- Such tumultuous times we are living in
- By your patience possess your souls
- Thoughts As Tish B’Av approaches
Shalom dear Friends;
“Such tumultuous times we are living in… so many voices trying to be heard but praise be to God for His Still Small Voice in the midst of it all.” Today I received this word from Vera Giles in Reading England Can you say amen!
Your caring notes, gifts and phone calls are so strengthening. Thank you!
I am sure that we are all praying on the run, in the car, in the stores and at business and in the garden with our little ones. I pray without ceasing. Sometimes when I am alone I just sob and pray in the Spirit and let the pain out. Other times I just ache or groan. We all have our own ways of responding to the enormous tragedy over taking us, and do believe Our Glorious God and Father will see each one of us through.
By your patience possess your souls. Luke 21:19 1
This simple verse stuck me with force this week. One must guard one’s soul. Patience with oneself is the avenue for one to over come ungodly habits and weakness. Patience is a character quality that grows from a faith that acts as if everything is ultimately in the Hands of the Master Designer. We must work to be quiet and patient.
Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin, which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1
When one is facing eternity, solutions come easily for vision is focused. One learns to let go of trivia, and help and cover the fragile ones under one’s care. That is our call: we must stand tall when surrounded by foment, hatreds, anguish, uncertainty and loss. What can man do unto us? The LORD is on our side.
Recently; “As Tish B’Av approaches, commemorating the tragic destruction of the Jews’ Holy Temples in Jerusalem and two thousand years of persecution during Jewish Exile it is incumbent upon Jews to remember that we have only One Eternal Ally – The God of Israel – who mercifully returned us to our Homeland, Eretz Israel!
To the hypocritical nations who condemn Israel for defending ourselves against Hizbullah, which daily lobs deadly katyushas and rockets on innocent Israeli civilians we owe you nothing!!! Your callous indifference to Arab terrorist murders and wounding of thousands of innocent Jewish men, women and children, recalls your deafening silence during the Holocaust!2
Tonight August 2nd at sunset until 8 p.m. tomorrow we fast with or without water. We sit on the ground as an act of mourning, weeping over our losses. Isaiah 55 and 56 are read as is Eicha or Alas, the Hebrew title of the Book of Lamentations. All through our history this day has been one of disaster and calamity.
– The desert generation was convicted to die in the wilderness.
– The first Temple was destroyed.
– The second Temple was destroyed. The Roman legion was responsible for the deaths of 1.1 million Jews. Another 97,000 were taken captive into slavery or fed to the lions. This tragedy marked the end of the commonwealth of Israel and the long and painful exile came to an end on May 14th 1948 with the rebirth of Israel.
– In 1290 King Edward 1st of England ordered the expulsion of Jews.
– In 1306 France’s Philip the Fair did the same.
– In 1492 Spain’s Ferdinand & Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain.
– It is said that on one Tisha B’Av Napoleon passed the entrance of a synagogue in Paris. He saw the Jews sitting on the ground weeping and lamenting over the destruction of the Sanctuary and the land, as if the calamity had befallen them only yesterday. He stood in amazement and said: ‘I vow that this people is destined for a successful future in its own land; for where can we find a single other people which kept alive similar mourning and hope for thousands of years’? 3
– World War 1 broke out, the outcome paved the way for Hitler.
All the tragedies and suffering that have befallen the Jewish people including the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Cossacks and the pogroms on through to the Nazi Holocaust can be traced back to that fateful day, the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av. Tonight we begin this fast and mourning because yet again our nation is under siege. Our enemie’s agenda to eliminate the Jewish presence entirely from the region is chillingly extreme. Do not doubt it. We need you to stand with us as never before!
Tonight we Israelis have hope. Our nation is united in supporting our boys in Lebanon. We who have been so torn and broken with 15,000 terrorist attacks from 2000 – 2004, tonight stand shoulder to shoulder. Is this not where the blessing is commanded?
How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity…
For there the LORD commanded the blessing – life forever more. Psalm 133
The term “end of days” designates to the Jewish soul the end of the period of exile and the coming of the Messiah… when the Land of Israel will give forth its fruit in abundance, then the glory will come near.4 According to scripture… we are getting close to the ‘redemption’. Now when you see these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads because your redemption draws near. Luke 21:28
But… he who endures to the end shall be saved. Matt 24:13
Please call out with us; Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD!
Meridel Rawlings
Box 84156, Mevasseret Zion, 90805, Israel.
Send your new email address to: meridel@hisstillsmallvoice.com
If you prefer not to receive my letter via email or snail mail KINDLY let me know.
Foot notes
1. Strongs #5590 Soul: The soul is distinguished from the body. It is the seat of the affections, will, desire, emotion, mind, reason and understanding. It is the inner-self or the essence of life.
2. “Eicha” (Alas) Victims of Arab Terror International. Jerusalem Post Aug.2.06 P 1
3. The Book of Our Heritage, Kitov Eliyahu, P. 272.
4. Rashi, Tractate Sanhedrin 95
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