“Adonai thundered from heaven,
Ha‘Elyon sounded his voice.”
-2 Samuel 22:14
In Scripture, thunder is often used metaphorically to express God’s anger.
Obviously, the pagans had no idea how thunder worked scientifically.
So whenever they heard an explosion in the sky, they assumed one or many of the deities they worshipped were acting up.
Well, the Israelites felt the same way about the Lord.
Whenever there was a loud KABOOM in the heavens, it was a sure-fire indicator that their God was furious about something.
And that His wrath would soon be poured out on the planet, usually directed towards the heathen gentiles.
But apostate Hebrews could also be targeted.
Let’s take a look at the second half of verse 14.
We’re introduced to this interesting little phrase: HA’ELYON
Both the King James and the NIV render it as “the Most High.”
That translation is correct.
But if we really wanna capture the nuance of the original Hebrew…
It’d be more accurate to say THE Most High.
In other words, the Hebrew belief system at this time was that, amongst a bunch of other little gods running around, their God was the supreme deity among them.
So a belief in only one God had yet to take hold.
Onward.
“Most High” is what we’d call a dynamic translation anyway, which is not a word-for-word rendering, but a meaning-for-meaning one.
So if we wanna get more literal, HA-ELYON should be rendered as “the Highest El.”
We’ll get into this a bit more the next time we speak, but for now, let’s switch over to the takeaway.
I just talked about how, to the ancients, thunder was considered a precursor to what was about to happen on earth.
In other words, it was a heavenly sign pointing to what was about to take place.
Well, in his parables, Yeshua also pointed to the sky as an example of how God’s people should learn to read the signs of what’s coming.
He reminded his listeners that they already knew how to look at the weather.
If the evening sky was red, they could expect a good day tomorrow.
If the morning sky was red and gloomy, they knew a storm was on the way…and so on.
The Messiah’s point was simple:
“You can read the sky, but you can’t read the times.”
In other words, the people were smart enough to predict the weather…
But they weren’t paying attention to the spiritual signs right in front of them.
They were overlooking all of the miracles, teachings, and warnings that showed who Yeshua was and what God was about to do.
And that’s your lesson for today.
Yeshua wasn’t just preaching about clouds and colors.
He was telling us:
“Learn to recognize what God is doing.
Don’t ignore the signs right in front of you.”
And you know what I’d say the BIGGEST sign of our times is?
It’s something the vast majority of gentile churchgoers are completely ignorant of.
Got any idea?
Alright, I’ll tell ya.
It’s the resurrection of Israel from the dead in 1948.
When you connect that with Yeshua’s “fig tree” metaphor…
It should be pretty clear that we’re living in the end times right now.
Remember, in Scripture, the fig tree is tied to Israel’s covenant blessing, fruitfulness, national identity, and spiritual condition.
So, if you can read the natural signs…
You should also read the spiritual ones
Because both point to what’s coming next!
Ya feel me?
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Now learn the parable of the fig tree:
when its branch has already become
tender and puts forth leaves,
You know that summer is near.
So also, when you see all these things,
know that it is near,
right at the doors.”
-Matthew 24:32–33
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