In a threaded discussion the other day, someone cited Jeremiah 7, but I inadvertently turned to chapter 9 and read,

¹¹⁵ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. ¹⁶ I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.”

Jeremiah 9

A phrase leapt off the page and I had to consider a possible connection with the book of Revelation.

I’ve long known that the prophecies in the latter part of Scripture cannot be understood apart from their context, namely the Torah and the Prophets. Here is another example. Let’s dive in.

The phrase that initially jumped at me was, “wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.” It reminded me of,

¹⁰ The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. ¹¹ The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.

Revelation 8

So, as I often do, I began reading Jeremiah 9 again for context and saw some more connections (in bold),

¹² Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? ¹³ The Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My Torah (instructions/law) which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, ¹⁴ but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,” ¹⁵ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. ¹⁶ I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.”

Jeremiah 9

The first and most obvious is that like Judah being disciplined for forsaking the Torah, the whole earth will be judged for precisely the same thing! Christendom doesn’t like to deal with this, but Yah clearly tells us why He judges the whole earth by fire and sword.

24 Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants. ² And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. ³ The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. ⁴ The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. ⁵ The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed Torah (instructions/laws), violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. ⁶ Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.

Certainly, the prophecy related in Revelation involves much sword, death, and devastation, but it also seems to have the ‘antidote’ or ‘collision avoidance system’ for those who would prefer not to face the wrath of Yah!

12:¹⁷ So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Yeshua.

14:¹² Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Yeshua.

15:³ And they *sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

20:⁴ Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 

Revelation, various chapters

All four citations from Revelation include two parts, Torah (obedience to commandments/word of God) AND faith/testimony in/of Yeshua.

One specific aspect of Torah is to reject the Baals that we have inherited from our fathers (Jeremiah 9:14; 6:16-19, and 16:19-21). Christmas and Easter exactly fit into this description of what we are to turn away from.

A quick side note, for illustration: A few days ago, I was in a ‘Bible discussion’ with someone as I told my story. I mentioned that Christmas is rooted in paganism. He said, ‘Yeah, I know. So is Easter.’ I then mentioned that Deuteronomy very specifically commands that we not worship Yahweh as the pagans/nations do. In that instant, he purposefully turned his back to me and began conversing with a colleague, clearly not interested in pursuing the topic. He stands guilty and chooses known Baals!

Folks, to understand Revelation, we must read and know the Torah and the Prophets. And, to to be protected from Yah’s wrath in the coming days, we must have Torah AND Yeshua.

How ya doing?