The Asian Tsunami Wave Approaching the Shores of Sumatra – December 26, 2004
BibleSearchers Reflections – “A recent Jewish prophetic blog was posted on August 5, 2005 on both the Years of Awe and the “Moshiach and Geula, End of Days Prophecies, Geula, Moshiach, Gog and Magog,” orthodox and mystical Jewish blogsite that made the following claim. The claimant for this post referenced the Hebrew site, Moriyah.org, stated:
Years of Awe and Moshiach and Geula - HaRav Baruch Shapira, ztvk"l, said ten years ago: "I am a big prophet and head of the 36 hidden tzaddikim, and my prophecy is that in the future they will drive out complete settlements from the Gaza Strip, and immediately afterwards there will be a very strong earthquake in the area of Gaza and a huge wave will come and wash away the whole area into the sea, along with all the Palestinians."
It was reported that HaRav Baruch Shapira, ztvk”l lived in an old house in Maale Edomim. The timing of the incident ten years prior was when a group of Jews from Hebron went to visit this 90 year old rabbi, later known to be Mekubal Rabbi, one of the chief and learned of the rabbabim. He was buried on the Mount of Olives and during his funeral the present HaRav Mordechai Eliyahu spoke at his funeral. On that occasion, he made the claim that Rabbi Shapiro was the “Head” of the 36 hidden Tzaddikim (Righteous One)” in the world, and the greatest of them.
Another person posting from the claimed that this was not an internet rumor but part of question and answer session with Rabbi Ezra Sheinberg at the Machon Moriya Yeshiva. This yeshiva was founded by Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu. Concerning the verification of the prophecy, he verified that Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu spoke at the funeral and in conclusion, "on the words of the Rav, zt”l, there is nothing to add...only to publicize." This was felt to be a “pretty strong haskama” or letter of approbation.
According to the Kabbalistic Jews, there are 36 hidden and righteous men called “Tzaddikim”, who are so pure that only they know the holy and unspeakable “Name” of the Almighty One of Israel.
They are called the Lamed Vav Tzaddikim, known as the Tzaddikim Histarim or the “Hidden Righteous.” According to the Talmudic book, the Sanhedrin and the Sukkah, it states:
Sanhedrin 97b and Sukkah 45b - As a mystical concept, the number 36 is even more intriguing. It is said that at all times there are 36 special people in the world, and that were it not for them, all of them, if even one of them was missing, the world would come to an end.
The two Hebrew letters for 36 are the lamed, which is 30, and the vav, which is six. Therefore, these 36 are referred to as the Lamed-Vav Tzadikim. This widely-held belief, this most unusual Jewish concept is based on a Talmudic statement to the effect that in every generation 36 righteous "greet the Shechinah," the Divine Presence.
According to Hasidic Judaism these 36 righteous men’s role is to justify the purpose of mankind in the eyes of the Almighty God of Israel. Their identity is secret and unknown even to each other. If any one of them were to come to a full realization of the purpose of their existence, they would die immediately and their role would be filled by another Tzaddik. This was explained by a Rabbi Zwerin in the following homily:
Rabbi Zwerin from Temple Sinai in Denver - The Lamed-Vav Tzaddikim are also called the Nistarim (concealed ones). In our folk tales, they emerge from their self-imposed concealment and, by the mystic powers, which they possess, they succeed in averting the threatened disasters of a people persecuted by the enemies that surround them. They return to their anonymity as soon as their task is accomplished, 'concealing' themselves once again in a Jewish community wherein they are relatively unknown.
The lamed-vavniks, scattered as they are throughout the Diaspora, have no acquaintance with one another. On very rare occasions, one of them is 'discovered' by accident, in which case the secret of their identity must not be disclosed. The lamed-vavniks do not themselves know that they are one of the 36. In fact, tradition has it that should a person claim to be one of the 36 that is proof positive that he is certainly not one. Since the 36 are each exemplars of anavah, humility, having such a virtue would preclude against one’s self-proclamation of being among the special righteous. The 36 are simply too humble to believe that they are one of the 36."
Called the “Lamedvavnik/s”, this Yiddish term hearkens back to the Torah story of Abraham who asked the God of Israel to spare the city of Sodom if ten hidden righteous men could be found within that city. With their righteousness even the most barbaric city would be saved. The fact that they are hidden suggests that every Jew should seek to be a “lamedvavnik” or a hidden righteous person. They are to lead a holy and humble life, pray as an emissary to God for the sake of their fellow humans and for the healing of the entire planet. Each one would possibly be a candidate to be the Messiah.
The concept of righteousness and the worth that even one righteous person could have in the redemption of this planet earth is astounding. The “poor in the spirit” and the “humble in the heart” brings these people in every walk of life, unknown to any around and themselves included.
It was on November 1, 2000 that Archeologist Earnest Martin with ASK – Associates for Scriptural Knowledge wrote about a mega-tsunami that would destroy the entire coastal areas along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea at the time of the end. The prophecies concerning this tsunami were foretold in the Oracles of Zechariah 9 through 14. In an article called, “The Damascus Phase of End-Time Prophecy,” he wrote:
Archeologist Earnest Martin – “The prophecy begins with a great destruction of the whole seacoast of the Levant (the area from Hamath on the Euphrates in the far north) and then reaching southward to include all the Philistine (Palestinian) cities up to and including Gaza (Zechariah 9:2-8).
It is God (not man or the armies of man) who does this prophesied destruction. It is no doubt an earthquake in the Mediterranean and its consequent tsunami (a large destructive ocean wave often called, wrongly, a "tidal wave") that the prophecy is describing. It could also be the results of an asteroid with its consequent ocean waves of destruction.
Note that only the coastal cities of the eastern Mediterranean are judged. Though such things have happened in history, this tsunami will be gigantic and almost beyond compare.
So, the first event ushering in the "Time of the End" will be a massive tsunami with a wave of ocean water hitting the eastern Mediterranean seacoast with probably a height of 100 to 200 feet (maybe even higher). Massive destruction on the seacoast will result. Since no elevated inland areas are mentioned in the judgment (such as Jerusalem at 2600 feet above sea level), a tsunami is most likely the means that will introduce the End-Time prophecy of Zechariah 9 to 14.
This seems to be what God is talking about. The truth depends on the proper interpretation of Zechariah 9:2-8. I do not claim to be a modern day prophet, but I am an interpreter of the Scriptures who understands (and believes) many of the traumatic historical events of the past that are found in the documents (including those of the Bible). So, in my view the judgment appears to me to be a tsunami.
This tsunami will be of great magnitude. It will hit the eastern Mediterranean coastline (giving widespread devastation for 10 to 20 miles inland depending where the "level land" is exposed to the coast). Tel Aviv (Israel’s largest city) will certainly have widespread ruins along with all regions from the Turkish border in the north down to Gaza in the south.
Though the judgment is for the "Land of Hadrach" (the Promised Land), such a tsunami would also include Egypt and its near sea level land mass from its Delta to Upper Egypt. Ezekiel 29:1-12 may be referring to this "destruction."
Concerning the prophecy of the “Tsunami at Gaza” should lead us all to “watch and be ready.” We are to understand that there are events on this planet earth that the finger of the Lord is directly involved in bringing the time of His Judgment to fulfillment. The Jewish prophecy was made in the mid 1990s and the article written by Earnest Martin was written in the year 2000.
Yet only with the recent emotional upheaval over the Gaza disengagement has the memory of the Mediterranean tsunami that will sweep over Gaza now being publicized to the entire world. As with the thousands of hints, clues and variables in the modeling of the final days before the messiah comes, we must add one more event to watch with anticipation.
According to the Mekubal rabbi’s prophecy, there was to be a day when the Jewish settlements of Gaza will be evacuated and this part of the prophecy was fulfilled in Augusts, 2005 with the Sharon and Bush driven unilateral engagement of Jewish people from the Gaza Strip. After the Jews leave, the time which is unspecified, Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu, the Unknowable God of Israel will cause a tumult in the Mediterranean Sea by an earthquake off the Gaza Coast. A mighty tsunami wave will sweep across this land and many areas will become like little islands. After it is done, the Jewish people will return unopposed to Gaza and the understanding of a great miracle will be known to all. Will this prophecy actually occur? While the future is yet to unfold, the one true fact, the Sovereign will of the God of Israel will be revealed in His good time.
How are We to Approach the Days of the Revelation of the Messiah of Israel?
The study of the coming Messiah will never be over. Only seven years ago, a Maggid told me that in Jewish studies, there is little prophetic study that the current Jewish rabbis are doing. Maybe in their wisdom, they knew that when the time of the end comes, the revelations from Hashem their God will show them the meaning of the hidden passages of the ancient prophets. The concept of “Watch and be ready” comes from the very core of Judaism.
Understand this study has been limited to the study of the Maschiach ben Yosef (Messiah son of Joseph). The identity of the Maschiach ben David (Messiah son of David) will bring our focus not to the Geula (days of redemption) but the glorious entry into personal presence of that spiritual world that we have been deprived.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God of both Christianity and the Jews. The pristine truths given from eternity are being rediscovered by the Jewish rabbabim while the Jewish-Hebrew roots are being rediscovered by the Christians. Over the centuries they both have viewed each other in exclusionary terminology and with jealousy and envy. Yet when we elevate our sights beyond our sectarian myopic visions and seek to align our sights with the visual field of the Almighty One of Israel, we both may receive a dose of divine ecstasy.
Out of the struggle of the Jews to accept their own divine destiny, the Christians, seeking their own “roots”, may also discover that they are the reservoir for the greater part of the “Lost Tribes of Israel.” Lost brethren separated by thousands of years of “identity theft”, may have needed a “bridge” from de-vine (the vine) that may awaken their own lost dormant souls. Both may someday come to recognize that the beginning of the redemption of the House of Israel (Joseph-Ephraim) began two thousand years ago when a young rabbi filled with the “soul of the messiah” given to Him by His Father in heaven said,
Matthew 15:24 – “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Remembering the words of Simeon the Tzaddik as told to him by his mother Miriam:
Luke 2:29-32 – “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all the peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”
Lest we forget, the God of Israel will bring the final closure to this era according to His Sovereign will. At this moment of time, the final revelation of the plan of salvation will be revealed for all to see. Would it not be a pleasant surprise if the pathway of the “Nazarene” and the pathway of the “chosen ones of Israel” merge into a homecoming for all in the house of the Lord?
Credit to BibleSearchers Reflections – “The Pathways of Catastrophes towards Redemption” – January –February 2006