A Jewish DRY TREE BEGAN IN 70 AD War!
Under the Romans the Jews had Prosperity,
It was the time of a flourishing Green Tree Life,
But it ended 40 years AFTER Messiah’s Crucifixion!
JEWS had no birth pains before Messiah’s 1st Advent,
But Israel will have her birth pains before a 2nd Advent,
Israel MUST TRAVAIL Before She Brings Forth Her Messiah,
And the time of her long awaited travail isn’t a distant Event!
Messiah’s OWN rejected Him when He came on His First Advent,
Israel will be made ready for His Second Advent in the vast Negev!
Israel has suffered by Gentile hands ever since its Temple Destruction,
Soon she will suffer her final travail in birth pangs before his 2nd Advent!
Then the Glory of Israel will be Greater than we can imagine as Jesus Rules!
August 18, 2009
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
The Excerpt from the Jerusalem Post, which follows our heading, reminded me of many of the writings of the great Old and New Testament writers.
ISRAEL DID NOT TRAVAIL IN BIRTH PANGS BEFORE HIS 1ST ADVENT
Luke 23:27-31 – And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. [28] But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. [29] For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. [30] Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. [31] For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
ISRAEL BEGAN TRAVAIL IN AGONY 40 YEARS AFTER HIS CRUCIFIXION AND JERUSALEM WAS TRODDEN DOWN OF THE GENTILES AD 70 TO 1967. SHE HAS BEEN PERSECUTED BY GENTILES THROUGHOUT A LONG PERIOD BEGINNING IN AD 70. HER FINAL BIRTH PANGS WILL BE FELT DURING THE LAST 1260 DAYS BEFORE HER MESSIAH JESUS ARRIVES AS HER FIRSTBORN FROM THE GRAVE TO BRING HER GREAT GLORY.
Luke 21:23,24 – But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in
the land, and wrath upon this people. [24] And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
JERUSALEM WILL AGAIN FALL AND BE TRODDEN DOWN 42 MONTHS
Revelation 11:2 – But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
AND ISRAEL WILL REPENT AND TURN TO HER MESSIAH IN THE NEGEV
Revelation 12:6,17 – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God,
that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. [17] And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Zech.ariah 13:9 – And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
MESSIAH’S FIRST ADVENT
Matthew 23:37-39 – O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye
would not! [38] Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. [39] For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
MESSIAH’S SECOND ADVENT
I Thessalonioans 5:3,4 – For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
Luke 21:25-28 – And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; [26] Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. [27] And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. [28] And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
ISRAEL WILL BE RESTORED UNDER HER MESSIAH
Isaiah 54:1-17 – Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. [2] Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; [3] For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. [4] Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. [5] For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. [6] For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. [7] For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. [8] In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. [9] For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. [10] For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. [11] O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. [12] And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. [13] And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. [14] In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. [15] Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. [16] Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
[17] No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
ISRAEL WILL FINALLY HAVE HER BIRTH PAINS BEFORE HE COMES
Isaiah 66:5-16 – Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
[6] A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to his enemies. [7] Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. [8] Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. [9] Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. [10] Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: [11] That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. [12] For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. [13] As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. [14] And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies. [15] For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
[16] For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
Malachi 4:1-3 – For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it
shall leave them neither root nor branch. [2] But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. [3] And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.
Ezekiel 37:24-28 – And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. [25] And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. [26] Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. [27] My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [28] And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
SOON ISRAEL, THE BARREN ONE, WILL SING WITH GREAT JOY AFTER A TIME OF GREAT TRAVAIL IN PAINS OF CHILDBIRTH.
Begin Excerpt from Jerusalem Post
Lol Isha: Sing, O barren one
August 13, 2009
RACHEL ADELMAN , THE JERUSALEM POST
The lyrical words: “Sing, O barren one, you who bore no child!” open Isaiah’s prophecy to Zion.
This passage constitutes the fifth of the seven haftarot of consolation following Tisha Be’av (Isa. 54:1-10). Why is Zion (Jerusalem) personified as a barren woman? The midrash Pesikta de-Rav Kahana suggests that there were seven barren ones (akarot) in ancient Jewish history: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Manoah’s wife, Hannah and Zion. That is, the matriarchs of Genesis, Samson’s mother and Samuel’s mother were all initially infertile.
It is surprising that even Leah is counted among the barren matriarchs, when she was the mother to seven of Jacob’s children. Yet the same verse identifying Rachel as barren, suggests that God had a hand in her sister’s fertility as well: “When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened up her womb” – if she had not been barren, there would have been no need for divine intervention – “And Rachel was barren (akara)” (Genesis 29:31).
Why would conception, pregnancy, labor and birth be fraught with travail for so many prominent women in the Bible? Perhaps to emphasize that “God holds the keys to birth” (B. Nidda 2a). How, then, does this divine “locking” and “opening” of the doors carry over into the promises to Zion?
With regard to Jerusalem, the midrash continues: “The words, ‘He gives the barren woman a home,’ (Psalms 113:9) apply to Zion, as it says: ‘Sing, O barren one, you who bore no child!’ (Isa. 54:1); so do the words, ‘making her a joyous mother of children’ (Psalms loc. cit.), You [Zion], will say in your heart: ‘Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away – so who has reared these? I was left all alone – where then have these come from?'” (Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 20:1).
Jerusalem, stirred from her years of weeping alone, lifts her head, and is astounded to see the hordes of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren returning from exile. Just this week the halls of the Hebrew University were thronged with participants in the World Congress of Jewish Studies. The roads were clogged as I drove past the Old City. The Sultan’s Pool was packed every night for the concerts at the Arts Fair. And the bereaved mother shakes her head, “Where have all these people come from?” It is the ingathering of the exiles.
Of all the six barren women in the Bible, Rachel’s life most poignantly mirrors the fate of Zion. Playing on the Hebrew word for barren, akara, the same midrash continues: “R. Abba bar Kahana said: Most of the guests assembled at Boaz’s wedding were descendants of Leah, yet they blessed Ruth by saying, ‘May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel…’ (Ruth 4:11) [that is they mentioned Rachel before Leah, though she was the younger sister and second wife]. Rachel was held to be first [ikar] among the wives, as is implied by the verse, ‘And Rachel was barren [akara]’ (Gen. 29:31). R. Isaac said that Rachel was first among the wives [reading akara not as ‘barren,’ but as akar, meaning root]. And R. Shimon ben Yohai said: Many important events depended on Rachel, and so the Jewish people are named after her, (A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are gone)” (Jeremiah 31:15). That is all the Israelites who went into exile are called Rachel’s children by the prophet Jeremiah, though the majority are descended from Leah.
The beautiful, beloved wife of Jacob, first of his longing, was not only barren (akara) and favored (akeret habayit), but also uprooted (akura). Her children would become the children of exile – Joseph in Egypt and the descendants of Benjamin, Mordechai
and Esther, in Babylon. Her burial in the hinterland, on the border between exile and the Land of Israel, forms a signpost pointing towards their fate.
Jacob recalled her burial with deep pangs of conscience to his son Joseph (Gen. 48:7). After her tragic death in childbirth, upon their return to Canaan, he hastily buried her “on the way,” not in the Cave of the Patriarchs where Leah would be buried.
He did not even take her to Bethlehem to bring her into the Land (Rashi, loc. cit.). Her burial on the border foreshadows not only the exile, but also intimates the possibility of return.
According to the midrash, as the Babylonian general Nebuzaradan marched the Israelites into exile, they passed by Rachel’s burial site, and she emerged from her tomb, weeping and begging for mercy. And God assured her: “Restrain your voice from weeping, your eyes from shedding tears; for there is a reward for your labor – declares the Lord: They shall return from the enemy’s land” (Jer. 31:16, Lamentations Rabba 24).
Zion, the city once great with people, in Lamentations is described as a widow, desolate, bereft of her children (1:1, 4). But in the prophecy of consolation, she is the barren one, become mother of many, adjured by the prophet to shout with joy and break into song.
“For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married, says the Lord” (Isa. 54:1). She has become the matriarch Rachel, standing over her tomb, watching in amazement the ingathering of exiles.
The writer lectures in Bible and midrash at Matan, the Sadie Rennert Institute for Women’ s Torah Studie
s in Jerusalem, as well as internationally.
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