My Wife is Going Back for More Surgery

My wife during in ICU during her 50 plus day hospitalization in 2018

I want to let you all know that my wife Kitty is going to the hospital to have yet another surgery on October 9th. Kitty is normally considered too a high risk for surgery, but she will likely die without this surgery, so there is really no choice. They are hoping that it will be a simple procedure, but with her medical history, things could turn very ugly very quickly.

We really need your help because are going to have about $1,000 in additional medical expenses in the first two weeks of this month, part of that is for medication that she needs tomorrow (Tuesday), and we just don’t have it. (And on top of that the rent is due in just two days).

As many of you know, my wife Inga “Kitty” Trimm has been chronically Ill for several years, and things got much worse about two years ago, when she was hospitalized for over fifty days with septic shock.

We need your support more than ever. The time is short, and there is much work to be done. As you might imagine, donations are low. If you can, please donate. This is no time to pull back from the great work in front of us!

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall. As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by paypal to donations@wnae.org.

He Shall Atone for all of the Sons of Light

The following is a commentary on Leviticus 25 found in cave 11 of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It could have written by a Nazarene, except for the fact that it predates the birth of Yeshua.

The document is very interesting as it speaks of a Messiah who it identifies as “EL” and “ELOHIM”. It also quotes Isaiah 61:2 substituting “Melchizadek” for YHWH.

This Melchizadek figure “shall atone for all the Sons of Light” thus “releasing them from the debt of all their sins” in a fulfillment of the true meaning of Yom Kippur and “establish a righteous kingdom”. This will be the fulfillment of the “Salvation” (Hebrew: Yeshua) proclaimed from the mountains in Isaiah 52:7 (which in context would identify this Melchizadek with the servant of Isaiah 53. This figure is then identified with the Messiah who is “cut off” in Daniel 9:26. This makes the blocks of seven years in Daniel 9:24-27 to tie in with the “year of favor” of Isaiah 61:1-3 and thus as the ultimate fulfillment with Lev. 25:13 as a fulfillment of the Day of Atonement. Finally this connects to a prophetic fulfillment of the blowing of the trumpet in Lev. 25:9.

And now, without further adue, The Melchizadek Document:

The Melchizedek Document (11Q13)
Translated by
James Scott Trimm

And concerning what Scripture says:

“In this year of Jubilee you shall return,
everyone of you, to your property”
(Lev. 25:13)

And what is also written:

“And this is the manner of the remission; every creditor shall remit the claim that
is held against a neighbor, not exacting it of a neighbor who is a member of the
community, because Elohim’s remission has been proclaimed”
(Deut.15:2)

the interpretation is that it applies to the Last Days and concerns the captives, just as Isaiah said:

“To proclaim the Jubilee to the captives”
(Isa. 61:1)

(…) just as (…) and from the inheritance of Melchizedek, for (… Melchizedek). who will return them to what is rightfully theirs. He will proclaim to them the Jubilee, thereby releasing them from the debt of all their sins. He shall proclaim this decree in the first week of the jubilee period that follows nine jubilee periods.

Then the “Day of Atonement” shall follow after the tenth jubilee period, when he shall atone for all the Sons of Light, and the people who are allotted to Melchizedek. (…) upon them (…) For this is the time decreed for the “Year of Melchizedek’s favor”, and by his might he will judge Elohim’s holy ones and so establish a righteous kingdom, …as it is written about him [Melchizedek] in the Songs of David:

“Elohim has taken his place in the council of EL;
in the midst of the ELOHIM he holds judgment”
(Ps. 82:1)

Scripture also says about him [Melchizedek]:

“Over it take your seat in the highest heaven;
EL will judge the peoples”
(Ps. 7:7-8)

Concerning what Scripture says:

“How long will you judge unjustly,
and show partiality with the wicked?
Selah”
(Ps. 82:2)

The interpretation applies to Belial and the spirits predestined to him, because all of them have rebelled, turning from Elohim’s precepts and so becoming utterly wicked. Therefore Melchizedek will thoroughly prosecute the vengeance required by Elohim’s statutes. Also, he will deliver all the captives from the power of Belial, and from the power of all the spirits destined to him. Allied with him will be all the “righteous Elohim” (Isa. 61;3).

(The …) is that whi(ch …all) the Elohim. The visitation is the Day of Salvation that He has decreed through Isaiah the prophet concerning all the captives, inasmuch as Scripture says:

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion “Your Elohim reigns”.
(Isa. 52:7)

This scriptures interpretation: “the mountains” are the prophets, they who were sent to proclaim Elohim’s truth and to prophesy to all Israel. “The messengers” is the Anointed (Messiah) of the spirit, of whom Daniel spoke:
“After the sixty-two weeks, a Messiah shall be cut off”
(Dan. 9;26)

The “messenger who brings good news, who announces Salvation” is the one of whom it is written:

“to proclaim the year of the YHWH’s favor,
the day of the vengeance of our Elohim;
to comfort all who mourn”
(Isa. 61:2)

This scripture’s interpretation: he is to instruct them about all the periods of history for eternity (… and in the statutes) of the truth. (…) (…. dominion) that passes from Belial and returns to the Sons of Light (….) (…) by the judgment of Elohim, just as t is written concerning him:

“who says to Zion “Your Elohim reigns”
(Isa. 52:7)

“Zion” is the congregation of all the sons of righteousness, who uphold the covenant and turn from walking in the way of the people. “Your Elohim” is Melchizedek, who will deliver them from the power of Belial.

Concerning what scripture says:

“Then you shall have the trumpet sounded loud;
in the seventh month . . . “
(Lev. 25:9)

— the rest of the document has not survived–

Rent is due in just four days and right now we do not have it!

We need your help to continue the ongoing work, bringing the message of Messiah to the Jewish people, and bringing the message of Torah to the world. We need your help with the ongoing work of Scripture Restoration, as restore the original Hebrew of the “New Testament” books, a project which will bless all mankind, especially the Jewish people of Israel.

In these uncertain times, we need your support more than ever. The time is short, and there is much work to be done. As you might imagine, donations are low. If you can, please donate. This is no time to pull back from the great work in front of us!

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall. As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

Or click HERE to donate

And don’t forget to join the conversations at the NazareneSpace Social Network

Why Fast on Yom Kippur?

Why Fast on Yom Kippur?
By
James Scott Trimm

On Yom Kippur the Torah commands us to “afflict our souls (‘INuI NeFeSH)” as we read:

“And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourns among you… It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.”
(Lev 16:29.31)

“Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto YHWH… For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people… It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.”
(Lev 23:27,29.32)

“And ye shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month an holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall not do any work therein:”
(Num. 29:7)

The expression “to afflict your souls” in Hebrew is a wphemism meaning “to fast” (Tzom). The Hebrew phrase ‘INuI NeFeSH is translated as “afflicting the soul”. It also appears in a number of Scriptural passages, in which it is clear that this expression refers to fasting:

“…I afflicted (KJV: “humbled”) my soul with fasting;
and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.”
(Psalms 35:13)

“…I wept, and afflicted (KJV: “chastened”) my soul with fasting,
that was to my reproach.”
(Psalms 69:11)

“Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and you see not?
wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and you take no notice?…”
(Isaiah 58:3; see also vv.5 & 10)

This is because the word “Soul” Means “appetite”

It should be pointed out that one of the meanings of the word “NeFeSH”, commonly translated as “soul”, is in fact “appetite”. For example:

“And put a knife to your throat,
if you be a man given to appetite (NeFeSH).”
(Proverbs 23:2-3)

” For he satisfies the longing soul (NeFeSH),
and fills the hungry soul (NeFeSH) with goodness.”
(Psalms 107:9)

“The full soul (NeFeSH) loathes a honeycomb;
but to the hungry soul (NeFeSH) every bitter thing is sweet.”
(Proverbs 27:7)

“Yea, they are greedy dogs
which can never satisfy their souls (NeFeSH) (KJV: “have enough”)”
(Isaiah 56,11)

This is why Acts refers to Yom Kippur as “The Day of the Fast”:

9 And we were there a long time, until even the day of the Jewish fast was past. And it was dangerous for a man to travel by sea, and Paul counseled them,
(Acts 27:9)

We are in a hole! Our rent was paid late, wiping us out and leaving us with no funds to cover bills hitting our account on Monday!

We need your help to continue the ongoing work, bringing the message of Messiah to the Jewish people, and bringing the message of Torah to the world.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or Go Fund Me.

Click HERE to donate

And don’t forget to join the conversations at the NazareneSpace Social Network

Yom Kippur and the New Covenant

YOM KIPPUR AND THE NEW COVENANT
By
James Scott Trimm

For YHWH has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep…
The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed…
therefore, behold I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder…
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.(Is. 29:10, 11, 14, 18)

Thus, with the revealing of this sealed book, the apostasy ends. This parallels what we learn in the olive tree parable (Rom. 11:16-27).This parable speaks of the apostasy of Israel as a “deep sleep” (Rom 11:8 = Is. 29:10). This olive tree parable goes on to say that this apostasy will end at a time called THE FULLNESS OF THE GENTILES (Hebrew MILO HAGOYIM = “a multitude of nations” (Gen. 48:19) referring to Joseph’s seed ). This is the time of the making of the New Covenant (compare Jer. 31:31, 34 & Rom. 11:27).

In Rev. 5& 6 we learn that the book is sealed with seven seals. These are seven things which must happen before the book can be opened. These 7 seals correspond to the curses which Israel is to go through for not having kept the Law (Deut 28-29; Lev. 26). These seven seals also parallel the material in Mt. 24 as follows:

Seal:	Mt. 24	Deut. 28	Lev. 26
1 Rev 6:1-2	Mt. 24:5
2 Rev. 6:3-4	Mt. 24:6-7a	Deut. 28:49	Lev. 26:17-25
3 Rev. 6:5-6	Mt. 24:7b	Deut. 28:18,38,51	Lev. 26:16,20,26
4 Rev. 6:7-8	Mt. 24:7c	Deut. 28:21-22,26-27, 35,52,55,57	Lev. 26:16, 21,22,25,31
5 Rev. 6:9-11	Mt. 24:8-24
6 Rev. 6:12-17	Mt. 24:29-31	Deut. 28:23-24,62, 64	Lev. 26:19
7 Rev. 7

Now, just as the Yom Kippur ceremony of Lev. 16 makes atonement for the sins of the children of Israel (Lev. 16:16-21), the Messiah in Rev. 5, passes judgement on Israel for having violated Torah. These judgements are the seals. Once the judgements of Dt. 28-29 are made, then we can come to Dt. 30:1-4

Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where YHWH your Elohim drives you, and you return to YHWH your Elohim and obey his voice, according to all that I have commanded you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, And YHWH your Elohim will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where YHWH your Elohim has scattered you.

Then we reach a parallel to Mt. 24:31=Mk 13:27 (remember Mt. 24 parallels the seven seals):

If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there YHWH your Elohim will gather you, and from there he will bring you. (Dt. 30:4) Then the text goes on to parallel Jer. 31:31-34 (which speaks of the New Covenant):

Then YHWH your Elohim will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. And YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Dt. 30:5-6)

All of this is further demonstrated in Rev. 10:1-11 where the sealed book is revealed. Here the voice of the seventh angel points to the seventh trumpet and the beginning of the Kingdom of YHWH (Rev. 10:7 & 11:15) just as in Rev. 22:12 Messiah comes with his reward… i.e. the sealed book he was worthy of in Rev. 5, also the New Covenant.

Donations have been so low that we are running out of groceries! We need your help today!

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

Or click HERE to donate

And don’t forget to join the conversations at the NazareneSpace Social Network

Yom Kippur, the Az’azel and Enoch the Prophet

Yom Kippur, the Az’azel and Enoch the Prophet
By
James Scott Trimm

The Yom Kippur Temple ritual is among the most beautifully prophetic in its imagery of all of the Temple ceremonies. In this ceremony the High Priest casts lots upon two goats, one which is appointed “for YHWH” and the other “for Az’azel”. As we read in the Torah:

7 And he shall take the two goats, and set them before YHWH at the door of the tent of meeting.
8 And Aharon shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for YHWH, and the other lot for az’azel.
9 And Aharon shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for YHWH, and offer him for a sin-offering.
10 But the goat on which the lot fell for az’azel, shall be set alive before YHWH, to make atonement over him, to send him away for az’azel into the wilderness.
(Lev. 16:7-10 HRV)

The first of these goats represents the first coming of Messiah and is a sin-offering (representing the death of the Messiah). Then the High Priest (representing the resurrected Messiah) enters the Holy of Holies (representing the Heavenly Holy of Holies) and sprinkles the blood even times on the alter (representing the opening of the seven seals). Then the High Priest returns from the Holy of Holies (representing the return of the Messiah) and then we read:

21 And Aharon shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Yisra’el, and all their transgressions; even all their sins. And he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of an appointed man, into the wilderness.
22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land which is cut off: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
(Lev. 16:21-22 HRV)

The text however seems to assume that the reader already knows who or what an “azazel” is.

So who or what is an “azazel” and what is the prophetic meaning of this goat?

Azazel in the Book of Enoch

In the Book of Enoch Azazel is one of two leaders of the fallen angels who came down, took human form, and copulated with human women:

1 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters.
2 And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.’
(1Enoch 6:1-2 See Gen. 6:1-2; 2Pt. 2:2-10 and Jude 1:6-8)

Although we are initially told that Shemikhazah was their leader (1En. 6:3), we are also given a list of twenty of their leaders of tens (1Enoch 6:7-8) and halfway through that list we find an “Asa’el”. It appears that this Asa’el (elsewhere spelled Azazel) and Shemikhazah were each leaders over 100, as Asa’el becomes prominently featured beginning in Chapter 8:

1 And Asa’el taught men to make swords of iron, and knives, and shields, and breastplates of brass, and made known to them the metals that are excavated from the earth and the art of working gold and concerning silver, and bracelets, and ornaments, and concerning antimony, and eye shadow, and all kinds of costly stones, and all colouring tinctures.
2 And there arose much godlessness, and being wicked, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.
(1Enoch 8:1-2)

The Zohar mentions this fall as follows:

R. Isaac said: “Uzza and Azael fell from the abode of their sanctity
above, they saw the daughters of mankind and sinned with them and
begat children. These were the Nefilim, of whom it is said, THE
NEFILIM WERE IN THE EARTH (Gen. 6:4).”
(Zohar 1:37a)

“Of the Nefilim it is said: “and the sons of God saw the daughters
of men that they were fair” (Gen. 6:1f). These form a second
category of the Nefilim, already mentioned above, in this way:
When God thought of making man, He said: “Let us make man
in our image, etc.” i.e. He intended to make him head over the
celestial beings, who were to be his deputies, like Joseph over
the governors of Egypt (Gen. 41:41). The angels thereupon
began to malign him and say, “What is man that You should
remember him, seeing that he will assuredly sin before You.”
Said God to them, “If you were on earth like him, you would
sin worse.” And so it was. For “when the sons of God saw the
daughters of man”, they fell in love with them, and God cast
them down from heaven. These were Uzza and Azael; from them
the “mixed multitude” derive their souls, and therefore they also
are called nefilim, because they fell into fornication with fair
women.”
(Zohar 1:25b)

The Angels in heaven see these sins, petition YHWH:

4 And Rafa’el and Mikha’el said to the Master of the ages: ‘Our Great Master, [you] are Master of the ages , Master of masters, Elohi of Elohim, King of kings, and Elohim of the ages, the throne of Your glory stands unto all the generations of the ages, and Your name set-apart and glorious and blessed unto all the ages!
5 You have made all things, and you have power over all things: and all things are naked and open in Your sight, and You see all things, and nothing can hide itself from You.
6 You see what Azazel has done, who has taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets, which were (preserved) in heaven, which men were practicing.
7 And Shemikhazah, to whom You have given authority to be king over his associates.
8 And they have gone to the daughters of men upon the earth, and have slept with the women, and have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins.
9 And the women have borne giants, and the whole earth has thereby been filled with blood and unrighteousness.
10 And now, behold, the souls of those who have died are crying and making their suit to the gates of heaven, and their lamentations have ascended: and cannot cease because of the Torah-less deeds which are wrought on the earth.
11 And You know all things before they come to pass, and You see these things and You do suffer them, and You do not say to us what we are to do to them in regard to these.’
(1Enoch 9:4-11)

YHWH then instructs Raphael saying:

4 And again YHWH said to Rafa’el: ‘Bind Azaz’el hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein.
5 And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light.
6 And on the day of the great judgment he shall be cast into the fire.
7 And heal the earth, which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons.
8 And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sins.’
(1Enoch 10:4-8)

This binding up of Azazel is also mentioned in the Zohar:

…after God cast Uzza and Azael down from their holy
place, they went astray after the women folk and seduced
the world also. It may seem strange that being angels they
were able to abide upon the earth. The truth is, however,
that when they were cast down the celestial light which
used to sustain them left them and they were changed to
another grade through the influence of the air of this world.
Similarly the manna which came down for the Israelites in
the wilderness originated in the celestial dew from the most
recondite spot, and at first its light would radiate to all worlds
and the “field of apples”, and the heavenly angels drew
sustenance from it, but when it approached the earth it
became materialized through the influence of the air of
this world and lost its brightness, becoming only like
“coriander seed”. Now when God saw that these fallen
angels were seducing the world, He bound them in chains of
iron to a mountain of darkness. Uzza He bound at the bottom
of the mountain and covered his face with darkness because
he struggled and resisted, but Azael, who did not resist, He
set by the side of a mountain where a little light penetrated.
Men who know where they are located seek them out,
and they teach them enchantments and sorceries and
divinations. These mountains of darkness are called the
“mountains of the East”, and therefore Balaam said:
“From Aram has Balak brought me, from the mountains
of the East”. Because they both learnt their sorceries there.
Now Uzza and Azael used to tell those men who came to
them some of the notable things which they knew in former
times when they were on high, and to speak about the holy
world in which they used to be.
(Zohar 3:208a)

In which place and from whom did Balaam derive all his
Magical practices and knowledge? Rabbi Isaac replied:
“He learned it first from his father, but it was in the
“mountains of the East”, which are in an eastern country,
that he obtained a mastery of all the arts of magic and
divination. For those mountains are the abode of the
[fallen] angels Uzza and Azael whom the Holy One cast
down from heaven, and who were chained there in fetters.
It is they who impart to the sons of men a knowledge of
magic.
(Zohar 1:126a)

The Azazel in the Yom Kippur ceremony represents Azazel. The High Priest places all of the sins of Israel upon him:

21 And Aharon shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Yisra’el, and all their transgressions; even all their sins. And he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of an appointed man, into the wilderness.
(Lev. 16:21 HRV)

Just as we read in the Book of Enoch:

8 And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sins.’
(1Enoch 10:8)

And the Azazel in the Yom Kuppur ceremony is “sent away into the wilderness” just as Azazael ‘s fate:

4 And again YHWH said to Rafa’el: ‘Bind Azaz’el hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein.
5 And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light.
(1Enoch 10:4-5)

The Fate of HaSatan

The Azazel in the Yom Kippur Ceremony points backward to the fate of Azazel in the Book of Enoch, but also forward to the fate of HaSatan at the return of the Messiah.

When the High Priest exits the Holy of Holies, he represents the return of the Messiah, who then takes all of the sins and ascribes them to the Azazel (representing HaSatan) before casting him into the pit:

1 And I saw another angel that descended from heaven, who had the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he seized the dragon, the old serpent, who is the Akel Kartza and HaSatan, and bound him one thousand years.
3 And he cast him into the abyss, and closed and sealed the top over him, so that he would not seduce all the nations any more. After these [things], he must release him [for] a short time.
(Rev. 20:1-3 HRV)

The shofar has been blown and the Day of Atonement is fast approaching. Each year at this time it is said that the gates of heaven open and the Merkavah (divine throne-chariot) is prepared for YHWH to come and judge the earth. It is for this reason that each Yom Kippur we make intercession for the world and petition YHWH to give us at least one more year. One more year to bring His people out of Babylon and into Torah, and one more year to bring more Jewish people to a knowledge of Messiah.

Each year the sins of the world are rapidly increasing and the time of reckoning is approaching.

I am asking you all to step up as the Sons of Light and chip in to help support the work that we are doing here at WNAE.

We must now raise at least $600 by the end of the day today (10/7/24) to clear bills hitting our account tonight and avoid a chain reaction of returned items and fees!

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or Go Fund Me.

Click HERE to donate

Yom Kippur and the Sealed Book

In Hebrews 8 through 10, Paul gives a midrash involving The Messiah and the Yom Kippur ceremony (described in Lev. 16). We can be certain that the subject is Yom Kippur because it is only on this day that the golden censor is placed in the holy of holies (Heb. 9:4 & Lev. 16:12), and that the High Priest enters the holy of holies. Now, Hebrews tells us that the earthly holy of holies is a shadow of the heavenly holy of holies (see Heb.8:2, 5). In the earthly holy of holies is the ark of the Covenant, Book of the Covenant and Tablets of the Covenant. These are symbols of the Old/Mosaic Covenant. In the heavenly holy of holies then, is kept the New Covenant (see Heb. 8:2, 5-6; 9:11-15,also Heb. 8:8-11 quotes Jer. 31:31-34 on the New Covenant).

Now, there is an important parallel between Lev. 16; Heb. 8-9 and Rev. 5. In Heb. 8 and Rev 5, the Messiah is at the right hand of the throne in the heavenly holy of holies:

Behold this is the whole point of what we are saying: that what we have in this a Cohen Gadol that sat at the right hand[1] of the Sh’kinah in the heavens, (Heb. 8:1)

1. And I saw on the righthand of him who sat on the throne, abookinscribed from within and from without and
sealed[2] with seven seals….

7. And he came and took the book from the hand of him who sat on the throne.

(Rev. 5:1, 7)

In both Hebrews 8-9 and Rev. 5, the Messiah is also able to do something because of his death and blood. In Rev. 5, he opens the seven sealed book and in Heb. 8, he becomes mediator of the New Covenant:

3 For every Cohen Gadol gives offerings of gifts and sacrifices. It is needed also that this one have a thing which is to be offered.

6 And behold now he has obtained a priesthood which is more excellent from that which had been made, to be more excellent than the first which is upheld on better promises from the first ones.

12 Also not by the blood of goats and bulls but once he entered into the set-apart place with the blood of himself and having secured for us eternal redemption.

15 And because of this word he is made mediator of a renewed covenant between Him and us, which is not another, made through blood with the redemption of the servants which are under the first covenant which might
receive the promise which is of eternal inheritance.

(Heb. 8:3, 6; 9:12, 15)

4. And I was weeping much, because there was no one who was found who was worthy to open the book and to loosen its seals.

5. And one of the elders said to me, Do not weep, Behold, the lion from the tribe of Y’hudah[3], the root of David[4], is worthy[5]. He will open the book and its seals.

6. And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts and of the elders that [there] stood a lamb as if it was slain[6]. And it had seven horns and seven eyes that are the seven spirits of Eloah that are sent to all the earth.

7. And he came and took the book from the hand of him who sat on the throne….

12. And they were saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the slain lamb to receive power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and blessing.

(Rev. 5:4-7, 12)

Moreover, in Lev. 16:14, blood is sprinkled on the mercy seat seven times, while in Rev. 5 & 6, Messiah opens seals seven times because of his blood. It would seem then that the opening of the sealed book in Rev. 5 is synonymous with becoming mediator of the New Covenant in Heb. 8-9 and the fulfillment of the meaning of the Yom Kippur ceremony of Lev. 16.

Now, let us look in more detail at the sealed book in Rev. 5. The Book of Revelation often draws material from the prophets of the Tenak. In this case the “sealed book” seems to be a reference
to a book mentioned in Is. 29:

10 For YHWH has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes; the prophets, and your heads, the seers, has He covered.

11 And the vision of all this is become unto you as the words of a writing that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying: ‘Read this, I pray you’; and he says: ‘I cannot, for it is sealed’;

14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the prudence of their prudent men shall be hid.

18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of a book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

(Is. 29:10, 11, 14, 18)

Thus, with the revealing of this sealed book, the apostasy ends. This parallels what we learn in the olive tree parable (Rom. 11:16-27). This parable speaks of the apostasy of Israel as a “deep sleep” (Rom 11:8 = Is. 29:10).

In Rev. 5& 6 we learn that the book is sealed with seven seals. These are seven things which must happen before the book can be opened. These seven seals correspond to the curses which Israel is to go through for not having kept the Law (Deut 28-29; Lev. 26). These seven seals also parallel the material in Mt. 24 as follows:

First Seal	Rev 6:1-2 False Messiah	Mt. 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Messiah; and shall deceive many.	Deut. 13:3
Second Seal	Rev. 6:3-4 War	Mt. 24:6-7a And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that you be not troubled: for these things must come to pass. but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom…	Deut. 28:49 Lev. 26:17-25
Third Seal	Rev. 6:5-6 Famine	Mt. 24:7b … and their shall be famines…	Deut. 28:18,38,51 Lev. 26:16,20,26
Fourth Seal	Rev. 6:7-8 Death	Mt. 24:7c …and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places…	Deut. 28:21-22,26-27, 35,52,55,57 Lev. 26:16, 21,22,25,31
Fifth Seal	Rev. 6:9-11 Waiting period.	Mt. 24:8-28 …he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved… the abomination of desolation, spoken by Daniel (9:27) …except those days should be shortened…	Lev. 26:18
Sixth Seal	Rev. 6:12-17 Cosmic Disturbances	Mt. 24:29 …the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven…	Deut. 28:23-24,62, 64 Lev. 26:19
Seventh Seal	Rev 8:1-11:15 Trumpets	Mt. 24:30-31 …with a great sound of a trumpet…	Dt. 30:1-4

2 and shall return unto YHWH your Elohim, and hearken to His voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your
soul;

3 that then YHWH your Elohim will turn your captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples, where YHWH your Elohim has scattered you.

4 If any of your that are dispersed be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there will YHWH your Elohim gather you, and from there will He fetch you.

Then we reach a parallel to Mt. 24:31=Mk 13:27 (remember Mt. 24 parallels the seven seals):

4 If any of your that are dispersed be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there will YHWH your Elohim gather you, and from there will He fetch you.

(Dt. 30:4)

Then the text goes on to parallel Jer. 31:31-34[7](which speaks of the New Covenant):

5 And YHWH your Elohim will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers.

6 And YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.

(Dt. 30:5-6)

All of this is further demonstrated in Rev. 10:1-11 where the sealed book is revealed. Here the voice of the seventh angel points to the seventh trumpet and the beginning of the Kingdom of YHWH (Rev.
10:7 & 11:15).

[1] Ps. 110:1

[2] Isaiah 29:11-12, 17; Jer. 32:10-12; Ezek. 1:26; 2:9-10; Zech. 5:1-4; Rev. 10

[3] Gen. 49:9-10

[4] Isaiah 11:1

[5] “is worthy” or “has overcome/conquered”

[6] Isaiah 53:7; Exodus 12; John 1:29

[7] Moreover Jer. 31:31-34 speaks of the renewal of the covenent as does Jer. 32:40-44. Inbetween these passages Jeremiah speaks of a book (KJV has
“evidence” but Hebrew has SEFER “book”) that is sealed
until the restoration of Israel (Jer. 32:6-16).

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Must we Separate Meat and Milk?

Must we Separate Meat and Milk?
By
James Scott Trimm

Three times the Torah commands us: “You shall not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk.” (Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21)
In the Midrash Mekhilta (2^nd or 3^rd century) we read:

Simeon b. Yohai says, “On what account is this matter repeated three times?”
“One serves to prohibit eating it, one to derive benefit from it, and the third
to cooking it under any circumstances”
(Mekhilta LXXX:II:6)

It appears that cooking a kid in milk was a pagan sacrificial right in ancient times. If we look at the archeology of a place called Ras-Shamra, it appears that seething a kid in its mother’s milk was a pagan Canaanite ritual. A Ugaritic text says:

“Over the fire seven times the sacrificers cook a kid in milk…”
(Driver, G.R., Canaanite Myths and Legends. Edinburgh: T.& T. Clark, 1956. p.121.)

Simeon b. Yohai was active after the destruction of the Temple and after Nazarenes and Rabbinic Judaism separated. His interpretation is very weak based solely on the fact that the prohibition appears three times in the Torah, and from this he derives this halacha. He did not learn this interpretation from his teacher Rabbi Akiva, for Akiva taught a totally different reason that the prohibition was given three times:

Rabbi Akiva says, “On what account is this matter repeated three times?”
“One is to encompass, in particular, a domesticated beast, the second a wild
beast, the third a fowl.”
(Mekhilta LXXX:II:8)

Moreover there is no record of any debate of this issue between Hillel and Shammai themselves, and no mention of the decree in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

However the first century commentator Philo writes:

(142) And our lawgiver endeavors to surpass even himself, being a man of every kind of resource which can tend to virtue, and having a certain natural aptitude for virtuous recommendations; for he commands that one shall not take an animal from the mother, whether it be a lamb, or a kid, or any other creature belonging to the flocks or herds, before it is weaned. And having also given a command that no one shall sacrifice the mother and the offspring on the same day, he goes further, and is quite prodigal on the particularity of his injunctions, adding this also, “Thou shalt not seethe a lamb in his mother’s Milk.”{22}{exodus 23:19.} (143) For he looked upon it as a very terrible thing for the nourishment of the living to be the seasoning and sauce of the dead animal, and when provident nature had, as it were, showered forth milk to support the living creature, which it had ordained to be conveyed through the breasts of the mother, as if through a regular channel, that the unbridled licentiousness of men should go to such a height that they should slay both the author of the existence of the other, and make use of it in order to consume the body of the other. (144) And if any one should desire to dress flesh with milk, let him do so without incurring the double reproach of inhumanity and impiety. There are innumerable herds of cattle in every direction, and some are every day milked by the cowherds, or goatherds, or shepherds, since, indeed, the milk is the greatest source of profit to all breeders of stock, being partly used in a liquid state and partly allowed to coagulate and solidify, so as to make cheese. So that, as there is the greatest abundance of lambs, and kids, and all other kinds of animals, the man who seethes the flesh of any one of them in the milk of its own mother is exhibiting a terrible perversity of disposition, and exhibits himself as wholly destitute of that feeling which, of all others, is the most indispensable to, and most nearly akin to, a rational soul, namely, compassion.
(Philo, On the Virtues)

Now we know that Philo traveled to Jerusalem at one point in his life, and made offerings at the Temple. If there was a general dietary custom, even only in Jerusalem, of separating all meat from all milk, Philo should have been aware of it. Yet Philo is clearly unaware that such a custom or interpretation existed in his time, which leads us to conclude that the decree against eating meat with milk is a late Rabbinic chiddush (innovation) and not authoritative to Nazarene Judaism. The first century halacha seems to have only prohibited eating meat of an animal with a milk product made from its specific mother, and not from milk products in general.

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Is the Feast of Trumpets Rosh HaShanna?

Is the Feast of Trumpets Rosh HaShanna?
By
James Scott Trimm

Every year at the Feast of Trumpets I hear well meaning people insist (based on Ex. 12:1-2) that the Feast of Trumpets should not be called Rosh HaShanna (The New Year).

The truth is that there are two primary “new years” on the Hebrew calendar.

Nissan is the Religious new year:

And YHWH spoke unto Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt, saying:
This month shall be unto you the beginning of months:
it shall be the first month of the year to you.
(Ex. 12:1-2 HRV)

But there is another civil “New Year” Six months later at the month of Tishre.

This is evidenced in the Torah as the Sabbath years are counted from Sukkot to Sukkot:

10 And Moshe commanded them saying, At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of Sukkot,
11 When all Yisra’el is come to appear before YHWH your Elohim, in the place which He shall choose, you shall read this Torah before all Yisra’el in their hearing.
12 Assemble the people–the men and the women and the little ones, and your stranger that is within your gates–that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear YHWH your Elohim, and observe to do all the words of this Torah.
13 And that their children who have not known, may hear: and learn to fear YHWH your Elohim, as long as you live in the land, where you go over the Yarden to possess it.
(Deuteronomy 31:10-13 HRV)

And the Jubilee year cycle begins with Yom Kippur each 50’th year:

1 And YHWH spoke unto Moshe in mount Sinai, saying:
2 Speak unto the children of Yisra’el, and say unto them, When you come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a Sabbath unto YHWH.
3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and
gather in the produce thereof.
4 But in the seventh year, shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land–a Sabbath unto YHWH–you shall neither sow your field, nor prune your vineyard.
5 That which grows of itself of your harvest, you shall not reap, and the grapes of your undressed vine, you shall not gather: it shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
6 And the Sabbath produce of the land, shall be for food for you: for you, and for your
servant, and for your maid, and for your hired servant, and for the settler by your side that sojourns with you,
7 And for your cattle, and for the beasts that are in your land, shall all the increase
thereof be for food.
8 And you shall number seven Sabbaths of years unto you, seven times seven years: and there shall be unto you, the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty and nine years.
9 Then shall you make proclamation with the blast of the shofar, on the tenth day of the seventh month. In the Yom Kippur, shall you make proclamation with the shofar
throughout all your land.
(Lev. 25:1-9 HRV)

Moreover Sukkot (also known as the feast of the ingathering) occurs at the “turn of the year” (KJV has “end of the year”):

And you shall observe the feast of weeks:
even of the first fruits of wheat harvest,
and the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year.
(Ex. 34:22 HRV)

For this reason the first day of the month of Tishri (the month in which Yom Kippur and Sukkot occur) is not only the Feast of Trumpets, it is also called “Rosh HaShanna” (the Head of the Year).

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The Premature, Pre-Trib Rapture

I originally wrote this blog around 1996. At the time, the pre-trib Rapture was being taught widely in Messianic Judaism and in proto-Hebraic-Roots circles. A popular book The Seven Feasts of Israel, published in 1979 by Hebrew Christian personality Zola Levitt, made this view popular in such circles. Ten years later Joseph Good made several appearances on TBN promoting his book Rosh HaShanah and the Messianic Kingdom to Come, which TBN distributed and which also advocated the pre-Trib Rapture theory. Even Eddy Chumney embraced the theory in his 1994 book The Seven Festivals of the Messiah.

It was in this atmosphere in which the movement was enthusiastically embracing the theory of a pre-trb rapture, that I wrote this artiicle, setting the story straight on this issue, from a Jewish Roots Torah faith perspective. In the years since this article was written (in reaction to this article?) much of the movement now repudiates the Pre-Trib Rapture theory. But we were refudiating this popular theory “before it was cool”

The Premature, Pre-Trib Rapture
by
James Scott Trim

The doctrine of the Pre-Trib Rapture is a late Christian doctrine which is running rampant in Messianic Judaism. This late Christian doctrine did not even emerge in Christendom until the nineteenth century. This late Christian theology has somehow managed to find favor with many of the Messianic movement who claim to be restoring the ancient Jewish roots of the original followers of Yeshua. In this article it will be proven that the doctrine of the Pre-Trib rapture is:

1. A late invention of Christendom with NO Jewish roots whatsoever.
2. A doctrine which runs counter to the teachings of the scriptures themselves.
3. A doctrine of “peace and safety” which may destroy the faith of many in the end.

TERMINOLOGY

Before beginning lets define some basic terms we will be using:

RAPTURE – This term has become very controversial. In the occult the term has been used for centuries to refer to occult levitation. The biblical origin of the term however, in 1Thes. 4:17 where we read the words “caught up,” the Latin Vulgate uses the Latin word “RAPTOS” here. The “rapture” then, is the “being caught up” described in 1Thes. 4:17.

NATZAL – Hebrew word for “deliverance.” This word has come to be used by many Pre-Trib Messianic Jews as an attempt at a Jewish/Messianic term for the pre-tribulation rapture.

KH’TAF – Aramaic word for “caught up” in the Aramaic text of 1Thes. 4:17.

POST-TRIB – The view that the KH’TAF (rapture) will is simply part of the second coming of Messiah and will therefore take place at the end of the tribulation and the beginning of the millenial Kingdom.

PRE-TRIB – This view maintains that the rapture is a separate event from the second coming of Messiah and that it will take place seven years earlier, immediately before the tribulation.

MID-TRIB – This view also maintains that the “rapture” is a separate event from the second coming of Messiah and that it will take place 3 ½ years earlier, halfway through the tribulation, at about the time of the “abomination of desolation” (the revealing of the Anti-Christ).

PRIOR-RAPTURE – This is any view which maintains that the rapture and the second coming of Messiah are separate events and that the rapture precedes the second coming of Messiah by some period of time.

PARTIAL RAPTURE – This view maintains that only part of the Body of Messiah will be “raptured.”

PASHAT – The plain, simple, literal meaning of a text.

WHERE’S THE PASHAT?

One serious problem with Christendom’s pre-trib rapture teaching is that it has no basis in pashat. Although pre-tribers often claim that their beliefs are based on the plain literal meaning of the scriptures, the reality is that such an approach does not produce a belief in a pre-trib rapture. Even Hal Lindsey, perhaps the worlds best known advocate of a pre-trib rapture, admits that his belief in such is not based on the plain literal meaning of the scriptures. Lindsey admits that he cannot “point to any single verse that clearly says the rapture will occur before… the tribulation.” (The Rapture by Hal Lindsey p. 32). Instead Lindsey claims “pretribulationism is based largely on arguments from inference and silence.” (ibid p. 31).

If pretribulationism does not come from a pashat understanding of the scriptures then one must ask, where did it originate and why do so many believe it?

DISPENSATIONALISM AND PRETRIBISM

During the 1820’s and 1830’s a Christian theologian named John Darby (founder of the Plymoth Brethren) developed a new systematic theology called Dispensationalism. Dispensationalism has since become very popular in Christendom. Somehow this late Christian invention has gained the favor of many claiming to be returning to the Jewish roots of the original followers of Yeshua. It is a fact that Dispenstionalism did not exist until the nineteenth century. It has no roots in Judaism whatsoever and did not even exist in Christianity until the 19th century.

Like most 19th century theologians John Darby was an anti-nomian, he believed that the Law of Moses had passed away at the cross. Darby was disturbed however with certain problems created by that theology. Darby noticed that during the seven years of Daniel’s final week the offerings are being made at the Temple. Since the Law of Moses was clearly being kept during this seven year tribulation, Darby conluded that the Law comes back into effect at the beginning of the tribulation. This train of thought caused Darby to segragate biblical and prophetic history into compartmentalized ages. Darby theorized an age of Law that ended at the cross and an age of grace or church age that began at the cross. Then at the seven year tribulation the age of Law kicks back in and the church age of grace ends. This created a problem for Darby’s theory. How can the age of Law return if the Church is still here? Darby saw the age of Law as an age in which God delt with Israel and the tribulation as a return to God dealing with Isarel. So what happens to the Church? Surely the Church will not leave Grace and come under the Law of Moses. As a result Darby adopted the idea of a pre-trib rapture which had become popular among the Irvingites. This idea had the Church leave the earth at the beginning of the tribulation, leaveing Israel behind to enter the tribulation and the age of law’s return. Darby now had another problem. If the Church is raptured leaving Israel behind, then what about so-called “Jewish Christians.” Do they get raptured with the Church, or stay behind with Israel. Darby proposed yet another solution: Church/Israel dichotomy. This theory taught that a Jew who becomes a believer in Messiah becomes part of the Church and is no longer part of Israel. As a result no one can be both a part of the Church and Israel. Jewish believers, according to this theory, stop being Jews and become part of the Church of God, which he taught containd people that are not Jews or gentiles. Thus the three pillars of Dispensationalism are:

1) The Law is not for today
2) The pre-trib rapture
3) Church Israel dichotomy

Now Messianic Jews cannot accept number one or number 3. Number two was only needed because of a belief in number 1. Number 2 does not work without number 3 which was created to solve problems created by number 2. As a result Messianic Judaism is incompatble with Dispensationalism. Two of the three pillars wich must be present to support Dispensationalism are noncompatable with Messianic Judaism. Moreover the only remaining pillar cannot stand alone, it only exists to solve a problem created by number 1 and it cannot stand without number 3. When examined in light of the truths that Messianic Jews have, the whole structure of Dispensationalism comes crashing down. It is a late19th century invention of Christendom with NO roots in first century Judaism at all.

HOW MANY COMINGS OF MESSIAH?

Almost immediately it becomes apparent that prior-rapturists believe not in two comings of Messiah, but three comings of Messiah. Sine the post-tribulation return of the Messiah has been clearly recognized as the “Second coming of Messiah” for centuries, the prior rapturists must either relable this coming “the third coming of Messiah” or, as most of them do, insist that their prior-rapture is not actually a “coming of Messiah.” Prior-rapturists insist that their prior rapture is not a “coming” of the Messiah, but merely an “appearance” of the Messiah. If this is true then the scriptures should clearly bear this out. If the prior-rapturist theory is true then the scriptures should teach a pre-trib “appearance” of Messiah which is not a “coming of the Messiah” followed by a post trib “coming of the Messiah.” We should not see the KH’TAF (rapture) refered to as a “coming” of the L-rd in the scriptures. We should also not expect the post trib coming of the Messiah labled as an “appearace.” Now lets examine the scriptures:

I charge you therefore before G-d, and the L-rd
Yeshua the Messiah, who shall judge the quick
and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom.
(2Tim. 4:1)

Here it is clearly the end of the tribulation and the beginning of the Kingdom which occurs at the appearance of Messiah.

So Messiah was once offered to bear the sins
of many;and to them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
(Heb. 9:28)

Here the text seems to discuss the post-trib coming of Messiah . If prior-rapturists are correct then this text should either read “come the second time” or “appear a third time.”

Be patient therefore brothers,
unto the coming of the L-rd.
(James 5:7a)

This text seems to tell us that our hope is to look for the “coming of the L-rd” not an “appearance of the L-rd.”

For this we say to you by the Word of the L-rd,
that we which are alive and remain unto
the coming of the L-rd shall not prevent them
which are asleep. For the L-rd himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel,

and with the trump of G-d: and the dead in Messiah
shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up (raptured) together with them
in the clouds to meet the L-rd in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the L-rd.
(1Thes. 4:15-17)

This passage is the difinetive rapture text. But look, this passage is describing a “coming of the L-rd.”

It becomes clear by examining the texts that prior-rapturists believe not in two comings of the Messiah but three. This theory is clearly at odds with the scriptures which teach only two comings of Messiah.

THIEF IN THE NIGHT

One of the catchphrases used by prior-rapturists is the phrase “thief in the night.” The prior-rapturists use this term to describe their prior rapture as a “secret rapture” in which the Church is secretly snatched away. This is however a complete misuse of the biblical term “thief in the night.” The “thief in the night” parable is one of the many parables Yeshua told (Mt. 24:42-51) it is referred to in the scriptures on three additional places (1Thes. 5:2-10; 2Pt. 3:10; Rev. 3:3 & Rev. 16:15). A true analysis of the term “thief in the night” as it is used in the scriptures will reveal a post-trib rapture which is anything but a secret prior-rapture.

The first place to look is the parable itself. The thief in the night parable is given by Yeshua in Mt. 24:42-44:

Watch therefore: for you know not what hour
your L-rd does come. But know this, that if the
good-man of he house had known in what watch
the thief would come, he would have watched,
and would not have suffered his house to be
broken up. Therefore be you also ready: for
in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man comes.

There are a number of important elements to this parable. First it should be noted that the “thief” in this parable is clearly the Messiah. However in the parable of the Thief in the Night the Messiah is a thief who comes at an unexpected time. He is not pictured as “stealing the church away” If anything the assembly is the victim of his surprise visit, but not the thing being stolen. Secondly we not that the thief/Messiah comes at a time that the Assembly does not expect him. Finally it is significant that the thief comes at a time later than the Assembly expected and found the Assembly sleeping. Throughout the scriptures sleeping is a type of apostasy (see Is. 29:10 = Rom. 11:8).

The Thief in the Night parable is part of a section of scripture beginning in Mt. 24:42 and ending in Mt. 25:13 in which Yeshua illustrates that the Messiah comes later than expected to a sleeping assembly which expected him earlier. Yeshua first states this theme in verse 42. Then in Mt. 24:43 Yeshua give the thief in the night parable. Then in verse 44 Yeshua restates this theme. Then in Mt. 24:45-51 Yeshua gives the parable of the “faithful and wise servent.” In this parable also the Messiah comes at a time later than the servant expected (verses 48 & 50) to find an apostate servant (verses 48-49). Finally Yeshua gives the illustration of the “ten virgins” (Mt. 25:1-12) in which the bridegroom comes later than the virgins expected. The virgins (at least some of them) are clearly believers for five of them have oil in their lamps. The bridegroom comes to find the virgins sleeping. Even though many of them had oil in their lamps, they thought the Messiah would come sooner than he did and as a result the fell into a sleep of apostasy. Rather than teaching a pre-trib rapture this section of scripture warns us that much of the assembly will expect the Messiah sooner than he comes (pre-trib), and when the Messiah comes later than the Assembly thought he was supposed to (post-trib) these believers fall into apostate sleep. The pretribbers have been falsely taught by many of the teachers of Christendom that the Bible teaches Messiah will rescue them from the tribulation before it comes. When this does not happen many of them will lose faith and think that the scriptures are a lie. They will fall into an apostate sleep.

In Rev. 3:3 we read:

…If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you
as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I come upon you.

This passage clearly refers to the material in Mt. 24:42-44. Here Messiah is addressing the Assembly at Sardis (actual believers) and indicates that he will come at a time that the Assembly does not expect. The implication in the phrase “If therefor you shall not keep watch…” is that the Messiah will come later than expected to find sleeping/apostate believers.

In 2Peter 3:10 we read:

But the day of the L-rd will come like a thief,
in which the heavens will pass away with a roar
and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat,
and the earth and its works will be burned up.

The “day” referred to here is the 1,000 year day of the millenial Kingdom (2Pt. 3:8; Ps. 90:4; Rev. 20:2, 7). This 1,000 year “day” begins with the second coming of Messiah (Rev. 19:11-20:2) and ends with the destruction of the earth by fire (Rev. 20:7-21:1). Here the “L-rd will come like a thief” (2Pt. 3:10) definitely refers to the second coming of the Messiah at the end of the tribulation and the beginning of the 1,000 years. This is anything but a stealthy silent secret rapture thief. This is a noisy thief who will cause the heavens to pass away with a “roar.”

In Rev. 16:15 we read:

Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches,
and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked,
and they see his shame.

This passage occurs in context of the events of the 1,000 year day mentioned above. Moreover the passage also reflects a thief that comes later than expected to find an apostate Assembly.

Finally in 1Thes. 5:2-10 we read:

For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the L-rd comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say,
Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them,
as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not
escape. But you, brethers, are not in darkness, that that
day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children
of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night,
nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others;
but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in
the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the
night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting
on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the
hope of salvation. For G-d hath not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation by our L-rd Yeshua the Messiah,
Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we
should live together with him.

Now in reading this passage we should recall the Thief in the Night parable that is clearly being referred to here. Here we learn that the sleeping apostates will be duped by a “peace and safety” doctrine (verse 3) however “sudden destruction comes upon them…and they shall not escape” (verse 3). Here those that expect the Messiah to come later than he does believe in a “peace and safety” teaching and fall into apostasy when the Messiah does not come as soon as they expect but instead “sudden destruction comes upon them” something they apparently expected to “escape.” At this point they seem to fall into a sleep of apostasy. A great falling away comes when pretribbers are disappointed when they enter the tribulation instead of escaping it in a pre-trib rapture. But wait! Look at 1Thes 5:1! This whole section of scripture refers to the timing of the “rapture” event of 1Thes. 4:16-18. In fact, the chapter change from 1Thes. 4:18 to 5:1 occurs in the middle of a paragraph!

The reference to the thief in the night parable in 1Thes. 4:16-5:10 is also important for another reason. This reference gives us some context for the “rapture” event of 1Thes. 4:16-17. The thief in the night parable of Mt. 24:43 takes place in a large segment of Matthew (Mt. 24:29-25:46) which clearly discusses the post-trib (Mt. 24:29) second coming of Messiah. The thief of Mt. 24:42-44 comes at a time that is like “the days of Noah… before the flood” (Mt. 24:37-41 with Mt, 24:42-51). Luke also discusses this time that is like the days of Noah (Mt. 24:37-41 = Lk. 26-36). Luke goes on to say that those “taken” in Mt.24:37-41 = Lk. 17:26-36 will be consumed by birds of prey (see Lk. 17:37 = Mt. 24:28). These men consumed by birds of prey are those who come against Israel and are destroyed at the second coming (Rev. 19:11-21 esp. 19:17-18, 21). The timing of the “thief” event is therefore that of the second coming of Messiah in Rev. 19:11-21. Since the timing of “thief” event of 1Thes. 5:2-10 is that of the “rapture” event of 1Thes. 4:16-18 (1Thes. 5:1 states clearly that 1Thes. 5:2-10 refers to the timing of 1Thes. 4:16-18) then the “rapture” of 1Thes. 4:16-18 is simply a part of the post-trib coming of the Messiah.

IMMEDIATELY AFTER
THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS (Mt. 24:29)

In order to get a good picture of just what the KH’TAF (rapture) event of 1Thes. 4:16-17 is we must let scripture interpret scripture. This is a concept in Jewish hermeneutics called G’ZARAH SHEVAH (equivalence of expresions). This is the second of the seven rules of Hillel. The first scripture that we should compare 1Thes. 4:16-17 with is 1Cor. 15:52.

Now 1Thes. 4:13-17 reads:

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brothers,
concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow
not, even as others which have no hope. For if we
believe that Yeshua died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep in Yeshua will G-d bring
with him. For this we say unto you by the word
of the L-rd, that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the L-rd shall not prevent them
which are asleep. For the L-rd himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trump of G-d:
and the dead in Messiah shall rise first: Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the
L-rd in the air: and so shall we ever be with the L-rd.

Lets compare this passage with 1Cor. 15:50-55:

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the Kingdom of G-d; neither does corruption
inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery;
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must
put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory?

Certainly these two passages obviously speak of the same event. The question is what kind of context does 1Cor. 15:50-55 give to the “rapture” of 1Thes. 4:13-17?

1. The event of 1Cor. 15:50-55 facilitates the inheritance of the Kingdom.
2. 1Cor. 15:54b quotes Is. 25:8
3. 1Cor. 15:55 quotes Hosea 13:14

Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14 clearly speak of the beginning of the Kingdom. Taken together it would seem that 1Cor. 15:50-55 places 1Thes. 4:13-17 in the context of the beginning of the 1,000 year Kingdom.

Now 1Thes 4:13-18 and 1Cor. 15:50-55 are generally regarded as the “rapture” verses. In fact the word “rapture” comes from the Latin Vulgate word for “caught up” in 1Thes. 4:16-17. Let us compare these with the generally accepted “second coming” verses.

Some of the generally accepted “second coming” passages are: Dan. 7:13-14; Mt. 24:29-31; Mk. 13:24-27; Rev. 11:15 and 20:4-6. In these passages we can immeditely identify four elements:

1. Messiah will supernaturally appear in the sky.
(Dan. 7:13-14; Mt. 24:30; Mk. 13:26)
2. There will be a supernatural gathering together to him in the sky.
(Mt. 24:29-31; Mk. 13:24-27)
3. A last (seventh of seven) trumpet is blown by one of the seven angels which stand before G-d. (Rev. 8:2; 11:15; Mt. 24:31; Is. 27:13)
4. A (first) resurrection of the just (Rev. 20:4-6)

Now lets compare these four elements with the “rapture” passages of 1Thes. 4:13-18 and 1Cor. 15:50-55:

1. Messiah will supernaturally appear in the sky.
(1Thes. 4:16-17)
2. There will be a supernatural gathering together to him in the sky.
(1Thes. 4:17)

3. A last (seventh of seven) trumpet is blown by one of the archangels
(1Thes. 4:16; 1Cor. 15:52)
4. A (first) resurrection of the just
(1Thes. 4:16; 1Cor. 25:52)

By comparing these four elements we find that the “rapture” of 1Thes. 4:13-18 & 1Cor. 15:50-55 is identical to the second coming of the Messiah in : Dan. 7:13-14; Mt. 24:29-31; Mk. 13:24-27; Rev. 11:15 and 20:4-6. This conclusion has been reached by many commentators. For example Halley’s Bible handbook says regarding 1Thes. 4:13-18:

It [the event in 1Thes. 4:16-17] is mentioned or referred to several times in almost every New Testament book. The chapters in which it is explained most fully are Matthew 24, 25; Luke 21; 1Thesalonians 4, 5; 2Pt. 3. (Halley’s Bible Handbook p. 626 on 1Thes. 4:13-18; See also Halley’s comments on Mt. 24:31 on p. 447)

Also in his book MESSIAH: A Rabbinic and Scriptural Viewpoint, Messianic Jewish writer Burt Yellin writes regarding 1Thes. 4:16:

In IThessalonians 4:16, Paul tells us of the return
of the Messiah: “For the L-rd Himself will descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet (shofar) of G-d;
and the dead in Messiah will rise first…” When
read together with Revelation 11:15-17 we find
that this resurrection will Take place on the
seventh trumpet blast.
(p. 99)

If we were to take the “rapture” passages of 1Thes. 4:13-18 & 1Cor. 15:50-55 to be a separate event from the “second coming” passages of Dan. 7:13-14; Mt. 24:29-31; Mk. 13:24-27; Rev. 11:15 and 20:4-6 as the prior-rapturists do then we have some major chronology problems. Such a chronology would have the trumpet blast of Rev. 11:15 & Mt. 24:31 being blown after the “last trumpet” of 1Thes, 4:16 & 1Cor. 15:52). Such a chronology would also have the general resurrection of the just in 1Thes. 4:16 & 1Cor. 15:52 taking place before the “first resurection” of Rev. 20:4-6). The KH’TAF (rapture) is clearly the event which Mt. 24:29 states occurs “immediately after the tribulation of those days…”

THE PASHAT

Hal Lindsey, one of the chief apologists for the pre-trib rapture states:

The truth of the matter is that neither a post-,
mid-, or pre-Tribulantonist can point to any
single verse that clearly says the Rapture will
occur before, in the middle of, or after the Tribulation.
(The Rapture by Hal Lindsey p. 32)

Now, we agree that it is true that Lindsey cannot “point to any single verse thet clearly says the rapture will occur before… the Tribulation.” However, Lindsey is clearly wrong to state that we cannot “point to any single verse that clearly says the rapture will occur… after the Tribulation.” This article has already shown that the scriptures clearly teach a post-trib KH’TAF (rapture). The following are single verses that clearly say the Rapture will occur after the Tribulation:

For it was not David who ascended into heaven ,
But he himself says: The L-rd said to my L-rd Sit
at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool
for your feet.
( Acts 2:34-35 (quoting Ps. 110:1))
(see also Heb. 1:13; Mt. 22:44; Mk. 12:36)

This passage clearly states that the Messiah will remain at the right hand of the father until his enemies are made his footstool in the 1,000 year Kingdom. This passage clearly teaches the rapture will not occur until after the tribulation, at the beginning of 1,000 year Kingdom.

And that He may send Yeshua the Messiah appointed
for you, whom heaven must receive until the period
of restoration of all things which G-d spoke by the mouth
of his holy prophets from ancient times.
(Acts 3:20-21)
(see also Rev. 10:7 & 11:15)

This passage also teaches that Messiah will remain in heaven until the Kingdom comes.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming
of our L-rd Yeshua the Messiah, and by our
gathering together unto him, That you be not
soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither
by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us,
as that the day of Messiah is at hand. Let no man
deceive you by any means: for that day shall
not come, except there come a falling away first,
and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is
called G-d, or that is worshipped; so that he as
G-d sits in the temple of G-d, showing himself
that he is G-d.

This passage clearly teaches that the rapture CANNOT occur until AFTER the revealing of the Anti-Christ midway through the seven year “Tribulation” (see Mt. 24:15; Mk. 13:14 & Dan. 9:27).

COMMONLY MISUNDERSTOOD PASSAGES

Unable to find support for their pre-trib rapture theory in the PASHAT (literal meaning) of any Scripture passages, Pre-Tribbers have resorted to REMEZ (implied) and DRASH (allegorical) interpretations. As Lindsey admits in his book THE RAPTURE saying that it “is in some measure true” “…that pretribism is based largely on arguments from inference and silence.” (p. 31).

THE WRATH TO COME ARGUMENT

Using this argument pre-tribbers use texts which they say imply the church will not enter the tribulation, which they say hints at a pretrib rapture. The Pretribber will argue that the Tribulation is “G-d’s wrath” and that the church will not suffer “G-d’s wrath” (Rom. 5:9; 1Thes. 1:10; 5:9-10; Jn. 5:24). By using this argument pretribbers ignore the fact that the Anti-Christ, one of the major figures of the Tribulation, is the devil’s wrath (Rev. 12:12; 13:2). They also ignore the fact that the Messiah may deliver us from this wrath by destroying the AntiChrist at his second coming. Moreover they ignore the fact that by context, the wrath Messiah saves us from is in that we are “justified by his blood” (Rom. 5:9) and so we “shall be saved” (Rom. 5:9) clearly the wrath here is the Lake of Fire not the Tribulation. (Jn. 5:24 uses the word “condemnation” but the same argument applies.)

THE LUKE 21:36 ARGUMENT

This argument was first used by prior-rapturisms 15 year old inventor, who misquoted the verse in her discusion with Darby. This verse says “…pray always, that you may be accounted worth to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

To begin with this verse only says to pray and does not promise a result. Secondly the passages simply says “escape” not “raptured”, this could simply refer to survival. The most important flaw in this Pre-Trib argument is what is meant by “all these things.” This phrase seems to refer to those things listed in Luke 21:34 which would cause one to be off guard at the second coming (Lk. 21:34-36) and not the Tribulation at all. Finally, we must ask pretribbers what is meant by “accounted worthy”? If these are the church then those in the church are “accounted worthy” of their salvation. This runs counter to the Scriptures which clearly teach that we do not earn our salvation, but that we receive it as an act of grace that we are not worthy of.

THE REVELATION 3:10 ARGUMENT

Pretribbers will also point to Rev. 3:10:

I also will keep you from the hour of temptation
Which shall come upon all the world,
To try them that dwell upon the earth.

To begin with the word “keep” here does not mean “rapture” and could simply refer to survival with G-ds help. More importantly the context of the passage is not prophetic but written to the “assembly at Philadelphia” (Rev. 3:7) or those believers that lived in Philadelphia in John’s time. Revelation is divided into three sections (Rev. 3:10) things which John saw (Rev. 1) things which are (Rev. 2-3) and things which shall be hereafter (Rev. 4:1). Rev. 3:10 therefore applies to the time of John and not the future tribulation in the last days.

THE HOLY SPIRIT TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY?

This argument was first used by prior-rapturism’s 15 year old inventor. This argument uses eisogesis (reading ideas into a text) rather than exogesis (reading ideas out of a text). In this case Prior-rapturists read “Holy Spirit” into the “he” in 2Thes. 2:7. By this reading the Anti-Christ is revealed (2Thes. 2:8) and the Tribulation begins after the church (and therefore the Holy Spirit within them) are removed by a pre-trib rapture. Prior-rapturism’s inventor first proposed this idea after having a weird vision in which it was “revealed” to her that “then shall the wicked be revealed” immeditely follows “…two shall be in one bed, the one taken and the other left…” (Lk. 17:34f; Mt. 24:40-41). Prior-rapturism’s inventor taught a partial prior-rapture in which those “taken” were identified as “those who were filled with the Spirit.” She falsely identified “taken” in Lk. 17:34-35 & Mt. 24:40-41 with “taken” in 2Thes. 2:7. Those “taken” in Lk. 17:34-35 & Mt. 24:40-41 are not “those filled with the Spirit” but are compared to those “taken” by the flood in the days of Noah (Mt. 24:39). Their bodies will be fed to birds of prey (Lk. 17:37) at the secod coming of Messiah (Rev. 19:17-18, 21). In fact the Shem Tob Hebrew Matthew adds in Mt. 24:41:

this is because the angels at the end of the world will remove the stumbling blocks from the world and will separate the good from the evil.

Although restraint of some kind is removed in 2Thes. 2:7 the Holy Spirit is not.

THE REV. 4:1 ARGUMENT

Being unable to prove their argument by a literal understanding of the Scriptures, prior rapturists turn to arguments based purely on allegory. In this argumernt prior rapturists say that John represents the Church and that he is getting “raptured” just before Rev. describes the Tribulation. There is absolutely no support for this argument from the text.

THE ENOCH ARGUMENT

This argument is also pure allegory. This argument says that Enoch was translated before the flood. The Prior-rapturists say Enoch = the Church and the flood = the Tribulation. Actually in the scriptures (and even the Book of Enoch) the flood represents the day of judgement and the days before the flood (the “days of Noah”) represent the tribulation. Moreover, Elijah was also translated AFTER surviving a Tribulation period (2Kn. 2:9-11; 1Kn. 17f) 3 ½ years of which are often paralleled in the scriptures to the second half of the 7 year “Tribulation.”

JEWISH CUSTOMS

Certain Messianic Jewish scholars have sought to find evidence for a pre-trib rapture allegorically from Jewish customs. One of these involves Rosh HaShanna and Yom Kippur, another the Jewish wedding. These are weak attempts at finding allegory to prove something that has no support from any PASHAT (literal) interpretation of any passage and which has no roots in Judaism to begin with but was invented in Christendom in the 19th century.

RAPTURE OR REGATHERING?

To understand the truth about the KH’TAF (rapture) it is important to understand just what this event is. Christendom generally teaches that the Rapture is a rapture of the Church, but the real truth is that the KH’TAF (rapture) is the supernatural regathering of Israel upon the return of Messiah. A serious examination of the scriptures makes this clear.

The Tenach foretells of a time when YHWH will regather Israel “from the four corners of the earth” (Is. 11:12) and “from the farthest parts under heaven” (Dt. 30:4). The Torah says that Messiah will “bring” them out of these other lands (Dt. 30:4). The word for “bring” here in the Hebrew actually means a forceful action. The Jerusalem Targum interprets this passage (Dt. 30:4) to mean that YHWH will “gather you together by the hand of Elijah… and from thence will He bring you by the hand of the King Messiah.” According to Rashi’s commentary this means that they will be dragged through the air by the hand of Messiah to the land. Is this event the KH’TAF (rapture)?

The first evidence that the “bring” in Dt. 30:4 is the KH’TAF (rapture) is found in the wording of Mt. 24:31 = Mk. 13:27 which identify those being “gathered” as “the Elect.” The term “the Elect” in the scriptures is a euphemism for Israel (Dt. 7:6; 10:15; 14:2; Is. 41:8-9; 42:1; 43:2f; 45:4; 65:9-22; Ps. 135:4; 1Pt. 2:9 = Is. 43:20f & Dt. 10:15). In 1Thes 4:17 Paul uses the term “we” but this is a term that elsewhere uses to refer to himself and his fellow Jews (Acts 17:1-4).

Further evidence to identify the KH’TAF event with the regathering of Israel is that of the trumpet. A trumpet is blown at the KH’TAF (rapture) in 1Thes. 4:16-17 and 1Cor. 15:50-55 as well a in Mt. 24:31 and Rev. 11:15. According to the Tenach a trumpet is also blown at the regathering of Israel (Is. 27:12-13.

Additional evidence which identifies the KH’TAF with the regathering of Israel is that of the resurrection. The KH’TAF is accompanied by a resurrection (1Thes. 4:16-17 & 1Cor. 15:50-55). The regathering of Israel also includes a resurrection (Ezkl. 37:1-14; Is. 25:1-12; Hosea 13:9-14:9). In fact, 1Cor. 15:54-55 actually quotes Is. 25:8 & Hosea 13:14. The use of Is. 25:8 & Hosea 13:14 in 1Cor. 15:54-55 is also important because of its finality. How can pretribbers believe death comes to an end at the beginning of the Tribulation?

There is yet more evidence that the KH’TAF is the regathering of Israel. Those “raptured” in 1Cor. 15:53 become immortal, but in the 1,000 year Kingdom there will also be mortals (Is. 65:20) If the Church is raptured in 1Cor. 15:53 and becomes immortal, then who are the mortals of Is. 65:20?

Final proof that the KH’TAF (rapture) is actually the regathering of Israel at the return of the Messiah is to be found in the text of Mt. 24:31 = Mk. 13:27 which actually quote the phrases “from the four corners of the earth” (Is. 11:12) and “from the farthest parts under heaven” (Dt. 30:4) right out of the Tenach passages which describe the regathering of Israel.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENS

Immeditaly after the tribulation (Mt. 24:29; Mk. 13:24) the Messiah will appear in the sky (Dan. 7:13-14; Mt. 24:29-31; Mk. 13:24-27; 1Thes. 4:16-17) there will be a final trumpet (Rev. 8:2; 11:15; Mt. 24:31; Is. 27:13; 1Thes. 4:16-17; 1Cor. 15:52) and there will be a resurrection (1Cor. 15:50-55; 1Thes. 4:16; Rev. 20:4-6; Is. 25:8; Hosea. 13:14; Ezkl. 37:1-14) and a gatherring together to Messiah in the sky (Mt. 24:29-31; Mk. 13:24-27; 2Thes. 2:1; 1Thes. 4:17). This is followed by the Messiah coming with many of His set-apart ones (Jude 1:14-15 = 1Enoch 1:9; 1Thes. 3:13; Rev. 19:11-16; Zech. 14:4-5). After this, the 1,000 year Kingdom is established (Rev. 20:1-3, 7). This KH’TAF will be the regathering of Israel to the Land of Israel at the return of Messiah and not a pretrib rapture of the Church.

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Rosh HaShanna and the Akeda

Rosh HaShanna and the Akeda
By
James Scott Trimm

Each year at Rosh HaShanna we greet one another with the blessing “may your name be written in the Book of Life” and we blow the shofar [ram’s horn]. But why do we blow the ram’s horn and not some other kind of trumpet? And what does the shofar have to do with the Book of Life? We read in the Talmud:

R. Abbahu said: Why do we blow on a ram’s horn? The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Sound before Me a ram’s horn so that I may remember on your behalf the binding of Isaac the son of Abraham, and account it to you as if you had bound yourselves before Me.
(b.Rosh HaShanna 16a)

The account of the binding of Isaac (Gen. 22:1-13) is known as the Akedah. We blow the shofar to petition YHWH to recall on our behalf, the Akedah. But why?

The Zohar tells us that the event recorded at the opening of the Book of Job where Satan tested Job, was on a Rosh HaShanna:

R. Eleazar then discoursed on the verse: And there was a day when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, and Satan came also among them (Job I, 6). ‘This “day” ‘, said he, ‘was New Year’s Day, on which the Holy One sits in judgement on the world.
(Zohar 2:32b)

Observe that on New Year’s Day the world is brought to trial before the holy Judgement Seat; and there stands on one side the evil spirit who regards intently and makes a record of all those that are doomed to death. But at the moment that Israel awakens mercy by means of the sound of the trumpet (shofar) he becomes altogether confused and distracted, and turns his gaze away from the doomed ones.
(Zohar 2:237b-238a)

The Book of Jasher contains a prelude to the Akeda which parallels the event at the opening of Job:

46 And the day arrived when the sons of God came and placed themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with the sons of God before the Lord.
47 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? and Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
48 And the Lord said to Satan, What is thy word to me concerning all the children of the earth? and Satan answered the Lord and said, I have seen all the children of the earth who serve thee and remember thee when they require anything from thee.
49 And when thou givest them the thing which they require from thee, they sit at their ease, and forsake thee and they remember thee no more.
50 Hast thou seen Abraham the son of Terah, who at first had no children, and he served thee and erected altars to thee wherever he came, and he brought up offerings upon them, and he proclaimed thy name continually to all the children of the earth.
51 And now that his son Isaac is born to him, he has forsaken thee, he has made a great feast for all the inhabitants of the land, and the Lord he has forgotten.
52 For amidst all that he has done he brought thee no offering; neither burnt offering nor peace offering, neither ox, lamb nor goat of all that he killed on the day that his son was weaned.
53 Even from the time of his son’s birth till now, being thirty-seven years, he built no altar before thee, nor brought any offering to thee, for he saw that thou didst give what he requested before thee, and he therefore forsook thee.
54 And the Lord said to Satan, Hast thou thus considered my servant Abraham? for there is none like him upon earth, a perfect and an upright man before me, one that feareth God and avoideth evil; as I live, were I to say unto him, Bring up Isaac thy son before me, he would not withhold him from me, much more if I told him to bring up a burnt offering before me from his flock or herds.
55 And Satan answered the Lord and said, Speak then now unto Abraham as thou hast said, and thou wilt see whether he will not this day transgress and cast aside thy words.
(Jasher 22:46-55)

There is an interesting parallel to this prelude in the Dead Sea Scrolls:

And a son of love was born to Abraham and he named him Isaac. Now the Prince of Malevolence (Mastemah) came to God and brought his animosity to bear against Abraham because of Isaac….
(4Q225)

This is why Gen. 22:1 says that Abraham was being “tested” or “tried” just as Job had been tested. This also tells us that this event took place on a Rosh HaShanna, and thus why we would remind YHWH of the Akeda in connection with Rosh HaShanna.

So let us study the Akeda and see what it can teach us:

[1] And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
[2] And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
[3] And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
[4] Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
[5] And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you,
[6] And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
[7] And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
[8] And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
[9] And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
[10] And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
[11] And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
[12] And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
[13] And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
[14] And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
(Gen. 22:1-14 KJV)

Notice that in verse 8 Abraham says that YHWH would provide a “lamb” but in verse 13 the substitute is a “ram”. The remez (Implication) is that the ram is only representative of the lamb that YHWH will provide. The text may also be read that YHWH will provide Himself as the substitute “lamb”.

Philo: The Lamb is the Word

The first century Jewish writer Philo of Alexandria understood the Akeda on a drash level as an allegory by which Avraham was prepared to offer up to YHWH his “self-taught wisdom” (represented by Isaac) but YHWH instead substituted the LOGOS “The Word” or “divine reason” represented by the ram:

(4) For the appropriate progeny of God are the perfect virtues, but that offspring which is akin to the wicked, is unregulated wickedness. But learn thou, if thou wilt, O my mind, not to bear children to thyself, after the example of that perfect man Abraham, who offered up to God “The beloved and only legitimate offspring of his soul,” the most conspicuous image of self-taught wisdom, by name Isaac; and who gave him up with all cheerfulness to be a necessary and fitting offering to God. “Having bound,” as the scripture says, this new kind of victim, either because he, having once tasted of the divine inspiration, did not condescend any longer to tread on any mortal truth, or because he saw that the creature was unstable and moveable, while he recognised the unhesitating firmness existing in the living God, on whom he is said to have believed.
(On the Unchangeableness of God 4)

(133) Let us therefore consider what it is that he who is seeking doubts about, and what he who answers reveals, and in the third place what the thing is which was found. Now what the inquirer asks is something of this kind:–Behold the efficient cause, the fire; behold also the passive part, the material, the wood. Where is the third party, the thing to be effected? (134) As if he said, –Behold the mind, the fervid and kindled spirit; behold also the objects of intelligence, as it were so much material or fuel; where is the third thing, the act of perceiving? Or, again, –Behold the sight, behold the colour, where is the act of seeing? And, in short, generally, behold the external sense, behold the thing to be judge of; but where are the objects of the external sense, the material, the exertion of the feeling? (135) To him who puts these questions, answer is very properly made, “God will provide for himself.” For the third thing is the peculiar work of God; for it is owing to his providential arrangement that the mind comprehends, and the sight sees, and that every external sense is exerted. “And a ram is found caught by his horns;” that is to say, reason (LOGOS “The Word”) is found silent and withholding its assent; (136) for silence is the most excellent of offerings, and so is a withholding of assent to those matters of which there are not clear proofs; therefore this is all that ought to be said, “God will provide for himself,”–he to whom all things are known, who illuminates the universe by the most brilliant of all lights, himself. But the other things are not to be said by creatures over whom great darkness is poured; but quiet is a means of safety in darkness.
(On Flight and Finding 133-136)

(At a future date I will write a more detailed analysis of Philo’s fascinating understanding of the Akeda)

In another passage Philo reveals that he also understands the “Word” (LOGOS) to be synonymous with the Messiah:

“The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live.”
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)

The Lamb Slain from the Foundation of the World

The Book of Jasher tells us that this ram had been preserved since creation for this moment:

70 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, a ram was caught in a thicket by his horns; that was the ram which the Lord God had created in the earth in the day that he made earth and heaven.
71 For the Lord had prepared this ram from that day, to be a burnt offering instead of Isaac.
(Jasher 23:70-71)

Likewise Rashi says in his commentary to verse 13 “and lo! there was a ram: It was prepared for this since the six days of Creation.”

And we read of this verse in the Zohar:

ABRAHAM LIFTED UP HIS EYES AND LOOKED AND BEHELD BEHIND HIM A RAM, ETC. We have been taught that that ram was created at twilight (on the sixth day of Creation), and he was of the first year, as it is written, “one he-lamb of the first year” (Num. VII, 63), thus being according to requirement. But if so, how could he have been created at twilight? The truth is that from that time it was pre-ordained that that ram should be at hand at the moment when Abraham should require it. The same applies to all those things said to have come into being “at twilight”, which in reality means that they were then predestined to appear at the requisite moment.
(Zohar 1:120b)

This reminds us of a Baraita that appears in the Talmud concerning the Yayin MaMeshumar (wine that has been kept):

What is the meaning of “Eye has not seen” (Is. 64:3)
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:
This is the wine that has been kept
in its grapes from the six days in the beginning.
(b.Berakot 34b; b.Sanhedrin 99a)

The Midrash Rabbah identified this wine with the blood of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 who is, like the ram, a burnt offering (Is. 53:10)

Because he bared his soul unto death (Is. 53:12)
and bruised themselveswith the Torah which is sweeter than honey,
the Holy One, blessed be He, will hereafter give them to drink
of the wine kept in its grapes since the six days in the beginning….
(Midrash Rabbah to Numbers 13:2 (500))

This lamb that YHWH provides is certainly the Lamb spoken of in Revelations where we read in connection with the Book of Life:

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
(Rev. 13:8)

The Temptation

Just at HaSatan attempted to tempt Messiah to abandon his mission, so also did he tempt both Abraham and Isaac to abandon their mission of the Akeda:

25 And whilst Abraham was proceeding with his son Isaac along the road, Satan came and appeared to Abraham in the figure of a very aged man, humble and of contrite spirit, and he approached Abraham and said to him, Art thou silly or brutish, that thou goest to do this thing this day to thine only son?
26 For God gave thee a son in thy latter days, in thy old age, and wilt thou go and slaughter him this day because he committed no violence, and wilt thou cause the soul of thine only son to perish from the earth?
27 Dost thou not know and understand that this thing cannot be from the Lord? for the Lord cannot do unto man such evil upon earth to say to him, Go slaughter thy child.
28 And Abraham heard this and knew that it was the word of Satan who endeavored to draw him aside from the way of the Lord, but Abraham would not hearken to the voice of Satan, and Abraham rebuked him so that he went away.
29 And Satan returned and came to Isaac; and he appeared unto Isaac in the figure of a young man comely and well favored.
30 And he approached Isaac and said unto him, Dost thou not know and understand that thy old silly father bringeth thee to the slaughter this day for naught?
31 Now therefore, my son, do not listen nor attend to him, for he is a silly old man, and let not thy precious soul and beautiful figure be lost from the earth.
32 And Isaac heard this, and said unto Abraham, Hast thou heard, my father, that which this man has spoken? even thus has he spoken.
33 And Abraham answered his son Isaac and said to him, Take heed of him and do not listen to his words, nor attend to him, for he is Satan, endeavoring to draw us aside this day from the commands of God.
34 And Abraham still rebuked Satan, and Satan went from them, and seeing he could not prevail over them he hid himself from them, and he went and passed before them in the road; and he transformed himself to a large brook of water in the road, and Abraham and Isaac and his two young men reached that place, and they saw a brook large and powerful as the mighty waters.
(Jasher 23:25-34)

One cannot help but see the parallel between this temptation, and HaSatan’s attempt to tempt Messiah as recorded in the Gospels (Matthew 4:1-11 and parallels).

In a Tree

Just as the Ketuvim Netzarim refers to the instrument of Yeshua’s crucifixion as a “tree” on five occasions (Acts 5:30, 10:39, 13:29, Galatians 3:13 and 1 Peter 2:24) the Targum Onkelos refers to the “thicket” in which the ram was caught as a “tree”. This is because the Hebrew word for “tree” (ETZ) can also mean “wood” or “lumber” and can be used to refer to the wooden gallows on which a person was executed (As in Ester 9:25).

I and My Father are One

In the Akeda we are twice told that Abraham and Isaac were “together” (verses 6 and 8). The literal Hebrew in these verses means “united” (Yachad) and is closely related to the Hebrew word ECHAD. Certainly it was the Akeda that Yeshua brought to his audience’s minds when he said:

[18] No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
[19] There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.
[20] And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?
[21] Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?
[22] And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
[23] And Yeshua walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
[24] Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Messiah, tell us plainly.
[25] Yeshua answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
[26] But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
[27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
[28] And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
[29] My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
[30] I and my Father are one.
(John 10:18-30)

The Zohar gives a lengthy interpretation of Gen. 22:1f (Zohar 1:119b-120b) which likewise sees in the Akeda as symbolism of the unity of the three pillars of the godhead represented by Abraham (Severity); Isaac (Mercy) and Jacob (harmony) with the idea that Abraham saw Jacob “afar” (Gen. 22:4).

He Carried the ETZ Himself

Another significant parallel between the crucifixion of Yeshua and the Akeda is that just as Yeshua would carry his own wooden gallows, Isaac carried his own wood (Hebrew ETZ translated “gallows” in Ester 9:25). In Hebrew both men carried their won ETZ.

Elohim was Able to Raise Him Up

In Hebrews Paul writes of the Akeda saying:

[17] By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
[18] Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
[19] Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
(Heb. 11:17-18 KJV)

There is a tradition concerning the Akeda associating I with the daily liturgy of the Amidah, claiming that Isaac actually died and was resurrected:

Rabbi Judah said: When the sword reached his neck, Isaac’s soul fled and left his body. But, when the Lord caused His voice to be heard from between the two cherubs saying, “Do not stretch out your hand against the child and do not do anything at all to him,” his soul returned to his body and Isaac stood up on his feet. Isaac knew that this is how the dead will be resurrected, and so he opened [his mouth] and said, “Blessed are You, ‘Adonay, Who resurrects the dead.”
(Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer, chapter 30 [in some translations, chapter 31])

Conclusion

So now you know why we blow the shofar to petition YHWH to remember on our behalf the binding of Isaac the son of Abraham, and account it to us as if we had bound ourselves before Him. The incarnate Word was a burnt offering and his death is accounted as if it was our own, that our names might be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!

So this year blow your shofar and know that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!

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