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REFLECTIONS FOR A SUNDAY MORNING
` See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make
the ears of everyone who hears it tingle '
For these Reflections we will leave the high culture of `the Bard of England' and turn to the popular low culture, and a song of the 1980's comes to mind which gives an understanding of these Reflections:
" Those were the days, my friend, we thought would never end,
that they would last for ever and a day . . . "
Clearly our thoughts are concerned here with change, both spiritual and secular, and with an understanding that the spiritual and the secular were never intended to be separate, but that one would reveal what had happened in the other, we enter the arena of change. Our title comes from the First Book of Samuel, chapter 3, where in verse 11 it opens with the word `See'. The King James Version is a stronger word, `Behold', meaning stop and listen to what the LORD God of Israel is about to do. There is a paradoxical truth in the statement that the society in which we live no longer exists, for the life of the society in which we now live - and take for granted as reasonably permanent, subject only to the ebb and flow of economic pressures - was formed by leaders of this country who have since died, and we now live in the `fruit of their labour', good or bad. But in our contemporary lifespan other forces are at work, shaping and forging a new lifestyle which will be different from the one in which we think we are living! This inevitably creates instability in a society where the new is becoming more real than the old. This instability reveals itself in many ways, but primarily it will manifest itself within society as nostalgia, anxiety, a looking back to what was thought to be a secure world - the world of `the Luddites' will always be manifest in the secular world.
So it was in Israel at the time of Samuel: (1 Samuel 3:11)
" And the LORD said to Samuel, `See, I am about to do something
in Israel that will make the ears of anyone who hears it tingle'. "
The background to the words the LORD said to Samuel was of course concerning the national apostacy of Israel. But Samuel was there, faithfully ministering the Word of the LORD, for we read in 1 Samueal 4:1a: `And Samuel's word came to all Israel'. But the people did not come to repentance: Samuel's word to all Israel told them of God's Presence with the nation, but their hearts were not able to receive spiritual life from his words as he tried to bring the nation back to a relationship with the God of whom he spoke. There was indeed a `process of change' taking place - the sacrifices at the sanctuary had become symbolic rituals and the reality of what they meant had become secondary. They relied upon their unique calling as the chosen people of God . . . basing their lives as a nation upon that which had been shaped and forged by a God who had called them into a special relationship with Him that no other nation had been offered. But to them He was now no longer the LORD who with wonders and miracles had led and kept them. He had been replaced by Israel's trust in objects, symbols and sacrifices, and their religious life had become no better than the heathen nations around. They lived a life as a nation based upon a pride in whom they were - God's chosen people!
Change was certainly needed to bring the people back to Himself, and so we come to that `change', for `Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines'. Clearly the Philistines were living as an established nation of people within the Land of Israel at that time, and yet there are no historical records of any invading forces which had led to this settlement. The Philistines held possession of part of the land and had steadily increased their power and influence, extending their occupation of the land to the point where `the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines'. But as we continue to read on in chapter 4 we find that the battle ended in a resounding victory for the Philistines, `who killed about four thousand of them (Israelites) on the battlefield'. Truly the LORD was doing something in Israel that day! This defeat certainly led the elders to ask: `Why did the LORD bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines?'.
We now see the depth of Israel's apostacy, for they now turned to the object of their trust which reminded them that they were the chosen people of God: (4:3a)
" Let us bring the Ark of the LORD's Covenant from Shiloh, so that it
may go with us and save us from the hands of our enemies. "
It was not the hand of the LORD they turned to but the Ark of the LORD's Covenant! They took the Ark from the Sanctuary as a kind of heathen fetish, rather than ask the priests to enter His Presence to `enquire of the LORD'. Just as surely as the Philistines had steadily encroached upon the land of the Israelites, quietly establishing their nation and steadily advancing their influence and power, so too had the spiritual life of Israel gone into a steady decline.
Land is passive in its nature, and peoples and nations pass over it from time to time. Land that is not defended will eventually be overrun - not always as dramatically as in an aggressive war but by `the process of change', which engulfs the weaker people through compromise and a decline in morals. Here in the nation of Israel, under the leadership of Eli the priest, national apostacy was going into a `process of change' because their God had become a religious object rather than a Living Person. The words of Samuel therefore came to all Israel as an `historical' testament to the power and nature of the Living God, but these words did not bring repentance leading to a renewing of spiritual life in the nation. The Philistines had encroached too far into the Land of Promise and `the LORD was about to do something in Israel that would make the ears of anyone who hears it tingle'! Without going into full details of the events following the Israelites' defeat, we know that not only was the Ark of the Covenant captured by the Philistines but judgement also came upon the nation - seen in the deaths of Hophni and Phineas, followed by the sudden death of the old priest Eli, who had ministered before the LORD for fourty years. The disasters continued; The daughter-in-law of Eli, upon hearing the news of her husbands death, died in giving birth to her son, but not before she had named the boy Ichabod, saying, `The Glory has departed from Israel'. Truly, the ears of those who heard the news of what God had done did indeed tingle - they tingled with terror!
Very often prophecies have within them a `double word' - an ongoing progressive outworking - so if we leave the words of the LORD at this point we shall miss the fulness of what the LORD of Israel was `about to do in Israel'. Samuel was called into service at a point of watershed in the life of the nation. The old Theocratic order of the nation, which had been led and guided by the priesthood, was about to give way to leadership through a kingly line. In turn, the office of priest and king would eventually be combined in David as he ministered before the Ark of the Covenant in the Tent which he built for the LORD. Samuel was now ready to enter more fully into the life of the nation, and responding to the people's cry (and the LORD's confirmation of that cry) he anointed Saul as king over Israel. Saul was the people's choice: (1 Samuel 9:1-2)
" There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of
Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of
Benjamin. He had a son names Saul, an impressive young man without
equal among the Israelites - a head taller than any of the others. "
All we know of Saul's family here is that it was not famous, or wealthy. It had little influence but it was noted for the fighting qualities of its men. Not only Saul but Jonathan and Abner also came from this family line and its men were known as `heroes of might'. They were strong, proud men, and it was fitting indeed that the people of Israel chose Saul as their king. But they had learned nothing from their defeat, for Saul embodied their national pride as the chosen people of God. Truly the people had lost interest in God, concerned only with what He had promised to give them. Their hearts, hardened by the defeats at the hands of the Philistines, gave birth to national pride - seen in Saul - and that national pride would lead the nation along a very dark path under Saul's kingship. God's promises would still be outworked amongst His people, but first had to come the humiliating life of Saul, ending in his death, before God's choice could emerge. We can read in 1 Samuel 15 of the result of Saul's pride in himself. Little had been learned from the past, and God's word finally came through Samuel: (1 Samuel 15:28)
" The LORD has torn the Kingdom of Israel from you today and given
it to one of your neighbours - to one better than you. "
We read on into chapter 16 and find the LORD speaking to Samuel: (verse 1)
" How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king
over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending
you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king. "
We leave the narrative concerning the events of Samuel's day at this point. We know that Samuel was used to anoint David as king over Israel. It would be this shepherd boy who would lead Israel into the fulness of God's promises for His beloved people - and on through the reign of David's son Solomon, when the splendour of the nation would be centered in the Temple in the City of David. Here the Glory, the Presence of God would be revealed in the Most Holy Place, showing that God was faithful to His word. At last the apostacy had been burned away and at last the nation worshipped the LORD God of Israel. At last they were a people who had entered into that relationship God intended (and still intends) for all His Covenanted people. We leave the events surrounding Samuel's life, for we know that the shepherd boy who became King over all Israel was but a foreshadowing of David's Greater Son who will one day rule and reign on the Throne of David in Jerusalem. And so we move on as these Reflections concern that coming King, the fulfillment of all prophecy.
If we would but listen once again we would hear the word that the LORD spoke to Samuel: `See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of anyone who hears it tingle'. The Lord Jesus, speaking to His disciples, as recorded in Matthew 24, spoke of that `something' when answering their eager questions `When will this happen and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?' As in the time of Samuel, when the LORD used the Philistines to bring change in the life of the nation of Israel, culminating in the anointing of David as King over all Israel, so we will see the Coming of David's Greater Son through the natural disasters, wars and pestilence of this world in this Age. Paul, writing to Timothy, turns our thoughts from those great disasters and to a more personal level: (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
" But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, arrogant, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. "
Today such matters are causing concern not only the Church but also the leaders of many nations, who seem powerless to stem the tide of these `terrible times' which are swamping social life that Paul writes of. But in them the LORD is working out His purposes and HE is not powerless! Many signs have been given in the heavens in recent years, all centered on Jewish Feast days, and in seeing them we have that certrainty that once again the LORD is speaking His Word to the `Samuel's' of this day.: (1 Samuel 16;1)
" Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to
Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king. "
Our recounting of the tragedy of Israel's apostacy in the time of Samuel is to show that no matter how deep was that apostacy, the LORD God was still at work in the national disasters and circumstances ready to show His faithfulness to His Covenant with His Chosen People. During this time apostacy manifested itself in trusting in the Ark of the Covenant rather than in the God of the Covenant. It led to a clamour for a king to rule over them, which led to further disasters until the LORD revealed His choice of king - seen in David the shepherd boy, a foretelling of David's Greater Son who was yet to come. Take this foretelling through to the present time of the people of Israel, who have been brought back into the Land. We heard the same defiant cry to their enemies when they declared in 1967 that Jerusalem was the Eternal, Undivided City of Israel. Still today, deep in apostacy, they are relying on their own strength to maintain that defiant cry to their enemies, but this time their trust lies in their powerful Armed Forces, their Nuclear Missiles, their Electronic Missile Shield and their newly-found vast reserves of oil. Yet the word of the LORD, spoken through Samuel, still speaks to Israel in today's apostacy and has yet to reach its fulfillment. These are the Signs and Times that we are looking at in these Reflections, so how close are we to the Days of Jacob's Trouble? There we must leave the times of Samuel, for we are not seeking to speak condemnation to Israel, or to `the Church', but to look at these Signs and Times. First the Signs, and then the Times.
As Scripture itself clearly states in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, there will be signs in heaven - and it is these we need to look at, yet be aware of the fear of many that in so doing we may be drawn into the forbidden territory of the occult. The word `occult' has as its primary meaning `knowledge that has been kept secret'. Usually, although not exclusively, this has come to mean `supernatural or mystical knowledge' that requires those instructed in such mysteries to reveal them to those to whom this knowledge has been hidden. In addition to this there is much concern when mentioning astrology, whereas there is a grudging acceptance of astronomy. However if we look in any standard dictionary, we shall find that astrology was formerly considered to be `practical or primitive astronomy'. The word `astronomy', which springs from the Greek word `astron' (meaning `star'), is the science of the study of the origins and development of the stars and planets. Therefore, with the basic knowledge that the word `primitive' simply means `of earlier times', we can see that astrology and astronomy are but different aspects of one science. Yet we need to balance this with the words of Jesus when He was speaking to His disciples and answering their questions about `the End of the Age' - recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
Luke 21:25-26:
" There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth nations
will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.
Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the
world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. "
In Matthew's account, and quoting from the Book of Isaiah, Jesus said:
Matthew 24:29:
" Immediately after the distress of those days,
` The sun will be darkened
and the moon will not gives its light;
and the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken'. "
These words of Jesus were spoken in the context of watching and praying, including watching what was happening in the heavens and praying intelligently about what was being seen - and in order to pray intelligently it is required to know something about the subject matter! The Book of Job speaks of Pleiades, Orion and the constellations of the south - and the fact that they are specifically mentioned twice reveals the importance of those stars, and from the earliest times men have sought to understand what they represent. The word `Pleiades' simply means `a cluster', and in this context a cluster means `a constellation of seven large and seven smaller stars in the eastern sky' close to the larger constellation of Taurus, which is the Latin name for `bull'. The stars of this constellation appear to be in the shape of what looks like the shoulder of a bull. Taurus is found as the second sign of today's accepted Zodiac, but once again it needs to be said that there is nothng directly of the occult in the word `Zodiac'. It is a Greek word and has the meaning of `degrees or steps' which mark the stages of the sun's path through the heavens, passing through or past twelve constellations or clusters of stars which have been given names to correspond with the twelve months of the year. The constellation Orion, of which Job talks, is composed of myriads of stars - most of which cannot be seen without a telescope - but has always been seen to resemble the form of a hunter.
These are basic astronomical facts which need not disturb anyone when used to describe what Job records as `miracles (of God) that cannot be numbered'. Psalm 19 in particular records these `miracles of God' where it says: (Verses 1-4)
" The heavens declare the Glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where
their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world. "
The Hebrew Scriptures as we know them began to be compiled at the time of Moses. Before that date God's promises and His revelation to the Patriarchs were jealously guarded and handed down through the Oral Tradition. During this period it was in natural phenomena that God spoke and revealed Himself through the quickening work of the Holy Spirit as He moved upon men's minds and emotions as to what they saw and felt. The Holy Spirit quickened in the minds of the Patriarchs what God was `writing in the heavens . . in the stars . . the sun and the moon'. The literal meaning of the opening verses of this Psalm speaks of speech and language . . of speech where no sounds are heard . . yet revealing knowledge about the Glory of God that goes out to the ends of the earth, proclaiming and speaking day after day in an endless cycle of time.
If these signs in the heavens, as set in the Western Zodiac, spoke to the Patriarchs, and if Jesus, speaking to his disciples, spoke of signs in the heavens, we then need to get our minds beyond the `Fear Factor' of treading in forbidden territory. In the Western Zodiac there are twelve signs set in three Movements of four signs. The first Movement starts with the constellation known as Virgo (meaning `the virgin'), and as will be seen later in these Reflections, there is no need to list the other Movements. Of course there is now no need to look for that `special pouring forth' in the heavenss for we have the Word of God, which is His full and final revelation of His will and purpose, and through the guiding of the Holy Spirit we will find there all that is required for our ongoing walk towards our coming Bridegroom! Nevertheless Jesus told His disciples to look for signs that would precede His Coming, and our understanding of what we are to look for in the `speech of the heavens' will only confirm that which our spirits are feeling as the Day of His Coming approaches:
" There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth nations
will be seen in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of
the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming
on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they
will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great Glory. "
What, then can these signs be that the heavens declare concerning God's Glory . . . the Coming of His Promise, the Son of Man? The signs are seen in ten complete cycles of the movement of various heavenly bodies, which although not all equal in their movements, the nature of their continuing cycles indicate that they commenced at a single point in time. We call this time `Creation', as recorded in Genesis 1. The tenth sign is what is known in astronomical circles as `the Grand Cycle' - that is, the `Precession of the Equinoxes'. This is perhaps the most amazing of the cycles of signs, and the nearest we can get to describing it is this:
" Earlier occurrences of the times in which the sun crosses the equator, and
in which day and night become equal in light (during the period of mid-
March and mid-September), in which successive times the earth makes a
complete revolution around the sun, and in which successive movements of
stars, together with the sun, attain their highest altitude and full splendour. "
In the course of this Grand Cycle the sun gradually shifts its position each year, and approximately every two thousand years it starts the year at a different star constellation. What is not known is where to break into this cycle of the equinoxes in order to know the sign at which the sun first began its journey, to enable man to `discover' the mind of God as to the timing of the fulfillment of His Promise - spoken of in the `soundless speech' in the heavens, of which the Son said `only the Father knows'. It is this which engages the efforts of man in searching the signs of the Zodiac . . . it is this which is at the heart of all mystery religions . . . and it is this which today has become the `reading of the stars' so beloved by the popular media. But we have no wish to enter into that search! We have written these Reflections down because in today's Christian circles there is much talk of signs in the heavens. This began when we approached the end of the 20th century and the year 2000 amid many warnings about the end of the world.
That there is soundless speech in the heavens is quite Scriptural, and this has been clearly set out in these Reflections, and there should therefore be no need for cries of `deception' to be heard. One sign of particular interest appeared in the heavens in the year 1996 and centered on the movement of the constellation known by the sign Virgo. In its movements Virgo passed through a constellation of stars and appeared with twelve stars above her `head', whilst at her `feet' a new moon was birthed in its own cycle of movement which comes through its position to the sun. The Book of Revelation, which sets out the chronological timing of what is spoken of in earlier Scriptures as `the Day of the Lord', contains many such signs `spoken' in the heavens. The controversial chapter 12 speaks clearly of: (v1)
" A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven; a
woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under
her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. "
We are not particularly concerned here with an interpretation of this `great and wondrous sign', apart from noting that this `woman clothed with the sun' was about to give birth -which led to a mighty conflict with an enormous red dragon which sought to `devour her child at the moment it was born', and when thwarted turned the conflict towards the `woman'. There is also a remarkable similarity to Joseph's dream (recorded in Genesis 37) which is in the Book of Beginnings. Its parallel message is found in the First Book of Psalms, and in Psalm 19 we hear `the heavens declare the Glory of the LORD', the promise of the Son who will come to redeem His people Israel. What is of particular interest to us, however, is that this sign in the heavens, centered on the position of Virgo (the Virgin), occurred in 1996 on the day of the Feast of Trumpets. This Feast begins the last three of the Seven Feasts of Leviticus, all of which have been or will be fulfilled in the work of Jesus the Messiah.
The Feast of Trumpets precedes The Awsome Days which lead into the Day of Atonement and on into the Feast of Tabernacles. Only these last three Feasts of Leviticus await fulfillment through the Coming of Jesus, and we would suggest that the positioning of Virgo on such a day as the Feast of Trumpets, within the Grand Cycle of the Precession of the Equinoxes, has very significant implications for the nation of Israel. The fulfillment of these last three Feasts is totally concerned with that nation prior to the return of their Messiah Jesus, for they are a call to repentance before judgement - which will lead to the restoration of Israel. And whilst we do not wish to move into any sensational interpretation of `signs in the heavens', we must mention two other signs which appeared in 1996 during Levitical Feasts, which are grounded in Scripture and worth noting. Both signs concern eclipses of the moon. The first eclipse occurred in March at the Feast of Passover and the other occurred at the end of September at the Feast of Tabernacles. (Passover speaks of deliverance and Tabernacles speaks of restoration.) In between these two is the Feast of Trumpets (which is a call to repentance leading to judgement and the final restoration), and in 1996 `a great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head', as we have previously said. There was also a report during late 2012 that `signs in the heavens' in the form of lunar and solar total eclipses would be seen on Jewish holy days (Passover and Tabernacles) in 2014 and 2015 with a further eclipse on the Feast of Trumpets in 2015. Whilst we are not intending to speculate on dates, it does appear that the LORD is still speaking through the words given to Samuel: `See, I am about to do something in Israel'.
With that we can turn our Reflections to `the Times', and for that we have to roll back time for close on two thousand years, to an Egyptian by the name of Claudius Ptolemy - who, incidentally, was not a family member of the ancient Egyptian Pharoahs. He was an Astronomer, Mathematician and Geographer who lived in 135 AD who completed his most notable Astronomical work in Alexandria. Ptolemy's work formed the basis of all such work throughout many centuries, and it is still recognised today as a work of great Astronomical importance. It is said that he considered three great strands of work worthy of study - Theology, Physics and Mathematics. Theology, he said, was changeable and dependent on Faith. Physics was changeable because of new discoveries, and only Mathematics was fixed and unchangeable - as was what he called `the Divine'. In order to find `the Divine' he turned to Astronomy - the fixed and unchangeable movement of the planets, the sun and moon - linking them to Mathematics and Geometry. Ptolemy then recorded the chronology of the ancient empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome and linked them into his study of Astronomy, producing what is recognised as his greatest work of thirteen volumes, called by Arabs `the Almagest' - the Greatest.
We recall a well-respected Bible teacher, Roger Price, and his Bible studies on chronology (which were unfortunately cut short by his untimely death) remembering that he had drawn heavily upon the work of Gratton Guiness (a 19th century Theologian who had himself drawn heavily upon the work of Ptolemy). The studies of Gratton Guiness were mainly in the area of Scriptural `Times' (or Weeks) . . times of days . . times of weeks . . of months . . of years . . of Sabbatical years (the Levitical Jubilee cycle) . . of times of decades . . of the 2,520 years of the Jewish Dispersion . . of the two-part periods of times, times and half a time - the 1260 years of Daniel with the additional 30 + 45 = 75 of Daniel 12 (those additional 75 years are in themselves an interesting study). Roger Price also extended this by bringing in the work of a man by the name of A.E.Ware (also a 19th century Theologian) whose work concentrated on Scriptural `unnumbered days' - the so-called `Lo Ammi days', based on Hosea 1:8 `Call him Lo Ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God'.
Using Ptolemy's work Gratton Guiness recorded that from the time of Israel's captivity in Babylon in 604 BC until 1917 AD was a total of 2,520 solar years, during which time Jerusalem was trampled down by the Gentiles. Gratton Guiness also saw that from 622 AD (the beginning of the Muslim calendar) to 1917 AD was 1,335 lunar years (times, times and half a time - 1,260 days plus the 75 days of Daniel 12). He then predicted that 1917 AD was a significant year in Israel's history (Gratton Guiness died in 1910 so he was not writing past history). We do know from history that on December 11th 1917 General Allenby, head of the British army in the Middle East, finally destroyed the Ottoman (Muslim) hold on Jerusalem, and it is said that he walked into Jerusalem leading his horse, not wanting to ride where his Saviour had walked. In fact the words of Allenby's superior, General Sir Beauvier de Lisle, to Allenby were: `I hope you will not enter in state, for that is reserved in the future for One higher than you'. De Lisle also mentioned in his memoirs: `Allenby fulfilled prophecy when he took Jerusalem on December 11th that year and entered the Holy City on foot - not as a conqueror but as a deliverer'. Such were the thoughts of many God-fearing men in those days! The date 11th December 1917 was also important in so far as it fell on the Jewish Feast of Hannukah - which is centered on the revolt of Matthathias Maccabees and his sons against the Greeks, and of the victory of his son Judas Maccabees in his defeat of Lysias (the full details of this can be found in the Book of Maccabees in the Apocrapha). Judas Maccabees, not knowing how to celebrate this victory, based the religious rituals of what is now known as the Feast of Dedication (Hannukah) on the rituals of the Feast of Tabernacles, the final and greatest of the Jewish Feasts. Gratton Guiness went so far as to say that that time (1917 AD) ended the Times of the Gentiles trampling down Jerusalem, first under Babylon then through to Rome and ending with the breaking of the Ottoman Muslim rule. As we have said, Roger Price was `taken home' before he could extend his understanding of chronology concerning Israel, leaving others to continue such matters.
1917 was indeed a significant year for Israel as it saw the liberation of Jerusalem. Nevertheless it was still under the control of the British Mandate, but if we continue on to 1967 - 50 years later - we know that the Israeli forces finally liberated the whole of Jerusalem when it was declared by the Israeli Knesset to be `the Eternal and undivided City of Israel'. the 50 years from 1917 to 1967 completed a Jubilee `Time' based upon Leviticus 25 when in the fiftieth year all things are restored to their original owners. This Jubilee year is layered on to the 49th year (of the old cycle) and the 1st year (of the new cycle) - we call it `God's year' which is outside of man's time. And so in 1967 Jerusalem was restored fully to the LORD - to its rightful Owner! As is known, our understanding is that 1967 began a Scriptural Probation Period (of 40 years), a Probation Period of time in which character is tested, which ended in 2007. 1967 also saw a world-wide outpouring of the Holy Spirit (which many Christians attempted to harness to their own Church Denomination), a testing of the world's `character' - and not only of Israel and Christians. All Scriptural Probation Periods end in failure, leading to `captivity' in one form or another, and so by the end of this Probation Period we have seen the character flaws emerge in the world, in Israel and in the Church:
The world has moved further away from the One True God
Israel has, through the Oslo Accord, given away part of the Land of Israel to the Palestinians
The Church has welcomed into its spiritual life an alien spirit through the so- called Toronto Blessing (and later others of a similar nature)
and so by the year 2007 all three had entered the inevitable `captivity'.
However let us bring this back to Scriptural `Times'. The year 2000 was anticipated with much sensational fear, but it passed and all those fears were unfounded. We would say, however, that something significant did occur at the turn of the century, the year 2000. For that we would refer to `Pharaoh's Dream' of Genesiss 41 which Joseph interpreted as `Seven fat years followed by seven lean years'. Since the year 2000 the world has been living in economic luxury built upon fantasy and has ignored the warnings of the earlier recessions of the 1990's, squandering it in living for the day. The Church has been living in the luxury of a wealth of Scriptural teaching by many gifted Bible teachers, but it has also squandered this wealth, preferring to have `Blessings now'. Israel has lived on the `wealth' of the protection of its armed forces and America, but recent events have proved them to be indeed a chimera, a fantasy. Those seven fat years ended in 2007 with an economic collapse, and we have now entered the seven lean years of famine. We would say, therefore, that the year 2014 will also be a `significant year' - as significant as was the year of 1917. Bearing in mind the prophetic content of Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dream, we believe that it will involve the world, Israel and the Church. It speaks of Joseph's family coming down to Egypt and settling in the land of Goshen in order to be delivered from famine. As Israel's and the Church's only secure `Goshen' is the Lord Jesus Christ we would expect that the year 2014 will be connected with a foreshadowing of the coming of Israel's Messiah . . the Church's Lord and the world's Judge. We are not predicting the Coming of the Lord at that time, for we `know not the time of His Coming', but we are reminded that before a King comes there is always a Herald announcing his coming - a foreshadowing indeed! John (the Baptist) comes to mind, but as these Reflections are concerned with `the End of Times' we suggest that Malachi 4:5 is the more pertinent Scripture with which to end, for with the ending of the Book of Malachi the period of 400 years known as `the Great Probation' began:
" See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful Day
of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers . . . "
We will end these rather sombre Reflections on `the Times' with a Jewish `Song of the Sabbath' . . . the Lechah Dodi, which points to `the Sabbath of Sabbaths' (another of `the times' implied in Daniel). The Song of the Sabbath was composed during the time of a great Messianic awakening in the small Galillean town of Safed in the mid 16th century. Every Sabbath since then, in the final Sabbath ceremonies in synagogues all over the world, wherever there are settled Jewish communities, the Lechah Dodi is sung. The English meaning of the title Lechah Dodi is `Come, well beloved David':
` Come, my Beloved, with songs of praise,
welcome Bride Sabbath, the Queen of Days. '
Many verses follow, but is closes with:
` Come where the faithful are singing Your praise,
Come as the Bride, come Queen of Days. '
We recall that at the time of the coming of Jesus 2000 years ago the Rabbis and Teachers of the law had agreed that the Sabbath and the Messiah were one, based on Genesis 2:3:
" And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it
He rested from all the work of creating He had done. "
For over 400 years observant Jews have been singing every week their praise to God for the Sabbath, the Messiah, to come, and for `beloved David' to return and claim His Bride. We also recall that the opening verses of Matthew's Gospel proclaim the Good News to those Jews who would hear it: (Verse 17)
" Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David,
fourteen from David to the exile in Babylon, and fourteen from the
exile to the Messiah. "
The Hebrew letters for `14' also spell out David . . David . . David . . your Messiah! This brings us back to Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dream of `seven cows fat and sleek, and seven cows ugly and gaunt'. He interpreted this as seven fat years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Are the fourteen years from the year 2000 culminating in the year 2014 in some way a foreshadowing of the heralding of His Coming? A son to announce The Son perhaps? It could of course be said that this is all co-incidental but we do not believe that, although what we have set out here is for the individual to weigh and discern for themselves. As we have said, `The Signs and The Times' all point to something significant concerning Israel occurring in the year 2014. However, such events that may occur will not manifest themselves in isolation, and we have already seen that the `seven fat years ending in 2007 with the collapse of the Banks had a world-wide effect.
In closing may we look at what we are facing as we approach the end of `the Lean Years'. We need not dwell too long on the economic and social problems facing the ruling governments of all nations, for they are evident from the various media articles that bombard people everywhere. Suffice to say that all social systems rest precariously upon two major `legs' - which are the provision of affordable food and a high level of employment. Disturb one of these legs and the social systems will begin to unravel. Disturb them both and social cohesion will disintegrate. The disturbance of these two `social legs' can be seen in all settled communities in the world - high food and utility costs coupled with a world-wide economic slowdown have led to high levels of unemployment and to violent protests on the streets of many highly developed countries. In the USA the `American Dream' is littered with ghost towns throughout the land and it is a divided country, as the 2012 elections have shown. In the East, the governing classes cast anxious eyes at the rising tension within the lower stratas of their countries. The so-called `Arab Spring' had at its heart the same cry of the people - it was not an Islamic problem but part of a world-wide disturbance of established orders. Revolution, when it comes, comes not through the `sans culottes' - they are merely the street mobs, the `cannon fodder' under the influence of radical groups who see that their moment has come, and behind them are the bourgeoisie (the so-called squeezed middle classes). The world-wide Signs point to a massive change in the Times, but those who watch and wait, no matter how they may be affected by those changes, will look beyond them. Instead `they are looking for a better country . . a heavenly one'. It is in such a world-wide unrest that God is working out His purpose - to reveal His Son, the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings.
May we finish these Reflections by returning to Scripture and to two people who were waiting patiently for the Salvation of Israel. For that we turn to the second chapter of Luke's Gospel, to the well-known story of the birth of Jesus. Verse 7 tells us: `Mary brought forth her first-born Son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night'. These were no ordinary sheep the shepherds were watching over - they were special sheep `without spot or wrinkle' being brought up to Jerusalem for the sacrifices in the Temple at the Feast of Tabernacles and were resting in the fields around Bethlehem, the City of David. The Feast of Tabernacles celebrates the LORD coming to tabernacle (to dwell) amongst His people in accordance with God's faithful Promise of a Messiah. And so we have here the birth of David's Greater Son, Jesus, on a Feast of Tabernacles! God indeed dwelling amongst them! Angels (always seen in Scripture as messengers) appeared to the shepherds who tended the sacrificial lambs: (Luke 2: 9-12)
" And, lo, the angel of the LORD came upon them, and the Glory of the LORD shone around them and they were afraid. And the angel said unto them: `Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. "
We move on to verse 20:
" And the shepherds returned (to their sheep), glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. "
Verse 21 now tells us that on the eighth day the baby Jesus was circumcised in accordance with the Law (recorded in Leviticus 12:3). But this was no ordinary eighth day; On this occasion this Eighth Day was also the closing day of the Feast of Tabernacles! (John 7:37 records a later occasion: `On the last day, that great day of the Feast [of Tabernacles] Jesus stood up'.) According to Jewish tradition there were no given instructions concerning rituals for this Eighth Day so they turned it into a day based on a Wedding, celebrating the coming Bridgroom of Israel. And so on that eighth day following the birth of Jesus He was circumcised and consecrated (set apart) to God for His Work! Lukes Gospel now continues: (2:22-24)
" And when the days of her purification according to the Law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the LORD. (As it is written in the Law of the LORD, every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD.) And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the Law of the LORD. A pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. "
The Law in Leviticus however says: (12:6-8 in part)
" And when the days of her purification are fulfilled . . . . she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtle dove . . . . But if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtle doves or two pigeons. "
Mary, being poor, came to make her sacrifice with a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons, according to the Law, but she also brought a Lamb (in accordance with the Law). Mary brought her Son, the Lamb of God, a Perfect Sacrifice - and so the Law was fully satisfied! Thirty three days later (making fourty in all) He was brought to the Temple in accordance with the Law, and the Lamb of God was consecated to the LORD in preparation for His work as the Messiah of Israel. On that day (according to Luke 2:25 and 36-38)
"And there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him . . . And there was one Anna, a prophetess . . . . And she, coming in at that instant gave thanks likewise to the LORD and spoke of Him to all who looked for the Redemption of Israel. "
This was no casual visit to the Temple compound by Simeon. He would have heard from the shepherds of the appearance of the angels with their incredible news of One born in the City of David. Simeon would have known that this baby must be presented at the Temple fourty days later. Simeon would also have been in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, which all male Jews had to attend, and so he waited because he believed the message given by the angels to the shepherds: (Luke 2:28-30)
" Then he took Him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said:
`LORD, now let Your servant depart in peace, according
to Your Word. For my eyes have seen Your Salvation'. "
Today, have we seen The Signs and understood The Times? Are we waiting in the `Temple' knowing that there is a soon-coming Eighth Day . . a Bridegroom coming for His Bride and a Royal Wedding on that last and greatest Eighth Day of the Feast?
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You may E-mail us at: derek@northernstyletrust.com or Telephone (01493) 444494 (UK)
Our Web Address: www.northernstyletrust.com
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