Lt.-col. Valder Gates

Isaiah`s prophetic allusions to the restoration of Israel in connection with islands are many and striking. What had Israel or Judah of old to do with islands? In the Old Testament times they were in no way connected with them, and of this much we are certain from subsequent history; the Jews also have had nothing to do with them either. Since O.T. references cannot therefore apply to Jewry - the remnant of Judah - it follows as a logical conclusion they must refer to the House of Jacob-Israel.

Take Isaiah 41:2, "Keep silence before Me, O Islands; and let the people renew their strength" etc.

What islands are these of which the prophet speaks? Are they the Aegean Islands, or Cyprus, Crete, Malta, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, or the British Isles? Does the Bible throw light on this matter to assist us in determining what these islands are and where situated?

In Isaiah 11:11, we read of the regathering of Israel and Judah to occupy the "land promised to the fathers" and learn that from amongst the places from which Israel is finally to return are "the islands of the sea" :

"And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea."

There must be some special significance attached to this expression "the islands of the sea", for we read also in Isaiah 24:14 -16, "They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea. From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous."

Why put in "of the sea"? The answer is that the words "sea" and "west" are in the original Hebrew script generally translations of the same word, so that it would be perfectly correct to say "isles of the west" - an important fact, since it eliminates all the islands of the Mediterranean. In short, "the isles" or "islands of the west" can only be the Isles of Tarshish - the British Isles as we know them today. Notice that in the last clause of the verse, it speaks of the "uttermost part of the earth". These Isles of the West were in those days of the prophet in fact the uttermost part of the earth - the Ultima Thule as the Roman legions far from their own land first called them, nothing further west being known at that time. It was therefore in these islands at the end of the earth that Israel, a maritime people, were to "glorify the Lord, even the God of Israel".

Cecil Roth in his History of the Jews in England quotes Rabbi Menahem ben Jacob of Worms as having said this country was known as "the Isles of the Sea" and that the classical name for England in medieval Jewish literature was "to the end of the earth".

Dr Moses Margouliouth, a Jewish scholar of the 19^th century, in his History of the Jews said, "it may not be out of place to state that "the isles afar off" mentioned in the 31^st chapter of Jeremiah were supposed by the ancients to be Britannia, Scotia, and Hibernia" - the isles often visited, we know, by the merchant mariners of Phoenicia whose fleets included ships and crews drawn from the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Zebulon of the coastal areas of the Land of Israel.

Thus in Isaiah 49:1, we read: "Listen, O Isles unto Me and hearken ye people from afar: the Lord hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name...and said unto me, Thou art My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified."

Here again we have Israel described "a people from afar" connected with islands which are not the Mediterranean islands, but the far-off British Isles of the Ultima Thule. It is to be here that God is to be glorified in Israel, His Chosen People - His Inheritance, as verse 12 of the same chapter, referring to the return of Israel from the Isles, clearly indicates: "Behold, these shall come from afar: and lo, these from the north and from the west: and these from the land of Sinim."

In Hebrew there is no one word for north-west - it has to be expressed by the words "the north and the west " - so that here we have mention of a specific locality which cannot be other than the British Isles situated afar to the northwest of Palestine.

A random poll by the Sunday Times of 200 Anglican clergy found that only 34% could cite all of the Ten Commandments. Some could remember only two! Those most easily recalled were : "You shall not covet your neighbour`s house"; "You shall not covet your neighbour`s wife"; and "You shall not commit adultery".

In the poll two vicars said they did not believe in heaven, yet more than half believe in life on other planets. John Redwood M.P., who has demanded that clergy offer stronger moral leadership for society, said, "It`s their job to remind us of the laws of Christianity. The Commandments are central to the faith and I am amazed that so few could recall them." Rev. Geoffrey Shilvock from Wolverley, Worcs, who could not remember all of the Commandments questioned their prohibitive nature, "The trouble is that they are very negative…most people prefer a more positive approach." The poll found that nearly a third of the clergy do not believe in the Virgin Birth, a fifth do not believe in the Devil, one in ten do not believe there will be a Second Coming of the Messiah, and one in twenty do not believe that Jesus performed miracles, such as the healing of the blind. The Church`s official position is that sex outside of marriage is forbidden, but more than a third said they did not consider it a sin. Asked if homosexuality was sinful, also a third said no.

Canon Peter Goodridge from Truro Cathedral, who admitted he could not recite the Commandments, said, "The Ten Commandments are not terribly important for Christians living today. They do not answer the real moral problems affecting modern society." Last year Archbishop Carey wrote that the Church should not shy away from "setting forward the Ten Commandments as guidelines for families and individuals to live by". Commenting on the survey a church spokesman said, "How many doctors can recite the Hippocratic Oath word for word? When you are on the spot, it`s not always easy to remember."

(RNS) - Witches and pagans have received official permission to worship in a non - denominational New Hampshire cathedral starting Tuesday (March 4).

After a two-year fight, trustees of the Cathedral of the Pines War Memorial and Chapel decided to allow the witches to worship at the cathedral rather than risk taking the argument to court, according to an Associated Press report.

Diane Des Rochers, high priestess of the Applemoon Coven, said the cathedral`s decision was "extremely appropriate" since it allows the coven "equal access with all other faiths."

Des Rochers started the controversy in 1995 with a request to perform a pagan wedding at the open-air site. After being turned down, she filed a complaint with the State Human Rights Commission. Cathedral trustees responded by revising cathedral by-laws to state they had authority to decide which groups could worship at the cathedral based on the group`s belief in "God Almighty". But last year a Human Rights Commissioner investigating the case declared the cathedral a public war memorial, not a church, and said it could not prohibit any religions from gathering there. Des Rochers said after trustees learned more about the witches` nature-centred religion - which does not include Satanic rituals - they decided to allow the witches to worship at the cathedral. The Cathedral of the Pines War Memorial and Chapel, located in Rindge, N.H., has been a place of worship for members of many religions for fifty years. Its Altar of the Nation is built of stones from each State and with soil from every foreign land where U.S. troops have fought.

The United Religions charter-drafting Summit is set for June 23-27 (3/1 CC). Led by Episcopal Bishop William Swing, the UR would have all faiths abandon their core beliefs and join together in a worship-the-earth form of religiosity. Former UN Assistant Secretary-General Robert Muller, a New-Ager, told Swing`s June 1996 assembly: "Peace will be impossible without the taming of fundamentalism through a United Religions that professes faithfulness only to the global spirituality and to the health of the planet."(4/14 New Amer.) Swing says: "The purpose of the UR Initiative 2000 is that there would be one central, interfaith global body primarily constituted to strive permanently and daily for peace among religions for the sake of peace among nations and wholeness for the entire created order." (5/5 Chr. News).

"Gay Doll" - "Billy", the first officially homosexual doll, went on sale earlier this year. With four varieties of "Billy", the doll`s originator hopes to compete with Ken and Barbie. This is seen as another attempt by "gays" to influence young minds.

"Miami Beach, Fl. - There was Barbie, then Ken, and now "Billy" - a 13" plastic "proud gay doll" complete with genitals. Marketed by New York-based Totem International, the item is becoming a best-seller in markets nationwide and in Europe and Japan. More than 25,000 have been sold at $49.95 since stores began stocking them in March. Versions include a "street cool" San Francisco Billy and a "sex bondage" Master Billy. Creator Jim McKitterick says clothing lines and other members of the "alternative family of dolls" are in the works - to increase "gay visibility and talk about human rights."

The United Religions Summit will reconvene next year to write a charter intended to unify the world`s faiths.

"We are on the threshold of a new global civilisation," explained William Swing, a California Episcopal Bishop who has spear-headed the movement. "When people look around, religion has just not been at the table."

Working hand in hand with Swing is United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Robert Muller, who once wrote: "If Christ came back to earth, his first visit would be to the United Nations to see if his dream of human oneness and brotherhood had come true."

Muller, by the way, is associated with the Lucis Trust, a New Age organisation that evolved from the Lucis Publishing Company, previously known as the Lucifer Publishing Company. Draw your own conclusions about which master such men serve.

Rabbis Mahir Reiss, 47, and Bernard Grunfeld, 67, who were released on bonds, conspired with ten other people to launder $750,000 in profits from Columbian drug dealers, according to a complaint signed by a Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

They sifted cash through the bank accounts of Congregation Eitz Chaim and Bobover Yeshiva, both in Brooklyn, the agent wrote.

A lawyer for Reiss said the complaint "is filled with a variety of gross distortions".

The complaint alleges the rabbis authorised about 95 cash withdrawals and deposits in various bank accounts in amounts of $9,000 to $9,999 from September 1994 to February 1997. Cash transactions of more than $10,000 must be reported to the government.

Ed. CN has long noted that Banana is a Marxist who rejects the Saving Gospel of Christ. See The Christian News Encyclopedia, pp. 51, 1303, 1797, 2555, 3227. He says "It is difficult for one to be a Christian and a capitalist at the same time. When I look at a guerilla, I see Jesus Christ, - the guerilla dies that we may live."

Televised sex shows are common in Germany, fuelling a sharp debate between those who want to open the airwaves and those who oppose public degeneracy. One offering, "Dear Sin", shows two million viewers every week how to cheat on their marriage partners - ostensibly to revitalise their marriages.

June 20, 1997 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist News Service, 1701 Harns Road, Oak Harbor, WA 98277) - The Communist-dominated lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday, 18 June, for religious legislation to protect Russia`s traditional faiths and severely restrict the activities of foreign missionaries and minority religious groups (Ecumenical News International, June 19, 1997).

The Bill, "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations", passed the second reading 337 to 5. It must pass a third reading and then go to President Boris Yeltsin for his signature. It is not known whether he will sign it.

The apostate Russian Orthodox Church, which worked hand-in-hand with the old communist dictatorship and which is jealous of other groups, has lobbied persistently for this Bill in an attempt to gain control over foreign missionary work and to stem the tide of non-Orthodox church planting.

TAPES - TAPES - TAPES-TAPES

THE JESUITS IN HISTORY

OVER 160 FACT FILLED PAGES

ONLY £3.00 or $6.00 US

With heart so kind and gentle,

And sympathetic eye;

With touching, deep affection,

And loyal, tender tie -

To hold him all her days:

And walk the path of gladness

United in His ways.

Her young sister also

Had qualities as fair,

Of caring, selfless kindness

And warmth without compare;

The husband of her youth:

And pledged herself for ever

Across the testing years,

Pursued the slow erosion

Of happiness to tears;

The partner of her choice.

And awed by his opinions,

She wanted to be free;

Her virtues were desired

By many, many others

Whose ways she so admired.

At length, two precious unions,

So promising, so blest,

Were darkened by delusion,

Disloyalty, unrest;

Till came the day of sorrows,

And rending vows of youth,

THREE GREAT PROPHECY MEETINGS

WITH ALAN CAMPBELL

PARK CHURCH, WOODLANDS ROAD, GLASGOW

SATURDAY 1^st NOVEMBER - 2.45 and 5.00p.m.

SUNDAY 2^nd NOVEMBER - 2.30p.m.

MARANATHA CHURCH

BARRACK HILL, ARMAGH CITY

SUNDAY 16^th NOVEMBER 6.30 p.m.

MONDAY 17^th NOVEMBER 8.00 p.m.

TUESDAY 18^th NOVEMBER 8.00 p.m.

ALAN CAMPBELL

will (DV) speak at a Prophecy Rally

on Saturday 22^nd November at 2.15 p.m.

WEDNESDAYS AT 8.00 p.m.

CREGAGH S.C. HALL

(JUNCTION OF CREGAGH ROAD/DOWNSHIRE PARK CENTRAL)