What are we to do when we hear of wars and rumors of wars?
Messiah Himself prophesied of the signs that will occur and increase in both frequency and intensity before His Second Coming and the end of the world/age.
As it is today, we see a worldwide convergence of these signs like never before in history!
Matthew 24:6. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Aramaic Bible in Plain English It is going to happen that you are going to hear battles and reports of wars. Take heed that you will not be troubled, for it is necessary that all these things should happen, but it will not yet be the end.
In Matthew chapter 24, Messiah describes the events leading up to His second coming and the establishment of His Kingdom on the Earth for His Millennium Kingdom. The scriptures in Revelation 5:10 New KJV And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth. and in 2Tim. 2:12 if we endure we shall also reign with Him. as well as in 1Pet.2:9.
tell us that His chosen, will be kings and priests ruling with Him on earth.
This post is not a line by line study of all these verses in Mathew, rather a look at verse 6 wars and rumors of wars; and how we are to respond as His talmidim/disciples. Today there are many conflicting news reports of what is happening in the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere. This post is not a commentary on the wars in any measure, only on our response to how scripture is being fulfilled in our day and time.
We must as believers and disciples of Messiah pray earnestly for His will and plan and purpose to be established, and not what we think should be done. At times like these when distractions come and propaganda is flourishing, we should do as the disciples did and ask the Lord
what is happening,
how we should respond and
what is our role in these days.
This chapter in Matthew is doubly prophetic, in the sense that the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. after Messiah/Christ was resurrected and His ecclesia/called apart-ones/ church was established. However, it is also prophetic of events leading up to His return/ 2nd coming, when the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt.
Jesus/Yeshua answered their questions and in all the scriptures we read He says we are:
to not be worried.
In verse 6
see that ye be not troubled:
Why?
Because our Heavenly Father knows what is happening
and what the final outcome will be.
Psalm 33:10-11 tells us clearly that:
8Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. 9For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
10The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. 11The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.NKJV.
We are to look to Him, Who is the author and finisher of our faith and not to the arm of the flesh.
What does this mean for us?
It means, is He really first place in our lives?
Here in Lamentations 4 there is a great example for us.
Lamentations 4:17
New King James Version Still our eyes failed us, Watching vainly for our help; In our watching we watched For a nation that could not save us.
Amplified Bible [And as for us,] yet our eyes failed, Looking in vain for help. Watching [from the towers] we watched For a nation that could not save.
Aramaic Bible in Plain English The Person of LORD JEHOVAH divided them, and he will not continue to gaze at them. Do not accept the persons of the Priests, and to the Elders do not show affection
Definition. to disappoint, deceive, FAIL, grow lean
Lamentations 4:17 HEB: (עֹודֵ֙ינוּ֙ ק) תִּכְלֶ֣ינָה עֵינֵ֔ינוּ אֶל־ NAS: our eyes failed, [Looking] for help KJV: As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain INT: while failed our eyes to
New King James Version Still our eyes failed us, Watching vainly for our help; In our watching we watched For a nation that could not save us.
Amplified Bible [And as for us,] yet our eyes failed, Looking in vain for help. Watching [from the towers] we watched For a nation that could not save.
The Assyrians were ready to march on Judah and instead of turning to God for help, they, Judah, looked to the nation of Egypt to help and deliver them, yet Egypt had their own problems and would not come to help Judah. The people placed their hope of salvation in the arm of the flesh instead of the arm of the Lord.
The words..
our eyes yet failed for our help in watching…
is a sad state of affairs giving a picture of their situation.
We could say it in today’s vernacular as: our eyes have become worn out, or tired and exhausted watching for the help that never arrived.
This is reflected in our nations today.
Here in Lamentations, it is clear in what and in whom the hearts of the people were trusting; and the condition of their hearts was obvious by their behavior. We could say it’s the fruit ..it’s what is obvious for all to see.
Another Hebrew word for failed is kalah
which has the idea of:
becoming exhausted after putting
every part of your being into something.
kalah
Strongs# 3615
to be complete, at an end, finished, accomplished, or spent.
Original Word: כָּלָה Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: kalah Phonetic Spelling: kaw-law’
Kalah
hey lamed kaf
כָּלָה
KALAH: Word Origin: a prim. root Definition: to be complete, at an end, finished, accomplished, or spent NASB Translation accomplish (2), accomplished (1), annihilate (1), annihilated (2), been consumed (2), been spent (1), brings to pass (1), brought (1), came to an end (1), ceased (1), come to an end (5), complete (1), completed (10), completely gone (1), completion (1), consume (6), consumed (16), decided (3), demolish (1), destroy (10), destroyed (4), destroyed them all (1), destroys (1), destruction (1), determined (1), devoured (1), died (1), end (4), ended (3), ending (1), exhausted (2), exterminated (1), fail (10), failed (1), fails (2), faints (1), feed (1), finish (6), finished (67), finishes (1), fulfill (2), languish (1), languishes (1), longed (1), make an end (1), over (1), perish (1), perishing (1), plotted (1), put an end (2), ravage (1), settled (1), spend (3), spent (5), terminate (1), use (1), used (1), vanish (2), vanishes (1), waste away (1), wastes away (1), yearned (1).
To waste away, be exhausted, fail, especially of eyes exhausted by weeping Lamentations 2:11,
strained by looking (figurative) for relief or refreshment, pine, languishLamentations 4:17;
Kalah is like waiting for that phone call that never comes, or the letter that never arrives; today it could be the unreceived text or email that would indicate our release from a stressful situation. Both Joseph and Daniel had to wait….
It’s easy to understand that both in and relying on our own strength, we would soon be complete, at an end, finished, accomplished, or spent or exhausted.
The people of Judah were unable to trust in the God they could not see. Their faith was not in His promises and the supernatural assistance He would provide.
They chose instead to trust in the strength of Egypt to help them.
In scripture, Egypt is a type of the world and its’ systems. They put their faith in the physical/tangible help that they could see and they believed that Egypts’ physical strength would save them; and yet it did not;
it failed- kalah –them.
It is the same today, for many who call themselves Christians by name, yet only pay lip service to our Heavenly Father. This is often because they do not have a personal relationship with Him; and although they say they have faith, and trust in God, when a crisis hits, they will look for an Egypt to trust in first, one that they can see to help them.
As examples, this can be in the form of people and government aid and help.
Jesus/Yeshua said of them: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. Matthew 15:8.
We must heed the warning of those who have gone before us, that if the help/deliverance is not our Fathers’ planned way of escape, then doing it our way using the arm of the flesh, it will fail.
There is a well known old song whose lyrics say:
“stand up, stand up for Jesus, stand in His strength alone, the arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own”.
Yes, the arm of flesh will fail you.
Why?
Because as humans, we are fickle, weak, and self-serving. We have a natural tendency to look out for our own interests. It’s not that our Heavenly Father cannot or will not use people and institutions to aid us; rather it’s who we turn to and trust in first. This is clear in His Word and even warns us there is a curse for trusting in man!
Amplified Bible Thus says the LORD, “Cursed is the man who trusts in and relies on mankind, Making [weak, faulty human] flesh his strength, And whose mind and heart turn away from the LORD.
Jeremiah 17:5 Aramaic Bible in Plain English Thus says LORD JEHOVAH: “Cursed is the man who trusts a son of man and will make a son of flesh his arm, and from LORD JEHOVAH his heart will turn away Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and will lean his arm of flesh upon him, while his heart departs from the Lord
New King James Version Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD.
2 Chronicles 32:8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Psalm 118:8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. Psalm 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
Isaiah 2:22 Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he? Isaiah 20:5 Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed. Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.
The word vain comes from vanity, which we associate with pride.
Proverbs 16:18 warns us that
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
First pride, then the crash –
the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.
Trusting in the arm of flesh
is simply
trusting in human natural strength.
There is so much arm of the flesh available today, in the various arms of government which offer support; that people don’t need faith in God, and many simply feel entitled to all the governments so named ‘free’ handouts. These are not free as they are only available from the population who pay taxes on their earnings.
The scripture says we are to:
trust in the Lord.
WHY?
because this world and it systems have an expiration date.
Who and what do we look to for help in a crisis?
To whom do we turn first?
Whose name is the first one on our lips?
Of course we are to help each other, but as David said:
I look to the hills whence cometh my help?
and David qualified it precisely:
My help comes from the Lord which made heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2
With all the negative news swirling around us and the uncertainties of what may happen next we are
not to be alarmed.
Don’t be troubled family.
He knows all these things are happening and is allowing them to proceed in order for all things to be fulfilled, according to His prophetic word.
Luke 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Our Heavenly Father is in control, no one or anything else is, whatever they may believe or tell us. The battle is spiritual first and we see the outworking in the natural realm.
But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31
Nothing happens without our Fathers’ acknowledgment and agreement, it’s all in His prophetic timing.
As Yeshua/Jesus said, you could have arrested Me anytime but this is the hour given to you according to Gods plan.
When Jesus was arrested, He said to them, “This is your hour—when darkness reigns”. Luke 22:53.
Every day of Me being with you in the temple, you did not stretch out the hands against Me; but this is your hour, and the power of the darkness.”
Aramaic Bible in Plain English I was with you every day in The Temple and you did not stretch forth your hands against me, but this is your hour and of the Prince of Darkness.”
The reason is clear, the darkness is given its’ allocated hour/time..but only for a short season as our Heavenly Father allows.
Amplified Bible The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked [according to their role] for the day of evil.
1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars:
see that ye be not troubled:
for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
This has happened all throughout the church age, the age of grace, and is not the only signs of the end. However, with a search you’ll see many rumors in news articles that line up with the rest of the verses.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Pestilence can mean any plague/virus or natural disaster that disrupts normal life or way of living.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows (birth pains).
verses 7-8 are specific signs of the second coming, and they are similar to birth pains as they increase in intensity and frequency.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Nothing is a surprise or shock to Him.
This is why we are to
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart
Aramaic Bible in Plain English Hope in LORD JEHOVAH from your whole heart and do not trust upon the wisdom of your soul.
Amplified Bible Trust in and rely confidently on the LORD with all your heart And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
New King James Version Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
Keep our eyes on the Lord keep our hearts open to our Heavenly Father as He leads and directs us and keep our words in line with His. Don’t focus on the negative things that fight our faith, but on those things that increase and sustain it which are listed in Phil. 4:8.
Not only on what but more importantly WHO
is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and worthy of praise, we are to think on things that are of excellence. We are to think of our loving Heavenly Father, our Savior Who is full of mercy and truth, He is worth thinking and meditating on continuously. This faith this trust, of an absolute certainty, will never fail – kalah us.
Joshua 21:45 Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.
and Joshua 23:14 And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.
Romans 9:6 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen. 6It is notas thoughGod’s wordhas failed.
Amplified Bible However, it is not as though God’s word has failed [coming to nothing].
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
It’s time to rise up, by forging deep roots in Him, for He is our strength and our salvation.
We are to build inner faith 1Samuel 17:36 strong in the inner man. He builds us up from the inside out where no one but Himself can see the progress. It is a pattern, a blueprint, used over and over in all His courageous Saints, who became great warriors and who won great victories.
Are we daily building inner faith?
David is one we easily recall. As a youth he was given charge over his fathers’ sheep, tending the flock making sure they were fed, watered; and protected from predators and enemies that would harm them and seek to kill, steal and destroy.
He killed the lion and the bear. Developing great courage and tactics of a fight that proved victorious; then when the giant Goliath challenged, he moved unflinchingly to confront this uncircumcised Philistine.
That which had been tested and tried when he was alone and no one had witnessed but God; became very evident to everyone present, in this moment of national crisis. It was said David was, above his fellows, and it was in this area of faith in his God; and the courage developed through experience, that his God would be his strength and work victory for him. Secret training through tests and trials, developed the secret faith, which had its’ moments of open revelation. It is our Heavenly Fathers’ Way. We are to build faith from the lesser challenges and it will be the measure of our deliverance and victory in the times of need.
During the greatest tragedies, David’s character, obedience and willingness to be a servant was proved; and he was given charge over his Heavenly Father’s flock, to guide guard and govern. To tend them and make sure they were fed, watered and protected from enemies who would steal, kill and destroy.
Our Heavenly Father tests before He entrusts. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by His Word and is also built up through our times of greatest need for the critical reason: to show us where help truly comes from….Not from the hills, but from God.
Is He really first place?
Trusting in the arm of flesh = kalah/failure
In the uncertain days we find ourselves living, when we are hearing of wars and rumors of wars
always remember that He said…
Do not be alarmed or let your heart be troubled…
…because He also said..
In Him there is NO failure..
No kalah..
NO disappointment..
and He will never deceive, grow tired or exhausted.
His eyes are always on us and will
NEVER FAIL…
so LOOK UP and
Trust in the Lord!
Shalom shalom mishpachah/family
and cheverim/friends!
You are loved, appreciated and prayed for
… and…
it’s all about Life and Relationship,
NOT Religion.
You are precious in His sight.
NOT SURE?
YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.
Matthew 24:3 Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives and His disciples came to Him and asked, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?”
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the Disciples came unto him privately, saying,
Tell us, when shall these things be? (regarding the destruction of the Temple)
And what shall be the sign of thy coming (His return)
and of
the end of the age. (His Reign following all things being completed.)
The second two questions are the same ones believers ask today!
What shall be the sign of thy coming?
and
when is the close/end of the age?
The olam hazeh עולם הזה is this world age
Pronounced: oh-LAHM hah-ZAY.
olam haba הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא is The World to Come
The spiritual afterlife is referred to in Hebrew as
Olam Ha-Ba
Pronounced: oh-LAHM hah-BAH.
There are other references to this age and the age to come:
Matthew 12 :32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in
this age – olam hazeh עולם הזה ;
or in
the age to come – olam haba הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא
He was speaking of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit/His spirit of Holiness/Ruach haKodesh.
The original words in Greek,
ουτε εν τουτω τω αιωνι, ουτε εν τω μελλοντι,
may be rendered,
neither in this age, or dispensation,
nor in the age, or dispensation, to come,
(οὐ μὴ ἀφεθῇ).
Neither in this world (age, aioni), neither in the world to come.
Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time/olam hazeh, and in the world to come/olam haba, life everlasting. Kjv.
1John 5:10-13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life/chayai olam, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Hebrews 6:5. 4. It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tastedthe goodnessof the wordof Godandthe powersof the comingage/olam haba, 6and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.…
Olam Hazeh –
This World – עוֹלָם הַזֶה
is the world in which we live, where each of us is given the opportunity to honor the Name of the Lord by performing
Mitzvot
מצוות
Mitzvot is the plural of mitzvah,
and means: commandment.
People in Israel often use mitzvot as a kind of shorthand for being observant of traditional Jewish laws and traditions.
This means being a doer of the things/teachings/commandments.James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
DO what it says.
Luke 11:28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Luke 8:21 But He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and carry it out.”
John 13:17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
John 6:27 Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
The single most important mitzvah of all of Scripture is
to trust in Yeshua/Jesus as our LORD and Savior.
Everything else centers on this.
The two great commandments are the Ve’ahavta
Love the LORD with all your heart
and the obligation to love others as yourself
For the Hebrew the
heart or lev
is
the centre of being where all parts of our soul existence converge.
The lev/levav /heart, is not the seat of emotion.
The heart is
the point of convergence for all aspects of the human existence,
while it manifests emotion
it is NOT the sole domain of emotion.
Therefore, we understand heart to mean core being.
Thus when the Scripture says
The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9)
it does not mean
The emotion of man (alone) is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,
rather it means:
Humanity now has a fallen nature that is manifested within the core of its existence.
In terms of rabbinical definition this sin affected aspect of our nature is called:
Yetzer ha-ra – inclination of the evil.
The lev/levav /heart…..
…the convergence of our entire being.
We now know His Glory,
and even though our EYES fail us,
our hearts, the convergence of our entire being,
SEEs beyond the power of death to the Olam Haba/world to come.
This is ahava/love, because this is what remains and while we live in this fallen world we have faith, hope and love however, in the world to come/olam haba, only love will remain. Why? because faith is belief against fear and doubt, in the Olam Haba there will be neither. Hope is the assurance of things unseen, in the Olam Haba ALL will be revealed.
(Matt. 22:36-40). 36 “Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?” 37 He told him, “‘You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’[a]38 This is the greatest and most important mitzvah. 39 And a second is similar to it, ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]40 All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot.”
Basically the meaning is that, if you do the above
you will not lie to, covet, or steal
what belongs to your neighbor;
you will not murder him,
nor commit adultery with them.
It includes ALL that is incorporated in the 10 sayings.
He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it
and the greatest commandment is love not sacrifice.
Matthew 5:17. Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
This He completed perfectly.
The greatest act of love is to lay down one’s life for a friend. He called us His friends and laid down His life and it should follow that if He is our friend then we are to be willing to do the same for Him.
This is what we are told to be doing with our life by Messiah, our Lord and Savior Yeshua HaMashiach/Jesus the Christ.
Why do we keep questioning and discussing who is called and who is not?
We are all called ….it is simply up to the individual whether we hear; and when we do, do we accept and answer the call, or continue with our own life?
People continually ask what is the will of God for me? It is so clear in Messiahs own words… It’s just that most choose to ignore it saying and thinking it’s for someone else to do.
This is what we are to be doing in Olam Hazeh
it will determine our future in Olam Haba.
Those things that Yeshua/Jesus told us to occupy our time with are all listed in…
Matthew 25:35-40 and Matthew 28:19. Amp. Bible. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
And we are to be occupied with learning and teaching His Word, according to his or her gifts, and behaving in an honest and decent manner with our fellow human beings.
1 Timothy 3:16.
Remembering that how we treat others and what we do to them; or what we do for or against them, we are in fact doing it to Yeshua/Jesus in both word and deed. Matt.25:40.
In Judaism and classical Jewish theology
Olam ha-zeh – עולם הזה – this world,
is a concept of: the real world.
Olam hazeh means: the everyday world that we live in.
Life in this world – olam ha’zeh; is also called:
Chayei Sha’ah – חיי שׁעה – Fleeting life.
So called, because it is absorbed in the physical and social structures of this worlds’ systems: working, eating, pursuing pleasures, etc., etc.
The ideas about Olam Hazeh and Olam Habah are to be understood rather as cosmic and metaphysical.
Why?
Because they relate to the universe outside of ourselves and they are in terms of the all encompassing goal, pattern and plan, that our Heavenly Father has put in place for His creation.
From the point of view of the human soul, these are experienced as
Chayei Sha’a – fleeting life and
חיי שׁעה
Chayei Olam – eternal life, respectively.
John 17:3 In the New Covenant/Testament/brit Chadashah,
eternal life/chayei olam,
is identified as:
the knowledge of the one true living God. The One Who sent His Son Yeshua into the world /Olam as the Messiah.
Eternal life/chayei olam, is having and maintaining a conscious relationship with the Father/God, through His Messiah, Jesus/Yeshua. Because our Father abides in eternity this means we are to live in the here and now by faith and have the understanding, the reality, that the eternal elements of the unseen realm of the spirit exists all around us.
We could say that our faith SEEs the Olam Haba/the world to come, and is preparing us to enter into its reality even while we are still in the Olam Hazeh/This world.
Heaven in Judaism – Shamayim שָׁמַיִם šāmayīm, the Hebrew word for heavens, (literally heavens, im for the plural), identifies one element of the three-part biblical cosmology.
Which comprises:
Heavens, Earth, and the underworld.
The Hebrew Bible depicted a three-part world, with the
heavens – shamayim above,
Earth – eres in the middle,
and the
underworld – sheol below.
After the 4th century BCE this was gradually replaced by a Greek scientific cosmology of a spherical earth surrounded by multiple concentric heavens.
Revelation 5:13 And every creature which
is in heaven,
and on the earth,
and under the earth,
and such as are in the sea,
and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. King James Version (KJV
John is recording his vision in the book of Revelation when he writes, And no man
in heaven,
nor in earth,
neither under the earth,
was able to open the book. Rev. 5:3
Philippians 2:10 in the New King James Version says, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of those in heaven, and
of those on earth, and
of those under the earth.
The Hebrew word for heaven is
שמים shamayim.
Strong’s Hebrew: 2319. חָדָשׁ chadash – new
Strong’s Hebrew: 776. אָ֫רֶץ erets – earth, land
ארץ חדש
in Jewish theology,
olam ha-ba/the world to come,
is either
the world after death
or
the new creation
or
restoration of the world that is to follow
the messianic millennium.
Because this latter interpretation came from the teachings and exhortations of the prophets, it was especially popular during the period of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (516 BC–AD 70). Whatever the interpretation of ʿolam ha-ba, for Jews it meant the end of uncertainty, miseries, and strife.
In Jewish literature olam ha-ba and olam ha-zeh/this world, are in contrast to one another. They believe that olam ha-zeh/this world, is a time to prove oneself worthy of participating in the world to come. Their understanding of the resurrection of the dead is that it will occur in the messianic age, a time referred to in Hebrew as the Olam Ha-Ba, the World to Come, but that term is also used to refer to the spiritual afterlife. For them, when the Messiah comes to initiate the perfect world of peace and prosperity, the righteous dead will be brought back to life and given the opportunity to experience the perfected world that their righteousness helped to create. The wicked dead will not be resurrected.
We understand that Messiah has already come and are awaiting His soon return.
Following the millennium, it describes a time after the world is perfected under the rulership of Messiah.
This term also refers to the afterlife where the soul passes after the death of the body.
It can be contrasted with olam hazeh, this world.
Ephesians 1:21
Yochanan/John Chapter 3:3 speaks of
SEEing the kingdom of God
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot
SEE the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of heaven [of God]
resembles a concept in rabbinic Judaism called
tikkun ha-olam,
which literally means:
mending the world.
Tikun Olam – Repairing/mending the World.
When one enters (or joins) the kingdom of heaven, one becomes a partner with God in spreading redemption throughout a hurting world. That person goes out and feeds the hungry; clothes the naked; visits those who are in hospital and prison; prays for the sick and defends the rights of the orphan and widow. A person who has entered the kingdom of heaven gets involved in people’s lives. He or she pursues a lifestyle characterized by
tikkun ha-olam
or mending our world:
where there is hatred, he or she bestows love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
In John 3 we see Yeshua/Jesus discussing aspects of this with Nicodemus:
“If one is not fathered, born from above, he cannot have power, permission, ability to see the kingdom, dominion, rule, royal power, kingship of the God.”
There are many points to this teaching; in essence Yeshua/Jesus is saying that the Kingdom of God/Malkut Shamayim, cannot be gained through Torah observance alone. He is also saying that being born physically into the sin affected world is a death sentence, unless… one is born anew from above by His Spirit.
He is also indicating to the power/Spirit/ruach of God being essential in order to walk continually in righteousness and to enter into the Olam Haba/World to come.
The sight, He is referring to is, spiritual sight that can only be received from Our Heavenly Father by His Spirit and through His Son the King, Messiah Yeshua/Jesus.
All of this teaching is directly opposed to the teaching that says that repentance, Torah observance, mitzvot, and prayer alone can earn one entry into the Olam Haba. Therefore, unlike the rabbis of the Talmud,
Yeshua/Jesus does NOT teach that conversion to Judaism will birth a person anew, instead, that:
ONLY repentance and salvation through the redemptive work of God through His Messiah, will bring newness of life to the individual. Kingdom of the God –
Malkut Shamayim – Kingdom of the Heavens
Dan. 4:3; 1 Chr. 29:10-12,
This points to our Heavenly Father’s divine reign over the present world made new; rid of all sin and evil etc.; and it’s a more correct understanding than the traditional and extra Biblical, Christian concept, of a heaven somewhere in the clouds.
Instead, by the tikun olam/repairing of the world,
it indicates that the present world will be
cleansed, restored, and renewed
by
God
through the atoning Blood
of His Son Yeshua/Jesus,
and He will transition it into the
Olam Haba/world to come.
Interestingly this is supported by both the Old Tesament/Tanakh and the New Testament/Brit Ha-Chadashah. Messiah simply points to the physical birth first and says that both it and a spiritual birth are needed. He doesn’t tell Nicodemus that he is incorrect and continues to explain that everyone is born through the mothers waters breaking, but something more is needed if we are to enter God’s Kingdom/Malkut Shamayim.
We must be born of God’s Spirit,
born anew,
from above.
The words water and Spirit can be found in both
the
tevilot/immersions/baptisms of
Yochanan/John the Immerser /Baptist
and Messiah/Yeshua/Jesus.
Water represents the tevilah/baptism of repentance
and
The Spirit the tevilah/baptism of Spirit and Fire from above.
Without Messiah Yeshua/Jesus’
tevilah/baptism of death and His resurrection
we are unable to receive His Spirit.
In Him alone we have access to what is needed for our Salvation, His very own Spirit, and the Spirit of His Father in us.
His Spirit births in us the desire to repent/teshuvah/turn around, to turn back to God. Then only through Messiah are we able to receive the fullness of the gift of His Holy Spirit/Ruach haKodesh/Spirit of Holiness
Who births us anew from above
into a life reconciled to God.
Born out of water refers to the breaking of a mother’s waters at physical birth and it speaks of being born into this world/God’s creation affected by sin. And of the Spirit refers to being born anew, fathered by God through His Spirit. In the same way that physical birth breaks water and through blood brings new life into the present world, so too spiritual birth breaks the living waters of MessiahYeshua/Jesus and through His blood atonement, it births anew the soul of a human being into the Olam Haba/world to come.
This means that an individuals entry into the Olam Haba/world to come, starts at the moment of being born anew by His Spirit through Messiah Yeshua/Jesus and continues all the way through physical death and into everlasting living.
This is why Messiah said: I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
John/Yochanan 11:15-16 In the previous verses the earthly things are explained and show the progression from physical birth, through spiritual renewal and into the Olam Haba. It seems that Messiah is not making a separation between the physical and the spiritual as some might think, instead, the earthly things include spiritual things and are the explanation of a merging between the physical birth and the spiritual birth from above. Here is appears Yeshua/Jesus’s teaching shows the final shape of tikun olam/repairing of the world. The Bible clearly teaches a renewed heavens and earth and New Jerusalem descending from heaven at the end of the age.
Through Yeshua/Jesus, as His children, we are empowered to begin the work that will be completed by Messiahs return and the Father dwelling with His own/ finally fulfilled in Tabernacles/Sukkot.
This we must understand will be under a renewed heavens and not in some Greco-Roman, gnostic inspired, heavenly kingdom in the sky.
Those who accept God’s redemptive offer have already begun to live eternally v.16.
Those who refuse God’s redemptive offer are already dying eternally v.18.
All creation is offered an opportunity to receive Our Heavenly Father’s offer of redemption and to be born anew from above.
11. Do this, knowing that at thepresent time/olam hazeh, it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep;
Verse 11 begins a repetition of metaphors which contrast evil and good: sleep/death and salvation, night and day, darkness and light.
When a person with a hebraic mindset reads, Present time, he understands it to refer to the olam hazeh/present world, our current existence within time and space. Here Paul/Shaul, compares the present state of the world to death, using sleep which was a metaphor common to the rabbis teaching, and was also used by Yeshua/Jesus Himself as a reference for death/temporal death while awaiting final judgment.
Paul/Shaul told them to:
Stop living as though you are still dead like those living under wrath, you’re not, you’re a new creation, act like those who are awake/already alive eternally in Messiah. For now salvation/Yeshua/Jesus, is nearer to us than when we first believed. 12 The night/olam hazeh/the present world subject to wrathis almost gone, and the day/olam haba/the world to comeis near.
This salvation is the final resurrection and the
olam haba/world to come,
the physical return of
Salvation/Yeshua/Jesus/Himself.
The night, a symbol for this present age/olam hazeh
and the dark acts of humanity, is almost finished.
The day, a symbol for the world to come/olam haba,
is very close in terms of our Heavenly Father’s plan for the reconciliation of creation.
Sometimes it may seem so far off, however, we are cautioned that we should understand our position from His perspective. This present darkness is only temporary, and just like any night, it will end and if, as Paul/Shaul tells us, it is near, then we are now quickly approaching the dawn.
Here we are informed that there are clearly two worlds:
the olam hazeh,
literally translated as: world this one,
and olam haba
world the coming or the world to come,
meaning: eternity.
In Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, we need not fear what comes next because what comes next is:
the Olam Haba/world to come
which is, through Him.
In Messiah Yeshua/Jesus,
we are assured of everlasting life,
not because we won’t die physically
but because having died to self, we will live in Him.
No longer do we need to surrender to the power of death which is the fear of the unknown because the promise of Our Heavenly Father is that we are known in Him and that through His Son we will exist in right relationship with Him for all eternity and in Him there is no unknown.
Any religion that teaches we can repair the world by our own efforts is a religion of anti-Christ.
The true tikun olam is impossible without
the redeeming work of the King Messiah Yeshua/Jesus
at His first coming;
and
the renewing work of the King Messiah Yeshua/Jesus
upon His return.
Maybe if we understood the Hebrew mindset and language better, the incomplete verbal action which is associated with the
olam ha’ba; we would recognize that it is
already but not yet,
in exactly the same way that we talk about the role of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus being completely finished….
already but not yet!
It becomes evident that this idea of the olam ha’ba
helps greatly to redirect our motivation and energy on the mission here in the olam hazeh
because the two are not totally separated from each other and Hazeh will become Ha’ba in our Heavenly Father’s perfect timing.
If the olam ha’ba is coming,
then the really serious issue in our chaim/lifes
is whether or not we will be ready for His and its arrival?
שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם,
Shalom aleikhem
chaverim and mishpachah!
Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week,
you are greatly loved and prayed for daily.
Please don’t leave here without assurance of your salvation in the
olam ha’ba/world to com…
Not sure ..you can be…
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer,
Savior, Lord, and soon returning King
and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute, SAY IT RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.
The end times is a hot topic these days and Armageddon is often involved in such discussions… This post offers some insights and also suggests food for thought, as well as possible answers to some of those most frequently posed questions. As always scripture is the base for all subsequent writing; and every reader is strongly encouraged to research and study God’s Word for themselves and to take everything before the Lord in prayer.
Why?
Because our personal opinions are just that, opinions and
His Word alone is TRUTH.
הר מגידו
Har Megiddo
in Hebrew:
Har Magedon.
Meaning in Hebrew: Hill of Megiddo
Revelation 16:16; Judges 4 & 5:19;
2Kings 9:27;23:29; Zech 12:11
According to the Book of Revelation,
Armageddon (/ ˌ ɑːr m ə ˈ ɡ ɛ d ən /,
from Ancient Greek: Ἁρμαγεδών
Ἐβραϊστί Ἃρ Μαγεδών
Harmagedōn,
or
Armageddon.
Late Latin: Armagedōn,
taken from the Hebrew: הר מגידו Har Megiddo
It is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies for a battle during the end of the age, variously interpreted as either a literal or a symbolic location.
Although Armageddon is a Hebrew word, it does not occur specifically in the Old Testament. Its meaning has raised questions, however it is best understood to mean
Mount Megiddo, since
Har in Hebrew means mountain
and Mageddon is the place-name of Megiddo.
Armageddon is the symbolic name given to this event, based on scripture references regarding divine obliteration of God’s enemies.
The hermeneutical method supports this position by referencing Judges 4 and 5 where God miraculously destroys the enemy of Israel, at Megiddo.
Another Armageddon definition is – the site or time of a final and conclusive battle between the forces of good and evil. (Probably so called in reference to the battlefield of Megiddo.)
The actual word for Armageddon only appears once in the Bible (Revelation 16:16). Even though most of the New Testament is written in Greek, this comes from the Hebrew word which as already mentioned means, Mount Megiddo.
in the New Testament, it is a place where the kings of the earth under demonic leadership will wage war on the forces of God at the end of history.
Armageddon,
sometimes rendered Har– Magedon
(Hebrew: Har Meghiddohn),
here it is translated: Mountain of Megiddo.
Megiddo was once a city in the territory of ancient Israel.
History tells of decisive battles that were fought in its vicinity, including some that are recorded in the Bible.
The place we know as Armageddon was also the site for two great tragedies:
1) the death of Saul and his sons (1 Samuel 31:8) and
2) the death of King Josiah (2 Kings 23:29-30; 2 Chronicles 35:22).
It is probably because of this history, the valley of Armageddon became a symbol of the final conflict between God and the forces of evil.
It is the name of a real place, 56 miles north of Jerusalem.
it is approximately thirty miles wide by two hundred miles long.
Is it also a war, or is this just a symbolic reference to a future event that will be particularly destructive?
Armageddon is mentioned in the Bible in the Revelation to John, or the Apocalypse of St. John (16:16).
Really it is the:
Revelation of Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach/Yeshua the Messiah, which was given to John.
Revelation [N] is an uncovering, a bringing to light of that which had been previously wholly hidden or only obscurely seen.
God has been pleased in various ways and at different times Hebrews 1:1
to make a supernatural revelation of himself and his purposes and plans, which, under the guidance of his Spirit, has been committed to writing.
The Greek name of the Bible book of Revelation,
A·po·kaʹly·psis (apocalypse), means:
Uncovering or Disclosure.
This name indicates the meaning of Revelation —it uncovers matters that had been hidden and discloses events some, that would happen long after it was written.
מגידו
Megiddo,
The city is located on a pass and commanding a road connecting Egypt and Syria; it was probably chosen as a symbol for such a battle, because it had been the scene of many previous battles.
noun זִרַת מִלחָמָה. Armageddon
The meaning of the word Armageddon is placed in the text, and is actually a compound of two thoughts.
Armageddon is the GREEK rendering of the 2 Hebrew words.
They are Har and Megiddon.
Har is the word for mountain and
Megiddon means
a place of crowds.
Those armies came together in a place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. Then the spirits brought the kings together in the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. So they assembled them at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
The spirits gathered the kings to the place that is called Armageddon in Hebrew. Rev 16:16
Taking a look at the ancient Hebrew pictographs:
Is there anything in the pictures that point to Yeshua HaMashiach Jesus the Messiah?
There is a curiosity within most people of wanting to know the future and more specifically what will happen to us as individuals. If we know beforehand whether it’s good or bad, we think we can hopefully prepare for either.
The Bible is filled with prophecies that describe many remaining future events in great detail so it’s the best place to look for future events and our final destination and probable events that will unfold prior to our reaching that destination.
One future event mentioned in scripture is an event often called the Battle of Armageddon.
It is mentioned more these days than ever before.
In the scriptures it’s described as not just a battle but also a place where in the future, a war the likes of which the world has never seen will take place.
We saw that in the Greek Translation of the New Testament The word Armageddon only occurs once and is used by the apostle John in Revelation 16:16:
“And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
In verse 14 John tells us who is doing the gathering and who is being gathered:
“For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
John earlier described this war of destruction which is the culmination of God’s wrath in Rev. 6:17:
“For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
Taking a closer look at the Hebrew pictographs about this war and place of destruction;
the first part
Har
which is spelled
Hey Reysh. הַר
HEY ה
REYSH ר
Hey is the picture of the man
with outstretched hands to the heavens
and means
behold
or
pay attention to what follows.
Reysh
is the picture of the head
and means: the leader or
the prince.
The pictures in Har depictbehold the prince.
But what is the connection to mountain or hill, is it of any significance?
Is there a specific prince to whom this is referring?
Here we take a journey back to the time when Moses wrote about the Akedah.
Where in Genesis 22:14 Abraham was to offer his only son Isaac to the LORD, and at the very last moment God provided another sacrifice to take his place:
“And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah jireh as it is said to this day. In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.”
This mount (HAR) was identified as being in the land of Moriah
and is believed to be the identical location where Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem.
Moses tells how God provided a ram instead of Abrahams son Isaac and because the ram died in his place, Isaac would live.
It all unfolded in this place and was a picture of the Prince who in the future would die a substitutionary death for us.
The Prince is Yeshua/Jesus who was and is the perfect Lamb of God, and more than 2000 years later, at this exact location.
Looking carefully at the Hebrew Scriptures it does not actually say
in the mount of the LORD it shall be seen,
it is written
one shall be seen.
So here, Moses is referring to the Lord God Himself saying:
On the HarGodshall be seen.
(Recall the SHEMA – God is one).
The next part of Armageddon is
Megiddon and means
a place of crowds.
this is spelled:
Mem Gimel Dalet Vav Noon.
מגידו
ו י ר ג מ
Noon Vav Dalet Gimel Mem
(read from right to left.)
Mem מ
Gimel ג
Dalet ר
Vav י
Noon ו
In the pictographs for this megiddon/place of crowds, it is:
Noon/Nun
is the picture of
the fish
or seedling
and means life or activity.
Vav
is the picture of
the wooden hook or iron nail
and means:
to fasten or secure two things together that are separated from one another.
Dalet
is the picture of the door;
and means:
a doorway or
a place of decision
that can lead to life or death.
Gimel
is the picture of the foot
or later a camel
and means to lift up, to be lifted up with pride,
or to lift up the name of the Lord.
Mem
is the picture of waters
that can be waters of destruction like a tsunami or gentle waters that bring life.
We could read into these pictures that for this crowd it will be a place of decision, a doorway that will lead to either life or death.
The doorways connected to one of two possible groups and their future.
Those who are lifted up with pride who will suffer destruction like a tsunami.
Those that will receive the gentle waters of life, who lift up the name of the Lord.
Which doorway they will choose and to which group most in this crowd belong John writes:
“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.”
Revelation 6:15-16.
God will bring His wrath to force the reluctant to choose.
Everyone will go through one door or the other. Those doorways are open to us now just as they will be to those in Revelation. We must choose the dalet/doorway to life now before the unbearable wrath of God is unleashed.
IAM the door
Har Megiddon in the pictographs =
Behold the Prince.
Lift Him up and enter the doorway that is connected to life.
The book of Revelation associates Megiddo in northern Israel with the end of days.
John Martin – The Great Day of His Wrath: A vision of the apocalypse, circa 1851.
We often use the word “Armageddon” to mean the end of the world, and we now know from our study how it became associated with the final catastrophe that will end humanity.
Early Judaism had no tradition of the world ending in a day of divine judgment and no such idea appears in the 1st Temple period material in the Hebrew Bible. But the idea does suddenly appear in prophetic books penned after the late 6th century B.C.E., such as Deut. -Isaiah, Zechariah and Daniel. For example:
“Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you” (Zechariah 2:11).
that Apocalypse is a Greek noun meaning uncovering, revealing or revelation. As it is the first word of the book in its original Greek, it became used as the name of the book as this was the common practice at the time.
Since the book describes the end of the world, and its Greek title began to be used by English speakers to refer to the end of the world itself, there is little doubt that this is how we got the word apocalypse.
Out of the mouth of dragons
Armageddon appears in In Revelation 16, where John tells us that he heard“a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.’”
He proceeds to describe these bowls of God’s wrath being poured on the earth: The 1st is an outbreak of “festering sores”;
the 2nd the turning of the sea to blood and the death of all that live in it;
the 3rd is the turning of the rivers into blood;
the 4th is the scorching of the people by the burning son;
the 5th is the kingdom of the beast being plunged into darkness;
the 6th is the drying up of the River Euphrates.
Then before he gets to the seventh and final bowl – a mighty thunderstorm accompanied by massive earthquakes and a hailstorm of biblical proportions – he says that “he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon” (16:16).
Who exactly is gathered to Armageddon is not exactly clear from context. It might be “three impure spirits that looked like frogs and “came out of the mouth of the dragon” or “the kings of the whole world.”
Either way, according to John, just before the world comes to an end, they will convene at “a place which in Hebrew is called Armageddon.”
Whatever John meant by this, it is clear that he believed that just before the end of the world, something momentous would take place there. Later Christian theologians interpreted this as meaning that this would be the site of the showdown between the forces of good and evil, which will obviously end with the victory of God and the good.
The view from Megiddo
The identification of the town of Megiddo with the site of apocalypse has some merit, since it is mentioned several times in the Bible, tellingly, as the site of several epic battles, such as the Israelites vs. the Canaanites (Judges 5:19) and Judah vs. Egypt. In the latter struggle King Josiah who the bible explicitly calls the best of the Judean kings, was killed:
“While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo”
(2 Kings 23:29).
The main challenge to the interpretation that John was referring to a Hebrew text that talked of har Megiddo, is the fact that Jews never referred to a “Mount Megiddo” – and for good reason. There is no mountain at Megiddo. At most the site could be called a small hill, or more accurately,
a TEL.
In fact, when the Bible actually refers to a geographic feature related to Megiddo, it is not a mountain but a valley:
Below are some pictures of the ongoing archeological digs and some of the items recovered from the area.
Excavating Megiddo Tel:
A neighborhood of small homes and workshops
Credit: Ariel David
Tel Megiddo
Credit: Yaron Kaminsky
“On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo” (Zechariah 12:11).
“In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate” (Ezekiel 38:8).
Other theologians and scholars suggest that the original word was
megiddon, not Megiddo at all –
but a word derived from the root G-D-D (or G-D-ayin),
which would mean this mountain was
the mountain of gathering or being cut off – meaning, destruction.
The Greek translation of Zechariah 12:11 may relate to the plain of Megiddo in this way, but no such high-altitude gathering places appear anywhere in the Hebrew writings that have become available.
GOG the Battle of the ROOF!
Here is another view of what the world calls the Battle of Armageddon:
could it be already in full fury and is the problem that the church is asleep and does not even know about it?
It seems as if the church is too busy anticipating gog and magog trying to figure out how and when Russia and others are going to join with China or other countries to attack Israel, seemingly not aware of the spiritual battles that are in full fury right now.
Is it possible that if the church wins the spiritual battle there will be no ground war?
Certainly if we lose the spiritual war the world will be all but destroyed.
Has the enemy kept the church wrapped up in fund raising and building programs which is another great distraction keeping focus off the spiritual battles?
Has the church ignored the scriptural terminology allowing the half truths of the world to dilute the truth?
The battle recorded in 2 Kings 23:29,30 and 2Chronicles 35:22;
tells the story of the battle in which Josiah king of Judah is mortally wounded.
The Hebrew name is: The valley of Jezreel and it lies at the foot of the mountain,
Har mediggo – meaning Mt Mediggo.
This was also the location of the Midianite army that Gideon chased off with trumpet and lanterns.
In 1Samuel 29:1 the philistine armies gather at Jezreel. but the battle is at Mount Gilboa in the valley of Esdraelon, which is east of the Valley of Jezreel. In the new testament the armies gather at Har Mediggo in Revelation 16:12.
12 And 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.
Judges 5:19, 2Kings 9:27;23:29, Zech 12:11
Har Mediggo in English translation is taken from the Latin text, which has Armageddon. The Greek text has Harmageddon, where the armies gather but the battle is not at Har Mediggo.
Note:
There is no battle but the bowls of God’s wrath!
It would seem from reading here that later
at the end of the millennium,
the battle of Gog and Magog
is formed at the valley of Jehoshaphat.
The word jehoshaphat (yehoshafat in Hebrew) means ‘God has judged’, and this narrow furrow of land located between Temple Mount/Al Haram Ash Sharif and the Mount of Olives is where it is said the events of Judgment Day will take place (Joel 3:12) and all nations will be judged. At the southern end is a series of tombs dating from the Second Temple period.
Joel 4:2
I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Y’hoshafat [ Adonai judges]. I will enter into judgment there for my people, my heritage Isra’el, whom they scattered among the nations; then they divided my land.
verse 12 “Let the nations rouse themselves and go up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. For there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations.”
The valley of Jehoshaphat is a few miles south east of Jerusalem also called the valley of Beracha in 2Chronicles 20:26.
King James Version (KJV). 26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the Lord: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.
God takes care of the armies when they surround Jerusalem.
and
In Revelation 20:7
And when the thousand years are completed, the Adversary/hasatan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 and he shall go forth to lead the nations astray, that are in the four corners of the earth — Gog and Magog ––
to gather them together to war, of whom the number [is] as the sand of the sea;
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
(Ezekiel 7:2 ) Gog and Magog
and
(Ezekiel 38:2) Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, King James Version (KJV)
In 2Kings 1:10And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
Ezekiel 39:6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Maybe we are looking for the wrong war?
Maybe we got the name of the place wrong?
Maybe we thought we knew what the scripture said? and hopefully, maybe we won’t even be here?!
Scripture says this is at the end of the millennium and is often referred to as apocalypse, which is the Greek word for revelation/ revealing.
This is the terrible time when it takes seven months to bury the dead.
In Ezekiel 39:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog. 12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.
If we look at the current war, it is against humanism and the war, the battle of the roof. What is happening on the ground now is but a mild example of what is going on in the spiritual realm, the invisible dimension of the heavenlies.
Believers in humanism align themselves with compromise and tolerance of pagan beliefs and is a spiritual battle which offers the choice of loyalty to God’s teachings vs. those who tolerate all manner of evil and accepting other lifestyles in preference to that which God lays out for us in the Scriptures.
The need to be politically correct and extending people’s rights beyond what the Scriptures tell us has only succeeded in accelerating the changes we see in the world today. Materialism is another powerful spirit at this time; warfare against principalities and powers need to be corporate as it is becoming increasingly too dangerous for individual prayer, in the same way that one soldier does not go into battle against an army!
These alternatives encourage teaching of occult and false religions in public schools yet forbid teaching and practice of Christianity and godly values; all in the name of multiculturalism. The battle will not be won with the weapons of war however it will be won in the hearts of those individuals where repentance and/or revival takes root.
There is an inner connection between the names gog and magog and the fall/autumn feast of sukkot/tabernacles/Booths.
The Hebrew word gog means roof and there is a major difference between a real roof and the flimsy sukkah, the singular of sukkot.
The sukkah is a weak unstable shelter made with branches. A driving rain will soak right through it. And a driving wind will blow it away.
People have the power to make themselves safe and secure against their earthly contemporaries by buildings sturdy walls; so they delude themselves into thinking that they can make themselves safe and secure up against that which comes from above, against God and his power to direct matters.
They think that they can find security in the protection of their own might, they take their fate in their own hands, and crown the building of human greatness with sturdy roofs, with no need to depend on God.
The war of gog and magog is also the battle of gog; (the Hebrew word for roof,) against sukkah,
it’s the fight of the roof illusion, of human greatness which never allows the rest,
against
the sukkah-truth of cheerful confidence and serenity which comes from placing trust in God’s protection.
Magog is gog with the prefix M; this prefix expresses the idea of projecting something, representing the philosophy that man can insulate himself against the heavenly power of God –
Magog is possibly the attempt to affect this philosophy on earth.
Time to get our house /sanctuary spiritual house in order. Working out our salvation with fear – reverent respect -and trembling
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, Phil 2:12-13
work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
Very serious and sober, being vigilant, with a godly clean heart and motives, observing the times, for the days are evil, short and few and the night comes when no man can work.
Our salvation/ Full redemption will be manifested as we are birthed into our sanctified supernatural bodies in which we can enter His presence.
No unclean thing can enter in. No flesh will survive the transition for we shall be changed into a new creature like unto Himself and we shall see Him as He is. Our feeble attempts to visualize what is ahead, pales in comparison to what glories will be revealed and no doubt will bear little if any resemblance to our earthly images.
We make the mistake of bringing God down to our level and to our likeness. The image and likeness of our Father that is within us is purely spiritual in nature. He has no form like we do or like Jesus/Yeshua did in His incarnate form while present on the earth. And yet He said if you have seen Me you have seen the Father!
Our limited concepts belie reality and do His incomparable being an enormous disservice. It is most certain that all of us will gasp in true awe and amazement at the inevitable realities that await the eyes of our understanding when they are finally enlightened.
It is on a serious note that we must be ready for encounters in the spiritual realm as the veil between the realms continues to thin prior to His return. It is not that these entities both good and evil, are suddenly there, merely that we can now see them just as Elisha prayed for with his servant.
The fight is in the spiritual realm. The war is in the heavenlies and we merely observe the outworking below in this earthly realm we inhabit.
Angelic Messengers are at work always and around us continually; and so to are the spirits of darkness. They have been crouching at the door since Cain’s day waiting an opportunity to work their mischief and evil. (evil=out of harmony with God)
Don’t give him a foot hold – not even a toehold!
Keep our sanctuaries pure and holy
keep out the unclean and ungodly.
Immerse ourselves in His Word and His presence, praying in the Holy Spirit Ruach HaKodesh, and building ourselves up in our most holy faith.
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy
Jude 20-25
For the days are evil and waxing worse. This is a time to draw closer to him then ever before and Have no fellowship with the fruitful works of darkness
Romans 13:12. The night is nearly over/far spent; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Romans 13:12, KJV:
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather {e} reprove them. (e) Make them open to all the world, by your good life. Ephesians 5:11
We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4
We are to shun the man made festival days that are rooted in idol worship and rather spend the 31st of October in prayer and fasting not in celebrating sin and death.
A quote below concerning this date, should send shivers down our spine and shake us to the core; from the now deceased leader.
What are we thinking?????
Forgive us Father in Yeshua/Jesus name.
Almost every festival and observance on the Gregorian calendar has its roots in pagan worship of idols, false gods/ demonic entities and evil spirits.
What are we doing? Thinking it is acceptable to a Holy God. Would we take Jesus/Yeshua with us when we go trick or treating???
If not – why are we even going?
The WAY – HIS WAY is narrow
and in His words..
few there are that find it…
We need to and must follow Him and Him alone
and enter in through Yeshua/Jesus, the gate the Door the Dalet.
A serious message for serious days.
our times are in His hands and
today is the day of salvation/ deliverance.
Don’t put off until tomorrow what we know we should do,
or not do, today.
IT”S LATER THAN WE THINK!
Trust Him and obey.
There is no disappointment in Him.
He is the way, the truth and the life …
let’s not miss our day of visitation.
Shalom shalom
‘Mishpachah’
‘Family/Tribe’
משפחה
Mish-pa-KHa,
Please don’t leave this page before making certain Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
He is coming back very soon – so let’s keep looking up!
You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.
Its all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.
NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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