Ever heard of a Shemitah? Me either. That is, not until I listened to Jonathan Cahn, of The Harbinger fame, do a teaching on the “Mystery of the Shemitah”. Cahn spoke about how the Shemitah is an ancient Biblical year of the Sabbath, a time of blessing or judgment, depending upon how a person or even a nation honored or dishonored God. It is a seven year cycle, every seventh year being the Shemitah or Sabbath year. It was during a Shemitah year (2001) that the twin towers in NYC were destroyed.  Seven years later (2008), according to the biblical Hebrew calendar and another Shemitah, we experienced a global economic crisis.

Now here we are facing another Shemitah year which will begin in just two days, September 25, 2014, and end September 13, 2015. During this time another curiosity will be added, two blood moons on Jewish Feast Days. In scripture these feasts are not called Jewish feasts but Feasts of the LORD. It is unusual to have four blood moons in a row that fall on Feasts days. One of the blood moons occurred five months ago (April 2014), another will take place in October 2015. The remaining two blood moons will actually take place during the Shemitah. Why is that important?

First, let’s consider the Feasts of the Lord. There are seven in all, and all prophetic. The first three have been fulfilled: 1) Passover = the death of Jesus as the sacrificial lamb 2) Unleavened Bread = the burial of Jesus and 3) First Fruits = the resurrection of Jesus. The fourth feast, Pentecost, is currently playing out. It began in an upper room when the Holy Spirit fell upon Jesus’ frightened disciples. It continues today as the “church age” but in the not too distant future this age will end. God is a God of order. His word is sure. His feasts were designed to give us an understanding of His future plans. So when the “church age” is finally over what’s next? We can know by understanding the three remaining feasts: Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles. 

Many believe the Feast of Trumpets is when Jesus will return for his bride, the church. Millions and millions of people will vanish in an instant and the “church age” will be over. Then comes Atonement, the time of great tribulation; a time when the earth and all her inhabitants will be sorely tried and tested. And God’s judgment will be harsh. Then finally, Tabernacles, when Jesus returns to earth and sets up His kingdom, and thereby tabernacles with man.

So what does all this have to do with the Shemitah? Maybe nothing. But scripture tells us that God gave us the sun and moon and seasons (feasts) as signs. The next year, from September 2014 to September 2015 is already full of signs. What they foretell we will know soon enough. There is no point in guessing here. But this I do know, this is no time to be on the fence when it comes to our relationship with God. We need to fully commit and live our lives for Him.

Until next time,

Sylvia

One can only imagine what the transfiguration of Jesus was like (Mark 9:2-10; Luke 9:28-36). That word “transfigured” in Greek is metamorfoo and means transformed. Jesus was literally transformed! To be sure it was a remarkable event that both astonished and terrified Peter, John, and James, the three apostles who were there. The setting is a high mountain. Suddenly, Jesus is changed! He actually glows in His blinding white raiment. The Amplified describes Jesus’ garments as “flashing with the brilliance of lightening.” And if that weren’t enough, Moses and Elijah appear and begin speaking with Jesus. But what exactly did they talk about? Well, nothing less than Jesus’ approaching death in Jerusalem.

Peter, ever impetuous, immediately suggests they build three booths. The Bible says he suggests this because he doesn’t know what else to say. Peter is apparently dumbfounded and seems to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. But it’s interesting that his words are recorded since I’m sure it’s not the only time Peter has spoken rash words which were never recorded.

The next thing that happens is the appearance of a cloud that overshadows them all and a voice coming from the cloud saying, “this is my beloved Son: hear him.” It’s the same voice and the same pronouncement John the Baptist heard after baptizing Jesus in the Jordan. Then the cloud lifts, Moses and Elijah disappear, and Jesus resumes His former appearance, then commands His three disciples not to tell anyone what they saw until “the Son of man were risen from the dead.” Now the apostles are really confused and keep asking each other what “rising from the dead should mean.” It will be much later before they understand it all.

Oh, there is so much to glean from these passages!  The “high mountain” where this entire scenario takes place is believed by many to be Mount Tabor, but some believe it’s Mount Hermon. I think the latter choice is the most reasonable since it is five times higher than Mt. Tabor and since Mt. Hermon is the place many Bible scholars believe Satan and his fallen angels descended to earth. What better place for the transfiguration to occur since it is a foreshadowing of Jesus’ second coming? It is the place where the three apostles get a glimpse of Jesus as God, Conqueror and King. It is the place where lawgiver (Moses), prophet (Elijah), and Messiah (Jesus) meet to discuss the reclaiming of fallen earth by the approaching death of Jesus, and through the shedding of His blood gain our freedom from Satan’s control! In essence Jesus was proclaiming Satan’s defeat on the very spot where Satan began his conquest of earth! And it is Jesus who both fulfills the law and the prophets. And many Bible scholars believe that it is Moses and Elijah who are the two witnesses of Revelation who will announce the coming of Jesus’ kingdom during the Tribulation.

And I don’t think Peter’s statement was foolish either. Though he may not have understood what he was saying, I believe his words were recorded for a reason. The three booths he wanted to build speak of the Feast of Tabernacles (or Feast of Booths), the feast that symbolizes the time when God will tabernacle with His people forever. This only occurs after the tribulation, when Jesus sets up his earthly kingdom and resides in the Temple of Jerusalem. Considering all of the above, I see the transfiguration as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ return in glory at the end of this present age. And what a wonderful sight it will be!

“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

Until next time,

Sylvia

The recent news concerning Pope Benedict’s resignation compels me to once again set aside my series on “Following Jesus.” I have written on the subject of a new Pope before, and since there are startling prophecies connected with this event, I am reposting some of that information now.

What does this prophecy say, and who said it?

A 12^th Century Archbishop, Saint Malachy, purportedly received a vision wherein he was given the description of 112 future Popes, then detailed it in a work entitled The Mysterious Prophecy of the Popes. The current Pope Benedict XVI is number 111^th, thus the very next Pope will be the 112^th.  Of this final Pope, Malachy says: “In extreme persecution, the seat of the Holy Roman Church will be occupied by Peter the Roman, who will feed the sheep through many tribulations; when they are over, the City of Seven Hills will be destroyed, and the terrible or fearsome Judge (Jesus) will judge his people.”

So, according to Saint Malachy, the next and final Pope will oversee the Catholic Church through much “persecution” and “tribulation” just prior to the return of the “fearsome Judge” or Jesus, and during which time Rome will be destroyed.

Over the years several Jesuits have worked hard to debunk Saint Malachy’s prophecy as a forgery, then along came respected Belgium professor and Jesuit, Rene Thibaut (1883-1952) who studied the prophecies to determine if they matched the previous Popes, and not only asserted they did and that Saint Malachy’s prophecies were valid, but then through elaborate computations, put the date of 2012 as the time this final Pope would enter the world stage. Obviously his calculations were a few months off.

But is it possible? Can the 112^th Pope really usher in the end times? Worse yet, can he be the False Prophet of Revelation, or at least his tool, that Thibaut and others believe him to be?

According to Father Malachi Martin, the answer is “yes”. A Jesuit and eminent Catholic theologian, Martin was a personal friend of Pope Paul VI, and a member of the Vatican Advisory Council, as well as the personal secretary to the celebrated Jesuit Cardinal Augustin Bea. He was also the Vatican researcher on the Dead Sea Scrolls and spoke seventeen languages. In other words, he was a man of importance who commanded respect at the highest levels. His startling claim is this: an Illuminate-Masonic group (Freemasons) had infiltrated the upper ranks of the Catholic Church and conspired to bring about a one world government. In his book, Windswept House, Martin talked about “prominent clerics who worship Satan” and that “networks . . . had been established between certain clerical homosexual groups and Satanist covens,” hence the world-wide cover-up of pedophile clerics by the church establishment. Martin also talked about a secret ceremony, the “enthronement of Satan,” which took place in the Vatican in 1963 in order to ensure two outcomes: 1) Satan’s control over the Vatican and Rome and 2) a demonically controlled end-time Pope. Martin died under “suspicious” circumstances in 1999 while working on another book connecting the Catholic Church with the New World Order.

If considering a Pope of Rome as being affiliated in any way with the end-time Antichrist is still unthinkable, let me assure you that Malachi Martin wasn’t the only one who believed it possible. The list is long, and includes such notables as Luther, Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, John Knox, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, George Whitefield, and Jonathan Edwards. To learn more, read Petrus Romanus, The Final Pope is Here, by Thomas Horn and Cris Putnam. It’s guaranteed to frizzle your hair.

But are these prophecies and warnings just foolishness? Or are these men right, and their writings dire warnings, a wake-up call, alerting us of things soon to come?

Only time will tell.

Until next week,

Sylvia