The Day of Preparation / November 1998
- Thus says the Lord, “Preserve justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come and My righteousness to be revealed. How blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who takes hold of it; who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
- Isaiah 56:1-2
- And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”
- Revelation 18:4-5
- How blessed is he who considers the helpless; the Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble. The Lord will protect him, and keep him alive, and he shall be called blessed upon the earth; and do not give him over to the desire of his enemies. The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed; in his illness, Thou dost restore him to health.
- Psalms 41:1-3
- The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for wrath is against all their multitude. Indeed, the seller will not regain what he sold as long as they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his iniquity.
- Ezekiel 7:12 -13
- And brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all on account of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. But whenever they persecute you in this city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you shall not finish going through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes.
- Matthew 10:21-23
- Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light; as when a man flees from a lion, and a bear meets him, or goes home, leans his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it?
- Amos 5:18-20
- They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle; for My wrath is against all their multitude. The sword is outside, and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city. Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each over his own iniquity. All hands will hang limp, and all knees will become like water. And they will gird themselves with sackcloth, and shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads. They shall fling their silver into the streets, and their gold shall become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their appetite, nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.
- Ezekiel 7:14-19
- The sun is acting weird and getting ready to blow-up.
- The Y2k problem is going to threaten all technology in the world and alter your world significantly.
- The government and all banks worldwide are getting ready to go cashless and use biometric implant chips.
- The world is getting ready for world war with everyone fighting everyone (forget the idea of allies on this one).
- The world elite class have prepared for the worst and are telling us that the world can't survive unless the population is reduced to about 2 billion people. (P.S. They didn't include you or anyone you know in their count of the people who should remain.)
- For the last four years the world has eaten more than it has grown. (There are no stockpiles to save anyone.)
- New diseases (stronger than our medicines) are expected to emerge worldwide in the next few years.
- The world is on the verge of the greatest economic collapse in its history resulting in depression. (The rich will get richer; the rest will get poorer.)
- The government knows this is all coming down and has dug holesin the earth to hide, leaving you on the surface in a state of emergency. They will shut off the power, water, and freeze your assets to prove they are in charge and that you must depend on them. (By the way, you aren't invited to go to their well stocked underground bunker.)
- The astronomical community believes that an asteroid will strike the earth in the next few years. (It won't be like in the movies though, where man survives and uses the space shuttle and some ICBM's to knock it out of the sky.)
- Prepare before it rains. Prepare for others, not you.
- Do it God's way, even if it does seem ridiculous to everyone else.
- Being a part of the majority usually indicates you're not where God is. God plus one is the real majority.
- Floating quietly is better than screaming and drowning.
- Stay on the top deck with the fresh air to avoid the smell.
- Be nice to all animals.
- Learn to work and travel with a partner.
- Become a logistician and learn to work with people who make things and grow things. Avoid people who use their mouths more than their hands.
- Expect a rainbow when it is all over.
- Don't miss the boat.
Contents
Keeping Sabbath is usually the turning point. It is the turning point to obey the Lord in the face of others who would say, "Don't obey the Lord." Mind you, they don't say it quite that direct. That alone would be the confirmation that you are doing the right thing. Instead, they say, “You don't have to do that now” or, “all that was done away with when grace came.” Whatever the counter, when a person starts keeping Sabbath, interesting spiritual things begin to happen.
One of the first things noticed by obedient believers keeping Sabbath is separation from the world. God promises us that when we obey Him that He sanctifies (separates) us from the world. Sometimes that separation occurs between former spiritual teacher and student. Sometimes it occurs between church and member. Sometimes it is felt between members of the same family. Keeping Sabbath causes the smoke to clear. Keeping Sabbath is a dividing line between obeying the Lord and seeking Him, and following the crowd and being accepted by others.
There is also another aspect to keeping Sabbath that comes as a surprise. You must prepare to keep Sabbath. Once you have made the decision to do it, then comes the questions of how to do it. Some are confused about Sabbath. Is it about assembly days? When does it actually start? How do I adjust my personal schedule?
For those who have answered these and other questions, the common answer eventually comes down to not the Sabbath day itself, but rather, the day before Sabbath — the day of preparation.
Yavoh — He is Coming alerts and helps believers understand the prophetic words concerning the coming Day of the Lord and the King's return. In particular, we make our readers aware of specific prophecies and events that indicate that the present generation is the last generation, that the end of the age is upon us, and that we need to be ready. Being ready means being spiritually ready. Quite simply, a spiritually ready saint will also get physically and emotionally ready. Bypassing the spiritual requirement is a recipe for failure. It's like the cart in front of the horse. It is discarding your most important resource to live and make it — the Lord. Therefore, our message puts the Lord first when it comes to preparation for the days ahead.
“So how do we prepare?” many of you have asked, “Do we store up? Where do we go? Will there be any gasoline? What about the mark of the beast?” and other questions. I have shared many of the answers. Generally, any preparation is good but key spiritual truths must be understood to separate the good ideas from a disaster scenario. Let me illustrate. “Should we store food?” Yes! But it is not for you. Store it for those who do not prepare. Store it for those whose faith is not yet strong enough to rely on the Lord. You don't need the food. Your God makes manna appear with the dew. Your God can bless and divide a loaf to feed thousands. Your God can make water come from a rock. You have a God who has promised to care for you. Your faith is in your God, not the preparation of your hands.
Some people will store food and hoard it. They will do so out of fear, not faith. They will trust themselves, not God. They won't make it very far.
What does this have to do with Sabbath? What does Sabbath have to do with preparing for the Great Tribulation? What does Sabbath have to do with the coming of the Lord?
“For My salvation [Yeshua] is about to come,” indicates that this counsel concerns preparing for the second coming of the Lord. Why would keeping Sabbath and not profaning it be an important part of preparing? The answer is both simple and profound.
Anyone keeping Sabbath knows that you must prepare your house and heart to observe it. Sabbath is the prophetic picture of the millennial kingdom. Sabbath is the seventh day — the day to rest. The millennial kingdom is the seventh millennium — the day that the Lord will take His seat in Jerusalem and rest from His labors. Every time we keep Sabbath, we are training to be in the millennial kingdom. Every time we keep Sabbath, we are learning the spiritual lesson to prepare, to make ourselves ready for the Lord's return. Every time we keep Sabbath, we are refreshed and renewed to place spiritual priority above the physical. Every time we keep Sabbath, we are offering an invitation to the Lord of the Sabbath to stay in our homes until the kingdom comes.
Here we are on the brink of the seventh millennium. We have a strong sense that the end of the ages is upon us and that the Lord is soon to return. Given that Sabbath is our example, we should look to it as our guideline for preparation and orientation. Quite honestly, if you are storing a little food for survival and are not fooled by events in the world and are willing to escape BUT are not keeping Sabbath, then you are not prepared to endure to the end.
Maybe you attend a church regularly, that's fine. Sabbath is not about assembly time. You can assemble with believers anytime. Sabbath is about resting and ceasing from your labors. Sabbath is about honoring the Creator in your home, before you honor Him in front of others. It is getting you spiritually calibrated, so you know who your God is and He knows who you are. Sabbath is about going into the tabernacle inside of you, raised up by Yeshua's resurrection and being moved by the Spirit of the Holy One that fills that temple (you) and getting it straight about who God is and who you are. Sabbath is getting a taste of the kingdom — dwelling in the presence of the King. Church is assembling with like minded believers, many of whom are still denying the keeping of God's commandments.
When the Great Tribulation comes, church is the last place on earth you will want to be. The prophecies clearly state that the apostasy will come. The apostasy is when church leaders will sell the body of Christ out for accommodation with the antichrist's government. This is why the prophecy clearly warns believers to come up out of the harlot church in the great tribulation.
Where are God's people right now? Answer: In churches. Do those churches advocate preparing for the coming of the Lord by keeping Sabbath? Answer: Most don't. Will the apostasy come to people who are religious or non-religious? Answer: Those that are already religious and not preparing.
God's future is pretty clear on these points. If you are in a church and not keeping Sabbath, not preparing for the great tribulation and the kingdom that follows, then you are on the bulls eye for the prophecy of the great apostasy, you are a disaster waiting to happen. (If you think I'm being a little harsh, you should wait and see what the great tribulation is about.)
What about my family? Prepare for them. What if they won't listen? What if my Pastor disagrees and just doesn't get it? To him who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Those who don't have an ear, you prepare for them.
How much should we store or prepare for? It is like gathering manna. He who can gather much, gathers much, so there is no excess. He who can gather little, gathers little, so there is no lack. Should we pay off the house and get out of debt? Indebtedness is a form of slavery. Because of debts and obligations, some will not escape. If those obligations hinder you from escaping then get out of them now. Remember this though. They are going to take everything away from you. They will take your house. Do you want them to take it when it is all paid off, or when it is half paid off? All of it is going to be destroyed. Your money won't save you. The words of Ezekiel speak to this point.
If we can't stay in our houses, then where do we go? Get mobile and leave the cities. Go to where like minded brethren will assemble. When do we leave the cities? Not now! Follow the instruction of Yeshua.
When the great tribulation comes, when the apostasy comes, and when the oppression comes, then it is time to flee. Part of preparation is knowing where you will go first when you leave the cities. That will be your sukkoth, your temporary dwelling. The Lord will lead and deliver from there.
What kinds of things should we prepare for? What will we be facing? The prophecies cite many things happening. They range from the sun burning mankind, waters being destroyed, food shortages, violence, war, diseases, chaos, asteroids hitting the earth, to the planet dying. You can't prepare for everything. So preparation is only for the initial things until the Lord's deliverance takes full effect. Ezekiel and Revelation specify the initial judgments as follows: wild beasts, the sword, famine, and pestilence. They are in ascending order of danger.
Wild beasts are when wild animals (and maybe domestic animals) lose their fear of man. This is a judgment of when the animals become rogue and attack people. For those of you planning to hide in the woods, you need to be prepared for this. This includes expecting the unexpected. The words of Amos speak to this.
The sword is war and open violence. Presently, the world is on the brink of more wars than in any time previous in history. The most obvious of these is in the Middle East. The world is now a place of biological weapons, weapons of mass destruction, and terrorists. No longer is it just the good guys who have nuclear weapons or chemical weapons. No longer are the reasons of war just economics or ideology. Now it is theology and who is the real God. Preparing for this requires some spiritual balance. Taking up the sword means that you will die by the sword. The Scripture is clear on this. Weapons can not be used to forage for what you will need. Weapons used in an offensive matter will simply put you on the bulls eye as a threat. On the other side is the need to protect your family and brethren. A man who does not provide (physical protection included) is worse than an infidel (unbeliever). A weapon will not deliver you; it will complicate your deliverance.
Famine is the easiest one to prepare for and yet the least one believed to happen. For us here in America, the land of abundance, and for those who have never known for want, we can't imagine going without anything, save for the lack of money. Many people are willing to prepare but they think the thing to store is money, not food. Take my word on this or try it for yourself, you can not suck nourishment out of a gold coin. It won't work. Buy long term food. Put it in multiple places. Learn to eat the food God makes; not the processed, frozen, fat-free, no cholesterol, just microwave it, ready in minutes stuff. Learn to grow food. Learn to live. Learn how to fast.
Pestilence covers both insects, rodents, and disease. This is the deadliest of the judgments. More people died in 1922 from influenza than in all of World War I. A gun will kill a person. An infected person can kill a city. There is not a lot one can do to prepare for this except to deal with the issue when it comes. That means to keep things clean. To cover and destroy all waste. To properly bury the dead. Have you ever wondered why God is so adamant about the definition of clean and unclean in the Bible? In the Great Tribulation, your life will depend on that definition.
The prophet Ezekiel summarizes for us the key issues of these plagues.
A key clue is given us in this passage, especially for those who want to stay in the cities. “The sword is outside [the city], famine and pestilence are within [the city].” The greater danger is in the cities. Does this mean it is safe outside? No. We are always going to be on the target. But the effort is to stay off the bulls eye.
Let's shift gears for a moment on this subject of preparation. I believe proper preparation is spiritually driven and is evidence of having faith in God, trusting Him for our deliverance and salvation. The picture of keeping Sabbath and the day of preparation set the proper context and balance for all this activity. Let's say that you aren't quite sure this is the time for the Lord's coming. Let's say that you need a little more evidence to be convinced of those things before you decide to prepare. Then you should go ahead and prepare for the following reasons:
Did I mention earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tidal waves, volcanos, etc? It seems to me that any serious thought concerning this subject would cause you to consider preparing a little.
To be completely honest, I hope that the Great Tribulation is about to happen. I have a promise from God to deliver me in those days. If this is just normal stuff and the end of the age is later, then I don't want to see the end of age.
If some words are put on glass, visible forwards and backwards, which is the best way to read the words? Would it not be easier to read and gain the understanding by reading the glass from the side that it is displayed toward? It is not that you couldn't study long enough to eventually get it, but it is just easier from the one side that it was intended to be read from.
The same can be said for the message of the Bible and in particular the second coming.
Let me pose a couple of key questions to you that will reveal how you see the Bible and God's plan for your life.
As New Testament believers, believers of Jesus (Yeshua) as the Christ (Messiah), how do we approach the Scriptures as a whole? What is our starting point and where are we trying to get to?
Should we study and learn about Moses to understand Yeshua the Messiah?
-OR-
Should we study and learn about the Messiah to understand Moses?
-OR-
Should we just skip Moses and focus only on the Messiah?
Another way of putting this question is…
Should we read the Bible forwards (start with the creation and the covenants leading to the prophecies of the Messiah and His coming)?
-OR-
Should we read the Bible backwards (start with a proper understanding of the New Testament and go backwards to creation)?
With regard to the prophetic and the second coming…
Should we understand the prophecies of Moses and the Prophets of Israel first, then listen to our New Testament witnesses to understand the Millennial Kingdom?
-OR-
Should we skip all the references to the second coming and the Kingdom in the Old Testament and just home in on Revelation?
I prefer the first choice of each of these questions; however, most churches and Bible teachers prefer the latter choices. I believe that to understand (truly understand) God's plan for creation, redemption, and restoration, you must take it the way He gives it. Starting with the New Testament to understand the Messiah is like reading a book backwards. It is confusing and frustrating. Trying to understand the Law of Moses with a preconceived idea that it is no longer valid is like standing on the wrong side of the glass and trying to read a set of instructions. Mistakes will be made and it won't look right. But more than ever, skipping the instruction of the Torah (the teaching) is disregarding the fundamental teaching of who God is, the basis of God's promises, and the commandments of God.
It is this last point that more needs to be said. Where exactly are the commandments of God? You know, the commandments that Yeshua was referring to when He said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments?” He was obviously referring to something prior to the New Testament, because the New Testament didn't exist when He spoke.
The commandments of God are not in the prophets, gospels, or the letters to the churches. The commandments are not in Revelation or the Psalms. They are not in the historical books like 1st and 2nd Kings, nor are they in the books of Nehemiah, Ezra, or Ruth. The commandments of God are in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Specifically, the commandments that God spoke from the mountain, first with His own voice, then recounted through Moses are in Exodus 20 through 24. They're pretty easy to read and understand.
The question for a lot of churchmen centers around exactly which commandments are from Jesus. Was Jesus referring to the commandments spoken from the mountain with Moses? If you approach the Bible backwards, you won't deal with the question very well. In fact, you will fend this question off with, “That was for the Jews. That is not for us.”
Yeshua was having one of those interesting conversations with the Jewish religious leaders about our father Abraham. Yeshua said that He had spoken with Abraham. The Jewish leaders responded with unbelief. “You're not a man yet 50 years old,” they said to Yeshua, “Abraham has long been buried.” Then Yeshua said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” The “I am” name was the one given by God to Moses in the burning bush. The “I am” God is the one who spoke from the mountain the commandments and gave other commandments to Moses that he wrote in the Torah. It is clear that Yeshua was referring to His commandments — the same ones He gave to Moses. The only way you can understand and receive this understanding properly is to learn about Abraham and Moses before hearing Yeshua's statements. Without the understanding of Abraham and Moses, Yeshua's statement means nothing.
Maybe this is why Yeshua warns us about not thinking that He came to do away with Moses and the Prophets. Maybe this why He says anyone annulling the least of the commandments will be least in the kingdom, and anyone keeping and teaching the commandments will be great in the kingdom. Maybe this why He said, “Had you believed in Moses, you would have believed in Me, for He wrote of Me.”
Trying to believe in Yeshua without the instruction of Moses and the Prophets is like trying to eat a hamburger with mustard, ketchup, onions, and pickles without the buns. It is a mess.
I suppose it is possible to read things backwards and still get some of it right. I suppose you could read a book backwards and figure out the story-line and plot. I suppose you could eat a sandwich without the bread, but wouldn't it be easier and less of a mess to approach it the other way?
Many of you know the Messiah is the most important part in our common faith. We want to know everything we can about Him and we want to be ready for His soon return. Are we going to continue doing it our way (backwards)? Or, shouldn't we try to learn His way, and do it the way He put it before us? Shouldn't we just go into His Kingdom the way He leads us? Or, is it really necessary to go through hell first to get there?
All I Really Need to Know About Preparation I Learned From Noah
YAVOH, He is Coming is a monthly newsletter published as an outreach ministry of Lion and Lamb Ministries
The ministry is a non-profit organization with an end time prophetic message in a Messianic Jewish context.
Subscription to YAVOH, He is Coming is without cost and supported only by donation.
Permission is granted to reprint any article in YAVOH, He is Coming with attribution given to YAVOH, He is Coming.
Editor - Monte Judah
Electronic Editor - Ephraim Judah
Lion and Lamb Ministries
PO Box 720968
Norman, OK 73070
Phone: (405) 447 4429
Fax: (405) 447 3775
E-mail: info@lionlamb.net
Web: lionlamb.net
