Tag Archives: The Second Coming

Happy Yom Teruah! Happy Resurrection Day!

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A Chronological Analysis of Scriptures on the Resurrection of the Dead

Gen 3:2–3, The question of what happens in the afterlife goes back to the very beginning of man’s tenure on this earth as we can see from Eve’s discussion with the serpent. Out of fear of death, Adam and Eve chose not to eat of the tree of knowledge, until the serpent tricked them to disobey YHVH and eat of it. The serpent lied to them by telling them that they could have immortal life and still violate Elohim’s commandments. Most men have believed this lie to this day.

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Job 14:12–15,  Job is likely the oldest book in the Bible, and we see that from early times until now, man has had a perennial interest in the afterlife. Job wonders what his fate will be when he dies. Will he die and that’s all there is, or is there an afterlife?

Job 19:25–27, Job came to a place in his life where he obtained a faith about his fate in the afterlife. He knew that it hinged on his faith in his Redeemer. Biblically speaking, what was the mission of the Redeemer (i.e., Yeshua the Messiah)? It was to redeem man from the sting of death brought on by sin.

Ps 16:9–10,  Though this is usually viewed as a messianic prophecy, it isn’t confined to this interpretation. Who are YHVH’s holy, kadosh or set apart ones? The Messiah fits this catergory, of course, but so also do YHVH’s saints. As the apostolic writers teach us, as Yeshua died and rose again, so the saints who are in Yeshua will die and rise again.

Ps 17:15, The term “awake” as in “awake from the sleep of death” is a Hebraism referring to the resurrection. David knew that YHVH created man in his own image for a purpose. If so, then why? It’s deductive reasoning. The creation of man wasn’t a pointless, dead-end endeavor on the Creator’s part. David knew the heart and character of YHVH well enough Continue reading →

 

The Final Redemption of the 12 Tribes

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Genesis 47:28, The Jewish sages recognize that this final portion of Genesis chronicles Jacob’s wish to reveal to his sons prophetic understandings pertaining to Israel’s long and numerous exiles, culminating in the final redemption (return of Israel from her exile in “Babylon” at the end of the age prior to the return of Messiah at which time the two houses of Israel will be reunited under Messiah Son of David). Jacob states this in 49:1 when he gives his prophecies relating to what will befall his sons “in the last days.” Prior to the establishment of the Messianic Age (Millennium) all Israel would go into a time of darkness, gloom and exile. The sages teach that this idea is implicated in the fact that the Torah scroll fails to place the customary nine spaces between the last word of the previous parashah and the first word of the present one. There is only a one space gap in Hebrew letters which predicts the “closing in” of Israel as they go into exile and captivity in Egypt.

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Here’s an excerpt from a larger, yet unpublished, article on the timing of the return of the 12 tribes to the land of Israel in the last days. This extract deals with the concept of redemption in Israel’s long history, and specifically with the final redemption of the last days.

I hope you enjoy this Shabbat-day study.

The Repeating Paradigm of Israel’s Redemption

Biblically, the concept of the return of exiled and scattered Israel (including Ephraim) to the land of Israel is tied to the idea of redemption. Biblically, the concept of redemption involves a stronger person (the redeemer) intervening on behalf of a weaker person (the enslaved, i.e., the one needing redemption), defeating the captor of the slave thus allowing the enslaved to go free.

The first biblical example of this process occurred when Elohim redeemed Israel out of Egypt. The biblical prophets compared this first exodus to a greater, or second exodus that is yet to occur in the future. In Jewish thought, the exodus out of Egypt is called the first redemption, yet the biblical prophets also speak of Israel going into captivity again — this time not to Egypt, but into the exile of the nations. From this place of exile and spiritual Continue reading →

 

Matthew 24 and Revelation Synced

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Integrating the End-Times Scenarios of the Olivet Prophecy and the Book of Revelation

The General Tribulation Period

Certain aspects of the prophetic scenario that Yeshua lays out in Matthew 24 were fulfilled in A.D. 70 with Jerusalem’s destruction. Discussing the events around A.D. 70 is beyond the scope of this work, so I’ll pass over this subject and focus on those prophecies that are clearly eschatological (i.e., those that deal with end-times events) in nature.

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The time period of the Olivet Prophecy started in the first century A.D. and continues until the second coming.

Matthew 24:4–8 describes conditions that existed on earth at A.D. 70, and that would continue and intensify up until the second coming. These include:

  • Religious deception — the spirit of Antimessiah. (John talks about this spirit in his first epistle, and says that it was active in his day, 1 John 2:18–19.)
  • Wars and rumors of wars.
  • Famines.
  • Pestilence.

These four conditions answer the disciples’ question about what would be the signs of the end times (Matt 24:3), and they also correlate one-to-one with the first four seals (commonly known as the four horsemen of the apocalypse) of Revelation 6.

Religious deception corresponds to the first horse (Rev 6:2).

Wars and rumors of wars corresponds to the second horse (Rev 6:3).

Famines corresponds to the third horse (Rev 6:5).

Pestilence corresponds to the fourth horse (Rev 6:7).

Next in Matthew 24 comes the martyrdom of the saints — something that has been happening since the death of Stephen in the Book of Acts to this present day (Matt 24:9–14). This martyrdom corresponds with the fifth seal of Revelation 6:9–11.

There are two groups of martyred saints: those who are killed before the end of the tribulation period and just before the beginning of the great tribulation, and those who are martyred afterwards. This second martyrdom completes the martyrdom of saints that has been going on over the ages (Rev 6:11lp).

The great end-times martyrdom of saints corresponds with the worldwide preaching of the gospel (Matt 24:14). This prophecy of Yeshua about the gospel being preached to all the world has only been fulfilled recently. Continue reading →

 

Are You Ready for Yom Kippur?

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What is the spiritual significance of the biblical holiday of Yom Kippur? How does it relate to the life of the redeemed believer? What is its significance with regards to end-times Bible prophecy as it relates to the second coming of Yeshua? How do you celebrate Yom Kippur? To help to prepare you to celebrate this important appointed time (moed), read Natan’s article on the subject at http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/yom_kippur.pdf

On the biblical calendar Yeshua and his disciples used, Yom Kippur occurs this year on Thursday, Sept. 27. The rabbinic Jews will celebrate Yom Kippur on Wednesday, Sept. 26 (in accordance with the Hillel 2 calendar from ca. 360 AD; for more information on this subject, go to http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/new_moons.pdf).

 

Hosea Prophesies on the Second Coming

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Hosea 5:15–6:3, I will go and return to my place. This passage is a clear prophecy concerning the resurrection of the righteous dead of which Messiah Yeshua is the first to raise.

Verse two contains a Hebrew parallelism, which is a Hebraic literary device where the same thought is expressed differently back-to-back. The word revive is the Hebrew word chayah, which is the basic Hebrew root verb meaning “to live or to have life.” The word raise up is the Hebrew word quwm meaning “to rise, arise, stand, stand up.” According to TWOT, the basic meaning of this word “denotes rising up from a prostrate position (e.g. Josh 3:16).”

YHVH is speaking here in the broader context of this passage concerning his Messianic role as the lion of Judah (Rev 5:5). After presenting himself as such to both houses of Israel (Ephraim [i.e., the Christians] and Judah [i.e., the Jews]) at his first coming, verse 14 states that Messiah would “go away … and none shall rescue him.” Then in verse 15 we read that, “I [Messiah speaking] will go and return to my place till they [Ephraim and Judah] acknowledge their offense and seek my face ….” (This refers to Yeshua’s absence from the earth between his first and second comings.)

What is their offense? Isaiah 8:14 states that that which offends both houses of Israel is “the stone of stumbling and … rock of offense.” Who is this Rock of offense? Verses 8 and 10b identifies it as Immanuel (El with us), which is one of the titles of the Messiah (see Isa 7:14 and Matt 1:23). The Christians have stumbled over Yeshua, the Written Torah-Word of Elohim made flesh, saying that the Torah-law has been done away with, while the Jews have stumbled over Yeshua, the Living Torah, declaring that he can’t be the Messiah.

However, after two days (i.e., 2000 years) YHVH will revive us or resurrect the righteous dead of Ephraim and Judah or those who have been grafted into the olive tree (a metaphor for Israel, see Jer 11:16; Hos 14:6) or into the commonwealth of Israel through Messiah Yeshua (see Rom 11:16–26; Eph 2:11–19) at the end of the age. This occurs on the third day, or in the third millennia from the time of Messiah’s first coming (or approximately in the year 6000 from the beginning of creation) when he will raise up (or resurrect) the righteous redeemed of Ephraim and Judah at his second coming.

As Messiah Yeshua raised from the dead on the third day becoming the first of the first fruits to raise from the dead (1 Cor 15:20, 23), even so, he will resurrect his saints at his second coming on the third day (or the third millennia after his “going away” after his first coming).  After that, he shall “go forth” and “shall come unto us” (i.e., the second coming) very much alive to lead his people during the Messianic Age (Millennium).