PropheZine 31 2 December 1996 Chris Jewett ............................ Welcome Suddenly No More Time (Pt I)...Emil Gavrluk and Rob Lindsted Berit Kjos ................................ Food Summit Speeds UN Agenda John Loeffler ........................... Commentary: Paradigm Lost Randy Martin......................... A Chauffuer for Jesus? A Jewish Legend?. Chuck Missler........................Who Were the Magi? Moishe Rosen........................A Special Feature Article: Fight the Good Fight Lori Fiechter.......................... Yeshua, Come! (a poem) Prophe-zine News Bytes Lee Underwood......................FYI - Israel Updates Chris Jewett ......................... Gulf Pact and Arms Deals Jews Urge Boycott of Swiss Banks Miami Needs Money Ancient Religion Thrives Cross Bad, Idol Good Todd.................................... Nearing Midnight Update Linda Doty (contributor)........... What Television Teaches Children The Final Word (Wonder in God's Word) Here is PropheZine 30! "Study to show thyself approved..." How many times have we read that verse in II Timothy, or had it quoted to us, or shared it with a friend, or just plain had it brought to mind by the Holy Spirit? PropheZine brings you thought provoking articles, news bytes and special feature articles which, we pray, will do just that....cause you to study to show yourself approved unto God. Or, as Luke tells you in Acts 17:11 - don't believe anything PropheZine tells you, but check it out with the Scriptures yourself to see if it is right! (Sorry, Chuck, but it is sooooo true!) In this issue we are fortunate to have the killer articles of our old and familiar friends Berit Kjos and John Loeffler as well as some first time contributions from a couple of our readers. Additionally, there is a Seasonal feature from Chuck Missler and a special feature from Moishe Rosen. Southwest Radio Church has contributed several worthwhile and informative articles. The first of a four part series appears in this issue. I have included the usual Israel Updates from Lee Underwood and Nearing Midnight splices from Todd, and several unusual bytes including a contribution from Linda Doty. The article she contributed encourages further distribution by its originator, so I figured PZ (a free, non profit e-zine) was just the platform to do that! Last of all, I added "The Final Word." I thought a short and interesting "discovery" from God's Word would be an encouraging and uplifting closure to the issue. If you like it (and if Ray the Editor - dragnet theme, please - likes it), we can make this a permanent part of PZ. This is also a great opportunity for you the reader to contribute to PropheZine. Meanwhile, a gentle reminder for you to check out the PropheZine Web Site. New and improved! There is also a God's News Behind the News Mini Site advertising the upcoming Prophecy Conference in Tampa, Florida. Ray Brubaker and Joe VanKoevering have assembled an outstanding line up of speakers. We went to the last one, it was super. If the Lord enables you to make the trip to Tampa, you won't regret it! Until next time, Maranatha! Chris Jewett PZ ****************** Suddenly No More Time (Part I of IV) by Emil Gaverluk and Rob Lindsted (used by permission from Southwest Radio Church) Chapter One Scientists talking about model building would make most people think of model airplanes or model cars' but in this instance this is a model that is built mathematically. However, as an example, take the idea of a model car. It represents something small and easily constructed in a day or two, compared to perhaps a year's work to build the real thing. This is taking the evidence, the facts, and projecting them in order to see what direction they are going to go. It is like putting together a puzzle, taking the pieces and finding the pattern which allows them to fit together in an orderly fashion. In order to illustrate the acceleration of the exponential curve-where all of this is leading-onecan actually model all of the components of the curve on a computer and see the results in a three dimensional form. The computer has afforded those in the scientific community the ability to calculate numbers at such a rapid rate that they are able to complete calculations in a few days that ten years ago would have taken hundreds of men working hundreds of years. That leads to the rate of acceleration present within the reality of the phenomenon known as the exponential curve. Everything is happening at a rate that is becoming faster and faster, and this increase is very startling. Rather than being frightened by this startling increase, though, it should be understood that the exponential curve is really only a very basic physical action within nature. Using the biological process as a means of describing the reality of the exponential curve, growth and decay are found to take place within living matter at a set speed, or even a set pattern. While scientists call this the law of nature, their Christian counterparts say that it is the pattern which God has built into human existence. Can this idea of the exponential curve be illustrated? Yes. One way to illustrate an exponential curve is to say: at eleven o'clock one bacteria is placed inside a glass jar. At that moment the bacteria begins to grow, to multiply, each bacteria reproducing itself every minute. We start with one bacteria, and one minute later we have two bacteria, and one minute later we have four bacteria. It can be seen that for every minute that passes, the number of bacteria doubles, because each bacteria reproduces, becoming two where before it was only one. Given the information that it will take sixty minutes for the entire jar to become full, at what time would the jar be half full? If the first bacteria were put in the jar at I 1:00, one would assume that the jar would be half full at 11:30. The assumption is incorrect in that the time increment and the quantity increments are not the same. The jar would be half full at ii:59, because the bacteria will reproduce totally in the last sixty seconds. At 11:59 the jar is half full, and at 12:00 the jar is full. Although it took fifty-nine minutes for the jar to become half full, it only takes one minute for the remaining half to be filled. This begins to show the magnitude with which the exponential curve can grow, and we see this effect in everyday life. Look at the lifestyles of people today as opposed to five or ten years ago. Man is living at such a rapid rate that families really just check in for meals, maybe spend the night, and then they are off again. This whole society is built on this faster degree of consumption of energy and goods. The only reason to be optimistic at all about not reaching a point of absolute helplessness is because study of the Bible points to Christ's coming very soon. God, in designing the world, created it so that it would function for one thousand years after the Tribulation. What is needed now is for the Divine Engineer to come in and set things straight. Should man continue on for a short period of time, he will completely scramble the present world system with respect to energy and food. Is that time coming? Can it be seen on the horizon? Yes, and these predictions are not just being made by Bible students and scholars, but by people who are in the science fields who look at these things and are frightened by the perspective of what is coming in the very near future. This is coming, too, from all fields-military, political, and economic. It is important to read that this exponential curve, this acceleration, is always operating in every aspect of life. Looking at the way things are snowballing, there are actually signs that point out that this degree of expansion must be limited before the end of the century. As an experiment, take a sheet of note paper or newspaper, and fold it over one time. There are now two thicknesses and the paper is only half as large as it was. Fold the paper again. The paper has now been folded twice and there are four thicknesses. It is physically impossible for this piece of paper to continue to be folded sixty times, but if it could be, the thickness of it would exceed the distance from the earth to the moon! That would be over two hundred and forty thousand miles away! This helps one to begin to see the reality of the exponential growth or the doubling which occurs in each time period; more is consumed, or is created, as in the doubling over of that piece of paper. This is the critical principle which relates to the energy crisis as seen today. Another illustration that would bring home the reality of the exponential curve is the technological advancement in electronics. This takes us right into the age of the computer. If people in the early seventies had been told what they would be seeing in the early eighties, they would have been astounded. As the industry expanded and grew and flourished right on into the nineties, even the scientists are amazed, because they are seeing these things feeding one upon another. The explosion of computer knowledge is growing so rapidly that it is almost impossible to keep track of all that's happening. The "up" side of all this technological advancement has been its use for good. For example, computer-monitored medical units which are helping to save lives; heart pacers; brain scans; some bionics for those desperately in need. These advancements have been very good. Advancements in travel have also been beneficial as well. To be in Chicago one night and by the next morning be in Wichita, and the next day be in San Francisco, is an excellent capability that many people like. But it brings with it some things that are frightening. Not only are these advances being made at a rapid rate, but the use of commodities-energy, food, even real estate-is at an equally rapid rate. The past several years have brought events and changes in the world that would not have even been thought of ten years ago. In November of 1989 people around the world were amazed to witness on television East and West Berliners tearing down the much-hated Berlin Wall. It had been a symbol of Russian separatism since being built in 1961. Then, in 1990, wonder of wonders: East and West Germany were reunited again into one state, with one parliament, and with one chancellor, Helmut Kohl. The news from Germany hardly had time to be digested when news began coming out about the breakup of the U.S.S.R. It seemed impossible that this giant empire of Soviet Socialist Republics was no longer going to be united and governed from Moscow. It has become a fact now in 1993, and the civil wars, death, and destruction are the results of these smaller countries trying to decide who their new rulers will be. Since the breakup of the U.S.S.R., their economy has been almost non-existent and they have borrowed money anywhere and everywhere possible. This lack of funds has-for the time being taken the Russians out of their dominant role in the Middle East. To fill this vacuum, militant Moslem countries have risen up to threaten the peace of all "infidels," mainly the United States and Israel. Iran, at this point, seems to be the leader of the pack and is trying to foment as much hate and venom into the non-Moslem world as possible. Since the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York in 1993, no one is any longer so naive as to discount the threats-real or implied-coming out of any of the anti-Christian, anti-Jewish Arab countries. Should one fanatical Arab country-like Iran-take over and govern that entire Mideast region, the rest of the world would suffer an immediate oil embargo, leading certain to later blackmail on their terms. The problems are multiplying to the point where man is becoming absolutely helpless (and won't admit it), but Christians can read the Bible and see the promise of the Lord's coming. ,,. . . then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28). Chapter Two Very few people realize that their own bodies actually grow on the basis of an exponential curve which is representative of the growth rate of nature; starting with a single cell that then begins to reproduce. This same pattern of growth is found throughout nature, and human lifestyle is dictated by this doubling factor or exponential growth. There are many concerns about events that are taking place today which are multiplying at an accelerated rate. For instance, population growth, and the energy imbalance in the world. Rather than try to look at every individual country, a few will be singled out as examples. In Western Europe there is the organization known as the Common Market, or European Economic Community (E.E.C.). Its growth has been reported many times in magazine and newspaper articles, and it is something to behold here in the early part of the nineties. The Common Market comprises approximately six percent of the population of the entire world. When first formed, the Common Market said that energy was not a real problem for them. They claimed to have a good coal supply, but through the last twenty or so years these European countries have discovered that energy, in the form of liquid petroleum, is a more suitable and convenient form. Now they are what is called "energy starved." The Common Market claims to be limited in growth due to a lack of energy (oil). They say that if they had more energy (oil), they could grow faster. It is interesting to note how dependent and reliant the E.E.C. has become on the oil-producing countries of the Middle East, as has the rest of the world. This situation bodes ill for oil users, and plays into the hands of the oil producers. Moving on, we see that the former Soviet Union, which comprises about seven percent of the world's population, is also energy starved. (World sources report that Russia has one of the largest oil pools in the world that it won't -or can't- try to recover for its own use or export.) Japan constitutes three percent of the world's population; Africa, ten percent; South America, four percent; and the Far East, excluding Japan, makes up one-third, or thirty-three percent of the world's population. The United States makes up only six percent of the world's population. As an experiment, a class of high school students was asked to calculate the combined incomes of their mother and father. The minimum combined salary of their parents was about $13,000, the maximum in the neighborhood of $70,000, but the average was only $26,000. They were then asked, "Would you be satisfied to make the average as your maximum income?" When a student is about seventeen to twenty years old, their parents are making their maximum income in terms of earning power. Sure, their salaries may go up, but, at best, it will just keep up with inflation. With that thought in mind, it really made the question: "Would you settle for the same standard of living as your mother and father?" This, then, forced them to think ahead to when they would be older and more mature, on their own, and earning a living. Out of one hundred and twenty-five students only three said they would be satisfied with $26,000 a year as their maximum income. That is two percent that would be satisfied with the same standard of living. Asked how many would accept twice as much, $52,000 a year, only six responded in the affirmative. $78,000 a year? One dozen responded affirmatively. Fully one-half of the class was expecting at least $128,000 a year! Using a conservative figure, assume that the class only wants a three to five times increase in their standard of living. The reason that this is so alarming is due to the amount of energy that each of these proportions of world population are using. The Common Market with six percent of all the world's population is using nineteen percent of the energy, or about one-fifth. Is it fair for six percent to use one-fifth of all the world's energy? The former Soviet Union, with seven percent of the world's population, is using sixteen percent of the energy. So it could be said that they are energy hogs, and they are using more than their share of available energy . Japan, with three percent of the world's population, even though they continually cry for a better standard of living, consumes four percent of all the world's energy; half of that is used making products for the Western world. Africa, with ten percent of the world's population, uses only two percent of all the world's energy. The Far East, one-third of the world's population, consumes only three percent of the world's energy. Then we come to the United States, where six percent of the world's population consumes somewhere between thirty-eight and forty percent of all the world's energy! The frightening thing is that those students want to have a three to five times increase in their standard of living, which means that there would not be a single country other than the United States who would be able to use energy. The Common Market, Russia (the former U.S.S.R.), and the United States, which make up less than one-fourth of all the world's population, consumes over three-fourths of all the world's energy, and this appetite for fuel is greater now than ever before. (The Gulf War was a demonstration of the world as a whole saying "no" to Iraq for trying to seize Kuwait and monopolize one of the world's largest oil reserves, thus holding the world hostage.) The fact is, that the United States and many other countries are hooked on oil, the way an alcoholic is hooked on alcohol, or an addict is hooked on drugs. It is not a matter of tapering off because increasing demand continues to build up this appetite for more energy. This fits into the doubling model. Instead of using energy less, more energy is being used this year than was used last year. Next year more energy will be used because consumption is increasing, or growing, like the bacteria in the bottle. The heart of the problem, the unbridled expenditure of energy, is not the fault of foreign powers. It is not the fault of the oil companies. It is the fault of individuals and their standard of living, plus their steadfast refusal to cut back or find additional energy sources or alternatives. Man's response to all similar crises has always been: "Somehow or other we will figure a way out." "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." (Prov.16:18) There is an interesting story that will help people appreciate the magnitude of this problem. A mathematician invented the game of chess, and the king that he served was delighted. The king said, "That's a clever game. I need to reward you. How can I reward you?" "Well," the mathematician said, "I will tell you what you can do to reward me. Take the chessboard and on square one, place one grain of wheat. Double this amount on square two, and then double that amount on square three, and so on." The king was delighted. He said to himself, "This man is brilliant when it comes to chess, but when it comes to understanding agriculture and economics, well, he is a fool." So the king began, and on square one he put down one grain, and on square two he put down two grains. At this time, the mathematician owned one grain on the first square, and two on the second square for a total of three grains. Square number three doubled produced four grains and square number four doubled produced eight grains. There are sixty-four squares on a chessboard, and at the end of the doubling actions, on the sixty-fourth square the king would have been required to pay the mathematician five hundred times the 1976 world wheat harvest! Five hundred times the 1976 wheat harvest is a huge amount of wheat, but equally as important is the fact that when the king put down four grains on the third square, those four grains were greater in number than all of the grain that had accumulated on the first two squares. When the king put down sixteen grains on the fifth square, the sixteen grains were greater in number than the total of all the previous squares. This is the same situation that the United States has with respect to the world energy crisis. An article in Scientific American implies that the future growth in global demands for energy will come mainly from the less developed third-world countries. The entire article shows once again the exponential curve. It shows how these countries want to grow at the same rate as the United States, but some of them are barely above the starvation level. Even sadder is to begin to look at the relationship between fuel and food and realize how people must shut their eyes to the problems in the Far East and Africa. It must be remembered in this context that this is forty-three percent of the world's population consuming only five percent of the world's energy. That also says that they are food starved, and that's why massive estimates have been seen of how many people will starve during the decade of the nineties. All of the exponential curves present within the activities of man and his existence are coming to a head and must surely explode. There will be sudden starvation -or it will appear to be sudden.. These problems are constantly growing, but they will leap forward suddenly. That's the critical word: "Suddenly." Remember the bottle of bacteria? Suddenly at 12:00 the bottle was full. The bottle was half-full at 11:59, and then suddenly, at 12:00, it was full! The energy situation is the same way. People look around and say, "Hey, there is enough energy to meet our needs." But, in reality, the clock is at 11:58 and perhaps 11:59 in the energy crisis, especially with respect to petroleum engineering. The pattern is really this in the United States: Creation to 1950: Two world wars and an industrial revolution. 1950 to 1960: As much petroleum consumed as was used in the prior six thousand years of existence. 1960 to 1970: More energy consumed than had been used from creation to 1960. 1970 to 1980: More energy consumed than had been used from creation to 1970. 1980 to 1990: With more cars on the road than ever, more travel, more air conditioned shopping mars, etc. fuel consumption surpasses that used from Creation to 1980! (Remember the chessboard?) Jesus spoke these words in Matthew 24:6-8: "And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled.- for these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." Every person needs to make their individual peace with God. God is allowing the human race to come right down to the wire, and the showdown looms on the horizon. If you are for Christ, you will be with Him, but if you are against Him, you will be separated from Him and will participate in the terrible Tribulation which you will not survive. That is the bottom line. [Editor's Note: Although the updated version of this article occurred in 1993, the lessons and applications remain germane. The length of this article necessitates continuation in several parts.] The booklet Suddenly No More Time by Emil Gaverluk and Rob Lindsted is published by Southwest Radio Church, PO Box 1144, Oklahoma City, OK 73101 - phone 405-235-5395; 1-800-652-1144. Fax 405-236-4634. FOOD SUMMIT SPEEDS UN AGENDA by Berit Kjos * * * * * "Earth is the birthright of all people."1 (An International Declaration on Individual and Common Rights to the Earth) "We, in the green movement, aspire to a cultural model in which killing a forest will be considered more contemptible and more criminal than the sale of six-year-old children to Asian brothels."2 (Carl Amery, German Greens) "If I were reincarnated I would wish to be returned to earth as a killer virus to lower human population levels."3 (Prince Philip of Great Britain, leader of World Wildlife Fund) * * * * * "Where the Buffalo Roam: Reclaiming the Great Plains." The title of the cover article in the TWA magazine intrigued me. Flying east across the Great Plains toward Minneapolis, I scanned the quilt-like farmland below and wondered which part might be reclaimed for the bison. The article began with a full sized picture of an old red barn in a golden field. "An abandoned farm in Mayville, North Dakota," explained the caption, "signifies the decline in self-sustaining agriculture on the Great Plains." Under a photo of grazing buffaloes was written, "Buffalo are integral to the region's health." Abandoned farms in Mayville? No health without bison? Since my husband grew up in Mayville, I knew well that no one abandons farms in this fertile valley. But contrary facts matter little to political activists with a green agenda. These deceptive photos help "prove" the existence of a crisis. They provide the persuasive "information" needed to "raise consciousness", produce consensus, validate centralized land management, and speed compliance with unthinkable controls. I read on: "Human design, not natural selection, will be responsible for the great buffalo herds of the 21st century. They are part of a plan to reconstruct nature...already well along in the initial stages of implementation." The grander scheme, led by President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD) together with the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, means restoring wolves, owls, snails, bugs and bacteria to an idealized version of their former state. Whole ecosystems, not just parts, must be reconstructed -often at the expense of private landowners. With the United Nations' World Food Summit (WFS) on my mind, I pondered an obvious paradox: How would UN visionaries and their environmental partners reconcile (1) their desire to return fertile farmland back to buffalo grazing land with (2) their demand for a global welfare systems promising "food security" for all? RECONSTRUCTING NATURE. The vision of buffalo herds roaming free throughout the plains was birthed by academics Deborah and Frank Popper in distant New Jersey. They interpreted statistics showing reduced population in many rural communities to mean that farming the Plains had been an "ill-conceived" notion from the beginning. "The best use for the Great Plains", argued the Poppers, was to ban farming altogether, create a "Buffalo Commons", and restore the land to its original condition. Other land-use planners from distant states agreed. But farmers were afraid. "We're tremendously concerned about losing our property rights," said Mike Schmidt, a South Dakota rancher. "Right now, two things are particularly scary for us-endangered species and wetlands... Essentially, they can determine how you use your land." Schmidt has reason to fear. The "Buffalo Commons" envisioned by idealistic planners is huge enough to touch everyone. "To really do any good, we have to plan over large geographies," says Bruce Stein, the director of external affairs for conservation science at the Nature Conservancy, a powerful advocacy group for ecosystem planning. "A natural system needs room to function." A "healthy Great Plains would encompass every square meter of the Plains, from the prairie provinces of Canada through Oklahoma and Texas," added Glen Martin who wrote the TWA article. It would include Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, and the Dakotas as well as the "adjacent ecosystems, such as the boreal forests of northern Michigan and Minnesota and aspen groves of the eastern slopes of the Rockies. Some Great Plains species need more than one habitat to thrive." So do some humans, but that doesn't count. Aware of opposition, restoration scholars are willing to start small: by connecting big chunks of biodiverse ecosystems with corridors to aid animal migrations. This agenda matches that of The Wildlands Project conceived by convicted "eco-warrior" Dave Foreman who co-founded the militant eco-group Earth First and serves as on the board of the Sierra Club. "Embraced by the U.S. Department of the Interior, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), The Nature Conservancy, UNPED (United Nations Environment Programme), UNESCO, and the Sierra Club," says Henry Lamb, publisher of eco-logic, "the Wildlands Project wants to return 'at least 50 percent' of the land area in America to 'core wilderness areas' where human activity is barred."4 These "core wilderness areas", Lamb explains, would "be connected by corridors" and "surrounded by 'buffer zones' in which there may be managed human activity providing that biodiversity protection is the first priority."5 Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) shares Henry Lamb's concern. In June 1996, he introduced "The American Land Sovereignty Protection Act." But it failed to pass-in spite of his persuasive words to the House of Representatives: "More and more of our nation's land has become subject to international land-use restrictions.... A total of 67 sites in the United States have been designated as UN Biosphere Reserves or World Heritage Sites. These programs are run by UNESCO-an arm of the UN.... The Biosphere Reserve program is not even authorized by a single U.S. law or even an international treaty. That is wrong. Executive branch appointees.... should not do things that the law does not authorize. ... the power to make all rules and regulations governing lands belonging to the United States is vested in the Congress.... Yet the international land designations under these programs have been created with virtually no congressional oversight."6 Even so, the President's Council on Sustainable Development, like the other national CSDs around the world, continues to pursue its intrusive plan for land management based on UN guidelines. It suggests using government regulations, tax incentives and disincentives, the media, and persuasive "scientific" information to manage lands, people, communities, consumption, transportation, and knowledge. Its authors include Bruce Babbitt (Secretary of the Interior), Jay Hair (former National Wildlife Federation president who formed a partnership with John Denver's New Age-globalist organization Windstar), Madeline Kunin (Deputy Secretary, Department of Education), and Timothy Wirth (Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs). Its "principal liasons" include the EPA, The Nature Conservancy, and the Sierra Club-the same organizations that support the Wildlands Project. In light of this liason, ponder the comment by Wildlands Project Director Reed Noss: "The collective needs of non-human species must take precedence over the needs and desires of humans."7 Even when people are starving? MANAGING FOOD. "World leaders will assemble in Rome from 13 to 17 November, 1966, making a public commitment to action to eliminate hunger," stated the official "Brochure" available on the World Food Summit's world wide web page. "As preparations for the Summit proceed, world grain stocks have dwindled to dangerously low levels... a reminder of the fragility of food supplies in a world that must produce more each year to feed a rapidly increasing population.... An estimated 800 million people still are chronically undernourished.... The agreements reached at the Summit will place food...at the top of the global agenda alongside peace and stability." The "agreements" are a two-part contract: the World Food Summit (WFS) Document and the Plan of Action. Signed by the participating nations, this contract holds nations accountable for fulfilling their assigned part of the UN agenda. Under the noble banner of "civic government", it links local and international NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) directly to the UN, bypassing Congress and other legislatures that cling to old notions of sovereignty. The real issue is control. Who will manage and monitor the global production and distribution of food? How will they manage information, motivate the masses, and establish consensus and solidarity? Just as US educators promise "local control" while implementing the global education plan, so the WFS acknowledged national sovereignty, but mandated compliance. Each nation that signed thecontract agreed to a monstrous system of old and new UN resolutions starting with Commitment One: "We will ensure an enabling political, social, and economic environment designed to create the best conditions for the eradication of poverty and for durable peace ...." What does that mean? The Marxist economics and social "equality" touted by the UN? The jubilant reception of Fidel Castro and his hard-line Communist message gives a clue to the world's hostility toward Western capitalism and free enterprise. No wonder the WFS contract tells nations to "reallocate resources" as "required to ensure food for all" (#59,e) -not through foreign aid, but through total worldwide social and economic transformation. During a televised "World Food Summit Preview"8, a reporter asked Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman who heads the US delegation to the Summit if the US might be "negotiating away some rights" and "accepting restraints on what we can plant...what fertilizers we can use, what chemicals we can use on the land." Obviously irritated by the question, Glickman answered, "We were never headed in that direction.... We would never have accepted that!" Yet, minutes later, he mentioned his plan to restrict the use "of pesticides, herbicides and insecticide." The WFS contract doesn't specify the "preventative measures". Apparently, the more sensitive parts of the agenda were discussed in settings less open to critical eyes. As a UN news release suggests, the gathering in Rome "might yield more than the summit itself": "Canadian Agriculture Minister Ralph Goodale... told reporters that he hoped to have unofficial talks.... 'Part of what will happen in Rome,' he said, 'apart from the official agenda, is a great deal of corridor conversations, which on occasion can be more valuable than the official proceedings.'"9 Far more sobering than the stated goals is the establishment of a legal framework for global governance. Most official contracts signed by nations at former UN Conferences reach beyond stated topics such as saving the earth, eradicating poverty, empowering women, and feeding the poor. Those issues fit into a larger context which involves a vast "systemic" plan for global transformation-a reality which begs the question: Could each current issue simply be the "crisis" needed to persuade the masses to accept totalitarian controls? For example, the WFS contract calls for "protecting the interests and needs of the child... consistent with... the Convention on the Rights of the Child." (#17) Are children's rights being used as a smoke screen that justifies government plans to develop "human resources" without hindrance from parents with contrary values? In a 1993 speech at the International Development Conference, James P. Grant, past executive director of the United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF), said- "Children and women can be our Trojan Horse for attacking the citadel of poverty, for under girding democracy, dramatically slowing population growth and for accelerating economic development."10 The WFS contract asked governments, "in partnership with all actors of civil society" to "establish legal and other mechanisms, as appropriate, that advance land reform." (#15, b) Could this mean the rights of the poor, especially of women, to "access to land" might be emphasized over and above the property rights of present land owners? The UN contract signed at Women's Conference in Beijing indicated such a "right", and the WFS affirmed it: "Support and implement commitments made at the Fourth World Conference on Women...." (#16,a) Nations that signed the WFS contract agreed to Commitment 7: "implement, monitor, and follow-up this Plan of Action at all levels in cooperation with the international community." President Clinton took a big step toward fulfilling his part through Executive Order 13011. Creating a massive information technology management system linked to international systems, it helps federal agencies-FBI, CIA, FEMA, EPA and Departments of State, Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Interior, etc.-exchange and monitor information around the world. According to UN guidelines, all people and all places would be monitored-schools, homes, workplaces ....All who violate the new standards for tolerance, gender equity, or sustainable living at home or at work would be tracked through the vast UN-controlled data system. Globalist leaders know that only a new set of beliefs and values will prepare the Western world to accept what Al Gore calls "sacrifice, struggle and a wrenching transformation of society."11 The 3 E's of Sustainable Development (Environment, Economy, and Equity) must become the world's central organizing principle. Every nation must submit to a "system-wide coordination within the framework of the coordinated follow-up to UN conferences..." Resident UN coordinators would direct and monitor "the allocation and use of financial and human resources" (#59,h,e), while nations yield their sovereignty to a monstrous multilevel global bureaucracy. All this would be hard for Americans to swallow unless persuasive information can change their minds. So the UN calls for "system-wide advocacy" to guide its agenda through the "difficult times of economic transition, budget austerity and structural adjustment" ahead. (#59,m,n) "Improve the... dissemination and utilization of information and data...needed to guide and monitor progress..." states the contract. (#59,c) The validity of new data matters less than its power to stir feelings and motivate the masses to accept the new socialist criteria for economic equality.12 As Stanford environmentalist Stephen Schneider said, "we need to get some broad based support ....So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements and make little mention of any doubts we might have...."13 To rally public support, advocacy must outweigh integrity. A memo to employees of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment14 told workers to discard all documents "which contain other policy proposals not adopted or reflected" in its final policy decisions. "Only those...communications which are reflected or embodied in the final decision or document shall be kept on file." What counts is the appearance of consensus-the key to managing people through "civic government." To ensure conformity to UN policies at all levels of society, the "WFS Plan of Action builds on consensus reached." (#10) This strategy, which uses planned dialogues and politically correct data to create a collective mindset, is already being used in American schools, workplaces, communities, and government agencies. It is promoted through UN literature, the US Department of Education's Community Action Toolkit, and Sustainable America, the 1996 report by the President's Council on Sustainable Development. In fact, the worldwide "human resource" management system envisioned by socialist leaders long ago is almost in place. MANAGING PEOPLE. "Raise the global profile of food security issues through system-wide advocacy," states the WFS contract. (#58.12) It uses words such as advocacy, civil society, participatory, and empowering to indicate the strategic blend of propaganda and dialogue used around the world to win grass-roots support for the global agenda. Around the world, facilitators are being trained to lead the consensus process. Emotional phrases such as "food insecurity" and "vulnerability information" evoke the public sympathy needed to change attitudes and spur action. The WFS contract states, "To prevent and resolve conflicts peacefully and create a stable political environment, ...governments.... will... reinforce peace, by developing conflict prevention mechanisms... promoting tolerance.... Develop policy making... processes that are democratic, transparent, participatory, empowering...." (#14) "Promoting tolerance" is key to the paradigm shift from biblical to earth-centered beliefs and values. The 1995 NESCO Declaration on Tolerance, signed by member states, defines tolerance as "respect, acceptance and appreciation" of the world's diverse cultures and lifestyles-an attitude that "involves the rejection of dogmatism and absolutism." It is "not only a moral duty, it is also a political and legal requirement." Since "intolerance is a global threat," UNESCO demands a worldwide "response to this global challenge, including...effective countermeasures...." Why discuss tolerance, consensus building, compromise, and conflict resolution at a UN summit on food? First, UN leaders warn us that intolerance causes conflict, which hinders food production and brings poverty. Second, since intolerance implies resistance to the new global values and solidarity, it is a threat to the completion of the whole UN plan. So intolerance must be quenched, while "tolerance promotion and the shaping of attitudes.... should take place in schools and universities... at home and in the workplace...."15 The solution, as you saw, is the consensus process, also called conflict resolution, Hegelian dialectics, or the Delphi Technique. To unify people with opposing values, the public must be engaged in "participatory" dialogues. These dialogues produce the collective thinking which prods participants beyond the old truths into the ambiguous realm of imagination and evolving truths. The ground rules demand that everyone participate and find "common ground." They forbid dissent and argument, no matter how unsound the "scientific"evidence used to back the preplanned consensus. " Adversarial... processes" must be replaced with "collaborative approaches to resolving conflicts" through "education, information and communications" until "people, bonded by a shared purpose"16 learn to comply. It's happening everywhere. Young and old are being trained to blend their values, adapt their beliefs, think as a group, and conform to new standards. Like other nations, America is following the Pied Piper into a new world order whose architects may sound compassionate, but are neither rational, factual, honest nor tolerant. POPULATION CONTROL. Notice the paradoxes. The United Nations promises human rights, but mandates social engineering. It promises peace, but creates conflict. It touts science, but twists it into propaganda. And it pledges food security, but limits land use. How, then, can it reconcile its vision of a global welfare system with its green agenda, including the huge biosphere reserves? The Global Biodiversity Assessment (GBA) suggest an answer: simply cut the world population by about 80%-or return to a feudal lifestyle (no cars, planes, air conditioners ...) Meeting the need for "scientific and technical assessments" mandated in the UN Convention on Biological Diversity,17 the GBA estimates that, "an 'agricultural world' in which most human beings are peasants, should be able to support 5 to 7 billion people.... In contrast, a reasonable estimate for an industrialized world society at the present North American material standard of living would be 1 billion [people]."18 For globalist leaders such as Undersecretary of State Timothy Wirth, the process is too slow. "We hope the senate will... ratify the Biological Diversity Treaty which is essential to all the issues," he told reporters, "[and to the] continuing emphasis on the increasing need for population stabilizing ...."19 A crusader for Malthusian economics and China's one-child family planning, Wirth has indicated that by protecting women fleeing China's oppressive abortion policies, "we could potentially open ourselves up to just about everybody in the world saying 'I don't want to plan my family, therefore I deserve political asylum."20 Wirth's views may sound too radical for consensus, but that depends on whose voice is heard. UN leaders promise to involve everyone, but dissenters are left out. Today's typical consensus process allows resisters a moment to expose themselves, but it refuses to record their objections. So does the new civil society. "Bella Abzug's NGO Forum will submit a document supposedly representing 1,200 NGOs and millions of persons worldwide," observed Eagle forum leader Cathie Adams, "The supporters of that document claim to represent the world's civil society. [Yet] conservative groups like Eagle forum have experienced tremendous harassment.... Clearly, the 'new civil society' cannot accommodate traditional family values. The radical feminists are extremists attempting to stifle any conservative views."21 So are the socialists behind the UN agenda. As Andrei Vishinsky wrote in The Law of the Soviet State, "naturally, there can be no place for freedom of speech, press, and so on for the foes of socialism."22 Exclusion and hostility have pursued Jews and Christians throughout history. Biblical values simply don't fit a world that has turns its back to God. "If you were of the world, the world would love its own," Jesus told His friends. "Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.... If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you... because they do not know Him who sent Me." Moments later, Jesus encouraged His friends with a promise: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 15:19-21, 16:33) In a world of confusion, conflict, and catastrophe, He alone offers the hope, strength, and guidance that can bring victory over evil. * * * * * For practical information about the U.S. implementation of the U.N. agenda for educating the masses, read Brave New Schools (Harvest House Publishers). Available through Christian bookstores or call 800-829-5646. Endnotes: 1 Kathleen Marquardt, "Are Your Ready for Our New Age Future?" Insider's Report, American Policy Center (703-925-0881), December 1995; p. 3. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Henry Lamb, "Rewilding America," eco-logic (November/December 1995) 5 Ibid. 6 Don Young, Statement on H.R. 3752 in House of Representatives, September 12, 1996. 7 Henry Lamb, "Rewilding America," eco-logic (November/December 1995) 8 CNN, November 8, 1996. 9 WFS News release: Rome, November 10, 1996. 10Joan Veon, Compilation of the Beijing Draft Document Grouped by Perceived or Stated Goals (Olney, MD: TWG, Inc., 1995),i. 11 Al Gore, Earth in the Balance (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992), p. 274. 12 All these points will be validated with quotes from the PCSD or WFS Plan of Action. 13 Jonathan Schell, "Our Fragile Earth," Discover (October 1989); 44. 14 This agency evaluates the risks of chemical pollutants and assists the state Environmental Protection Agency in writing regulations supposedly needed to protect public health. 15 Declaration on Tolerance, UNESCO. 16 The President's Council on Sustainable Development, Sustainable America, 112-113. 17 Article 25 (2a) 18 Lines 1782-1786 19 CNN, November 8, 1996. 20 Robert James Bidinotto, "Environmental Freedom's Foe for the Nineties," The Freeman (November 1990), p. 418. Cited by The Envirionmental Policy Task Force News, Washington, D.C. (202-543-4779). 21 Cathie Adams, Texas Eagle Forum Press Release, November 13,1996. 22 Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 5, p. 164. Berit is a regular contributor to PZ. She provides well documented and well researched material. You may send her e-mail at the PropheZine e-mail addresses. We will forward them to her. PARADIGM LOST by John Loeffler, Colorado Christian News loeffler@comtch.iea.com It has become fashionable for people on the left to chirp "extremist" at any viewpoint on the right opposing their belief. Consider however that the great and good of today's moderation movement are the radical leftists of thirty years ago. "Extreme right" today actually describes much of the mainstream culture three decades back when radical left flower children commenced their rabble-rousing change of society and started a love movement by calling the police "pigs." This was the same crowd that spat on U.S. soldiers to oppose an immoral war. Since then academics -- to the cheering of the media -- have pounded the culture with a constant socialist, left-leaning drumbeat. Generations educated by this drumbeat began moving leftward and assumed their view to be the cultural mainstream. Now, they have discovered a whole crowd of people who didn't move left with them -- the new "radical right." "Moderation" has become the left's mantra of choice. What this really means is that the right should take a neutral position, allowing the great and good of the left to pursue their agendas unimpeded. Really now. Was the civil rights movement of the early 1960s a moderate movement? Absolutely not. It was driven by people standing for a political change they believed was essential. What about the various anti-war and university protests that dotted the 1960s and 1970s? Were they moderate? Hardly. Moderation -- taking no strong position on anything -- is a combination of I'm O.K., you're O.K. psychology combined a no-such-thing-as-absolute-truth philosophy. Even Christians -- who should know better -- have gotten sucked up into this bizarre mode of thought and actually think it's biblical. Notice there are never condemnations of those who are extreme about their "moderation," which is really a form of militant mediocrity. Since there is no such thing as absolute truth, the reasoning goes, no one should believe anything too much. Therefore all ideas have equal weight, all cultures are equally good and no one should criticize anyone else since all our ideas are wonderful -- insert warm fuzzy group hug here -- and peace on earth is just around the corner. The real consequences of such pabulum are staggering. The entire culture has been placed on an ocean of floating, contradictory values which are determined by pop fads of the moment rather than solid moral concepts of right and wrong. It is becoming pernicious in the judicial system where legal precedent is thrown to the dogs in favor of political activism. Here's moderation in action: Feminists argue strongly in favor of a woman's right to choose? Are they in favor of a woman's right to abort a female fetus because it's a girl? Why that would violate the fetus's right to be a female. A fetus then has a right to be female but doesn't have a right to life. The very same people telling you the public has no right to tell a woman what to do with her body start telling women what to do with their bodies. Ah but that's the fun of making up truth up as you go. The contradictions of relative truths flooding the culture, especially the judicial system, are dangerous to future stability. There are no rules except that we have no rules except toleration of all rules except those rules that say we mustn't tolerate something, and we can't tolerate that; that would be intolerant. Did you follow that? Good. I didn't either but that is the nonsense being foisted on us today by the great and good. For a Christian, the argument should NEVER be over whether or not there is an absolute truth -- the Bible tells us there is. The argument is over whether or not our ideas, views, theology and philosophies come close to that truth. This provides us with fixed moral references in an ocean of constantly changing public values. The next time someone says to you "that's just your truth" or "there is no such thing as absolute truth," ask them to hand over YOUR money which is in THEIR wallet. You'll see quickly what they really believe about absolute truth. I guarantee it -- absolutely! Comments regarding this article may be e-mailed to John Loeffler at loeffler@comtch.iea.com A CHAUFFEUR FOR JESUS? A JEWISH LEGEND? by Randy Martin rmartin@cadvision.com * * * * * * * * * * ..no no NOT a Chauffeur! ... it just sounds like Chauffeur. It is "Shofar", the trumpet of God! The Bible has a lot to say about the Shofar, a simple hollowed out ram's horn. Shofar is a Hebrew word meaning: horn or rams horn. The Bible(KJV) translates this as "trumpet" in 68 explicit references to the Shofar in the Old Testament. The New Testament contains many more references to trumpet. I have read all these trumpet words many times ... but somehow I never really paid that much attention to the trumpet itself or what it meant to blow it ... at least not until a "Jewish Legend" about the Shofar caught my eye recently. Then I started reading up about it ... and it is exciting! When you think of the Shofar - think of Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Nehemiah, David ...Think coronation, ark of the covenant, temple, rebuilding Jerusalem ... Think Resurrection of the Dead! and Messiah returning!! Think loud sounds! 1) SO WHAT IS THE JEWISH LEGEND? "The Shofar is the Biblical trumpet which was used in ancient times to call the tribes of Israel to battle; to assemble together for their wanderings in the desert; and to stir their hearts to repentance. Jewish legend has it that two very special Shofars were made from the horns of the ram which was caught in the thicket and sacrificed by our Father, Abraham, in place of our Father, Isaac, on Mount Moriah." "From these two special Shofars, the first was sounded by G-d Himself on Mount Sinai at the time of the giving of the Torah. The second Shofar made from this ram will be sounded in the future to herald the coming of the True Messiah and the completion of the final Redemption of Mankind through the Jewish people. " "Project Shofar", documented the above legend on the internet at: [Check it out] http://www.virtual.co.il/aliyah/aliyah/shofar/newsletter/trumpet.htm Established by Nir College of Judaic Studies, in Hebron, Project Shofar has the following purpose: "to attune our ears to the Call of the Shofar of Redemption which has already begun. The return of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel from all four corners of the Earth ..." Have a look! There are pictures! Now when I read the Bible and it talks about blowing the trumpet, I think oh THAT Trumpet! 2) WHAT DOES THE SHOFAR SOUND LIKE? [Check it out] http://www.jfed.org/magnes/shofar.htm A group called "FEDNET: On-line with the Jewish Community of the Greater East Bay!!! " have a beautiful picture of a shofar AND also offer the sound of it's blast for you to hear - through your computer! They say "The shofar symbolizes the major theme of the Days of Repentance .... The shofar, with its powerful and profound calls, removes the obstacles before us and helps us reach this new start." Link, listen and think. Now when I read the Bible and it says the trumpet sounded I think - oh THAT sound! 3) GOD WROTE THINGS FOR YOU TO PONDER I won't quote all the trumpet scripture or all the 68 direct references ... but it is worth your while to get out your Bible and linger a while with the ones outlined below. Let your mind marinate on the context of each account, gathering a sense of the sights and sounds and purpose of what is taking place. Moses Heard The Shofar Sound Loud and Long Ex 19:16* ...there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that were in the camp trembled. ....19 ...the trumpet sounded long, and grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. Moses - Blow the Shofar on Day of Atonement Lev 25:9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement ... Moses - Blow the Shofar to Gather the Princes Nu 10:4 And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, who are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall assemble themselves to thee. Joshua - The Shofar Blasts Long at Jericho Josh 6:5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat ... Gideon's Sword Announced by the Shofar Blast! Jud 7:18 When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. Dancing David Brings the Ark Home - Sound the Shofar! 2 Sam:15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. 16 ... king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; ... 17 and set it in its place, inside the tabernacle .. Solomon Crowned on a Mule - Shofar Sounds! 1 Kings 1:32* And king David said .... 33 cause Solomon my son to ride upon my own mule, and .... anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet ... Nehemiah Rebuilds Jerusalem; Sound the Shofar! Neh 4:18 For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so built. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. ...our God shall fight for us. David says: the Shofar announces Messiah! Praise him! Psalm 47:5* God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. 6 Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises to our King, sing praises. Isaiah says: the Shofar sounds Deliverance Isa 27:13 ... the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come who were ready to perish ... Jeremiah says: the Shofar sounds the Watchman's Warning Jer 6:17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. Ezekiel says: the Shofar Warns the People Eze 33:3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he shall blow the trumpet, and warn the people ... Joel says: the Shofar Announces The Day of The Lord Joel 2:1* Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is near at hand; Zechariah says: the God Will Blow The Shofar! Zec 9:14 "his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet" Paul says: the Dead Will Be Resurrected at the Last Trumpet 1Co 15:52 ... in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet ... the dead shall be raised ... Paul says: God Sounds the Last Trumpet 1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout ... with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first... John heard The Trumpet Blast - Loud!! Re 1:10 I ... heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, John heard the Trumpet Say "Come Up Here"! Re 4:1* ... behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up here ... John says: Two Witnesses Rise From The Dead in Plain View! Re 11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them who saw them. 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here. And they ascended to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. ....15 And the seventh angel sounded ... The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. ... 19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. Soak in these words a little ... listen to the sound of the shofar and let it's sound reverberate in your mind, let your heart be stirred ... anticipate this great event! It will be something like nothing else since the times of Moses! But we can know and sense a little of what it will be like even today ... it has happened before ... it will happen again! 4) CONCLUSION I think about Moses at the mountain of God ... the walls of Jericho falling flat ... a few men with Gideon against a huge army ... Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in opposition ... the Watchman sounding his alarm of war ... Jews streaming out of Israel to the mountains ... Presidents and Prime Ministers of countries gathering, confused ... a doorway openingin heaven .... a voice calling "come up here" ... a voice calling my name "come up here"! ... a voice calling my wife's name "come up here"! ... a voice calling my son's name "come up here"!... and in the twinkling of an eye I am taken out the terror ... two holy men lie bloody in the streets of Jerusalem and rise from the dead in plain view on CNN ... CNN announces "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." ... Canada is announced as one of those kingdoms ... CNN records the temple of God opening ... and there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant: and there are lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake .... the King marches in power through Jerusalem's east gate ... there is a Coronation and the King dances in Jerusalem in the temple ... there is a massive gathering where we sing praises and we sing "I see the Lord seated on the throne exalted!" "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.", the Presidents and Prime Ministers of every country bow on their knee at the ceremony and say "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." The world is changed forever. Yes - I imagine the shofar's blast long and loud .... I imagine our attention being glued to it's first blast, like something strange that we have not heard before ... I imagine the terror of those who hear it's blast ... I imagine it sounding again and many of those in Judea who hear it taking cover ... I imagine the presidents of the countries gathering at it's sound .... I imagine the Lord opening the doorway into heaven .... I imagine a blast from that trumpet in the clouds and my name is called with a shout "come up here!!" ... I imagine being snatched from the destruction that is building and about to happen ... and most of all I imagine going "up there" and being allowed to watch it all unfold from a safe distance ... I imagine the majesty of the King being crowned ... I imagine the ark of the covenant being seen in the temple ... I imagine the sight of the King dancing in the temple ... I imagine being in the courtyard and being given a chance to blow the shofar and dance too!! I imagine being given a job in the "kingdom" ... I imagine the kingdom ... right, good, justice, kindness, love ... no sin at all. I imagine beauty. I imagine my family with me. I actually see the Lord face to face and he speaks to me "I told you I would come for you --- here is the place I have prepared for you - go on it's yours and no one will take it from you". Going to meet the Lord will be a blast! Literally!! Let us all be ready and have ears that hear. "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory" AMEN! This is Randy's first article for PZ....if you would like to encourage him, his e-mail address is rmartin@cadvision.com Who Were the Magi? By Chuck Missler update@khouse.org Each year as we approach the holiday season, our preparations for Christmas include revisiting the events surrounding the birth of Our Lord. Bethlehem,(1) the shepherds, and the angels are all familiar to us. But not much is generally known about the mysterious "Magi" who came to worship the infant Jesus. The following background may be helpful to stimulate conversations around the fireplace, as our thoughts turn to this incredible event from which we measure our very calendar. Traditions Most of what we associate with the "Magi" is from early church traditions. Most have assumed that there were three of them since they brought three specific gifts. (But the Biblical text doesn't number them.) They are called "Magi" from the Latinized form of the Greek word magoi, transliterated from the Persian for a select sect of priests. (Our word "magic" comes from the same root.) As the years passed, traditions became increasingly embelhshed. By the third century, they were viewed as kings. By the sixth century they had names: Bithisarea, Melichior, and Gathaspa. Some even associated them with Shem, Ham and Japheth, the three sons of Noah, and thus with Asia, Africa, and Europe. A fourteenth century Armenian tradition identifies them as Balthasar, King of Arabia; Melchior, King of Persia; and Gasper, King of India. (Relics attributed to them emerged in the fourth century and were transferred from Constantinople to Milan in the the fifth century, and then to Cologne in 1162, where they remain enshrined today.) These are all very interesting traditions, but what do we really know about the Magi? The Priesthood of the Medes The ancient Magi were a hereditary priesthood of the Medes credited with profound and extraordinary religious knowledge. After some Magi, who had been attached to the Median court, proved to be expert in the interpretation of dreams, Darius the Great established them over the state religion of Persia.(2) (Contrary to popular belief, the Magi were not originally followers of Zoroaster.(3) That all came later.) It was in this dual capacity whereby civil and political counsel was invested with religious authority, that the Magi became the supreme priestly caste of the Persian empire, and continued to be prominent during the subsequent Seleucid, Parthian, Sasanian periods.(4) The Role of Daniel One of the titles given to Daniel was Rab-mag, the Chief of the Magi.(5) His unusual career included being a principal administrator in two world empires, the Babylonian and the subsequent Persian Empire. When Darius appointed him, a Jew, over the previously hereditary Median priesthood, the resulting repercussions resulted in the plots leading to the lion's den.(6) Daniel appar- entrusted a messianic vision (to be announced in due time by a "star") to a secret sect of the Magi for its eventual fulfillment. But first, let's cover some historical background. Political Background. Since the days of Daniel, the fortunes of both the Persian and the Jewish nations had been closely intertwined. Both nations had, in their turn, fallen under Seleucid domination in the wake of Alexander's conquests. Subsequently both had regained their independence: the Jews under Maccabean leadership, and the Persians as the dominating ruling group within the Parthian Empire. It was at this time that the Magi, in their dual priestly and - governmental office, composed and the upper house of the Council of the Megistanes ("magistrates") whose duties included the absolute choice and election of the king of the realm. It was therefore a group of Persian-Parthian "king makers" who entered Jerusalem in the latter days of the reign of Herod. Herod's reaction was understandably one of fear when one considers the background of Roman Parthian rivalry that prevailed during his lifetime. Rome on the Rise Pompey, the first Roman conqueror of Jerusalem, attacked the Armenian outpost of Parthia in 63 B.C. In 55 B.C. Carssus led Roman le gions in sacking Jerusalem and, in a subsequent attack, Parthia proper. The Romans were decisively defeated at the battle of Carrhae with the loss of 30,000 troops, including their com mander. The Parthians counter attacked with a token invasion of Armenia, Syria, and Palestine. Nominal Roman rule was reestablished under Antipater, the father of Herod, who retreated before another Parthian invasion in 40 B.C. Mark Anthony re-established Roman sovereignty in 37 B.C., and, like Carssus before him, also embarked on a similarly ill-fated Parthian expedition. His disastrous retreat was followed by another wave of invading Parthians, which swept all Roman opposition completely out of Palestine (including Herod himself, who fled to Alexandria and then to Rome). With Parthian collaboration, Jewish sovereignty was restored and Jerusalem was fortified with a Jewish garrison. Herod, by this time, secured from Augustus Caesar the title of "King of the Jews." However, it was not for three years (including a five month's siege by Roman troops) that he was able to occupy his own capital city. Herod had thus gained the throne of a rebellious buffer state which was situated between two mighty contending empires. At any time, his own subjects might conspire in bringing the Parthians to their aid. At the time of Christ's birth, Herod may have been close to his final illness. Augustus was also aged, and Rome, since the retirement of. 'Lberius, was without any experienced military commander. Pro-Parthian Armenia was fomenting revolt against Rome (which was successfully accomplished within two years). Tensions in Parthia The time was ripe for another Parthian invasion of the buffer provinces, except for the fact that Parthia itself was racked by internal dissension. Phraates IV, the unpopular and aging king, had once been deposed, and it was not improbable that the Persian Magi were already involved in the political maneuvering requisite to choosing his successor. It was conceivable that the Magi might be taking advantage of the king's lack of popularity to further their own interests with the establishment of a new dynasty which could have been implemented if a sufficiently strong contender could be found. At this time it was entirely conceivable that the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, culminating in Daniel's writings (one of their own Magians), was of profound motivating significance. The promise of a divinely imposed world dominion at the hands of a Jewish monarch was more than acceptable to them. (Their own Persian and MedoPersian history was studded with Jewish nobles, ministers, and counselors.) The Entourage to Jerusalem In Jerusalem the sudden appearance of the Magi, probably traveling in force with every imaginable oriental pomp, and accompanied by adequate calvary escort to insure their safe penetration of Roman territory, certainly alarmed Herod and the populace of Jerusalem. It would seem as if these Magi were attempting to perpetrate a border incident which could bring swift reprisal from Parthian armies. Their request of Herod regarding the one "who has been born King of the Jews"(7) was a calculated insult to him, a non Jew(8) who had contrived and bribed his way into that office. Consulting his scribes, Herod discovered from the prophecies in the Tanach (the Old Testament) that the Promised One, the Messiah, would be born in Bethlehem.(9) Hiding his concern and expressing sincere interest, Herod requested them to keep him informed. After finding the babe and presenting their prophetic gifts, the Magi "being warned in a dream" (a form of communication most acceptable to them) departed to their own country, ignoring Herod's request. (Within two years, Phraataces, the parricide son of Phraates IV, was duly installed by the Magi as the new ruler of Parthia.) Daniel's Messianic Role Living six centuries before the birth of Christ, Daniel certainly had an incredible number of Messianic prophecies. In addition to several overviews of Gentile world history,(10) the Angel Gabriel told him the precise day that Jesus would present Himself as Kng to Jerusalem.(11) It is interesting that Daniel's founding of a secret sect of the Magi also had a role in having these prominent Gentiles present gifts at the birth of the Jewish Messiah. The Christmas Gifts The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were also prophetic, speaking of our Lord's offices of king, priest, and savior. Gold speaks of His kingship; frankincense was a spice used in the priestly duties and myrrh was an embalming ointment signifying His death. In the millennium, He will also receive the gifts of gold and frankincense;(12) but no myrrh. His death was once and for all. What gifts are YOU going to give Him this year? Discuss it with Him. For a review of other background items, see The Christmas Story - What Really Happened, and the Expositional Commentary of the Book of Daniel, both available from K-House. Notes: 1. For background on why it was Bethlehem, study the Book of Ruth, or our briefing package, The Romance of Redemption. 2. Oneir-omancy, not astrology, is the key skill mentioned by Herodotus, 1.1 07, 120; Vil.19. 3. Encyclopedia Britannica, 7:691. 4. Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, 4:31-34. 5. Daniel 4:9; 5:11. 6. Daniel 6. 7. Matthew 2:2. 8. Herod was Idumean (an Edomite), a traditional enemy of Israel. 9. Micah 5:2. (Revealed by Holy Scripture, not astrology.) 10. Daniel 2 and 7. See also, Iron Mixed With Clay: The Emergent European Suprastate. 11. Daniel 9:24-26. See also Daniel's 70 Weeks. 12. Isaiah 60:6. SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE Fight the Good Fight by Moishe Rosen founder of Jews for Jesus "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 1Ti 6:12. Many children are instructed that all fighting is always wrong. My mother had a lot of worldly wisdom. She knew that it was the nature of boys to fight. It's amazing how many parents make the mistake of thinking that they can train human nature out of their children. She told us that if we had to fight to do it the right way and not runaway. Fighting is natural, normal, and is part of everybody's life. Nothing is more human than the desire to prevail over other people and over one's life situation. Turning the other cheek goes against all of our masculine instincts. Whereas, the females of the human species are not as physically combative by instinct, there is a competitiveness that causes a striving that is just as hurtful as a kick in the stomach. A blow to one's ego usually hurts more than physical pain. Why is it that when a runner-up who finishes second in a beauty contest, makes a little speech congratulating the winner, then says of herself, "It was just such a great privilege for me to be considered and to be in this contest. I feel more honored than if I would have won." Why isn't that speech quite believable? Why don't they have a beauty contest for women called, "Miss Poodle Look-Alike." Maybe it's because women don't consciously want to resemble dogs, they want to be the most beautiful women on the block, in the village, in the county, in the state. Women and men both strive for power and ascendancy, and this striving, lusting, craving is the basis of conflict. It is motivated by the desires of the flesh and the pride of the soul, and is all together in accord with human nature, that is if we understand human nature to be a synonym for sin. Sin is not merely a deed we do. It is a condition of existence, an always present attitude. On the other hand, there is a striving which is not the evil warfare described above. It's the good fight where we seek to prevail over ourselves, where we struggle to gain self control, where we strive with our situations to make the best for God and for others, where we endure hardship, and hold-on, not for the sake of being seen as being the best. No, we struggle and we hold-on to demonstrate the Power of God and His Glory, and often times, when we fight the good fight, we are anonymous to man, but well-know to our heavenly Father. When we look at the text in 1Ti 6:12, we see that we're fighting the good fight of faith. Faith doesn't need a fortress, because it doesn't need to be defended. Faith is always on the offensive, always reaching out, always moving ahead. "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 1Ti 6:12 There are certain subsequent steps to fighting this good fight. We are told to "lay hold on eternal life." That "eternal life" is our position. We take our stand in the Savior and what he has done for us. But it is not a foxhole position. It is the position from which we advance when the command "forward" is given. We are always looking toward the call to advance and engage. Our engagement is our confession of faith. The word "confession" does not mean an admission of wrongdoing. It means to "say with." It speaks of agreement, standing with others and telling together. We are to confess or proclaim that faith in the presence of many witnesses, or be out front. When we go into a defensive mode, we lose the initiative of our own life. We hand the right to make the first move over to our enemy. We cozy up in our fortress waiting for the evil to attack us. We say to the enemy, "Come ahead. We will deal with you from our fortress." Since our fight is one of faith, we find ourselves confronted by principalities, powers, evil far beyond what we've imagined, and we're not just talking about the prince of this world--Satan. But we fail to recognize that we have enemies within the fortress. Satan has a fifth column. We're talking about his allies within our camp--our very own flesh becomes his ally. The very world that we love, our family, our home, our place, our friends, our government are part of a world system that, without the constant cleansing, can become allies of the evil-one to work against us. It is Satan's desire that he be the god of this world. That he have control over what is happening her. We don't reckon with the fact that only The God can be omnipotent and omniscient. A god, if there could be such a thing, could never be omnipotent. Sometimes we fail to realize that in our striving, our struggling, our fighting to ascend, we are competing with God. Some think they can be gods-especially when they become suspicious of God's good intention toward us. That was part of Eve's motivation in taking the fruit in the garden--that in the day that she ate it, she would become knowledgeable like God. That was also the reason for the building of the Tower at Babel, though scripture is obscure when it says that they built that tower to make a name for themselves. We all want to be loved and adored, but if that love and adoration which is directed toward us, detracts from the love and affection that should go toward the Creator, then we, ourselves, have become idols of those who love and adore us. Children learn to socialize, to relate to others. If it's through games, they become competitive with one another. But not all striving must be competitive. For example, when children sing together, and each one is singing in harmony with the other, we have a striving to be together, to lift-up those with whom we are singing, to make a sound in which each of us has a part. Singing with others, in a sense, is fighting the good fight, because the struggle is to make a beautiful sound. Children should learn to sing together before they learn sports. The sports they do learn should be team sports where each person has a role to play, to lift-up the others. Fighting the good fight is not setting out to destroy the enemies of God. It is a striving and a struggling to bring one's self under control and stay rooted in the True Vine, that we might grow in the fruits of the Spirit. "(for the fruit of the Spirit [is] in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord." Eph 5:9-10 Fighting the good fight is not quarreling with unbelievers to show them that Jesus is the truth and get them to surrender to what you know is true. No, it is striving to live according to God's Word, that by example, they will see that you take His Truth seriously. In fighting the good fight, we don't use the weapons of the world that kill, maim, destroy, demoralize, but rather, we put on the whole armor of God. "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Eph 6:11 Stand therefore, having: 1. Girded your waist with truth, 2. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 3. And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, 4 Taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 5. Take the helmet of salvation, and 6. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Conclusion: In fighting the good fight everybody wins. The only losers are those who want evil to prevail. When we talk about the battle which is life, we have some young people who think that they can win without striving, without the struggle, without grasping the purpose that God has for them. Getting what the world has to offer doesn't make you a winner. Today's champion can be tomorrow's chump! "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." Gal 5:22-23 If education, success in business, finding the right mate, can all help you walk a more Godly life, then these are worthwhile aspirations, if you will but follow the passage that says: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matt 6:33 To some of you who are older, and have been beat up by life so that you're not fighting any more--by quitting the struggle, by not taking the risks of reaching out, by doing the safe things that cushion your ego and add to your sense of comfort, you've declared yourself a looser, with very little. Remember it's not in your strength that you fight the battle of life. It is not in your power that you will prevail. There is a spiritual victory that is yet to be gained. Stand-up! Rise-up! Gird your hearts and your minds for the big battle, the big win, the triumph of life. Remember that it's not by might, nor by power, but by God's spirit! If you're too old to try, then you're too old to live! The wonderful thing is that in fighting the good fight, we have many other people in the front lines--comrades who will help us, colleagues who will lift us, brothers and sisters who will rejoice when we win, and who will sorrow with us when we lose a skirmish. And skirmishes we must lose, but as long as we stay in the battle, the victory is ours--Jesus said so! Comments to Moishe's writing may be addresses to MightyMo@aol.com Also visit the Jews for Jesus Web Site at http://www.jews-for-jesus.org Yeshua, Come! A poem by Lori Fiechter (fiechter@parlorcity.com) Yeshua is the Messiah; Yeshua is the Son! Yeshua, Ha Mashiach: the Lord's Anointed One; The only hope for Israel; the only hope for peace; Jesus the Christ, the promised King; Ha Mashiach Nagid! Yeshua, come! Yeshua, come! Now we believe You are God, the Son! We know for so long that we have been wrong; You are the Messiah; Yeshua, come! Look on the One whom we have pierced; Look on the Son and mourn! Acknowledge your guilt and seek His face, He will heal those He has torn. Rejected and despised of men, He will come again to reign! Return, O Lord, how long? How long-- Your kingdom to obtain? Yeshua, come! Yeshua, come! Now we believe that You are the Son! Lord, for so long, we have been wrong; You are the Messiah, Yeshua, come! (You are Ha Mashiach, Yeshua, come!) F.Y.I. - Israel In The News Week Ending: November 30, 1996/Kislev 19, 5757 by Lee Underwood Send comments to Lee Underwood at: mbi@digital.net "For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head." Obadiah 1.15 UN COMMEMORATES SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINIANS: A meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People was held on Fridayto commemorate the "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People". The "International Day" is observed annually in accordance with a General Assembly (GA) resolution adopted in 1977. All Member States, United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, observers and non-governmental organizations are invited to attend the meeting. The UN continues to attach the utmost importance to the promotion of Palestinian social and economic development, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said Friday. He added that this was essential in order to alleviate the impact of the closure, to improve living conditions and to create solid foundations for the achievement of a lasting piece. The Secretary-General acknowledged that this issue was very close to his heart, and stated that this annual commemorative event provided an opportunity to remind the international community that the question of Palestine remained unresolved despite the many efforts made over the years. Boutros-Ghali said that it was essential to the parties involved in the piece process to abide by agreements already reached. He noted, however, that the proposed construction of new settlements in Judea and Samaria and Gaza posed a serious threat to the continuation of the piece process. Meanwhile, "the systematic violation of human rights in the Israeli 'occupied territories' has endangered the piece process and stability of the Middle East," speakers told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), as it began consideration of the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices. Introducing the report, the Special Committee Chairman said it documented practices that reflected "a culture of sadism." The observer for Palestine said Israel must "end its maneuvers aimed at destroying the agreements reached, and comply with its contractual obligations under those agreements." She said there obviously could not be a piece process and Israeli settlements at the same time. In the end, the Fourth Committee approved a draft resolution which will have the GA demand the complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities. The draft resolution would have the Assembly stress the need for full implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994) which called upon Israel to prevent illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers and to guarantee the safety of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory. During this session, the General Assembly will deal with several issues relating to Israel. Recent committee sessions have called on Israel to release Arab security prisoners remaining in Israeli prisons; end the "occupation of Arab territories in the West Bank"; stop human rights violations; and end the closure imposed on Arabs in the disputed territories. Friday marked the 49th anniversary of the United Nations vote to partition British-mandated Palestine, on November 29, 1947. Israel accepted the decision and declared sovereignty, while the Arab states rejected partition and attacked the emerging state of Israel. (UN Daily Highlights, Kol Yisrael, SNS, ICEJ) HEVRON STILL ON THE TABLE: The US is pressuring Netanyahu and Arafat to meet to settle the differences preventing the Hevron redeployment, says Yediot Aharonot. Arafat might meet with Netanyahu in Portugal next week, Palestinian officials said Friday. Arafat may join Netanyahu and other leaders at a conference on European cooperation in Lisbon if progress is made in the next round of talks, scheduled for Sunday, the officials said. Arafat has not yet received an invitation to the conference, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, the Hevron Press Office has learned from sources within the Netanyahu government that the Israeli negotiating team has capitulated and caved in to Arafat's demands. Israel has de-facto relinquished its rights to enter Palestinian-occupied areas to be abandoned by Israel, known as 'hot pursuit', preemptively, or following a terrorist attack. According to these sources, Netanyahu has yielded on almost all the issues involved, including reopening of King David Street, and reopening of the market at the entrance to the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. With the talks on Hevron having reached a dead-end, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) is bracing for the possibility of a return of September's violence throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The IDF is increasing its presence in many locations, such as Gaza. Tanks were deployed in the Nachal Oz area of Gaza and an increased number of soldiers are present in anticipation of additional problems in the area. Residents of Har Bracha (Shomron Regional Council) told SNS that armored vehicles have returned to their community which is located in close proximity to PLO- controlled Shechem. In another story, Tuesday night, two Israeli soldiers were injured when a firebomb was thrown at them in Hevron. The are suffering from burns and their wounds are not considered to be serious. On Monday, a tank of LP gas was thrown at IDF soldiers in Hevron. The tank failed to explode. No injuries were reported. The attackers were not apprehended. Jewish girls were attacked Saturday in Hevron by local Arabs. Some young Jewish men who were nearby interceded and assisted the girls. Police were informed and a complaint was filed. (Virtual Jerusalem, Channel 2 Radio News, AP, SNS, The Voice in the Field News Service) NETANYAHU HOLDING BACK IN YESHA: "Ariel is the capital of Samaria," Netanyahu said upon his arrival there, "and it will remain so forever." Netanyahu told residents of Ariel that Israel will allow construction to accommodate natural population growth, "You deserve to live like anyone else. In my eyes, it is important to invest in this place." However, the leaders of the Yesha (Judea, Samaria, and Gaza) Council left Wednesday's meeting with the Prime Minister "severely disillusioned and disappointed," in the words of one. In the course of the meeting, it became clear to them that Netanyahu is holding back the implementation of most of the promises made to them, until after the redeployment in Hevron. Among other issues, he has frozen the updating of a map of areas slated for preferential development, which was due two weeks ago. The current map was drawn up by the previous Labor government and excludes areas in Yesha. On the other hand, Netanyahu gave a go-ahead to continue public works in the new hareidi community in Kiryat Sefer. In addition, new mobile homes were set-up this morning in the community of Bnei Atzmon in the Katif (southern Gaza) region. The caravans will be used by the hundreds of students of the local hareidi-national religious school, which had suffered from a dire lack of space. Despite reports in major newspapers to the contrary, a statement released this afternoon by the Prime Minister's Office states there have been no permits issued for the building of additional Jewish communities in the Golan Heights. This follows earlier reports that several new communities were planned, approved, and the actual groundbreaking was underway. The Prime Minister's Office has clarified that the intention is to expand existing communities, as opposed to building new communities. Meanwhile, Arab League representatives will hold an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights, a league official said Thursday. The Palestinians called the meeting of the 22 members, said Talaat Hamed, a spokesman for the Cairo-based league. They were angered by Netanyahu's pledge to continue expanding Jewish settlements. Palestinians say Jewish settlements break up the territory between their main cities and diminish their chance of establishing an independent state in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip. In another story, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned Israel that new or expanded settlements in Judea and Samaria could spell an end to Arab-Israeli piece treaties. Mubarak sent a message to Netanyahu saying that the settlements will "destroy trust between Israel and its Arab neighbors and encouragebreaking the piece agreements," according to the Al-Ahram newspaper. Mubarak was careful to point out that even the "expansion" of current communities was not acceptable at this time. (SNS, Arutz Sheva, Israel Line, Channel 2 Radio News) ON THE NORTHERN FRONT: All combat soldiers headed for Lebanon will now undergo anti-guerrilla training at a new school the IDF is to set up. The training is to be run by the Northern Command from a base in Elikim and is to consolidate anti-guerrilla combat techniques that until now were passed on to troops in a haphazard way - sometimes even after they were deployed along the front. "The change will allow us to [calculate] the level of combating guerrillas of the various units and will now enable us to determine a certain threshold which all units must reach," Brig.- Gen. Yair Naveh, chief infantry and paratroops officer, told the IDF weekly magazine "Bamachane." Reuter's reports that Hizb'Allah commandos killed a senior security officer of the South Lebanese Army (SLA) on Monday night. Hizb'Allah ("Party of God") said it "executed" Tony Nahra as he returned home from SLA headquarters to south Lebanese village of Simya. According to a Hizb'Allah statement, a commando unit ambushed Nahra's motorcade with machine guns, "implementing God's sentence." Hizb'Allah warned other SLA members of the same fate. This marks the 19th SLA member killed this year by gunmen in southern Lebanon. Hizb'Allah, backed by Iran and supplied via Syria, has also killed 24 Israeli soldiers this year. Two terrorists were killed Saturday by IDF troops in the Security Zone of southern Lebanon. The IDF troops spotted four terrorists, opened fire, killing two of them. It was not reported what happened to the other two terrorists. It is not known as of now what group the terrorists were affiliated with. (The Jerusalem Post, Channel 2 TV News, SNS, Galei Tzahal) SYRIA ACCUSES ISRAEL OF WARMONGERING: Syria's official newspapers accused Israel of pushing the region to war by taking the first step toward building 900 new housing units on the Golan Heights. In an apparent attempt to avoid criticism, the government will define the new construction sites as extensions of existing settlements, rather than as new settlements, despite their geographical distance from built-up areas. They are to be built on the western slopes of the Golan Heights. The Syrian newspapers said the move showed that Netanyahu did not want to make peace with Syria and called for world pressure on Israel to stop its settlement activities. "Israel's moves to build more settlements and to bring thousands of Israelis to the Golan show that Israel, under Netanyahu and the extremist rabbis and generals, is deliberately trying to escalate tension in the region," the Tishreen daily said. Meanwhile, Damascus rejected an Israeli proposal to hold a summit meeting between Syrian President Hafez el-Assad and Prime Minister Netanyahu, Ha'Aretz reported. The proposal was raised last week by US Senator Arlen Specter [see F.Y.I. 11-23-96-ed], who noted at the end of a shuttle mission between Syria and Israel that only a meeting between the two leaders would return the countries to the bargaining table. Syrian Information Minister Mouhmad Salman was quoted in the Egyptian press as proposing a Netanyahu-Assad summit only after a piece treaty is concluded for the purpose of signing the agreement. Despite this, there were reports Thursday morning in the Arab press of fresh attempts to jump-start the talks, and that Iran has given its nod for such a session to take place. This implies that the Iranian-backed Lebanese fundamentalist terror group Hizb'Allah would be a component of any eventual settlement between Jerusalem and Damascus. The state-run Teheran Times asserted that the Iranian position is crucial in determining the shape of the region in years to come. The Syrian ambassador to Egypt, Isser Darwish, has now backed down on his warning that Syria would use biological weapons against Israel in the face of a nuclear threat fromthe Israelis. On Wednesday, Darwish was quoted in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram as acknowledging a stockpile of missiles armed with chemical and biological warheads that would be used against Israel should a threat be felt. Kol Yisrael reported on Friday that Darwish now denies that Syria -- or any other Arab country -- possesses non-conventional weapons. [The development, production and stockpiling of weapons based on biological warfare agents was outlawed by the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, to which more than 100 states, including the UN Security Council's five permanent members, were party. Actual use of biological and chemical weapons is outlawed by the 1925 Geneva Protocol.-ed] (Jerusalem Post, Israel Line, ICEJ) SPEAKING OF IRAN & NERVE GAS . . .: According to reports received from the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), China has sold 400 tons of ingredients necessary for Iran to manufacture nerve gas. The report appeared in the Washington Times. According to the report, Iran and Syria are working together to advance their chemical arsenals including deadly warheads being attached to Syrian Scud missiles. Ma'ariv) INTENTIONAL TRAFFIC JAM CLOSES OFF NETZARIM SETTLEMENT: Large traffic jams were created on Sunday at the Netzarim Junction in the Gaza Strip, blocking a main North-South traffic artery and preventing Israeli residents of Netzarim from leaving the Gaza Strip, Ha'Aretz reported. Israeli officials claimed that the Palestinian Police intentionally caused the traffic jam in order to pressure Israel to reopen Netzarim Road to Palestinian vehicles. The road has been closed to Palestinian traffic since the terrorist attack near the Netzarim settlement in November 1994. A senior military officer said that at Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Arafat's directive, hundreds of Palestinian vehicles arrived in the Netzarim area on Sunday morning. Officers from the IDF and the Palestinian police were called to the scene of the traffic jam Sunday afternoon to ensure that the incident did not lead to bloodshed. Israeli residents of Netzarim were confined to their settlement during the incident. By the evening, traffic flow on the road was restored. The Prime Minister called the PA's purposeful traffic jam a "provocation." He said, "This policy of causing friction bordering on violence is not useful and will be met with a vigorous Israeli response. (Israel Line, Arutz Sheva) MULTI-BANK FUNDING FOR ISRAEL: The State of Israel Monday successfully completed the raising of 1.1 billion French francs ($216 million) through a consortium of foreign banks. 21 banks took part in the project, including banks in France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Japan, the US, Britain and, for the first time, the Bank of Singapore. The loan is for a longer period than ever made available from banks of this kind. Accountant-General Shai Talmon said the results of the capital- mobilization were satisfactory. He said that despite the low cost of the loan, a formidable group of banks, some of them among the largest in the world, have in essence expressed great confidence in the Israeli economy's international financial standing. (Arutz Sheva) NETANYAHU ONLINE: MSNBC on the Internet (http://www.msnbc.com) plans to host an hour-long live interactive computer chat with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from Jerusalem on Sunday, December 8, from 1pm - 2pm (ET). The chat will be wide-ranging, covering a broad variety of topics, policies and issues. Computer users worldwide will be able to ask questions of the Prime Minister directly via email. In addition, MSNBC on Cable is planning television coverage of the event. MSNBC is a partnership between NBC, a leading provider of news and information and Microsoft, the leader in personal computer software and a major provider of Internet online services. Built on the worldwide resources of NBC News, MSNBC is both a 24-hour news, talk and information cable network and a news and information Internet service. (SNS) ENTRY TO HOLY SITES BARRED: The IDF prevented a group of hareidi worshipers from entering the Hevron gravesite of Otniel ben Kenaz (one of the first Judges in Israel), and that of Nathan the Prophet in the neighboring Arab town of Halhoul. This - despite the fact that the group held a permit signed by Minister of Defense Yitzchak Mordechai. A wrangle broke out between the soldiers and the worshippers. Yosef Laufer, Chairman of the Holy Sites Organization, claims that he was struck by a soldier. Laufer said that when he demanded to know the identity of the soldier, the latter quickly ran away and changed his headgear in order to "camouflage" himself. (Arutz Sheva) EU GETS INTO THE ACT: The special European envoy for the piece process, Miguel Angel Moratinos, officially started work after receiving an official mandate from the European Union (EU), which also approved a budget for the new position, Ha'Aretz reported. Moratinos, who until now has been Spain's Ambassador to Israel, made his first appearance before the EU's Foreign Affairs Committee since being appointed. In unveiling his plans and goals, Moratinos said that his tenure in Israel and his good relations with Israeli leaders have prepared him to serve as the piece process envoy. Moratinos said he had no doubt that the EU would be able to make a significant contribution to the piece process with the help of a special envoy. "My appointment has come at a decisive moment for the region. There is only one choice: piece or a return to the period of conflict," he said. After holding initial contacts in the region, Moratinos said that all the parties are satisfied with his appointment. (Israel Line) AND THE TERROR CONTINUES . . .: At least one firebomb was thrown at a Jewish vehicle opposite the community of Daniel (Judea Regional Council). No injuries were reported in the attack. The Islamic Salvation Front wrapped up its internal elections in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza; Yehiyeh Moussa was chosen to replace Dr. Fuad Nafal as head of the group. The Front, formed approximately one year ago, functions as an umbrella for the terror organizations Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Its stated purpose is to act as an extra-parliamentary source of pressure on the Palestinian Authority. Front leaders say that in the event the Oslo process collapses, they are ready to step into the breach as an alternative Palestinian leadership. (Channel 2 Radio News, SNS, Arutz Sheva) Archives located at: http://www.inet-images.com/fellowship/fyi.htm Note: The word "peace" is not misspelled in this document. When used in conjunction with the Middle East process, it is correctly spelled "piece"-ed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FYI - Israel In The News "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep quiet" Isaiah 62:1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ News Bytes ... the following news bytes were collected by the PZ Staff from a variety of sources and rewritten so as not to infringe upon copyright and plagiarism laws. GULF PACT AND ARMS DEALS (original article by Michael Evans, London Times) by Chris Jewett This past week Great Britain signed an agreement to come to the defence of the United Arab Emirates if it (with an army of 59,000 soldiers and 200 tanks) is attacked. The agreement was signed by Michael Portillo, the Defence Secretary, on a 24-hour visit to the Gulf, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. The agreement stipulates that British troops could be deployed at short notice in the event of threatened aggression against the UAE (population 1.8 million), although the deployment of troops will depend a great deal upon circumstances. In return, Mr Portillo is hoping that the UAE Government will award defence contracts to British companies. * * * * * * * * JEWS URGE BOYCOTT OF SWISS BANKS (original article by Quentin Letts in New York and Peter Capella in Geneva, appeared in London Times) A boycott of Swiss banks accused of collaborating with Hitler's Germany is being sought by Nazi concentration camp victims and their relatives. Members of this class-action lawsuit state it is time to stop doing business with bankers who allegedly continue to hold billions of dollars' worth of assets taken from victims of the Nazi regime. One New York lawyer, states: "Switzerland was collaborating with the Germans and was absolutely not neutral." The 1,000 plaintiffs in the lawsuit are both Jewish and non-Jewish. The boycott could prove highly damaging to Zurich's banks. Estimates on the value of dormant wartime accounts range from $7 billion to $20 billion. Meanwhile, Swiss banking officials state that they can trace only $32 million worth of unclaimed assets which can be directly attributed as belonging to Holocaust victims. There are limits on the demandsfrom Switzerland but a boycott could be the impetus for unlocking the long-sealed vaults. In Geneva, however, Swiss banks have described the plaintiffs' claims as baseless. One spokesperson for the banks, stated: "One thing is clear, the Swiss banks do not want to keep a single cent of these accounts." Finally, Jewish groups in Switzerland played down the proposed boycott. "We rate this as a lot of noise for nothing and it shouldn't be taken too seriously," Martin Rosenberg, the secretary-general of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities said. MIAMI NEEDS MONEY by Chris Jewett (original story by Tom Rhodes correspondent for London Times) The mayor of the famous beach town of Miami, Florida, recently declared a fiscal emergency in the case of his city, urging the State of Florida to take it over. Governor, Lawton Chiles, is considering the apppeal for the state to take financial responsibility for Miami's growing $68 million budget deficit. Declaring the city just plain ol' bankrupt was also discussed. If the Governor of the Sunshine State chooses to intervene, it would mark the first time that Florida has ever been acted in behalf of a financially insecure municipality. For years locals have tried to disguise with ever weaker smiles, the city's troubles with corruption, but it has now become impossible to ignore. Offenses start with the US Attorney for Miami allegedly biting the arm of an exotic dancer he had hired to perform for him. The local media reported that the Government's senior prosecutor became dejected after losing a large drug-trafficking trial. Soon thereafter, FBI agents discovered what is apparently the biggest municipal scandal in the city's history. Three officials were charged with extortion and embezzlement and the investigation prompted the resignation of the city manager. Of course, Miami's near bankruptcy only makes matters worse as funds from a $72 million bond issue were used by officials to pay the pensions of their retiring colleagues, leaving no money for operating expenses. ANCIENT RELIGION THRIVES By Chris Jewett (original article by Carla Wheeler of the Gannett News Service) Ancient Druidism is alive and well in the New Age. The modern followers of this cult believe in multiple gods, support ecological initiatives and practice the beliefs and customs of their ancient predecessors. The Druids of England at the time of Christ practiced in England and France and were a priest class of the Celts. They congregated in places such as Stonehenge to celebrate changing seasons and honor the gods of the natural realm. They also observed Halloween in honor of dead ancestors. Modern followers state that they can see God everywhere and every place. They also claim their pagan views make them targets of scorn in a Judeo-Christian land. They state that because of their belief system they are condemned to hell, but neither satan nor hell is part of what they believe in. Modern Druidism first appeared in the 1960's at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. It is replete with Buddhist and New Age philosophy. A group of Druids is called a "grove." Although they claim to be something new, their pro-environment stance and love for nature isnot a new religious following at all. Most groves are left to "grow" on their own making up rules and adopting practices as the go. CROSS BAD, IDOL GOOD by Chris Jewett Well, you knew it was gonna happen, didn't ya? For 60 years the San Francisco skyline has been graced by the a simple 100 foot cross atop Mt. Davidson. My wife used to climb up to it almost weekly when she lived in the City. Now, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that the landmark must be removed. Why? Because the cross is a powerful symbol of religion with no historical significance apart from its religious symbolism. This means, according to the decision, that the City of San Francisco, by owning and maintaining the cross thus endorses a specific religion. The cross must be removed or sold. Meanwhile, if that isn't enough to stew your tomatoes, this same court on the same week has stated that a 10-ton statue of a pagan serpent god, built by taxpayer dollars, in San Jose, California, is ok. Rationale here is that the City of San Jose did not promote or endorse the religion of the Aztecs when it erected a statue of Quetzalcoatl in a public park. The court said that Quetzalcoatl was at one time a religious figure, but is not considered religious now because the symbol has no current religious adherents....a symbol must have current religious adherents to be considered religious. NEARING MIDNIGHT UPDATE by Our Good Pal Todd http://www.novia.net/~todd/rap16.html Current events that are fast moving and supportive of Bible prophecy. *Wall Street's bulls are continuing their run, smashing records regularly and propelling individual stocks to lofty levels. On Monday, the closely watched Dow crossed at yet another milestone, surpassing the 6,500 level for the first time to close at a record 6,547.79. It was only 30 days ago that the Dow vaulted the 6,000 barrier, and since then the index has surged over 500 points. With such momentum in the works, some analysts and market watchers are predicting the Dow will reach 7,000 in just a few days. Now, at some point gravity is going to set in here, and the market may be in for a tumble. At very high P/E ratio's the danger of sharp downturn is very great. I remember how the Japanese market went up up and away for several years before finally crashing. I known a way for me to personally insure that financial calamity takes place. If I was to invest my life savings into the market today, I'm certain that the markets would crumble tomorrow. *Syria's foreign minister, Farouk al-Sharaa's, at a London news conference claimed that Israel had agreed this past February to a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. If any agreement was proposed in February by the Shimon Peres government, it was never signed or full implemented. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said himself that he is not bound by any "hypothetical statements" made by past Israeli governments. This is just one more point of frustration the Syrians are placing upon themselves. The Syrian foreign minister also praised the EU for their support. Of course, more signs that the EU is getting further involved into the Peace Talks. *I was going through a news search and I notice a Middle East headline that read, "Hard-liner declares for Iran Presidency." I immediately started wondering what in the world is an Iranian Hard-liners. Is he someone who's for cutting off both hands, and is he also someone who supports free parking for every truck bomb? To give you taste of how radical Iran politics are: The moderates in Iran are the ones with the Champagne slogan, "Death to America, death to Israel." [FSNW-L] What Television Teaches Children contributed by Linda Doty (inknews@acsnet.com ) Here is something maybe for the newsbytes. I know this is a little long, but it is very good. Linda..... C O N S E R V A T I V E C O N S E N S U S (tm) ***************************************************************** Events * Analysis * Forecasts * Commentary * Readers' Opinions ***************************************************************** E D U C A T I O N World, National, Regional C O L U M N Distribution: World Editor's Desk COPYRIGHT 1996 by Conservative Consensus, ISSN 1074-245X. QUOTATION and redistribution are encouraged, for private, non-commercial use, provided nothing is changed and our headers and trailers remain intact. V2XC70 WHAT TELEVISION TEACHES CHILDREN by Redmon Barbry The bland suggestion that commercial television networks schedule educational children's programs for three hours per week, propounded by President Clinton, is one of the latest, and perhaps one of the most dangerous, fabrications of America's controllers and propagandists. Wrapped up in this seemingly harmless and benign proposal are all of the cultural deformities that our society has so eagerly embraced in this century. Behind the facade of government "caring", and under the umbrella of concern for the education of children, lies an evil truth: the current leadership of our nation want to replace the values taught in the home with values of their own choosing. The vehicle for this abomination is called, naturally enough, "education". The Hitler Jungend used the same terms to attain objectives not entirely dissimilar. Let us be clear: we are not debating free speech, press, and religious practice, or parental rights, or free markets. The American society has enshrined these freedoms not because they create a good society but because they protect us from each other's wickedness and greed. In C. S. Lewis's phrase, they are "medicine, not food." The reality is, that freedom only provides the opportunity to create a good society: it guarantees that we can steer the ship in any direction we desire; it provides neither the destination nor the map. Nor is this discussion about education, in any reasonable understanding of the term. The reason is simple: television is incapable of imparting any significant amount of education. Education is understood here to mean to process of developing the tools and skills of the intellectual life, together with the knowledge of how to apply these tools to the situations and problems of life. Also, a certain amount of factual knowledge is concomitant in the process. The reason that the television proposal is not about education is that television cannot develop any of the tools of the intellect, because none of these tools can be developed passively. Moreover, the information content of television is so low per unit time, as compared to all forms of reading and, indeed, almost every other form of human experience, that even the imparting of knowledge is not easily or efficiently achieved via the television medium. So, neither rights nor actual education is the issue. What we are talking about is the right way to live, a very different concern. Knowledge about the right way comes to us from inherited cultural resources, from received wisdom, and above all, from the indwelling Spirit of God. In human society, the vehicle for imparting these things to children is the nurture of home life. Admittedly, this is not a fool-proof mechanism, nor is it in any way uniform throughout society. Indeed, the abnormalities and anomalies of child-rearing provide the bulk of the examples for the study of abnormal psychology. We do not begin to understand all the reasons why this mechanism can fail. But clearly, television is positioned to intervene in the process as a malign disturbance in the training of children. While it is impossible either to educate or inform to any significant degree via television, it is possible to convey attitudes and values, to convince with pictures and contrived illustrations. By institutionalizing and legitimating indoctrination via television under the name of "education", the possibility now exists to circumvent the traditional structure of parental training, in order to impart to children values more to the taste of the controllers and propagandists. Dr. Joseph Goebbels, with just his radio, newspaper, and movie propaganda apparatus, succeeded in replacing the attitudes and values of an entire nation with those of Nazism; he would be envious of today's machinery for the manipulation of minds. This potential for moral indoctrination through television is truly frightening, all the more because it comes under the guise of entertainment. Children should not watch television at all. The first thing that television teaches children is to be good television watchers, because it teaches that good things come from television watching. At the worst, what little television watching children are permitted should be strictly supervised by their parents, with the content and moral message constantly in mind. Parents who abandon their children to the care of the television set are abusing their children and neglecting their highest moral obligation. Why? Because the television networks, commercial and otherwise alike, are not interested in education; they are interested in the stifling of imagination and education and thought through rigorous, long-term indoctrination, which includes moral training, cultural training, and ultimately, political training. What the indoctrinators have in mind for moral, cultural, and political training is, not to put too fine a point on it, evil. [For those who doubt this evil, let me invite you to apply a test: when was the last time you saw a commercial program that actively suggested one should love and be devoted to God? Or refrain from taking the Lord's name in vain? or keep the Sabbath? or honor one's parents? How often has a television program urged you to avoid impure thoughts, lust, revenge, or hate? Are the television programmers staunchly opposed to adultery, giving false witness, theft, and covetousness? (Even the staunchest atheist must embrace seven of these standards.) Or do they in fact glorify these things and daily demonstrate how the world rewards those who ignore the fundamental moral teachings of our culture? Well, one finds exceptions here and there, of course; no one is perfect. But the success of television programming depends on rewarding sloth, not upholding virtuous action.] The principal evil of television resides in two distinct, but compatible, areas. One is the purely commercial: a large segment of the television programmers wish to enslave people to their own appetites. By conditioning people to buy a certain product when they feel a certain way, or want to feel a certain way, the programmers achieve their goal. When they can train people from childhood to this discipline, the process is more often successful. But this is still basically a visceral and materialistic objective. The other is more sinister: the philosophical critique which has been widely derided among adults as "political correctness" is being taught, uncritically and almost unnoticed, in the entertainment programs for children. The latter is a newcomer, brought on, of course, with the best of motives, and the most devastating of results. These propagandists have, with their noble intentions and their base methods, inherited the mantle of the Pharisees, of whom Jesus spoke (see Gospel) so slightingly. What the new propaganda teaches is that: (1) the nature of the world is as the television, and ultimately, the government that mandates the educational program, says it is, not the way parents, tradition, the Church, or even science, say it is; (2) good things come from obedience to suggestions from the television, not parents or authority or religion (the widespread belief that children must not "validate" the teaching of their parents is part and parcel to this whole malignant doctrine); (3) to be knowing and wise, refer to the television, not to the accumulated wisdom of the world's literature, nor one's family elders, nor one's own interior conscience, developed under the loving guidance of caring parents; and, in particular, (4) the "wall of separation between church and state" must run between the church and us as well, religion must be shut up inside the church, and the church not visited very often, if ever. Religion, and in particular, Christianity, must never be allowed to inform our views on life, our place in society, our behavior outside of church, or the superior role of governing authority. Of course, the children will adopt the Weltanshauung of television, they will become obedient to its suggestions, and they will look to television for knowledge and wisdom: after all, their parents do all those things. But they will not be better off for it. It was bad enough when the purpose of television was only to sell soap; now that the new "educators" have come, the danger is far greater. To paraphrase T. S. Eliot, the old programmers offered real goods, worthless but real; the new propagandists offer only dreams to damnation. ________________________________________________________________ Gospel: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. ... Matthew 23:27 ________________________________________________________________ Second Reading: There may have been a time in the world's history when such moments [of decision] fully revealed their gravity, with witches prophesying on a blasted heath or visible Rubicons to be crossed. But, for him, it all slipped past in a chatter of laughter, of that intimate laughter between fellow professionals, which of all earthly powers is strongest to make men do very bad things before they are, individually, very bad men. ... C. S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength ________________________________________________________________ [This essay is reprinted from FRATRICIDE, Mr. Barbry's microzine, and is copyright 1996 by Redmon Barbry. Used with permission. Contact the author at rbarb@deltos.com for a complimentary subscription.] SEE FOR yourself what all the excitement is about. Sign onto our FREE email list. Send email with SUBSCRIBE as the subject to: CONSENSUS-L-REQUEST@eskimo.com YOU WILL receive a sampling from the news, analysis, and regular columns in our monthly journal (no mail from other subscribers). We are the perfect solution for information overload -- we cover only what really matters! *** The US Constitution * US & World Security * Political Corruption Individual Liberty * World Financial Markets * Religious Freedom *** GET THE FULL story! Subscribe to Conservative Consensus Journal. 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Subscribe/Unsubscribe Consensus-L-Request@Eskimo.com Advertising Rates, news tips, editorial and other questions Conservative Consensus * ccnrs@eskimo.com * jinks@u.washington.edu Linda <@}}}>< inknews@acsnet.com "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." 1Thes 5:21 The Final Word by Chris Jewett (dsyple@ix.netcom.com) I recently have heard many teach on the meanings of Hebrew words and names. One that I had heard several years ago from Chuck Missler goes something like this. The question is: Where is the first presentation of the Gospel in the Old Testament? The answer is: Genesis 5 in the generations of Noah! I know some of you already know this one, but we're going to explain it to everyone else so they too can see the intricate design of God's Word. Read Genesis 5:1-30...here we see the ten generations from Adam to Noah. A very exciting passage. But, it is there for a reason. Now, when you dig into a good Bible dictionary and look at the root meaning of these names, you will find something like this: Adam = Man Seth = Appointed Enosh = Mortal Kenan = Sorrow Mahalalel = the Blessed God Jared = Shall Come Down Enoch = Teaching Methuselah = His Death Shall Bring Lamech = The Despairing Noah = Comfort When you put it all together you get "Man is appointed unto mortal sorrow, but the Blessed God shall come down teaching that his death shall bring the despairing comfort." Wow! Take that with you for encouragement and share it with a friend. Until next time...Maranatha!