FIRE GOES BEFORE HIM – A REMINDER OF HOPE

“Behold the Guardian of Israel will neither slumber or sleep!” Psalms 121:4

As I compose this Op, it is Shabbat, 31 August 2024! The world has and is continuing to spiral into madness and insanity. Confusion and chaos are running amok and the tyranny which will be the foundation for the government of the False Messiah is quickly being laid and solidified. I know, you are probably thinking what a great and hopeful opener for this Op (Sarcasm)! Believe me there is a reason I am opening this Op in such a way so stay tuned.

This weeks Torah portion is ‘Re’eh’ which is found in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 11:26-16:17. The Haftarah is found in Isaiah 54:11-55:5. Each Torah portion has a specific Tehillim (Psalm) assigned to it and this weeks Tehillim is Tehillim 97! This is what I want to focus on for this Op.

Before we jump into this Tehillim, always remember the following verses which constantly reaffirm HaShem and His Word are unchanging and eternal as those whose voices are refuting these eternal truths of HaShem are growing louder and louder each day:

• HaShem never changes per Num 23:19/Mal 3:6/Hebrews 13:8/James 1:17
• His Word is firmly established per Psalm 119:89
• He reveals the end out of the beginning per Is 46:10
• He does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets per Amos 3:7
• He says there is nothing new under the sun per Ecclesiastes 1:9
• He says His Torah is the ONLY truth there is per Psalms 119:142
• He says His Torah is a tree of life and eternal per Proverbs 3:18-19 and Psalm 119:160
• He says His Torah is perfect and restores the soul per Psalm 19:7
• He says His Torah makes the simple one wise per Psalm 19:7
• He says His Torah Is freedom and liberty per Psalm 119:45 and James 1:25
• He says His Torah is the only good doctrine there is Proverbs 4:2
• He says His Torah will add length of days and years of life and peace per Proverbs 3:2
• He says all of the ways of His Torah are ways of pleasantness and peace per Proverbs 3:17
• He says His Torah is for our good and well-being per Deuteronomy 6:24
• He says His Torah is health for our lives per Proverbs 3:8
• He says His Torah is life to our soul and a graceful ornament for our neck per Prov 3:22
• He says His Torah is better than pearls and all desires cannot compare to it per Prov 8:11
• He says those who walk with His Torah are praiseworthy per Psalms 119:1
• He says observing His Torah is how we purify our path per Psalms 119:9
• He says His Torah is better than thousands in gold and silver per Psalms 119:72
• He says His Torah brings abundant peace to those who love Him and His Torah per Psalms 119:165
• He says there is one Torah for all per Exodus 12:49/Leviticus 24:22
• He says those who hate His Torah love death per Proverbs 8:36
• He says His Torah is the way of faith per Psalms 119:29-30
• He says His Torah makes us wiser than our enemies per Psalms 119:98
• He says His Torah is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path per Psalms 119:105
• He says one who finds His Torah has found life per Proverbs 8:35
• He says one who finds His Torah has found favor from HaShem per Proverbs 8:35
• He says Messiah Yeshua is the GOAL of His Torah, meaning without His Torah, Messiah cannot be known per Romans 10:4
• He says if we had believed Moshe/Torah, we would have believed Messiah per John 5:46
• He says His salvation is far from the wicked for they sought not His Torah per Psalms 119:155
• He says to hold fast to and guard His Torah, for it is our life per Proverbs 4:13
• He says His Torah is the bread of life per Proverbs 9:5

We are currently living in a world where right is wrong and wrong is right. It appears wickedness and sin are growing stronger by the day and for those of us who are striving to survive in this world and conduct our lives, if you are like me are growing more and more exhausted, worn out and discouraged by the moment!

But once again, this is where the Sovereignty and Wisdom of HaShem come into reality and why it is so vitally important each of us read and study His Torah portions on Shabbat because He gives an explanation of the state of things! This is what I want to quickly explore in this Op discussing Tehillim 97 so get your Bibles or Tanakhs out and follow along. There are 12 verses in this Tehillim so it isn’t very long.

Now please understand this Tehillim is one of prophecy but in HaShem’s Word, many times, not always, prophecies are presented in past tense, why is this? Because He reveals the end from the beginning and He does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets!

Tehillim 97:1 “HaShem has reigned, let the world rejoice; let the numerous islands be glad.” This verse is one of actuality for in it we see HaShem has reigned and is currently reigning and will still be reigning in the future and in the future all the nations of the world will rejoice and run to serve Him! May this day be so very, very soon in our days! It is also a verse which points to the Messianic Era when Messiah will be reigning as The Agent of HaShem from Jerusalem! Remember the Law of Agency which we have discussed in previous Op’s in which the agent sent by the Principal acts, speaks and makes decisions on behalf of the Principal so when a person sees an agent, they are seeing the Principal. In this case, HaShem is the Principal Who has sent His Agent Yeshua (Not the Jesus of Replacement Theology), to act, do, speak and rule according to what HaShem commands, thus when we see Yeshua, we have seen HaShem! Does NOT mean Yeshua is literally HaShem, which is NOT possible, but this is a later discussion. Moving on.

The Judaica Press Book of the Psalms commentary specifically identifies the wicked here as Amalek and his descendants! This is very important to understand because Amalek is the bitter, violent, immeasurably cruel adversary of Israel! To use the term from the Terminator movie from the 1980’s which describes the attributes of the Terminator, which I thought was very apt for Amalek, modified for this Op, “You cannot reason with it (Terminator/Amalek), you cannot bargain with it, it doesn’t know pity, remorse or fear and it absolutely will not stop, ever, until Israel is completely annihilated and erased from the planet.)

Amalek is who we are witnessing today arise once again, and not just in the Middle East, but more importantly within Christendom and its Replacement Theology doctrine!

Tehillim 97:2 “Cloud and dense darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His Throne’s foundation.” This term ‘Cloud and dense darkness…’ is a reference to the destruction He promises to bring upon the wicked in this world! It appears the wicked are being rewarded and being allowed to flourish today, but in reality, He is allowing them to flourish in order to cut them down and utterly destroy them at the appointed time! Further, when those of HaShem are striving to walk according to His Torah in this world today, while being consumed and crushed under the wickedness, confusion, chaos, etc, we will probably end up questioning HaShem’s equity! But, and here is the good part, here in this verse, where He speaks of how righteousness and justice are His Throne’s foundation, He is promising His people will witness the ultimate destruction of the wicked, and His people will all attest to the truth, righteousness and justice truly are the foundation of His Throne!! Again may it be so very soon!!

Tehillim 97:3 “Fire goes before Him and consumes His enemies all around.” This is a prophetic verse discussing the War of Gog and Magog in the end which will precede the arrival of Messiah. If we see the state of the world today with all the wars and rumors of wars erupting all over, the rising tensions between NATO/US/Europe vs Russia/China/North Korea/Iran/Venezuela/Cuba is truly bringing us to the literal brink of World War III! Each day the war in Ukraine escalates in ferocity and each day we grow closer to all out war with Russia. It is not being dramatic to say we have never been closer to all out nuclear war today than at anytime in previous history! China vs the Philippines an China vs Taiwan is drawing America into conflict in the Pacific theater. HaShem is drawing out His enemies and like a chess board is placing His pieces on the table!

Consider Ezekiel 38:22 which in reference to the Gog and Magog war states “I will punish him with pestilence (Viruses, injuries, plagues) and with blood (War, violence, lawlessness, cruelty); torrential rain and hailstones will punish him (Floods, storms, hurricanes, tornadoes), fire and sulfur (Wildfires, volcanoes, earthquakes) will I rain upon him.” Are we not already witnessing every single one of these today?

Isaiah 11:4 says “He will strike the wicked of the world with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.” This is a direct reference to how Messiah will deal with the wicked once He shows up! The flames of His destruction will completely surround His enemies and none of them will escape!

Tehillim 97:4 “His lightning bolts lit up the world, the inhabitants of the earth saw and tremble.” His lightning bolts apparently have two fold affects on the world. One is to intimidate the wicked into rejecting idolatry and rebellion and finally realize and confess HaShem IS the King and the other is His lightning bolts temporarily light up the path for each of us, figuratively speaking. We all are walking in darkness but when His lightning bolts strike and shine, they illuminate the area, temporarily anyways, and we get a very brief glimpse of where we should be walking. Its also a promise to His people which basically says in the World to Come we will live in His Sight and thus at this time all doubts and misconceptions will be forever banished! Again, may it be so very soon!

Ezekiel 38:19 in reference to this verse in Tehillim says “Surely there will be a great earthquake on that day (The Day of Judgment, the beginning of the Birth Pains) in the Land of Israel. And at My presence, the fishes of the sea will quake….”

Tehillim 97:5 “Mountains melted like wax before HaShem, before the Master of all the earth.” This is an allegory for all the nations of the world who reject HaShem and instead are confident in their military and economic power to save them, will absolutely melt like wax before HaShem and when this happens, their arrogance and pride will be broken and they will submit and acknowledge HaShem is The King of all the creation! Ezekiel 38:20 says “And the mountains will be thrown down, and the cliffs will fall.”

Tehillim 97:6 “The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples saw His glory.” Basically this is stating when all the wicked on the earth are pounded with torrential rains, storms, hailstones, earthquakes, wars, etc, they will admit they were wrong and submit to Him!

Tehillim 97:7 “Humiliated will be all who worship idols, who pride themselves in worthless gods; bow to Him, all you powers.” When the pagans, who have fashioned man made objects to represent something HaShem has created such as the sun, moon, stars, etc. The pagans attribute any success to these false deities! They trust in these man made objects and reject HaShem, Who fashioned all of creation! They deny HaShem exists! An interesting excerpt from Tractate Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah 4:7 discusses the future and says “In the future, all the idols will kneel before HaShem; then they will vanish. Their worshipers will recognize the truth, and they, too will prostrate themselves before the true King, HaShem, Master of Legions!” A cross reference to Isaiah 2:18 says “And the idols will completely pass away.”

Tehillim 97:8 “Zion (Jerusalem) heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah exulted because of Your judgments, HaShem.” The commentary from the Tehillim book published by Artscroll says “When the thunder and lightning roar and the fiery hailstones crash, all the nations will be terrified. But the inhabitants of Zion (Israel) will rejoice, because HaShem is judging their tormentors.” Further, the reference to the daughters of Judah is again pointing to the time when Messiah arrives and since He is a descendant of Judah, all the cities of Judah will rejoice.

Tehillim 97:9 “For You, HaShem, are supreme above all the earth; exceedingly exalted above all powers.” Again, another prophetic promise for when all the idolaters are wiped out and all the pagans have recognized HaShem is the true King, then the whole world will finally be at peace!

Tehillim 97:10 “O lovers of HaShem, despise evil! He guards the lives of His devout ones, from the hand of the wicked He rescues them.” Someone who is striving to walk with HaShem and keep His Torah, is likened to a garden and as such to use the allegory of the Artscroll Tehillim commentary, “A man who seeks to implant the love of HaShem in his heart must uproot every trace of evil from his personality.” It is akin to constantly working to uproot the weeds which keep growing in our gardens. Now, none of us can do this on our own, we MUST have the assistance of HaShem! These weeds are too strong for us to try and handle in our own strength and wisdom. Which is why HaShem promises here He guards the lives of His devout ones, from the hand of the wicked He rescues us! As long as we are devoted to Him and strive, not perfectly, but strive to walk in His Torah, He will see us through to the end!

Tehillim 97:11 “Light is sown for the righteous, and for the upright of heart, gladness.” This here is again another prophecy of the World to Come where the world will return to the state it was at the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, BEFORE Adam sinned……it is here at this time we will finally be at rest and full of gladness.

Tehillim 97:12 “Be glad, O righteous, in HaShem, and give grateful praise at the mention of His Holy Name.” This here is another prophecy for those who belong to HaShem, will give Him praise, and not just any type of praise, grateful praise to Him for not only defeating His enemies, but also for the Final Redemption when Israel is released from the exile!

So, in closing this is just a very quick Op, to hopefully show a little encouragement in a world going utterly mad and tyrannical! HaShem has it all under control and He is quickly moving His pieces on the board in order for the Final Redemption to be completed! May it be so very soon in our days!!

Shabbat Shalom!

SOURCES USED:

• Artscroll Tehillim
• Judaica Press Tehillim
• Tractate Avodah Zarah Talmud Yerushalmi by Artscoll