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Av, Israel, and Islam
Is there a connection?
By Dani'el Rendelman
ravemet@comcast.net www.findemet.com
Turn on the television or the radio and you're bound
to hear about the conflict between Israel and
Hezbollah. The violence in the Middle East has gained
worldwide attention as Presidents and pundits seek
to reveal their answers to stop the war. The UN has
called for a cease-fire but the battle continues to
escalate. Will Iran and Syria get involved? Only time
will tell. What we do know for certain is why and
when the battle began. The timing is all but
coincidental.
On July 12, 2006 the militant Islam group Hezbollah
kidnapped Israeli soldiers in attempt to trade them
for Lebanese prisoners held by Israel. The Jewish
State refused the trade and instead sent jets to
bomb Lebanon's international airport. Hezbollah then
bombarded Israeli towns with rocket fire. The attacks
killed two civilians and wounded 29 more. On July
14th, Israel began a major offensive against the
terrorist group. On the same day, Hezbollah leader
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah declared, "You wanted an
open war, and we are heading for an open war. We
are ready for it." The clash has continued since then.
All of what has happened is very interesting when
one considers the timing of the battle and the
Hebrew calendar. For most of us, dates on a
calendar are just that - dates on a calendar. But, to
the Hebrews, dates on a calendar are symbolic of
times when history seems to repeat itself.
The major offensive verses Hezbollah started on July
14, which happens to fall on the 17th day in the
Jewish month of Tammuz. This date has been
observed as one of the saddest in Jewish history. It
just so happens that a major war between Israel and
Islam began on the anniversary of several sad
events. On this day the, “Jews the world over fast
and lament to commemorate the many calamities
that have befallen them. Going all the way back to
Biblical times, Moses descended Mount Sinai on this
day and, upon seeing the Golden Calf broke the first
set of Tablets carrying the Ten Commandments,”
says one source.
In 586BCE, the walls of Jerusalem were breached by
the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzer on the same
date. In 70CE, Titus and Rome breached the walls of
Jerusalem and one Roman leader even burned a
Torah scroll and set up an idol in the temple grounds.
Later in 1239 Pope Gregory IX ordering the
confiscation of Jewish manuscripts while in 1391
more than 4,000 Jews were killed in Toledo and Jaen,
Spain. The Kovno ghetto was liquidated on this day
in 1944 and in 1970 Libya ordered the confiscation of
all Jewish property. All of these horrible events
occurred on the 17th of Tammuz. Coincidence?
Hardly.
The 17th of Tammuz is the start of a 21-day period
when orthodox Jews fast and mourn. These three
weeks of lamenting culminate with saddest day of
the Hebrew calendar - Tish B'Av - the ninth day of
Av. According to historical documents it was on this
date that the first Temple was destroyed.
And the second temple was destroyed.
In 1492 King Ferdinand set this date as the final day
a Jewish person was allowed to be in the entire
country of Spain.
Years later, World War One, which began the
downward spiral towards the Holocaust, began on
the ninth of Av.
Later, deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to the
Treblinka concentration camp begin on Av 9.
In 1999 Muslim terrorists bombed a Jewish community
center in Buenos Aires, Argentinam, killing 86 people
and wounding some 300 others. "...Should I weep in
the fifth month [Av], separating myself, as I have
done these so many years? -Zechariah 7:3.
Today, Tish B'Av "primarily commemorates the
destruction of the first and second Temples. The first
was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. while
the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.. This date is
the ending of a three-week period of increased
bereavement that normally starts on the 17th of
Tammuz. During these three weeks all joy is
suspended. Jews may not visit cinemas, purchase
new clothing, get their haircut, alter their home, eat
or drink joyously, swim, knit, or bath for pleasure,"
says ou.org.
The story is told of how French ruler Napoleon
Bonaparte was once impressed by a group of Jews.
The Hebrews had gathered in a synagogue to mourn
on the ninth of Av. When Napoleon saw the Jews
shedding tears and praying, he asked about the
cause of their mourning. When it was explained to
him that they were upset because of the destruction
of their temple 1800 years earlier, he reportedly
said, "a people who can still mourn for their Temple
and their homeland after so many years have a real
hope for regaining them." Napoleon had a point.
There are no coincidences when it comes to Middle
East end times events and the calendar. The timing
is just right. The militant Islamic beast that is waging
war against Israel is continuing the pattern set by
satanic oppressors thousands of years earlier. Worse
than a Friday the 13th, the 9th of Av commemorates
some of the most horrible events in Biblical history.
Will the 9th of Av continue to herald pain for Israel
and the Jewish people? We shall see. This year, Tish
B'Av is from sunset August 2 to nightfall August 3.
Usually the nine days of Av are like the nine months
of a pregnancy. As a woman gives birth there is
great pain and suffering. The ninth of Av is a day of
travailing. With this in mind, consider a recent
comment by US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice. During a press conference on July 26th, Rice
said that what we are seeing in Israel are the "birth
pains of a new Middle East." Interesting.
With the birth of a new baby, the birth pains start
slow and then continue to grow. Then, as the
delivery approaches, the pains grow stronger and
closer. The Savior too warned of birth pangs in
Matthew 24. "Watch out that no one deceives you.
For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the
Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of
wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are
not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end
is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and
earthquakes in various places. All these are the
beginning of birth pains,” Matthew 24:4-8, NIV.
Doesn’t the term “rumors of wars” perfectly describe
the concept of terrorism?
As a woman endures the labor pains before giving
birth, the world too is experiencing increasing pains.
Today there is deception, false Saviors, wars, rumors
of wars, famines, and earthquakes. The world wants
peace, but all around terrorism, natural disasters,
and war continues. This corresponds exactly with 1
Thessalonians 5:3, “While people are saying, “Peace
and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly,
as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will
not escape.”
In the coming days, Israel may agree to a cease-fire
with Hezbollah. There may again be peace in the
region. However, the contractions have begun. It
will not be long until the world gives birth again.
Again? Yes, the world first gave birth to the nation
of Israel in 1948. "I will gather you from the peoples,
assemble you from the countries where you have
been scattered, and I will give you the land of
Israel," Ezekiel 11:17.
“Hear the word of YHWH*, you who tremble at his
word: “Your brothers who hate you, and exclude you
because of my name, have said, ‘Let YHWH be
glorified, that we may see your joy!’ Yet they will be
put to shame. Hear that uproar from the city; hear
that noise from the temple! It is the sound of the
YHWH repaying his enemies all they deserve. “Before
she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains
come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever
heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such
things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation
be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion
in labor than she gives birth to her children. Do I
bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?”
says YHWH. “Do I close up the womb when I bring
to delivery?” says your YHWH. See, YHWH is coming
with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will
bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with
flames of fire. For with fire and with his sword YHWH
will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be
those slain by YHWH,” Isaiah 66:5-9,15,16.
In 1948 the UN granted a share of land in the Middle
East to the Jewish people. In one day, on May 14th,
the government of Israel was established.
Immediately, the Muslim world went to war with the
newborn nation. The armies of Egypt, Syria,
Transjordan, Lebanon and Iraq, supported by others
attacked the one-day-old Israel. That same war
continues today against Israel and its supporters,
including America and the UK. Going back to the 7th
century, the false prophet Muhammad preached,
wrote and educated in the Koran hatred of the Jews
and Christians. He preached violent holy war or jihad
against the infidels (non-believers in and followers of
Allah, and his prophet Muhammad.)
Muhammad said, "I have been ordered to fight
against people until they say that "there is no god
but Allah", that "Muhammad is the messenger of
Allah", they pray, and pay religious taxes. If they do
that, their lives and property are safe." Sahih Muslim,
#0033, and Sahih Bukhari, volume 1, #387. The
Quran continues, “Make war upon such of those to
whom the Scriptures (i.e. Bible Believers and Jews),
have been given as believe not in God, nor in the last
day, and who forbid not which God and His Apostle
have forbidden, and who profess not the profession
of the truth, until they pay tribute out of hand, and
they be humbled.”
The Muslim world will give birth soon. This time, we
shall see the Anti-Messiah rise to worldwide
power. “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the
seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder
and one of the four beasts saying, come and see.
And I saw, and see, a white horse: and he that sat
on him had a bow; and a keter (crown) was given to
him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer,”
Revelation 6:1-52, Restoration Scriptures True Name
Edition. This second child will wage war against the
first.
Its sibling rivalry revisited. It’s the same battle of
Israel verses Ishmael that started in the beginning.
Thousands of years ago, the patriarch Abraham was
given the covenant of blessing and prosperity. This
promise was to pass to his children, who would be as
numerous as the stars in the heavens. Islam says
they are the people of the promise. They claim
Abraham’s son Ishmael inherited the blessing. The
Bible proves different. Ishmael instead is to
become “a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be
against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be
against him,” says Genesis 16:12. Ishmael would
grow into a nation that would oppose the true people
of YHWH. The son of Sarah, Isaac inherited the
covenant. Isaac would later pass the blessing to his
son Israel.
"Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall
call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with
him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants
after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I
will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply him
exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes,
and I will make him a great nation. But My
convenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah
will bear to you at this season next year,” Genesis
17:19-20.
The violence in the Middle East won’t be solved by a
UN convoy or some savvy politician. What we are
seeing is the growing birth pangs that point to the
return of our Messiah. The conflict pits the sons of
Ishmael and Esau verses the nation of Israel. The
Muslim religion promotes a false god, a false prophet,
and violence. This was prophesied in the book of
Isaiah. “The earth also is defiled under the
inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed
the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the
everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse
devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are
desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are
burned, and few men left." Isaiah 24:5,6. In these
verses, the Hebrew word for “curse is” spelled hey-
lamed-aleph and is pronounced “alah.” Allah, of
course is the false Muslim deity. Islam and Allah are
the curse upon the world until the Messiah returns to
stop the family feud.
The ninth of Av is fast approaching. We may not see
an outward sign of violence this Thursday. Yet, we
can be sure that the birth pains are getting closer.
Time is short. How should we respond to this
truth? “Do this, understanding the present time. The
hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber,
because our salvation is nearer now than when we
first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is
almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of
darkness and put on the armor of light,” Romans
13:11-12.
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