Showing posts with label Jerusalem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jerusalem. Show all posts

Wednesday 25 March 2015

Vayikra after its opening word וַיִּקְרָא, which means and He called

For the Jews this Shabbat is the last of the Four Parashiot that have special Torah readings in preparation for Pesach (Passover), which is only two short weeks away!

For Jews and Christians it should be the most important day of the year. It is the most important Day of Remembrance installed by the Most High Divine Creator.

For the Jews this Sabbat marking the first of the month (Rosh Chodesh) head of the month of Nisan, is called Shabbat HaChodesh (החודש שבת Sabbath [of the] month), and a special reading is added from Exodus 12:1–20, which details the laws of Pesach (Passover).

Nissan was made the first month of the year because it is the month in which the Jewish people were 
freed from slavery in Egypt, the house of bondage. Having such  a month of beginning the Jews once again could say to each other "Happy New Year". In addition to wishing one another a Happy New Year in the seventh month of Tishrei for Jewish people (or January 1st for those who follow the Gregorian calendar), we can wish people Happy New Year again today!
“God said to Moshe and Aharon in the Land of Egypt, ‘This month shall be for you the beginning of the months; it shall be for you the first of the months of the year.’”  (Exodus 12:1–2)
For Jews it is a new beginning but also for us Christians it should be.  We have the liberation of God's People and can find them marching to the promised land. The land which is also promised to those who are willing to be a child of God honouring only One God.
The One True God completely forbade His people from pagan worship customs and especially the practice of human sacrifice:
“You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates.  They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.”  (Deuteronomy 12:31)
Knowing that God detests human sacrifice, especially of a son or daughter at the hand of a parent, the Jewish people naturally assume that our God would never allow someone to die a substitutionary death the way animals do.
This is a significant stumbling block to receiving salvation through Jeshua the Messiah for the Jewish People.  However, the ancient prophet Isaiah revealed that long ago Elohim planned to lay all of our sins and iniquities upon the Messiah:
“But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.  All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”  (Isaiah 53:5–6)
Jeshua’s sacrifice was meant to restore fellowship with our Father upon a person seeking to draw near to Him, sincerely repenting of their sins, and accepting the sacrifice as a free gift on their behalf.
The blood of the Lamb of God (Jeshua) takes away the sins of those who believe in who he is, what he did, turn from their sin, and follow him.

Today there are still lots of Christians who do not want to accept who Jeshua really is and who made him into a god for who they bow down and of whom they make graven images to pray in front and to burn candles in front of it.

Lots of Christians do forget that God can not die and that God Himself declared that man nor death could do him a thing. But Jesus as a man of flesh and blood knew very well the danger of him exposing himself in the city of God, Jerusalem. Though Jesus knew that time had come and God wanted a turnover in history. For God it was time again to start a new beginning and to come to present the world with a New World with a New Covenant.

Jeshua, Jesus Christ, was this Kristos or Messiah long before Abraham promised to the world. Already in the garden of Eden, the Elohim promised to provide a solution for the sin of man. With Jeshua the world was given a new Adam. And this Adam had to present himself now as a spotless lamb to his heavenly Father.

It is Jeshua, who has set us free from the evil master of sin through his death and resurrection, we now have hope and have good prospects.

Friday 26 December 2014

Entry to Herodian Hilltop Palace unearthed

Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologists have discovered a massive and elaborate entryway to the Herodian Hilltop Palace at Herodium National Park in Judea, south of Jerusalem.

The newly discovered entryway is remarkable in that it features a complex system of arches on three separate levels, allowing the King and his entourage to directly enter the Palace Courtyard. Thanks to the arches, the 20-meter long and six-meter wide corridor has held up over the nearly 2,000 years since it was built at a height of 20 meters.

Archaeologists Roi Porat, Yakov Kalman and Rachel Chachy worked on the excavations that were conducted over the past year as part of The Herodium Expedition in Memory of Ehud Netzer, a project in memory of the university's famous professor who found the tomb of Herod the Great and passed away in 2010 after being wounded in a fall at the Herodium site.

According to the three archaeologists who unearthed the find, the corridor was built by King Herod (73-4 BCE) as part of his plan to turn the Herodium site into a fortress palace. However, the dig found evidence that the corridor was never actually used, as Herod apparently was aware he was nearing his death and converted the hilltop complex into a burial monument instead.
Herodian Hilltop Palace entry
Herodian Hilltop Palace entry
The Herodium Expedition at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Wednesday 21 May 2014

Holy land Christian exodus

The Christian exodus, underway for decades, has reached critical levels in recent years. Emigration is a central concern to local Vatican officials, who are trying to stave off the flight with offers of jobs, housing and scholarships.
"I am sad to think that maybe the time will come in which Christianity will disappear from this land,"
said the Rev. Juan Solana, a Vatican envoy who oversees the Notre Dame center, a Jerusalem hotel for pilgrims that employs 150 locals, mostly Christians.
Solana said he employs Christians to encourage them
 "to stay here, to love this land, to be aware of their particular vocation to be the witnesses of Christianity in this land."
The Christian exodus is taking place across the Middle East. Jordan, where Pope Francis will begin his three-day trip Saturday, has thousands of Christian refugees from war-torn Syria and Iraq.
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The decline began with high Jewish immigration and Christian emigration after the 1948 war surrounding Israel's establishment, and has been abetted by continued emigration and a low birthrate among Christians who stay.
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About 38,000 Palestinian Christians live in the West Bank, 2,000 in Gaza, and 10,000 in Jerusalem, according to the local Roman Catholic church.
Israel has 130,000 Arab Christians. There are also nearly 200,000 non-native Christians in Israel, including Christians who moved from the former Soviet Union because of Jewish family ties, guest workers and African migrants.
by johnib
Father Ibrahim Shomali, the parish priest of Beit Jala

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Monday 24 March 2014

How do we know the coming of Jesus is very near?

There is one simple answer. Look what is happening in the North part of the globe, Russia and Crimea and look at Israel! Scattered through the nations for centuries, they have never died out, as they cannot, if God is to keep His word.

Dormition Church, situated on the modern
Dormition Church, situated on the modern "Mount Zion" (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In our own generation, they have started to go back to their land. In 1967 they took back Jerusalem, or Zion, their ancient capital. And now their enemies are gathering against them. The scene is set for the Deliverer to come to his throne, for God to set His king upon His holy hill of Zion. The signs are all there to strengthen our faith. The God who keeps His covenants to a thousand generations is unbaring His arm again. 

But let us remember that it was told we would come to a time where  elope would stand up against each other, first in the land of Euphrates and Tigris (war of Iran and Iraq), several natural disasters would become more intence and regular (earthquakes, sunamis) brothers and sisters would get up against each other and religion would fight other religions. Does that not sound familiar with all the Hindus, Muslims, Christians a.o. fighting against each other?
 
Let us finish with a lovely passage, which sums up this great Hope of Israel that we have been thinking about so long. We said it can give us comfort, direction, and courage to face all the storms of life. This is just how the Apostle puts it in the Letter to the Hebrews:
"When God made a promise to Abraham . . . he swore by himself, saying, 'Surely I will bless you and multiply you'"
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Tuesday 16 July 2013

Ninth of Av

On the Ninth of Av of the year 2449 from creation (1312 BCE), the generation of Jews who came out of Egypt under Moses' leadership 16 months earlier were condemned to die in the desert and the entry into the Land of Israel was delayed for 40 years.
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Both the first and second Holy Temples which stood in Jerusalem were destroyed on Av 9: the First Temple by the Babylonians in the year 3338 from creation (423 BCE), and the second by the Romans in 3829 (69 CE).
English: Excavated stones from the Western Wal...
Excavated stones from the Western Wall of the Temple Mount (Jerusalem), knocked onto the street below by Roman battering rams in 70 C.E. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mourning the destruction of the Temple and the exile of Israel, (see "Today in Jewish History") the Jews abstain from eating and drinking, bathing, the wearing of leather footwear, and marital relations--for the night and day of Av 9 (i.e., from sundown on Av 8 to nightfall on Av 9). It is customary to sit on the floor or a low seat until after mid-day. Torah study is restricted to laws of mourning, passages describing the destruction of the Temple, and the like. The tefillin are worn only during the afternoon Minchah prayers. (For more laws and customs see link below.)

The Ninth of Av is also a day of hope. The Talmud relates that Moshiach ("anointed one"--the Messiah), was born at the very moment that the Temple was set aflame and the Galut began. [This is in keeping with the teachings of the Jewish sages that, "In every generation is born a descendent of Judah who is worthy to become Israel's Moshiach" (Bartinoro on Ruth); "When the time will come, G-d will reveal Himself to him and send him, and then the spirit of Moshiach, which is hidden and secreted on high, will be manifested in him" (Chattam Sofer).]

Links:
Mitzvah Minute: Tisha b'Av
Laws of Tishah B'Av
Fast of Tishah B'Av

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