Abram was known as the first evangelist because he had brought a large contingent with him to Canaan. They were disciples, with the Hebrew word hanikh, meaning trained or educated, but certainly not trained for war. That Abraham had 318 who could go with him to battle means that he had a very large contingent when you count women, children, older men, and others not able to fight. They were shepherds and herdsmen not soldiers. This is the only war for Abram, who goes after the armies of four kings with 318 men. This was the Lord’s battle, as surely as Gideon’s would be hundreds of years later.
Abraham, Who Loves God: The influence of the Latin Vulgate on our English translations is shown in many Scriptures. See the Glossary article on Latin Words, which lists several Latin words that were not translated, just spelled in English. Here are two examples of words that were translated incorrectly into Latin, with the translator mistaking the verbs for nouns, one in Isaiah 41:8 and another II Chronicles 20:7. Most English translations have in Isaiah, But you, Israel are My servant; – whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend. II Chronicles 20:7 has, Are You not our God, Who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and gave it forever to the seed of Abraham, Your friend?
In Isaiah 41:8 the Hebrew text has, But you, Israel, are My servant; Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, who loves Me. The text stresses Abraham’s love for God.
In II Chronicles 20:7 the Hebrew text has, Are You not our God, Who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and gave it forever to the seed of Abraham who loves You? Here too the text stresses Abraham’s love for God, in the present tense, showing that now in eternal life Abraham continues to love God.
Since God loves everyone, the measure of relationship with God is how much each individual loves God. Each one of us must show by the way he lives – what he thinks, what he says, what he does, that he has a deep relationship with God. Abraham did have that relationship, something to which each of us must aspire.
Adultery is the subject of a large addition to the Greek text. The verses from Jn. 7:53-8:11 were added to the New Testament in the fifth century and teach a valuable lesson, which is that we are not to be quick to condemn others, but each of us must know and do what is right. The textual scholars determined that these verses were added by examining the vocabulary and grammar of ancient manuscripts, rather than criticizing content, but here the content too tells us that someone not familiar with Jewish thought and practice wrote these verses. If you catch someone in adultery, you have to catch two because one person cannot commit adultery. Yet only the woman was brought to be punished. That was the practice of the societies of the ancient world, except for Judaism. In all the other societies, except for a few that were matriarchal, the wife was a chattel, a possession of the husband, so if she was caught in adultery it was a crime against her husband and he could punish her any way he wished. She was just like any other possession, to be treated like furniture or a slave. Adultery to those societies was not sin, just a crime against the husband. Only in Judaism was adultery a sin against God.
Because it was a sin against God both participants were to be stoned – it was not a lesser sin for one than for the other. Lev. 20:10 and Deut. 22:22 say If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they will both of them die, both the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; so you will put away evil from Israel. Although the verses, Jn. 7:53-8:11, were added long after the NT Scriptures were written, we need to keep the basic message of the addition, that we are to love the sinner, but hate the sin. It is more important for each of us to focus on his own shortcomings rather than on the shortcomings of others.
Agapao is an ancient Greek verb used well over one hundred times in the New Testament. Many people believe that agapao, the verb form, and agape, a noun form, are strictly New Testament words. Both words were used in classic Greek. Its meaning in classic Greek was to welcome, entertain, and in relation to things, to be content. In first century Israel the meaning was love, as in “love your neighbor” in Matt. 5:43. Other forms of agapao are: agape, a noun, with both a feminine form and a neuter form, each meaning love; agapemai, a noun indicating the object of love; agapenor, meaning loving manliness, manly, used to refer to heroes; agapesis, a noun meaning affection; agapetikos, a noun meaning affectionate; and agapetos, an adjective meaning worthy of love, beloved, esteemed.
Of the above only the verb agapao, the feminine noun agape, and the adjective agapetos are used in the Greek New Testament. The feminine noun agape uses case endings that are not used in any classic Greek literature. Case endings of Greek nouns and adjectives varied depending how the word was used in the sentence. Agape apparently was in common usage by the Hellenists for several centuries before Y’shua’s birth because it is used more than a dozen times in the Septuagint, the 250 BC Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. At least four forms: the feminine agape, the neuter agape, agapesis, and agapao, are used in the Septuagint. The feminine agape is used in the Septuagint, in 2 Sam. 13:15, Song of Songs 2:4,5,7; 3:5,10; 5:8; 7:6; 8:4,6,7, and Ecc. 9:1,6. Since the word agape is used by every New Testament author except Mark and is used about one hundred fifteen times in the New Testament, it must have been common throughout the Roman world. Koine Greek was the common language of the Roman Empire, not being replaced by Latin until the third and fourth centuries AD. The people spoke Greek in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonika, and the various cities written to by the authors of Hebrews, Jacob, Peter, Jude, and John.
Phileo is a synonym of agapao, but used much less often in the New Testament. Some examples are: Jn. 5:20. “..the Father, God, loves the Son, Y’shua;”
Jn. 11:3,30, where both verses speak of Y’shua loving Lazarus; Jn. 16:27 speaks of the Father loving you and of you loving Y’shua, both verbs Phileo; and
1 Cor. 16:22 “If someone does not love the Lord..”
Alef is used in the One New Man Bible instead of the Greek letter Alpha, in
Rev. 1:8; 21:6; 22:13. Alef is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Tav, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, is used in those same verses instead of Omega because Hebrew was the first language of the apostles and was widely used in Y’shua’s day as is evident from archaeological finds, including the Dead Sea Scrolls. The alef and tav spell a word, et, which is placed in front of the direct object of a verb to show the object of the action. For more on this see John under Book Order.
Amen has no meaning in Hebrew. Amen is an acrostic and is not from any Hebrew root word. The acrostic is: El Melekh Ne’eman, meaning, God is a Faithful King.
Anokhi is a very powerful Hebrew word translated “I AM.” The basic word translated “I AM” is Ani. Adding the syllable “khi” makes the word a very definite, deliberate action, meaning Because I AM. Rabbi Ben-Yehuda defines this word as “The I of Purpose,” meaning that there is nothing haphazard about what I AM orders in that particular passage. Anokhi is shown in the One New Man Bible with bold type. God uses Anokhi over one hundred times in the Hebrew Scriptures, while He uses Ani several hundreds of times. Some of the verses using Anokhi are listed below. For each of these God says, “I AM” and does so with great and intense purpose. Read these verses and remember that God put extra emphasis in each of them, and that He has determined to be your shield, to be with you, to be your Savior, to erase your transgressions and not remember your sins. See Sins, forgiveness of elsewhere in this Glossary.
The Anokhi is referred to three times in New Testament writing: Matt. 22:32,
Mk. 12:26, and Acts 7:32. These all refer to the same verse in the Hebrew Scriptures, Exodus 3:6, And he said, I AM the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
Some other verses where our Heavenly Father uses Anochi are:
Genesis 15
- After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not be in awe, Abram! I AM your shield, and your reward will be exceedingly great.
Genesis 20
- And God said to him (to Abimelekh) in a dream, “Yes, I AM knows that you did this in the integrity of your heart, for I AM also withheld you from sinning against Me, therefore I did not let you touch her.
Genesis 26
- And the Lord appeared to him the same night, and said, I AM the God of Abraham your father; Do not fear! For I AM with you, and will bless you, and multiply your seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.
Genesis 28
- And, behold, I AM with you, and will keep you in all places where you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you, until I have done that about which I have spoken to you.
Genesis 31
- I AM the God of Beit-El, where you anointed the pillar, and where you vowed a vow to me; now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your family.
Genesis 46
- And He said, I AM God, the God of your father. Do not fear to go down to Egypt! For I shall there make of you a great nation;
Exodus 4
- And the LORD* said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? I AM the LORD*!
Exodus 4
- Now get out of here! I AM! I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you will say.”
Exodus 4
- And I say to you, Send My son away! So he can serve Me! And if you refuse to send him out, behold, I AM will slay your son, your firstborn.” This was God’s warning to Pharaoh
Exodus 20
- I AM the LORD* your God, Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exodus 20
- You will not bow down yourself to them, or serve them, for I AM the LORD* your God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, 6. and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Exodus 23
- Behold, I AM sending an angel before you, to keep you in the Way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21. Beware of him, and obey his voice, do not provoke him; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for My name is in him. 22. But if you will indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I shall be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.
Exodus 34
- And He said, “Behold, I AM cutting a covenant: before all your people I shall do amazing things, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among whom you will see the work of the LORD*: for it is an awe-inspiring thing that I shall do with you.
Exodus 34
- Mark well what I AM commanding you this day! See for yourself! I am expelling before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
Deuteronomy 4
- And what nation is there so great, that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this Torah (Teaching), which I AM giving you this day?
Deuteronomy 5
- I AM the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
Deuteronomy 5
- You will not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I AM the LORD* your God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, 10. and showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Deuteronomy 5
- But as for you, stand here by Me and I shall speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which you will teach them, so they may do them in the land which I AM is giving them to possess.
Deuteronomy 11
- Behold! I AM setting before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27. a blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD* your God, which I command you this day 28. and a curse, if you will not obey the commandments of the LORD* your God, but turn aside out of the Way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.
Deuteronomy 31
- And he commanded Joshua the son of Nun and said, Be strong! Be of good courage! For you will bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them and I AM shall be with you.
Joshua 11
- And the LORD* said to Joshua, Do not fear because of them! For tomorrow about this time I AM will deliver them up, all slain before Israel:
Joshua 13
- All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrefot Mayim (Hot Springs), all the Sidonites, whom I AM will drive out from before the children of Israel, only divide it by lot to Israel for an inheritance as I have commanded you.
Judges 6
- Now, please! Do not leave from here, until I come to You, and bring forth my present, and set it before You.
And He said, I AM staying until you come again.
1 Samuel 24
- And David’s men said to him, Behold this is the day of which the LORD* said to you, Behold, I AM giving your enemy into your hand, so you can do to him as it will seem good to you. Then David got up and furtively cut off the wing of Saul’s robe.
II Samuel 12
- And Nathan said to David, You are the man. Thus says the LORD* God of Israel, I AM has anointed you king over Israel and I AM has delivered you out of the hand of Saul..
Isaiah 43
- I AM, I AM the LORD*; and besides Me there is no Deliverer/Savior.
Isaiah 43
- I AM, I AM He Who erases your transgressions for My own sake, and will not remember your sins.
Isaiah 44
- Thus says the LORD*, your Redeemer, and He Who formed you from the womb, I AM the LORD* Who makes all things; Who alone stretches forth the heavens; Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;
Isaiah 46
- Remember the former things of old! For I AM God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
Isaiah 51
- I AM, I AM He Who comforts you! Who are you, that you should revere a man who will die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass;
Isaiah 51
- but I AM the LORD* your God, Who breaks the sea so its waves roar: the LORD* of Hosts is His name.
Jeremiah 3
- Return, O backsliding children, says the LORD*; for I AM married to you: and I shall take you one from a city, and two from a family, and I shall bring you to Zion: 15. and I shall give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Jeremiah 6
- Listen, O earth! Behold, I AM will bring evil upon this people, the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not heeded My words or My Torah (Teaching), but rejected it.
Jeremiah 18
- Therefore go, speak now to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, Thus says the LORD*, Behold, I AM frames evil against you and devises a device against you. Return now! Each one from his evil way and make your ways and your doings good.
Jeremiah 29
- For I AM knows the thoughts, plans, and intentions that I AM thinking toward you, says the LORD*, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and hope.
Jeremiah 29
- because they have committed villainy in Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Even I know and I AM He Who knows and I am a witness, says the LORD*.
Jeremiah 33
- And I shall cleanse them from all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against Me; and I shall pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned and whereby they have transgressed against Me, 9. and it will be a name of joy for Me, a praise and an honor before all the heathens of the earth who will hear all the good that I AM is doing for them. And they will fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the Shalom that I AM making for it.
Jeremiah 35
- The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed, for to this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment. I AM has spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not heeded Me.
Hosea 11
- I shall not execute the fierceness of My anger, I shall not return to destroy Ephraim: for I AM God, and not man; the Holy One in your midst: and I shall not enter in wrath.
Hosea 12
- And I AM the LORD* your God, from the land of Egypt I shall yet make you live in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast. 11. I have also spoken through the prophets, and I AM has multiplied visions and used similes through the ministry of the prophets..
Micah 3
- But truly I AM full of power by the Spirit of the LORD* and of judgment and of might to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
Malachi 3
- Behold, I AM sending to you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the LORD*, 24. and he will turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
Psalm 46
- Be still and know that I AM God: I shall be exalted among the heathens; I shall be exalted in the earth.
Psalm 81
- I AM the LORD* your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt: open your mouth wide and I shall fill it.
So wherever you see the I AM you know that He is speaking about something that He is determined to do, something very purposeful.
Anti-Messiah. The Greek word anti originally meant instead of, so the primary meaning of anti-Messiah refers to anyone or anything in each Christian life that displaces Messiah. This is also a reference to a false Messiah, the one who will present himself to the world as THE Messiah, 2 Thess. 2:4. Y’shua says many will come in His name, Lk. 21:8. In the geographical sense anti means against or opposite. Later anti came to mean against. Anti-Messiah does mean Against Messiah, but keep in mind the original meaning, instead of, that in addition to those claiming to be Messiah, anyone or anything we hold higher than Him is an anti-Messiah.
Apostle is the English spelling of the Greek word used to describe someone who is sent. There was a position in the ancient synagogues for someone who was sent from that synagogue to another or to authorities in Jerusalem or to some school in order to get the correct interpretation of a Scripture. The Hebrew name of this office is Shelahim, a plural noun meaning the ones sent. The apostles in the New Testament were sent from Jerusalem to outlying areas to bring correct interpretation to early Christian synagogues. Some of these apostles were promoting themselves and not focusing on the Jerusalem agenda. Paul referred to them in 2 Cor. 11:12. But what I am doing, and I shall keep on doing, so that I will cut off the opportunity of those who want opportunity, so that in whom they are boasting they would have been found just like us. 13. For such false apostles as these are deceitful workers disguising themselves as apostles of Messiah.
14. And no wonder: for Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
(Isa. 14:12) 15. Therefore it is not great if his, Satan’s, servants also are disguised as servants of righteousness: whose end will be according to their works. Today we have people in ministry who, like those false apostles, do not submit to any authority, but claim to report only to God. Each one of us in ministry needs to be accountable to some organization or board so we do not go off in error like those Paul wrote about.
The first century apostles did not have organizations other than the council in Jerusalem; they simply went out, with more than one going to the same congregations. In the first century there were no churches, just synagogues and home congregations, even if a congregation was all non-Jewish. We know about Paul’s submission to the council in Jerusalem, especially from Acts 15 and
Acts 21:23. Just what Phoebe’s responsibilities were is not clear, but Paul refers to her in Rom. 16:1 as being from Cencrae, the sister city of Corinth, and being set over others, even himself.
The Latin word for apostle is missionare, meaning to send, which gives us a better handle on the role of the apostle. Our Western minds require organizations with managers and organization charts, but that is not what the Middle Eastern mind requires, so a complex organization is not what Paul and other New Testament authors understood the word translated Apostle to mean.
Ark. Two Hebrew words are often translated Ark. Aron is the word used for the Ark of the Covenant. Aron means Chest, as in Treasure Chest. Aron is made of Shittim, Acacia wood, an Acacia Wood Chest, since the Ark of the Covenant is used for storage. Tevah, also translated Ark, is used for two objects: Noah’s Ark and Moses’ basket of papyrus. Noah’s Ark is Tevat Gofer, literally a Box of Gofer Wood. Moses’ basket is a Papyrus Box. While Tevah means box, there is a great difference in the sizes of the boxes. Moses’ was appropriate for an infant, and Noah’s was about 450 feet long by about 75 feet wide and a least 45 feet high. It was still a box, though, and is translated box in this book. The Greek word Kibotos means box although now usually translated ark. The word Ark came into the English from the first English translations, which were from the Latin. The Latin word for both box and chest is Arca. See Latin Words elsewhere in Glossary.
The following was written about Noah’s box by Rabbi Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, Ph.D. in his exegesis of the Book of Genesis, B’resheet.[1]
“The box was to serve not only Noah and his family, but everything that must be saved, so it must have compartments – but the next words are worthy of special attention. The Hebrew does not actually say ‘cover it inside and out with pitch’ but rather, using the Hebrew root of the word pitch K.F.R., ‘KFR it within and without in KFR.’ Is KFR pitch? Let us assume for the moment that it is. The purpose of the pitch is to keep the box dry. If you pitch the outside, it will stay dry. If the water, or the mud, stripped the pitch off the wood, the water would invade the ark. What effect will a sheet of pitch inside have? The water won’t be stopped from pervading the ark. The water would separate the pitch from the wood and push it into the compartments of the ark. What is the effect of ‘pitching’ the inside of the ark? It makes it sticky and hard to manage.
“Well, the KFR with which the ark was to be covered was NOT pitch, then. Let us look at the root again. KFR is not only pitch, it is also camphor or henna, a bush that has bunches of fragrant flowers and fruits. It is possible that this was the KFR that was used as a deodorant to keep the ark habitable. This is certainly a worthwhile idea for a small ark that will be inhabited by all those animals as well as Noah and his family – but at the same time it does not seem likely to have been done on the outside as well as the inside. Looking a little further into the matter we discover two more meanings for KFR, Kafar, meaning deny and Kipper, meaning made atonement. While the two meanings seem almost to contradict one another, they would both apply and make sense for the purpose of building this instrument of the survival of life in the time of the flood.
“Consider: The Lord informs Noah that he is about to destroy all living things. He says, ‘Now, I want you to put yourself outside of all that is around you’ – deny their very existence! Thus you KFR [deny] them (on the outside) even as they deny you (by their actions). [KFR] on the inside; or, to make the ark worthy of salvation you dedicate it through the act of atonement [kipper] on the outside, and all within are an atonement unto the Lord – a KFR of the inside.
“There is one more meaning of the word that we may consider, and it is kofer, meaning ransom. It is possible to consider the act of entering the ark as a ransom for saving the lives of those who will survive the flood.
“The text continues, ‘and I shall establish my covenant with you..’ What is the covenant? There will be a covenant with Noah, established AFTER the flood – but so far there is no such covenant. The great sage Rambam suggests that Briti (my covenant) should actually read, Bri’ati my creation. Thus God informs Noah, ‘I shall establish a continuity of creation through you and all who come into the ark with you.’ In other words, while the world needs to be purged, I must not – and will not – allow My creation – ‘bri’ati’ to be negated – not even by Myself in My judgment. This is understood to be a sign and example of God’s benevolence and loving kindness. There was no ‘brit’ [covenant] before the flood!”
Ark of the Covenant. Exodus 37:1. And Bezalel made the Ark of acacia wood: its length was two and a half cubits, its width a cubit and a half, and its height a cubit and a half. 2. And he overlaid the inside and the outside with pure gold and made a crown of gold for it all around. 3. And he cast four rings of gold for it, for its four corners; even two rings on the one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. 4. And he made poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold.
5. And he put the poles into the rings by the sides of the ark, to carry the Ark.
37: 6. And he made the cover of pure gold: its length was two cubits and a half and its width one cubit and a half. 7. And he made two cherubim of gold, he made them beaten out of one piece, on the two ends of the cover, 8. one cherub on the end on this side and another cherub on the end on that side; he made the cherubim on the two ends of the cover. 9. And the cherubim spread out their wings on high and covered the cover with their wings, with their faces one to another, the faces of the cherubim were toward the cover.
Physically, there was much more to the Ark than many suspect. It was made with planks, not plywood, so it was very, very heavy. At five feet long, three feet high, and three feet wide, it held the stone tablets, the jar of manna, and Aaron’s rod. The stone tablets were large and heavy, with the whole Torah written on them. When it travleled it was covered: Num. 4:4. This will be the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, about the most holy things, 5. and when the camp sets forward, Aaron and his sons will come and they will take down the covering veil and cover the Ark of Testimony with it, 6. and will put on it the covering of badgers’ skins and will spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and will put in its poles. The Ark was larger than we thought, then being covered with gold leaf and having the solid gold lid and solid gold cherubim on the lid, plus the covers when it traveled, it weighed over 1,500 pounds.
How could four men carry that? How could the wood poles support the weight? The rabbis say that the weight was borne by God Himself.
Armageddon. The battle has been joined! What the world calls The Battle of Armageddon is in full fury. The problem is that the Church is asleep and does not even know about it. The Church is too busy anticipating Gog and Magog, trying to figure out how and when Russia and others are going to join with China or other countries to attack Israel. It is not aware of the spiritual battles that are in full fury right now. If the Church wins the spiritual battle there will be no ground war. If we lose the spiritual war, the world will be all but destroyed.
That the Church is also wrapped up in fund-raising and building programs is another great distraction, keeping focus off the spiritual battles.
The Church has ignored the Scriptural terminology, allowing the half-truths of the world to co-opt the truth.
There is one battle of Armageddon in Scripture. That is reported in
2 Ki. 23:29,30 and 2 Chr. 35:22 which record the battle in which Josiah, King of Judah, is mortally wounded. The Hebrew name is Har Megiddo, meaning Mount Megiddo. The Valley of Jezreel lies at the foot of the mountain. This was also the location of the Midianite army that Gideon chased off with trumpets and lanterns. In 1 Sam. 29:1 the Philistine armies gather at Jezreel, but the battle is at Mount Gilboa in the Valley of Esdraelon, which is east of the Valley of Jezreel. In the New Testament, the armies gather at Har Megiddo in Rev. 16:12. Then the sixth poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates and its water dried up, (Isa. 11:15; 44:27, Jer. 50:38; 51:36) so that the way of the kings from the east could be prepared. 13. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet: 14. for spirits of demons were performing miracles, which were going out over the kingdoms of the whole inhabited world to gather them into the war of the great Day of the God of the Hosts. (Matt. 25:31) 15. Behold I am coming as a thief. Blessed is the one who is awake and keeps his garments ready, so that he would not walk naked and they would see his shame. 16. And He gathered them into the place called in Hebrew Har Megiddo. (Jdg. 5:19,
2 Ki. 9:27; 23:29, Zech. 12:11) Har Megiddo in English translations is taken from the Latin text, which has Armageddon. The Greek text has Harmagedon, where the armies gather, but the battle is not at Har Megiddo. There is no battle, but the bowls of God’s wrath.
Later, at the end of the millennium, the battle of Gog and Magog is formed at the Valley of Jehoshaphat, Joel 4:2. I shall also gather all the heathens and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for My people and for My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the heathens, and parted My land. 12. Let the nations be stirred up, and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I shall sit to judge all the nations around.
(Jl. 4:2,12) The Valley of Jehoshaphat is a few miles southeast of Jerusalem, called the Valley of Beracha in 2 Chr. 20:26. And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD*; therefore the name of the same place was called, The Valley of Berachah, to this day. God zaps the armies when they surround Jerusalem. In Rev. 20:7. Then when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be loosed from his prison 8. and he will come out to deceive the heathens who are in the four corners of the earth, (Ezek. 7:2) Gog and Magog, (Ezek. 38:2) to gather them for the war, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9. And they went up upon the breadth of the earth and they surrounded the army of the saints and the beloved city, and fire descended from the sky and consumed them. In 2 Ki. 1:10, And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume you and your fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. Ezek. 39:6. And I shall send a fire on Magog, and among those who dwell securely in the islands; and they will know that I AM the LORD*. This is at the end of the Millennium, and is often referred to as Apocalypse, which is the Greek word for “Revelation.” This is the terrible time when it takes seven months to bury the dead. In Ezek. 39:11, And it will be on that day, that I shall give Gog a burial place in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea and it will stop the passengers and there they will bury Gog and all his multitude and they will call it, The valley of Hamon Gog. 12. And the House of Israel will be seven months burying them, so they can cleanse the land.
The current war is against Humanism and fanatic Islam. What is happening on the ground now is but a faint example of what is going on in the spiritual, in the heavenlies.
The believers in Humanism are those who align themselves with appeasement and tolerance of pagan beliefs. Humanism is our spiritual battle in the US and the world of those loyal to God’s teachings vs. those who tolerate all manner of evil, accepting homosexuality as another “life style” and abortion as “choice.” They encourage teaching occult and false religions in our public schools, but forbid the teaching and practice of Christianity, all in the name of “multi-culturalism.” This battle will not be won with the weapons of war, but will be won in the hearts of Americans as revival takes root.
Humanism has already taken most of Europe and has made great strides in the U.S., with our need to be politically correct and having courts trying to take “under God” out of the pledge of allegiance, and to make homosexual sin a cause for extending “rights.” Materialism is another powerful spirit at this time. The spiritual warfare needs to be joined by the whole body of Messiah. Losing this war will cost us everything except eternal life. Warfare against principalities and powers needs to be corporate since it is too dangerous for individual prayer, just as an independent soldier does not go into battle against an army. However, we should pray individually in support of the corporate prayer. Each congregation should have intercessors committed to this fight, and groups of intercessors should be coordinating prayer.
[1] This article is copyrighted by Rabbi Ben-Yehuda and printed here with his permission. In reading this, keep in mind that Torah scrolls have no vowels, only consonants.