A New “Day”!

Genesis 1:3-5 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

John 12:46 (Yeshua said) I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.

(This is a very crude example of what the New Jerusalem might look like.)

Revelation 21:10-11 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,  having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

Revelation 21:23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

The picture is one that I copied off the web of what the New Jerusalem might look like. She is supposed to look like a sparkling jewel adorned for her Husband and according to the Word, she is around 1500 miles in width and in depth and in height. She is a big city to say the least and there is no need of sun or moon or light fixtures as there will be continual light emanating from this awesome God of Creation.

This is a Spiritual city of God far exceeding what we now see in the heavens. As I see it, the heavens as Hubble has shown us will dwarf in beauty by comparison of what is to come for those who will dwell there. I suppose we will live in glass houses as we have nothing to hide. It is a Spiritual world.

 ©2016 Sherwood A. Burton … all rights reserved

More Explanations

These photographs represent Holidays, thus the letter “H” under each image. Since I live in a Judeo-Christian environment in Israel, the tendency for me is to ‘allude’ to the Christian holidays but focus mostly on the Jewish “Holidays” which really are “Holy Days”.  H-006, 007, 008, 009, 010, 013, and 018 are good examples of “alluding” to the Christian holiday of Christmas. By adding the Poinsettia to the Menorah, I hope I have preserved the Jewishness of the holiday. H-010 is a small community just outside the main city of Bethlehem but it makes me think that this is what Bethlehem might have looked like when Mary and Joseph went up to be registered in the census. It was a city of David and this is like where Yeshua was born. H-009 is open to Isaiah 53 and holds many of the keys to the possible identity of the Jewish Messiah. Of course H-015 is one of my representations of the Jewish holiday of Chanukah when during the time of the Maccabees, they only had enough consecrated oil to last for one day and it miraculously lasted for eight days. H-054 is the same as H-015 but an artistic approach to it. H-053 is for Rosh ha Shana the beginning of a new growing season or year. The pomegranate has lots of seeds and sweet alluding to a blessed new year. The words I have imprinted upon this image are: “Blessed of the Lord is His land with the precious things of the earth and its fullness.” H-055 is an image for Pessac or Passover, the time when God brought the house of Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand and so many miraculous prophetic events along the way, so long ago.

All of these images are in the land of Israel. As you can see, there are many vantage points from the Golan Heights and from one end of Israel to the other. There are images I have taken from the air such as Is-020. I have photographed the Banyas waterfalls which was the original place of Caesarea Philippi mentioned in the Bible. There is the Sea of Galilee, a dry wadi with an aqueduct going overhead, to the walls and streets of Old and New Jerusalem as well as the Garden Tomb and the Western Wall. In the next few photos, we have events like Aliyah, prayer, Bar Mitzvah, shopping as well as day and night summer and winter  and the final “blood moon” at Jaffa gate on 28 September 2015 at 5:37 in the morning.

Tomorrow, we shall discuss “Nature” in Israel and how some of the images were accomplished. I have had some very remarkable experiences.

©2015 Sherwood A. Burton … all rights reserved

Rosh Hashanah – Trumpets – Yom Teruah

Is The Feast Of Trumpets A Dress Rehearsal For Future Events?

Did you know that all of the festivals in the Bible were designed to be dress rehearsals for future events?  The Hebrew word “moed” is commonly translated “feast” or “festival” in the Bible, but it really means “appointed times” or “appointment”.  God has set a number of “divine appointments” with Him on the yearly calendar, but even though most Jews still celebrate these days they don’t know what they actually mean, and most Christians stopped keeping them long ago.  Whenever one of these divine appointments arrives, we are supposed to look back and remember something that God has done in the past, but we are also supposed to look forward to what He will do in the future.  In fact, in these festivals God has essentially given us a “road map” of the most important events in human history.  On Rosh Hashanah (also known as Yom Teruah and “the Feast of Trumpets”), we remember “the birthday of the world”, but we also look forward to the Biblical events that will take place on the day when the last trumpet will blow.  Rosh Hashanah is a holiday that was created by God (see Leviticus 23),  

Leviticus 23:23-25

New Century Version (NCV) The Feast of Trumpets

²³ Again the Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Tell the people of Israel: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you must have a special day of rest, a holy meeting, when you blow the trumpet for a special time of remembering. ²⁵ Do not do any work, and bring an offering made by fire to the Lord.’” 

It is a holiday that Jesus celebrated, it is a holiday that the first Christians celebrated, it is a holiday that foreshadows the return of Jesus for His bride, and it is a holiday that the entire planet will celebrate during the 1000 year reign of Jesus on earth.  It is very important for believers to learn about these festivals, because God didn’t just create them for us to have a good time.  All of the festivals are about Jesus, and all of them are highly prophetic.

One of the ways that God self-authenticates his message is by telling us the future in advance. 

God tells us in Isaiah 46:9-10 ⁹ Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure

This is something that makes the Bible truly unique.  We have a God that has already told us how history will unfold in advance.

The Hebrew word is “Moed” and means an Appointment. Divine Appointments of God intersecting History to accomplish His will. They were called Holy “Convocations” which in the Hebrew is “Miqura” which means an “assembly” but also implies a “Dress Rehearsal”. And throughout history, that is exactly what they have been. And just as Jesus fulfilled the Spring feasts during His first coming, He will also fulfill the Fall feasts during His second coming.

On Rosh Hashanah, believers have been foreshadowing one of the most dramatic moments in human history for over 3000 years…

Matthew 24:29-31 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Are you starting to get the picture? 

Every year we celebrate “a memorial of blowing of trumpets” to foreshadow the day when the last trumpet will blow and we will be called home.

The Feast Of Trumpets Remembers The Creation Of The World

All of God’s festivals are about remembering something and about looking forward to something.  Jews have traditionally believed that the Feast of Trumpets is “the birthday of the world”.  Isn’t that something for all of us to celebrate?

The Feast Of Trumpets Is A Memorial Of God’s Grace To Abraham When He Substituted A Ram To Be Sacrificed Instead Of Isaac

All of God’s festivals always point to Jesus.  It is traditionally believed that it was on this day that Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac before God intervened and provided a ram instead. For centuries, Genesis 22 has traditionally been read as a part of Rosh Hashanah celebrations. (reprinted on the last page of this explanation)  A shofar is actually a ram’s horn, and so the fact that the shofar plays such a key role on the Feast of Trumpets also links the events of Genesis 22 to this day.  We remember when God provided a ram for Abraham, and we also remember when God provided His Son to pay for the sins of all mankind.

Jesus was almost certainly born during the Feast of Tabernacles.  Jesus was crucified on Passover while the Passover lambs were being slaughtered.  Jesus rose from the dead on First Fruits.  The Holy Spirit was poured out on the early apostles during the Feast of Pentecost.  God always does the “big things” on His festival days, so why not celebrate them and be looking forward to what God is going to do next? 

God is moving, and this is only just the beginning. 

{As an aside: If Nissan is the first of the year and the birth of Creation and Rosh Hashanah in the seventh month is the head of the year, can we look at this in relation to each individual life, our birth day is like Nissan, the beginning, and Rosh Hashanah in the midst of life, could be like the “born again” experience that is the head of our spiritual life.} 

Genesis 22

 And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. ² And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah. And offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. ³ And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. And he clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. ⁵ And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and come again to you. ⁶ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. And they went both of them together. ⁷ And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? ⁸ And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. So they went both of them together. ⁹ And they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. ¹⁰ And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ And the angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here I am. ¹² And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. ¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. As it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided. ¹⁵ And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, ¹⁶ and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, ¹⁷ that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. ¹⁸ And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.

©2015 Sherwood A. Burton … all rights reserved