FEAST OF TABERNACLES

It is the sixth day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Succot, the last of the annual cycle of appointed feasts in the Bible. This feast is intended to remind us of how God took us out of slavery in Egypt and led us for 40 years in the desert until we came into the Promised Land. It is a feast of solemn rejoicing before the Lord. That is not a contradiction in terms, it is a feast of joy but also a recognition of the pain of our rebellion which leads to suffering along the journey of life. This is a feast not only for those descendants of the People of Israel who came out of Egypt but for all the peoples of the nations who have been saved through Yeshua (Jesus). We have all been rescued by the sovereign act of God and we all have to go through the 'desert' of life, in this world, before we will finally reach the promised land.  In the desert, we have to rely totally on the Lord for his provision and to remind us of this, we dwell in succot (booths) during this Feast. This year our congregation will literally go down to the desert on a retreat this coming weekend. We see it as a call to 'go back to the desert', not as a regression to the past,  but as a reminder of from whence we have come, and of the necessity of our total dependence on God in this life, something we easily forget in our comfortable modern lives.

A typical booth (succa) in Israel
https://www.ou.org/holidays/files/Sukkah-4.jpg

Like all the Biblical Feasts, Succot is linked to the agricultural calendar and falls at the time of the end of the summer harvest. 

So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest.

Leviticus 23:39

It is also the time when traditionally we begin to pray for the arrival of the winter rains. This year our prayers have been answered. Yesterday most of the country received its first rain - the yoreh. As always many of us, myself included, were caught out unprepared. I was in town and got soaked in my summer clothes and sandals. It is always a shock to rediscover how cold and uncomfortable rain can be - we tend to forget that during our 8 month-long rainless summer period. This year, as usual too, many streets flooded, and sadly some homes as well, because the drains get blocked with debris as the streets get their first wash. There is usually a spate of car accidents too as the rain turns the greasy, oily streets into a 'skating rink'. It is, for all that, a joyful time and many will run out onto the streets to dance and revel in the rain.  Plentiful winter rain means survival in this arid part of the world. 

Floods in Nahariya (Photo: Bentzi Beniashvili)https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5026325,00.html

It is traditional to decorate succot with tinsel and other decorations. This year one of the Muslim Arab bus drivers even decorated his bus to look like a succa.  This heartwarming act of goodwill stands starkly in contrast to the image of Jerusalem so often perpetrated in the media. Although there is often tension and violence in this city, the fact is that most of the time the Jewish, Arab and gentile inhabitants manage to cohabit quite happily. 

The festive Sukkot bus (Photo: Amit Shabi)
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5026839,00.html

In my last blog update I mentioned that I had attended a worship gathering called Panei el Adonai (my face to my LORD), a quote from Daniel 9. This gathering included Jewish, Arab and Gentiles from all over Israel and as we worship God together all barriers of nationality, identity, language and culture are transcended.  You can read more about this gathering, and get a preview of the new CD that will soon be released if you go to this link: 
http://kehilanews.com/2017/10/06/messianic-concert-draws-believers-and-nonbelievers-from-around-israel/

Sometimes when one reads the news all appears so terrible and hopeless. How can we ever find peace and reconciliation? This week I saw a glimmer of hope. Dozens of Syrians wrote letters to the IDF and Israel expressing their gratitude for the help they had received in Israeli field hospitals since the outbreak of civil war in their country. With the breakdown of medical services in Syria the only place those injured or ill could seek help was from their 'enemy' Israel. Israeli field hospitals were set up near the border and Israeli soldiers, often at great risk to themselves, helped the wounded and sick to cross the border for treatment. Many have been treated in Israeli hospitals at our expense.Yeshua (Jesus) taught us to pray for our enemies and love them. That is the only way to break down animosity. It works. 
One man, who had had to have his hand amputated, wrote, "We, the nation of Syria, want peace with the State of Israel because it provided us with many services during this troubled period. To all Syrians who say Israel is the enemy, I say that you are liars. Peace to Syria and to Israel". https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5014499,00.html?utm_source=Taboola_internal&utm_medium=organic

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you

Matthew 5: 43-44

Tomorrow the annual Feast of Tabernacles, organized by the  International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), will conclude with a closing prayer meeting "Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem". According to Bat-el Leonard of "Kehila News", 
The event, according to Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, is the largest annual event in Israel, drawing some 5,000 “Christian pilgrims” from roughly 100 countries to Jerusalem each fall, an activity which ICEJ claims brings between $15 to 18 million into Israel’s economy each year.
This year some 6,000 people attended, the largest number ever in the 38 year history of the celebration.  
http://kehilanews.com/2017/10/08/icej-kicks-off-feast-tabernacles-celebration-jerusalem/

During the Succot Week  Israeli school children have a vacation. This year a disturbing new phenomenon has hit our streets. Some teenagers are dressing as creepy and scary clowns and arming themselves with knives, clubs and irons, which they brandish to frighten younger children. They film and post their antics on the social media. As a result, many other children are afraid to go out on the streets and are arming themselves with weapons to protect themselves. Police have confiscated baseball bats, knives, slingshots and other dangerous weapons.  It is only a matter of time before this activity escalates to violence with potentially deadly results. Those 'clowns' apprehended by police claim they are doing it out of boredom. It is tragic that this generation, which has more entertainment options available than any other, cannot find healthier ways to amuse themselves.  I hope that once schools reopen next week this 'clown epidemic' will fade away.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5026555,00.html

Yesterday high-level talks began in Cairo between the two ruling Palestinian organizations, Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip and Fatah which controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. In 2007 Hamas violently ousted Fatah from the Gaza Strip, resulting in a division of Palestinian territories, but three weeks ago Hamas announced that it wished to hand the government of the Gaza Strip over to the Palestinian Authority, currently controlled by Fatah. http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinian-rivals-Hamas-Fatah-start-unity-talks-in-Cairo-507132

What has caused this reversal of policy by Hamas? In a nutshell, I suspect that Hamas is tired of trying to govern the Strip, and is ready to admit defeat as the humanitarian situation there is approaching boiling point. Hamas is essentially a terror organization more interested in destroying Israel than the day-to-day running of a country. Another possibility is that Hamas is intending to become a legitimate player in West Bank politics so that it can eventually take control there as well?  Whatever the motivation, can there be reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas? It seems doubtful, given that Hamas is based on an extremist Muslim ideology focussed on the concept of a military defeat of Israel, while the Fatah organization is more secular and is determined to prevent Hamas having any military presence in the Palestinian areas.  The situation is very complex and if you are interested you can read this article which I think gives a balanced analysis:
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2017/1009/Palestinian-reconciliation-What-s-driving-Hamas-and-Fatah-this-time

It is late now and I want to finish with this thought:

Be silent in the presence of the Lord God;
For the day of the Lord is at hand...

The great day of the Lord is near;
It is near and hastens quickly.
The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter;
There the mighty men shall cry out.

That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of devastation and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
 A day of trumpet and alarm
Against the fortified cities
And against the high towers.

Zephaniah 1: 7, 14-16

DANIEL'S PRAYER AND THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

Today a solemn hush descended on the whole land. It was the Day of Atonement, the most dreadful and awesome day of the Jewish calendar. God commanded us to observe this day as it is written in Leviticus 16;

This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you—  because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.  It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance.  The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments  and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.

 “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites".

Leviticus 16: 29-34 

It was on this day, and only on this day,  that the High Priest was to go into the Holy of Holies and make atonement for the sins of the people of Israel.  We are told (in verse 29) to afflict or deny ourselves on this day. Most interpret this as a command to fast and most Jews refrain from food or water, from wearing leather shoes, using lotions or creams, washing or bathing, or engaging in conjugal relations.  They also gather in synagogues for the five services that take place during the day.  On this day too a strange hush falls over the land as it is forbidden to drive a car. The roads are empty except, in recent years, for the many children who take advantage of the empty roads to ride their bicycles, skateboards, scooters etc.  Others enjoy a leisurely walk down the roads without the need to avoid cars. 

This morning I took a long walk around my neighborhood, praying for the city and for Israel as I went. The silence was most eerie but beautiful too. I sat on a bench overlooking Ein Kerem (the birthplace of John the Baptist) and the outskirts of Jerusalem. The only sound was the gentle sussuration of the breeze in the pines overhead and the occasional bark of a dog or cry of a baby. I felt close to Yeshua as I walked. In his days there were no cars and so the countryside must also have been just as silent as he walked the length and breadth of the Land. I laughed too at my filthy feet and understood why Yeshua had to wash his disciples' feet (apart from the fact he did it to teach them the meaning of service)(John 13:2-17). Roads were not paved in Jesus' day and the loess dust, finer than flour, which is blown in from the Sahara Desert, must have made their feet filthy too. 

Looking towards Jerusalem on Yom Kippur - notice the lack of cars on the highway!- it is usually nose-to-tail traffic

Our empty streets - downtown Mevasseret  on Yom Kippur

My feet!

This year I have been studying the Book of Daniel and I feel it is most timely, particularly Daniel 9.  In the first year of King Darius the Mede, the 67th of the Israelite's Babylonian Exile, Daniel after studying the prophecies of Jeremiah realized that the time of the restoration of Jerusalem was drawing near. Today many are sensing the imminence of the return of Yeshua and the final restoration of the world. We would do well to emulate Daniel. He did not shout for joy and race out onto the streets yelling 'the end is near'. Instead, he studied the word of God diligently and turned to God in prayer and fasting, with mourning:

So I set my face to my Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and supplication, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

                                         Daniel 9:3 (my translation) 

This phrase ' so I set my face to my Lord God...' is in Hebrew  וָאֶתְּנָ֣ה אֶת־פָּנַ֗י אֶל־אֲדֹנָי֙ הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים ('v'etnah panei el Adonai haElohim). It was an interesting confirmation to me when I attended a national gathering of local believers and found it was entitled ' פָּנַ֗י אֶל־אֲדֹנָי֙' (my face to my Lord) taken from this very verse. Many of the newly written songs that were sung at this gathering were also taken from Daniel 9. It would appear that I am not the only one with the sense that God is calling us, as believers, at this time to take on this attitude of prayer, supplication, fasting and mourning, not just for ourselves, or the people of Israel, but for the people of all the world. The end times are a time of joy and anticipation for those of us who believe, but they will also be terrible times of much suffering and loss, a time of many wars, earthquakes, floods, and diseases, even as we are beginning to see today. The prophet Amos said this:

Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!

For what good is the day of the Lord to you?

It will be darkness, and not light.

Amos 5: 18 

We are being called to intercede for the lost, to fulfill our God-given role as priests. The job of a priest is to stand before God and intercede for the people. We who are in Yeshua have constant access to the Holy of Holies, not just on this one day of the year, but every moment of every day, and we can plead for the forgiveness of our people.  Daniel prayed for his people using these words:

“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.

7 “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;10 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

15 “Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.  Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.  Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

Daniel 9: 4-19 

We can echo Daniel's prayer for the forgiveness of our sins, the sins of the people of Israel and for the sins of the people of all the world. We have all sinned, rebelled against God's ways, failed to heed the words of the prophets, and we all need atonement.  Atonement has already been granted in Yeshua through his shed blood on the cross, but many have not yet entered into that free gift. We need to pray for all those who have not yet known Yeshua and received him as Savior and Lord. Time is running out. The end days are drawing near. We need to call on the mercy of our Lord God, for His name's sake. 

Life is uncertain. We never know when our days will be numbered. On Sunday this week three young, strong men of Israel, got up and went off to work as usual, never dreaming it would be their last day on this earth. At around 7AM one of the Arab workers arriving from a nearby village opened fire on the security guards at the gates of the settlement of Har Adar, some 3 km from my home.  The three guards were killed and a fourth seriously injured before other security personnel killed the terrorist.

The three Israeli security personnel killed in the terror attack.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5021658,00.html

Terror is no respecter of persons. One of those killed was an Arab from the village of Abu Ghosh, a village known for its peaceful coexistence with Jews in the area. This act of terror has upset the trust between Jew and Arab in this area, which has seen few terror attacks even during the worst of the Intifada. Many Arabs from the neighboring villages come every day to work in the Jewish towns and settlements. Friendships arise and there is a high degree of respect between the peoples.  The man who carried out this attack was 47 years old, had a wife and 4 children and had worked in Har Adar for many years. He was liked, trusted and respected by his employers. What causes a man like that to  pull out a gun and open fire? It wasn't a sudden impulse. He left a letter to his wife clearly stating his intentions to carry out the attack.  He had some personal issues. He had been so violent to his wife that she had left him and gone to Jordan, leaving him to care for his 4 children. This may have precipitated his actions, but why express his despair and rage in such an act of violence directed against Jews. I believe it is a result of the deep indoctrination of prejudice, hatred and lies which is characteristic of the education system, and in the preaching in the mosques and religious madrasas in the Palestinian areas. Children grow up hating Jews, having been feed lies and libels about them, and with the belief that the greatest thing they can do is to kill Jews and thus gain entry to Paradise.  The only solution is Yeshua. Only in Him can these lies be exposed and defeated, and only in Him can the centuries, even millennia, of hatred be forgiven and only in HIm can true reconciliation and peace occur. If we wish to pray for the peace of Jerusalem we need to pray for the Muslim peoples and the Jewish people alike that they may find the true Messiah, Yeshua, the Saviour of the world.  

ROSH HASHANA 5778

Rosh Hashanah at Gan Hashlosha (Sakneh) in the Galilee
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5019471,00.html

Jews everywhere have just celebrated the Rosh Hashanah holiday. While the more religious celebrate with the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn) and special services in the synagogues, the secular Israelis flock to the beaches, forests and parks.  The photo above shows a popular place in the lower Galilee called Gan Hashlosha (also known as Sakhne). Shlosha means 'three' because there are three pools fed by perennial hot springs, which make for pleasant year-round swimming.  This lovely spot is surrounded by grassy lawns and trees, perfect for the quintessential Israeli pastime - 'al ha'esh' (literally 'on the fire', meaning the barbecue). 

Rosh Hashanah means 'head of the year', or the new year, and today this holiday marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year, the beginning of the Hebrew month of Tishrei.  Now, Tishrei is the 7th month of the Hebrew calendar, so why do we celebrate the New Year in the 7th month and not at the beginning of the first month, the month of Nissan in the spring, as the Torah prescribes (Exodus 12:1-2)? The reason is lost in the mists of history but we do know that sometime between the end of the writing of the Tenach (Old Testament) and the writing of the Mishna in the first-second century CE (AD), the Nissan new year was eclipsed by the Tishre new year.  The Mishna (Rosh Hashanah 1:1) states “The first of Tishrei is the beginning of the year [rosh hashanah] for years, sabbatical cycles, and the jubilee." One of the attributes of the Antichrist when he comes will be that he will seek to change the set times determined by God (Daniel 7:25). Although the Antichrist has not yet come, we already see his rebellious spirit active in human history intending to confuse God's order. This change in the meaning of this feast distracts us from its real importance. 

According to the Holy Scriptures,  the first of Tishrei is not the New Year but rather the Feast of Trumpets:
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.  You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’”

Leviticus 23:23 -25

For a fuller exposition on the Feast of Trumpets go to this excellent study by my good friend, Hannah Nesher,  http://mailchi.mp/shaw/the-sound-of-the-shofar-yom-zikaron-truah?e=bdc00e3926

This day is described as 'a memorial of blowing of trumpets'.  A memorial for what? The Bible does not say but I believe it is, among other things,  intended as a wake-up call. Traditionally the trumpet is sounded each day during the preceding month of Alul, calling us to introspection and self-examination, in preparation for the Days of Awe, which begin with the Feast of Trumpets, and lead up to the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The shofar is sounded to remind us of the LORD and all that He has done in the past, is doing now and will do in the future. 

I suspect that at this time God is calling all his followers to 'wake up'. We are living in perilous times and we are poised on the cusp of a new phase of history. Are we aware of what God is doing and is about to do? Are we ready? 

This past week more terrible disasters have hit the Americas, Hurricane Irma has almost totally destroyed the Virgin Islands, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, and much destruction in Florida, this on the heels of Hurricane Harvey which devastated much of the state of Texas. A strong earthquake has wreaked havoc in Mexico.  Meanwhile, the US President Trump and North Korean President Kim  Jong-Un are trading insults like kindergarten students in the playground. Their words, however, will not lead merely to a few pushes and tears but could lead us all into a catastrophic world war. At the same time, Iran is also ramping up the rhetoric as Trump threatens to cancel the agreements made by the USA and Iran last year.  Russia is spreading and consolidating its influence in the Middle East, and is strengthening its relationship with China. Are we awake yet? 

How Hurricane Irma turned the green paradise of the Virgin Islands to a wasteland, stripped of nearly every green plant.
https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/five-portraits-hurricane-irmas-record-breaking-fury  

This week I have been studying the Book of Daniel.  Daniel wrote this, 

Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.  

Daniel 9:13

When disaster strikes what is our response? Do we repent and turn back to God and his ways? Have we got down on our knees, or prostrated ourselves before him, in repentance and intercession, pleading for his mercy? 

In the first year of Darius, which was the 67th year of the Exile in Babylon, Daniel, from his study of the Book of Jeremiah, realized that the time of the Exile was drawing to a close. What was his response?  He turned to the LORD, and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. 

In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

Daniel 9:1-3 

Daniel's prayer is recorded in verses 4-19. We would do well to echo his words: 

"...Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.  Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.  Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name....”   

Daniel 9:17-19

Even though the end of the Exile was prophesied, and Daniel believed it was imminent, he did not take it for granted but prayed fervently for God's mercy and the restoration of Israel, not because they were worthy but for the sake of God's name. He cried' Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act!  How do we pray today? Do our hearts cry out with pleading for our people, Israel and all the peoples of the world, for forgiveness and restoration? Are our hearts in tune with God and His Holy Spirit? 

In the last few verses of Daniel 9 the angel Gabriel answers his prayer by giving him a vision, which he then interprets, saying

Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

Daniel 9: 24

The vision summarises what was to come after the Exile ended, and prophesies the end of sin, the atonement for wickedness, everlasting righteousness, the completion of vision and prophecy and the anointing of the Most Holy Place, in other words, the completion of all redemption.

This completion would take place in two stages as outlined in the following verses:

Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing.The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.

Daniel 9: 25-27. 

The first stage consists of seven sevens (of years) and sixty-two sevens of years, or in other words, sixty-nine sevens of years, from the time of the command to rebuild Jerusalem (after the Exile) until the Messiah, the Annointed One, comes and is killed, and the city and sanctuary are again destroyed. This has already been fulfilled in the coming of Yeshua (Jesus) and his death and resurrection, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD70. 
(For a thorough study of the 69 weeks see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiAJ71MhrDY ). After the 69 weeks there is a pause of unspecified length until the 70th week. We are currently living in this period "war will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed'.  Then will come the last 'seven' years during which time the antichrist will make a covenant with many, sacrifice and offerings will cease, and he will set up an abomination in the temple, until his the end will be decreed. The prophecy says this final seven year period will come like a flood. Note, it is not a literal flood but a metaphorical flood, 'like a flood', in other words when it comes, it will come quickly, like a flash flood.  (for a study of the interval and the 70th week see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lshj22lSDZo&t=1079s). 

No one knows exactly when this final seven-year period will begin (Matthew 24:36) , but the seemingly increasing pace of natural disasters and wars that we are currently experiencing may well indicate its imminent arrival.  So what should be our response?  We should not fall into hysterical alarmist declarations but should follow Daniel's example - we should study God's word, ask him for understanding and revelation by His Spirit and should bow down in repentance, crying out for his mercy. 

Jesus tells us that at the time of his coming people would be eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, just as they did in the times of Noah, unaware of the disaster about to befall them.  But he warns us not to be like that, but to keep watch (Matthew 24:42), and to be sober, faithful and wise. 

This year we, myself included, have celebrated Rosh Hashanah largely heedless of the perils and suffering around us, eating, drinking and enjoying ourselves. We are a nation (world?) in denial. I wonder how many of the people of Israel, religious or secular, have taken even a moment to reflect honestly, to repent before God or cry out for his mercy. I wonder how many of the displaced and suffering residents of the lands devastated by hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and war stop to repent of their sins and call upon the Lord for mercy.  Please pray that we will all do so, beginning with all those who are called by HIS name, the Body of Christ and Israel.   

We are living in the period of much suffering and tragedy and it can strike any of us, at any time. I stumbled upon this video this week and I want to share it with you. It moved me to tears. I have known this hymn since childhood but had no idea of what lay behind it. It is also a good reminder that whatever happens, flood, famine, war, death, loss or illness, it is 'well with my soul'.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lshj22lSDZo&t=1079s