THE SHIP IS SINKING ON THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF TITANIC GOING DOWN

I really don't like to be a gloom and doomer, but stats do not lie; and I cannot ignore the obvious: http://www.yolohub.com/facts/40-weird-facts-about-the-u-s-fact-15 CLICK HERE FOR LINK

EARTH DAY IS A SOCIALIST RUSE - HIT THE IGNORE BUTTON

WHEN I READ THIS, I JUST HAD TO GET THE WORD OUT. I GUESS I ALWAYS KNEW EARTH DAY RUBBED ME WRONG - AND I HAVE NEVER PARTICIPATED IN A SINGLE ONE; NEVER WILL IN THE FUTURE. FOLKS, OUR FREEDOMS ARE JUST ABOUT GONE BECAUSE PEOPLES' CURIOSITY AND SENSE OF OUTRAGE IS JUST ABOUT GONE. HERE IS THE ARTICLE THAT GOT ME SPUN UP: This Earth Day Celebrate Vladimir Lenin's Birthday! Alexander Marriott (2004.04.21 ) Environment Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Premier after Joseph Stalin, decided in 1955 that the country should celebrate their national political philosophy, communism. He chose as the day, April 22, Vladimir Lenin’s birthday, a tribute to the founder of the Soviet Union. When environmentalists decided that the Earth deserved a day of celebration in 1970, they could have picked any day of the year, as no one knows the exact day date of the Earth’s birthday. They chose Lenin’s birthday, just as Khrushchev had done. Was this just a coincidence? I think not. Think of the parallels between Lenin and environmentalists. Lenin once said that, “It is true that liberty is precious; so precious that it must be carefully rationed.” Environmentalists second this wholeheartedly when they restrict the ownership and control of private property through the guise of saving the environment. The Endangered Species Act is used voluminously to take the property of anyone if an endangered species is living on it. President Clinton cordoned off thousands upon thousands of acres of land in the form of national parks with the alleged concern of saving the natural resources thereon from development. The federal government now controls nearly forty percent of all land in the continental United States. Lenin’s goal was to destroy private property and this goal is obviously shared by environmentalists. Lenin’s political philosophy knew nothing of morality, he once said that, “There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel.” Some environmentalists take this to heart as well, placing metal spikes in trees so that when these trees get to lumber mills the spike will ruin the saws and have in some cases injured or even killed mill workers. Noted environmental genius, former Vice-President Al Gore, said in his book Earth in the Balance (not too melodramatic is it?), “Adopting a central organizing principle means embarking on an all-out effort to use every policy and program, every law and institution, every treaty and alliance, every tactic and strategy, every plan and course of action to use, in short, every means to halt the destruction of the environment.” He doesn’t condemn any action by individuals in this pursuit, nor does he at least advocate amending the constitution to make his goals legal. It is this mentality that Lenin was talking about, and that Al Gore encouraged; doing whatever is seen as necessary to gain victory for their cause. At least Lenin had the guts to call it what it was, communism, as opposed to Al Gore and others who claim to be protecting the Earth. Lenin’s birthday is less well known and Lenin’s history is shrouded in leftist propaganda, portraying his legacy as one of the many victims of Joseph Stalin. However Lenin’s reign of terror was just as deadly as Stalin’s and had Lenin not succumbed to death so soon into his rule he surely could have killed just as many as any other madman in the twentieth century. Environmentalism is merely a politically viable excuse for the government to steal land, ironically in the name of future generations even though those future generations also can’t use it or benefit from any of the wealth contained in that land. If you want to save the planet then get rich liberals like Ted Turner, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Oprah to buy it up and not let anyone use it. But the wholesale violation and destruction of private property rights is the method these people use, not because they are concerned for animals or the environment, but because they hate the rich (even the ones I just mentioned, except perhaps the celebrities) and the capable people of the world who use their reason to change worthless rock and elements into great inventions, food, buildings, and all the things that every environmentalist takes for granted, from the streets they protest on to the clothes they wear. I’m almost half tempted to advocate eliminating private property around the world for a year so that everyone can see the catastrophe that would set in and the famine that would sweep the planet. Perhaps this would force the environmentalists to acknowledge the lunacy of their irrational hopes. But this would require them to look at reality and then act accordingly, something they have yet to do, so why should they start? Share9 inShare About Alexander Marriott Alexander Marriott is currently a graduate student of the early republic at Clark University in Worcester, MA. He earned his B.A. in history in 2004 from the University of Nevada - Las Vegas, where he was an Op-Ed columnist for the UNLV Rebel Yell. Marriott grew up in Chicago and lived in Saudi Arabia for four and a half years and has resided in Las Vegas since 1996.

AMERICA AS BABYLON

If you have read the Wood Zone for some time, you will notice a pattern. My claim that the USA is Babylon - in that we are spreading our popular culture filth around the world and most everyone is lapping our decadence up and becoming a cesspool that we are. I have a black friend at work who was born and raised in Jamaica and he talks about how idyllic things were there back in the 1960's and how after the people got television and began to consume our culture that was allowed to stream into the homes, the family and the social fabric there just went to pieces. I just can't believe our outlandish influence on the rest of the world. Now DON'T get me wrong - if operated on principles this country was founded upon - and if people would labor under just the basic principles of revealed religion, I would then have to say we would no doubt be the most favored and inspired and beloved nation on this earth. Our light has pretty much self-extinguished. Here is another person (also Christian) that believes that we are the modern Babylon as predicted in the scriptures. The Book of Mormon is clear, folks. Its sometimes hard to believe it, but its true....

IS AMERICA BABYLON? Part One http://www.truinsight.com/IS%20AMERICA%20BAB%20ONE.htm The vast majority of Christians in the United States have been taught that America is simply not in Bible prophecy. No matter where one may turn, America is not there, either by name or by any form of code name either. Thus say the host of America's Christian clergy to their flock. The second thing they are told is that Babylon is NEVER TAUGHT ANYWHERE IN SCRIPTURE AS A NATION. Babylon is a SYSTEM, and most view it as a RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF SOME SORT. Prophecy said these views would surface at the time of end. It is the mark of apostasy to DENY YOUR IDENTITY, YOUR SIN, AND THE TIME OF YOUR VISITATION. In fact, that is the essence of all apostasy, THE REJECTION OF SCRIPTURE AS IT APPLIES TO A PERSON, COMMUNITY OR NATION. It is always SOMEONE ELSE, SOMEWHERE ELSE, AND AT SOME UNKNOWN "FUTURE TIME". Never is it NOW, US and OUR NATION. Does it not seem odd to you that America, the GREATEST NATION IN THE WORLD, the greatest evangelical nation; that took the Gospel of Christ to the four corners of the world; THE RICHEST NATION ON THE EARTH, who has given more aid to nations than any other; THE NATION TO HAVE WON TWO MAJOR WORLD WARS and many others; IS NOT EVEN MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE? That God would forget a nation that has been central to the survival of Israel in this age? Not even in a cryptic way? That is like saying God is blind in one eye, and cannot see out of the other! It is accusing God of utter negligence! But it is not God who is NEGLIGENT. It is not God who FORGOT AMERICA in prophecy. It is not God who failed to paint a picture that was obvious to those that wanted to find it. IT IS NOT GOD, BUT THE FALSE PROPHETS OF AMERICA WHO HAVE UTTERLY FAILED THEIR FLOCK. They are DECEIVED, AND THUS ARE DECEIVERS AND HYPOCRITES, FOR THEY LEAD MILLIONS TO ETERNAL RUIN. God told the citizens of BABYLON THE GREAT, AMERICA, exactly what would happen in America, and pointed a finger directly at the CHRISTIAN SHEPHERDS. Why do you suppose that God would do that? Why would He pick a specific group and lay the blame right at their feet? Because it is GOD'S PEOPLE WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE ANTICHRIST NATION, THE NATION THAT SPAWNS ANTICHRIST. Remember that antichrist rises in DECEPTION. "My people (Christians) hath been LOST SHEEP (UNSAVED, UNREGENERATE - HELL BOUND): THEIR SHEPHERDS (THE CHRISTIAN CLERGY, THE EVANGELISTS, THE PREACHERS, THE TEACHERS) HAVE CAUSED THEM TO GO ASTRAY,..(Jeremiah 50:6). The shepherds of God's people in Babylon America embrace a FALSE SALVATION GOSPEL (Matthew 7:21-23; 2 Peter 2:1-3), which leads MILLIONS into eternal ruin. Their salvation Gospel is an UTTERLY FALSE GOSPEL. It is "sugar-coated", and an ALL POSITIVE GOSPEL. That is what Jeremiah means when he says: "they have turned them AWAY on the MOUNTAINS; they have gone from MOUNTAIN TO HILL, they have FORGOTTEN THEIR RESTING PLACE." God fights His wars IN THE VALLEY. True salvation lies IN THE VALLEY. If you refuse the VALLEY EXPERIENCE (THE NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF THE SALVATION DOCTRINE) you will never FIND YOUR RESTING PLACE. Jesus said you MUST PICK UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW HIM. Babylon's gospel of salvation HAS NO CROSS, NO DEATH OF SELF, AND THEREFORE NO TRUE LIFE. It is an utterly false salvation doctrine. IT SWEEPS THE VAST MAJORITY OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANS INTO ETERNAL HELLFIRE. That is why God says they ARE LOST SHEEP. They ARE lost, LOST FOREVER. "We are confounded, because we have heard REPROACH; SHAME HATH COVERED OUR FACES: FOR STRANGERS ARE COME INTO THE SANCTUARIES OF THE LORD'S HOUSE (Jeremiah 51:51)." Indeed, the false Christian clergy ARE STRANGERS and they hold forth a FALSE GOSPEL, that leads to their REPROACH AND LOSS at the judgment seat of Christ. They shall one and all BE ASHAMED, and now face ETERNAL RUIN FOR EVER AND EVER. This is the primary reason why AMERICAN CHRISTIANS reject that America is Babylon. They have been UTTERLY MISLEAD BY FALSE SHEPHERDS. It is part of prophecy. BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE ONE OF THEM! You can extricate yourself from God's disfavor by SIMPLY ACCEPTING WHAT GOD SAYS AS FACT, and rejecting all the nonsense of these hell bound false leaders. In this first part of our investigation we will focus on the aspect of whether or not God teaches that Babylon the Great is in fact A NATION AMONG THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD. GOD SAYS BABYLON IS A NATION. To claim otherwise is to utterly contradict GOD and all of HIS PROPHETS that spoke of BABYLON. The mark of a FALSE TEACHER is one who DENIES OR CONTRADICTS THE WORD OF GOD, usually in an effort to prove his/her views correct. WE ARE ALL LIARS, AND GOD IS THE ONLY ONE WHO TELLS THE TRUTH. The issue before you, then, is not your opinion, your biases, your intelligence, your standing before God, your education or your denominational belief structure. IT IS WHETHER OR NOT YOU WILL ACCEPT WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY EXACTLY AS HE SAYS IT. The vast majority of Christians WILL NOT ACCEPT WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY. They refuse it, alter it, deny it, contradict it, or pervert it, and twist it. THIS IS EXACTLY WHY CHRIST SAID THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS WILL NEVER ENTER HEAVEN AT ALL. They shall be ETERNALLY SENT AWAY INTO RUIN AND LOSS. It was not that they COULD NOT ACCEPT WHAT GOD SAID, but THAT THEY WOULD NOT. In view of the EXTREME SHORTNESS OF THE HOUR, PLEASE SIMPLY ACCEPT WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY, and take it into your heart. NO MATTER HOW IT MAKES YOU FEEL, DO IT NOW!! FACT ONE: BABYLON THE GREAT IS A NATION. When we say Babylon is a nation, we mean to say that she is A LAWFUL NATION, A NATION WITH SPECIFIC BOUNDARIES, A NATION RECOGNIZED IN INTERNATIONAL LAW, A NATION CAPABLE OF ENTERING INTO TREATIES, A NATION WITH A CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, AND A NATION RECOGNIZED BY THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH. That is a nation with a SPECIFIC LAND MASS, DEFINED BOUNDARIES BY LAW, A NATION WITH A PEOPLE THAT GO BY A SPECIFIC NAME, A NATION WITH URBAN AREAS, CITIES, TOWNS AND RURAL DISTRICTS, FARMS, LAKES, FORESTS, ETC. That is what we mean by a nation, and that is what GOD MEANS BY A NATION. Babylon is referred to in the Scriptures as a nation both directly and indirectly. Often the term KINGDOM and NATION are used interchangeably. We will first of all examine those areas in the Old Testament prophecies that identify BABYLON THE GREAT as a nation, as a SINGULAR ENTITY, not some world wide system. Jeremiah 50:12 is a good place to start: "Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: BEHOLD, THE HINDER-MOST OF THE NATIONS shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert." This is a direct reference to BABYLON THE GREAT, who is also called THE DAUGHTER OF BABYLON. Jeremiah calls her directly THE HINDERMOST OF THE NATIONS. You view this his perspective, as he looks down the tunnel of time - the HINDERMOST from him would be the LAST BABYLON. That means the LAST BABYLON TO RISE BEFORE THE END. The last and the YOUNGEST OF ALL THE GREAT NATIONS AT THE END TIME. In comparison with the other nations of the world, at the time of the end, SHE WILL BE THE YOUNGEST AND ALSO THE MOST POWERFUL NATION AMONG THE GREAT NATIONS. America fits that description perfectly. She is the YOUNGEST and yet the most powerful NATION among the NATIONS of the world. We know for a fact that this must refer to a limited LAND MASS AREA WITH SPECIFIC BOUNDARIES, for THE WHOLE WORLD IS NOT DESTROYED, but BABYLON THE NATION IS DESTROYED. This latter day Babylon has a mother, which is also a NATION. This mother was responsible for "birthing" this mighty Babylon of the end times. If Iraq is Babylon as some try to claim, WHO IS THE MOTHER OF IRAQ? If you read this verse carefully, it says that the MOTHER NATION PRECEDED BABYLON, GAVE BIRTH TO HER, WATCHES HER RISE TO FULL POWER, AND WATCHES HER DIE IN FIRE. Again, WHO IS THE MOTHER OF IRAQ? Iraq has none. Who is the mother of Rome, which is often presented as BABYLON? Rome is not a nation, but a city. Further, SHE HAS NO MOTHER. Who is the mother of the EC, which is often presented as BABYLON, THE REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE? In point of fact, SHE WILL HAVE NO MOTHER, and further, BABYLON THE GREAT is always shown as a SINGLE NATION FROM HER BIRTH TO HER RISE TO FULL POWER AND GLORY. The EC does not qualify. Each parameter must be fulfilled. You CANNOT PICK AND CHOSE that which you wish to present to prove your case. However, AMERICA has a mother. This mother was DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR HER BIRTH. That mother PRECEDED HER. England has been around awhile. England gave birth to America, and England is still around, and ENGLAND WILL WATCH AMERICA BURN. England is further confirmed as the mother of BABYLON THE GREAT by Daniel the Prophet in Daniel 7:4 (THE LION). Ezekiel also mentions it in Ezekiel 38/39 as "TARSHISH", who gives birth to "young cubs". Tarshish is a cryptic reference to ENGLAND and her young cubs are America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Daniel refers to her as a LION. The national symbol of England is A LION. The eagle wings on top the lion IS AMERICA, HER DAUGHTER. America's national symbol is THE EAGLE WITH OUTSTRETCHED WINGS. BABYLON THE GREAT IS A NATION. We would not need any other reference to prove it, because ONE DIRECT REFERENCE IS ENOUGH! There are many more. Habakkuk is a key prophet in identification of BABYLON THE GREAT. He is usually ignored by prophecy "experts". "For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans (New Babylon), THAT BITTER AND HASTY NATION, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not their's (Habakkuk 1:6)". Notice the term NATION. Not NATIONS, or any GROUP OF NATIONS, but always ONE NATION, A SINGULAR NATION. Again God calls BABYLON THE GREAT A NATION. She is also referred to as a KINGDOM, the same as a nation. Babylon is always referred to IN THE SINGULAR. "And BABYLON, THE GLORY OF KINGDOMS, the beauty of the Chaldee's excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah (Isaiah 13:19)." Here Isaiah calls Babylon A KINGDOM, in fact, she IS THE QUEEN AMONG ALL THE KINGDOMS/NATIONS OF THE EARTH. She is the leading power of the WHOLE WORLD. Notice her end: BY FIRE. That is EXACTLY WHAT JEREMIAH SAYS, and that is EXACTLY WHAT REVELATION 17 and 18 say. SHE WILL BE BURNED UTTERLY WITH FIRE. From coast to coast, from sea to shining sea. There is a complete HARMONY OF SCRIPTURE. "Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O DAUGHTER OF THE CHALDEANS: for thou shalt no more be called, THE LADY OF KINGDOMS (Isaiah 47:5)." Isaiah again refers to her as THE QUEEN OF ALL THE KINGDOMS. She is presented in Scripture as being the MOST POWERFUL OF ALL END TIME NATIONS. None can come close to her in terms to WEALTH, POWER, MILITARY, AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURING, MU-SIC, CATTLE, HORSES, AUTO-MOBILES AND TRUCKS, AIR-CRAFT AND SPACE EXPLORATION. All of these attributes are listed by the prophets as they describe BABYLON THE NATION. The point being she is REPEATEDLY REFERRED TO AS A SINGULAR KINGDOM, A SINGULAR NATION. Babylon the Great is also referred to as the DAUGHTER OF BABYLON, and also THE DAUGHTER OF THE CHALDEANS. It is important to note that IT IS AGAIN A SINGULAR DAUGHTER. It is not DAUGHTER(S) OF BABYLON, but the ONE SINGULAR DAUGHTER. The word for "daughter" is "bath", and it means OFFSPRING OR DESCENDENT of Babylon. LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER. It means that this DAUGHTER OF BABYLON will be OF THE SAME TYPE, OF THE SAME CHARACTERISTICS. Ancient Babylon was the splendor of the world. She was the center of world trade, the richest and most powerful nation in the known world. Jesus said that AS IT WAS, SO SHALL IT BE! "For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; THE DAUGHTER OF BABYLON is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come (Jeremiah 51:33)." Mighty Babylon, THE GREAT NATION OF THE END TIMES, is going to be PULVERIZED. She is to be UTTERLY DEMOLISHED FOR HER SINS. "Come down, and sit in the dust, O VIRGIN DAUGHTER OF BABYLON, sit on the ground: THERE IS NO THRONE, O DAUGHTER OF THE CHALDEANS: for thou shalt no more be called TENDER AND DELICATE (Isaiah 47:1)." Here Isaiah calls BABYLON THE GREAT the QUEEN OF THE NATIONS, but her throne has been taken from her. She has been REMOVED AS THE MOST POWERFUL NATION IN THE WORLD, and made to sit in the dust. Notice the SINGULAR ASPECT, ONE DAUGHTER, ONE THRONE, ONE QUEEN. BABYLON THE GREAT IS NOT A GROUP OF NATIONS AS THE EC, OR A SYSTEM, BUT ONE NATION, a nation that SPAWNS ALL THE END TIME SYSTEMS OF THE WORLD: POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND RELIGIOUS. In other words BABYLON THE NATION is responsible for the BABYLONIAN WORLD WIDE SYSTEM IT CREATES. And behind it all stands MYSTERY - WHICH THE BIBLE DEFINES AS SECRET RELIGIOUS ORDERS. The Lord also uses the word "MOUNTAIN" to describe a kingdom or nation. Jeremiah 51 is a prophecy against the nation Babylon. Jeremiah says in 51:25: "Behold, I am against thee, O DESTROYING MOUNTAIN, saith the Lord, which destroyest ALL THE EARTH: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks (other nations), and will make thee a BURNT MOUNTAIN (nation)." Notice again it is a SINGULAR MOUNTAIN, not MOUNTAINS in the plural. Notice how the Lord calls BABYLON THE GREAT A MOUNTAIN, and the other nations are ROCKS. So Babylon, compared to the other NATIONS OF THE WORLD, is a MOUNTAIN AMONG THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD. She is again portrayed as the BIGGEST, MOST POWERFUL SINGULAR NATION IN THE WORLD. With one accord, the prophets say that BABYLON IS A SINGULAR NATION. This is vital to your understanding AS TO WHY AMERICA PLAYS THE ROLE SHE PLAYS IN END TIME PROPHECY. It is America, THE NATION BABYLON THE GREAT, that is held responsible BY GOD for all the evils that spread over the whole earth. IT IS FROM THE NATION BABYLON THE GREAT, and specifically FROM THE LITERAL CITY WITHIN THE NATIONAL BOUNDARIES OF BABYLON, CALLED MYSTERY BABYLON, THE GREAT CITY BABYLON, that all of these systems are spawned and nourished by the RICH MEN OF THE EARTH. In short, NEW YORK CITY, the GREATEST CITY WITHIN AMERICA, is held by God as being the CHIEF INSTIGATOR AND PROPAGATOR OF ALL THE EVIL SYSTEMS SHE CREATES. The argument that Babylon is ONLY A WORLD SYSTEM utterly contradicts the Lord God and his prophets. BABYLON IS ALWAYS PRESENTED AS A NATION THAT GOES FORTH FROM ONE SPECIFIC LOCATION AND FROM THAT LOCATION CONQUERS THE WHOLE WORLD THROUGH THE SYSTEMS SHE CREATED. A spider weaves a large web, but she has to start from one place. Scripture is adamant and clear: SHE BEGINS AT BABYLON THE NATION, AND BABYLON THE CITY. Through her slowly expanding system of trade, economics, military power, political power and religious power, BABYLON'S WEB SNARES THE WORLD. That is why God says that THE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS, THE PROPHETS AND ALL THAT WERE SLAIN UPON THE EARTH (Revelation 18:24), CAN BE TRACED BACK TO BABYLON THE NATION, AND TO BABYLON THE LITERAL CITY. It always comes back to roost at the feet of a SINGULAR NATION AND A CITY. America is turning rapidly ANTI-CHRISTIAN. The UNITED NATIONS, for all of its speech about HATRED AND INTOLORENCE, is ANTI-CHRISTIAN TO ITS CORE. God speaks to the United Nations in the Psalms, and MOCKS THEM for taking HIS WORDS IN THEIR MOUTH and then PERVERTING THEM, REVERSING THEM. The KING OF BABYLON THE NATION, is presented in the Scripture AS THE ANTICHRIST (LUCIFER). THIS KING, OF THE NATION BABYLON THE GREAT, goes forth and conquers and then RULES OVER THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD. Check Isaiah 14:4-6, Jeremiah 51:25; 44; Habakkuk 1:6-10; 2:4-5; Revelation 13:7-8; 17:18; 18:24, and you will see this. It is THE KING OF BABYLON in every single instance that GOES FORTH TO CONQUER AND TO DESTROY AND RULE THE NATIONS. It is ALWAYS BABYLON THE NATION AND THE CITY, from whence he gets his POWER TO DO IT. It is BABYLON THE NATION, through its deceptive front THE UNITED NATIONS, that rules the world FROM THE GREAT CITY BABYLON, which is NEW YORK CITY. That is why the UN is located in NEW YORK. It is no accident. It is not a coincidence!! That means that THE KING OF BABYLON must be, and has to be, A PRESIDENT/RULER OVER BABYLON THE NATION, and will also be at the end, A SUPER SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS, A WORLD PRESIDENT. The occult knows ALL OF THIS. It is in almost all of their writings. They have written about the SECRET DESTINY OF AMERICA. Isaiah and Jeremiah claim the occult have labored from the inception of the nation to bring LUCIFER into the world. If the OCCULT FORCES KNOW THAT AMERICA IS TO SPAWN AND BE RULED BY LUCIFER (THE KING OF BABYLON), then why cannot Christians ACCEPT IT? The ANSWER LIES IN THE REJECTION OF THE WORD OF GOD; IN APOSTASY. It lies in an utter refusal to ACCEPT GOD AT HIS WORD. Jeremiah said the Christian leaders in America would UTTERLY REJECT THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE, and lead their flocks astray. THAT PROPHECY HAS BEEN FULFILLED IN AMERICA. If you refuse these parameters, you will never understand why America is getting involved, through its front the UNITED NATIONS, in many nations around the world! It is THE KING OF BABYLON or the antichrist (LUCIFER), that goes forth and conquers the nations of the world, AND RULES THEM IN ANGER. You have to START from some specific location, AND THAT LOCATION IS AMERICA, THE NATION, BABYLON THE GREAT. As one might expect, A NATION would have CITIES within her borders, and if that is true, there would be a reference to same: "...and I will kindle a fire IN HIS CITIES.... (Jeremiah 50:32).'; "HER CITIES are a desolation,... (Jeremiah 51:43)." We find specific references to the CITIES OF BABYLON THE GREAT. The NATION has cities, and great ones at that, for THE CITY BABYLON is a mirror reflection of the NATION and her OTHER CITIES. Thus, in America, NEW YORK CITY is a reflection of MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL, CHICAGO, LOS ANGELES, SAN DIEGO, SAN FRANCISCO, DALLAS, HOUSTON, ATLANTA, ETC. The nation is portrayed as the greatest NATION IN THE WORLD. There is none her equal anywhere on the globe. A nation would also have VAST LAND AREAS. If Babylon is truly a NATION, then references to her LAND would be found: "And against her LAND.." "that shalt make her land desolate..." "go forth out of the land." "the sound of battle is in the land.." "In the land of the Chaldeans.." "out of the LAND of Babylon.." "It is the LAND of graven images.." "and shall empty HER LAND.." "A LAND where no man dwelleth.." "Her WHOLE LAND shall be confounded..." "and THROUGH ALL HER LAND..." "from the LAND of the Chaldeans..." It should be self evident that BABYLON IS A SINGULAR NATION. She has huge cities, but one VERY SPECIAL CITY, THE LARGEST CITY WITHIN HER BORDERS THAT IS ALSO THE LARGEST SEAPORT CITY OF THE NATION! She has a huge land mass, and thus has NATIONAL BOUNDARIES. She is recognized in the family of NATIONS as the greatest nation in the whole earth. America fulfills that parameter. The context is plain and simple. BABYLON THE GREAT IS AN END TIME NATION, THAT PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN END TIME EVENTS, A SINGULAR ENTITY. To claim otherwise is to UTTERLY CONTRADICT GOD. It is to spit in His face and call him a liar. The refusal to accept the fact that BABYLON THE GREAT IS A NATION AMONG THE NATIONS is one of the PRIMARY REASONS why many modern day prophetic scholars cannot understand WORLD EVENTS, as they relate to literal prophecy. They do not understand who America is, nor WHAT SHE WILL DO. They reject with mocking and vehemence all suggestions that America is BABYLON THE GREAT. They are thus DECEIVED, AND ARE DECEIVING OTHERS. They are looking at the EC and some form of REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE, which according to the Scripture, WILL NEVER HAPPEN. Did you know that John the Revelator UTTERLY DENIES A REVIVAL OF ROME? He does! This is not to say the EC is not important, for the EC is in reality the formation of BIOREGION TWO of the UNITED NATIONS TEN WORLD REGIONS. It too will pay a major role in the future. So these folks are always looking at some other place, while ALL OF IT IS HAPPENING RIGHT UNDER THEIR NOSE. The United Nations is rising up right in front of them, the American government is becoming more draconian and dictatorial, more and more openly antichrist, and is now involved in the actual extermination of Christians, such as the Randy Weaver case and the WACO Branch Davidians. and the false prophets CHEERED THEM ON! The nation is engulfed in every antichrist religion in the world, and the false prophets are TOTALLY BLIND AS TO WHY! However, by their refusal to accept the Word of God they fulfill the prophecies against the shepherds of Babylon. This nation, this SINGULAR ENTITY has certain key CHARACTERISTICS that identify her. In the next issue we will review these PARAMETERS to prove that AMERICA, AND AMERICA ONLY MUST BE, AND IS, BABYLON THE GREAT. There is no other nation upon earth that fulfills the parameters listed for BABYLON THE GREAT, NOT ONE, NOT ANYWHERE! AMERICA ALONE DOES. It is not IRAQ; IT IS NOT ROME; IT IS NOT THE EC. IT IS AMERICA. When you finally begin to grasp that one central key fact, then THE REST OF THE PROPHETIC PICTURE WILL COME INTO CLEAR FOCUS, and you will know WHY AMERICA IS DOING WHAT SHE IS DOING ALL OVER THE WORLD. You will know why the United Nations is located in New York City. You will understand WHY the nations of the world ALL COME TO BABYLON AMERICA AT THE GREAT TOWER OF BABEL ON THE HUDSON. You will know why America is becoming the headquarters for every anti-God, anti-Christ religion in the world, for it is the CENTRAL SEAT OF BAAL, another name for SATAN/LUCIFER. America is the center of ALL OCCULT ACTIVITY. It falls to the occult. It falls to MYSTERY, and when it does, IT TURNS UPON ITS HERITAGE WITH A VENGENCE and destroys the people of God, and it will use TERRORISM as it primary weapon, claiming that FUNDAMENTALISTS ARE CAPABLE OF, OR CARRYING OUR "ACTS OF TERRORISM". The media will hype it. Don't believe it? Stay around for a few short months or years - and you will watch it happen in front of your eyes. THERE WILL BE A KILLING FIELDS OF AMERICA. God decreed it. It will happen. You will also understand WHY America was born AS A GODLY, CHRIST FEARING NATION, and why she turns and utterly destroys her heritage and rises up as the LEADING CHRIST HATING NATION IN THE WORLD. It has happened exactly as Jeremiah said it would. You will know why NEW YORK'S WALL STREET is the financial capitol of the world, and why the RICH MEN OF THE EARTH all have offices in THE GREAT CITY BABYLON. You will know why the WORLD TRADE CENTER sits in New York City. You will understand why the New York Stock Exchange is the most important exchange in the world. If Wall Street falls, the WHOLE WORLD FALLS WITH IT! Youl will know why CNN's MONEYLINE with LOU DOBBS comes on the air with the statment "FROM FINANCIAL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD", located in NEW YORK CITY, BABYLON THE GREAT CITY, home of THE UNITED NATIONS. You will know why New York City is the largest SEAPORT CITY in the Western Hemisphere, and why America is surrounded by warm water seaports and trades by the sea with every nation upon earth. You will see why God said she "sits upon many waters", that is, SHE IS SURROUNDED BY LARGE BODIES OF WATER each with a different name. Thus the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, The Arctic, the Great Lakes, the mighty Mississippi. You will see what God meant when he said that Babylon the Great would be a nation formed out of every tribe and tongue on earth, who slowly migrated to ONE NATION and formed THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. That is why America has "E PLURIBUS UNUM" as it's motto! It was foretold by God! You will understand why the U.S. Military is being used by the United Nations, for God said Babylon would have the greatest military machine the world ever knew or ever would know, but in the end, because she rejected Christ, it would fail her. YOU WILL KNOW WHY THE AMERICAN MILITARY IS BEING DOWNSIZED AND IT'S LEADERS ARE CLAIMING THERE IS NO MAJOR THREAT - FOR GOD SAID THEY WOULD DO EXACTLY THAT. You will know why America is the central nation involved in GLOBALISM, and is the chief instigator of the NEW WORLD ORDER, and why it is America that issued State Department Document 7277. You will know why American Corporations and their leaders have spanned the globe, for they are the MIGHTY MERCHANTS OF BABYLON THE GREAT, whom God calls THE GREAT MEN OF THE EARTH. You will understand why AMERICA WILL BE, AND HAS TO BE THE KEY ANTICHRIST NATION OF THE END TIMES. It is the KING OF BABYLON OF THE NATION BABYLON, that is the LUCIFER. He will go forth in anger and RULE THE WORLD FROM NEW YORK CITY, called the GOLDEN CITY, right at the UNITED NATIONS. (Isaiah 14:4-6). You will understand why the United Nations will be granted the right to TAX, and why it will destroy the nations through that ability! IT IS COMING, AND COMING FAST. You will know all of this because GOD TOLD US via his prophets, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Habakkuk, and a host of others that the NATION, BABYLON THE GREAT, would be all of this and much more. Jesus Christ said that as it was in the days of Noah, so would it be again. Many Christians do not realize that Noah lived 350 years AFTER the flood. He saw Nimrod's BABYLONIA (The nation). He saw the MIGHTY CITY BABYLON that sat within the boundaries of the nation Babylonia. He saw the TOWER OF BABEL, that was beside the GREAT CITY. AS IT WAS, SO IT SHALL BE AGAIN. There will be a NATION, at the time of the end, that is A TYPE of ancient BABYLONIA, an offspring, a look alike DAUGTER. Within this New Babylonia will be a large city BY A RIVER. This large city BY A RIVER will reflect the wealth and power of the nation. Within the area of THE GREAT CITY BY A RIVER will be a TOWER OF BABEL, which represents A GLOBAL GOVERNMENT, A GLOBAL ECONOMY, AND A GLOBAL RELIGION. This NATION AND CITY are referred to as a LADY, a QUEEN, because she reflects the ancient religion of Old Babylon, which included a QUEEN OF HEAVEN. Thus a symbol of some sort WILL SIT BY THE SHORES OF BABYLON that represents THIS LADY, THIS QUEEN. Is it coincidence that THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, A LADY, sits in NEW YORK HARBOR, NOT FAR FROM THE UNITED NATIONS? OR THAT THOSE INVOLVED WITH THIS STATUE HOLD TO A RELIGION IDENTICAL TO NIMROD, THE FIRST ANTICHRIST? WAKE UP, O YE CHRISTIANS, FOR THE NIGHT IS FAR SPENT!! It is mere coincidence that America reflects in every way ancient Babylonia? From her laws to her three class system, she mimics ancient Babylon. Is it mere coincidence that within the confines of America's boundaries lies a CITY ON A RIVER? That is known as BABYLON ON THE HUDSON? Is it coincidence that within that City, is a glass tower that sits BY THE RIVER, and that tower represents man's attempt to rule the world without God? Is it coincidence that the United Nation's religion is identical to ANCIENT NIMROD? That the UN stands for GLOBAL GOVERNMENT, and is pushing hard for a one world economy, and wants the world to embrace her RELIGION? You have a choice to make. You can either believe God or the false prophets of Babylon. You can either accept the truth of Scripture, or the apostasy of the false shepherds. You can either save your soul, and count it worthy, or you can hate your soul, and cast your lot with the Babylonian false shepherds of eternal ruin. IT IS YOUR CHOICE. THE IDENTITY OF AMERICA AS BABYLON THE GREAT IS YOUR KEY TO THE WHOLE MYSTERY OF THE END TIMES. It will become very clear to you why AMERICA will produce ANTICHRIST. He will rise up right in front of the noses of the apostate Christians who will embrace Him with their whole heart, for they REJECTED TRUTH, REJECTED GOD, AND REJECTED CHRIST. It will be the deception of all deceptions. YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE A PART OF THAT DECEPTION! "COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE, THAT YE NOT BE PARTAKERS OF HER PLAGUES.

GO TO PART TWO

THE MEANING OF AOA - AND PARABOLAS

In my professional world, AOA is an acronym that means Angle of Attack; or the angle that the wing chord is positioned at in order to produce the maximum amount of lift during takeoff and landing. This is achieved by Horizontal Stabilizer trim and elevator inputs using the control column.

In my religious world, this acronym is one that I am fixated on because of its significance. To the Jews, the building of the third temple is something they are looking forward to. To me, activity at Adam-ondi-Ahman is a huge sign for us and I look at it with curiosity and anticipation.

I have it on good authority (second person rumor, here folks.....) from a builder of temporary and large arenas, that the request for proposal has been put in to see what it would cost for a large arena to be placed on the valley floor in what is now a large cultivated field next to the Grand River.

When I was in the MTC, my comp told me they had been on a field trip to this very field and their leader had them go about 1/4 mile down the field and stand in one spot while he stood near the far end of the valley. He spoke in a regular voice and they could hear perfectly well at such a great distance. The reason for this (as I studied and found out later) was due to it being a perfect (extremely large radius) parabola. I first experienced this phenomenon as a kid in Olympia, WA where they showed us how the Democrats of the day were able to listen in on the goings on of their opponents by placing their desk on opposite sides of the Capitol building floor (inside the dome which is parabolic in shape) and letting physics do the rest. When I visited the field approximately 10 years ago on our Nauvoo Temple dedication trip, I was not able to test this phenomenon out with the wife and kids, partly because it was being tilled by a large tractor and they probably would have been irritated by us traipsing around in the fresh soil - but you know I wanted to try it out in the worst way......

The valley at AOA is the same - but inverted; and it was used as stated to allow Adam to gather all of his righteous posterity (I am sure there were many who were getting extremely wicked and who chose to blow their old Patriarch off and not attend....), and to impart to them his last words of counsel without a loudspeaking system and using a voice that no doubt was frail and weak in its hundreds year old state. This natural phenomenon is a feature that many past civilizations have taken advantage of in order to speak to large groups of people without loud speakers and modern electronics. I have yet to do a piece about all of the valleys discovered in ancient America that have this feature and that archeologists have noted were used by the ancients for this purpose. The natural ones (without structures added) were mostly in South America, while the Romans and Greeks took advantage of this phenomenon aided by structures for seating, stages, etc. It will take me some time to dig up the info again and put it on the Wood Zone..... as it was before the creation of this beloved dumping spot.

So here is something I came across - more quotes of what we have to look forward to. As we struggle day to day with the weaknesses and temptations of this world, we have something glorious and wonderful to fix our minds upon and think about and strive to possibly be a part of:

Wilford Woodruff

What is the gospel as taught by Jesus himself? The very first principle was faith in the Messiah; this was the first principle ever taught to man. When Adam, after being driven from the garden of Eden, went to Adam-ondi-Ahman to offer sacrifice, the angel of the Lord asked him why he did so. Adam replied that he did not know, but the Lord had commanded him to do it. He was then told that the blood of bulls and goats, of rams and lambs should be spilt upon the altar as a type of the great and last sacrifice which should be offered up for the sins of the world. The first principle, then, ever taught to Father Adam was faith in the Messiah, who was to come in the meridian of time to lay down his life for the redemption of man. (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p.18)

* At a conference of the Sunday School children in the old Tabernacle on the 30th of March (1873), Elder Woodruff reported Brigham Young as saying, "Joseph, the Prophet, told me that the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County, Missouri. When Adam was driven out he went to the place we now call Adam-ondi-Ahman, Daviess County, Missouri. There he built an altar and offered sacrifice." (Wilford Woodruff, p. 481)


Joseph Smith
Daniel in his seventh chapter speaks of the Ancient of days; he means the oldest man, our Father Adam, Michael, he will call his children together and hold a council with them to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man. He (Adam) is the father of the human family, and presides over the spirits of all men, and all that have had the keys must stand before him in this grand council. This may take place before some of us leave this stage of action. The Son of Man stands before him, and there is given him glory and dominion. Adam delivers up his stewardship to Christ, that which was delivered to him as holding the keys of the universe, but retains his standing as head of the human family. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.157)


Joseph Fielding Smith
It was in the night vision that all this was shown to Daniel, and he saw the Son of Man come to the grand council, as he did to the first grand council in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there he received the keys from Adam "and there was given to him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." (Dan. 7: 13-14.) In this council Christ will take over the reigns of government, officially, on this earth, and "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him," even Jesus Christ. Until this grand council is held, Satan shall hold rule in the nations of the earth; but at that time thrones are to be cast down and man's rule shall come to an end -- for it is decreed that the Lord shall make an end of all nations. (D.C. 87:6.) Preparation for this work is now going on. Kingdoms are already tottering, some have fallen; but eventually they shall all go the way of the earth, and he shall come whose right it is to rule. Then shall he give the government to the saints of the Most High.

This council in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman is to be of the greatest importance to this world. At that time there will be a transfer of authority from the usurper and impostor, Lucifer, to the rightful King, Jesus Christ. Judgment will be set and all who have held keys will make their reports and deliver their stewardships, as they shall be required. Adam will direct this judgment, and then he will make his report, as the one holding the keys for this earth, to his Superior Officer, Jesus Christ. Our Lord will then assume the reins of government; directions will be given to the Priesthood; and He, whose right it is to rule, will be installed officially by the voice of the Priesthood there assembled. This grand council of Priesthood will be composed, not only of those who are faithful who now dwell on this earth, but also of the prophets and apostles of old, who have had directing authority. Others may also be there, but if so they will be there by appointment, for this is to be an official council called to attend to the most momentous matters ' concerning the destiny of this earth. (The Way to Perfection, p.289-291)


John Taylor
A great council will then be held to adjust the affairs of the world, from the commencement, over which Father Adam will preside as head and representative of the human family. . . .

Then they will assemble to regulate all these affairs, and all that held keys of authority to administer will then represent their earthly course. And as this authority has been handed down from one to another in different ages, and in different dispensations, a full reckoning will have to be made by all. All who have held the keys of priesthood will then have to give an account to those from whom they received them. Those that were in the heavens have been assisting those that were upon the earth; but then, they will unite together in a general council to give an account of their stewardships, and as in the various ages men have received their power to administer from those who had previously held the keys thereof, there will be a general account.
Those under the authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have to give an account of their transactions to those who direct them in the priesthood; hence the elders give an account to presidents of conferences; and presidents of conferences to presidents of nations. Those presidents and the seventies give an account to the twelve apostles; the twelve to the First Presidency; and they to Joseph, from whom they, and the twelve, received their priesthood. This will include the arrangements of the last dispensation. Joseph delivers his authority to Peter, who held the keys before him, and delivered them to him; and Peter to Moses and Elias, who endowed him with this authority on the Mount; and they to those from whom they received them. And thus the world's affairs will be regulated and put right, the restitution of all things be accomplished, and the kingdom of God be ushered in. The earth will be delivered from under the curse, resume its paradisiacal glory, and all things pertaining to its restoration be fulfilled. [The Gospel Kingdom, p.217]

THE (BIBLICAL) SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NUMBER FORTY

I have always wondered what was behind some of these numbers that keep popping up in the Old Testament. Here is a cool little piece I ran across:

In this study I would like to examine the biblical significance of the number forty.



Every time one finds the number forty in Torah, its inner meaning is the ascent from one level to the next higher one. We get a new mission at forty. But the attainment of a higher level can come only after first reaching and fulfilling all aspects of the previous level, and then making an emptiness in the middle to allow for the emergence of something entirely new.



Forty is composed of 4 x 10



The number ten signifies a unity made of parts. We see this in the fact that we have a single number, ten (10), which is composed of a one (1) and a zero (0). The parts, zero and one, are unified in the single number ten (10).



The number four signifies completion or fullness.



To understand forty and it’s significance, lets start by looking at what a renown Rabbi has to say about the meaning of the number forty.



Waters of Eden – By Aryeh Kaplan[1]



One of the laws of mikveh (a gathering of waters for immersion - baptism) is that it must hold at least forty Seah, or approximately 200 gallons of water. In deriving this quantity of forty Seah, we saw that in a sense, this was based upon a measure of man. It is interesting to note that the concept of forty occurs a great many times in the Torah. The flood of Noah lasted forty days, Moses was on Mount Sinai for "forty days and forty nights" when he received the Torah, and the Israelites similarly spent forty years in the desert. There are many other places where we find the concept of forty in the Bible.



Why is the number forty so important? Why do we come across this number as a duration of time so often in the Torah? We find the beginnings of an answer in the laws of childbirth, as they applied in the time of the Holy Temple. The pain and infirmity associated with childbirth are an indication of the imperfection of human reproduction, and therefore, they bring about a state of "impurity" in a woman who has given birth. The Talmud states that one reason a woman had to bring a sacrifice after giving birth to a child was because she had so much pain that she would swear never again to bear a child.



Nidah 31b R. Simeon b. Yohai was asked by his disciples: Why did the Torah ordain that a woman after childbirth should bring a sacrifice? He replied: When she kneels in bearing she swears impetuously that she will have no intercourse with her husband. The Torah, therefore, ordained that she should bring a sacrifice. (R. Joseph demurred: Does she not[2] act presumptuously[3] in which case the absolution of the oath[4] depends on her regretting it?[5] Furthermore, she should have brought a sacrifice prescribed for an oath!)[6] And why did the Torah ordain that in the case of a male [the woman is clean] after seven days and in that of a female after fourteen days? [On the birth of a] male with whom all rejoice she regrets her oath after seven days, [but on the birth of a female] about whom everybody is upset she regrets her oath after fourteen days. And why did the Torah ordain circumcision on the eighth day?[7] In order that the guests[8] shall not enjoy themselves[9] while his father and mother are not in the mood for it.[10] It was taught: R. Meir used to say, Why did the Torah ordain that the uncleanness of menstruation should continue for seven days? Because being in constant contact with his wife[11] [a husband might] develop a loathing towards her. The Torah, therefore, ordained: Let her[12] be unclean for seven days[13] in order that[14] she shall be beloved by her husband as at the time of her first entry into the bridal chamber.



Childbirth, and the pain associated with it, is related to man's imperfection and therefore requires "purification”. In speaking of this purification, the Torah says:



Vayikra (Leviticus) 12:2-4 "When a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be unclean seven days, as the days of niddah... And she shall continue... for thirty-three days...."



Counting the days required for purification after childbirth, we find a total of forty.



Our sages teach us that these forty days represent the time that an embryo takes to attain human form. From a standpoint of Jewish Law, an embryo does not have any status as a human being until forty days after conception This concept is also sound from a scientific viewpoint, since it is well known that the human embryo begins to assume recognizable human form around the fortieth day after conception. This helps explain why the flood described in the Torah lasted for forty days. According to the traditional interpretations, the main sin that brought about the flood was sexual immorality. The Midrash thus says that the flood lasted for forty days because the people of that generation "perverted the embryo that is formed in forty days."



Midrash Rabbah - Bereshit (Genesis) XXXII:5 5. FOR YET SEVEN DAYS, etc. (VII, 4). R. Simeon b. Yohai said: They have transgressed the Torah which was given after forty days,[15] therefore I WILL CAUSE IT TO RAIN... FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS. R. Johanan said: They corrupted the features which take shape after forty days,[16] therefore I WILL CAUSE IT TO RAIN... FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS. AND EVERY LIVING SUBSTANCE (YEKUM) THAT I HAVE MADE WILL I BLOT OUT. R. Berekiah said: That means, whatever exists (kayomaya) upon it.[17] R. Abin said: The one who arose against him [his brother].[18] R. Levi said in the name of Resh Lakish: He [God] kept him [Cain] in suspense[19] until the Flood came and swept him away: hence it is written, And He blotted out every one that had arisen (Gen. VII, 23).[20]



It is interesting to note that the Zohar gives a similar reason for the fact that the punishment was through water. The division of the waters represent the original concept of sexuality in creation, with the "upper waters" as the male element, and the "lower waters" as the female. The generation of the flood perverted this basic concept of sexuality, and therefore, the "upper waters" and "lower waters" came together to punish them. The Torah thus says:



Bereshit (Genesis) 7:11 "The springs of the great deep were split open, and the windows of heaven were opened.



This same concept also applies to Mikveh, which can be made up of rain waters and spring waters. The same concept also applies to the giving of the Torah. This also involves the idea of birth. The Jewish people were born anew under the covenant of the Torah, and the Torah itself, in being transmitted to man, had to undergo a birth process. As in the case of man, this was to take forty days. The same reasoning also explains why the Israelites spent forty years in the desert. When Moses sent spies to explore the Promised Land, the Torah tells us that:



Bamidbar (Numbers) 13:25 "they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days."



The spies knew that the Israelites would undergo a spiritual rebirth when they entered the Promised Land. In order to experience this rebirth themselves and report on it, the spies spent forty days in the land. They were not worthy of the land, however, and therefore, they brought back a bad report. As a result of this report, the Israelites rebelled against Moses, not trusting that HaShem would give them the land. It was then decreed that they should spend forty years in the desert, as the Torah says:



Bamidbar (Numbers) 14:34 "Following the number of days in which you spied out the land - forty days - for every day, you shall bear your sins for a year - forty years."



These forty years represent yet another kind of rebirth - the rebirth of an entire generation that would be worthy of eventually entering the Promised Land. We see that the number forty represents the process of birth. As we have said, it is related to the measure of man. This also explains the forty Seah of water that the Mikveh must contain. The Mikveh also represents the womb, and therefore, these forty Seah parallel the forty days during which the embryo is formed.



In order to understand why birth and embryonic development always involve the number forty, we must introduce yet another concept.



Our Sages teach that the world was created through ten Divine utterances. Mystically, each of these ten utterances manifests itself on four different levels, hence a total of forty. On Shabbat, we refrain from 39 categories of forbidden labor. The Talmud refers to these 39 as "forty minus one" because each one parallels one of the forty levels of creation, except for the highest level of creation, creation of something from absolute nothingness, which has no parallel in our physical world.



Creation consists of four stages, alluded to in the verse:



Yeshayah (Isaiah) 43:7 "All that is called by My Name,

(1) for My glory,

(2) I have created it,

(3) I have formed it,

(4) and I have made it."



These four stages are represented by the four letters of the Tetragrammaton, God's Name Yud Hay Vav Hay. The first stage is "God's Glory," where things exist conceptually, but not in actuality. The next stage is creation," which represents creation ex nihilo, "something out of nothing." Then comes "formation" where the primeval substance attains the first semblance of form. Finally comes making," where the process is completed and yields a finished product. Our sages also teach us that the world was created with ten sayings. These are the ten times that the expression "and God said" appears in the account of creation:



Midrash Rabbah - Bereshit (Genesis) XVII:1 1. AND THE LORD GOD SAID: IT IS NOT GOOD THAT THE MAN SHOULD BE ALONE (II, 8). We learnt: By ten commands was the world created,[21] and these are they: In the beginning God created (Gen. I, 1); And the spirit (ruah) of God hovered (ib. 2)[22]; And God said: Let there be light (ib. 3); And God said: Let there be a firmament (ib. 6); And God said: Let the waters be gathered together (ib. 9); And God said: Let the earth put forth grass (ib.11); And God said: Let there be lights (ib.14) And God said: Let the waters swarm (ib. 20); And God said: Let the earth bring forth (ib. 24); And God said: Let us make man (ib. 26). Menahem b. R. Jose excluded, ’And the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters,’ and included, AND THE LORD GOD SAID: IT IS NOT GO0D THAT THE MAN SHOULD BE ALONE. R. Jacob b. R. Kirshai said: A separate command was devoted to the wind.[23]



These "ten sayings" enter into each of the four stages of creation, the total number of elements of creation is forty. The number forty is therefore very intimately related to the concept of creation.



In enumerating the categories of "work" that are forbidden on the Sabbath, the Talmud teaches us that there are "forty less one." As we know, these thirty-nine categories of "work" parallel the types of activity that went into creation, just as our own Sabbath rest parallels the Sabbath of creation. There is one type of "work," however, that we cannot duplicate, and that is creation ex nihilo - creating something out of nothing. This is the one category that is not included among the types of work forbidden on the Sabbath. Otherwise, the categories of "work" represent the elements of creation - "forty less one." The four basic stages that we mentioned earlier are also alluded to in the "four branches" of the river from Eden. As we have discussed, this river is very intimately related to the concept of Mikveh. The forty Seah of the Mikveh represent the basic elements of creation. The primeval stage of creation was basically one of water. Therefore, when a person passes through the forty Seah of water in the Mikveh, he is passing through the initial steps of creation.

End of The Waters of Eden



The Mem – מ ם



The letters of the Hebrew alphabet are assigned numeric equivalents and are then explained in terms of these equivalents. This mode of interpretation is called gematria. Numbers themselves are assigned symbolic significance by our tradition. To cite one example: the number forty has come to symbolize beginnings and new beginnings. Thus, creation is renewed after forty days of flooding. The covenant with the Jewish people, our beginning as a nation, is granted after Moses' sojourn of forty days on Mount Sinai. Following the rebellion of the people as a result of the report of the spies, the Jewish people are condemned to forty years of wandering in the wilderness before a new beginning can be contemplated. The embryo is considered viable forty days after conception. Gestation takes forty weeks.[24]



Every time one finds the number forty in Torah, its inner meaning is the ascent from one level to the next higher one.



The letter Mem is the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. The letter Mem is equivalent to forty (40).



The Mem represents the age or time of completion.[25]



The letter Mem is the first letter of the word Mayim – The Hebrew word for water. Mayim- מים starts with an open mem and concludes with a closed mem. Water, a drash or parable for Torah. The closed "mem" is used in the first saying of Creation. The open "mem" is used in the subsequent nine sayings of Creation.



ם - The closed, Final Mem, represents the era of Mashiach as explained in Kabbalah.



מ - The open "mem" looks like a square with a small opening at its lower left corner. The final "mem" – looks like a complete square.



The word Mashiach (Messiah) itself begins with a mem. In the time of the coming of Mashiach, the earth will be filled with the knowledge of HaShem as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9); then, even the closed mem will be revealed. Only once in the entire Torah, in reference to Mashiach, do we find a closed mem in the middle of a word:



Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 9:6 To increase reign and peace without end.



… לםרבה (לְמַרְבֵּה) הַמִּשְׂרָה



Sotah 2a ....for Rav Judah has said in the name of Rav: Forty days before the creation of a child, a Bat Kol issues forth and proclaims, The daughter of A is for B; the house of C is for D; the field of E is for F!"



Every time one finds the number forty in Torah, its inner meaning is the ascent from one level to the next higher one.



Ascensions



The Talmud states that from conception until "formation" of the fetus (ye'tziras ha'vlad) is forty days. A human being is referred to as a "small world"; thus, forty days represents the formation of an entire world, in microcosm.



Forty is also a number associated with Torah and da'at. It was over the course of forty days that Moshe received the Torah on Har Sinai. He subsequently spent two more sets of forty days on Har Sinai to achieve forgiveness and atonement for the incident of the golden calf.



Sivan 1


Tammuz 17


Tammuz 18


Av 29


Av 30


Tishrei 10

40 days


40 days


40 days



Chazal teach that time as we know it will cover six thousand years, divided into three sets of two thousand years:



Sanhedrin 97a The Tanna debe Eliyyahu teaches: The world is to exist six thousand years. In the first two thousand there was desolation; two thousand years the Torah flourished; and the next two thousand years is the Messianic era, but through our many iniquities all these years have been lost.



Two thousand years is forty jubilees (fifty years each). Thus we see that the world will exist for three sets of forty jubilees. We see, also, that Moses went up on Mt. Sinai, three times, for forty days each.



Moshe himself, who is considered "rooted" in da'at, lived for a hundred and twenty years, or three sets of forty years. He was:

Forty years as a prince in Egypt,
Forty years as a prince of sheep in Midian, and
Forty years as a prince of Israel in the desert.



It rained for forty days and forty nights during the Flood; the Pri Tzadik says this was because Noach's generation could have received Torah in their time, had they been fitting. The Talmud also speaks to this:



Menachoth 99b R. Johanan and R. Eleazar both said, The Torah was given in forty days and the soul is formed in forty days:[26] whosoever keeps the Torah his soul is kept, and whosoever does not keep the Torah his soul is not kept. A Tanna of the School of R. Ishmael taught: It is like the case of a man who entrusted a swallow to the care of his servant and said to him, ‘Do you think that if you suffer it to perish I will take from you an issar for its value? [No,] I will take your soul from you’.



This concept underlies many of the forty day periods found in the Torah:



1. The forty days of rain of the Great Flood. The intention was to destroy all life. Just as [human] life forms in forty days, so too it took that interval to erase it from the earth:



Bereshit (Genesis) 7:1-4 HaShem then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, And also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."



2. The forty days that Moshe remained on Mount Sinai. A new world order was beginning, in which Torah would play the central role. Hence, the 40-day duration.



Shemot (Exodus) 34:28 Moses was there with HaShem forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments.



Devarim (Deuteronomy) 9:9-11 When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that HaShem had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water. HaShem gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments HaShem proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. At the end of the forty days and forty nights, HaShem gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.



Devarim (Deuteronomy) 9:15-26 So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against HaShem your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that HaShem had commanded you. So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes. Then once again I fell prostrate before HaShem for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in HaShem's sight and so provoking him to anger. I feared the anger and wrath of HaShem, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again HaShem listened to me. And HaShem was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain. You also made HaShem angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah. And when HaShem sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, "Go up and take possession of the land I have given you." But you rebelled against the command of HaShem your God. You did not trust him or obey him. You have been rebellious against HaShem ever since I have known you. I lay prostrate before HaShem those forty days and forty nights because HaShem had said he would destroy you. I prayed to HaShem and said, "O Sovereign HaShem, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.



Devarim (Deuteronomy) 10:10 Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time, and HaShem listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you.



3. The forty days of the spies. The transition to yet another world perspective, that of the Jews as a nation united with their land, was to have begun. Unfortunately, the spies produce a slanderous report on the land and the Jews are relegated to forty years in the desert, one year for each day.



Bamidbar (Numbers) 13:16-25 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.) When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, "Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land." (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.) So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.



Bamidbar (Numbers) 14:29-35 In this desert your bodies will fall--every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But you--your bodies will fall in this desert. Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. For forty years--one year for each of the forty days you explored the land--you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.' I, HaShem, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die."



Bamidbar (Numbers) 32:13 HaShem's anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the desert forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.



4. The forty day period after childbirth. Forty days after birth of a boy, or eighty days after birth of a girl, the mother brings offerings to the Temple. After the birth of a male child the mother is required to observe a cycle of separation. She separates herself for 7 days +33 days which equals a total of 40 days. This represents the beginning, the middle and the end of the cycle of separation from physical relationships, etc. (Vayikra.12:4, 6 days of creation + 1 day of rest + 33 days the body mourns the separation of the son.) The child is elevated to a new level as the mother brings the offerings:



Vayikra (Leviticus) 12:2-7 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled. But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days. And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest: Who shall offer it before HaShem, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This [is] the law for her that hath born a male or a female.



There is a certain spiritual impurity after childbirth that extends for a double 40 day period after the birth of a girl, at the very same time there is a complementary law in the Torah that for the entire 80 day period for a girl, the blood which the woman sees is pure blood. Thus she is permitted to have relationships with her husband during this entire time. That time lasts for a double period as opposed to after the birth of a boy, when her blood is pure, i.e. she can maintain relations with her husband only for 40 days. After the initial 7 days when she goes to the mikveh she is pure for 40 days after the birth of a boy, and after the birth of a girl for 80 days.



5. In a book of Jewish Mystical philosophy titled Torah Ohr, it is explained that the Flood was not simply the punishment for a totally corrupt world. For, to destroy the world, HaShem could have chosen any number of different methods to this end. The Flood was also an act of purification, which is why the deluge lasted for forty days. The number forty corresponds to the forty seah (a fluid measurement) in a mikveh (ritual bath).



The waters of Noah cleansed the world by immersion in the same way one is purified by immersion in the waters of the mikveh. This separation and removal of all extraneous and undesirable elements has the ultimate purpose of bringing the world (and a person) to a higher level, hence forty:



Bereshit (Genesis) 7:11-13 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month--on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.



Bereshit (Genesis) 7:17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth.



Bereshit (Genesis) 8:6 After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark And sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.



6. The Children of Israel spent forty years in the wilderness in preparation for their ascent into Eretz Israel. This was forty years after the giving of the Torah. The Sages teach that "After forty years, a student can attain [a full grasp of] his teacher's knowledge." Thus, after the forty years in the desert when the Children of Israel lived with the revelation of Mount Sinai, they were able to internalize it and use it for their ascent into The Promised Land.



7. The forty days between the beginning of the month of Elul and Yom Kippur are the days of Selichot, repentance. The revelation of the thirteen attributes to Moshe took place on the first day of Elul (forty days after the sin of the golden calf on 17 Tammuz), and the sign of the forgiveness of Israel was given on Yom Kippur, when Moshe descended the mountain for the second time with the second tablets of the law. We have forty days between the beginning of the month of Elul and Yom Kippur when every Jew hopes to be "born again" and ascend to the level of the angels as be speaks with a full voice: Baruch shem kvod, malchuto leolam vaed!



Finally we see that forty related to ascension in the ascension of Mashiach on Lag B’Omer.



After a period of “forty” days teaching his Talmidim after his resurrection[27], Mashiach ascends finally to the heavens[28], awaiting his return at the time appointed by HaShem, Most Blessed be He! On Lag B’Omer, Yeshua ascended into heaven[29]. Since Lag B’Omer was a day for the heavens to be opened, we can understand why Yeshua ascended on this day. Further, it is apparent that He will return the same way:



II Luqas (Acts) 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Yeshua, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.



Yochanan (John) also brought together the ascension and the Bread from Heaven (manna) in the following sod level passage:



Yochanan (John) 6:53 Then Yeshua said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. 59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 61 When Yeshua knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?



It is also apparent that His ascension was also necessary for another gift to be sent to us from heaven:



II Luqas (Acts) 1:4-5 4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.



Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Mashiach. 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Mashiach: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Mashiach:



We may derive, then, that the eighteenth day of Iyar (Lag B’omer) is an auspicious time for King Mashiach’s revelation. However, this revelation may come in the form of blessing, as we had with the manna, or punishment, as we had with the flood. In preparation of this day it is incumbent upon us in to pray and repent so that HaShem’s revelation manifest itself in the form of blessing and not destruction.



When His Majesty King Yeshua was Lag B’Omer in age (thirty-three years of age) his body (temple) was put to death by the Roman execution of the cross.



I believe that when Yeshua ascended, He was fulfilling His obligation to send us a Comforter to instruct us in all wisdom and therefore triumph over Nebuchadnezzar and Pilate! This suggests that the wisdom of the Zohar being given to Hakham Shimon Bar Yochai, was fittingly given on Lag B’Omer.



Many commentaries note that Hakham Akiva’s student’s stopped dying on Lag B’Omer. Clearly the twelve Apostles did not die on Lag B’Omer, but instead continue to change the world. Their message of love continues to resonate to this very day. They were the antithesis of the disciples of Hakham Akiva. This loving cohesiveness is the key to the Messianic hope.



Finally, note the following words that a Hakham, who wishes to remain anonymous, spoke about the author of the Zohar:



When we call this day the “Hillula” (Ascent) of Hakham Shimon, the ascent spoken of is not necessarily his death (i.e., the ascent of his soul), but rather the Hillula is his ascent in the learning of Torah. Lag B’Omer celebrates the day when the sacred traditions of the Kabbalah were saved from being lost forever. Lag B’Omer, therefore, has always been considered the “Kabbalist’s holiday.” For on this day Hakham Shimon became possibly the most important link in the chain of Kabbalistic succession.



The righteous ascend higher and higher each year, as their deeds have greater and greater impact on the world that they left behind.



Does this not sound like a remez, a hint regarding the ascension of Mashiach?



Lets now take a look at what the Nazarean Codicil has to say about the ascension of Mashiach ben Yosef:



II Luqas (Acts) 1:1-4 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Yeshua began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with [them], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me.



Many struggle with the thought that Mashiach could not have ascended on Lag B’Omer because the above passage clearly says that the ascension happened forty days after the resurrection, not thirty-three days!



The best way to understand this anomaly is to understand that II Luqas (Acts) is written at the remez level of understanding. At this level we do not interpret things literally, we interpret them according to hints. In this level we ask the question: What does forty represent? We find that forty is associated with a “new birth” type experience. It is a time of ascension. It also represents a change in mission. It is the time period which is used when there is a dramatic change in life. For example: A fetus becomes a baby in forty weeks. Moses changed from a prince to a shepherd after forty years. And after another forty years he changed from a shepherd into a king!



Mashiach’s life was transformed on Lag B’Omer. His Majesty made the change from Mashiach ben Yosef to Mashiach ben David. This change was also understood to be the change of the Bnei Israel, because when Mashiach changes, we change. Remember what we have taught previously, in our study Mashiach, that:



Mashiach = Israel.



Thus we understand that we are not taking this forty days as a literal, but as a hint to the change that Mashiach, and therefore the Jewish people, are undergoing.



One Lash Less



A Jew who transgresses a Torah prohibition is punished with lashes. How many lashes? The Torah mentions the number forty but the Sages interpreted this to mean the number preceding forty and therefore rule that the number of lashes is 39. How foolish are most people, exclaimed the Sage Rava, who stand up for a Sefer Torah but not for a Torah scholar. The Torah says forty lashes and the Sages limited it to 39. A similar proof of the power of the Sages could apparently have been brought from the fifty days of counting the Omer which the Sages interpret as 49. But only the example of the lashes is cited because the true greatness of the Sages to be appreciated by the masses is not in their ability to make the Omer count one day less but in their ability to remove one painful lash from a sinner



Makkoth 22b HOW MANY LASHES ARE GIVEN? FORTY SAVE ONE.] What is the reason for this [particular number]? — If it were written, ‘forty in number,’ I should have said it means [actually] forty in number; but as [the order of] the wording is ‘by number forty’[30] [it means] a number coming up to the forty.[31] Raba observed: How dull-witted are those other people[32] who stand up [in deference] to the Scroll of the Torah but do not stand up [in deference] to a great personage, because, while in the Torah Scroll forty lashes are prescribed, the Rabbis come and [by interpretation] reduce them by one.



The validity of this oral law was established by Hakham Shaul himself:



II Corinthians 11:24 Of the Jews five times received I forty [stripes] save one.



By the lashes, a sinner achieves atonement for his sins and thus rises to a new and greater level, having transformed the sin into a mitzvah.



Every time one finds the number forty in Torah, its inner meaning is the ascent from one level to the next higher one.



Y Y Y



Avoth Chapter 5 MISHNA 21. HE USED TO SAY:[33] FIVE YEARS [IS THE AGE] FOR [THE STUDY OF] SCRIPTURE,[34] TEN-FOR [THE STUDY OF] MISHNA,[35] THIRTEEN-FOR [BECOMING SUBJECT TO] COMMANDMENTS,[36] FIFTEEN-FOR [THE STUDY OF] TALMUD,[37] EIGHTEEN- FOR THE [BRIDAL] CANOPY,[38] TWENTY — FOR PURSUING,[39] THIRTY-FOR [FULL] STRENGTH,[40] FORTY — FOR UNDERSTANDING, FIFTY- FOR [ABILITY TO GIVE] COUNSEL,[41] SIXTY-FOR MATURE AGE, SEVENTY-FOR A HOARY HEAD,[42] EIGHTY [IS A SIGN OF SUPERADDED] STRENGTH,[43] NINETY [IS THE AGE] FOR [A] BENDING [FIGURE],[44] AT A HUNDRED, ONE IS AS ONE THAT IS DEAD, HAVING PASSED AND CEASED FROM THE WORLD.[45]



Forty is the time when a Torah scholar becomes fit to judge and decide halachic questions. Even though the scholar may have previously studied much Torah, not until this power of binah reaches full maturity at age forty can he best analyze, infer, study precedents, and render legal decisions.



Y Y Y



Midrash Rabbah - Bereshit (Genesis) XXXIX:13 Thus it is written, And he brought up Hadassah (Est. II, 7) Rab said: She was forty years old[46]



Midrash Rabbah - Shemot (Exodus) I:30 WHO MADE THEE A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US? (ib. 14)- R. Judah said: Moses was twenty years old then.[47] They said to him: ‘You are not yet fit to be a judge and ruler over us, for only a man of forty possesses full understanding.’[48]



Midrash Rabbah - Shemot (Exodus) V:14 ... He [Pharaoh] answered them: ‘I do not know who this God of yours is ‘; as it is said: WHO IS THE LORD, THAT I SHOULD HEARKEN UNTO HIS VOlCE? God then said to him: ' Wretch! "WHO (mi) IS THE LORD? " thou sayest. Well, thou wilt be punished with this word ’’Mi’’.’[49] The letter mem is forty and yod is ten--indicating the fifty plagues which God brought upon the Egyptians at the sea, as it says: Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh: This is the finger of God (Ex. VIII, 15) ...



Scriptures



Now lets examine other verses where the number forty is used. As you read these verse, note that every time one finds the number forty in Torah, its inner meaning is the ascent from one level to the next higher one:



Bereshit (Genesis) 25:20 And Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.



Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to be his wife. The side note to this is that when Sarah died three distinct thing happened: The continual Shabbat lights ceased, the Glory of HaShem residing at the door of her tent left, and Challah from Sarah's table which was a blessing to all ceased. When Rebekah entered Sarah's tent each of these returned. This was a sign that Rebekah was the selected wife for Isaac. The Sages teach that a man is incomplete until he has a wife. Thus Isaac ascended to a new level of power when he married.



Zohar Toldot 138b It is taught: The ingathering of the exiles will precede the resurrection of the dead by forty years, as it says, "And Yitzchak was forty years old." What will those forty years be like? Rav Kahana said in the name of Rav Broka: From the time of the ingathering of the exiles until the period of the resurrection of the dead, there will be many troubles. Many wars will be waged against Israel, and happy is the one who is free of them . . . Rebi Yehudah said from here there will be a separating, a whitening, and much refining, just as a silvermaker refines his silver and a goldmaker refines his gold . .



I have written much more on the above subject in a paper titled: Redemption.



Bereshit (Genesis) 26:34-35 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.



Bereshit (Genesis) 49:33 - 50:3 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people. Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed him. Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, Taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.



Shemot (Exodus) 16:35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.



Shemot (Exodus) 24:18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.



Shemot (Exodus) 26:18-21 Make twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle And make forty silver bases to go under them--two bases for each frame, one under each projection. For the other side, the north side of the tabernacle, make twenty frames And forty silver bases--two under each frame.



Shemot (Exodus) 36:20-26 They made upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. Each frame was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide, With two projections set parallel to each other. They made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. They made twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle And made forty silver bases to go under them--two bases for each frame, one under each projection. For the other side, the north side of the tabernacle, they made twenty frames And forty silver bases-- two under each frame.



Devarim (Deuteronomy) 2:7 HaShem your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years HaShem your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.



Devarim (Deuteronomy) 8:1-6 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that HaShem promised on oath to your forefathers. Remember how HaShem your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of HaShem. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so HaShem your God disciplines you. Observe the commands of HaShem your God, walking in his ways and revering him.



Devarim (Deuteronomy) 25:1-4 When men have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty. If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make him lie down and have him flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime deserves, But he must not give him more than forty lashes. If he is flogged more than that, your brother will be degraded in your eyes.



Devarim (Deuteronomy) 29:5-6 During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am HaShem your God.



Yahoshua (Joshua) 5:5-7 All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not. The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed HaShem. For HaShem had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way.



Yahoshua (Joshua) 14:6-8 Now the men of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know what HaShem said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of HaShem sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, But my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed HaShem my God wholeheartedly.



Shoftim (Judges) 3:7-11 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of HaShem; they forgot HaShem their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. The anger of HaShem burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. But when they cried out to HaShem, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them. The Spirit of HaShem came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. HaShem gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.



Shoftim (Judges) 5:20-31 From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong! Then thundered the horses' hoofs--galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds. 'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of HaShem. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help HaShem, to help HaShem against the mighty.' "Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell--dead. "Through the window peered Sisera's mother; behind the lattice she cried out, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?' The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself, 'Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a girl or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck--all this as plunder?' "So may all your enemies perish, HaShem! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength." Then the land had peace forty years.



Shoftim (Judges) 8:28 Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon's lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years.



Shoftim (Judges) 13:1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of HaShem, so HaShem delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.



I Shmuel (Samuel) 4:16-18 He told Eli, "I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day." Eli asked, "What happened, my son?" The man who brought the news replied, "Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured." When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years.



I Shmuel (Samuel) 17:12-19 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was old and well advanced in years. Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, But David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem. For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."



2 Shmuel (Samuel) 2:10 Ish-Bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David.



2 Shmuel (Samuel) 5:4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.



I Melakim (Kings) 2:10-11 Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. He had reigned forty years over Israel--seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem.



I Melakim (Kings) 6:14-17 So Solomon built the temple and completed it. He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of pine. He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long.



Marqos (Mark) 1:9-14 And it came to pass in those days, that Yeshua came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, [saying], Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. Now after that John was put in prison, Yeshua came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,



II Luqas (Acts) 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:



Born Again



In this paper we have spoken at length about the number forty as it pertains to immersion (baptism). It seems fitting, therefore, that I should explain the meaning of a mysterious passage in the Nazarean Codicil:



Yochanan (John) 3:5-8 Yeshua answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.



In this passage we see the Master of Nazareth explaing a bit of sod to Nicodemus. Our Sages have taught that the proper time to speak about sod is at night. Therefore, we are not surprised when Nicodemus comes to Yeshua at night.



In this sod passage, Yeshua speaks about two aspects about being born. The following table illustrates these aspects:



Physical Birth


Return to Eden

v.5 A man must be born of water.


A man must be born of the Spirit.

V6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh.


That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.



A man born to a woman, passes through water to be born physically. This covers the immersion of the flesh.



After the baby becomes viable, at thirty days of age, the baby lacks the intelligence and maturity to turn to HaShem with all his heart. Therefore, the baby must wait till he is thirteen, till he has attained the maturity to turn voluntarily to HaShem. At this point, he can go to the mikveh and his soul can return to the primal state it had at Eden. When a man immerses in the mikveh, our Sages teach that he has been born again. After all, it is the soul which animates the body. The soul has the body’s connection to HaShem.



We see this progression in the Bne Israel when they left Egypt. The crossing of the Reed Sea was the physical birth. Forty days later they went to the mikveh again and not only immersed themselves, but they immersed even their clothes:



Shemot (Exodus) 19:10-11 And HaShem said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day HaShem will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.



Thus the Bne Israel were born again in preparation for receiving the Torah. After all, it is only those who have purified themselves with the counting of the Omer, that are truly prepared to face HaShem. To be able to stand before HaShem, we must return to the state we had at Eden. We must be born again. We wrote more on this subject in the study on Eden.



Conclusion



The Maharal of Prague, Rabbi Yehuda Loewe, explains that the number 40 always means cataclysmic change and new creation.



Y Y Y



This study was written by Hillel ben David

(Greg Killian).

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[1] Excerpted and edited from "The Waters of Eden", by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan.

[2] When swearing.

[3] Of course she does.

[4] Lit., ‘the thing’.

[5] It does. Now in such a case it is only a Sage who, after satisfying himself of the sincerity of her plea, may absolve her. A sacrifice, however, has no place here at all.

[6] Instead of the sacrifice of a bird prescribed for a woman after a confinement. (17) A lamb or a goat.

[7] After birth, and not on the seventh which is the last day of uncleanness

[8] Lit., ‘all.’

[9] At the festive meal given in honor of the circumcision.

[10] Lit., ‘sad’, on account of the prohibition of intercourse which remains in force until the conclusion of the seventh day.

[11] Lit., ‘with her’.

[12] Even after the least discharge of blood.

[13] When intimate intercourse is forbidden.

[14] By being deprived of her intimacy for certain recurrent periods.

[15] Of Moses’ stay in the mountain.

[16] The features of a human embryo take shape after forty days. The idea of the expression is that sin is an essential degradation of the human dignity.

[17] This translation of yekum corresponds to E.V.

[18] Viz. Cain, who arose against his brother, deriving yekum from kam, to arise. He was not punished at the time, but would now be punished.

[19] E J.i.e.He kept his judgment in suspense.

[20] Sc. Cain, cf. supra, XXII, 12. E.V. ’Every living substance ‘.

[21] Ab. v, l. R H. 32a.

[22] These are interpreted as though they read: In the beginning God said, ‘Let there be heaven and earth’; and God said, ‘Let there be ruah’ (E.V. ' spirit’ but apparently rendered here ' wind ‘).

[23] ‘Ruah,’ E.V.’spirit’. M.K. explains: see the greatness of the wind, that His creation required a separate order! Thus he agrees with the first Tanna

[24] By Rabbi Abner Weiss

[25] R' Michaek L. Munk, The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet , 1990, p.148

[26] I.e., forty days after conception the soul is implanted in the embryo. In MS.M.: ‘the soul is given in forty days’.

[27] 2 Luqas (Acts) 1:3

[28] 2 Luqas 1:6-11

[29] Marqos 16:19, II Luqas 1:3

[30] V. p. 155, n. 4

[31] V. p. 155, n. 5.

[32] I.e., other than cultured people who generally show respect to scholars.

[33] MV, also other texts, attribute this dictum to Samuel the Little. In some versions it is preceded by the dictum which is also found in the latter's name in IV, 19. By some, our Mishnah is credited to Ben He-He, whose name occurs in the next Mishnah.

[34] tren (v. Meh. VIII, 8), lit., that which was (to be) read sc. from a written text (synonymous with ‘The Law in Writing’), as distinguished from vban ‘that which was (to be) recited sc. from hearing and memory’ (synonymous with ‘The Law which was (transmitted) by (word of) mouth’). The five years here are said to be based on the analogy of the newly planted tree, the fruit of which becomes available for general consumption in the fifth year (Lev. XIX, 25).

[35] vban v. previous note. The age of ten in this connection is explained thus: In Num. IV, 3’ etc. the period of a Levite's service is commanded to begin ‘from thirty years old’, but ibid. VIII, 24, ‘from twenty-five years old.’ The discrepancy is explained by allotting five years for the Levite's training before he becomes proficient for his sacred duties (v. Hui. 24a). Five years is, thus, an accepted period for the first phase of education. Commencing Scripture at five, one is ready for Mishnah at ten.

[36] In connection with many precepts, references to the committing of sins and penalties, the term aht — ‘man’ — is used; hence the age at which one becomes subject to Mitzvoth and penalties is thirteen, when the boy is said to have matured into a ‘man’ (v. Elijah Wilna to this Mishnah). This, of course, underlies the Bar-Mizwah institution, which, however, in the present usage of the term, appears to be of much later origin.V. Schechter, Studies in Judaism (First Series), p. 378ff.

[37] sunk, Used here, apparently, in the special sense of study based on the Mishnah or Oral Learning (though not, of course, in the specific sense that we use it), rather than study in general. At the age of fifteen, he will have completed the second five years’ stage of his studies.

[38] Eighteen was the age recommended at which a man should marry so that he may fulfil the precept, When a man taketh a new wife, he shall not go out in the host . . .’ one year, and shall cheer his wife whom he hath taken (Deut. XXIV, 5) and yet be ready to undertake military service at the age of twenty (Num. I, 3 passim).

[39] Some: For military service which began ‘from twenty years old’ (Num. ibid.). Most commentators: for pursuing, seeking, a livelihood. This will have given him a further five-year period (from fifteen to twenty) for devoting himself to Talmud before setting out in earnest on a worldly career. Others explain ‘for pursuing’ to mean for quickness, zest, impetuosity, in the pursuit of one's desires or ideals (so Abrabanel, v. Taylor).

[40] Thirty was the age at which a Levite entered upon his full duties which comprised the work of service and the work of bearing burdens (Num. IV, 47); these duties being so comprehensive and arduous required the possession of full physical faculties i e jf Scripture thus considers thirty the age for strength. V. also ibid. VII, 9.

[41] According to Num. VIII, 25f.: from the age of fifty years they (the Levites) shall return from the service of the work, and shall serve no more; but shall minister with their brethren in the tent of meeting, to keep the charge, but they shall do no manner of service. As their ministrations were not in the nature of actual work, they must then have served in the capacity of responsible counsellors. Hence fifty must be the age when a man becomes fitted for giving counsel.

[42] V. II Sam. V, 4: David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned.forty years. i.e., he lived seventy years; and I Chron. XXIX, 28, And he (David) died in a good old age ( vcha =hoary head). Thus vcha is reached at the age of seventy.

[43] Cf. Ps. XC, 10.

[44] vuak The Bibl. root vua means ‘sink down’ and its cognates vja and vja ‘bend’, ‘bow down’. Others take vua here as a noun which in the Bible occurs in a feminine form vjua’ ‘pit’, ‘grave’.

[45] Elijah Wilna cites Isa. LXV, 20, There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the youth shall die one hundred years old, and points out that the context there shows that this is intended as a blessing. Thus the extreme limit up to which life is a blessing is a hundred years; and one who exceeds that limit is as one who no more belongs to the world. Exceptions to this are very rare; and in the case of Moses, Scripture found it necessary to say: his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated (Deut. XXXIV, 7).

[46] When chosen by Ahasuerus.

[47] V. supra, p. 34.

[48] Cf. Sot. 22b.

[49] hn --two letters whose numerical equivalent is 50.