Is Paris burning? The flames are not visible to the naked eye, but they roar nevertheless in the realm of the spirit. On Sunday January 15, 2017 more than seventy nations and organizations will gather in the ‘City of Lights’ (named because it was one of the first European cities to have gas-burning street lamps). There the nations will bang nails into a coffin that actually contains the disintegrating remains …Read More
Replacement Blowback
Newton’s third law of motion states that “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This principle also manifests itself in politics, in war and in religion. The intelligence community uses the term ‘blowback’ to describe an analogous dynamic – the unintended consequences, unwanted side-effects or repercussions of a black operation that backfires. Replacement Theology (an anti-Semitic expression of Christian theology that raised its head in the 2nd Century …Read More
“The kings of the earth are taking their positions”
Psalm 2 describes a dynamic in history that is coming to a high point in our day. The nations are in an uproar over the Jewish people and over their capital city Zion (2:1). They ‘rage against the machine’ – they gnash their teeth at God’s strategy in choosing Jerusalem (synonymous with Zion – Psalm 51:18; 102:21; 128:5; 135:21; 147:12; Isaiah 4:4; 10:12; 24:23; 31:9; 37:32; 40:9; 41:27; 52:1-2; 62:2; …Read More
Crossing the line
The U.N. Security Council has just voted Resolution 2334 into law, declaring Israel’s restoration to Jerusalem to be illegal by a vote of 14 to zero. The US represented by Samantha Power abstained on this vote. In 2011 the US vetoed a similar resolution. What does this vote mean politically, spiritually and biblically? Here are three developing ramifications of this Resolution. From ‘illegitimate’ to ‘illegal’ A U.N. Security Council (SC) …Read More
Light shines in the darkness
God’s first words in the Bible are “Let there be light!” (Genesis 1:3). And there was light, and the light was good. The sun, moon and stars – those heavenly bodies which shine and reflect light – burst forth in praise to their Creator: “Praise Him, sun and moon! Praise Him, all stars of light!” (Psalm 148:3). Our days, weeks, months and years, our holidays and feasts – our whole …Read More
The writing’s on the wall
The kingdom of Babylon had seen better days. Up to quite recently it had been feared and respected by all the nations of the world. Isaiah the son of Amoz declared, “Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride” (Isaiah 13:1, 19). Jeremiah the prophet waxed eloquent, “Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of YHVH, intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine” (Jeremiah …Read More