I Have Good News and I Have Good News

                                                                          בס''ד

On Shabbos I always like to read the Torah portion and the Haftarah for the week. We have just started a period of seven weeks of consolation that takes us up to Rosh Hashanah. In reviewing these seven Haftaros, I discovered some very exciting good news.

The good news came from reading the Artscroll commentary for the Haftarah:

Haftaras Va'eschanan – Isaiah 40:1 to 26 The seven Sabbaths between Tishah B'Av and Rosh Hashanah are called “the seven of consolation. They contain prophecies that offered the people comfort and hope after the Destruction of the First Temple. They are all taken from the later chapters of Isaiah, whose prophecies were "half affliction, half consolation." As with the three Haftaros of affliction, the seven of consolation are not related to the weekly Sidrah (Parashah).

The Midrash (Pesikta Rabbasi 30:30) states that Hashem will appoint Abraham as His emissary to comfort Jerusalem. But Jerusalem will not be comforted. Hashem will then send Isaac, but with the same results. Jacob and Moses will fare no better. Seeing that Jerusalem refuses to be comforted by its Patriarchs, Hashem will then approach to comfort the city.

This Midrash is hinted at in the opening verses of the first four of the Haftaros of consolation: "Comfort, comfort My people, "says your G-d [to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses]. "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem .... " But Zion said, "HASHEM has forsaken me; that's why He has not come to comfort me" (Haftarah of Eikev)" And G-d replied, "0 afflicted, storm-tossed, [you are] unconsoled _ ... "(Haftarah of Re'eh). Then, "It is I, I am He Who comforts you" (Haftarah of Shoftim).

After reading that good news I realized there was also good news:

These verses of the Tenach are, of course, prophecy of the future. They may have been the consolation for the time of the first Temple, but it is obvious that these seven Haftaros will be Hashem consoling us in our time of need. I was curious enough since I know that there is no such thing as coincidence whether these Haftaros are for now. We went through a three week period of mourning our history and all its difficulties, and then we follow with seven weeks of consolation, which is exactly what we need in the world today. Also, the fact that there is so much evidence that the worldwide redemption and Moshiach will occur in 5776, which just happens to be the exact same seven weeks. These prophecies are being fulfilled now.

So I did a computer search and I was amazed at what I found in the chapters of Isaiah that are covered in the seven Haftaros. The year 5776, the month of Av, the month of Elul and Nibiru were throughout these chapters of the prophet Isaiah. The year 5776 appeared 35 times in these chapters. I tried 5777 and it came up 4 times and not necessarily in the correct chapters. I tried Elul in these chapters and came up with 87 finds. The month of Tammuz came up 7 times in the same chapters. Without a statistical analysis to determine a true probability value, I can only state that these findings seem very significant and add to my excitement that we are in the time of the end.

There are other prophecies that I am researching that also look very promising, but they are not completed yet.

One though that I must add for a deeper insight for my readers. The beginning of Isaiah 40 reads:

40:1 Comfort, comfort My people - says your G-d. 2 Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her time [of exile] has been fulfilled, that her iniquity has been conciliated, for she has received from the hand of HASHEM double for all her sins.

There are two thoughts that need clarification.

I have seen Bible translations that say “Be comforted” rather than just the word “Comfort.” The important difference is that this is not a message from Hashem that we should sit back and relax, that all is good, and we should be comforted. Instead, it is a message from Hashem that He is the only Source of comfort, the only source of power to help those who are with Him. In other words, Hashem is telling us that there is no way to salvation, to receive protection, to get through the difficult times that are yet to come, unless we are completely with the only Comforter that will help us.

These chapters in Isaiah are not telling us that the worst is behind us and we can coast to the finish line, the end with ease. It is telling us that we are close and can feel consoled that we will be protected and reach this time of goodness and total happiness if we come as close to Hashem as possible. It is the same message that I have been putting out for the past 52 months. The difference is we are down to the wire, and have only one very good possibility to succeed. Hashem is consoling us that it will all work, and be successful if we just live His will, follow His instructions in the gift of Torah that He gave us.

Nonetheless, if we see the commentary on the first verse, 40:1, these words are reassuring that the consolation is referring to the Messianic redemption:

40: 1. God speaks to the prophets of Israel, commanding them to comfort the suffering people (Targum). Until this point, Isaiah's prophecies have been mostly visions of retribution and destruction. The remaining ones speak words of consolation, and future Messianic redemption. This passage serves as a divider between the two types of prophecy (Rashi).

Another thought is the clarification of the verse: “for she has received from the hand of HASHEM double for all her sins.”

The commentary:

40:2. Double punishment cannot mean that Israel was punished more than it deserved. Various interpretations are offered: Her punishment was two pronged, she suffered two exiles (Radak); she embraced her ancestors' sins as her own, thus doubling her iniquity (Rashi to Jeremiah 16:18); Hashem's consolation was as great as if she had suffered double what she actually had (Targum).

This is all good news. We are getting such a good feeling that 5776 is the end of this evil crazy upside-down fantasy world, and that we have an infinite Source of Power, Who loves us beyond our comprehension, Who is our Protector, our Consoler and our Comforter to take us to an eternity of goodness.

Thank you Hashem for all the good news.