The above caption headed an article by Geoffrey Wheatcroft in The New Republic which was re-printed in The Australian 19/8/10. Geoffrey Wheatcroft wrote: “Whether cause or effect is hard to say, but political Islam has revived in Turkey. The Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan has said the EU must either ‘show political maturity and become a global power or it will end up a Christian club’”. Indeed the EU is “a Christian club” with very strong Roman Catholic influence and Revelation 17 is clear on the role the Roman Church will play in the time of the end. “… I saw a woman [the Roman Church] sit upon a scarlet coloured beast [the EU/Catholic Europe] …” (17:3)
Catholic, ‘christian’ Europe has no place for a nation such as Turkey where Islam is a major force. The presidents of both France and Germany, Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel have made no secret of their disapproval of Turkey’s bid for EU membership and these two powerful nations wield very strong influence in EU affairs. Besides, Daniel 11:40 reveals that in the time of the end the king of the North (Russia) will “come against him [the occupier of Istanbul, Turkey] like a whirlwind” and to my way of thinking this would not seem a likely scenario if Turkey was part of the EU with strong links to Gog.
“Hubble spots a galaxy from the dawn of time”
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen 1:1). So the Scriptures introduce us to God and His creative power. When was “the beginning” before the Edenic six day creation? No-one can tell, but an article in The Australian 22/10/10 says that the US orbital space telescope Hubble last year spotted light from the galaxy UDFy-38135539 which scientists believe has taken 13.1 billion years travelling at 300,000km per second, to arrive on earth! The mind boggles at the vastness of the universe created by God’s power and (if true) the enormous time periods involved.
Surely such scientific details and measurements can only make us wonder all the more at God’s handiwork and yet also His care and concern for lowly man who is but a speck in the vastness of time and space: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psa 8:3,4).
Yes, our God is more than just a power – He is a loving and caring God towards those who put their trust in Him. “For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice …” (Psa 95:7).
Ahmadinejad “shakes his fist” at Israel
In mid-October 2010 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on a State visit to Lebanon travelled the closest he has ever been to the State of Israel – within 4km of the northern Israeli border. There in a belligerent manner he told a rally of supporters that Israel was “destined to disappear”. This is the same leader who a while back vowed to “wipe Israel off the map” and denies the Holocaust of WWII. It is interesting that the Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah did not appear beside Ahmadinejad. Convinced that Israel will try to assassinate him, he rarely appears in public. So much for Ahmadinejad’s protection and arming of Hezbollah – their supreme leader was too afraid to come to the border!!
The threatening stance adopted by Ahmadinejad reminds us of another time some 2,700 years ago when the might of Assyria was on the march southward through the promised land. Sennacherib likewise was determined to “wipe Israel off the map”. Isaiah 10:28–32 graphically portrays the presumed unstoppable march of the Assyrian. At Nob just north of Jerusalem Sennacherib defiantly “shake(s) his hand [fist] against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem” (v32).
But we all know what happened to the might of Assyria – “Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one” (v33,34). And the same shall happen to Ahmadinejad and Iran. Despite their position of so-called strength bolstered by their nuclear bomb programme and seen in their threats against Israel, Iran and the northern confederacy “shall come to (their) end and none shall help (them)” (Dan 11:45). Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Ahmadinejad’s border visit saying: “We heard today the cursing and invectives from the Lebanese border. The best answer to the deriders was given here 62 years ago – the State [of Israel] and all that we’ve built and created since” (The Advertiser 16/10/10).
We certainly could say “amen” to those words. Israel are God’s witnesses and the formation of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948 is one of the greatest modern day signs that God’s purpose, not just with Israel but with the world, is being fulfilled. Israel are in the promised land to stay and despite a final great day of trouble yet to come upon the nation, they will through Yahweh’s mercy survive. “Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit” (Isa 27:6).
US confirms US$60bn Saudi arms deal
The northern confederacy of Ezekiel 38 is clearly taking shape. At the same time the “southern confederacy” of “Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish” is also coming together and strengthening. This is a wonderful impetus to our faith.
An article from BBC News 20/10/10 advised that, if completed, the Saudi arms deal will be the most lucrative arms deal in US history. “The state department said Israel, traditionally wary of arms deals involving Arab states, was not expected to raise objections.” This is a significant shift in the Middle East scene.
We are all aware that in 1948, 1967 and in 1973, all of Israel’s Arab neighbours were united in their determination to destroy Israel. Since then both Egypt and Jordan have signed peace agreements with Israel and now Saudi Arabia has come to realise that they have more to fear from Iran than Israel. Hence Israel’s lack of concern about the Saudi arms deal.
In recent times reports have filtered through the media that Israel and Saudi Arabia with US knowledge have conducted secret discussions over their common concern about Iran’s Middle East intentions and nuclear programme, even to the point of the Saudis agreeing to Israel establishing an air transit base in northern Saudi Arabia to assist in any possible Israeli air strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The Arab Persian Gulf States are also fully behind strengthening Saudi Arabia’s position – naturally, because of their very close proximity to Iran, although none of these States at this stage will openly come out and say that they agree with any Saudi/Israeli discussions. Privately they are more than happy to have the US and a nuclear armed Israel on their side.
“The package [Saudi arms deal] reflects a convergence of the strategic concerns of the US, Israel and conservative Arab states about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and bid for regional influence” (The Australian Financial Review 15/9/10).
So the stage is gradually being set up for the ‘final showdown’, Armageddon, as depicted in detail in Ezekiel 38.
“Israel outraged by Vatican statement on the Promised Land”
In October 2010 there was a meeting at the Vatican of Catholic Bishops from the Middle East. At the close of the two week meeting on October 24th, chaired by Pope Benedict XVI, a number of extremely critical remarks against Israel were made by the bishops.
The official statements from the bishops included the following:
- “The concept of the Promised Land cannot be used as a basis to justify the return of the Jews to Israel and the displacement of the Palestinians.”
- “For Christians, one can no longer talk of the land promised to the Jewish people. There is no longer a chosen people. All men and women of all countries have become the chosen people – the ‘promise’ was abolished by the presence of Christ.”
- “Recourse to theological and biblical positions which use the Word of God to wrongly justify injustices is not acceptable.”
The synod’s concluding message repeated a “which reflects its particular character” as a city sacred to the three great monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These are astounding comments from such so-called “learned divines” of the Church.
Whilst of course we accept the fact that the gospel is open to all, and all who accept God’s way of salvation become “His chosen”, this in no way negates the position of the Jews in God’s sight. They are still His chosen people and the promises made to the fathers of Israel regarding the promised land are just as valid today as in the day they were made centuries ago.
Appropriating the words of Christ addressed to the religious leaders of his day and now addressing the Catholic bishops we could say, “Have ye never read …?” “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew” (Rom 11:1,2). “I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land” (Ezek 37:21). “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Rom 11:26).
Aren’t we so privileged and glad, brothers and sisters, that we have the Truth and understand the Hope of Israel in contrast to the darkness that covers the minds of people, leaders and followers alike. We look to the glorious time when God “will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations” (Isa 25:7).
Mary MacKillop – Australia’s first Catholic ‘saint’
Misunderstanding of the Jews’ relationship to God is not the only matter of the Scriptures that the Vatican has got wrong. On Sunday, October 17th in Rome, Mary MacKillop was canonised by Pope Benedict XV1 to become ‘Saint’ Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first Catholic ‘saint’.
The canonisation was conducted with all the pomp and ceremony associated with the Roman Church before a vast crowd, including 8,000 Australians who made the special trip to Rome for the occasion. It is a sad spectacle to consider that billions of people worldwide down through the centuries have been ‘hoodwinked’ by such occasions, not realising of course that all true believers in the gospel message are the real saints chosen and sanctified by God’s Word for His service.
The fact that it has taken 84 years after Mary MacKillop was set on the road to sainthood by the Roman Church for the canonisation to take place seems not to have been considered strange by the flock – as if God could ever be held up by the machinations of men to accept someone as a saint. The whole matter is quite distasteful to the true saints of God and highlights for us the deceit and iniquity of such a system of error.
Sadly the Apostle Paul puts his finger on the system, one of deceit “whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thess 2:9,10).
Let us all rejoice that we are not caught up in such a system, but also recognise the need to stand apart from the protestant “daughters” of the Roman Church, who long ago have given up protesting and now are happy to throw in their lot with the “mother of harlots”.
Rupert Murdoch on anti-Semitism
A most interesting article appeared in The Weekend Australian October 16–17, 2010 summarising a speech given in New York USA to the Jewish Anti- Defamation League by Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of News Corp, publisher of The Australian. In the speech Mr Murdoch detailed how that anti- Semitism remains a real and far-reaching threat today. The following comments on his speech are taken mainly from Forbes magazine, 15/10/10.
Mr Murdoch outlined his two main worries:
- The disturbing new ‘home’ that anti- Semitism has found in polite society – especially in Europe.
- How violence and extremism are encouraged when the world sees Israel’s greatest ally (the US) distancing herself from the Jewish state.
Whilst President Obama in recent times appears now to be trying to reverse his administration’s previous reserved stance towards Israel, Mr Murdoch stressed the importance of keeping America’s relationship with Israel strong, particularly in the face of terrorism. He warned of a foreign policy that “encourages those who favour the gun over those who favour negotiation”.
In his speech, Mr Murdoch detailed an “ongoing war against the Jews” and a new “soft war” that is attempting to de-legitimize the State of Israel and make it into a pariah: “The result is the curious situation we have today: Israel becomes increasingly ostracized, while Iran – a nation that has made no secret of wishing Israel’s destruction – pursues nuclear weapons loudly, proudly, and without apparent fear of rebuke”. Very revealing words from one of the world’s most influential men in the publishing world.
It is significant that The Australian’s foreign editor, Greg Sheridan, has for a number of years presented the nation of Israel in a positive light. It is nice to see that Israel has some friends. How much more thankful can we be that Israel has Yahweh, the God of the covenants made to the fathers of nations, as her friend!
And now a final word of warning.
“More than a million people drink just to feel normal”
The Lord Jesus Christ in warning of our times said, “… take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” (Luke 21:34). Many people in society today are quite overtaken with the shallowness and frustrations of life and turn to drink “to escape”.
“A new report into alcohol consumption has found 4 million Australians ‘drink’ out of habit, about 1.4 million of them drinking to ‘feel normal’”. The Roy Morgan survey, conducted for the Salvation Army, also showed 2.4 million people, and one third of 18 to 24-year-olds, ‘drink’ specifically to get drunk” (The Sydney Morning Herald 14/9/10).
We do well to heed the warnings of our Master when he said, “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth” (Luke 21:35). Far better to also take to heart the wise counsel of Paul, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18).