Has World War III now begun? Happy New Year!

Joseph F. Dumond

Isa 6:9-12 And He said, Go, and tell this people, You hear indeed, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not know. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back, and be healed. Then I said, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities are wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land laid waste, a desolation, and until Jehovah has moved men far away, and the desolation in the midst of the land is great.
Published: Mar 3, 2022

News Letter 5858-001
The 6th Year of the 4th Sabbatical Cycle
The 27th year of the 120th Jubilee Cycle
The 1st day of the 1st month 5858 years after the creation of Adam
The 4th Sabbatical Cycle after the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of Sword, Famines, and Pestilence
1653 Days until the Two Witnesses
646 Days into the 2300 Days Started May 31st, 2020

March 5, 2022

Shabbat Shalom Royal Family of Yehovah,

How long have we been saying this in our introduction.

The Sabbatical Cycle of Sword, Famines, and Pestilence

I just wanted to mention that in case someone still thinks we do not know what we are talking about.


Shabbat Zoom Meeting

There are many people in need of fellowship and who are sitting at home on the Sabbath with no one to talk to or debate with. I want to encourage all of you to join us on Shabbat, and to invite others to come and join us as well. If the time is not convenient then you can listen to the teaching and the midrash after on our YouTube channel.

What are we doing and why do we teach this way?

We are going to discuss both sides of an issue and then let you choose. It is the work of the Ruach (Spirit) to direct and to teach you.

The medieval commentator Rashi wrote that the Hebrew word for wrestle (avek) implies that Jacob was “tied”, for the same word is used to describe knotted fringes in a Jewish prayer shawl, the tzitzityot. Rashi says, “thus is the manner of two people who struggle to overthrow each other, that one embraces the other and knots him with his arms”.

Our intellectual wrestling has been replaced by a different kind of struggle. We are Wrestling with Yehovah as we grapple with His Word. It is an intimate act, symbolizing a relationship in which Yehovah and I and you are bound together. My wrestling is a struggle to discover what Yehovah expects of us, and we are “tied” to the One who assists us in that struggle.

Today, many say Israel means “Champion of God”, or better — the “Wrestler of God”.

Our Torah sessions each Shabbat teach you and encourage you to constantly challenge, question, argue against, as well as view alternative views and explanations of the Word. In other words, we are to “wrestle with the Word” to get to the truth. Jews worldwide believe that you need to wrestle with the Word and constantly challenge Dogma, Theology, and views or else you will never get to the Truth.

We are not like most churches where “The preacher talks and everyone listens.” We encourage everyone to participate, to question and to contribute what they know on the subject being discussed. We want you to be a champion wrestler of the Word of Yehovah. We want you to wear the title of Israel, knowing that you not only know but are capable to explain why you know the Torah to be true with logic and facts.

We have a few rules though. Let others talk and listen. There is no discussion about UFO’s Nephilim, Vaccines or conspiracy-type subjects. We have people from around the world with different world views. Not everyone cares who is the President of any particular country. Treat each other with respect as Fellow wrestlers of the word. Some of our subjects are hard to understand and require you to be mature and if you do not know, then listen to gain knowledge and understanding and hopefully wisdom. The very things you are commanded to ask Yehovah for and He gives to those who ask.

Jas 1:5  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him.

We hope you can invite those who want to keep Torah to come and join us by hitting the link below. It is almost like a Torah teaching fellowship talk show with people from around the world taking part and sharing their insights and understandings.

We start off with some music and then some prayers and it’s as though you were sitting around the kitchen back in Newfoundland having a cup of coffee and all of us enjoying each other’s company. I hope you will grace us with your company someday.

Sabbath March 5,  2022, the room will be open at 12:30 PM Eastern with singing and prayers until about 1:15 PM. You are all welcome to join and watch. It is not recorded. We will have our afternoon service after this. You are welcome to come and join us before during and after we are off the air.

We look forward to you joining our family and getting to know us as we get to know you.

Joseph Dumond is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Joseph Dumond’s Personal Meeting Room

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Septennial Torah Portion

If you go to Torah Portion at our archived section, you can then go to the 5th year which is the 5th year of the Sabbatical Cycle, the one we are in now, as we state at the top of every News Letter. There you can scroll down to March 5, 2022, and see that this Shabbat we could very well be midrashing about

Exodus 30

Isaiah 55-58

Proverbs 1

John 20-21

If you missed last week’s exciting discoveries as we studied that section you can go and watch past Shabbats on our media section.


The New Moon

There were no witnesses who saw the New Moon on Thursday, March 3rd, to begin the year in Israel. This means that this is a 30 day month and the New Moon Day will be Friday after sunset. So Friday Sunset to Saturday Sunset is the 1st day of the Month of Aviv, 5858, years after the creation of Adam.


The Barley Report

I am going to once again this year share with you the reports from each of the groups in Israel and let you read them and then you can make up your own mind as to what you should do. Read the reports carefully.

Hebrew in Israel
After inspecting fields in the Galilee, Judea, Samaria, the northern Negev, Jerusalem and the Jordan valley it is completely clear and without a doubt not Aviv. Any barley with any form of grain was in the flower stage with very scarce soft dough. This means the barley is weeks away from Aviv. This also means that articulation is needed this year and we will be adding a 13th month. I will post the full report later and the videos when I am done editing. In the photos you can see the state of the grain in flower and the very rare dough stages.
At the moment I am making my way home and will need rest. Therefore I will probably not be available to answer comments till I’m at home and rested. Thank you everyone for your support and prayers as we did this important work.
Yoel Halevi,
Israel

Please note what Joel has reported. This report is for Wednesday, March 2, 2022. He is reporting that Barley was in the flowering stage and some in the soft dough stage. I love Joel but his opinions and conclusions are his alone. So take what he has reported and use it to understand at what stage the barley is at.

Look at the chart I have above. The Flowering to dough stage is from 61-81 on the Zadoks scale. Joel also said the barley was weeks away from being ripe. With Wave Sheaf Day March 20, 2022, then 17 more days from the time of this report. If you add the 17 days on to the 61 you have the barley at 78 which is almost dough. If you add it on to the barley that was in the early dough stage, 81 + 17 =98 And you have the VERY FIRST FIRST FRUITS OF THE BARLY. Which is exactly what Yehovah demands you bring to the Temple on Wave Sheaf Day.

The problem many have and are not understanding is that we do not need to have ripe barley at the end of the 12th month to declare the month Aviv. The only reason we look for barley, THE ONLY REASON AT ALL, is to make the Wave Sheaf Offering. If we did not have to make that offering we would not be looking for barley at all.

So Joel has given us a very valuable report which all of you can use. His conclusions are based on his belief that barely must be Aviv by the end of the 12th month. We do not agree. Barley must be Aviv by Wave Sheaf Day.

Here now is Devorah’s report dated March 3, 2022.

Dear Friends,

We are back from our Barley Inspection and want to thank Yehovah for the protection and the provisions He provided us on our journey, and thank each and every one of you, for all your heartfelt prayers and support!

We carried out this inspection on March 1-2, 2022, in order to have an accurate survey of the fields just before the upcoming New Moon observation on March 3, 2022.

We focused our inspection on the volunteer wild barley in three regions of Israel:
1. The Jordan Valley – This is where the Children of Israel celebrated the first Chag HaMatzot (Joshua 5:10-12).
2. The Lower Galilee – This is in Northern Israel, near the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).
3. The Northern Negev – This is in Southern Israel, near the Gaza Strip.
* You are invited to watch the video of our inspection (time codes are provided in the description beneath the video).

What did you find on your inspection?
We didn’t find even one stalk that was anything close to being Aviv. We saw a lot of barley that was still tillering and jointing (looks like grass to the untrained eye), a fair amount that was flowering (meaning we could see the little anthers on the heads), and a good amount that was in the “cotton stage” (meaning when we squeezed the kernels they felt empty and the seed inside looked like a tiny cotton ball), as well as a few outlying stalks that were in an extremely early “worm stage” (meaning when we squeezed the kernel a slimy seed came out).

What is Aviv Barley

Why We Inspect Barley Throughout the Land

How developed should the barley be at the beginning of the first month?
There is no mention in the Tanach of how developed the barley should be at the beginning of the first month. We only know that the first month is called Chodesh HaAviv (Month of the Aviv) (Ex 13:3-4, Ex 23:15, Ex 34:18, Dt 16:1), that each man would choose a lamb on the 10th day of the month (Ex 12:3), and that the earliest fields (Dt 16:9) in the Land should be harvestable by Yom HaNafat HaOmer (The Day of the Wave Sheaf Offering) (Lev 23:10, Lev 23:14, Dt 16:9, Joshua 5:10-12).

Is this upcoming New Moon (March 3 or 4, 2022) the beginning of the New Year?
As I mentioned, the most advanced fields we looked at, were in the cotton stage, there were a few outliers which were in an extremely early “worm stage”, but we didn’t find even one stalk which was close to being Aviv. So I ask myself, how would the ancient Israelites have approached this situation. Being so connected to the Land, would it have been obvious to them that we will have harvestable fields by Yom HaNafat HaOmer (March 20 according to Scenario #1), or maybe obvious to them that we won’t. Or maybe they wouldn’t know because they didn’t have weather balloons back then, and so they wouldn’t start their pilgrimage to the Temple, which would have taken at least a couple of weeks journey for some tribes (which means they would have to leave soon), without being certain that there will be harvestable fields from which the Priest can take the Omer for Yom HaNafat HaOmer (The Day of the Wave Sheaf Offering), and so in situations like this, maybe they would start the New Year the following month. Just to remind you, we can harvest when we need to, as there is no prohibition against harvesting before Yom HaNafat HaOmer, we are only prohibited from eating from the harvest before Yom HaNafat HaOmer (Lev 23:14). For what it’s worth (and it shouldn’t be worth much at all), I personally, am leaning towards the idea that when the fields are this immature by the end of the 12th month, we are supposed to add a 13th month, but I encourage you to do your own study, contemplation, and prayer and do what you think is right according to your current understanding.

I want to point out to you what Devorah has witnessed. She has testified that the barley was;

and a good amount that was in the “cotton stage” (meaning when we squeezed the kernels they felt empty and the seed inside looked like a tiny cotton ball), as well as a few outlying stalks that were in an extremely early “worm stage” (meaning when we squeezed the kernel a slimy seed came out).

Devorah also went on to say the following;

There is no mention in the Tanach of how developed the barley should be at the beginning of the first month.

We agree with her completely on this point.

Now read what she said next and again we agree 100% with what she is saying.

We only know that the first month is called Chodesh HaAviv (Month of the Aviv) (Ex 13:3-4, Ex 23:15, Ex 34:18, Dt 16:1), that each man would choose a lamb on the 10th day of the month (Ex 12:3), and that the earliest fields (Dt 16:9) in the Land should be harvestable by Yom HaNafat HaOmer(The Day of the Wave Sheaf Offering) (Lev 23:10, Lev 23:14, Dt 16:9, Joshua 5:10-12).

This is precisely what we are saying and have said. We agree on this very point to which Devorah has stated correctly.

Next is the very point we do not agree on. After all which she has now stated accurately, Devorah, with all due respect and love from me, says something that we strongly do not agree with.

Just to remind you, we can harvest when we need to, as there is no prohibition against harvesting before Yom HaNafat HaOmer, we are only prohibited from eating from the harvest before Yom HaNafat HaOmer (Lev 23:14).

Lev 23:14  And you shall eat neither bread, nor parched grain, nor green ears, until the same day, until you have brought an offering to your God. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

You are not to eat anything until you brought the Wave Offering. Agree. But in stating this she leaves out the verse she has just quoted above. Deuteronomy 16:9

Deu 16:9  You shall count seven weeks to yourselves. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time you began to put the sickle to the grain.

So if you get the First Fruits wrong and keep it too late then you will be forced by your wrong decision to harvest the barley before Wave Sheaf Day and to then justify it. You will have put the sickle to the grains BEFORE WAVE SHEAF DAY.  How then do you start your count to Shavuot as Deuteronomy says, from the day you put the sickle to the grain? Do you start from the time some began two weeks before three weeks before or a week before or the month before?

Then if you store it until Wave Sheaf Day, which is the first fruits and which is the second cuttings or thirds? This is a takanot. It is a man-made law based on the wrong timing of what is Aviv and when you need to have it by.

This is the crux of the matter. This is extremely important and this is why you must understand the barley and how it grows and when to harvest. When it is still green you can harvest it. While in this green condition you can then roast it to remove the rest of the water from the seed. Overnight it will become a seed after being harvested the day before. All these things most people in the city have not come to grasp because they are so far removed from working on the land.

Abibofgod did not bother to go to the land of Israel this year but has relied on other people’s pictures. So we will not include them in this report. They are not a witness. The person taking the pictures does not testify.

With the testimony of the state of the Barley as currently reported, that is all you need to know. Now add on 17 days using the charts above and see where you will end up.  You do it. You do not need me to tell you. You be the judge.

Based on what they have provided, you must now decide if you’re going to keep Passover on Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19. This is also the 1st day of Unleavened Bread. The Last Day of Unleavened Bread will then begin Thursday evening March 24th and end Friday Evening March 25th.

And if the barley is not ready on Saturday evening March 18, 2022, and we do not have roastable barley or barley that we can make into flour for a wave offering as described in Lev 2,

Laws for Grain Offerings
Lev 2:1  And when anyone will offer a food offering to Jehovah, his offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it.

Lev 2:2  And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. And he shall take out of it his handful of flour and its oil, with all its frankincense. And the priest shall burn the memorial of it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Jehovah.

Lev 2:3  And the rest of the food offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’, most holy of the offerings of Jehovah made by fire.

Lev 2:4  And if you bring a sacrifice of a food offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.

Lev 2:5  And if your offering is a food offering on the griddle, your offering shall be of fine flour unleavened, mixed with oil.

Lev 2:6  You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it. It is a food offering.

Lev 2:7  And if your offering is a food offering in the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.

Lev 2:8  And you shall bring the food offering that is made of these things to Jehovah. And when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar.

Lev 2:9  And the priest shall take from the food offering a memorial of it, and shall burn it on the altar. It is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Jehovah.

Lev 2:10  And that which is left of the food offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons: it is most holy of the offerings of Jehovah made by fire.

Lev 2:11  Any food offering which you shall bring to Jehovah shall not be made with leaven. For you shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of Jehovah made by fire.

Lev 2:12  As an offering of the firstfruits, you shall bring them to Jehovah. But they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet savor.

Lev 2:13  And every sacrifice of your food offering shall you season with salt. And you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your food offering. You shall offer salt with all your offerings.

Lev 2:14  And if you bring a food offering of your firstfruits to Jehovah, green ears roasted by fire, grains of a garden, you shall bring near for a food offering your firstfruits,

Lev 2:15  And you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it. It is a food offering.

Lev 2:16  And the priest shall burn it as incense with its memorial offering from its grains and from its oil, besides all its frankincense, a fire offering to Jehovah.

And if we no barley by wave sheaf day then I will keep Passover next month and will have a 14th month. But what will you do if you let Passover go and find out you missed it. You cannot do it over. The Second Passover is for those on a journey or who has touched a dead person. Not those who did not heed the witness presented to you by Yehovah in the fields of Israel.


Shanah Tovah

It is the year 5858

March 5, 2022, is the start of the 6th year of the Sabbatical Cycle. A year to send a tithe to the widows and orphans. The 7th day of the first month (Friday, March 11) is a special day to pray for your families. That day is March 10, 2022.

You can also download the perpetual calendar from our site for free to record the new moon each month and count to each Holy Day and how it lines up with the Gregorian dates. Just go to the library section and scroll down to Perpetual Calendar.


Third Tithe Year

It is the third tithe year. I have so much to say, and do not want to distract from this important commandment. So I will post this next week. But know that this third tithe has now begun.


Pray for Your family on the 7th of Aviv

Last year I shared with you a teaching about the 7th day of the first month.

I want to emphasize this important teaching once again this year as we approach the 7th day of the First month, with the new crescent moon having been sighted in Israel.

18 So says the Lord Jehovah: In the first month, in the first of the month, you shall take a bull without blemish, a son of the herd, and cleanse the sanctuary. 19 And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the house, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gateposts of the inner court. 20 And so you shall do on the seventh of the month for each man who goes astray, and for the simple. So you shall atone for the house. (Ezekiel 45:18-20)

It is just seven days after this event until Passover, when the blood is again placed on the door of the house for protection.

We all have spouses, children, parents and family who do not and will not have anything to do with Torah. Yet it is now the Torah that has become your way of life.

Many times you wonder why they do not get it – why you are the only one. All these years and they still make fun of your Sabbaths and Holy Days.

Here in Ezekiel we are told to pray for our household on the 7th day of the first month. “Thus says Yehovah…”

Why? I do not know why – but He said to do this, so I am going to do this again this year and we will see what happens afterwards. We are often instructed to pray and obey. This time you are being told to obey by praying.

do know that in the 7th month, on the 7th day of that month, is Shabbat Shuva- the “Sabbath of Return.” Is this a connection to that? I can only speculate, but look at the Scriptures you are to read on Shabbat Shuva (for the half-Torah) and tell me this is not connected.

I also want you to notice what the bullocks are. We have explained this in our video teaching on Daniel 9:

Return, O Israel, unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast stumbled in thine iniquity.  Take with you words, and return unto the LORD; say unto Him: ‘Forgive all iniquity, and accept that which is good; so will we render for bullocks the offering of our lips. (Hosea 14:1-2)

It is our prayers Yehovah is wanting; not the sacrifices of animals, but the sacrifices of our lips, symbolized by the bull itself.

Therefore let us go forth to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14  For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By Him, then, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, confessing His name. (Hebrew 13:13-15)

O Jehovah, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. 16  For You do not desire sacrifice; or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. 17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:15-17)

For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6)

Look at what happened in Acts chapter 11 when they prayed:

12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, not discriminating. And these six brothers went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 And he declared to us how he had seen an angel in his house, who stood and said to him, Send men to Joppa and call for Simon whose last name is Peter, 14 who will tell you words by which you and all your house shall be saved. 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the Word of the Lord, how He said, John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. 17 If God gave to them the same gift as to us, they having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to prevent God? (Acts 11:12-17)

Here we have Gentile believers receiving the Holy Spirit and the whole household was saved. Is this not what we all want for our families as well?

Yehovah has given us a specific date to meet Him; for us to plead for our families. Will you take Him up on this opportunity?

28 But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm, for we are all here. 29 Then asking for a light he rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And leading them outside, he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, and your household. 32 And they spoke the Word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his household. 33 And taking them in that hour of the night, he washed from their stripes. And he was baptized, he and all his, immediately. 34 And bringing them up to the house, he set a table before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his household. (Acts 16:28-34)

In both of these cases it was just one person who believed and then the whole family was blessed. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around this. I cannot imagine having my whole family keeping this walk with me. How awesome would that be? I cry with joy if I think about it for too long.

If you are having trouble praying, here is one prayer that King David prayed that may help you get started:

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall rest under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of Jehovah, my refuge and my fortress; my God; in Him I will trust. 3 Surely He will deliver you from the fowler’s trap and from the destroying plague. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall trust. His truth shall be your shield, and buckler. 5 You shall not fear the terror by night; nor because of the arrow that flies by day; 6 nor for the plague that walks in darkness, of the destruction laying waste at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; it shall not come near you. 8 Only with your eyes you shall look and see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because You, O Jehovah, are My refuge; if You have made the Most High Your dwelling-place, 10 no evil shall befall You, nor shall any plague come near Your dwelling. 11 For He shall give His angels charge over You, to keep You in all Your ways. 12 They shall bear You up in their hands, lest You dash your foot against a stone. 13 You shall tread on the lion and adder; the young lion and the jackal You shall trample underfoot. 14 Because He has set His love on Me, therefore I will deliver Him; I will set Him on high, because He has known My name. 15 He shall call on Me, and I will answer Him; I will be with Him in trouble; I will deliver Him, and honor Him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation. (Psalm 91:1-16)

If you keep the Commandments and are striving to walk them out; If you keep the Weekly Sabbath, the Annual Holy Days and are going to keep the coming Sabbatical Year (all of which are part of the 4th commandment) and if you are walking in Torah – then you are righteous. Even if you are not perfect.

If you are doing this, then you are considered one of the righteous. And if you are one of the righteous, then Yehovah will hear your prayers.

Jehovah is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous. (Proverbs 15:29)

15 The eyes of Jehovah are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. 16 The face of Jehovah is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry, and Jehovah hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 Jehovah is near to the brokenhearted; and saves those who are of a contrite spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Jehovah delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:15-19)

16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul. 17 I cried to Him with my mouth, and exaltations were under my tongue. 18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, Jehovah will not hear; 19 Surely God has heard; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed is God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me. (Psalm 66:17-19)

When we do not keep the Torah, when we will not keep the Sabbath Holy nor the Holy Days, when we will not keep the Sabbatical Years… then Yehovah will not hear our prayers and it is those who will not repent that are hurt:

1 Behold, Jehovah’s hand is not shortened so that it cannot save, nor is His ear heavy so that it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have come between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, from hearing. (Isaiah 59:1-2)

Do you remember the Lord’s Prayer? The prayer Yehshua offered to Our Father? In it, we confess our sins. This is what Solomon and Daniel did in their prayers. They confessed the sins of the nation and of themselves. It is then that Yehovah will turn and hear us where we are in our affliction and save us. Go, read these things and know He waits until you repent and then He answers.

11 Let him turn aside from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears open to their prayers. But the Lord’s face is against those who do evil. (1 Peter 3:11-12)

We are de-leavening right now, all in preparation for the Days of Unleavened Bread. It is symbolic of putting sin out of our lives. Do not cover up your secret sins, nor walk past the obvious elephants in the room. Take care of them and address them and turn back to the truth and have your prayers heard.

He who covers his sins shall not be blessed; but whoever confesses and leaves them shall have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)

Who can understand his errors? Oh make me pure from secret faults; 13  and keep Your servant back from presumptuous sins; do not let them rule over me; then I shall be upright, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. 14  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:12-14)

Yehovah listens to those who fear Him, who stand in awe of His greatness, goodness and power. Ask Him to expose your secret sins that you do not want anyone to know about and those which you try to hide from even yourself. Get rid of them the same way you are doing now with the leaven in your homes. Get rid of it and do not bring it back in.

16 Then those fearing Jehovah spoke together, each man to his neighbor. And Jehovah listened and heard. And a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who feared Jehovah, and for those esteeming His name. 17 And they shall be Mine, says Jehovah of Hosts, for the day that I will make up My treasure. And I will pity them as a man has pity on his son who serves him. 18 Then you shall again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God, and him who does not serve Him. (Malachi 3:16-18)

16 Confess faults to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous one avails much. 17 Elijah was a man of like passion as we are. And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for the time of three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth caused its fruit to sprout. (James 5:16-18)

Our Bibles are full of examples of people who prayed, and Yehovah heard their prayers and answered them. Repent of your sins and your secret sins and return to the Truth. Let your name be found in the Book of Remembrance as one whose prayers were heard and answered.

Take the time this year, at the appointed time, to pray for your family on Aviv 7, 5858. That falls on Thursday, March 10, and Friday, March 11, 2022, this year.


Deleavening Your Home

With this News Letter, you will now know whether or not the Barley is Aviv and going to be ready for Passover in two weeks’ time. We will also begin to celebrate the 7 Days of Unleavened Bread. We read in;

Matt 24:45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?

Are you that faithful servant who is going to keep the Holy Days at the proper time? Are you that faithful servant who is going to feed the flock mana in due season?

So with the Passover season approaching and with many new people learning the Torah and wanting to keep the Holy Days, we shall begin now to teach on these.

Once again I am telling you to turn off Oprah and Dr. Phil and to start to read your bible. There is nothing on TV worth watching. Many of you are sharing this Newsletter and encouraging others to read it and to prove those things said here true or false. I do thank you. But in reality, it is those who have come here and learned the truth that are thanking you. You have saved their lives.

But once you have been turned on to the truth, do not just read what is written here. Search other sites and other groups and learn also from them, what is true and what is not true.

I keep telling you how little time is left and so I am trying to give you as much information as I can without you being overwhelmed. This week there is a lot to share.

On the very same day as Passover comes the first festival that begins to show us the plan of salvation that Yehovah has revealed to us to understand. After Yehshua is sacrificed as the Passover Lamb, and the penalty or debt for our sins paid for, or us being redeemed, how do we continue to avoid sin, since we must go on living in this newness of life? How do we live as Yehovah’s redeemed people? When we consider just how great a price was paid for this redemption of us how can we return to sin again? We find the remarkable answer in the symbolism of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

When Yehovah freed Israel from slavery in Egypt, He told His people that for

“seven days you shall eat unleavened bread” (Exodus 12:15).

Verse 39 further explains:

“And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.”

The leavening process, which makes bread rise, takes time. The Israelites had no time to spare when they left Egypt, so they baked and ate flatbread. What started out as a necessity continued for a week. Yehovah appropriately named this time the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6), or Days of Unleavened Bread (Acts 12:3).

When Yehovah came to earth as a human, Yeh Shua (Yehovah Saves), He observed this seven-day festival sometimes called the Feast of Passover by the Jews because of the proximity of the Passover to the Days of Unleavened Bread. Passover is the meal that is eaten to begin the 7 Days Feast. Yehshua kept it as a child and later as an adult (Luke 2:41; Matthew 26:17). The early Church kept it as well. So are Christians not keeping this Feast also?

Yehovah gave His earliest instructions concerning this festival to the Israelites as they prepared to leave Egypt.

“This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come, you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast.

On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.

On the first day hold a sacred assembly and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat that is all you may do” (Exodus 12:14-16, New International Version).

This is where we get the expression of spring cleaning from deleavening our homes.

Each year as the Israelites observed this feast, it reminded them of Yehovah’s deliverance of their forefathers from Egypt. The Creator instructed,

“Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt” (verse 17, NIV).

The exodus from Egypt remains as a foundational reason for observing this feast today. Just as Yehovah delivered ancient Israel, He delivers us from our sins and difficulties.

Now notice Yehshua’s teaching about leaven, which expands the meaning of this feast.

During Yehshua’s ministry, He performed two miracles in which a few fish and loaves of bread fed thousands of people. After one of these incidents, when His disciples had gone around the Sea of Galilee, they forgot to bring bread with them. So Yehshua told them,

“Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducee.”

The disciples thought Yahshua was referring to their lack of bread. However, He was using the occasion to teach them by calling on the symbolism of leaven. Yehshua asked them,

“How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then the disciples “understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:5-12, NASB).

Some of the members of the religious establishment of Yehshua’s day appeared to be righteous, yet they secretly practiced sinful behaviour. Yehshua let them know He knew their hearts. They may have appeared righteous to other people,

“but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:28).

The Days of Unleavened Bread remind us that with Yehovah’s help we must remove and avoid all types of sin symbolized by leaven, in all areas of our life.

Symbolically we do this by cleaning our homes and our places of business and our cars and removing any bread or bread products that contain leaven or yeast from them.

During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the apostle Paul taught the same spiritual lessons as Yehshua, invoking the comparison of sin to leaven. In the context of reprimanding the Corinthian congregation for its divisions, jealousies, and tolerance of sexual misconduct, Paul wrote:

“Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Yehshua, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

The church at Corinth was obviously and unmistakably keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread, to which Paul repeatedly alluded. However, Paul used the Corinthians’ faithful obedience in keeping the feast physically (removing leaven from their homes) as a basis to encourage them to celebrate this feast with the proper understanding of its spiritual intent.

Today removing leaven from our homes for seven days reminds us that we, too, through prayer and Yehovah’s help and understanding, must recognize, expel and avoid sin. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is thus a time of personal reflection. We should meditate on our attitudes and conduct and ask Yehovah to help us recognize and overcome our shortcomings.

The seven days represent the 7 Millennial Days. This is showing us that we should be removing sin, which is not keeping the commandments, not keeping the Holy Days and Sabbatical and Jubilee years and having other gods that we then serve, those things found in the Ten Commandments.

1 John 3:4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

Sin is the act of not keeping the commandments. Sin is not keeping the 4th commandment or any of the others. So we are to stop being lawless and to start to keep them.

Paul spoke of this much-needed self-reflection in 2 Corinthians 13:5 when he told the Corinthian church:

“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Yehshua the Messiah is in you? “unless indeed you are disqualified.”

Paul explained the significance of the phrase “Yehshua the Messiah is in you” in Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Yehshua; it is no longer I who live, but Yehshua lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of Yehovah, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

These seven days of self-examination prove invaluable in helping us to devote our lives to Yehovah. This week-long period also pictures our eventual triumph over sin. As Yehovah delivered the ancient Israelites from enslavement to Egypt, so He delivers us from our enslavement to sin (Romans 6:12-18).

We learn by doing. We learn spiritual lessons by doing physical things. This is the lesson the 5 foolish will not have time to learn when they go out to buy their oil. It is not something you can attain at the drop of a hat. You must do it to understand it.

Performing the task of deleavening our homes reminds us to vigilantly watch for sinful thoughts and actions so we can avoid them. Yehovah knows that, in spite of our good intentions, we all sin.

Many years after his conversion, Paul described the powerful human tendency to sin.

“I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of Yehovah according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank Yehovah-through Yehshua the Messiah! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of Yehovah, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:21-25).

Paul knew life itself is a battle with sin. The Bible speaks of “the sin which so easily ensnares us” (Hebrews 12:1). We have our own part to play in struggling to overcome sin. Yet, paradoxically, we must rely on Yehovah to help us. Paul explained this to the Philippians by telling them to

“work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is Yehovah who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13, King James Version).

Our observance of the Days of Unleavened Bread helps us realize our need for Yehovah’s help in overcoming our weaknesses. Yet this feast is certainly a time for rejoicing because Yehovah freely gives us the help we need. Yehshua, the Lamb of Yehovah, was sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sins, thus unleavening, or cleansing, our lives. He continues to help us live obediently through Yehovah’s Spirit dwelling in us.

Paul tells us in

Ro 2:13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;

James tells us it is the doers of the law who will be justified.

Jas 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Let’s read what James also has to say about doing things.

James 2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your  works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe–and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Some brethren do not believe we should keep the days of Unleavened bread. Some do but they say you do not have to remove the leaven from your homes.

The bible says we do have to keep this time, these Feasts, forever, and that you do have to remove the leaven, and that by doing so you are acting out your faith by your works.

I am sharing this message now with you so that you have time to begin to clean before the Days arrive. You will see as you move your fridge and stove how the crud has piled up over time and how hard it is to remove. Look in your toaster and clean it. This is the same as sin sneaking into your lives and you not knowing it until one day it is exposed. Then you see how hard it is to remove or correct that sin. It is not easy. Check your freezers also places where you work.

You will learn by doing. Please consider doing the necessary work in cleaning your home so that you will be ready for the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Always remember that as you move closer to Yehovah, He moves closer to you. When you stop so does He and he waits for you to make the next move.

The more you learn and practice the more that will be revealed to you. But if you do nothing you learn nothing.

So may your spring cleaning be bountiful in teaching you many lessons from the scriptures.

 


I am now going to share many headline news sources that I was presented with this week as Russia invaded Ukraine. Has WW III now begun. I do not see an exit plan for President Putin and this is very dangerous. I also see weak leadership in the west and at the same time, Germany just changed directions and grew a spine. And on top of all of this is news that Biden is going to do business with Iran to get their oil so they can cut off Russia, and that money Iran can then use to build the Missiles Zechariah 5 says they will launch.

I know this is long and I make no apologies for that. I am just keeping you up to date as prophecy unfiolds.

The President Crossed the Line on Saturday 

• “Joe Biden crossed a critical red line on Saturday, (February 26, 2022)  and the world will never be the same”…

• The world could be on the verge of the worst liquidity crisis ever…

• “World War III may be a lot closer than you realize”…

Hard Assets Alliance was created as a cooperative of investment professionals who believe there’s a better way to invest in precious metals. This is a guest perspective on the markets from one of these partners; we hope you enjoy it.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its seventh day as talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegates took place in neighboring Belarus yesterday.

Ukraine has reportedly demanded an immediate ceasefire. There’s been no formal announcement yet. Either way, the U.S. and the West have escalated the sanctions regime against Russia.

Joe Biden crossed a critical red line on Saturday, and the world will never be the same.

Biden and other Western powers agreed to kick certain Russian banks out of the SWIFT message system. This is like cutting off oxygen to someone in intensive care. What is SWIFT?

SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. Contrary to what you may hear, SWIFT is not a financial institution and it’s not a payment channel. It’s a message system.

But the messages are of the utmost importance. It’s how one major bank confirms to another major bank that a large payment is being made by specifying the sender, receiving bank, amount, currency, date and other details. Once the message is sent, the receiving bank becomes the legal owner of the amount in question.

The actual payment may go through various payment systems such as Fedwire, but that’s mechanical. The SWIFT message is what sets the legally binding terms for both sides.
The Worst Liquidity Crisis Ever?
The only major country that has been “deSWIFTed” in the recent past was Iran in 2011 and that was devastating to their economy.

The Russian economy will slowly suffocate without access to SWIFT. Still, Biden went further. They not only kicked Russian commercial banks out of SWIFT, but also kicked the Central Bank of Russia out of the system except for certain transactions that may be approved on a case-by-case basis.

Here’s what Biden’s team doesn’t seem to understand. Every payment, every trade, has two sides. When you blow up one side (Russia) you also blow up the other side (world banking system). Linkages are dense and immensely scaled.

For example, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire warns that the ban would hinder Europeans’ ability to recover payments on nearly $30 billion in debt owed them by various Russian entities.

This will spill over into a global liquidity crisis within days. Count on it. It could be the worst liquidity crisis ever.

Is that what Biden wants? He may get a global depression before he knows it. Be careful what you wish for.

Here’s something else to consider: If you look at the memberships of the EU, NATO and the SWIFT executive committees there’s a huge degree of overlap. Now that SWIFT has kicked out Russian banks, I’m not sure that Russia will care about legalistic distinctions.

They’ll see SWIFT as NATO. Then there’s the China question…

Will China Invade Taiwan?

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has naturally led to speculation about a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan. What both invasions would have in common is a perception of weakness of the United States.

Will Taiwan be next?

My guess is probably not.

Ukraine was a land invasion by Russia, which has a border with the target. Taiwan would be a massive amphibious invasion across the Taiwan Strait. China has no prior experience in amphibious warfare and such invasions are extremely difficult to execute.

Just look at D-Day, Inchon, Iwo Jima and Okinawa if you want to see how difficult they are to plan, carry out and win.

The U.S. does not have a formal treaty with Taiwan, but policymakers expect that the U.S. Seventh Fleet would intervene to at least slow any Chinese attack. And Taiwan has a far more capable and well-equipped military than Ukraine. That said, an invasion cannot be ruled out.
It’s All About the Semiconductors
The main economic impact would be in semiconductors. Taiwan is the largest single source of semiconductors in the world, including the most sophisticated chips of the 5-nanometer design. Taiwan is also working toward production of 3-nanometer chips. China would love to capture that technology and the fabrication plants that go with it, but they won’t.

If an invasion began, Taiwan would destroy all of that capacity before the Chinese could get to it. If Taiwan didn’t, the U.S. would. This is why Taiwan Semiconductor and Intel are building multibillion-dollar fabrication plants in the U.S.

These will take several years to build, but when they’re done that new semiconductor capacity will be beyond the reach of the Chinese Communists. This bird will have flown.

Still, there’s a global semiconductor shortage today even without a war. Rumors of a war in the Taiwan Strait will just make matters worse.

But the good news is that an imminent Chinese invasion of Taiwan is unlikely. Unfortunately, I have to conclude on an ominous note…
“Don’t Go There”
World War III may be a lot closer than you realize. I’ve studied nuclear war fighting since the 1960s, including major scholarly works such as On Thermonuclear War (1960) by Herman Kahn.

There’s a lot of learning on the topic, but all of the studies boil down to the same warning: Don’t go there.

What this means is that nuclear war is not a place where anyone begins an attack and it’s not a place where anyone wants to end up. But it can happen anyway.

The process by which nuclear war happens is called escalation. Two nuclear powers start out with a grievance of some kind. The grievance may be played out using proxy powers such as Vietnam in the 1960s and Afghanistan in the 2000s.

One side escalates the conflict by doing something unexpected or extreme. The other side does not stand still; they take an extreme retaliatory action. The first actor then retaliates to the retaliation and so on. Now we have a dynamic where two sides are climbing the escalation ladder.

“The Escalatory Dynamic Has Begun”

Again, it’s important to emphasize that neither side really wants a nuclear war, but once they start climbing the ladder, it’s hard to stop. Eventually one side pushes the other so far that the only response is to use nuclear weapons. At that point, you’re no longer just escalating; you’re at the brink of a nuclear launch.

To make matters worse, the other side sensing that their opponent may go nuclear will be under pressure to go nuclear first in order to avoid being hit themselves. This then goes into another branch of theory involving first-strike, second-strike, counterforce and counter-value strategies, etc.

I don’t have to do a deep dive on these theories in order to make the point that a nuclear war doesn’t begin with a nuclear attack. It begins with small steps that spin out of control.

To make the point about escalation, just two days after NATO activated its response force, Putin activated the Russian nuclear forces by putting them on full alert.

We haven’t seen the Western military response yet, but it would come as no surprise if the U.S. put their nuclear forces on high alert also. The escalatory dynamic has begun. We’ll see where it ends up.

Smart citizens should prepare for the worst. Let’s pray it doesn’t happen.

Regards,

Jim Rickards

Jim Rickards is an American lawyer, economist, and investment banker with 35 years of experience working in capital markets on Wall Street. He was the principal negotiator of the rescue of Long-Term Capital.


There are no ‘mighty men’ in Washington to stand up to Russia.

BY MIHAILO S. ZEKIC • MARCH 2

March 12 will be the 75th anniversary of the start of the Cold War. United States President Harry S. Truman announced on March 12, 1947, that America would work to stop the spread of communism in Europe. This “Truman Doctrine” put America at direct odds with Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union. This conflict didn’t end until the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991.

With Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, media are saying this is the start of a new Cold War:

“New Cold War begins as Vladimir Putin Invades Ukraine” (Telegraph)

“A New Cold War Emerging as Russia Launches Full-scale Invasion of Ukraine” (Conversation)

“What’s Fueling the ‘New Cold War’—in Russia and at Home” (Hill)
U.S. President Joe Biden has been in politics for awhile. He has been a senator since 1973—well into the Cold War. Before the current crisis erupted, many thought Biden would be well prepared to face off against Russia. A February 8 article in the Wall Street Journal called Biden “a president for the new Cold War.” The Journal labeled him “the right man for his times.” Ahead of Putin and Biden’s summit in Switzerland last year, Time magazine portrayed Biden as a “tough guy” ready to stand up to Putin.

Russia is not an easy country to deal with. America and Russia are the world’s two preeminent nuclear superpowers. Any escalation between the two powers has the potential to lead to nuclear war. Global Firepower ranks the U.S. and Russia as the world’s most and second-most powerful militaries, respectively. Even leaving the nuclear threat aside, a clash between Washington and Moscow could be cataclysmic.

This hasn’t stopped American presidents from confronting Moscow before.

How is Biden doing compared to his predecessors?

One of the first major clashes between America and the Soviet Union was the Berlin Blockade. After World War ii, the Allied powers (America, the Soviet Union, Britain and France) divided Germany into four zones of occupation. Berlin was located entirely within the Soviet occupation zone. But as Germany’s capital, the city was also divided into four occupation zones. The American, British and French sectors became an island in the middle of what the Soviets would turn into Communist East Germany.

Stalin didn’t like having a Western outpost in the middle of what he considered “his territory.” So on June 24, 1948, he implemented a blockade of West Berlin. The Soviets closed all roads, railways and waterways connecting West Berlin with Western Germany. West Berliners found themselves cut off from food, coal, medicine and other necessary supplies. Stalin was hoping to kick the Western allies out of West Berlin. He wanted all of Berlin—and the roughly 2.5 million residents in the western sectors—to himself.

What did President Truman do about it?

“We stay in Berlin, period,” he told cabinet members. “We are in Berlin by the terms of the agreement, and the Russians have no right to get us out by either direct or indirect pressure.”

On June 28, Truman authorized a full-scale airlift of goods into West Berlin. Military planes would fly over Soviet-controlled airspace to bring supplies into West Berlin. And they would do so as long as the Soviets continued the blockade. At one point, a plane landed every 45 seconds at Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport. At the end of the airlift in September 1949, American and British troops had delivered about 2,323,738 tons of food and other supplies to West Berlin.

David McCullough wrote in his biography Truman, “He was convinced that the future of Western Europe was at stake in Berlin.” The threat of war with the Soviet Union over the airlift was real. McCullough notes that the three Allied powers had about 6,500 troops in Berlin. The Soviets had 18,000, with 300,000 more in the rest of Eastern Germany. “If we wished to remain [in Berlin], we would have to make a show of strength,” wrote Truman. “But there was always the risk that Russian reaction might lead to war. We had to face the possibility that Russia might deliberately choose to make Berlin the pretext for war.”

The circumstances were different in 1948. America had only just begun to develop atomic bombs, and the Soviets didn’t have them yet. But President Truman was still willing to go to war with Stalin over Berlin. And Truman won the standoff.

The airlift showed Stalin that the West wouldn’t be bullied. A reciprocal blockade of East German exports was hurting the Russian sectors. Stalin ended his blockade in May 1949. West Berlin would remain free.

“[T]he Berlin Airlift was … one of the most brilliant American achievements of the postwar era,” McCullough writes. It was a massive success. It showed that Washington was willing to stand up to the world’s other superpower to protect Europe.

It is also worth noting that the Soviet Union wasn’t far from getting its own nuclear weapons. Even if a Soviet nuclear strike wasn’t feasible in 1948, it would be feasible in the near future. Yet Truman was willing to escalate circumstances against a budding nuclear superpower—all to protect Europe.

And this wasn’t the only victory against the Soviets America would have in the Cold War. The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis is seen as the closest the two superpowers came to nuclear war. President John F. Kennedy led America to victory in stopping Moscow’s plans of holding the U.S. at nuclear gunpoint.

Harry Truman was a Democrat, as was John F. Kennedy. But we don’t see this kind of leadership from the Democrat in the White House today.

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is impacting far more people than Stalin’s blockade did. This is a literal war in Europe. And America pledged to protect Ukraine from foreign attacks in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. Many countries in Europe—including North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies—are wondering if they will be next.

What has Biden’s response so far been?

Not much.

“You have two options,” Biden said in an interview published February 26. “Start a third world war; go to war with Russia physically. Or two, make sure that a country that acts so contrary to international law ends up paying a price of having done it.”

Biden’s main response so far is sanctions. Sanctions are a way of life for Putin. Every time he embarks on a new escapade—whether it’s the 2014 annexation of Crimea or the 2020 poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny—new sanctions get slapped on prominent Russians or Russia as a whole. The latest sanctions may be bigger than previous ones, but they’re still nothing Moscow isn’t used to. Putin probably expected sanctions from Washington. Biden gave Putin a price he was willing to pay.

There would have been other ways for Biden to have hit back at Russia without starting World War iii. He could have sent nato troops into Georgia, another former Soviet state Putin is desperate to keep away from the West. He could have poked at Russia’s ally in Cuba. He could have done something that Putin hadn’t already factored into his plans. Perhaps some may see these as unnecessary provocations. But Putin’s track record shows he respects strength. Responding to what Foreign Policy calls “the West’s biggest test since World War ii” with financial penalties isn’t strength.

Biden himself admits that the sanctions were not designed to stop Putin. “No one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening,” he said on February 24. “This could take time and we have to show resolve.”

There are also plenty of caveats in Biden’s sanctions. The sanctions don’t cover Russia’s fossil fuel exports, despite fossil fuels being Russia’s most lucrative exports by far. In 2019, fossil fuels made up well over half of Russia’s export revenue. Many Russian oil and gas companies are state owned, so the export revenue goes to the Russian government. The fossil fuel industry is financing Putin’s army. Yet Biden declined to sanction that industry.

In a January 19 press conference, Biden even said he wouldn’t punish Russia severely if it led a “minor incursion” into Ukraine. Apparently, a full-on invasion counts as a minor incursion.

The Biden administration’s actions follow a long pattern of American weakness—going back to its disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer to President Barack Obama’s weak handling of Russia years earlier.

In all likelihood, Putin wouldn’t have launched the invasion if he thought Biden would have responded strongly.

America used to be called the “leader of the free world.” What happened to America’s leadership?


Bible prophecy continues to race forward in fulfillment.

BY GERALD FLURRY • FEBRUARY 28

Yesterday was a momentous day in world history. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the return of a strong, militaristic Germany. His speech in the Bundestag was greeted with a standing ovation—with support coming from all Germany’s political parties!

Politico called Scholz’s measures “nothing less than the most dramatic political shift in modern German history.”

Andreas Kluth, former editor in chief of Handelsblatt, wrote: “If you had any sense of history and found yourself near the German Bundestag in Berlin on Sunday, you could have heard the sound of an explosion.”

The whole Earth should be trembling at that explosion! Anyone who knows history should be deeply alarmed. But if you also know Bible prophecy—as every Trumpet reader should—you know this announcement is truly a calamitous explosion!

Last week I wrote to you that “Bible Prophecy Comes Alive in Ukraine!” This week was a spectacular escalation of that trend.

Chancellor Scholz called a special session of parliament to announce a massive increase to Germany’s military budget. Right now they spend €53 billion a year on their military—and that’s a record high. Scholz announced that Germany would create a new €100 billion fund (us$112 billion) this year to rapidly improve the army’s equipment. He also announced that by 2024, Germany will spend at least 2 percent of its economic output on its military. Right now, it spends only 1.4 percent. By the time you factor in the growth of Germany’s economy, this will double its military spending from here on out.

This will make Germany by far the biggest military spender in Europe. Once this is in place, Germany will be spending more on its military than Russia!

These are radical steps. And Bible prophecy warns exactly where they are leading!

For decades the Trumpet has warned you to watch for a major change in Germany. When Germany stopped cutting its military spending and starting boosting it each year, we said this was an alarming change. When German think tanks and generals spoke out, saying Germany needed to become more robust militarily, we told you why this was concerning.

What happened this past weekend, however, was not a slight boost to Germany’s military. It wasn’t just advice or recommendations. This is the real thing: German militarism is back! And Germany, and so much of the world, is cheering! That is truly remarkable.

Anyone who views this announcement through the lens of history and prophecy will have very much the opposite reaction.

Mr. Scholz told the Bundestag that Germany was “living through a watershed era.” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has shocked the nation, and Germany needs to be able to stand up to “warmongers like Putin,” said Scholz. “That requires strength of our own.”

More remarkable than Scholz’s words is the fact that everyone agreed with him. He leads the left-wing Social Democrats, a political party that has been skeptical of military spending. He governs in coalition with the even-further-left Green Party, yet they too are in agreement. His main opposition, the Christian Democrats, also supported the announcement.

In the debate that followed, “[o]ne speaker after another rose to find similarly clear and moving words,” wrote Kluth. “Let the world take note: Owing to Putin’s naked aggression, Germany has changed almost overnight.”

For decades Germans have shied away from talk about the need for strength in this world. No longer. Kluth characterized the tone of the parliament’s discussion this way: “The way to stop a bully like Putin is with strength—only then do talks make sense. That used to be an un-German martial notion. It could now become the new mainstream.”

The major boost in defense spending is important. But this change in rhetoric and attitude could be even bigger. For the first time since the end of World War ii, we could soon see an openly aggressive Germany. Germany has certainly been aggressive: Look how it led the world in breaking up Yugoslavia. But it has operated cautiously, in the shadows. Scholz’s speech marks the nation emerging from the shadows and becoming far more open.

And beyond this militaristic transformation in Germany, Russia’s attack on Ukraine looks like it is causing all of Europe to unite quickly!

Europe Unites
“Vladimir Putin just achieved the impossible,” wrote Politico: “genuine European unity.”

“From Sofia to Stockholm, Europe’s internal divisions over how to react to Putin’s aggression have melted away in recent days as the historic dimensions of the invasion—the greatest challenge to the West’s security architecture in decades—sank in,” it wrote.

AP News produced an article titled “By Invading Ukraine, Putin Loses Allies in Eastern Europe.” It shows how all the strongmen in the region that were once friendly to Putin are now turning their backs on him.

“The attack on Ukraine marks the end of an epoch,” wrote Spiegel, Europe’s largest newsmagazine. “The European order, which brought the Continent three decades of relative security and stability following the end of the Cold War, is in the process of collapsing. A new, more dangerous era is beginning.”

This is all happening within just a few days of Putin’s invasion. What would happen if it drags on? How would Europe respond if Putin begins flattening cities?

Bible Prophecy Comes Alive!

Herbert W. Armstrong spent years warning Germany would reemerge as a strong, military power, leading a united Europe. In 1956, he wrote, “The Germans are coming back from the destruction of World War ii in breathtaking manner. Germany is the economic and military heart of Europe. Probably Germany will lead and dominate the coming United States of Europe.”

Mr. Armstrong believed that Russia could play a major part in the creation of this new military power. “Now one of the great things that is urging Europe on, and perhaps the greatest thing that will cause them to hurry and get together on this, is their fear of what’s going on in the Kremlin and the Soviet Union,” he said in November 1982. “And [Soviet leader Yuri] Andropov is frightening them, and that is going to rush them. They are losing confidence in the United States as having a military umbrella over them to protect them, and they want their own military force to protect themselves. That’s the way they feel over there. Now that is a chief incentive to unite them and that is taking place.”

Mr. Armstrong was reading Bible prophecy and watching for it to be fulfilled. He saw the way the Bible said this European power would come about. Some of the names have changed, but this European power is emerging exactly the way he forecast.

Because of these same prophecies, every time Mr. Putin has taken a major step forward, I have told you to watch for Germany and Europe’s response.

Vladimir Putin first assumed office in 2000. But he took a big step toward becoming an absolute dictator in the December 2003 elections. “Russian elections have recently moved President Vladimir Putin much closer to becoming a dictator,” I wrote at the time. “This strikes intense fear in Europe. The Europeans still remember how violent Russia was in World War ii, and Russia is a close neighbor with massive piles of nuclear weapons.”

Now Putin is threatening to use those nuclear weapons!

“The Russian election is triggering a fear that will hasten the uniting of the European Union,” I continued.

Then in 2008, Putin shocked the world by invading Georgia. In an article shortly afterward, I discussed Bible prophecies of that European empire, led by Germany, being made up of 10 kings. “Mr. Armstrong often taught that a political or economic crisis would spark these ‘ten kings’ to strongly unite very quickly. The fact that Russia has launched a war shows just how easily such a crisis could occur! Will the Georgia strike actually spark European unification? Will a crisis occur over Ukraine? That area is the breadbasket of Russia, and surely it is willing to wage war over that as well.”

“Watch Europe to see how it responds to these dramatic developments in Asia,” I wrote.

Then in 2013, Russia grabbed a chunk of Ukraine, invading Georgia and eastern parts of the country. “Europe’s dreadful fear of Vladimir Putin—its next-door neighbor—is going to help shape and form the Holy Roman Empire rather suddenly,” I wrote shortly afterward.

How could we know this would be the outcome of these events? Let’s look more specifically at prophecy.

‘Tidings Out of the East’

The main prophecy these events bring to mind is in Daniel 11. Verses 40-41 prophesy of a “king of the north”—a united Europe—that attacks the Middle East. (Read our free booklet The King of the South to learn more.) This power is going to dominate the Middle East and then the world!

The great powers of Asia, which are already coming together in many ways, will coalesce behind Russia and China. They know they are next on the hit list of the world’s new number one superpower, Europe, which likes to attack without warning. So Russia and China will gather their armies on the borders of Europe. This move will make Europe intensely nervous! And how will they respond?

“But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him” (verses 44-45).

This is where the rise of Europe and Russia is leading. It is building now even as I write!

“Tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him [united Europe].” These alarming “tidings” come from the northeast. Look on any world map and see who is located northeast of Europe: Russia and China, which are uniting even today.

As I wrote back in 2004, “Europe’s becoming very nervous about the outcome of the Russian election gives us a flash of light into a terrifying Bible prophecy. It is building now—at this moment—to a spectacular fulfillment! All of these events in Russia and Europe are working out according to God’s master plan.” And in 2008, I wrote, “You can already see the fulfillment of this prophecy occurring in embryo today! Europe is deeply troubled by developments in Russia and China.”

Today, because of Russian aggression, Germany is dramatically changing course on its military, and all of Europe is shifting to wartime footing. But there are still more dramatic changes ahead!

A German Strongman

In 2014, I wrote: “A second major prophecy that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will bring about is the arrival of a strongman in Europe. A new leader is coming—a kind of Vladimir Putin. This is what Europe needs in order to bind together, to have the strength and unity of purpose needed to confront Russia.”

This man is certain to come on the scene very soon!

Daniel 8:23 tells us that “in the latter time,” we should expect “a king of fierce countenance” to arise in Europe. “And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people” (verse 24).

As I wrote in that same article, “Europe’s new fear of Russia is going to play a major role in hastening the fulfillment of that prophecy!”

In addition to that prophesied strongman, the Catholic Church will also play a major role in uniting all those disparate European nations.

So much of what God prophesied through Mr. Armstrong has already been fulfilled. Watch closely for the final fulfillment of these prophecies to emerge! “Ten kings” are going to arise. The 27 nations currently comprising the European Union are going to be pared down to 10. They are going to be led by a strong Putin-like dictator and unified by the Roman Catholic Church. At that point, they will present to the world a power even greater than that of Russia or the United States!

Consider the power the European Union already has today. Look particularly at the clout Germany has. The Germans already lead Europe and call the shots economically. Soon they will begin calling the shots militarily for nine other European kings.

The growing necessity to protect themselves is going to drive European leaders to pare down the number of nations in their union and empower a strongman. That man will then use the clout and power of Europe to take on Vladimir Putin and what the Bible calls “the kings of the east” (Revelation 16:12).

Putin is helping to create a power that is going to be greater than his own! And the clash between these two powers will cause more suffering than the world has ever known!

Most Americans are oblivious to these events. Yet those in America who are paying attention are cheering this dramatic shift in Germany! They are glad to see Germany finally standing up militarily.

But the same prophecies we have already seen fulfilled tell us that this European military power is going to turn against Britain, America and the Jewish state in the Middle East—in an act of unparalleled treachery! God Himself says He is raising this nation up to punish us!

These prophecies are dark and dire, but the Bible tells us that they all have a positive ending. Daniel 8:25 tells us that this European strongman will “stand up against the Prince of princes”—he will try to fight Christ Himself—“but he shall be broken without hand.” The Messiah will come and stop these disastrous wars and destroy that man. The 10-nation military superpower will be destroyed at the same time.

Daniel 2 contains another critical prophecy of this power. It concludes with the image being smashed by a stone from heaven and blowing away in the wind as dust—then the stone growing into a mountain that fills the Earth (verses 34-35). Daniel explains the meaning with this inspiring verse: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (verse 44). That will be the end of the Daniel 2 image and all the repressive human empires of this world. God is going to smash that image forever!

The rise of a German-led European power is a towering sign that Christ’s return is close. The time of evil, human empires invading their neighbors is nearly over. God’s rule is about to begin!


 

Germany, in Historic Reversal, Abandons Pro-Putin Russia Policy

by Soeren Kern
March 1, 2022

The measures represent a complete reversal of Germany’s post-Cold War Russia policy — which focused on pursuing economic ties rather than confrontation with Moscow — and mark a definitive end to the era of former Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“We are living through a watershed era. And that means that the world afterwards will no longer the same as the world before. The core question is whether power is allowed to prevail over the law. Will we allow Putin to turn the clock back to the 19th century and the age of great powers? Or can we muster the strength to keep warmongers like Putin in check. That requires strength of our own. Yes, we fully intend to secure our freedom, our democracy and our prosperity.” — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Bundestag, February 27, 2022.
The significance of the German U-turn cannot be overstated: Germany will become the biggest spender on defense in Europe.
In a major policy reversal, the German government has also decided to suspend technical certification of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany by transporting the gas under the Baltic Sea.
“Olaf Scholz is changing decades of German foreign policy in a single speech. Russia went too far and now Germany is waking up. Incredible.” — Marcel Dirsus, German political scientist.
“I have to say I don’t recognize Europe as it responds to Putin’s gangsterism against #Ukraine… all of a sudden I see the Continent grow a spine. Way to go!” — Andrew Michta, veteran transatlantic security analyst.
“Watching Scholz in Bundestag today is watching decades of German foreign policy change in a few minutes before your eyes.” — Andrew Gray, politics editor for Politico.
“Putin knew well why he invested so much in friendly relations. Germany was open to that. But the attack on Ukraine changed everything. Comes certainly as a shock to Putin.” — Ulrich Speck, German foreign policy analyst.
“It is hard to overestimate how much Putin’s attack on Ukraine changed Germany. Less than a week ago Nord Stream 2 was still alive, delivering lethal weapons to Ukraine taboo & cutting Russia out of Swift out of the question. Putin’s invasion changed Germany. Turning point.” — Michael Knigge, German journalist.
“Germany basically doing what Donald Trump demanded that they do — to widespread ridicule — for the four years of his Presidency. I know it galls people to hear it, but Trump was right about some very big things.” — John McGuirk, Irish political commentator.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced a paradigm shift in German defense and energy policies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that Germany will substantially increase defense spending and take immediate measures to reduce its energy dependence on Russia.

Scholz has also announced several other important policy reversals: Berlin has halted the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany by transporting the gas under the Baltic Sea; it has agreed to authorize the transfer of weapons to Ukraine; and it has decided to ban Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system.

The measures represent a complete reversal of Germany’s post-Cold War Russia policy — which focused on pursuing economic ties rather than confronting Moscow — and mark a definitive end to the era of former Chancellor Angela Merkel.

During an extraordinary session of the Bundestag, the German parliament, on February 27, Scholz said that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine marks a turning point in European history:

“We are living through a watershed era. And that means that the world afterwards will no longer be the same as the world before. The core question is whether power is allowed to prevail over the law. Will we allow Putin to turn the clock back to the 19th century and the age of great powers? Or can we muster the strength to keep warmongers like Putin in check. That requires strength of our own. Yes, we fully intend to secure our freedom, our democracy and our prosperity….

“With the attack on Ukraine, Putin is not just seeking to wipe an independent country off the map. He is demolishing the European security order that had prevailed for almost half a century since the Helsinki Final Act. He is also isolating himself from the entire international community….

“President Putin always talks about indivisible security. But what he really seeks now is to divide the continent into the familiar old spheres of influence through armed force. This has consequences for security in Europe. Yes, in the long-term security in Europe cannot be achieved in opposition to Russia. But for the foreseeable future, Putin is jeopardizing this security.

That is why I say very clearly that we accept the challenge that now faces us — with clear-headed resolve….

“Anyone who reads Putin’s historicizing essays, who has watched his televised declaration of war on Ukraine, or who has recently — as I have done — held hours of direct talks with him, can no longer have any doubt that Putin wants to build a Russian empire. He wants to fundamentally redefine the status quo within Europe in line with his own vision. And he has no qualms about using military force to do so. We can see that today in Ukraine.

“We must therefore ask ourselves: What capabilities does Putin’s Russia possess? And what capabilities do we need in order to counter this threat — today and in the future? It is clear that we must invest much more in the security of our country. In order to protect our freedom and our democracy. This is a major national undertaking.

“The goal is a powerful, cutting-edge, progressive Bundeswehr [German armed forces] that can be relied upon to protect us. At the Munich Security Conference a week ago I said that we need airplanes that fly, ships that can set out to sea and soldiers who are optimally equipped for their missions. That is what is important. And it is quite certainly something that a country of our size and our significance within Europe should be able to achieve.

“But we should be under no illusions. Better equipment, modern technology, more personnel — all of this costs a lot of money. We will therefore set up a special fund for the Bundeswehr [Sondervermögen Bundeswehr]. The 2022 federal budget will provide a one-off sum of 100 billion euros for the fund. We will use this money for necessary investments and armament projects. We will now — year after year — invest more than two percent of our gross domestic product in our defense….

“In the awareness that the Bundeswehr alone does not have the means to contain all future threats … we will do more to guarantee a secure energy supply for our country. The Federal Government has already initiated one important measure to address this. And we will change course in order to eliminate our dependence on imports from individual energy suppliers. After all, the events of recent days and weeks have shown us that responsible, forward-looking energy policy is not just crucial for our economy and our climate. It is also crucial for our security….

“If we want the last thirty years to be more than a historical exception, then we must do everything we can to maintain the cohesion of the European Union, the strength of NATO, to forge even closer relations with our friends, our partners and all those who share our convictions worldwide. I am utterly confident that we can succeed in this. Because rarely have we and our partners been so resolved and so united.

“What unites us at this time is that we know the strength of free democracies. We know that when something finds a broad consensus among politicians and the public, it will endure — even in this watershed moment and beyond. And so I thank you and all parliamentary groups in this House who have unequivocally condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine for what it is: an absolutely unjustifiable attack on an independent country, on the peaceful order in Europe and the world.”
Defense Spending
Scholz’s vow to raise defense spending above 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) represents a sharp reversal from previous German policy, which has been to free ride on the U.S. defense umbrella. The significance of the German U-turn cannot be overstated: Germany will become the biggest spender on defense in Europe.

For Germany, 2% of GDP amounts to approximately 76 billion euros ($85 billion). By comparison, the British defense budget currently is 40 billion pounds ($54 billion) and the French defense budget is 41 billion euros ($46 billion).

At the 2014 Wales Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), allies agreed to spend a minimum of 2% percent of their GDP on defense, but Germany — the biggest economy in the EU and the fourth biggest in the world — has consistently refused to honor that pledge. In 2021, Germany spent only 1.5% of GDP on defense, according to NATO data, which also shows that German defense spending increased by less than 0.5% of GDP since 2015.

The German armed forces (Bundeswehr) are in an especially sad state of disrepair. On February 24, the highest-ranking officer in the German Army publicly lamented that years of financial neglect had rendered the army unable to respond to Russian aggression in Ukraine. Chief of the Army Lt. Gen. Alfons Mais wrote:

“You wake up in the morning and realize: There is war in Europe. In my 41st year of peacetime service, I would not have believed that I would have to experience another war. And the Bundeswehr, the army that I am allowed to lead, is more or less stripped bare. The policy options we can offer in support of the Alliance are extremely limited. We all saw it coming and were unable to get our arguments through to draw and implement the conclusions of the Crimean annexation. That does not feel good! I am pissed off!”
A damning report published by the German Parliament in January 2019 foundthat critical equipment was scarce, and that readiness and recruitment were at all-time lows. “No matter where you look, there’s dysfunction,” said a high-ranking German officer stationed at Bundeswehr headquarters in Berlin. Later that year, the Bundeswehr grounded all 53 of its Tiger attack helicopters due to technical faults.

A May 2018 report by the German magazine Der Spiegel revealed that only four of Germany’s 128 Eurofighter jets were combat ready. Germany’s obligation to NATO requires it to have at least 80 combat-ready jets for crisis situations.

At the end of 2017, not one of the German Air Force’s 14 large transport planes was available for deployment due to a lack of maintenance, according to the German Parliament. In October 2017, a spokesman for the German Navy saidthat all six of Germany’s submarines were in the dock for repairs. In February 2015, Germany’s defense ministry admitted that its forces were so under-equipped that they had to use broomsticks instead of machine guns during a NATO exercise in Norway.

Much of the blame falls on former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During her 16 years in office, she was content to free-ride on the U.S. defense umbrella. Successive American presidents unsuccessfully pressed Merkel to increase German defense spending. Former U.S. President Donald Trump was especially adamant that Germany pay its fair share:

“If you have a country that’s paying only 1%, and you have some that are paying less than 1%, and they are wealthy countries, on top of everything. Now we go to a new year, and they don’t pay. And now we go to yet another year, and they don’t pay. Well, now, I ask you: Do they have to pay for the back years?

“Why is it they owe us for this year, but every time a new year comes up, they don’t have to pay? It’s wrong. It’s not right. I could say that you go back 25 years.

“If Germany as an example is paying 1%, and they are supposed to be paying 2%, you are talking about billions of dollars. That means that last year, the year before, the year before, all of those years, they would owe us money. Nobody has ever brought that up. They just keep talking about the present. So if they are short one year and then you go into the new year, they never talk about the year they didn’t pay. But they actually in theory owe us that money. It’s not fair.”
Scholz said that the 100-billion-euro fund (equivalent to $115 billion) would immediately be used to modernize the military and purchase cutting-edge weaponry. To put that into perspective, the German defense budget in 2021 was 47 billion euros ($55 billion).

Specifically, Scholz announced that Germany would buy state-of-the-art Heron drones from Israel and F-35 warplanes from the United States. He also pledged to strengthen NATO’s nuclear deterrent against Russia. In addition, Scholz said that Germany, in cooperation with other European countries, would build “the next generation” of combat aircraft and tanks.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Germany’s former defense minister, tweeted:

“I’m so angry at ourselves for our historical failure. After Georgia, Crimea, and Donbas, we have not prepared anything that would have really deterred Putin. We have forgotten the lesson of Schmidt and Kohl that negotiation always comes first, but we have to be militarily strong enough to make non-negotiation not an option for the other side.”
Energy Security
Scholz also announced a series of measures to lessen German dependence on Russian energy supplies. He said that Germany would build up strategic energy reserves and increase the storage volume of natural gas by two billion cubic meters, which amounts to a supply of approximately ten days. Scholz added that Germany will purchase additional natural gas on world markets and he vowed to “quickly build” two liquid natural gas (LNG) terminals at ports in Brunsbüttel and Wilhelmshaven near the North Sea.

In another policy reversal, the German government suspended technical certification of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany by transporting the gas under the Baltic Sea.

The leaders of many Central and Eastern European countries — including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine — are opposed to the pipeline, which they argue will effectively give Moscow a stranglehold over European gas supplies and open the continent to Russian blackmail.

Both the Obama and Trump administrations opposed the pipeline — which is fully owned by Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom — on the grounds that, once completed, it would strengthen Putin’s economic and political influence over Europe.

In July 2021, the Biden administration abruptly reversed the long-standing bipartisan policy consensus and announced that the U.S. was no longer opposed to the pipeline. The move was ostensibly aimed at extending an olive branch to then German Chancellor Angela Merkel. On February 25, a day after Russia invaded Ukraine, Biden reversed his earlier decision and reimposedsanctions on Nord Stream 2.

Scholz has faced intense political pressure to halt Nord Stream 2, but it remains to be seen if his decision will be permanent or temporary. The €9.5 billion ($10.8 billion) pipeline has already been built — construction was completed in September 2021 — and technical and regulatory certification was expected to be finished by August 2022. If or when Russia-Ukraine tensions ease, the German government will probably face economic pressure to certify the pipeline and make it operational.

Meanwhile, in an even more shocking policy reversal, German Energy Minister Robert Habeck said that he was considering extending the life-span of Germany’s remaining nuclear power plants as a way to secure the country’s energy supply. Habeck is a member of the Greens party, which has always been opposed to nuclear energy.

There are long-term solutions to Germany’s energy dependence on Russia. The United States, for instance, could supply a large portion of Germany’s demand for fossil fuels if the Biden administration would reverse current policies that restrict the exploration, development and export of American oil and gas. Those policies are economically and geopolitically harmful to both the United States and its allies in Europe.

Arms Sales
In another historic about-face, Scholz, under massive public pressure, agreed to deliver arms to Ukraine directly and through third countries. The move reverses longstanding German policy on arms transfers to conflict zones.

Scholz announced that Germany would be sending 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles directly to Ukraine. He also removed restrictions that prohibited third countries from transferring German-made weapons to conflict zones. The move will allow the Netherlands, for instance, to transfer 400 German-made rocket-propelled grenade launchers to Ukraine.

German policy has bordered on ridiculousness. Up until just a few days ago, the German government prohibited Estonia from transferring Soviet-made D-30 howitzers to Ukraine. The cannons, which entered into service in the 1960s and were originally stationed in former East Germany, were subsequently exported to Finland and then to Estonia after German reunification. Germany has now granted Estonia permission to send those weapons to Ukraine.

Previously, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht announced that Germany would send 5,000 military helmets to Ukraine. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko called the offer an “absolute joke” and asked: “What will Germany send us next, pillows?”

Economic and Financial Sanctions
In yet another policy shift, Germany agreed to cut some Russian banks out of the SWIFT — the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication — global payment system. The move — coordinated with G7 members Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — limits the ability of Russia’s central bank to support the ruble, which has fallen to historic lows against the euro and the U.S. dollar.

The ban, which blocks sanctioned banks from transferring money in and out of the country, exempts energy transactions. The aim, apparently, is to cripple Russia’s banking network without disrupting energy flows from that country. American commentator Andrew McCarthy explained the paradox:

“Europe and, to a lesser extent, the United States are now dependent on Russian energy. The Europeans get 40 percent of their gas and a quarter of their oil from Russia, and we depend on Moscow for 7 percent of our oil. If we cut Russia off from the messaging system that facilitates global financial transactions, and Russia thus could not collect its oil revenues, Putin would turn off the taps….

“Second, Russia owes us a lot of money. Despite Putin’s years of rogue behavior, American and European governments have blithely continued doing business with Russia and encouraging the entanglement of our commercial and financial sectors with Moscow’s….

“A SWIFT cut off would put payments on those debts at risk (as may the apparently ongoing crash of the Russian economy). The damage to American and Western economies in that case would be immense.”
Reactions
Germany’s decision to reverse its longstanding appeasement of Russia has been greeted with a mix of disbelief, relief and praise. It has been variously described as “a revolution,” “a full paradigm shift,” “a change of mentality,” “a fundamental rethink,” “a fundamental turn,” “utterly extraordinary,” “a big step,” “a major shift,” “a historic policy shift,” “a historic announcement,” “an astonishing reversal,” “a game changer,” “a truly historic moment,” “a breath-taking turnaround,” “a great relief,” “a watershed moment,” “a 180-degree turnaround,” “a massive U-turn,” “a critical turning point,” “nothing short of extraordinary, and “this is huge.”

German political scientist Marcel Dirsus wrote:

“Olaf Scholz is changing decades of German foreign policy in a single speech. Russia went too far and now Germany is waking up. Incredible.”
Veteran transatlantic security analyst Andrew Michta tweeted:

“I have to say I don’t recognize Europe as it responds to Putin’s gangsterism against #Ukraine…all of a sudden I see the Continent grow a spine. Way to go!”
Andrew Gray, politics editor for Politico, noted:

“Watching Scholz in Bundestag today is watching decades of German foreign policy change in a few minutes before your eyes.”
Politico’s chief Europe correspondent, Matt Karnitschnig, added:

“Reminds me of something Amb. Kornblum [former U.S. Ambassador to Germany] once told me: the pace of change in Germany is glacial, until it’s not. Today is the German political equivalent of an arctic shelf melting.”
German foreign policy analyst Ulrich Speck tweeted:

“Germany has taken a strong position. The biggest European economy and the unofficial leader of Europe. Putin knew well why he invested so much in friendly relations. Germany was open to that. But the attack on Ukraine changed everything. Comes certainly as a shock to Putin.”
German journalist Michael Knigge added:

“It is hard to overestimate how much Putin’s attack on Ukraine changed Germany. Less than a week ago Nord Stream 2 was still alive, delivering lethal weapons to Ukraine taboo & cutting Russia out of Swift out of the question. Putin’s invasion changed Germany. Turning point.”
Europe specialist Max Bergmann predicted:

“We are witnessing the emergence of a global power in this crisis: the European Union. I was confident that a Russian invasion w/d be a shock to Europe and lead to a robust response. But never w/d I have predicted the announcements from Germany, EU, and others. Truly stunning.”
German China scholar Andres Fulda wrote:

“Thank you for reversing Germany’s Russia policy @Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz! Now let us also completely rethink German China policy. Future German foreign and security policy needs to be based on deterrence and compellence vis-a-vis autocracies.”
Irish political commentator John McGuirk concluded:

“Germany basically doing what Donald Trump demanded that they do — to widespread ridicule — for the four years of his Presidency. I know it galls people to hear it, but Trump was right about some very big things.”
Commentary
Johannes Boie, editor-in-chief of Bild, the largest-circulation newspaper in Germany, wrote:

“Yes, the Chancellor’s speech came a day or two too late. But that no longer matters.

“Because today Olaf Scholz spoke in the Bundestag. And the chancellor spoke plainly! We have not seen that from him before….

“The head of government has changed significantly in the Ukraine crisis. And now he’s changing the country!

“‘We are in a new era!’ he said in reference to the Russian government’s brutal, unjustified attack on Ukraine. Now a jolt goes through sleepy, boring Germany.

“100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr as an immediate measure! Fighter jet and drone programs will be accelerated! Finally, money for defense, as NATO has long demanded!

“Numerous measures designed to ensure that German citizens do not suffer from high energy costs. Liquid gas terminals for a more independent energy supply!

“A left-wing chancellor is implementing demands for which conservative and center-right journalists and politicians have been ridiculed for many, many years. Maybe that’s the only way….

“Scholz spoke words and sentences that have not been heard from a government in Germany for a long time: ‘We are on the right side of history!’

“And: ‘The war is a catastrophe, but it will also prove to be a catastrophe for Russia!’ The list of measures followed: Arms to Ukraine. Cut off Russia economically. Is a German chancellor threatening the Russian tyrant?

“There was confidence, strength, power! Finally!”
In an essay for the center-right newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, commentator Gerald Braunberger wrote:

“The session of the Bundestag on February 27, 2022 will probably go down in the history books. With great clarity and supported by a very large majority of MPs, Chancellor Olaf Scholz redefined the coordinates of German politics. The consequences will be significant.

“Germany’s participation in the West’s sanctions policy is correct, even if the sanctions are not only felt in Russia. They cannot be calculated exactly, but at least temporary uncertainties on the financial markets, increases in the price of raw materials and impairments to economic growth are very possible in Germany as well.

“Ambitions in energy and defense policy reach far into the future. It is remarkable how quickly the war in the east has increased Germany’s willingness to build two LNG terminals. In general, all attempts to reduce dependence on Russian gas are to be welcomed. This will not happen quickly, it will cost a lot of money and require an unbiased examination of other energy sources….

“Scholz surprised with the announcement that he would mobilize an additional 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr. This is also a correct and important signal, but the Bundeswehr’s malaise can be explained just as much by the inefficient use of available funds as by a lack of money.”
Commentator Wolfgang Münchau, in an analysis for the Eurointelligence news outlet, wrote that the policy reversals announced by Scholz are a good start, but following through on them will prove difficult:

“A lot changed in a week, but don’t be complacent about the sheer scale of what is yet to happen. And look at the small print. The Swift sanctions exclude transactions for oil and gas. Of course they do. Germany can’t keep importing gas, and then not pay for it. The weapons Germany is now ready to send Ukraine won’t affect the outcome of the war. On Nord Stream 2, Germany had no choice. The Americans would have sanctioned every shareholder, every customer, and every SPD politician involved with it. It was a smart move to pre-empt this….

“The real issue is not now how we pay Russia, but what we pay Russia for. Germany has made itself dependent on gas from Russia, a dependency that will not be easy to reverse. Germany needs it both for electricity generation and heating. More importantly, it is dependent on Russian gas to cap energy costs for its corporate sector, a potential threat to competitiveness. Olaf Scholz has given the order to his government to examine alternatives to Russian gas. That’s a good start. But I see no way for Germany to compensate fully for Russian gas imports during a supply crisis. The dependence on Russia did not go away during the last week….

“Germany will remain dependent on Russia for a long time, unless the EU builds up alternative gas supply sources and channels, such as the transport of liquefied natural gas from Spain. Until this happens, I would withhold judgement on the scale of the transformation. And the corporate sector remains powerful.

“But starting from where we were, last week was a good week because it changed the debate. The test will come when Germany has to make some really hard choices. That has not happened yet.”
Commentator Thomas Sigmund, in an essay for the German financial newspaper Handelsblatt, wrote that the Merkel era is finally over:

“Nothing is anymore as it was. The strong speech by the Chancellor on Sunday in the Bundestag represents a turning point in the Berlin Republic. Olaf Scholz flipped the switch and completely reorganized foreign and security policy.

“The exclusion of Russia from the Swift payment information system, 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr and the promise of wanting to achieve NATO’s two percent target for defense spending — the turnaround is breathtaking and definitely ends the Merkel era.”
Writing for the influential German blog Tichys Einblick, George Gafron notedthat words must be followed-up by deeds:

“Anyone who followed the special session of the Bundestag on the overall situation after the Russian attack on Ukraine actually had to doubt whether they were really watching the right TV program. Was that really the Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz? Was it really the representatives of the Greens, who unanimously spoke out in favor of strengthening the Bundeswehr and immediately implementing the 2% target of the gross national product for defense? The tones on energy policy sounded just as if they were from another world. Almost everything suddenly seemed possible again.

“Not only is there to be a coal reserve, but also an end to dependence on Russian gas supplies through a broad diversification of energy supplies, including the export of large quantities of liquid gas. Yes, there is even talk of a completely new energy policy. The Germans experienced a situation as if a group of doctors had to tell a patient whom they had previously told about sunburn that it was skin cancer. The unity of the state-supporting parties in government and opposition was also surprising — what happened?

“Almost overnight, German politics was roused from its slumber. The freezing cold reality has descended on us all. In the last decades after the reunification of Germany, the desire for harmony and peaceful trade with the whole world increasingly became the driving force behind German politics. The truth was too uncomfortable to face. The development of aggressive and militant nationalism in nineteenth-century thought was simply ignored. What’s more, there were always enough voices that showed understanding for the Kremlin’s behavior and blamed the West itself for its escapades….

“Germany, in particular, did everything possible to slow down the integration of the new NATO members into the structures of the alliance. The consequences of this were decisions by the United States to conclude special agreements with Poland, Hungary and above all with the Baltic States. Only then did the Merkel government give in. And again it was Berlin that prevented Ukraine’s admission to NATO at the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008.

“The findings of their own intelligence services were simply ignored. The Federal Intelligence Service verifiably informed the Federal Chancellery again and again at certain intervals about the massive rearmament of the Russian army and the corresponding restructuring, which greatly expanded the attack possibilities of all branches of the armed forces. The same applies to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution [Germany’s domestic intelligence agency], which not only drew attention to the intensive increase in Russian espionage activities against the Federal Republic. All of these studies disappeared on the instructions of the Chancellor….

“Not to mention the state of the Bundeswehr. These days, the highest authority in the Bundeswehr had to openly admit that the country’s army is currently not in a position to carry out its mandate under the Basic Law to defend the Federal Republic of Germany. In retrospect, how hollow must be the talk of more sovereignty and a say in the world from a country that is not even able to defend itself against third parties….

“The signpost for the near future has been set up. However, the path itself has yet to be actually trodden.”
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.


NATO & Ukraine

In an unprecedented move, the EU has opened its arms to welcome Ukraine into their sphere of influence. Once this is complete then the EU will by necessity join forces with Ukraine to fight Russia. And just as the US demanded the EU to join it in the fight against Osama ben Laden after 9/11 so will the EU demand the US do the same against Russia. But the US under NATO already has nuclear missiles in the EU. This video with this article is 3 hours. It is historic and you need to be aware of all that is taking place which the news does not have time to report it all. Watch it.

ALBANIA (2009)
BELGIUM (1949)
BULGARIA (2004)
CANADA (1949)
CROATIA (2009)
CZECH REPUBLIC (1999)
DENMARK (1949)
ESTONIA (2004)
FRANCE (1949)
GERMANY (1955)
GREECE (1952)
HUNGARY (1999)
ICELAND (1949)
ITALY (1949)
LATVIA (2004)
LITHUANIA (2004)
LUXEMBOURG (1949)
MONTENEGRO (2017)
NETHERLANDS (1949)
NORTH MACEDONIA (2020)
NORWAY (1949)
POLAND (1999)
PORTUGAL (1949)
ROMANIA (2004)
SLOVAKIA (2004)
SLOVENIA (2004)
SPAIN (1982)
TURKEY (1952)
THE UNITED KINGDOM (1949)
THE UNITED STATES (1949)

NATO ENLARGEMENT
NATO membership is open to “any other European state in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area.”

NATO also has what it calls the Membership Action Plan. It helps aspiring members prepare for membership and meet key requirements by providing practical advice and targeted assistance.

EU leader welcomes Ukraine’s request, saying Europe’s way of life ‘is worth a cost’

By Bill Chappell
Posted March 1, 2022 at 9:45 AM EST

The European Union has officially welcomed Ukraine’s application to join, with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola saying the union will work with Ukraine toward that goal. “We must face the future together,” Metsola said.

“The message from Europe is clear: We will stand up. We will not look away when those fighting in the streets for our values face down Putin’s massive war machine,” said Metsola, a Maltese politician who was elected as the Parliament’s president in January.

Metsola spoke at the start of a special plenary session on Russia’s wide-scale invasion of Ukraine. Addressing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — who received a standing ovation when he later appeared by video link —- the parliament president extended her gratitude.

“Mr. President, thank you for showing the world what it means to stand up,” she said.

Pointing out several instances of bravery and resistance shown by Ukrainians, Metsola said, “They showed the world that our way of life is worth defending. It is worth a cost.” She added, “For us, for the next generation, for all those in Ukraine and around the world who believe in Europe and in our way. For all those who want to be free.”

“This must be our “whatever it takes” moment,” she said, noting the sanctions the EU has enacted, as well as the moves by Ukraine’s neighbors to help people who are fleeing violence. Metsola also applauded European countries sending arms to Ukraine, as well as efforts to disengage from Russian oligarchs and propaganda.

Looking to the future, Metsola laid out four goals for the EU:

Europe must end its reliance on “Kremlin gas.”
Russian oligarchs can no longer “hide behind a veneer of respectability.”
Europe must invest more in its own defense and security.
The EU “must fight the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign.”
Singling out social media and big tech companies, Metsola said they should take their responsibilities seriously, adding that it’s not tenable to insist on neutrality when the choice is “between the fire and the fire brigade.”


As we go to post this food shortages are now being reported in the cities taken over by Russian forces.

Russia’s invasion could trigger food shortages in and beyond Ukraine

Posted March 1, 2022

Russia’s escalating attacks on Ukraine are harming civilians, destroying infrastructure and sparking a massive exodus of refugees. They are also poised to limit access to food in hard-hit Ukraine as well as other countries around the world.

Ukraine could soon face a food shortage

A leader of a humanitarian group warned NPR’s Tim Mak of a looming food shortage in western Ukraine.

Reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Food Programme highlight how conflicts are a primary driver of food insecurity.

Celebrity chef José Andrés and his nonprofit World Central Kitchen are among the volunteers providing food to refugees fleeing Ukraine at the Polish border, as well as in neighboring countries including Romania and Moldova.

Middle Eastern countries rely heavily on wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine

Russia’s war in Ukraine could also disrupt global grain markets, potentially wreaking havoc for the Middle Eastern nations that depend heavily on the region.

As NPR’s Jason Beaubien reports, Egypt imports more wheat than any nation in the world, with 85% coming from Russia and Ukraine. Iraq, Syria, Iran and North African nations also rely on wheat imports.

Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter, followed by Australia. Last year, Ukraine surpassed the U.S. in wheat exports last year for the first time. Read more from Beaubien here, and continue below for likely short- and long-term effects.

Experts anticipate short- and long-term effects

The ongoing conflict will likely have immediate and longer-term effects on the global food supply, according to a report from the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Most wheat, barley and sunflower seed exports are completed by February, it says, though Ukraine maize exports typically remain heavy into the early summer. Most grain flows out of Odessa and western ports on the Black Sea, and could be disrupted by Russia’s offensive.

“Military operations could have short- and long-term consequences in the capacity to move Ukraine’s crop production within and beyond its borders, especially if port facilities and railroads are damaged through terrestrial and aerial operations, or cyber-attacks targeting various infrastructures and their management,” the report reads.

Looking farther ahead, it says that the world’s response to Russia’s aggression could impact its exports of natural gas and fertilizers. Sanctions from the EU, U.S. and others on Russia and Belarus could drive prices up, and the IFPRI says fertilizer shortages could take a particular toll on agriculture in developing countries.

The report argues that food and fertilizer exports should be allowed to “continue unimpeded,” but if they do not, mitigation packages should be provided to the third-party countries affected by shortages.

“Placing sanctions on those sectors will only exacerbate world shortages and penalize mainly populations that are already food insecure,” it explains.


18 Comments

  1. Cyrus Harding

    Shalom Brother Joe,

    First let me say; “Thank you” for going to Israel and checking the barley. Please send me close up photos of the plants as well as distance shots so that I can see what is around ((context)) the patch of barley. I am very aggravated by this disconnect.

    I am telling people to not worry too much about Russia invading Ukraine. Yes, I know I have been criticized for talking about it for 2 cycles but what is going on is a financial war, not a military one. ((I know the people of Ukraine will disagree with me but it is the truth.))

    This cycle will run from March 3/4 to June 29th and look for increased financial pressure in late March, April and early May. Beware the fall cycle which really looks like a bad military cycle in Central Asia. Read into that what you will. I pray that I am wrong about that.

    That are getting weirder and weirder, so don’t be surprised.

    Shalom vberakhot,
    Cyrus

    Reply
    • Rachel

      Good evening Cyrus,

      I just want to thank you for your comment of the possible timeline of posturing between Russsia/Ukraine and China which I greatly value and appreciate.

      Many thanks.

      Rachel from Saskatchewan, Canada

      Reply
      • James Dzelajlija

        Shalom,

        I’m brand new to this community. I’ve only read mr. Dumond’s 2300 days book, but it was very eye opening. I’ve also read Jonathan Cahn’s shemitah book, i find it interesting that you mention the fall cycle here. Mr. Cahn noted that everything big happens on Elul 29 in the years mr. Dumond calculates to be the 6th year of the shemitah cycles. 9/11, stock market crash of 2008, etc. This year Elul 29 falls on September 25th. What does this mean for us?

        Reply
        • Jayson

          James, you make an interesting point to keep in mind this Fall concerning Elul 29, which falls on 9/25 or 8/26, depending on how one interprets the barley being aviv. I keep an eye open for both of these dates.

          Reply
    • Ben Bueno

      Hi! Brother Cyrus. When can we see you again on your Super cycles? Or perhaps we can read it at least in your newsletter.

      Reply
  2. Joseph F Dumond

    Gatestone article Friday MArch 4, 2022 confirming what we were saying.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18285/ukraine-eu-membership

    With clear signs that the West’s strong and united response to Mr Putin’s aggression is paying dividends, there is a strong and compelling argument for the West to maintain the pressure on Russia by any means possible.

    One option to increase Moscow’s isolation further, for example, would be to expand membership of Western institutions such as the European Union and the Nato alliance to countries like Ukraine, a move that would guarantee their removal from Moscow’s sphere of influence.

    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has already stated unequivocally that Ukraine should ultimately become an EU member state, declaring, “They are one of us and we want them in.”

    An excellent source of gas would be the EastMed pipeline project, which could provide energy to Europe from allies Cyprus and Israel, via Greece, and should be built without delay. US President Joe Biden recently killed it, as he has so far killed much of America’s fossil fuel exploration, production and distribution — policies economically and geopolitically crippling both to Americans and their allies in Europe.

    The irony is that America, formerly energy independent, is currently importing 500,000 barrels of oil a day from Russia. At more than $100 a barrel, Biden, or rather Americans, are therefore providing Putin half a billion dollars a day to kill Ukrainians. When the United States recently asked OPEC to increase production to help lower prices in the US, they were told, “If you want more oil, pump it yourself.”

    Mr Putin, by invading Ukraine, has signalled no intention of abiding by the norms of international conduct. For its part, the West must respond by taking every measure to ensure Russia pays the heaviest price possible for its appalling conduct.

    Reply
  3. Karen

    Mr. Dumond,

    You wrote the following:

    “And if we no barley by wave sheaf day then I will keep Passover next month and will have a 14th month.”

    Now, in this article, you testify against the conclusions of Mr. Halevi and Ms. Gordon on the their annual barley reports, and you dismiss the Abib of God website altogether. So be it. But at the beginning of your article you, also, wrote: “Read the reports carefully.” Keep in mind – – YOUR words.

    As I am reading this aloud to my husband, I asked him: “What is wrong with this sentence?”
    “A 14th month,” he replied, “when did we ever have a 14th month?”

    So I ask you: Have you ever heard of a “14th month”? If not, did you just testify against yourself?

    Reply
    • Joseph F Dumond

      Shabbat Shalom Karen, We have records of Jews throughout the diaspora, who once they learned that the barley was Aviv, changed their current month to line up with what they learned from those who came from the land of Israel. In those instances, they had only an 11 month year. I do not have any records of others keeping a 14 month year.
      I was not admitting I was wrong. Last year and the year before we had all the first fruits line up at the right time according to the calendar we kept. We were not early as some said. Many others were just plane late.
      No, my statement was not an admission of being wrong.
      I was challenging everyone, I am willing to change when I see I am wrong. Will you and all those who kept the wrong calendar last year, repent and change when they see the barley is indeed Aviv on Wave Sheaf Day? I am willing to change, Are you?
      For convenience sake many keep the Hillel calendar. It is predictable and you can plan years in advance. Declaring the barley Aviv at the end of the 12th month, helps those who want to plan. But Yehshua said NO Man can know the Day or the Hour. Yes that applies to the crescent moon to begin the 7th month, but it also applies to the start of the first month. You just do not know.
      We will follow Yehovah’s lead as He shows us when the barley is indeed Aviv and when He reveals the first crescent moon.
      I will repent when I see I am wrong. Will you? Will everyone if we have barley on Wave Sheaf Day? Wave Sheaf Day will be after Passover. So I will keep Passover before Wave Sheaf Day in case it is Aviv. If it is not Aviv then I got to practice Passover at this time and then will keep it later. So we will watch and see. I will repent and change, Will You?

      Reply
      • James Dzelajlija

        Mr. Dumond,

        Shalom! I’ve had the great pleasure of reading your wonderful book, 2300 days… It was well researched & incredibly informative. But i have a question about this Aviv. You refer us to this chart so that we can know for sure what phase the barley will be in by the time of the wave sheaf, but i keep thinking that the ancient Israelites didn’t have this chart when they entered the promised land after escaping Egypt. They were commanded to observe the new moon of the Aviv, not calculate how far along the budding will be 2 to 3 weeks later. Please understand, i have the utmost respect for you & your teachings. I’m just conflicted on this issue. Before i go, i’d like to point out something you may or may not be aware of. If you’ve already published this info, i’m sorry, i didn’t know. But after reading your 2300 book i was reminded that Yehoshua in the ot was a type/shadow of Yahshua in the nt because they both lead YHWH’s people into the promised land. So i thought, what if the 40 years in the wilderness symbolized 40 jubilees in the wilderness in the latter days? 40 x 49 years = 1960. You said that all of Israel would return to the land after the 2 witnesses, in the year 2030. 2030 – 1960 = 70 a.d. when Rome destroyed Jerusalem & the temple. That’s the year that all of Israel effectively went back into the wilderness, right? 40 years (times, jubilees) later, we will return! Any thoughts on this?

        Reply
        • Jayson

          Shalom James. Again, you make an interesting point concerning the 40 years in the wilderness and connecting this to 40 jubilees, starting at 70 AD. One thing is for sure, 2030 is not too far off and we’ll see what happens!

          Reply
      • Karen

        Mr. Dumond,

        You and I, we disagree on several counts. The possibility of a 14th month being added to the year has been noted to that list. Perhaps, unlike some folks, my husband and I pray, read and research for answers and YHVH has revealed some astonishing things to us over the years. We do take others knowledge, opinions and observations into consideration, but seek the final answer from the Father and His son. We were keeping Sabbath, Holy Days, and knew about Sabbatical Years/Jubilees and new moons long before we had ever heard of you. Back in the 90s, while working as a journalist for a newspaper, I inquired with the local farmers if they allowed their land to rest every seventh year. After experiencing that blank stare of confusion for several seconds, they replied: “Nope, just rotate the crops.”

        BUT, sweeping aside all our differences for just a moment, there is something going on here that no one seems to be addressing about the barley and this phenomenon has been increasing over the past few years. If you watched the weather conditions in Israel this winter, they seemed extreme. And after viewing Ms. Gordon’s video one can understand why most are baffled about when the New Year begins (again). The barley ranges from the grass stage to flowering.

        YHVH’s great timepiece in the sky appears to be shifting.

        We are undergoing a grand solar minimum. We noticed in our own area the changes. The return of black birds and crows announces to us that summer is approaching, and it usually occurs in late January to mid-February. This year, though, they did not cover the countryside in a sea of black – – thousands and tens-of-thousands appearing on schedule. No, their pattern changed. Two weeks ago, less than a hundred dropped by. Last week, hmm, give or take a thousand. When will they all finally pass through? Anybody’s guess, because we sputtered into summer this week, but next week winter returns with a vengeance: twenty-one degrees F – -in the South – – this time of year? We recently had three snowfalls in this part of the earth – – THREE!!?? Even Yeshua, when asked about signs the end was near warned: “And the winters will be severe.” (Luke 21:11) That sort of change in the weather greatly impacts crops and harvest time, so I suspect this phenomenon will continue to cause even more confusion in the years to come.

        YHVH’s great timepiece in the sky appears to be shifting.

        As for repenting, my husband told me that the only thing I need to repent of is coming here and posting a comment. With that I am in agreement. So, I will not be posting anymore comments or observations or questions.

        Shalom

        Reply
  4. Steven Smith

    Shabbat Shalom family
    So begins year 5858.
    Great article Joseph, thank you
    Love and respect out to the brethren from NS Canada
    Shanah Tovah

    Reply
  5. Jayson

    Shabbat Shalom!

    I haven’t finished reading all of this newsletter, only the beginning that discusses the barley reports in Israel. I did have a thought that came to mind and that’s what I want to share.

    I raise alfalfa in central NM in an environment that is classified as ‘high desert’. My property lies very near the Rio Grande River. In some years, I can get five full cuttings in a season. If you go only 100 miles to the south, those farmers can get seven cuttings to a season. If you go 100 miles to the north, those farmers typically get four full cuttings in a season. Of course, all of this varies from year to year because of available (or lack of) ditch irrigation water and natural rainfall. Even in our small region, location determines when the alfalfa is ready to cut. The farmers to the south are always about a month ahead of me. The location of checking for aviv barley in Israel has to vary in this same manner. For many years, I’ve had the opinion that, during the Temple days, the barley examined to declare ‘aviv barley’ was not located throughout the land of Israel; rather, at a very specific location, the priestly fields located near Migdal Eder. It is also my opinion that a Levite priest(s) made this determination. I wish I had definitive proof of this. Obviously, we are not operating under a dedicated altar and priesthood at this time.

    I have one final thought. Even within my own alfalfa field, the plants mature at different times. I am constantly checking maturity to determine when to cut the field. The plants that grow along the edge of the field are consistently 7-10 days ahead of the rest of the field, even though they were previously cut at the same time. This is also true for the 1st cutting where the plants come out of dormancy at the same time. If I cut the entire field every time I observed a few of the plants at the edge that were ready, then I would prematurely waste this cutting.

    My entire point is the old saying, “location, location, location”.

    I also wonder if wild barley grows and matures differently than farmed barley. I suspect it does.

    This topic appears pretty simple on the surface but, it gets pretty complicated the more one knows and looks into it. I look forward to what brother Joe finds and where he finds it. Like Cyrus mentioned, I also want to know the context of the observation – this is the wisdom of a guy who has farmed himself.

    Reply
    • Johnny Kern

      Jayson, your many observations sound very similar to what Becca Biderman shares with those following her reports. She not only reports the state of the barley, but gives detailed reports of all seven species, the timings if the migrations, and the appearance of other witnesses found in Scripture. She is on YouTube and facebook.

      Shalom!

      Reply
      • Jayson

        Johnny, thanks for your comment. I watched some of Becky’s earliest reports but haven’t watched the most recent. It’s obvious to me that we need Yeshua to be our Leader as sheep are better at being followers.

        Reply
  6. Jim H.

    Joe,

    I find it rather Ironic that so many people want to argue over the state of the barley at the beginning of the month. Scripture clearly records the barley was Aviv and so was destroyed by the hail, a hard hail.

    All the debate over what the growth stage of the barley is at the beginning of the year is really not relevant. It simply must be where its development allows for its destruction under conditions of a hard hail, a hail that caused trees to break, as per Scripture.

    There is a second parameter to the barley being Aviv. It is that it must be able to be presented as a grain offering for Wave Sheaf Day.

    It seems the first parameter ends up being more or less controlled by the second. All the arguments about when the barely is Aviv appear to revolve around whether it can be presented on Wave Sheaf Day.

    A third item, one you’ve brought up often, is that Scripture clearly says we are to count 50 days after putting the sickle to the grain, to know when Shavuot occurs. This instruction again seems to point to Wave Sheaf Day as the central point of the process of harvesting barley.

    Today the argument seems to revolve around when we declare the first of the month but the holy days within this month are what is important. Today all kinds of discussions ensue regarding defining Aviv one way or another. Scripture, not men, simply defines Aviv as a condition that had to exist for the barley to be destroyed by a hard hail. This can likely happen at many stages in its development.

    What can’t happen at many stages of its development is that once the beginning of a month is declared, the barley must be in a stage of development that allows it to be presented in accordance with YHVH’s Word some 15 -21 days later by the priest.

    I do not see anything in Scripture requiring all, or most of a field, or all of Israel, to be harvestable before declaring the beginning of the year. Clearly, most of Israel was not spiritually harvestable when Yeshua was ministering in the flesh.

    We should remember the festivals and holy days are all about Him, not about arguing for our own processes.

    The command to guard the month of Aviv is not about arguing about the beginning of the month with one another. It is and was about being aware of when Messiah would begin and end His earthly ministry (John 2 and the Resurrection), present the heavenly Wave Sheaf, and be the Unleavened Bread from heaven for our sustenance. If the people had been doing what they were commanded to do, guarding the Aviv, perhaps more would have recognized the day of visitation. Yeshua upbraided them due to their lack of awareness of this time.

    It is a lesson we should all take to heart. Paul said, “For the Law is spiritual.” We would be wise to understand this.

    Thank you for your attention to many of these matters: the beginning of the year, the Sabbatical years and Jubilee years. It is greatly appreciated.

    Jim

    Reply
  7. Johan

    Good evening. In you reference of Zech 5:4, the last sentence reads “ A Vision of a Woman in a Basket”. Which translation did you use please as I cannot find it in any of my translations? I also do not find this sentence in Hebrew.
    Thank you.

    Reply
    • Anon

      “A Vision of a Woman in a Basket” is the heading for that portion of scripture in the MKJV.

      Reply

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