Update 929

On June 20, 2020, Robb Harris will present the sermonette, titled, “Success with the Right Tools,” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “HEBREWS—Spoken to Us!”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

One of the joys that I’ve had over the past three months as I have adapted to work from home is my morning routine. I wake up between six and seven in the morning, normally with just enough time to get dressed before our twin toddlers begin calling out our names. With my day barely started, my morning routine begins to incorporate their adventurous whims.

Every day is a little bit different, but it always involves play and breakfast. I get to engage with them in the role playing they have with their plastic toy figures, jumping and flying, while I creatively try to direct their attention to changing out of their pajamas. We eventually make it downstairs where we prepare breakfast. Most of the time they insist on helping to cook, which I oblige by giving them the simplest task possible. Fortunately, they are satisfied by pouring cups of water and oats into a pot. Once breakfast is prepared and on the table I lead a prayer together before our meal, after which they add a prayer of their own – they’re so independent! With the twins, it takes twice as long to prepare in the morning than it normally would, but the opportunity to peer into the world of toddlers’ imaginations is well worth it.

In this age when it is so easy to find reasons to complain, it is important to remember to enjoy the gifts that we are blessed with. Life abounds with things we need to take seriously, but if we remain in a mode where everything we choose to do triggers a stress response, it would serve us well to evaluate our balance in life. As Solomon observes, “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven… A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4). By recognizing when the time is right to take a break from the world of problems and obligations that surround us, we will find renewed strength. A moment laughing at something silly, or dancing in the kitchen, or even better – doing both at the same time, can be a breath of fresh air when we may desperately need it.

As playtime and breakfast in the morning with my little ones eventually comes to an end, my workday begins. Laughter subsides, and I get down to the business of the day. It is normally not as fun, but it is also very important. If we neglect to take important events in life as seriously as we should or otherwise avoid difficult circumstances that we really need to face, once again, it would serve us well to evaluate our balance in life. God expects us to face our difficulties and work with dedication. “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17). The Christian character we develop includes facing challenges that will not be as enjoyable as laughter and dancing, but a full life requires it.

Finding balance takes time and self-evaluation. Catching ourselves when we lose balance and correcting ourselves requires careful discernment. By recognizing when to laugh and when to cry; when to play and when to work; we will grow into the people that God is training us to be. Fortunately for us, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us in our search for balance in life. It is up to us to use it.

by Norbert Link

We begin with articles regarding Israel’s anticipated annexation of West Bank lands and the “final” decision not to extend Brexit negotiations beyond 2020. In this regard, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Why the UK’s Downfall Is Certain!” We also address controversial comments by Pope Francis and Poland’s stance against the “LGBT Ideology.” We also report on a controversial and stunning decision by the US Supreme Court regarding the LGBT community; as well as a decision by a federal appeals court regarding the beginning of life, and the US Supreme Court decision on DACA.

We publish articles from doctors who are highly critical about governmental restrictions pertaining to the fight against the coronavirus, and address further contemplated measures which, if adopted, might very well create civil unrest and possibly civil war.

We speak on the end of any “friendly” relationship between the USA and North Korea; travel restrictions in Europe; the push for a coronavirus app in Germany; ineffective travel restrictions in the UK; the deteriorating relationship between Germany and the USA; the rush towards the development of vaccines; the dubious role of the Big Pharma industry; and the attempted goal of enforcing vaccinations for school children.

We speak on the terrible locust plague; address worldwide protests with the accompanying goal of destroying confederate monuments and of banning popular movies and TV shows; and we conclude with an article from the United Kingdom, discussing the perceived connection between protests by left-wing radicals and the desire for autocratic governmental control.

Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.

Christianity to Punish Israel… What’s Wrong with that Picture?

The Times of Israel wrote on June 11:

“The World Council of Churches [WCC] is asking European diplomats to punish Israel with sanctions if it annexes West Bank lands…. [The WCC] is an umbrella body established in 1948 that now has 350 member churches with about 500,000 followers among them. The Catholic Church is not a member.

“If Israel annexes land, the letter said, ‘the EU must surely suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement,’ a reference to a 1995 contract that promotes trade between the bloc and the Jewish state. In addition, the EU should apply sanctions on Israel ‘at least commensurate with those adopted by the EU in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.’

“The EU has blacklisted hundreds of Russian individuals and firms over alleged involvement in the Crimea annexation from 2014, subjecting them to entry bans and freezing of EU properties.”

What’s wrong with this picture? Everything! The political and religious collaboration against Israel is obvious.

Turkey: “Israel will Cross the Red Line”

The Algemeiner wrote on June 12:

“Israel’s plan to extend its sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, and parts of Judea and Samaria, will ‘destroy all hopes’ for lasting peace in the Middle East, Turkey’s top diplomat said on Wednesday. If the occupying power [Israel] crosses the red line, we [Muslim countries] must show that this will have consequences,’ Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said…

“Cavusoglu went on to say that ‘the annexation of the Jordan Valley by Israel and illegal settlements’… would turn Israel into a ‘racist’ state.”

“Racism” seems to be the word of the day. According to the Bible, Turkey (Esau) will collaborate with Europe in an upcoming war with Israel and will behave in a most mean and violent fashion against his “brother” Jacob.

Hypocrisy in Israel?

ABC News wrote on June 14:

“Israel said Sunday it was deporting the son of American media magnate Shari Redstone for violating the country’s coronavirus quarantine rules while paying a secret visit to his model girlfriend.

“Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority said it had granted Brandon Korff an exceptional permit to enter the country on Friday to visit his brother, who is serving in the Israeli military….

“Israel banned entry to non-citizens or residents in March in an effort to clamp down on the spread of the novel coronavirus. Israel requires all individuals entering the country to remain in quarantine for two weeks following their arrival.

“Last week, Israel’s deputy director of the Health Ministry came under fire after an Israeli billionaire businessman was granted an exemption from the isolation orders. Teddy Sagi was then spotted attending a party with Israeli celebrities.”

Hypocrisy reigns.

Germany Commemorates Anne Frank’s Birthday “Amid Rising Antisemitism”

The Algemeiner wrote on June 13:

“Schools across Germany commemorated what would have been the 91st birthday on Friday of Anne Frank — the young German Jewish girl who kept a diary of her family’s time in hiding from the Nazis while in the Netherlands, where they were eventually captured and deported to the Auschwitz extermination camp…

“Born on June 12, 1929, Anne Frank had just turned 15 when she was sent to Auschwitz, where she was forced to work as a slave laborer. Both Anne and her sister Margot were transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany in October 1944. Both women died during a typhus epidemic that swept through the camp only a few weeks before it was liberated by British soldiers on April 15, 1945.”

The house where Anne Frank hid from the Nazis can be visited as a museum in Amsterdam.

UK Won’t Ask for Brexit Extension

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 12:

“London ‘formally’ ruled out asking for an extension that would allow its representatives more time to reach a permanent deal with the EU on their post-Brexit relationship… European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said the bloc was taking the UK’s extension decision ‘as a definitive one.’…”

The EU has responded that they will not push for an extension either. On Monday, June 15, 2020, both sides signed and issued a joint statement, saying, “The transition period will therefore end on 31 December 2020, in line with the provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement.”

Prepare for a No-Deal-Arrangement

The Guardian wrote on June 17:

“Germany is urging the EU to draw up contingency plans for Brexit ‘no deal 2.0’… The German government document, dated 15 June, reads: ‘… Britain is already escalating threats in Brussels, wants to settle as much as possible in the shortest possible time and hopes to achieve last-minute success in the negotiations…

“‘It is therefore important to preserve the unity of the 27 [and] to make it clear that there will be no agreement at any price…’”

The prophesied fate of the UK will be sealed soon.

Pope Francis Admonishes American Catholics

The Hawk Eye wrote on June 12:

“… the degree to which [Pope] Francis and the Vatican have seized on Floyd’s killing is unusual and suggests a coordinated messaging strategy aimed at a national church [in the USA] that Francis has long criticized for its political and ideological partisanship…

“Last week, Francis denounced the ‘sin of racism’ and twice identified Floyd as the victim of a ‘tragic’ killing… It was a clear effort to call out some conservative [American] Catholics for whom the abortion issue is paramount, while other ‘life’ issues dear to Francis — racism, immigration, the death penalty and poverty — play second fiddle at the ballot box….”

Maybe American Catholics see something which the Pope is unable or unwilling to recognize?

Pope Francis Lives in a Different World

Breitbart wrote on June 13:

“Pope Francis urged Christians Saturday to live in hope despite the many serious troubles and sorrows that plague our world. ‘Bad news fills the pages of newspapers, websites and television screens, to the point that evil seems to reign supreme. But that is not the case,’ the pope said…”

Really? In what world does the pope think he lives? This IS Satan’s world—not God’s—and therefore evil DOES reign supreme. This will CHANGE when Christ returns to establish the government of GOD on this earth.

Poland Wants to Fight LGBT Ideology

The Associated Press wrote on June 12:

“Polish President Andrzej Duda… told his supporters that his parents’ generation did not struggle to cast off communism only to now accept ‘an ideology’ that he thinks ‘is even more destructive to the human being.’

“The president said that during Poland’s communist era, regimes ensured survival by indoctrinating the youngest generation. ‘That was Bolshevism. It was the ideologizing of children,’ he said. ‘Today, there are also attempts to push an ideology on us and our children, but different. It’s totally new, but it is also neo-Bolshevism.’ …

“Many conservative politicians in Poland say they are not against gay men and lesbians as individuals, but insist they oppose the goals of a civil rights movement they claim is imported from abroad and threatens to sexualize young people…”

Quite different from the USA. Note the next article.

US Supreme Court Sides with LGBT Community

The Associated Press wrote on June 15:

“The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment, a resounding victory for LGBT rights from a conservative court.

“The court decided by a 6-3 vote that a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 known as Title VII that bars job discrimination because of sex, among other reasons, encompasses bias against LGBT workers. ‘An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex,’ Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court…

“Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas dissented. ‘The Court tries to convince readers that it is merely enforcing the terms of the statute, but that is preposterous,’ Alito wrote in the dissent. ‘Even as understood today, the concept of discrimination because of “sex” is different from discrimination because of “sexual orientation” or “gender identity.”’

“Kavanaugh wrote in a separate dissent that the court was rewriting the law to include gender identity and sexual orientation, a job that belongs to Congress…

“The cases were the court’s first on LGBT rights since Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement… Kennedy was a voice for gay rights and the author of the landmark ruling in 2015 that made same-sex marriage legal throughout the United States…”

LifeSiteNews wrote on June 15:

“The majority’s reasoning flies in the face of both the plain statutory meaning of ‘sex’ in 1964 and the clear legislative intent of the lawmakers who drafted and passed the Civil Rights Act, as explained by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) senior counsel John Bursch. ‘There is little dispute that, in 1964, the term “sex” was publicly understood, as it is now, to mean biological sex: male and female,’ he writes…

“Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented, panning the majority opinion as ‘legislation’ written under the ‘deceptive’ guise of ‘interpreting a statute,’ reminding the majority that the court’s duty ‘is limited to saying what the law is’ rather than adding to it…

“Conservatives warn that today’s ruling will not merely protect homosexual or gender-confused Americans from tangible harm. Rather, it will require churches to recognize same-sex ‘marriages’; force photographers, florists, and bakers to participate in same-sex ‘weddings’; compel employers to fund drugs and surgeries to help people imitate members of the opposite sex; and make women and girls to share sleeping quarters, showers, changing areas, and restrooms with gender-confused males (or men simply claiming trans status to get close to vulnerable women)…

“Today’s ruling also largely relieves congressional Democrats of the need to enact the so-called Equality Act, a bill that would legislatively impose those same requirements on the country…”

The US Supreme Court has become more and more an institution that is heavily influenced by political considerations.

US Supreme Court’s DACA Decision

 AFP wrote on June 18:

“The high court said Trump’s 2017 move to cancel his predecessor Barack Obama’s landmark Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was ‘arbitrary and capricious’ under government administrative procedures. The judgement on a five-to-four vote, with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the court’s four liberal members, stressed that it was not an assessment of the correctness of the 2012 DACA program itself. Instead, they said the Trump administration had violated official government procedures in the way they sought to quickly rescind DACA in September 2017 based on weak legal justifications. The ruling suggested there are legal administrative methods Trump could cancel DACA, putting the onus back on the administration if it wants to pursue the issue.

McClatchy wrote:

“The DACA program allowed children who were brought to the United States illegally by their parents, called DREAMers, to avoid deportation. More than 700,000 people are part of the program, according to the Supreme Court ruling. Responding to the ruling, [Trump tweeted:] ‘These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives. We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd. Amendment & everything else. Vote Trump 2020!’ Two minutes later, Trump tweeted, ‘Do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn’t like me?’”

The Associated Press wrote:

“The court’s four conservative justices dissented. Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justices Gorsuch and Samuel Alito, wrote that DACA was illegal from the moment it was created under the Obama administration in 2012. Thomas called the ruling ‘an effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision.’…”

Whatever position one wants to take on the issue, it is clear that this decision was also strictly a political rendering, since Congress had failed to enact comprehensive migration reform. 

Life Begins at Conception

LifeSiteNews wrote on June 10:

“States may inform women that life begins at conception before they go through with an abortion, a federal appeals court said this week… That information is included in the Missouri informed consent booklet, which abortion facilities must offer women prior to an abortion… ‘… a state is free to use “its voice … to show its profound respect for” life,’ the appeals court ruled, quoting a U.S. Supreme Court decision…

“Further, the appeals court said: ‘Roe v. Wade implies no limitation on the authority of a State to make a value judgment favoring childbirth over abortion.’

“Abortion activists often try to dismiss the fact that life begins at conception as a religious or moral belief, but it is based on science. Numerous medical textbooks, prominent scientists and even some abortion activists admit that life begins at conception and abortions kill human beings….

“34 states require informed consent counseling prior to an abortion, and 29 require that specific information be part of that counseling. Of the 34, 32 require that a woman be told the gestational age of her unborn baby, and 28 require information about the unborn baby’s development.”

A correct decision which must be applauded.

No More Shutdown in America

The Sun wrote on June 11:

“Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin… said Americans have ‘learned that if you shut down the economy, you’re going to create more damage…

“‘Not just economic damage, but there are other areas and we’ve talked about this: medical problems and everything else that get put on hold. We can’t shut down the economy again.’”

If the USA imposes new restrictions, then civil unrest WILL BE the consequence.

Drones to Monitor Social Distancing and Face Masks in California?

Reuters wrote on June 12:

“Airspace Systems [a California company]… released new software for monitoring social distancing and face-mask wearing from the air.

“The software analyzes video streams captured by drones and can identify when people are standing close together or points where people gather in clusters. The software can detect when people are wearing masks… Airspace aims to sell the system to cities and police departments….

“Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, said… ‘Do we want to be in a world where machine security guards are watching our every move and blowing the whistle on every petty violation of every law, rule, statute or guideline?’ Stanley said. ‘That’s potentially a nightmare vision.’”

It sure is. When will this total nonsense stop????

“Lockdown Was Unnecessary, Claims German Virologist”

The Telegraph wrote on June 10:

“One of Germany’s most prominent virologists has said the country’s lockdown was unnecessary to defeat the coronavirus. ‘We went into lockdown too quickly…’ Prof Hendrik Streeck said.

“‘We are seeing a lot of… infections with no consequences…’”

Dr. Streeck made clear that he does not believe in a “second wave,” thereby contradicting Dr. Fauci (see article below). He also spoke out against the concept of wearing masks. In an interview with the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, he pointed out that originally, warnings were issued AGAINST wearing masks. He stated that the same reasons still exist today even though they “seem to have no more relevance.”

Dr. Streeck stated that a person who had been infected with the coronavirus will have obtained immunity for up to two years. He added that if there was a rise in infections, the German government would be too afraid to issue the same restrictions as before. 

THAT, however, remains to be seen!

No More Friendly Relationship with North Korea

Daily Star wrote on June 12:

“North Korean leader Kim Jong un has no interest in maintaining a good relationship with US President Donald Trump… the despotic regime has announced it sees no improvement in relations and says US policies prove Trump’s administration remains a long-term threat to the secretive state and its people.”

NBC News wrote on June 13:

“North Korea officially declared an end Friday to its diplomatic alliance with the U.S… Kim never stopped building nuclear warheads and the missiles to deliver them…

“Now, on the second anniversary of that first Trump-Kim summit in Singapore, North Korea is renouncing the diplomacy while promising to expand its weapons program, even as experts say it is ever closer to perfecting a long-range missile capable of reaching and destroying an American city…

“[The] government made clear that any agreement with Trump was now null and void…”

Bloomberg added on June 13:

“The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said it is ‘high time’ to break relations with South Korean authorities, adding the next action against the ‘enemy’ will come from the army.”

North Korea will ultimately collaborate with Russia and China militarily and become part of the prophesied Far Eastern power bloc, called the “Kings of the East.” It remains to be seen what role South Korea will play.

Germany’s Travel Warnings

Deutsche Welle reported on June 16:

“The German government announced on Wednesday that it was extending travel warnings for over 160 countries outside of the EU, including Turkey, through the end of August. The travel warnings advise against ‘non-essential tourist travel’ due to the risks posed by the coronavirus.

“On Thursday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas had said talks would take place with individual states to discuss the possibility of lifting restrictions sooner. Such decisions will depend on the number of infections, the strengthening of healthcare systems, and the health and hygiene measures implemented on flights to and from the country as well as on the ground, he said.”

The Associated Press reported that restrictions for tourists from the USA are not lifted at this point, and that details as to when that might happen are unclear.

 In addition, Deutsche Welle wrote on June 17:

“Germany will extend its ban on large events, including fairs, until at least the end of October, broadcaster n-tv has reported, citing a document readied for a meeting of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the premiers of the country’s 16 states…”

Germany’s Push for Coronavirus Warning App

The Guardian wrote on June 16:

“The German government has appealed to its citizens to download a newly available coronavirus warning app as it launched what it insisted was its most sophisticated tool yet for tackling the pandemic.

“The app… will alert users whether and for how long they have been in contact at a distance of 2 meters or less with someone who has tested positive for the virus.

“Contact data will… be saved… on the smart phones… Users have been assured their private data will not be compromised and neither will the app drain a phone’s battery.

“Use of the app, which cost €20m to develop, is voluntary but virologists say 60% of Germans must download it for it to become effective.

“Public health leaders, computer hackers and government ministers, all of whom had been involved in its development, introduced the app to the public in Berlin on Tuesday morning… It has been backed by a massive advertising campaign across broadcasters and on billboards involving leading DAX companies…

“The German app has an open source program code, meaning it can be potentially copied and updated by other countries… The next step, [Jens Spahn, the health minister], said, would be to build a system that would work across Europe. Currently, if a German user travels abroad, the app will not work….”

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 17:

“Germany’s smartphone app to help trace infections has been downloaded some 6.5 million times in the 24 hours since it was launched yesterday.”

Prophecies of Dr. Fauci

Bloomberg wrote on June 14:

“A lifting of the ban on travel to the U.S. from Great Britain could still be months away, and in a worst case may not come until a coronavirus vaccine is available, Dr. Anthony Fauci told a U.K. newspaper.

“[Dr. Fauci] made the comment in a wide-ranging interview with The Telegraph on Sunday, in which he also expressed hope that one or more of the vaccines now in development could be ready by the end of 2020 or early 2021…

“Fauci, a member of the now mostly mothballed White House coronavirus task force, continued to warn against a second wave of Covid-19 infections in the U.S…. ‘I would hope to get to some degree of real normality within a year or so. But I don’t think it’s this winter or fall,’ Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the newspaper.”

Dr. Fauci has been terribly wrong before. Let’s hope he is wrong again, and that political leaders do not follow his recommendations.

Britain’s New Travel Advice

Express wrote on June 16:

“Though holidays are on hold for now, the government has issued updated travel advice for Britons who are jetting off in the future, or who need to travel for ‘essential’ purposes. Travellers are now being asked not to collect their own suitcases from the baggage belt at arrivals, and instead pay for a delivery service….

“… baggage delivery services often come with an added cost, and could mean travellers facing expensive fees to get their suitcases from the airport to their accommodation and back again…

“According to the government, passengers should avoid taking hand luggage into the cabin and should instead check items into the hold… However, the advice was rejected by Irish-airline Ryanair… [It] said passengers could, and in fact, should focus on taking hand luggage as this [is] actually safer…

“Ryanair has also tackled the government in recent weeks on its 14-day quarantine rule… Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, described the new rule as ‘ineffective’… Mr O’Leary believes the move is simply a ‘political stunt’ that threatens terrible consequences. ‘What it is going to do is bring untold devastation. Not just to the airlines but to British tourism and thousands of hotels,’ he stated.”

When the blind lead the blind…

A Socialist Perspective of Trump’s Withdrawal of Troops from Germany

WSWS wrote on June 13:

“The Trump administration’s announcement that 9,500 of the nearly 35,000 US soldiers stationed in Germany might be withdrawn… has been met with defiant criticism and calls for a more independent German-European military policy…

“Tobias Lindner, defence policy spokesman for the Greens… threatened that the US ‘should not be surprised’ if it ‘suddenly becomes very lonely internationally. …’ Lindner promoted the ‘long-term goal of a European army’ last year in a guest article for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung…

“In the economic stimulus package passed last week by the grand coalition government of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, 10 billion euros have been earmarked for the armament of the Bundeswehr…

“In an angry commentary titled ‘Madness without method,’ the… editor of Die Zeit, Joseph Joffe, said the US would cut not only its ‘own flesh’ with a withdrawal of troops… the danger of war is growing…”

We have quoted from this article, published by the World Socialist Website, but have tried to stick to the facts, as reported, while ignoring the alleged anti-German “imperialist” polemic. But the facts do speak for themselves, which the next articles confirm.

Push for Tighter EU Defense amid US Tension

Bloomberg wrote on June 15:

“France and Germany are pushing for the European Union to boost its joint defense capabilities, adding to signs that the pandemic-induced crisis could lead the bloc to deeper integration. A policy paper… calls for ‘fostering the EU’s capacity to act as a security provider.’ The document… is also backed by Italy, Spain and other nations…

“The move comes during a particularly difficult period in the transatlantic relationship, and after a rocky few weeks when President Donald Trump was said to be mulling the removal of almost 10,000 U.S. troops from Germany, authorized sanctions against the International Criminal Court and again threatened to hit Europe’s auto industry with import tariffs…

“… the Franco-German policy paper on defense is another example of the commitment of the EU’s two biggest economies to an ever closer union. Back in 2018, German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined French President Emmanuel Macron in calling for a ‘real, true European army.’ It seemed unrealistic at the time. But since then the U.K. has left the bloc and NATO’s weaknesses have become apparent, with Macron going as far as calling it ‘brain dead.’”

And so, a “real, true European army” will be established much sooner than many may think. In this light, please read the next article.

Trump Confirms Withdrawal of US Troops from Germany

BBC News wrote on June 15:

“US President Donald Trump has confirmed plans to withdraw 9,500 American troops from bases in Germany. He accused Germany of being ‘delinquent’ in its payments to Nato, and said he would stick with the plan unless Berlin changed its course…

“In formally acknowledging plans for a sizeable US troop cut-back in Germany… President Trump has taken a step that will deeply concern the German government and will also alarm many of Washington’s other Nato allies.

“The conventional view up to now, voiced by Germany’s ambassador to the US, Emily Harber, is that US troops were in Europe not so much to defend Germany, as to defend trans-Atlantic security.

“Analysts also point out that the sizeable US presence in Germany also affords the US an important transit and jumping off point for operations in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere. Strategic experts see this as a step that can only benefit Russia and weaken Nato as a whole. And it’s a move that will be closely watched by Washington’s allies way beyond Europe, many of whom already see the Trump Administration as an unpredictable and increasingly unreliable partner at a time of growing great power competition.

“Speaking to reporters on Monday, he also accused Germany of treating the US ‘very badly on trade’… He also claimed that Germany was profiting from having the troops there because soldiers spent their money in the country….”

The Guardian wrote on June 17:

“The centre-right newspaper Die Welt, one outlet that has consistently criticised German governments’ reluctance to increase defence spending, described Trump’s plans as shortsighted and counterproductive.

“‘Trump’s partial withdrawal weakens Nato, it weakens America’s position in Europe and damages the relationship to its important if at times irritating ally Germany,’ the foreign affairs commentator Clemens Wergin wrote on Wednesday. ‘Trump is displaying the same strategic shortsightedness that he is rightly accusing the Germans of.’”

Trump even added that “until they pay, we’re removing a number of our soldiers, by about half.”

The withdrawal of US troops from “sleepy” Germany has been ongoing. “The U.S. troop strength in Germany has dwindled to about 34,500 from a peak of 274,000 during the 1960s,” according to Newsmax, dated June 15.

Rushing Developments of Vaccines

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 13:

“Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands signed an initial deal with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca [working with the University of Oxford] for over 300 million doses of a promising coronavirus vaccine currently still in the experimental phase… Doses of the vaccine would be distributed to countries relative to their population as soon as it is ready, the ministry said, adding that all EU members can participate in the program. The vaccine is expected to be finished by the end of 2020…

“Italy’s health minister Robert Speranza… commented on the deal on Facebook, writing that as many as ‘400 million doses of the vaccine’ would be available ‘for the entire population of Europe.’ According to the World Bank, the population of the EU is around 447 million.

“The European Commission on Friday spoke out in favor of advance purchase contracts… As laboratories scramble to find a COVID-19 in record time—12 to 18 months instead of the standard multi-year timeline—advance payments provide for stronger investment in production.”

While vaccines are being rushed through, safety concerns will be ignored, and vaccine-producing companies are going to profit tremendously.

Deep-Seated Corruption within Big Pharma

Natural News wrote on June 12:

“New evidence has emerged to suggest that deep-seated corruption within the Big Pharma establishment is having a detrimental impact on the quality of information published by highly esteemed medical journals such as The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine…

“A leaked, closed-door discussion between the editors-in-chief of these two journals has revealed that the pharmaceutical industry is so massive and powerful that it can basically procure ‘science’ that says anything the industry wants it to, and often goes undetected…

“Big Pharma puts tremendous financial pressure on medical journals to publish studies that are favorable to its drugs and vaccines… the results of many studies that suggest drugs and vaccines are safe and effective could be flat-out false because the drug industry tweaked them to arrive at favorable conclusions when they otherwise would not have…

“There is really no telling how deep the rabbit hole goes in terms of Big Pharma corruption and criminal influence over what gets published in major medical journals…”

The article refers to the publication of a study that hydroxychloroquine was ineffective for treating covid-19. This study caused the WHO to stop testing the drug for effectiveness. It was found soon afterwards that the study was totally fraudulent and was meant to push a patented new expensive drug.

The Ron Paul Institute added on June 16:

“Big pharma is thrilled today after the FDA has rescinded permission for the emergency use of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of Covid-19. This after two ‘prestigious’ medical journals have recently been forced to withdraw publication of articles critical of the use of hydroxychloroquine.

“The trials cited by the FDA did not include the critical component zinc according to critics, and was thus doomed to fail. That leaves enormously expensive new drugs in trial and the elusive vaccine as the ‘only way’ to end the coronahysteria.”

On the other hand, according to UPI, dated June 5, British researchers found no benefit for hydroxychloroquine in the coronavirus. Nevertheless, this does not excuse the above-mentioned medical journals to intentionally disseminate what they thought to be false information to help the Big Pharma industry. 

Colorado Bill Would Require “Re-Education” Classes for Parents Who Refuse Coronavirus Vaccine

LifeNews wrote on June 9:

“Radicals just passed a bill through a committee in Colorado (20-14) to reduce available exemptions on vaccinations for school-age children. This bill offers ‘online education modules’ for parents who want a different vaccination schedule than what the state demands. Submitting a ‘certificate of completion’ from the re-education classes is one way to receive the state-sanctioned vaccine exemption.

“In addition, the bill forces all doctors and medical staff to give vaccinations with no exemptions, even if they are in a situation where they believe it would not be in that child’s best interest…

“The bill requires schools to publicly report what percentage of their students are vaccinated or exempted and gives schools explicit goals to reach—goals stipulating that five percent or less of students are to be exempt.

“Currently, New York, California, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Maine deny all vaccine exemptions based on religious belief. Legislators in Illinois are also pushing a bill to eliminate all religious exemptions…

“Making vaccines mandatory is a direct attack on our God-given, constitutionally protected religious liberty. And it is spreading across our nation far faster than the coronavirus!”

Locusts Return

Breaking Israel News reported on June 9:

“The swarms of locusts that covered Africa last year returned, pushing several nations into a food crisis… a new round of hatching could result in swarms that are 8,000 times larger than swarms earlier this year. The locusts normally live for three months but unseasonal rains have led to massive breeding and multiple generations, prolonging the season in which the locusts normally swarm. Erratic weather systems have aided the spread of the swarms.

“The current mega-swarm, the worst in many decades, originated in Yemen but now threatens 13 countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, India, Uganda, Pakistan, and southern Iran. The infestation threatens the food security of some 40 million people, many of whom are already in danger of starvation.”

This locust plague is unparalleled in its dimension.

npr wrote on June 14:

“… when environmental conditions are right — usually when there’s a lot of rainfall and moisture… the creatures undergo a remarkable transformation…  Their brain changes, their coloration changes, their body size changes…

“Right now, the most effective way to fight outbreaks involves mass aerial sprays of pesticides to kill locusts… that’s not ideal, given the adverse effect such chemicals have on biodiversity and human health.”

This exemplifies again man’s inability to fight his problems.

The Fall of the Dollar

Bloomberg wrote on June 8:

“The era of the U.S. dollar’s ‘exorbitant privilege’ as the world’s primary reserve currency is coming to an end…U.S. living standards are about to be squeezed as never before…

“The coming collapse in the dollar will have… key implications… the fall of the almighty dollar will cast global economic leadership of a saving-short U.S. economy in a very harsh light…”

Business Insider wrote on June 16:

“The US dollar’s dominance faces major threats as the post-pandemic global economy emerges, Stephen Roach, former chairman at Morgan Stanley Asia, said Monday… its winning streak has faded in recent weeks as investors prepare for record borrowing to fund trillions of fiscal and monetary stimulus.

“A sinking national savings rate also stands to drag on the dollar… ‘These problems are going to go from bad to worse as we blow out the fiscal deficit in the years ahead’ [Roach said].”

The Euro is bound to become a more powerful currency than the dollar.

Removing “Gone with the Wind” a “No-Brainer”????

Breitbart wrote on June 12:

“WarnerMedia chairman Bob Greenblatt defended the decision to remove the American Civil War classic Gone With the Wind (1939) from HBO Max, describing the decision to do so as a ‘no-brainer.’

“HBO Max, which is owned by WarnerMedia, announced on Tuesday that they would be blacklisting the film, regarded by audiences and many critics as the greatest film of all time, on the grounds that it ‘depicts some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society.’

“… Greenblatt [added] that they would bring the film back once the network had provided a disclaimer about its content…

“Justifying the decision, which was taken as a response to the wave of violent Black Lives Matter protests sweeping America and other parts of the world, an HBO spokesperson argued that such ‘racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today…’

“HBO’s pandering to demands to blacklist the film has led to widespread criticism from viewers, many of whom responded by going out and buying the film, making it a best-seller on Amazon.

“The network’s decision to remove Gone With the Wind is all the more extraordinary given the performance of Hattie McDaniel, for which she won Best Supporting Actress Oscar of 1940. In doing so, she became the first black actor or actress to be nominated, let alone win, an Oscar category of any category.”

This is utter nonsense. All those who advocate and promote these radical concepts have become instruments and tools of Satan in his attempt to destroy the USA from the inside and the outside. Note the next mind-blowing articles.

Removing Confederate Monuments

npr wrote on June 8:

“On Monday, Alabama’s flagship state university took down memorials to Confederate soldiers. The University of Alabama removed plaques honoring students who served in the Confederate Army and student cadet corps… Earlier, two of Alabama’s largest cities – Birmingham and Mobile – took down Confederate monuments that were focal points for civil unrest…

“In Virginia, the state started work to remove a huge statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, the state capital. And city leaders say they want to take down another four Confederate memorials along Monument Ave…

“Pressure is also mounting in Mississippi over the state flag. Adopted in 1894, the design incorporates the Confederate battle flag – a red background with a blue X lined with white stars…”

The Hill added on June 12:

“Congressional Democrats launched a new push this week to remove [11] Confederate statues from the Capitol grounds. Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for the removal Wednesday by saying the statues, donated by states, pay ‘homage to hate, not heritage.’”

Daily Press wrote on June 17:

“Demonstrators in Richmond tore down another Confederate statue in the city Tuesday night… The Howitzers Monument located near Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park campus was toppled…

“It’s the third Confederate statue, and the fourth monument, to be torn down by demonstrators in Virginia since international protests erupted… Statues of Confederate president Jefferson Davis (the civil war adversary to Abraham Lincoln, both from Kentucky) and Confederate Gen. Williams Carter Wickham as well as of Christopher Columbus were toppled by demonstrators in recent weeks…”

Breitbart wrote on June 17:

“A statue of 15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella will be removed from California’s Capitol Rotunda at the direction of top lawmakers… The marble statue, which has been in the Capitol for over 100 years, will be taken down after a monument of settler John Sutter was removed near the Sacramento hospital named after him.”

Others want to remove statues of George Washington and, in England, of Winston Churchill. In Portland, Oregon, protesters tore down the “racist” statue of Thomas Jefferson. It is clear that under the disguise of fighting against racism, a spirit of destruction and obliteration of history is sweeping English-speaking countries.

Tucker Carlson Speaks Out… Again

Breitbart wrote on June 12:

“Friday on Fox News Channel’s ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight,’ host Tucker Carlson… referenced 2017 remarks from CNN contributor Angela Rye, who at the time said all statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Robert E. Lee needed to come down. Carlson questioned, if successful, how that would improve quality of life for Americans…

“‘It’s about political power — political power achieved by the oldest means of all, force… a violent mob is forcing its agenda down the throat of our country. Our leaders… are too cowardly to resist them…’”

Coronavirus, Governmental Control and Violent “Protests” by the Radical Left

The Daily Mail published on June 14 the following article by Peter Hitchens:

“What we now face is regime change. That is why these strange crowds have begun to gather round ancient and forgotten monuments, demanding their removal and destruction… This is why the memorial to Winston Churchill [was] shamefully boarded up on Thursday night… This time, as ignorant armies seek the final abolition of Britain, it is very frightening…

“I had an instinctive fear of very bad things to come when the country began its mad, wild shutdown in March… And now we have the Dictatorship of Fear… The numbers of dead are grossly inflated by an incredibly lax recording system, which does not distinguish between those who died of Covid-19 and those who died of other things but may have been infected by it…

“It is as if some establishments, including our own, wanted a crisis and used their control of information to achieve one. And still it continues. As of tomorrow, in a symbolic moment never to be forgotten, users of trains and buses will be compelled to wear muzzles or forbidden to travel.

“The legal basis for this is highly doubtful. The medical basis for it is more doubtful still… I am fairly sure these measures, like the house arrest and sunbathing bans which came before, have another purpose. They accustom us to being told what to do…

“Not only can the Government now tell us where we must live and when or if we can go out… It can now even tell us what to wear… formerly great institutions and forces – the church, Parliament, the police, the armed services, much of Fleet Street, the universities – submitted to it without so much as a sigh. So did what remained of our great industrial and commercial companies….

“They were discontented but not allowed to protest against the thing which was oppressing them, the shutdown, since from every quarter they were told it was justified. Almost any spark could have ignited this rich mixture. As it happens, it was the death in Minneapolis, a city most British people will never even see, of George Floyd. Seeing the surging crowds, the rioting and the looting in the USA, the British radical Left grew jealous.

“They imported the protest, converted it into outrage against some mouldering statues, and set the streets alight… They have already helped to make it very hard for traditional, normal, Christian conservative and patriotic opinions to be expressed at all. By using social media as a form of discipline, they have made everyone… fear them…

“For the past few weeks have also demonstrated that all the pillars of British freedom and civilisation are hollow and rotten… The Left are already in control of every lever of power and influence…”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

In the first two parts of this series, we discussed the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  We saw that both influential groups were opposed to Jesus, but oftentimes for different reasons. They did not agree among themselves on important religious teachings, but were united in their rejection of Jesus.

In this third installment, we will focus on the scribes.

According to Young’s Analytical Concordance of the Bible, there are a total of 114 references to the word “scribe”; 53 in the Old Testament and 61 in the New Testament, i.e., 19 in the book of Matthew, 22 in Mark, 15 in Luke, 1 in John and 4 in the book of Acts.

The first mention of the scribes in the Bible is in 2 Samuel 8:17 where Seraiah was the scribe in King David’s administration which was around 3,000 years ago.

biblestudy.org states the following:

“As in other parts of the world, scribes were considered honored professionals whose modern day equivalent would be judges or lawyers. They were generally the most educated men in the nation and as such became influential. In fact, since writing was practiced only by those with a certain level of intelligence, scribes were often considered wise men (1 Chronicles 27:32). They were also eligible to be elected to the Sanhedrin (the supreme and highest council of the Jews).”

The Encyclopaedia Britannica adds:

“In the 1st century, scribes and Pharisees were two largely distinct groups, though presumably some scribes were Pharisees. Scribes had knowledge of the law and could draft legal documents (contracts for marriage, divorce, loans, inheritance, mortgages, the sale of land, and the like). Every village had at least one scribe. Pharisees were members of a party that believed in resurrection and in following legal traditions that were ascribed not to the Bible but to ‘the traditions of the fathers.’ Like the scribes, they were also well-known legal experts: hence the partial overlap of membership of the two groups. It appears from subsequent rabbinic traditions, however, that most Pharisees were small landowners and traders, not professional scribes.”

The Encyclopaedia Judaica gives a very comprehensive description of the origin, role and function of the scribes. We can see from the quotes below that the scribes had adopted and followed many human traditions which were not derived from the Bible, when copying the Old Testament Scriptures:

“… the scribe was a professional expert in the writing of Torah scrolls…  These have to be written with a feather quill in indelible ink, in straight lines, and on specially prepared parchment… The profession of scribe was indispensable to the Jewish community, and according to the Talmud… a scholar should not dwell in a town where there is no scribe… The scribe writing a Torah scroll must devote utmost attention and care to the writing; he is forbidden to rely on his memory and has to write from a model copy… His guide is the professional compendium for scribes… which contains the traditional text of the Torah, the specific rules concerning the decorative flourishes… on certain letters, the regulations as to the spacing of certain Torah sections… and the rules for writing Torah scrolls in which each column begins with the Hebrew letter vav… Only the Scroll of Esther may be adorned with artistic illustrations but not the Torah scroll…

“When writing a Torah scroll a scribe must especially prepare himself so that he writes the names of the Lord with proper devotion and in ritual purity. It is, therefore, customary that he immerse himself in a ritual bath… before beginning his work…

“Scribes also acted as recording clerks and court secretaries… They wrote legal documents such as bills of divorce and contracts… there are established rules as to who pays the scribe’s fee…”

Even though they went far beyond the command of God to copy the Holy Scriptures (Exodus 17:14; Deuteronomy 17:18; 31:24-26; Joshua 8:32; 24:26; Hosea 8:12), their methodology guaranteed that the Old Testament was preserved unaltered throughout all generations (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:23). For further information in this regard, please read our free booklet, “The Authority of the Bible,” and especially chapters 3-5.

God’s Word First International adds the following:

“Scribes in ancient Israel belonged to an elite class of wealthy families. As such, they were well educated in language and mathematics. Whereas the working class folks had the equivalent of a modern 6th grade education, the Scribes were college level graduates.

“Scribes were distinguished professionals who copied all types of documents, not just the holy scrolls. Sometimes they would also exercise higher functions we would associate with lawyers, government ministers, judges, or even bankers.

“As highly trained, well paid, and respected professionals, they generally had an over inflated sense of self worth. As such, they were pompous and frequently displayed in public an arrogant righteousness.

“The Jewish scribes used the following process for creating copies of the Torah and other books in the Tanakh.

1. They could only use clean animal skins, both to write on, and even to bind manuscripts.
2. Each column of writing could have no less than forty-eight, and no more than sixty lines.
3. The ink must be black, and of a special recipe.
4. They must say each word aloud while they were writing.
5. They must wipe the pen and wash their entire bodies before writing the most Holy Name of God, YHVH every time they wrote it.
6. There must be a review within thirty days, and if as many as three pages required corrections, the entire manuscript had to be redone.
7. The letters, words, and paragraphs had to be counted, and the document became invalid if two letters touched each other. The middle paragraph, word and letter must correspond to those of the original document.
8. The documents could be stored only in sacred places (synagogues, etc.).
9. As no document containing God’s Word could be destroyed, they were stored, or buried.

“Scribes still exist today. Known as a ‘Sofer’ they are among the few scribes that still perform their trade by hand on parchment. Renowned calligraphers, they produce the Hebrew Torah scrolls and other holy texts by hand to this day.”

got questions.org writes this:

“Scribes in ancient Israel were learned men whose business was to study the Law, transcribe it, and write commentaries on it. They were also hired on occasions when the need for a written document arose or when an interpretation of a legal point was needed. Ezra, ‘a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses,’ was a scribe (Ezra 7:6).

“The scribes took their job of preserving Scripture very seriously; they would copy and recopy the Bible meticulously, even counting letters and spaces to ensure each copy was correct…

“In the New Testament era, scribes… were widely respected by the community because of their knowledge, dedication, and outward appearance of Law-keeping.

“The scribes went beyond interpretation of Scripture, however, and added many man-made traditions to what God had said. They became professionals at spelling out the letter of the Law while ignoring the spirit behind it. Things became so bad that the regulations and traditions the scribes added to the Law were considered more important than the Law itself. This led to many confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees and scribes… Jesus shocked His audience by declaring that the righteousness of the scribes was not enough… He thoroughly condemned the scribes for their hypocrisy… They knew the Law, and they taught it to others, but they did not obey it…”

Encyclopedia.com adds:

“At the time of Christ many of the scribes adhered to the teachings of the Pharisees… With the chief priests, Sadducees, and Pharisees, the scribes composed the Jewish aristocracy of the time; and many were members of the Sanhedrin.

“The scribes… are also associated with the chief priests and elders in causing Jesus’ death… The lawyers condemned in Luke 11:45–52 for their hypocrisy are also to be identified with the scribes. Their spiritual descendants were the rabbis whose teachings are recorded in the Talmud.”

From the many references in the New Testament to the scribes, we can see the attitude that they had towards Jesus. The scribes were among Christ’s most watchful and determined opponents. Their many accusations were continually recorded in the gospel accounts. Let us review some of these.

Matthew 16:21: “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

The same warning is repeated in Mark 8:31 where Jesus predicted His death and resurrection. We read: “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

Mark 2:16: “And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, ‘How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?’” (Also see Luke 5:30, 15:2).

When Jesus forgave and healed a paralytic, we read in Mark 2:6-7: “And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ‘Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’”

Mark 3:22: “And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebub,’ and, ‘By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.’”

It is obvious from the record that whatever Jesus did, they would find fault in some way.   They were like many today, those who are just waiting to be offended! They would persecute Jesus because He did not live and behave in the way that they thought He should, based on their traditions. They even accused Him of blasphemy and of being possessed by Satan.

The scribes and others questioned Jesus’ authority, as we read in Mark 11:27-28: “Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him.  And they said to Him, ‘By what authority are You doing these things.’”  Jesus knew that they were bent on mischief and answered them with a question which they were not prepared to answer (compare verses 29-33).

After Jesus had cleansed the Temple, we read in Mark 11:18: “And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.”

Because Christ opposed the human unbiblical traditions which were practiced in the Temple, they were willing to destroy Him, as He knew, and they waited for an opportune time, fearing the people who held Christ in high esteem.

Luke 6:7: “So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him.”

When He did perform a miracle on the Sabbath, Luke 6:11 tells us: “But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.”

Again, they were willing to kill Him because He did not keep the Sabbath in accordance with their traditions.

Later, after Jesus had been arrested and brought before Herod, Luke 23:10 tells us: “And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him.”

John 8:3,6: “Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst… [they tested] Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.”

They were trying to test Him so that they could accuse Him of violating the Law. But they themselves were guilty as they had not brought the adulterous man to Jesus—just the woman—and as they were not without sin and therefore unwilling to cast the first stone. This is what the Saviour of mankind had to contend with as He taught the Truth to tax collectors and sinners, cleansed the Temple and healed people, and yet His authority was continually questioned.

In Matthew 23:2-3, Christ said: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.”

Here we read that Jesus acknowledged their authority to teach God’s Word to the people; however, they were not to follow their example which was contrary to their teaching. Jesus acknowledged as well that they would many times not teach God’s Word, but their own contradictory traditions; He did not tell the people to follow them in that regard, but only insofar as they taught the Word of God. No wonder Jesus called them hypocrites!

In the following verses in Matthew 23, Jesus finally utters a series of eight woes on both the scribes and the Pharisees (verses 13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27 and 29). In fact, this chapter is an expose on their appalling behaviour as religious teachers!

After Christ’s resurrection, we read in the book of Acts that “the rulers, elders, scribes and others” (Acts 4:5-6) heard the testimony of Peter and “commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus” (verse 18). However, Peter and John refused (verse 20). We read further in Acts 6:12 that the elders and scribes seized Stephen.  They were certainly opponents of Jesus in His lifetime and after His death.

We have already seen the constant hostility from the Pharisees and Sadducees that Jesus had to deal with, and the scribes were a further part of the religious life of the Jews who were bent on His destruction.

got questions.org says:

 “The scribes, whose stated goal was to preserve the Word, actually nullified it by the traditions they handed down… the scribes were hypocrites at heart. They were more interested in appearing good to men than they were in pleasing God… The lesson every Christian can learn from the hypocrisy of the scribes is that God wants more than outward acts of righteousness. He wants an inward change of heart that is constantly yielding in love and obedience to Christ.”

(To be Continued)

Lead Writers: Brian Gale (United Kingdom) and Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

“Why the UK’s Downfall Is Certain!” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

A no-deal Brexit is becoming more and more a strong possibility, and attempts of obtaining help from Germany may fail. A thought-provoking article in the Daily Mail suggests that we are observing the final abolition of Britain, and that “all the pillars of British freedom and civilization are hollow and rotten.” Does the Bible confirm this assessment?

A new German AufPostenStehen program, covering the same topic, has been produced as well. The German title is: “Der Untergang Grossbritanniens ist sicher!” 

A new Member Letter (June 2020) has been written by Elder Robb Harris. This letter is a reminder that persecution of Christians is growing, and our relationship with God must become stronger and stronger in order to face what lies ahead.

A monthly Tech Meeting was conducted on Sunday, June 14, 2020. Hosted by Elder Eric Rank, much focus was given to our use of YouTube and Facebook in our promotional videos and other technology-related items were presented.

“Was für ein Wahnsinn,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath in Germany by Deacon Johann Schell, is now posted. Title in English: “What nonsense!”

“Sind Sie ein wahrer Christ?”, the sermon presented last Sabbath in Germany by Elder Christoph Sperzel is now posted. Title in English: “Are you a true Christian?”

“The Language of Violence,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:

With protests and anger dominating the news, we see escalating emotions, rhetoric, and violent action taking place around us. It seems that the only way that people can be heard in the world requires this kind of confrontation. Is there a better way? There is, and God commands it.

“The Yoke of Sainthood,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Robb Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

When we stepped out from our watery grave, a yoke of obedience to God was placed upon our shoulders. Submission to Gods laws appears easier when life is full of blessings and peace abounds. But we weren’t called out from the world for idle pursuits. Instead, we have been chosen to fight for truth because Godliness draws the attention from this world’s king. We must be preparing today as chaos grows deeper all around us.