Showing posts with label sabbatical year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sabbatical year. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

200-Year-Old “Messiah Clock” Sets Last Possible Date for Final Redemption

200-Year-Old “Messiah Clock” Sets Last Possible Date for Final Redemption - and the Timing Will Surprise You!


“For one thousand years in Your [God’s] eyes are but a day that has passed.” (Psalms 90:4)
For the Jewish nation, thousands of years have been spent in counting down to a time period that will ultimately usher in the final redemption. A special clock, known as the Messiah clock, has been counting down the final arrival of the Messiah for the last 200 years, giving hope and inspiration to generations of Jews during turbulent times.
The creator of the Messiah clock was none other than Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna, also known as the Vilna Gaon, an 18th century Judaic scholar who was considered to be the guiding light of his generation, and is revered to this day. The Vilna Gaon spent much of his life studying Jewish concepts about the Messiah and yearned to move to Israel to hasten the process of redemption.
Well versed in mathematics and astronomy, the Vilna Gaon used his secular and religious scholarly background to come up with a unique method of tracking time based on the Hebrew calendar and a combination of Jewish sources found in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 97a). Based on his specific calculations, the Messiah clock was created and has been slowly ticking down towards his ultimate arrival.
The clock is based on the six days of creation, with each day corresponding to 1,000 years on the Hebrew calendar. The Vilna Gaon centered his calculations around the Jewish tradition that the Messiah must arrive by the year 6000 in the Jewish calendar, which corresponds to the day before the Sabbath and God’s refrain from any work. Currently, the Jewish calendar year is 5775.
Comparing days from the story of creation to millennial periods of time is consistent with the Bible, which often has different measures of time correspond to one another. A cycle based on seven is used frequently in the Bible, such as in the concept of the Sabbatical year (Leviticus 25:3), the seven year agricultural cycle, and its extension, the Jubilee year (Leviticus 25:10), that occurs at the end of seven Sabbatical cycles. A Hebrew slave is also released after seven years of servitude (Exodus 21:2).
Are there hidden messages from God in the Bible?
The verse found at the end of each day in the story of the creation of the world in Genesis, “And there was evening and there was morning”, is the basis for the Jewish custom of beginning each day at sunset. The first day of the new week begins at sundown at the end of the Sabbath, the second day begins the following sunset, and so on.
Further, according to Jewish law, each day is divided into two equal halves – night and daylight. Each half is then divided into 12 equal sections, with each section being one hour. From sunset to sunset, 24 hours of the day are divided up.
Applying the Jewish concept of time with the understanding gleaned by the Vilna Gaon towards redemption, one full day is 1,000 years. Therefore, one 12 hour night period equals 500 years and one 12 hour daylight period equals 500 years. If we further divide 1,000 by 24 hours, then each hour on the Messiah clock equals 41 years and eight months, or exactly 500 months.
In calculating minutes, 500 months (one hour on the ‘creation clock’) is divided by sixty minutes. According to the Vilna Gaon’s clock, each minute is equal to 8.333 months, or eight months and ten days. For those who appreciate a challenge, one second on the ‘creation clock’ is a little over four days.
Based on the days of creation, Friday, the sixth day of the week, comes after five full days, or 5,000 years on the clock. Friday night is half of one day on the Jewish calendar, so according to Vilna Gaon’s calculations, one night equals five hundred years.
Friday morning at sunrise would be the year 5500 according to the Hebrew calendar or 1739 according to the Gregorian calendar. Based on this model, noon on the sixth day of the clock is 5750 in the Hebrew calendar, or 1990 according to the Gregorian calendar, marking three-quarters of the sixth day. That leaves six hours from Friday afternoon until sunset, when the Sabbath begins.
image: http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/messiah-clock-chart1.jpg
messiah clock chart
If we use the Messiah clock to figure out “what time it is now”, the beginning of current Hebrew calendar year was exactly 12:36 pm. 12:37pm began on the 10th of Iyyar, 5775, or the April 29,2015.
The Zohar states that just as Friday afternoon is entirely given over to preparations for the Sabbath, thus the time leading up to the 7000th year will be for preparing for the Messiah.
By applying certain calculations based on Jewish law and tradition, the Vilna Gaon’s 7000 year clock can be used to make assertions about the process of redemption. Currently, based on the time of the Messiah clock, the year 6000 will occur in 2239 of the Gregorian calendar, indicating that the Messiah must arrive before then.
It should be noted that a basic tenet of Jewish faith, based on the teachings of Maimonides, is that the Messiah can arrive at any moment. For Jews, the Messiah’s coming is always imminent. The Vilna Gaon’s calculations represent the last possible time the Messiah can arrive and, as we pray each day, he comes well before.

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/46995/200-year-old-messiah-clock-counting-down-final-redemption-jewish-world/#g0DDgf6MEVYy2kgd.99

Sunday, May 10, 2015

"The Land Will Give Its Fruit" ✡ See the Best Olives in the World!

The land will give its fruit and you will eat your fill; you will dwell securely upon it.

LEVITICUS (25:19)
 

וְנָתְנָה הָאָרֶץ פִּרְיָהּ וַאֲכַלְתֶּם לָשֹׂבַע וִישַׁבְתֶּם לָבֶטַח עָלֶיהָ

ויקרא כ’’ה:י’’ט

v'-nat-na ha-a-retz pri-ya va-a-khal-tem la-so-va vee-shav-tem la-ve-takh a-le-ha

Today's Israel Inspiration

This Shabbat we read from Leviticus 25 describing the blessing of the Sabbatical year. This is one of the proofs of the divinity of the Bible. The next verse states, “and if you will ask, ‘what shall we eat in the seventh year? Behold we will not sow or gather in our crops?’ I will ordain my blessing for you in the sixth year a crop sufficient for a three year period.” No human being would ever make such an audacious guarantee - essentially sentencing the entire nation to starve every 7th year! Certainly after one failed cycle, no one in their right mind would obey the Sabbatical restrictions ever again. Only the One True God could make and keep such a promise.  Belief in God’s authorship of the Torah does not require a leap of faith, studying the laws of the Sabbatical year rationally prove the divinity of God’s word. Learn more in the Israel Bible, with full Hebrew and English text and insightful commentary.
 

A Boy's Life in Israel: Making Olive Oil

This delightful video follows a young Israeli boy and his mother on a quest to make the purest olive oil. See how it's done in Israel!

Finding a Light in the Dark

This week we celebrated a day of light in the Jewish calendar called "Lag B'Omer," with bonfires alit around Israel. Find out its deep meaning and connection to two holy Rabbi's of Temple times.

Colorful Rope Washing Cup

Every home needs a ritual washing cup and it doesn’t get more beautiful than this cup with a colorful rope pattern. The cup is 13.5 cm and made from polyresin.

Today's Israel Photo

Grace & Rick Knelsen photo of Israeli olives ("zay-teem" in Hebrew). Here's how to get this taste of Israel: wash olives well in cold water, then marinate with lemon juice, olive oil, thinly sliced lemons, garlic and optional fresh herbs or chili. The possibilities are endless! 
 

Thank You

Today's Scenes and Inspiration is sponsored by Gabrielle Mary Mitchell from Roxburghshire, UK. Toda Raba!
 

“Sharing Spiritual Insights from a Jewish Perspective”

It’s great to hear from so many of you - stay in touch and let us know where in the world you are enjoying Israel365!
 
This website has been a wonderful blessing by sharing spiritual insights from a Jewish perspective. Thank you for being a light to the Gentiles and may there be greater understanding of the wonderful truths we share in common from the Hebrew bible. Shalom from Chilliwack, BC Canada

I would like God's blessings to those who work at the blood bank and those who donated their blood for those who need. You are all saving God's children. God bless you. Joyce Simon
Shalom,
Rabbi Tuly Weisz
RabbiTuly@Israel365.com
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Monday, September 29, 2014

Jewish New Year Brings a Shemitah, Blood Moons and Unsure Future

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JONATHAN FELDSTEIN  CHARISMA MAGAZINE
Blood moons
We are in the midst of four consecutive blood moons, all which fall upon dates of biblical festivals on the Jewish calendar. (Reuters file photo)
Some months ago, I wrote about the blood moon phenomena as my friend, Pastor Mark Biltz, who discovered the connection to the overlaying of current events with the Jewish calendar, and how, during years when there were successive "super moons," great or tragic things happen to the Jewish people and the land and people of Israel.
This year, not only are we in the midst of four consecutive blood moons, but these also take place on the biblical festivals, according to the Jewish calendar. As Pastor Mark says, we may not know what is in store, but the overlay of these blood moons with the biblical festivals serves as "God's billboard," making us aware that something is coming.
Since then, I have been asked countless times what I think is coming. I share Pastor Mark's view that it's not for us to assume that we know, to be prophets, but to be aware, and to be ready. I invite you to read my original article at charismamag.com and other original sources from Pastor Mark at El Shaddai Ministries and others to learn more about it.
During this Rosh Hashana 5775, the world is in chaos. Any or all of these events may be part of the big picture of what's in store, or what's taking place before our eyes that we'll look back on with clarity and see God's hand:
  • The U.S. is leading a coalition to fight, and God willing, destroy ISIS and its ideological allies while ISIS threatens Western hostages in Iraq and Syria, and to bring the battle to our front yards.  
  • Russia has resumed Soviet-style expansionist threats, specifically against Ukraine where fighting and bloodshed continue, but with a fear that their reach could go wider.
  • Anti-Semitism coupled with the persecution of Christians is on the rise globally—an affront against the only people who have a true relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
  • Iran remains a world pariah, threatening not just Israel and the Middle East, but with continued export and funding of their terrorist ideology worldwide.
  • And while there was a war this past summer in which Hamas fired more than 4,600 missiles at Israel and they have not given any indication they will stop, at least their plot to launch a large-scale attack on Israel this week was foiled—for now.
There are other events that are no less dramatic taking place before our eyes. Any of them could be markers on the road as we pass sign after sign of what's to come. Again, it's God's billboard. I don't want to pretend I know what's coming. I don't. I simply recall my daughter summing up a conversation about the blood moons with a guest last winter by saying, 'So basically every time these four blood moons happen and they fall out on Jewish holidays, something really great or really horrible happens for the Jewish people and in all cases, blood is shed.' I guess that about sums it up. All we can do is be aware, and pray for a positive outcome.
A close friend, Pastor Todd Hadley, asked this past spring, what he and his church should pray for. One thing that kept coming to mind in all of this was that the connection between blood moons and shedding our blood. The concepts have an indelible link to Heart to Heart, the virtual blood-donation program that supports Israel's national blood center, of which he and his church, and so many others, have been active supporters. The program helps ensure that Israel always has the blood it needs, regardless of what may be on the horizon, and especially now with God sending clear signals that something is coming.  
As we exchanged emails on the subject, he wrote, "As to what to pray for, God put this on my heart:
  • To pray that, whatever God is signaling us is coming, it be for the good of Israel and the nations
  • To pray that even if it is good, it does not involve a loss of life, especially in Israel
  • To pray that if there is death, that this be kept to a minimum;
  • To pray that if blood is shed, as the one thing that can heal and save all people, Israel's blood supply and the resources to protect it, are always abundant."
Amen.
I might modify the third item in the above prayer somewhat, having been through a war with Hamas this summer, a smaller and less globally threatening version of ISIS but one that's no less radical and deadly, and the extremist ideology they espouse that's rooted in Islamic extremism. Even though they don't sanctify life, the fewer terrorists left alive at the end of fighting against them is a good thing.
But there's another interesting twist. This New Year we enter the Shemitah or sabbatical year, the seventh year of a cycle in which God commands us to let the land lie fallow. It's an awesome statement of faith for farmers to simply not plant this coming year, and put a big billboard on their property saying, "Here we observe Shemitah."
Pastor Mark discovered that when the blood moons happen during a Shemitah year—at least the last two cycles—there were financial calamities as well. In 2001 and 2008 there were major economic downturns. Nothing's guaranteed, but two in a row coupled with the world events in front of us is a little too much of a coincidence for me. Personally, I decided that rather than sitting on a bunch of dollars or shekels in the bank, that it'd be safer to buy some gold. It's a good investment either way, but on the verge of a potential economic downturn, of course I can pray, but here's a way that I can also take action.
Whatever God has in store, I pray that for you and your family and loved ones, and for all of Israel, that the New Year will be one of happiness, health, abundance, and if not peace, than at least quiet.
Blessings from Jerusalem for a happy 5775.
Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. Throughout his life and career, he has been blessed by the calling to fellowship with Christian supporters of Israel and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He writes a regular column for Charisma's Standing With Israel. You can contact Jonathan at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.

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