Q. Isn't it confusing and misleading when rabbi's designate their "new year" on Rosh Ha Shana instead of when the Torah says to begin a new year, which is by sighting of the new moon and aviv barley in the spring?
A. It's not confusing or misleading when one understands that the Bible operates on two calendars. There is the civil calendar that counts the years from creation and the religious calendar that sets the feast days. One begins in the fall and the other in the spring. Let's deal with the civil calendar first. Gen 1.14 says that the sun and the moon were to be for signs and seasons, which means they were used to set feast days. From Gen 1 to Exodus 12.1, all the dates given were according to the civil calendar, but after that the dates are according to the religious calendar. The civil calendar starts on Tishri 1 and goes to Tishri 1 of the next year. The religious year starts with the New Moon of Aviv and goes to the next New Moon of Aviv. In Exodus 12.1-3, the Lord says that the month of Aviv is the beginning of months for you. But, He is not negating the civil calendar, but stating that the religious festivals would begin in the month of Aviv, beginning with Passover. Now the months were to begin on a New Moon (Gen 1.14). Now, Aviv means "green ear" so we have an instruction here. The barley must be aviv (green) and the next new moon will begin the month of Aviv (green ear). How can you have the month of Aviv if the barley isn't "green" yet? So you must have green barley and a new moon sighted. The current Jewish calendar doesn't go by these rules. They calculate it ahead of time and that is not biblical, but that is another issue for another time. So, when Exodus 12 says that Aviv would be the beginning of months it means in setting the religious festivals. You have to have the first month before you know what days the festivals fall on, with each succeeding month starting on a visible new moon. The fall festivals are in the seventh month (or "moon") so you have to know when the first one is. The Bible uses two calendars then, one civil and the other religious. There are several verses where you will see both of them in use at the same time. In Exodus 23.16 it says that we should celebrate the "Feast of In-gathering (Sukkot) at the end of year." Now, to know when the Feast of In-gathering is you have to have the religious calendar starting in the spring with the month of Aviv. The phrase "end of the year" is referring to the civil year, in the fall. A similar verse can be found in Exodus 34.22 and the end of the year carries the meaning of "the turn of the year" meaning the civil year. So, you can see both calendars in use. Knowing this will help interpret many verses in the Scriptures and even give you a clue about the coming of the Messiah. Joel 2.23 says "So rejoice, O sons of Zion and be glad in the Lord your God; for He has given you the early rain for your vindication and He has poured down for you the rain, the early and latter rain as in the first month." Now, there is a lot here and you must know that the Bible goes by two calendars. First, where it says the early and latter rain it means "teacher of righteousness" in Hebrew and it is a clear reference to the Messiah. Hosea 6.1-3 and James 5.7 both equate these rains with the coming of the Lord. But, how can you have the early and later rains in the first month? They are seven months apart during the agricultural season in Israel! Well, you can if there are two calendars. So, if the teacher of righteousness is the Messiah and His coming is like the early and latter rain, then His first coming will happen in the spring and his second coming in the fall. Yeshua came during the FIRST month of the religious calendar (and the seventh month of the civil calendar) called Aviv and fulfilled Passover, Unleavened Bread and First fruits. If the Lord holds true to the types and shadows of the festivals, that means His second coming will come during the FIRST month of the civil calendar (and the seventh month of the religious calendar) called Tishri. Tishri 1 is Rosh Ha Shana and the day of the Rapture, and His second coming will be Yom Kippur and the Kingdom begins with Sukkot, all of which occur during the month of Tishri. So, here is a clear reference to two calendars being used in the same verse or else how can these comings be "in the first month." It can happen when you realize that there are two calendars and two "first months" used in the Scriptures.
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1 Corinthians 10:11 (NASB95)
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Mountains in the Bible
Q. I know that "mountains" are symbolic of kingdoms and governments. Do you believe that a believer can have the faith to move physical mountains or the faith to overcome and "move" governments and change kingdoms?
A. The verse you are referring to is Mark 11.22-23 and so let's look at the verse to see what it is saying. One of the things that people forget when they look at a verse is context. In the context of our verse, Yeshua has come into the city of Jerusalem, overturned the money-changer tables, cursed the fig tree and has been very critical of the religious teaching of the chief priests and scribes. We know that they were more concerned with their traditions than with what the Lord was trying to say in the Scriptures. The fig tree (Israel) was not producing fruit and they were going to be sent into a worldwide captivity. When the Apostles noticed that the fig tree that Yeshua cursed had withered, they were amazed. Noticing this, Yeshua said in 11.22-23 "Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain "Be taken and cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted." So let's look at this verse. Yeshua is talking about what he has been experiencing, unbelief among the Jewish people in His words and to who He was. When He says "this mountain", He is referring to the Temple Mount and all the false teachings that come from it. Mountains in the Scriptures can mean kingdoms but it can also mean "obstacles" and false teaching is an obstacle, But if you have faith in God, the obstacle of false teaching can be overcome. So, the mountain here is the Temple Mount and He was saying that the city of Jerusalem and the Temple was going to be destroyed and cast into the sea. Archeology has confirmed that artifacts/stones from Jerusalem and the Temple were taken to Caesarea and literally cast into the sea. This judgment came upon Israel because many were keeping people away from the Kingdom of God through their false teachings, illustrated by the cursing of the fig tree. Yeshua is saying that with faith in God, the falsehood of their teaching can be overcome and they can enter the Kingdom of God. Some misguided teachers today take this verse and say that if you have faith you can say something and it will happen and it is one of the basic verses used by the Faith Movement to justify their false teachings. But, it is actually a verse that is saying quite the opposite. Any obstacle that tries to get in the way of the truth can be uprooted and removed with faith in God.
A. The verse you are referring to is Mark 11.22-23 and so let's look at the verse to see what it is saying. One of the things that people forget when they look at a verse is context. In the context of our verse, Yeshua has come into the city of Jerusalem, overturned the money-changer tables, cursed the fig tree and has been very critical of the religious teaching of the chief priests and scribes. We know that they were more concerned with their traditions than with what the Lord was trying to say in the Scriptures. The fig tree (Israel) was not producing fruit and they were going to be sent into a worldwide captivity. When the Apostles noticed that the fig tree that Yeshua cursed had withered, they were amazed. Noticing this, Yeshua said in 11.22-23 "Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain "Be taken and cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted." So let's look at this verse. Yeshua is talking about what he has been experiencing, unbelief among the Jewish people in His words and to who He was. When He says "this mountain", He is referring to the Temple Mount and all the false teachings that come from it. Mountains in the Scriptures can mean kingdoms but it can also mean "obstacles" and false teaching is an obstacle, But if you have faith in God, the obstacle of false teaching can be overcome. So, the mountain here is the Temple Mount and He was saying that the city of Jerusalem and the Temple was going to be destroyed and cast into the sea. Archeology has confirmed that artifacts/stones from Jerusalem and the Temple were taken to Caesarea and literally cast into the sea. This judgment came upon Israel because many were keeping people away from the Kingdom of God through their false teachings, illustrated by the cursing of the fig tree. Yeshua is saying that with faith in God, the falsehood of their teaching can be overcome and they can enter the Kingdom of God. Some misguided teachers today take this verse and say that if you have faith you can say something and it will happen and it is one of the basic verses used by the Faith Movement to justify their false teachings. But, it is actually a verse that is saying quite the opposite. Any obstacle that tries to get in the way of the truth can be uprooted and removed with faith in God.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Marriage in the Messianic Kingdom
Q. I have been told that there will be no "giving of marriage" in the Messianic Kingdom. Is this true? Are there going to be married couples in the Kingdom?
A. Let's define some terms and look at this question in an eschatological manner. We are living in a period called the Olam ha Zeh or "this present age." This period will go for 6000 years from Creation to the Rapture of the believers on Rosh ha Shanah, year 6001 from Creation. The next time frame will go 1000 years and this period is called the Atid Lavo, or the coming age. After the Rapture, there will be a period of 10 days where the 144,000 will leave the United States and return to Israel and the United States will be attacked by Russia and destroyed. Europe, realizing they are in danger, convenes a meeting with their leaders and hands power over to a leader who will turn out to be the false messiah. All this will happen within 10 days of the rapture. On the 10th day, it is Yom Kippur and the false messiah will sign a treaty with Israel to protect them. This starts the 7 year Tribulation period. After 7 years or 2520 days. Yeshua the Messiah returns to Jerusalem on Yom Kippur and destroys the enemies of Israel. He will be accompanied by all the believers who were resurrected and changed at the Rapture. They will go into this Kingdom on Earth with glorified bodies but they will not be given in marriage. Then there is a 5 day period from Tishri 10 to 15 when the nations will be judged in Jerusalem. There will be many people who will survive the Tribulation period and be brought to the Lord for this judgment. The first group judged will be those who did not believe during the Tribulation. They will be killed and their bodies cast into the Hinnom Valley. Then those who believed during the Tribulation will be brought to the Lord. They will enter the remainder of the 1000 year Messianic Kingdom with their physical bodies. Depending on their age, these are the ones who will be given in marriage because they will have physical bodies. Some will get married and have children during the Kingdom period. Then, their parents will die and those children will get married and have children and so on. In this way the Earth will be repopulated. When the 1000 years have been completed, the people who have lived and died during the Kingdom will be judged. Those who did not believe, along with every unbeliever who ever lived will be judged at what is called the Great White Throne. They will go into the Lake of Fire. On the other hand,there will be those who are believers but are still in their physical bodies at this time and they will receive glorified bodies just like the believers did when they were resurrected and changed at the Rapture a 1000 years earlier. The period after the Atid Lavo or the coming age is called the Olam Haba, or the World to Come. It is the "8th" day, if you will, after the the 7000 years (Eschatological Sabbath Week) are over. Everyone who is a believer will have a glorified body by this time and there will be no marriages at this point and no children will be born. It is possible that whoever told you that there was no giving in marriage confused the Atid Lavo with the Olam Haba, or the Messianic Kingdom with the World to Come.
A. Let's define some terms and look at this question in an eschatological manner. We are living in a period called the Olam ha Zeh or "this present age." This period will go for 6000 years from Creation to the Rapture of the believers on Rosh ha Shanah, year 6001 from Creation. The next time frame will go 1000 years and this period is called the Atid Lavo, or the coming age. After the Rapture, there will be a period of 10 days where the 144,000 will leave the United States and return to Israel and the United States will be attacked by Russia and destroyed. Europe, realizing they are in danger, convenes a meeting with their leaders and hands power over to a leader who will turn out to be the false messiah. All this will happen within 10 days of the rapture. On the 10th day, it is Yom Kippur and the false messiah will sign a treaty with Israel to protect them. This starts the 7 year Tribulation period. After 7 years or 2520 days. Yeshua the Messiah returns to Jerusalem on Yom Kippur and destroys the enemies of Israel. He will be accompanied by all the believers who were resurrected and changed at the Rapture. They will go into this Kingdom on Earth with glorified bodies but they will not be given in marriage. Then there is a 5 day period from Tishri 10 to 15 when the nations will be judged in Jerusalem. There will be many people who will survive the Tribulation period and be brought to the Lord for this judgment. The first group judged will be those who did not believe during the Tribulation. They will be killed and their bodies cast into the Hinnom Valley. Then those who believed during the Tribulation will be brought to the Lord. They will enter the remainder of the 1000 year Messianic Kingdom with their physical bodies. Depending on their age, these are the ones who will be given in marriage because they will have physical bodies. Some will get married and have children during the Kingdom period. Then, their parents will die and those children will get married and have children and so on. In this way the Earth will be repopulated. When the 1000 years have been completed, the people who have lived and died during the Kingdom will be judged. Those who did not believe, along with every unbeliever who ever lived will be judged at what is called the Great White Throne. They will go into the Lake of Fire. On the other hand,there will be those who are believers but are still in their physical bodies at this time and they will receive glorified bodies just like the believers did when they were resurrected and changed at the Rapture a 1000 years earlier. The period after the Atid Lavo or the coming age is called the Olam Haba, or the World to Come. It is the "8th" day, if you will, after the the 7000 years (Eschatological Sabbath Week) are over. Everyone who is a believer will have a glorified body by this time and there will be no marriages at this point and no children will be born. It is possible that whoever told you that there was no giving in marriage confused the Atid Lavo with the Olam Haba, or the Messianic Kingdom with the World to Come.
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