A prophetic word from David Noakes

The cure for anxiety.

Even in a time of drought, those whose confidence is in the Lord will survive.

Natural signs of a spiritual reality.

‘LEAVE NOW’ screamed the front page of the Daily Mirror yesterday. Did this signal a major political change in the Labour-supporting, strongly ‘Remain’ newspaper? Certainly not! It was referring to the imminent danger of a reservoir bursting in Derbyshire that could threaten the safety of many people in Whaley Bridge in the Peak District.

Strangely enough, Ruth George, the Labour MP for the High Peak district which includes Whaley Bridge, not only voted to remain in the 2016 referendum, but is an outstanding campaigner against leaving the EU. She is out of step with the rest of Derbyshire, which voted to leave the EU by approximately 60:40.

Time to Reflect

Ruth George MP

Mrs George is also out of step with the official position of the Labour Party, who are desperately trying to combat anti-Semitism among their MPs. She jumps onto any opportunity to criticise Israel, although she got her fingers burnt earlier this year when she criticised Luciana Berger, a Jewish MP, for leaving Labour.

Mrs George suggested that financial support for Labour Friends of Israel, which Ms Berger formerly directed, was coming from Israel. Mrs George later apologised saying that she was quite wrong to suggest that there was a conspiracy involving Israel.¹ 

Perhaps Mrs George should reflect upon the ‘coincidence’ of the floods that have swept through her constituency and the urgent command to all the residents of the town she represents to LEAVE NOW!

Watching Signs in Nature

The prophets of Israel always watched what was happening in nature as signs of what God might be saying to the nation. Amos 4 is a classic example, where the prophet details the droughts, floods and plagues that had hit the nation with the much-repeated phrase “‘Yet you have not returned to me’ declares the Lord”. Maybe the floods, which are not only affecting the residents of Derbyshire, should be taken as a sign to all residents of the UK.

What is God saying to us? Surely, we are a nation under judgment, but there is still time for repentance and turning. Is the Lord saying to the people of Britain, “LEAVE NOW and put your trust in me!”?

"Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22)

References

1 See Labour MP apologises for suggesting Israel funds Independent Group. The Guardian, 19 February 2019. Ruth George MP has also received criticism for failing to call out a Labour councillor in her constituency who posted anti-Semitic material online. Read more here and here.

The limits to God's patience.

“This is the word of the Lord to Jeremiah concerning the drought: ‘Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and the cry goes out from Jerusalem. The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.

The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads. Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass. Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyesight fails for lack of pasture.’” (Jeremiah 14:1-6)

Jeremiah presents a terrible picture of a prolonged drought covering the whole land of Judah during the reign of Jehoiakim the ungodly king (son of godly king Josiah), in the final decade of the 7th Century BC. The drought was not confined to Judah; it covered the whole region of what we now know as the Middle East.

Climatologists say that this was a period of ‘global warming’ and historians note that it was probably one of the reasons why Nebuchadnezzar conquered neighbouring countries: to recruit an army of labourers to dig canals around the rivers Tigris and Euphrates to irrigate the land.

Jeremiah knew nothing of global warming, but he certainly saw the hand of God, the Creator of the Universe, in what was happening to the people among whom God had called him to minister. The Hebrew word for ‘drought’ used in this passage is plural, indicating a series of droughts that had now become so severe that all life was being threatened.

Rich and poor, young and old, city-dwellers and farmers were all suffering; even the wild animals were dying of thirst: “wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals”. In the cities the wells had run dry and in the countryside the streams and river beds were cracked and empty. It was a scene of desolation and death.

Jeremiah knew nothing of global warming, but he certainly saw the hand of God, the Creator of the Universe, in the drought around him.

God’s Rebuke

Jeremiah had been told to remind the people of the terms of the covenant (Jer 11:1), but they had not listened or heeded his words. The consequences of breaking the terms of the covenant were perfectly clear: “The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron” (Deut 28:23).

No doubt Jeremiah also was suffering and his vivid description of the effects of the drought led him to pray for the nation – one of the rare occasions when Jeremiah interceded on behalf of the whole nation and the land of Israel: “Although our sins testify against us, O Lord, do something for the sake of your name” (Jer 14:7).

His pleading with the Lord was met by a fierce rebuke: “This is what the Lord says about this people: they greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins” (14:10).

In order to stop him asking the Lord to break the drought and send rain upon the land, Jeremiah was told to stop praying for the wellbeing of the people because God would no longer listen to their pleas. In fact, he was told, “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go!” (Jer 15:1). This is an exact reversal of the message given to Moses when he was told to go to Pharaoh with a call to bring the people out of Egypt into the presence of the Lord.

Limits to God’s Patience

The reason for this harsh rebuttal of Jeremiah’s request on behalf of the nation was that God had forgiven the people time after time, but they had never kept their promises of faithfulness. The discovery of the ‘Book of the Law’ during the repairs to the Temple ordered by Josiah had led the king to rededicate the nation to God, re-affirming the terms of the covenant. But his son, Jehoiakim, had reversed all that and the people had rapidly returned to worshipping the Baals.

God’s patience had reached its limits after all the warnings had been ignored. The God of Israel was now exercising his power over Creation. The drought was the consequence of breaking the covenant in turning away from the Lord. The teaching that had been given to Moses was, “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands…blessings will come upon you” (Deut 28:1). But, conversely, disobedience would bring terrible curses on the land and on all its inhabitants.

Jeremiah’s pleading with the Lord was met by a fierce rebuke.

It is a serious thing to enter into a covenant with God. It carries awesome responsibilities. Once we acknowledge him as our God, we belong to him: we are his servants, as well as his beloved children.

There are wonderful blessings and benefits from the love and protection the Father gives to his children, but there are also responsibilities. Jeremiah was well aware of this and although prophecies of peace and prosperity were being given to the people by some of the official prophets linked with the Temple priests, Jeremiah knew that the nation thoroughly deserved judgment.

Declaration of Faith

Jeremiah ended this time of intercession with a declaration of faith in God: “Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O Lord our God. Therefore, our hope is in you. For you are the one who does all this” (Jer 14:22).

Surely this is a timely reminder to all the Western nations who have had the Gospel for centuries that there are inevitable consequences of turning away from the truth.

This article is part of a teaching series on the life and ministry of Jeremiah. Click here for previous instalments.

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘Floodgates’ by David Parsons (Whitaker House, 2018).

This is a highly significant and well-researched book on the end times and, perhaps more importantly, what is already happening around us as we head towards the coming wrath.

David Parsons is an attorney, journalist, ordained minister and Middle East specialist working for the ICEJ. In the book, he aims to identify God’s specific ‘end game’ strategy for bringing this present age to a close.

Parsons claims that the moment we enter the Tribulation will be self-evident, but what about the period leading up to it? The author sets out “to break new ground in our understanding of the prophetic Scriptures” and attempts to widen the lens “to reveal what will transpire before we reach those last seven years” (p15).

The Genesis Flood as a ‘Type’

His approach is to take the Genesis Flood as a ‘type’, and in particular, the “days of Noah” as a parallel, just as Jesus does in Matthew 24. Parsons asserts that whereas in the first global judgment God opened the water floodgates, in the end judgment it will be the fire floodgates.

Just as God opened the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens (Gen 7:11), so there is fire stored up above our atmosphere and below the earth’s crust, waiting to be released to destroy the current world before the new Heaven and new Earth are created.

Parsons’ approach is to take the Genesis Flood as a ‘type’, and in particular, the “days of Noah” as a parallel, just as Jesus does in Matthew 24.

Parsons explains that biblical references to the ‘days of Noah’ point us back to the long period before the Genesis Flood during which the Ark was being built. This period – possibly as long as 120 years (based on Gen 6:3) - represents the time between God’s decision that judgment would come and the actual execution of that decision. He had made up his mind to flood the world long before he opened the floodgates. In legal terms, the verdict was in, judgement was inevitable - it was just a matter of time before the sentence was executed.

Parsons asks: what if we are already in a similar period leading up to the final floodgates of fire being opened? What would that look like?

Deconstructing Humanity

Part One of the book is taken up with considering the Flood of Noah, with chapters about the Divine Nature and proof that the biblical Flood was a real event.

There is also a very helpful discussion on the ‘forbidden union’ between angels and women which created the Nephilim (Gen 6:4). Here, the author brings clarity and certainty to a passage that is often seen as complicated and controversial. The vital conclusion is that hybrid humans could not be allowed to continue and multiply further. Mankind had gone against the natural order of God’s Creation and this, together with high levels of violence and sexual perversion, meant that humanity from that point was doomed.

Part Two, The Modern Rebellion, explores the ‘parallel plunge’ today, with chapters on the blight of violence and the sexual revolution. But the heart of this section is Parsons’ assertion that the verdict for the ‘end time’ judgment has already been given. We have passed the tipping point, identified by Parsons as the acceptance of evolution as a mainstream idea. This outright denial of God as our Creator has led to devastating consequences in all parts of human society and encouraged us to explore ourselves as a species without fear of God or his judgment.

Without being too specific regarding dates, Parsons asserts that this tipping point was not during the life of Darwin or at the time of publication of his works; rather it was the subsequent proliferation of his ideas and their embedding within human thinking and development. Once in place, they set us on a new path, from which Parsons argues there is now no turning back.

God had made up his mind to flood the world long before he opened the floodgates. In legal terms, the verdict was in, judgement was inevitable - it was just a matter of time before the sentence was executed.

Transgressing God’s Created Order

In Parsons’ view, this ‘social Darwinism’ began around 1900, with one obvious outworking being the horrors of Nazism. He writes well on this topic, which incidentally was what led him to write the book in the first place.

Interestingly, Parsons highlights two other features from the turn of the 20^th Century: the emergence of evangelical Pentecostalism and the rise of Zionism leading to the re-creation of the State of Israel. Together, these three strands are all vital in God’s end time plans. True Spirit-filled believers and the restoration of the Jewish people together form an Ark-like contrast to the majority of humanity.

We often see our times as characterised by violence and sexual perversion, and discern these as precursors of judgment, but Parsons adds an extra dimension. What is unredeemable is the belief that God is no longer a credible Creator and hence we can go our own way, transgressing his boundaries with abandon. We seek to create and fulfil our own destinies, but by playing with our God-given humanity we will lose it and final destruction will follow.

These days we have both the capacity and the desire to interfere with our species to an extent that blurs the distinctions that God has ordained. With genetic engineering, cross-breeding, sex changes and attempts to augment and enhance human bodies using technology, we can create human hybrids without input from fallen angels.

Distinctive Slant

The book has been 20 years in the writing, during which Parsons has been living and working in Jerusalem. As such, it has slowly crystallised into a comprehensive prophetic thesis about our times with a distinctive slant that is well worth thinking through. It certainly makes sense, both biblically and in terms of what is happening in the world today. If Parsons is right, the verdict has already been declared. Denying God as Creator has primed the final judgment.

We seek to create and fulfil our own destinies, but by playing with our God-given humanity we will lose it and final destruction will follow.

The book has good and full endnotes and an extensive bibliography of books, articles and websites. There is no index but this is not really a problem. Overall, a valuable book and highly commended.

‘Floodgates: Recognize the End-Time Signs to Survive the Coming Wrath’ (272pp) is available from Eden for £12.99. Also available on Amazon, including Kindle.

Parsons’ blog and website, www.floodgatesblog.com, includes updates and commentaries from the author, reviews and endorsements, videos and more background information about the book.

The doctrine of baptisms. (Part 2)

Last week Campbell MacAlpine unpacked the importance of baptism into the Body of Christ, water baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit. We continue with the second part of this study on baptism.

3. Baptism with the Holy Spirit (continued): Indwelling vs Filling

The baptism with the Holy Spirit occurs the first time a person already indwelt by the Spirit, is filled with the Spirit. There is a difference between indwelling and filling. During my travels in many countries I have stayed in many homes. I gained entry to the home by knocking on the door and being invited in. Immediately I started to indwell the home. How did we become Christians? Jesus knocked on our heart's door, we invited him in and he began to indwell us.

Now, although I am indwelling the home and been given the guest room, I cannot do what I like. I cannot wander into my host’s and hostess’s bedroom and open the cupboards and drawers. I have not been given that right. However, supposing they say to me one day, ‘Campbell, we don’t want you just to have the guest room, we want you to have the whole house. Here are all the keys, it is yours.’ Immediately my status changes. Now I can do what I wish. I can control every activity in the house now that I am in full possession.

Just as there are different words used for being saved (such as ‘born again’; ‘he that believes’; ‘converted’; ‘new creature in Christ Jesus’), there are different descriptions for the experience of being initially filled with the Holy Spirit (‘received’; ‘came upon’; ‘poured out’; ‘fell on’; ‘baptised with’). As we saw in the teaching on water baptism, that it was not a suggestion but a command, so we are exhorted: “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18).

The baptism with the Holy Spirit occurs the first time a person already indwelt by the Spirit is filled with the Spirit.

Why should a Christian be filled with the Spirit?

• Jesus assured his disciples that they would receive power to be his witnesses and we, like them, need that enablement.
• We need to be filled so that there can be greater expression of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23).
• We need to be filled to enable him to have liberty to manifest ‘the gifts of the Spirit’: the word of wisdom; the word of knowledge; faith; healings; miracles; prophecy; discerning of spirits; tongues; interpretation of tongues (1 Cor 12:7-10).

Someone once asked a Spirit-filled Christian the question, ‘do you think you are better than other Christians?’ His reply was, ‘Oh no, just better equipped’.

How can a Christian be filled with the Holy Spirit?

(a) A clean heart: The Holy Spirit can never fill any area of our life where there is sin. There is an interesting account in Leviticus 14 of the actions of the priest when a person had been healed of leprosy. Part of the ceremony included the priest taking the blood of the offering and placing it on the right ear, the right thumb and the big toe on the right foot. Then he took oil and placed it on the right ear, the right thumb and the big toe on the right foot. The oil, which is an emblem of the Holy Spirit, never went where the blood had not been. So the first essential is that the life is clean and right with God.

(b) A sense of need: The Lord Jesus, during the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, offered a wonderful invitation and promise: “’If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him’. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:37-39). 

We see from the Lord’s statement that we must be thirsty. To be thirsty is to feel dry and know it. It means a consciousness of need. Many times in our Christian lives, circumstances, behaviour and problems underline the fact that we have needs. Thirst is also a desire to know God better. David expressed his longing in this way, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Ps 42:1-2).

(c) Come to Jesus: He is the source of all that we need. He is the Saviour. He is the baptiser in the Holy Spirit. His loving heart calls out, ‘come to me’.

(d) Drink: To drink means to receive. When one is thirsty and is given a glass of water, all that is needed to quench the thirst is to receive that which is offered.

(e) Believe: The promise is to him who believes. Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matt 21:22). The promise is: “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”.

Someone once asked a Spirit-filled Christian the question, ‘do you think you are better than other Christians?’ His reply was, ‘Oh no, just better equipped’.

Be filled with the Spirit, thirst, come to Jesus, receive, believe. We came to him in a similar way for salvation. First we had a sense of need because of our sin, and we needed a Saviour. Then we came to the Lord Jesus, believing that he died for our sins, and rose again, and on the basis of his promise received him into our hearts and the Spirit witnessed with our spirits that we were saved.
What happened in the New Testament when Christians were initially filled with the Holy Spirit?

• On the day of Pentecost, the 120 “began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:4).
• Ananaias said to the newly converted Saul of Tarsus, “Brother Saul, the Lord - Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here - has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17-18). Although there is no mention of his speaking in tongues, he later told the Corinthians, “I speak in tongues more than you all”.
• In the house of Cornelius, it is recorded, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God” (Acts 10:44-46).
• Paul went to Ephesus and ministered to 12 men who responded to the teaching. “On hearing this, they were baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus…and they spoke in tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:5-6).

The usual result in those who were initially filled with the Spirit was they spoke in a new language given to them.

4. Baptism with Fire

The fourth expression used in the teaching of baptisms is baptism with fire. John the Baptist said of Jesus, “He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. What does this mean? We read the rest of the verse, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor; gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt 3:11-12).

In the growth of wheat, chaff is necessary. However, there comes a time when it is no longer necessary and the farmer gets rid of it. In the Christian life the Lord, from time to time, through a variety of ways and circumstances, will lovingly deal with us and with things which would interfere with fruitfulness in our lives. Jesus said, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:2).

In the Christian life the Lord, from time to time, through a variety of ways and circumstances, will lovingly deal with us and with things which would interfere with fruitfulness in our lives.

There will be times in our lives of purging and purifying, when he lovingly shows us the non-essentials and things that would prevent us going on to maturity: the removal of chaff. It is good to know that in the life which desires to do the will of God, nothing will happen without a divine purpose.

When unusual circumstances come in to our lives the answer is not to run to the emergency exit but ask the question, ‘Lord, what are you trying to teach me? What is the reason for the heat? Is there something in my life needing correction or adjustment?’ Sometimes it is a ‘baptism of fire’.

When you read of the lives of men like Moses, Elijah, Elisha, David, Job, the prophets, the disciples, Paul and many others, you find their lives were punctuated by strange and adverse events in which they not only learned more about God, but more about themselves. Yes, there will be testing times, proving times, purging times, but in them all there is a loving Heavenly Father who only desires the very best for us.

5. Baptism of Suffering

We now come to the last teaching on this doctrine. We have seen that when we were saved we were ‘baptised by one Spirit into one body’, and given the privilege of openly confessing Christ in being baptised in water. He has made the power of the Holy Spirit available to us through being filled with the Spirit, and because he desires us to be holy, there will be times of learning through a baptism of fire. We are reminded that being a Christian will include suffering.

Jesus never tried to gain followers under false pretences but rather called on would-be followers to ‘count the cost’. One day, the mother of James and John came to Jesus to ask a special favour for her sons, “’Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom’. ‘You don’t know what you are asking’, Jesus said to them. ‘Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?’ ‘We can’, they answered. Jesus said to them, ‘You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father’” (Matt 20:21-23).

We know that both disciples had a ‘baptism of suffering’. James was beheaded by King Herod and John was banished to Patmos and, if some historians are right, was eventually martyred. Paul wrote to Timothy and reminded him: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12).

We are reminded that being a Christian will include suffering.

Multitudes have suffered, and today many still suffer for being Christians. Many have been martyred and many more will be, but we can thank God that whenever we need his grace or strength in times of suffering he is faithful to provide. He has promised, “I will never leave you, or forsake you”. Paul could write, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18).

Conclusion

These basic biblical truths need to be absorbed into the life of every believer to enable them to be committed members in their local churches.

If you have not been baptised in water, obey the Lord and he will bless you. If you have never been filled with the Holy Spirit, yield the totality of your life to the Lord. Ask him to fill you, believe his promise, and receive. Realise how much the Lord loves you and that from time to time he will lovingly deal with the non-essentials in your life. Embrace the implications of following Jesus even when that involves suffering for his Name's sake.

Questions

1. Explain your understanding of the ‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’, and has this happened to you? If not, what are the difficulties?
2. As you look back on your life, or perhaps in your present situation, can you recognise God’s purifying process? How have you responded? Is there any response required now?

This article is part of a series, re-publishing a booklet entitled 'The Biblical Basis of First Principles'. Click here for previous instalments.

The doctrine of baptisms. (Part 1)

Discovering a common thread linking revival, Israel and President Trump

South Africans will tomorrow be praying for rain from Heaven.

On the back of a prayer meeting that drew 1.7 million Christians to intercede for their nation last April, a similar event is now being held in Cape Town.

Led by farmer/evangelist Angus Buchan, It’s Time will again petition God – not only for physical rain to end a crippling three-year drought, but for a Holy Spirit outpouring to end a famine of God’s Word in the land.

And God has promised to answer such a plea. Speaking to Israel, his chosen, he says: “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground…” (Isa 44:3).

First to the Jews

It is well to remember that this pledge was originally addressed to, and still specifically applies to, the nation of Israel. And it’s no secret that the Jewish state has been transformed from a barren wilderness to a fertile garden since its re-birth 70 years ago. And, yes, the promise for Israel can indeed be appropriated for Gentile nations who honour the God of Israel along with his special people, the Jews.

But pleas for rain from Heaven will otherwise go unheeded as such blessing is dependent upon South Africa first blessing his people (Gen 12:3; Num 24:9). Belatedly accepting Israeli offers of help with water technology will not help; it’s the ultimate water supplier South Africans need to call upon in prayer and repentance.

Pleas for rain from Heaven will go unheeded as long as South Africa refuses to bless God’s people.

Outpouring of the Spirit

“I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground…” (Isa 44:3). A refreshing scene at Ein Gedi in the Judean desert, on the shores of the Dead Sea. Picture: Charles Gardner

The above Scripture (Isa 44:3) promising heavenly outpouring on a thirsty land once provided the inspiration to pray for revival in the Hebrides¹ for two elderly ladies, who just happen to be grand-aunts of US President Donald Trump.2 And I believe this has a direct bearing on the way the President has led the way in honouring Israel by recognising Jerusalem as its capital.

Blind 84-year-old Peggy Smith and her 82-year-old sister Christine, who was almost bent double with arthritis, pleaded day and night for God to fulfil his word, and the ripples of the subsequent revival of 1949-52 went all around the world.

Note that the Scripture verse quoted does not stop with the promise of water (both physical and spiritual), but continues: “I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.”

Not surprisingly, President Trump is proud of his Scottish heritage and has visited the Isle of Lewis where his ancestors helped to change the world for Christ.

God truly honours his word, and responds to faith in his promises. But please note the Zionist connection!

Saved by the Blood

As I contemplate tomorrow’s gathering in Cape Town, city of my birth, I picture the majestic mountainous landscape surrounded by the waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans – all that sea and yet no rain – and imagine the waves piled high to make way for the faithful to walk through in prayer and petition, rather like the Israelites of old passing through the waters of the Red Sea as Moses led them out of slavery towards the Promised Land.

Jews everywhere will be celebrating Passover this coming week, recalling how the angel of death ‘passed over’ their firstborns, but did not spare Egypt’s sons, paving the way for their exodus as Pharaoh had his fill of plagues.

God truly honours his word, and responds to faith in his promises.

The Jews were saved, however, not just by the water that subsequently drowned the Egyptian army, but by the blood of the sacrificial lamb daubed on the lintels and doorposts of their homes.

The Only Way

Has South Africa – and its leadership in particular – not had its fill of plagues – of sin, corruption, poverty, violence, unemployment, disease and drought?

The way out of this trap is the blood of the ultimate Passover Lamb, Jesus the Messiah, sacrificed on a hill outside Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, who said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no-one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Fellow South Africans: mark your hearts with the blood of the Lamb, and He will send water on a thirsty land!

References

1 A group of islands off the west coast of Scotland.

2 World Tribune, 18 October 2017, and sapphirethroneministries.com, 20 October 2017.

The prospect of dying of thirst evidently trumps political correctness

In the face of an apocalyptic scenario, the South African Government has apparently been forced to eat humble pie in its ongoing spat with Israel.

The three-year drought that has afflicted the nation has now reached the drastic stage of a looming so-called Day Zero – 15 July this year – when Cape Town, a city of four million, will effectively run out of water: they will be cut off from running water and will be forced to line up at collection points for a miserly rationing.

Opposition MP Kenneth Meshoe revealed in the Cape Town Parliament last month that both the national and provincial authorities there had refused an offer of help from the Jewish state, which has developed an extraordinary prowess in innovative water technology.

The African Christian Democratic Party member said the aid had been turned down in the pursuit of a “narrow political agenda” focused on boycotting Israel over its alleged discrimination against Palestinians.

Accusations of Apartheid

But now an Israeli researcher who attended a water symposium in Johannesburg last month is saying that the South African Government is open to the possibility of help from Israel, and that suggestions they had spurned such aid were incorrect.

Dr Clive Lipchin, a water expert and lecturer from Tel Aviv University who grew up in South Africa, said: “ANC [the ruling African National Congress] government officials who addressed me from the audience said they were happy to look at Israel as a model.”¹

Having initially spurned Israeli aid, South Africa is now open to the possibility of accepting its help.

Whatever the truth about refusal or acceptance, I have not heard any official denial of Mr Meshoe’s damning claim. In any case, the ANC leaders have made their aggressive stance against Israel abundantly clear, accusing it of being an ‘apartheid’ state, which is obviously based on misinformation spread by the UN-backed Palestinian propaganda machine.

The Mount Carmel range, where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal. Photo: Charles GardnerBut South Africans who lived through apartheid and know more about the situation on the ground in Israel have made their position crystal clear – for those with ears to hear – that ‘apartheid’ in Israel is pure fiction, but is very much a reality in the surrounding Arab states.

The Real Zionist Link

A further dose of reality is that Israel, a dry country with a scarce water supply, has more than it needs due to innovative programmes such as desalination. This has obviously led to the new approach in Cape Town, which has seen Economic Free Fighters (another opposition party) leader Julius Malema challenge those who “created water out of nothing” to see if it can be done in the Cape.²

But back in 2016, a Johannesburg conference focusing on the water crisis was cancelled due to Israeli participation. There are also wild claims circulating that the drought is a Zionist plot from which Jews stand to benefit. But apparently a fear of dying of thirst is trumping political correctness.

However, I believe the crisis does have a Zionist link. And it is quite simple and straightforward. The South African Government has repeatedly – and openly – spoken against God’s chosen people about whom He said: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse…” (Gen 12:3).

South Africa’s leaders have despised the people God has chosen to be a light to the Gentiles (Isa 49:6) – yes, a spiritual light because they gave us the Bible, and they gave us Jesus, but also a practical, physical light in the form, for example, of technical expertise in water conservation. It is marvellous indeed how people living in a desert have turned their country green in fulfilment of ancient prophecies (see Isaiah 35).

South Africa’s leaders have despised the people God has chosen to be a light to the Gentiles.

Opposing Israel Means Opposing God

The Bible speaks of how there will come a time when many will acknowledge the hand of God on Israel. Isaiah 49:23, for example, says: “Kings…and queens…will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet.”

But those who oppose Israel will find that they are fighting God, who brought them out of Egypt with a mighty, miraculous hand by making a path through the sea to freedom.

Why wait until the plagues have multiplied, as Egypt did, before repenting over evil plans against God’s people?

There was a drought in Israel at the time of Elijah, of similar length to South Africa’s. And it was only broken after the people turned from idols thanks to the prophet’s leadership.

South Africa’s leaders, I suggest, need likewise to repent and abandon the worship of false gods.

References

1 Tress, L. As ‘Day Zero’ looms, South Africa open to Israeli water tech, researcher says. Times of Israel, 8 March 2018.

2 Ibid.