Keep Your Eyes on Jerusalem

7 Kislev 5782 

People say we do not have prophets today.  Well, they are wrong.  Because of the faithfulness of our ancestors to accurately record and pass on our holy books, we have the words of the greatest Hebrew prophets who ever lived, and they are just as relevant for us today.  Furthermore, they are so accessible that most people can pull them right off a shelf in their own home and consult them any time they please.

In this era at the End of Days, this is the light that shines in every Jewish home while the rest of the world lies in utter darkness.  What did our prophets tell us would be the most pivotal sign of Mashiach's arrival?  The war for Jerusalem...

Behold! I am making Jerusalem a cup of weakness for all the peoples around,...And it shall come to pass on that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all peoples; all who bear it shall be gashed, and all the nations of the earth shall gather about it. ...On that day the Lord shall protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem,...And it shall come to pass on that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come upon Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12:2-3, 8-9)

Throughout the prophets, we see the same picture portrayed: Jerusalem besieged by the nations; G-d's people delivered; the nations themselves defeated and destroyed. 

But, that is not the picture painted by Tommy Waller in the clip I showed you yesterday.  He quoted a mistranslation of the Prophet Haggai:  "And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts." (Haggai 2:7, KJV)

He and his acolytes put a very positive spin on this and use it to support their assertion that this is teaching that when the nations will desire Jerusalem and the rebuilt Temple, redemption will arrive and therefore, it is all up to them to bring it about.

As always, you have to consult the Hebrew to accurately understand the true meaning...

חגיי פרק ב

 ז וְהִרְעַשְׁתִּי, אֶת-כָּל-הַגּוֹיִם, וּבָאוּ, חֶמְדַּת כָּל-הַגּוֹיִם; וּמִלֵּאתִי אֶת-הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה, כָּבוֹד--אָמַר, יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת.

The key phrase here is חֶמְדַּת כָּל-הַגּוֹיִם.  It can be translated as "desire of all the nations" but unlike the positive spin Tommy Waller puts on it, it has the connotation of improper desire as in the tenth commandment: "You shall not covet" - לֹא תַחְמֹד - from the same root.

In reality, this is precisely what we see.  The UN, the Vatican, they've made no secret of their desire for Jerusalem and their willingness to take it from us, given half a chance.  Even America is in on it as we are currently in a dispute with them over their right to open an embassy for Palestine in the midst of Jerusalem.

It is the clearest sign yet that we are right before the revelation of our Righteous Mashiach.  Jerusalem as the focus and the nations' covetous desire to rip her away from us and take her for themselves shows we are right at the end of the World of Lies and soon to enter the World of Truth.  

If the nations have any role to play in the redemption process, it is as the servant of the Satan (Eisav's Ministering Angel) and for that reason, they will go to utter destruction, with only individual righteous gentiles surviving.