Mbostrom2's Blog

The three months of Tammuz, Av & Elul are the most challenging months for Israel. History repeatedly has shown that if anything tragic is going to happen to Israel it will happen in the months of Tammuz & Av. These three summer months heat up both naturally and spiritually. The kingdom of this world is fighting against God’s plans and promises for Israel. The beginning 9 days will continue prayerful struggle through Dire Straits, ending with the fast of Tisha B’Av, leading to the Love Dance of Tu B’Av on the 15th.

Av (Ab) is known as the ‘fifth month’ in the Bible according to the Biblical Calendar and is the Eleventh month on the civil calendar. According to E.W. Bullinger’s book on Numbers in Scripture,  5 carries the meaning of Grace & 11 signifies disorder, disorganization, imperfection and disintegration.  Together 5 & 11 perfectly fit this month, with Av 9 being the lowest day on the Jewish calendar and Av 15 being the highest, a month for mountains and valleys in our life and world.

Av means father, and is used for the first 9 days of the month, then the name “Menachem Av” is used, meaning “The One Who comforts, the Av“, speaking of Father God who brings comfort to His people. Av is actually Ab from the first letters of the Aleph Bet.

Av is the month that the 12 spies returned from the Promised Land, 10 with an evil report and Joshua and Caleb believing God was bigger than the giants of the land. This is a month to hear, believe and proclaim the greatness of our God. Everyday the news will be speaking fear, but it is the time for the Church to speak faith and overcome all fear. It is high time to believe the report of the Lord!

Here are some historical events connected with this month (specifically watch the 9th day of Av)

• Av 1, 1272 BC; Aaron’s death on Mount Hor, Numbers 20:22-29
• Av 2, 1942; first trainload of Jews from Holland sent to concentration camps
• Av 3, 1881 AD; first shipload of Russian Jews reached New York City beginning European immigration of Jews to America
• Av 4, 333 BC; Nehemiah began to repair the walls of Jerusalem
• Av 9, 1312 BC; 10 of the 12 spies brought back an evil report and Joshua and Caleb brought back a good report. Because the nation of Israel chose to believe the evil report they were not allowed into the Promised land for 40 years. (Nu 13)
• Av 9, 586 BC; Solomon’s Temple was destroyed (Jer 39)
• Av 9, 70 AD;  Herod’s Temple was destroyed
• Av 9, 132 AD; Bar Kochba revolt crushed. Betar destroyed over 100,000 Jews (3rd Jewish-Roman War)
• Av 9, 133 AD; Turnus Rufus ploughs site of Temple. Romand build pagan city of Aelia Capitolina on site of Jerusalem
• Av 9, 1095 AD; First Crusade against the Jews declared by Pope Urban II. 10,000 Jews killed in the first month of the crusade
• Av 9, 1290 AD; Expulsion of Jews from England, accompanied by pogroms and confiscation of books and property
• Av 9, 1492 AD; King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled all Jews from Spain and Portugal. The last boat of Jews was beside Columbus’s ship waiting for the tide to set sail. I believe at this time the mandate to bring the gospel to the world changed hands from Sapin to the new America.
• Av 9, 1914; First World War begins- Britain and Russia declare war on Germany.
• Av 9, 1942; Deportation from Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka Concentration camp and killings begin
• Av 9, 1989; Iraq walks out of talks with Kuwait setting stage for the Gulf Wars
• Av 9, 1994; The deadly bombing of  the building of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina killed  86 people and wounded some 300 others
• Av 9, 1994– Shoemaker Levi Comet broke into 21 pieces and began to bombard the planet Jupiter, which represents King David and Israel
• Av 9, 1994- Metting were taking place in Oslo, Norway regarding ‘land for peace’, Oslo Accords
• Av 10, 2005; Jews pulled out of Gaza Strip by Jewish military, evicting 9,000 from their homes and opening the door for Gaza to be a terrorist headquarters.
• Av 11, 1990; Persian Gulf War begins
• Av 15: On this date, four historical events occurred: (1) the Jews of the Exodus generation stopped dying in the desert, (2) intertribal marriage was permitted to post-Exodus generations, (3) the tribe of Benjamin was saved from extinction, (4) the Romans permitted the burial of Jews killed in the Beitar revolt (138 CE)
• Av 15- Tu B’Av- the Jewish Valentines Day
• Av 16, 1946; In 1946, the British government ordered all illegal immigrants bound for Palestine to be deported to camps on the island of Cyprus
• Av 18, 1928; Arab mobs attacked Jewish throughout Israel after sermons filled with false accusations about the Jews were preached in the mosques
• Av 22, 2003; An Arab terrorist blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus killing 23 and wounding 136
• Av 24, 1938; Jews were forbidden to teach in public schools in Italy.
• Av 27, 1868, the Klu Klux Klan lynched a Jew in Franklin, TN. Most people do not realize the KKK was against the black colored people and also the Jews.
• Av 30, 1903; The 6th Zionist Congress met in Basle, Switzerland. Herzl presented a British proposal for a temporary Jewish homeland in Uganda, as a refuge for Russian Jews in immediate danger. The Uganda Program was rejected two years later. One project that gained traction was the Galveston plan which sent 9,300 Jews to Texas. In the end, it was understood that only the Land of Israel, with its deep historical and spiritual connections, would succeed as the Jewish homeland.

The 3 week period between Tammuz 17 and Av 9 (Tisha B’Av) are called ‘bein haMetzarim’, aka Between the Straits, Dire Straits. Lamentations 1:3, “Judah has gone into captivity, under affliction and hard servitude; she dwells among the nations, she finds no rest; all her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.” Fear is strong during these 21 days because of the historical events connected with these two dates. Av 9 this year will be at sundown July 27.

 Av 9 is a fasting day listed in Zechariah 8:19. “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth [month], and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the   truth and peace.” Feast Days were appointed by God, but these Fast Days are appointed by man. These fasts centered on themselves, not sorrow for sin, but sorrow for thier loss. God is promising them that these days of fasting in fear and mourning will become days of gladness and joy.

TRIBE- Simeon, (Shimon) Simeon’s name is the same root word as the word ‘hearing’, but means to ‘hear and obey’.  His symbol is a pitcher with sword through it. His weaknesses were he was cruel and a fighter. His redeeming strengths were when he was teamed with Judah (praise)  he was able to hear and receive spiritually revelation knowledge.

Historically 10 of the 12 spies came out of the Promised Land on Av 9 with an evil report and the nation of Israel heard and believed the evil report. Av is the month to correct mistakes in regard to hearing– listening to gossip, slander and lies. Remember, Simeon means ‘to hear & to obey’.

Simeon is the 2nd son of Jacob and Leah. Jacob’s parting word to Simeon are found in Genesis 49:5, “Simeon and Levi [are] brothers; instruments of cruelty [are in] their dwelling place. (6) Let not my soul enter their council; let not my honor be united to their assembly; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. (7) Cursed [be] their anger, for [it is] fierce; and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.”

Dividing Simeon and Levi was action a redemptive gifting. Together they were cruel and got the Israelites into trouble, as recorded in Genesis 34 when these two brothers sought revenge for Diana’s being violated and disgraced by Shechem. Together the devised a plan that resulted in the killing of all the males in the city.

Simeon and Levi were divided by Simeon’s land being in the midst of Judah’s land and Levi not owning land, but being divided into all the territory of the Promised Land. Simeon became mighty in the army of God by being in the midst of praise, Judah. Left to himself he was a fighter, cruel, self willed, cursed with a demonic anger. But when he was teamed with Judah, he was strong in revelation, hearing and discernment.

CONSTELLATION/MAZAL- LEO “The Lion”- The lion symbolizes our encounter with raw force. The Lion is the king of the jungle and demands to rule alone. He represents pride– the collective noun for  a group of lions is a ‘pride’ of lions.

As the lion roars- this is the month for God’s people to roar! When God’s people roar it creates a protective covering and unlocks what is above you. The roar brings a vibration that brings a change into the atmosphere. My prayer, “May God give PM Benjamin Netanyahu the courage and strength of a lion as he takes Israel through to God’s perfect will, peace for the city of Jerusalem.” (photo by Natalia Rubin, used by permission)

The contellation of Leo is made up of Leo (the lion), Hydra (the serpent that takes up 1/3 of the ecliptic circle), Crater (the cup) and Corvus (the crow or ravin). Altogether they tell the last of the story of the heavens that began with Virgo (the virgin) and the birth of our Redeemer.  In Leo we see the Lion of the Tribe of Judah aroused for the rending of prey. Leo’s paws are over Hydra’s head as Crater pours out the cup of God’s wrath upon the serpent and Corvus is the bird of prey to devour the serpent. The brightest star in Leo is Regulus, ‘the king star’ which mean ‘treading underfoot’. 

LETTER- TET– (ryhymes with ‘mate’) is the 9th letter in the Hebrew with the value of 9. It means ‘to surround or to twist’. The ancient meaning is of a snake and the pictograph of Tet is a snake coiled inside a basket. The classical Hebrew script below resembles a snake.

The letter Tet also resembles a womb, which represents 9 months of pregnancy and the Hebrew word womb or belly is be-ten (Bet- house, inside & Tet- surround), meaning ‘a house that surrounds life’. 

The Hebrew word for adversary or satan is sa-tan (Sheen- teeth, devour & Tet- snake), and tells us that an adversary is like Satan and is like the snake that devours life.

Tet is the least used letter of the scriptures. The first time it is used is in Genesis 1:4, “And God saw the light, that [it was] good (tov): and God divided the light from the darkness.” To me this reminds me that we are to take what the devil means for bad, and turn it around for the good by speaking, roaring and decreeing the Truth and the will of God.