Lag B’Omer is connected both to biblical legends and tales about the sages. One tradition about Lag B'Omer, started by the Chatam Sofer (an 18th century German rabbi) is that it was the day that the manna first fell from heaven. According to this scholar, the people of Israel finished the unleavened bread (matzah) that they had taken with them when they left slavery in Egypt on the fifteenth of Iyar (one month after Passover), and went hungry for three days. Then the Holy One sent down the manna, the heavenly bread, and it miraculously appeared in the wilderness. The people gathered it daily, and on Friday a double portion fell so that they did not need to gather it on the Sabbath. According to some rabbinic midrashim, the manna tasted like all things, any delicious thing anyone wanted to eat. Some said it tasted like mother's milk. One connected between the “omer” and the manna is that an “omer” (a measurement) of manna was, according to tradition, kept in the Temple as a reminder of the miracle. The manna represents the fertility and creativity of heaven, given to the world as a Divine gift.

As we chatted, he asked very quizzically, "What is the situation with the woman who is so evil that they put her in a basket with a lead lid on it?" As I attempted to put this mental picture into context, I responded with an incredulous, "What?" Cohen said it had been bothering him for days and thought that I might have some insight on it. I told him that I didn't have the foggiest recollection of anything remotely associated with a woman in a basket. My blank expression could be due to my particular English version of the Scriptures, but before we could explore it further, guests arrived. The subject changed to introductions and we never resumed the topic. Days passed and by the end of the week, I had about all of the fellowship that I could stand for one Feast. After the Sabbath meal I excused myself from the table and retired to my room. I needed a Sabbath from people.



When I study, I usually print the Scriptures in a larger font so that I can see the words and make notes and diagrams. I re-write sentences and re-translate words to make certain that I understand what I am reading. Sometimes I spend several hours on one verse. This erev Shabbat, I printed out the entire book of Zechariah. I do not recall why I was compelled to study Zechariah - perhaps it is the fact that after 30 years of studying the prophet, I still don't understand him. I fell asleep with the manuscript in my hands and awoke in the morning with nothing to do but read the Scriptures still in my grasp. I had nowhere to go. There was no one to accommodate. No meals needed to be eaten. Just a good, quiet Sabbath in Jerusalem during the Feast of Sukkot with the words of Zechariah that were written just a few short blocks away. Several hours later, I saw something in the fifth chapter that shook me. I completed my translation and immediately shared it with three men in the sukkah who were shocked with what I am about to tell you.



Historically, we know that many of the "writings" of the prophets were done by the scribes of the Sanhedrin, the ruling elders of Israel. We do not know for certain whether the Tekoan shepherd, Amos, knew how to read or write. But we do know that he received revelation and went up to Jerusalem and appeared before the elders with the proclamation, "Thus saith YHWH." His revelation was written down by the Temple scribes. When the words of Amos came to pass, his words were preserved as the Word of Yahweh. The opening of the scroll of Amos reads:



The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel … two years before the earthquake.



How do we know that Amos spoke these words two years before the earthquake? Because it was formally recorded in the records of Israel after the earthquake took place. Amos may have given the coming earthquake as the sign that his words were from Yahweh - we don't know. Not everything that Amos said was written - just the specifics of the revelation. A prophet could be considered a nut case until his prophecy came to pass. Isaiah's words were accurately recorded by the scribes of the Sanhedrin, but that didn't account for much in his day. The political and religious world hated his words so intensely that they took him outside the city walls of Jerusalem and ripped his living body in half with a rusty lumberjack saw. But when his words came to pass, they all knew that a prophet had been in their midst. His words are still preserved for us today. Zechariah spoke things contrary to political and religious correctness and they took him out of the city and crushed his skull with a huge rock. But when the smoke of God's judgment cleared, they knew a prophet had been in their midst. We have the words of men who we call prophets because scribes wrote down their unwelcome words and kept them safely until they were either confirmed or refuted by reality. When these men were threatened with death, they refused to recant. The prophet's words for their day and time were precisely fulfilled, and their revelation of things concerning the last days, is just as sure.



Zechariah may have appeared before the Sanhedrin several times with a revelation from the Almighty. His words are not recorded in a time-blocked sequence of events. There may have been years between his appearances before the elders of Israel. But one thing is certain; when they had heard enough - they killed him. Zechariah speaks of a great war in the last days. A war in which the nations of the Earth will begin to shake uncontrollably over the events that are about to transpire. Israel will be brought to the brink of destruction. There will appear to be no hope for the salvation of the nation. But at the last dying gasp, the Almighty will reveal his hand from the heavens and fight for Israel. All of the nations of the world will know that He has delivered His people from destruction and they will know that Yahweh is the Elohim of Israel.



Before that day comes, there will be a progression of events that will bring the players into the battle theatre. Zechariah saw a vision, a revelation that has not had an historical context until just this year. In chapter five, verse one, in King James of England's authorized version of the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures we read:



Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes,

and looked, and behold a flying roll.



Words create pictures in the mind. Those pictures are supposed to communicate reality, but words have a different reality to each individual. When an overweight, breakfast cereal sugar shocked, Attention Deficit Disorder, third grade public school student on Ritalin pictures a flying roll, they may think of a Hostess Twinkie flying through the sky, or perhaps a cream filled 'long john' with chocolate frosting. Carpeting professionals will picture a roll differently than a sushi chef, but there are similarities. Now you will see how my mind works as I have re-translated this same phrase without the help of any study aids.



I, Zechariah, looked up and saw a flying scroll in the sky.



I did not have the Hebrew text as I lay in bed reading this, but I expected that the word 'roll' was from the Hebrew word 'megillah' - and it is. A megillah is a singular scroll - such as the megillah of Esther. It is a small volume and does not require megillot - two scrolls, which are necessary for a larger volume, such as the Torah. We have a long history of what a scroll looks like. It is a cylinder that is several times longer than its diameter. It has neither a chocolate frosting or a salmon and cream cheese filling - it is just a cylinder that is doing something very unusual to Zechariah's way of thinking - 2,500 years before airplanes were invented - it is flying. Let's watch the picture develop.



2 And he said unto me, "What seest thou?" I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. KJV



My translation:



2 And the angel that was showing me these things said,

What do you see? I see a flying scroll in the sky; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. KJV



The cubit used in the land of Israel through the time of Solomon is the measurement commonly referred to as "the royal Egyptian cubit" which is 29.62 British inches. The intact gates of Gezer and Beth-Horon measure out to the perfect 29.62 inch cubit. This measurement may more properly be referred to as "the sacred cubit" as it was used in the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza long before the modern day Egyptians attempted to copy the structure. Josephus indicates that it was built before the flood of Noah.



The 20 cubit length of this megillah is twice the 10 breadth, which would make this look more like a soup can, than a scroll. But if the 10 cubit breadth is describing the circumference - such as the 12 cubit circumference of the brazen pillars of Solomon's Temple - then we have the dimensions of a traditional megillah. Translating these dimensions into a standard measurement for the United States:



I see a flying scroll; 34.3 feet long, and 5.5 feet in diameter.



I have seen many a flying scroll with these dimensions. Let's go on…



3 Then said he unto me, this is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth. KJV



The term 'earth' is usually from 'eretz', which can and often does refer only to eretz Israel - the land of Israel. Context alone determines its usage, and sometimes the context is indecisive. I rendered it…



3 Then he said, "This flying scroll is the curse that will afflict the entire land of Israel.



Then the angel qualifies the reason for its existence…



Every one that steals and every one that swears falsely by my name will be destroyed by it. 4And I will bring it forth, says YHWH T'zavaot.



Those who carry the name of the Holy One of Israel for their own personal glory and agenda - those who say that they speak for the Almighty but only speak their own desires, are swearing falsely in His name. Those who say, "the Lord told me…" and the LORD never told them anything - those are the individuals who will be destroyed by this curse that will inflict at least the entire land of Israel, and perhaps on a global scale. The prophet Jeremiah speaks of false prophets who steal God's words 'one from another.' They say they have a word from the Lord, but it is the same word that the false prophet who heads their denomination has been mouthing for the last 60 years. Those who steal and swear falsely in His name will be destroyed by this flying scroll that will afflict the entire land, and YHWH will bring it forth…



This flying scroll that you see, will completely consume the timbers and stones of the house of the thief, and he that swears falsely by my name."



This is one bad megillah! Any idea of what kind of flying scroll might have that kind of destructive capacity in our day and time?



5 Then the angel said, "Look up and see what this flying scroll is." 6 And I responded, "What is it?" MIV



This is a treasure. The angel is actually going to give us more detail about this destructive device.



And he said, "This is an ephah that goeth forth." He said moreover, "This is their resemblance through all the earth." 7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. KJV



Aha! This is where Cohen got the picture of a woman in a basket -from an English translation of ephah. When we measure out an ephah of corn at the market, we use a basket that will contain an ephah measure of product. Growing up on an orchard in Michigan, I know what a peck of apples looks like - whether it is in the old wooden basket with wire handles, or in a white paper sack with nylon handles. A peck, like an ephah, is a measurement - it is a container. But this is a container that flies! It is a flying container that is 34.3 feet long and it is 5.5 feet in diameter and it is going to destroy all of those who are outside of God's will in the land of Israel. The angel said furthermore, these destructive devices all look the same, everywhere on the face of the earth.



7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. 8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. KJV



Aha! Aha! Here is the woman who is so evil that they put her in a basket with a lead lid on it - and here is the answer.



Now, I must remind you of the scenario. I am laying in bed on the Sabbath during the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. I am scribbling in the oversized margins of my freshly printed 8.5 X 11 inch paper, as I am translating this text without so much as a dictionary with me. I am seeing a picture develop that I had never entertained in the thirty years that I have been studying the prophet. I came to this verse, sat up in bed and shouted out, "This is not a woman - this is a fire. This is not a woman in a basket - this is a fire in a container." Going down a couple verses I said, "These are not two women, these are two fires."



Now, I know what a hare-brained idea is. I have had more than my share. But I saw something that did not come from my mind at that moment. I have had a few experiences in my life when I was given a revelation so clear that I can still tell you the day, hour and moment that it occurred. It is infrequent enough that each incident changed my life. This was one of those moments.



I got out of bed and sat at my desk as I re-wrote the entire translation onto a fresh sheet of paper. I got dressed and went out to the sukkah where Chaim, Cohen, and David were all there studying together. I interrupted them by my insistence that they listen to what I had been working. I started by saying that I was going to do something very strange - I am going to replace the word 'woman' with the word 'fire'. David was not very happy with that idea, "You can't do that - what is the Hebrew word?" David is an attorney, and his yeshiva training was not going to allow for any nonsense. I told him, "I don't know what the Hebrew word is - I just want you to listen to what I am seeing here." David finally agreed to hear me out.



When I finished reading everyone was stunned. David said, "OK, let's find out what it says in Hebrew. Chaim read down the page, paused, and looked up at us, "It is the word 'aisha'." David said, "It is a fire offering!" That is the moment that I knew that this had come by revelation, and not by my mind. I was not smart enough to know this, nor did I have the tools in my hand to figure it out. 'Aisha - fire offering' and 'Isha - woman' are the same consonants in Hebrew - the context determines the meaning. The Karaites in the middle ages who developed the Masoretic text, used the vowel point that interpreted this word as 'woman' because they too had no idea of it's prophetic significance. A fire offering in a flying container that incinerates buildings throughout Israel did not make any sense a thousand years ago - but neither did an evil woman in a lead lidded basket! For over 1,000 years, every translation of the Hebrew Scriptures on the planet has been derived from the same Karaite Masorah - with the same dot under the Aleph - a dot that did not exist in the original text. From that same text, every translation, in every language has been resultant.



For centuries, men had followed each others translations and completely missed the point of Zechariah's vision. Now, I hope that you will take me seriously as we continue. I did not start out by saying, "The Lord told me…" because until that moment when Chaim and David confirmed the Hebrew, I wasn't certain. I took you through this chain of events so that you can judge for yourself the validity of what I am about to show you. The Word still goes forth from Zion.



7 Then I saw a mass of lead and a fire offering, as it was lifted up and secured in the container. 8 And he said, "This fire that you see being put in the container, is an evil fire offering." Then he secured the fire offering in the container and put the lead mass in the opening.



The container in which this mass of lead and fire offering is placed is 34.3 feet long and 5.5 feet in diameter. It flies. It will completely consume the homes of the disobedient in the land of Israel - including all of the wood and the stones. This fire offering is evil and it is encased in lead. That, my friends, is a missile with a nuclear warhead poised to strike the land of Israel. Swallow hard.



Non-critical masses of U-235 uranium or other fissionable materials are encased in lead to protect friendly personnel from contamination before detonation. When the warhead is activated, a controlled explosion propels the non-critical masses together to reach critical mass. That creates the evil fire that produces a holocaust - a burnt offering of everything in the path of the fireball. Moments later, the vacuum left from the departing fireball sucks the smoke and debris back into the void, and a pillar of fire and smoke shoots up into the stratosphere, darkening the sun, moon, and stars. (See 'The Mystery of Iniquity' by Michael John Rood; appendix VI - Modern Warfare Technology in the Book of Revelation: Bridge-Logos publishers, available through A Rood Awakening.



Now the vision makes sense. The precursor to the upcoming war detailed in the 12th chapter, is the development and deployment of nuclear missiles against the land of Israel. Thermal-nuclear war in the land of Israel is going to happen, and I am in the city of Jerusalem as I write this. I know from experience that the safest place for me is in the will of God. But it is sometimes difficult to determine if we are doing His will, or our own. No other generation ever got out of this life alive. The goal is not to live to the end, but be faithful to the end - whenever it is, wherever it happens.