At-One-Ment With The One You Love

Special Word of Introduction:

Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there are different times and seasons. This is a time to be serious and to put away, to cast down and throw from us all that would distract and keep us from the One to whom we owe EVERYTHING.

We will sing of your love for ever, we will declare your faithfulness and mercy to the generations.

This is the pen-ultimate appointed time of the Hebrew calendar year. The 6th of 7 specific dates the Lord set into the annual cycle of life, incorporating the harvest seasons of the grains and fruits. Times chosen when The Lord God wanted to spend time with His people.They were all a prophetic type and shadow, a fore-telling of the coming Savior. A rehearsal for the future Messiah, JESUS who came a little over 2000 years ago and literally fulfilled the words of the prophets concerning God’s plan of the ages.

In Hebrew,Jesus was the burden removing, yoke destroying answer, redeeming mankind and all who will believe and trust in His atoning sacrifice of substitution at Calvary.

There His Blood has paid the price for ALL our transgressions. The wages of sin is death, meaning eternal separation from God’s presence. Because of Jesus, we will never have to experience that or have to personally pay the price for our errant ways. Ezekiel 18:20 ‘the soul who sins he shall die..’

Yom Kippur is all about the sacrificial offering of a pure unblemished innocent life, freely and willingly given to cover for sin, through the shedding of its blood. (For the life of the flesh is in the blood. Lev. 17:11) Yom haKipuriym/day of the Atonements, falls on the 10th day of the 7th month. It is not a feast day but rather a Holy convocation, an opportunity to deny ourselves, a time for self examination. A perfect opportunity for a heart (spiritual) check-up.As the High Priest performs the atonements for himself, the altar, the Tabernacle, and the whole community in Israel, we are encouraged to stop and think. To turn those thoughts to our own lives and allow an inner conviction to lead us to true repentance and then to the acceptance of the blood sacrifice of Jesus as a means of cleansing and forgiveness.Jesus our Messiah has clearly fulfilled both the position of our High Priest and that of our personal sacrifice, He atoned for us once and for all and is continually making intercession for us before the Father.He does not need to make sacrifices for Himself and for us year after year in order to atone for our sins–it has already been accomplished for ever. Hebrews 9:6–12

The weight and penalty of the sins, was symbolically transferred to the animal sacrifices for that year, so that forgiveness could be attained.

Our willingness to deny self on this day does not cause, aid or enhance our atonement, however it allows us to become acutely aware of our own mortality, our sin, our continuing need for atonement, and our desire for life. At the same time it causes us to appreciate on some minute level, the sacrifice the Master made as He denied His own life on our behalf and to re-evaluate our own commitment to walk in the way, the truth and the life, by obeying and keeping His commandments.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matt.5:17-20

 

The sanctity and holiness of this day cannot be understated.

Though we may find great joy in our eternal atonement in Jesus the Messiah, this is a day for remembering the atonement in such a way that it should be very hard to forget in the busyness of daily life.

Although we are saved by grace and live by faith, we are still accountable for our individual lives and for changing our ways in compliance of being a ‘doer’ of the things Jesus taught and not a ‘hearer only’.

We are to be contemplative, repentant, humble and dead to ourselves because the self sacrifice necessary to atone for our sins is far beyond what any of us are able or willing to do. It would take every drop, every ounce of blood in our bodies to cover even our own sins, much less the sins of another.

However we can rejoice for the Messiah has come! Atonement has been made and He has obtained age enduring redemption, which is available for us! Justice is satisfied and Mercy fulfilled, once and for all!On Yom haKipuriym, day of the Atonements, we are also to remember that we live and breathe only because the Father so chooses, and that by His choice, He has the right and the power to take it away as well. A sobering reality.

Lk. 12:20; Mk. 13:44.

Hard though that is for some of us to admit, once born again and redeemed, it means that God through Jesus bought and paid for us and we belong to Him. Our life is no longer our own to live as we please and our destiny is His hands. At this time the story of Jonah is appropriate, teaching that sincere repentance can reverse even the harshest heavenly decreeand the prevention of Jonah’s flight shows that no one can escape from God.There is such an abundance of revelatory instruction around the 7th appointed time, it is prohibitive to attempt to include everything in one post, so some aspects are not mentioned below due to space and in an attempt to curtail longevity, however it is not out of ignorance or neglect.

(Further details regarding insights on the sacrifices and Temple proceedings followed at Yom Kippur will be posted on more mini manna moments/ deeper dig.)

Now for the Main Meal of the day! Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement (Lev. 25:9) 

The Biblical name for the day of Atonement is Yom HaKippurim, meaning ‘the day of covering, canceling, pardon, reconciling.’ Occasionally, it was called ‘the Day of the Fast’ or ‘the Great Fast’ (Lev. 23:27-31; 16:29-34). It is a unique ceremony which took place on the ancient Hebrew calendar for the children of Israel, it was the holiest day of the year and still is for believers and the Jewish community today. ‘Kadosh’, often translated as ‘Holy’, it also has a deeper meaning and conveys an understanding of being separate and set aside for Adonai /The Lord and not as the world and the things of the world are.Deut. 7:6, We are to be His own unique treasure.

This day marks the end of the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe) and falls on the 9th/10th day of Tishrei (Tishri), the seventh month in the Jewish calendar.It’s not a feast like the others that we have looked at. It is a day of repentance and it’s still of great significance for Christian believers, because not one of us is perfect.  It’s a time for us to make a decision to be better in the coming year than we were in the past year. Paul makes mention of Yom Kippur when he refers to it in Acts 27:9 saying that the fast had already gone by, as the main focus of this day is to fast before the Lord.Names used are:

Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement)

Face to Face
The Day (or the Great Day)
The Fast
The Great Shofar (Shofar HaGadol)
Neilah (the closing of the gates of heaven as the festival concludes and the judgment was set for another year.)

 

UNDERSTANDING THE PRIESTLY SERVICE FOR YOM KIPPURLev. 16, specifies the 10th of Tishrei as the date on which the high priest (Cohen HaGadol) shall conduct a special ceremony to purge defilement from the sanctuary and from the people. The heart of it is that the high priest (Cohen HaGadol) shall bring a bull and two goats as a special offering. First, the bull is sacrificed to purge the sanctuary from any defilements caused by misdeeds of the priest himself and of his household (Lev. 16:6). Secondly, one of the goats is chosen by lot to be sacrificed, to purge the sanctuary of any similar defilement stimulated by misdeeds of the whole Israelite people (Lev. 16:7-8). Finally, the second goat is sent away, not sacrificed, to cleanse the people themselves. The goat is marked for Azazel and is sent away to wander in the wilderness (Lev. 16:10).Before the goat is sent out, the high priest lays both his hands upon its head and confesses over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites, whatever their misdeeds, and so putting them on the head of the goat. Thus, the Torah adds, ‘The goat shall carry on it all their iniquities to an inaccessible region…’ (Lev. 16:20- 22).

AZAZEL: THE SCAPEGOAT

The Hebrew word for scapegoat is ‘Azazel’. Azazel was seen as a type of satan (Ha satan). The sins of the people and thus the punishment of the people were laid upon Azazel the scapegoat. Azazel being sent into the wilderness is understood to be a picture of satan (Ha satan) being cast into the lake of fire (Rev.19:20).The sins of the people were laid upon the scapegoat (Lev.16:21-22).

 

ADDITIONAL ASPECTS TO THE HIGH PRIEST CEREMONY

In order to enter the Holy of Holies, the high priest (Cohen HaGadol) was first to bathe his entire body, going beyond the mere washing of hands and feet as required by other occasions. The washing symbolized his desire for purification (Num. 19). The washing was of his clothes and his flesh (Num. 8:5-7;19:7-9).

This was done in conjunction with taking the blood of an animal with the finger
and sprinkling the blood upon the altar (Num. 19:1-4; Lev. 8:13-15 and in Num. 31:21-24.)  

‘And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering.’

The priest dipping his finger in the blood and placing it on the horns of the altar represents that the sin is recorded. The mark of a finger print in blood is evidence a death had taken place to pay the price for the sin.By this action, the altar had in a sense, become defiled until on the Day of Atonement when the pure blood of the Lord’s goat was placed on the altar to purify it.

The blood is shed for the sinner’s life and to satisfy the demand of the law, on the Day of Atonement the redemption is finalized. So too, is the process in the heavenly sanctuary on the day when our sins are blotted out. 

 The spiritual understanding of this is given in Heb. 9 -10:19-22.
The sprinkling of blood upon the altar is also mentioned in Ex. 29:1-4,10-12, 16,20-21; and Lev. 1:3-5,11; 3:1-2,8; 4:1-6; 5:4-6,9. The spiritual understanding is found in Heb. 9:11-14,23-25, and 1Pet. 1:2.

FACE TO FACE

The high priest (Cohen HaGadol) could only go into the Holy of Holies once a year (Lev.16:2; Heb. 9:6-7).(God issued a warning that no man could see His face and live (Ex.33:20). But because on the Day of Atonement the priest could be in God’s presence (Lev.16:2), another term for the Day of Atonement is ‘face to face.’  At that point, the high priest was ‘face to face with the mercy seat of God.’

Face in Hebrew: panim or paneh פָּנִים (paw-neem’)When the high priest (Cohen HaGadol) entered the Holy of Holies, he saw the Lord’s presence as a brilliant cloud hovering above the mercy seat (Lev.16:2).The word for mercy seat in Hebrew is kapporet. It comes from the root word kaphar, which is the same word used for atonement. The mercy seat can also be translated as the seat of atonement. The mercy seat is described in detail in Ex. 25:17-22 and 37:6-9. This is the place where Moses (Moshe) met and spoke with God face to face (Ex. 25:22; 30:6; Num. 7:89).The themes are:

Yom Kippur is a day of fasting and affliction of the soul.

The incense of the golden censer represents the prayers of Bible believers.Repentance Repent (Teshuvah) return to the Lord.

Hear (Shema) the calling (Shofar) for our lives.

Yielding ourselves to God so we may live every day (face to face – al paneh – פָּנִים) in His Presence. Furniture of the Tabernacle

Atonement

 At the moment the atonement was made on the Day of Atonement, those being atoned for were sinless and blameless before God.

The congregation of believers (kehilat) in the Messiah is being presented before God without spot or blemish (Eph. 5:27) because of the blood of Jesus/Yeshua (1 Pet. 1:19).Messianic Fulfillment; Jesus/Yeshua is the sacrifice of God for us who believe on Him (Heb. 9:26-28; 10:1-10). 

Forgiveness

Messianic Fulfillment: Aaron the high priest typifies the ministry of mediator and intercessor. Jesus/Yeshua is our High Priest (Heb. 3:1) and Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 12:24). He lives to make intercession for us (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:22-27).Spiritual Application (Halacha): By the death of Jesus/Yeshua, we are free to enter into the veil every day not just once a year. (Matt. 27:50-51; 2 Cor. 3:14; Heb. 4:16; 6:13-19; 10:19-22).

 More about the Goats 

Lev. 16:7–10. the high priest would stand before the people in Jerusalem with two identical goats.He would then put his hand into an urn where there were two lots, each one with a different Hebrew word carved into it. The High priest would then remove them both, one in each hand. He then placed the lot in his right hand on the head of the goat to his right the other to the goat on the left.One of the lots decreed that one of the goats would live and be set free, the other that it would die as the sacrifice for the sins of the people on Yom Kippur.  This is where two goats (or lambs) were chosen annually to represent the sins of Israel, one was sacrificed as the usual sin offering and the other released into the wild, bearing the sins of the people on it.The fate of each goat was determined by the drawing of the lots. The black lot signifying the scapegoat and the white lot, the goat for sacrifice. When the lots were drawn, if the black stone was found in the priest’s left hand when the stones were revealed it was an indication that the offering was unacceptable to the Lord. White meant yes, black meant no.

The Mystery of the Semikhah

Within this ceremony is also the mystery of the Semikhah. This is the sacred act that had to take place before a sacrifice could be offered up for the sins of the one offering it, or before the scapegoat could take away the sins of the nation on Yom Kippur.

It is the mystery of physical contact.

The person offering the sacrifice had to make physical contact with the sacrifice itself.

The priest had to touch it and very specifically had to place the palms of both his hands on the sacrifice.Lev. 16:21, Only after the Semikhah was performed could the scapegoat take away the sins of the nation or the sacrifice be offered up as an atonement.

The mystery is the Messiah. He is the sacrifice. 

As the Semikhah must be performed and it was the priests who offered Him up and then delivered Him to His death. In accordance with Scripture, the priest had to make physical contact with the sacrifice by placing his hands on it. Mk. 14:65 records that after condemning Him to death the priests struck Him repeatedly with their hands. The description shows that they specifically struck his face and head the palms of their hands and afterwards Messiah was led away to be killed.What we need to comprehend is that what took place on earth at that moment, was symbolic of what happened in heavenly realms. That is where the reality and sovereignty of God’s intervention took place concerning the fate of mankind. In truth, it was God who performed the Semikhah when He placed our sins on Jesus, ensuring that sins are gone, Semikhah was completed and those sins can never return!

 

MESSIANIC UNDERSTANDING

God gave this ceremony of the casting of lots during Yom Kippur to teach us how He will judge the nations of the world prior to the Messianic age known as the Millennium. The nations of the world will be judged according to how they treated the Jewish people. Those nations who mistreated the Jews will be goat nations and they will go into the left hand. Those nations that stood beside the Jewish people will be sheep nations and will enter into the Messianic kingdom or the Millennium. Matt. 25:31-46.
Jesus/Yeshua during His first coming was a type of the goat marked La Adonai. He was a sin offering to us as God laid upon Him the sins of the whole world (Is. 53:1-6; 1 Cor. 15:3; Gal. 1:3-4; Heb. 2:17; 1 Jn. 2:2; 4:10).

In the ceremony of the two goats, the two goats were considered as one offering. A crimson sash was tied around the horns of the goat marked Azazel.At the appropriate time, the goat was led to a steep cliff in the wilderness and pushed off the cliff.  Before there could be any sacrifice, there had to be a public presentation of the two goats before the people and the decision of which destiny would be for each goat. In the life of Messiah before his sacrificial death at Passover He too was presented before the people by pilate. For them to choose which man would live and which would die. With the goats only one could become the sacrifice, so Messiah had to be one of two lives presented to the people in order to be chosen as the sacrifice. According to the Yom Kippur decree and the requirements of the ceremony, the other life had to be let go and his name was Barabbas. Matt. 27:15–24

They had to be identical but how could that have been true? Barabbas was a sinner, bandit and murderer Jesus was sinless.

It’s all in the name.

Jesus our Messiah was also the Son of God, the Son of the Father and Barabbas name in Aramaic comes from two words. Bar which means Son and Abba which means father so therefore Barabbas means son of the father. The two men each bearing the same name son of the father. So the one who was the sacrifice and the one set free were identical in this way. Similarly, as we believe Jesus was the son of God, He was also equal to God; then it would follow that God in the flesh had to die in our place and have an equality in some way with us. (John14:9, If you have seen me you have seen the father.) He did become flesh in the form of a man, in the ‘likeness’ of sinful flesh and as such was ‘identical’ to fulfill the law.Bar Abba (Barabbas) was a symbol of the disobedient nation of Yisra’el, and he was released from prison even though he was guilty. But our Messiah, Jesus was killed in his place, because He became the scapegoat for Yisra’el!The definition for the word ‘scapegoat’ is ‘the innocent party who takes the blame for the guilty party.’ The nation of Israel/Yisra’el, (the firstborn son) was the guilty party, but the Father put on human flesh and became the Son (representing Israel/Yisra’el) by trading places with him! 

(This is where we get our idiom for a scapegoat, for the one who takes the blame.)

Messiah fulfilled the pattern of the twin goats on Yom Kippur and then he also fulfilled the role of the Kohen Gadowl (High Priest) that year when He read Is.61:1-2 in the synagogue (Lk. 4:19) declaring the acceptable year of The Lord.”
We are not under the law of sin and death any more we are under the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Rom.8:2

Because of the sovereign purposes of the Lord, Israel has undergone a partial hardening until all of those whom God has called from among nations have been grafted in to the Olive tree of God. During this age of grace, those who were called not my people, are intended to provoke Israel to jealousy by means of the message. (Hos. 2:23) After the age of grace is complete all Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:26) and the original covenant will be fully restored and redeemed. Yom Kippur will be a fulfilled festival on that great day. Then the words of the prophets will be proven true and God will be vindicated. Israel will be adorned with honor and blessing above all the nations of the earth and they will finally be home from their long exile.

The aspect of ‘hidden, covered, veiled.’ We see ‘Yom Kippur’ typology here with the concept of being ‘covered’ or ‘veiled.’ To this day, the Jewish people have nick-named this day of ‘Yom Kippur’ as ‘face-to-face’ because it was this one time per year when the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies ‘behind the veil’ and come ‘face-to-face’ with The Lord!As the High Priest had to intercede on behalf of Israel/Yisra’el for her sins, if he had any sin for which he had not repented, he would die in the Holy of Holies! At the future Day of Atonement, the bride who sufficiently sanctifies herself or ‘afflicts’ and prepares herself will be able to come ‘face-to-face’ with the bridegroom. Likewise on that day when Jesus returns, the veil will be removed from her face and her heart (Israel) and she will ‘see’ her Messiah (2 Cor. 3:14-16). The scales will fall away from her eyes also as she will ‘look upon’ the one whom she pierced (Zech. 12:10).

In the future, during the ‘Ten Days of Awe’ between The Feast of Trumpets & the Day of Atonement, there will also be a ‘7-day’ wedding for the bride of Messiah.

Through Yeshua  the atonement has been made, not just for a year but forever; not just for Israel but for all who will believe.  We have been and will always be forgiven by God’s grace through faith. Jesus is not still on the cross however 
because of Jesus who is the heart and prophetic fulfillment of every one of God’s holy days. These are His feasts, the feasts of the Lord. Because God chose Israel to be His witness to the rest of the world, the celebrations commemorate events in Israel’s history.  Through them God revealed His character and His plan of redemption through Jesus.

So the Feasts are continual reminders of God’s faithfulness and goodness.  They connect us together as a community and are anchors of our souls.

The ultimate fulfillment of the year of Jubilee will take place at the second coming of Messiah.The earth will be redeemed and come into full and complete rest from the curse brought upon it by Adam’s sin. Complete restoration of man’s lost inheritance will take place. God’s people will be totally set free — set at liberty, from all sin, sickness and disease, death, and the curse. Satan (Ha satan), the source of all these things, will be bound and true rest, true shalom will be realized. The tabernacle of God will be with men and He will dwell with them (Rev.21:1-4). So, the day of Atonement speaks of the fullness of the redemptive plan of God for man.We do well to remember, liberty and freedom are NEVER really free.

Somewhere – sometime – someone...

has ALWAYS paid the price for that freedom. It would behoove us to count the cost now, today – for there will be no avoiding the inevitable day of reckoning.

Israel, God’s Time Clock and the Temple Mount in the News.

ישראל ISRAEL (Yisrael, Yisra’el) יִשְׂרָאֵל

According to the Biblical explanation, the first part of the name ‘Israel’ is derived of the verb לִשְׂרות (lisrot, ‘wrestle’);

the second half of the name is אֵל (El, ‘God’). Or ‘He has wrestled (striven) with God’.

Other possible translations are:

  • “Ruler (or prince) over God”, or alternatively

  • “God prevails” 

  • “Champion or prince [sar] of God” which is a possible references to the same episode, but could imply praise.

  • “God rules” [the converse of “Ruler or prince over God”]

  • “God will rule” or “God who will rule”. 

  •  Some say, ‘Prince with God’.

  • Or is it that the mystery verb שרה doesn’t mean struggle at all, but rather reflects a worthiness to govern a nation?At the Jabbok, Jacob became the world’s first godly king and his nation was Israel; God’s (Vicarious) Governor.

Jacob – ‘God wrestler’.History: ‘Israel’ is the name given to Jacob after his encounter at the river Jabbok  when he wrestled with God’s angel;

“And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Genesis 32: 28 (Hebrew version: Genesis 32, 29);

it is also the name of the Biblical kingdom of Israel, the land of Israel, the people of Israel (Israelites/Israeli) and the modern state of Israel.

Jacob (Israel), had 12 sons and 1 daughter. The tribes were named after his sons and given portions of the land.

Israel is God’s Time Clock and when specific events unfold in that nation it is always significant, although the media does not always give it the attention it deserves.

Just over a week ago the terrorist attack on the Temple Mount on July 14, 2017 came at an important intersection of time.

Israel quickly installed metal detectors and assumed more control of the Temple Mount which led to open Jewish Prayers on the mount for the first time in 50 years!!

From and including that day it is 70 days to Rosh HaShana(h) 2017.

Israeli police check the scene where assailants fired shots toward Israeli forces on the Al Aqsa mosque compound in the Jerusalem’s Old City on July 14, 2017.
Three assailants opened fire on Israeli police in Jerusalem’s Old City on July 14 before fleeing to a nearby highly sensitive holy site and being killed by security forces, police said. / AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX

Rosh HaShana(h) also called Yom Teruah and sometimes called The Feast of Trumpets it is the first of the 3 Fall (Sept/Oct), Appointed Times of the Lord, which follow in quick succession at the end of the Hebrew Calendar Year.

The scripture often associated with this appointed time is 1 Thess. 4:15-18 in verse 16, the trumpet of God is translated from the greek word, ‘salpiggi’, meaning trumpet. However shofar, is the appropriate translation in this context because resurrection is for judgment, where the shofar was used as a call to repentance. (Lev. 23:24) (Interestingly the hebrew scriptures has neither the word feast nor the word trumpet.)The shofar was a rams horn which vary in length,and it’s not the silver trumpet described in Numbers 10.

~

The Headline On The Report From ‘Breaking Israel News’, declared:

World Looks Breathlessly to Temple Mount as Portal for Messianic Change Swings Open July 21 2017

The article follows below:

This week, for the first time since the Second Temple stood in all its glory,Jews were able to walk the Temple Mount freely as Muslim authority fell away from the site, allowing both Jews and Christians to heed the call to prayer on the Mountain of God and opening up the gates of redemption.Jews inadvertently became the main presence on the Mount, something that has not happened since the destruction of the Second Temple 2,000 years ago, as a result of the misguided actions of Arab leadership following a horrifying terror attack at the Temple Mount last Friday.The global prophetic implications of the major shift on this holiest of sites, emphasized MK Yehudah Glick, an advocate of universal prayer on the Temple Mount, cannot be denied.

“This was an enormous gamechanger,” he told Breaking Israel News. “Everything is part of the geula (redemption) process, but the things that happen on the Temple Mount are especially so.“If we want to bring world peace, we have to start there.”

The unprecedented situation on the Temple Mount came about in the wake of an attack that bloodied the holy stones of the Mount. Three Palestinian terrorists killed two Israeli Druze policemen near the Temple Mount before being chased into the compound itself and neutralized.Police close Temple Mount to non-Muslims over Jewish prayer Israeli border police officers stand guard at the entrance to the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, Friday, July 14, 2017. (AP/Mahmoud Illean) The picture below taken on July 14, 2017 shows the Temple Mount compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, after it was locked down earlier in the day following a terror attack.Two days later, the Temple Mount reopened with increased security measures in place for Muslims, including metal detectors of the type that have always been used to check Jewish visitors to the site. Until this recent attack, Muslims accessed the Temple Mount without undergoing any security checks.The Islamic Waqf, a Jordanian trust which controls the Temple Mount, immediately and furiously rejected the use of the detectors, calling the security measure “Israeli aggression”. Jerusalem Mufti Amin al-Husseini called for a Muslim boycott of the site and inter-Arab scuffles broke out as Waqf strongmen prevented Muslims from ascending.

The sudden lack of Waqf guards and large crowds of Muslim visitors on the Temple Mount led to an unusual situation. Muslim worshipers (above), gather for Friday prayer outside Jerusalem’s Old City, Friday, July 14, 2017. Temple Mount was temporarily closed off after two officers were killed in an attack by three Arab-Israeli gunmen there. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)Temple mount taking advantage of absence of Waqf officials

For the first time in decades, Jews were unencumbered by Waqf guards preventing them from praying. Though the Israeli police were still ordered to stop non-Muslim prayer, many Jews were inspired to seize the rare opportunity to speak a holy word on the holy mountain. The experiences, they shared, were breathtaking.http://jewishbreakingnews.com/2017/07/17/watch-jews-allowed-pray-temple-mount-first-time-since-1967/

Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel, co-founder of the Land of Israel Network, was driven by the call to prayer. Early Wednesday morning, he began his preparations by bathing in a mikveh (ritual bath), noting that the day was especially significant because Jews are now in the three weeks of austerity leading up to Tisha B’Av (the Ninth of Av/August ), a fast day commemorating the destruction of the Temples.

When he arrived at the Temple Mount, he saw the site was teeming with Israeli police ready to cope with the threat of the hostile Muslim crowds surrounding it. Despite the tense situation, Rabbi Gimpel was moved by the clear atmosphere of holiness and felt compelled to prostrate himself on the stones as was required in the days of the Temple. The Israeli police followed orders and carried Rabbi Gimpel from the site.

Nevertheless, Rabbi Gimpel was inspired. “Something monumental is happening there right now,” Rabbi Gimpel told Breaking Israel News. “The Palestinians changed the status quo by killing Israeli policemen, but now, it is the time for us to do our part. Every Israeli is looking towards the Temple, waiting to see what happens.”He described the awe he felt at being able to fulfill the ancient commandment of prostrating oneself before the presence of God.

“Bowing down on the stones is a Torah commandment, precisely like in Temple times, and in a way we aren’t able to do when the Waqf guards are here,” Rabbi Gimpel said. “I couldn’t resist. I felt like every prayer, every mitzvah (Torah commandment) done at the Temple Mount opened the door to geula just a little more.”As Rabbi Gimpel pointed out, the potential of the situation to open up the Temple Mount to the Jews is enormous. This  became clear when Knesset Member Avi Dichter (Likud) on Tuesday declared Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount.

“Israel is the sovereign on the Temple Mount, period. The fact that the Waqf became a sovereign on the Temple Mount ended last Friday,” announced Dichter, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and former head of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), on Israeli public radio.

Politically, the current situation is tenuous. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that while he does not intend to change the status quo, which forbids non-Muslims from praying, neither will he remove the metal detectors, creating an uncertain reality on the ground.Many worldwide are praying hard that as a result of this monumental shift, Jewish sovereignty will be established on the Mount once and for all. It is certain that if Israel retains control over the holy site, an indescribably enormous step will have been taken towards the fulfillment of the Temple’s prophesied role as a place a peace, which is unlikely to happen under Muslim rule.

“Without any compromise, the Temple Mount has to be a universal House of Prayer,” said Rabbi Yehudah Glick, “and cannot be a place of violence.”

A brief history and timeline showing events from 1967 to this Temple Mount incident in 2017, which shows some interesting numbers and offers an insight into why this event, (although sadly tragic), may be quite significant in the unfolding plan of the Ages.

A 50 year countdown to 2017 –

June 17 1967: Israel gives back the temple mount to the WAQF for peace.June 17 1967: Israel wins the temple mount in the Six Day War.June 17 1967: Israel lost control of the Temple Mount for 50 years until July 14, 2017June 7 1967: begins the countdown –

June 7 1967: 14,000 days to the Rosh HaShana(h) 2005

June 7 1967: 14,000 days + 40 weeks to the Lebanon-war of 2006

WESTERN NEGEV, ISRAEL – JULY 7 2006: Israeli soldiers.

June 7 1967: 14,400 days to 2006’s anniversary of the flood.

 

Palestinian ceasefire violations after Operation Cast Lead (Jan 2009)

June 7 1967: 14,700 days to Israel’s’ Cast Lead cease fire January 17, 2009

 

June 7 1967: 15,200 days to the Gaza Flotilla incident May 31, 2010

 

June 7 1967: 15,900 days to the Arab spring- December 17, 2000

June 7 1967 16,600 days to the operation Pillar of Cloud – November 17, 2012

June 7 1967: 17, 200 days to operation Protective Edge – July 8, 2014

June 7 1967: 18,200 days to Syria chemical weapons attack – April 4, 2017

June 7 1967 18,300 days to control of the Temple Mount – July 14, 2017 (As in featured article above.)

70 days to the 70th year since Israel was established.

Matthew 24:34

July 14, 2017: – 70 days to the Appointed Time of Rosh Hashana(h) – September 21, 2017 and from

July 14, 2017: – 70 days to the seventh month in the 70th year, could it be, this is moving towards the 70th week? One of these years it will be.

Time will show if there is more than just numerical significance in these occurrences… all that remains is for us to always be in a state of spiritual preparedness and ready for our Lords return.

Below a map of the land, showing the borders of Israel as originally promised by God,through all its transitionsto the present day