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From: Owner - Voice Of Judea To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org Subject: Jewish Stats in the USA
JEWISH STATS IN THE USA
Here are some results from a poll cosponsored by Israel Policy Forum, Wilstein Institute and conducted by First Intl Resources and Global Strategies of NY, published in Jewish Week, 11/23/01:
73% Support or accept intermarriage. 20% Oppose
29% attend Synagogue only for Holidays 18% Weekly 5% Daily
Only 53% are members of a syangogue
74% still attend a Passover Seder
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NOTE FROM EDDIE:
MOST Jews in the USA are like MOST Jews in Israel --- they are secular and have a liberal view of the world. Orthodox Jews are a minority. MOST Jews in the USA and Israel are NOT trying to live a Torah observant lifestyle. They are "assimilated" into the secular world which surrounds them.
END OF NOTE
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From: Steven Collins To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org Subject: The Tribe of Judah in the Latter Days
THE TRIBE OF JUDAH IN THE LATTER DAYS
by Steven Collins
There are several prophecies unique to the tribe of Judah which confirm that we are living in the prophesied "latter days" which were to precede the Messianic Age. This column will discuss several of these prophecies.
GENESIS 49:
This prophecy was given by Jacob when he called his sons together and offered prophecies about the descendants of his twelve sons in "the latter days" (see verse 1). Part of the prophecy about the tribe of Judah in the latter days is found in Genesis 49:8-9. It states:
"Judah, you are he whom your brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of your enemies; your father's children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, you are gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?"
Judah is prophesied to be "a lion's whelp" (or lion cub) in the latter days. A "whelp" or "cub" is both a young and a small lion. This indicates Judah should be both:
(A) a young nation and (B) a small nation in the latter days. None of the prophecies in Genesis 49 about the other tribes indicate they will be young or recently-founded nations in the latter-days. This language is unique to the tribe of Judah. This prophecy was fulfilled in 1948 when the Israeli nation was formed as a Jewish State in the Mideast. The founding of a new, Jewish state was a strong indication that "the latter days" had arrived in 1948. The Jews had not had a nation of their own in many centuries and millennia prior to 1948. They had been scattered in a worldwide Diaspora. By keeping the Jews scattered with no nation of their own, God was mindful of this very prophecy. In order for prophecy to be fulfilled, Judah could not exist as a nation in its own right until the latter days arrived when it would be born and become a young nation (a "whelp").
Judah's symbol was historically the lion, and this imagery is found in Genesis 49:8-9. As it grows, a lion cub matures and becomes a strong predator. This prophecy's references to Judah's "prey" and Judah having his "hand in the neck of his enemies" indicates Judah, though a young nation, will be militarily successful in the latter days. This has come to pass in the series of wars won by the Israelis against the Arab nations since 1948. Consider the aptness of this prophecy's imagery to modern realities. It predicts Judah will have "enemies" (plural!) which indicates there will be a number of them. It also says Judah's "hand" will be in the "neck" of these enemies. If two people are fighting and one's hand is choking or pinning the neck of his opponent, it requires them to be in very close proximity to each other. This prophecy's imagery predicts Judah's enemies will be rather numerous and that they will live in very close physical contact with the nation of Judah in the latter days. This very accurately describes modern realities. The Jewish state is surrounded by many hostile Arab/Islamic nations and they physically border the Israeli nation. Many Arabs and Palestinians live directly amongst the Israelis! The prophecy in Genesis 49 that "your brethren" shall "praise" Judah can be taken two ways. Many in the USA and other nations of the modern tribes of Israel have literally "praised" Judah for its prowess in warfare and its daring military actions. The Israeli rescue of Jewish hostages in Entebbe, Uganda and the Israeli bombing of the Osirik nuclear plant in Iraq elicited much admiration for Israeli daring and courage, and the former event was made into a movie highly complimentary of the Israelis. The other way it can be taken is based on the fact that Judah's "brethren" in the latter-days are generally ignorant of their own Israelite origins, but are nonetheless aware of Judah's Israelite origin.
Many Christians throughout North America and Europe frequently refer to the Jews as "the chosen people," recognizing Judah's identity as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In doing so, Americans and Europeans "praise" or "honor" Judah's origins. Interestingly, the nations which regard the Jews as "the chosen people" are, usually, dominated by Israelites of the other tribes--Judah's "brethren."
Someday, these other tribes will recognize the fact that they are the
brother tribes ("the brethren") of Judah. This will come partially in
the current time from the efforts of Britam and others who see this
relationship already, but it will reach its full fruition with the
coming of the Messiah's reign. While more details could be discussed
about Genesis 49's prophecy about Judah in the latter days, the above
points make it very clear that this prophecy has come to pass in our
modern era. Indeed, it could only come to pass at a time when the Jews
have a nation of their own. The founding of the modern Jewish/Israeli
nation in 1948 was a critical sign that the latter days had arrived.
ZEPHANIAH 2:
Zephaniah 2 is a prophecy for a time known as "the day of the Lord" (verses 1 and 3). This is a prophetic term for events which will climax the latter days. This prophetic language confirms this prophecy has a latter-day application. While Genesis 49 told us that Judah would become a young nation in the latter days, Zephaniah 2 tells us where the latter-day nation of Judah will be founded! Verses 4-5 mention the ancient Philistine cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron, and then verse 6 states "the sea coast" will again be inhabited. Verse 7 adds: "And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down...for the Lord their God shall...turn away their captivity." The "sea coast" which will be inhabited by Judah in the latter days is obviously the historical lands of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah, who lived proximate to the Philistine cities of the coast. The city of modern Ashkelon (Ashqelon) is, literally, in the Israeli nation. The modern Jewish state named "Israel" clearly fulfills this prophecy about the "remnant of Judah" founding a nation in the exact region where we find it today. This further confirms we are living in the latter-day period of time. The phrases "remnant of Judah" and "turn away their captivity" can have a two-fold meaning. It can refer to the Jews who are present on the earth at the end of the long Diaspora which began with the "captivity" to the Babylonians in the 6th century B.C. Given the history of World War II, it also has a modern fulfillment. The Holocaust of World War II was a very real and terrible "captivity" for the house of Judah, and it ended when World War II concluded in 1945. A "remnant of Judah," mostly from Europe, founded the Israeli nation in 1948 precisely where Zephaniah 2 prophesied it would be founded when "a captivity" came to an end.
ZECHARIAH 12-14:
Zechariah 12-14 are
prophetic chapters which link "Judah" and "Jerusalem" together in a
common fate in the latter days. Clearly Judah must be dwelling in the
city of Jerusalem and its environs for their fates to be so closely
intertwined. Judah, Levi and the seed of David (also Jews) are
referred to as "inhabitants" of Jerusalem in 12:10-14 and as defenders
of Jerusalem who are fighting "at Jerusalem" when the Messiah returns
(14:14). This can only come to pass if the Jews (Judah) are living in
Jerusalem and its vicinity in the latter days. This has occurred in
our modern time, and it reached its fullest application in 1967 when
the Jews conquered and gained sovereignty over the entire city of
Jerusalem. It is obvious that these chapters of Zechariah will be
fulfilled in the "latter days" as 12:3,4, and 6 use the phrase "in
that day," 14:1 refers to "the day of the Lord," and Zechariah 14
clearly depicts the arrival of the Messiah and the beginning of the
Messianic Age/Millennium. Again, these prophecies cannot be fulfilled
unless there is a Jewish nation which includes Jerusalem. Zechariah
12:2-3 prophesy that God will make the city of Jerusalem "a cup of
trembling unto all people round about [it]" and "a burdensome stone
for all the people." This has surely come to pass today! Not only is
the city of Jerusalem at the crux of disagreements between the
Israelis and their nearby Arab/Moslem ("the people round about it"),
but it is also a "burdensome stone" to the rest of the world ("all
people"). The status of Jerusalem is at the heart of many world
political and diplomatic conflicts. It is the site of the Temple
Mount, which is highly-valued by Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The
status of Jerusalem is a key to the current Israeli-Palestinian
conflict and even to the new international "War on Terrorism" because
Jewish-Palestinian relationships affect which nations will work
together in an international coalition to fight terrorism. The city of
Jerusalem now is fulfilling its prophesied latter-day role: a critical
point of disagreement among both regional nations and nations far from
the Mideast. Zechariah 12:6 also prophesies that Judah will become:
"like a hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a
sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right
hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her
own place, even in Jerusalem.'" This passage prophesies Judah will be
victorious in its wars against its neighbors in the latter days, and
it even predicts victories "on the right hand and left," predicting
the two-front wars which the Israelis have had to fight against Egypt
on one hand and Syria/Jordan on the other hand. It further predicts
Judah will inhabit and control Jerusalem at the end of our age. This
prophetic language seems to indicate that Jerusalem will again assume
its rightful place as the capital of the house of Judah. This has all
come to pass in our modern time.
CONCLUSION:
The above prophecies foretold that, in the latter days, Judah (the Jews) would again have a sovereign nation of their own in the same Mideast region as the ancient kingdom of Judah and the ancient Philistine cities, and that Jerusalem would be part of Judah's nation. The prophecies further predicted that this latter-day Jewish state would be victorious in a series of wars, some of which would be two-front wars. Finally, they also foretold that the city of Jerusalem would become a nexus of political/diplomatic controversy for the nations of the earth at a time when the Jews inhabited and governed the city. All of this has come to pass in the years from 1948 until the present. The fulfillment of these prophecies confirm that we are now living in the biblical "latter days" which will climax with the coming of the Messiah and the founding of a Messianic Age.
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