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Friday, October 20, 2023

When Jews Look For The Messiah

Nadene Goldfoot                         

   Israel's Minister of Defense , Yoav Gallant, meets IDF Soldiers waiting at Sderot to go into Gaza on Search for Hamas terrorists, hostages held by them to bring about end of attacks on Israel 10/19/23. This is the largest massing of Israel's defense of 360,000 some soldiers.   "  NBC reports: Israel has called up 360,000 troops, mostly reservists, as it signals that its long-anticipated ground offensive into the Gaza Strip could be coming. While this would be much more deadly for Palestinians, it is also risky for Israeli soldiers."  

I've heard men say how they felt because Israel had not been protected; they felt guilty that this took place.  They feel this is their duty to defend their land, so I see them having had to wait, being cool, calm, reflective and ready to defend the only land they have.  They are not being revengeful, being many are from this southern part of Israel and their families  had been actively trying to bring about peace with the Arab Palestinians.

Jews are not willing subjects to go in and die.  There are no 72 virgins waiting for them in death.  That's not Judaism.  There is no savior waiting to defend him.  Israel has always tried to defend their civilians with bomb shelters for all.  We're all for life--for everyone---L'Chaim. 

Who would worry that Jews wouldn't follow the rules of engagement in a war?  Who would acuse them of that?   The first rules were written down in the bible !  The first lesson we learned was from Passover when we read that the Israelite slaves cheered when the Egyptian soldiers drowned in the sea and we were told not to cheer, that they were also G-d's children.  Even I, a woman, an old woman at that, remember that example of not being happy over our enemy's deaths, and even caused me to want to know causes of behaviors that are abhorrent for better understanding.    

The attack of Hamas on Israel October 7, 2023 has spurred feelings of religious Jews that we are in the end of days that will cause the appearance of the much waited for Messiah of the Jewish religion. The Messiah to Jews is to be a leader, such as a general (Aluf) who will bring about the peace and understanding that Jews have not had since their inception, including the forced capturing of the northern Israel's population in 721 BCE by Assyria with Sargon taking 27,290 Israelites to a repeat of their population by the Babylonians-who inherited Assyrian land,  in 597 BCE and exiled 8,000 Israelites of the local aristocracy to Babylon  and then captured Jerusalem in 586 BCE and destroyed Solomon's Temple; all this caused by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia (605-562 BCE).   

 Jewish eschatology holds that the coming of the Messiah will be associated with a specific series of events that have not yet occurred, including the return of Jews to their homeland and the rebuilding of The Temple, a Messianic Age of peace and understanding during which "the knowledge of God" fills the earth." 

The return of Jews has been going on since 1948 when Israel was created once more after the destruction of Judah, the southern end of Israel, land of the tribe of Judah which also held some from Benjamin and Simeon.  They had lost their empire of Israel in 70 CE when Roman occupiers and invaders had burned down Jerusalem, the capital with their rebuilt Temple of Solomon.  My husband and I were part of that return in 1980 when we made aliyah, living in Haifa for 10 months and moving to Safed (Tzfat). It has continued today, as Jews, such as those in France, suffered so much anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism has continued to grow again, reminding people of Germany in the 30s that brought on the Holocaust which caused the killing of 6 million Jews. 

Not all Jews have returned, being that we number about 14 million in the world with about 6 million living in Israel, 6 million in the USA and 2 million elsewhere in the world, but we make up 0.2% of the world's population.  The world's population stands at 8 billion people.                                   

According to Brittanica, Despite its small size, about 290 miles (470 km) north-to-south and 85 miles (135 km) east-to-west at its widest point,  (470 km X 135 km) 

According to embassies: The total area of the State of Israel is 22,145 sq.km                         

The Judea-Samaria area is 2,270 mi².  Gaza is 17.37 mi²

 Israel can only count about 8,630 square miles in size,  of which 21,671 sq. km is land area. Israel is some 420 km in length and about 115 km across at the widest point.(420 km X 115 km)  The country is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the southwest and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.  Mountains and plains, fertile land, and desert are often minutes apart. The width of the country, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east, can be crossed by car in about 90 minutes; and the trip from Metulla, in the far North, to Eilat at the country's southern tip takes about nine hours. 

I could drive 9 hours easily  at a slow pace from Portland, Oregon to eastern Oregon's Ontario, which sits on the border with Idaho. We could make it a lot faster as the highway is pretty straight.  It would be better to say from Seaside, Oregon on the Pacific Coast to Ontario, Oregon in 9 hours. 

President Bush said it was so small it could fit into his ranch. 

Requirements for the Messiah himself are:

First of all, he must be Jewish - "...you may appoint a king over you, whom the L-rd your G-d shall choose: one from among your brethren shall you set as king over you." (Deuteronomy 17:15)  There is but one Jewish president who is of Ukraine  today, president over a gentile land attacked by Russia. He is Volodymyr Zelenskyy.  The requirement is a president or PM of a Jewish country, and there is but one;  Israel. right now that is or was Benjamin Netanyahu, but now there is a unified government that is taking over being they are in this war.  Netanyahu was also PM when the attack happened.  He's the PM at a time of world-wide war; attacks that have been against Israel.  

He must be a member of the tribe of Judah - "The staff shall not depart from Judah, nor the sceptre from between his feet..." (Genesis 49:10) Jews are from the tribe of Judah, thus...the name.

He must be a direct male descendant of King David and King Solomon, his son - "And when your days (David) are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall issue from your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will make firm the throne of his kingdom forever..." (2 Samuel 7:12 - 13 (The only way of proof is by written genealogy and DNA.  DNA would require, as it stands today, that he have the Y haplogroup of J1 or perhaps J2, which is called the Cohen gene.  It is the gene, surmised to be with a very strong educated declaration, from Aaron, brother of Moses which ran from Abraham to Isaac, Jacob, and so on to Moses and Aaron.  Genealogies do exist, and these were needed to show they deserved to be on the Sanhedrin.  

He must gather the Jewish people from exile and return them to Israel -"And he shall set up a banner for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." (Isaiah 11:12The ingathering that has been going on. The only ones not in Israel are the Pashtuns who have been in exile probably since 721 BCE and are comfortable in Afghanistan and Pakistan under Islam.  We believe they may be of the northern tribe taken by the Assyrians, but they are staunch Muslims with their own Pashto rules possibly from our teachings of long ago.  In the matter of which develops a person, DNA or Environment, looks like environment won out with them.  

   When Temple was destroyed 

He must rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem - "...and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever and my tabernacle shall be with them.." (Ezekiel 37:26 - 27This has not happened yet, but plans have existed since a little before 1980, as my 3rd cousin, Stanley Goldfoot, was on the board of the group planning it, and he showed me the blueprints of the Temple.  

He will rule at a time of world-wide peace - "...they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (Micah 4:3The world is in danger with Ukraine being attacked by Russia and Israel by Iran (Persia) by their underlings; Lebanon, Yemen, Turkey, Syria made up of terrorists of various groups like Hamas.  The Messiah must be very special to bring about such peace amid a warlike world.  

He will rule at a time when the Jewish people will observe G-d's commandments - "My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow My ordinances and be careful to observe My statutes." (Ezekiel 37:24 We have 613 commandments besides the 10 main ones.  This says David will be king;  someone with the magnetism of David will be in command-PM; president: etc.  Anyone who ends this situation will be the favored son, for sure.  

He will rule at a time when all people will come to acknowledge and serve one G-d - "And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says the L-rd" (Isaiah 66:23).  This will be a page-turner, all right.  It has never been an earthly condition involving the whole world population.  "All People"  and "one G-d "   "all flesh"   I'll let people ponder over this one. We have Jews who believe in One G-d, always have;  We have Muslim terrorists who believe in One G-d but have completely different morals from Jews- who interpret information completely differently; and then we have Christians who believe in One G-d and also believe and pray to Jesus.  They have gone from persecution of Jews to anti-Semitism practices to empathy and understanding, a whole gambit of a learning curve of acceptance of Jews.  Each group is waiting for their rendition of the Messiah, and each of course, is quite different from the Jewish declaration.  

Thus, can any of us expect the day to come where this whole planet is at peace?  Could that be what all the hubbub of UFO's  or UAPs is about?   

   

  Resource:

https://jewsforjudaism.org/knowledge/articles/what-are-the-criteria-that-judaism-has-established-about-the-messiah

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/20/israel-hamas-war-updates-and-latest-news-on-gaza-conflict.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population_by_country#:~:text=As%20of%202023%2C%20the%20world's,the%208%20billion%20worldwide%20population.

https://embassies.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/Maps/Pages/Israel-Size-and-Dimension.aspx

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/live-blog/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-aid-trucks-wait-cross-gaza-another-night-rcna121348

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia on Assyria and Nebuchadnezzar

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