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“That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us,” Isaiah 30:9-11.

The new moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Dr Trevor Gribben, was reported on 9th June in the ‘Belfast Newsletter, as taking as his theme, “inspiration from the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah.”

He says of Jeremiah that he “gave a message of hope to God’s people, Israel – despite the fact that they have been taken captive to the “strange” land of Babylon.”

He noted the “prophet Jeremiah told Israel in exile” — he then quoted from what I presume was a perverted translation of the Scriptures: “For I know the plans I have for you . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

The proper translation of the portion he refers is found thus in the Authorised Version of the Holy Scriptures: “For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart,” Jeremiah 29:10-13.

I have labelled Dr Gribben as a ‘shallow evangelical’ and that for a number of good reasons.

First of all, like those before him who feel it necessary to conform to those who wish to ‘modernise’ the message of God, irrespective of the integrity of the translation, he adopts one of the modern versions, which as the Trinitarian Bible Society has repeatedly shown, do not compare with the Authorised Version for accuracy of translation from the Hebrew and Greek of the originals or for beauty and elegance of style of the English language at its purest.

Furthermore, he says, “the prophet Jeremiah told Israel in exile”. In this he shows his shallow knowledge of Holy Scripture. (more…)

“For the mystery of iniquity (lawlessness) doth already work,” 2 Thessalonians 2:7.

The uncharacteristic scenes in Ballymena are a stark indication that society in Northern Ireland is most certainly not what it was in the not too distant past.

Many politicians in Stormont have been giving their usual utterly inept counsel as to the cause and the cure for such behaviour. The nationalist and republican members there have churned out the usual ‘anti-unionist’ responses, straight out of the well worn ‘glossary of sectarianism’ we have heard quoted since time immemorial!

It is to the Word of God that we MUST turn for an explanation of the events. Yes, it is right to refer to the impact of illegal immigration but that does not fully explain the totally wrong scenes witnessed in Ballymena.

The modern view of morality as witnessed in the lives of the ‘famous’ in the world of entertainment, those who change ‘partners as causally as one might change their socks, is also to be seen as a contributor to the rioting since the wickedness of men guilty of the indecent assault on a 14-year old girl, whoever they were, feature as a chief cause of the rioting.

AMUSEMENT

It is worthy of noting that the word ‘amusement’ means ‘a diverting away of the attention’. That is what the activities of the world of television, films and games have done — diverted our attention away from the eternal realities of God’s Word to the adopting of the lifestyle of the fables and fancies conjured up by man’s depraved nature!

The understanding of the moral law of God and the Bible’s teaching on modesty and decorum has evaporated from our society over the past generations due mainly to such influences! (more…)

A recent BBC headline, based upon the words of its International editor, Jeremy Bowen, reads as follows:—

‘ISRAEL IS ACCUSED OF THE GRAVEST WAR CRIMES – HOW GOVERNMENTS RESPOND COULD HAUNT THEM FOR YEARS TO COME’

He claims that the ‘rules of war’, set down by the ‘Geneva Conventions’ are being broken by Israel in its war against the terrorist group, Hamas.

He writes, ‘Israel wanted us to see what Hamas had done. The conclusion has to be that it does not want foreign reporters to see what it is doing in Gaza.’

Furthermore, he writes, ‘Boaz Bismuth, a parliamentarian from Netanyahu’s Likud party, repeated his leader’s positions: that there is no famine in Gaza, that Israel respects the laws of war and that unwarranted criticism of its conduct by countries including the UK, France and Canada incites antisemitic attacks on Jews, including murder. . . Rival politicians inside Israel accuse Netanyahu of presiding over war crimes and turning Israel into a pariah state.’

I believe that there is little doubt that the ‘haunting’ the journalist refers to is that which he feels will follow a failure to act against Israel!

Accusations

There can be no doubt that nations are getting ready to follow through on their accusations of ‘war crimes’ against Israel and there are members of the press urging them on.

Little do such journalists realise that such comments and observations are but the beginnings of that which long ago was foretold in God’s precious and infallible Word!

END OF THIS AGE

At the end of this age, Israel will become the target of bitter hatred by many nations and its annihilation will be sought by them. I have said in earlier articles that undoubtedly Israel’s defiant and uncompromising response to the ongoing attacks by Palestinian terrorists has aggravated those nations that know little of what she has suffered and, in truth, care little about that suffering!

LAWLESS

Today is a day in which governments pour sympathy on the lawless to the detriment of the lawful. The ongoing controversy here surrounding the IRA and its murderous republicanism and the sympathies shown to it and its supporters and the financial pampering of the illegal immigrants flooding ashore in England and the government’s  impotency to act against the scourge, are prime examples of this. (more…)