“The Gihon River and the Purification of the Land of Israel”
Commentary Series on Zechariah 13 in the Oracles of Zechariah
Rabbinic Commentary by Maggid ben Yoseif
Biblical Commentary by Robert D. Mock MD
March 2000,
Revised March 2002
Reedited August 2005 and May 2008
Topics
The Fountain of Water from the House of the Lord
The Source of the Fountain or River of the Lord
The Lord of hosts will destroy the “Idols” (Mosques and Basilicas) of the Christians and Moslems.
The River Gihon flowing from the Temple recorded in Mishnahs by Shimon HaLevi
Water Flowing from the Rock: a Sign of Redemption
“Elijah” explains the Water flowing from the Temple Mount
The Lord of hosts will destroy the “Idols” (Mosques and Basilicas) of the Christians and Moslems
Cleansing of the Land of Israel from Idols or Icons and False Prophets
Prophets and Demonic Spirits will flee the Land of Israel
The Prophet ashamed of his Prophecy
The Last Destruction of Israelites in History
The Purified Remnant will now call upon the Name of the Lord (YHVH)
The Fountain of Water from the House of the Lord
Zechariah 13:1 - In that day a fountain shall be opened
For the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
For sin and for uncleanness.
“In that Day”
The “Day of the Lord” is one of the most potent phrases in the Bible. It stands in stark reality that here is a moment in time in which the Lord of hosts will intersect and invade the three dimensional world of man at the final Drama of the Ages at the Time of the End. In the New Testament, the Day of the Lord is the literal and personal coming of Yahshua.
Yet the Day of the Lord to the prophets of the Old Testament, the TaNaKh, emphasize that the Day of the Lord begins with the restoration of the Houses of Judah and Joseph/ Ephraim in the land of Israel and Jerusalem. In this oracle, we are pointed back to the prior twelfth chapter which emphasizes what will happen ‘in that day’. Let us review these events.
12:3 – “And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people.”
12:4 – “I will smite every horse with astonishment, every rider with madness and will
open Mine eyes upon the house of Judah.”
12:6 – “I will make the governors of Judah like a hearth of fire among the wood…”
12:8 – “The Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”
12:9 – “I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem….and I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication.”
12:10 – “There shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem”
13:1 – “There shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem”.
13:2 – “I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land”
13:4 – “the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision…
13:8 – “in all the land, two parts therein shall be cut off and die… and I will bring the third part through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined.”
14:1 – “Behold the Day of the Lord cometh…”
14:8 – “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.”
The events at the Time of the End continue to pour forth. Let us review one of the premises of the BibleSearchers: Every act that the Lord of hosts did with his chosen people as recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures was a mini-rehearsal that will be replayed in full at the time of the end as the Final Conflict in the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan culminates in the Final Drama of the Ages.
In this chapter, we notice that ‘in that day” a “fountain” will be opened for the house of David and the Jewish inhabitants in the Jerusalem. For what reason will this fountain be opened? The text says, it will bring forth the spiritual cleansing ‘for sin in the house of David and for uncleanness in the city of Jerusalem.
In the context of the messiah, Yahshua, he identifies himself as the “Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End” and as such is the “fountain of Life” (Revelation 21:6-7), which now he will give freely, this time to the Jewish people. Even though they have kept the Torah and their covenant with their God to various degree of success, their ‘sins’ still need to be wiped out and before the Land becomes renewed and Jesus reigns over a purified messianic kingdom, the people and the land will have to also be purified, or swept clean of any uncleanliness.
Within the old city of Jerusalem (which does not include the City of David to the South) there are NO KNOWN SPRINGS at current. This is what was so amazing about the water coming out of the Western Wall inside the rabbinical tunnels. Was there a spring there? If so, for the FIRST TIME, Jerusalem has a means to gather the spring water needed to mix with the ashes of the red heifer to bring about this FOUNTAIN for uncleanness – purification from corpse defilement.
The Source of the Fountain or River of the Lord
This source of water, coming from the foundation of the Temple of the Lord, is spoken of not only by Zechariah, but also by other prophets of old.
Joel 3: 18: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with water, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord and shall water the valley of Shittim (Dead Sea near Sodom and Gomorrah).
At this time, the land of Judah will be renewed by the literal Latter Rain, which accompanies the spiritual revival in the Land of Israel. The wine harvests in the mountainside vineyards of Israel will once again produce internationally known grapes harvested to rival the grapes plucked by Joshua and Caleb and the explorers of the Promise Land forty years before the actual entry of the Israelites into the Land of the Promise. What would it be like to travel today to the Valley of Eshcol, near Hebron about twenty miles south of Jerusalem and bring home one cluster of grapes that you would have to suspend on a pole between two men to carry? Were these grapes the size of our grapes today or were they about the size of an orange or grapefruit?
Numbers 13:23 – “Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole.
Here again, in the Restored Israel at the time of the end, we will see a virgin land of milk and honey. Let us explore this a moment.
Observing the land of Canaan as it was in the days of Abraham until the days of Moses and Joshua, an objective climatologist would have to surmise that Israel was aligned with along a different latitude on the globe than the Israel at the present time. There appeared to be a wetter season with an abundance of rain and a growing season much longer and more temperate that the Land of Israel today. With the scientific affirmation that this globe is undergoing a polar migration and is moving at a progressively more rapid rate away from Canada and towards the Siberian coastline of Russia. This suggests several things. The land of Canada and the United States will move down into warmer latitudes. Canada could become a more productive bread basket as she moves into the latitude of mid-America, the bread basket of the United States. The southern states will move south into the arid regions of Northern Mexico and Texas and may eventually loose its forest lands in eastern part of its states.
At the same time, the Scandinavian nations, Ireland and Britain and Russia will move closer to the North Pole. Their climates will become more ice and glacier oriented much like the state of Alaska. What this suggests is that the Nation of Israel could soon find itself in a similar latitude of France, the bread basket of Europe.
Studying climatology and geography suggest that the climatic patterns of the world today are completely different than that of the ancients. According to geologists, the land of Egypt about 10,000 years ago (geological time) resided in a wet land with deltas and marshland especially around the Giza Pyramid. This is the basis of the controversy between the orthodox archeologists in Egypt today, headed by Dr. Zahi Hawass and the advante-garde archeologists, such as Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval, who wrote the books, Fingerprints of the God, The Orion Mystery, and The Message of the Sphinx describing the water erosion on the Sphinx and the Mortuary Temples of the Giza Pyramids. If the land of Egypt was a wet-land in the historical archeological past, then the Sinai Peninsula and the Land of Canaan prior to the entry of Joshua and the Children of Israel would have been a land of forests, wetlands, abundant vineyards and an agricultural paradise.
As the earth is converting itself to new climatic patterns, we are now introduced the ‘fountain’ that will erupt forth from the eastern side of the newly built temple. Temple? Yes, if we are true to the exegesis of the literal text (pshat) and honest in our belief that if the Lord of hosts states that He will do a certain ‘act’, then it will be done. Why? Because God will truly will honor His Holy Name.
In collaboration with Zechariah thirteen that discusses that ‘a fountain shall be opened’, the prophet Ezekiel, a contemporary of Zechariah identifies this fountain with a temple (house) that will already be built.
Ezekiel 47:1-2 (parts)- “Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house (temple); and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar" And he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me around the way outside to the outer gate by the way that faces to the east; and, behold, there ran out water on the right side”
“And he said to me, ‘These waters flow out towards the eastern region, and go down to the Arabah, to the sea; and when they enter the sea, the waters shall be healed…… And by the stream, upon its bank, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for food, whose leaf shall not wither, nor shall its fruit fail; it shall bring forth fresh fruit every month, because the waters for them flow from the sanctuary; and their fruit shall be for food, and their leaves for healing."
These trees sound very much like the trees in Paradise and the New Jerusalem. The Ezekiel Temple as described in vision by the Prophet Ezekiel from the land of Babylon depicts the Temple of the Lord most biblical scholars envision to be built in the Millennial Kingdom during the reign of the Messiah. The specific topographical references to this certain temple site have never been built or replicated, yet let us emphasize again as BibleSearchers truly believe, if the Lord of hosts said that He will do something, then be assured, it will be done.
The River from the Temple states emphatically that the source of the River will “issue out from under the threshold of the house eastward.” What we are seeing is a model of the House of God, which was erected on a temple platform. Associated with this House is a great river that flows from the right side of the house as it faces eastward. This would be on the southern wall of the Temple platform, just to the south of the Altar of Burnt Offering.
From the temple platform the water will flow eastward, first as a trickle, then ankle deep, waist deep and then a flowing current. It will proceed through the Mount of Olives which presently blocks its eastward passage. It will then head towards the desert rocky cliffs of Qumran and Jericho, which will in the future be covered with meadows and newly growing forests and then onward to the reviving Dead Sea.
The River Gihon flowing from the Temple as
Recorded in the Mishnahs by Shimon HaLevi
The Temple and the Temple Mount with the Temple of Herod sitting Right Over the Site of the Gihon Springs – Drawing by Ernest Martin
Let us visit, now a little known Jewish Mishnah, written by Shimon HaLevi, who was the priest who sacrificed the third and the fourth Red Heifer after Ezra the Cohen sacrificed the second at the purification of the second temple. This places Shimon HaLevi as a participant in the restoration of the exiles from Babylon in 441 BCE (Jewish Years).
Yet, Shimon Ha Levi also was the author of twelve Mishnahs, called the Emeq HaMelekh that describes the hiding of the temple treasures from the Temple of Solomon before and during the exile of the Jewish people to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. This manuscript was found in the 8th century Genizah of the revered Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, Egypt and was also found engraved on two large white marble tablets at Mount Carmel with the same twelve Mishnahs, dated to the Jewish year 3331 from the year of Adam plus an Ibex Leather Scroll also with Shimon HaLevi’s authorship to the same Jewish year 3331.
Hiluk, son of Shimur HaLevi, was given twelve more precious stone in order to hide them so that they could (eventually) be restored to the Tribes (of Israel). The names of the Tribes were engraved on them and they shone on the Tribe’s heads, excellent and precious, one more than the other. No king, prophet, or anyone else knew where they were hidden, excepting Hiluk, son of Shimur Ha Levi. The remainder of the wealth and glory that was in Jerusalem was taken by angel Shimshiel. Shimur, Hiluk, and their companions, the Levites, later went and showed it to Michael and Gavriel. All Israel concealed the Vessels until a righteous king arises over Israel.
What’s more, they all swore a solemn vow never to reveal the whereabouts of these vessels until David, son of David, arises. All silver, gold, and Margaliot (precious stones) which was ever hidden away will be handed over to him when the exiles of Israel will be gathered from the four ends of the earth and they ascend with greatness and exaltation to the land of Israel.
At that time, a great river will issue forth from the Holy of Holies of the Temple. It’s name is Gihon, and it will flow to the great and dreadful desert, and become mixed with the Euphrates River. Immediately, all the Vessels will float up and be revealed.
In all the Biblical passages, none of them reveal the name of the river that will proceed out from the temple wall, yet in this passage, this river’s name is the River Gihon. Let us remind ourselves that the Gihon River is one of the four rivers that proceeded forth out of the Garden of Eden as branches from the mighty River of Eden. Is it not a coincidence that that only living spring in the vicinity of Jerusalem also is called the Gihon Springs.
Ezekiel 47:3-12 - And when the man who had the line in his hand went out eastward, he measured a thousand cubits (611 yards), and he brought me through the water; the water reached the ankles. And he measured a thousand (1222 yards), and brought me through the water; the water reached the knees. And he measured a thousand (1833 yards), and brought me through; the water reached the loins. And he measured a further thousand (2444 yards); and it was a stream that I could not pass over; for the water had risen, water to swim in, a stream that could not be passed over.
And he said to me, Son of man, have you seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the edge of the stream. And when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the stream were many trees on one side and on the other.
According to the World English Bible (WEB), “a cubit is a unit of linear measure, from the elbow to the tip of the longest finger of a man. This unit is commonly converted to 0.46 meters or 18 inches, although that varies with height of the man doing the measurement. There is also a "long" cubit that is longer than a regular cubit by a handbreadth. (Ezekiel 43:13)” Using Ezekiel’s Long Cubit, where the handbreadth is about 4 inches, then 1000 cubits would be 611 yards.
Bearing due east from the Gihon Springs site, about 2000 cubits would be at the top of the Mount of Olives, so we have within a distance of just past the peak of the Mount of Olives, the water is flowing in a torrent where a person cannot wade across the river.
Ezekiel 47:1-12 - And he said to me, ‘These waters flow out towards the eastern region, and go down to the Arabah, to the sea; and when they enter the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that lives, which moves, wherever the streams shall come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come there; for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live where the stream comes. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Ein-Gedi as far as Ein-Eglayim; they shall be a place for spreading nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, a great many like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and its marshes shall not be healed; they shall be left for salt. And by the stream, upon its bank, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for food, whose leaf shall not wither, nor shall its fruit fail; it shall bring forth fresh fruit every month, because the waters for them flow from the sanctuary; and their fruit shall be for food, and their leaves for healing."
These verses are a beautiful reminder of the symbiotic relationship between a literal event at the time of the end and the spiritual event that shall accompany it. Let us look first at the literal event. There will be the actual arrival of the messiah, Yahshua or Jesus. At that same time in chapter 14, a fountain, which was not known to exist, shall begin to erupt forth from the eastern gate of the temple mount.
Whether this fountain will be associated with the earthquake and the separation of the continental plates beneath the Mount of Olives when Yahshua steps upon the mount (Zechariah 14:3), we can only make a supposition at this time. From every appearance, a subterranean body of water will burst forth and a new mighty river will emerge from the site where the future Ezekiel Temple will reside. Though this is a physical event, which may be unusual, it will be viewed by the Jews as a divine gift and a physical show of intervention on the part of HaShem for His people. A physical event will be transformed into spiritual event that transcends the dimensions in which we can perceive with our physical senses.
In early 1999, a trickle of water began to seep from under the Temple Mount (Haram ash Sherif) while the Moslem were trying to pray to Allah in the east towards Mecca. Here is a documentary report by Gershom Salomon from the Temple Mount Faithful about this event.
Water Flowing from the Rock: a Sign of Redemption
by Gershom Salomon
Gershom Salomon - “One of the most
exciting events over the last few days has been the news of the
water flowing from the holy rock of Abraham and Isaac on the Temple
Mount, which was in the midst of the First and Second Temples. ’According
to what we now know, the water is definitely flowing from under
the rock. The Arabs on the Temple Mount deny this and have tried
to stop the flow by many means but have not succeeded. What we now know
is that they are trying to bring in special pumps to stop the flow.
In any case, the water continues to flow. Nothing can stop it.
’This special news has caused much excitement in Israel. Since the
destruction of the Second Temple the Jewish People have anticipated
this event with great desire and prayers because we always knew
that this would be one of the signs of the last days and the
redemption of Israel and that the Third Temple is soon to be built and Mashiach
ben David is soon to come. Now, at the climax of the major
redemptional process of Israel when everyone in Israel can see and hear
for themselves how close we are to the accomplishment of this
great prophetic godly event, this major godly event has occurred
before our very eyes. It cannot be stopped even though the enemy on the Temple
Mount is trying to do so.
’This event will show everyone in the world who is trying to
stop G-d's determination to redeem the people of Israel, to cancel
the last signs of pagan, foreign presence on the Temple Mount, the holy
hill of G-d, and any foreign occupation in the land, which G-d
promised to Israel alone in an eternal covenant. We are expecting
more major godly events and redemptional miracles with the people
and land of Israel.” (Full report at end
of chapter)
In the fall of 2001, an orthodox Jewish attorney from Jerusalem, Jack Golbert, had a private audience with our study group, The BibleSearchers, and confirmed the reports of a stream of water emitting from the Temple Mount sector. This river, in his and many orthodox Jewish minds, will emanate eastward from the site of the future Ezekiel Temple, a temple that is not to be a recreation of Solomon’s Temple but a far grander edifice surpassing any physical religious edifice that this earth has ever seen.
Pictures of this stream of water are recorded on the web-site of a self-styled prophet who claims to be one of the two witnesses of Revelation, Elijah the Tishite. This “Elijah” is known by others as Ernie and is neither Jewish neither does he speak any Hebrew. An itinerant in Israel, he is routinely in and out of the country because as reports have stated, the Jerusalem police and the Israeli government kick him out for awhile. Though the two witnesses as described by the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation will be self-evident when that day arrives, the pictures on this site and the descriptions are of interest to this study. Here is his account.
“Elijah” Explains the water flowing from the Temple Mount
“Elijah” has given us a drawing of what is happening on the Temple Mount as it relates to the water flow. The following is Elijah's explanation of this drawing:
”While I was in Israel, I heard the reports of many credible witnesses of the water coming from the temple mount, coming down in the Kotel, and also in Hezekiah's cave. In Hezekiah's cave it was like a stream or small river. All of a sudden one evening the Lord gave me this vision.
“He let me see like a large dome of water under Jerusalem. It may be 1000 feet down. It is a tremendous large body of loose rock, water bearing rock, a huge cave full of water. God, at this time, is starting to let rock surface to push the water up through a waterway coming up under the dome of the rock, in the Temple Mount area. Little by little, it is coming up. It is coming up. Even now it is coming up at different places. In the Kotel it is flowing from the ceiling. Underneath the dome it is coming up and causing the people to every day take the rugs out of the mosque so they can dry the water that is coming up through the floor. Also out in the court yard they have to keep pumping all these cisterns because all of this water keeps coming into them even though with the lack of rainfall since 1996 there should be no water in any of these cisterns.
“The Muslims have poured cement down in places to try to stop the water. This is happening. God made this promise that water would come up underneath the Temple Mount in these days. This is it. In the last days there would be water there. The water that is there is more proof that these are the last days. In Ezekiel 47:1-10 it talks about how it comes up as a spring, then a little stream, then a river that will flow down the Kidron valley into the Dead Sea, and cause the dead sea to become fresh water. This is all the beginning of it. People might say because of doubt and unbelief and because they don't want these to be the last days that it is not happening but it is happening.
“I know that God is starting to do things. At the first of this year, I prayed and asked God, that they might be able to see to believe. Lord would you do something that these people that know the time and the season, to see and believe it. That if they can not believe it by faith, what is written, that they might be able to see signs that would cause them to believe. That is when this water started to come up around the Temple Mount area.
“I had been giving the warnings that there would be no abundant rain since 1996. People would mock, laugh, and scorn, and call me a false prophet. The drought is real and everyone knows it is real. In Jordan, already in 1996, they were having to kill their herds of sheep because of the drought. And in the middle of this drought God has caused water to flow at the Temple mount. The Muslims know from their holy writings that it is a very bad sign for them if the water starts flowing from the Temple Mount. They will try to do everything they can to stop it and hide it.
Just before messiah touches down on the Mount of Olives in Zechariah 14, the trickle of spring water that has gradually been seeping out from beneath the foundation of the Temple Mount will return in the coming cataclysms that will alter the landscape around Jerusalem. Like a mighty cleansing and purifying river, it will be sent to purify and cleanse the Land of Israel.
The Temple and the Mount – Ernest Martin
The Jews and the Judaic faith, the remnant of the United Monarchy of David and Solomon, claim the Temple Mount as the site where Abraham sacrificed Isaac on Mount Moriah and the site of the Temple of Solomon. To the east of the Temple, near the summit of the Mount of Olives, was also the site where the Red Heifer was killed and burnt to ashes. These two sites are of utmost importance to the Jews, whenever they make the decision to build a new and functional temple.
Even so, the Temple Mount may not actually the site of the Temple of Solomon. According to the late Ernest Martin, in his archeological studies, the Temple of Solomon actually stood over the site of the Gihon Springs and was located south of the Temple Mount.
The Temple Mount, according to Martin, was actually the site of the Antonia’s Fortress, which housed the garrison fortress for the Roman soldiers. According to the prophecies of Yahshua that not one stone would be left upon another on the site of the Temple was literally fulfilled and the site was razed to the base rock foundation.
A recent article in the newsletter of Barbara Richmond (Lekarev Report) on February 12, 2001 gave even greater credence to this theory.
Major Archeological Discovery – Mikvah (Ritual Bath) of the High
Priest Found
”Photographs which were recently taken in Hezekiah’s tunnel in
the City of David in Jerusalem prove that under the steps leading to
the tunnel through which the water from the Gihon Spring runs to the
City of David there are more underground spaces which were not
previously known. The researchers believe that these spaces were used as a
Mikvah for the special purification of the High priest in the
Second Temple era.
Hezekiah’s tunnel was dug around 2700 years ago.
This monumental project was undertaken by one of the most
righteous kings of Israel to lead the water from the Gihon Spring which is outside
the walls of the walls of the Biblical city to the Pool of Siloam which is
inside the City of David so that in times when the enemy besieged
Jerusalem water would be available. The TaNaKh records this exciting
Biblical event. Two groups were involved in the digging. One
started from inside the city and the other from outside
the city. Thanks to G–d’s miracle they met at exactly the same
point.
The tunnel was re-discovered during
the Ottoman occupation of the holy land of Israel. The Turks
also found the stone the King Hezekiah placed at the entrance of
the tunnel on which the story and miracle of the digging
was recorded. This stone was taken to Turkey and is today in
the Turkish Museum in Istanbul. The Temple Mount and Land of
Israel Faithful Movement is attempting to have this stone
returned to Israel and if required will take all legal means
needed to see that this occurs.
Up until today it had been thought that the water had streamed
directly from the spring to the tunnel and then to the pool from
where the water was drawn. These new photographs reveal that the water
actually followed a long path from the spring to the tunnel. Inside
these underground spaces were used, as we stated, as a Mikvah for
the High Priest whose purification needed to be perfect and in a
separate place.
David Be’eri, leader of the Jewish citizens of the City of
David, shared that a diver went into the spaces with an underwater
camera and that research will continue to find the total route
that the water took from the Gihon Spring to the tunnel.
This is a fascinating find at this particular time when the crucial
issue in the entire Middle East conflict is ultimately about
Jerusalem and specifically the Temple Mount area.”
Let us first look at this coming text in context with the preceding verses. In chapter 12, we see in the oracle of God in which the enemies of Jerusalem will soon be destroyed. First, Jerusalem, as the chalice or cup of God will ‘send all the surrounding peoples reeling.’
Zechariah 12:2 - Then Judah and Jerusalem will be besieged
‘when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her’
12:3 - The Lord of hosts will make the leaders or governors of
Judah as a ‘firepot in a woodpile’ or like a ‘flaming torch among
sheaves.’
12:6 - Then He will save Judah and shield Jerusalem.
12:7 - Then He will pour out the Spirit of grace and supplication upon the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
12:10 - A direct line of communication will be literally established for HaShem to direct His people in every moment of their lives in the events that will immediately erupt upon the Land. A great mourning and time of repentance will come upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, including not only the Jews, but the Christians and Moslem within the city. It can be assumed that if the nations of the world are surrounding the city to assault and destroy it, inhabitants within the city will be in defense of the Lord of hosts and sympathetic to the Jewish people and not a part of the enemy forces.
Then at this time, the foundations of the deep, beneath the Temple Mount will be begin to open as the crustal plates beneath the city begin to shift. The first sign of this shifting will be the rapidly progressing water emitting from beneath the Temple Mount. (Zechariah 13:1) Then a strange phenomenon will occur with the city of Jerusalem.
The Pilgrims Worshipping at the Empty Stone Bench at the Tomb of Mary - BibleWalks
The Lord of hosts will destroy the “Idols” (Mosques and Basilicas)
Of the Christians and Moslems.
Zechariah 13:2 – It shall be in that day, says the Lord of hosts
That I will cut off the names of the idols from the lands,
And they shall no longer be remembered.
“In that day”, we see again a reference to the time of the end that will occur prior to the coming of the messiah. At this time the twin curses of spirituality; idolatry and false prophecy will be eradicated.
The Chapel of the Tomb of Mary at the West Entrance located at the Base of the Mount of Olives - BibleWalks
Yahshua is looking for those who are willing to look fully upon him. Yes, this is Yahshua who is the purest reflection and portrayal of the emanations of Hashem (God). Yes, when we look upon him, we see the Father. It is the ‘idols’ which are anything which command our attention away from the Divine, the Almighty One. Is it these idols that will be ‘cut off’’?
This is a spiritual interpretation, but are we actually looking for a literal event that will occur in the city of Jerusalem. To the modern Christian, an idol is a relic of ancient pagan days, or have our eyes been diverted away from the idols that exist in reality today?
Greek Orthodox Christian Altar at the Tomb of Mary - BibleWalks
Within the city of Jerusalem are three major world religions who recognize this land as their ‘Holy Land’. Yet, the guardians of the Land today are the Jewish people. They are the ones with the oracles of God. As the Apostle Paul stated,
Romans 9:4-5 - “They are the Israelites: they were made God’s sons; theirs is the splendor of the divine presence, theirs the covenants, the law (Torah), the temple worship, and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them, in natural descent, sprang the Messiah.”
According to the Apostle Paul, they will not be cast aside, but restored fully to their place of honor.
The Garden of Eden represented as the Euphrates Valley
Genesis 2:8-15 – “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden.”
Here we are given the details of that garden of delight where Adam and Eve lived. The geographical details including the rivers suggest that the area of this garden was placed to the west of the rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris. In the picture diagram to the left is one of the great misconceptions of ancient Biblical geography. Without the acceptance that the Bible is Jerusalem centric in its focus, it would be easy to suggest that the garden of Eden was placed in the Euphrates Valley.
Yet, according to the Hebrew tradition, Creation occurred at Jerusalem and from there the “Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden.” When Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, they were cast out of the eastern gate and there their descendants began the first civilization in the Euphrates and the Tigris River valleys. In essence, the Euphrates and the Tigris Valleys was the land where the children of Adam live cast away from God. The Garden of Eden was in the land between Jerusalem and the Euphrates Valley.
The Tribal Inheritance as Given by Moses before his Death – SDA Bible Commentary
Some scholars suggest that Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon was the Garden of Eden because its roots reached to the “abundance of waters.”
Ezekiel 31:9-18, parts – “Whom are you like in your greatness? Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with fine branches that shaded the forest…Thus it was beautiful in greatness and in the length of its branches, because its roots reached to the abundant waters. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it… no tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty. I made it beautiful with a multitude of branches, so that all the trees of Eden envied it that were in the garden of God.”
Is it not interesting that the “covering cherub” in the Ode to the King of Tyre (Lebanon) was non other than Lucifer who was described:
Ezekiel 28:11-19 parts – “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God…You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. ….Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones…I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you.”
This “Cherubim” was the same being described in Job;
Job 1:7 – “And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
And so we now come to the covenant the God of Israel made with Abram, who was a contemporary of Job.
Genesis 15:18 - “The Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying; “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates – the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
The Royal Grant to Abraham
Scholars have suggested that this land begins at the Pelusiac branch, the easternmost branch of the Nile River delta traversing east northeast to the Euphrates River. There were no limits given on the land to the east and southeast of the land of Canaan into the desert lands of Arabia. Within this Abrahamic promise, this land also included the whole area of Arabian Peninsula.
The descendants of Abraham included all the descendants of both Isaac and Ishmael. The land of the promise was to go to the descendants of Isaac through the lineage of birthright, taken by Jacob and his twelve sons. Yet the children of Ishmael, and his twelve sons, the six sons of Keturah, plus the descendants of Esau, and the children of Lot, the Moabites and the Ammonites were to receive their portions of the lands also within the Abrahamic promise. (Genesis 25: 1-18)
Four hundred years later, when Moses was prepared to delineate the Land of the Promise to the Tribes of the Twelve Sons of Jacob, and the Lord gave him instructions on the Land to be given to the Children of Israel.
Numbers 34:3-5 - “Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom (the land of the descendants of Esau); then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea (Dead Sea); your border shall turn from the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and be on the south of Kadesh Barnea; then it shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea (Mediterranean)”
Numbers 34:6 - “As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea (Mediterranean) for a border; this shall be your western border.”
The Roman Catholic Church identification of Golgotha, the “Place of the Skull” within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – Photo by Robert Mock
Numbers 34:7-9 - “And this shall be your northern border: From the Great Sea you shall mark out your border line to Mount Hor, from Mount Hor you shall mark out your border to the entrance of Hamath (where the Orontes River, opposite Antioch, flows towards the Mediterranean Sea): then the direction of the border shall be toward Zedad; the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern border (the area of the bulge of the Euphrates as it bends towards the Mediterranean, or nearly 350 miles north of Jerusalem.)
Numbers 34:10-12 - “You shall mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham; the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; the border shall go down and reach to the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth; the border shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries.”
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the
Christian Quarter of Old Jerusalem –
Photo by Robert Mock
Numbers 34:13-15 – “Then Moses added: “For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance: The two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sun rising.”
These possessions included:
Numbers 32:32-33, 40 - “And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and then unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about. …and Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein.”
The Purported “Place of Unction” where the Lifeless Body of Christ Rested while being Anointed and Wrapped before being Placed in the Tomb –
Photo by Robert Mock
Of these lands in which the children of Israel lived, they only include the western end of the Royal Grant given to Abraham by Yahweh. Then as the House of Joseph/Ephraim as representative of the House of Israel begins to awaken to their own identity, then they will inquire into their ancestral roots and the lands of their forefathers. Chapters 9 and 10 in the Oracles of Zechariah foresaw that the House of Israel would once again redeem the land of their forefathers on the eastern side of the Jordan River. There will be an overwhelming desire to know the way of the Lord. Hashem’s children, his chosen ones, will at this time experience a spiritual revival unknown in modern history.
The Iconology in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at this Altar to Mary –
Photo by Robert Mock
To the Christian faith, the most sacred site since the days of Constantine the Great is the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Here it is felt was the site where Jesus died and was buried, and it situated over tombs of the 1st century BC to 1st century AD on the vertical left wall of an unused quarry abandoned at the beginning of the 1st century. This site, near to the rock eminence is reminiscent of a skull outside the city, Golgotha. (Luke 19:17) and a grave was nearby (John 19:41-42)
This area was brought into the walls of the city of Jerusalem in the year of 41-43 CE, yet was never built over, part because the memory of the primitive Christians that this was the site of the temple of Herod. This site was later buried by Hadrian in 135 CE in the debris to level the base on the Temple Mount for his Capitoline Temple and the statue of Aphrodite that stood nearby. Once again though, the site may not be the actually site, at least according to Ernest Martin, Christ died on top of the Mount of Olives.
The Catholikon Dome decorated with the Image of Christ
at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Central Nave of the
Crusader Church in the Greek Orthodox Section of the Church –
Photo by Robert Mock
Though more accessible sites, including the Temple Mount, were available to Constantine when he sought to build a church commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus, but the ancient traditions prevailed even though considerable expense was made to excavate layers on disposed soil and rocks from the destruction of the Temple and the clearing of the Temple Mount by Hadrian for his Forum. As Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, eyewitness to this building, said, “At once the work was carried out, and, as layer after layer of the subsoil came into view, the venerable and most holy memorial of the Savior’s resurrection, beyond our hopes, came into view.” (Eusebius, Life of Constantine, 3:28)
Today this site, is the jealously guarded by six separate Christian occupants, the Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodoxy, the Armenians, Syrians, Copts, and Ethiopians, each possessive and suspicious of the encroachments by any of the other ‘brothers in Christ.’
The Main Church called the Catholicon at the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem
On the southwest hill, called Zion today, is the site of what traditions states is the Tomb of David. Above this tomb is the traditional site of the meeting place of the Jerusalem Nazarene Synagogue, the Upper Room where the Last Supper was held with the disciples of Jesus and the place where the Holy Spirit came down upon these same disciples forty days later on Pentecost.
These are the sites, revered by Christianity, but especially the Temple Mount which was promised by Rabin to be put under the custody of the Pope to act as its guardians and protectorate as a site in which all religions could worship in peace and harmony. It was to this end that Pope John traveled to Jerusalem in the year 2000 on his Papal mission.
Lithograph of Temple Mount by Louis Haghe in 1846 – This Appears to be a Painting from the
Pool of Bethsaida looking South towards the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Haram al Sharif (Temple Mount)
Jerusalem is recognized as the third holiest area in the Islamic faith, next to Mecca and Medina. In the early days of Muhammad, he instructed his followers to pray towards Jerusalem in their prayers. The reason is the highly controversial section in the Koran (Quram), their holy book, of a night vision and a visionary journey of Muhammad from the Mosque from Mecca to what is described as the “distant or furthest mosque”. (Sura XVII.1) Today this Mosque is called the El-Aqsa (Furthest) Mosque, built to the south of the Dome of the Rock, which is a shrine to the site of Abraham’s sacrificial altar for Isaac and the ‘foundation stone’ of the Temple of Solomon.
The site of the El-Aqsa Mosque, according to traditional Jewish archeologists, sat over the Chanuyot, or the storehouses for the Temple of Herod. Whereas the temple was completely destroyed, there were evidence of rows of ancient Corinthian columns within the Mosque that appeared to predate the building of the mosque. They were not typical of any Moslem architectural design but rather of Greco-Roman design.
These Corinthian Columns may not have been a part of the Temple of Herod but rather the Roman fort of Antonia or maybe the later surrounding platform of the Temple of Jupiter built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in Aeolia Capitalis before and after the Jewish Revolt of Bar Kokhba in the year of 132 CE.
Interior of the Al Aqsa mosque on Haram al Sharif (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem with the
Noted Corinthian Columns in Rows on each Side.
Photo by Eric Stoltz, taken in February 2005
Today the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located inside the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount and noted for its Silver Dome. First built in the year of 638 CE by the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattāb (580-644 CE), the first choice of the Caliph concerning the location was when he was given the keys to the city by the Patriarch of Jerusalem called Sophronius. The first thing he wanted was to be shown the location of the “Masjid Dawud” (Mosque of David) and the “Mihrab Dawud” or what was called King David’s sanctuary or prayer niche in the Qur’an (38:21). Here at the site where King David built his temple was an ancient sanctuary that in the 7th century had its door blocked by all the trash placed against the door. It was here that Caliph Umar exclaimed, “Allah is Great, I swear by the one who holds my soul in his hand that this is the Mosque of David which the Prophet Muhammad described to us on his night journey.” (Cited on Wikipedia) The first Islamic mosque was converted from a Christian site, located on Jewish soil.
According to this same history, Caliph Umar also asked Ka'ab al-Ahbar, an Islamic converted Jewish Rabbi who traveled with the Caliph from Mecca that he wanted to be shown the “Place of the Rock”. It was there that the Umayyad Caliph, 'Abd al-Malik (685-705 CE), known as the patron of the Dome of the Rock, began the reconstruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque at the southern end of the Mount and began the building construction of the Dome of the Rock (685-691 CE) that continued through Caliph al-Malik’s reign to his son, Al-Walid I’s reign between the years of 709-715 CE). At this time the Al-Aqsa Mosque became known as the “furthest mosque”.
Twelve centuries later, the American traveler, Mark Twain wrote:
Mark Twain - ”Every where about the Mosque of Omar are portions of pillars, curiously wrought altars, and fragments of elegantly carved marble - precious remains of Solomon's Temple. These have been dug from all depths in the soil and rubbish of Mount Moriah, and the Moslems have always shown a disposition to preserve them with the utmost care (Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, Chapter LIV).”
It is this site, now under the control of the Mufti of Jerusalem, is the most disputed site in the entire world. It is the ‘sacred’ soil, which is the breeding ground for the Intifada against the Jews in the land today first by Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Authority and now Hamas, the Palestinian Chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood. Here upon the Temple Mount are the reputed sites that are the sacred and revered places of three world religions all competing as the chosen descendants of Abraham. It is also possible that the site of the Temple of Herod may have been razed to bedrock and the Temple Mount may no longer be represented as a holy place to the Jews.
Cleansing of the Land of Israel from Idols or Icons and False Prophets
The first effect of the Spirit of Grace and Supplication, followed the literal opening up of the reservoir gates of an underground river from beneath the Temple Mount, will be the desecration and destruction of the idols within the city of Jerusalem. What does this mean?
Imbedded deeply within the religious fabric of both Judaism and the Moslem faith is the blasphemy of using any icons, pictures, relics, images or statues to represent any gods or goddesses. Not so within the Christian shrines and cathedrals. As in the Vatican, the entire interiors of these edifices are covered with visual representations of Jesus and Mary plus the sanctified images of the apostles and disciples with their halos of light. What models were used to create these images, especially of Yahshua and Mary, his mother? Scholars find the most likely representation to be recreations of the god and goddess images of Zeus, Serapes, plus Isis, Aphrodite and the Great Mother goddess images of the ancient fertility cults.
In the presence of a mass conversion experience along with the repentance of the Christians, Moslems and Jews and recognition that Yahshua is the Lord and Master, the messiah of all three religions, what do you expect will happen? The first act will be to destroy the visual symbols that fully cover the walls and ceiling of the Christian churches, shrines and chapels throughout the city.
The Silver Dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Southern End of the Temple Mount – Photo by Robert Mock
The multitude of icons, pictures, relics, images and statues will be destroyed not unlike in the days of the reformation of Kings Josiah and Hezekiah, when the Temple was cleansed and rededicated and the icons, pictures, relics, images and statues were destroyed. These will be recognized as idolatrous practices and the first path to a full reformation throughout the land. This mass conversion will seek to purify, sanctify or set apart the sanctity of this city.
Prophets and Demonic Spirits will flee the Land of Israel
Zechariah 13:2b - I will also cause the prophets
And the unclean spirits to depart from the land.
What is going on here now? The prophets we can assume are false prophets and those speaking with demonic spirits. How can we know what is real? In a logical and time sequence change, we do know this is going to be in the last few days or months before the coming of Jesus. As with all revivals, there are those who will try to cash in to develop a following of believers after their brand of religiosity. Others are along for the power and monetary means. The test of all leaders is whether they are seeking power and control or are they willing to relinquish power to point the believers to a firm yet individual faith in dependency upon God.
At this time, the Antichrist is fully revealed as he is developing his world-wide control. The Angel of the Lord opens up the Abyss and the swarms of demonic hosts are released across the world. Yet as the presence of the messiah, the one who is of the vine, or de-vine, is moving closer and closer to our three dimensional world, the presence of the dark and evil forces, along with the demonic horde will begin to retreat. The Land of Israel will be in the process of being purified and will become a place where evil will be too uncomfortable to remain. For what reason will we need prophecy, the future is now and the “Revelation” will soon be revealed as Yahshua himself.
Christian Curio Shop in the Christian-Armenian District with Images and Icons of the Roman and Byzantine Influence upon Modern Christianity –
Photo by Robert Mock
Zechariah 13:3 – It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies,
Then his father and mother who begot him will say to him,
‘You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the Lord.’
And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies.
I call verses 2 and 3 a “FALSE PROPHESY SANDWICH.” Note that the two references to FALSE PROPHETS surround a reference to the UNCLEAN SPIRIT. This indicates that FALSE PROPHECY comes from the domain of the UNCLEAN. Else the order would have been different, the two references to prophecy followed by the reference to the UNCLEAN SPIRIT or the UNCLEAN SPIRIT followed by the two references to false prophesy.
This link explaining the spiritual roots of FALSE PROPHECY also goes a long way toward explaining Matthew 12. One thing I learned in yeshiva TODAY was that just as a true prophet of Hashem must work to refine his character and be a vessel fit for the Ruach Hakodesh, a false prophet CONSCIOUSLY works to defile his character and derives power from the realm of what the TORAH calls UNCLEAN! For this reason, one should not recognize a prophet who does not observe Torah. His words come from the other side, no matter how they are couched.
Christian Curio Shop in Bethlehem with the Icons of the Roman and Byzantine Christian influence upon Modern Christianity – Photo by Robert Mock
The world of the spirit and the spiritual forces is a treacherous world. This is a world outside of the sensory experiences of man. As such, we cannot immediately ‘test the spirits’. Testing is a process that takes months and years to determine the outcome. In the time of the end, we will not have that luxury. The whole world of speaking with the spirits; guardian beings, light beings, spirit walkers, reincarnated spirits will be a visible force surrounding our world. We will not have the time limits to discern the spirits, whether they are of God or from the forces of evil and darkness. (See Deuteronomy 13:6-18.)
As such, all prophecy will cease as any evil in the future will now be the present. This will be the last stand of the Antichrist and the False Prophet. The cosmic demonic hordes will be destroyed and Satan will be confined to the Abyss, the place reserved for the judgment of the princes of darkness.
The Prophet is Ashamed of his Prophecy
Zechariah 13:4 – ‘And it shall be in that day that every prophet
Will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies;
They will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive.
Zechariah 13:5 – But he will say, ‘I am no prophet;
I am a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.’
The Christian laity will be in revolt. When they begin to realize that large sections of Christian ideology, philosophy and belief systems were instituted not to praise the Name of the Lord, but to preserve the identity and power of the institutional church systems, they will turn against the leaders, the pastors, the church hierarchy, and demand accountability for this deception. Many church leaders and evangelists will suddenly be held in contempt. The black woolen robes and the linen garments that acclaim their official position as ‘members of the cloth’ will no longer be held in esteem, but in distain.
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher – by BiblePlaces
But this will not be only within the institutional circles of the Christian faith. The mullahs of the Islamic faith, who declare fatwa for their own personal again, as a tool of power and control, will suddenly feel the wrath of the Islamic people. They know their heritage very well and hold it in high esteem. The Moslem clerics even hold Yahshua in greater reverence as a Prophet of God than the present day Jewish rabbis. The infitada, they will suddenly realize, was used as a power tool of deception, to stir up their jealousy and envy of the Jews and to allow the forces of demonic power control their passions and emotions. They will understand that they too can partake in the grace of the God of Israel, recognizing that under the covenant of Abraham, and their father Ishmael, who was circumcised, become truly followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The Nation of Israel will be polarized again, this time through the purifying fires of God’s mercy. Their lives for centuries have been as the parasites and the scum of the earth. They have suffered pogroms and persecutions unknown to most other races of people. They have now developed a nation of power and greatness that must be reckoned against all other nations. They have time after time turned aside the multitude of nations that have sought to destroy her. The Lord has cast His blessings again upon His people and both the Houses of Israel and Judah will now be restored to their lands. The land will now become so fruitful for the showers of the Latter Rain have literally and spiritually flowed upon the Land and the people of the Land.
While the rest of the earth is experiencing cataclysmic changes during the first six trumpets and vial plagues of Revelation, the Land of Israel will begin to look like the last safe haven for any person to live. It will become like a land of milk and honey, while the rest of the world are experiencing the loss of millions of lives, not by the destruction of the man’s military or atomic power, but by ‘acts of God’ that man cannot duplicate. The world will look with envy, and all the nations of the world will seek to conquer and possess this land. This will be one of the social-political forces that the nations of the world will use to seek to conquer Israel during their invasion at the plain of Megiddo.
The Entrance Gate to the Muristan, the Christian – Armenian District near the site of an ancient Hospice for Catholic Christians visiting the Holy Sepulcher. It was built first by Charlemagne the Great in the 9th century. Nearby at the Church of St. John the Baptist, the medieval Knights Hospitallers were founded –
Photo by Robert Mock
Yet, there are strong forces within the Land of Israel who will still seek power, greed and control to maintain their hegemony of control over the people in the Land and the control of the world political powers. The leaders of the secular state of Israel, known for their distain for the God of Israel, will finally see the citizens in the Land turn against the political forces controlling the governance of the land, and seek a Theocratic government, under the leadership of Hashem. The Shin Bet, the Mossad and the military leadership that is offensively controlling the Land will be swept aside in a massive revival of those seeking to use spiritual power rather than physical and military power.
Not only in the land of Israel, but a spiritual revival and pseudo revivalism will sweep the world. The laity of the churches, mosques and synagogues will decisively revolt against the leaders of their religious communities in such passion that the many of the preachers, pastors, evangelists, mullahs, priests, and rabbis will not only try to hide their former professions, but will actually resort to lying, denying their former position of religious leadership. This will be the reverse of Peter’s experience in the courtyard of the High Priest, when the cock crowed twice and Peter had already denied his relationship with Yahshua three times. Instead of denying Christ, they will be ‘Johnnie come lately’ as they seek to blend in with the spiritual followers of Jesus in the world. It will be to them Jesus directed his wrath when he said, “You have spoken in My Name, but I know you not.” (paraphrased)
The Barakat Artifacts and Antiquities displaying Pottery and Lamps of the 3rd to the 1st century BCE –
Photo by Robert Mock
The prophets of old (i.e. Baal’s prophets) use to work themselves up in a frenzy, similar to the tantric dancing in Nepal, and the fire walkers in Africa using mutilation of their body as a symbol of spiritual enlightenment. Suddenly their eyes will be opened and the revelation will shine upon them as they see the ‘forces of spiritual darkness’ which have been driving, guiding and deceiving their lives.
Are we looking at a day when political correctness, or rather spiritual correctness, will turn a 180 degree? The laws of cause and effect will return in full force. As the other-dimensional forces of Yahshua and the heavenlies move closer to our earthly dimension, the transparency of evil will begin to shine throughout the world. The ‘angels of light’ will be seen as a demonic deception. Those who felt it ‘cool’ to prophecy will suddenly shun this interaction with the forces of the other dimensions. Even more so, when the Spirit of grace is poured upon the land, this revival will sweep across the world like an atomic explosion. The power of prayer and supplication will begin to roll back the forces of demonic and Satanic control.
Zechariah 13:6 – And one will say to him
‘What are these wounds between your arms?’
‘Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’
Shops along the Souk el-Dabbagha near the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher –
Photo by Robert Mock
The literal Hebrew is BETWEEN YOUR HANDS. Rashi says when sinners were flogged they were tied so that the shoulders and back were between the hands … thus the translation between your shoulders. It is a mitzvah to reprove a false prophet and in Temple Times flogging them was considered a good thing.
Zechariah 13:7 – “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
Against the Man who is My Companion,” says the Lord of Hosts.
“Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.
Rashi says this Shepherd is the one appointed over the flock of the Exile or the King of Babylon. His companion is those with the same spirit of Babylon. When the King of Babylon falls, the sheep (Jews exiled to Babylon) will be scattered … remember this is FUTURE TENSE after the exile of the Northern Kingdom since Zecharyah prophesied AFTER the Northern Kingdom was no longer in the picture. Some interpret this to be Rome instead of Babylon. The little ones are believed to be potentates of Babylon (or Rome) who will turn against the kingdom when its leader is killed.
Once again in 2002, without the insight of modern history unfolding in front of our eyes, we considered the following for this text, which may still have a future application before the final end.
“Here is a dirge for the Antichrist. Hashem will reserve a special judgment for the evil shepherd for abandoning those under his care. The role of the ideal ruler is as a servant of the people. The worthless ruler tramples the rights and freedoms, spiritual and physical, of those under his custody and care. The right arm is the active arm and the right eye is the active intake of learning and knowledge. To take away the right eye and the right hand and leave that arm completely withered, suggests that the Antichrist will be left destitute, powerless and in political and spiritual darkness. What is left for him? The Lake of Fire.”
The Erev Rav: Shimon Peres, Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert
The Erev Rav – The Mixed Multitude
According to Rav Israel Solomon in his book, the “Erev Rav” that is reportedly “sensationally correct,” the Erev Rav are the anti-type or what is called as the gilgulim “(reincarnates or last days anti-type) of the Sons of Bilaam” who led the mixed multitude that were mingled with the Children of Israel in the desert to construct the Golden Calf. According to the Christian translations of this story in Exodus 32, the “people” are stated to be the Children of Israel. Not so, says Rav Solomon, the “people” were not the true Israelites but were actually the two sons of Balaam that stirred up the “mixed multitude” to murder Hur in the presence of his father, Aaron the high priest. They then threatened the life of Aaron as a hostage that he must do as they dictated. Then Aaron cried out to all the people, “tomorrow there will be a holy day to the L-rd".
According to the Oral Torah that was brought by the word of mouth only through the representatives that were the guardians of the written Holy Torah, Maggid of Kochav Yaakov Dov Ben-Lieb in the “Travail of ‘The Shepherd’” continues this story:
Maggid of Kochav Yaakov Dov Ben-Lieb – “The two sons of Bilaam had other plans. Using the silver plate which brought Yosef’s coffin out of the Nile, on which was inscribed "Rise, bull rise", these two reprehensible men took the gold, which Aharon simply touched and had thrown into the smelter, and instantaneously formed through sorcery a golden calf. The entire purpose of the sordid affair in the eyes of Israel was that the purpose of serving G-d was to create prosperity. In the minds of the ex-slave nation prosperity was utopia.”
Today the golden calf in exemplified best in the American culture as told in the article “American Twilight” written by Maggid Dov Ben-Lieb. This corrupt culture has taken over the government of Israel today where Arial Sharon and Shimon Peres’ golden calf has given them their own golden nest egg as long as they guarantee to protect the interests and the assets of the United States and Europe and the assets of the members of the Council of Foreign Relations who own ninety percent of the industrial companies and news media in Israel today. As Ben Lieb stated, “These two sons of Bilaam were talking turkey over a scrumptious dinner when the sword struck.”
The Maggid of Kochav Yaakov continues in the analysis of Zechariah text:
Zechariah 13:7 – “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones.”
As the Maggid writes:
Maggid of Kochav Yaakov Dov Ben-Lieb – “Hach et HaRo’eh!" screams the next verse telling us very clearly that of the two men, specifically the "Shepherd", should "be struck" or "have a stroke". "Let the flock disperse." This particular half of a verse can have two different meanings. The more obvious meaning is that those wayward Jews from the "mixed multitude" and those who get all of their information about the world around them from Israel’s "Does the world love us today" media will disperse from the Erev Rav’s new political party, Kadima, leaving the wretched refuse known as the Erev Rav with no mass following.
The other (second) possible meaning could be bad news for yours truly here in Kochav Yakov. It could mean that all the places that Sharon built up will be made Judenrein ("Cleansed of Jews" denoting areas where all Jews had been either murdered or deported) for a short while until Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) is divided and the miraculous salvation commences.”
The next two verses in Zechariah suggest that Plan B will probably be the future of what we are seeing in the Land of Israel today. It is sad and sobering that we might be witnessing prophecy before our own eyes but most of Christianity is in their Laodicean experience, neither hot nor cold. They are clueless that the streams of prophecy are sweeping our globe and that they may be the “elect” that may be deceived. If the prophetic picture is correct, Laodicean Christians will not wake up until global catastrophes will rain down upon America and the rest of the world.
Revelation 3:14-22 – “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: ‘I know your works, that you neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ – and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked – I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcome I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”
We continue to the next verse from when the Lord called upon the angel to “strike the Shepherd” in the prophetic utterances of Zechariah. The message to the Laodicean Church and the message to inhabitants in the land of Israel at the time of the end is the same. “Buy of me gold tried in fire” will be the refinement of the Jewish people to their final spiritual state when their innocence has now been taken away from them. Let us look at the response of the Jewish remnant “saints” and the response back to them by the Lord their God.
The Golden Calf from the Religious Epic, “The Ten Commandments”
Zechariah 13:8 – “And it shall come to pass in all the land,” say the Lord, “that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My Name and I will answer them. I will say, “This is My people”; and each one will say, “The Lord is my God.”
Within the first day of assuming the mantle of Sharon, as Sharon vegetated on life-support, the acting Prime Minister Olmert made his first official decision as the public servant of Israel. Here was Sharon’s main official of Israeli governance to push for the evacuation of 10,000 Jews from their home and privately held agrarian businesses in Gaza now on the first day of becoming the interim Prime Minister forced a tax on the charitable Jewish contributions from oversees (i.e. blankets and coats for the winter) for the settlers of Gush Katif. The refugees of Gaza were now homeless, penniless, their only belongings in metal containers under government custody and evacuees in the Land of Israel. It reminds us of their prophet:
Zechariah 11:4-8 (parts) – “Feed the flock for slaughter, whose owners slaughter them and feel no guilt; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich’; and their shepherds do not pity them….I dismissed the three shepherds in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.”
This was the same God of Israel who said:
Zechariah 7:9-10 – “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.’”
Then Maggid Dov Ben-Lieb adds:
The Golden Calf built by the Erev Rav (Mixed Multitude
Maggid of Kochav Yaakov Dov Ben-Lieb – “It is no accident that within days of Sharon’s incapacitating stroke, Gog W. comes out of his Fundamentalist Christian closet to divide Yerushalayim in such a public way. He can no longer hide behind the "Shepherd". His charade over Gush Katif was to pretend that it was Sharon’s idea and that he was like Pontius Pilate at the trial of Yesu.
Sorry Mr. Gog ben Gog. Some of us saw your ugly specter with a knife at the "Shepherd’s" jugular. I do not know what did it. Was it your threat to try him (Sharon) for War Crimes in the Hague if he did not play ball with the New World Order? Did your father threaten to not give him a star in the One Thousand Points of Light Foundation? Or did you get Israeli Atty. General Mazuz to convince Sharon that if he wants his sons to be recipients of their inheritance while they are not serving life sentences in prison, he should play ball?
If Sharon had played it smart, he would have released the goods on your arm twisting to Rev. Pat Robertson who would have reminded you during your final presidential campaign that G-d does not bless nations that curse Israel. Or, better yet, he would have released information on your arm twisting to Gary Bauer who would have slowed the Christian Coalition's "Get out the vote campaign" to a trickle. Or perhaps Sharon and you have the same boss, the great accusing angel (in Jewish rabbinic thought, the accusing angel was the “angel of Esau or Edom’) who wrestled with Ya’akov Avinu (Patriarch or Father Jacob). If this is the case, you will end up very soon before the same Judge that he has.”
Here the shepherd metaphor is used to describe the purification process that will occur in the time of the end. We have seen this drama played out over and over throughout the centuries. In the context of the New Testament, Jesus is the Shepherd of Israel; the ‘Good Shepherd’ who was appointed by the Lord of hosts Himself. (John 10:11-17) As the Shepherd of Israel, Yahshua will also be known by His own people and known also as the One who gave His life for them. He will be called “Yahweh’s companion” or ‘Fellow’ or ‘Associate’, because in the beginning, He was One with HaShem. (John 1:1) and sought only the Will of the Father, the One who sent him. (John 5:30) When Jesus lived here, He literally was a representative of the Divine, as the Torah in the flesh.
The Fountain Square at the Heart of the Muristan, the site of an ancient Hospice for Catholic Christians visiting the Holy Sepulcher built first by Charlemagne the Great in the 9th century. Nearby at the Church of St. John the Baptist, the medieval Knights Hospitallers were founded – Photo by Robert Mock
“Strike the Shepherd and the sheep will be scattered, was the command that was applied by Yahshua to himself (Mark 14:27, Matthew 26:56, John 16:32), when upon the cross, all the disciples fled and scattered across the Land. It was the mantra of the Romans not to slaughter at will all the people but to capture, torture and kill the leader of the Christians with the recognition that the rest of the people to scatter. This was seen over and over in the catacombs of Rome, where the Christians worshipped in secret. The bishop was captured and killed and the worshippers scattered.
The Dominating Tower of the Neo-Romanesque
Lutheran Church of the Redeemer built for
German Kaise Wilhelm II in 1898
with 177 step Bell Tower –
Photo by Robert Mock
Throughout the centuries, with the persecutions of Rome and later the Papacy, the massacres of the Moros of Spain, the pogroms of the Tsarist and Stalinist Russia, the decrees to exterminate by Hitler’s Nazi’s, by the ‘blood oaths between their teeth’ by the radical Islamic terrorists, by the ‘abomination of desecration’ of the Antichrist in the Temple of Yahweh, the Jewish people have had to scatter, reunite and scatter again and again. But it wasn’t only the Jews who felt the wrath of those demagogues who sought to destroy any of God’s spiritual people. The Christians also have suffered and were slaughtered over the centuries by the Roman emperors, the Holy See and the Papal States, Napoleon in France, in the extermination camps of Hitler, and now executed and driven from their homelands in the Middle East by the Islamic fundamentalists.
Who are the ‘little ones’? Are these the followers of Yahshua throughout the last two millenniums, during the age of the gentiles? Are these the ‘Chosen’ who have been persecuted and scattered throughout the Diaspora due to pogroms, genocide and holocausts?
In these passages, we are witnessing a giant telescoping of the historical events of the followers of Yahshua and the God of Israel. We witnessed it in days of desecration of the Temple by the Seleucid tyrant, Antiochus Epiphanes IV in 168 BCE. We witness it again in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple of Herod in 70 CE and the scattering of all the flock after the failed revolt of Bar Kochba in 135 CE.
Christian Tourist Shops on the Souk el-Dabbagha Street adjacent the Church of the Holy Sepulcher –
Photo by Robert Mock
We see it in the persecution of the Christians by the Romans, the slaughter of the Arian Christians by the Athanasius’ Christians in the Roman Orthodox Church of the 3rd to the 6th century. We see it in the massacre of the Albagensians in southern France in the 16th century. We see this in the decree to expel the Jews from Spain in 1492 CE, expel the Jews from Tsarist Russia in 1881, expel and exterminate the Jews from 1933 to 1944 by Hitler’s Nazis, and attempts to expel the Jews from Palestine by the Moslems in 1947. Each time the ‘little ones’ were scattered was a testimony for the ages of the power of the Love of the God of Israel and their faithfulness to Him. There will be one more pogrom or holocaust that is awaiting Jerusalem in these last few months. We will study this in Zechariah 14, the most dramatic rescue mission in the six thousand years of man’s written history.
Christian Shops at the Gate Entrance
to the Muristan District –
Photo by Robert Mock
Do not think that the Gentile saints (Christian remnant saints and ‘those that are safe to save) are the only ones to be persecuted. Every person who will not submit his free will to the tyranny and authority of a universal government and religion will be persecuted. This will include all religions of the world. American Christians have a myopic vision, living in a land of religious freedom and personal safety unknown in most other nations, in spite of 911. Let us read a recent article written in early 2002 about Christian persecutions that are happening around the world today.
World Watch Daily - “Indeed, “Christian
persecution” sounds like something from the distant past – conjuring up
images of the early followers of Jesus being thrown to the lions,
and various apostles being crucified or otherwise martyred for their
faith. In reality, more Christians have died for their beliefs in
the last century than in all other past centuries combined.
Today, particularly in the wake of the post-Sept. 11 war on terror,
that persecution is on the increase – due to retribution against Christians
exacted by Islamic militants. The Islamic world is a hostile place for
Christians. In the land of Palestine, 12% of the Arab Christians remain in the land,
either killed or forced to flee from the land. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, Christianity is illegal, and conversion from
Islam is punishable by death. In Pakistan,
the death penalty is prescribed for anyone who “blasphemes”
Islam – something that occurs
automatically during Christian evangelism. In Egypt and elsewhere, Christian girls have
acid thrown in their face by Islamic extremists if they refuse to
convert to Islam, or are raped, or worse. At best, in the more
enlightened Islamic societies, Christians (as well as Jews) are second-class
citizens, have a special tax imposed upon them, and do not share
the rights of Muslims.
Marakat Artifact and Archeological Tourist Shop on the Souk-el-Dabbagha Street – Photo by Robert Mock
The communist world is no better. According to recent reports from groups monitoring religious persecution, the Chinese government is cracking down as never before on “underground” Christians – those who do not join the “official” Chinese churches. The Committee for Investigation on Persecution of Religion in China published what it said were official documents – implicating top-level Chinese leaders – that outline a campaign that includes torture to stamp out independent worship. Researchers said that in “house churches” (those not sanctioned by the totalitarian government) in 20 provinces, 129 people had been killed recently, 23,686 arrested and 4,014 sentenced to “re-education.”
Yet what is the literal meaning of this passage at the closing
of this earth’s era? Be patient, we are almost there.
Christian Tourist Shop on the Souk el-Dabbagha Street adjacent the Church of the Holy Sepulcher –
Photo by Robert Mock
The Last Destruction of Israelites in History
Zechariah 13:8 – “And it shall come to pass in all the land,” says the Lord,
‘That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it:
For those taking a literal time of the end interpretation of the Minor Prophets, this text is a sobering one. For all the discussion on ‘Return to the Land’, the union of the House of Joseph and the House of Judah, and with Hashem forming a protective shield during the Gog-Magog battles, the fact that two-thirds of the population in the Land of Israel will die, whether from “acts of God” or by violent acts of military force, leads one to ponder with a prayer for their salvation. For all the discussion in modern Christianity about the ‘remnant’, here is a passage that suggests that the Children of Israel will once again be left with only a remnant.
In context of the land being Babylon (or Rome), only one-third of Babylon will remain. We may see this literally fulfilled if Saddam Hussein (king of Iraq-Babylon) invades Israel (2002). Those who remain in Babylon will be purified and made acceptable to Hashem. The prophet Jeremiah says as much in Chapter 50, where the judgment against Babylon seems to parallel Zecharyah 13.
Zechariah 13:9 – “I will bring the one-third through the fire,
I will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested,”
The survivors of Babylon (Jeremiah 50) also think of Zion.
It would be nice, if HaShem stated that with His remnant, the one-third of the population that remains, that He would shield them, like a mother hen protects her baby chicks. The selection process is over. Now HaShem, the God of Israel, has a special “Boot Camp” for his “chosen”. They will be tried in fire, like the refining fire for silver and gold. These ‘chosen’ will be refined until Hashem has the purest saints remaining on earth. These will be the ‘untouchable’, as noted in the 5th Trumpet Plague, as “they (locusts (demons) from the abyss) were told to do no injury …but only to those men who had not received the seal of God on the foreheads. (Revelation 9:5) When Hashem says He will protect, this does not change the effects of what it means ‘to be tried in the fire.” Remember the literal experience of Shadrach, Meshach and Abindigo in the fiery furnace of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar.
Christian Tourist Shop on the Souk el-Dabbagha Street adjacent the Church of the Holy Sepulcher –
Photo by Robert Mock
Who are these sealed ones? It was John the Revelator who wrote, “Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty four thousand, have His Father’s name written on their forehead.” (Revelation 14:1) Who are these? They were called the “servants of our God” (Revelation 7:3) and they (144,000) were ‘of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (Revelation 7:4). John also at this time saw the Great Multitude that was standing on the Sea of Glass, or the Sapphire Platform that the Throne of God rests upon.
When will this occur? The sealing of God’s people will occur after the 6th seal (Revelation 6:12-17) which ends the Great Tribulation (Revelation 7:14). This is also called the time of the Wrath of Satan. At this time, Satan will also seal his people in what is prophetically called the Mark of the Beast. Watch carefully the literal time sequence in Revelation 8, 9, and 16. They all occur before the Seventh (7th) Seal with the Seven (7) Trumpet and the Seven (7) Vial or Bowl Plagues. This is the Time of the End which will reveal the Wrath of God.
The Purified Remnant will now call upon the Name of the Lord (YHVH)
Zechariah 13:10 – “They will call on My Name, and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘This is My people’; and each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.”
What is the purpose of being tried and purified in the fire? Does God desire and have pleasure when He hears a people to cry out in desperation and say, Help! No! Actually we’ve been doing that for six millenniums. What Lord of hosts is waiting for, is for His people to ‘call on My Name”…and say “The Lord is my God.”
The Exit to the Shopping District along the Souk el-Dabbagha Street into the Christian Produce and Meat Market – Photo by Robert Mock
The Jews will no longer be afraid to call their God by His real Name (YHVH). They will no longer call Him HaShem, ‘The Name’, in fear of desecrating the Holy Name of God. They will call upon His Name (YHVH) and at this time, the Lord of hosts will answer, “These are My people.”
Water Flowing from the Rock
A Sign of
Redemption by Gershom Salomon
The Temple Mount Faithful – “One of the most
exciting events over the last few days has been the news of the water
flowing from the holy rock of Abraham and Isaac on the Temple Mount which was in the midst of the First and Second Temples.
According to what we now know, the water is definitely flowing from under
the rock. The Arabs on the Temple Mount deny this and have tried to stop
the flow by many means but have not succeeded. What we now know is that they
are trying to bring in special pumps to stop the flow. In any case, the water
continues to flow. Nothing can stop it.
This special news has caused much excitement in Israel. Since the destruction
of the Second Temple the Jewish People have anticipated this event with great
desire and prayers because we always knew that this would be one of the signs
of the last days and the redemption of Israel and that the Third Temple is soon to be built and Mashiach ben David is soon to come. Now, at the climax of
the major redemptional process of Israel when everyone in Israel can see and hear for themselves how close we are to the accomplishment of this great
prophetic godly event, this major godly event has occurred before our very
eyes. It cannot be stopped even though the enemy on the Temple Mount is trying to do so.
This event will show everyone in the world who is trying to stop G-d's
determination to redeem the people of Israel, to cancel the last signs of
pagan, foreign presence on the Temple Mount, the holy hill of G-d, and any
foreign occupation in the land which G-d promised to Israel alone in an eternal
covenant. We are expecting more major godly events and redemptional miracles
with the people and land of Israel.
In Ezekiel 47, this great prophet of Israel speaks of this water, which goes
out from the Temple Mount as a redemptional end-time blessing. He states
that this water will support trees with fruit for eating and leaves for
healing.
Ezekiel 47:12 - "And by the stream, upon its bank, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for food, whose leaf shall not wither, nor shall its fruit fail; it shall bring forth fresh fruit every month, because the waters for them flow from the sanctuary; and their fruit shall be for food, and their leaves for healing."
In this exciting chapter, the prophet speaks
of the water as if he is writing about it today in this actual event, how the
water flows like a stream which cannot be stopped and this water blesses all
the land and people of Israel. Everyone should read, experience and feel these
godly words of the prophet as a prayer and thanks to the G-d of Israel Who, one
after another, fulfills His promises at this exciting time in Israel and thank
Him and bless Him for this with the deep knowledge and feeling that the rest of
His promises are also going to be fulfilled in our lifetime. It is such a godly
privilege to live at this major godly time and to be a part of and to act
together with the G-d of Israel for the fulfillment of His last-day plans.
I will bring here the Word of G-d through the prophet Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 47: 1-12 - "And he brought me back to the door of the house; and, behold, waters flowed from under the threshold of the house eastward; for the front of the house faced to the east, and water run out from beneath the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. And he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me around the way outside to the outer gate by the way that faces to the east; and, behold, there ran out water on the right side. And when the man who had the line in his hand went out eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the water; the water reached the ankles. And he measured a thousand, and brought me through the water; the water reached the knees. And he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the water reached the loins. And he measured a further thousand; and it was a stream that I could not pass over; for the water had risen, water to swim in, a stream that could not be passed over. And he said to me, Son of man, have you seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the edge of the stream. And when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the stream were many trees on one side and on the other. And he said to me, ‘These waters flow out towards the eastern region, and go down to the Arabah, to the sea; and when they enter the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that lives, which moves, wherever the streams shall come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come there; for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live where the stream comes. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Ein-Gedi as far as Ein-Eglayim; they shall be a place for spreading nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, a great many like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and its marshes shall not be healed; they shall be left for salt. And by the stream, upon its bank, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for food, whose leaf shall not wither, nor shall its fruit fail; it shall bring forth fresh fruit every month, because the waters for them flow from the sanctuary; and their fruit shall be for food, and their leaves for healing."
It is not an accident that in the second part of this chapter until the end of his book, the prophet Ezekiel speaks of the partition of the land of Israel amongst the tribes of Israel in the last days and how this water which goes out from the rock on the Temple Mount covers the land of Israel and blesses all the tribes of Israel who also stream back from the four corners of the world to the land which G-d promised them as a major part of the redemptional event of the land and people of Israel.
Especially from chapter 37, Ezekiel
prophesies about the process of the redemption of Israel in the last days. Chapter
37 speaks of the terrible exile and rebirth of Israel from the dry bones. Chapters 38 and 39 speak of the Gog and Magog war
when all the nations will gather against Israel and Jerusalem and G-d will
defeat them. From Chapter 40, Ezekiel prophesies about the Third Temple and then the water and the partition of the land.
In the same chapter of the dry bones, the G-d of Israel describes so uniquely and excitingly the process of the redemption of the people and land of Israel. Everyone in the world should in these exciting last days, read what G-d did
with Israel since the re-establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and what
He is going to do in the near future. Perhaps it will open the eyes and hearts
of so many people, especially politicians and nations who are too blind to see
what G-d is doing with Israel in these exciting times.
In Ezekiel we read;
Ezekiel 37:12-28 - "Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up from your graves, place you in your own land; then shall you know that I, the Lord, have spoken it, and performed it, says the Lord.
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: And you, son of man, take one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the people of Israel his companions; then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions; And join them one to the other into one stick; and they shall become one in your hand.
And when your people shall speak to you, saying: Will you not tell us what you mean by these? Say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and will put them with him, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand. And the sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.
And say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from among the nations, where they have gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land; And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, nor shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all; Nor shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them in all their dwelling places, where they have sinned, and will cleanse them; so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd; they shall also follow my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, where your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell in it, they and their children, and their grandchildren forever; and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore."
This is such a powerful word of G-d and it is such a privilege to see how it is being realized in Israel today. In Chapter 47 the G-d of Israel again shows that His Word is a practical plan for the people and land of Israel in our days. Before all the nations, He speaks of the partitioning of the land between the twelve tribes of Israel and He speaks of the land with the same boundaries that he made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob including Judea, Samaria, Gaza, the Golan heights and other parts of the land which He promised to Israel. In these days, when so many powers all over the world are again trying to divide the land and to give parts of it to enemies and foreigners, the Word of G-d is very clear and who can change the word and plans of G-d with Israel. I want to advise everyone in the world to wake up to their delusions and plans to do what they believe that their physical power can do. I advise them to read the Bible very carefully and to see what G-d is doing with Israel in these days. Perhaps they will stop any step of evil before it will be too late for them. This is the Word of G-d about the real partition of the land of Israel between the twelve tribes of Israel who are every day returning from the exile to the land, which G-d gave them forever. Then everyone will understand that the major event which G-d is doing is an opening and a condition for all the rest of the world.
Ezekiel 47:13-21 - "Thus says the Lord God: This shall be the border, according to which you shall divide the land for inheritance to the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall have two portions. And you shall inherit it, one as well as another; concerning which I raised my hand to give it to your fathers; and this land shall fall to you for inheritance.
And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the Great Sea, by the way of Hethlon, as you go to Zedad; Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; middle Hazar, which is by the coast of Hauran. And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-Enan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.
And the east side you shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and between the land of Israel and the Jordan, from the border to the east sea. And this is the east side.
And the south side southward, from Tamar to the waters of Meribot-Kadesh, to the river, as far as the Great Sea. And this is south side towards the Negev.
The west side also shall be the Great Sea from the border, as far as opposite the entrance to Hamath. This is the west side. And you shall divide this land for yourselves according to the tribes of Israel." (Ezekiel 47:13-21)
The water which is now coming from the holy
rock on the Temple Mount is again bringing a testimony from G-d
about this scenario of the redemption of the people and land of Israel, the
rebuilding of the Temple and the coming of Mashiach ben David. These
are great days and, at the same time, very critical days. Everyone who loves
the G-d of Israel, trusts and worships Him, should be strong and walk together
with the G-d of Israel and not fear anyone, only trust Him and they will have
the privilege of seeing the accomplishment of this wonderful godly process of
the redemption of Israel and all the world.
Everyone who reads this word is called on to contact The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement, to shake hands with us and to give us all their
assistance, love, encouragement and support. Together we shall serve G-d and
His plans in these exciting times. This is the real significance that everyone
should give to their lives in these last days. The G-d of Israel is expecting you to do so and to be blessed by being a part of this exciting
redemptional event.
Topics
The Fountain of Water from the House of the Lord
The Source of the Fountain or River of the Lord
The River Gihon flowing from the Temple recorded in Mishnahs by Shimon HaLevi
The Lord of hosts will destroy the “Idols” (Mosques and Basilicas) of the Christians and Moslems
Cleansing of the Land of Israel from Idols or Icons and False Prophets
Prophets and Demonic Spirits will flee the Land of Israel
The Prophet ashamed of his Prophecy
The Last Destruction of Israelites in History
The Purified Remnant will now call upon the Name of the Lord (YHVH)
Index for the Commentary on the Prophecies of Zechariah
The Redemption and Restoration of Jerusalem and Israel
Zechariah 1 - God remembers and God blesses at the Appointed Time
Zechariah 2 – God sets His sights to Rebuild Jerusalem
Zechariah 3 – The Priesthood is Re-consecrated for the Temple
Zechariah 4 – God sends Israel His Anointed Ones and His faithful Eyes
Zechariah 5 – The Flying of the Megillah and the Cleansing of the Land
Zechariah 6 – The Four Chariots, Temple is Built and Israel is a Theocracy
Zechariah 7 – Replace Feasts of Fasting with Obedience, Justice and Mercy
Zechariah 8 – Let us Feast with Joy – God returns to Dwell with His People
The Oracles and Judgments of the God of Israel
Zechariah 9 - Part One – The Burden of the Lord on the Fertile Crescent
Zechariah 9 - Part Two – The God of Israel wants Damascus to be One of His Zions
Zechariah 9 - Part Three – The Prelude to the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah War – Global News
Zechariah 9 - Part Four – The Israeli-Hezbollah War in the Summer 2006
17 Tammuz to the 9th Av 5766 – Global News
Zechariah 9 - Part Five – The Oracles of HaShem against the Palestinians
Zechariah 10 – Latter Rain - Restoration of the Houses of Judah & Joseph
Zechariah 11 – Part One – The Good Shepherd and the Oracles against Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the Palestinians
Zechariah 11 – Part Two – The Good Shepherd and the Unification of the Houses of Judah and Israel
Zechariah 12:1 – The Creator and the Throne of the God of Israel
Zechariah 12:1 – The Creator, the Worlds of Creation, the Spirit of God, and the Souls of Man
Zechariah 12:1-2 – Jerusalem, a Cup of Trembling
Zechariah 12:3-14 – Jerusalem, a Burdensome Stone
Zechariah 13 – The Gihon Fountain flows from the Temple of the Lord
Message from BibleSearchers
BibleSearchers scans the world for information that has relevance on the time of the end. It is our prayer that this will allow the believers in the Almighty One of Israel to “watch and be ready”. Our readiness has nothing to do trying to halt the progression of evil on our planet earth. In our readiness, we seek to be prepared for the coming of the Messiah of Israel so that goodness and evil will be manifested in its fullest. Our preparation is a pathway of spiritual readiness for a world of peace. Our defender is the Lord of hosts. The time of the end suggests that the Eternal One of Israel’s intent is to close out this chapter of earth’s history so that the perpetrators of evil, those that seek power, greed and control, will be eliminated from this planet earth. The wars of the heavens are being played out on this planet earth and humans will live through it to testify of the might, power, justice and the love of the God of Israel. In a world of corruption and disinformation, we cannot always know what the historical truth is and who is promoting evil or mis-information. We cannot guarantee our sources but we will always seek to portray trends that can be validated in the Torah and the testimony of the prophets of the Old and the New Testament.
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