Dr. Jason Staples’ latest book is so well done I feel inadequate to even review it, but it must be done, so here goes…

Take everything you know about Paul and the New Testament, set it aside for a few days and read this book. Much of what you believe will come away undamaged. However, the vessel or vehicle you hold those ideas in may be a completely different shape, model, or color than the one you thought you were in when you began the book.

If you ever read lines in the book of Romans and wondered: What is Paul really saying? Then Dr Staples has some insight for you and not just an opinion but rather a historical coherent reading of the original text using first century available documents for reference and parallels. His skill with language is unmatched and his knowledge of first century sources is amazing.

I saw one twitter account call it “time travel”, which is not a bad way to explain how one feels as they read this book. Fasten your seat belt and keep your bible handy.

Listen: “Modern Biblical Faith” needs a shake-up. Dr Staples does not tell us what we should do with the information he is giving us. I don’t have an answer to that question either, however the dead-wood that is much of modern religious life is about to meet a spark from Dr. Staples. 

Here is the Amazon link for the book

In April 2022 I published a post titled The Missing Manna Moment. My choice has been to be rather quiet since then, posting only a few times in the last year and a half, mostly because I had nothing more to add and no idea how this would play out.

Now we see a profound 50-year rhyme: October 6, 1973, Yom Kippur surprise attack, and now October 7, 2023, fifty years to the day +1, on our western calendar. This latest attack happened on a day called Simchat Torah on the biblical calendar (or for those more familiar with the New Testament the “Great Day of the Feast” as described in John 7:37.) another surprise attack!

The importance of these days, “Yom Kippur” and “Simchat Torah” is profound. If you are unfamiliar with these days I encourage you to study their meaning as well as consider the profound disrespect for the God of Israel, a surprise attack on these days implies. In addition consider what the Hebrew prophets would have said about the missing hand of protection on such days.

What happens next no one knows but the pattern is clearly in place. Prepare your heart, mind, and resources accordingly.

Does the subject of Israel, confused you?

In his 2021 book “The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism” Dr. Jason A. Staples does a masterful job of taking us back to first century via documents of many types, all of which were having impact at that time and place. Dr. Staples breaks down both existing biblical and extra biblical texts.  As well as documents that were being written in that era such as Josephus’ writings and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Dr Staples’ writing style is easily understandable for the average reader; however, you may find terms that you will need to look up since some of the subject matter is not well known, the book is also very well documented. His findings, eye opening!

1930’s Germany has a suspicious role in our modern understanding

Not wanting to give away his total conclusion, simply know that by the end of Chapter 1, Dr Staples has made the case that our modern understanding of Israel and Jews is more influenced by the German Nazis of the 1930’s than the written record of 2,000 years ago. As a bare minimum read, the Introduction, Chapter 1 and the last chapter, Chapter 12 of, “The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism”. Questions never asked will be answered. 

As a result of reading this book you will never read your bible quite the same again. I also expect you will want to read the other 10 chapters as well. I was mesmerized and so very happy to have all the footnotes and documentation which Dr Staples spent 20 years accumulating before he published. Frankly we all owe Dr Staples a debt of Gratitude for this amazing work!

Here is an Amazon link to the book;  https://www.amazon.com/Idea-Israel-Second-Temple-Judaism/dp/1108842860/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1JS6OQAX14UM0&keywords=jason+staples+idea+of+israel&qid=1682684433&sprefix=%2Caps%2C398&sr=8-1

Dear Reader,

If you stumble across this post with no previous knowledge of my book, “Know the Time Change Your World”, or this website, I highly recommend you spend some time with other posts on the site and ideally that you master the information in the 3^rd part of the book and then return here.

For those of you up to speed, here we go!

Headed for a 50-Year Jubilee

We are now in the seventh set of seven years since 1980. If the economic markers, historical and current events we have noted are valid, then we are headed for a 50-year Jubilee starting in the fall of 2029. Which also happens to coincide with the end of a Shemitah cycle, 7 years from now. (***footnote below) There is one main thought I want each of you contemplate over the next 7 years. What if Rachel lives?

The pattern of 8 sets of seven years and a 50^th year Jubilee from the second half of Genesis can be put in this chart, which is hopefully familiar by now. Notice the red outlined seven years which is the 7 years just before Joseph is sold into slavery. I propose, based on the pattern we have been studying that this is the set of seven years we are now entering. The Shemitah cycle, just before the 50-Year Jubilee.

On June 17, 2022, I visited with my friend Al McCarn on his podcast called Reunion Road Map concerning the recent blog post “The Missing Manna Moment”. Al is the executive director of B’ney Yoseph North America. http://bneyyosefna.com/

For nearly 30 years, Al served as a Military Intelligence officer with the United States Army, retiring in 2012. Along the way, he earned an undergraduate degree in Russian and German at Florida State University, and graduate degrees in International Relations at the University of Southern California, and History at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Our discussion was far ranging since Al has a considerable wealth of historical knowledge which he used skillfully to add his own insights to my observations in “The Missing Manna Moment” blog post.

You can hear the conversation here: https://7and50rhymes.s3.amazonaws.com/Barry+Miller+Reunion+Roadmap+Interview.mp3

The below books are mentioned in the podcast but not listed in “The Missing Manna Moment” blog post.

This post has been in the works for over six months; as a result, this article holds some of the most significant ideas published on this site. Everything written here is meant as a supplement to my book, Know the Time, Change Your World.

My intention was to publish this at Shavuot/Pentecost but decided to post now as we begin the count of fifty days. As strange as it may seem at the moment, I continue to think there is a good chance we will see some positive economic news in the near future. Regardless of the emotional pulls or pushes, please be circumspect as a new seven-year cycle begins.     

Here is the question I have been asking myself:  Can the rhymes of the past 150 years explain the events of 1973-74 and guide us as we enter the next set of seven years? In addition to my regular ongoing reading materials, I have read at least five books with this question in mind; each book is mentioned and linked for your convenience in the relevant section of the post. 

In addition, I have reviewed this post with various friends who use the seven and fifty rhymes in their business lives. I am thankful for their input which has improved the content. 

A book that covers most of the overall 150 year time frame I am reviewing is The Rise and Fall of American Growth, The US Standard of Living since the Civil War, by Robert Gordon. Mr. Gordon does a great job of explaining the modern world which resulted from the advent of modern water, sewer, electric and natural gas utilities as well as the huge transportation changes that happened as a result of trains, automobiles, trucks, ships and airplanes since the late 1800’s.

I am purposefully writing this now because over the next few years I expect the information below to have a significant impact. For thirty years I have worked to teach and explain the 7-year cycle. I have repeatedly pointed to Deuteronomy 15:1, 

“At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.” 

As I have often suggested, simply observing the instructions of Deuteronomy 15:1 will yield untold benefits. However, at this juncture I must add a further consideration in order to guide us through the next cycle.

Readers of this blog will not be surprised that I enjoy the study of geopolitics.

In early 2020 George Friedman’s new book The Storm before the Calm caught my eye. Purchasing and reading the book just as covid changed our world, I enjoyed Mr. Friedman’s insights so much that I signed up for his newsletter, Geopolitical Futures. His most recent post prompted me to ask for permission to repost the article here, in an effort to introduce my readers to one of our generation’s most insightful geopolitical thinkers.

Permission to repost here was granted by Mr. Friedman’s office. If you enjoy the post, I hope you will buy his book and subscribe to his newsletter.

 The Election and My Book – Where We Stand

Thoughts in and around geopolitics.

By

 George Friedman

 –

This is Year-7 and “The Remission of Debts” is at the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) next October. Remember, this is Cycle-6 of the Jubilee-Cycle in other words the Sixth 7-year segment of the 49 + 1 of the Jubilee 50-year Cycle.

Pay attention to the 50-year pattern these next few years, the 50-year will be the key to understanding our world. Look back 50, 100 and 150 years, and more if you can, for patterns and direction. Know the pattern, know the instruction.

Gather double in 6. Don’t expect manna in 7. The only way to make sense of that is to look at what happened in the past.  

I plan to post more details on this around Pentecost (Shavuot) as we wind down Cycle-6.

I have managed to riddle my way through the internet matrix of publishers and shipping websites to finally be able to offer “Know the Time Change Your World” for $9.99 on Amazon. See link here

It is now six years since  the book was published. I have few regrets, the book has many layers of meaning, the simplest being that each year has a different pattern or rhyme from the creation story of Genesis 1. However from time to time I find a reader who would have benefited greatly from the chart below. I came up with this visual after the book was published and I realized the third part of the book was not landing for many readers as I had hoped.

Each of the eight boxes on this chart represents seven years, or in total for all eight boxes, fifty-seven years from the second half of Genesis. The number in the upper left corner of each box corresponds to the pattern of a specific day of the creation story. This chart when used with the third part of “Know the Time Change Your World” helps explain how it was that Joseph knew the meaning of Pharaoh’s dreams.

This visual can also be used in the current environment. After we establish our current location in the 50-year cycle, we then have a pattern / rhyme for our current moment time. In other words, this tool can help us understand the patterns of current events from a biblical perspective.

One more important point. The last 40 years has given us some amazing 7-year events (Not coincidences in my opinion) However, because this appears to be the sixth 7-year cycle since the reset/Jubilee of 1979-1980, I highly recommend everyone pay close attention to the 50-year cycle. For example a study of the events 50, 100 and 150 years ago will reveal a rhyme for current situations. There is a reason this is very important over the next decade. I will try to write more on this down the road but do not focus solely on the Shemitah (7-year) be certain to notice the effect of the Jubilee (50-year) for the next few years. 

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this instruction. Deuteronomy 29:29

The Lindy Effect concept apparently has its roots resulting from comedians meeting at Lindy’s Diner in New York in the 1960’s trying to figure out how long TV shows would last. They eventually hit upon the idea that unlike real life were new born physical life tends live longer that mature adults. TV shows tend to live longer if they have been around a few years, while new shows tend to be canceled rather quickly.

In Nassim Taleb’s 2012 book Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder Mr. Taleb explicitly referred to his idea as the Lindy Effect, and incorporated it into his broader theory of the Antifragile.”

By using the term Antifragile, Taleb makes the case that something that gets stronger from stress is the opposite of fragile, rather than something that simply will not break under stress. In other words, a coffee mug that is antifragile would become stronger every time it was dropped rather than simply not break. Very few things in our world work this way but those that do should be pursued. Obviously, something that is stronger after being stressed will last a long time. In other words, it meets the criteria for the Lindy effect.

Mr.Taleb give us the following quote which took my brain immediately to the world’s best-selling book!

“If a book has been in print for forty years, I can expect it to be in print for another forty years. But, and that is the main difference, if it survives another decade, then it will be expected to be in print another fifty years. This, simply, as a rule, tells you why things that have been around for a long time are not “aging” like persons, but “aging” in reverse.”

Indeed, the Bible meets the Lindy effect criteria and I dare say the 7 and 50 rhymes the bible contains will make its adherents antifragile. Therefore, I would propose that the Bible is the ultimate in terms of the Lindy Effect, its enduring quality is without a doubt second to none. Used properly biblical instructions have the ability to make every aspect of our lives antifragile.