End of the Days

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"Kumi Ori"
Haftarot: Ki Tavo
Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein
This haftara describes the replacement of the natural illumination of the world with divine-spiritual light - the light of God. The change will affect the righteous and the entire nation, as well as the attitude of other nations toward Am Yisrael, when everyone will be focused on recognizing God as the light of the world.
The War of Gog and Magog
Haftarot: Chol Hamoed Sukkot
Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein
What is the relationship between the description of the war of Gog and Magog in Zachariah, which is read on the first day of Sukkot, and the description of the same Armageddon war in Ezekiel, which is read on Shabbat Hol Hamoed? What was the sin of Gog?
The First Dream
Rabbi Yaakov Medan
According to the conventional interpretation by the Sages, the Four Kingdoms refer to Babylon, Persia/Medes, Greece, and Rome. Later interpretations extend Rome into Christianity, while others combine Rome with Greece, allowing the fourth kingdom to be Yishma’el - Islam. These interpretations assume that the prophecy ends with a Jewish kingdom in the end of the days and therefore must span throughout human history. An alternative interpretation suggests that the four kingdoms are Babylon, Persia/Medes, Alexander the Great, and the Diadochi kingdom which comprises the Ptolemy and the Selucids, and the dream extends itself to the kingdom of the Hashmona’im. Many prophecies deviate from their initial intentions due to man’s deviation from God’s path, and are destined to be fulfilled in the future.
Yeshayahu 23-24
Matal Al HaPerek
Rabbi David Sabato
Perek 23 completes the first section of prophecies addressed to the nations with a final prophecy addressed to the opulent Tyre (in Hebrew, Zor), the maritime trade city. The prophecy ends with God’s remembrance and rehabilitation of the city after a seventy year period.

Perek 24 begins a new section of the book (24-27) which includes prophecies for the End of Days regarding the destruction of the land, the salvation of Israel and the revelation of God’s kingship. In perek 24 Yeshayahu describes the horrifying collapse of the land of Israel—a collapse which will reveal the kingship of God to the entire world.
Yirmiyahu's Prophecy of the End of the Days
Rabbi David Sabato
The second section of chapter three focuses on Yirmiyahu's prophecy regarding the end of days. In this section, Yirmiyahu portrays the ark in a negative light. What is the reason for this, and how is this prophecy connected to the prophecies of repentance that surround it?
Yehezkel’s Prophecy regarding Gog and Magog
Part 1
Dr. Tova Ganzel
Ostensibly, the revival prophecies climax with the nation’s return to its land and its purification from sin. However, the process remains unfinished. The nation’s revival occurs hand-in-hand with the strengthening of God’s status in the world and God’s status is only fully anchored after His war against Gog: a war that ends with the Divine promise that God will not hide His face from His people.

The uniqueness of this prophecy in Yehezkel, compared to similar prophecies in Yishayahu and Zekharya, lies in its scope, the explicit naming of the aggressors, and the timing of the war as specified in the prophecy: after the nation’s return to its land.

The purpose of the prophecy as a whole is emphasized in the final verse of chapter 38: “Thus will I magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.” (v. 23) This verse underlines the aim of God’s war against Gog, as well as its result – knowledge of God among the nations. Thus, this prophecy is a response to the desecration of God’s Name represented by the exile of the nation from its land and the destruction of the Temple.
Zechariah 11-12
Matan Al Haperek
Rabbi David Sabato
The different prophecies in perek 11 have a common theme- the use of the shepherd and his flock in their imagery. The first part (1-3) describes the difficult sounds and visions of the fire and destruction. Afterward two symbolic acts are described, each one of them an unfavorable description of different types of shepherds. In the first act (4-14), God commands the prophet to herd the “flock of slaughter”, a flock which is intended for slaughter. The prophet herds the sheep and then abandons them; this is symbolized by the cutting off of the two shepherd’s crooks. In the end he receives his reward and throws it to the “keeper of the treasury”. In the second act the prophet is commanded to act as a “foolish shepherd” as a symbol of the corrupt rule. The prophecies in this perek and in the following perek are full of hints and obscure symbols. The commentators explained these hints in different ways, but even so it is difficult to understand their meaning.

Perek 12 describes the war of the nations on Jerusalem and Judah in the End of Days. In the first section the enemy’s failed attempt at placing a siege on Jerusalem is described (2-9). The second section describes the great mourning which will be in Jerusalem after the war (10-14). The perek is divided into sections which open with the words “On that day”, and which list the various events in the End of Days. The background to this prophecy is other prophecies of the End of Days – the rescue of Jerusalem from the Assyrian army in the days of Chizkiyahu, the vision of the war of Gog and Magog, and others.
Zechariah 13-14
Matan Al Haperek
Rabbi David Sabato
Perakim 13 and 14 continue the succession of prophecies about the End of Days. Perek 13 includes two short prophecies about the End of Days: the vision of eradicating the pagan gods and prophets (2-6), and the vision of the purification and refining of the nation, which climaxes in the renewal of the covenant between God and His nation (7-9).

Perek 14: The succession of End of Days prophecies in our book ends with a long and lofty prophecy which describes in detail the war of the End of Days. This prophecy is similar to the prophecy in perek 12. However, while the prophecy in perek 12 dealt with the fate of Jerusalem and Judah, our prophecy expands the perspective to the whole world. The prophecy opens with a description of the gathering for the war and the conquest of Jerusalem (1-2), followed by the appearance of God to go to war with the enemy (3-5). In the end, the transition from dark to light symbolizes the hope which will come after the war (6-9). Unlike Jerusalem which will be secure, the nations will be plagued (12-15). In the second half of the prophecy the prophet describes the kingdom of God over the land which will come after the war (16-21).
Malakhi’s Grand Conclusion
Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky
By addressing the immediate concern of the mediocre Temple service while nostalgically hearkening back to a golden age, Malakhi hews to his mandate of remaining anchored in his own times while summing up all of Nevi’im.

Malakhi mirrors Tzefania, but his subject differs. For Malakhi idolatry is no longer a burning issue. The point of emphasis therefore shifts from pagan worship to an exclusive focus on ethics and morality. By building off the language of his predecessors yet addressing contemporary concerns, all the while prophesying about the Messianic period, Malakhi continues to stay true to his multiple mandates.

As an antidote to the shortcomings of Eliyahu’s overly zealous leadership, at the End of Days he will enact an historic reconciliation among family members and between God and His people.

The culmination of Sefer Malakhi and Nevi’im offers an inspiring message that is at once relevant to its time and simultaneously universal: The reunification of family is a signal of redemption. That family includes both the Jewish people and God Himself. This comforting message must have proven powerfully uplifting for the beleaguered Shivat Tzion community. Like Zekharia, Malakhi reminds the people that redemption would ultimately arrive, and that modest steps toward repentance and building families were steps toward that deliverance.