaven?

All of these ideas are, and have been circulating in certain corners within some Church of God organizations, but not one of them is biblically correct or sound. However, far too many have already begun to entertain or even believe and teach these and other concepts. But not one of them is new, as there is nothing new under the sun.

Let’s take the marriage supper as an example. Some preach that Christ will return to resurrect the saints and change those alive, and take all of them to the third heaven, where the marriage supper will be celebrated, and then return together with the saints to the earth. The concept is that He comes first FOR the saints, and then later together WITH the saints. This is clearly a variation of the false secret rapture teaching—a doctrine of demons. Some even teach or have taught that after Christ’s “third” coming with the saints and their short stay on earth, Christ and the saints will return to the third heaven to rule the earth from heaven during the Millennium.

The idea that Christ will “rapture” the saints to celebrate the marriage supper in the third heaven was introduced by some in the Church of God as early as 1997, if not even before then. At that time, the Global Church of God (“Global”) decided, for biblical reasons, NOT to teach this concept.

At that time, I sent a memo to Global’s leading ministry. After discussing the Scriptures which were used to support a marriage supper in heaven, I wrote in November of 1997: “The above-mentioned scriptures do NOT prove that we will go to heaven, not even for a short time. Further, there is NO Scripture which says that the wedding banquet… will take place in heaven. Rather, all implications are that it will take place on earth.”

After discussing those passages, I set forth the following conclusion: “I would feel that we would make a big mistake if we were to preach that it [the marriage supper] will take place in heaven, as this runs absolutely contrary to the long-standing teaching of the church under Mr. Armstrong.”

At the same time, Evangelist Colin Adair submitted a paper on the matter, in which he wrote: “I believe it would be a mistake to teach as established fact and doctrine that the marriage supper occurs in heaven… We should not be looking for something ‘new’ just to please some brethren who think that growing as a church means discovering some new doctrine or teaching. Growing as a church means personal spiritual growth as Christians and getting the Work done, not ‘some new thing.’”

Others raised similar concerns, and so, the decision-making body of leading ministers in Global decided correctly at that time not to teach that the marriage supper will take place in heaven. The Church of the Eternal God and its corporate affiliates in Canada and the UK–the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship, and the Global Church of God—maintain that it is unbiblical to teach that the wedding supper will take place in heaven or, that there will be a rapture of some kind and that Christ will return twice, and we have written several Q&A’s, http://www.eternalgod.org/qa/11537 ; http://www.eternalgod.org/qa/4125; http://www.eternalgod.org/qa/16  setting forth the biblical reasons for our stance on the matter.

We can learn from all of this that it is important to stick to the trunk of the tree and not to change anything, just for the sake of changing and pleasing somebody. We should and must only change an established teaching, when the Bible dictates the necessity of such a change. It is too dangerous to fall into the trap of wanting to declare something new—because the avalanche of change might ultimately bury those unaware, who are busy altering teachings and approving new doctrine. The Bible warns us, and not without reason: “Do not associate with those given to change” (Proverbs 24:21).

Focusing first on the USA, the economic situation is bound to deteriorate, but the government is facing additional international problems as well. While Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner suggests that “Congress should stop placing legal limits on the amount of money the government can borrow and effectively lift the debt limit to infinity,” Franklin Graham states that the USA is facing numerous problems because we have turned our backs on God. This is clearly the case; the Obama administration seems to be stumbling from one problem to another, and it seems that the USA is about to give up one of the last sea gates still in their possession.

The UK is struggling with their own problems—not the least of which is their ongoing persecution of small religious organizations.

The state of Israel does not seem to fare much better, facing condemnation from just about every side and outright wars on several fronts. The surprise announcement that Germany wants to strengthen its strategic ties with the Arab League should cause everybody to pause and think. At the same time, even though Angela Merkel is still the most popular German politician in Germany, her government is not liked. At this point, no real challenger seems to be in place, but this can change quickly.

We conclude with articles about the financial curse of Christmas, and the real dangers of solar storms.

Timothy Geithner: “Raise Debt Limit to Infinity”

CNSNews.com wrote on November 19:

“Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Friday that Congress should stop placing legal limits on the amount of money the government can borrow and effectively lift the debt limit to infinity… Geithner’s Treasury Department quietly warned at the end of October that the Treasury would reach current legal limit on the federal government’s debt by about the end of the year.

“In August 2011, President Barack Obama and Congress agreed to lift the legal debt limit by another $2.4 trillion–allowing the government to borrow up to $16.394 trillion. However, as of the close of business on Thursday, the Treasury had only $154.3 billion of that $2.4 trillion in new borrowing authority left. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid… said last week that the Senate stands ready to increase the debt limit by another $2.4 trillion…”

Of course, lifting any debt ceiling would mean that the incredible, foolish and ungodly borrowing habits of the US government could continue unabated, until the whole house of cards, that the USA has created, will come crumbling down and burying everybody with and under it.

“We Have Turned Our Backs on God”

Newsmax wrote on November 15:

“Franklin Graham charged in an exclusive Newsmax TV interview that America is in a deep economic quagmire because ‘we have turned our backs on God.’ ‘The more we turn our backs on God, the bigger our problem becomes,’ Graham, the son of world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham, tells Newsmax in a wide-ranging interview. “I didn’t hear any of the candidates say that we needed to call our nation to prayer. I didn’t hear any of the candidates say that we needed to ask God for help. We still think that we can work our way out of this problem – and I don’t think we can,’ Graham added. ‘I don’t have confidence in the Republican Party right now, and I don’t have confidence in the Democratic Party. I don’t believe there is leadership in Washington that can solve this problem. We just deal with it as issues for the day, and it kicks the can further and further down the road. We need God’s help to solve this problem – we can’t go without God.’ Last week’s election results, which sent President Barack Obama back to the White House for another four years, put the nation further along a ‘path of destruction,’ Graham said.

“’There is no question that America has been a nation that has been blessed by almighty God. There is no other nation in the history of mankind that has done what this nation has done – and it’s because of God’s hand and his blessing… What has happened is we have allowed ourselves to take God out everything that we do – and I believe that God will judge our nation one day.’ And, ‘maybe God will have to bring our nation to our knees – to where that we just have a complete economic collapse’ to do that, Graham said. ‘Maybe at that point, people will again call upon the name of almighty God.’

“Graham is the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The association’s tax-exempt status is under threat from a complaint filed with the Internal Revenue Service by the Freedom From Religion Foundation… The move by the Wisconsin group, Graham said, reflected a broader push by the far left. ‘They want to shut the mouths of evangelicals. They want to shut the mouths of Christians. One hundred years ago, political leaders in every community were the pastors. They were the voices that were heard. They were the voices that had the influence. Politicians know that and the government knows that – and they are trying to shut the mouths of especially evangelicals. I’m going to continue to speak out,’ Graham vowed. ‘I’m not afraid. I’m not worried.’”

That the USA has turned its back on God—and that for quite some time now—is without any doubt. God blessed this country because of the faith and obedience of Abraham, so that God promised him unconditionally that He would bless his descendants—and the USA are part of the modern descendants of Abraham. But the fate of the USA is much worse than mere economic downfall. The Bible shows that the USA will be defeated in a nuclear war, and survivors will be brought into captivity. It is then, while in that miserable state, but sadly not before then, that some will begin to repent.

Petraeus: Benghazi Was Terrorist Attack

Newsmax wrote on November 16:

“[The former CIA chief] David Petraeus is telling lawmakers he believed all along that the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya was a terrorist attack… Lawmakers say Petraeus told them that CIA talking points written after the attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans referred to it as a terrorist attack. But Petraeus says that reference was removed by other federal agencies that made changes to the CIA’s draft…

“Petraeus’ comments are a challenge to the Obama administration’s timeline of events which indicated the attack on the Libyan consulate were spontaneous, caused by an angry mob upset at an anti-Muslim video… the fact that talking points were changed as information made its way through various agencies is sure to spark another round of controversy for the Obama administration…”

The problems for the US Government don’t seem to diminish, but just to increase constantly.

Loss of Another Sea Gate?

National Review wrote in its November 2012 edition:

“On June 27, a plane carrying Wen Jiabao made a ‘technical’ stop on the island of Terceira, in the Azores. Following an official greeting by Alamo Meneses, the regional secretary of environment of the sea, the Chinese premier spent four hours touring the remote Portuguese outpost in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Wen’s Terceira walkabout, which followed a four-nation visit to South America, largely escaped notice at the time, but alarm bells should have immediately gone off in Washington and in European capitals. For one thing, Wen’s last official stop on the trip was Santiago, the capital of Chile. Flights from Chile to China normally cross the Pacific, not the Atlantic, so there was no reason for his plane to be near the Azores…

“Terceira, however, has one big attraction for Beijing: Air Base No. 4. Better known as Lajes Field, the facility where Premier Wen’s 747 landed in June is jointly operated by the U.S. Air Force and its Portuguese counterpart. If China controlled the base, the Atlantic would no longer be secure. From the 10,865-foot runway on the northeast edge of the island, Chinese planes could patrol the northern and central portions of the Atlantic and thereby cut air and sea traffic between the U.S. and Europe. Beijing would also be able to deny access to the nearby Mediterranean Sea.  And China could target the American homeland. Lajes is less than 2,300 miles from New York, shorter than the distance between Pearl Harbor and Los Angeles.

“Lajes is certainly the reason Wen went out of his way to win friends in Terceira. For years his country has been trying to make inroads into the Azores and waiting for opportunities to pounce. There is nothing the Chinese can do if the U.S. stays, but Pentagon budget cutters, according to some observers, are planning to make Lajes a ‘ghost base.’…

“In recent years, Beijing has identified Portugal as its entry point into Europe, and Chinese officials now know their way to Lisbon. It is in this context that the Portuguese are already thinking about the planned closure of Lajes Field. They don’t want to invite the Chinese in, but they have quietly indicated they will have no choice if the U.S. Air Force decides to leave the base…

“We will, as a longtime ally, need to work closely with Lisbon over an especially thorny issue, but in the interim, there are things that can be done. For instance, it’s not entirely clear why the U.S. Africa Command should be based at Kelley Barracks, outside Stuttgart. A transfer of the approximately 1,500 staff there to Lajes, which is much closer to Africa, would solve the problem overnight, and the move might actually improve Africom’s effectiveness. There are undoubtedly other stopgap solutions that the Pentagon could implement. None of them will be perfect, but all of them would be better than having Beijing’s red flag flying over the Atlantic — and permitting Chinese aircraft to patrol the waters connecting America to Europe.”

The Bible has prophesied that the USA and the UK will lose all its strategic sea gates. They have already lost most of them, and it seems that another one is about to fall into the hands of the Chinese.

“Outrageous” Decision by England’s Charity Commission Against Churches

Mail on Line wrote on November 16:

“MPs are demanding an inquiry into the Charity Commission after the watchdog banned a Christian group from charitable status on the grounds that religion is not always for ‘public benefit’. More than 50 MPs from all the main parties have signed a Commons motion calling on the charity regulator to think again, amid fears that hundreds of religious groups could be stripped of their tax-exempt status, threatening their very existence.

“They accuse the Charity Commission of ‘politically correct bias’ against faith groups after it ruled that the Preston Down Trust of the Plymouth Brethren Church – which has 16,000 members across Britain – is not entitled to charitable status because it does not do enough good works in the community…

“Tory MP Robert Halfon said: ‘There is something rotten in the Charity Commission. I cannot understand why the Brethren, good people who do so much in their communities, have been singled out. I believe an inquiry is needed into the role of the Charity Commission, to consider how it came to make the decision. What has happened is unjust and is creating fear in many churches across the country.’

“Garth Christie, an elder in the Plymouth Brethren… said that he and the other members had spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on trying to prove their charitable status, and they would appeal all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if necessary. The group has already appealed to the Charity Tribunal in what is seen as a test case that could threaten the charitable status of hundreds of small religious groups.

“Several MPs are threatening to table amendments to the Small Charitable Donations Bill before Parliament later this month in a bid to protect faith groups… The threat to amend the Small Charitable Donations Bill seeks to overturn measures in the 2006 Charities Act which removed the presumption for charities that education, religion, or poverty relief are for the public benefit.

“In a ruling that sent shockwaves through even the established church, the Charity Commission ruled that its decision ‘makes it clear that there was no presumption that religion generally, or at any more specific level, is for the public benefit, even in the case of Christianity or the Church of England’. The commission’s decision will have a huge impact on the Brethren’s tax relief…”

This decision is just another example of a development in Europe severely limiting the rights of religious freedom and free exercise of religion… and this move is of course directed at the smaller churches.

Israel’s Coming Wars at Several Fronts

Stratfor Global Intelligence wrote on November 17:

“While Hamas is preparing for an Israeli ground assault into Gaza, Hezbollah’s movements on Israel’s northern frontier bear close watching. Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi on Nov. 17 called on the Muslim world to retaliate against Israeli actions in Gaza. Naturally, many are looking in the direction of Lebanon, where Hezbollah, Iran’s most capable militant proxy, could open a second front against Israel.

“Though Iran would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate the spectrum of its militant proxy strength, especially after supplying Hamas with the long-range Fajr-5 rockets that have been targeting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Hezbollah will likely be extremely cautious in deciding whether to participate in this war. The group’s fate is linked to that of the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad; should Syria fracture along sectarian lines, Lebanon is likely to descend into civil war, and Hezbollah will have to conserve its strength and resources for a battle at home against its sectarian rivals. Indeed, Hezbollah has already been preparing for such a scenario by seizing control of villages along the Orontes River Basin in order to maintain connectivity with Syria’s Alawite community.

“At the same time, if Hamas is able to bog down Israeli ground forces by drawing them into a war of attrition in densely populated Gaza City, Hezbollah may see a political opportunity to burnish its credentials as the region’s leading ‘resistance’ movement. In this case, Hezbollah would likely monitor the situation until it could be assured that Israeli forces are sufficiently constrained on the Gaza front before it begins attacks on the northern front… Israel is already preparing for a two-front contingency…”

Ultimately, Israel will be attacked from all fronts, and there will be nobody there to help. Note the next article as well.

Turkey Condemns Israel

CBS wrote on November 19:

“A top Turkish official has claimed that Israel is committing acts of terrorism by bombing Hamas targets in Gaza. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told the Eurasian Islamic Council conference in Istanbul that the Jewish state is systematically mass-killing Muslims. ‘Those who associate Islam with terrorism close their eyes in the face of mass killing of Muslims, turn their heads from the massacre of children in Gaza,’ Erdogan said, according to Reuters. ‘For this reason, I say that Israel is a terrorist state, and its acts are terrorist acts.’…

“Obama reiterated U.S. support for Israel’s right to self-defense and discussed possible ways to scale back the conflict, the White House said. It did not offer specifics. Separately, Obama called Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Friday and praised Egypt’s efforts to ease tensions in the region, the White House said. Obama expressed hope that Egypt’s efforts would be successful, officials said. In both calls, Obama expressed regret for the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives and underscored the importance of resolving the situation as quickly as possible.”

President Obama wants to please both sides, and won’t please either. Egypt and Turkey are turning against Israel to become strong enemies of Israel, as the Bible predicted. Note also the next article.

Egypt Turns Against Israel

The New York Times wrote on November 19:

“While holding itself out as an honest broker for truce talks between Israel and Hamas over the Gaza conflict,  Egypt’s new government sought on Monday to plunge into the battle over international public opinion on behalf of the Palestinian cause — an arena where the Israelis, more experienced in the world of the free press and democratic politics, have historically dominated.

“In Egypt’s most concerted effort to win more global public support for the Palestinians, advisers to Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who has been an outspoken supporter of Hamas, invited foreign correspondents in Cairo to a background briefing at which a senior Egyptian official sought to blame Israel for the conflict while at the same time maintaining Egypt’s role as an intermediary pressing both sides for peace…

“Speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid upsetting the talks with the Israelis, the Egyptian official argued that the West, which supports Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks from Gaza, was essentially blaming the victim… He implicitly compared the leaders of Hamas to George Washington in America or Charles de Gaulle in France: Heros because they resisted foreign occupation by armed force…”

The negative outcome of the Arab Spring for Israel becomes more and more obvious. But the liberal press is still refusing to admit it, and everyone’s praise for President Morsi’s accomplishment of a ceasefire arrangement between Israel and Hamas is shortsighted and premature at best. Even in the unlikely event that it holds, it did not and will not change a thing. Note the next two articles.

“Tenuous Truce”

The Washington Times wrote on November 21:

“The tenuous truce between Israel and Hamas militants after eight days of savage fighting now relies on Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to guarantee the cease-fire he spent days crafting. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who once suggested bombing the Aswan Dam and flooding the Nile Valley in Egypt, went out of his way Wednesday to praise Mr. Morsi, a member of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood…

“Mr. Morsi played a delicate diplomatic role as a leader of the Brotherhood, which sided with Hamas in the conflict. Last week, Mr. Morsi called Israelis the ‘aggressors’ after they retaliated for months of Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli communities. He even threatened Israel, claiming they will ‘pay a heavy price if they continue this aggression.’

“However, Mr. Morsi balanced his support for Hamas — an offshoot of the Brotherhood that is dedicated to Israel’s destruction — with his need for support from the United States, which sided with Israel and defended the Jewish state’s right to defend itself from terrorist attacks…President Obama ‘thanked President Morsi for his efforts to achieve a sustainable cease-fire and for his personal leadership in negotiating a cease-fire proposal,’ the White House said. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who rushed to the region Tuesday to help with the peace talks, also praised Mr. Morsi, saying Egypt is ‘assuming responsibility and leadership’ in the Middle East.

“She warned, however, that this ‘is a critical time for the region.’ Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak also cautioned about the reliability of a cease-fire with Hamas. ‘We expect the agreements to be fully honored, but from past experience we are aware it might be short-lived,’ he said. Although Israel agreed to a cease-fire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of ‘severe military action’ if Hamas or Islamic Jihad, another designated terrorist group in Gaza, breaks the truce…

“Israel insisted that the agreement announced in Cairo deal only with a cessation of hostilities. Negotiations on other substantive issues will begin in a few days after Israel confirms that the Palestinians are honoring the cease-fire. Mr. Obama also applauded Mr. Netanyahu and expressed his ‘appreciation for the prime minister’s efforts to work’ the Egyptian government, the White House said…

“Mr. Obama promised the Israeli leader additional U.S. funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system that shot down incoming rockets. The system destroyed at least 360 Palestinian rockets and deflected others… Israel flew more than 1,500 airstrikes, killing 161 Palestinians. Israeli officials said most of those killed were Hamas terrorists, although others were civilians… Mr. Netanyahu left open the option for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip if the cease-fire fails…

“The Cairo agreement requires Israel to end airstrikes and targeted assassinations of suspected terrorists in Gaza and for Hamas to stop shelling Israel and trying to send terrorists across the border. Future talks will deal with Hamas’ demands for Israel to lift the embargo imposed on the territory five years ago, when Hamas seized power and started attacking Israel. Israel also is demanding an end to the flow of weapons into the Gaza Strip. Iran has been Hamas’ chief arms supplier…”

Fragile Ceasefire

The Times of Israel wrote on November 21:

“The absence of a ground operation speaks to the vulnerabilities that both sides prefer to conceal. Israel, though it states publicly that it has the right to defend itself, knows that Hamas rockets cannot be silenced without a prolonged house-to-house ground offensive, which could claim thousands of lives and erode further Israel’s public standing in the world.

“Moreover, as King Abdullah of Jordan reportedly made clear Tuesday afternoon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, such an operation could threaten the stability of the entire region — that was a nice way of the king saying that Jordanian Hamas members could topple the Hashemite throne, leaving Israel’s eastern border open to Islamist regimes and chaos all the way through to India…

“Iran and its proxy Hezbollah sat remarkably still during the days of warfare between Israel and Gaza. But surely the silence from Tehran and the Dahieh is not to be interpreted as a lack of concentration. Quds Force leaders will chart where the rockets fell, how Israelis responded, and which salvos proved most difficult for Iron Dome to handle. They will readjust their smuggling routes as necessary and make every attempt to keep Hamas — in essence, the first Sunni Islamist revolutionaries of the Arab Spring — within its Shiite sphere of influence.

“In agreeing to an Egypt-brokered ceasefire, Israel, too, can learn a perhaps unpleasant lesson about its ongoing and looming struggle with Iran… both Iran and Hamas have arduously amassed weapons — whether by tunneling through the sand or moving the chess pieces of a military nuclear program forward in a masterful way… On both fronts, as even the ceasefire appears to indicate, Israel will have to consider making painful concessions.

“Finally, as relates to the conflict with Hamas, the real test will be not so much in the immediately disputed provisions of the agreement, but in the reality that ensues… If, in several months, the flow of weapons resumes its pace, then lsrael’s accomplishments will be quickly forgotten and all too swiftly challenged.”

Germany Wants Strategic Partnership with Arab League

German-Foreign-Policy.com wrote on November 16:

“The German foreign minister is pleading for a ‘strategic partnership’ between the European Union and the Arab League. During a meeting of foreign ministers of the two organizations, yesterday in Cairo, Guido Westerwelle noted that lately, the association of Arab states has been ‘assuming a growing amount of regional responsibility,’ which is why cooperation should be reinforced. Observers have been pointing out for quite some time that following the overthrow of the secular regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the dictatorships on the Arabian Peninsular have seized leadership of the Arab League, and are using their newly acquired margin of maneuver to reinforce Islamist forces throughout the Arab world – including those among Syrian insurgents. They are cooperating closely with the West – which hopes to set them against Iran and uses Islamist associations in other countries, for example in Egypt. The losers are the secular forces, which, since 2010, have been in rebellion to overthrow their repressive, western-collaborating, secular regimes and who are now confronted with repressive, Islamist allies of the EU and USA…

“At the EU/Arab League foreign ministers’ meeting in Cairo yesterday, the German Foreign Minister demanded that cooperation between these two regional organizations be significantly enhanced. ‘I would like to see the Arab League become a strategic partner of the European Union’ proclaimed Westerwelle, and pointed to the League’s substantial increase in activity since the beginning of the transformation process in the Arab world in early 2011…

“The plans for cooperation are flanking the unrelenting intensification of German cooperation with Islamist forces in North Africa, as well as in the Middle East. For example, Berlin had already expanded its links to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood before Islamist President Muhammad Mursi took office. German authorities are also cooperating with Syrian Muslim Brotherhood militants, in their efforts to overthrow Syria’s president. In Morocco, Tunisia and Libya, from the standpoint of the German government, a pronouncedly closer cooperation with the respective dominant Islamist networks is indispensible[sic]. Therefore, this development has been observed by experts and think tanks for quite a while. The CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation had recently published a study on this subject. According to the paper on North African Islamist sectors, which, up to now, the West had only confronted militarily within the framework of the so-called war on terror, but is now being sought as allies, ‘detailed information’ is currently lacking on major aspects of these milieus, which are ‘not very transparent to the outside world.’…

“Social concepts pursued by the new Islamist rulers are currently of little interest to the West. ‘The only sectors that are relatively immune to constant reference to Islam are the economic and foreign policy sectors,’ writes the Adenauer Foundation… The Gulf dictatorships, which have taken over leadership in the Arab League, throughout the past few years, have proven themselves to be the most trustworthy Western allies throughout the Middle East – in spite of, or perhaps because of, their repression of any democratic movement within their respective borders. Under their influence, the Sunnite-Islamist form of worshiping Islam is becoming the force of social cohesion throughout the entire region, enabling them to oppose, in a consolidated front, those forces considered a threat by the West – Shiite Iran, as well as its allied Shiite associations elsewhere in the Middle East…”

This perceptive article is in total line with the prophecies of the Bible. We read in Psalm 83:3-8 that a confederacy of Arab nations will try to wipe Israel off the map, and modern-day Assyria (i.e. Germany) will be part of it. Shiite nations, however, such as Iran and Syria, are not mentioned in the context. In this regard, the next article should not come as a surprise.

EU Warns Israel

Haaretz reported on November 19:

“[The] White House and European countries, including Britain, France and Germany express strong opposition to ground operation…  Both Netanyahu and Barak are said to be reluctant to launch a ground operation, believing it should be ordered only if Hamas rebuffs all of Egypt’s mediation efforts. The two fear the diplomatic fallout that a ground operation would have on Israel’s relationships with Egypt and Jordan, as well as the blow such an operation would deliver to Israel’s image in the west.

“Strong messages against launching a ground invasion have been issued by the White House and European countries, including Britain, France and Germany… On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius arrived to tell Netanyahu that a ground invasion of Gaza would gravely endanger Palestinian civilians and make it difficult for the international community to continue giving the current Operation Pillar of Defense its backing… The EU ministers Monday expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself and condemned the rocket fire from Gaza, but in the same breath called for a cease-fire and demanded that Israel act proportionately and avoid harming innocent civilians…

“It’s unlikely, however, that many of the demands made by both Israel and Hamas will be readily accepted by other parties. For example, Israel is demanding that any cease-fire remain in place for a period of several years. Israel is also demanding an Egyptian commitment to prevent the smuggling of weapons from Sinai into Gaza, and that Hamas or other terror group members be kept 500 meters from the border fence. Israel also wants international assurance that, if necessary, it would be allowed to operate over the border to foil terror attacks.

“Hamas, for its part, wants the naval blockade of Gaza removed, and the full opening of all the border crossings to and from Israel – particularly the regular opening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt for the passage of people and goods. Hamas also wants international assurances that Israel will stop the assassination of senior members of the Palestinian factions.”

Merkel Ahead Only Because of Lack of Competition

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 19:

“With less than a year to go before Germans head to the polls for the 2013 general election, a quick glance at public opinion surveys would seem to indicate that Chancellor Angela Merkel has little to fear from her center-left challenger Peer Steinbrück. Her party holds a comfortable lead of 39 percent to 30 percent and some 53 percent would prefer to see Merkel remain chancellor, compared to just 38 percent backing Steinbrück.

“Such numbers, however, don’t tell the whole story. In reality, German voters are not at all impressed with the job her government is doing… an overwhelming majority believes that Merkel’s governing coalition… is not focused on the public good… close to seven out of 10 Germans think that Merkel’s coalition only pursues special interests, with just 24 percent believing that the public good is her administration’s priority. Furthermore, 65 percent of respondents believe the Merkel’s government is ‘not at all’ or ‘not very strongly’ focused on problems of the future…

“Not surprisingly, Merkel’s key coalition partner, the FDP, has emerged as the greatest drag on her government’s popularity… the party remains below the 5 percent hurdle necessary for representation in German parliament… Ironically, despite voters’ apparent frustration with the work of Merkel’s government, her own popularity remains high and most tend to believe that she is cutting a good figure in the euro crisis. The chancellor is, in fact, the most popular politician in Germany at the moment according to a separate survey conducted last week. Right behind her, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, with 67 percent surveyed valuing his performance as ‘very good.’”

All personal favoritism aside—the growing discontent of the German people with the German government will lead to a surprising rise of a powerful charismatic figure, who will enter the political arena and the occupation of the highly esteemed leadership role through flattery. Once in power, his mind will change, and he will become dictatorial and even demonically possessed. Biblical descriptions in the book of Daniel of certain “kings of the North” — leaders of the ancient Roman Empire and its revivals — are striking and very relevant today. A famous figure of the very distant past, i.e. Antiochus Epiphanes—and another figure of the not-too-distant past—Adolf Hitler–serve as historical example and forerunner of what the Bible predicts to happen very soon.

Powerful Solar Storms Coming

About.com wrote in its current November edition:

“NASA is predicting that the coming solar maximum could produce very energetic solar flares and coronal mass ejecta. These events have the potential to cause significant damage to our power grid as well as our orbiting satellites. But how do we know what to expect?… Should a solar storm erupt in the coming years, it will release a massive amount of high energy charged particles streaming toward Earth. Such a storm occurred in 1859.

“Shortly after the Sun reached solar maximum in 1859, the Sun experienced a significant increase in sun spot activity as well as a sequence of intense solar flares. The largest solar flare on record during the maximum was then observed by British astronomer Richard Carrington. The result of the flare was a coronal mass ejection that sent charged particles streaming toward Earth, reaching the atmosphere only 18 hours after the ejection. This is startlingly quick given that the trip normally takes several days.

“Once the particles reach the Earth they caused a series of phenomena to occur, the likes of which the Earth has not experienced since. First of all, charged particles are usually captured by the Earth’s magnetic field, and primarily get funneled to the poles. There, they interact with the Earth’s atmosphere creating brilliant colors known as aurorae. In this case, however, the flux of particles was so high that the magnetic field could not shield the Earth from them all. So instead of aurorae only being created near the poles, they came into existence throughout the Earth. Reports of aurorae were common over the Caribbean, as well as the central United States. At one point the glow in the Rocky Mountains was such that it awoke the sleeping miners, causing them to begin getting prepared for the day, believing that it was in fact dawn.

“Another, and perhaps more significant, problem was that the charged particle flux began to reek [sic] havoc on electronic systems. Specifically, failure of telegraph systems worldwide were reported. Knowing that such an event has happened in our worlds history would surely lead the world’s leaders to prepare for another such event, right? With all of today’s advanced technology we must be prepared.

“Well, no. In fact a report commissioned by the office of the President showed that… such a storm would not only cause problems for electronic devices, but could potentially bring down the entire power grid. And not just here, but around the world. The kind of damage that would be caused could take months or, more likely, years to repair. Could you imagine? No electricity for years? No phones, no computers, no internet? That is the possibility that we are facing. However, this would take a massive storm like the one in 1859 to even approach such cataclysmic events, but it is something that we need to be aware of…”

Cosmic disturbances will occur. The Bible refers to most of them as the heavenly signs—the fifth seal of the seven seals in the Book of Revelation.

Christ Born Several Years before 1 AD and Christmas Derived From Paganism

The Telegraph wrote on November 22:

“The entire Christian calendar is based on a miscalculation, the Pope has declared, as he claims in a new book that Jesus was born several years earlier than commonly believed… ‘The calculation of the beginning of our calendar – based on the birth of Jesus – was made by Dionysius Exiguus, who made a mistake in his calculations by several years,’ the Pope writes in the book, which went on sale around the world with an initial print run of a million copies. ‘The actual date of Jesus’s birth was several years before.’

“The assertion that the Christian calendar is based on a false premise is not new – many historians believe that Christ was born sometime between 7BC and 2BC [Actually, He was born in 4 BC]. But the fact that doubts over one of the keystones of Christian tradition have been raised by the leader of the world’s one billion Catholics is striking…

“John Barton, Professor of the Interpretation of the Holy Scripture at Oriel College, Oxford University, said most academics agreed with the Pope that the Christian calendar was wrong and that Jesus was born several years earlier than commonly thought, probably between 6BC and 4BC. ‘There is no reference to when he was born in the Bible – all we know is that he was born in the reign of Herod the Great, who died before 1AD,’ he told The Daily Telegraph. ‘It’s been surmised for a very long time that Jesus was born before 1AD – no one knows for sure.’

“The idea that Christ was born on Dec 25 also has no basis in historical fact. ‘We don’t even know which season he was born in. The whole idea of celebrating his birth during the darkest part of the year is probably linked to pagan traditions and the winter solstice.’”

The Financial Curse of Christmas

CNBC reported on November 19:

“Despite a whittling away of consumer debt that has been underway since the recession, many Americans are still entering the holiday season unprepared to cope with the expenses that crop up around this time of year… Some 45 percent… said the holiday season brings so much financial pressure, they would prefer to skip it altogether. Almost half said their level of stress related to holiday expenses is high or extremely high. That’s probably because nearly the same amount — some 45 percent — say they do not expect to have enough money set aside to cover holiday expenses… the financial anxiety may be more widespread than it had been in prior years…

“Half of the consumers polled in the survey who make between $75,000 and $99,999, said they would put items on layaway, and 32 percent who earn more than $100,000 said they did. Think Finance CEO Ken Rees said the fact that consumers of all income levels are using layaway shows there is a demand for financial options beyond just credit cards… ‘everyday Americans are still working hard to cover expenses making holiday spending particularly stressful,’ Rees said.

“It’s easy to understand why the holidays are a source of worry when you consider how many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. About 41 percent said they would only be able to get by for two weeks without a paycheck, while an additional 25 percent say they could only survive a month. The holidays are expected to only make the situation worse. About 59 percent of those in the survey expect to carry debt with them into the New Year, including more than half — some 54 percent — of those who earn more than $100,000 a year.”

But they still are willing to keep a pagan Feast which has nothing to do with true Christianity. For our readers outside the USA, we might want to explain the concept of “layaway.” The Wikipedia Encyclopedia says the following: “Layaway (lay-by in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) is an agreement in which the seller reserves an item for a consumer until the consumer completes all the payments necessary to pay for that item. Rather than taking the item home and then repaying the debt on a regular schedule…, the layaway customer does not receive the item until it is completely paid for. There is sometimes a fee associated, since the seller must ‘lay’ the item ‘away’ in storage until the payments are completed. Because there is little risk involved for the seller, layaway can be readily offered to those with bad credit. If the transaction is not completed, the item is returned to stock and the customer’s money is returned minus a fee. The main advantage of layaway is that no interest is charged.”

In this second installment on the questions raised, we are proceeding with answering whether those Old Testament institutions are still of any validity today. In last week’s first installment, we quoted the relevant biblical passages (mainly Exodus 23:10-11 and Leviticus 25:1-7, 18-22), and we cited numerous commentaries to show their understanding as to what these passages meant for the ancient Israelites. Now, we are beginning to answer the question as to what they mean for us today.

At the end of the previous installment, we alluded to the fact that we had addressed the issue of the ongoing validity of the Land Sabbath or the Sabbatical Year in previous Q&As, which also quote numerous commentaries to the effect that they do not feel that the Land Sabbath only applied to the nation of Israel for the time while in the Promised Land.

In our Q&A, addressing Leviticus 25:1-7, we wrote the following:

“Many commentaries acknowledge the wisdom contained in these verses to let the land lie fallow every seventh year. The Broadman Bible Commentary states, ‘…there were also agricultural advantages in leaving a field fallow once in seven years, to alleviate the exhaustion of the soil…’ Likewise, the Nelson Study Bible points out, ‘A sabbath to the LORD is the same phrase used for the weekly Sabbath (23:3). The people rested weekly from their work; the land was to rest every seventh year from its work. The principle of the land needing rest has been rediscovered in recent years and is practiced in various ways by farmers of many nations.’

“Jamieson, Fausset and Brown agree, ‘This year of rest was to invigorate the productive powers of the land, as the weekly Sabbath was a refreshment to men and cattle…’

“But, how are we to understand Leviticus 25: 5-7? Some claim that these verses teach that the owner of the land was in no way permitted to take for himself what grew in the seventh year (compare Broadman). This view has been correctly rejected by most commentaries, as it does not agree with the Biblical text. For instance, the Nelson Study Bible points out:

“‘Reaping and gathering for storage and selling were not permitted in the Sabbath year. However, harvesting for daily needs was permitted. Since the purpose of these laws was to promote social equality in Israel, anyone, regardless of social standing, was permitted to use anything that grew, wherever it grew. Even the wild beasts of the field are mentioned here, to emphasize that God would provide for every creature. Of course, Israel’s main provision during this time was the bumper crop produced the year before the Sabbath year (vv. 21, 22).’

“The Soncino Cumash concurs, pointing out, ‘In this year you must not think of yourself as the sole owner, but others have an equal right to its produce with you. That which grows on its own accord, without any effort on your part, is permitted.’

“The Ryrie Study Bible also concurs, ‘Every seventh year the land was to have a sabbath, a rest. Whatever grew during the year was freely available to all alike (vv. 6-7). It was also a time of special instruction in the Law of God (cf. Deut. 31:10-13).’

“So does The New Bible Commentary: Revised: ‘In the law of the sabbath rest, the principle is applied to all human beings, whether free or bond, and also to the cattle (Ex. 20:10), to the ox, the ass, or any cattle, as beasts of burden (Dt. 5:14), as well as to the sojourner. Here it is extended to the land. Every seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of solemn rest… from sowing and reaping. The land is to be left untilled and that which grows of itself, called in v. 6 the sabbath of the land (i.e. what the sabbath of the land produces of itself), is to be food for all alike, for the owner and the servant, for the sojourner and the cattle…’

“Leviticus 25:1-7 teaches us important lessons, including reliance on God and sharing our goods with others. Food growing by itself during the seventh year could be eaten by everyone. Applying these principles today, this would be like walking through the forest and finding wild berries that grow on their own accord. In some areas of the world, these could be freely plucked and eaten by the one who is hungry.

“God warned His people not to neglect to obey His law regarding the land Sabbath. Ancient Israel and Judah refused to carry out God’s command to let the land rest every seventh year. God prophesied that Israel and Judah would go into captivity, if they were not to obey His laws. ‘Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall rest – for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it’ (Leviticus 26:34-35).

“Because of their disobedience of God’s laws, ancient Israel and Judah actually went into captivity. 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 states, ‘And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon…, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath…’

“Today, the modern tribes of Israel and Judah do not obey their God, either, including God’s command to grant their land rest every seventh year. The prophecy in Leviticus 26 is dual. As it was fulfilled in the past, so it will be fulfilled again in the future…”

In our Q&A, addressing fruit trees during the Sabbath Year, we wrote the following:

“Leviticus 19:23-25 prescribes what we are to do with newly planted fruit trees. This law…is still valid today…

“These verses prohibit the consumption of fruit from a NEWLY PLANTED fruit tree for the first three years… In the fourth year, the fruit is to be used to praise God… In the fifth year, and all following years, the fruit belongs to the individual — but the individual is of course still obligated to tithe on the increase.

“This law… does not refer to shrubs, bushes, grapefruits, or olive trees. Those ‘trees’ are described in the Bible as field crops, as they have a different production cycle. The distinction is shown in the law of gleaning (Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 24:19-22). It is also shown in the law of the Sabbath rest (Leviticus 25:3-5; Exodus 23:10-11). Notice carefully that the law of gleaning and the Sabbath rest does NOT refer to fruit trees… Leviticus 25:3-4 instructs us not to sow our field, nor to prune our vineyard during the Sabbath year. (Again, this passage does not refer to fruit trees.) We are also told, in verses 7 and 8, that the Sabbath produce of the land shall be food for us and our livestock and other beasts during the Sabbath year.”

Leviticus 25 shows that the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee or Fiftieth Year are closely connected.

We read in Leviticus 25:8-14:

“And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field. In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress one another.”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible remarks:

“A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you,…. Which, clearly shows, that not the forty ninth year was the year of jubilee, as many learned men have asserted, chiefly induced by this reason, because two years would come together in which were no sowing [and] reaping; but that God [who] could cause the earth to [bring] forth fruit for three years, Leviticus 25:21, could make it bring forth enough for four years; and in order to make their sentiment agree with this passage, they are obliged to make the foregoing jubilee one of the fifty, and begin their account from thence; but this could not be done in the first account of the jubilee… ye shall not sow; in the year of jubilee, which shows also that this could not be the forty ninth year, which of course being a sabbatical year, there would be no sowing, reaping [etc.], and so this law or instruction would be quite needless.”

In the Jubilee Year, according to Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary, “… besides the common rest of the land, which was observed every sabbatical year (v. 11, 12), and the release of personal debts (Deu. 15:2, 3 [Year of Release]), there was to be the legal restoration of every Israelite to all the property, and all the liberty, which had been alienated from him since the last jubilee… The property which every man had in his dividend of the land of Canaan could not be alienated any longer than till the year of jubilee, and then he or his [offspring] should return to it, and have a title to it as undisputed, and the possession of it as undisturbed, as ever…”

We wrote the following in our Q&A regarding the Jubilee Year:

“In Old Testament times, God established a system whereby the poor would not be in perpetual poverty… Notice that the Jubilee Year began on the Day of Atonement. This annual Holy Day points at a future time when mankind will be released from the captivity of Satan and from the oppression of this present evil world. At the time of ancient Israel, the Jubilee Year designated a release from all debts and a repossession of the land which had been initially allocated to the debtor.”

In our Q&A on bankruptcy, we wrote this:

“There are numerous Biblical passages which, judging by their spiritual implications, allow for [declaring bankruptcy]. These passages deal with God’s institution for ancient Israel of the ‘Sabbath’ and the ‘Jubilee’ Year.

“(1) On the ‘Sabbath Year,’ that is, at the end of every seventh year, ‘debts of fellow Jews [correctly: Israelites] were to be canceled’ (Halley’s Bible Handbook, 24th ed., p. 139). One needs to note that this was an automatic release of debt, by God-given law. It was not required that an agreement was reached between creditor and debtor, or that the creditor agreed to release the debt of the debtor. Quite to the contrary, the debts had to be released every seventh year, whether the creditor liked it or not. This was not just a postponement of debts, either; it was, rather, a cancellation of debts.

“Notice Deuteronomy 15:1-3, 9: ‘At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor SHALL RELEASE IT; HE SHALL NOT REQUIRE IT OF HIS NEIGHBOR OR HIS BROTHER, because it is called the Lord’s release. Of a foreigner you may require it; but you SHALL GIVE UP YOUR CLAIM TO WHAT IS OWED TO YOUR BROTHER… Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye will be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing [knowing that by the time of the seventh year, the lender or creditor would never receive back what he gave] and he cry out to the LORD against you, and it become sin to you.’

“References to the Sabbath Year can also be found in Exodus 21:2, Nehemiah 10:31, and in Jeremiah 34:14. The release of debt was to occur automatically, without the necessity of an agreement between creditor and debtor. An interesting application of these principles can be found in Nehemiah 5:1-13.

“(2) In addition, every fiftieth year, God’s civil law for ancient Israel demanded that ANOTHER release be granted. This was, again, not a matter of choice or agreement between creditor and debtor, but automatic. Halley points out on p. 139: ‘Jubilee Year was every 50th year. It followed the 7th Sabbatic Year, making two rest years come together. It began on the Day of Atonement. ALL DEBTS WERE CANCELED, slaves set free, and lands that had been sold returned.’

“The Year of Jubilee is mentioned in several places, for instance in Leviticus 25 and Numbers 36:4. It is associated with the proclamation of ‘liberty’ (Leviticus 25:10) and referred to as the ‘Year of Liberty’ in Ezekiel 46:17. In Leviticus 25:24, 28, 39-41, it is stated: “‘And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land… But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee, and in the Jubilee it shall be RELEASED, and he shall return to his possession… And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you…, [he] shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. And then he shall depart from you — he and his children with him — and shall return to his family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers.’

“The New Testament does not abolish the principles set forth in these Scriptures. In fact, Jesus came to preach liberty, as expressed in the Year of Jubilee, at His first coming (Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 4:17-21), applying it to total freedom of God’s people, including freedom from all sickness, disease, sin, death, and every curse (compare, for example, Edward Chumney, ‘The Seven Festivals of the Messiah,’ p. 147). It is true that there are New Testament Scriptures describing how creditors freely forgave their debtors (compare, Luke 7:41-42; 16:5-8). These additional Scriptures do not negate the principle, however, that debts can be forgiven by law and in God’s sight, regardless of whether the creditor is agreeable to such cancellation or not. In conclusion, the concept of declaring bankruptcy is Biblical under certain circumstances.”

In addition, as alluded to above, land was not to be sold forever. It had to be returned to the previous owner in the Year of Jubilee. Leviticus 25:15-16 explains that the price of the property or crops had to be determined based on the number of years left until the Jubilee Year.

Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary writes:

“What was to be done in that year extraordinary; besides the common rest of the land, which was observed every sabbatical year (v. 11, 12), and the release of personal debts (Deu. 15:2, 3), there was to be the legal restoration of every Israelite to all the property, and all the liberty, which had been alienated from him since the last jubilee… The property which every man had in his dividend of the land of Canaan could not be alienated any longer than till the year of jubilee, and then he or his [offspring] should return to it, and have a title to it as undisputed, and the possession of it as undisturbed, as ever (v. 10, 13): ‘You shall return every man to his possession’; so that if a man had sold or mortgaged his estate, or any part of it, it should then return to him or his heirs, free of all charge and encumbrance. Now this was no wrong to the purchaser, because the year of jubilee was fixed, and every man knew when it would come, and made his bargain accordingly.”

From all the foregoing, we can clearly see that the Sabbatical Year or the Land Sabbath or the Year of Release, as well as the Jubilee Year, were laws for the nation of Israel, which were indeed related to the Land of Canaan. They are of course not enforceable today, on a grand scale, as every nation today has its own laws which may quite differ in regard to cancellation of debts, long-term “employment” relationships, transactions of real property, or even the cultivation of farm land. Still, as will be explained in the next installment, the Church of God has consistently taught that certain PRINCIPLES can and should be applied as much as possible by Christians today.

(To Be Continued)

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

We are pleased to announce the launching of our newly refreshed AufPostenStehen site: http://www.aufpostenstehen.de. This is the culmination of work by our technology team, and it will greatly facilitate our web presentations in Europe and specifically among the German speaking audience.

“The Christmas Tree’s Origin” is the title of our newest StandingWatch program. In this presentation, Evangelist Norbert Link challenges our acceptance of practices that actually are rooted in blatant paganism–here is a summary: Perhaps the most cherished Christmas custom of all is the Christmas tree. But did you know that the Christmas tree was a pagan object of worship long before the birth of Christ? Pagans believed that their gods were living in and actually changed into pinetrees. Does the Bible speak about Christmas trees? And if so, does it approve or condemn the custom of decorating pine trees at Christmas time?

“Der Ursprung des Weihnachtsbaumes” is the German language version of this program and it is posted at http://www.aufpostenstehen.de/.

“Don’t Keep Christmas” is a booklet we have produced which goes into even more detail on the topic of Christmas observance. Following are quotes from the Introduction:

“Were you shocked when you read the title of this booklet? Was your first thought that the publishers of this booklet either embrace a non-Christian faith, or that they are atheists? Surely, a person calling himself Christian would not possibly suggest to NOT OBSERVE such an important Christian holiday, you might say.  After all, it celebrates the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!  Or, does it?  Have you ever questioned the validity of Christmas?

“Is Christmas a biblically commanded festival? Does the Bible even mention Christmas? Where did Christmas and its customs originate? How did Christmas become a Christian festival? What do Christmas customs have to do with the birth of Jesus Christ? And finally, what does God have to say about the celebration of Christmas? Does it matter to Him whether we keep Christmas? Does He approve of it? Or does He condemn it?  The answers may astound you!”

A new German sermon was recorded this week. The German title, “Gott Wird Herrschen” would say in English: “God Will Rule.” This sermon covers the concept as to how the Gentile nations will look for and seek Christ in the Millennium.

by Michael Link

Prayers have been intensified recently in my life, and they seem to be getting longer and longer.  There is so much to pray about. Aside from the many sicknesses and trials others in the church are going through, I spent a good amount of time thinking about the things going on in my family’s life and mine… But lately every morning, I have also emphasized my prayers on simply getting through the day, and that God will give me strength, patience, and wisdom, because there are many opportunities for Satan to strike.  It’s the simple things I often times neglect that can lead to more harm, if not controlled.

Getting frustrated at inanimate objects is easy to do, since they can’t respond, and it’s an immediate short-term relief to let it all out.  For example: yelling at a computer or the television because something isn’t working to my expectation, or lashing out at an appliance that has been in the same place for years, but still manages to stub my toe.  And many times when I am working, a package takes the heat when I’m unable to find it initially, as I was ready to deliver it 30 seconds ago.  I find myself yelling at traffic lights that turn red right when I’m about to cross the intersection, because I’m in a hurry and one minute at a stoplight seems like an eternity, and an utter waste of time.

This fast-paced lifestyle with more things to do than the day allows is quite normal.  I realize that my patience is tested, and I know that I am going through these tests to see how I would react. What may be insignificant like yelling at a box is very significant to Satan, because it can lead to more, if I allow him to. Fortunately, I recognize this, which is why I ask for God’s help, and I am thankful that God is there to help me.  Self-control is challenging at times, and over the years it has improved, but I know I can do better.  If I want to be blessed as God promises, I have to do my part as well, by conquering the simple things.