| All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and [from] the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses. |
| All the land |    erets | |||
| shall be turned |   | |||
| as a plain |   arabah | |||
| from Geba |  | |||
| to Rimmon |    | |||
| south |  | |||
| of Jerusalem: |     Y@ruwshaliym | |||
| and it shall be lifted up, | | |||
| and inhabited | yashab | |||
| in her place, from Benjamin's | Binyamiyn | |||
| gate | | |||
| unto the place |  maqowm | |||
| of the first | ri'shown | |||
| gate, | | |||
| unto the corner |  | |||
| gate, | sha'ar | |||
| and [from] the tower |  | |||
| of Hananeel |  | |||
| unto the king's |  melek | |||
| winepresses. | |
There's a need to know Hebrew history to
fully decipher this verse in deeper measures.
On the surface, a plain interpretation is that
there will be an overhaul of the land
from Jerusalem from the outermost
landmarks, East, West, North and
South.
However, I think there is tremendous subtlety
in which names of cities are used, and the
significant history that they hold. More importantly,
they form profound allegories to describe the
spiritual history of the people of YHWH, from
the time of Abraham to the present day.
For those unacquainted with the history of
the patriarchs and tribes, prophetic verses
have very limited meaning. Once the history
and law becomes intertwined with prophecy
verses, the depth is immeasurable.
Zech picks two tribal regions to begin: Gibbah
and Rimah, 2 towns which belonged to the
tribe of Benjamin, for the tribe of Jacob's
youngest child, and Joseph's only full brother
with their mother, the beloved Rachel.
Benjamin's territory became combined with
Judah's in the South.
Gibbah is in the mountainous region of
Judah in the Southern Kingdom. It literally
means "HILL". When Zech states that
it will be turned into a plain, it takes on
a more dynamic message.
Rimah is also a mountainous region
of Benjamin. These two locations feature
heavily in the disgrace of Benjamin, in
Judges 19-22 when the tribe was all but
excised from the 12 tribes for wanton
apostasy, idolatry and outrageous immorality.
These high places are brought down low
and then "lifted up" and "inhabited in
their place" another historical reference
to the beginning era of the tribes when
Benjamin was replaced with Ephraim
as representing the last tribe (Ephraim
was Joseph's son, not Jacob's. )
This verse states that Israel will be
overhauled, and new inhabitants will
take the place of the squatters, who
reside there in the same rebellion, apostasy,
and antichristian doctrine that was parallel
to the shame of Benjamin before the time
of the Kings.
The previous verse about Mount Olivet
being split apart from a mighty earthquake
echoes the ominous future of the Southern
Kingdom in the last of the latter days, which
refer to our times. The mountainous
Gibbah and Rimah villages are going to
be leveled flat.
This description that Zechariah gives is
a metaphorical way of describing Jerusalem
from it's most outer landmarks. It compares
to Nehemiah:
| And from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and above the fish gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even unto the sheep gate: and they stood still in the prison gate. |
*See how Ephraim's gate (entrance) replaces
Benjamin's gate, but, either one applies.
Gibbah is where the first King of Israel,
Saul of Benjamin, was born.
More significantly in its' relevant history
to this verse is the powerfully moving
story in the Book of Judges, chock full
of history and complete metaphor. While
the events in Judges 19-22 really occurred
and caused the rift in Benjamin, there is
an onion of prophetic treasures contained
in this historical event of a Levite priest
who has a wife from Bethlehem-Judah,
who (I believe) was a temple prostitute.
It's the type of strange story that almost
doesn't make sense, or seems barbaric if taken on
just the history, itself, because of what
the righteous priest did.
His wayword wife returned to Bethlehem where
she returned to her old ways. While Judges
refers to her "whoredom" and playing the
harlot, I don't believe this is promiscuity.
There was always a huge problem
in Israel with the worship of Isis and
the gods of Mesopotamia. Therefore I
believe the wife of the Levite was a temple
prostitute, like a high priestess, not just any
ho. When betrothed to the righteous
priest, she could have felt constrained
by the limitations of the Hebrew religion,
and returned to the carnal rites of the
old religion, where she could partake
of a more active role.
The priest fetches his wayward wife, a
broader metaphor for Christ retrieving
the apostate bride of Israel. They travel
and are taken in by a decent man, but,
the town's men came to the house and
wanted to have sex with the male priest.
It goes far beyond the concept of homosexuality
and sex. It is a pagan rite.
That was also the practice of this religion. So
corrupt was the town, that they assumed
a priest with a high priestess was also
part of their sex rites and temple practices.
Instead of the priest, they were given
the high priestess/harlot who was amenable
to the culture. It seems so ungallant of the
men to hand over the female, but, she
willingly participated in these rituals
to begin with. They didn't expect her
to be killed.
She was raped until she was dead. The priest
cut up her body into 12 pieces and sent
them to the 12 tribes of Israel.
You have to know the ancient religion
of Isis/Osiris and the mystery religion's
history to understand why he did this.
But, it was in conjunction to their mixed
pagan religion featuring Osiris, and the
legend of him being cut up and then resurrected....
In other words, he was brutally illustrating
the nature of this religion and dispel its'
mystical fertility rites with this horrifying
reality of the culture they were embracing.
It's very complicated. Maybe I can explain
it better, but, first, we need to understand
the religion of the region. We assume that
after the Jews were given the Promised
Land, they worshipped YHWH. They were
told to expel the heathen tribal people, not
because they were being mean to the
then equivalent Palestinians, but, so they
wouldn't be tempted by their religion by
intermarrying. Because they did NOT
separate themselves, they ended up
doing exactly that, marrying and adopting
their gods and religion, and worse,
incorporating the mystery religion into
Judaism.
We are handicapped by our occupancy
in the flesh. To worship Elohiym requires
a spiritual separation from the will of the
carnal nature. That's why the LAW incorporated
specific instructive rituals and instructions
as a primer for transcendency.
This love of the mystery religion shouldn't shock us.
It had mystery and allure. It excited the flesh with
it's sexual devotion to the fertility aspect of Isis
and the goddess portion of the religion.
Solomon in all his wisdom fell into the
same thing on a much larger scale,
putting his stamp on it, building temples
for it, and far from prudes, these ancients
seemed to have accepted sexual liberty
if it was done in tribute to the gods.
An incredibly large percent of prophecy
and doom refers to Israel's harlotry.
We have to know the culture more
intimately to fully comprehend this,
and the reason we need to do it is that
WE ARE ALSO GUILTY OF THE SAME
THING. By "we" I mean Christians.
I don't count myself in that, and if it
makes me sound stuck up, it's because
I don't abide in the church anymore.
To me, most churches are whorehouses
which have become hopelessly intertwined
with the same mystery religion and devotion
to the pagan deities, only changing the names
to Christ, Mary, etc.
"We" Christians are no better than the
unfaithful legion of Jews in ancient Israel.
This is why Israel was twice destroyed,
and modern Israel will also be destroyed
because of this. The land of Israel is a
secular state, and that religion which
still exists is even worse than the original
harlotry.
While we don't have the more unsavoury
rites, (or do we?), Christianity has
not been able to separate from the
mystery religion of Isis/Osiris by its;
many names. Christmas, Easter(Ishtar)
and Sunday Sabbath are only a small
part of this continuation of the anathema
and damning harlotry of the churches
who call themselves Christian.
The Baptists like to condemn the
Catholics, etc., but, all churches who
incorporate the mystery religion's main
trappings and symbols, including Christmas,
Ishtar, and Sunday not Saturday Sabbath,
are committing spiritual adultery and
will be judged, the same as the land
of Israel.
It is only after the judgement when
the eyes of people will be opened. That
is why the House of David (Jews) and
the House of Judah (Christians) will
mourn and weep in Zechariah. They
see the harlotry in their own lives.
Israel suffered with a history of this
harlot culture from the early days. Even the
matriarch of Judah, Tamar, accomplished
becoming the rightful *queen mother* by
luring the patriarch Judah, Jacob's 4th son,
when he went into the pagan temples and partook
of its ceremonies, which involved temple prostitution.
The pagan religion which had sex and
fertility rites obviously appealed to him
and he didn't see anything wrong with it.
That's how Tamar was impregnated with
the progenitors of Judah.
I get so bent out of shape during Easter/Ishtar, where
ignorant parents give their innocent kids
bunnies and eggs, symbols of this fertility
rite of Isis/Ishtar/Ashtoreth/goddess.
Ignorance is no excuse for going back to the
old religion, and abandoning the cross.
We are accountable for our own salvation,
no matter what our pastors and culture
teach us. Do we fear man and prefer traditions
of faithless generations or do we put away
the shameful adultery of generations dwelling
in darkness and rebellion?
Anyway, even Tamar, matriarch of the'
Judah clan became pregnant by posing
as a temple prostitute, or high priestess,
meaning Judah went into these temples
that practiced the bastardized mystery
religion/Judaism.
So when harlotry and prostitution is
used in much of the OT, it refers to the
old mystery religion, literally which always
usurped the LAW. From the beginning
of the Promised Land, even beforehand,
the population of people preferred the
Egyptian/Mesopatamian deities and
rituals.
That's why it's not even a stretch to apply
spiritual adultery and whoredom to all our
modern religion that incorporates YHWH
with pagan deities and practices. Anyone who
celebrates Christmas is guilty of continuing this
religion. It is called spiritual harlotry, and that
is literally the worst sin in the Bible,
not prostitution itself.
The reason the passage which highlights
*Rimmah and *Gibbah is used to denote
destruction is to remind the former exiles
of Zechariah's day that God will judge them
if they return to the old harlotry by reminding
them of the fall of Benjamin.
While we don't have temple prostitutes
and sexual rites, we are guilty in our
day and age of combining the same mystery
religion into our CHristian and Jewish
religions. The Mogen David, or Jewish Star,
Star of David, is NOT sanctioned by the
Jewish LAW. In fact, Jeremiah laments
that the Jews adopted this symbol of
jealousy. He chided them to get help
for the famine from the god of their
star, obviously a dig. In fact, the star
is derived from Molech, a form of the
horrific bastardized culture of Nimrod/Osiris,
termed "Baal" as a way to incorporate
all his different names. It is HIS day
on December 25, and the cermonies
are similar to his celebrations.
Gibeah/ Rimah
| And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah. |
| And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them [when they were] by Gibeah, which [belongeth] to Benjamin. |
"First Gate" is used in Zechariah and Ezekiel,
not the original language to describe the last
Temple of Christ in the Milenium...
Eze 40:21 And the little chambers thereof [were]
three on this side and three on that side; and the
posts thereof and the arches thereof were after
the measure of the first gate: the length thereof
[was] fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty
cubits.
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