By Dr. Todd Baker
B'rit Hadashah Ministries is committed to proclaiming the Gospel to the Jewish people in Israel. So far I have conducted several Gospel outreaches in Israel. We found the Jewish people there to be open, appreciative, and interested in the good news of Jesus the Messiah. Several individuals there have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior and became completed Jews born anew in the Messiah. Taking the Gospel to the Jews of Israel is not an option or choice for us; it is commanded by God in Scripture. In fact the Bible provides seven reasons why this is so. It is no coincidence about the number seven. Seven, in the Bible, is the number of divine completeness. God created and completed the universe in seven days. Christ spoke seven times from the cross when completing the work of redemption. Seven years are left on Daniel's 70 weeks to complete the present age with the return of Christ to earth. And here God gives seven reasons for preaching the Gospel to Israel. Let's look at them in closer detail.
(1) Romans 1:16 plainly says the Gospel is to go to the Jew first. Paul writes in that passage: "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to the Jew first and also to the Gentile." Here we have the divine order of evangelism defined. The Gospel is to go to the Jew first. Why? The answer is not because the Jewish people are somehow superior to the rest of the Gentile world but because God chose their nation and people through whom the Messiah would come and prepared them for this through the Covenants, the Hebrew Scriptures with its many Messianic prophecies, and the Temple and its sacrifices (see Romans 15:8-9 where the divine order of evangelism is confirmed again). Thus Jesus came to save the Jews as a Jew. Jesus came first to offer salvation and the Messianic kingdom to Israel. He said as much during His ministry on earth. When sought by a Gentile Jesus said in Matthew 15:24: "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel." Paul and the Apostles followed this divine order in the book of Acts when going to the Jews in the synagogues first to preach the Gospel. Salvation and the Messiah came directly from the Jewish people. Jesus told the Samaritan woman in John 4:22: "Salvation is of the Jews." The Church is to follow the same order of evangelism given in Romans 1:16 as practiced by the Lord Jesus and the Apostles. We are to witness to the Jews first as they did and commanded us to do.
(2) The Great Commission was given from Jerusalem and the preaching of the Gospel began there. The holy city Jerusalem is mentioned 811 times in Scripture. God has chosen this city as the eternal city where He will place His name there forever (2 Chron. 6:6). Jesus will reign over the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years. Ezekiel 5:5 says God has placed Jerusalem at the center of the earth. There our Lord died for the sins of the world and was raised again. He will return there when He comes again. In Acts 1:8 Christ commanded the Disciples to take the Gospel to the whole world starting in Jerusalem. Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital for 3,000 years. It is not only logical but also strategically smart that if one preaches the Gospel to the Jews you should go to the place they hold highest above all else on earth-Jerusalem.
(3) To fulfill prophecy and hasten the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is an obscure and often ignored prophecy found in Matthew 10: 23. Jesus said there "But when they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes." Jesus predicted in this prophecy that the evangelization of the cities of Israel will not be complete before He returns. This prophecy will be fulfilled during the time of the tribulation period when Jewish Christians are persecuted for their Gospel witness in Israel. For nearly 2,000 years of the present Church age the Gospel was not being preached to Jews in Israel because they were scattered throughout the nations of the world since 70 A.D. But all that changed in 1948 when Israel became a nation again and Jews returned en masse to their ancient homeland. The Messianic movement in Israel is growing and now for the first time since the days of Jesus and the Apostles, evangelism and gospel preaching to the Jews is happening in the land again. The fact that this has started and will not be finished before the Second Coming must mean the Lord's return is very soon. Not only do we have a prophecy of this kind found in the New Testament but also one of similar fashion in the Old Testament. It is in Isaiah 62:10-12. Isaiah 62:10-12 is an amazing prophecy that says God will send Gentile believers to Jerusalem "from the ends of the earth" to proclaim to the Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem that the Savior is coming to redeem and rescue them. Incidentally, the Hebrew word for "salvation" in Isaiah 62:11 is the same word for the name of Jesus in Hebrew - Yeshua, Y'shua or Yeshuach. Yeshua (Jesus in English) means "The Lord is salvation." "She shall bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus (Yeshua) (Matthew 1:21). For He shall save His people from their sins." In other words, God wants them to say to Jerusalem Yeshua or Jesus is coming! The chapter closes with the prediction that these Gentile ambassadors of Christ will prepare the way for the return of Y'shua the Savior in much the same way John the Baptist prepared Israel for the Messiah's first coming as predicted in Isaiah 40:3. This interpretation is confirmed as the right one by the fact that Isaiah 63 opens with the second coming of the Messiah in glory after His way has been prepared by His Gentile ambassadors of chapter 62 who come to share the Gospel of salvation to Israel and Jerusalem. The fact that this ministry and others are doing this very thing means prophecy is being fulfilled and Christ's coming is extremely close.
(4) Preaching the Gospel to Israel pays the debt we Gentile believers owe to the Jewish people. Paul said in Romans 15:27 that we are indebted to Israel because of the spiritual blessings they brought to the world. Those blessings that came through the Jewish people are the Bible, the Messiah, and the Judeo-Christian ethic on which the whole of Western civilization is built. The New Testament Church is obligated out of Christ's love to share the Gospel to His ethnic people-the Jews. What greater way to pay that spiritual debt of gratitude than to share with them the great riches of salvation given through Jesus Christ.
(5) To possibly prepare Jewish hearts for the Tribulation. The signs of the Lord's return are here to anybody who has a basic understanding of Bible prophecy. When you witness to an Israeli Jew in this late hour you could very well be planting Gospel seed that will save him after the Rapture and allow him to become part of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists mentioned in Revelation 7. God's Word will not return void. Jews we witness to now who do not get saved, can after the Rapture of the Church when they recall what we told them about this event and the tribulation period to follow.
(6) The Salvation of Israel is the heart cry of God and Jesus. Our Lord wept over the lost condition of Jerusalem saying, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing" (Matthew 23:37). Jesus lamented over the fact that they would reject Him as their Lord and Savior and suffer eternal loss and ruin. The Spirit of Christ spoke through the Apostle Paul in Romans 10:1 when he expressed that his ardent desire and prayer to God was that Israel might be saved. Jesus still weeps over the lost condition of Israel today. But He has purchased their salvation for them through His death on the cross. All they have to do, like anyone else, is believe and receive Y'shua as their Messiah to be saved. We as a Church must in love, understanding, and patience give them that opportunity by sharing the Gospel with them. If we don't they will remain lost without their true Messiah.
(7) We must take the Gospel to the Jews of Jerusalem because God commands it. Preaching the Gospel to the Jews of Jerusalem, Israel, and the world is not an option for Bible believing Christians. It is commanded by God in Isaiah 40:9-10. We are not only to bring the good tidings of salvation to Israel but we are to do it with boldness and strength. But to do this takes financial support from Christians who love the Jews and want to bless Israel with an opportunity for them to be saved by hearing and believing the Gospel. I can tell you from personal experience the Jewish people are open and willing to listen about why Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and the world. The only way I can carry out this last days Gospel outreach to Israel is if people like you obey the Holy Sprit's leading and give to this ministry. For "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed. And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent" (Romans 10:14). What greater blessing to give to the Jewish people than to afford them the opportunity to hear the Gospel and believe it for salvation. God promises a special blessing on those who bless the Chosen People. In Genesis 12:3, the Lord says, "I will bless those who bless you." As you give into this ministry, God will bless you and cause prosperity to abound, "not that I seek a gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account" (Phil. 4:17).
Original Article http://www.brit-hadashah.org/
666: The Mark of the Beast
By Chris Schang
One of the most electrifying and fascinating end times issues centers around the diabolical 666 - the mark of the beast. This number, 666, brings immediate fear to many people as a result of the books and movies that portray the satanic design and influence behind it. The Bible tells us that the number 666 is the number of a man, who in fact is the evil Antichrist who will rise up in the last days to rule the world and make war against the Lord Jesus Christ. The number of the future Antichrist is given to us in Revelation 13:18.
Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.
The Antichrist will use this diabolical mark of the beast to make mankind choose between him and God. In order to buy and sell during the Tribulation period, once must take this mark of the beast. We are warned about this in Revelation 13:17.
Rev 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
While the number 666 is the number of the beast or Antichrist, it is not the Antichirst that gets men to worship him. Instead it is the Antichrist's evil side kick who is referred to as the False Prophet who introduces this diabolocial mark of the beast. This is foretold in Revelation 13:11-17.
Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.
The interesting thing to note about this mark of the beast is that people will not be able to buy or sell unless they have the mark. This means that in order to buy groceries, gas, medicine, etc. one will have to have the mark of the beast or the number of the beast which is 666. How this mark is implemented is subject to much speculation here in the last days. For example, there exists the technology today called the "Verichip" which is about the size of a grain of rice and is placed under the skin, usually on the forehead or the hand. The chip is able to store detailed financial, medical, and other kinds of information about the person that it is placed in. Some businesses these days where security is paramount have already incorporated the Verichip into their security plans. For example, a bank may require that individuals who have access to the bank vault be chipped in order to keep detailed records of who went in and out of the vault, which can be used later to narrow down suspects in the case of money shortages. These chips are read by a scanner which would be placed perhaps on either side of the vault door so that detailed records about a person such as what time they entered the vault, how long they were in the vault, etc. might be recorded. Many hospitals in some areas are using the technology to help track patients and to help store their medical records. While the Verichip is a possible forerunner to the actual mark of the beast, it is impossible to know what exactly will be the mark of the beast until it is revealed in the future Tribulation period when it is unveiled by the False Prophet.
On the other hand, some people believe the mark of the beast will not be a chip like that of Verichip, but instead a visible "tattoo" like mark that is visible to all. The tattoo will be the number 666 and not a representation of it. That it will be on the forehead or right hand, not in the forehead or right hand. Whichever the case might be, only time will tell. But for the first time in history the technology has existed whereby mankind can be controlled to the point that no one may buy or seel unless they have the mark of the beast or the number fo the beast which is 666.
The most significant aspect of the of the mark of the beast is that a person who takes the mark is pledging allegience to the Antichrist as his supreme ruler, which in this case will be Satan indwelling the Antichrist. This is why those who take the mark of the beast during the Tribulation period will be forever condemned to the lake of fire. Scripture also makes it clear that those who do not take the mark of the beast will be killed. The Bible also notes that no one will be able to escape the mark as stated in Revelation 13:16, "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads". People will have to make a conscious decision on whom they will serve, will it be God or will it be the Satan? Mankind has over the past 2,000 years since the Lord gave us the Gospel been able to basically spend a lifetime making this decision. However, in the Tribulation period this will not be the case. Due to the introduction of the mark of the beast, people will finally have to get "off the fence" and make a decision one way or another.
Just as God seals the 144,000 Jewish witnesses during the Tribulation period to preach the Gospel and today seals believers with the Holy Spirit, Satan will try to counterfeit or parody this by introducing his own "seal" that will indentify those that belong to him. Whereas God's seal protects his people, Satan seals condemns them to eternity in the lake of fire.
With the advances in modern technology and the coming "cashless" society, we are literally on the brink of the prophecised mark of the beast system being introduced when the Tribulation period is in full swing. As the result of this mysterious and diabolical mark of the beast, many people over the years have tried to recognize the mark ahead of time. This fascination with the mark of the beast and the number 666 have caused many people to react surprised and shocked to invoices, zip codes, telephone numbers, etc. whenever and wherever the number 666 pops up. Due to the implications of the coming mark of the beast and the number 666 people have oftentimes done extraordinary things to avoid the number. Some people have gone to lunch to only have their bill end up at $6.66, so they add a pack of gum to the bill so that they can avoid the uneasy connotations. But while this is simply superstitious behavior on random and chance occurances of the the number 666, the deadly fact remains that one day the number 666 and the mark of the beast system will finally be introduced during the most chaotic seven years the world has ever encountered - the Tribulation period.
But Christians should not fear the coming mark of the beast nor the number 666. For the Lord has promised that church age believers will be spared the wrath of God and the horrible things of the coming Tribulation period. For those who find themselves in the Tribulation period, they have the advance warning not to take the mark of the beast as there are very dire consequences for doing so. In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul taught that the Antichrist would not be revelaed until it is his time. This will not occur until sometime after the rapture of the church. So church age believers do not need to worry about the identity of the Antichrist, as this will only be known to people who come to faith in Christ after the rapture of the church. People who become believers after the rapture will know ahead of time that to receive the mark of the beast, means to reject Jesus Christ. Many people will be martyred for refusing the mark of the beast, but at the same time many will be saved and are referred to as Tribulation saints or martyrs as a result of keeping the faith of Jesus Christ.
I hope you will find this article informative and helpful. The Bible tells us that today is the day of salvation. If you are not saved, I would recommend that you not put this matter off any longer. To do so, you run the risk of missing the rapture and meeting the Antichrist. Make that decision for Christ today while there is still time, it's the only way to make sure that you do have to face the mark of the beast.
God bless.
One of the most electrifying and fascinating end times issues centers around the diabolical 666 - the mark of the beast. This number, 666, brings immediate fear to many people as a result of the books and movies that portray the satanic design and influence behind it. The Bible tells us that the number 666 is the number of a man, who in fact is the evil Antichrist who will rise up in the last days to rule the world and make war against the Lord Jesus Christ. The number of the future Antichrist is given to us in Revelation 13:18.
Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.
The Antichrist will use this diabolical mark of the beast to make mankind choose between him and God. In order to buy and sell during the Tribulation period, once must take this mark of the beast. We are warned about this in Revelation 13:17.
Rev 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
While the number 666 is the number of the beast or Antichrist, it is not the Antichirst that gets men to worship him. Instead it is the Antichrist's evil side kick who is referred to as the False Prophet who introduces this diabolocial mark of the beast. This is foretold in Revelation 13:11-17.
Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.
The interesting thing to note about this mark of the beast is that people will not be able to buy or sell unless they have the mark. This means that in order to buy groceries, gas, medicine, etc. one will have to have the mark of the beast or the number of the beast which is 666. How this mark is implemented is subject to much speculation here in the last days. For example, there exists the technology today called the "Verichip" which is about the size of a grain of rice and is placed under the skin, usually on the forehead or the hand. The chip is able to store detailed financial, medical, and other kinds of information about the person that it is placed in. Some businesses these days where security is paramount have already incorporated the Verichip into their security plans. For example, a bank may require that individuals who have access to the bank vault be chipped in order to keep detailed records of who went in and out of the vault, which can be used later to narrow down suspects in the case of money shortages. These chips are read by a scanner which would be placed perhaps on either side of the vault door so that detailed records about a person such as what time they entered the vault, how long they were in the vault, etc. might be recorded. Many hospitals in some areas are using the technology to help track patients and to help store their medical records. While the Verichip is a possible forerunner to the actual mark of the beast, it is impossible to know what exactly will be the mark of the beast until it is revealed in the future Tribulation period when it is unveiled by the False Prophet.
On the other hand, some people believe the mark of the beast will not be a chip like that of Verichip, but instead a visible "tattoo" like mark that is visible to all. The tattoo will be the number 666 and not a representation of it. That it will be on the forehead or right hand, not in the forehead or right hand. Whichever the case might be, only time will tell. But for the first time in history the technology has existed whereby mankind can be controlled to the point that no one may buy or seel unless they have the mark of the beast or the number fo the beast which is 666.
The most significant aspect of the of the mark of the beast is that a person who takes the mark is pledging allegience to the Antichrist as his supreme ruler, which in this case will be Satan indwelling the Antichrist. This is why those who take the mark of the beast during the Tribulation period will be forever condemned to the lake of fire. Scripture also makes it clear that those who do not take the mark of the beast will be killed. The Bible also notes that no one will be able to escape the mark as stated in Revelation 13:16, "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads". People will have to make a conscious decision on whom they will serve, will it be God or will it be the Satan? Mankind has over the past 2,000 years since the Lord gave us the Gospel been able to basically spend a lifetime making this decision. However, in the Tribulation period this will not be the case. Due to the introduction of the mark of the beast, people will finally have to get "off the fence" and make a decision one way or another.
Just as God seals the 144,000 Jewish witnesses during the Tribulation period to preach the Gospel and today seals believers with the Holy Spirit, Satan will try to counterfeit or parody this by introducing his own "seal" that will indentify those that belong to him. Whereas God's seal protects his people, Satan seals condemns them to eternity in the lake of fire.
With the advances in modern technology and the coming "cashless" society, we are literally on the brink of the prophecised mark of the beast system being introduced when the Tribulation period is in full swing. As the result of this mysterious and diabolical mark of the beast, many people over the years have tried to recognize the mark ahead of time. This fascination with the mark of the beast and the number 666 have caused many people to react surprised and shocked to invoices, zip codes, telephone numbers, etc. whenever and wherever the number 666 pops up. Due to the implications of the coming mark of the beast and the number 666 people have oftentimes done extraordinary things to avoid the number. Some people have gone to lunch to only have their bill end up at $6.66, so they add a pack of gum to the bill so that they can avoid the uneasy connotations. But while this is simply superstitious behavior on random and chance occurances of the the number 666, the deadly fact remains that one day the number 666 and the mark of the beast system will finally be introduced during the most chaotic seven years the world has ever encountered - the Tribulation period.
But Christians should not fear the coming mark of the beast nor the number 666. For the Lord has promised that church age believers will be spared the wrath of God and the horrible things of the coming Tribulation period. For those who find themselves in the Tribulation period, they have the advance warning not to take the mark of the beast as there are very dire consequences for doing so. In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul taught that the Antichrist would not be revelaed until it is his time. This will not occur until sometime after the rapture of the church. So church age believers do not need to worry about the identity of the Antichrist, as this will only be known to people who come to faith in Christ after the rapture of the church. People who become believers after the rapture will know ahead of time that to receive the mark of the beast, means to reject Jesus Christ. Many people will be martyred for refusing the mark of the beast, but at the same time many will be saved and are referred to as Tribulation saints or martyrs as a result of keeping the faith of Jesus Christ.
I hope you will find this article informative and helpful. The Bible tells us that today is the day of salvation. If you are not saved, I would recommend that you not put this matter off any longer. To do so, you run the risk of missing the rapture and meeting the Antichrist. Make that decision for Christ today while there is still time, it's the only way to make sure that you do have to face the mark of the beast.
God bless.
Antichrist Prophecy
By Chris Schang
One of the most fascinating topics in the Bible is the coming one world government leader known in the Bible as the Antichrist. The Antichrist is Satan's opposite of the Lord Jesus Christ. While Jesus Christ is heralded as the Son of God, the Antichrist will be the Son of Satan and a counterfeit to Jesus Christ. The Bible says that the Antichrist will be a man who rises to great power in the world after the rapture of the church. The Antichrist will stand for everything that Jesus does not stand for. While Jesus Christ stands for purity, righteousness, holiness, and many other things of goodness in contrast the Antichrist will stand for wickedness, evil, lies, and everything evil and wicked.
The Bible gives us numerous prophetic titles for the Antichrist. The Antichrist is often referred to as the man of sin, the lawless one, the son of perdition, the beast, the bloody and deceitful man, the wicked one, the adversary, and many other titles that all paint a dark and grim picture on Antichrist prophecy from the scriptures. The Bible offer quite a few prophecies about the future Antichrist, some of which we will list below. This list is not exhaustive, but will help you in understanding the role the Antichrist will play in the end times. Some Antichrist prophecies for the last days are as follows:
1. The antichrist will be a man - Daniel 7:24-25
2. He will rise among 10 kings - Daniel 7:8 - This 10 nation union will be a revived Holy Roman Empire - Daniel 2:44
3. He will uproot 3 kings from the original 10 kings to gain political power - Daniel 7:8
4. He will confirm a covenant for 7 years - Daniel 9:27
5. His 10 nation union will merge into a world government which he will dominate - Revelations 13:1-2
6. The world government over which he rules will be a red (communistic or socialistic) government - Revelations 17:14
7. He will be promoted and exalted by a miracle working religious partner (false prophet) - Revelations 13:11-12
8. He was, and is not, and yet is - Revelations 17:8
9. He will ascend to power on a platform of peace. By peace, he will destroy many - Daniel 8:25
10. The antichrist will be preceded by 7 kings or rulers. He will be the 8th king. He will also be "of" the 7 - Revelations 17:11
11. He will have a mouth speaking great things. Very boastful - Daniel 7:8
12. His look will be more stout than his fellows - Daniel 7:20
13. He will understand puzzling things - Daniel 8:23
14. He will have a fierce countenance - Daniel 8:23
15. He will cause craft to prosper - Daniel 8:25
16. He apparently assumes world dominating power 3 1/2 years after he confirms the covenant. He then will continue to reign for 42 months - Revelations 13:5
17. The Abomination of Desolation is the event that signals the beginning of this final 42 months - Daniel 9:27
18. He will claim to be God (or an incarnation of God) - 2 Thessalonians 2:4
19. He opposes God - 2 Thessalonians 2:4
20. He will speak marvelous things against the God of gods - Daniel 11:36
21. He will exalt himself above all that is called God - 2 Thessalonians 2:4
22. He will sit in the temple of God - 2 Thessalonians 2:4
23. He will plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain - Daniel 11:45
24. He will have power to make war with the saints and to overcome them - Revelations 13:7
25. He will take away the daily sacrifices from the temple - Daniel 11:31
26. He will continue this war with the saints for 3 1/2 years - Daniel 7:21, 25
27. This time of Great Tribulation is launched upon the Earth by the antichrist at the Abomination of Desolation. - Matthew 24:15,21.
28. He will rule a mighty and strong kingdom - Daniel 7:7
29. He was given power over all kindreds, tongues and nations - Revelations 13:7
30. His kingdom will devour the whole earth - Daniel 7:23
31. During this time, the antichrist will scatter the power of the holy people - Daniel 12:7
32. He will try to change times and laws; and they will be given into his power for 3 1/2 years - Daniel 7:25
33. He will give great honor to the God of forces, with gold, silver, jewels, etc - Daniel 11:38
34. He will prosper in everything that he does - Daniel 8:24
35. He will not regard the God of his fathers - Daniel 11:37
36. He will have great military power that will stand behind him, to enforce his laws - Daniel 11:31
37. He will not regard the desire of women - Daniel 11:37
38. All that dwell upon the Earth will worship him, except those who's names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life - Revelations 15:2
39. He will have an image made after him - Revelations 15:2
40. He will fight against Jesus Christ at Armageddon - Revelations 17:14
41. He will stand against the Prince of princes - Daniel 8:25
42. The mark of the beast will be the amount of his name - Revelations 14:11
43. The Lord will consume him with the spirit of his mouth (which is the Word of God) - 2 Thessalonians 2:8
44. The Lord will destroy him with the brightness of his coming (which is his glory) - 2 Thessalonians 2:8
45. He will be cast alive into the lake of fire - Revelations 19:20
46. He will be tormented day and night for ever and ever - Revelations 20:10
47. He will gain his power, authority, and throne from Satan - Revelation 13:1-2
48. He was given power and authority over tribe, tongue, and nation - Revelation 13:7
49. His rigth eye shall be made blind - Zechariah 11:17
50. He will have a mark so that all shall worship him, and those who don't can't buy or sell - Revelation 13:16-17
As we can see from the Antichrist prophecies, the man of sin is destined to be an evil man that will arise as Satan's vehicle to get the world to worship him. Satan will use the man who is to become the Antichrist as a means of getting the world to worship him during the Tribulation period. He will even have a sidekick that helps him accomplish his evil and wicked plans. This man is known in the Bible as the False Prophet. While the Bible doesn't tell us a whole lot about the False Prophet, it does tell us that the False Prophet will lead men in their worship of the Antichrist. The False Prophet will also introuduce the diabolical "mark of the beast" whereby the people of the world will take a mark on their forehead or hand that pledges their allegiance to the Antichrist. If one is caught being forced to choose between this mark of the beast and being martyred for the sake of Jesus Christ, it is strongly recommended that one be martyred as the mark of the beast is a damnable rejection of God and there is only one place assigned for those who take the mark and that is HELL. Do not take the mark of the beast under any circumstance, if you do you have lost forever the chance to be saved.
The mark of the beast will somehow be related to the infamous number 666, as the Bible tells us that the number 666 is somehow the number of the beast. It is suggested that using gematria people left behind during the tribulation period will be able to figure out who the Antichrist will be. Gematria is simply the use of numbers to represent letters in the Hebrew and Greek languages. It is suggested that the Antichrist's name will somehow add up to 666. This is the primary reason that many end times speculators have focused on prominent political leaders of our day in an attempt to try to figure out if any of their names add up to 666. In my humble opinion, this kind of speculating is pretty much a waste of time as the Antichrist will likely not be revealed until after the rapture of the church. Until then, speculating and naming possible Antichrist candidates is simply a good way to ruin the Christian witness we have in the world as there are numerous candidates and they all can't be right. The best thing for us to do is to know what the Bible says about the Antichrist prophecies and to be prepared to warn those who may be left behind.
God bless.
One of the most fascinating topics in the Bible is the coming one world government leader known in the Bible as the Antichrist. The Antichrist is Satan's opposite of the Lord Jesus Christ. While Jesus Christ is heralded as the Son of God, the Antichrist will be the Son of Satan and a counterfeit to Jesus Christ. The Bible says that the Antichrist will be a man who rises to great power in the world after the rapture of the church. The Antichrist will stand for everything that Jesus does not stand for. While Jesus Christ stands for purity, righteousness, holiness, and many other things of goodness in contrast the Antichrist will stand for wickedness, evil, lies, and everything evil and wicked.
The Bible gives us numerous prophetic titles for the Antichrist. The Antichrist is often referred to as the man of sin, the lawless one, the son of perdition, the beast, the bloody and deceitful man, the wicked one, the adversary, and many other titles that all paint a dark and grim picture on Antichrist prophecy from the scriptures. The Bible offer quite a few prophecies about the future Antichrist, some of which we will list below. This list is not exhaustive, but will help you in understanding the role the Antichrist will play in the end times. Some Antichrist prophecies for the last days are as follows:
1. The antichrist will be a man - Daniel 7:24-25
2. He will rise among 10 kings - Daniel 7:8 - This 10 nation union will be a revived Holy Roman Empire - Daniel 2:44
3. He will uproot 3 kings from the original 10 kings to gain political power - Daniel 7:8
4. He will confirm a covenant for 7 years - Daniel 9:27
5. His 10 nation union will merge into a world government which he will dominate - Revelations 13:1-2
6. The world government over which he rules will be a red (communistic or socialistic) government - Revelations 17:14
7. He will be promoted and exalted by a miracle working religious partner (false prophet) - Revelations 13:11-12
8. He was, and is not, and yet is - Revelations 17:8
9. He will ascend to power on a platform of peace. By peace, he will destroy many - Daniel 8:25
10. The antichrist will be preceded by 7 kings or rulers. He will be the 8th king. He will also be "of" the 7 - Revelations 17:11
11. He will have a mouth speaking great things. Very boastful - Daniel 7:8
12. His look will be more stout than his fellows - Daniel 7:20
13. He will understand puzzling things - Daniel 8:23
14. He will have a fierce countenance - Daniel 8:23
15. He will cause craft to prosper - Daniel 8:25
16. He apparently assumes world dominating power 3 1/2 years after he confirms the covenant. He then will continue to reign for 42 months - Revelations 13:5
17. The Abomination of Desolation is the event that signals the beginning of this final 42 months - Daniel 9:27
18. He will claim to be God (or an incarnation of God) - 2 Thessalonians 2:4
19. He opposes God - 2 Thessalonians 2:4
20. He will speak marvelous things against the God of gods - Daniel 11:36
21. He will exalt himself above all that is called God - 2 Thessalonians 2:4
22. He will sit in the temple of God - 2 Thessalonians 2:4
23. He will plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain - Daniel 11:45
24. He will have power to make war with the saints and to overcome them - Revelations 13:7
25. He will take away the daily sacrifices from the temple - Daniel 11:31
26. He will continue this war with the saints for 3 1/2 years - Daniel 7:21, 25
27. This time of Great Tribulation is launched upon the Earth by the antichrist at the Abomination of Desolation. - Matthew 24:15,21.
28. He will rule a mighty and strong kingdom - Daniel 7:7
29. He was given power over all kindreds, tongues and nations - Revelations 13:7
30. His kingdom will devour the whole earth - Daniel 7:23
31. During this time, the antichrist will scatter the power of the holy people - Daniel 12:7
32. He will try to change times and laws; and they will be given into his power for 3 1/2 years - Daniel 7:25
33. He will give great honor to the God of forces, with gold, silver, jewels, etc - Daniel 11:38
34. He will prosper in everything that he does - Daniel 8:24
35. He will not regard the God of his fathers - Daniel 11:37
36. He will have great military power that will stand behind him, to enforce his laws - Daniel 11:31
37. He will not regard the desire of women - Daniel 11:37
38. All that dwell upon the Earth will worship him, except those who's names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life - Revelations 15:2
39. He will have an image made after him - Revelations 15:2
40. He will fight against Jesus Christ at Armageddon - Revelations 17:14
41. He will stand against the Prince of princes - Daniel 8:25
42. The mark of the beast will be the amount of his name - Revelations 14:11
43. The Lord will consume him with the spirit of his mouth (which is the Word of God) - 2 Thessalonians 2:8
44. The Lord will destroy him with the brightness of his coming (which is his glory) - 2 Thessalonians 2:8
45. He will be cast alive into the lake of fire - Revelations 19:20
46. He will be tormented day and night for ever and ever - Revelations 20:10
47. He will gain his power, authority, and throne from Satan - Revelation 13:1-2
48. He was given power and authority over tribe, tongue, and nation - Revelation 13:7
49. His rigth eye shall be made blind - Zechariah 11:17
50. He will have a mark so that all shall worship him, and those who don't can't buy or sell - Revelation 13:16-17
As we can see from the Antichrist prophecies, the man of sin is destined to be an evil man that will arise as Satan's vehicle to get the world to worship him. Satan will use the man who is to become the Antichrist as a means of getting the world to worship him during the Tribulation period. He will even have a sidekick that helps him accomplish his evil and wicked plans. This man is known in the Bible as the False Prophet. While the Bible doesn't tell us a whole lot about the False Prophet, it does tell us that the False Prophet will lead men in their worship of the Antichrist. The False Prophet will also introuduce the diabolical "mark of the beast" whereby the people of the world will take a mark on their forehead or hand that pledges their allegiance to the Antichrist. If one is caught being forced to choose between this mark of the beast and being martyred for the sake of Jesus Christ, it is strongly recommended that one be martyred as the mark of the beast is a damnable rejection of God and there is only one place assigned for those who take the mark and that is HELL. Do not take the mark of the beast under any circumstance, if you do you have lost forever the chance to be saved.
The mark of the beast will somehow be related to the infamous number 666, as the Bible tells us that the number 666 is somehow the number of the beast. It is suggested that using gematria people left behind during the tribulation period will be able to figure out who the Antichrist will be. Gematria is simply the use of numbers to represent letters in the Hebrew and Greek languages. It is suggested that the Antichrist's name will somehow add up to 666. This is the primary reason that many end times speculators have focused on prominent political leaders of our day in an attempt to try to figure out if any of their names add up to 666. In my humble opinion, this kind of speculating is pretty much a waste of time as the Antichrist will likely not be revealed until after the rapture of the church. Until then, speculating and naming possible Antichrist candidates is simply a good way to ruin the Christian witness we have in the world as there are numerous candidates and they all can't be right. The best thing for us to do is to know what the Bible says about the Antichrist prophecies and to be prepared to warn those who may be left behind.
God bless.
One World Government: Kosovo and the Preparation of Europe
One World Government: Kosovo and the Preparation of Europe
By Thomas Ice
I believe that God is currently setting the stage for events that will take place after the rapture, during the tribulation. Israel is back in her land and being postured to sign what Isaiah calls "a covenant with death" (Isa. 28:15,18) that will commence the tribulation (Dan. 9:26,27). The other party to that covenant will be a Revived Roman Empire, centered in Europe. I think that the current war in Yugoslavia is making a contribution to the stage-setting for the post-rapture period of history.
Daniel's Outline for History Daniel 2
Daniel 2 contains God's divine outline for history from the sixth century b.c. until the 1,000 year reign of Christ in His kingdom known as the millennium. Nebuchadnezzar's dream, as authoritatively interpreted by God through Daniel, tells us that history will see the rise of four consecutive Gentile world powers, representing the kingdom of man, that will in the end be crushed by our Lord's eternal reign. This message was conveyed through the appearance of a giant statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The head of gold represents Babylon. The breast and arms of silver indicate Medio-Persia. While its bronze belly and thighs symbolize Greece. Rome is the final entity that appears in two phases: its legs of iron (the ancient Roman Empire of the first century) and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay (the Revived Roman Empire of the future tribulation period) (Dan. 2:31-35). Students of Bible Prophecy are interested in learning as much as possible about the final, revived form of the Roman Empire.
Daniel 2:42,43 tells us "And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery." As opposed to Ancient Rome characterized by iron and thus internal strength, Revived Rome with its mixture of iron and clay is a very weak mixture. The fourth kingdom starts off as pure iron and then as you move down the legs to the feet and toes the iron fades out into pieces of iron impregnated into pottery. Daniel interprets this degradation of the pure iron into pottery mixed with iron as a deterioration within the fourth kingdom itself over time. Thus, the picture is that of a heterogeneous composition of the feet and the toes being made partly of iron and partly of clay, is a heterogeneous composition of the culture of the kingdom. Daniel's prophecy tells us of the progressive deterioration of the cultural unity of the succeeding kingdoms. We can look back in history and see exactly what Daniel is talking about.
The Babylonian culture was very unified, very uniform, being dominated by the god Marduk. The Medio-Persian empire was less united made up of two competing cultures which never did really get together. Cyrus himself was a cultural half-breed, his father was a Persian and his mother was a Mede. Going down into the time of the Greeks you have Alexander conquering the world and trying to Hellenize it. Immediately upon his death four generals started competing over the major cultures that made up Alexander's kingdom, that is, Egypt, Syria, Thrance, and Macedonia. Alexander's kingdom suffered because it tried to embrace too many diverse cultures. Later in history Rome brought together every culture under the sun.
Noting the decline in the four kingdoms from strong unity to an enforced unity under the Ancient Roman Empire, it is not surprising to learn that the Revived Roman Empire, that is being prepared in our own day, is made up of just the kind of reluctant mix we see in the Balkans today. Yet that is what is symbolized by the mixture of iron and clay. The move toward the break-up of regions into their ethnic enclaves when a strong centralized power is removed is exactly the picture of the future Revived Roman Empire.
Daniel 7
Any student of Bible prophecy understands that Daniel 7 provides a repeat of the events of Daniel 2 but from another perspective. Instead of a statue, as in Daniel 2, Daniel 7 depicts the true nature of these kingdoms, as beasts. Daniel 7:23,24 tells us, "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings." Daniel 7 tells us that the Revived Roman Empire will come to power via a 10 nation confederacy. Three of those nations will be subdued through the use of force. This will be the springboard for the Antichrist's global empire. Knowing what the current world is moving toward, it is not difficult to see that the overall trends in Europe are moving in this direction.
The Reunification of Europe
What two world wars could not bring to pass, we are seeing develop right before our eyes - the reunification of Europe. Yet, seemingly every poll indicates that most of the people in each country are opposed to what is happening. Nevertheless, unification marches on. With economic union well under way, the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia has revealed a previously slumbering side of Europe as a military power.
Just when many of us thought we had seen it all from the blundering Bill Clinton, he wakes up one morning and decides to start a war in Balkans. But, like all that President Clinton has accomplished, he is moving the world toward the globalism that will clearly attempt to solve the world's problems in the tribulation under the direction of the antichrist. Beyond exhibiting many of the character qualities of the antichrist, this time Clinton's action are once again diminishing American global leadership, while at the same time enhancing the role that Europe will play.
The Stratfor Global Intelligence Update predicts a distancing of Europe from the United States in the future with Europe handling future crisis herself. The Update says:
We believe that the Kosovo conflict will become a definitive event in European history. The failure in Kosovo will cause the United States to recoil from casual interventions. More important, U.S. clumsiness in Kosovo will cause the Europeans to shy away from American leadership, particularly concerning European matters. The likelihood of an American administration herding NATO into another military adventure in Europe is minimal. This is a crucial change. There has been a tremendous asymmetry between Europe as a politico-military entity and Europe as an economic entity. NATO has been the primary politico-military expression of Europe, the EU the primary economic entity. This has made it extremely difficult for Europe to express a coherent viewpoint. The EU and NATO were simply not congruent.
The Europeans do have a vehicle for politico-military thinking, the Western European Union, which excludes the United States and is, therefore, far more congruent with the EU. But even that doesn't get to the heart of the problem. Germany's interests are specifically German. France's interests are French. The UK's interests are the UK's and are quite different from the other two. We expect two results from Kosovo. First, a strengthening of purely European institutions at the expense of NATO. Second, a greater caution by individual nations toward multinational commitments, including purely European ones.
Kosovo will undoubtedly bring to a close what we might call the era of casual intervention for the United States. There is nothing like failure to increase sobriety. We suspect that this is the last major foreign policy adventure for the Clinton Administration and would not be surprised to see Albright, Berger and Holbrooke accepting private sector positions in the near future. Most importantly, Kosovo closes what we regard as the interregnum between eras. The Cold War was not replaced by a unipolar world. That was a temporary anomaly. The new era of one superpower and several great powers, loosely united to limit U.S. power, is now beginning.
We'll tentatively christen this the New World Disorder while we wait for the new era to name itself. ("The World After Kosovo," May 3, 1999)
When the above analysis is combined with the fact that both Israel and the Palestinians have both lost confidence in America's ability to broker the Oslo accords, it is not surprising to find that especially the Palestinians are looking to Europe to impose a solution in the Middle East. The Israeli press has voiced concern that NATO, The United Nations, or Europe will enforce a similar solution upon Israel that is being attempted in Kosovo. Thus, recent developments continue to set the stage for the tribulation.
Israel's Covenant with Death
Daniel 9:27 says, "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate." The pronoun "he" at the beginning of the verse refers to the future antichrist. Why? Because the nearest antecedent is clearly a reference to "the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary" (Dan. 9:26), which speaks of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in a.d. 70. Thus, "he" is the antichrist who will accomplish the events of 9:27 in the middle of the future 70th week of Daniel known as the tribulation on behalf of the Revived Roman Empire as previously taught by Daniel (Dan. 2,7).
Isaiah speaks of why Israel will sign such a covenant with the antichrist in 28:14-22. As was often done in her past, Israel will sign the covenant with the Revived Roman antichrist with the intent of providing security from her enemies that are pressing her from all sides. Instead of securing a covenant of life, as Israel' s leaders will think, the nation will start the tribulation with what is in reality a "covenant with death" (Isa. 28:15,18). Instead of gaining protection from her European vassal, Israel will experience "the overwhelming scourge" (Isa. 28:15,18) which is a metaphor for military invasion. Further, in the middle of the tribulation, this Roman antichrist who starts the tribulation by promising protection for the nation of Israel, will turn upon her and commence the greatest time of persecution ever upon the Jewish people (see Matt. 24:15-22; Rev. 12:1-17).
We see in our own day the increasing isolation of Israel within the world leading to an effort for her to look for security from man made covenants instead of looking to the Lord for stability. One day a European leader will step forth and appear to solve the Middle East crisis through negotiation and a covenant. In the mean time, God is preparing through contemporary events in our own day a Revived Roman Empire that will be the final phase of the kingdom of man that will put forth its greatest effort against Almighty God. The Kosovo crisis will likely result in the isolation of the U. S. from playing a leading role in European military affairs. Thus, paving the way, not only for the developing economic union of Europe, but a military unification as well. While God is preparing our world for judgment, the Believer should continue to watch and wait for the any-moment return of the Lord in the clouds to snatch away His bride- the church. Maranatha!
By Thomas Ice
I believe that God is currently setting the stage for events that will take place after the rapture, during the tribulation. Israel is back in her land and being postured to sign what Isaiah calls "a covenant with death" (Isa. 28:15,18) that will commence the tribulation (Dan. 9:26,27). The other party to that covenant will be a Revived Roman Empire, centered in Europe. I think that the current war in Yugoslavia is making a contribution to the stage-setting for the post-rapture period of history.
Daniel's Outline for History Daniel 2
Daniel 2 contains God's divine outline for history from the sixth century b.c. until the 1,000 year reign of Christ in His kingdom known as the millennium. Nebuchadnezzar's dream, as authoritatively interpreted by God through Daniel, tells us that history will see the rise of four consecutive Gentile world powers, representing the kingdom of man, that will in the end be crushed by our Lord's eternal reign. This message was conveyed through the appearance of a giant statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The head of gold represents Babylon. The breast and arms of silver indicate Medio-Persia. While its bronze belly and thighs symbolize Greece. Rome is the final entity that appears in two phases: its legs of iron (the ancient Roman Empire of the first century) and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay (the Revived Roman Empire of the future tribulation period) (Dan. 2:31-35). Students of Bible Prophecy are interested in learning as much as possible about the final, revived form of the Roman Empire.
Daniel 2:42,43 tells us "And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery." As opposed to Ancient Rome characterized by iron and thus internal strength, Revived Rome with its mixture of iron and clay is a very weak mixture. The fourth kingdom starts off as pure iron and then as you move down the legs to the feet and toes the iron fades out into pieces of iron impregnated into pottery. Daniel interprets this degradation of the pure iron into pottery mixed with iron as a deterioration within the fourth kingdom itself over time. Thus, the picture is that of a heterogeneous composition of the feet and the toes being made partly of iron and partly of clay, is a heterogeneous composition of the culture of the kingdom. Daniel's prophecy tells us of the progressive deterioration of the cultural unity of the succeeding kingdoms. We can look back in history and see exactly what Daniel is talking about.
The Babylonian culture was very unified, very uniform, being dominated by the god Marduk. The Medio-Persian empire was less united made up of two competing cultures which never did really get together. Cyrus himself was a cultural half-breed, his father was a Persian and his mother was a Mede. Going down into the time of the Greeks you have Alexander conquering the world and trying to Hellenize it. Immediately upon his death four generals started competing over the major cultures that made up Alexander's kingdom, that is, Egypt, Syria, Thrance, and Macedonia. Alexander's kingdom suffered because it tried to embrace too many diverse cultures. Later in history Rome brought together every culture under the sun.
Noting the decline in the four kingdoms from strong unity to an enforced unity under the Ancient Roman Empire, it is not surprising to learn that the Revived Roman Empire, that is being prepared in our own day, is made up of just the kind of reluctant mix we see in the Balkans today. Yet that is what is symbolized by the mixture of iron and clay. The move toward the break-up of regions into their ethnic enclaves when a strong centralized power is removed is exactly the picture of the future Revived Roman Empire.
Daniel 7
Any student of Bible prophecy understands that Daniel 7 provides a repeat of the events of Daniel 2 but from another perspective. Instead of a statue, as in Daniel 2, Daniel 7 depicts the true nature of these kingdoms, as beasts. Daniel 7:23,24 tells us, "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings." Daniel 7 tells us that the Revived Roman Empire will come to power via a 10 nation confederacy. Three of those nations will be subdued through the use of force. This will be the springboard for the Antichrist's global empire. Knowing what the current world is moving toward, it is not difficult to see that the overall trends in Europe are moving in this direction.
The Reunification of Europe
What two world wars could not bring to pass, we are seeing develop right before our eyes - the reunification of Europe. Yet, seemingly every poll indicates that most of the people in each country are opposed to what is happening. Nevertheless, unification marches on. With economic union well under way, the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia has revealed a previously slumbering side of Europe as a military power.
Just when many of us thought we had seen it all from the blundering Bill Clinton, he wakes up one morning and decides to start a war in Balkans. But, like all that President Clinton has accomplished, he is moving the world toward the globalism that will clearly attempt to solve the world's problems in the tribulation under the direction of the antichrist. Beyond exhibiting many of the character qualities of the antichrist, this time Clinton's action are once again diminishing American global leadership, while at the same time enhancing the role that Europe will play.
The Stratfor Global Intelligence Update predicts a distancing of Europe from the United States in the future with Europe handling future crisis herself. The Update says:
We believe that the Kosovo conflict will become a definitive event in European history. The failure in Kosovo will cause the United States to recoil from casual interventions. More important, U.S. clumsiness in Kosovo will cause the Europeans to shy away from American leadership, particularly concerning European matters. The likelihood of an American administration herding NATO into another military adventure in Europe is minimal. This is a crucial change. There has been a tremendous asymmetry between Europe as a politico-military entity and Europe as an economic entity. NATO has been the primary politico-military expression of Europe, the EU the primary economic entity. This has made it extremely difficult for Europe to express a coherent viewpoint. The EU and NATO were simply not congruent.
The Europeans do have a vehicle for politico-military thinking, the Western European Union, which excludes the United States and is, therefore, far more congruent with the EU. But even that doesn't get to the heart of the problem. Germany's interests are specifically German. France's interests are French. The UK's interests are the UK's and are quite different from the other two. We expect two results from Kosovo. First, a strengthening of purely European institutions at the expense of NATO. Second, a greater caution by individual nations toward multinational commitments, including purely European ones.
Kosovo will undoubtedly bring to a close what we might call the era of casual intervention for the United States. There is nothing like failure to increase sobriety. We suspect that this is the last major foreign policy adventure for the Clinton Administration and would not be surprised to see Albright, Berger and Holbrooke accepting private sector positions in the near future. Most importantly, Kosovo closes what we regard as the interregnum between eras. The Cold War was not replaced by a unipolar world. That was a temporary anomaly. The new era of one superpower and several great powers, loosely united to limit U.S. power, is now beginning.
We'll tentatively christen this the New World Disorder while we wait for the new era to name itself. ("The World After Kosovo," May 3, 1999)
When the above analysis is combined with the fact that both Israel and the Palestinians have both lost confidence in America's ability to broker the Oslo accords, it is not surprising to find that especially the Palestinians are looking to Europe to impose a solution in the Middle East. The Israeli press has voiced concern that NATO, The United Nations, or Europe will enforce a similar solution upon Israel that is being attempted in Kosovo. Thus, recent developments continue to set the stage for the tribulation.
Israel's Covenant with Death
Daniel 9:27 says, "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate." The pronoun "he" at the beginning of the verse refers to the future antichrist. Why? Because the nearest antecedent is clearly a reference to "the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary" (Dan. 9:26), which speaks of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in a.d. 70. Thus, "he" is the antichrist who will accomplish the events of 9:27 in the middle of the future 70th week of Daniel known as the tribulation on behalf of the Revived Roman Empire as previously taught by Daniel (Dan. 2,7).
Isaiah speaks of why Israel will sign such a covenant with the antichrist in 28:14-22. As was often done in her past, Israel will sign the covenant with the Revived Roman antichrist with the intent of providing security from her enemies that are pressing her from all sides. Instead of securing a covenant of life, as Israel' s leaders will think, the nation will start the tribulation with what is in reality a "covenant with death" (Isa. 28:15,18). Instead of gaining protection from her European vassal, Israel will experience "the overwhelming scourge" (Isa. 28:15,18) which is a metaphor for military invasion. Further, in the middle of the tribulation, this Roman antichrist who starts the tribulation by promising protection for the nation of Israel, will turn upon her and commence the greatest time of persecution ever upon the Jewish people (see Matt. 24:15-22; Rev. 12:1-17).
We see in our own day the increasing isolation of Israel within the world leading to an effort for her to look for security from man made covenants instead of looking to the Lord for stability. One day a European leader will step forth and appear to solve the Middle East crisis through negotiation and a covenant. In the mean time, God is preparing through contemporary events in our own day a Revived Roman Empire that will be the final phase of the kingdom of man that will put forth its greatest effort against Almighty God. The Kosovo crisis will likely result in the isolation of the U. S. from playing a leading role in European military affairs. Thus, paving the way, not only for the developing economic union of Europe, but a military unification as well. While God is preparing our world for judgment, the Believer should continue to watch and wait for the any-moment return of the Lord in the clouds to snatch away His bride- the church. Maranatha!
End Time Wars - #2 The First War of Gog-Magog
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.
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"
666 and Mark of the Beast
By Kent Crockett
Revelation 13:16-18 says, "And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six." There are three things mentioned in this passage:
1. The mark of the beast
2. The name of the beast
3. The number of his name
The Mark of the Beast is not 666, but a mark that everyone must have to buy or sell. This mark may be some kind of computer chip or code, but it probably won't be "666."
666 is the number of the Beast's name. The number of the beast is the number of a man. That means that the beast is not a political system, a country, a computer, etc., but a man--the Antichrist.
This verse teaches that the Antichrist will control the world's economy with some kind of mark, which everyone will be required to take. No one will be able to buy or sell without having the mark on his or her right hand or forehead. Whoever worships the Antichrist and receives the mark will be cast into hell (Rev. 14:9-11). (The mark is not credit cards, in case you are wondering.)
The Antichrist's name can be calculated to be 666. We assume that means the letters of his name can be calculated to add up to the numerical sum of 666. He has not come to power yet, but when he does this is one way of figuring out who he is. He will confirm a covenant with Israel for 7 years (Dan. 9:27) and will attempt to make alterations in time and in law (Dan. 7:25)
Revelation 13:16-18 says, "And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six." There are three things mentioned in this passage:
1. The mark of the beast
2. The name of the beast
3. The number of his name
The Mark of the Beast is not 666, but a mark that everyone must have to buy or sell. This mark may be some kind of computer chip or code, but it probably won't be "666."
666 is the number of the Beast's name. The number of the beast is the number of a man. That means that the beast is not a political system, a country, a computer, etc., but a man--the Antichrist.
This verse teaches that the Antichrist will control the world's economy with some kind of mark, which everyone will be required to take. No one will be able to buy or sell without having the mark on his or her right hand or forehead. Whoever worships the Antichrist and receives the mark will be cast into hell (Rev. 14:9-11). (The mark is not credit cards, in case you are wondering.)
The Antichrist's name can be calculated to be 666. We assume that means the letters of his name can be calculated to add up to the numerical sum of 666. He has not come to power yet, but when he does this is one way of figuring out who he is. He will confirm a covenant with Israel for 7 years (Dan. 9:27) and will attempt to make alterations in time and in law (Dan. 7:25)
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