By Dr. David R. Reagan
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Every time a war breaks out in the Middle East, I receive a flurry of phone calls and email messages asking if it could be the War of Armageddon. This question is prompted by the fact that most people are familiar with only one end time war — the one that has been popularized in movies and novels as the "Battle of Armageddon." In reality, the Bible describes nine separate end time wars.
We have looked at the first of these battles — the War of Extermination based on Psalm 83. Next in the prophetic sequence is the First War of Gog-Magog based on Ezekiel 38-39, the war when Russia invades Israel with certain specified allies, all of whom are Muslim nations today.
2) The First War of Gog & Magog — Ezekiel 38 and 39
The security provided by the Psalm 83 war will not last long. The Arab nations will turn to their natural ally, Russia, and cry out for help.
And the Russians will be very happy to respond, for they have always dreamed of taking the oil fields of the Middle East. They will, therefore, launch an invasion for the stated purpose of helping the Muslims destroy Israel, but their unstated agenda will be to use the Arab invitation as an excuse to expand their sovereignty over all the Middle East. This ulterior motive is described in Ezekiel 38:12 where it says the Russians will come "to capture spoil and to seize plunder."
The invading armies will be supernaturally destroyed by God "on the mountains of Israel" (Ezekiel 39:4). The Lord will accomplish this destruction through earthquakes, pestilence, hail storms, fire, brimstone, and battlefield confusion (Ezekiel 38:19- 22). Even the Jewish people will recognize that the victory belongs to the Lord, and many will open their hearts to the Lord (Ezekiel 38:23). In fact, this event could mark the occasion when the 144,000 Jews of Revelation 7:1-8 accept Yeshua as their Messiah and are sealed by the Lord for special service throughout the seven year period of the Tribulation.
The greatest mystery concerning this war is its timing. Most have placed it at the beginning of the Tribulation. Others delay its start to the middle of the Tribulation. Increasingly in recent years, the tendency has been to place it before the beginning of the Tribulation.
The best discussion of timing that has yet been written can be found in Ron Rhodes' book, Northern Storm Rising. He concludes that it is most likely to occur 3 1/2 years prior to the Tribulation. One of his most important reasons for this conclusion is that Ezekiel 39:9 says the Jews will spend seven years burning the weapons captured in the war, and the book of Revelation says they will be run out of the land in the middle of the Tribulation (Revelation 12:13-17). Since the middle of the Tribulation will occur 3 1/2 years into that seven year period, that means the only way the Jews could spend seven years burning the weapons is for the war to start at least 3 1/2 years before the Tribulation begins. (Note: The "burning of weapons" could refer to captured nuclear fuel.)
Does this mean the wars of Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38 and 39 must occur before the Rapture? Not at all. The Rapture could occur anytime before, during, or after these wars. Keep in mind that the Rapture is not what marks the beginning of the Tribulation. The Tribulation will begin when the Antichrist signs a security treaty with Israel (Daniel 9:27). There could be a period of several years between the Rapture and the beginning of the Tribulation.
For further information on the Gog-Magog War and its timing, see the article series Timing Gog-Magog.
In the third installment of this "End Time Wars" series, we will look at the third and fourth wars in the end times sequence — both the Conventional and Nuclear Wars of the Tribulation.
The Flotilla of Terror and the Coming Gog and Magog War
The six ships of multi-national anti-Israel terrorists that embarked from Turkey, north of Israel, and sailed to Gaza, actually came to fight against Israel and to arouse the entire world to oppose Israel. It was a step towards the end-time Gog and Magog war against Israel.
This is a time of G‑dly testing for all of humanity. Here is the word of G‑d from Jerusalem to the entire world: "If you stand with Israel, you will stand with Me! If you are against Israel, you will stand against Me!"
Israel is now facing a very critical time in the path toward her redemption. The war of Gog and Magog against Israel and the coming judgment of the nations is at the door (Ezekiel 38 & 39). The entire world is going to face the most significant and difficult period in its history. We can now recognize the beginning steps of this period. At the same time that G‑d's judgment falls upon the nations who persecuted — and continue to persecute — His people Israel, G‑d is going to complete the redemption of His people Israel and the building of his end-time kingdom on the Temple Mount and in Jerusalem. During this godly end-time period and together with his chosen people Israel, He will redesign the face of humanity forever exactly as prophesied in Isaiah 2:1-5.
At this very critical hour Israel, the chosen people of G‑d and His anointed vessel, is facing violence, battles and hatred that are coming from the four corners of the world. Nations and powers — and in the midst of them the Arab and Islamic nations — are leading a cruel fight against the small nation of Israel. They are calling to remove Israel from the map of the world. Their agenda is to stop and to destroy what G‑d is doing together with His people Israel in order to rebuild His Holy Kingdom in Israel so that Israel can fulfill what G‑d anointed her to be: "A holy nation, a kingdom of priests and the light to the nations" (Exodus 19:5-6). Thousands of years ago G‑d called Israel to be His vessel to bring to pass His end-time dream to redesign the face of humanity according to His principles. It is not an accident that G‑d chose our present time, which is such a materialistic and immoral era, to rebuild mankind on a godly moral foundation, which is more necessary than ever before.
All the nations who want to eliminate and destroy Israel are actually and simultaneously waging a fight against the Almighty G‑d of Israel in order to stop His end-time plans concerning all of mankind. The Arab-Islamic nations realize that the G‑d and people of Israel are the only obstacles preventing their plans to control the entire world and to force Islam upon all the nations.
It is not an accident that the eyes and hearts of most of mankind, especially in the Western world, are covered by the excesses of hedonistic materialism that makes them blind and deaf so they can not understand the very dangerous plans of the Arab-Islamic world. At the same time they refuse to recognize what G‑d is doing with Israel for the sake of their own future. They can not hear the call of G‑d to the entire world to stand with Him and with Israel and to be a part of the rebuilding of His holy moral Kingdom that He ordained thousands of years ago to be located atop His Holy Mountain in Jerusalem among His people Israel so that His Word will go out from Jerusalem to all the nations. They prefer cheap oil and other materialistic goods that the Arab-Islamic kingdom provides for them rather than the Kingdom of G‑d with its beneficial spiritual gifts that Almighty G‑d wants to give them through His people Israel. In this way mankind brings itself closer and closer to the end-time war of Gog and Magog and the day of G‑d's judgment.
I am calling every one and every nation in the world — especially the many cruel Arab-Islamic enemies of Israel to give attention to the Word of G‑d:
"For the day of the L‑rd is near upon all the nations: as you have done, it shall be done to you: your deeds shall return upon your own head. For as you have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually, indeed, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. But upon Mount Zion, there shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions." (Obadiah 1:15-17)
I call every one of them to consider their ways and immediately stop their plans to remove Israel from the map of the world and from the Land that G‑d gave only to them in an eternal covenant. This vital call is to end their hatred and violence against the people of G‑d and to understand that G‑d will never allow them to fulfill their plans to eliminate Israel. Even more than at any time in the past, Israel today is G‑d's moral testimony to the entire world. The Almighty G‑d of Israel is determined to complete what He started when He re-established the Kingdom of Israel in the year 1948. He will not allow anyone or any power in the world — including the powerful leaders of worldly governments — to change His end-time plans concerning Israel or to stop the redemption of His people and the Land of Israel. G‑d will not allow any one in the world to hurt Israel, not even to touch one hair of her head. His love for Israel is unconditional and eternal.
The Flotilla of Terror From Turkey in the Sea Battle Against Israel
On the 31st of May, six ships of hatred, terror and violence against Israel made their way from Turkey to Gaza with the encouragement of the extremist Islamic government of Turkey, which is controlled by bands of extremist Islamic terrorists that declare again and again like their ally in Iran, Ahmadinejad, that their goal is to destroy Israel and to remove her from the map of the world. Their goal was to open the port of Gaza for the import of all kinds of heavy weapons that will originate from Iran and will help them fulfill their goal to destroy Israel. The six terror ships carried many terrorists, including members of Al-Qaeda, the terror organization that destroyed the twin towers in New York City on September 11, 2001. They brought many weapons with them. Israel could not allow herself to permit them to enter the Port of Gaza and turn it into an open-line of terror against Israel. Israel stated that if the ships wanted to deliver humanitarian products to Gaza, they could bring them to the Ashdod port where Israel would deliver the cargo to Gaza after examining the ships and their cargoes for weaponry. When the Israeli navy stopped the ships and Israeli soldiers boarded the vessels, the soldiers were attacked by the terrorists with knives and other weapons, including live-fire. The hostile terrorists started to lynch the Israeli soldiers. The soldiers had no choice but to protect themselves and to save their lives. Seven Israeli soldiers were injured, two of them critically. Nine of the terrorists were killed when they shot live-fire weapons at the Israeli soldiers. Afterwards the Israeli navy escorted the ships to Ashdod and delivered the humanitarian cargo to Gaza as Israel, herself, does all of the time.
It is a shame that most of the world started to bash and condemn Israel and in this way they gave their support to the terrorists showing their hypocrisy and immoral behavior. Instead of standing with Israel, who has not stopped sacrificing her precious sons and daughters throughout the past 62 years in order to protect herself during seven wars and the continual cruel terror of the Arab-Islamic nations that want to destroy and eliminate Israel from the map of the world. More than 22,000 Israeli soldiers and many, many thousands of civilians have fallen in these wars in order to protect Israel and the Kingdom of G‑d in the Holy Land. Today Israel says to the entire world: "No one will take from us the right to protect ourselves from the evil powers. Never again will we be taken like lambs to the slaughter as was done to us during the Holocaust and during the last 2,000 years of exile." The Almighty G‑d of Israel is together with His people Israel to protect them and to fight with them in all the fields of battle against the many enemies that are coming to destroy them. As He has defeated, together with His Israeli soldiers, all the enemies that have come against Israel, so He will do in the future. All the Islamic enemies of Israel are preparing themselves for the coming war. They believe that this time they have a chance to destroy Israel; however, the G‑d of Israel is waiting for them and is ready to fight against them and to judge all of them. "Then shall the L‑rd go out, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle." (Zechariah 14:3).
On the 7th of June, the Iranians declared that they are going to send to Gaza another flotilla of terror that will be followed by Iranian-armed soldiers. This is the Iran that has stated again and again during the last couple of years that her goal is to remove Israel from the map of the world. We can be sure that Israel will not allow this terror provocation and attack against Israel to come to Gaza in order to further arm the Hamas terror organization that continues to attack Israel with rockets and missiles.
The terror ships to Gaza from Turkey and Iran indicate that the end-time Gog and Magog war and judgment of the Almighty G‑d of Israel upon the nations that are coming to destroy His people Israel and to stop the end-time godly event of the redemption of Israel and the entire world is behind the door.
As we see, today Israel is surrounded from every side by Islamic and Arab countries who prepare themselves to remove Israel from the map of the world by war, terror and violence. The holy book of Psalms prophesies about this and calls G‑d to judge these countries:
"Do not keep silence, O G‑d: do not hold your peace, and be still, O G‑d. For lo, your enemies make a tumult: and they who hate you have lifted up the head. They take crafty counsel against your people, and consult against your hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against you and said, Let us seize for our possession the pastures of G‑d. O my G‑d, make them like the whirling chaff: like the stubble before the wind. As the fire burns a wood, and as the flame sets the mountains on fire; so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O L‑rd. Let them be confounded and affrighted forever; and let them be put to shame, and perish: that men may know that you alone, whose name is the L‑rd, are the most high over all the earth." (Psalms 83:1-6,13-19 / Christian Bible: Psalm 83:1-6,12-18)
Now, the enemies of Israel have continued to circle around her from the sea as well. In the east it is Iran that prepares nuclear weapons for the goal to annihilate Israel. Iraq, with her Shi'a majority population (as in Iran) will become a part of Iran, when the American military, under orders from President Obama, will soon be removed from Iraq. Syria and the Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon continue to form the militant circle around Israel with each of them possessing between 60,000-70,000 missiles directed against Israel that have the ability to strike every centimeter of the Land of Israel. They continually threaten Israel that these missiles will destroy her in the coming war. In the Gaza Strip the Hamas is armed with thousands of rockets and missiles that persistently strike Israel. The extremist Islamic government of Turkey, that sent the ships of terror against Israel, completes from the north the circle of militancy against Israel. Other multi-national ships that are going to be sent to Gaza again to provoke Israel will complete the circle of aggression against Israel. Anti-Israel demonstrations, with thousands of people, are taking place all over the world calling for the elimination of Israel. Some of them are calling for Israel to be sent back to Auschwitz! Others, like the White House journalist Helen Thomas, called for Israelis to be sent to Germany and Poland, where six million Jews were heinously murdered in satanic ways during WWII.
The meaning of all these actions and statements is very clear: the enemies of Israel, backed with the support of most of the world, prepare themselves and are making the first steps of the end-time Gog and Magog War against Israel that was prophesied by the prophets Ezekiel, Zechariah, Joel and others. Through this war the Almighty G‑d of Israel is going to show the entire world His greatness, His love, His faithfulness and commitment to the covenant that He made with His chosen people Israel and His determination to complete in our generation the end-time process of the redemption of Israel, and through Israel, that of the entire world. This will also be as it was prophesied: a war of judgment upon the enemies and nations that came to destroy Israel and G‑d's dream for a godly moral revolution throughout the world. For thousands of years G‑d has prepared His people Israel for this critical hour and promised to protect and stand with them. He called this end-time war of judgment the "Gog and Magog War" that will start from the north (Turkey, Syria, Russia and others):
"Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, Thus says the L‑rd G‑d; In that day when my people of Israel dwell safely, shall you not know it: And you shall come from your place out of the far sides of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: and you shall come up against my people of Israel, like a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified by you, O Gog, before their eyes. And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus says the L‑rd G‑d; Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: and I will turn you about, and entice you on, and will cause you to come up from the far sides of the north, and will bring you against the mountains of Israel: and I will smite your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand. You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you, and all your bands, and the peoples that are with you: I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. You shall fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, says the L‑rd G‑d. And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell securely in the coastlands: and they shall know that I am the L‑rd So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not allow my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am the L‑rd, the Holy One in Israel." (Ezekiel 38:14-16; 39:1-7)
The prophet Joel described this war and day of judgment with very dramatic words and colors that cause us to think of a nuclear war, especially when we see Iran's zeal towards having nuclear capabilities while she declares the removal of Israel from the map of the world. Like the prophet Ezekiel, the prophet Joel prophesies that G‑d will judge all the nations that come against Israel and He will protect His people and the Holy Land of Israel :
"And I will exhibit wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and the terrible day of the L‑rd. For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will enter into judgment with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and have divided up my land." Joel 3:3-4; 4:1-2
The atmosphere in Israel at this special time is that the Gog and Magog war is really at the door. On June 6th, a conference of rabbis took place from the Jewish villages and cities located in the biblical heartland of Gush Etzion in Judea and Samaria. They called to Israel to get ready for the Gog and Magog war that is indicated by the violence surrounding Israel.
Everyone feels the significance of this special godly time. It looks like Israel is again alone among the nations. But everyone in the world should know that we do not feel alone because we know and we feel that G‑d is with us and among us, and we feel very safe with Him. There is no fear in Israel from all those many enemies and nations that are preparing themselves to eliminate Israel. Whom shall we fear if G‑d is with us? In a time when violence and hatred is coming from most of the world against Israel, and the President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, is putting pressure on Israel to divide her land and also Jerusalem, and to surrender to her Arab-Islamic enemies, Israel feels that we should answer President Obama: "No!" And to remind all of them of the Word of G‑d to Israel since ancient times: "Israel is a people that shall dwell alone and shall not consider the nations." Numbers 23:9. But Israel should consider, listen and obey only their Beloved Almighty G‑d, the G‑d of Israel. We should always remember what G‑d said to Israel from the ancient times, "I chose you not because you are the majority of all the nations, but because you are the minority of all the nations and I love you. But together with Me, you are the majority and the entire world is the minority":
"For you are a holy people to the L‑rd your G‑d: The L‑rd your G‑d has chosen you to be a special people to himself, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. The L‑rd did not set his love upon you, or choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples: but because the L‑rd loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn to your fathers, has the L‑rd brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the L‑rd your G‑d, He is G‑d, the faithful G‑d, who keeps covenant and grace with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; and repays them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hates him, he will repay him to his face." Deuteronomy 7:6-10
In these days Israel is lifting her eyes, face and heart to heaven to the G‑d of Israel. We know, as always, that salvation for Israel will come from the beloved G‑d of Israel, who will fight together with His faithful Israeli soldiers that are ready to fight against the many enemies of the G‑d and people of Israel and to sacrifice everything when it is needed for Him, for His people, for His Land and for the betterment of mankind throughout the world.
A few words of love to the many, many friends and lovers of Israel and the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement who are all over the world and are standing strongly with Israel and her Faithful Movement of G‑d at this time of darkness. We feel, and we know, that by this and by your good hearts you have touched the heart of G‑d and were chosen by Him from all the nations to have an important part in His end-time plans. You are carrying the torch of light at this time of darkness and you give hope to the entire world. The G‑d of the people of Israel will never forget what you are doing for the people of G‑d in a time when it is so needed. Soon we shall stand hand-in-hand in the rebuilt Temple of G‑d in Jerusalem, and we shall thank Him for the great privilege that He gave us to serve Him and His end-time plans at such a major, godly time. Thank you again and again so much for all of this and for who you are!
The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement wants to again thank all of you who stand with the Faithful Movement both spiritually and practically with such great faithfulness and love. At this special time the Faithful Movement is fulfilling an important part and role in the midst of all these end-time events that are increasingly focused on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. From this most holy place starts all the godly end-time events, and here they will soon be completed, when G‑d will dwell in His rebuilt Temple among His people Israel and among all humanity. For this, and for making Israel once again a biblical nation with a biblical mission, the Faithful Movement is dedicated.
Any contribution that will help us complete this holy work, hand-and-hand with your gracious participation, will be accepted with deepest appreciation and can be made by personal check or money order payable to: Temple Mount Faithful Movement and sent to the following address:
In G‑d we trust!!
The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement
P.O. Box 18325, 4 Aliash Street, Jerusalem, Israel
Telephone: 02.625.1112 / FAX: 02.625.1113
© Copyright 1997 - 2010 | Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement
The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement is not associated or affiliated with the Temple Institute.
This is a time of G‑dly testing for all of humanity. Here is the word of G‑d from Jerusalem to the entire world: "If you stand with Israel, you will stand with Me! If you are against Israel, you will stand against Me!"
Israel is now facing a very critical time in the path toward her redemption. The war of Gog and Magog against Israel and the coming judgment of the nations is at the door (Ezekiel 38 & 39). The entire world is going to face the most significant and difficult period in its history. We can now recognize the beginning steps of this period. At the same time that G‑d's judgment falls upon the nations who persecuted — and continue to persecute — His people Israel, G‑d is going to complete the redemption of His people Israel and the building of his end-time kingdom on the Temple Mount and in Jerusalem. During this godly end-time period and together with his chosen people Israel, He will redesign the face of humanity forever exactly as prophesied in Isaiah 2:1-5.
At this very critical hour Israel, the chosen people of G‑d and His anointed vessel, is facing violence, battles and hatred that are coming from the four corners of the world. Nations and powers — and in the midst of them the Arab and Islamic nations — are leading a cruel fight against the small nation of Israel. They are calling to remove Israel from the map of the world. Their agenda is to stop and to destroy what G‑d is doing together with His people Israel in order to rebuild His Holy Kingdom in Israel so that Israel can fulfill what G‑d anointed her to be: "A holy nation, a kingdom of priests and the light to the nations" (Exodus 19:5-6). Thousands of years ago G‑d called Israel to be His vessel to bring to pass His end-time dream to redesign the face of humanity according to His principles. It is not an accident that G‑d chose our present time, which is such a materialistic and immoral era, to rebuild mankind on a godly moral foundation, which is more necessary than ever before.
All the nations who want to eliminate and destroy Israel are actually and simultaneously waging a fight against the Almighty G‑d of Israel in order to stop His end-time plans concerning all of mankind. The Arab-Islamic nations realize that the G‑d and people of Israel are the only obstacles preventing their plans to control the entire world and to force Islam upon all the nations.
It is not an accident that the eyes and hearts of most of mankind, especially in the Western world, are covered by the excesses of hedonistic materialism that makes them blind and deaf so they can not understand the very dangerous plans of the Arab-Islamic world. At the same time they refuse to recognize what G‑d is doing with Israel for the sake of their own future. They can not hear the call of G‑d to the entire world to stand with Him and with Israel and to be a part of the rebuilding of His holy moral Kingdom that He ordained thousands of years ago to be located atop His Holy Mountain in Jerusalem among His people Israel so that His Word will go out from Jerusalem to all the nations. They prefer cheap oil and other materialistic goods that the Arab-Islamic kingdom provides for them rather than the Kingdom of G‑d with its beneficial spiritual gifts that Almighty G‑d wants to give them through His people Israel. In this way mankind brings itself closer and closer to the end-time war of Gog and Magog and the day of G‑d's judgment.
I am calling every one and every nation in the world — especially the many cruel Arab-Islamic enemies of Israel to give attention to the Word of G‑d:
"For the day of the L‑rd is near upon all the nations: as you have done, it shall be done to you: your deeds shall return upon your own head. For as you have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually, indeed, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. But upon Mount Zion, there shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions." (Obadiah 1:15-17)
I call every one of them to consider their ways and immediately stop their plans to remove Israel from the map of the world and from the Land that G‑d gave only to them in an eternal covenant. This vital call is to end their hatred and violence against the people of G‑d and to understand that G‑d will never allow them to fulfill their plans to eliminate Israel. Even more than at any time in the past, Israel today is G‑d's moral testimony to the entire world. The Almighty G‑d of Israel is determined to complete what He started when He re-established the Kingdom of Israel in the year 1948. He will not allow anyone or any power in the world — including the powerful leaders of worldly governments — to change His end-time plans concerning Israel or to stop the redemption of His people and the Land of Israel. G‑d will not allow any one in the world to hurt Israel, not even to touch one hair of her head. His love for Israel is unconditional and eternal.
The Flotilla of Terror From Turkey in the Sea Battle Against Israel
On the 31st of May, six ships of hatred, terror and violence against Israel made their way from Turkey to Gaza with the encouragement of the extremist Islamic government of Turkey, which is controlled by bands of extremist Islamic terrorists that declare again and again like their ally in Iran, Ahmadinejad, that their goal is to destroy Israel and to remove her from the map of the world. Their goal was to open the port of Gaza for the import of all kinds of heavy weapons that will originate from Iran and will help them fulfill their goal to destroy Israel. The six terror ships carried many terrorists, including members of Al-Qaeda, the terror organization that destroyed the twin towers in New York City on September 11, 2001. They brought many weapons with them. Israel could not allow herself to permit them to enter the Port of Gaza and turn it into an open-line of terror against Israel. Israel stated that if the ships wanted to deliver humanitarian products to Gaza, they could bring them to the Ashdod port where Israel would deliver the cargo to Gaza after examining the ships and their cargoes for weaponry. When the Israeli navy stopped the ships and Israeli soldiers boarded the vessels, the soldiers were attacked by the terrorists with knives and other weapons, including live-fire. The hostile terrorists started to lynch the Israeli soldiers. The soldiers had no choice but to protect themselves and to save their lives. Seven Israeli soldiers were injured, two of them critically. Nine of the terrorists were killed when they shot live-fire weapons at the Israeli soldiers. Afterwards the Israeli navy escorted the ships to Ashdod and delivered the humanitarian cargo to Gaza as Israel, herself, does all of the time.
It is a shame that most of the world started to bash and condemn Israel and in this way they gave their support to the terrorists showing their hypocrisy and immoral behavior. Instead of standing with Israel, who has not stopped sacrificing her precious sons and daughters throughout the past 62 years in order to protect herself during seven wars and the continual cruel terror of the Arab-Islamic nations that want to destroy and eliminate Israel from the map of the world. More than 22,000 Israeli soldiers and many, many thousands of civilians have fallen in these wars in order to protect Israel and the Kingdom of G‑d in the Holy Land. Today Israel says to the entire world: "No one will take from us the right to protect ourselves from the evil powers. Never again will we be taken like lambs to the slaughter as was done to us during the Holocaust and during the last 2,000 years of exile." The Almighty G‑d of Israel is together with His people Israel to protect them and to fight with them in all the fields of battle against the many enemies that are coming to destroy them. As He has defeated, together with His Israeli soldiers, all the enemies that have come against Israel, so He will do in the future. All the Islamic enemies of Israel are preparing themselves for the coming war. They believe that this time they have a chance to destroy Israel; however, the G‑d of Israel is waiting for them and is ready to fight against them and to judge all of them. "Then shall the L‑rd go out, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle." (Zechariah 14:3).
On the 7th of June, the Iranians declared that they are going to send to Gaza another flotilla of terror that will be followed by Iranian-armed soldiers. This is the Iran that has stated again and again during the last couple of years that her goal is to remove Israel from the map of the world. We can be sure that Israel will not allow this terror provocation and attack against Israel to come to Gaza in order to further arm the Hamas terror organization that continues to attack Israel with rockets and missiles.
The terror ships to Gaza from Turkey and Iran indicate that the end-time Gog and Magog war and judgment of the Almighty G‑d of Israel upon the nations that are coming to destroy His people Israel and to stop the end-time godly event of the redemption of Israel and the entire world is behind the door.
As we see, today Israel is surrounded from every side by Islamic and Arab countries who prepare themselves to remove Israel from the map of the world by war, terror and violence. The holy book of Psalms prophesies about this and calls G‑d to judge these countries:
"Do not keep silence, O G‑d: do not hold your peace, and be still, O G‑d. For lo, your enemies make a tumult: and they who hate you have lifted up the head. They take crafty counsel against your people, and consult against your hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against you and said, Let us seize for our possession the pastures of G‑d. O my G‑d, make them like the whirling chaff: like the stubble before the wind. As the fire burns a wood, and as the flame sets the mountains on fire; so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O L‑rd. Let them be confounded and affrighted forever; and let them be put to shame, and perish: that men may know that you alone, whose name is the L‑rd, are the most high over all the earth." (Psalms 83:1-6,13-19 / Christian Bible: Psalm 83:1-6,12-18)
Now, the enemies of Israel have continued to circle around her from the sea as well. In the east it is Iran that prepares nuclear weapons for the goal to annihilate Israel. Iraq, with her Shi'a majority population (as in Iran) will become a part of Iran, when the American military, under orders from President Obama, will soon be removed from Iraq. Syria and the Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon continue to form the militant circle around Israel with each of them possessing between 60,000-70,000 missiles directed against Israel that have the ability to strike every centimeter of the Land of Israel. They continually threaten Israel that these missiles will destroy her in the coming war. In the Gaza Strip the Hamas is armed with thousands of rockets and missiles that persistently strike Israel. The extremist Islamic government of Turkey, that sent the ships of terror against Israel, completes from the north the circle of militancy against Israel. Other multi-national ships that are going to be sent to Gaza again to provoke Israel will complete the circle of aggression against Israel. Anti-Israel demonstrations, with thousands of people, are taking place all over the world calling for the elimination of Israel. Some of them are calling for Israel to be sent back to Auschwitz! Others, like the White House journalist Helen Thomas, called for Israelis to be sent to Germany and Poland, where six million Jews were heinously murdered in satanic ways during WWII.
The meaning of all these actions and statements is very clear: the enemies of Israel, backed with the support of most of the world, prepare themselves and are making the first steps of the end-time Gog and Magog War against Israel that was prophesied by the prophets Ezekiel, Zechariah, Joel and others. Through this war the Almighty G‑d of Israel is going to show the entire world His greatness, His love, His faithfulness and commitment to the covenant that He made with His chosen people Israel and His determination to complete in our generation the end-time process of the redemption of Israel, and through Israel, that of the entire world. This will also be as it was prophesied: a war of judgment upon the enemies and nations that came to destroy Israel and G‑d's dream for a godly moral revolution throughout the world. For thousands of years G‑d has prepared His people Israel for this critical hour and promised to protect and stand with them. He called this end-time war of judgment the "Gog and Magog War" that will start from the north (Turkey, Syria, Russia and others):
"Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, Thus says the L‑rd G‑d; In that day when my people of Israel dwell safely, shall you not know it: And you shall come from your place out of the far sides of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: and you shall come up against my people of Israel, like a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified by you, O Gog, before their eyes. And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus says the L‑rd G‑d; Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: and I will turn you about, and entice you on, and will cause you to come up from the far sides of the north, and will bring you against the mountains of Israel: and I will smite your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand. You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you, and all your bands, and the peoples that are with you: I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. You shall fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, says the L‑rd G‑d. And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell securely in the coastlands: and they shall know that I am the L‑rd So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not allow my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am the L‑rd, the Holy One in Israel." (Ezekiel 38:14-16; 39:1-7)
The prophet Joel described this war and day of judgment with very dramatic words and colors that cause us to think of a nuclear war, especially when we see Iran's zeal towards having nuclear capabilities while she declares the removal of Israel from the map of the world. Like the prophet Ezekiel, the prophet Joel prophesies that G‑d will judge all the nations that come against Israel and He will protect His people and the Holy Land of Israel :
"And I will exhibit wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and the terrible day of the L‑rd. For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will enter into judgment with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and have divided up my land." Joel 3:3-4; 4:1-2
The atmosphere in Israel at this special time is that the Gog and Magog war is really at the door. On June 6th, a conference of rabbis took place from the Jewish villages and cities located in the biblical heartland of Gush Etzion in Judea and Samaria. They called to Israel to get ready for the Gog and Magog war that is indicated by the violence surrounding Israel.
Everyone feels the significance of this special godly time. It looks like Israel is again alone among the nations. But everyone in the world should know that we do not feel alone because we know and we feel that G‑d is with us and among us, and we feel very safe with Him. There is no fear in Israel from all those many enemies and nations that are preparing themselves to eliminate Israel. Whom shall we fear if G‑d is with us? In a time when violence and hatred is coming from most of the world against Israel, and the President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, is putting pressure on Israel to divide her land and also Jerusalem, and to surrender to her Arab-Islamic enemies, Israel feels that we should answer President Obama: "No!" And to remind all of them of the Word of G‑d to Israel since ancient times: "Israel is a people that shall dwell alone and shall not consider the nations." Numbers 23:9. But Israel should consider, listen and obey only their Beloved Almighty G‑d, the G‑d of Israel. We should always remember what G‑d said to Israel from the ancient times, "I chose you not because you are the majority of all the nations, but because you are the minority of all the nations and I love you. But together with Me, you are the majority and the entire world is the minority":
"For you are a holy people to the L‑rd your G‑d: The L‑rd your G‑d has chosen you to be a special people to himself, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. The L‑rd did not set his love upon you, or choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples: but because the L‑rd loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn to your fathers, has the L‑rd brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the L‑rd your G‑d, He is G‑d, the faithful G‑d, who keeps covenant and grace with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; and repays them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hates him, he will repay him to his face." Deuteronomy 7:6-10
In these days Israel is lifting her eyes, face and heart to heaven to the G‑d of Israel. We know, as always, that salvation for Israel will come from the beloved G‑d of Israel, who will fight together with His faithful Israeli soldiers that are ready to fight against the many enemies of the G‑d and people of Israel and to sacrifice everything when it is needed for Him, for His people, for His Land and for the betterment of mankind throughout the world.
A few words of love to the many, many friends and lovers of Israel and the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement who are all over the world and are standing strongly with Israel and her Faithful Movement of G‑d at this time of darkness. We feel, and we know, that by this and by your good hearts you have touched the heart of G‑d and were chosen by Him from all the nations to have an important part in His end-time plans. You are carrying the torch of light at this time of darkness and you give hope to the entire world. The G‑d of the people of Israel will never forget what you are doing for the people of G‑d in a time when it is so needed. Soon we shall stand hand-in-hand in the rebuilt Temple of G‑d in Jerusalem, and we shall thank Him for the great privilege that He gave us to serve Him and His end-time plans at such a major, godly time. Thank you again and again so much for all of this and for who you are!
The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement wants to again thank all of you who stand with the Faithful Movement both spiritually and practically with such great faithfulness and love. At this special time the Faithful Movement is fulfilling an important part and role in the midst of all these end-time events that are increasingly focused on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. From this most holy place starts all the godly end-time events, and here they will soon be completed, when G‑d will dwell in His rebuilt Temple among His people Israel and among all humanity. For this, and for making Israel once again a biblical nation with a biblical mission, the Faithful Movement is dedicated.
Any contribution that will help us complete this holy work, hand-and-hand with your gracious participation, will be accepted with deepest appreciation and can be made by personal check or money order payable to: Temple Mount Faithful Movement and sent to the following address:
In G‑d we trust!!
The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement
P.O. Box 18325, 4 Aliash Street, Jerusalem, Israel
Telephone: 02.625.1112 / FAX: 02.625.1113
© Copyright 1997 - 2010 | Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement
The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement is not associated or affiliated with the Temple Institute.
FEAST OF TRUMPETS (ROSH HASHANAH) and its relationship to the Rapture
By Dr. Stephen Yulish - September 17, 2009
Sundown on Friday September 18 till sundown of Sunday September 20 is the festival of Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah, (new Jewish year of 5770). Traditionally, RH only began on new moon when two witnesses said so and the head of the Sanhedrin agreed. Thus each year, nobody knew the exact day or hour (Matthew 24:36). Leviticus 23:24-32 "first day of the seventh moth, Tishri, will be a day of rest, reminder, and blowing of the shofar - a holy convocation.
Season of Teshuvah, return or repentance actually begins 30 days before on the first of Elul and ends 40 days later on the 1oth of Tishri or sundown, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The last 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called the days of awe. Each morning for these 40 days the shofar (ram's horn or trump) is blown at the morning prayer service to call everyone to repent and return to God. Psalm 27 is recited after each morning and evening service. "the Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?"
Rosh Hashanah is the head of the year in the Jewish civil calendar (Nissan is the New Year in the religious calendar - Passover). It is the birthday of the world.
Early rabbis said, and this was agreed upon by early church fathers, that there would be 6000 years or six days of creation and then the seventh day of millennium peace would come. According to scripture, there were approximately 4000 years from Adam to Jesus. Add 2000 years and we should be coming to the time of the millennium!
The rabbis were looking for the messiah after 4000 years and Jesus came right on schedule (see Daniel 9:25). After the destruction of the temple, the Jews changed the date of the creation of the world from 4oo4 to 3761 BCE due to some captivity issues 3761+2009=5770! Instead of what it should be 6013! We are very near the seventh day of millennial peace. Very near the rapture of the church which might take place on the feast of trumpets when the last trump sounds. No one can know the exact day or hour, as one cannot know the exact day or hour of the new moon signaling the beginning of the festival, but one can know the season!
1 Corinthians 13:9 for we know in part and prophesy in part
1 Corinthians 13:12 for now we see in a mirror dimly
Rosh Hashanah also called Yom Hazikaron - day of remembrance and Yom Teruah day of awakening. "Awake you sleepers from your sleep! Raise yourselves you slumberers! Examine your deeds and unto God in repentance abandon your evil ways, your unworthy scheming everyone of you."
Who said this? Was it Paul? He did say to the church at Ephesus "awake, sleeper and arise from the dead" Ephesians 5:14? Was it Paul to the church in Rome? "awaken from sleep for salvation is near" Romans 13:11!
No! It is from the gates of repentance a Jewish Rosh Hashanah prayer book that cites Maimonides "call to awakening"!!!
According to Judaism, on Rosh Hashanah the books of life and death are opened by God in heaven. They are shut by him on Yom Kippur 10 days later. It is also believed that the gates of heaven are opened on Rosh Hashanah and closed on Yom Kippur. "Open to me the gates of righteousness. I shall enter through them. I shall give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the lord. The righteous will enter through it." psalm 118:19-20, Isaiah 26:2
During this period, Jews seek forgiveness for their sins so that they may be written in the book of life for the coming year. Popular greeting is "lashana tovah tiketavu." May you be inscribed (in the book of life) for a good year.
Each person is accountable for sins committed first against fellow man (guilt offering in temple) and then to God (sin offering). Matthew 5:23-24 "if therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your offering."
A problem is that it says in Leviticus 17:11 that the life is in the blood and only through shedding of blood is their remission of sin. As long as the temple sacrifices existed they could do blood sacrifices but with the destruction of the temple what could they do? Rabbis said do 'prayers, fasting and charity'
Part II - The Rapture
Moses Maimonides stated that the thirteenth article of the Jewish faith was, "I believe with perfect faith that there will be a resurrection of the dead."
The Talmud states that the resurrection of the dead (yes this is a Jewish doctrine also) will take place on Rosh Hashanah which begins tonight (Friday) many Jews therefore put shofarim (trumpets-ram's horns) on their tombstones
"Your dead will live their corpses will rise. You who live in the dust awake and shout for joy...the earth will give birth to the departed spirits" Isaiah 26:19
"The messianic hope, resurrection and immortality of the soul are intertwined with the shofar on Rosh Hashanah." from Machtzur Jewish prayer book for high holy days.
According to Jewish legend, the blowing of the first trump or shofar, was the left horn of the ram Abraham sacrificed instead of Isaac, at Sinai in Exodus 19:19 the last trump, the right horn of the ram sacrificed at Sinai, and spoken of in 1 Corinthians 15:52 will be blown at the Jewish resurrection of the dead what we call the rapture of the body of messiah.
Jews read the 27 psalm and Ezekiel 33 on Rosh Hashanah "for in the day of trouble (the tribulation, Jacob’s trouble), he will conceal me in his tabernacle; in the secret place of his tent, he will hide me." Psalm 27:5
Ezekiel 33 speaks of sword coming upon the land and the blowing of the trumpet to warn the people to repent of their sins.
Yet another name for Rosh Hashanah is Yom Hakesh "the day of hiding or the "hidden day". Rosh Hashanah is called Yom Hakesh or the day of hiding because it was hidden from Satan the adversary. Satan comes to rob and steal and to confuse.
It is said by some that Satan did not know or understand the plan of the cross. It was hidden from him as well. Thus Satan is not to be given notice about the arrival of Rosh Hashanah either. It is to be the hidden day.
Besides Psalm 27:5 other scriptures showing a pretrib rapture Zephaniah 2:3 "perhaps you will be hidden in the Day of the Lord’s Anger"
Isaiah 26:20 "come, my people, enter into your rooms and close the doors behind you; hide for a little while until the indignation runs its course."
Isaiah 26:2 "open the gates that the righteous may enter".
1 Thessalonians 1:10 "who delivers us from the wrath to come."
1 Thessalonians 5:9 "for God has not destined us for wrath".
Revelation 3:10 "I also will keep you from the hour of testing"
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last shofar(trump), for the shofar will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed" 1 Corinthians 15:52
"For the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the shofar (trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.
I wrote a novel, The Great Harpazo Deception, where the rapture takes place on a future Rosh Hashanah. I also developed the idea that those left behind would rather believe that we were abducted by so called extraterrestrials than that we are in heaven with Jesus. "God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false" 2 Thessalonians 2:11
The wedding of messiah and his bride also seems to follow Jewish tradition. Shavuot (Pentecost) was to be the marriage of Israel and God Jeremiah 2:1-3 the love of your betrothals Hosea 2:19 "I will betroth you to me forever."
The Ketubah, the Jewish wedding contract was the tablets of stone Israel accepted exodus 24:3 Israel sins with golden calf. Moses smashed tablets. Wedding off! Exodus 32:19
Body of messiah now bride - 2 Corinthians 11:2 "for I betrothed you to one husband...Christ but still follows Jewish wedding tradition.
We love bridegroom even though we have never seen him 1 peter 1:8 "though you have not seen him you love him" Bride bought with a price "knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold...but with the precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" 1 Peter 1:18-19 1 Corinthians 6:20 "you have been bought with a price"(Christ’s death on the cross).
When you accept messiah into your heart you become betrothed to him. This is prior to the wedding. Ketubah or marriage contract has all promises God has promised for believers
2 Corinthians 1:20 "for as many as may be the promises of God in him they are yes."
But bride has to say yes to betrothal. To give her consent "the word is in your mouth and in your heart. If you confess with your mouth Jesus as lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved" Romans 10:8-9 then bridegroom gives free gifts to the bride of eternal life, and the holy spirit to reside in us.1 Corinthians 12:4 varieties of gifts but the same spirit
Bride needs to be purified by immersion as God did Israel "I (Lord God) entered into a covenant with you (Israel) so that you became mine...then I bathed you with water washed off your blood" Ezekiel 16:8-9.
We are baptized with the Holy Spirit Acts 1:5
John 14:2-3 "I go and prepare a place for you in my Fathers house"
When father approved of new quarters, bridegroom could claim the bride at any time usually at night with a shout and blowing of shofar.
Matthew 25:6, revelation 4:1 but only the father knows the time Matthew 24:36 Isaiah 62:5 "as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you."
Ephesians 5:27 "having no spot or wrinkle...holy and blameless."
On day of a Jewish wedding all sins are forgotten-stand pure without spot or blemish as they are united.
Revelation 19:7 for the marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready." also Matthew 22:2 biblical Jewish couple (Yeshua and his bride) celebrate marriage for 7 days in his fathers house while 7 years of the tribulation rage on earth. Noah and family told to get into ark seven days before the doors closed Genesis 7:10 Matthew 24:37.
Friend of bridegroom at the door listening for consummation of the marriage john 3:29 (Jewish tradition also).
After 7 years (days) in fathers house the bride(the church) and the bridegroom (Jesus) will leave the fathers house and return to earth.
Joel 2:15 "blow a shofar in Zion, consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly."
Joel 2:16 "let the bridegroom come out of his room and the bride out of her bridal chamber!
The gates of heaven will be closed.
I am not trying to pick the date of the rapture because nobody knows but the Father, but I am only trying to pick the season. As you have seen, there are many connections between Rosh Hashanah and it's shofar (trump) and the rapture as well as the wedding with our Lord at the time and Jewish wedding tradition. Could I be wrong? Of course I could be wrong, but after years of study and prayer, I have found these connections fascinating.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Sundown on Friday September 18 till sundown of Sunday September 20 is the festival of Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah, (new Jewish year of 5770). Traditionally, RH only began on new moon when two witnesses said so and the head of the Sanhedrin agreed. Thus each year, nobody knew the exact day or hour (Matthew 24:36). Leviticus 23:24-32 "first day of the seventh moth, Tishri, will be a day of rest, reminder, and blowing of the shofar - a holy convocation.
Season of Teshuvah, return or repentance actually begins 30 days before on the first of Elul and ends 40 days later on the 1oth of Tishri or sundown, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The last 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called the days of awe. Each morning for these 40 days the shofar (ram's horn or trump) is blown at the morning prayer service to call everyone to repent and return to God. Psalm 27 is recited after each morning and evening service. "the Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?"
Rosh Hashanah is the head of the year in the Jewish civil calendar (Nissan is the New Year in the religious calendar - Passover). It is the birthday of the world.
Early rabbis said, and this was agreed upon by early church fathers, that there would be 6000 years or six days of creation and then the seventh day of millennium peace would come. According to scripture, there were approximately 4000 years from Adam to Jesus. Add 2000 years and we should be coming to the time of the millennium!
The rabbis were looking for the messiah after 4000 years and Jesus came right on schedule (see Daniel 9:25). After the destruction of the temple, the Jews changed the date of the creation of the world from 4oo4 to 3761 BCE due to some captivity issues 3761+2009=5770! Instead of what it should be 6013! We are very near the seventh day of millennial peace. Very near the rapture of the church which might take place on the feast of trumpets when the last trump sounds. No one can know the exact day or hour, as one cannot know the exact day or hour of the new moon signaling the beginning of the festival, but one can know the season!
1 Corinthians 13:9 for we know in part and prophesy in part
1 Corinthians 13:12 for now we see in a mirror dimly
Rosh Hashanah also called Yom Hazikaron - day of remembrance and Yom Teruah day of awakening. "Awake you sleepers from your sleep! Raise yourselves you slumberers! Examine your deeds and unto God in repentance abandon your evil ways, your unworthy scheming everyone of you."
Who said this? Was it Paul? He did say to the church at Ephesus "awake, sleeper and arise from the dead" Ephesians 5:14? Was it Paul to the church in Rome? "awaken from sleep for salvation is near" Romans 13:11!
No! It is from the gates of repentance a Jewish Rosh Hashanah prayer book that cites Maimonides "call to awakening"!!!
According to Judaism, on Rosh Hashanah the books of life and death are opened by God in heaven. They are shut by him on Yom Kippur 10 days later. It is also believed that the gates of heaven are opened on Rosh Hashanah and closed on Yom Kippur. "Open to me the gates of righteousness. I shall enter through them. I shall give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the lord. The righteous will enter through it." psalm 118:19-20, Isaiah 26:2
During this period, Jews seek forgiveness for their sins so that they may be written in the book of life for the coming year. Popular greeting is "lashana tovah tiketavu." May you be inscribed (in the book of life) for a good year.
Each person is accountable for sins committed first against fellow man (guilt offering in temple) and then to God (sin offering). Matthew 5:23-24 "if therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your offering."
A problem is that it says in Leviticus 17:11 that the life is in the blood and only through shedding of blood is their remission of sin. As long as the temple sacrifices existed they could do blood sacrifices but with the destruction of the temple what could they do? Rabbis said do 'prayers, fasting and charity'
Part II - The Rapture
Moses Maimonides stated that the thirteenth article of the Jewish faith was, "I believe with perfect faith that there will be a resurrection of the dead."
The Talmud states that the resurrection of the dead (yes this is a Jewish doctrine also) will take place on Rosh Hashanah which begins tonight (Friday) many Jews therefore put shofarim (trumpets-ram's horns) on their tombstones
"Your dead will live their corpses will rise. You who live in the dust awake and shout for joy...the earth will give birth to the departed spirits" Isaiah 26:19
"The messianic hope, resurrection and immortality of the soul are intertwined with the shofar on Rosh Hashanah." from Machtzur Jewish prayer book for high holy days.
According to Jewish legend, the blowing of the first trump or shofar, was the left horn of the ram Abraham sacrificed instead of Isaac, at Sinai in Exodus 19:19 the last trump, the right horn of the ram sacrificed at Sinai, and spoken of in 1 Corinthians 15:52 will be blown at the Jewish resurrection of the dead what we call the rapture of the body of messiah.
Jews read the 27 psalm and Ezekiel 33 on Rosh Hashanah "for in the day of trouble (the tribulation, Jacob’s trouble), he will conceal me in his tabernacle; in the secret place of his tent, he will hide me." Psalm 27:5
Ezekiel 33 speaks of sword coming upon the land and the blowing of the trumpet to warn the people to repent of their sins.
Yet another name for Rosh Hashanah is Yom Hakesh "the day of hiding or the "hidden day". Rosh Hashanah is called Yom Hakesh or the day of hiding because it was hidden from Satan the adversary. Satan comes to rob and steal and to confuse.
It is said by some that Satan did not know or understand the plan of the cross. It was hidden from him as well. Thus Satan is not to be given notice about the arrival of Rosh Hashanah either. It is to be the hidden day.
Besides Psalm 27:5 other scriptures showing a pretrib rapture Zephaniah 2:3 "perhaps you will be hidden in the Day of the Lord’s Anger"
Isaiah 26:20 "come, my people, enter into your rooms and close the doors behind you; hide for a little while until the indignation runs its course."
Isaiah 26:2 "open the gates that the righteous may enter".
1 Thessalonians 1:10 "who delivers us from the wrath to come."
1 Thessalonians 5:9 "for God has not destined us for wrath".
Revelation 3:10 "I also will keep you from the hour of testing"
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last shofar(trump), for the shofar will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed" 1 Corinthians 15:52
"For the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the shofar (trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.
I wrote a novel, The Great Harpazo Deception, where the rapture takes place on a future Rosh Hashanah. I also developed the idea that those left behind would rather believe that we were abducted by so called extraterrestrials than that we are in heaven with Jesus. "God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false" 2 Thessalonians 2:11
The wedding of messiah and his bride also seems to follow Jewish tradition. Shavuot (Pentecost) was to be the marriage of Israel and God Jeremiah 2:1-3 the love of your betrothals Hosea 2:19 "I will betroth you to me forever."
The Ketubah, the Jewish wedding contract was the tablets of stone Israel accepted exodus 24:3 Israel sins with golden calf. Moses smashed tablets. Wedding off! Exodus 32:19
Body of messiah now bride - 2 Corinthians 11:2 "for I betrothed you to one husband...Christ but still follows Jewish wedding tradition.
We love bridegroom even though we have never seen him 1 peter 1:8 "though you have not seen him you love him" Bride bought with a price "knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold...but with the precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" 1 Peter 1:18-19 1 Corinthians 6:20 "you have been bought with a price"(Christ’s death on the cross).
When you accept messiah into your heart you become betrothed to him. This is prior to the wedding. Ketubah or marriage contract has all promises God has promised for believers
2 Corinthians 1:20 "for as many as may be the promises of God in him they are yes."
But bride has to say yes to betrothal. To give her consent "the word is in your mouth and in your heart. If you confess with your mouth Jesus as lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved" Romans 10:8-9 then bridegroom gives free gifts to the bride of eternal life, and the holy spirit to reside in us.1 Corinthians 12:4 varieties of gifts but the same spirit
Bride needs to be purified by immersion as God did Israel "I (Lord God) entered into a covenant with you (Israel) so that you became mine...then I bathed you with water washed off your blood" Ezekiel 16:8-9.
We are baptized with the Holy Spirit Acts 1:5
John 14:2-3 "I go and prepare a place for you in my Fathers house"
When father approved of new quarters, bridegroom could claim the bride at any time usually at night with a shout and blowing of shofar.
Matthew 25:6, revelation 4:1 but only the father knows the time Matthew 24:36 Isaiah 62:5 "as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you."
Ephesians 5:27 "having no spot or wrinkle...holy and blameless."
On day of a Jewish wedding all sins are forgotten-stand pure without spot or blemish as they are united.
Revelation 19:7 for the marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready." also Matthew 22:2 biblical Jewish couple (Yeshua and his bride) celebrate marriage for 7 days in his fathers house while 7 years of the tribulation rage on earth. Noah and family told to get into ark seven days before the doors closed Genesis 7:10 Matthew 24:37.
Friend of bridegroom at the door listening for consummation of the marriage john 3:29 (Jewish tradition also).
After 7 years (days) in fathers house the bride(the church) and the bridegroom (Jesus) will leave the fathers house and return to earth.
Joel 2:15 "blow a shofar in Zion, consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly."
Joel 2:16 "let the bridegroom come out of his room and the bride out of her bridal chamber!
The gates of heaven will be closed.
I am not trying to pick the date of the rapture because nobody knows but the Father, but I am only trying to pick the season. As you have seen, there are many connections between Rosh Hashanah and it's shofar (trump) and the rapture as well as the wedding with our Lord at the time and Jewish wedding tradition. Could I be wrong? Of course I could be wrong, but after years of study and prayer, I have found these connections fascinating.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Rosh HaShana — The New Year A Type of the Rapture of the Church
by Thomas S. McCall, Th.D.
Introduction
Jewish people in Israel and throughout the world observe Rosh HaShana. These are two Hebrew words that mean “the head of the months,” or New Year. In the Scriptures, this holy day is called the Feast of Trumpets, the great convocation. This was one of the seven feasts the Lord gave Israel in the 23rd chapter of Leviticus, the third book of Moses.
These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. (Leviticus 23:4)
In our Western culture, there are no holidays instituted by God. But Israel has at least these seven feasts designed and ordained by the Almighty, and they have been observed annually for some 1,500 years. These seven feasts were actually divided into three festival periods:
1.Passover, which included the three individual feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits, was in the first month of the year, that is in March–April.
2.Pentecost, which stands alone, was in the third month of the year, May–June.
3.Tabernacles was the third period and fell in the seventh month of the year, our September–October, and includes the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles.
For these three festival periods, every Jewish man in Israel under the Mosaic Law was to leave his pursuits, his agriculture, and whatever else he was engaged in, and make the journey to Jerusalem to worship the Lord in His Temple. After each festival period, he would return home, taking up his pursuits again until the time he was to go back to Jerusalem for the next festival period.
The Feast of Trumpets
As we approach the fall of the year, we are about to start the season of the Tabernacles Festival. It begins with the Feast of Trumpets, sometimes called Rosh HaShanah, or the New Year. On the first day of the seventh month, which occurs sometime in our September–October, trumpets would be blown, and the Feast of Trumpets would occur:
And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. (Leviticus 23:23)
On the first day of the seventh month, just as for Passover and Pentecost, Israelites would come from their businesses, from their agricultural work, from their various locations, and they would ascend the hills of Jerusalem. There would be a great blowing of the Shofar, the ram’s horn, by the priests on the wall of the Temple, and they would gather in Jerusalem to prepare for the important days ahead. It was a great convocation, a great coming together in Jerusalem. The harvests were over and had been laid aside in the storehouses. The approaching fall and winter were coming; it was a time of celebration in the Holy City.
In modern Judaism the Feast of Trumpets is not called that any more; it is called instead Rosh HaShana, “the head of the months,” but it still has the blowing of the trumpets. This is actually considered the beginning of the year in the Jewish calendar. Jews send New Year’s cards and wish for one another that they should be inscribed in God’s book of life for the next year.
The Days of Awe
Rosh HaShana, is the beginning of the Days of Awe, the ten days leading up to the Day of Atonement. In Rabbinic theology, it is during these ten days that God weighs every man in the balance — his good deeds versus his evil deeds. Then God determines whether or not the person will be permitted to go through another year.
To the believer in our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Feast of Trumpets has great prophetic significance. We are told in I Thessalonians 4:16, 17:
The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
This event is known as the Rapture, the catching up. It is the time when the Lord will come for His own, when Jesus will descend through the stratosphere and take those of us who have trusted in Him to be with Himself. It is imminent, it can happen at any moment; it can happen today, it can happen ten years from now. We do not know when it will be, but it could happen at any time. And so, the prophecy of the Feast of Trumpets will be fulfilled in the Rapture of the Church. It has not yet been fulfilled. We are still in the period between Pentecost and Trumpets in God’s prophetic calendar.
A Call for Regathering
The Feast of Trumpets not only has reference to the Rapture of the Church, but also has a prophetic reference to Israel. In Isaiah 27:12 and 13, the Lord promises Israel:
Ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel, and it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
There will be a time in the future when the Lord will blow a trumpet for Israel to be regathered back in the land, and so the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets will have to do with not only the calling of the Church to its home in glory, but also calling the Jewish people back to their home in the Land of Israel. We are seeing the beginnings of this even now. When the Lord blows the trumpet, the migrations back to Israel will be on an even greater scale than they are now, and will be complete.
Conclusion
The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShana, New Year), then, both looks back to the ancient days of Israel’s past, and looks ahead to our Redeemer’s return. The blowing of the trumpet signifies the Rapture of the Church (composed of believing Jews and Gentiles of this age) to its home in Heaven, and the calling of Israel back to its home in the Promised Land. Let the trumpet blow!
Introduction
Jewish people in Israel and throughout the world observe Rosh HaShana. These are two Hebrew words that mean “the head of the months,” or New Year. In the Scriptures, this holy day is called the Feast of Trumpets, the great convocation. This was one of the seven feasts the Lord gave Israel in the 23rd chapter of Leviticus, the third book of Moses.
These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. (Leviticus 23:4)
In our Western culture, there are no holidays instituted by God. But Israel has at least these seven feasts designed and ordained by the Almighty, and they have been observed annually for some 1,500 years. These seven feasts were actually divided into three festival periods:
1.Passover, which included the three individual feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits, was in the first month of the year, that is in March–April.
2.Pentecost, which stands alone, was in the third month of the year, May–June.
3.Tabernacles was the third period and fell in the seventh month of the year, our September–October, and includes the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles.
For these three festival periods, every Jewish man in Israel under the Mosaic Law was to leave his pursuits, his agriculture, and whatever else he was engaged in, and make the journey to Jerusalem to worship the Lord in His Temple. After each festival period, he would return home, taking up his pursuits again until the time he was to go back to Jerusalem for the next festival period.
The Feast of Trumpets
As we approach the fall of the year, we are about to start the season of the Tabernacles Festival. It begins with the Feast of Trumpets, sometimes called Rosh HaShanah, or the New Year. On the first day of the seventh month, which occurs sometime in our September–October, trumpets would be blown, and the Feast of Trumpets would occur:
And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. (Leviticus 23:23)
On the first day of the seventh month, just as for Passover and Pentecost, Israelites would come from their businesses, from their agricultural work, from their various locations, and they would ascend the hills of Jerusalem. There would be a great blowing of the Shofar, the ram’s horn, by the priests on the wall of the Temple, and they would gather in Jerusalem to prepare for the important days ahead. It was a great convocation, a great coming together in Jerusalem. The harvests were over and had been laid aside in the storehouses. The approaching fall and winter were coming; it was a time of celebration in the Holy City.
In modern Judaism the Feast of Trumpets is not called that any more; it is called instead Rosh HaShana, “the head of the months,” but it still has the blowing of the trumpets. This is actually considered the beginning of the year in the Jewish calendar. Jews send New Year’s cards and wish for one another that they should be inscribed in God’s book of life for the next year.
The Days of Awe
Rosh HaShana, is the beginning of the Days of Awe, the ten days leading up to the Day of Atonement. In Rabbinic theology, it is during these ten days that God weighs every man in the balance — his good deeds versus his evil deeds. Then God determines whether or not the person will be permitted to go through another year.
To the believer in our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Feast of Trumpets has great prophetic significance. We are told in I Thessalonians 4:16, 17:
The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
This event is known as the Rapture, the catching up. It is the time when the Lord will come for His own, when Jesus will descend through the stratosphere and take those of us who have trusted in Him to be with Himself. It is imminent, it can happen at any moment; it can happen today, it can happen ten years from now. We do not know when it will be, but it could happen at any time. And so, the prophecy of the Feast of Trumpets will be fulfilled in the Rapture of the Church. It has not yet been fulfilled. We are still in the period between Pentecost and Trumpets in God’s prophetic calendar.
A Call for Regathering
The Feast of Trumpets not only has reference to the Rapture of the Church, but also has a prophetic reference to Israel. In Isaiah 27:12 and 13, the Lord promises Israel:
Ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel, and it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
There will be a time in the future when the Lord will blow a trumpet for Israel to be regathered back in the land, and so the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets will have to do with not only the calling of the Church to its home in glory, but also calling the Jewish people back to their home in the Land of Israel. We are seeing the beginnings of this even now. When the Lord blows the trumpet, the migrations back to Israel will be on an even greater scale than they are now, and will be complete.
Conclusion
The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShana, New Year), then, both looks back to the ancient days of Israel’s past, and looks ahead to our Redeemer’s return. The blowing of the trumpet signifies the Rapture of the Church (composed of believing Jews and Gentiles of this age) to its home in Heaven, and the calling of Israel back to its home in the Promised Land. Let the trumpet blow!
The Closing Assembly
The Feast of Tabernacles ends with an extra eighth day called "the closing assembly." "For seven days present offerings made to the LORD by fire, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. It is the closing assembly; do no regular work." (Lev 23:36) Since the Torah is connected to Sukkot in a special way, this final congregation is celebrated today as a rejoicing over the Torah, God's teaching, and is called Simchat Torah. (In the diaspora, Simchat Torah is celebrated separately, one day later.)
We read in Deuteronomy 31:9-12,
"So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. Then Moses commanded them: 'At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people — men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns — so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law."
In John's Gospel we see this extra Feast on the eighth day fulfilled in the life of Yeshua. At the end of chapter seven we read how he proclaimed that he was the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles, "On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Yeshua stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.'" (Jn 7:37-38) This is talking about the seventh day of Sukkot, called in Hebrew the "Hoshannah Rabbah." In English it can be translated as "The Day of the Great Hosanna." This is when water was carried in a joyful procession from the Pool of Siloam into the Temple while the people sang Psalm 118,
"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success. [Hosanna! Hosanna!] Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." (Psalm 118:24-29)
John's Gospel chapter eight, continues to describe the day after the final day of the Feast. "But Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them." (Jn 8:1-2) Yeshua came as the ultimate Torah teacher and here he sat down and taught all the people who had come for the Feast of Tabernacles and remained for this extra day.
At this time some Pharisees and teachers of the Law "brought in a woman caught in adultery…as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him." (vv 3,6) Seeing their hypocrisy Yeshua told them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." (Jn 8:7) The Torah never condemns anyone without the testimony of two or three witnesses and these witnesses must be tested to see if they were innocent and truthful. Through his righteous wisdom based on the Torah, Yeshua set the woman free and told her to go and sin no more. A few verses later he boldly asked those Torah teachers, "Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?" (Jn 8:46) None of them could. Yeshua had not broken the Law. He was the perfect Torah teacher.
The Power of the New Covenant
We rejoice that so many who believe in Yeshua today all over the world, both among Jews and Gentiles, are beginning to find so much joy, happiness and freedom in God's Torah. Christians have for centuries viewed the Law as bondage, and have been taught and trained to stay away from it as far as possible because "the church has a new and much better covenant." What a victory for the devil this deception has been! Christians have been robbed for way too long. It is time for change!
Yes, legalism, thinking that we can earn God's salvation and righteousness by our own works, is a curse. But the Torah, which in most cases is translated as Law, literally means teaching and instruction. Teaching about God's ways and His will for man certainly is not a curse. It is the exact opposite! It is this teaching that leads us to freedom. Freedom is not doing whatever we want, but the power to do what is right. Obeying God's commands is the greatest freedom in life and many are beginning to discover this beautiful freedom today.
And yes, the new covenant is much better than the first. So much better! The problem is that most Christians seem to have completely misunderstood what the new covenant is all about. The new covenant has not done away with the Torah. Once again exactly the complete opposite is true. The Bible makes it very clear that in the new covenant the Torah, rather than having been thrown out, has instead been written in our hearts!
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." (Heb 8:10)
Here we see that in the new covenant, God's laws, His Torah has been written on our hearts. People who say that the Torah has been done away with in the new covenant, have obviously never understood what the new covenant means. Secondly, we see in this passage that the new covenant has not been given to a different people than the people who received the first covenant. It is impossible for us to have any part in the new covenant without being a part of Israel, through the conversion and circumcision of the heart that comes through the Messiah of Israel.
In the new covenant the Torah has by the power of the Spirit of the Living God been written on our hearts, and we have been grafted in to Israel. The Eternal is beginning to lift the veil over the Scriptures in a powerful way in these days. This is not a matter of judaizing. It is a matter of embracing and obeying God's Word. The words written on our hearts and in the Scriptures never contradict each other.
We can never live without laws. We will either live by God's laws and commandments, which lead to freedom or we will follow man's laws and commandments, which always lead to bondage. We have to choose. There is no middle ground.
"See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you… This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." (De 30:15-16,20)
It is only in the new covenant, through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua's blood and the infilling of the Spirit of God that we can walk in God's Torah and fulfill it to the full. But please understand that the Torah has never been done away with in the new covenant. It has been written on our hearts. "…he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." (Rom 8:3-4) Yeshua died to set us free from all lawlessness, Tit 2:14. A Torah free new covenant is an oxymoron, a contradiction of terms.
Rejoicing Over God's Law
The first disciples said, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." (Jn 1:45) And Yeshua said, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me." (Jn 5:46) "Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." (Lk 24:44) No wonder that King David, who was a prophet, prayed, "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. …Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long." (Ps 119:18, 97)
It is written in Ephesians 4:13, "until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Messiah." It is impossible to reach maturity and a full knowledge of the Son of God without carefully studying the Torah of Moses.Paul wrote to Timothy, "from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures [the Law, the Prophets and the Writings], which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:15-17) Therefore he commanded Timothy, "devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture." (1 Tim 4:13) This is referring to the reading of the Law, the Prophets and the Writings, what today is called the Old Testament, because there was no New Testament yet.
Even though every commandment in the Torah is not for Gentile believers to keep, everything in the Torah has been written to teach us about our Messiah and our salvation in him. During the Closing Assembly, also called Simchat Torah, we can celebrate and rejoice over God's Law and praise Him for it! It is a very important Feast! Take the opportunity to teach on the importance of the Law for all who believe in Yeshua/Jesus. Afterwards rejoice over God's Law with all your might. In the New Covenant it has been written on your heart! If you do not have a Torah scroll, you can hold up your Bible and dance all night before the Lord. Every book in the Bible is based on the revelation found in the Torah of Moses.
During the Millennium the Torah will go out from Jerusalem and all the nations of the earth will follow the Torah. Then there will be peace on earth.
"This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.' The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD." (Isa 2:1-5)
The Feasts of the LORD will be kept in the Millennium. "'From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,' says the LORD." (Isa 66:23) "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 5:18-19)
May God bless you as you celebrate this great Feast rejoicing over God's Law!
"Prepare the way for the LORD"
We read in Deuteronomy 31:9-12,
"So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. Then Moses commanded them: 'At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people — men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns — so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law."
In John's Gospel we see this extra Feast on the eighth day fulfilled in the life of Yeshua. At the end of chapter seven we read how he proclaimed that he was the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles, "On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Yeshua stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.'" (Jn 7:37-38) This is talking about the seventh day of Sukkot, called in Hebrew the "Hoshannah Rabbah." In English it can be translated as "The Day of the Great Hosanna." This is when water was carried in a joyful procession from the Pool of Siloam into the Temple while the people sang Psalm 118,
"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success. [Hosanna! Hosanna!] Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." (Psalm 118:24-29)
John's Gospel chapter eight, continues to describe the day after the final day of the Feast. "But Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them." (Jn 8:1-2) Yeshua came as the ultimate Torah teacher and here he sat down and taught all the people who had come for the Feast of Tabernacles and remained for this extra day.
At this time some Pharisees and teachers of the Law "brought in a woman caught in adultery…as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him." (vv 3,6) Seeing their hypocrisy Yeshua told them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." (Jn 8:7) The Torah never condemns anyone without the testimony of two or three witnesses and these witnesses must be tested to see if they were innocent and truthful. Through his righteous wisdom based on the Torah, Yeshua set the woman free and told her to go and sin no more. A few verses later he boldly asked those Torah teachers, "Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?" (Jn 8:46) None of them could. Yeshua had not broken the Law. He was the perfect Torah teacher.
The Power of the New Covenant
We rejoice that so many who believe in Yeshua today all over the world, both among Jews and Gentiles, are beginning to find so much joy, happiness and freedom in God's Torah. Christians have for centuries viewed the Law as bondage, and have been taught and trained to stay away from it as far as possible because "the church has a new and much better covenant." What a victory for the devil this deception has been! Christians have been robbed for way too long. It is time for change!
Yes, legalism, thinking that we can earn God's salvation and righteousness by our own works, is a curse. But the Torah, which in most cases is translated as Law, literally means teaching and instruction. Teaching about God's ways and His will for man certainly is not a curse. It is the exact opposite! It is this teaching that leads us to freedom. Freedom is not doing whatever we want, but the power to do what is right. Obeying God's commands is the greatest freedom in life and many are beginning to discover this beautiful freedom today.
And yes, the new covenant is much better than the first. So much better! The problem is that most Christians seem to have completely misunderstood what the new covenant is all about. The new covenant has not done away with the Torah. Once again exactly the complete opposite is true. The Bible makes it very clear that in the new covenant the Torah, rather than having been thrown out, has instead been written in our hearts!
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." (Heb 8:10)
Here we see that in the new covenant, God's laws, His Torah has been written on our hearts. People who say that the Torah has been done away with in the new covenant, have obviously never understood what the new covenant means. Secondly, we see in this passage that the new covenant has not been given to a different people than the people who received the first covenant. It is impossible for us to have any part in the new covenant without being a part of Israel, through the conversion and circumcision of the heart that comes through the Messiah of Israel.
In the new covenant the Torah has by the power of the Spirit of the Living God been written on our hearts, and we have been grafted in to Israel. The Eternal is beginning to lift the veil over the Scriptures in a powerful way in these days. This is not a matter of judaizing. It is a matter of embracing and obeying God's Word. The words written on our hearts and in the Scriptures never contradict each other.
We can never live without laws. We will either live by God's laws and commandments, which lead to freedom or we will follow man's laws and commandments, which always lead to bondage. We have to choose. There is no middle ground.
"See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you… This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." (De 30:15-16,20)
It is only in the new covenant, through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua's blood and the infilling of the Spirit of God that we can walk in God's Torah and fulfill it to the full. But please understand that the Torah has never been done away with in the new covenant. It has been written on our hearts. "…he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." (Rom 8:3-4) Yeshua died to set us free from all lawlessness, Tit 2:14. A Torah free new covenant is an oxymoron, a contradiction of terms.
Rejoicing Over God's Law
The first disciples said, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." (Jn 1:45) And Yeshua said, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me." (Jn 5:46) "Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." (Lk 24:44) No wonder that King David, who was a prophet, prayed, "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. …Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long." (Ps 119:18, 97)
It is written in Ephesians 4:13, "until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Messiah." It is impossible to reach maturity and a full knowledge of the Son of God without carefully studying the Torah of Moses.Paul wrote to Timothy, "from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures [the Law, the Prophets and the Writings], which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:15-17) Therefore he commanded Timothy, "devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture." (1 Tim 4:13) This is referring to the reading of the Law, the Prophets and the Writings, what today is called the Old Testament, because there was no New Testament yet.
Even though every commandment in the Torah is not for Gentile believers to keep, everything in the Torah has been written to teach us about our Messiah and our salvation in him. During the Closing Assembly, also called Simchat Torah, we can celebrate and rejoice over God's Law and praise Him for it! It is a very important Feast! Take the opportunity to teach on the importance of the Law for all who believe in Yeshua/Jesus. Afterwards rejoice over God's Law with all your might. In the New Covenant it has been written on your heart! If you do not have a Torah scroll, you can hold up your Bible and dance all night before the Lord. Every book in the Bible is based on the revelation found in the Torah of Moses.
During the Millennium the Torah will go out from Jerusalem and all the nations of the earth will follow the Torah. Then there will be peace on earth.
"This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.' The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD." (Isa 2:1-5)
The Feasts of the LORD will be kept in the Millennium. "'From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,' says the LORD." (Isa 66:23) "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 5:18-19)
May God bless you as you celebrate this great Feast rejoicing over God's Law!
"Prepare the way for the LORD"
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