Why Jerusalem Is the Key to the End Times | Rabbi Tovia Singer

that the destruction of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple demonstrated that Christianity was a true religion and Judaism was fallen, God was done with the Jews. Finished. Replacement theology. You were chosen, but because you rejected our savior and because you killed our savior, therefore, you're no longer chosen. You're now in a cursed people. Or in fact, had to address the question of if the Jews are not chosen anymore. with Adekosim if the Jews are not chosen anymore. [snorts] So why are the Jews still here? Remember he's writing the city of God as a 22 volume work from let's say 412 to 424. Why are they here? If they're not [music] chosen, then why is God? So he said the Jews are preserved throughout history as a witness people in a degraded state. Never returned to Jerusalem. never having control of the city and be that because of this everyone know that Christianity is true and Judaism is full as chryslam said as [music] surel of Jerusalem said as sur Alexandria said as I and I all said that in Islam it's the same deal it's a replacement theology thank you [applause] thank you so Thank you. I um [snorts] should begin to say that my life is been devoted to helping Jews in the church return back to the Jewish faith. And I lecture about this topic helping Jewish people understand about the truth and beauty of the prophets of blessed memory. It is very striking [snorts] when studying the Nvim and helping Christians understand what are the messianic prophecies expressed in Isaiah 11, Isaiah chapter 2, a world peace that covers the world like the water covers the sea. Verse 9, a time when the Messiah will rebuke the nations. He will give to the peoples of the world and they will listen to him and they will take their implements of war and transform them into implements of agriculture. Nation will not not lift up sword against nation. and they will not learn of war anymore. That passage appears across from the United Nations. My favorite place. I miss it so much. What a good schmuck of place that is. But across the street on 42nd Street and 1st Avenue, there's an Isaiah wall. And that passage from Isaiah chapter 2 is prominent there. Of course, the other verse. So that verse they don't like so much. So it's not on the Isaiah wall because out of Zion who go forth law and the word of God from that that they know so it doesn't appear there. Incidentally the verse that is across the United Nations that the UN had the brains to put up. So that's not a problem for the UN. It's a nice story about world peace. And that's a central feature of the messianic age. World peace. The wolf lies with the lamb. Isaiah 11. Lion eating straw. These are the nations of the world that were predators will lie side by side. This we understand why the UN might like that passage. But as you might guess, that numminous verse, possibly the most famous messianic passage in all of Tanakh, which all of you are familiar with, appears how many times throughout the entire cannon of the Christian Bible. Guess none of you antiva nothing. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. zero. It never appears in the entire New Testament. It never appears in any of the 27 books that comprise the Christian Bible. Why doesn't the Christian Bible tell us the most numinous passage about what will happen when Messiah comes that there will be world peace? Because Messiah will be the God. He'll be the Rashiva. He's not going to do miracles. There's nothing in Tanakh that Messiah does miracles. Not one passage rather he speaks to the peoples. He gives a rebuke to the nations. They will listen to him. No magic tricks on the street. No healing blind people. None of that kind of stuff. No pick a card any card. None of that stuff. But rather he will speak to them and their response will be that war will come to an end because they all the war will be of one accord. That's the we just read the Alenu in our prayers tonight. God will be king of the whole world. He will be one. His name will be one. Zechariah 14:9. But given that this passage presents a existential theological threat to the church, the writers of the Christian Bible saw it fit that it should appear nowhere in the New Testament. >> [snorts] >> We are living in a very unique time right now. And before we I we began this evening's program, I mammish, I literally looked at my phone to see the latest news because there's a lot going on. And very often we when we wake up, we say Maidani and we rush to see the news and we want to know what just happened. And in essence, I'm asking myself, which passage is being fulfilled right now when I wake up? The evening on the Jewish life cycle, the evening throughout the year on Yontiv that is filled with is pregnant with more mitzvot, more commandments and more customs and so on is the meal that we eat on the first night of Passover, the 15th day of the first month. It's a special evening that none of us will forget from our childhood filled with all kinds of commandments. And that moment while rush which is soon upon us is probably the most difficult holiday to explain like what exactly are we doing? It's not so simple. Passover I would posit and I could say with fair amount of confidence that you will agree it's probably the easiest festival easiest holiday easiest yontiff to explain why we would celebrate Passover any one of us could give a coherent cogent response to why do you celebrate Passover we would say let me explain to you we are celebrating of course the redemption of the children of Israel from Egyp Egypt. That meal is called a Passover >> Seder. What an odd name that is. You know, most of you, we've never met before. This is our first time. But I would imagine that if I asked you, you know, we need to come up with a name for the meal that marks the Exodus from Egypt and the redemption of the children of Israel from bondage. And I asked for recommendations. What do you think we should call this remarkable moment? I have a feeling that the name order seder would not even make it to the top 10 list. Right? We would if I asked you you'd say let's call it redemption gula those names seem to be more appropriate seder order [clears throat] but all of you know precisely why it is called in order because the seder evening is broken down to 15 discrete events throughout that evening and it go that evening goes late into of the night and you should know that the time of the redemption happens in an order of events. Why? So that the world will know. And we're told this in because of this. The events that are unfolding now are remarkably articulated with great detail in the words of our prophets of blessed memory. In order of events, we're told in Jeremiah chapter 30 that the Jewish people will begin to flood into the land of Israel. Jeremiah chapter 30:3, the Messiah has not yet come. We are told now just for you don't those you don't know Jeremiah Hakodeshatur was a very holy man and he preached here where you're walking here in for 41 years he was a novi he was younger than any of you in sitting in this room when he became a novi anyone knows how old yahoo was he was 15 years told when a buru came to him and told him there has a role to play. He's gonna be a novi for Kalistro. And his chief argument to God why he shouldn't be a novi. He said I'm a kid. [snorts] When you see people looking to be chief rabbi, that's not a good sign in Tanakh. In scriptures, our holy people are reluctant to be leaders of the children of Israel. Moses of blessed memory, our teacher, engaged in a very long conversation with God that stretched over many days from Exodus chapter 3 to Exodus chapter 7, explained why he shouldn't be the one. And that was Yeru's chief argument. I shouldn't be the one. I'm a kid. I'm not a kid. It happens to be by the way that Yeru served as a Novi, as a prophet for 41 years till he was 56 years old. the exact same length as Moses. Moses served as a novi for 41 years as well. The barabel considers yumo to be the greatest prophet after Moses and he shows many many Jeremiah who again preached his holy oracles here 52 chap not only 52 chapters he also wrote many other books including a and so on. All of it happened here. Where you walk, the prophets preach. Most of Nak was written here in your schlim. He lived during a time of tremendous tribulation. He warned and it happened. The first temple was destroyed. So he lived during a very difficult time and he warned it was coming and he begged the Jews not to fight the neoablonian empire. and they didn't listen to him. So I want to make it clear that this great prophet a blessed memory lived not during the good days but very hard times. Nevertheless, he says peering into the future that there's something before Messiah comes there'll [snorts] be an his words an ace surely means a time of great tribulation to Jacob. How bad will it be at this moment? There will be nothing comparable to it. The worst catastrophe in Jewish history will occur. This is right after chapter 30:3. Immediately he says this is what will happen. However, from that catastrophe you will be delivered. And that very often is the story of Jewish history. We live by our blood. Ezekiel 16:E6. Those words are read aloud at a Passover seder at a brisma. That's how we survive. We're told by the book of Zachchariah save Zakaria save Zakaria Rashi who writes a hakdoma writes an introduction to the book of Zechariah what's very striking is that Rashi wrote one introduction to only one book in we can imagine how much Rashi wrote in his life right the he writes one hakadoma in everything and that's his introduction the book of Zachchariah book and he says that Zechariah is a very difficult book. It's a very difficult safer. It is because it begins with eight expansive visions. They're not very difficult. It's not like nuclear chemistry. Some it's just they're visions that you have to unpack. It's not that simple. And he says that I don't have a misora for this. It's the kind of person he was. He says, "I want you to know that I don't have a clear misora for the book of Zechariah and therefore I will explain it based on the best of my understanding." Everything else he wrote. However, the 12th chapter tells us that the children of Israel return to the land of Israel and Jerusalem will be in the hands of the children of Israel and then wars are coming over the status of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is everything in the messianic age. Jerusalem is the trigger at the end of days according to Tanakh and Jerusalem I mean it's a beautiful cities we are about 2700 ft above sea level if you come from Colorado it's not a big deal but it's very nice but Jerusalem we are told will be the center of it all at the end of days all the nations will be looking at Jerusalem and that's what the war will be over God is going to take a people who have been shattered and strengthen them. They'll be like David, even like the angels of the Lord of hosts. Our prayers are now with our holy brothers who are defending the land of Israel. Our prayers now with our leadership that Hashem should give them wisdom and understanding during a critical time like this. We're told by the prophet Ezekiel, by the prophet Yesco, who is a contemporary of Jeremiah, younger, but they their lives over overlapped, that at the end of days, the nation that would leave a coalition against Israel would be Persia. We're told this in Ezekiel chapter 38 and chapter 39. It's called Mus Go. Persia along with their yoyat seahim along with their proxies their helpers would go to war with Israel and the attack would come from the north would come from Persia and I just want to convey to you those of you who do not have a strong understanding of history this is really counterintuitive in the ancient world why because you know unlike as an example [snorts] if you would um want to know what the weather's going to be like tomorrow. So forecasters can well forecast what the weather will be like tomorrow with fair confidence, little less confidence the day that follows on Wednesday. Less conf they can still tell you probably what's going to happen on Thursday. And what they're doing is they're not uh claiming that they have prophecy or that God revealed anything to them. It's really a science meteorology. They study uh satellite maps, information given to them, and they're able to extrapolate what is most likely to occur. My dear brothers, as it turns out, there was nothing in the ancient world that could have conveyed to our prophets of blessed memory that it would be Persia that would be the implacable enemy of the children of Israel. Why not? Well, as it turns out, the Persian Empire was fairly friendly to the Jews. After all, it was Cyrus the Great who gives the command for the Jews to return back to the land of Israel and rebuild their soul. And 42,360 Jews came to the land of Israel to rebuild the second commonwealth. That's how the book of Ezra begins. Persia was with a few hiccups really good friends of the Jews. There were hiccups. Moreover, I'm looking there and I see Ash few of them. Talmud bi was written where means where was it codified in the form that we have it today. Where was that? You're going to say in Babylon somewhere. Now it's true. southern Mesopotamia. But what empire was? It was the Persian Empire. Meaning the Cisanian Empire in about the year 520, 530, early 6th century. What was life like in Babylon? It was great because the Persians were in charge and we got along really well with them. And the Bavi was able to be written under enormous comfort unlike the Byzantine Empire in the sixth century which was Christian and they hated the Jews. And the Jews suffered miserably under the Byzantine Empire meaning the Roman Empire, the east that survived the destruction of the west in 476 and went on for a thousand years. Jewish life under the Christian Byzantine Empire was a nightmare in the 4th century. Constantine converts to Christianity in 412, 413, excuse me, in 312. In 313, Edith Milan has passed. Christian now is a legal religion. The council na 325 recognize a doctrine of the trinity. Mameish avoid idolatry incorporated into the Christian religion. Jews are then expelled from Jerusalem. Every Jew was thrown out of Jerusalem immediately after the council na in 3:26 out. Jerusalem was Jewree. Guden for 35 years. 35 years. No Jew was allowed into Jerusalem except once a year. To mock us. The church allowed the Jews to come to Islam only on tishab if they paid a kas if they paid a fine and they wanted to see the Jews crying over the temple mount and then they were back out again. What happened 35 years later in 361 a an emperor of Rome emerges whose name was Julian and he didn't believe in Christianity. The Christians call him Julian the apostate. He didn't believe in the Christian religion and therefore he wasn't anti-Jewish and he said Jews you can go right back and why don't you and but he made the mistake of going to war with the Persians and got himself killed and we reverted back to a miserable life under the Byzantine Empire. When you're walking in the old city and you see those columns that are very striking as you're walking down making your way from Jaffa going down to the western wall those columns of Byzantine Empire Justinian Yamak Christian emperor 6th century he widened what you see he had aire that Jews were not even allowed to pray in Hebrew in the in the empire if Passover came out before Easter which it can Jews were not allowed to celebrate it Jewish life under Christian the Christian Roman Empire we'll call it the Roman Empire because they certainly selfidentified that way was miserable but life in the east life in in in modern day Iraq southern Iraq was great so how did Ezekiel No, is that odd way of teaching Jewish history. The nation least likely to go to war will be your implacable enemies at the end of days. Moreover, the reason this is is just in the ancient world, it was very difficult to wage war over a distance of roughly a thousand miles. We're roughly about a thousand miles west of Iran, modern day Iran. It would been almost inconceivable to conduct such a war. But the book of Ezekiel tells us that the world will see this war in real time. And why is there a war between Persia and Israel at the end of days? For one reason, we're told exactly why. So the nation will know that I am Lord. Explicitly. That's how Ezekiel 38 ends. That's how Ezekiel 39 ends. So my glory will fold the world and then the nation will know that I am Lord. It's Jerusalem is everything. Jeremiah tells us in chapter 33:16, a young man came over to me tonight and just introduced himself and told me about a passage in Jeremiah. It tells us literally that Jerusalem will be so striking to the world that you will be called the Lord our righteousness. Mamesh that will be the name triggers everything in the end of days. be called that now just as a very important for you to know that in those who represent God a a even a prophet or an angel could be called God in Tanakh we wouldn't do that is so unique why is it so important why it's so critical why does that have to have Jerusalem has to be flipped in the end of days in order for the Messiah to come why is it so integral And we are told explicitly at the end of a chapter you're all familiar the valley of dry bones Ezekiel 37 that in fact when the temple will be built then the nations will know that I am Lord and Mashiach is here that's how the chapter ends verse 28 so it's very critical that is in the view of Tanakh it is the liberation of the restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem and the building of the temple in Jerusalem that turns the world around and then everyone knows explicit. Why [clears throat and laughter] back then? I don't know how they figured that out. And I have um a fair amount of confidence although we don't know each other that here you are in Jerusalem that is it's likely that at some point in your pl in your stay here learning here in Israel that you wondered why was I Zo why how did I merit to be here after all my great greatgrandfather was a very special man my great-grandmother was a very holy woman. Why not her? Why me? It's according to God's purpose and his perfect knowledge. But why will that transform the world? Again, the central feature of the messianic age is that all the nations will know the MS. 10 Gentiles, we are told of different languages and nations will grab the titus, the hem of a Jew, and say, Shamanu 10 gentles of different languages say we'll come to a Jew and say take us with you. By the way, if you open up a King James, a Catholic Bible, it doesn't matter what Bible, it says a Jew. If we're wrong about Christianity, if we're wrong about the Messiah, if we're wrong about Jesus, if we're wrong about the Trinity, why does your Bible say at the end of days, the way it ends up is the non-Jews come to the Jew and say, "We made a mistake. Now we know God is with you." Jeremiah 16 19 and 20 says openly that the Gentiles will come to the Jews at the end of days. Listen carefully. The Nian say at the end of days that go will understand everything and they'll go to the Jews and say we made a mistake. Jeremiah says how could our fathers even thought to create gods in their image. Now we know that you have the truth. We we are only heirs. We inherited lies and vanity where there can be no truth. Look it up for yourself. But how could this happen? Okay, so now we know. All right, Persia. That [snorts] was a great call. Thousand miles. That's amazing. Jews restored after a catastrophe. That's that never happened. that a nation would be in exile for 2,000 years in return and they would defeat all their enemies. Okay. I mean, you can throw dye, you know, two dice, what are they called? And you say, I'm going to hit, you know, what are they called? Snake eyes, two ones, right? And the guy throws it >> and it lands, right? guy tells you I could throw this dice and it would land snake eyes. So you say, "Show me." And he does it. How impressed are you? A little. Not amazingly impressed because as it turns out, one in 36 times that's exactly what will happen. The math is fairly straightforward. Let's say he says, "I'll do it again. and it's two. You're going you're scratching your head because we know the math behind this. What is the stat statistical probability something of that occurring three times and you're going something wrong with the dice or something special about this person? By the time you get to four, five, run the math let's say five times in a row. Could it happen statistically? It can once in 60 million times. It the numbers go up exponentially. You know the math behind it. And at a point you have to realize that this man has some control over the dice. This is not an ordinary man. It's not ordinary dice. Why then, my holy brothers, why will the world be transformed? As it turns out, there's one other prophecy in which we will complete the circle. The Holy Tyra tells us Deuteronomy chapter 4. It may be the most numinous chapter in the Tyra tells us that the nations of the world will see the children of Israel and say what a wise people that says that has such a wise Torah. The world will understand the Jewish people are a wise nation because they have a wise Torah. Meaning the Torah is conveying that the world will be very aware of this Tyra. Tyra was given to us in the late Bronze Age, roughly 3,300 years ago. Now, you think maybe the Jews that Tyra was predicting would be so popular and we' never have trouble and everyone would like the Jews. No, you're going to go through tremendous difficulties and challenges and you'll be exiled from one nation to another, but they'll like you. They'll admire you. You'll be few in nation, few in number among the nations will you will travel [snorts] but they'll recognize your Torah as the word of God. We are living in a time today with more than half of the people that occupy our planet believes that that is the word of God. Five billion people on our planet believe that the Torah is a holy book. That's the majority. That's very striking. However, the other Abrahamic religions, namely Christianity, Islam, while they believe that the Jews were chosen, they all believe that and the Torah was given to them. But because we reject their prophets and demigods, we are no longer chosen. And the church replaced us. The church fathers all looked at Jerusalem, all looked at the temple mount and so a complete talking about the petristic church fathers which means there was no Islam yet in the first 600 years of Christianity. There was no Islam. You know what the temple mount looked like? It was rubble. It was just completely destroyed. Nothing. And they were happy and pleased. And Augustine was filled with glee that the temple mount was completely destroyed. He said in his city of god his magnumopus that the destruction of Jerusalem and destruction of temple demonstrated that Christianity was a true religion and Judaism was fallen God was done with the Jews finished replacement theology. You were chosen but because you rejected our savior and because you killed our savior therefore you're no longer chosen. You're now an a cursed people. Orine in fact had to address the question of if the Jews are not chosen anymore that akash of him if the Jews are not chosen anymore so why are the Jews still here remember he's writing the city of God it's a 22 volume work from let's say 412 to 424 why are they here if they're not chosen then why is God so he said the Jews are preserved throughout history as a witness people in degraded state never returning to Jerusalem never having control of the city and be that because of this everyone know that Christianity is true and Judaism is full as Chryslam said as Cheryl of Jerusalem said as Sarah Alexandria said as I all said that in Islam it's the same deal it's a replacement theology whereas the Jews were chosen but now because they rejected Jesus and they rejected Muhammad they lost it and now it goes goes to Islam. Therefore, what happens when Jerusalem is the hands of the Jews? There's a problem for the world. You want to build a state in Hawaii, go for it. Not here. It's a real catastrophe that you're here. Why? Because it destroys everything the church father said. It destroys everything that our Abrahamic cousins believe. And when the temple is built in, then the nations will know that I am Lord. And therefore, your Schlam is everything. It's the pivot. And the building of the temple on Mount Mariah will demonstrate to the world that you always had the truth all along. Isaiah 53, after all, is a saliloquy of the nations what they'll say to the Jews when they recognize the Jews always had the truth all along. We're living in a remarkable time. Prepare yourself. We are living according to God's plan. We are living in the messianic period right now. It's unfolding in real time. Be a pure mind and pure heart. Recognize that chose you to live now. And what we see unfolding today is following the text of our blessed prophets who wrote these holy oracles to us the true Messiah. Thank you so much for having me here tonight. 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