ALL IS NOT WELL
In my Egypt – A Key to the End article the other day, I mentioned Revelation 7:6, where 12,000 servants of Yahweh from the tribe of Manasseh were sealed. Manasseh is America. Great Britain is represented down in verse 8, “. . . of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed. . .” Great Britain is represented through Joseph’s son, Ephraim, the one who was to become a greater nation than Manasseh. Ephraim was to become a multitude of nations (the British Empire, now known as the Commonwealth or United Kingdom) per Jacob’s prophecy of Genesis 48:12-20, “So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth. 13And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. 14Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s (Great Britain’s) head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh (America) was the firstborn. 15And he blessed Joseph, and said: “Yahweh, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the Mighty One who has fed me all my life long to this day, 16The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” 17Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” 19But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He (Manasseh, America) also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother (Ephraim, Great Britain) shall be greater than he, and his (Ephraim’s) descendants shall become a multitude of nations (the British Commonwealth of Nations).” 20So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May Yahweh make you as Ephraim (Great Britain) and as Manasseh (America)!’” And thus he set Ephraim (Great Britain) before Manasseh (America).”
This is actually good news for Great Britain and America. A remnant of Yahweh’s servants from each nation will be sealed in the end time, per Revelation 7. Yahweh made these two nations a couple of the mightiest nations to ever appear on the human scene, but today we are running away from Yahweh as fast as our ^$*(@)! leaders can take us. This is why only a remnant will be sealed in Yahweh’s Holy Spirit protection for the Great Tribulation. Look at Revelation 7:4, “And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:” The phrase “all the tribes” should have included the tribe of Dan, but they were left off the list. Why wasn’t Dan listed? That’s a good question for another study, but I’m pretty sure it had something to do with idolatry. That is of interest to me, because I am Danish, kind of scary. Anyway, even though it’s just a remnant that is sealed, verses 9-11 show that it’s still a large group of worshiping saints, verse 9, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”
Now to understand this seal in Revelation 7, let’s look at Exodus 31:12-17, “And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 13“Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths (plural, includes all the Feasts of Yahweh) you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. 14You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’”” The word sign is the Hebrew word oth, meaning: a signal, as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, Strong’s number H226. It is a covenant word from which we get our word oath. See the first meaning? a signal. It relates to the word for a signet ring, a signature ring, a seal. The seal of Revelation 7 is the sign of Exodus 31, the Sabbath day, which has always been the seventh day, or Saturday. The Sabbath is an eternal oath, or covenant, between Yahweh and His people. I’m not a Seventh Day Adventist, I’m not a Church of God member, I am a Messianic believer, like Yeshua, like Paul, like Peter, James and John and all the early believers were. Some scholars believe the first church of Yeshua was Messianic Jewish for anywhere from 9 to 30 years after the resurrection and Feast of Pentecost of 30 CE. I don’t know when that Ethiopian eunuch was baptized in Acts 8. I don’t know when the Roman centurion Cornelius was filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 10, but it was after the Feast of Pentecost of 30 CE. A few years may have passed before Yahweh commanded the Apostles to evangelize the Gentiles. Study the Renewed Covenant, Yeshua, and all the apostles observed the Sabbath and never taught anyone to observe any other sign or seal of the Sabbath covenant, other than Saturday Sabbath. The Catholic Church was in outright rebellion when they subverted Yahweh’s Covenant and switched their day of worship to sun-day. Her daughter churches for the most part are just as guilty as their mother church regarding sun-day worship. Observing Sabbath is obedience, not legalism. Observing traditions of men is legalism and rebellion against Yahweh. Yahweh gives us faith to follow Him and His Torah. We obey by faith, our obedience pleases Yahweh and proves our love for Him.
If you can’t find a good Messianic congregation to attend on Sabbath, by all means keep going to your current church. Now please don’t throw Romans 14 in my face saying you can observe Sabbath any day you wish. Romans 14 has nothing to do with the Sabbath. Paul is discussing the traditional Jewish fast days, not commanded FEAST days. The context of Romans 14 is fasting and eating, NOT SABBATH. We do not need Sabbath police. You always have a choice to make; we were chosen to choose. I pray you will choose Yahweh’s way. Today is a good day to make a choice for the Kingdom of Yahweh. You can seal your fate today by accepting the sign of the covenant, or you can wait and have your fate sealed for you in a couple days or years from now. Can anyone say RFID chip 666 times real fast?
Micah 3:1-12, “And I said: “Hear now, O heads of Jacob (modern State of Israel), and you rulers of the house of Israel (includes Great Britain and America): Is it not for you to know justice?””
These nations, out of all nations on earth, should be able to answer this question in the affirmative, but can they answer yes today? Justice is perverted at every level of our western society.
“2”You who hate good and love evil; who strip the skin from My people, and the flesh from their bones; 3who also eat the flesh of My people, flay their skin from them, break their bones, and chop them in pieces like meat for the pot, like flesh in the caldron.””
That sounds more like our western democratic nations today. Notice no one in the media or governments of the world today uses the term republic? I’m not sure if anyone alive today even knows what a republic is, or what the term means. Our republic no longer exists. We are now ruled by the mob, the democratic model where the 51% majority oppresses the 49% minority.
“4Then they will cry to Yahweh, but He will not hear them; He will even hide His face from them at that time”
“At that time” in Micah’s day referred to the Assyrian invasions of Palestine in 765, 755, and 725-723 BCE, today this time will be the invasions by German (modern Assyrian) military forces.
“because they have been evil in their deeds. 5Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who make my people stray; who chant “Peace”
The word peace is from Strong’s Hebrew word # H7965, shalom: safe, that is, (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, that is, health, prosperity, peace. In other words, they’re the watchmen shouting “All is well!” from the walls of Jerusalem, while the enemy is at the gates!
“while they chew with their teeth, but who prepare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths: 6“Therefore you shall have night without vision (divine revelation), and you shall have darkness without divination; the sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day (Judgment Day) shall be dark for them. 7So the seers shall be ashamed, and the diviners abashed; indeed they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer from Yahweh.””
Yahweh has already given us the end-time answers in His prophecies of the end-times, including the words of Yeshua, who of course, is the ultimate answer to all our questions. Yeshua is the culmination of all prophecy.
“8But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of Yahweh, and of justice and might, to declare to Jacob (modern Israel) his transgression and to Israel (Great Britain and America) his sin. 9Now hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob (Great Britain and America) and rulers of the house of Israel (modern Israel), who abhor justice and pervert all equity, 10who build up Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity: 11Her heads judge for a bribe, her priests teach for pay, and her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on Yahweh, and say, “Is not Yahweh among us? No harm can come upon us.””
This prophecy had a partial fulfillment in the destruction of ancient Israel in 723 BCE and ancient Judah in 588 BCE, but this prophecy perfectly describes the immoral conditions that exist in modern Israel, America, and Great Britain. Have you ever heard of a judge being bought off? Sounds like a story from today’s headlines. The judges of Israel in Micah’s day were the religious judges, known as the Sanhedrin. They were just as corrupt as religious leadership is today. Yahweh’s so-called preachers today teach for pay. Ouch, that sounds like a condemning statement for today’s churches and tele-evangelists/preachers/teachers/pastors. Yahweh’s so-called prophets divine for money? Now that’s a devastating claim that separates the true from the false prophets. We are commanded to buy the truth and sell it not, so it’s ok to donate to a ministry and receive teaching products from them, but a ministry should never sell Yahweh’s truth. He takes that personally and does not like ministries’ merchandising policies. We cannot serve both Yahweh and money. So choose whom you will serve.
Notice who is to blame for the destruction of Jerusalem and Israel, “12Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, and the mountain of the temple like the bare hills of the forest.”
Because of the corruption of the civil and religious leadership, Israel was destroyed in ancient history, and modern Israel, to include America and Great Britain, will be destroyed soon, if they do not repent. The people follow their leaders, so sin at the top breeds sin in the street. Yeshua can only save those who repent of their sins and turn to Him in humility. So I say it again, REPENT and turn to Yeshua for salvation, before the brightness of His coming brings eternal darkness to your soul.
Friends, do you think the signing of a security agreement between Israel and Germany last week was just a coincidence of modern politics? Talk about not learning from history, Israel is jumping into a relationship with Assyria (modern Germany), their ancient arch-enemy. Less than one generation after World War II, Israel and the people of Yahweh have forgotten what Assyria (Germany) did to them. That signing could be one of the most prophetic events in the last 2,000 years. Daniel 9:27, “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week (shabuwa: of seven years or seven Feast of Weeks); but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.” Human nature is to not learn from history, by forgetting regrettable and terrifying events, but we must discipline ourselves to study history and then learn from it. For the third time in less than a century, Germany (angry Assyria) is rising again to engulf the world in war. Ezekiel’s take on it in 21:14, “You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together. The third time let the sword do double damage. It is the sword that slays, the sword that slays the great men, that enters their private chambers.” This third time it will bring us to the point of cosmocide, and Yeshua will step in to save a remnant, meaning billions will be dead just before He shows up.
Here’s another scenario interpretation, pointing to 2016-2017 CE as the climax of human history. So Israel became a nation in 1947-1948, but they did not have a capital until East Jerusalem was re-captured in June, 1967 CE. So, if you count one 49-year Jubilee cycle from 1967, you get to 2016, the 50th year then being 2017. Since they captured East Jerusalem a few weeks after the Feast of Shavuot, Pentecost, in 1967, we start the count with 1968 CE. Counting 49 years to Yom Kippur 2016, Yeshua may just return to announce the Jubilee that year, 2016-1017 then being the 50th or Jubilee year. We’ve stated before that 2016 is the 69th year of modern Israel’s nationhood, and it may be the 69th Feast of Weeks of Daniel 9:24-27; it is the 49th year after 1967 and may be the 7th year of the Great Tribulation, known as Jacob’s trouble. 2017 CE is the 70th year of Israel’s nationhood, and may be the 70th Feast of Weeks of Daniel 9:24-27; it is the 50th year after 1967 and may be Yeshua’s first year of reigning from His throne in Jerusalem, which may also be the 70th Jubilee from Joshua’s final days. It’s a possible scenario, but a whole lotta prophecy has to be fulfilled between now and then, but we see it happening by the hour today. It’s a blast from the future. Are you discerning the signs of the times?
Blessings to each of you in the blood of Yeshua,
Gene Benjamin II
February 7, 2011 CE
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