By HARRY MOSKOFFII wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to publish this tidbit of news I discovered in last week's newspaper here at JPOST, but by now everyone must surely know. On page 10 there was a small article that happened to catch my attention. I would have expected it to be placed on the front page (knowing its significance), but nevertheless, there it was. I had been patiently waiting for this event to happen (along with many other people). The article, which you can also find originally posted on Reuters, states: “The White House said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia's King Salman would meet with President Barack Obama in Washington on Sept. 4. The two leaders will discuss Yemen, Syria and steps to counter Iran's destabilizing activities in the region.” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told this to reporters who were traveling on Air Force One.The story goes on to say that US President Barack Obama wants to “shore up relations” after a period of tension regarding the US-led nuclear deal with Iran.The timing is uncanny though, since this visit comes less than two weeks before a possible Congressional vote on that agreement. Furthermore, the article points out clearly that the gist of the meeting is to discuss “steps to counter Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region.”Can you smell the fear there? One of the things I learned in my Executive Counter-Terrorism course at IDT was that it’s the “infidel” (aka – moderate) Sunni Arabs in Saudi Arabia that are first on the Iranian (Shi’ite) nuclear hit list. Before Israel even - despite all the rhetoric to the contrary.But here’s where it gets interesting. Very interesting. All this has been mapped out over 1500 years ago in the following Jewish scriptural sources:Yoma 10a in the Talmud – “Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda in the name of Rabbi Ilayi: In the time to come, Rome will fall at the hands of Persia.”Well, how it THAT going to happen? We definitely know that present-day Persia and Rome intensely dislike each other ever since the Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US was revealed (in Nov. 2011). The above verse may in fact elude to the final battle of Gog and Magog that we may witness at the End of Days.But here is something closer to home. The following passage is from a Midrash (an ancient text originally compiled circa 500 AD). Keep in mind that Midrashic literature is not always meant to be taken at face value, but is usually coming to teach an historic lesson that all can learn from.Yalkut Shemoni (Isaiah, #499) – “Rabbi Yitzchak said: The year that Melekh HaMashiach (King Messiah) will be revealed, all the kings (leaders) of the nations will be struggling against each other. The leader of Persia (Iran) will contest with an Arab leader and the Arab leader will go to Aram/Edom (the Western Superpower) to get council from him. The leader of Persia will respond and [attempt to] bring destruction to the entire world. All the nations of the world will be trembling and shaking and falling on their faces. They will be seized by pains like labor pains. The Jewish people will be overcome by panic and fear, saying: "Where can we go? Where can we go?" And the Messiah will say to them: My children, do not fear, everything I did I did only for you! Why are you frightened? Don't be afraid--the days of your redemption have arrived!”
I’d say this particular Midrash is not just conjecture, but pretty specific!But when the Midrash speaks about destroying the world, for instance, it begs the question: Is this statement to be taken literally, or does it refer perhaps to another type of destruction? Iran and ISIS intend to destroy other things in the world as well, one of which is Democracy, and replace it with a global Islamic Caliphate. What this amounts to is nothing less than a clash of civilizations, a clash of culture and a clash of doctrine Or maybe it points to the poisoning of ecosystems and drinking water sources throughout the world by means of terror attacks, etc. Maybe it’s all three! (heaven forbid)Rabbi Yonasan Eibshetz (1690-1764) in his book Ya’arot Dvash – “At a certain moment the time will come when the Messiah should have already arrived but the redemption has not yet come. The Messiah will ask how it could be that the time for redemption has arrived and he still undergoes sufferings? The response that he will receive is that he must wait for nine months. Why? In order to wait for the fall of Persia (Iran) at the hands of Edom (the Christian West), and then the final redemption will come!”No doubt Jerusalem will end up in the center of all this by then as well. The main thing for us is to be hopeful that the Redemption of the Jews, and all peoples, should happen in a merciful way, and not followed by sorrow and servitude!Each one of us can actually affect that outcome by strengthening our connection to the Creator and our commitment to Him, each in his/her own way, in our everyday lives, and by doing random acts of kindness to each other. Sounds corny, but this stuff really does have an effect on High.This piece wouldn’t be complete though without at least a couple other hints that also point to this upcoming year as being especially appropriate for the Messianic arrival. In the Bible Codes the words “Melech HaMashiach” – Hebrew for King Messiah, are found crisscrossed with the words Obama and “Shoresh Nachash” (meaning Source of the Snake). In fact, the numerical equivalent, or Hebrew gematria, for Barack Obama, and also Snake, both equal 358, the same exact number as the word: Mashiach! (his antithesis?) There are actually so many more hints available on this stuff that it’s outside the scope here.My take on all this? Nobody alive today can pretend to know for-sure if all these sources pertain to this year specifically, but that little article that I chanced upon reveals the most striking fulfillment so far of prophecy, right here in the 2015 daily papers. One of the things you CAN bet on though, is that I’ll be checking the news as to the results of that fateful meeting. The military guarantees provided by the White House to Saudi Arabia was a game changer of biblical proportions, and the mullahs are NOT happy campers.Fasten your seat-belts folks!
