Tish B' Av Prophecy

Messiah's Prophecy Concerning Tisha B' Av

Jesus Christ the suffering Messiah of Isaiah 53 spoke these words concerning the destruction of the Temple in 70AD, and also of his coming again to this earth!

Excerpts from Luke Chapter 21
"Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, “These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.”

So they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?” And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them. But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.” Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

The Destruction of Jerusalem

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Coming of the Son of Man

“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

40 Years Ago Today
on the 26th of Tammuz

"Today, Thursday, the 26th of Tammuz, marks the 40th anniversary of a moving ceremony that began in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem and ended on the Mt. of Olives. Some 40 fighters and others who were killed in the battle for Old Jerusalem in 1948 had been buried in a pit there, because of the siege; in 1967, after the city was liberated and unified, they were reburied on the Mt. of Olives."

Quote from "Jerusalem's 1948 War Dead Remembered", by Hillel Fendel
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123053

Incredible Archaelogical Discovery

Tiny tablet provides proof for Old Testament
(By Nigel Reynolds, 11/07/2007)

"The sound of unbridled joy seldom breaks the quiet of the British Museum's great Arched Room, which holds its collection of 130,000 Assyrian cuneiform tablets, dating back 5,000 years. But Michael Jursa, a visiting professor from Vienna, let out such a cry last Thursday. He had made what has been called the most important find in Biblical archaeology for 100 years, a discovery that supports the view that the historical books of the Old Testament are based on fact.

Searching for Babylonian financial accounts among the tablets, Prof Jursa suddenly came across a name he half remembered - Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, described there in a hand 2,500 years old, as "the chief eunuch" of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon.

Prof Jursa, an Assyriologist, checked the Old Testament and there in chapter 39 of the Book of Jeremiah, he found, spelled differently, the same name - Nebo-Sarsekim.

Nebo-Sarsekim, according to Jeremiah, was Nebuchadnezzar II's "chief officer" and was with him at the siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC, when the Babylonians overran the city.

The small tablet, the size of "a packet of 10 cigarettes" according to Irving Finkel, a British Museum expert, is a bill of receipt acknowledging Nabu-sharrussu-ukin's payment of 0.75 kg of gold to a temple in Babylon.

The tablet is dated to the 10th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, 595BC, 12 years before the siege of Jerusalem.

"This is a fantastic discovery, a world-class find," Dr Finkel said yesterday. "If Nebo-Sarsekim existed, which other lesser figures in the Old Testament existed? A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative of Jeremiah takes on a new kind of power."

The full translation of the tablet reads: (Regarding) 1.5 minas (0.75 kg) of gold, the property of Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch, which he sent via Arad-Banitu the eunuch to [the temple] Esangila: Arad-Banitu has delivered [it] to Esangila. In the presence of Bel-usat, son of Alpaya, the royal bodyguard, [and of] Nadin, son of Marduk-zer-ibni. Month XI, day 18, year 10 [of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon."

A picture of the tablet and the complete article is here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/11/ntablet111.xml

The Godly Foundation of America

(By Rev. Dr. Paul G. Irwin, July 03, 2007)

"The Fourth of July provides an excellent opportunity to think about the principles that were the foundation of this country. Even though a recent Gallup Poll shows that nine out of ten Americans believe in God, strangely enough there are those who are convinced that the bedrock of the creation of the United States is based solely on secular principles rather than religious ones.

There is a reason why the Ten Commandments, Scripture quotations and beautiful artwork depicting biblical scenes are in this country's Capitol, the Supreme Court and other federal buildings. Our early U.S. presidents were strong believers in God. For instance, President John Quincy Adams became one of the presidents of the American Bible Society. He wrote, in an address to the Bible Society, "The Bible carries with it the history of the creation, the fall and redemption of man, and discloses to him, in the infant born at Bethlehem, the legislator and savior of the world."

Our Declaration of Independence was, undoubtedly, a political document. But it also emerged in a time when the Bible was the principal literary record. The Bible had a powerful influence on the thoughts contained in the Declaration and this fact shouldn't be ignored. While the words in the Declaration did not come directly from the Bible, the sentiment that was underneath what was expressed came from the one book that was read throughout the colonies -- the Bible.

It has been said that human government needs God and faith to survive; I couldn't agree more. The Declaration pointedly says what will provide success: "With a prayer of reliance on divine providence ..." George Washington noted, "... religion and morality are indispensable supports ... let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion ..."

Early on, the Bible came with settlers to Jamestown and Plymouth. The colonists brought their Bibles as they immigrated to a new land. When the Revolution came, the influence of the Bible was deep and profound. The signers of the Declaration of Independence knew their Bible well.

A shortage of Bibles was created when the War for Independence raged because there was no trade with England, from which most Bibles came. The newly-constituted Continental Congress had a committee that reported "the use of the Bible is so universal and its importance so great that ... the committee recommends that Congress will order the Committee of Commerce to import 20,000 Bibles."

The Bibles were to come from Holland, Scotland and elsewhere "into the parts of the States of the Union." And the Congress gave such an order on September 11, 1777. The President of the Continental Congress was Elias Boudinot, who also was the chief founder of the American Bible Society and its first President.

None of this is to suggest that America was founded as a theocracy or that religion should direct national policy. However, people who believe in God can make a powerful witness to equality, fairness, decency and charity. The authors of the United States of America believed in God and in religious liberty. Faith and the Bible are not to be banished from the public square if we are to honor the power of faith to change lives for the better and to create a society where all are created equal and can be part of the "pursuit of happiness."

It was James Madison who said, "We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government ... according to the Ten Commandments of God." Abraham Lincoln was clear about his beliefs, saying, "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven ... But we have forgotten God. We have vainly imagined that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own."

We should remember a tradition started by George Washington. Our first president was sworn into office with his hand on an open Bible. At the conclusion of his oath, he closed his eyes and said, in a prayerful voice, "So help me God." As he uttered those words he kissed the Bible.

Even the Liberty Bell has a biblical tie. These words are inscribed on the bell: "Proclaim Liberty through all the land to all the inhabitants thereof -- Levitt. xxv 10."

The Bible has, indeed, played an essential role in the creation of the United States and it continues to provide the moral compass for our nation. As Andrew Jackson was dying, he looked at the family Bible and said to his doctor, "That book, sir, is the rock on which our Republic rests."

(The writer is president of the American Bible Society.)
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCommentary.

Understanding Hamas and Fatah

There were interesting developments in the Gaza area this weekend. Hamas has taken total control of the Gaza strip. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has dissolved the government and declared a "state of emergency"!

But who are the Hamas? To bottom-line it for you, they are a particular branch of Islamic Jihadists who are bent on the destruction of Jerusalem. (This development is particularly alarming since they will be strategically placed in Israel's back yard!)

Joel Rosenberg in his blog (located HERE)recalls the historical foundation for this shift in power...

"In the summer of 2005, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon insisted on a unilateral withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza saying the occupation wasn't working and the Israeli people were tired and ready to come home....such a bold move would be a sign of goodwill, Sharon insisted, to the Palestinian people and the entire Arab and Islamic world, evidence of Israel's goodwill and desire for peace....but even close allies of Sharon -- chief among them Bibi Netanyahu and Natan Sharansky, both of whom were serving at the time in Sharon's cabinet -- warned that such a unilateral withdrawal would be read by Israel's enemies not as a sign of goodwill but as signs of weakness and surrender....Gaza would not become a model of peace and prosperity, they cautioned, but the scene of a full blown civil war that could give rise to "Hamastan," a deadly new base camp for radical Islamic jihadists....sadly, that is exactly what has happened....with at least 113 Palestinians dead so far and hundreds more wounded in raging street battles between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas now appears to have gained full control of the Gaza Strip....there have been reports that Hamas commanders are executing Fatah leaders in front of their families."

No wonder their name "Hamas" in Hebrew means "violence!"

Here is additional information concerning the two factions.
(Thanks to Wikipedia for this info.)

Fatah:
Fatah is a major secular Palestinian political party and the largest organization in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a generally secular multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the center-left of the spectrum. It is mainly secular and nationalist although not predominantly socialist.

History
The movement, which espoused a Palestinian nationalist ideology in which Palestine would be liberated by the actions of Palestinian Arabs, was founded in 1958 or 1959 by members of the Palestinian diaspora - principally professionals working in the Gulf States who had been refugees in Gaza and had gone on to study in Cairo. Yasser Arafat was head of the Palestinian student movement in Cairo from 1952 to 1956. Fatah became the dominant force in Palestinian politics after the 1967 Six-Day War.

Hamas:
Since the death of Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat, (who was of the Fatah party) Hamas's political wing has entered and won many local elections in Gaza, Qalqilya, and Nablus. In January 2006, Hamas won a surprise victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, taking 76 of the 132 seats in the chamber, while the ruling Fatah party took 43.

History
Founded in 1987, Hamas was the Gaza Strip branch of the Pan-Arab (Sunni) Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement founded in Egypt. Hamas is opposed to the existence of Israel and has denounced the 1993 Oslo Accords, the foundation of the failed peace process, as a "betrayal of God's will".

Hamas regards the territory of the present-day State of Israel — as well as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank — as an inalienable Islamic waqf or religious bequest, which can never be surrendered to non-Muslims. It asserts that struggle (jihad) to regain control of the land from Israel is the religious duty of every Muslim. Hamas does not recognize Israel as a sovereign state, unlike the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) which has recognized it since 1988, and calls it the "Zionist entity", a common hostile term in Arab political rhetoric. Its charter calls for an end to Israel. During the election campaign, Hamas did not mention its call for the destruction of Israel in its electoral manifesto. But several Hamas candidates insist that the charter is still in force and often called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" in campaign speeches. On January 25, 2006, after winning the Palestinian elections, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar gave an interview to Al-Manar TV denouncing foreign demands that Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist.[27] After the establishment of Hamas government, Dr Al-Zahar stated his "dreams of hanging a huge map of the world on the wall at my Gaza home which does not show Israel on it, I hope that our dream to have our independent state on all historic Palestine (including Israel). This dream will become real one day. I'm certain of this because there is no place for the state of Israel on this land". He also "didn't rule out the possibility of having Jews, Muslims and Christians living under the sovereignty of an Islamic state, adding that the Palestinians never hated the Jews and that only the Israeli occupation was their enemy".

Miracles and the Six Day War

What do you believe concerning the victory of the Six Day War? Some see the hand of the Almighty in those events of forty years ago. Israel was NOT the one most would have placed their bets on to win that war! In fact, it appears that the only reason they won was due to some bumbling on the part of the Egyptian air force... or was it?

A very key event took place the morning of June 5, 1967 when Jordanian radar detected the Israeli air force taking off. A special warning code was sent to Cairo but the decoding officer used the wrong day's code and failed to decipher the vital information. In the mean time, the Israeli Air Force was able to essentially destroy the Egyptian Air Force on the ground, which affected the entire outcome of the war!

On analysis, there were other little mis-steps by the Egyptians here and there leading to an Israeli victory. So do you think this was just due to sloppy war strategy, human error, maybe just plain "coincidence"... or was perhaps the LORD intervening on behalf of a nation with whom He still had plans?

Author Joel Rosenberg stated it this way:
"For evangelical Christians, the Six Day War was a huge moment of seeing God's Hand intervene on behalf of the Jewish People. That's what was so extraordinary, that you had this moment where Arab/Islamic leaders were saying we're going to throw the Jews into the sea and it looked like another holocaust was immanent. Suddenly, in six days, the Jewish people defended themselves, destroyed their enemies, tripled their land; recaptured control of Jerusalem for the first time in 2,000 years and on the seventh day they rested. That just sounded way too Biblical for evangelicals all over the planet and they rejoiced with the Jewish people."

Even Moshe Dayan, commander of the Israeli forces during that time, who was "minimally religious" at best, was overcome with emotion as he went to the Western Wall and slipped a note into a crack in the stone. After he left, a reporter who took notice of the incident, took the note and saw that it read, "'This is from God. It's wondrous in our eyes," (a verse from Psalms.)

It has now been FORTY YEARS since that incredible point in history.... forty is a VERY interesting number on God's time table! Let's take a quick look at that number in Scripture. Perhaps it will help us as we watch and try to understand what God may be doing in the Middle-east.

Be diligent to keep your eyes open because...
God is at Work in Our World!!
BEE

FORTY
Forty is an important number in scripture due to it's frequent use and the fact that it is associated with a period of probation, trial, or sometimes "chastisement" (as opposed to judgment) of God's Children. It also appears to be associated with a time of enlarged dominion, or a renewed or extended rule.

Bullinger saw 15 such periods of forty in scripture:

* Forty Years of Probation by Trial:
Israel in the wilderness, Deut 8:2-5; Psa 95:10; Acts 13:18
(the third 40 of Moses' life, 120 years).
Israel from the crucifixion to the destruction of Jerusalem.

* Forty Years of Probation by Prosperity in Deliverance and Rest:
under Othniel, Judg 3:11,
under Barak, Judg 5:31,
under Gideon, Judg 8:28.

* Forty Years of Probation by Prosperity in Enlarged Dominion:
under David, 2 Sam 5:4,
under Solomon, 1 Kings 11:42,
under Jeroboam II. See 2 Kings 12:17,18, 13:3,5,7,22,25, 14:12-14,23,28,
under Jehoash, 2 Kings 12:1,
under Joash, 2 Chron 24:1.

* Forty Years of Probation by Humiliation and Servitude:
Israel under the Philistines, Judg 13:1.
Israel in the time of Eli, 1 Sam 4:18.
Israel under Saul, Acts 13:21.

* Forty Years of Probation by Waiting:
Moses in Egypt, Acts 7:23.
Moses in Midian, Acts 7:30
(Information taken from E.W. Bullinger's book "Number in Scripture", written in the 1800's)