Home Articles Current Events Birth Pangs of the Messiah
     
 
Birth Pangs of the Messiah Print E-mail
Written by Victoria Radin   

The Birth Pangs of the Messiah

"Anyone who has been just looking around and has his or her eyes open must be frightened. Things are happening that just don't make sense. Overnight, our cherished institutions, our icons, have collapsed. We don't understand it. People blame this one and that one. It's not just in the United States, it's all over the world, and we have so many natural disasters, and so much illness. What is happening?" (Malkah Fleisher)

The Jewish sages believe, in view of the current difficult times, that G-d is bringing the world closer to redemption in a process called "Chevlei Mashiach" – the labor pains of the arrival of the Messiah. To understand the comparison they make to the birthing process, one can examine the stages of pregnancy, which are divided into three trimesters.

 

The First Trimester

The first trimester of pregnancy is a time for joy, expectation, and new changes for the mother-to-be. It can, however, be the most critical time of development for the baby. We can compare this stage of pregnancy to the birth of Israel. It was probably one of the most difficult times for the fledgling nation when all the voices and all the forces surrounding them were expecting “the baby” to be a “still birth” or they were calling for it to be “aborted.”

The Second Trimester

The nation of Israel survived and began to flourish as can be compared to the second trimester of pregnancy when most of the baby’s development takes place. Israel grew into a powerful, innovative, free nation.

The Third Trimester

The third trimester of pregnancy is the final phase of the pregnancy culminating in the birth of the baby. This can be compared to Israel today. But has the labor begun? If so, what stage of labor is she experiencing?

Early Labor – Palestinian Intifadas – International Terrorism

The early labor pains can last for a long time but can be bloody in preparation for the impending birth. This can be compared to the constant terror Israel has experienced since the first ‘Palestinian’ Intifada in 1987. This Muslim violence began a very long period of Palestinian brutality against the Israeli people, which continues even today.

Active Labor – Lebanon War 2006, Anti-Semitic Attacks Worldwide and the Gaza War 2008

During active labor, contractions grow stronger and longer but lead quickly into the final stage just before birth, just as the attacks against Israel continue to grow in the Middle East and worldwide.

Transitional [Advanced] Labor – Pressure and Pain for Israel

During transitional labor, the last, most intensive, and fortunately shortest stage, contractions are very strong with intense peaks spaced only about two or three minutes apart. It may seem as though the mother barely gets to relax before the next contraction begins. During transition, the mother is likely to feel strong pressure. It will also be bloody as the cervix begins to rupture just before birth. In the same way, Israel will be faced with pressure from the world to resist defending herself. There will be stronger, more dangerous attacks, closer together as the time for the return of the Messiah gets close.

Based on the writings of ancient Jewish sages, this generation is  “going to be a generation that will abound in chutzpah [audacity] with the signs that are prophesied to hail the coming of the Messiah, including endemic impudence, follower-ship, idol worship, disasters, and war… a generation … [in which] families will be fragmented. Children will turn against parents, parents against children. The elderly will not be respected. Youth will be worshipped… It will be like the generation of the dog…the dog runs ahead but always looks back to see if the master is behind him. Similarly, people don't have their own opinions today. What is the media saying? The media is controlling the world…"

The apostle Paul told Timothy about this last generation: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of G-d…”

According to Israeli religious scholar, Rebbetzin Jungreis,  “the greatest idol worship of this generation is money, an obsession, which causes the Western world to ignore the lurking danger posed by Islamist terror against Israel and the United States. Following the US stock market crash in 1929 America was so pre-occupied that Hitler had the opportunity [to make his move for world domination] and no one stopped him.” Jungreis observes that America and the world woke up too late. In the early thirties no one intervened because they were all absorbed in a financial crisis. Today, we have a financial crisis and today we have a host of “new Hitlers” vying for power in the world. All the while, America is worried about the stock market, housing foreclosures, and job losses.

Rebbetzin Jungreis says that Islamist terror was predicted in the 9th century. It was prophesied that before the coming of Messiah in the end of days, Ishmael [progenitor of the Arabs]– who is described as a brutal, wild man – would rule the world. Jungreis attributes Arab terror in Israel, the Islamization of Europe, and the welcoming of the Iranian President, vocal anti-Zionist, and anti-Semite, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the UN in New York to the ancient prophetic writing.

“Ahmadinejad comes to New York, and he has the audacity, the chutzpah to proclaim … in public, at the UN, that it's Zionist Jews who are responsible for the financial crisis in the world, that they are manipulating the world, they're controlling the world… No outcry, not a word.”

“Ahmadinejad himself has a role in the unfolding arrival of the Messiah,” says Jungreis, “and was also predicted to wield lethal power during the end of days.” “You know it says … that right before [Messiah] will come … the king of Persia, … Persia is today's Iran. The king of Persia is going to have a weapon that is going to terrorize the entire world.”

Could that weapon be nuclear bombs and weapons of mass destruction on the horizon? Will the world sit back and watch as Israel is threatened and attacked? Let’s never forget the words of Pastor Martin Niemöller.

In Germany they first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —and by that time no one was left to speak up.

From today’s headlines, it appears that Israel and thus the entire world, will experience a painful, savage, bloody birth, where the mother's life [Israel] will be at risk. But, we know the end of the story. G-d will never forsake Israel and He will never, ever leave us. It is time to pray, as never before, for Israel, for America, and for the nations of the world.

 
 
 
 
©2024 HaDerek Ministries - All rights reserved.   Website Design by Further Design Group