Happy prophetic New Year!

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea – though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride (Psalm 46:1-3)

The Jewish people’s history is flecked with tragedy and shakings. Moyshe Rabbenu’s (Moses’) curses of Deuteronomy 28:15-68 speak of drought, famine, war, pestilence and plague – “all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid” (Deuteronomy 28:60). What the world is experiencing is in a small way similar to Moses’ prophecy.

Yet as the tsunami of corona crashes across the continents of the world, we remind ourselves: God is our solid rock and there’s no panic in Heaven’s throne room. YHVH’s plans stride forward unshakeable. “YHVH of armies is with us! The God of Jacob is our stronghold!” (Psalm 46:11)

Today is the real Jewish New Year

The Bible has only one Rosh Hashana (the Head of the Year). According to Moses this Jewish New Year is not in the Fall but in the Spring: “Now YHVH said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ‘This month shall be the beginning of months for you. It is to be the first month of the year to you’” (Exodus 12:1-2). Rabbinic authorities later moved the New Year to come into line with the Babylonian pagan calendar. But YHVH’s calendar and His feasts (as per Leviticus 23:1-44) still remain “His appointed feasts” (Leviticus 23:2) and are part of His irrevocable calling on Israel, and part of His unalterable gifts to the Jewish people (see Romans 11:29).

The Jewish New Year (which falls this year on the evening of Wednesday March 25) is special. It has a value of its own, and stands totally apart from the Feast of Trumpets, the fifth feast in the calendar cycle (Leviticus 23:23-25). Six historical events of great significance occurred on this date:

The waters of Noah’s Great Flood dried up

“Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up” (Genesis 8:13)

The desert Tabernacle was erected

“On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting . . . Now in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected” (Exodus 40:2, 17)

The repair and consecration of Solomon’s Temple was initiated

“In the first year of (Hezekiah’s) reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the House of YHVH and repaired them . . . Now they began the consecration on the first day of the first month” (2 Chronicles 29:3, 17)

Ezra began his journey from Babylon to Jerusalem

“For on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon. And on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him” (Ezra 7:9)

Haman began to cast lots (Purim) to choose when to destroy the Jewish people

“In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day” (Esther 3:7)

The prophetic word of YHVH concerning Egypt’s downfall came to Ezekiel

“Now in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of YHVH came to me” (Ezekiel 29:17)

Prophetic significances of these events

The above events are loaded with redemptive significance:

It’s the biblical new year. Israel’s religious/secular year’s business begins on that day
It marks the end of that judgment on the planet – declared when Noah noted the full drying of the land
It heralds the establishment of the Tabernacle – the atoning way to God was now open
It is celebrated by the blowing of trumpets (Numbers 10:10) – the intercessory path to God was now open
It highlights the entrance into the Promised Land (1 Chronicles 12:15), the day for Israel to enter into her national calling
The beginning of the Jewish people’s restoration from Babylon began with Ezra on this day
Haman’s demonic countdown – the enemy’s counterfeit of the holy and redemptive significance of this day

Clash of the Titans

For some of us, it’s a stretch (or even a shock) to realize that the God of Jacob claims the Hebrew calendar as His own. His New Year is the 1^st of Aviv, whereas humankind has all kinds of other New Years. Even the majority of modern Jews celebrate a Rabbinic (but not a biblical) New Year.

The names of the months in our Western Gregorian calendar are based on Greek and Roman gods/deities/demons (e.g., March from Mars, the god of war; January for Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions, etc.). The week days are named after Norse gods/demons (Wednesday after Wodin; Thursday after Thor; Friday after Frigga, etc.).

The Biblical Jewish New Year offers us a great opportunity to hit ‘reset’ on our traditions, and consider what the future holds.

When Messiah Yeshua returns, the whole planet will follow the Hebrew calendar. Ezekiel 45:18 prophesies a future Jerusalem holiday on the 1^st of Aviv, while Zechariah 14:16-19, 8:18-19 and Isaiah 66:23 show that the entire planet will be keeping the Jewish calendar. Greek, Roman and Norse titans will all bow the knee and declare that Messiah Yeshua and His calendar are sovereign over the whole earth (Isaiah 45:23; Philippians 2:10-11).

Spotlight on the good promises of God

As the earth trembles, as our freedom of movement is compressed, God wants us to focus on the fact that He really is in control as He brings loving correction and righteous discipline to this wayward planet. “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed . . . to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35). “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend/overpower it” (John 1:5). “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:11-12)

How should we then pray?

Pray for God to bring revelation and alignment to believers everywhere concerning His times and seasons (Daniel 2:21; Genesis 1:14-18)
Pray for the healing and saving of many who are sick with coronavirus
Pray for supernatural gifts of healing to increase on the earth through praying believers
Pray for divine strategies in preparation for further shakings and opportunities yet to come
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal or credit card) through: www.davidstent.org

Passover plagues and the God of the Hebrews

Many people are acquainted with the Passover story. Some have even watched the ‘The Ten Commandments’ movie and its dramatic depiction of the Ten Plagues – a Hollywood moment to remember.

Right now the entire world is having a ‘Passover moment.’ Like the Hebrew slaves in Egypt on that first Passover night, the families of the earth are on lockdown, hiding in their homes. And where is the God of the Hebrews right now? Is He aware of the current pandemic? Is YHVH involved in the process in any way?

To speak frankly, most of the world thinks that the Exodus makes a good story for kids. Most modern adults are not sure if they can believe in a God who “smites the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues” (1 Samuel 4:6-8). A recent Israeli satirical TV show Eretz Nehederet (Hebrew for ‘A wonderful country’) scoffed at the possibility that the corona virus could have anything to do with the God of Jacob, or that we should re-evaluate our values or our behavior. In the Western world this mockery is common: God – IF He exists – should be content with our brief acknowledgement of Him at our weddings, confirmations ceremonies, christenings and bar mitzvahs.

This corona virus pandemic is a wake-up call to the world. It is also a dry run for even more sobering coming prophetic events.

Let’s get God’s viewpoint on the whole subject of plagues as revealed in the Bible:

What do the Scriptures say about plagues?
What is the role of plagues in biblical history?
What is prophesied about plagues in the future?

Plagues in Egypt

YHVH declares that He alone is solely responsible for the Ten Plagues: “I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt by what I did in its midst … and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt” (Joshua 24:4-7).

One of the purposes of the Ten Plagues is to show ungodly Pharaoh (the leader of the world’s greatest superpower) that the God of Israel is the only Sovereign God, and that He is watching over the Jewish people. “Then YHVH said to Moses, ‘Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, “Thus says YHVH, the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth” (Exodus 9:13-14).

The Ten Plagues were also spiritual warfare against Egypt’s demonic pantheon – a proclamation through power encounter that YHVH is sovereign over all these false gods: “For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments – I am YHVH!” (Exodus 12:12)

Plagues against Israel

Psalm 78:40-51 tells us that some Jewish people had ‘short-term memory problems.’ These individuals rebelled against YHVH. They grieved God in the desert wanderings. They tempted and pained the Holy One of Israel. The nation who had been delivered from Egyptian plagues by God’s Passover protection soon forgot His saving power.

Many of the sons of Jacob were judged by YHVH with plague due to their own idol worship and sexual orgies during the desert wanderings. “They joined themselves also to Baal-Pe’or, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, and the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and interposed, and so the plague was stayed. And it was reckoned to him for righteousness” (Psalm 106:28-31).

The Mosaic covenant (the Torah of Moses) speaks clearly that plagues fell on Israel because God was executing vengeance for the nation breaking the Mosaic covenant (Leviticus 26:25): “But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant – I, in turn, will do this to you . . . If then, you act with hostility against Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins . . . I, even I, will strike you seven times for your sins. I will also bring upon you a sword which will execute vengeance for the covenant; and when you gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you” (Leviticus 26:14-16, 21, 24-25).

The prophet Amos specifies that YHVH judged Israel with Egypt-like plagues because of Israel’s idolatry and her lack of repentance. “Hear this word, you cows of . . . Samaria . . . I sent a plague among you after the manner of Egypt . . . Yet you have not returned to Me, declares YHVH. Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel: Because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel” (Amos 4:1, 10-12).

Moses and the prophets are preaching a tough message here:

The God of Israel sends plagues on all nations who worship anything other than the God of the Jewish people
God’s plagues ‘get the message through’ to unbelieving nations
The gods which many nations worship are actually demonic counterfeits
Jewish people often forget why God struck their enemies with plagues, and some in Israel even partake in the same pagan sins
These sins include various sexual immoralities as well as worship of demonic powers (all other gods)
YHVH judges Israel and the nations for lack of repentance about these matters

This strong message is a huge speed bump for humanity, because both the Jewish people and the nations continually violate God’s ways and teachings. The lessons from the Exodus are not just Sunday School stories for little children. They reveal that humanity is coming face to face with the God who “smote the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues.” Few of us are ready for that encounter.

May I have your attention?

In Leonard Cohen’s song “Who by fire” (based on the Yom Kippur prayer ‘Unetana Tokef’), God’s hidden hand lies behind both the good and the bad of life that we all encounter: “And who by fire, who by water, who in the sunshine, who in the night time, who by high ordeal, who by common trial . . . And Who shall I say is calling?”

“The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of calamity and of pestilence” (Jeremiah 28:8)

One of God’s biblical goals in using plagues is to get His children to turn back to Him, so that we should cry out for deliverance and repent for our sins. This sober truth lies at the bedrock of the Mosaic covenant:

“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence . . . whatever plague or whatever sickness there is,whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own pain, and spreading his hands toward this house, then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each according to all his ways (whose heart You know for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men), that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers” (2 Chronicles 6:28-31)

YHVH’s night-appearance declaration to King Solomon (not long after the Dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem) is very popular right now:

Then YHVH appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:12-14; see also 2 Chronicles 20:5-12)

Plagues are a severe mercy, to borrow a term from C.S. Lewis. The means are severe, but the harvest can be amazing and full of grace. Blessed spiritual and physical results are dependent on our heart-response to the God of the Hebrews.

“Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear … Before Him goes pestilence, and plague comes after Him. He . . . startled the nations. Yes, the perpetual mountains (ed., a biblical symbol of world governments) were shattered, The ancient hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting” (Habakkuk 3:1-5).

Oh that My people would listen to Me!

When the world is out of kilter – when God’s ways are ignored or mocked – YHVH’s correction course gets our attention so that we will get back in line with the program. He woos us so that we might come to Him and trust Him, even in our tears and fears.

I will say to YHVH, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge. His covenant faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day; of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the destruction that lays waste at noon (Psalm 91:2-6)

God’s heart deeply desires His people Israel (as well as all the nations) to turn back to Him and embrace Him. Our strong-willed refusal to bow the knee and shed real tears of repentance freezes us in spiritual limbo:

“You called in trouble and I rescued you. I answered you in the hiding place of thunder. I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah. Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you. O Israel, if you would listen to Me! Let there be no strange god among you, nor shall you worship any foreign god. I, YHVH, am your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. But My people did not listen to My voice, and Israel did not obey Me. So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk in their own devices. Oh that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries. Those who hate YHVH would pretend obedience to Him, and their time of punishment would be forever. But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (Psalm 81:7-16)

The angel’s cry reveals the same: “I heard another voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues’” (Revelation 18:4).

Prophetic plagues in the future

Messiah Yeshua spoke of the Last Days, the birth pangs prior to His return. These Last Days will be marked by unusual events including plague: “And there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven” (Luke 21:11).

The point here is not to be blown away by such occurrences, but to stay on track while looking forward to the amazing return of Messiah. “And there shall be . . . distress of nations upon the earth, with perplexity, . . . men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. For the powers of heaven shall be shaken . . . And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:25-28).

The future plague-filled judgment on Gog and his international anti-Israel army will come about through YHVH’s direct counter-measures:

“With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him. And I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone” (Ezekiel 38:22).

The anti-Jewish armies who try to divide the Jewish capital city of Jerusalem will be melted away by divine plague:

Now this will be the plague with which YHVH will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth . . . So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse . . . No rain will fall on them. It will be the plague with which YHVH smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. (Zechariah 14:12, 15, 18)

One of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will unleash a plague which will catalyze the slaying of 25% of the earth:

“When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, ‘Come.’I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth” (Revelation 6:7-8)

The Two Witnesses will strike the earth with plagues as an integral part of their ministry:

These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying. And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. (Revelation 11:6)

Many people will respond to God’s plagues by blaspheming YHVH and refusing to repent:

Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. And they did not repent so as to give Him glory . . . And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men. And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe (Revelation 16:9, 21)

A broken world

We are living in a broken world. Both the just and the unjust experience national blessings. Both just and unjust also weather terrible tragedies. Messiah Yeshua said, “Your Father who is in heaven . . . causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).

At the same time, there is no one on the earth who is without sin, no one who is exempt from ‘the wages of sin’ (see Romans 6:23). As King David confesses, “Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge” (Psalm 51:4).

Most of the time plagues are ascribed in the Bible to a violation of the covenant between God and Israel, or to God’s judgment on unrighteous nations. Certainly at the present time both of these factors are indisputable realities. Nevertheless, until Messiah Yeshua returns, we will never fully understand the depths of God’s ways and His plans – especially when disasters, wars and pandemics occur. But we can still trust in God’s goodness, as David proclaimed: “How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day? … Consider and answer me, O YHVH my God! Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death . . . But I have trusted in Your covenant faithfulness. My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation!” (Psalm 13:2-5)

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now” (Romans 8:18-22)

Is the present pandemic a dry run?

A dear friend of ours, John Paul Jackson (a minister in the prophetic, now with the Lord) gave a prophetic word in 2008. Here is the quote: “The Lord told me there would be a pandemic that came, but the first one would prove to be little but feared, But the second one that comes would be serious. So there is a pandemic that is going to be coming.”

In light of the wealth of the biblical information on plagues, John Paul’s word should give us pause. At press time nearly 250,000 people have been infected with COVID-19 and over 10,000 people have succumbed to this pandemic. With an acknowledgment that this plague has garnered more media coverage than any other pandemic so far in history, it is probable that the COVID-19 pandemic will in the end have less fatalities than other pandemics of the past (www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/a-visual-history-of-pandemics/; https://www.mphonline.org/worst-pandemics-in-history/; www.visualcapitalist.com/history-of-pandemics-deadliest/):

HIV/AIDS pandemic (2005-2012) Death Toll: 36 million
Hong Kong Flu pandemic (1968) Death Toll: 1 million
Asian Flu pandemic (1956-1958) Death Toll: 2 million (69,800 in the USA)
Spanish Flu pandemic (1918) Death Toll: 20-50 million (675,000 USA)
Sixth cholera pandemic (1910-1911) Death Toll: 800,000+
Flu H3N8 pandemic (1889-1890) Death Toll: 1 million
Third cholera pandemic (1852–1860) Death Toll: 1 million
The Black Death (1346-1353) bubonic plague Death Toll: 75-200 million
Plague of Justinian (541-542) bubonic plague Death Toll: 25 million
Antonine plague (165 AD) Death Toll: 5 million

Anti-Semitism over the past 2,500 years has put its satanic stamp on human history – though its final and climactic expression is yet future (see Revelation 12). In a similar fashion, it seems, this terrible pandemic is a herald of even more sobering future pandemics.

In light of these challenges and prophetic possibilities, how does Messiah Yeshua want us to minister in an increasingly dark world? As Isaiah spoke about the Jewish people’s prophetic future, we can also ask God to shine through each one of us wherever it is most needed:

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of YHVH has risen upon you. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples. But YHVH shall arise upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising (Isaiah 60:1-3)

How should we then pray?

Pray for God to raise up mighty rivers of repentance which will pull the plug on this pandemic
Pray for the healing of many who are sick and for the saving of many lives
Pray for supernatural gifts of healing to increase on the earth through praying believers
Pray for divine strategies in preparation for further shakings and opportunities yet to come
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal or credit card) through: www.davidstent.org

Coronavirus and you

The coronavirus has now become a pandemic –

a “worldwide spread of a new disease” (www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/frequently_asked_questions/pandemic/en/ ).
“an epidemic that has spread over several countries or continents, usually affecting a large number of people” (www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/7/11-088815/en/#R2 )
“A true ... pandemic occurs when almost simultaneous transmission takes place worldwide” (www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/7/11-088815/en/)

A pandemic does not mean that the situation is the worst possible one. It simply refers to the fact that the virus is spreading widely and quickly.

Facts, spin, denial and omniscience

People respond to this pandemic in very human ways. Usually, people acknowledge the verifiable events. Immediately after that, fierce arguments break out as to the real meaning of these events. The following points may be helpful here:

There is a difference between the amount of people tested and the amount of people who have the virus. Some educated guesses suggest that 20-27 times more people have the virus than will ever be tested

The news media usually zoom in on the number of people infected, but less often tell us how many people have recovered

Most people (over 90%) who test positive for the virus are recovering/ will recover with no long-term problems

Some people will die from the virus. The percentages will depend on advanced age, preexisting immunity system issues and available medical treatment. Numbers thrown around are based on averaging things out – 0.7% South Korea; 4.9% Wuhan region of China; 5% Iran

The stark realities of this pandemic are unsettling for many people. Reactions include declaring that huge conspiracies are at work, blaming supposedly deliberate plots by China, the CIA or Israel’s Mossad for the spread of the virus. Others deny that the pandemic is even a problem, and assert that the whole thing is a manipulative ruse by politicians attempting to shore up their own rule.

Only an omniscient God knows exactly how many people will be touched by this virus and to what extent. The Bible’s perspective is stunningly reflected in the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) rabbinic prayer ‘Unetana tokef’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unetanneh_Tokef) which declares that God is both good and sovereign in all these events:

It is true that You alone are the One Who judges, proves, knows, and bears witness; Who writes and seals, Who counts and Who calculates … All mankind will pass before You like a flock of sheep. Like a shepherd pasturing his flock, making sheep pass under his staff, so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living. And You shall apportion the destinies of all Your creatures and inscribe their verdict . . . – how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die after a long life and who before his time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword and who by beast, who by famine and who by thirst, who by upheaval and who by plague, who by strangling and who by stoning.

This Yom Kippur confession is powerfully true. And that same truth also applies regarding the ultimate destiny of each one of us. It’s worth remembering the reality that God “has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained” (Acts 17:31). In light of that, we ruefully confess: “If You, O YHVH, should mark iniquities – O YHVH, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, so that You might be feared!” (Ps. 130:4).

Messiah Yeshua’s soon return to Jerusalem will establish the fallen Tent of David over Israel and the nations. All His promises will be established for the Jewish people. His judgments on all the peoples of this planet will also be actualized: “ But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:31-32).

Casting the first stone

When bad things happen, we want to know why. Who is guilty? Against whom do we point the finger? Two thoughts here:

Shi’ite Iraqi Islamic scholar Hadi Al-Modarresi, based in Qom, Iran, said on February 28, 2020 that the spread of coronavirus is undoubtedly an act of Allah’s divine punishment against China for their disrespect towards Muslims and Islam:

“It is obvious that the spread of this virus is an act of Allah. How do we know this? The spread of the coronavirus began in China, an ancient and vast country, the population of which makes up one seventh of humanity . . . The authorities in that country . . . laid siege to more than a million Muslims . . . Allah sent a disease upon them and this disease laid siege to 40 million [Chinese] . . . And there you have it, this disease spread . . . and it has scared humanity in its entirety” (www.memri.org/tv/qom-iraqi-scholar-hadi-modarresi-coronavirus-divine-punishment-chinese-mock-islam).

In early March, online sources reported that Hadi Al-Modarresi contracted coronavirus.

Messiah Yeshua raised the issue of individual responsibility in one of His comments on the collapse of a building in Jerusalem’s Shiloach neighborhood:

Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Yeshua said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Shiloach fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5)

Yeshua tells us that we need to avoid haste in ascribing specific guilt to people who suffer tragedies. The fact is that all of us have fallen short of the glory of God. None of us is righteous (see Psalm 14:1-3), and all of us are in need of repentance. The accurate reason for tragedies and judgments may not be available to us in the heat of the moment.

God’s wake-up weapons of discipline

Though many believers are not aware of it, the Bible does not mince words regarding God’s ability to bring judgment to a nation or even an entire planet (think Noah). Jeremiah, Ezekiel and John the Revelator refer to four weapons in YHVH’s hands – famine, wild beasts, the sword of war, and plagues – that He has used, does use and will use to speak to a deaf and rebellious world (see also 2 Samuel 24:13; 2 Kings 8:1; 2 Chronicles 20:9; Psalm 105:16; Jeremiah 5:12; 14:12, 15; 15:2; 21:7; 24:10; 27:8; 29:17-18; 34:17; 44:12-13; Ezekiel 5:12, 17; Revelation 6:8).

Then the word of YHVH came to me saying, “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast . . . Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it, even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live, declares YHVH God, they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness. For thus says YHVH God, How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it" (Ezekiel 14:12-21)

A pandemic touches all the nations of this world. Whether it is specific sins that are the fulcrum, or simply the general attitude of the world that ignores God, His values and guidelines – we may not clearly know at this point. But there is no question that, like King David in 2 Samuel 24, we need to cry out to YHVH the God of Israel and ask Him to stay His hand, grant repentance and hold the plague back from people (2 Samuel 24:21).

David purchased the threshing floor of Jerusalem’s Jebusite mayor (the Ara’unah) “‘in order to build an altar to YHVH, that the plague may be held back from the people.’ . . . So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. David built there an altar to YHVH and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus YHVH was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel” (2 Samuel 24:21-25).

The voice of King David echoes down through the pages of history to us, and it should become ours as well. As 70,000 Jewish men, women and children were perishing, he cried out to YHVH and asked “But these sheep, what have they done?” (2 Samuel 24:15-17).

Intercession for the sins of our nations is of great urgency right now!

Racing against the chariots of fire (2 Kings 6:17)

The Prophet Isaiah tells us that people respond to God’s judgments in two diametrically opposed ways:

“For when the earth experiences Your judgments, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Though the wicked is shown favor, he does not learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9-10).

The present pandemic challenges us to seek the face of God, to learn righteousness and to call out to Him for international mercy.

Some of us may feel that it is hard to keep up with all that is happening. Be encouraged that the God of Jacob is calling us to press onward to our upward calling in Messiah Yeshua (Philippians 3:12-14). Jeremiah’s challenge is ours as well: “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses?” (Jeremiah 12:5).

How should we then pray?

Pray for God to have mercy on your nation and to reveal the areas of needful repentance
Pray for the saving of many lives and the healing of many who are sick
Pray for gifts of healing to increase on the earth through praying believers
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal or credit card) through: www.davidstent.org