Israeli Singer sings that the Messiah may appear

By koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Visiting Professor

Department of Liberal Education

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

The song was Sunday 23rd of June at the Cave of Machpella in Hebron by Israeli singer Amir Benayoun. The Israeli Newspaper, Arutzsheva, carried the lyrics and videos of the singer.

The lyrics, unofficially translated, are:

I heard that you are coming back all the way

I saw angels preparing the table for the son of the King

I saw a ladder, too, ascending and descending

I heard wind touching the leaves

I saw you, it was not a delirium

I heard that the sea declared a joyous day

I saw the stars and moon dancing

They, too, know how to roll back

I heard that the sun is in fact a shadow

I saw a tower shake and fall

(chorus)

Come, we have been waiting for you for too many years

We have become mad, we have lost our visage

We are simply withering away, so come

Yes, come, there are no more vessels* for us to break

We do not know who is sober

and who is drunk, and falling into the well, as it happens

So come, yes come

I heard that you are really standing at the gate

and that every innocent lamb will be able to live in the forest, and I heard

that this heart, too, will not die anymore

Imagination will sign a peace treaty with reality

All the sounds will be one simple song

Come, we have been waiting for you...

*It is considered to be a kabbalistic allusion. My education included a study of Kabbalism under Rabbi dr. Izak ben-Yosef and also prof. dr. Hennie J. Dreyer of Unisa. The book of G. Scholem, Major trends in Jewish mysticism (New York: Schocken Books, 1974) was prescribed.

The name of Isaac Luria is connected to Kabbalism and his chief disciple was Rabbi Vital (1543-1620). He wrote on the “Tree of Life” and advocated God’s withdrawal at the creation. When God wished to create, there was no space so the En Sof (light) concentrated His being to the middle point and withdrew like a spiral to the inside and thus made space to create. While he was in Syria between 1609-1612 he had visions and dreams. In 1578, on Sabbath morning he was preaching in Jerusalem and the sister of Rabbi Judah Mishan was present and she said that while Vital was preaching, a pillar of fire was above his head and Elijah was there at his right hand to support him.

Eiljah de Vidas wrote his kabbalistic ideas in 1575 on ‘God’s glory in the synagogue’. “It belongs to the respect one should have for the synagogue that one should not raise one’s voice there to call someone or for any other reason,” he wrote. Three reasons were given: Genesis 28:17; Exodus 40:35; 1 Kings 8:11.

Eleazar Azikiri (1533-1600) wrote mystical diaries containing meditations, revelations, dreams. He wanted to focus on spiritual perfection and communion with God. In 1575 he drew up a “deed of association” with God. For the mitzvah 1. Intent to fulfill our duty to God; 2. Perform with love and fear of God; 3. Perform with joy; 4; Carry out all not just in part; 5. Pay attention to all the necessary details; 6. Run to do the law; 7. Do not delegate your responsibilities; 8. Do not favor one precept above another; 9. Do not do two precepts simultaneously; 10. Respect the precepts; 11. Wait with anticipation to perform; 12. Be energetic; 13. Do it as part of a group not by oneself. Of Maimonides the Kabbalists said “Maimonides wrote what he wanted to write but if only he had not written it”. So this song of Amir Benayoun is also a kabbalistic allusion.

It is wrong to think that there are similarities in thought between his words and that of a Seventh-day Adventist. On the face of it, we also share the same lyrics with him. The context the lyrics is embedded in, differs so drastically, that it is likely that a Seventh-day Adventist Christian would experience problems. It is still forbidden to proselytize in Israel and people who try to do that may face deportation. That was 20 years ago. Whether it is the same today is not sure.

There is a view among Seventh-day Adventists, that as the End of Time approaches and as the Latter Rain Holy Spirit is poured out on “all flesh” that in essence, the similarities in thought patterns may lead to a pouring in of peoples from other denominations, non-religious groups and different religions, to the Seventh-day Adventist movement. The Hermeneutics of Seventh-day Adventists is so advanced, that I am sold out on this idea as well. If am in this hermeneutical machine now for 48 years of which the greater part was with serious academics. There is no movement on this globe that has this key to the proper understanding of Scriptures. Of course they are not just a pop-up suddenly. Much of what they have was already turned around by someone earlier in past history, but the wholesome, harmonious, protective approach to scripture, is hard to equal somewhere else.

Sources:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169255#.Udgbsjv0HH8

Gill Ronen, “Singer Calls for Messiah in Hevron Appearance” Arutzsheva 6 June 2013.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169255#.Udgbsjv0HH8