Hosea 3:4-5 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward, the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.
On the Hebrew calendar, we're at the end of the month of Elul. This particular month the shofar is sounded once a day as a call for the people to repent as we approach the Hebrew month of Tishri.
Interestingly enough, Yom Teruah [Hebrew for "Day of the (shofar) blast"] known in modern times as Rosh HaShanah (Hebrew for "Head of the Year") falls on the 1st day of Tishri (beginning this Monday night) which is also the seventh month of the year -- yet it has been designated as the New Year. This season is also known as the season of "teshuva". In Hebrew, "teshuva" means "repentance", and yet it also means "return".
So, ironically, the beginning of the year is connected to the end of the harvest year. The beginning is connected to the end. And the end is connected to the beginning. Thus, a cyclical pattern emerges: the gospel message was delivered by the Jewish people whose Messiah Yeshua appeared at the beginning of this age. This message has gone to the nations for nearly 2000 years and is now returning to its source, Israel and the Jewish people, whose return to their homeland signals the completion of the cycle culminating in the spiritual resurrection of the nation. We are certainly witnessing the beginning of this fulfillment at the end of the age with Messianic believers multiplying and proclaiming faith in the true Messiah to their own Jewish people.
In this season of repentance ("teshuva"), as we ourselves turn to the Lord, please remember to be praying for the Jewish people -- not only for their return to their homeland, the physical restoration -- but for their repentance and faith in the only Name given under heaven by which we must be saved -- the spiritual restoration which signals the coming of King Messiah Yeshua.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]An interesting parallel exists between these two passages of scripture: Isaiah 53:9 and Acts 3:15. Isaiah renders the “death” of the messiah in the plural form, “deaths” (“motav”). Acts renders the life of the Prince of Life as “lives” (“chaim”). Some scholars suggest that the plurality of the word death indicates a violent death this servant would suffer, and that making the noun plural is a way of emphasizing the terrible intensity of his experience. Jewish counter-missionaries suggest that the “death” in plural shows that the suffering servant is not an individual man, but a group of people, specifically the nation of Israel, thus denying that the passage refers to an individual messianic figure.
Proverbs says the “highway of the upright is to depart from evil”. It’s a highway — a way of life so to speak. And this proverb coincides with the central teaching of Yeshua (Jesus) — “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” What does it mean to repent? The Greek Word is “metanoia” which simply means to change your mind about sin or to depart from evil.
D.L. Moody has been influential in my personal life as I study and read about his life and ministry in the 1800’s. I remember reading a story about how D.L. Moody was preparing to lead a revival throughout England to which an elderly pastor protested and said, “Why do we need this ‘Mr. Moody’? He’s uneducated, inexperienced, etc. Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?”
If these really are the “Days of Noah,” we would expect to see a world filled with increasing violence. The Hebrew for “violence” is , by coincidence, the name of the terrorist organization Israel has been fighting for decades. And simply perusing my news briefs in recent years gives abundant evidence for the conclusion that this terrible season is well underway. Noah’s day was filled with violence and also false witness, which is a second meaning for the word “Hamas” [e.g., ; ]; violence and lies, then and now…
As Israel braces for retaliation from Iran, Hezbollah, and its terrorist proxies following the assassinations of two terrorist leaders in Tehran and Beirut last week, many are praying through these tense times as Tisha B’Av begins tonight (Monday night).
Tonight, Jewish people around the world will mourn through Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the fifth month on the Hebrew calendar. This day has been marked by numerous tragic events throughout history. It began with the spies returned with an evil report of Canaan, the Promised Land, as recounted in Numbers 13 and 14. This day marks the destruction of both the First and Second Temples, which occurred on the same date, separated by hundreds of years. The Crusades were launched on Tisha B’Av in 1095. In 1290, Jews were expelled from England, and in 1492, they were expelled again from Spain and Portugal on this very day. In the modern era, World War I began on the 9th of Av, and the call for the “Final Solution,” which led to the Holocaust, was announced on this date. To say that Tisha B’Av commemorates a series of horrific events is an understatement.
The Bible tells us that the last days would be like the days of Noah. As the mass of humanity witnesses the signs of increasing violence and evil manifesting in ways that seemed incomprehensible even just a decade ago, we are focusing on the peace that faith brings through the present storm. Though the ark he built for the flood was perhaps not the most luxurious boat ever made, Noah and his family were able to abide in God’s rest through the most terrible weather in human history.
Continuing from yesterday concerning storms; not sure we can place Noah’s flood, a worldwide conflagration, in that category, but if there really is such a thing as a “Perfect Storm”, that was…and Noah and his family were, anyway, prepared. And it’s been said that we are in the recapitulated, “Days of Noah”; [Matthew 24:37].