Great is the Day of Ishmael

 It is well-known that you can never lose your ethnicity, no matter how many generations pass, or where you are on planet earth. The life of a scripturally designated forefather has its progeny in every generation.  Thus, when we read about the forefathers of the enemies of Israel in Psalm 83, we can be very certain that we are sharing this world and the nations with them.  This is why Yeshua was absolutely right about the last days’ wars and rumors of wars, nations fighting nations, kingdoms against kingdoms. If we were to view world history from His time all the way to ours, we would have to conclude that we have been in the last days for two thousand years.  The wisest man who ever lived declared that “there is nothing new under the sun” (ref. Ecclesiastes 1:9).

Since the war broke out in Israel, the Christian and Messianic communities have been associating this war with the ancient enemies of Israel.  How ironic, that many agree that the forefathers who are mentioned in Psalm 83 are alive and well in the present Arab world of Islam.  The latter themselves claim their ancestry from Ishmael, Esau, Amalek, Hagarites, etc.  And we too have no problem believing that they truly are the seed of Abraham and Ishmael.  However, when it comes to the descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel, we limit our understanding to a relatively small number of less than 20 million Jews worldwide.  We assume that all the tribes are included in that Jewish population.  This leaves a very anemic fulfillment of the promises of a multiplicity of the ethnicity of Abraham, through Isaac, through Jacob the father of the tribes: "By Myself I have sworn… indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.  And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:16-18).

I mentioned a few weeks ago that the fulfillment of Joel 3 could be in the making in the present situation. There are many other scriptures that can be plugged into the current circumstances. But truly it is only YHVH who is responsible for the timing of their scriptural fulfillment, or even for the preliminary stages in the process of His overall plan to bring back the whole house of Israel. “And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and they will go up from the land/earth, for great will be the day of Jezreel” (Hosea 1:11), or is it Ishmael's great day?

In 1983-84, a year or so after the Spirit showed me from Scripture the biblical history of the House of Jacob and the division into what has been labeled the two houses of Israel - “Judah and Ephraim/Joseph”, we left the kibbutz where we were living and moved to a new settlement in the Judean desert. For seven months I typed out all the scriptures that I could find of “Thus says the LORD” pertaining to this aspect of the history of Israel. After the Internet came in, we set up a website and I posted it.  If you are interested in reading from it, go to www.israelitereturn.com open the file “Thus says Elohey Israel” and go to the 6th chapter, “Concerning Israel and Her Enemies”.  After 40 years I’m sure I would be rearranging many of the scriptures differently, but this is what the Spirit gave me at the time. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Ephraim and Rimona

Most Endangered Species

 

In Genesis 12:2 Abraham is called to be a "great nation" – goy - and much further on in Scripture, in Romans 4:13,  it is predicted that he "will inherit the world". The journey from point one to the goal of inheriting the world is one of the main themes of the Word of Elohim. What station have we arrived at now, on this journey?

The establishment of the State of Israel spelled the regathering of Judah's nation in (parts of) the Promised Land. A little later, an awakening toward their Messiah and Redeemer among a growing remnant within the Jewish people started to occur.  At the same time, another awakening has been taking place of the redeemed from many nations recovering their Israelite identity.

With the acceleration of world events, various agendas, and major shifts in natural conditions, one cannot help but surmise that the convergence of these two "awakenings" is closer than ever, and that perhaps sooner than later "saviors shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom shall be YHVH's" (Obadiah 1:21).

However, before this comes to its conclusion, there are several phases and stages yet to be crossed, some of which are quite challenging. Revelation chapter 12 gives a very vivid glimpse into this.

The revealing of the sons of Elohim poses the greatest threat to the kingdom of the enemy. He therefore gathers all his forces in order to oppose this eventuality on all fronts. He raises the powers of Islam, first and foremost against the Jewish state, and with them also the forces of humanism and antisemitism.

But not only the Jewish 'entity' is constantly subjected to assaults. Although in a totally different way, and without it being life-threatening, the body of Israelites which is growing in their spiritual and natural revelation of identity while waiting for their Shepherd's whistle (Zec. 10:8), are also the object of attacks and nonacceptance from all quarters.

Christianity with its spiritual and universal ideology certainly cannot accept what would be termed an 'exclusive' doctrine. Messianic Jews are vehemently opposed to a group claiming to be Ephriam/Israel (second stick). At the same time, in their opinion only the Jews, Messianic and otherwise, constitute all of Israel, being also the point of view of evangelical and Zionist Christians. These hold strongly to the One New Man vision, of Jews and (forever) Gentiles being united. The Two-House understanding with its Ephraimite claimants is therefore relegated to the camp of the heretics, replacement theologists, with some even going as far as calling these believers the "synagogue of Satan".

While many among the Orthodox Jews do recognize the need for the return of Israel's tribes, Yeshua, of course, is anathema to them. One may return as a member of one of the tribes, but conversion to Judaism is mandatory, and leaving Yeshua at the door goes without saying.

Secular Jews, together with the rest of humanity's seculars and adherents of humanism, are against anything to do with Elohim, especially with their most recent agendas which defy the Creator in every way possible.

So why are the Islamists attacking Israel so viciously? Why are the world's humanists so anti-Elohim? Why is the 'Church' so anti-Torah? Why are Messianic Jews, Zionist Christians, and even some so-called Hebrew Roots adherents so much against Ephraimite claimants? Why are religious Jews so against Yeshua? And there are many more 'whys' that can be cited….

The ingathering of all of Israel, the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as the sons of Elohim, acting as the priesthood of all humanity with the Great High Priest at their head, so that all creation can be set free is the greatest threat to the extant kingdom of the enemy/kingdom of man.

"And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there it shall be said to them, 'You are sons of the living Elohim'. Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and appoint for themselves one head; and they shall come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel! (Hosea 1:10-11. See Romans 8:19-22; Ez. 37:24 ff).   "… a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image [Man's composite kingdom] on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.  Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth" (Daniel 2:34-35, emphasis added).

Is it any wonder, my friend, that you (and I and those from both houses, especially Judah's, who are still destined to have their eyes opened) are the most endangered species on the face of the earth?

Sovereignty In the Midst of Adversity

By now every one of you is no doubt quite aware of the most grievous and tragic events that have transpired here in Israel, and of the long way that is still ahead of us in order to "right the wrong" in some measure.  The following is not an attempt to cover these events – but only to point to the sovereignty of the Almighty and to the precise nature of His Word through a 'scriptural journey' that He has taken me since Yom Teruah until now.

At times we may barely notice a chain of occurrences that come our way until life circumstances provide us with a retrospective understanding, which makes 'all the difference in the world'. Looking back, such was my daily reading during the recent High Holy Days, which includes consecutive chapter readings taught by a certain rabbi, who sends daily audio recordings. These readings are not attached to the year's seasons, yet on Yom Teruah the chapter read dealt with that particular feast, on the Eve of Yom Kippurim I was surprised to find out that where we had gotten in our reading, was exactly the chapter that speaks about this topic. On one of the days of Succot, lo and behold, the daily reading had to do with this feast.  Another scripture that became very meaningful to me last week was Psalm 16, especially verse 6: "The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me".  The "lines" are "chavalim", literally ropes that in ancient times were used to mark out territories or boundaries. However, that word also means "troubles, tribulations, birth pangs" etc. Thus, I was shown that my YHVH-allotted 'territory' of circumstances may have some pangs or difficulties but they are not without their 'pleasantness', eventually leading to a "beautiful heritage" or "inheritance".

Last week at our weekly praise and prayer meeting, one of the participants drew our attention to David's lament over Saul and Yonatan, in 2^nd Samuel chapter 1. One of those verses kept showing up on the cell phone, and from the Bluetooth onto the receiver in the car, day in and day out: "How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!" (v. 27).

On Friday, we made our way to the Upper Galilee, by the Lebanese border, for our grandson's fourth birthday. Beforehand, we went to pay condolences to a young widow, the mother of three young children, who is one of the few believers on this kibbutz, where our daughter and family reside. The atmosphere switched in an instant, in the succah where the delightful birthday party took place. During a conversation with my in-law, who is a typical leftist atheist, about the deep social discord in our society, she remarked that in the absence of a 'responsible adult' at the helm of the country the only rescue from this situation, will be a crisis, and furthermore, something no less than a catastrophe. Her words went right into my heart, and I knew, and even told her so, that what she was saying was like a prophecy of biblical scope. I agreed with her, and added, "We are drawing fire to ourselves, this is inevitable".

As you can imagine, the next morning (Shabbat, Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah), shortly after 6 A.M. I received a message from my in-law, "Last night we spoke about the catastrophe that will rescue us from our situation, perhaps it is now…" From then on, the world turned upside down. On the 50^th Anniversary of the Yom Kippur-October War we were thrust into a situation that we never foresaw or expected, and in some way was also a repeat of the 1973 war. One of the central places where a great carnage took place was at a "trance party" where 3 thousand young people (quite a few scantily dressed) were not only dancing, drinking, etc. but were doing so with a huge image of a Budha right in the midst of their prancing. As much as the hearts are broken for the loss of so many young lives or the abduction and abuse of others, it is hard not to make some kind of connection…  On the other hand, others have been subject to the same atrocities, but gave up their lives for others, "indeed how the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!". So many have been paraded by their cruel and brutal captors down the streets of Gaza, making verse 20 of 2^nd Samuel chapter 1 (referred to above) eerily relevant: "Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon -- Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph".

Looking back at my week, every Word of Yah was declared in His perfect timing, and that brought so much trust and confidence in His total sovereignty, knowing that this is the overall "given" and unchangeable fact. I couldn't help but think, "The lines/boundaries of suffering have fallen to us" in spite of everything "in pleasant places," which will lead to the "beautiful inheritance" that YHVH has for us.  Additionally, you will not be surprised to know that although I haven't listened  to the rabbi's recordings for several days, due to the circumstances, when I caught up with it, the first was the Leviticus chapter dealing with the blessings and the curses.  

The next couple of days were no different. It started with the reading about the mustering of Israel's army in the wilderness (Numbers chapter 2), and then Amos' comparison of Israel to Sodom and Gomorrah, both in conduct and in the results of their action, ending it with "Prepare to meet your Elohim, O Israel!" (Amos 4:12). Psalm 11 describes the situation from a different and yet very appropriate angle: "In YHVH I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, 'Flee as a bird to your mountain'?  For look! The wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow on the string, that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.  If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" This is quite an apt description of conditions here in the land, especially the highlighted words.

"YHVH is in His holy temple, YHVH's throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.   YHVH tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.  Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup.  For YHVH is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright".  

The description in Daniel Chapter 7 of the fourth and most dreadful beast with its devouring power, and of one of its horns that was seen making war against the saints, prevailing against them, came next, to be concluded by both Mark 3:24-25 and Luke 11:17, the two of which (random reading, again) warn against a house divided against itself (again, so appropriate for the state of the nation).  And finally, is the very sad statement of Amos, regarding Israel's idols (5:26), a visual expression of which was, as mentioned above, the large image that was displayed at the psychedelic trance party that `was a flagrant display of the lust of the flesh and which ended in the most tragic manner.  

 

Out of the Shadows

 The Colossians 2:16-17 scripture informs us that, “a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths… are a shadow of things to come…” In other words, the Shabbats, feast days, new moons etc. are prophetic or have prophetic properties. 

Both Passover and Shavuot/Bikkurim (literally Feast of Weeks and Firstfruits), that is, the first month’s (spring) feasts, have had their fulfillment, respectively, by the Lamb’s atoning sacrifice that has liberated us from the tyranny of sin, and then by the power of the outpouring of the Spirit of Holiness which has inscribed the Torah on the hearts.  

Such fulfilments have not been seen yet in regards to the seventh month’s (fall) feasts. But, it seems that we are ‘inching’ our way also into their completion.

The first of these is the “Day of Remembering the Sound” of YHVH’s voice when He spoke to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Some of the redeemed of today, who have heeded the call of the Shepherd of Israel - Yeshua – are also beginning to hear the voice that resounded on Mount Sinai. While "deep is speaking to deep", they are recalling who they are as the seed of the forefathers who exited Egypt. So perhaps one of the signs of the fulfillment of Yom Zichron Teruah is that the house of Joseph is coming out of its prophesied condition of “not my people” and is starting to remember its/their true identity.  (Hosea 1:10).

Yom Kippur, which follows Yom Teruah, is most likely still waiting to ‘come out of the shadows’ and to be realized in its fullness.   Yom Kippur is also known as the “Great Day of YHVH’s Judgement”. What is it that is being judged?  It is “SIN” as a power, or a kingdom, or as Paul puts it - the body of Sin (ref Romans 6:6), or the ‘evil inclination’. This takes place when Yeshua the High Priest lays His hands on the head of the Azazel goat, “the Satan”, which is sent out to the wilderness to be cast into the dry places. The other goat represents the body of Messiah, being offered up and thrown into the fires of an atoning sacrifice.  Having the power of sin removed will give us the understanding and experience of what the scriptures mean by, “it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me” (Galatians. 2:20). Yeshua’s experience, of giving up His life at Passover, will be experienced by us on Yom Kippur.

Being thus transformed in our inner being will have its effect also on our mortal bodies.  It will allow us to have a different perspective on the next feast, “Succot”.  The seven days of the proverbial Succot means that we, as Messiah’s Body, will still be in our ‘earth-suits’-succahs during the millennial rule, which will be fulfilled when YHVH takes the two sticks of Ezekiel 37:19-28 and will join them together as one Kingdom and one nation in the land of promise. Being free from the power of sin, we will minister as the Messiah did in His first advent and preform even greater works, as He himself announced in John 14:12.  This will last until the “eighth day”, that is Shmini Atzeret* – literally the “eighth of ceasing” – that is, the ceasing of time, when Time is no more.

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away… And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, ‘behold, the Mishkan of Elohim is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and Elohim himself shall be with them, and be their Elohim’” (Revelation 21:1-3)….and on and on… these splendid descriptions continue in the concluding chapters of the book of Revelation….

 *Presently celebrated as “Simchat Torah” – the rejoicing of the Torah - which begins the annual Torah reading cycle.