Lt. Col. Chris Koelzer discusses the state of the empire, his experience in the Military-Industrial-Complex, the looming wars on the horizon, the financial system on the edge of the abyss, how to prepare for the hard road ahead, and more! Watch On BitChute
I have quite a few Dave Hunt books, but Judgement Day! Islam, Israel, and the Nations is one I haven’t read yet. There are audio recordings of several of the chapters on The Berean Call website and on YouTube. I just finished listening to chapter 2 and am very impressed. I need this book.
“Israel is both under God's judgment because of its continual rejection of the God of Israel, but at the same time, He has not abandoned her, and woe to those who take God's judgment into their own hands!”
“In the meantime, the nations of the world continue to become a party to Islam's deception by attempting to force Israel into what can only be a false ’peace.’ What Islam has in mind is not what the peacemakers naively intend. It's called a hudna, the ‘peace’ that Muhammad made with the Meccans for ten years. Long before then, under a pretense, Muslims attacked and took over that ’holy city’ which had so long been the goal of the hajj (long practiced before Muhammad's birth by most Arab tribes).”
- September 5, 2022 The Berean Call article “Israel and Prophetic Truth, part 2” by Dave Hunt (originally published July 1, 2009)
At minute 20:30, a quote was given incompletely and inaccurately. The quote was taken from Zechariah 12:3, but was given a different ending than in the Scriptures:
“And in that day it shall be that I make Yerushalayim a very heavy stone for all peoples - all lifting it are severely injured. And all the nations of the earth shall be gathered against it.”
Verse 9 says, "And it shall be in that day that I seek to destroy all the nations that come against Yerushalayim.”
I recommend reading the whole chapter … or the whole book. This is talking about Yerushalayim and about Israel.
Accuracy is vital, as is context, especially when speaking about God’s Word.
“Human Resources” is a pet peeve of mine. I like how the guest put it on this point, taking it even further than I had thought of it - like we are their consumables. Sickening. But I don’t think we are their “assets” either.
part 4 of excerpt from The Separation of Church and State: Copernicus and the Jews pp 69-72
In Rev. 2:20, Yeshua says to the community in Thyatira, "I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, she who calls herself a prophetess.” Among the believers, there was a woman who called herself a prophet, but she was not. These false claims, before and after the false claim cited in v.9, were being made by individuals within the community of believers.
The second thing we should note is that the word loudaioi, translated as "Jews," appears about 60 times in the Gospel of John. John, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, calls the Jews "Jews”. He records that the other disciples called the Jews "Jews”. The Samaritan woman called the Jews "Jews”. Pilate called the Jews "Jews”. The Roman soldiers called the Jews "Jews”. And Jesus called the Jews "Jews".
This is not a case of someone calling himself, or herself, something that he, or she, is not. This is a case of everybody calling the Jews "Jews.” Was John wrong in calling them "Jews"? Was the Holy Spirit wrong? Was Jesus wrong?
If the Jews are no longer Jews, then what have they become? Chinese? Martians? Avocados? And why has the Church slandered and persecuted them for 1700 years for being Jews, if they are not Jews?
Listen again to what Yeshua said to his Jewish ambassador from Israel. It sounds different to Jewish ears than it does to traditional Christian ones. "I will make those who are of the congregation of the Adversary - who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars - I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you." (Rev. 3:9) It sounds like the everlasting love of the God of Israel for His people Israel.
Within Israel at that time, there were many Jews, like John, who believed in Yeshua. There were also many who did not believe, and many who hadn't heard anything about Yeshua, or at least not enough to make a decision. The issue we are discussing concerns a particular text in its context. What is the proper translation of sunagoge in Rev. 2:9 and Rev. 3:9? It did not mean "synagogue," so it should not be translated as "synagogue," especially if such translation communicates the opposite of what Yeshua said.
To read the Messianic Writings and treat sunagoge as though it designated something exclusively Jewish, and treat ekklesia as though it designated something specifically Christian is to read meaning out of the text that the authors of the text never put into the text. It was not their intent. It was not their meaning. Such treatment of the text distorts rather than conveys its meaning. It creates an illusion that hides the anomaly and preserves the system.
part 3 of excerpt from The Separation of Church and State: Copernicus and the Jews pp 69-72
But back to Revelation. Let's look at the text. The book of Revelation describes the events on earth and in the heavens which lead up to the return of Yeshua to destroy the enemies of Israel, followed by his rule in Jerusalem in the Messianic Age. That is then followed by his rule in the new Jerusalem on the new earth. What will happen following Yeshua's triumphant return to Jerusalem to deliver Israel? He will gather the non-Jews/ethnos/goyim and judge them on the basis of one thing: "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." (Mt. 25:40) It will be done as God promised Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all Israel it would be. "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you."
It brings to mind what the LORD said to Israel in the time of Jeremiah. Israel had become unclean by turning away from the LORD, bringing the judgment of exile. Jeremiah was persecuted by some of his brethren, but God promised restoration for Israel, and proclaimed the promise of judgment on the nations according to what they do to Israel. "But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil” (Jer. 30:16)
In this same section, the Lord then said to Israel, "I have loved you with an everlasting love. (Jer.31:3a) In this verse, the Septuagint has egapesa se for "I have loved you” (LXX Jer.38:3). That is the exact Greek phrase that John chose to use in Rev. 3:9: "I will make them come and bow down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you/egapesa se.”
The Greek phrase that John uses for "they will bow down at your feet" -proskunesousin enopion ton podon sou - comes from Isaiah 49:23, another section about the redemption of Zion and the descendants of Jacob. "Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD. Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed." (Is. 49:23)
It is quite similar to the promise of the Mighty One of Jacob to Jerusalem: "The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you. All who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel." (Is. 60:14)
There are two more things that we should scrupulously notice. The first concerns the context in which Yeshua repeats the false claim. A common translation of the key phrase in Rev. 2:9 is, "I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not.” A more literal translation of the phrase is, "I know the slander of those who declare themselves to be Jews and are not." In the same chapter, both before and after this message to the community in Smyrna, Yeshua uses the same kind of language to address similar situations in two other communities.
In Rev. 2:2, Yeshua says to the community in Ephesus, "you cannot tolerate evil men, and have tested those who declare themselves to be apostles, and they are not, and found them false." In that community of believers, there were those who called themselves apostles, but they were not.
part 2 of excerpt from The Separation of Church and State: Copernicus and the Jews pp 69-72
In Acts 26:14, Paul said that the risen Yeshua spoke to him in Hebrew. Luke tells us that when Paul was speaking to the crowd in Jerusalem, he spoke in Hebrew. (cf. Acts 21:40; 22:2)
Hebrew speaking Jews spoke to each other in Hebrew.
In Rev. 9:11 and 16:16, John refers to the original Hebrew for Abaddon and Har Megiddo.
He also refers to the original Hebrew for other words in John 5:2; 19:13, 17; and 20:16. In Jn. 1:42, John gives us the original Hebrew name which Yeshua gave to Simon, and then explains that the more familiar Greek name is simply a translation. "And he (Andrew) brought him to Yeshua. Yeshua looked at him and said, 'You are Simon son of John. You will be called Kefa; (which, when translated, is Peter)."
Hebrew was John's native language. It was also Yeshua's native language. It was the language in which they had spoken to each other for years. Almost certainly, Yeshua continued to speak to John in Hebrew. In that case, Yeshua would not even have used the word sunagoge.
In whatever language Yeshua did speak to John, it is possible that he was referring to a Jewish group. He could have had the same thing in mind that Paul points out in Romans 2:28-29: God's covenant of circumcision with Abraham is not just an external sign. It is intended as an external sign of the internal circumcision of the heart. That is what being Jewish is truly about.
It is possible that Yeshua had that sense in mind. If that is the case, then Yeshua was saying that there are some Jews who have set themselves in opposition to God's purpose for themselves, and who therefore are not fully Jews in terms of what God created and called them to be. But clearly, Yeshua, the King of the Jews, was speaking to John, one of his tens of thousands of Jewish followers at the time. In other words, Yeshua may have been speaking of some Jews, but he could not have been speaking of all Jews.
However, this is a prophetic message, speaking of things that are to come. John was alone in Patmos, exiled there by non-Jews. Yeshua could just as easily have been referring to a group of Christians, or any number of cults which have appeared, which claim to be Jews, but are not.
At least, such groups claim to be Jews as far as the promised blessings are concerned. They do not seem to make such claims concerning the promised judgments. Apparently, they only consider themselves half-Jews, the blessing half. Nor do they seem to make such claims when the persecution comes.
All the Catholic churches claim to be Israel. So do the Orthodox churches and the Reformed churches. So do a multitude of a variety of other churches. They all think they have replaced the Jews.
A few months after I turned to the Lord, I was introduced to a traveling evangelical speaker.
He asked me, "So you're Jewish?” "Yes," I said. In a challenging tone, he replied, "I'm just as Jewish as you are." At the time, I didn't know what he was talking about. He obviously wasn't Jewish. All I understood from his attitude and his statement was his hostility towards the Jewish people.
In the more than thirty years since, I have found that his view is quite common. I often encounter Christians who say that they are Jews. Their thinking goes like this: 'When it comes to the Jews, being Jewish is a bad thing, and they are cast off from God because of it. But there are a lot of good promises to the Jews. So if the Jews aren't Jews, then the Christians must be Jews.’ Last month, I was supposed to meet with a theologian who claims that Christians are more Jewish than Jews are. This is just a normal bizarre teaching. Unfortunately, we couldn't work out a time to meet.
part 1 of an excerpt from the book The Separation of Church and Faith: Copernicus and the Jews, pages 69-72
"SUNAGOGE OF SATAN"
Before closing this chapter, I think it would be helpful to scrupulously look at two additional verses which use sunagoge. In these prophetic verses, Yeshua is speaking to John, one of his Jewish ambassadors, about groups of people who claim to be Jews, but who are not.
"I know your afflictions and your poverty- -yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a sunagoge of Satan." (Rev. 2:9) "I will make those who are of the sunagoge of Satan- who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars, I will make them come and bow down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.” (Rev. 3:9)
'Isn't it obvious who is intended? Yeshua must be referring to unbelieving Jews, because he says that this group is a synagogue.'
That would mean that the ones "who claim to be Jews though they are not" are the Jews.
That would mean that the Jews are the ones who are not Jews. This is the standard view of Christian theology. Some of the Church fathers pointedly used these verses to refer to all Jews and incite hatred against them. They believed that all Jews are not Jews, and should therefore be hated because they are Jews.
Is that what Yeshua is saying? Is that the group to which he is referring? At the time that Yeshua was speaking to John, sunagoge did not mean, nor did it in any way imply, something specifically Jewish. It was simply a generic Greek word which meant "meeting" or "meeting-place"? Sunagoge did not mean "synagogue". A synagogue, as everyone knows, is a religious Jewish meetingplace. That is not what sunagoge meant in the first century. That is not what Yeshua said.
For that matter, we don't know in what language Yeshua was speaking to John. When they grew up together, they spoke in Jewish Aramaic or Hebrew. Could Yeshua have been speaking to John in Greek on the isle of Patmos? Possibly, but not likely. It was not their native language.
I have quite a few Dave Hunt books, but Judgement Day! Islam, Israel, and the Nations is one I haven’t read yet. There are audio recordings of several of the chapters on The Berean Call website and on YouTube. I just finished listening to chapter 2 and am very impressed. I need this book.
It is available as a free download here: https://www.thebereancall.org/content/judgment-day-chapter-two-hatreds-final-solution?sapurl=Lys5MjZkL2xiL2xpLyt3dm44dWs4P2JyYW5kaW5nPXRydWUmZW1iZWQ9dHJ1ZSZyZWNlbnRSb3V0ZT1hcHAud2ViLWFwcC5saWJyYXJ5Lmxpc3QmcmVjZW50Um91dGVTbHVnPSUyQnd2bjh1azg=
Or as a hard copy here: https://store.thebereancall.org/shop/product/b05858-judgment-day-35786?search=judgment+day
“Israel is both under God's judgment because of its continual rejection of the God of Israel, but at the same time, He has not abandoned her, and woe to those who take God's judgment into their own hands!”
“In the meantime, the nations of the world continue to become a party to Islam's deception by attempting to force Israel into what can only be a false ’peace.’ What Islam has in mind is not what the peacemakers naively intend. It's called a hudna, the ‘peace’ that Muhammad made with the Meccans for ten years. Long before then, under a pretense, Muslims attacked and took over that ’holy city’ which had so long been the goal of the hajj (long practiced before Muhammad's birth by most Arab tribes).”
- September 5, 2022 The Berean Call article “Israel and Prophetic Truth, part 2” by Dave Hunt (originally published July 1, 2009)
Dave Hunt on Israel:
https://www.thebereancall.org/topic/israel
At minute 20:30, a quote was given incompletely and inaccurately. The quote was taken from Zechariah 12:3, but was given a different ending than in the Scriptures:
“And in that day it shall be that I make Yerushalayim a very heavy stone for all peoples - all lifting it are severely injured. And all the nations of the earth shall be gathered against it.”
Verse 9 says, "And it shall be in that day that I seek to destroy all the nations that come against Yerushalayim.”
I recommend reading the whole chapter … or the whole book. This is talking about Yerushalayim and about Israel.
Accuracy is vital, as is context, especially when speaking about God’s Word.
“Human Resources” is a pet peeve of mine. I like how the guest put it on this point, taking it even further than I had thought of it - like we are their consumables. Sickening. But I don’t think we are their “assets” either.
part 4 of excerpt from The Separation of Church and State: Copernicus and the Jews pp 69-72
In Rev. 2:20, Yeshua says to the community in Thyatira, "I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, she who calls herself a prophetess.” Among the believers, there was a woman who called herself a prophet, but she was not. These false claims, before and after the false claim cited in v.9, were being made by individuals within the community of believers.
The second thing we should note is that the word loudaioi, translated as "Jews," appears about 60 times in the Gospel of John. John, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, calls the Jews "Jews”. He records that the other disciples called the Jews "Jews”. The Samaritan woman called the Jews "Jews”. Pilate called the Jews "Jews”. The Roman soldiers called the Jews "Jews”. And Jesus called the Jews "Jews".
This is not a case of someone calling himself, or herself, something that he, or she, is not. This is a case of everybody calling the Jews "Jews.” Was John wrong in calling them "Jews"? Was the Holy Spirit wrong? Was Jesus wrong?
If the Jews are no longer Jews, then what have they become? Chinese? Martians? Avocados? And why has the Church slandered and persecuted them for 1700 years for being Jews, if they are not Jews?
Listen again to what Yeshua said to his Jewish ambassador from Israel. It sounds different to Jewish ears than it does to traditional Christian ones. "I will make those who are of the congregation of the Adversary - who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars - I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you." (Rev. 3:9) It sounds like the everlasting love of the God of Israel for His people Israel.
Within Israel at that time, there were many Jews, like John, who believed in Yeshua. There were also many who did not believe, and many who hadn't heard anything about Yeshua, or at least not enough to make a decision. The issue we are discussing concerns a particular text in its context. What is the proper translation of sunagoge in Rev. 2:9 and Rev. 3:9? It did not mean "synagogue," so it should not be translated as "synagogue," especially if such translation communicates the opposite of what Yeshua said.
To read the Messianic Writings and treat sunagoge as though it designated something exclusively Jewish, and treat ekklesia as though it designated something specifically Christian is to read meaning out of the text that the authors of the text never put into the text. It was not their intent. It was not their meaning. Such treatment of the text distorts rather than conveys its meaning. It creates an illusion that hides the anomaly and preserves the system.
part 3 of excerpt from The Separation of Church and State: Copernicus and the Jews pp 69-72
But back to Revelation. Let's look at the text. The book of Revelation describes the events on earth and in the heavens which lead up to the return of Yeshua to destroy the enemies of Israel, followed by his rule in Jerusalem in the Messianic Age. That is then followed by his rule in the new Jerusalem on the new earth. What will happen following Yeshua's triumphant return to Jerusalem to deliver Israel? He will gather the non-Jews/ethnos/goyim and judge them on the basis of one thing: "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." (Mt. 25:40) It will be done as God promised Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all Israel it would be. "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you."
It brings to mind what the LORD said to Israel in the time of Jeremiah. Israel had become unclean by turning away from the LORD, bringing the judgment of exile. Jeremiah was persecuted by some of his brethren, but God promised restoration for Israel, and proclaimed the promise of judgment on the nations according to what they do to Israel. "But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil” (Jer. 30:16)
In this same section, the Lord then said to Israel, "I have loved you with an everlasting love. (Jer.31:3a) In this verse, the Septuagint has egapesa se for "I have loved you” (LXX Jer.38:3). That is the exact Greek phrase that John chose to use in Rev. 3:9: "I will make them come and bow down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you/egapesa se.”
The Greek phrase that John uses for "they will bow down at your feet" -proskunesousin enopion ton podon sou - comes from Isaiah 49:23, another section about the redemption of Zion and the descendants of Jacob. "Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD. Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed." (Is. 49:23)
It is quite similar to the promise of the Mighty One of Jacob to Jerusalem: "The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you. All who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel." (Is. 60:14)
There are two more things that we should scrupulously notice. The first concerns the context in which Yeshua repeats the false claim. A common translation of the key phrase in Rev. 2:9 is, "I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not.” A more literal translation of the phrase is, "I know the slander of those who declare themselves to be Jews and are not." In the same chapter, both before and after this message to the community in Smyrna, Yeshua uses the same kind of language to address similar situations in two other communities.
In Rev. 2:2, Yeshua says to the community in Ephesus, "you cannot tolerate evil men, and have tested those who declare themselves to be apostles, and they are not, and found them false." In that community of believers, there were those who called themselves apostles, but they were not.
part 2 of excerpt from The Separation of Church and State: Copernicus and the Jews pp 69-72
In Acts 26:14, Paul said that the risen Yeshua spoke to him in Hebrew. Luke tells us that when Paul was speaking to the crowd in Jerusalem, he spoke in Hebrew. (cf. Acts 21:40; 22:2)
Hebrew speaking Jews spoke to each other in Hebrew.
In Rev. 9:11 and 16:16, John refers to the original Hebrew for Abaddon and Har Megiddo.
He also refers to the original Hebrew for other words in John 5:2; 19:13, 17; and 20:16. In Jn. 1:42, John gives us the original Hebrew name which Yeshua gave to Simon, and then explains that the more familiar Greek name is simply a translation. "And he (Andrew) brought him to Yeshua. Yeshua looked at him and said, 'You are Simon son of John. You will be called Kefa; (which, when translated, is Peter)."
Hebrew was John's native language. It was also Yeshua's native language. It was the language in which they had spoken to each other for years. Almost certainly, Yeshua continued to speak to John in Hebrew. In that case, Yeshua would not even have used the word sunagoge.
In whatever language Yeshua did speak to John, it is possible that he was referring to a Jewish group. He could have had the same thing in mind that Paul points out in Romans 2:28-29: God's covenant of circumcision with Abraham is not just an external sign. It is intended as an external sign of the internal circumcision of the heart. That is what being Jewish is truly about.
It is possible that Yeshua had that sense in mind. If that is the case, then Yeshua was saying that there are some Jews who have set themselves in opposition to God's purpose for themselves, and who therefore are not fully Jews in terms of what God created and called them to be. But clearly, Yeshua, the King of the Jews, was speaking to John, one of his tens of thousands of Jewish followers at the time. In other words, Yeshua may have been speaking of some Jews, but he could not have been speaking of all Jews.
However, this is a prophetic message, speaking of things that are to come. John was alone in Patmos, exiled there by non-Jews. Yeshua could just as easily have been referring to a group of Christians, or any number of cults which have appeared, which claim to be Jews, but are not.
At least, such groups claim to be Jews as far as the promised blessings are concerned. They do not seem to make such claims concerning the promised judgments. Apparently, they only consider themselves half-Jews, the blessing half. Nor do they seem to make such claims when the persecution comes.
All the Catholic churches claim to be Israel. So do the Orthodox churches and the Reformed churches. So do a multitude of a variety of other churches. They all think they have replaced the Jews.
A few months after I turned to the Lord, I was introduced to a traveling evangelical speaker.
He asked me, "So you're Jewish?” "Yes," I said. In a challenging tone, he replied, "I'm just as Jewish as you are." At the time, I didn't know what he was talking about. He obviously wasn't Jewish. All I understood from his attitude and his statement was his hostility towards the Jewish people.
In the more than thirty years since, I have found that his view is quite common. I often encounter Christians who say that they are Jews. Their thinking goes like this: 'When it comes to the Jews, being Jewish is a bad thing, and they are cast off from God because of it. But there are a lot of good promises to the Jews. So if the Jews aren't Jews, then the Christians must be Jews.’ Last month, I was supposed to meet with a theologian who claims that Christians are more Jewish than Jews are. This is just a normal bizarre teaching. Unfortunately, we couldn't work out a time to meet.
part 1 of an excerpt from the book The Separation of Church and Faith: Copernicus and the Jews, pages 69-72
"SUNAGOGE OF SATAN"
Before closing this chapter, I think it would be helpful to scrupulously look at two additional verses which use sunagoge. In these prophetic verses, Yeshua is speaking to John, one of his Jewish ambassadors, about groups of people who claim to be Jews, but who are not.
"I know your afflictions and your poverty- -yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a sunagoge of Satan." (Rev. 2:9) "I will make those who are of the sunagoge of Satan- who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars, I will make them come and bow down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.” (Rev. 3:9)
'Isn't it obvious who is intended? Yeshua must be referring to unbelieving Jews, because he says that this group is a synagogue.'
That would mean that the ones "who claim to be Jews though they are not" are the Jews.
That would mean that the Jews are the ones who are not Jews. This is the standard view of Christian theology. Some of the Church fathers pointedly used these verses to refer to all Jews and incite hatred against them. They believed that all Jews are not Jews, and should therefore be hated because they are Jews.
Is that what Yeshua is saying? Is that the group to which he is referring? At the time that Yeshua was speaking to John, sunagoge did not mean, nor did it in any way imply, something specifically Jewish. It was simply a generic Greek word which meant "meeting" or "meeting-place"? Sunagoge did not mean "synagogue". A synagogue, as everyone knows, is a religious Jewish meetingplace. That is not what sunagoge meant in the first century. That is not what Yeshua said.
For that matter, we don't know in what language Yeshua was speaking to John. When they grew up together, they spoke in Jewish Aramaic or Hebrew. Could Yeshua have been speaking to John in Greek on the isle of Patmos? Possibly, but not likely. It was not their native language.