Dear Family in the Messiah Yeshua! Greetings and blessings to you from your brothers and sisters at Holy Land Ministries ~ Israel!
At this time in Israel we are completing the commemoration of the “The Three Weeks”, these are the Three weeks of Affliction or Bein ha-Metzarim ( Hebrew: המצרים בין, Between the Straits”), based on Lamentations 1:3: “all her oppressors have overtaken her within the straits “. These three weeks between the 17th day of Jewish month Tammuz and the end of the 9th day of Jewish month Av (Tisha B’Av) have historically been days of misfortune and calamity for the Jewish people. During this time, both the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed, amongst other terrible tragedies. This difficult period always comes at the height of the heat of Israeli summer which makes it feel even more profound and intense. It seems yet heavier this year, due to the second wave of the pandemic in Israel, as we all have to wear the face masks continuously everywhere we go, which aggravates already difficult breathing during the sweltering heat. During this distinctive time, various aspects of mourning are observed by the entire nation. There are no wedding ceremonies held during this whole three weeks period, people avoid celebrations, minimize joy, refrain from pleasures etc. And, since the attribute of Divine judgment (“Din”) is acutely felt, there is even a tendency to avoid potentially dangerous or risky ventures and endeavors. The final day of this period, The Tisha B’Av (Hebrew: תשעה באב or ט׳ באב, “the Ninth of Av”) is an annual fast day in Judaism, named for the ninth day (in Hebrew”Tisha”) of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar. This fast commemorates the destruction of both the First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem, which occurred about 655 years apart, but on the same Hebrew calendar date. Tish’a B’Av begins at sunset on Wed, 29 July 2020 this year by the Gregorian calendar. As usual, we would like to share with you the thoughts relating to this solemn event of our friend and rabbi, and dear brother in Messiah Yeshua here in Israel.בס״דתשעה באב תש״פ Tisha B’Av 5780 The ninth day of the Hebrew month called Av is the date on which both the First and Second Temples were destroyed; the first time by Nebuchadnezzar and the second time by Titus. This day concludes a three week period of mourning which begins on the 17th day of the fourth month (Tammuz), which is when Nebuchadnezzar broke through the walls of Jerusalem and began to commit horrible atrocities upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem for twenty-one days. Tisha B’Av commemorates the burning of the Temple and its total destruction. The prophet Jeremiah, who foretold of this event in the book of Jeremiah, also wrote the book called איכה in Hebrew which means “How oh L-rd” and in English is known as Lamentations. This book is a collection of poetic utterances which describes the bereavement of the Jewish people and Jeremiah himself in light of the events which took place in approximately 586 BC.
In this year’s brief article for Tisha B’Av, I would like to focus on the concluding verses from the book of Lamentations.
יט אַתָּה יְהוָה לְעוֹלָם תֵּשֵׁב, כִּסְאֲךָ לְדוֹר וָדוֹר. כ לָמָּה לָנֶצַח תִּשְׁכָּחֵנוּ, תַּעַזְבֵנוּ לְאֹרֶךְ יָמִים. כא הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ יְהוָה אֵלֶיךָ ונשוב (וְנָשׁוּבָה), חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם. כב כִּי אִם-מָאֹס מְאַסְתָּנוּ, קָצַפְתָּ עָלֵינוּ עַד-מְאֹד.
“You O L-rd, forever You will sit, Your throne for generation and generation. Why forever will You forget us, (Why) will you leave us for lengthening of days (for such a long time). Return us O L-rd unto You and we will return, renew our days as previously. For since You have utterly loathed us? You have been angry with us exceedingly.”
Lamentations 5:19-22
These verses contain a very important message for the people of G-d and upon a thorough study of them, one can certainly understand why Jeremiah concluded the book of Lamentations with them.
The first thing which Jeremiah reveals is that the destruction of the kingdom of Judah, the city of Jerusalem, and the Temple of G-d does not effect the sovereignty of HaShem (the L-rd). When Jeremiah states, “You O L-rd, forever You will sit…” he means that despite what took place, G-d is still reigning, i.e sitting upon the throne. According to the Scriptures, it was in fact G-d Who, using Nebuchadnezzar to punish the Jewish people for their sin, which actually revealed the righteousness of G-d. The verse concludes with the statement, “…Your throne for generation and generation.” Jeremiah wants to inform the reader that this judgment did not have any implications in regard to the true Kingdom of G-d. This Kingdom is currently in the Heavens and that which was in Jerusalem was only an earthly reflection of it. The purpose of this earthly reflection was to demonstrate Kingdom truth to all of humanity. Unfortunately, under the leadership of Israel, Jerusalem became corrupt and idolatrous; this fact demanded that the Holy and Righteous G-d judge it.
In the next verse, Jeremiah writes, “Why forever will You forget us, (Why) will you leave us for lengthening of days (for such a long time).” This verse foreshadows the seventy year captivity and the devastating outcome that those seventy years had upon the Jewish people.
It is vital for one to understand that Judaism went through significant change during the Babylonian Captivity. Even though men such as Ezra, Nehemiah, Zerubbabel and the prophets were faithful to the word of G-d and taught truth to the people, the falsehood of the Babylonians greatly impacted many of the other spiritual leaders. When Jeremiah wrote verse 20, he was not only referring to those seventy years in Babylon, but because the word לָנֶצַח “forever” appears, there are those who understand this also relating to the period after the destruction of the Second Temple, which also speaks to Israel’s longest captivity. Although there is currently the modern nation of Israel and many Jewish people have returned to the Land, one should not conclude from this that the captivity which Titus and the Roman Empire initiated in 70 AD has ended. Without a Temple and without a Biblically based worship, the Roman Captivity continues to this day!
Such an understanding is supported in verse 21, “Return us O L-rd unto You and we will return, renew our days as previously.” The petition can only be fulfilled by the Messiah. In other words, Jeremiah is prophesying a future time when the Jewish people will cry out for a true and complete restoration. When one reads, “Return us O L-rd unto You…” it is a call for the Messiah to come and renew the Jewish people spiritually. The verse concludes with the sentence, “…renew our days as previously.” The question which must be answered is what is meant by the phrase כְּקֶדֶם “as previously”? One orthodox Jewish commentary אוצר התורה, stated “חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם תחדש את ימינו כמו הזמנים הטובים שהיו בעבר” Which simply means, “renew our days as in the good times that were in the past.” Such a perspective truly misses the intent of Jeremiah. The prophet is certainly not reminiscing about some “good old days”, but he is specifically referring to the Garden of Eden. The simple meaning of the term קֶדֶם in this context is “ancient”. The fact that Jeremiah is petitioning G-d for a restoration demands that he wants Israel, the covenant people, renewed to the condition in which Adam and Eve were prior to their fall into sin. Similarly, the words ונשוב (וְנָשׁוּבָה), חַדֵּשׁ implies much more than simply a return to a former experience, but the phrase strongly hints at both repentance ונשוב and a kingdom renewal חַדֵּשׁ.
The reason for understanding Jeremiah’s words with a Kingdom implication is that the word חַדֵּשׁ is found in the book of Revelation (καινός) as one of the primary adjectives which describes the Kingdom of G-d. In this context, the Kingdom is called the New Jerusalem. Once again, the word חַדֵּשׁ is found in the description of the Kingdom of G-d. The intent of Jeremiah within this verse should instill in the reader a renewed hope, as even though throughout the book of Lamentations the reader encounters one dirge after another, he concludes this book with a message which should cause the reader to repent and expect G-d to renew His covenant promises to His people.
The final verse is frequently rendered in a manner that seems to contradict what was said in the previous verse. For example, the King James Bible translates the verse with the following words,
“But thou has utterly rejected us, And are very angry with us!” Lamentations 5:22
כִּי אִם-מָאֹס מְאַסְתָּנוּ, קָצַפְתָּ עָלֵינוּ עַד-מְאֹד
Such a translation not only is problematic with the Hebrew, but it also fails to take into consideration any of the contextual aids in assisting one to rightly comprehend the intent of the author. The verse begins with two words כִּי אִם which when used together can mean “rather”. Hence, the KJV understood the intent of Jeremiah as G-d will not restore and renew Israel, rather He has utterly rejected them and will remain very angry. This understanding fails to take into consideration that Jeremiah did not utilize these first two words together as כִּי-אִם, but the verse is actually written כִּי אִם-. In this case, the “hyphen” is called a מקף Maqqef. The purpose of this marking is to inform the reader that one should not understand the use of the phrase כִּי אִם- as the idiom “rather”; but, that these two words should not be connected, as the word אִם is actually related to the phrase אִם-מָאֹס מְאַסְתָּנוּ. In light of this, the first half of the verse is properly rendered as,
“For since you have utterly loathed us…”
The idea which Jeremiah conveys to the reader is that G-d has acted in a manner which utterly demonstrated His abhorrence, loathing, and detesting for His people’s behavior. Not only did G-d have these feelings, but Jeremiah also states, קָצַפְתָּ עָלֵינוּ עַד-מְאֹד that G-d acted upon these feelings by placing upon His people His intense anger. The passage concludes with the phrase עַד-מְאֹד. The reader should notice that once again the Maqqef is employed by Jeremiah to inform the reader that one should recognize that עַד-מְאֹד is an idiom. If one simply translates these two words literally the result would be “unto very” or “unto exceedingly”. The second word מְאֹד can be used uniquely in the Bible. This word is found 299 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and one of its most famous occurrences is in Deuteronomy 6:5 where one is commanded to love HaShem with all one’s heart, soul and מְאֹד “strength” or “might”. Although the simple meaning of the word is “very”, it is obviously impossible to render this word in this way for Deuteronomy 6:5.
Some have explained the meaning of the word in this verse as referring to the very essence of an individual. The exact phrase which is found in Lamentations 5:22, עַד-מְאֹד appears 17 times in the Bible and relates to something which is surpassing the normal limits. In other words, it speaks of an extreme situation. This phrase is found in Daniel relating to the Empire of the antichrist, which becomes exceedingly “great” until the heavens, i.e. wanting to wage war with G-d. When it is used in a judgment context, it reveals a total destruction when no hope remains. Hence, in our passage, Jeremiah is teaching that because G-d’s punishment was so intense when He destroyed Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah, it was more than sufficient and now His people should expect His restoration and renewal by means of the Messiah.
Many of the English translations render the verse as,
“Unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.” NIV
In essence, their translations seem to be asking a question; for example the Good News Translation has,
“Or have you rejected us forever? Is there no limit to your anger?”
If one understands this verse as posing a question, then the answer must be a strong No! G-d has not utterly rejected His people, nor will His anger completely consume His covenantal promises which He made to Israel. In fact, one should understand verse 22 as pointing to the same message that the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed in Isaiah 40:2, that Israel has received from the hand of the L-rd double for all her sins. This passage from Isaiah comes from the section where Isaiah speaks about G-d comforting His people through the work of Messiah.
A concluding question which is often raised is if Israel has paid double for her sins, then why, in the End Times, is there that period which Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 30:7) calls a Time of Trouble for Jacob? This period will be the worst time of persecution ever for the Jewish people. In the midst of Jacob’s Tribulation (the final half of Daniel’s 70th week), two thirds of the Jewish people will be put to death. One should not understand Jacob’s Trouble as punishment from G-d, rather the source of this time of tribulation is the antichrist. G-d simply allows this time to happen in order to use it for bringing the greatest number of Jewish people to faith in Messiah Yeshua. This message is truly what the book of Lamentations also reveals; namely, although the kingdom of Judah, Jerusalem and the Temple were all destroyed, G-d’s covenantal promises are still valid and will be fulfilled through Messiah Yeshua to the Jewish people at the end of the tribulation period.
This good news is exactly what the Prophet Zechariah meant when he announced that HaShem will turn the four fast days, which all relate to the destruction and despair which the Babylonians brought to Judah, into gladness and appointed days of good things (see Zechariah 8:18-19).
Shalom and may you have a meaningful observance of Tisha B’Av.
Dear Family in the Messiah Yeshua,Please continue to pray for our ministry to new Jewish immigrants coming to Israel, as a fulfillment of the numerous prophecies about the regathering of Jewish people to the Land of Israel, recorded in Deuteronomy 30:1-5, Isaiah 11:11-12, Jeremiah 29:14 Ezekiel 20: 41-42 ; 36:24 and in many other passages in the Scripture.We are delighted to tell you that our facilities that we have rented for the new immigrants in Ashqelon are being used again after a break caused by the initial quarantine. For a while the flow of new arrivals had thinned, but at the moment, it has resumed with renewed vigor. Baruch HaShem!!!The Biblical prophecies about the return of the Jewish people are in full operation again and the global instability and threat has actually caused an acceleration of this process. We are thrilled about this new leap in”Aliyah”!
In the light of these exciting events, we are asking your prayers about some particular cases and people whom we are hosting in our facility in Asqhelon. It is so exciting to meet these new Jewish immigrants, when they are first entering Israel as their new home. Every case and every person is unique and precious and yet some of them seem to need especially intense prayer.
One of these dear people is our guest Boris (Baruch in Hebrew), a new Jewish immigrant from Ukraine. Baruch is 47 years old and at the first sight he looks energetic and full of strength. Unfortunately, he is diagnosed with 4th stage stomach cancer and his coming to Israel was to a large extent caused by this major problem that he is facing today. During his stay in our house Baruch was going through a two week quarantine period required from every newcomer today and getting ready for his prompt hospitalization. Baruch sends his warmest thanks to all of you for the provision of his first shelter in Israel as he is a man of modest means and by his own statement wouldn’t be able to afford a rental place right now, especially in his present condition.
Baruch gives an impression of a really humble and gentle man, very grateful for all the care and supplies that we were able to provide for him, but like many other Jewish people who are coming to Israel today from the “Galut” (Exile), especially from the former Soviet Union, he is completely blind to the spiritual reality in which he finds himself today. As you might remember, this is the case with many new Jewish immigrants, as we spoke about this in particular in our last letter and in many other previous publications.
Though Baruch is relatively young, he was born in the communist regime and raised in the propaganda of “scientific” atheism which from a very young age has deeply polluted his thinking and damaged his whole world perception. Today he earnestly puts all his trust and hope for healing in the brilliant achievements of Israeli medicine, but wouldn’t see the One who is responsible for all its remarkable rise and the scientific success in the modern state of Israel. Right now Baruch still does not understand the need for prayer and his condition is described as “spiritually dead”. At times it seems that he wants to join our prayers as we are praying for his healing, but then he says: “what can I say, if I don’t believe?”
And yet, we believe that there is a hope for this dear man. We constantly encourage him to press on and “call upon the name of the Lord” regardless of his present lack of insight and understanding… ” Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened”. John 7: 7,8
We believe that the Lord brought Baruch and many other new Jewish immigrants, all the way from the “land of the North” so that He can reveal Himself to them, to demonstrate His glory and show His mercy to the poor suffering souls like Baruch. By Baruch’s own confession he is not happy with the emptiness in his soul, but does not know “how to fix it”. He realizes that he does not have the Faith and asks your prayers for him… that the Lord will grant him this priceless gift…
Dear Friends, you already know how to pray for this precious Jewish man. Please join us, as we intercede for Baruch in his challenging situation, for his ultimate healing, for the Lord’s work in his heart and most of all for the gift of repentance and Faith, as he goes through this difficult and crucial stage in his life. “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart”. Jeremiah 29:12,13
We are also asking your prayers for the other guests at our shelter, a young Jewish family from Russia.Their situation is not as dramatic as in the previous case, but they certainly need the Lord’s guidance and direction in their new life and establishment in Israel.
Vitali and Valentina with their three little daughters Sarah, Emma and Vitlena came to us a few weeks ago from the very north of Russia and are now getting used to the hot Israeli weather, which is a totally new and exciting experience for them.
Vitali, the head of the family, a happy father of three beautiful girls, looks to the future with hope and optimism, getting ready for the new life in Israel.Baruch HaShem, all this lovely family are cheerful and healthy and it is a pleasure to watch their joyful excitement, as they are making their first steps in Israel.And of course, the most important thing we can do for them is to tell them about the spiritual reality of Israel and about the One who brought them here from the “Land of the North” as a fulfillment of His promise and His covenant with the Jewish people. We are so glad for the opportunity to share the Gospel with these dear people right at the beginning of their new life in Israel.
Our constant prayer for all the Jewish newcomers entering Israel today is from Ephesians 3:17b,18,19 “…. that Messiah (Christ) may dwell in your hearts, through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Messiah (Christ) which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Please pray with us for this precious family that they will clearly see the loving Hand of G-d of Israel carefully arranging their every step and planting them in a new home, which He prepared for them. May the Lord grant them wisdom and repentance, may He open their spiritual eyes and hearts to understand the Good News of the Messiah of Israel and His amazing Love, given for free to all who desire it and ask for it. ————————————————————————–
Prayer for the Land for the Messianic community in the Negev
Dear Family in the Messiah and our prayer partners, for over twenty years we have been ministering in Israel through various charity projects (by the works of righteousness, “Ma’sej Zdaka” מעשי צדקה in Hebrew), seeking to serve the poor and needy and faithfully proclaim the Gospel of our Blessed Messiah till His Return.Those of you who have been involved with us for a long time, know that our vision and dream is to establish a Messianic community of Yeshua’s disciples in the Negev, (the southern part of Israel).
Previously we have even lived for a while in the agricultural settlements in the Negev and actually moved our shelters there during that period.We feel it was the most successful and fruitful time ever for us, as a community of Yeshua’s disciples. The only problem back then was that we had to rent the land, houses and facilities from the local landowners and this often made us dependent on their renting rules and various restrictions that limited our freedom in ministry. For example: though we paid for the housing and facilities in the Negev, we were not free to receive in our community all the poor and needy, that we would have wanted to receive, because some of them could not pass the criteria of the particular Moshav (agricultural settlement), where we had settled at that time.
Thus the major challenge since then has been to acquire our own land which would allow us to practice our freedom and Faith in our own homes in a way that the Lord will direct us.
Over the years we have tried to find and purchase the land for this goal, but haven’t’ succeeded yet..At this time our team members in Beer Sheva have found a beautiful piece of land in the Negev that looks so suitable to our purposes, though as it happened before, there are some serious obstacles in purchasing this property.
Our fervent desire is still to have a base in the agricultural area in the Negev where we could live together in community, practicing Messiah’s Mitzvot and instructions for righteousness in our daily life, working on the farm, helping and supporting one another in this simple environment, which would be ideally suited to the Negev area.
Dear Friends, please pray with us that the Lord will go before us and level all the obstacles on our way in obtaining this land, but only if this is His perfect will and His chosen timing for this particular plan.We trust in His absolute control over this matter, just as in all the other works that we are seeking to do to glorify His name and proclaim His Coming Kingdom. Our prayer today is to be constantly guided and directed by His Spirit in every step and decision that we have to take.”Wait on the Lord, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;”Psalm 37: 34a.Thank you for all your prayers and support, our precious Family!May the Lord strengthen and bless you abundantly in every way and season of your life:” Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3 : 5,6.
William and Debra Wright, HLM Office,
On behalf of Holy Land Ministries
Holy Land Ministries 