Posted on 09/20/2006 10:14:32 AM PDT by Buggman
As many of you already know, we are entering into the fall High Holy Days, comprised of the Feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. Just as the spring Feastdays celebrate the First Coming of Messiah Yeshua, and Shavuot (Pentecost) celebrates the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) to the Ekklesia in between the visitations of Yeshua, the Fall Feastdays look forward to His Second Comingand in particular, the Feast of Trumpets looks forward to His Glorious Appearance in the clouds of heaven!
The day which this year falls on September 23 (beginning at sundown the previous night) is known by many names, but is little understood. The most commonly used today is Rosh Hashanah, the Head of the Year or New Year, and is regarded as the start of the Jewish civil calendar. (The religious calendar begins on the first of Nisan, fourteen days before Passover, in accordance with Exo. 12:2.) For this reasons, Jews will greet each other with the phrase, Lshana tova u-metukah, May you have a good and sweet new year or simply Shanah tova, A good year. In anticipation of this sweet new year, it is customary to eat a sweet fruit, like an apple or carrot dipped in honey.
The Talmud records the belief that In the month of Tishri, the world was created (Rosh Hashanah 10b), and its probably due to this belief that it became known as the Jewish New Year. The belief that the world was created on Rosh Hashanah came out of an anagram: The letters of the first word in the Bible, In the beginning . . . (Bresheit) can be rearranged to say, 1 Tishri (Aleph bTishri). Perhaps because so little is directly said in Scripture about this dayunlike all of the other Feastdays, there is no historical precedent given to explain why Rosh Hashanah should be celebratedthe rabbis also speculated that Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Samuel were all born on this day.
However, thats not its Biblical name, which is Yom Teruah, the Day of the [Trumpet] Blast:
And YHVH spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing (Heb. zikrown teruah) [of trumpets], an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHVH. (Lev. 23:23-25)In each of these passages, Ive placed trumpets in brackets because its not actually in the Hebrew text; however, teruah can and usually does mean to sound the trumpet (though it can mean to shout with a voice as well) and the use of a trumpet on this day is considered so axiomatic that there is literally no debate in Jewish tradition on the matter. Specifically, the trumpet used is the shofar. The shofar is traditionally always made from the horn of a ram, in honor of the ram that God substituted for Isaac, and never from a bulls horn, in memory of the sin of the golden calf.And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing (teruah) [the trumpets] unto you. (Num. 29:1)
The shofar first appears in Scripture as heralding the visible appearance of God coming down on Mt. Sinai to meet with His people (Ex. 19:16-19). It is also linked with His Coming in Zec. 9:14 and with Him going up (making aliyah) to Jerusalem in Psa. 47:5. Small wonder then that Yeshua said He would Come again with the sound of a trumpet, a shofar, in Mat. 24:31, which is echoed by Shaul (Paul) in 1 Th. 4:16 and 1 Co. 15:52. Indeed, many commentators have recognized that by the last trump, Shaul was referring to the final shofar blast, called the Tekia HaGadol, of the Feast of Trumpets.
This visitation by YHVH is closely associated with the second of this Feastdays names: Yom Zikkroun, the Day of Remembrance. This is not primarily meant to be a day when the people remember God, but when God remembers His peoplenot that He has forgotten them, but in which He fulfills His promises to them by Coming to them. In Isa. 27:13, it is the instrument used to call Gods people Israel back to the Land. In Psalm 27, which is traditionally read in the month leading up to Yom Teruah, we see the Psalmist looking forward to God rescuing him from his enemies:
Among the rabbis, the shofar is often associated with the Coming of the Messiah and the Resurrection of the Dead as well. According to the Alphabet Midrash of Rabbi Akiva, seven shofars announce successive steps of the resurrection process, with Zechariah 9:14 quoted as a proof text: And Adonai the Lord will blow the shofar (Stern, David H., Jewish New Testament Commentary, 489f). And it is the shofar that the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to blow when the Son of David, our righteous one, will reveal himself, as it is said, And the Lord GOD will blow the shofar (Tanna debe Eliyahu Zutta XXII). Its interesting that the rabbis, without the benefit of the New Covenant writings, have come to the same conclusions as the Apostles: That YHVH would visit His people in the person of the Messiah and raise the dead on Yom Teruah (also in the Bablyonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 16b). On Yom Teruah, the shofar not only rouses the people from their complacency, but the very dead from their graves. (See Job 19:25-27, Isa. 26:19, and Dan. 12:2 for the Tanakhs primary passages on the Resurrection.)Though an host should encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear:
Though war should rise against me,
In this will I be confident . . .For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion:
In the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me;
He shall set me up upon a rock. . .
The shofar is an instrument that is very much associated with war (Jdg. 3:27, 2 Sa. 20:1, Neh. 4:18-22, Ezk. 33:3-6). It was used to destroy the walls of Jericho (Jdg. 6:20). In Joel 2:1, it sounds the start of the Day of the Lord, the time in which God will make war on His enemies: Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the Day of YHVH cometh, for it is nigh at hand (cf. v. 15). This again matches perfectly with the NT, where Shaul describes the Lords coming with a trumpet immediately preceding the Day of the Lord (1 Th. 4:16, 5:2).
This brings us to the next name for this Feastday, Yom HaDin, Judgment Day. Not only did the shofar sound the call for war, but also the coronation of kings (2 Sa. 15:10; 1 Ki. 1:34, 29; 2 Ki. 9:13, 11:12-14). Therefore, the rabbis have always associated this day with Gods sovereign Kingship over all mankind: On Rosh Hashanah all human beings pass before Him as troops, as it is said, The LORD looketh from heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of His habitation He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; He considereth all their works (Rosh Hashanah 6b, quoting Psa. 53:13-15). To remember Gods Kingship, it is traditional to eat round objects to remind us of Gods crown (oriental crowns being shaped as skullcaps instead of circlets). For example, challah is made to be round instead of braided as it normally is.
Because this day is associated with Gods judgment, it is also considered a time of repentance (tshuva) in preparation for Yom Kippur. The Casting (Tashlikh) Ceremony, in which observant Jews gather together at the shores of oceans, lakes, and rivers and cast in stones and/or crumbs of bread to symbolize casting off their sins, is performed on this day to a prayer comprised of Mic. 7:18-20, Psa. 118:5-9, Psa. 33 and 130, and often finishing with Isa. 11:9.
The Talmud (ibid.) goes on to say that on this day, all mankind is divided into three types of people. The wholly righteous were immediately written in the Book of Life (Exo. 32:33, Psa. 69:28) for another year. The wholly wicked were blotted out of the Book of Life, condemned to die in the coming year. Those in between, if they truly repented before the end of Yom Kippur, could likewise be scribed in the Book of Life for another year. For this reason, a common greeting at this time is Lshana tova tikatevu, which means, May you be inscribed [in the Book of Life] for a good new year.He will turn again,
He will have compassion upon us;
He will subdue our iniquities;
And Thou wilt cast all their sins
Into the depths of the sea.
(Mic. 7:19)
The Bible, of course, is clear that one is written in the Lambs Book of Life (cf. Php. 4:3; Rev. 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, and 21:27) not by ones own righteousness, but by receiving the Messiahs righteousness by faith, trusting in Him, and that there is no in-between; one either trusts God or one doesnt. Nevertheless, a great eschatological truth is preserved for us in this rabbinical tradition. At the time of Yeshuas Second Coming, all mankind will be divided into three groups. Those who have already trusted in the Messiah will be Resurrected and Raptured to be with Him immediately upon His Coming on the clouds of the sky. Those who have taken the mark of the Beast and have chosen to remain with the Wicked One will be slated to die in the Day of the Lord, which for reasons that are beyond the scope of this essay to address, I believe will last for about a year.
However, there will also be a third group, who neither had believed in the Messiah until they saw Him Coming on the clouds but who also had not taken the mark of the Beast. Many of these will be Jews, who will mourn at His coming and so have a fount of forgiveness opened to them (Rev. 1:7, Zec. 12:10-13:2)most prominently, the 144,000 of Rev. 7 and 14. Others will be Gentiles who will be shown mercy because they showed mercy to the children of God (Mat. 25:31ff). These are given the opportunity to repent during the period between the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonment, called the Days of Awea reference, I believe, to the Day of the Lord.
Finally, this day is known as Yom HaKeseh, the Hidden Day. It was a day that could not be calculated, only looked for. Ancient Israel kept its calendar simply by observing the phases of the moon. If a day were overcast, it might cause a delay in the observance of the beginning of the month, the new moon (Rosh Chodesh), the first tiny crescent of light. Every other Feast was at least a few days after the beginning of the month so that it could be calculated and prepared for in advance. For example, after the new moon that marked the beginning of the month of Nisan, the observant Jew knew that he had fourteen days to prepare for the Passover.
Not so Yom HaKeseh. In the absence of reliable astronomical charts and calculations (which were made only centuries after God commanded the Feasts to be observed), the Feast of Trumpets could be anticipated, estimated to be arriving soon, but until two or more witnesses reported the first breaking of the moons light after the darkest time of the month, no one knew the day or hour. Therefore, it was a tradition not to sleep on Rosh Hashanah, but to remain awake and alert, a tradition alluded to by Shaul: But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober (1 Th. 5:4-6).
Because of the difficulty of alerting the Jews in the Diaspora when the Sanhedron had decreed the start of the Feast to be, it became traditional to celebrate the first and second day of Tishri together as Yoma Arikhta, One Long Day. Is this meant to remind us, perhaps, of when another Yhoshua (Yeshua) won against his enemies because God cast down great hailstones (like the hailstones of Rev. 16:21) and called upon the Sun to stand still so that they would not escape (Jos. 10:10ff)?
Yom Teruah is a day which ultimately calls all of Gods people together in repentance in anticipation of the glorious Second Coming, in which He will once again visit His people in the Person of the Messiah Yeshua to Resurrect the dead, awaken the living, and judge all mankind together.
Shalom, and Maranatha!
Thanks.
Great.
Please see my post above re the stats from the study Rosenberg commissioned on beliefs about the last days.
LUB
No sweat at all dear Bro.
It's not often I get accused of being forgetable! LOL.
Here's Joel's website link:
http://www.joelrosenberg.com/#
Great guy from all I can find out.
Here's some of his stuff from:
http://joelrosenberg.blogspot.com/
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Wednesday, September 20, 2006
MEDIA CHARMED BY AHMADINEJAD: Why did Time and NBC refuse to examine Ahmadinejad's religious beliefs?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinjad has launched a charm offensive via the American media. First was his "exclusive" interview with Mike Wallace on CBS's "60 Minutes." Now the Iranian leader is on the cover of Time magazine this week. Yesterday, he did a lengthy interview with NBC's Brian Williams, the only network interview he agreed to on this trip. And, of course, Ahmadinejad's speech yesterday blasting the United States (while on American soil) made headlines around the world.
Yet something has been curiously absent from all this media coverage. American journalists aren't asking Ahmadinejad about his Shiite religious beliefs, his fascination with the coming of the Islamic Messiah known as the "Twelfth Imam" or the "Mahdi," his critique of President Bush's faith in Jesus Christ and encouragement of President Bush to convert to Islam, and how such beliefs are driving Iranian foreign policy. Time's cover story and exclusive print interview with Ahmadinejad never broached the subject of his eschatology (end times theology). Nor did Williams. Nor did Wallace. Nor does a just-released book, Confronting Iran, by British Iran expert Ali M. Ansari. Nor does almost any of the saturation coverage Ahmadinejad is receiving.
Journalists aren't typically shy about asking tough, probing questions about the religious views of world leaders. President Bush has been grilled at length about being an evangelical Christian and how this informs his foreign policy, particularly with regards to Israel and the Middle East. Clearly the Pope's views of Christianity and Islam are under fire at present. Why such hesitancy when it comes to the religious beliefs of a country that has called for the Jewish State to be wiped off the planet and who has questioned the historical veracity of the Holocaust?
I think Ahmadinejad is waiting to be asked. He wants to talk about what he believes and why he believes it. His religion shapes who he is and what is driving him. When he addressed the United Nations General Assembly last year, he concluded his speech by praying for Allah to hasten the coming of "the Promised One," the Islamic Messiah also known as the "Twelfth Imam" or the "Mahdi." When he got back to Tehran, the Iranian leader told colleagues that during his speech he was surrounded by a halo of light, and that for 27 or 28 minutes as he spoke, delegates were so mesmerized by the words Allah was speaking through him that no one blinked. Not once.
In the months that followed, Ahmadinejad made his Islamic eschatology even more clear. He told followers that he believed the end of the world was rapidly approaching, and that the way to hasten the coming of the Messiah was to launch a global jihad to annihilate Israel and the United States. He also told followers that the "Mahdi" is already on the planet, but has not yet chosen to reveal himself. What's more, Ahmadinejad has said that he has personally been in contact with the "Mahdi" and received instructions from him, instructions that are apparently leading Iran to prepare for an apocalyptic war to annihilate Judeo-Christian civilization as we know it.
In Epicenter, I detail these statements -- when and where they were made, and how they illuminate Ahmadinejad's world view. I also cite numerous Iranians who understand their leader better than many in the West.
posted by Joel C. Rosenberg @ 1:55 PM 0 comments
CHAVEZ CALLS BUSH THE "DEVIL"
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez this morning repeatedly called President Bush "el diablo" -- the devil -- and a "world dictator" who threatens the peace of the planet. During his speech at the U.N., Chavez said: "Yesterday the devil came here and this place still smells of sulphur....He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world." He called Bush a "liar" and a "tyrant," all of which drew laughs and cheers from many U.N. delegates. Chavez's performance might have been comical if he weren't so deadly serious about his desire to see the U.S. destroyed. Chavez called American "imperialism" a "threat to the survival of the human race," but added that he is convinced the American "Goliath" will soon be felled. What makes his anti-Americanism so troubling is that Chavez is aggressively building alliances with radical Islamic regimes in the Middle East such as Iran, and with Cuba's Fidel Casto, just 90 miles off our shores.
posted by Joel C. Rosenberg @ 1:12 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
AHMADINEJAD ATTACKS U.S. ON U.S. SOIL
President Bushs policies in the Middle East are moving the world toward war, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told NBC's Brian Williams today. Why is the U.S. government so against our people? They speak of war so easily, as if its on their daily agenda. We never speak of war.
"We are against the atomic bomb, he said. We believe bombs are used only to kill people. And we are against killing people.
As for Ahmadinejad's speech to the U.N., the Associated Press wrote: "His speech was sharply critical of the United States and Britain, and focused in large part on what he said was their abuse of the Security Council, on which they are both permanent members with veto power. The question needs to be asked: if the governments of the United States or the United Kingdom, who are permanent members of the Security Council, commit aggression, occupation and violation of international law, which of the U.N. organs can take them into account,' he said. 'If they have differences with a nation or state, they drag it to the Security Council and as claimants, arrogate to themselves simultaneously the roes of prosecutor, judge and executioner,' he added said. 'Is this a just order?'"
I'll be on CNN Headline News with Glenn Beck tonight with analysis, and will speak tonight at Calvery Chapel Church in Costa Mesa, California, on the Iranian nuclear threat and my new book EPICENTER. Tomorrow, I'll post a detailed analysis of Ahmadinejad's speech, and President Bush's.
posted by Joel C. Rosenberg @ 9:03 PM 6 comments
U.S. NEWS CITES EXCLUSIVE EPICENTER POLL
As I detail in Epicenter, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believes the end of the world is rapidly approaching, and that it is his job to launch a global jihad to hasten the coming of the Islamic Messiah. But he's not the only one who believes the end may be near. A surprising number of Americans believe we are living in what the Bible calls the "last days."
In his "Washington Whispers" column in U.S. News & World Report this week, Paul Bedard writes: "Joel Rosenberg, the New York Times bestselling author whose books have eerily predicted bad things like 9/11, has a new one coming out, and in it he takes on the superbig question: Is the end near? Seems many think so. For Epicenter, a book on the Middle East crisis, Rosenberg had the polling firm McLaughlin & Associates ask 1,000 adults if they agreed that current events were evidence of what the Bible calls the last days. In the poll, provided exclusively to Whispers, a remarkable 42 percent agreed. The breakdown is even more startling: Half of women agree, 75 percent of blacks agree, and 57 percent of those ages 18 to 25 agree."
Complete poll numbers -- including crosstabs -- are included in the hardcover edition of Epicenter. Also, I recently narrated an audio version of Epicenter, available from Oasis Audio.
posted by Joel C. Rosenberg @ 2:17 PM 1 comments
Saturday, September 16, 2006
ROSIE, THE POPE AND THE EPICENTER
Rosie O'Donnell declared this week that "radical Christians" are as dangerous as "radical Muslims." The Pope, meanwhile, declared this week that radical Islam is "evil" for trying to force people to follow Mohammed or be killed by the sword. Christians were understandably disappointed by Rosie, yet no violent protests have resulted so far as I know. Radical Muslims, on the other hand, are on a rampage, rioting throughout the Islamic world and even burning the Pope in effigy.
Once again, all eyes are on the Middle East, the epicenter of the events that are shaking our world and shaping our future. I was on MSBNC this morning to discuss the raging controversy. I'll link to the transcript when it becomes available. Here's the executive summary of what I said.
* Sadly, Rosie has a deep-seated animus towards Christians. But the truth is that Jesus loves Rosie and He loves Muslims, even radical Muslims. In fact, the more devout one becomes as a follower of Christ, the more one realizes just how "radical" the love of Christ is. Jesus loved not only His neighbors but also His enemies, and he taught His followers to do the same. Jesus taught that "blessed are the peacemakers" -- not the jihadists -- and strongly rebuked Peter for attacking a Roman soldier with a sword. Christ's love compels us to preach a message of love, hope and forgiveness, not murder and mayhem.
* We're not at war with 1.2 billion Muslims. We're at war with a subset of radical Muslim jihadists who have launched a global war to annihilate Jews, Christians, and all so-called "infidels."
* The Pope's initial comments were accurate. Radical Islam that seeks to convert by force rather than by love and persuasion is evil. That said, I think the world would be best served not by papal pronouncements about Islam but by the Pope -- and all followers of Christ -- staying focused on the message of the gospel, preaching about how much Jesus loves all the people of the Middle East. Jesus lived in the Middle East. He loved the people of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, as well as Israel. He died on the cross in the Mideast. He rose again in the Mideast. He sent His followers to preach a message of love and forgiveness in the Mideast, and so should we.
* Remarkably, more Muslims have turned to faith in Jesus Christ since 9/11/01 than at any other time during human history. Literally millions of Muslims have converted to become followers of Jesus in radical Islamic strongholds such as Iran, Sudan, Iraq and across North Africa. What's more, they are not doing so because they are being forced to by the sword or by guns. They are turning to Christ despite the very real risk of violent persecution and even death by fellow Muslims. It's an amazing, untold story, and one I document in my new non-fiction book, EPICENTER: Why The Current Rumblings In The Middle East Will Change Your Future, which officially releases on Monday, September 18th.
posted by Joel C. Rosenberg @ 11:03 AM 22 comments
IS PUTIN BECOMING RUSSIA'S NEXT CZAR?
"As American troops give their lives in Iraq to spread democracy around the world, the people of Russia are facing a stark reversal of their democratic rights," CBN reporter Melissa Charbonneau reported from St. Petersburg, Russia, this past week, in a story for which I was interviewed. "It's a retreat from democracy that comes just 15 years after Boris Yelstin's standoff with the Soviet Union from a tank turret in Moscow that marks the collapse of Communism in Russia. In a nation conditioned by centuries of czarist rule and decades of Communist control, Russians seem satisfied with the pace of democratic progress: 'It's much better than it was before. There are a lot of privileges. Now there is food in the supermarkets.'...'We have so many changes that it justifies what's going on now. Putin's priority is order, but changes are never smooth in a transition to democracy.'...But Western observers say that the tide of freedom turned in 1999 when Boris Yeltsin handed the presidency to Putin, his handpicked successor and a former agent with the Soviet Secret Police. Joel Rosenberg is a political analyst and author of the book Epicenter, from the moment Vladimir Putin rose to power, he says, he began building up the military and alliances with anti-Western, authoritarian regimes. The ex-kgb colonel, Rosenberg says, has become the 'anti-Democrat- in-chief.'...'Freedom is getting in Putin's way. Putin wants to be the new czar of Russia,' said Rosenberg. 'He is not interested in a democracy. He is rolling back freedoms. [His goal is] to be a czar and to rebuild the Russian empire.'"
To read the story on-line, please click here.
To watch the video clip on-line, please click here.
posted by Joel C. Rosenberg @ 10:19 AM 4 comments
Monday, September 11, 2006
NEVER AGAIN
To misunderstand the nature and threat of evil is to risk being blindsided by it. The hard, cold truth is that America was blindsided on 9/11, by an evil few saw coming. Whats more, those attacks were just the beginning of a long war against the forces of radical Islam. The most important question we face in the post-9/11 world is whether we have learned anything as a result of that terrible Tuesday. Do we truly understand that the forces of evil are preparing to strike us again when we least expect it? Do we truly grasp that the ultimate goal of the jihadists is not to terrorize us but to annihilate us? Are we willing to take any actions necessary to defend Western civilization from extinction? Or are we going to elevate peace over victory, retreat from the world, and simply hope for the best?
Ours is an age of kamikazes and snipers, anthrax and suicide bombers, ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads. While we no longer face Saddam Hussein, now we face a new Iranian regime threatening to wipe the U.S. and Israel off the map, a regime joining forces with three nuclear powers -- Russia, China and North Korea. All of this raises troubling new questions: What is coming next? How bad will it be? Where will I be when it happens? And am I ready to meet my Maker if, God forbid, Im in the wrong place at the wrong time when evil strikes again?
Five years ago we were blindsided. Today we have no excuse. The threat is clear. What is not yet clear is our national resolve to defend ourselves, no matter what the cost.
Today, I thank God for President Bush, for his Cabinet and advisors, and for the incredibly brave and dedicated and tireless men and women who are working 24/7/365 to defeat the forces of radical Islam and keep us safe. We are on offense, and it's working. We have gone 1,825 days without another major attack. That is no small thing. And I am grateful. The administration has not been perfect. It has made numerous mistakes, and it will make more. But this President understands the nature and threat of the evil we face, and we must constantly pray for him to have the courage to face it down consistently and relentlessly until victory. And we must pray for the right person to succeed him in 2009, someone who also fundamentally understands what we face and will continue to keep America on offense. For let us be clear: if we cut and run and refuse to win the war against radical Islam over there -- in the Middle East, in the heart of Islamic fascism -- then the jihadists are coming here to destroy everything we hold dear.
This morning I will fly to the West coast on a jumbo jet for a series of speeches on the new threats we face. I will do so confident of the security this President has fought so hard to provide, grateful for the grace of the Almighty, and determined to help people understand what is coming over the horizon. For once was enough. Never again.
posted by Joel C. Rosenberg @ 12:03 AM 17 comments
Sunday, September 10, 2006
ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE SPOTLIGHTS HUNT FOR REAL COPPER SCROLL TREASURES
A few days ago I was speaking at a church in Northern Virginia and a woman asked me to autograph her copy of The Copper Scroll. Then she showed me the new issue of Biblical Archaeology Review magazine with a story on the search for the actual treasures of the real copper scroll. Unfortunately, the woman didn't let me keep her copy, and I haven't had a chance to get my own and read the story. But I thought you might be interested....the hunt for the Second Temple Treasures is on! As the story's teaser reads: 'In the ruin of the Valley of Achor,' lies buried treasure, says the most puzzling of the Dead Sea Scrolls. British scholar John Allegro explored a tunnel under the ruins of Hyrcania in search of this treasure, but he never reached the end. A recent excavation renewed the search."
posted by Joel C. Rosenberg @ 11:55 PM 4 comments
Saturday, September 09, 2006
UPDATED SCHEDULE: DEAD SEA SCROLLS BEGIN HISTORIC U.S. TOUR
UPDATE FROM ATLANTA: We launched "From Abraham To Jesus" in Atlanta yesterday and having been through the exhibit now I can tell you first hand: it's fabulous. There's actually over 340 rare and remarkable artifacts from the Holy Land, some dating back some 4,000 years. And more are coming within days, including more Dead Sea Scrolls -- such as the famed Isaiah Scroll -- whose shipment has been held up by reams of bureaucratic red tape. The presentation of the artifacts is beautifully enhanced with a fascinating, informative and sometimes humorous narration (that you listen to at your own pace on individual headphones and digital playback systems), backed up by a gorgeous original soundtrack and original worship music. I had the privilege of cutting the ribbon and making remarks at the grand opening that included Cary Summers, an evangelical CEO whose company created the exhibit; Michael Solomon, the former CEO of Warner Brothers who is the Jewish co-chairman of the project; Thomas Kinkade, the phenomenal Christian painter; Don Moen, the renowned Christian singer and songwriter responsible for the original score; senior officials from the Israeli Ministry of Tourism; and several highly respected Israeli and American archeologists. It was fun to meet several readers of this weblog and "Flash Traffic" who attended the exhibit and the book-signing I did. I really hope many more of you can see the exhibit for yourselves. The Atlanta exhibit runs through October 8th. An updated list of future cities and dates follows.
ORIGINAL POST: A groundbreaking 28-city, 28-month U.S. tour of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other remarkable Holy Land antiquities begins on Friday in Atlanta. Lynn and I will be there to help kick it off and we'd highly recommend you attend the exhibit when it comes through your area. A list of cities can be found by clicking here.
"From Abraham To Jesus" features the largest and most breathtaking collection of Holy Land antiquities ever to hit U.S. soil, with some 240 priceless artifacts, some dating back to the time of Abraham, along with the first 3-D film made in Israel. The exhibit will feature the U.S. inaugural visit of some of the Dead Sea Scrolls (including The Isaiah Scroll), and the Ossuary (bone box) of Simon the Cyrene, the man who carried the cross for Jesus. This stunning 30,000 square foot walk-through exhibit will travel to 28 cities nationwide, beginning September 2006 and concluding December 2008.
The exhibit, which is sponsored and organized by a group of evangelical Christian business leaders in partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and archeologists at Hebrew University, is truly a can't miss event. As I've been touring the country for The Copper Scroll, it's been striking to see the enormous and growing interest in ancient treasures, relics, scrolls and prophecies. People are increasingly fascinated, and rightly so, in the archaeological and historic roots of Judaism and Christianity. They're looking for evidence for their faith. And "From Abraham To Jesus" gives people the opportunity to see some of the most amazing artifacts ever found, artifacts that suggest that the more we dig out of the ground, the more evidence we have that the Bible is true and trustworthy. I hope you have the opportunity to see the exhibit for yourself.
Not so Yom HaKeseh. In the absence of reliable astronomical charts and calculations (which were made only centuries after God commanded the Feasts to be observed), the Feast of Trumpets could be anticipated, estimated to be arriving soon, but until two or more witnesses reported the first breaking of the moons light after the darkest time of the month, no one knew the day or hour. Therefore, it was a tradition not to sleep on Rosh Hashanah, but to remain awake and alert, a tradition alluded to by Shaul: But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober (1 Th. 5:4-6).
Matthew 25:13 "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
b'shem Yah'shua
Mar 13:30 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.b'shem Yah'shuaMar 13:31 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
Mar 13:32 "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father {alone.}
Mar 13:33 "Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the {appointed} time will come.
I'll have to get that one. He says that's the one to read if one is reading only one.
Thanks.
Just one small question, without being arbitrary, how does the Day of Atonement fit with this fall feasts and the Second Coming theory?
You seem to call out Trumpets while ignoring Yom Kippur.
The imagery and typology of Yom Kippur certainly seems to be tied to Christ's first coming when He actually accomplished the work of atoning for the sins of His people.
"For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. ... then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. " (Lev. 16:30,33)
"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." (Matt. 1:21)
Christ has made sacrifice for His "holy Sanctuary" and "the people of the assemply" (the church). Nothing at the second coming will contribute to that atonement accomplished and applied.
"And for this cause He is the mediatory of a new covenant, in order that, death having taken place for the propitiation of the transgressions under the first covenant, they which have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." (Heb. 9:15)
Half of all Republicans believe we are in the last days.Half of all women believe we are in the last days.
None of which makes it true.
Nearly half of all senior-citizens believe we are in the last days.
Because, of course, the world is obviously worse than it's ever been since at least the golden age when I was a kid.
Nearly 6 in 10 young people age 18 to 25 believe we are in the last days.
People aged 18 to 25 have notoriously good judgement, not to mention their broad prespective rooted in deep historical experience.
75% of African-Americans believe we are in the last days.
George Bush is President, we must be in the final days.
Better yet, stop trying to change Judaism and go to church.
You've got it.
Explaining that is a whole article in and of itself, which I intend to have out in about ten days and which I'll be happy to ping you to--along with any of the rest of the GRPL who are interested in being pinged.
I'm not ignoring either Yom Kippur or Sukkot--I'm just focusing on Yom Teruah in this particular article.
There's nothing wrong with using the English mispronounciation of a Latin transliteration of a Greek transliteration of a Hebrew name, mind--I'm not into the Sacred Name nonsense ("If you don't pronounce it right, you're not saved!"). I just prefer to call Him by the original Name.
We'll just have to accept that as one of my many personal quirks, and move on.
I have the distinct impression that said perspective is a very different construction on reality from mine.
God's is the One construction that IS REALITY.
Chapter 16 The Day of AtonementThe Goat Shown to the People
The lot having designated each of the two goats, the high-priest tied a tongue-shaped piece of scarlet cloth to the horn of the goat for Azazelthe so-called scape-goatand another round the throat of the goat for Jehovah, which was to be slain. The goat that was to be sent forth was now turned round towards the people, and stood facing them, waiting, as it were, till their sins should be laid on him, and he would carry them forth into a land not inhabited. Assuredly a more marked type of Christ could not be conceived, as He was brought forth by Pilate and stood before the people, just as He was about to be led forth, bearing the iniquity of the people. And, as if to add to the significance of the rite, tradition has it that when the sacrifice was fully accepted the scarlet mark which the scape-goat had borne became white, to symbolise the gracious promise in Isaiah 1:18; but it adds that this miracle did not take place for forty years before the destruction of the Temple! ...
But this live scape-goat let go in the wilderness, over which, in the exhaustive language of Leviticus 16:21, the high-priest had confessed and on which he had laid all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, meant something quite different. It meant the inherent weakness and unprofitableness of the commandment; it meant, that the law made nothing perfect, but was the bringing in of a better hope; that in the covenant mercy of God guilt and sin were indeed removed from the people, that they were covered up, and in that sense atoned for, or rather that they were both covered up and removed, but that they were not really taken away and destroyed till Christ came; that they were only taken into a land not inhabited, till He should blot it out by His own blood; that the provision which the Old Testament made was only preparatory and temporary, until the time of the reformation; and that hence real and true forgiveness of sins, and with it the spirit of adoption, could only be finally obtained after the death and resurrection of the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. ...
The word Azazel, which only occurs in Leviticus 16, is by universal consent derived from a root which means wholly to put aside, or, wholly to go away. Whether, therefore, we render la-Azazel by for him who is wholly put aside, that is, the sin-bearing Christ, or for being wholly separated, or put wholly aside or away, the truth is still the same, as pointing through the temporary and provisional removal of sin by the goat let go in the land not inhabited, to the final, real, and complete removal of sin by the Lord Jesus Christ, as we read it in Isaiah 53:6: Jehovah hath made the iniquities of us all to meet on Him. ...
Yet annually anew, and each time confessedly only provisionally, not really and finally, till the gracious promise (Jer 31:34) should be fulfilled: I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Accordingly it is very marked, how in the prophetic, or it may be symbolical, description of Ezekiels Temple (Eze 40-46) all mention of the Day of Atonement is omitted; for Christ has come an high-priest of good things to come, and entered in once into the Holy Place, to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb 9:11, 12, 26).
Alfred Edersheim, TempleIts Ministry and Services
Good catch. You get a gold Star of David.
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