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Managing Editor’s Note: Next Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, Jeff is hosting an important AI Doomsday event…
As this year’s market volatility rages on, Jeff says we’re only getting started in what he believes will be an extended period of disruption during which AI is going to hurt more businesses.
Fortunately, he has a strategy in place to help profit from the losers in this disruption window. You can go here to sign up with one click to hear all the details from Jeff on April 8…
Something unthinkable happened in high tech in the last 24 hours.
It’s an event so significant… it would typically result in job losses, the loss of future funding, and the loss of the company’s competitive advantage.
It might even reshape the entire industry the company operates in.
Two days ago, Anthropic – one of the world’s leading frontier AI model developers – released an update (version 2.1.88) of its Claude Code software.
Claude Code is widely regarded as the highest-performing AI coding model on the market today.
Where it became the fastest software repository to reach 50,000 forks (basically a copy of the source code).
And it all happened within a matter of hours.
Claude Code’s Source Code Forks to 50,000
Source: instructkr/claw-code
At the time of this writing, there are already about 91,900 copies of Claude Code’s source code in the wild.
And with every refresh of the GitHub page, the number continues to increase.
How could this have happened?
It wasn’t malicious or intentional.
A single individual in the company ran a production build of Claude Code in preparation for publishing the update.
The software compiler used generated a .map file, which can reverse the code base back to its source code.
And then the Anthropic employee published it all.
It was just a stupid mistake by a software engineer.
But for one of the world’s leading AI companies – now worth $380 billion – it’s a reckless, gaping hole revealing the company’s extremely weak security processes.
Which is ironic… since it’s coming from the company best known for “AI Safetyism.”
Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, is well-known for calling AI an existential threat and has declared Anthropic as the “most safety-focused lab on Earth.”
This comingWednesday, at 2 p.m. ET, Jeff Brown is having a special online strategy session he’s calling AI Doomsday… To help you prepare for a massive new wave of disruption he sees coming. Elon Musk is about to release a new AI model so disruptive that it could trigger a fresh new wave of crashes in the stock market. Click here to save your seat… Because if you’re holding the wrong stocks, you could lose everything in the coming days. (When you click the link, your email address will automatically be added to Jeff’s guest list.)
Even more ironic is that mere weeks ago, Anthropic and others ridiculed the Pentagon for blacklisting Anthropic’s AI from use, citing it as a supply chain risk for the government.
It is now crystal clear that it was a very smart move by the Pentagon.
And it’s also clear that the Pentagon knew a whole lot more about the inner workings of Anthropic and its software.
Just imagine the implications… if Anthropic were to accidentally release a custom fork of its frontier AI model, which had been designed for U.S. intelligence services and contained highly classified information.
It would be invaluable to U.S. adversaries and potentially devastating to U.S. national security.
But what about the implications for Anthropic, and for that matter, the AI industry at large?
After all, investors in Anthropic have given the company $61.15 billion to date – in the race to achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Its last funding round was a $30.6 billion raise this February.
Anthropic has literally spent tens of billions of dollars developing its proprietary AI models.
And it just gave Claude Code away for free.
Can you imagine the phone calls Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has been receiving since the release of its source code? Investors are not happy right now.
Of course, Anthropic has been in damage control mode since the release.
Since this morning, the company has issued more than 8,000 copyright takedown requests for the removal of the source code.
But do you really think that software developers in China, North Korea, Russia, etc. will adhere to U.S. copyright laws?
No way.
Anthropic has insisted that the source code release didn’t expose any customer-specific information, or even the weights of Anthropic’s AI models.
That’s probably true, but the reality is that the damage is done.
The source code is out there, and it continues to be copied and forked at a rapid pace.
It is out of Anthropic’s hands. The genie is out of the bottle. There’s no way to turn back time.
The source code literally reveals Anthropic’s software architecture, something that was once nearly impossible to reverse engineer.
It shows any software, company, or government precisely how Claude Code works – knowledge that came at a cost of billions of dollars of investment.
Now, any competitor, or any new startup, can leverage this knowledge to make competing products in a matter of months, which immediately devalues Anthropic’s software.
And if you’re an enterprise customer of Anthropic, how could you possibly trust the company with access to your proprietary and sensitive data?
The same is true for any government working with Anthropic.
In Development, Too!
To make matters worse, the software source code release also revealed new product features that Anthropic has in development.
One that particularly stands out is a multi-agent orchestration along the lines of what xAI has successfully implemented with Grok 4.2.
It is also developing new features around what it calls “Dream Memory Consolidation,” which is designed to defragment and consolidate long-term memory of the models.
This will enable an AI to have long-term, personalized memory of all interactions with an end user, company, or government.
And perhaps the oddest new feature in development is what Anthropic calls a “Tamagotchi-style pet companion,” with gacha mechanics, species, rarities, and ASCII art stats.
Aside from the gamification of having a digital pet to care for, the pet companion “sits beside your input box and reacts to your coding.” It’s like a little digital creature looking over your shoulder as you work, an intelligent one that you can interact with.
And at the center of it all is a new KAIROS feature that will become an always-on, 24/7agentic AI, capable of being productive when we play, relax, or sleep.
That’s what’s coming. And now we know this definitively, thanks to one massive, multibillion-dollar screw-up.
And it’s coming for all of the leading frontier AI models.
In a normal market environment, it would be hard for a company like Anthropic to recover from a massive mistake like this. But these are not normal times…
First, not all of Anthropic’s source code was released – just that related to Claude Code.
Second, Bleeding Edge readers can already grok the implications for the entire market, understanding now that one of the world’s leading source codes was just basically made open source to the world’s software engineers.
This will only act like fuel to an already frenzied race to AGI greatness… No need to invest billions to build a model. Just fork Anthropic’s source code, make some improvements, and you’ve got a state-of-the-art product.
Despite the massive flub, the value of any company that attains artificial general intelligence has the potential to be worth more than a trillion dollars.
Anthropic will get there, as will OpenAI. And I would argue xAI is already there in the laboratory… with what will become Grok 5.
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Publisher’s Note: Elon’s rolling out a new space initiative, transforming Tesla into an AI chip rival to Nvidia, and launching what he’s calling “the biggest product of all time.”
All three happen before the end of April. Dr. Skousen’s identified three stocks positioned to explode off these launches — and he’s breaking down all three live on Wednesday, April 8 at 2 p.m. ET.
I’ve seen Mark’s research. The supply chain plays are real. The timing is tight.
If you don’t position before these launches hit, you’re watching from the sidelines. RSVP now. It’s free.
— Stephen Prior, Publisher
Dear Reader,
It’s that time of the year again: earnings season…
And while the mainstream loves to speculate and bet on company earnings…
Yesterday, we saw exactly WHY I use my overnight earnings strangle.
In case you are new to strangles…
A strangle is an options strategy you might use when you are betting on a big move higher or lower for a stock…
Meaning, regardless of if you are right or wrong, as long the moves in one direction… you can still win.
And earnings reports are some of the most common catalysts for these kinds of big moves.
To pull off a winning earnings strangle, you have to…
Pick the right strike price for both the puts and the calls
Pick the right company
Pick the right expiration date.
But the beauty of a strangle is you can make money regardless of which direction the stock goes.
The point of the trade is to buy a put option and a call option, so you’re covered in the event of either an upside move or a downside move.
To close the trade for a gain, all you need is for the stock to move enough (in either direction) that the price of one of your options rises above the total price you paid for both.
Take a look at NIKE yesterday…
In The War Room I recommended an Overnight Earnings Strangle…
I bought the $54 April 2nd Calls…
And the $52 April 2nd Puts…
The total cost for both positions was $3.60
So I was covered in both directions.
Take a look at what happened…
Nike got crushed. OUCH!!
The stock opened down about 10% overnight…
BUT because my strangle included the puts…
Not only was I protected…
But I actually scored a 68% winner!
Even though Nike got killed, we sold the call/put combo for $6.00.
So, even as Nike was getting clobbered, War Room traders locked in a killer overnight winner.
If the underlying option is predicting a huge move, then you likely will not make money, because the option will already be very expensive.
What you want to look for is a situation where the market is NOT expecting a huge move and has therefore underpriced the options. That’s where a surprise in earnings can lead to a sizable move.
You also need to know companies’ official expected earnings and unofficial “whisper numbers” (which represent what the market is reallyexpecting).
And lastly, you need to know the technical support and resistance levels.
That due-diligence is precisely what I do for you inside The War Room.
YOUR ACTION PLAN
Give the Overnight Earnings Strangle a try for yourself this earnings season…
In this market, there will be plenty of opportunities for them to pay off.
During earnings season, I trade these regularly inside The War Room.
Join a Secret Group of Ultra-Wealthy Investors Extracting Up to $494,100.00 Each Day in the MarketsLearn More About the War Room
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When I look at many of the brands owned by Kraft Heinz (Nasdaq: KHC), it takes me back to my childhood: Cool Whip, Kool-Aid, Jell-O, Kraft Singles, Oscar Mayer, and, of course, Kraft Mac & Cheese, a staple in the diet of nearly every kid born between 1950 and today.
It’s a tougher market for Kraft Heinz now than when I was growing up. Today, store brands compete strongly with national brands. They’re cheaper and often just as good.
Among Kraft’s lineup of brands, the only ones I go out of my way to buy are Heinz ketchup and Philadelphia Cream Cheese.
Fortunately for the company and its shareholders, I’m not the only consumer out there. Kraft Heinz posted nearly $25 billion in revenue last year. That’s a lot of Maxwell House coffee and A1 steak sauce.
In fact, 94% of U.S. households buy Kraft Heinz products.
But unfortunately for shareholders, the stock has been as popular as the watery liquid that comes out when you first open a bottle of ketchup. It’s lost 28% over the past year and is down 46% since May 1, 2023. The last time the stock price was this low was during the COVID Crash.
The company has kept its dividend steady at $0.40 since 2019, so the declining stock price has pushed its yield up to a gigantic 7.2%.
Can shareholders rely on that dividend like Stove Top stuffing? Or will it spoil like Lunchables that have been left out in the sun?
Nvidia… Amazon… Netflix… Their biggest gains have come and gone.
If you missed out on those, the greatest legacy they’ve left for you is their playbook… so you can follow along the next time it plays out.
Folks, that time has arrived.
And Alexander Green would know. He identified ALL of those companies early on. Now he’s zeroed in on his next one… a little company with AI technology that could soon change the world. He’s targeting 4,700% in the next decade. Details HERE.
Despite its woes, Kraft Heinz has been steadily growing its free cash flow.
Last year, free cash flow grew 16% to $3.7 billion, and it is expected to grow another nearly 17% this year to $4.3 billion.View larger image
In 2025, Kraft Heinz paid shareholders $1.9 billion in dividends, or 52% of its free cash flow. This year, that dividend figure is expected to be nearly identical for a payout ratio of 44%, so Kraft Heinz can afford its dividend.
The only stain on the company’s record is a dividend cut in 2019. Prior to the current $0.40 quarterly dividend, Kraft Heinz paid shareholders $0.625 per quarter.
It really needed to slash the dividend at that point, because the amount it was paying in dividends was consistently exceeding free cash flow. But ever since it reduced the dividend, the company has been generating more cash than it pays out.
Before I reveal Kraft Heinz’s dividend safety rating… what grade would you give it? How confident are you that it won’t cut the dividend again?
Click your grade below, and you’ll be able to finish reading on the next page.ABCDF
During a private gathering of Wall Street elites, I was one of two people selected to speak with Elon personally.
As a result, my research now leads me to believe Elon will announce the SpaceX IPO on this date:
April 20, 2026. Circle it on your calendar.
I’m sharing an “access code” that lets anyone grab a pre-IPO stake before it happens. This is your invitation to the biggest wealth-building event of the decade.
Nothing published by The Oxford Club should be considered personalized investment advice. Although our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular investment situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed personalized investment advice. We allow the editors of our publications to recommend securities that they own themselves. However, our policy prohibits editors from exiting a personal trade while the recommendation to subscribers is open. In no circumstance may an editor sell a security before subscribers have a fair opportunity to exit. The length of time an editor must wait after subscribers have been advised to exit a play depends on the type of publication. All other employees and agents must wait 24 hours after publication before trading on a recommendation.
Any investments recommended by The Oxford Club should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.
Protected by copyright laws of the United States and international treaties. The information found on this website may only be used pursuant to the membership or subscription agreement and any reproduction, copying or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including on the world wide web), in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of The Oxford Club, LLC, 105 West Monument Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.
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Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today’s edition is brought to you by David Adler.
The hitter with the longest on-base streak in Major League Baseball is also the pitcher with the longest scoreless-inning streak in Major League Baseball.
After Ohtani’s first two-way game of the 2026 season last night — when he pitched six shutout innings on the mound and went 1-for-3 with two walks at the plate — the Dodgers superstar has reached base safely in 36 consecutive games going back to last season … and thrown 22 2/3 scoreless innings going back to last season.
Both of those streaks, incredibly, are the longest active regular-season streaks in baseball.
MLB’s longest active on-base streaks
Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers): 36 games
Geraldo Perdomo (D-backs): 22 games
Jonathan Aranda (Rays): 19 games
MLB’s longest active scoreless-inning streaks
Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers): 22 2/3 innings
Mason Miller (Padres): 22 1/3 innings
Max Fried (Yankees): 18 1/3 innings
Now, sure, Miller could leapfrog Ohtani between now and his next start, but we’ll worry about that later. For right now, Shohei is king of both sides of the ball.
And guess what? Ohtani has a chance to set his own personal hitting record tonight when the Dodgers face the Guardians (8:20 p.m. ET/5:20 p.m. PT).
Ohtani’s on-base streak, which goes all the way back to Aug. 24, 2025, is tied for the longest of his career. He had another 36-game streak from 2023-24, but if he gets on base today, his current streak will stand alone. His scoreless innings streak as a pitcher is already the longest of his career. Who knows how far he can take that one?
The two former Mets teammates — one now in Baltimore, the other in Texas — had some fun with each other in the O’s game against the Rangers, too. deGrom sent the Polar Bear lumbering back to first base on a rare pickoff throw before Alonso got the last laugh with his homer.
But here’s the interesting thing about Alonso taking deGrom deep, beyond just their history in New York: deGrom tried a new trick against Alonso … it just backfired.
The pitch Alonso homered against was a sinker — which is a new pitch for the 37-year-old deGrom this year. deGrom hasn’t thrown a sinker in seven years. The last time deGrom had a sinker, Alonso was a rookie on the Mets in 2019.
deGrom has one of the best four-seam fastballs … well, ever. But the two-time Cy Young Award winner has decided to start mixing in sinkers as a new wrinkle this year, his 13th MLB season. The one he threw to Alonso wasn’t bad, either — 96.5 mph with 14 inches of horizontal movement and right on the inside edge of the zone. But the Silver Slugger Alonso was still able to turn on it and hammer it out to left-center.
Will that be the end of deGrom’s sinker experiment, or will he stay with his new pitch? We’ll see.
‘THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL’ IS BACK!
In the mood for some nostalgia today? Well, here’s some good news:
MLB is reviving the classic franchise — complete with its iconic theme music.
The @MLB account on X will show a new short-form episode every Friday at noon ET from now through the 2026 postseason. The reimagined “TWIB” will highlight the biggest plays, amazing moments and fun stories of the season — all while keeping the vibe that made “This Week in Baseball” a hit with fans for decades.
“This Week in Baseball” debuted in April 1977 — hosted by Hall of Fame broadcaster Mel Allen — as a weekly 30-minute highlight program that showcased standout moments from around the league in the days when baseball highlights were usually limited to brief segments on local newscasts. The original run lasted until 1998, with a revival version also running from 2000-11.
WHY THIS 2-HOMER DEBUT WASN’T A SURPRISE
D-backs No. 27 prospect Jose Fernandez turned heads last night with a historic big league debut. Fernandez became just the eighth player in MLB history to hit two home runs in his first career regular-season game. (Crazily enough, two of those eight times have happened this season, with the Guardians’ Chase DeLauter also doing it on Opening Day.)
But if you were watching the 22-year-old tear it up at Spring Training, this wasn’t a surprise.
Fernandez had a ridiculous 100.1 mph average exit velocity this spring. He was one of only three players to average 100 mph or harder on at least 15 batted balls — and the other two guys were Giancarlo Stanton and Junior Caminero.
Fernandez’s 83% hard-hit rate was the highest of Spring Training, and 13 of his 18 balls in play were hit at least 100 mph off the bat. Oh, and he also smacked a 102.4 mph triple and 96.1 mph single in the D-backs’ Spring Breakout prospect showcase game.
So seeing Fernandez barrel up a 104.2 mph home run off Tigers starter Casey Mize and a 101.6 mph home run off closer Kenley Jansen last night? Makes perfect sense to us.
THE NASTIEST PITCHES OF PAINTER’S DEBUT
Andrew Painter’s much-hyped Major League debut yesterday was even more dazzling than we could’ve hoped for.
The Phillies’ star pitching prospect pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball and racked up eight strikeouts on four different pitch types — his fastball, slider, curve and changeup.
Here’s a look at some of his nastiest pitches of the night — one K for each pitch type.
If you haven’t already seen it by now, the bobblehead was Yoshi (the green Super Mario dinosaur) wearing a Yoshi (Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto) jersey.
And Pitcher Yoshi even autographed the Dinosaur Yoshi bobbleheads for his Dodgers teammates, as captured by Sonja Chen:
There were actually three Yoshis at Dodger Stadium last night: Yamamoto … a giant Yoshi mascot … and Donald Glover — the voice of the Yoshi character in the new Mario movie — who threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Yamamoto.
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” premieres in the U.S. today.
These £1 donation days are vital to keeping Protect the Wild moving forward. We are not funded by corporations and we do not rely on large grants. Everything we do is made possible by ordinary people choosing to give small amounts because they care.
Every single pound has a real impact. It keeps our investigations going, strengthens our campaigns, and helps us continue the fight for British wildlife.
March has been one of the most impactful months we’ve ever had, and it started with something I am incredibly proud of.
At the beginning of the month, I became a trustee of a brand new charity, Lawyers for Animals (Charity No. 1215659). I have spent months helping to establish it, and it represents one of the most exciting developments in animal protection in years. It is a legal force focused on enforcing animal welfare laws and holding those in power to account.
They have not wasted any time.
One of their very first actions has been to submit a judicial review against the Government’s changes to the Public Order Act. This is a serious and strategic challenge that could have huge implications for the right to protest and speak out for animals.
This is exactly the kind of action we need right now. We have been covering this closely and have interviewed some of the first people arrested under these new laws to make sure their stories are heard and understood.
At the same time, we have continued to push for change on the ground, turning pressure into real outcomes.
After thousands of you took action, the Mercure Hotel in Nottingham confirmed they will remove cruel bird netting following shocking footage of birds trapped inside. This was a direct result of public pressure and people refusing to stay silent.
We then travelled to the Scottish Parliament to protest the ongoing Guga hunt. The very next day, after coverage in four national newspapers, we attended the Petitions Committee meeting where it was confirmed that the petition to end the hunt will remain open. That decision matters and it keeps the pressure firmly on.
And the momentum is continuing to build. The petition calling on NatureScot to stop granting licences for the hunt is now approaching 50,000 signatures.
Back in England, your rapid action stopped not one but two pigeon culls.
On the left, one of the pigeons saved from being killed! 🙂 🙂
First in Woolwich, where over 10,000 of you signed our petition and forced the cull to be cancelled.
Then again in Bath at Green Park Station, where public pressure and incredible on-the-ground work from Bath Swan Rescue stopped another planned cull.
Their response says everything about what this community is capable of:
“Over £400 worth of wish list items arrived yesterday. Usually we get a purchase once in a blue moon and we were in tears. The support has been utterly overwhelming. We have been so moved by the sheer number of supplies arriving and the number of animals it’s going to allow us to support. You are a fantastic community and we are so grateful.”
This is a major moment and it shows that sustained pressure works.
All of this has happened while our message continues to grow at pace.
In the past month alone, our content has been viewed over 10 million times, and 2,952 new people have joined us here on Substack.
And today, we are asking for something simple.
On the first of each month, we run a £1 fundraising day because when thousands of people give a small amount, it powers everything you have just read. In 2025 alone, these £1 donation days raised over £25,000.
Shalom from your Friends of Zion Center in Jerusalem.
We just welcomed a great host of people whose lives have been upended and shattered by the war for a Passover banquet. Some of them came wearing the new clothes you bought for them—the only thing they own after their homes were completely destroyed and everything was lost. There are so many more who need our help right now. I need your help so that we can continue to respond to the massive needs of a nation in crisis. We have received a generous matching gift challenge that will double your gift to help twice as many people—so please be as generous as you can when you send your gift today.
The situation is urgent. So many people have lost homes, family members, and even everything they owned in the missile attacks. I’m thinking about families like the Cohens. They buried six family members on the day their son was supposed to have his bar mitzvah. We helped them with the medical bills, buying clothing, and more, and they were so grateful. But there are so many others in urgent need.
The people of Israel are suffering greatly right now, and while they need our prayers, they also need our help. Together we are answering the command of God, “Comfort ye My people.” Together we are telling, and more importantly showing, the people of Israel that they are not alone. Please send your most generous gift today and share this with everyone you know.
Your support of the Friends of Zion today allows us to comfort the people of Israel who have survived the terrorist attacks, minister to the families of the hostages, continue to purchase and deliver food, medicine, clothing, and other necessities of life for the poor Holocaust survivors and refugees of Ukraine, continue to operate the Friends of Zion Museum, and to meet urgent humanitarian needs among the poor Jewish people living in Israel. Thank you so much for being part of this vital worldwide prayer movement.
(8) For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: (9) But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. (10) Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. (11) For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. King James VersionChange email Bible version
In all of God’s dealings with Israel and Judah, and especially regarding the Second Exodus, we see His perfect application of justice and mercy. He is just, because He does not allow their sin to go unpunished. We could not trust God if He did not hold to His promises of blessing and cursing (Numbers 23:19; Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28). If He allowed Israel and Judah to sin with impunity, His laws would have no authority, and His words would be of no consequence. However, for the sake of what is best for Jacob, God has to show him that He is serious about what He says. So His justice will be upheld as Israel and Judah are brought to the painful realization that they have forsaken Him and have been living the wrong way.
Yet, we can also see God’s mercy in His dealings with His people. Today’s Western culture—a product of the nations of Israel—is not so very different from Sodom and Gomorrah. The same sins are committed in the same brazen manner. Our regard for humanity is so low that in America alone during the last three decades, an estimated 40-50 million pre-born children have been killed for the sake of convenience. Further, God has been systematically removed from schools, from government, and from public life. Post-Christian Europe has transgressed even further. Even Jerusalem—the “Holy City”—has an annual “Gay Pride” parade, and is essentially secular.
Despite these atrocious sins, God will not utterly destroy Israel as He did to Sodom and Gomorrah. A number of latter-day prophecies of various peoples—the Edomites, for example—foretell that God will make a complete end of them (Jeremiah 46:28). However, He has chosen not to do this with Israel and Judah, though not because they are righteous in any way.
He will show them mercy because of the promises He made, not because they deserve it. Ezekiel 36 shows this clearly. God repeats several times that He is bringing Israel back for His name’s sake, and not for Israel’s sake:
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this [restoring Israel and blessing the land; verses 6-15] for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. . . . Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord GOD, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!” (Ezekiel 36:22-24, 31-32)
God would be unfaithful to His own promises if He annihilated Jacob’s descendants—even though, by all accounts, it is exactly what they deserve.
Classic Rioja character: smooth, vibrant, and effortlessly drinkable.
Our thoughts…Smooth, easygoing red with bright notes of ripe cherry, plum, and a touch of vanilla from gentle oak aging. Soft tannins and balanced acidity make it incredibly approachable, perfect for everyday sipping or pairing with grilled meats, roasted vegetables, or simple tapas.
92 Points – Decanter
“Prune, plum, cherry, lavender, rosemary and oregano in a refreshing, fragrant wine, deep yet unpretentious. Vibrant, veil of powdery liquorice and graphite. Elegant, poised and immediately appealing. Long finish with a tail of nutmeg, pink pepper and cocoa powder. 100% Tempranillo fruit from vines averaging 25 years of age in the highly regarded 160ha Montebuena vineyard in Labastida, Rioja Alavesa. Fermented in stainless steel tanks then aged in mildly toasted American and French oak barrels (new, second and third use) for 10 months before clarification and bottling without filtration.”
About the Winery…Founded in the 1960s by a collective of 175 growers, Unión de Cosecheros de Labastida has grown into one of the largest co-operative wineries in the Basque Country, rooted in a shared commitment to quality from vineyard to bottle. Blending centuries-old winemaking heritage—evident in the region’s historic rock-carved “lagares”—with modern innovation, the winery utilizes advanced viticulture technology and state-of-the-art facilities to craft expressive Rioja wines. With a deep focus on aging, supported by thousands of American oak barrels, Labastida continues to balance tradition and precision to produce wines of consistency and character.
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