Israels saddest day!!!

Tisha B'AV Dear friends and readers, Peace and grace to you in Jesus name! Out there in the highways and byways of the church world, there is lurking just below the surface, a polarizing effect that can only be described as ISRAEL!!! Believers either love or hate this tiny country. The question is WHY? Why are there more news reporters stationed in Israel (per capita) than any other country on the planet? Why is the tiniest scrap of news from Jerusalem, WORLDWIDE news within minutes? And is there really any valid correlation between the events being played out upon the world stage---and ISRAEL? Todays article will set the record straight and hopefully clarify some key issues that many Christians do not understand. First, a huge thank you to new readers in the countries of Jamaica, Bulgaria, Albania, Puerto Rico, Uganda, Norway, Zimbabwe, Indonesia and Japan. I sincerely hope you enjoy the articles and if I may ask a favor? Please do forward my link to all your friends and relatives. Our combined totals of followers are climbing with each article and the Lord has now blessed me with readers in 64 countries. Now regarding Israel: What a surprise, you mean you could guess that I would write more and more about Israel? The reason I spend so much time on this tiny nation is because it is mentioned in the Bible 2563 times beginning in Genesis 32:28 and ending in Revelation 21:12. As much as I love my home country try and guess how many times the Bible mentions the United States? "0" Or Canada "0" or Great Britain "0" or,or, or? So let's take something with a smaller number: Jerusalem for example, a mere 811 times. Temple 204, Jews 290, HOLY 611. In contrast, JERUSALEM is not mentioned even 1 time in the Muslim Koran! Are we beginning to see a snap shot of what is important to God here? I should probably give equal time to the other inhabitants of the area which contains the nation of Israel: Palestinian 0 Palestine 1 Palestina 3 Arab 1 Arabian 4 Arabia 8 Arabians 6 It should also be noted that the terms "PALESTINA" (KJV) and "PHILISTIA" (NKJV) are transliterated from the Hebrew word "PELESHETH"into English (Strongs exhaustive concordance word #6429). They have absolutely no correlation to the modern landscape of the Middle East or any people group living in that area today. "PELESHETH" is the ancient word used for the area of the PHILISTINE people going all the way back to the Israelite King Saul and beyond. They were a non-semitic people who were systematically destroyed and became totally extinct in millennia past. So, removing "PALESTINA" from the list we have the following: GRAND TOTALS: JEWS mentioned in the Bible 290 times. PALESTINIANS or ARABS 23. Now please know that my mentioning these facts are not intended to be a slight to the Arab or so called "Palestinian" people of today any more than mentioning that AMERICA, MEXICO or TONGA are not mentioned even one time in the Bible. Also very honestly, God did not pick Israel or the Jewish people as His chosen ones because they were perfect. The reason(s) he chose them is fodder for another article. But it is an established Biblical fact that He DID make that choice. No matter how many mere human beings may not like that, it was and still is a Divine decision. The Bible describes the Jewish people as a stubborn and stiff necked lot! 2 Chronicles 30:8 warns "Now do not be stiff necked, as your fathers were but yield yourselves to the Lord"! Sometimes the Jewish people walked with the lord and sometimes they did not. Sometimes they were punished by God and sometimes they were rewarded. None of that mitigates or cancels the Divine promises and Covenants that were given to the Jewish people through Abraham, his son Isaac and then confirmed to his son Jacob, who's name was changed by God Himself to ISRAEL! I am not going to give you a litany of the covenants today because we have discussed them many times in the past. As far as being stubborn and stiff necked is concerned--a word to my fellow Christians worldwide who at this very moment may be tempted to look upon our Jewish brethren as any less than God decreed them to be. Having been a pastor for 25 years I can tell you first hand that there is no other people group on the planet more difficult to deal with than a stubborn Christian who repeats the same mistakes for years on end. Bottom line, we are all unfortunately still shackled with a sin nature that wants to rebel against God at every turn. Let us not be pointed the finger and clucking the tongue at anyone let alone the chosen ones of God! During all these thousands of years of Jewish history in the Biblical land of Israel, a number of events have stood out involving Gods chosen people, that draw some sharp conclusions. I have reported in past articles about several key--world changing events that centered around Biblically appointed days and feasts that God gave to the early Hebrews and declared that they should be celebrated or observed in perpetuity. In the Spring of the year, these appointed times included Passover, Unleavened Bread, First fruits and Pentecost. As reported many times, Jesus Christ (Hebrew name--Yeshua Ha Mashiach), is the long awaited Messiah of Israel. The Bible reports that He will come to earth twice. Once as the slain Lamb of God Isaiah chapter 53), giving his life for the sins of mankind. Then He was resurrected from the grave (Matthew 28:2-6). Then the Holy Spirit was sent into the believers who recognized Jesus as the Son of God (Acts chapter 2). At His second coming to earth---future time that no one knows for sure---! He will come as the LION of Tribe of Judah. Trust me, there is a huge difference between Christ's role as a Lamb than His role as a Lion. But that is a subject for another day. But here is the amazing thing: Jesus died precisely on Passover! Not one minute later and not one minute earlier (Matthew 27:50). Jesus was buried precisely on Unleavened Bread (Matthew 27:60). Jesus was resurrected from the grave precisely on First Fruits (Matthew 28:2-6). The Holy Spirit was sent to the followers of Jesus precisely on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Coincidence? I think not! Then in the Fall of the year, there are the Biblically appointed times of 1). Trumpets (Rosh Hashana--Jewish New Year) 2). Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). 3). Tabernacles (Sukkot). Many theologians world wide believe that the future second coming of Christ may well coincide with these feast as follows: Trumpets=Rapture of the church. Day of atonement=Second coming of Christ. Tabernacles=Beginning of the thousand year reign of Christ on this earth. NOTE---CAUTION!!! This is great coffee time speculation and I myself believe that it is a distinct possibility. BUT, no one should build their theology surrounding events that have not yet occurred. AND for goodness sake pleeeeease stop the attempted date setting!!! There is another in a long line of important calendar days that has profound implications for the world---certainly in the past and quit possibly in the future. That day is the 9th of Av on the Hebrew calendar. It is also called "TISHA B'AV" which is known among our Jewish brethren as "THE SADDEST DAY IN JEWISH HISTORY"! It is also a day that has been often extremely sad for the entire world. This year Tisha B'Av fell just two days ago on August 9 on our modern Gregorian calendar. I am writing this specific article for those who somehow believe or have been taught that Israel is inconsequential to the final outcomes of this world. I cannot stress to you enough that exactly the opposite is true! Following is a partial list of the vents that have happened over the years precisely on Tisha B'Av.

Why has Tisha B'av been the saddest day? 1,312 BC: (Jewish year 2449 from Adam): On the 9th of the fifth month of Av, after the 12 spies gave their false report YHVH decreed that Israel would wander in the desert for 40 years, because of their UNBELIEF in His promise to give them the land of Canaan. Numbers 13 & 14. 586 BC: (Jewish year 3338, Talmud (Taanit 4:6) On the 9th of the fifth month of Av , King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the First Temple, Solomon's Temple. 2 Kings 25:8-9; Jeremiah 52:12-13 70 AD: On the 9th of the fifth month of Av, the Roman Emperor destroyed the Second Temple, the one where Messiah Yeshua preached from and prophesized its destruction in Matthew 24:2 132 AD: the Romans crushed Bar Kokhba's revolt and destroyed the city of Betar, killing 100,000 Jews. 133 AD: Following the Roman siege of Jerusalem, Roman commander Turnus Rufus plowed the Temple site and surrounding area. 134 AD:On the 9th of the fifth month of Av (Bar Kochba rebellion, fell to the Romans on the 9th of Av of the year 3893 (133 CE) after a three-year siege. 580,000 Jews died by starvation or the sword, including Bar Kochba, the leader of the rebellion. 1095 AD: On the 9th of the fifth month of Av the First Crusade was declared by Pope Urban II in, killing 10,000 Jews in its first month and destroying Jewish communities in France and the Rhineland. 1290 AD: On the 9th of the fifth month Av the Jews of England were expelled by King Edward I. 1492 AD: On the 9th of the fifth month Av the Jews of Spain were expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. 1914 AD: On the 9th of the fifth month of Av (August 1, 1914), World War I broke out, causing unprecedented devastation across Europe and set the stage for World War II and the Holocaust. 1942 AD , On the 9th of the fifth month of Av the mass deportation began of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, en route to Treblinka death camp (Holocaust). 1994 The bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires killing 86 and wounding 300 others. 2005 AD - On the 9th of the fifth month Av signified the events of the Disengagement from the Gaza Strip which were completed on August 22, and from northern Samaria on August 23, 2005. As the Lord has promised the ones that bless Israel will be blessed but the ones that curse Israel will be cursed. The two main players in the division of the land, taking Gaza Israelis paid dire consequences... The USA had the worst economical natural disaster in history: Hurricane Katerina slapping New Orleans on August 29, 2005... a few months later, on January 4th 2006 the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke, and has been in permanent vegetative state since then, maintained alive artificially. This is serious stuff folks. I want to recommend a book to you that can be purchased or ordered from your local Christian book store or Amazon. When it first came out it was one of those books that was received in three vastly different ways by Christians. 1). This is ridiculous---can't be! 2). This is far too scary for me to finish. 3). We serve a good and loving God and He would never do such terrible things! The name of the book is "EYE TO EYE" by author William Koenig. It has a picture of George W. Bush on the cover but believe me when I tell you that this is NOT a political book. This book is well written and researched. It chronicles major world events all the way back to 1917 and correlates these events with events surrounding Israel. It speaks of catastrophes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and many other natural HUGE disasters that occurred nearly immediately (within a day or two) of announcements made (or actions taken) by Government leaders to force Israel to give up land for peace etc. No one wants to think about a just and loving God who would intentionally inflict damage to the planet or cause hardship for countries or people. But I want you to think about something for a minute. If two people look at the very same coin but from different sides, you will get two very different descriptions of that same coin. God is like a two sided coin. One the one side is an infinite distance, every inch or second of which includes Love Grace and Mercy. On the other side of God's coin however is a just and righteous God who cannot look upon sin. He is extremely explicit in His Holy Bible regarding many things that He does not like, not the least of which is the way the world treats Israel. You may not like the way God looks at things but in the end---since he is an all powerful God---it is His way or no way. It is extremely counter to productive to shake your fist in God's face and say "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME". In September 2011, the world is talking about dividing Israel one more time and what we have seen happened with the Gaza strip will be nothing in comparison to what will happen if they take away the land of Samaria and Judea from Israel...Is something going to happen on the 9th of Av next year? Or, even IMMEDIATELY AFTER the United Nations---with the backing of the United States and several other countries, try and force Israel once again to give up land for peace, not to mention part of the Holy City of Jerusalem? How fool hardy can anyone become to believe that they are somehow immune from Divine judgement---after being warned by God Himself REPEATEDLY in His news paper article to the world, the Holy Bible! God bless you all, Pastor Rance. Leviticus 25: 23 'The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. P.S. For my fellow Christians: Peace 430 times. Grace 170 times. Mercy (in its various forms) 362 times. Love 310 times. Saved 104 times. Salvation 164 times. JESUS 981 times.