Israel Mourns Destruction of Both Temples on the 10th of Av; Do We Understand Those Appointed Times?

Summary: History tends to repeat. With militant extremists who don’t honor truces or peace-fires, their call for a 3^rd Intifada is serious. August 7 is the 10^th of Av, counting from the new moon crescent.

“In the 5^th month [counting from spring, Exodus 12:2] in the 10^th day…Nebuchadnezzar burned the house of the LORD,” Jeremiah 52:12,13. It was the end of an era, even as it was in 70 AD when Herod’s Temple was also burned on the same date according to Jewish historian, Josephus.

Are we at the end of an era? Some believe we are on the brink of end-times; some think end-times have already started. Speaking of the “day of the LORD,” the end-time apocalyptic period mentioned most often in the book of Joel, we find it initiated with an earthquake, as in Joel 2:10,11.

The New Testament Greek word, seismos, is used in Revelation, but that word can mean a commotion or stormy events as the storm on the Sea of Galilee. With that in mind, it’s not clear whether a terrorist event with a suitcase bomb could initiate end-times, but awareness of the times is an aid to watching.

Speaking of end-times, another Hebrew prophet wrote, “the day of the Lord comes, and your spoil shall be divided in the midst of you. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity…Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations,” Zechariah 14:1-3.

In spite of numerous Bible imageries that point to spring and Passover for apocalyptic events, it is possible, as with 9-11, for a preceding event to trigger a war in the spring, even as 2Samuel 11:1 suggests, “at the end of the [Jewish] year when kings go forth to battle…”

The purpose of this information is not to nail down all the specifics as much as it is a “heads up” for a principle. God has appointed times [mo'ed] which proved to be times for judgment. This included the judgment that fell on Egypt at Passover, Exodus 12:12. Passover was a time of unleavened bread, the only thing mentioned on the menu on the eve of Sodom’s destruction in Genesis 19:3 with the word, mo’ed in the discussion with Abraham in the previous chapter before the visit to Sodom, Genesis 18:14.

Actually the word mo’ed was to be when Isaac would be born, but Isaac typified Israel, and they were born as a nation at Passover when God judged Egypt and took them out of slvery. “Israel is my son, even my firstborn,” Exodus 4:22.

“Firstborn” implies another. This is also suggested by Paul’s comment. Like the calamity that fell on Egypt, Paul warns of “sudden destruction…as travail on a woman with child,” 1Thessalonians 5:1-6. That imagery supports a Passover event for us. Note he even says, “Of the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write, for you know perfectly….” (verse 1), implying a need to understand those appointed times. Stay tuned!

Dr. Richard Ruhling is a retired MD and his special interest is Bible prophecy, especially the wedding parables. He offers further information at http://TheBridegroomComes.com and http://MayJudgmentDay.com