This Week In The News
Current Events
by Norbert Link
In this issue, we address the ongoing and ever-increasing national and international uproar over Donald Trump’s “unwise” statements pertaining to Ukraine and his actions towards Zelensky and Russia; address developments in Brazil and Gaza; and report about long-overdue actions by RFK on vaccinations.
We dedicate a large portion of this issue to the election in Germany and introduce to you Friedrich Merz, presumably the next German Chancellor, addressing his past and his plans for the future. We also predict, however, that the new German government under Merz may just be a continuation of the past and still present disastrous government under Scholz.
Please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Is Germany Now on the Brink of Change?”
Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.
Editorial
A New Sheriff in Berlin?
Vice President JD Vance recently said in Germany: “We have a new sheriff in town,” referring to President Donald Trump in Washington. But is there also now a new sheriff in Berlin? Some might think so.
I’m talking about Friedrich Merz (CDU) who is to become the new German Chancellor, replacing the deeply unsuccessful Olaf Scholz (SPD). Trump congratulated Merz, and so did many other leaders. Trump also congratulated the AfD, as some other populist leaders on the right did as well. In Germany’s election last Sunday, the AfD reached a strong second place [one of five Germans voted for it], so that the CDU and the AfD would hold enough seats for a majority in Parliament. But Merz said he would not enter into a coalition with the “far-right” AfD.
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What does it mean that Ezra was a skilled scribe?
It is useful to appreciate who Ezra was. What was his family line? This is listed in Ezra 7:1-5. In this list, certain names stand out, Hilkiah, who was the high priest in the days of Josiah, 2 Chronicles 34:9, Zadok the priest in the days of David and Solomon, and going back further, Phineas, Eleazar and Aaron, the chief priest. So, Ezra was of the priestly line; in fact, going by his ancestors, very distinguished in the priestly line. He was one of over four thousand priests in Judea, most of whom had already returned to Judea years before Ezra. But he was the one selected by God to restore the true religious observance and worship in the country. He is reputed to have written three books of the Bible, Ezra, and the last two books of the Jewish Scriptures, 1 and 2 Chronicles. He also arranged the books of the Old Testament in the order in which we have them today in the Hebrew Bible, but not in the English Bible (compare “The Authority of the Bible”, page 85). So important was he in the eyes of his people that later tradition regarded him as no less than a second Moses. It is interesting that Ezra himself is not even mentioned in his book until the seventh chapter.
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