The Ninth Day of Av

 

Shalom Teresa,

In the Hebrew calendar this month is called Av, and on the ninth day of Av, Orthodox Jews will fast while mourning the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

According to the rabbis, both the first and second Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on the exact same day – the 9th of Av which corresponds this year to July.

The central point of Christianity is in its name: Christ or Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). However, Christians have little understanding of The Temple as they are not taught about its significance in relation to God, the Jewish people, or the Coming Messiah.

On the other hand, every day millions of Orthodox Jewish men read from their prayer books, petitioning God for the re-establishment of the Temple and that the Messiah will come speedily in our days.

And today there are 12 Orthodox organizations in Jerusalem that have everything ready for the rebuilding of the Third Temple.Jewish priests have been identified through DNA testing, priestly garments have been woven, and a Yeshiva has been set up for their training. The vessels and furnishings for the Temple have been recreated, and the Sanhedrin has been reinstituted. Now, it’s only a matter of time…Just over 1900 years ago, the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and one million Jews were murdered by the Romans and scattered to the four corners of the earth.

Today we are living in exciting times. Here in our lifetime we have witnessed Israel reborn in a single day when the United Nations approved the creation of the Jewish State on May 14, 1948. Unfortunately 6 million Jews perished in Hitler’s Holocaust before they fled to their ancient Homeland.

This national event was a fulfillment of prophecies made 2500 years ago in Isaiah 11:11-12 and 66:8, Ezekiel 36:24-28, and Jeremiah 16:14-15, as it says that Israel would be created in a day, and the Jewish people would be re-gathered back to the Holy Land. Is this not proof that we are living in the End of Times? No other ancient nation in the world has ever re-emerged! God keeps His covenants.

Currently the United States, the European Union, China, Russia, and the other G20 countries are trying to negotiate a two-state solution so that the “Palestinians” can have their own country within Israel. A major contention in these negotiations is Jerusalem and the place where the Holy Temple once stood.Today this place is occupied by the Al Aqsa and Dome of the Rock Mosques.Though some countries want to see Israel and a new Palestinian State divide Jerusalem, some UN member nations adhere to the UN proposal that Jerusalem should have “international status” and be controlled by an IGO (International Governmental Organization) which is made up of these UN member countries. In other words a “one world government body” that oversees Jerusalem and the Temple Mount Area.Is this another sign that we are living in the end of times?Make an everlasting difference for Eternity Teresa, please click here now

The “Temple” was first created by Moses as God told him the exact details of how the Jewish people were to create the Mishkan (Tabernacle) in the wilderness.

Exodus 25:Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering.” It details the types of offerings such as gold, silver, bronze, yarns, fine linens, ram skins, acacia wood, oils, spices, incense, and precious stones.These would be used to make the Ark of the Covenant (which was where the Ten Commandments were kept), the Table of Showbread, the Golden Menorah, and all the other furnishings.Then God goes into great detail of how Moses is to consecrate the Priests who will perform all of the daily rituals and services before the Lord in His sanctuary. It is a whole chapter about different type of offerings including the sacrificing of lambs and bulls for sin offerings, and how to cover the alter with the blood.Exodus 29: 34 ends with: “So I will consecrate the TENT OF MEETING (TABERNACLE) and the altar, and will consecrate Aaron and

his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.”

Over the next 400 years, the priests continued their duties, but the people worshipped other gods, and the Ark of Covenant did not remain with the Tabernacle. At one point it was stolen by the Philistines, though it was later returned after the Lord sent a plague on them.

When David became King his desire was to build a permanent home for the Ark of the Covenant. He wanted a Temple which would fill the skyline of Jerusalem and be a place of worship to the Lord.

1 Chronicles 28: King David said “I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it.’ But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’… The Lord said to me: ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts.’

King Solomon built the Temple in all its glory. Every morning before dawn, the Priests dressed in their fine white linens would line up, and blow their silver trumpets, other priests would sing Praises to the Lord, while the morning sacrifices (various offerings along with sin offerings) would begin. Imagine, thousands of Jewish people worshipping Adonai (the Lord) on the Temple Mount.

This lasted 371 years until 586 BCE, when King Nebuchadnezzar took the Jews captive to Babylon and destroyed the Temple on Tish B’Av (9th day of Av). For seventy years the Jews were in exile in Babylon.

The Temple’s destruction was actually prophesied by both Isaiah and Micah, about 150 years before it happened. Isaiah was very specific, even stating WHEN the Temple would be rebuilt (70 years after its destruction). And it happened! He also prophesied WHO would help rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, even though the person (King Cyrus of Persia) was not even born!

The Lord says to Cyrus, “He is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be built,” and to the Temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” Isaiah 44:28

Ezekiel and Jeremiah also prophesiedabout 100 years later that the Temple would be destroyed and the Jews scattered, only for God to re-gather them again to His holy city Jerusalem and to rebuild the Temple.These prophecies have historically been proven.
We need to show them to the Jewish people today!If the Jewish people are made aware of these prophecies, then they will also be open to what the prophets said about Who and Whenthe Messiah comes, and you can help us do this Teresa.Now, let’s skip forward some 500 years to a climatic event in history… the Messiah is born!
Yeshua was the firstborn male child in his family, therefore after he was born, he was taken to the Temple to be dedicatedby Miriam and Yosef. Luke 2:22Every year Yeshua went with his family to the Templefor the festival of Passover. One year his parents thought he was lost and after three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Luke 2:41At age 30 Yeshua proclaims that he is the Messiah and the Son of God and he chases the money changers out of the Temple as he calls it, “My Father’s House.”

Yeshua went to the Temple, to celebrate Chanukah (the festival of dedication). John 10:22-23

While celebrating Sukkot at the Temple in Jerusalem, Yeshua declared during the Water Pouring Ceremony, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.” John 4:13-14

Yeshua said, “I am the Temple, destroy me, and I will raise it again in three days.” John 2:19. Yeshua was crucified, there was an earthquake and the veil in the Temple was torn in two.

Then 37 years after Yeshua ascends to heaven from the Mount of Olives, the “Second” Temple was destroyed, again on Tish (the 9th day) of Av, by the Romans. A million Jews were killed, and the majority who survived were taken captive into the Roman Empire.

And that is why on the 9th of Av, the rabbis proclaimed it is as a holy (fast) day. Jews will mourn the destruction of the Temple, as the Islamic Dome of the Rock stands in its place.

As Believers in Yeshua, we don’t mourn, we celebratethat Yeshua fulfilled the prophecies concerning the Temple (Daniel 9) and that He will soon return, as King Messiah to reign in Jerusalem.