Sometimes we wonder what we can do to help the church… to do our part as we are often admonished.  But too many times we might come to the conclusion that we are too [fill in the blank] to help out. However, there is a way that does not require the resources that we feel that we might not have.

It is the very powerful act of intercessory prayer — praying for others on their behalf. We have the ability by the Holy Spirit; through Christ; to ask God the Father for anything for someone else (Romans 8:26-27, 34).  We can actually tap into the power that created the universe to ask Him to do something for SOMEONE ELSE.

Christ has set this example of intercession for us in John 17, even as the time of His death neared. As His physical life hung in the balance, His thoughts were on us. We are to follow His precedent and do the same — pray for the brethren.

Through this act of selflessness the heavens are the limits to what can be accomplished.  So when we stop and take a step back and look at our life and see it going well, it might not be because of what we have done, but because of what God did… because someone asked Him to do it FOR us.

The terrible weather conditions in large parts of the US bring back frightening memories of droughts in 1988 or even the 1930’s, and bring into focus biblical warnings that our soil will ultimately become like iron, due to our disobedience of God and His laws. Severe weather conditions could also be seen in the UK and around the world. The Bible also prophesies that animals, in one way or another, will be responsible for the deaths of many people, and that sicknesses will increase, and we are already seeing the beginning of the fulfillment of these prophecies.

Germany will not return to the deutschmark nor give up the euro, and Angela Merkel’s popularity in Germany is higher than ever. At the same time, Germany finds itself under national and international attack because of its abominable final decision of the court of appeals in Cologne, declaring circumcision of babies or young boys to be a crime. Sadly, many Germans welcome the decision. They seem to have forgotten that in the past, the persecution of unpopular religious minorities in Germany led to Hitler’s Holocaust.

Focusing on Barack Obama’s ongoing troubles, allegations are being made that he has been using a fraudulent social security number, as reported by WorldNetDaily and the Drudge Report; frightening prospects and adverse consequences of his health care law may adversely affect most taxpayers in 2014, as reported by the Associated Press; and the way in which the US government is usurping more and more powers and thereby limiting the individual liberties and freedoms of US citizens, as reported by MSNBC, should wake everybody up. Sadly, most Americans don’t seem to know or care what is really going on—until it will be too late. And so, it is true that before we will be destroyed from the outside, we will have already begun to destroy ourselves from the inside.

We conclude with several articles pertaining to the developments in the Middle East.

Will 2012 Become a Historic Disaster?

Time magazine wrote on July 5:

“Triple-digit days. Weeks with little to no rain. Soil crumbling away. Stunted corn stalks. Right now the fertile fields of the U.S. Midwest are experiencing corn-killing weather, with parts of five corn-growing states in the region experiencing severe or extreme drought. In at least nine states, one-fifth to one-half of cornfields are currently in poor or very poor conditions. And all of this comes after earlier expectations that corn farmers were going to produce a bumper crop this season, with 40 million hectares planted — the largest corn area in 75 years…

“So terrible is the weather in the heartland that farmers have begun to compare it to the drought of 1988, which wiped out millions of hectares of corn and caused $78 billion in crop damage, or even worse, the great Dust Bowl era of the 1930s. Already, stockpiles of corn have fallen by 48% from March to June, the biggest drop since 1996 — and that was before the drought and the brutally hot weather began in earnest. The percentage of the corn crop with top-quality ratings was 48% as of July 1, compared with 69% a year ago. Whether 2012 goes down as just an off year for corn crops or a truly historic disaster will depend on the next couple of weeks…”

The Guardian added on July 10:

“The worst drought to hit the United States in nearly 25 years is threatening to drive up food prices around the world.

“The price of corn, the staple crop of much of the midwest and the prairies, has risen by a third in the past month and rose again on Wednesday after a US government report said farmers would not yield as much from their parched fields as expected. Higher prices are likely to be passed on in the cost of hamburgers and steak and also affect a range of other foods such as corn flakes and bread.

“Almost a third of America’s corn crop is already showing signs of damage and a report released by the US Department of Agriculture on Wednesday forecast that farmers would only reap a fraction of the corn expected last spring when they planted 96.4m acres (39m hectares) – the most since 1937.”

Terrible Weather Conditions in Continental USA

Reuters reported on July 9:

“Scorching temperatures in June’s second half helped the continental United States break its record for the hottest first six months in a calendar year… The last 12 months also have been the warmest since modern record-keeping began in 1895… The recent blistering heat wave broke records across much of the United States, threatening the Midwest’s corn crop and helping to fan destructive wildfires…

“This past month was also the 10th driest June, with drought spreading to 56 percent of the contiguous U.S. states, up from 37.4 percent in May, making it the largest drought footprint of the 21st century… Wildfires claimed 1.3 million acres, mostly in the West, the second-largest area to be charred during any June on record.

“But it wasn’t all dry. Tropical Storm Debby dumped so much rain during its slow pass across Florida that the state’s monthly statewide precipitation total for the month was 13.16 inches, or 6.17 inches above average, making it Florida’s wettest June on record. Maine, Oregon and Washington state each had a top-10 wet June.”

Terrible Weather Conditions in Great Britain

The Daily Mail wrote on July 7:

“Torrential downpours battered the South West of England today causing life-threatening floods as ‘colossal’ levels of summer rain continued… After more than two inches of rain fell in just 18 hours in Devon, the Environment Agency put parts of the Rivers Yealm, Axe and Burton on the highest grade flood warning, meaning they pose a ‘danger to life’… A total of around 75 flood warnings and 150 flood alerts were issued across England and Wales… Many parts of the country received more than half the average rainfall for July in just one day…”

On July 9, The Daily Mail stated about Great Britain:

“… the country endured another sodden week, following the wettest spring and early summer period since records began…”

The Last Days of Britain

The Daily Mail wrote on July 6:

“The face of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, has been slapped on the front of a U.S. magazine with a set of yellow, decaying teeth. The Royal was PhotoShopped like the American stereotype of a Brit with bad gnashers for a special issue of the politics and arts publication The New Republic about the future of Britain… The 30-year-old… appears in front of a tattered Union Jack alongside the words, ‘Something’s Rotten. The Last Days of Britain.’… Last year the pearly white Duchess spent thousands of pounds having her teeth polished and turned to give her the perfect smile…”

One can dispute the American “humor,” making the Duchess a target, but the perception that Britain has entered its last days is quite remarkable in light of biblical prophecy.

Terrible Weather Conditions in Russia

In an article on Russia, The Daily Mail wrote on July 7:

“At least 99 people have been killed in floods and landslides in southern Russia today after two months’ average rainfall fell in a few hours overnight. Most of the victims died in or around Krymsk, a town about 190 miles northwest of Sochi, the Black Sea resort where Russia will host the 2014 Winter Olympics…

“Some of the victims were electrocuted while others were swept into the sea. Many of the dead were elderly people who had been sleeping and drowned. Others survived by climbing on to rooftops after the torrential rain hit thousands of homes, flooded railways and roads, and halted oil shipments from the port of Novorossiisk.”

Animals Responsible for 2.2 Million Human Deaths a Year

Reuters reported on July 5:

“A global study mapping human diseases that come from animals like tuberculosis, AIDS, bird flu or Rift Valley fever has found that just 13 such diseases are responsible for 2.4 billion cases of human illness and 2.2 million deaths a year… The vast majority of infections and deaths from so-called zoonotic diseases are in poor or middle-income countries, but ‘hotspots’ are also cropping up in the United States and Europe where diseases are newly infecting humans, becoming particularly virulent, or are developing drug resistance.”

The Bible says that many people will die because of, among other factors, the wild beasts of the earth.

“Florida Closes Only Tuberculosis Hospital Amid Worst US Outbreak in 20 Years”

The Guardian wrote on July 9:

“Health officials in Florida hastened their closure of the nation’s only dedicated tuberculosis hospital on cost-cutting grounds as one of the worst outbreaks of the deadly disease in 20 years was taking a grip on the state, it has been revealed. At least 3,000 people in Jacksonville may have been exposed to the highly contagious respiratory illness that claimed 13 lives in the city and left another 100 sick in the last two years… patients once deemed too sick for contact with the public were released into the community and others newly diagnosed with the disease, mostly from the homeless population, are being put up in local motels in an effort to keep them on their medications… The CDC confirmed it was one of the worst outbreaks of TB anywhere in the United States for at least two decades.”

No Return to Deutschmark—Political Union Needed

The Local wrote on July 7:

“’A return to the Deutschmark would be irresponsible,’ Allianz CEO Michael Diekmann told the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. ‘Therefore we should stop toying with the idea.’ Diekmann said his company has made economic calculations for what would happen if Germany were to give up the euro, and that the result would be a deep depression in which a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP) would be lost within four to five years.

“As a way out of the euro crisis, the head of the Munich-based insurer called for a stronger political union ‘that will only work with more shared responsibility and financing.’ He said limits need to be established on how one country helps another in the eurozone. ‘Whoever helps another country must also have the possibility of control,’ he told the paper.”

As this and the next article show, Germany will never give up the euro.

Merkel Extremely Popular in Germany In Spite of Criticism

The Independent wrote on July 7:

“Despite angry domestic criticism of her efforts to resolve the euro crisis, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s popularity among German voters has reached its highest point since 2009, according to the results of an opinion poll broadcast yesterday by the ARD television channel. According to the poll, 66 per cent of the electorate were satisfied with the performance of their country’s first woman leader, and some 58 per cent said they agreed with the view that Ms Merkel had acted ‘properly and decisively over the euro crisis’…

“On her return from last week’s eurozone summit, where she was widely perceived as having given in to demands from Italy and Spain to approve bailout funding to be used directly to rescue ailing banks, Ms Merkel was accused by many of her domestic critics of making a policy U-turn.

“Yesterday, 170 leading German economists, headed by Hans-Werner Sinn, the eurosceptic head of the Munich-based Ifo economic research institute, stepped up the criticism by publishing an appeal for citizens to rise up and oppose Ms Merkel’s plans to rescue the single currency. The appeal singled out plans for a banking union announced at the Brussels summit and called on Germans to ‘warn’ politicians of the dangers of such a project. ‘Countries like Germany could be saddled with ever-increasing risks through heavily indebted countries,’ it argued.

“Wolfgang Schäuble, the finance minister, responded to the economists’ criticism yesterday by accusing them of confusing the public. ‘I find this outrageous,’ he said… In what threatened to become a ‘battle of the economists’, seven other leading financial experts announced their support yesterday for Ms Merkel’s euro policies, in a joint statement headlined: ‘No horror scenarios’. They accused Mr Sinn’s economists of failing to support their arguments with facts.

“Despite Ms Merkel’s renewed popularity, yesterday’s poll result suggested that her ruling coalition of conservative Christian Democrats and liberal Free Democrats would lose next year’s general election, meaning that to stay in power Ms Merkel would have to form a second grand coalition with the opposition Social Democrats.”

This will remain to be seen. In any event, Frau Merkel’s rise in popularity is quite remarkable.

50 Years of French-German Friendship

The Local wrote on July 9:

“French President Francois Hollande [said to German Chancellor Angela Merkel:] ‘No dark force and even less stupidity can alter the deep Franco-German friendship… Our friendship inspires Europe… We don’t want to preach. We just want to give examples to be followed… Madam Chancellor, I propose from our side to open and even cross a new door together that will lead to even closer friendship between our two nations’…

“Merkel’s message was more direct. ‘Europe is more than just a currency, and the Franco-German relationship is vital in this regard, it has deeply marked European unification,’ she said. At the same time she stressed that others were welcome to join in, echoing Hollande who is seeking closer ties with Italy and Spain. ‘We must now put finishing touches on a political level of the economic and monetary union, it’s a Herculean task but Europe is up to it,’ she said, ending her speech with ‘Long live Franco-German friendship’ in both languages.”

Germany Under Pressure Over Abominable Court Decision on Circumcision

The Local wrote on July 6:

“Germany is coming under increasing pressure over the court decision that ruled circumcision was bodily harm and thus a crime – with the Wiesenthal Centre quoting Hitler, and a Muslim group saying it was a blow against integration. The Los-Angeles-based Jewish group called on German lawmakers to provide legal safety for the practice, saying it would be ‘a stain on today’s Germany’ to let the court ruling stand.

“Criminalising circumcision was ‘an attack on one of the fundamental principles of Judaism,’ wrote Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, founder and dean and associate dean of the Centre in a letter to Merkel. ‘For 3,500 years, every male child has entered the Jewish people through the rite of circumcision. We are not talking about a mere custom, but a biblical principle that has defined the Jewish people from time immemorial.’ They noted that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler said ‘in one of his infamous anti-Semitic rants’ that ‘conscience is a Jewish invention, it is a blemish like circumcision.’…

“The ruling marked a ‘big blow against integration,’ a spokesman for the Coordinating Council of Muslims in Germany, one of some 20 groups representing most of Germany’s around four million Muslims, said on Wednesday. German Muslim leaders urged lawmakers Wednesday to pass legislation protecting the right to circumcise boys after a court ruling against the practice when carried out on religious grounds…

“The Muslim groups are in contact with Jewish and Christian leaders on the issue and discussing how to bring pressure to bear on the political class…  After the ruling touched off a storm of international protest, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle insisted the country would continue to protect religious freedom and rites including circumcision. However several doctors and hospitals have said they would suspend the practice as long as its legal standing is unclear.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 9:

“An Israeli parliamentary committee Monday denounced a recent German regional court decision making circumcision a crime while the ruling also provoked the Conference of European Rabbis to call for an emergency meeting in Berlin to discuss the issue. Both groups agree that ritual circumcision of Jewish boys when they are eight days old is a fundamental part of being Jewish.

“Israeli politician and committee member Danny Danon noted that Germany last banned circumcision in the country’s ‘darkest hour,’ referring to the Nazi years and the persecution of the Jews. The Associated Press reported that Danon said Israel would not tolerate restrictions on the practice of Judaism anywhere in the world, ‘and certainly not in Germany.’

“The Israeli committee’s denouncement of the decision, announced last month by a court in Cologne, was made after committee members met with Andreas Michaelis, Germany’s ambassador to Israel…

“Muslims, Jews, Catholics and Protestants alike have cricitized the ruling. The Coordinating Council of Muslims in Germany called the ruling a ‘massive intrusion on religious freedom and on parents’ rights.’ Meanwhile, the Central Council of Jews in Germany warned the ruling ‘would make Jewish life in Germany practically impossible.’ The Torah explicitly states that all Jewish boys should be circumcised by the eighth day after their birth.

“It is estimated that at least 15 percent of German men are circumcised, with around 50,000 circumcisions performed each year… In the United States, around 70 percent of all men are circumcised.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 11:

“European Orthodox rabbis have protested a German court’s ban on circumcision for religious reasons. The Jewish leaders say it’s yet another example of the marginalization of minorities… It’s a ‘highly problematic’ ruling for Jewish communities in Germany, Pinchas Goldschmidt , the president of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), told DW. He said he hoped the government in Berlin would quickly arrange for legal clarification.

“Goldschmidt said he is just as shocked by opinion polls that show a majority of Germans welcome the Cologne court’s ruling. This is about the ‘basics of a liberal democracy, about the absolute recognition of the religious freedom of minorities,’ he said… Goldschmidt also pointed out a rising tendency toward intolerance of religious minorities in Europe. As example, he cited a recent Swiss ban on building new minarets on mosques, a French ban on women wearing Islamic veils in public and a debate in the Netherlands about kosher meat prepared by Jewish butchers.”

BBC News added on July 12:

“European Jewish and Muslim groups have joined forces to defend circumcision for young boys on religious grounds after a German regional court ruled it amounted to bodily harm. A joint statement says the practice is fundamental to their faiths and calls for it to be awarded legal protection… Germany’s Medical Association told doctors not to perform circumcisions…

“The unusual joint statement was signed by leaders of groups including the Rabbinical Centre of Europe, the European Jewish Parliament, the European Jewish Association, Germany’s Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs and the Islamic Centre Brussels… The leaders also met members of the European parliament and the Bundestag to express their anger and insist that the German parliament establish clear legal protections for the rite. The BBC’s Stephen Evans in Berlin says the German government is clearly uneasy about the ruling, particularly after accusations that it was inappropriate for the country of the Holocaust to outlaw a fundamental ritual of Judaism.”

Haaretz wrote on July 12:

“Europe’s main Orthodox rabbinical body is urging Jews in Germany to uphold the commandment to circumcise newborn sons, despite a court ruling in Germany that said circumcising young boys [is] considered a criminal act. Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, said his organization is ready to back Jews in challenging the May ruling by a Cologne district court, which Jewish groups see as symptomatic of a trend across Europe against some Jewish rituals. Goldschmidt said some lawmakers intending to curb Muslim practices unwittingly outlaw Jewish traditions as well… Two Berlin hospitals that routinely perform the surgery, mostly for Muslim families but also for Jewish ones, have temporarily stopped the practice…

“Virtually all Jewish denominations have roundly condemned the Cologne ruling, though they may differ on other religious practices… Circumcision is one tradition that unites secular and religious Jews, Goldschmidt noted. He added that current challenges to the practice of circumcision and kosher slaughter in Europe stem from the notion that Muslims have similar practices but with less rigorous training than Jews. Lawmakers are reacting, for example, to botched circumcisions performed by poorly trained practitioners, he suggested, adding that such problems are extremely rare among mohels, or Jewish ritual circumcisers. Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 12:

“An influential group of European rabbis on Thursday used unusually strong language to attack a German court ruling against the circumcision of boys. If the ruling is allowed to stand, the group’s president warned, ‘then I don’t see a future for Jews in Germany.’ Calling it the ‘worst attack on Jewish life since the Holocaust,’ the Conference of European Rabbis on Thursday strongly condemned a recent German court decision that criminalizes the circumcision of boys. ‘A ban on circumcision poses an existential question for the Jewish community in Germany,’ the president of the organization, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, said on Thursday…

“He said the ban on shechita, the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws, by the National Socialists had also been a sign for many Jews that ‘we need to leave Germany.’ But he added that a ban on circumcision, given the importance of the tradition, would send a much stronger message…”

In addition, according to the President of the Central Council of Jews, Dieter Graumann, in Germany’s “Tagesthemen,” one fourth of all young males are being circumcised worldwide, and for many generations, the successors on the British throne are being circumcised as well by Jewish circumcisers. This last statement is quite interesting, giving additional credence to the fact that British kings have been sitting on the Jewish throne of David.

Shame on the German court in Cologne and on the majority of Germans who have actually supported this abominable court decision, which was rendered by a professional judge and two appointed “jurors”—speaking volumes about jury duty systems. Shame also on the many German- and English-speaking listeners to our AufPostenStehen and StandingWatch programs on circumcision who voiced their disagreement with our programs which condemn the unbiblical and intolerable court decision.

The statement of Herr Westerwelle is ridiculous in light of the legal finality of the court decision which clearly serves as a precedence for other courts. As can be seen in other examples as well, Germany is steadily moving towards more and more intolerance and even persecution of religious minorities. It will have to be seen whether this trend can be (at least temporarily) stopped or reversed. On the other hand, incredible Muslim behavior in the Western world is not going to find too much understanding and approval, as the next article shows.

Muslim Values Not Popular

Breitbart wrote on July 10:

“A feminist journalist from England, Cinnamon Heathcote-Drury… got her world turned upside down over the last few months, and the liberalism of her own self-defeating British culture is what did her in…

“So, imagine the scene. A British, feminist journalist sees a woman in a hijab loading a large number of groceries onto the store conveyor belt at check out. She begins fuming with feminist ire because this Muslim woman’s husband stands idly by doing nothing to help the overworked woman load the groceries. The journo can take it no more and just has to say something. She brusquely confronts the man telling him that his wife needs help loading the merchandise. She pushes past the man and starts helping the hijab-clad woman herself…

“As it happened, neither the Muslim man nor his wife much appreciated the ‘social lesson’ the journalist thought to teach them. And, as so many Muslims in Britain do, they proceeded to play the Brit’s liberalism against them. The couple cried racism and had the journalist arrested for a ‘hate crime.’…

“We must realize, of course, that this Muslim man’s indifference to his wife’s toils is typical in many Muslim cultures. The groceries would be ‘women’s work,’ after all. Women are often second-class citizens. And in the male-dominated Muslim world, women do all the work for the home and children. Everything…

“In the end, this journalist was lucky. Her court system returned a not guilty verdict for her. She was let off the hook. But the next pushy journalist — or other citizen — might not be so lucky. The next one may be thrown in jail because of liberalism gone wild…”

Barack Obama—Now In Trouble over “Fraudulent Social Security Number”?

On July 6, The Drudge Report linked the following article by WorldNetDaily, dated July 4:

“If Barack Obama has an immediate eligibility problem, it is more likely to derive from the Social Security Number he has been using for the last 35 years than from his birth certificate. Ohio private investigator Susan Daniels has seen to that. On Monday, July 2, she filed suit in Geauga County (Ohio) Common Pleas Court demanding that Jon Husted, Ohio secretary of state, remove Obama’s name from the ballot until Obama can prove the validity of his Social Security Number.

“Daniels, who has vetted thousands of Social Security Numbers for numerous other clients, has done her homework. In her filing, she thoroughly documents her contention ‘that Barack Obama has repeatedly, consistently, and with intent misrepresented himself by using a fraudulently obtained Social Security Number.’ To acquire appropriate standing in court, Daniels has gone to the trouble of establishing herself as a valid write-in candidate for president. Before she is through, this 70-something mother of seven, who has been a licensed Ohio PI since 1995, may cause Obama more trouble than the Romney campaign.

“Daniels started her investigation in August 2009. Given her profession, she has been able to access a variety of proprietary databases. What she learned without much trouble is that Obama has been using a Social Security Number with the prefix ‘042’ since 1986. As she discovered, the ‘042’ number is reserved for the exclusive use of individuals who register in Connecticut… she came to the firm conviction that Obama’s number was issued in March 1977 in Connecticut. By all accounts, as Daniels thoroughly documents, Obama was then a 15-year-old living in Hawaii. There is no record of him even visiting Connecticut in or near this time frame.

“To have gotten a Social Security card at this time Obama would have had to show up for a ‘mandatory in-person interview.’ This could not have taken place in Connecticut. Obama’s sister, Maya, by contrast, uses a number appropriate for a Hawaiian resident. Daniels checked other databases as well to validate her findings, including the Massachusetts Department of Motor Vehicles and the IRS. Yes, Obama used the 042 number to get a driver’s license when at Harvard and as recently as on his 2009 income tax return…

“The ample evidence Daniels gathered led her to believe that the 042 number Obama has been using ‘had previously been issued to another person,’ one who lived in Connecticut between 1977 and 1979 and who was born in 1890. This assertion can be verified. By law, the Social Security Administration will have kept on microfilm a copy of the original SS-5 application attached to a particular Social Security Number. Daniels, however, does not have access to that microfilm. For this reason, Daniels has filed suit…

“Daniels asks the court, among other things, to issue an injunction against Obama’s name appearing on ballot until it is determined that he is using a proper Social Security Number. Given the response of courts elsewhere, it is unlikely that Daniels will find satisfaction in Geauga County or from the Republican secretary of state… The major media, of course, will not bother to look…”

There are many cases pending in front of numerous courts, questioning the eligibility of Mr. Obama as President for several reasons. So far, to our knowledge, no case has been decided on the merits.

Obamacare Could Come Home to Roost for Most Taxpayers in 2014

The Associated Press wrote on July 7:

“The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold most of President Barack Obama’s health care law will come home to roost for most taxpayers in about 2 1/2 years, when they’ll have to start providing proof on their tax returns that they have health insurance. That scenario puts the Internal Revenue Service at the center of the debate, renewing questions about whether the agency is capable of policing the health care decisions of millions of people in the United States while also collecting the taxes needed to run the federal government.

“Under the law, the IRS will provide tax breaks and incentives to help pay for health insurance and impose penalties on some people who don’t buy coverage and on some businesses that don’t offer it to employees. The changes will require new regulations, forms and publications, new computer programs and a big new outreach program to explain it all to taxpayers and tax professionals. Businesses that don’t claim an exemption will have to prove they offer health insurance to employees. The health care law ‘includes the largest set of tax law changes in more than 20 years,’ according to the Treasury inspector general who oversees the IRS. The agency will have to hire thousands of workers to manage it, requiring significant budget increases that already are being targeted by congressional Republicans determined to dismantle the president’s signature initiative…

“The Supreme Court, in its 5-4 ruling, upheld the mandate that most Americans get health insurance. The majority said Congress has the power to enforce the mandate under its taxing authority. The decision labeled the penalties a tax, noting that they will be collected by the IRS. Those who don’t get qualified health insurance will be required to pay the penalty – or tax – starting for the 2014 tax year, unless they are exempt because of low income, religious beliefs, or because they are members of American Indian tribes. The penalty will be fully phased in by 2016, when it will be $695 for each uninsured adult or 2.5 percent of family income, whichever is greater, up to $12,500…

“The law, however, severely limits the ability of the IRS to collect the penalties. There are no civil or criminal penalties for refusing to pay it and the IRS cannot seize bank accounts or dock wages to collect it. No interest accumulates for unpaid penalties. So how can the IRS enforce the mandate? Scary letters and threats to withhold tax refunds…”

Obamacare’s catastrophic and troublesome consequences for the American public and economy have not even hit yet the conscious minds of many indifferent Americans. And as the next article shows as well, the powers usurped by the US government and its institutions are truly frightening.

Big Brother in Big Operation

MSNBC wrote on July 7:

“Does the U.S. government read your email? It’s a simple question, but apparently there’s no simple answer. And the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service are reluctant to say anything on the topic.

“In March, the American Civil Liberties Union caused a nationwide stir when the advocacy group released the results of its year-long investigation into law enforcement use of cellphone tracking data. After issuing hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests, the ACLU learned that many local police departments around the country routinely pay mobile phone network operators a small fee to get detailed records of historic cell phone location information… In most cases, law enforcement obtains the data without applying for a search warrant; generally, subpoenas are issued instead, which require law enforcement to meet a lower legal standard…

“In a landmark 2010 case, United States v. Warshak, government investigators acknowledged that they read 27,000 emails without obtaining a search warrant, violating both the suspect’s privacy and the privacy of everyone who communicated with the suspect… Evidence obtained during that email search was thrown out on appeal by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but that ruling applies only to four U.S. states…

“The Justice Department and the Obama administration had a chance to settle the issue in April 2011, during a Senate hearing on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Instead, officials with both the Commerce and Justice departments failed to provide any clarity. Instead, a Justice Department official argued against extending Fourth Amendment protections — specifically strict warrant requirements — to email, saying that doing so would hinder investigations…”

These are troubling developments, but most Americans don’t seem to know or to care. They are like the proverbial ostrich, placing its head in the sand, or the frog that is being boiled in hot water.

Egypt’s Morsi in Confrontation with Military

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 9:

“Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s decision to reinstate parliament after its dissolution by the country’s highest court could be the beginning of a face-off with the military, which backed the ruling, observers say… Local newspaper Al-Akhbar, summed up Morsi’s decision to defy the ruling military council, led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi as an ‘early confrontation.’ Since Mubarak’s ouster in February 2011, the military council has run the country. Seeking to trim Morsi’s authority they dissolved parliament, as well as giving themselves full legislative powers, before swearing him in as Egypt’s first freely elected president on June 30. Morsi’s decree late Sunday to reinstate parliament gives those powers to his party, the Muslim Brotherhood, who share a two-third majority in the house along with other Islamists… Non-Islamist political forces in Egypt have reacted angrily to Morsi’s decision, especially leftists and liberals who fear the Brotherhood is aiming to establish an Islamic state where human rights will be undermined.”

The Telegraph reported the following on July 9:

“Egypt is braced for a major confrontation between the country’s Islamist president and military after the generals vowed to uphold a Constitutional Court ruling disbanding parliament.”

UN Asks Iran for Help and Becomes a Laughing Stock

Newsmax reported on July 10:

“The United Nations has turned to Iran to help negotiate a global arms treaty in a move that is drawing scorn and ridicule around the globe. The appointment was made by members of the U.N. Conference of the Arms Trade Treaty in New York last week. The committee to which Iran was appointed is tasked with coming up with a treaty regulating the international trade of conventional arms…

“The 15-nation committee, which is meeting this month, is led by Argentina, which serves as president, and includes the United States, Iran, China, and Russia, nations that serve as vice presidents… The Iranian media wasted no time in touting the appointment, noting that Iran ‘has been elected as deputy for the talks.’ According to The Times of Israel, The Islamic Republic News Agency reported that ‘some 193 participating countries unanimously voted in favor of Iran during the fourth day of the meeting under way in the United Nations headquarters, to draft a bill on regulating arms trade in the world.’”

How could any kind of true success be achieved with these kinds of organizations?

Syria and the Arab Sunni Versus Persian Shiite Struggle

Stratfor.com wrote on July 10:

“… this is a useful moment to step back and think seriously about the regional implications should [Shiite] Syria return to Sunni hands…

“Let’s first recall why Syria is up for grabs. Human rights interests alone do not come close to explaining why this particular uprising has received a substantial amount of attention and foreign backing over the past year. The past decade enabled Iran to wrest Baghdad out of Sunni hands and bring Mesopotamia under Shiite control. There is little question now that Iraq, as fractured as it is, sits in the Iranian sphere of influence while Iraqi Sunnis have been pushed to the margins. Iran’s gains in Baghdad shifted the regional balance of power, creating a Shiite crescent stretching from western Afghanistan to the Mediterranean coast.

“This disturbance in the regional balance of power has aggravated a number of regional stakeholders. With U.S. backing, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar have banded together to lead a counter-coalition to Iran. Iraq may have been reluctantly conceded to Iran, but the uprising in Syria offered a new opportunity to undercut Iran’s Mediterranean outlet in the Levant. Saudi Arabia has been trying to manage simmering Shiite unrest on the Arabian Peninsula, while Turkey is looking to lay a Sunni foundation for its regional resurgence.

“As a result, increased amounts of money, supplies, weaponry, training and intelligence support have made their way to the Syrian rebels through covert channels. The hope was that a covert campaign would obviate the need for a costly foreign military intervention and lead to the collapse of the regime from within. In theory, the plan sounds reasonable. In practice, it’s a lot more complicated.

“A transition to Sunni rule in Syria is bound to be messy. Syria’s Alawites have become well established in Damascus and in other key urban centers across the country… the Alawites, with Iranian backing, could be expected to mount a militant resistance against Turkish- and Arab-backed Sunnis. The Alawites… currently dominate Syria’s ruling Baath Party…

“It is safe to assume that Syria, between the fall of the Alawite regime and the turbulent emergence of a new, Sunni-empowered regime, would experience an interregnum defined by considerable chaos…

“The most important battleground to watch in this regard will be Iraq. There are a number of regional stakeholders who are not satisfied with Baghdad’s Iranian-backed Shiite government… the domino effect from Syria could place Iran back on the defensive in Iraq, which has the potential to re-emerge as the main arena for the broader Arab Sunni versus Persian Shiite struggle for regional influence…”

Syria is a powder keg ready to explode, potentially setting the entire Middle East (and more) on fire. For further information on Syria’s future, please read our Q&A on Syria. 

The Israelites endured many tests and trials after leaving Egypt and often fell short of what was required of them. One test was to have serious consequences that would affect so many. That was when the spies were sent into Canaan.  

In Numbers 13:1-2, we read: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.’” In the following verses, Moses “sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord, all of the men who were heads of the children of Israel.”  Their task was to spy out the land and to “see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not” (verses 18-20).

At first sight, this passage might imply that all the tribes, including the tribe of Levi, send out one man from each tribe to spy out the land. However, note the following comments by Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, regarding Numbers 13:2:

“Send thou men… of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man; excepting the tribe of Levi; the reason of which was because they were to have no inheritance in the land, [Deuteronomy] 10:9; but then, to make up the number twelve, the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, are reckoned as two tribes…”

We will address Gill’s rationale, excluding the Levites from the spying mission and God’s subsequent punishment, throughout this Q&A. The outcome of this spying mission was that the spies returned after 40 days (verse 25) and reported on their findings. Of the twelve spies, ten reported that “the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there” (verse 28). In spite of Caleb wanting to go and take immediate possession, the spies (except for Joshua and Caleb) were fearful: “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, ‘The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.’”

Then we read, in Numbers 14:1-3, that all the congregation “lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, ‘If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?’” Joshua was, like Caleb, positive about what they could achieve with God’s help (verses 6-9), but the congregation “said to stone them with stones” (verse 10). Moses then interceded for the people (verses 11-19), and God said: “I have pardoned according to your word” (verse 20), but with the proviso that “they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it” (verse 23). 

We read that “all the children of Israel” complained against Moses, but we understand that in the Hebrew, the word for “all” (“kole”) does not have to mean, “every single one.”  It can also mean, “enough,” or “as many as.” We know that Joshua and Caleb did not complain, and there could have been others, such as Miriam, Moses’ and Aaron’s sister, or Eliazar, Aaron’s son. The word “all” can be used to mean a big majority or most of them. For example, when the children of Israel agreed to the conditions laid down by God in Exodus 19:8, “all the people answered together” that they agreed to the conditions. But it stands to reason that some of the constant troublemakers would not have done so.

In Matthew 4:23 we read that “Jesus went about all Galilee.” As with the Hebrew word for “all,” the Greek word, “holos,” can also mean, “throughout.” Christ went throughout much of Galilee, but He did not necessarily visit every little spot in the region. Likewise, the Church of God is commissioned to preach the gospel in all the world as a witness, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14). But this does not mean that every single person will have heard the message, as we also read that after Christ’s return, He will send his messengers to places on the earth that had not heard of Christ (Isaiah 66:19).

God said to Moses that all those who had rejected Him would not see the Promised Land, but this could exclude the Levites, if they had not sent out a spy and if they had not rejected God by siding with those who brought an evil report over the land.

In Numbers 14, verses 29-30, we read: “The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.” These words are interesting, pertaining to those who would not enter the Promised Land: “… all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above Except for Caleb and Joshua…” 

Only those who were numbered and who were at least 20 years of age were not to enter the Promised Land. However, the Levites were not numbered (Numbers 1:47-50). Therefore, they were not included in God’s punishment, and apparently, as Gill’s Exposition surmised, they did not present a man to spy out the land. 

The concept that Levi did not send a spy into the Promised Land is also confirmed by Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Safed, stating the following:

“The tribe of Levi was not meant to make their living by farming or pasturing the land; their ‘job’ was to serve as priests and Levites in the temple and teach the Torah to the rest of the people. They lived off their sacrificial dues in the Temple… and other tribes were required to give them (their tithes). They lived in special cities that were set aside for them, which were surrounded by parks, but they possessed no agricultural territory. Thus, since they were not ‘interested’ in the land per se, no representative of their tribe was sent to spy out the land.”

God had delivered them out of Egypt with a tremendous display of His awesome power, but when He saw their negative attitudes and their lack of faith and belief in Him and His power, He made His pronouncement and told them that all of the men who had been numbered and who were 20 years and older would not enter into the Promised Land, due to their lack of faith and belief in Him. He said they would all wander in the desert for the next 40 years until they all literally died in the desert, something that they had in fact requested (Numbers 14:2).

It is clear from the above that Joshua and Caleb and those who were under 20 years of age entered the Promised Land, but were these the only ones? In Numbers 1:2-3, the first census of Israel took place, “from twenty years old and above – all who are able to go to war in Israel.”  But remember that we read in verse 49 of the same chapter, that “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel.”

It is also interesting that we are given some idea of the size of the tribe of Levi with the information that it had 22,000 male babies one month old and upward (Numbers 3:39), and 8,580 able-bodied priests from ages thirty to fifty (Numbers 4:47-48).

Talking about the Levites, Matthew Henry’s Commentary states the following: “It was their further honour that as Israel, being a holy people, was not reckoned among the nations, so they, being a holy tribe, were not reckoned among other Israelites, but numbered afterwards by themselves… The service which the Levites were to do about the sanctuary is called (as we render it in the margin) a warfare, [Numbers] 4:23. And, being engaged in that warfare, they were discharged from military services, and therefore not numbered with those that were to go out to war.”  

Therefore, the Levites would not have been included in the punishment of those who were numbered from twenty years and older. Eleazar who was a son of Aaron is a good example (Numbers 4:16). In verse 23, we read that those who performed service in the tabernacle had to be at least 30 years old. Therefore, he and other Levites older than 20 would also have been allowed to enter the Promised Land. We specifically read in Joshua 14:1 that Eleazar the priest distributed the countries of the Promised Land’s inheritance, together with Joshua, to the children of Israel. This means that Eleazar entered the Promised Land, even though he was at least 30 years old when God pronounced His punishment over those who had been numbered from “20 years and older.”  Still, he, as a Levite, entered the Promised Land because the Levites were excluded from the punishment of God.

Lead Writers: Brian Gale and Norbert Link

A new member letter has been written and will be sent out this week. In it, Norbert Link draws upon the biblical warnings given to Christians as this society becomes more and more intolerant of the true godly values by which we are called upon to live.

Our Internet ad campaigns, which promote our booklets and the weekly Update, are ongoing, and recent ads focused in Great Britain and the USA were particularly successful for two of our publications, according to  Brian Gale, Johanna Link, and Michael Bannen, who coordinates these programs. All of our publications and recorded audio and video messages are available for easy access at our webpages: www.eternalgod.org; www.churchofgodacf.ca; www.globalchurchofgod.co.uk; aufpostenstehen.de; www.standingwatch.org. 

The cut-off date for submissions of articles to our Feast newspaper is to be July 31, which will give Karen Myers a month to finalize the project, submit to the printers and have the newspapers ready for the Feast. Currently we have 30 submissions, and if we could receive another 10, it would make for a first class production. As this will probably be a one-of, it would be good if as many as possible could contribute. After all, this could well turn out to be a collector’s item, with high-quality paper and full-color pictures. Please submit your article(s) to Brian Gale. 

A reminder for those wishing to attend the Feast of Tabernacles with us for 2012–please review details posted on our website under the “FEASTS” heading. Our locations for this year are Pismo Beach, California, and Deganwy, North Wales.

On July 7, 2012, Dave Harris will give the sermon, titled, “Every Wind of Doctrine.”

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.

At times, people may refer to the patience of Job–how he endured hardship and punishment from God and never complained. Of course, that is not true, because Job complained quite a bit. A deeper and more accurate analysis reveals that there are lessons for us to learn from the story of Job, even though Job had a hard time in learning these lessons himself.

Job is dead and the record of events is in the Bible for us to glean from it. Job suffered from two problems which are not as overtly evident as other sins one may have.  He was self-righteous, and he was also proud of his righteousness.  This is most likely why Satan did not see Job’s problems, because he allowed the same kinds of sins to overcome him.

Ezekiel 28:15-17 shows us why Lucifer fell and became Satan the devil. God said to him: “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.”

It’s interesting that Satan corrupted his wisdom and became proud and self-righteous. Once the mind of a spirit being or a human being is corrupted with sin, it cannot think right.  It is like a virus in a computer. If you do not deal with it early, it will corrupt the whole computer.

Paul understood this when he stated that a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  A little sin, not dealt with, corrupts the whole mind, and that was where Job was heading. God had to intervene to break this vicious cycle. Just think of how entrenched Job’s problem was. He lost all his possessions; his children were taken from him; he had sores all over his body; and even his wife turned against him with discouraging words, saying: “Curse God and die.”

Job suffered great loss, but in the end, when he finally saw his problems and repented deeply of them, God blessed him with more than what he had at the beginning, as Job 42:12-17 explains to us:

“Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of days.”

Job will be in God’s Kingdom because he repented of the corrupting sins, which he, in his self-righteousness and pride, could not see.  He even accused God of unrighteousness, because he wanted to maintain his self-righteousness. But Job’s sins were very evident to God, and had to be dealt with.

The lesson we must extract from this is that we must be very careful to deal with sin early, and not allow it to corrupt our minds, since we also want to be in God’s Kingdom along with Job. And further, if we don’t deal with our sins, God will, because He has called us for salvation and not for condemnation.

We begin with reporting on America’s 4th of July Independence Day and an insightful article as to its relevance for us today;  reflect on America’s ongoing terrible natural disasters, caused largely by derechos; and give an interesting behind-the-scene look on the deliberations of the US Supreme court justices, which resulted in their controversial decision on the Obamacare health care law.

Focusing on Europe, we speak on Britain’s losing battle in trying to prevent the establishment of a political union and the inevitable outcome that Britain will become first a somewhat paralyzed second-class associate member and ultimately leave the EU. We also address France’s willingness to legalize same-sex marriages, showing the ongoing trend in Europe (and in the entire Western world), to allow what the Bible condemns, and prohibit what the Bible allows.

We continue with reports on rising tensions in the Middle East, singling out Iran and Egypt; and address growing military cooperation between Russia and India in the development of hypersonic missiles.

We conclude with the news regarding the alleged discovery of the Higgs boson or the “God particle,” which is thought to create a force field that permeates the universe, imbuing everything that we can see and touch with mass. If this discovery is genuine and confirmed, it would show once more God’s awesome power and intelligence—even though scientists would try to make a case for accidental evolution, to be sure.

The Independence Day and the Cain Heresy

Haaretz wrote on July 4:

“In the beginning, there was a heresy. Early in the book of Genesis, God approached Cain, the first-born son of the first humans, and asked him ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ Abel, of course, was dead. Cain had murdered him in the world’s first act of mortal violence. But the murder, though horrific, was not the heresy. The heresy was Cain’s response: ‘I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?’

“Cain’s disingenuous and disturbing question reflects an idea that our natural state is independent from and free of obligation toward others; that we are responsible to others only when we choose to accept such responsibility, and even then, only as much as is dictated by our own self-interest or need. On numerous levels, this perspective is a dangerous and destructive heresy, and one not unique to the biblical Cain. It is widely held today in some circles, and it is what many will have in mind when they celebrate American Independence Day on July 4th. So this Independence Day seems an appropriate moment to publicly expose and refute it.

“To many Americans, independence has come to mean unlimited individual rights and no obligations toward others. Independence Day, to them, is a day to celebrate our liberation from having to be our fellow’s keeper, our independence from others.

“This view of independence is un-American. It is not what the American founders, at nearly every stage in the nation’s inception, envisioned. The Declaration of Independence asserted only the right to make a political break with Great Britain. It never advocated Americans breaking free of their obligations to each other. On the contrary, it maintained the collective responsibility of the people within the American body… And the U.S. Constitution is based on the concept that ‘We, the People’ are bound together, that we are responsible to protect and defend each other, and that we are obligated to promote each other’s wellbeing…

“My actions have consequences beyond my sphere of control, and similarly, the actions of others impact me… Finally, the Exodus story insists that freedom is incomplete without Torah [the Law], a covenant that (to name but a few of the hundreds of biblical laws that obligate us to each other) demands we care for the injured, attend to those in peril, and not remain indifferent to others’ suffering… unless we all see ourselves as our fellows’ keepers, none of us can be truly free.

“The Cain Heresy is alive and well in our culture, threatening to totally devour the freedom it claims to defend. This July 4th, as we enjoy our barbecue and fireworks, let us remember to celebrate not only our independence, but our interdependence as well.”

The Bible confirms indeed that we are our brother’s keeper. Compare, for example, James 2:15-16; Proverbs 3:27-28; Hebrews 13:16; Galatians 6:2, 9-10.

National Disasters in the USA

BBC reported on July 4:

“Nearly one million Americans are marking Independence Day amid a scramble to restore power five days after severe storms hit the eastern US. Residents without air-conditioning or working refrigerators are facing searing heat in the storm’s wake… The damage was mostly blamed on a meteorological phenomenon known as a derecho, which saw hurricane-force winds buffeted ahead of fast-moving thunderstorms. The derecho brought down trees and power lines, leaving three million people without electricity in the wake of the storm. The extreme heat, which continued over the following days, has been blamed for 24 deaths in seven states so far.

“The National Weather Service has issued excessive heat warnings for parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. It warned that ‘a prolonged period of dangerously hot temperatures will occur’…

“Meanwhile, almost half of those still without power are said to be in West Virginia and the Blue Ridge Mountains region of Virginia. West Virginia officials have asked residents not to set off fireworks at home because the high temperatures have increased the risk of fire in many places. Fallen trees that have not yet been removed could add to the hazard, they say. Further west, Colorado is one of several states hit by destructive wildfires rage in recent weeks that are scrapping their firework displays too, amid fears that dry grass could become tinder for wildfires.”

Report: Roberts Originally Voted to Strike Down Obamacare

Newsmax reported on July 1:

“Chief Justice John Roberts originally sided with conservatives who wanted to overturn Obamacare but then switched positions on the Affordable Care Act to ultimately side with liberal justices, according to a CBS report released Sunday. The highly detailed report, quoting anonymous sources apparently close to the Supreme Court, reveals many details concerning the super-secretive negotiations that go on behind the scenes during major deliberations.

“… while Roberts agreed that the individual mandate was unconstitutional under Congress’ power to regulate commerce, he felt less strongly about whether the entire law should fall. Roberts switched positions to side with the liberal justices, perhaps in response to increasing pressure from outside the Court to rule in favor of the law, CBS reports… The article suggests that Roberts was as concerned with his reputation and the Court’s popular standing as he was with the merits of the case.”

This does not sound that surprising to someone who actually witnessed first-hand deliberations of justices and the “rationale” employed to reach certain desired conclusions.

EU Leaders Reach “Breakthrough” Deal

CNN reported on June 29:

“European leaders reached a ‘breakthrough’ deal early Friday to ease the recapitalization of struggling banks that should help draw the eurozone back from the brink of a gathering crisis.

“Under the deal, European leaders agreed to create a single supervisory body to oversee the eurozone’s banks which could use the single currency area’s rescue funds, the European Financial Stability Facility or European Stability Mechanism, to aid banks directly without adding to governments’ debt.

“European Union leaders are hoping for implementation of the agreement by July 9, an EU statement said… The deal is a big step toward a closer banking union across the 17-nation eurozone, which could be seen as a precursor to fiscal union. European markets responded positively to the news Friday morning and the euro currency strengthened appreciably.”

Germany Determined to Overcome European Financial Crisis—Britain Opposed…

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 30:

“The German parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favor of the European Union’s 120-billion-euro growth pact and European Stability Mechanism (ESM), signaling a determination to overcome the European financial crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel rushed back to Berlin following EU summit talks in Brussels in order to address the legislative body before it closed for its summer recess on Friday… First the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, voted in favor of the two. The Bundesrat, representing Germany’s 16 states, also gave the green light several hours later.

“During the two-day talks with other leaders from the EU, Merkel remained steadfastly opposed to any moves to pool eurozone debt. She had to make some concessions, however, in order to adopt quick-fix solutions to address the crisis, such as allowing the ESM to give direct help to troubled eurozone banks, to which she had previously been opposed. Merkel defended her change of heart and pointed out that any assistance from the ESM would come with strict conditions…

“In the end, 25 of the EU’s 27 member states agreed to the fiscal growth pact. Britain and the Czech Republic did not sign the agreement. Only a handful of parliaments have ratified the pact thus far, including Greece, Latvia, Slovenia, Sweden and Denmark. It is believed that Germany’s approval of the measures will serve as a catalyst for quick ratification by other European legislative bodies.”

Germany will help to overcome the financial crisis and lead Europe—at least a developing Eurozone. Sadly, the Bible shows us that this will have devastating consequences for the entire world.

Great Britain—In or Out?

The Daily Mail reported on June 30:

“Speaking after a marathon Brussels summit that saw European leaders take a significant step towards the creation of a superstate, the Prime Minister [David Cameron] mounted his strongest defence yet of Britain’s membership of the EU. He acknowledged that the creation of a powerful new fiscal union would have ‘consequences for Britain’ and suggested that some renegotiation of our relationship with the EU may be needed in the future.

“But he explicitly ruled out the in/out referendum demanded by many of his MPs. Describing himself as a ‘realistic, optimistic Eurosceptic’, he gave a robust defence of Britain’s membership of the EU, saying three million jobs depended on it… ‘Britain is not going to cede more powers to Brussels… I think Britain has every chance of securing the sort of relationship we want in Europe.’”

This, however, is wishful thinking. It really boils down to the United Kingdom’s willingness to cede more powers to Brussels, or to exit the EU. The Bible indicates that the latter will happen soon. Note also the next articles:

Is Britain Sleepwalking?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 3:

“The British seem to have a taste for referendums at the moment. Next year, the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands will vote on their status as a British overseas territory. Then, in 2014, the Scottish government will hold a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom. Now it looks like there could be another nationwide referendum after that — on Britain’s membership of the European Union…

“The pressure from euroskeptics puts Cameron, who does not want to be rushed into holding a vote, in a tricky situation. In a speech to parliament on Monday on the outcome of last week’s EU summit, the prime minister said that although he is not in favor of an immediate referendum on EU membership, he does not want to rule one out for the future… If the euro zone grows ever closer together into a political union, it will change Britain’s relationship with the EU, Cameron said…

“It is entirely possible that the British could indeed vote in favor of leaving the EU. Britain is arguably the most euroskeptic country in the union, with only 17 percent of the British believing that they can trust the EU. But leaving the bloc is something which Cameron wants to avoid at all costs. Despite all the anti-EU rhetoric, he believes that access to the European internal market is a vital pillar of the British economy.

“Pro-European voices have warned that Britain is sleepwalking toward a departure from the union. ‘We are sliding towards the exit without any strategizing about what comes afterwards,’ Charles Grant, director of the influential Centre for European Reform think tank, told the Reuters news agency. ‘The chances of Britain leaving the EU in the next few years are higher than they have ever been,’ writes The Economist…

“The euro crisis has created a new political momentum within the euro zone which Britain needs to respond to, otherwise the country is at risk of becoming marginalized as a non-euro member… Cameron hopes to postpone the referendum issue for a few years…

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other euro-zone leaders are unlikely to relish the prospect of a British prime minister who wants to take an even tougher line in Brussels. Cameron already dealt a setback to Merkel’s pet project, the fiscal pact, with his veto at the December EU summit. Cameron also caused problems at last week’s summit, dragging out the talks over a trivial detail. The British leader absolutely wanted the seat of the new European Unified Patent Court to be located in London. In the end, Cameron was satisfied with getting two branches for the pharmaceutical and life science industries…”

Britain Can No Longer Veto Deeper Integration

The Euobserver wrote on July 3:

“… there will be no return to the previous situation in which the UK was allowed to veto deeper integration… It remains apparent that Cameron cannot prevent whatever is about to happen: his bluff has been comprehensively called. Cameron told the press: ‘We won’t be part of a banking union, fiscal union or political union’. This means that the UK is headed directly either for complete withdrawal from the EU or, more likely, for a formal second-class associate membership based essentially on those aspects of the Single Market which the British may yet find palatable.

“One may note the delicious irony of the situation in which, just as the UK government rejects the European banking union, the high priests of Anglo-Saxon capitalism in the City of London (itself a victim of light regulation) would prefer to participate in such a centralised banking union at least in so far as their extensive euro dominated operations are concerned.”

Two-Speed Europe No Longer Taboo

The EUObserver wrote on June 29:

“… we observe with great concern the birth of a two-level solidarity within the Union: one for those inside and the other for those outside the eurozone… Banks from the Central and Eastern Europe, which are not members of the euro area, are to a large extent (about 70 percent in Poland), held by banks from the eurozone…

“The already-existing Eurogroup meetings and the separate summits restricted to members of the euro area confirm the emergence of an institutional cleavage within the Union… large and small countries, eurozone members and countries outside the zone are treated differently… the phenomenon of a two-speed Europe not only becomes a fact of increasing likelihood, but it is more and more politically acknowledged and approved.”

The emergence of a core Europe, consisting of Eurozone members, appears to be inevitable.

“France to Legalize Gay Marriage”

Deutsche Welle reported on June 30:

“It will soon be legal for same-sex couples to marry and adopt children in France, after the new Socialist government announced plans to legalize gay marriage. French President Francois Hollande is to use the majority he won in parliamentary elections two weeks ago to make good on his campaign promise to legalize gay marriage and adoption…

“The conservative UMP, which opposed the measure under former President Nicolas Sarkozy, can do little to stop the Socialists from passing a law granting full marriage rights to gay couples. In doing so, it will join fellow EU members Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden. Currently France only allows same-sex civil unions. The government also plans to discuss ways of making life easier for trans-gender individuals, whose legal dealings are often complicated by their change of name and sex. For Hollande, enabling gay marriage would help boost his image as a man of his word and an agent for progressive social change…

“Just six years ago, surveys indicated that most French people were opposed to changing the definition of marriage to include same-sex marriage. According to the pollster BVA, this has changed markedly, with more than 60 percent supporting the idea today. More than two-thirds of French people still describe themselves as Roman Catholic, but church attendance has been dropping in recent years. And fewer Catholics today adhere to strict church teachings on sexual issues. Conservatives and practicing Catholics, however, are still deeply opposed to enabling gay marriage and adoption.”

And so, “progressive change” in our Western “Christian” societies seems to mean, abandoning the teachings of the Bible and adopting and embracing what the Bible prohibits. Apart from the abominable recent court decision in Cologne, Germany, criminalizing circumcision (which decision was approved of by a majority of Germans), we prohibit or disfavor the biblically permitted spanking of children, while we allow and approve of the practice of abortion (mainly as a “birth control” device), the practice of homosexuality, gender change, adultery, premarital sex… and the list could go on and on. The Bible prophesies that soon, the keeping of the biblical Sabbath and the annual Holy Days will be outlawed as well in Europe (as it was in previous times), and animal sacrifices in Jerusalem, which will commence in the not-too-distant future, will be violently suppressed by European powers. Clearly, it is Satan, the god of this world, who has deceived all nations and their governments, who is inspiring and instigating these ungodly developments.

Tensions Mount in the Middle East

The New York Times wrote on July 3:

“The United States has quietly moved significant military reinforcements into the Persian Gulf to deter the Iranian military from any possible attempt to shut the Strait of Hormuz and to increase the number of fighter jets capable of striking deep into Iran if the standoff over its nuclear program escalates… But at a moment that the United States and its allies are beginning to enforce a much broader embargo on Iran’s oil exports, meant to force the country to take seriously the negotiations over sharply limiting its nuclear program, the buildup carries significant risks, including that Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps could decide to lash out against the increased presence.

“The most visible elements of this buildup are Navy ships designed to vastly enhance the ability to patrol the Strait of Hormuz — and to reopen the narrow waterway should Iran attempt to mine it to prevent Saudi Arabia and other oil exporters from sending their tankers through the vital passage….

“Negotiations with Iran are at a stalemate… Responding to the tightening of Western sanctions, Iran on Monday announced that it would consider proposed legislation to disrupt traffic in the Strait of Hormuz as well as missile tests, in a drill clearly intended as a warning to Israel and the United States. The Iranian legislation calls for Iran’s military to block any oil tanker en route to countries no longer buying Iranian crude because of the embargo… Senior Pentagon and military officials acknowledge that Iran has the capability to close the strait, at least temporarily…”

Iran: We Will Destroy U.S. Military Bases Across the Middle East

Reuters reported on July 4:

“Iran has threatened to destroy U.S. military bases across the Middle East and target Israel within minutes of being attacked, Iranian media reported on Wednesday, as Revolutionary Guards extended test-firing of ballistic missiles into a third day. Israel has hinted it may attack Iran if diplomacy fails to secure a halt to its disputed nuclear energy program. The United States also has mooted military action as a last-resort option but has frequently nudged the Israelis to give time for intensified economic sanctions to work against Iran.

“‘These bases are all in range of our missiles, and the occupied lands (Israel) are also good targets for us,’ Amir Ali Haji Zadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division… said [and that] 35 U.S. bases were within reach of Iran’s ballistic missiles, the most advanced of which commanders have said could hit targets 2,000 km (1,300 miles) away… It was not clear where Haji Zadeh got his figures on U.S. bases in the region. U.S. military facilities in the Middle East are located in Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Turkey, and it has around 10 bases further afield in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan…

“Iran has upped its fiery anti-West rhetoric in response to the launch on Sunday of a total European Union embargo on buying Iranian crude oil – the latest calibrated increase in sanctions aimed at pushing Tehran into curbing nuclear activity…”

In light of the failure of American and European sanctions against Iran, the likelihood of a military confrontation between Iran and America, as well as Israel (and perhaps even Europe), is nearing a climax. Are we are going to see soon an outright war in the Middle East?

Egypt’s New President

Deutsche Welle reported on June 30:

“Mohammed Morsi has been officially sworn in as Egypt’s president at a ceremony at the Constitutional Court in Cairo Saturday, becoming the first elected leader of the country since Hosni Mubarak was ousted. Morsi is the first Islamist to be freely elected in the Arab world. He becomes Egypt’s fifth head of state since the country’s monarchy was overthrown 60 years ago… Before being elected president, Morsi was the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. He resigned from his post with the Brotherhood when he won the election.

“On Friday, Morsi took a symbolic oath of office during a speech on Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the revolution that overthrew Mubarak in February. He promised a civilian state and praised ‘the square of the revolution, the square of freedom.’ Traditionally, the president takes the oath in parliament, but Egypt’s top court ordered the disbanding of the Islamist-dominated legislature. The military subsequently assumed legislative powers and also formed a powerful national security council headed by the president but dominated by generals. By agreeing to be sworn in by the Constitutional Court, Morsi is effectively acknowledging the court’s decision to dissolve parliament.”

Morsi’s resignation from the Muslim Brotherhood is just a show and of no substantive consequences. As an Islamist by heart, he will not follow Western desires and help establish a true democracy, and Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel won’t continue to last for long.

Russia and India Developing Hypersonic Missiles

On June 28, wired.com wrote the following:

“Russia and India are… developing a hypersonic missile capable of traveling more than five times the speed of sound… If it works, the missile — called the BrahMos 2 — is expected to travel up to Mach 7 from sea-, land- and air-launched platforms. And it’s supposed to be ready for flight tests in 2017…  ‘I think we will need about 5 years to develop the first fully functional prototype,’ Sivathanu Pillai, CEO of India-based BraHmos Aerospace said in Moscow on Wednesday. Pillai also suggested the missile already exists, and that BrahMos has conducted ‘lab tests [of the missile] at the speed of 6.5 Mach.’…

“Hypersonic and scramjet research in the United States also goes back to the early days of the Cold War. But it wasn’t until 1991 when Russia became the first country to successfully test a scramjet. More tests followed, and with the help of NASA, Russia successfully flew a hydrogen-fueled scramjet at up to Mach 6.4 over Kazakhstan in 1998. In 2001, U.S. defense analysts took notice of a mysterious ultra-high-speed Russian missile test suspected of being powered by a scramjet. The first successful solo American scramjet tests didn’t occur until the 2000s…

“In May, Russian defense industry chief Dmitry Rogozin called the decline of research into hypersonic weapons since the Soviet era ‘a treasonable act to our national interests’ and that developing hypersonic weapons was necessary to respond to U.S. developments…”

The military cooperation between Russia and India is quite interesting, as the Bible shows that powerful “kings from the East” will invade Europe and the Middle East in the not-too-distant future.

Did Scientists Find the “God Particle”?

The Washington Post reported on July 4:

“A half-century scientific quest culminated early Wednesday as physicists announced the discovery of a new subatomic particle — one theorized to be so fundamental that without it, nothing could exist. Dubbed the Higgs boson — or the ‘God particle,’ to the chagrin of scientists — the particle is thought to create a sort of force field that permeates the universe, imbuing everything that we can see and touch with the fundamental property known as mass…

“The discovery of the new particle completes what’s known as the Standard Model of particle physics… The Standard Model lists and arranges the particles and forces of nature… When the other particles that make up the stuff of the universe — protons, neutrons, electrons and so on — interact with the Higgs field, they acquire the trait known as mass. More massive objects get tangled up in the field — and hence, slowed down as they move — more than less massive objects.

“One way to think of the Higgs field: It’s the water the entire universe swims in. The CERN physicists did not see this new particle directly, because it disintegrates too quickly. Rather, they divined its existence from sifting through the debris of millions of high-energy subatomic collisions and then searching for clues that the Higgs had been there. It’s like divining the presence of an elusive snow leopard by studying thousands of criss-crossed paw prints…

“The idea of the Higgs, or something like it, has been around since 1964, when it was first hypothesized by Peter Higgs. The Standard Model of physics had a hole in it — one that needed to be filled by a particle that imbues everything with mass. It became known as the Higgs boson…

“Mass is not the same thing as weight, although the two concepts are easily confused. An object has mass even in outer space. Mass is an object’s resistance to being shoved around — its inertia. A photon, which is a light particle, has no mass because it zips through the Higgs ocean without interacting with it… A neutrino has an extremely small mass — it moves at nearly the speed of light… Ordinary matter that comprises the bulk of stars, planets and human beings is relatively massive. The most massive particles move like someone trying to walk through neck-high water. This notion of a field that gives particles mass has been essential to understanding the way the universe is put together…”

Of course, if this discovery is confirmed as being accurate, scientists will be quick explaining how “evolution” and “blind chance” were responsible for the “creation” of the universe. This is why they do not like the description of the “Higgs boson” as the “God particle.” (Of course, they would first of all have to explain where the “God particle” came from.) What it would actually show is another proof for the workings of the amazing power and intelligence of God, in both creating and sustaining the universe. As we read in Hebrews 1:1-3, Revised Version:

“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power.”

As we have explained before, the Bible teaches three resurrections—one to eternal life, and two to physical life. But does the Bible tell us anything about the location as to WHERE, exactly, those who have died will be resurrected?

In our Q&A on the “resurrection of the physical body,” we addressed the question as to HOW God will resurrect those who have died. We wrote the following:

“Regarding the resurrection of those who died ‘in Christ,’ that is, in whom God’s Holy Spirit dwelled when they died, we read that they are resurrected with an immortal SPIRITUAL body. God will raise them up to spiritual, immortal and eternal life. God will not first resurrect their dead ‘physical bodies’ and then ‘change’ them into spiritual bodies. Rather, God will resurrect or raise the Christians with spiritual bodies…

“When we die in Christ, our bodies decay. The bodies of those who died in Christ thousands of years ago have completely decayed. They became dust and ashes, as God said that they would (Genesis 3:19)… HOW exactly, will God resurrect those who died in Christ? We know that God gives every man a spirit which separates him from the animals (1 Corinthians 2:11)… The spirit in man records all our thoughts and retains all of our memories, as well as our general outward appearance. We read that the spirit in man goes back to God when man dies. In addition, a Christian receives in his life God’s Holy Spirit, which will also return to God, together with the spirit in man, when the Christian dies… It is through the spirit in man (combined with the Holy Spirit) that God will raise Christians with immortal spiritual bodies…

“The Bible also teaches that all those who did NOT die ‘in Christ’ will be resurrected AFTER the Millennium to be given their chance to choose God’s Way of Life. This is commonly referred to in the Bible as the ‘second resurrection.’ But they will be resurrected as physical beings, not as Spirit beings. When they are raised from the dead, they will receive a new physical body–not a spiritual body. But this does not mean that God will resurrect their identical physical bodies, which they had when they died, and which subsequently decayed in their graves–or which were obliterated in atomic and nuclear blasts in Hiroshima, Nagasaki and in a nuclear war still prophesied to come, or which became ashes during the Holocaust, or which were cremated.

“HOW, exactly, will God resurrect them? God will not raise their physical bodies which had been decayed and decomposed. Rather, He will resurrect them in the same way (albeit to physical life) as He will raise those who died in Christ… When those in the second resurrection are being given physical life, God is not resurrecting their physical bodies, per se… The resurrection to a physical existence in Ezekiel 37, describing the ‘valley of dry bones,’ is of course a vision, and uses figurative terms, to describe a resurrection to physical life. It cannot be used literally to teach a resurrection of the same dead physical bodies. After all, in the vision, the very dry bones speak, verse 11…

“Insofar as the second resurrection is concerned of those who died [about] 1,000 years or even [about] 7,000 years earlier, and whose bodies decayed or were obliterated, God will be using their spirit in man (which returned to God upon death) to create through it a new physical body for them. God will give them a new flesh and blood physical body, as He pleases, using the spirit in man as a ‘mold’ which has retained even the outward appearance of the person.

“This is not to say that the persons will be raised exactly to the same physical existence that they had when they died. For instance, we don’t believe that a person who, through an accident or a birth defect, had only one arm or one leg, will be resurrected to exactly that identical state, but, in all likelihood, with two arms and two legs. We find it reasonable to conclude that blind persons will be raised with eyesight. An aborted fetus will obviously not be resurrected as a fetus, but as a human being who will be capable of living on his own. When Adam and Eve were created, God did not create them as little children, but as grown adults, perhaps in their early or mid-twenties, and He placed in them the spirit in man, even though they were without any prior experience.

“We don’t know how, exactly, God will raise those in the second resurrection. The Bible does not reveal whether a person who died at age 90 will look like a 90-year old person in the second resurrection, or whether he will look like the person that he was when he was in his twenties. But it stands to reason that all will be resurrected to live healthy lives for about one hundred years, which–as the Bible indicates–is most likely the time allotted to them during the Great White Throne Judgment period…”

There are many additional questions regarding the exact way in which God will raise the dead in the resurrections. One question which is repeatedly asked is WHERE exactly the resurrections will take place. Will they take place at the exact location where they were buried? If so, what will happen after their resurrection?

The Bible gives us several indications as to what is going to occur regarding those in the FIRST resurrection to eternal life. First of all, we read that ALL who are in their graves (that would include those who died “in Christ”) will hear the voice of Christ and come forth (John 5:28-29). It appears, therefore, that they will be resurrected at the place of their burial and come forth from there. Of course, as was explained above, their bones decayed, and their resurrection will be to spirit existence; still, it appears that God will raise their spiritual bodies at the place of their burial.

This is apparently generally the case, but not exclusively. For instance, over the millennia, some, if not many Christians, were not buried in a grave, but they might have been cremated or burned, and their ashes might not be deposited anywhere. Or, they might be “buried” in the ocean. Although the Bible does not specifically state this, if no exact location for a “burial” exists, they might be raised at the place where they died.

What will happen immediately after they are raised in the first resurrection? We read that they will be brought to the returning Christ, meeting Him in the air. But how exactly will that occur? Will they know precisely, when they are raised from the dead, that they need to lift themselves up to meet Christ?

The Bible indicates that angels will have an active part in this. We read that when Christ returns, He will send out His angels to gather His elect: “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER” (Matthew 24:31).

Notice what we wrote in our Q&A on the “four winds”:

“Consider that some converted Christians will be at the place of safety when Christ returns (compare Revelation 12:14; 3:10). But this is not true for everybody. Others will have survived the Great Tribulation in their respective localities, but some, if not many, will have been, as captives, brought to all kinds of places all over the world (compare Deuteronomy 28:64-68). Others, over the millennia, died in Christ, and they were buried in diverse places. When Christ returns, they will hear His voice and be resurrected to immortality, coming out of their graves (John 5:28-29), or they will be changed to immortality (if they are still alive and Christ’s Spirit dwells in them, 1 Corinthians 15:50-52). Then, the angels of God will gather all of them (Psalm 50:5) and bring them to Christ to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Christ and His saints will then descend together to the Mount of Olives to begin to rule in the KINGDOM OF GOD here on earth (Zechariah 14:4-5; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Jude 14-15; Daniel 7:14, 22, 27; Revelation 5:10; 20:4).”

It appears, then, that those who died in Christ will basically be raised at the (approximate) location where they were buried or their remains were kept, or, if no such location exists, they might be raised at the place where they died. In any event, after they are raised, angels will come and bring them to the returning Christ, meeting Him in the air.

We might also notice the account of the two witnesses. Judging from the context of the passage, they will be resurrected to eternal life at the time of the first resurrection of all Christians, and at the place of their death. They will hear a voice from heaven, saying to them to come up here, and they will ascend in a cloud (as all Christians will rise on clouds at the time of their resurrection).  It is not specifically mentioned here that angels will be actively guiding them in this process, but the voice from heaven, which might very well be an angelic voice (compare 1 Thessalonians 4:16), suggests this—it most certainly does not contradict Christ’s statement in Matthew 24:31.

Where will those in the SECOND and THIRD resurrections to physical life be raised?

It appears that the dead will also be raised at the (approximate) locations WHERE they were buried or where their remains were kept, or where they died.

For instance, we read in Ezekiel 37—even though this passage is just a vision—that the dry bones of the Israelites are being resurrected at a certain location, and that afterwards, the resurrected people will be transported to the land of Israel; that is, however one wants to look at this vision, the thought is being conveyed here that they are not resurrected right away in the Promised Land where they will finally end up living. Notice God’s words in Ezekiel 37:12: “O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves [they will hear the voice of Christ and come out of their graves, as we read in John 5:28-29], and BRING YOU into the land of Israel.”

We find also an interesting passage regarding those who will be resurrected in the third resurrection: “The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades [the grave] delivered up the dead who were in them” (Revelation 20:13). This seems to indicate that their resurrection to physical life will take place approximately at the location where their death and/or their burial took place. But what is going to happen next, especially for those who died at sea—both in the third and the second resurrection? (We might think of all the Egyptians, for example, who drowned and died in the Red Sea). Since they will be resurrected to physical life, they would not be able to survive for long in the sea, unless some supernatural event would occur. And the Bible says that it will.

In regard to the third resurrection, we are specifically told that God will send His angels to gather the incorruptible wicked out of the kingdom and cast them into the lake of fire (Matthew 13:41-42). So, wherever those who have committed the unpardonable sin will be resurrected, angels will transport them supernaturally from there to the place where the lake of fire will be situated, to be burned up and destroyed. But before they are destroyed, they will appear before the judgment seat of Christ (apparently in Jerusalem), to be judged and condemned by Him, each one according to his works (Revelation 20:13-14).

It stands to reason, then, that angels will also be actively involved in regard to those who will be raised in the second resurrection. They too will end up standing before God (Revelation 20:12). In fact, we read that ALL will stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10-12). Somehow, they have to be brought to Christ. Undoubtedly, angels will play a part in this, but remember that those who have qualified to become God beings in the Kingdom of God will also rule and judge, under Christ (compare Daniel 7:18, 21-22, 27; Revelation 22:5). Even though the Bible does not specifically explain the exact nature of their involvement at the time of the second resurrection of their loved ones who had died, without having been called to salvation in this day and age, we feel rather confident that those immortal God beings will be right there, with Christ, when their physical loved ones will be brought by the angels to Jesus Christ. Some of the immortal God beings might even be there at the very place of the resurrection of their loved ones, to bring them, with the angels, to Christ.

When Christ was resurrected, He manifested himself and appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the other Mary, the eleven disciples, to other disciples and to His half-brothers, and these appearances confirmed to His unconverted family members what He had told them before, and they had undoubtedly a major impact on their conversion.

Now assume that you have been called in this day and age, and that you will qualify for the Kingdom of God and enter into eternal life at the time of Christ’s return. Continue to think of your loved ones, friends and relatives who had heard the truth to an extent, but had died before Christ’s return, unable to accept the truth, because they were not called then. Imagine that they will be resurrected in the second resurrection and see you right there and then (as you will manifest yourself to their eyes, as Christ did in front of His relatives and friends). What a great impact will that fact have on them? They will realize that God’s Word, which they had been taught, had been true, and it can be assumed that most will gladly embrace the opportunity then to become converted and enter the Family of God.

Realizing all of this, what a great and tremendous responsibility we have today—those of us who have been called and chosen in this life to salvation—to make our calling and election sure, so that we can be there, as immortal God beings, to help our loved ones, friends and relatives in the second resurrection, to also come to the knowledge of the truth!

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

Our new booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Biblical Prophecy” has entered its second review cycle.

The German translation of our booklet on Tithing has entered its second review cycle.

A new StandingWatch program was recorded and posted on YouTube and our website (www.standingwatch.org), titled, “The Heresy of Cain and Independence Day.” It discusses the following:

One author wrote that when God approached Cain  and asked him, Where is your brother Abel?, Cain committed a heresy, when he answered, I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper? The author continued that to many Americans, Independence Day is a day to celebrate their liberation from having to be our fellow’s keeper, our independence from others. He said that the Cain Heresy is alive and well in our culture, threatening to totally devour the freedom it claims to defend. What about it? Does the Bible say that we are to be our brother’s keeper? And if so, how?

An audio version of this same program will air Sunday, July 15, 2012, on our radio affiliates in the U.S.

Norbert Link’s new video-taped sermon, “Captivity Reversed” has been posted on YouTube and our website, www.EternalGod.org.

This week’s new German sermon is titled, “Denn Ihrer ist das Himmelreich” (”For Theirs Is the Kingdom of Heaven”).

A reminder for those wishing to attend the Feast of Tabernacles with us for 2012–please review details posted on our website under the “FEASTS” heading. Our locations for this year are Pismo Beach, California, and Deganwy, North Wales.

by Kalon Mitchell

From a very young age, I was taught to contribute. Whether it be at home in a family setting or in society, I was taught how to be useful.  Growing up, I remember having chores and being responsible for them. These chores helped me to gain useful attributes such as respect, work ethic and patience.

After losing my job over a year ago, I became aware of the fact that the need is built into humans to feel useful and be a part of something. When I was not actively working at a goal, I felt the tendency of becoming depressed and self-centered. But it is when I am working towards a larger picture, that I am really starting to excel.      

Now that I have a job again, I feel like I am once again useful. I am contributing to an organization, and I am contributing financially to my family and to the church.  When I was unemployed, I often felt frustrated with the feeling that I could not help or contribute. But the fact is that there has always been a way for me to contribute.

I am part of something that is so big. When I was experiencing feelings of doubt or despair, I took courage because I had the opportunity to contribute to the most important Work in all the world. Whether it be through tithes or offerings, prayers, technical support, special music, helping others, etc., there has always been a way to contribute.

On June 30, 2012, Norbert Link will give the sermon, titled, “Captivity Reversed.”

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.

Genesis 1 tells us that God prepared the earth for mankind to live on and rule over. So how are we doing?

By most measures, not so well. The first man and woman couldn’t even rule themselves! Seduced by false advertising (Genesis 3:4-5), they stole what wasn’t theirs (Genesis 2:17, 3:6) and blamed “someone else” when they got caught (Genesis 3:11-13). This unpromising start was quickly followed by unjustified anger (Genesis 4:5-7), cold-blooded murder (Genesis 4:8), and arrogant lies (Genesis 4:9-10). 

What was the result of this misrule? In Genesis 6 God gives mankind this discouraging report card: “…all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth…” (Genesis 6:12). What started as “very good” (Genesis 1:31), mankind had completely corrupted (Genesis 6:1-13).

Grieved over their mismanagement and mistreatment of Himself and each other (Genesis 6:6), God told His servant Noah that He would put an end to that utterly evil age (Genesis 6:8-9; 7:1). God warned that destruction was coming and that His servant should prepare if he wanted to escape (Genesis 6:13-21)

That was Noah’s time. What about our time? Did God proclaim a warning for our day and age? How corrupt do YOU think our day and age is right now?

A better question may be, is there ANYTHING mankind hasn’t corrupted in our day and age?

How about something as simple as food?

The US Department of Agriculture estimates that 80-90% of all corn and soybeans are genetically engineered. At least 246 million acres of farm land around the world are planted with Monsanto’s genetically-engineered “technology.”

To make livestock grow bigger and faster we inject them with growth hormones, feed them the blood and ground-up remains of dead (and diseased) animals, and pump them full of antibiotics when they get sick. Very little food in the United States is produced in accordance with God’s laws. We have utterly corrupted it in our day and age.

What about business and economics?

The U.S. Department of Treasury estimates that American households lost $19.2 TRILLION dollars in household wealth due to the recent financial crisis. Hundreds of billions have been spent to bail out failed companies whose leaders knowingly engaged in bad (and sometimes criminal) practices. Billions in penalties have been assessed for tax fraud, accounting fraud, and securities fraud. Millions lost their jobs, millions more lost their homes and trillions have been added to the U.S. Government debt (it’s almost $16 trillion and growing fast). Which businesses or politicians do we trust? Not many!

Business and economics have been utterly corrupted in our day and age.

What about families and education?

Gay marriage and abortion are being legalized, while teaching anything about God in many public schools is being made illegal.

Almost 50% of marriages are terminated by divorce, and 20% of births terminated by abortion. Worldwide, about 42 million babies are killed via abortion every year. That’s almost 1/2 billion babies in 10 years!

Add to this adultery, fornication, pornography, child abuse, domestic abuse, and drug abuse. Add to that violence in our streets, violence in our homes and violence in war.  Greed, fraud, violence, waste and every form of lust and abuse abound in our day and age!

What does the Bible say the world will be like just prior to Christ’s return? Christ said it would be like the days of Noah (Matthew 24:38-39). He said it would be like it is today!

We don’t know exactly when the Great Tribulation just prior to Christ’s return will start (Matthew 24:21, 36). But when we look at prophecy being fulfilled (as shown in our weekly Updates), and truly understand the corruption that permeates virtually every aspect of our societies, it seems those days are quickly approaching. When Noah was warned about God’s coming judgment, he believed and prepared. When we look at the signs of our times and hear warnings about God’s coming judgment, do we believe? Are we now preparing? Are we ready for Christ’s return if it happens in our lifetime?

First, we are focusing on two controversial decisions of the US Supreme Court—pertaining to Obamacare and the Arizona Immigration Law, and continue speaking on the dangers of drones in the US; the downgrading of national and international banks; the fear of insolvency of our social security system for disability benefits; and the ongoing discussion on same-sex marriages.

We continue discussing the evolving situation in Europe, in the light of biblical prophecy, and focus, in particular, on an outrageous court decision in Germany, holding that circumcision is a crime; address the developments in Egypt; and conclude with statements of the “godfather of global warming,” admitting that he was wrong.

Obamacare Upheld

Newsmax reported on June 28:

“The Supreme Court today upheld President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law, ruling that the individual mandate is constitutional as a tax rather than under the Commerce Clause. Nearly all of the Affordable Care Act’s provisions also survived the states’ challenge. [Republican-appointee] Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal wing of the Court in the 5-4 opinion.”

In this stunning “activist” decision of the Supreme Court, as some have termed it, the individual mandate (that every US citizen must have insurance coverage by 2014) was held to be constitutional as a tax. This legal view had been rejected by virtually all lower courts AND the Obama Administration, insisting that it was not a tax, but constitutional under the Commerce Clause, which the Supreme Court seems to have rejected. According to the Washington Times, “Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.,  who wrote the controlling opinion… said the Commerce and Necessary and Proper clauses of the Constitution cannot be bent to compel Americans to buy insurance, but said it is allowed under Congress’s tax and spending powers, which are broader, but are subject to the checks of the political system.”

The New York Times stated that “On Sept. 20, 2009, President Obama insisted that the insurance mandate in his health care bill was not a tax. Today, the Supreme Court said it was. In the middle of the health care fight, Mr. Obama was eager to avoid the characterization of the mandate — and its financial penalties — as a tax on people. He had promised no tax increase for middle-class families and Republicans were poised to pounce.” 

The Republicans voiced their disagreement with that decision and Mitt Romney vowed that it would be repealed by Congress, if he was elected in November.  CNBC reported that “Stocks were down more than 1 percent across the board Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a key part of President Obama’s health care overhaul.” Experts predicted that due to the Supreme Court decision, insurance companies will raise their premiums even more, making it impossible for many American citizens to purchase or maintain insurance coverage. In that case, they will become victims of the IRS.

Even though it appears that Mr. Obama might have gained a victory with today’s decision, in the long run, it might come back to bite him.

Court Ruling on Arizona Immigration Law

The Los Angeles Times wrote on June 27:

“Across the state, the law’s ‘show me your papers’ provision upheld by the Supreme Court has created confusion and anxiety, and moved Latinos — both legal and illegal residents — to ask an overriding question: How can you promise we won’t be singled out because of how we look? The law compels police to ask about the immigration status of people they stop for lawful reasons, if they suspect those people of being illegal immigrants…. Many… questions revolved around whether driving without a license would lead to deportation. (Answer: It’s not clear.) The radio station brought in local officials and legal experts to respond to inquiries. But satisfactory answers are few and far between…

“SB 1070 requires local and state officers to tell Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection if they believe someone is in the country illegally. An official — typically over the phone — will verify the person’s immigration status, run a background check and decide whether federal authorities want to get involved…

“A combination of factors can lead to reasonable suspicion… including: having foreign identification, being in a place where illegal immigrants are known to congregate looking for work, traveling in tandem or in an overcrowded vehicle, type of clothing and significant difficulty communicating in English…”

As can be seen, the controversial decision of the Supreme Court regarding the controversial Arizona Immigration Law leaves many questions unanswered—and only adds to confusion and uncertainty.

The Dangers of Drones

Fox News reported on June 25:

“Professor Todd Humphreys and his team at the University of Texas at Austin’s Radionavigation Laboratory have just completed a successful experiment: illuminating a gaping hole in the government’s plan to open US airspace to thousands of drones. They could be turned into weapons… ‘In 5 or 10 years you have 30,000 drones in the airspace,’ he told Fox News. ‘Each one of these could be a potential missile used against us.’

“Drones have been in widespread use in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen, but so far, GPS-guided unmanned aerial vehicles have been limited to the battlefield or southern border patrols and not allowed to fly broadly in U.S. airspace. In February, under pressure from the Pentagon and drone manufacturers, Congress ordered the FAA to come up with rules to allow government and commercial use of UAVs over American soil by 2015. The plan could eventually see police drones keeping watch over U.S. cities, UAVs monitoring transmission lines for power companies, or cargo plane-size drones guided by GPS pilotlessly delivering packages across the country. FedEx founder Fred Smith has said he would like to add unmanned drones to his fleet as soon as possible.

“The new rules have raised privacy concerns about a ‘surveillance society,’ with UAVs tirelessly watching our every move 24/7. But Humphreys’ experiments have put an entirely new twist on the anxiety over drones. ‘What if you could take down one of these drones delivering FedEx packages and use that as your missile? That’s the same mentality the 9-11 attackers had,’ Humphreys told Fox News.

“It’s something the government is acutely aware of. Last Tuesday, in the barren desert of the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, officials from the FAA and Department of Homeland Security watched as Humphrey’s team repeatedly took control of a drone from a remote hilltop. The results were… dramatic…The potential consequences of GPS spoofing are nothing short of chilling. Humphreys warns that a terrorist group could match his technology, and in crowded U.S. airspace, cause havoc. ‘I’m worried about them crashing into other planes,’ he told Fox News. ‘I’m worried about them crashing into buildings. We could get collisions in the air and there could be loss of life…’”

Our technical advances might turn out to be our downfall—like the Frankenstein monster who turned against his “creator” who was unable to control it. Man has built a modern-day “tower of Babel”—only to see it collapse in the near future. Even former President Jimmy Carter blasted Mr. Obama for his use of drones, as the next article shows.

Jimmy Carter Attacks President Obama on Use of Drones

The Independent stated on June 27:

“Former president Jimmy Carter has blasted the United States for anti-terror strategies such as targeting individuals for assassination and using unmanned drones to bomb suspected targets, saying they directly flout the basic tenets of universal human rights and foment anti-US sentiment. In an article written for the New York Times headlined ‘A Cruel and Unusual Record’, Mr Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work trying to resolve conflicts around the globe, suggested that the US is in violation of 10 of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a rare attack by a former commander-in-chief on a sitting President – especially of the same party.

“While Mr Carter does not name President Obama, there is little disguising that he is the principle target of his stinging words. Recent weeks have seen a slew of media reports detailing how Mr Obama has grown increasingly dependent on drones to take out suspected terror cells and describing how he has the final word to approve names on a ‘hit-list’ of most-wanted terror suspects overseas for assassination. ‘Revelations that top officials are targeting people to be assassinated, including American citizens, are only the most recent, disturbing proof of how far our nation’s violation of human rights has extended,’ Mr Carter wrote, concluding that the US is ‘abandoning its role as the global champion of human rights’…”

Major Banks Are Being Downgraded

The Associated Press reported on June 23:

“Moody’s Investors Service has lowered the credit ratings on some of the world’s biggest banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, reflecting concern over their exposure to the violent swings in global financial markets. The downgrades late Thursday ultimately are a measure of Moody’s view on the ability of the banks to repay their debts. The ratings agency also cut its ratings on Barclays, Deutsche Bank and HSBC, some of the largest banks in Europe, a region fighting to contain a government debt crisis…

“The downgrades come at a time of great uncertainty in the global economy. Europe’s currency union is under threat, the U.S. economy is slowing and the red-hot economies of India, Brazil and China are cooling. On Thursday the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 251 points, its second-worst loss of the year, as new reports indicating slower manufacturing in the U.S. and China made investors fearful that the global economy could be heading for another slump.”

Insolvency for Social Security Disability Benefits Program?

Newsmax reported on June 24:

“The number of Americans receiving Social Security disability benefits has soared in recent years and is threatening to push the program into insolvency…

“Nearly 11 million Americans currently receive disability benefits, and last year the program cost taxpayers $132 billion — more than the combined annual budgets of the Departments of Agriculture, Homeland Security, Commerce, Labor, Justice, and the Interior… ‘The pot of money the Social Security Administration is using to cover disability insurance is projected to run dry in 2016,’ Businessweek reports. ‘That means that out-of-work disabled Americans, plus their spouses and children, who also qualify for benefits, would see their checks shrink 21 percent.’…

“The disability program formerly benefited people with debilitating conditions such as strokes and cancer. But Congress expanded the benefits pool to include such claimed ailments as depression, back pain, and chronic fatigue syndrome… Disabled workers can go on Medicare after a two-year waiting period, regardless of their age…”

Of course, some of the statements above are overly simplistic. For example, to collect disability benefits for depression, back pain or chronic fatigue syndrome is virtually impossible, from a practical standpoint. And sadly, most requests for disability benefits are, at first, denied routinely, at least on a federal level, and may only be granted after a lengthy legal battle.

Cheney Delights in Gay Marriage

Newsmax reported on June 23:

“Former Vice President Dick Cheney has expressed his delight that his lesbian daughter Mary married her longtime partner Heather Poe on Friday. ‘Mary and Heather have been in a committed relationship for many years, and we are delighted that they were able to take advantage of the opportunity to have that relationship recognized,’ Cheney and his wife, Lynne, said in a statement. The wedding came amid intense debate over gay marriage. President Barack Obama recently announced his support, while presumptive Republican candidate Mitt Romney opposes same-sex unions.

“Cheney and Poe were married in Washington D.C., where gay marriage has been legal since 2010. They married 20 years to the day after their first date. The couple has a 5-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter… While vice-president, Cheney said he believes U.S. states should decide on legalizing same-sex marriage, though he backed then-president George W. Bush’s efforts to establish a constitutional ban on gay marriages. Since leaving office in 2009 he has changed his stance and now opposes a federal ban on gay marriages. Besides the District of Columbia, six states have legalized gay marriage. They are Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. In February 2010 Cheney said it was ‘time to reconsider’ the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military.”

And so, personal preferences and “political correctness” seem to take precedence over convictions… and most certainly over the truth of the Bible.

Holder in Contempt

Newsmax reported on June 28:

“The House on Thursday cited Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. for contempt of Congress in a historic vote weighted with political significance, though it does little to break the stalemate over his decision to withhold documents over the Justice Department’s actions in a botched gun-walking operation. The 256-67 vote amounted to a political spanking for Mr. Holder and President Obama, and 17 Democrats joined with Republicans in demanding the documents be released. Most Democrats, however, walked out in protest of the vote.

“It marks the first time an attorney general has been held in contempt by a chamber. But the White House dismissed the proceedings as a sideshow, and the vote does nothing to break the impasse, though it further poisoned feelings in an already bitterly divided chamber.”

“The Disastrous Consequences of a Euro Crash”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 25:

“As the debt crisis worsens in Spain and Italy, financial experts are warning of the catastrophic consequences of a crash of the euro: the destruction of trillions in assets and record high unemployment levels…

“Nothing seems impossible anymore, not even a scenario in which all members of the currency zone dust off their old coins and bills — bidding farewell to the euro, and instead welcoming back the guilder, deutsche mark and drachma. It would be… a nightmare for the economy. Everything that has grown together in two decades of euro history would have to be painstakingly torn apart. Millions of contracts, business relationships and partnerships would have to be reassessed, while thousands of companies would need protection from bankruptcy. All of Europe would plunge into a deep recession. Governments, which would be forced to borrow additional billions to meet their needs, would face the choice between two unattractive options: either to drastically increase taxes or to impose significant financial burdens on their citizens in the form of higher inflation.

“A horrific scenario would become a reality, a prospect so frightening that it ought to convince every European leader to seek a consensus as quickly as possible… Indeed, the European leaders seeking to save the euro are in a race against the clock… It’s a question of growth and the economy, but also of character. How willing are the Spaniards and Italians to accept reforms and hardship, and how willing, on the other hand, are the donor countries of the north to provide assistance and make sacrifices? Not willing enough, say many experts. As a result, the world is imagining the unthinkable: the withdrawal of several Southern European countries from the monetary union, or possibly even the general collapse of the euro zone. It isn’t easy to predict how such a tornado would affect the global economy, but it’s clear that the damage would be immense…

“Germany, the great exporting nation, would be especially hard hit by monetary reforms in the southern countries. Exports to Italy and Spain alone are valued at about €100 billion a year. Although sales of cars, machinery, electronics and optical devices would not be eliminated altogether in the event of a euro collapse, there would be sharp declines, because customers in Southern Europe could no longer afford German products… German goods would automatically become more expensive and would hardly be competitive anymore…

“German citizens haven’t recognized yet what an abyss they are facing. If the euro collapses, not only will many people lose their livelihoods, but German retirement pensions will also be threatened. The economic success of the last few years would be destroyed, and Germany would fall back into the crisis status of the 1990s. On the other hand, if the German government gave in to the Southern Europeans’ pressure to communitize debt, the risks could even be greater. Instead of an uncontrolled euro crash, Germany could be confronted with an uncontrolled transfer union. Year after year, the Germans would have to transfer sums in the double-digit billions to Southern European countries.

“The worst can still be prevented, and Europeans still have the ability to save their common currency without overtaxing the solidarity of the donor countries. But it is a massive task. Europe’s politicians must surrender power to Brussels to supplement their common currency with the political union that’s been missing until now. At the same time, the Italians and the Spaniards would have to prove that they could successfully reform and modernize their economies… As experienced Brussels observers know, solutions are only reached in Europe when the continent has run out of options.

“But apparently the euro crisis is now so dire that it could even sweep away the oldest European certainties. Even die-hard European politicians now believe that it is no longer inconceivable that the monetary union could soon have fewer members than before. ‘To push Europe forward, we have to reform the euro,’ says Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden. ‘This doesn’t just apply to the management of the monetary union, but, if necessary, to its geographic composition, as well.’”

According to the German press, a most recent poll established that most European citizens are opposed to the idea of abandoning the euro and returning to national currencies. Only 39 percent of Germans advocated the concept of returning to the deutschmark, and the vast majority of the French, Spaniards and Italians rejected the concept of abandoning the euro.

In other words, a collapse of the euro will not happen. Rather, a core Europe will emerge, consisting of the stronger members of the Eurozone.

Ten European Nations Agree on Financial Transaction Tax

The Republic wrote on June 22:

“The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Spain have [met in Rome and] agreed to push for a growth package worth up to… 163 billion… at a European Union summit next week that’s intended to kick-start the economy and safeguard the currency bloc.

“President Francois Hollande of France, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Italian Premier Mario Monti, playing host, provided few details beyond agreement on pursuing a financial transaction tax — something Germany has championed…However, at a meeting of finance ministers from the 27 countries in the European Union in Luxembourg Friday, only 10 member countries were prepared to support the idea.”

Reuters added on June 24 that the other six countries, supporting the tax, are Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Slovenia, Greece and Cyprus. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble was quoted as saying that together with Austria, Germany has become the spearhead. European nations which are opposing the tax include Great Britain, Sweden, The Netherlands and Romania. Internationally, mainly the USA is opposed to a global transaction tax.

Ten European Nations for European State

Presseurop, quoting from “Die Presse,” wrote on June 20 :

“Ten EU foreign ministers participating in a ‘study group for the future of Europe’ aim to exert pressure to transform the EU into a federation along the lines of the US. Together they have prepared what the front-page headline in Die Presse describes as a ‘Plan for transformation into a European state.’ On 19 June, the ten ministers [from, as the article postulated, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain] presented an initial report to the EU officials who will likely benefit the most from the initiative: Commission President José Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker.

“The ‘study group for the future’ initiated by Germany’s Guido Westerwelle, which does not currently include an official French representative, proposes to put an end to the dominance of national government leaders and give greater authority to the European Commission – in particular the European Commission president, who will be elected by universal suffrage and granted the right to form a ‘governmental team’, making him or her the most powerful politician in Europe.”

Again, ten nations are being mentioned in the article—even though they are slightly different from the ten nations mentioned in the previous article. What is interesting is that the concept of ten nations is becoming more prevalent—sometimes by design, sometimes apparently “coincidentally.” The Bible says that ultimately, ten nations or groups of nations will unite and give their power to a very charismatic political leader. We need to watch developments so that we are not caught unawares when these prophesied facts occur. At the same time, we need to be extremely careful and not jump to premature conclusions, as some are doing. Note the next two articles.

Germany Pushing for European Integration of Ten Core Nations?

The Australian, quoting from The Times, wrote on June 22:

“Germany wants to propel Europe towards greater political union and has started to discuss with other EU states the prospect of creating a European finance minister, a beefed-up European border police force and a European army. Britain, it seems, is not part of the conversation.

“German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told London’s The Times newspaper he was not making demands but rather putting ideas on the table to boost international confidence in the future of Europe… Mr Westerwelle was speaking after the latest meeting of the so-called Future of Europe group, which pulls together his counterparts from Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Austria, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and, from next month, France [Note that the article omits, quite inaccurately, Italy, while it includes France, to reach ten nations.]

“Outsiders fear a new core of European fast-lane integrators is in the making. Mr Westerwelle denies Britain was left out because of fears it would throw a spanner in the works. Sweden, Ireland and Greece were also excluded…”

Notice that the article gives the impression of ten cooperating European nations—Germany and nine others—but the list of those nations is inaccurate and slightly different from the nations mentioned in the previous article. However, as the next article shows, one has to be careful with certain press releases and those religious organizations which use such releases to place their prophetic spin on events, and we should refrain jumping on premature and speculative conclusion that one has now identified THE “ten” nations mentioned in the books of Daniel and Revelation. Upon closer scrutiny, as the next article will show, the Future of Europe Group under Herr Westerwelle does NOT consist of ten nations, but the recommendations of the group are quite astonishing, in the light of biblical prophecy.

No—Not Really Ten Nations… Yet…

The EUobserver wrote on June 22:

“A German-led report shows lacklustre support for the creation of a powerful new EU leader. The eight-page paper – circulated to press on Wednesday (20 June) – is a snapshot of current thinking in German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle’s reflection group on the future of the Union… The ‘Future of Europe Group’ has been meeting since March and is to produce a final manifesto in September.  Besides Westerwelle, it includes foreign ministers from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain [Our comment: This would constitute eleven nations, but France was not a co-signer of the report].

“France – which changed foreign ministers after elections in May – has missed some meetings and was not on Westerwelle’s list of countries which endorsed Wednesday’s report [Our comment: This would reduce it again to ten nations, but note the statements below.] Denmark also skipped meetings out of solidarity with countries, [Our comment: This would reduce it to nine nations] such as Sweden, who were not invited in the first place.

“The foreign ministers of Austria and the Netherlands in April publicly distanced themselves from the super-president idea when news of it came out in Euobserver [Our comment: This would reduce it further to seven nations, unless Austria and The Netherlands had a change of heart since April.] Meanwhile, the UK is out of the group amid even deeper misgivings about national sovereignty in London.

“The report… speaks of a future ‘European Army,’  a ‘European Border Police’ and [gives] the European Parliament ‘the ability to initiate legislation’ alongside the commission.”

We need to realize, too, that the “core nations” may consist of ten nations or groups of nations, and that nations such as Germany and Austria might be viewed as one nation—not two nations—in the way the Bible looks at them. Rather than being side-tracked by premature conclusions and speculations, we should concentrate on the essential developments—as alluded to, for example, in the following article.

How the New Europe Will Emerge… Quickly…

On June 25, 2012, Der Spiegel Online published an intriguing interview with German Finance Minister Schäuble. We are bringing you the following insightful excepts:

“The world, with its globalized economy, is changing at a rapid pace. Those who want to keep up cannot go it alone. It only works in collaboration with other European countries and with a European currency… There is certainly the risk that, in the event of a collapse of the euro — which, by the way, I don’t believe is going to happen — much of what we have achieved and become fond of would be called into question, from the common domestic market to freedom of travel in Europe. But a collapse of the EU would be absurd. The world is moving closer together, and we’re talking about the possibility of each country in Europe going its own way? This cannot, must not and will not happen!…

“The monetary union was the logical consequence of the advancing economic integration of Europe… Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker was right when he said… that the euro would prove to be the father of future European developments… We need more and not less Europe… So far, member states have almost always had the final say in Europe. This cannot continue. In key political areas, we have to transfer more powers to Brussels, so that each nation state cannot block decisions… The most important thing is that we create a fiscal union, one in which the nation states give up their jurisdiction in terms of fiscal policy… We need a European supervisory authority… In an optimal scenario, there would be a European finance minister, who would have a veto against national budgets and would have to approve levels of new borrowing… Those who want a strong Europe also have to be willing to surrender decisions to Brussels… 

“Europe should speak more effectively and clearly with one voice in the world… nowadays everyone has a say: the European Commission, the Council of Ministers, which consists of the national representatives, and the European Parliament. This is hard to figure out… First the Commission has to develop into a real government. To that end, it ought to be elected directly, either by the parliament or through the direct election of a Commission president…

“Germany has always stood for an EU of the 27 countries. But in light of Britain’s continued resistance to further integration steps, as we saw with the fiscal pact, there are limits to my optimism in this regard. It’s quite possible that we will have to create the new institutions for the euro zone first… every crisis also includes the opportunity to recognize what is necessary. That’s what led to the fiscal pact, in which 25 EU countries pledged to improve their fiscal discipline. And that’s also how the new Europe will come about.

“… the vast majority of Germans and people in other countries are pro-European… Many in Germany said that (former US President) Ronald Reagan was crazy when he stood at the Brandenburg Gate in 1987 and said: ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’ And then it happened two years later. At the time, I too didn’t believe that German partition would soon come to an end. In the spring of 1989, I had just become the new interior minister in Bonn. The new US ambassador introduced himself to me and predicted that the Wall could come down in the next three years. I replied: ‘I would have doubted that a few months ago, but now I would say that with a little luck, it’ll happen in the next 10 years.’ And how long did it really take? Less than half a year.”

To summarize Herr Schäuble’s vision, we will quite soon see a new core Europe, consisting of (certain) members of the euro zone,  without Britain, which will give much of their sovereignty and authorities to a real European government and a powerful European finance minister. Herr Schäuble also mentioned during his interview that he foresees the possibility for a German referendum by the people—a notion which was quickly dismissed by Angela Merkel.

The Bible tells us that Europe will unite very quickly, when it does—in fact, so quickly, that people will not believe it, when they are told about it in advance.

Circumcision Held to Be a Crime in Germany

The New York Times wrote on June 26:

“A German court in Cologne ruled on Tuesday that circumcising young boys represents grievous bodily harm, a decision that could have significant repercussions for religious groups. The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany condemned the decision as ‘an unprecedented and dramatic intrusion on the self-determination of religious communities’ and called on the German Parliament to pass legislation protecting circumcision as a religious practice.

“The case centered on a 4-year-old boy whose Muslim parents had him circumcised by a doctor, which led to medical complications. Although both Muslims and Jews circumcise infant boys as a religious practice and many other people do so for health reasons, the court found that the child’s ‘fundamental right to bodily integrity’ was more important than the parents’ rights. According to the court, the religious freedom ‘would not be unduly impaired’ because the child could later decide whether to have the circumcision…

“Jewish leaders reacted furiously to Tuesday’s decision. The central council’s president, Dieter Graumann, called it ‘outrageous and insensitive,’ saying in a statement that circumcision had been practiced worldwide for thousands of years. ‘In every country in the world this religious right is respected,’ Mr. Graumann said. Germany has no law against male circumcision, as there is against female genital cutting…

“The decision by the court ‘places an intolerable burden on the free exercise of religion by Jews and also by Muslims who practice male circumcision as part of their religious faith,’ Abraham H. Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League’s national director in New York, said… While the ruling did not appear to have specific anti-Semitic intent, Mr. Foxman said, ‘its effect is to say “Jews are not welcome.”’

“Holm Putzke, a criminal law expert at the University of Passau, told the German news agency dpa that the ruling was not binding for other courts, but could send a welcome signal.

“‘After the knee-jerk outrage has faded away, hopefully a discussion will begin about how much religiously motivated violence against children a society is ready to tolerate,’ he said.”

For a thorough discussion of this scandalous court decision and its importance in the light of biblical prophecy, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Circumcision a  Crime in Germany.”

Turks Don’t Want to Live in the EU

The EUobserver wrote on June 22:

“Turks no longer want to live in the EU. Its European affairs minister Egemen Bagis told EUobserver on Friday (22 June) that ‘In the past, when Turks were asked do you want to live in Europe, 80 percent would say Yes. Now, 85 percent say No’… He noted that in 2010, 27,000 Turks went to live in Germany, but 35,000 German citizens moved to Turkey…

“In the Ankara and Istanbul regions it is already on par [economically] with Greece, former Communist EU countries and parts of Spain and the UK… [A new] EU visa deal will also see Turkey sign an ‘operational agreement’ with the EU’s joint police body, Europol. A report by British MPs last year said Turkish-based organised crime groups are a growing threat to EU security on heroin and cocaine smuggling and human trafficking…”

Turkey won’t become part of the EU, but its friendly relationship with continental Europe will continue.  For more information on the biblically-prophesied destiny of Turkey, please read our Q&A’s on Esau, the future of Turkey, and the reason for the severe future punishment of Turkey.

“New Egyptian President Faces ‘No-Win Situation’”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 25:

“Results from the mid-June presidential election showed that the Muslim Brotherhood candidate had managed a narrow win over his opponent Ahmed Shafiq, the former prime minister of deposed leader Hosni Mubarak… He was… congratulated by world leaders, including United States President Barack Obama, who the White House said had pledged continued support for Egypt’s democratic transition. A number of European Union foreign ministers also called on Morsi to implement democratic reforms in Egypt…

“Outlawed under Mubarak, the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood has never before enjoyed such widespread support in Egypt… The question remains as to how much authority Morsi will actually have after major power grabs by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) before election results were announced. Not only did the council dissolve the newly elected parliament, which had been dominated by Islamists, but it also claimed control of many presidential powers…

“Conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘…The now drastically reduced powers of the president make clear that the military, despite statements to the contrary, is unwilling to give up its influence. It fears democracy as much as it does the Muslim Brotherhood…’

“Conservative daily Die Welt writes: ‘The events taking place in Cairo are a mere simulation of democracy. Can any conclusion be drawn from this about the future of the Arab Spring? Yes, but only uncomfortable ones. The first is that because of the chaos and hardship, a large portion of the Egyptian people apparently don’t want pure democracy, but rather strict rule by the old elite. After all, the widespread approval of former Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq was real. The second lesson is that right now the only counterweight to the old regime is the… Islamist party Muslim Brotherhood… The future of the country will now be decided between two extremes of anti-freedom — the military on one side and the fundamentalists on the other’…

“Left-leaning daily Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘Two scenarios are possible for Egypt after the election victory for the Muslim Brotherhood: The Pakistani scenario, with a partnership between the military and Islamists, or an Algerian scenario, where the two sides clash… Both scenarios are bad for the country…”

The Arab Spring was to become a cold nightmarish Winter from the very beginning…

Iran and Hamas Welcome Egyptian Election

Reuters wrote on June 24 that “Iran’s Foreign Ministry congratulated Egyptians on Sunday over the victory of Islamist Mohamed Morsy… and said the country was in the final stages of an ‘Islamic Awakening… and a new era of change in the Middle East.’”

Newsmax added on June 24: “The Gaza Strip’s governing Hamas on Sunday welcomed the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt’s presidential vote, saying its ideological success would help the Palestinian cause… Hamas had a mixed relationship with the previous, U.S.-aligned Egyptian president, who supported Israel’s blockade on Gaza. ‘We will look to Egypt to play a big, leading role, a historic role, regarding the Palestinian cause, in helping the Palestinian nation get freedom, return home, and totally end the Gaza siege,’ Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas government, told Reuters Television… Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood share ideological roots, including a hostility to Israel, with which Egypt signed landmark peace accords in 1978-1979.”

Will Egypt “deliver” Hamas’s expectations? For a biblical persepctive, please read our Q&A on the future of Egypt.

Germany tells the USA: “Clean Up Your Own Backyard!”

On June 25, 2012, Der Spiegel Online wrote the following:

“In a sign of tensions between Berlin and Washington, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said on Sunday that President Barack Obama should focus on cutting America’s own budget deficit before advising Europe on how to tackle its debt problems. [He] rebuffed recent criticism of Germany’s handling of the euro crisis from Barack Obama, telling the US president to get his own house in order before giving advice. ‘Herr Obama should above all deal with the reduction of the American deficit. That is higher than that in the euro zone,’ he told German public broadcaster ZDF on Sunday night. It is easy to give advice to others, he added. Obama, worried about the impact of the debt crisis on the global economy and financial markets — and on his own prospects for re-election –has been urging Europe to step up its efforts to tackle the problem…”

As especially Germany finds herself more and more to be the target of “hypocritical” and “incompetent” American criticism, we can expect an acceleration of an already tense relationship between the two countries.

Godfather of Global Warming Reconsiders

The Toronto Sun wrote on June 22:

“Two months ago, James Lovelock, the godfather of global warming, gave a startling interview to msnbc.com in which he acknowledged he had been unduly ‘alarmist’ about climate change. The implications were extraordinary.

“Lovelock is a world-renowned scientist and environmentalist… Having observed that global temperatures since the turn of the millennium have not gone up in the way computer-based climate models predicted, Lovelock acknowledged, ‘the problem is we don’t know what the climate is doing. We thought we knew 20 years ago.’ Now, Lovelock has given a follow-up interview to the UK’s Guardian newspaper in which he delivers more bombshells…

“Lovelock has now come out in favour of natural gas fracking… as a low-polluting alternative to coal… ‘It just so happens that the green religion is now taking over from the Christian religion,’ Lovelock observed. ‘I don’t think people have noticed that, but it’s got all the sort of terms that religions use… [He also] mocks the idea modern economies can be powered by wind turbines… Finally, about claims ‘the science is settled’ on global warming [he stated:]: ‘One thing that being a scientist has taught me is that you can never be certain about anything. You never know the truth. You can only approach it and hope to get a bit nearer to it each time…’”

On that note, unfortunately, many scientists are moving further and further away from the truth, believing and teaching dogmatically, for example, the ridiculous and unbiblical theory of evolution. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Theory of Evolution—a Fairy Tale for Adults?” 

There have indeed been many reports over the centuries about the White House being haunted and visited by “ghosts,” and quite recently, it was claimed that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has had encounters with ghosts.

“Roll Call” wrote on June 6, 2012, that “Pelosi… recounted an unusual anecdote about how the ghosts of past women leaders spoke to her at her first White House meeting as Speaker… in 2006… ‘I realized that on that chair with me was Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Hall, Lucretia Mott, you name it, they were all there… And I could hear them say “at last we have a seat at the table,”’ Pelosi said.”

The “Wikipedia Encyclopedia” writes: “There have been several stories about ghosts of former Presidents revisiting the White House. However, the most common and popular is that of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s Ghost, or to others as The White House Ghost, is said to have haunted the White House since his death.”

The website of haunted-places.com states: “The White House has a reputation for being one of the most haunted homes in America. President Harry Truman said the place was haunted ‘sure as shooting.’ Kennedy’s Press Secretary James Haggerty admitted to sensing the presence of Lincoln’s ghost in the White House, and Clinton’s Press Secretary Mike McCurry admitted he was a believer… Hillary Rodham Clinton said: ‘There is something about the house at night that you just feel like you are summoning up the spirits of all the people who have lived there and worked there and walked through the halls there.’…

“There have been many séances in the White House, but the majority occurred during the administration of Abraham Lincoln. While living in the White House, he and his wife held several séances in the Green Room in an attempt to contact the spirit of their son, Willie, who died there… [Some claim that while Mrs. Lincoln had numerous séances in the White House, Abraham only participated in one]. In his book The Choice, Bob Woodward of Watergate fame describes how in 1995, a séance was held by psychic Jean Houston in the White House solarium, during which Hillary sank into a trance and channeled the spirits of Eleanor Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi… [While some White House officials have disputed the use of the term, ‘séance,’ they did not dispute the events described by Woodward.]

“Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was a guest of the White House when she heard a knock on her bedroom door in the middle of the night. When she answered it, Lincoln stood before her with his famous top hat and all. The Queen fainted, and when she came [to], he was gone. Britain’s Winston Churchill refused to sleep there after sighting President Abraham Lincoln’s ghost lurking about… in the Lincoln Bedroom… He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Abraham Lincoln standing by the fireplace in the room, leaning on the mantle. The two men looked each other in the face… as Lincoln’s apparition slowly faded away.

“Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Margaret Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Jacqueline Kennedy, Ladybird Johnson [wife of Lyndon Johnson], Susan Ford [Gerald Ford’s daughter], and Maureen Reagan [Ronald Reagan’s daughter] have all admitted sensing the presence of the Civil War president in the White House… Maureen and her husband, Dennis Revell, both saw Lincoln’s transparent form next to the bedroom’s fireplace.”

On July 9, 2009, “Weekly World News” reported this:

“Just as Bill Clinton did before him, President Barack Obama is now getting help in the White House – from Abraham Lincoln’s ghost! A government insider has revealed that Honest Abe’s apparition has been seen in the Oval Office on several occasions, quietly conferring with the President on vital world issues!… In a 1993 issue, Weekly World News stunned the world with its exclusive story that the Great Emancipator was helping President Clinton guide America’s ship of state through troubled waters…”

History.com adds:

“The most famous address in America–1600 Pennsylvania Avenue–is also perhaps the country’s most famous haunted house. Presidents, first ladies, White House staff members and guests have reported feeling ghostly presences, hearing unexplained noises and even running into actual apparitions–even on the way out of the bathtub, in one particularly famous case [that of Winston Churchill].”

The Daily Mail wrote on November 5, 2009:

“The daughter of former President George W. Bush… Jenna Bush Hager told chat show host Jay Leno she had been terrified by spooky events near the fireplace in her bedroom [in the White House]. The 27-year-old teacher, who now works as an education correspondent for the Today Show, said: ‘I heard a ghost. I was asleep, there was a fireplace in my room and all of a sudden I heard 1920’s music coming out. I could feel it, I freaked out and ran into my sister’s room. She was like “Please go back to sleep this is ridiculous.”

“The next week we were both asleep in my room, the phone had rang and woke us up. We were talking and going back to bed when all of a sudden we heard this opera, coming out of the fireplace. We couldn’t believe it, we both jumped in bed and were asking the people that worked there the next morning “Are we crazy?” We tried to rationalise it, but they said they heard it there all the time.’…

“The former first daughter confessed she had never seen Abraham Lincoln’s ghost – which is said to regularly haunt the White House – but wished she had.”

So, are there ghosts of those who died, which may appear to us or haunt us? And, can we get in touch with and communicate with them, either directly or through a medium in a séance? And—should we try to do this? Closely related to these questions is the concept of necromancy.

The “Wikipedia Encyclopedia” has this to say:

“Early necromancy was related to – and most likely evolved from – shamanism, which calls upon spirits such as the ghosts of ancestors… Necromancy was prevalent throughout Western antiquity with records of its practice in Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome… There are also several references to necromancers… in the Bible. The Book of Deuteronomy… explicitly warns the Israelites against engaging in the Canaanite practice of divination from the dead…

“Some Christian writers later rejected the idea that humans could bring back the spirits of the dead and interpreted such shades as disguised demons instead, thus conflating necromancy with demon summoning. Caesarius of Arles entreats his audience to put no stock in any demons or gods other than the Christian God, even if the working of spells appears to provide benefit. He states that demons only act with divine permission and are permitted by God to test Christian people…”

Here we have indeed the answer to the questions as to the existence of ghosts, haunted houses and the attempts of the living to communicate with the ghosts or the souls of the dead. In short, ghosts of deceased people do not exist, but demons do. And if there is a place which is truly haunted, it signifies the presence or activities of demons. And if one is successful in communicating with the “other side,” either directly or during a séance or through a medium, he is not communicating with the ghosts of loved ones, but with demons.

In our free booklet, “Do We Have an Immortal Soul?”, we explain that the dead are asleep in their graves, waiting for the resurrection. They have no consciousness, and their “ghosts” or spirits do not live on. We then explain the following regarding alleged “communications with the dead”:

The attempts to communicate with the dead seem to be as old as mankind. Ancient Israel was specifically warned not to try to engage in such practices. We read in Leviticus 19:31, “Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them…” So it is possible, although prohibited by God, to seek after “familiar spirits.” But are those “familiar spirits” the departed spirits or souls of dead people, as some claim?… Leviticus 20:6 and 27 tell us, “And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person…A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death.” (NKJB)….

Acts 16:16–19 gives us a clue who or what those familiar spirits are: “Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, ‘These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.’ And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And he came out that very hour.” (NKJB).

This spirit of divination was a familiar spirit—a demon. It was not a departed soul…

We read in 1 Samuel 28, in the New King James Bible, that Saul consulted a woman who was a medium. The Authorized Version describes her as a woman “with a familiar spirit.” [In the Hebrew it says literally that she was “the possessor of a spirit,” in other words, of a demon.]… Saul consulted a witch possessed with a demon. This witch was asked by Saul to bring up Samuel. We read in Verse 12, “When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice.” (NKJB). The following passage tells us that Saul saw nothing. He asked the woman, “What did you see?” Notice her answer, “I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth.” (Verse 13—NKJB). When she described the form of that spirit as one of an old man, we are told that “Saul perceived that it [was] Samuel.” (Verse 14). The word “was” is not in the original. So one could add “pretended to be,” “appeared to be,” “claimed to be,” etc….

Saul did not see the “spirit” or “ghost” or “soul” of Samuel at all. Samuel had died and had been dead for a while (cp. 1 Samuel 25:1; 1 Samuel 27:7–8; 1 Samuel 31:6; 2 Samuel 1:1–2). God did not answer Saul in dreams or by the prophets (1 Samuel 28:6)—and Samuel was a prophet (Acts 13:20; 1 Samuel 3:20). When the “old man” appeared and answered Saul, that could not have been Samuel or his spirit or departed soul—otherwise, Samuel would have answered Saul in the capacity of a prophet of God. We also read in 1 Chronicles 10:13–14, that this séance was not of God—rather, Saul was killed by God because of conducting it. Saul died “for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and inquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him.”

We read that “Samuel” answered Saul and told him that Saul would die the next day. The real Samuel, dead and in the grave, could not have known that [because] the dead “know not any thing.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5). But Satan and demons do sometimes know God’s plan and purpose (cp. 1 Kings 22:19–23; Revelation 12:12; James 2:19). So it is clear that the demon, the familiar spirit, pretended to be Samuel, and spoke as Samuel to the witch…

The true Samuel… would have never spoken to Saul through a witch, especially after God had refused to talk to Saul. And God would not have supernaturally brought Samuel—or his soul or his spirit—back to life, to allow him to speak to Saul through a witch—after God had refused to speak to Saul directly.

The concept that the souls or spirits of dead people can be contacted is demonic. Isaiah 8:19 tells us, “And when they say to you, ‘Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?” (NKJB). To consult mediums (those possessed with demons or familiar spirits) and God is incompatible. Also, Isaiah is not saying here that the spirits of the dead can be consulted. He is asking, “Should anyone try to seek the dead?’

Notice, too, Isaiah 29:4, “…thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground.” This is a reference to the voice of a demon, a familiar spirit that has possessed the medium. It may appear as if the medium speaks, but it is, in fact, the demon within the medium that does the speaking. That is why Paul, in Acts 16:16–19, spoke to the familiar spirit or demon of the possessed slave girl—and not to the slave girl herself.

Notice Deuteronomy 18:10–11, “There shall not be found among you any one that… useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.” A “necromancer” is somebody who “consults with the dead, or with a spirit to answer questions.” Note, how the New American Bible brings this phrase, “…one who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the dead.” This phrase does not say that communication with the dead is possible—it tells us, though, not to try it, as this will bring us in contact with demons.

The very concept of communication with the dead is demonic. If people feel the presence of a ghost or “see” an apparition, thinking they have seen the ghost of Abraham Lincoln or another famous figure, they have either had a vivid imagination, or they have been fooled by demons. To wish to meet a “ghost” or communicate with one is not only foolish, it is VERY dangerous.

We should not allow ourselves to be fooled by strange events, stemming from the occult, which may be “entertaining,” “interesting” or “appealing to our senses.” The author of this article was present once at a show with a famous hypnotizer who told several volunteers on stage that they could not remember their names, and when they were asked, they did not answer. Later, the author talked to one of the volunteers, who told him that he could of course remember his name, but that it felt as if a powerful force prevented him from saying it.

In another incident, a person known to the author had engaged in the practice of Transcendental Meditation, which requires the repeated silent repetition of a certain Indian word—a mantra. These words are derived from Indian mysticism and designate the name of a god—and in the Indian belief system, these gods are both good and evil. The person told the author that he had been sensing that someone was following him, but when turning his head, there was nobody there.

This incident is interesting in light of the following account, which was published by the late Earl Murray in “Ghosts of the Old West,” pertaining to a personal experience with a “haunted house”:

“For a botany class, a girlfriend and I were collecting wild plants on a lonely hillside below the Gellatin River some distance from town. Along the river bottom was an old abandoned house… My girlfriend commented on the strange feelings she was getting from the house and I had to agree with her… At dusk we began the trip back to Bozeman. A short way down the road, my girlfriend broke off what she was saying in midsentence. We looked at each other, then turned to the backseat. We saw nothing, but both of us felt a presence back there—a strong presence that scared us. 

“The remainder of the trip was a mixture of confusion and near terror. Who or what was in the backseat and why was it there? Why wouldn’t it go away?… Finally, the presence seemed to go away and we relaxed. I dropped her off at her dormitory and parked my car. Later, in my own dorm room, whatever it was came back. It was late and I had just gotten into bed. I was lying on my stomach with my pillow curled up under my head, nearly asleep, when I felt something enter the room. Now I was wide awake. Then I felt the edge of my bed settling, as if someone had just sat down. I couldn’t move; fear had petrified me. My arms and legs, my whole body, seemed numbed with shock. I couldn’t make my mouth move even to yell.

“Finally, after what seemed an intolerable long time, the pressure on the edge of my bed lessened and the feeling in the room dissipated… Whatever had been there was gone.”

Apparently, Murray concluded that the presence stemmed from the ghost of a departed one, which had followed him from the “haunted house.” However, in reality, this presence would have stemmed from a demon. The author of this article is familiar with accounts of people who had very similar experiences. In some cases, they occurred when a person did things, unrelated to the “occult,” which he or she knew were wrong. In other cases, persons allowed themselves to get involved with strange phenomena “from the other side” or “the occult,” including getting hypnotized, attending séances, or getting engaged in far eastern “meditation” practices.

Whatever the case may be, the only lasting way to free oneself from such occurrences is to pray to the true God of heaven for help and to stop doing what is wrong. Any further engagement with the “occult” must cease at once. In the book of Acts, those who had been involved with witchcraft, sorcery and other dark practices burnt their books of magic in the presence of all, when they began to believe in the true God and realized that such “dark” practices were wrong and dangerous (Acts 19:18-19). In some cases, it might be necessary to request an anointed cloth to be freed from the presence of demons (Acts 19:11-12). In cases of real possession, the casting out of demons through a true minister of God may be necessary (Mark 16:17).

In any event, the safest course of action is NEVER to want to get involved with spirits or ghosts (in reality, with demons) in any way. This would include, staying away from alleged haunted houses, participating in séances, consulting mediums, or becoming hypnotized or engaged in obscure far eastern meditation practices. Even the viewing of certain scary movies with ghosts and demons could lead to undesired results. The same is true for participation in wrong and ungodly religious practices. Paul warns us not to come in contact with demons in any way (1 Corinthians 10:14-22).

For further information, please view our StandingWatch program, “Does Lincoln’s Ghost Haunt the White House?”

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

Our new booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Biblical Prophecy” has entered its first review cycle.
 
The German translation of our booklet on Tithing has entered its first review cycle.

A new StandingWatch program has been posted, titled, “Circumcision a Crime in Germany.” Here is a summary of this program: A German Court of Appeals in Cologne ruled that religious circumcisions of young or infant boys are grievous bodily harm and thus a crime. This means that doctors can no longer claim that they do not know that they commit a crime, as the religious right of the parents to circumcise their children was held to be less important than the child’s fundamental right to bodily integrity. Jews and Muslims are outraged, but many Germans seem to agree with the scandalous court decision. The underlying thinking will have some impact for prophesied events in the future.

An English audio version of this same program will air Sunday, July 8, 2012, on our radio affiliates in the U.S.

A German version of this program (AufPostenStehen.de) was also recorded and is now posted, titled, “Beschneidung ein Verbrechen in Deutschland.”

Norbert Link’s new video-taped sermon, “The End of Europe, Part 2,” has been posted on YouTube and our website, www.EternalGod.org.

This week’s new German sermon, “Viele Wohnungen in Meines Vaters Haus” (“In My Father’s House Are Many Mansions”) covers mainly John 14 as part of an ongoing series of our NOT going to heaven when we die—or, when Christ returns, or, after He has returned.

A reminder for those wishing to attend the Feast of Tabernacles with us for 2012–please review details posted on our website under the “FEASTS” heading. Our locations for this year are Pismo Beach, California, and Deganwy, North Wales.

by Shana Rank

This past weekend, at the Del Mar county fair, I had the opportunity to ride a very large ferris wheel. The perspective from the top of this is pretty incredible! To my left was the Pacific Ocean, and to my right was a sea of thousands of people, moving through walkways at the fair.

This was exactly the kind of perspective I needed–instead of focusing on my day, and often times my life under a microscope; this high up–and far back view gave me more clarity for the world around me. Riding this ferris wheel was a great reminder to take a few steps back when life gets too serious. I was also struck by the thought of God’s perfect view from up high, and His ability to look down on His creation–now that is an awesome example of perspective!