Haggai's first prophecy came at the beginning of the month of Elul, a time of repentance.

Announcing the return of our Lord

As the season known in Jewish tradition as the 'High Holy Days' begins, Helen Belton looks at the meaning and significance of Rosh HaShanah (Jewish New Year) or the Feast of Trumpets.

This Sunday night, Jewish people around the world will gather in synagogues and homes to celebrate the eve of the Jewish New Year with prayers, songs and food - particularly sweet food (typically apples and honey), symbolising the desire for a sweet year ahead. People greet each other with "Shanah Tovah!" or 'Good Year!'

This festival is known in the Bible as the 'Feast of Trumpets', but how did it also become known as Jewish New Year? In the Bible the instructions about this festival are sparse.
Leviticus 23:23-25:

The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.'"

Numbers 29:1-6:

On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets. As an aroma pleasing to the Lord, offer a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. With the bull offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil; with the ram, two-tenths; and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth.

Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. These are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings with their grain offerings and drink offerings as specified. They are food offerings presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma...

Is New Year in the Bible?

No mention of New Year, so how did the association come about? Biblically, New Year is at Passover. Exodus 12:2: "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year." It is a more obvious choice, as it marks the redemption from Egypt.

However, in rabbinic tradition the first of the month of Tishri, the day of the Feast of Trumpets, came to be known as Rosh HaShanah, literally 'Head of the Year' ('Rosh' is Hebrew for head, 'ha' is the definite article, and 'shanah' means year). This may have arisen because Exodus 23:26 and Exodus 34:22 describe the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as the Feast of Ingathering, i.e. of the harvest) which takes place 15 days later as occurring at the end (or turn) of the year, signifying the close of the agricultural year and the beginning of the next.¹ Ezekiel 40:1 also speaks of the time of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement, which follows 10 days after Rosh HaShanah) as being at the beginning of the year. Also, Ezra read the Torah (the Law of Moses) before Israel on Tishri 1 in Jerusalem (Neh 7:73-8:9).²

The Jewish historian Josephus wrote in the first century: "Moses...appointed Nisan [the month of Passover]...as the first month for the festivals...the commencement of the year for everything relating to divine worship, but for selling and buying and other ordinary affairs he preserved the ancient order [i.e. the year beginning with Tishri]" (Antiquities 1.81).³

In rabbinic tradition, the 1st of the month of Tishri became the first day of the new year for all ordinary affairs, perhaps because of its proximity to the turn of the agricultural year.

Day of Judgement

In Jewish tradition, the gates of heaven are opened at Rosh HaShanah and closed on Yom Kippur. In between are Ten Days of Repentance (Aseret Yemei Teshuvah). By the end of Yom Kippur, one hopes to be inscribed in God's Book of Life.

Rosh HaShanah is also known as 'Yom HaDin', or 'Day of Judgement'. We are called before the heavenly Judge to give account for the deeds of the preceding year and to be weighed in the balance. Abraham Chill writes:

Satan stands there to indict him. Armed with accusations, incriminations and denunciations he charges that this person is incorrigible and irredeemable; he sins continually; she brazenly defines the word of God – in short, this man or woman deserves to die.

In order to negate the accusations of the enemy, preparation for Rosh HaShanah begins early.

On the first day of the month of Elul (which began this year at sundown on 14 August), prayers of repentance, known as selichot, are said. A custom that has grown up in the last 200 years is to read Psalm 27 every day during the month of Elul, with its emphasis on the light and salvation of the Lord, the plea that the Lord would not hide his face in anger, or reject or forsake, and the final command to "Wait for the Lord". There is also a custom of saying repentance prayers (known as tashlich, meaning casting) at a body of water, to reflecting Micah 7:19, "You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."

Blowing the Shofar

The daily blowing of the shofar or ram's horn begins at Rosh HaShanah, a sound which heralds the period known as the High Holy Days or the 'Days of Awe' (Yamim Noraim).
The sound of the shofar is the rallying call to repentance (Heb. teshuvah, literally return). Psalm 89:15 states: "Blessed is the people that knows the joyful sound". In Hebrew, "joyful sound" is teruah, the sound of the ram's horn, and so the Feast of Trumpets is known as Yom Teruah. Teruah means a massive shout, either by a crowd or by a ram's horn, the kind of shout that caused the walls of Jericho to come tumbling down (Josh 6:20).

Teruah is a form of prayer that appears several times in the Psalms: "All you people clap your hands, raise a joyous shout (teruah) to God" (Psa 47:2). During their travels in the desert, the sound of the shofar alerted the people of Israel when it was time to move on. Both meanings of teruah, a joyous shout of supplication and the sounding of the shofar, unite in Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets).

The daily blowing of the shofar is intended to rally people to repentance and is said to herald God's judgment and victory.

There is an imperative to this sound: it is awe-inspiring and can make us tremble. When God gave the Torah at Mount Sinai, the shofar sounded: "On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled" (Ex 19:16).

A call to repentance

The sound of the shofar commands repentance. It is an opportunity we spurn at our peril. "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion" says Psalm 81 (also Psalm 95 and Hebrews 3:15). The "rebellion" refers to the incident where Moses struck the rock and water came out after the Israelites complained about lack of water. It became synonymous with the people of Israel testing their God. The correct order is established at Rosh HaShanah: God tests his people. We must be soft-hearted and repentantly open to God's testing, rather than hard-hearted, querulous and stubborn:

"He [Moses] named the place Massah [testing] and Meribah [quarrelling] because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us, or not?'" (Ex 17:7).

Psalm 81 speaks of God's frustration with his people's intransigence: "If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways...with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." This is a symbol of the sweet presence of God in our lives which is only available through Messiah: 1 Corinthians 10:4 says that the spiritual rock that accompanied the Israelites in the desert was Messiah. The passage also warns that they all went through the same experiences in the desert but many of them perished and only some were saved. It is a stark and timeless warning that not all who journey with us and receive the same blessings will ultimately respond to God's voice.
Rosh HaShanah establishes that we do not test God, but God tests his people.

Challah bread shaped for Rosh HaShanah.At Rosh HaShanah, Sabbath bread (challah) is dipped into honey, which symbolises the hope for a sweet new year in harmony with God and man. Challah is plaited for the Sabbath but at Rosh HaShanah it is curled into a circle. By tradition, Rosh HaShanah is the anniversary of creation and so on that day we declare that the Lord is King of the world - the round or crown shape of the bread is a reminder of that.

A Day of Remembrance

Rosh HaShanah is known in Jewish liturgy as a 'Day of Remembrance' (Yom Hazikaron). It is a day to remember the binding (akedah in Hebrew) of Isaac, that mysterious story which baffles and amazes in Genesis 22, which is read in synagogues on the second day of Rosh HaShanah. Also read is the story of Hagar and Ishmael being sent away into the desert (Gen 21). Other readings are 1 Samuel 1:1-2:20, where Hannah dedicates her precious son Samuel to the Lord, with its echo of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac, and Jeremiah 31:1-19 with its message of redemption from exile. Sacrifice, testing, dedication and redemption are the themes.

At Rosh HaShanah, God is measuring our deeds in the light of eternity, remembering those which are laudable, which then become part of God, so to speak, as they are part of the divine memory. God chooses to forget the misdeeds of which we have repented, so that they are not carried into eternity.

At Rosh HaShanah, Sabbath 'challah' bread is dipped in honey symoblising hope for a sweet new year in harmony with God and man.

1 Corinthians 3:13 speaks of those whose deeds that are not built on the foundation of Messiah:

"their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day [Day of Judgement] will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work."

The Book of Life

By the end of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), 10 days after Rosh HaShanah, rabbinic teaching says that judgement for that year is sealed and the books of life and death are closed: one hopes to be inscribed in the Book of Life rather than the Book of Death. Repentance towards God and man and good deeds in the run up to Rosh HaShanah are hoped to outweigh the bad deeds of the year so that one may continue to live, but there is no assurance of acceptance.

It is only in Messiah that we have the certain hope of redemption. As we come into his light our deeds are exposed and we see that even those we hoped were righteous are "filthy rags" (Isa 64:6).

Ephesians 5:8-16 promises that in Messiah we escape darkness (and the futility of trusting in our good deeds to win favour with God) and we come into the light of the Lord. Let us open our ears to the trumpet or shofar blast calling us to repentance, reminding us of the ram that replaced Isaac as sacrifice and let us pray that more and more Jewish people will awaken to the true meaning of the Akedah, that it is Messiah who is our sacrifice, who is calling us to repentance in the blowing of the ram's horn. We echo the prophetic cry:

"Wake up, sleeper,

rise from the dead,

and Messiah will shine on you."

Those who awaken from spiritual slumber may look forward to the final trumpet or shofar call of God, in fulfilment of the promised redemption. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 reminds us of that glorious hope:

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

Those who awaken from spiritual slumber may look forward to the final trumpet or shofar call of God, in fulfilment of the promised redemption.

Similarly 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 is associated with the Festival of Trumpets:

According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise first.

Let us pray this Rosh HaShanah for every Jewish soul to be inscribed in God's Book of Life in line with the apostle John's vision in Revelation 20:12, "And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books."

Recent discussions about the so-called 'blood moons' phenomenon deserve to be weighed carefully. We are publishing two articles for your prayerful consideration and feedback.

There has been much said recently about the prophetic significance of a series of blood red moons and whether this is a fulfilment of biblical prophecy or early signs that will eventually culminate in greater and more pronounced fulfilment. At Prophecy Today, we are cautious about predicting dates but certainly alert to the signs of the times. Our 'Comment' articles are designed to provide help in interpreting these signs and our 'Study' section is an aid for our readers to grow in biblical knowledge and discernment.

Our Board has noted the widespread interest in the so-called 'blood moons' and has traced it back to publications in the USA from Mark Biltz and John Hagee. There have been some responses from the scientific community to these, which indicate that we must be cautious about overstating the case. We are, therefore, still assessing our position.

In the light of this, we are publishing two articles: the first written by one of our Board members and the second by a regular contributor to the ministry of Prophecy Today UK. Our purpose is to offer these as discussion papers for you to consider. Any feedback you are prompted to send us will be welcome.

THE TIMING OF THE SH'MITTAH YEAR

Greg Stevenson

It was midnight on 4 September 2010, in South Island NZ.

Like any city in the hours before dawn, this city was outwardly quiet and asleep. But some families couldn't sleep because their normally quiet dogs continually barked, asking to be let out and then in again. In the countryside, a farmer bringing his herd in for milking stared in disbelief when all 500 cows suddenly sat down. Another farmer went to let his agitated dog out at about 4am and suddenly birds began to chirp, the neighbour's pigs started to squeal and his own cows began to bellow. Then, just as suddenly, all went quiet. Something odd was happening. At 4:35am a terrifying 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck, about 40km west of Christchurch. 4 September 2010 will be remembered.

No-one knows exactly what animals sense at such times, but the Creator has placed in them an awareness of his mighty power of which we know nothing. Migratory birds obey their God-given instincts but man refuses to obey God's laws (Jer 8:7). He has warned us clearly in his word of the consequences of such actions. Indeed, judgment is coming upon this sinful world, for Paul reminds us that God has appointed a day when he will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31).

Signs and patterns

God speaks to us in many ways – through his word, through his creation, through dreams or visions, through some traumatic event, or directly by his Spirit. He also calls out to us through the warning system he has given us - our conscience (personal or national), so we know when we should turn back to him.

But to societies and nations that rebel against him, he warns them with judgment, and we can see clear examples of this in the world today. In his patience to bring man to repentance, one way he speaks is through repetitive patterns that help us to recognise his voice. A series of warnings include his use of cycles of 7, notably Shabbat, the 7^th day, Sh'mittah, the 7^th year, and Jubilee, the 50^th year (the year after 7x7 years). Seven is the number of completion, perfection, or fullness, and God's prophetic calendar is based on this number. Seven is found in so much of his creation - one might say it is God's own number.

Times of rest

Every 7^th day is called Shabbat. The word simply means rest; it's a time of rest for all mankind. But Exodus 16:23 also tells us it is "a holy Sabbath to the Lord". It is a God-ordained day for man to follow to reflect his Maker's pattern, a day to make a dwelling-place for God each week, a place he so desires.

Likewise, every 7^th year was to be a year of rest, a Sh'mittah year. This word means to release, from the Hebrew root shamat, meaning to let fall, or fling down. Every 7^th year the land was to be released from the work of producing food, and lie fallow for a whole year. It is called "the Lord's release" (Ex 23:11, Lev 25:2-7, Deut 15:1-7).

The Sh'mittah year

The Sh'mittah year had two principal functions:

1. From the start of the year, the land was to rest, to reflect its Maker's pattern and to enjoy its Sabbaths – this year is "a Sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord" (Lev 25:2-7).
2. By the end of the year, the people were to obey God's command to remit or release debts (to let them fall, Deut 25:2-3), thus eliminating a polarity of wealth and preventing poverty.

Failure to keep the Sh'mittah year had serious consequences (Lev 36:33-35; 2 Chron. 36:21; Jer 25:11-2, 29:10; Dan 9:2): exile in Babylon for 70 years, to cover the 70 Sh'mittah years that had not been kept (490 years) between 1006-516 BC.

After 7 Sh'mittah years the shofar is sounded and a Jubilee is proclaimed, on Yom Kippur in the 50^th year, when every man returned to his possessions and to his family. We can see here God's choice of cycles of seven.

So why are Sh'mittah years so important?

Here are 7 possible reasons:

1. They bear witness that the land belongs to God, and is entrusted to human beings as stewards (Lev 25:23). We are indebted to God for all we have; our possessions, money, and the produce of our work, whether it's from the land, or from our creative skills - ultimately they all belong to God. Sh'mittah releases our hold on his land, acknowledging his ownership of it and allowing it to rest according to his command.
2. They declare that God is to be put first in all things. Since all blessings come from him, our success is related to our response to his calling on our lives. Secular humanism demands that the earth belongs to, and can be controlled by, humans. Sh'mittah is thus a gift – an opportunity to turn away from secular and worldly values and recognise his provision.
3. They end financial imbalances, the polarity of wealth, financial error and greed, and require the return of essential items for individual survival of each and every family. Sh'mittah requires people to release attachment to material possessions, including land, and it breaks the bonds of dependence on the accumulation of wealth and the love of money.
4. They emphasise a basic flaw in human nature, which separates the blessings of life from the Giver of the blessings. In rejecting God from our lives, blessings are sought through physical things – materialism, wealth, success, knowledge, health - which become idols to replace God. This further reduces spiritual growth, a path which ultimately removes the blessings that come from him. Sh'mittah offers a return to God's blessings.
5. They are an act of obedience, demonstrating our humility and dependence on our Creator. Our self-nature is released, our pride is dealt with, and we can learn to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God (Mic 6:8). Sh'mittah gives an opportunity to reflect and represent our Maker to others and to find our security only in him.
6. They are a mirror to Shabbat, a complete year of rest: to release and to be released, to lay down burdens and re-structure our lives. It is a mo'ed, an appointed time to refocus upon God, to make a dwelling-place for him and be refreshed. Sh'mittah, like Shabbat, is intended to be a blessing – restoration, forgiveness, remission, release, refreshment, re-focus and abiding in him.
7. In people, or nations, obedient to this law, the keeping of Sh'mittah in ways that are God-led, is both an act of faith in, and an act of worship to the living God.

The Sh'mittah year as judgment

Only Israel was commanded to observe the Sh'mittah year, but as they moved away from God, he used this year as a sign of warning and as judgment, in both the North and the South Kingdoms, to turn them back to him. This applies to Israel as his covenant people. But as a prophetic sign it may clearly apply to any nation, especially those he has historically blessed and equipped for spreading the gospel. God speaks clearly through Jeremiah (18:7-8):

If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.

The Sh'mittah year may become an instrument of judgment upon nations that do not respond to the warnings God gives them. The sins of ancient Israel have been repeated by modern nations, so we should not be surprised to find God expressing correction in a similar way today to turn nations back to him. Yet this can also bring blessing, if people heed the warnings and turn back to God, as Israel did through their exile in Babylon. By following God's word through Ezekiel, they increased in number and wealth, and idolatry was no more found among them after their return to the Promised Land.

Two examples: America and Britain

America was founded on biblical principles, based upon Israel, and consecrated to God on 30 April 1789 by its first President, George Washington. In his inaugural address, he gave a prophetic message: "The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself hath ordained".

However, from early times leaders in America have set themselves against the Lord and against his Anointed, breaking the restraining bands of God's laws and casting off the cords of his love. Over the past 50 years, there have been major economic and financial catastrophes following a 7-year cycle, with each fall occurring at the end of the Sh'mittah years (see Table 1). These have become more severe as God has increased the shaking world-wide since 1986. Warnings and opportunities to turn back to God have been largely missed, or responses have been short-lived.

Psalm 2 tells us that if nations rebel against the Lord, with no response to his warnings, he will judge them (Heb. bahal, terrify, cause to tremble). Even after the climatic storms that the Lord has brought upon America since 1965, and increasingly now upon the UK as well, neither nation has learned this lesson. Both have forgotten God's hand of blessing of power and wealth, as both nations took his message of salvation to the world. It is good to remember God's caution at times like this: "You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth..." (Deut 8:17-18).

Like the people of Ephraim and Samaria in ancient Israel, after 9/11 America, instead of seeking God in humility asking why such a terrible disaster had occurred, defiantly declared: "the bricks have fallen down but we will build with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled but we will replace them with cedars." Sadly, this verse was originally a statement of Israel's rebellion against God which America's political leaders misunderstood. This was the Lord's response: "But the people have not returned to him who struck them...Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray." (Isa 9:9-16).

This year there have been two tectonic events in which the UK and the USA have crossed a line.

1. 31 March - in the UK the same-sex 'marriage' Bill became law.
2. 26 June - in the USA also, the Supreme Court (by a 5/4 majority of 9 lawyers) legalised same-sex 'marriage' in all US states.

These culture-changing events will affect not just marriage, but the nations and, not least, the church. The church's response in both nations has been largely silent, or accepting, but recall Philip Wren's prophetic voice that if legalised in the UK, gay marriage will be a rod of correction on a disobedient church.

Sh'mittah 2014/15

Sh'mittah years end on the 29^th of the last month Elul, the day before Rosh Hashanah (1^st Tishrei, or Jewish New Year). This year, the 29 Elul falls on 13 September and is marked by a solar eclipse, the fifth of six signs in the heavens in the past two years, which God has given to get our attention.

If God continues the pattern he has used to turn nations back to him, we may see a major judgment in the months after 29 Elul/13 September 2015 in both the USA and the UK. Many media comments this year have anticipated a stock market crash in late 2015, and world markets are increasingly fragile. When the Chinese yuan was devalued (>3%) last month, there were widespread losses on stock exchanges throughout Asia and Europe.

We remember the so-called 'Flash Crash' in 2010 when Wall Street fell 600 points in just 5 minutes, losing $1Tn. This year, the UK FTSE 100 share index has hit a record high, a feature also seen prior to crashes in 1987 and 2007-8 (note also that the last trading day to remit debts will be Friday 11 September 2015, before Shabbat begins at sunset. This is also the day of the debate in the House of Commons on the evil Assisted Dying Bill).

However, the dates of this shaking are less important than the purpose. The tetrad of total lunar eclipses at Pesach and Sukkot, in 2014/2015 and ending in this Sh'mittah season, is one sign that God is using to call out to the nations (and to Israel) to turn and repent, to restore a right relationship with the Lord, and with families, neighbours, friends and enemies. Beloved, the time is short. Now is the day of salvation. The Lord says to us, as he said to Isaiah, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"

Understand the message

In Luke 12:56, Yeshua expressed amazement at the people's hypocrisy: "You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?" And in response to questions about those who had been killed in accidents (v4), or by evil men (v1), Jesus said, "Unless you repent, you too will all perish." Do you think he might be saying this to us today also? Do we discern the time rightly? This should be a major focus for small house groups and for larger churches in the coming weeks. Many churches offer little or no biblical teaching on understanding the times in which we are living.

We need to know and proclaim the place of safety for these days. The Hebrew word for safety is Yeshua. In his talk with Nicodemus on the need to be born again of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said "Truly, truly, except a man is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3). When Jesus says "Truly, truly", he means it - for he is The Truth (John 14:6). No discussion, no argument, no relative excuses. By contrast, after the Supreme Court decision in June, Obama declared: "This ruling is a victory for America. When all Americans are treated equal we are all more free" (Washington Post, 26 June 2015). However, it is not equality that sets us free, but The Truth (John 8:32).

These days are the days of Elijah, to be the voice that declares God's word. These are the days of Ezekiel, to be labourers in his harvest. These are the days that Isaiah saw, when he said, "See, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples." See – it is a call to watch, to take heed, to be aware of what God is doing in the world; how he is intervening in the earth, and to be watchmen for our nation. There are very dark clouds gathering over the nations, which are in distress and perplexed (Luke 21:25).

Our response

"And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matt 24:14).

God is calling us to take note of his warnings, to be lights in dark places, boldly to share our testimonies of his goodness and to be sons of Issachar, who know the signs of the times and how they apply to both Israel and the nations.

We need to understand what the Lord is saying, and pray that the great shaking of the nations that is happening in our lifetime will produce the fullness of God's purpose. We must also pray for the true church, Jew and Gentile, to rise up and fulfil its calling. We must be careful not to pray for God to stop the shaking (Hag 2, Heb 12), or to stop bringing evil into the light, in case we put ourselves against God. It is God who forms the light and creates darkness.

We should have Israel, and America and Britain, in our prayers: praying for greater trust and faith in God who is the only one who can give peace and security to the nations through Jesus our Messiah, the One who died that we might live, and who rose again to give us life.

Kumi ori ki va orech, u'khvod Adonai alaich zarach.
Arise shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
(Isa 60:1)

This is for Israel, of course, but also for believers in the Gentile nations who are grafted in among them.

Table 1: some dates and events for Bible study, prayer and discussion.

Notes on Table 1

This table relates major events in the USA and Israel to the end of Sh'mittah years, especially the 29 Elul. It also shows the 7- and 28-year cycles.

* = occurred in a Sh'mittah year.

Patterns of note:

• 28-year interval between the US victory after WII and their defeat after Vietnam;
• 28-year intervals between the conception, completion, and destruction of the World Trade Centre (WTC) towers;
• 7-year interval between physical shaking in Sept 2001 (9/11) and financial shaking in Sept 2008;
• significance of 29 Elul -
  • 7 Sept 1945: Victory Parade of the Allies
  • 19 Oct 1987: Black Monday stock crash, leading to $500bn loss.
  • 29 Elul was on 23 Sept 1987, or Black Monday
  • 17 Sept 2001 9/17, Stock market crash, stock down 37%
  • 29 Sept 2008 Greatest stock market point crash (777 points), stock down 56%, exactly 7 years after the 9/17 crash
  • Prospectively, 13 Sept 2015 - 7 years after the 2008 crash; now 28 years after Black Monday 1987.
• significance of Solar Eclipses:
  • 23 Sept 1987: just ahead of Black Monday
  • 10 May 2013: completion of the One WTC
  • 20 Mar 2015: erev 1 Nisan – the very middle day of the Sh'mittah year 5775. A total eclipse.
  • 28 Sept 2015: 15 Tishri, start of Sukkot.

A TIME TO MOURN AND A TIME TO DANCE

By Charles Gardner

There is a season for everything under heaven, according to the wisdom of Solomon. And I'm specifically thinking of his dictum that there's "a time to mourn and a time to dance" (Ecc 3:4).

Black clouds of impending doom are swooping down upon us all, and especially on God's ancient people, but the rainbow of ultimate peace also lies ahead, and we should not be too down-hearted.

On September 14 there will be much rejoicing as Jews everywhere celebrate their New Year in a month set to witness some quite extraordinary, even alarming, events connected with the future of Israel. I will look at these in a moment.

A time of mourning

We have just marked a time of mourning for Israel – a date known as the 9^th of Av in the Jewish calendar (25 July this year) which brings back bad memories of a past which has seen so many attempts to annihilate the Jewish nation.

It was on this date that the First Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. And it was on the very same day 656 years later – in 70 AD – that the Romans destroyed the Second Temple. The Jews subsequently rebelled against their occupiers, but were brutally butchered in 133 AD – again on the 9^th of Av – after which they were dispersed to all four corners of the earth.

This included England, from which they were expelled in 1290 AD – on the 9^th of Av. Then in 1492 they were expelled from Spain and given four months to put their affairs in order and leave the country, the deadline for which was the 9^th of Av.

Then came World War II and the Holocaust, said by historians to have been the long drawn-out conclusion of World War I, which broke out on the 9^th of Av. And, it is said, the first gas chambers were put into use on the very same day of the year!

Understandably, the Jewish people have much to mourn. And our duty as Christians, grafted into the olive tree of God's chosen people (Rom 11:11-24), is to love them, stand with them and pray for them.

September 2015: a significant month?

A series of significant events are scheduled for September, starting perhaps with the New Year celebrations. The Pope will be visiting the White House to meet with the President on the holiest day of the Jewish Year (Yom Kippur, 23 September 23). And a super-sized blood-red moon will shine over Jerusalem on 28 September during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). This will be the last of four successive 'blood moons' (known as a 'tetrad') to coincide with the main Jewish feasts of Passover and Sukkot in 2014 and 2015, a rare occurrence last witnessed in 1967 when, as a result of the Six-Day War, the Old City of Jerusalem came under Israeli control for the first time in 2,000 years.

In addition, the United Nations are said to be planning to declare a Palestinian state without Israel's consent or input and there is also, of course, the ongoing threat of Hamas and Hezbollah along with that of a potentially nuclear-armed Iran whose leaders have made no bones about their intention to "wipe Israel off the map". The recent deal negotiated with the big powers is, at best, only putting off the evil day rather than neutralising a dangerous rogue state.

In the light of this, an 800-year-old rabbinic commentary is most revealing. Known to the Jewish world as the Yalkut Shimoni, its translation by Rabbi Nachman Kahana includes this specific portion:

Paras (Persia-Iran) will be the dread of humanity. The world's leaders will be frustrated in their futile efforts to save what they can, but to no avail. The people of Yisrael will also be petrified by the impending danger. And HaShem (the Lord) will say to us, 'Why are you afraid? All of this I have done in order to bring you the awaited redemption. And this redemption will not be like the redemption from Egypt, which was followed by suffering. This redemption will be absolute, followed by peace.

The Messiah's return

Various Jewish rabbis are now sensing that their Messiah is soon to come. The day is surely not far off when beleaguered Israel will recognize the One who has loved them with an everlasting love (Jer 31:3) and who is destined to reign from Jerusalem for a thousand years of perfect peace (Rev 20:4).

Jesus told his disciples that his coming would follow an unprecedented period of distress after which "the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light" (Matt 24:29. Interestingly, a total solar eclipse occurred in the midst of the current tetrad of blood moons).

"At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory," he said. (Mark 13:24-26)

Come, Lord Jesus!

I am indebted for much background to David Soakell of Christian Friends of Israel and to Kolyah, a correspondent in the know who wishes to keep a low profile for security reasons.