Inside the White
House - Apparent biblical connections to the US financial
contagion - by Bill Koenig
The United States is
experiencing a rapid moral slide and a further acceleration into the final
days. The outcome of the recent national election will only accelerate
this.
We are living in a time as
spoken in Isaiah 5:20 (KJV): "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good
evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for
sweet, and sweet for bitter!"
Americans being impacted by
inept leadership in Washington
Sadly, the leadership in
Washington, which helped create the crisis our nation is facing on so many
fronts, is not qualified to handle the challenges, so that means the times
will get more challenging. Their previous actions have created many
"unintended consequences" with many more coming in the future.
The world says the US is
responsible for the worldwide financial contagion
The world is blaming the US for
the worldwide financial contagion; but President Bush, others in his
administration, and those on Capitol Hill deny that the subprime fiasco and
Wall Street's financial derivatives and futures trading activities were a main
reason for the financial catastrophe.
Apparent biblical connections to
the US financial contagion
There have been some very
interesting possible connections between the state of the US economy, the
Jewish fall feasts this year, and the Torah readings of Nov. 1, 8 and
15.
(Thanks to Dr. Elliot Snyder of
Dallas for the Wall Street and fall feast connections and Pastor Mark Biltz
for the Noah/Cheshvan connection to this Saturday’s G-20 Summit in Washington
and the Torah readings.)
Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New
Year) began at sundown on Monday, Sept. 29, and ended at nightfall on
Wednesday Oct. 1, 2008.
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New
Year. As such, it is a time for Jews to review the mistakes they made in the
past year and to resolve to make improvements in the upcoming
year.
On Rosh Hashanah, Jews listen to
the shofar blown during lengthy prayer services, eat holiday meals, and do no
work. After repenting for bad deeds through prayers, they symbolically cast
off sins through the tashlich ceremony.
Rosh Hashanah is both a solemn
and a happy day. It is a time for introspection, asking for forgiveness,
giving forgiveness, resolving to do better, remembering God is King and Judge,
and praying for a healthy and happy year to come. Those observing the Jewish
New Year are solemn in their repentance but happy in their confidence that God
is merciful and good.
The stock market crash of 2008
In 2008, Rosh Hashanah began on
the evening of Sept. 29, while Yom Kippur began on the evening of Oct.
9.
On Rosh Hashanah eve in the U.S.
(Sept. 29), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed down a
record-setting 777.68 points. Israel was already celebrating Rosh Hashanah at
the time of the record Dow close.
Dr. Elliot Snyder wrote:
Seven is the number of God, and
777 could represent "Holy, Holy, Holy." This is God's signature, the manner in
which the angels praise the Sovereign God in Isaiah 6:3. This is also
reflected in 7-Seal, 7-Trumpet and 7-Bowl Judgments, in the events of things
to come as outlined in Revelation 6:19! I believe the Rosh Hashanah shofar was
a heralding, proclamation or announcement of God's weighing our nation in the
balance beginning at the start of the 10 Days of Awe. The judge is entering
the courtroom.
The eyes of the financial world
were fixed upon the 777-point drop, the largest single one-day point decline
in the history of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), although not the
largest percentage drop.
Other peculiarities on the
opening bell and gavel of 9/29/08 and 9/30/08 for the NYSE
There was an anomaly at the
opening bell when there was no opening bell! At 9:30 am ET a mechanical bell
should have rung. As the CNBC countdown to the opening reached zero, there was
puzzlement at the podium as the bearer of the gavel awaited the opening bell
in vain. After about a minute, even without the bell, trading began.
The next morning, the bell
worked. CNBC had made a big deal over the bell having never failed to ring
before; it had failed on the morning of 9/29. On 9/30 the bell worked at
9:30AM; however, with the camera fixed upon the podium, there was no one
manning the gavel!
??
Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of
Atonement) began at sundown on Wednesday, Oct. 8, and ended at nightfall on
Thursday, Oct. 9.
Yom Kippur, literally "Day of
Atonement," is the holiest day of the Jewish year.
After the Israelites alienated
God by worshipping the golden calf, Moses ascended Mount Sinai to ask God for
forgiveness. While Moses was on the mountain, the Israelites repented by
fasting. On the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei (Yom Kippur), Moses
descended Mount Sinai with the second tablets. Thus, on the first Yom Kippur
(approximately 3,500 years ago), the Israelites succeeded in atoning for their
sins and restoring their covenant with God.
Why is Yom Kippur
important?
Yom Kippur is observed eight
days after Rosh HaShanah (the Jewish New Year). Jews believe that on Rosh
HaShanah, God inscribes all of their names in the "books"; and on Yom Kippur,
the judgment entered in these books is sealed. Yom Kippur is, essentially, the
last chance to demonstrate repentance and change God's judgment. On Yom
Kippur, one's fate for the coming year is sealed.
Dow falls 678.91
Dr. Elliot Snyder wrote:
On Yom Kippur eve in the U.S.
(Oct. 9), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed down 678.910 (6, 7,
8, 9, 10!) The odds of this precise sequence arising are
1:99,999.
Following the 10 Days of Awe, on
the Day of Atonement or Judgment, God sent another numerical message through
the fall of the stock market. Specifically, God has judged the nation in
accordance with the Noahic law. This is spelled out in the second table of the
Ten Commandments ? specifically, 6-10* ? by the Dow falling exacxactly
678.910. As the sun had already set in Jerusalem, God was telling us that we
have been weighed in the balance of the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th
commandments and found wanting. God has spoken for all with eyes to see and
ears to hear!
Our nation is not being judged
for idolatry, blasphemy or failure in Sabbath observations, but rather for
murder, adultery, stealing, lying and covetousness.
??
The Days of Awe refers to the
ten days between the first two Fall Feasts of Israel, Rosh Hashanah (or the
Feast of Trumpets), and Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement.
The sound of the trumpet shofar
ushering in Rosh Hashanah and the Days of Awe is a call to a searching of our
souls and thorough examination of our thoughts, deeds and intentions for the
past year. This begins a time of God's evaluating the life of each member of
the House of Israel, culminating on the 10th day with Yom Kippur, the day of
final judgment, and hopefully, atonement.
The just verdict was to be
pronounced on the Day of Judgment, Yom Kippur!
One of the worst seven-day
declines in Wall Street history occurred during this year's Days of
Awe
Chronology ? Sept.. 29?Oct.
10
Sept. 29: U.S. House of
Representatives rejects mammoth $700 billion bailout plan. Dow Jones
Industrial Average (DJIA) drops 777.68. (Rosh Hashanah began that evening; it
had already begun in Israel at the close of Wall Street.)
Sept. 30: Wachovia Bank teeters
on collapse, starts negotiating with Citigroup for takeover deal.
Oct. 1: U.S. Senate adopts
massive bailout plan, adding sweeteners to get House acceptance.
Oct. 3: Wells Fargo Bank and the
fourth largest U.S. bank, Wachovia Corp., announce merger.
Oct. 3: The largest government
intervention in capital markets in U.S. history clears the U.S. House of
Representatives, becoming law with President Bush's signature. The bailout was
for $700 billion.
Oct. 6: Responding to global
credit fears, the Dow finished below 10,000 for the first time since October
2004. After a day in which stocks dropped as deeply as 9,600, the market
rebounded, finishing the day at 9990.47.
Oct 9: The Dow Jones industrial
average closed down 678.910 points, or 7.33 percent, at 8,579.19. It's the
first time since May 2003 that the Dow traded below 8,600. The steep sell-off
capped the Dow and the S&P's biggest seven-day decline since the October
1987 market crash, and the NASDAQ’s worst seven-day decline since December
2000. Over the seven days, the Dow shed almost 21 percent and the S&P 500
nearly 22 percent. The steep declines came on the anniversary of the Dow's
all-time closing high above 14,000.
"With no visible sign of
restoration of normal credit movement, that is shaking investor confidence
that the banking system at this point still has a long way to go before it
gets fixed," said Frederic Dickson, senior vice president and market
strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co., in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Oct. 10: The central barometer
of the U.S. economy, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended one of its worst
weeks in history.
??——??
>
Torah reading ? Noov. 1 ? Times
of Noah
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/index.html
Torah / Gen. 6:9-11:32 ?
Haphtarah / Isaiah 54:1-55:5, 1 Pet. 3:18-22
The Torah makes clear that the
world was not flooded because of the caprice of some god, but because it had
become corrupt, destructive and entirely idolatrous. Moreover, Noah was not
arbitrarily saved, but was considered ish tzaddik (a righteous man), perfect
in his generation: Noah walked with God.
The earth was repopulated
through Noah's three sons (as the founders of the "seventy nations" of the
Gentiles ? as described in the detailed genealogy of Genesis chapter 10). The
descendants of Noah remained a single people group with a single language
(leshon hakodesh) for ten generations.
However, they eventually
returned to the evil ways of the "sons of Cain" by uniting in an idolatrous
religion that led them to build a "tower with its top in the heavens." God
confounded their evil religion, however, by "confusing their speech" and
thereby dispersed the people into the 70 nations of the earth (the abandoned
tower was called Bavel (Babel) and is considered by many to be the origin of
"Mystery Babylon").
Nov. 2 Israel's secular
leadership pressured Israeli settlers to leave unauthorized settlements
Nov. 2 Shin Bet chief warned
extreme-right settlers might carry out political assassination
Nov. 2 Israel's government
decided on new measures against the illegal Jewish outposts in the West Bank
Nov. 2 Ehud Barak: Settlers
trying to fracture State's authority
Nov. 4 Ehud Olmert reiterated
that he intended to use every day left in office to continue pushing forward
with the diplomatic process, saying that Israel's problems were too pressing
to wait.
Nov. 4 Dozens arrived at
Jerusalem's Mt. Herzl Cemetery to take part in the civilian memorial ceremony
held for slain Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Former IDF Chief of Staff Amnon
Lipkin-Shahak spoke of the growing violence within the far right: "Rabin
wouldn’t have allowed for a reserve officer to have his arm broken and do
nothing about it. This simply cannot happen, and it makes no difference
whether it emanates from the Left, the Right or the middle."
Infrastructure Minister Binyamin
Ben-Eilezer warned that a political assassination was still possible in
today's political climate: "The writing is once again on the wall, this time
in bigger letters. The next political assassination is right around the
corner," he said.
Nov. 4: The United States
selected Barack Obama to be president, a man who says homosexuality isn't a
sin, is not opposed to late-term abortion (even infanticide), has questionable
domestic and foreign associations, and says that people can be saved through
other faiths while calling himself a Christian.
November 4: Daunting challenges
lie ahead for the U.S. economy as it faces the worst financial crisis in
decades, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said Tuesday. "We are
navigating the mother of all financial storms," Richard W. Fisher, the Dallas
Fed's president and chief executive, said at a meeting of the Texas Cattle
Feeders Association in Grapevine.
"Despite the efforts of the Fed,
the hope that comes with a new presidency and what will hopefully be
responsible and carefully calibrated fiscal initiatives from Congress, I
believe we have an epic challenge ahead of us," he said.
All told, the assets on the
Fed's books now exceed $1.9 trillion, compared with $890 billion at the
beginning of this year, Mr. Fisher said. They could grow even more in the
coming months to as much as one-fifth of gross domestic product, or GDP, he
said. "I would not be surprised to see them aggregate to $3 trillion ? 20
percent of GDP ? by the time we ring in the New Year," he said.
Nov. 5-6: Major post-election
sell-offs on the Dow, S&P 500 and the NASDAQ. Rice left for Israel.
Nov. 6: Harvard University
sponsored Islamic Finance 101 at the U.S. Treasury Department.
Nov. 6: Rice arrived in Israel
for the 24th trip as secretary of state. On Thursday evening she met with
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, followed by a dinner at the home of U.S.
Ambassador James Cunningham in Herzliya with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi
Livni.
Nov. 7: Rice met leading prime
ministerial candidates, Likud head Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister
Ehud Barak. She traveled to Ramallah for a meeting with PA officials and flew
to Jordan for a meeting with King Abdullah.
Torah reading Nov. 8 – God
instructs Abraham to go to Canaan
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/index.html
Torah / Gen. 12:1-17:27 ?
Haphtarah / Isaiah 40:27-41:16, Romans 4:1-25
Abram left everything behind in
response to the promise of divine inheritance given by the LORD. As a result
of his obedience, the LORD told Abram that he would become the father of a
multitude of people, as numerous as the stars in heaven. The LORD then renamed
him Abraham and made a covenant to give him the land of Canaan as an
everlasting possession. The LORD further commanded Abraham and his descendants
to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant.
Nov. 8: Rice flew back to Israel
on Friday evening, and on Saturday morning took a trip to Jenin to get a
first-hand look at the PA's efforts to assert security control there.
Nov. 9: The Quartet met in
Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, on the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and
their descendants. Rice and the Quartet leaders met with Livni and Palestinian
Authority negotiator Ahmed Qurei on where the negotiations currently stand. In
attendance were United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, High
Representative for European Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana,
European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and
Quartet Representative Tony Blair.
Nov. 9: This day was the 70th
anniversary of Kristallnacht ? the nights of Nov. 9-10, 1938, when ggangs of
Nazi youth roamed through Jewish neighborhoods breaking windows of Jewish
businesses and homes, burning synagogues and looting. In all, 101 synagogues
and almost 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed. Some 26,000 Jews were
arrested and sent to concentration camps. Jews were physically attacked and
beaten, and 91 died (Snyder, Louis L. Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. New
York: Paragon House, 1989:201).
Nov. 10: This day was the 7th
anniversary of President Bush declaring to the U.N. General Assembly that he
favored a Palestinian state ? the first time a U.S. president had maade that
declaration.
Nov. 11: The Obama-Biden
transition team included both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" in
its non-discrimination policy for applicants for employment in the incoming
Obama administration.
Christopher Anders, senior
legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, said
"President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden, by explicitly rejecting
the bigotry and intolerance of the past, are committing that gay, lesbian and
transgender professionals can serve in government without fear of
discrimination." (AFA)
Nov. 12: Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson laid out details for the next stage of the government's
financial-market rescue package announcing that he has shelved the original
plan to buy troubled mortgage assets while turning his attention to non-bank
financial institutions and consumer finance.
Nov. 12 King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia sponsored United Nations high-level debate on interfaith dialogue.
President Bush gave a message on faith. He said freedom is God's gift to every
man, woman and child ? and that freedom includes the right of all peeople to
worship as they see fit.
Nov. 13 Bush discussed financial
markets and world economy. He said, "We're facing this challenge together, and
we're going to get through it together. The United States is determined to
show the way back to economic growth and prosperity."
Nov. 13 Bush unexpectedly met
Livni, Peres: During a brief, unscheduled and warm encounter on Thursday
afternoon in New York, Livni told Bush that he had helped advance
Israeli-Palestinian peace hopes and congratulated him for standing up to
terrorism and extremism.
Torah reading Nov. 15 – Abraham
and Sarah promised a son. Abraham pleaded for Sodom. God destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/index.html
Torah / Gen. 18:1-22:24 ?
Haphtarah/ 2 Kings 4:1-37, 2 Peter 2:4-11
While the three men were eating,
one of them announced that in exactly one year, He would return to them and
Sarah would then birth to a son. Sarah, who had been listening from the tent
door, heard this and laughed within herself at the suggestion. To this the
LORD (disguised as one of the three guests) replied "Why did Sarah laugh and
say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too
wonderful for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you about this
time next year, and Sarah shall have a son."
The three guests then set out
from there for Sodom, and Abraham accompanied them to see them off. Then the
LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that he
shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the
earth shall be blessed in him?" The LORD then explained that He was going to
see if the outcry against the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was true,
and if so, was going to pronounce judgment upon it.
Abraham then questioned the
LORD: "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?" he asked.
"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" In a profound sequence
of hypothetical questions and answers, Abraham asked the LORD whether He would
destroy the entire city if 50 righteous dwelt there. No, answered the LORD,
not if there were 50 in the city. Well, how about 45? No again, answered the
LORD. Abraham began showing some chutzpah. What about 40? 30? 20? ? 10? Thhe
LORD then stated that if even ten righteous men were found there, He would
spare the city from His wrath, and then went His way.
Summary: Abraham and Sarah were
promised a son. Abraham begged for Sodom. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
Isaac was born. Hagar and Ishmael were sent away. God tested Abraham.
Bank Crisis: Special G20 Summit
in Washington
The Top 20 global financial
powers will meet in Washington on Saturday, Nov. 15.
Nov. 15 is Cheshvan 17, the 17th
day of the second month, the very day when Noah's flood began (Genesis 7:11):
"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the
seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great
deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened."