September could be a busy month!

 

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The number 70 is a significant one in Scripture.

In the prophecy of Daniel 9:24 we have the prophecy of 70 weeks - regarded as the time which will elapse between the going forth of the command to rebuild Jerusalem until the first coming of the Messiah, Jesus (490 years in the day for a year principle). Then we have the Prophecy in Jeremiah 29:9, where God promises to bring the Jews back to Israel after a captivity lasting 70 years The number 7 is considered to represent 'fullness or completion' and 10 'perfection', so the two together could represent the perfect completion of God's purpose.

So, it's interesting to see that there are two significant seventies in the month of September.

September 13th/14th – is the Start of the 70th Jubilee Year since the time when Israel entered Israel the land under Joshua

And the next day! September 15th – The 70th session of the UN General Assembly begins.   And this may have effect on the land of Israel as France plans to introduce a resolution, which will give formal UN Security Council recognition to a Palestinian state. And under the present circumstances the US may not block it this time.

This would certainly underline God's words in Joel 3:2 – “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and PARTED my land.”

Peace in Israel?

This seems to be the desire of the World's nations, but at what cost? There is more lobbying for peace this month... And yet the general view seems to be that Israel should hand over land, for the sake of peace at the expense of her safety.

September 20th to September 26th – The “World Week For Peace in Palestine Israel” sponsored by the World Council of Churches.

September 21st – The UN International Day Of Peace.

Peace at last

Students of the Bible, are looking for such a time when Israel will finally feel safe, because that is the time when they will be at their most vulnerable and will only be saved by the return of the Lord Jesus Ezekiel speaking to Gog ..38:11And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, Eze 38:12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

Zechariah speaking of the Day of The Lord and the Return of Christ 14:1-3Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

Zec 14:2 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, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Zec 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

Zec 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

The concept of peace in Israel at last and yet very vulnerable makes us aware of Paul's words about the return of Christ in

1 Thess 5 : 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night, ‘For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.’

Signs in the heavens

Genesis 1:14 reads: "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years". And we will be experiencing a very particular Sign in September

On September 28th – The Feast of Tabernacles begins. It is also the date for the last of the four blood moons that fall on Biblical festival dates during 2014 and 2015. The final blood moon will fall on the very first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, it will be a “supermoon”, and it will be clearly visible from the city of Jerusalem.

Apparently a similar pattern of eclipses happened just before and just after the destruction of the Jewish temple by the Romans in 70 AD.

Going back to our first comment about 2015/16 being a Jubilee Year and the 70th one too, we have the most interesting and challenging concept of all, because if you date from 1416 BC - when Israel 1st entered the land , then this Sept 13/14th will be the start of the 70 th Jubilee since that date! And history teaches that previous Jubilees have brought about miraculous changes in the land .

The Jubilee of 1917/18.......The British capture Jerusalem The next Jubilee 1966.........The Jews capture Jerusalem The next Jubilee 2015/15.... What then?

Will it be the Return of Christ? No one knows, but looking back at previous Jubilees one would expect something big to occur, perhaps some way in which the angels will lay down the foundations for the Lord Jesus Christ's return.

Jesus told us no one knows when his return will be, (Mark13:32: "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."; Mar 13:33: "Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.) Still, he counsels his faithful servants to 'watch' that they be not caught unawares.")

May the events of the next few months make his servants ever more watchful and persuade those seeking for God to be encouraged and to put on Christ in baptism.


 

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