"Signs of the End Times"
Sermon Notes
From a message delivered live on
Shabbat May 17, 2008
At Bnai Yahshua Synagogue
of Prosperity, South Carolina
Emet Ministries
www.emetministries.com
By Rabbi Dani'el Rendelman
ravemet@comcast.net
The book "The World's Worst Predictions" lists some of history's all-time prophetic goof. Some of the most well known and important people in history prove that it's impossible to tell the future. Some famously wrong quotes from the book include:
King George II said in 1773 that the American colonies had little stomach for revolution.
An official of the White Star Line, speaking of the firm's newly built flagship, the Titanic, launched in 1912, declared that the ship was unsinkable.
In 1939 The New York Times said the problem of TV was that people had to glue their eyes to a screen, and that the average American wouldn't have time for it.
An English astronomy professor said in the early 19th century that air travel at high speed would be impossible because passengers would suffocate.
Thomas J. Watson was Chairman of the Board of IBM, in 1943 he said, "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." He was dead wrong!
Decca Recording Company rejected the Beatles in 1962 stating, "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
And Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics at YaleUniversity said on October 16, 1929 that, "Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."
These folks were inherently wrong. On many issues and fronts they simply missed the future. Of course, a crystal ball doesn't work. You can't tell the future or predict what will happen tomorrow. OR can you?
Through the words and prophecy of the Scriptures we can get a idea of future events and even a time line of when events may occur.
Doomsday naysayers proclaim that we at the end of the end. TV preachers proclaim the imminent return of Jesus in the clouds. Earthquakes are the rise, wars are everywhere, and evil continues to mount. Is there any validity to the claim that we are living in the end times? What does the Bible have to say about such? How should we be preparing for events to come? Should we trust the Christian TV preacher? How does Judaism regard the end of days? What did our Messiah say about the end time events?
The signs are obvious that we are living in a special time. But are we in the end times?
In Hebrew, the phrase "acharit-hayamim" literally means "end of days." This is when the "olam hazeh" or present world is coming to an end and the "olam haba" / "world to come" is about to begin.
The term stems from Beresheet 49:1 and Micah 4:1:
"Then Ya'acov called for his sons and said, "Assemble yourselves and I will tell you what will befall you in the End of Days (b'acharit ha-yamim)."
"It will be in the end of days (b'acharit ha-yamim) that the mountain of the Temple of YHWH will be firmly established as the most prominent of the mountains, and it will be exalted up above the hills, and people will stream to it."
Note that the Hebrew phrase "acharit hayamim" appears 7 times throughout the Tanakh (Old Testament).
One verse from the Scriptures that includes this phrase explains how we should view these dark days. In Hosea 3:5 it is written, "they will come trembling to YHWH and to His blessing in the last days." This is what we need - a balanced picture and understanding of the acharit hayamim.
Yesha'yahu 48:3 shows us that YHWH declares the end from the beginning. If we want to understand the end of days then we should understand the start of days. "I have declared the former things from of old; yea, they went forth out of My mouth, and I announced them; suddenly I did them, and they came to pass."
In the beginning YHWH created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day - Shabbat day. As we look to the scriptures for answers we can clearly see a 7,000 plan for man. In Hebrew this is called "Yom SheKulo Shabbat" - the day when all will be Shabbat. Each day of creation corresponds to a millennial period. "One day with YHWH is as a thousands years, and a thousand years as one day," 2 Kefa / Peter 3:8-10.
In the Epistle of Barnabas 15:3-5 it is written, "Of the Sabbath He speaketh in the beginning of the creation; And YHWH made the works of His hands in six days, and He ended on the seventh day, and rested on it, and He hallowed it. Give heed, children, what this meaneth; He ended in six days. He meaneth this, that in six thousand years YHWH shall bring all things to an end; for the day with Him signifyeth a thousand years; and this He himself beareth me witness, saying; Behold, the day of YHWH shall be as a thousand years. Therefore, children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, everything shall come to an end. And He rested on the seventh day. this He meaneth; when His Son shall come, and shall abolish the time of the Lawless One, and shall judge the ungodly, and shall change the sun and the moon and the stars, then shall he truly rest on the seventh day."
Judaism agrees:
Rabbi Eliyyahu said in the Talmud, "The world is to exist six thousand years. In the first two thousand there was desolation [no Torah]; two thousand years the Torah flourished; and the next two thousand years is the Messianic era, but through our many iniquities all these years have been lost," Sanhedrin 93b.
Even the famed Rabbi Nachmonides (1194-1270) agreed with the Sabbatical Millennium. He said there would be 6,000 years of man's attempts to govern himself, followed by 1,000 years of YHWH's perfect rule, for a total of 7,000.
There is a pattern of 7 feasts, 7 days, 7 years, and 7 groups of 7 years until a "yovel" or jubilee is declared.
We see this also in Matthew 16:28-17:1. Here Y'shua tells his disciples that some of them will not die before they see YHWH come in His glory, coming in His kingdom. The passage says that six days later Y'shua was transfigure. This is a picture of the 6,000 years approaching the glorious 1,000 reign of Moshiach. Read these verses and be amazed at YHWH's plan!
Also, we know that Y'shua came to earth 50 generations from Noach. 50 generations (40 years) after Y'shua's first coming is the year 2000. The book of Matthew / Mattitiyahu says that "as in the days of Noach so shall it be when the Son of Man / Ben Adahm returns." What does this mean? As in the days of Noah - 2000 years after creation - so shall it be when the Son of man comes - when he comes again after 2000 years have passed since His birth! Y'shua came 2000 years after Noach. The restoration of His kingdom began to shift into high gear 2000 years after His birth. As in the days of Noah - 2000 years after creation - so shall it be when the Son of man comes - when he comes again after 2000 years have passed since His birth!
If this is the case then we should be approaching the 6,000th year or already be past that year. How do we know for sure? Our Gregorian calendar says that we are in the year 2008 AD or CE. There have been 2008 years since the supposed "birth of Christ." One problem with this calendar and date setting is that historical records indicate that Herod died in the year 4BCE. In the gospel of Matthew we see that Y'shua was at least 2 years old when the wiremen met Herod. This puts the birth of Messiah at 6 or 7 BCE. This means that it is NOT the year 2008 BUT it is actually the year 2014 or 2015. How close are we to the end?
The current Jewish calendar conceals as much as it reveals. The year 2008 is the Jewish year 5768. According to the rabbis there have been 5768 years since the fall. Our current Hebrew calendar is based upon the work of leaders who went through the genealogies of Genesis. Some scholars have suggested that two principal errors appear to have occurred from the Hebrew sages of the past.
1) From a misunderstanding of Daniel 9, their erroneous assumption that there were 490 years between the destruction of the First and Second Temples, rather than 656, introduced a 166-year error.
2) A copyist error in the Septuagint text of the genealogies of Genesis 5 appears to have introduced another 73 years.
These errors would imply a total discrepancy of 239 years. So technically we are not in the year 5768 BUT the year 6007.
Both the Gregorian and the Jewish calendar supposedly begin with creation as the starting point. The problem is that before the fall there was no need for time. So to have an accurate calendar we should start after the fall. BUT, when did the fall occur? The book of Jubilees states the fall was 49 years after the creation. Other Jewish sources put the fall at 20 years after creation.
The famed Rabbi Yehuda ben Samuel (1150-1217) and the Gaon of Vilna (1720-1797) both teach of "eight or nine jubilees" (50 year periods - see Leviticus 25). The Gaon believed that the Ottoman conquest of Jerusalem was a significant event on YHWH's clock. According to his calculations, Jerusalem would be occupied for eight jubilees and then a "no-mans land" for another jubilee before returning to Jewish hands. The Ottoman conquest in 1517 was followed eight jubilees (400 years) later, when General Allenby captured Jerusalem in 1917. One more jubilee later, Israel re-united Jerusalem in 1967.
Regardless of the actual year, we can clearly see that time is short for the coming of tribulation and the return of Moshiach. We are to be watchful for the birth pangs of Messiah or in Hebrew, the "Chevlei Moshiach." Matthew 24:8 says, "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs."
Orthodox Jews readily agree the Holocaust was on of these pangs. What else should we be looking aware of?
Let's turn together to Matthew 24.
In Mattitiyahu 24:3, Y'shua was asked, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?"
Y'shua told his talmidim / disciples to look for the following signs:
FALSE PROPHETS AND FALSE MESSIAHS CHRISTS
Matthew 24:5 "For many will come in my name, saying, I am Messiah, and will mislead many."
Matthew 24:11 "And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many."
The false prophet Muhammad and his followers are propagating the false religion of Islam.
Through violent terrorism, their message is sweeping the globe. Islam is now the most popular faith of in the world.
WARS
Matthew 24:6 "And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end."
Matthew 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."
8000 treaties have been made and broken in the past 100 years. On any day soldiers are fighting in 30 to 40 nations. 7 million people have died since the 1970s due to war.
Even America has been involved in its fair share - World War 1; World War 2; Korean War; Vietnam; Grenada; Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq. More people have been killed in warfare in the past century than at any other time in history.
FAMINES
Matthew 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes." We are beginning to see this today as rising costs and food shortages are causing famine throughout the world. What we have seen recently is just the beginning of famines.
EARTHQUAKES
Matthew 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."
The following statistics were taken from a National earthquake center in the year 2001 measuring only the shakes 5.5 and up on the Richter scale:
1800 - 1900 = 645 earthquakes in 100 years.
1900 - 1994 = 1845 earthquakes in 94 years.
(2.8 times higher than 1800 - 1900)
1994 - 2000 = 1163 earthquakes in 7 years.
(175.2 times higher than 1800 - 1900)
The trend continues from 2001 until today. Already, seismic activity in 2008 has been up over the past 3 years. A devastating 7.9 earthquake hit China on May 12, 2008 leaving over 50,000 dead and over 100 million homeless.
TRIBULATIONS
Matthew 24:8-9 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of my name."
Tribulation or terror is on the rise as militant Islam is on a mission to eradicate "infidel" unbelievers.
We also know that in the Acharit Ha-yamim that GODLESSNESS IN THE LAST DAYS.
II Timothy 3:1-5, 7 "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
And that there will be a great falling away from the truth.
This includes a total abandonment of marriage. Wife swapping and adultery is ok but true Biblical marriage is frowned upon.
I Timothy 4:1-3 "But the spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. By means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth."
The gloom and despair of the acharit-hayamim can weigh a person down with fear and trepidation. Does YHWH want us shaking in our boots? Is all that occurs during these days evil and bad? NO!!! This may be a time of Islamic terrorism, famine, food shortages, and natural disasters BUT it is also the time of miracles, salvation, healing, and YHWH's latter day reign / rain upon the earth.
First, consider that Y'shua is kept in heaven until the restoration of all tings. The "imminent return of Jesus" is not very imminent! Read Acts
3:21 - Y'shua is kept in Heaven until the restoration of all things!
What are some of the things that must be restored? What has to happen?
Restoration of Jerusalem as capital of Yisra'el
"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be TRODDEN DOWN OF THE GENTILES, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,"
This is THE sign that we are living in the end times!
ALSO, we have recently seen the:
Return of the Jewish People To Their Land
The Bible says that Jews would be dispersed throughout the entire world until this time when they will return to their own land.
We read about the return of the Jewish people to their homeland in many different places in the Bible including Ezekiel 36:24 which says:
"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land."
This is stated again in Amos 9:15:
"And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith YHWH your Elohim."
Since the re-establishment of
Israel as a nation, Jews from all over the world have returned to their land. Every day more and more of the Jewish nation is returning to their rightful home. This is another sign of the Acharit Hayamim.
Zephaniah 3:10-11 "From beyond the rivers of
Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, will bring My offerings. In that day you will feel no shame because of all your deeds by which you have rebelled against Me; For then I will remove from your midst your proud, exulting ones, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain."
In 1984, Operation Moses saw the airlift of 15,000 Jews who had already fled to refugee camps in
Sudan to escape starvation. In 1991, Operation Solomon flew 20,000 Jews to Israel from Ethiopia itself. A further airlift began in June of 1999, aimed at transporting the last 3,000 members of the Quara Jewish community from northeastern Ethiopia to Israel.
RETURN OF THE
ONEPURE LANGUAGE, HEBREW, TO ISRAEL
Zephaniah 3:9 "For then I will return to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of YHWH, to serve him with one consent."
Prior to the restoration of Israel in 1948, Hebrew was a dead language. Now Hebrew is spoken throughout Israel. Today, people throughout the globe are calling upon the name of YHWH. The glory due His name is finally being given!
THE GOSPEL / BESAROT WILL BE PREACHED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come."
The
TRUE gospel of Y'shua in YHWH's flesh is going forth. Like never before people are turning to the emet of YHWH. We have been given the duty to take the message of Y'shua to the world. The message of His kingdom - His rule is to be preached in every land. Have you shared Y'shua with someone today?
RESTORATION OF THE TWO HOUSES OF
ISRAEL
This specific prophecy is taking place before our very eyes. We can see and be a part of this today! The Jews returning to the land of Yisra'el and the ten lost tribes are returning to their heritage. In those days ten men of the nations of every language, will take a Jew by the tassle / tzitzit and say: 'We want to go with you, since we have learned that YHWH is with you,'" Zechari'yah 8:23. We are living in these times!
How can we be sure? Well, we must first understand that Yisra'el was split into two kingdoms: the northern and the southern kingdom. The
Northern kingdom is also called Ephraim and Israel and was made up of ten tribes of Yisra'el. The Southern Kingdom is also called Judah or Judea and was made up of the tribes of Benjamin, Levi, and Judah. The southern kingdom is the kingdom of the Yahudim or the Jews. Both groups strayed from YHWH's true word and faced exile from the land. While the Jews returned officially in 1948 the exile of the lost ten tribes started about 50 years later - around 1996 - 1998. This is clearly seen in Ezekiel 4:1-6 and the prophecy contained in these verses.
1You also, Ben-adam (son of man), take a clay tablet, and lay it before you, and you shall trace upon it the city of
Yahrushalayim:
2 And lay siege against it, and build a siege wall against it, and heap up a mound against it; set the camp against it, and set battering rams against it all around.
3 Moreover take for yourself an iron pan, and set it as a wall of iron between you and the city: and set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be an ot to Beit Yisrael, (sign to the house of Israel)
4 Lie also upon your left side, and lay the iniquity of Beit Yisrael upon it: according to the number of the days that you shall lie upon it you shall bear their iniquity.
5 For I have laid upon you the years of their iniquity according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shall you bear the iniquity of Beit Yisrael.
6 And when you have accomplished them, lie again on your right side, and you shall bear the iniquity of Beit Yahudah forty days: I have appointed you each day for a year.
Here Ezekiel is lying on his side with a miniature city laying siege - much like Gulliver's Travels. This is a picture of what will happen to the kingdoms. The
Northern kingdom of Ephraim will be punished for 390 years due to idolatry. The Southern Kingdom will serve 40 years in exile to Babylon.
The Southern kingdom was taken captive by
Babylon and faced 40 years of punishment. Ezekiel 23:31-32 shows us that the nation o Judah also shares the 390 years of punishment because of their sins. However, after 430 years, the nation repents and returns to YHWH. This happened during the Maccabean revolt we celebrate as "Chanukah."
We can read in 2 Kings 17 of the Assyrian army taking Ephraim captive between the years 734
BCE and 722BCE
During this time of exile we know that Ephraim would be "swallowed up" by the nations and defiled by things unclean. Ezekiel 4:13, And YHWHsaid, Even so shall the children of Yisrael eat their defiled food among the gentiles, where I will drive them. While in exile, the Northern kingdom did not serve YHWH nor regard His Torah.
"They feared YHWH, but they also served their own elohim, after the manner of the nations who had carried them away. To this day they do after their former customs and behaviors: they fear not YHWH, neither do they follow His chukim, or ordinances, or Torah, or mitzvoth that YHWH
commanded the children of Ya'acov, whom He named Yisrael," 2 Kings 17:33, 34.
Because of their continued sin and rebellion, the northern kingdom's punishment would be 390 years seven times
. This is based upon the words of Leviticus 26:27-28, "And if you will not for all this listen to Me, but have your halakha contrary to Me; 28 Then I will walk contrary to you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins." This can also be found in Leviticus 26:14-18.
390 x 7 = 2,730 years of exile
The Assyrian exile started about 734BCE. 2730 years later marked the year 1996CE. The punishment against the lost Ten Tribes ENDED in 1996!
1996 marked an accelerated return to the true Biblical faith. It is also interesting to note that in 1996, each feast of Israel was marked with a blood red moon. 1996 was also the year of the Hal Boop Comet. If Y'shua was really born at 6BCE then 1996 would be exactly 50 generations from Y'shua's birth. (Remember that Y'shua was born 50 generations after Noach.)
Through this teaching, we can clearly see that BOTH houses have now served their punishment and are NOW returning to YHWH.
Devarim / Deuteronomy 30:1-6
"And it shall come to pass, when all these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where YHWHyour Elohim has driven you, 2 And shall teshuvah to YHWHyour Elohim, and shall obey His voice according to all that I command you this day, u and your children, with all your lev, and with all your being;
3 That then YHWHyour Elohim will turn your captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the nations, where YHWH your Elohim has scattered you.
4 If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts of the shamayim, from there will YHWHyour Elohim gather you, and from there will He fetch you:
5 And YHWHyour Elohim will bring you into the land that your ahvot possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will do you tov, and multiply you above your ahvot.
6 And YHWHyour Elohim will perform brit-milah upon your lev, and the lev of your zera, to love YHWHyour Elohim with all your lev
YES! We are living in the end times.
Yes! These are times of famine and war and pestilence.
These are also times of repentance and restoration and revival!
YHWH is pouring out His spirit / ruach and restoring His people.
Remember the verse from Hosea 3:5, "they will come trembling to YHWH and to His blessing in the last days." We should not be fearful of the end but have a balanced understanding of the acharit hayamim. YHWH's will for us during these days is to "tremble" and be a 'blessing."
So with all of this in mind, how now shall we live?
"But the day of the Master YHWH will come as a thief in the night; in which the shamayim shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are in it shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons should you be in all kadosh conduct and Shabbat-guarding piety, Looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the Yom YHWH, in which the shamayim being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat! 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for renewed shamayim and a renewed olam, where tzedekah dwells," 2 Peter 3:10-13. Our walk should be one of holiness and blessing. We should be guarding the Shabbat and teaching others of the love of Messiah.
We should pray and plan. The Islamic beast is preparing to rear its ugly head. Things could turn bad fast. We have seen this with the events of September 11 and the devastating catastrophes in China, Myanmar, and New Orleans. There is nothing wrong with stocking food, clothing, water, medical supplies, and a firearm for protection. Having gold or silver on hand will only help when things get bad. Be prepared for the worst and pray for the best.
Our stock pile should also include a group of souls. We should be living in "all kadosh conduct." We should be sharing the Torah and the blood of Y'shua with others. The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. The laborers are few because many are scared to death of the acharit hayamim. We are to be busy working the field of souls. The time is clear. The end is upon us soon - whether that's 10, 50, or 300 years. We are indeed living in a special season. May we number our days so that we can apply our hearts to wisdom.
The official from the White Star Line was WRONG when he declared that the Titanic was unsinkable.
In 1939 The New York Times was WRONG when they said the average American wouldn't have time to glue their eyes to the TV screen.
The word of YHWH is exactly RIGHT in declared these days as the "acharit hayamim." May we grow in our knowledge of YHWH and share His love with others.
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