On August 22, 2020, Norbert Link will present “Comments on News and Prophecy (August 22, 2020),” and Michael Link will present the sermon, titled, “Faith That Saves.”

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.

There is undoubtedly a lot of anger and hatred in the world, especially in the last several months. There has always been hatred throughout history, since the beginning of the records in the Bible, but the types of hatred we are seeing today are tough to comprehend. Could we have ever guessed that choosing or not choosing to wear a mask, for example, would lead someone to absolute hatred to the point of violence and death toward the other individual? Does that not make us angry when we hear something like that?  Do we hate to hear something like that?

When we listen to all the different restrictions enforced by the US governors in their states or measures in different counties as to what is banned and what is allowed, and when we see how absolutely inconsistent those restrictions are as if the virus has boundaries, it makes us angry, doesn’t it? And we can see that oftentimes, these restrictions have little to do with the pandemic itself, or else the whole world would be following a unified approach. This shows that the world does not know what to do. Do we also hate to hear about all these inconsistencies? Are we sick and tired of hearing over and over again about the coronavirus and the different massive governmental responses, perhaps even reading this Editorial or reading the Current Events each week?  Does it make us angry when all we seem to be reading or hearing about is this upsetting and negative news, and are we not just anxiously waiting for something good to happen?

Lately, it has seemed like that, but we must not close our eyes as to what is going on. Otherwise, we would be unprofitable servants who refuse to pay attention and to watch. We in the Church of God know that even the current pandemic and man’s reaction to it are part of prophesied events. We also know what’s just ahead of us, as the observance of God’s annual fall Feast Days approach. We can expect trials and obstacles to happen to us, seemingly designed to prevent us from keeping God’s Holy Days. The Church has clearly been affected, and for some, plans are still not absolutely definitive when it comes to where they will be able to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. We are all being tested to see where our faith lies. With God, EVERYTHING is possible, and we need to trust that HE will make His Will known to each and every one of us (compare Matthew 19:26, Proverbs 3:5-6).

There is nothing wrong to feel hatred and anger with the terrible things that are going on all around us. Even God hates them, and He lists seven specific things in Proverbs 6:16-19, describing the conduct of the arrogant, liars, killers, schemers, evildoers, false witnesses and of those who sow discord in the Church. What God hates is what we ought to hate. We shouldn’t hate somebody, but we should hate the evil that the person does. We should hate what is sinful, because God hates that also. It has been correctly said that God hates the sin, but loves the sinner. He wants the sinner to repent and cease from sinning. That should be our attitude as well. This also teaches us self-control—how we are supposed to control hatred.

We should know what hatred or anger toward a person can do. That is why self-control is very important. It is very easy to get angry and feel hatred towards other people, with everything that is going on right now and especially if someone has done evil towards us. However, God tells us to love one another; love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us; and to love God’s Law, even if we are hated for it, and if we’re not already hated by the world for it, we will be (compare Matthew 10:16-22). This shouldn’t be a surprise. We should expect this if we stand up for God’s Truth.

If we struggle at times with the wrong kind of hatred, remember that God is perfect and He can change our attitudes and our way of thinking in ways that are humanly impossible to explain. We continue to do what we need to do, and when things seem humanly impossible, remember that God is the One who makes ALL things possible. And remember also, God will not allow a temptation or trial to overtake us which would be impossible for us to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). Knowing this, we shouldn’t have anything to worry about or to fear. This, in turn, is how we can have our “hatred” under control. If we do our part, God will guide and provide for us as He sees fit.

by Norbert Link

We begin with articles about the fragile Middle East deal between the USA, Israel and UAE, [please see our StandingWatch program, “The Third Temple, the End of the World, and the ‘Historic’ Peace Deal”] with obviously different opinions by Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump as to what it means, and the opposition to the deal by Israel’s right, as well as, predictably, the Palestinians, Turkey, Iran, Hamas, and others. We speak on Turkey’s dictator Erdogan and Europe’s and America’s hypocritical approach towards him;  America’s failure to extend an arms embargo on Iran;  and we focus on events in Belarus and dictator Lukashenko’s connection with Russia, as well as the connection between Belarus and Ukraine. We also address America’s failed immigration system and proposed measures which might contribute to the destruction of America’s economy.

We continue with some interesting comments by President Trump and events at the Democratic Convention. We also speak about an interview with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., addressing the assassination of his father, Robert Kennedy, and his uncle, John F. Kennedy; and we address insane coronavirus requirements in Germany; a ludicrous proposal by Joe Biden; the success story of South Dakota; and, as one author puts it, the “good news” that Fauci is out. Further good news was reported that a California church won, for now, a legal battle against the government over coronavirus restrictions; and we report on the lucrative business for companies working on the development of a vaccine and a dangerous and deeply unsettling announcement by Australia’s Prime Minister.

We speak on the mind-boggling processing of sick or diseased chicken for food; a sickening report about North Korea’s consumption of dogs; and we conclude with further nonsense in Germany in trying to be politically correct in fighting “racism.”

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

The Fragile Middle East Deal

JTA wrote on August 14:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his plan to annex part of the West Bank ‘remains on the table,’ despite agreeing to suspend the move as part of an agreement to establish formal ties with the United Arab Emirates on Thursday. ‘There is no change in my plan to apply sovereignty, our sovereignty, in Judea and Samaria, in full coordination with the U.S. I’m committed to it, this hasn’t changed. I was the one who put sovereignty in Judea and Samaria on the table. This issue remains on the table,’ Netanyahu said at a news conference in Jerusalem after the agreement was announced. He did note that President Donald Trump asked that ‘Israel wait temporarily’ to move ahead with annexation, Netanyahu said, adding he intends to comply.

“Hours later, Trump said at a news conference in Washington that the plan is ‘off the table.’… David Friedman, his administration’s ambassador to Israel [said:] ‘Yes, the word “suspend” was chosen carefully by all the parties,’ Friedman said. ‘“Suspend,’ by definition, look it up, means temporary halt, it’s off the table now but it’s not off the table permanently.’”

Kushner: We Will Not Allow Israel to Annex West Bank Territory

The Times of Israel wrote on August 17:

“Senior White House official Jared Kushner said Monday that US President Donald Trump would not allow Israel to reverse its pledge to hold off on annexing West Bank territory in exchange for normalizing ties with the United Arab Emirates. ‘President Trump is committed to holding them accountable to it, and Israel has agreed with us that they will not move forward without our consent,’ Kushner told reporters during a briefing. ‘We do not plan to give our consent for some time…’

“Trump referred to the suspension of those plans several times at a press briefing last week, including by saying it was ‘more than just off the table.’”

However, that is apparently not Netanyahu’s understanding. Even between the USA and Israel, there seems to be some friction on the issue. This deal will not bring peace, but it will cause more turmoil and violence.

US Embassy in Jerusalem “for the Evangelicals”

JTA reported on August 18:

“President Donald Trump said he moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem ‘for the evangelicals.’… He was referring to his decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017, and the move of the U.S. Embassy there the following May. While Israel considers Jerusalem its capital, most countries do not recognize the claim and keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.

“‘And the Golan Heights, don’t forget that, we did the Golan Heights. So we’ve done a lot,’ Trump added, referring to his recognition in March 2019 of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed…

“Gallup… says evangelicals have for decades comprised just over 40% of the population. And a 2017 poll commissioned by pro-Israel evangelicals found that the percentage of evangelicals who believe that the establishment of Israel was a fulfillment of prophecy was 80%.”

When the peace deal falls apart—as it will—then Israel might be given a green light to annex West Bank territory.

Israel’s Right Objects

The Times of Israel wrote on August 14:

“Criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the right continued to grow Friday over his agreement to suspend plans to annex West Bank land… Sensing the rising discontent among their settler base, many Likud ministers on Thursday and Friday said it was imperative not to give up on annexation.

“On Friday, Settlement Affairs Minister Tzachi Hanegbi told Army Radio Israel had not given up on its sovereignty bid, saying ‘Of course it will take place’ and repeating Netanyahu’s assertion that the shelving of the plan was only temporary. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said annexation ‘is no less important to the people of Israel’ than the accord with the UAE. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Kan Bet he understood the disappointment felt by some, but argued annexation ‘is not off the table’…

“Smotrich, who until recently was transportation minister under Netanyahu, acknowledged in a Facebook post that the prime minister is ‘a magician’ — a moniker many of the premier’s supporters, as well as political analysts, have attached to him over the years. But, he added, the main talent of magicians is ‘deception,’ and Netanyahu had repeatedly hoodwinked the country’s right wing. ‘Netanyahu has deceived right-wing voters for years with great success…’ Smotrich argued…

“Former MK Aryeh Eldad, who was one of the founders of what eventually became far-right party Otzma Yehudit, said Netanyahu ‘has sold out the Land of Israel… for “peace” with the UAE, as if there were ever war between us.’…”

These are harsh words, and Netanyahu knows that he needs the support of the right.

Over 600,000 Settlers Say Netanyahu Betrayed Them

 Reuters wrote on August 19:

 “Israel’s settler leaders say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defrauded them of their long-held dream of annexing the occupied West Bank as part of the country’s normalisation deal with the United Arab Emirates. Their anger could be a problem for right-wing Netanyahu, whom they accuse of repeatedly floating the idea of annexation only to cave in to international pressure when the terms of the UAE deal required him to walk back his promises…

 “Around 450,000 Jewish settlers now live among 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, with a further 200,000 settlers in East Jerusalem… the ideological settler leadership has significant political clout, and has long been a bastion of Netanyahu’s support. Aware that he might lose their backing to parties even more hawkish than his own, Netanyahu sought to keep settler hopes alive. But many settler leaders are unconvinced.

 “… the Trump vision of limited Palestinian statehood has created strange bedfellows. The Palestinians say it gives them too little. But for the most hardline Israeli settlers it gives the Palestinians too much. For these settlers, any Palestinian state is anathema.”

 There is no way this peace deal will succeed, and Netanyahu begins to see it now. His political survival is on the line, and he realizes that he needs the support of the right and settlers.

Palestinians and Turkey Object

Breaking Israel News wrote on August 14:

“Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas… spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh called the deal ‘treason,’ saying it must be reversed… The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki announced that following the order of Abbas, its ambassador to the UAE would be recalled.”

The Times of Israel added on August 14:

“The Palestinian Authority issued a scathing statement in response to the move, calling it a ‘betrayal of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian cause,’ language clearly aimed at inflaming Arab and Muslim sentiment worldwide.”

Not surprisingly, Hamas and Iran objected to the deal as well. And so did Turkey; see the next article.

The Jerusalem Post wrote on August 14:

“President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey was considering closing its embassy in Abu Dhabi and suspending diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates over its accord to normalize ties with Israel. Erdogan was speaking to reporters in Istanbul after the Turkish Foreign Ministry said history will never forgive the ‘hypocritical behavior’ of the UAE… The Foreign Ministry said the  Palestinian people and administration were right to react strongly against the agreement…”

How to Deal with and Contain Erdogan…

The Guardian wrote on August 16:

“Europe’s harsh public criticism of Lukashenko [see article below] contrasts sharply with its reluctance to openly denounce the latest aggressive machinations in the eastern Mediterranean of another elective dictatorship, that of Turkey’s long-entrenched leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Turkey is a Nato member, key EU trade partner, border gatekeeper and influential actor in Syria and the Near East. Unlike Belarus, it has real strategic importance. Perhaps that explains the awkward silence of many governments, including the UK’s. It does not excuse it…

“Erdoğan hopes to insure Turkey’s position in the Aegean, eastern Mediterranean, Syria and Libya against a change of administration in Washington… Erdoğan maintains a constant state of friction with Israel, partly by supporting Hamas… If all this were not trouble enough, Erdoğan’s lurch to Russia, symbolised by Turkey’s purchase of S-400 surface-to-air missiles, has left Nato members asking whether he can be trusted. The fact that Trump, anxious as always to please Vladimir Putin, failed to insist on Turkey cancelling the deal will not prevent it becoming a major point of contention…

“Head-in-the-sand European leaders must surely realise their Erdoğan problem cannot be ignored, dodged, or downplayed indefinitely in the hope that he will eventually go away. Turkey turning rogue is a very real, immediate and dangerous prospect. Nobody seems to have an Erdoğan containment plan. One is increasingly required.”

US Utterly Fails in Fight against Iran

Zero Hedge wrote on August 15:

“The US bid to extend a UN Security Council total arms embargo on Iran which had been in effect for 13 years… has ended in utter failure late this week… Officially, the final tally was 11 abstentions, two yes and two no votes. After all of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s lobbying through the summer to essentially make permanent an international arms blockade on the Islamic Republic the US had only two votes in favor: its own and that of the Dominican Republic.

“All European members of the P5+1 nuclear deal as expected were abstentions… Just before the Friday evening Security Council announcement of the resolution’s results, Pompeo voiced frustration, saying the council ‘failed today’ in its mission. He previously said it was ‘nuts’ to allow Iran to purchase and import weapons…

“The Trump administration is still vowing that Iran will never be able to buy weapons again, but it will be fighting an uphill battle, relying on its own diplomatic pressures on other nations, including allies, to ensure that’s the case, also with threat of sanctions against international violators.”

Again, the USA stands pretty much alone in the world.

Europe’s “last Dictator” asks Putin for Help… Controversy on the Horizon with the EU?

The Guardian wrote on August 16:

“Tens of thousands of Belarusians have gathered in Minsk for the biggest protest in the country’s history, as an extraordinary week of rising sentiment comes to a close. Seven days after the country’s authoritarian ruler, Alexander Lukashenko, [who has been called the last dictator in Europe, but notice the article on Turkey above] claimed to have secured 80% of the vote in a presidential election, his legitimacy is in tatters and his regime faces its biggest crisis since he came to power 26 years ago. The mood at Sunday’s rally was stoked further by egregious police violence against thousands of protesters earlier in the week…

“The protest came as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, told Lukashenko in a phone call on Sunday that Moscow stood ready to provide help in accordance with a collective military pact if necessary… Lukashenko addressed a crowd of several thousand supporters in front of the country’s parliament on Sunday. They waved Belarusian flags and cheered as he said he had no intention of giving up the country, and suggested Nato forces were preparing to invade…

“Russia and Belarus are technically part of a ‘union state’, but Lukashenko has resisted closer integration in recent years and proved a tricky partner for Moscow. Putin will, however, still be keen to keep Belarus as a strategic ally and for street protests not win out in yet another neighbouring state…

“Lukashenko’s appeal to Putin, and his threat that those who continue to come out on to the streets would be ‘cannon fodder’, suggest that he is considering a new crackdown. The police and army remain under his control…”

Deutsche Welle added on August 16:

“NATO said it was closely monitoring events in Belarus, but denied a military buildup was underway in eastern Europe… Lukashenko, who has led the former Soviet state for 26 years, denies election fraud. He says foreign interference is to blame for the unrest…

“The European Union says the presidential vote was neither free nor fair, and is preparing to impose sanctions… EU Commission Vice President Josep Borrell praised the protests… French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU should support the anti-government demonstrations in Belarus… German Finance Minister [and vice chancellor] Olaf Scholz described Lukashenko as a ‘dictator’ who had lost the support of his people…”

On August 19, the EU officially rejected the election results in Belarus.

Belarus—a Pro-Russian Country

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 18:

“Anti-government protesters have rallied in Minsk and other cities for more than a week — but they haven’t been waving EU flags. Experts point out that Belarus is a pro-Russia country, even without President Lukashenko. A glance at a map shows the unique geographical situation of Belarus. To the west, the country borders on NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. To the south is neighbor Ukraine, and to the east is Russia. But Belarus is far from being a ‘buffer state,’ said Gustav Gressel of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a pan-European think tank. Belarus isn’t ‘neutral’ like Switzerland, Sweden or Finland, he said — it’s part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a six-country military alliance dominated by Russia. Created in 2002, the alliance… includes Armenia and three Central Asian republics, alongside Russia and Belarus…

“According to Gressel and other experts, Russia isn’t pinning its hopes on the weakened autocrat, but on the fact that Belarus is and remains a pro-Russia country. They believe the Kremlin wouldn’t mind a change in government, as long as it doesn’t involve an abrupt turn toward the West, the EU or NATO. That doesn’t appear to be the aim of this protest movement. The opposition hasn’t suggested that Belarus join the EU, for instance, making the sanctions that the EU now wants to impose on officials responsible for the post-election crackdown rather counterproductive, Belarus opposition politician Maria Kolesnikova told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag paper…”

There is an interesting connection between Belarus and Ukraine. As we have explained before, Ukrainians are to be viewed as part of the modern Medes who will ultimately be at war with Europe.

Belarus was formerly known as Belorussia or White Russia. Many theories exist as to why it was named this way. The term “White Russians” has also been applied to Ukrainians. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the term “White Russian” described ethnic Russians living in the area between Russia and Poland (today this includes Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Moldova).

Ethnic Belarusians make up about four-fifths of the population of Belarus. Being Slavic nations, both Belarus and Ukraine share closely related cultures and are predominantly inhabited by the East Slavic ethnic groups of Belarusians and Ukrainians respectively, along with a few Russians. Today, the two countries share an 891–km border. Belarusians in Ukraine are the second biggest minority after Russians. Unlike many other ethnic groups, Belarusians do not have any particular concentration in the country, but spread out more or less evenly across all regions. There are now Belarusian organizations in major cities like Lviv and Sevastopol in the Crimea.

A notable Ukrainian of Belarusian descent is Viktor Yanukovych, the fourth president of Ukraine. He was removed from office in the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. He currently lives in exile in Russia.

Russian Opposition Leader in Coma Due to Alleged Poisoning

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 20:

“Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was rushed to hospital after a suspected poisoning on Thursday. He was unconscious in intensive care after his airplane made an emergency landing… He later fell into a coma…. ‘We assume that Alexei was poisoned with something mixed with his tea,’ [his spokeswoman] said. ‘That’s the only thing he drank this morning.’… Medical authorities told Interfax news agency that tests had shown he was poisoned with an unidentified psychodysleptic (hallucinogen)… Navalny’s normal doctor told DW that the hospital was refusing to talk to her…

“Navalny spends his time exposing corruption among the Russian elite and has suffered a constant campaign of intimidation and threats. He suffered a similar incident last year where he was also suspected to have been poisoned while in police custody.”

In the past, other Kremlin and Putin critics have been poisoned or otherwise killed. 

The Final Days of Legal Immigration?

Forbes wrote on August 13:

“… since Congress has failed to reach a deal on a COVID-19 stimulus package, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will proceed with its furlough of about 13,400 employees, or about two-thirds of its workforce, on August 30^th.

“… a shutdown of the immigration system would negatively impact: families, U.S. businesses, educational institutions, medical facilities, and churches. In addition, immigrants who are in the process of becoming naturalized U.S. citizens will not be able to complete the process in time to register to vote, DACA recipients will not be able to renew their benefits, asylum applicants will face increased delays, and businesses will be unable to hire or retain employees. In short, the full magnitude of a halt to immigration caused by budgetary problems has not yet been fully explored and could be quite shocking to America’s economy…

“Danielle Spooner, President of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 119, which represents workers within the USCIS, said, ‘This isn’t only about the 13,400 American families to be laid off during a pandemic – this is yet another thinly veiled attack on the legal immigration system by Trump administration officials like Stephen Miller… By failing to fund this agency, the administration has managed to use the global pandemic to effectively shut down all immigration to the U.S. by the end of the month, hurting thousands of American families and businesses in the process.’

“According to an analysis from the National Foundation for American Policy, immigration policies under Trump have reduced legal immigration by 49 percent… ‘I don’t think I can emphasize enough how large an issue this will be – we’re looking at the final days of legal immigration as we know it in the United States,’ said Ruark Hotopp, a representative for USCIS workers in Nebraska who has spent years assisting American businesses in his role at the USCIS. ‘International students, scientists coming to America to study COVID-19, asylum seekers, workers recruited by American businesses, refugees – we’re talking about millions of people dealing with an immigration system running at 30 percent of the capacity it usually does. Our economy will lose billions in revenue, American businesses will lose access to the workforce they need, and hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants will be thrown into limbo.’”

Apart from the human tragedy of the uncertainty for legal immigrants, the loss of billions of dollars in revenue will only contribute to the economic downfall of the USA.

Trump’s Suggestions

Rolling Stone wrote on August 17:

“With the political world focused on the Democratic convention Monday night, President Trump looked to steal some of the limelight by saying that he will seek a third term if he wins re-election. During a rally in Wisconsin, the president [told] a cheering crowd… that he deserves eight additional years in office because… his campaign was spied on in 2016…”

Mediaite wrote on August 18:

“President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that the 2020 presidential election may have to be done again if universal mail-in voting is introduced… ‘You can’t take millions of ballots, send them haphazardly all over the country, or all over a state, and expect it to come out properly… [It is] going to be a disaster the likes of which our country has never seen… It’ll end up being a rigged election or they will never come out with an outcome. They’ll have to do it again, and nobody wants that,’ Trump concluded. ‘And I don’t want that.’”

The Week added on August 17:

“President Trump on Monday blasted his likely presidential challenger former Vice President Joe Biden during a speech in Manakato, Minnesota, saying he’d ‘abolish the American way of life’ en route to turning the U.S. into a ‘very boring socialist country that will go to hell.’ He then had a go at Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), for co-sponsoring a ‘socialist takeover of health care.’

“The president also joked the coronavirus pandemic was ‘God testing me’ to rebuild the U.S. economy a second time.’”

Even if it’s meant to be a joke, there are things you do not want to joke about.

Steve Bannon Indicted for Fraud

CBS News reported on August 20:

“Federal prosecutors in New York announced Thursday that Steve Bannon, President Trump’s former White House chief strategist, has been indicted along with three others for allegedly defrauding donors to a $25 million fundraising campaign to build a wall along the southern border… Mr. Trump distanced himself from Bannon on Thursday, telling reporters at the White House that ‘I haven’t been dealing with him for a very long period of time.’ The president also said he disliked the private effort to fund construction of the border wall and believed ‘it was being done for showboating reasons.’…

“Federal prosecutors said donors were repeatedly assured that 100% of the money raised would be used to build the wall, but those claims were false… the Justice Department said the men profited from the fundraising scheme. Bannon allegedly received more than $1 million… which was funneled through a non-profit he controlled and some of which was used to cover his personal expenses… To hide the payments from the fundraising campaign, federal prosecutors said the four men… concealed the money [by] using fake invoices and fraudulent vendor arrangements to ensure the scheme remained confidential… the men learned We Build the Wall was under federal criminal investigation in October 2019 and ‘thereafter took additional steps to conceal the fraudulent scheme.’ Each of the four are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, federal prosecutors said. Each carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.”

Biden and Harris Not Enough…

On August 17, 2020, Deutsche Welle wrote:

“Many US voters continue to hate Clinton, the Democrats’ 2016 presidential nominee, to this day… Many major groups within the Democratic Party remain profoundly dissatisfied with their… presidential nominee [On August 18, Biden and Harris were officially and formally nominated]… For many Black, Latino, female and other progressive voters, [Biden] is far from being the candidate they wanted to usher in political change, stand up to corporations and revive the idea of the American dream.

“Some hope Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris — though also seen as an establishment politician like the former vice president — will be enough to convince voters to come out en masse in November, to motivate those who are tired of politics and others who remain undecided. But will she be enough to convince those Democrats who voted Republican in 2016 to come back to the party, or even win over those Republicans who don’t want another four years of Trump?… Biden doesn’t have the necessary charisma… Without a doubt… it’s President Trump who has the larger stage. And if there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s knowing which strings to pull to draw the attention of the global media.”

While Michelle Obama’s speech on August 17 met with much approval from many Democrats, Bill Clinton’s speech on Thursday night (August 18) was not well received which was reflected by headlines such as, “Impeached President Slams Impeached President,” or comments by left-wing comedian Stephen Colbert who said: “I don’t think Bill Clinton gets to lecture anyone on what should happen in the Oval Office. Those in glass houses should not be allowed near the interns.” In addition, left-wing or “progressive” Democrats and Sanders’ supporters are not happy at all with Biden and Harris. As Deutsche Welle reported on August 19: “… when it was revealed that [extreme left-wing Congresswoman] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez… would only get one minute to speak, progressive Democrats were outraged,” adding, “The Democratic National Convention, which was supposed to unite the party, has become another point of contention.”

That Donald Trump will stay in power is preordained.

Harris Flopped

The Week published the following opinion piece by Damon Linker on August 20:

“Barack Obama delivered an incredible speech — a rhetorically accomplished, complexly argued case for defeating Donald Trump, and he delivered it impeccably… In that respect, Harris was in an impossible position. Originally Obama’s remarks were supposed to follow the speech of the vice-presidential nominee, but the former president reportedly suggested flipping the order once Harris’ name was announced. That inadvertently set Harris up for failure.

“But if she had gone first, her pedestrian, disjointed speech, delivered in a tone of phony overacting, would have been largely forgotten by the morning. Obama really was that good, and Harris really was that bad… Harris delivered her remarks on a large stage ringed with American flags before an auditorium empty of all but a handful of journalists, photographers, and producers. The vibe started at awkward and sank lower from there… no way it helped…”

We would agree with the analysis that Harris flopped big time, but we do not think that Obama’s speech was that incredible. He spent much time attacking Trump (nothing new, even though it breaks tradition which, until now, “prohibited” a former president from publicly attacking a sitting president), but he said little and nothing convincingly as to why voters should vote for Biden.

The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

On August 19, the Ron Paul Institute republished the following article by the “Future of Freedom Foundation”:

“Former Congressman Ron Paul and his colleague Dan McAdams recently conducted a fascinating interview with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which focused in part on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who was Kennedy Jr.’s uncle [as well as the assassination of his father, Robert Kennedy] …. In the interview, Robert Kennedy Jr…. stated that the deep animosity that the CIA had for the Kennedy family actually stretched back to something the family patriarch, Joseph P. Kennedy, did in the 1950s that incurred the wrath of Allen Dulles, the head of the CIA.

“Kennedy Jr. stated that his father had served on a commission that was charged with examining and analyzing CIA covert activities, or ‘dirty tricks’ as Kennedy Jr. put them. As part of that commission, Kennedy Jr stated, Joseph P. Kennedy (Kennedy’s Jr.’s grandfather) had determined that the CIA had done bad things with its regime-change operations that were destroying democracies…  Consequently, Joseph Kennedy recommended that the CIA’s power to engage in covert activities be terminated and that the CIA be strictly limited to collecting intelligence and empowered to do nothing else.

“According to Kennedy Jr., ‘Allen Dulles never forgave him — never forgave my family — for that.’… consider what happened with the Bay of Pigs. The CIA’s plan for a regime-change invasion of Cuba, was conceived under President Eisenhower. Believing that Vice President Nixon would be elected president in 1960, the CIA was quite surprised that Kennedy was elected instead. To ensure that the invasion would go forth anyway, the CIA assured Kennedy that the invasion would succeed without US air support. It was a lie. The CIA assumed that once the invasion was going to go down in defeat at the hands of the communists, Kennedy would have to provide the air support in order to ‘save face.’

“… When the CIA’s army of Cuban exiles was going down in defeat, the CIA requested the air support, convinced that their plan to manipulate the new president would work. It didn’t. Kennedy refused to provide the air support… Knowing that the CIA had played him and double-crossed him, John Kennedy fired Allen Dulles as CIA director, along with his chief deputy, Charles Cabell. He then put his younger brother Bobby Kennedy in charge of monitoring the CIA, which infuriated the CIA.

“Now jump ahead to the Cuban Missile Crisis, which Kennedy resolved by promising that the United States would not invade Cuba for a regime-change operation. That necessarily would leave a permanent communist regime in Cuba, something that the CIA steadfastly maintained was a grave threat to ‘national security’— a much bigger threat, in fact, than the threats supposedly posed by the regimes in Iran in 1953 and Guatemala in 1954…

“In his famous Peace Speech at American University in June 1963, [Kennedy] declared an end to the entire Cold War and announced that the United States was going to establish friendly and peaceful relations with the communist world…. In the minds of former CIA Director Allen Dulles and the people still at the CIA, what Kennedy was doing was anathema and, even worse, the gravest threat to ‘national security’ the United States had ever faced… At that point, the CIA’s animosity toward President Kennedy far exceeded the animosity it had borne toward his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, several years before.”

Europe’s Insane Corona Requirements

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 14:

“Germany has declared nearly all of Spain, including the island of Mallorca, as risky areas following a spike of coronavirus cases in the south European country. Only the Canary Islands — which lie off the coast of North Africa — are exempted. Travelers returning from high-risk areas [will] be required to undergo testing and wait for the result in self-isolation… The decision was made in coordination between Germany’s interior, foreign, and health ministries… The foreign ministry later updated its travel advice to include the warning.

“… the move is likely to be an immense blow for tourism in Mallorca, Ibiza and other Balearic islands, which normally see millions of German visitors every season. Some 4.3 million Germans visited Mallorca alone in 2018…

“The United Kingdom said Thursday it will reimpose a mandatory two-week quarantine on travelers arriving in the country from France or the Netherlands. Monaco and Malta — as well as the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos and Aruba — also join the travel quarantine list… More than 500,000 Britons are holidaying in France… France’s junior minister for European affairs, Clement Beaune, said it was ‘a British decision we regret and which will lead to a reciprocal measure.’”

These are ridiculous measures. In Britain, Boris Johnson becomes more and more unpredictable and controversial. (So is Netanyahu in Israel and, of course, Donald Trump in the USA). In Germany, the unconscionable decision regarding Spain was made by, inter alia, the health ministry under Health Minister Jens Spahn. Spahn, who is openly gay and just bought a luxurious villa in Berlin in the amount of 4.2 million Euros together with “his husband,” has proven to be a somewhat “low key” politician with highly controversial and devastating decisions.

Crazy Corona Requirements in German State for Students

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 12:

“It’s Christopher Niiaddysai’s first day at his new school. The 15-year-old is starting 11th grade. Teachers must now address him like an adult, and in two years, if all [is] going well, he can sit his school graduation exams. As he and his two friends stride purposefully through the gates of their school in Bonn, the sense of expectation is great… Like his fellow-students, he’ll be wearing [a mask] all day.  All secondary school students in the western state of North Rhine Westfalia – -about two million in total – have to cover their mouths and noses: in the schoolyard, in lessons, in the hallways…

“‘It’s annoying,’ says Niiaddysai… ‘I can’t breathe properly. That makes it hard to learn; it’s difficult to concentrate.’… The decision by the state authorities to make masks mandatory came just days ago. NRW is the only one of Germany’s 16 federal states to introduce the measure… The state education minister has called for harsh punishment of people who refuse to wear a mask: ranging as far as expulsion.”

This is totally insane. But it’s not limited to just one state in Germany. Note the next article.

Biden Wants Nationwide Mask Mandate

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 14:

“The presumptive US Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, has called for a nationwide mask mandate to curb the coronavirus outbreak.  ‘Let’s institute a mask mandate nationwide starting immediately and we will save lives, he said, adding that the plan could save more than 40,000 lives over the next three months.”

This is a political idea which is totally unsupported by the evidence, but which may sound good for certain voters.

Success Rate in South Dakota

Breitbart wrote on August 16:

“South Dakota turned down extra federal unemployment aid Friday due to the high rate of job recovery in the state. ‘Gov. Kristi Noem (R), a vocal ally of the White House, said South Dakota did not need the additional funds because workers in her state have been rehired and that its economy is rebounding after suffering economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic,’ according to The Hill.

“In a statement, Noem [stated:] ‘South Dakota’s economy, having never been shut down, has recovered nearly 80% of our job losses. South Dakota is the only state in the nation that didn’t have extended benefits kick in because our insured unemployment rate has been the lowest in the nation. We have the third best housing construction market in the country. And many, many businesses are looking to relocate to South Dakota because of the decisions we made during the pandemic. South Dakota is open for business — that applies to our business owners and their employees.’”

If other American states had done the same, we would not be in the devastating state we are in today as a country.

“Good News”—Fauci Is Out

On August 17, Dr. Ron Paul wrote in the Ron Paul Institute:

“These days it seems there is not much good news out there. People are still panicked over the coronavirus, governments are still trampling civil liberties in the name of fighting the virus, the economy –already teetering on the edge of collapse – has been kicked to the ground by what history may record as one of the worst man-made disasters of all time: shutting down the country to fight a cold virus.

“That’s why we’ll take good news wherever we can get it, and President Trump’s hiring of Dr. Scott Atlas to his coronavirus task force may just be that good news we need. As the media has reported, President Trump has sidelined headline-hogging Anthony Fauci in favor of Atlas, the former Stanford University Medical Center chief of neuroradiology…

“Fauci’s advice, forecasts, and assessments proved to be wildly wrong, contradictory, and just plain bizarre: Don’t wear a mask! You must wear a mask. Masks are important as symbols. Put on goggles. Stay home! Churches must be severely restricted but Black Lives Matter marches and encounters with strangers met over the Internet are perfectly fine.

“When Anthony Fauci demanded a lockdown of the economy for an indefinite period he actually seemed oblivious to the havoc it would wreak on the economy and on people’s lives. People like Fauci and others who demanded lockdowns and stay-at-home orders were still collecting their paychecks, so what did they care about anyone else?

“Dr. Scott Atlas is not only a former top physician and hospital administrator: as a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution he also understands the policy implications of locking a country down. On April 22, Dr. Atlas wrote an op-ed in The Hill… In the article he made five main points that are as true today as when he wrote them: an overwhelming majority of people are at no risk of dying from Covid; protecting older people prevents hospital overcrowding; locking down a population actually prevents the herd immunity necessary to defeat the virus; people are dying because they are not being treated for non-Covid illnesses; we know what part of the population is at risk and we can protect them.

“Imagine how many thousands of lives could have been saved had the Administration listened to Dr. Atlas back in April. CDC Director Robert Redfield admitted last month that lockdowns were killing more Americans than Covid… We very much hope that Dr. Atlas will not ‘moderate’ his message to please the blob in Washington. Trump’s Covid policies to this point have caused more harm than good. With Fauci out of the driver’s seat we finally have a chance of turning things around.”

We are afraid that in light of the politics involving the upcoming elections, Atlas might either change his message, or his moderate voice will not be heard.

Church Wins against Los Angeles County

California Globe wrote on August 15:

“A California superior court ruled in favor of the First Amendment and Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church this week, while smacking down Los Angeles County officials… LA County tried to enforce a limit of 100 on church service attendees – a tiny fraction of the megachurch congregation…

“Judge James Chalfant denied almost all of the county’s requests at the August 14 Los Angeles Superior Court hearing, agreeing with [Pastor] MacArthur and the church that it is the county’s burden to show why they should be permitted to infringe on the constitutionally protected rights of churches to freely exercise religion.

“Attorneys for Grace Community Church explained that Los Angeles County was being unreasonable in its demands, and offered to have the congregation comply with face mask wearing and social distancing indoors until the matter could be fully heard. This was stipulated as a more reasonable action than that of the county’s rush to shut down church services. The judge agreed and set the full hearing for September 4, 2020, ordering the church to have congregants wear masks and social distance between family groups indoors…”

Still not that good, but better than prohibiting church services altogether.

Breitbart added on August 16:

Christian evangelical leader Rev. Franklin Graham posted to Facebook:

“‘It’s an important win for freedom of worship and for our Constitutional right to assemble and worship. Today a California judge ruled that Grace Community Church has every right to have indoor worship services and does not have to adhere to any attendance cap or ban on singing. This was the right call. I’m thankful for Pastor John MacArthur’s stand against the progressive leftist bullies in his state, and for Thomas More Society Attorney Jenna Ellis who is helping the church …in this legal battle. The First Amendment ensures the rights and freedoms of people of faith are protected. I hope this sends a message to those who would like nothing better than to keep churches shut down or limited…’

“Ellis also serves as an attorney to President Donald Trump.”

At least it’s a start. But we are not confident at all that other courts will follow the example.

Wildfires in California

The LA Times newsletter reported on August 20:

“It’s been an apocalyptic few days, even by California standards. Fueled by extraordinary weather conditions (officially 10,849 lightning strikes in a 72-hour period, record-breaking heat), fires have exploded across the state. Tens of thousands of Californians have had to evacuate… ‘We are experiencing fires, the likes of which we haven’t seen in many, many years,’ Gov. Gavin Newsom told Californians during a press conference Wednesday… According to the governor, the state has already seen 6,754 fires this year — a 68% increase from the same time last year… more than 300,000 acres have already burned statewide in 2020, which is more than the total acreage burned last year…

 “The sheer number of new fires is straining resources, particularly because fires are also burning in other nearby states amid a historic heat wave scorching the West Coast. Newsom said that this has complicated the call for mutual aid… the cascade of compounding crises continues to mount. The fires have also created serious air quality issues in several parts of the state. The San Francisco Bay Area has been blanketed by ash and smoke as fires burn in eight of its nine counties… the biggest fires, many of which are believed to have been sparked by an unusually active sequence of largely dry lightning strikes, are in Northern and Central California. The two largest active fires — the SCU Lightning Complex fire and the LNU Lightning Complex fire — are actually both clusters of many smaller fires…”

 Is California cursed?

The Lucrative Business with Coronavirus Vaccines

CNN Business wrote on August 14:

“The race for a successful coronavirus vaccine is heating up in labs around the world — and on Wall Street. Germany’s CureVac, a biotech with the backing of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, more than tripled in its first day of trading Friday. CureVac priced its initial public offering at $16 a share. The stock soared nearly 250%, to just below $56, by the end of the day…

“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the charitable arm of the multibillionaire Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder and his wife, invested $40 million in the company in 2015. CureVac recently received approval from the governments of Germany and Belgium to start clinical tests for one of its vaccines for Covid-19…

“CureVac also has another big name in its roster of partners: the firm is working on technology with Elon Musk’s electric car giant Tesla (TSLA)…”

But haven’t we been told time and time again that the development of a vaccine is for the good of the people without any financial benefits for the companies? We are joking, of course.

Mandatory Coronavirus Vaccines in Australia?

AFP wrote on August 18:

“Australia should make any coronavirus vaccine compulsory for its 25 million citizens bar medical exemptions, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Wednesday, wading into a heated ethical debate… Anticipating a backlash from vocal anti-vaccine activists, Morrison said the stakes were too high to allow the disease to continue unchecked… The Australian government estimates that up to 95 percent of the population would need to be immune to the virus for it to be eradicated…

“… kids have to receive vaccines for diseases including polio and tetanus to enrol in kindergarten or school.”

Many doctors feel that the figure of 95% is totally overblown. Australia’s governmental measures and restrictions become more and more radical and dictatorial. For instance, in Melbourne, one cannot travel more than 5 km from home without a valid reason. Anyone who works at night needs a government-issued permit to travel during curfew.

Processing Diseased and Sick Chicken for “Food”?

Bloomberg wrote on August 11:

“Consider the decision last month by the agriculture department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to allow poultry plants to process diseased chickens for human consumption. In July the FSIS approved a petition from the National Chicken Council requesting that slaughterhouses be allowed to process broilers infected with Avian Leukosis — a virus that causes chickens to develop cancerous lesions and tumors. Inspectors would no longer be required to examine the first 300 birds of each flock for signs of the disease, and processors would be able to cut off tumors and lesions and then process the rest of the bird…

“Here’s what we know about Avian Leukosis: A small percentage of birds (less than 1%) are diagnosed with the virus each year, but it spreads quickly through flocks and tens of thousands of chickens are condemned annually due to exposure. While it’s unlikely that the virus could transfer from chickens to humans, it’s not impossible. There is some evidence that workers exposed to birds infected with the disease in the U.K. have developed antibodies, indicating a transfer of the virus from animal to human…

“The CDC reports that ‘more than six out of every 10 known infectious diseases in people can be spread from animals, and 3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals.’”

To process diseased chicken for food is clearly unbiblical. To process chicken with a virus for food is just plain stupid.

North Korea Confiscates Pet Dogs for Food?

The New York Post wrote on August 17:

“North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has ordered [pet] dogs to be confiscated in the country’s capital, saying the pooches represent Western ‘decadence’… Kim issued the directive in July to round up the pets, claiming they were part of ‘a “tainted” trend by bourgeouis ideology’…  ‘Ordinary people raise pigs and livestock on their porches, but high-ranking officials and the wealthy own pet dogs, which stoked some resentment’ among the lower classes, the source said. ‘Authorities have identified households with pet dogs and are forcing them to give them up or forcefully confiscating them and putting them down.’’

“But while the oppressive regime says the move is to clamp down on capitalist extravagance in Pyongyang, the dog owners are fearful that given North Korea’s food shortage — and propensity for eating dog meat—the directive has only come about to feed the masses. The dog owners are ‘cursing Kim Jong Un behind his back,’ but otherwise, their hands are tied, the source lamented.”

Sick!

More Nonsense from Germany

Fox News wrote on August 16:

“A popular spicy dressing in Germany is getting rebranded because of the racist connotations of its name. Food company Knorr will change the name of its ‘Zigeunersauce,’ or ‘gypsy sauce’ to ‘Paprika Sauce Hungarian Style,’ Bild am Sonntag reported Sunday. ‘Since “gypsy sauce” can be interpreted in a negative way, we have decided to give our Knorr sauce a new name,’ said Unilever, the company that owns Knorr…

“The renaming of the brand follows recent international debates over racism, especially in the United States, where big national companies have also renamed traditional brands in response to concerns about racial stereotyping…”

Stupidity galore.

“Germans Must Walk their Dogs twice a Day…”

The Guardian wrote on August 19:

“Germany’s agriculture minister, Julia Klöckner, has said she is introducing the new law based on evidence that many of the nation’s 9.4 million dogs are not getting the exercise or stimuli they need. Under the new regulations in the Hundeverordnung, or Dog’s Act, owners will not get away with a quick jog round the block, but will be required to take their dogs out for at least one hour [a day]… The tethering of dogs on a chain or a lead for long periods also faces an all-out ban. Dogs may not be left alone at home all day, and a person will be required to take care of their dog ‘several times a day’….

“News of the law, which is due to be introduced next year and was made widely known for the first time this week, has prompted a lively debate in Germany. The main question is how it will be possible to check up on the 19% of German households that own dogs, which as pets are second in popularity only to cats. A spokeswoman for the agricultural ministry has said the authorities in each of Germany’s 16 states will be responsible for enforcing the law.”

An opinion piece in the Bild newspaper was titled: “Compulsory Walkies for Dog Owners? Rubbish!” Indeed it is. Germany, a country known for its bureaucracy, has imposed many unreasonable restrictions on the German population to “combat” the coronavirus pandemic. But if that were not enough, now another silly proposal is made to tell dog owners how to raise their dogs. 

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 previous articles, we explained that and why the Jewish establishment and the numerous Jewish sects and fractions were at odds with Jesus, when He was here on earth, and that the Jews are still waiting for the coming of the Messiah, as they reject Jesus as the Messiah.

In this article, we will point out that nominal or professing Christians are likewise guilty of rejecting the true Jesus of the Bible, albeit for different reasons than the Jews, even though they may not realize this.

This article is a fitting conclusion of our series, as true Christians are spiritual Jews and Israelites (Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:6-8; Galatians 6:16; John 4:22-24), while nominal Christians are not spiritual Jews in the eyes of God, but rather belong to those “Jews” who are rejecting Jesus (Revelation 2:9; 3:9).

There are many concepts nominal Christianity believes in, which we could quote, all being in contradiction to the clear teachings of the Bible. It has been said that virtually everything which the Bible teaches has been rejected or distorted by traditional Christianity. In this article, we will be concentrating on some major discrepancies showing that traditional or orthodox professing Christians do in fact reject Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

To begin with, nominal Christians reject the true Jesus Christ as they believe in another Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4) and in a different message than the one which Jesus taught (Galatians 1:6-8). They believe in the idea that man has an immortal soul [see below] and that therefore, Christians will go to heaven when they die, and that the wicked will go to hell to be tormented forever. All these teachings are wrong and reject the Bible, the written Word of God, and therefore Jesus Christ—the “Logos” or the “Spokesman” or “Speaker,” the spoken WORD of God the Father.

The concepts of “heaven” and “hell” in orthodox Christianity are quite astonishing and troublesome:

Wikipedia writes:

“…in most forms of Christianity, [heaven] is the abode of the righteous dead in the afterlife… According to Catholic… teaching, Mary is said to have been assumed into heaven without the corruption of her earthly body; she is venerated as Queen of Heaven.”

The Bible does not teach us that we go to heaven when we die. Christ taught that no one will go to heaven (John 3:13: “No one ascends to heaven, but He who came down from heaven; that is, the Son of Man…”, Luther Bible 1891). The Bible actually teaches that when we die, we sleep a dreamless sleep, without consciousness, and that we have to be raised from the dead. However, according to the Bible, no one, with the exception of Jesus Christ, was raised from the dead to eternal life. Jesus is the FIRSTBORN of many brethren. Those who died in Christ, including Mary, will be resurrected to eternal life at the time of Christ’s return… not before then (1 Corinthians 15:50; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).  Mary is still dead and in her grave, as everybody else who has died.  But the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians believed in and worshipped a goddess in heaven, called Astarte or Ishtar, whom they called the Queen of Heaven (Jeremiah 7:18).

Going to heaven when we die is a doctrine that is NOT contained in Scripture. Neither is the concept of hell.

The Conversation writes:

“In traditional Christian doctrine, hell was conceived as a place, generally beneath the earth, where the wicked would be punished for eternity. There would be both psychological torment – at our knowing we had lost the opportunity for salvation – and physical ones inflicted by the Devil and his demons. There were gnawing worms and unquenchable fires. No escape from hell or mitigation of eternal torment was possible…

“Amidst the gloom, there was one bright spot in the traditional Christian doctrine of hell. Our punishment there would be proportionate to our sins just as our rewards in heaven would be proportionate to our virtues. This sense of proportionality led around the year 1000 CE to the invention of another place between heaven and hell – a place of purification of our sins…

“Purgatory was the place where those who were judged worthy of heaven eventually were purged, purified and punished for their sins before going on to their heavenly reward… The inhabitants were purified by fire…

“The Protestant reformers of the 16th century hated the idea of Purgatory and threw it out… Protestant Christianity therefore returned to the harsh either/or of heaven or hell, determined by God at the time of death (or birth)… Today’s conservative Christians… remain unmoved by the possibility of eventual salvation from hell for everyone. The doctrine of eternal torments in hell has stayed on their theological agenda.”

The concept of hell and purgatory is not biblical. Those who died without having had an opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior in this life will be given the opportunity when they are raised from the dead to a physical temporary existence in the Second Resurrection to qualify then for eternal life (Revelation 20:6, 11-12).  If they committed the unpardonable sin, they will be resurrected in a third resurrection to physical life to be burned up in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-15). They will cease to exist (Obadiah 16; Malachi 4:1, 3).

Nominal Christians also reject Christ by believing that He will not return to set up the Kingdom of God, but that the Kingdom is either the Church or that it is within us. They do not believe that God is the Kingdom, the Family of God, and that true Christians who are begotten today will be BORN into the Kingdom as God beings. Even though some may give lip services to this Truth (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Number 460), they really do not truly believe in it, as reflected by their other teachings (Please read our free booklets, “God is a Family,” and “Are You Already Born Again?”).

Nominal Christians believe in a Jesus who came to do away with the Law of God, even though Christ said the exact opposite (Matthew 5:17-19). They teach against and transgress God’s commandments in order to keep their own traditions.  Christ said that in doing so, they worship Him in vain; that is, they reject Him (Matthew 15:7-9; Mark 7:6-9, 13).

This is especially true for the Sabbath commandment. Jesus is the LORD of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27-28). He created it, as God the Father created everything through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9). Since no one has seen the Father or heard His voice (John 5:37), it was Christ, the God and LORD of the Old Testament, who proclaimed the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. He told us to KEEP the Sabbath holy (Exodus 20:8). But orthodox Christianity has abolished the Sabbath and replaced it with Sunday [calling it the “eighth day”]. The Roman Catholic Church began this movement, due to anti-Semitism and the desire of embracing pagans into their fold who already kept Sunday in honor and worship of their gods, and most Protestant churches have followed the lead of the Catholic Church. In rejecting the Sabbath—God’s creation—they are rejecting Jesus Christ, the Creator and Lord of the Sabbath.

In our literature about the Sabbath and the mark of the beast, we have published numerous admissions of the Catholic Church to the effect that they have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, knowing that the Bible does not endorse such a change. Here are a few more admissions by the Catholic Church (we could cite many more quotations, but this should suffice):

“It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church” (Priest Brady in an address on March 18, 1903).

“Sunday is founded, not [on] scripture, but on tradition, and is distinctly a Catholic institution. As there is no scripture for the transfer of the day of rest from the last to the first day of the week, Protestants ought to keep their Sabbath on Saturday and thus leave Catholics in full possession of Sunday” (Catholic Record, September 17, 1893).

“The Sunday… is purely a creation of the Catholic Church” (American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883).

“Sunday…is the law of the Catholic Church alone…” (American Sentinel, June 1893).

“Protestants… accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change… But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that … in observing Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the Church, the pope” (Our Sunday Visitor, February 5th, 1950).

“They deem it their duty to keep the Sunday holy. Why? Because the Catholic Church tells them to do so. They have no other reason… The observance of Sunday thus comes to be an ecclesiastical law entirely distinct from the divine law of Sabbath observance…The author of the Sunday law… is the Catholic Church” (Ecclesiastical Review, February 1914).

“[Sunday] is a day dedicated by the Apostles to the honour of the most holy Trinity, and in memory that Christ our Lord arose from the dead upon Sunday, sent down the holy Ghost on a Sunday… and therefore is called the Lord’s Day. It is also called Sunday from the old Roman denomination of Dies Solis, the day of the sun, to which it was sacred” (The Douay Catechism of 1649, by Henry Tuberville).

There is no “holy Trinity,” as will be explained below. In addition, Sunday is nowhere called the Lord’s Day in the Bible. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, not of Sunday. When the term “the day of the Lord” is used, it refers to a prophetic time span for the last days of approximately one year—not a particular day (compare Zephaniah 1:7, 14.) In Revelation 1:10, the phrase “the Lord’s day” is used in English translations. This is the only passage where this wording is used. Some try to make a distinction between the “day of the Lord” (a prophetic time span) and the “Lord’s Day” which allegedly refers to Sunday. As we have seen, IF the phrase “the Lord’s Day” was to refer to a particular day, then it would refer to the Sabbath. However, the distinction is arbitrary and a “clever” invention of the translator to teach the “holiness” of Sunday. Some translations even say quite deceitfully: “I was on Sunday in the spirit…” But the phrase in Revelation 1:10 could be easily and correctly translated with “the day of the Lord.” All German bibles render this phrase as “the day of the Lord.”

Also, Christ did not rise on a Sunday [see below], so the argument of having to keep Sunday holy to honor Christ’s resurrection or that suddenly Sunday became the Lord’s day evaporates as well.

The same is true for the replacement of God’s Holy Days or annual Sabbaths (cp. for instance Leviticus 23:24, 27, 32, 39) which Jesus, the God of the Old Testament, instituted for His Church, with pagan holidays which were instituted under Satan’s inspiration, such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and New Year’s Day. In doing so, they reject Jesus and the sign for His people (which sign is associated with both the weekly and the annual Sabbaths). This sign shows that those keeping God’s weekly and annual Sabbaths are God’s and that the true God is their God (Exodus 31:13-17; Ezekiel 20:12, 20).

Orthodox Christianity rejects Jesus in that they deny the only sign that He gave to the Pharisees that He was the Messiah—that He would be three days and three nights in the grave (Matthew 12:40); that He was crucified on a Wednesday and placed in the grave just before sunset, when the annual Holy Day or Sabbath of the first Day of Unleavened Bread began—a “high day” (John 19:31); and that He was resurrected on Saturday (the Sabbath) and left the grave just before sunset, exactly three days and three nights later, as He had said that He would. It was right “in the end” (Authorized Version) or “at the close” (Moffat) of the [two] Sabbaths (as it should be rendered—so the Fenton Bible; the word here for “Sabbath” is in the plural, referring to the annual Sabbath on Thursday and the weekly Sabbath on Saturday), when the women appeared at the grave (Matthew 28:1), and Jesus had already risen (verses 5-6). Instead, traditional Christianity believes that He was crucified on “Good Friday” (called “black Friday” in pagan religions) and that He was resurrected on Sunday morning—the day of the pagan sun god Baal, also known as Nimrod, Mithra or Attis. This Sunday is called Easter Sunday, which was dedicated to the pagan goddess Ishtar, known today as Easter. As mentioned, Ishtar was also worshipped by pagans as the Queen of Heaven (see above).

For more information, please read our free booklet, “Jesus Christ—a Great Mystery.”

Traditional Christianity rejects Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by believing in the Trinity and that Jesus was somewhat of a human extension on earth while He—as the Son—was still in heaven.

First, let us notice how the concept of the “Trinity” is being described:

Infoplace.com writes:

“The central teachings of traditional Christianity are that Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

Wikipedia writes:

“Trinity refers to the teaching that the one God comprises three distinct, eternally co-existing persons: the Father, the Son (incarnate in Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit… They are distinct from another: the Father has no source, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father. Though distinct, the three persons cannot be divided from one another in being or in operation… The Trinity is an essential doctrine of mainstream Christianity…”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes it in this way:

“The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity… The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life…”

The question is then, what happened to the Son (the second “Person” of the Trinity) when Christ became a human being and when He died.

Carm.org writes:

“God is a trinity of persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit… If any one of the three were removed, there would be no God… Jesus has two natures: divine and human… When Jesus died on the cross, his human nature died. The divine nature did not die. Therefore, we see that the Trinity never ceased to exist…”

This is nowhere taught in Scripture, and it is in fact utter nonsense. Worse yet, it constitutes a rejection of Christ and represents the spirit of Antichrist.

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ was the Son of God (2 Corinthians 1:19; 1 John 4:14-15; 5:5; 2 John 1:3,9) who became man—fully flesh—and who died (Romans 5:10). When Jesus died, the Son died. The Son did not continue to be a living “Person” within a Trinity. Secondly, it was God the Father who resurrected Jesus Christ—the SON—from the dead (Galatians 1:1).

By believing in the Trinity, orthodox Christianity rejects Jesus Christ as God who came in the flesh and who died for us (1 John 4:2-3). Christ, the Son of God, needed to die for us to become our Savior. If the Son of God did not die, we don’t have a Savior (1 John 2:22). Orthodox Christianity rejects Christ as the Son, saying that the Son, as part of the Trinity, could not die. The Son stayed alive when His “human shell” or His “human nature” died. Jesus’ “divine nature” did not die. This, quite frankly, is blasphemy.

Traditional Christianity rejects the Sacrifice of Christ for an additional reason in that it claims and believes that even the Man Christ—His human shell—did not really die, but kept on living as an “immortal soul.” They state that Jesus (who, they say, did not really die, not even as a Man) went to hell to preach to the spirits, while His human body was in the grave.

Wikipedia writes about immortality:

“By the 3rd century, with the influence of Origen, the traditions of the inherent immortality of the soul and its divine nature were established. As the new Encyclopedia Britannica points out: ‘The early Christian philosophers adopted the Greek concept of the soul’s immortality…’”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church writes:

“…every spiritual soul is created immediately by God… and it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death.”

We show in our free booklet “Do We Have an Immortal Soul,” that the Bible nowhere teaches that concept. In fact, the Bible says that the SOUL which sins will DIE (Ezekiel 18:4, 20).

However, since it is taught that Jesus (as supposedly every human being) had an immortal soul, the concept is that He went to hell after He died, but before He was resurrected.

Vatican.va writes:

“The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was ‘raised from the dead’ presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection… that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there…  In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven’s gates for the just who had gone before him.”

The National Catholic Reporter wrote in 2012:

“Every Christian knows the story: Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. But what did he do on Saturday? … Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and most mainline Protestant churches teach that Jesus descended to the realm of the dead on Holy Saturday to save righteous souls, such as the Hebrew patriarchs, who died before his crucifixion.

“The catechism of the Catholic church calls the descent ‘the last phase of Jesus’ messianic mission,’ during which he ‘opened heaven’s gates for the just who had gone before him.’ An ancient homily included in the Catholic readings for Holy Saturday says a ‘great silence’ stilled the earth while Jesus searched for Adam, ‘our first father, as for a lost sheep.’…

“Churches that teach he descended to the realm of the dead most often cite 1 Peter 3:18-20…”

Of course, this passage does talk about the time of Noah, prior to the Flood, when Jesus preached to the spirits in prison (that is, the spiritually imprisoned demons—not any “departed ones” or dead people still being alive in “hell”).

Many within traditional Christianity also don’t believe—contrary to Matthew 24:27, 30; Mark 13:26; Revelation 1:4-7—that Jesus, at His Second Coming, will come back visibly, but they claim that Jesus will come back at first in secret, or that He already returned on the Day of Pentecost as the Holy Spirit—the third “person” of the Trinity who is somehow “identical,” but still not identical, with the Holy Spirit. This idea is nonsense for the simple reason that the Holy Spirit is not a person, and if it were a person, then it would have been the Person of the Holy Spirit who would have come—and not the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. For more information on what the Holy Spirit is, and what it is not, please read our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”

We could add many more concepts taught by traditional Christianity, which are contrary to who and what Christ was and is, and what He, the Word, taught; but we believe that the foregoing is sufficient to show that traditional Christianity does in fact reject the TRUE Jesus of the Bible. As long as it does, it does not believe and accept our Savior… and there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12) than the name of the TRUE Jesus of the Bible.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

With deep sympathy we announce the death of Barbara Jones, from Salyer, California. Her death occurred in late July according to notification from her husband, Mr. Joe Jones. Until recent years, Mr. and Mrs. Jones attended the Feast of Tabernacles with us, but due to health problems they could no longer travel away from their home area. Prayers for Mr. Jones will be greatly appreciated.

A Tech Team meeting  was conducted on Sunday, August 16, 2020, via SKYPE. Hosted by Eric Rank, we discussed sermon setup, Facebook, stock images, website security and Feast preparations.

“You Must be Very Proud!” is the title of last Sabbath’s sermonette, presented by Frank Bruno. Here is a summary:

In this Sermonette we will explore together what the Bible tells us in terms of a correct, godly way to find satisfaction in serving and doing our best—without becoming proud, haughty and superior, which can ultimately cause us to succumb to evil influences and sinfulness.

“What is True Worship?” is the title of last Sabbath’s sermon, presented by Dave Harris. Here is a summary:

Does God accept your worship, or are you worshipping God in vain? Is the mere act of worship enough? What does the Bible reveal about worship—especially the true worship of God?

The YouTube channel for the Church of the Eternal God presents past videos for StandingWatch programs along with sermonettes, sermons and promotional videos. These are also available on our website: www.eternalgod.org.

On August 15, 2020, Frank Bruno will present the sermonette, titled, “You Must be Very Proud!” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “What is True Worship?”

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.

As I write this Editorial, I am enjoying a vacation, absent from work and spending a lot of time relaxing with my family. Taking the time off from work without having the burden to handle the day-to-day tasks and spending time on the beach feels absolutely luxurious. And in many ways, it truly is. A frequent meditation on this trip involves my gratitude for the blessings that God has provided to make it possible to spend a little bit of time abounding in joy.

Knowing the grim future that lies in store for the world and knowing that the paramount motivations for Christians are spiritual, it can be hard (for me) to make the space to enjoy physical blessings. But to reject all joy that has roots in physical existence is to deny the fact that we are human. Certainly, God provides blessings in this life for us to enjoy, but how can we reconcile the need to live according to the Spirit?

It brings to mind the state of mind that Paul mentions in Philippians 4:11-12, “…for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” Seeing that Paul knew how to abound, living at times a life of fullness and abundance, there must be a way to do so ourselves without compromising righteousness. In fact, we can see some of the keys directly in this statement, beginning with contentment.

By placing value in our spiritual relationship with God over and above whatever physical blessings there might be, it allows us to be content. Paul’s contentment originates from his trust in God believing that He will provide all that he needs, whether it makes him hungry or full. If our obedient actions are our focus rather than the targeted results according to worldly metrics, it doesn’t matter whether we are blessed with a lot or a little. With that state of mind, what matters in our lives is our relationship with God, making everything else incidental. Maintaining contentment in a broad spectrum of physical circumstances requires spiritual motivations that transcend the physical outcomes of our actions.

Even so, God promises blessings in physical ways, which are the natural results of obedience. “‘Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God…’” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2). The promises that follow the conditional proclamation on obedience in this chapter of the Bible describe abundance in mainly physical terms. To abound then, requires obedience first. But as we learn from Paul, when properly motivated, contentment is a result regardless of the physical benefit of obedience. Clearly, God provides blessings on obedience for the purpose of our enjoyment. To abound then involves enjoying the fruits of obedience as well!

If we want to know how to abound in the world we live, the prescription is simple. Our focus must be on our way of life, ensuring that we are living lives that are pleasing to God. To abound in life involves obedience first. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). By abounding in the work of supporting the Church’s commission for this end time of preaching the gospel in all the world as a witness and of overcoming sin in our lives, thereby expressing love towards God and our fellow man, we will also have the ability to abound in enjoying the physical blessings God provides for us in our lives now.

by Norbert Link

We begin with deeply disturbing articles about ongoing governmental restrictions; the absurdity and hypocrisy behind measures to limit or prohibit Church services; and the Satanic attempt to prevent God’s people from observing His Holy Days, including the commanded Feast of Tabernacles in the biblically prescribed manner, coupled with our appeal for PRAYER that God would bind the hands of Satan and enable God’s people to obey His commands for His weekly and annual Sabbaths in an uncompromising way.

We speak of attempts by Big Tech to suppress the Truth; a bogus claim by Russia regarding their development of a “safe” coronavirus vaccine; and we report on the dangers of the bubonic plague which is apparently transmitted through unclean animals. We point out further developments showing the deterioration of the relationship between the USA and Germany. We also report on the Beirut disaster and the distinct possibility that the gigantic explosion was caused by foreign interference (a bomb) and that Hezbollah was somehow involved. We also address the fact that Lebanon is bankrupt.

We continue with articles about the biblically prophesied European army; the “historic” peace deal between Israel, the UAE and the USA; and the Third Temple prior to Christ’s return [please view our new StandingWatch program in this context, titled, “The Third Temple, the End of the World, and the “Historic” Peace Deal”]; and we speak on the attempts of Russia and China to bring about “Dedollarization” in their countries.

We also address President Trump’s executive order for unemployment benefits and the deferral of the payroll tax, which might be challenged by Democrats in court; and we conclude with Joe Biden’s pick of Kamala Harris as his running mate.

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

Governmental Restrictions Might Jeopardize Celebration of Feast of Tabernacles

The World wrote on August 6:

“Oregon Gov. Kate… Brown’s Press Secretary Liz Merah responded [to an inquiry]: “‘… in recent weeks, doctors, health experts, and case investigators have reported seeing cases linked to interstate travel. The issue of travel restrictions was raised by members of the Governor’s Medical Advisory Panel based on COVID-19 cases linked to travel in southern Oregon, which is troubling based on the spikes in case counts California is currently experiencing. County-level COVID-19 data from across the country likewise shows increasing case counts between linked communities across state borders.

“‘We are asking the health experts at the Oregon Health Authority and the Medical Advisory Panel for more data on travel-related spread of COVID-19, as well as recommendations for health and safety measures to address such cases. In conversations with legislators today, our office also discussed the reality that many Oregonians in communities on the state’s borders often cross those borders for work, and that any restrictions must take economic and supply chain implications into account. As the Governor has stated previously, our focus is on restrictions related to tourist travel from hotspot states and communities. Conversations are ongoing about how those restrictions could work.’”

It is obvious to us that panic-driven and mostly unrealistic and unscientific governmental restrictions are Satan’s tool to destroy the Church of God and to prevent the Church and its members from keeping the biblically commanded Feast of Tabernacles in the month of October for eight days. The Church of the Eternal God (CEG) is determined to keep the Feast in the manner prescribed by God and at the place(s) where God has placed His name. We would therefore like to ask for PRAYERS that God binds the hands of Satan and allows us to keep God’s commandment. The situation in Oregon is one example as to how Satan might try to prevent Church members from traveling to God’s designated feast site for CEG in South Dakota. (As the article below points out, Satan might even try to sabotage the Feast site in South Dakota.)

Canadian Church members are presently not allowed to travel to the USA by land; and American members are not permitted to fly to Germany to keep the Feast there at God’s designated site near Düsseldorf with the German-speaking brethren. We see indications that Satan may be trying to influence the German state and federal governments to restrict or even prohibit Church services and Church assemblies in the country. Right now, members from the UK and other European and some non-European countries are still allowed to travel to Germany for the Feast, but not to the USA. Australian members are likewise faced with the possibility of a lockdown which might prevent them from keeping the Feast, if Satan were to prevail.

In addition, even where governments allow Church services, Satan wants to use them to restrict the biblically commanded way as to how to conduct those, and sadly, many worldly churches and even some claiming to be in the Body of Christ manifest a spirit of Sardis or Laodicea and have buckled in fear and are far too willing to “oblige,” sometimes with most ridiculous results. Our free booklets, “Obeying God Rather Than Men,” and “How to Keep the Sabbath,” give important guidelines in this regard.

It is therefore incumbent upon God’s people to pray to God for His mighty intervention to bind the hands of Satan and to allow God’s people to observe the Feast of Tabernacles at the place where God has placed His name, and to be able to do so in freedom and security and with joy and thankfulness.  

Motorcycle Enthusiasts Gather in South Dakota

Fox News wrote on August 8:

“Crowds of motorcycle enthusiasts gathered in Sturgis, S.D., Friday for the start of the 80^th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally…  Organizers were expecting 250,000 people from all over the country to [meet] at the 10-day event. Many bikers were defiant over the restrictions…

“Republican Gov. Kristi Noem has taken a largely hands-off approach to the pandemic, avoiding a mask mandate and preaching personal responsibility. She supported holding the Sturgis rally, pointing out that no virus outbreak was documented from the several thousand people who turned out to see President Donald Trump and fireworks at Mount Rushmore last month.”

Good for her but the fear is that a manufactured alleged “rise” in cases might place pressure on Gov. Noem to impose some restrictions. We hope not, as God has led us to keep the Feast of Tabernacles this year in South Dakota.

Ban on American Citizens to Enter the USA?

The New York Times wrote on August 10:

“President Trump is considering new immigration regulations that would allow border officials to temporarily block American citizens and legal permanent residents from returning to the United States from abroad if authorities believe they may be infected with the coronavirus…

“Under the proposal…, the government could block a citizen or legal resident from crossing the border into the United States if an official ‘reasonably believes that the individual either may have been exposed to or is infected with the communicable disease.’… The documents appear not to spell out how long a citizen or legal resident would be required to remain outside of the United States. The draft memo says the prohibition on the introduction of U.S. citizens or legal residents from abroad would apply ‘only in the rarest of circumstances,’ and ‘when required in the interest of public health, and be limited in duration.’

“Still if Mr. Trump approves the change, it would be an escalation of his government’s longstanding attempts to seal the border against what he considers to be threats, using the existence of the coronavirus pandemic as a justification for taking actions that would have been seen as draconian in other contexts… It is unclear whether there are any existing rules that would allow American citizens and legal residents to be prohibited from returning to the United States for a period of time because of concerns about a communicable disease. Immigration officials have broad authority to deny entry to people based on national security issues.

“The rule appears to apply to all points of entry into the United States, including at airports and along both the northern and southern borders. In particular, the draft could impact the border with Mexico, where many American citizens and legal residents cross back and forth frequently. The rule notes the prevalence of the coronavirus in Mexico as evidence of the need for the modified rule, citing the death on August 2 of the health minister in the Mexican border state of Chihuahua, who the order says died of Covid-19 after a two week hospitalization. The draft regulation notes the stress that Covid-19 has placed on the Mexican health care system and says it has driven people from Mexico into the United States to seek care.”

We wonder whose ”brilliant” mind is behind this draft. It’s getting worse and worse… This concept does not seem to have ANY justification or logic whatsoever. What would happen to those who will be rejected at an airport? Where would they end up? Where would they stay? They could not enter the USA, and they could not go back to the country of their last vacation. (That country would not accept them back.) Would they have to stay in the airport complex, in “no man’s land,” before crossing the border?

Will this nonsense EVER end????

Further Corona Restrictions for Germany

Deutsche Welle reported on August 7:

“German Health Minister Jens Spahn announced Thursday wide-reaching new testing measures for arrivals in Germany. From Saturday, all of those arriving from designated risk areas will have to be tested for coronavirus unless they can produce a negative test certificate no more than two days old. The rules apply to anyone of any nationality arriving in Germany from a so-called risk area… Germany’s public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), has a list of risk areas that they update on a daily basis… It extends to a large number of countries outside of the European Union, but EU members are not necessarily exempt. At the time of writing, the list of risk areas included the US, several northern regions of Spain, North Macedonia, Israel, Iran, Turkey, India and North Korea. The Belgium province of Antwerp was added on Wednesday after a spike in cases…

“People refusing to take a test could face a fine of up €25,000 ($30,000), depending on the federal state where they live… The tests… will be carried out by the German Red Cross right behind the passport and customs areas at airports. There are also plans to set up testing booths at the borders by motorways and train stations. Should an immediate test not be possible, because the test booths are closed, travelers are obliged to go for a test within 14 days and remain in quarantine until they have done so…

“Medical experts say the obligatory testing introduced by Jens Spahn is legitimate…”

The legality for any of this is very doubtful, but who cares?

Religious Persecution… A Ridiculous Decision by a California Judge

The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote on August 7:

“A California church that for weeks has held indoor worship in defiance of anti-coronavirus health orders must close its doors, a judge ruled Friday. A temporary restraining order was issued that bars Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park from indoor worship services anywhere in the county. ‘The court finds that there is an immediate threat to public health and safety due to the 2019 novel coronavirus,’

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Matthew Guasco wrote. The order will be in place until another hearing is held on Aug. 21.

“The county north of Los Angeles and its health officer sued the church after Pastor Rob McCoy repeatedly defied health orders designed to limit the spread of COVID-19. Services for as many as 200 worshipers offered ‘singing, hugging, no masks,’ in McCoy’s words. The suit was filed last week, a day after the county Board of Supervisors authorized court actions to enforce the health orders. The suit said permitting the church to keep holding indoor services could harm the public, ‘including hospitalizations and deaths.’

“‘On a scale of one to 10 of the most immediate irreparable harm possible, this is a 10,’ Guasco said at the hearing. ‘It doesn’t get much more immediate or irreparable than the threat that a lot of people are going to spread a contagious and deadly disease.’…

“McCoy has argued that the risk of spreading COVID-19 from its services is small and there hasn’t been a confirmed case among parishioners. Lawyers for the church also have argued that the health orders are overreach that are trumped by the Constitutional right to freedom of expression and worship… ‘We believe that COVID-19 can be fought with far less restrictive measures than banning all healthy persons from church and our expert witnesses will prove that,’ said a statement Friday from Tyler & Bursch, which is defending the church through a non-profit organization, Advocates for Faith & Freedom.

“Godspeak Calvary Chapel is one of a handful of churches in the state that have wound up in court over state or local health orders restricting services. Judges have consistently ruled against the churches on grounds of public safety. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld state COVID-19 restrictions on religious gatherings in a suit filed by South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista… ‘The Constitution is not a suicide pact,’ Guasco said…”

Have you ever heard a more ridiculous statement? Truly, Satan is ruling this world! It is time for Jesus Christ to return to replace unrighteous judges with righteous ones.  

Worshipping God Inside Walmart

Breitbart wrote on August 7:

“Christian worshippers outsmarted Pennsylvania’s fascist Democrat governor [Tom Wolf] by gathering to praise God inside a Walmart — which, unlike the church, has been deemed ‘essential’… The Walmart [incident] is not only beautiful for all the obvious reasons, it also points out the hypocrisy and anti-religious bigotry of these selective lockdowns and guidelines — not to mention their absurdity. Gathering to sing and praise God in a Walmart does not defy these totally unnecessary and useless social distancing guidelines, but gathering to sing and praise God in a house of worship does.

“Please do tell me why it’s safe to gather in a Walmart, but not a church, synagogue, or mosque? I guess the science behind that thinking must be the same science that explains why a Trump rally is deadly but a Black Lives Matter/Antifa riot is totally safe — or why you holding a funeral for your loved one will kill people, but it is perfectly safe when left-wing elites gather for an indoor funeral to say goodbye to John Lewis, one of their own…

“Just try to wrap your mind around the fact that one of America’s major political parties… as well as the corporate media… want to shut down our church but protect abortion clinics and marijuana dispensaries as ‘essential.’ They want to protect the right to gather to loot and riot and burn, even as they use the fascist power of the State to strip us of our First Amendment right to gather together and worship…”

Indeed, it shows the abhorrent stupidity and blatant hypocrisy of such restrictions and prohibitions and that SATAN is behind all of this. Why then would a church, claiming to be part of the Body of Christ, support and endorse such nonsense?

Megachurch Defies California Restrictions

The Hill wrote on August 12:

“The pastor of a megachurch in Los Angeles defended the church’s decision to allow thousands in for services Sunday, defying California state orders amid the coronavirus outbreak. Grace Community Church held in-person services on Sunday, and pastor John MacArthur told CNN that 6,000 or 7,000 people showed up. The crowd size defies a state order released at the end of July that limits indoor attendance at a place of worship to 25 percent of a building capacity or a maximum of 100 attendees, whichever is lower…

“‘We opened the doors because that’s what we are, we’re a church and we’re going to trust those people to make adult decisions about the reality of their physical and spiritual health and how that balance works for each one of them,’ [MacArthur] said. ‘Nobody’s forcing anything, they’re here because they want to be here.’

“MacArthur called the restrictions on places of worship put in place to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus ‘not constitutional’ and ‘burdensome,’ and argued they make ‘no sense in light of the actual numbers of death’ members of his church are seeing.”

Amen to that.

The Lockdown Fallacy

The Sun wrote on August 8:

“ALMOST as many have been killed by lockdown as by the virus itself, an official report suggests. According to figures, for every three Covid-19 dead another two have died because they missed vital medical treatment.

“Between March and May there were 25,000 coronavirus deaths. At the same time 16,000 others also died, including 6,000 too scared to go to A&E. People felt that they should stay home because of the Governments ‘Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’ message. And [it] is thought 10,000 died in care homes after they were discharged early from hospitals. They were not able to access critical care.”

These numbers take the official figures of coronavirus deaths for granted, which is highly questionable. This means, maybe MANY MORE died because of the lockdown than because of the virus. In a related matter, it was now reported that a Nashville councilwoman has proposed charging anyone not wearing a mask with either murder or attempted murder. This is insane lunacy by a completely incompetent politician!

Needed… An anti-Lockdown Movement

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on August 10:

“Shell-shocked is a good way to describe the mood in the US for a good part of the Spring of 2020. Most of us never thought it could happen here. I certainly did not, even though I’ve been writing about pandemic lockdown plans for 15 years. I knew the plans were on the shelf, which is egregious, but I always thought something would stop it from happening. The courts. Public opinion. Bill of Rights. Tradition. The core rowdiness of American culture. Political squeamishness. The availability of information. Something would prevent it. So I believed. So most of us believed.

“Still it happened, all in a matter of days, March 12-16, 2020, and boom; it was over! We were locked down. Schools shut. Bars and restaurants closed. No international visitors. Theaters shuttered. Conferences forcibly ended. Sports stopped. We were told to stay home and watch movies… for two weeks to flatten the curve. Then two weeks stretched to five months. How lucky for those who lived in the states that resisted the pressure and stayed open, but even for them, they couldn’t visit relatives in other states due to quarantine restrictions and so on.

“Lockdowns ended American life as we knew it just five months ago… What many states are calling ‘open’ today would have been called ‘closed’ six months ago. Sports are rare. Theaters aren’t open. In some places, you still can’t go to gyms or eat inside. Mask mandates are everywhere, and mask enforcers too. People are ratting out their neighbors, sending drones to ferret out house parties, and lashing out at each other in public places… America has become an extremely ugly place. This is what lockdowns did.

“… the TV and online media are blaring panic all day every day… people feel tremendously powerless right now. They have been locked down, silenced, humiliated, brutalized. The few attempts to get out and protest the lockdowns were greeted with jeers and derision by mainstream media…

“Where precisely does American opinion stand on lockdowns today? The polls one cannot trust: people know exactly what they are supposed to say to pollsters during a police-state lockdown… The incredible frenzy of the lying media has confused vast numbers. A poll revealed that many Americans think that 9% of us have died from C-19 whereas it is really 0.04%…

“We see almost no discussion in the mainstream press of the empirical evidence at home and abroad that the lockdowns make no sense from a medical and economic perspective…

“This country needs a serious anti-lockdown movement… This movement needs to celebrate and defend religious freedom, since, incredibly, most houses of worship were forcibly closed by government…

“Laws requiring face coverings in public would never have been tolerated even six months ago. And yet here we are, not only with laws but a growing number of recruits within the public to enforce them with appalling rudeness…

“In the end, the case for unlocking society is a spiritual matter. What is your life worth and how do you want to live it? How important are the hard-won freedoms you exercise daily? What of the lives and liberties of others?… Freedom has never prevailed without passionate and courageous voices to defend it…”

It is amazing to see how quickly the world has changed… and how quickly the ill-informed masses have “embraced” autocratic senseless measures by their governments…

Fauci: Chances Are Slim for an Effective Vaccine

CNBC wrote on August 8:

“Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday that the chances of scientists creating a highly effective vaccine — one that provides 98% or more guaranteed protection — for the virus are slim. Scientists are hoping for a coronavirus vaccine that is at least 75% effective, but 50% or 60% effective would be acceptable, too, Fauci… said…

“The Food and Drug Administration has said it would authorize a coronavirus vaccine so long as it is safe and at least 50% effective…  A 50% effective vaccine would be roughly on par with those for influenza…

“Fauci has previously said he worries about the ‘durability’ of a coronavirus vaccine, saying if Covid-19 acts like other coronaviruses, it may not provide long-term protection… Health officials say there is no returning to ‘normal’ until there is a vaccine.”

After all this hype for a vaccine, now this latest “expert” opinion! It appears these health advisors know next to nothing about the virus and how to deal with it. God must have poured out upon them a spirit of sleep and slumber.

Russia’s Dubious and Dangerous Claim

The Associated Press wrote on August 11:

“Russia on Tuesday became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine, a move that was met with international skepticism and unease because the shots have only been studied in dozens of people. President Vladimir Putin announced the Health Ministry’s approval and said one of his two adult daughters already was inoculated. He said the vaccine underwent the necessary tests and was shown to provide lasting immunity to the coronavirus, although Russian authorities have offered no proof to back up claims of safety or effectiveness…

“However, scientists in Russia and other countries sounded an alarm, saying that rushing to offer the vaccine before final-stage testing could backfire. What’s called a Phase 3 trial — which involves tens of thousands of people and can take months — is the only way to prove if an experimental vaccine is safe and really works. By comparison, vaccines entering final-stage testing in the U.S. require studies of 30,000 people each…

“Becoming the first country in the world to approve a vaccine was a matter of national prestige for the Kremlin as it tries to assert the image of Russia as a global power…”

These kinds of power plays are sickening and endanger the health of millions of people.

Trump: Children Almost Immune from Coronavirus

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on August 7:

“Facebook and Twitter have taken down the US president’s claims on the insusceptibility of children to Covid-19 – a fact on which the science supports him – proving that Big Tech is increasingly acting in a nakedly political way. In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Donald Trump declared that ‘children are almost immune’ from coronavirus. The videos posted online have been deleted, but the trimmed audio is available… on CNN, which… titled it ‘Trump falsely says kids are “almost immune’” from Covid-19,’ just in case its editorial position was in any way in doubt.

“… the evidence of your own eyes should be enough to pass judgement on this. But here are a few statistics that stand out from the literature. Only a tiny fraction (0.8 percent) of Covid-19 hospital patients have been under the age of 19. Not a single child aged under 10 anywhere in the world has transmitted the virus to another person, despite a global effort from the World Health Organization to find one. And a large meta study across 26 counties found just seven deaths among children that were ascribed to coronavirus.

“Bearing those figures in mind, if Trump meant that ‘almost all children are immune,’ he was right. Similarly, if he meant children as a whole are ‘almost immune’, it would take considerable mental gymnastics to disagree. And this is if the statistics are taken at face value: the 0.8 percent figure is just as exaggerated as all the other figures, due to asymptomatic cases, and the seven deaths is such a small number it is statistically insignificant. Who knows what went on in those seven cases, and how old the patients were. If they were older teens, they could just as easily have been classed as adults.”

The intolerance of Big Tech towards those who state scientifically proven FACTS is appalling.

And Now… the Bubonic Plague?

CNN wrote on August 7:

“Authorities in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia have sealed off a village after a resident there died from bubonic plague, a centuries-old disease responsible for the most deadly pandemic in human history. It did not mention how the patient had caught the plague…

“The plague, caused by bacteria and transmitted through flea bites and infected animals, killed an estimated 50 million people in Europe during the Black Death pandemic in the Middle Ages…

“Anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 people get the plague every year… But that total is likely too modest an estimate, since it doesn’t account for unreported cases. According to 2016 data, the possibility of plague exists on almost every continent, especially the western United States, parts of Brazil, scattered areas in southeast Africa and large swaths of China, India and the Middle East.

“… [People were urged] to reduce contact with wild animals while traveling and avoid hunting, skinning or eating animals that could cause infection.

“Last month, two cases of bubonic plague were confirmed in Mongolia — brothers who had both eaten marmot meat… In May 2019, another couple in Mongolia died from the plague after eating the raw kidney of a marmot, thought to be a folk remedy for good health.

“Marmots are a type of large ground squirrel that is eaten in some parts of China and the neighboring country Mongolia, and which have historically caused plague outbreaks in the region. The marmot is believed to have caused the 1911 pneumonic plague epidemic, which killed about 63,000 people in northeast China. It was hunted for its fur, which soared in popularity among international traders. The diseased fur products were traded and transported around the country — infecting thousands along the way.”

Breaking Israel News wrote on August 10:

“In a seemingly unrelated case, a man in his 20s died of the septicaemic plague in New Mexico last week. This was the second case of septicaemic plague in New Mexico in less [than a month] after a man in his 60s was diagnosed with bubonic plague in New Mexico’s Santa Fe County last month.”

Marmots are unclean animals and not to be eaten. The Bible says that many people will die in the future because of the “wild beasts of the earth.”

Disagreements between Washington and Berlin on WHO

Reuters wrote on August 7:

“France and Germany have quit talks on reforming the World Health Organization in frustration at attempts by the United States to lead the negotiations, despite its decision to leave the WHO… The move is a setback for President Donald Trump as Washington, which holds the rotating chair of the G7, had hoped to issue a common roadmap for a sweeping overhaul of the WHO…

“The German and French health ministries confirmed to Reuters that the two countries were opposed to the United States leading the talks after announcing their intention to leave the organization…

“It is unclear whether a G7 summit in the United States, at which Trump hopes leaders will endorse the roadmap, will now go ahead in September as planned… Despite changes to the original text, Washington’s push remained unacceptable, mainly to Germany, sources familiar with the negotiations said.”

The relationship between the USA and Germany is close to reaching a boiling point. Note the next article.

Macgregor new US Ambassador to Germany

Business Insider wrote on August 5:

“US President Trump’s pick for US ambassador to Germany accused Angela Merkel of prioritising ‘unwanted Muslim invaders’ over military aid and said Muslim migrants wanted to turn Europe ‘into an Islamic state.’ The White House on Monday announced that Col. Douglas Macgregor, a former Army tank commander, would succeed Richard Grennel as the US ambassador to [the] European Union’s largest economy, saying he is ‘widely recognized as an expert on force design and grand strategy.’ [Macgregor] is an enthusiastic supporter of Trump’s move to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany.

“In 2018, he… said ‘the Germans, like the Koreans and the Japanese, are tired of this American troop presence on their soil,’ calling for a ‘change our relationship with Germany in terms of military power.’ A year later he [said]: ‘… we’re not going to rush hundreds of thousands of troops to the Polish border to deal with the Russians.’…

“[Macgregor] is inheriting a strained US relationship with Germany. His appointment comes amid months of tension between Washington and Berlin after Merkel’s government reacted angrily to President Trump’s decision to withdraw nearly 12,000 troops from Germany…

“A report published last week by London-based think tank, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) said that Germany no longer believed it could expect the US’ help against the threat of Russia and China.

“[Macgregor] has expressed views on other major issues in European geopolitics that fall outside of the mainstream. In 2014, weeks after Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea, he told Kremlin-owned media outlet Russia Today that eastern and southern Ukrainians were ‘clearly Russian’ and ‘should be allowed to join Russia’…”

None of that makes Germany happy. Regardless as to whether Macgregor’s opinions are true or false, they will not help to improve the relationship between these two powers. Grennel’s performance was bad enough in the eyes of the Germans; it appears that Macgregor’s conduct will be viewed as even worse.

Germany “Dismayed” over US Sanction Threat regarding Pipeline

The Associated Press wrote on August 10:

“German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday he personally reached out to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to express ‘dismay’ over… a letter sent last week by Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Tom Cotton and Sen. Ron Johnson, which targeted Faehrhafen Sassnitz GmbH, the operator of the Mukran Port located in German Chancellor Angela Merkel´s constituency on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen… The port is a key staging post for ships involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that’s intended to bring natural gas from Russia to Germany.

“The U.S. argues the project will endanger European [energy and American national] security by making Germany overly dependent on Russian gas. It’s also opposed by Ukraine and Poland, which will be bypassed by the pipeline under the Baltic sea, as well as some other European nations… In addition to the security concerns, the U.S. also wants to sell more of its own liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to Germany — Europe’s largest economy.

“In the letter, the three senators say the message ‘serves as formal legal notice’ that the port operator, its board members, corporate officers, shareholders, and employees risk ‘crushing legal and economic sanctions’ unless they stop providing goods, services, and support for the Nord Stream 2 project. This includes providing storage areas for the pipeline’s steel sections and provisions for the Russian-flagged vessels Fortuna and Akademik Cherskiy…”

More controversy and conflicts between the USA and Germany can be expected.

The Beirut Disaster

Breitbart wrote on August 7:

“Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Friday the cause of the titanic explosion in Beirut on Tuesday ‘has not been determined yet,’ and authorities have not ruled out the ‘possibility of external interference through a rocket or bomb or other act.’”

The Telegraph added on August 7:

“[The] Government has rejected calls for an international investigation and instead suggested it could have been ‘foreign interference.’ Lebanon’s president has suggested that a missile could have been responsible for the catastrophic Beirut blast, as the country’s entrenched ruling class comes under increasing pressure from enraged citizens to resign….”

This incident and more to come will contribute to a terrible war in the Middle East.

A Bankrupt Nation

Reuters wrote on August 7:

“Lebanon’s president said on Friday its investigation into the biggest blast in Beirut’s history would examine whether it was caused by a bomb or other external interference… While the United States has said it did not rule out an attack, Israel, which has fought several wars with Lebanon, has denied any role. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the cause was unclear, but compared the blast to a 2005 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri…

“Officials have said the blast, whose impact was recorded hundreds of miles (kms) away, might have caused losses amounting to $15 billion. That is a bill Lebanon cannot pay after already defaulting on a mountain of debt – exceeding 150% of economic output – and with talks stalled on a lifeline from the International Monetary Fund.

“After the blast destroyed Lebanon’s only major grain silo, U.N. agencies helped provide emergency food and medical aid. Aid offers have also poured in from Arab states, Western nations, the Vatican and beyond. But none, so far, addresses the bigger challenges facing a bankrupt nation.”

Hezbollah’s Intentions

The Times of Israel wrote on August 8:

“Hezbollah apparently planned to use the ammonium nitrate stockpile that caused a massive blast at Beirut’s port this week against Israel in a ‘Third Lebanon War,’ according to an unsourced assessment publicized on Israel’s Channel 13 Friday night. The report was broadcast hours after Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, gave a speech ‘categorically’ denying that his group had stored any weapons or explosives at Beirut’s port, following the massive explosion there Tuesday that has claimed over 157 lives and wounded [over 5,000. Around 300,000 Beirut residents were rendered homeless].

“Ammonium nitrate is used in the manufacture of explosives and is also an ingredient in making fertilizer. It has been blamed for massive industrial accidents in the past, and was also a main ingredient in a bomb that destroyed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Last year, reports in Israel claimed that the Mossad had tipped off European intelligence agencies about Hezbollah storing caches of ammonium nitrate for use in bombs in London, Cyprus and elsewhere.

“The Channel 13 report noted that ‘the material that exploded in the port is not new to Nasrallah and Hezbollah.’ It detailed Hezbollah’s previous connections to ammonium nitrate…”

French Ambitions in Lebanon

The Associated Press wrote on August 8:

“It was almost as if Emmanuel Macron forgot that Lebanon is no longer a French protectorate. Visiting explosion-ravaged Beirut this week, France’s leader comforted distraught crowds, promised to rebuild the city and claimed that the blast pierced France’s own heart. ‘France will never let Lebanon go,’ Macron said…

“His critics denounced the overtures as a neocolonialist foray by a European leader seeking to restore sway over a troubled Middle Eastern land – and distract from mounting problems at home. A meme circulating online dubbed him Macron Bonaparte, a 21st century Emperor Napoleon. But Macron’s defenders — including desperate Beirut residents who called him ‘our only hope’ — praised him for visiting gutted neighborhoods where Lebanese leaders fear to tread, and for trying to hold Lebanon’s politicians accountable for the corruption and mismanagement blamed for Tuesday’s deadly blast…

“France’s ties with Lebanon reach back at least to the 16th century, when the French monarchy negotiated with Ottoman rulers to protect Christians – and secure influence — in the region. By the time of the 1920-1946 French mandate, Lebanon already had a network of French schools and French speakers that survives to this day — along with France’s cozy relationships with Lebanon’s power brokers…

“A surprising online petition emerged this week asking France to temporarily restore its mandate, saying Lebanon’s leaders have shown ‘total inability to secure and manage the country.’ It’s widely seen as an absurd idea… but 60,000 people have signed it, including members of France’s 250,000-strong Lebanese diaspora and people in Lebanon who said it’s a way to express their desperation and distrust of the political class.

“[Macron] made a point of noting that he plans to return to Lebanon to verify that promised reforms are being undertaken on Sept. 1, the 100th anniversary of the declaration of Greater Lebanon – and the beginning of French rule.”

French, as well as German ambitions, will play a major future role in the Middle East, including Lebanon.  

Lebanese Prime Minister and Entire Cabinet Resign

The Times of Israel reported on August 10:

“Lebanon’s prime minister said Monday he and the entire cabinet were stepping down in the wake of the Beirut port explosion last week that triggered public fury and mass protests… The cabinet’s resignation risked opening the way to dragged-out negotiations over a new cabinet amid urgent calls for reform. The moment typified Lebanon’s political dilemma.

“Since October, there have been mass demonstrations demanding the departure of the entire sectarian-based leadership over entrenched corruption, incompetence and mismanagement. But the ruling oligarchy has held onto power for so long — since the end of the civil war in 1990 — that it is difficult to find a credible political figure not tainted by connections to them.”

Coming—the European Army

Express wrote on August 11:

“There is ‘growing support’ on the continent for an EU army with enthusiastic backing from Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s President Emmanuel Macron, a former top diplomat has claimed. With the UK no longer a member of the bloc, the push to create a joint military force may be impossible to stop, said Ray Bassett, Ireland’s  former ambassador to Canada, Jamaica and the Bahamas. The warning was sounded by Mr Bassett in the course of his new book, Ireland and the EU Post Brexit, in which he considers Ireland’s place in the bloc after the departure of the UK.

“… Assessing the EU’s stance, Mr Bassett said Brussels was motivated by a ‘growing detachment from the United States and resentment at the domination of that country of present military arrangements under NATO… He added: ‘As the US becomes more wary of foreign adventurism, some within the EU want to fill the vacuum left by Uncle Sam. To do that, they want a European Army, with a large European industrial-military complex in support.’… In fact, the proposal to militarise the EU is receiving growing support among establishment figures in mainland Europe.’

“Media outlets last year reported the ‘delight’ of former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the news that both Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel had voiced their support. Mr Bassett added: ‘On November 13, Merkel, speaking to the European Parliament, had expressed unambiguously her support for a “real, true, European Army”. This echoed the strong commitment of Macron for a military wing to the EU. Macron had, somewhat farcically, earlier called for a European Army to protect the EU from Russia, China and the US, drawing a sharp rebuke from President Trump.’

“Mrs Merkel had returned to the theme during a ceremony to mark a new friendship treaty between France and Germany, signed in Aachen last January. Mr Bassett said: ‘She described the Treaty as another step forward towards the creation of a European Army. Now with the Brits departing, the push for a European Army will be much more difficult to stop.’”

A strong powerful European Army is clearly prophesied in the Bible.

The Third Temple and the End of the World

Express wrote on August 8:

“BIBLICAL prophecy states the construction of a Third Temple of Jerusalem will precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the end of the world as we know it…

“The Holy Temple of Jerusalem is at the heart of the Jewish faith in the Holy Land. To date, two temples have towered over the ancient city on the Temple Mount, only to be destroyed by invading forces. The First Temple was toppled in 586 BC by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, during his conquest of Jerusalem. The Second Temple was then razed by the Romans in the year 70 AD following a Jewish revolt. What remains of the Second Temple is an outer wall, the so-called Western Wall or Kotel, near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. And with access for prayer barred to the Temple Mount’s al Aqsa Compound to non-Muslims, the Western Wall is considered the holiest of places of prayer in the Jewish world.

“But an expert believes plans are now well underway for a Third Temple to be constructed, and with it, comes the promise of biblical prophecy coming to fruition. Tom Meyer, a professor in Bible and theology at Shasta Bible College and Graduate School in California, US, told Express.co.uk groups like the Temple Institute are unwittingly paving the way for the Second Coming of Christ…

“Professor Tom Meyer [stated:] ‘A survey done by The Joint Forum of Temple Mount organizations in 2013 found that 43 percent of religious Jews and 31 percent of secular Jews supported the immediate reconstruction of Judaism’s most holy place. The human vehicle to bring this Biblical prophecy to fruition could come through not only changing the status quo to permit Jews to pray to YHWH on the Temple Mount – which 60 percent of Jews support – but also through organizations like The Temple Institute…’

“The Temple Institute exists in part to bring about… the Third Temple. It has received some funding from the Israeli government and donations from Jewish billionaires to achieve their objective. The organisation has already reconstructed all the necessary ritual objects needed for an animal sacrificial system like measuring cups, shovels, tongs, lavers, etc according to their ancient specifications. The Temple Institute has also not only begun educational programs to train young men who can prove their lineage through the line of Levi to function as priests in the future Temple, but they have also recreated all the necessary garments for the priesthood including the famous uniform of the High Priest, his breastplate and golden crown. The furniture to be placed inside the actual Temple like the table of shewbread, the altar of incense, and the golden menorah have already been completed… Blueprints have also been produced to set the stage if the construction of a Third Temple becomes a reality.

“Professor Meyer said: ‘Biblically speaking, the construction of a third Jewish Temple is a necessity because Biblical prophecy states that the Antichrist will first proclaim himself to be the true Messiah in the yet-to-be-built third Jewish Temple before the True Messiah appears.’”

It is clear from the Bible that a Third Temple will be erected prior to Christ’s return. We can see from the foregoing article that that time may be very near. Please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of the Jewish People.”

“Historic” Peace Agreement in Middle East

 JTA wrote on August 13:

 “As part of a peace deal brokered by President Donald Trump, Israel will pause its plans to annex areas of the West Bank, according to a joint statement released by the White House. ‘Israel will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world. The United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates are confident that added diplomatic breakthroughs with other nations are possible, and will work together to achieve this goal,’ the statement read.

“The statement… said that Israel and the UAE will sign agreements in the coming weeks related to investment, tourism, air travel, security, opening embassies and more. The two nations also will work together on developing a vaccine for the coronavirus, it said…

“Most Arab countries do not recognize Israel’s existence. The Jewish state currently has ties only with Egypt and Jordan.”

For an in-depth analysis of this “peace deal” in connection with the building of the Third Temple, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “The Third Temple, the End of the World, and the “Historic” Peace Deal.”

Dedollarization in Russia and China

RusNikkei Asian Review wrote on August 6:

“Russia and China are partnering to reduce their dependence on the dollar — a development some experts say could lead to a ‘financial alliance’ between them. In the first quarter of 2020, the dollar’s share of trade between Russia and China fell below 50% for the first time on record… The greenback was used for only 46% of settlements between the two countries. At the same time, the euro made up an all-time high of 30%, while their national currencies accounted for 24%, also a new high.

“Russia and China have drastically cut their use of the dollar in bilateral trade over the past several years. As late as 2015, approximately 90% of bilateral transactions were conducted in dollars. Following the outbreak of the U.S.-China trade war and a concerted push by both Moscow and Beijing to move away from the dollar, however, the figure had dropped to 51% by 2019…

“Replacing the dollar in trade settlements became a necessity to sidestep U.S. sanctions against Russia. ‘Any wire transaction that takes place in the world involving U.S. dollars is at some point cleared through a U.S. bank,’ explained Dmitry Dolgin, ING Bank’s chief economist for Russia. ‘That means that the U.S. government can tell that bank to freeze certain transactions.’ The process gained further momentum after the Donald Trump administration imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods. Whereas previously Moscow had taken the initiative on dedollarization, Beijing came to view it as critical, too.”

The collaboration between China and Russia is happening on many different fronts, while their dependence on the American dollar is decreasing through a replacement with the euro and Chinese and Russian currencies. All of this is completely in line with biblical prophecies.

Trump’s Executive Order for Unemployment Benefits and Deferral of Payroll Tax

Newsmax wrote on August 9:

“President Donald Trump has bypassed the nation’s lawmakers as he claimed the authority to defer payroll taxes and replace an expired unemployment benefit with a lower amount after negotiations with Congress on a new coronavirus rescue package collapsed… his order called for up to $400 payments each week, one-third less than the $600 people had been receiving…

“Trump’s embrace of executive actions to sidestep Congress ran in sharp contrast to his criticism of former President Barack Obama’s use of executive orders…

“Trump said the employee portion of the payroll tax would be deferred from Aug. 1 through the end of the year… In essence, the deferral is an interest-free loan that would have to be repaid… ‘If I win, I may extend and terminate,’ Trump said, repeating a longtime goal but remaining silent on how he’d fund the Medicare and Social Security benefits that the 7% tax on employee income covers. Employers also pay 7.65% of their payrolls into the funds….”

Democrats have threatened legal action, with the possibility that a federal court might issue a preliminary injunction and a preliminary stay against enforcing the orders.

Joe Biden’s Pick of Kamala Harris as his Running Mate

The Associated Press wrote on August 11:

“Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate on Tuesday, making history by selecting the first Black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket and acknowledging the vital role Black voters will play in his bid to defeat President Donald Trump…

“Harris’ record as California attorney general and district attorney in San Francisco was heavily scrutinized during the Democratic primary and turned off some liberals and younger Black voters who saw her as out of step on issues of systemic racism in the legal system and police brutality…

“A woman has never served as president or vice president in the United States… The vice presidential pick carries increased significance this year. If elected, Biden would be 78 when he’s inaugurated in January, the oldest man to ever assume the presidency. He’s spoken of himself as a transitional figure and hasn’t fully committed to seeking a second term in 2024. If he declines to do so, his running mate would likely become a front-runner for the nomination that year.

“Born in Oakland to a Jamaican father and Indian mother… [one] of Harris’ standout moments of her presidential campaign came at the expense of Biden. During a debate, Harris said Biden made ‘very hurtful’ comments about his past work with segregationist senators and slammed his opposition to busing as schools began to integrate in the 1970s… Shaken by the attack, Biden called her comments ‘a mischaracterization of my position.’… Some Biden confidants said Harris’ campaign attack did irritate the former vice president, who had a friendly relationship with her. Harris was also close with Biden’s late son, Beau, who served as Delaware attorney general while she held the same post in California. But Biden and Harris have since returned to a warm relationship.”

The Biden campaign felt that Biden (or they) HAD to pick a black woman as running mate to please their supporters. Some in the press claim that she is an “Asian” woman to make the underlying politics less obvious. All of this is hypocritical politics. Candidates from the same party fight nastily as enemies during debates, and later work together “in friendship.”  This is true for Democrats as well as Republicans. That is why one cannot trust politicians.

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.

We previously looked at the fact that Judaism has been, and is still looking for, a human being to fulfil the role of the “mashaich” who they expect will bring about the millennial prophecies we read in many books in the Old Testament.

Let us continue to look at the website www.jewfaq.org/mashiach.htm where we read further, as follows:

“When Will the Mashiach Come?

“There are a wide variety of opinions on the subject of when the mashiach will come. Some of Judaism’s greatest minds have cursed those who try to predict the time of the mashiach’s coming, because errors in such predictions could cause people to lose faith in the messianic idea or in Judaism itself. This actually happened in the 17th century, when Shabbatai Tzvi claimed to be the mashiach. When Tzvi converted to Islam under threat of death, many Jews converted with him. Nevertheless, this prohibition has not stopped anyone from speculating about the time when the mashiach will come.

“Although some scholars believed that G-d has set aside a specific date for the coming of the mashiach, most authority suggests that the conduct of mankind will determine the time of the mashiach’s coming.”

We want to interject here that this concept does include elements of truth, but is not entirely correct. We explain in our booklet, “When and How Will Christ Return?,” chapter 4, beginning on page 23, that based on our conduct, we can hasten or delay the coming of the Messiah:

“… we read in 2 Peter 3:12 that we are to be ‘looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God’—the return of Christ…  Just as we can hasten Christ’s return, so we can also delay it, to an extent. This can be seen in 2 Peter 3:9: ‘The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance’…

“According to 2 Peter 3:9, God may delay Christ’s coming, if Church members, whom God wants to be in His Kingdom, are not ready, due to a lack of serious repentance…

“Some feel that the precise moment of Christ’s return has been fixed for thousands of years—as the Father ‘knows’ the exact moment of Christ’s Second Coming. They say that according to Christ’s words, the Father knew at least 2,000 years ago exactly when He would send back His Son: ‘But of that day and hour no one KNOWS, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only’ (Matthew 24:36). (Mark 13:32 adds that not even the Son of God—Jesus Christ—knows that exact time.)

“However, in light of the fact that Christ’s return can be delayed or accelerated—at least partially because of human conduct—it is very doubtful that God the Father ‘knew’ the exact day and hour of Christ’s return for thousands of years.

“We should note that, according to the two passages in Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32, Christ said that man, angels and Christ do not ‘know,’ but ‘only My Father.’ There is NO VERB here, following ‘My Father,’ so it must be added…

“Acts 1:7 does not say that God ‘knows.’ It only says that it is not for Christ’s disciples to ‘know.’ In regard to the Father, it is stated that He has ‘put this’ in His own power or authority. Reading Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32 together with Acts 1:7, it is apparent that the words which need to be supplied in Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32 would have to be those showing God’s AUTHORITY to set the date.”

The Luther Bible from 1891 rendered Acts 1:7 in regard to the time of Christ’s coming: “…which the Father has reserved to His power.”

This means then that we can hasten or delay the time of Christ’s coming, until the Father decides that He has waited long enough and that there would be no further delay (compare Revelation 10:6), as otherwise, all of mankind would be destroyed and no one would survive (Matthew 24:22).

Continuing with the quote from the above-mentioned website:

“In general, it is believed that the mashiach will come in a time when he is most needed (because the world is so sinful), or in a time when he is most deserved (because the world is so good). For example, each of the following has been suggested as the time when the mashiach will come:

“if Israel repented a single day;

“if Israel observed a single Shabbat properly;

“if Israel observed two Shabbats in a row properly;

“in a generation that is totally innocent or totally guilty;

“in a generation that loses hope;

“in a generation where children are totally disrespectful towards their parents and elders…”

This is just man’s mind at work and complete speculation. There are no Scriptures to indicate that any of this will happen under the rule of man.

But let us assume that one of these times, as listed above, came to pass. Could Israel – and do they mean the Jewish nation? – all repent in one day? What about everyone else on earth? It’s never happened in 6,000 years and, even when Jesus returns, there will still be those who will still be difficult and disobedient (compare Zechariah 14:16-19).

If Israel (again just the Jews?) observed a single Sabbath properly or two Sabbaths in a row properly, what would that prove? It is impossible at this time that this could ever happen but there is so much more to an obedient God-fearing person than keeping one or two Sabbaths. It is just such a very narrow, restricted activity to be able to make it a possibility for the Messiah to arise. We can liken this to the fact that so many churches and other places of worship were full just after 9/11 when the Twin Towers in New York had been attacked.  After a few weeks, things got back to “normal”!

The next qualification would be if a generation is totally innocent or totally guilty. How could a generation all be one way or another? Civilisation over the millennia has shown us that generations are made up of people at different levels – the good, the bad and those in between. To think that a generation could all be one way or another is not consistent with 6,000 years of experience.

We are told that the time of the Messiah’s coming will be like the time of Noah (thoroughly evil and wicked), but—like Noah—there will be some who will be righteous. They are called the elect and it is for their sake that Christ will shorten the days and return so that all of mankind will not be destroyed. This includes many members of the true Church of God prior to and during the Great Tribulation and the conversion of 144,000 Israelites and the great multitude of Gentiles prior to the plagues of the Day of the Lord.

According to the opinion of Judaism, as quoted by the writer in the above-mentioned article, the time when the mashiach could arise is when a generation loses hope. Again, this is given as an all-encompassing requirement which is something that has never happened before as there are always those who have a positive mindset even in the most trying of circumstances.

Following the suggestions of Judaism, the last requirement for the human mashiash to arise is when there is a generation where children are totally disrespectful towards their parents and elders. Again, another all-encompassing situation which could never happen in its entirety. The contrary is clearly revealed in Malachi 4:4-6.

Human nature over a period of 6,000 years has amply proved that this world, being ruled by Satan the Devil, will not change under the leadership of a human being. It is also not possible for human beings to become “totally innocent,” nor will it ever happen, due to God’s merciful intervention, that everyone, without exception, will be “totally guilty,” “totally losing hope,” and totally disrespectful.” But only when someone becomes a Spirit-born member of the Family of God will there be perfection.

The above-quoted article continues:

“What Will the Mashiach Do?

“Before the time of the mashiach, there shall be war and suffering (Ezekiel 38:16).”

To inject right here, even though this is a very common error in Jewish interpretation, the events in Ezekiel 38 and 39 take place AFTER the coming of the Messiah, not before. Compare our free booklet, “Biblical Prophecy—From Now Until Forever.”

Continuing:

“The mashiach will bring about the political and spiritual redemption of the Jewish people by bringing us back to Israel and restoring Jerusalem (Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 23:8; 30:3; Hosea 3:4-5).”

Just to clarify again, this common false concept of the “Jewish people” is mentioned throughout the article. The Truth is that Christ will not only free the Jews from slavery and bring them back to the Promised Land, but also ALL modern descendants of Jacob or Israel—referred to in the Bible as the houses of Israel AND Judah. Compare again our free booklet, “Biblical Prophecy—From Now Until Forever.”

Continuing:

“He will establish a government in Israel that will be the center of all world government, both for Jews and gentiles (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:10; 42:1). He will rebuild the Temple and re-establish its worship (Jeremiah 33:18). He will restore the religious court system of Israel and establish Jewish law as the law of the land (Jeremiah 33:15).”

The Messiah will not “rebuild” the Temple, but He will cleanse an existing Third Temple and free it from pollution. See, for example, our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of the Jewish People.” In addition, He will not establish Jewish law as the law of the land, but the law of GOD (much of Judaism or today’s Jewish laws, customs and traditions are totally against the commandments of God.)

Continuing:

“Olam Ha-Ba: The Messianic Age

“The world after the messiah comes is often referred to in Jewish literature as Olam Ha-Ba (oh-LAHM hah-BAH), the World to Come. This term can cause some confusion, because it is also used to refer to a spiritual afterlife. In English, we commonly use the term ‘messianic age’ to refer specifically to the time of the messiah.

“Olam Ha-Ba will be characterized by the peaceful co-existence of all people (Isaiah 2:4). Hatred, intolerance and war will cease to exist. Some authorities suggest that the laws of nature will change, so that predatory beasts will no longer seek prey and agriculture will bring forth supernatural abundance (Isaiah 11:6-11:9). Others, however, say that these statements are merely an allegory for peace and prosperity.”

These changes are to be understood literally, not just allegorically. Continuing with the article:

“All of the Jewish people will return from their exile among the nations to their home in Israel (Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 23:8; 30:3; Hosea 3:4-5). The law of the Jubilee will be reinstated.”

Again, it is all the modern descendants of the houses of Israel and Judah who will have survived the terrible times to come, who will return to the Promised Land. Regarding the law of the Jubilee, see our free booklet, “Old Testament Laws—Still Valid Today?”

Continuing:

“In the Olam Ha-Ba, the whole world will recognize the Jewish G-d as the only true G-d, and the Jewish religion as the only true religion (Isaiah 2:3; 11:10; Micah 4:2-3; Zechariah 14:9). There will be no murder, robbery, competition or jealousy. There will be no sin (Zephaniah 3:13). Sacrifices will continue to be brought in the Temple, but these will be limited to thanksgiving offerings, because there will be no further need for expiatory offerings.”

The world will recognize the God of Israel (not just the Jews) as the one and only true God, but we must understand that God is a Family, presently consisting of the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The world will not totally be without sin, as it is impossible for human beings not to sin, but due to the acceptance of the supreme Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, they will be forgiven of their sin upon repentance and belief.

The idea that the Millennial offerings which will be brought will only be “thanksgiving offerings” is clearly false.  In fact, burnt offerings and sin offerings and offerings for atonement are specifically mentioned (Ezekiel 40:38; 43:10, 18, 21, 27; 44:11, 27, 29; 45:15-25). We discuss these temporary animal sacrifices in the Millennium in our free booklet, “Biblical Prophecy—From Now Until Forever.”

Continuing:

“Some gentiles have tried to put an ugly spin on this theology, claiming that Jews plan to force people to convert to our religion, perhaps based on their own religion’s history of doing exactly the same thing. That is not at all how Jews understand the messianic age. We believe that in that future time, everyone will simply know what the truth is, in the same way that we know that 2+2=4, and there will no longer be any reason to argue about it. It is much like a situation I witnessed at work once: two computer programmers were arguing loudly and at length about whether it was possible for a user to input data at a certain point in a program. Finally someone pressed a key and they all saw that nothing happened. Now they knew the truth, end of argument. When mashiach comes, theological truths will be equally obvious to mankind, and there will be no reason to argue about it.”

This conclusion is also wrong. As mentioned before, not everyone will accept the Messiah and God’s Law right away. Some will still want to wage war. Others will at first refuse to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. People will have to be educated about God, the true worship of God, and God’s Way of Life (Isaiah 2:1-4). This understanding will not come “automatically.”

However, much of the above applies to the return of Christ (with our comments), but Judaism teaches that it will be brought about by a man. That truly would not be possible as man’s history clearly shows, nor is it God’s plan to do so.

In Galatians 5:22-23 we read: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” The thought that a man could bring about such fruit of the Spirit in every person on earth is way beyond the bounds of possibility. No man can possibly bring about peace on earth—only the great God Himself can do this. And even then, not everyone will submit to God… some will refuse to repent even after the coming of the Messiah. This is also true for the time before His coming.

We must remember that there will be a time of trouble such as never was before nor will be again (see Daniel 12:1 and Matthew 24:21) which is when the Great Tribulation starts which will include the Day of the Lord and, even with such terrible events, there will be those who will still refuse to repent. “And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.  And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds” (Revelation 16:9-11).

The question has to be asked if there will be those who refuse to repent even under the most painful and excruciating circumstances, how can a mashiach, a human being, succeed in bringing the whole world into subjection? The simple answer is that it will be God the Father, sending His Son, Jesus Christ, back to the earth to set up the Kingdom of God – not a mortal, flesh and blood human being. Only then, most people will be led to repentance… while some rebels will refuse even then.

We read in Matthew 24:21-27 about the time of Christ’s return:

^“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.  For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

It is interesting that false christs and false prophets will arise at the end time (Matthew 24:24) and Jesus will have to return to save mankind from blowing himself off the face of the planet at precisely the right time. And God’s timing is perfect.

It will be achieved by the returning Saviour of mankind, not by some human being for which the task would be impossible.

In addition to the booklets mentioned in this article, we have many more free booklets on the biblical Messiah—the Jesus of the Bible—as well as on prophecy which explain in detail what is just ahead of us now and these are available on request.

(To be continued)

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

compiled by Dave Harris

A new StandingWatch program was recorded on Thursday, August 13, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link, titled, “The Third Temple, the End of the World, and the “Historic” Peace Deal.” 

Here is as summary:

How do these three events correlate? Actually, the Bible makes clear that a Third Temple will be built on the Temple Mount just prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the end of this present evil world.  Preparations for the building of the Third Temple are complete. But how does today’s highly praised “historical” peace deal between Israel, the UAE and the USA come into play? This deal, which has been termed the “Abraham Accords,” has no chance for success. On the other hand, it might inadvertently accelerate prophesied events in the Middle East, but not in the way most might expect.

“Gibt es eine heimliche Entrückung? Kommt Christus zweimal zurück?” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Is There a Secret Rapture? Will Christ Return Twice?”

“Was bin ich wert?” is the title of last Sabbath’s German sermonette, presented by Johann Schell. Title in English: “What am I Worth?”

“America’s departure and Germany’s future—Comments on News and Prophecy (August 8, 2020),” is the title of the first message presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

The decision to remove some 12,000 troops out of Germany is a “sign—not a good one of what lies ahead.” Almost half of Germans welcome the withdrawal of US troops, showing that the relationship between Germany and the USA has never been that good… but it is getting worse. At the same time, what will happen to Germany when, as prophesied, it is being attacked with nuclear weapons, and could China, Russia and Iran play a decisive role in that regard?

“In the Service of Jesus Christ,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Kalon Mitchell, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Do you have what it takes to be in the service of Jesus Christ? How personally do you take this commission? Is it something that leads and draws your entire focus and mindset day in and out? How can we each make sure that we are  consistently being the type of Christians that Christ wants and needs? The answers and actions taken will have serious consequences!

The YouTube channel for the Church of the Eternal God presents past videos for StandingWatch programs along with sermonettes, sermons and promotional videos. These are also available on our website: www.eternalgod.org.

On August 8, 2020, Norbert Link will present “Comments on News and Prophecy (August 8, 2020)”, and Kalon Mitchell will present the sermon, title, “In the Service of Jesus Christ.”

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.

With incredible speed and with one catastrophe after another, the United States is reeling on its heels!

From Covid-19 issues to lost jobs, massive looming evictions for millions of people, riots and destruction to food crises, it is staggering to see the leadership of this country standing around and pointing the finger at the left and right. No one is willing to take the responsibility and make hard choices. People are NOT waking up to the fact that this is just the beginning of sorrows as God has prophesied. Many people expect to come out of this time and return to normalcy.

For 6000 years man has had the opportunity and the ability to make choices. And what is there to show for those years? Do we have peace? Do we have security? Do we have an abundance of happiness and love? Do we care for each other as people?

So many times I read ideas and concepts on Social Media that are diametrically opposed to the laws of God. And they are propagated with such vehement blasphemy. People no longer can come to correct conclusions because their eyes have been blinded. In Noah’s time, the imagination and intention of ALL human thinking was only evil continually. There are nice, good people in this world, but there is still sin. And only very few are telling people that they must change. And those who speak up and blow that trumpet are criticized and railed against as haters.

This is nothing new. If you read through the Bible and notice how every time God’s people stopped doing as He commanded, He told them there would be consequences! Deuteronomy 28:15-68 spells out exactly what to expect. Read through this chapter and look at what is happening to our nation and the other Israelite nations, and it is CLEAR what is going to occur. But for most people, they cannot and will not see because they do not want to (Romans 1:28). This state of not wanting to hear the Truth is now prevalent and rampant. This happened over and over again in Israel and Judah over the years, and the Bible shows this repeatedly. They would suffer mightily for national and individual sins until they had suffered so much they had nothing left but to turn their hearts and their minds back to the Truth. So some did sometimes and temporarily.

Unfortunately, we are at a point where many are unwilling to change. Quoting three Scriptures which are prophetic for our time:

Isaiah 6:9-11: “And He said, ‘Go, and tell this people: “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.” Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.’ Then I said, ‘LORD, how long?’ And He answered: ‘Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate.’”

Isaiah 30:8-11: “Now go, write it before them on a tablet, And note it on a scroll, That it may be for time to come, Forever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the LORD; Who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’ And to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get out of the way, Turn aside from the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us.’”

Zechariah 7:11-14: “‘But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the LORD of hosts. Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.’”

Just as the prophets of old gave warning as God commanded them to do, and no one wanted to listen (and actually tried to harm and did harm at times to some of those prophets), so we today in the Church of the Eternal God and our affiliates are crying out and sparing not (compare Isaiah 58:1). To “spare not” means to not hold back. The warning by the Church has been continually blown, especially louder and with more zeal as we close in on the end of the rule of Satan and his minions.

This is not a new hat to us in the Church—if we are awake! If we have been paying attention to the preaching and have been reading our Bibles diligently; if we have been continually working to overcome; if we have been sighing and crying over all the abominations that have been occurring (Ezekiel 9:4). It’s not easy to stand in the gap and in the breach (Ezekiel 22:30; Psalm 106:23). It takes courage and strength. It takes wisdom and understanding. And all these things come from God and God alone. Isaiah 11:2-3 says: “The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD…” These attributes are Christ’s, and they are given to those who seek and follow after Him. But the warnings in Matthew 24 are clear and concise that many will be offended and deception will be rampant. So I ask, are you really awake? Are you really seeking after God? Are you willing to stand up for the Truth and to support those who preach the whole Truth boldly to the world? Are you ready for the trials and the hard times that are still coming, all the while remembering that God knows all things and that it is Jesus Christ Himself who is the Head of the Church and who is leading it? It is time to wake up and get to work.

by Norbert Link

We begin with articles discussing the decision of the Trump Administration to withdraw one-third of American troops from Germany; continue with the ongoing deterioration of “friendship” between Germany and the USA; and address the terrible consequences of a [prophesied] nuclear attack on German cities. We speak on attacks on Trump by Conservatives and Democrats alike and address the close military collaboration between China, Russia and Iran; Israel’s planned annexation of West Bank land; a terrible explosion in Lebanon; and the blasphemous “pardon of Assisi.”

 We continue with numerous articles related to the coronavirus pandemic as well as governmental restrictions and public reactions to the same; including “the lockdown lunacy”; “no masks in the Netherlands”; the “fight for a vaccine” and the “need” of the “blue blood of horseshoe crabs” for manufacturing the same; “huge demonstrations in Germany against corona restrictions” and the predictable false “reporting” by the mass media about the protestors, as well as resulting discussions about freedom of assembly in Germany; “shocking news” from Australia and the UK; fights and frictions between Donald Trump and Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx; and a court-ordered suspension of the “public charge rule” during the pandemic.

In this context, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Could We Survive another Lockdown?” 

We also report on violence in Oregon with “peaceful” protestors burning bibles.

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

Withdrawal of US Troops from Germany Bad Sign

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 2:

“US former National Security Advisor John Bolton criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Germany, in an interview with German newspaper Welt am Sonntag published on Sunday… The decision to remove some 12,000 troops out of Germany is ‘a sign – and not a good one – of what lies ahead if Trump is re-elected,’ he warned…

“In his book The Room Where It All Happened Bolton has accused Trump of putting his own political interests above national security interests and the well-being of the US… When it comes to national security, Trump ‘follows no political philosophy, no strategic thinking,’ the 71-year-old said. He added that the consequence now is that ‘we are less secure today than we were before his arrival in office.’”

In his book, Bolton cites numerous examples and incidents, which, if true, would indeed be of great concern.

The Bundeswehr to the Rescue?

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 31:

“Germany should do more for its own security, Defense Minister Annagret Kramp-Karrenbauer said [adding] she would hold talks after the summer break with the leaders of the affected German states to discuss ‘how the Bundeswehr can support the affected regions.’… It was not immediately clear how the German military would attempt to fill the gap left behind by the US departures.”

But that the thought is mentioned is more than interesting.

Almost Half of Germans Welcome Withdrawal of US Troops

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 4:

“Nearly half of people in Germany are in favor of a US plan to withdraw nearly 12,000 of its troops from the European country…  Some 47% of survey respondents said they supported reducing the number of US soldiers in Germany. One in four was in favor of all US soldiers leaving. Just 28% thought the number of US troops should remain the same and only 4% were in favor of increasing their numbers. Another 21% declined to answer…

“Of Germany’s six parliamentary groups, five oppose US troops leaving Germany. Only the country’s left-wing die Linke Party — which supports a complete withdrawal of all US troops — is in favor of the move. Voter opinion, however, tended to differ from that of the parties they support. People who generally vote for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU were largely against the troops leaving, with more than 40% opposed. Among supporters of all other parties, the majority was in favor of the withdrawal, to varying degrees.”

It would have been helpful if the article had explained as to WHY almost half of the Germans are favoring the withdrawal of the US troops. The result of the poll, all by itself, tells us little or next to nothing. But note the next article for a possible explanation.

US-German Relationship Beyond Repair

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on August 4:

“The notion that US-German relations during the pre-Trump era were exclusively cordial and free of controversy or recrimination is belied by the facts. The Cold War was largely defined by the division of Germany into East and West, and the resulting debate about German reunification between the US and the Soviet Union…

“The Ostpolitik policies of Chancellor Willy Brandt likewise frustrated US and NATO leaders, who saw West Germany’s efforts at détente with the Soviet Union, East Germany and other East Bloc European nations as a symptom of greater German independence from the dictates of NATO and the West. West Germany was ground zero for the anti-nuclear movement that swept Europe in the early 1980s following the US’ effort to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles onto European soil. This came in response to the Soviet deployment of SS-20 missiles, which triggered the collapse of the government of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt due to a vote of no confidence.

“While the signing of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in 1987, and the fall of the Berlin Wall and subsequent German reunification in 1989, helped repair US-West German relations, the US involvement in the Gulf War in 1990-91 did not receive German support. While Germany rallied behind the US in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, this support did not extend to the US’ decision to invade Iraq in 2003; German recalcitrance prompted then-Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld to belittle Germany as part of ‘Old Europe.’ Gerhard Schroeder, who served as German chancellor from 1998-2005, worked towards closer relations with Russia, especially in the field of energy – an action that raised the hackles of the US government.

“When President Barack Obama took office in 2009, many Germans believed that he would usher in an era of improved relations… only to be disappointed by the reality that the problems souring US-German relations were larger than one man. Successive spy scandals in 2013 and 2014 involving eavesdropping by the US on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone, and the recruitment by the CIA of senior German officials, only confirmed to many Germans the reality that the US did not view their nation as a friend, but rather a potential adversary. The US’ use of military bases in Germany to conduct armed drone attacks against targets in the Middle East likewise drew the ire of many Germans, who believed their sovereignty was violated by such actions.

“Seen in this light, the deterioration of US-German relations under President Trump is not a new phenomenon, but rather a continuation of a decades-long slide which finds the two nations at odds over critical policy issues involving international peace and security, European independence, and relations with Russia… Trump’s actions in ordering the withdrawal of US troops from Germany are… the byproduct of a dysfunctional US-German relationship that has been devolving for decades… The worsening relationship between the two countries is tied to a clash between American exceptionalism and German notions of European sovereignty, which no US or German leader can paper over with gestures and speeches…”

Please view our new StandingWatch program, “US German Friendship Has Ended! Are You WAKING UP???”  

Consequences of Nuclear Attack on Germany

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 5:

“A nuclear attack on Germany’s biggest cities would kill hundreds of thousands of people instantly… Tens of thousands more would be plagued by long-term illnesses such as cancer…

“Thursday marks the 75th anniversary of the date the US dropped a nuclear bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II, instantly killing over 70,000 people. It was the first nuclear weapon ever used in warfare…

“[A] simulation examines three potential scenarios in Germany, dpa reported. One considers the effects of a nuclear attack on Berlin, Germany’s political center and capital. A relatively small bomb with an explosive energy of 20 kilotons — equal to the explosive force of 20,000 tons of dynamite — would kill some 145,000 people immediately. Of these, 25,000 would be killed by the resulting pressure and heat wave while the other 120,000 would be killed by the effects of nuclear fallout radiation on the surrounding area. ‘In addition, there would be more than 50,000 later deaths due to cancer,’ the report said.

“The second scenario estimates that around half a million people would die instantly were a nuclear bomb weighing 550 kilotons to hit Frankfurt, Germany’s financial hub.  Just over half of the victims would be killed by the waves of heat and pressure as well as the immediate effects of radiation.

“A third scenario considers the effects of an attack on Germany’s Büchel airbase in western Germany, where… the US is storing nuclear weapons with an explosive force of 170 kilotons each. In such a case, the software estimated a total of 130,000 immediate deaths, with around 107,000 due fallout radiation…

“In an act of protest against nuclear weapons, Greenpeace on Wednesday flew a hot air balloon near the Büchel airbase. ‘Mass killings like those caused by the atomic bomb on Hiroshima must never happen again,’ Greenpeace spokesman for nuclear disarmament, Christoph von Lieven said Wednesday. The German government must ensure that not only are US soldiers withdrawn from Germany… but nuclear bombs as well, he added.”

A nuclear attack on German cities is prophesied.

Conservatives Unhappy with Trump

npr wrote on July 31:

“After voting for President Trump in 2016 and staunchly defending him in conservative publications… Steven Calabresi, co-founder of the powerful conservative legal organization, is now calling on the House of Representatives to do again what it has already done once this year: impeach Trump.

“In a scathing opinion piece in The New York Times published online Thursday, the Northwestern University law professor points to what ignited his newfound ire with the president: a tweet Trump sent out shortly after news broke Thursday morning that the U.S. economy had suffered its biggest recorded contraction ever last quarter. ‘With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA… Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???’ Calabresi declared himself ‘appalled’ by the tweet, which he characterized as ‘seeking to postpone the November election.’

“‘Until recently, I had taken as political hyperbole the Democrats’ assertion that President Trump is a fascist,’ the conservative legal scholar wrote. ‘But this latest tweet is fascistic and is itself grounds for the president’s immediate impeachment again by the House of Representatives and his removal from office by the Senate.’

“It was a remarkable turnaround for a man who as recently as November had accused House Democrats of conducting an ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘Kafkaesque “trial”’ in their Trump impeachment proceedings… ‘President Trump needs to be told by every Republican in Congress that he cannot postpone the federal election. Doing so would be illegal, unconstitutional and without precedent in American history,’ Calabresi warned. ‘Anyone who says otherwise should never be elected to Congress again.’

“Calabresi’s public distancing from the 45th president was applauded by other conservatives critical of Trump… Former national security adviser John Bolton…tweeted that Calabresi’s op-ed was ‘a must-read.’

“Trump, for his part, did not directly respond to his one-time ally’s demand that he be re-impeached. Instead, the president sought to portray his provocative suggestion that the election be delayed as stirring a needed public debate.”

Of course, Trump’s original tweet speaks for itself. We won’t comment as to whether it, all by itself, would be sufficient grounds for impeachment. We would state, however, that Bolton makes a strong case for impeachment in his book stating alleged facts which, if true, would go far beyond the Democrats’ botched and incompetent attempts of impeachment which were destined to failure from the outset.

Trump and Putin—Mussolini and Hitler?

Breitbart wrote on August 2:

“[In] Sunday on CNN’s ‘State of the Union,’ House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) said [this about Donald Trump and Putin:]

“‘I feel very strongly that he is Mussolini. Putin is Hitler… I don’t think he plans to leave the White House. He doesn’t plan to have a fair election. I believe that he plans to install himself in some kind of emergency way to continue [to] hold on to office. That is why the American people had better wake up. I know a little bit about history, and I know how countries find their demise…’”

A modern “Hitler” will manifest himself soon, but not in the USA or Russia, but in Europe. A modern “Mussolini” might very well arise there as well.

China, Russia and Iran

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 1:

“China and Iran [are] in the process of negotiating a 25-year strategic agreement… [which] is apparently close to being signed… The deal foresees not only an economic partnership worth billions but also close military cooperation… China sees Iran as a major market for its commodities — and as a source of oil. Iran, for its part, hopes Chinese investments and its own exports will lessen some of the economic pressure of ongoing US sanctions.

“Tehran’s move toward Beijing is partly a reaction to the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement… But the US isn’t the only reason… Tehran is also disappointed that the Europeans have not lived up to their economic commitments…

“China and Russia were the only two countries that had maintained their economic ties with Iran, leading the Iranian government to see expanded ties with these two powers as the only viable option to save its economy from collapse. At the same time… Iranian politicians increasingly had the impression that US power and international standing had begun to decline under President Donald Trump… Together with Russia, Iran has resolutely supported Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the country’s civil war — and China has consistently backed their actions at the UN Security Council.”

This anti-Western cooperation is remarkable in light of the fact that at the beginning of the Millennium, it will be these and other powers which will try to invade the Promised Land, where the modern descendants of the houses of Israel (USA, UK, Canada and others) and Judah (the Jews) will live by that time.

Annexation Not Off the Table… Washington Being Blamed for Delay

The Times of Israel wrote on August 3:

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told his Likud faction meeting that Israel’s planned annexation of West Bank land is not off the table, but is being held up by the US administration. Netanyahu had declared his intention to move forward with the partial annexation of the West Bank, under the auspices of the US peace plan, from July 1, but that date came and went without any movement on the matter, and in recent weeks, the prime minister has been largely silent on the issue.

“Reports in recent months have indicated that the White House has cooled on the Israeli proposal, amid the raging coronavirus pandemic, race protests, upcoming national elections, and other considerations. The White House has said repeatedly that it is up to Israel to decide on annexation, but has yet to give a definitive answer as to whether it is prepared to support and recognize the unilateral annexation now of part or all of the 30 percent of the West Bank allocated to Israel in its peace plan. That would include all of the settlements along with the strategic Jordan Valley…

“Last month, Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin acknowledged in private conversations that no attention is currently being given in Washington to Israeli annexation plans, according to an Army Radio report. The US administration’s attention is elsewhere, the report claimed Levin had said, and ‘it is not listening’ when it comes to annexation.”

This would be in line with Trump’s constantly wavering positions which Bolton describes in his book. On the other hand, Trump may not be able to afford silence much longer on the issue of Israeli annexation.

Lebanon Explosion

The Economic Collapse wrote on August 4:

“2020 just keeps getting weirder.  On Tuesday, an absolutely massive explosion caused a red mushroom cloud to rise high over the city of Beirut, Lebanon.  It is being called ‘Beirut’s Hiroshima’, and the blast was heard as far away as Cyprus… It appears that the shockwave did even more damage than the initial explosion did, and at this hour a large portion of the city of Beirut lies in ruins…  It is being reported that Beirut’s port ‘is totally destroyed’, and this comes at a really bad time because Lebanon is already in the midst of an epic economic collapse… many eyewitnesses are comparing the blast to a nuclear explosion… ‘This reminds me of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,’ said Beirut Governor Marwan Aboud. ‘I have never seen such widespread destruction. This is a national catastrophe. This is a disaster for Lebanon…’

“Over the past couple of years, there have been so many moments when it seemed like a major war could break out at any time in the Middle East.  And here in 2020, tensions are running higher than ever… It appears that it is just a matter of time before a huge war erupts in the Middle East, and it certainly isn’t going to take much to trigger one. So could this explosion push the region over the edge?

“Let us hope not, but without a doubt this blast is not going to help matters. The devastation that we just witnessed has caused great pain and anger in Lebanon, and terror groups such as Hezbollah will inevitably try to channel all of that pain and anger in a way that furthers their ultimate goals.”

A terrible war in the Middle East is prophesied to occur soon.

An Attack?

Breitbart reported on August 4:

“President Donald Trump reacted to the massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, on the capital city’s waterfront. ‘It looks like a terrible attack,’ Trump said during a press conference at the White House on Tuesday. He said that he met with his generals to discuss the explosion and they estimated the explosion was an attack. ‘This was not some kind of manufacturing explosion type of event,’ Trump said. ‘This was a – seems to be, according to them. They would know better than I would. They seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind, yes.’… The Lebanese government confirmed that ‘highly explosive materials’ were stored in the area where the explosion occurred.”

Deutsche Welle added on August 4:

“Israel said it had nothing to do with the explosion, urging ‘caution around speculation.’ Hezbollah also said it had no indication of Israeli involvement.”

The Pardon of Assisi

Vatican News reported on August 2:

“Pope Francis invited everyone to receive the ‘Pardon of Assisi’, which can be obtained from the evening of 1 August until midnight on 2 August… ‘It is a plenary indulgence that may be received by partaking of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist and visiting a parish or Franciscan church, reciting the Creed, the Lord’s prayer and praying for the Pope and his intentions,’ the Pope pointed out. He recalled that the indulgence can even be obtained for a deceased person…

“The ‘Pardon of Assisi’ dates back to 1216, when Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and angels appeared before St. Francis. The apparition took place in the tiny Portiuncula, the chapel Francis had built in the Italian town of Assisi. When Jesus asked him [what] he desired for the salvation of souls, St. Francis asked for God to grant a plenary indulgence for all those who enter the chapel. The indulgence was later extended to anyone who visits a parish or Franciscan church on 1 August or 2 August.”

This is so blasphemous and idolatrous.

“The Lockdown Lunacy”

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on August 1:

“Well, the Virus Patrol sure has done it. In a fit of reckless overkill they have managed to vaporize six years of economic growth during the last 90 days… The real damage is far deeper, however, and is reflected in millions of small businesses permanently destroyed, tens of millions of households wiped-out financially and the vicious daisy chain of delinquencies, deferrals and defaults just beginning to rip through the $78 trillion edifice of debt which entombs the US economy…

“What is happening is an economic catastrophe the likes of which we have never seen before, even during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In fact, the worst annual decline back then was a 14.8 percent drop in 1932, while the entire peak-to-trough real GDP decline between 1929 and the 1933 bottom was 30.5 percent. So it would be fair to say that measured at an annualized rate, … Dr. Fauci and his Virus Patrol have now delivered a 32.9 percent GDP plunge, which single-handedly tops the entire contraction of the Great Depression…

“One manifestation of the Covid-Hysteria is the soaring level of ‘testing’ going on as people either try to get a hall pass in order to return to work or just plain run to the nearest testing station every time the media sends off new alarm bells. During April, for instance, which was the very worst month of the contagion in terms of serious illnesses and deaths, 5.2 million new tests were reported or 175,000 per day. By contrast, in July to date (thru the 29th), there have been 21.5 million new tests reported or an average of 745,000 per day. In a population that has been thoroughly exposed to the virus after five months, it is a given that with the number of tests soaring, the number of positive cases will rise proportionately.

“But that’s a misdirection because the real issue is the true medical severity of the new cases, and that has dropped precipitously. The death rate has dropped from 1,800 per day in April to 780 in July; and whereas 15-20 percent of new cases were being hospitalized in most states during April, that figure has now fallen to 2-4 percent…”

Why then the hysteria and more and more recommendations for lockdowns (which is pointed out below in additional articles)?

No Masks in the Netherlands

Daily Mail wrote on August 1:

“… while 120 countries in the world, including much of Europe, have ordered citizens to wear masks in public places to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the Dutch are doing things differently.

“The nation’s top scientists, having examined key data and research, have declared there is no firm evidence to back the use of face coverings. Indeed, they argue that wearing the wretched things may actually hamper the fight against disease…

“’Face masks in public places are not necessary, based on all the current evidence,’ said Coen Berends, spokesman for the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. ‘There is no benefit and there may even be negative impact.’…

“Holland’s position is based on assessments by the Outbreak Management Team, a group of experts advising the government. It first ruled against masks in May and has re-evaluated the evidence several times, including again last week….

“The World Health Organisation has also been sceptical, warning that ‘widespread use of masks by healthy people in the community setting is not yet supported by high-quality or direct scientific evidence’. Although changing its advice in June to back the encouragement of mask wearing in some settings, the WHO lists 11 ‘potential harms’ that range from discomfort through to self-contamination and lower compliance with more critical preventative measures.”

And so, the debate among scientists goes on… but who is right, and who is wrong?

Wearing Masks

Target Liberty wrote on August 5:

“Governments in many parts of the land [USA] have ordered mask-wearing to ‘battle’ a virus that is about as deadly to the average American under 80 as hay fever. The mask-wearing order has resulted in near 100% compliance in such areas as California. It is a sign of cowering submission to the state [with] an added bonus of neighbors, and other busybodies, backing up the state orders with rants and rages for [those] who do not wear masks…

“The mask-wearing edicts are a relatively minor burden for those… who aren’t required to wear masks all day, but we don’t know what is coming down the road in terms of future tyranny. It is very important to learn now how to deal with different situations for the future when the stakes might be much higher.”

And that is VERY true.

The Fight for the Vaccine

The Associated Press wrote on August 2:

“Who gets to be first in line for a COVID-19 vaccine?… Traditionally, first in line for a scarce vaccine are health workers and the people most vulnerable to the targeted infection… For all the promises of the U.S. stockpiling millions of doses, the hard truth: Even if a vaccine is declared safe and effective by year’s end, there won’t be enough for everyone who wants it right away — especially as most potential vaccines require two doses.

“It’s a global dilemma. The World Health Organization is grappling with the same who-goes-first question as it tries to ensure vaccines are fairly distributed to poor countries — decisions made even harder as wealthy nations corner the market for the first doses…

“How to decide? The CDC’s opening suggestion: First vaccinate 12 million of the most critical health, national security and other essential workers. Next would be 110 million people at high risk from the coronavirus — those over 65 who live in long-term care facilities, or those of any age who are in poor health — or who also are deemed essential workers. The general population would come later…

“And it may be worth vaccinating entire families rather than trying to single out just one high-risk person in a household… Whoever gets to go first, a mass vaccination campaign while people are supposed to be keeping their distance is a tall order…”

None of that sounds too promising or reassuring.

Blue Blood of the Horseshoe Crabs for Coronavirus Vaccines

National Geographic wrote on July 6:

“Each spring… hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs clamber onto beaches to lay their eggs… For drug companies, it’s a crucial resource for making human medicines safe. That’s because their blue blood… provides the only known natural source of limulus amebocyte lysate, a substance that detects a contaminant called endotoxin. If even tiny amounts of endotoxin—a type of bacteria—make their way into vaccines, injectable drugs, or other sterile pharmaceuticals such as artificial knees and hips, the results can be deadly…

“Every year, pharmaceutical companies round up half a million Atlantic horseshoe crabs, bleed them, and return them to the ocean— after which many will die… Catching crabs and harvesting their blood is time-consuming, and the resulting lysate costs £48,000 per gallon.

“In 2016, a synthetic alternative to crab lysate, recombinant factor C (rFC), was approved as an alternative in Europe, and a handful of U.S. drug companies also began using it. But on June 1, 2020, the American Pharmacopeia, which sets the scientific standards for drugs and other products in the U.S., declined to place rFC on equal footing with crab lysate, claiming that its safety is still unproven.

“Starting in July, Swiss-based Lonza will begin manufacturing a COVID-19 vaccine for human clinical trials—and they’ll have to use lysate in the vaccine if they plan to sell it in the U.S…. conservationists fear that without rFC or other alternatives available, the ongoing burden on horseshoe crab blood for COVID-19 vaccines and related therapeutics may imperil the crabs and the marine ecosystems that depend on them.”

This sounds like a weird story from a science fiction novel.

Huge Demonstration in Germany Against Corona Restrictions

The Associated Press wrote on August 1:

“Thousands protested Germany’s coronavirus restrictions Saturday in a Berlin demonstration marking what organizers called ‘the end of the pandemic’… With few masks in sight, a dense crowd marched through downtown Berlin from the Brandenburg Gate. Protesters who came from across the country held up homemade signs with slogans like ‘Corona, false alarm,’ ‘We are being forced to wear a muzzle,’ ‘Natural defense instead of vaccination’ and ‘We are the second wave.’ They chanted, ‘We’re here and we’re loud, because we are being robbed of our freedom!’

“Police estimated about 17,000 people turned out… Protesters continued to a subsequent rally on a boulevard running through the city’s Tiergarten park, which police estimated drew 20,000 people.”

AFP wrote on August 1:

“Several politicians condemned the demonstration… Health Minister Jens Spahn [stated]: ‘Yes, demonstrations should also be possible in times of coronavirus, but not like this. Distance, hygiene rules and masks serve to protect us all…’”

Many on social media and those who were there claim that the actual figure of demonstrators was from 500,000 up to 1,3 Million. This figure has been disputed as a gross exaggeration. Still, what we are beginning to see is a possible confrontation between the Merkel government and Germans who are opposed to governmental restrictions. Several AfD representatives [from the opposition party] participated in the protest and were interviewed.

“Germans Are Waking Up. Americans Still Asleep”

Ron Paul wrote on August 3 in the Ron Paul Institute:

“Tens of thousands of Germans marched through Berlin on Saturday, proclaiming a ‘Day of Freedom’ and demanding an end to government-mandated face masks and ‘social distancing.’ The UK and Netherlands also saw large protests against their governments’ tyrannical actions in response to the coronavirus outbreak… the Berlin protesters held signs reading ‘We are being forced to wear a muzzle,’ ‘Natural defense instead of vaccination,’ and ‘We are making noise because you are stealing our freedom!’

“Good for them!

“The New York Times tweeted that the masses of Berlin demonstrators were all ‘Nazis’ and ‘conspiracy theorists.’ Does the ‘paper of record’ really want us to believe there were perhaps a million Nazis active in the streets of Berlin? Wouldn’t that be alarming?

“The fact is, Europeans are realizing that their government-mandated lockdowns did little or nothing to protect them from the virus, while causing economic catastrophe and untold human suffering. They likely looked around and noticed that Sweden, which never locked down its economy, rejected face masks, and kept its restaurants and other places of business open, did not fare any worse than the countries that have been turned into open air prisons for much of the year. In fact, Sweden had a lower death rate from the virus than strict lockdown states like the UK and France. No wonder people are starting to get angry.

“Unfortunately, while the Europeans are waking up, Americans are still asleep as our freedoms continue to be trampled. While Europeans demand an end to government tyranny, here we see states with minuscule new deaths returning to lockdown. It is as if all the wannabe tyrants from mayors to governors are finally realizing their secret dreams of ruling by decree. Their dreams are our nightmares!

“New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy put citizens ‘on notice’ that he will lock the state back down if people dare to go outside without a face mask or even to have guests inside their own homes!… The US government is dumping billions into a vaccine that may be less than 60 percent effective to prevent a virus that has something like a 99.8 percent survival rate. What kind of math is that?… the US government has just granted big pharma immunity from liability claims if the vaccine produces damaging side effects.

“They keep moving the goal posts to keep us terrified and isolated. First it was body counts and then ‘cases.’ The numbers have been so wildly off that it’s hard to trust any reporting. People are getting angry. They are confused. They are facing an economic depression of historic proportions. But worst of all, they are watching as Leviathan government snatches every last bit of freedom.

“Three cheers for the Europeans! Let’s hope America wakes up soon!”

The reports by the left-wing mass media (and also by conservative outlets such as mass tabloid Bild and others) about the demonstrations by labeling all of the protestors as Nazis was so foolish and so predictable. Let us also point out that the German and the European governments will not be silent either. They are determined to fight back and suppress any “dissenters” under the pretense of “public health.” Notice the next articles.

German Government Threatens Those Who Disagree

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 1:

“Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said he wants tougher penalties for coronavirus rule breakers. ‘Anyone who deliberately endangers others must expect that this will have serious consequences for him,’ Altmaier told the DPA news agency. ‘We must not jeopardize the recovery that is just beginning by accepting a further increase in infections.’…

“The chief minister of Saxony-Anhalt state, Reiner Haseloff, warns against a new lockdown. ‘We cannot afford a second lockdown,’ Haseloff [said Saturday]. ‘Our economy would hardly be able to cope with that and in the end, it would also have a negative effect on the welfare state and its stability,’ he said.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 3:

“Saturday’s huge demo in Berlin against Germany’s coronavirus measures has raked up a new debate about the boundaries between the right to assemble and the protection of public health… By Monday, several German politicians had taken to their favored media outlets to condemn the demonstrators…

“In Germany, it’s up to local authorities to make the conditions under which demonstrations are permitted — though their hands are tied to a great extent by the German constitution, which enshrines the right to demonstrate except when demos turn violent, if participants are carrying weapons, or if their faces are covered (which of course raises its own legal headache in the coronavirus age)…

“Paulina Starski, a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, explained that the authorities can only shut down demonstrations if there’s a direct danger to public security… Of course, among the rules the police currently has to enforce are social distancing guidelines — so there are dangers to public security inherent during the outbreak of a highly contagious virus…

“The courts, meanwhile, have a duty to guard against constitutional violations, and, as Starski explained, will often side with people’s rights rather than the police if there is doubt — partly a lesson learned during Germany’s dark authoritarian past. As Starski added, there is certainly a danger that authorities could use coronavirus prevention measures to curtail constitutional freedoms. ‘Absolutely,’ she said. ‘The new rules during the hard lockdown led to a situation where the freedom of assembly was to a large extent de facto suspended…’”

Restrictions can be expected again and despite the questionable propaganda according to which most people allegedly welcome those, many will not do so for sure. Note the next article.

Shocking News from the UK

Express wrote on August 2:

“The Prime Minister was told by scientific advisers too much mingling between family groups is the main cause of an alarming rise in infections. It comes after Mr Johnson was forced to announce a slow down of the lockdown…

“Large swathes of the North of England were also told on Thursday night they were not allowed to enter other people’s homes. The shock announcement was made by Health Secretary Matt Hancock at 9pm on Twitter, and told over 4million people in areas of Greater Manchester, parts of West Yorkshire and East Lancashire separate households were no longer allowed to meet indoors.”

And so, we are afraid that in the UK under Boris Johnson’s wavering leadership, irresponsible lockdowns will be starting again.

News from Melbourne, Australia

Our local elder, Paul Niehoff, sent us the following report on August 2:

“At the moment about 600 people are being infected daily. Around 10 are dying, mostly in aged care homes. The premier has stated publicly on TV that he would not want to put his mother in one of these homes as their conditions are so bad. The premier has also declared a ‘state of disaster’ and a curfew from 8 pm till 5 am daily.

“The premier has now closed or dramatically reduced nearly all industry in Melbourne. It is estimated that 250,000 workers will be stood down for the next six weeks, with no promise of the shutdown ending then. All non-essential retail will go on-line. Some can order on-line and collect outside the store. Hair dressers and lawn mowing and garden maintenance are banned totally. Meat working plants are reduced in capacity by 33%, with all staff in full protective clothing. Construction sites are dramatically reduced in number of workers on site. Bottle shops will remain open. When I went shopping yesterday, at the first supermarket, absolutely all of the minced meat had gone. The second one did have minced meat available. But it shows how quickly food can disappear from the shelves.

“For healthy people, only one household member may go shopping each day. A disabled person may have an assistant but they must be separated. Outdoor exercise is allowed for a maximum of one hour per day. Shopping is limited to 5 kilometres radius unless the nearest supermarket is over that distance. Funerals can have 10 guests not including the officials. Weddings are banned although there may be compassionate exemptions. Acts of parliament have been suspended and police given greater powers.”

The last sentence should be of great concern.

Dr. Fauci Unwilling to Answer Jim Jordan

Breitbart wrote on July 31:

“Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) grilled Dr. Anthony Fauci during a House panel hearing Friday over whether the government should limit ongoing protests, like it has other activities, for fueling the spread of the coronavirus. ‘I’m not in a position to determine what the government can do in a forceful way,’ a visibly uncomfortable Fauci… said in responding to Jordan’s questions… ‘You make all kinds of recommendations,’ Jordan noted. ‘You made comments on dating, on baseball, on everything you can imagine … you just said that protesting increased the spread. I’m just asking, should we try to limit the protesting?’ ‘No, I think I would leave that to people who have more of a position to do that,’ Fauci… said…

“The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects both the freedoms to protest, and of religion, Jordan argued. He also noted that the government prevents some people from going to work to help hinder the spread of the virus. ‘Government is stopping people from going to church, Dr. Fauci,’ the Ohio Republican pointed out, later adding, ‘You’ve advocated for certain businesses to be shut down.’ Jordan asked, ‘Is there a world where the Constitution says you can favor one First Amendment liberty, protesting, over another, practicing your faith?’…”

Newsweek wrote on August 1:

“Tucker Carlson has once again criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, this time over the infectious diseases expert’s answer before Congress to a question about the wisdom of protesters gathering in large numbers… Carlson praised Jordan for his questioning, saying, ‘There is nothing Dr. Anthony Fauci won’t opine on as long as it doesn’t offend the popular and fashionable left.’

“Carlson went on to say: ‘Fauci is 79, but maybe if he had like 22-year-old kids who were trying to make their way in this world in an economy that is headed down the tubes, thanks largely to his recommendations, he would feel differently. It’s not merely an inconvenience when your economy collapses. It’s the end of the American dream. That’s not a small thing…’

“Earlier this week, Carlson gave Fauci both barrels in a segment in which he called him ‘a hypocritical buffoon who refuses to admit what he clearly doesn’t know,’ adding that, ‘if you say that out loud they will cancel you… criticize Fauci, and you will disappear from the Internet.’

“Fauci enjoys considerable trust among Americans about his approach to the coronavirus. A poll in July showed that two-thirds of the public, or 67 percent, expressed trust in the public health official’s information about the pandemic…”

This poll, if true, does not speak much for an informed opinion of trust in a man who has made numerous wrong predictions and who has given numerous wrong recommendations.

In a somewhat related development, “America’s Frontline Doctors” did a video program last week in front of the US Supreme Court describing their practice of prescribing hydroxychloroquine for their patients with almost 100% success. They also were taking it themselves, just one or two tablets a week, and not catching the virus even though only wearing a mask and no other protective equipment. The video had over 17 million views before being taken down by Twitter etc. Anyone who put the video on their website had their website taken down also. It is available on small non-censored sites but most people would never find them and if someone tweeted the address of these websites, they were also taken down.

While Trump advocates the use of the medication for coronavirus treatment, Fauci opposes it, saying it has no effect and could even be dangerous. Note the next article.

Trump vs. Fauci and Birx

Mediaite wrote on August 3:

“President Donald Trump attacked Dr. Deborah Birx for the first time on Monday, in an apparent response to her warning that the United States is entering a ‘new phase’ of the coronavirus pandemic. ‘So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics. In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!’

“Trump was responding to Birx’s Sunday interview with CNN’s Dana Bash… Birx also used the opportunity to respond to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who reportedly accused her of helping Trump spread pandemic misinformation. Birx mostly shrugged off Pelosi’s criticisms by saying she had ‘tremendous respect’ for her. After that, Birx reaffirmed that she has seen alarming new pandemic data across the U.S.

“It also comes two days after Trump pronounced Dr. Anthony Fauci ‘wrong!’ for warning about the recent outbreaks that have happened. Trump repeatedly trashed Fauci in the past, but this appears to be the first time he has publicly gone after Birx.”

Now Dr. Fauci is also recommending to at least some states in the USA to reconsider lockdowns, while Dr. Birx is recommending that at least some people (being part of a family) should wear masks in their homes. What a time of confusion and lack of clarity and reliability. Fauci and Birx belong to Trump’s team. If Trump has no confidence in them, he should fire them.

No Public Charge Rule During Coronavirus Pandemic

Newsmax wrote on July 30:

“The Trump administration’s ‘public charge’ rule – which makes it more difficult for immigrants to obtain legal status if they use public benefits – cannot be implemented during the coronavirus pandemic, a federal judge ruled… [He] issued a nationwide injunction halting enforcing of the requirements. The matter is now likely to be heard by the Supreme Court, which in January voted 5-4 to move forward with the plan – but that was prior to the pandemic.

“The Department of Homeland Security started enforcing the rule in February. A group of state attorney generals from New York and other states had asked the court to issue an injunction against the rule, but their request was denied. In his opinion, Daniels wrote that since that ruling in April, the COVID-19 pandemic has gotten worse and ‘the irreparable harm and public interests that warrant an injunction have come into sharper focus.’ ‘We no longer need to imagine the worst-case scenario; we are experiencing its dramatic effects in real time,’ he wrote.

“Green card applicants who relied on social services as their primary means of financial support in the past could be denied permanent residency under what is known as the ‘public charge’ rule…”

Public Bible Burning in Oregon

Daily Wire wrote on August 1:

“Left-wing activists rioted in Portland on Friday night where they burned Bibles, set fires in the street, and tore protective boarding off of buildings… Numerous journalists who were on the ground said that the left-wing activists were trying to provoke a response from the federal agents inside…

“President Donald Trump announced late Friday night, ‘Homeland Security is not leaving Portland until local police complete cleanup of Anarchists and Agitators!’’

Violence All Around Us

The Week wrote on July 31:

“All week I’ve been haunted by a brief few seconds of video posted on Twitter late Sunday night by a student journalist in Eugene, Oregon. Two men face off at a protest — the one standing on the left is demonstrating for Black Lives Matter; the one on the right, sitting in a pickup truck, is a counter-protester. Each is pointing a handgun at the other’s face at point blank range. That’s us. That’s America during the long, hot summer of 2020…

“I see so much anger around me — at the grocery store, while driving, on television, online…

“So how does it play out? What if the next time opposing protesters point guns at each other’s faces, one of them pulls the trigger?…”

Frightening.

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 have looked at proof of Jesus’ existence and that He was indeed the Messiah, promised in the Old Testament.

Let us return to the website www.jewfaq.org/mashiach.htm and continue to look at the Messianic idea in Judaism.

“Belief in the eventual coming of the mashiach is a basic and fundamental part of traditional Judaism. It is part of Rambam’s 13 Principles of Faith, the minimum requirements of Jewish belief. In the Shemoneh Esrei prayer, recited three times daily, we pray for all of the elements of the coming of the mashiach: ingathering of the exiles; restoration of the religious courts of justice; an end of wickedness, sin and heresy; reward to the righteous; rebuilding of Jerusalem; restoration of the line of King David; and restoration of Temple service.

“Modern scholars suggest that the messianic concept was introduced later in the history of Judaism, during the age of the prophets. They note that the messianic concept is not explicitly mentioned anywhere in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible).

“However, traditional Judaism maintains that the messianic idea has always been a part of Judaism. The mashiach is not mentioned explicitly in the Torah, because the Torah was written in terms that all people could understand, and the abstract concept of a distant, spiritual, future reward was beyond the comprehension of some people. However, the Torah contains several references to ‘the End of Days’ (acharit ha-yamim), which is the time of the mashiach; thus, the concept of mashiach was known in the most ancient times.”

This explanation, that the Messiah is not mentioned in the Torah because people could not understand the abstract concept of a distant reward is silly and laughable. God inspired the writing of the five books of Moses, and they do contain numerous references to the end time and to the coming of the Messiah (compare Genesis 3:14-15; 22:18; 49:10).

Continuing with the above-mentioned quote:

“The term ‘mashiach’ literally means ‘the anointed one,’ and refers to the ancient practice of anointing kings with oil when they took the throne. The mashiach is the one who will be anointed as king in the End of Days.

“The word ‘mashiach’ does not mean ‘savior.’ The notion of an innocent, divine or semi-divine being who will sacrifice himself to save us from the consequences of our own sins is a purely Christian concept that has no basis in Jewish thought…”

“The mashiach will be a great political leader descended from King David (Jeremiah 23:5). The mashiach is often referred to as “mashiach ben David” (mashiach, son of David). He will be well-versed in Jewish law, and observant of its commandments (Isaiah 11:2-5). He will be a charismatic leader, inspiring others to follow his example. He will be a great military leader, who will win battles for Israel. He will be a great judge, who makes righteous decisions (Jeremiah 33:15). But above all, he will be a human being, not a god, demi-god or other supernatural being.

“It has been said that in every generation, a person is born with the potential to be the mashiach. If the time is right for the messianic age within that person’s lifetime, then that person will be the mashiach. But if that person dies before he completes the mission of the mashiach, then that person is not the mashiach.”

It is interesting to read that the mashiach will not be a “being who will sacrifice himself for us” and that he will be “a human being, not a god, demi-god or other supernatural being.” These statements are all false, and need to be properly reviewed.

As we explained previously, it was prophesied in the Old Testament that the Messiah would come twice—first, as a human being to DIE for mankind; and second, as God to rule this earth forever.

Regarding His first coming as a human being, this is clearly prophesied in Isaiah 53. However, Judaism rejects today the clearly revealed and intended meaning, but this was not always the case.

We explain in our free booklet, “Do You Know the Jesus of the Bible?,” in chapter 7, “The rejected prophecies of Isaiah 53,” that all the statements mentioned in that chapter were fulfilled by Christ at His first coming. In addition, we state, beginning with page 37:

“The Ryrie Study Bible explains:

“‘Traditional Jewish interpretation understood the passage to be speaking of the Messiah, as, of course, did the early Christians, who believed Jesus to be the Messiah (Acts 8:35). Not until the 12th century did the view emerge that the NATION [of] ISRAEL is referred to, a view that has since become DOMINANT JUDAISM. But the servant is distinguished from the “people” (Isaiah 53:8). He is an innocent victim, something that could not be said of the nation (53:9).’

“Sadly, however, as stated above, Judaism today rejects Isaiah 53 as applying to the Messiah, but teaches that it refers to the JEWISH NATION.

“Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible states in his introduction to Isaiah 53: ‘The Jews have endeavored to apply it to their sufferings in captivity…’”

Similar ridiculous interpretations allege, as we continue to explain, that the “Servant” applies to the people, holding that “the PEOPLE—NOT GOD—will bring about the work of salvation.”

Isaiah 53:8 states that “My Servant” (Isaiah 52:13) “was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.” Daniel 9:26 explains that it is the “Messiah” who “shall be cut off, but not for Himself.” So clearly, the Messiah is identified as the Servant who would come as a human being to DIE for our transgressions.

But the Messiah was no ordinary human being. He was God in the flesh (“Immanuel,” compare Isaiah 7:14; literally” God with us”). He would be born in Bethlehem as “The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting” (Micah 5:2).

When He comes a second time, He will NOT come as a human being, as it is falsely alleged in the above-quoted website article. IF He were to come as a human being, He would ultimately die (something, which the Muslims believe; compare our free booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy”, Appendix 1, “Will there be a Mahdi?”, pages 61-62). But this is not what the Old Testament says.

The Messiah was God, before He became a man and died; and when He returns, He will come as God—the Son of God the Father. He will rule as God—the God of Jacob (Isaiah 2:3). His name will be “Mighty God”; and “of His government and peace There will be no end”; it will “remain forever” (Isaiah 9:6-7). Daniel 7:13-14 describes how He—“One like the Son of Man”—is brought before God the Father—the “Ancient of Days” to receive a kingdom and glory and an “everlasting dominion Which shall not pass away,” proving that the Messiah could not be a mere man when He takes over the rule over this earth who would subsequently die in due time. Rather, He will live and rule forever.

For further proof, please read our free booklets, “God Is a Family” and “The Book of Zachariah—Prophecies for Today.”

That the ruling Messiah could not be a mere man is also obvious from the following considerations:

We know that mankind has been on the earth for around 6,000 years after God created Adam and then Eve.  After about 1,650 years, mankind had gone off the track so much and was so evil that we read: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

“And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:5-8).

Then God started again through Noah and his family and eventually, man went off track yet again and has continued to do so throughout all of those years.

How many wars have been fought during the last 6,000 years? Hundreds, maybe thousands or even tens of thousands, who can know? However, it is man’s aggression and lust for power that guarantees that these will continue while man is in charge on earth.

In Wikipedia under the heading of “World Peace,” we read:

“World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of happiness, freedom and peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. This idea of world nonviolence is one motivation for people and nations to willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that has this objective. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would come about.

“Various religious and secular organizations have the stated aim of achieving world peace through addressing human rights, technology, education, engineering, medicine or diplomacy used as an end to all forms of fighting.  Since 1945, the United Nations and the five permanent members of its Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) have operated under the aim to resolve conflicts without war or declarations of war. Nonetheless, nations have entered numerous military conflicts since then.”

God gave the nation of Israel a choice. We read in Leviticus 26 they were given a promise of blessings (verses 1-14) but if they went down the wrong path, there would be cursings (verses 15-45). We know from history that they, so often, chose the wrong way.

Today, we see the state of the world and no man can change what is happening today. First of all, the Ten Commandments would have to be kept so that society would be regulated in the right way. Then everyone would have to worship the one true God. “There is salvation in no other name given among men by which we must be saved” (that of Jesus Christ) as we read in Acts 4:12.   The chance, at this time in world history, of that happening is zero as only God can call people to the Truth and into His Church, and it is clear that will not happen to everyone on earth at this time.

No man, even leaders like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Hitler and many others have been able to rule the world even though they may well have had aspirations to do so. Man is totally incapable in himself to do so, and so it will take a supernatural Being to sort out the mess that man has made. To think that a human leader can arise and convert the whole world to their brand of religion and authority is flying in the face of history. Even the ancient nation of Israel which was God’s chosen nation could not enforce the ways of God on the rest of the world.

There will be someone who will arise and many will be convinced that this man is God, but of course, he is not God, but an imposter. In our booklet “Is That in the Bible? – The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation,” we read the following on pages 67-68 under the heading: “The Man of Sin in the Temple of God”:

“Another Scripture that indicates the existence of a future temple in Jerusalem, just prior to Christ’s return, can be found in 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4. Paul writes:

“‘Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day [of Christ’s return] will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.’

“This ‘man of sin,’ who is also called ‘the lawless one’ in verses 8 and 9, is identified in the book of Revelation as ‘the false prophet’ (compare, for example, Revelation 16:13; 19:20; also see Revelation 13:13–14). This religious figure will deceive people through ‘great signs’ (Revelation 13:13; 19:20). We read in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 that the coming of the lawless one is ‘according to the working of Satan, with all power, SIGNS and lying wonders.’ This false prophet will receive the power to do these things from none other than Satan and his demons (compare Revelation 16:13–14).

“The Ryrie Study Bible comments:

“‘… the Antichrist [this is an incorrect designation—rather, the passage speaks about the false prophet] will desecrate the rebuilt Jewish temple in Jerusalem by placing himself there to be worshipped… This will be the climax of man’s great sin of self-deification, in open defiance of God.’

“The Nelson Study Bible adds:

“‘The man of sin will proclaim himself to be divine and will sit in the temple of God, acting as if he were a god… The man of sin will probably stand in a physical temple in Jerusalem, and declare himself to be a god, the ultimate fulfillment of the “abomination of desolation” spoken of by Daniel (Dan. 7:23; 9:26, 27; 11:31, 36, 37; 12:11) and Jesus (Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14)…’

“The returning Christ will consume the man of sin ‘with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming’ (2 Thessalonians 2:8).”

This man will not be God. He—together with a military leader, the “beast”—will try to convince people that they will create a kingdom to exist and rule forever, but they will fail miserably, as other “messiahs” have failed before them. The “Thousand-Year-Reich” of Adolf Hitler lasted less than 15 years. Right up to just before Jesus Christ returns to this earth, there will be counterfeits and imposters, and the false prophet will fool most people.

For the Jews to think that the mashiach will be “a human being, not a god, demi-god or other supernatural being” and that he will be able to subdue all nations and introduce the equivalent of the Kingdom of God on earth is just not possible. It is something that only a great supernatural Being can achieve, and that will be Jesus Christ at His return.

(To be continued)

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

compiled by Dave Harris

Could We Survive another Lockdown?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

As a nation, we could not. The lockdown restrictions have brought us an “economic catastrophe the likes of which we have never seen before,” as well as “untold human suffering.” And still, we hear increasingly that certain US states are willing to return to lockdown. And that, even though lockdown measures have not proven to be successful. In Germany, a huge demonstration took place last Saturday, demanding an end to governmental-mandated restrictions. But Germany’s government will not allow such demonstrations to continue for long. US state governments resort likewise to more and more totalitarian measurers. The real question for you is: Can YOU survive another lockdown? The answer is: Absolutely, if you make the right decisions. 

We are deeply saddened to report the death of Brad Mitchell, the father of Kalon Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell died this past week following illness from cancer. Your prayers for the family will be appreciated.

“Die GEWISSHEIT der Wiederkunft Christi,” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “The Certainty of Christ’s Return.”

“Nur Mut,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath in Germany by Christian Mrosek, is now posted. Title in English: “Courage.”

“Overcoming Fear,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Fear is something that has been talked about and warned about for many years. The world is in a present state of fear. What does God expect us to do? Will we obey Him and what He commands or will we give in to fear?

“The Rise and Fall of the Beast,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The Old Testament Book of Habakkuk contains prophecies for our time. It predicts the rise of the modern Chaldeans under a political and military leader, the beast, to destroy the modern descendants of the ancient houses of Israel and Judah. We are also told that God will use the modern Medes to destroy the end-time Babylonian system. In spite of all the terrible warnings of worldwide destruction, the Book of Habakkuk contains a message of hope and encouragement for His people and the reassurance of God’s righteousness and unlimited almighty power.

The YouTube channel for the Church of the Eternal God presents past videos for StandingWatch programs along with sermonettes, sermons and promotional videos. These are also available on our website: www.eternalgod.org.

On August 1, 2020, Michael Link will present the sermonette, titled, “Overcoming Fear,” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “The Rise and Fall of the Beast.”

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.

Jesus told us that if we abide in His Word, we shall know the Truth which will make us free from all error (John 8:31-32). We should also know that “no lie is of the truth” (1 John 2:21); that God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18); but that there is no Truth in Satan who is called the father of lies (John 8:44). Satan is the “god of this world” who has deceived “the whole world” (2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 12:9). The “whole world” lies under his sway (1 John 5:19). The time will come soon when “all the world” will follow the demonically possessed “beast” and worship him to whom Satan will give his authority and power (Revelation 13:3-4, 8).

God warns us that in these end times, Church members will fall away from the Truth. They will not believe, accept and continue to embrace the Truth, but they will have pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:12). Lawlessness will abound, and God’s love in them will grow cold (Matthew 24:12). As a consequence, God will send them “strong delusion that they should believe the lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:11). The Truth will perish (Jeremiah 7:28). It will fail and those who stand up for it will experience persecution (Isaiah 59:15) and will be abhorred (Amos 5:10).

It is God’s desire that all should come to the knowledge of the Truth (1 Timothy 2:4); and we are called upon to rightly divide the word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15). But God knows, of course, and so should we, that in this day and age, the world has been taken captive by Satan to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26). Still, when we proclaim the Truth, some may listen, and God might grant them repentance so that they may know the Truth (verse 25).

This world with all of its systems and concepts is built on Satan’s foundation of lies, deceit, error, misinformation, propaganda, falsely so-called “knowledge” (1 Timothy 6:20) and “philosophy” (Colossians 2:8). This world is still eating daily from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And so, Christ warned His disciples not to become deceived (Matthew 24:4), because “evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13).

When reading those Scriptures, we might just apply them to religious concepts, but the admonitions and warnings refer to ALL the Truth, not just certain aspects of it. They refer to the lack of Truth in religion as well as in law, politics, government, the military, education, philosophy, medicine, the health-care system, the economy, and whatever other aspect of society could be named.

Let us take “science” as an example. In this present time of the coronavirus pandemic, we hear much about science and the scientific approach, and that “science is truth” and must be followed. But is it? First of all, not all doctors and scientists are in agreement with whatever measure to fight the disease is recommended… be it the need for a lockdown and for house arrests; quarantine and self-isolation, opening of schools, closing of businesses and churches, wearing of masks, social distancing, how the virus is transmitted, who is most vulnerable, and so on. Who is telling the Truth, and who is engaging in propaganda? Are we to rely on the majority of scientists, or a minority, or anyone? Given the fact that none of the “experts” are converted Christians, but that they are all under the sway of Satan (1 Corinthians 2:6, 8), are we becoming victims of propaganda, without perhaps realizing it?

Is “science” Truth? Science teaches the ungodly evolution theory which tells us that the universe created itself (a concept which was propagated by “the greatest scientific mind of our time”); and that man evolved from a chemical soup which brought forth a cell from which all animals (and finally man) developed. Paul describes the evolution-believing philosophers and scientists of his age as those who “exchanged the truth of God for the lie” (Romans 1:25). But the whole world believes this lie, and woe unto him who opposes it. No wonder that the Bible says that the wisdom of man is foolishness with God (1 Corinthians 3:19).

The key for not falling for Satan’s lies and for not becoming a victim of Satan’s propaganda and of his scientific, political, educational, economic, legal and religious propaganda ministers, is to stay close to God and to resist all unrighteousness and lawlessness. Those who propagate and practice evil do not come to the light of the Truth (John 3:20-21). We must reject the lie and speak the Truth (Ephesians 4:25); being fellow workers for the Truth (3 John 8); and walk in the Truth (Psalm 26:3); while not being afraid when we are persecuted for telling and standing up for the Truth. When we do this, we will be able, with God’s help and guidance, to discern the propaganda of the lie and reject it without becoming its victim.

by Norbert Link

We report on another political anti-church decision by the US Supreme Court, with, once again, Chief Justice John Roberts (appointed by George W. Bush) siding with the four liberal judges and casting the decisive vote against the dissenting four conservative judges. We also address biblical objections by California churches to the mandates and restrictions limiting or prohibiting church services, which were announced by liberal Governor Newsom. We add a remarkable article of religious persecution in Israel regarding the prohibition of worship services and other religious activities.

Focusing on Great Britain and the UK, we describe the mess and the fury created by the government in suddenly and with extremely short notice re-imposing quarantine on travel to and from Spain; address further political travel ban decisions by continental Europe; speak on incredible religious persecution of a Christian charity in Northern Ireland due to the influence of the LGBT movement; and publish reports alleging that the UK government wants Trump to lose in November.

We continue with the bad relationship between the USA and China, as well as Germany; focus on Trump’s highly controversial and criticized decision to withdraw 12,000 US troops from Germany; and address the possibility that the EU will recover economically much sooner than the US. Please view in this regard our new StandingWatch program, titled, US-German Friendship Has Ended! Are You WAKING UP???”

We point out the ongoing controversy about Dr. Fauci and his opinions and admissions; speak on potentially destructive coronavirus recommendations by “150 prominent US medical experts”; and focus on masks mandates and violent protests in the USA.

We conclude with an eye-opening article about the hypocrisy of leaders in the Democratic Party and the terrible loss of animals during Australia’s fire season in 2019.

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

Another Unconstitutional Supreme Court Decision

The Week wrote on July 25:

“The Supreme Court on Friday denied a petition from Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley in Dayton, Nevada, claiming a state policy limiting in-person church attendance to 50 during the coronavirus violated the Constitution. Chief Justice John Roberts was the swing vote in the 5-4 decision, joining the court’s liberal justices. As is typical in such cases, the majority did not provide a reason for the rejection.

“The bench’s conservative wing, meanwhile, dissented, emphasizing the church’s argument that houses of worship were treated differently from other places where large gatherings take place, including casinos, gyms, and restaurants. ‘The world we inhabit today, with a pandemic upon us, poses unusual challenges,’ Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote. ‘But there is no world in which the Constitution permits Nevada to favor Caesars Palace over Calvary Chapel.’”

Fox News reported on July 24:

“Nevada has placed a 50-person cap on all places of worship, no matter the capacity of the building, as a part of the state’s coronavirus restrictions. But casinos, along with other businesses such as restaurants and movie theaters, may permit up to 50 percent capacity, allowing casinos to grant access to hundreds of patrons at a time.

“Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh all issued dissenting opinions rejecting the constitutionality of the decision… ‘In my view, Nevada’s discrimination against religious services violates the Constitution,’ Kavanaugh wrote Friday…”

CLEARLY it does.

Conservatives Outraged over Roberts’ Vote

Bloomberg wrote on July 25:

“‘John Roberts has abandoned his oath,’ Senator Ted Cruz, Republican from Texas, said in a tweet… Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, also piled on, wondering ‘what happened to that judge?’ and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, a former Republican Congressman, called it ‘a sad day.’…

The recent pattern of Chief Justice Roberts’ siding with the liberal Supreme Court judges in rendering anti-conservative political decisions has become very manifest. America is destroying itself from the inside in just about every conceivable area.

Churches Defy Cal. Governor Newsom

Breitbart wrote on July 25:

“Two churches in California are defying Gov. Gavin Newsom’s orders to keep their doors closed because of the coronavirus, including Grace Community Church in a Los Angeles suburb, where Pastor John MacArthur posted a letter on Friday titled, ‘Christ, Not Caesar, Is Head of the Church.’… The letter reads, in part:

“‘Christ is Lord of all. He is the one true head of the church… He is also King of kings—sovereign over every earthly authority… Grace Community Church has always stood immovably on those biblical principles. As His people, we are subject to His will and commands as revealed in Scripture. Therefore we cannot and will not acquiesce to a government-imposed moratorium on our weekly congregational worship or other regular corporate gatherings. Compliance would be disobedience to our Lord’s clear commands.

“‘Some will think such a firm statement is inexorably in conflict with the command to be subject to governing authorities laid out in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. Scripture does mandate careful, conscientious obedience to all governing authority, including kings, governors, employers, and their agents (in Peter’s words, ‘not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable’)… Insofar as government authorities do not attempt to assert ecclesiastical authority or issue orders that forbid our obedience to God’s law, their authority is to be obeyed whether we agree with their rulings or not. In other words, Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 still bind the consciences of individual Christians…

“‘When any government official issues orders regulating worship (such as bans on singing, caps on attendance, or prohibitions against gatherings and services), he steps outside the legitimate bounds of his God-ordained authority as a civic official and arrogates to himself authority that God expressly grants only to the Lord Jesus Christ…

“‘Therefore, in response to the recent state order requiring churches in California to limit or suspend all meetings indefinitely, we, the pastors and elders of Grace Community Church, respectfully inform our civic leaders that they have exceeded their legitimate jurisdiction, and faithfulness to Christ prohibits us from observing the restrictions they want to impose on our corporate worship services.’

“The letter said the church does not need the state’s permission to hold church services and urged other congregations to follow suit. ‘Our prayer is that every faithful congregation will stand with us in obedience to our Lord as Christians have done through the centuries,’ the letter concluded.

“[MacArthur’s] letter comes weeks after Calvary Church Chino Hills, also a Southern California congregation, opened its door for service on May 31, Pentecost Sunday — the holy day that celebrates the anointing of the church by the Holy Spirit 50 days after Christ’s resurrection. ‘The church transcends the governments of this world and the politics of this world because the church is a living, breathing, divine institution,’ Pastor Jack Hibbs said in a video addressing other pastors about the lockdown and announcing the decision to reopen the church….”

Please read our free booklet, “Obeying God rather than Men”

Religious Persecution in Israel

Breaking Israel News wrote on July 27:

“The Shaarei Shalom (gates of peace) rabbinical court in Bet Shemesh, headed by Rabbi Nussbaum and Rabbi Wosner, issued a rabbinic proclamation last Thursday.

“‘To our fellow Jews around the world, we are currently in days of confusion and crisis, in which wicked governments impose their heavy yoke upon the God-fearing with all sorts of strange decrees: closures of houses of study and worship, the shutdown of schools and yeshivot (Torah learning institutions), decrees banning ritual baths that prevent the purity of the Jewish people. At their right-hand stands the so-called “religious” parties to support them in these nefarious deeds of destruction.’

“‘To all these unscrupulous individuals we say: Fear the Day of Judgement! Know that there is judgment and a Judge, and for all these things God will bring you to justice. How could you not have trembled when you agreed to the closure of Talmud Torah, schools where children learn Torah?… Innumerable testimonies have been presented before the Rabbinic Court attesting that the entire decree concerning masks is for vanity and uselessness, and is not necessary from a medical point of view.’

“When the prohibitions against the observance of the mitzvoth is with the intention of causing the Jews to abandon their faith, Jews are required to reject the anti-Torah decrees for even the smallest and most insignificant detail… even at the risk of endangering their lives. (Sanhedrin 74b).

“This classification was used in the second century under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Hellenistic king of the Seleucid Empire. It was also declared under the Roman occupation of Israel, and during the Crusades of 1096.

“‘And there is no greater time of danger than what we are facing at the present,’ the rabbis wrote.”

We could not disagree with that assessment.  

Britain Reimposes Quarantine on Travel to Spain

Daily Mail reported on July 26:

“Dominic Raab refused to apologise for reimposing quarantine on travel to Spain today despite the fury of British holidaymakers who have already headed to the Costas. The Foreign Secretary defended the decision by the Department for Transport to remove the country from a list of safe destinations in the wake of a spike in coronavirus cases.

“The decision has left the estimated 600,000 British holidaymakers already in Spain or those preparing to fly out ‘panicking’ about a fortnight-long home quarantine when they return to the UK – which could leave some unable to work….

“Meanwhile Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya has today hit back and declared Spain ‘safe for tourists’ and refused to comment on whether the country will retaliate with similar measures on incoming British holidaymakers…

“Labour blasted the decision, which came into effect at midnight, as ‘shambolic’ after it emerged that even Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and business minister Paul Scully had been caught out by the speed of the move while on Spanish holidays.”

Deutsche Welle added on July 26:

“TUI, Europe’s biggest holiday company, said on Sunday it was canceling all holidays from the UK to mainland Spain up to and including August 9 following updated travel advice by Britain imposing a 2-week quarantine on those returning from the Iberian country… Despite TUI’s decision to cancel its flights, EasyJet and British Airways said their scheduled services would run as normal.”

A rather odd and panic-driven hasty decision with little or no regard for the British people being “stranded” in Spain. This ill-advised measure has created quite a mess in Britain.

Germany’s and EU’s Political Coronavirus Decisions

BBC News reported on July 28:

“On Tuesday Germany issued a travel warning for three regions in Spain – Aragón, Catalonia and Navarra… Germany announced on Monday a programme of free, mandatory coronavirus testing for travellers returning from a list of high-risk countries. The list currently includes Brazil, Turkey and the US, and officials said it will be updated daily.”

Bloomberg wrote on July 29:

“The European Union showed no sign of reopening its doors to Americans by backtracking further on a plan to let in more foreign travelers… EU envoys in Brussels on Wednesday recommended removing Algeria from a list of 13 states… The U.S. will remain off the list of allowed countries, while China stays in… The verdict — a non-binding recommendation to EU national governments — means their external borders should stay shut to people from most countries for at least two more weeks…

“The bloc’s updated ‘white’ list will now include Australia, Canada, China, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay… The external-border recommendation covers 30 European countries: all EU member states except Ireland plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland because they are part of the bloc’s passport-free travel area.”

These decisions by the EU and Germany make NO SENSE whatsoever and are CLEARLY political, as can be seen by the choice of permitted and prohibited countries. Many have nothing to do with the coronavirus.  Obviously, Satan is behind them to make sure that the antagonism between Europe (and Germany in particular) and the USA will continue to get worse and worse.

The Associated Press added on July 28:

“Global air travel is recovering more slowly than expected and it will take until 2024 to return to pre-pandemic levels…”

And so, we are destroying more and more businesses with our ill-conceived restrictive travel ban measures.

Bank in Northern Ireland Refuses to Bank with Christian Charity over LGBT Issues

Breitbart wrote on July 25:

“Barclays bank has reportedly informed a Christian charity in Northern Ireland that it will have its banking facilities revoked following an online pressure campaign mounted by LGBT activists, who claimed that the organisation engaged in so-called gay ‘conversion therapy’. The Christian charity, Core Issues Trust (CIT), said that Barclays informed them that their bank account will be terminated by September… The charity also said that they were removed from Facebook, as well as from Paypal, who ‘terminated its CIT accounts without warning and with no explanation, restricting the ability of supporters to make donations’.

“The CEO of CIT, Mike Davidson told regional newspaper The Belfast News Letter: ‘If a social media mob can cause a bank to close the account of a Christian ministry, then there is nowhere for Biblically faithful Christian ministries to go. The UK is now becoming an intensely intolerant country,’ Davidson warned. Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, said: ‘If it is Core Issues Trust first, it will be churches next… This kind of demonisation and refusing of services to a Christian ministry is reminiscent of how Jewish businesses were treated under Nazi rule.’..

“Core Issues Trust… says that they attempt to help people who ‘wish to move away from… gender dysphoria’ (gender dysphoria being an NHS-recognised condition where somebody feels discomfort because they believe they belong to a different gender – like a man who says he feels like a woman). The Christian charity says that it engages in ‘one-to-one support for individuals voluntarily seeking to leave homosexual behaviours and feelings’ which some characterise as a form of ‘conversion therapy’.

“The CEO of the charity, Mike Davidson, rejected that terminology, telling the lobby group Christian Concern: ‘This is a pejorative, imposed term, coined by an American gay activist, Dr Douglas Haldeman in 1991, that names some extremes such as electro-shock and aversion techniques only ever conducted by medics, long since abandoned from the 60s, or extreme behaviours already outlawed such as “corrective” rape for which there are no prosecutions in the UK.’…

“Organisations who offer therapy for people who wish to abandon sexual urges have become increasingly a target of activist groups. The pressure has resulted in Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing that his Conservative government will be looking to ban conversion therapy… A leading Liberal Democrat leadership candidate and self-described pansexual, Layla Moran, said that Mr Johnson’s ‘conversion therapy’ statements were welcome…

“Gendered Intelligence, a trans charity, criticised the Prime Minister for the use of the term ‘gay conversion therapy’, saying: ‘Whilst we hope the prime minister used ‘gay conversion therapy’ for brevity, we must ensure the ban on conversion therapy covers all LGBT people, including trans people.’”

Sodom and Gomorrah all over again, and Boris Johnson falls right into the ditch.

UK Government Wants Trump to Lose?

Business Insider wrote on July 26:

“The UK government is privately ‘desperate’ for US President Donald Trump to lose November’s presidential election and be replaced by Joe Biden, according to a report by the Sunday Times.

“Prime Minister Boris Johnson is publicly one of Trump’s closest international allies. His government, however, has been privately trying to distance itself from the US president in anticipation of a Biden victory, The Times reports. ‘It would make things much easier if Trump doesn’t win reelection,’ one minister in Johnson’s government told the Times reporter Tim Shipman, who added that many agreed with the sentiment.

“Some UK officials are also hopeful of a Biden victory. One senior UK diplomat [said] earlier this month… ‘The venal corruption of the Trump family and the nasty narcissistic aspects of his behavior — all that will go with a different sort of president’…

“Relations between Johnson and Trump’s administrations have been strained in recent months… amid Trump’s ultimately successful efforts to force Johnson’s government to cut its ties with the Chinese telecoms company Huawei. The president is said to have slammed the phone down on Johnson in a moment of ‘apoplectic’ fury in January, when Johnson initially refused to scrap the UK’s deal with Huawei to help develop Britain’s 5G network.

“The UK relented following the imposition of US sanctions on the company. The row, however, has helped to reduce the UK government’s appetite to strike a new trade deal with Trump… Fears among UK voters about the impact of a US trade deal on food standards in Britain have reportedly forced Johnson’s government to put the brakes on what had once been promoted as a rapid agreement.”

Since we are convinced that Trump will stay in power, will the relationship between the USA and the UK further deteriorate, or will it revive, at least temporarily? Our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America,” gives further insight.

The BAD Chinese-USA Relationship

The Guardian wrote on July 24:

“The confrontation between the US and China is gathering pace with each passing week. In the past few days, the Chinese consulate in Houston has been shuttered amid allegations it was a spy hub, and the US mission in the south-western city of Chengdu was closed in retaliation, on similar grounds…

“At the same time as rounding up more than a million Muslim Uighurs in internment camps, the regime has quashed the liberties enjoyed by Hong Kong, taken over disputed atolls, reefs and shoals in the South China Sea…

“One of Trump’s first foreign policy moves was to pull the US out of negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership which was designed as an economic coalition to prevent China being able to dictate the terms of trade in the 21st century… Similarly, the US effort to persuade China to join arms control negotiations would carry more weight on the world stage if the Trump administration had not walked out on three arms control agreements to date and is apparently in the process of jettisoning a fourth…

“The abrupt US departure from the World Health Organization in the midst of a pandemic, accompanied by a campaign of unsubstantiated allegations against its officials led by Pompeo, is also often cited by diplomats posted to Washington as an example of the US abdicating its global leadership role.

“The failure of governance evident in the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic… has also made it hard for US diplomats to cajole foreign governments into a common cause against China, without drawing pained smiles… It is a stroke of luck for US diplomacy that, at a time when it is at its weakest when trying to recruit allies, China is doing much of the job on its behalf.”

The once-praised great relationship between Trump and Xi Jinping is long history. So is Trump’s relationship with North Korea’s Kim Yong-un. It is prophesied that ultimately, America will have no more allies or friends.

Trump Floats Idea of Election Delay

 The Times of Israel and the Associated Press wrote on July 29:

“US President Donald Trump is for the first time floating a ‘delay’ to the November 3 presidential election, as he makes unsubstantiated allegations that increased mail-in voting will result in fraud. The dates of presidential elections — the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in every fourth year — are enshrined in federal law and would require an act of Congress to change. The Constitution makes no provisions for a delay to the January 20, 2021 presidential inauguration.

 “Trump tweeted Thursday: ‘With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???’

 “His tweet came on a day of bad economic news — the government reported that US economy shrank at a dizzying 32.9 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, by far the worst quarterly plunge ever, as the coronavirus outbreak shut down businesses, threw tens of millions out of work and sent unemployment surging to 14.7%….

 “Trailing in public and private polls, Trump refused in an interview just weeks ago with Fox News to commit to accept the results of the upcoming White House election, recalling a similar threat he made weeks before the 2016 vote. ‘I have to see. Look … I have to see,’ Trump told moderator Chris Wallace during a wide-ranging interview on ‘Fox News Sunday.’ ‘No, I’m not going to just say “yes.” I’m not going to say “no,” and I didn’t last time, either.’”

 Some Democratic leaders suggested that Trump may not voluntarily step down and leave the White House if he loses the election. Either way, a civil war seems to become more and more likely. 

Germany Rejects Trump Proposal

Reuters reported on July 26:

“Germany has rejected a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin back into the Group of Seven (G7) most advanced economies, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a newspaper interview published on Monday. Trump raised the prospect last month of expanding the G7 to again include Russia, which had been expelled in 2014 following Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.

“But Maas told Rheinische Post that he did not see any chance for allowing Russia back into the G7 as long as there was no meaningful progress in solving the conflict in Crimea as well as in eastern Ukraine… Maas described the relationship with Russia as ‘currently difficult’ in many areas…”

This might further the deteriorating relationship between Trump and Germany.

USA to Withdraw 12,000 Service Members out of Germany

Politico wrote on July 29:

“The Pentagon on Wednesday laid out a plan to shift nearly 12,000 service members out of Germany after President Donald Trump repeatedly said the country was ‘delinquent’ on defense spending… The move will leave 24,000 troops in Germany, where the United States has stationed a significant number of forces since the end of the Cold War…

“Defense Secretary Mark Esper was repeatedly asked how that rationale squared with Trump’s pronouncements that the troops were being moved to punish Germany. Esper noted that the review of European Command was accelerated by the president’s June decision to withdraw forces from Germany, which blindsided allies both at home and abroad and was seen as a rebuke of German leaders and beneficial to Russia… ‘They’re there to protect Europe. They’re there to protect Germany, right? And Germany is supposed to pay for it. Germany’s not paying for it. We don’t want to be the suckers anymore,’ Trump told reporters Wednesday morning. ‘So we’re reducing the force because they’re not paying their bills. It’s very simple, they’re delinquent.’…

“The move… will begin in the coming weeks… German officials… immediately trashed the plan. Norbert Röttgen, chair of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, noted in a statement to POLITICO that the move would weaken the NATO alliance and reduce the effectiveness of the U.S. military against Russia and in the Middle East. ‘… The US troop reduction is not in the security interests of Germany or NATO — and makes no geopolitical sense for the US,’ said Peter Beyer, the German government’s coordinator for transatlantic relations, on Twitter…

“In a statement on Wednesday, Sen. Mitt Romney  (R-Utah) condemned the plan as a ‘grave error’… The plan ‘is a slap in the face at a friend and ally when we should instead be drawing closer in our mutual commitment to deter Russian and Chinese aggression. And it is a gift to Russia coming at a time when we just have learned of its support for the Taliban and reports of bounties on killing American troops,’ Romney said…”

Deutsche Welle added on July 29:

“Retired US General Ben Hodges told DW that the US troop redeployment decision was wrong at its core. ‘The most important ally that the United States has in Europe is Germany,’ Hodges said… Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder criticized the US withdrawal plan, adding that it served no clear military purpose and would even weaken the NATO alliance and the US itself. ‘Unfortunately, this puts a burden on the German-American relationship,’ Söder said… Last week, Söder had joined the state premiers of Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Rheinland-Palatinate in a letter to members of the US Senate and Congress pleading for a stop to the plan, saying the troops formed ‘the backbone of US presence in Europe and NATO’s ability to act.’ ‘We therefore ask you to support us as we strive not to sever the bond of friendship but to strengthen it, and to secure the US presence in Germany and Europe in the future,’ the German politicians said.

“Green party opposition politician Jürgen Trittin, who sits on the foreign affairs committee in parliament, told DW he believed the real motivation was not military or defense policy: ‘It’s more a part of the economic warfare Donald Trump is fighting against the European Union and especially the Germans,’ Trittin alleged, calling for Germany to cancel plans to purchase new F-18 fighter jets from the US in response.”

This plan is indeed very bad for America, as Germany’s anger will undoubtedly rise, setting the stage for a prophesied MILITARY confrontation between Europe, under German leadership, and the USA, during which the USA will be destroyed.

Needed—a European Army

“Guy Verhofstadt has once again sparked fury on social media after calls for a European army… [He] took to Twitter after US President Donald Trump confirmed his decision to pull almost 12,000 US troops out of Germany… The MEP, a frequent critic of the US President, posted: ‘Germany and EU continue to be bullied by @realDonaldTrump. “The problem is not money. EU countries combined are second biggest military spender (with China). Real problem is 27 armies and 27 budgets. Time for a real European defense market, strategy and army.’”

Europe to Recover Sooner than USA

Newsmax republished the following article by Bloomberg on July 26:

“The euro area economy is for once set for a sprightlier recovery from crisis than the U.S., thanks to starkly different responses to the coronavirus… Crucial for a sustainable recovery is confidence that the virus is no longer out of control, and Europe’s relative success may help encourage shoppers to spend and businesses to invest, further propelling demand and growth…

“Since 1992, the U.S. has outperformed the euro area in all but eight years, according to IMF data. Although the euro area managed to grow when the financial crisis hit in 2008 and the U.S. shrank, in 2009 the U.S. contraction of 2.5% was far shallower than the euro area’s 4.5%…

“The divergence is reflected in markets. European stocks and bonds have benefited from renewed investor popularity, thanks to the bloc’s agreement on a historic 750 billion-euro ($860 billion) accord. The euro has risen more than 6% against the dollar in the past two months, and could have further to run…

“In the U.S., the $2 trillion rescue package that Congress passed in March ranks among the most aggressive in history, but the distribution has been patchy and uneven. Unemployment offices were overwhelmed with claims, and many jobless Americans have still yet to receive the unemployment benefits they’re owed. At the same time, the allocation of loans to small and medium-sized businesses had its own challenges, resulting in a chaotic scramble among business owners to get government assistance. Even so, the Paycheck Protection Program helped save as many as 3.2 million jobs…”

This is interesting in that, according to prophecy, Europe will have to experience a powerful, however short-lived economic revival. That is not to be expected from the USA.

Mikrovits’ Views Must Not Be Aired!

CNN wrote on July 25:

“The Sinclair Broadcast Group… said Saturday it will postpone and rework a segment it planned to air this weekend that suggested Dr. Anthony Fauci… was responsible for the creation of the coronavirus… The episode… that featured the conspiracy theory was also pulled from local Sinclair websites, where it is often posted before airing on the stations over the weekend. People now trying to access the videos on local Sinclair websites are met with an error page… In the episode of the show that was set to air, [former Fox News host Eric] Bolling spoke with Judy Mikovits, the medical researcher featured in the… ‘Plandemic’ video that went viral earlier this year and which was banned from platforms such as Facebook and YouTube…

“Mikovits told Bolling that Fauci had over the past decade ‘manufactured’ and shipped coronaviruses to Wuhan, China, which became the original epicenter of the current outbreak…

“On Saturday morning, the company had defended airing the segment in a series of tweets, saying it did not endorse the conspiracy theory but was committed to providing its audience diverse viewpoints. Bolling had also previously stood by the segment, telling CNN Business that he also did not endorse the conspiracy theory, but that he was comfortable airing it because in a segment after the interview with Mikovits he spoke to a doctor who dismissed the idea Fauci was responsible for the virus…

“After this story was originally published, Larry Klayman, an attorney for Mikovits, wrote in an email on Saturday night that he stood by what his client said on Bolling’s show. Klayman also threatened to sue CNN…”

We are not endorsing the claim that Fauci created the virus, even though there is evidence that it might have been developed in Chinese laboratories. To suppress the show, however, raises unnecessary suspicion, which is coupled with the fact that articles surfaced, as published by Business Insider, the Huffington Post, and others, that in January of 2017, Fauci is quoted as saying that “‘No Doubt’ Trump will face [a] surprise infectious disease outbreak.” Fauci also said at that time that “preventing disease pandemics often starts overseas and that a proper response means collaboration between not only the U.S. and other countries, but also the public and private health sectors” (healio.com, dated January 11, 2017).

More Coronavirus Recommendations

The Hill wrote on July 23:

“Two Florida mayors who govern Miami and Miami-Dade County encouraged their residents on Thursday to wear masks inside to lower the transmission rate of COVID-19 between family members… and also respecting social distance when they’re at home…’ you need to start thinking about maintaining a distance also from your loved ones for a while,’ [it was suggested].”

This is getting so insane. Note the next article.

Shutting Down the Country AGAIN?

CNN wrote on July 24:

“More than 150 prominent US medical experts, scientists, teachers, nurses and others have signed a letter urging political leaders to shut down the country and start over to contain the surging coronavirus pandemic…

“The only way to reopen the economy and the country safely is to follow a set of protocols that public health experts deem necessary for controlling the spread of Covid-19, the letter contends. They include: enough daily testing to test everyone with flu-like symptoms, a work force of contact tracers large enough to track all current cases and more personal protective equipment to keep essential workers safe.

“In addition, they say all non-essential businesses should be closed and restaurants nationwide should only provide takeout service. People should only leave their homes to get food and medicine or fresh air and exercise, and masks should be mandatory in all situations, the letter urged. Leaders should also ban interstate travel to help contain the virus. ‘If you don’t take these actions, the consequences will be measured in widespread suffering and death,’ the letter warned.”

A sure recipe for the total destruction of the US economy and the lives of millions of people.

Exaggerated Death Figures

KNSS published on July 20 the following comments by Rush Limbaugh:

“On Saturday, the U.K. announced that they were gonna pause their daily update of the death toll from coronavirus over concerns that their death toll might be exaggerated. We need to do the same thing here. The problem is that Britain… has been counting people who tested positive for coronavirus as dying from it no matter how much later they died. This is the old argument, did someone die with COVID-19 or because of it? And the U.K. is doing exactly what the U.S. is doing. If you are in a car crash and you die and they test and find out that you had COVID-19, guess what? Your cause of death is gonna be COVID-19, not the fact that you ran into a tree.”

Limbaugh also pointed out that while the numbers of coronavirus infections are rising, the death toll is flat.

Fauci’s Latest Revelations

Breitbart wrote on July 25:

“Dr. Anthony Fauci, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, suggested in an interview with MarketWatch on Friday that young people are ‘becoming part of the problem’ in the outbreak of the Chinese coronavirus and admitted that experts ‘don’t know exactly’ to what extent people are less likely to transmit the coronavirus when they are wearing a mask… when asked for an estimate of ‘how less likely people are to transmit coronavirus if they’re wearing a mask,’ he could not provide a definitive answer… ‘Your guess is as good as any: 50 percent to 75 percent or 80 percent is probably correct,’ he added…

“The New England Journal of Medicine, in a May study titled ‘Universal Masking in Hospitals in the Covid-19 Era,’ stated, ‘We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection.’…

“Fauci came under fire on Thursday after throwing the first pitch for the Washington Nationals’ season opener and watching the game, in-person, with his mask hanging around his chin… [He later said that to point this out in the media was “mischievous” as he was simply taking a sip of water. However, on the pictures circulated, he did not drink from a water bottle, but talked and laughed with the persons sitting right next to him, purportedly his wife and a close friend].

“While Fauci currently recommends masks, he did not feel the same way in March, telling CBS News’s Dr. Jon LaPook that ‘there’s no reason to be walking around with a mask.’”

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on July 30:

“Dr. Fauci is back in the limelight where he likes to be. In a recent ABC interview he informs Americans that if they ‘really want 100 percent protection’ they should not only wear masks, but also goggles on their eyes [or a face shield]. Will he be recommending space suits next week?”

“You Can’t Surrender our Humanity to the Virus!”

The Daily Mail wrote on July 28:

“Ex-Supreme Court judge Lord Jonathan Sumption today called on Britain to learn to live alongside Covid-19… Lord Jonathan, who is also a medieval historian, praised Sweden’s approach to the pandemic, after the nation bucked the global trend and opted against a lockdown…

“He wrote: ‘Their hospitals were never overwhelmed. They never closed their schools. The predicted damage to their economy is about half of ours.’ Writing that ‘we cannot keep running away’, he added: ‘Our ancestors lived with far worse epidemic diseases without rushing to put their heads in a bag.’…

“He wrote: ‘Our whole transport infrastructure, the buildings in which we work, play and eat out, depend on our being close together. We have surrendered our liberty to the virus. Are we to surrender our humanity as well?’”

However, that is exactly what the world is doing.

Police Resist Enforcing Mask Mandates

The Associated Press wrote on July 26:

“Lang Holland, the chief of police in tiny Marshall, Arkansas, said he thinks the threat of the coronavirus has been overstated and only wears a face mask if he’s inside a business that requires them. He doesn’t make his officers wear them either.

“So the day after Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed an order requiring masks to be worn in public throughout Arkansas, Holland made it clear his department wasn’t going to enforce the mandate in the Ozarks town of about 1,300, calling it an unconstitutional overreach. ‘All I’m saying is if you want to wear a mask, you have the freedom to choose that,’ said Holland, who said he supports President Donald Trump. ‘It should not be dictated by the nanny state.’

“Holland is among a number of police chiefs and sheriffs in Arkansas and elsewhere who say they won’t enforce statewide mask requirements, even within their departments. Some say they don’t have the manpower to respond to every mask complaint… Others, including Holland, reject the legal validity of mask requirements…

“More than half the states have issued orders to wear masks in most public settings, with virus cases and hospitalizations on the rise. Polling shows overwhelming public support for such requirements, and even Trump, who had long been dismissive of wearing masks, last week said it was patriotic to wear one…

“Several sheriffs in neighboring Texas have also said they wouldn’t enforce a mask requirement issued by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. And a group of 38 sheriffs in Montana signed an op-ed this month saying they believe that the mask requirement issued by the state’s Democratic governor this month ‘is not a mandate for law enforcement to issue citations and arrest violators.’

“Enforcement of Alabama’s mask rule, which took effect this month, has also varied. Some police said they would provide masks to those not wearing them in public, and others said they didn’t plan to ticket people for violations…

“In New York City… the nation’s largest police department has struggled with how to enforce mask mandates. Police initially assigned 1,000 officers this spring to enforce mask wearing and social distancing rules, but they backed off after some violent arrests were caught on video. Now, the city relies chiefly on civilian workers and community group members to hand out masks and encourage people to wear them.

“Hutchinson said he would defer to local police and sheriffs on how to enforce his order, saying it was their prerogative on how to prioritize offenses. Supporters of mask mandates say penalties were never their goal and that they never envisioned police having to respond to every complaint about someone not wearing one. ‘Nobody’s asking for a masking gestapo,’ [Dr. Cam] Patterson, [the chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences] said…”

Newsweek added on July 24:

“Sheriffs in four Indiana counties have said their departments will not enforce a statewide mask mandate announced this week by the governor.”

Resorting to Violence?

Business Insider wrote on July 20:

“Some retailers are refusing to require masks in stores, amid a rash of disturbing incidents involving people who oppose wearing face coverings.  The CEO of Foot Locker told the Financial Times that he is ‘not willing to put [his employees] at risk’ of having to enforce a mask policy and cited accounts of anti-mask shoppers confronting employees at other retailers. Foot Locker posts signs at its entrances advising customers to wear masks, but ‘for the safety of our associates, our Stripers’ will not enforce or deny entrance to customers who choose not to wear one,’ Dick Johnson, the Foot Locker CEO, later said in an email…

“The grocery chain Winn-Dixie has also said it will not enforce a mandatory mask policy. A spokesperson for Winn-Dixie’s parent company, Southeastern Grocers, told USA Today that it won’t require masks to avoid ‘undue friction’ between customers and employees.”

To be clear, to resort to violence, regardless as to what the cause, is always wrong.

More Violence in the USA

 The Associated Press wrote on July 26:

“Protests took a violent turn in several U.S. cities over the weekend, with demonstrators squaring off against federal agents outside a courthouse in Portland, Oregon, forcing police in Seattle to retreat into a station house and setting fire to vehicles in California and Virginia.

“A protest against police violence in Austin, Texas, turned deadly when a witness says the driver of a car that drove through a crowd of marchers opened fire on an armed demonstrator who approached the vehicle. And someone was shot and wounded in Aurora, Colorado, after a car drove through a protest there, authorities said…”

Trump has threatened to send in more federal agents, including New York. Is civil war inevitable?

Attorney General William Barr Under Attack

Breitbart wrote on July 28:

“Attorney General William Barr called out Democrats on Tuesday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing for failing to condemn mob violence and attacks on the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon in recent weeks. ‘What makes me concerned for the country is [that] this is the first time in my memory that the leaders of one of our great two political parties, the Democratic Party, are not coming out and condemning mob violence and the attack on federal courts,’ Barr said. ‘Why can’t we just say: “Violence against federal courts has to stop?” Could we hear something like that?’

“Barr was testifying about the federal law enforcement response to protect the courthouse, which has been vandalized and firebombed by what Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden, have called ‘peaceful protesters.’ Those ‘protesters’ have also attacked the federal officials defending the building.

“Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who claimed on Sunday that the violence was a ‘myth,’ did not respond by condemning the violence…

“House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-OH) debunked the claim that the protests in the name of George Floyd have been ‘peaceful,’ playing a video during a hearing that showed scene after scene of violence and destruction in America’s streets. The six-minute video began with nearly two dozen clips of mainstream media journalists and Democrat politicians claiming the protests have been ‘peaceful.’

“It showed the widely-mocked video of MSNBC’s Ali Velshi standing in front of a burning building in Minneapolis claiming that the protest was ‘not, generally speaking, unruly.’ It ended with former President Barack Obama and 2020 Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden calling them ‘peaceful protests.’

“It then switched to a press conference with the wife of Capt. David Dorn, a retired black police chief who was shot and killed while trying to defend a pawn shop from looters in St. Louis, Missouri. As his wife struggled to hold back her tears, the video showed clips of mobs of violent rioters attacking police, burning flags and buildings, vandalizing police cars, looters, and protesters running over police officers…

“The video showed some scenes from rioting in Portland, of violent mobs trying to tear down fences, setting fires to buildings, and throwing bombs and other explosives. It showed protesters toppling statues and cheering. It showed police officers on bicycles trying to protect a monument and being pelted with garbage, bottles, and other objects…”

The disrespectful conduct of Jerry Nadler and his Democratic colleagues on the committee towards Attorney General Barr was shameful and appalling. Raising accusation after accusation, they gave him virtually no time or opportunity to respond and clarify. It was nothing short of a “kangaroo court.”

Mandate to Display Black Lives Matter Posters

Breitbart reported on July 17:

“The San Francisco Police Commission voted this week to require police stations throughout the city to display Black Lives Matter posters… The left-wing and Marxist Black Lives Matter political organization has been at the forefront of calls for police to be defunded across the country… The resolution, which was unanimously approved, ordered the Police Department to install a poster of at least 32 by 24 inches in each district station within 30 days. The poster must ‘prominently and exclusively’ feature the phrase ‘Black lives matter’ and it must be displayed in a place visible to station visitors…

“Not everyone in the department, however, supported the measure ahead of Wednesday’s vote. The San Francisco Police Officers Association sent the commission a letter saying the union supported the notion that black and brown lives matter, but a directive to install the posters ‘establishes a new precedent that raises concerns about introducing political agendas and wedge issues into the safe harbor of police stations.’

“‘Police stations are places for the citizens of San Francisco to seek help and assistance when they have become victims of crimes,’ Rockne A. Lucia, a lawyer for the police union, wrote in the letter. ‘They are not places for political endorsements or alignment with political organizations.’ Police union President Tony Montoya said in a statement that the commission ‘should put away their soapboxes and stop their political grandstanding.’”

What nonsense!

USA One of the Worst Countries to Raise a Family

The Daily Mail wrote on July 23:

“The US is one of the worst countries in the world to raise a family, while Britain also scores badly, according to new research. America was ranked 34 out of 35 in a comparison of the world’s biggest economies, scoring three ‘F’ grades for safety, cost of living and work-life balance, a ‘D minus’ for health, and a ‘C+’ for happiness and education. Overall, it was given an ‘F’ grade for raising a family, with only Mexico coming out worse…

“Britain, meanwhile, was given a ‘B minus’ rating, ranking it 23rd, with scores including a ‘D minus’ for work-life balance and an ‘F’ for cost of living. It scored average for health (C) and education (C+) but better for happiness (A) and safety (B).”

Not a flattering statistic for the USA and the UK.

The Democratic Party’s Legacy of Racism

Fox News reported on July 24:

“A group of Republican House members, led by Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas, introduced a resolution Thursday that would effectively ban the Democratic Party from the House or force a party name change over past slavery ties — a response to the recent efforts to remove tributes to past members of the Confederacy from the halls of Congress.

“It specifically cites the Democratic Party platform’s support for slavery between 1840 and 1856, and other racist actions by party members through the early-to-mid 1900s, before calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to ‘remove any items that names, symbolizes or mentions any political organization or party that has ever held a public position that supported slavery or the Confederacy’ from the House and its properties. The resolution also says such a party ‘shall either change its name or be barred from participation in the House of Representatives.’…

“‘As outlined in the resolution, a great portion of the history of the Democratic Party is filled with racism and hatred,’ Gohmert said. ‘Since people are demanding we rid ourselves of the entities, symbols, and reminders of the repugnant aspects of our past, then the time has come for Democrats to acknowledge their party’s loathsome and bigoted past, and consider changing their party name to something that isn’t so blatantly and offensively tied to slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination, and the Ku Klux Klan.’

“He added: ‘To avoid triggering innocent bystanders by the racist past of the Democratic Party, I would suggest they change their name. That is the standard to which they are holding everyone else, so the name change needs to occur.’

“[The resolution] appears to be meant more as a criticism of allegedly ‘blatant hypocrisy’ around the House’s approval of a measure removing Confederate busts in the Capitol this week…”

One cannot help but to be amazed at the hypocrisy of leaders of the Democratic Party.

Escaping from America?

Forbes wrote on July 28:

“… with the coronavirus pandemic restricting travel for US citizens and the power of the US passport on the decline, it’s no surprise that many Americans are investigating how they can buy a second passport, whether it’s to seek shelter in another country or just to be able to travel more freely… It can often take up to five years of living in a place to become a resident, and many countries also require you to renounce your US citizenship….”

As the article points out, there are ways to “buy” a foreign citizenship, by investing an extraordinary amount of money in the foreign country. And so, again, money rules the world…

Billions of Animals Were Killed Last Year in Australia

Fox News wrote on July 28:

“The devastating wildfire season in Australia that stretched from last July through March impacted far more animals than previously estimated, scientists said Tuesday in a new report… Nearly 3 billion animals – including mammals, reptiles, birds, and frogs — were killed or displaced…

“‘The interim findings are shocking,’ WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O’Gorman said… ‘It’s hard to think of another event anywhere in the world in living memory that has killed or displaced that many animals. This ranks as one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history.’

“In the interim report, 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds, and 51 million frogs are believed to have been impacted…”

God prophesied that in the end time, many animals will be destroyed because of the sins of man.

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 part 1 of this series, we looked at the fact that the Jews rejected Jesus when He was on earth and Judaism has continued with that rejection up until the present time. One of the reasons why Jews have rejected Jesus is the false notion that He did not even exist. We refuted this claim by looking at the evidence that shows that Jesus did exist with proof from many sources.

As alluded to in the first part, Jews also reject Jesus as the Messiah because they question the accuracy of the New Testament Scriptures, and they state that He simply did not fulfil the mission of the Messiah.

Of course, the New Testament is accurate in describing Jesus, His life and His mission. We firmly believe that there are no contradictions in the Bible but would agree that He did not fulfil the mission of the “mashiach” which is the Judaic belief that we believe is in error and which we will explain in this series. We will also show why Jews reject clear Old Testament passages identifying Jesus as the Messiah.

Regarding the many proofs for the infallibility of the original writings of the New Testament, please consult our free booklet, “The Authority of the Bible,” chapters 3-6.

In addition, on the website https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/is-the-bible-reliable-for-truth-about-jesus-christ-11598166.html we read the following:

“We should believe the Bible because Christ believed the Bible. Such reasoning may sound circuitous or circular. It is not. As the British theologian John Wenham argued, Christianity is rooted first and foremost in faith in a person: ‘Hitherto Christians who have been unaware about the status of the bible have been caught in a vicious circle: any satisfactory doctrine of the Bible must be based on the teaching of the Bible, but the teaching of the Bible is itself suspect. The way out of the dilemma is to recognize that belief in the Bible comes from faith in Christ, and not vice versa.’ In other words, confidence in the Bible rests upon confidence in Christ. Is Christ who He said He was? Is He just a great man or is He the Lord? The Bible may not prove to you Jesus Christ is the Lord, but the lordship of Christ will prove to you that the Bible is the very word of God. This is because Christ regularly spoke about the authority of the Old Testament (see Mark 9). He claimed authority for His own teaching by saying, ‘I tell you’ (see Matthew 5). Jesus even taught that the teaching of His disciples would have divine authority (see John 14:26). If Jesus Christ is trustworthy, then His words about the authority of the Bible should be trusted as well. Christ is trustworthy and He trusted God’s Word. So should we. Without faith in Christ, you will not believe the Bible is the self-disclosure of God. With faith in Christ, you cannot help but believe the Bible is God’s Word.”

We read in Luke 24:44 these words of Jesus: “Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’”  By this, Jesus endorsed the Old Testament Scriptures (which the Jews accepted anyway, at least so they said.)

Continuing with the statement from the website www.jewfaq.org/mashiach.htm :

“On the contrary, another Jew born about a century later came far closer to fulfilling the messianic ideal [as taught and believed in by Judaism] than Jesus did. [We will see later what the (false) Jewish concept of the Messiah really means.] His name was Shimeon ben Kosiba, known as Bar Kokhba (son of a star), and he was a charismatic, brilliant, but brutal warlord. Rabbi Akiba, one of the greatest scholars in Jewish history, believed that Bar Kokhba was the mashiach. Bar Kokhba fought a war against the Roman Empire, catching the Tenth Legion by surprise and retaking Jerusalem. He resumed sacrifices at the site of the Temple and made plans to rebuild the Temple. He established a provisional government and began to issue coins in its name. This is what the Jewish people were looking for in a mashiach; Jesus clearly does not fit into this mold. Ultimately, however, the Roman Empire crushed his revolt and killed Bar Kokhba. After his death, all acknowledged that he was not the mashiach.

“Throughout Jewish history, there have been many people who have claimed to be the mashiach, or whose followers have claimed that they were the mashiach: Shimeon Bar Kokhba, Shabbatai Tzvi, Jesus, and many others too numerous to name. Leo Rosten reports some very entertaining accounts under the entry for meshiekh in The New Joys of Yiddish. But all of these people died without fulfilling the mission of the mashiach; therefore, none of them were the mashiach. The mashiach and the Olam Ha-Ba lie in the future, not in the past.”

In this statement above, we read that “another Jew (Bar Kokhba) born about a century later came far closer to fulfilling the messianic ideal than Jesus did.”  They further write that “Jesus does not fit into this mold” after discussing “Bar Kokhba (son of a star), and state that he was a “charismatic, brilliant, but brutal warlord.”

We should be very happy that Jesus did not fit into such a mold; in fact His approach for Him, as a Man, and for His disciples was exactly the opposite, as we read in Matthew 26:51-53: “And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. But Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?’” (see also Mark 14:47; Luke 22:50-51; John 18:10).

Jesus also sternly rebuked His disciples as we read in Luke 9:54-56 when they wanted to command fire down from heaven to destroy the Samaritans after they had refused to give them shelter. In Matthew 5, we read of Jesus’ approach; verse 9 commands us to be peacemakers, not warmongers, and not even to get angry with your brother without a cause; verses 22-25 talk about reconciliation, and verses 38-42 tell us to “turn the other cheek” (an Aramaic idiom), instead of resorting to violence. These were Christ’s instructions then and for now. Jesus certainly did not fit into the category that the Jews were looking for, that of a human warlord.

As will be shown below, Christ WILL fight when He returns to this earth, but then He will come as GOD. However, when He became a Man and was here on earth, in the flesh, born of a woman, born under the law, to fulfil His role as a human Messiah and to overcome sin in the flesh and to suffer and die for us, He categorically refused to and rejected war in any manner, shape or form.

The huge mistake in Judaism is that they misunderstand the Old Testament Scriptures which clearly reveal that the Messiah would have to come TWICE—first as a human being who would suffer and die for mankind and thereby bring about forgiveness of sin; and second, as God who will establish the Kingdom of God on earth “in the last days” and rule all of mankind with a rod of iron.

While confusing these passages and believing that the Messiah would only come once to fulfil all these Old Testament prophecies at the time when He will appear to rule mankind, many Jews and modern Judaism reject the supreme Sacrifice of Christ and the fact that the Messiah would have to come FIRST to DIE for mankind. (In fact, they do not even believe that the Messiah would come to die for man.) As we will see, they totally pervert Scriptures in the Old Testament which establish this, by giving them a distorted meaning.

Returning to www.jewfaq.org/mashiach.htm , they give the following information:

“The following passages in the Jewish scriptures are the ones that Jews consider to be messianic in nature or relating to the end of days. These are the ones that we rely upon in developing our messianic concept:

“Isaiah 2, 11, 42; 59:20

“Jeremiah 23, 30, 33; 48:47; 49:39

“Ezekiel 38:16

“Hosea 3:4-3:5

“Micah 4

“Zephaniah 3:9

“Zechariah 14:9

“Daniel 10:14.”

They certainly apply to the Messiah and the end times but they see them to be fulfilled by a human warlord as mentioned in the case of Shimeon ben Kosiba who was thought at one time to be the “mashiach,” as well as others, but the reality for them has not yet happened. When these Scriptures are reviewed, it seems clear that they are all about the time at the end and the beginning of the Kingdom of God on earth when Jesus Christ, as the immortal and eternal GOD BEING, will be King of kings and Lord of lords (see Revelation 17:14 and 19:16). For example, Isaiah 2 is about the future house of God when “He (that is Jesus who is God) will teach us His ways – not some human warlord. Zechariah 14:9 speaks about the time when “the LORD shall be King over all the earth,” not some human being. These and many other verses have been explained in a number of our booklets about biblical prophecy.

Before we move on to review further information as to what the Jews are looking for, it is appropriate to explain why we do believe that Jesus Christ, at His first Coming, was indeed the Messiah.

On the website www.bibleprobe.commessianicprophecies.htm, a list of 365 Messianic Prophecies is given from Genesis to Malachi that Jesus fulfilled, when He was here on earth during His first Coming as a HUMAN BEING. Of course, space prohibits listing all of these. (In fact, others, like Edersheim, see below, claim that Jesus, when He was here on earth as a human being, fulfilled as many as 456 Old Testament prophecies.)

On the website: https://empower.global/the-mathematical-probability-that-jesus-is-the-christ/ we read about the “Mathematical Probability” that Jesus is the Christ and that He fulfilled the prophecies about Him as a human being during His first Coming:

“A professor at Westmont College, has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies made concerning the Messiah. The estimates were worked out by twelve different classes representing some 600 university students. The students carefully weighed all the factors, discussed each prophecy at length, and examined the various circumstances which might indicate that men had conspired together to fulfill a particular prophecy. They made their estimates conservative enough so that there was finally unanimous agreement even among the most skeptical students. However the professor then took their estimates, and made them even more conservative. He also encouraged other skeptics or scientists to make their own estimates to see if his conclusions were more than fair.

“Finally, he submitted his figures for review to a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination, they verified that his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented. For example, concerning Micah 5:2, where it states the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, the professor and his students determined the average population of BETHLEHEM from the time of Micah to the present; then they divided it by the average population of the earth during the same time period. They concluded that the chance of one man being born in Bethlehem was one in 300,000.

“After examining only eight different prophecies, they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was one in 10^17. To illustrate how large the number 10^17 is (a figure with 17 zeros), the professor gave this illustration: If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They’ll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up the one silver dollar that has the special mark on it. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would’ve had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time.

“In financial terms, is there anyone who would not invest in a financial venture if the chance of failure were only one in 10^17? This is the kind of sure investment we’re offered by God for faith in His Messiah.

“From these figures, the professor concludes the fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of the prophecies – the likelihood of mere chance is only one in 10^17. Another way of saying this is that any person who minimizes or ignores the significance of the biblical identifying signs concerning the Messiah would be foolish.

“But, of course, there are many more than eight prophecies. In another calculation, the professor used 48 prophecies (even though he could have used Edersheim’s 456), and arrived at the extremely conservative estimate that the probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled in one person is the incredible number 10^157. How large is 10^157? 10^157 contains 157 zeros!

“The professor gives an illustration of this number using electrons. Electrons are very small objects. They’re smaller than atoms. It would take 2.5 TIMES 10^15 of them, laid side by side, to make one inch. Even if we counted 250 of these electrons each minute, and counted day and night, it would still take 19 million years just to count a line of electrons one inch long. With this introduction, let’s go back to our chance of one in 10^157. Let’s suppose that we’re taking this number of electrons, marking one, and thoroughly stirring it into the whole mass, then blindfolding a man and letting him try to find the right one. What chance has he of finding the right one? What kind of a pile will this number of electrons make? They make an inconceivably large volume.

“This is the result from considering a mere 48 prophecies. Obviously, the probability that 456 prophecies would be fulfilled in one man by chance is vastly smaller. Once one goes past one chance 10^50, the probabilities are so small that it is impossible to think that they will ever occur.

“As the professor concludes, ‘Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact, proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world.’”

We have given conclusive proof that Jesus did exist and have quoted the source that shows that there are 365 [or even 456] Messianic Prophecies in the Old Testament that are given that Jesus fulfilled from the book of Genesis to Malachi. We have further shown that the mathematical probability that Jesus is the Christ and that He was and is the Messiah is overwhelming.

Many Jews claim that Jesus (if they believe that He existed) knew the Old Testament Scriptures and just arranged His life in such a way that it appeared as if they were to apply to Him. But they should readily admit that there are hundreds of prophecies, concerning the Messiah, over which He, as a human being, could have had no influence or control. For example, how could He have “inspired” Judas to betray Him for 30 shekels of silver? How could He have arranged it to be born in Bethlehem; and how could He have influenced His parents to flee to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod?

There is no doubt that due to a misunderstanding of Scripture, the expectations of the Jewish people of that time were that of a leader who would liberate them from the oppressive yoke that the Romans had laid on them, and when Jesus came preaching a gospel of love even for one’s enemies, and when He subsequently died without replacing the Roman government and establishing Jewish rule over the land, those expectations remained unfulfilled for most of the Jews at that time.  Jesus stood in stark contrast to other false messiahs that had arisen and failed.

(To be continued)

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

compiled by Dave Harris

US-German Friendship Has Ended! Are You WAKING UP???” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link.  

Here is a summary:

The return of Christ is near. The Great Tribulation is upon us. But the world is asleep. Are YOU asleep too? In this program, we just focus on ONE prophesied sign of the wrath to come upon mankind—the severed bond of friendship between the USA and Europe under German leadership. This hostility will lead soon to a nuclear world war during which the USA will be DESTROYED. We are presenting three examples to show how hostile these “allies” are already behaving towards each other. And it is prophesied to get much worse. Are you sure you will be protected by God when this time arrives?

We are sad to announce the death of a member in Canada. Pastor Rene Messier informed us that Darcy Beart died on Tuesday afternoon (July 28, 2020) as the result of a fall. His wife, Val Marie Beart, from Alberta, Canada, would greatly appreciate our prayers. Additionally, Virginia Goodrum from Canada, who has been attending with Mr. and Mrs. Rene Messier on the Sabbath, died last week of unknown causes. Her husband, Ray, had died in February of this year.

“Gottes Trost in unserer wahnsinnig verrückten Welt,” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “God’s Comfort in our Crazy and Insane World.”

“Das verdeckte Schlachtfeld,” is the title of last Sabbath’s German sermonette, presented by Robert Kintzi. Title in English: “The Hidden Battlefield.”

“Still the Same Day!” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Those who pretend that Sunday is the day to observe instead of the true Sabbath are themselves nothing more than pretend Christians, and the Word of God proves it!

“Future, Fear, Focus, Faith,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The Bible instructs us to seek the future Kingdom of God. But we know that perilous times will lead up to that future point in time. What can we do to endure the trials that we have yet to face?

The YouTube channel for the Church of the Eternal God presents past videos for StandingWatch programs along with sermonettes, sermons and promotional videos. These are also available on our website: www.eternalgod.org.