Remember well what YHVH your God did

The God of Jacob wants the Jewish people to remember. Moses instructed Israel:

If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’ – you are not to be afraid of them. You shall remember well what YHVH your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders, and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which YHVH your God brought you out. YHVH your God will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid (Deuteronomy 7:17-19)

YHVH tells His people to remember how in the past God gave them military victory over their enemies, in order that the whole nation would be encouraged in faith as they move in to defeat their present enemies.

God, we have heard with our ears – our fathers have told us – the work that You did in their days, in the days of old. You with Your own hand drove out the nations. Then You planted them. You afflicted the peoples; then You let them go free. For by their own sword they did not possess the land, and their own arm did not save them – but Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, for You favored them. You are my King, God! Command victories for Jacob! Through You we will push back our adversaries. Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, nor will my sword save me. But You have saved us from our adversaries, and You have put to shame those who hate us (Psalm 44:1-7)

Remembering in the key to redemption

Remembrance is the key to moving in exploits of faith. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov once said that “Forgetfulness leads to exile, but remembering is the key to redemption.” This principle is fleshed out by the German philosopher G.W. Hegel: “What experience and history teach is this – that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it” (Georg Wilhelm Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of History, 1832).

Yeshua exhorted His own disciples to remember and learn from events they themselves had seen and experienced: “And Yeshua . . . said to them . . . ‘Do you not yet comprehend or understand? Do you still have your heart hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?’” (Mark 8:17-19)

The Apostle Peter adds his ‘amen’ to the discussion: “I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of a reminder, to remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets” (1 Peter 3:1-2).

What are we supposed to remember at this time?

“So that the name of Israel will be no longer remembered”

The prophetic Psalm 83 reflects ancient hatred, both against the God of Israel and the people of Jacob. There are clear genocidal goals of these nations, which include:

Edom [Palestinians and southern Jordan]

Ishmael [Saudi Arabia]

Moab [central Jordan]

the Hagrites [Arabs]

Gebal [Lebanon]

Ammon [also central Jordan]

Amalek (here they appear again!]

Philistia [includes the territory of Gaza]

Tyre [Lebanon]

Assyria [northern Iraq]

For behold: Your enemies make an uproar, and those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people and conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, “Come, and let’s wipe them out as a nation, so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.” For they have conspired together with one mind; they make a covenant against You: the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined them. They have become a help to the children of Lot. Selah (Psalm 83:4-8)

People in the Middle East often have long memories; their history requires them to remember past hatreds and slaughters. And so it is in our day as well.

Remembering our shrewd enemies

The news cycle moves so quickly, often with coverage that does not give the reader tools to understand events. Here are three newsletters from the past years which give essential background, history and goals of Hamas, Qatar and Saudi Arabia:

The February 4, 2006 newsletter reveals the origins of Hamas; what they believe and their jihadi strategy in their own words; and how both Iran and Qatar are their main supporters: https://davidstent.org/hurtling-through-the-fog-of-war-a-messianic-perspective-on-the-new-hamastan/

The December 5, 2022 newsletter shines a spotlight on the darkness surrounding the Gulf state of Qatar – America’s supposed ‘ally’ while it remains the main bankroller of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, the Taliban, Al-Jazeera TV [a propaganda front for Hamas], etc.: https://davidstent.org/strong-horses-and-lion-cubs/

The September 14, 2020 newsletter uncovering Saudi Arabia’s machinations to weaken and dismember Israel; American willingness to speed that process along, and the connection between that and the 9/11 Islamist jihadi terror attacks in America: https://davidstent.org/saudis-rose-gardens-and-genesis-123-an-update-on-9-11/

We encourage you to read these newsletters in order to get a crystal clear understanding of what the threats are, what they will develop into, and how we can pray about these matters.

The commission of the God of Jacob

YHVH addressed Moses (starting in Deuteronomy 10) and gave him and Israel a holy charge:

“Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Egypt, how he confronted you on the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. So it shall come about, when YHVH your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land which YHVH your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, that you shall wipe out the mention of the name Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget” (Deuteronomy 25:17-19)

The God of Jacob takes the planning and violent deeds of Israel’s enemies very seriously. According to Genesis 12:3 these enemies are subject to the divine curse (see also Numbers 22:12; 23:7-8, 19-24), and their end will come at the hands of the army of Israel:

Behold, a people rises like a lioness and like a lion it raises itself. It will not lie down until it devours the prey (Numbers 23:24)

And I will inflict My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom in accordance with My anger and My wrath. So, they will know My vengeance, declares the Lord YHVH (Ezekiel 25:14)

Today’s events

The total number of Israelis murdered by Hamas has increased as bodies are discovered and identified. It now stands at just under 1,350 babies, children, teenagers, women, men and pensioners. The total number of Israeli wounded in the ‘einsatzgruppen’ Nazi-like jihadi terror attacks stands at over 3,400.

A handful of Hamas terror squads were interdicted and eliminated near the Gaza Strip, within Israel proper. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the firing of an anti-tank missile from Lebanon into Israel, killing an Israeli soldier, Staff Sgt. (res.) Matanya Elster, 22, of the 221st Battalion of the Carmeli Brigade.

A war government has been formed, bringing together Netanyahu’s coalition and Benny Gantz’s National Unity party. With three generals on board (present or former Chiefs of General Staff) on board, this move has found favor with the majority of Israelis as they prepare for the critical fast-approaching campaign – the ground invasion of Gaza and the total destruction of the jihadi terror group known as Hamas (as well as the second largest terror group in Gaza – Islamic Jihad).

How should we then pray?

Pray for the complete destruction of Islamist terrorist invaders either on Israeli soil or in all of Gaza
Pray for the physical rescue of the many Israelis (perhaps 165) who have been kidnapped
Pray for divine wisdom and decisive strategy to be given to Israel’s leaders in every area of planning
Pray that Lebanon’s leaders will be able to restrain Hezbollah from making moves which would be suicidal to that country
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth

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) through: www.davidstent.org

Breaking the jaws of the wicked

Over the past two days, Israel has been eliminating the remaining dregs of Hamas terrorists – the jihadi squads of over a thousand who crossed into Israel on the Sabbath to rape, murder, kidnap and torture. Going house to house and building to building, IDF soldiers have taken down or captured nearly a thousand terrorists. Israel’s army has also discovered bestial savagery of these jihadi ravagers, in the corpses discovered as the kibbutzim, moshavim, towns and fields have been combed.

In Kfar Aza, barely a few hundred meters from Gaza, the bodies of 40 slaughtered babies were discovered, many of them decapitated. Whole families were gunned down sleeping in their beds, or roughly hauled out to be executed while laughing terrorists filmed the events. A few kilometers from there, at a music festival, Hamas terrorists murdered 250 young people and went on to rape young women between the dead bodies of those slaughtered. Over 150 Israelis were brutally kidnapped to Gaza. Hamas has posted videos without any hesitation, showing mass rapes of young Israeli women, torture of children and decapitations of Israeli soldiers. Another photograph, verified by Israeli intelligence, shows many Israel babies and toddlers locked up in chicken pens which are stacked one on top of the other. These abominable acts are being applauded by those participating and witnessing in these videos. These images have gone viral in social media throughout the Arab world.

The heart of David

King David gives the anguished cry of our heart a biblical expression:

“Look at my enemies, for they are many, and they hate me with violent hatred” (Psalm 25:19)
“Do I not hate those who hate You, YHVH? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred. They have become my enemies” (Psalm 139:21-22)

The wisdom of Solomon

David’s son Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, added his footnote here: “One who justifies the wicked and one who condemns the righteous – both of them alike are an abomination to YHVH” (Proverbs 17:15). Hamas supporters have been marching in New York, London, Paris, Berlin and Sydney, chanting “Kill the Jews! F*** the Jews!”

In the Bible YHVH speaks highly of Job: “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:8). This God-fearing man addressed his prayer to God, asking Him to bring swift justice to such bestial people: “Look at everyone who is arrogant, and humble him, and trample down the wicked where they stand!” (Job 40:12; see also Job 29:17).

The decree of the God of Jacob

The majority of today’s Palestinians are descendants of Esau, also known as Edom. See my book ‘Jews, Arabs and the Middle East: a Messianic perspective’ for a detailed biblical and historical study of this (available at www.davidstent.org).

The prophets Obadiah and Ezekiel speak prophetic promises over Edom, the preeminent Last Days enemy of the Jewish people in the prophetic Scriptures:

“Will I not on that day, declares YHVH, eliminate wise men from Edom, and understanding from the mountain of Esau . . . so that everyone will be eliminated from the mountain of Esau by murder. Because of violence to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be eliminated forever” (Obadiah 8-10)

The Lord YHVH says this: Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has incurred great guilt, and avenged themselves upon them, therefore this is what the Lord YHVH says: “I will also reach out with My hand against Edom and eliminate human and animal life from it. And I will turn it into ruins; from Teman even to Dedan they will fall by the sword. And I will inflict My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom in accordance with My anger and My wrath. So they will know My vengeance,” declares the Lord YHVH (Ezekiel 25:12-14).

The God of Jacob directly and specifically commands Samuel what the Jewish people are to do with those enemies of Israel who seek her destruction: “Thus saith YHVH of armies, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not” (1 Samuel 15:2-3). Do we know this God?

King David gives us guidance on how to pray here: “Arise, YHVH; save me, my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheek. You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to YHVH! May Your blessing be upon Your people!” (Psalm 3:7-8).

Many followers of Messiah Yeshua are not deeply acquainted with the God of the Bible. They are comfortable with the image of a gentle Jesus, but appalled at the God of Moses, Joshua and Samuel. Isaiah’s vision of lion and lamb is ‘in,’ but YHVH coming to destroy Israel’s enemies is ‘out’ and make some believers distinctly ill at ease. But as the writer of the Epistle to the Messianic Jews (Hebrews) points out, “Messiah Yeshua is the same yesterday and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Are we willing to acknowledge and worship the One about whom Moses declared: “YHVH is a warrior – YHVH is His name . . . Your right hand, YHVH, is majestic in power! Your right hand, YHVH, destroys the enemies” (Exodus 15:3, 6).

When Messiah comes

Balaam prophesied by the Holy Spirit regarding one of the works that Messiah Son of David will perform at His return: “I shall see Him, but not now. I shall behold Him, but not nigh. There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth” (Numbers 24:17). Moab is in central Jordan today, and Sheth is a parallel term for the people of Moab (Shutu) found in ancient Egyptian documents.

The principle behind these prophesies is crystallized in Zechariah’s Last Days declaration: “And this shall be the plague wherewith YHVH will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem” (Zechariah 14:12). Evidently the God of Jacob is still highly agitated about those who take up weapons against Israel.

“For YHVH of armies says this: ‘After glory He has sent Me against the nations that plunder you, for the one who touches you, touches the apple of His eye” (Zechariah 2:8). Would that more Christians today would grasp this huge emphasis straight from the heart and eyes of God.

Ezekiel speaks of one of the main motivators and catalysts that will move Messiah Yeshua to return to Jerusalem:

Now you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of YHVH. This is what the Lord YHVH says: “Since the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting heights have become our possession,’ therefore prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord YHVH says: “For good reason they have made you desolate and harassed you from every side, so that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations; and you have been taken up in the talk and the rumor of the people.”’” Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord YHVH. This is what the Lord YHVH says to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate ruins and to the abandoned cities which have become plunder and an object of ridicule to the rest of the nations which are all around— therefore the Lord YHVH says this: “Certainly in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with contempt of soul, in order to make its pastureland plunder.” Therefore, prophesy in regard to the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “This is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have endured the insults of the nations.’ Therefore, the Lord YHVH says this: ‘I have sworn that the nations that are around you will certainly endure their insults themselves’ (Ezekiel 36:1-7)

It is because of Hamas’ bestial barbarism (as well as that of Hezbollah, Syria, the Muslim Brotherhood, etc.) and its cancerous increase in days to come, that the return of the Captain of the armies of YHVH will be triggered.

Isaiah’s Jewish vision of Messiah’s Second Coming

One of the most powerful descriptions of Messiah’s return is found in Isaiah 56, and quoted by Paul as the capstone of Romans 11. The God of Isaac expresses astonishment that the nations of the world couldn’t care less about the plight of the Jewish people. He is also astounded that most intercessors are not interceding for Israel’s protection, victory and salvation. In anger He abruptly stands up from His throne, puts on His body armor, and heads out to crush those who are doing Israel harm:

Now YHVH saw, and it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no one, and was amazed that there was not one to intercede. Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head. And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, so will He repay: wrath to His adversaries, retribution to His enemies; to the coastlands He will deal retribution. So they will fear the name of YHVH from the west and His glory from the rising of the sun. For He will come like a rushing stream which the wind of YHVH drives. A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those in Jacob who turn from wrongdoing, declares YHVH (Isaiah 59:15-20)

And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked (Isaiah 11:4)

These prophecies and the principles behind them are key to understanding why Satan hates the Jewish people so much, and why he is digging his own fiery grave by activating his demonized disciples to confront the living God and His armies. As David the shepherd teenager said, “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he has dared to defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 7:16).

Mopping up and mowing the grass

The IDF is still finding and eliminating squads of Hamas terrorists. In the past few hours, as I was typing up this newsletter, news flashes explained how various jihadi groups were discovered and destroyed in Ashkelon, Sderot, Zikim Beach, and two kibbutzim. Only when that operation is successfully completed will the ground war against the jihadi terrorist rat’s nest in Gaza begin.

How should we then pray?

Pray for the complete destruction of Islamist terrorist invaders still on Israeli soil
Pray for the physical rescue of the many Israelis who have been kidnapped
Pray for divine wisdom and decisive strategy to be given to Israel’s leaders in every area here
Pray that Lebanon’s leaders will be able to restrain Hezbollah from making moves which would be suicidal to that country
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth

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) through: www.davidstent.org

Blind watchmen, mute dogs and prophets

The surprise invasion by Islamist jihadi group Hamas has so far resulted in over 700 Israelis murdered, over 2,000 wounded, and an unknown number of Israeli citizens kidnapped to the terror enclave of Gaza (this includes retirees, fathers and mothers, children and babies). This is a terror attack of proportions heretofore unknown in Israel; the casualties are more in line with full-scale war. Prime Minister Netanyahu has indeed labeled this a war and not simply a military operation.

One question that many in Israel are asking, is this: how could the most technologically advanced power in the Middle East, constantly under attack by its neighbors and well-defended with the latest in military alarms and protection systems, be overwhelmed and totally surprised by fairly low-tech forces? How could an IDF network of tripwire observation posts and CCTV monitors have been completely overwhelmed? Why were there glaringly insufficient boots on the ground, and why did it take an average of between five to twelve hours for IDF forces to show up (whether by land or by air) to rescue Jews held hostage by kidnappers and terrorists?

Some of the answers to these questions are known and they are technically based. Other answers will only be discovered by digging more deeply. The most telling answers come from consulting biblical principles and they are spiritual in nature. This newsletter considers these various factors.

Blinding eyes through subterfuge

The motto of Israel’s Mossad (Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations) is taken from Proverbs 24:6: “For by stratagems you will wage war, and victory comes from much planning.” Israel’s top-notch secret service has won grudging respect world-wide for its bold and inventive operations, one of the latest being the smuggling of much of Iran’s secret nuclear bomb archives out of downtown Tehran. Yet in this latest terror incursion by Hamas, it seems that the Islamist terror group also made use of strategic deception, and planning which made use of low technology.

The massive launching of rockets at 0630 hours on what was both a Shabbat and a Jewish holiday was also a strategic diversion. With the IDF focusing its attention on Iron Dome defense, it did not pick up the fact that Hamas simultaneously was launching an entire fleet of motorized ultra-light hang-gliders with no radar footprint, which manually dropped bombs on many of the Israeli lookout positions. As soon as the lookouts were blinded, Hamas terror squads raced to 20 pre-arranged points along the fence, where up to 1,000 jihadi terrorists were waiting. Pre-positioned bulldozers razed IDF fences, and many white pickup trucks loaded with Islamist terrorists sped into Israel to wreak murder and mayhem, destruction and kidnapping. The IDF had never had the experience of facing an invasion by many squads of Hamas operatives. Similarly, many groups of naval commandos broke into Israel by way of the sea near IDF’s Zikim base – a departure from Hamas’ usual tactics of sending over only one or two Zodiac boats.

Between 12 to 24 IDF battalions which normally would have been present in Gaza were serving in counter-terrorist operations (again from Hamas) in the West Bank. The IDF reserves framework has recently been weakened as a result of the boiling internal debates in Israel over the judicial overhaul, and the Israeli Police were similarly weakened due to being used to guard anti-overhaul demonstrators instead of more pressing security needs. The Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah also distracted Israelis over this past weekend – all in all, the ingredients for a perfect storm.

In a recent interrogation of a Hamas terrorist captured by Israel, he noted a few points: Hamas had planned this coordinated attack for over one year; the anti-government demonstrations in Israel (which divided, distracted and weakened the nation) were a great encouragement to them; they broke through into Israel and were free to murder and kidnap for 5 hours before the IDF responded to them; 1,000 Hamas terrorists participated in the operation; they made 15 holes in the security fence; the Hamas forces were astounded that IDF forces were not there at the fence to confront the jihadi forces.

Politically correct gatekeepers

In 2012 an Israeli film was released entitled ‘The Gatekeepers.’ Interviews with six former heads (‘gatekeepers’) of Israel’s security agencies Mossad and Shin Bet (GSS) discussed their history of combatting Islamist terrorism. Amazingly enough, nearly all of them exhibited a strange sympathy for the terrorists, a stunning example of what is known as the Stockholm Syndrome.

Swedish criminologist and psychologist Nils Bejerot coined that term to describe that puzzling phenomenon, where a hostage actually buys in to the oppressor’s or captor’s perspective, and then finds his own soul overwhelmed by his captors’ lies. The Stockholm Syndrome should be understood first and foremost as a survival mechanism for cornered victims. Typical behavior of those suffering from this syndrome includes focusing on the abuser’s positive side and denying his violence; seeing the abuser as only a victim; believing that one deserves the abuser’s violence; hating that part of ones’ self which the abuser said caused the attack.

The Stockholm Syndrome has specific significance for Israelis in the Middle East. Nearly a hundred years of Islamic Arab war, hostilities and terrorism have triggered Stockholm Syndrome attitudes within many Israeli hearts: we have begun to defend our enemies, to ignore their murderous goals and to blame ourselves for their hateful attacks. The world has encouraged our syndrome through slanted media and through political and economic pressure. As a result, many in Israel have bought into an attitude of accepting the necessity of retreat from portions of our ancestral homeland, of needing to shrink Israel’s borders in order to be accepted in the Middle East, of hiding behind anti-terror walls, and of “shutting ourselves in and hoping for the best” in the words of a March 23, 2006 article in The Economist. Two of the three main parties on Israel’s election rolls state that retreating from and surrendering our land to our mortal enemies offer us the best chance for peace.

Approximately one year ago Rachel and I went out to buy shawarma at a popular food stand in one of Jerusalem’s outlying suburbs. I immediately recognized a former head of Israel’s Shabak/GSS who came in to order take-out. For many years I had hoped that I would be afforded an opportunity to ask this man a few questions related to the ‘Gatekeepers’ film. I introduced myself to him, letting him know that I was familiar with both his security history and the film. One of the questions I asked him was this: is it possible that the General Security Services and the Mossad underestimated the spiritual dynamic of jihadi Islam, and could that underestimating have hampered the security services from being more effective in dealing with these people. He agreed that this was a possibility, and also that most of his fellow gatekeepers were now advocating for a Palestinian state. He did not want to talk more deeply about the subject.

The Gatekeepers interviewed in the film nearly to a man, believed that it is possible to work with the PLO and that a Palestinian state is something with which Israel can co-exist. They see the problems as solvable – if Israel makes it financially worthwhile and stays out of Gaza’s way. This was also Ariel Sharon’s perspective when he marched Israel out of Gaza in 2005 – and Hamas happily obliged to fill the gap.

One huge reason that these gatekeepers have been blinded is because of their secular worldview, which ignores or mocks the biblical reality of Satan and the demonic. For them, Islam is simply one of the three great monotheistic faiths, and the murderous anti-Jewish teachings of Islam’s source documents should be dismissed out of hand as ‘bad form.’ See my book ‘Jews, Arabs and the Middle East: a Messianic perspective’ for much more source background, available at www.davidstent.org.

The threats that jihad poses to Israel are all too real, yet they are being ignored by a secular Jewish country more in tune with McDonald’s than with Messiah Yeshua. The gatekeepers are no longer guarding the gates, and 1,000 jihadis just flooded in. These gatekeepers are not only in the security services; they are also Israeli politicians and diplomats, professors and oligarchs. Instead of warning Israel and preparing for the clash with international jihad, these gatekeepers have become ‘partners in peace’ with our mortal enemies. They have fallen asleep on the job.

Gatekeepers, watchmen and prophets

The Hebrew word for watchtower observer is tatzpetanit, related to the Hebrew root tsaphah. That word is the root used for ‘watchman’ or ‘tsopheh.’ YHVH’s commission to Ezekiel focuses on this word: “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the House of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me” (Ezekiel 3:17). A watchman is someone who observes what the God of Jacob is saying, and then speaks it out in obedience in the right circumstance.

Hosea puts some meat on the bones here, explaining that a watchman speaks out for God; therefore, he is a prophet: “Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a prophet” (Hosea 9:8). To be a gatekeeping watchman is a prophetic calling.

The serious responsibility of being a watchman is laid out in Ezekiel chapter 33:2-6:

Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, “If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the horn and warns the people, then someone who hears the sound of the horn but does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the horn but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the horn and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away for his wrongdoing; but I will require his blood from the watchman’s hand.”

In that light, Isaiah’s warning chills the blood: Israel’s watchmen, gatekeepers and prophets are sometimes asleep at the wheel, dumb dogs who have forgotten how to bark and to warn: “His watchmen are blind; all of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs unable to bark – dreamers lying down, who love to slumber” (Isaiah 56:10-11).

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, warns us all: “Unless YHVH builds a house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless YHVH guards a city, the watchman stays awake in vain” (Psalm 127:1). Israel’s leadership needs a spiritual visitation and revival. We are unprepared for the severe challenges facing us.

Mopping up, moving out, moving in

There are still pockets of deadly Hamas terrorist gangs roaming the Western Negev. The IDF is finding them one-by-one and two-by-two, and dispatching them. Today saw an organized evacuation of all Jewish kibbutzim and moshavim which border the Gaza Strip, as well as an evacuation of seven kibbutzim and towns bordering Lebanon in the north of Israel. As soon as these moves are completed, probably in less than 24 hours, the IDF’s entrance into the jihadi terrorist strongholds of Gaza will commence, probably preceded by the softening up of Hamas fortresses through artillery barrages, tank fire and pinpoint smart-bombs. Since Hamas strategically locates its rocket pads, command and control centers, and weapons depots in civilian areas, next to hospitals, tunneling under mosques and UN schools, one can be sure that world opinion (now sympathetic to Israel’s war aims) will swiftly pivot and turn against the Jewish state and her army.

How should we then pray?

Pray for the defeat and destruction of Islamist terrorist invaders on Israeli soil
Pray for the physical rescue of the many Israelis under siege, those who are kidnapped, and those who are wounded
Pray for divine wisdom and decisive strategy to be given to Israel’s leaders in every area required here
Pray that Lebanon’s leaders will be able to restrain Hezbollah from making moves which are suicidal to that country
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth

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) through: www.davidstent.org

Lest the sons of the Philistines rejoice

King Saul and his son Jonathan died defending the people of Israel on the mountains of Gilboa. Jonathan was killed in the battle, while Saul took his own life, falling on his sword. David son of Jesse, the soon-coming king, led the tribe of Judah in a public lament known as ‘the mourning song of the bow.’

Then David sang this song of mourning over Saul and his son Jonathan, and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the mourning song of the bow. Behold, it is written in the Book of Yashar: “Your beauty, Israel, is slaughtered on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! Tell it not in Gath; proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the Philistine daughters rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised celebrate” (2 Samuel 1:17-20)

The surprise attack on the morning of October 7 by Islamist terrorists from Hamas and Islamic Jihad has brought forth its demonic fruit – the slaughter of at least 250 Israelis, the wounding of over a thousand Jewish people, and the kidnapping to Gazan underground tunnels and prisons of hundreds more citizens of the Jewish state. These crimes were met with rejoicing among the bestial mobs of Gaza. Golden-ager Jewish women were shot at point blank range by jihadi terror squads, as were their daughters and grandchildren. Bodies of young women and soldiers were dragged across public squares and stomped on by mobs screaming out ‘Allahu akbar’ – ‘Allah is greater.’ Teenaged girls were hauled by their hair past violent crowds, while candies and sweet pastries were distributed to the Gazan bystanders in celebration of this ‘uncircumcised victory.’

What has happened here? What is about to happen? How did these events catch the Israel Defense Forces seemingly by surprise? How can we pray into these matters?

“They make shrewd plans against Your people”

On Friday September 1 and Saturday September 2, 2023, two fateful meetings were held in Beirut. At the first meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met with Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri and Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziyad al-Nakhalah to discuss the upcoming October attacks on Israel. On the next day, they were joined by Lebanese Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah to work on “the importance of coordination between the resistance movements, especially in Palestine and Lebanon, on all political, security and military developments.”

The words of Asaph the psalmist carry enormous prophetic weight here:

God, do not remain quiet! Do not be silent and, God, do not be still! For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, and those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people, and conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, “Come, and let’s wipe them out as a nation, so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.” For they have conspired together with one mind; they make a covenant against You: the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre (Psalm 83:1-7)

The date chosen was fifty years plus one day after the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, which happened on October 6, 1973. The symbolism here is also reflected in the attacks on the US diplomatic compound and CIA annex in Libya on September 11, 2012, the anniversary of al Qa’eda’s World Trade Center jihadi terror attack of September 11, 2001. In the Egyptian narrative, the Yom Kippur War is seen as an Arab victory against the Jewish state.

“They make shrewd plans against Your people”

In a sober parallel to how Israeli military intelligence was unprepared for the Yom Kippur war, so it seems that the Israel Defense Forces were painfully taken by surprise by the Hamas terror incursion into the sovereign State of Israel. The prophet Isaiah saw something similar in his own day: “His watchmen are blind! All of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs unable to bark – dreamers lying down, who love to slumber” (Isaiah 56:10).

Intelligence failures do happen. Pearl Harbor, 9/11, Vietnam, Afghanistan (for British, Russian and American armies) – all indicate that such things are not foreign to military history. In 1973 Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Dayan as well as some in AMAN (Military Intelligence Directorate) were guilty of hubris (hutzpah in Hebrew) in underestimating the enemy and in overestimating the IDF’s battle readiness. After the shooting stops in Israel and the smoke clears after this round, the commission looking into these blunders will have its work cut out for it.

How did the incursion happen?

Hamas unleashed a barrage of rockets aimed at civilian targets at 06:30 am, Saturday October 7, 2023. Kibbutzim, moshavim, towns, cities and military posts were attacked. Simultaneously, parachuting terrorists on ultra-light single-place powered vehicles glided onto Israeli territory next to kibbutzim (communal farms). Zodiac rubber boats crossed the short distance between Gaza and Israel, unloading heavily armed jihadis. Hamas engineers cut through the border fences, allowing at least ten pickup trucks armed with sub-machine gun and RPG-toting terrorists to break through and head to at least 21 different locations. Their goals: to murder Israeli men, women and children; to take hostages and spirit the captives back to Gaza or, in worse case scenarios, to engage in negotiations with the IDF for the release of Hamas terrorist jailed in Israel; to strike terror into the hearts of Israelis; and most probably to feint with a strategic diversion, drawing down IDF forces from the Lebanese border so that Hezbollah would have greater freedom of movement in attacking Israel.

All of these goals were successful.

Approximately 21 kibbutzim, moshavim, towns and cities were assaulted by Hamas terrorists. It took the IDF many hours to arrive, organize and counter-attack. Though in the end they have achieved some mastery of the areas involved, many civilians were murdered or kidnapped to Gaza in the meantime. Our personal friends had their home broken into while they hid. The Hamas terrorists staked out the living room and were there for some hours before IDF special forces broke in and freed our friends. Our friends’ son had some of his best friends captured and dragged off to Gaza in a jihadi kidnapping. Many others on that kibbutz were also kidnapped.

Over 250 Israelis have been murdered by the jihadis and over 1,100 have been wounded, many severely. Hundreds are presumed kidnapped. Hamas is presently firing rockets into civilian areas in the Greater Tel Aviv area, and they are firing those rockets from civilian neighborhoods in Gaza. This is a double war-crime.

Where do we go from here?

The IDF’s immediate military goals are twofold: to destroy any and all Hamas/Islamic Jihad rocket fire through the Israeli Iron Dome mobile air-defense system; to wipe out any Hamas terror squads that are still operating freely in Israel. One example is at Kibbutz Be’eri adjoining the Gaza Strip, where approximately 50 kibbutz members are being held hostage in the communal dining hall. There seem to be at least seven centers of terror activities, though there originally were 21 earlier this afternoon. A general call-up of reserves has been taking place this afternoon, and normal Israelis in all walks of life (including many Messianic Jews) have headed out to the front lines, preparing for a land incursion into the Gaza Strip.

When Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided to withdraw all Israeli civilians and military from Gaza, he was applauded by many of the left of center – including by one or two well-known Israeli Messianic leaders. Gaza quickly fell to Hamas in the only free elections it ever had in 2006. The USA contributed USD $2.3 million through USAID to help, and former president Jimmy Carter’s Carter Center reported “a professional and impartial performance of election officials.” As soon as Hamas won the election, it proceeded to knee-cap, torture and murder Arafat’s PLO cadres. Within a short time Gaza became a jihadi terror base aimed at destroying Israel. Sharon’s legacy has blossomed into an ongoing terror campaign funded and overseen by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Gaza Strip is honeycombed with terror tunnels – far more than those faced by US forces in Vietnam. Hamas has hidden kidnap victims in these tunnels, which are heavily mined. Hamas’ high command HQ is situated under Shifa Hospital, raising ethical dilemmas for Israel’s warrior strategists. In order to ‘crush the head of the serpent,’ the battle must be prosecuted on land and underground as well. Hamas has spent much time preparing for these clashes, and will attempt to exact a high price in dead, wounded and kidnapped Israeli soldiers.

Hezbollah on the move

Israel’s doyen of military commentators Ehud Yaari has reported today that Hezbollah forces in Lebanon have raised their level of military preparedness to standby for their long-stated goal of invading Israel and unleashing their arsenal of 150,000 GPS-guided rockets. The UN UNIFIL observer forces have been moving into their comfortable military bases to get out of the way, as was once done in Sinai prior to the Six Day War on May 19, 1967. Time will soon tell, but it is highly likely that Hezbollah will enter the theater of combat in the very short future.

Israel has clearly warned Lebanon over the past decade that Hezbollah’s use of its rocket arsenal would force Israel “to return Lebanon back to the Stone Age . . . We will not hesitate to use all our power,” said Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

If this long-discussed battle breaks out, with Lebanon attacking Israel through tunnels, hang gliders, commando incursions and rockets, the Middle East may be facing one of the most intense periods of war that it has ever seen.

How should we then pray?

Pray for the defeat and destruction of Islamist terrorist invaders
Pray for the physical rescue of Israelis under siege, those who are kidnapped, those who are wounded
Pray for divine wisdom and decisive strategy to be given to Israel’s leaders in every area
Pray that Lebanon’s leaders will be able to restrain Hezbollah from making moves which are suicidal to that country
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth

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) through: www.davidstent.org

Hamas surprise attack

At approximately 06:30 am Israeli time, on a quiet Shabbat morning, we were awakened by the repeating wailing of air raid sirens. For the past four hours the Islamist terror group Hamas has been firing rockets across southern Israel (Beersheva, Arad, Dimona, Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, etc.) and also at the Greater Tel Aviv area and at the outlying suburbs of Jerusalem.

Though the Iron Dome anti-rocket defenses have managed to stop most of the rockets, some of landed. A 60 year old woman was murdered by a direct hit; some are moderately wounded.

Simultaneously, at least ten white pickup trucks driven by Hamas suicide squad jihadis crossed into Israel (as well as some on ultra-light single-place powered parachutists) and attacked approximately 21 sites, including kibbutzim and moshavim (farms), small towns (including police stations). They have been slaughtering civilians, including mothers and children, breaking into houses and indiscriminately killing the inhabitants. We have friends who have terrorists in their house as I write.

At least five IDF soldiers have been kidnapped and spirited away to Gaza. A Hummer armored vehicle most likely belonging to them has been paraded in the streets of Gaza – shades of 2 Samuel 1:20: “Tell it not in Gath, Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, Or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, The daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate.” There are sketchy details of at least 35 others kidnapped. Scores of IDF soldiers have been murdered. Over 80 casualties have been brought to Beersheva’s Soroka hospital, and other figures quote 150 wounded. The situation of the ground is quite fluid.

At the moment of this writing, there are still many active sites of military confrontation between terrorist gangs and Israeli citizens/the IDF – 21 sites was the figure Israel’s Chief of Police mentioned thirty minutes ago. Islamic Jihad has joined in the hostilities against Israel in the last hour.

Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif issued a false-flag declaration that these attacks are being done by Muslims outraged at Israel’s defiling of the Temple Mount. This false charge has been repeated many times since 1929, and has always led to Islamist attacks on Jewish civilians. See previous newsletters which give a historical overview here, here and here. A vudeo was posted of terrorist chiefs rejoicing and then giving thanks to Islam’s spiritual leader in prayer.

The probable spark for this conflict has little to do with the Temple Mount, and everything to do with Iran. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are Iranian client proxies. Iran is catalyzing terror attacks against Israeli civilians to threaten Israel, Saudi Arabia and the USA about the warming of military ties between the Saudis and Israel. This is a warning shot across the bows.

Israel has issued a broad call-up of reserves and has called this campaign Operations Iron Swords.

The broad nature of this surprise attack, the civilian and military casualties and kidnappings from Israeli cities and kibbutzim – these will of necessity require a very strong Israeli response. There have been deaths so far today, and there will undoubtedly be many more.

Please pray as the Psalmist did: “Arise, YHVH, confront him, make him bow down! Save my soul from the wicked with Your sword” (Psalm 17:13).

How should we then pray?

Pray for the defeat and destruction of Islamist terrorist invaders
Pray for the physical rescue of Israelis under siege, those who are kidnapped, those who are wounded
Pray for divine wisdom and decisive strategy to be given to Israel’s leaders in every area
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth

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) through: www.davidstent.org

When rivers flow from our kishkes

This weekend is the Hebrew calendar’s celebration of the seventh day of the Feast of Sukkot/Tabernacles, known as Hoshana Rabbah (‘the Great Hosanna’).

Now the Feast of the Jews – the Feast of Booths – was near . . . But when His brothers had gone up to the Feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as though in secret. So the Jewish people were looking for Him at the feast and saying, “Where is He?” . . . But when it was now the middle of the Feast, Yeshua went up into the Temple area, and began to teach. The Jewish people then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, not having been educated?” . . . Now on the last day, the Great Day of the Feast, Yeshua stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive. For the Spirit was not yet given, because Yeshua was not yet glorified. Some of the people therefore, after they heard these words, were saying, “This truly is the Prophet.” Others were saying, “This is the Messiah” (John 7:2, 10-11, 14-15, 37-41)

A gut feeling

Kishke is a well-known Ashkenazi Yiddish food made from cow’s intestine stuffed with mincemeat, rice, vegetables and flour. The origin of the word is Slavic. In Polish it is kiszka; in Russian the word is кишка́ (kišká); in Ukrainian ки́шка (kýška). The ancient Slavic root is kyša, kyšьka, meaning ‘intestine’ or ‘stomach.’ It may even go back to the ancient Sanskrit synonym koṣṭha, and the Ancient Greek κύστις (kústis, “bladder”). In Yiddish kishke can be synonymous with ‘gut’ – as in, ‘I feel it in my kishkes.’ As a writer said in the Hamilton Jewish News, “Yiddish . . . lives on in our kishkes – our guts – should we choose to remember those who lived by them and spilled them.”

Frank John Yankovic (who passed in 1998) was an accordion player from Cleveland with Slovenian roots known as Grammy-award winning ‘America's Polka King.’ His 1963 cover of ‘Who stole the kishka?’ is still a popular polka tune.

The Yiddish expression ‘kishke-gelt’ refers to money earned by self-deprivation so extreme that it’s ‘ripped from the intestines.’

The Greek equivalent to ‘kishkes’ used in John 7:38 is Κοιλία (koilia), meaning the whole belly, the lower belly, the womb, or the innermost part of a man, the soul, heart: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being [i.e., his belly/kishkes] will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38).

The Feast of Tabernacles – a promise for every believer

The Apostle John takes pains to explain to us, his readers, that this Feast of Tabernacles promise is for ‘the one who believes in Me’ and for ‘anyone who is thirsty:’ “But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive. For the Spirit was not yet given, because Yeshua was not yet glorified.” A normal believer’s spiritual inheritance is to have rushing rivers of living waters flowing from his or her innermost being. That is Yeshua’s promise!

Paul echoes and amplifies this calling: “And do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit!” (Ephesians 5:18). He contrasts two words ‘become drunk’ (methuskó) with ‘be filled up’ (pléroó). The overwhelming nature of the experience and its profound effect on our behavior and conduct are what Paul wants us to meditate on.

Sukkot/Tabernacles/Booths is a multifaceted Jewish holiday. It not only reminds us of two biblical principles:

“So that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am YHVH your God” (Leviticus 23:43)

“You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths for seven days when you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat. And you shall rejoice in your Feast, you, your son and your daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow who are in your towns. For seven days you shall celebrate a Feast to YHVH your God in the place which YHVH chooses, because YHVH your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful” (Deuteronomy 16:13-15)

It also calls us to remember Messiah Yeshua’s promise – that if we thirst for God and believe in Him whom He has sent, we will experience Holy Spirit rivers of living waters flowing out of our kishkes! What an amazing promise to lay hold of!

May we as followers of Israel’s Messiah Yeshua reach out to the God of Israel and ask Him to fill us up in our innermost being; to reveal any obstacles or stumbling blocks which might impede His work; and to ask YHVH to keep tenderizing our hearts on a daily basis: “But encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called ‘today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).

How should we then pray?

Pray for us to receive revelation about Messiah Yeshua’s promise of these rivers of living waters
Pray for Messianic Jews and Gentiles everywhere to open our hearts without fear or unbelief to Holy Spirit
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth

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) through: www.davidstent.org

Riders of the Lost Ark – A Yom Kippur story – Part Two

This is the second of a two-part newsletter about Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

I had an interesting childhood – attended Yiddish school, was involved with Yiddish theater and played in a Yiddish mandolin orchestra. Though at rare times I got suited up with my dad on the High Holidays and went to synagogue, my viewpoint was like that of my Yiddish-speaking communist parents: anyone who believed in God was both primitive and superstitious.

But I still knew that there was something different about Yom Kippur. Call it a nagging feeling, but I knew that many Jews felt that the Day of Atonement was the one Jewish holy day not to treat lightly. Jews who didn’t fast or try to feel repentant on that day might be cut off from the Jewish people forever. That’s what I understood Jewish tradition to say. For many of my friends, Yom Kippur was the only time they attended synagogue – ‘Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur Jews’ were like ‘Christmas and Easter Christians,’ it seemed to me.

As a child, my father backed up Yossele Rosenblatt, considered the finest cantor of his time, in a synagogue choir in Manhattan. I still have my father’s Yom Kippur prayer book which he worked from as a cantor in the U.S. Army during WWII – complete with penciled-in notes as to who would sing what. I remember how his voice sounded when he sang Yom Kippur cantorial melodies.

I knew that the high point, the most decisive spiritual climax of the synagogue service, was the Ne’ila – the locking of the doors of Heaven, I was told. These were the last possible seconds in the packed service where one’s personal repentance might actually accomplish something before the God of Jacob. The final blast of the shofar brought that drama to a close, and my father and I would slowly return home.

Only after I came to faith in Messiah Yeshua did I begin to sift through tradition and history, comparing them to what Moses and the Prophets taught. As a young Messianic Jew, I also tried to learn from older brothers and sisters in the Lord, but found that most of them knew even less than I did about these matters. This newsletter is a short summation of what I have learned since then, presented in five questions:

What went on in both the Tabernacle and the Temple on the Day of Atonement

What does the biblical term ‘to be cut off’ (associated with Yom Kippur) mean for us today

What rabbinic teachings shape most Jewish people’s understanding of the Day of Atonement

How can Messianic believers relate to Yom Kippur

What do the prophetic Scriptures say about Yom Kippur and the Jewish people’s destiny

A Day in the life

The Third Book of Moses (Vayyīqrāʾin Hebrew, Leuïtikón in Greek and Leviticus in English) describes the events of the Day of Atonement, step by step and hour by hour. Leviticus 16:1-34 presents the events from the perspective of what tasks the High Priest needed to accomplish, while Leviticus 23:26-32 addresses the common people of Israel and their commemoration of the Holy Day. Numbers 29:7-11 gives a complete list of the offerings and sacrifices (sin, burnt, grain, drink) commemorated on that day. Here are the five main stages of Yom Kippur:

The High Priest purifies himself and dons special linen garments
He cleanses the Tabernacle from impurities
He makes an atoning sacrifice for national sin
He sprinkles the atoning blood on the kapōret (the place of the atoning cover on the Ark of the Covenant)
He sends the scapegoat (the azazel) into the wilderness, a prophetic symbol of the total removal of Israel’s sin

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews [Messianic Jews] sums up this activity:

Therefore, even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Torah, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the [Mosaic] Teaching, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:18-22)

The Book of Leviticus 16:29-34 stresses the following heart attitudes and practices:

humble yourselves and do no work
a Sabbath of solemn rest in order to humble yourselves
a permanent statute once every year

The Book of Leviticus 23:26-32 adds:

a holy convocation
humble yourselves and do no work (mentioned 2-3 times)
“Any person who does not humble himself shall be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on this very day, that person I will eliminate from among his people”
a Sabbath of complete rest

Israel’s sobriety of heart and self-humbling of spirit were part and parcel of the national sin offering event. Yom Kippur was not exactly a happy festival; its somber nature eventually was connected to fasting, although that specific word is not used by the Bible in all of the contexts.

Cutting it close

YHVH entrusted the act of male circumcision on the eighth day to Abraham in Genesis 17:14. Disobedience on this point entailed being cut off from the Abrahamic Covenant and from the Jewish people:

“And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations . . . So My covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. But as for an uncircumcised male, one who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people. He has broken My covenant” (Genesis 17:12-14)

The Hebrew term karath used in Genesis 17 means to cut down, cut off or destroy. It has a secondary meaning ‘to cut’ or to make a covenant. When the term is used with the sense ‘to cut off,’ it can refer to one of three possible meanings. Context is important in the interpreting which one of the three is being stressed. It should also be understood that these definitions are probably the maximum limits which judges could mete out, and not woodenly required in each situation:

to be cut off eternally from God
to be excommunicated on earth by men or by God
to be physically put to death directly by man or through God’s sovereign outworking

The following are 14 examples of activities which result in ‘being cut off,’ according to the Mosaic Covenant:

Kidnapping and slavery Exodus 21:16
Being a false prophet Deuteronomy 13
Blasphemy Leviticus 24:16; 1 Kings 21:10
Idolatry Deuteronomy 13:6-10
Occult practices Leviticus 20:27
Adultery Deuteronomy 22:22
Adultery with an engaged woman Deuteronomy 22:23-24
Incest Leviticus 20:11-14
Homosexuality Leviticus 20:13
Bestiality Leviticus 20:15-16
Harlotry Deuteronomy 22:21
Premeditated murder Exodus 21:12
Violating the Shabbat Exodus 31:14-16; Numbers 15:32-36
Persistent/high-handed disobedience to God or to one's parents (b'yad rama)
Numbers 15:3-31; Leviticus 20:9; Deuteronomy 21:20-21; Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:2-3

Some of these judgments were capital offences, while other would involve exclusion from the community – either open-ended or limited in time (a ban). Numbers 27:14 refers to the rebellion at Kadesh, yet YHVH did not destroy Israel. Instead, His discipline entailed a national delay in entering the Promised Land – though most of that generation did die in the wilderness (Numbers 26:65). When the Mosaic Covenant allows no atoning sacrifice for sin, and yet God graciously does not cut our people off, there is room for humbly rejoicing:

See then the kindness and severity of God: to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; for otherwise you too will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be uninformed of this mystery – so that you will not be wise in your own estimation – that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove ungodliness from Jacob . . . This is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” In relation to the gospel they are enemies on your account, but in relation to God’s choice they are beloved on account of the fathers – for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:22-29)

In 1 Corinthians 5:5 and 11:28-32 Paul points out how God can bring judgment on believers who highhandedly violate biblical commands. Though prosecutable evidence may escape human judges’ detection, God who sees everything may bring His justice about in His own time. The fear of the Lord is supposed to affect the community, so that all will know that YHVH will not tolerate hypocrisy and hidden sin in Israel’s public worship, praise and celebration (see Jude 1:12).

Messiah our Righteousness is cut off

There are two passages in the Scriptures which use the verb ‘cut off’ in connection with the Messiah: “Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off (yikaret) and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary” (Daniel 9:26). Isaiah adds a corresponding thought, using a similar Hebrew verb to karath (‘nigzar’): “By oppression and judgment He was taken away. And as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off from the land of the living for the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?” (Isaiah 53:8). God’s redemptive decision to ‘cut off’ the Messiah is the highest point in the history of atonement!

But YHVH was pleased to crush Him, causing Him grief. If He renders Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of YHVH will prosper in His hand. (Isaiah 53:10)

Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these things, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Messiah did not enter a holy place made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the consummation of the ages He has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment, so Messiah also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. (Hebrews 9:23-28)

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and congregation of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Yeshua, the mediator of a New Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:22-24)

But when Messiah appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the Holy Place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:11-14)

The Tashlich tradition – future sprinkling, washing and cleansing

A Jewish tradition from the late medieval period is based on Micah 7:18-20, where YHVH promises to cast (tashlich) all Israel’s sins into the depths of the sea. The forgiveness of the sins of the sons and daughters of Jacob is an oft-repeated theme in the prophets. This cleansing comes about as a result of Yeshua’s atonement:

Psalm 51:2 washing and cleansing

Isaiah 44:22 wiping out sins

Micah 7:18-19 passing over the sin of remnant, casting it into the sea

Ezekiel 26:25 sprinkling clean water, cleansing

Jeremiah 33:8 cleansing and forgiving

Jeremiah 50:20 searching for Israel’s sins but they are not found

Zechariah 13:1 fountain of cleansing for House of David and inhabitants of Jerusalem

Ephesians 5:26 Messiah Yeshua cleanses us by the washing of water with the Word

But when Messiah appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the Holy Place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:11-14)

They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know YHVH,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares YHVH, for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember (Jeremiah 31:34)

For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the lands; and I will bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and bring it about that you walk in My statutes, and are careful and follow My ordinances (Ezekiel 36:24-27)

Cherries Jubilee

YHVH commanded that, once every fifty years, a national forgiveness of debts should be proclaimed across Israel. All debts would be wiped off the books – a joyous event indeed! Yom Kippur was the occasion for huge celebration among the Jewish people – a physical manifestation of a glorious spiritual reality:

You shall then sound a shofar abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonements you shall sound a shofar all through your land. So you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family (Leviticus 25:9-10)

“Behold, I am going to engrave an inscription on it, declares YHVH of armies, and I will remove the guilt of that land in one day” (Zechariah 3:9)

A rabbinic Yom Kippur

Modern Orthodox Jewish perspectives on the Ten Days of Awe and the Day of Atonement have historical roots. After the Second Temple was destroyed by Imperial Rome, hopes for its speedy rebuilding did not materialize. Rabbinic Judaism then ‘rebuilt itself,’ bringing in non-biblical ceremonies of atonement which were not based on sacrifices on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. This required massive restructuring, and today’s Orthodox Judaism is that product – a step-child of Second Temple Judaism, one which has departed from the atonement-based foundations of Moses and Messiah Yeshua.

IN the 200’s A.D. Rabbi Judah the Prince (author of the Mishnah) brought forward a new and non-biblical concept regarding a staggered process: individual Jews are judged on the Feast of Trumpets but that judgment is only sealed on the Day of Atonement:

“Rabbi Judah says: All are judged on New Year and the separate dooms are sealed each in its time – on Passover in respect of produce, on Pentecost in respect of fruit, on Tabernacles judgment is passed in respect of rain, and man is judged on New Year and his doom is sealed on the Day of Atonement” (BabylonianTalmud [TB], Tractate Rosh Hashana 16a).

A few years after him, Rabbi Yochanan expanded on Rabbi Judah’s new teaching, adding embellishments of his own:

“Three books are opened (in heaven) on New Year, one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for the intermediate. The thoroughly righteous are forthwith inscribed definitively in the book of life. The thoroughly wicked are forthwith inscribed definitively in the book of death. The doom of the intermediate is suspended from New Year till the Day of Atonement. If they deserve well, they are inscribed in the book of life. If they do not deserve well, they are inscribed in the book of death” (TB, Tractate Rosh Hashana 16b).

This tradition has led to Rosh Hashana (the Feast of Trumpets) being described as Yom Ha-Din – the Day of Judgment.

Nearly one thousand years later, Rambam (Moshe ben Maimon or Maimonides) tried to explain the spiritual basis behind these not-biblically-based decisions. In his Mikra’ot Gedolot commentary on Leviticus, he stated:

“Now Scripture did not explain the reason for this commandment – why [we must do] the blowing [of the horn], and why we need a memorial before God on this day more than on all other days, and why He commanded altogether that this day should be a holy convocation. But because this day comes at the beginning of the month in which the Day of Atonement occurs, it would appear that on the New Year there is a judgment before Him, blessed be He, for by these He judges the peoples: on the New Year He sits upon the throne as the righteous Judge, and afterwards in the course of the next ten days He forgives the transgression of His servants.”

There we have it. Without biblical warrant, a whole new envelope was created and a whole new emphasis and understanding was given to these two biblical Holy Convocations. This transformed the biblical understanding and emphases of Yom Kippur into what is traditionally followed today. From changing the biblical New Year to Eitanim/Tishrei, to a legally legislated Ten Days of Awe, to proclaiming that each and every individual Jew’s destiny is written down one year at a time in the Book of Life – these less-than-biblical emphases are traditionally embraced by many Jewish people.

It’s not easy being a Messianic Jew

For the remnant of Israel, we Messianic Jewish men and women who follow Messiah Yeshua, there are many scattered rocks and remains of broken buildings on our spiritual path to restoring the Jewish people in our Land – both physically and spiritually. Occasionally and poetically speaking, there is unexploded ordnance and even an active mine or two. Do pray for our fledgling community as we stride forward, laboring for the restoration of Jacob’s seed to the God of Jacob and to David’s Greater Son!

How can Messianic believers relate to Yom Kippur? Here are some foundational points:

Clearly, we are under the New Covenant and our atonement is through Yeshua.

We are not looking for our names to be written once yearly in heavenly books, for as Messiah Yeshua said: “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven” (Luke 10:20). “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time. And at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued” (Daniel 12:1)

If we choose to fast, it is in intercession for our people, that they would turn to Messiah Yeshua and receive His atonement – and not that our fasting would atone for our sins. These have already been atoned for by Yeshua. “But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:17-18).

It seems that the Apostle Paul was used to fasting on Yom Kippur: “When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the Fast was already over . . . “ (Acts 27:9).

We who follow Messiah are called to confess our sins before God on a daily basis, and to experience our personal Yom Kippur each day, as the blood of Messiah Yeshua cleanses us from all sin:

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us (1 John 1:5-10).

How should we then pray?

Pray for Jewish people to receive visitations and revelation about Messiah Yeshua our Atonement during this season
Pray for Messianic Jews and Gentiles to receive deepened understanding about the biblical and Messianic significance of this Holy Convocation
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth

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) through: www.davidstent.org

Riders of the Lost Ark – A Yom Kippur story – Part One

This is the first of a two-part newsletter about Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

The Scriptures tell us that the God of Jacob rides upon the highest heavens; He rides on the clouds of heaven and through the desert; He rides on the cherubim:

There is no one like the God of Yeshurun, who rides the heavens to your help, and the clouds in His majesty (Deuteronomy 33:26)

Sing to God, sing praises to His name! Exalt Him who rides through the deserts, whose name is YHVH, and be jubilant before Him . . . to Him who rides upon the highest heavens, which are from ancient times. Behold, He speaks with His voice, a mighty voice (Psalm 68:4, 33)

He rode on a cherub and flew. And He sped on the wings of the wind (Psalm 18:10; see Psalm 99:1)

YHVH of armies, God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim – You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth (Isaiah 37:6; 2 Kings 19:15)

In Moses’ Tent of Meeting and Solomon’s Temple, YHVH’s manifest presence hovered or rode above the two cherubim (Psalm 80:1), those golden representations of angels (see Genesis 3:24) who stand before God’s presence at all times:

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of YHVH filled the Tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of YHVH filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35)

Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of YHVH filled the House. And the priests could not enter the House of YHVH because the glory of YHVH filled YHVH’s House. All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of YHVH upon the House, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to YHVH (2 Chronicles 7:1-3; 5:11-14)

Yet You are holy – You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel (Psalm 22:3)

In the Holy of Holies, the God of Jacob would actually appear to Aaron (Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 16) and later to the High Priest (both descended through Levi), manifesting His glory above the gold-covered sacred chest known in Hebrew as the kapōret or place of atonement (translated into Greek as hilastērion – i.e., to appease or make favorable; and into Latin as propriatorium – i.e., a place of reconciling or atoning).

Then you shall put the kapōret on top of the Ark. And in the Ark, you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. There I will meet with you. And from above the kapōret, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about every commandment that I will give you for the sons of Israel (Exodus 25:21-22)

Now when Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the Voice speaking to him from above the kapōret that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. So He spoke to him (Numbers 7:89)

What’s an atonement?

The Holy Convocation which is commonly called ‘the Day of Atonement’ is actually plural in the Hebrew of Leviticus 23:27 – Yom Hakippurim (Day of Atonements). The Hebrew root has commonly been connected to an Arabic cognate meaning ‘to cover’ or ‘to conceal.’ But a study of how the root ‘kaphar/kapar’ is used in the Hebrew Scriptures (150 times!) reveals that the biblical meaning is more accurately ‘ransom.’ A secondary meaning is ‘a bribe’ or something that will purchase favor in a challenging situation, In Leviticus the root kaphar is used 49 times with the concept of ransom-atonement. Here are some examples through the Hebrew Bible:

Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the flocks, saying, “In this way you shall speak to Esau when you find him; and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’” For he said, “I will appease [kaphar] him with the gift that goes ahead of me. Then afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” So the gift passed on ahead of him, while he himself spent that night in the camp (Genesis 32:19-21)

If a ransom [kopher] is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him (Exodus 21:30)

“When you take a census of the sons of Israel to count them, then each one of them shall give a ransom [kopher] for himself to YHVH, when you count them, so that there will be no plague among them when you count them” (Exodus 30:12)

Moreover, you shall not accept a ransom [kopher] for the life of a murderer who is condemned to death, but he must be put to death. And you shall not accept a ransom [kopher] for one who has fled to his city of refuge, so that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest (Numbers 35:31-32)

Here I am; testify against me before YHVH and His anointed! Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe [kopher] to close my eyes with it? I will return it to you” (1 Samuel 12:3)

The fury of a king is like messengers of death, but a wise person will appease [root is kaphar] it (Proverbs 16:4)

“For I am YHVH your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom (kopher), Cush and Seba in exchange for you” (Isaiah 43:3)

The exchange of life principle

Dr. Louis Goldberg (former Professor of Jewish Studies at Moody Bible Institute) – a dear friend now with the Lord – loved to stress that the heart of the sacrificial system in the Mosaic Covenant was something he called ‘the exchange-of-life principle.’ When the High Priest would lay his hands on the live sacrificial animal, the sins of the guilty sacrificer would (as it were) go into the innocent animal, and the life of the innocent animal would be accredited to the one who was laying his hands on the sheep or goat – thus granting him atonement:

And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so that it may be accepted for him to make atonement [root is kaphar] on his behalf (Leviticus 1:4)

Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the wrongdoings of the sons of Israel and all their unlawful acts regarding all their sins. And he shall place them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands ready (Leviticus 16:21)

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21, where Messiah Yeshua is described as our Atonement)

Blood, body and soul

God’s perspective is that blood is what ties body and soul together. It symbolizes life. Indeed, without it there is no life:

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls. For it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement . . . For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore, I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off’” (Leviticus 17:11, 14)

Blood has one purpose in the Scriptures. It is to be used to honor God who has given us the gift of life. Blood is not to be eaten, but to be used to atone for human sins. To eat blood is a serious spiritual offense, for YHVH says that the blood and the fat of the sacrifice – the most significant part which represents precious life – belong only to the God of Jacob, and to no other deity or creation (see also Exodus 13:2; Leviticus 17; 27:9, 26). To take what God claims as His alone and to eat it for ones’ self, this is to rob and plunder the Lord Himself.

“And you are not to eat any blood, either of bird or animal, in any of your dwellings. Any person who eats any blood, that person shall also be cut off from his people” (Leviticus 7:26-27)

The Apostle Paul adds a New Covenant perspective here:

No, but I say that things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to become partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we? . . . Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 10:20-22, 27)

These concepts form the background for Yom Ha-kippurim, the Day of Atonements.

Our next newsletter will:

help unpack the actual events of this Holy Day in both Tabernacle and Temple

examine the meaning and relevance of the term ‘to be cut off’ which is associated with the Day of Atonements

consider the rabbinic teachings which today tend to shape and dominate most Jewish people’s understanding of this Day

will reflect on the future prophetic parallels connecting Yom Kippur and the Jewish people’s destiny

How should we then pray?

Pray for Jewish people to receive visitations and revelation about Messiah Yeshua our Atonement during this season

Pray for Messianic Jews and Gentiles to receive deepened understanding about the biblical and Messianic significance of this Holy Convocation

Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth

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) through: www.davidstent.org

The goat without a beard

The Yiddish language is rich in humor and irony. Though much of ‘the world of our fathers’ has disappeared in Holocaust flames, some of its wit and wisdom is preserved in sharp proverbs which still bring enjoyment and recognition.

“Oyb di bobeh volt gehat a bord, volt zi geven a zeydeh” (If grandma had a beard, she would actually be a grandpa).

My grandfather Shmuel would say: “A goat may have a beard, but that doesn’t make him a rabbi!”

In my fifty years of walking as a believer in Messiah Yeshua, I have run into occasional declarations by some Christian leaders advocating some wacky and unbalanced things, which are defined by them as being truly Jewish or Hebrew in nature. Few of these people actually speak Hebrew or have studied Jewish and rabbinic history. Yet their declarations imply that they have access to hidden spiritual understandings of secret Jewish ways. Representatives from both the Messianic Jewish and the Christian world would be included on the short list here. Another Yiddish proverb springs to mind: “A specialist is someone fifty kilometers away from home.”

Some dear friends have been exposed to such unfounded teachings. The Apostle Paul calls these declarations words which have “the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion” (see Colossians 2:23). Regrettably, we are seeing an upsurge of such things in our day. The goal of this newsletter is to shine discernment’s light of on some of these misguided teachings, and to encourage the embrace of biblical perspectives.

“Now these people were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11)

“Do not quench the Spirit, do not utterly reject prophecies, but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21)

It has become fashionable among some Christians who love Jewish roots and ways of expression, to unquestioningly accept rabbinic perspectives and practices in some areas. Two flashing red lights are of concern here: (a) the use of the rabbinic calendar, and (b) the use of gematria – numerological calculations influenced by kabbalah (Jewish black magic).

Reeling in the years

Every year, during the seventh biblical month of the year (called Eitanim in 1 Kings 8:2, but inaccurately called Rosh Hashana or the ‘Jewish New Year’ by rabbinic Judaism), a significant stream of Christian social media is abuzz with Jewish perspectives and traditions which are non-biblical and occasionally occultic. Among some groups there is a strong focus on the rabbinic use of letters of the Hebrew alphabet which are supposed to represent the year when the world was created – at least, according to rabbinic Judaism’s calculations. This year the rabbinic number under discussion is 5784 Anno Mundi – the counting from ‘the years of the earth/Creation’ (minyan la-yetzirah in Hebrew). What is the origin of this tradition?

Today’s rabbinic computation of ‘the years of Creation’ is not laid out in the biblical text. The first instance of this appears in the medieval period (800’s A.D.), based on a Hebrew scroll called Seder Olam Rabbah. That scroll was probably authored in the post-Hadrianic period by the Tanna Rabbi Yose ben Ḥalafta circa 165 A.D., a rabbinic scholar mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 88a, Yevamot 82b). Some of his conjectures (though he does not clearly define the date of Creation in his description of Genesis) appeared in a reworked framework (circa 800’s A.D.) in a scroll called Baraita di-Shemu’el. In the late 800’s A.D. Jewish tombstones in Venosa (southern Italy) are found mentioning a similar dating system to Seder Olam Rabbah. About 946 A.D. Shabbetai Donnolo mentions such dating in his commentary on the Sefer Yezirah. In 1514 Seder Olam Rabbah was published in Mantua, and in 1517 it was published in Paris. In 1658, Archbishop of Armagh James Ussher’s Chronology was published, with conclusions based on Seder Olam Rabbah’s approach.

An interesting historical note: the usual calendar calculation used by Jews in Talmudic and post-Talmudic times was not rabbinic, but that of the Greek Seleucid era (post-Alexander the Great, with the starting point beginning in the year 312 B.C.) That axial date was referred to by Jewish sources as minyan hashtarot (‘the dating of documents’). Only after the center of Jewish life moved from Babylonia to Europe (in the middle Medieval period) was the Greek method of counting replaced by the Anno Mundi reckoning related to Seder Olam Rabbah.

When He walked the hills of Galilee, Messiah Yeshua did not tell time based on a rabbinic calendar, nor did the Apostles after Him.

Though we may admire rabbinic zeal in their desire to search out the exact year of Creation, the accuracy and precision of their conclusions cannot be endorsed by those who depend on Scriptural teaching. In the same way, prophetic words lose much of their reliability when they are based on unfounded rabbinic speculations.

The year of Creation is simply not given to us in the Bible. The occult use of Hebrew letters and the importing of arcane rabbinic reasoning – these are unable to pave a road which the Bible in any case never laid down for us to walk on. We exhort those who are spreading these ‘teachings’ among believers in Yeshua to pull back from seeding such falsehoods in the body of Messiah.

As in the days of Jeroboam, it is essential to make this point clear: the rabbinic dating system regarding the date of Creation is not God-breathed, nor is it accurate. When believers blindly use this rabbinic dating, an unwittingly spiritual dependence on rabbinic authority is set in motion – and that rabbinic authority denies Yeshua’s deity and Messiahship, the authority of the New Covenant, etc. Caveat emptor!

Fudging God’s commission can equal witchcraft

“No reason to get excited,” the thief he kindly spoke.

“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.

But you and I, we’ve been through that and this is not our fate.

So let us not talk falsely, now – the hour is getting late.”

“Pride cometh before a fall, and a haughty spirit before stumbling” (Proverbs 16:18). King Saul of Benjamin’s tribe was more interested in public opinion polls than in being a godly and obedient leader in Israel. He masked his disobedience to the prophet Samuel’s direct order by conducting a religious ceremony – a sacrifice – in defiance of YHVH’s commands (1 Samuel 13:8-14; 15:1-21). In our day, we might not grasp the severity of disobeying a clear command of God. But perhaps thinking about this situation from a military point of view might help. What happens when a soldier disobeys the command of his superior officer? That is considered a very serious offense. In God’s kingdom when a king disobeys the express command of God, there is a stricter judgment – even if that king is Jewish.

Samuel’s pronouncement applies not only to King Saul, but also to any religious authority in Israel who rejects the Messiah and His message, and who then establishes for himself a religious framework born out of rebellion and rejection.

“Has YHVH as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of YHVH? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of YHVH, He has also rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:22-23).

God’s choice of the word ‘witchcraft’ to classify Saul’s behavior was not accidental. Rebellious religious activity and sacrifice that do not accept God’s sovereignty and lordship, even if they are performed ‘from the heart’ – these are actually a spiritual façade disguising witchcraft. Orthodox Judaism’s spiritual roots are anchored in a rabbinic leadership that unfortunately rejected Yeshua’s Davidic authority, His Messiahship and His atonement.

Pride and witchcraft versus servanthood

One of the central activities of rabbinic Judaism is based around the study-hall (Beis Medrish in Yiddish, Beit Midrash or yeshiva in Hebrew). Intellectual acumen, prodigious memorization and blistering academic speed are treasured in that environment. Learning how to control vast amounts of halakhic information is a young man’s challenge in these institutions, while competitive pride in one’s own achievements can be a professional blowback of this educational method.

Unfortunately, there are a few Messianic leaders who make use of the same yeshiva dynamics – strong hierarchical control and appeal to pride – in overseeing believers committed to their care, all the time insisting that these manipulative methods are actually proof of apostolic authority. Yeshua invites us to follow a different way, a more excellent way – the way of servanthood and self-sacrificing love.

Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. Calling them to Himself, Yeshua said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:41-45)

Playing the numbers

There are things which may definitely be Jewish, but they are also definitely non-kosher.

A mystical strand of Judaism which purports to come from Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (a 2^nd century rabbi) blends gnostic and Hindu magical practices, and then clothes them with ultra-Orthodox garb. Claiming that these teachings represent the hidden spiritual core of the Torah, these spiritual adulterers insist that these ‘spiritual secrets’ have been handed down from generation to generation as a valid and kosher ‘received tradition’ or kabbalah (from the Hebrew root KBL ‘to receive’).

To put it plainly in Christian evangelical terminology, kabbalah is Jewish occult, Jewish black magic. It bases itself on spiritual exercises aimed at manipulating spiritual powers, and propagates its false teaching with its own ‘map of the spirit world’ based on a gnostic interpretation of an allegorical ‘tree of life.’ It offers spiritual power and revelation to its followers – but it is stolen and treif.

The Jewish community’s response to kabbalah has been varied. Some traditional Jews see kabbalah and Chasidism as pagan and superstitious perversions of Judaism. Other Jewish communities believe that kabbalistic wonder-working rabbis are holy men. There are even some Messianic Jews (and Gentiles) who dabble in kabbalah and attempt to disseminate these teachings to audiences who lack the ability to sift and discern what it is that they are being spoon-fed.

Kabbalah was snapped up by some Christian Hebraists over the past hundreds of years, who mistakenly thought that they had found secret Jewish mystical texts proving the Trinity. Some even came to the unreal conclusion that kabbalistic rabbis secretly believed that Yeshua is the Messiah.

Playing the numbers

A Jewish tradition tied to kabbalah – to Jewish black magic – is called gematria. According to this teaching, every Hebrew letter in each Hebrew word has a mathematical equivalent. Like the ancient Romans who used their alphabet letters to represent numbers (C equal 100, L equals 50, etc.), so Hebrew letters can be used to equal mathematical sums. This method becomes occult when it moves away from simple mathematics and starts:

doing fortune-telling by looking for hidden prophetic meanings in the total mathematical equivalent of a word

compares the numerical total of a word to another word with the same mathematical total, and draws ‘prophetic’ meaning from the equivalencies

takes individual letters of the Hebrew calendar rabbinic reckoning, and gives allegorical or quasi-prophetic meaning to each letter

A recent example, seen across social media, involves this rabbinic year – called TaSH’PaD (5784 A.M.). A Christian kabbalistic/gematria interpretation floating around on social media takes the Hebrew letter for ‘D’ (‘dalet’) and proclaims that the ‘D’ stands for ‘delet’ or ‘door.’ Then a pseudo-prophetic word is brought declaring that this is ‘the Year of the Door.’ To be tongue in cheek, one could take the ‘SH’ (the Hebrew letter ‘shin’) and proclaim that the ‘SH’ stands for ‘sha’ar’ which means ‘gate.’ One could then declare that this is ‘The Year of the Gate.’ Or one could take the Hebrew letter for ‘P’ (‘peh’) and proclaim that the ‘P’ stands for ‘paz’ or fine gold. One could then declare that this is ‘the Year of Fine Gold.’ The possibilities are endless. But the results are neither biblical nor kosher nor prophetic.

Instead of consulting ‘the fortune-teller woman’ at the county fair, it has become ‘chic’ in some circles to consult ‘cutting-edge prophets and apostles’ who proclaim hidden Hebrew meanings for the coming rabbinic calendar year. This mystical and occult hermeneutical technique removes logic and biblical discernment from the interpretative process. Instead, a squirrely hermeneutic is substituted, which pridefully appeals to a seemingly superior Hebrew knowledge. But this method is dead in the water, lacking both biblical basis and kosher qualifications.

These dabblings into Jewish mysticism are at times trumpeted by some Gentile believers who lack sufficient ability and discernment in these matters. Unfortunately, even some Messianic Jews are getting on the same rickety bandwagon. These above-mentioned rabbinic influences can exert an unhealthy pull on believers who may have started off positively inclined toward Jewish subjects. These abuses have a real potential to confuse and fog believers’ spiritual discernment, and to open up doors of deception in the name of ‘Jewish roots.’ It is our heart’s prayer that all dear believers stay far away from these non-kosher aspects of rabbinic theology, tradition and mysticism. They are not only spiritually unclean. They also come from a worldview that denies the reality and power of Israel’s Risen Messiah.

For greater detail on this subject, feel free to consult chapter nine of my book (‘Kosher and non-kosher Judaism’) titled ‘How to be Messianic without becoming Meshuggeh (*crazy): A common sense approach to kosher Messianic foundations’ which delves into these issues more deeply.

How should we then pray?

Pray for believers who appreciate the Jewish roots of our faith to cleave to the Scriptures as our foundational authority

Pray for believers to treat rabbinic authority with healthy caution, and to not grant it spiritual influence over our faith

Pray for Messiah Yeshua to be revealed to and accepted by many hungry Jewish hearts

Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth

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) through: www.davidstent.org

Why the shofar? Why the trumpet?

The gnarled and curved ram’s horn – the shofar – is universally recognized as the musical instrument par excellence associated with the Jewish High Holidays. It may come as a surprise that YHVH’s commands regarding the events of Yom Hakippurim (Yom Kippur/ the Day of Atonements) to Moses in Leviticus 23:26-32 and Numbers 29:7-11 do not mention a shofar or a silver trumpet. Why the connection, then? What do the Scriptures tell us about the symbolism of the shofar and the trumpet, and how do these meanings connect to these two Holy Festivals?

YHVH is a man of war (Exodus 15:3)

The first use of the word ‘shofar’ or ram’s horn in the Bible is found in the Book of Job, the earliest scroll written down by the ancients. In the context of fierce combat, the war horse is described as charging forward when he hears the voice of the shofar, the smell of the battle, the thundering shouting of the military officers and the teru’ah (war cries/shofar sounds).

“Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? Do you make him leap like locusts? His majestic snorting is frightening. He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the battle. He laughs at fear and is not dismayed, and he does not turn back from the sword. The quiver rattles against him. The flashing spear and javelin. He races over the ground with a roar and fury, and he does not stand still when he hears the sound of the shofar. As often as the shofar sounds he says, ‘Aha!’ And he senses the battle from afar, and the thunder of the captains and the war cry” (Job 39:19-25)

In Psalm 47 the Sons of Korah, a Levitical guild of worshippers (see 2 Chronicles 20:19), worship the God of Jacob who triumphs over Israel’s enemies in battle, accompanied by the sound of the shofar:

For YHVH Most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth. He subdues peoples under us and nations under our feet. He chooses our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob whom He loves. Selah! God has ascended with a shout – YHVH, with the sound of the shofar (Psalm 47:2-5).

The epitome of the shofar’s use in battle is of course Joshua at the Battle of Jericho:

“So the people shouted, and priests blew the shofarot. And when the people heard the sound of the shofar, the people shouted with a great shout (teru’ah gedolah) and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead. And they took the city” (Joshua 6:20)

The joyful sound of shofar worship

King David incorporated the victory sound of the shofar and the military sound of the silver trumpet into his worship orchestra which led the Ark of the Covenant in public parade to the House of YHVH:

And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the Ark of YHVH to its place which he had prepared for it . . . Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives as the singers, with musical instruments, harps, lyres, and cymbals, playing to raise sounds of joy . . . Thus all Israel brought up the Ark of the Covenant of YHVH with shouting, and with sound of the shofar, with [silver] trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres” (1 Chronicles 15:3, 16, 28)

An anonymous psalm declares the centrality of the shofar blast in high praise: “Sing praise-songs to YHVH with the lyre – with the lyre and the sound of praise-songs. With [silver] trumpets and the voice of the shofar shout joyfully before the King, YHVH” (Psalm 98:5-6).

The zenith of the Book of Psalms concludes with the shofar used in high praise: “Praise Him with the sounding of the shofar” (Psalm 150:3)!

The great rejoicing that Israel entered into at the New Moon celebrations, at the Feast of Trumpets and on the first day of the Feast of Sukkot/Tabernacles, is described in all its glory by Asaph in Psalm 81: “Blow the shofar at the New Moon [see Leviticus 23:23-24], at the full moon [the 15^th day of the Hebrew month – see Leviticus 23:33-35], on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob” (Psalm 81:3-4).

The sound of the shofar was associated with joy and as a reminder to the God of Jacob to remember His prophetic promises and protection over His people Israel: “Also on the day of your joy and at your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow your [silver] trumpets . . . and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am YHVH your God” (Numbers 10:10).

Every Jewish man and woman, boy and girl instantly knew that the prophetic blast of the shofar called them to high praises, to shouts of victory and to war.

The coming of the terrible Day of YHVH

The God of Jacob is soon coming to judge the earth and to vanquish Israel’s enemies. The Hebrew prophets called that day ‘The Day of the Lord.’ That Day will be announced by the blowing of a shofar: “Blow a shofar in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the Day of YHVH is coming. Surely it is near” (Joel 2:1).

The prophets describe that, on that day of judgment YHVH Himself will blow His divine shofar of victory in battle as He uses the mighty army of Israel to accomplish His awesome task (see also Ezekiel 37:10; 25:14):

“For I will bend Judah as My bow! I will fill the bow with Ephraim, and I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece. And I will make you like a warrior’s sword. Then YHVH will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. And the Lord YHVH will blow the trumpet, and march in the storm winds of the south” (Zechariah 9:13-14).

Many great Last Days events will be heralded by a shofar

The prophetic End of the Jewish Exile will be accompanied by a shofar blast: “It will come about also in that day that a great shofar will be sounded. And those who were perishing in the Land of Ashur and who were scattered in the Land of Egypt will come and worship YHVH in the holy mountain at Jerusalem” (Isaiah 27:13).

Messiah Yeshua will send out angels with a great shofar to gather together Israel’s scattered flock from across the face of the whole planet: “And He will send forth His angels with a great shofar and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other” (Matthew 24:31).

The resurrection of the dead will be accompanied by the sound of the shofar: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52; the Greek equivalent word for shofar/trumpet used here is σάλπιγξ - salpigx).

The return of Messiah Yeshua to Israel will be signaled by a shofar blast – “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

The appearance of YHVH to the people of Israel

When the God of Jacob appeared to the Jewish people to reveal His Mosaic covenant, His fear-inspiring voice sounded like a shofar:

So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud shofar sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because YHVH descended upon it in fire. And its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the shofar grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. YHVH came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, and YHVH called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. Then YHVH spoke to Moses, ‘Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to YHVH to gaze, and many of them perish’” (Exodus 19:16-21)

The writer of the Book of Hebrews (Messianic Jews) draws a powerful lesson for us, drawn from Moses’ Messianic prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:

“For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words, which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them . . . But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and gathering of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Yeshua, the Mediator of a New Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns us from heaven” (Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-25)

YHVH your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen; to him you shall listen. This is in accordance with everything that you asked of YHVH your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, “Do not let me hear the voice of YHVH my God again, and do not let me see this great fire anymore, or I will die!: And YHVH said to me, “They have spoken well. I will raise up for them a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them everything that I command him” (Deuteronomy 18:15-18)

The shofar of Jubilee

The Bible mentions blowing a shofar on Yom Kippur in only one verse – as part of a discussion about the Year of Jubilee (a joyous occasion) when once every fifty years each individual Israeli gets all his debts forgiven and wiped off the books:

“And you shall sound the blast of a shofar on the tenth of the month of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonements you shall sound a shofar throughout all your land. You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family” (Leviticus 25:9-10).

Every fifty years the Day of Atonement ended with a shofar blast, declaring the wiping away of a nation’s fiscal debt. This was an economic picture of something spiritual – how, only moments before this, YHVH had covered (made atonement for and ‘wiped away’) the sin of the Jewish people (see Zechariah 3:1-5). The national response was a sober heart filled with humble thanks to God. After the shofar blast, that heart would now blossom with overflowing joy. The gates of praise swung open as the entire Jewish nation began preparations for the pilgrim feast of Sukkot, the Harvest Feast better known as ‘the Feast of Tabernacles.’

As the High Holiday season draws near, it encourages our souls to remember all these shofar-related events. The shofar gives voice to our praise and our intercession. It accompanies our request for God to remember Israel in times of war (Numbers 10:9) and to visit our spiritual gatherings (Numbers 10:7). It is His clarion call to the Jewish people, emphasizing that YHVH never forgets a promise.

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 many Jewish people to reach out to our God during this season of heightened spiritual focus
Pray that YHVH would pour out a spirit of grace and supplications on Israel through a revelation of Messiah Yeshua our Atonement
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s army speedily and in our day

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) through: www.davidstent.org