Rabbi’s Reflections – Friday, January 1, 2021
(Early) Shabbat Shalom,
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Fri 1-Jan–2021 17th of Tevet, 5781
Ge 49:27-50:20 2 Sa 21 Ps 94 Lk 13 (Gal 3)
Week 1
Memory Verse: Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about events not yet seen, in holy fear prepared an ark for the safety of his household. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
1 12/28 Monday: Genesis 1-2
2 12/29 Tuesday: Genesis 3-4
3 12/30 Wednesday: Genesis 6-7
4 12/31 Thursday: Genesis 8-9
* 5 1/1 Friday: Job 1-2
What Time Is It? Part 2
by Dr. Raymond Finney
Yeshua taught the Parable of the Fig Tree to provide a hint for the timing of His return (Matthew 24:32-44): [Yeshua said] “Now learn the parable from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the door. Amen, I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, except the Father alone. For just as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. And they did not understand until the flood came and swept them all away. So shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field, one taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one taken and one left. Therefore stay alert; for you do not know what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what time the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Let us briefly examine a few parts of this parable:
● There are special plants relative to the JudeoChristian faith– especially including the olive tree, the fig tree, and the grape vine. The fig tree has symbolized Israel (the Jewish nation) for millennia. How does this parable relate to Israel? Israel lay dormant (Jews dispersed throughout the world) – the Diaspora– from the fall of Jerusalem (AD 70) until the rebirth of Israel (AD 1948). The prophet was shown this rebirth (Ezekiel, chapters 36 and 37). As the possession of the Islamic Ottoman Empire, Israel had become a mostly uninhabited wasteland. Mark Twain visited this land in the mid-nineteenth century, calling Israel a “hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land.” Through a series of improbable events (actually, God-ordained miracles), Jews were given a tiny sliver of land along the Mediterranean coast, which they occupied in a single day (as prophesied) in May, 1948. Repeatedly, Islamic nations attacked the newly formed Israel, but each time God protected the Jewish nation. The deserts and wildernesses of Israel now “bloom like a rose,” and Israel’s agricultural products and technological advances bless the world.
● The “fig tree” (Israel) put forth her leaves (was re-established as a nation) in May, 1948. Some say this budding of leaves did not occur until Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were captured in June, 1967. Whether May, 1948 or June, 1967, God’s countdown began. The generation alive, then, will not pass away (die off) until all of Yeshua’s prophecies are fulfilled. How long is a “generation?” Scriptures use this term in different manners, ranging from forty years or until all persons living at that time are dead. Regardless of which definition applies, TICK-TOCK… the countdown until Yeshua returns has commenced.
● We live in a corrupt age, as did Noah. Noah was mocked for his piety and his neighbors did not prepare for the end, UNTIL the flood started. And, then it was too late. They perished. NOTE: The flood of Noah and the ark he built are commonly mocked by unbelievers. “Sophisticated” Believers in embarrassment try to explain away this story. However, Yeshua seemed to believe it, as this parable shows. If we discount Noah’s flood, we must also discount the Book of Genesis and Yeshua, as well. I am not ready to call (brave enough? stupid enough?) Yeshua a fraud in order to be accepted by those who worship Science as a god.
WHAT TIME IS IT? I repeat the title of these two RRs. Time rushes by. It seems like it was only yesterday that I was a boy; then, a teen; then, a husband and father. I surely cannot be approaching my eightieth birthday! Except for a couple of somewhat gimpy knees, I feel great. But, I understand the calendar and its implications.
Regardless of your age, you need to consider with me a most important question: What time is it? You and I should realize:
● End-time events will occur at breakneck speed. Prophecy teachers call this ACCELERATION.
● End-time events will begin to overlap, aiming toward a common finality. Prophecy teachers call this CONVERGENCE.
● You do not know whether you have minutes or years left in your short life. I repeat, you are only one heartbeat away from facing Yeshua. You do not know when you will die or when Yeshua will split the eastern sky and you will hear God’s shofar blast and the archangel’s command, “Come up here!” Prophecy teachers call this THE IMMINENT RETURN OF MESSIAH.
● You know that when these things happen,you will be like Noah’s neighbors. It is TOO LATE to warn friends and relatives that they must secure their own salvation; and, it is TOO LATE to lay up treasures in Heaven to receive “crowns” at your Bema Judgment.
I wear a wrist watch. Nearly every electronic device in my home contains a time device (although most of them show a slightly different time). I watch favorite television shows according to a time schedule determined by someone else.
I am very conscious of time in my own life. I need to be more conscious of God’s time. Am I spending my time the way He would have me spend time?
How about you? Are you managing time, as God desires? Shalom and Maranatha.