Pg. 39 Should We Pray? - Midnight Call · THE C ROSS IN THE S HADOW OF THE C RESCENT ITEM #2300 256 pgs. • Paperback $14.99 Author: Erwin W. Lutzer Unleashing the Power of God’s

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

• Drinking Wine• Political Church

• Rome and the SabbathPg. 39

WORLD FOCUSCan You Be Replaced by a Robot? • Why America Can’t Figure Out the Middle East

How Should We

Pray?

Dare Believe! The Impossibility of the Bibleand the Denial of History – Part II Pg. 12

The Parable of theTalents Pg. 17

THE CROSS IN THE SHADOW OF THE CRESCENT ITEM #2300

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These handpicked verses provide a foundation of wisdom andhope to show readers who God is and what He has done forthem, as well as who they are and how they can successfully livethe Christian life.

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6

How Should WePray?By Norbert Lieth

We have the privilege that every time somethingcomes to our minds, we can pray for it. We do notneed great introductions, wording, liturgies, ortraditions. We can pray at all times and in allplaces.

12 Money: Ends and Trends

Dare Believe! The Impossibility of theBible and the Denial of History – Part IIBy Wilfred Hahn

17 The Parable of the Talents 20 Hitler and the Bible By Dr. Ron J. Bigalke By Friedrich Hilliges

21 What Does It Mean? – 1 Samuel 15:35By Samuel Rindlisbacher

22 Why Does Everyone Understand the Bible Differently?By Eberhard Hanisch

24 God’s Faithfulness (Stations of Life – Part 4)By Norbert Lieth

26 Sanctification in the History of Midnight CallBy Elsbeth Vetsch

Midnight CallJANUARY 2016

4 Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By René Malgo

35 Fellow Laborers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By René Malgo

37 Action for Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By Arno Froese

39 Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By Arno Froese

DRINKING WINE...POLITICAL CHURCH...ROME AND THE SABBATH

Contents

DEPARTMENTS

COVER STORY

28 USA

Can You BeReplaced by aRobot?

28UN

Poverty to End in 2030

29 CHINA

The New Silk Road

30 RUSSIANew Orbital StationScheduled for 2024

33 GERMANY

Days Are Numbered forBarcodes

33 ENGLAND

Oldest Koran Could ‘Predate Muhammad’

MIDNIGHT CALL

Editor’s Note

The Danger Is Real!

By René MalgoInternational Editor-in-Chief

Dear Friends,The danger of terror has been no ab-

stract theme for some time now. ISIS hasreached Europe. A shocking detail thatemerged from the attack in Paris wasthat one of the terrorists had a Syrianpassport. He reached Western Europe asa refugee via Greece. The attacks seem toconfirm the beliefs of those who agitateagainst the new arrivals. How should weChristians behave?

The French author Michel Houelle-becq sketched a disturbing scenario: inhis novel Submission [which we are notrecommending], he describes how fun-damental Islam is taking over France.Mathias Döpfner sums it up in his edito-rial for Die Welt (“The World”) as fol-lows: “At first, it is attacks, fire, bombsdetonating in the center of Paris. Thensimultaneously there are shootings ofcivilians. Slowly, daily life is changing.The mini-skirts are disappearing and be-ing replaced by long robes. Then the po-litical coup: a Muslim party confrontsthe French president. The hero or anti-hero of the book converts to Islam, more

out of convenience than fear. The sub-mission.”

Of course, Houellebecq was accusedof Islamophobia by “enlightened” critics.Döpfner rightly says that the book is “sonightmarish” for us because we are dis-covering more and more examples of itin the reality and present: “Sometimesthe book is like a ‘mene tekel’; some-times like an instruction manual, asthough the murderous commandos ofthe IS had read the book and said: whatthe decadent West describes in litera-ture, we are going to put into practice.”

The danger is real, and yet we Chris-tians are not called to sow panic, but tostand out now through our practical loveand spreading of the Gospel. When theTurkish Ottomans stood before the doorsof Vienna in the 16th century, MartinLuther saw in them an end-times whipof God for a Europe that had distanceditself far from the Lord. Although Luthersaid he had nothing against a competentTurk (with this he meant a Muslim) overhim in the government, he was notagainst an armed defense of the “Christ-

4 M I D N I G H T C A L L

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OUR TASKMidnight Call Ministries is a nonprofit missionary organization,dedicated to proclaiming the entire Bible as the unfailing and eternalwritten Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the unerringguide for the Christian faith.

The object of Midnight Call is to call people everywhere to Christ,to proclaim the return of Christ, to prepare Christians for His com-ing, and to uphold the faith and warn of false doctrines. MidnightCall magazine is available in twelve languages. All work donethrough radio, literature and missionaries is supported entirely by thegifts and free will offerings of God’s people.

STATEMENT OF FAITHWE BELIEVE in the divine inspiration of the whole Bible and there-with the infallibility of the Holy Scripture, which is God’s Word, andin the eternal Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

WE BELIEVE Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was conceived of theHoly Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, and shed Hisblood to save mankind. He died and arose bodily the third day andlater ascended into heaven.

WE BELIEVE that the Lord Jesus Christ died in the place of eachindividual sinner and that all who believe in Him as their personalSavior are justified through His shed blood and have become children of God.

WE BELIEVE that Israel is God’s chosen people, and that therestoration of the Jews to their own land is the fulfillment of theWord of God.

WE BELIEVE in the pre–tribulational appearance of Jesus Christ forthe Rapture of His Church (all born again believers).

WE BELIEVE in the immortality of our souls and the resurrection ofour bodies, and in the resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved and the everlasting punishment ofthe lost.

The Prophet ic Voice for the Endt imes PRINTED IN 12 LANGUAGES

ISSN 1094–8600

ian nations” against attackers. Luther made a prudent difference be-tween the world and the church. A Christian may bear a sword in thename of the government in justified wars of defense, but the calling ofthe Christian church is to be a “wall” against the “wrath of God.” Thechurch, filled with the Holy Spirit, wrestles until the “hour of judg-ment” praying, preaching and weeping for a lost humanity.

That is our task and should be our attitude. The German Bibleteacher Michael Kotsch makes it clear that the terrorists, besides thespreading of insecurity and fear, also want to provoke the “violent re-action of Western citizens against Muslims.” Attacks on Muslims andtheir establishments have doubled in Germany over the past year. Is-lamic extremists actually “want even more violence against Muslims.”Why? Because it makes it that much easier for many more Muslims tobecome radicalized. If the spiral of suspicion and hatred is set in mo-tion, there is hardly any stopping it, as the civil wars of the MiddleEast sadly prove.

We Christians should not let ourselves become infected by this ha-tred and these perfidious tactics, but show ourselves as peacemakerslike Jesus Christ. We know that God can stop terrorists, even changetheir hearts. “Pray for your enemies. Bless those who curse you,” JesusChrist said. “A further escalation of violence harms everyone, and thatis absolutely certain,” said Kotsch. He is right.

Therefore, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good”(Romans 12:21). MC

To start or renew your News From Israel magazine subscription, usethe order form in the insert or pg.47, call 800-845-2420 with yourcredit card ready, or order onlineat midnightcall.com

• 32 pages • $ 18 for a one-year subscription • 12 issues

In light of the times, News From Israel isa necessary monthly magazine that will keep you updated on breakingdevelopments throughout the Middle East. News From Israel uncovershidden information the news media leaves out!

Visit www.midnightcall.com JANUARY 2016 5

EDITOR’s NOTE

If we want to put aChristian to shame, itis said, then just askhim about his prayerlife. Yet praying is soeasy.

How Should We

Pray?


NORBERT LIETH

C O V E R S T O R Y

Nothing is more urgent or simpler than to pray. The NewTestament shows us this. We do not need particularprayers, not even “The Lord’s Prayer.” Prayer has played

an integral part in the 61-year ministry of the Midnight Call. Weneed a prayer revival, especially in these end times.

Prayer in the New TestamentJesus Himself was a great example of onewho prays, so much that His disciplesonce asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray,as John also taught his disciples” (Luke11:1). Jesus then taught them the Lord’sPrayer. Later on the time came—it wasone day before Jesus’ death on the cross—that He said to them, “…Whatsoever yeshall ask the Father in my name, he willgive it you. Hitherto have ye asked noth-ing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive,that your joy may be full” (John 16:23-24).

With this the Lord opened a completelynew door of prayer, which the discipleshad not known until then. They couldpray to the Father in the name of Jesus.

Prayer via Him would be the guarantee ofit being heard. With this we see what Je-sus Christ accomplished and to whatheights He lifts those who believe on Him.He identifies Himself with our prayers inHis name.

We are continually being askedwhether we should pray directly to Jesusor whether we should pray in His name toGod the Father. We find the answer in thesame speech as the one previously quoted,where Jesus said to His disciples, “What-soever ye shall ask in my name, that will Ido, that the Father may be glorified in theSon. If ye shall ask any thing in my name,I will do it” (John 14:13-14).

With this, the Lord Jesus confirmedtwo things:

HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?


The New Testament is full of references to prayerand examples of prayer. We can learn a lot fromthem.

1. The prayer in His name will be heardby Him: “I will do it.”

2. The prayer in His name will be heardby the Father: “…that the Father may beglorified in the Son.”

It is obvious from this that the Lord Je-sus is one with His Father. This is con-firmed by the apostle Thomas after Hisresurrection, when he said, “My Lord andmy God!” (John 20:28). It also occurs inthe Gospels that people fell on theirknees before the Lord Jesus and askedHim for something (Mathew 8:2; 9:18;Luke 8:47). This can surely be seen as aprayer.

In Romans 10:9-10, Paul emphasizeshow important it is to confess Jesus asLord. This leads to eternal salvation. Inverse 11, he emphasizes again that every-one who believes on Him (Jesus) will notbe put to shame. And in verse 13, Paulquotes an Old Testament text that pointsto God Himself concerning the Lord Je-sus, “Whosoever shall call upon the nameof the Lord shall be saved.”

From this it is not only clear that wemay call upon the name of the Lord (Je-sus Christ), but that we should. This isalso said in the epistle to the Corinthians,where it speaks of all “…that in everyplace call upon the name of Jesus Christour Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:2). All Chris-tians may “call upon the name of ourLord Jesus Christ,” so surely we may praydirectly to Him.

It is necessary to pray “always with allprayer and supplication in the Spirit, andwatching thereunto with all perseveranceand supplication for all saints” (Ephesians6:18). “But ye, beloved, building up your-

selves on your most holy faith, praying inthe Holy Ghost” (Jude 20).

The Holy Spirit, who dwells in us,wants to drive us to pray always with allprayer and supplication in the Spirit, notin the flesh; that is, not laden down withanger, selfishness, envy, greed, etc.(James 4:3). He wants us to pray at alltimes. He wants to remind us, to give usideas, lead us and draw our attention tothings.

It is also the Holy Spirit who repre-sents us before God. “Likewise the Spiritalso helpeth our infirmities: for we knownot what we should pray for as we ought:but the Spirit itself maketh intercessionfor us with groanings which cannot beuttered. And he that searcheth the heartsknoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,because he maketh intercession for thesaints according to the will of God” (Ro-mans 8:26-27).

Often, we do not know what weshould pray or how we should pray. Howgood it is to know that the Spirit helps

JANUARY 2016 9

Often, we do not know what we should pray or how we shouldpray. How good it is to know that the Spirit helps our stammer-ing and accepts our weakness. The Holy Spirit represents Jesus inus, and Jesus is always heard.

C O V E R S T O R Y

our stammering and accepts our weak-ness. The Holy Spirit represents Jesus inus, and Jesus is always heard.

It is important to pray always. As Corrieten Boom said, “Prayer should be oursteering wheel and not our spare wheel.”“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians5:17). “Praying always with all prayer andsupplication in the Spirit, and watchingthereunto with all perseverance and sup-plication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18).

This statement does not mean that weshould pray uninterrupted for 24 hours aday. It is more about the constant attitudeof prayer, because the Spirit of prayerdwells in us. We have the privilege thatevery time something comes to our minds,we can pray for it. We do not need greatintroductions, wording, liturgies, or tradi-tions. We can pray at all times and in allplaces. Because of the Holy Spirit, we arealways in the right place.

Charles H. Spurgeon said, “We can prayat all times—I know we can pray at all

times. But I am afraid that those who donot pray at set times, hardly ever pray.”Seen in this way, prayer is also a law.George Müller said, “The quiet hours withGod must be kept, for these alone give ourinner life power and food. Nothing cancompensate for missing holy hours underthe Word and in prayer.” There are count-less admonitions to pray in the New Testa-ment, as well as instructions, examplesand parables, which prove that prayer isof paramount importance (Luke 18:1).

It is often emphasized how Jesus soughtout lonely and quiet places to pray. Hespent whole nights in prayer (Matthew14:23; 26:36; Luke 6:12; 9:28; 11:1). AfterPentecost, we see the first church as apraying church, which attached a greatdeal of value to seeking the face of theLord (Acts 1:14; 2:42; 3:1; 4:31; 6:4; 10:9;14:23; 16:13). The apostle Paul and hiscompanions themselves prayed a lot; hecertainly did not emphasize this in orderto boast, but to testify and encourage oth-ers to do the same (Romans 1:10; Eph-esians 1:16; Colossians 4:12; 2 Timothy1:3; Philemon 4). In the epistles of theapostles, we very often find direct com-mands and challenges to pray (Ephesians6:18; Colossians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:17;2 Thessalonians 3:1; Hebrews 13:18; James5:16).

Someone once said in view of prayer:“How many visitors come to Bible study

shows how popular a church is.How many visitors come to worship

shows how popular the pastor is.But how many visitors come to a prayer

meeting show how popular Jesus is.”

And yet prayer is not legalistic. MartinLuther once said, “Well prayed is half

HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?


Charles H. Spurgeon said, “We can pray at all times—I knowwe can pray at all times. But I am afraid that those who donot pray at set times, hardly ever pray.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon by

Alexander Melville

studied…I have so much work that I can-not get by without at least three hours ofmy best time for prayer.” This was theright way for him, but we cannot make arule of this for our own prayer lives and bediscontented if we are not able to pray forso long. A homemaker or mother who hasto take care of her children will hardly beable to spend three hours in prayer. This,by the way, was also a concern of Lutherhimself, who was against every form ofneo-monastic legality. He would surely beimmeasurably upset if he knew that today,some Christians make his personal testi-mony regarding prayer a law.

Everyone should pray, as much as possi-ble, but for some the early morning is best;for others, the afternoon is the best timefor a longer period of prayer; and for stillothers, it is best to do it in the evening.Some find it best during a walk; othersonly in a quiet corner; and some only ontheir knees.

Jesus Christ is our greatest example asfar as prayer is concerned. He prayed oftenand for a long time. And yet He warned usof certain legal prayers that are not sincere,“But all their works they do for to be seenof men: they make broad their phylacter-ies, and enlarge the borders of their gar-ments” (Mathew 23:5). “But when ye pray,use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do:for they think that they shall be heard fortheir much speaking” (Matthew 6:7).

The Lord encouraged His listeners oncewith a parable about prayer, which He be-gan with the words: “Which of you shallhave a friend, and shall go unto him atmidnight, and say unto him, Friend, lendme three loaves” (Luke 11:5).

“Friend, lend me three loaves.” Thereare three things that we can learn from thisrequest:

1. The wish could not be put in ashorter form.

2. The wish is concrete and comesstraight to the point.

3. The one who is asking has no scru-ples about coming at the wrong time. Hecomes to his friend in the middle of thenight. He asks boldly.

The following words may give you foodfor thought. They come from China:

“Lord, revive your Church and beginwith me.

Lord, build your Church and begin withme.

Lord, bring your love and truth to allpeople, and begin with me.”

(MR1015/719)

JANUARY 2016 11

It is often emphasized how Jesus sought out lonely and quietplaces to pray. He spent whole nights in prayer. After Pente-cost, we see the first church as a praying church, whichattached a great deal of value to seeking the face of the Lord.

C O V E R S T O R Y

12 M I D N I G H T C A L L12 M I D N I G H T C A L L

For resources on “endtime economics” and to subscribe to the free newsletter, Eternal Value

Review, visit Wilfred’s website www.eternalvalue.com or contact him at: [email protected]

3. Archeology Proving Skeptics Wrong Timeand Time AgainIn the 19th century, many scholars ar-gued that the Bible was proven to be false… nothing more than fairy tales. Why?Because they could not prove the veracityof various historical accounts found inthe Bible. A major one of these claimswas that since such a major city as Nin-eveh had never been discovered, thattherefore the Bible’s stories involving theAssyrian Empire must be mythological.This was quite a broadside, since the As-syrian Empire was shown in the Bible tobe a major power that intersected with asignificant portion of Israel and Judah’s

history. If there is no Nineveh, it only fol-lows that the Bible is nothing more than abook of fables.

There have been many similar claims.Consider that it was argued that theBible’s account of King David was also fa-ble. Why? Again, because no archeologi-cal evidence of his existence had everbeen found. If David never even existed,then this would be a terminal blow to theentire Bible, both New and Old Testa-ments. After all, he was a long-reigningking at a time when Israel was near itspeak power in the Middle East. Also, theBible proclaimed that the Messiah wouldbe the Son of David and the Savior. With

Money:Ends&Trends

DARE BELIEVE! THEIMPOSSIBILITY OF THEBIBLE AND THEDENIALOFHISTORY – PART IIB y W i l f r e d H a h n

[We continue with our apologetics series, currently focusingon the provenance and pedigree of the Bible. Is it infallible?What proofs do we have that its facts and statements are true?We next proceed with several additional proofs and argu-ments. Part I covered two perspectives: 1. Historical Accuracy

and 2. The Amnesia of History.]

JANUARY 2016 13

no evidence of a historical David, againit was argued that the Bible must there-fore be a book of meaningless fiction.

Was Nineveh a myth? Even duringthe time of Christ and the apostles, ap-parently no identifiable remains of thiscity existed. Lucian of Samosata (A.D.120-180), who was a Greek writer,stated: “Nineveh has perished. No traceof it remains. No one can say whereonce it existed.” Nevertheless, JesusHimself spoke of Nineveh. See Hiswords recorded in the New Testament,Luke 11:32 and Matthew 12:41: “Themen of Nineveh will stand up at thejudgment with this generation and con-demn it […].” Clearly, Jesus did notquestion this city’s one-time existence.So, what would be the consequence, ifthere never was a Nineveh? It would in-validate the words of Christ and there-fore the existence of the Son of God.Moreover, the validity and reliability ofthe Bible’s accounts of history would bedemolished.

Of course, not finding somethingdoes not prove conclusively that it doesnot exist. To no surprise, a spectaculardiscovery was made by Austen HenryLayard (1847) and Paul Emile Botta(1842). They discovered the remnantsof three Assyrian cities. With that findthey were also able to establish that theAssyrian Empire had ranged acrossmuch of the Middle East and indeed wasa mighty, powerful empire just as theBible had stated. Moreover, one of the

three cities unearthed was indeed Nin-eveh.

The Bible had been proven correct …as it has been time and time again. Manyarcheological proofs for the Bible andvalidations of the historical accounts ofthe Old Testament continue to be dis-covered. Despite the systematic lootingand destruction of any archeological evi-dence proving that the Jews had beenthe prominent inhabitants of Palestineover the past three millennia, new findscontinue. For example, on July 21,1993, a team of archaeologists led byProfessor Avraham Biran, excavating TelDan in the northern Galilee, found a tri-angular piece of basalt rock inscribed inAramaic. It included the words BeitDavid (“House” or “Dynasty” of“David”) (Source: Jewish Virtual Li-brary).

This was exciting confirmation ofKing David’s existence. Since then, anumber of additional proofs of KingDavid’s reign have been found.

Today, many archeologists working inthe Middle East (Assyriologists) use theaccounts of the Old Testament as a pri-mary guide. If a place or people is men-tioned in it, there is little question thatthey had existed. To this day, not one in-accuracy or falsehood has been found inthe Bible with respect to past historythat has been conclusively proven. Thatprovides ironclad provenance for thisdocument. Crucially, by implication, thevery words of Jesus Christ with respect to

Dare Believe! The Impossibility of the Bible and the Denial of History – Part II

On July 21, 1993, a team of archaeologists ledby Professor Avraham Biran, excavating TelDan in the northern Galilee, found a triangularpiece of basalt rock inscribed in Aramaic. Itincluded the words Beit David (“House” or“Dynasty” of “David”).

Photo: The Israel Museum, Jerusalem/Israel Antiquities Authority(photograph by Meidad Suchowolski).


historic peoples and places have been ver-ified.

Given the Bible’s veracity, it leads oneto ponder the implications for Creation-ism. While archeology has proven theBible true, the diggings of evolutionarypaleontologists have not been so fruitful.

Archeologists who seek proofs (desper-ately) for their evolutionary theories haveyet to find any conclusive evidence. Infact, it couldn’t be more to the contrary.Charles Darwin first introduced his evo-lution theories in the book On the Originof the Species, published in 1859. Sincethen, more than 150 years of digging andstudying have brought them no closer to

finding the basic “missing links.” The fos-sil record plainly shows a history of deathand extinction, not new creation.

Yet, Jesus, the very one whose wordsabout Nineveh proved the Bible true andthe doubters wrong, also said “[…] fromthe beginning, when God created theworld […]” (Mark 13:19), and that hemade humans male and female at the “be-ginning of creation” (Mark 10:6). Whyshould we not also take these words of Je-sus as Truth?

As Luke 19:40 says, though truth maybe suppressed, “[…] the stones will cryout.” Though archeology has proven theBible to be a remarkably accurate docu-ment, its author, the personal God JesusChrist, is rejected. Despite the evidence ofthe “stones,” the Bible continues to bemocked and knocked as a book of poetryand fables.

4. Creator Begat the Bible Begat Science Consider that all the books of the Biblewere of course written long before the dis-coveries of modern science. Shouldn’t onetherefore expect to find many statementsin the Bible that reflect ignorance of thebasic physical laws, the workings of quan-tum mechanics, astrophysics, etc.? Surelysome of the Bible’s statements aboutphysics or chemistry or any other facultyof science would be proven wrong.

For example, take the book of Job,which is thought to be the oldest book inthe Old Testament (written perhaps asmuch as 3,500 to 4,000 years ago). Surely,it must be riddled with myths, factual er-

Money:Ends&Trends

Charles Darwin first introduced his evolution theories in the bookOn the Origin of the Species, published in 1859. Since then, more than150 years of digging and studying have brought them no closer tofinding the basic “missing links.” The fossil record plainly shows ahistory of death and extinction, not new creation.

JANUARY 2016 15

rors and ignorance of science. Indeed, Jobmakes many statements about life and thenatural sciences.

Crucially, what do we find? Job notonce refutes any scientific law or princi-ple, nor the observed workings of the uni-verse that a classical scientist today couldpoint to as error. Amazing!

Could at least some errors be foundelsewhere in the Bible? For example, was-n’t it a common belief at one time that theworld was flat and that the sun orbitedaround the earth (geocentrism)? It wasonly as late as the mid-16th century thatNicolaus Copernicus published his theorythat the earth orbited around the sun (he-liocentrism). Previously, it was believedthat everything orbited around the earth.

Galileo Galilei also took this revolu-tionary view of geocentrism at that time.He was heavily criticized by the RomanCatholic Church for his belief, as wasCopernicus after his death. The RomanCatholic Church deemed this view as un-biblical.

The view that the earth was an orb(rather than flat) came to be generally ac-cepted as early as 300 BC, certainly so ineducated and Hellenistic circles. Thatsaid, this view was first credited toPythagoras (c. 570-500 B.C.). However,the books of the Old Testament had beenwritten well before this time. Therefore, itshould only be understandable that someof the writers of the Old Testament bookswould have reflected a geocentric or flat-earth view.

But, that is not what we find. Here is what Isaiah wrote: “Do you not

know? Have you not heard? Has it notbeen told you from the beginning? Haveyou not understood since the earth wasfounded? He sits enthroned above the cir-cle of the earth, and its people are likegrasshoppers” (Isaiah 40:21-22).

Isaiah states that the earth is a circle …not square or flat. Where did this knowl-edge come from?

The writer of Ecclesiastes also reflectsthe “round world” view. He says: “Thewind blows to the south and turns to thenorth; round and round it goes, ever re-turning on its course” (Ecclesiastes 1:6).

This statement clearly holds the impli-cation that the world is an orb. This versecould not be interpreted otherwise. Howcould the wind ever return to its courseon a north/south trajectory were theworld not a round ball?

The Bible also indicates that the uni-verse has been “stretched out” or ex-panded. For example, Isaiah says that“[…] He stretches out the heavens like acanopy, and spreads them out like a tentto live in” (Isaiah 40:22). Indeed, the uni-verse is still constantly expanding to-day—being stretched out—according toastrophysicists. This observation is con-sistent with the Bible.

We consider one last statement in theBible—of many more that we could ex-amine—that proves a “scientifically”correct understanding. “I tell you, onthat night two people will be in one bed;

Dare Believe! The Impossibility of the Bible and the Denial of History – Part

The Bible also indicates that the universe has been “stretched out”or expanded. For example, Isaiah says that “[…] He stretches outthe heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to livein” (Isaiah 40:22). Indeed, the universe is still constantlyexpanding today—being stretched out—according toastrophysicists. This observation is consistent with the Bible.


one will be taken and the other left. Twowomen will be grinding grain together;one will be taken and the other left”(Luke 17:34-35).

This statement speaks about a futureevent in the end times. It is of globalscope and happens at a specific time.What we note is that when people are“taken,” some are in bed and others areworking grinding grain. That is consis-tent with a global event. At any one pointin time, it will be simultaneously nightfor one part of earth and daytime for oth-ers. Here again we observe that Scrip-ture’s statements are true and correct.

We finally return to the oldest book inthe Bible, Job. Consider these two state-ments that he made: “He stretches outthe north over empty space; He hangs theearth on nothing” (Job 26:6-7, NKJV).“He drew a circular horizon on the face ofthe waters […]” (Job 26:10).

These certainly do not dispute our mod-ern understanding of the universe. Thesewords confirm that the earth hangs onnothing. And indeed there must be a circu-lar horizon on the ocean, as can only be thecase with an earth that is an orb.

We have only scratched the surface inthis brief investigation. There are manymore Bible verses that reflect correctclassical science as only modern expertscould so identify today. There are NOmisstatements … NO errors. Again, thisis amazing.

Where did this information come fromso many thousands of years ago? Clearly,the Bible’s writers were inspired by the Cre-ator of science himself. The ancient docu-ments that are in the Bible are true.

Such alignment and scientific accu-racy are not to be found in the writingsof the other major religions of theworld. We certainly do not wish to castaspersions on any specific person. Wewill simply refer to facts.

Let’s briefly turn our attention to theKoran (the foundational scriptures of Is-lam), the content of which is claimed to bewritten by Mohammed under the directinspiration of Allah.

The Koran is riddled with factual errorsand inconsistencies. There are literallyhundreds of such factually incorrect state-ments.

For example, unlike the Bible, the Ko-ran takes a geocentric view. Says the Ko-ran, “It is not for the sun to overtake themoon, nor doth the night outstrip the day.They float each in an orbit” (Qur’an36:40). Here it is mentioned that both themoon and the sun have an orbit. No men-tion is made that the earth is in an orbit.The succession of night and day is not afunction of an orbiting sun in any case.This is due to the earth spinning upon itsaxis.

We do not wish to cause further em-barrassment, so will not prolong this lineof investigation. Readers can pursue ad-ditional evidence, as there are many help-ful resources available on this topic.Conclusion? The inspiration behind theKoran could therefore not have been theCreator Jehovah.

Is the Bible a product of the imagina-tion of mankind? No. As we have shown,in at least one respect, the Bible is trueand factual, displaying knowledge that itswriters and prophets could not haveknown.

There are many excellent resourcesavailable that cite many further proofs ofthe Bible’s source of inspiration. Considerthe scientific and Biblical materials fromAnswers in Genesis and/or the Institutefor Creation Research. An informative ar-ticle from Answers in Genesis, written byDr. Jason Lisle, can be found at this link:(https://answersingenesis.org/answers/books/taking-back-astronomy/the-universe-confirms-the-bible/).

Money:Ends&Trends

MC

Visit www.midnightcall.com

JANUARY 2016 17

TheParable of theTalents

Dr. Ron J. Bigalke

“Evidently someone here feared the endwas approaching and hid his property,perhaps in the hope of collecting it

later when calm was restored to the region,” re-ported the excavation directors on behalf of the Is-rael Antiquities Authority. While the Netivei Israel– National Transport Infrastructure Company wasengaged in extensive work on the Highway 1 pro-ject, which is the main thoroughfare connecting TelAviv and Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authoritydiscovered pottery sherds. The discovery “resultedin an archaeological excavation in which a previ-ously unknown settlement from the Late SecondTemple period was discovered,” in addition to “arare hoard of coins that was found in one of its

houses.” The hoard of 114 bronze coins was re-tained in a “ceramic money box,” and has beendated to the fourth year of [the] Great Revolt of theJews against the Romans, which led to the subjuga-tion of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Templein AD 70.1 The discovery is most interesting incomparison to Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matt25:14-30, NASB).

14 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey,

who called his own slaves and entrusted his posses-

sions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to an-

other, two, and to another, one, each according to his

own ability; and he went on his journey. 16 Immedi-

ately the one who had received the five talents went

and traded with them, and gained five more talents.

3The hoard as it was discovered in theexcavations near JerusalemCredit: Vladimir Niihin, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority


17 In the same manner the one who had received the

two talents gained two more. 18 But he who received

the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the

ground and hid his master’s money.

19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves

came and settled accounts with them. 20 The one who

had received the five talents came up and brought five

more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to

me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ 21 His master

said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were

faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many

things; enter into the joy of your master.’

22 “Also the one who had received the two talents

came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to

me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ 23 His master

said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were

faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many

things; enter into the joy of your master.’

24 “And the one also who had received the one talent

came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man,

reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you

scattered no seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went away

and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is

yours.’

26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You

wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not

sow and gather where I scattered no seed. 27 Then you

ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my ar-

rival I would have received my money back with interest.

28 Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it

to the one who has the ten talents.’

29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and

he will have an abundance; but from the one who does

not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.

30 Throw out the worthless slave into the outer dark-

ness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing

of teeth.”

The actions of the third slave in the parable aresimilar to those of the owner of the recently dis-covered bronze coins. Both individuals buried theircoins in the ground as the consequence of fear. Ev-idently, the owner of the bronze coins buried hiscache in the context of war. The residents of theJudean village, where excavators discovered theburied coins, were “active participants in both of

the major uprisings against the Romans—the GreatRevolt and the Bar Kokhba Revolt.”2 The owner ofthe coins intended to survive the dreadful eventsand reclaim the cache at a subsequent time.

Of course, the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24—25 begins with Christ’s prophecy of the AD 70 de-struction of Jerusalem and the Temple, which wasthe impetus for burying the hoard of bronze coinsin Judea. The parable of the talents was given nearthe conclusion of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Prior tothat parable, the Lord cleansed the Temple by ex-pelling the moneychangers (21:12-17). Subse-quently, the Lord taught another parable(21:33-46), which depicted landowners who repre-sented Israel’s first-century religious leaders andwho were responsible for shepherding God’s peo-ple. The purpose for the parable was to illustrateGod’s judgment against them for their rejection ofJesus.

Jesus also outwitted the religious leaders in theircarefully designed and planned question regardingthe payment of taxes (22:15-22), which was a farmore volatile issue than modern discussions. Thetiming of Jesus’ answer was critical, as it was a cru-cial moment when decisive action was needed onthe Lord’s part. Borrowing a coin with Caesar’s in-scription and likeness upon it (which ironically, Hedid not possess yet those seeking to trap Him didpossess), He said some of the most significantwords in history: “render to Caesar the things thatare Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s”(v. 21). The impact of Jesus’ words upon Westerncivilization is colossal, as the Lord acknowledgedthe legitimacy of human government (cf. Rom 13:1-7; 1 Tim 2:1-6; 1 Pet 2:13-17), in addition to priori-tizing the greater responsibility to God, who hascreated humanity, and redeems believers by gracethrough faith. At this point, it is importance to notethe economic motifs throughout the parables,which in every instance were meant to condemnthe wickedness of Israel’s leaders, and would culmi-nate in the nation’s destruction.

The parable of the ten virgins (Matt 25:1-13) em-phasized preparation for coming events. Through-out His ministry, Jesus was seeking and saving allthose whom the Father had given Him, whose faith

The Parable of the Talents

JANUARY 2016 19

The parable of the ten virgins (Matt 25:1-13) emphasized preparation forcoming events. Throughout His ministry, Jesus was seeking and savingall those whom the Father had given Him, whose faith in Him wouldenable them to be prepared for the second coming of the Lord.

in Him would enable them to be prepared for the sec-ond coming of the Lord. Although many will “comeout of the great tribulation . . . [having] washed theirrobes and made them white in the blood of theLamb” (Rev 7:14), some will endure to the end ofthat period, and “will be saved” (Matt 24:13).Whereas the parable of the virgins emphasizes spiri-tual alertness (25:13), the parable of the talents prior-itizes faithful service (vv. 14, 19, 21, 23, 26, 30).

The parable begins with a forthright assertionthat a master departed “on a journey” and to “hisown slaves . . . entrusted his possessions.” No ex-planation is provided regarding the purpose of theexpedition. The context would seem to indicatethat the master’s departure was necessary due to ei-ther governmental affairs or a military enterprise,especially since the parable concludes with Jesusdeclaring that when He “comes in His glory,” it willbe to judge “all the nations” (vv. 31-32). Judgmentis the context, as evident in the parallels: the masterreturned to settle accounts with his slaves, just asthe Son of Man will return to judge all the nations.Understanding this context helps shed light on theactions of the third slave, who buried all the posses-

sions allotted to him, which is characteristic ofwartime (similar to the individual who buried theancient money box in AD 70, as Jerusalem wasfalling to the Romans, which is the precise eventprophesied in 24:2).

The master’s response to the third servant revealedthat the servant’s motives were disloyal, evil, andunloving (25:26). The servant’s laziness was not be-cause he lacked ability or opportunity; rather, hesimply refused to do any work or invest himself inthe master’s work, because he selfishly believed thedangers outweighed any faith-motivated risks. Theother two slaves had faith in their master, and thusexpected his return as sufficient reason to invest theallotted resources during wartime. The master wasangry with the third servant because he was faithlessand selfish by intending to use the man’s absence forhis own personal expediency (cf. Luke 12:41-48).

The parable of the talents is a condemnationupon the Jewish religious leaders for being givenmuch (cf. Matt 13:12), yet who became character-ized as a barren and faithless generation (21:18-32).They rejected Jesus to serve their own wretched de-sires (21:33-41), which would culminate in theirown destruction (vv. 42-44). Only those alert forthe Master’s coming “will be saved” and thus able toshare the blessedness of His coming kingdom. Asopposed to disloyalty, the Lord’s servants are to in-vest resources through radical, righteous, and evenrisky obedience to Him (always by His grace and forHis glory).

(734)

ENDNOTES1 Israel Antiquities Authority, “An Ancient Money Box Containing a

Large Rare Hoard of Coins from the Great Revolt Was Discovered

near the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv Highway,” 5 August 2014 [Press

Release].

2 Ibid.


In the beginning of the 1920s, my father met an-other businessman for dinner, whom he met atan annual trade fair in Leipzig (Germany). On

one of these evenings my father took a book, a NewTestament that he always carried with him, out ofhis jacket pocket. For a moment his companioncaught a glimpse of it. He suddenly asked my fatherwhat it was. Surprised at the spontaneous and verydirect interest, my father showed him the New Tes-tament. The fact that it was this particular editionexcited my father’s acquaintance. He related inshort, yet at the same time admiring words of agood friend named Adolf Hitler, who had great po-litical ideas. And this man had exactly the sameNew Testament. The acquaintance of my fatherwanted very much to possess this edition and askedhim for the exact address of the publisher.

The striking interest in this particular translationwas incomprehensible to my father. “Hitler” was atthat time a completely unknown name, and thematter seemed insignificant.

Exactly a year later, the two met again. Beforethey had seated themselves at the table, the ac-quaintance took a New Testament out of his pocket.Mentioning his friend Hitler and with obvious plea-sure he showed it to my father, who took it andlooked for the name of the publisher. He noticed afew words that had been underlined.

The acquaintance of my father was apparently soenthralled with Hitler that as someone who was notfamiliar with the Bible, he was able to copy the un-derlines out of Hitler’s New Testament in his own,by noting the page numbers and the typeface.

Secondly, the underlined verses showed whichtexts were important to this admired friend Adolf

Hitler. My father became conscious that AdolfHitler was one of those people who hated the Jewsand who had begun to make a name for himself onthe political scene. The texts that were underlinedwere all verses in which the Jews or their leaderswere punished in some sort of way (e.g. Matthew3:7, 23:15-36, Luke 11:39-44), and which spokeabout the evil that our hypocritical religiosity con-cealed (e.g. Luke 11:46). Judgment and corruptionwere prophesied (e.g. Matthew 3:10 and 7:15-19).Hitler was apparently a Jew-hater who sought toconfirm his hostility from the Bible.

This all took place long before 1933, and beforethe time when the name Hitler appeared in the po-litical constellation. In the year leading to the nextLeipzig trade fair, the associate of my father died.There was no continuation of this unique and indi-rect contact of my father with Adolf Hitler. But myfather had gained an insight which—although itseemed to be insignificant—later would be an indi-cation of Hitler’s views.

When Hitler was famous and greater, my fatherremembered the events which occurred years back.He did not fall for the deception of the so famous“strong man,” but was of the conviction that ifAdolf Hitler came to power in Germany, this wouldlead to Germany’s downfall. This opinion of my fa-ther preserved him from false concessions, when inlater years we experienced bitter family losses (threeof my brothers died in the war) and the loss of thehouse and business. It helped him to realize thatwhat happened had to happen because there is a Godin heaven who said, concerning His relationship withIsrael, that whoever touches her touches the appleof His eye (cf. Zechariah 2:8). (MR0515/732)

Seventy years ago the Second World War, and with it the terrible Holo-caust, ended. Memories of the time before, during and after the war, byFriedrich Hilliges. Part 1.

Hitlerand the Bible

JANUARY 2016 21

The promises God makes are irrevo-cable. He cannot lie! God stands bythe covenant He made with Abra-

ham and David. This is all the more thecase on account of it representing on Hispart a one-sided treaty (Genesis 15; 2Samuel 7:8-16). Over this stands the un-shakable Word, “God is not a man, that heshould lie; neither the son of man, that heshould repent: hath he said, and shall henot do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall henot make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).

In the case of individual people, the situ-ation is different (Genesis 6:5-7; 1 Samuel15:23-35). Here it is not about covenantpromises, but the reaction of God to thebehavior of people. The Bible shows usclearly that God takes an interest in the de-cisions of people. God and His Word showus that He does not desire the death of thesinner, but that he is converted and lives (Ezekiel33:11).

When we read that God “repented,” this does notmean that He changed His mind. Rather, it is the ex-pression of deep sorrow over man’s decision. Wecould also say, “The Lord was grieved that he hadmade Saul king over Israel.”

You might protest here and say that God in Hisomniscience foresaw Saul’s decision. That is correct.But this very fact demonstrates the genuine lovethat is grounded in the nature of God. True love

loves unconditionally and without any preference.It belongs to the nature of love that it does not insiston love in return. It allows freedom of choice. Thus,God met Saul in His love, gave him His blessing, lethim experience His presence, and crowned and au-thorized him king. Unfortunately, Saul decided to re-ject God’s offer. In his freedom he said, “No!” And sowe read, “The Lord repented (was grieved) that hehad made Saul king over Israel.” As a consequenceof his sin, Saul’s position was taken from him.

(MR0715/705)


In the Bible it says here and there that God regretted doing something. For instance, in 1 Samuel 15:35, “The Lord repentedthat he had made Saul king over Israel.”

What Does It Mean?– 1 Samuel 15:35By Samuel Rindlisbacher


The Bible is a continuous, his-torical revelation. This is whyour knowledge is at all times

“in part” and not concluded up to thereturn of the Lord (1 Corinthians13:9). Throughout the history of thechurch, all areas of Biblical doctrineare in a particular sequence, so thatwe can assume there is a divinely

planned process behind it. In the firstcenturies we find Bibliology (the doc-trine of the inspiration of the Bible) inthe center, as people were unsure re-garding the canon of Scripture. In thethird and fourth centuries it was therealms of theology and Christology (adiscussion arose concerning the hu-man and divine nature of Jesus), later

Eberhard Hanisch

Regarding the millennium,among faithful Christians thereare differing views. An explanation.

Why Does EveryoneUnderstand the Bible Differently?

JANUARY 2016 23

ecclesiology (doctrine of the Church,the structuring of the CatholicChurch). And at the time of the Re-formers, soteriology (doctrine of sal-vation) was in the center, with theLutheran question, “How can I find amerciful God?” In our time eschatol-ogy (the doctrine of the last things)seems to be central.

The Bible is interpreted in differentways on account of the limitation ofhuman understanding, not becausethe Scriptures are lacking in clarity.The Bible is the truth and its languagehas the divine will of imparting clearinformation: God means what He says.Jesus regarded the smallest part of theHebrew letter as a significant elementof inspired revelation (Matthew 5:18).For this reason, we can accept the rev-elation of God in its simple, normal,literal sense. Of course, we must un-derstand the particular character ofthe individual books, the time theywere written, their context, and theirlanguage peculiarities.

We must remember (as psychologyand brain research teach us) that peo-ple are different in the way theythink. If men and women are differ-ent in their analytical or syntheticway of thinking, we need not be sur-prised that the most learned theolo-gians, despite their knowledge ofBiblical languages, and the mostconscientious use of exegetical,hermeneutic and theological meth-ods, come to different conclusions.Language is a very complex thing(pragmatic, semantic, syntax), and sopeople understand things differently.It seems that God wants us to strive to

find the correct understanding ofHim spiritually, and attempt toknow His Word better. Only thosewho earnestly seek God will findHim. It must be a true striving thatdoes not blend out unfavorablefacts. Unfortunately, it lies in thesinful nature of man to do this (cf.James 3:1-2).

If we take Daniel 12:9-10 seri-ously, where it says, “Go thy way,Daniel: for the words are closed upand sealed till the time of the end.Many shall be purified, and madewhite, and tried; but the wickedshall do wickedly; and none of thewicked shall understand; but thewise shall understand,” then wecannot simply say we have to returnto apostolic Christianity or to theknowledge of the Reformers. We areexperiencing today a newly-revivedconservative Reformative theology,but although the Reformers wentback to the Bible, where Biblicalprophecy is concerned they had nonew ideas but blended out wholebooks of the Bible, as some thingsseemed doubtful to them on accountof the fanatical movements of theirtime. On their stony way they stroveafter a more literal Bible interpreta-tion, as they had to defend themselvesagainst an uncontrolled allegoricalone. The man on the street was en-couraged to read and understand theBible himself. And yet they did notturn to the new knowledge concerningprophecy. Thus, eschatology is for theend times the most controversialtheme of all.

(MR1115/738)

The Bible is interpreted in different ways on account of the limitation of humanunderstanding, not because the Scriptures are lacking in clarity. The Bible is the truthand its language has the divine will of imparting clear information.


Why Does Everyone Understand the Bible Differently?


Numbers 33 lists 40 places be-tween the exodus from Ramesesand the arrival in the plain of

Moab 40 years later. In this series we arecomparing a few stations of the wander-ing in the wilderness with our own lives.The Bible says of the time of the wander-ing in the wilderness, “Now all these

things happened unto them for examples:and they are written for our admonition,upon whom the ends of the world arecome” (1 Corinthians 10:11; cf. Romans15:4).

Numbers 33:8b reports of the wander-ing in the wilderness, “…and went threedays’ journey in the wilderness of Etham,

God’s Faithfulness (Stations of Life – Part 4)No r b e r t L i e t h

“These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth outof the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses andAaron. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeysby the commandment of the Lord: and these are their journeysaccording to their goings out” (Numbers 33:1-2).

JANUARY 2016 25

and pitched in Marah.” Marah means“bitterness,” which proved to be a fittingdescription. What happened in Marah?

Three days after God divided the RedSea in a supernatural way, the people ar-rived at Marah and were thirsty. But thewater that the Israelites found there wasunpalatable. It was bitter. So they grum-bled, protested and complained. Mosesprayed and the Lord showed him a treethat he was to throw into the water, whichwould then make it palatable. Exodus15:22-25 describes this event in detail:

“So Moses brought Israel from the Redsea, and they went out into the wildernessof Shur; and they went three days in thewilderness, and found no water. Andwhen they came to Marah, they could notdrink of the waters of Marah, for theywere bitter: therefore the name of it wascalled Marah. And the people murmuredagainst Moses, saying, What shall wedrink? And he cried unto the Lord; andthe Lord showed him a tree, which whenhe had cast into the waters, the waterswere made sweet: there he made for thema statute and an ordinance, and there heproved them.”

The miracle of the passage through thesea was only three days behind them. Justrecently, they had sung a song of praiseabout it (in Exodus 15:1-21). But at thenext opportunity, the Israelites com-plained; they had lost their trust andlamented. Yet the Lord did not punishthem; He pointed at the tree and theywere helped.

How often we have experienced thehelp and mercy of the Lord, and how of-

ten we were desperate again and unsatis-fied with our circumstances. We de-served to be punished, but instead theLord pointed to the tree.

Our help for all difficult situations,for all the new obstacles and even forour complaining, lies continually in thecross. The redemption of Jesus accom-panies us throughout our lives andmakes all the bitter things sweet.

We may live out of His forgiveness.This does not mean that we use Hisgrace as a cloak for sin. But it is true thatthe Lord remains faithful even in ourunfaithfulness, because He cannot denyHimself (2 Timothy 2:13). God remainsfaithful in view of that which JesusChrist accomplished. Looking at thetree, under the cross, there is continualforgiveness and help and the opportu-nity of a new beginning.

“My little children, these things writeI unto you, that ye sin not. And if anyman sin, we have an advocate with theFather, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1John 2:1).

“Let us therefore come boldly untothe throne of grace, that we may obtainmercy, and find grace to help in time ofneed” (Hebrews 4:16).

Can we even count how many timeswe have experienced His help and for-giveness, without having deserved it?How often has the Lord put the bitterthings in our lives in order, the badthings and the unpalatable, through for-giveness? “…And the Lord showed hima tree” (Exodus 15:25).

(MR0115/668)

God’s Faithfulness (Stations of Life – Part 4)

The miracle of the passage through the sea was only three daysbehind them. Just recently, they had sung a song of praise about it(in Exodus 15:1-21). But at the next opportunity, the Israelitescomplained; they had lost their trust and lamented. Yet the Lord didnot punish them; He pointed at the tree and they were helped.



At first the preaching of the Mid-night Call founder was moreevangelistic, in which he not

only emphasized the sacrifice of JesusChrist on the cross, but also the returnof the Lord for the Rapture of HisChurch. But more and more WimMalgo observed in the Church of JesusChrist the great danger of becomingspiritually superficial and worldly. TheChurch at Laodicea had already suc-cumbed to this danger, so that the ex-

alted Lord had to say, “So then becausethou art lukewarm, and neither coldnor hot, I will spue thee out of mymouth” (Revelation 3:16). The Lamb ofGod does not deserve any half-hearteddisciples; this was clear to Wim Malgo,and no less does the Victor of Calvarydeserve a sleeping Church at His return.Thus, the messages of the MidnightCall—as the name suggests—becamemore and more a call to wake up and re-pent: “And at midnight there was a cry

Sanctification in the History of Midnight CallE l s b e t h Ve t s c h

The message of Wim Malgo, the founder of Midnight Call Ministry, wasChristocentric from the beginning. Some memories and a call.

JANUARY 2016 27

made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh;go ye out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6).This included the prophecies of theOld and New Testaments receiving in-creasing attention (remembering 2 Pe-ter 1:19). The focal point remainedJesus Christ, who is Lord of all lordsand King of all kings. The goal ofbringing people to Jesus, and encour-aging and admonishing Christians notto become lukewarm and weary intheir faith lives, is just as unchanging.For instance, the following is an ex-cerpt from an out-of-print booklet byWim Malgo with the title, “Samson—the tragedy of a man dedicated toGod.”

“The tragedy of this man we find inJudges 14—16. It was one single sin: awoman called Delilah, who broughtthe fall of Samson.” Wim Malgo said ofthis, “Always where there is sin, thereis also sleep. Spiritual weakness andsleep are the outward signs of hiddensin. When a man who is dedicated toGod becomes weak in his prayer life, inhis zeal for the Lord, he is already aboutto fall into sin (cf. Hebrews 12:1). …Samson fell through Delilah increasingher attempts and his defenses decreasing.…And Samson, the authoritative mandedicated to God, gives up step by step.The claws of the enemy come nearer andnearer. …Finally in Judges 16:17, thefortress is taken captive when he surren-ders his heart to Delilah.

“This tragic story has been repeatedmany times since then. The effects ofthe pressing enemy on Samson are in-

credible. First, fatal fatigue. “And itcame to pass, when she pressed himdaily with her words, and urged him,so that his soul was vexed unto death”(Judges 16:16). Wake up, my brotherand my sister, you Samsons who havebecome weary. Sin anesthetizes youand breaks your ability to judge. Thesecond phase is the unmistakable clue-lessness of Samson. Sin makes us com-pletely blind. He goes to his downfalllike a sleepwalker.

“I see before me many Samsons whodo not want to give up a sin. Are youone of them? ...You disqualified Sam-son, you who are dedicated to God,whose strength has been brokenthrough sin: is there a way back foryou? Yes, there is! Humble yourself inrepentance before the Lord. Leave yourown sinful life in the death of Jesus atthe cross of Calvary. Then you will ex-perience that He can turn a curse intoblessing, that the power of the Lordcomes over you anew and that the vic-tory of Jesus will be unlimited, moreeffective than ever before.”

This is how the messages endedwhen Wim Malgo spoke about revival.It was always His aim to lead peoplenearer to the Lord. His brothers hadthe same striving, such as ManfredKreutz, for instance, who stood withhim in the pulpit. May Jesus Christ, thecrucified, dead and returning Lord con-tinue to be the nucleus of the messageof Midnight Call Ministry by the graceof God.

(MR0815/740)

Sanctification in the History of Midnight Call

“I see before me many Samsons who do not want to give up a sin.Are you one of them? ...You disqualified Samson, you who arededicated to God, whose strength has been broken through sin: isthere a way back for you? Yes, there is! Humble yourself inrepentance before the Lord.”



Colvin, Senior Editor-at-Large at Fortune,sat down with Yahoo Finance to talk about

whether robots could take over the workforcesomeday, and explain which jobs are here to stay. “The way to think about this is not to ask,

‘what is it computers cannot do?’ becauseevery time we try to answer that question, weget it wrong,” Colvin explained.Instead of thinking about what robots can’t

do, Colvin suggested considering what sortsof things humans will always “insist” to dowith other human beings.So, what jobs are safe?Anything that requires empathy, relationship

building, story-telling or collaboration. Basi-cally, any sort of job that you wouldn’t want arobot doing.Colvin argues that if your line of work is

highly repetitive—whether in an office or a fac-tory—“a machine can probably do it, and willprobably do it, faster than you think.”Even the oft-lauded STEM fields aren’t safe. “Being an engineer is great, but you’re not

going to be a high value engineer unless youalso bring the human skills,” Colvin said.

-finance.yahoo.com, 7 August 2015

Commentary: What machinery has accom-plished during the last century is nothing

short of mind-boggling. No one would havethought technology to be so efficient, and soglobal.

Here is a quick comparison: • In 1910, life expectancy in the U. S. for

a man was 47.• Only 14 percent of homes had a bath-

tub.• 8 percent of homes had a telephone.• The world’s tallest structure was the

Eiffel Tower.• 95 percent of all births took place at

home.• 90 percent of all doctors had no college

education.• 2 out of 10 adults could not read.

Robots have done a remarkable job in themanufacturing sector. Japan, the world’sleader in robot technology, is feverishlyworking on a robot able to replace salespeo-ple. Really, the sky is the limit.

What do we know from Scripture regard-ing the end times? One of the most stunningexamples is found in Revelation 13:14-15,“And deceiveth them that dwell on the earthby the means of those miracles which he hadpower to do in the sight of the beast; sayingto them that dwell on the earth, that theyshould make an image to the beast, whichhad the wound by a sword, and did live.And he had power to give life unto the im-age of the beast, that the image of the beastshould both speak, and cause that as many

as would not worshipthe image of the beastshould be killed.”

6118(For more on this chapter,

read Revelation 13: Satan’s Last

Victory, Item 1067.)

U N

Poverty to End in 2030United Nations member statesagreed to the agenda “Transformingour World: the 2030 Agenda for Sus-tainable Development.”

The agenda—with 17 goals and 169targets—is a plan to be developed

over the next fifteen years. It is to “build onthe Millennium Development Goals and com-plete what these did not achieve,” accordingto the document.The agenda has taken two years to draw

up and was greeted by UN Secretary GeneralBan Ki-moon as an “agenda of the people, anaction plan to end poverty.”Ban said that the agenda, together with the

agreement reached in Addis Ababa recentlyto bankroll development goals, was the startof a “new era.”In its declaration, the agenda sets out for

Heads of State and Government to “resolve,between now and 2030, to end poverty andhunger everywhere.”

-www.dw.com/en, 3 August 2015

Commentary: To what extent the UN willbe successful remains to be seen. Onething is certain: hunger is being reducedthe world over, in spite of the world’s pop-ulation growth and limited agriculturalfarmland. Mechanization of the agricul-tural industry has created unparalleled suc-cess. A little over a century ago, themajority of the world’s population was em-ployed in agriculture. They had to workday in and day out, just to have food on thetable, clothes on their backs, and shelterover their heads. Today, the industrializednations employ about 2 percent of the

Can You Be Replaced by aRobot?The title of Geoff Colvin’s new booksays it all: Humans are Underrated.

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U S A


workforce in agriculture, and are producingsuch an abundance of food that some statisticsclaim 50 percent is being wasted.

The real answer to hunger, however, isfound in Psalm 107:35-38, “He turneth thewilderness into a standing water, and dryground into watersprings. And there hemaketh the hungry to dwell, that they mayprepare a city for habitation; And sow thefields, and plant vineyards, which mayyield fruits of increase. He blesseth them

also, so that they aremultiplied greatly;and suffereth nottheir cattle to de-crease.” 6105(For daily spiritual nourish-

ment, read Spiritual

Strength for Each Day, Item

1062.)

I S R A E L

Christian Missionary Conference OpposedA conference held by a Messianic organization at the capital’s Old TrainStation was disturbed by activistsfrom the extremist Lehava organiza-tion, who broke into the conferencehall and began shouting.

According to a statement fromLehava, “dozens of Lehava activists

forcibly broke into the missionary confer-ence... and blocked the entrance.”Lehava has gained notoriety as a radical

organization which opposes interfaith mar-riages, especially Jewish women to Arabmen, and what it describes as Christianmissionary work, but which is frequently amisconstrued gathering of Christians in Is-rael.There has been increased activity of late

against Evangelical organizations and mis-sions to Israel as well as Messianic Jewish

associations and others, by several organiza-tions including Lehava.An Evangelical conference in May was vig-

orously protested by such groups since it washeld in the Pais Arena in Jerusalem, while an-other Evangelical gathering in October 2014was also the subject of protests.

-Jerusalem Post, 12 July 2015

Commentary: How difficult it is to publiclyproclaim Jesus as the Messiah of Israel andthe Savior of the world is self-evident fromthis article. From our internal information,we know of several Christian groups whichhave experienced opposition in the past,but have wisely detoured confrontation.

A video distributed in Hebrew encour-aged, “Sons and daughters of God, confidentin their love of Him, seeking to know Himand live a life of faith, victory, praise, prayer,and of a deep relationship with Jesus.” Theword Jesus, however, in the English versionwas substituted with the word God.

Almost 2,000 years ago, Jews picked upstones against God, “The Jews answeredhim, saying, For a good work we stone theenot; but for blasphemy; and because that

thou, being a man,makest thyself God”(John 10:33). 6119(For more on the perse-

cuted Church, read The

Sure Foundation of the

Church, Item 1066.)

C H I N A

The New Silk RoadThe announcement of the Silk RoadEconomic Belt in Astana in Septem-ber 2013 was rapidly followed by thedeclaration of a number of othertrade and economic corridors ema-nating out from China, which largelycopied the Central Asian model.

Outside China there has been lessclarity, with most in Europe (who have

heard the message that they are the other endof this road) questioning what the Chinese vi-sion looks like in practice.In Georgia, China started its push out to ex-

plain its vision to the world at the Tbilisi SilkRoad Forum. This represented the first eventon the Silk Road Economic Belt co-sponsoredby China’s government held outside China,placing Georgia on the map as an importantpartner in the project.The clearest message from the Tbilisi con-

ference is the importance of cooperation andgreater connectivity. The Chinese vision isfounded on developing a network of trade andeconomic corridors originating in China.China’s re-emergence as a Eurasian land

power is going to transform the entire land-mass. The Silk Road Economic Belt is the firstpublic and holistic expression of this.However, rather than being a purely China-

dictated vision, it is clear that the intention isfor countries like Georgia to engage withChina on cooperatively shaping the vision andtackling the issues. China is consciously

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Tbilisi: Connectivity is a huge challengein the region (Photo: Thomas Depenbusch)

Poverty to End (continued from page 28)

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Jerusalem's OId Train Station. (photocredit:Wikimedia Commons)

30 M I D N I G H T C A L L Visit www.midnightcall.com

R U S S I A

New Orbital StationScheduled for 2024The head of the science and engi-neering council of Russia’s Roscos-mos agency, Yuri Koptev, hasconfirmed plans for putting in orbita new Russian space station at somefuture date, possible in the middle ofthe next decade.

“The draft of the federal space pro-gram for 2016-2025, which has been

considered and recommended for adoption,envisages the possibility of creating a Russianorbital station on the basis of three modulesof the ISS after 2024. The issue will be on theagenda if a decision is made to curtail coop-eration with the current partners under the ISSprogram in 2024 and to terminate the opera-tion of the existing station,” he said.For the time being Russia is oriented to-

wards cooperation under the ISS project.There are legal liabilities extending till 2020

and fundamental consent to continue partner-ship till 2024.“Under that cooperation we are making

plans for the expansion of the Russian seg-ment of the station with three new modules.Their mission will be to conduct more “down-to-earth,” applied work, expected to yield atangible result,” Koptev said.

-tass.ru/en, 18 April 2015

Commentary: Humanity continues to bepossessed with the dream of reaching the

stars. Russia is the birthplace of spacetravel. It was on 4 October 1957, when theSoviet Union launched the world’s firstsatellite into orbit, named Sputnik. Later,the U.S.A. followed in the footsteps of theUSSR and superseded them by landing aman on the moon, 20 July 1969.

While space research has contributedtoward technology and science for the bet-terment of mankind, we must not forgetthat the real reason behind the so-calledspace program is simply the attempt to beindependent from God. The more manlearns about the intricate behavior ofplanet Earth and space, the more his self-confidence grows. This will ultimatelylead mankind in open rebellion against theLord and His Anointed, as we can read inPsalm 2:2, “The kings of the earth setthemselves, and the rulers take counsel to-gether, against the LORD, and against hisanointed….” 6017(For more on this subject, read Cosmos, Creator, and Hu-

man Destiny, Item 2251.)

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Yuri Koptev speculated that a nationalorbital station may be created on thebasis of the modules that would beadded on after 2017 © TASS

reaching out for this, as demonstrated by theTbilisi Silk Road Forum.Now is the time for Western European

countries to follow Georgia’s example to un-derstand the benefits it can reap in further co-operation on the Silk Road.

-euobserver.com, 20 October 2015

Commentary: Less than a century ago, theUSA represented absolute dominance. Thatis history. The new three giants are China –17.6 trillion; the European Union – 17.6trillion; and the United States – 17.4 tril-lion. The combined global economy standsat around 113 trillion, according to the CIAWorld Factbook.

What does it mean? The awakening ofAsia. Why? Because prophecy has to befulfilled, “And the sixth angel poured out

his vial upon the great river Euphrates; andthe water thereof was dried up, that the wayof the kings of the east might be prepared”(Revelation 16:12). Who are the kings ofthe east? Demonic entities, geographicallylocated east of Israel.

Most commentaries point to a presumedChinese invasion of Israel. However, thatseems rather unlikely. Why? Because thisdeals with spiritual entities. Verse 14 reads,“For they are the spirits of devils, workingmiracles, which go forth unto the kings ofthe earth and of the whole world, to gatherthem to the battle of that great day of GodAlmighty.” Note specifically the words“the whole world.” This battle is notfought with military equipment as we knowit, but will be a confrontation between lightand darkness. Revelation 19:19 speaks ofthis global war of demonic forces, andverse 20 gives the answer, “And the beast

was taken, and with him the false prophetthat wrought miracles before him, withwhich he deceived them that had receivedthe mark of the beast, and them that wor-shipped his image. These both were castalive into a lake of fire burning with brim-stone.” We note, there is no battle, but simplya confrontation, a demonstration that light isstronger than darkness. This is confirmed bythe Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, “Andthen shall that Wicked be revealed, whom theLord shall consume with the spirit of his

mouth, and shall de-stroy with the bright-ness of his coming.”

6137(For more on this subject,

read 101 Answers to Ques-

tions About Satan, Demons,

and Spiritual Warfare, Item

2289.)

Silk Road (continued from page 29)

JANUARY 2016 31 Visit www.midnightcall.com

E U R O P E

Filmmakers Urge Welcome to RefugeesAward-winning filmmakers pre-sented a petition signed by over5,500 people, mostly artists, to Euro-pean Parliament president MartinSchulz and EU Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans.

They urged the EU to offer legalways for refugees to travel to Eu-

rope, and scrap the Dublin regulation thatputs a huge strain on frontline countries byhaving to register and deal with the asylumclaims of all new migrants and refugees.“Europe seems to be wanting to do crisis

management, we want more than that, wewant a Europe that shouts its values loudand clear,” Michel Hazanavicius, French di-rector of 2011 Oscar-winning film, TheArtist, said at the press conference.They urged leaders to make funds avail-

able, offer refugees a home, a job, allowtheir children to go to school, and put anend to the Dublin rule that says the countrywhere the asylum seeker first set foot in theEU must deal with the asylum claim.The filmmakers also warned of the threat

of populism, as some politicians are exploit-ing the atmosphere of uncertainty and fearto their advantage.

In the meantime, 800 French and French-speaking ar tists and intellectuals havelaunched another petition calling for an“emergency plan” in Calais, where morethan 3,000 migrants live in camps with theaim of crossing the Channel to Britain.

-euobserver.com, 20 October 2015

Commentary: Although vastly exagger-ated by the news media, therefugee problem in Europe isactually of lesser significance.While indeed hundreds ofthousands are desperate to en-ter European territory, it is ac-tually nothing new. Forexample, between 1944 and1948, Wikipedia states that13.5 – 16.5 million Germanswere expelled to the West andsuccessfully integrated.

The United States, an im-migrant-based country ofwhom the overwhelming ma-jority originate from immi-

grants/refugees, has catapulted tobecome the dominant nation of theworld.

The other hidden benefit is thatrefugees are making up for the generaldecline in the birthrate in most richcountries.

Most important of all reasons is theglorious fact that multitudes of theserefugees and immigrants—legal or ille-gal—are being confronted with the Wordof God and are breaking through to a liv-

ing faith in Je-sus. Thus, theChurch is beingbuilt, and forthat we rejoice.

6138(For more on this sub-

ject, read The Coming

Muslim Invasion?, Item

1071.)

M I D D L E E A S T

Why America Can’t FigureOut the Middle EastAmerican policy in the Middle Eastprovides much fodder for the loversof conspiracy theories. The actions ofthe United States over the past fewdecades—irrespective what partythe president is from—appear ratherodd in the eyes of the people in theregion, to the point of suspicion. Butthere is no room for such theories:The explanation lies elsewhere.

True, the United States is a super-power, and its leaders are directed first

and foremost by American interests. Americais an island surrounded by an ocean. An is-land that is not just geographically distant, butalso historically and culturally remote. Com-pared to the Old World across the ocean, theUnites States lacks history. The achievementof relative success, known as the “AmericanDream,” is based on this very foundation of alack of history—that is, in chopping off theroots of the past and facilitating growth in newsoil. Looking towards the future. In comparison, in a region such as the Mid-

dle East, laden with the past, bursting withhistory, it is difficult for residents to break freeof this burden. The people of this regionprogress in measured steps, always casting aglance behind, and always falling into the trapof their past. Since the face of the United States is for-

ever facing the future, there is an inherent ten-sion between the American view and that ofthe rest of the world. As long as there was a

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Famous actors and directors handed a petition infavour of refugees to European Parliament presi-dent Martin Schulz. (Photo: European Parliament)

Middle Eastmap.Credit:Dreamstime


U S A

‘Eternal’ Camera Can TakePictures ForeverThe camera generates power by con-verting some of the light falling on itssensor into electricity that is thenused to take a snap.

Theoretically the self-powered devicecould take a picture every second, for-

ever.The camera’s creators are now refining the

device and are looking into ways to commer-cialize the technology.“We are in the middle of a digital imaging

revolution,” said Prof. Shree Nayar, director ofthe computer vision laboratory at ColumbiaUniversity in New York who invented the de-vice. “A camera that can function as an un-tethered device forever—without any externalpower supply—would be incredibly useful.”Prof. Nayar told the BBC that the next step

in development was to make a self-powered,solid-state image sensor with many more pix-els that could then be used to produce a

standalone camera that could be used any-where.The self-powering sensor could also be

used to lower the power consumption needsof smartphones and other gadgets, he said, or,when not being used to take pictures, couldalso function as an in-built power generator.

-www.bbc.com, 17 April 2015

Commentary: Indian-born Professor ShreeNayar is well on his way to developing acamera that can take pictures forever; thatis, for eternity. The theory sounds fantastic,but one must consider that components used

to build the camera are subject to decayand are not “eternal.”

While we are amazed at the great in-ventions mankind continues to achieve,the Bible makes it crystal clear what theend will be, “Seeing then that all thesethings shall be dissolved, what manner ofpersons ought ye to be in all holy conver-sation and godliness, Looking for andhasting unto the coming of the day ofGod, wherein the heavens being on fireshall be dissolved, and the elements shallmelt with fervent heat?” (2 Peter 3:11-12).

All things will end, yet there is a glori-ous promise for those who believe, “Nev-ertheless we, according to his promise,look for new heavens and a new earth,

wherein dwelleth right-eousness” (verse 13).

6021

(For more on eternity,

read When Death

Comes, Item 1056.)

bi-polar world, divided into an evil Easternbloc and a good Western one, things wereeasy to understand, both for the averageAmerican and for the nation’s president. We must remember that Islam grew out of

the Judeo-Christian ideological and spiritualfoundations. That is why Islamic fundamen-talism will also fight its battles against theJudeo-Christian culture. It is hard to find Is-lamic writings that relate to cultures otherthan this Western one. So how can you explain to an American

who lacks history legends from thousandsof years ago about Pharaoh and Haman,about the Persian kingdom and the King-dom of Israel, about the Messiah who willcome, about the Islamic Caliphate and theMahdi, the Hidden Imam. In contrast to theUnited States, in the Middle East all theseare par ts of the mechanism that operates

the machines of society. It is an ancientmechanism that has never divorced from itspast, not from Pharaoh and not fromHaman.

-www.haaretz.com, 16 April 2015

Commentary: The excerpts published herefrom the article by Salman Masalha, re-veal an apparent unbridgeable gap due tohistory and subsequent developed culture,be it religion or politics.

However, America does not standalone; all of the 35 sovereign nations onthe continent, plus Australia and NewZealand, are made up mainly of Europeanimmigrants, who overcame the inheritedconflict by making only the future count.

In the meantime, the European nationsare following the model of the new na-tions. That brought about the creation of

the European Union. Thus, the answer tothe Middle East conflict will be builtupon the same principles—United in Di-versity. Will it work? The Bible guaran-tees it, although temporarily. InRevelation 17 we read of ten kings, ob-viously demonic entities, because theydo something man cannot do, “Theseshall make war with the Lamb….” Theseten demonic kings will surrender theirpower to one, “These have one mind,

and shall givetheir power andstrength unto thebeast.” That is theAntichrist. 6012(For more on this sub-

ject, read How Democ-

racy Will Elect the

Antichrist, Item 1064.)

Middle East (continued from page 31)


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G E R M A N Y

Days Are Numbered forBarcodesGrowing demand for more informa-tion about the products we buycould mean the end of the simplebarcode—the blocks of black andwhite stripes that adorn most objectsfor sale and are scanned five billiontimes a day.

First used on a pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruitchewing gum in 1974 in a store inOhio, barcodes have revolutionized the

retail world, allowing cashiers to ring up prod-ucts much faster and more accurately, whilealso streamlining logistics.But shoppers are now demanding far

greater transparency about products, andstore owners need more information to helpwith stock taking, product recalls and to fightfakes. The basic barcode is just not up to thejob.That number does not directly capture any

other information that might interest a shop-per—such as ingredients, allergens or coun-try of origin—nor does it provide a retailerwith useful details such as the batch numberor sell-by date.GS1, the non-profit organization that as-

signs the unique numbers in barcodes, hasdeveloped a double-layered barcode it callsthe “data bar” which can carry some extra de-tails such as expiry date, quantity, batch or lotnumber.

That has allowed German retailer Metro tolaunch PRO Trace, a smartphone app that shows,for example, that a filet of salmon on sale at astore in Berlin on Aug. 25 was caught at theBremnes Seashore fish farm off the coast of Nor-way on Aug. 17 and processed in Germany onAug. 21.The app also displays a map highlighting the

fishing area of the catch and a detailed descrip-tion of the Atlantic salmon.Metro says the app helps customers at its

cash-and-carry stores such as professional chefsfrom hotels and restaurants, as they can now em-bellish their menus with information about the ex-act origin of pricey delicacies such as wagyu beef.Metro set up the tracking scheme to help it

comply with European Union regulations aimed atstemming overfishing and started making thedata available to customers in 2012. It now ex-tends to meat, and fresh fruit and vegetables willfollow.Dutch retailer Albert Heijn recently introduced

“Check Origin” QR labels on locally-grownradishes and blueberries. Scan the sticker on amobile phone and it plays a film that rewinds toshow the journey from the shelf back to the pack-ing factory, then back to the farmer’s field.Such tools are likely to fuel demands for more

transparency. A GS1 survey found consumers aremost interested in nutritional and ingredient infor-mation, details on allergens, organic certification,environmental impact and ethical standards.Malcolm Bowden, president of global solutions

at GS1, predicts different systems will probablyhave to coexist for the next decade or so as retail-ers and logistics providers gradually upgrade theirscanning systems.“I am convinced we will have a day where

pretty much all information about all products willbe available to all consumers,” he said.

-www.reuters.com, 28 August 2015

Commentary: How the world has changed injust a few decades! At the beginning of the1900s, people were busy garnering sufficientfood for the family, regardless of the quality orthe origin. Today, with the brilliant, inex-

haustible variety of food, people want to knowmore about the product. Food-related (cook-ing) programs have seen an explosion in popu-larity; subsequently, weight-loss programshave multiplied in a similar manner.

What’s it all about? It demonstratesman’s ability to produce an abundance ofsuch high quality food, mainly due to tech-

nology. Modernman will take lesstime to acknowl-edge the source offood—God. 6099(For more on Creation,

read The Genesis Factor,

Item 2239.)

E N G L A N D

Oldest Koran Could ‘Predate Muhammad’Fragments from the oldest Koranever discovered could possibly pre-date the founding of Islam by theprophet Muhammad, researchersfrom the University of Oxford toldThe Timesof London.

Researchers in England discovered parsof Islam’s holy book recently in a library

at the University of Birmingham, among textscollected in Iraq in the 1920s.The manuscript consists of two parchment

leaves containing parts of Suras (chapters) 18to 20, and was written with ink in an early form ofArabic script known as Hijaz.The finding may have significant theological

ramifications. According to Oxford researcherKeith Small, “This gives more ground to whathave been peripheral views of the Koran’s gene-sis, such as that Muhammad and his early follow-

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Barcodes are seen on a package in London August 27, 2015.Reuters/Russell Boyce


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ers used a text that was already in existence andshaped it to fit their own political and theologicalagenda, rather than Muhammad receiving a rev-elation from heaven.”According to new radiocarbon tests run by

Oxford University, researchers are now claimingthe pages are possibly 1,371 to 1,448 years old.As such, if the Oxford dating is correct, the

world’s oldest Koran was created between 568and 645 CE, while the prophet is believed tohave lived between 570 and 632 CE.This means that the first known formal text of

the Koran could date back to Muhammad’schildhood, or possibly even before his birth, theTimes added.

-Jerusalem Post, 3 September 2015

Commentary: This would make the muchrevered, proclaimed prophet Muhammadguilty of infringing intellectual property. Butthis discovery will change little to nothing be-cause faith is always stronger than facts.Monotheism is belief in one God, and that isnatural. People with the highest caliber of in-telligence will in the end admit there is a higherpower, the God of Creation. The question is,how can we know Him and approach this oneGod? Answer: by faith. Jesus said, “I am theway, the truth, and the life: no man comethunto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). 6159(For more on this subject, readWhy Believe the Bible? (Item

2292).

F R A N C E

New Security Pact forEuropeThe French president announcedthat France will invoke the Europeanmutual defense clause.

Rather than article 222 of the Treaty on theFunctioning of the European Union, which

requires assistance when a member state is “theobject of a terrorist attack,” France chose to triggerarticle 42.7 of the Treaty on European Union.This article states that “if a member state is the

victim of armed aggression on its territory, the

other member states shall have towards it an oblig-ation of aid and assistance by all the means intheir power.”This is consistent with Hollande’s repeated

claim that France was attacked by an “army ofterrorists” operating from abroad.The attacks were “planned in Syria, organized

in Belgium, and perpetrated with French com-plicity,” he told MPs and senators.“Terrorists believe that people will allow them-

selves to be impressed by horror,” he said. “Thatis not the case,” he assured the parliamentari-ans. “They are the ones who will go down in his-tory as the losers.”“We shall continue to work, go out, live and

influence the world,” he said, adding that the UNclimate conference will still take place in Paris inDecember.Hollande also said that terrorists with a double

citizenship, “including those who were bornFrench,” should be stripped of their French citi-zenship.He announced the creation of 8,500 jobs in

police, justice and border administration, a freezeon staff reduction in the army, and said that re-servists would be called to form “a homeguard.”

-euobserver.com, 16 November 2015

Commentary: The issue is terrorism. Nowthat ISIS has come on the scene, claiming tobe a state, war seems to be the only answer.The reason? Internationalcommentators agree that thefuel for terrorism is largelypoverty. An undergroundadvertisement in Parisused the slogan, “Giveus the under-educated,the poor, the unemployed.”While religion, in this case,Islam, is a contributing fac-tor, one takes notice that

the prosperous, oil-richArab countries are relativelywell-controlled and gov-erned, in spite of Islam.

Terrorism, particularly in Europe, is an ex-ception, not the rule. Yet terrorism has becomethe driving force of urgency for the world tounite. For example, the European world (theWest) strongly opposed Russia taking posses-sion of Crimea. Boycotting Russia and viceversa has not brought much result, yet we seeterrorism bringing the East and the West closertogether.

ISIS, as it is known today, will be defeated,but terrorism will not. It will continue until theAntichrist and the false prophet will take do-minion of planet Earth, “And he had power togive life unto the image of the beast, that theimage of the beast should both speak, and causethat as many as would not worship the image ofthe beast should be killed” (Revelation 13:15).

However, the real elimination of terrorismwill take place when Jesus comes back. Notonly terrorism, but also weapons of war willbe a thing of the past, “And he shall judgeamong many people, and rebuke strong na-tions afar off; and they shall beat their swordsinto plowshares, and their spears into prun-inghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword

against nation, neither shallthey learn war any more”(Micah 4:3).

6175(For more on terrorism, read Terror

Over America, Item 1050.)


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Oldest Koran (continued from page 33)

JANUARY 2016 35

How the Work of theMidnight Call Began inCameroon

Today, the Midnight Call Ministryin Cameroon is practically au-tonomous. Together with a few

coworkers and honorary helpers, theCameroon citizens, Richard and LydiaBabola, maintain various bookshopswhere people can read our literaturefree of charge. The Babolas live and op-erate in the capital of Cameroon(Yaoundé) in the south of the land.Richard is a qualified Bible teacher,preacher and evangelist. At irregular in-tervals on the basis of donations, wesend large quantities of Bibles and liter-ature from Europe to Cameroon, wherethey are collected and distributed byour coworkers.

The work began 30 years ago in thenorth of Cameroon, with the missionar-ies Hans and Gertrud Eichenberger, whoserved there for 36 years with the UnitedSudan Mission and the Union of Evan-gelical Churches in North Cameroon,until the summer of 1986. Then theyjoined the Midnight Call ministry andopened the branch in Cameroon. TheEichenbergers knew the Midnight Call

founder, Wim Malgo (1922-1992), fromtheir Bible school days. Concerning theirbeginnings with the Midnight Call, HansEichenerger wrote at the beginning ofSeptember 1986:

“Many believers seek a way not tosuffocate in tradition, and we foundhere and there subscribers to the Appelde Minuit. It became clear to us that themessage of the Midnight Call is soughtafter and its literature of great signifi-cance for the churches in Cameroonand all Africa, to prepare the bride forthe coming of the Lord—and that thisfruit remains.

“Through the bookshops in Mokolo,we came into contact with the office ofthe French language branch, Appel deMinuit in Le Locle (Switzerland), andexperienced the confirmation of theLord because they had the same burdenfor Africa on their hearts.

“We saw the Lord’s working in Hislove and care for all who want His workcarried out—for He chose us. We arehappy, therefore, the Lord willing, to re-turn to Cameroon on September 18,

BY RENÉ MALGO

MIDNIGHT CALL

Fellow Laborers

“Through the bookshops in Mokolo,we came into contact with the officeof the French language branch, Appelde Minuit in Le Locle (Switzerland),and experienced the confirmation ofthe Lord because they had the sameburden for Africa on their hearts.”

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“To the only wise Godour Saviour, be gloryand majesty, dominionand power, both nowand ever” (Jude 25).

Mail to: Midnight Call Ministries, PO Box 84309, Lexington, SC 29073

r After prayerful consideration, I/we have decided tosupport ________________.

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1986 and further the work of the Mid-night Call there: revival literature,written Bible courses, and theologi-cal school.”

And this is what happened. Later,other missionaries from Switzerlandjoined us for a while and worked withus in the African branch. Wim Malgoexpressed his happiness about the be-ginning of the Midnight Call inCameroon with the words, “For around25 years, our coworker and President

John Hasler and his wife Huguette,have sent the French language MidnightCall and other literature to Africa ingreat faithfulness and devotion. Nowthe Lord is crowning their persistentdevotion with the calling of an experi-enced man of God and his wife, Hansand Gertrud Eichenberger. This meansthat the spreading of the prophetic mes-sage and the Gospel can progress fasterand more purposefully.”

(MR1115)

36 M I D N I G H T C A L L Visit www.midnightcall.com

MIDNIGHT CALL

Fellow Laborers

Israel, particularly Jerusalem, continuesto be highlighted in the world’s newsmedia. Thus we ask, what is so impor-

tant about Jerusalem? This relatively smallcity in the mountains of Judea has little tooffer. The city pales in comparison toMoscow, London, New York, and manyother cities in the world. Not even a riverflows through Jerusalem. There is no men-tionable industry in that city, nor is it a fi-nancial center like New York or London.The world could simply ignore Jerusalemand write off the city as relatively insignifi-cant.

Not so from spiritual perspectives. It isthe most important city in the world. JesusHimself calls it “the city of the great King”(Matthew 5:35).

It is the city where the name of the Lorddwelt in the temple Solomon built. Mostimportantly, however, it is the city where Je-sus Christ, nailed to the cross, cried out, “Itis finished!” It is the city where Jews dis-persed all over the world look to when theypray.

It is the most important city in all of hu-man history. Jerusalem has its effect,whether positive or negative, on all nationsof the world.

What is God’s aim? Verse 2 explains, “…the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness,and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt becalled by a new name, which the mouth ofthe LORD shall name.”

The nations of the world are ruled by thegod of this world. He is the enemy of theGod of Israel, and therefore hates

Jerusalem. The devil knows the propheticWord and is aware that he was defeated onCalvary’s cross when he caused JesusChrist, the sinless Son of God, to be cruci-fied. That was the devil’s fatal mistake. Forthe first time in human history, he causedan innocent man to be executed. From thatpoint on, Gentiles can see the righteousOne in faith. What is the new name? JesusChrist, Immanuel, God with us. That is thespiritual aspect of the significance ofJerusalem.

Jerusalem TodayAs already mentioned, it is a comparativelyinsignificant city. Looking at the Old Cityfrom the Mount of Olives, it is crownedwith Islam’s golden Dome of the Rock andthe Al-Aqsa Mosque, all surrounded by agreat stone wall built by the Muslims. Inorder to void the promises of God,Jerusalem needs to be an Islamic city, ac-cording to Muslims. Interestingly, all thegovernments of the world, without excep-tion, agree with the plans of the god of thisworld. The embassies of the nations are notlocated in Jerusalem, but in Tel Aviv.

Jerusalem, however, is the cornerstone ofworld history. Verse 9 of Zechariah 12reads, “And it shall come to pass in that day,that I will seek to destroy all the nationsthat come against Jerusalem.” It does notmatter what the United Nations, the EU, orthe U.S.A. thinks or does; the ultimate au-thority is the Word of God, and He willbring to pass precisely and exactly whatwas prophesied thousands of years ago.

MIDNIGHT CALL

“For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and forJerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousnessthereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereofas a lamp that burneth” (Isaiah 62:1).

JANUARY 2016 37

BY ARNO FROESE

Iran Nuclear DealRepeatedly, the religious-political authoritiesof Iran have expressed their wish to haveJerusalem Islamized and the state of Israeldestroyed. But the opposite will happen, aswe have read, “I will seek to destroy all thenations that come against Jerusalem.”

An article published in Haaretz last yearin October is headlined, “Israel’s NuclearAdvisory Panel Endorses Iran Deal.” Amongother things, the article reads:

In defense establishment discussions of the

Iranian nuclear agreement, Israel’s Atomic En-

ergy Commission, which advises the govern-

ment on nuclear issues, has endorsed the pact,

a source familiar with the commission’s stance

told Haaretz. The panel’s position runs directly

counter to that of Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-

tanyahu, cabinet ministers and most of the po-

litical opposition.

The panel holds that any Iranian violation of

the pact would be detected easily due to the

outside surveillance and analysis methods be-

ing used on the Iranian nuclear project. In re-

cent years Israel has invested considerable

resources in developing technologies to locate

and analyze nuclear activity, making it available

to the International Atomic Energy Agency,

which is charged with overseeing Iran’s compli-

ance with the pact.

Thus, the source said, there is effectively no

importance in the agreement’s much-criticized

clause giving the Iranians 24 days’ advance

warning prior to an IAEA inspection of nuclear

sites or sites suspected of nuclear activity. The

IAEA has technological means that make it pos-

sible to recreate the precise nature of the nu-

clear activity, going back not only 24 days but

many years, the source noted.

The danger to Israel from bombs built on

enriched uranium is not great, because such

bombs are so heavy that it would be a daunting

challenge for the Iranians to mount one on a

ballistic missile that could reach Israel. Thus,

said the source, even if the Iranians could enrich

uranium to military grade—something barred

by the nuclear agreement—they would remain

far from being able to threaten Israel with nu-

clear attack.

What will be the end? “And I will pourupon the house of David, and upon the in-habitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of graceand of supplications: and they shall lookupon me whom they have pierced, and theyshall mourn for him, as one mourneth forhis only son, and shall be in bitterness forhim, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born” (Zechariah 12:10).

The Jews will experience God’s grace col-lectively. Israel, as a nation, will experienceGod’s abundant grace in the way we as be-lievers individually have experienced. Thatis Israel’s only hope, and that is also thehope of every person on the face of theearth. This hope must not be neglected ordiscarded; it is available for all and is ex-pressed with the words of Acts 16:31, “Be-lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thoushalt be saved, and thy house.”

Mail to: Midnight Call Ministries, PO Box 84309, Lexington, SC 29073

r After prayerful consideration, I/we have decided to supportthe project “Action for Israel.”

r yearly r monthly r one time $_______

Name:___________________________________________

Address:______________________________________

City:__________________________________________

State:______________________Zip:________________

Credit Card #:__________________________________

Exp:____________Phone:_________________________

Email:________________________________________

With credit cardready, call:

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“I will bless them thatbless thee...” (Genesis 12:3).

MIDNIGHT CALL

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JANUARY 2016 39

Address letters for publication to: Letters to the Editor, Midnight Call, P.O. Box 84309, Lexington, SC

29073. Include full name, address, and daytime phone number. Without name and address, letters will

be discarded unread. All material is subject to editing. Midnight Call assumes all publishing rights on

letters sent to the Editor.

Note: All letters will be answered by the Executive Editor, Arno Froese.

DRINKINGWINE...POLITICAL CHURCH...ROME AND THE SABBATH

Drinking WineDear Mr. Froese,

I am writing to ask a few ques-tions, about which I have heardothers asking the same. As aChristian, should anyone take adrink of alcohol, wine or beer?Some think a glass of wine isfine. They say the Lord evendrank wine, but I do know thatthe Lord didn’t drink the messthat’s in the stores today. I hearthat Baptists, Catholics and oth-ers drink alcohol and wine tosuit their surroundings. I feelthat if they are Christians, theywouldn’t want a strong drink ofany kind. As sinners, I knownone of us, not one is perfect.Lord knows, I would like to be;that’s my desire.

-S. Thomas, NC

Answer: The dietary law was given to

the Jews. Jesus made it very clear that

it is not what goes in the mouth, but

what comes out of the mouth from the

heart that defiles man (Matthew 15:17-

19). You are treading upon dangerous

ground when you start making laws

regarding food and drink. The Bible

clearly documents that Jesus drank

wine (see Luke 7:34; Matthew 11:19).

The apostle Paul warned: “It is good

neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine,

nor any thing whereby thy brother

stumbleth, or is offended, or is made

weak” (Romans 14:21). This shows that

eating meat may be just as offensive to

someone who is weak in the faith as

drinking wine.

Political ChurchDear Brother Arno,

I want to say how much I haveenjoyed and been blessed by themany books and CDs that I havereceived since becoming a lifemember. Brother Arno’s remarksin the CDs of the Month are soprofoundly Scriptural and per-ceptive. In one CD, I was particu-larly struck by his commentabout what he called the “fanati-cal nationalism” permeating thechurch, especially in the U.S. Ihave come to understand this somuch better because of the teach-ing presented in Midnight Call. Iagree that many Christians in ournation are deceived in believingthat America is a Christian nation

and that it was founded as aChristian nation. I just, in fact,read a book (American Gospel) bya secular author (which I rarelydo, but I have time for since I’mretired), Mr. Jon Meacham, whowas the managing editor ofNewsweek. Mr. Meacham, whoI’ve seen on news programs manytimes on MSNBC, is a very well-spoken and seemingly kind gen-tleman, who I would say is anominal Christian. He is an ac-complished historian and thebook espoused many of the sameideas which I have read in Mid-night Call. He traces the Freema-son and Deist roots of theAmerican founders, and it reallyseems that not one of them was areal Christian—not so far as I candetermine.

Amazing to me was the finalquote and sort of capstonethought to the book fromThomas Jefferson, “I have swornupon the altar of God eternalhostility against every form oftyranny over the mind of man.” Iread that and just thought itsounds like President Jefferson

Letters to the Editor


was talking more about the altarof Freemasonry or Humanismthan the True God, our Father.Jefferson’s mind itself unfortu-nately was under much tyranny,since this is not the statement ofone born again of the dear HolySpirit by faith in our gloriousLord Jesus. Also, eternal hostilityand judgment belong only to theLord Jesus Christ Himself.

-M. McLaughlin, OH

Answer: Thank you for the book, Ameri-

can Gospel. It is indeed unfortunate that

we have immersed Christianity in the

political process, which aligns with Ro-

man doctrine. Political Christianity fol-

lows precisely in the direction Pope Leo

XIII quotes in his book, A Light in the

Heavens: “And if society is to be healed

now, in no other way can it be healed

save by a return to Christian life and

Christian institutions. When a society is

perishing, the wholesome advice to give

to those who would restore it is to recall

it to the principles from which it sprang.”

The Bible, our only authority, makes

no provision for a Christian government

or a Christian nation. There never was

one and there never will be one. We (the

True Church) are a “small flock,” often de-

spised, rejected, and sometimes perse-

cuted. But that small flock is His Church.

It continues to be built and will be per-

fected one day, which will initiate the

Rapture into His presence.

Rome and the SabbathDear Mr. Froese,

Your naming of the four greatpowers of Babylon, Medo-Persia,Greece and Rome are, to my un-derstanding, correct, not onlyfrom the Book of Revelation butalso from the Book of Daniel. But,

it seems to me that there are twoparts of Rome. One is ancient“Pagan” Rome from 168 B.C. un-til its breakup by the varioustribes around it more than 600years later. The other succeeds itand is called “Papal” Rome,which eliminated three of thesetribes; thus, in effect in 538 A.D.,gave the Pope not only the powerof the church but also the powerto control civil governments.With this dual power, it became apersecuting power and historianscredit the church, workingthrough civil governments, withpersecuting and killing thou-sands who disagreed with its doc-trines and its policies. Nearly athousand years later as Protes-tantism began, the protest forwhich it is named and later, whenthe head of the Papal Church wasjailed, some of that persecutioncame to an end.

The lesson of the 1260 yearperiod of the “woman in thewilderness” (exactly the length oftime of the supremacy of the pa-pal power) is that it is not up togovernments to enforce Christianbehavior. One becomes a saint bychoosing to serve Him who gaveHis life for us. The Scripture says,“Choose you this day whom yewill serve” (Joshua 24:15).

It is the One who gave His lifefor our redemption who said, “Ifyou love Me, keep My command-ments.” Papal Rome claims tohave the authority to change theSabbath from Saturday to Sunday.It has repeated that claim timeand again, and says that thechange is a “sign” of its authorityto do so. But Sunday is still a pa-

gan holiday. It has no validity asa Sabbath either in Scripture orin history.

-F. Owens, ID

Answer: God’s Word is the ultimate

authority, “One man esteemeth one

day above another: another es-

teemeth every day alike. Let every

man be fully persuaded in his own

mind” (Romans 14:5). If in Israel, I

would rest on Saturday. In an Islamic

country, it would be Friday, and in the

so-called European world (West), we

rest Sunday. That, incidentally, was the

day Christ arose. Also, it was “the first

day of the week, when the disciples

came together to break bread…” (Acts

20:7). The Bible documents the

uniqueness of the Sabbath as being

exclusively for the children of Israel.

What is the Sabbath? “It is a sign be-

tween me and the children of Israel for

ever…” (Exodus 31:17).

CremationDear Editor,

Your article and letter regard-ing cremation as “pagan” hascaused me much concern. I ama born again Christian and havebeen most of my life. My hus-band and I agreed on cremationand made the arrangementsyears ago. He died 10 years ago.

I felt no qualms about thisdecision and had discussed itwith my pastor.

I think of the saints burnedon stakes, devoured by beasts,and people lost at sea. Does itconcern God what happens tothe shell we occupied here onearth? We know our spiritshave a new body with Him inheaven.

Letters to the Editor

It seems cleaner than ourbodies rotting and becomingworm-infested in the ground.

Ashes are dust—it all goesinto the earth again in time.

There are so many who justcannot pay the cost of a funeral.

I have always had the greatestrespect for your teachings, andstill do, but I take issue withyou on this. I do not see that theBible teaches this.

-G. Beyer, OR

Answer: You are confusing cremation

with salvation, which have no relation

to one another. God can do all things;

He can restore from dust or from

ashes.

I have provided some of the reasons

in my tract, Burial or Cremation? But let

me add one more: Our body is the tem-

ple of the Holy Spirit; therefore, one

cannot dispose of it in any way one

chooses. We should follow Scripture’s

instructions. For example: Would you

take an old worn out Bible and throw it

in the trash? Or let your children tear

out pages? Of course not. Would the el-

ders of a church agree to sell their

church building to someone that

wants to turn it into an adult book-

store? I don’t think so. The church build-

ing is a place set aside for believers to

assemble; therefore, we respect it.

TithesDear Sir,

I am studying the Bible ontithes, and would like to knowif it is necessary for Christiansto give tithes. Also, do youthink that the believers, includ-ing Gentiles, during the apos-tles’ day gave tithes?

-M. Carlos, Brasilia, BRAZIL

Answer: Tithes are a good guideline for

Christians, but they were strictly given to

the children of Israel, who lived under

the law. For the New Covenant, whether

Jews or Gentiles, 1 Corinthians 16:2 ap-

ples, “Upon the first day of the week let

every one of you lay by him in store, as

God hath prospered him, that there be

no gatherings when I come.” That, obvi-

ously, applied to the time of the apostles

as well.

Founding FathersDear Mr. Froese:

I’m writing about all the stuffyou wrote concerning our Ma-sonic founding fathers, which Iwasn’t aware of, but am not ques-tioning any of its authenticity. It’smind-boggling.

It seems a little stupid to ask ifour America was built on the Ma-sonic or on Christian principles,but was this part of the Satanicconspiracy for a new world orderfrom the founding of our Amer-ica…or part of Satan’s long rangeplan to establish a universal king-dom for himself and receive wor-ship? Often, I’ve written that ourAmerica was built on Christianprinciples…is that right or wrongin your opinion?

This question is asked in lightof the fact that Satan is the “god ofthis world” (2 Corinthians 4:4);he is “the prince of the power ofthe air, the spirit that now wor-keth in the children of disobedi-ence” (Ephesians 2:2); and whiletempting our wonderful Lord Je-sus, Satan said, “All this powerwill I give thee, and the glory ofthem: for that is delivered untome; and to whomsoever I will Igive it. If thou therefore wilt wor-

ship me, all shall be thine” (Luke4:6-7).

-A. Cockrum, TN

Answer: All 35 sovereign nations estab-

lished by Europeans on the American

continent (North and South) were built

on “Christian principles.” By tradition and

often by law, they were bound to the

Christian religion. If “Christian principles”

were truly instituted in a “Christian na-

tion,” they would be required to follow

the words of Jesus, “…I say unto you,

That ye resist not evil: but whosoever

shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn

to him the other also… But I say unto

you, Love your enemies, bless them that

curse you, do good to them that hate

you, and pray for them which despite-

fully use you, and persecute you”

(Matthew 5:39, 44). Immediately we rec-

ognize the impossibility for a so-called

Christian country to function.

The Ten Commandments are a good

summary of the principles of the Old Tes-

tament. No nation on the face of the

earth could function without respecting

at least some of the Ten Command-

ments. Whether dictatorship, democracy,

monarchy, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, etc.,

you will not find a government that tells

its children to be disobedient to their

parents, rewards people who lie, steal,

and kill, or encourages adultery.

Yet it is true these principles are

being slowly displaced, particularly

the Tenth Commandment. If this

commandment were practiced, the

so-called free capitalist system would

disintegrate. To desire that which oth-

ers have (celebrities, billionaires, etc.)

is the driving force that makes the

global economy function. Without

desiring more, the motor of the world

economy would sputter and come to

a standstill.

JANUARY 2016 41

MC


42 M I D N I G H T C A L L42 M I D N I G H T C A L L

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My Utmost for His HighestClassic Edition

Looking for a daily devotional tochallenge both heart and mind? Try My Utmost for His Highest byOswald Chambers, here in theclassic, unabridged edition.

ITEM# 2243 • 384 pgs. • Paperback $6Author: Oswald Chambers

MyUtmost for His

Highest

WINDOWS OFWORSHIPITEM #9062CD • 46 min.

$14.95Sale $10Pat Frazier’s Windows ofWorship piano medleys will stir your soul as you

hear the old-fashioned, greatly beloved and enduringhymns of times past.

COME INTO HIS PRESENCEITEM #9064 • CD • 56 min.

$14.95Sale $10Come Into His Presence by MichaelShull will lead you through 28 ofthe most beloved Christianhymns, starting with Sweet Hour

of Prayer and concluding with God Be WithYou. This instrumental presentation (dulcimer) will touchyour heart and lead you to worship Him who is the Authorand Finisher of our faith.

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One of the unique books published by Midnight Call Ministries is Lettersto the Editor. This book features original letters with a variety of ques-tions selected during many decades and prayerfully answered from thepages of Holy Scripture. Letters to the Editor is a topical arrangement of carefully compiled

and categorized letters that appeared in Midnight Call magazine. EditorArno Froese has tackled a great many challenging questions in the maga-zine’s most popular feature, such as Church Doctrine, Eschatology, Scrip-ture Explanations and the Rapture of the Church.This 438-page book will contribute to a better understanding of many

often difficult questions. You will find twenty-two chapters categorized under subject issues for

easy reference. Here are the chapter titles:

Find out for yourself why “Letters to the Editor” is the popular column in Midnight Call magazine,as testified by innumerable readers with the words, “When I receive your magazine, I first go tothe last pages and read the ‘Letters to the Editor.’”

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ITEM #1045

438 Pages • Hardcover$22.99 Clearance $12 Author: Arno Froese

• Creation/Evolution• Sin• Israel• Authority of Scripture• Spiritual Fundamentals• Prayer and Salvation• Christian Practices?• End of Life

• Scriptural Explanation• Endtime Prophecy• Future Prophecies• Past and Future Prophecies• Globalism or Patriotism?• Bible Codes, Y2K, and Promise Keepers

Clearance

Questions That Need Answers


Midnight Call PO Box 84309 Lexington, SC 29073

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage PaidColumbia, SCPermit No. 185

The book of Revelation begins and ends withguarantees that its inspiring message leads toblessing. Popular Bible teacher and author Ron

Rhodes guides readers on an encouraging journeythrough this prophetic book, interpreting itspicturesque language and revealing its reassuringpromises. Each short chapter is perfect for a groupBible study or a personal quiet time and includes…

• Scripture Reading and Insights—a short passage of Revelation and easy-to-understand notes on eachverse• Major Themes—brief summaries of the mostimportant ideas• Digging Deeper with Cross-References—severalother passages readers can look up on relevant topics• Life Lessons—practical and helpful applications toeveryday life• Questions for Reflection and Discussion—thought-provoking starters for group discussions or personaljournaling

Readers who may have been confused orintimidated by Revelation will appreciate this easy-to-understand and practical presentation of its empowering truths.

40 DAYS THROUGH REVELATION ITEM #2301304 pgs. • Paperback

$13.99 Author: Ron Rhodes

Uncovering the Mystery of the End Times

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Pg. 39 Should We Pray? - Midnight Call · THE C ROSS IN THE S HADOW OF THE C RESCENT ITEM #2300 256 pgs. • Paperback $14.99 Author: Erwin W. Lutzer Unleashing the Power of God’s