The timing, the arrival, the Messianic Age – Christians are confused, but it’s all there in the Tanakh. We need to understand the vital importance of a Judeo-Christian strategic alliance at this time. Opinion.
Jerry McGlothlin
Sep 25, 2024, 2:23 PM
This article appears on Israel National News / Arutz Sheva
This article is aimed at both Jews and righteous gentiles. It is my hope that neither will be offended by some overlapping of doctrine and beliefs, because as we see the proliferation of the sheer evil of Islamofascism, we need to understand the vital importance of a Judeo-Christian strategic alliance with no need proselytizing one another.
Many Christians struggle with understanding the timing of the Messiah, often focusing only on the New Testament. However, the true secrets to prophecy and the unfolding of a Messianic Age are deeply rooted in the Jewish Tanakh, known to Christians as the ‘Old Testament.’ If Christians could temporarily set aside their ‘new’ testament and look solely to The Tanakh, which represents 80% of their bible, they could see all they need to see that the prophecies and promises it contains clearly point to a Messianic age yet to come.
I hate to break the news to Christians, but even the Book of Revelation is virtually entirely a recap of Zechariah and other prophecies found in the so-called Old Testament. Other prophetic books that heavily influence the Book of Revelation include Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Joel. These books lay the groundwork for understanding the end-times, and Revelation builds upon their themes, visions, and symbolism.
By examining how the key events of the Messianic age align with the Jewish feasts, we find a rich, biblically rooted narrative.
Christians need to understand the Importance of the Jewish Feasts:
God’s Prophetic Calendar
In Leviticus 23, God gave Israel seven feasts, calling them “appointed times” (מועדים *moedim*), which not only commemorated historical events but also pointed prophetically to the future, including the seventh feast, Sukkot, representing the Messianic Age. These feasts also provide a framework for understanding the glorious coming of the Jewish Messiah. To my Christian friends, I encourage you to study the Tanakh deeply to learn about the Messiah, who by the way, does not have blue eyes (unless he got them from King David) and a British accent!
1. The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) – The Call of the Shofar and the Messiah’s Appearing
The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) is celebrated with the blowing of the shofar, a ram’s horn, as a call to repentance and a wake-up call to the nation. In the Jewish tradition, Rosh Hashanah is known as the beginning of the “Ten Days of Awe,” leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This feast points to the “Day of the Lord” mentioned in the Tanakh, a time when God will intervene in human history.
Scriptural Connection: In the Tanakh, the prophet Zechariah 9:14 speaks of God blowing the trumpet and going forth with His people, while Isaiah 27:13 declares that a great trumpet will sound to gather God’s people back to Jerusalem.
2. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) – The Day of Judgment and Victory
Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, represents a time of national repentance, fasting, and seeking atonement for sins. Yom Kippur foreshadows the Messiah coming in judgment to defeat the enemies of Israel. Each day we are closer to ‘Next year in Jerusalem’ “לשנה הבאה בירושלים” (L’shanah haba’ah b’Yerushalayim).
But if we believe the coming of Messiah is always at least one year away, it’s saying Messiah will never come. So, at the end of the next Passover Seder, or Yom Kippur service, let’s hope that this year will be the year of the Messiah’s arrival.
And in case you’ve heard the rumor that the red heifers have been inspected and found to be without blemish, you have heard correctly. This means nothing is stopping the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem for Messiah’s arrival!
3. The Five Days Between Yom Kippur and Sukkot – The Feast of the Birds and Transition
The Jewish calendar reveals a five-day gap between Yom Kippur and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). During this period, the Tanakh teaches that the land is cleansed and prepared for Sukkot. This aligns with the prophecy in Ezekiel 39:17-20, which speaks of birds gathering to eat the flesh of fallen warriors after God’s victory over the enemies of Israel. This corresponds to the New Testament’s Revelation 19:17-18, where the birds of the air are called to feast on the remains of those defeated in the Battle of Armageddon. The richness of these prophecies stands on its own in the Tanakh but is repeated in Revelations.
This five-day period symbolizes the transition from judgment to restoration, as the earth is purified in preparation for the Messiah’s kingdom.
4. Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)
Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles, is a joyous celebration of God’s provision and His presence dwelling with Israel. It commemorates the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness, living in temporary shelters (sukkot), and looks forward to the Messianic age when God will tabernacle with His people forever.
Scriptural Connection: The prophet Zechariah 14:16-19 describes a time when all nations will come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, a clear picture of the Messianic kingdom where the Messiah reigns over all the earth.
Jerry McGlothlin was raised in Chicago suburban Skokie, Illinois, when it was mostly Jewish, living between the Bermans and the Eisenberg’s. Recently he had a DNA test and discovered he was Jewish on his ‘Assyrian’ mother’s side of the family tree. She told Jerry when he was young, never to admit that you are ‘Assyrian,’ since someday they might do to the Assyrians what they did to the Jews. Clearly, she had fearful memories of the Holocaust since she was born in 1919 and may have not wanted to say the “J” word, trying to protect her son. Since then, Jerry has been seeking deeper knowledge of his rich, albeit diluted, Jewish lineage.
