What is the religion of Abraham? What is the true religion of the Hebrew Scriptures? Is the modern Jewish religion truly the representative of the true Hebrew faith? Is Yeshua the Hebrew Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures? How can one know? The answer to all these questions can be found only in the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures. If you are of the seed of Abraham physically, then it is your duty to search the Hebrew Scriptures and to ask God to illuminate you and give you guidance, through His Holy Spirit, so that you might learn the truth. But, can we trust the Hebrew Scriptures to give us the same message that it contained when they were inspired so many years ago? Have they not been changed through the many years of transcribing? We have already mentioned in the Introduction that the Dead Sea Scrolls, which had been written 2,000 years ago, prove that the Hebrew Scriptures have remained preserved by God and their message remains unchanged. But, what did the Hebrew people believe about their prophesied Messiah 2,000 years ago, when the Dead Sea Scrolls were redacted?

Let us then turn to these scrolls in order to catch a glimpse of the beliefs of the Jews living in the time of the Second Temple. The Hebrew sect responsible for stashing these scrolls in the caves along the shore of the Dead Sea nearby the Qumran community was the third Jewish sect that had vied for the hearts and minds of the Jews in the era after the return from the Babylonian captivity. Most scholars believe that the Qumran community was composed of members of the sect called Essenes. These were dedicated, austere and sincere individuals, which wanted no part of the political maneuverings in which the Sadducees and the Pharisees thrived. They practiced an austere and strict moral code and rejected the many extra-biblical man-made laws invented by the Pharisees. These Pharisees, they claimed were in the business of making up these laws as a way to impress others with their false spirituality and they mockingly referred to them in these scrolls, as the ‘Flattery Seekers’.

They also rejected the liberal interpretations of the Sadducees as heretical, for they were proponents of the inerrancy and infallibility of the Holy Writings. Their humility was such that even the leader of the community was referred to in their manuscripts by a title and not by name. He was called the Teacher or Rabbi of Righteousness, avoiding self-glorification by omitting his name. Although there are some that dispute the identity of the Qumran community, claiming that they were not the Essenes, but there is a great deal of evidence that bears this out, and most scholars are in agreement in this regard. But, contrary to popular opinion, there was not a united Jewish consensus on doctrinal issues and the Jews were divided into several groups competing for dominance and political control of . Josephus tells us that there were three main groups.

“In both books, (The Jewish War and The Antiquities of the Jews) Josephus describes what he calls three Jewish ‘schools of philosophy’ that existed in his time: the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes. It is what Josephus says about the Essenes that made the Essenes hypothesis of the scrolls origins so appealing. Particularly noteworthy in this respect is the correspondence between his description of the Essenes and the text we call the ‘Charter of a Jewish Sectarian Association’.” (The Dead Sea Scrolls, Wise, Abeg and Cook, Harper Collins Publishers, 1996, NY, pg. 15)

The ruling religious establishment in was then composed of both the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and these political overlords, who were puppets of the Roman government, persecuted these radical isolationists. The Essenes represented a potential threat in that they vehemently opposed any efforts to dilute their culture through Hellenization or Romanization and were therefore more dangerous to their political masters. They largely survived by removing themselves from the City of Jerusalem and establishing this isolated community in the desert. I suppose that they could be best described as a sort of ancient monastery. Their strict moral and spiritual code kept their numbers modest, yet archaeologists tell us that this specific community in Qumran was thriving and well populated for almost 300 years. Mind you that this is approximately 100 years more than the length of time that the has been in existence, since the War of Independence.

Apparently, in advance of the coming Roman army the inhabitants of this group, also called “The Way”, hid their entire library in jar pots and sealed them to prevent them from deteriorating. They then hid these jars in caves, perhaps planning to retrieve them later. The fact that the library was not retrieved is evidence that the entire group was completely annihilated by the Romans. These jars then, containing a wealth of information, and were fortuitously sealed as a literal ‘time capsule’ that was, through the providence of God, discovered in several caves during the years 1946, and 1947.

It appears that a shepherd boy in an attempt to get one of his goats to leave a cave threw a rock into the cave and heard something break. Little did this Palestinian shepherd boy know, how significant this little rock that he threw would become. Since that first find, they have discovered other caves and a wealth of books, some dating back as far as 200 years before the birth of Christ. In addition to numerous works, contemporary of that time period, every book of the Tanach was found, with the only exception of the Book of Esther, giving us the oldest extant copies of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Their Significance

The Dead Sea Scrolls have provided for us a plethora of information that has allowed us to peer into the mindset of the Jew living at the time of Christ and due to their antiquity, have served to contradict some of the major arguments levied by liberals and naturalists against the reliability of the textual accurateness of the Scriptures.

Two major affronts to the authenticity and reliability of the Scriptures were levied by liberals with the advent of Higher Criticism. The first emasculated the Scriptures from any supernatural authority by changing the dates assigned to the writings of the prophets. Naturalists and skeptics, as well as Neo Orthodox theologians have argued that the dates traditionally assigned to the writings of the prophets were not what the internal text claimed. They adamantly refused to accept the traditional dates of these writings and instead, gave them dates that were hundreds of years after the actual time that they claim to have been written. This they concluded was through their expert knowledge of writing and changes in style throughout different eras. The upshot is that they dated the books at about or after the time that the prophetic messages were fulfilled, therefore removing the supernatural aspect of the prophecy. In other words, they claimed that books like the Book of Daniel and the Book of Isaiah were written after the actual events that they had supposedly prophesied had occurred. This view would make the writers of these prophetic books liars and first-rate deceivers, monsters of hypocrisy, without equal. The Neo-Orthodox view, patronizing them as well intended teachers which fooled the ignorant masses for their benefit, is morally untenable in the face of such utter deceit, and makes of them partners in crime in promoting a humanly contrived manipulation of the common people through a fabricated concept without truth at its foundation.

The second stab at the reliability of the Holy Writings came in the form of their absolute and authoritative opinion that the original writings have been changed throughout the years by their constant transcriptions. These ‘experts’, highly respected and acknowledged by the scholastic establishment, concluded that the original writings have long been changed and embellished by theologians copying the Holy Writings, many times over, throughout the long ages.

Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, skeptics had ridiculed the Book of Daniel, as having been written after the time of Christ, the prophecies being too specific. Having the presupposition that the supernatural does not exist, then it was inconceivable to them that Daniel could have predicted with such uncanny accuracy the following:

1. The year the Jews would be allowed to return to
2. The year that the wall of Jerusalem would be constructed.
3. The year that the Messiah would be killed, several hundreds of years prior to the actual fulfillment of the prophecy.
4. The five major world empires that would rule in our planet, in order.
   
   1. The Babylonian Empire
   2. The Medes and the Persian Empire
   3. The Greek Empire
   4. The Roman Empire
   5. The fifth Kingdom is the same as the fourth and only characterized by the rise of eleven Kings within that kingdom. This is referred to as the revival of the Roman Empire (which is yet to come). This coming Empire will be the global Kingdom of the Antichrist and much is said in this regard that applies to us today.

Those that promoted the lie that throughout the ages the bible has been changed as the manuscripts were written and rewritten over and over again, were dumbfounded. The Dead Sea Scrolls have shown conclusively that the bible has remained essentially unchanged in 2000 years. The community has been dated as having existed between 200 BC and a little less than 100 AD. Some of the manuscripts have been Carbon 14 dated and found to be even older, having been most likely collected by their Rabbis for some time previously.

“In short, there are good—indeed overwhelming—reasons to locate those who wrote and copied the Dead Sea Scrolls in the of the period 200BC to 100CE.” (The Dead Sea Scrolls, Wise, Abeg and Cook, Harper Collins Publishers, 1996, NY, pg.15)

“The caches included every one of the books of the Jewish Bible, except apparently, the Book of Esther. Not a trace of Esther has turned up.

The ‘Dead Sea Bible’ is the oldest group of Tanach manuscripts ever found- at least a thousand years older than the traditional Hebrew texts from the early medieval period that have been the basis of all our modern Bible translations…On that evidence then, a few scrolls would date from the second century BCE the vast majority from the first century BCE and a smaller number from the first century CE.” (The Dead Sea Scrolls, Wise, Abeg and Cook, Harper Collins Publishers, 1996, NY, pg. 11, 14)

This was not a temporary encampment, archaeological evidence points to a continuous occupation for way over two centuries ending with a layer of ash, suggesting a fiery destruction, with the walls around the site being mined under in the fashion of Roman siege warfare.

The completed translation of these ancient Scrolls, as of the date of this publication, has not as of yet been published. Many of the scrolls are found in scraps of leather, which are torn into numerous pieces, which has created a highly laborious project to piece together. Due to our innovative DNA detection technologies, we have been able to sort out the individual scraps that belong to a given scroll, allowing the jigsaw puzzle to be put together much easier.

The works that have just recently been published have brought to light some amazing facts that should be of interest to all of Hebrew descent. I am speaking of the actual messianic expectations of the Jews that were living in that time; the Second Temple Jews. It has been the expectation of from ancient times that a Messiah would one day come to establish the promised Davidic Kingdom and included in that expectation is their deliverance from the political oppression that they had experienced since the destruction of the First Temple . But, the prophetic picture contained within the Hebrew Scriptures in regard to the coming Messiah included a much deeper dimension of deliverance, than what is commonly regarded by Modern Jews and this was reflected by many Jews during that time.

Messianic Expectations of the Second Temple Jew

Modern Jews reject the claim of Yeshua as their Messiah mainly on the basis that He was not functioning in the capacity of the political deliverer that is so clearly attested by some of the prophecies describing the Messiah within the Hebrew Scripture.

But it must be duly noted that this unilateral expectation was not the unified consensus of all of the Jews living at the time of Christ. The Sadducees, having been thoroughly Hellenized, did not expect any form of miraculous deliverance from a Messiah. Obviously, the Jews that comprised the fourth group, also originally called ‘The Way’ and later called Christians, understood the dual nature of the tasks set before the Messiah, but they were not alone; the Essenes also understood this very thoroughly. Thus, the Second Temple Jews were divided in this aspect and the modern stance of the Jewish religion that presently claims to represent the view of the Hebrew people in entirety, actually only represents a fraction of the viewpoint of the Second Temple Jews living at that time. They, literally, only represent the view of the sect of the Pharisees. Both the Essenes and the Christians, who were initially completely comprised of Jews, understood the dual nature of the ministry assigned to the Messiah by the Hebrew Scriptures and this is thoroughly attested by the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Dual Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls

As these Second Temple Jews poured over the prophecies regarding the Messiah, they were aware that some of the prophecies seemed to depict the Messiah as a Suffering Savior (The Lamb), while others depicted Him as a Conquering Deliverer (The Lion).

In trying to make sense of these two diametrically opposing descriptions of the Messiah, the Essenes concluded that the Scriptures were referring to two separate Messiah’s. These they labeled as the Priestly (Aaron) Messiah and the Messiah of Israel (military).

“They shall govern themselves using the original precepts by which the men of the Yahad began to be instructed, doing so until there comes the Prophet (Elijah) and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel.” (IQS 4Q 255-264a, 5Q II, Column 9 vs. 10 The Charter of a Jewish Sectarian Association) (Emphasis and parenthesis mine)

The ‘Prophet’ referred to in this manuscript is clearly the forerunner of the Messiah referred to as Elijah in the scripture.

The ‘Messiahs’ in plural, refer to two separate individuals. The first is the Messiah of Aaron, whom they label as the priestly Messiah, and the second is the Messiah of whom they label as the national or military Messiah..

So, the rejection, by the politically entrenched Pharisees, of Yeshua as the Messiah, predicated on the rationalization that He did not deliver them politically, is founded on their erroneous premise that Yeshua must have been exclusively the political deliverer to be the Messiah. That is, that the Messiah’s ministry did not entail the aspects, which the Essenes assigned to the Priestly Messiah; the ministry of the spiritual deliverance. This is clearly shown to be a false expectation, through an analysis of the total prophesies contained within the Hebrew Scriptures in this regard, not as explained by Christians today, but by the interpretation of fellow Jews that were alive and living at that time; that is, the Second Temple Jews that comprised the Essene group. There is no way to avoid the verses that refer to the Messiah as the Suffering Savior as well as the Conquering Savior. As far as the skeptical and liberal minded Sadducees are concerned, it is more likely that their underlying motive to reject Yeshua was to maintain the political and financial control over that they had managed to attain from their captors, serving as their political puppets.

In addition to this dual Messiah concept, which understandably was not well comprehended by Jews prior to the revelation of Yeshua, as being fulfilled through two separate events by the same individual, there is an even more graphic sentiment clearly written in black and white for all to see that corroborates the claims of Yeshua. I am speaking, of the fact that the Jews of that time period did understand that the Messiah would be the Son of God. As stated earlier, one of the major objections that modern Jews make to Yeshua is this very issue.

In the following passage from the manuscript called ‘The Charter for in the Last Days’ it is specifically stated that God “fathered the Messiah.” The verb ‘fathered’ is ‘holib’ in the Hebrew, the very same verb used in the biblical passages where the countless begetting verses are found.

“The procedure for the meeting of the men of reputation when they are called to the banquet held by the society of the Yahad, when God has fathered the Messiah, (Or when the Messiah has been revealed) among them: the Priest as head of the entire congregation of Israel shall enter first trailed by all his brothers, the Sons of Aaron, those priests appointed to the banquet of the men of reputation. They are to sit before Him by rank. Then the Messiah of may enter and the heads of the thousands of are to sit before Him by rank as determined by each man’s commission in their camps and campaigns. Last, all the heads of the congregations’ clans together with their wise and knowledgeable men shall sit before Them by rank.” — The Charter for in the Last Days, Column 2 vs. 11-17a (The Dead Sea Scrolls, Wise, Abeg and Cook, Harper Collins Publishers, 1996, pg. 144) (Emphasis mine)

Here we see that they clearly and unmistakably understood the Messiah to be ‘fathered by God’. The Priestly Messiah would have the priests (sons of Aaron) sitting in front of Him, and the military commanders (the heads of the thousands of Israel) along with the heads of the clans and the wise men, would sit in front of the Messiah of Israel (Military Messiah), so that “all the heads of the congregations’ clans together with the wise and knowledgeable men shall sit before Them by rank”. The term “Them,” then refers to the two Messiahs.

This acknowledgement of the two separate functions of the Messiah is not lightly treated, since it is found in several manuscripts, and their functions are clearly delineated. For example, in the “War of the Messiah” we find a royal description of the Messiah of Israel waging war on the Gentile Nations. On the other hand in the manuscript “Redemption and Resurrection” (4Q521) we find a description of the Priestly Messiah lacking any military exploits or Royal vestige. Instead, we find a remarkable description of the Priestly Messiah, which if I did not know better would have sworn it, came from the New Testament.

“For the heavens and the earth shall listen to His Messiah and all which is in them shall not turn away from the Commandments of the Holy Ones. (plural)

Strengthen yourselves, O you who seek the Lord in His service.

Will you not find the Lord in this, all those who hope in their heart? For the Lord seeks the pious and calls the righteous by name. Over the humble His Spirit hovers and He renews the faithful in His strength. For He will honor the pious upon the throne of His eternal Kingdom, setting prisoners free, opening the eyes of the blind, raising up those who are bowed down. And forever… I… shall hold fast to the hopeful and pious… shall not be delayed… and the Lord shall do glorious things, which have not been done, just as He said. For He shall heal the critically wounded, He shall revive the dead, He shall send good news to the afflicted, He shall… the… He shall lead the… and the hungry He shall enrich… and …” (The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Redemption and Resurrection manuscript, Fragment 2 and Fragment 4 Column 2 vs. 1-14) (Emphasis and parenthesis mine. Note that the ‘…’ are placed where the words in the original manuscript are either missing or so badly damaged as to prevent proper interpretation)

“Those who do good before the Lord shall bless… and not as those who curse. They shall be destined to die, when the One who revives raises the dead of His people.

Then we shall give thanks and relate to you the righteous acts of the Lord that… those destined to die.

And He shall open graves… and… and… so commit… your works… and a bridge of… the accursed shall be little esteemed (?)… and the heavens shall meet… and all the angels…” (The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Redemption and Resurrection manuscript, Fragment 5 and Fragment 7, Column 2 vs. 1- 15) (Emphasis mine)

Clearly the Essenes as contemporary Jews to the time of Yeshua, understood from the scriptures that the Messiah would resurrect the dead, perform miracles of healing, open the graves in resurrecting all the Tanach believers that had previously died, cure the blind and preach to the poor and hungry. Compare these sentiments with the following New Testament passages, which describe the ministry of Yeshua:

“Now when John (He was the Elijah for Yeshua) in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples, and said to Him, ‘Are you the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?’

And Jesus answered and said to them. ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me’.” (Matthew 11:2-6) (Emphasis and parenthesis mine)

The New Testament records the fact that after the crucifixion many of the graves in were opened. Believers that had died appeared to many confirming the first resurrection, there will be another resurrection when He returns for the Second Coming. The statement that Yeshua made in regards to ‘stumbling over’ Him is referring to the prophecy of Isaiah in which he predicted that the Lord would first be a stumbling block to the house of and then later a sanctuary.

“It is the Lord of Hosts whom you shall regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread. Then He shall become a sanctuary.

But, to both houses of Israel, a stone to strike, and a rock to stumble over.” (Isaiah 8:13-14a)

When Yeshua, nailed upon the cross of His own volition, gave up His Spirit, the dividing veil that separated the Holy of Holies of the Second Temple was torn in half, symbolizing the fact that God would no longer be there in the Second Temple. Their rejection of the Messiah sealed their judgment, the Diaspora. But, He will be coming back to be the sanctuary of .

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His Spirit.

And behold the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks were split, and the tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the Holy City and appeared to many.” (Matthew 27:50-53) (Emphasis Mine)

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me to bring good news to the afflicted: He has sent Me to build up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.” (Isaiah 61:1-2) (Emphasis mine)

Yeshua met all of the elements found in the manuscripts of the Essenes as the expectations of the Priestly Messiah, during His First Coming and He shall fulfill all the expectations of the Military Messiah in His Second Coming.

During this First Coming, Yeshua entered into a synagogue on the Sabbath and taught on this very passage from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 61), which was referring to the Messiah. The event is recorded in the New Testament and when He had finished reading the verse He sat down.

“And He closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all the synagogue were fixed upon Him.

And He began to say to them, ‘This day this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’.” (Luke 4:20-21) (Emphasis mine)

But, here is the interesting thing about the passage that He read. In quoting Isaiah 61, he covered the verses only, which referred to His First Coming. That is, He described the ministry of the Priestly Messiah, the Suffering Savior, the Lamb and His pastoral task. He stopped exactly at the point where the Messianic role of the Conquering, Military, Messiah of Israel was discussed. Here, Yeshua was hinting to us that there were two roles for the Messiah, giving us the unmistakable division of the two Comings of the Messiah. The rest of that prophetic message, which refers to His Second Coming, reads as follows:

“…and the Day of Vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, to grant hose who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of the spirit of fainting, so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified.

Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins they will raise up the former devastations, and they will repair the ruin cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, and foreigners will be your farmers and your winedressers.

But you will be called the priests of the Lord, you will be spoken of as ministers of our God.

You will eat the wealth of nations, and in the riches you will boast.

Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation, they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore, they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs.” (Isaiah 61:2-7) (Emphasis mine)

There are three key phrases that allow us to place this prophecy at the Second Coming of the Lord.

First is the phrase, ‘The Day of Vengeance’, which describes the time in which the Gentile nations gather against Jerusalem to annihilate the Chosen People from the planet and the Lord returns as the Messiah of Israel, as the Lion of Judah, as the Military Messiah and wipes them off the face of the earth. There are alternate phrases that describe this period, ‘The Day of the Lord’, ‘The Day of Wrath’, or even ‘In that Day’.

Satan has a counterfeit day that mimics this Day, it is called in occult circles, “The Great Day Be With Us”. This will be a day in which millions around the world will be initiated into the occult, a mass initiation heralding the beginning of a New World Order. Millions will become demon possessed thinking they are evolving into a higher level of human evolution; into what the occult term as the “spiritual man, the divine man, the celestial man”. The Antichrist will step into the Temple of God in Jerusalem , which will have been rebuilt by this time, and claim that he is God. This is the abomination that causes desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet. It will happen when Aquarius is rising over the Spring Equinox and Mars aligns with Jupiter (see “A Witness in the Sky”).

This transgression by the Antichrist will trigger the beginning of the end of Satan’s dominion. The sun will be darkened and the moon will turn red as blood, a symbol of the rejection of God and an ominous portend of the Great Tribulation period. The sun has always symbolized the One True God, and the moon has symbolized the Messiah in human form. The darkening of the sun is then a symbol of man’s refusal to look to God and worship Him alone. The moon turning red (red is the color of sin) is the symbol of the false or sinful messiah, the Antichrist ascending into power.

This is the time when will be delivered from the Gentile nations being miraculously protected in the Sinai desert and Satan’s attempts to eradicate her will be thwarted by God. In his frustration and anger against the Chosen People, he will then turn on her spiritual children (Christians), seeking to kill everyone he finds. Judgment begins with the household of God and He will purify us and weed out the wheat from the chaff preparing us for the Kingdom, which He shall establish just 3 and ½ years from that point. Then will come the time when the second task of the Messiah, the political or physical Deliverance, which the Pharisees expected during the Roman occupation will take place. This will be the Military Messiah expected by the Essenes, the Lion of Judah, and the Conquering Savior represented by the constellations of Orion and Perseus. He will utterly destroy the Gentile armies of the world and then from Jerusalem establish His headquarters to rule the world.

Secondly, the ruined city will be rebuilt along with the Temple, and the land that had been desolate since the Antichrist had tried to set up his kingdom, just 3 and ½ years prior to Yeshua’s return, will once again flourish as the real Aquarius alights on Mt. Zion to give new life to our wilting planet.

The third element is the fact that the entire Hebrew nation will be known to the world as the ministers of God. This by necessity means that all the nations of the world will know who God is, clearly referring to a time which will only occur at the Millennial Kingdom, after He destroys all the rebellious unbelievers from the entire face of the earth during the Battle of Armageddon. The proof of it is the phrase, ‘everlasting joy will be theirs’ in verse 7, by implication a time when will no longer be persecuted from all sides. The fulfillment of this is yet to come, even though she is already back in the Promised Land.

Their joy will be everlasting because they will never be displaced from and no nation will ever dominate them again. You see the Kingdom of the Messiah will be an everlasting Kingdom; it will never end! He will be the King of Salem, the King of Peace, Jerusalem will be, and at long last, a place of peace. Here, Melchizedek will rule with the scepter of forevermore.

The Divine Nature of the Messiah

The Second Temple Jews of the Qumran Community were clear on the role and identity of Melchizedek, the King of Salem which is called the Priest of El Elyon, the God Most High. In Genesis 14:18 before was born, before Isaac was born, before the first Jew was ever born, Melchizedek existed and Abraham paid homage to Him. King David did the same in Psalms 110:

“The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet.’

The Lord will stretch forth Thy strong scepter from Zion , saying: ‘Rule in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people will volunteer freely in The Day of Thy Power; in holy array from the womb of the Dawn, Thy youth are to Thee as the dew. The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind. Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at Thy right hand, He will shatter Kings in the Day of His Wrath. He will judge the nations’.” (Psalms 110:1-5) (Emphasis mine)

First David says, ‘The Lord says to my Lord.’ Is there another Lord beside the Lord? The first word translated as Lord in the Hebrew is the word Jehovah, which means, “the Self- Existing or Eternal God”. It is the personal name of the One True God. The second word translated as Lord in that phrase is the Hebrew word Adown, which means, “The Sovereign Lord and Master”, but this term could be used to determine a human master or owner as well as the divine Lord. So a modern Rabbi might insist that Jehovah was speaking of a human and not God. This is correct according to the strict interpretation of the words. Then Jehovah says to Adown, “sit on My right hand”. So we picture the throne in heaven and Jehovah sitting upon the throne with Adown sitting at His right hand, as a human, waiting for an undisclosed period of time until Jehovah vanquishes Adown’s enemies placing them in a position of subjugation under Adown’s feet (His footstool).  Then in verse 2, David says, “Jehovah will stretch forth Thy (Adown) strong scepter from Zion”. So we see that, since the Messiah is the One that will receive the scepter, then Adown is the Messiah sitting on Jehovah’s right hand. Then in verse 3 and 4, David continues quoting the statements spoken by Jehovah speaking in the first person and speaking to Adown:

“Rule in the midst of Thine (Adown) enemies. Thy (Adown) people will volunteer freely in the day of Thy (Adown) Power.

In Holy array, from the womb of the Dawn Thy (Adown) youth are to Thee (Adown) as the dew. The Lord (Jehovah) has sworn and will not change His (Jehovah) mind. Thou (Adown) art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek”. (Jehovah continues to speak and says) “The Lord (Adonai) is at Thy…”. The word translated here, as Lord in verse 5 is Adonai, an emphatic form of Adown, which is used only as a proper name of God, and never as a human Lord as in Adown.. [Strong’s Concordance, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, word # 136 pg. 8: “Adonai: An emphatic form of 113 (Adown) and 3050 (Yahh—the Sacred name. The Lord Most Vehement); The Lord (used as a Proper name of the Lord only): (my) Lord.”]

It is still Jehovah speaking, Adonai is Jehovah, therefore the word Thy in verse 5 must be speaking of the human Messiah. Let us continue the verse: “The Lord (Adonai = Jehovah) is at Thy (Messiah’s) right hand”. But, I thought it was Adown that was in Jehovah’s right hand, according to the second verse in Psalms 110? How come now Jehovah or Adonai is at Messiah’s right Hand? Will God Jehovah bow Himself before a human and sit at His right hand? ‘No’, say the Hebrew Rabbi’s, ‘this is Adown at Jehovah’s right Hand’. Then, if that is so, the Messiah (Adown) is in verse 5 called Adonai, a title that in the entire Bible is only used for Jehovah. So, which is it?

Checkmate!

There is no way out! Jehovah has made it clear. The Messiah is Lord! “And He will shatter kings in the Day of His Wrath”, verse 5b. The Messiah has resurrected and is presently sitting in Jehovah’s right hand, waiting till the proper moment, when in the Day of His Wrath He will come down again. This time as the Messiah of Israel, the Military Messiah, which will pour out the fierceness of His wrath upon the Gentile armies of the Antichrist. At long last the Day of Vengeance will cleanse the world! The Lion of Judah will roar from Zion!

This Messiah, which David called, “A priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek”, could not just be human for what human priest could hold that office for eternity. This is a plain fact that is recognized by the Second Temple Jews in the Qumran community. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain a manuscript entitled “A Treatise on the Coming of Melchizedek” (I I Q 13), which elaborates on this matter:

“For this is the time decreed for the year of Melchizedek’s favor” (Isaiah 61:2 modified with Melchizedek replacing the title of Jehovah), and by His might He will judge God’s holy ones and so establish a righteous kingdom, as it is written about Him in the Songs of David, ‘a godlike being has taken His place in the council of God; in the midst of the divine beings He holds judgment’. (Psalms 82:1)

Scripture also says about Him, ‘Over it take your seat in the highest heaven; a divine being will judge the peoples.’ (Psalms 7:7-8)

Therefore Melchizedek will thoroughly prosecute the vengeance required by God’s statues. Also He will deliver all the captives from the power of Belial (Satan) and from the power of all the spirits predestined to him (demons). Allied with Him will be all the righteous divine beings (angels – Isaiah 61:3)… This visitation is the Day of salvation that He has decreed through Isaiah the prophet concerning all the captives in as much as scripture says to Zion, ‘your divine being reigns’. (Isaiah 52:7)

This scripture’s interpretation: ‘The mountains’ are the prophets they who were sent to proclaim God’s truth and to prophesy to all . The messenger is the Anointed of the Spirit, of whom Daniel spoke, ‘After the sixty two weeks an Anointed One shall be cut off.’ (Daniel 9:26) The messenger who brings good news, who announces salvation is the One of whom it is written, ‘to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.’ (Isaiah 61:2) Your divine being is Melchizedek who will deliver them from the power of Belial.” (A Treatise on the Coming of Melchizedek, II Q 13 Column 2 vs. 9-25) (Only the first parenthesis and emphasis is mine)

These members of the Hebrew Essenes, the third Hebrew school of philosophy, understood clearly that the Anointed One would be a ‘divine being’, a term that surely no Jew would use in reference to a mere man. The Anointed One was to be born a human child, as Isaiah 7: 14 says, and yet He would be a ‘divine being’, higher than the angels, for He would judge even the demons.

The very fact that in quoting Isaiah 61: 2 the Essenes replaced the name of Jehovah with Melchizedek is proof that they thought of both as being One and the same individual. It is possible and highly probable that Melchizedek was literally the Messiah and therefore a “divine being” that appeared to Abraham, as did angels in other occasions. There is then, a clear concept of the Messiah being ‘fathered by God’ and therefore a “divine being” that had the authority to sit at the right hand of Jehovah, biding time, until the appointed moment, when the Day of Vengeance of our God arrives. This was well understood by the Essenes and gives us a very clear picture of the expectations of the Messiah during the time of the Second Temple Jews. The fact that modern Jews today reject this view must be understood in the historical context as being not the exclusive view of the Hebrew people of that time, perhaps not even that of the majority of the Jews at that time.

Rabbi Saul writes in the Book of Hebrews:

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil where Yeshua has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. For this Melchizedek, King of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the King’s and blessed him, to whom also Abraham, apportioned the tenth part of the spoils, was first of all by the translation of his name King of Righteousness and then also King of Salem, which is King of Peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, He abides a priest perpetually.

Now, observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils.

And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priests office have a commandment in the law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren although these are descendant from Abraham.

But, the One whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.

But, without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.” (Hebrews 6:19-20, Hebrews 7:1-7) (Emphasis mine)

Rabbi Saul then, as a teacher of the fourth “Jewish school” during the Second Temple times, taught also clearly that Melchizedek was indeed greater than Abraham the Father of Israel and was without beginning and without end—in other words, a “divine being.”

Now, if we conclude, as the Essenes claim, that this Melchizedek is the same One that Isaiah 61 is referring to, then Melchizedek is the Messiah. And if He is as they claimed the same One spoken of by Daniel that would be cut off at the 69th week, then what other figure in history could fit the bill, counting from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem during Daniel’s time? Now, over 2,400 years later, we can look back and see that the timetable prophesied by Daniel fits to the day the allotted time between the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem till the time that Yeshua was literally “cut off”. (See Messianic Prophecies for an exact timetable) There is no one else in all of history that can claim what Yeshua has proved by His death and resurrection, namely that He has power over death and that He is the One prophesied by Daniel to be “cut off” before His time. He is the Anointed One that has been from of old, from everlasting and the Essenes reflecting the messianic expectations of the Jews of that time, point out that Melchizedek is one and the same as the Anointed One. Therefore, if Yeshua is Melchizedek, He walked the earth prior to Judaism and true “Christianity” is in fact the true “Judaism” predating the Pharisaical, Rabbinical Judaism reflected by modern Judaism, whose customs and traditions arose after the Babylonian captivity and have strayed from God’s Word only partially acknowledging the whole counsel of Scripture.

He, who has ears to hear, let him hear. He, who has eyes to see, let him see; the truth that can set you free is also the same that can be your stumbling block. The same stone that is the cornerstone of the Temple of God has become the stumbling stone of some. Are you of the seed of Abraham physically? What a wonderful privilege! But, do you believe the Hebrew Prophets? Are you of the seed of Abraham spiritually? The sections quoted here from the Dead Sea Scrolls were written, not by Christians, but by fellow Jews living after the Babylonian Captivity in earnest expectation of the Messiah. Can you, with confidence, say that you have read the Hebrew Prophets and are convinced that the Messiah is to only be a military deliverer? Are there no passages in the Scriptures that speak of the Messiah as a suffering Savior? And what of God’s covenant with David, is there a Jew sitting upon the throne of David today? And what of God’s covenant with Abraham was not dispersed from the Promised Land for over 2,000 years?

“Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous will enter through it.

I shall give thanks to thee, for Thou hast answered me; And Thou hast become my salvation. The stone, which the builders rejected, has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalms 118:19-23) (Emphasis mine)

“Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes will not be disturbed. And I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the level…and your covenant with death shall be cancelled.” (Isaiah 28:16, 17a, 18a) (Emphasis mine)

The gate of righteousness is the stone, which the builders rejected, who has become our salvation! The cornerstone was rejected, but He shall return tested and proved, for He shall be the foundation for the Davidic Kingdom and every nation shall come to Him and offer gifts, as He will rule the world. Then there shall be peace in Jerusalem and your covenant of death shall be cancelled!

“Because of Thy Temple at Jerusalem Kings will bring gifts to Thee.” (Psalms 68:29)

“For the Lord has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory. He has regarded the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.

This will be written for the generation to come; that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

For He looked down from His Holy height; from heaven the Lord gazed upon the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to set free those who were doomed to death; that men may tell of the name of the Lord Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem; When the peoples are gathered together and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.” (Psalms 102:16-22) (Emphasis mine)

There will be a day when all the people of the earth will be gathered together around Jerusalem; some alongside the Lion of Judah, who will believe in the stone of the foundation that has been proved and they will not be disturbed and their oppressors shall gather alongside the Antichrist rimmed with the armies of Satan’s minions gathered at Megiddo inflamed with hatred. But, the Lord Himself shall appear from the east in His glory as the Anointed One, alighting upon the Mt. Of Olives and the curse of the Diaspora will be removed forevermore. Your prophets have foretold this:

“And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move to the north and the other half toward the south.

And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of . Then the Lord my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!

And it will come about in that day that there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle.

For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at the evening time there will be light.

And it will come about in that day that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem , half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as winter.

And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one.

All the land will be changed into a plain …and people will live in it, and there will be no more curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.” (Zechariah 14: 4-10a, 11)

The curse that has made Jerusalem a place of turmoil and death shall be removed, when they believe in the cornerstone that had been previously rejected. He shall be the foundation, upon which the Davidic Kingdom shall be built and every nation in the world shall be ruled from Jerusalem. He shall destroy the cities of the world with a giant earthquake and the mountains will be laid low and the world will be turned into a plain, and the kingdom of the Antichrist shall come to its death. The sun will be darkened and the moon will turn a reddish hue and the stars will not be visible, until the Lord stands upon Mt. Olive and that evening, His light shall shine as the noonday sun and the world will tremble to its core, as the Lion of Judah roars (see “The Coming Prince of Peace” for more information about this time period). Then He shall restore the waters of the earth, for He is the real Aquarius (see “A Witness in the Sky” for more information about Aquarius). Life shall return to the sea and shall dwell in peace and safety for the first time! Amen.

“And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts in that day.” (Zechariah 14:21b)

The Messiah and The Last Days

In scroll 4 Q 174, we read that these Second Temple Jews, also fully understood and expected that the Messiah would be of the seed of David and would be raised up by God after having fallen to deliver Israel in the “Last Days”:

“Moreover the Lord declares to you that He will make you a house and that ‘I will raise up your offspring after you, and establish the throne of His Kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and He will be My son.’ (II Samuel 7: 11 c, 12b, 13b, 14a) This passage refers to the shoot of David who is to arise with the interpreter of the Law, and who will arise in Zion in the last days as it is written, ‘and I shall raise up the booth of David that is fallen’ (Amos 9:11)

This passage describes the fallen Branch of David whom He shall raise up to deliver Israel.” (4Q 174, Column 3 vs. 10- 13) (Parenthesis belong to the manuscript)

This passage may be interpreted in two ways:

First, the Branch of David refers specifically to the Messiah and generally to the lineage of kings, which were descendants of David. Although the Branch in scripture may refer generally to the kingly succession, the Fallen Branch only refers to the Messiah, for the Davidic succession was to be eternal and an unconditional covenant.

Since the Davidic Covenant was unconditional, that is, God promised David that He would keep one of his descendants on the throne, even if they were not faithful, then the Fallen Branch cannot be the interruption of the Davidic lineage upon the throne.

“If his sons forsake My law, and do not walk in My judgments, if they violate My statues and do not keep My commandments, then I will visit their transgression with a rod, and their iniquity with stripes. But, I will not break off My lovingkindness from him nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.

MY COVENANT I WILL NOT VIOLATE, nor will I after the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness, I will not lie to David.

HIS DESCENDANTS SHALL ENDURE FOREVER AND HIS THRONE AS THE SUN BEFORE ME. IT SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER LIKE THE MOON, AND THE WITNESS IN THE SKY IS FAITHFUL.” (Psalms 89:30-37) (Emphasis mine)

We will deal with this more thoroughly later on, but for now the point I am trying to make is that in God’s eye the lineage will never falter, it will be established forever. Hence, the correct interpretation of this verse can only mean that the Messiah had fallen and was raised up by God. This then could only refer to the death of the Messiah and His subsequent resurrection culminating in His Second Coming.

The author of this Dead Sea manuscript acknowledges that Amos had predicted the falling of the Branch of David. The symbol of the Cukkah (Booth) or Branch represents both deliverance and protection as the Booths in like manner provided for the wondering Jews during their 40-year sojourn in the wilderness. The Branch is of course the Messiah, therefore, the Messiah must first be ‘cut-off’, as Daniel predicted (fallen), then the Messiah will be raised (resurrected) and fashioned as the Cukkah, ready to deliver at the appointed time. But, for now, He awaits at the right hand of God sitting on the throne of David.

What is this Cukkah or booth of David? The booth was a lean-to or cottage which was made of palm branches and which protected the Hebrew people from the harsh environment of the wilderness. Coincidentally, the Hebrews placed these palm branches at the feet of Yeshua, when He entered Jerusalem the week He was crucified riding on a lowly donkey; the very act representing acknowledgment of Messiahship. This is commemorated in the Festival of Cukkah (pronounced: sook-kaw’) and is symbolic of the fact that the Branch is our protection and covering. Therefore, the Rabbi that interpreted the passage from Amos correctly used the Branch as the synonym of the booth. The Messiah will in fact be the protection of in the Last Days. During this time of Jacob’s Trouble, will be pursued, tormented and victimized by the Antichrist, until in his fury he reaches the full measure of hate and will then seek to totally annihilate her, from the face of the planet. He will attack Jerusalem after the Temple has been rebuilt and in that day he will conquer her army and enter into the Holy City as victor. In his arrogance, he will enter into the Holy of Holies in the Temple of God and declare himself to be the God of the universe. This is the abomination that causes desolation spoken of by Daniel and will trigger an unprecedented response from God. For the next three and one half years the wrath of God will be poured out on the kingdom of the Antichrist, during which time the waters of the Ocean will become as the blood of a dead man and “every living thing in the sea died”. (Revelation 16:3b) Then the rivers and the springs and all fresh water sources will become equally polluted with this malady that turns the water red (again, like the moon, red is the color of sin). This phenomenon may be describing what is commonly referred to as the “Crimson Tide”, which is caused by the pollution of the water with nitrates and seems to turn the water red. This overabundance of nitrates causes an explosion in the growth of certain plankton, which give off lethal toxins to marine life and absorb all the oxygen from the water, thus killing the surrounding habitat.

The sun will then become so bright that it will literally scorch the earth, possibly as the result of the deterioration of the ozone layer. Our sun seems to run on an 11-year cycle in which it climaxes in the eruptions of its solar flares. These spew out into space sporadically, but for some reason every 11 years it seems to reach a climax and the resulting solar radiation has been blamed among other things for disruption in radio communications, as well as even the black out of an entire city in . It is the interaction of these solar winds with our atmosphere that causes the spectacular Aurora Borealis seen in the northern latitudes. Prior to the Great Flood our atmosphere contained the protective layer of water vapor that filtered the deadly rays. Presently all that remains between these deadly rays and us is an ozone layer several feet thick that blankets our atmosphere. Unfortunately, through pollution this ozone layer is being eroded and some parts of our planet are at this very moment unprotected, as holes are beginning to appear on this protective global canopy.

“And men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues; and they did not repent…” (Revelation 16: 9)

People will develop loathsome and malignant sores, possibly some form of skin cancer due to the intense solar radiation. Then, at the appointed time, the entire earth will shake with an earthquake of such magnitude, as has never been before, nor will ever be again and every major city in the world will crumble to the ground. This will be the greatest catastrophe in human history, since the Great Deluge. It will be the “Big One” that scientists have been predicting for some time. The time is drawing near and as this day approaches, you will hear of more and more earthquakes throughout the earth, not only occurring with an increasing frequency but also of an increasing magnitude.

“And there were flashes of lightning and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as had not been since man came upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.

And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of his fierce wrath.

And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And huge hailstones about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God, because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.” (Revelation 16:18-21) (Emphasis mine)

Jerusalem will be split into three parts, as this tectonic upheaval erupts with such force that the entire topography of the crust of the earth will once again radically change. The mountains that are being held up by the constant and increasing pressure of the continuously enlarging plates are suddenly depressurized after this Mega-Quake. Entire islands will become submerged under the oceans and mountain ranges will topple as the tectonic pressure is released. Rockslides of an unprecedented nature will swallow entire cities, as the undulating shock waves cause the loose gravel to act as if it were water; a process called liquefaction. Those mountains that are toppled into the sea will cause giant tsunamis, which will flow outward from the point of impact with waves as high as 1,000 feet traveling at 700 miles per hour and destroying the affected coastlines for miles inland. Any coastal cities hit by these giant tsunamis will be leveled to a heap of ground up rocks and debris. Giant hailstones possibly caused by water vapor blown into the stratosphere through gigantic volcanic explosions will rain upon the world along with red-hot brimstones averaging one hundred pounds in weight. Forests as well as cities will be kindled by the flowing lava and the burning brimstones, adding smoke and noxious gases to the other poisonous gases already being expelled by the volcanoes. As the smoke and volcanic ash rises into the stratosphere the sun will be darkened and the moon will turn a reddish hue, the stars will become clouded and the night sky will appear to have no stars. The noonday sun will be obscured by one third of its potential light and plant life throughout the planet will suffer greatly leading to poor agricultural yields and subsequent famine on a global scale.

But, I am not a prophet of doom, who relishes in the macabre, for God is my witness that I simply state the truth revealed within His Scriptures and I cling to the hope and light He gives in the midst of this Great Tribulation. For, in the midst of this unprecedented catastrophe, there will be a Cukkah in Jerusalem. There will be standing upon Mt. Zion the One that from the beginning has been called the “Wonderful Counselor, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace”, the Lion of Judah, the root of Jesse, the Branch, who will protect her against the ravenous wolf outside the city gates enraged at the suffering he has had to endure under the mighty wrath of God for the last three and one half years. The Impostor will seek to devour her, but will not be able to, for the Cukkah will be there to protect her. This is the day that is really represented by the Festival of Cukkah. Yes, there was protection in the desert of Sinai during the 40 years of the wondering before crossing into the Promised Land, but this is merely a symbol, a shadow of the real thing. It is true that the verses that I have just quoted from are from the Christian New Testament. And, if you are of Hebrew lineage and do not accept these as inspired, I would only ask that you remember these words as the Holy Spirit brings them to your mind when these things begin to come to pass. When the increase in the frequency and magnitude of earthquakes, which have been predicted by the New Testament begin to occur, remember that it is only the birth pangs of what is yet to come. You will hear of erupting volcanoes at an alarming rate as the potential energy builds to that final breaking point, the straw that broke the camel’s back and the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. It may be that the trigger could be the shock wave created by a meteorite or even an atomic explosion, but whatever the case might be, the result is the long awaited and expected Big One. For when this Mega-Quake finally erupts our planet will be reduced to a heap of rubble and all the works of man and the achievements of his hands will go the way of the Deluge at the end of the First Earth.

This is the meaning of the Branch of David, which will provide the covering for His people in the midst of the Last Days. The Cukkah will in effect be the Ark of our Post Deluge World. will be given two wings of “the great eagle” in order that she might be taken to a place of refuge in the wilderness. This is the same wilderness in which she built the Cukkah for protection, during her 40 years of wondering with Moses, before crossing the River Jordan with Joshua. The protection and provision of manna during those years in the wilderness provided with the example of the coming time in which God would again protect her miraculously.

“And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child (The Messiah).

And the two wings of the great Eagle were given to the women in order that she might fly to the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time, times and half a time. (Time=1, times=2 and half a time is ½—therefore: 1 + 2 + ½ = 3½ years), from the presence of the serpent.

And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river, which the dragon poured out of its mouth.

And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 12:13-17) (Parenthesis mine)

Just as manna nourished in the wilderness of Sinai, so will it be in the hiding place provided by the two wings of the Great Eagle. The Great Eagle, of course, has in most cultures always represented the Messiah figure and is no exception.

“And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” (Revelation 12:6)

“Seek the Lord all you humble of the earth who have carried out His ordinances: Seek righteousness, seek humility, perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.” (Zephaniah 2:3) (Emphasis mine)

One thousand two hundred and sixty days is approximately 3 and ½ years. But, as stated earlier, this prophecy of the coming tribulation and the reign of the Antichrist is not a doctrine that is peculiar only to the New Testament.

The reign of the Antichrist during the 7-year tribulation period known variously as ‘Jacob’s Trouble’ and the ‘Great Tribulation’ was known by the Jews prior to the New Testament, this is not a Christian doctrine, as some have erroneously suggested. The New Testament has given us some deeper insights as to the actual events that will occur in it, but the majority of the revelation is from the Tanach prophets. It was Daniel that told us that the Great Tribulation period would last 7 years (one week of years) and that in the middle of that 7-year period the Antichrist would enter the Holy of Holies, in the rebuilt Third Temple , and declare himself to be God. We have already discussed how, prior to the time of Yeshua, Antiochus the IV had in similar fashion desecrated the Temple by sacrificing swine on the altar and placing a statue of Jupiter inside the Temple for a period also of 3 and ½ years. This abomination was a type or mirror of the great abomination that will take place when rebuilds the Temple in the not too distant future. During those last 3 and ½ years of the Great Tribulation the antichrist will rule the whole world. He will arise from a confederacy of ten kings and will initially subdue three to gain control of the other seven.

“Thus He said, ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.

As for the ten horns, out of these kingdoms ten kings will arise; and another will rise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.

And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times and half a time.

But the court will for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever.

Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’” (Daniel 7:23-27) (Emphasis mine)

The Antichrist will rule the whole earth for three and one half years until the Messiah returns and wrests the earth from his grasp. He will then judge the nations of the world and establish the Millennial or Davidic Kingdom upon the earth. But while upon the earth this beast called the Antichrist will make war against the Holy people and will destroy many.

“And in the latter period of their rule, when the transgressors have run their course, a king will arise insolent and skilled in intrigue.

And his power will be mighty but not by his own power, and he will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will; he will destroy mighty men and the Holy people.

And through his shrewdness he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; and he will magnify himself in his heart, and he will destroy many while they are at ease.

He will even oppose the Prince of Princes, but he will be broken without human agency.” (Daniel 8:23-25) (Emphasis mine)

The phrase “When the transgressors have run their course”, I believe is referring to the much celebrated occult “Plan on Earth”, which has been meticulously planned and executed by Satan and his demons, through their human pawns, to carry out their long awaited plan to gain complete tyrannical control of the world. The Antichrist will, like Hitler, display a supernatural ability to mesmerize people, through the indwelling power of Satan. He will step into the Holy of Holies claiming godhood. Deceived by his own arrogance and insolence, he will even oppose the Prince of Princes, when Yeshua alights upon Mt. Zion and then the Messiah, without human agency, will destroy him and bring him to judgment. This is the time in which God will restore the fortunes of and save her from certain destruction by the Antichrist.

“’For behold, days are coming’, declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people 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.’

Now these are the words which the Lord spoke concerning and concerning , ‘For thus says the Lord, I have heard a sound of terror, of dread and there is no peace. Ask now, and see, if a male can give birth. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale? 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.

And it shall come about in that day’, declares the Lord of Hosts, ‘that I will break his yoke from off their neck, and will tear off their bonds; and strangers shall no longer make them their slaves.

But, they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

And 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 shall return and shall be quiet and at ease, and no one shall 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 go unpunished.’” (Jeremiah 30:2-11) (Emphasis mine)

We are beginning to see the birth pangs of Jacob’s Distress, as has returned to the Land. But, the time of Jacob’s distress is not yet here. Surely the Palestinian conflict is grievous to the bone for , but it shall be but a dress rehearsal for what is coming in the days ahead. Yet, shall be saved from it and conversely, all the nations of the world shall be completely destroyed and the Messiah from the lineage of David shall stand with them in Zion and rule with justice and righteousness. Then and only then shall Jacob dwell at ease and it shall be quiet and no one shall make him afraid. God will chasten , justly; this He openly declares, but a believing remnant shall survive and live to repopulate the Third Earth, as in the time of Noah. Jeremiah accurately saw the men of struck by the pain of childbirth for a new earth shall be born from the death of the Second Earth.

David, Isaiah and Ezekiel all wrote of the Gentile nations coming together in unison against the Lord and His Chosen People, only to be destroyed by the fiery breath of God. It is therefore no surprise then, when the writer of this Dead Sea manuscript, as a Second Temple Jew contemporary to Yeshua, so clearly depicts these same events.

“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the ruler take counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed (Psalms 2:1) The meaning is that the nations shall set themselves and conspire mainly against the chosen of Israel in the Last Days. That will be the time of persecution that is to come upon the house of Judah, to the end of sealing up the wicked in consuming fire and destroying all the children of Belial.

Then shall be left behind a remnant of Chosen Ones, the predestined. They shall perform the whole of the law as God commanded through Moses. This is the time in which it is written in the book of Daniel the prophet, ‘The wicked will act ever more wickedly and shall not understand. But, the righteous will be purified cleansed and refined’ (Daniel 12:10). So the people who know God shall be steadfast. These are the men of truth who shall instruct many following the persecution that is to descend upon them in that time.” (4Q 174 Column 3 vs. 18, 19 Column 5 vs. 1-4) (Emphasis mine)

The time is near when “the night cometh,” and the persecution that shall befall the People of God shall be as never before. Hitler will fade in comparison to the atrocities that will be perpetrated against God’s people by the Antichrist. The Opposer will once again seek to devour the woman that has given birth to the Messiah; the woman who has brought forth the prophets and for so long foiled the plans of Satan for world domination; the woman is .

She shall be purified, cleansed and refined, and she shall come out as brilliant gold in a tarnished world of darkness, and her resplendent light will illumine the Gentile nations about her, and they will call her children, the ministers of God. The people, who know God, shall be steadfast in the darkest hour and then the Son shall arise out of the east; then the Cukkah will come and alight, upon the Mt. of Olives.

“And the Lord will be king over all the earth… Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them.” (Zechariah 14:9a, 16-17) (Emphasis mine)

In that day, when the Messiah rules over all the earth, the main celebration will not be the Passover Feast nor Yom Kippur, for they will celebrate the protection of the Lord at the time they were hidden in the wilderness from the rage of the Dragon, underneath the Eagle’s wing. Thus, the Feast of Booths shall be regarded as the preeminent celebration during the Kingdom of Yeshua upon the earth. Today, the main celebration is Yom Kippur, as we await His arrival and deliverance, as we await the Day of Atonement for the Second Earth.

“’Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke although I was a husband to them,’ declares the Lord.

‘But this is a covenant which I will make with the house of after those days,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God and they shall be My people.

And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, “Know the Lord”, for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to greatest of them’, declares the Lord, ‘for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more’.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34) (Emphasis mine)

The New Covenant is not with the church, but with and and it will happen “after those days.” What days? The days of “Jacob’s Distress”, when all the nations of the world will be annihilated in the battle in the Valley of Megiddo, for in that day every Jew will know who the Messiah is and He shall dwell in Zion. They shall have the law written in their hearts, for this is the time when the Spirit of God, as prophesied by Joel, will dwell within the bosom of every man on earth. There will be no unbelievers alive at the beginning of the Third Earth, just as it was at the beginning of the First Earth and the beginning of the Second Earth, immediately after the Great Flood.

Are you of the seed of Abraham physically? That is wonderful. But are you of the seed of Abraham spiritually? Unless you are in synchrony with your Hebrew prophets, you shall not be able to stand fast! May God grant you the wisdom that comes from above in order that you may discern the truth plainly written by your Hebrew prophets from ancient times.

The Messiah the Son of God

In addition to the previous reference of God fathering the Messiah, found in the

Dead Sea manuscript entitled the “Charter for Israel in the Last Days” there are other manuscripts, which speak of the Messiah, as the Son of God.

There is a manuscript entitled, “The Inheritance of the Firstborn, The Messiah of David”, which contains two columns. The first column lists the genealogy of Enoch and in the second column it declares the ruler or Messiah as God’s Firstborn Son, further describing how God ‘gave Him righteous statues as a father gives a son’.

All the sons in the first column are literal sons, thus the juxtaposition with column two clearly makes the sonship of the Messiah very literal and impossible for the Modern Jew to reconcile with his theological position on the subject.

Column 1:

“…Now Kenan was the fourth generation and Mahalalel was his son. And Mahalalel was the fifth generation and Jared was his son. And Jared was the sixth generation and Enoch was his son. And Enoch was the seventh generation.” (Fragment 1 Column 1 vs. 9,10)

Column 2:

“In everlasting light, and you appointed Him as your firstborn son. There is none like Him as a Prince and a Ruler in all your inhabited world… the crown of the heavens and the glory of the clouds you have placed on Him…and the angel of your peace in His congregation. And He… you gave Him righteous statues as a father gives a son…” (Fragment 1 Column 2 vs. 6-10)

What human Prince or Ruler could be crowned the King of Heaven? What human being could be called God’s firstborn Son? What human being shall be the ruler of the whole world? What human being can be described as having the crown of the heavens and the glory of the clouds?

David answers that question, The Son of God:

“ ‘But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion , My holy mountain.’ I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord, He said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee. Ask of Me and I will surely give the nation as thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as thine possession’.” (Psalms 2:6-8) (Emphasis mine)

The phrase ‘Today I have begotten Thee’ cannot be misconstrued. The Hebrew word translated as begotten is YALAD (Pronounced: yaw-lad’), and means to birth or bear young. It is the same word used in Genesis 5:4 speaking of Adam having begotten Seth.

“Then the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years.” (Genesis 5:4a)

It means literally, in the Hebrew, to have birthed or fathered. Now, I must bring you to understand that in the case of God, this has nothing to do with sexual intercourse, as with the corrupted paganized versions invented by Satan to discredit the real truth. We are quite aware that scientists can fertilize an egg outside the womb without either of the parents even being there. It is called “in-vitro fertilization”; the egg is then replaced in a host womb, maybe even in a surrogate mother that may not even be the same mother that gave the egg. What is so difficult about God the Creator of the Galaxies, supernaturally fertilizing the egg of a virgin with a perfect genetic DNA structured specimen and imbuing this body with His Spirit? We are all the children of God, but there is but one begotten of God, the Firstborn Son of God. It is for this reason that He is divine and human at once. His humanity died upon that cross, but His divine nature allowed Him to resurrect from the dead. This victory over death is our hope of glory.

He was foretold by the Hebrew prophets and was expected by great many of the Second Temple Jews to come in dual fashion, as both a Pastoral Messiah and a Military Messiah. But, there are not, two Messiahs. He is One, who is coming twice. The Essenes missed this point for the Scriptures do not speak of the “Anointed Ones” but of the “Anointed One”. He already came as the Pastoral Messiah and is presently sitting as Lord, as Adonai, at the right hand of the Lord Yahweh, until the time comes for His enemies to be made His footstool. He will then descend from Heaven and defeat the armies of the Antichrist cleansing the earth of all the unbelievers, for the second time.

Now, it is a fact that everything God does, Satan counterfeits. And so you can bet that the Antichrist will claim to be the Son of God and the Son of the Most High, but he will be the Son of Satan. The Second Temple Jews were quite aware of this and it is important to understand that this concept of the Antichrist is not a Christian doctrine, but a Jewish doctrine taught by the Hebrew prophets and also acknowledged by the Second Temple Jews long before the New Testament was written.

“O king, wrath is coming to the world, and your years shall be shortened… such is your vision, and all of it is about to come unto the world… Amid great signs, tribulation is coming upon the land.

After much killing and slaughter, a prince of nations will rise… the king of Assyria and … he will be ruler over the land… will be subject to him and all will obey him…

…He will be called the Son of God, they will call him the Son of the Most High. But like meteors that you saw in your vision, so will be their kingdom. They will reign only a few years over the land, while people trample people and nation tramples nation, until the people of God arise; then all will have rest from warfare. Their kingdom will be an eternal kingdom, and all their paths will be righteous. They will judge the land justly, and all nations will make peace. Warfare will cease from the land, and all the nations shall do obeisance to them. The Great God will be their help. He Himself will fight for them, putting peoples into their power, overthrowing them all before them. God’s rule will be an eternal rule and all the depths of the earth are His.” (The Dead Sea Scrolls, A Vision of the Son of God, 4Q246, Col. 1, Col. 2)

A prince shall arise calling himself the Son of God, the Son of the Most High and he shall do great exploits and his power shall be great, for he shall cause all nations to worship him and he shall rule in Babylon . He shall make war against the Chosen People, but God will protect them and in his anger and frustration, he shall lash out against the Christians. He shall rule with the power of Satan, but his reign shall be cut short, for from the east, from Teman, from Mt. Paran will come the true Son of God, the true Son of the Most High and He shall descend upon the Glorious Land and alight upon the Mt of Olives. He shall roar as the Lion of Judah and make an end of the kingdom of the Impostor. He shall destroy the house of evil and establish His Chosen People as the priests of the Son of the Most High.

Warfare shall cease from the land and the lion will lie down with the lamb. It has been told from of old from ancient times that you might know that it is God, who shall make it come to pass. The Morning Star shall rise and the dawn shall break forth the light of the Sun upon the dreaded night and shall arise to never be put down again. Amen!