WHOEVER HAS EARS TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR!

Hearing and listening problems seem to be part of la condition humaine. My wife often points out that even though I appear to be listening, often I don’t hear.  This may be something that other husbands recognize, and I wonder why it is that real hearing is so difficult for husbands? It may also be challenging for wives, but many husbands don’t even want to talk, so the hearing challenge for wives could be one of trying to interpret grunts! This is a perplexing process and could end up with lawyers, where misunderstanding is almost certain. I remind myself each day of the great saying that I came up with many years ago: everyone’s marriage is in trouble, it’s just that most of us don’t know it yet! This saying keeps me working hard every day to ensure that my marriage isn’t in trouble – for now.

I have been thinking about the challenge of hearing for some months because it seems that we live in a society where we receive terabytes of information daily, but the trivial and the essential are mixed together so that we find it difficult to discern what is really important and what is merely distracting. Additionally, we are being shaped in our daily lives by social influencers and the government who are using psychological tools of persuasion to “help” us. This last week I watched the International Cricket Council Test match final with India playing Australia at The Oval in London (for US readers, Australia won – it was a big deal!). During various breaks in play, I was staggered by the number of Australian government advertisements that were shown. Ads for “top-up” of COVID vaccination, promotion of The Voice, a referendum that I wrote about last week and is designed to enshrine racism in our constitution. Also ads for indigenous health programs that imply that indigenous people are being treated unfairly.

We are being manipulated by the government constantly and often we are unaware of how our views are being shaped by the media and entertainment generally.

Ears to Hear

Although there were no advertisements or social media distractions in Galilee 2,000 years ago, as I have been reading through the New Testament recently, I noted how often Jesus used this phrase: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15, Matthew 13:9, Matthew 13:43, Mark 4:9,  Mark 7:16, Mark 4:23, Luke 8:8, Luke 14:35, Revelation 2:7, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 2:17, Revelation 2:29, Revelation 3:6, Revelation 3:13, Revelation 3:22, Revelation 13:9).

Now, it seems likely that hearing problems were no more common in Jesus’ day than ours, and so Jesus was not trying to get his message to the hearing impaired. Rather, his repetition of the phrase, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” indicates that he was trying to convey the problem of really understanding and acting on the messages that he was giving. It seems that there was a block or inability to understand his communication.

The Shema

The Shema – “Hear O Israel (שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל), God is our Lord, God is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4) has been a central component of Jewish life for thousands of years, being recited at morning and evening prayer services. The key verb in Hebrew is an imperative of the verb שָׁמַע transliterated as šâma‘. The Hebrew verb means to hear intelligently or attentively, to discern and also implies to listen and be obedient. The essence of the word Shema is to listen and do. Almost certainly, Jesus was calling his followers to listen and take action.

Moses’ Final Message

As I was reflecting on these ideas, my mind was drawn back to Moses and his final sermon before he died, as the children of Israel were about to cross the Jordan River, into the Promised Land. This company which may have been more than 3 million men, women and children were told:

“Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, “Take heed and listen, O Israel: This day you have become the people of the LORD your God. Therefore you shall obey the voice of the LORD your God, and observe His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.” (Deuteronomy 27:9-10). The Hebrew word translated into English here as “obey” is again from the word שְׁמַע .

Moses reinforced God’s directions by having half the tribes of Israel stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people and the other half stand on Mount Ebal to speak curses, after they crossed over the river. There were to be blessings if the children of Israel were obedient (again the Hebrew word is shema), but there were to be curses if they turned away from God (Deuteronomy 27:10 – Deuteronomy 28:14).

There is substantially more detail about the blessings and curses of these chapters in Deuteronomy, and those crossing into the Promised Land must have felt a sense of awe and chastening as they entered their new home. Unfortunately, these terrible warnings were soon forgotten by the children of Israel as they turned towards other Gods and rejected the One who had delivered them out of Egypt into the Promised Land. Much of the rest of the Old Testament details the story of God’s people rejecting Him but God doing everything to call them back to Himself.

Joshua’s Admonition to Enter the Promised Land

After Moses’ death, Joshua the son of Nun, was selected by God to lead Israel, and God reinforced the importance of the commandments given to Moses. God then gave Joshua this important instruction:

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8).

The Book of the Law is the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Previously God had commanded the children of Israel, immediately following after the shema:

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).

The Book of the Law and Our Challenge in Hearing

The Book of the Law is the foundational document for Western society. We would all do well to teach God’s commands to our children; when we sit in our houses, walk by the way, lie down and get up. Reading, reciting and meditating (in Hebrew this word means murmuring or speaking) on God’s law will help us to hear (listen and do) the things that please God at a time when, increasingly, the world has chosen to act in ways that are against His law.

I wonder why it is so difficult to hear? These are a few of the reasons that I have been thinking about:

1. We live in a world of noise and distraction. Most of us have been little quiet time. Mostly we are listening to music or podcasts, talking on the phone, watching videos etc. Our lives are crowded out by noise, and it is hard to have time to think about what is important in our lives and where we should focus our attention. Somehow, we must create some quiet time in our day to think about what we are doing and allow time for God to speak to us.

2. We are focused on entertainment. Most of us spend more time on our devices than is healthy and recent studies indicate that social media is addictive. What many of us don’t realize is that these programs are shaping us. It is worthwhile watching the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma. This film has interviews with a range of tech experts who explain how various social media apps respond to our interests and then shape what we see. Here are a couple of important quotes from the film:

   “If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product”, and also, “We’re the product. Our attention is the product being sold to advertisers.” Even more sinister is that the programs are influencing us: “It’s the gradual, slight, imperceptible change in your own behavior and perception that is the product.” – see this link.

3. We are wise in our own eyes (Isaiah 5:21). This makes us resistant to hearing. Increasingly, we live in a world where we are being bombarded with information that is promoted to us in the name of “social justice”. Many of us are convinced that this modern thinking must be correct. Male and female are declared to be a social construct, abortion as liberating, euthanasia as kind, punishment for crime is regressive, animal rights equated to human rights and the environment promoted as a god to be worshipped.

Having “ears to hear” is a dilemma for our day. We can hear but often are listening to and acting on wrong information. There is widespread deception, greater than at any time in history, and while there are “fact-checking” sites, these usually have a bias and so cannot be trusted.  I sense that I, like many today, are not listening to what is God’s Word in His book, the Bible, because of being distracted by many issues of the day.

Jesus and Words of Eternal Life

It is salutary to read about what happened when Jesus talked to his many followers after he had fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two small fish, provided by a lad. Not surprisingly, many followed Him after this great miracle. Jesus then spoke to his disciples in such a way that many of them left Him. He said:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.” (John 6:53-57).

These words were shocking in that day and are still shocking today. Most disciples left, and there was only the core group of 12 disciples that remained. Jesus said to them: “Do you also want to go away?” (John 6:67).

Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68).

This is, I believe, the core message for today when there is so much misinformation and disinformation. Jesus, alone, has the words of eternal life. It is worthwhile putting time aside to read and study His Word to attune our ears to hear His voice.

To conclude, I found this section -  from the website, www.gotquestions.org worthwhile reading and considering in relation to having “ears to hear”:

“Who is “he who has ears”? The simple answer: all people who have been or are being given the words of God. Like the parables’ original audience, we must also “Listen up! Pay close attention!” Jesus’ simple request is that we use our God-given faculties (eyes to see, ears to hear) to tune in to His words (John 10:27 –28; Mark 4:24; Revelation 3:20). “For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open” (Mark 4:22). Seeking God’s truth takes energy and focus; it takes a willingness to be challenged and changed. While the way of God’s truth is not the most convenient or fun path to take, we can be assured that it is the best one (John 1:4; 10:9; 14:6).”

STORIES THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION THIS WEEK

International Digital Passports Coming

I have written several times about the coming “green” passports, that were mandated in many countries during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Joel Skousen has a useful article in this week’s World Affairs Brief – about international plans for vaccine passports, and I have reproduced part of his article below.

“As additional evidence that these international plans are attacks on freedom the WHO admitted this week they are launching a new Global Vaccine Passport Initiative, even though the pandemic on which it was falsely based is over. It demonstrates that exaggerated pandemics are the lever the globalists continue to use to chip away at our liberties. Michael Nevradakis, Ph. D. reports for Childrens Health Defense:

Technology expert Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D., told The Defender that, under the guise of preserving freedom, a digital passport system “means restraints on movement and living for the unvaccinated and forced vaccination to participate in life.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission — the executive branch of the European Union (EU) — on Monday launched a “landmark digital health partnership” marking the beginning of the WHO Global Digital Health Certification Network (GDHCN) to promote a global interoperable digital vaccine passport.

Beginning this month, the WHO will adopt the EU’s system of digital COVID-19 certification “to establish a global system that will help facilitate global mobility and protect citizens across the world from on-going and future health threats, including pandemics,” according to Monday’s announcements by the WHO and the European Commission.

Of course, what they mean by “facilitate global mobility” is that it mobility will be only for the vaxxed. The unvaxxed will be banned from international travel and any mass transit such as use of public transportation by plane, bus, train or ferry. 

The organizations said the WHO will not collect individuals’ personal data via these digital passports — stating that such data collection “would continue to be the exclusive domain of governments.”

Anyone believe that? Even if true, it’s bad enough that any nation would put the non-vaxxed on a a “no travel” list. 

Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D., author of “Google Archipelago: The Digital Gulag and the Simulation of Freedom,” told The Defender that, under the guise of preserving freedom, a digital passport system “means restraints on movement and living for the unvaccinated and forced vaccination to participate in life.”

The Secret Speech of General Chi Haotian

On a recent podcast, reference was made to a secret speech given by a Chinese General, General Chi Haotian in 2003. This sounded intriguing and I started doing some research to find out more about the speech. After spending a few hours on the internet, I was surprised to find out that the speech may have some validity and it provides insight into the foundational thinking of a senior CCP official 20 years ago. The Epoch Times published details - of the secret speech in an article written by J.R. Nyquist. Nyquist is well-credentialled and “is a columnist and the author of the books “Origins of the Fourth World War” and “The Fool and His Enemy,” as well as co-author of “The New Tactics of Global War.”

He reported in June 2020 in the Epoch Times, on the secret speech by General Haotian, having published details of the speech in his blog on 11 September 2019.

It may be difficult to authenticate but I have found a number of reports of the original speech which corroborate the speech details, and so I have reproduced a few key items from the speech for your interest.

• China’s Superiority - “..we can assert that we are the product of cultural roots of more than a million years, and a single Chinese entity of two thousand years. This is the Chinese entity of two thousand years. This is the Chinese nation that calls itself, “descendants of Yan and Huang,” the Chinese nation that we are so proud of…… ….We all know that on account of our national superiority, during the thriving and prosperous Tang Dynasty our civilization was at the peak of the world…… We must greet the arrival of the Chinese Century by raising high the banner of national revitalization……………….. So, the fundamental reason for the defeats of Germany and Japan is that history did not arrange them to be the “lords of the earth,” for they are, after all, not the most superior race.”

• China’s Superior Decision-Making – “The reason that the United States remains today is that it has never seen war on its mainland. Once its enemies aim at the mainland, these enemies would reach Washington before its congress finishes debating and authorizes the president to declare war. But for us, we don’t waste time on these trivial things. Comrade Deng Xiaoping once said, “The Party’s leadership is prompt in making decisions. Once a decision is made, it is immediately implemented. There’s no wasting time on trivial things like in capitalist countries. This is our advantage!

• Atheism Is Important to China’s Strategy – “..If we let theology from the West into China and empty us from the inside, if we let all Chinese people listen to God and follow God, who will obediently listen to us and follow us? If the common people don’t believe Comrade Hu Jintao is a qualified leader, question his authority, and want to monitor him, if the religious followers in our society question why we are leaving God in churches, can our Party continue to rule China?”

• Living Space – “Anybody who has been to Western countries knows that their living space is much better than ours. They have forests alongside the highways, while we hardly have any trees by our streets. Their sky is often blue with white clouds, while our sky is covered by a layer of dark haze. Their tap water is clean enough for drinking, while even our ground water is so polluted that it can’t be drunk without filtering. They have few people in the streets, and two or three people can occupy a small residential building; in contrast, our streets are always crawling with people, and several people have to share one room……………………. From the perspective of history, the reason that China is faced with the issue of living space is because Western countries established colonies ahead of Eastern countries. Western countries established colonies all around the world, therefore giving themselves an advantage on the issue of living space. To solve this problem, we must lead the Chinese people outside of China, so that they could develop outside of China.”

These quotes give readers a flavour of what General Haotian’s secret speech touched upon. It is worthwhile taking the time to read the whole speech. One can see some fundamental ideas and strategies in CCP thinking, which has a long-term view, unlike Western democracies where most politicians have a three to five year horizon. I suspect that we are going to see the dominance of China over the next 70 years and it does seem that the CCP is positioning itself for global conquest in one form or another. Record numbers of Chinese nationals have been crossing the US southern border - and if you were paranoid, you could wonder if some of these tens of thousands of Chinese could be “activated” at some time in the future. At least, it seems like a good plot for a movie.

UN’s Proposal to Create “Apex Body” in Charge of Financial System

One thing we have to remember is that globalist bureaucrats are continuously at work deciding on cunning ways to control us. Now they are aided by AI which is much more efficient than the old system. Groups such as the Gates Foundation and other “non-profits” are pouring money into the creation of systems for digital identity and surveillance. Technocracy News drew attention this week to a recent UN-sponsored “High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation” . This event was co-chaired by Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation and Jack Ma, the person credited with creating China’s social credit scoring system. Patrick Wood concludes “This group of arch-Technocrats is deciding the future of mankind: total digitalization and total control.” Wood cites an article by Dr Jacob Nordangard titled: “What’s Next to the Moon? An “Apex Body” and a Digital ID to Rule Us All”.

Dr Nordangard writes:

“Among the proposals are a new “apex body” in charge of the entire financial system that will “enhance its coherence and align its priorities with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” This could, according to Secretary-General António Guterres, be done through a “Biennial Summit between the Group of 20, Economic and Social Council, the Secretary-General, and heads of international financial institutions.”

This will further integrate the G20 with the United Nations into a body that can be described as an economic Security Council. It also seems like a perfect nest for the “apex predators” that runs the international banking system.

A vital part of the agenda is also digital connectivity and the establishment of a Global Digital Compact. This can be described as a cybernetic organ, consisting of a digitally connected network of people, entities, devices, and things, that easily can be directed by those who run the system. In the Policy Brief it is for example explained how digitisation will help to achieve the global goals. The suggestions happens to be very similar to what World Economic Forum and PwC prescribed in their report Unlocking Technologies for the Global Goals in 2020. A Digital ID is a cornerstone in this work and is among other things seen as a way to reduce poverty.”

Dr Nordangard’s article is worthwhile reading in full as the Gates Foundation and other global organizations have long been promoting an international digital ID. The ideas tie in with the G20 and commitment to “digital passports” and also the WHO, which sees these tools as essential elements to deal with future pandemics. Be on your guard!

The Ongoing Theatre of Trump’s Legal Challenges and Court Appearances

I had a US friend staying with me in the Snowy Mountains when Donald Trump came down the golden escalator to announce his bid for the US presidency in 2015. It seemed like an elaborate joke at the time, but I subsequently followed the Republican presidential race with great interest and saw all the debates. It was hard not to be captivated by Trump's great one-liners – “crooked Hilary”, “lyin’Ted”,  “Little Marco”,  and of course “Low Energy Jeb”. In the course of time, I became a great Trump supporter because he was promoting policies that I thought were good for the US and the world. I even bought a few caps featuring “Make America Great Again”. I hadn’t realized how dangerous it was to wear a cap like this until 2017 when I met a US friend at Sydney airport and I was abused by many waiting in the airport arrivals hall.

Trump polarizes like no previous politician and attracts enemies like a magnet. I have studied the claims of interference in the 2020 election in detail and I believe that Trump was correct in believing that the election was rigged. Dinesh D’Souza’s documentary 2,000 Mules-  provides convincing evidence about voter fraud involving postal ballots.

Now we are entering the lead-up period to the US primaries, and Trump is well ahead in all the polls. The Democrats continue with their strategy of trying to use the legal system to bring Trump down. It is extraordinary that they have used supposed Russian connections (completely false), spied on his campaign, two attempts at impeachment, and now an array of court cases, to try to land a knockout blow. The latest one, set in Miami this week, could result in hundreds of years in jail if Trump were to be convicted. A lesser man would have “thrown in the towel”, but Trump just keeps getting back to his feet.

I have listened to many commentators views and have come to my own conclusion that for all his flaws and foibles, Trump is probably the best candidate for president at this time. Ultimately, my assessment is simple. Everyone on the left of politics hates Trump with such passion and are prepared to upend the legal system to convict him of something. This means he must be on the right track and his supporters know that he will fight for them against the “deep state”. It does mean that the political divide will keep increasing and no one can predict how the US can negotiate its way to a place where there is common ground.