Preface....Monday....August 12....6PM....Tisha b'Av started in Israel about six hours ago: There is a video news segment as I type on the Times of Israel....website that reads....
"Tisha b'Av is different this year. The Israelis for the first time in decades, understand that the State of Israel is not as secure as they once thought and that statehood cannot be taken for granted."
The lead story on the Jerusalem Post right now reads...."Regional quake: 5.2M earthquake hits northern, central Israel and surrounding countries."
The Twelve Spies....And The Ninth Of Av
It's recorded in the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of the Old Testament book of Numbers....the fourth of the five books of the Pentateuch....or the Torah....the book of the law....as the Jews refer to it....that in the wilderness of Paran....God told Moses to send one man from every tribe into Canaan...."Which I gave unto the children of Israel"....to check out the land....or to spy it out. And Moses did send them out....twelve of them including Joshua and Caleb....this on...."the time of the first ripe grapes"....which the Jewish Targum identifies as the twenty-ninth of the month of Sivan.
The twelve spies returned forty days later....either the eighth or the ninth of the month of Av....and they said that yes it is a land of milk and honey....but the cities are too strongly fortified. Caleb jumped in saying that they should go up and conquer the land because they were able....but the ten others rebuked Caleb (and Joshua)....and changed their tune on the land....that it was a harsh land....with giants as enemies.
It did not matter that the people had experienced God's miracles when they left Egypt. That was all in the past. They turned against Moses and Aaron....and wanted someone else to take them back to Egypt. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before God...and Caleb and Joshua rent their clothes at what they were hearing....and began their argument again....that the land was exceedingly good....and they told the people not to rebel against the LORD....and He would give their enemies over to them.....at which the people called for stoning Caleb and Joshua.
Well the LORD had had enough of this....and the glory appeared in the temple of meeting....and He told Moses that the people were going back into to wilderness....case closed....and except for the younger ones....and Caleb and Joshua....they would all die there....forty years in the wilderness for forty days of spying out the land and coming back with a false report.
Then the people did what we all do when punishment is announced. They changed their tune and said that were going into Canaan after all....but Moses warned them that it was too late....upon which the people charged anyway....but were routed.
The people in Israel right now are just waiting....what else can they do....to see what happens from all the threats and reports of an imminent attack. We are right in the middle of what is called....The Three Weeks....which is a time of mourning. This coming Tuesday evening begins the 9th of Av....that is most likely the day described above where the unbelieving congregation of the people rebelled against Moses and Aaron....and God.
I'm adding here a post from Friday....July 12....the day before that horrendous Saturday in Pennsylvania....that gives more detail on The Three Weeks....and the 9th of Av....and this period of summer that we are now in....
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...."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!
