Rabbi’s Reflections – Sunday, September 25, 2022
Shavuah Tov,
Biblical Perspective of Current News (Part of September 2022)
by Dr. Raymond Finney
INTRODUCTION: Following is the September end-of-the-month summary of a few news reports and commentaries, which are in compliance with ancient Bible prophecy (Isaiah 46:9b-10): [God said] “… For I am God– there is no other. I am God, and there is none like Me– declaring the end from the beginning, from ancient time, what is yet to come, saying, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will accomplish all that I please.’”
►TITLE (DATE): ‘The numbers don’t portend well’: FedEx CEO believes a ‘worldwide recession’ is looming after company reported a sharp drop-off in shipping volume, sending its shares down 23% (Sept. 16, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): Daily Mail ( FedEx CEO believes a worldwide recession is looming | Daily Mail Online )
● SUMMARY: The CEO of FedEx issued a grim warning, saying that he believes a worldwide recession is looming after the company saw a sharp decline in shipping volume in recent months. FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam said, “I think so,” when asked whether the economy is going into a worldwide recession. “These numbers don’t portend very well,” added Subramaniam.
● SIGNIFICANCE: This article is for your information. Consider the United States. I started to say our government spends like a “drunken sailor,” but this is not accurate. Even a drunken sailor eventually stops spending, when he runs out of money, but our government must seem confident we can spend indiscriminately forever. As we pour huge amounts of money into an economy which is supported by fewer workers, recession (or, depression) is inevitable. See U.S. National Debt clock ( https://usdebtclock.org ). The future Tribulation economy will be marked by poverty and famine.
►TITLE (DATE): The Biblical Necessity of a Third Jewish Temple (Sept. 15, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): jonathanbrentner.com ( The Biblical Necessity of a Third Jewish Temple — Jonathan Brentner )
● SUMMARY: The third Jewish temple has been in the planning stage for three decades. The Temple Institute in Jerusalem has completed all its furnishings, with the exception of the Ark of the Covenant, for which they claim to know the location of the original one. The Institute is currently training Levites to serve as priests in the future temple. Five candidates for a “perfect” red heifer, required for the cleansing ritual of the new temple, are now being evaluated in Israel. Concerning these heifers, see: Red heifers arrive in Israel in preparation for Third Temple (Sept. 16, 2022), endtimesheadlines.org, Red Heifers arrive in Israel in preparation for “Third Temple” (endtimeheadlines.org) . Incidentally, these heifers come from the United States. A heifer’s life span is relatively short. If one of these heifers is acceptable and God provided her in 2022, we must be close to seeing Yeshua part the clouds and hear God’s trumpet and the Archangel’s command, “Come up here!” If Yeshua were not ready to return for another century or two, would we be this close to building the third temple? Yeshua told us the Parable of the Fig Tree (Luke 21:29—33) for a reason. The fig tree (Israel) has budded (Jews returned from the Diaspora in 1948), and the generation that witnessed this event will not all die before Yeshua returns. With the passage of each day, we are one day closer to the blessed day Yeshua returns!
● SIGNIFICANCE: [For most interesting reading, see the Temple Institute’s Website, The Temple Institute of Jerusalem – Learn About the Temple Institute .] The Bible details the first two temples (and their destruction), while promising future temples. The third temple– which is now being planned– will play a pivotal role during the Tribulation. Every Believer should know about the next temple. As faithful Jews prepare to build the third temple, Yeshua is planning to return to Earth to gather His bride to Himself. All of the puzzle pieces are falling into place! Maranatha, King Yeshua!
►TITLE (DATE): Facebook caught reporting social media site users to FBI (Sept. 15, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): WorldNetDaily ( Facebook caught reporting social media site users to FBI (wnd.com) )
● SUMMARY: Facebook (Meta), whose chief Mark Zuckerberg has admitted trying to influence the 2020 election for Joe Biden by suppressing damaging information at the request of the FBI, now has been caught spying on private messages of those who use the social media platform– and reporting them to the FBI.
● SIGNIFICANCE: This article is included as a public service for readers who value privacy. I have made a number of mistakes in my life, but participating in social media (e.g., Facebook) or installing spy devices in my home (e.g., Alexa) are not among self-inflicted mistakes I have made. It may be deadly to refuse the False Prophet’s Mark of the Beast, but I refuse to bow before Silicon Valley technocrats who wish to control me.
►TITLE (DATE): The REAL Axis of Evil: How nuclear-armed Russia, China and Iran are plotting to break up the West with a new world order (Sept. 15, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): Daily Mail ( The REAL Axis of Evil: How nuclear-armed Russia, China and Iran are plotting to break up the West | Daily Mail Online )
● SUMMARY: At the dawn of the millennium, the West was facing a new threat far removed from the previous century’s enemies of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Rather than grand territorial ambitions, these new dangers came from hostile countries wanting only to wreak havoc and instill fear in the US and Europe, through terrorism and nuclear saber-rattling. A hangover from imperialism and Soviet allegiances, the countries were said to be united by a hatred of the West and being seemingly hellbent on destruction.
● SIGNIFICANCE: God told readers of the Scriptures these things many centuries ago. As the Kohelet– the Preacher, Solomon– wrote (Ecclesiastes 1:9b-11): … There is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything about which is said, “Look! This is new!”? It was already here long ago, in the ages long before us. There is no remembrance for former things, and things yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow. The student of prophecy is not surprised by news reports. The last days will be caught in wars caused by these evil nations. You may wonder how Russia, which has been greatly weakened and humiliated in Ukraine, can recover. Russia may have lost many tanks and soldiers, but still has many nuclear weapons. Most students believe Russia is Magog in the Battle of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39).
►TITLE (DATE): Christianity is set to become a MINORITY faith as soon as 2060 as millions embrace secularism, study show (Sept. 14, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): Daily Mail ( Christianity is set to become a MINORITY faith as soon as 2060 as millions switch to secularism | Daily Mail Online ), See also: Christians could no longer be the majority in America by 2045 | U.S. News (christianpost.com) .
● SUMMARY: America’s majority faith has an uncertain future– the share of Christians is set to fall to as low as 35 percent by 2070 as millions become agnostic, atheist or unaffiliated, a study of religious trends shows. Pew Research Center says the number of U.S. adults identifying as Christian has dropped from 90 percent in the 1990s to 64 percent now, and will likely trend downwards into a minority faith over the coming decades.
● SIGNIFICANCE: These are self-reported Christians, which probably is a significant over-estimation. Whatever the true number, Believers in America have fallen to low numbers and are continuing to fall. This fall in faith has been prophesied (Luke 18:8b): [Yeshua said] “… But when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
►TITLE (DATE): Now Biden’s Trying to Redefine Pregnancy (Sept. 14, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): PJ Media ( Now Biden’s Trying to Redefine Pregnancy – PJ Media )
● SUMMARY: The actual purpose of the 1972 law known as Title IX was to prohibit sex-based discrimination in school sports and programs. But now, the radical left is abusing Title IX to impose radical gender theory. Much has been made of how Joe Biden seeks to redefine “sex” under Title IX to include gender identity. Less attention has been paid to the fact that Biden’s 700-page-long proposed rules changes also include redefining actual pregnancy to include childbirth, lactation, and abortion.
● SIGNIFICANCE: The abortion industry has cleverly used language to hide the true nature of abortion since the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling. RR readers are likely intelligent, well-informed, and unswayed by political propaganda, but a large segment of the American population– people the late Rush Limbaugh dubbed as “low-information voters” – will believe anything high-ranking politicians say. Adonai is not fooled, however (Isaiah 5:20): Oy to those who call evil good and good evil, who present darkness as light and light as darkness, who present bitter as sweet, and sweet as bitter! Some day, all of us– even slick-tongued politicians– will be held accountable on the Day of Judgment for our words (Matthew 12:36-37):[Yeshua said] “But I tell you that on the Day of Judgment, men will give account for every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
►TITLE (DATE): John Bolton warns Putin is ‘a lot closer’ to using NUKES after Ukrainian success against Russian troops (Sept. 13, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): Daily Mail ( John Bolton warns Putin is ‘a lot closer’ to using NUKES after rapid Ukrainian advances | Daily Mail Online )
● SUMMARY: Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton warned that a battered and bloodied Vladimir Putin could use nuclear weapons in a desperate effort to cling on to power. Ukrainian forces have a made a stunning series of advances in recent days, forcing Russian troops to pull back from territory they have held since the start of the invasion. The result is the first sign that the Russian president could be losing support at home.
● SIGNIFICANCE: Read Yeshua’s summary of last days wars (Matthew 24:6-8). In brief, He warned that: 1) we would hear of wars and rumors of wars, with nations (peoples) and kingdoms rising against each other (which is exactly what is now happening); 2) such things must happen (which means diplomatic attempts for peace are doomed for failure); 3) wars are not the marker for the end, but merely the beginning of trials; and 4) we should not be alarmed. The free world is faced with evil, tyrannical, Godless leaders and governments, who will not listen to reason but will do everything in their power to establish their view of governmental control throughout the world. God has known this from the beginning. We should take heart that our true home is in Heaven, not Earth, and join the Apostle John in his simple prayer for deliverance (Revelation 22:20b):Amen! Come, Lord Yeshua!
►TITLE (DATE): Iran unveils new drone that general says is designed to strike Tel Aviv, Haifa (Sept. 12, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): The Times of Israel ( Iran unveils new drone that general says is designed to strike Tel Aviv, Haifa | The Times of Israel )
● SUMMARY: Commander of Iranian military’s ground forces claims Arash-2 suicide UAV specifically developed, with ‘unique capabilities,’ for attacking Israeli coastal cities.
● SIGNIFICANCE: Iran, designated by its ancient name “Persia” in prophecy, will be one of the combatants attacking Israel in the Battle of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39). Iran (Persia) is readying its warlike capabilities.
►TITLE (DATE): Tennessee Tech investigating ‘disturbing’ campus drag show mocking Christianity in front of kids (Sept. 12, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): Christian Post ( Tennessee Tech probing campus drag show mocking Christianity | U.S. News (christianpost.com) )
● SUMMARY: Tennessee Tech University is investigating a recent on-campus drag show that allegedly mocked Christianity and exposed kids to explicit activity. The school’s president has canceled two similar upcoming shows, saying he is “disturbed and dismayed.”
● SIGNIFICANCE: We Believers should not be surprised. Mockery is an early stage of persecution, and we Believers will be persecuted and martyred in the last days. Incidentally, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi– who is apparently such an exemplary Believer that she and her DUI husband Paul– recently rated a private audience with Pope Francis, claims that drag queens are what America is all about (see: Nancy Pelosi: Drag queens are ‘what America is all about’ | Entertainment News (christianpost.com) ).
►TITLE (DATE): The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference (Sept. 12, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): The Jerusalem Post ( The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York 2022 – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com) )
● SUMMARY: The Jerusalem Post celebrated its 90th anniversary with an Annual Conference event at Gotham Hall in New York. Nearly 600 people attended the event, which included interviews and presentations by more than 60 people.
● SIGNIFICANCE: This televised record of a Jerusalem Post conference lasts more than eight hours. I have not had a chance to view any of the conference, but it appears to be offered free of charge at the link listed above.
►TITLE (DATE): Biden inflation hits soldiers hard as U.S. Army recommends food stamps for troops (Sept. 11, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): Just the News ( Biden inflation hits soldiers hard as U.S. Army recommends food stamps for troops | Just The News )
● SUMMARY: The U.S. army is recommending soldiers apply for SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, to help cover their rising costs from inflation.
● SIGNIFICANCE: This is a shameful situation! The men and women defending our nation cannot afford groceries, but Washington D.C. bureaucrats are overpaid and well fed. I am reminded of the future Third Seal Judgment, the Rider on the Black Horse (Revelation 6:5-6). We are told that a common laborer will be paid a “denarius” for a day’s work, which would buy a loaf of bread (barely enough to sustain the worker, without enough to purchase any of his/ her family’s needs), but “the wine and oil (luxury items for the wealthy) will not be harmed.” This Tribulation condition reminds us of an aphorism by Percy Bysshe Shelley in A Defence of Poetry: “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
►TITLE (DATE): Global Tracking and Computerized Censorship (Sept. 10, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): Rapture Ready ( Global Tracking and Computerized Censorship :: By Daymond Duck – Rapture Ready )
● SUMMARY: It was recently reported that the World Economic Forum (WEF) wants a system of people and Artificial Intelligence (AI: computers that are programmed to think like humans) to track and censor “misinformation” and “hate speech” all over the world. According to the report, Twitter only monitors information on Twitter; Facebook only monitors information on Facebook; people that speak just English are unable to monitor content in French or Spanish; people that speak just French are unable to monitor content in Italian or Pakistani, etc. So, the WEF wants a system of people and AI that can track and censor “misinformation” and “hate speech” from every source and in every language on earth.
● SIGNIFICANCE: The Revelation (chapter 13) prophesies that the False Prophet will institute and mandate “the mark of the Beast,” which will enable the Unholy Trinity to track every movement of its citizens and control all of their activities. Only in recent years has the technology been made available to permit tracking of humans. Millions of us have a “love affair” with electronic gadgets, and are constantly pecking out messages to friends and relatives on our cell ‘phones. We knowingly– like sheep following technocrat shepherds– install “smart” devices (Alexa, etc.) in our homes to permit unknown persons to hear and record our private conversations. We now have the technology and we willingly accept intrusions in our private lives. We are just making it too easy for the False Prophet to insert ”the Mark of the Beast” in our bodies. When the time comes, many will welcome this “cool” technology and its promised convenience.
►TITLE (DATE): Wicked Men, Corruption, Lies, And Destructive Schemes– Are You Weary of Being Outraged? (Sept. 9, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): Harbingers Daily ( Wicked Men, Corruption, Lies, And Destructive Schemes—Are You Weary of Being Outraged? | Harbingers Daily )
● SUMMARY: Author Jan Markell received an e-mail that sums up the way many feel today. It read, “Would you please present a radio show to encourage your listeners who are discouraged and made doubtful by rampant evil and the delayed rapture of the church? The book The Late-Great Planet Earth was published decades ago. Keeping the faith becomes more challenging every day; we Believers have pain in our necks from looking up. And for what? Will the Savior ever rescue us from this scary world gone Kafkaesque and looking like a Dali painting?” There are over 365 verses in the Bible that tell us not to worry, not to be anxious, not to be fearful, and not to fret over evil men. On many days, though, Believers are so inundated with horrific headlines and predicted scenarios of doom and gloom that staying calm and praising the Lord are difficult, even knowing that the Bible says the last days will be perilous.
● SIGNIFICANCE: You see and hear evil every day. I need not remind you of the pain and destruction “evil men” bring to or society nor can I add anything to Ms. Markell’s comments, except I would answer her question– “Are you weary of being outraged? – with this passage (Galatians 6:9-10): So let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good toward all– especially those who belong to the household of faith.
►TITLE (DATE): Queen Elizabeth II dead at 96 after 70 years on the throne (Sept. 8, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): Associated Press ( Queen Elizabeth II dead at 96 after 70 years on the throne (msn.com) )
● SUMMARY: You surely have learned this news from multiple sources, but it is a major event. No news summary for this month would be complete without mention of this sad news.
● SIGNIFICANCE: Queen Elizabeth II was a model of decorum, wisdom, self-control, and faith. The world was fortunate to have her as long as we did. Refer to Romans 13:1: Let every person submit himself to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are put in place by God. I sit at my computer, thinking: Has America produced a leader in the last century who equaled Queen Elizabeth? I can think of no one.
►TITLE (DATE): Why did the prophet Haggai warn that God would ‘shake all the nations?’ (Sept. 7, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): allisraelnews ( Why did the prophet Haggai warn that God would ‘shake all the nations’? | All Israel News )
● SUMMARY: The ancient Hebrew prophet Haggai warned us in the pages of Scripture that in the last days, God “will shake all the nations” (Haggai 2:7). Likewise, the God of Israel told the Hebrew prophet Amos that He would specifically shake the nation of Israel: “For behold, I am commanding, and I will shake the house of Israel among all nations” (Amos 9:9). Is there any question through wars, rumors of war, terror, the COVID pandemic, economic distress, social and political tensions, religious divisions and, in a host of other ways, every nation in the world– including Israel– is being shaken in our time?
● SIGNIFICANCE: In several RRs recently, I have summarized prophecies about the hard times God warned us about in the last days. Heaven is a joyful reward for the Believer, but we are not yet in Heaven. We are on Earth. Prepare now for the evil you may experience at the hands of Satan’s minions.
►TITLE (DATE): This Winter, Europe Plunges Into “The New Dark Ages” (Sept. 7, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): The Economic Collapse Blog ( This Winter, Europe Plunges Into “The New Dark Ages” (theeconomiccollapseblog.com) )
● SUMMARY: Could you imagine being sent to prison for three years if you dared to set your thermostat above 66 degrees Fahrenheit? As you will see in this blog, this is a proposed regulation that is actually being considered in a major European country right now. If you have not been paying much attention to what is happening in Europe, you need to wake up. Natural gas in Europe is seven times more expensive than it was early last year, and that is because of the war in Ukraine. Over the past few decades, the Europeans foolishly allowed themselves to become extremely dependent on gas from Russia.
● SIGNIFICANCE: Is Europe’s energy emergency the United States’ future? Those worshiping Gaia, the ancient Greek mythological earth goddess (whom we might call extreme “environmentalists”), will not be content until we virtually eliminate the use of fossil fuels and, possibly, significantly reduce the world’s population. The predictions of these environmentalists have been universally wrong and their solutions are unworkable. Doomsday predictions that never materialized include: Here’s How Wrong Past Environmental Predictions Have Been – Intellectual Takeout . On a personal note, I was a rather benign (polite) environmentalist a few years ago. Then, it dawned on me: If I believe we are living in the last days (which I do), why be so concerned about long-term harm to the environment? If I believe the “fig tree of Israel” budded in 1948 and the generation alive at that time will not all die until Yeshua returns, why worry about the environment many decades or centuries from now? We will be living, then, in a New Earth, New Heaven, and New Jerusalem. As a grateful steward of all God has given me, I recycle, avoid wasting energy, and so forth, but my confidence is in Adonai’s prophecies, rather than “the sky is falling” predictions of Al Gore, Greta Thunberg, and others.
►TITLE (DATE): To Test Israel (Sept. 7, 2022)
● SOURCE (URL): Rapture Ready ( To Test Israel :: By Gary W. Ritter – Rapture Ready )
● SUMMARY: To determine whether God’s Chosen People truly had faith in Him, the Lord allowed pagan nations to remain in the land of Canaan as the Exodus concluded so that the next generation of Israelites might experience war. Judges 1:1-2 tells us: “Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before.” Why would God want to subject His children to the violence associated with war? What kind of a loving God would do that? See Judges 4:4 for the answer.
● SIGNIFICANCE: Nations and people may experience hardship, not for punishment but sometimes for testing and instruction. Read Hebrews, chapter 12, for an excellent explanation of the value of learning discipline from God.
CONCLUSION: Of the hundreds of articles and commentaries I read this month, I sample a few in this RR for your consideration. The student of prophecy must always ask him-/ her-self: Am I reading the newspaper or The Bible? Both cover the same events– one written in future prophecies, and the other in current news reports. One difference, of course, is that newspapers make mistakes, lie, and have political agendas, whereas The Bible is free of error, always truthful, and has no political agenda.
God has foretold to His children what is happening now and will happen in the future. No child of God should be uncertain about the future. Approximately twenty-eight (28) percent of Bible verses are prophetic in nature, many of which are concerned with last days prophecies (2 Peter 1:19-21): Furthermore, we have the reliable prophetic word. You do well by paying attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all understand this: no prophecy of Scripture comes about from a person’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever brought forth by human will; rather, people spoke from God as they were moved by the Ruach ha-Kodesh. Until next Sunday, Shalom and Maranatha.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Sun 25-Sep-2022 29th of Elul, 5782 Erev Rosh Hashana
De 31:1-3 Zep 2 2 Ch 22 (Ac 16) Rev 9