Preface: The following post....Forty Days....is from Friday July 12....eleven days ago. I am bringing it up front for today because in about four hours the Israeli Prime Minister will be speaking to a joint session of Congress. These past eleven days have been traumatic....with watershed events. When this speech was planned by both the Speaker of the House and the Israeli Prime Minister....they had no idea that it would be much more than even what speeches to joint sessions of Congress normally are. The Vice President....who is the presumptive Democrat nominee for president....and who usually presides over such speeches....will not be in attendance. There are others in the Congress who are in effect boycotting the speech....and this for political reasons. The Republican nominee for vice president also will not be in attendance....or so the plan is of now....because of campaign commitments.....but this speech was planned well before he was nominated? This will be Benjamin Netanyahu's fourth speech before a joint sessions of Congress....and they are always political in substance....for they involve both our national security and that of Israel....but this speech is being overshadowed by our politics. It is so very important to see where America stands in relation to Israel....and to show support and commitment. The Prime Minister is scheduled to meet separately with President Biden....and separately with Vice President Harris....and separately with Donald Trump. Adding to the turbidity of the moment....President Biden will address the nation in the evening. May God's hand be upon all of this....and may the Holy Spirit awaken Christians....clear our vision....and set us firmly on the only rock upon which we would not be moved in the turmoil ahead....if it be His will....and to His Glory alone!
Forty Days
Tisha be-Av...or Tisha B'Av....or the 9th of Av....begins this year at sundown on Monday, August 12....and ends at nightfall on the next day....Tuesday, August 13. Keep in mind that Eastern Standard time is seven hours behind Jerusalem time....so sunset on August 12 would be about 12:25 PM here in Pittsburgh. This is that day on the Hebrew calendar where both the first and second temples were destroyed! There were other tragic events on this date in Jewish history.
There is a period of three weeks....actually they refer to it as....The Three Weeks....where Jews fast in a solemn remembrance and mourning of past tragedies. They schedule no weddings or other festive occasions during these three weeks. The 17th of Tammuz....this year July 23....begins those....'three weeks'....that date remembering the day that Babylon breached the walls of Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was originally scheduled to give a speech before a joint session of Congress on June 13th....before it was realized that June 13 was the last day of a Jewish holiday....Shavout....so the important speech was rescheduled for July 24. So....what we are looking at is that Benjamin Netanyahu....the Prime Minister of Israel....is scheduled to give an important speech.....in the most important of venues.....a joint session of Congress....the day after the fast day of the 17th of Tammuz....and the second day of three weeks of dark reflection and mourning that begins in Israel!
I would remind you that the war....only the latest war....that is currently adding to this world's tailspin....began on the last day of Sukkot....and is sometimes referred to as....the Sukkot War. The following is a paragraph from a July 2020 post:
The dates of the future feasts of Israel are always only a click away for me or anyone who feels that surely major prophetic events will occur on these days. This isn't date setting for we do not know the years....but we do know that God's future plans for the Jewish people will most likely revolve around their feasts. To prognosticate on this is more than problematic....but to ignore it is being careless to God's warnings to us.
Leviticus 23: 1,2...."And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them; the feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts'."
There were well over 400 Russian and Belarus athletes that participated in the 2020 Tokyo summer Olympics. (Actually held in 2021 due to Covid) There will be well under a hundred allowed to compete in the Paris Olympics which is scheduled to begin on July 26 and end on August 11. This is because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They will not enter the arena on the opening day ceremonies.....there will be no mention of Russia or Belarus as they compete....and I don't even think they determined yet what their uniforms will look like. Recently a number of Russians refused the invitation....so that number is dwindling fast.
Paris has not hosted the summer Olympics for a hundred years....since Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams made the 1924 Paris Olympics famous through 1981's Best Picture....Chariots of Fire. My 1982 Jim Fixx Runner's Log informs me that on March 5....as you can see in the accompanying photo....(not included in this post)...."Saw Chariots of Fire today. Great Picture." I marvelled at that man....Eric Liddell....and his dedication to God. I was not a Christian at the time....but there were evangelistic influences all around in the early 1980s....(replaced by the political influences in evangelicalism today)....and I was forgiven....extended mercy....and born again shortly thereafter!
The Republican convention is scheduled to be held on July 15 to 18....security restrictions in the city of Milwaukee will begin of the 14th.....and the Democrat convention is scheduled to be held on August 19 to 22. These forty days....July 14 to August 22....Jewish holidays including the 9th of Av....and political conventions....and the joint session of Congress included....and everything involved here....should be accompanied by our earnest prayer and vigilance!
Russia has been involved in attempts to bring disarray to the Paris Olympics....not that their efforts may be needed....for this world is barreling towards the falls. I bring this up in this post to once again encourage all of us to begin to take seriously the day and the age that we live in....to put our baubles away....and look to the Lord of Glory for our needs....and seek to glorify Him in all of our thoughts....and to wait patiently but expectancy and hopefully for His glorious return!
Joint Session of Congress afterthoughts: There surely are people in Israel who are amazed at how conservatives and Republicans seem to almost revere Benjamin Netanyahu at times. Let me shed a little light on that. We are very familiar with this man....who we have known in speeches like this and from decades of interviews. There are not many government leaders anymore who can speak so well....so intelligently....and so clearly and rationally as Benjamin Netanyahu. That style of rhetoric and rational thought....mixed with determination....is rare today. Ronald Reagan had it....and Barack Obama had it. Lindsey Graham can at times command our attention through his reasoned speech. John McCain was capable of it....and Ted Cruz also at one time....although no more. With the rest of these leaders today it is pure psychological manipulation....and motivation through instilling fear. It's not that they brainstormed this....for they are as taken captive as those they are trying to take captive. No one....not even Reagan....had such a command of rhetoric and grace as did John Kennedy. It is not necessarily that they are always in the right. Barack Obama is an example of this. My point here is not concerning these men....and there have been such women....Margaret Thatcher leads that category....as much as we who listen to them. We have lost the ability to rationalize and analyze....and until we regain it....we will be nothing but fodder for the wolves. This same situation exists in evangelicalism....for we also have lost the ability to have patience and actually think through issues. Let me give you an example....a little test if you are willing to take it. There is one longtime ministry out there that is known for being faithful....and cerebral. It had a tremendous effect on me when I first started listening to the radio show in the 1990s. It is called....The White Horse Inn....and the man behind it is Michael Horton. I'm going to recommend a very controversial recent broadcast....late in 2023 I believe....that you can Google at....White Horse Inn....All Heroes Are Flawed. You may wind up calling Michael Horton....woke....many have....but you will have had the opportunity to exercise your mind....exercise equipment if you will....that we no longer have in our churches.
