Today is the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur.  It is the highest holy day and special Sabbath during the Hebraic year.  Today also is the final day of the 40-day season of Teshuvah, a major period of repentance, asking God for forgiveness and returning to a meaningful relationship with Him.

       
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God ordained this day in ancient Israel for the high priest to enter the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle, and later in the temple.  He was to make atonement for his sins and for the sins of the people (Leviticus 16:1-34).

Later, God also told Moses that this Day of Atonement was to be a special day of commemoration.  It was to be a day of sacred assembly and a sabbath of rest, a day to deny oneself (for instance, to abstain from eating) and a day to refrain from work (Leviticus 23:26-32).

I have been abstaining from food and liquid since sunset last evening, which is when Yom Kippur began.  I will be fasting for 25 hours.  I have no work to do today (unless typing with my fingertips is considered to be work).

I believe that Yeshua/Jesus will return to earth, to begin to rule and reign, on a future Yom Kippur, at the end of the 70th Week.  Here are two email responses I have written in the past having to do with Yom Kippur:

• Why do you think that Jesus will return to earth on a Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement and in conjunction with the blowing of the Seventh Trumpet?
• How does the blood atonement of Passover differ from the blood atonement of Yom Kippur?

The four Hebraic Spring Festivals/Holy Days were fulfilled during Jesus’ first advent to earth.  Likewise, the three Hebraic Fall Festivals/Holy Days will be fulfilled upon His second advent back to earth.

In particular, His physical descent to earth, to rule and reign, will take place on a future Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), in conjunction with the blowing of the Seventh Trumpet of Revelation 11:15-17.  Here is an email response in which I explain why:

• Why do you think that Jesus will return to earth on a Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement and in conjunction with the blowing of the Seventh Trumpet?

The extremely powerful and destructive Hurricane Milton has crossed completely over Florida.  As a major hurricane, it caused a large tornado outbreak, widespread flooding, and power outages to millions of people.

Milton now is an extratropical storm traveling east in the Atlantic Ocean.  It should have no negative effects on any other states.

Click on the image above to see a larger view.

For decades, countless members of Samaritan’s Purse have traveled, not just in the United States but all over the world, to help people following catastrophic disasters of all types.  They recently went out to help (and continue to help) those who experienced destructive effects from Hurricane Helene.

Samaritan’s Purse is located in Boone, North Carolina.  Boone and surrounding towns had a great deal of damage from Hurricane Helene.  To contribute to this humanitarian organization, go here:

The Draconids meteor shower occurs when the earth passes through bits of ice and rock left behind by the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner.  The Draconids are named after the Draco constellation, which can be seen in the Northern Hemisphere when looking in the north by northwest portion of the sky.  The meteors appear to come approximately from the location of this constellation.

This meteor shower usually peaks around Oct. 8.  However, it can be seen during the nighttime hours, from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10.  The best viewing will be after the sun and moon have set and the sky is very dark.  It also is best to be as far away as possible from city lights when looking for the meteors in the sky.  This year, compared to more recent years, there may be more than the usual number of meteors to see.  Click on the sky map below to see a larger view.

Powerful Hurricane Milton is churning in the southern Gulf of Mexico.  It was only a tropical storm a couple of days ago.  Yesterday, it reached Category 2 strength and then, in only a few hours, a very strong Category 5 strength.  For awhile, it had sustained winds of 175 mph, but later it reached sustained winds of 180 mph.

Hurricane Milton is moving toward the central western coast of Florida.  However, it is expected to weaken somewhat, possibly to Category 3 strength (which still is a major hurricane), before it makes landfall.  It most likely will move onshore tomorrow night, Oct. 9, near Tampa.

The greatest impacts from Milton will be storm surges, high winds and rainfall.  Storm surges from Milton are expected to raise water levels and create large and destructive waves.  Rainfall is expected to add to the destruction, with some portions of the state seeing up to 15 inches of rain.  There also is a risk for moderate to major river flooding.

Florida still is recovering from Hurricane Helene.  On Sep. 26, it made landfall on the northwestern coast in the Big Bend area as a very strong Category 4 storm.  The storm continued into Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.  Some towns were utterly destroyed, and hundreds of people died.

At Olive Tree Ministries this weekend, Jan Markell spent the hour with Gary Kah.  The globalists are rushing to their new world order.  Not even a U.S. election will stand in their way.  Now is their time.

         

         
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Today’s program, lasting 54 minutes, can be heard here:

       
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Today is Shabbat Shuvah, which means “Sabbath of Return.”  It always is the weekly Sabbath/Shabbat between Rosh haShanah (the Feast of Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).  Shabbat Shuvah also is a play on the phrase “Shabbat Teshuvah” or Sabbath of Repentance.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.  Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:6-9)

       
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Today is the Feast of Trumpets, which actually began yesterday evening at sunset.  It also is the Jewish New Year or Rosh haShanah, which means “head of the year.”  Furthermore, it is the first sliver of a new moon (see October 2024 Moon Phases), which takes place on the first day of every Hebrew month.  This is the month of Tishrei or Tishri, the first month on the Jewish secular calendar and the seventh month on the Jewish religious calendar.

Say to the Israelites: “On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.  Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the LORD by fire.” (Leviticus 23:24,25)

The first and only vice presidential debate between Ohio Senator J. D. Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz took place last night.  It was hosted at the CBS News studio in New York City.  Anchors Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan moderated the debate.

The debate began at 9 p.m. Eastern time = 6 p.m. Pacific time.  It lasted about 1 hour 40 minutes and included two commercial breaks.

Every Oct. 1, often referred to as “Shocktober 1st” in southern California, I’m always reminded of the 5.9 Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987.  It happened at 7:42 a.m., just as I was finishing breakfast before going to work.

My house in Irvine was about 40 miles from the epicenter, and it rocked for several seconds but did no damage to my property.  The quake was felt throughout southern California and southern Nevada.

I was watching the morning news out of Los Angeles.  A few minutes after the main shock, there was a small aftershock, which I did not feel.

I remember watching two of the news guys, Kent Shocknek and Christopher Nance.  They got freaked out due to the shaking and the swaying lights, caused by the aftershock, and jumped under their desk.  You can watch a short David Letterman video where he talked about it and then showed a video of what happened.

I also felt a 5.3 aftershock three days later.  Then life went on as usual.  Here is a video, under 5 minutes, showing damage from the initial quake on Oct. 1 and from the aftershock on Oct. 4: SoCal Whittier Narrows Earthquakes (1987).

I have felt numerous earthquakes before then and since then.  Here is a page with a great deal of information about earthquakes, what to do to prepare for them, and what to do when they occur: