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Source: https://prophecywatchers.com/feed/

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<description><![CDATA[Ever since August 2017, when I had the chance to view a partial eclipse from my location in the Pacific Northwest, I was super excited […]
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Ever since August 2017, when I had the chance to view a partial eclipse from my location in the Pacific Northwest, I was super excited to see the one coming in 2024. The last full one I remember learning about was February 1979. I was just under 5 years old, but I became fascinated by the whole phenomenon. For the April 2024 eclipse, 3 others and I were making big plans. We wanted to document as much as possible for the Psalm 19 Project. We had intended to make our base camp in central Texas with a backup plan to go to northern Arkansas. The eclipse was on a Monday afternoon, so we would look at the weather forecast Sunday morning and then make a decision. At the last minute, we realized that the weather forecast for Texas was inferior to the Arkansas location. So, off we went to Fairfield Bay, Arkansas. Our Psalm 19 Project eastern US observatory team member, Brad Brady brought his solar telescope with high tech Hydrogen alpha filters. We also were able to bring another 85mm refractor telescope with a standard solar filter sitting atop a tracking mount. The weather ended up being perfect as the eclipse began around noon. Slowly, we tracked and imaged the moon taking incremental bites out of the sun’s disk. We even had the opportunity to do a live Facebook post of our adventure prior to totality.
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It was predicted that totality would last a very generous 4 minutes and 8 seconds. Just for comparison, the August 2017 totality was 2.5 minutes. When totality arrived, all of us were in awe of the majesty of God’s handiwork in creating the circumstances which allow a solar eclipse to happen. The angular size of the sun and moon in the sky as we observe them are virtually identical. This is because the sun is 400x wider than the moon, but is also 400x further away from us than the moon. The moon is around 240,000 miles from us and the sun is 96 million miles away. I find it interesting to hear astronomers talk about the inconceivable odds of these circumstances, but still maintain that it must be coincidence. Sadly, they fulfill the Scripture which says, “professing themselves to be wise, they have become fools” (Romans 1:22).
When the last bright rays of the sun disappeared behind the moon, it became obvious that something changed. From the beginning of the moon starting to slowly cover the sun to the full totality takes about 70 minutes. Even though it was getting dimmer as the moon began its interruption of the sun’s light to our eyes, it still was relatively bright out. The special nature of a full solar eclipse is that even if you get 99% you cannot look at the sun without special glasses. That last 1% of light creeping around the side of the moon is enough to spoil a total eclipse experience. You either have 100% totality or nothing at all in a relative sense. However, once 100% totality begins, your special glasses can come off. In fact, you can even look at the sun through binoculars or telescopes unaided by any filter at all. And what a sight it is! We were able to see the corona in stunning glory. The corona is the outermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere which is extremely hot. The sun’s surface is around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, but the corona can reach upwards of 2 million degrees. Astronomers still have no idea why there is such a temperature difference. Even though the corona is so hot, it is also dim in comparison to the normal sun disk. Therefore, the only way to see it naturally (without special equipment) is during a solar eclipse, which we did.
During this particular total eclipse, there was another special event occurring. The planets were all lined up on the ecliptic (the imaginary line of the sun’s normal path of travel). We were able to see Venus and Jupiter during the eclipse. Saturn was also able to be seen, but it was hidden behind trees from our vantage point further down towards the horizon. After we enjoyed the 4+ minutes of totality, our group sat down to share our thoughts. We all agreed that it was truly a spiritual experience to observe the beauty and artistic genius of God that He created especially for humanity. Nowhere else in the solar system does this occur. God created solar and lunar eclipses for our enjoyment and for us to be awed by His power. During totality, it gets much darker. Almost as much as dusk. Plus, it becomes so obvious that totality has occurred as the temperature drops upwards of 15 degrees from normal. The other interesting phenomena which others have noted is that it becomes super quiet. Birds, squirrels, etc. stop and ponder as their normal instinctual habits have become unnaturally interrupted. Even though we had over 4 minutes, we all agreed it was not long enough. The longest solar eclipses can last over 7 minutes. What a treat that would be! The next eclipse to grace the contiguous United States is not until August 2044 where it will only be visible in Montana and North Dakota. However, another one which crosses the US will occur the following August 2045. It will pass through 15 states and continue southeast into the Caribbean.
Eclipse Hysteria?
Not only did the April 2024 eclipse provide opportunities for seeing God’s majesty, interestingly it provided occasion for those who watch prophecy to seek meaning in what it might portend. For many, the meaning of a normal and periodic eclipse was not a big deal, but because it occurred seven years after another eclipse in August 2017 some believed God was sending a message of warning to the people of the United States. There was not much attention given to the 2017 eclipse which crossed the entire US territory. Yet as attention was turned to the arrival of the 2024 eclipse, people began to focus on what this might possibly foretell for the future of America. One of the main reasons this even came to be of interest is that if one examined the two paths of the shadows of the total solar eclipses, it created a proverbial X over the US centered in the southern area of Illinois. Was this an X which marked the spot of something good or did it mark something ominous or foreboding that God was speaking to America?
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As 2023 progressed, some people began to analyze the cities which experienced the path of totality from 2017 and then also looked for those which would be a part of the path of totality in 2024. The most thorough book which examined all of these was investigated by AC Katz. I was able to do an interview with her and see an advanced copy of her manuscript as she was finalizing the book. One of the benefits of her data and analysis was that she was simply presenting the information and not making any predictions. During January through April 8 of this year, the eclipse hysteria began. Not everyone, but the internet and YouTube provided opportunities for people to make videos and outlandish claims which included predictions of the rapture and other judgments of God. It was quite challenging to find videos which had accurate information. I kept pointing people back to AC Katz’s book because she did the homework and approached it carefully and cautiously.
The other common occurrence which continuously bubbled to the surface was the common refrain, “This can’t be a coincidence. God doesn’t believe in coincidences.” This is a good opportunity to discuss what the Bible says about “coincidences” and how the theology of the Scripture should guide our thoughts and expectations as we “see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). If we do not truly understand what the Bible says about coincidences, then the church is going to suffer even more misguided but well-intentioned confusion.
I have no interest in discussing the full sovereignty of God in this article. That would be impossible. Especially when it’s extremely complex and the inclusion of the free choices of humans can lead down many rabbit holes. However, Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father” (Matt 10:29). Some versions add the word “will” as to say “apart from your Father’s will” but that word is not in Greek and even if it is, it doesn’t change the meaning of what Jesus is proclaiming. I find it amazing the depth to which Jesus brings in to focus the sovereignty of the Father in something as seemingly insignificant as the death of a sparrow. He is not saying that the Father causes the death of the sparrow, but that the death of the sparrow is not outside of the scope of God’s sovereignty. That brings me great comfort when I see or experience adversity in the world.
Jesus continues His admonition that we are not to fear anything in this life by saying, “But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt 10:30-31). The point Jesus is making is that even the number of our hairs, which seems extremely insignificant on a daily basis, is under the sovereignty of the Father’s hands. This leads to the conclusion that in the mind of Jesus, there is nothing coincidental in God’s universe.
We have something similar from Isaiah concerning the sovereignty of God’s plans. He writes, “I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do” (Isaiah 46:9-11). Another helpful verse is Proverbs 16:33 which reads, “The dice (or casting of lots) are thrown into the lap, but their every decision is from the LORD” (Prov. 16:33 NET).
So, what can we learn from these handful of verses? I truly believe there are no coincidences in God’s universe. He is in charge and all things that happen are for a reason which He alone has determined. However, and this is the most important element in all of this discussion…. God alone knows what He means or intends through these events.
The problem in our Christian culture today is that we have the right theology in recognizing that nothing is coincidental, but we often lack the humility or wisdom to avoid assigning meaning to these events. I don’t speak this from a pedestal of being judgmental. I have made this mistake many times in my own Christian walk with the Lord over 30 years. I have seen God’s hand move in amazing ways and then I have erroneously injected into these events my interpretations of the events. In hindsight, I realize that 99.9% of the time, I was wrong in my assumptions. I am constantly reminded of another passage from Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
There certainly are times in Scripture where God reveals His intentions through circumstances or events. He will bring about a certain happening and then reveal what He meant through it (e.g. Ex 29:46; Jer 16:21; Ezek 39:6, 28). These are written in Scripture and so we can know 100% what God meant by these because He reveals it to us. This is safe and we can take these certain interpretations to the bank so to speak. This is similar to interpreting dreams. All of us have dreams every week and some of them are quite interesting. We have people sending us their dreams on a regular basis asking for our interpretation. My response is always the same… “I am not Daniel or Joseph.”  <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.0.3/72x72/1f60a.png" alt="😊" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> Any interpretation I might offer is pure speculation and can have no weight of authority which is what people are looking for. The key here in all of these endeavors is looking for an authoritative answer to what a dream or other event might mean.
Throughout the years, I have come across people who have spent hundreds of hours bringing various data points together and have concluded who the antichrist is or the date of the rapture. How did they come to this conclusion? “All these different connection points certainly cannot be a coincidence!” How wrong they were in making assumptions at what the meaning of those connecting points meant. Now that I have been at Prophecy Watchers for 3 years, I receive at least 1-2 new letters or emails per month wanting to show me their calculations about the date of the return of Jesus and every time they write, “God is not a God of coincidences.” However, this is not an argument that we can just pull out anytime we want to try and make our preconceived ideas fit a narrative.
What about a solar or lunar eclipse? Can we be certain or even give a good guess as to what God means from one of these astronomical events? Many people recently are saying Yes to this question. They were claiming that the X of the 2017 and 2024 solar eclipses over America is a warning and even some were saying it was pointing to the rapture. Others were looking at the names of the cities which the shadow of the path of totality crossed. Sadly, many Christian leaders created online videos in which they were very loose with the actual data. Some were claiming that there were 7 cities named Nineveh in the path of totality and to quote one person, “of course 7 means completion, so this is no coincidence.” Yet this clearly was not the case if one was to consult AC Katz’s book. When these erroneous facts were pointed out, many just dismissed these and moved on to the other “amazing” claims. Or they said, “Well, it’s close, how many Ninevehs do we need?” The point is that there were statements of fact being made and when shown otherwise, they were dismissed.
These other “amazing” claims involved a series of other “coincidences” that they asserted were clear evidence that God was speaking a warning through these 2 eclipses. One very influential pastor posted a video which received almost 4 million views. I want to examine exactly what the Bible does and doesn’t say about the meaning of eclipses, but first we need to briefly remember how people making predictions or alluding to predictions cause harm to the church and the evangelizing of the lost.
Now, let me say upfront, that I make no judgment concerning the motives or intentions of these people. I don’t read hearts. All I can say is that based on the very careful language used by many of these people, they are intentional not to predict or prophesy something directly. Yet they will often do everything they can to lead you down a path to believing what they are saying, but always allowing themselves a path of deniability when what they say does not come to pass.
Do you remember the book, “88 Reasons Jesus will come Back in 1988” or “1994” by Harold Camping? Or Harold’s prediction of the rapture on May 21, 2011 and then switching it to October 21, 2011? These are obvious rapture prediction failures. The current crop of prognosticators is far wiser and so they will make sure to have some levels of vagueness to what they are claiming. I find it fascinating also that many of those that comment on these videos are quite defensive of the claims being made by the teacher. Even when the speaker ends up being incorrect, they will come to the defense saying there was nothing specifically being predicted.
Again, I would agree that often nothing specific was being predicted, but you can see for yourself the way in which the April 8 eclipse was being presented. Here is the verbatim description of the video (capital letters are their emphasis, not mine):
“This solar eclipse could be THE SOLAR ECLIPSE that unleashes one of the seals of Revelation. I wasn’t a believer at first, but after hundreds of hours of research, I am literally in awe of all the “coincidences.” DO NOT miss this, whatever you do! Along with dozens of INCREDIBLE CONNECTIONS and patterns, I will also be revealing a MAJOR PROPHETIC CONNECTION of how the eclipses of 2017 and 2024 tell us EXACTLY where the Gog/Magog war will start and WHEN the temple sacrifices will begin.
When this happens, it will start the time clock for the revealing of the Antichrist! I have truly been in shock as to the mathematical impossibility of all the events that I will be showing you, all happening at the same time! I will be detailing the prophetic implications of how the last 4 sets of blood-red tetrads that land on biblical holidays coincide with world-changing events and how they have set the stage for this monumental “X-marks-the-spot” moment on April 8, 2024.”
As you can see from the description, there certainly is a lot of hype and sensationalism going on. The major claim is that all these isolated connections and patterns certainly could not be a coincidence. So, here again, we have arrived back at the idea that all these cannot be coincidence and the speaker has come to their own conclusion about what all these events could mean or probably mean. They are making broad assumptions about what God might mean, but ultimately their assumptions are based on a host of errors and this sets a bad tone for other Christians who end up getting caught up in this type of poor thinking.
Ultimately, I have a heart for the people in the church and it is frustrating to see them get hoodwinked into bad theology, bible interpretation, and then disappointment when what was suggested to come to pass does not. I have seen too many become burned out by all the prophecy hype. Biblical prophecy is exciting enough that we do not need to sensationalize or misrepresent the facts in order to promote erroneous or ideas filled with assumption.
If we look at recent history, this isn’t the first time people have sought to use astronomical events to indicate that something major was intended by God. Do you remember the blood moons hysteria of 2014-2015? This also was claimed to mean something ominous or monumental, but in fact all of the historical events connected with the blood moons were a desperate reach to try and show some level of connection. If you examine the data you will notice that the blood moons happened after dates on the Jewish calendar and two of them (1493-1494 and 2014-2015) had no discernible or reasonable connections to the Jewish people at all. Some try to make a connection to the Jewish expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, but the persecution of Jews in Spain started a full century earlier. If you pick a date any time in the last 2000 years, it is relatively easy to find something evil that happened in the world (or to the Jews living somewhere worldwide) and seek to connect it to that date. This is cherry picking information to make it fit a pre-conceived belief.
Let me take a break for a moment to share why I am writing this article. I love prophecy. I love the rapture. I am eagerly waiting for the Lord’s return. Jesus told us to “Watch!” in Mark 13:37 and this is exactly what we should be doing!
At the same time, I want to encourage us to watch for the signs Jesus specifically told us to watch for and not to run the risk of sensationalizing signs that He did not tell us to watch for. As we continue to get closer to the Lord’s return, there is going to be the temptation to speak publicly and assign meaning to events that possibly don’t have any biblical authority to mean something. That is what has happened with the eclipse. Some people have gone public and now that the eclipse has come and gone and the rapture or some other judgment didn’t happen, this has provided opportunity for people to mock the Bible and Christians who claim to be prophecy watchers.
I have no desire to win the approval of the world. That is not the goal. The world will always hate us as it also hated Jesus first (John 15:18-19). However, when we make claims or allusions that all these events are not coincidences and then we end up making public proclamations, the church loses some level of credibility in its evangelism.
Here is an example. I have a close relative who is not a believer, but is a very strong mocker. When the Harold Camping prediction came and went, he mocked me and became even more unwilling to hear the gospel even though I never embraced those predictions. The same thing happened with the blood moons hysteria. Every time something like this happens, it pushes him away from hearing the genuine message of Bible Prophecy.
But didn’t Jesus say, “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Lk. 21:25-27)?
Yes, He did! We must read this in context and recognize that what Jesus was describing are those absolutely unnatural cosmic events which happen inside the 7-year tribulation period. Nowhere are we told to look for these prior to the tribulation period. I will address this further below.
But didn’t God say, “And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night (#1). And let them be for signs (#2) and for seasons (#3), and for days (#4) and years (#5)” (Gen. 1:14)?
Yes, He did! I have seen this verse quoted the most in all the various videos as proof that the April 8 solar eclipse can be used as a warning mechanism from God. However, this is clearly out of context. There are five purposes for the lights in the heavens that God wanted to make (noted above). We know from the summary of verse 16 that these lights were the sun, the moon, and the stars. We must remember that the 5 purposes were all given in the context before evil was in the world. He created all of these and called them good (1:18). What this means is that the primary meaning of the 5 purposes must be able to be understood in the original context of something good and not as a warning of judgment. Let’s quickly examine each purpose, but I will do them out of order so I can discuss #2 in more detail last.
Clearly, the sun’s great light is used to separate the day from night (#1). We also know that our orbit around the sun produces a yearly/annual calendar (years, #5). The moon has a 29.5 day lunar cycle and was later adopted by the Hebrews as a monthly lunar calendar which allowed them to keep track of Sabbaths and Feasts (#4). We also know that the starry constellations reveal the various seasons of the 365-day solar year. The orientation of the asterism of the Big Dipper can be used to tell you the arrival of the equinoxes and solstices (i.e. seasons, #3). So far, all of these purposes have a good purpose and none of them are meant to be understood in a context of warning or judgment.
What about #2 (signs)? How were the luminaries created by God in the original creation used as good signs?
What I have been hearing for the last 6 months before the eclipse is focus on Genesis 1:14 in which God created the Sun, moon, and stars for signs (the Hebrew word is ōt)? People then have run with this and claim that a solar eclipse is a sign of judgment or often used as a warning for nations. They have made this claim without a single verse to back this up. Let me speak clearly. There is not a single time in the entire Bible in which God said that a normal and periodic solar or lunar eclipse was to be interpreted as an omen or sign of judgment or warning. Not once.
The best lexicon used by OT scholars is The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT) and it lists 9 different nuances of the Hebrew word for sign (ōt). It isn’t relevant to list all nine, but I will reference two of the nuances because they apply to our text in Genesis 1:14. In the context of that which is good and not evil, one of the main nuances for the word “sign” in Hebrew is that it is used to refer to an object lesson as a remembrance or memorial for God’s goodness and kindness. This Hebrew word is used in the book of Joshua as they just crossed over the Jordan river as the conquest of the promised land begins.
It reads, “And Joshua said to them, ‘Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever’” (Jos. 4:5-7; see also Exodus 13:9 where sign and memorial are used together again).
When God says that the starry skies would be used for a sign/memorial, it makes great sense that from the beginning of the creation the constellations or what God calls the mazzaroth (zodiac) would be seen as a memorial of His creative power (Job 38:32). We know that God makes reference to the various constellations as a memorial to His creative genius (Job 9:9; 38:31; Amos 5:8). Some people go as far as to describe the mazzaroth as a gospel in the stars idea which has some interesting possibilities based on Romans 10:17-18. No matter a person’s opinion on that topic, we see that the constellations were created specifically to reveal the glory of God and are a memorial/sign to the creation (Gen 1:14). There is nothing inherent in the word “sign” in Genesis 1:14 that even hints at the idea that God intended the heavenly hosts to be seen or used to point to a warning or judgment.
The other nuance of the Hebrew word ōt that applies to our discussion according to this lexicon can be “omen or foretelling the future.” Is it true that Genesis 1:14 “sign” can be an omen? They list 11 passages in which this word can mean “omen or foretelling the future.” Three of the 11 passages are in reference to heavenly bodies and should be examined for our purposes (Genesis 1:14; 2 Kings 20:8-11 and the parallel passage of Isaiah 38:6-8). They listed Genesis 1:14 as a possible “omen” interpretation, but as noted above , it is clear from that context in the original creation week where everything was good that the sun, moon, and stars were not given at that time as an omen or even foretelling of the future.
What about the other two passages? This is one of the most amazing stories in the entire Bible as it relates to a supernatural event involving the Sun. Most of us probably remember the long day of Joshua in which God delayed the setting of the Sun to give Joshua more time to conquer God’s enemies (Joshua 10). Yet there is another similar type of story involving the good king Hezekiah. He became very sick and yet God promised to heal him. This story appears in two parallel passages and used the Hebrew word ōt (sign) as a foretelling of the future while involving a heavenly body (the sun).
“And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?” And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps? “And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps. “And Isaiah the prophet called to the LORD, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz” (2 Kings 20:8-11). “I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city. “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has promised: Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined” (Isaiah 38:6-8).
What can we learn about how the Bible uses the word “sign” from these passages? No doubt something amazing happened in which God provided a supernatural miracle to reaffirm the prophecy that God would heal Hezekiah. This was not a natural event. It was not a normal periodic eclipse, but instead something outside of the natural order that God instituted in His universe in Genesis 1:14-16.
This is very important to remember as we seek to understand the future 7-year tribulation period and the abundance of supernatural astronomical (cosmic) events during that time frame. A solar eclipse happens on average every 18 months somewhere on earth. This means that they are rare, but not super rare. Many solar eclipse aficionados travel constantly to the various eclipses around the world to enjoy them. As mentioned earlier, God created our solar system perfectly to allow these beautiful and majestic events to happen at a normal predictable rate. Not a single time does God ever say that a solar or lunar eclipse is to be interpreted as an omen or sign of judgment or warning.
In fact, we know from the Ancient Near Eastern archaeological literature that the Babylonians and Assyrians worshiped the host of heaven. Not only did they worship the heavenly bodies, but they lived in fear of them. One of the ancient tablets was called Enuma Anu Enlil and contains dozens of tablets with 1000s of omens related to the sun, moon, eclipses and other stars. What God intended for good, Satan has corrupted by using it for fear and trepidation. This is why God continually commanded Israel not to be like the nations around them in worshiping or fearing the host of heaven (Deut 4:19; 17:3). Later, in the time of Jeremiah, God once again reminds the Jewish people that they were not to fear the heavens. “Thus says the LORD: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them” (Jeremiah 10:2).
If we take these truths from Scripture and apply them to the current eclipse hysteria of 2024, we can see how anyone promoting the idea of a normal and periodic eclipse being interpreted as a sign of judgment or even a warning is actually committing the same sin as the heathen nations. They are promoting the false idea that the natural phenomenon of an eclipse should be used as an ominous sign to bring dismay to people. Let me reiterate that not a single time in Scripture does God ever promote the idea that the natural comic order of events which includes a solar or lunar eclipse is portending judgment or warning.
I have heard numerous people say that the sign of Jonah was a solar eclipse that happened in Nineveh in 763 BC which was followed by the proclamation of Jonah that in 40 days judgment would arrive. This is another example of how people are making assumptions in order to tie together their preconceptions. There is absolutely no way to prove that Jonah preached at a specific time in history and after a solar eclipse. This is pure speculation based on a desired outcome and making note of the city of Jonah, Texas being in the path of totality before the other two cities of Nineveh. This is sloppy and sensationalistic and contradicts the clear words of Jesus that the sign of Jonah to the Ninevites was being in the belly of the great fish for 3 days and 3 nights and most likely being resurrected like Jesus was (Matthew 12:40).
What then should we say about the words of Jesus saying there will be signs in sun and moon and stars? We know that these will occur inside the 7-year tribulation, but they are definitely not natural or periodic in the normal sense. What happens during the tribulation is quite unprecedented. Jesus said it will be a time period that has never existed prior in the entire history of the creation (Mark 13:19). Remember,  not a single time ever in the Bible does God point His people to looking at the normal course of heavenly host as being indicators of warnings, judgments, or omens. We saw that this is what Satan encouraged the pagan nations to do. God forbid this type of fear mongering when observing the normal course of cosmic events such as eclipses.
Another consistent application of this same principle is in connection with the ministry of Jesus. We know that God sent the star of Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Jesus. If you analyze the details of the movement of the star, it becomes quite obvious that this was not a natural event nor was it a conjunction of planets. The way that the Bible describes the star, it is impossible that this was a normal or natural phenomenon. The star first appeared and the Magi headed west to Jerusalem. Sometime after they departed the star disappeared and when the Magi arrived in Jerusalem, they went to Herod and the scribes to get more information about the prophesied birth of the Messiah. They were told He was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) and then left Jerusalem and headed south. At this time, the star once again reappeared and led specifically to the place where Jesus was abiding. Matthew writes, “After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was” (Matt 2:9). I am out almost every clear night observing the heavens and taking photographs. It is absolutely impossible for a star up in the sky to be used to point to a single house or location. Anyone who constantly observes the heavens knows this. This star was not a natural phenomenon and God brought the shining “star” low enough to rest above the exact house where Jesus was.
Additionally, when Jesus was crucified, we are told that there was darkness over the land for 3 hours (Matt 27:45). This was also not a natural event. As we mentioned earlier, solar eclipses only last maximum 7.5 minutes and when there is a new moon. Jesus was killed on Passover which always entails a full moon. So, we have two facts showing us that the darkness was a supernatural event in which God showed His power. The Jewish or Roman astronomers of that day could not dismiss the darkness as a normal or natural event. God made it undeniable. We are told that in addition to the 3 hours of darkness there was an earthquake and this created such a stir that the centurion responded. “When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matt 27:54).
The fact that these events were supernatural are exactly the point of the words of Jesus when it comes to the time of the tribulation period. Throughout the 7-year period preceding the return of Jesus in great glory with the angels, there will many astronomical and cosmic events which are not natural. They will be 100% supernatural and will not be able to be dismissed by NASA or any other astronomers living at that time. Joel made reference to some of these events when he wrote, “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes” (Joel 2:30-31). This cannot refer to the normal lunar eclipse (blood moon) because the moon turns copper red because of sunlight bent around edges of the earth producing the color. If God turns the sun to darkness, there would be no light to bend around the earth to turn the moon blood red. Once again, this is not a natural occurrence. It is 100% supernatural and will happen during the tribulation period.
When we examine the astronomical judgments as mentioned in the book of Revelation, it becomes obvious quickly that these are not natural/normal events. Jesus gave a preliminary understanding of the ways in which God’s judgment during the 7-year tribulation will affect the entire universe. We saw in Luke 21:25-27 above the powers of the heavens will be shaken and people will faith with fear because of this. One of the last events of the tribulation period happens just before Jesus returns. Matthew writes, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Matt. 24:29). Isaiah also prophesies about this time, “For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light” (Isaiah 13:10).
Think about this. The entire universe will go dark! None of this is normal, it is 100% supernatural in its fulfillment. When we see the sun turning dark and the moon to blood and the stars falling from the heavens, we recognize that we have no way to comprehend these events as they are completely unprecedented (Rev 6:12; 8:8, 10, 12; 16:8-9). What does it mean that “something like a mountain burning with fire fell into the sea” (Rev 8:8)? Is this an asteroid? A comet? We cannot be sure about the exact mechanisms of these judgments. Either way, we recognize that all these events in the heavenly bodies inside the 7-year tribulation are unprecedented and outside of the normal course of astronomical understanding that we can observe at the present time.
In summary, my overarching goal in writing this article is to encourage others (including myself) who are super excited about the return of Jesus to avoid the temptation of making interpretative leaps of conclusions in regard to the natural phenomena that we are privileged to see (solar and lunar eclipses, comets, etc.). These are natural normal events which God never describes as warnings or judgments. As we do this, we will avoid inviting mockers to scoff at Bible prophecy which we know is worthy of being heeded on its own.
In closing, our Psalm 19 Project continues to photograph God’s heavens. Included here is a 13-hour exposure of the great Andromeda Galaxy taken this past winter. This galaxy is 2.2 million light years away and is the farthest thing away from earth than can be seen with the naked eye. God’s handiwork is amazing. Over 1 trillion stars in this one giant galaxy and He calls them all by name (Psalm 147:4).
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<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image-3.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image-3-1024x683.png" alt="" class="wp-image-639954" srcset="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image-3-1024x683.png 1024w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image-3-300x200.png 300w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image-3-768x512.png 768w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image-3-1536x1025.png 1536w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image-3-2048x1366.png 2048w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image-3-200x133.png 200w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image-3-500x334.png 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a></figure></div>The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/eclipse/">Eclipse</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<item>
<title>TenKings</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/tenkings/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Prophecy Watchers]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 03 Mar 2024 20:57:30 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=622709</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Here is the PDF for the 10 Kings presentation that Mondo gave at the Orlando 2024 Prophecy Summit. 10 KINGS PPT ORLANDO 2024 Below is […]
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Here is the PDF for the 10 Kings presentation that Mondo gave at the Orlando 2024 Prophecy Summit.
<a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/10-KINGS-PPT-ORLANDO-2024.pdf">10 KINGS PPT ORLANDO 2024</a>
Below is an article that was 100% created from ChatGPT4. I gave it this query:
“Create an article on How Technocratic Oligarchs Are Gaining Wealth, Influence and Control.”
The following is what it spit out. Pretty amazing that the A.I. also added a section I didn’t ask for on the risks and implications of the technocratic oligarchs.
<h3> How Technocratic Oligarchs Are Gaining Wealth, Influence and Control</h3>
<h3>A Critical Analysis of the Rise of the New Elite</h3>
<h4>Introduction</h4>
The 21st century has witnessed the emergence of a new class of powerful actors in the global arena: the technocratic oligarchs. These are the billionaires who have built and dominated digital platforms, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and other cutting-edge sectors, and who have amassed enormous fortunes as a result. They are not only the richest people in the world, but also the most influential, as they shape the policies, norms, and values of the societies they operate in. They are often portrayed as visionary innovators, philanthropists, and benefactors of humanity, but they also pose serious challenges to democracy, equality, and human rights. This document analyzes how technocratic oligarchs are gaining wealth, influence and control, and what are the implications and risks of their rise for the future of humanity.
<h4>How Technocratic Oligarchs Are Gaining Wealth</h4>
The technocratic oligarchs are the main beneficiaries of the digital revolution, which has created unprecedented opportunities for wealth creation and accumulation. They have leveraged their expertise, networks, and resources to create and control the platforms and services that are essential for the functioning of the modern economy and society. These platforms and services include social media, e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, search engines, streaming, gaming, and more. They have also invested heavily in emerging and disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, and space exploration, which have the potential to transform various industries and sectors. By doing so, they have established monopolies or oligopolies in their respective domains, and have captured a large share of the value and profits generated by these technologies. They have also exploited the loopholes and gaps in the regulation and taxation of the digital economy, and have avoided or minimized their social and environmental responsibilities. As a result, they have accumulated enormous wealth, which far exceeds that of the traditional elites, such as industrialists, bankers, and politicians.
<h4>How Technocratic Oligarchs Are Gaining Influence and Control</h4>
The technocratic oligarchs are not only wealthy, but also influential and powerful. They have used their wealth to shape public opinion, the political agenda, and the policy outcomes in their favor. They have done so by funding and supporting various media outlets, think tanks, research institutions, advocacy groups, and political candidates and parties, which promote their interests and values. They have also leveraged their platforms and services to influence the behavior, preferences, and beliefs of billions of users, who depend on them for information, communication, entertainment, and education. They have used their data and algorithms to manipulate, persuade, and nudge the users, and to create echo chambers, filter bubbles, and polarized communities. They have also deployed their technologies to monitor, track, and surveil the users, and to collect and analyze their personal and behavioral data, which they use for commercial and political purposes. They have also exerted their influence and control over the innovation and regulation of the technologies they develop and deploy, and have resisted or undermined the attempts to limit or challenge their power and accountability. They have also expanded their influence and control beyond their national borders, and have become global actors, who shape international relations, the global governance, and the global development.
<h4>Implications and Risks of the Rise of the Technocratic Oligarchs</h4>
The rise of the technocratic oligarchs has profound implications and risks for the future of humanity. On the one hand, they have contributed to the advancement of science, technology, and innovation, and have created new opportunities and benefits for many people and sectors. They have also supported and funded various social and environmental causes, such as education, health, poverty, climate change, and human rights. They have also advocated for the values of openness, diversity, and inclusion, and have challenged the status quo and the established authorities. On the other hand, they have also created and exacerbated various social and environmental problems, such as inequality, polarization, disinformation, surveillance, exploitation, and manipulation. They have also threatened and undermined the values and principles of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, and have challenged the sovereignty and legitimacy of the states and the international organizations. They have also posed existential and ethical risks to humanity, as they develop and deploy technologies that could alter the nature and destiny of the human species, such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and geoengineering. They have also created a new form of techno-authoritarianism, which could lead to the concentration and centralization of power and wealth in the hands of a few, and the marginalization and exclusion of the many.
<h4>Conclusion</h4>
The technocratic oligarchs are the new elite of the 21st century, who have gained wealth, influence and control through the development and domination of digital and emerging technologies. They have become the key actors and shapers of the global economy, society, and politics, and have created both opportunities and challenges for humanity. They have also raised fundamental questions and dilemmas about the role and responsibility of technology and the technologists in the world, and the need and possibility of the regulation and governance of the technology and the technologists. The future of humanity depends on how we address these questions and dilemmas, and how we balance the benefits and risks of technology and the technocracy.
 The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/tenkings/">TenKings</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<title>Australia</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/australia/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mondo Gonzales]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 02 Feb 2024 01:47:53 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=615840</guid>
<description><![CDATA[To download the Rapture notes click HERE To download the Red Heifer notes click HERE
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/australia/">Australia</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[To download the Rapture notes click <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/The-Rapture-a-Promising-Comfort-Australia.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HERE</a>
To download the Red Heifer notes click <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/AUSTRALIA-Red-Heifers.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HERE</a>
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/australia/">Australia</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<title>Jews</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/jews/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mondo Gonzales]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 24 Dec 2023 22:20:03 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=606002</guid>
<description><![CDATA[There is much confusion today about modern Israel and whether the people living in the state of Israel are the real Jews from ancient times. […]
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There is much confusion today about modern Israel and whether the people living in the state of Israel are the real Jews from ancient times. Some claim that Hebrews are different than Jews which are also different than Biblical Israel. I address these false assertions in the first article below “Who are the Hebrews…?”
The 2nd theory deals with the erroneous idea that the modern state of Israel is made up of non-ethnic Jews who descended from the Khazars. There is a short video followed by the well-written article from Dr. Tommy Ice refuting the Khazarian theory. You can access that page here: <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/are-modern-israeli-jews-true-jews/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://prophecywatchers.com/are-modern-israeli-jews-true-jews/</a>
In addition, many ask how we can support modern Israel. I address that in another section below entitled, “What is the Spiritual Condition of National Israel Today?”
Who are the Hebrews? And are the Jews the same as Israel?
By Mondo Gonzales
Ever since the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack against Israel and their justified war to eradicate Hamas, the increase of antisemitism worldwide has skyrocketed. Now, I have believed that there will always be a certain level of antisemitism in our cultures until Jesus returns. Yet I was surprised to see how the latest murderous rampage of Hamas has allowed a far more pervasive antisemitism than believed to be exposed. There have been dozens of well attended pro-Hamas rallies around the world espousing the genocidal rant “From river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Think of it… this chant is being picked up by people of all types which of course is rooted in blatant hypocrisy. These crowds believe that Israel is an apartheid state committing genocide against the Palestinians. These are ridiculous claims for many reasons, but they are unable to see that the exact crimes they accuse Israel of perpetuating, their mantra is publicly endorsing. I read the entire Hamas charter last week and it is crystal clear what they want. The hate filled rant undeniably has its roots in the Hamas charter. They are fully committed to removing ALL Jews from the promised land. From the Jordan river in the east all the way west to the Mediterranean Sea.
I watched a public forum question and answer last week at Oxford that featured Ben Shapiro answering questions from a hostile crowd. Over and over, he asked each antagonist, “How much of the land of Israel do you consider occupied territory?” Each one of them answered, “All of it.” He responded with the only logical conclusion to the questioners, “Thank you for being honest. Then you are definitely not for a Two state solution and most likely for genocide of all Jews living in the land of Israel.”
Many brought up the idea that Israel is an apartheid state. Yet he responded and reminded them that there are almost 2 million Arabs who have FULL Israeli citizenship living within the borders of Israel and then asked them how many Jews are allowed to live in Gaza. The answer is ZERO. And when it comes to many areas in Judea and Samaria (a.k.a. the West Bank), there are signs which I have seen personally which warn that any Jews which cross over into these areas put their own lives at risk. Wouldn’t that be the definition of apartheid? Yet the people raging against Ben Shapiro were unable or unwilling to acknowledge that the true apartheid and hypocritical actions are clearly being perpetrated by the various Palestinian leadership groups.
Unfortunately, the modern evangelical church has done a poor job of defending the Biblical promises of God granting the land of Israel to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob forever. This often is the result of creative hermeneutics and neglecting to interpret the Bible in a normal, literal, grammatical, historical method. It also is the fruit of replacement (a.k.a. fulfillment) theology which espouses that all the OT promises have been fulfilled in Jesus and therefore, there is nothing more expected in relation to the future of national Israel among other end time prophetic events.
This brings up the assertions that come in various forms that the modern state of Israel has nothing to do with biblical Israel. In addition, others try to say that biblical Israel is not the same as the Jews. Therefore, the Jews of today are not biblical Israel. These are fair questions when they are brought up in an attitude of humility wondering how to correlate the various biblical nuances of who is a Hebrew, Israelite, and Jew. When dealing with the increasing antisemitism foisting itself upon our society, it would be helpful to speak with a greater level of precision in these important matters. There are a lot of opinions, but if we simply go back to the biblical evidence, we can see that all three terms refer to the same group of people. In short, the Hebrew, Jew, and Israelite terms all refer to all the ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
This article will examine all the evidence in the Old and New Testament Scriptures.
Who is a Hebrew?
If you really want to go deep into the various names, I encourage you to check out the articles found in the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. It is a 15-volume lexical dictionary that covers thoroughly every major Hebrew word.
The first place that the word Hebrew (in the Hebrew language it is transliterated ivriy) appears is in Genesis and reads, “Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram” (Gen 14:13).
Early on Abram is designated a Hebrew. There are various theories as to the origination (etymology) of the word Hebrew, but there isn’t a complete consensus. Exactly how or where it came from is actually irrelevant when examining the biblical data. Clearly Abram is called a Hebrew which is a good start for understanding how this designation is passed on to his specific descendants.
The next time we see the word is 5 times in connection with the story of Joseph being in Egypt and resisting the advances of Potiphar’s wife. We read, “…she called to the men of her household and said to them, ‘See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice’” (Gen 39:14; see also 39:17; 40:15; 41:12). What we gain from these verses is that Joseph, a son of Jacob, grandson of Isaac and great grandson of Abraham is called a Hebrew. In addition, we observe that the entire family group of Jacob’s sons are called Hebrews as distinct from the Egyptians. The biblical text affirms, “They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians” (Gen 43:32).
The next 13 occurrences all are contained within the Exodus story and concern the Hebrew midwives, Moses watching an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and Moses describing Yahweh as the God of the Hebrews to Pharoah (Exodus 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 3:18; 5:3; 7:16; 9:1, 13; 10:3).
An important connection is made between the designation Hebrew and the people called Israel. Notice, “And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God’” (Exodus 3:18). This passage connects that the “Hebrews” and “people of Israel” names are synonymous with no distinctions.
The last two instances in the Pentateuch/Torah appear as parallel texts and describe that once again the people of Israel are called Hebrews by God, “”If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you” (Deuteronomy 15:12; Ex 21:2).
The book of 1 Samuel has much to say about the connection between the terms Hebrew and Israelite. Notice the quote of the Philistines, “And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook.  Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp” (1 Samuel 4:5-6).
Two more examples will suffice to show that not only in the time of Joseph and the Exodus, but in the time of the judges, Israel and Hebrews as names were synonymous. “And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal” (1 Sam 13:3-4).
“Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears. But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle” (1 Sam. 13:19-20; see also 14:11, 21; 29:3).
Over 500-600 years later from the time of the Judges, we get another helpful piece of information in the biblical text referencing the designation Hebrew, but this time it is with the word Jew (the Hebrew word Yehudi). Jeremiah writes, “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them, that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother” (Jer 34:8-9).
In summary, the OT clearly associates the Hebrews, the Israelites, and the Jews as synonymous terms and speaking of the ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When we come to the New Testament it is confirmed again. We will discuss more specific details about the term Israel or Israelite in the next section, but notice what Paul says, “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I” (2 Corinthians 11:22).
It is interesting that Paul does not buy into the concept that Israel could not be called Israel simply because much (not all) of the 10 tribes of the northern kingdom were exiled by the Assyrians in 722 BC. The so called “lost tribes of Israel” theory. The idea of Israel still being a conglomerate of all the various tribes was still maintained in the 1st century. We see that Anna knew she was from the tribe of Asher (Luke 2:36). More on this in the next section.
Paul once again uses the term Hebrew in connection with the name and people of Israel. He writes about his ancestry, “though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee” (Philippians 3:4-5).
When it comes to understanding the use of the word Hebrew in the entire Bible, we see quite clearly that whether in the Old or New Testaments, the word is connected synonymously with Israel and Jew. This makes perfect sense in that anyone who has the genetics of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could be called a Hebrew, Israelite, or Jew.
Who is an Israelite?
The word Israel appears over 2500 times in the Old Testament and so we obviously cannot cover all the occurrences. However, it will be good to share a few examples of how the name is used in various ways. The first place in the Bible where it appears is when Jacob wrestles the angel and his name gets changed from Jacob to Israel. We read, “Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Gen 32:28; also 35:10). So, the first way in which Israel is used is in reference to the person of Jacob, son of Isaac.
After this and the children are born to Jacob/Israel, his sons become known as the twelve tribes of Israel as we read, “All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him” (Gen 49:28). This refers to ethnic descendants of Jacob and those that continue to grow into a nation during their time living in the land of Egypt. We observe this newer language in the Exodus story (Exodus 4:22) where we have God describing Himself as the “God of Israel” as a designation for the people group. Often times, we have the phrase “sons of Israel” or “children of Israel” depending on English translations. These refer to the 12 tribes of Israel and all their clans.
It is not until we come to the time and book of 1 Samuel that we see a distinction between Israel (the 10 northern tribes) and the southern distinction of the tribe of Judah (often associated to also include the tribe of Benjamin). After Saul was dead, David (from Judah) ruled over the southern “kingdom” of Judah and then eventually became king over all Israel (10 northern tribes). We read, “At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years” (2 Sam 5:5).
After the united monarchy (Saul, David, Solomon) dissolved, we know from history that Assyria came and took most (not all) of the 10 northern tribes into exile in 722 B.C. (2 Kings 17-18). The southern kingdom of Judah remained faithful to the Lord until they were exiled in 586 B.C.
Now, this is super important to notice that even after most of the northern kingdom of Israel was exiled into Assyria, there were still some Israelites from the various 10 tribes living in the land of the northern kingdom (2 Chron 31:6). After most of the northern kingdom of Israel was exiled, Hezekiah decided to have a Passover feast in which he invited all of the southern kingdom of Judah and any of the remnant of northern Israel who had escaped exile.
We read, “So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, ‘O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria’” (2 Chr. 30:6). Notice the progression of the narrative, “And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with all their might to the LORD” (2 Chr. 30:21, also 30:18). There were still people of the northern kingdom of Israel (10 tribes) living in the land of Judah. We observe, “The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of the dedicated things that had been consecrated to the LORD their God, and laid them in heaps” (2 Chronicles 31:6).
Later, after the returning descendants of Jacob arrived in the land of Israel, this returning group of people are called Israel once again. “Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God” (Nehemiah 9:1-3). Also, “As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent” (Neh. 13:3 and 13:15-18). We have further evidence of the ways in which “Israel” is used to describe all the remaining tribes of Jacob after their return from Babylon. “These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah everyone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants” (Neh 11:3).
We can learn from these passages that even though many of the 10 northern tribes were exiled to Assyria, they have never been truly lost. Also, even after the Babylonian exiles returned, the 12 tribes were still called Israel and not simply “Judah.”
When we come to the New Testament, Jesus ministered only to the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6, 23; 15:24). All of the people living in the land of Israel were called Israel by Jesus. Even further, Peter preached to the leaders and called them Israel (Acts 2:22, 36; 3:12; 4:10; 5:31, 35). Paul referred to the leadership and people living in the land as Israel (Acts 13:16, 23, 24). We can see that the people living in the land who were descendants of Jacob were all called Israel. This becomes important as we move to the next section and examine the phraseology of the word Jew or Jews.
In summary, what we can conclude is that even though there are some specific nuances of the word Israel or Israelite, the overarching meaning is that anyone who is an ethnic descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is considered an Israelite or Israel. Jesus and the apostles affirm this is true and that is good enough for me. This is especially true as found in Romans 9 and 11.
Who is a Jew?
The first place that the word Jew appears in the canonical text of Scripture is found in the book of 2 Kings 25:25 in reference to those living in the land of Judah. Daniel, writing somewhere between 600 B.C. and 535 B.C. uses the Aramaic word “Jew” in reference to the exiled people living in Babylon (Daniel 3:8, 12).
The Aramaic word “Jew” (Yehuday) appears throughout the book of Ezra in reference to those living in the land of Israel after they left Babylon (approximately 458 B.C.). The word Jew appears often in the book of Esther 2:5 (approximately 475 B.C.)
Even though Mordecai is called a Jew in Esther 2:5, the word actually appears earlier historically in the book of Jeremiah. He writes this section around 575 B.C. and says, “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them, that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother” (Jer. 34:8-9).
The Hebrew word for Jew is Yehudiy and is a reference to a person. The word Yehudah is a different word in reference to the land of Judah which is the area around Jerusalem or the tribe or original son of Jacob (Genesis 29:35). What we know is that the word “Jew” stems from the son of Jacob and the tribe of Judah. Eventually, because of the prominence of the tribe of Judah and the southern kingdom of Judah returning after the Babylonian exile, the people of Israel were often called Jews. However, as we saw in Jeremiah and 2 Kings, the people were called Jews even before the return of the people of Israel from the exile of Babylon.
Around 500 B.C., the prophet Zechariah uses the term “Jew” in reference to anyone descending from the 12 tribes of Israel. He writes concerning the future messianic kingdom, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’” (Zech 8:23).
Later in Nehemiah’s time (approximately 446 B.C.), he uses the word Jews in reference to the returning group of people living in the land of Israel who have returned from Babylon. Once again, we know from previous passages in Chronicles that the southern kingdom of Judah which was exiled included people from all the 12 tribes of Israel. Therefore, the Jews (12 tribes) who were exiled to Babylon are the ones that came back to the land of Israel.
When we come to the New Testament we see the three words, Hebrew, Israel, and Jew come together to be used synonymously. Jesus was a descendant of Jacob (Israel) through Judah and David and Mary (Matthew 1), but allowed Himself to be called a Jew from the Samaritan woman (John 4:9). Additionally, Jesus told her that salvation was of the Jews and this clearly is in reference to the people living in the land of Israel whom He calls the “house of Israel” in Matthew 10.
The challenge we have in the New Testament is the general usage of the word “Jew” (Greek word is Ioudaios). This can either be in reference to the people living in the south (Judeans as opposed to those in Galilee to the north) or to Jews in the sense of the 12 tribes of the house of Israel. Context will determine which is the appropriate usage.
When studying the book of Acts, we see something immediate in that the word Jews is in reference to those who are of the tribes of Israel. In other words, ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We read, “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). Clearly, these were not simply Judeans, but ethnic Jews from various parts of the world who were living in Jerusalem.
Paul calls himself a Jew, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people” (Acts 21:39, 22:3). He also writes that he was a Jew according to his ethnic genetics and birth, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners” (Gal 2:15).
So, what can we summarize? A Jew began as one who was of the tribe of Judah, but eventually this word was associated with anyone who was a descendant of Jacob or an Israelite. Paul called himself a Jew, but also that he was an Israelite and a Hebrew.
“Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I” (2 Corinthians 11:22).
“For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh– though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee” (Phil. 3:3-5).
Additionally, Paul connects that the Jews living in the land of Israel during the 1st century are connected all the way back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These were his physical ethnic brothers and Jesus was born from that heritage. The 1st century Jews are Israelites and Hebrews and are descendants of the patriarchs who received the covenants.
“I am speaking the truth in Christ– I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit– that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Rom. 9:1-5).
Based on the full testimony of Scripture and especially the New Testament, we can see that Paul is the perfect example. He was a Jew, an Israelite, and a Hebrew according to his own testimony.
Conclusion
Today, people are claiming that a biblical Jew is different than a biblical Hebrew and even different than a biblical Israelite. What we have observed from the evidence of Scripture is that these claims are absolutely false.
When we examine the Jews living today, especially in the land of Israel, their genetics and DNA go back to the people living in the land of Israel from ancient times. On our Prophecy Watchers website under the articles tab in the menu, we have other documentation refuting the assertions that modern Jews living in the land of Israel are not real Jews. According to the Bible (as seen in this article) and also modern genetic data, it is clear that the Jews living in the modern state of Israel are some of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not all of Jacob’s descendants live in the modern state of Israel. Many live in the USA and Europe and other parts of the world. Needless to say, we need to do our best to speak loud and clear that the accusations and antisemitism against modern Israel should be refuted with facts and evidence.
We know that that God has brought the nation of Israel back into existence in 1948 in order to redeem them once they repent and receive Jesus as their Messiah (Matthew 23:37-39; Zech 12:10; Hosea 5:15). What a glorious day that will be for the entire world.
“Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it. I am saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this, for I want somehow to make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, so I might save some of them. For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead!” (Rom. 11:12-15). Let us continue to pray for their salvation through Jesus their Messiah as it will bring blessings to the entire world!
Other insights into understanding the Modern State of Israel and Biblical Jews
Recently we have seen many people make the claim about the words of Jesus in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 and believe that these apply to modern Israel. Here is a question we answered in a recent magazine.
James asks:
I keep hearing the Jews living today are not real Jews and people quoting Jesus when He says, “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” (Rev 2:9). Also, “Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie– behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you” (Rev 3:9). They also use these verses to say the Jews in Israel are not true Jews. Can you please comment?
PW answers:
This has been a common misunderstanding. Firstly, the context shows that this slander was being fulfilled in the 1st century. Secondly, this was in the actual location where ethnic Jews (physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) living outside the land of Israel were persecuting Christians in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). This is well known in history. When Jesus says they are not Jews, He is alluding to the truth that began in the Old Testament. Moses revealed that the most important factor for a Jewish person was to move beyond physical circumcision only and to have their hearts circumcised (Deut 10:16; 30:6).
Paul appeals to this line of thinking in his letter to the Romans around 56 A.D. He says, “Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God” (Rom 2:27-29).  Therefore, Paul concludes that a true Jew is one who is an ethnic Jew (circumcised outwardly), but also one who is circumcised inwardly through fait (Romans 4).
Jesus said that the Jewish synagogues in the land of Turkey contained unbelieving Jews who were not living up to the spirituality they SHOULD have had through Jesus their Messiah. Because of that they are not genuine or complete Jews. Since they were not a true follower of God and His Son, they are of their father the devil as Jesus already taught in John 8:36-47 (see also 1 John 3:8-10). Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 have nothing to do specifically with true ethnic bloodlines of modern Jews today, either inside the land of Israel or outside.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a>What is the Spiritual Condition of National Israel Today?</a></h2>
(This is an excerpt from my book, “The Red Heifer Ritual” where I go in to much more detail on this topic. You can find that book <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/product/pre-sale-coming-in-september-the-red-heifer-ritual-the-october-examination-deadline-approaches-by-mondo-gonzales/">HERE</a>.)            
The title of this section is very carefully nuanced. I am talking about National Israel. Think of it as a corporate group like we find in the OT. Even when God sent National Israel into exile in the Babylonian captivity for their sin, there were faithful individuals like Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and others who simply got caught up in the judgment of the entire nation. The leadership was wicked, and God most often judged the nation according to its leadership. We often don’t understand this theological principle because today we are so individualized, but this was the way it was in the OT. Remember when David sinned by having a census in 2 Samuel 24? David was the one who sinned, but as a result of his sin, judgment came and 70,000 people died through a plague (1 Chronicles 21:14). David himself was not killed, but many of the people were. This is similar to when in the first century the Jewish leadership rejected Jesus and judgment came upon that entire generation (Matthew 11:16; 12:39, 41, 42, 45). Jerusalem and the Second Temple were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands were killed by the Romans.
Even during the destruction of Jerusalem, we know there were individuals who were saved, including some of the apostles, disciples, and others. It is the same today with National Israel. The Jewish leadership of Israel (including the religious Jews) does not embrace Jesus as Messiah, but there are individual Jews who are saved. So, as we discuss the following state of National Israel, let’s remember that even though the people may be judged according to their nation, there are individuals who have become followers of Jesus the Messiah and are saved. It’s also important to remember that even in the first century, Paul loved his Jewish brethren (Romans 9:1-5), but was still bold enough to call them lost and in need of salvation (Romans 10:1-5). This is still true today.
To further illustrate this thought, I receive questions from people all over the country every single day. Recently, I received the following question from a woman named Linda. She wrote, “I have some friends who go to a national denominational church. When I talk to them about prophecy and the nation of Israel, they say that the remaining promises to Israel were given to the church because of Israel’s disobedience and murder of Jesus. They also point out that the modern nation of Israel is far from perfect. It is socialistic, secular, promotes LGBTQ, and is unfriendly to messianic Christians. They ask me how I can support such a godless nation that rejects Jesus and hinders Christian evangelism. What can I say?”
            Here was my response:
There are two ways to respond to this question. One is theological and the other is prophetic. First, it is wise to simply acknowledge the truth of the assertions of your friends about the modern state of National Israel. It is well known that it was founded by secularist socialists who flirted with communism. If you study the history, many of the religious Jews were against the founding of the state of Israel because the founding fathers of modern Israel were so secular and atheistic. This was blasphemous to the religious Jews of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Second, we might ask the question, “In some ways how is this any different than the original founding of the nation in the book of Exodus?” Notice what God says to Israel through Moses as they were about to enter the promised land, “Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that He may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. “Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD. Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you” (Deuteronomy 9:4-8).
Theologically, we learn that God did not give the land to Israel in ancient times because they were righteous, but to keep His promises to the patriarchs. Prophetically speaking, Israel today does not deserve the land any more than they did in ancient times. God did not bring back the people of Israel to the land in 1948 because they earned it (Ezekiel 36:24; 38:8). He brought them back into the land so He can fulfill His prophetic promises of the 70th week spoken of by Daniel (9:24-27), among other prophecies. He is going to judge them for their rebellion against His Son Jesus, purge and discipline them, but save the remnant as they call out on the name of Jesus at the end of the tribulation (Jeremiah 30:7; Hosea 5:15; Matthew 23:37-39; Zechariah 12:10; 13:8-9).
Why do we support the state of Israel today? We do not endorse everything they do. They are far from perfect as a government and a people. We support and love the state of Israel indirectly in a sense. Indirectly because we do not approve of them implicitly. More accurately, we support and endorse the Word of God, which contains promises to the nation of Israel that are still unfulfilled. Not a single time in Scripture are the promises to Israel ever transferred to the church. These promises will be fulfilled literally. Ultimately, we support and affirm the prophetic promises of God to and about Israel. God does not fully approve of Israel’s actions today and neither should we, but God has not forsaken nor abandoned Israel (Jeremiah 31;35-37; Amos 9:8; Romans 11:25-29) and again, neither should we.
It is absolutely true what Jesus said that no one can be saved apart from faith in Him (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). It is pretty obvious that secular Jews anywhere in the world today are not saved. What about religious Jews who pray, read the Bible, and are waiting for the Messiah? Paul writes with great sorrow that any Jew who does not embrace Jesus is lost and unsaved (Romans 10:1-3). Today, many religious Jews (especially in Israel) hate Jesus and Christians, sometimes aggressively.
That is how I answered Linda’s question, but it fits perfectly into how we Christians who follow Jesus as the Messiah and final sacrifice should address the prophetic developments of the red heifer and building of the Third Temple.
I get asked often about those religious Jews who read and believe the Old Testament. They claim to pray to God the Father and also believe that His promises are true, but they reject Jesus as Messiah. We should always be friendly and loving and kind, and never are we ever to persecute or speak evil of anyone that does not embrace Jesus as Messiah. This is especially true of Jewish people because of church history which had much “Christian” persecution of Jews. This was wrong then and is wrong today.
At the same time, we need to interact with a few questions:
<ol>
<li>When Jewish people who reject Jesus as Messiah pray today, does God the Father hear their prayers?</li>
<li>Can a Jewish person have a relationship with God the Father if they reject Jesus?</li>
<li>Are the Jewish people who seem sincere in their desire to build a Third Temple pleasing God if they still try to please God apart from a faith in Jesus?</li>
<li>Is Judaism a genuine religion that God accepts?</li>
</ol>
These are all very good questions, and the New Testament speaks quite boldly on these issues. In fact, as we have seen, Jesus speaks clearly on this issue. He said to the apostles and to Israel in the first century, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father, except through Me” (John 14:6). Peter said, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). These are powerful and crystal-clear verses which answer the above questions. As difficult as it may be for some to accept, all of the answers to the 4 questions above are an unequivocal “NO.”
A true and genuine religion is one that provides salvation, and any religion that does not embrace Jesus is false and cannot provide or secure salvation. I don’t intend this to sound harsh, but it is true. Judaism, as a religion, does not nor cannot provide salvation because it rejects Jesus. Therefore, all the efforts by the religious Jews to fully reestablish Judaism and the Third Temple sacrifices are all fruitless efforts and do not honor the Son. Therefore, God cannot lie and accept their efforts when they reject His one and only Son whom He gave to die.
So, when a religious Jew prays, his prayers are not accepted by the Father unless they are prayed in the context of having a relationship with Jesus which they clearly do not. Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13; see also 15:16; 16:23, 24, 26). Notice the consistent theme of the following verses:
John 5:23 “That all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
John 15:23 “Whoever hates Me hates My Father also.”
 Luke 10:16 “Whoever listens to you listens to Me, and whoever rejects you rejects Me, and whoever rejects Me rejects the one who sent Me.”
1 John 2:23 “No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also.”
John 5:45-46 “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me.”
1 John 2:21-23 “I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.”
John 15:18-21 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of My name, because they do not know Him who sent Me.”
As you can observe from the above verses, these present a very stark and clear picture of the situation in the first century as well as today. It is impossible to honor the Father through prayer, Torah study, sacrifices, or building a Third Temple if it does not include honoring Jesus the Son. In addition, if anyone rejects Jesus, they reject the Father who sent Jesus. If someone hates Jesus, they hate the Father. Even more bold, the above Scripture is saying that anyone who denies Jesus as the Messiah is a liar and is associated with the spirit of the antichrist. When the antichrist comes on the scene to deceive the Jews in making a covenant (Daniel 9:27), I believe that part of his covenant message will be to encourage the Jewish leadership to reaffirm a denial of Jesus as the Messiah.
When Paul was outlining the plan of God in seeking to reach the Gentiles, he writes, “As far as the gospel is concerned, [the Jews] are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28). This concept is important. Paul says that any Jewish person who rejects the gospel is an enemy in one sense, but God still loves them and has a plan for them in the future. We should love them also and pray for their eyes to be opened to God’s only plan of salvation. This plan includes coming to faith in Jesus, but just because God loves them doesn’t mean that God is going allow a separate way to come to Him. Jesus is the only WAY. If we have these truths in the back of our mind, we can begin to formulate some solid Biblical answers to the questions that were asked in the previous chapter.
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/jews/">Jews</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<title>The Reason for Errors in Prophecy Understanding</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/the-reason-for-errors-in-prophecy-understanding/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mondo Gonzales]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 09 Nov 2023 19:03:30 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=594846</guid>
<description><![CDATA[No doubt there are dozens (or more) various interpretations of how the end times happen. We call this area of study eschatology and it can […]
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/the-reason-for-errors-in-prophecy-understanding/">The Reason for Errors in Prophecy Understanding</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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No doubt there are dozens (or more) various interpretations of how the end times happen. We call this area of study eschatology and it can be quite complex. Even among true Christians there are many different schools of thought. One might ask, “How can we have so many opposing views when it comes to eschatology?” I have been thinking about this for a while and wanted to give a presentation showing that if we are inconsistent in how we interpret the Bible, the result will be that we can end up almost anywhere we want. One of the easist ways to show this is to simply compare what the Bible says about the regathering of the state of Israel in the last days and then examine that in light of history. Israel became a nation in 1948 and so this is a fact. How did Christians and theologians before 1948 seek to understand those passages? We will see that the more those who sought to spiritualize or make figurative a passage, the more in error they were. Yet if they took the prophecies at face value, they were vindicated.
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The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/the-reason-for-errors-in-prophecy-understanding/">The Reason for Errors in Prophecy Understanding</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<title>Are Modern Israeli Jews True Jews?</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/are-modern-israeli-jews-true-jews/</link>
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<pubDate>Mon, 23 Oct 2023 19:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
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<description><![CDATA[There is much confusion and antisemitism rising to the surface. Please see this short video refuting the myth that all Israeli Jews are descendants of […]
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/are-modern-israeli-jews-true-jews/">Are Modern Israeli Jews True Jews?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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There is much confusion and antisemitism rising to the surface. Please see this short video refuting the myth that all Israeli Jews are descendants of the Khazars. Also, make sure to read the article below the video by Dr. Tommy Ice also refuting this error.
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Chapter 6 excerpt from the book, Zionism by Dr. Tommy Ice. <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/product/case-zionism-christians-support-israel-dr-thomas-ice/">https://prophecywatchers.com/product/case-zionism-christians-support-israel-dr-thomas-ice/</a>
Are Modern Jews Descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
“Modern Jews are a separate nation of people with a self-identity, spread out among many other nations. The closest analogy to them are the Gypsies. The only difference between Modern Jews and Gypsies is that the Modern Jews claim to have a relation to the Bible Jews, a claim I maintain is false. . . . Modern Jews think of themselves as Jews, but they are not Jews. They are counterfeits of Biblical Jews. I say this not to disparage them, but to be accurate.”<a href="#_edn1" id="_ednref1">[1]</a> — James Jordan, Replacement Theology Theologian
 “In summary . . . the largest, and most influential, proportion of Eastern European Jews came from Central Europe. By this analysis we can show that the dominate ethnic element among Eastern European Jews is Judean — the ancient Jewish people of Judea in the Middle East.”<a href="#_edn2" id="_ednref2">[2]</a> — Kevin Alan Brook, Jewish Researcher
Some people contend that modern Jews do not have the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in their veins. They contend that modern Jews, whether in or out of the land of Israel, have no genetic basis from which to claim that they are Jews, let alone the chosen descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Some say that since they are not true Jews then they are not descendants of those who were scattered across the globe in a.d. 70, and they cannot return to what they never really left, which is the land of Israel. Is this true or just another effort to disinherit God’s ancient chosen people?
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Are Modern Jews Frauds?</h3>
The conviction that modern Jews are fraudulent has been clearly expressed by Presbyterian replacement theologian James B. Jordan.<a href="#_edn3" id="_ednref3">[3]</a> “With the passing away of the Old Covenant, there is no longer any such a thing as a Jew in the Biblical sense,” declares Jordan. I wonder, “Is there any other sense in which one could be a Jew except for the biblical sense?” “Unless by ‘True Jews’ we mean Christians. There is no covenant, and therefore there is no nation, no ‘race.’ ”<a href="#_edn4" id="_ednref4">[4]</a> Nowhere does the New Testament call Gentile Christians “True Jews,” “Jews,” “Israel,” or any such term. New Testament believers are called the seed of Abraham because he was the father of those who believe. Abraham was the only Gentile in the history of the world who became a Jew or Israelite, since the Jewish race descended from him, Isaac, and Jacob. Thus, all Christian believers in the current Church Age, whether Jew or Gentile, are offspring of the spiritual seed of Abraham (Rom. 4:1–5; Gal. 3:6–7, 14, 16–18). Abraham is both the father of physical Israel, known as the Jews, and father of spiritual descendants, that is, everyone who believes in Jesus as the Messiah, whether Jew or Gentile (Gen. 15:6).
Jordan makes one of the most outlandish statements possible on this topic when he declares: “It is entirely possible that there is not one drop of Abraham’s blood in any modern Jew.”<a href="#_edn5" id="_ednref5">[5]</a> One might think that only a radical Islamic terrorist would publicly write such things, but Jordan is an Evangelical Christian. He does not stop with the preceding comment, he continues with the following pontification:
Modern Jews are a separate nation of people with a self-identity, spread out among many other nations. The closest analogy to them are the Gypsies. The only difference between Modern Jews and Gypsies is that the Modern Jews claim to have a relation to the Bible Jews, a claim I maintain is false. . . . Modern Jews think of themselves as Jews, but they are not Jews. They are counterfeits of Biblical Jews. I say this not to disparage them, but to be accurate.<a href="#_edn6" id="_ednref6">[6]</a>
Jordan’s “scholarship” leads him to believe that today’s Jews (he even coins a special term for the Jews of today — “modern Jews”) are fraudulent, merely posing as Jews. History would be totally different if Hitler had thought this way, or if the Muslims of today would come to learn of Jordan’s discovery. “Modern Jews are people who choose to think of themselves as descendants of Israel,” insists Jordan. “Most modern Jews are not semites, but are descended from Eastern European tribes converted to Judaism in the middle ages.”<a href="#_edn7" id="_ednref7">[7]</a> So Jordan believes that the true Jews of the Bible and history lost their identity in the Middle Ages in relation to a nation called Khazaria.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Khazar Theory</h3>
One of the tactics used by some anti-Zionists is to say that most modern Jews are not true descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This errant theory is based upon wrong conclusions they have drawn from the history of a medieval nation named Khazaria in which some of the Gentiles converted to Judaism. This is alleged to have diluted the stock of Jewish progeny through a great influx of Gentiles into Judaism. Through racial inflation, the Jews are said to have lost their genetic descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, resulting in the loss of genuine Jewish DNA in those who call themselves Jews today.
The Khazar theory was introduced to the broader public in 1976 by Arthur Koestler, a Jewish communist and novelist in his book entitled The Thirteenth Tribe.<a href="#_edn8" id="_ednref8">[8]</a> The theory had been floating around various Arab and anti-Semitic groups for a number of years before Koestler’s book.<a href="#_edn9" id="_ednref9">[9]</a> It is not surprising to learn that his theory has been very attractive to Arabs, Muslims, Holocaust deniers, skinheads, Nazis, Christian Identity, some within Evangelical Christian circles who hold to replacement theology, and even a number of leftist Jews. The Khazar theory is a convenient way for some to simply dismiss the modern state of Israel, since according to this view the Jewish people in the land are not really descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore, the so-called “Jews” do not have legitimate claim to the land of Israel. Robert B. Thieme Jr. outlines the implications of the Khazar theory:
If the Khazars, not the biblical Israelites, are indeed the ancestors of European Jews, then European Jews have no connection with God’s people of the Old Testament, and do not fall under the protective auspices of Genesis 12:1–3. Since European Jews constitute the largest group of immigrants in present day Israel and in the United States, how much easier for anti-Semites to discredit and persecute those whom they consider to be impostors, disconnected with the elect, Old Testament race of people. Anti-Semites sometimes cite this “loophole” to justify their hatred and persecution of Jews. Also, Middle Eastern Arabs can reject the Semitic background of Jewish immigrants to Palestine and thereby preserve the concocted view that gives sanction for conquest of the Land.<a href="#_edn10" id="_ednref10">[10]</a>
Since Khazar theory teaches that the Jews are largely a people who are now extinct as an ethic people, therefore, it renders mute, in their minds, the issue of the land of Israel as a future promise that will be fulfilled by God to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When people, especially those within Christendom, start thinking this way, it usually does not take long for anti-Semitic pogroms to arise. Today, with the re-established state of Israel, the Jew-hatred will increasingly be directed toward the national collective — the nation of Israel, which constitutes the new anti-Semitism.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Growth of the Khazar Theory</h3>
Many who traffic in Jew-hatred or anti-Zionism have taken Koestler’s thesis and run with it. They have developed a whole school of thought revolving around the notion that “Jews are such imposters to begin with and I can prove that they are not even really Jews at all.” Thus, many influenced by the Khazar theory expand its horizons far beyond Koestler’s intentions, as misguided as they were to begin with. In fact, Koestler concludes, “The problem of the Khazar infusion a thousand years ago, however fascinating, is irrelevant to modern Israel.” Again he declares, “I am aware of the danger that it may be maliciously misinterpreted as a denial of the State of Israel’s right to exist.”<a href="#_edn11" id="_ednref11">[11]</a> This is exactly what is now taking place! Israel’s opponents use these claims in an attempt to justify their enmity to individual Jews and especially against the modern state of Israel, especially in the Muslim world. Princeton scholar Bernard Lewis tells us, “This theory, first put forward by an Austrian anthropologist in the early years of this century [20th], is supported by no evidence whatsoever. It has long since been abandoned by all serious scholars in the field, including those in Arab countries, where the Khazar theory is little used except in occasional political polemics.”<a href="#_edn12" id="_ednref12">[12]</a>
Just as Hitler’s Mein Kampf and The Protocols of The Learned Elders of Zion have become popular reading in much of the radical Muslim world, so too has the Khazar theory made significant inroads onto the radical Muslim must-read list. One Muslim writer in an article on Aljazeera.com said,
The irony of “the law of return” is that many of today’s jews have no direct ancestral link to the jews of the Old Testament. Many, perhaps even most jewish people are descended from the Khazars, a people whose rulers converted to Judaism sometime during the 800’s a.d. The Khazars never even set foot in Palestine!<a href="#_edn13" id="_ednref13">[13]</a>
James Jordan spews forth an invective when he speaks of “the heresy of Christian Zionism.”<a href="#_edn14" id="_ednref14">[14]</a> He then concludes “that most modern Jews are not Jews at all: They are Khazars.”<a href="#_edn15" id="_ednref15">[15]</a> Jordan continues as follows:
The Khazari race seems to lie behind the Ashkenazik Jews of Eastern Europe. This kind of assertion can, of course, be debated. The real problem in the discussion is the notion that Jewishness is a blood or racial phenomenon. It is not.
Biblically speaking, a Jew is someone who is covenanted into the people of Jews by circumcision. . . .
All these people were Jew, but only a small fraction actually had any of Abraham’s blood in them. . . . What this demonstrates is that covenant, not race, has always been the defining mark of a Jew.<a href="#_edn16" id="_ednref16">[16]</a>
Following Jordan’s lead, another replacement theologian, Southern Baptist John L. Bray, asserts that “the pure fact is that many of the Jews of the world are not only not pure Jews, but not even Jews at all.”<a href="#_edn17" id="_ednref17">[17]</a> “In addition to findings about the Khazar Jewish beginnings, we need to consider also that because of intermarriage, cross-breeding, etc.,” declares Bray, “there is very little that can be called ‘Jewish race’ today.”<a href="#_edn18" id="_ednref18">[18]</a>
Evangelical Theodore Winston Pike, another militant anti-Zionist, also is attracted to the Khazar theory in his polemics against the legitimacy of the modern state of Israel. Pike tells us:
The truth is, the majority of Jews living in Palestine highhandedly expelling Arabs from their homes are no more the descendants of Abraham than such Jewish converts as Sammy Davis Jr., Marilyn Monroe, or for that matter, the rest of us.
The Jewish encyclopedias admit, of course, that the kingdom of Khazaria was converted to Judaism, but they do not pursue the implications of that fact as does the Jewish author, Koestler. It was Nesta Webster in the 1920s who first perceived the Khazar origins of most Eastern European Jews. Her deduction, however, was dismissed as “anti-Semitic” until Koestler, a liberal Jew of equal scholarship, has made the same claim with even greater insistence.<a href="#_edn19" id="_ednref19">[19]</a>
Application of the Khazar theory can lead to a significant distortion of a Christian understanding of God’s Word. Jordon wonders: “Are Bible-believing Christians supposed to support a Jewish State, for theological reasons? Such is the assertion of Jerry Falwell, and of the heresy of Christian Zionism.”<a id="_ednref20" href="#_edn20">[20]</a> I will now examine the veracity of such claims.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Khazar Theory Explained and Examined</h3>
No informed person on these issues questions the existence of a country in the Middle Ages composed largely of Turkish stock, between the Black and Caspian Seas during the seventh to tenth centuries named Khazaria, where the royal family only converted to Judaism. Khazaria was an actual nation in history.<a href="#_edn21" id="_ednref21">[21]</a> However, it is still an unproved theory, as attractive as it may appear to some, lacking any scientific evidence that Ashkenazi Jews (about 85 percent of world Jewry) are primarily descended from the Khazars.
In 1976, when Koestler, a non-specialist in this field, put forth this theory it was never taken seriously by linguists and most other scientists. This explains why the most vigorous promotion of his views are usually found within the circles of propagandists who have an ideological axe to grind and not by the scientific community. Like the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, the forged document supporting a supposed Jewish world conspiracy, they so much want their theories to be real history, when they are not. Thieme provides an overview of the Khazars as follows:
Who were the Khazars? They were semi-nomadic, Tataric in origin, a Turkic-speaking people who first appeared north of the Caucuses in the late second century a.d. In the fifth century they were subjugated by the Huns but rose to power two centuries later. Charging across the Russian steppes, these legendary warriors conquered the Crimea and extended their empire from the western shores of the Caspian Sea to the River Don, from the southern Ukraine to the region north of the Black Sea and as far as Kiev. They fought the Persians and Armenians; they battled Arab expansion, which was inspired by the advent of Islam after the death of Mohammed in 632. In addition, they fought the Byzantine Empire, which forcibly tried to make them Christian.
The “khakan” or ruler was also the religious head of state of the Khazars. Tolerant of other religions, the khakan welcomed thousands of Jews from Asia Minor and the Byzantine Empire as well as Mohammedans and Christians. These three religious groups vied to convert the Khazars who practiced a primitive idolatrous religion.
In a.d. 740 after considering the various religious viewpoints among these groups, the khakan embraced Judaism for himself and his people. His conversion was a compromise between Christianity and the religion of Islam. While Judaism was accepted as the official religion of the empire, the Khazar state still maintained tolerance toward other religious groups. The empire continued until a.d. 965 when it was overthrown by a coalition of Christian Russians and the Byzantines.<a href="#_edn22" id="_ednref22">[22]</a>
Why did the khakan convert to Judaism and not Christianity or Islam? It is commonly thought that had the Khazars converted to Islam then they would have been swallowed up into the growing Islamic empire and lost their national identity and their autonomous authority as rulers. The same would have been true had they converted to Christianity. Khazaria would have been likely become part of the Byzantine Empire as well. By converting to Judaism, the khakan was able to maintain complete independence for the territory that he ruled. “But it could only maintain its independence by accepting neither Christianity nor Islam,” notes Koestler of the Khazarian rulers, “for either choice would have automatically subordinated it to the authority of the Roman Emperor or the Caliph of Baghdad.”<a href="#_edn23" id="_ednref23">[23]</a>
Some scholars in this field of study think that it was primarily the elite of the Khazars that converted to Judaism<a href="#_edn24" id="_ednref24">[24]</a> since “Khazar Judaism was never very strong.”<a href="#_edn25" id="_ednref25">[25]</a> Some think a primary reason for the national conversion is because some of the advisors were already Jewish, having immigrated there years earlier and worked their way up into governmental positions. Steven Collins, quoting from The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia tells us, “It was chiefly due to the cultural superiority of the Daghestan Jews that the ‘Kahan’ (king) of the mighty state of Khazars was converted to Judaism together with his court and part of the Khazar population between the 8th and 9th centuries.”<a href="#_edn26" id="_ednref26">[26]</a> Besides the rulers, only a part of the Gentile Khazar population adopted Judaism over the next century, which means the Khazars were a majority Jewish state. Other than the Jewish leadership, only a sizeable minority of Jews resided within Khazaria. “A total of only 4,000 new conversions to Judaism in a large nation was actually a small number of converts. The requirement of circumcision was likely a disincentive for most Khazar men to convert to Judaism.”<a href="#_edn27" id="_ednref27">[27]</a>
It is clear that there were already a great number of Jews who lived in Khazaria in the 8th century. “Large numbers of Jewish refugees had settled in what became Khazaria long before the Khazars were even a recognizable people,” notes Collins. “The Jews had seen the Caucasus region as a hospitable refuge for centuries, and they went there in large numbers.”<a href="#_edn28" id="_ednref28">[28]</a>
When word began to circulate that the nation of Khazaria had converted to Judaism we learn that many Jews, especially from the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim world immigrated to Khazaria since Jews were commonly persecuted in those Empires. They migrated to Khazaria for sanctuary and religious freedom. “Khazaria itself was full of Jewish immigrants from Constantinople . . . and these immigrants actually outnumbered the converts according to some sources,”<a href="#_edn29" id="_ednref29">[29]</a> says Cameron Sawyer. This immigration greatly increased the number of Jews in the nation and it was known to have a very large population of Jews migrating in from many other counties in those days. Sawyer makes the following point:
Also, if the Ashkenazis are supposed to be Khazars, what happened to all the “real” Jews of Europe? The Khazars were only converted to Judaism in the 8th century. Jews — descendants of Jews from biblical Israel — have been living on the Black Sea coast, Southern Russia, and the Caucasus since before the birth of Christ . . . not to mention Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. So all these people just disappeared one day, to be suddenly replaced by Khazar converts?<a href="#_edn30" id="_ednref30">[30]</a>
Since Khazaria was one of the few nations on earth at that time practicing religious freedom, this explains why the nation also had large populations of Christians, Muslims, and pagans who never converted to Judaism. The notion that multitudes of Gentiles simply overwhelmed Jewish bloodlines is simply not the case. The Jews of Khazaria appear to have had Jewish bloodlines just as strong as other Jews of their day.
When the nation was conquered, the Jews fled to other countries, and most of the population of Khazaria which were not Jewish were killed in these battles, immigrated elsewhere, or joined up with the Muslims and Christians. We are told, “The Jews of Khazaria migrated to Kiev and parts of Russia, while the remaining Khazars joined the Magyars and migrated to modern Hungary, becoming Christians.”<a href="#_edn31" id="_ednref31">[31]</a> Those converting to Christianity would not come into play when analyzing the modern Jewish gene pool. Here is a summary of what happened after the breakup of Khazaria:
Most of the East European Jews migrated from the west to the east of the continent, and were not descended from the inhabitants of the Khazar Empire. They are actually a fusion of Balkan-Greek Jews from the Byzantine Empire, Babylonian Jews from the Abbasid Caliphate, Yiddish-speaking Jews from Germany, Sephardic Jews fleeing the Spanish inquisition, and Khazars. All these groups intermarried over the centuries, so that the Khazar converts disappeared as a distinguishable ethnical entity and their descendants became fully Jewish with Israelite ancestry. . . .
If Khazarian ethnicity may be considered in any way of relevant influence among Russian Jews, the same is not valid for those of Poland; which is confirmed also by the following facts:
Polish life is completely extraneous to the Khazars.
The majority of Polish Jews came from the west, not the east.
There are no places in Poland that may recall Khazar origin.
Most Ashkenazi Jews have Germanic, not Khazar, surnames and customs.
There’s not any relevant trace of the Khazarian language among Jews; on the contrary, the Ashkenazim’s tongue, Yiddisch, is evidently of German origin.<a href="#_edn32" id="_ednref32">[32]</a>
It seems clear, based upon the historical records of the matter that the Khazar aspect of Ashkenazi Jewish history provided a very small contribution to the makeup of their gene pool. Based upon the historical records alone, there is precious little support to actually think that about 85 percent of Jews in the world today are not descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Khazar theory falls to the ground due to lack of evidence to support its conclusions based upon sifting the historical evidence.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">DNA and the Khazars</h3>
The opinion previously reached by historians and ethnologists concerning the Khazars is now confirmed with the development of the modern science of DNA analysis as a reliable way to discover one’s genealogical heritage. Kevin Alan Brook<a href="#_edn33" id="_ednref33">[33]</a> is a leading researcher on the Khazars and tells us the following:
We no longer need to rely on speculation. It is now a known FACT that German Jews mingled with other Jews when they came east. It is also clear that the ancient Israelites possessed those Y-DNA patterns that are found in common among Sephardic Jews, Ashkenazic Jews, Kurdish Jews, and Indian Jews, despite the fact that ultimately those patters may have earlier stemmed, in part, from somewhere in Kurdistan or Armenia or Iraq. The Middle Eastern Y-DNA patterns in the J and E haplogroups cannot be explained by Khazars.<a href="#_edn34" id="_ednref34">[34]</a>
Brook’s overall conclusion of Khazar origins is as follows:
In summary, Eastern European Jews are descended from a mixture of German and Austrian Jews, Czech Jews, and East Slavic Jews. The East Slavic Jews may have roots in both the Khazar and Byzantine empires, hence necessitating our further study of Jewish life in those lands. But the largest and most influential proportion of Eastern European Jews came from Central Europe. By this analysis we can show that the dominant ethnic element among Eastern European Jews is Judean — the ancient Jewish people of Judea in the Middle East.<a href="#_edn35" id="_ednref35">[35]</a>
Cameron Sawyer, based upon examination of DNA analysis, comes to a similar conclusion about the authenticity of the ethnic descent of the Jewish group under investigation.
In any case, modern genetic analysis now gives us very precise information about bloodlines, migrations, and the genetic relationships between peoples, and has settled the matter once and for all. Ashkenazi Jews are, in fact, close relatives of Sephardic and other Jews (except, apparently, the Ethiopian Jews), somewhat less close but still very close relatives of the Arabs and other Eastern Mediterranean peoples, and are predominantly descended from the Hebrews who lived in Israel 2,000 years ago, with a notably small admixture of European, Slavic, and other blood. Tracing direct paternal lines of descent (based on analysis of the “Y” chromosome), researchers found that the most common direct paternal ancestors of modern Ashkenazi Jews are the Judeans of ancient Israel, with more than 50% of modern Ashkenazi Jews being so descended. 12.7% of modern Ashkenazi Jews have direct paternal lines of descent from either Eastern Europeans (including Slavs) or Khazars.<a href="#_edn36" id="_ednref36">[36]</a>
DNA analysis is able to establish with certainty what history has already demonstrated: the Jews of modern Israel really are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as concluded by Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman:
The genetic studies of Jewish men from all of the major communities of the Jewish Diaspora confirm that the original Jewish population originated in the Middle East, and from there, spread throughout the world. As the Bible predicted, the Hebrews who lived in the Land of Israel for over one thousand years were dispersed and scattered literally to the four corners of the earth. . . .
Also predicted and prophesized was that, despite worldwide dispersal, the Jewish nation would not become lost among the nations. Scriptures prophesized and promised that the Jewish People would retain their unique identity, and eventually be restored to their ancient homeland. The genetics studies have shown that this most unlikely scenario has in fact come true as well.<a href="#_edn37" id="_ednref37">[37]</a>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Khazar Conclusions</h3>
The Khazar theory has been completely refuted by both scholarly research into the history of the Khazars and, more recently, by ethnologist evidence showing that Jews from all parts of the world are genetically closely related to Middle Eastern Jews and not so closely related to non-Jewish Russians, Eastern Europeans, or others from that region. “Dr. Michael Hammer showed that based exclusively on the Y-chromosome (parental) shows that Ashkenazi Jews are more closely related to Yemenite Jews, Iraqi Jews, Sephardic Jews, Kurdish Jews, and Arabs than they are to European Christian populations,”<a href="#_edn38" id="_ednref38">[38]</a> notes Joel Bainerman. True research on the matter reveals that only a small percentage of Jews have any descent through the Khazars. So it appears that the Khazar theory is just that, a theory, and not a very good one.
The Khazar theory canard was developed last century by individuals and groups that were already predisposed toward anti-Semitism. When the self-hating Jew, Arthur Koestler, penned his book in the 1970s, these groups were attracted to his work like a bee to honey. Driven by anti-Zionist impulses, many of these biased “researchers” exaggerated Koestler’s claims. Even Koestler did not claim that Ashkenazi or Khazar Jews have no Middle Easter ancestry. Koestler did not want his research, flawed as it may have been, taken to extreme conclusions.
In the first place, I am aware of the danger that it may be maliciously misinterpreted as a denial of the State of Israel’s right to exist. But that right is not based on the hypothetical origins of the Jewish people, nor on the mythological covenant of Abraham with God; it is based on international law — i.e., on the United Nations’ decision in 1947 to partition Palestine, once Turkish province, then a British Mandated Territory, into an Arab and a Jewish State. Whatever the Israeli citizens’ racial origins, and whatever illusions they entertain about them, their State exists de jure and de facto, and cannot be undone, except by genocide. Without entering into controversial issues, one may add, as a matter of historical fact, that the partition of Palestine was the result of a century of peaceful Jewish immigration and pioneering effort, which provide the ethical justification for the State’s legal existence. Whether the chromosomes of its people contain genes of Khazar or Semitic, Roman or Spanish origin, is irrelevant, and cannot affect Israel’s right to exist — nor the moral obligation of any civilized person, Gentile or Jew, to defend that right. Even the geographical origin of the native Israeli’s parents or grandparents tends to be forgotten in the bubbling racial melting pot. The problem of the Khazar infusion a thousand years ago, however fascinating, is irrelevant to modern Israel.<a href="#_edn39" id="_ednref39">[39]</a>
“The results support the hypothesis that the paternal gene pools of Jewish communities from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East descended from a common Middle Eastern ancestral population,” concludes Sawyer, “and suggests that most Jewish communities have remained relatively isolated from neighboring non-Jewish communities during and after the Diaspora.”<a href="#_edn40" id="_ednref40">[40]</a> It is safe to conclude that most of the Jews living today in Israel and still in the Diaspora are clear descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Are Modern Jews Really of Jewish Descent?</h3>
In addition to advocating the Khazar theory, James Jordan tells us: “The real problem in the discussion is the notion that Jewishness is a blood or racial phenomenon. It is not.” Jordan continues, “Biblically speaking, a Jew is someone who is covenanted into the people of the Jews by circumcision. . . . What this demonstrates is that covenant, not race, has always been the defining mark of a Jew.”<a href="#_edn41" id="_ednref41">[41]</a> Jordan does not stop with these remarks; he was just warming up. He states further, “Modern apostate Jews have absolutely no theological, and therefore no historical and legal right to the land of Palestine.”<a href="#_edn42" id="_ednref42">[42]</a> “Christian Zionism is blasphemy. It is heresy. Christians have no theological stake whatsoever in the modern State of Israel. It is an anti-God, anti-Christ nation.”<a href="#_edn43" id="_ednref43">[43]</a> So those who think like Jordan believe that Israel either never had a Jewish racial identity or lost it over time.
It is the Bible that divides mankind into Jew and Gentile, denoting one’s descent by birth. One may repudiate the religious aspects of Judaism, but they cannot escape the genealogical fact that they were born within the Jewish race. The same is true of a Gentile. One may be born of Chinese descent but there is nothing they can say or do to change the fact that they are Chinese. The Nazis during the Holocaust made little distinction between deeply religious Jews and secular Jews. They killed them all when they had the opportunity. The same is true today. The Muslims kill Jews today whether they are religious or secular. It does not matter to them.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Biblical Definition of Jewishness</h3>
Since the Bible is God’s inerrant revelation, it is the supreme authority on which to settle any matter to which it speaks. God’s viewpoint on any issue is how we know ultimately what is true or false. The Bible speaks clearly and loudly concerning the issue of Jewishness. Scripture teaches that those who are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob make up the people or nation we call Israel (Gen. 12:1–3, 13:15–16, 15:4–5, 26:2–5, 24, 28:13–15). Jewishness is a nationality based upon descent, whether one obeys God or not. Hebrew Christian Arnold Fruchtenbaum correctly summaries Israel as “all descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, also known as the Jews, the Jewish people, Israelites, Hebrews, etc. The term is not limited to the present political and national state in the Middle East, which is merely a part of the whole; nor is it limited to those who adhere to the religion of Judaism only.”<a href="#_edn44" id="_ednref44">[44]</a> British postmillennialist Erroll Hulse provides an excellent overview of the biblical use of the word Jew.
Most references to the Jews (Yehudiim) made in the Old Testament are to be found in the book of Esther, but frequently also in Jeremiah, Nehemiah, and Ezra. In Babylon, the word Jew in the strict sense signified someone of Judah. Almost every reference (and there are about two hundred) in the New Testament refer to the Jews in a general sense whether they lived in the South, the North or abroad. The terms “children of Israel” and “sons of Jacob” are often used in the Old Testament to describe the Jews.<a href="#_edn45" id="_ednref45">[45]</a>
The broader term Israel “appears over two thousand times in the Old Testament and seventy times in the New Testament. This term refers to a specific ethnic group. . . . The name Yisra’el was conferred on Jacob (Ge 32:28), Abraham’s grandson, and means ‘solider of God’ or ‘God persists.’ ”<a href="#_edn46" id="_ednref46">[46]</a> Israel began as a patriarchal clan when Abraham came out of Babylon, went to Egypt, and 400 years later returned to the Promised Land as a true nation of two or three million. Yet Jordan imagines a problem in that Israel did indeed incorporate into the nation many non-Jews down through her history.
When Abraham was commanded to circumcise, he was told to circumcise his entire household, including his 318 fighting men and his other domestic servants (Gen. 14:14, 17:10–14). Competent scholars imagine that Sheik Abraham’s household probably included at the very least 3,000 persons. These servants multiplied as the years went by, and Jacob inherited them all (Gen. 27:37). Although only 70 from the loins of Jacob went down into Egypt, so many servants went along that they had to be given the whole land of Goshen in which to live.<a href="#_edn47" id="_ednref47">[47]</a>
Is this supposed to be a problem? Over time it appears that the Gentiles who became part of Abraham’s clan integrated with his descendants so that by the time of the Exodus that nation was indeed Jewish — descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At least this is the view that the Bible takes toward this matter. The Lord promised Abraham: “To your descendants I will give this land” (Gen. 12:7). “I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered” (Gen. 13:16). “And He took him outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be’ ” (Gen. 15:5). “God said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years’ ” (Gen. 15:13). “Moreover, the angel of the Lord said to her, ‘I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count’ ” (Gen. 16:10). “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you” (Gen. 17:7). I could go on with many more similar passages that indicate that God thought of all of those in the line of descent as the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Even though the Jews surely have intermarried with Gentiles, that does not invalidate their Jewishness any more than intermarriage that was practiced in the Old Testament did not invalidate their Jewishness. Jesus Himself had a number of Gentiles within His genealogical line, yet He was certainly Jewish. In the time of the New Testament these people were still known as Jews — the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus referred to the residents of Israel in His day as Jews. When reading the New Testament, there does not appear to be a problem identifying who the Jews were in Christ’s day. The notion that Jews cannot have the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob flowing through their veins is purely one manufactured by those with an anti-Semitic bias.
Since there was about a 2,000-year period from the call of Abraham until the time of Christ, and Jesus referred to the residents of Israel as Jews, then we have a precedent to do so today. It has been about another 2,000 years since the time of Christ until our present day. If the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were considered Jews after 2,000 years by Jesus in His day, then why should they not be considered descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob today, after another 2,000 years have passed? In fact, the last 2,000 years have seen some Gentile intermarriage, but for the most part, the nations have shut up the Jewish people into their own ghettos and not allowed them to intermingle with Gentiles. Even though an unintended result by perpetrators, anti-Semitism has helped to keep the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob flowing through the veins of modern Jewry. Also, those Jews that have repeatedly married Gentiles have lost their Jewish identity and are no longer part of the Jewish race and indeed are not considered Jews after a while.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Future Biblical References to Jews</h3>
Since the Bible is the ultimate authority on any matter, it is significant to realize that both the Old and New Testaments speak of a specific destiny for Israel or the Jewish people in a day future to our own time. Since God’s Word tells us that there will be Jewish people in the world even beyond our own day, then Divine viewpoint should trump the imaginations of human viewpoint any day. This means that there has to be Jewish people who have the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob flowing through their veins for these prophecies to occur. When has God ever failed to bring to pass what He has decreed? Never! What are some of these passages?
About 3,400 years ago Moses predicted a future time when the nation of Israel “will seek the Lord . . . with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in distress . . . in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice” (Deut. 4:29–30). No biblically literate person would say that the nation of Israel has ever fulfilled this passage at any time in their past, thus, it is still a future event. So there must me a nation of Israel in the future, which would mean that the Jews of today would have to be actual Jews in order to provide a bridge to this future time.
God spoke through Jeremiah about 2,600 years ago and said, “ ‘For, behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall possess it’ ” (Jer. 30:3). “ ‘Alas! for that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved from it’ ” (Jer. 30:7). “ ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and do not be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from afar and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return,and will be quiet and at ease, and no one will make him afraid. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to save you; for I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, only I will not destroy you completely. But I will chasten you justly and will by no means leave you unpunished’ ” (Jer. 30:10–11). “ ‘You shall be My people, and I will be your God’ ” (Jer. 30:22). “In the latter days you will understand this.” (Jer. 30:24). When has this ever occurred in the past? Like the passage in Deuteronomy, we see that Israel will go through a time of tribulation or distress, which will be in the latter days, leading to the spiritual restoration of the nation. Once again, no one would say that national Israel has ever in history arisen to such a spiritual level. It can only be in the future, which means the Jews have to exist as Jews future to our own day in order for this to occur.
Many other Old Testament passages could be cited which speak of Jewish existence beyond our current day, but one final example from Daniel will be noted. “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” (Dan. 12:1). “He said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time.’ ” (Dan. 12:9). As in the two previous passages, we see that same pattern in Daniel. There will be a time of tribulation or distress for “your people,” which are Daniel’s people (i.e., the Jewish people). This will take place in the end time and Israel will come into a new spiritual relationship with the Lord.
The Bible anticipates a future time in which God will interact with His people Israel. Such a future period is also expected in the New Testament. Paul speaks of future plans for Israel in Romans when he says, “For I do not want you, brethren, 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.’ From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:25–29). We see in this passage that current Jewish rejection of the gospel by most, not all, is temporary and will come to an end when the full number of elect Gentiles are added to the Church through faith in Christ. It will be after that time that every Jewish person alive, when the Deliverer will come from Zion, will come to faith in the Messiahship of Jesus. No one would say that this has yet to occur in history. Thus, Jews must exist as descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the future for this to occur. This means that there has to be Jewish people alive and well on planet Earth today.
The Apostle John, in his well-known and final book of the New Testament canon, speaks of future events in Revelation 4 through 22. It is clear that the Jewish people will be around when these events unfold since they are referenced throughout the book. Revelation 12 is an entire chapter that speaks of their persecution during the second half of that seven-year period. However, Revelation 7 not only speaks of a multitude of the bond-servants of God, but that they are said to be “one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel” (Rev. 7:4). If that is not clear enough, the biblical text tells us the specific tribes of Israel from which 12,000 males are taken from as follows: “from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed” (Rev. 7:5–8). Even if Israel’s tribal records were lost to human beings 2,000 years ago, it does not mean that God cannot keep track of one’s nationality. After all, He is the one who will seal the 144,000 Jewish servants via a supernatural act.
Revelation 7 not only demonstrates that Jewish men will exist in the future, but that God Himself can identify who they are. Such implications mean that not only are Jews viewed by the Bible as a distinct race in contrast to Gentiles, but they will remain so throughout history. Not only does the Bible teach that Jewish descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob can be identified as a distinct race after almost 4,000 years, but that God will even be able to distinguish their tribal identity into the future. This can only mean that there is a distinct Jewish race today.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h3>
Israel, during her 4,000 years of existence, has been by far the most literate people in the history of the world, unlike the Gypsies. Rabbi Kleman’s DNA studies demonstrate that, “Genetics research as described has clearly shown that the Jewish people today are the descendants of the ancient biblical Hebrews.”<a href="#_edn48" id="_ednref48">[48]</a> In addition, no nation has kept better records of her own history, whether through divinely inspired Scripture or mere human writings than the Jewish people. These records provide ample evidence that the Jews of today have had continual existence, even though they were often scattered around the world for much of their existence. We see that not only do recent DNA studies provide a scientific basis for verifying that modern Jewry really are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this view is also supported by biblical logic and the testimony of history. Jews are a racial class that stands in contrast with Gentiles, according to the Bible. Only bias or prejudice would lead one to a contrary opinion when examined in the light of Scripture. Therefore, it is with utmost certainty that anyone examining the record should conclude that those who are Jews today, whether in or out of the land of Israel, have the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob flowing through their veins. This fact provides a basis for their Zionistic claim that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews because God gave it to them.
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<a href="#_ednref1" id="_edn1">[1]</a> James B. Jordan, “The Future of Israel Reexamined” (Part 1), Biblical Horizons, no. 27, July 1991, p. 4.
<a href="#_ednref2" id="_edn2">[2]</a> Kevin Alan Brook, “From the East, West, and South: Documenting the Foundation of Jewish Communities in Eastern Europe” in Roots-Key, Newsletter of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles, vol. 24: no. 1, Spring 2004, p. 6.
<a href="#_ednref3" id="_edn3">[3]</a> James B. Jordan is a Presbyterian replacement theologian coming from the preterist, postmillennial, and covenant theology orientation.
<a href="#_ednref4" id="_edn4">[4]</a> Jordan, “Future of Israel” (Part 1), p. 4.
<a href="#_ednref5" id="_edn5">[5]</a> Ibid., p. 4.
<a href="#_ednref6" id="_edn6">[6]</a> Ibid., p. 4.
<a href="#_ednref7" id="_edn7">[7]</a> Ibid., p. 4.
<a href="#_ednref8" id="_edn8">[8]</a> Arthur Koestler, The Thirteenth Tribe (New York: Random House, 1976).
<a href="#_ednref9" id="_edn9">[9]</a> For a history of the rise of the Khazar theory see Robert Singerman, “Contemporary Racist and Judeophobic Ideology Discovers the Khazars, or, Who Really Are the Jews?” on the website of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture located at the following: www2.jewishculture.org/jewish_scholarship/feinstein/singerman.html.
<a href="#_ednref10" id="_edn10">[10]</a> Robert B. Thieme Jr., Anti-Semitism (Houston, TX: Robert B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries, 1991), p. 77.
<a href="#_ednref11" id="_edn11">[11]</a> Koestler, Thirteenth Tribe, p. 223.
<a href="#_ednref12" id="_edn12">[12]</a> Bernard Lewis, Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1999), p. 48.
<a href="#_ednref13" id="_edn13">[13]</a> Albert D. Pastore, The Dancing Israelis: An Unprecedented Honest Analysis of 9/11 and Bush’s War on Terror” from the website Aljazerra.com; www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/conspiracy_theory/fullstory.asp?id=303.
<a href="#_ednref14" id="_edn14">[14]</a> James B. Jordan, “Christian Zionism and Messianic Judaism,” in The Sociology of the Church: Essays in Reconstruction (Tyler, TX: Geneva Ministries, 1986), p. 176.
<a href="#_ednref15" id="_edn15">[15]</a> Jordan, “Christian Zionism,” p. 176–77.
<a href="#_ednref16" id="_edn16">[16]</a> Ibid., p. 177.
<a href="#_ednref17" id="_edn17">[17]</a> John L. Bray, Israel in Bible Prophecy (Lakeland, FL: John L. Bray Ministry, 1983), p. 44.
<a href="#_ednref18" id="_edn18">[18]</a> Bray, Israel, p. 44.
<a href="#_ednref19" id="_edn19">[19]</a> Theodore Winston Pike, Israel: Our Duty . . . Our Dilemma (Oregon City, OR: Big Sky Press, 1984), p. 328.
<a href="#_ednref20" id="_edn20">[20]</a> Jordan, “Christian Zionism,” p. 178.
<a href="#_ednref21" id="_edn21">[21]</a> Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 10, reference to “Khazars,” p. 944–54.
<a href="#_ednref22" id="_edn22">[22]</a> Thieme, Anti-Semitism, p. 76–77.
<a href="#_ednref23" id="_edn23">[23]</a> Koestler, Thirteenth Tribe, p. 58.
<a href="#_ednref24" id="_edn24">[24]</a> Kevin Alan Brook, The Jews of Khazaria (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002), p. 136–39.
<a href="#_ednref25" id="_edn25">[25]</a> Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 10, reference to “Khazars,” p. 949.
<a href="#_ednref26" id="_edn26">[26]</a> Steven M. Collins, “The Khazars and The Modern Jews,” posted at www.britam.org/steven-collins-khazars.html.
<a href="#_ednref27" id="_edn27">[27]</a> Collins, “The Khazars.”
<a href="#_ednref28" id="_edn28">[28]</a> Ibid.
<a href="#_ednref29" id="_edn29">[29]</a> Sawyer, “Zionism and the Talmud,” World Association of International Studies, Blog Archive at cgi. stanford.edu/group/wais/cgi-bin/index.php?p=108.
<a href="#_ednref30" id="_edn30">[30]</a> Sawyer, “Zionism and the Talmud.”
<a href="#_ednref31" id="_edn31">[31]</a> Collins, “The Khazars.”
<a href="#_ednref32" id="_edn32">[32]</a> Anonymous, “The Khazars: Who were the Khazars, and with whom should they be identified today?” http://www.imninalu.net/Khazars.htm.
<a href="#_ednref33" id="_edn33">[33]</a> Brook, The Jews of Khazaria.
<a href="#_ednref34" id="_edn34">[34]</a> Kevin Alan Brook, “Re: Jews and the Khazars,” on the Jewish Genealogy Forum, <a href="http://www.genealogy.com">www.genealogy.com</a>, posted on Aug. 4, 2004.
<a href="#_ednref35" id="_edn35">[35]</a> Brook, “From the East, West, and South,” p. 6.
<a href="#_ednref36" id="_edn36">[36]</a> Sawyer, “Zionism and the Talmud.”
<a href="#_ednref37" id="_edn37">[37]</a> Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman, DNA & Tradition: The Genetic Link to the Ancient Hebrews (Jerusalem: Devora Publishing Co., 2004), p. 169.
<a href="#_ednref38" id="_edn38">[38]</a> Joel Bainerman, “So What If a Small Portion of World Jewry Are Descendants Of Khazars!” Jan. 3, 2003, www.rense.com/general33/sowhat.htm.
<a href="#_ednref39" id="_edn39">[39]</a> Koestler, Thirteenth Tribe, p.223.
<a href="#_ednref40" id="_edn40">[40]</a> Sawyer, “Zionism and the Talmud.”
<a href="#_ednref41" id="_edn41">[41]</a> Jordan, “Christian Zionism,” p. 177.
<a href="#_ednref42" id="_edn42">[42]</a> Ibid. p. 183.
<a href="#_ednref43" id="_edn43">[43]</a> Ibid. p. 184.
<a href="#_ednref44" id="_edn44">[44]</a> Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology, rev. ed.(Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries Press, 1992), p. 2
<a href="#_ednref45" id="_edn45">[45]</a> Erroll Hulse, The Restoration of Israel (Worthing, England: Henry E. Walter, Ltd., 1982), p. 175.
<a href="#_ednref46" id="_edn46">[46]</a> Ronald E. Diprose, Israel in the Development of Christian Thought (Rome: Istitutio Biblico Evangelico Italiano, 2000), p. 7.
<a href="#_ednref47" id="_edn47">[47]</a> Jordan, “Christian Zionism,” p. 177.
<a href="#_ednref48" id="_edn48">[48]</a> Kleiman, DNA & Tradition, p. 173.
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/are-modern-israeli-jews-true-jews/">Are Modern Israeli Jews True Jews?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<title>Revelation 3:10 notes-</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/revelation-310-notes/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Prophecy Watchers]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 10 Oct 2023 00:14:21 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=587212</guid>
<description><![CDATA[These are the PPT notes from Mondo’s message on whether Revelation 3:10 can be understood as applying to the rapture. Download PDF notes below. Revelation-3.10-Notes
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/revelation-310-notes/">Revelation 3:10 notes-</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
These are the PPT notes from Mondo’s message on whether Revelation 3:10 can be understood as applying to the rapture. Download PDF notes below.
<a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Revelation-3.10-NORMAN.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Revelation-3.10-Notes</a>
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 







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<title>Red-Heifer</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/red-heifer/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Prophecy Watchers]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 21 Aug 2023 04:25:01 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=574601</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Check out Mondo’s new book on the Red Heifer! ARE WE ABOUT TO WITNESS THE BUILDING OF THE 3RD TEMPLE? The Red Heifer Ritual is […]
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]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
Check out Mondo’s new book on the Red Heifer!
ARE WE ABOUT TO WITNESS THE BUILDING OF THE 3RD TEMPLE?
The Red Heifer Ritual is set to be the definitive guidebook on understanding the enigmatic ceremony involving a pure red heifer to be slaughtered and burned on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. Biblical prophecy is unfolding at a rapid pace and the book you hold in your hands will help you understand fully all the Third Temple preparations of the religious Jews in the land of Israel and around the world. After almost 2000 years, Jewish rabbis have all the pieces in place to erect this temple on the Temple Mount… except for one last piece of the puzzle.
<ul>
<li>What does Daniel, Jesus, Paul and John have to say about a coming Third Temple?</li>
<li>Why do the Jewish rabbis believe that they need to slaughter a red heifer?</li>
<li>How does the New Testament correlate the red heifer with the ministry of Jesus?</li>
<li>When will the rabbis choose to conduct the red heifer ceremony?</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Should Christians support the red heifer and Third Temple movements? Find out inside what your favorite prophecy teachers think about this question.</li>
<li>And much more!</li>
</ul>
It is available now! <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/product/pre-sale-coming-in-september-the-red-heifer-ritual-the-october-examination-deadline-approaches-by-mondo-gonzales/">https://prophecywatchers.com/product/pre-sale-coming-in-september-the-red-heifer-ritual-the-october-examination-deadline-approaches-by-mondo-gonzales/</a>
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<title>Salvation in the Old Testament</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/salvation-in-the-old-testament/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mondo Gonzales]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Aug 2023 04:02:03 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=572554</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Were people saved by works in the Old Testament and by faith in the New Testament? In this PDF, I explore and show that people […]
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Were people saved by works in the Old Testament and by faith in the New Testament? In this PDF, I explore and show that people have always been saved by faith through grace since the beginning of time. Click <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/A-Paper-on-Salvation-in-the-Old-Testament.pdf">HERE</a>
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<title>Rise of the Technocratic Oligarchs (10 Kings?)</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/rise-of-the-technocratic-oligarchs-10-kings/</link>
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<pubDate>Wed, 09 Aug 2023 20:33:03 +0000</pubDate>
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<description><![CDATA[By Mondo Gonzales It is not often when the world media agrees with biblical eschatology. I read an article recently put out by Axios entitled, […]
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/rise-of-the-technocratic-oligarchs-10-kings/">Rise of the Technocratic Oligarchs (10 Kings?)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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By Mondo Gonzales
It is not often when the world media agrees with biblical eschatology. I read an article recently put out by Axios entitled, “Elon the self-employed diplomat” which was written by Miriam Kramer and Alison Snyder. I want to unpack some of the details of that article, but before I do, it might be good to remind our readers (and some who are new) about some foundational biblical ideas concerning the 10 kings.
In the November 2020 Prophecy Watcher magazine, Gary wrote an article discussing the need for the discerning Christian to be on the lookout for the rise of 10 kings. There is no doubt the antichrist figure will arrive at the proper time, but biblically speaking, he is preceded by a group known as the 10 kings. If you missed that issue, this article can also be found on our prophecywatchers.com website under articles.  
Gary recognized that we need to keep a lookout for those that might fit the descriptions as found in Scripture. One of the terms that has become common in potentially describing these figures is oligarch. An oligarch, by definition, is one of a few who rule. Gary writes:
Oligarchs are in a constant competition for world domination, and the old political ties of the twentieth century are being steadily altered to fit a “New World Order.” That’s an old term, but now, it is buttressed by high-level digital technology that was only a dream a decade ago. A number of dark figures have quietly risen to power, backed by super-technology and incalculable wealth. At the moment, they operate in the background, but their names continually pop up. They are the technocrats, innovators of new technologies in transportation, communications, shipping and the daily transfer of coded information in trillions of daily transactions. Information controls the world. It is power. Once, it was common for those who went before us to honor God as all-powerful. Our nation prayed for God’s blessing. He brought us through earthquakes, famine, pestilence and horrific wars. It was recognized that He saves us from spiritual death. But now, technology is seen as the world’s savior. Without referring to any of them by name, just think of the billionaires of the digital world, who are publicly linked to a new order of science, genetic transformation, digitized global politics and any of a variety of technologies. They are now hailed as the ones who will save the world through their new methodologies.
In this quote, Gary also used the word technocrat. That would be important to define also. A technocrat is a proponent of technocracy which is defined as: “a theory and movement, prominent about 1932, advocating control of industrial resources, reform of financial institutions, and reorganization of the social system, based on the findings of technologists and engineers.” Ultimately, a technocrat seeks to influence all areas of society and need not be in a governmental position to wield power. In fact, we will see that they often get more done outside the bounds of governmental positions.
When we think of the “ten kings” we need to remind ourselves of the Scriptures that speak of these figures.
Daniel 7:19-20 “Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates.”
Daniel 7:24 “As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.”
Revelation 17:12-13 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.”
From these Biblical passages we learn several characteristics of these ten “kings”:
<ol type="1">
<li>The first is that the Greek word for king (basileus) in Revelation 17:12 can have a wider nuance that just what we understand in the word “king.” One of the best Greek lexicons (BDAG) has the following as its second entry: one who possesses unusual or transcendent power. This meaning seems consistent with Revelation 17:12 where we are told that these 10 figures do not have a kingdom as of yet, but will receive authority to rule as kings for the final “hour” of antichrist’s (beast’s) reign in the seven-year tribulation period. We will call them the TEN INFLUENCERS because they do have some valuable level of authority and power that the antichrist would seek to leverage (Rev 17:13). In other words, they exhibit “unusual power” or influence as the BDAG lexicon mentions.</li>
<li>They are not required to be in governmental or ruling positions at the time of their arrangement with the antichrist.</li>
<li>Additionally, when the time comes, they will give their significant influence or power over to the beast and in return are given the ability to rule with him for a short period in his final kingdom (Rev 17:13).</li>
</ol>
I wrote a follow up article in the Prophecy Watcher in April 2022 which can also be found on our website (“Are the Ten Kings Actually Ten Oligarchs?”). In that article I spent time discussing the various sectors that these oligarchs and technocrats are developing and advancing technologies at a blistering pace. These areas involve finance, satellites, surveillance, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, censorship, and innovation zones among others.
As we watch prophecy unfold, I find it encouraging and also inspiring when unbelievers, who have no biblically prophetic worldview, come to the place of seeing things as we predicted they would come to be. Case in point is Elon Musk. He is worth $221 billion dollars and is number one on the world’s richest. Number two sits at $159 billion. That’s quite a difference. As was mentioned in my previous article noted above, Elon Musk is on the cutting edge of several industries. Just very recently, his acquisition of Twitter has become finalized. Almost all the previous executives have been fired or left. Musk has made it clear that the new Twitter will be far different than what it had become. Before we get too excited that Musk seems to be for a censorship free Twitter, we should be very cautious. Musk has shown himself to be no friend of Bible believing Christians. Just because we share a couple common goals for free speech does not mean he is a friend of the gospel. Interestingly, if you saw his recent costume for Halloween which was filled with Satanic symbols, we might be wisely cautious in giving him too much credence.
His Neuralink research seeks to develop ultra high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces to connect humans and computers. There was supposed to be a big demonstration of this in October but has been pushed back to later November. This is a development that we will definitely keep our eyes on. Especially, as it relates to control. I can envision quite easily a future time when Musk (a potential as one of the ten kings) could give even more sophisticated advancements of this technology over to the antichrist.
Another of Musk’s technological endeavors is Tesla Motors and its advanced research into artificial intelligence, but we must also remember that Space X and the subsidiary Starlink are changing the world. As we ponder this background, let us now address the article.
The Axios article begins with these comments:
Billionaire businessman Elon Musk is wielding significant geopolitical power with his global internet Starlink satellites.
Why it matters: Private spacecompanies are meeting — and often exceeding — the capabilities of governments, giving not just technological but also geopolitical power to those who operate them.
<ul>
<li>“It’s not just states in space making these decisions anymore,” Kaitlyn Johnson, a space policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), tells Axios.</li>
</ul>
After Russia invaded Ukraine and knocked out much of their communication capabilities, Elon Musk stepped in and unilaterally changed the course of events by offering freely his internet options through his Starlink Satellite network. There are over 20,000 Starlink terminals currently operating in Ukraine and has been used by the military to increase its artillery effectiveness. Elon Musk is donating the services at a cost of over $20 million per month.  When you think in terms of the success of Musk’s goals in Ukraine specifically, the US government is not capable of duplicating his achievements. Yes, they are providing other forms of military equipment, but one man was able to accomplish more in this particular area than the largest super power in the world. This should cause all of us to make connections between the ten kings and the influence (power/authority) that will be handed over to a single one world dictator (the antichrist) at a future time.
The Axios authors go on further to describe the influence and ramifications of Musk’s actions in the Ukraine war. They write:
The impact: Musk’s moves related to Ukraine show just how much global influence he now wields.
<ul>
<li>Activating Starlink in Ukraine was “a policy decision that the U.S. government didn’t make,” Johnson says.</li>
<li>Starlink is being used by Ukrainian forces for situational awareness on the battlefield and, as Secure World Foundation’s Brian Weeden puts it bluntly, is “helping kill a lot of Russians.”</li>
<li>SpaceX was “trying to strong arm the U.S. government into paying for this service that they chose to send there in the first place,” Johnson says.</li>
<li>The Pentagon is reportedly considering paying for Starlink’s service.</li>
</ul>
It is not just in Ukraine where Musk is flexing his technological muscle, but now with Russia and the USA demonstrating very strained relations, the US space industry has taken a decidedly narrow turn towards Musk. NASA has been very reliant on the Russians to transport its astronauts to the International Space Station. Since the sanctions on Russia by the US due to Ukrainian invasion, Russia has officially stopped all cooperation with NASA.
Enter Elon Musk and Space X to fill the void left by another world super power (Russia). Are we getting the picture? Concerning this development, Axios writes:
Between the lines: Years of U.S. policy accelerating and supporting private space companies have led to this moment, where these companies are starting to exceed the government in their capabilities.
<ul>
<li>As a result, the U.S. government has become increasingly reliant on Musk and SpaceX to launch people to the International Space Station and satellites to orbit that underpin military communications and intelligence gathering.</li>
<li>“Over time, the list of space activities that only the U.S. government does or that primarily serve the government has really shrunk, and the list of things the commercial sector is doing has grown,” says Gregory Allen, a senior fellow in the Strategic Technologies Program at CSIS said. “SpaceX is at the forefront of the trend but by no means is the only one.”</li>
<li>Space companies are increasingly providing satellite remote sensing and high-bandwidth satellite communications.</li>
</ul>
As turmoil between nations continues to increase as Jesus said it would (Luke 21:25), poor planning and governmental failure (like much of NASA’s space program) will increasingly give people like Elon Musk power and influence on an even greater global scale. What happens if there is an emergency on the Space Station (similar to what happened recently with a gas leak) and an American astronaut needs to be rescued? Musk could theoretically hold his services at bay unless the government was willing to make behind the door deals allowing him even greater implementations of his technology. So far, he has approval by the FCC for approximately 12,000 satellites in low earth orbit with 3,000 already there. However, he has said he wants up to 42,000 and will need FCC permission. It is obvious that Musk is in a great leveraging position when the time comes as he is currently the front runner to provide services to NASA. And he knows this quite well.
Elon Musk also needs to play his cards carefully. By providing free internet in Ukraine, he has made himself an enemy of Russia. These developments have not gone unnoticed. Axios writes:
What to watch: As commercial satellites take on more national security and military importance, what could be considered a military target in space is also shifting.
<ul>
<li>The fact that Starlink satellites are being used in wartime could also make the privately operated spacecraft targets for enemy forces, and they’re already being targeted with cyberattacks, according to Musk.</li>
<li>A Russian official also opened the door to the idea, saying private satellites used for military purposes could be a “legitimate target for retaliation”during a recent UN working group.</li>
<li>“If Elon is providing Starlink on his own dime and not reimbursed by the Pentagon, what does it mean for Russia to attack those assets?” Allen added. “If it is paid for by the Pentagon, is attacking [the satellites] equivalent to attacking the U.S.? There are norms of practice developed over the history of the Cold War, but there are areas where norms are being written right now.”</li>
</ul>
Other journalists are reporting that China is already well entrenched in creating anti-satellite weapons and they are certainly considering the potential weaponized use of the Starlink network. China is researching how to use a multi-megaton nuclear detonation in near-earth orbit to cause interruptions to Elon Musk’s Starlink web of satellites.
One article described it as creating a “radioactive “debris cloud” that could “cause failures of spacecraft moving in it, such as satellites, or even cause direct damage that can lead to destruction.” This article goes on to write, “China’s military has also noted its serious concerns: “The Starlink project has decided to increase the planned 12,000 satellites to 42,000, underscoring that it is widely distributed, flexible, and could be reconfigured quickly,” according to a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) publication just last week.
“The ambition to militarize Starlink and its barbaric expansion,” it added, “deserve high alert from the international community.”
I could write an article like this on each of the top 20 billionaires worldwide. Most billionaires did not receive their wealth from being idle, but instead through ingenuity and aggressive implementation of their technological vision. As we watch these technocratic oligarchs continue to increase their global geopolitical influence, it is no surprise that the time is coming when a deal will be made with one man. This one man receives their technological prowess and he gives them the right to rule with him for a short period of time.
Revelation 17:12-13 The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast.  They will all agree to give him their power and authority.
We live in exciting times and whether Elon Musk is actually one of the final ten influencers who aligns himself with the coming one world leader will only be seen in time. Nevertheless, he is well on his way to positioning himself for an offer of world dominating power by the antichrist.
Jesus told us to watch (Mark 13:37) and to be actively doing kingdom work (Luke 19:13). Our redemption is drawing ever closer. Let’s evangelize and bring as many people with us when the Lord rescues us before the day of His wrath arrives (Luke 17:26-37)!
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/rise-of-the-technocratic-oligarchs-10-kings/">Rise of the Technocratic Oligarchs (10 Kings?)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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