By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
In this paper I would like to look at the future
of this world and the Olam HaBa, the world to come.
The Sages understood that time would be measured
according to the pattern of the days of creation.
Six Sefirot, Six Days, Six Millennia
|
CREATION |
SEFIROT |
MILLENIA |
|
One Day |
Chesed Kindness |
1 |
|
A Second Day |
Gevurah Strength |
2 |
|
A Third Day |
Tiferet Beauty |
3 |
|
A Fourth Day |
Netzach Dominance |
4 |
|
A Fifth Day |
Hod Glory |
5 |
|
The Sixth Day |
Yesod Foundation |
6 |
It was understood that the first six millennia
would correspond to the first six days of creation. The seventh millennium would
correspond to Shabbat, Sabbath:
Tehillim (Psalms) 90:4 For
one thousand years in Your eyes are but a day that has passed.
To avoid confusion, I would like to specify how I am using certain terms.
The Messianic age is the seventh millennium. The Olam HaBa corresponds with
time after the seventh millennium.
The Talmud contains a great deal of material
on the future of this world and of the Olam HaBa. Let’s look at a particularly tantalizing
passage:
Sanhedrin 97a R. Kattina said: Six thousand years shall the
world exist, and one [thousand, the seventh], it shall be desolate, as it is
written, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Abaye said: it will be
desolate two [thousand], as it is said, After two days
will he revive us: in the third day, he will raise us up, and we shall live in
his sight.
It
has been taught in accordance with R. Kattina: Just as the seventh year is one
year of release in seven, so is the world: one
thousand years out of seven shall be fallow, as it is written, And the Lord
alone shall be exalted in that day,’ and it is further said, A Psalm and song
for the Sabbath day, meaning the day that is
altogether Sabbath — and it is also said, For a thousand years in thy sight are
but as yesterday when it is past.
The
Tanna debe Eliyahu teaches: The world is to exist six thousand years. In the
first two thousand there was desolation; two thousand years the Torah
flourished; and the next two thousand years is the Messianic era,
The end of the ages:
Bereans
(Hebrews) 9:22-28 In fact, the law
requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the
shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. It was necessary, then, for the
copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the
heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Mashiach did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was
only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven
itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to
offer himself again and again, the way the high priest
enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Mashiach would have had to suffer many times since the
creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of
the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is
destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, So Mashiach was
sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people;
and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
a. Sin is done away with at the end of the
ages.
b. The first coming of Mashiach was for the
purpose of taking away the sins of many people.
c. The second coming of Mashiach will be for
the purpose of bringing salvation to those who wait for Him.
The end of the age:
Matityahu
(Matthew) 24:1-5 Yeshua left the
temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his
attention to its buildings. "Do you see all these things?" he asked.
"I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every
one will be thrown down." As Yeshua was sitting on the Mount
of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they
said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign
of your coming and of the end of the age?"
Yeshua answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come
in my name, claiming, 'I am the Mashiach,' and will deceive many.
Yeshua then goes on to describe the events
leading up to the end of the age.
Matityahu
(Matthew) 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but
see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is
still to come.
So, WW1, WW2, and etc. will happen, but the end
is still to come. (These are not the end!)
Matityahu
(Matthew) 24:7-8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom. There will be famines and
earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
The nation against nation and kingdom against
kingdom is ethnic violence. In 1993 the count was 58 incidents!
"Places" means:
5117 topos, top'-os; appar. a prim. word; a spot (gen. in space, but limited
by occupancy; whereas 5561 is a larger but partic. locality), i.e. location
(as a position, home, tract, etc.); fig. condition, opportunity; spec. a
scabbard:-coast, licence, place, X plain, quarter, + rock, room, where.
This seems to indicate that the famines and
earthquakes will be geographically limited, to begin with.
Matityahu
(Matthew) 24:9-10 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted
and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that
time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
This looks like the next step...
Matityahu
(Matthew) 24:11-28 And many false prophets will appear and
deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most
will grow cold, But he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this
gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all
nations, and then the end will come. "So when you see standing in the holy
place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet
Daniel--let the reader understand-- Then let those who are in Judea flee to the
mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of
the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it
will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your
flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the
world until now--and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut
short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be
shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Mashiach!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For
false Mashiachs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that
were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. "So if anyone tells
you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the
inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is
visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of
It appears as though believers (The Benei Yisrael) will be gathered after the distress.
Matityahu
(Matthew) 24:29-31 "Immediately after the distress of
those days 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' "At that time the sign of the Son
of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with
a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four
winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
1. The tribulation
2. Immediately after
we have the Son of Man returning. Then...
3. We have the elect
gathered from the four winds.
This seems to go along with:
I
Thessalonians 4:15-17 According to the Lord's own word, we tell you
that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord,
will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself
will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Mashiach will rise
first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we
will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
And:
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 43:1-7 But now, this is what HaShem
says--he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed
you, O
And:
Yechezkel
(Ezekiel) 37:11-14 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these
bones are the whole house of
After the resurrection and the gathering we have the
Yiremeyahu
(Jeremiah) 30:5-7 "This is what HaShem says: "'Cries
of fear are heard--terror, not peace. Ask and see: Can a man bear children?
Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman
in labor, every face turned deathly pale? How awful that day will be! None will
be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
but he will be saved out of it.
The great distress is
the time of Jacob's trouble. Jacob will be saved out of it.
Matityahu
(Matthew) 24:29-31 "Immediately after the distress of those
days 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will
not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies
will be shaken.' "At that time the sign of the
Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the
nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels
with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four
winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Matityahu
(Matthew) 13:1-8 That same day Yeshua
went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around
him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the
shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went
out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed,
some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky
places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil
was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they
withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up
and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a
crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Matityahu
(Matthew) 13:36-43 Then he left the crowd and went into the
house. His disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of
the weeds in the field." He answered, "The one who sowed the good
seed is the Son of
Does this mean that we will glow like Moses?
Matityahu
(Matthew) 24:36-42 "No one knows about that day or hour, not
even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the
days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days
before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah
entered the ark; And they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood
came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming
of the Son of
Why are we commanded to keep watch? For what?
Matityahu
(Matthew) 25:1-13 "At that time the
kingdom of heaven will be like ten
virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish
ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however,
took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in
coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. "At
Why are we commanded to keep watch? For what?
Hoshea
(Hosea) 1:1-11 The word of HaShem
that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and
Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king
of Israel: When HaShem began to speak through Hosea, HaShem said to him,
"Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness,
because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from HaShem."
So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she
conceived and bore him a son. Then HaShem said to Hosea, "Call him
Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at
Jezreel, and I will put an end to the
|
First |
Jezreel |
Punishment |
|
Second |
Lo Ruhamah |
I will no longer show love |
|
Third |
Lo-ammi |
You are not my people |
Israelites will be
like the sand on the seashore.
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 40:1-5 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak
tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her
hard service has been completed, that her sin has been
paid for, that she has received from HaShem’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for HaShem; make
straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised
up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the
rugged places a plain. And the glory of HaShem will
be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of HaShem has
spoken."
The hard service has
been completed, when the Messiah returns.
How much of Daniel 11
is future?
Daniel
11:27-31 The two kings, with
their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other,
but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed
time. The king of the North will return to his own country with great
wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant.
He will take action against it and then return to his own country. "At the
appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time the outcome will
be different from what it was before. Ships of the western coastlands will
oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury
against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake
the holy covenant. "His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple
fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the
abomination that causes desolation.
If it is ALL future at
this point we may have some more clues. Remember what Solomon said:
Kohelet
(Ecclesiastes) 1:9 What has been will be again, what has been
done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Matityahu
(Matthew) 24:15-22 "So when you see standing in the holy
place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the
prophet Daniel--let the reader understand-- Then let those who are in Judea
flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take
anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How
dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray
that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--and never to be equaled again. If those
days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of
the elect those days will be shortened.
Revelation
8:12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a
third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon,
and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of
the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
Daniel
11:32-35 With flattery he will corrupt those who have
violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist
him. "Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will
fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. When they fall, they
will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them. Some
of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made
spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed
time.
There will be
tribulation for the wise.
Many who are not
sincere will join the wise.
Daniel
11:36-39 "The king will do as he pleases.
He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of
things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath
is completed, for what has been determined must take place. He will show no
regard for the gods of his fathers or for the one
desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them
all. Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his
fathers he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly
gifts. He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god
and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over
many people and will distribute the land at a price.
Daniel
11:40-43 "At the time of the end the king
of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm
out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will
invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. He will also invade
the
Do we have the
Ptolemy's (king of the south -
Edom,
Daniel
11:44 - 12:5 But reports from the east and the north will
alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. He
will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet
he will come to his end, and no one will help him. "At that time Michael,
the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of
distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But
at that time your people--everyone whose name is found
written in the book--will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep
in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting
life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will
shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those
who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you,
Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll
until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge."
The east (USA?) and
the north (Russia?) will bring an alarming report.
Michael will be protecting
At this time the first
resurrection takes place.
The wise will glow
(like Moses?).
Is the increased
knowledge, general knowledge, or Biblical knowledge?
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 19:16-21 In that day the Egyptians will be like women.
They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that HaShem
Almighty raises against them. And the
Some have said that
this is the pyramid at Geza which means "border".
Hoshea
(Hosea) 3:3-5 Then I told her, "You are to live with me
many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will
live with you." For the Israelites will live many days without king or
prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. Afterward
the Israelites will return and seek HaShem their
God and David their king. They will come trembling to HaShem and to his
blessings in the last days.
The Last Days
Bereshit
(Genesis) 49:1-2 Then Jacob called
for his sons and said: "Gather around so I can
tell you what will happen to you in days to come.”Assemble and listen,
sons of Jacob; listen to your father
Bereshit
(Genesis) 49:3-4 "Reuben,
you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my
strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Turbulent as the waters, you
will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father's bed, onto my couch and
defiled it.
Bereshit
(Genesis) 49:5-7 "Simeon
and Levi are brothers--their swords
are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their
assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they
pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will
scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in
Bereshit
(Genesis) 49:8-12 "
Bereshit
(Genesis) 49:13 "Zebulun
will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships; his border will extend
toward
Bereshit
(Genesis) 49:14 "Issachar
is a rawboned donkey lying down between two saddlebags. When he sees how good
is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to
the burden and submit to forced labor.
Bereshit
(Genesis) 49:16-18 "Dan
will provide justice for his people as one of the tribes
of
Bereshit
(Genesis) 49:19 "Gad
will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels.
Bereshit
(Genesis) 49:20 "Asher's
food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a
king.
Bereshit
(Genesis) 49:21 "Naphtali
is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
Bereshit
(Genesis) 49:22-26 "Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a
spring, whose branches climb over a wall. With bitterness archers attacked him;
they shot at him with hostility. But his bow remained steady, his strong arms
stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the
Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, Because of your father's God, who helps you,
because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below,
blessings of the breast and womb. Your father's blessings are greater than the
blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills. Let
all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of
the prince among his brothers.
Bereshit
(Genesis) 49:27-28 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he
devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder." All these are
the twelve tribes of
Bamidbar
(Numbers) 24:12-24 Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell
the messengers you sent me, 'Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with
silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go
beyond the command of HaShem--and I must say only
what HaShem says'? Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you
of what this people will do to your people in days to come." Then
he uttered his oracle: "The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of
one whose eye sees clearly, The oracle of one who hears the words of God, who
has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who
falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened: "I see him, but not now; I
behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob;
a scepter will rise out of
Devarim
(Deuteronomy) 4:26-31 I call heaven and
earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the
land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long
but will certainly be destroyed. HaShem will scatter you among the peoples, and
only a few of you will survive among the nations to which HaShem will drive
you. There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see
or hear or eat or smell. But if from there you seek HaShem
your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with
all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to
you, then in later days you will return to HaShem your God and obey him.
For HaShem your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or
forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he
confirmed to them by oath.
Devarim
(Deuteronomy) 31:24-29 After Moses finished writing in a book the
words of this law from beginning to end, He gave this
command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant
of HaShem: "Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the
covenant of HaShem your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. For
I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious
against HaShem while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you
rebel after I die! Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all
your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call
heaven and earth to testify against them. For I know that after my death you
are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded
you. In days to come, disaster will fall upon you because you will do
evil in the sight of HaShem and provoke him to anger by what your hands have
made."
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 2:1-5 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning
Yiremeyahu
(Jeremiah) 23:15-22 Therefore, this is what HaShem Almighty says
concerning the prophets: "I will make them eat
bitter food and drink poisoned water, because from the
prophets of
Yiremeyahu
(Jeremiah) 30:22 - 31:9 "'So you will be my people, and I will be
your God.'" See, the storm of HaShem will burst out in wrath, a driving
wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. The fierce anger of HaShem will
not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days
to come you will understand this. "At that time," declares HaShem,
"I will be the God of all the clans of
Yiremeyahu
(Jeremiah) 48:47 "Yet I will restore the fortunes of
Yiremeyahu
(Jeremiah) 49:39 "Yet I will restore the fortunes of
Yechezkel
(Ezekiel) 38:16 You will advance against my people
Daniel
2:27-45 Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter,
magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, But
there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He
has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as
you lay on your bed are these: "As you were lying there, O king, your mind
turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is
going to happen. As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I
have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know
the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind. "You
looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue--an enormous,
dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure
gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, Its legs of
iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were
watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on
its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the
bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and
became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer.
The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the
statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. "This was the
dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. You, O king, are the king of
kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; In
your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of
the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that
head of gold. "After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours.
Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally,
there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron--for iron breaks and smashes
everything--and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all
the others. Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay
and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of
the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes
were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and
partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the
people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes
with clay. "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a
kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It
will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself
endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a
mountain, but not by human hands--a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the
clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. "The great God has shown the king
what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is
trustworthy."
Daniel
8:16-27 And I heard a man's voice from the Ulai
calling, "Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision." As he
came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate.
"Son of man," he said to me, "understand that the vision
concerns the time of the end." While he was speaking to me, I was in a
deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he
touched me and raised me to my feet. He said: "I
am going to tell you what will happen later in the time
of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed
time of the end. The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of
Media and
Daniel
12:6-13 One of them said to the man clothed in linen,
who was above the waters of the river, "How long will it be before these
astonishing things are fulfilled?" The man clothed in linen, who was above
the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever,
saying, "It will be for a time, times and half
a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these
things will be completed." I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked,
"My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?" He replied,
"Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the
time of the end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the
wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but
those who are wise will understand. "From the time that the daily
sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up,
there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end
of the 1,335 days. "As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest,
and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance."
Hoshea
(Hosea) 3:1-5 HaShem said to me,
"Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and
is an adulteress. Love her as HaShem loves the Israelites, though they turn to
other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a
lethek of barley. Then I told her, "You are to live with me many days; you
must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with
you." For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince,
without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. Afterward the
Israelites will return and seek HaShem their God and David their king. They
will come trembling to HaShem and to his blessings in the last days.
Yoel
(Joel) 2:15-32 Blow the trumpet in
Micah
4:1-7 In the last days the
II
Luqas (Acts) 2:14-20 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd:
"Fellow Jews and all of you who live in
II
Timothy 3:1-9 But mark this: There will be terrible times in
the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, Without
love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the
good, Treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of
God-- Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with
them. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over
weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are
swayed by all kinds of evil desires, Always learning but never able to
acknowledge the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these
men oppose the truth--men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is
concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case
of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.
Bereans
(Hebrews) 1:1-2 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in
various ways, But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,
whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
Yaaqov
(James) 5:1-8 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon
you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and
silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You
have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay
the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the
harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth
in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of
slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing
you. Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer
waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the
autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand
firm, because the Lord's coming is near.
II
Tzefet (Peter) 3:1-14 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to
you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome
thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy
prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. First
of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come,
scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is
this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers
died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation."
But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water
and by water. By these waters also the world of that time
was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are
reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of
ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a
day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is
not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient
with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But
the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a
roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in
it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind
of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives As you look
forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the
destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But
in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new
earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking
forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace
with him.
Revelation
20:1-7 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his
hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the
devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the
Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the
nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set
free for a short time. I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been
given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded
because of their testimony for Yeshua and because of
the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not
received his mark on their foreheads or their
hands. They came to life and reigned with Mashiach
a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand
years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second
death has no power over them, but they will be priests
of God and of Mashiach and will reign with him for a thousand years. When
the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison
The first resurrection
happens just before the millennium. This makes a "rapture" difficult
because:
I Thessalonians 4:16-17 For
the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the
voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of
God, and the dead in Mashiach will rise first. After that, we who are still
alive and are left will be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord
forever.
Here we have the dead
being resurrected and from the Revelation passage they will be reigning on the earth!
Only believers are
part of the first resurrection. There must be
someone to "reign" over...i.e. unbelievers.
Daniel
7:23-28 "He gave me this explanation: 'The fourth
beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from
all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and
crushing it. The ten horns are ten kings who will come
from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the
earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will
speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The
saints will be handed over to him for a time, times
and half a time. "'But the court will sit, and his power will be taken
away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and
greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the
saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting
kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.' "This is the
end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face
turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself."
This passage seems to
confirm that the rulers are believers who are reigning on earth.
Matityahu
(Matthew) 24:29-31 "Immediately after the distress of those
days 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' "At that time the sign of the Son
of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with
a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect
from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the
other.
The gathering of the
elect takes place after the distress of those days. This must be the time of Jacob's trouble i.e. the tribulation.
Matityahu
(Matthew) 24:37-42 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be
at the coming of the Son of
If the wicked are
"taken"; who do we reign over?
Yochanan
(John) 17:13-21 "I am coming to you now, but I say these
things while I am still in the world, so that they
may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word
and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am
of the world. My prayer is not that you take them
out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not
of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is
truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them
I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. "My prayer is
not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their
message, That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in
you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent
me.
Yeshua
did not pray for believers to be removed (raptured).
Shemot
(Exodus) 8:20-24 Then HaShem said to
Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the
water and say to him, 'This is what HaShem says: Let my people go, so that they
may worship me. If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on
you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the
Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground where they are. "'But
on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people
live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, HaShem,
am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people.
This miraculous sign will occur tomorrow.'" And HaShem did this. Dense
swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his
officials, and throughout
If HaShem deals with
believers, during the time of Jacob's trouble, the same way He dealt with
Plagues on
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Water turned to blood Water
turned to blood Frogs - everywhere Frogs -
everywhere
Dust into gnats Dust
into gnats Swarms
of flies
Plague on livestock -
they all died Boils on
men and livestock
Hailstorm Locusts
Darkness that can be
felt Death of the firstborn.
Righteous people will
reflect HaShem's glory in His presence. The will "glow"
I believe that Adam and Eve "glowed". This "glow"
stopped when they ate the fruit. They became naked.
Bereshit
(Genesis) 3:6-13 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree
was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining
wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was
with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they
realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made
coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of HaShem God as he was walking in the garden
in the cool of the day, and they hid from HaShem God among the trees of the
garden. But HaShem God called to the man, "Where are you?" He
answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was
naked; so I hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked?
Have you eaten from the tree
that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you
put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then
HaShem God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman
said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
When they ate the
fruit their bodies changed because they could SEE that they were naked. If we look at STRONG'S we can see
his definition:
Bereshit (Genesis) 3:7 And the eyes of them
both were opened, and they knew that they
[were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
3045 yada`, yaw-dah';
a prim. root; to know (prop. to ascertain by seeing); used in a great
variety of senses, fig., lit., euphemism. and infer.(including observation
care, recognition; and causat. instruction, designation, punishment, etc.) [as
follow]:-acknowledge, acquaintance (-ted with), advise, answer, appoint,
assuredly, be aware, [un-] awares, can [-not], certainly, for a certainty,
comprehend, consider, X could they, cunning, declare, be diligent, (can, cause
to) discern, discover, endued with, familiar friend, famous, feel, can have, be
[ig-] norant instruct, kinsfolk, kinsman, (cause to, let, make) know, (come to
give, have, take) knowledge, have [knowledge], (be, make, make to be, make
self) known, + be learned, + lie by man, mark, perceive, privy to, X
prognosticator, regard, have respect, skilful, shew, can (man of) skill, be
sure, of a surety, teach, (can) tell, understand, have [understanding], X will
be, wist, wit, wot.
Moses
"glowed" when he was in the presence of HaShem:
Shemot
(Exodus) 34:27=35 Then HaShem said to Moses, "Write down
these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you
and with
Notice that Moses
also, like Adam and Eve, covered his naked face when the glory faded.
Iyov (Job) understood
that the righteous (living) will glow:
Iyov
(Job) 33:28-30 He redeemed my
soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.' "God
does all these things to a man--twice, even three
times-- To turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may
shine on him.
The psalmist
recognized this "glow" and it's source:
Tehillim
(Psalms)
Solomon understood the
"glow":
Kohelet
(Ecclesiastes) 8:1 Who is like the wise man? Who knows the
explanation of things? Wisdom brightens a man's face and changes its hard
appearance.
Yeshayahu (Isaiah)
spoke of this "glow":
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 60:1-6 "Arise, shine, for your light has
come, and the glory of HaShem rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples, but HaShem rises upon you and his glory
appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness
of your dawn. "Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and
come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the
arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell
with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of
the nations will come. Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of
Midian and Ephah. And all from
The righteous will
"shine like the sun", reflecting HaShem's glory.
Matityahu
(Matthew) 13:34-43 Yeshua spoke all
these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without
using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: "I
will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation
of the world." Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His
disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in
the field." He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of
Paul spoke of this
"glow" relative to the whole church:
Ephesians
5:25-29 Husbands, love your wives, just as Mashiach loved the church and gave himself up for her To
make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, And to
present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or
any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to
love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his
wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and
cares for it, just as Mashiach does the church--
I. The Assyrian:
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 10:5-22 "Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of
my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! I send him against a godless
nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch
plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. But this is not what
he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put
an end to many nations. 'Are not my commanders all kings?' he says. 'Has not
Calno fared like
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 14:25-27 I will crush the Assyrian in my land;
on my mountains I will trample him down. His yoke will be taken from my people,
and his burden removed from their shoulders." This is the plan determined
for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out
over all nations. For HaShem Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His
hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?
Micah
5:1-15 Marshal your troops, O city of troops, for a
siege is laid against us. They will strike
* * *
Micah
7:12-17 In that day people will come to you from
Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates and from sea
to sea and from mountain to mountain. The earth will become desolate because of
its inhabitants, as the result of their deeds. Shepherd your people with your
staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in
fertile pasturelands. Let them feed in Bashan and
If you think about
what happened in
* * *
This study was
written by Hillel ben David
(Greg Killian).
Comments may be
submitted to:
Greg Killian
1101 Surrey Trace SE
Tumwater, WA 98501
Internet
address: gkilli@aol.com
Web page: http://www.betemunah.org/
(360) 584-9352
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Killian at his email address: gkilli@aol.com