eTPL 2020

January: Return Unto Me...

An eTPL 30  Exhortation  

The great Prophet Micah wrote concerning the now onrushing future of the people of Israel ... “Therefore will he give them up (or, abandon them), until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth (formed the nation of Israel): then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.” Micah 5:3.

The prophecy contains two pivotal words in its text, both delineating a certain set time but both un-specified as to date. It foretells that dual destiny as the direct result of Israel’s leader being “struck upon the cheek” (slapped, or insulted but not destroyed).

We believe this remark refers to the crucifixion of Christ, the ‘Judge’ of His people at a time when He was not yet their ‘Ruler’ as in the next verse.

Jesus was not destroyed by being ‘slapped,’ because He was then resurrected from the death state and made to stand again upon the earth and before His Father in immortality, was raised to His right hand from Olivet’s peak, and will return in profuse glory to be ‘great unto the ends of the earth’ as in the fourth verse. It is a forecast of the microcosm of history as related to the redemption of a People for His name...

But as a result of their refusal of His authority, His people were severely punished through their vicious defeat and exile which awaited them in 70 AD – a period of forty years in which He gave them an opportunity to repent and learn of Him – and to establish His teachings among the Gentiles. Many of their number did accept Him – but few of their leaders did.

In light of the facts as we know them today – after their fulfillment – we may gloss the verse with these added clarifications...

“Therefore (for that reason) will He give them up (abandon them), UNTIL the time when she (Zionism) which travaileth hath brought forth (hath born a child – an entity which was destined to be Israel re-formed in the end time); THEN the remnant of His brethren shall return (Hebrew, shub) unto the (land of the) children of Israel.”

As frequently alluded to, those two words “until” and “then” are specific time-markers indicating sea changes in Israel’s circumstances – in which their fortunes were diminished for nearly 2,000 years (they were abandoned, or ‘given up’).

But at a certain time – noted as ‘until’ – they would be remembered by Him again and a positive thing would come to the remnant of His brethren who remained: they should return to their ancient home, being resurrected from the Valley of Dry Bones to which they had been relegated.

The words of Moses in Leviticus 25 tell of the same destiny – and furthermore, specify a greater understanding of just WHEN that return should be (in a Jubilee year!): “And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return (Hebrew, shub) every man unto his possession, and ye shall return (Hebrew, shub) every man unto his family. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you:” Leviticus 25:10, 11.

[We have particularly revealed the Hebrew word, shub, for “return” for a specific reason which will be discussed further down; there is much more to the principle than appears in English.]

These two verses might logically be labeled “The Jubilean Ordinance.” 

So, in this passage, in addition to the Jubilee’s occurrence at fifty-year intervals ...

An unforeseen Jubilee year is specified to be the TIME of Israel’s return to its land,

And the year of their return to it is specified as being a qualified (genuine) Jubilee year.

Is it possible that, although the observance of the Jubilee years by Israel have not been observed (and have not even been possible to observe) since the fall of the Second Temple – that the very year of the beginning of their “return” (1917) may be designated as a recognized, valid Jubilee year?

The words of Moses seem to allow us that possibility ... indeed, seem to require it – that even though the Jubilees have not been “kept” for centuries and their certainty of date has been lost, the People’s return to their possession will certify THAT year as a year of Jubilee and re-establish their identities. That special year was 1917!

Israel’s Resurrection

Let us now review some history to see whether that proposal can be validated.

In that earlier citation from Micah 5, the nation might seem to be being reborn, but there is another possibility.

That impression of Israel being re-born might be gained from another vital reference which every Believer noted on the very day when Israel was given permission by the UNO to re-form itself upon the mountains of Israel – referred to as the UNO Partition Plan of November 1947.

The verse to which we refer is Isaiah 66:8 – “Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation (Hebrew, goy) be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children."

But there may be room for doubt, because the Hebrew word for the “nation” which might be born in a day is “goy” or Gentile nation; it looks as if it’s a theoretical question about generalized national birth – not “resurrection,” not the reconstitution of Zion, its resuscitation.

Zion is not referred to as being “born” in this verse contrary to popular opinion (our conclusion after careful consideration); it is referring to the nation’s children, or offspring, being born immediately upon her reconstitution ... a condition of actual historical fact.

We believe the more appropriate term for this reconstitution is not that of Israel’s birth – because Israel was born out of Egypt under Moses. The more appropriate term is resurrection – in line with the events of the restoration from the Valley of Dry Bones ... a clear resurrection of God’s people from the nations of their Diaspora, and as having been described in precisely the detailed reverse terms of its previous death and dissolution in Ezekiel 37.

You see, this account illustrates the innate character of the resurrection – the reversal of death – the revivification of a being which has been born earlier has lived its life to its end, and then has died and dissolved in the dust of the earth.

The resurrection of a nation or a person is characterized as being the reversal of this entire process – of its being brought again from the dust of death, being reconstituted, and made to live and breathe again; in this sense it is dissimilar, even opposite, to birth in every way.

That was surely the clear beginning of that progressively backward pathway which began to take effect upon Israel’s people in 1917, and continued on May 14, 1948 – its resurrection.

In the process of resurrection, everything occurs in reverse order.

This is a useful principle to bear in mind when pondering the wider concept of the restitution of all things (cf., Acts 3: 21) as further indicated in Isaiah 1:26; 49: 26; Joel 2: 25; Acts 1: 6.

Firstly, in distinction to being a physical event in its entirety, resurrection is a spiritual event in whole.

Death results from the ebbing away and withdrawal of God’s Spirit (pneuma) and is a natural phenomenon.

Resurrection may only be accomplished by supernatural power – the spiritual power of God – acting upon the deceased to restore his life and vitality.

When Israel was re-constituted a nation (resurrected) its fortunes began to be reversed in a fully orderly fashion, retracing the steps backward from its earlier dissolution and death.

Physical warfare had resulted in its death under the Roman Eagles in 70AD.

Physical warfare by British Lions against the Ottomans of Turkey had resulted in its end-time awakening – and Britain’s legal conveyance of the Land (by means of the legally-based Balfour Declaration) to the Jews of the world for a national homeland in Palestine.

Just as its dissolution had been gradual, so would be its restoration.

Nearly 30 years of strife with the British overlords had to be endured before the People gained their statehood, ONLY after which they could exercise the privileges of free return to their Land. Since that time they have been required to defend their existence numerous times in a series of conflicts which shall end in the state’s complete pacification under the Christ of the Second Advent, but there is a short, uncertain distance still to go in order to achieve that result.

In a patent illustration of such reversal, the course of Israel’s long and tortuous downfall would be clinically reversed in its long and tortuous uplifting all the way back to its original position of prestige and power as the Kingdom of God on the earth – which was the identity of the Kingdom under King David ... and in the end-time will be so reconstituted under “David My Servant” – the pivotal figure coded into the text of Ezekiel 34:23, 24 and 37:25. 

It is destined to bear that designation once again under the Greater Son of David, the LORD Jesus Christ, Who shall assume the restored (resurrected!) throne of David and rule His people for a thousand years in complete peace and safety as to internal hazards or deadly consequences.

That is not to say there will not be external conflict – conquests to make, kingdoms to be overthrown, systems to be demolished, societies to be assimilated, worlds to be conquered by Christ and the Saints of that day.

But all these reverse processes are then seen to be the retrogressive refinement of the world and its people at large, a series of destinies leading it safely and surely back toward its original status – its resurrection to the originality of purpose and character ... backward ultimately toward the restoration of the Garden which our Father originally planted eastward in Eden – but without its Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

But there is much more to the process...

In retracing its pathway backward toward its original state of being “very good” (Genesis 1:31), all the other elements must also similarly retrogress back toward their original purity...

The teachings of Christianity, for example, have declined in quality and efficacy as it was continually corrupted by men – “scholars” – who changed the truth of God into a lie as in Romans 1: 25, neutralizing mainstream “Christianity” as a viable force for salvation.

That reversal back to its pure original state will begin to occur on an authoritative scale when the Everlasting Gospel of Revelation 14: 6 goes forth to the world of the future!

Many in Israel today have become “Messianic Jews,” meaning that they have accepted the identity of the LORD Jesus as the Son of God.

Well ... not really.

They have come to believe the “Christian” concept of “the Son of God” as “God the Son.”

The two are opposite identities, one of which (the latter) is critically in error.

But think of the precursor of this corruption of God’s word: before the leaders of the Church changed the Truth into this falsehood it had known and believed the original Truth – that Jesus was indeed the SON of God – not the “Second Person of the Trinity,” or “God the Son.”

As time lapses into the future, this fundamental flaw in “Christian” teaching will be erased – will be eradicated from the message of salvation and shown to be radically in error.

The truth will be restored as the resurrection of things proceeds backward toward the perfection which preceded it! That truth is proclaimed in such passages as this from Isaiah: So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Isaiah 52:15.

This portion of Isaiah’s scroll clearly forecasts that, in our day and the days of the immediate future, the general public shall be completely ignorant of what is happening ... and of what has already happened ... because they have not known His Truth; but at that later date it shall be revealed to them in clear terms!

Another such attestation is found in Romans 15:2 - But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. The centuries of gross ignorance of His great Plan of Salvation shall be clearly taught – and understood – by the kings and peoples of the nations of the earth... 

This means that the “Messianic Jews” and their “Christian” counterparts will be taught the Truth of Jesus’ identity. That process will begin to occur when He reveals Himself to them as He stands before them on Mount Olivet and shows them the nail prints in His hands and the spear wound in His side, and reveals to them His true nature ... that He is indeed the “Son of David,” (Matthew 1:1; Mark 12: 35) and “Son of God” (Acts 8: 37; 9:20).

That original Truth will then emanate from the spiritual center of the earth that in that day will be Jerusalem, and from the re-established (resurrected!) Throne of David, upon which shall sit the King of kings and Lord of lords of that future age, wielding His authority over all men beginning at that sacred place!

Early in this presentation we quoted these words of Moses as he related to his people God’s institution of the Jubilees that they should observe ... “And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return (Hebrew, shub) every man unto his possession, and ye shall return (Hebrew, shub) every man unto his family. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you:” Leviticus 25:10, 11.

We took special care to designate the source word for “return” in this passage of Scripture – the Hebrew word shub, or shuv: Strong’s H7725. That is because the word is rich and broad in its implications – and means far more than the English reader may comprehend.

It is utilized to relate the exquisite particulars of the returns of the end-time: the Jewish people return to their ancient land; the language returns to the People; the ancient scrolls return to their original owners, and fertility of the land returns in force; the priests return to their holy City; the soldiers return to their ancient fortress, Masada; the farmers return to their ancient fields in Judea and Samaria; the Nazir (Nazarite) returns to his ancient court at the Temple; each returns to his own possession in the appropriate Jubilee eras; the ancient covenant of the Law shall be replaced by an higher Covenant that He will make with His beloved ones, and the People return to their God and to His service!

Hebrew linguists have stressed that the word shub begins with the Hebrew letter shin, which itself is rich in meaning.

One may even see it physically emblazoned upon Jerusalem’s geography in this manner: visualize looking directly down upon the Old City from 3,000 feet altitude. Trace the three valleys of Jerusalem (Hinnom, Tyropoeon (“Cheesemakers” – Josephus), and Kidron) down to their base in the Brook Kidron which connects them all together just south of the Pool of Siloam. The resultant diagram will be a perfect shin – the mark of YHVH laid out in the declivities of His Holy City, clearly marking the holy place of His return!

In terms of the ancient Covenant, it specified that if the people remained in league with God, their bond to the land would be unbroken. If they departed from God they would be exiled from it. The physical realm was bound to the spiritual realm in every way.

There is a profound dimension even to this condition that escapes most observers...

Bound closely by the same covenant – and foretold by the prophets if they returned to God – that accomplishment would be defined by their return to the Land.

The two conditions were intimately associated.

 In the same way, physical separation from the Land would be reflective of spiritual separation from God. One would be a reflection of the other and both conditions would be defined by that principle.

So their end-time physical return to their Land would be reflective of their returning to some level of spirituality as well, though it might not be apparent to observers. Their physical return would indicate in a concrete sense their spiritual return because these achievements were deeply embedded in each other because shub has another meaning...

It is “to repent.”

In this way, returning to their Land is indicative of a certain level of repentance – perhaps not to the full extent required, but is certainly an indicator of a modicum of repentance; their hearts are being turned toward the Spirit by their physical relocation back into their Land!

Most observant Israelis will admit that redemption is found in Israel – upon the hill of Zion.

And we believe that even the secular (non-observant) Jews feel it in their bones, for the lingering details of their long-standing history is engrained – is embedded – into their psyche.

A strong hint of this reality, and of their inevitable conversion, is found in Malachi 3: 7, which says: Even from the days of your fathers, ye are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.

But the principle is most clearly laid out in the words of Hosea 3: “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.” Hosea 3: 4, 5.

 There are the two elements associated in one prophecy! – “returning” and “seeking the LORD” ... Physical and spiritual returns intimately associated. As the former grows more mature the second increases in its effect!

The process shall come full circle at the physical return of Messiah to His returned People after He appears suddenly in their midst and in THE LAND, and destroys their enemies round-about ... at the manifestation of Himself to them upon the Mount of Olives.

The stark record is found in Zechariah 12 and 13, q.v.

It is prophesied to be at that moment that their minds are enlightened and their consciences are pricked by the horrifying realization that He is indeed the Man of Bethlehem which they thought to have destroyed in 29AD – and their passion and depth of repentance for that sin reaches the redemptive level of intensity as they mourn for Him as one mourns for his firstborn son (Zechariah 12: 10).

That response triggers His making with them a new Covenant – and their ready acceptance of it.

From that deeply emotional beginning their spiritual healing progresses under the loving care of their Messiah and His multitude of Instructors, the immortalized Saints!

In addition, all their other brethren at that time yet in Diaspora shall be regathered (returned physically) to their Land and be brought under the bonds of the new Covenant (returned spiritually) which He shall make with them in that day. Jeremiah 31: 13; Hebrews 8: 8; 12: 24.

The shub shall fulfill its innate mission in the wonderful accomplishments of those days...

Yet another feature of the process of shub involves those who heard and believed the words of The Teacher – the LORD Jesus Christ – in His own day.

The fulfillment of this tenet of the process shall be that every truly enlightened person of the future kingdom shall be a fully-fledged member of the Kingdom of Christ – and a certified Child of the Covenant of Israel ... i.e., an Hebrew of the Hebrews in the fullest sense.

All the original believers were Jewish – a condition that was true until the incident of Cornelius’ baptism by Peter in Caesarea Maritima in 36AD (?).

By the time the disruption and dispersal came in 70AD, there were many Gentile disciples. These increased with the scattering of the Jews and the traveling preachers of the Gospel about the Roman Empire.

As time progressed, wolves in sheep’s clothing entered in and subverted many of the Believers. Doctrines of salvation were corrupted. The lingering teachings of Babylon entered into “Christianity,” and it became transformed, changed, made ineffectual.

Men reasoned that God was not One, but Three coequal and coeternal partners; that evil in man was caused by an external agent termed the Devil or a personal Satan; that the righteous’ reward was not on the earth as promised to Abraham, but in heaven as promised by Nimrod; that salvation could come by works instead of faith, and that men (priests) could change bread and wine into the literal flesh and blood of Christ (the Eucharist).

In the latter days, we are seeing a stark reversal of those events – of that departure from the core truths that bring salvation. Our own Community has led the way back toward that restoration for 150 years, but has made little impact upon the world in general.

But that impetus is destined to grow mightily!

Messianic Jews are largely just members of the “Christian” faith of the Gentiles. But as events move toward the actual return of Christ to the earth, and His divine instruction begins to be disseminated to the people, those errors will be corrected. The curriculum of instruction will revert to its original forms and doctrines; men and women will again learn His Truths from the Master Himself in that day.

And in that process, the great body of “Christians” will also become converted to Truth by Him.

They will learn the accurate doctrines of the early Believers who sat at the feet of Jesus in that earlier day, and learned His ways and teachings.

Dogma will be refined – established on truth and on God’s word.

That, too, is part of the shub that is implied in the principle of “return” and “repentance.”

It will bring untold benefits to the race, increasing and refining its level of understanding and faith ... bringing it back nearer and nearer to the conditions of that great Garden of the LORD inhabited by the original pair of olden times.

There is far more profitable consideration to be had in this category of interest – the shub; some of these will be considered at a later time, God willing.

At the present moment in time we find ourselves greatly privileged in many ways.

·       We have been given a rational, scriptural understanding of the coming events of the end-time.

·       We occupy the superbly blessed position of being called, chosen, and elected by our Father to be His sons and daughters ... of being almost without notice to the world, set apart (sanctified) as to position and place!

·       We possess the Pearl of Great Price – the precious articles of salvation – of redemption – of justification.

·       We possess the Hope of Israel in verifiable truth.

·       Our prospects are superbly optimistic as we look ahead into the time of trouble for the world and its people – a time which shall be prolonged by man’s stubbornness – its resistance to accept divine teachings as given in His Word ... and even by their physical resistance to the Christ as He goes forth in power and great glory to subdue the earth to His will.

Inexplicably, men will resist Him to the death in great numbers. Multitudes will perish by being met with His wrath upon their intransigent opposition to Him as he makes His will known among men and nations. This grave fault will come about because of their stubborn reliance upon “holy books” that do not express His will and purpose, such as the Qu’ran, and the writings of Buddha, and other works of which He is not the author.

The LORD Jesus Christ addressed that principle also in some of His last recorded words; He said “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” Revelations 22:7. And further: “... behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Revelation 22:12, 13. <> HEL An eTPL 30  Exhortation  ~4100 words. Nov. 19, 2019.

Purim Explained: Haman’s Antitype

“In every generation, Amalek rises to destroy [the Jewish people],

And each time he clothes himself in a different nation.” 

– The Me’am Lo’ez, Commentary on the Bible.

The Iranian Ayatollah Khameini (or perhaps his successor who maintains the same animosity), as an antitype of Haman the Persian vizier of old, will get his reward for his ill-treatment of the Jewish people. But it will take a while for this to be accomplished...

Let’s first state the case: in the book of Esther, one Haman, an Agagite (he was a descendant of Agag, King of Amalek; Amalek was the grandson of Esau – Genesis 36: 12), by dint of which he was the Jews’ mortal enemy, was placed in an elevated position in the kingdom of Ahasuerus, king of Persia (now Iran). The era is fifth century BC.

This event followed immediately after a great deed which Mordechai the Jew had been able to accomplish for King Ahasuerus – the deed being his exposure of a conspiracy to murder the king by two of his trusted chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh (Esther 2: 21). These were convicted of treason and hanged upon a tree.

Then we read After these things did King Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. Esther 3:1.

The king had commanded great honor to Haman: that all the princes and all the people should bow down to Haman when he paraded abroad in public.

But Mordechai, sitting in high authority in the gate of the palace, would not bow down to Haman, or give him any “reverence” (vs. 2). Haman did not stand for the things of God and was worthy of no respect from Mordechai.

The proud Haman was “full of wrath” because of Mordechai’s refusal to honor him.

After being warned that his disobedience was dangerous, Mordechai was exposed to the king by Haman as refusing to obey the commandment to revere Haman.

The companions of Mordechai had told Haman that Mordechai was a Jew; this gave Haman a very large lever to use to get his revenge on his antagonist. He would have revenge upon Mordechai and all his people in the kingdom!

So Haman dropped the hammer of judgment on his enemies, Mordechai and his people, the Jews: And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them. If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries - Esther 3:8, 9.  

Observers in our present day have noted numerous vile pronouncements in a similar vein. Within the past ten years, this statement came from the mouth of a president of Iran (Persia):

“The Zionist regime and the Zionists are a cancerous tumor. Even if the Zionists remain on one span (inch) of the Land of Palestine (sic) it is dangerous, because they will come to have a legal and official government …. Zionists, who have no faith in religion or even God (sic), now claim piety and intend to take away the Islamic identity of the Holy Quds. This ridiculous move is in fact the continuation of the colonialist polices of oppressors, which will not save the Zionist regime, but also take the regime closer to the endpoint of its existence …. If the Zionist regime wants to repeat its past mistakes, this will constitute its demise and annihilation …. With Allah’s help the new Middle East will be a Middle East without Zionists and imperialists.” (Former President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad)

The part in this statement about “no faith in religion or even G-d” was made because the Jews will never conform to Islamist beliefs. Today’s Jews reject Islam and its idolatry just as Mordechai refused to compromise his faith in God in ancient Persia. Jews have always refused to accept the pagan doctrines of Islam. Such refusal was the reason for the slaughter of the innocent Jews in Mohammed’s day after they had refused to accept Islam as a substitute for God’s Law...

Haman’s Revenge

This refusal impelled Haman to seek his reprisal by the authority of Ahasuerus. He persuaded the king as to the Jews’ evil intentions (as alleged by Haman) and procured royal permission to exterminate the Jews throughout the land.

The deed would be done on Adar 13 – the twelfth month. You will see that the preparation was prolonged due to the size of the kingdom – a vast territory that would require months for the citizens to receive Haman’s decree of death.

The process began in the first Jewish month...

The result was that recorded here: Esther 3:12  Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month (Nissan – see the calendar below for reference), and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring. 13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.  

But the king was not aware that his beloved Queen Esther was a Jewess.

And neither was Haman!

Esther was so isolated from events outside the palace she had not heard of the decree to destroy her people. She was informed by Mordechai approaching the palace clad in sackcloth and ashes – mourning for his people – and being offered proper clothing by Esther. Refusing her offer, Mordechai informed her of the evil decree – apparently the first that she had heard of it.

He urgently told her she must approach the king and persuade him to nullify the decree. His reasoning to her was ... who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? – Esther 4: 14.

Esther quickly formed a plan; she prepared two feasts for the king and Haman. At the first feast, she asked a favor of the king, who replied that she could have whatever she wanted – up to half of the kingdom! At the second Esther asked for the permission of her people to resist with force the Amalekites that were coming to kill her people.

She could not ask that the law be repealed because any decree of the Persian king was irrevocable ... so the Jews would have to be granted permission to protect themselves from their executors.

The long passage of Esther 8: 9-17 is the written remedy of protection from the Amalekites. Remember that the Jews would have the assistance of the Persian authorities to defend themselves; but they were not strong enough to resist by themselves.

Now, recall that the Jews’ enemies were scattered throughout the empire then just as today’s Edomites (Esau-ites: cf., Obadiah) are scattered among and surrounding Israel – and that these were the Amalekites, descendant of Esau (cf., Genesis 36:12) of which it was said originally and repeatedly...

Exodus 17:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

Exodus 17:16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

Numbers 24:20 And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever. Words of Balaam to Balak.

Deuteronomy 25:17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt.

Amalek was the first organized people to war against Israel even as it was being birthed out of Egypt. Refusing to allow the Hebrews to travel directly to Canaan through their territory, it sniped at the stragglers and those who halted, picking off the unfortunate, defenseless and disenfranchised just as today the Edomites attack unarmed and innocent civilians – elderly, parents and children – slaying them mercilessly and at random ...

The hatred of Haman was so great against the Jews that he decreed that even all the Jewish children and infants be destroyed. In this same frame today, all Israeli civilians are the preferred targets of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the PLO – the contemporary descendants of Esau!  Esther 3:13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

We shall learn later that the slayers were to be only Amalekites – not all the Persian people or the Persian officers – an important corollary to the present circumstances of the Jews... 

The Deadline Twelve Months in Future Time

The deadline was twelve months away, but how could the defenseless Jews hope to defeat these rabid enemies of Haman’s day? Esther’s faithful and daring approach to the fearsome king bore fruit. He readily granted her request for protection against the coming slaughter. The Jews were mercifully given the assistance of the Persian authorities in each province as evidenced by this passage: Esther 9: 3 et seq clarifies the source of the strength of the Jews to resist their Amalekite enemies saying that ... And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.

The outcome was, of course, “of the Lord.” Their strength was enhanced by the authorities – parallel to the strength of the LORD which is given them in this day to resist their powerful enemies round about.

At the first banquet that Esther prepared she announced that she also planned another meal for the king and for Haman on the morrow – and at that time she would make her request known.

Meanwhile, Haman strutted and paraded about the capital ... and noted carefully that Mordechai still did not honor him by bowing. Discussing this with his friends, they suggested that Haman construct a gallows fifty cubits high (about 75 feet) on which Mordechai would be hanged for his insubordination!

But consider how magnificently Mordechai’s God handled the crisis: on that very night the king could not fall asleep, so he called for a reading of the chronicles of his reign. These were written in poetic terms and must have been gratifying for the king to review frequently.

By ‘happenstance’ the account of Mordechai’s warning of the two assassins’ recent plans on the king’s life was read to the king. He immediately inquired as to what good thing had been done to Mordechai to reward him for this great deed – and it was found that nothing had been done.

Ironically, the king (in 6: 4) asks who is in the king’s court at the moment, and is told that Haman is present. The scroll informs the reader that Haman was on his way to petition the king to allow the hanging of Mordechai on his newly constructed gallows!

The king orders Haman into the court and asks an enigmatic question of Haman: What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? – Esther 6: 6.

Haman, taking the compliment as one of himself counsels that such an one be given this honor: Esther 6:8 - Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: 9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.

It would be Haman’s finest day, and would seal his authority over Mordechai and his despised people, the Jews!

But Haman’s optimism was immediately crushed as he hears the king command: Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. Esther 6:10

After he has performed the honor to Mordechai, Haman goes to his house in despair of the plight into which he has placed himself. And to make everything even more devastating, even his wife tells him the awful, ominous truth (inspired by God?) that ... If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him. Esther 6: 13.

And at that very moment, the chamberlain arrives to escort Haman to the second banquet of Esther and the king of Persia...

He arrives at the palace and is escorted to the banquet hall where Esther and the king wait.

Immediately, Esther makes her request known: ... let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request.

Recall that the king had promised to fulfill her request “even to half of the kingdom.” His promise is now tested as Esther reveals to him that she and all her people are in extreme danger from none other than “this wicked Haman!”

The king is floored by the revelation. He arises and goes out into the palace garden. Haman sees the desperation of his position and tearfully begs the queen for mercy, falling upon her bed in the process. The king, returning to the hall, perceives Haman as attacking the queen almost before his eyes. Warders come and they cover Haman’s face and lead him away in custody...

One of the king’s chamberlains, Harbonah by name, was standing by, and gave his immediate input to his master – as every good chamberlain should do ... counseling the king – and reminded the king that a fifty cubit gallows had already been constructed in Haman’s house, “which Haman had made for Mordechai, who hath spoken good for the king.”

The last phrase suggested an immediate solution, and the king replied simply, “Hang him thereon.” Esther 7: 9.

Ahasuerus was by no means hesitant in his executive decisions!

On that day the king awarded to Queen Esther the house and property of Haman. And Esther set her uncle over the house of Haman, sealing the local victory over the vile enemy.

But there was still in effect the evil decree which the wicked Haman had devised – the execution of his decree to destroy the Jews of Persia.

The narrative beginning in 8: 3 records the tearful request that Esther now made of her king: she ... besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.

The problem was great.

Even if the king had decreed a reversal of the order which had been sent forth in his name – and had been sealed with his ring, it could not be accomplished – no royal decree could be rescinded under Persian law.   

But there was another solution. The Jews could be awarded the right to protect themselves. The king immediately gave Esther permission to draft an ordinance of resistance – a decree that every Jew had the right to defend himself against the Amalekites who intended to kill them.

On the 23rd of Sivan, the third month, the decree of resistance went forth from the hand of Mordechai, all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia. Esther 8: 9.

The effect was instantaneous. Mordechai circulated about the city of Shushan dressed in the royal apparel, mounted on the king’s horse, wearing a crown of gold. The response of the people of the city was enthusiastically to favor God’s people and “many became Jews” in that day because “the fear of the Jews fell upon them!” Esther 8: 13.

The summary account of the entire affair is recorded in Esther 9:2 - The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people. 3 And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater. 5 Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.

Although not apparent in the English translation of this passage, not all the Persians were motivated to attack the Jews – only the Amalekites among them were: note verse 5 above... Esther 9:5 - Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.

A footnote on this verse in ESword relates that ... “The Chaldee paraphrase says that none appeared against the Jews but Amalekites only, who were infatuated, and had their hearts hardened, as Pharaoh's against Israel, to take up arms to their own destruction. Some had such inveterate, implacable malice against the Jews that Haman's fall and Mordecai's advancement, instead of convincing the enemies seemed only to exasperate them the more. How have the most dreadful scourges ravaged a country, and yet the inhabitants are unmindful of the Almighty Disposer of events, and that the cause of his righteous displeasure is their continual provocation! Forty years long was he grieved with one generation, who learned not his ways, although daily fed and clothed by a miracle.”

The succeeding verses of this chapter relate that the Jews slew within the Shushan palace itself, 500 enemies. And the ten sons of Haman were dragged to the gallows upon which Haman had been hung, and their already dead bodies were strung upon gibbets as a warning to the remaining enemies – a gruesome display of YHVH’s unfailing protection of the captives of the Persian empire of the day!

Verse 10 reveals a unique feature of the Jews’ victory that day.  ... on the spoil laid they not their hand.

Although they had been given permission to take the possessions of those whom they slew, the Jews did not do so as specifically stated; thus they could not be said to have rebelled for their own gain – except to save their own lives. “It does not appear that the Jews slew any person who did not rise up to destroy them. They stood for their lives and gave full proof that they sought their own personal safety, and not the property of their enemies. Though the decree in their favour gave them authority to take the property of all their adversaries.” ESword f.n. on Esther 9:10.

The final account is given here: Esther 9:13 - Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.

By special permission of the king, their remaining enemies were “mopped up” on the day following the 13th Adar as some foes remained within Shushan the palace. As to the saying “If it please the king:” Esther had probably been informed by Mordecai, that there were still many enemies of the Jews who sought their destruction, who had escaped the preceding day; and therefore begged that the second day might be added to the former permission; and that the sons of Haman, who had already been slain, might be suspended on gibbets, as a terror to those who sought the destruction of the Jews.” ESword f.n. on Esther 9: 13.

This story has been the basis for the Jews’ two-day holiday of Purim (casting of lots) as referenced in Esther 9: 24-26 – that “they cast Pur, that is the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them,” probably to decide on the most fortuitous day on which to launch their murderous assault on God’s people. Most ancient peoples were governed by such superstitions.

Purim thus becomes a certain prophecy of the destruction of the modern-day Haman – the descendants of Agag the Amalekite, grandson of Esau. Several specific accounts of the details of the coming conflagration – the terminal conflict with Haman’s ilk – are related in Psalm 83, Obadiah, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 63: 1-6, Isaiah 59: 16-21 and several others including Zechariah 10-14.

A detailed study of these will prove conclusively that they are accounts of the final resolution of the “Palestinian” problem that Israel has with its neighbors round about, and do not refer in any sense to the later Gogian conflict of Ezekiel 38 and 39.

Purim 2020 will begin at sundown on Monday, March 9 and concludes at nightfall on Wednesday, March 11. The date is Adar 14 in the Hebrew calendar.

Here is a chart of the Jewish calendar with the notable particulars:

 <>HEL.  ~3850 words.  Purim is March 9 – 11, 2020 – Adar 14... Published on February 14, 2020 on the eTPL website as February article.

March: A Tale of Two Rivers

An eTPL29 Exhortation

Zechariah 14:8  And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. 

There are two Rivers of Destiny featured in the scriptures, and both are highly symbolic streams. One exists at the present time – and the other remains to be created in the near future due to tectonic changes underneath and surrounding Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The first one is the Jordan River – named Yardan, meaning “a descender from Dan.”

The other is the River of Life which originates from beneath the Throne of God in the future Temple at Jerusalem – and flows eastward into the Salt Sea, healing its waters.

It is described extensively in Ezekiel 47, along with several of its unique features. 

Each of these streams has its own flora and fauna.

The Jordan River is flanked by trees of many species, both fruit and forest. They provide shade for animals and men, fruit for the tables of the populace, and stability to the soils of the banks of the river.

But they are not in place for any specially-established reason during the present age; these have only limited, largely unrecognized, and sporadic utility for universal healing – a feature which is realized to be the opposite effect of a special, divinely-engineered FOREST of the future age ...

We are not aware than any of these trees and shrubs of our times now produce any varieties of natural medicines for the healing of disease.

Perhaps they do, but if so, they are largely not yet discovered. 

On the other hand, the second river – the River of Life – has not yet been established.

It will depend upon the tectonic changes generated probably by the Olivet earthquake described as happening when Jesus’ feet touch the Mount of Olives at His Second Coming.

The description of that event is recorded in Zechariah 14:4 - “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley, and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.”

In the understanding of architectural interpreters of Ezekiel 40-48, the tangible real estate of Mount Moriah particularly will be raised up to an elevation much higher than the surrounding hills of Jerusalem of today, and will be the source of the River that is indicated.

 This physical change contrasts with the present elevation of the Temple Mount, which is lower than all the surrounding hills by a few hundred feet.

We intend to consider intensively the constitution and makeup of these two rivers in this exhortation ... 

The Jordan River

The Jordan River originates in the Golan Heights and on the slopes of Mount Hermon in northern Israel with waters from the Hasbani River of Banias and Dan.

Surface waters which collect on the Golan Heights to the east are drained by its streams toward its southwestern waterfalls which carry that water rapidly down to the Jordan River in the Lake Hula region north of Lake Kinneret.

The most notable source of Jordan is at Banias, near Caesarea Philippi, located just south of Mount Hermon. There, the melted snows of Mt. Hermon tumble out from crevices in the rock scarp, issuing a powerful flow of the pristine product of the runoff of spring and summer.

That source of Jordan is tamed by an extensive series of long, dammed pools, which slow and moderate the water’s turbulence to prevent erosion of its headwaters. 

From this source, the river flows southward for 156 miles (about 251 km) through Lakes Hula and Galilee (Lake Kinneret) to the Dead Sea – a direct line of approximately 90 miles – “as the crow flies.”

The waters if the Jordan Valley drop below sea level at the same longitude as the city of Safed in the mountains of the Galilee to the west before they enter Lake Kinneret (about 500 feet below sea level), and attains a level of some 1290 feet below sea level at the Dead Sea surface.

The Jordan’s stream-course is mostly narrow and rapid at the outset, but increasingly becomes meandering and serpentine as it tumbles southward, much in the character of an “older,” more mature geologic streambed, and carries tons of silt which it deposits along its lower course as it flows through the lower Jordan Valley.

At the present time, the river is grossly contaminated by the waters of the Yarmouk river entering from the east (from northern Jordan) – a condition which qualifies the Jordan River as being among the top 100 most polluted streams in the world.

Rehabilitation of the river would require several decades according to experts who have studied the problem.

Such a costly plan has not been presented for the river’s improvement. 

We see the Jordan River as a realistic symbol of human life apart from a relationship with YHVH. It illustrates graphically the symbolic beginning of life in relative purity – but gradually and progressively moving toward maturity, contamination, compromise ... and death.

The famous river begins its life in hopeful purity and strength as its youthful waters tumble forth from rock crevices, uncontaminated, originating from the melted pure winter snows of Mt. Hermon – taking on the character of a newborn infant beginning its life in vibrant health, in the great prospect of a vigorous course, and with rapid progress in all its endeavors.

It begins its life as the clear, lively waters of a geologically “young” stream, but soon inches toward maturity as it traverses its upper course quickly drops below sea level and empties into the Kinneret.

There it re-energizes for a moment and passes with some mature strength into the valley of the lower Jordan – a tortuous pathway, meandering ever more listlessly in its journey toward complete maturity and old age, now increasingly more polluted and contaminated, only a small fraction of its content finally reaching the Salt Sea – the lake of death and dissolution – there to evaporate completely away, only its non-volatile salt content remaining in that Sea and contributing forever to that saltiest body of water on earth, now completely “dead,” – unable to sustain life of any kind.

It illustrates the hopelessness and futility of life apart from godly blessing or devotion. 

The River of Life

Contrasting with the River Jordan we consider the vibrant, productive, healing waters of the River of Life which in future ages shall issue from the Throne of God atop Mount Moriah of the Kingdom age, flowing vigorously and freely toward the sunrise of a glorious age.

Its lively stream of life-giving (fresh) water is also destined for the Salt Sea but will have a better effect than any contribution by the Jordan River.

In reality, that blessed stream is to be created as an integral blessing of the Kingdom of the LORD, originating probably from the moment when His feet stand upon the Mount of Olives – the location from which He ascended to the heavens two millennia in past time.

We refer of course, to the supernatural events of the end-time when Jesus Christ reveals Himself to His People for the first time in two millennia...

This River seemingly reaches its fully operational, functional stage at the completion of the Edifice of the Kingdom which is to be established there – the House of Prayer for all people of Isaiah 2:3: “... the mountain of the LORD ... the house of the God of Jacob.” 

The Apostle John describes his observation of the flourishing stream as an integral part of his description of the precincts of the Temple as described in Ezekiel 47.

But in the terminal portions of the Apocalypse, we find another reference to this vibrant and productive stream: Revelation 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

These are, I believe, our only records of this miraculous River of Life which originates there and ends at the waters of the sea of death, reducing its level of salinity – its salt content – returning the same back to chemical neutrality (or balance), renewing its life-giving powers, giving new vitality and vibrancy to its waters, bringing its surface level up to the level of the other seas of the world, and making it a productive incubator for an abundance of species of fishes.

Along its banks as it flows from Zion toward the east in its journey of less than thirty miles, the river becomes deeper as John explores its watercourse, where his narrative instructs us as to the orientation of the House of Prayer being “toward the east” (verse 1), and additionally,  “behold, there ran out waters on the right side” (verse 2).

A “man” holding a measuring line, who is a guide to John at this point, leads him, wading in the waters of the river and measuring the depth as they proceed.

At a distance of 1000 cubits (about 1500 feet) from its origin, the waters are “ankle deep” (verse 3).

At an additional distance of 1000 cubits, the water measures “to the knees.” (verse 4).

At 1000 cubits further, “to the loins” (verse 4).

In verse 5,  ... he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, “a river that could not be passed over.”

Having established this fact, the man with the measuring line brings John to the “brink” of the river – the saphah in Hebrew – a term which is translated in the next verse as the “bank” of the river.

Now, as he stands upon the bank of the river, the prophet notes, “at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.” 

However, before John can comment upon the abundant trees – the forest which is flourishing on both banks of the river – the measuring man describes the “waters” more precisely and tells John of the river’s final destiny – the waters of the Eastern Sea.

The destination is identical to that of the Jordan River – but the resultant condition induced by the River of Life has a polar opposite effect, as we shall see... 

The next four verses are concerned with these waters and their beneficial effects...

 Ezekiel 47:8  Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.

Eze 47:9  And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.

In other words, the River is a river of LIFE exclusively – unlike the Jordan, the River of Death – which now terminates at the lowest point on the earth’s surface in a morass of futility and hopelessness!

Eze 47:10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the Great Sea (the Mediterranean Sea)[1], exceeding many.

Eze 47:11 But the miry places thereof and the marishes (the lower levels – the swamplands) thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. 

These benefits are astounding!

They result in a complete reversal of the deadness of the Sea which seems always to have existed.

The waters are “healed,” and support aquatic life in great proliferation!

Only one limited area remains salty, perhaps as a reminder to the people of that age of the former character of the entire body of water (?).

The “man” reinforces multiple times not only the destiny of the flowing waters of the River of Life (the Dead Sea) but also the numerous effects of its healing waters – the abundance of aquatic life that it shall support in that future day ... all the fishes of the Great Sea “... and every thing shall live whither the river cometh” (verse 9).

In these words, the analogy of the healing waters as the healing hand of the LORD Jesus Christ to the people and the organic life of the world at large are illustrated!

Even the much-depressed surface level of the waters of the formerly “dead” Sea is an indication of the full restoration of the universal benefits that shall accrue from His blessings of that day ... essentially the restoration of the Garden which God had originally planted “eastward, in Eden.” 

But those are not all the benefits of the living, vibrant, pristine waters of the River of Life.

Verse 12 details the wonderful effects that those waters now exert upon the flora of the new age: Ezekiel 47:12 -And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed (that is, not be exhausted, but shall be plentiful): it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof  for medicine. 

It has long been our personal conviction that during the Millennial Kingdom of our LORD, while there are still mortal populations who will be subject to human illness, and prevailing (but limited) fatal diseases, that YHVH’s ultimate “medicine” will be ONLY the “leaves” and other extracts of natural plants, some of which have already become known through the astute observations of men and women of science in the present day – and even by some who are considered “shamans” or “medicine men” of the uneducated masses of folklorists.

Why should this be true?

It is a commonly recognized feature of humanly manufactured “medicines” that virtually ALL of them are limited by the unwanted side effects which they invariably cause, usually accompanying even minimal effective doses given under close supervision.

As every reader is aware, some of the television “commercials” for modern medicines contain endless warnings to prospective patients which sound like the casualty list of atomic warfare, advising great caution by patients who are prescribed nearly any one of thousands of prescription drugs!

The frightening toxicity of these – aside from any “curative” qualities – is devastating.

Multiple undesired effects of prescription drugs cause thousands of deaths each year; many manufactured drugs seem to cause far more health problems than they are intended to solve.

Thousands of lawsuits are launched each year to compensate victims for these drastic side-effects of legitimate pharmaceuticals upon their unwary victims.

The “wood of life” – the trees of life – which will lavishly be supported by the River of Life will drastically change that cloudy outlook for “the practice of medicine” during the Kingdom age – all the way to its end, to the time when ... God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21:4 

Visualize such a day!

At the slightest hint of any physiological challenge of any kind, each can instantly be countered by an application of “kingdom medicine” – the leaves and extracts of various plants, their leaves, their bark, their roots – and complete healing be achieved at little or no inconvenience or expense (or danger from unwanted effects!) by the then-knowledgeable Saints who pervade and efficiently supervise all society in that age.

Surely in that age, these will be providing care and health coverage for all the earth’s remaining mortals as these fortunate subjects of that day elect to enter a life of godly service to the divine Representative Who they then will be able to behold literally, and Whose words they will be able to hear personally, and understand as He speaks to them righteousness ... and godliness ... and peace ... and with compassion!

Caring for them as no earthly parent could ever do, these fortunate survivors of the human race shall bask in the abundance of blessings continuously poured upon them by their Great Benefactor and His Immortal Helpers! Their ready application of the perfect curative properties of the Wood of Life which flourishes alongside the River of Life will bring certain and perfect healing for the fortunate population of the New World of the day... 

The wonderful phrases of Revelation 21: 1 -8 come readily to mind:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. 

<HEL> ~3200 words. An eTPL29 Exhortation  Posted March, 2020.

April: A Crucial Discussion of Isaiah 26: 19-21

An eTPL30  Analysis

We confess to our own inability for many years to arrive at a satisfactory understanding of portions of the last three verses of Isaiah 26 – verses 19-21. Several options seemed possible but none was entirely satisfactory – all lacked a satisfying conclusion...

We have long ruminated on the mysterious “chambers” of verse 20: “Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast ... and the immediate action (verse 21) of the LORD coming out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity....”

Note carefully that in these words we see a certain forward progression from “My people” entering into their chambers, to the LORD “coming out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.”

The last phrase is entirely clear; it is an event which we have expected and hoped for during long decades of recent time.

We must keep that sequence of events in our minds as we try to understand these three verses... Isaiah 26: 19-21.

The Era of the Resurrection of the Dead

The first verse of this trilogy reads as follows...

Isaiah 26:19 - Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

 This text addresses the time when “Thy dead men shall live,” so it obviously refers to the era of the resurrection of the responsible dead at the Second Advent.

 All the details of these verses refer to that crucial time...

Earlier verses of this chapter give summary details of the historical scattering of Israel and of her restoration and resurrection in the end time.

Now we come to the actual time of the Second Advent, and its integrally-connected resurrection of the responsible dead of all ages...

Danger to Israel on the Increase

At the present time, it should be readily apparent that the people of Israel are in a greatly increasing degree of jeopardy from their enemies round about. Their deepening danger has in a sense been similar to that of a woman in the natural distress of childbirth, her labor pains now coming more and more frequently and with greater intensity as her deliverance comes. These are signals of the approach of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the birth of a new age!

By its consistent victories, the Israeli state has developed steadily toward this terminal destiny of imminent final delivery from its enemies, and is now on the cusp of redemption itself. 

These earlier, singular advances of the Jewish state shall pale into insignificance compared to Messiah’s work in bringing Israel into the light of His countenance – into the full light of His glory and purpose. Luke 1: 71-74; Isaiah 11, q.v.

The Tension Builds

The tension builds as we have seen especially during the beginning years of this twenty first century – their enemies growing steadily stronger, their forces increasing their vile threats, their armaments improving and compounding against God’s People. Hamas and Hezbollah, along with the PLO and the Pales******* are aching for victory over the hated “Zionist entity.”

So how may we view the outlook as of today?

Our tentative conjecture is in the following details...

It proposes an explanation which may be entirely valid. On the other hand, we have no crystal ball, so these suggestions may not come about at all. We dedicate our studies diligently to look ever forward, with high expectancy. Please take our view for what it’s worth.

As the year 2020 came in, a sudden and drastic change of an entirely different kind came about in the world to confuse the picture and to move events forward, hopefully, toward the Believer’s and Israel’s final redemption.

This series of events places us at the present time...

The prospects now upon the threshold may well soon bring about that glorious state of things for His People ... the victorious conditions prophesied in Isaiah 25: 6-8, q.v.

In early January 2020, the news of a new virus having arisen in China becomes prominent in the news media. Apparently many Chinese citizens of Wuhan Province have succumbed to it and great numbers are becoming gravely ill with the respiratory devastation of a new Coronavirus, later to be designated Covid-19.

At the time, the US economy was at a boiling point. The Dow Industrials were about to soar upward through the dizzy heights of 30,000! Unemployment of all sectors was at a near all-time low. Wages were rising nicely. Consumer confidence was at a high water mark. The president’s approval rating was very high. The opposition party (the Democrats) was (and are) in disarray...

Skipping over the details of the dramatic rise of this epidemic, we advance about two months – to early March 2020.

At that time the American president, recognizes the gravity of the epidemic – that it is now a pandemic (worldwide in scope) – and amid some controversy, has already cut off travel to and from China and other nations where the virus has become established. He begins to tighten other limitations.

He insists that the US population undertake self-isolation – the separation of citizens from others in public places by at least six feet.

Spring school terms are canceled.

Public businesses begin to close, including hotels, resorts, restaurants and bars. 

Infections of Covid-19 ravage the passengers of cruise liners.

Airlines cancel thousands of flights, reducing service to a minimum.

The economy begins to shrink precipitously as people start to avoid large gatherings such as sporting events and religious services.

The president advises that the citizens exercise the best practices of isolation of themselves from each other in order to suppress the transmission of the mysterious, invisible, and deadly virus.

This measure reduces travel even more sharply. Much of the nation’s commerce halts.

Gas prices start to fall ... and the NYSE stock prices show signs of imminent collapse, as the Dow Industrials drop by a thousand points a day.

Complicating the economic picture, oil prices also begin to fall sharply.

Saudi Arabia asks Russia to join the Saudis in cutting crude oil production, hoping that action will stabilize prices (a ploy which has worked well in the past). But Russia refuses, ostensibly in an effort to keep oil prices so low that the American oil-shale fracking operators, especially, would be forced to cease their operations.

The price plunges to around $20 per barrel of West Texas crude oil. (Russia is said to “need” oil to be priced at $80/bbl or greater in order to break even. But Putin insists they keep pumping crude!)

There is widespread panic among the world’s population as families begin in earnest to isolate themselves and limit their exposure to other people as much as possible.

As of today, March 26th, the three members of our immediate family rarely venture outside our home except to visit a doctor’s office – and have not done so for almost two weeks...

We are in self-imposed isolation within our home.

We have entered into our private rooms and are seldom emerging for any reason.

And so have approximately 30% of all the other people in the world according to a Fox News report earlier today!

It is this phenomenon that we now address.

After a few days of self-isolation, we have come to realize that we have read a prediction of these precise conditions in our Bibles.

The pointed words of Isaiah 26 come racing from the back of our minds as descriptive of our current state of affairs.

Why hadn’t we thought of this connection before now?

The prophet wrote, in the second verse of the trilogy, Isaiah 26:20 - Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

We suddenly realized that we were experiencing this condition at the present time ... and that the details of its onset as described by Isaiah perfectly fit our present circumstances – and the stance of perhaps nearly all Believers throughout the world!

After all, we have been expecting the termination of these days (this dispensation) for several years, and realize soberly that the day of its arrival is possibly very, very near.

That expectation includes the sudden arrival of the LORD from heaven to start His conquest of the earth’s heathen peoples ... and the conclusion of Israel’s conflict with her neighbors on all sides (round about her).

The verse warns of his “indignation” being leveled against the evil enemy or enemies.

The last verse in the trilogy spells out the dedicated objective of our expected LORD...

Isa 206:21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth (eretz) for their iniquity: the earth (eretz, usually Israel) also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain (i.e., be un-avenged).

Have His People Already Begun to Execute His Bidding in this Affair?

We believe that “His people” along with many others of the whole earth may already be fulfilling at this moment in time the clear directives of verse 20 - in our preparations for the events of the certain revelations of this 21st verse!

We are convinced that the earth in general is overdue for its great purging, and cleansing.

The Second Advent of the LORD from heaven shall be the first palpable act in the execution of these serial judgments upon the peoples of the earth, in which He has suddenly instilled such a depth of universal fear and panic.

We believe the above proposal bears readers’ most sober attention.

It may still take some indeterminate length of time for the events to unfold.

Our Father is in complete control – and doesn’t have to hurry His plans for our benefit.

Our mission is to remain firmly in control of our lives and those of our loved ones as best we can ... and to trust implicitly in His judgment in this present crisis.

It may well be that the moment for which we have longed has finally arrived – the imminent return of the LORD Jesus Christ to the earth, executing His objective of bringing it into subjection to the Almighty in every way.

Think about it!

In just days the Lion of Judah may actively be in fierce conflict with His initial foes, and rapidly be establishing His reign of peace and righteousness upon the earth as foretold by all the prophets of Israel throughout God’s word!

The prophecy of Isaiah 26: 19-21 is a terminal forecast. Its fulfillment will result in the fruition of The Hope of Israel, which is labeled upon each of His baptized believers – validated by the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant marking our bodies – i.e., his shed blood identifying those men and women of Covenant ... all of us praying fervently for His appearance and Kingdom.     

 <>HEL ~1700 words. An eTPL30 Analysis   Published March 26, 2020.

May: The Olivet Prophecy

An eTPL30 Analysis

If there be any accurate, overall exposition of this great Prophecy, we believe it must lie in a verse-by-verse analysis. After many previous, attenuated attempts we now undertake the task in the faith that we shall gather much profit from such an approach. At this time we shall consider only the most detailed account of the prophecy – that of Luke 21...

Luke’s account of Jesus’ words begins in Luke 21:5. He writes the narrative of the details foretold by Jesus as He spoke to His disciples on the western slopes of the Mount of Olives, which overlooks Temple Mount, where stood at that time the Temple of Solomon as rebuilt and refurbished by Herod the Great. It is said to have been the most beautiful temple ever created.

Although not indicated in Luke, the accounts of Mark 13 and Matthew 24 inform the reader that these words were spoken as he addressed His followers at a location on the slopes of Olivet overlooking the Temple.

We begin our verse-by-verse discussion here... 

Luke 21:5  And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, 6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

To whom was the Master speaking here? It is evident from the tenor of the remainder of the chapter that He was speaking to His disciples – not to the Scribes, Pharisees, or Sadducees. His followers who were standing there with Jesus at that moment, would in future time, behold the Temple demolished and completely destroyed in their day. We know that the event did occur in presumably the 37th year following 33 AD.

The Temple was completely destroyed; even the stones were broken apart because the Romans had heard rumors that, secreted in the joints of the masonry, were hidden gold and gems of great value. Thus not one stone was left standing upon another! 

Luk 21:7  And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?

Note well that there are two distinct questions in this sentence...

1.      When shall these things be?

2.      What sign will there be when these thing shall come to pass? Note that Matthew adds a phrase here: “... and of the end of the world?” But it is an additional aspect of the second question.

Jesus frames His answer in a narrative of things to come, leading them to the conclusions which He shall make ... the answers He shall give. 

Luk 21:8  And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

Luk 21:9  But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

As the already restive Jews grew more rebellious, anarchy also drew nearer. By 70AD their level of resistance had grown to the frame of a full-blown rebellion against Rome. There were many claiming to be the Messiah Who would lead them to victory over the Romans – just in the manner in which they had expected Messiah to appear when Jesus appeared among them as the Paschal Lamb – the polar opposite of a strong, rebellious leader, an emancipator, a physical savior. Instead, He must first fulfill His role as a spiritual Savior; he fulfilled that role perfectly in His personal life and sacrifice on the tree of Golgotha.

So He warned them not to follow after those false Messiahs – not to be deceived by their claims of being their Christ (Savior). His final phrase of vs. 8 indicated a certain crescendo of such claims as the culmination of that time approached.

He also warned that the time would be one of “wars and commotions” – of unrest and rebellion on every side. The events should grow to a terrifying level for those who had not received Jesus’ reassurance. But these events had to run their course ... and go on and on as if interminable. The end of this matter would be prolonged ... and exhaustive; but it must be met by them with patience. 

Luk 21:10  Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

Luk 21:11  And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

His narrative seems to move forward to our end-times ... to an era of many wars between the nations of the earth. That description best fits the beginning years of the 20th century, when national mobility and mobilization rapidly had reached the efficiency levels to that of moving large armies over long distances, along with their supportive logistics of supplies, food, and ammunition.

It would be the era of enormous armies combating each other over vast distances and protracted time.

Nations and kingdoms would fall by the dozens ... recall that in WWI not only did the Austro-Hungarian Empire crumble – so did the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

In WWII the Third Reich was destroyed along with the Italian hegemony over many regions of Africa. The Japanese Empire was terminated by two unthinkably powerful explosions of a new thermal weapon of war – a weapon which brought into focus the possibility of the destruction of all mankind for the first time. The end was surely approaching!

At the same time there would be “great earthquakes” – physical tremors, subterranean rumblings – crustal shifts, including volcanic activity and physical tumult on land and sea, including tsunamis. Science has determined that the incidence of earthquakes and volcanoes has increased rapidly toward the end of Century 20 and into the beginning of Century 21.

The Pacific “Ring of Fire” has particularly awakened with an obvious increase in the incredible pressures of the various geographic “plates” which form its boundaries.

Pestilence and famine would be evident in a frequency more accelerated than ever before. A case in point at this moment is that of the enormous city-sized locust swarms of East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula ... and stretching as far east as Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The famine that is expected to result this year will be nearly unheard-of in human affairs – that compromise coming upon an indigent population that has historically been sub-standard in food production.

But there comes now another societal “earthquake” unprecedented in all human history – being revealed publicly only near the end of WWII – the Nazi Holocaust of 1933-1945: twelve years of intensive, intractable, unrelenting persecution and murder of God’s People in the nations of their dispersal. In an era of “enlightenment,” when the Jews were becoming more and more “assimilated” (or so they thought!), they were rounded up by thugs handling vicious police dogs and armed with official papers for the arrest and confinement (and murder) of the innocents of Europe – the lowly Jew, the accused perpetrator of every crime that could be conceived – poisoners of wells, thieves of the children of their Gentile neighbors, blood-libelers, subverters of whole governments, masters of financial manipulation, and master-cheaters in every field of endeavor.

The next verse accurately forecasts that time of extremity for the Jews. There was exercised a new twist in Jewish persecution (but it had been practiced at times in past history): the Jews of every village were herded together and forced to go into their local synagogue. The doors were barricaded ... and the building torched, burning alive all the screaming, terrified Jewish occupants of the village along with their Rabbi.

In addition, the Nazi regime constructed over six hundred “prisons” (concentration camps - see following verse) into which they entrained millions of the poor, destitute Jews of Europe under the pretense of “resettlement” for their own protection. Upon arrival at Bergen-Belsen, or Auschwitz, or Sobibor, they were immediately separated into (1) those who would be gassed and incinerated immediately and (2) the more able-bodied who would be enslaved and made to work on a sub-human diet until they dropped dead at their workplaces.

The Prophet Jeremiah wrote several lines in his prophetic scroll which tell the whole story:

Jeremiah 30:7 – “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his (the enemy’s) yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: 9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their King, whom I will raise up unto them.”

Yes, there will be some who deny the accuracy of that application; so be it. There has never in the annals of humanity been a similar period of intense, protracted, concentrated, needless, vehement persecution of any ethnic group that has approached the mendacity and tenaciousness of The Shoah of that era.

And now that millions of the Jewish People have reestablished their polity in the Promised Land, the possibility of a surpassing event being forced upon them is an impossibility – for, once they have “returned” to His Land (the land of the children of Israel), as he foretold in Micah 5: 3, no power on earth will ever be successful in persecuting them again (cf., Amos 9:11-14).

That physical return of the Jews to their Land constitutes the first stages of “returning” to God, as Micah 5: 3 says: God would abandon (give them up) UNTIL she who travailed would bring forth (i.e., the nation was reborn/resurrected), that ONLY THEN might they return. Every Bible student realizes that the People were required to wait for the expulsion of the Ottoman Turks before they would be permitted to return. Only then could the Almighty “... raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen.”

Thus it has been!

May I point out the indelible words of Amos referred to above...

Amos 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 12 That they (Israel) may possess the remnant of Edom (the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.), and of all the heathen (including Moab and Ammon, and others), which are called by my name (Israel contains the most common name for God –el – in the entire Bible), saith the LORD that doeth this. 13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. 14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

That halcyon time, once attained, shall never end for Israel, for it is precursor to the Second Coming of God’s Son, and the physical and spiritual redemption of Israel, His People! 

But returning to the immediate text, please note the faithful execution of this prophecy upon the People:

Luk 21:12  But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.

Luk 21:13  And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

Luk 21:14  Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:

Luk 21:15  For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

We believe the exigencies and hardships of the Jews would in some instances pass over to the People of the Ecclesia of Christ in a small but significant way. During WW I brethren of Christ were treated despicably for the sake of Christ – forced to wear the army uniform, subjected to demeaning tasks, beaten by their fellows, persecuted for bearing the name of Christ – which was their honor. A well-known booklet testifies to the maltreatment of one such member; its title is A Test Case for Canada.

Others have said that the scriptural answers demanded of them by the governmental authorities (draft boards, etc.) seemed to have been given them divinely as they stood their ground and refused to be inducted into the military forces. After all is said and done, no advanced preparation (no effective meditation) could have been made for most of the questions aimed at us! Those sincere words of deeply held faith cannot have failed to leave a mark upon the Inquisitors...

Luk 21:16  And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

Luk 21:17  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.

Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

All these dreaded results fell upon Jews over the ages.

But they were suffered by Gentile believers in Christ as well.

As to vs. 16, we think of the vapid but fatal convictions even of the parents of some Objectors to the teachings of the Church of the Middle Ages for example. Many were put to death and not protected by their own parents! These faithful ones were indeed hated of all men for the sake of Jesus...

The last phrase of vs. 18 does not protect one from personal hurt or discomfort – both psychological and physical – but it indicates that they should survive these temporal blows and overcome them even to life in the future age.

Temporal deliverance, no matter how much desired, was not forthcoming for some, even as in the ages of extreme persecution such as the Catholic Inquisition – the most notable period that is thinkable for Believers of all ages. The recorded words of Jesus by Luke address all those years and include, in our opinion, all Believers as well as the Jews. 

The next several verses seem to move abruptly backward in time to Jesus’ day. He warns His listeners – both the everyday Jews of Judea and the Baptized believers ... they must persist against the enemy; and persistence requires patience.

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

Luk 21:20  And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

Luk 21:21  Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

The immediate future would bring “the days of vengeance” as He writes in the next verse. The preparatory months would see a great Roman army led by General Vespasian encompass Jerusalem, taking up positions of offense, preparing to overrun the City and destroy its people.

But suddenly, the Romans withdrew – allowing a time-slot of withdrawal from the city intended in vs. 21 – a time to “depart out” of the City and escape. Events in Rome (the suicide of Nero) demanded that Vespasian return to Rome to be made emperor, but the new monarch continued the policies of his predecessors – the overthrow of the Jewish revolt in Judea!

Josephus Flavius, I am told, wrote that none of the Christian followers of Jesus were taken by surprise when the Romans returned the second time with a vengeance under General Titus. All of them had fled the City and were delivered from the death and destruction that was coming!

You see, it DOES make a difference just what we believe and act upon!

Luk 21:22  For these be the days of vengeance (for their rejection of Jesus, 37 years earlier), that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

The “things written” were largely the prophecies of Moses in Deuteronomy 28: 15-68, which would befall a disobedient People in the coming years of servitude and desolation. They would terminate in the dispersion of His People to all the countries of the earth for nearly interminable time to come, ominously termed “the times of the Gentles.”

But these shall be “fulfilled.”

And the fortunes of His People should turn about abruptly and permanently!

Luk 21:23  But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.

Luk 21:24  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 

At the terminal point of all those terrible punishments for disobedience, His people would begin to see signs of hope. These “signs” would be both heavenly and earthly: “... in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars.” But they would not be confined to the heavens, for also “upon the earth (should there be) distress of nations ... with perplexity – the seas and the waves of humanity roaring. The word is G-2278, echeo (ay-kheh-‘o) which means to reverberate, to roar, to make a loud noise. The “noise” of the end-time could not be better described – a time in which every weak nation claims to be “strong,” and outlandish claims are made by the puniest of peoples.

Luk 21:25  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

The era of supreme unrest would be unprecedented in human history. Wars would rage and multitudes be slain in the name of heathen philosophies such as Fascism, Communism, Japanese Imperialism, and Islam. There would be no pretense of a human solution of these difficulties.

Then, later, came an unknown and invisible invader – a living, one cell organism of 120nm (nanometers) diameter on average, and covered with unusual projections similar to golf tees covering its bizarre surface. It would become known as Coronaviurus-19 or Covid-19. It would strike fear and dread into the hearts of every man and pervade the earth as none had done before. It would quickly strike the old and the vulnerable population – those compromised already in some way – and take down tens of thousands of victims across the world. Its prospect was to be more virulent than the plague of 1917-1919 (Spanish Influenza); and it had no known medicinal enemy – no therapy, no vaccine, no remedy. It was a fearful plague which effectively quarantined half the world’s population.

The next phrases of Luke’s record came suddenly to the front of the line of challenges, literally causing men’s hearts to fail them for fear (some committed suicide rather than face it) for the coming plague. And the powers of heaven – the political heavens this time – were incredibly shaken (and stirred, and poured out, and dissipated) with the prospects.

Luk 21:26  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

We believe the history of mankind has now reached the passing events of verse 26 ... and that perhaps the next great event will be the “Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory!” Only the length of our wait is unknown...

Luk 21:27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Luk 21:28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

The Master’s words as recorded by Luke now spell out the most definitive “sign” of all these omens – the “shooting forth” of THE Fig Tree (Israel) and all the trees (the nations round about Israel which were formed artificially in the same time frame as Israel – the proximate Islamic States of the Levant).

This would be the sign of “summer” – a fitting reference to the times of refreshing spoken of by Peter in Acts 3: 19, in which he strongly advised his hearers to ...  Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and told them without hesitancy of the Event of the Ages which should bring this about ... Acts 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

Let’s listen to his words...

Luk 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. 

The Olivet Prophecy is, in my opinion, perhaps the most difficult of all the Biblical prophecies – the most difficult to unravel when the various accounts (three in all) are placed side by side. It is a comparison which I have not been capable of reconciling to my own satisfaction, upon every attempt. So I have decided on this brief commentary on the longest and most detailed of the three accounts (that of Luke) ... and to leave further reconciliation to other, more capable minds. It may be a relatively simple task, but so far it has eluded all my efforts.

<>HEL ~3800 words. An eTPL30 Analysis Published April 13, 2020 

June: Increasing Threats to Israel from Hezbollah and Jordan

An eTPL30 Analysis

May 29, 2020

Events tending toward conflict between Israel and its enemies round about are rapidly accelerating, which we observe through the lens of Bible prophecy as rushing headlong toward the confrontation that the prophets foretold universally for the end-time.

It is as if the birth-pangs are coming closer and closer together – and with increasing intensity...

Bellicose “warnings” of a “great war” are flowing out of Lebanon at a much faster rate as Israel continues to patrol the skies over Lebanon regularly. The big political dog in Lebanon is now Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, whose parliamentary faction practically controls the destiny of the small enclave. Yesterday Nasrallah warned Israel that any airstrike on members of Hezbollah in Lebanon would “not pass without a response.” Ominously, he added that Hezbollah has “military capabilities that did not exist before 2006.” He added that it would be "the end of Israel."

All these threats are accelerated by Israel pressing forward with its plan to annex 30% of the so-called “West Bank” – i.e., Judea, Samaria, the Jordan River frontier and the northern Dead Sea.

That decision is thought to be in staunch acceptance by Israel of the Trump “Deal of the Century” on all counts.

It has not set well with King Abdullah II of Jordan either, who has said it could be “disastrous” for the peace treaty that has been in effect between Jordan and Israel for several decades. He is understandably exercised by this affront to the Pales******* because nearly 70% of Jordan’s population is made up of Arabs who formerly inhabited Judea, Samaria, and the other portions of what is today Israel. So there is a constant undercurrent of unrest in Jordan that is always simmering just under the boiling point...

However, Hezbollah and Jordan combined can possibly wage an effective war against Israel ... and they are well aware of that fact.

That notion might hold more hope if these two powers were joined by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. And markedly so if they were joined (as they would be) by the forces of the PLO which now nominally control the “West Bank,” and its sympathizers who number hundreds of thousands of Israeli Arabs in Israel proper – a scattered force which would have to be reckoned with by Israel in any such a conflict...

The two terrorist groups (Hamas and Hezbollah) are reputed to have more than 200,000 missiles mounted on launchers and ready to send into Israel on a moment’s notice. These could not be defended against by the missile shields that Israel now has in place; Israeli defenses would be overwhelmed.

Many of these rockets have now been converted to “smart missiles,” which have been modified to utilize the GPS navigational network. This means that they would no longer be flying blindly toward Israeli territory, but doubtlessly would be targeted on cities such as Tel Aviv and Haifa – and on the Israeli nuclear facility at Dimona.

The PLO Executive Committee met in Ramallah on Thursday where it was addressed by its Secretary-General Saeb Erekat who told the Jerusalem Post that the Pales****** leadership was in “marathon discussions and intensive contacts” with several friendly countries to bring them up to date on the perceived dangers of the Israeli annexation plan. They believe their only hope of thwarting it is to gather an international coalition that will reject Israel’s intention to annex the land.

At the same meeting, the PLO Executive Committee re-stated PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ recent announcement that “all agreements and understandings with Israel and the US” are now renounced (Jerusalem Post). We should say that condition is not new; the PLO has long since abandoned the stated principles of the so-called Oslo Accords reached with Yasser Arafat in 1993 in Washington.

Nasrallah was quick to invoke Syrian concern as well. He said that although the leaders of Syria believe it not to be in their best interest to involve itself in a war with Israel, that the "patience and endurance of the Syrian leadership with Israeli aggression has limits."

All these increased threats are being triggered by Israel’s steadfastly moving forward with plans for the annexation which Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu promised if re-elected. Well, he has been “re-elected” in a strange kind of (divine?) way (by huge, broad and unlikely compromises with political foes) and has been installed as prime minister for the next 18 months, after which he will be succeeded by General Benny Gantz (Blue and White party).

Netanyahu is strongly driven by his own political savvy – by which we mean that he realizes that he had better consummate the annexation of territory quickly, before President Donald Trump reaches the end of his first term – because there is an outside chance that Mr. Trump could lose the election (that possibility always exists).

Such an outcome could mean accession to the US executive position by a member of the Democratic Party, which has morphed into an anti-Israel, socialist group of advocates influenced by the likes of congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (aka “AOC”).

Bibi Netanyahu reasons that if the annexation shall have been successfully accomplished by early November, that there is no possibility of any incoming US administration successfully reversing it within the international community (the UNO) or in any other way. It will be a “done deal.”

Observe carefully now how Israel is being boxed into a tighter and tighter corner – the real-time threats of the Islamic peoples round about them increasing by the day and hour! The threats that the Arabs are making are a clear statement of their concrete intentions – just as the assertions of Adolf Hitler boldly set forth in Mein Kampf also were statements of true and deadly intent against the Jews of Europe.

The Trigger Point of the Second Advent

Our consideration of this entire affair is influenced by our understanding of the Trigger Point of the Second Advent – an event which will lead to the direct, personal intervention of the returned LORD Jesus Christ in the political turmoil of the Middle East – an intervention which will in our view accomplish, firstly, the physical liberation of His People from the oppression and threats of the nations round about Israel...

The prophecy is found in Isaiah 59. Isaiah’s scroll voices the almost poetic realization of affairs of Israel with its neighboring states in the end-time.

Israel has only half-heartedly defeated its Islamic enemies since 1973, when its final victory was swift and decisive – and proved to the world that Israeli ambition and armament could take care of any such threats (by God’s grace – but that was unrecognized by many Israelis).

Since that time Israel has seemed to be almost half-hearted in its own defense, allowing missiles and fire balloons and terrorists to enter its territories with seemingly limpid and inadequate responses.

Isaiah’s prophecy seems to indicate the Almighty’s rather dim view of this response from His People: Isaiah 59:16 - And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him; and His righteousness, it sustained Him.17 For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon His head; and He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. 18 According to their deeds, accordingly, He will repay, fury to His adversaries, recompence to His enemies; to the islands He will repay recompence.

And how shall this be accomplished?

The prophet’s next phrases, in our opinion, outline the triggering events of the Return: they forecast Israel’s future universal “fear” (respect, admiration, loyalty) for the name of the LORD from the west ... to the rising of the sun – an entirely new mien for Israel indicating their newly-discovered truth about their Messiah which had gone unrecognized for 2,000 years ... that Jesus Christ IS that Messiah whom they thought to have slain forever – now returned to them as Joseph of old, forgiving, gracious, magnanimous and unimaginably powerful, to “save (us) from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us” as Zacharias the priest prophesied of the babe which Mary should bear (Luke 1: 71).

Their resultant, newly-adopted faith in Him, and their professed recognition of Him, is recognized in the next phrases...

Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a Standard against him.20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

One might argue that Israel shall not have “turned from transgression,” meaning, we believe, their insistence that Jesus was NOT Messiah when He came at the first: their denial of Him as Savior (Messiah).

But as Zechariah 12 and 13 foretell, that recognition of Him will burst to the forefront of their conscience when they behold His supreme might and power, His lightning victory over an enemy that they had been reluctant (or possibly unable) to combat – and the nail-prints in His hands! – Unmistakable marks concretely identifying the One Who shall have intervened in their extremely dangerous circumstances of that day.

What is that dangerous circumstance?

It seems to be exactly what the enemies round about Israel are today drumming to the world: that they intend to overrun Israel with its  sheer force of arms (missiles) and fleshly efforts – with endless human waves of their feeble forces (“Let the weak say, I am strong!” Joel 3:10).

How can we be sure of that outcome?

Well, that’s easy! The Redeemer shall have come to Zion – the clearest statement of the Second Coming to be found in the Old Testament!

And that momentous event results in a “saving” that far transcends the physical deliverance of Israel from its enemies on the ground. It brings the immediate bestowal of a New Covenant with them in accord with the next verse ... and their sure habitation of the First Dominion of the Kingdom of God on the earth!

Isaiah 59:21 As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

People so blessed, and endowed with His favor and compassion cannot fail to be successful, and to give eternally to the Almighty the praise and the recognition and the appreciation that He demands ... and which He deserves!

<HEL>  ~1800 words. An eTPL30 Analysis. Published as June eTPL prophecy article: May 29 2020... 

 July: Hearts, Brains, and Hearing

Well did the Psalmist say, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." Psalm 139:14

Under the particular scrutiny of those marvellous works is the sense of hearing, being one of the five senses with which humans have been endowed.

Ideas are transmitted via the agency of words: not exclusively by words, but words are the pre-eminent means. A man wishing to convey a thought to another often does so by the medium of words, be they written or spoken; the words comprise the thoughts that a man wishes to convey from his intellectual centre to another man’s intellectual centre.

This operation is often done by uttering words vocally, a marvellous process.

One man speaks words by uttering sounds with volume, frequency, annunciation, and tonality. The person to which he is speaking receives the words through his ears. The ears have a wee drum which has its own little drum stick that exactly replicates the volume, frequency, annunciation and tonality of the words being heard, and then relays the thoughts to the brain which stores them in the appropriate compartment of the brain for future recall.

Then the brain does a most extraordinary thing: it sends the received data to the heart for moral processing. The heart will assess the data and relay that judgment to the brain. The brain will then direct the legs, meaning the direction of physical activity based on the data input from the heart and brain.

The Heart-Brain Communication has been the subject of extensive studies in recent years of which the following is the executive summary of one such study.

“Traditionally, the study of communication pathways between the head and heart has been approached from a rather one-sided perspective, with scientists focusing primarily on the heart’s responses to the brain’s commands. We have learned, however, that communication between the heart and brain is actually a dynamic, ongoing, two-way dialogue, with each organ continuously influencing the other’s function. Research has shown that the heart communicates to the brain in four major ways: neurologically (through the transmission of nerve impulses), biochemically (via hormones and neurotransmitters), biophysically (through pressure waves) and energetically (through electromagnetic field interactions). Communication along all these conduits significantly affects the brain’s activity. Moreover, our research shows that messages the heart sends to the brain also can affect performance.”

Reiterating, the heart communicates with the brain and body in four ways:

   Neurological communication (nervous system)  

   Biochemical communication (hormones)

   Biophysical communication (pulse waves)

   Energetic communication (electromagnetic fields)

It is safe to conclude that as the brain is the seat of the intellect, so the heart is the seat of morality, influencing the brain's ultimate resolve in the decision-making process.

Words

It is to be noted that the Hebrew understanding of words per se differs significantly from that of a 21st century Gentile of western culture. Whereas a Gentile regards a word as a somewhat ethereal entity that serves its function and then dissipates into the ether, a Hebrew considers a word to be a concrete and tactile entity that once uttered exists and remains a relevant force forever.

The Hebrew gets this reality from the very process of creation.

Gen_1:3  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Note that there was no process or angelic involvement in the act of creation, God “breathed out” a command and his breathed-out word became a concrete reality, viz., “and God said….” Whatever God said became a concrete, tactile reality.

Note that, “and God said” is stated eight times in Genesis 1, and on each occasion whatever God said immediately became a reality.

Genesis1:6 “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.”

Gen_1:14  “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Gen_1:20  And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Gen_1:24  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Gen_1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

It is to be noted that what God said immediately came into existence without any creative process; what God said simply became a tactile, concrete reality. That is, the breathed-out Word of God is the pure definition of Holy Spirit power … the power of God engrafted into God’s servants at their baptism. Luke 3:16  “John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:”

Note: “baptize you with the Holy Ghost” – indicates God’s Word engrafted into His children.

1Samuel 3:19  “And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.”

One can imagine the young Samuel catching God’s words as tangibles for spiritual ingestion, so they didn’t fall to the ground. Samuel was internalising God’s words. 

Hearing

The Scriptures engage our inquires because of how many times the words harken, hear, heard, and hearing, plus the responses of those who hear, make their appearances with such frequency.

Of particular note is the fact that the expression “he that hath ears to hear, let him hear” appears sixteen times in the scriptures, once in the Old Testament and fifteen times in the New Testament. Of the fifteen times in the New Testament, it was expressed by the Lord Jesus on every occasion, a fact that gives the expression most particular stress that commands our attention.

We may also note that significantly, the seven letters addressed to the seven Ecclesias of Revelation chapters two and three include that expression. We may well note that all people (with the exception of those who are hearing-impaired – or who are intellectually impaired) have “ears” capable of utilizing the sense of hearing; there is no physical or practical reason preventing anyone with ears not to hear. Yet we note that the expression includes this caveat: “he that hath ears to hear.”

So then we must of necessity conclude that there are those with ears who don’t hear.

Well may we ask, “how can this be so?” It is a truly worthwhile enquiry, and satisfying the enquiry with the solution not only answers the query, but it also discloses the depth of the intimacy that the Father of lights desires to have with his children.

We need to be very aware that it is by the Father’s grace that those who claim God’s paternity over them are given, “hearts to perceive,” “eyes to see,” and “ears to hear” – and that there are those with hearts, eyes and ears to which God denies perception of His word and His works.

Consider the words of Moses from his third and final address to the children of Israel prior to his death and to the children of Israel crossing over the Jordan into the Land proper under Joshua: Deuteronomy 29:2 “And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; 29:3 The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles: 4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.”

God Himself has withheld perceptions from hearts, eyes, and ears … and this amongst the people whom He regards as His firstborn son (Exodus 4:22).

It is the Prophet Ezekiel that discloses why perceptions are withheld: Ezekiel 12:2  “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, the house of Israel, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.”

Those who choose to rebel against God’s “word” will forfeit the God-given gift of ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart to understand. Though well able physically to hear the words spoken, they will be unable to perceive the Word’s meaning and consequently the Word’s implications.

As God withholds the knowledge that words impart, so He is also able to impart knowledge without the recipient actually having heard the words being spoken to him, or having read them in his studies.

Matthew 16:13 “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, ‘Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? ‘14 And they said, ‘Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.’ 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.’” 

Peter’s response had not come to him by human agency, neither by the spoken word or the written Word. It had been engrafted into his consciousness without his being aware that he had received it. If we are locked into the thinking that all we know about God’s word has come to us because of the finely tuned sophistry of our intellect or our diligence in study, we are claiming we are saved by works, that our own hand has saved us.

God’s word tells us something different!

James, the Lord’s half-brother, grew up in the same household as Jesus Himself. Joseph had fallen asleep in death, and as Jesus was firstborn, He had assumed the role of head of the house. We can take it as we read it – that so much of what James writes were lessons he heard around the dinner table. James then offers this vital information in his epistle.

James 1:21 “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” 

James discloses that the Word of God is “engrafted” as one of the means of imparting the knowledge of the Word.

Jesus Himself does so also, in words that are difficult to misinterpret. He details for us that the “things of the Kingdom” grow within His children without the children knowing how … or are even aware of it. Mark 4:23 “If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. 24 And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. 25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.”

God will give to a man whatever he wants to hear, and whatever he wants to listen to.

If a man wants to listen to the word of God in great measure then he will be given the word in even larger quantities than he asked for: “Unto you that hear shall more be given.”

Genesis 2:16  “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” 

That commandment was issued to Adam before Eve was created from one of Adam’s ribs. Eve was the first being that was not created directly from the earth. Eve was not present when God issued that command. It is important to remember that Eve was subordinate to Adam and it was Adam that told her of God’s command.

Eve was supposed to (and was created to be) “an helpmate” for Adam, and was to obey his word. We know what happened. Along came the serpent with his blandmishment, “Ye shall not surely die.” You eat that fruit and you will be the same as the Elohim, the serpent claimed.

Eve listened to the word of the Serpent and dismissed the word of God, hence the Master’s directions to His servants, “take heed what ye hear.”

This was the first and fateful sin in the Garden. God has given His Word, a Commandment issued to Adam from God, and passed on to Eve by Adam; but Eve did not take heed to what she heard, and then regrettably, Adam ALSO harkened to the word of the Serpent related to him by Eve!

Our Master has left for us a most extraordinary truth , and related it to us in Mark’s narrative: Mark 4:26 “And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. 28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” 

The Master is not giving a lesson in horticulture but was using the planting and growth to maturity of the planted corn seed as analogous to the steadily growing seed of God’s Kingdom within His children, those with ears to hear.

The man plants his seed and goes about his routine of day to day activities –  the  managing of a Godly family home life and tending to his crops and herds, As he does so, even while he sleeps, the corn grows and he “knows not how.”

So it is with the words of God’s Kingdom growing within the man, even as he sleeps, and he “knows not how.”

Such an embracing expression of the depth and intimacy of the Father’s love for His children … engrafting His Word into the hearts and minds of those with eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to understand, all characteristics that God Himself has gifted to His children and based on the reality that these children have chosen to hear God’s words to the exclusion of all other words!

Such a profound intimacy between a Father and his children, and such a profound expression of God’s abiding love for His children! It is a reality that causes his children to know that all that we need to serve God acceptably originates in God and is gifted to us by Him.

Faith

There can be no gainsaying the fact that the article of Faith, the gift of God to His children, involves the whole man. The intellect, the emotions, and the physique must all be working in perfect unison and in the order as noted above.

There must first be an intellectual comprehension of God’s requirement of us.  (Intellectual)

Comprehension must then result in identifying the moral imperative. (Emotional)

Moral imperatives will then result in Godly activity. (Physical).

Intellectually, Emotionally and Physically … the whole man is involved in the expression of faithfulness: Romans 4:6 “ Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

All these result in the carefully nurtured faith that God has gifted to His elect. The sins of the elect are forgiven, covered and not imputed to them. Such a glorious blessing!

1Corinthians 6:11  “And such were some of you: but ye are washed (made and declared clean), but ye are sanctified (set apart for a special purpose), but ye are justified (declared to be righteous) in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God (which dwells within us).”

Deuteronomy 29:29  “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed (we know not how) belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law (walking by faith).”     <> As submitted by PH. ~2900 words. Published by permission…

 August: Fear, Panic, Rage ... and Violence

An eTPL31 Exposition 

In times like today, in which a frightening pandemic rages through the world, fear is widely generated. It is partially because of the unknown factors of the disease – its invisibility, its potential lethality, its possibility of being anywhere, and of one catching it from nearly anyone.

A well-known result of fear is panic – not knowing where to turn or what course to take forward.

If that emotion persists and becomes severe, often rage develops as a result of the panic – a lethal mixture of fear, panic, and rage.

At that point in the cycle, almost anything can happen; irrational behavior, personal suspicion, xenophobia, hatred, and even unprovoked personal attacks are possible.

That is our concern during the present crisis.

Whether it was generated by fear we cannot tell, but a somewhat similar scenario developed when, in Minneapolis a handcuffed black man already in police custody and unarmed was killed by prolonged pressure on the arteries in his neck. George Floyd was essentially murdered while in custody. The result was a degree of panic among members of his community which took the designation of Black Lives Matter … and immediate enragement toward the policemen who perpetrated this crime. The incident has led to demonstrations both nationwide and worldwide among sympathizers – demonstrations which are ongoing even today, including pillaging, looting and burning – wanton destruction of the private property and lives of innocent people in the vicinity of the incident as well as far distant from it as well. Like so many human faults, it is both irrational and inexcusable.

Previous to this incident we have witnessed the similar development of the #MeToo Movement which resulted primarily from accusations of a movie producer, Harvey Weinstein, of sexual abuse of multiple women in the movie industry. It was reinforced by the revelation of numerous crimes by Bill Cosby against many female acquaintances; he is still in prison after being convicted.

Both of these incidents have moved forward to the ultimate state of rage among many people who have personally adopted the causes and been motivated to become violent activists against them.

Violence. That’s the active word here, the fourth member of the deadly syndrome.

Back to our consideration of the pandemic – we wonder when violence will result from the frustrations of the shutdowns and restrictions which governments have imposed on citizens for their own protection. Civil disobedience of government-prescribed protective measures has already been widely observed – and these may be the first stages of the terminal reaction: violence.

We refer to wantonly careless mass gatherings at bars, parties and on beaches by huge groups of people who are not following the guidelines of self-distancing, face-masking, and avoidance of contact with others. They seem to believe that their actions can have no adverse effects – that somehow they are personally immune to the virus!

But let’s be honest in this consideration. From the beginning day of being alerted to the oncoming breakout of sickness, there was no ‘correct’ way to handle this new viral infection.

There was absolutely no rational basis for ANY proposed solution in those earliest days except self-isolation; there was no vaccine against it; there was no known medicinal agent that was effective against it; even the clinical management of the disease could not have been realized in the first stages (no one knew in advance, for example, that many of the hospitalized patients would require respiratory assistance (ventilators), and that these were nearly non-existent in the numbers that would be needed). No one could have believed that the number of intensive care facilities was far short of what would soon be needed. Or that there would be a woeful shortage of simple items such as protective face masks, face shields, and personal protective items of clothing.

The first thought which springs to mind in the medical community with any such challenge is: stay away from it – as far away from it as possible. Isolate. Self-distance … no matter how inconvenient or difficult … for ultimate protection … at least until some basic clinical determinations can be arrived at.

The result of even the somewhat limited ‘mixing’ of the populous has resulted in the pandemic coming roaring back to life in a second wave of infections (or perhaps it is an extension of the first wave? – no matter).

And that abrupt resurgence has triggered serious consideration of reversing the tentative openings of the society that have been authorized.

The world is in deep trouble … but many folk simply do not seem to understand it, or believe it.

The coronavirus exhibits no feelings whatever. Every warm human body is its target … rich or poor, in good health or compromised in some measure; it is pan-racial. It is non-selective in every sense, although certain ethnic groups have been markedly more affected than others (reason? – unknown). And in certain random cases, after-effects of grave implications mysteriously persist in many victims even after they are considered as being recovered from the infection … shortness of breath, weakness, anatomical lung changes, pulmonary hypertension, strokes, and blood clots in various organ systems.

A New Thing in the Medical World

We are witnessing a ‘new thing’ in the medical world, dear readers. As we have already stated (in previous articles) we personally believe that the Almighty is issuing some of His final warnings to the world in general – to that wonderfully diverse society of beings that He has created and to whom He has given life and an expected range of existence.

Most of all, He has offered immortality to any who will seek out His Plan and dedicate himself to its pursuit. But in so doing, a degree of self-sacrifice is necessary, and that seems to be the strongest deterrent to widespread acceptance of His offer!

But there are other serious factors. Mankind in general has either ignored God’s will in these matters and prefers to go his own way perhaps because the ultimate outcome does not become apparent for a long time. Even when the end of life comes for many folk, they blatantly deny its reality, insisting on their own ignorant expectation of an infinite extension of their life in an heavenly paradise in direct contradiction of several of the teachings of God’s Son, the Lord, Jesus Christ.

That latter practice – corruption of His word – seems worse than one’s ignoring it; because they not only have neglected His will … they have superimposed their own will upon His stated laws of life and death.

And the same principle applies to matters of civil conduct. For centuries mankind followed the dictates of his flesh and broke God’s laws of morality on an individual basis.

Then something drastically changed.

In the mid-twentieth century several nations passed laws allowing a practice which had been forbidden for centuries among ‘civilized’ nations – the abortion of unborn children on a legally-allowed basis, approved of by lawmakers on a nationally-recognized basis.

It was a new departure from the earlier individual disobedience of God’s principles.

Another drastic change inexplicably was instituted – one which had been forbidden in ‘civilized’ countries for thousands of years – the several conventions of sexual deviation, including homosexuality, bestiality, lesbianism, transsexualism, and same-sex ‘marriage.’

Until only a few decades ago, all these practices were condemned in ‘proper’ cultures (and officially still are in Islam, for example, although widely present in that culture, according to the best information). Although all of them were personally indulged in by individuals in private, their general acceptance was not sanctioned in polite society.

That, too, has changed. All those illegitimate pursuits are now legally allowed by many nations as a matter of lawfully sanctioned conduct. The rebellion against the Almighty’s clearly stated principles of morality are being flouted by entire nations on legal grounds.

The Ten Tribes of Israel were overrun and taken captive and scattered into Assyria (after many had been killed in their war of desolation) directly due to their infatuation with Ba’al, Molech and Ashtaroth – the stone idols of those idolatrous neighbors round about her – representing a ‘religion’ which involved not only sexual immorality of every sort, but inclusive of infant sacrifice as well – a practice parallel to today’s license for fetal abortion.

The practice will not be tolerated by the Almighty for long as has already been demonstrated by His utter destruction of the entire human population (except eight souls) by water in the time of Noah, and in the incineration of Sodom and Gomorrah during the time of Lot. Those demonstrations should be reason enough for mankind’s avoidance of those practices.

The Principle may be Coming Home

All the above examples of acceptable crumbling social or moral norms have been a result of the resistance of a fraction of society against the mainstream conviction of what is right and proper in many cases.

We can see a similar wave of discontent in our own community which we need to discuss on a mature spiritual plane.

Brethren worldwide have long voiced a desire to see our global community become one in name and creed; these have been preponderantly of the “Amended” persuasion, but not entirely.

Proponents have achieved at least nominal “reunion” over most of the globe except in North America where a small group of believers called “Unamended” members reside.

In the mid-twentieth century a continent-wide effort was mounted to discuss reunion between the two parties with some seeming success at first. Committees were appointed by a congress of the Ecclesias to represent the two camps on a sanctioned basis. The committees were composed of seasoned, experienced, knowledgeable brethren of both spheres of influence.

Some success seemed to be forthcoming. But in the end, just when the seal of approval was about to be attached to the agreement, members of the Amended group voiced the sentiment to their Unamended counterparts, “Welcome to the Amended fellowship!”

But that had not been the agreement, the details of which are much too complex to elaborate here.

The writer was not directly involved in the negotiations but was strongly associated with the Unamended committee members and received accurate reports of their experiences. It followed that the Amended brethren had misapprehended the agreement to some extent and drawn the wrong conclusions.

The initiative ended abruptly at that time and the committees disbanded.

But the desire of a few holdouts to “reunite” did not expire. Certain brethren of both parties desired to carry forward the initiative in extended discussions.

One or two seemingly valid sporadic conferences were held … and seemed to reflect some progress; but then, they too ended without agreement.

None of these subsequent discussions were held under the sanctions of the majority of the Ecclesias of both parties. In a sense they were “kangaroo” approaches carried out at the ‘grass-roots’ level; but be that as it may.

Eventually an initiative known as the North American Statement of Unity (NASU) was arrived at and was touted as holding the solution to actual reunion between the two groups.

Without going into extensive detail, the printed documents were circulated to all Ecclesias whether or not they had been involved – or even in favor of further discussions – and these were asked to review the agreements and discuss them in depth on the Ecclesia level.

The reaction in both the Amended group and the Unamended group was mixed.

Several Ecclesias in both camps responded right away by acceptance of the documents as a reasonable pathway for further discussion. Others did not respond right away so it was assumed the documents were under consideration. Still other Ecclesias viewed the documents as inadequate to their concerns and rejected them outrightly. I recall that about thirty Unamended Ecclesias rejected the NASU documents and opted out of further discussion. Some (I should say most) noted internally conflicting statements of ‘responsibility’ of various degrees and offered that reason as their grounds for rejection. But a deeper current involved the definition of the nature of man.

But the NASU committees persisted. They arbitrarily offered the holdouts a period of three years to ‘come around’ for lack of a better term. But the resistance did not relent.

I seem to recall that near the end of that period of time, when the holdouts had not agreed to accept the NASU documents, some changes were made and a new set of agreements was issued under the title NA08 (my recollection may be a bit inadequate here, so bear with me). It essentially changed nothing in the Unamended holdouts’ view but seemed to indicate that the NA08 folks were not giving up – that they ‘would be back.’

The result has been disappointing to many in both camps. I am told that recently a North American denominational publication carried an article in which it was revealed that a significant number of our brethren have just given up and walked away from their local congregations. I have personally not read the article but heard of it from a reliable source.

Is that reaction to the seemingly impossible ‘reunion’ effort a result of fear? … or is it already rage? Could it lead to violence?

Such a drastic move away from one’s long-term affiliations seems to be born more of rage than mere fear. And we wonder whether the next step might be about to be unleashed … violence!

We do not expect physical violence … at least, not at first. But ‘violence’ can take many forms, such as vilification and accusation, unchecked disfellowshipping, avoidance of former brethren.

Some folk will just not accept rejection of their desires for others to conform to their demands.

The result has even split families in the most heart-rending ways. I will not go into further details.

Can the failure of some Unamendeds to agree with the UA08 lead to even greater animosity … or violence?

We do not know. But we fear that our fractured community has not heard the last of this messy disagreement – this failure of a few to capitulate to the demands of the many.

But as for me, dear ones, I am one of those who deeply believes all these ‘solutions’ are and have been unworkable – and present me with the moral necessity to reject what I believe to be unscriptural views of some key doctrinal matters. It is a matter of my own personal salvation in my view.

As for me, I will not give up one jot or tittle of The Truth as I learned it and believe it to be valid.

To do so would be to turn away from what I believe to be the valid corridors of salvation so graciously offered by our Master and the Apostles in their New Testament teachings, unto another master … but to whom? Thou, oh Lord, hast the words of salvation! We can turn to no other…

We have already witnessed the fear of those who seek to impose their view of a basis for reunion; it seems to be a morbid fear of losing control over others. And we have seen evidence of the rage and the violence that has been generated by that fear. And we want no part of it. We must stand with a firm decision made upon the basis of the scriptures of truth as we understand them. <>HEL ~2,550 words. An eTPL31  Exposition. Published July 26, 2020, in the Prophecy section of The Prophecy Letter.

September: THE GLORY DEPARTS

Contributed

[ N. B. This article is presented as a timely consideration that the Glory of God's presence with His people is about to be realized once more ... with the personal return of the Lord, Jesus Christ to the earth. In that spirit we commend this discussion for your study. - Ed.] 

The ministry of Ezekiel was one of extreme rigour and great personal hardship. It was undertaken at one of the two lowest ebbs of Jewish history, those of the Babylonian and Roman exiles, yet, amongst all the doom and gloom Ezekiel gave a certainty of future glory for the remnant. It was Ezekiel’s lot to advise Judah that David’s throne was to be abolished because of relentless idolatry, yet it was also his lot to advise both Judah and Israel that there was to be a restoration of David’s throne and that the Kingdoms reunited would be subjected in glory to the King of glory. He also advised them that the restoration of David’s Throne was to be a long time into the dim and distant future.

 Judah’s continuing defiance of God was the reason for the Kingdoms demise. It had also been the reason for the demise of the Northern Kingdom of Israel 135 years earlier, an object lesson lost on Judah.  The history of both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah throw the goodness and severity of God into bold relief.

 Israel had rejected God as King and ceased to be a Theocracy, in which Yahweh Himself was King. Israel became an Autocracy ruled by a succession of mortal kings.

 By way of background to the final overthrow of the Kingdom as related by Ezekiel consider the following.

 Taken from the beginning of Saul’s ascension to the throne to the final overthrow of the southern Kingdom of Judah, a period of 433 years elapses. At the death of Solomon the Independent northern Kingdom of Israel separated from the southern Kingdom of Judah.

 Israel had 19 Kings over a period of 298 years, Judah had 20 Kings over a period of 433 years.

 Between both Kingdoms the 39 kings ruled for a combined total of 731 years. Of the 39 kings only seven received the Divine approbation, which is to say only seven of the 39 Kings were described as having done “that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh.”  None of the approved Kings were from the Northern Kingdom. The combined total of the years the approved Kings reigned was 234 of the 731 year total.

 The bald statistics are that the Kingdoms were ruled over by evil Kings for 68% of their existence. Only 18% of the Kings received divine approbation. These were God’s Kingdoms and God’s Thrones and God’s land, the land that had been covenanted to Abraham and his seed.

 Not a very good record. 

 As Paul was to tell the Corinthians and us, 1Corinthians 10:11: “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition,”

 Ezekiel himself was of the tribe of Levi and belonged to the Aaronic priesthood. In BC597 he was taken into exile along with 10,000 others along with King Jehoiachin: 2Kings 24:14 – “And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. 15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.”

 Ezekiel’s wife was taken with him and they were settled in a Jewish enclave named Tel Abib near the river Chebar, most likely a tributary of the River Euphrates, about 100 Km south of Babylon.

The Jews of the exile amongst whom Ezekiel lived were as obstinately defiant of God’s Word as those that remained in the land. The record of Ezekiel makes that very plain,

 Ezekiel 33:30 – “Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD. 31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. 32 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.”

 The people loved to hear that which they acknowledged as the Word of Yahweh from the lips of Ezekiel, they pretended to be thoroughly moved to love, but they clung to their idolatry and self serving ways. “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” (Matt 15:8)

 Ezekiel addresses himself to Israel. Though ministering in the Kingdom of Judah his prophetic utterances embrace both northern and southern Kingdoms.

 The people of Judah had seen the example of the dissolution of the northern Kingdom of Israel as God’s punishment for their incessant idolatry. The northern Kingdom had been removed in three readily identifiable phases.

 First there was the removal of portions of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh during the reign of Menahem by Pul, the King of Assyria, recorded in 1 Chronicles 5:26.

 Phase two saw the removal of people from the tribe of Naphtali and those of the region of Galilee during the reign of Pekah by Tiglath  Pileser of Assyria as recorded in 2 Kings 15:29.

 The third and final phase and the complete dissolution of the Northern Kingdom were brought about by Shalamanezer, when Sargon was King of Assyria. He besieged Samaria, capital of the kingdom, and removed captives from all over the land to Assyria. 2 Kings 17:6 and 18:9-12.

 The lessons of the staged dissolution of the Northern Kingdom were lost on those of the Kingdom of Judah even while their own staged removal was actually taking place. The people of Judah clung tenaciously to their idols. The perplexing feature of Judah’s religious opinion was that it was perfectly acceptable to serve more than one God, a concept known as syncretism. Syncretism is the acceptance and internalising of two opposing ideas.

 The people of Judah felt that is was quite acceptable to sacrifice in the temple of Baal and then come and appease Yahweh by offering Him a sacrifice as well. That was common throughout the history of both Kingdoms and inevitably resulted in the exclusion of Yahweh from religious life altogether. They also felt that they were at liberty to serve Yahweh in any way they saw fit, a fact noted in a few verses from 2 Kings 18:

2Ki 18:19 – “And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 20 - Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? 21 - Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.  22 - But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?”

 It’s important that we recognise those failings because they are as much a temptation now as they have been since Cain killed Abel.

 We deduce from Ezekiel 1:1 that Ezekiel, being a priest related to Zadok, began his ministry “when he began to be about thirty years of age.” It was the age at which a priest by birth entered the priesthood and also was the age at which our Lord began His ministry. 

In Ezekiel 3: 17, Yahweh tells Ezekiel that he has been appointed a watchman. His ministry had some very distinct features, among which was the fact that he taught by means of enacted parables.

 In some of the enacted parables he typified Israel; in some of them he typified God. We wish to particularly consider Ezekiel as a type of Christ. The hallmark of Ezekiel’s preaching was the Glory of God, the symbol of God’s presence among His people, and at the same time, that which was to be manifest in the people. He references God’s Glory 24 times in his work. He alone saw the Glory depart in vision, and he alone saw it return in vision, the effulgent glory of God manifested in the exalted Son of God in glory.

 So that it would be known that Ezekiel the watchman spoke the Word of God, something most particular happened to Ezekiel. He was struck dumb by God,

 Ezekiel 3:26 – “And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with (through) thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.”

 When Ezekiel was permitted to speak, the words he spoke came directly from the mind of God. The people knew this; remember our previous reference, “Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.”

 That which was true of Ezekiel was also true of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the words of John 7:16-18: John 7:16 – “Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. 18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him."

 Men of flesh, even the Lord Jesus Christ during the time of his earthly ministry have no innate glory; we are required to reflect God’s glory by conducting our day-to-day lives in faithful obedience.

 The words spoken by Jesus came directly from the mind of God as did Ezekiel’s...

 As well as enacting parables, Ezekiel also had five very specific visions. Once Ezekiel was introduced in 1:1 his name was only ever mentioned once more throughout the prophecy, and that was when he was mentioned by God in the second person telling Israel that Ezekiel was his prophet.

 Throughout all enacted parables and throughout all visions, Ezekiel is nominated as “son of man.”

He is so-named 93 times throughout the prophecy. That same title appears 89 times throughout the New Testament and in the NT it refers exclusively to the Lord Jesus Christ. Unambiguously, Ezekiel was a “type” of Christ.

 We have noted that Ezekiel alone saw in vision both the departing and the return of God’s glory. How do we define God’s glory?

 God’s Glory has as its base his unimpeachable righteousness, His undeviating morality. God’s physical power and glory is predicated on His integrated immutable morality. If God’s morality varied at all we would have a chaotic universe, worlds in collision; but with God there is neither variableness nor shadow of turning. God’s singular, unchangeable morality is the base upon which His power is employed. God’s glory is founded on His immutable moral self. When we speak of God’s Glory, we speak primarily of His Moral Glory, from which moral glory emanates His Physical power and glory.

 God's glory, the Shekinah glory, present in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary. was an indication of God’s presence within the nation. As the people had turned their back to God, so His glory would be withdrawn from the nation.

 The Cherubim of the Glory of God is seen departing from the Temple and its precincts, in several stages:

(1) (Ezekiel 9:3): "Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been [that is, in the Most Holy Place], and moved to the threshold of the temple."

(2) (Eze 10:4).   "Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the LORD."

(3) (Eze 10:18,19) "Then the glory of the LORD departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the LORD'S house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them".

(4)  (Eze 11:23). "The glory of the LORD went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it."

 This, apparently, is the last time the Glory of God was seen in Ezekiel's day. Thus, in preparation for the judgments soon to fall on the city, Yahweh was – by stages – removing the Glory of His Presence from the doomed city. The stages of removal, and the intervening periods of waiting, were surely intended to offer a final witness to the people and a final appeal for their repentance:

 Ezekiel 18:21 – “But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? “

  It is remarkable that, 600 years later, the Lord Jesus Christ (who was the Glory of Yahweh) was made manifest as “the Word made flesh.” When Jesus addressed his farewell to the city of Jerusalem, he said: "Look, your house is left to you desolate" (Mat 23:38). The glory was departing from Israel, again, in anticipation of another destruction of a city and a temple which had turned its back on its God. And this it did, in reality, when Jesus took his leave from his disciples and was taken up from the Mount of Olives, on the east side of the city (Acts 1:9; cp. Ezekiel 11:23).

  But, of course, as with the final vision seen by Ezekiel – in Ezekiel 43 – the Glory embodied in Jesus Christ will also return to its city in the Last Days: "This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11) "Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem..." (Zechariah 14:3, 4).

 The final time Ezekiel sees this Glory is in his vision of the Restoration: "The glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple" (Ezekiel 43:4, 5).

 What personal exhortation can be gleaned from the very brief consideration of Ezekiel’s prophecy? “All these thing happened for our example and admonition.”

 What lesson do we accept and internalise?

 Ezekiel witnessed the departure of the glory of God, the symbol of God’s presence among the nation. The apostles saw the departure of the manifestation of God’s Glory, Ezekiel’s anti-type, the Lord Jesus Christ, ascending into the clouds from Mount Olivet East of the Temple.

 We need to distinguish the Glory of God morally from the effulgent Glory of God.

 At the moment we can’t locate or see the effulgent glory of God indicating God’s presence. The effulgent Glory was in the Most Holy Place, The effulgent Glory of God was in Christ when He experienced the transfiguration. We can see evidence of God’s Glory but cannot locate it specifically. The heavens declare His handiwork; but we cannot go and visit God’s effulgent Glory, yet God’s moral glory is even now manifested in the earth...

 Joh 17:1 “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. 6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.”

 Also: John 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.”

 God’s moral Glory is manifested in His children. That reality is evidenced in this reality from our Master’s words just prior to His arrest and crucifixion: John 13:31 “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. 34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

 God’s moral glory is manifest in the depth of the love we have for each other, a depth of love that demonstrates who really are children of God. The love that our Master showed for us in laying down His life must likewise be seen in us. If we indeed bear that love for each other, we shall share in our Master’s Effulgent Glory at His return.   Peter Horne, Australia

Published as the “prophecy” article September, 2020.

October: An Examination of Tarshish in the Scriptures

Jonathan Farrar

As reprinted from The Advocate

An important example for any Bible student is the Bereans, who received the word with eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so (Acts 17:11, ESV). This example applies to any Bible study, including prophecy, which can be a challenging and humbling undertaking, especially when evidence surfaces that does not fit with an existing understanding that may be long-held. 

One case where evidence suggests a different-than-traditional interpretation of prophecy is the identity of Tarshish, which is mentioned twenty-five times in ten Old Testament books. The identification of Tarshish matters when trying to determine its role in prophecies, whether fulfilled or future. In this article, we undertake a study about the identity of Tarshish, and, comparing Scripture with Scripture suggest that it is not possible to identify with certainty the location(s) of Tarshish. Then we will examine why Tarshish is sometimes identified as Britain. Finally, the reader is encouraged to consider the implications of an alternate identification. 

The Usage of “Tarshish” in the Bible

The entry for Tarshish in Strong’s Concordance (#8659) states, “probably the same as #8658 (as the region of the stone, or the verse); a place on the Mediterranean, hence the epithet of a merchant vessel (as if for or from that port); also the name of a Persian and of an Israelite.” This entry suggests three distinct usages of the word Tarshish in the Old Testament, depending on the context: a location; a description of a merchant ship, and a person’s name. These occurrences are summarized below. 

Tarshish as a location

2 Chronicles 9:21

2 Chronicles 20:36-37

Psalm 72:10

Isaiah 23:6, 10

Isaiah 66:19

Jeremiah 10:9

Ezekiel 27:12

Ezekiel 38:13

Jonah 1:3

Jonah 4:2

Ships of Tarshish

1 Kings 10:22

1 Kings 22:48

2 Chronicles 9:21

Psalm 48:7

Isaiah 2:16

Isaiah 23:1, 14

Isaiah 60:9

Ezekiel 27:25

Tarshish as a person

Genesis 10:4

1 Chronicles 1:7

1 Chronicles 7:10

Esther 1:14 

“Ships of Tarshish”

It is important to notice that the epithet or expression “ships of Tarshish” does not denote a particular location. That is, “ships of Tarshish” should not be understood as ships that always sailed to or from a specific location named Tarshish. Only once does the Bible mention that “ships of Tarshish” went to Tarshish (2 Chronicles 9:21). The Bible also states that Jehoshaphat made ships to go to Tarshish (2 Chronicles 20:36), which were presumably “ships of Tarshish,” as was Solomon’s navy, which were “ships of Tarshish” per 2 Chronicles 9:21. Both navies were constructed in Ezion-geber (1 Kings 9:26; 2 Chronicles 20:36). The “ships of Tarshish” built by Jehoshaphat were destined for Ophir (1 Kings 22:48), possibly on the east coast of Africa.1 And, in Isaiah 23:1, 14, as well as Ezekiel 27:25, the Mediterranean port city of Tyre welcomed ships of Tarshish. These references show that “ships of Tarshish” could be built in Ezion-geber by Israelite kings; and could sail to Tarshish itself, as well as Ophir and Tyre, which are locations in very different bodies of water – the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Thus, “ships of Tarshish” has to be an epithet or term used to describe large sea-going vessels, as these ships did not sail to or from Tarshish exclusively, a conclusion on which historians tend to agree.2 As such, we cannot identify the location of Tarshish from the phrase “ships of Tarshish.” 

Isaiah 2:16 mentions “ships of Tarshish” in connection with cedars of Lebanon, oaks of Bashan, lofty mountains, hills, high towers, and fortified walls, all in the context of the pride of man (vss. 11-15). Thus, “ships of Tarshish” are grouped with other large, tall objects representing pride. In this context, it is sensible that “ships of Tarshish” would be large ships, but “ships of Tarshish” do not specify a location. Likewise, Psalm 48:7 likens kings who came to, but fled from Mount Zion as ships of Tarshish broken by an east wind. This reference to mighty kings would make sense if “ships of Tarshish” were mighty ships, but here again, Psalm 48:7 does not refer to Tarshish as a specific location. Isaiah 60:9 says that “ships of Tarshish” would transport “thy sons” (Jews) to the land of Israel “from far.” This verse does not state where these ships originated; but they were destined for Israel, not Tarshish.3 

Tarshish as a Location

The references to Tarshish as a location do not state clearly where Tarshish was situated. There are no obvious geographic markers to identify Tarshish in any of the verses. Below is another table with these references and what they tell us about the location of Tarshish. (While reading the table, consider whether the evidence identifies Tarshish as a specific nation or location). 

Tarshish as a place and what we learn about the location of Tarshish

2 Chronicles 9:21 Ships of Tarshish went to Tarshish and returned every three years bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

2 Chronicles 20:36-37 Ships could sail from Ezion-geber to Tarshish.

Psalm 72:10 Kings of Tarshish, along with kings of coastlands, will bring gifts to Christ. Implied is that Tarshish is in a coastal region (“isles” in the KJV).

Isaiah 23:6, 10 The Tyrians could travel to Tarshish, whose inhabitants are described as living in a coastal region (“isles” in the KJV). Verse 10 simply states that Tarshish had land.

Isaiah 66:19 Refugees from the land of Israel will be sent to Tarshish, as well as Pul, Lud, Tubal, Javan: to the isles afar off.

Jeremiah 10:9 Silver was sourced in Tarshish.

Ezekiel 27:12 Tarshish traded silver, iron, tin, and lead in the Tyrian markets.

Ezekiel 38:13 Sheba, Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with the young lions of Tarshish, ask Gog why it is invading Israel. Implied is that Tarshish may be in the same geographic region as Sheba and Dedan.

Jonah 1:3; Jonah 4:2 Tarshish is west of Joppa, reachable by ship, and was where Jonah was heading. 

Tarshish may reference several different locations. There must have been a location in the Mediterranean Sea where Jonah sailed (west of Joppa, in the Mediterranean Sea). Even then, we do not know with certainty where that Tarshish was. Furthermore, the fleet of ships that Solomon sent to Tarshish was probably a different Tarshish than Jonah’s destination, as Solomon’s animal cargoes are not found in the Mediterranean basin, and Solomon’s ships probably did not circumnavigate Africa and sail to the Mediterranean Sea. It would not be feasible to launch ships from the Red Sea to sail to the Mediterranean, given the distance, the unlikelihood of the route around Africa to the Mediterranean being known to Solomon, and the relative ease of navigating the Mediterranean from the shores of Palestine, should Solomon have wished to do so.4 Thus, the Tarshish known to Solomon was probably different than the Tarshish known to Jonah. 

Since Tarshish seems to refer to multiple locations, and as only the references to Jonah’s Tarshish are clear as to the relative location (west of Joppa), Bible students should not conclude that Tarshish, when cited in other references in the table, must refer to a clearly defined location. It is impossible to distinguish between Jonah’s Tarshish and Solomon’s Tarshish in these other references. Moreover, it is possible also that another reference to Tarshish might refer to a location different from where Jonah sailed and from where Solomon sent his ships. In sum, the context of the verses mentioning Tarshish as a location do not provide any clear guidance as to the location of Tarshish in each verse.5 

Tarshish as Britain?

Some [scholars] have suggested that Tarshish is Britain. Without quoting any of these sources (so as not to be perceived as critical of anyone), the reasoning as to why Tarshish is Britain goes something like this:

Tarshish is west of Joppa (Jonah 1:3)

Tarshish is an island nation (Psalm 72:10; Isaiah 23:6)

Tarshish is a maritime power (Isaiah 2:16)

Tarshish traded tin with Tyre (Ezekiel 27:12), the ancient capital of the Phoenicians; and the Phoenicians obtained tin in southwestern Britain (notably Cornwall). 

Regarding Point 1, merely knowing that Tarshish was west of Joppa does not give any definitive clue to the identity of Tarshish. There are many locations west of Joppa. Furthermore, there was likely also a Tarshish somewhere in the Red Sea area where Solomon sent his ships. 

Point 2 states that Tarshish is an island nation. However, according to Strong’s Concordance, the word translated as “isles” (Strong’s #339) means “a habitable spot; dry land, a coast, an island.” Gesenius’s Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon agrees and says that this Hebrew word means “habitable land as opposed to water, the sea and rivers;” and “maritime land, whether the sea coast of a continent, or an island.” Thus, an “isle” does not have to be an island. There is nothing in the context of Psalm 72:10 and Isaiah 23:6 (or any Tarshish references) to imply that an island is mentioned rather than a coastal mainland. As mentioned previously, Tarshish probably has reference to multiple locations. 

Point 3 is addressed in the subsection above pertaining to the ships of Tarshish. To conclude that Tarshish is a maritime power on the basis of the phrase “ships of Tarshish” is incorrect, as the term “ships of Tarshish” describes large seagoing ships rather than a specific location. 

Point 4 asserts that because tin was mined on the southwest coast of Britain by the Phoenicians, and the Phoenicians (whose principal seaport was Tyre) were supplied with tin by Tarshish per Ezekiel 27:12, then Britain must be Tarshish. 

To make the case that Tarshish is Britain, there must be evidence that the metals mentioned in Ezekiel 27:12 (silver, iron, tin, and lead) must have been supplied by Britain to Tyre in the time of Ezekiel by a seafaring people (the Phoenicians). Bible students who affirm this premise tend to focus solely on tin, and rely on classical Greek writers, who mention something about the existence of mysterious tin islands near Britain. 

Recent scholarship, however, does not support the premise that the Phoenicians ever visited Britain. British archaeologist Timothy Champion, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of Southampton, states, “The archaeology of the Phoenicians is now reasonably well established (Aubet 1993; Moscati 1988). Phoenician maritime activity certainly extended beyond Gibraltar into the Atlantic, and there was an important colony on the site of the modern city of Cadiz [in Spain]. How much further northwards along the Atlantic coast of Europe Phoenician merchants ever sailed is unknown. The direct archaeological evidence for the presence of Phoenician or Carthaginian traders as far north as Britain is non-existent, and the most recent review of Phoenician activity in the west does not even bother to consider the question (Aubet 1993).”6 

He goes on to state in his article that the documentary evidence of the classical Greek authors has provided the basis for speculation about Phoenician activity in the waters of northwestern Europe. He also quotes a classical Greek author (Diodorus Siculus), who stated that the production of Cornish tin was in the hands of the locals of Cornwall, and its transport to the Mediterranean was organized by local merchants, by sea (across the English Channel) and then overland to France and down the Rhone river. In email correspondence with this author in September 2019, Professor Champion continues to affirm the lack of evidence for a Phoenician presence in Britain.7 

One of the sources quoted by Professor Champion is Aubet (1993). Maria Aubet is Emerita Professor of Archaeology at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. Her book, The Phoenicians and the West was translated into English and printed in 1993, then reprinted in 2001.8 Aubet makes the point that there is considerable archaeological evidence for Phoenician settlements in the Mediterranean basin as well as Phoenician exploration in the Red Sea area. She does not mention anything about Phoenician trading activity north of the southern Spanish coast. She also notes that there were great mineral reserves containing tin in Anatolia (Turkey), on the island of Elba, and in Tartessos (a region in Spain), all of which were in the Mediterranean region, and as such would have been accessible to Tyre.9 Therefore to identify Tarshish with a specific location because that location contains tin (i.e., Ezekiel 27:12) does not appear justifiable, as there are multiple locations that could have provided tin to Tyre. 

Finally, Aubet notes that when the Phoenicians expanded into a territory, it was not just for ore, but also for the land, agricultural output, out of demographic necessity, etc. Furthermore, the production of metals requires a whole series of complex processes, from extraction, transport, smelting, making alloys, finishing, [to] marketing. From extraction to sale, the process was enormously expensive and required considerable ore deposits to be economically viable. The two major constraints were production capacity and distance.10 Thus, it is implausible that the Phoenicians would have “visited” Britain to mine ore because they only planted permanent settlements and for reasons that were not just limited to ore production; and the cost to produce ore in Britain and ship it to Tyre would likely have been prohibitively expensive, given the great distance.11 

Conclusion

In this article, we have considered how Tarshish is presented in multiple ways in the Scriptures. It is a word that has different meanings, and can refer to a location, although the location is not clearly identifiable from any of the contexts. There appears to be at least two locations for Tarshish (west of Joppa and in the Red Sea area). Other references to Tarshish are ambiguous as to which of these two locations, if any, are referred to. Tarshish is also contained in the expression “ships of Tarshish,” which were ships that did not necessarily originate in or sail to a location named Tarshish; therefore, this expression cannot be used to identify Tarshish as a location. It does not appear possible to identify with any certainty a single location for Tarshish. 

Tin is mentioned in Ezekiel 27:12 as being sourced from Tarshish and traded with Tyre. There were at least three primary sources of tin in the Mediterranean region (in Anatolia, the island of Elba, and Tartessos), which could have provided tin to Tyre. Furthermore, at least three archaeologists who have studied the Phoenicians relatively recently – two of whom are British – conclude that there is no historical evidence (archaeological or from Classical Greek writers) that the Phoenicians ever visited Britain. Cornish tin was likely transported to the Mediterranean by local merchants through France. The Phoenicians did not “visit” an area; rather, they placed permanent settlements strategically, and not just to mine ore. Thus, the notion that the Phoenicians made forays to Britain (or islands near Britain) to mine tin is improbable. As well, the cost of producing and shipping ore from Britain to Tyre would most likely have been prohibitively expensive.

What does all this mean for Bible students today? The viewpoint that Tarshish is Britain has currency among some Bible students. However, this viewpoint does not seem to be well-supported. Any predictions about unfulfilled prophecies pertaining to Tarshish should probably be done very carefully, as it is not possible to identify the location of Tarshish with certainty through any particular Bible verse.

 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. Malachi 4:1-3

 By Jonathan Farrar, Binbrook, ON 

End Notes:

1 The name Africa, derived from the Latin Aphir-ic-a, is a cognate [root word] to the Hebrew Ophir. See Stieglitz, R. (1984), “Long-distance seafaring in the ancient Near East,” [The Biblical Archaeologist, 47(3), p.141]. See also https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ophir  for a discussion of several other possible locations.

2 Two examples of historians who conclude similarly are: 1) Whitney, G. (1872). Handbook of Bible Geography, [London: Hodder and Stoughton, p.378-9]. He states that the term “ships of Tarshish” signified large Phoenician ships destined for long voyages, just as the English ship ‘East Indiaman’ was a general name given to vessels, some of which were not intended to go to India at all; 2) Stieglitz, ibid: note 2 at p.139, who states, “Tarshish ships… seem to have been merchantmen fit for long voyages.”

3 Isaiah 60:9 may have been fulfilled prior to and just after World War II, as in the waves (aliyahs) of immigration to Israel, transport ships were the primary mode of transportation, carrying approximately 100,000 Jews who embarked at European ports.

4 The Wikipedia entry for ‘European exploration of Africa’ suggests that the first circumnavigation of Africa, made by the Phoenicians, did not occur until around 600 BC, which was about 400 years after Solomon’s reign.

5 The individual named Tarshish in Genesis 10:4 is mentioned in connection with other individuals who are understood to have settled in the coastal regions in the north and northeastern Mediterranean.

6 Champion, T. (2001). “The appropriation of the Phoenicians in British imperial ideology.” Nations and Nationalism, 7(4), p.453. In his article, he also notes that a large tin ingot, weighing 158 pounds, now at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, is now thought to be of late-medieval date (p.454).

7 Per email correspondence on 9/21/19, he wrote, “I would still stand by my assertion that there is no archaeological evidence for their presence in Britain .... It is true that the Greek geographer Strabo refers to Phoenicians acquiring tin in islands called the Cassiterides, as I discussed briefly in the article you cite; attempts have been made to identify these islands with the Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall, and hence bring Phoenicians at least to the south-westernmost tip of England, but they are now mostly discounted. Tin was certainly an important export from Cornwall, but all the archaeological evidence suggests close contacts with northern France, and production and primary distribution in the hands of local inhabitants.”

8 Aubet, M. (2001). The Phoenicians and the West. [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press].

9 Ibid, note 8, p.80

10 Ibid, note 8, pp. 95-96.

11 Another archaeologist, also British, has written a book, published in 2018, which contains a chapter (“Phoenician Islands”) discussing how an alleged Phoenician presence in northwest Europe became entrenched into western European historical mythology. See Quinn, J. (2018). In Search of the Phoenicians. Princeton: Princeton University Press. About the book, Quinn says, “One of the chapters I most enjoyed writing in this book is about the way that scholars in England concocted fantasies of Phoenician origins for their homeland.” (https://press.princeton.edu/interviews/qa-11132).  

<> End of article and notes. Published September 17, 2020.

November: The Conclusions (11)

By way of explanation, this article was the concluding one of a series of New Considerations of Bible Prophecy as published on this website in 2019. Please see the reference to the entire series at end of this article. I believe its currency of interest makes it worthy of reprinting here.

These remarkable events which have been rather hastily reviewed (there is much more source information available!) in the previous ten papers are unmistakably works of divine Providence. They are so numerous and so complex – and so subtly connected – as to be crafted exclusively from Above.

In this editor’s opinion, we are pathetically deficient in our appreciation of His ability as well as His intention to arrange such sequences of events as profound proof of his omniscience if we do not acknowledge such.

In our opinion, such voluminous detail and such perfect sequential integration of related events are a modern reconfirmation of His sovereignty and a sure illustration of His anciently-proclaimed ability to give accurate prophecies of future events – the expression of which is unique to YHVH.

We intend to bring these comments to a conclusion with this paper.

We reviewed the fact that President Truman had recognized the validity of the State of Israel in his declaration of May 14, 1948 ... and that his recognition was parallel to that of Cyrus, who decreed that the Jews should return to their land “which is in Judah.” But Cyrus also decreed specifically that they should build an house there – a reference to the Jews’ reconstruction of their destroyed Temple. Cf., Ezra 1: 2.

President Truman had not addressed the “house” component – only the “land” feature in his recognition of Israel.

On the other hand, President Trump had decreed, as had Cyrus of old, not only the official recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in his decree of December 5, 2017, but also the “house” component of Cyrus’ earlier declaration. In his remarks that day he said, “... consistent with the Jerusalem Embassy Act, I am also directing the State Department to begin preparation to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.”

Now ... we acknowledge that an embassy is not the Temple, or even parallel to it. But is undeniable that the embassy is an house that was linked to the full validation of the Jews’ return to their land, and that it, like the Temple, would stand “in Jerusalem.” Indeed, the “house” selected to be renovated and made suitable for the American Embassy is the existing US consulate in Jerusalem, which is located partially in West Jerusalem and partially in no man's land – in territory essentially claimed by the Palestinian Authority as being part of the “Palestine” of their fantasy! The property straddles the 1949-1967 Armistice line in Jerusalem! (Wikipedia)

It would stand as a repudiation not only to the worldly powers which, to a nation, actively deny Israeli ownership to the Old City but also to the Palestinian Authority – a local group of thugs whose only intention is to grab land and sovereignty from Israel and from its deity, YHVH – for His enemies are THEIR enemies (cf., Psalm 83: 1-3).

The Trump decision was a double slap-in-the-face to all comers!

The Trumpian decree was the first declaration by any major power (besides Israel itself) since the days of Cyrus to affirm Jerusalem specifically as belonging to the Jewish people ... a fact also attested to, in our studied opinion, by the entirety of Scripture.

It is significant also that the decree by the UNO (the Partition Plan) that brought Israel back into being in 1947 was followed in five months with the literal accomplishment of that intention – the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948.

In parallel fashion, President Trump’s decree of December 5th, 2017, declaring that the embassy would be moved, resulted – five months later – in the physical deed becoming accomplished!

Such exact timing does not happen by chance!

Now ... readers should consider one additional possibility: Since in the original decree of Cyrus the house was the Temple, could what happened in 2018 (the physical establishment of the house – the embassy in Jerusalem) be a precursor to the future rebuilding of the other house, the Temple? Since we are assured that “the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isaiah 2:2) could the first usher in the second? We believe it is not only possible but is certain...

As validation of this principle, consider the following examples ...

None of the examples to which we have referred were engineered by human minds. Nobody was planning them to occur when and as they did. But they happened time and again like clockwork to accomplish the fulfillment of many prophecies for the end-time!

One Jubilee clearly prepares the way and leads to the next ... and the next.

Several examples are...

1.      The return to Jerusalem. In the Jubilee of 1867, Charles Warren begins the mapping out of Biblical Jerusalem and discovers the City of David – ancient Jerusalem. In the next Jubilee, Allenby liberates Jerusalem utilizing the maps of the land that resulted from Charles Warren’s discoveries and his entire mission of the previous Jubilee. Fifty years later, Israeli soldiers enter through Lion’s Gate into the Temple Mount and the Old City and Jerusalem is restored to the Jewish people. And still, fifty years later that return is given legal sanction recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city since ancient times!

2.      The return of the Land. In the Jubilee of 1867, the Ottoman Empire enacts the law that leads to the release of the land. In the next Jubilee the Ottomans are ousted from the land releasing it to the Jewish people in the terms of the Balfour Declaration. Fifty years later, the Six-Day War brings the most dramatic return of land to the Jewish people in Jewish history. That release was completed on a fortuitous date, too – it was accomplished as the Six-Day War ended – on June 10, 1967. It was the precise one hundredth anniversary of the Ottoman Land Law of June 10, 1867! But to add further amazing proof of its importance, it was the precise day of the end of 2300 evening-mornings of Daniel 8 – a prophecy which had begun with the first significant victory of Alexander the Great against the Persian Empire...!

3.      The political return. After the first Zionist Congress at Basel, Switzerland (1897) Theodor Herzl wrote in his diary that he had founded the Jewish state and that it would be realized in fifty years. The UNO finished the plan that will bring Israel back into existence fifty years later to the exact day! And fifty years after that, Jerusalem would be recaptured as the Israeli soldiers entered the Holy City victoriously for the first time in over 2500 years! And fifty years later, the decision by President Trump to move the embassy to Jerusalem seems to complete the circle.

Now consider these possible Jubilee dates ...

We must recognize 1967 as being a valid year of Jubilee because that is when Jerusalem was regained as the capital of Israel. The process of their second restoration was essentially completed in that year of 1967 on June 7th when Jerusalem was captured by Israeli soldiers.

Leviticus 25: 9-13 specifies that the year of their return should be specified as a Jubilee year.

It would be interesting to know more about the number of the Jubilee year that occurred in 1967. What number was it? We cannot easily determine by chronological means the number of the Jubilee year as Israel has not kept Jubilee since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70AD. We seem to have no certain original starting point...

Are there any significant dates near that time of the suspension of Jubilees that might be important – that might inform us of the number of Jubilees that have been missed since that time?

That is possible. Every significant event (nearly all) bearing on Israel and its end-time restoration ends in years ending either 17 or 67 ... just like clockwork.

1517 AD Ottomans conquer Palestine on their way to Egypt (Daniel 11: 40-45).

1867 AD The years of the Stranger and the Man with the Measuring Line (Twain and Warren)

1917 AD The land is liberated from Ottomans by the British army.

1967 AD Jerusalem is returned to Israeli possession and occupancy.

2017 AD Jerusalem is recognized by a great power as being the capital of Israel.

What date is most logical for the beginning of this series? We should think it might be around 70 AD. Investigation reveals that the Roman Generals Vespasian and Titus approached the land intent upon putting down the Jewish revolt in 67 AD – by taking the first villages located in the Galilee on their way to Jerusalem several months later.

Hmmm ... 67AD: a year ending in 67 – the only year so designated!

We haven’t enough information to fill in all the interim years ending in 17 or 67 but suspect that many of them may have been integral to the overall process of Israel’s return.

However, we do know of the concrete anniversaries note above ... and we are pretty sure that 1967 AD must be labeled a year of Jubilee.

In that case, all the previous and subsequent anniversaries ending in 17 and 67 would also be bona fide Jubilee years, whether or not anyone was keeping track of them.

If that is so, subtract 67 AD from 1967 AD, and what is the result? It is 1900 years ... or 38 Jubilees.

That would necessitate 2017 being designated the 39th Jubilee ... correct? (Yes.)

What is the significance of that number? We know of no information about the number of Jubilees that we may expect, so the point may be moot. However, it is seemingly certain that we are now experiencing the end-time events subsequent to the 39th Jubilee, and that the days before The Second Advent are indeed short ... and we can be fairly certain to have discovered bona fide years of Jubilee.

In an earlier paper in this series we noted that there are still other considerations of the principle of the shub – the return – to be discussed.

Here is one of those...

We are struck by the new development by many Jews of today to adopt the tenets of Christianity (sic). By this, we mean that they have come to “see” Jesus as Messiah ... and have come to expect their salvation as being very near. In these convictions, they are correct in a broad sense.

But their understanding of the nature of the Messiah is skewed by “Christianity’s” view of Him, i.e., as God the Son, the third part of a Trinity of gods. That view does not negate their expectation of redemption for those who anticipate it.

But this stark fact illustrates the necessary backward pathway to purer understanding. Recall that we likened the resurrection of a person or a nation to be a retracing of events that brought them to the juncture now being experienced. This pathway backward necessitates their acceptance, first, of “corrupted” Christianity – of the tainted form of dogma which has developed from the First Century doctrines and teachings of Christ and the apostles.

We are aware of the immense body of information which proves the departure of true Christ-ones of the First Century into errors of belief and conduct as induced by “wolves in sheep’s clothing” which came at an early date into the Ecclesia, and “changed the truth of God into a lie.” Romans 1: 25.

The original Ecclesia of Christ consisted exclusively of Jews – converts from the Judaism of the First Century to the true teachings of Christ. After the conversion of the Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, many evangelists traveled to the outer reaches of the Empire to teach the Gospel in centers such as Ephesus and Corinth. When the events of 70 AD came upon the Jews they were scattered from Jerusalem and Israel into all nations and the essentially Jewish character of the Gospel began to ebb and be lost.

So the adoption of the Jews of today of “Christian” principles is no surprise, being the logical, backward journey toward purer roots. Hosea 3: 4, 5 states the endpoint of this process: “The children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince.... Afterward, the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their King.”

The name David was utilized by the prophets to refer to the Messiah, the royal descendant of King David.

That is a statement which describes their further “regression” toward the true doctrines as taught by the LORD Jesus in the days of His ministry and the true “David My Servant” of Ezekiel 37: 24 et seq.

An huge portion of the shub – the return – would be prompted by a spiritual movement for the reclamation of the Land by its people. Accordingly, the first impetus toward this end was accomplished by Bible-believing Protestants such as Balfour, Allenby, Patterson, and many others. They were aware that the time had come for the Jews to reclaim their land and were willing to assist them to this end.

The zeal of these Gentiles fed the national fervor of men such as Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Menachem Begin ... and David Ben Gurion – all of whom believed that their initiative of “return” was a spiritual endeavor – that it was decreed by YHVH!

These were the Jewish Movers and Shakers of the Return and its incredible result!

That spiritual impetus was followed by a physical event – their actual acquisition of the Land by highly unlikely means and their physical return to it in greater and greater numbers. That scenario was a reflection of Micah’s words (Micah 5: 1-3) that He would “give them up” (abandon them) until she who was to give birth gave birth – i.e., until Zionism gave birth to the nation of Israel. At that point, they should return physically to the Land of their fathers in great numbers fulfilling the mandate given them in the prophets. ONLY after their physical return could come their spiritual return – a momentous time yet future as described best by the narratives of Zechariah 12 and 13, which draw a compelling picture of this great event of their spiritual return. It is the accounting of their deeply-felt cry, “Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the LORD,” [Baruch haba B’Shem Adonai] foretold as requisite, as essential, in Luke 13: 35.

Unfortunately, there are some believers who preach that Israel has to “repent” before they can possibly experience the return of Messiah to them. Isaiah 63 and scores of other passages belie this conviction and show that regardless of Israel’s non-meritorious nature today, He will return physically to them in just the nick of time anyway, not for their sakes, but for His holy name’s sake, to “save them from their enemies and those who hate them” as in Luke 1: 71, 73; see also Isaiah 59:19-21.

ONLY after that event will they, after seeing His physical return in power and enormous glory, make that key admission ... that sincere, heartfelt confession of Luke 13: 35 ... and again be wholly accepted by Him on a spiritual basis.

But there are other permutations of this process of Return – darker developments: these include adverse changes for nations, for world leaders, for world events, and for warfare at large. These will give Believers some concern ... because they can affect us and our families greatly.

If Israel is steadily returning to its original composition at the time of Messiah’s first coming, so also must the world return to a comparable condition.

Two millennia ago the center of Western civilization was Rome and its Empire. The word of God came into that Empire and transformed it from the outside – not to a perfect form, however, for its “Christianity” was already corrupted at the time of Constantine, the first “Christian” emperor. His reign marked some of the formational years of Roman Catholicism – the ultimate despoiler of Truth...

Going further back into consideration of “the world’s” condition we regress deeper and deeper into sheer paganism – into the ungodly practices of heathen peoples who never knew God or the principles He taught. The Roman state was void of godly values or principles and lived by the urges of the flesh and human nature. The same is true of earlier hegemons...

This status is well on its way to its restitution too.

As the State of Israel was returning to its original status so was the world around it ... and that original state was only pagan.

Experience tells us that when such regression happens the encroaching civilization (or lack thereof!) will see itself as enlightened, as secular (non-religious), as progressive, as revolutionary, as “new” and “exciting.”

Just as in Roman times, when children were slain in their mothers’ wombs, today’s society has enthusiastically embraced the “freedom” of women legally to do the same act. Statistically in the United States, more than 61 million tiny lives have been sacrificed on the altar of abortion since the Supreme Court began to allow it in 1973. And this trend is closely associated with deviations in sexuality, gender identity, and the institution of marriage and the family.

Not only was Roman civilization at the time of Christ non-Christian but it was also anti-Christian. The contemporary return to Rome is well beyond its beginning. The war on family values and on godly living is well underway.

And not only that: in addition the world was anti-Israel. We see clearly-stated prophecies which relate worldwide opposition by all the nations to Israel and to Jerusalem in the approaching years – a fact already well established by the machinations of the United Nations Organization which routinely passes resolutions condemning the Jewish state for nearly any activity it undertakes! A tenth of one percent of the world’s population receives the brunt of well over half of the legal vilifications of the UNO!

The departure of the faith from Israel was connected intimately with the events of 70 AD – but it began well before that. It began with the refutation of the man Yeshua of Nazareth, who had revealed Himself as Messiah of Israel in those troublesome times ... and been refuted and pushed aside – crucified.

Forty days later he had not only been raised from the dead and made immortal ... He was taken up into the heavens. “This same Yeshua,” said the angels on Olivet when He was taken up, “shall return in like manner as ye have seen Him go,” thus comforting the disciples who gazed after Him as He ascended out of their sight.

Yeshua is ALSO part of the Return – a vital, inseparable part of it. And the final destiny of the intricate details of the Return revolves around Him and His imminent return to the People of Israel and to the living and dead in Christ.

Because Jerusalem will be His throne, He will return to Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives in His first realizable, identifiable revelation of himself to His People – His undeniable certification of Himself to them after He has summarily destroyed their enemies round-about with the sharp Sword of the Spirit ... for it is only AFTER that display of might and authority that Israel, as a collective, shall “behold Him” (understand just Who He is) and acknowledge His Messiahship over them – His kingship ... His sovereignty – as the One to whom they must now give allegiance.

That will be an event which marks the beginning of the next major stage of “the Return” – that of the world at large! For only He has the power and the authority to carry out the ultimate reforms of the world at large to His Way – to God’s Way. It is He who shall reign over all the earth, coercing all the nations to beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks – inducing in them the contentment to “know war no more” and to enjoy the good-natured pleasures of every man sitting under his own vine and his own fig tree, respecting the inherent rights of all others around them.

Those events are revealed by the prophets of Israel. They are immense in scope. They involve the return of all things back to the original state of things ... to the time before sin and death entered in ... to the time before YHVH planted His Garden East of Eden and placed within it the man and the woman He had created ... to the state when, at the end of the creation days, He confidently pronounced everything to be “very good.”

And that is a return to our Father Himself – to the time of our ultimate unity with Him and His creation, and in perfect harmony with His great Plan of Redemption – even before that benefit was required (for there had been no transgression) ... to the Jerusalem of Revelation 22 which descends from God out of heaven and rests upon the earth forever – to the aion of the aions – eternally. 

<>HEL End of (11) The Conclusion. ~3500 words. December 2, 2019. For reference to the entire series of eleven articles please reference this hyperlink:  The Mysterious Stranger (1).  You will be taken to their  Section in the 2019 issue of the Prophecy Letters.

December: Outlook for the Future

An eTPL31 Analysis

November 24, 2020. Despite the hopeful assertions that the 2020 presidential election would be reversed by legal means, the Trump administration seems to be accepting its loss of the election ... whether or not it was accomplished legally.

Although still denied close support in the details of the approaching changeover, Joe Biden as the president-elect and his team are well into their process of naming cabinet members and other important personages integral to the approaching administration ... most of them stale appointees from the Obama years whose outworn M. O. (modus operandus) is entirely predictable.

It has been an amazing year, this 2020!

Indeed, it has been an amazing four years:  2016 – 2020.

Because history is so fresh in our memories, a detailed review is not necessary at this time. But we offer a few observations on the general state of affairs as related to Bible prophecy as we see it ... and as background.

As the “generation” has aged to maturity since the predicted end-time budding of the Fig Tree, and Israel was restored to its Land, Luke’s account is uniquely more inclusive in stating: Luke 21:29:”And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer (His Kingdom) is now nigh at hand.”

We stress Luke’s account because of his added emphasis on “all the trees” in addition to the Fig Tree.

Jesus’ parable here speaks of the terminal years of Jerusalem’s people being led forth into captivity and remaining in exile until “the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (vs. 24) – at which time the scattered People should return to their Land and nation.

But it includes other entities and peoples as well...

 Following the metaphor of the Fig Tree, we note that “all the trees” of Luke’s account necessarily speaks of other peoples and nations similar to the nation of Israel which should be formed at the same time and era as that of the Fig. This is an important detail not included in the other Gospel accounts.

Jesus was prophesying that a number of additional nations were to come into existence in the same era as the Fig.

We realize that this unlikely event could only have come about in the wake of the overthrow of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in the year 1917 ... at the termination of World War One. Those vacated lands should require legal governmental bodies controlling the populations being governed by them.

The LORD Jesus referred to the same era in His prophecy to the Apostle John, in Revelation 16: 12. He described this encoded event as being fulfilled as “... the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.”

When the Ottomans were ousted, their land-holdings fell into the possession of certain peoples who over a long period of time had ingressed the area and had become the indigent populations under the Ottoman hegemony as well as earlier in time.

Their multiple national compositions replaced the Porte of Constantinople as the legal guardian of that entire vast area between the Nile and the Euphrates Rivers, and between The Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf – the precise lands that were promised to Abram beginning in Genesis 12!

Close scrutiny draws us to conclude that the “other” Trees of Luke’s account and the “waters” of the Euphrates are two aspects of the same thing ... they make up the similar nations which emerged upon the lands watered by the Euphrates River at the same time Israel was reestablished: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Trans-Jordan (now Jordan), all of which came into existence around the same time in the vacated lands of the former Ottoman holdings.

They were artificially created during that era by the victors in that Great War ... just as Israel was “approved” by a vote of the United Nations Organization in November, 1947.

They are appointed a nominal and collective designation by the Revelator ... “the kings of the east.”

The connection – the relationship – is unmistakable, although an earlier view had construed this group as the Redeemed and at that future time immortalized Saints who should emerge from the place where they are to be judged by their returned Savior, the LORD Jesus Christ.

But the deductions discussed above obviate this view conclusively, in our understanding.

In reality, the establishment of these obtrusive and conspicuously ‘different’ people was entirely necessary to set the stage for the most highly detailed conflict of the end-time: that of God’s reestablished People, Israel, versus the Proximal Islamic States which had been created within the Land Promised to Abram and his Seed, which is Christ (Galatians 3: 16).

As such, these alien peoples were destined to be the first line of resistance, opposing the end-time Plan of God for His People.

We term them ‘alien’ for good reason: like all earthborns, they are first and foremost “aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel ... strangers from the covenants of promise ... having no hope, and without God (YHVH) in the world.” Ephesians 2: 12.

Whereas all men are natively in that condition at birth, these entire entities and their populations are also defined ... on a national basis. Their god is ‘Allah’ and their hope is not “the Hope of Israel” (Acts 28: 30) with which the Apostle Paul closely identified.

Their age-lasting animosity to the ways of God began with the obstreperous, defiant behavior of Ishmael, of Esau, and the two sons of Lot (Moab and Ammon) – all of them being close relatives of Abraham and his natural seed!

Their animus against God’s Chosen People (the Jews) is well documented in over fifty extensive and pervasive Bible passages describing their perpetual hatred for God and His People ... and their intention to slay them and take their lands and properties for their own use (cf., Obadiah; Isaiah 11; Micah 5; and Psalm 83: 2 et seq, in which these are specifically named as objects of the Almighty’s wrath).

We See this Fulfillment Today...

The Plan of God as laid out in the prophets has seemed to move (to our minds) in a snail-like fashion during these end-times.

The angelic support for God’s People Israel has been evident to the eye of faith during the past 72 years of Israel’s Commonwealth.

The above described conflict has been a work in progress during all those years, beginning “officially” with Israel’s War of Independence (1948-1949), and continuing with the Suez Campaign; the Six-Day War; the Yom Kippur War; the Intifadas; the Lebanon Campaigns; and others, including the present “war between the wars.”

As the tension has increased – as the nearby enemies have steadily tightened their noose about Israel on all sides – we have almost felt the pressure that knowledgeable Israelis must also feel.

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) declares it is always ready for any contingency.

But the prophets disagree with that conclusion.

A time is slated to come when Israel shall require a Defender against a foe that it cannot defeat...

Isaiah predicts a future attack by hordes of attackers flooding across Israel’s border in a seemingly helter-skelter mêlée, dead-bent upon the slaughter of God’s People in a massive wave of human invaders described as “a flood” in Isaiah 59: 19-21: “... the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a Standard against him. 20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. 21 As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee (Isaiah), and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

Early in 2020, the present leader of Israel, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, proclaimed that he would finally annex a large swath of territory in the region known to the Arabs as “the West Bank” (Judea and Samaria) as well as the entire Jordan River Valley.

Islamic furor rose to a new height with this announcement. Threats of the destruction of Israel were renewed with passion from the entire Arab world.

But in the prophetic scheme of things, it seems that the time for such a precipitous action was a bit premature on the PM’s part because at that particular time an announcement was made “out of the blue” that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) wished to reconcile with Israel and form a partnership for peace and prosperity! It seemed a dream come true for many – but it came with a requirement: Israel must forego its intended annexation plans if the agreement was to move forward.

It appeared that PM Netanyahu had just been offered a plan that took on an importance greater than that of annexation.

Suddenly, the imminence of a massive attack on Israel as a result of the intended annexation was put on hold!

He agreed to delay his plan for expansion of Israel’s hegemony in deference to the UAE request ... and before it could be formally signed, another Islamic entity stepped forward to join the UAE in the peaceful reconciliation: the island nation of Bahrain (in the Persian Gulf just off the Saudi shoreline).

As we have previously reported, these two nations may be identified as being the “Sheba and Dedan” of Ezekiel 38: 13, and are so labeled on published maps of the region!

What importance does that have?

These two future players in the end-time intrigue have just named themselves as participants in the future Gogian conflict with Israel!

These two specific entities are prophesied to inquire of the Gogian host, the future aggressor of Israel, “Art thou come to take a spoil? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? To carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?”

Now, as stated, that bit of intrigue relates to the Second Phase of  Israel’s end-time conflicts with their Islamic enemies.

So why do we see this as an important delay of annexation?

Because in our opinion an essential set of circumstances must (?) precede the drastic attack by Israel’s first-line enemies as prophesied by Isaiah.

Our understanding is that when “the Redeemer comes to Zion,” He shall be accompanied by an immense company of immortalized Saints as “one Man” (otherwise called The Multitudinous Christ).

In order for that to be prioritized, there must be time enough allowed for the present crisis to develop to the precipitating event of the Second Advent – the LORD Jesus Christ Who shall some with the angels of the resurrection of saints, gathering the responsible dead along with the living covenanted believers and transporting them to the place of Judgment.

At that Judgment Bema, an extremely large number of earthborns shall be deemed to be Worthy by the Master and be awarded immortality, along with citizenship in His nascent Kingdom on the earth to be centered in Jerusalem, Israel, specificallyn in Mt. Zion – with Him personally ascending to sit upon the restored Throne of David over the Kingdom of Israel of that future time.

But that set of circumstances, in our thinking, shall integrate with the massive human assault upon Israel of that future day ... an action which shall probably (possibly) be brought about by Israel’s natural leaders of this day exercising their intention of the large-scale annexation already planned (but now delayed for a short time to allow for those interim accomplishments of resurrection and judgment, etc., to take place).

Because the Judgment Bema of Christ shall be clandestine (hidden from any world view) somewhere on the earth, the “natural” government of the State of Israel shall continue on a seemingly natural basis until the tipping point of the fanatical invasion of Israel is staged.

But at the precise time of the attack, the Christ and His Saints are made ready and prepared to “come to Zion” to deliver God’s people from Isaiah’s rabid assault by their enemies “round about.”

Now ... we have no guarantees that this shall be the exact scenario of the final conflict of this protracted siege of Israel by the nations surrounding them (the Proximal nations of Islam), but the way events are developing, this sequence of events seems most likely in our thinking...

We should be interested to hear readers’ views. Does this sequence sound reasonable ... or likely?

In our view, the delicacy of balance of what we are viewing make this a likely pattern (?). 

Another factor impinging on the above sequence also seems to have gained some traction.

President Donald Trump, during his four-year tenure as the major influence on Israel and its people has accomplished some remarkable feats on their behalf, among which are: the first among the nations recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital; actually moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to the Capital; recognizing Israel’s legal control of the Golan Heights under international rules of war; agreeing that Israel’s practice of adding “settlements” to the “occupied lands” is not illegal; as well as favoring Israel with the first line of weapons that are available from the US arsenal, and so forth...

This means that, at the present time, the US is a solid ally of Israel and its people. Its present position is that it would step into any conflict to assist Israel to survive.

Yet, we believe that when the final confrontation of Israel with its proximate neighbors arrives, Israel shall have NO allies. But, with Christ and more than an hundred million Immortals (Revelation 5: 11) accompanying Him, just who needs mortal allies??

Just what occurrences will come about to “cancel” that intention of the US coming to Israel’s assistance in any hot conflict, resulting in the "aloneness" of Israel in that day?

The Prophet Daniel (in 4: 17) long ago was informed that “... the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.”

Perhaps it is the succession of Joseph Biden to the US presidency along with the inherently anti-Israeli mindset previously displayed by the opposition party (the previous Democratic administration) that has seemingly just defeated the best friend Israel has ever had among the heads of state of any nation.

<HEL> ~2400 words. An eTPL31 Analysis. Published as eTPL December: “Prophecy Article” November 24, 2020 to subscribers.