The book of Daniel was sealed until the time of the end (Dan 12:4); therefore it could not be properly understood until now; and interpretations given while the book was sealed have sometimes remained as mainstream teaching and understanding, which works to close our own minds from considering the current light in which we live in history and prophecy. I believe that Yeshua the Messiah gave us a key sign to mark this last generation with the return of the Jewish people to reestablish national Israel in its own land (the fig tree blossoming). (Mt 24:32-35) Continue reading “Daniel Chapter 2 — Overview”
Daniel, The Prophet For Our Days
Is the Book of Daniel Still Sealed, or is it Open?
Dan 12:4 “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
The Lord told the apostle John NOT to seal up the book of Revelation, “for the time is at hand”. (Rev 22:10) Jesus has given information and explanation regarding prophecies in the Book of Daniel. Revelation has many references to Daniel, as does Yeshua’s “Olivet Discourse” in Mt 24, Mk 13, Lk 21, in which He gives the signs leading up to His return at the end of the age. Continue reading “Daniel, The Prophet For Our Days”
LAMECH, AMALEK, ‘YESHU’, INTIFADA, YAD L’ACHIM
(Updated from Nov 2007, when presented at Eschatology conference in Langensteinbacherhohe in Karlsruhe, Germany)
In light of all of the present conflict centered in the Middle East, and affecting all of the nations of the whole world, I think it is instructive (if not comfortable) to see that truly there is nothing new under the sun. What was, will be . . . only in greater and larger and visible measure. The nature and spirit of things have been with us since time immemorial, and shows itself in open hostility to the truth and the sovereignty of YHVH (even from within among the covenanted people — Jews and Christians), the God who created the heavens and the Earth and the seas, and all that is in them; the God who has chosen Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be the fathers of the people, Israel and the Jews, through whom He has planned from before time to bless the world through His chosen Seed and Son, Yeshua/Jesus, King of the Jews, and Savior of the world. He still calls in His long-suffering grace all people and persons everywhere to repent, and to be saved from His wrath to come on the Day of the LORD (YHVH). Continue reading “LAMECH, AMALEK, ‘YESHU’, INTIFADA, YAD L’ACHIM”
What Time Is It, and What Day Is Today?
(Updated from the article, No One Knows The Day Or Hour – 27 Feb 2015)
The Full Moon in September was visible this past Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th. In Jewish terminology, this past Full Moon was on the Sabbath. This is during the sixth Hebrew month on the Jewish calendar, called Elul. The next New Moon will mark the beginning of the seventh month of Tishrei, or Etanim. This New Moon will also fall on Friday night/Saturday, the 27th/28th of September, two weeks following the Full Moon. Simple, right? Not for those who simply follow the calendar of modern Judaism for keeping the holidays, the set times of YHVH, the God of Israel, our Redeemer in Yeshua the Messiah/Jesus Christ. Continue reading “What Time Is It, and What Day Is Today?”
2Pt 3: The Day of YHVH Is Coming
Peter begins this chapter by reminding his brothers and sisters in the faith of what both the prophets during the Old Testament and also the Apostles of the Lord and Savior in the New Testament have spoken: “knowing this first”, that scoffers [among even the people of God] will come in the last days, living according to their own lusts, and saying that there are no indications/signs that the Lord is coming; nothing has changed since the creation of the world. If Christians and Jews do not believe in their heart that the Lord and Judge is coming, why should we expect others to take the matter seriously?! If believers are not praying the last prayer of the Bible – “Even so, come, Lord Jesus”! – why should we expect Israel to say “Blessed are you, Lord Jesus/Yeshua, who comes in the name of YHVH!”? Continue reading “2Pt 3: The Day of YHVH Is Coming”
Messiah Has Come!
What joy and hope this gave to those who heard the good news/glad tidings when the angels sang, and the Israeli Jewish shepherds in the field heard the joy of the Father in Heaven over the birth of His only-begotten Son, Yeshua, the King of Israel! And what comfort and expectation it gave to those who were waiting for the long-anticipated Messiah whom God first spoke of to our first father and mother in the Garden of Eden! In the sovereign wisdom of God, this expectation and hope were not fully fulfilled at the birth of the Lord, or even during His life and death and resurrection; no, that fullness of the Law and the Prophets waits for the return of this same Yeshua/Jesus to return in great power and glory, to be Lord of every man, and to whom all must confess that He is YHVH! What a glorious day that will be, and the new song to be sung by the saints and the angels! Continue reading “Messiah Has Come!”
New Moon of 7th Month: God Remembers His Covenant With Israel
(Collage by Connor Madison)Ps 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.
Num 29:1-6
The New Moon celebrations were given by YHVH to Israel to commemorate, both under the Law of Moses and also in the future Millennial Kingdom (Lev 23:24; Num 10:10; 28:11-15; Ezek 46:1-8). The New Testament tells those who are now believers in Yeshua/Jesus not to make too much of days, months, seasons, years, festivals, New Moons, Sabbaths – all of these things being shadows of things to come, but the substance is Messiah. (Gal 4:9-11; Col 2:16-17)
The Lord has told us that all of the Scriptures are written about Him, and we know that all of the sacrifices and holidays/appointed times are also fulfilled by Jesus in the entirety of His first coming, and in the anticipation of His coming again to fulfill all that is written in the whole of the Bible, which still waits for the Kingdom of God to come. God has given His set holy-day times to remember who He Is, what He has done, and what He will do. Even the Lord’s Supper/Communion serves those purposes. (1 Cor 11:26; Mt 26:26-29) Continue reading “New Moon of 7th Month: God Remembers His Covenant With Israel”
Nachalat Yeshua (Yeshua’s Inheritance) Vision and Mission
Rev 20:4-6 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor his image, nor had received his mark on their foreheads, nor in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (5) But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (6) Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years.
Mat 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in earth. (19) Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world. Amen. Continue reading “Nachalat Yeshua (Yeshua’s Inheritance) Vision and Mission”
The Kingdom of God: Significance and Expectation of the Physical Return of the Lord
Ps 45:1 A love song. My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition for the
King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer!
Prophecy is not given just so that we can know facts about the future. Many can give facts, but not know the God who is giving them. Many can know them, but their lives are not impacted. Consider the Pharisees who knew that the Messiah was supposed to be born in Bethlehem, in answering Herod, but yet had neither fear nor joy that the event might just have happened! Every detail will be fulfilled! Neither did they include the part that His goings forth are from everlasting! Prophecy is given us by the Spirit of God through the Word of God, telling us God’s heart and mind concerning future things. And knowing and loving and believing Him who is telling us whom He loves, they are supposed to affect our lives today: in hope, in anticipation, in learning what He loves and plans to bless, and what He hates and plans to judge – and to adjust our lives accordingly. We love God because He first loved us, and Yeshua has come to demonstrate that love by dying on the cross for the atonement of our sins. We love Jesus/Yeshua because He loves us. Continue reading “The Kingdom of God: Significance and Expectation of the Physical Return of the Lord”
More on Jerusalem as Capital of Israel – 15 Dec 2017
The whole issue revolves around whether someone believes that Israel is a legitimate sovereign nation or not. Jerusalem has always been Israel’s capital whenever there was a recognized Jewish nation in the land, including following the Babylonian captivity and during the Roman period at the time of Jesus and the apostles. Jerusalem was never declared the capital of any other country when controlling the land: not during the long Islamic occupation and the Ottoman Empire, and not during the years that Jordan and Palestinians controlled what is East Jerusalem from Israel’s independence in 1948 to the Six-Day War in 1967. The heartbeat of Jewish people everywhere throughout the generations of exile has been, “Next year in Jerusalem!”.
If someone — whether Christian, Jewish, or other — accepts Israel as legitimate under international Law (Balfour Declaration in 1917, San Remo Conference in 1920, League of Nations in 1922, United Nations in 1947) — then Jerusalem as the capital should not be so difficult. If for religious and other expediencies some one or some nation chooses to “trample Jerusalem under foot until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled”, then they are more likely to avoid the obvious reality. For those who believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to return from Heaven to the earthly Jerusalem and establish God’s Kingdom on Earth, then even more so should we be able to acknowledge the capital of Israel which King David founded at the Lord’s leading and revelation. While present Jerusalem may have the spirit of Sodom and Egypt (Rev 11:8), it is nonetheless destined to be the city of the great King to which all nations must go up during the Feast of Tabernacles to worship Him.