Kingdom Tidings March/April 2003

Pontius Pilate, Roman Governor of Judea at the time of Christ’s Crucifixion remains famous or infamous for having “washed his hands” of the crime of Deicide, the killing of the Divine Saviour.

However, the origins of Pilate, although shrouded in the mists of history, tradition and legend are to be found in the tiny Scottish village of FORTINGALL, in whose local churchyard stands the famous Fortingall Yew estimated to be 3000 years old. A quarter of a mile west of the village at Glenlyon are earthworks called the “Roman Camp.”

According to tradition Roman Envoys were sent by Caesar Augustus to visit Metallanus variously described as a Pictish King or King of the Caledonii who ruled from 10 B.C. - 29 A.D.

The Roman Envoys stayed for around a year in the area, having brought gifts of gold and jewels to the King. During their stay, one of the Romans had a relationship with a local girl, most likely a member of the King’s own family. The child born of this union was Pontius Pilate and when the Envoy returned to Rome he took his son with him, and as they say, the rest is history.

Some claim that Pilate eventually himself became a Christian and returned to his birthplace whose name means THE FORT OF STRANGERS.

East of the Fortingall Church are two circles each made up of three stones and known as the Druid Stones. Glenlyon House at the west end of the village is associated with Captain Campbell of the Glencoe Massacre.

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.” - (Zechariah 8:23)

I’m sure that this verse has caused endless questions amongst Bible students over the years. The secret is to understand the original meaning of the words and/or phrases used.

The most important of these words is “Jew”. So let us firstly understand that there is no such word as “Jew” in either the original Old Testament, or New Testament Scriptures. In the Old Testament the original Hebrew means “Judahite, or descendant of Judah”. In the New Testament the original Greek word is “Judean”. The difficulty arises because of the fact that there is a race of people today who are called “Jews” and the natural assumption is that whenever this word is used in the Bible, it refers to God’s people Israel, when in fact this is not, in most instances, the truth.

The next important factor is to establish the context in which the verse is stated. From the statement in verse 13 it is quite obvious that the Lord is referring to the both houses of Israel and Judah.

“And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, 0 house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall he a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.”

The next aspect to decide is the timing intended for this message. This timing is referred to in the first phrase of our text in the statement; “In those days it shall come to pass,” What Days?

“And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.”

This is the same promise contained in several other Scriptures regarding the conditions when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to restore all things spoken of by the prophets, when His New Covenant will be fully operational within His people Israel under His personal reign.

The word “skirt”, refers to the outer garment worn by a person. In its prophetic sense, it refers to the “garment of righteousness” worn by a king. So now we have the description of ten men taking hold of the outer garment, or emblem of kingship, worn by a descendant of Judah, saying; “We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.”

Now I have never believed, or accepted, that God wastes words. In this instance He was most emphatic as to the number of men who would be involved in this exercise. Why, I wonder, did He specify “ten” men if they had no special significance? Everything God says is said for a specific reason. Perhaps we could consider the statement recorded in Jeremiah 3:18

“In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.”

In Psalm 114:2, we are informed that “Judah was His sanctuary, and Israel His dominion.” At that time, and for many years later, Israel was comprised of TEN tribes, and constituted the dominion, or territory of God’s earthly kingdom. On the other hand, Judah was the recipient of the “kingship” which was destined by God Himself to finally reign over the entire Kingdom of Israel.

“The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.... My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

And it all happened in 1603 when James VI of Scotland, of the lineage of Judah, became James I of both houses of Judah and Ephraim. The “dominion” had now taken hold of the garment of kingship.

So what is the answer to our question? I believe that Zechariah is merely confirming, and providing a second witness to what his compatriot Ezekiel had previously recorded, but in different terminology.

How important it is to properly study God’s Word, rather than accept what we consider as human logic.

Saudis have pulled some $200 billion out of the US, signalling a deep alienation from America.

The US-Saudi alliance was put under severe strain after September 11, when 15 of the planes’ 19 hijackers were discovered to be Saudi nationals.

Accusations that Saudi Arabia’s austere brand of Islam breeds terrorism, and its charities finance Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network, have been perceived in the kingdom as attacks on Saudi society and its religion.

An analyst from the Rand Corporation said at a Pentagon briefing this month that Saudi Arabia was the "kernel of evil”, increasing concerns among Saudi Arabia’s elite that they have become demonised in the US and their money is no longer safe there.

As part of the fight against terrorism, the US and Saudi authorities have been monitoring the accounts of dozens of Saudi companies and individuals, a move that has alarmed Saudi merchants.

Youssef lbrahim, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations working on a project re-examining US-Saudi relations, said Saudis had withdrawn at least $200bn from the US in recent months. He said the move has been driven by hawkish US commentators’ calls for the freezing of Saudi assets. The trend, he added, can be expected to accelerate with a trillion-dollar lawsuit by relatives of the victims of September 11.

The lawsuit accuses several Saudi institutions and charities and three members of the royal family, including the defence minister; of financing terrorism.

Financial analysts believe Saudi investments in the US amount to up to $600bn. The funds are invested in private equity, the stock and bond markets and real estate. The figures include investments by members of the royal family.

The Saudi money shifts may have contributed to the recent downward pressure on the dollar. "People no longer have any confidence in the US economy or in US foreign policy,” said a financial consultant in Riyadh. “And if the latest lawsuit is not thrown out in court, it will mean no more Saudi money in the US.”

The $200 billion pulled out of U.S. stocks and bonds has reportedly been reinvested in the European Union. This immediately caused the Euro dollar to rise against the US dollar.

The Saudi royal family is believed to have at least $600 billion invested in US stocks and bonds. Some estimates indicate it is as much as $1trillion. (The entire US stock market is said to be worth about $3trillion).

If all Saudi investments were pulled out of the US and invested in the European Union, it would not only destroy the US economy, but would immediately shift the power and leadership of the West to Europe.

With the British Pound and the U.S. Dollar weakened and the Euro strengthened by this Arab interference, it could be the moment for Tony Blair to call his Referendum to abolish the Pound and accept the Euro. Watch this space!!

A HAMPSHIRE FATHER worried desperately for six years as he saw his two sons becoming addicted to drugs. It started with cannabis and then went on to ecstasy and finally heroin. Eventually, he returned to his home one day and found the dealer cutting up heroin in front of the sons. He gave him a severe beating and threw him out of the house. There were no charges against the dealer but a court did order the father, Roger Dorrington, to pay him £250 compensation for his injuries, while also sentencing him (Dorrington) to 100 hours community service for his "crime". In the end, justice and good sense prevailed - though only partly. After a public outcry, the judge reversed the compensation order but still upheld the sentence to community service.

A PARENT in the London suburbs found her nine-year-old son coming home from school one day proudly telling her he had learned the (Black) South African national anthem. The parent asked the boy if he knew the British national anthem. “What’s that?” he replied.

“You know, God Save the Queen,” the mother said, singing the first verse to jog his memory.

HOME OFFICE minister John Denham was speaking to police officers at their annual conference when, quite innocently, he used the phrase ‘nitty-gritty’. He was immediately told that the expression was banned throughout the police force as it was said to have its origins in the slave trade and was therefore offensive to ethnic minorities. Also verboten is ‘good egg’ because of its connection with ‘egg and spoon’. That could be taken as cockney rhyming slang for ‘coon’. Then definitely out of bounds is the abbreviation ‘WPC’. That is ‘sexist’!

DERBY City Council, on the other hand, does not seem to object to flags - at least as long as they are foreign. It has recently approved a £420 grant to a Pakistani Community Centre in the city for the purpose of a flag-hoisting ceremony to celebrate Pakistan Independence Day on the 14th August. The money will cover the cost of the flag and the hiring of a PA system for the ceremony.

THE BRITISH RED CROSS has announced that it is to abandon its homes for the elderly and disabled in the UK so that it can spend more on the welfare of asylum-seekers. An internal memo, leaked to the press, has confirmed that the charity is planning to withdraw completely from residential care in this country. The memo said: “Of all new services developed by the British Red Cross during 2001, around one in eight were for refugees and asylum-seekers, showing that this is a priority.”

THE CHRISTIAN CALENDAR from which people in Britain and the western world take their dates is going to be scrapped in a new scheme being introduced to schools. Although the dates will continue as before, such terms as 55 BC or 2002 AD will no longer be in use; instead it will be 2002 CE (Common Era). This is to avoid giving offence to religious minorities in the UK.

SCHOOLS in England and Wales are being forced by the Government to adopt ‘race quotas’ to make sure that pupil intake matches the ethnic make-up of each area. There are also moves afoot to ensure that expusions from schools do not exceed these ethnic percentages. At the moment the Government is most concerned that what it believes are "excessive" numbers of black youngsters are being expelled from schools for persistent misbehaviour.

AT A TIME of grave defence cuts due to claimed RAF financial shortage, the RAF recently air-lifted 400 Afghans to a religious festival in Mecca. This was found necessary because Afghan Airlines only has two planes left, and one of them is in a hanger at Stansted.

TRAVEL AGENT Dominic Speakman, of Bolton, Lancs, wanted to open a coffee bar for his staff. so he sent an advert to the local job centre asking for a “friendly catering manager.” The Job Centre rejected the advert on the grounds that its wording amounted to discrimination against unfriendly people!

In the Daily Mail report of this incident it was stated that a similar thing happened two years ago in Walsall, in the West Midlands, when the Job Centre there rejected an appeal by a publishing firm for ‘hard-working’ recruits on the grounds that it was offensive to those who were lazy!

A NURSERY SCHOOL in Hampshire has banned staff using the words ‘naughty’, ‘silly’ or ‘bad’ because they are 'negative labels’. Instead they must just praise the ‘good’ aspects of children’s behaviour.

The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has proposed a radical shake up that will reduce the number of ports that fish can be landed and sold.

The proposal means that fishermen will only be permitted to use 36 licensed ports around the coast in which they can legally sell their catch. The first sale of fish to be to a licensed buyer and will have to have written records of the exact amount, scientific name of the species, weight and condition of the fish sold. The record must include the location where they were caught, the boat’s name, the skipper’s name, the port and date of landing and host of other details. Records must be forwarded to official of DEFRA within 48 hours and copies retained by both the buyer and seller. An official can inspect records at any time and any mistakes would lead to a fine of up to £50,000.

This is another nail in the coffin of the British fishing industry. Our fishermen have suffered enough from Brussels' initiated legislation.

Britain’s fishing fleet has been decimated over the last 30 years and the extra costs this will cause will mean further hardship to an already struggling industry. It is time this Government stood up to Brussels and supported our industries.

The “blessings of the deep” promised by God to Israel-Britain are now being taken away because of national sin.

“Hear the word of the Lord ye children of Israel; for the Lord hath a controversy with the land, because there is no truth nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying and killing and committing adultery they break out and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish..... YEA THE FISHES OF THE SEA SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY.” - (Hosea 4:1-3)

YEAR	PAYMENTS	RECEIPTS	BALANCE
1991	£3,308m	£2,766m	- £542m
1992	£4,856m	£2,823m	- £2,033m
1993	£5,442m	£3,291m	- £2,151m
1994	£5,462m	£3,254m	- £2,208m
1995	£7,682m	£3,665m	- £4,017m
1996	£6,721m	£4,373m	- £2,348m
1997	£6,258m	£4,661m	- £1,597m
1998	£8,712m	£4,115m	- £4,597m
1999	£7,117m	£3,479m	- £3,638m
2000	£8,433m	£4,241m	- £4,192m
TOTAL	£63,991m	£36,668m	- £27,323m

“Ye have sown much and bring in little..... and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes” - (Haggai 1:6)

What caused the Fall of the Roman Empire? Let us turn to an old classic for the answer. Gibbon, in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire gives the following answer. Remember, he was not a Christian!

Firstly: Rapid increase of divorce with the undermining of the sanctity of the home which is the basis of society.

Secondly: higher and higher taxes and the spending of public money for bread and celebrations.

Thirdly: The mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal.

Fourthly: The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within - the decadence of the people.

Fifthly: The decline in religion; faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life and becoming impotent to guide it.

These five reasons give a twenty-first century people serious pause for thought. Read them again.

You must visit our new Open-Bible Ministries Online Resource Centre from where you can listen to available talks and download them to your computer in MP3 format or purchase them as audio CDs or even MP3 CDs. We plan to increase the number of talks available from this new Resource Centre over the coming weeks while still maintaining our cassette tape facility for those folk who need this medium.

In the above messages recently added to and available from our Open-Bible Ministries Online Resource Centre, Pastor Alan casts the searchlight of Scripture upon matters of vital importance for us today. You must listen to "Dead or Alive?" Pastor Alan's four-part series on what the Bible really teaches about the state of the Dead. We believe you will be both blessed and encouraged by listening to these topics.

The Reformation in Revelation	£2.00 UK	$4.00 US
The Mark of the Beast	£1.50 UK	$3.00 US
The French Revolution in Prophecy	£1.50 UK	$3.00 US
Opening the Seals of the Apocalypse	£1.50UK	$3.00 US
Great Tribulation	£1.50 UK	$3.00 US
Islam in Prophecy	£1.50 UK	$3.00 US
The Scarlet Woman of the Apocalypse	£1.25 UK	$2.50US
The Divine Calculator	£1.25 UK	$2.50 US
Will the Jews Rebuild the Temple?	£1.25 UK	$2.50 US
Is the Secret Rapture Scriptural?	£0.50 UK	$1.00 US
ALL10 BOOKS AS A SET FOR £12.00 UK OR $24.00 US (PLUS POSTAGE)

(An excellent series in four parts which examines what the Scriptures teach about the state of the Dead - a must for every serious Bible Student! Price £7.00 UK or $12.00 US plus postage)

"Wars, Rumours of Wars and How Peace Will Come"

"Three Divine Witnesses"

"The Parable of The Labourers and The Vineyard"

"The Parable of The Mustard Seed"

"The Jugs of Jeremiah"

"An A-B-C for 2003"

"The Parable of Dives and Lazarus"

Any of the above titles available for a Suggested Donation of £UK 2.00 or $US 3.00 (Plus Postage) from: