Hello Jean and Doves,
Jean, all of what you wrote sure is
compelling! With all that's going on in Israel, the
Middle East - many, many miracles are happening daily!
Will we see another 'eve of Hanukkah' miracle?
Hanukkah takes place in the ninth
month - Kislev, starting on the twenty-fifth day and lasting
for a total of eight days. The eve of Hanukkah,
the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month is also a special
day.
The books of Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi all were written during the restoration of Judah to
the holy land following the Babylonian captivity.
These were the last words of the Prophets to the Jewish
people. Haggai was referred to as the "messenger of
Yehovah" and may also be the author of the book of Malachi
(which means "My Messenger"). Zechariah and Haggai
were contemporaries.
The
twenty-fourth day of the ninth month is mentioned
four times in the book of Haggai: Chapter 2: 10, 15,
18 and 20. Two times we are told "from this
day forward". Twice Haggai gets a special message
from the Lord on this day.
Historically on the eve of Hanukkah
(the twenty-fourth day of the
ninth month), we can see the importance of this
date:
When Alexander the Great died, his empire was
divided among his four generals. The Holy Land area
came under the control of General Seleucus - forming what
became known as the Seleucid Dynasty.
These Greek overlords became increasingly
intolerant of Judaism - the Jewish festivals were
prohibited, along with circumcision and owning a copy of
the Torah. The Jews were ordered upon death to
worship Greek gods.
Things got much worse for the Jewish people
under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He added
"Epiphanes" to his name - "God Manifest". He
slaughtered Jewish leaders, men, women, children,
babies. The Jews renamed him "Epimanes" - "The Mad
One".
He placed a statue of Zeus in the Holy of Holies
and proclaimed himself Zeus' representative on
earth. This act occurred on the
twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in 167 BC.
The Jewish people started their
rebellion that lasted 3 years to the day.
The priest Mattathias and his son Judah the Maccabee,
called "The Hammer", carried out brilliant attacks on the
Greek army. On the twenty-fourth day of the
ninth month in 164 BC the Greeks were driven out of
Jerusalem. The Temple was freed!
The Jewish people rededicated and cleansed the
Temple.
This
was the 'first time' - 'from this day forward I will
bless you'.
For the rededication they had found one bottle
of consecrated oil which they used to light the Temple
Menorah. This one day supply ended up lasting eight
days! This miraculous occurrence was commemorated
into the annual cycle of Jewish holidays as Hanukkah, The
Feast of Dedication, The Festival of Lights.
In The Prophecy Watchers December, 2019
magazine, Gary Stearman wrote an article titled:
"The Remarkable Winter Prophecies of Haggai".
prophecywatchers.com
In his article, Gary tells the story of an
amazing miracle concerning the liberation of Jerusalem
from the Ottoman Empire in 1917.
On November 2, 1917, Lord Arthur James Balfour
made a declaration that His Majesty's Government had
approved the establishment in Palestine of a home for the
Jewish people, and would mount a campaign to liberate
Palestine from the Ottoman Empire.
General Allenby, who was known
as a "brilliant Christian general", led the campaign. He knew it would be
difficult to free Jerusalem from the Turkish army as the
Turks had fortified Jerusalem as "an almost impregnable
fortress'. It was reported that he "hated the
thought of shedding blood in the city of the Lord, or of
damaging the walls." These things caused him to
analyze his position and method of attack over and over
before moving on Jerusalem.
As his army moved on Jerusalem from the south, the
Turkish army fled to the north! His army marched
into Jerusalem without a shot being fired!
Quoting from this article: "As he marched up
to the city, one of the most amazing miracles of all
history took place. A rumor had reached the Turks
that a strong army was approaching. It was said to be led
by one whose name was "Allenby". But to Turkish
ears, the name came out as "Allah Bey", which means "the
prophet of God." A terrifying conviction fell upon
their ranks. Because of their adversary's name, they
felt that God was against them. They fled, and
Allenby's forces literally walked into Jerusalem without a
shot being fired."
This took place on December 9, 1917 - the Eve of
Hanukkah - the twenty-fourth day of the ninth
month!! The ninth month is Kislev. On this day
the Holy City, Jerusalem, was freed from captivity!
On this day, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth
month, Jewish soldiers in the British Army, celebrated
Hanukkah at the Western Wall. (The Turks had only
allowed Jews to visit The Wall on Fridays before the
Sabbath.)
This was the 'second time' -
'from this day forward I will bless you'.
But on one day
Haggai is told twice about the twenty-fourth day of the month
and the last of these two times he is given a message - a
prophecy of what the Lord is going to do.
"For the second
time that day, the twenty-fourth day of the month, the word of
the Lord came to Haggai, saying "Tell Zerubbabel governor of
Judah that I am about to shake the heavens and the
earth..." Then the Lord talks about overturning royal
thrones and destroying kingdoms. Overturning chariots
and riders - "each by the sword of his brother" Haggai
2:22, 23.
Is there yet another miraculous
event to happen on the 24th day of the 9th month? Will
it happen this year? In Ezekiel 38, the Lord shakes
the heavens and the earth and there are soldiers riding
horses and the Lord destroys many nations...."every man's
sword will be against his brother."
Was Haggai warned about the Gog and
Magog War prophesied by Ezekiel? The wording is
certainly similar. Will this war happen on the
twenty-fourth day of the ninth month?
Historically on Hanukkah,
the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month:
It was on this day, Hanukkah, that Jesus
declared Himself the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus
fulfilled the Feast of Dedication, on the twenty-fifth of
Kislev.
When Jesus spoke of His sheep and that no one
could snatch them from His hand - 'snatched' in
Greek ἁρπάζειν (harpazein) means
"to seize, snatch, take by force, to pluck". This is
the same word used in several other verses. In 2
Corinthians 12:4 when Paul was caught up into Paradise; in
1 Thessalonians 4:17 when Paul was describing the Rapture
'will be caught up together'; in Acts 8:39 when the Lord
'caught away' Philip; and in Revelation 12:4 and the
woman's child was 'caught up' to God.
Could the use of this word to 'seize, snatch,
take by force' In John 10 be a reference to the
Rapture? "..we who are alive, who are left, will be
caught up together with them in the clouds.." 1
Thessalonians 4:17 Could the reference of His voice
to call His sheep be a reference to "For the Lord Himself
will descent from heaven with a loud command.."? 1
Thessalonians 4:16
Jesus talked about His sheep being already in
His hand and that He gives them eternal life. He
said this on Hanukkah. Since this happened on the
twenty-fifth day of Kislev (Hanukkah), might this be a
veiled reference to the Rapture taking place on the
twenty-fourth day of Kislev (the Eve of
Hanukkah)?
"Was Christ saying that the Rapture will have
taken place and that He will have already snatched His
believers from the Earth, making it impossible to snatch
them back again? This seems like a viable conclusion
and fits very nicely with the links between the day before
Hanukkah and the prophecies about it."
Will something else miraculous happen on the
twenty-fourth day of the ninth month this year?
Hannukah IS a time of miracles!
And what about the Rapture?
"How far ahead of the invasion the Rapture occurs
is unknown: but it would seem logical that it will come a
very short time before the invasion, given the fact that
such a momentous event as the sudden vanishing of a large
chunk of the world's population will created the type of
confusion that God and Magog might try to use to their
advantage in attacking Israel. Or it may be that the
two events will very nearly coincide so that the Rapture
is missed during the noise and confusion of the fighting,
earthquakes and plagues."
The
Rapture, Gog, and Hanukkah Puzzle: Putting It All
Together
Will this Hanukkah season be just another 'Festival
of Lights' or will something amazing happen again?
It looks like Biden is waffling on his support of
Israel. (He and his administration are
anti-Israel) President Biden suggested that there
would be conditions placed on Israel for further military
assistance - followed by the White House running damage
control on this. We've seen this before with this
White House - Biden spills the beans and the White House
tries to deny it/cover it up or twist the meaning.
Israel should just ignore Biden, Blinken, Austin and do
what is best for the Jewish People.
Israel stands alone in the Ezekiel war. Are
we getting close to this war starting?
According to the new moon sighting, the the twenty-fourth day
of the ninth month is sunset 8 December to sunset 9
December. Day 1 of Hanukkah
starts on sunset 9 December (Saturday) to sunset 10
December (Sunday)...the last eighth day ends sunset 17
December.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
Maranatha!
Chance