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The study of the Bible in its historical context - with a focus on the archaeology, history, geography, customs , culture, and even the languages of the ancient Middle East. WE ask what did they understand THEN - the original intent of the Lord - so that we can expand and enrich our understanding NOW and thus become true disciples of Adonai Yeshua as in John 8:31-32.
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 03, 2024
Tuesday Dec 03, 2024
Truth Nuggets Lesson 27
Episode 1 Part 2
Have you read Matt. 24:29-31. No? Here it is …
“But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” (Mat 24:29-31)
There are so-called end-times experts, probably devout Christians, who say this verse is all about the Pre-Trib Rapture. Here, supposedly according to the opinions of the end-times expert, Jesus will come and rescue the Church from the terrible times, the horrible times, of God’s wrath falling upon all the pagan nations before Jesus returns. But, you can also find end-times experts who argue that Matt. 24:29-31 is Jesus teaching on the Mid-Trib Rapture. The Church will need to go through at least half the terrible times before being “caught up” or “raptured” and taken to Jesus to be with Him forever. But, on top of that you can also find end-times experts, again probably devout sincere Christians, who say Jesus is teaching that the Rapture will not come till after the Tribulation period. So, we see there are three groups of end-times experts and three separate views and interpretations on this one verse. So, who do you believe?
In these video lessons we will again study the Bible in its historical context. It is clear not one, no one, none of the end-times experts even addresses the Bible in its historical context nor do with focus on the Hebrew culture and language of Jesus' day. We will go back 2000 years ago to try and grasp what Jesus’ disciples, devout Jewish believers, understood when Jesus spoke the words in Matt. 24:29-31. But this time we will focus on the fact that in Jesus’ day there was NO New Testament. All they had was “Jesus’ Bible” or the Hebrew Scriptures that is called today the Old Testament.
Also, in Jesus’ day Jewish eschatology, Jewish end-times theology, was discussed and understood from the very words of God in Torah and the Prophets. So, in these lessons we need to get to what Jewish eschatology was and the fact that Jesus NEVER came against it.
We will also focus on the Hebrew. Why? There is solid strong evidence that Jesus’ everyday language was Hebrew. I mentioned some links I’d provide so you can study this further. Here they are …
LINK 1 – the book “Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus”
LINK 2 - Skip Moen’s article on the Hebraic foundation of the Gospels
https://skipmoen.com/subscribe/hebrew/the-hebrew-gospels/
LINK 3 – scholarly article found at “Hebrew 4 Christians”
https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Jesus_Hebrew/jesus_hebrew.html
As one studies this Rapture Controversy it is wise to consider becoming familiar with Jewish end-times views or Jewish Eschatology. One will find great connections between what the Church believes and it source in Second Temple Judaism, the days of Jesus. Here’s a link to an article that will give you the listener an introduction …
LINK – Jewish Eschatology
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/eschatology
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy? What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link -https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0
Friday Nov 29, 2024
Friday Nov 29, 2024
This podcast deals with two verses. The first is …
Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Then God spoke to Noah, saying, "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you. (Gen 8:13-16)
There is a possible amazing connection of these verses to the book of Revelation. It’s almost as if the “salvation” of the 8 people, Noah, his wife, his sons, and his daughter in laws, from the waters of the flood is a paradigm of the elect of Yahvay יהוה, the Lord our God, being “saved” as well. In Revelation this is also related to the seas and dry land. Wait till you see this. It is so cool.
But, are we surprised? The Lord our God has already shown that there is a correlation between Noah and the Messiah, Noah and Jesus. We will recall Jesus’ own words when He made the connection between His return and the days of Noah. On top of that check out the article at Hebrew4Christians.com. It is amazing to see that Noah is a paradigm of the Messiah. Here’s the link …
So, perhaps there is a link of the “salvation” of the remnant in Genesis to the “salvation” of the remnant in the book of Revelation. To me it shows again that in order to understand the book of Revelation you need to first study the book of Torah and the Prophets. Again and again we see that the Revelation depends upon the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, since that was the ONLY Bible when the Revelation was written – there was no New Testament.
The second verse we’ll focus on are …
Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. (Gen 9:20-21)
Noah lives another 350 years after the flood. So the only event the Lord inspired Moses to record after the flood in Noah’s life before he dies is that Noah planted a vineyard and got drunk. What? That seems ridiculous. So the guy plants a vineyard and get drunk. So what? How does that help me with my life as one of God's people, a Christian, a disciple of Jesus today?
What is amazing is Yahvay יהוה, the Lord our God, is again asking us to study this event in its historical context. This is part of God’s TORAH תּוֹרָה, which means “teaching” and not law. Christians have translated TORAH as law not understanding the real meaning from the Hebrew. It means teaching. The first rive books of the Bible are Yahvay’s יהוה, the Lord our God’s, teaching. His first audience were the Hebrews coming out of Egypt. So, is there a possibility that this event for the Hebrews might relate to their yeas in Egypt where they had assimilated into the Egyptian culture and religion? Would they look upon this event differently then us? You bet. And once we see how this makes sense to them then it’ll become so understandable for us today, now, in the 21st century.
So, interested? Come let’s go study.
Rev. Ferret - Who is this guy? What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8qth6w4e56oub9js1w1gu/BackgrndTeacher-mar-25-2020.pdf?rlkey=f14fr2wmde5fezjmnrny8cycl&dl=0
Wednesday Nov 27, 2024
Wednesday Nov 27, 2024
It is amazing how God uses the major event in Judaism, the Exodus, to teach us what His ultimate redemption of all men and women will be like. The Exodus stands alone as a major event in human history. It is amazing that God chose one people to be His chosen people so that the world would come to know Him, the God of Abraham, the one God, the only God through Israel. He didn't pick Israel because they were somehow better than every other people. No. Just the opposite. They were a stubborn and stiff necked people and the Lord teaches them it is not that they are righteous that He is doing all this ...
"Do not say in your heart when the LORD your God has driven them out before you, 'Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,' but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you. "It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Deu 9:4-5)
And later in Isaiah 42:6 & 49:6 we learn that God has a purpose for Israel, His servant. They are to bring His salvation (salvation in Hebrew is YESHUA יְשׁוּעָה or, in English, Jesus!) God will bring His Yeshua יְשׁוּעָה, His salvation, to the whole world through Israel.
The first redemption is the Exodus. And God seems to teach all of us that to understand the ULTIMATE redemption we need to understand the Exodus. If we understand the first we will understand the second; we will understand the Jesus and the Cross. This became the major event in Christianity.
So. Let us dive in to the study of Exodus. Let us ask how God brings us the Gospel and the Good News of the Kingdom to us via the pen of Moses. Let us turn to study THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES.
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy? What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - click here for the teacher's background
Tuesday Nov 26, 2024
Tuesday Nov 26, 2024
Truth Nuggets Lesson 27
Episode 1 Part 1
Links and session notes are found under the picture for Part 2.
Friday Nov 22, 2024
Friday Nov 22, 2024
In John 5:39 Jesus says that scripture testifies of Him. He said this between 24-30 A.D. and all they had THEN was the Hebrew Scriptures or the Old Testament. He was teaching them then and His disciples went out and took the Good News and took it to the "ends of the earth" and changed the world. This implies to us that we need to focus on the Hebrew Scriptures as they did then to see Jesus they way they did then.
In this Bible lesson we ask the question why did God chose Noah? In this lesson we will hear and understand that Noah was like a foreshadowing of the Messiah, or Yeshua, Jesus. This is not surprising. The Lord, יהוה Yahvay, does this with Isaac and Moses and Joseph of the many colored coat. Check it out at these links ...
Genesis 48 - Isaac foreshadows the Messiah -https://youtu.be/0sBrQoAFgPw
Hebrew4Christians article on Moses as a foreshadowing of Messiah -https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Like_Moses/like_moses.html#loaded
Hebrew4Christians article on Joseph as a foreshadowing of Messiah -https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Mashiach_ben_Yosef/mashiach_ben_yosef.html
So, it isn't surprising that we see Noah as one who foreshadows the coming Messiah. So come and join us and consider this man Noah and the message the Lord is giving us today about him.
Rev. Ferret - Who is this guy? What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8qth6w4e56oub9js1w1gu/BackgrndTeacher-mar-25-2020.pdf?rlkey=f14fr2wmde5fezjmnrny8cycl&dl=0
Friday Nov 15, 2024
Friday Nov 15, 2024
Across the world and in many ancient and modern cultures one finds stories of the ancient flood. Some are similar to the Biblical account. A credible scholarly website is “Answers in Genesis.” One can find an article at this website entitled, “Flood Legends.” Here’s the link to this article - https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/flood-legends/flood-legends/ In this article it states that …
“Did you know that stories about a worldwide flood are found in historic records all over the world? According to Dr. Duane Gish in his popular book, “Dinosaurs by Design,” there are more than 270 such stories, most of which share a common theme and similar characters. So many flood stories with such similarities surely come from the Flood of Noah’s day.” (White, Dr. Monty. “Flood Legends: The Significance of a World of Stories Based on Truth.” AnswersinGenesis. Nov. 7, 2024. https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/flood-legends/flood-legends/)
It is not surprising that this fact is used to conclude that the flood must have been worldwide; the flood we know so well in the Bible covered the whole earth. The problem is there is NO scientific evidence that conclusively shows the flood was worldwide. That it is worldwide is based many times upon the English translation of the Bible without taking into account the original Hebrew. It only makes sense that the flood being worldwide can not be based upon the flood legends and stories that are found worldwide and in many diverse cultures. The reason is simple as is stated in the article found at “Answers in Genesis.”
“The reason for these flood stories is not difficult to understand. When we turn to the history book of the universe, the Bible, we learn that Noah’s descendants stayed together for approximately 100 years, until God confused their languages at Babel (Genesis 11:1–9). As these people moved away from Babel, their descendants formed nations based primarily on the languages they shared in common. Through those languages, the story of the Flood was shared, until it became embedded in their cultural history.” (White, Dr. Monty. “Flood Legends: The Significance of a World of Stories Based on Truth.” AnswersinGenesis. Nov. 7, 2024. https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/flood-legends/flood-legends/)
The article at “Answers in Genesis” included a great chart. It shows the widespread belief in an ancient flood among many ancient cultures.
(White, Dr. Monty. “Flood Legends: The Significance of a World of Stories Based on Truth.” AnswersinGenesis. Nov. 7, 2024. https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/flood-legends/flood-legends/)
The Bible says there were only 8 people left after the flood. Moreover, the presence of humankind was regulated to the area of Noah’s day. Humankind was not the global in Genesis 6. Humankind was just beginning to expand and the flood destroyed that expansion. God started all over again with Noah and his family. Thus, the story of the flood was passed down from generation to generation from one family. Humankind expanded and it spread across the earth along with the flood story. So it is not surprising that we see the widespread flood legends across the world and that these legends have similar concepts as in the Bible but have also changed as per the culture and perspectives of each tribe and group and nation.
So, this does not prove the flood covered the entire earth. It shows that the real historical event of the flood in Genesis was passed down to generation to generation among humankind as it spread and expanded across the world. The issue however is not if the flood was global or local. I find this discussion rather pointless and seemingly the wrong thing to focus on. For me it is taking our eyes off the real question which is “why the flood – what was its purpose?” Come and join us in lesson 20. This lesson along with lesson 19 tries to get at this more critical question. Here’s the link to Lesson 19 - https://lightofmenorah.podbean.com/e/genensis-19-gen-65-821-and-john-529-the-flood-testifies-of-yeshua/?token=37a93cda3394b88790b3d0359cde7ba7 When we focus on this question we find it has a lot to do with Yeshua and the sacrifice of the Lamb of God and the Cross and the Gospel. This is the big picture and arguing over global or local flood to me clouds the real issue the Lord is trying to teach us in His TORAH which means “teaching” and not law.
Rev. Ferret - Who is this guy? What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8qth6w4e56oub9js1w1gu/BackgrndTeacher-mar-25-2020.pdf?rlkey=f14fr2wmde5fezjmnrny8cycl&dl=0
Friday Nov 08, 2024
Friday Nov 08, 2024
In John 5:39 we read the words of Yeshua when He said ...
"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me" (John 5:39 NASB).
All they had was the Old Testament in Jesus' day. Therefore, is there a connection with the purposes of the flood and the reason for the Cross? There is. It seems likely the flood testifies of the Messiah.
There are two critical verses to consider. Gen. 6:5 and 8:21. The first describes mankind before the flood. The second verse describes mankind after the flood. After the flood there were only eight people left, Noah and his wife, his three sons, and their wives. The verse are below.
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
(Gen 6:5)
The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
(Gen 8:21)
So Yahvay, the Lord God, is sad and decides to destroy all mankind. He does this and it is all because of the state of man as specified in Gen. 6:5. The flood occurs and now we are left with eight people. And God states that the condition of mankind (these remaining eight) hasn't changed! They are still ones whose heart is intent on evil from their youth. So, the flood did nothing. It did not get rid of sin and evil and man's inclination to sin. Is God saying that the only to get rid of evil, sin, and mankind's inclination to sin is to totally destroy all humans? If He had, if Yahvay also killed Noah and his family, there'd be no more sin. The Creator would've destroyed the Creature He made, man and woman, and we'd have a world with no sin and no evil. But, He left eight live. And they have the same condition as before the flood.
He left eight live. Is this perhaps related to a famous verse we seemingly all know and that is John 3:16 or
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
(Joh 3:16)
Is He saying that the answer to the dilemma of the curse on us, on all mankind, our inclination to sin, is the sacrifice of Messiah, the death of Yeshua?
So join us as we study the answer to the fact that the flood did nothing, it did not rid the world of sin and death and evil. Join us as we again hear THE VERY WORDS OF GOD and see that scripture testifies of Jesus and the redemption plan of the Lord.
Rev. Ferret - Who is this guy? What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8qth6w4e56oub9js1w1gu/BackgrndTeacher-mar-25-2020.pdf?rlkey=f14fr2wmde5fezjmnrny8cycl&dl=0
Saturday Nov 02, 2024
Saturday Nov 02, 2024
We continue with Exod. 6:6-8. These verses are connected by the Sages/Rabbis of Judaism to four cups of the Passover Seder. In the previous lesson, lesson 17, we also explored the debate the sages/rabbis had whether there should be four or five cups. On top of that all this seemed to be related to the end times! And we explored the possibility that what is known as the "rapture" is nothing more than the "ingathering" of the elect of God. In Paul's day the INGATHERING was when the dead will rise first and along with those who are alive will be taken up and brought to Israel at the time of the coming of Messiah. In 1 Thess 4:16-17 ...
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. (1Th 4:16-17)
So the "rapture" is for all of us "grafted in to the olive tree of Israel" and us who are "joint heirs" with the covenants and promises of God to be taken up and "gathered" to Israel and to then to participate in the MARRIAGE FEAST OF THE LAMB and to be with our "husband" forever in Jerusalem. This fits the rabbinic ideas of the ingathering of the elect. Even Jesus uses the word of gathering us in. See below ...
"But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. (Mat 24:29-31)
Jesus is God and God said we would be GATHERED. Any Jew then hearing these words knew it meant the INGATHERING as promised again and again in the Hebrew scriptures. When Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians all He had was the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. So who do you believe, some pastor teaching the "rapture" with no background in the Hebrew culture or the historical context of the Bible, or GOD? The choice seems clear.
In this session we continue studying the cups of Passover. It is possible that the idea of the 5th cup for the Passover meal, today called the Seder, was known in Jesus' day. What is amazing is that the idea of the 5th cup seems to be related also to the cup of wrath that all nations will drink in the end times ...
For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, says to me, "Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. "They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them." Then I took the cup from the LORD'S hand and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing and a curse, as it is this day; (Jer 25:15-18)
And it seems to be related to Jesus and the events in the Gat Sheminim - the olive press where He went to pray after His Passover meal. I mentioned in this podcast that Jesus went to an olive press and not the garden of Gethsemane. You can not find any records that there was a place called the garden of Gethsemane and neither is the phrase "garden of Gethsemane," those exact words, found in the Bible. I did a video on this and here's the link so you can study this further - LINK - click here to watch the 11 minute video Also, here is an amazing article from :Biblical Archaeolgy REview" from 1995 of the possible actual "cave" that Jesus visited to pray that was an olive press - LINK - click here for the article
The Passover meal of the Messiah, called the Last Supper traditionally, was even more profound. Those disciples of Jesus knew the meaning of the four cups of wine and the verse in Torah they represented. They knew of the new covenant at Sinai that Israel entered into with the Lord at the Mountain of God (Exod. 3:1) and it was as if God became their "husband" and Israel was His "bride." But, they also knew that the Mountain of God moved to Jerusalem (Isa. 2:1-3) and Jesus takes a cup, one of the cups in the Passover meal, and offers it to His talmideem (disciples), as a sign of a New Covenant they can enter at the Mountain of God. When Jesus lifted up the cup He was giving us an AMAZING PROPOSAL to be His bride and He our Bridegroom - SINAI REPEATED!!
In this podcast I mentioned other links I would provide. See these below.
Link - article on Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread as practiced in Jesus' day and that all these events may have occurred in 30 A.D. and not 33 A.D. - click here for the article
Link - to Hayyim Schauss' book, "The Jewish Festivals" at Amazon - click here to access this resource
Link - Ray Vander Laan's DVD and study book entitled "The Path to the Cross" - click here for the DVD and the book
Link - Dennis Prager's audio Torah study - an extremely valuable resource - even better than his books - click here for this important resource
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy? What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - click here for the teacher's background
Friday Nov 01, 2024
Friday Nov 01, 2024
So many times I hear Christians vehemently argue that the flood in the Bible is global as opposed to local. They say sciences proves it and the Bible itself proves it. But, I contend that this is the wrong argument. It is not if the flood was real or if it was global or not, the argument is, WHY THE FLOOD. What was its purpose?
It seems clear God tells us. The problem is the issue with mankind that saddened the Lord and this issue, the curse of mankind, did not disappear with the 8 survivors. If you study the very word of God carefully we find that that which was inherent in mankind before the flood was not taken care of in Noah, his sons, their wives, and Noah’s wife. The flood did nothing. This in itself is huge.
God is showing us something we missed. God is teaching us about sin and evil. God is teaching us there is only one way to get rid of sin and evil. But, no, we miss it since we are too concerned with if the flood was global or local. We simply can’t “see” the forest through the trees.
There are some great links that show clearly the flood was not global but local. Check them out below. But, again, the issue that the flood did occur, or if it did occur was is global or not, is not the issue! The issue is God is showing us that sin and evil in us can be taken care of by God destroying all of us – ALL. But, Yahvay left 8 alive. There were eight with the same evil inclination the saddened God and thus He decided to destroy all mankind. But, He didn’t. He preserved 8 with the same sinful evil inclination. Now what? What will the Lord do now to get rid of sin and evil in us? Simple. Ever hear of the Gospel?
Check this link out - an article by Dr. Hugh Ross, a brilliant and proven scientific scholar and devoted Christian. His expertise and knowledge will blow you away. Here's the link to his article ... https://reasons.org/explore/blogs/todays-new-reason-to-believe/does-the-bible-say-noah-s-flood-was-global-or-universal
After you read the article check out this detailed lecture presented again by Dr. Hugh Ross to students and teachers at a Christian seminary regarding the flood - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTuUCAkpHUQ
Then, check out this article by a prove credible Christian geologist regarding the flood - it can't be global - https://www.csun.edu/~vcgeo005/Carol%201.pdf
Rev. Ferret - Who is this guy? What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8qth6w4e56oub9js1w1gu/BackgrndTeacher-mar-25-2020.pdf?rlkey=f14fr2wmde5fezjmnrny8cycl&dl=0
Thursday Oct 31, 2024
Thursday Oct 31, 2024
This lesson and the next will be awesome. Our focus will be on Exod. 6:1-8. It will unbelievable where this takes us. We will be dealing with the reason why there are four cups of wine in the Passover meal called the Seder (Hebrew for order). We will also deal with the 5th cup. Yes! There is a debate among the rabbis in the Talmud about whether there should be four or five cups. Shown below are links to articles from Jewish websites to show that this debate comes from the rabbis and it led to some amazing results. Check them out …
Sefaria (Jewish site to access ancient Jewish literature like the Mishnah, the Midrasheem, the Babylonian Talmud, the Jerusalem Talmud, and the rest) - https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/31880?lang=bi
Aish (Jewish website – aish means “fire”) - https://www.aish.com/tp/i/moha/81091867.html
Gemara (Jewish site focusing on the study of the Hebrew scriptures in their historical and contextual context) - https://thegemara.com/five-cups-of-wine-at-the-seder/index.html
The 5th cup is connected to the text in Exod. 6:8 when we read, “I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the LORD." (Exo 6:8) But, when will Israel possess the land with the borders God promised? They don’t now. Today Israel does not come close to holding the territory God promised and about half of all Jews do not live in Israel. We will see that after the battle against Gog of Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39 that the first thing that must happen is that ALL Israel must be INGATHERED; they are to be gathered again in Israel never again to leave and there will be NO Jewish people remaining anywhere in the world except in the borders of Israel that God gave them. You can read this yourself in Ezekiel 39. All this happens after Elijah comes before the great day of the Lord when Messiah comes (Yeshua returns!). Interestingly the 5th cup is called the “Elijah Cup” by the rabbis.
The last concept we will discuss is what is popularly known as the “rapture.” As a Bible historian I was often concerned that most, if not all Christian teachers of the end times and the rapture, are so disconnected from our Jewish roots, the Bible in its historical context, and an understanding that there was NO New Testament in 50 A.D., the date estimated when Paul was in Thessalonica. I actually dismissed the “rapture” and thought it was only a view, an opinion, a unique man made interpretation. I was one who hoped it'd be true. It just didn't stand the test of scholarly examination. There were too many holes and not enough substance. However, I am beginning to look at the “rapture” perhaps the way Paul might have known it. We will take 1 Thess. 4:16-17 and study these verses in their historical context and in the context of that ancient Jewish culture. Perhaps there is a “rapture.” Perhaps the modern Christian end times gurus have it partially right. Perhaps Paul is teaching those Gentile believers in Thessalonica about something very Jewish based upon the Hebrew scriptures. Those Gentiles had no Bible, had no scripture, until they became “God Fearers” and attended the synagogue in Thessalonica. Perhaps there is a connection between the “rapture” and the ingathering of Israel; the ingathering of elect of the Lord that might be called, “The Jewish Rapture.”
Shown below are links to some interesting articles that will show that this is NOT made up by me, not my opinion. It is a concept that might prove to be something to consider. Perhaps we will be part of the INGATHERING of Israel since it says we’ve been grafted into the olive tree, Israel, and are joint heirs in the promises. Perhaps.
The Torah and the Rapture - https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/0da55621/files/uploaded/4ZW5Bbv3Tz2gNtsgeqkL_The%2520Torah%2520and%2520the%2520Rapture.pdf
1 Thess. 4:16-17 from a Rabbinic Perspective - https://hcommons.org/deposits/objects/hc:34782/datastreams/CONTENT/content
The Jewish Understanding of the Rapture - https://torahlifeministry.com/teachings/articles/29-the-rapture/109-the-jewish-understanding-of-the-rapture.html
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy? What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0