Gaza: Buildings Down – People Out

Israel is aiming to move the population of Gaza to other countries. The more I hear about the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, the more it seems that their endgame is to say to the Gazans ‘There’s nothing for you here now. Go and live elsewhere.’ I can’t see anyone hindering the Israeli aim.

Last Wednesday, Andrea De Domenico, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, spoke to a Webinar organised by the Balfour Project. The Balfour Project is a UK secular organisation, influenced by former UK diplomats to Israel, seeking to redress the damage done by the UK in issuing the Balfour Declaration in 1917. The British Government then Declared support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, which would not be against the interests of the existing inhabitants. A fairy tale Declaration of British ability to do the impossible – create a new ‘homeland’ in the historical homeland of other people. The Jewish homeland, now State of Israel, has had to occupy the land, the home, of other people, whether the other people like it or not. This is probably why, in the 1947 UN vote to create the State of Israel, Britain abstained.

Andrea spoke of his visits over many years, and recently, to Gaza. He knows North Gaza, Gaza City, home to 1.2 million people, well. Or knew. Describing his last visit, he repeated his shock that nothing of significant parts of the city he knew remains. No rubble, no indication where the streets used to be. Bare land. ‘A moonscape,’ which Andrea could hardly believe.

No photos are available of the moonscape. Many photos are available of the rubble.

Andrea went on to describe the ‘systematic’ destruction of civil infrastructure in Gaza. 73% of all schools have been destroyed. Both Universities have been destroyed. Most hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. Andrea repeated that the destruction has been ‘systematic.’

Andrea lamented the disregard for proportionality in warfare, but did not consider whether the destruction is deliberate policy under a smokescreen of war. His focus, rightly, is on the people rather than the buildings. He, and others, know and feel the immediate needs of people homeless, hungry, injured, bereaved. Concerned observers across the world share the same focus. The urgent need is for aid. Wider, longer-term, considerations are pushed to one side for now.

Andrea did say that the World Bank has estimated that rebuilding Gaza will cost at least $US 20 billion. He said that previous rebuilding in Gaza after previous Israeli assaults has been paid for by the international community. He wondered what would happen this time, though indicated that Israel will probably, again, not have to pay.

In contrast to Andrea and many concerned observers, Israel’s immediate focus is not the needs of Palestinians, but the plight of Israeli hostages. The assault will continue until as many hostages as possible have been freed. By then even more of Gaza will have been systematically destroyed.

What follows? Israel is unlikely to support any rebuilding. They have expended huge effort to destroy, systematically, therefore with intent, with purpose. The Israeli Government will say to the Gazans. ‘There is nothing here for you now. No homes, no schools, no hospitals, no businesses. Go elsewhere.’

In Will Israel allow rebuilding in Gaza? | Rogerharper’s Blog (wordpress.com) I explained a common Israeli view I have heard that the Palestinians should have gone elsewhere in 1948 and that their emigration now remains The Solution.

US and Western support for Israel has been strong. It is highly unlikely that this will change. US and Western Governments see the systematic destruction and are more able than I to put two and two together. They say nothing. Support will continue. Israel, and Israel’s endgame, will prevail. Biden’s jetty will be used to embark Palestinians leaving Gaza. If each Palestinian family receives a resettlement grant of $200,000 it will be cheaper than rebuilding. Appallingly sad.

Along with the UK’s fairy tale Declaration, there was a common, Jewish Zionist, 1930s and 1940s fairy tale Call ‘A land without a people for a people without a land.’ Palestine, including Gaza, was always a land with people, as everyone knew. Now the Israeli Government is creating, through the deliberate destruction of buildings in Gaza, a land without a people.

Jesus weeps. For the homeless victims and for the hard-hearted aggressors who will reap what they have sown.

Israel Escalates

A swaggering loud-mouthed PE teacher at my boarding school threw a broken fence post into a wasps’ nest next to the path we took to return from the playing fields. We had to run through a fire storm of wasp stings.

The Israeli Government provoked the Iranian Government by attacking their Consulate in Syria, killing 16 people. Diplomatic buildings are recognised as outposts of that country’s territory. Not only did Israel carry out an attack within the territory of another sovereign nation, (which the US considers their right too), they effectively attacked Iranian territory. All at a time when they need the support of other nations.

The Israeli Government have now called the Iranian response, attacking Israeli territory, without killing anyone, an escalation. Iran knew that their rockets and drones would be shot down. This was severe sabre-rattling. The Iranian Government has declared that they will attack Israel no more – unless Israel retaliates, escalates further. The Israeli Government now vows to retaliate, escalate further, inviting more fire storms against Israel.

And the BBC make headlines about the Iranian ‘escalation’ hiding the original, provocative and unjustified escalation by Israel.

Why Israel’s attack on Iranian consulate in Syria was a gamechanger | Israel | The Guardian

Jesus weeps.

Climate Change: Stop Catastrophising

‘We’re all doomed’ was the background music of my teenage years. Emerging from the cocoon of childhood into the spectre of the mushroom, nuclear, cloud. MAD was certain – Mutually Assured Destruction. We had more than enough nuclear weapons to wipe all life off our planet, a few times over. We wanted to give peace a chance but knew it was far more likely that none of us would live to see 60 years old.

Now I am 66 years old and expect to live for at least 20 more years. MAD has been recognised as mad. The nuclear weapons we were assured were going to be used have never been used. The more time goes on, the more unthinkable their use is. The catastrophic predictions have all been proved wrong.

There is evidence that the current catastrophic predictions of Climate Change will also be proved wrong.

Remember the Winners

A few years ago, an agriculturalist wrote in the Christian Aid magazine about coffee growing in Ethiopia. Addressing the effect of upcoming climate change, this expert wrote that there will be losers and there will be winners. Some areas of Ethiopia will become less suitable for growing coffee. Some areas will become more suitable.

We don’t hear about the winners of climate change. Yet winners are indeed still expected. Russia sees itself as a winner. Huge areas of Siberia will no longer be permanently frozen. Agriculture will thrive on previously icy barren land. Russians are well known for being at least reluctant to join in anti-climate-change initiatives or even talks. They see themselves as winners.

Many other areas are similar. Northern Canada, Southern Argentina, Southern New Zealand, mid-level slopes of the Himalayas etc. If our climate changes as predicted, these areas will grow more food, support more people.

Also a few years ago, my farmer brother-in-law told me that French vineyard owners are buying up South-facing hillsides in Yorkshire for future vineyards. This may be a Rural Myth, but myths are specific stories which convey widely understood truth. British farmers also know that climate change will produce winners as well as losers.

We are told far too often, with far too little challenge, that climate change will make us all losers, that we will lose our planet. Too many people shout that change means disaster, global warming means extinction. This exaggeration needs to be cut down to size. We need to remember and to proclaim that there will be winners too.

Remember adaptability

Humans are the most adaptable creatures on earth, thriving in the most varied climates. We may need to adapt more and more quickly than we are currently used to. Though, as I look back on the cultural, economic, technological, change in my lifetime and the lifetime of my parents, I wonder how different it will be to adapt to climate change.

All other creatures, animal and plant, are also adaptable. If they were not, they would no longer exist, like the dinosaurs. We have been intensely reminded recently how adaptable viruses are. Covid 19 adapted very quickly to different climates, with new mutations and variants, emerging every few months. (Thank God that harmful viruses naturally mutate to less deadly versions. The lethal virus dies with its host body. Less lethal versions survive longer.) Green Parakeets from the foothills of the Himalayas, have adapted to living, in large numbers, in European cities. I have seen them in Barcelona, as well as all over London. Minks from North America have adapted to living in England. Elephants adapt to living in Northern Hemisphere zoos and wildlife parks.  

Plants adapt in a similar way. Think of potatoes and tomatoes from South America, and Japanese knot weed, thriving in the UK. Near my home in Derbyshire are two conjoining Dales, Lathkil Dale and Bradford Dale, each with a stream that flows into the other. Both Dales have steep rocky sides into which horizontal mine shafts were once cut for lead. The rock hauled out was washed, in pools created by miners building weirs to hold back water. The lead ore was sent to market and the spoil was left in heaps on the valley floor. Contaminated rock and water literally spoilt the vegetation. Large patches of the valley floors were poisoned, barren.

Now, the whole of each valley floor is lush and full of life. Bradford Dale, particularly, celebrates how plants have adapted to survive and thrive on lead-rich soil. New variants have emerged suited to this unusual terrain. The whole of natures is adaptable.

People can either see and trust the adaptability of nature or ignore and discount the adaptability of nature. Some see nature as adaptable, particularly to human interaction. Some see nature as vulnerable, particularly to human interaction.

The people responsible for Lathkil Dale have fenced off a large section, to protect the ‘vulnerable’ plant and animal species. Humans are now banned from going close to the miner-made pools. Further up the Dale, without fences, there are signs to keep humans and their dogs from paddling in the stream.

The people responsible for Bradford Dale have put up no fences. Humans are welcome to walk, with their dogs, for the whole length of the Dale. Not only is paddling by dogs and people allowed, swimming is also fine. One deep pool, down from the village of Youlgreave, has signs alerting people that they swim at their own risk. So they swim. Nature thrives there too.

Lathkill Dale and Bradford Dale share the same geography, the same history, the same climate. One is deemed vulnerable, one adaptable. Humans disagree. The trumpeters of vulnerable nature should not be allowed to drown out people who sing of adaptable nature.

Remember Catastrophising

Humans have a natural tendency to expect the worst. We have the great ability to imagine what is not. Our imagination makes us creative; it also feeds our pessimism. Most people who have had a stomach pain for more than two weeks will find themselves thinking ‘What if it’s serious? What if it’s cancer? What if it’s spread already? What if there is nothing the doctors can do?’ We don’t choose to send our minds down that pessimistic track. Our minds run down that track by themselves. We are a catastrophising species.

About 20 years ago a friend’s wife was leaving Ethiopia to join him in London, travelling around the Christmas holidays. She found a remarkably cheap flight. On the day, her flight had only very few passengers. The airports were almost empty. Why? Because she left Addis Ababa in 1999 and landed in London in 2000. Catastrophising over ‘the Millennium Bug’ stopped nearly everyone from flying that night. We know now that that night was as safe as any other. Needless catastrophising.

CJD is a rare, unexplained, fatal, incurable, human disorder about which I now know much because my wife died of CJD two years ago. CJD is most known because of its variant, BSE or ‘Mad Cow Disease’ transferred to humans and of great concern in the UK for 20 years from 1986. At a conference for CJD families a Professor of Neurology showed us a slide of about 8 predictions of the spread of human BSE (‘Variant CJD’) from shortly after the peak of UK cases. All predictions showed cases continuing, decreasing before increasing again and then decreasing but remaining an ongoing health issue for a few people. Different predictions showed more or less cases. On the same slide we were shown the actual incidence of Variant CJD since the projections. Cases immediately dropped to near zero and have remained at zero or near zero. The reality has been far less serious than even the most optimistic projections. Projections by scientists were not immune to normal human catastrophising.

We had a similar experience with Asiatic Bird Flu and with Swine Flu which, we were assured at the times, were predicted to impact the world far more than they did. I remember the stern warnings issued by Church Authorities about the shared Communion Cup, which were never needed. We have experience of scientists catastrophising. We should bear this in mind as we assess current predictions about Climate Change.

The shrinking of glaciers in the Alps has been publicised as strong evidence of impending catastrophe. On a visit to Chamonix last year I learnt that in recent history the Mont Blanc glaciers had expanded considerably, leading 18^th Century clergy to try to cast out the demons pushing the ice forward. Current shrinking, notable as it is, has not yet taken the glaciers back to their previous size.

Remember the effects of past human development

Uganda, which I have visited several times, and in which I am an honorary member of staff at one Cathedral, has vast stretches of Papyrus Swamps. Like the Fens of Eastern England, naturally, impassably, untameably boggy.

With modern technology, the Fens now have multiple drainage canals, turning bogs into the best vegetable growing land in Europe. This human-made change from many years ago has not had a noticeable effect on the local weather, certainly not a catastrophic effect.

With modern technology, the Papyrus Swamps could also be drained, the land turned into high grade growing land. But the Ugandans are told that this change would be irresponsible and disastrous because it would affect the climate in terrible ways. The Swamps have to remain as they are. They are forbidden to do what we English did years ago, to our benefit and with no disastrous effect on climate.

Careful responsible development of the Papyrus Swamps is definitely possible. Significant areas could be preserved with their unique flora and fauna. Thousands of trees could be planted along the canals to offset the loss of carbon capturing papyrus. Crops could be varied and rotated so as not to seriously deplete the soil. We have plenty of experience of such responsible, nature-enhancing, development as well as lessons learnt from less responsible development. We continue to learn.

Uganda is not the only country with unfarmed land. Responsible development of unfarmed land across the world will be good for people and planet. We know this from experience. Catastrophising about Climate Change means that developing countries are denied benefits enjoyed by developed countries.

Remember the effect on young people

My teenage years were blighted by the spectre of atomic MAD. Today, many teenage years are blighted by the catastrophised spectre of Climate Change. People who are too young to have lived through a good few wrong catastrophic predictions are vulnerable to despair. Instead of reassuring them, our media, even governments, terrify them. We could teach and publicise the history of catastrophic predictions. Instead we hide it from those who most need it.

Our children and grandchildren have higher levels of depression, self-harm and suicide even than my generation when young. This is evidence of widespread child abuse through the catastrophising of Climate Change.

What should we, our governments, be doing?

Although there are good reasons to believe that the impact of Climate Change will not be catastrophic, there will certainly be an impact and we need to respond to this impact.

Facilitate Migration.

A friend of mine who works in helping people prepare for adverse effects of Climate Change, who has attended numerous COP Conferences, contributing to a few, agrees that the greatest need will be to facilitate migration.

Losers will need to move to winning areas. Humans have long been migraters. From before continents formed, through Ice Ages, after drought, famine, war, people have moved considerable distances, adapting to different environments. As well as being adaptable, humans are the most mobile creatures, trekking or sailing huge distances. Some will have migrated willingly, keen for a new life in a new setting. Many will have migrated reluctantly, feeling wrenched from one homeland to another that cannot be the same.

My aunt in my father’s, Jewish, side of my family, migrated from Nazi Germany to Palestine, which became Israel, to Chicago, to San Diego, California, and, lastly to Reno, Nevada. As we gathered in Reno for her 90^th birthday, she told me, bright and alert as ever, that the USA had never felt like home. She was glad, though, that it was truly home to her children and grandchildren. She had moved in the tradition of Sarah who trekked across the Middle East with her husband Abraham, and of Rebecca, who trekked, a little less, to be joined with her husband, Isaac, and of Rachel, who trekked the same route as Rebecca with her husband, Jacob.

In my mother’s side of my family, Grandfather Stanislaus migrated from the West of Ireland to Nottingham, and three of his grandchildren migrated from the UK to South Africa.

My family is not unusual. We humans have always migrated. Now, though, we have more barriers to migration than ever. National boundaries block migration. Majorities in many countries for whom ‘love your neighbour as you love yourself’ cannot apply to foreigners, block migration.

We need concerted international agreements to facilitate necessary migration. People in Bangladesh may well have to move to the slopes of the Himalayas. People on some Pacific Islands may well have to move, for instance to the Falkland Islands, or to the coast of Southern Alaska, when warmer. We need to explain the necessity and benefits of migration as widely as we can, countering the fears of immigrants. Richer countries who have contributed most to Climate Change will need to fund migration from vulnerable poorer countries. New developments on warmed-up land will create opportunities for new human communities, bringing the best of their cultures with them to a new environment while leaving the worst.

We need concerted international agreements to facilitate necessary animal and plant migration. Animals may well naturally migrate and corridors will be needed for them. Colonies of animals and plants can be established in warmed-up areas. People with more biological knowledge than I will be able to ensure survival for much of nature.

Support People in Extreme Weather Events

We need more concerted international ability to respond to adverse weather events, droughts and floods. Any time of change is a time of upheaval. We are experiencing greater climate upheaval and expect this to continue for a while. People, and animals, need and will need to be rescued and restored.

Thank God we are not bad at this already. The need to be Global Good Samaritans has wide acceptance, sometimes grudging. Very few people think the Red Cross a useless organisation. We need to re-commit heart-moved finance to being ready to respond to people at the sharpest end of Climate Change.

Stop Catastrophising

Climate change is real. Our planet is warming up. The change is caused, mostly, by us burning fossil fuels. Change means upheaval, uncertainty, fear. Change also means opportunity, invention, hope. To come through change, we need to trust and develop our ability to adapt. We need also to hold together, to look after each other, to go against the selfish drive to protect only ourselves and our corner. We are right to be concerned about climate change. We are wrong to allow that concern to mushroom into terror which paralyses us, pushes us to desperate, unwise, measures, and saps hope out of our children and grandchildren.

John 3:16 – The Hidden Truth of Salvation for the Dead

‘God so loved the cosmos that He sent his only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ John 3:16

Often rated the most famous verse in the Bible, these words of Jesus contain a hidden truth which will be fresh and surprising to many Christians.

The Greek word usually translated ‘world,’ is ‘cosmos.’ ‘Whoever’ applies to the whole cosmos. Whoever believes in Jesus, whoever comes to believe in Jesus, in whatever part of the cosmos, shall not perish but have eternal life.

What is the cosmos as John and his first readers understood it?

John and his first readers were, mostly, from a Jewish background. John wrote in Greek but his understanding was Jewish, formed not by Greek mythology but by the Old Testament.

Here is a diagram, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_cosmology, of the Old Testament cosmos:

In this cosmos, people who are alive are on the earth, people who are dead are in Sheol. This is the simple truth of the Jewish Scriptures, of the Old Testament. Everyone goes to Sheol when they die. For rich and poor, righteous and wicked, Sheol is their abode after this life.

Details about Sheol are patchy. Sheol is also known as the Pit, the Grave. Philip S Johnston wrote a book about Sheol: (‘Shades of Sheol Apollos IVP 2002.)  ‘Descriptive details are very sparse, but suggest a somnolent, gloomy existence without meaningful activity or social distinction… There is certainly no elaborate journey through the gates or stages of the underworld, in Mesopotamian or Egyptian style… So the underworld in Israel’s canonical literature can be summarized as an infrequent theme and an unwelcome fate.’

In the New Testament, Sheol is translated into the Greek Hades. This is clear from Acts 2: where Peter quotes Psalm 16. The Hebrew is ‘You do not give me up to Sheol…’ The Greek is ‘You will not abandon my soul to Hades.’ Hades is the same place as Sheol. Whoever in Sheol (Hades) who believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 says that whoever in the cosmos, whoever on the earth and whoever in Sheol (Hades), who believes in Jesus, shall have eternal life.

John 3:16 has been taken as giving hope and reason for evangelism across the whole of our world. John 3:16 also gives hope and reason for evangelism throughout Sheol (Hades.)

Are people in Sheol (Hades) for eternity?

No. Everyone in Sheol (Hades) leaves at the Final Judgement.

In Revelation John sees Death and Hades giving up the dead that were in them, and all being judged for what they had done. Rev. 20:13. Sheol (Hades) is a holding place until Final Judgement. We call a holding place before Final Judgement a remand prison. Sheol (Hades) is the remand prison for Final Judgement.

How can dead people come to believe in Jesus?

Because Jesus has been to Sheol (Hades) too and now has the keys of Sheol (Hades.)

In Acts 2 Peter explains that it is primarily Jesus whose soul was not abandoned to Hades. Peter says that Jesus was killed but God freed Jesus from death because it was impossible for Jesus to be held in death. Jesus was in the place of death, the place of all dead people, Sheol (Hades), but this place could not hold him. Sheol (Hades) holds everyone who dies, but it could not hold Jesus. Jesus has been into Sheol (Hades) and out again.

When John 3:16 says that God sent his Son, we think of Jesus being sent into the world. John thought of Jesus being sent into the cosmos, into the world of the living and into the world of the dead. God so loved the world that he sent his Son into Sheol (Hades) so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus confirms this as he speaks to John in Revelation 1:17, 18: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last and the living one. I was dead, and, see, I am alive for ever and ever. And I have the keys of Death and Hades.’

Having keys means being able to enter and exit a place whenever we want with whoever we want. Jesus can enter and exit Sheol (Hades) whenever he wants with whoever he wants. Jesus can continue to be with those in Sheol (Hades), giving them the opportunity to believe in him so that they will not perish after Final Judgement but have eternal life.

Does any other part of the Bible teach this?

John 1:29 ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the cosmos.’

John the Baptist points to Jesus as the one who takes away the sins of people in our world and in the world of the dead.

1 Peter 4:6 ‘For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.’

Peter expresses a general truth, that the good news of Jesus was brought to people in the world of the dead, in Sheol (Hades.) Earlier Peter specifically mentions Jesus preaching to the generations before the flood. Here he widens it to simply ‘the dead.’

When Jesus first went to Sheol (Hades) he proclaimed good news of forgiveness to people there. Now Jesus has the ability to continue to go to Sheol (Hades,) to proclaim good news of forgiveness to people there.

(The NIV translation reads ‘the gospel was preached to those who are now dead.’ The word ‘now’ is in no Greek manuscripts. It has been inserted into the original text by the translators.)

Matthew 16:18 ‘You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not withstand it.’

All gates keep people out of a place and keep people in a place. The gates keeping people out of Sheol (Hades) and in Sheol (Hades) will not withstand the church. The church will be able to go into Sheol (Hades) and out of Sheol (Hades) just as Jesus is now able to in and out or Sheol (Hades.) The church assists the mission of Jesus not only in the world of the living but also in the world of the dead.

Matthew 12:32 ‘Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.’

Only speaking against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven beyond this life. Other sins will be forgiven beyond this life. Sheol (Hades) is part of the age to come, the age, the life, beyond this life, where nearly all sins will be forgiven.

Revelation 14:9-11 People are held, before Final Judgement. They are ‘in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.’ See Revelation 14:9-11: All About Hades | Rogerharper’s Blog (wordpress.com)

Psalm 16:10 ‘For you do not give mu up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit.’

Peter understood this as not only thanks for healing when facing possible death, but also thanks for God’s ability to bring people, firstly Jesus, out of Sheol.

Psalm 88:10-12 ‘Do you work wonders for the dead?  Do the shades rise up to praise you?
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,  or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Are your wonders known in the darkness,  or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?’

The question is asked in hope. Jesus gives the answer. ‘Yes!’

Psalm 139:8 ‘If I ascend to heaven you are there, if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.’

God’s comforting, light-giving presence, is known in dark Sheol. The presence of Jesus, God With Us, in Sheol, is, as always, a saving presence.   

Proverbs 15:11 ‘Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD…’

Sheol (Hades) is definitely open to Jesus, because he now has the keys.

Proverbs 15:24 ‘For the wise the path of life leads upwards; in order to avoid Sheol below.’

An unusual verse indicating that the wise can go, after death, to an unspecified other place. Jesus, the most wise, went to Sheol, and came out. A more consistent understanding is that, like Jesus and because of Jesus and with Jesus, the wise, the ones who fear God and seek forgiveness, will leave Sheol for Paradise.

Jonah 2:2 & 6 ‘I called to the LORD out of my distress and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried and you heard my voice.’ ‘I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me for ever; yet you brought up my life from the Pit.’

Certain death in the great fish in the sea is the same as actual death in Sheol. God can save those in Sheol.

More detail is in my book: https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/lie-of-hell

Revelation 14:9-11: All About Hades

Revelation 14

⁹ Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, ‘Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, ¹⁰ they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name.’

My heart sank when I read these verses while researching ‘The Lie of Hell’ The Lie of Hell (laddermedia.co.uk). Everything I had read in the Bible before these 3 verses was pointing me away from the Hell of Eternal Conscious Torment. Here, to my horror, seemed to be the opposite: confirmation that this Hell is real and to be taught.

I turned to Jesus. ‘What now?’ ‘Don’t be afraid. Keep looking carefully,’ was His reassuring response. Looking carefully at Rev. 14:9-11 has meant no longer seeing these verses confirming the Hell of Eternal Torment. Instead, these 3 verses contain 4 indicators which confirm the reality of the place the New Testament calls Hades and the Old Testament calls Sheol, together with the remarkable truth that the saving Jesus is present there.

Many other people have understood these verses to be the strongest, almost the only, clear Bible teaching for the Hell of Eternal Torment. ‘Hell Under Fire’ was published in 2004 to teach the awful reality of this Hell. In this book, these 3 verses from Revelation 14 form the foundation of the whole argument for Hell. If these same verses confirm Hades, rather than Hell, the Biblical foundation for Hell is removed. Much re-evaluating will follow.

First Indicator of Hades: The Angels

‘Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice…’ Rev 14:9 We are in a sequence of angels. The first calls people to worship God, the Creator. The second proclaims the fall of Babylon, the great spirit of Empire, in its manifestation, in New Testament times, as the Roman Empire. This Empire is also portrayed as the beast. The third angel proclaims the future of those who worship the beast.

This future is not, however, the ultimate future. In v 15 we read of another angel. This 4^th angel emerges with the appearance of the great white cloud where the Son of Man sits, with His crown and sickle. Jesus the King comes on the clouds. The 4^th angel announces that the hour of Judgement has come.’ The 3^rd angel, therefore, announces a future which is before the Final Judgement. Everything in v9-11 occurs before, not after Final Judgement.

Hades is the place where death tried and failed to hold Jesus. Acts 2:24-28. Hades in the place which holds people until the Final Judgement. Then Hades is itself destroyed, incinerated in the lake of fire, Rev 20:13,14. Hades is in operation before, not after Final Judgment. The place announced by the 3^rd angel, before Final Judgement, is Hades.

Hades is distinct from Gehenna, the place where body and soul are destroyed, Matthew 10:28, in the second death, after Final Judgement, Rev. 20:13-15.

Second Indicator of Hades: Torment

This future announced by the 3^rd angel is to experience ongoing torment – ‘basanismos’ in Greek. A very similar word ‘basanois’ is used by Jesus in Luke 16:23 of the torment of the rich man who ignored the beggar Lazarus. Jesus says, in the same verse, that this torment is ‘in Hades.’ The torment of the Rich Man in Hades involves intense, unbearable, heat. The torment of the people in Rev 14:9-11 involves intense, unbearable, heat, fire and sulphur. The torment is the same, so the place is the same.

We know from Rev 20:13,14 that Hades is not eternal. Hades comes to an end at the Final Judgement. Therefore, the torment in Hades is not eternal, it comes to an end at the Final Judgement.

The torment in Rev. 14:9-11 is an outworking of the wrath of God.  Isaiah 57:16, Psalm 103:9, Jeremiah 3:12 all say that God will not be angry for ever. God’s anger is not forever. God’s anger being expressed in Hades, which is not forever, is consistent with this clear Bible message. The Hell of Eternal Torment, understood as the eternal expression of God’s anger, is inconsistent with Bible teaching on the anger of God.

Third Indicator of Hades: Not ‘For ever and ever,’ but ‘for ages and ages.’

The dramatic fear-inspiring wording of Rev 14:9-11, combined with traditional Christian teaching of Hell which includes the misguided understanding that the wrath of God is forever, or people feel its effects forever, makes us think that this torment must be forever. We read that ‘the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever.’

A careful look at the Greek words, shows, however that ‘for ages and ages’ is a better translation than ‘for ever and ever.’ The Greek phrase normally translated ‘for ever and ever’ is, literally, ‘to the ages of ages.’ Here, though, the Greek phrase is ‘to ages of ages.’ The definite article, ‘the,’ is not in the text. This is a different phrase from ‘to the ages of ages,’ and should bot be translated as though it were that phrase. Better to stay close to the Greek words and translate ‘for ages and ages.’

Although Hades is not forever it is in operation for a very long time, with no clear idea of when the times will end – for ages and ages.

Rev 14:10 pictures God’s anger as poured into a cup from which people have to drink. This echoes Isaiah 51:22:

Thus says your Sovereign, the Lord,
    your God who pleads the cause of his people:
See, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;
you shall drink no more
    from the bowl of my wrath.

Drinking the cup of God’s wrath can come to an end. Hades, the place which comes to an end, is the location described in Rev. 14:9-11

Fourth Indicator of Hades ‘the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.’

The presence of Jesus and His angels with the people in torment is the most striking feature of Rev. 14:9-11. After reading of people having to drink the cup of God’s wrath, of fire and sulphur, we are not expecting Jesus to be present in the same place. We need to look carefully at these words too.

In the Greek ‘in the presence of’ is one word ‘enopion.’ The same word occurs earlier, in Rev 14:3, where it is usually translated ‘before,’ ‘they sing a new song before the throne.’ Here it means close to the throne. These worshippers do not see the throne from a distance, they see it close at hand. They worship the one seated on the throne in a close, intimate, relationship. ‘Enopion’ is translated elsewhere most commonly as ‘before’ or ‘in the presence of’ or ‘in the sight of.’ Every time, it describes a close, not a distant, relationship.

In Rev.14:10 Jesus is not seated at an exalted distance, watching from afar. Jesus is close, present with, the people in torment as close, as present, as with the people worshipping Him and His Father in Rev.14:3.

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells a parable of His Final Judgement, separating the sheep and the goats. To the goats, those being sent into ‘the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’ the Son of Man says ‘Depart from me…’ The fire after Final Judgement is away from the presence of Jesus. The fire in Rev.14:9-11 cannot, therefore, be this fire. Revelation 21 also describes the Lamb in the New Jerusalem and the wicked, the unrepentant, outside the city, away from the Lamb, not present with the Lamb.

Hades is the Greek, New Testament, name for Sheol, the Old Testament place of the dead. This is clear from Acts 2:27 where Peter quotes Psalm 16. The Greek words in Acts are ‘you will not abandon my soul to Hades.’ The Hebrew of Psalm 16 is ‘you did not give me up me to Sheol.’

Psalm 139:8 states ‘If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.’ The presence of God is known, even in Sheol, the place of the dead, Hades. Rev 14:10 states the same. Jesus, God-With-Us, the Lamb, is present in Hsdes, along with His holy angels.

Revelation 14:9-11 fit very well with Biblical teaching on Hades. The Four Indicators, together, lead to the conclusion that, although John, the writer, does not name the place, he is seeing Hades.  

How can the Lamb be present in Hades?

At the beginning of Revelation, John sees the glorified Jesus:

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive for ever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.

Having the keys to a place means having the right and ability to go on and out of the place at will. The Lamb of God, present with those in torment in Hades, has used His keys to go in. Rev. 14:10 confirms that Jesus uses His keys, not only to empty Hades at the Final Judgement, but also to be present with people in Hades before the Final Judgement.

Why is the Lamb present in Hades?

John the Baptist proclaimed that Jesus is ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the cosmos.’ John 1:29. We are used to ‘takes away the sins of the world,’ but the Greek word is, literally, cosmos.

For John, and his Jewish readers, the cosmos was ‘the heavens, the earth and under the earth.’ ‘Under the earth’ was Sheol / Hades, the place of the dead. This map picture comes from the Wikipedia page ‘Biblical Cosmology.’

Jesus, the Lamb of God, takes away the sins of the cosmos, of those on the earth and of those under the earth, of those in this life and of those in the place of the dead, in Sheol / Hades. Jesus is present in Hades in order to take away the sins of the people in Hades. Hence His being called here ‘the Lamb.’

Jesus is present in Hades as He was present with the thieves on the Cross, the place of the dying. He hung, bloodied and suffering. One thief derided him. The other thief recognised his own sin and asked Jesus to give him a future. Jesus gave this second thief the assurance that he would be with Him that day in Paradise. Jesus, the Lamb of God, took away the sins of the repentant, believing, thief.

The Lamb in Revelation, seen first in Rev.5:6, looks ‘as if it had been slaughtered.’ The Lamb in Revelation 14:10 is the same Lamb. Jesus, the Lamb of God, suffers derision from some and elicits repentance and faith from some, taking away their sins.

Revelation 14:9-11 seems, at first glance, and according to much traditional teaching, the most gut-wrenching, hopeless, verses in the New Testament. A close look shows them, instead, to point to more hope, more grace, more of a future for more people, than Christians, and others, have been led to believe.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti – Moving away from Christendom

Tate Britain have again mounted an extensive interesting exhibition showcasing the work of a great artist. This time: Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Tate exhibitions give plenty to see, more value for money than some other galleries. A great theme on display is the ambivalence and eventual rejection by Dante Gabriel of Christianity, in an age of Imperial Christendom.

We begin learning about the Rossetti family, with the poet Christina Rossetti featured alongside her older brother Dante Gabriel. DG soon takes centre stage, for this is an art, not a poetry, exhibition.

Mr Rossetti senior came to Britain from Italy. The contribution of these immigrants to fresh expressions of the English language and British art not highlighted, but is be celebrated.

Mr Rossetti senior was a scholar and translator of Dante. We are shown his work on Inferno, Hell, not on Purgatory and Paradise. Early works by Dante Gabriel feature demons and the devil, including scenes from Faust. His fascination with dark spirituality was probably prompted by the family attention to Dante’s Inferno. Originally named Gabriel Dante, he changed to Dante Gabriel. The angel messenger of God taking second place to the chronicler of the domain of the devil.

Dante’s Inferno has had a malign influence on Western Christendom. This book finally enshrined hell as the place where people, souls, burn in torment for ever, under the authority of the devil. Once inside, no escape is possible, for eternity. Jesus looks on from a great distance, unconcerned. Before Inferno, the popular depiction of hell was of a sharp-toothed grave from which Jesus rescues people, souls. This ‘Harrowing of Hell’ was shown in church pictures and in passion plays. After Inferno, the picture changed. See Changing the picture of hell: 23 August | Rogerharper’s Blog (wordpress.com)

The dominance of the Inferno picture of hell, suited the dominance of Imperial Christendom – the alliance between the Spirit of Jesus and the spirit of Empire. If Jesus was shown to rule by fear, fear of hell, Christendom could rule by fear. If Jesus was unconcerned with the masses in the miserable, tormented, pit of hell, Christendom could be unconcerned with the masses in the miserable exploited pits of Empire, slaves with no hope of escape. If Jesus had an eternal place for the devil and all his ways, Christendom could use at least some of the ways of the devil when it was deemed necessary, including torture. The doctrine of hell as eternal conscious torment, finally enshrined and popularised by Dante, elevated the devil and his kingdom to an eternal partner with Jesus and His Kingdom. A malign influence indeed.

The paintings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti show him caught in the struggle between the Spirit of Jesus and the influence of the devil. He joined the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, renewing art through celebration of colour in nature and of the human Jesus, more Brother than Lord. The Pre-Raphaelites looked to art before Raphael, and to British Christendom before the British Empire.

Dante Gabriel did not fully embrace the ethos of the Brotherhood and later left it. He exchanged the vision of art communicating beauty and Christian truth for the vision of art for art’s sake, which, so often, means art as self-expression. ’Look at what I can do. Aren’t I clever? No-one else has thought of doing this before,’ seems the main message of many modern artists.

In the exhibition we see Dante Gabriel’s ‘Found’ pictures. The first drawing shows a shamed shrinking ‘fallen woman on a London Street as a good man from the village from which she ran away tries to draw her back home. DG never finished the picture. He painted the scene twice again, but with the ‘rescuing’ man both wealthier and more muscular. Is the woman shrinking from this man because his motives are not as pure as the first rescuer? The later paintings are also unfinished, indicating a tussle within the artist as well.

In the background of the Found paintings is a bound calf apparently on its way to market. The Exhibition Notes explain the tension in the scene between the hope of redemption and the despair of continuing degradation. These Notes indicate that the calf speaks of the despair. No mention of Jesus the Lamb of God, led, bound, to the slaughter cross, both the exposer of human wickedness and the redeemer of all humans through divine love and forgiveness. The people for whom DG panted would have known and understood the lamb-calf reference. The Art Expert who wrote the Notes seems to be oblivious. We have moved far away from a common Christendom culture.

‘The Woman Outside the House of Simon the Pharisee’ is a pivotal work. The Notes fail to explain the connection to the story in Luke 7, oblivious to Bible reference. People at the time knew that the Woman goes into the house, expressing great, sensuous, love for Jesus, who, in front of all, assures her of her forgiveness. The Pharisee, religious teacher and enforcer of the rules, is horrified.

Here the Woman, outside the house, locks eyes with Jesus, inside the house. Will she go in? The house is to the right, solid and dark. Simon the Pharisee scowls in the gloom. Jesus looks from a window, beams radiating from his face. He is also dark, grim.

The Woman is richly dressed, part of a great vibrant company. She and her companions are attractive, glorious, compared to the gloom of the Pharisee and Jesus in the dark house. Dante Gabriel is clearly attracted to the company of the Woman, ‘a notorious sinner,’ celebrating her and her life. Was he repelled by a dark Church housing both Jesus and The Pharisee, a Church of both divine compassion and of hypocritical exploitation? The Christendom in which he lived had elements of both.

From the drawing of this Woman onwards, Dante Gabriel, concentrated on his ideal, richly dressed, occasionally partly dressed, Woman. We read his sister’s poem observing that the paintings are different but the face is always the same. These paintings, without a vestige of Christian truth or morality, brought DG fortune. Both he, and his buyers, wanted only to look at feminine beauty fixed in an unageing, prime, age. Yet the one, repeated face, is expressionless, close to lifeless. A face which could be a user of laudanum, the opiate of the day, from which DG’s model, lover, later wife, died young of an overdose.  

Dante Gabriel Rossetti lived in the Christendom tension between the seductions of the devil and the pure compassion of Jesus. He ended as a painter of escape from Christendom and also from reality, from the turmoil of all the emotions of this life and from the hope of redemption behind and beyond.

Standing at the Sky’s Edge: National Theatre

The gritty Britty musical. The lives of 3 successive families in a flat on Park Hall, Sheffield, echoing each other, interwoven expertly on stage. A wide variety of good songs expressing love, hope, grief, anguish, anger. Good writing, good acting and, mostly, good singing. Some editing of songs and narration would be an improvement. ‘Sky’s Edge’ would be a better title. Received with an instant standing ovation.

The first half begins in 1960s hope, in a town assured of a good future because the world needs steel. It ends in apocalyptic disaster. The hopes of all families and of the community, of building Jerusalem in Sheffield through class warfare, die in grim end-of-industry reality

The second half begins sad, still bleak. A little hope that human love can still flourish. But a key man in both first families dies. The 3^rd resident, a Londoner retreating from a break-up with her lesbian partner, is eventually persuaded by her ex to meekly take her back, despite the ex’s portrayed scorn, manipulation and self-justification. The ex’s Scottish origin half hides her embodiment of London values. We are meant to celebrate this love but it is shown as far from the patient and kind, selfless, godly, version of love.

The disillusioned, despairing, first husband in Park Hall, the youngest foreman in the history of the now closed steelworks, tells his son, with passion, ‘I SEE you. I see YOU.’ A cry in the post-industrial wilderness. Sheffield today is portrayed as a world where men are not seen, and neither are the wider Sheffield community. The pro-gay locals demonstrate common disapproval of the London lesbian lover but are side-lined. London’s version of love, as London’s version of economics, currently holds sway.

Can the hope of building Jerusalem be resurrected? Is there a different building strategy to class warfare, a less military and more potent antidote to London’s ‘love the rich for the crumbs which fall from their table?’ Can the people, the men, of Sheffield be seen as people rather than as disposable human resource for the profit driven City of London? I hope we can build Christian Equitable Companies firmly on the basis of love your neighbour as you love yourself, love your Londoner no more than you love your Sheffield Steelmaker.

And I hope that an edited version of Sky’s Edge can be seen across the UK. The standing ovation in The National Theatre indicates this musical is good for the whole country.

Satanic mills to Jerusalem? January 31

Protestors and Capitalism: 12 November

Aaron, Ben and Caleb go to Bethlehem.

Aaron, Ben and Caleb were sheltering behind a rock on their bare hill. There, the night wind could not invade and chill their bodies.

‘Eh Ben!’ called Aaron. ‘You still thinking of moving to Crete?’

Ben nodded. ‘They treat shepherds better there. And no night work. They think sheep can manage on their own, mostly.’

Aaron shook his head. ‘Have you heard from Jerry and the other Ben? It’s months since they left. It might not be so cushdy in Crete.’

‘No news is good news,’ asserted Ben. ‘If it was terrible there, they’d have been back by now.’

‘It’s all about you isn’t it?’ fired Caleb. ‘What about Israel, what about God, don’t you care?’

Aaron and Ben knew it was best to keep quiet when Caleb had one on him.

‘We’re not watching these sheep just for ourselves! We’re watching them for the Temple. People need to make perfect sacrifices, you know the Law. What will happen to our people if we can’t worship as we should?’

Aaron did know the Law: lambs brought to the Temple had to be without spot or blemish. He had a feeling that the original idea had been not to fob God off with damaged goods, lambs that would not fetch a decent price at the market. But now it was much more. The Temple lambs had to be perfect, no marks at all. So they had to be watched over, day and night. It wasn’t easy, but he did feel they were doing something important.

‘That’s their problem.’ Ben countered. ‘And you don’t think the priests and the traders think about themselves? “O Mr Davidson, we do appreciate all your wonderful work. It would be lovely to be able to pay you more. But the overheads here! Just look at this place.” Huh! Just look at their mark up. I couldn’t afford to sacrifice one of my own lambs when they’re selling it.’

‘Yeah it doesn’t seem fair…’ added Aaron before Caleb could fire back. The priests had to certify that the lambs were perfect and the only lambs they would certify were those sold in the Temple by the traders, who just happened to be relatives of the priests! And shepherds weren’t allowed to sell their sheep themselves, they moved around too much: ‘no fixed abode’ so they must be suspicious. They couldn’t be trusted not to sell a stolen animal. And they couldn’t stop working one day a week, they couldn’t keep the Sabbath. Shepherds were sinners, all of them. So said the Temple people. And they said the shepherds stank…

‘It’s not going to last!’ shouted Caleb. ‘The Temple corruption will be burnt out. The Great King, the true son of King David, is coming. He will cleanse the Temple with a terrible fire. We have to stay here. We can’t abandon our nation, abandon God, even if it’s tough. Who said it would be easy? Those who stay true will be rewarded. Not those who run away thinking only of themselves!’ Caleb stared at Ben.

Ben just stared back with a hint of mockery. He didn’t think Caleb thought enough of the real world. Sometimes Aaron also doubted the prophecies. Mostly, he liked to imagine life when the Great King, the Great Shepherd, will come to take charge. No more cruel callous Romans bossing about. No more scraping by. Then the grass will grow thick every year, not only in the valleys, but on top of every hill. He could see his sheep waddling through the deep green sea of grass. On balance he thought it was worth waiting for.

‘Oh piss off, Ben.’ fired Caleb. ‘Go and be a pig farmer in Crete!’

Ben jumped up. ‘You religious nutcase!’

‘Hey!’ shouted Aaron. ‘What’s that?’ He pointed to the sky, towards the East. A bright light was speeding towards them, growing bigger. In a couple of seconds the light was almost at their hill, too bright to look at. A great blazing flying living creature, half eagle, half human. They gaped, and looked away. Gold specks flickered everywhere, in the air, on the ground, on the sheep. ‘What on earth?’ They moved close together, terrified, hardly able to breathe.

‘Don’t be afraid,’ said the light. The command jolted them upright and yet the authority was gentle. ‘You’ve not seen an angel before have you?’ it continued. ‘Don’t be afraid! I’m bringing good news for you. It’s for everyone, news that will make everyone celebrate. This very day, in the town of the great David, a boy was born for you. He is the Rescuer, the Great King, God’s Anointed One. Here’s a sign for you to look for: You will see a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in an animal feed box.’

Aaron, Ben and Caleb didn’t have time to take the words in. Suddenly the sky was full of angels. Golden light blazed everywhere. The gold specks became dancing diamonds. A great song filled the air: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven! And on earth peace and good will to everyone!’ Each note, each sound, sent rainbows arching from the angels and bouncing across the hills. The hills looked lush green. They heard a waterfall and 10,000 different voices and a peace as though they were under water. Then the angel lights sped away leaving echoes around the hill and in their heads and hearts.

‘Wow!’ What?’ ‘Eh’ Aaron, Ben and Caleb looked at each other, almost speechless.

‘Um…’ stuttered Aaron. ‘We’d better go and look.’

‘Yeah..’ drawled Ben. ‘We have to look for the baby sign in Bethlehem. A baby in a feed box? Why would anyone do that?’

‘We’ll probably hear the poor thing crying!’ said Caleb. ‘Just a few hours to sunrise. Then the sheep can be left safely.’

‘You’re not thinking we just stay here after all that?’ blurted Aaron. ‘Don’t you think that was from God?’ he shouted. ‘We have to see what he told us, now.’

‘All right, all right,’ soothed Caleb. ‘Keep your hair on Aaron. Off we go then!’

They ran down the hill and hurried to Bethlehem. They went round the back of the houses, to where the animal feed boxes would be. It seemed so weird to be looking for this baby here, and yet they felt so happy. The angel had said this was for them. This was to be their baby somehow.

After half an hour they saw a man standing outside a sort of shed at the back of one house. He looked at them puzzled, but not afraid.

‘Has a boy been born today?’ asked Aaron.

‘Wrapped in strips of cloth?’ added Caleb

‘Lying in a feed box?’ completed Ben.

‘Come in!’ The man pushed aside a rough curtain and they all went inside the small smelly shelter. ‘I’m Joseph and this is my wife Mary. And this is our son, born today.’

A baby was lying on box of hay, wriggling and whimpering, uncomfortable on the dry grass full of hard stalks. He was wrapped in strips of cloth. It reminded Aaron of one of his lambs tied up, waiting, in the Temple.

‘That’s him,’ said Ben. All the shepherds started talking at once.

‘He’s a sign. An angel told us. So bright, never seen anything like it. Just appeared. Said a boy had just been born. Here in the town of David. Born for us. For everyone. The Great King. The Deliverer. The Anointed One. He gave us a sign. The strips of cloth. The hay, lying in a feed box. Then there were hundreds of them. Thousands. All bright. Singing. Amazing sound. Glory to God. In the highest heaven. And peace on earth. And good will to all. Then they went. And we said we’d come.’ The shepherds drew breath.

‘He’s the sign!’ said Aaron as seriously as he could. ‘The sign of the King.’

‘Yes,’ said Mary simply. ‘Yes. He is.’ She smiled and nodded. ‘He is.’

‘He’s the sign,’ said Ben. ‘

He’s the King,’ said Caleb.

‘He’s the son of the Most High,’ said Mary.

‘Oh my goodness!’ said Aaron.

‘And aren’t angels amazing?’ said Mary.

‘You too?’ asked Aaron. ‘

‘Oh yes,’ said Mary, putting her finger to her lips.

As the morning sky glowed orange, and the baby cried for milk, Aaron Ben and Caleb headed back up their hill, to their sheep.

‘God, you are amazing!’ shouted Aaron. ‘You are so good!’ ‘

What a sight!’ bellowed Caleb, ‘We have seen the heavens full of his glory.’ ‘

What a message!’ asserted Ben. ‘We saw exactly what we were told! Glory to God indeed.’

‘And a new peace on earth,’ enthused Aaron.

Truce and Truth for Tigray

For the Truce to hold, the Truth needs to be told.

On Wednesday 2 November, a Truce agreement was finalised between the central government of Ethiopia, led by the Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, and the leaders of Tigray, the Northern Region of Ethiopia. This Tuesday was the first day for 2 years no-one was attacked or killed.

Both parties agreed to a return to the status quo of 2 years ago, with a Transitional Justice Policy which is to include a full impartial investigation into the last 2 years. Both parties have compromised, so the truce is not welcomed by all those represented by leaders on both sides. If the leaders, especially Abiy Ahmed, abide by the agreement fully, a better future can emerge. But this will be a challenge for Abiy.

The Conflict

In November 2020 Abiy Ahmed mobilised his army to attack Tigray after the Tigrayan regional leadership held regional elections against the ruling from the Ethiopian central government. Abiy Ahmed had refused to step down after his term of office expired. Scheduled national elections were postponed due to Covid 19. The Tigrayans argued that an interim government should be set up, as agreed by all the Regions of Ethiopia. Abiy Ahmed refused, insisting that he stay in charge until he is able to arrange elections. The Tigrayans announced and carried out their own regional elections. For Abiy this was a great crime, justifying a military invasion which has cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

Abiy and the Tigrayans had competing visions for Ethiopia. The Tigrayans had been instrumental in establishing the country as a Federal Democratic Republic. Federal first, with much autonomy to the tribal Regions. Democratic in prioritising regular fair and free elections. With this Constitution, Ethiopia had prospered remarkably.

Abiy Ahmed’s vision was for a centralised, quasi-royal country. Abiy established his own national political party, the Prosperity Party, in opposition to the existing regional, tribal, parties. Abiy set about building a strong centre in Addis Ababa, with new roads, new parks, new palaces, to which all the tribes would contribute and of which all the regions would be proud.

The Tigrayan local elections were taken by Abiy Ahmed as an affront to his vision and his central authority. His declared aim was for regime change in the region of Tigray. He would teach them the lesson that regional autonomy had gone too far. With him, authority and power was primarily in the national centre. He believed that his large national army would ensure the lesson was a short one, albeit harsh. His invasion turned instead into a brutal 2 year war.

The Truce

Now, in the Truce, Abiy Ahmed has reaffirmed Ethiopia as a Federal Democratic Republic and recognised the regionally elected leadership of Tigray, removing his designation of them as terrorists. Abiy Ahmed has gained nothing, except to remain in power. If he continues to press for his centralising vision, he will be breaching his Truce.

The borders of Tigray from 2 years ago also need to be reaffirmed. Enlisting the support of regional Amhara militia for his invasion of Tigray, Abiy allowed or encouraged Amharans to take over part of Western Tigray and to claim this fertile land as their own. Now Abiy has to oust the Amharans back to within their borders of 2 years ago. He will not be popular in Amhara.

Abiy Ahmed has also agreed to allow, facilitate, food and medical aid into Tigray. Today, the WHO announced that this is not yet happening. One of Abiy’s officials said it is happening. Both cannot be speaking the truth.

Abiy Ahmed wants the Tigrayans to disarm. In the Truce, they have agreed to disarm within 30 days, when they consider they are safe. If Abiy implements the Truce Agreement, disarmament will follow. Abiy may well, instead, push for disarmament as a precondition for implementation of the rest of the Truce. He would encounter fierce opposition.

The Truth

The Truce agrees to Transitional Justice truth telling about the last 2 years. Both parties have agreed to establish the truth and follow this with criminal prosecutions as appropriate, all an understood part of Transitional Justice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_justice

The truth about Abiy Ahmed’s flimsy excuse for starting the war.

The truth about Abiy Ahmed encouraging and fomenting vilification, demonisation, of Tigrayans, among other Ethiopians, to justify his war.

The truth about Abiy Ahmed inviting the Eritrean army to assist him in invading Tigray. The truth that, in the early weeks, Abiy repeatedly denied that the Eritreans were involved.

The truth about the rape and pillage, particularly by Eritrean troops, in Tigray. The truth about Abiy Ahmed responding by accusing the Tigrayans of atrocities.

(The dictator of Eritrea, Isaias Afwerki, sees a strong Tigray as an existential threat to Eritrea. About half of Eritreans speak the same language as Tigrayans. If, through a mass movement or military conflict, Tigray is expanded to include all speakers of Tigrinya, Eritrea would cease to exist. Such a change would only be a copy of what has happened in the former Yugoslavia. Afwerki has dedicated his life to the creation and existence of Eritrea, his own country. He is determined to weaken, to dominate Tigray.)

The truth about Abiy Ahmed ‘using starvation as a weapon of war against Tigray’ according to the United Nations. The truth about Abiy Ahmed sending drones to attack villages and markets.

The truth about Abiy Ahmed sending waves of human cannon fodder against the Tigrayan defences. The truth about the death toll of all sides in this war.

Without this Truth, and more, being told, the Truce cannot hold.

The Future

Will Abiy Ahmed allow this truth to be told? When it may mean that he is the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize to also be tried in the International Criminal Court?

Maybe Abiy Ahmed will find a way of retreating into ignominious but safe retirement.

Will Ethiopia survive as a Federal Democratic Republic? Maybe – but without a central army which can be used again against any one Region. Each Region already has its own militia, as well as its own police force. Maybe the militias will become Regional Armies joined together in a NATO-like National Alliance.

Or maybe Ethiopia will reform into an Alliance of Nations, with a common market and a single currency and an electricity company in which the nations have shares to ensure a balanced supply. See Good new future for Ethiopia? | Rogerharper’s Blog (wordpress.com)

May the future of Ethiopia be decided not by war but by negotiation and compromise and agreement. May the peoples of Ethiopia learn fresh ways of loving their neighbours as they love themselves.

Roger Harper

10 November 2022

Jacob The Son – Reactions

Warning! Jacob the Son could endanger your privacy:

‘I was reading Jacob The Son on the Tube to work and enjoying it. Then I laughed out loud, and people turned to look at me.’

If you don’t mind strangers noticing you a little, why not take Jacob The Son with you for the train, the plane, the pool?

https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/jacob-the-son

AF enjoyed the book:

‘A pacey and entertaining account of Jacob’s early life, struggles and relationships with his parents and his brother Esau. I loved the intriguing idea of “Midrash” or filling in explained in the book’s introduction; the author cleverly and convincingly “fills in” and builds on the biblical story, raising thought provoking questions about faith and perseverance, loyalty and trust.

Jacob’s mother Rebecca is especially appealing as a character and is brought to life via entertaining dialogue with her husband Isaac and sons. What will happen next? The author promises a trilogy which will complete the re imagining of Jacob’s story. I will definitely want to read the next books in the series.’

Marshall enjoyed the book:

‘A Bible story brought to life. This book is an easy read with some lovely touches of humour. It is fun to see the relationships between the characters grow and develop. At the same time it caused me to pause and question. What was life like back then? Have family dynamics and relationships changed over the centuries? Deception! What about faith? Can we hear God today? I’m looking forward to the next book in the trilogy. It is rare to find a book that is both entertaining and thought provoking. Highly recommended.’

Rebecca enjoyed the book:

‘I really enjoyed reading this retelling of the story of Jacob. It was light but true to the story in the bible. It explored personalities and relationship dynamics that made the reading experience richer. I highly recommend.’

Available here: https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/jacob-the-son

And on Amazon.co.uk