“Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face  against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Mesheck, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, “Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Mesheck, and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.” Ezekiel 38:1-4

“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, “Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north and bring you against the mountains of Israel.” Ezekiel 39:1-2

For a long time I have written about the ultimate destiny and plans of the Russian Federation. These include regional hegemony as we now see unfolding in the Ukraine and strategic domination in Eurasia and beyond reaching into the Middle East. This is not political analysis but the teaching of scripture to be found in the book of Ezekiel. The ultimate end game of what we are witnessing now will be Israel. Even as I write, given Russia’s penetration into the Middle East and America’s loss of prestige and influence in the region after the withdrawal fiasco from Afghanistan, Israel is increasingly having to play a careful diplomatic game with Putin. She is literally dancing on “hot coals.”

The truth is, the God of the Bible is putting hooks into the Russian bear’s jaw and dragging it down into a final conflict with Him whereby it will finally fall on the mountains of Israel. In the process peoples and nations, like that of the Ukraine, are facing war and turmoil. How then should we pray? The answer lies in the understanding that God gave Habakkuk. He could not alter or change the revealed purpose of God but he could pray in alignment with it, meaning:

1. That God is sovereign and his ways are far above ours. He thus, when wickedness overflows in nations will move to judge it by war. The Prophet Habakkuk was truly scandalized at this thought because he knew Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to be a wicked ruthless tyrant. The idea then that God would call him forth as an instrument of judgment against the nation of Judah was consequently unacceptable to him and he told God as much. God is surely using Putin in the same way!! Believe me, this is just the beginning as the nations are ” ripe for judgment” because of their rebellion against Jesus of Nazareth and their overflowing wickedness. Hear then the words of God to Habakkuk:

“Look among the nations and watch- be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you. For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty  nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.” Habakkuk 1:5-6

2. We must then pray that in the Ukraine God, in His wrath, will have mercy and thereby bring many of the unsaved to Himself. That is, our prayers should be concentrated on the lost and their need for salvation.

3. When the truth finally dawned upon Habakkuk he wondered how the true people of God would survive all of this? The answer was swift and very encouraging, ” The just shall live by their faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). The actual word “faith” here means faithfulness. This is not sloppy Christian living but true dedication and zeal for God validated over time. The promise of God to the Christians of the Ukraine is that they will live, or be safe and survive, if they have been faithful. We would be wise to take note of this and so we should pray for Ukrainian Christians in this context.

4. That this trial will purify the Church in the Ukraine and bring many of its members to repentance and renewal. This is the picture presented by Habakkuk’s oracle and we must also pray for the Church in the Ukraine with this in mind and for its leaders. Hear is Habakkuk’s prayer in this regard:

“O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk 3:2

5. Habakkuk knew that God was in control of Judah’s destiny as a nation and that beyond the raging conflict peace would come with great blessing. He therefore arose from the depression and confusion that had beset him and with much joy praised the God of Israel:

“Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fall, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord is my strength: He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.” Habakkuk 3:17-19

The prophet finally learned that our well being and spiritual life does not emanate from national leaders and the state of our nations but from God! No doubt we must learn this too and we must pray that the Ukrainian Church will find this truth and rejoice in it at this time. This does not mean that we should not pray for our nations and their leaders. We must for this is the command of scripture (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

6. Finally, it is clear that Habakkuk was deeply concerned about the welfare of his nation, and rightly so as we all should be. We must pray then that God will bring peace to the Ukraine and that nothing, by the design of demonic power, would go beyond the determined purpose of God. It is of course comforting to know that God is set against Putin and his plans and will in the end bring him down. This is something that we must hold before the throne of God in intercession. Let us all be on our knees in prayer.

In this urgent and terrible time may God be with the Ukrainian people, its Church and their leaders and save them from the bully of the north.

Malcolm Hedding

                        “So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place,

                         because of the uncleanness of the children of

                         Israel, and because of their transgressions, for

                         all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabern-

                         acle of meeting which remains among them in

                         the midst of their uncleanness.”

                                                            Leviticus 16:16

                        “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost

                         those who come to God through Him, since He

                         always lives to make intercession for them. For

                         such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy,

                         harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and

                         has become higher than the heavens…”

                                                            Hebrews 7:25-26

Yom Kippur is the Great Day of Atonement. It is an awesome day in which nothing moves, cities and their commerce come to a complete standstill in Israel and even the roads, just the day before congested and given to gridlock, are empty. It’s as if all of creation is holding its breath since this is the Day when sinners, living under the wrath of God, can be freed from it. It requires introspection, fasting and prayer and the courage to acknowledge one’s sins and cast one’s self upon the grace of God. Only God’s unmerited favor can save us from His anger and a lost eternity.

In days of old the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies on this day and there before the Mercy Seat on the Ark present the blood of the Lord’s Goat.  Around his one foot a rope was tied in case He was struck down dead and thus could be pulled out. On the fringe of his High Priestly garments were little bells, which used to tinkle together when the atoning sacrifice was accepted because the power of God’s anointing and love would come upon him. It was a sound of joy and the whole nation would listen intently for it. If heard they knew that their sins were again overlooked (Romans 3:23-25)(Acts 17:30) and not attributed to them. They were free from the wrath of God!

The Scapegoat was at the same time brought before the High Priest who confessed the sins of the nation over it and then sent it away into the wilderness. This goat was called the Azazel, which also means “The one who opposes.” So, the Scapegoat not only carried the sins of the people away into the wilderness of forgetfulness but it also symbolized release from the Devil and his demons. What an amazing picture of God’s perfect deliverance in Christ Jesus.

The Day of Yom Kippur reminds us of the gravity of sin, the great price that Jesus paid to release us from its grip and the joy of being reconciled to God. The Scapegoat also symbolizes our complete deliverance from inbred sin and from the Devil. This is exactly what Jesus came to do (Acts 10:38). This is a Day that reminds us of God’s mercy and love and just how undeserving of these we are. It teaches us to fear God and live righteously before Him since Jesus, taking our place on the cross, spilt His blood to save us from the wrath of God (1 Thessalonians 1:10). A great price was paid for our redemption and we should never forget it (1 Peter 1:18-19). This is precisely why we take the sacrament of Communion regularly. We surely must remember what Jesus did for us on the cross and thus Yom Kippur is an awesome reminder of the reverence we should hold in our hearts for it.

Malcolm Hedding.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The American Declaration of Independence

“The First Great Awakening left an indelible mark on the development of America. With roots stretching back to the Christian Reformation of the 1500s, the Great Awakening swept the young colonies with the fires of evangelical fervor. The revival shook the very foundations of colonial society. Following in its wake was a rebirth of reformed philosophy and theology that planted the seeds of self government and political autonomy in the fertile soil of the Americas. By 1776 that seed had blossomed into a vibrant revolutionary movement that questioned the very fabric of Old World society.” Liberty University

A Day worth celebrating

Once again Americans all across the country celebrated the 4th of July, the day upon which the nation was formally founded and established upon a Declaration of Independence and Constitution that are quite remarkable and without precedent in the world. It is not prosperity, property ownership and unbridled wealth that constitutes the American Dream but in fact the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution which enables such blessings to become a reality. All of these things flow out of these two documents and two hundred and forty-five years prove it. There is indeed no country like America in the world, this is just a fact.

Sadly on 4th of July, very few Americans stop to thank God for this treasure and its implications being rather preoccupied with outdoor pleasures, shopping and other recreational pursuits. Indeed, I have discovered that many Americans know very little about their founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence and the all important articles of their amazing Constitution, and so others, building on this neglect and ignorance, are seeking to tear them down because they hate freedom and everything that the Constitution stands for in order to secure it. They desire a government that totally rejects the notion that our freedoms come from God and are therefore inalienable. No, they, like Lucifer of old, desire total control so that in fact they can become like God and determine their own destiny and that of everyone else. The Dollar note that declares, “In God We Trust” is anathema to them and so they rage through the streets of America vowing to destroy and burn everything down. They wish to transform America by sweeping away its Declaration of Independence and Constitution and replacing these with a tired and worn out one, and proved to be so, that propagates Marxist Socialism. This is where the state is god and its subjects are denied the ability and freedom to excel by small government, hard work, discipline, commitment, perseverance and yes, trust in the God of the Bible.

The God of the Bible

Just before the founding of the nation a Christian revival swept through the 13 original states that was led by the Wesleyan George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards. It has rightly been called, “The Great Awakening.” The impact on these states was huge and even men like Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Samuel Adams were greatly impacted by it. It is no secret that many of the states that made up this remarkable original Union drafted constitutions that were literally lifted out of the five Books of Moses. We must not underestimate the impact that this Christian revival had on the drafting of the great Constitution that set the thirteen states aside as a remarkable Union. Even Liberty Bell has inscribed upon it a verse taken from the book of Leviticus that declares, “Let Liberty be proclaimed throughout the land” (Leviticus 25:10) and the very idea of three entities of government namely; the Houses of Congress, the Supreme Court and the Presidency, came from the book of Isaiah where in chapter 33:22 we read:

“For the Lord is our Judge (Supreme Court), the Lord is our Lawgiver (Houses of Congress), the Lord is our King (President).”

Moreover, this impact of the Bible upon the Founders is reflected on the great walls of the nation’s buildings as upon these are inscribed quotes from it, the Ten Commandments and even images of Moses and, if you doubt it, just enter the great room of Constitution Hall in Washington DC and you can see for yourself.

The framers of America’s founding documents

For sure the Founding Father’s were flawed men, and also have to be understood by recognizing the times in which they lived, but they drafted a Declaration of Independence which is supported by a Constitution that is in all respects above human ability and therefore we recognize the hand of God in these. It is this Declaration of Independence and Constitution that guaranteed the success of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dream because he knew that these clearly stated that it is self evident that all men are equal. Racial segregation was outlawed by America’s founding documents and therefore Dr. King could not fail and the people that opposed him knew it. The real American Dream guaranteed his success.

The amazing thing is that, though the Founding Fathers, in many respects in their personal lives, contradicted the principles that they set forth in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, they were nevertheless sufficiently impacted by the God of the Bible that they wrote something that is in every way quite remarkable. This is astonishing and should make us all think twice before we seek to tear these down. But it is this ignorance that is allowing the mob on the streets of America to tear down statues, assault the Constitution and call for the total transformation of the country into a so-called socialist utopia. The Christian underpinnings of America’s great Declaration of Independence and Constitution are undeniable but, because of ignorance, most Americans today are allowing these to be assaulted and even say nothing when a well known Senator stands up and arrogantly affirms that God has no place in the affairs of Congress. There was a day when the Rev. Dr Peter Marshall opened the affairs of Congress with prayer.

The wisdom of the founders

Though heavily impacted by the Bible and therefore asserting that freedom comes from God and not from men, the Founding Fathers also had the wisdom to know that the newly formed state could not rest on a religious foundation if it truly wanted to guarantee freedom for all men and thus it enshrined freedom of religion in the Constitution and not freedom from religion. That is, in their context they envisioned a state where the Christian Gospel and the message of the Bible could be freely proclaimed in the public square and not interfered with or necessarily endorsed by the state. They did this because the Pioneering Pilgrims of the nation, who were themselves fervent Bible believing Christians, had fled religious persecution perpetrated by various states in Europe including England.

My dear friends, as this 4th of July passes by us again, let us take a moment and thank God for a Declaration of Independence and Constitution that honors Him and are in every way remarkable gifts to the American people. We should not tear down the statues and memory of those who framed these but rather remember their frailties and learn from them and yet affirm with all zeal the tenets that they set forth for us. Our children and grand-children need to know these things. It is not some new political agenda that we need and we certainly do not need new creeds that have to do with race theory. These are bankrupt because, as most of them do, they are racist because they assume that because you were born a certain color then you are automatically a racist or not a racist. This is just nonsense designed to further alienate Americans and breed hate. What we need is to assert the American Dream, which is its Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and this means that every American should recognize the gift that God has given them. Therefore, the more we demand that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution should be respected and allowed to govern our lives, so the more we will experience Liberty, Prosperity, Dignity, the common good, tolerance, peace and the pursuit of happiness.

The battle before us

The very nature of these remarkable documents means that they will be opposed by people and this will be done systematically and relentlessly. Of this you must have no doubt and recent events in the nation demonstrate just how determined some people are in their desire to overthrow them. Nothing demonstrates this more than the misguided people who publicly dishonor the flag and national anthem. A new revolution is certainly needed and its goal should be to entrench what happened on the 4th July in 1776.

May God bless America and may God bless us all,

Malcolm Hedding

“The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled
the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-
stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed
and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples
have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it
burned out, and they sit in the twilight now, or have vanished.
The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always
was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no
weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling
of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the
Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret
of his immortality?”
Mark Twain

The war against the Jews has been waged from the dawn of history and is relentless until this very day as we are now witnessing with the awful and outrageous missile attacks from Gaza aimed at the towns and population centers of Israel. It is a saga of great proportions and significance though many fail to see it or appreciate it. It has one goal in mind and that is the liquidation of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. The world wants a new world order where the Jews are subdued and put in a place of humiliation. The attempt to murder the Jews has taken many forms over the centuries including open hostility and wickedness as we witnessed in the Second World War. Although, unable to achieve this end by conventional war in recent years, this attack against the Jews has been political and very often couched in the language of peace and political intrigue. It is waged according to a narrative that is inaccurate and pure myth but one that is accepted in most circles as truth. Just the idea, for instance, of Israeli occupation of Arab lands is totally untrue but accepted everywhere. The Palestinians never ever had a state in history and the ground they claim for a state was in fact occupied for centuries by the Ottoman Turkish Empire and then illegally by the Jordanians from 1948 to 1967. Before that from 1917 onwards it was mandated to the British Empire as a consequence of the First World War. Indeed, the restoration of the Jewish state in 1948 came into existence by the will of the international community expressed through the United Nations but previously ratified by the San Remo Agreement of 1922. Of course, these facts mean nothing to those who seek only the destruction of the Jews and Israel.

Collaborating with evil

Today Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah and all their fellow travelers are fully committed to the liquidation of Israel. This fact is not hearsay or rumor, no it is enshrined in their charters and confirmed by their statements; made frequently in the Arabic speaking press. The school books and TV programs for children in the Palestinian Authority and in Gaza, and indeed all over the Arab world, constantly demonize the Jewish people and Israel and thereby incite their impressionable minds to hatred and murder. In addition, all over the Muslim world the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, which accuse the Jews of seeking global control, are routinely printed and distributed and regarded as fact even though this work has been discredited as a forgery. In addition, and sadly, the most read book on contemporary geo-political history is Hitler’s, “Mein Kamph.” This too is on public record, and all of this can be verified by a visit to the websites of Palestinian Media Watch, MEMRI and Amazon books. It’s all out in the open for all to see. The Jews are likened to pigs and apes and suicide attacks against them are glorified as the ultimate religious ritual in life! Those who carry out this goal are honored by having streets and squares named after them in Palestinian towns and villages and it is believed that they, because of their murderous actions, have instant access to paradise accompanied by erotic pleasures.

This same radical Islamic menace collaborated with Hitler in the hope that his triumph would also bring about the complete annihilation of all Jews. He came close but thank God was defeated and yet today the world community expects Israel to sit down and make peace with “Hitler!” That is, with a people who fully embrace his vision and seek to complete it. Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran now have a unity agreement that, according to its tenets must result in the total destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews everywhere. All of this is the backdrop to the awful events unfolding in Israel today. Without a doubt this is a religious war meaning that Iran and its proxies are determined to remove the state of Israel from what they deem to be Islamic land and thus polluted by a Jewish presence upon it. For far too long the nature of this conflict has been ignored or “swept under the carpet” by western politicians and power blocks like the European Union and the United Nations. Time and time again Hamas has launched hundreds of rockets against Israel’s southern towns and villages and the routine response from these halls of government has been that Israel should show restraint and allow her civilians to be attacked at will. The same is true now. This is outrageous and right-thinking people everywhere should now stand up in support of Israel and certainly affirm her right to vigorously defend herself against this monstrous assault against her people. No right-thinking government in any part of the world would tolerate such an attack.

Sadly, a world without a moral compass and unable to identify evil is therefore pressurizing Israel to make what would be a suicide pact with a new version of Nazism. Many of the nations pushing for this would not do it themselves but somehow it is good enough for the Jews. One has to wonder why all this is happening. Are these people stupid, just ignorant or is there another agenda being followed? Or, maybe still there is a spiritual reality behind the War against the Jews!

The God of Israel

Given that the very essence of sin is rebellion against God, not only in terms of where He is and who He is, it is therefore not surprising that anything that reminds a rebellious world of God will also be attacked. This is the nature of sin that lurks in the heart of every human being. If then this God calls into existence a people to take His name and reflect His character one can expect this people to be the target of rebellion and evil. From the very first day of Israel’s calling and close association with the only true God this war began, and it has never stopped. It separates and divides the world and as long as the Jew exists it will rage. It is a desperate war and, if it were not for the faithfulness of God, the Jews would have vanished a long time ago. This is the answer to Mark Twain’s question in the quote above. The war against the Jews is in fact a war against God Himself! This is clearly taught in the first four verses of Psalm 83:

“Do not keep silent, O God!
Do not hold your peace,
and do not be still, O God!
For behold, Your enemies make a tumult;
And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
and consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from
Being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no
More.”

It is to be noted that the enemies of God strike out against Him by making War Against the Jews! This war will then not stop until the evil in the human heart has been finally overcome by the intervention of the Messiah. Thankfully, this day is fast approaching. Nevertheless, the honor and existence of the only true God is at stake in this war and thus Israel will never be destroyed because God Himself, the God of the Bible, has vouched safe her existence! This is the promise of His word (Jeremiah 31:35-37). We however are invited to “show our colors” by standing with and praying for Israel. In this we don’t work for God but with Him against those who, from generation to generation, pursue the “War Against the Jews.” Like Corrie Ten Boom, Raoul Wallenberg, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and many others of the Second World War era, we must now make good our promises to stand with Israel and defend her right to exist. Most of all we must take our place as watchman on the walls of Jerusalem and through determined intercession pray for Israel until our heavenly Father makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

Malcolm Hedding.

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering
and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never
the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
Elle Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor.

The International Holocaust Memorial Day on the 27th January got me thinking again about this terrible, wicked and unimaginable event that took place during the Second World War. Actually, so huge are the events, crimes, planning and atrocities surrounding the murder of the six million Jews by the Nazis that I found my mind, in trying to grapple with them, going all over the place. I therefore understand then why places like Yad Vashem will continue for years to come to unravel the evil seeds, that once having taken root in the minds of the Nazis, blossomed into a crime of such huge and demonic proportions.

In the end I thought of my father, Guy Usher Hedding, whose birthday is on the 27th January. He volunteered to fight in the Second World War. There was no draft in South Africa at the time and yet he felt urged upon in his heart to sign up, join the 8th Army and go to war against the Nazi war machine. He fought in North Africa at Tobruk and El Alamein and then through Italy. He was in many respects oblivious to the evils that were being perpetrated by the Nazis against the Jewish people, as were most people, but he did know that their agenda for global domination was evil and had to be resisted and risked his life for it. He took hold of the big picture and in his small way made a vital contribution in overthrowing one of the most brutal regimes known to humankind and thereby helped to bring the Holocaust to an end.

The scope and extent of the Holocaust was not really grasped for some years until after the Second World War. It became apparent as more and more death camps, killing fields and documents were discovered and this continues to be the case. Some believe that because of the newly found burial sites in Russia that probably more than six million Jews were murdered by Hitler’s thugs, in this case by the Einsatzgruppen. This military wing of the SS operated as killing units that murdered Jews after the German army had swept through Poland and parts of Russia. They viciously gunned down men, women and children with a hatred and coldness that is quite honestly unimaginable. The big question then is, what brought young German men to a place that they could act with such brutality, day after day, and seemingly without a conscience? How could their minds be so corrupted and convinced that what they were doing was right? It is actually these questions that have to be answered if we are to stem the current rising tide of antisemitism and avoid another catastrophe like this.

I believe that we should consider the following;

Hitler believed that it was the Jews that caused the defeat of Germany in the First World War. He was of course wrong as when America finally entered the war the stalemate on the Western Front changed and the German Commanders knew that Germany was overwhelmed and doomed and thus surrendered. Nevertheless, Hitler allowed his mind to be infested with the false notion that the Jews had sold Germany out and had caused its defeat.

After gaining the attention of influential people by means of his rantings in the beer halls of Munich he began a movement to return Germany to greatness but, as he persistently taught, the Jews being the great obstacle to the fulfillment of this dream. They had to be neutralized and this is why their extermination was at the very heart of his agenda and he was prepared to do anything to achieve it. We see this in his final statement in the closing days of World War Two that he wrote just before he shot himself in the bunker in Berlin. In this last testament, as it were, he wrote that the thing that he was most proud of was the fact that he had confronted world Jewry. A legacy he said that the world would one day come to appreciate.This is amazing in that it wasn’t his great military victories that he was proud of but rather the fact that he had on an industrial scale exterminated Jewish men, women and children.

Hitler and his thugs went through three stages in their journey to reach the end goal of the final solution to the Jewish problem as he saw it.

1. The need to discredit the Jews
In every speech Hitler maligned the Jews and re-enforced this in his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) that he wrote in 1925. When he came to power in 1933 he thereafter passed the Nuremberg Laws on the 15th September in 1935 that essentially singled the Jews out to be the reason, as he put it, for Germany’s misfortune. They were thus stripped of their German citizenship and marked literally as traitors to the country by insisting that they wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing. They were consequently publicly humiliated and their influence and place in society had to be limited and was. To totally discredit the Jewish community he insisted that every family in Germany should read his book and he cunningly advanced his narrative against the Jews by using radio and the printed press.

In particular he mobilized young people into joining military type militias (Brown Shirts) and camps whereby he filled their young minds with hatred for the Jews. He knew that in just a few years these same teenagers would become the soldiers of the Third Reich and so they had to be thoroughly brain washed in order to believe in the Nazi cause and carry out, without question, its murderous dictates and they did!

2. The need to delegitimize the Jews
Once Hitler had successfully discredited the Jews he could move to the next stage of his war against them. That is, to delegitimize them meaning that they had no right to live in Germany or anywhere else where Germany had sovereign control. They were “illegal beings” which had to be removed from the pure Aryan peoples. His propaganda machine presented the Jews then as rats and blood sucking animals that were gnawing at the very lives of Germans. The Jews were then bugs or pests and so their Synagogues, institutions and businesses could be burned down and they were on Kristallnacht in November of 1938. Being delegitimized they could now also be rounded up, removed from society without protest and placed in concentration camps. This stage of delegitimization was indeed the road to the third and final stage:

3. The need for extermination
Once the task of rounding up the Jews of Europe began, with the onset of World War Two and Hitler’s Blitzkrieg victories, Hitler then moved to implement what would be called the “Final Solution”. The question he thus put to his senior leadership and commanders was, what should be done with the vermin Jews who were now pouring into concentration camps in Germany and Poland? The answer always was, extermination; and so on the 20th January in 1942, at a villa on the Lake Wannsee near Berlin, a group of top Nazis led by Reinhard Heydrich gathered for lunch. They ate Caviar and drank Champagne and laid the plans for the extermination of the Jews on an unprecedented and industrial scale. In fact, if they had gotten their way they would have exterminated 11 million Jews, for this was the figure they agreed upon at this diabolical meeting.

This then is the threefold process that Hitler moved through in his war against the Jews and it is the process that antisemites everywhere still implement today. That is, discredit the Jews, delegitimize the Jews and then exterminate the Jews. The BDS movement has done this for years as their leadership have unashamedly admitted that their end goal is the destruction of the Jewish State. The Palestinian Authority has brain washed its children with school text books that call for the destruction of Israel and at summer camps where they teach their children to hate Jews and murder them. We’ve all seen videos of Palestinian teenagers singing songs calling for the liberation of all of Palestine and then, when individually being interviewed, stating that their highest goal in life is to die killing Jews! These young minds have been infected with the same process that Hitler and his thugs implemented and thus their consciences have been seared and so they go to their deaths as terrorists singing, “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.” The same is true in those territories controlled by Hamas and Hezbollah and the leaders of Iran. Also, in the colleges and universities of the west, this threefold plan has been implemented and so today one sees young American college and university students violently protesting on the streets while wearing T Shirts that state, “6 million were not enough.”

The truth is, we certainly remember but we better learn and act as well. When we hear of Jews being discredited it’s time to stand up and speak out. Once they are delegitimized the struggle becomes more intense, urgent and dangerous. Elie Wiesel knew this because he experienced it and of course, Yad Vashem is a stark reminder of what happens when people remain silent and do nothing. Its message and warning is more urgent than ever because antisemitism is rising all over the world and even the COVID-19 pandemic is being manipulated to discredit the Jews. Writing in January 29th edition of the Jerusalem Post, Michael Freund states, “Jews, Zionists, and Israel are accused of having created, spread, financed and used the virus to expand their global domination, impose a New World Order, but also as a means for profit.” It’s time to act!

As for my father, what made him volunteer to go to war against the tyranny of Nazism? It was his conscience that had not been seared and that taught him to discern between good and evil. The Bible tells us that in fact the natural law of God has been written on our hearts enabling us all to discern good and evil (Romans 2:14-15). He obeyed his heart and went to war against the antisemites. He is of blessed remembrance.

Malcolm Hedding.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot
drive out hate; only love can do that.”

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word
in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil
triumphant.”
Dr. Martin Luther King

As we think of Martin Luther King and his legacy, allow me to share a few thoughts of my own that have to do with my particular journey in life. I am a white South African by birth who was born into this world in 1952 when the minority Afrikaner Nationalist Party was in power and was boldly implementing its policy of Grand Apartheid. At that time there were approximately three million whites in South Africa and nineteen million black people. We lived in the northern part of the country in a region called the Vaal Triangle. This was a predominantly an Afrikaner speaking area and, though we were white but English speaking, we were overwhelmed in numbers by the white Afrikaners and therefore were literally hated by them because being the 1950s this was just fifty odd years after the Anglo Boer War in which the Boers ( Afrikaner Farmers) were overrun and defeated by the British and disinvested thereby of their two republics. Indeed the British starved their women and children to death in concentration camps and so we were the objects of their resentment.

Traveling to school every day on the bus to a town called Nigel was consequently an obstacle course in that, being a minority, we were routinely harassed, verbally abused and even beaten up by the Afrikaner students. I well remember how all the Afrikaner students were barefoot and all the English students on the bus wore shoes and because of this we were called “sissys” (weaklings) and traitors and told to go home to England. South Africa, we were told, was not our country; we were “uitlanders” (outsiders).

Years later, when having graduated from high school, I was drafted into the First South African Infantry Battalion located in the Cape Province at a town called Oudtshoorn. Once again, being English speaking, I was part of a minority group in that, the military being an all white enterprise, was dominated by Afrikaans speaking recruits and commanders. I well remember the first day that we were mustered on the parade ground to be welcomed by the Regimental Sergeant Major. He brazenly told us that if we were English we would be regarded as “Kaffirs” in this army and if we were Jews we would be regarded as worse then “Kaffirs.” ( A derogatory term borrowed from the religion of Islam meaning an infidel and in apartheid South Africa applied to the majority black population. Today, and rightly, so it is banned). I was of course shocked by this and have never forgotten it.

There were two official languages in South Africa at that time, English and Afrikaans. In the military we were told that this meant that we would be instructed on one day in Afrikaans and on the next day in English. Naturally, given the climate of the day, this was never implemented and so it ended up being one day Afrikaans and the next day Afrikaans and so on! While in the military we were also subjected to propaganda lectures and I well remember that somewhere in these lectures the phrase ” Onse saak is reg” (Our cause is right) would always come up. It was baffling from the place that I stood in life.

At the political level the English speaking South Africans, led by the United Party and Liberal Party (Later the Progressive Federal Party) were always hopelessly outnumbered by the ruling Afrikaner Nationalist Party and consequently, though technically we had the privilege of voting, we were in fact disenfranchised. We would never have a real voice in government and of course the black majority were totally excluded from the power structures of the country. It was a mess!

So, I never felt a part of the country and could never understand or appreciate the feelings of nationalism that others had. I was told from my youthful years that I didn’t belong and should go home to England. I was a traitor and a foreigner and was only tolerated and not accepted. The fact that my father fought on the side of the British in the Second World War only exacerbated things. We were the enemy even though white!

My point is that I had every reason to feel hard done by and in need of reparations, entitlements and special privileges. After all, I was a victim of harassment, discrimination and prejudice and if so had to be compensated. Thankfully, I had a father who knew better and who was determined that I would not grow up with a “victim and poor me mentality.” He therefore gave me and my brother a word of advice that has stood us in good stead all through the years and which enabled us to see that others do not define who we are and we should never let them. These are the words that my father spoke into our lives:

“My sons the world, the government, society and your family owe you nothing.
So, expect nothing from them and get up, stand on your own two feet and
make something of your lives.”
Guy Usher Hedding

My father only had a Grade Ten or Standard Eight education and yet he spoke a number of African languages, fought in the Second World War, worked hard, became a Manager on a Gold Mine and honored God. He was loved and respected by all who knew him and he made it in life because he knew that he had it in him to succeed with the help of God. He was never going to become anyone’s victim and he would not stoop so low as to ask anything from them. The world owed him nothing! My brother and I have lived by this creed and it has freed us to realize our potential under the God of the Bible. It could have been so easy to see myself as a victim of discrimination and prejudice and consequently wallow in the mud of that swamp always blaming others for my plight but I had a father who would not tolerate that nonsense and neither should you. We were never victims and we don’t intend to be until the day we die no matter what the majority or minority may do to us. With God we can do all things and nothing can separate us from His love in Christ. We can therefore stand strong amongst men and forgive all who have wronged us and even love them. We are not victims!

Today I am a proud naturalized American citizen and I know that Dr. Martin Luther King stood strong and confident and never embraced the curse of victim-hood. He was free from this debilitating sickness of the soul and therefore able to articulate a dream that was powerful and transforming because he drew upon the gifts that God had given him. He was a Christian preacher, having all things in Christ, and therefore free to forgive and love and change our nation for the better. Our great nation desperately needs to not only hear his message, but more important still, his heart because, if we do not, we will stand on the precipice of being engulfed by bitterness, hatred and prejudice. Some decades later another remarkable man, having been imprisoned for twenty-seven years, walked out of prison strong, confident and free from bitterness because he never saw himself as a victim but as one who had it in him to reach out to all men and make the world a better place. His inner man was free from victim-hood and liberated to touch all men with a dream of goodness. His name was Nelson Mandela.

Martin Luther King had a dream that all men could be free, treated as equals and enjoy the dignity that God himself had given them. He could thus speak out against injustice and did, not as a victim, but rather as an oracle of what was right. That dream had better take hold of our own hearts lest we fall into the trap that others, because of what they have done to us, must give us things and make us happy. I still hear the words of my father, “My son stand up and be strong and make something of your self because the world owes you nothing.” Martin Luther King, in his own way knew this to be true, and we thank God for the gift of his life to our nation.

Malcolm Hedding

Note:
This article in no way wishes to places the Afrikaner people in a bad light. It is merely my historical reality and I recognize that all peoples, including the English, have “skeletons in their closets.” The Afrikaner people are resilient and have demonstrated their inner strength by overcoming their history of prejudice and have embraced their new future in South Africa with remarkable optimism and faith. It was in fact Afrikaner leaders who boldly led the country out of the apartheid nightmare. They are today a hard working and godly people who are making a huge difference to their world. God has not forgotten them and neither should we.

In the final and third chapter Paul gives his readers a number of timely exhortations. These are as follows:

Personal requests

“Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run
swiftly and be glorified, just as it was with you…”
2 Thessalonians 3:1

As ever Paul is aware that he needs the help of God, coupled with the prayers of His children, to enable him to complete the assignment given him when he was first called on the road to Damascus. He is committed to the preaching of the Gospel and in this regard wishes to articulate the message in a way that it, as he puts it, ” will run swiftly” without hindrance from evil people. This reminds us of the following:

1. That we should all embrace the potential and mandate that God has given us in life.
2. That our goal should be to complete the assignment that God has given us. We should end well as Paul did (2 Timothy 3:6-8).
3. That we work with God and not for God in this great endeavor and therefore prayer is the power that makes our partnership with God effective (2 Corinthians 6:1). Without it we can do nothing and, Paul knowing this, calls upon the believers at Thessaloniki to stand with him in it.
4. That we can always expect opposition from people who, trapped in their rebellion against God, will do all that they can to resist our message. Our message is counter culture because the prevailing culture is dark and controlled by the Devil and his hordes (1 John 5:18-19).
5. That, though we live in a world given over to the darkness of the powers of evil, Jesus will keep those who come to Him from these wicked entities. The truth is, the Devil cannot attack Christians when and how he desires! (1 John 5: 18-19). Thanks be unto God, because we have truly been delivered from the kingdom of darkness and placed in the Kingdom of light and of His dear Son ( Colossians 1:13).

In the light of all of this Paul is confident that they will listen to what he has to say and do the right thing before God. Consequently God will direct their hearts to embrace His love and patience. God, living in us by Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, is a wonderful blessing.

Church problems

“But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly
and not according to the tradition which he has received from us.”
2 Thessalonians 3:6

“For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If
anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”
2 Thessalonians 3:10

This passage reminds us that the local Church is filled with people who are imperfect even as they embrace the sanctifying power of Jesus in them. They continue to fail and get things wrong. We must be patient with them knowing that God loves them but we must also, if needs be, give them correction when needed. This sometimes has to be tough!

Here at Thessaloniki there were believers, who for whatever reason, were living unruly lives and were consequently not working and providing for themselves and their families. Some suggest that this was happening because they were taken up with the doctrine of imminence (Jesus could come at any time soon) as concerning the second coming of Christ and therefore saw no need to work. Thus Paul corrects this doctrine by the teaching contained in the first part of the epistle and then strongly corrects them in this passage. He is tough indeed and therefore calls upon other believers to shun them if they do not rectify their lazy and sponging lifestyles. If they do not work then they should not be given anything to eat!! Strong words indeed and sadly, totally foreign to the modern Church, that largely embraces a corrupt understanding of the love of God.

Moreover Paul encourages them to model their Christian lives on his. In other words he is saying, as he writes elsewhere, that they should follow him as he follows Christ. All leaders in the household of faith should be able to make this declaration.

Final exhortations

“But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.”
2 Thessalonians 3:13

He closes this short but powerful epistle by making a few recommendations:

1. That they should not grow weary in doing good. Good works, while not the grounds of our salvation, are certainly the evidence of it. Christians should be known in their communities as people who do good, and in fact God has prepared good works beforehand for them to discharge and “walk in” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

2. That, because he is the planter or father of the Church, they should and must obey his exhortations given in this epistle. Obedience to spiritual leaders is a crucial part of local Church life but it is earned because these leaders have labored amongst them in sacrificial ways (Hebrews 13:7;17). Consequently, those who refuse to obey must be marked and disassociated from, not as enemies, but as those who need spiritual correction. Hopefully this will bring to the offender conviction and godly change. Leading God’s people is not an easy business!

The epistle to the believers at Thessaloniki ends with the usual Pauline benediction.

Malcolm Hedding.

We have noted that Paul writes to the Church at Thessaloniki in order to encourage them in the light of the trials and persecutions they were enduring at the hands of ungodly people. These people, he asserts, if they do not repent, will end up in everlasting destruction after Jesus comes a second time in great glory, attended by mighty Angels and in flaming fire. He furthermore asserts that it is on this day that the faithful Church will be resurrected and raptured to meet Him in His on-coming glory and majesty. This is clearly stated.

In chapter two the Apostle now turns his attention to another issue that was facing the local Church in that there were some in the Church who were destabilizing it by claiming that Jesus could return at any time. They were so convinced of their position that they were living unruly lives by refusing to work etc. Paul therefore puts pen to paper to correct their misguided theological position and to urge them to sober up and earn a living as the signs that have to take place in the world heralding the soon return of Christ were not yet evident. This essentially means that the doctrine of anytime imminence, as relating to Christ’s coming, and which is still taught in segments of the Church today, is false!

This is in fact a ” no-brainier ” as Jesus in His “Olivet Discourse” clearly taught that He would only come again once certain signs, including that of the revelation of the Abomination of Desolation, were evident in the world. So, having set this background let’s examine the text before us:

Words of introduction

Paul begins by headlining the subject matter that he now intends to address:

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and
our gathering together to Him, we ask you…………”
2 Thessalonians 2:1

In other words, he makes it clear that he is now going to address the subject of the Second Coming of Jesus and the rapture, here referred to as, “our gathering together to Him.”

Words of caution

He then goes on to urge them not to believe fanciful ideas about the rapture whether presented by people who claim to have Holy Spirit revelation on this matter or who preach powerful sermons or who write books on the matter, because Jesus will not come again a second time for His Church until they witness a great falling away from the faith and the actual rise of Antichrist.

“Let no one deceive you by any means, for that Day will not come unless
the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of
perdition.”
2 Thessalonians 2:3

In actual fact, the deception of which Paul warns has happened, in that the idea of a secret rapture seven years before the “great falling away” and the rise of the ” son of perdition” has effectively taken root in many churches and has consequently undermined Paul’s words of caution. The truth is, the rapture of the Church at the Second Coming of Jesus will only take place, according to Paul, once we witness a huge falling away from the faith and the rise and deeds of Antichrist. Paul is very clear about this!

As an aside, it must be placed on record that the writings of the early Church, demonstrate that the first century Christians took the position that Paul takes on this matter and that the so-called pre-tribulation rapture teaching was never taught. Indeed, to be honest, it was embraced because of a prophecy that a woman gave in a Closed Brethren Church in Scotland in 1830! Sadly, as Paul warns, many have been deceived by it.

Words of instruction

Paul now seeks to equip them with truth so that, if the Son of Perdition, arises in their lifetime they will be able to identify him. This means that most certainly the Church is going to have to endure his antagonism and troubles! We need to know this more than ever as we see the day of his evil rise to power approaching. So then the Son of Perdition will be characterized by the following:

1. He will oppose God
2. He will sit in a rebuilt Third Temple
3. He will claim to be God
4. He will show, that is demonstrate by supernatural powers, that he is God
5. He will be inspired by satanic power……and,
6. He will be destroyed by the second coming of Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:4;8-10

Paul, having underlined these things, then doubles down by saying, “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?” (V5) So, the question has to be asked, “Why would he treat this matter with such urgency if indeed they would be raptured before all of this? Or, to put it another way, how could Paul ask them to look for something that they would not be around to witness and therefore unable to see? Indeed, he told them these things to forewarn them, and us, as to what we should look for before Jesus comes a second time. That, and that alone, is the context!

Words of explanation

“And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed
in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work,
only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the
way.”
2 Thessalonians 2:5-6

Paul also tells them that the rise of Antichrist, one of the validating signs of Jesus Second Coming, is regulated by the sovereignty of God. That is a “restraining factor”, is prohibiting this evil to arise before its time. This “restraining factor”, in context, cannot be the Church because he has just affirmed that the Church is to look for a great falling away and the deeds of the son of perdition as heralds of Jesus’ coming. How can the Church do this if she is raptured beforehand? To believe that the Church then is the restraining factor is therefore irrational! So, then, what is this restraining factor? It is Angelic! That is, the only restraining agents in the Bible are angels. Consider the following:

1. They restrained evil at Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1-21)
2. They restrained evil in the defense of Israel (2 Kings 6:16-18)
3. They restrained the advance of the Media-Persian and Greek Empires (Daniel 10:10-17)
4. They restrained the spiritual attacks of the powers of darkness against Jesus (Matthew 4:11)
5. They restrained the attempt by evil rulers to murder Peter (Acts 12:5-11)
6. They are presently restraining the Kings from the East from crossing over the river Euphrates (Revelation 9:13-15)….and,
7. They are restraining the rise of Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:5-6)

Words of exhortation

“But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren
beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you
for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the
truth to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

In closing this section of his teaching Paul reminds them that they could be deceived by the supernatural deeds and signs of the son of perdition if their lives are not anchored to the truths of God’s word. Thus he adds another troubling sign to the coming of Christ by stating that deception will be rampant in the Church. Jesus said the same thing. They are to be watchful as, again, God will allow this strong delusion to test the Church. These days, I believe, are upon us and the true remnant is being separated from those that are false.

He moreover gives thanks for them because he knows that they have been elected by Jesus Christ to know the truth and to live it out through the process of sanctification. They must stand firm in the truth knowing that it has the power to transform them into the glory of God. Moreover, as they live out and stand in the truth, God by Jesus Christ, will comfort, established and bless them in their good works.

May these things be true of us!

Malcolm Hedding

This morning at 2am (9th November) I was suddenly awakened and was somewhat overwhelmed by the presence of God. It was unusual to say the least and then thoughts began to race through my mind, and I knew that God was speaking to me. These were the following:

1. I instinctively knew that the battle over the President and his administration was demonic! Yes, demonic, and that principalities and powers in dark places were seeking, with everything at their disposal, to overthrow Donald Trump.
2. I also was aware that the Holy Spirit is calling upon the Church to work with God in prayer and intercession, now more than ever, in order to resist this assault by dark demonic powers. This call to prayer is more urgent than that which went out before the elections.
3. I was shown the life of King Hezekiah who fell desperately ill and even the prophet Isaiah came to him and declared,” Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live” (Isaiah 38:1). Hezekiah was a good King and did what was best for Israel and his people and upon his urgent intercession, God relented performed an absolute miracle and gave him 15 more years (Isaiah 38:5). I felt that the Holy Spirit was clearly saying that, because of all that Donald Trump has done for Israel heaven is going to relent and a great miracle is about to happen confounding the proud and arrogant who have fought so hard over the years to remove him from power.
4. I began to “argue” with God as it were, like Abraham did of old concerning the destiny of Sodom, and intuitively held up before Him the fact that His character is such that He will and must bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse her (Genesis 12:1-3). Donald Trump has done more for Israel than any other President in history; the God of Israel must and will respond if we pray. This is His invitation.

Upon driving to work, I phoned my son Daryl to tell him what had happened to me in the early hours of the morning. He was encouraged but didn’t say too much. When I got to my office at the Church, I asked the Lord to confirm this encounter by another revelation given to someone else of credible Christian character. I reckoned, if God really did speak to me then He wants me to say something and I needed confirmation.

In the course of the morning I suddenly received a message from Daryl that he had received a notification from Eric Metaxas whereby he endorses a revelation from a “heroic leader” serving in the Underground Church in China to the effect that:

“Righteousness and justice will soon prevail in America.”
“Satan’s hidden agenda to destroy America will soon be exposed”…and that,
“God will swiftly change everything soon.”

Needless to say, this is exactly the message given to me in the early hours of the morning. I am passing it on to you as encouragement and fuel for urgent prayer.

Malcolm Hedding