"The Spirit of
the Lord GOD [is] upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach
good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to
[those who are] bound; To proclaim the
acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To
comfort all who mourn,
Isaiah 61:1-2 NKJV
While many are familiar with the seven Feasts of Israel, which were
celebrations appointed by God and revealed to Moses during the
Exodus, not as many are familiar with the Fasts of Mourning which are
days which commemorate a tragic event or events that have occurred in
Israel's history. While these days of remembrance were not
instituted by God, He does mention them when He reveals to the
prophet Zechariah that the time will come when they will be turned
into days of celebration after the tribulation ends and the Messiah
begins His reign on the earth.
"Thus says the
LORD of hosts: 'The fast of the fourth [month], The fast of the
fifth, The fast of the seventh, And the fast of the tenth, Shall be
joy and gladness and cheerful feasts For the house of Judah.
Therefore love truth and peace.'
Zechariah 8:19
NKJV
This coming Saturday is the seventeenth of Tammuz, which
is the first fast day, or the fast of the fourth month referred to by
Zechariah in the passage above. This day begins a period of three
weeks of national mourning in Israel that lead up to Tisha B' Av, or
the ninth of Av which is the fast of the fifth month. When
discussing this first fast day in his book “Armageddon: Appointment
With Destiny”, the late Grant Jeffrey says that the events which
have occurred on the seventeenth of Tammuz serve to show the nation
of Israel that God's favor had been withdrawn from them because of
their sin as a nation. It also served as a sign that God's judgment
was soon to follow, which throughout history has certainly occurred
on the ninth of Av.
The first passage we looked at this morning comes from
the book of Isaiah, and is noteworthy because it was also quoted by
Jesus during His ministry here on earth. If you look in the fourth
chapter of Luke you find this account;
So He came to
Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He
went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And
He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened
the book, He found the place where it was written:
Luke 4:16-17 NKJV
Jesus
then reads the passage from Isaiah
61 but does an interesting thing; He stops reading in the middle of
verse two where it begins to talk about the day of vengeance. Then
Jesus explains to the people;
And He began to say
to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
Luke 4:21 NKJV
Almost every commentator I have read agrees that this is
because the day of vengeance that Jesus does not talk about is the
future tribulation period that will come upon Israel because of their
rejection of Jesus as their Messiah. It is during this time of
tribulation that the rest of verse two comes into play because it
describes that period of time as a time of mourning in Israel. If
you are at all familiar with the events described in the book of
Revelation concerning this coming time of judgment you might think
that there will be plenty of reasons to mourn, yet the Bible makes it
clear that God intends for the world and the nation of Israel to know
the real reason to mourn;
"Then the sign
of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of
the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Matthew 24:30 NKJV
"And I will
pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the
Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they
pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for [his] only
[son], and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
Zechariah 12:10
NKJV
As I thought about the subject of mourning this week,
and the fact that we are approaching the period of time in Israel's
history where they have historically been given reason to mourn, I
couldn't help but wonder what future event might occur which would
remind Israel that there is a reason to mourn. It was as I was
thinking these things when articles began to appear in the news
recalling the prediction of Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, the chief rabbi of
Israel who passed away in 2006. Just before his death he revealed
that he had experienced a dream where he had met the Messiah and had
been told when He would return. When asked who the Messiah was he
replied “Yeshua”, which is Jesus, and that He would return in the
month of Av in 5772, which is this year.
Now you would think that this would be a cause for
celebration in the month of Av, and not a time to mourn, yet the
thought that immediately crossed my mind when I read this was one
which applies to everyone and not just Israel. You see, the next
time Jesus returns will be the rapture when He comes in the clouds to
take His bride, the Church made up of all who believe in Him, back to
Heaven. That being the case, while it will be a time of
celebration for those who go, don't you think it will be a reason to
mourn for those who don't? Of all the events which have occurred
throughout history during the three weeks of mourning in Israel, they
would all pale in comparison to being left behind when the rapture
happens.
Is it possible that God would allow Jesus to take His bride on the seventeenth of Tammuz as a sign that His judgment is coming? Certainly. Am I making a prediction here? No, but would I be
surprised if the rapture occurs in the next few weeks? Seriously?
Consider all the things that are happening in the world right now.
We have the signs of war in the Middle East beginning at any time,
floods in parts of the world while half of the United States is
experiencing record heat. Earthquakes occurring and volcanoes
erupting, not to mention the tragedy of wildfires burning in several
states. With all these things in mind I think it seems more
important than ever for all of us to consider our eternal destiny and
make sure we know we will accompany our Lord when He returns for His
bride.
If you are reading this today and have never made the
decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I urge you
to do it right now. All you need to do is pray a simple prayer like
this;
Jesus I know I am a sinner in need of salvation. I
believe you sent your Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sin, and I
ask you now to forgive me of my sins. I want to receive your gift of
salvation so please come into my heart and help me to live for you
from now on. In Jesus' name, Amen.
But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to
those who believe in His name:
John 1:12 NKJV
If you have prayed that prayer, or one just like it, you
can rejoice that you will spend eternity with God. If not, I'm sorry
to say that very soon you might just have a reason to mourn.
Keep watching.
