Israel: Preparing for the coming of the Messiah... soon...

Africa Crisis

[In the light of some interest by Christians regarding a statement I made that there is an effort by some Christians and Jews to find the Ark of the Covenant, I thought I would tell a bit more about what I am hearing from Jewish sources.

A Jewish friend of mine in Johannesburg phoned me to tell me he had attended a most fascinating presentation by a Rabbi's wife.

It was all about The End Times, and was woven around the Jewish numerology (Kabalah I think it is called).

I'm not going to go into all the detail, because as with all prophecy, one can read many things into scriptures if one wants to. But I thought I would mention a few "big things" which are occurring among the Jews these days. I'm no Biblical expert, but I will mention some basic things which might be important.

The talk the lady gave was that not only are The End Times here, but The Messiah's coming is close now.

Now before you think the Rabbi's wife is off her rocker, I must mention that I have some good friends in Israel, and I've been hearing very similar things from them. So it appears to me, there is something stirring very seriously among Jews - probably across the world. So I will mention too, things I have heard directly from my Jewish friends in Israel.

In the Bible there is mention of pointers which will indicate that we are in The End times. The most important pointer is that the Jews will return to Israel. And as you know, Israel was created by less than 700,000 Jews in 1948 in a civil war. There weren't that many Jews there before then. It was the Zionist Movement which brought Jews back to Israel. Even now, Jews are returning to Israel from all across the world. So for 100 years or more, Jews have been returning to Israel - and that is one of the pointers that we are in The End Times.

According to the Rabbi's wife, in the various Jewish scriptures there are other pointers too. Among the pointers my friend remembered from the talk was things like: Children will rebel against their parents - which is something that has also been going on in the world for quite some time.

I must mention the extreme importance of the Messiah to the Jews. The Jews have never accepted anyone as a "Messiah" for over 5,000 years. So the fact that the Jews are now waiting, and believing, in larger numbers, that the Messiah may be here soon is something, the importance of which, cannot be underestimated. We are talking here about an event which is "greater" than that of Jesus - if I may put it that way. I don't want to belittle Christians, but we're talking about somebody which even the Jews will accept as "The Messiah" - and no doubt, Christians will follow suit.

I have been finding it very interesting, in recent months, hearing my Jewish friends talking more and more about the discussions they are having among each other, and with their Rabbis on the subject of the Messiah.

There is one prophecy which was mentioned to me, which ties in to modern politics rather well. Apparently in these scriptures it mentions that Babylon will be reconstituted, and it will survive for 70 years before it is invaded and destroyed. The Jews say that Babylon is, undoubtedly, Iraq. And Iraq gained its independence from Britain in 1932. Iraq was invaded and brought to a fall by the USA in 2003 - which means it was around for 71 years!!!

The Rabbi's wife's presentation went into a lot of detail about 9/11, George Bush, etc, etc and the numerology which ties it all together - but I am not going to bother with that sort of thing here because I've seen these kinds of things too many times with regard to other prophecies.

What is of more importance to me, is the "Big Picture" if you will - the huge things - the mega-trends - which indicate "the time is nigh".

It is the political act of the Israelis being forced to hand over territory to the Arabs, which is creating an incredible surge among the Jews as to whether this is in accordance with God's will. In the Old Testament, God promises Israel to the Jews and expects them to keep every square inch of it. Indeed, God promises the Jews that he will give them land which belongs to other people as well. He gives them much more territory than they have in Israel today. And this is a serious thing especially to the Rabbis because they see themselves as being in the "front line" for God. They answer to nobody except God, and they intend resisting, with their lives, anything which they deem to be against the Will of God.

So now politics is entering into a contest with religion - and religion is an extremely powerful thing - and current events may be strengthening it even more.

Apparently in the Jewish "calendar", they have an "agricultural cycle" which is 7 years long. They plant for 6 years and leave the land fallow for a 7th year. Apparently, in these scriptures, they discuss the arrival of the Messiah as being within one of these cycles.

The Rabbi's wife's theory, using various numerology, etc - 9/11 and the intifada which started in Israel in 2000, coincide with the start of the current 7 year cycle. This cycle ends in 2006/7.

Apparently, these Jewish scriptures lay out a series of prophecies which occur and which tie up to the years of the cycle in which the Messiah arrives. The Messiah can only arrive in the 7th and final year of each cycle (as I understand it). So the Messiah can only arrive in either 2006/7 or, 2013/14, etc.

So the Rabbi's wife's lecture was that in her interpretation, using the Kabalah, etc - that the Messiah could be expected in 2006/7.

There are other pointers too... which I don't know if it is too early. Apparently the sea of Galilee (sp?) will disappear as well. Another prophecy was about "oceanic disasters" (She theorised maybe the tsunami of December 2004?), and so forth. I think we can all agree that the weather is definitely getting strange especially due to global warming - and there are Jews who are taking this too as a serious indication that the clock is ticking, and God is busy changing the face of the planet. There are Jews who see these as indications that the Messiah is near and the battles for the survival of the Jews is close at hand.

The purpose of these massive disasters, according to the Rabbi's wife, is that God wants to unite nations through disaster and suffering.

Their scriptures also say that God will punish those nations who maltreated the Jews. I might add, that these scriptures also say that God will bless those people who bless the Jews.

I did mention in a previous post that there is a movement afoot, among some Christians and Jews to find the Ark of the Covenant. Now this is a most interesting story.

Apparently, the Romans seized a lot of Jewish artifacts 2,000 years ago, and these are now in the Vatican. But, the Jews also built tunnels in and around Jerusalem. Some of these have already been discovered. The Jews apparently built these tunnels as hiding places for their most precious items to keep them from the hands of their various enemies. There are texts which state that the Ark of the Covenant is hidden in one of these tunnels.

The Jewish scriptures state that there are certain artifacts, among them, the Ark of the Covenant, which will be rediscovered prior to the arrival of the Messiah.

There are also a number of conditions which must be fulfilled before the temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem.

According to my friend, there is a whole industry in Israel now, where people are preparing in 101 different ways for the coming of the Messiah. Apparently people are being trained to carry out ancient rituals which have not been carried out for a very long time, but which will be carried out when the temple is rebuilt. People are even redesigning clothing which used to be worn in ancient times, and which will be worn again when "the New Israel" comes into being, and so forth.

Israel, in its current form is a secular state. However the Jewish scriptures dictate that Israel, in the form in which it is to exist once the Messiah has appeared, will be a religious state. It won't be politicians calling the shots - but the Rabbis dictating how things will be run.

One Israeli friend of mine who is deeply religious has told me more about the Messiah they envisage - and it is pretty much in line with what others have said to me. The Messiah is to be a great leader - a leader who will be able to lead the Jews in battle as they fight for their survival. The Messiah is not going to be like the Pope. The Messiah they envisage will be something quite different altogether, because their existence, as a group is on the line. The whole world is against them, but God has decreed that they will survive. The Messiah is going to be a type of great leader/warrior.

I would like to talk for a minuate about what one might call the "Judeo-Christian Alliance". Although one might class Christianity as a "radical offshoot" of Judaism, and the Jews and Christians have had their differences in the past, it appears to me that in the future, Jews and Christians are to be reconciled and will stand together.

There have been a number of articles from various American conservative publications in recent years which give out the politically incorrect view about the Muslims - and which state that the Koran instructs Muslims to murder all Jews, and to convert Christians at sword-point. I won't go into this, but there is a lot of material out there, which explains that. Thus from the Muslim point of view, Christians and Jews are lumped together as the enemy, with the Jews being Muslim Public Enemy #1, and the Christians being Muslim Public Enemy #2.

A friend of mine who is a devout Christian told me that he read in the Bible (from the Christian viewpoint), that the Jews would "come right in The End Times" - and that Christians and Jews would see eye-to-eye in the end.

Interestingly enough, I see the same sort of viewpoint emanating from Jews. They too are seeing Christians as their allies and friends in the hour of their greatest need.

And herein lies a fascinating concept - that of tiny little Israel as a Super-Power. Israel, with just over 4 million Jews (and about 2 million Arabs I think), is half the size of tiny Holland. Yet... through the Old Testament, and this "offshoot" called Christianity, Israel actually holds a commanding moral position in the world which is much more powerful than the Vatican, or any other religious group. The few million Jews, through their Rabbis, actually hold a tremendous amount of power in their hands. Tiny Israel, is actually a "mighty nation", if it invokes its power over Christianity, and calls Christians to arms.

Many Americans fear the 1 billion Muslims... but the Muslims are small fry compared to the Judeo-Christian alliance. If the Christians want to save Israel - the Christians are a very serious Super-power to be reckoned with - and the Jews hold the lever which could unleash the Christians.

We seem to be entering a phase in the world, where Politics is starting to mingle with religion. The Muslims have their Holy War against the USA and the Western world, and the Muslims want to conquer the whole world and turn everyone, at sword point, into a Muslim - while simultaneously slaughtering every last Jew on the planet.

But, Judaism, and Christianity, might yet also enter the political world.

Whether the Messiah really will arrive within the current cycle, is anybody's guess... but undoubtedly, on a grander scale, one has to admit, that over the last 100+ years, some major changes have occurred in Israel which seem to have scriptural links.

I do find it extremely fascinating that "The Chosen Race" are starting to unite, and to mobilise. They are starting to think that the time of the Messiah is close at hand and there are significant groups of them preparing for it in a serious way. I do think we are witnessing something the likes of which we have never seen in the history of our civilisation. So I will watch the events in Israel with great interest in the next few years to see what happens. And maybe Christians should start taking note of what is happening there, because there definitely seems to be something brewing in that strange little land of the Jews. Jan]