Brit-Am Now no. 2408
Brit-Am Now 10
Lost Ten Tribes Studies (8 February, 2015, 19 Shevet, 5775)
1. Ilanb: Asian Lion in Ancient Israel
2. Biblical and Rabbinical Prophecies about the End Times
3. E.A. Bradbrooke, R.A.M.: Mount Zion is in the far recesses of the North!
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 Re: Brit-Am Now no. 2407. Ten Tribes Studies- Regarding the Lions
#1. Selected New Comments to Video Clips
(c) Difficult Question Concerning the Lion Symbol
http://hebrewnations.com/features/10/2407.html
Hi Yair,
The author who said Lions live in Africa didnt do his research. There is another Lion called the "Asiatic Lion" remain of which have been found in the South of Israel, they are now protected species and found only in India but they once were found in greater numbers and areas. This is most likely the lion that Samson fought. Perhaps it had been part of some Philistine zoo or circus and was released or escaped.
Egypt where Jacob gave his blessing IS a part of Africa, and there are ancient Egyptian inscriptions showing the African Lion bred in a type of zoo, as well as mummified remains being found. They were in Egypt and respected by the Pharaohs so nothing unusual there. Hercules the Greek, a Mediterranean fought the Nemean Lion.
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/best_place_species/current_top_10/asiatic_lion_.cfm
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/01/0114_040114_egyptlionmummy_2.html
Critically endangered lion now found only in India
The Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) is a subspecies of the lion now found only in India.
Asiatic Lions once ranged from the Mediterranean to India, covering most of West Asia where it was also known as the Persian Lion.
All the best.
Ilanb
Bill Rasmussen wrote:
Shalom Yair, I hope all is well with you and the blessings of HaShem are raining upon you. I have a question for you regarding Behemoth and Leviathan. I was reading Job 40 and 41, both chapters relating to the beasts of land and sea. I thought about the conclusion of Sukkot when we pray: "May it be your will, Lord our God and God of our forefathers, that just as I have fulfilled and dwelt in this sukkah, so may I merit in the coming year to dwell in the sukkah of the skin of Leviathan. Next year in Jerusalem.". Upon reading these two chapters, it is difficult to understand whether the text is using allegory or whether it is literal.
I read the entire Jewish Encylopedia entry on Leviathan and looked at the commentaries by Rashi, Talmud Bathra 75a, Yochanan Bar Nappaha, Rabbi Eliezer and several other individuals. Given the commentary, it would seem it is indeed a literal creature that will be served up for the righteous when Moshiach comes. Psalm 74:14, 104:25 and Isaiah 27:1 all mention Leviathan.
All of this perplexes me much like Og, the giant, whom the Sages say was the only one of the Rephaim to escape Noah's flood. He was 9 cubits, which would be at least 13.5 feet and had a bed which is rendered also as cradle and was made of iron.
So, my question is: what is your opinion regarding Leviathan and Behemoth and do you think that they are part of the Acharit Yamim [End of Days] where evil nations are aligning against Israel? Do you think that they will have anything to do with the Battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38? I would really appreciate your input on this. This is a very perilous time for the world. We are fast approaching the third of the tetrad of blood red moons. So much has been said rabinically regarding the significance of blood red moons vis a vis Israel as well as a sword coming to the world, I wonder how all these things are intertwined. I would really appreciate your expertise on this as it is fascinating, yet perplexing.
Shalom v'b'richot, Bill Rasmussen
Brit-Am Reply:
Bill Shalom,
You probably know more about the subject that I do by now.
I quickly glanced through a few commentaries concerning Leviathan.
In some cases the commentaries (Malbim, Rashi, Mestudad David) say that Leviathan represents Pharoah, or Egypt, or Edom.
They also may be real beasts. There are all kinds of things in the depths of the sea that scientists are not sure about.
cf.
10-year census finds thousands of new species
BY AAP with AG Staff |
A decade-long marine census involving 2,700 scientists and 9,000 days at sea has found thousands of species.
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2010/10/10-year-census-finds-thousands-of-new-species/
The estimated percentage of marine species not yet described by scientists were:
* Europe: 10 per cent
* South Africa: 38 per cent
* Antarctica: 39 to 58 per cent
* Japan: 70 per cent
* Mediterranean deep-sea: 75 per cent
* Australia: 80 per cent
Maimonides insisted that the legends etc in the Talmud should all be understood as allegorical.
So did the Maharal of Prague who nevertheless insisted that they all symbolized deeper truths that should be believed in.
It stands to reason that since Scripture describes these beasts as real beings then they must exist.
This does not mean that certain mentions of them are not to be considered as parables with a deeper significance.
Also Giants did exist.
It is acknowledged that skeletal remains of humans or simians that were 18 feet tall have been found in China and elsewhere.
Also archaeologists have discovered numerous tools and even buildings that could only have been used for giants. These however are usually dismissed as having been made by humans of normal size for cultic reasons.
There is a psychological phenomenon of not seeing something you do not wish to believe in even when it is standing right in front of you.
As for other signs we are definitely getting closer to the End of Days but how close we are no-one can say.
Ever since I have been in Israel, nearly every year this or that source has been widely quoted as proof that this is definitely the year the Messiah shall appear in or something similar. And sometimes things do happen.
It was once very strongly believed that 1914 would be the year of the Messiah. The Messiah did not arrive. World War 1 however broke out and the world was drastically transformed as a result.
Numerous Other Rabbinical Predictions were made some of which had something to them. Consider for example the two examples (both culled from Christian sources) below:
THE JEWS AND THE PASSION FOR PALESTINE IN THE LIGHT OF PROPHECY
by Keith L. Brooks
http://baptistbiblebelievers.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=OoMpGrOxvaI%3D&tabid=431&mid=1366
ALLEGORY FROM HEBREW TALMUD
An allegorical cumulative tale known as the Sephr Haggadah is found in the Hebrew Talmud. In
English, it runs as follows:
1. A kid, a kid, my father bought for two pieces of money.
2. Then came the cat and ate the kid.
3. Then came the dog and ate the cat that ate the kid.
4. Then came the staff that beat the dog, etc.
5. Then came the fire that burned the staff, etc.
6. Then came the water that quenched the fire, etc.
7. Then came the ox and drank the water, etc.
8. Then came the butcher and slew the ox, etc.
9. Then came the Angel of Death and killed the butcher, etc.
10. Then came the Holy One, blessed be He, and killed the Angel of Death who killed the
butcher, who slew the ox, that drank the water, that quenched the fire, that burned the staff, that
beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the kid, that my father bought for two pieces of money.
The meaning given is a summary of Israel's history, past, present and future, with a prophetic
touch in No. 10, remarkable considering its early date (1731). It runs:
1. The kid, as a ceremonially clean animal, represents the Hebrew race. The Father is the Lord
God. The two pieces of money are Moses and Aaron.
2. The cat represents the Assyrians who led Israel into captivity.
3. The dog is the Babylonians who conquered the Assyrians and the Jews, and took the Jews
captive.
4. The staff is the Medes and Persians who conquered Babylon.
5. The fire is the Grecian Empire that conquered Persia under Alexander the Great.
6. The water is the Romans who conquered the Grecian Empire, including Palestine.
7. The ox is the Saracens who subdued Palestine and drove out both Jews and Romans.
8. The butcher is the Crusaders who fought the Saracens.
9. The angel of death is the Turkish power.
10. The Holy One is the Lord who will take vengeance on the Turks, after whose overthrow the
Jews will be restored and will shortly live under the government of the Messiah.
12th-century rabbi predicted Israel's future
Now his prophecies about return of Messiah are being studied
http://www.wnd.com/2012/11/12th-century-rabbi-predicted-israels-future/
Published: 11/14/2012 at 7:56 PM
Extracts:
JERUSALEM. Â Judah Ben Samuel was a legendary and prolific German rabbi of the 12th century who made some astonishing and specific predictions about the future of Jerusalem and Israel that came true.
Judah Ben Samuel, also known as Judah he-Hasid (Judah the Pious), lived and worked from the end of the 12th century until the beginning of the 13th century in Regensburg, authoring a number of books in the German language.
At this time, Judah Ben Samuel published the results of his biblical calculations (Gematria) and astrological observations and summarized as follows: 'When the Ottomans (Turks), who were already a power to be reckoned with on the Bosporus in the time of Judah Ben Samuel, Â conquer Jerusalem they will rule over Jerusalem for eight jubilees. Afterwards Jerusalem will become no-man's land for one jubilee, and then in the ninth jubilee it will once again come back into the possession of the Jewish nation, which would signify the beginning of the Messianic end time.'
One jubilee is 50 years (Leviticus 25). It is the 50th year after seven times seven years, the year in which each person should regain ownership of his or her land. Ben Samuel's calculations were purely theoretical; there was absolutely no sign at that time of their being fulfilled. He himself was not able to experience their fulfillment, for it was only 300 years after his death that the first of his predictions were to come true.
The Mamluks, who had been reigning in Jerusalem since 1250, were conquered in 1517 by the Ottoman Turks. They remained for eight jubilees (8 x 50 = 400 years), that is to say they were in Jerusalem for 400 years. Exactly 400 years later, in 1917, the Ottoman Turks were conquered by the British. The League of Nations conferred the Mandate for the Holy Land and Jerusalem to the British. Thus, from 1917, under international law, Jerusalem was no-man's land.
Then, when Israel captured Jerusalem in the Six Day War of 1967, exactly one jubilee (50 years) after 1917, Jerusalem reverted to Jewish-Israeli ownership once again. Thereby, according to the prophecies of Judah Ben Samuel, the Messianic End Times began.
But to recap the astonishing predictions: In AD 1217 this scholarly and pious rabbi prophesied that the Ottoman Turks would rule over the holy city of Jerusalem for eight Jubilees. Now, keep in mind, he made this prediction 300 years before the Ottoman Turks seized control of Jerusalem in 1517. If indeed 1217 and 1517 were jubilee years as Judah Ben Samuel believed, then his prophecy was exactly right, because exactly 400 years after the Turks took control of Jerusalem they were driven out of the city and the holy land in 1917 by the Allied forces under the command of General George Allenby, on Hanukkah, by the way.
But it gets more interesting still.
The rabbi also prophesied that during the ninth Jubilee Jerusalem would be a 'no-man's land.' This is exactly what happened from 1917 to 1967, due to the fact that the Holy Land was placed under British Mandate in 1917 by the League of Nations and literally 'belonged' to no nation.
Even after Israel's war of independence in 1948-49, Jerusalem was still divided by a strip of land running right through the heart of the city, with Jordan controlling the eastern part of the city and Israel controlling the western part of the city. That strip of land was considered and even called 'no-man's land' by both the Israelis and the Jordanians.
It was not until the Six Day War in 1967 when the entire West Bank of the Holy Land was conquered by the Israeli army that the whole city of Jerusalem passed back into the possession of Israel. So once again the prophecy made by the rabbi 750 years previously was fulfilled to the letter.
It certainly would be significant if both 1917 and 1967 were Jubilee years, considering the significance of what happened in Jerusalem on those years. But it gets even more interesting, because Judah Ben Samuel also prophesied that during the 10th Jubilee Jerusalem would be under the control of the Jews and the Messianic 'end times' would begin. If he's right, the 10th Jubilee began in 1967 and will be concluded in 2017.
In other words,
It may be well to take note of different predictions etc but we should be very reserved about how much stock we put in them.
Analyzing predictions etc beyond what directly concerns identifying the Ten Tribes was never our strong point.
We should all do what we can and the Almighty will direct us in HIS path.
Re: Psalm-2. The Messiah Shall Rule Over All Peoples
From: Ab Rad <abrad995@gmail.com>
On the contrary, Mount Zion is not in Jerusalem.
Mount Zion is in the far recesses of the North. See Psalm 48.
Jerusalem is not found in the recesses of the North.
Jerusalem is known as, " The Daughter of Zion."
Besides, Bashan is the Mountain of God, not Mount Sinai. See Psalm 68.
Aside from that, Bashan is known as the land of the remnant of the Giants;Â moreover, the Sons of Anak. See Deuteronomy Chapter 3......
E.A. Bradbrooke, R.A.M.
cf. Brit-Am Commentary to Psalms 68
http://britam.org/psalms/psalms68.html
[Psalms 68:22] THE LORD SAID, I WILL BRING AGAIN FROM BASHAN, I WILL BRING
MY PEOPLE AGAIN FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA:
Rashi says this means that the Almighty promises to bring us back from
amongst the Great Bulls of Bashan and from the Isles of the Sea. The
Commentators appear to indicate that the final return will be similar to the
First Exile. Just as the First Exile was partly by sea (as we explained in
our works, "Origin", and "Lost Israelite Identity", see also "The Tribes")
and partly overland from the region of Assyria so too will the return of the
Exile Israelites be from the same direction.
We have mentioned this elsewhere in the light of present events.
See the Brit-Am Commentary to Micah 7:12 http://britam.org/micah.html
Another name for Bashan was Basil or Basilia. This according to the Roman Geographer Pliny was also a name for Scandinavia.