September 27, 2014 Shabbat Bible Study
©2014 Mark Pitrone and Fulfilling Torah Ministries
Leviticus 3:1-17 – Ezekiel 20:40-44, 44:10-11 – Psalm 71- Revelation 8:1-13
Links for this week:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H954&t=KJV&page=2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age
Vayikra 3.1-17 – The word translated as ‘peace offerings’ is sh’lamim, which literally means ‘peaces’.
According to Korban Aharon the peace expressed by the name is the harmony between the heavenly world of the Ruach and the earthly world of materialism. One who brings a ‘peace offering’ seeks to unite the 2 worlds.[1]
The unity sought is between the Ruach haKodesh and the world, the unity and peace that will be the norm in the New Heavens and Earth wherein righteousness shall dwell and in which there shall be no death. The peace of heaven and the peace of earth shall be one.
When the man lays his hand on the head of the offering he is not confessing sin, as there is no atonement being sought or completed. The man instead, is offering praise and thanksgiving to Elohim for his abundant provision. And he then seals that thanksgiving and praise in the blood of that animal, which the priest sprinkles on the Brazen Altar. Then the man offering slaughters the animal and the priest sets the fat around the innards, the kidneys, the diaphragm and the liver on the wood AND on the already burning morning offering (v.5) on the altar. V.5 gives us the timing of these peace offerings as after the morning, or first offering of the day, and before the evening, or last offering of the day. I imagine that at the Chag haMatzot/Bikkurim, Shavuoth and especially at the Sukkoth Moedim, the priests could be VERY busy indeed.
The word the KJV translates as ‘sacrifice’ is zevach and literally means ‘slaughter’, but the context is that of the ‘presentation Feasts’, when all the males were to come up 3 times in the year to the place where Y’HOVAH would place his Name, as we’ll see when we get to ch.23 in a couple of months. So Stone’s Tanakh translates zevach sh’lemim as ‘feast peace’ offerings. The Chumash has a good commentary on this on pg.553 (v.1). This applies to whatever animal is brought to offer, whether bovine, ovine or avian, which can be either male or female in the case of a sh’lemim, though it must still be ‘tamim’ – unblemished, complete or perfect (KJV).
The ovine animals are all offered in a similar way, except that there is a bit more offered from a sheep than from a goat. The entire rump of the sheep is to be offered to Y’hovah, that is, both legs are reserved for Y’hovah. There is nothing to say that the legs of lamb are reserved to Y’hovah, but it IS the part that is especially set-aside for him in the ovine peace offering. It is the best meat on the sheep (and I can attest to that – I’ve never had any BAD lamb).
In the peace offering of sheep or goats, the owner rests his hand on the head of the animal, praises Y’hovah and gives thanksgiving while slaughtering the animal, sealing his praise and thanksgiving in the animal’s blood. He then removes all the parts that are set-apart unto Y’hovah and the priest arranges them on the fire above the previous offering(s).
The blood and the fat are set-apart to Y’hovah, and it is a perpetual statute through ALL generations. We ought not eat the fat with the meat, and we ought to eat our meat with the blood either completely removed or cooked out. For a good article on Kosher or kashrut, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher. Q&C
Yechezkel 20.40-44 – This passage deals with Yisrael’s recall to the land from the 4 corners of the earth and the offerings we WILL make there in Zion. Y’hovah’s holy mountain is the highest in Yisrael – not necessarily the physically tallest, but spiritually the tallest – the Temple Mount, the place where Y’hovah placed his Name and the only place at which he will accept offerings.
there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations (Ez.20.40)
Vv.41-42 tell us WHEN he will accept our offerings at mount Zion. This prophecy CANNOT be fulfilled in the physical nation of Israel that now exists, for it is the work of men’s hands. And it certainly can’t possibly be fulfilled until the Temple stands in its proper place on the Temple Mount. The only way I can see the 3rd Temple being built is if the permission to do so comes from the permanent cease-fire talks with the PA. I think that even Bibi would divide the land if he could secure the Haredi vote in his government by getting the ability to build the Temple and a credible international force (meaning they would have the teeth AND the will to enforce a cease-fire) as conditions. This may take at least a temporary disarming of the PA/Hamas or the show of such. This is NOT what Y’hovah is talking about in this passage. He is talking about when Moshiach sends his messengers to the 4 corners to gather chol Yisrael to the land. Yom Kippur one year soon, when he comes with the clouds of heaven – one of resurrected believers and one of heavenly messengers. He brings us to the land for the land’s sake.
10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people (Messiah Yeshua); to it shall the Gentiles (Ephraim + whosoevers) seek: and his rest shall be glorious. 11 And it shall come to pass in that day, Adonai shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant (believers) of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea (Greater Exodus? Just a miraculous calling?). 12 And he (Moshiach) shall set up an ensign for the nations (the physical nation of Israel as a target?), and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (YeshaYahu 11.10-12)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the (en)sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24.29-31)
13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. 14 But they (Judah and Ephraim) shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. 15 And Y’hovah shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea (Suez Canal? Gulf of Suez?); and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river (Euphrates?), and shall smite it in the seven streams (the Tigris-Euphrates system is fed by 7 tributaries) and make go over dryshod (Rev.16.12) 16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt (1Cor.10.11). (YeshaYahu 11.13-16)
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. (Revelation 16:12)
Vv.43-44 tell what we’ll do in the land. Notice that in v.44 we are no longer Judah and Ephraim, but the House of Israel. Also notice that he builds with us only when we go his Way, when we put away our idols and follow him, seeking his heart. Q&C
Yechezkel 44.10-11 – The prescribed reading is the 1st 2/5 of the paragraph that goes on to v.14. The Levites who went astray will work in the 3rd Temple, but not as priests – “they shall bear their iniquity.” Because they led Israel astray with their idolatry, they are going to get to do the slaughtering that the animal’s owner had to do in the Tabernacle and the 1st 2 Temples. My question is ‘Does this only include the Levites that went astray? Were there NO Levites who remained faithful? We are seeing the forbearance of Y’hovah. The Levites who strayed from Y’hovah, but lived through the time of trouble, will be allowed to be of service to the people in the outer courts of the Millennial Temple, but will not be allowed to enter the Holy Place. This is how they will bear their iniquity. They will be known as those who rebelled against Y’hovah and went after other Elohims, but who repented when they saw Yeshua haMoshiach coming through the clouds with power and great glory. Meanwhile, they will also know that even though they rebelled against Y’hovah, he had not utterly forsaken them. There was no divorce for them. Will this include Xian pastors who taught, in the integrity of their hearts, the dispensational replacement theology they were taught in theological cement-ary? Vv.15ff speak of the Priests, the sons of Zadok, who remained faithful and will serve in the Sanctuary and offer at the brazen altar. Q&C
Please keep your eyes open for requests David makes and imperatives he pronounces.
Tehellim 71.1- – The word (v.1) that the KJV translates as ‘confusion’ is buwsh, which when considering recent American history is fitting. The word is literally ‘ashamed’, but I think the KJV guys got this one right. Gesenius’ Lexicon (which can be seen at this link http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H954&t=KJV&page=2) says this:
“The origin should apparently not be sought in the idea of blushing, but rather in that of paleness and terror… (1) to fail in hope and expectation … it is applied to enemies and wicked men put to flight after their endeavors are frustrated.”
We pray this on our enemies before every Bible Study, that the enemies not be allowed to know what we know, or what Y’hovah is revealing to us. And we are after Y’hovah’s heart in this, for he wants us to know his will and plans for us and for the world and to not be confounded by his Word. Our part in this is to seek his face and stay in his Word, both in our minds and hearts and works. The more we study to show ourselves approved and obey him, the less confusion we will have (and the crazier we’ll make our enemies). In v.2 David uses 2 words to convey the idea of Y’hovah’s deliverance, Tatziylayni, you shall deliver me, and Hoshiyayni, save me. Hoshiyayni is the singular form of the word the rabble used when Yeshua entered J’lem on the back of a donkey, “Hoshiyaynu” – Save us! In each case, it is the lesser imploring the greater to act for him in a way he cannot act for himself. The crowd on that Shabbat morning knew as well as David did here that they were in the presence of their King. Tatziylayni is a hiphil imperfect tense. Hiphil expresses a need to be acted on (causative action) and imperfect means that the action has been started, but is incomplete. So David is expressing to Y’hovah that he has no ability to deliver himself, but that he is trusting Y’hovah to do it for him, as Y’hovah has commanded in v.3. Y’hovah is David’s tzur tamiyd, strong habitation. In 78 uses of the word tsur, 64 are translated as ‘rock’, and the first 3 uses are in Ex.17.6 and 33.21, 22 – all referring to Moshiach in metaphor.
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Exodus 17:6)
This is that Rock that followed them through the wilderness (according to Ramban, cf. Chumash on Num.20.8, pg.843, right column) and to which Paul alludes in 1Cor.10.4.
And Y’hovah said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: (Exodus 33:21,22)
This refers to the fact that we are hid in Moshiach or with him in Elohim (Rom.3.24, 8.1-2, 39, 12.5, 1Co.1.2, 15.22, 2Cor.3.14, Gal.3.28, Eph.2.13, Col.3.3, 1Pe.3.16, list is not exhaustive). We are hidden in our strong habitation, Moshiach Yeshua. There are 2 more references to rocks in this verse, cela, a craggy and high rock, and Matzud, a strong fortress like a castle, which implies stone construction.
David wants deliverance from the hand (yad) that does work of the wicked, rasha, and from the hand (caph) that holds of unrighteous, avael, and cruel men (chometz). 2 different hands, left and right?, and 3 different types of persecution/tribulation. Rasha is the opposite of tzedika. I think the rasha combines the avael and chometz, and refers to the truly wicked spirit of haSatan. Q&C
Vv.5-6 should give any believer who is contemplating abortion pause and cause him/her to stop in his/her tracks. Y’hovah supervised the growth of that child from its conception, and knew him/her from BEFORE the foundation of the earth
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Ephesians 1:4)
V.7 applies directly to me, for I AM a wonder of Y’hovah’s super-abundant grace and his power to deliver from death and destruction. And for that reason I live in v.8, and know he will fulfill v.9 in me.
Vv.10-11 seem to have been rearing their ugly heads within the community of faith – with honest and faithful Hebroots teachers of Torah and others being slandered by a other teachers who seem to be self-serving. The result has been a better venue for the Hebrew Roots teaching on Internet and cable outlets, but the enemy put up some obstacles to the truth going forth. We ought to petition Elohim as David does in vv.12-13, for these teachers and for our own souls; for if the slander succeeds, the voice of truth’s influence will be significantly diminished. If those who have been slandered live in vv.14-16, they SHALL see victory, for the fight is Y’hovah’s, and they will stay focused on Y’hovah’s righteousness (not even making mention of their own), as did David. Have you seen David make reference to his OWN righteousness? He shows forth only Y’hovah’s righteousness (tziydkatecha) and salvation (t’shuatecha) for all to see, not his own. Here is something for us to take away from this Psalm, to apply to our own selves; don’t defend yourself and maintain your own righteousness before men – let Y’hovah defend you. Expect HIM to be your shield and strong tower, your covert and rereward. And remind him of his promise to be all that (AND a bag of chips).
David does his own ‘Mi kamocha’ in v.19; literally saying that Y’hovah has no equal, or really any rival – though haSatan wishes he could be. Then he says that he will show Y’hovah’s strength (zeruatecha) and power (gevuratecha) even in his old age. Gevurah is the sephera of Elohim’s justice that corresponds to the sephera chesed of Y’hovah’s goodness [Rom.11.25] and that have their perfect ‘child’ in the Tzadik Moshiach, Yeshua.
David is already assured of his future resurrection in v.20, and knows that his greatness and peace will be even greater in it (v.21). The construction of v.22 makes me think that the psaltery is not a musical instrument, but the truth itself, as it is sung with a harp’s accompaniment.
We greatly rejoice when we talk of his righteousness, and our enemies are confounded and ashamed when we praise him for it. Q&C
Gilyahna 8 – There are 4 ‘rounds’ of judgments that come on the earth; 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 thunders and 7 vials. It looks as if a pattern is developing, until the 6th trumpet is sounded. When the 7th seal is opened, the 7 trumpets are brought out. All is going according to pattern until the 6th trumpet is sounded, for that is when the 7 thunders are revealed to Yochanan, but he is told to seal them up. Then all 7 thunders speak before the 7th trumpet is sounded, which brings forth the 7 vials. Pattern broken in the middle of being set, SO!? … No set pattern.
Now, while contemplating that, look at Lev.26.14ff, esp. vv.18, 21, 24 and 28 – 4 promises of 7x more punishment. What Yochanan is describing may be exactly what Y’hovah described in Lev.26. 14ff.
Could Yochanan be describing in metaphor the exile of Ephraim into the whole world in the seals and the major exiles of Yehudah in the trumpets [Babylon], the thunders [Greece/Seleucid] and vials [Rome, both in the land and throughout the western world] of Revelation? I saw the possibility this week, though I have not fleshed out the details yet, and the idea could be way off base. Ephraim Israel was cut off in around 722-721 BCE and sent into captivity, and really has never returned to their inheritance because they went after Yerovoam’s false Y’hovah worship as their basic false doctrine and got steadily worse with 1 or 2 brief revivals to that original false Y’hovah worship. The kingdom of Israel never returned to TRUE Y’hovah worship for political reasons and after they were carried off very few returned to the land, even with Nehemiah and Ezra, when about 42,000 Yehudim returned and no Israelis are mentioned. But after Israel was carried of and given a ‘get’ by Y’hovah Yehudah didn’t ‘get’ it [both in Jer.3.8], and they TOO were carried off to exile into Babylon. When they got to Babylon, enough made teshuvah that Y’hovah brought those who had repented home – the aforementioned 42,000. But they did not remain faithful, either and Alexander and Antiochus came along and conquered the land only about 150-200 years after Yehudah’s return to the land. This time they were not carried off, but experienced a kind of exile ‘en situs’ [latin] ‘in place for legal purposes’[2]. Israel finally defeated the Greeks, with the help of Rome, under the Maccabean Priests, and had true autonomy for a few decades before Rome asserted its domination and reinstated the ‘exile en situs’ for about 100-150 years before Bar Kokhba’s revolt and the nearly 1900 year exile from the land that really still is in effect, except for the sliver of land the political nation of Israel was doled by the UN in 1947. This is not the deliverance that Y’hovah promised them, but a man-made substitute. When Y’hovah delivers chol Beit Ya’acov to the land, I think[3] it will be to the whole land in the Messianic Kingdom of Y’hovah Yeshua.
IF this cockamamie scheme has any legs, Israel COULD be experiencing the Thunders, as we speak. In the scripture, we have seen the 6 seals, which would be speaking of the Ephraimite exile in our cockamamie scheme. The last seal is opened in our passage today, which introduces the Trumpets, of which we will see the 1st 4.
8.1-6 – Brief intermission before the 1st trumpet, the 7th seal is opened. The greek word translated ‘about ½ an hour’ is G2256 hemiorion – ½ Orion. Orion is one of the easiest constellations in the night sky to recognize. It covers a large portion of the southern sky and actually resembles an hourglass with sand trickling through the ‘waist’. Orion is also called ‘the Hunter’ as it also resembles an archer with a sword girded at his waist; sword = sand trickling if we mix the metaphors. The archer is aiming at ‘Taurus’, the Re’em, H7214 and if you follow the upward slope of the archer’s belt out a bit you will see a bright red star that corresponds to the eye of the Re’em. Re’em is the Hebrew word that is translated as unicorn in KJV [rhinoceros?] and as wild ox in Stone’s TNK.
At any rate, when v.1’s 7th seal is opened there is silence for about ½ and hour in heaven – perhaps so the angels who are about to wind the trumpets can get a good, deep breath. If our cockamamie scheme has any legs, this might be the 115 year wait for Yehudah’s Babylonian exile to begin. The 7 angels who are given the trumpets may be the same angels we saw in ch.2-3; the angels of the 7 kehalim or congregations. They are no longer on earth, but in the throneroom awaiting orders. Do not mistake this for a ‘rapture’. After all, the Ruach of Y’hovah left the Temple before the Yehudi exile began due to the spiritual condition of Yehudah’s priesthood, which was worshipping the sun as it rose in the east, having their backs to the Temple in
10 So I went in and saw; and see every design of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of Beit Yisrael, portrayed upon the wall all around. 11 And there stood before them the seventy men of the zechanim of Beit Yisrael, and in the midst of them stood Ya-azanyah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12 Then said He to me, Ben-adam, have you seen what the zechanim of Beit Yisrael do in the dark, every man in the rooms of his idols? For they say, Y’hovah does not see us; Y’hovah has forsaken the land.
13 He said also to me, Turn again, and you shall see even greater abominations that they do. 14 Then He brought me to the door of the gate of Y’hovah’s Bayit which was toward the north; and, see, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then said He to me, Have you seen this, O Ben-adam? Turn again, and you shall see greater abominations than these. 16 And He brought me into the inner courtyard of Y’hovah’s Bayit, and, see, at the door of the Hekel of Y’hovah, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men,2 with their backs toward the Hekel of Y’hovah, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
17 Then He said to me, Have you seen this, O Ben-adam? Is it a small thing for Beit Yehudah that they commit the abominations that they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke Me to anger: and, see, they put the branch to My nose. 18 Therefore will I also deal in anger: My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet will I not listen to them.
3 And the tifereth of the Elohim of Yisrael had gone up from the cheruv, where it had been, to the threshold of the Bayit. And He called to the Man clothed with linen, whose loins were girded with sefirot;
18 Then the tifereth of Y’hovah departed from off the threshold of the Bayit, and stood over the cheruvim. 19 And the cheruvim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and everyone stood at the door of the east gate of Y’hovah’s Bayit; and the tifereth of the Elohim of Yisrael was over them above. [Yechezkel 8.10-18, 9.3, 10.18-19]
Just because the angels of the kehalim are not on the earth does NOT mean that the congregations are not on the earth. In the passage in Ez.9, the man clothed in linen goes out to place a mark on the foreheads of those who mourn over the spiritual state of the priesthood and the people of Israel. The tifereth; KJV says ‘glory’; of the Elohim of Israel left the earth and left the ‘worshippers in word only’ behind, with a promise to return to them when they repent and start going his way. What we saw in Ez.8.10-18 certainly describes the average pew-warmer in the congregations of the world’s religious system; including the average Xian and Yehudi kehalim, Israel, that pay lip-service to the truth of scripture, but fail to act on that truth.
In vv.3-5, ‘another angel’, besides the 7 angels with the trumpets, goes to the altar and is given ‘much incense’ and then to the altar of burnt offering to get the coals of fire and places it on the incense in the censer and casts it to the earth. Remember that in Revelation an angel COULD be a resurrected/translated human being, as we see in ch.22. I can only assume that the prayers of the saints are imprecations on the wickedness of the world system, and that this ‘other angel’ corresponds to the man dressed in linen in Ez.9 and with our Tzadik Rebbe, Y’hovah Yeshua haMoshiach. Perhaps this corresponds to Matt.24.9-14?
9Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and you shall be hated by all nations for My Name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false neviim shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because Torah-less-ness shall abound, the ahava of many shall grow cold. 13 But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this besorah of the malchut shall be proclaimed in all the olam hazeh for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come. [Matt.24]
And only then do the 7 angels sound their trumpets. Q&C
V.7 has the 1st angel wind his trumpet. The hail and fire mingled with blood looks like a combination of the plague on Egypt in Ex.9.23-25 and the hail that fell on the Canaanites in Josh.10.11.
23 And Moshe stretched forth his rod toward the shamayim: and Y’hovah sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and Y’hovah rained hail upon the land of Mitzrayim. 24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Mitzrayim since it became a nation. 25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Mitzrayim all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every eytz of the field. [Shemoth 9.23-25, Restoration Scriptures]
11 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Yisrael, and were going down to Beth-Horon, that Y’hovah cast down great stones from the shamayim upon them to Azekah, and they died: there were more who died with hailstones than those whom the children of Yisrael killed with the sword. [Yehoshua 10.11, Restoration]
Then there is a passage in Yechezkel 38 dealing with Gog uMagog;
22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. [Yechezkel 38.22 KJV]
Remember that this is NOT the wrath of Y’hovah, yet. That will come in Rev.16, which has its own hailstorm
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of the shamayim, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed Y’hovah because of the plague of the hail; for the plague of it was exceedingly great. [Gilyahna 16.21, Restoration]
I don’t know if the blood falls with the hail or is shed on account of the hail. I don’t think it will make a lot of difference to the ones it falls on. The word translated hail in Ex.9 is barad, H1258, and means to fall. The greek word in Rev. is G5465 khalaho, meaning to let down or strike. The use of “hail” is letting us know that something is dropping from the sky, not necessarily that it is ice balls. I seriously doubt that this hail is like the ice balls that fall during a severe thunderstorm, though it may be, as a special work of Yah. For a hailstorm to produce stones of 100 – 200 pound’s weight would take some incredibly severe and unusual winds. Hailstones are usually multi-layered ice balls formed by water condensing and freezing, then dropping a short distance and then being blown back up into the cloud to have more water condense on it and freeze, and then fall again. This cycle would have to repeat itself hundreds of times to create a stone of a pound’s weight. A hailstone of 100-200 pound’s weight would require miraculously powerful updraft winds over a miraculously long period of time. Of course, people who know this will understand that it is no random storm that could produce such hail and that it can only be the work of Y’hovah. Even so, that the hail is accompanied by fire suggests its source could be volcanic and not meteorological. IOW, I think this is more likely either volcanic or astronomical in nature. Meteorites would produce a more world-wide phenomena than either volcanic or weather-related would. So, that is my own opinion of the physical source of the ‘hail’ that will rain destruction on the earth in general; a meteorite storm. Of course, it could also be explained by a war in a region of the earth. 1/3 of the trees being destroyed would also wreak havoc on the world’s ecosystem. Talk about carbon dioxide in the air? Remove 1/3 of the trees and ALL the grass and watch those ‘greenhouse gasses’ multiply quickly. If it results from a war, that would truly cause homocentric global warming.
Vv.8-9 has a great mountain being cast into the sea, which lends credence to the meteorite storm as the source of the ‘hail’ in v.7. If some astronomical phenomenon causes a large chunk of planetary or asteroid material to break up and cross earth’s revolutionary path, it could produce all of these things. The 1/3 part of the sea turning to blood could be a metaphor as well. Remember that the sea is a metaphor for the world system. There are lots of different ways this could manifest itself. The first that comes to my mind right now is a plague of hemorrhagic fever, like ebola. If that is what fulfills this prophecy, 1/3 of the world’s population would suffer from the plague, perhaps in a worldwide epidemic or just over a large region. This could be a special miracle of Y’hovah or, more likely in today’s world, a result of biological warfare. However, v.9 speaks of the navigable waterways of the earth, almost certainly, where 1/3 of the sea creatures and 1/3 of the ships are destroyed. If this is a result of warfare, the 1/3 sea creatures and 1/3 ships could be the same things, for the ships have life aboard – human life. OTHER possibilities could also exist. Those come readily to my mind. Q&C
Vv.10-13 – The 3rd trumpet introduces an undoubtedly astronomical sign and judgment that kinda ices the idea that the 1st 2 were also astronomical. This COULD be something along the lines of the big ‘scare’ of 2011 about the comet/planet ‘Nibiru’ that turned out to be so much wind of noxious fumes. That may have been a real phenomenon, but I think it was nothing but hype that played on the fears of people with a cursory knowledge of scripture. None of these events will REALLY occur until Anti-Messiah [AM] makes himself known to us by setting himself up AS Elohim in the Temple in J’lem. While we are in the end of days, we are NOT, to my understanding, in the “Great Tribulation”. While there are many candidates for the AM and FP on the world scene, NONE has fulfilled what he MUST do to qualify, to my knowledge and IM[not so]HO;
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that Yom shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin will be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called Elohim, or that is worshipped; so that he as Elohim sits in the Beit HaMikdash of Elohim, declaring himself to be Elohim. [2Thes.2.3-4, Restoration]
Had anyone done this BEFORE the ‘Nibiru’ hype, that would have been a possible fulfillment of this trumpet, assuming the preceding trumpets had preceded it AND had anything the fits the description actually occurred.
The name of the star being Wormwood refers to the bitterness of the waters upon its surface contact. This could be bitterness like in Num.5, when the woman suspected of adultery drinks the water to make her belly swell and thigh to rot if she is guilty. The first use of ‘wormwood’ is in
14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; 15 But with that standeth here with us this day before Y’hovah Elohenu, and also with that not here with us this day: 16 (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by; 17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which among them:) 18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from Y’hovah Elohenu, to go serve the Elohims of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; 19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: 20 Y’hovah will not spare him, but then the anger of Y’hovah and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and Y’hovah shall blot out his name from under heaven. [Devarim 29.14-20]
Every use [7 of them] of Wormwood [or hemlock, once] in TNK [and the only 2 uses of it in Brit Chadasha is here in v.11] is translated from H3939, la’anah, hemlock or wormwood. La’anah is literally to curse, and only figuratively means ‘bitter things’. This bitterness has nothing to do with a chemical reaction on the sides of your tongue and everything to do with evil happenings in ones life, like the woman’s belly swelling and thigh rotting.
12 ¶ Shall horses run upon the rock? will plow with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock: [Amos 6.12]
7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, [Amos 5.7]
Amos was primarily prophesying about 10-Israel, as we can see in Amos 1.1.
THE words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
His are the last uses of la’anah in TNK. He is speaking of an unequal yoke in 6.12, a horse with an ox, trying to get a plow to bust sod where all there is around them is flinty rock. The idea is the uselessness of trying to understand what the Ruach is trying to teach you with an uncircumcised heart and mind. That brings nothing but wasted effort and frustration; the ‘blah-blah’ of excellent but unintelligible words that changes the good Y’hovah has for us into a curse. Amos 5.7 speaks of an identical outcome from the same course of action. When we expend a lot of effort on a useless endeavor, it becomes a cause of bitterness to us. When we try to understand spiritual truth with our human understanding, we are engaged in futility.
In.Rev.8, the sweet water has turned bitter or poisonous. The recent flooding in Phoenix, Ariz. comes to mind, where they got 6 months of rain in under 4 hours. There are pictures on the internet of whole neighborhoods swimming in the 4’ deep water. The filth and petrochemicals that contaminated that water would, I think, make it very unwise to bathe in it. I seriously doubt that you will see horses drinking that water, something cowboys in the Old West would watch for. Why do you suppose they sent boats out to rescue flood victims and had boil orders for the water supply in N’ahlins after Katrina [or anywhere else there is a general flood]? One reason is the filth and disease that that water would be spreading around. The fresh water had become ‘wormwood’.
In vv.12-13, the 4th trumpet is winded and the light of the sun, moon and stars is decreased by 1/3. There are a lot of possible natural sources for this phenomenon. When a volcano erupted in the 1830s, the resultant ash darkened the sky for almost 3 years and it contributed to the Little Ice Age. From that source of all objective truth; Wikipedia[4],
Throughout the Little Ice Age, the world experienced heightened volcanic activity. When a volcano erupts, its ash reaches high into the atmosphere and can spread to cover the whole earth. This ash cloud blocks out some of the incoming solar radiation, leading to worldwide cooling that can last up to two years after an eruption. Also emitted by eruptions is sulfur in the form of sulfur dioxide gas. When this gas reaches the stratosphere, it turns into sulfuric acid particles, which reflect the sun’s rays, further reducing the amount of radiation reaching Earth’s surface. …
The 1815 eruption of Tambora in Indonesia blanketed the atmosphere with ash; the following year, 1816, came to be known as the Year Without a Summer, when frost and snow were reported in June and July in both New England and Northern Europe.
Also, if there were a nuclear exchange, it would force LOTS of dust and debris into the upper atmosphere, causing much the same effect. COMBINE the 2 and watch out! THAT possibility is especially chilling; pun intended.
It actually seems that the light is not only diminished by 1/3, but the actual time that the light is visible is diminished by 1/3; about 4 hours of both the day and night. How THAT could happen naturally is WAY beyond me and so I think that IF that is what is being said here it HAS to be miraculous and an undeniable sign from Y’hovah Elohenu.
After the darkness descends on the 1/3 part of the day and night, an angel is seen and heard, I assume by the entire earth’s population, giving warning of the last 3 trumpets that are yet to be winded. Imagine the abject terror that will ensue in the world. Q&C
End of Shabbat Bible Study
[1] The Stone Edition “Chumash”, ©1998 by Mesorah Publications, Brooklyn, NY.
[2] Black’s Law Dictionary; Eighth edition ©2004 West, a Thompson business
[3] An italicized I think denotes a guess, usually educated [though this one is not] which COULD be wrong… but I DOUBT it!
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