Counting the Omer is keeping the commandment to count 50 days (seven Sabbaths plus one day) between the offering of the first fruits of the barley harvest (often called First Fruits) until the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) (Leviticus 23:15-21). This year The Barking Fox is counting the omer with modern pictures of places named in the Bible.
Counting the Omer is keeping the commandment to count 50 days (seven Sabbaths plus one day) between the offering of the first fruits of the barley harvest (often called First Fruits) until the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) (Leviticus 23:15-21). This year The Barking Fox is counting the omer with modern pictures of places named in the Bible.
It seems that Zechariah’s prophesy about Israel’s capital city becoming a source of trouble for the entire world is coming to pass. He writes –
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. (Zechariah 12:2-3 KJV)
The description of Jerusalem as “a burdensome stone for all people” fits the turmoil surrounding President Trump’s recent proclamation recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Condemnation of his statement has come from around the world, starting with the United Nations. Not surprisingly, the loudest protest has come from President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. Others, such as Turkey’s President Erdogan, Russia’s President Putin, and Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei, seem to view the American proclamation as an opportunity to advance their own interests. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to build relationships through personal diplomacy, as we have seen in his recent state visit to India.
What does all this mean? Is it really as important as some prophecy watchers say? To answer those questions, we welcome Phil Haney back to The Remnant Road. Those who have read his book, See Something, Say Nothing, know that Phil is well versed in Islamic culture and the expression of Jihad in international politics. He is also a Bible scholar who sees the centrality of God’s covenant with Israel, and how the conflict over that covenant has played out through human history. With that background, he is an ideal guest to help us understand what is really important about today’s headlines.
The Remnant Road, with co-hosts Al McCarn, Mike Clayton, Barry Phillips, and Hanoch Young is the Monday edition of the Hebrew Nation Morning Show. You can listen live at 11:00–1:00 EST, 8:00-10:00 PST at http://hebrewnationonline.com/, and on podcast at any time.
As we bid farewell to 2017, let’s consider what we might expect in 2018. The world has suffered much shaking in every imaginable way. The political order is shifting, as is the economic, religious, social, and demographic status quo that has defined our world for about a hundred years. Even as the end of World War I redrew the global order in 1918, a similar confluence of circumstances portends something new for the community of nations and the people of the earth.
We end this year with Israel and the United States standing alone against the rest of the world on the status of Jerusalem. If Israel and Jerusalem truly are the center of the world, as the Bible explains, then perhaps 2018 will bring a new level of meaning to the words of King David:
Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!”
He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.” (Psalm 2:1-6 NASB)
This psalm frames the context for our conversation on this year-end edition of The Remnant Road. Join us as we consider what’s ahead in 2018 on the Divine process of redeeming and restoring all Israel.
The Remnant Road, with co-hosts Al McCarn, Mike Clayton, Barry Phillips, and Hanoch Young is the Monday edition of the Hebrew Nation Morning Show. You can listen live at 11:00–1:00 EST, 8:00-10:00 PST at http://hebrewnationonline.com/, and on podcast at any time.
Hanukkah is about a lot more than menorahs and dreidels. Yes, it’s the Festival of Lights, but it’s also known as the Feast of Dedication. There is one mention of this feast in the Gospels:
At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. (John 10:22-23)
Some say that this is proof Yeshua observed the feast. Whether that is true or not, what we do know is that Hanukkah was observed in Yeshua’s day even though it’s not one of the Appointed Times specified in Leviticus 23.
It seems that significant events regarding the Temple and Jerusalem happen around the time of Hanukkah. On the Hebrew calendar, Hanukkah takes place in the ninth month (Kislev), beginning on the 25th day. That puts this prophecy in perspective:
Then the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, “Speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, ‘I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders will go down, everyone by the sword of another. On that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you,’” declares the Lord of hosts. (Haggai 2:20-23)
A lot of shaking has been going on around Jerusalem in this season. it started with the Maccabees, who miraculously recovered the Temple from the Greeks and established Hanukkah. In the recent past, the British Army liberated Jerusalem from the Turks at Hanukkah in 1917, and in the days before Hanukkah in 1947 the United Nations decreed the division of the land of Israel into a Jewish state and an Arab state. This week, President Trump announced the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and event that is rocking the international order.
So what is Hanukkah all about? That’s what we discuss in this show. Yes, we’ll talk about menorahs and dreidels, but this conversation will go in many unexpected directions!
The Remnant Road, with co-hosts Al McCarn, Mike Clayton, Barry Phillips, and Hanoch Young is the Monday edition of the Hebrew Nation Morning Show. You can listen live at 11:00–1:00 EST, 8:00-10:00 PST at http://hebrewnationonline.com/, and on podcast at any time.