John,
   Since posting my letter yesterday regarding "Jacob's Night of Trouble" I have done some further research, and find some fantastic things. I'd like to share them with your readers.
   It appears that Ariel Sharon is the man of the hour. Isn't it appropriate that his name is Ariel which means "Lion of God." And also appropriate that his name is Sharon which means "plain" -- especially the beautiful fertile plain along the coast of the Mediterranean between Caesarea and Joppa. Jesus Christ is the "Lion of Judah" and He is also the "Rose of Sharon." What is the connection?
   Isaiah 29 begins by saying "Woe to you Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled." He's talking about Jerusalem. Are these all just random uses of the name? I don't think so. I see a pattern here.
   As I mentioned in my letter yesterday, it appears that Jacob (Israel) is currently in its deepest pain since it became a nation in 1948. The pain centers around Ariel Sharon and his forced disengagement. It is literally tearing apart the people of that nation. He, himself, I'm sure, is more pained that all the rest, because he is being forced to do this by pressures being put on him from abroad. I believe the nation of Israel is now suffering the antitype of the event when Jacob's thigh was put out of joint by the angel. It was in the morning. And, as I showed in my letter yesterday, morning began with the year 5760, when Ariel Sharon went up on the temple mount and triggered the Jihad (Holy War). And the Hebrew word for "out of joint" has a Gematria value of 576.
   So it seems that Ariel Sharon is the key figure in this final pain of Jacob (Israel). Because his name means "lion" I was reminded of Hosea 5:14 which says "I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah." He is prophesying concerning the time when Israel is torn by a lion and left in pieces. But it is immediately followed by the reassurance in chapter 6 that "He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds ... After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence."
  So, the final tearing up is done by a "lion." What lion? When Hosea wrote "Like a great lion" he used Hebrew letters which add to 358. The number immediately rang a bell with me, because I knew that 358 was the Gematria for Messiah. And the phrases in which the "lion" is mentioned, also add to numbers that represent Jesus. "I will be like a lion to Ephraim" has a Gematria value of 800 -- and "Like a great lion to Judah" has a value of 808. And of course, we know that the number 8 represents the new beginning through Jesus Christ. In fact Jesus (888) is found in the three 8s represented here (800 and 808). Apparently this work of "tearing" up Israel is the work of the Messiah, just prior to their restoration. Both events happen in the "morning."
   But look who's the human agent in this tearing up of Israel. It is Ariel Sharon. The "Lion of God" and the "fertile plain." Yes, Israel is right now being torn by the lion. Hosea 5:14 is being fulfilled before our eyes. We can take comfort, knowing that the rest of the prophecy will surely be fulfilled -- "He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds; After two days he will revive us; on the third day (in the morning) he will restore us, that we may live in his presence." It was in the morning, after the angel had dislocated Jacob's thigh, that Jacob's name was changed to Israel -- Prince with God. Thus it appears that the setting up of divine government in Jerusalem is in the very near future.

Bonnie Gaunt
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Thanks again for your insights, Bonnie.
John