“The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” Joel 3:16
As He respectfully completed the reading of the ancient Hebrew scrolls in the synagogues of His day, His identification with His Jewish nation remains with us in the Writings of the Apostles (New Testament). Yeshua was accustomed to allying Himself with His people as “we Jews”(John 4:22). Therefore with all due respect, I lovingly appeal to church leaders to ask, “When did He cease being a Jew?” His family tree was recorded in the first chapter of the book of Matthew. Could it have been placed at the beginning of the writings to cement the unbreakable connection with His earthly manhood years? We know the Lord treasures the nations; however at the same time He reminds the Gentiles to be a blessing to His Brethren (Matthew 25:40). Being in right relationship to Israel is not to be taken lightly, as He continually implied, “I am a Jew!” (Matthew 22:42; 2 Timothy 2:8). It is a fundamental truth with which the Church needs to come to grips. I will continue to remind us that “there is no Christian Messiah! He is either Jewish or He is not the Messiah” (Dr. Dwight Pryor). This basic point needs to be made clear so that followers will not fall into the trap of following “another Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:4).
Jesus came to fulfill Scripture (Mark 12:35). The ancient writings had been sealed by God until the time of the end. Just as the seal was separated from the parchment paper, so the mysteries of the end of days are revealed. God holds the scroll in His Right Hand (Revelation 5:1) and only the Lamb of God (Revelation 5:9) is deemed worthy to reveal the eternal weight of God’s words. The world appears to be in the hands of the “god of this world”, (2 Corinthians 4:4) but a new world is on the horizon. We have entered the age of a changeover from man’s systems to the heralding of the unshakeable kingdom of God (Hebrews 12:28). The “perfect Torah” (James 1:23-25) which will go forth from Zion will be a Torah of freedom. All will seek the best for their brother. I am not ashamed to say that Jesus is my Messiah; however, He is at the same time, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). Israel is experiencing a shaking, (Isaiah 13:11-13) along with believers around the world. We hold on to the Rock that never moves. God’s prophetic announcement is, “One more time I will shake not only the earth but heaven too!”(Hebrews 12:26). A second time He will again shake the world:“…the things that are shaken are removed since they are created things, so that the things not shaken may remain” (Hebrews 12:27). We have entered a refining pot (Proverbs 17:3) where the righteous must never be moved (Proverbs 10:30; Psalm 62:2) …as the wicked will never inherit the kingdom (Psalm 125:3). Many righteous will come through their troubles; (Proverbs 11:8; 12:13) and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah will triumph over all the woes revealed in the scroll. We do not know the day He will take us to be with Himself and so we maintain oil in our lamps (Matthew 25:1-13) and watch (Habakkuk 2:1; Matthew 26:41).
What Lions Signify
A Lion is the official insignia on the flag of Jerusalem. Figures of lions can be found near city squares across Israel. My husband I live above the Biblical zoo and from time to time we listen to the roaring of lions. The sound of the roar of the Lion of Judah will be a as a warning of danger on the horizon. It will be something like proclaiming, “It’s time to move!” God will send forth an earthshaking roar which will be heard around the world, (Job 37:2-4; Isaiah 42:13; Jeremiah 25:30; Hosea 11:10; Joel 3:16; Amos 1:2) and many will feel the pain of shaking—many hearts will tremble. Sleepers must awaken spiritually. Jerusalem will come into hearts. A roar will proceed from the Western world (Hosea 11:10) and the sons of Jacob will come home to rest. Many still wear the grave clothes of the nations. The Jewish people will ask the way to Zion (Jeremiah 50:5). Messiah also returns—back to Zion. God forbid that the worldwide Church does not recognize her Hebrew foundations. True Christianity is Jewish.
Orde Wingate once declared: “When I came to Palestine, I found a whole people (the Jews) who had been looked down upon and made to feel unwanted by scores of generations and yet they were undefeated and building their country anew. I felt I belonged to such a People.” This is the voice of a lion who loved and helped the Jewish people. Have you ever journeyed to Jerusalem and felt you had “come home”?
There is so much spiritual thirst in the world, along with Israel also searching for her identity. The sad part about the shaking is that the strength of Jerusalem will wane at some point, as now, (Isaiah 17:4) like a woman who is tired of pain. For the City of God, the Bible uses the metaphor of the shaking of an olive tree (Isaiah 17:6) and also the shaking as a cup of trembling (Zechariah 12:2). There will be sorrow and pain as if it will never stop; (Isaiah 17:11) however, God promises never to forget Jerusalem (Isaiah 49:14-16). He still holds her hand through the pain (Isaiah 26:17-18).Lance Lambert said, “God will back Israel against a wall until she cries to Him.” Even if she is weak, she will become stronger. She will see the Lord and cry, ‘Baruch Ha Ba!’ (Zechariah 12:10). This is when we need to be holding her in prayer and bringing her comfort through the throbbing travail. “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’”(Jeremiah 29:11).The future end-time pressure of the battle will be over who will rule the Kingdom. Hordes of darkness will say, “We will take the Land!” The Lion of Judah says, “It’s Mine. I Rule!” “Judah is a lion’s whelp…and as a lion, who shall rouse him?”(Genesis 49:9).The scepter “shall not depart from Judah…” (Genesis 49:10).
Rabbi Johnathan Cahn is a solid teacher of prophecy. The following words are his research. He says that “things were set in motion years ago by God… He is working to fulfill His Promises to Israel”. Rabbi Cahn explains that Moses revealed that in the End Times God would gather His people back to the Land: “Look, a people rises like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion…” (Numbers 23:24). “Before the ingathering of the Jews to their homeland…a stranger was to come to the Land when the Land was wasted and desolate (about 150 years ago). The “stranger”, God said, (Deuteronomy 29:22-23) would bear witness that it was a wasted Land and that after this, God would start to bring His People home. The man wrote a book and confirmed this prophecy. His name was Mark Twain. In fulfilment of the prophecy, the words Twain wrote were the same as those predicted by Moses. Simultaneously – as Mark Twain was in Jerusalem – the Jewish people were reading the weekly Torah portion in the synagogues. They were reading “The prophecy of the stranger in the Land”. In 1867, the year of Jubilee, things were set in motion… and God’s mercy would be seen. Mark Twain’s real name was Samuel Clemmons. The name Samuel means, “The Lord has heard”, and Clemmons means “and has been merciful”.
Fifty years later in 1917, the next Jubilee year, a World War took place between two empires, the Ottoman and the British. God raised up two men, Arthur Balfour and David Lloyd George, both Prime Ministers. God put them right in place for the 1917 Jubilee year. After that, General Allenby comes into the equation. The Ottoman Empire crumbles. Allenby came into Jerusalem… then the Balfour Declaration is issued: “This is your Land”.For the first time, wings and air power came into view. Jerusalem was delivered because of airplanes. In fact, Bible prophecy had said: “I will deliver Jerusalem as birds flying”(Isaiah 31:5). At the same time as the deliverance of Jerusalem, General Allenby’s soldiers opened the Book of Common Prayer to the prophetic words saying: “I will deliver Jerusalem as birds flying.”Even the British airplane squadron’s motto was, “I will spread my wings and I will keep my promise”! God had put it altogether.
Let us look at Theodore Herzl. As a young boy he had a dream… He, Theodore, was the little boy who would take back the Land for his people! He became the initiator of modern Zionism and wrote a prophecy: “Today I founded the Jewish state but in 50 years the whole world will know it.” He wrote this in 1897. In 1947, fifty years later (a Jubilee) Israel was voted back into the nations of the world. On the Islamic calendar, 1335 was the year that was declared as the year the Muslim should leave the Land, so they left the Land. This Islamic Resolution took place late on 3rd September, 50 years to the day of the Jubilee. There was a code God embedded since the time of Moses, Rabbi Johnathan Cahn says. The law of Jubilee explains: (Leviticus 25:13) “You shall return…” (‘Tashuva’in Hebrew)…and the people returned. The numerical value of the world is 1948, the year Israel returned. And if we look back to 1867, (Mark Twain) to 1917, it is another 50-year period. The Jubilee is always about restoration, survival, and coming back home—End Time prophecies focusing on Jerusalem.
Israeli soldiers entered the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967, for the first time in 2000 years… meanwhile, a mystery of two millennia remained on Masada. Realizing the nation had stood against Rome, they began to excavate Masada. They uncovered a parchment which said, “Can these bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:14) and, “I will bring you back. I will open your graves” (verses 13-15).They return. Counting days on the prophetic time clock, it leads to June 7, 1967… another Jubilee. On that day Israel came into Jerusalem. Birds were flying, back in 1917 (Isaiah 31:5). Then we find the Bible says God will fight for Jerusalem as a Lion (in the Hebrew text: “as a lion, and a young lion”): “For thus the LORD said to me, ‘As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey, and when a band of shepherds is called out against him he is not terrified by their shouting or daunted at their noise, so the LORD of hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill’” (Isaiah 31:4-7).
In the Six Day War (1967) Israel had to secure the mountains around Jerusalem as the Jordanians were shelling them. Col. Ben Ari secured it. His name in Hebrew is “the son of a lion”. He was ordered to fight as a lion for the hill (or mountain of God). The head of the Har El Brigade securing the mountain was Arik Regev. ‘Arik’ is short for ‘Ariye’, meaning “lion”. He gave the command: “It’s time guys to take Jerusalem!”So, a lion gives the command – man could not have planned this! Col. Arik Regev then, hearing the sound of a shofar, and Commander Motta Gour, (Gour in Hebrew is “young lion”) were the first people through the gates to Jerusalem. Arik (lion again) Achmon was with Motta Gour. Major Achmon also passed the command to another soldier who was also another young lion. They entered the gates and took Jerusalem. Through which gate? Yes, the Lion’s Gate! God had been with them. And as He has been with them before, He will be with them again to save them. But instead of a lamb, He returns as a Lion.
Sharon Sanders