The Birth-pains of the Messiah-Conclusion

We have come to the third and final significant Rosh Ha Shannah to Yom Kippur of the Birth-pains. This is at the end of the seven years and Messiah will come from heaven, as we all know, but he does not come to the Mount of Olives first. He returns to Mount Sinai in Midian first (Deut 33.2; Hab 3.3-7). He arrives at Petra where a great celebration takes place and they sing “a new song” on a ten note musical scale, not eight. In Exodus, they sang a song of the first redemption, but when Messiah comes they will sing a new song of the second redemption. Usually, “song” is “shirah” which is feminine in Hebrew, but in Psa 96.1 and Isa 42.10 it is “shir” which is masculine which means “Messiah has come.” He returns to Sinai on Rosh Ha Shannah and the next ten days to Yom Kippur is a literal “yamin noraim” or “days of awe.” Yeshua engages in battle and destroys the armies of the false messiah and the Orient as he advances on Jerusalem (Zech 14.1-3; Rev 19.11-19; Isa 63.1-6). Believers who have been protected from the false messiah in Jordan (Isa 16.1-4) begin to make their way to Jerusalem. Let’s look at some verses that describe this. Yeshua returns to Sinai in Deut 33.2 and is seen in Teman in Hab 3.3-4 and Midian, where Sinai is, in Hab 3.7-19. On Rosh Ha Shannah he is in Sela, another name for Petra in Isa 42.10-13. Isa 63.1-6 it says that Messiah will come from Edom, where Petra is, and Bozrah, and treads the winepress of the wrath of God. The people even ask him why his garments are red, and says that it is the blood of his enemies. He will follow the same path Moses and Joshua took as they entered the promised land after the wilderness experience. Here are just some of the verses that describe what is happening: Deut 33.2; Judges 5.4-5; Zech 9.14; Isa 63.1-6; Hab 3.3-16; Isa 21.13-17; Jer 48.40-47; Jer 49.19-22; Zeph 1.7-9; Zeph 2.8-11; Hos 13.15; Ezek 25.1-14; Micah 2.12-13 and Zech 14.1-5. These battles and the movement of the Lord and his army will go for ten days. This brings us up to Yom Kippur of the seventh year and Yeshua has made his way to Jerusalem. The Great Shofar sounds (Matt 24.30-31; Isa 27.12-13), which is an idiom for the Shofar Ha Gadol that is blown on this day (Micah 5.4; Joel 2.15-16; Song 8.5). He stands on the Mount of Olives where the Red Heifer was slain. An earthquake occurs, splitting the Mount of Olives in half. The Hinnom Valley is made larger as a result of this earthquake. The new valley on the Mount of Olives runs southeast to a place called Azal about 12 miles away, where the Azazel goat on Yom Kippur was slain during the Yom Kippur ceremony. The Dead Sea, long dormant from any fiery activity for hundreds of years, erupts in fire as the oil and flammable gas that has been trapped there is released by the earthquake. The Dead Sea went by the name of the “Lake of Fire” for many years because of the fires on it because of the oil and gases. The Romans called the lake “Lake Asphaltus” for this reason. The armies besieging Jerusalem and those remaining forces of the false messiah are slain as they try to do battle with Yeshua and his army (Zech 14.1-15; Isa 63-1-6). The false messiah and the false prophet try to flee Jerusalem but are captured on the plain of Jericho (2 Kings 25.1-7; Jer 39.1-7; Jer 52.7-11). They are taken to Azal, where the Azazel goat was taken on Yom Kippur and slain. The coastline of the Dead Sea (the Lake of Fire) reaches up to this area now because of the earthquake. The false messiah and the false prophet are cast off this cliff alive into the “Lake of Fire” and great rejoicing breaks out in Jerusalem. The ceremony on Yom Kippur with the Azazel goat rehearses this event (Rev 19.11-21). After Yeshua returns, between Tishri 10 an Tishri 15, angels will be sent all over the world to gather the unrighteous to Tophet, the Hinnom Valley south of Jerusalem, to be judged (Jer 7.27-34; 19.1-15; Isa 66 18-24; Matt 25.41-46). Angels will also be sent out into the world to gather the righteous who have believed during the Birth-pains to Jerusalem to be judged (Matt 25.31-40). Five days after Yeshua returns, only the righteous who have believed during the Birth-pains and the believers who have returned with him from heaven remain. The festival of Sukkot begins on Tishri 15 with feasting and a great celebration. These believers will participate in the Wedding Supper of the Lamb that takes place on earth (Isa 25.6; Matt 8.11; Luke 12.35-37; Rev 19.9). The unbelievers also go to a feast called the Feast of Leviathan in which they are on the menu (Rev 19.17-18; Luke 17.34-37; Ezek 29.1-7; 32.1-8). This festival of Sukkot with Yeshua will celebrate the Kingdom of God on earth. The wedding supper will be one of joy and that is why this is called “the season of our joy.” It is possible that the Mishkan (tabernacle) has been used by the Jews that fled into the wilderness on Nisan 10 for three and a half years. This Mishkan will be used for the Sukkot services until the Temple in Ezekiel’s vision is built. That brings us up to an interesting point. Now, the mid-point of the Birth-pains was Nisan 10. The last half of the Birth-pains was 1260 days in duration, often called the Great Tribulation. If you go ahead another 75 days from Yom Kippur (Tishri 10 to Kislev 25), the day Yeshua returned to Jerusalem, you come to the festival of Chanukah which celebrates the dedication of the Temple. This will be the day Yeshua dedicates Ezekiel’s Temple. If you add 1260 and 75 it comes to the 1335 days spoken about by Daniel the prophet in Dan 12.12, and now you know why he said you were blessed if you saw this day. From this point everyone has entered the Messianic Kingdom on earth for the remainder of the 1000 years. What happens after that is for another time. This has been a brief overview of the seven year Birth-pains of the Messiah. There is no way to get into the details that we could do if this was a “live” teaching, but hopefully you have a better picture of what is on the horizon. The book of Revelation will fill in some of the gaps, but we suggest that you look up all the Scriptures in this study and develop an understanding of them. We know that this is contrary to some of the eschatological teaching out there, especially the teaching of those who believe that there is no Natzal, or “rapture” of believers before the Birth-pains begin. But, there are many who do believe in the Natzal before the Birth-pains begin and this teaching will help you develop that. The main thing is, a person needs to study the Scriptures and see them from the viewpoint the Lord intended. That means we should understand the Temple services, the festivals and Hebrew eschatology, and not the eschatology developed through Replacement Theology. There are many sources out there that will help you, but even Messianic sources have some unbiblical eschatology to them so you must know what you are doing. There are some who believe you are going through the Birth-pains, and have even picked dates, and these teachers still continue, so be careful. But, you have another viewpoint at least. Nobody knows the full picture because we see through a glass dimly, but if Yeshua fulfilled the spring festivals of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Pentecost on the exact day Israel was celebrating them, and in ways that were illustrated by the services they were attending, we can have a good idea of how the fall festivals will play out, all within the context of how they were celebrated.

Posted in Articles, Current Events, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, Questions, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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