THE FEAST OF WEEKS
This last Sunday we here in Israel, and Jews all over the world, celebrated Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks (also known as Pentecost, the Feast of First Fruits, or the Harvest Festival). It is one of the three pilgrimage feasts in which God commanded all Israel to come up to Jerusalem for a 'holy convocation'. It is counted exactly 50 days from the Day of the Wave Offering, (also known as the Feast of First Fruits) hence the name the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. Yeshua (Jesus) rose on the day of the Wave Offering (also known as the Feast of First Fruits) and ascended to heaven forty days later. According to Jewish tradition Shavuot is regarded as the day in which the LORD gave Moses the Torah, and according to the New Testament, it is the day in which the Holy Spirit was given to those who followed Yeshua (Jesus). It is therefore a day of double celebration for Messianic believers.
And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. 18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. 19 Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. 20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.22 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’
Leviticus 23: 15-22
In ancient times the Festival of Shavuot marked the beginning of the spring grain harvest and a grain offering was to be brought to the Temple as first fruits to the LORD. It is in this context that God commands the people to leave the corners of the field for the poor and stranger in the land to glean. It is perhaps because of this that the Book of Ruth is traditionally read at Shavuot. However it is also recorded that Ruth and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest- in other words, at the time of Shavuot.
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. Ruth 1: 22
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| Barley harvest in Bethlehem https://lentengallery.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/reaping.jpg |
If you want to learn more about the feast of Shavuot I would recommend watching the teaching videos of my good friend, Hannah, on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4bnZRyEd_Y&index=1&list=PLA7A802173B783E57
Since the Feast of Shavuot another week has passed and it has been an eventful one in Israel (as most weeks are here!). Spring made itself felt mid-week with a severe sharav heatwave which sent the temperatures soaring into the 40's over much of the country. A number of fires broke out, and in the town of Tel Mond, near Netanya, three homes were destroyed. Closer to Jerusalem, at the Atarot Industrial Park on the outskirts of Ramallah, even as firemen were trying to put out fires around the factories there, arsonists were busy lighting more. Towards the end of the week the temperatures plummeted again to around 25 degrees and in the north today it even rained, a rare event this late in May.
On Tuesday night a mid-range missile was fired from Gaza into Israel landing close to the town of Gan Yavne, causing no physical damage but considerable trauma to the local residents. This is the 5th violation of the August 2014 ceasefire, and the first involving a mid-range missile. It is likely that the rocket was fired by some 'errant Palestinian faction' (ISIS has since claimed responsibility) but the Israeli defense establishment regards everything that happens in Gaza as being the responsibility of Hamas. Consequently ,on Wednesday, the IAF attacked four Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4661655,00.html
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Missile fired from Gaza http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Sirens-sound-in-Ashdod-as-rockets-fired-into-Israel-404168 |
Meanwhile it is no secret that Hamas is continuing to reconstruct tunnels and underground military installations throughout the Gaza Strip, and last week the Knesset Minister Omer Bar-Lev, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, warned,
"Hamas has returned to digging tunnels and one or more of them may have crossed the border fence, attacking the sovereignty of the State of Israel. We can't default to (the situation) on the eve of Protective Edge. The hesitancy in government and security of the Prime Minster harms the IDF's deterrence capabilities and abandons the fate of the residents who live near Gaza to the whims of Hamas." http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4658445,00.htmlAlso on Wednesday, Ynetnews reported that a road is being constructed about 300 m from the Gazan side of the border fence and this construction work is being protected by 'armed uniformed men' http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4661863,00.html. On Friday the former Hamas interior minister, Fathi Hamad, admitted that the new dirt road "the terror organization's military wing is paving along the Gaza-Israel border is preparation for a "window of opportunity to attack." http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4662927,00.html
In the north the picture is just as disturbing. According to a Lebanese newspaper with ties to Hezbollah, that organization "has built a vast network of advanced tunnels along the border with Israel for use in a future war, using them to conceal tens of thousands of rockets aimed at the Jewish state." According to a senior Israeli intelligence official, Hezbollah "has an estimated 100,000 short-range rockets capable of striking northern Israel, several thousand missiles that can reach Tel Aviv and central Israel and hundreds more that can strike the entire country."http://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-flaunts-advanced-tunnel-network-on-israeli-border/
Hezbollah is also gaining more and more control in Syria. Many voices are predicting an imminent collapse of Assad's overstretched government forces, which have lost over 50% of their manpower through desertions and casualties. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-syrian-military-is-on-the-verge-of-collapse-2015-4. In addition most of the regime’s natural resources, such as the phosphate and oil mines, have fallen into rebel or ISIS hands and this is seriously undermining the Syrian economic base. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/195991#.VWoKRpv75LM Currently the Assad regime is being propped up by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which might also collapse if Assad's regime collapses. Iran however might see this as an opportunity to wrest control of Syria and Lebanon, but a more likely scenario is that ISIS will take over control of most of the country. With its capture of the city of Palmyra this last week it now has open roads to the Syrian capital Damascas and the city of Homs.( see map on http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/21/middleeast/syria-palmyra-watson/ ). As much as we here in Israel hate the Assad regime, its collapse would inevitably bring ISIS to our very border, and also threaten Jordan. This situation is very worrying.
Is all this causing Israelis to call out to our LORD God for deliverance? Alas, no. Of course there is always a remnant that is faithful, but many are very far from God. I have just been reading in Ezekiel the condition of the people of Judah immediately before the Babylonian Exile. They were smug in their sense of invulnerability and felt that God did not see what they were doing behind closed doors. Even in the hidden rooms of the Temple itself, they were worshipping and sacrificing to pagan gods, and in the streets and homes committing terrible abominations. But nothing is hidden from God. He saw and he judged. Their wickedness resulted in the conquest of Judah, the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile and scattering of the people until this day.
Still today many people feel that God is far from them and they are looking to find answers in paganism and other ungodly places. Last week 6000 people formed a temporary city in the desert, near Sde Boker, for the Burning Man Festival. This New Age festival began in the USA as a celebration of the Summer Solstice and has clear pagan roots.
 Last year's 'Burning Man" |
| http://igoogledisrael.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/BurningManIsrael-300x194.jpg
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| Last years parade in Tel Aviv http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads/2014/06/F140613YS03-e1402655179410.jpg |
A day of trouble is near,
And not of rejoicing in the mountains.
8 Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury,
And spend My anger upon you;
I will judge you according to your ways,
And I will repay you for all your abominations.
Ezekiel 7:7-8
More and more, Israel is being blamed for all the ills of the world. We are astounded here by the credence given to the wild and outrageous claims of our enemies. Many seem all to ready to believe the worst of Israel. Just this week the Palestinians tried to oust Israel from FIFA, the world soccer organization, on the basis of our occupation of Palestine. That such an organization, which prides itself on its a-political stance, should even countenance such a proposal is preposterous. Anti-Semitism is once more becoming socially acceptable and espoused by states, in a way very reminiscent of the pre-Nazi era. There is much talk of isolation, boycotts and sanctions against Israel. We feel like we are becoming a pariah nation in the eyes of much of the world. The scenario pictured in the prophesies of Zechariah no longer seems far off. It all seems oh so possible. It seems like it could come to pass very soon.Just as God was not blind to Israel's trespasses in the days of Ezekiel, neither is he blind today. He will judge Israel and there is coming on Israel a terrible time of great suffering as is prophesied. All the nations of the world will come up against Jerusalem, and many lives will be lost, but this great battle will lead to a national repentance and the ultimate salvation of all the remnant of Israel .(Zechariah 12 - see below).
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. 3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it... 7 “The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. 8 In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. 9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo... all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
Zechariah 12: 1-14
Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”’ 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “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.”’ 18 And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. 19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them,[a] and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 11: 10-21
Then as now, there is a remnant of those in Israel who sigh and cry over all the sins of the people.
Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; 4 and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” Ezekiel 9:3-4God has called many people to this Land just so that they will stand in the breaches (of the walls) and cry out on behalf of the People. There are even more, like many of my readers, who are faithful in prayer for the nation of Israel. Be encouraged, for God hears every prayer and they do make a difference. Pray for Israel's protection and deliverance from her enemies, and for that Day when she will recognize her Messiah and bow down to Him. Events seem to be gathering pace now, the scene is being set, and this Day is drawing close.
