Q. What does the term “arm of the Lord” mean?

A In Hebrew the term is “zeroah adonai” and in the peshat (literal) level it means the “power of the Lord” but in the sowd (hidden)level it is a metaphor for the Messiah in creation, judgment and salvation. When the Lord did something “with a strong hand” (yad) or “outstretched arm” (zeroah) it intimates that He did it through the Messiah. The metaphor came from the fact that one carries out a task with his arm (zeroah) or his hand (yad). So, at Passover an unbroken shank bone of a lamb is used called the “zeroah adonai” and it takes the place of a lamb. It symbolizes the unbroken bones of Messiah, the Lamb of God, whose blood delivered us from bondage, ratified the New Covenant, where we become a new creation, pass from judgment and experience salvation, all by the power of God. 

Some very important events have happened in the world in the last few weeks so I would like to give a prophetic update. The United States has a reputation for duplicitous behavior and what is going on “above board” is not what is really going on “under the table” so to speak. It is good to look at events from a prophetic mindset to gain some insight into just how real events fit into that scenario. God uses countries to fulfill His will. No head of state really runs the country, the Lord does. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s. So when looking at world events and political decisions, keep in mind that it always serves the purposes of Heaven. This is no exception. The United States has a fear of the Soviet Union. In the 40’s and 50’s it was very strong. America needed an ally in the Middle East and Israel was formed and supported to further the ideology of this country. We needed a democratic state in the Middle East. This helped in the Cold War. The aftermath of World War II gave an emotional response due to the holocaust and the desire for a Jewish homeland. Political factors dictated that we have a friendly ally in the region with a warm water port, and where our Navy had access. We also have economic reasons for supporting Israel also because it helps protect the oil resources. We have always “controlled” Israel to a point and this is no different. We need to have this area in peace because chaos brings instability. Now, we are forcing Israel into another corner, like we always do, for our own reasons. The Obama Administration is backing a plan to build a coalition with Arabs, the UN, Europe and Russia for Israel to surrender Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem to the Palestinians. Israel will be left out of the planning, of course. There are many complicated issues as to why we would do this, but it comes down to control and a Palestinian State. This all fits into Bible prophecy, in that, Russia will gain a foothold leading to their eventual invasion during the Tribulation, the False Messiah will come out of Europe to back a security agreement, and the United States will be attacked by Russia and eliminated several days before the tribulation even begins. All these are by God’s doing because He is the hidden hand behind world politics. By forming a Palestinian state, Arabs will have a right to return. By accepting millions of so-called Palestinian exiles, Israel will cease to be a Jewish State, have enemies inside her border and will have no ability to defend herself from attack. The problem with this is the Arabs don’t want it because there already is an agreement going back to 2002 and the Arab League doesn’t feel that the one being proposed is better, but the Obama Administration doesn’t care, the Arabs and Palestinians are only pawns in the real game and Israel is the obstacle to “peace”. Israel understands what is going on and sent President Peres ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu to “ smooth out the waters” before the hawkish Netanyahu arrived. Israel has to be made a scapegoat to please the Arabs and militant Islam. The United States is trying to blame Israel for Iran’s nuclear program. By refusing a Palestinian state, other Arabs are supporting Iran against Israel. When people are moved by ideology, facts become irrelevant and this applies to the Arabs and the United States and the growing coalition. Regardless of what Netanyahu says, he can expect no sympathy. The fix is in. Israel should no longer consider the United States when making decisions about their own national security. Additionally, it would be very hard to attack Iran because Israeli planes would have to attack over Iraqi and Saudi Arabian airspace and that would not be allowed by the United States. So Israel has a problem. Either way, they lose. But, God is in control of the situation and this is what is called a “catalytic” event that will shape world events into the prophetic scenario as predicted by the Prophets. The demonic spirit behind Arafat just moves to other Palestinian leaders, and that goes for the spirit behind Saddam. Once he died, it moved to Iran. Which leads me to conclude that the real reason behind the current move towards peace among the participating nations is really an attempt by Satan to hinder prophecy from being fulfilled, in other words, he is trying to buy time. He knows what prophecy says about war in the Middle East and he is trying to keep that from happening, and God allows him to influence the leaders there for a time. But, while they are crying out for “peace and safety”, God will put hooks into their jaws and bring the nations to where He wants them regardless of their attempts to do otherwise and use this to usher in the Tribulation period. And the United States is being prepared for a fall due to our rejection of the Lord, our declining moral and religious values, abortion and for being a treacherous dealer, not only in foreign dealings, but also domestic. For instance, the federal government is taking control of private businesses and banks. The government knows that retirement systems, CD’s, 401-K’s and everything else is an untapped resource for the government to get their hands on. By taking control of the banks, they can tell the banks what to do. They will then tell the banks to release the money to the government, leave an I.O.U and use it to finance the debt, but have other reasons for it, leaving Americans with nothing. Control the money, you control the people. So, the things that are happening in the world are setting up prophecy. But, it also is a time when people will not rely on the world and will begin to seek the Lord. He uses the things of this world to bring around His ultimate purpose. This brings us to the recent visit to the Holy Land by the Pope. He wants the Vatican to control the Holy sites. This puts pressure on Israel to make concessions because if the Catholic Church can make these sites safe, then millions of Catholics and Christians will travel to Israel and tourism will help the Israeli economy. Tourism is an important part of the Israeli economy so they welcome the Pope and hope his influence will help in the long run. But, all this is doing is paving the way for the influence of the coming false prophet. 

Q. In Revelation 17.9 it talks about the seven heads are seven mountains. What is this referring to?

A. The seven heads and seven mountains mean the same thing. The seven heads are seven kings and the seven mountains are seven kingdoms. Kings were often referred to by their kingdoms and vice versa. In v 10 it says “five have fallen” referring to Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Medo-Persia and Greece, “one is” refers to Rome (the sixth), and the “other has not yet come” refers to a revived Rome( the seventh) in the last days and spoken about by Daniel the prophet. The “he’ in verse 10 is referring to the seventh kingdom. This kingdom will start out with ten kingdoms/kings but three will defect leaving seven. These are the ten toes of the statue Nebuchadnezzar saw in Daniel 2. But, in Rev 17.11 it talks about “the beast”, who is the false messiah, who is also “an eighth” and that means that this final configuration of seven kingdoms will have seven leaders, with the false messiah being the “eighth” or the one who rules over all seven. In Micah 5.5 there is a prophecy about these seven kings/kingdoms. It says that the Assyrian will invade Israel . Now, Assyria is a picture of the coming Russian invasion of Israel (Ezekiel 39-39). It then says “then we (Israel) will raise against him (Gog) seven shepherds (shepherds=kings) and eight leaders of men.” This refers to our passage in Revelation ,in that, there will be seven kingdoms/kings but one is “an eighth”, who is the false messiah ruling over these seven kingdoms/kings. So, Russia will invade Israel between Rosh ha Shana and Yom Kippur the third year of the Tribulation. Europe, led by seven nations with the false messiah (eighth leader of men –Rev 17.9, Micah 5.5)) will be called on to help due to the covenant they made for seven years back in Daniel 9.24-27, but they will be no help. God destroys the Russian army and the false messiah will be given credit for it by the world and lead his seven kingdoms/kings into Israel. Six months later he will declare himself to be God (2 Thes 2). So, this last kingdom is the eighth. But, in addition, the false messiah will also be” the eighth” which means that He will rule over the other seven kings, making him the “eighth” ruler.

Q. What do the 12 stones taken out of the Jordan mean in Joshua 4.5?

A. To get the overall picture, let’s go back to Joshua 3.14-17. Israel is going to cross the Jordan and enter the land. This is symbolic of taking the land spiritually. The Jordan river is a symbol of death. They enter the river at the place where the priests are crossing and they represent the Messiah entering death (Jordan) before us. Now, the waters rose up and rolled back north to a place called Adam, which means “man.” That means sin/physical and spiritual death has been rolled back all the way back to Adam, the first man. Adam is a city near Zarethan, which means “distress.” Now, the Jordan flows down to the Dead Sea, which is symbolic of the Lake of Fire. So, what is being communicated here. There is only one place to cross, one way to enter death safely and that is where Yeshua has crossed (John 14.6, Acts 16.31). Man (Adam, red earth) dwells near distress (Zarethan) and is always close to death (Jordan). One day we will all come to the Jordan and without faith in Messiah, there is no crossing place.

Now with that back-round we come to your question about why did they take 12 stones out of the Jordan. The stones were placed in a heap as a memoral to the later generations, marking the place where Israel crossed over. But, there is a spiritual meaning to this as well. The Jordan symbolizes death, both physical and spiritual. The stones symbolize believers (1Pet 2.5) and raising them out of the Jordan symbolizes our being raised out of death. Now, Gilgal was where they crossed and where these stones were set up. Gilgal eventually was seen as a place of rest to Israel based on Joshua 10.43. It was where the kingdom would be renewed in the time of Saul and David (1 Sam 11.14). Galilee is an allusion to the same concept because of the “gal” in the name but also it was located in the north, which is where God’s throne is located in the Universe (Isaiah 14.13; Psalm 48.2). Gilgal also played a role in the lives of Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2.1, 4.38). So Gilgal became a concept associated with Heaven and the eternal kingdom. As a side note, these stones were possibly referred to in Matt 3.9 where John was preaching along the Jordan. It would make sense for John, who came in the spirit of Elijah, to start preaching and preparing the people for the coming Kingdom of God (Matt 3.2) there because it had become the place to “renew the kingdom.”