JUBILEES 2 1 And the malak of the presence spoke to Mosheh according to the word of YAHUWAH, saying: Write the complete history of the creation, how in six days YAHUWAH ALMIGHTY finished all His works and all that He created, and kept Shabbat on the seventh day and hallowed it for all ages, and appointed it as a sign for all His works.
17 And He gave us a great sign, the Shabbat day, that we should work six days, but keep Shabbat on the seventh day from all work.
18 And all the malakim of the presence, and all the malakim of sanctification, these two great classes –He has bidden us to keep the Shabbat with Him in heaven and on earth.
28 And every one who observes it and keeps Shabbat thereon from all his work, will be kodesh and Baruch throughout all days like unto us.
32 And the Creator of all things baruch this day which HE had created for barakah and making it kodesh and splendid above all days.
Throughout history,, today we can look to the Jews, who have tracked and kept the seventh-day Sabbath for millennia and be confident that our current Saturday is the seventh day of the week, on the same weekly cycle that has been in place since the beginning of creation—a cycle established and confirmed by The Most High YAHUWAH Himself.
Interesting Video: Even Beavers know when it is the Sabbath- Saturday. A16 years documentary !
Calendars printed in the United States put Saturday as the seventh day, but in Europe and other places in the world, Sunday is shown as the seventh day. So how can we be sure?
The seven-day weekly cycle is not tied to any patterns or alignments of the sun, moon, or stars. It is a non-stop serial counting of days, one after the other. Scripture tells us the cycle was established by The Most High YAHUWAH. After six days of creation, The Most High YAHUWAH rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-2). Since then, the counting off days in groups of sevens—with each group called a week and every seventh day designated as a day of rest—has continued unbroken up to our own time.
English-speaking countries call the seventh day Saturday, but the word for that day in many languages indicates its origins as the biblical day of rest. For example, the seventh day in Spanish is called Sabado (coming from the Hebrew shabbat). This too is made plain on printed calendars in those languages.
Language reflects the customs of the culture that speaks it. Nearly every culture, from Babylon through modern times, rested on the seventh day. As languages developed, the name for the seventh day of the week remained “rest day.” In the mid-19th century, Dr. William Meade Jones created this “Chart of the Week,” listing the name for the seventh day in 160 languages, including some of the most ancient (shown below). Babylonian, in use hundreds of years before Abraham or the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai, calls the seventh day of the week sa-ba-tu, meaning “rest day.”
Such widespread use of forms of the word Sabbath for the seventh day of the week, Saturday, is clear evidence that speakers of these languages understood which day is the Sabbath.
Likewise, the fact that in no language do we see “Sabbath” similarly linked with Sunday, the first day of the week, is an obvious confirmation that this day never was considered the biblical Sabbath until later religious leaders tried to substitute Sunday for the true Sabbath day.
Which day of the week is the biblical Sabbath? It is clear from the names for the seventh day of the week, Saturday, in many languages.
Could we have lost our place?
If you have ever tried to count off numbers in a sequence you know how easy it is to lose your place. Could this have happened with the counting of the seventh day? After all, it has been a very long time since The Most High YAHUWAH established the first day of rest.
If the sequence had gotten all jumbled up sometime between the first day of rest and the Exodus of Israel out of Egypt,the true seventh day was clearly reestablished by the time the Ten Commandments were given.
We can conclude confidently that our current Saturday is the seventh day of the week, on the same weekly cycle that has been in place since the beginning of creation—a cycle established and confirmed by The Most High YAHUWAH Himself.
In the wilderness, The Most High YAHUWAH fed the people of Israel with manna. The manna would appear on the ground every day except the seventh day, the day of rest (Exodus 16:14-30).This sequence would repeat every seven days, over and over for 40 years. The weekly cycle of manna only stopped when Israel entered the promised land. Four decades of repetition is plenty of time to clearly establish which day was the day of rest.
If the Sabbath had somehow been lost between creation and the exodus, 40 years of weekly miracles would have definitely reestablished.
The Exodus was still an exceedingly long time in the past. Plus, Israel went through many periods of turmoil, forgetfulness of The Most High YAHUWAH, invasion, deportation, etc. Could Israel—and later the Jewish people—have mixed up the sequence of counting the seven-day weekly cycle through all that?
Yahushua Messiah, the very Word of The Most High YAHUWAH, put off the Esteem and Honor He shared with the Father and was born a flesh and blood human being. He was the “Master of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5). Yahushua Messiah would have known if He, or His fellow Jews, had the sequence of the seventh day messed up.
The record of Yahushua Messiah’ life shows He rested on the seventh day in obedience to the commandment (John 15:10). Yahushua Messiah observed the day of rest on the same day of the week as His fellow Jews. The religious authorities of the day may have disputed what types of activities were appropriate for observing the seventh day as a day of rest, but not which day of the week it was.
Yahushua Messiah’s obedience to the Fourth Commandment confirmed the seventh day as kept by the Jews was the correct day.
Did the Jewish people lose track of the seventh day after Yahushua Messiah’s death?
Years before the time of Yahushua Messiah’s death, and in the centuries since, the Jewish people have been widely dispersed throughout the Middle East and Europe. Wherever they have gone, they have fiercely guarded the observance of the seven-day weekly cycle so they might never break the Fourth Commandment.
It is possible to consider that isolated pockets of Jews may have lost track of the weekly cycle due to some local turmoil, but such an error would have quickly been corrected by comparing notes with the many other Jewish communities in other countries and continents—communities which had not experienced any interruption or disruption in the seven-day weekly cycle.
However, there is not any historical record of any dispute among any Jewish groups that the day we call Saturday is the seventh day of the weekly cycle, The Most High YAHUWAH’s day of rest. The Jewish people have successfully kept the original seven-day weekly cycle intact.
Now, one last question that sometimes comes up:
Did the change to the Gregorian calendar in 1582 lose track of the seventh day?
From 46 B.C. up to A.D. 1582, the Western world used what is called the Julian calendar. It was a vast improvement over the previous Roman calendars because it finally kept the months in sync with the seasons. However, after many centuries even the Julian calendar was about 10 days out of sync with the solar system.
In 1582 the old Julian calendar was replaced with the new, improved Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar system we still use today. At the time of the change to the new calendar system, those 10 days were simply dropped out of the calendar to get the dating system of the calendar back in sync with the solar system. It was Thursday, Oct. 4, 1582, and the next day, Friday, should have been Oct. 5. However, the new calendar made the next day Oct. 15 instead.
That change had no impact on the seven-day weekly cycle. Whether that following Friday was numbered as the 5th of the month or the 15th of the month, it was still the sixth day of the week, and the day that followed was still the seventh day of the week.
Even today we constantly add a day into our calendar every four years. We call it a “leap year.” Changing the number of days in a calendar month does not alter the weekly cycle—there is no six-day week, or eight-day week.
So, we can conclude confidently that our current Saturday is the seventh day of the week, on the same weekly cycle that has been in place since the beginning of creation—a cycle established and confirmed by The Most High YAHUWAH Himself.
Correspondence between Biblical numbers and astronomy
The number 7 is a recurring numerical theme in the Hebrew scriptures. The menorah‘s seven lamps on its branches correspond to the lights of the sevenClassical planets: the Moon, Mercury, Venus,the Sun (4th), Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Hebrew mysticism recognized their great importance. Therefore, along with the four lunar phases being slightly over seven days (~7.4 days) each, the number 7 was held in very high regard. The Torah reflects this with Bereishit (Book of Genesis 1:1) being seven words and twenty-eight letters (7×4) in its original Hebrew. This is “YHWH’s signature“.[citation needed]
“And Aloah said, ‘Let there be lights in the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons, days, years and festivals’...the 4th day (of 7).”[16]
In many languages, the names of the days of the week are derived from the names of the seven planets; each day was consecrated to the particular planet that ruled during the early hours of the morning. While Talmudists were familiar with the planets and their characteristics in astrology, they opposed their worship to any planet, so weekdays are not named them in Hebrew besides for the Sabbath. Instead, they are referred to by number.
The ancient Chinese called the Heavenly “Seven Governments”, which means the sun, the moon plus the five stars of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. Coincidentally, the West also names the seven days of the week after the “seven planets”.
The meaning of the names of the five planets, one star and one moon [planetary satellite] are:[33]
שבתאי, Saturn
Meaning: “the restful one,” whose name is parallel to that of the Sabbath; the Seventh-day; the day of rest. Esoterically, Shabbatai שבתאיembodies Time itself.In the midst of time’s passage, Shabbatai שבתאי remains still and silent, drawing all endeavors to a close.
6th Day. Tzedeq צדק, Jupiter
Meaning: “righteousness”, as Jupiter is the embodiment of divine influx.
5th Day Ma’adim מאדים, Mars
Meaning: “the red one”
4th Day Ḥammah חמה, the Sun
Meaning: “the hot one”
3rd Day Kokhevet כוכבת, Nogah נוגה or Kokhav-Nogah כוכב נוגה, Venus
Meanings: “the she-planet,” “the bright one,” or “the bright planet,” respectively
2nd Day Kokhav כוכב, Mercury
Meaning: “the planet,” since Mercury is the Principle of planetary influence, in and of itself. The Mercurial principle is that of multipotency. It embodies our means of adaptation and represents the many facets of existence. In being deemed simply as “the planet”, Mercury is presented as a blank slate; an open-ended modality of being.
1st Day Levanah לבנה, the Moon
Meaning: “the white one”
Names of weekdays
The names for the days of the week are simply the day number within the week, with Shabbat being the seventh day. In Hebrew, these names may be abbreviated using the numerical value of the Hebrew letters, for example יום א׳ (Day 1, or Yom Rishon (יום ראשון)):
Yom Rishon – יום ראשון (abbreviated יום א׳), meaning “first day” [corresponds to Sunday]
Yom Sheni – יום שני (abbr. יום ב׳) meaning “second day” [corresponds to Monday]
Yom Shlishi – יום שלישי (abbr. יום ג׳) meaning “third day” [corresponds to Tuesday]
Yom Reviʻi – יום רביעי (abbr. יום ד׳) meaning “fourth day” [corresponds to Wednesday]
Yom Chamishi – יום חמישי (abbr. יום ה׳) = “fifth day” [corresponds to Thursday]
Yom Shishi – יום שישי (abbr. יום ו׳) meaning “sixth day” [corresponds to Friday]
Yom Shabbat – יום שבת (abbr. יום ש׳), or more usually, simply Shabbat – שבת meaning “rest day” [corresponds to Saturday]
The names of the days of the week are modeled on the seven days mentioned in the creation story (Genesis 1). For example, Genesis 1:8 “… And there was evening and there was morning, a second day” corresponds to Yom Sheni meaning “second day”. (However, for days 1, 6, and 7 the modern name differs slightly from the version in Genesis.)
The seventh day, Shabbat, as its Hebrew name indicates, is a day of rest in Judaism. In Talmudic Hebrew, the word Shabbat (שַׁבָּת) can also mean “week”,[10] so that in ritual liturgy a phrase like “Yom Reviʻi beShabbat” means “the fourth day in the week”.[11](Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 2:1-3).
Did Yahushua Messiah keep the seventh day Shabbat?
Yahushua Messiah Himself obeyed Torah teaching and He has emphasized its importance in this notion. “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath,” He explained to some who completely misunderstood its intent and purpose (Mark 2:27). He clarified the great underlying principle of the Sabbath day that so many have missed through the centuries: The Sabbath, far from enforcing a tiresome bondage or sanctioning a list of forbidden activities, is something The Most High YAHUWAH made for man/all mankind not just for the Jews! It was sanctified—Set Apart—when mankind was made, with The Most High YAHUWAH creating Adam and Eve on the sixth day of creation week and hence creating the Sabbath on the following day by setting that day apart.
1.History tell us that Catholics have opposed the Jewish Sabbath(Saturday), and believers have continuously observed Sunday since 321 A.D.
2. Historians have kept calendar records fairly faithfully;
3.A number of Christian groups/sects observed the seventh day Sabbath(Saturday) for some or all of their history. These include: the Waldensians, the Scotts, the Albigensian, the Martoma Christians in southern India; and the Abyssinians of Ethiopia. A prince of Ethiopia, who was in exile in the United States, attempted to teach his people FROM WORDS IN THEIR OWN MOTHER TONGUE, that Ethiopia had anciently observed the Sabbath (Saturday) and the Biblical Feasts.
4. According to the Dead Sea Scrolls, there was a change in the Temple from a solar calendar to a lunar calendar, but WITHOUT AFFECTING THE TIMING OF THE SEVENTH DAY SABBATH.
0ur Testimony on keeping the seventh day Shabbat with DSS Enoch Priestly Calendar:
We have been very delighted after almost 6 years we have been following the calendar only 364 days 52 Shabbat on the current 7 days a week, Shabbat on Sat-day without breaking it, yet last few years as we checked and compare with the 6 years Priestly order as to who are on duty that Shabbat, whether that Shabbat shall have a full moon or not, miraculously, it has matched all the 6 years DSS finding continuously. This means that we are keeping the same Shabbat with those Zadokite Priests as well as our Messiah in His time 2000+ years ago! Details on how to read the 6 years priestly order chart please visit our webpage:https://man-child.com/the-times-of-torah-enoch-the-order-of-malki-tzedek-2019/ and https://man-child.com/2021-2022-calendar-based-on-dds-priestly-order-6-years-calendar-excel-spreadsheet/
With YaHuWaH Priestly Calendar from DSS, the Spring Equinox falls during the last week of the old year annually, so it is not ever necessary to wait for the following Wednesday, or go back to a prior Wednesday, as that would throw everything off, including the weekday moon phases recorded by the true Zadokite priests! The Sign of the Spring Equinox, the straight line of shadows from sunrise to sunset, will occur somewhere within the 7 days OF THE EQUINOX WEEK that transits the old year [day 364] to the new one on Aviv 1!
The lunar phases confirm the year of the cycle we are in. Aviv 1 has a full moon in years 1 & 4 and again on year one of the new priestly cycle. The priestly order was based on calculation of lunar phases, not the 2nd or 3rd day of a 2–3-day full moon and NEVER BY OBSERVATION OF THE MOON.
REMEMBER JUBILEES 6 & OTHER PLACES FORBID ANY USE OF THE MOON TO DETERMINE TIME. WE FOLLOW A SOLAR ONLY CALENDAR! WE ARE MERELY SHOWING HOW THE PHASES APPEARED ON THE SAME DAY OF THE WEEK 2,000 YEARS AGO, AS THEY DO TODAY, SHOWING US THAT THE SHABBAT OF THAT DAY REMAINS THE SAME TODAY WITH THE HEATHEN NAME OF SATURDAY.
****Gregorian dates change year to year regardless of Torah patterns. Roman data-dates need to be ignored and shunned every year!
****The Torah priestly cycles NEVER CHANGE & are as follows: Years 1-4 same, Years 2-5 same, Years 3-6 same.
****If we start every year on Day 4 – Modern Wednesday every year will end on a 3rd Day-Tuesday and will be exactly 364 days as required by Torah & Enoch! For now, we only tracked and matched the DDS 6 years priestly calendar according to Enoch with only and straightly 364 days yearly with 52 “Shabbats” not weeks, and the 1st day, we only start the year on the 4th day of the first week of the new year… by doing it, we discovered that we are observing the exact same day same month and the same 6 years uninterrupted priestly order ( for example, this year 2021/2022 is the 3rd year of this priestly order circle) , hence, even though after 2000+ years between us and them, we are sharing the same calendar even with the moon position monthly with the same priest on duty every 6 years circle!!!! ( https://man-child.com/2021-2022-calendar-based-on-dds-priestly-order-6-years-calendar-excel-spreadsheet/ ) And this was supported with scripture records as well as Jewish history when they mentioned a particular priestly order was on duty at that day of that month! And because of this, we also know how to identify the sabbatical years and Jubilee years according to the scriptures. ( https://man-child.com/is-2022-or-2024-the-120th-jubilee-in-yhwh-dss-calendar/ )The numbers match perfectly! We have also tried scriptural studies on “dates” with this calendar exercise in Chinese ( https://man-child.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GENESIS-6-8-Calendar-Noah-Flood-based-on-Enoch-DDS-364days-Counting.pdf ), the counting of days match perfectly without breaking the Shabbat year to year. We will try to describe it in English in this coming Year of YHWH! Amein.
Path taken by the point of the March equinox along the ecliptic over the past 6,000 years; DSS 4Q318, the calendar New year Aviv 1st shall fall on Tropical Zodiac “Pisces” ; for example this year, 2021, some believers want to start YHWH New Year on the 24th March Wednesday, as they decided to skip a week after the sight of March Equinox which will not match the DSS 4Q318 description. By doing that, they are not only disrupting the continuous weekly Priestly duty schedule, they shall missed the sign of the every 3 years full moon falls on Aviv 1 to start the new year which especially obvious on Jerusalem having the witness of the Tropical Zodiac Spices appear in the sky with the rises of the moon!!
B4. The order of the service for the Priests of YaHuWaH (YHWH )
1 Ch 24: 7-19
B.5 Jubilee Accounting Chart: From Creation to New Heavens and New Earth
P.S. the 120th Jubilee, year 5878,5879 and 5880 are corresponding to 2022AD, 2023AD, 2024AD.
Observations:
The current Jewish calendar had omitted a 196years from their history which will be found from the following article attached below: “is Day of Atonement, the 120th Jubilee completed on 2022 or 2024”. Hence, if we add on the missing 196 years to the current Jewish calendar 5781, this year we are at 5997years from creation. Which means 2024 should be the 6000 years for the Jewish calendar; they actually knew their calendar!? Recently 2021 Feb 22, all the “Jews’ around the world have cried out in unison with a drafted few minutes prayers for their Messiah to come; the frequencies of this prayer was to send up to open the portal of heavens. indeed, in recent months, the expectation of a world’s Messiah to be appeared on earth is very intense in various religious group. The clock is ticking, it is loud and clear! Interesting enough, the DSS recorded 6 year Priest weekly duty cycle’s calendarwith the mark of the full moon on first day of Aviv every 3 years has been served as the hands of our creator’s clock, they are YHWH’s time keeper on earth corresponding to the celestial signs!
Dear readers, our site has had encountered a sever crash in December 2019, and it took us a few month to finally restored the site minimally. The functionalities of the editorial operation have been compromised and has caused us great difficulty in uploading new post. We also notice that the cyber attack against us is still active and blocking readers from visiting us since then. Please bear with us for slow responses and pray for us to advance in this cause for MessiYAH YAHUSHUA in this coming year. HalleluYAH, HE Reigns!
Attached below here is a quick reply to one of our readers most recent question that concerning the subject of DSS Enoch calendar issue, and which is also the most concerned subject that many of you have been asking, here is the reply:
Dear beloved brother, a quick reply to inform you that we are on the same page:
YES. The MessiYAH was lay in the heart of the earth in day time before HE was placed in the grave! YES, HE was raised on the 3rd day! Please refer to our updated article with the same subject. https://man-child.com/?p=3741
You are correct, we should do one latest summary of our final research on this calendar subject matter. Sorry for the confusing researched papers ( published articles ) throughout the years that have been “improved/changed” as our understanding shifted. For now, we only tracked and matched the DDS 6 years priestly calendar according to Enoch with only and straightly 364 days yearly with 52 “Shabbats” not weeks, and the 1st day, we only start the year on the 4th day of the first week of the new year… by doing it, we discovered that we are observing the exact same day same month and the same 6 years uninterrupted priestly order ( for example, this coming year 2021/20222 is the 3rd year of this priestly order circle) , hence, even though after 2000+ years between us and them, we are sharing the same calendar even with the moon position monthly with the same priest on duty every 6 years circle!!!! And this was supported with scripture records as well as Jewish history when they mentioned of particular priestly order was on duty at that day of that month! And because of this, we also know how to identify the sabbatical years and Jubilee years according to the scriptures. The numbers match perfectly! We have done this exercise in Chinese, will try to describe it in English for this coming new Year of YHWH! Amein.
P.S. we have been active on social media groups instead of publishing new post on this site since DEC 2019 after we have encountered multiple cyber crashes on this site! Todah Rabah Thank you for leaving your comment here.
Additional proof that our calendar is corresponding to the exactly same calendar that Noah was using on the Flood account recorded in the book of Genesis:
Our First Fruit Offering to ABBA YaHuWaH in this Shavuot 2020 May 31st ： The Covenant of Mt Sinai and the promise of the releasing / raining down HIS Ruach/Spirit in this appointed time and season.🌈🙏♥️HalleluYAH
Initial information was excerpted from the document: https://man-child.com/__trashed/ [What covenants are commemorated on Yom 15th of Month 3? From what Yom we are instructed to start the 50 omer counts in the Scriptures? ]
The Qumran community were Zadokites who YHWH says never erred (Ezek.48:11): they began the count of the Omer from the 26th day Aviv and not from any Sabbath within the week of Matzah. They were advocates of the solar calendar, believing this to be the calendar against which the heavenly host established sacred time and sacred service, a belief that is confirmed in the books of Jubilees and Enoch. They were also the temple administers and must have had the correct timing for Shavuot. Only a solar calendar acknowledging the relevance of the vernal equinox facilitates the correct timing for the Festival of Shavuot, being the 15th of the third month and for this date to be a day after a Sabbath.
The below message in purple was partially quoted from the comment by Sholiach Moshe Yoseph Koniuchowsky on https://man-child.com/__trashed/ “Exodus 19shows us that they arrived at Mt. Sinai on Yom 15 Month 3, Yom 15 is the same Yom they left Egypt. Three Yoms [# of new life-resurrection] of washing and preparation bring us to the 18th. The 18th back in Aviv was also the YOM OF LIFE on Shabbat MORNING before dawn when Messiah ROSE and gave us all eternal life. Both the written and The Living Torah were given in the early morning of the 18th, not at NIGHT! Messiah Yahushua also died on Aviv 15, freeing us from sin, the exact Yom we left Egypt and were set free in Aviv and also the exact Yom we arrived as a free people on Mt. Sinai the 15th!!! Only the Torah Solar calendar fits like a glove and needs no added fictional details or unreliable human eyes looking to an often unseen MOON, to justify things. To unknowingly follow the moon is to in essence be blindly led by the rabbinic anti-Messiah movement, that also rejects revelation given on Month 3 Yom 16, regarding time, rather trusting their own blind eyes! [ Jubilee1:1 And it came to pass in the first year of the exodus of the children of Yashar’al out of Egypt, in the third month, on the sixteenth Yom of the month, [2450 Anno Mundi] that YAHUWAH spoke to Mosheh, saying: ‘Come up to Me on the Mount, and I will give you two tables of stone of the Torah and of the commandment, which I have written, that you may teach them.’] The times of heaven are based on heavenly mathematics and remains so vital that it was initially given to Moses and Israel on the 16th Yom of Month 3, the Yom after arriving at Sinai and 2 Yoms before the entire Torah. Think of that! YHUH wanted to make sure that we had the time right before the feasts were renewed! All of you can stop guessing and entertaining different calendars or shall we say calendar-confusion, if we simply receive the math of heaven revealed to Moses as a revelatory gift with just a mustard seed of Emunah, needing no sightings or man’s mathematics. It is far less confusing to accept the revelation; all of it, between the 15th and 18th as our gift! “…end
Date
03-15th Important records in the Scriptures
Note
And this whole festival was celebrated in heaven from the Yom of creation till the Yoms of Noach – twenty-six jubilees and five weeks of years and Noach and his sons observed it for seven jubilees and one week of years, till the Yom of Noach’s death, and from the Yom of Noach’s death his sons did away with it until the Yoms of Abraham, and they ate blood. But Abraham observed it, and Yitzchak and Ya’akov observed it until your Yoms, and in your Yoms the children of Israel forgot it until you celebrated it anew on this mountain. (Jub.6:18-19).
Hence, from the record of our scriptures, they agreed to sign a covenant with YHWH which is different from their ancestors on the month 3 yom 15th: EXO 19:1-8 stated that it was on the month 3 yom 15th Yashar’al agreed and made a Solemn Covenant with YHWH: Exo 19:4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Mitsrites, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Exo 19:5 ‘And now, if you diligently obey My voice, and shall guard My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession above all the peoples – for all the earth is Mine –Exo 19:6 ‘and you shall be to Me a reign of priests and a set-apart nation.’ Those are the words which you are to speak to the children of Yashar’al.” Exo 19:7 And Mosheh came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which יהוה commanded him. Exo 19:8 And all the people answered together and said, “All that יהוה has spoken we shall do.” So Mosheh brought back the words of the people to יהוה. 💕 On that Yom, Yashar’al accepted/committed to YAHUWAH’s proposal before going through the grand ceremony of the details of the content of the Torah being given yet! EXO 19:1In the third month after the children of Yisra’Ãl had come out of the land of Mitsrayim, on this Yom (The same yom) they came to the Wilderness of Sinai
EXO 19 In the third month after the children of Yisra’Ãl had come out of the land of Mitsrayim, on this Yom (The same yom) they came to the Wilderness of Sinai
After that yom of covenant onYom 15th of month 3, on the yom16th of month 3,YHWH called Mosheh to the mountain to discuss HIS detail plan of the giving and the contents of the TORAH! Exo 19:9-13 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “See, I am coming to you in the thick cloud so that the people hear when I speak with you and believe you forever.” And Mosheh reported the words of the people to יהוה. Exo 19:10 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Go to the people and set them apart today and tomorrow. And they shall wash their garments, Exo 19:11 and shall be prepared by the third Yom. For on the third-Yom יהוה shall come down upon Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people. etc ” The Book of Jubilee was written for this purpose, it stated that on month 3 yom 16th,after Yashar’al agreed to trust and obey YHWH whatever HE said; YHWH began to give the detail instructions of the content of TORAH to them. JUBILEES 1 YAHUWAH Call Mosheh up to the Mountain to give the account of the division of the Yoms Jubilee1:1 And it came to pass in the first year of the exodus of the children of Yasharal out of Egypt, in the third month, on the sixteenth Yom of the month, [2450 Anno Mundi] that YAHUWAH spoke to Mosheh, saying: ‘Come up to Me on the Mount, and I will give you two tables of stone of the Torah and of the commandment, which I have written, that you may teach them.‘ Jubilee was written for this purpose: This is the history of the division of the Yoms of the Torah and of the testimony, of the events of the years, of their (year) weeks, festivals of the covenant, of their Shabbats, of their Jubilees throughout all the years of the world, as YAHUWAH spoke to Mosheh on Mount Sinai when he went up to receive the tables of the Torah and of the commandment, according to the voice of YAHUWAH as HE said to him, ‘Go up to the top of the Mountain.‘https://man-child.com/moses-makes-seven-trips-up-and-down-mt-sinai/
A quote from the above article/link: ” We have discovered that scripture is knitted together by EIGHT COVENANTS YAHUWAH made through 5 men (Noah, Abraham x2, Moses x3, David, Yahushua) in an unfolding fashion, of which each of the first seven (covenants) were all parts of one covenant and each played a specific function in this first marriage (a COVENANT is a MARRIAGE UNION) between YAHUWAH and Abraham’s descendants that failed time and time again due to man’s unregenerate nature always disobedient to their covenant. A covenant has a contractual structure to it. In fact, a modern-Yom contract originates from ancient blood covenant, which is what we see take place both at Mt Sinai and 1500 years later with the death of our Savior. The ReNewed Covenant (of which also has a contractual structure) and blood shed of the Savior is directly connected to these seven trips Moses made. A CONTRACT has 4 elements:
An OFFER
An ACCEPTANCE
TERMS AND CONDITIONS, including a ceremony with blood ratification
SIGNATURE (a COVENANT is signed in BLOOD)
A modern-Yom Wedding in our culture is followed by a ceremonial reception where the Bride and Bridegroom share their first COVENANT MEAL as Husband and Wife. This also is modeled after the ancient blood covenant. We will see this occur at Mt Sinai as well. The speaking of THE TEN WORDS (often translated as Ten “COMMANDMENTS”) was, and still is, the eternal marriage conditions between YAHUWAH and Abraham’s descendants, which includes those of us in Yahushua/Messiah — the WORD/TEN WORDS made flesh. This wedding Yom 3500 years ago is also known as THE YOM OF THE ASSEMBLY (also translated incorrectly as the word “church”). Now, since you and I in Yahushua/Messiah are Abraham’s descendants as were they of this first covenant arrangement, every topic and theme of scripture and the entire ReNewed Covenant must be interpreted through what happened here at the Yom of the Assembly and subsequent 100 Yoms following. (From harvest to harvest: another set of 50 Yoms from month3 yom 15th is The Feast of new wine; the third set of 50 yoms is the feast of New Oil)
Another way of understanding the event happened on Mt Sinai: the Jewish wedding 3 stages:
On the yom16th -18th of the month 3 in Yahuwah 364 yom Calendar:
03/19: Yom2 Clouds Cover Mount Sinai Exo 24:9 And Mosheh went up, also Aharon, Naḏaḇ, and Aḇihu, and seventy of the elders of Yisra’ĕl, 03/20 Yom3 Clouds Cover Mount Sinai 03/21 Yom 4 Clouds Cover Mount Sinai 03/22 Yom 5Clouds Cover Mount Sinai 03/23 Yom 6 Clouds Cover Mount Sinai 03/24 Yom7 Clouds Cover Mount Sinai Exo 24:10 and they saw the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, and under His feet like a paved work of sapphire stone, and like the heavens for brightness. Exo 24:11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the chiefs of the children of Yisra’ĕl! And they saw Elohim, and they ate and drank.Exo 24:12 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there, while I give you tablets of stone, and the Torah and the command which I have written, to teach them.” Exo 24:13 And Mosheh arose with his assistant Yahoshua, and Mosheh went up to the mountain of Elohim. Exo 24:14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. And see, Aharon and Ḥur are with you. Whoever has mattered, let him go to them.” Exo 24:15 And Mosheh went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. Exo 24:16 And the esteem of יהוה dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six Yoms. And on the seventh Yom, He called to Mosheh out of the midst of the cloud. Exo 24:17 And the appearance of the esteem of יהוה was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain, before the eyes of the children of Yisra’ĕl. Exo 24:18 And Mosheh went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And it came to be that Mosheh was on the mountain forty Yoms and forty nights.
Yom 26/3rd Month: Noah’s the40thYomof rain
Yom 1st Month 4 and together with al 4 seasonal memorial YomJubilee 16:1-4 The Malakim appear unto Abraham 1 And on the new month of the fourth month we appeared unto Abraham, at the oak of Mamre, and we talked with him, and we announced to him that a son would be given to him by Sarah his wife. 2 And Sarah laughed, for she heard that we had spoken these words with Abraham, and we admonished her, and she became afraid and denied that she had laughed on account of the words.3 And we told her the name of her son, as his name is ordained and written in the heavenly tablets (i.e.) Yitschaq, 4 And that when we returned to her at a set time, she would have conceived a son.
Jubilee 29:15-16 And he sent to his father Yitschaq of all his substance, clothing, and food, and meat, and drink, and milk, and butter, and cheese, and some dates of the valley. 16 And to his mother, Rebeccaalso four times a year, between the times of the months, between plowing and reaping, and between autumn and the rain (season) and between winter and spring, to the tower of Abraham.
Jubilee 6:23-29 23 And on the new month of the first month, and on the new month of the fourth month, and on the new month of the seventh month, and on the new month of the tenth month are the Yoms of remembrance and the Yoms of the seasons in the four divisions of the year. These are written and ordained as a testimony forever. 24 And Noah ordained them for himself as feasts for the generations for ever, so that they have become thereby a memorial unto him. 25 And on the new month of the first month he was bidden to make for himself an ark, and on that (yom) the earth became dry and he opened (the ark) and saw the earth. 26 And on the new month of the fourth month, the mouths of the depths of the abyss beneath were closed. And on the new month of the seventh month, all the mouths of the abysses of the earth were opened, and the waters began to descend into them 27 And on the new month of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and Noah was glad.
Jubilee 3;32And on the new month of the fourth month, Adam and his wife went forth from the Garden of Eden, and they dwelt in the land of Elda in the land of their creation.
Genesis 8: 22,“As long as the Earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and Winter, Day and Night will never cease.”
Dead Sea Scroll Parchment 4Q409. Frag.1 Col.1— “Praise and Baruch on the Days of the First Fruits of Wheat, of New Wine and Fresh Oil, with the New Cereal Offering and Baruch His Kadosh Name. Praise and Baruch on the Days of the Festival of Woods, with the Offering of Woods as a burnt offering, and Baruch His Name. Praise and Baruch on the DAY OF REMEMBRANCE with a blast on the Rams Horn. Baruch YAHUWAH, YAH of all. Praise and Baruch …and Baruch His Kadosh Name. and Baruch YAHUWAH, YAH of all. Praise and Baruch on these days.. Praise and Baruch and give Thanks….. Praise and Baruch and give Thanks with tree branches.”
Jubilee 6:23-29 v28 And on this account he ordained them for himself as feasts for a memorial forever, and thus are they ordained 29 And they placed them on the heavenly tablets, each had thirteen weeks; from one to another (passed) their memorial, from the first to the second, and from the second to the third, and from the third to the fourth
Father, all praise be to You, the Eternal YAHUWAH Aloahiym Aleph Tau, our Creator Father, and Yahushua, our Messiah Aloahiym Aleph Tau, one with the Father [John 10:30], Who has us kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this moment in your plan for all of the eternity. Father, we know that our entire existence is a function of you alone, and that our salvation is only through Yahushua [Rev 5: 12-13], and that your love of us preceded our love for you [1 John 4:19]. We only have an existence, sustenance, and prosperity because of your love for us and your pleasure, and for no other reason [Rev 4:11]. Without an existence, we cannot give you the praise and thanks that you so richly deserve, and that is rightfully Yours. YAHUWAH, you inhabit the praises of your people, Israel [Psalm 22:3], and not our complaints [Phil 2: 14; James 3: 14-18]. We thank you, Father, for bringing forth all believers in you and of You to read this article, whereby you have revealed yourself to each and every one of us during our tenure here on the earth, to serve your purposes, and whereby the brilliance of your magnificent Light is tangibly apparent, and glowing in, around, and through each one of us [Psalm 91:1; Matt 6:22]. Even though we all have walked in times past in the darkness of Satan, according to the ways and course of this world, [Eph 2: 2], You have redeemed us for Your purposes, enabling us to witness and perceive who You are in us, and who we are in You, even allowing us to perceive the origin of our core existence (our respective spirits) as being of you (your divine Light)[1 John 1:5], and literally having our spirits with you in Shamayim [Eph 2:6] as joint heirs with Yahushua, the one and only Messiah [Rom 8:17; John 14:6], so as to accomplish Your perfect will (YAHUWAH’S Perfect Will = YAHUWAH’S pure, perfect divine Light) in and for each one of us [Eph 2:10]. You and you alone provide us with what we are in need of [Phil 4:19], and what we desire [Psalm 23:1]. Father, we ask that you Baruch each and every reader of this article by consuming our respective spirits, souls, and bodies, and manifesting your perfect, divine Light tangibly and recognizably as coming only from You as the sole, exclusive and Sovereign source [Isa 43:11, 15; 44:6; others], such that each person receive, ponder, and decisively act on this message as you have delivered it to me, and that each reader hereof would clearly and tangibly experience the explosion of your perfect, divine Light as the Perfect Gift of James 1:17 (active motion/movement = demonstration of power of the Ruach ha Qodesh), according to Your perfect will for each of us, in the manner in which you have revealed it here. We thank you, Father, for answered prayer. Amein. Shalom,
Turn us again, O Elohym, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. ~ Psalms 80:3
Original article can be found on www.withoneaccord.org By Dr. William and Mary Schnoebelen.
Prayer changes us profoundly. As we seek to know Abba Father through our Saviour Yahushua – we are changed. Like a child we rest in Him. Allow Him access to all those forgotten, wounded and murky places so well guarded… until that time when His Set Apart Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh)turns us again, and brings His fire and Light to wash us with the Living Waters of redemption. It’s so miraculous, the transformation that takes place!
We are forever changed. Our spirits transformed in one glorious, eternal moment. This spiritual growth is promised to us and expressed both explicitly and with metaphor throughout Scripture! Our spiritual armour becomes more perfect in Yahushua, our hearts are strengthened. We step deeper into relationship with Him and He shows us, through His Presence and His Word, the awesomeness of Yahuwah. But inevitably, struggles come to test us (many times through family and friends!), and we realize there is SO MUCH MORE we need to learn. Because HE IS SO MUCH MORE. So, how do we fulfill our destinies and move deeper into relationship with Him?
COMPASSION & THANKFULNESS.
And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. Mt 15:36
The feeding of the multitudes strikes a chord in my heart. For me, the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 15, is incredibly touching…because Yahushua Messiah, King of the Universe, demonstrates His profound love for starving souls AND for the Father by giving thanks – even when there was little to share. While it is true this passage has volumes more to teach us, let me just say that it is Yahushua’s love and compassion that brings all these lessons together.
But consider this: After He healed, delivered, preached and journeyed, yet before His great miracle of feeding the thousands…He prayed and gave thanks. Thanks for what and WHO was there, waiting to be transformed in that dry arid place; He saw a miraculous, nourishing food for thousands of people seeking His truths, His Presence, spring to life before the Throne before there was earthly evidence. Seeing the situation with His eternal vision, He knew what would come. He trusted the Father. He had trust in HIM. And so we must follow His lead.
It’s true most of the world is consumed with greed. But there is so much suffering and need, too – this is a difficult lesson for our hearts to comprehend. But Yahushua will reveal His plans when we ask for HIS compassion – and we begin to feel and know His love for His children…that’s when thankfulness can bring us into His Presence with praise! Burdens are lifted, and nothing really matters but Him. It’s all about Him. This is where MIRACLES are forged in the Fire!
This was a revelation for me some years ago during a very difficult time in my life, when I was poor, single, isolated and facing tremendous persecution for my faith in the workplace. BUT YAHUWAH! I remember how one weekend as I cried out to Him, devastated by an especially brutal week…Then, HE spoke to me and showed me the pain and suffering of my tormentors. Devils ruled over them. I began to see the situation through His eyes more clearly, and an anointing fell on me to pray for their deliverance and salvations in new, powerful ways. The strongholds of the enemy began to fall; Confusion blanketed their camp. My co-workers had no experience to measure against this kind of unrelenting, joyful compassion that was not mine – but His. They didn’t have a clue how to deal with it. He turned me again supernaturally, and many were infuriated by my joyful countenance! They wanted me sad and angry, like they were! But THANKFULLY, a few precious souls saw the compassion and were forever changed when I spoke to them of Yahushua, and this blessing ignited such passion within me for our King that I would never see abuse, hate and selfishness the same way again. I found a deeper understanding of His love for those who called me their enemy:
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, baruch them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; ~ Mt 5:44
Dear Ones, your witness at home and in the workplace, at the gym, during your travels…just might change someone’s eternity! The need is great but the laborers are few…every time we encounter another soul it can make a HUGE difference. THANKFULLY, some are willing to intercede and make sacrificial gifts for His Kingdom to ‘feed the multitudes.’ We are so thankful for each and every prayer you pray for With One Accord Ministries and for us!
Thankful for your notes of appreciation, love and support. Thankful for every dime we receive that keeps the ministries of WOAM going! Some days we find ourselves with only small morsels to share…BUT YAHUWAH! With His compassion and the power of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) those baskets are miraculously filled – and the lives of hundreds and even thousands are touched with Yahushua’s deliverance and healing. One soul at a time. HALLELUYAH!
As you stand with us as intercessors and prayer warriors against the tide of humanism and outright evil flourishing today, we THANK YOU SO MUCH DEAR BROTHERS & SISTERS IN YAHUSHUA! You are holding us up when the spiritual warfare is at its worst and our finances at the breaking point. We love you so much in Messiah Dear Friends!
You, our Friends & Partners, make all we do possible. THANK YOU! May Yahushua baruch you all during this festive Season of Lights… And please, we ask that you pray and financially support us so together, we can do His Work! Some day in that great heaven we will see and know the profound eternities Abba worked through our submission to His commandments – His compassion and His baruched Ruach haQodesh. Shalom!
YAHUWAH baruch thee, and keep thee: YAHUWAH make his face shine upon thee, and have favor/be gracious unto thee: YAHUWAH lift up his countenance upon thee,?and give thee shalom. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will baruch them. ~ Num 6:24-27
Prayer for Yahuwah’s Dimensional Deliverance
Introduction
Through Emunah/believe we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of Yahuwah, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.~ Hebrews 11:3
Originally, Ruach gave this prayer to us as a means of Dimensional Deliverance from Rituals and satanic attack. But thrust into several horrendous spiritual battles during October 2014, Ruach led us to begin praying a variation of the prayer for difficult and demon-filled situations AND people. It has had huge impact on everything from schisms caused by actual abuse, to satanic attack, to spiritual or phantom/dream events such as fallen angelic rape.
This is the original prayer which had huge positive impacts for satanic ritual abuse victims. THIS IS A WEAPON OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE!
All Prayers on With One Accord Ministries’ website and all written materials, videos, radio programs and all other communications, teachings and resources are the sole property of With One Accord Ministries and Dr. William and Mary Schnoebelen. All rights reserved.
Yahuwah abides in all time and dimensions (the basis of repentance/ Teshuvah), and He is the author and finisher of our faith through His Word! Hence, this prayer can be prayed for events of the past, present and future (to implore for His Mercy and for Him to change outcomes before an evil act is even committed). REMEMBER: We are ASKING YAHUWAH to do these things for us as His Set- Apart children – because only HE abides eternally and is able to move freely within and without the dimensions. He created them, us, and all our spiritual being to one day abide WITH HIM and His Son, Yahushua the Messiah. This is a serious spiritual warfare prayer Ruach haQodesh wants us to share with YOU:
Abba Father, You are the Creator of all Times, Worlds and Dimensions. By You all things were made that were made. In the Name of Yahushua ha Mossiach Your Son, Yahuwah come in the flesh, I ask You to change all evil intent forged against me throughout all time, space and dimensions.
Please Father, remove any and all of the enemies’ power to manipulate, control, violate or corrupt me (or name others) and destroy our lives and/or loved ones through violation in any time or dimension! I especially pray for protection, anointing, and deliverance from defilement in my/our[Name SPECIFIC or GENERAL areas such as sleep, dreams, patterns or ways of thinking, bodies, spiritual gifts, home, job site, travels, etc.] by the destroyer, ha satan, his minions and all enemies of YAHUWAH.
Please Abba Yahuwah, In Yahushua’s Name, have mercy on us and change where the Dimensions join together right down into our physical brains and bodies, souls and spirits, according to YOUR Righteousness! Change me, all those named, and these places and times, timelines, times and seasons concerning our lives into something for your Kabod (glory)! Annihilate the enemies’ plans and let your mighty Malakim (angels) raise their swords and shields to vanquish them. Make them to fall into the pit they devised for us! Abba, if any human beings are involved in these defilements and cursings, please let them be saved, redeemed and transformed by the Name and the Blood of Yahushua Messiah! Please Abba Yahuwah, transform us all through Your Set Apart Dabar (WORD of) Yahuwah, and Yahushua’s Blood, Resurrection, Ascension and Second Coming into Your sanctified, set apart, Ruach-filled children; Forgive us for any sins we might have committed that give the enemy opportunity, and please change all evil outcomes of unrighteousness intent or actions, words or cursings made by others or by me, both willingly and unwillingly – into an everlasting Praise for You, a blessing for us and for Your people.
I PRAY that all these Times and Dimensions, known and unknown, be turned again toward You and Your Living Torah – and ask You, YAHUWAH, to send Your KADOSH (holy) Light and the FIRE of Ruach HaKodesh through us all. Please! Send YOUR DABAR YAHUWAH (WORD) through any dark CIRCUMSTANCES and PLACES, and turn them into what You want them to be for Your Purposes.
Finally Abba Father, please seal off anything evil or religious coming against us according to Your Merciful Will. Surround us with Your Name, YAHUWAH – and the Name of Your Divine Word COME IN THE FLESH, YAHUSHUA, from In the Beginning and for all Time. Set us Apart to the eternal Kabod (glory) of Your Ineffable Name – YAHUWAH – and please write Your Name upon our foreheads and in our hearts forever – equip us to serve you in every aspect of our lives! In Yahushua ha Mossiach’s Precious Name we pray, OMAYN!
COMING SOON! We will be releasing Dr. Bill’s NEW DVD Teaching
DIMENSIONAL DELIVERANCE for more in-depth information and teaching on this advanced Spiritual Warfare Weaponry!
Note: There are several different times of ‘great tribulation‘ that are defined in the New Testament; which do not point to the same period of time.
One was fulfilled when Satan used the Roman Empire to try to wipe out the Early Church, killing 10 million saints.
Another was fulfilled during the 1,260 years of the reign of the antichrist Popes of Rome, from 538-1798 A.D.; when they killed over 50 million saints. Read 1,260 Years Of Great Tribulation
The other one will be covered on this study.
The proper context of the Olivet Discourse is not the end times, but rather about Messiah’s proclamation that the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed.
The disciples understood the prophecy in Daniel 9, and they were inquiring about when Messiah would cause the temple and city to be destroyed, thus ending the latter days of the Jews, who Messiah had just berated in Matthew 23.
Matthew is the only one who wrote about the ‘end of the world’, Luke and Mark did not. It should be rendered as ‘age‘, as it points to the latter days of the Jews, from when they were released from Babylon, until the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.
Daniel 9:26 warned the Jews that the temple and city would be desolated. Daniel understood this to mean that because the Jews would deliver the Messiah up to be killed, they would be desolated. This is why Daniel was so distraught.
“and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”
In Matthew 24:20-22, Messiah warned about the coming time of Great Tribulation, which Daniel had foretold:
“And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.“
Note: The command for the saints to flee Judea is very specific to the saints in the first century, and can’t apply to saints in the end times where there is no Judea. Praying that their flight would not be on the Sabbath applies to the first century, when the Jewish leaders would have closed the city gates and prohibited them from walking out of the city; which does not apply to the end times.
Then in Matthew 24:34 Messiah told us that all of the things that He just proclaimed would be fulfilled in that generation:
“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”
Some people dismiss His words by saying that He was not referring to that generation, but His words to the Jews of His day reveal that He was indeed talking about them:
For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. Luke 11:30
But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. Luke 17:25
From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. Luke 11:51
Because people don’t understand the terrible calamity that happened to the Jews in the first century, they assign the fulfillment to the end times.
But as you will see, this was an intense time of suffering for the Jews, who had rejected the Messiah. When Messiah was being led to be crucified, He said:
“But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.” Luke 23:28
Note Luke’s explanation:
“For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” Luke 21:22
The days of vengeance are from Elohim against the apostate Jews, not some end times antichrist.
Judgment had been threatened by almost all the prophets against that wicked city. They had spoken of its crimes and threatened its ruin. Once Elohim had destroyed Jerusalem and carried the people to Babylon; but their crimes had been repeated when they returned, and Elohim had again threatened their ruin. Particularly was this very destruction foretold by Daniel, in Daniel 9:26-27.
Note Luke’s explanation:
“But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 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.” Luke 21:23-24
This clearly shows that Luke anticipated a fulfillment in terms of Jerusalem only — the final Diaspora, and the trodding down of Jerusalem by the Gentiles.
The word gentiles is speaking of the Romans, who were being used to fulfill prophecy about the desolation of the temple, city and Jews.
So let’s take Messiah at His word and see how in fact His words were fulfilled, when the people of the prince, the Roman army, invaded Judea to desolate the temple, the city of Jerusalem, and the Jewish people.
Most Christians severely underestimate the desolation of the Jews in the first century, not understanding how Messiah caused the Roman army to cause calamity unlike any other time in history.
Notice that it says “nor ever shall be“. If this time of Great Tribulation was in fact fulfilled in the last days before Messiah returned, then there would be no more time to have another time of great tribulation; and Messiah’s explanation does not make sense.
Instead the tribulation of 70 A.D., would be followed by other times of tribulation, which fits Messiah’s explanation.
This lines up perfectly with Daniel 12:1, “And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book.”
The punishment, which was then about to fall upon the city and people, was to be of an exhaustive character. His words utterly forbid the idea of another and more severe national calamity reserved for a future day. (PM)
On the way through Judea to Jerusalem, the Roman army killed Jews by the 10 thousands in the outlying cities. They invaded Judea from the north, marching along the coast, and killing many – 18,000 at Askelon alone.
The Roman army surrounded Jerusalem, cutting off the food supply. Warring factions inside the city destroyed the granaries. This led to a severe famine, killing many. Josephus records that the famine widened its progress and devoured the people by whole houses and families. The upper rooms were full of women and children dying by famine; and the lanes of the city were full of the dead bodies of the aged.
People killed each other as they fought over food. The most horrible and unbelievable torments were inflicted upon all who were suspected of having any food concealed.
The city was divided against itself with rival groups. The most violent party in the city was the Zealots. These called to their aid a band of blood thirsty Idumeans, who set upon the people who were peaceably inclined, and slaughtered young and old until the outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood, and that day they saw 8500 dead bodies there.
But as for the seditious bands themselves, they fought against each other while trampling upon the dead bodies which lay heaped one upon another, and being filled with a mad rage from those dead bodies under their feet, they became the more fierce. They, moreover, were still inventing pernicious things against each other; and when they had resolved upon anything, they executed it without mercy, and omitted no method of torment or of barbarity.
Josephus also tells of the terrible torments inflicted upon nobles and citizens of the better sort who refused to comply with the demands of the Zealots. Those, after being horribly tortured, were slain, and through fear, none dared bury them. In this way 12,000 of the more eminent inhabitants perished.
The noise of those that were fighting was incessant, both by day and by night; but the lamentations of those that mourned exceeded the noise of the fighting.
The dead bodies were not taken outside the city and buried, for fear of being killed, so they stacked up around the city. The blood of all sort of dead carcases stood in lakes in the holy courts themselves.
Pestilence from unclean conditions caused diseases and death.
One man, with the consent of his family, killed his parents, his children, his wife and himself; to save themselves from a worse fate.
A woman, eminent for her family and her wealth, who, while suffering the ravages of famine, slew her infant son and roasted him, and having eaten half of him, concealed the other half.
Because the food supply was cut off by the Romans, Jews out of desperation would sneak out of the city walls at night to find food. They were captured, tortured and crucified by the Roman army. At one point 500 a night were being crucified on the trees around the city, so that all of the trees had multiple bodies on them. And these bodies were not taken down, but left up there to rot and be eaten by birds and animals.
In 70 A.D. when the people of the prince, the Roman army flooded into Jerusalem, they killed the remaining Jews with the sword, trampling over dead bodies.
Birds, dogs and wild animals, ate the flesh of the fallen.
15,000 fugitive Jews were killed by the Romans, and the number of those that were forced to leap into the Jordan was prodigious. The whole country through which they fled was filled with slaughter, and Jordan could not be passed over, by reason of the dead bodies that were in it.
97,000 were taken captive and sold cheaply to places like Egypt, as if back into bondage.
At the end of the siege in 70 A.D., there were 1.1. million dead Jews, none of which were buried.
Their bodies were stacked in the city and fallen in the temple. Their bodies filled all of the trees outside the city. Blood no doubt was everywhere. Wild animals and birds of prey feasted on the dead bodies. The scene and stench had to be intense, unlike anything ever seen before or after.
Of this period of great tribulation Jewish historian Josephus says, in the introduction of his ‘Wars of the Jews‘ historical documentary.
“It had come to pass that our city Jerusalem had arrived at a higher degree of felicity than any other city under the Roman government, and yet at last fell into the sorest of calamities again. Accordingly it appears to methat the misfortunes of all men from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to those of the Jews, are not so considerable as they were.”
The sufferings of the Jews had this peculiar characteristic, namely, that they were mostly inflicted upon themselves by the warring factions within the city, concerning whom Josephus says in another place:
“It is impossible to go distinctly over every instance of these men’s iniquity. I shall, therefore, speak my mind here at once briefly:That neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world” (Wars V. 10:5).
Messiah had warned about the bloodshed that would come on this generation.
“And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” Luke 21:24
This fulfilled the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers, when the wicked tenants killed the son of the vineyard owner.
“But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.” Luke 20:14-15
This fulfilled Messiah’s words of Woe to the scribes and the Pharisees.
“Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” Matthew 23:34-36
Recall what the Jewish leaders said when they handed Messiah over to be crucified:
“And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.” Matthew 27:25
As so it was, as the Roman army flooded into the city and killed 100’s of thousands of Jews by the sword. And those who were captured were sold into slavery.
Titus wanted to save the temple, but the Roman soldiers were so enraged at the wicked Jews, that they tore it down brick by brick, to be able to capture all of the gold.
This fulfilled Messiah’s words in Matthew 24:1-2, “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Video: Rome and Jerusalem at War – The destruction of the Jewish Temple
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The following information is from Philip Mauro’s well-documented work, ‘The Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation – A Study of the Last Two Visions of Daniel, and of the Olivet Discourse of the Lord Jesus Christ.’
The Jewish historian Josephus devotes nearly two hundred large pages (they would fill upwards of four hundred ordinary size) to the account of the events of’ those ‘days of vengeance’.
We can refer to but a very few of those tragic events; but, inasmuch as not many of our readers have access to the history of Josephus, we believe we are rendering them a service in giving the best idea we can, in small compass, of the happenings of those times.
After the retreat of Roman army leader Cestius, there was a slaughter of about 10,000 Jews at Damascus; and then, it being evident that war with the Romans was inevitable, the Jews began making preparations to defend Jerusalem.
At that time Josephus, the writer of this history, was appointed general of the armies in Galilee. He seems to have had great ability and success as a soldier, though he was finally overpowered and captured by the Romans. Concerning one of his military operations his translator says’ I cannot but think this stratagem of Josephus to be one of the finest that ever was invented and executed by any warrior whatsoever.
At this point the emperor Nero appointed Vespasian, a valiant and experienced general, to the task of subduing the Jews; and Vespasian designated his son Titus to assist him. They invaded Judea from the north, marching along the coast, and killing many–18,000 at Askelon alone. Thus Galilee was all over filled with fire and blood; nor was it exempt from any kind of misery or calamity (III 4:1).
The incidents of this siege were terrible; and among them were events which forcibly recall the Lord’s words, But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days. The Romans were so enraged by the long and fierce resistance of the Jews that they spared none, nor pitied any. Many, moreover, in desperation, killed themselves.
The life of Josephus was spared in a manner which seems miraculous (III 8:4-7), and he was taken captive to Vespasian, to whom he prophesied that both he and Titus his son would be Caesar and emperor.
Josephus was with Titus during the subsequent siege of Jerusalem, in which the atrocities and miseries reached a limit impossible to be exceeded on earth. Only the state of the lost in hell could be worse.
After Jotapata fell, Joppa was taken, and then Tiberias and Taricheae on Lake Gennesaret. Thousands were killed, and upwards of 30,000 from the last named place alone were sold into slavery. Having now completely subdued Galilee, Vespasian led his army to Jerusalem.
For a right understanding of Matthew 24:15-21 it is important to know that the Roman armies were, for more than a year, occupied with the devastation of the provinces of Galilee and Judea, before Jerusalem was besieged. It should be noted also that Christ’s first warnings to flee were to them which be in Judea (#Mt24:16).
This makes it perfectly certain that the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, which was the appointed signal for them which be in Judea to flee into the mountains, was not an idol set up in the inner sanctuary of the Temple. For the desolation of Judea was completed long before Jerusalem and the Temple were taken.
At the time Vespasian led his armies to Jerusalem, that doomed city was in a state of indescribable disorder and confusion insomuch that, during the entire siege, the Jews suffered far more from one another inside the walls than from the enemy outside.
Josephus says there were disorders and civil war in every city, and all those that were at quiet from the Romans turned their hands one against another. There was also a bitter contest between those that were for war, and those that were desirous for peace (IV 3:2).
Josephus further tells of the utter disgrace and ruin of the high priesthood, the basest of men being exalted to that office; and also of the profanation of the sanctuary.
The most violent party in the city was the Zealots. These called to their aid a band of blood thirsty Idumeans, who set upon the people who were peaceably inclined, and slaughtered young and old until the outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood, and that day they saw 8500 dead bodies there.
Among the slain was Ananias, formerly high priest, a venerable and worthy man, concerning whom Josephus said:
“I should not mistake if I said that the death of Ananias was the beginning of the destruction of the city, and that from this very day may be dated the overthrow of her wall, and the ruin of her affairs; that being the day whereon they saw their high priest, and the procurer of their preservation, slain in the midst of their city. * * *
And I cannot but think it was because God had doomed this city to destruction, as a polluted city, and was resolved to purge His sanctuary with fire, that He cut off these, their great defenders, while those that a little before had worn the sacred garments and presided over the public worship, were cast out naked to be the food of dogs and wild beasts.
Now after these were slain the Zealots and the Idumeans fell upon the people as upon a flock of profane animals, and cut their throats.”
Josephus also tells of the terrible torments inflicted upon nobles and citizens of the better sort who refused to comply with the demands of the Zealots. Those, after being horribly tortured, were slain, and through fear, none dared bury them. In this way 12,000 of the more eminent inhabitants perished (IV 5:3). We quote further:
“Along all the roads also vast numbers of dead bodies lay in heaps; and many who at first were zealous to desert the city chose rather to perish there; for the hopes of burial made death m their own city appear less terrible to them. But those zealots came at last to that degree of barbarity as not to bestow a burial either on those slain in the city or on those that lay along the roads; as if at the same time that they defiled men with their wicked actions they would pollute the Deity itself also, they left the dead bodies to putrefy under the sun. (IV. 6. 3).
About this time above 15,000 fugitive Jews were killed by the Romans, and the number of those that were forced to leap into the Jordan was prodigious. The whole country through which they fled was filled with slaughter, and Jordan could not be passed over, by reason of the dead bodies that were in it (IV. 8. 5, 6).
VESPASIAN RECALLED. TITUS PLACED IN CHARGE
At this point Vespasian was called to Rome by reason of the death of the emperor Nero, and the operations against the Jews devolved upon Titus. Vespasian himself was soon thereafter made emperor.
Meanwhile another tyrant rose up, whose name was Simon, and of him Josephus says: Now this Simon, who was without the wall, was a greater terror to the people than the Romans themselves; while the Zealots who were within it were more heavy upon them than both the other.
Those Zealots were led by a tyrant named John; and the excesses of murder and uncleanness in which they habitually indulged are indescribable (see Bk. IV, ch. 9, sec. 10).
In order to overthrow John, the people finally admitted Simon and his followers. From that time onward the civil warfare within the city became more incessant and deadly. The distracted city was now divided into three factions instead of two.
The fighting was carried even into the inner court of the temple; whereupon Josephus laments that even those who came with sacrifices to offer them in the temple were slain, and sprinkled that altar with their own blood, till the dead bodies of strangers were mingled together with those of their own country, and those of profane persons with those of priests, and the blood of all sort of dead carcases stood in lakes in the holy courts themselves(V 1:3).
Surely there never were such conditions as these in any city before or since.
Among the dire calamities which befell the wretched people was the destruction of the granaries and storehouses of food;so that famine was soon added to the other horrors. The warring factions were agreed in nothing but to kill those that were innocent. Says Josephus:
“The noise of those that were fighting was incessant, both by day and by night; but the lamentations of those that mourned exceeded the noise of the fighting. Nor was there ever any occasion for them to leave off their lamentations, because their calamities came perpetually, one upon another.
But as for the seditious bands themselves, they fought against each other while trampling upon the dead bodies which lay heaped one upon another, and being filled with a mad rage from those dead bodies under their feet, they became the more fierce. They, moreover, were still inventing pernicious things against each other; and when they had resolved upon anything, they executed it without mercy, and omitted no method of torment or of barbarity” (V. 2. 5).
At the time described in the preceding paragraphs, the Roman armies had not yet reached the city, and inasmuch as the Passover season now came on, and things seemed to quiet down momentarily, the gates were opened for such as wished to observe the great feast. The translator, in a footnote, says:
“Here we see the true occasion of those vast numbers of Jews that were in Jerusalem during this siege by Titus and who perished therein. For the siege began at the feast of Passover, when such prodigious multitudes of the Jews and proselytes were come from all parts of Judea, and from other countries.
As to the number that perished during this siege, Josephus assures us, as we shall see hereafter, they were 1,100,000, besides 97,000 captives.
This is notable as the last Passover. That joyous feast of remembrance of God’s great deliverance of His people out of Egypt ended in an orgy of blood.
The tyrant John took advantage of this opportunity to introduce some of his followers, with concealed weapons, among the throngs of worshipers in the temple, who slew many, while others were rolled in heaps together, and trampled upon, and beaten without mercy.
And now, though the Roman armies were at their gates, the warring factions began again to destroy one another and the innocent inhabitants.
“For”, says Josephus, they returned to their former madness, and separated one from another, and fought it out; and they did everything that the besiegers could desire them to do. For they never suffered from the Romans anything worse than they made each other suffer; nor was there any misery endured by the city which, after what these men did, could be esteemed new. It was most of all unhappy before it was overthrown; and those that took it did it a kindness. For I venture to say that the sedition destroyed the city, and the Romans destroyed the sedition. This was a much harder thing to do than to destroy the walls. So that we may justly ascribe our misfortunes to our own people (V. 6. 2).
This is the most astonishing feature of this great tribulation; for surely there never was a besieged city whose inhabitants suffered more from one another than from the common enemy. In this feature of the case we see most clearly that it is one of judgment; and that, as the apostle Paul said, the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
At this point the siege began in earnest. Titus, however, sent Josephus to speak to the Jews, offering them clemency, and exhorting them to yield. Josephus made a most earnest plea to them not to resist the might of Rome, pointing out that God was no longer with them.
But it was to no purpose. So the siege proceeded outside, and the famine began to rage inside, insomuch that children pulled out of their parents’ mouths the morsels they were eating, and even mothers deprived their infants of the last bits of food that might have sustained their lives.
The fighters, of course, kept for their own use what food there was, and it seems that they took a keen delight in seeing others suffer. It was a species of madness. They invented terrible methods of torments, such as it would not be seemly for us to describe. And this was done, says Josephus, to keep their madness in exercise (V 10:3).
The most horrible and unbelievable torments were inflicted upon all who were suspected of having any food concealed. The following passage will give an idea of the conditions:
“It is impossible to give every instance of the iniquity of these men. I shall therefore speak my mind here at once briefly:–that neither did any other city suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world. (This forcibly brings to mind the Lord’s own words.) Finally they brought the Hebrew nation into contempt, that they might themselves appear comparatively less impious with regard to strangers. They confessed, what was true, that they were the scum, and the spurious and abortive offspring of our nation, while they overthrew the city themselves, and forced the Romans, whether they would or no, to gain a melancholy reputation by acting gloriously against them; and did almost draw that fire upon the temple which they seemed to think came too slowly” (V. 10. 5).
Under pressure of the famine many Jews went out at night into the valleys in search of food.
These were caught, tortured and crucified in sight of those on the walls of the city. About five hundred every day were thus treated. The number became finally so great that there was not room enough for the crosses, nor crosses enough for the victims. So several were ofttimes nailed to one cross.
A little later the Roman armies encompassed the entire city, so that there was no longer any egress therefrom.
“Then, says Josephus, did the famine widen its progress and devour the people by whole houses and families. The upper rooms were full of women and children dying by famine; and the lanes of the city were full of the dead bodies of the aged. The children also and the young men wandered about the marketplaces like shadows, all swelled with the famine, and fell down dead, wheresoever their misery seized them (V. 12. 3).
Thus did the miseries of Jerusalem grow worse and worse every day.
And indeed the multitude of carcases that lay in heaps, one upon another, was a horrible sight, and produced a pestilential stench which was a hindrance to those that would make sallies out of the city and fight the enemy (VI. 1. 1).
The number of those that perished by famine in the city was prodigious, and their miseries were unspeakable. For if so much as the shadow of any kind of food did anywhere appear, a war was commenced presently, and the dearest friends fell a fighting one another about it.
In this connection Josephus relates in detail the case of a woman, eminent for her family and her wealth, who, while suffering the ravages of famine, slew her infant son and roasted him, and having eaten half of him, concealed the other half.
When presently the seditious Jews came in to search the premises, and smelt the horrid scent of this food, they threatened her life if she did not show them what food she had prepared. She replied that she had saved for them a choice part, and withal uncovered what was left of the little body, saying, Come, eat of this food; for I have eaten of it myself. Do not you pretend to be more tender than a woman, or more compassionate than a mother. Even those desperate and hardened men were horrified at the sight, and stood aghast at the deed of this mother. They left trembling; and the whole city was full of what the woman had done. It must be remembered that all this time the lives of all in the city would have been spared and the city and temple saved, had they but yielded to the Romans. But how then should the Scripture be fulfilled? (see #De 28:56,57)
Soon after this the temple was set on fire and was burned down, though Titus tried to save it. Josephus says:
But as for that house, God had for certain long ago doomed it to the fire; and now that fatal day was come, according to the revolution of ages. It was the tenth day of the month Ab, the day upon which it was formerly burnt by the king of Babylon (VI. 4. 5).
Further Josephus says:
“While the holy house was on fire everything was plundered that came to hand, and ten thousand of those were slain. Nor was there commiseration of any age, or any reverence of gravity; but children, old men, profane persons, and priests were all slain in the same manner.
Moreover many, when they saw the fire, exerted their utmost strength, and did break out into groans and outcries. Perea also did return the echo, as well as the mountains round about Jerusalem, and augmented the force of the noise.”
Yet was the misery itself more terrible than this disorder. For one would have thought that the hill itself, on which the temple stood, was seething hot, as if full of fire on every part, that the blood was more in quantity than the fire, and that the slain were more in numbers than they who slew them. For the ground did nowhere appear visible because of the dead bodies that lay upon it (VL 5. 1).
In describing how a number were killed in a certain cloister, which the soldiers set on fire, Josephus says:
“A false prophet was the occasion of the destruction of those people, he having made a public proclamation that very day that God commanded them to get upon the temple and that they should receive miraculous signs of their deliverance. There was then a large number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose on the people, who announced to them that they should wait for deliverance from God (VI. 5. 2).
In this detail also the Lord’s Olivet prophecy was most literally fulfilled.
When at last the Romans gained entrance into the city, the soldiers had become so exasperated by the stubborn resistance of the Jews, that they could not be restrained from wreaking vengeance upon the survivors.
So they indulged in slaughter until weary of it. The survivors were sold into slavery, but at a very low price, because they were so numerous, and the buyers were few. Thus was fulfilled the word of the Lord by Moses, And there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you (#De 28:68).
Many were put into bonds and sold to slavery in the Egyptian mines, thus fulfilling several prophecies that they should be sold into Egypt again, whence God had delivered them (#Ho 8:13; 9:3).
This fulfills Luke 21:24, “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations.”
In concluding this part of his history Josephus gives the number of those who perished (a million one hundred thousand) and of those sold into slavery (ninety seven thousand), and explains, as we have already stated, that they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an army. And he adds:
“Now this vast multitude was indeed collected out of remote places, but the entire nation was now shut up by fate as in prison, and the Roman army encompassed the city when it was crowded with inhabitants. Accordingly the multitude of those that perished therein exceeded all the destruction’s that either men or God ever brought upon the world” (VI. 9. 4).
Thus ended, in the greatest of all calamities of the sort, the national existence of the Jewish people, and all that pertained to that old covenant which was instituted with glory (2 Corinithians 3:7,9,11), but which was to be done away.
Here may be seen an example of the thoroughness of God’s judgments, when He arises to do His strange work. Judgment must begin at the house of God; and in view of what is brought to our notice in this history of Josephus, how impressive is the question, And if it begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17).
Commentaries on the Abomination of Desolation of Matthew 24:15:
Alfred Edersheim – Life And Times Of Jesus The Messiah
This, together with tribulation to Israel, unparalleled in the terrible past of its history, and unequalled even in its bloody future was about to befall them. Nay, so dreadful would be the persecution that, if Divine mercy had not interposed for the sake of the followers of Christ, the whole Jewish race that inhabited the land would have been swept away. There should have been no flesh saved.
C.H. Spurgeon
The Jews impiously said, concerning the death of Christ, “His blood be on us, and on our children.” Never did any other people invoke such an awful curse upon themselves, and upon no other nation did such a judgment ever fall. We read of Jews crucified till there was no more wood for making crosses;
Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible:
There shall be great tribulation. The word tribulation means calamity, or suffering. Lu 21:24 has specified in what this tribulation should consist. “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 shall be fulfilled.” That is, until the time allotted for the Gentiles to do it shall be fully accomplished; or as long as God is pleased to suffer them to do it.
The first thing mentioned by Luke is, that they should fall by the edge of the sword. That is, should be slain in war, as the sword was then principally used in war. This was most strikingly fulfilled. Josephus, in describing it, uses almost the very words of our Saviour. All the calamities, says he, which had befallen any nation from the beginning of the world, were but small in comparison with those of the Jews. Jewish Wars, book i., preface, 4.
He has given the following account of one part of the massacre when the city was taken: “And now rushing into the city, they slew whomsoever they found, without distinction, and burnt the houses and all the people who had fled into them. And when they entered for the sake of plunder, they found whole families of dead persons, and houses full of carcasses destroyed by famine; then they came out with their hands empty. And though they thus pitied the dead, they had not the same emotion for the living, but killed all they met, whereby they filled the lanes with dead bodies. The whole city ran with blood, insomuch that many things which were burning were extinguished by the blood.” Jewish Wars, book vi. chap. 8, 5; chap. 9, 2, 3. He adds, that in the siege of Jerusalem, not fewer than eleven hundred thousand perished (Jewish Wars, book vi., chap. 9, 3)–a number almost as great as are in the whole city of London. In the adjacent provinces no fewer than two hundred and fifty thousand are reckoned to have been slain; making in all whose deaths were ascertained, the almost incredible number of one million three hundred and fifty thousand, who were put to death. These were not indeed all slain with the sword. Many were crucified. “Many hundreds,” says he, (Jewish Wars, book vi. Chap. xi Chap. xi. 1) “were first whipped, then tormented with various kinds of tortures, and finally crucified: the Roman soldiers nailing them (out of the wrath and hatred they bore to the Jews) one after one way, and another after another, to crosses, by way of jest, until at length the multitude became so great that room was wanting for crosses, and crosses for the bodies.” So terribly was their imprecation fulfilled–” His blood be on us, and on our children,” Mt 27:25. If it be asked how it was possible for so many people to be slain in a single city, it is answered, that the siege of Jerusalem commenced during the time of the passover, it is estimated that more than three millions were usually assembled. See Josephus, Jewish Wars, book vi., chap. ix., 3, 4.
A horrible instance of the distress of Jerusalem is related by Josephus. The famine during the siege became so great that they ate what the most sordid animals refused to touch. A woman of distinguished rank, having been plundered by the soldiers, in hunger, rage, and despair, killed and roasted her babe, and had eaten one half of him before the deed was discovered. Jewish Wars, book vi., chap. 3, 3, 4. This cruel and dreadful act was also in fulfillment of prophecy, De 28:53,56-57.
Another thing added by Luke Lu 21:24) was, that “they should be led captive into all nations.” Josephus informs us that the captives taken during the whole war amounted to ninety-seven thousand. The tall and handsome young men Titus reserved for triumph; of the rest, many were distributed through the Roman provinces, to be destroyed by wild beasts in theatres; many were sent to the works in Egypt; many, especially those under seventeen years of age, were sold for slaves. Jewish Wars, book vi., chap. 9,. 2,3.
Coke’s Commentary on the Holy Bible
Then shall be great tribulation— In the preceding verses our Saviour warned his disciples to fly as soon as ever they saw Jerusalem besieged by the Romans, and now he assigns a reason for his giving them this caution. The words used in this verse seem to be a proverbial form of expression, as in Exodus 10:14. Joel 2:1 Maccabees ix. 27. Our Lord, therefore, might fitly apply the same manner of speaking upon the present occasion: but he does not make use of proverbial expressions without a proper meaning; and this may be understood even literally.
For indeed all history cannot furnish us with a parallel to the calamities and miseries of the Jews; rapine and murder, famine and pestilence within, fire and sword, and all the terrors of war without. Our Saviour wept at the foresight of these calamities; and it is almost impossible for persons of any humanity to read the relation of them without weeping too.
The Jewish historian might well say, as he does in the preface to his history: “If the misfortunes of all, from the beginning of the world, were compared with those of the Jews, they would appear much inferior upon comparison. In short, no other city ever suffered such things, as no other generation from the beginning of the world was ever more fruitful of wickedness.”
John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
For then shall be great tribulation, This is urged as a reason for their speedy flight; since the calamity that would come upon those who should remain in the city, what through the sword, famine, pestilence, murders, robberies, etc. would
be such as was not since the beginning of the world, to this time, no, nor ever shall be. The burning of Sodom and Gomorrha, the bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt, their captivity in Babylon, and all their distresses and afflictions in the times of the Maccabees, are nothing to be compared with the calamities which befell the Jews in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. Great desolations have been made in the besieging and at the taking of many famous cities, as Troy, Babylon, Carthage, etc. but none of them are to be mentioned with the deplorable case of this city. Whoever reads Josephus’s account will be fully convinced of this; and readily join with him, who was an eyewitness of it, when he says1, that
“never did any city suffer such things, nor was there ever any generation that more abounded in malice or wickedness.”
And indeed, all this came upon them for their impenitence and infidelity, and for their rejection and murdering of the Son of God; for as never any before, or since, committed the sin they did, or ever will, so there never did, or will, the same calamity befall a nation, as did them.
Matthew Poole’s Commentary on the Holy Bible
Mark hath the same in effect, Mark 13:19-20. Luke speaks more particularly, Luke 21:23-24, “For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 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.”
These verses must be understood with reference to the Jewish nation, and whoso shall read in Josephus the history of the wars of the Jews, will easily agree there is nothing in all the foregoing Jewish story which we have recorded in Scripture like unto it; the final destruction of them by Titus was rather an abatement of miseries they suffered by the factions within themselves, than any thing else.
And thus some think that God shortened those days of their misery by sending the Roman armies to quiet the seditions and factions amongst themselves, which were more cruel one to another. God promises to shorten these days for the elect’s sake that were amongst this sinful people. So that as the city was taken in less than six months, so was their whole country in less than eighteen months more. And if the Lord had not, in compassion to those amongst this people who belonged to his election of grace, shortened these days of calamity, both by sending the Roman armies to quiet their intestine divisions, and then giving these armies so quick a victory, none of the Jews would have been left alive, which indeed any one will judge that shall but read those histories.
“That these calamities of the Jews, who were our Saviour’s murderers, were to be the greatest that had ever been since the beginning of the world, our Saviour had directly foretold, (#Mt 24:21; Mr 13:19; Lu 21:23,24) and that they proved to be such accordingly, Josephus is here a most authentic witness.”
The People’s New Testament
The account given by Josephus, the Jewish historian who witnessed and recorded the war, is almost an echo of the predictions of Christ. Women ate their own children from starvation; the Jews within the city fought each other as well as the Roman army; on August 10, A.D. 70, the city was stormed and there was a universal massacre; 1,100,00 persons perished, and 100,000 survivors were sold into slavery.
As you can see, the time of great tribulation that Messiah foretold in the Olivet Discourse was fulfilled in the first century, and that it was horrifying in its intensity.
Up until the 20th century, the saints taught the historical fulfillment of prophecy. And the great theologians of the 16th-20th centuries wrote whole Bible commentaries, explaining the historical fulfillment.
But since then, the futuristic deceptions of the Jesuits of Rome have taken hold, and are now deceiving the majority of believers.
What I teach in my prophecy study series is not just my ‘interpretation‘. These great theologians documented it in painstaking detail:
Albert Barnes’ Notes on the New and Old Testaments (1832)
The People’s New Testament Commentary by Barton Johnson (1891)
John Calvin’s Commentaries (1564)
Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible (1826)
Geneva Bible with commentaries from the Protestant Reformation leaders. (1599)
Henry Grattan Guinness (1881)
John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible (1809)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Critical Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Matthew Poole’s Commentary on the Holy Bible (1679)
John Wesley’s Bible Notes (1765)
I’m just blessed to stand on the shoulders of these great theologians, who have taught me so much about the Word of Elohim.
I’ve merely put their explanations into concise studies, to help you see the fulfillment.
Sadly, the enemy has caused their witness to be pushed aside, and he has propped up false prophecy teachers to deceive the end times saints.
To understand prophecy fulfillment, I had to put aside the preconceived futuristicexplanations, which my Pastors had mistakenly programmed into my mind.
By reading the explanations of these great theologians, I was able to see what Scripture was proclaiming about the historical fulfillment of prophecy.
I’m not saying that all prophecy has been fulfilled yet, but the great majority has been.
When people don’t understand the historical fulfillment, they assign the prophecy to the future. But that is a trap, as the markers that people reference are false.
And that will leave them totally unprepared for what lies ahead as we await Messiah’s glorious return.
So my friend, you have a choice to make.
You can read the brief summaries below and click on the study links to read the detailed explanations.
Or based on your futuristic programming you can reject them, and click away.
I don’t know every prophecy explanation, but I have been shown a lot. And most of it is contrary to what today’s Pastors are teaching us.
Let’s start with the 70th week of Daniel, as most of the enemy’s deceptions are based on the concept of a futuristic 7-year tribulation period.
The 70th week of Daniel was fulfilled on time, after the 69th week, from 27-34 A.D; when Messiah and His disciples confirmed with the Jews for seven years, that He was the promised Messiah, who ratified the everlasting covenant as the Passover Lamb.
After the 70th week of Daniel was over, the Gospel was also shared with the Gentile nations; so that the temple of Messiah would be made up of Jews and Gentiles.
In the 16th century the Jesuits of Rome sought to counter the Reformation by creating the narrative about a one-man antichrist in a supposed end-times 70th week of Daniel, to try to deflect blame away from the Popes of Rome; as the Protestant Reformers had rightly identified them as the Son of Perdition of 2 Thessalonians 2 and the antichrist beast of Revelation 13.
The saints did not believe the Jesuits deceptions for hundreds of years; but sadly today, it is now accepted by most Christians.
Read the 70th Week Of Daniel Bible Study series, which proves the historical fulfillment, showing that the concept of supposed end-times 7-year tribulation period is a deception of the enemy.
Once you understand the true fulfillment of the 70th week of Daniel, many of the Jesuits other deceptions fall apart, for they are based on it.
That includes the fulfillment of the prophecies in Revelation, which the enemy has caused people to believe will be fulfilled during the last half of the supposedfuturistic 7-year tribulation period.
Messiah proclaimed in Revelation 1:1 that the things that He was describing would take place shortly.
And indeed they were, as the seal judgments began immediately.
Revelation is the narrative of the battle of the Satan-empowered Roman beast, against Messiah and His kingdom of saints.
The Roman beast has changed forms over the years, but it was in power during Messiah’s ministry, and it will be destroyed by Messiah when He returns and casts anuncut stone at the iron/clay feet of the statue in Daniel 2.
Satan reigned in the pagan Roman Empire, where he was worshiped through all of their false Gods. He used them to try to wipe out the Early Church, killing 10 million saints, whose blood cried out for vengeance.
Messiah caused the decline of the Roman Empire with the seal judgments; which resulted in civil wars, famine and severe pestilence, causing many Romans to die.
Messiah then caused the fall of the Roman Empire with the trumpet judgments; which caused army after army to attack the vast Roman Empire; resulting in the last Western Roman Emperor (the head) being removed from power in 476 A.D.
Satan countered by empowering the antichrist Popes of Rome rise up in their place, healing the deadly head wound, as the Popes of Rome took the Emperor’s place as ruler of Church and State in 538 A.D., taking the title of Pontifex Maximus.
Satan used them to try to eliminate the Two Witnesses, as the Popes banned and burned the Scriptures and killed over 50 million saints.
Messiah exacted vengeance and caused the Roman Catholic Church to lose power through the Protestant Reformation; and then through the first four bowl judgments, as He caused the Catholics of France and Spain, who had obeyed the Popes order to slaughter the saints, to be killed during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.
The 1,260 year reign of the Popes of Rome came to an end in 1798 A.D., when Napoleon’s army took the Pope prisoner, where he later died.
Satan countered by empowering the Jesuits of Rome, who are a military organization, to take control of the Vatican. The Jesuit General, the Black Pope, who is the False Prophet, controls the White Pope; as is using the Vatican to gather the world under his power.
Jesuit priests have spread around the world teaching the false gospel of Catholicism, which now causes 1.2 Billion Catholics to revere/worship (mark on forehead) and obey(mark on right hand, actions) the antichrist Pope of Rome.
They also gather intelligence in these countries, taking the confessions of leaders, to use that information to control people and take control of the countries.
The Jesuits are using the city-state corporation of Vatican City to control the world’s religious and political leaders. It is using its city-state corporation of the City of London to control the world’s financial and trade organizations. And it’s using its city-state corporation of the District of Columbia, which is not part of the United States, to control the world’s intelligence agencies and military powers.
Satan (the dragon) will use the Pope (antichrist) and Jesuit General (false prophet) to cause WW III between Muslim countries and Israel, which will push the world into their One World Government; where people will cry out for peace. The Jesuits will offer a one-world religion in the name of peace, which ultimately will be Luciferian.
They will cause the Pope to act as a savior of sorts, proclaiming that the Vatican had been preparing for a world-wide financial collapse. No doubt they will have the Pope issue an order, giving people the choice of joining with them, perhaps giving people an RF-ID chip or tattoo to be able to buy and sell in their financial system.
By doing that they will draw the whole world under the power of the antichrist Pope, causing many to revere (mark of forehead) and obey (mark on right hand) his orders.
And if you don’t revere and obey the Pope, you won’t have the mark of the beast, and you will be cut off from their financial system, so that you can’t buy or sell.
The 7th bowl is the formation of the One World Government, in which the Jesuits of Great City of Rome will control the world through their three city-state corporations.
In the midst of the 6th bowl, Messiah proclaimed that He will return as a thief in the night. Paul told us that the wise won’t be caught off-guard by His return, but the deceived will.
Our Messiah will return to destroy His enemies, taking the antichrist Pope and False Prophet Jesuit General captive.
Read the Revelation Timeline Decoded Bible study series, to see the fulfillment of the seals, trumpets and bowl; the Little Book of Revelation 10; the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11; Mystery, Babylon the Great in Revelation 17; and much more.
You will learn where we are at on the Revelation fulfillment timeline and what will happen next as we await Messiah’s glorious return.
Maybe people mistakenly point to an Islamic antichrist, and the Muslims do play a significant role in prophecy, but Islam is simply a daughter of the Harlot of Rome
The Roman Bishops helped write the Qur’an and prop up the illiterate Mohamed as the prophet of Islam.
They did this to use the Muslims to kill Jews and saints, to conquer territory and kill their enemies, and to capture Jerusalem.
They did it to deceive Arabs, as the saints were spreading the Gospel around the world.
The 5th and 6th trumpets represent the Arab armies being used to attack the vast Roman Empire.
The 5th Trumpet represents the Lord using the Arabian (Mohammedan) army against the Western Roman Empire from 612-762 A.D., which is 150 years (5 months = 150 days). They wore turbans (crowns of gold); they had beards (faces of men); they had long hair like women; they wore chain-mail (breast-plates of iron); and they were fierce (teeth of lions). The falling star was Mohammed, the smoke out of Satan’s bottomless pit of lies is the Qur’an.
The 6th Trumpet represents the Lord releasing the Turks to cross over the Euphrates River to conquer 1/3rd of the Roman Empire for 391 years (prepared for the hour and day and month and year, 1 + 30 + 360 = 391) from 1062-1453 A.D., which ended when they used large cannons (out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone) to knock down the thick protective walls of Constantinople.
Read the Islam In Bible Prophecy study series, to see how the Muslims are the clay of the iron/clay feet of the statue in Daniel 2, which the Roman Catholic Church (the iron) has used to carry out their agenda.
You will see how the Jesuits of Rome are using the major Muslim countries and ISIS rebels, to carry out their Inquisition; and to cause WW III, which will push the world into their One World Government.
Most people assign Messiah’s Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 to the end times, but Messiah clearly proclaimed that all those things would happen in that generation of Jews, who had rejected Him and delivered Him up to be killed.
Messiah had just berated the Jewish leaders, casting woe upon woe on them. He proclaimed that they would deliver Him up to be killed, and that they would kill the prophets that He would send to them; just like their fathers had killed the previous prophets.
The whole context of the Olivet Discourse is about the desolation of the temple, the city and the Jewish nation.
The main sign that the desolation of the temple was about to take place was that the pagan Roman army would surround the holy city, which Messiah and Daniel referred to as the Abomination of Desolation.
The pagan Romans were an abomination to the Jews, and they were sent by Messiah to desolate the Jews, fulfilling the prophecy in Daniel 9:26-27.
Jewish historian Josephus documents the fulfillment of the time of great tribulation for the Jews, that was so horrific that at the end, there were 1.1 million dead Jews lying out in the open, in and around Jerusalem; with wild animals and birds feeding on their bodies.
They died from famine, pestilence, infighting, suicide, crucifixion, and by the Roman sword.
The trees around Jerusalem were filled with the dead bodies of crucified Jews who had tried to sneak out of the city at night to find food.
Though more people have died in other times of tribulation, this grisly scene in the small city of Jerusalem, was so concentrated that Messiah proclaimed:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Of this period of great tribulation Josephus says, in the introduction of his ‘Wars of the Jews‘ historical documentary.
“It had come to pass that our city Jerusalem had arrived at a higher degree of felicity than any other city under the Roman government, and yet at last fell into the sorest of calamities again. Accordingly it appears to me that the misfortunes of all men from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to those of the Jews, are not so considerable as they were.”
Most people assign the Falling Away of 2 Thessalonians 2 to the end times, but the Apostle Paul’s warning was fulfilled in the 4th century, when Emperor Constantine and the Roman Bishops created Roman Catholic Christianity.
They created the pagan holidays of Easter(Ishtar) and Christ-mass, to replace Elohim’s seven Holy Feast Days, which Messiah is fulfilling to redeem His set-apart people.
They moved everyone to a SUN-based calendar, to replace the Scriptural luni-solar calendar, on which the Holy Feast Days and Sabbaths are based.
They moved everyone to SUNday worship as the Lord’s Day, instead of the Scriptural Sabbath.
Messiah is fulfilling His Father’s seven Holy feast Days to redeem His set-apart people.
He fulfilled the Spring Feast Days of Passover, with His sacrifice as the Lamb of Elohim; Unleavened Bread, as He was sinless; and First Fruits, when He rose again. He fulfilled the Feast of Pentecost when He sent the Spirit to the saints.
He has yet to fulfilled the Fall Feast Days, which represent the harvest. He will return on the Feast of Trumpets, at the last trump. He will judge His saints on the Feast of Atonement. And He will marry His bride on the Feast of Tabernacles.
When Messiah declared in Revelation to ‘come out of Babylon’, He was not just talking to Roman Catholics who are in the harlot Babylonian Roman Catholic Church.
He is telling us to come out of the teachings of the Roman harlot, which sadly, most Protestant Churches teach and practice.
This is very important as most believers have no idea of all of the changes that took place, which impact their beliefs and practices today.
The wise virgins understand the proper context of Messiah’s return.
They know that Messiah will return on the fall Feast of Trumpets, which is in September or October, depending on the year.
They know that we are at on the Revelation fulfillment timeline, so that they understand how close we are to Messiah’s declaration in the 6th bowl that He is returning soon as a thief in the night.
The question is, are you a wise virgin, who knows the truth of the fulfillment of prophecy, and has oil in their lamp?
Or are you an unwise virgin, who knows not the context of Messiah’s return, and has no oil?
I pray that you will humbly consider the explanations that I have provided.
I understand that they are contrary to futuristic explanations that we are being taught by Pastors. Satan has been very busy my friend, setting all of this up through his organization of people who serve him.
The deception is grand my friend! The Church has been infiltrated by the enemy. Seminaries such as Dallas Theological Seminary teach the Jesuit’s futuristic deceptions, so that the leaven of their deceptions has spread around the world.
We need to look back to what the great theologians taught throughout history, before the deceptions crept into the Church.
I’m no great theologian. I’m just a simple guy, who desires to know the truth and has put in a lot of time reading the historical explanations.
My contribution is to put the explanations into easy to understand studies, to help you see the fulfillment.
Pray for discernment, for without the Spirit guiding us, the enemy will deceive even the very elect.
It must always be kept in mind, however, that this book is a book of prophecy, intended to “shew the things which must shortly come to pass.” John was a Seer. He recorded what he saw. The future was portrayed to him in a series of visions. The pictures which passed before his eyes represented future events. Hence, each is a symbolical representation of what was then future, and may now be past history.
Thus, when the first seal is opened in Revelation 6:1-2 , and a warrior is seen with a bow in his hand riding on a white horse in conquest, this must be interpreted as a sense-image which appropriately represents an event or epoch of history which was future when John was an exile on Patmos.
Symbolical pictures follow each other in rapid succession as the seals are opened and the trumpets blown, a correct interpretation of which is to be sought not in literal fulfillment, but in events of which the sense-visions might be appropriate symbols. It will be a help in understanding the text to have an explanation of the meaning of the various symbols employed as they are ordinarily used in prophetic writings; hence I give a TABLE OF SYMBOLS.
In this table I aim to give only the leading Symbols used by John, with their apparent meaning. The definitions have been obtained from Mede, Elliott, Lange, Campbell, Archdeacon Lea, and other sources.
Adultery – Idolatry or apostasy; especially the latter. As Christ is represented as a bridegroom and the church as a bride, apostasy, or unfaithfulness to him, would be spiritual adultery, and a false church properly represented as a harlot.
Angel – Any agent or messenger of the divine will. The term may be a symbol of any movement of nations, or in history which carries out the divine purposes.
Ascension to Heaven – Exaltation in power and glory. Prosperity.
Babylon – The city which carried Israel into captivity. Hence, a symbol of any power that renders them captive, whether it be Pagan or Papal Rome.
Balances – A symbol of justice, but when used to denote the weighing out of food, a symbol of scarcity.
Black – The color of mourning; hence a symbol of calamity and sorrow.
Black Horse – The horse was not used as a beast of burden by the ancients, but for purposes of war. Hence it is a symbol of war, and a black horse is a symbol of calamitous war.
Blood – A symbol of the carnage of war.
Beast – The term rendered beast in the Revision means a savage wild beast. Hence it is a symbol of a cruel, tyrannical persecuting power. The term used in chap. 4 , rendered beasts in the Common Version, is not the same. Instead of “Four Beasts” that should be rendered “Four Living Creatures.”
Binding – This symbol means to restrain, to hold; also to deprive of power and render helpless.
Book – The record of the divine will. To seal a book is to conceal its meaning, since ancient books were rolls and could not be read when sealed. To open seals is to disclose the meaning. To devour a book is to become master of its contents. The book with seven seals is the book of human destiny, an outline of the great events which connect themselves with the church until its final triumph. The opening of its seals is the revelation of future history.
Bow – The bow, a warlike weapon, when held in the hand is a symbol of war.
Bride – The spouse of Christ, the Church, the New Jerusalem.
Bridegroom – Jesus Christ. (Yahusha)
Candlestick – A symbol of a church, which should be a light in the world. The seven golden candlesticks are the seven churches. A symbol of any light-giving agency.
Chain – A symbol of bondage or affliction. To chain is to render powerless. To bind Satan with a chain is to destroy his power.
Cloud – An emblem of power and majesty. To ride upon the clouds is to appear in glory and exaltation.
Crown – The symbol of royal majesty. To enjoy exaltation and honor. To receive the crown of life is to receive the honors of eternal life.
Darkness – The well known symbol of calamity and affliction.
Day – “I have given you a day for a year.” One revolution of the earth on its axis is a symbol of its annual revolution in its orbit. “Twelve hundred and sixty days” means as many years.
Death – A symbol of destruction.
Dragon – The old pagan Roman Empire. The dragon was originally a symbol of a monarch. In Revelation it means the persecuting monarchy of Rome.
Earth – The ancient civilized world, which corresponded in John’s time with the Roman Empire. Political powers.
Earthquake – Political and moral revolutions and convulsions of society. The shaking of the established order of things. The subversion of states and fortunes.
Eclipse – Or the darkening of heavenly bodies, means the obscuration of the glory of kings and potentates of which sun, moon and stars are symbols.
Egypt – The place of spiritual bondage. A condition of sinfulness. Opposition to Christ.
Euphrates – The symbol of the Turkish power. To be “bound by the Euphrates” is to be restrained at that river.
Elders – Probably princes of righteousness.
False Prophets – A false spiritual power which falsely claims divine authority for its teaching.
Fire – Fierce destruction. Never the symbol of a blessing, but of a curse.
Fire from Heaven – Divine destruction; but fire brought down from heaven by the two-horned dragon means excommunication and anathemas of a false spiritual power.
Flood – Symbol of overpowering. Distress from persecution or any cause.
Forehead – A mark in the forehead means a public profession.
Fornication – Idolatry. See Adultery.
Grave – To put in the grave, signifies to consign to oblivion. “Not to suffer dead bodies to be put into the grave,” means that they shall be remembered.
Hail.–Ravages and destruction.
Hand.–A mark in the hand means the manner of life, or practice.
Harlot – An idolatrous community. The great Harlot is the apostate church. See Adultery.
Heavens and the Earth – The world. The political and religious universe. A new heavens and new earth imply a passing away of the old order of things and the establishment of a new order.
Horse – Used only for warlike purposes by the ancients and hence a symbol of war. The color of the horse indicates the condition of his rider and the state of the war.
Horns – “The great horn of the first king;” Daniel . A symbol of kings, kingdoms, or power. Seven horns indicate enormous power.
Incense – The prayers of the saints.
Islands – European states. In the prophets the “isles of the sea” meant the countries in and beyond the Mediterranean; hence, Europe.
Jerusalem – The capital of Judea and the seat of the temple becomes a symbol of the church of Christ. The “holy city” is contrasted with the “great city,” Jerusalem with Babylon, or the true with the false church.
Jezebel – An unholy woman is a symbol of an unholy influence in the church.
Key – A symbol of power to deliver or imprison, to open heaven or hell, or to shut them; of power to save or destroy.
King.–Supreme power of any kind. A government; a kingdom.
Lamb – The symbol of a sinless, sacrificial offering. The Lamb of God is Christ slain as a lamb from the foundation of the world.
Lion – A symbol of kingly power.
Locusts – The locusts, a devouring pest bred in the deserts of Arabia, are a symbol of devouring Arabian armies. The Arabians under Mohammed.
Manna – The bread of life. The truth of Christ.
Measuring Rod – The standard by which the church is measured. The Word.
Mountain – Some person or power conspicuous among men. Highly elevated. A great prince or government. A burning mountain is a baleful, destructive power.
Moon – A symbol of powers, rulers and great men which are not supreme. A light which shines by reflecting another light.
Merchants – A symbol of those who make a gain of godliness and traffic in religious privileges.
Palm – A symbol of joy or victory.
Pale Horse – An image of desolating war, and a reign of death.
Red Horse – An image of cruel, bloody war, distinguished by awful carnage.
River of Life – Christ is the fountain of life. The abundant, ever flowing life that Christ bestows, is fitly symbolized by a river. The river, and tree, of life mean essentially the same.
Rod – The symbol of rule. The rod of iron is a symbol of resistless sway.
Scarlet – This color, the color of blood, symbolizes bloody cruelty. A scarlet woman is a persecuting church.
Seven – The perfect number. Completeness.
Stars – Shining lights in the world. Conspicuous men, whether in the church or the state.
Sun – As the great light giver, in one sense a symbol of Christ. Also a supreme ruler. The moon and stars indicate great lights of society, but inferior to the sun.
Sword – A symbol of slaughter. Also of conquest. A sword in the hand indicates by carnal weapons. A sword proceeding from the mouth indicates conquests by the word of God.
Temple of God – The church of which the tabernacle and temple were types. The temple of God in heaven, open, is the abode of God, heaven itself, the church above.
Throne – A symbol of authority.
Trumpet – The blast of a trumpet signifies the forward march of armies, carnal or spiritual. Also the proclamation of war or peace.
Time – Time, times and half a time is an annual revolution of the earth, a year, two years, a half year, or three and a half years. “Seven times” passed over Nebuchadnezzar, or seven years.
Wine Press – A symbol of an effusion of blood and of distress.
White – To be clothed in white is to be innocent, pure, and to be triumphant.
White Horse – Triumphant and glorious war.
Whore – Apostate church. See Adultery.
Winds – Symbol of commotion; of mighty movements. The “Four Winds” are four invasions of the Roman Empire.
Witness – The two witnesses are the two Testaments, for such is the meaning of the latter word.
Woman – The “woman clothed with the sun” is the pure and faithful church. The Great Harlot is the false, faithless, apostate church. The church is often symbolized by a bride, or a woman bearing children. A pure woman represents a faithful church; an adulterous woman, “a harlot,” a false, apostate church.
Some have written me asking for an explanation of why I use the form “Yahuwshua” in reference to the Messiah while others use “Yahshua”, “Yeshua” , Yahusha, or “Yehoshua”. The purpose of this study is to go through each of these pronunciations and determine which is the most correct.
I’m not one that believes that you need to pronounce the Messiah’s name exactly like I do in order to be saved. However, the issue of the Messiah’s name is a very important one. If you don’t believe me, read the below scriptures:
Acts 2:38 Then Kepha said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Yahuwshua Messiah for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Set-apart Ruwach.
Acts 3:6 Then Kepha said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Yahuwshua Messiah of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
Acts 3:16 “And His name, through belief in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the belief which [comes] through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
Acts 4:7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
Acts 4:10 “let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Ysra’al, that by the name of Yahuwshua Messiah of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom Elohiym raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
Acts 4:12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:17 “But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.” 18 And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Yahuwshua.
Acts 4:30 “by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your Set-apart Servant Yahuwshua.”
Acts 5:28 saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Yahrushalom with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!”
Acts 5:40 And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten [them], they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Yahuwshua, and let them go. 41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of Elohiym and the name of Yahuwshua Messiah, both men and women were immersed.
Acts 8:16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been immersed in the name of the Master Yahuwshua.
Acts 9:14 “And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Master said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Ysra’al. 16 “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
Acts 9:21 Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Yahrushalom, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”
Acts 9:27 But Barnabas took him and brought [him] to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Master on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Yahuwshua.
Acts 9:29 And he spoke boldly in the name of the Master Yahuwshua and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him.
Acts 10:43 “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”
Acts 15:14 “Simon has declared how Elohiym at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
Acts 15:26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Master Yahuwshua Messiah.
Acts 16:18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Yahuwshua Messiah to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.
Acts 18:15 “But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look [to] [it] yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such [matters].”
Acts 19:5 When they heard [this], they were immersed in the name of the Master Yahuwshua.
Acts 19:13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Master Yahuwshua over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Yahuwshua whom Paul preaches.”
Acts 19:17 This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Master Yahuwshua was magnified.
Acts 21:13 Then Sha’ul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Yahrushalom for the name of the Master Yahuwshua.”
And this is just in the book of Acts! The name of Yahuwshua is intricately linked with the person of Yahuwshua. So in light of the numerous scriptures which show us the importance of His name, we should at least seek to understand how it is pronounced. It is obviously important according to scripture.
Origin of the name “Jesus”
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the etymological origin of “Jesus” is:
Jesus ..Middle English, from Late Latin Isus, from Greek Isous, from Hebrew yû‘, from yhôûa‘, Joshua…
Notice that it says that the origin of His name is from Latin, then Greek, then Hebrew. So the name “Jesus” is the result of 3 different languages placing their influence on the original name the disciples were proclaiming, baptizing in and praying in. Some of the influence is quite recent. In the 1611 King James Version, it originally had “Iesus” rather than “Jesus” (photo). Later revisions of the KJV changed it to “Jesus”. This leads me to ask some important questions: “Who is the one who gets to decide what it is changed to? Man or YaHuWaH? And if Yahuwshua is supposed to be the same yesterday, today and forever, why do they keep changing His name?”
If you look up the name “Jesus” in a Strong’s lexicon it has “Iesous”:
“2424 Iesous ee-ay-sooce’ of Hebrew origin (3091); Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua), the name of our Lord and two (three) other Ysra’alites:–Jesus.”
Notice that it traces the name of Messiah to Hebrew word #3091 in the Strong’s lexicon. This name is the same name as “Joshua, Son of Nun”. In the Hebrew, this name is spelled . (Yahuwshua)
While there are some out there claiming that “Jesus” is somehow derived from “Zeus”, I have yet to find anyone who is willing to present hard evidence of this claim. One person wrote a book which claimed that “Iesous” means “Hail Zeus”. When I contacted him by phone and asked him for evidence of this claim, he said “Iesous” means “Hail Zeus” in the sense that when you say the “Ie” it sounds like “Yaayy” and “Yaayy” is what people do in modern sports games when they hail their team. Thus, the statement that “Iesous” meant “Hail Zeus” had nothing to do with its meaning in the Greek language.
In fact, the Greek language spells Zeus (#2203 in the Strong’s Lexicon) as ZeuV and doesn’t even have the same letters or sound as the second syllable in IhsouV (Iesous). First of all, the Z in ZeuV produces a “dz” sound, not an “s” sound. Also the eu combination in ZeuVsounds like “eu as in feud“, a letter combination not found in any form of IhsouV/Iesous. So is ZeuV is actually pronounced “Dzyooce” and not “Sooce”. These things alone make it appear quite impossible that Iesous comes from “Zeus”. Look at the first page of the Greek Lexicon in your Strong’s concordance if you want confirmation of the sounds of these Greek letters.
Another important point is that the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures that was completed many years before Yahuwshua came to earth, also rendered the Hebrew name “Yahuwshua” as IhsouV (Iesous). This fact alone clearly demonstrates that “Iesous” is a Greek form of and wasn’t a form invented by apostate Christians who wanted to honor Zeus in some way.
Interestingly, there is evidence that although the name of Yahuwshua was written in Greek as IhsouV, it may have actually been pronounced the way a Hebrew speaking person would pronounce it. Around 178 CE, a pagan by the name of Celsus engaged in written debates with Christians. In one of them, Celsus (speaking of Christians) said:
“But of course they think otherwise: they assume that by pronouncing the name of their teacher they are armored against the powers of the earth and air. And they are quite insistent on the efficacy of the name as a means of protection: pronounce it improperly, they say, and it is ineffective. Greek and Latin will not do; it must be said in a barbarian tongue to work. Silly as they are, one finds them standing next to a a statue of Zeus or Apollo or some other god, and shouting, “see here: I blaspheme it and strike it, but it is powerless against me for I am a Christian.” Celsus on the True Doctrine, A Discourse Against the Christians, R. Joseph Hoffman (page118)
Notice that Celsus was quoting Christians as saying that the name of “their teacher” (Yahuwshua no doubt) must not be spoken “improperly” and that it must not be spoken in a “Greek” way or “Latin” way, but in a “Barbarian tongue” for it to be effective. Of course, to the pagans the Hebrew language was nothing more than a barbarian language. This lends evidence that even though the name of Yahuwshua was written as IhsouV, there were at least some people speaking it in the Hebrew way. The Greek alphabet simply lacks the letters necessary to correctly convey how the name is pronounced in Hebrew.
So how is the name pronounced? Let’s start with the form that is found in various Hebrew Lexicons: “Yehoshua”.
Yehoshua
In the Strong’s concordance and other Hebrew Lexicons, the pronunciation listed for the Messiah’s name is typically “Yehoshua”. While I do not believe we should be getting all of our Hebrew learning from a Strong’s lexicon alone (that would be dangerous), most of us do own a Strong’s Concordance so I will be using it during this study for the purposes of illustration.
The reason for the “Yehoshua” pronunciation is due to the Hebrew vowel pointing added by the Masorite scribes who were intent on “hiding” YaHuWaH’s Name. The vowel points are the little dots and dashes under and above certain Hebrew letters. Unlike English, Hebrew was written with mostly all consonants. It was up to the reader to supply the vowels in each word based on the context of the word. The Masorites were concerned that Hebrew was becoming a lost language so they invented the vowel point system to preserve the sounds of the Hebrew language. However, in keeping with tradition they were not interested in letting everyone speak the pronunciation of the Heavenly Father’s name. For this reason, they pointed the Heavenly Father’s name to produce the sound “Yehovah”.
Strongs 3068 – Yehovah – “the self-Existent or Eternal”
To avoid speaking the Heavenly Father’s name, the Jewish tradition was to say “Adonai” (“Lord”) instead of YaHuWaH. For this reason, our English bibles also say “LORD” instead of “YaHuWaH”. So rather than supplying the true vowels of the Heavenly Father’s name, the scribes inserted the vowels for “Adonai” so that the reader would be reminded to say “Adonai” rather than YaHuWaH.
But what if the Hebrew scriptures contained a phrase such as “Adonai YaHuWaH” (Master YaHuWaH)? They would then have to say “Adonai Adonai”, a rather odd (if not a bit embarrassing) phrase. Their solution was to put the vowel points for “Elohiym” within the Heavenly Father’s name so that they would be reminded to say “Adonai Elohiym” instead of “Adonai adonai”. This is even mentioned in the Strong’s lexicon and it lists it as a different word number. Read what it says:
Strong 3069 – Yehovih (ye-ho-vee) variation of 3068 … “used and pronounced by Jews in order to prevent the repetition of the same sound”
“136” is the Hebrew word “Adonai” and “430” is the Hebrew word “Elohiym”. So these vowel points are used within the Father’s name whenever His name follows 136 (Adonai). And they pronounce this as 430 (Elohiym) to avoid having to say Adonai twice. For this reason, many English translations will render “Adonai YaHuWaH” as “the Lord GOD” with “GOD” being in all capitals to let the reader know that this is where the sacred name is found in the Hebrew. Very few even know that this is why “GOD” is sometimes in all capital letters (See Gen 15:2 for one of hundreds of examples of this). It is amazing how far men will go in order to cleave to tradition!
So how does this relate to the pronunciation of the Messiah’s name? Let’s take a look at His name again in the Strong’s Lexicon:
Strong 8091 – Yehowshua (yeh-ho-shoo’-ah) or Yehowshua (yeh-ho-shoo’-ah) from 3068 and 3467 = Jehova-saved
Notice that there are other names listed in the Strong’s concordance which contain the first three letters of YaHuWaH’s name. And just like YaHuWaH’s name which starts with the “Yeho” vowel points, they use the “Yeho” vowel points in “Yehoram”, “Yehosheba”, “Yehoshaphat” and numerous other names which contain the first part of YaHuWaH’s name. The scribes apparently did not want anyone to accidentally pronounce the Heavenly Father’s name when saying these other names, so they changed the vowel points of those names as well.
Interestingly, they did not change the pronunciation of these same three letters when it was at the end of a person’s name. For instance, look at how Zechariah’s name is presented in the Hebrew text:
Strong 2148 – Zekaryah (zek-ar-yaw) or
Zekaryahuw (zek-ar-yaw-hoo)
Notice the different vowel pointing and pronunciation herein (“ZecharYahuw“). Phonetically, the first three letters in the Heavenly Father’s name are also pronounced “Yahu”. For this reason, the Heavenly Father’s name can be written as “YAHUwah” or “YaHuWaH” .
By the way, for those who think we cannot know what the vowel sounds were in YaHuWaH’s name, it only takes a little research to find the pronunciation of “Yod Heh Waw” because the scribes had no problem giving the correct pronunciation of these three letters at the end of a name. Because it ends in ‘Yahuw’, there was considered to be no risk in accidentally saying “YaHuWaH”. This would also explain why the scribes used the correct vowel points in the shortened form of YaHuWaH’s name (“Yah”):
Strong 3050 – Yahh – contraction for 3068
They even used the correct vowel pointing in “HalleluYah”. Thus, the only time they would revert to the “Yeho” pronunciation of these three letters was when it was at the beginning of a Hebrew name. But I want nothing to do with the unscriptural tradition of saying “Adonai/Lord/Elohiym/God” in place of YaHuWaH. That is one reason I do not refer to the Messiah as “Yehoshua”. “Yeho(ah)” does not save, “Yahuw(ah)” saves!
Having said this, there are some Hebrew students and scholars who have noticed that a natural progression of Hebrew language is to shorten the first vowel and lengthen the second whenever the accent is on the third syllable (in this case “shu”) of a Hebrew word. This would indeed result in the “Y’hoshua” or “Yehoshua” pronunciation. For this reason, some believe “Yehoshua” to actually be the correct pronunciation.
But while this may be true in normal Hebrew words, there is plenty of evidence to support that this was not true in personal names–especially with names containing the first part of YaHuWaH’s name. The Murashu texts, dated 5th century BCE and written on clay tablets in cuneiform script, list the names of about 70 Jewish settlers in Persia. In these tablets, vowels are used. The Hebrew names which begin with Yod Heh Waw all are written “Yahuw-” and never “Y’ho”.
“In the cuneiform texts Yeho [YHW], Yo [YW] and Yah [YH] are written Yahuw, as for example in the names Jehu (Yahuw-a), Jehoahaz (Yahuw-khazi) and Hezekiah (Khazaqi-yahuw)” A. H. Sayce in “Higher Criticism” notes on p. 87
Notice that not only were names beginning with “Yeho” written as “Yahuw”, but also names beginning with “Yo” such as “Yochanan” (John) and “Yoel” (Joel) were written as “Yahuw”. This indicates John and Joel were originally “Yahuwchanan” and “Yahuwel”.
Also, cuneiform tablets (also containing vowels) were discovered near the Ishtar gate in Babylon which give a list of workers and captives to whom rations were given. In addition to validating the biblical account in 2Kings 25:27-29 where it mentions that Jehoiachin (Yahuwiachin) ate at the King’s table, these tablets help to establish the way these names were pronounced before the Masorite scribes inserted their vowel pointings based on tradition:
“Yauwkin, king of the land of Yahuwd,” (“Jehoiachin, the king of the land of Judah”)
Another witness is found in an inscription of the Assyrian monarch Tiglath-pileser III (Gressmann Bilder 348; ANET 282a). When listing those kings who were paying tribute to this Assyrian King, it mentions “Yauwhazi”, also known as “Ahaz”. Various lexicons such as the New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon (p. 219 b) and the Hebrew Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (under “Ahaz”) mention this inscription as well.
With all the evidence, it becomes clear that the name was never originally pronounced “Yehoshua”. Rather “Yahuwshua” is more correct and there is no reason to mispronounce the Heavenly Father’s name when speaking the name of His Son. Just as names which end with a reference to YaHuWaH correctly convey the Father’s name (“ZecharYah/ZecharYahuw”), so do the names which begin with it.
Yeshua
Much used by the Messianic movement, “Yeshua” is actually an Aramaic form of the Hebrew name “Yahuwshua”. In the Hebrew script, it is not spelled the same as Yahuwshua. The “Yeshua” name, spelled (Yod Shin Waw Ayin), is found in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra where it lists the names of those who returned from the Babylonian exile. One of them is called “Jeshua, the son of Jozadak”:
Ezra 3:2 Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the Elohiym of Yisra’el, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moshe the man of Elohiym.
“Jeshua the Son of Jozadak” is the same High Priest mentioned in Zechariah 6:
Zechariah 6:11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;
Notice that in Zechariah, he is not called “Jeshua the son of Jozadak” but he is called “Joshua the son of Josedech” (Heb. Yahuwshua the son of Yahuwtsadak). This reflects the Hebrew spelling of the same name. So in Zechariah, he is called Yahuwshua but in Ezra he is called Yeshua. The book of Nehemiah also changes the name of Joshua the son of Nun to “Jeshua, the son of Nun”:
Nehemiah 8:17 And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Ysra’al done so. And there was very great gladness.
The change in spelling to “Jeshua/Yeshua” (“Yod Shin Waw Ayin” ) is due to the Aramaic influence during the exile. In fact, parts of the book of Ezra are written in Aramaic. For confirmation, look at your Strong’s Lexicon:
Notice that #3442 and #3443 are the same exact word with the same Hebrew spelling, but this lexicon lists them separately. Why is this? Well, if you looked up “Jeshua” in the concordance, you will notice that it lists “Jeshua” in Ezra 3:2 as coming from #3442 and “Jeshua” in Ezra 5:2 coming from #3443. The reason for the two different Strong’s word numbers is Ezra 5:2 is a part of the book of Ezra which was written in Aramaic (Ezra 4:8 through 6:18; 7:12-26). This is why #3443 mentions “Yeshuwa” as coming from “Chaldean” in the above definition (3443. Yeshuwa’ (Chald.)). Therefore, “Yeshua” is actually an Aramaic rendering of “Yahuwshua”.
Now, some claim that Yeshua (yod-shin-waw-ayin) is a pure Hebrew word which isn’t derived from “Yahuwshua” at all, but that it is a Hebrew word meaning “Salvation”. The problem with that is the Hebrew word for “Salvation” is not (yod-shin-waw-ayin) (yeshua) at all! The Hebrew word for “Salvation” is word number #3444. Take a look again in the above lexicon graphic and see the differences between 3442/3443 and 3444. They are:
There is an additional Hebrew letter at the end (the “Heh”). ((yod-shin-waw-ayin-heh)uses the silent (but anciently guttural) “Ayin” letter to end the word, but #3444 ends in the letter “Heh”. While vowel letter under both words indicate they have have a similar sounding ending, the different spelling indicates they are two different words.
In #3444 (Yeshuwah) there is a different vowel pointing under the first Hebrew letter (Yod [remember Hebrew reads from right to left]). 3442/3443 (YESHUA) has 2 horizontal dots underneath the first letter like this: (..) These two horizontal dots represent the Hebrew Vowel point “Tsere” (pronounced Tsey-rey) which produces the “ey” sound as in the English word “Hey”. But #3444 has twovertical dots underneath the first letter like this (:). The two vertical dots represent the Hebrew vowel point “Sheva” which is a very short “e”, somewhat like our “E” sound in the word “Average” (Check the first page of your Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon for verification of this).
Incidentally, the (:) (Sheva) is also the vowel point used by the scribes in “Yehoshua” and it is why you will sometimes see “Yehoshua” or “Yeshua” written as “Y’hoshua” and “Y’shua”. The purpose of the ‘ is to indicate the presence of the sheva vowel point in Hebrew. But as you can see, “Yeshua” does not contain that vowel point at all. “Yeshua” uses the “Tsere” Hebrew vowel point which produces an “ey” sound. So Yeshua and Y’shuah are actually pronounced differently. The Strong’s Lexicon indicated this when it gave the pronunciation of (yod-shin-waw-ayin) as ‘yay-shoo-ah‘, but #3444 as ‘yesh-oo-aw‘.
So the name “Yeshua” and the Hebrew word “Y’shuah” are not the same. “Yeshua” is the Aramaic form of “Yahuwshua” and “Y’shuah” is the Hebrew word for “Salvation”. Therefore, in spite of what some may say, I find no evidence to suggest that (yod-shin-waw-ayin)(“Yeshua”) means “Salvation” in Hebrew. “Yeshua” is actually not an authentic Hebrew word meaning “salvation”. For it to mean “Salvation” it would have to have the Hebrew letter “heh” added to the end of it, changing the spelling to Yod Shin Waw Ayin Heh and it would need to have the (:) “Sheva” vowel point under the Yod. These things further indicate that “Yeshua” isn’t from Hebrew, but is an Aramaic form of “Yahuwshua”.
Since the Heavenly Father’s name (YaHuWaH) is a Hebrew name, I would not expect to see His Son’s name coming from some other language, whether it be Greek, Latin, Aramaic or English. If neither of these languages do it right, why not return to the original and correct form?
Yahusha
This form gaining in popularity fairly recently. However, it is easily proven to be incorrect. Let’s examine the Strong’s Lexicon entry that represents the Messiah’s name again:
Strong 3091 – Yehowshuwah (yeh-ho-shoo’ah) or
Yehowshu’a (yeh-ho-shoo’-ah)
Notice in the Hebrew letters that there are two variant spellings of the Messiah’s name here. The first spelling has 6 letters יהושוע and the second spelling has 5 letters יהושע. This is because both spellings are used in scripture. The predominant spelling is יהושעbut the longer spelling is also found in scripture. Here are two places where the longer spelling is employed:
Deuteronomy 3:21 “And I commanded Joshuaיהושוע at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that YaHuWaH your Elohiym has done to these two kings; so will YaHuWaH do to all the kingdoms through which you pass.
Judges 2:7 So the people served YaHuWaH all the days of Joshua (Yahuwshua), and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua (Yahuwshua) יהושוע, who had seen all the great works of YaHuWaH which He had done for Ysra’al.
Variant spellings are not uncommon in Hebrew (especially in names) and usually the longer spelling is the older form and the newer spelling was the result of an extra letter that was not needed.
The longer spelling is also found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (e.g. 4Q364 and Damascus Document 5:4).
We do not really need the extra “waw” ו to give us the “shua” sound but since the longer spelling is still being used in the scriptures, it proves that the Messiah’s name cannot be “Yahusha.”
Here is how each letter is pronounced:
יYod – Produces a “Y” or “I” sound.
הHeh – As a Hebrew vowel letter it can produce the “Ah” (like in #8283 “Sarah“).
וWaw – Also called “Vav”. As a Hebrew vowel letter it can produce an “oo” (u) sound like in #7307 Ruach.
שShin – Produces the “sh” sound. The following “oo” sound is indicated by a vowel pointing but Deut. 3:21 and Judges 2:7 actually gives us another “waw” after this letter, proving the “shu” pronunciation as valid. This is why Strong’s 3091 gives 2 possible spellings (see above lexicon graphic). This also eliminates “Yasha/Yahusha” and “Yahoshea/Yahushea” as being possibilities.
וWaw – Again, produces an “oo” (u) sound as in #7307 Ruach. This is the ignored letter in the pronunciation “Yahusha”. The fact that this spelling that includes the Waw exists in the scriptures proves that the Messiah’s name cannot be “Yahusha.”
עAyin – Silent without a vowel point but indicates an “ah” sound at the end of “Yahuwshua”.
Those who use “Yahusha” will claim that the “shua” ending cannot be correct and that “shua” actually means something else, but but “shua” sound is found in numerous verb forms which mean “salvation.”
Here are some examples:
The Strong’s word #3444 is pronounced “Yeshuah” but it is derived from #3467 “Yasha.” This shows that the “shua” sound can indeed be derived from the root word for salvation, “Yasha.” It’s just the Passive Participle form of “Yasha.”
The Aramaic form of Yahuwshua we discussed earlier uses “Yeshua” ישוע and just like יהושוע uses a “waw” ( ו)to give us the “shoo” sound in “shua.” If the original Hebrew form were “Yahusha,” the Aramaic form of the same name would not have been pronounced “Yeshua” (#3442) to begin with. But the Aramaic form is found in the scriptures in 29 verses of inspired scripture (e.g. 1Chron 24:11, 2Chron. 31:15, Strong’s #3442).
The Greek form of the name “Iesous” gives us an “oo” sound at the end of the name. Since the “Iesous” form is found in the Septuagint, a translation of the scriptures into Greek that was completed 200 years before Messiah came, it shows that the “oo” sound existed at the end of Yahuwshua prior to the time that Yahuwshua came and died for our sins.
The Masoretic Hebrew vowel points give us a “shua” ending as well. That’s why all Hebrew lexicons give us the “shua” pronunciation in this name.
Thus, in spite of those who claim it cannot, the Messiah’s name can have the “shua” sound even though it is derived from “yasha” (meaning “salvation”) and there are clear examples in the scripture where “Yahusha” would be an impossible rendition of the Messiah’s name.
So the pronunciation “Yahusha” can be proven wrong by simply looking at the scriptures and knowing that in order to arrive at the “Yahusha” pronunciation, we would need to ignore the scriptures which clearly have a ו (oo sound) after the ש (sh sound). Ignoring scripture is not something I want to participate in.
This is another popular way of writing the Messiah’s name but I have never seen an example of this word anywhere in scripture.
It appears to have its origins in the Sacred Name movement in the 1930’s when certain men saw that “Jesus” was derived from “Joshua”. Since they understood that the “J” sound is not in the Hebrew language, “Yahshua” was apparently considered correct. It made sense so I used this form for many years. However, I later learned that “Yahshua” clearly ignores the third letter of the Messiah’s name (Waw) which gives us the “oo” (u) sound in Yahuwshua. To demonstrate this, let’s look at the individual letters of .
יYod – Produces a “Y” or “I” sound.
ה Heh – As a Hebrew vowel letter it produces the “Ah” or “Oh” sound (like in #8283 “Sarah” and #8010 Sh’lomoh). Otherwise produces the “H” sound and the “ah” sound would have to be supplied by the reader.
ו Waw – Also called “Vav”. As a Hebrew vowel letter it produces an “oo” (u) or “oh” sound (like in #7307 Ruach). Otherwise produces a “W” sound. This is the ignored letter in the pronunciation “Yahshua”. This letter is nowhere represented. Where is the W or initial U??
ש Shin – Produces the “sh” sound. The following “oo” sound is indicated by a vowel pointing but Deut. 3:21 and Judges 2:7 actually gives us another “waw” after this letter, proving the “shu” pronunciation as valid. This is why Strong’s 3091 gives 2 possible spellings (see above lexicon graphic). This also eliminates “Yasha/Yahusha” and “Yahoshea/Yahushea” as being possibilities.
ע Ayin – Silent without a vowel point but indicates an “ah” sound at the end of “Yahuwshua”.
So if the Messiah’s name was “Yahshua”, we would have to delete the third letter (waw) in . For this reason, cannot not be pronounced “Yahshua”.
There are some who claim that “Yahshua” is actually the correct pronunciation of the Aramaic word (yod-shin-waw-ayin) (“Yeshua”) and the Hebrew scribes simply took out the proper vowel sounds, replacing the “Yah” with “Ye”. But as mentioned before,(yod-shin-waw-ayin)is not a legitimate Hebrew word. Also, as seen in the above scans of the Strong’s Lexicon (and the Hebrew manuscripts as well), the scribes used the “Sheva” vowel pointing (:) to replace the “Ah” sound in “YaHuWaH” and “Yahuwshua”, not the “Tsere” (:) vowel pointing as is found in the name “Yeshua”. If they were interested in changing the vocalization of “Yeshua” to fit their tradition, one would expect them to use the (:) as they did in and all of the other names beginning with “Yah”.
Why use Yahuwshua?
Since we seek to walk in the truth, we should want to proclaim His name as YaHuWaH gave it. YaHuWaH is the one who named His Son and we simply have no business changing it. It is all these changes that have brought about the confusion. It can be complicated to sort through it all, but truth seeking is an honorable thing that is pleasing in YaHuWaH’s eyes.
Of course, if we are somehow unable to pronounce the Messiah’s name, certainly YaHuWaH is able to show mercy. But if we are able to, what reason do we have to continue in error? It is better to cleave to what YaHuWaH gave rather than continuing in the traditions and mistakes of men. Continuing in error is never superior to walking in the truth.
YaHuWaH predicted what His Son’s name would be, so we have something we can look to for clarification. In the book of Zechariah, it states:
Zechariah 6:9-13 And the word of YaHuWaH came unto me, saying, 10 Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; 11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua [YAHUWSHUA] the son of Josedech, the high priest; 12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh YaHuWaH of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of YaHuWaH: 13 Even he shall build the temple of YaHuWaH; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
“The Branch” is a prophetic reference to the coming Messiah who would be a Priest AND King (Compare Psallm 110, Isaiah 9:6).
So Zechariah was instructed to take a crown and place it on the head of Yahuwshua (in the Hebrew it has ), the son of Yahuwtsadak. Yahuwtsadak means “YaHuWaH is righteous”. When placing the crown on the head of the High Priest, Zechariah was told to proclaim:
“Behold the man whose NAME is the BRANCH”.
Thus, this High Priest (Yahuwshua) had the same name as the coming Messiah who would reign as a priest on His throne. YaHuWaH revealed what His name would be, so why not call Him by that name? We see the examples of the apostles who were proclaiming His name, baptizing in His name, healing in His name, being persecuted for His name, etc. Let’s be willing to do the same by using the Messiah’s name as it is written and understood in Hebrew with a very important Hebrew meaning:
The Ysra’al of today is walking the same path that the Ysra’al of the Judges and of some of the Kings walked. Ysra’al has always been prone to wander and make for itself “Aluahiym’s that are not Aluahiym’s”. Aluahiym’s that are the creation of their own minds or that of others. Our Mighty Ones (Aluahiym) has but ONE Name – and it is found only where all Truth is found – in His Word. Period! If you cannot find it in His Word then it is the wrong Name!
His Name is not found through the wisdom of man: encyclopedias, clever “yahweh” studies, what the Samaritans called Him – “Yabeh”, or what the Greek scholars said His Name was – Yabe (Yave), or Yahovey (English pronunciation). For those who have eyes to see – count the letters in yahweh – there are six – the number of man. While in YaHuWaH, there are seven – YaHuWaH’s perfect number!
Four ancient Ibry [Hebrew] consonants cannot yield a two syllable word – yahweh. Nor can four Ibry vowel sounds (per Josephus) yield a two syllable word – yahweh. However, with all of this said, the real test as to the validity of “yahweh” (yahway) is by the Word – the ONLY true test! What is truly amazing is that the “Studies of the Great Name” on many of the yahweh web sites come to this conclusion: “The spelling Yahweh is acceptable as long as one remembers that the “w” has a “uu” sound and not a hard “w” sound.” .… this would yield “Yahuweh (Yah-uu-eh)” which at least contains the “Yahuw” – I AM HE.
It is also interesting that we have three syllables in the “cover-up” done by the Masoretic scribes. So what did those who wished to cover Him up do? They took the four letters YHWH and its three vowels; and placed in those four letters, their modern vowel-pointed Hebrew for Adonai. …. By the way Adonai is still three syllables with three vowels. What this shows is that they also knew that The Great Name had three syllables, not the two – ascribed by so called modern scholars
This is from “nazarite.net”: Concerning the name “Yahweh” – it’s close, except it can’t be. The Fathers name in Hebrew is spelled Yod-Hey-Waw-Hey (YHWH). Now Yod-Hey (YH) is a root and Waw-Hey (WH) is also a root. When you add two roots together you end up with three syllables. Now every seven-year-old kid in the first grade in Israel knows this. This is fundamental rule in basic Hebrew grammar. With the vowel points YH becomes Yah, and WH become Wah, when you add them all together you get YaHuWaH pronounced Yah-hoo-wah with three syllables. Another issue with the name Yahweh is the Hey (H) can’t have one sound one time then another sound another. Yahweh has the Hey (H) as aH in the first root then eH in the second root, which is it?
Concerning the oft repeated phrase “I AM HE” which is “Ani Huw (first person)” in Hebrew and translates into “YaHuW (third person)”(Hebrew spelling), and is a major identifying part of His Great Name -YaHuWaH, is for some reason, not seen or acknowledged by them as being of any importance! Notice the text below, just one of many in which the identifying phrase “I AM HE” is used. (The actual Hebrew reads just “I He” – “Ani Huw” – the “am” is place between these words for clarification.)
YashaYahuw (Isaiah) 52:5-6 “And saith – I AM HEWho is Self Existent; Continually everyday I lament the destruction of My Name that they have set to blaspheme. Therefore in That Day speaks He, certainly My Name they shall know; it is He Who Exists (YaHuWaH); with tears they shall report, BEHOLD! (from Hebrew)
Since “I AM HE” = “Ani Huw” = “YaHuW”, then the text above from the Hebrew could be read as follows: 52:5-6 “And saith – YaHuW Who is Self Existent; Continually everyday I lament the destruction of My Name that they have set to blaspheme. Therefore in That Day speaks He, certainly My Name they shall know; it is He Who Exists (YaHuWaH); with tears they shall report, BEHOLD!Yahuwdah while in captivity to Babel and on into the reigns of the Medes and Persians were known to those who “loved them not” as the “bearded Yahuw’s” as many of them had “yahuw” as part of their names. Some examples of this are:Ya’azanYahuw, ChabatstanYahuw, YigdalYahuw, Ma’aseYahuw, YoshiYahuw, YirmeYahuw, YashaYahuw, Yahuwyaquim, TsidqiYahuw —- all of these names had meanings that in some manner described their relationship to YaHuWaH. ChabatstanYahuw means “Brightness of YaHuWaH, YigdalYahuw means “Magnified by YaHuWaH, Ma’aseYahuw means “work of YaHuWaH. It is “in” these names that we see the foremost part of the Name of YaHuW-aH – not Yahweh. For the Name of our Mighty One – the Only One is verified in the names of His people.
Shemoth 20:7“You shall not bring the Name of YaHuWaHyour Aluahiym to naught, for YaHuWaH will not hold him guiltless who brings His Name to naught. (ruin, nothing, despised, worthless – by wrong or non-use)
Mishle/Proverbs 30:4
Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in His garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His Name, and what is His Son’s Name, if you know?
That text above from Mishle [Proverbs] 30:4 – is one that is loved and used by many of Ysra’al when introducing others to the Names of the Eternal One and His Anointed. It still has much to say to us of Ysra’al today – and needs answering. Ysra’al of today is awash with names that are not names, names that “bring to nothing” the Name of the Eternal One [YaHuWaH] and His Mashiyach [Messiah]. Names that cannot be proven from Scripture and have no Scriptural basis.
With this said, I would like to make the following challenges: First challenge – that you use the four texts below to test the validity of the Names by which you call on the Eternal One and His Anointed. These texts are self-checking, that is, the Father’s Name should appear within the Name of His Anointed according totext one; and the Anointed’s Name should contain the Father’s Name according to text two & three. …. and the Anointed’s Name should be distinctive from all other Names givenas stated in text four. So write out the Names you call our Father and His Son and see if they meet these requirements! – and there is no way that YaHuWaH’s Name can be separated from the Name of His Anointed, for YaHuWaH’s Name must be within the Name of YaHuWSHuWaH. (For YaHuWaH was within YaHuWSHuWaH in all His Weightiness, Fullness and Power – bringing the world to Himself) The enunciation of one Name will verify the other Name!
1.☛ Shemoth/Exodus23:20“Behold, I send My Messenger before you, to guard you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.23:21Pay attention to Him, and listen to His voice. Don’t provoke Him, for He shall not pardon your disobedience, for My Name is in Him.” …. (the Name for Himself that He gave to Moshah – YaHuWaH)
2.☛ Yahuwchanan [John]5:43“I have come in My Father’s Name, and you don’t receive Me. If another comes in his own name, you shall receive him.” and ….
3.☛Yahuwchanan[John]17:11 “O Set-apart Father,guard them by Your Name,which You have given Me, that they may be one union, even as We are.”
Along with these two texts, one must keep in mind that “The Name” given to the Mashiyach is above and is distinctive from all other names – the Fathers’s name is within His … as Sha’uwl states in Phillipians 2: 9-11:
4.☛“Which is why YaHuWaH also highly exalted Him, and gave to Him A Name which is above every other name; in order that at the Name of YaHuWSHuWaH every knee should bow, of the ones in the heavens, and the ones on the earth, and the ones under the earth, and that every tongue should openly acknowledge: YaHuWSHuWaH the Anointed is YaHuWaH, to the esteem of Aluah the Father”(cf. YashaYahuw 45:23-24 – By Myself I have sworn, the Word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. They shall say of Me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only within YaHuWaH!”)
A positive example of this “self check” is given here:
1. [From the Hebrew: TheFather: – YaHuWaH : The Son: – YaHuWSHuWaH (YaHuW-SHuWaH – I AM HE YaHuWaH who SAVES/DELIVERS). He came in His Father’s Name – including the tetragrammaton.]
2. [One name combination that does not follow these texts is:
Yahweh (Yahway) for the Father and Y’shua, Yahshua, or Yahusha, for the Son. The name Yahweh is not within YaHuWSHuWaH, as He did not come in that name ….. therefore, something is wrong!](Though, I did come across a web site that was true to the above “tests” – They call the Father yahweh, and His Son yahwehshua. – at least they are honest to the texts!)
WHO IS “YAHWEH”?
The Masoretic text from which many scholars, Christians, and Messianic’s get the name Yahweh – using the YHWH of the tetragammaton – do not understand that the Masoretic’s incorrectly borrowed the vowels from the Hebrew word for “Lord” and attached these vowels to the tetragammaton. In doing so they came up with the name “Jehovah”. But knowing there is no “J” sound in Hebrew or “V” sound in Hebrew, they eventually came up with Yahweh (Yah-way) – to which most cling tenaciously.
With a little research, one can easily find that the Greeks called their chief god “Zeus”. The Romans called him “Jupiter” for he was their chief god. He was their god of light, the sky and weather, and the god of the state, of its laws, and its welfare. Jupiter was also given the name “Jove” in Latin. Let’s take a look at how “Jove” is pronounced.
In Latin there is no “J” sound – but is pronounced like the English “Y”. The short “O” in Latin sounds like the English “AH”. The Latin “V” sounds like the English “W” as there is no “V” sound in Latin. The “E” in Latin sounds like the short “EH” in English. Now let’s see how “Jove” is sounded out in English. J = Y O = AH V = W E = EH
JOVE = YAHWEH
Therefore, those who call the Eternal One – The Creator of All – by the name YAHWEH are calling Him by the name of the Roman god Jupiter, and the Greek god Zeus. This is nothing less than an abomination – bringing His Name to nothing, and mouthing the name of a pagan god and then saying it is His Name.
Here is a challenge” from another website dealing with the name “yahweh – yah-way”
“In fact, I issue this challenge to anyone who believes the Creator’s name to be “Yahweh.”
If you’ll send me a copy of the name “Yahweh” written in Hebrew with the Masoretic vowel points; along with the corresponding locations in the Old Testament (Masoretic Text) where that particular combination of consonants and vowels points appear in writing, and articulates the pronunciation “Yahweh,” I will gladly place it here!” (No one has ever sent him the data he requested!)
Note: That the Father’s Name appear within His Mashiyach’s Name is vital, forYaHuWaH’sMashiyachisYaHuWaH manifested in the flesh-!!A beautiful and wonderful truth that explains so much in the Word …. and is very easy to see throughout the Writings of the TaNaK [First Testament] and the Brit Chadasha. [Apostolic Writings/New Testament]
Acts 2:36 “Let all the house of Ysra’al therefore know certainly that Aluah has made this YaHuWSHuWaH whom you hanged on a stake, both Master YaHuWaH and haMashiyach.”
Acts 2:38 Kepha said to them, “Each of you reconsider, and be immersed, every one of you, in the Name of the Master YaHuWaH-YaHuWSHuWaH haMashiyach for the washing away of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruwach haQadosh. from AENT
Note: Derivatives of the Name ofThe Almighty should also be found in the Word within the names of His people.[All Hebrew names have meaning and often picture the works, deliverance, and wonders of the Eternal One. …. YashaYahuw [Isaiah] (YaHuWaH is deliverance) and YirmeYahuw [Jeremiah](YaHuWaH will raise up) are examples of this.YirmeYahuw15:16Your Words were found, and I ate them; and Your Words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by Your Name,YaHuWaH, Aluahiym of Hosts. (YirmeYahuw = (YaHuWaH will raise up or appoint”)Note:There are also some 99 others of Ysra’al who have “YaHuW” in their names: 72 names that end with “YaHuW”, 27 names having “YaHuW” at the beginning, and 1 with it in the middle. … for a total of 100! (YaHuw – YHW – is the Hebrew spelling)
*Note on the úW/uw:The “waw” in Paleo-Hebrew and Ancient-Hebrew is pronounced as “uW”, it is not just a simple “v” or “w” sound. …. rhymes with “wuu”. Dawid Ray ” False Name and Mystery Babylon”
Second challenge: can you find one name – just one – given in the TaNaK that is a derivative of “Yahweh“?? Let the “judge” be the “Blue Scriptures” from ISR … for some “yahweh people” have their “own” versions which have been liberally “tweaked”!
There will be coming soon a time of great testing, of oppression/tribulation and of trial; we will need to call upon the Name of The Almighty for deliverance. … and if we have the wrong name – their will be no deliverance. Now is the time to be sure we know that Name and trust in it.Psalms 9:9-10YaHuWaH will also be a high tower for the oppressed; a high tower in times of trouble. Those who know Your Name will put their trust in You, for You, YaHuWaH, have not forsaken those who seek You. … and from Yahuw’al 2:32It will happen that whosoever shall call on the Name of YaHuWaHshall be delivered;for in Mount Tsiyon and in Yahrushalom there shall be those who escape [are delivered], as YaHuWaHhas said, and in the remnant, those whom YaHuWaH shall call.[Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13]
In First Melakim [Kings] 18, there is the recounting of the apostasy of the first House ofYsra’al led by Iyzebel (see First Melakim [Kings] 17- 21 page) and her false prophets during Ach’ab’s reign. (A very prophetic passage being played out in many of the Ysra’al of today, who are calling on the name “yahweh” or other false names – (Ba’al),– and whose false prophets number at least 850 and who eat at Iysebel’s table! cf. Rev. 2:19-24) Perhaps these “850 false prophets should assemble themselves together and see if they can find in the TaNaK [First Testament] just one derivative of “yahweh” ….. it can’t be done! Many of the present day “prophets of yahweh/Ba’al” are also “nico- laitans” (rulers of the layity – their excuse being that they are protecting their flock from the “wolves”, however, their real motive is to keep the flock under their control so they can be easily “fleeced”; spiritually, emotionally, doctrinally, and in some cases financially!)
Jacob O. Meyer of the “Assemblies of Yahweh” states that he is 99.99% sure that the Great Name is Yahweh …. but if he finds out differently from some advanced “scholarship”, then he will change his position! What an amazing statement! He is denying the Word – the only source where one can find the Great Name! He needs to (as all yahweh believers should) – heed the word that YaHuWaH gave us in YashaYahuw [Isaiah] 2:22 “Stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?” and from YirmeYahuw [Jeremiah] 17:5 ” Thus says YaHuWaH: Cursed is the man who trust in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart turns away from YaHuWaH!” This is especially true for those seeking to know His Great Name!
There are many more just like him who turn their backs on the only true source of Wisdom – the Word – where His Name can be proven. There is a host of different “Assemblies”, “Congregations”, “Houses” of yahweh, etc. All of which rely on “sources” for His Name that are not Scriptural, and lean upon the fact … “there are so many of us that call upon this name, how can it be wrong”. Well, so did all Ysra’al call upon “Ba’al” in the days of Ach’ab when Iysebel and her false prophets led Ysra’al astray. What has been – will be!
As for those who say – and they are many – “It really doesn’t matter if we say “yahweh” or “YaHuWaH” or any other name, for Aluahiym “knows” what we mean and He will accept what we say until He makes His Name known to us.” (- but He already has! It’s in His Word for those willing to search it out!) But, if this is how you feel, well, why not go back to g_d, l_rd, j_zeus, etc. – for YaHuWaH “knows” what we mean and therefore it is acceptable with Him! I think NOT!
The Wu Sound is essential for the above above words!
Guns, Lies and Forgeries: A Bible Story By Robert E. Reis
Once upon a time there was a tribe living in the Middle East that had a collection of sacred texts written in Hebrew, Chaldean and Aramaic. It is the nature of sacred texts to be venerated and transmitted from generation to generation unaltered.
As time passed members of this tribe emigrated to areas where Hebrew and Aramaic and Chaldean were not spoken. A large community settled and prospered in the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Greek replaced their tribal language. They needed an accurate translation of their venerated documents into Greek.
Around 250 B.C. seventy rabbis translated the sacred texts into Greek. This translation was not a bootleg edition. The project was approved by the High Priest and the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. The Septuagint, the translation of the seventy, was an official document.
A Hebrew Bible exists today. It is used by Jews everywhere. It is called the Masoretic text. It was compiled around 700 A.D. It is almost one thousand years newer than the Septuagint. The rabbis who compiled the Masoretic text were not accountable to the High Priest in Jerusalem. There no longer was a High Priest. The rabbis who compiled the Masoretic text were not accountable to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. There no longer was a Sanhedrin.
The Septuagint predates the first appearance of the Masoretic text by almost ten centuries. The Septuagint is based upon Hebrew texts at least twelve centuries older than the texts upon which the Masoretic version is based. .Yet, modern Christian translations of the Old Testament rely on the Masoretic Text, not the Septuagint.
Where is the problem?
Most of the quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament used the Septuagint as their primary source. The integrity and truthfulness of the [New Testament] is completely dependant on the Septuagint being a truthful translation. Discredit the Septuagint and there is no New Testament.
There was no controversy about the integrity of the Septuagint from 250 B.C. until 135 A. D.
What had happened to provoke dissatisfaction with the Septuagint among the Jews?
Annas and Caiphas and the Sanhedrin had rejected the messianic claims of Jesus. The New Testament documents had been written and were circulating by A.D. 70. The Jews knew that the credibility of the Christian Gospels depended on the credibility of the Septuagint. Something had to be done.
Around 95 A.D. Rabbi Akiva, who later proclaimed Bar Kochba as the messiah, hired a man named Aquila to translate a Hebrew to Greek version of the Old Testament that would undermine the messianic claims of Jesus found in the Septuagint. Some scholars believe that the Masoretic text was based in part on this tendentious translation by Aquila.
How is the Masoretic text different from the Septuagint?
Psalm 22:16 the word “pierced” has been replaced by “lion”.
Deuteronomy 32:8 “Angels Of Elohim” replaced with “children of Israel.”
Jeremiah 10 verses 6 and 7 have been added in the Masoretic.
Psalm 96:10 “Say among the nations, YHWH reigns from the wood” omitted.
Isaiah 19:18 “city of righteousness” changed to the “city of the sun” or in some versions “the city of destruction.”
The Masoretic scribes purposely and willfully rearranged the original chapter order in the prophetic Book of Daniel, so that the chapters make no sense chronologically.
Isaiah 61:1 “recovery of sight to the blind.”. Omitted.
In Psalm 40:6 “a body you have prepared for me” was replaced by “you opened my ears.”
Deuteronomy 32:43 ‘Let all the messengers of Elohim worship him.’” Omitted.
Genesis 4:8: “Let us go into the field” is omitted.
(When Aquila made his Greek translation of the Old Testament at the behest of Rabbi Akiva, he changed the Septuagint’s “virgin” into “young woman”. The Masoretic compilers may have followed his lead.)
The Masoretic text differs from the Septuagint in hundreds of places.How do we know which text is accurate?
The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered just after World War II.
According to carbon dating, textual analysis, and handwriting analysis the documents were written at various times between the middle of the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD. There are fragments from all of the books of the Hebrew Bible fragments except the Book of Esther and the Book of Nehemiah.
In addition an independent Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible exists, the Peshitta.Control of the Dead Sea Scrolls was a military objective of Israelis. It was achieved by their victory in the Six Days War.
The publication of the scrolls slowed to a trickle.
After 1971, the international team even refused to allow the publication of photographs of the material. They excluded scholars who wanted to make independent evaluations.
The embargo was not broken until 1991.An addition to the Dead Sea Scrolls, scholars can use the Peshitta to decide between the Masoretic text and the Septuagint.I have given examples above of some of the places the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Peshitta, and the Septuagint agree.
The Masoretic Text is part of a tradition that began with Rabbi Akiva. Rabbis rewrote the Jewish Bible to destroy the credibility of the New Testament.
The Hebrew versions of the Old Testament have been used to proclaim scores of “messiahs” . The Septuagint was only used once.
(The same yom) they came to the Wilderness of Sinai
