DOES GOD LOVE YOU?

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I decided to do this post after reading this quote from Mike Bickle:

“We will never have more affection or passion for God than we understand He has for us. We will never be more committed to God that our understanding of His commitment to us.“

Let me start with what Jesus told us about our Heavenly Fathers’ love for us.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” John 15:9

“I (Jesus) in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” John 17:23

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him and He in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1 John 4:15-16

“We love Him because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

“Now hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Romans 5:8-9

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” Romans 8:35

I could add more but surely, what you have read should convince you that God loves us, those He created in His image to be in fellowship with Him.

What about God’s love for His nation Israel? During Jesus coming Millennial reign, He will transform their hearts and minds.

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel!” Jeremiah: 31:3

“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” Deuteronomy 30:6

“I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Jeremiah 31:33

“And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.“ Hosea 2:18-20


GOD MADE EVERY NATION ON EARTH

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“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,” Acts 17:24-26

This Scripture reveals the extent of God’s control over nations. Having established nations at the Tower of Babel by confusing the languages these verses prove God has allotted the nations “periods and their boundaries“.

Moreover, God uses the nations for His purposes. Two great examples are how God used Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon (He ruled Babylonia from 605 to 562 BC. As the most influential and longest-reigning kings of the Neo-Babylonian period, Nebuchadnezzar conducted the city of Babylon to its height of power and prosperity):

“The king (Nebuchadnezzar) answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery (Daniel 2:47)”

and Darius, King of the Medes and Persia ( He was king of Persia 521–486 BC, known as Darius the Great):

“I (Darius) make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.” Daniel 6:26-27

Also, King Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire and king of Persia from 559-530 BC. He is venerated in the Hebrew Bible as Cyrus the Messiah for conquering Babylon and liberating the Jews from captivity. 

“Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret laces, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me, there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.” Isaiah 24:1-7

Read what David has to say about God, His nation Israel and His control over His universe. Above all, God established Israel as His nation for His purposes, and with Jesus as its King and Priest, it will rule over all the nations in His soon-coming Millennial Kingdom.

“Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant! For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession. For I know that the LORD is great and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightning for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and of beast; who in your midst, O Egypt, sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants; who struck down many nations and killed mighty kings, Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan, and gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to his people Israel.” Psalms 135:1-12

UN DECLARES ISRAEL’S ESTABLISHMENT A CATASTROPHE

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Did you know the UN General Assembly voted to formally recognize “Nakba Day,” an annual memorial event characterizing the establishment of the State of Israel as a disaster? It was a major victory for pro-Palestinian activists.

The word “Nakba,” which means catastrophe in Arabic, has been used to describe the 1948 War of Independence that led to the creation of the Jewish State.

The UN resolution, which was sponsored by the Palestinian delegation to the UN, Egypt, Jordan, Senegal, Yemen and Tunisia, calls for the “commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, including by organizing a high-level event at the General Assembly Hall” on May 15th, 2023.

Both Egypt and Jordan have decades-old peace treaties with Israel, though tensions with Jordan have escalated in recent years.

It is telling that Israel’s so-called new “friends” in the Arab world, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan supported the anti-Israel resolution.

“Recently, the UN General Assembly passed a shameful resolution calling for an official event to commemorate the Palestinian ‘Nakba’ on the 75th Anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel,” wrote Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan. “By passing such an extreme and baseless resolution, the UN is only helping to perpetuate the conflict.”

“Try to imagine the international community commemorating your country’s Independence Day by calling it a disaster. What a disgrace,” Erdan added. “The Palestinians’ lies must no longer be accepted on the world stage, just as this body must stop allowing the Palestinians to continue pulling its strings. I urge you all to stop blindly supporting the Palestinians’ libels.”

90 countries voted in favor of the resolution, 30 voted against it, and 47 abstained. The majority of those countries that voted to formally recognize Nakba Day are Muslim Countries.

The following Scriptures tell us exactly what God is going to do to those nations in the not too distant future:

First God is going to judge all of those nations that want to destroy Israel. Jesus will destroy them at the battle of Armageddon.

“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land.” Joel 3:1-3

Jesus will refine one third of national Israel during this time of judgment. They will come to know Jesus as Messiah, possibly some through the ministry of the two witnesses and some when they see Him returning to earth with the Saints, but either way they will help to populate the Millennial Kingdom.

“In the whole land, declares the Lord ‘two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people, and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” Zechariah 13:8-9

Then Jesus will gather the Jews from all the lands where they have been scattered.

“Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 37:21-23

All of the nations of the world will acknowledge Jesus as Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

“Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.
“Thus, says the Lord God: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock. Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 36:36-38

Note what happens when nations do not go up to Jerusalem to worship Jesus as King, the Lord of hosts.

“Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.! Zechariah 14:16-19

Please use this information to evangelise the lost. They need to know what will happen in the future. The proof the Bible is God’s Word is fulfilled prophecies. All of the prophecies of Jesus first coming were fulfilled and there are many more about His second coming like those above and these will be fulfilled.

ALIYAH EXPLOSION! 70,000 Immigrate to Israel From 95 Countries in 2022

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The most olim in more than two decades arrived in Israel this year, representing a dramatic increase from 2021.

Some 70,000 people from 95 different countries immigrated to Israel in 2022 with the assistance of the Jewish Agency for Israel, in cooperation with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration.

It was the most olim in 23 years and a dramatic increase from 2021 when about 28,600 immigrants arrived in the country.

Even before the Israelites went into the Promised Land, Moses told them they would be cast out of the land and scattered across the earth but then regathered from all the nations where God has scattered them. Look also what God told Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah. Can there be any doubt about Biblical prophecy, the inerrancy of God’s Word, and Jesus coming Millennial Kingdom.

“Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you . . . and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you, and you return to the Lord your God. . . that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you. . . . Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it.” Deuteronomy 30:1-3

“Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned and will cleanse them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 37:21-23

“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.” Jeremiah 16:14-15, repeated again in Jeremiah 23:

“In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Isaiah 11:11-12

The regathering actually began before 1948 when Israel was miraculously re-established as a nation. Israel being reborn was the first major prophesied “end-times” sign.

Jewish Agency data for the period between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1, 2022, shows that 37,364 olim arrived from Russia; 14,680 from Ukraine; 3,500 from North America, with assistance from Nefesh B’Nefesh; 2,049 from France; 1,993 from Belarus; 1,498 from Ethiopia as part of Operation Tzur Israel; 985 from Argentina; 526 from Great Britain; 426 from South Africa; and 356 from Brazil. Final totals for 2022 will be available after the year concludes.

Approximately 27% (about 19,000) of this year’s olim are young people between the ages of 18 and 35, who will boost Israeli society and the economy, including professionals in fields where there is a labor shortage in Israel such as medicine, engineering and education. Around 24% (16,500) of the olim are ages 0-17; 22% are between 36 and 50 years old; 14% are aged 51-64; and 13% are 65 and over.

ISRAEL AND THE END TIMES

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Worldview expert Jason Jimenez, host of the “Challenging Conversations Podcast,” explains what the Bible says about Israel, whether modern-day Israel is a fulfillment of prophecy — and more. Listen to Jimenez break down why he believes Christians today should care about Israel.

He also covers why we need to know about all the prophecies God provides on “end times” events, particularly concerning the last seven years.

Jesus tells us: “Do not be in dismay because your redemption draws nigh”. Jesus gives us HOPE: we know from end times prophecies that despite the prophesied persecution coming for Christians it is for a prescribed time. Scripture gives us a great deal of information on the last seven years before Jesus returns. It is a time of tribulation even great tribulation when God will refine His church before He takes it to heaven. At the trumpet blast and opening of the seventh seal the Rapture of the Saints takes place and John sees the Saints in heaven before the throne of God (Rev. 7:9-17) so we do not experience the wrath of God that is poured out an unrepentant world with the Trumpet (Rev. 8) and Bowl (Rev. 16) judgements. At the close of the Bowl judgements Jesus returns to earth with the resurrected Saints to defeat the Antichrist at the Battle of Armageddon and to establish His Millennial Kingdom.

IMPORTANCE OF THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE

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Jesus used the symbol of the FIG TREE for Israel three times in His ministry.

First: He told the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree in Luke 13: 6-9. It’s about a tree that had no fruit in the first three years He visited it. This would equate to the first three years of Jesus’ ministry. So again, the fig tree is a symbol of the nation of Israel, based in Jerusalem, which Jesus visited yearly.

Second: In Mark 11: 12-20, Jesus cursed a fig tree for not bearing fruit, and it withered and miraculously died overnight. In the morning, the disciples saw this withered tree. In this parable it was obvious Jesus was referring to Israel. It was the very same day Jesus would tell them the Fig Tree Parable. So, when Jesus said, “Learn the parable from the fig tree,” this miraculous withered tree was prominent in their minds. These aren’t two unrelated accounts – it was the same day.

Third: When Jesus told the Parable of the Fig Tree it was as part of His answer to the disciple’s question:

“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” Matthew 24:3

The disciples knew that Jesus is referring to Israel when he commands them to learn from this parable.

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near — at the door! I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. Matthew 24:32-35

And just hours before telling the parable, Jesus had also confronted the Jewish leaders in the temple saying,
“See, your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘He who comes in the name of the Lord is the blessed One!’ Matthew 23:38

That was the moment Jesus withered the nation of Israel! This confrontation was also fresh in the disciples’ minds; and in fact, that heated denunciation of Israel by Jesus was the very reason that the disciples had begun to ask Him about the Last Days and the signs of His coming. Therefore, the Fig Tree Parable is about this withered fig tree that they had seen earlier that morning. It cannot be about anything else.

The creation of the state of Israel marks the beginning of the Final Generation and therefore the identity that we’re in the Last
days, and this makes sense as there are a multitude of end-time passages that require Israel to exist in the Last Days. Numerous
passages in the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, as well as in the Gospels all refer to the Last Days Israel.
That’s why, in our opinion, Israel becoming a nation in 1948 is the fig tree sprouting leaves, the fig tree coming back to life.

Israel being miraculously re-established as a nation in 1948 was the first major “end times” sign.

Jesus said when the fig tree sprouted leaves, we could know “summer” was near. What did He mean by that? Is that a symbol as well? In the Hebraic calendar, there is a three-week period (17th of Tammuz till the 9th of Av) during summer which is observed as a period of mourning. It was during this period that both Holy Temples were destroyed (in 586 BC and AD 70). It is the bleakest period of the Jewish year. This reference would not have been lost on the disciples who would have recognized it as a symbol for a time of extreme difficulties, and tribulation – the Last Days.

IS A NEW INTIFADA ON THE HORIZON?

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Arabic intifāḍah (“shaking off”), there have been two 1987-1993 and 2000 to about 2005 uprisings of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip aimed at ending Israel’s occupation of those territories and creating an independent Palestinian state. Moreover, Biblical prophecy tells us that the violence will not end until Jesus returns and establishes His Millennial Kingdom. In fact, the Jews will initially embrace the Antichrist who promises peace and it is easy to see how current events are leading up to his entrance on the scene.

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad seek to set the West Bank ablaze and view Jenin as the ideal ignition point.

The figures released recently by the Israel Defense Forces left little room for doubt—2022 was one of the most challenging periods for the Israeli military in Judea and Samaria, commonly known as the West Bank, in 15 years.

Gunmen attend the funeral in Jenin of Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Matin Dabaya, who was killed during clashes with Israeli forces, Oct. 14, 2022. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

Since the IDF launched “Operation Break the Wave” on March 31 this year in response to a burst of deadly terror attacks in Israeli cities that emanated from the northern parts of Samaria, a combined effort by the military, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the Border Police and its Yamam Counter-Terrorism Unit, and the Israel Police resulted in a powerful, intensive response, in the form of nightly raids targeting terrorist plots, guided by precise intelligence.

The Israeli operations focus on (though certainly not limited to) the geographical hub of the current terrorism spike, Samaria, and specifically the sectors of Jenin and Nablus, which spawned local terror outfits such as Lions’ Den. Meanwhile, established terror factions such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad offer large sums of cash to any Palestinian in the area willing to attack Israelis.

The new figures show that 281 terrorist incidents were recorded in January-October 2022, compared with 91 recorded in all of 2021. Shooting attacks on Israeli military forces in Judea and Samaria have also risen sharply, with 110 recorded since January 2022, up from 25 in 2021. Thirty-one Israelis—both civilians and security personnel—have been killed in Palestinian attacks this year. More than 130 Palestinians, most of them assailants, were killed in clashes and security incidents this year.

Jesus tells us the good news:

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:28

WHY THIS HOSTILITY TOWARDS THE JEWS?

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Could it be they are a people group, a nation, that God established for His purposes and that the Prince of this World, Satan, is intent on destroying them to prevent them from fulfilling His purposes?

What about the horrors of Auschwitz and the Jewish Holocaust? It is hard to comprehend how six million Jews could be exterminated and the German people and even the church were silent.

How many people do you know that understand the truth of the following Scripture?

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

Children at an Iranian Islamic school in North London were taught to sing a song about massacring the Jews. What is behind this madness, this evil, except for demonic forces?

The UK’s Jewish Chronicle (JC) recently exposed an Iranian propaganda video shot about a mile from the New London synagogue in which school children sing a horrific song about killing Jews.

The British paper received access to a video filmed several months ago, showing dozens of children ages 8-15 in the Islamic Republic of Iran School (IRIS) in London, standing in rows and mouthing lyrics that pledge an “oath of loyalty as a warrior and servant” to the Mahdi. The Mahdi is a messianic figure in Islamic belief who is to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. “It is antisemitic to its core”, he said, “because it holds that before the Mahdi can return, Israel must be destroyed and all the world’s Jews put to death.”

In the video, boys, and girls aged eight to 15 pledge their allegiance to Ayatollah Khamenei, leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Over the course of the last several months, Khamenei’s regime has overseen the massacre of protesters demonstrating against the murder of Mahsa Amini, who was killed while in custody for not properly wearing the hijab.

According to Kasra Aarabi, who oversees the Iran Programme at the Tony Blair Institute, the doctrine summarized in the song “is antisemitic to its core” and is the foundation of Iran’s policy.

Israel is surrounded by hostile nations all intent on its elimination and yet their judgement is foretold.

“Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O Lord. Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations... The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.” ” Joel 3:11-12,16

PROOF OF ISRAEL’S ANCIENT HISTORY

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Magnetic Fields Frozen by Fire

Scientists from Hebrew University (HU) and Tel Aviv University (TAU) are employing “breakthrough” dating technology using the Earth’s magnetic field to verify military campaigns against the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Map of the studied destruction layers and the different military campaigns. A schematic illustration of possible routes is presented following Rainey and Notley (21). Chronological anchors are highlighted in bold.

The Study, “Reconstructing Biblical Military Campaigns Using Geomagnetic Field Data” was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and is based on the doctoral thesis of Yoav Vaknin, who was supervised by Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef and Prof. Oded Lipschits of TAU’s Institute of Archaeology and Prof. Ron Shaar of HU’s Institute of Earth Sciences.

The effort involved 20 researchers from different countries and disciplines who claimed to have accurately dated 21 destruction layers at 17 archaeological sites throughout Israel. Using this new scientific dating tool, researchers now have more evidence that ancient Egyptians, Arameans, Assyrians and Babylonians did wage the battles that are described in the Old Testament during the 10th to 6th centuries BC.

When magnetic materials are burned or heated they record the precise direction and/or intensity of the Earth’s geomagnetic field at the time of the fire (thermoremanent magnetization). Researchers say they have found this data to be a reliable scientific tool for archeological dating because it makes it possible to reconstruct the magnetic field for particular times in history. Looking at sites where the dates of historical events was already firmly established through various collaborating sources, scientists use the preserved magnetic fields to piece together the timing of other destroyed areas where the dating was more questionable.

“Based on the similarity or difference in intensity and direction of the magnetic field, we can either corroborate or disprove hypotheses claiming that specific sites were burned during the same military campaign. Moreover, we have constructed a variation curve of field intensity over time which can serve as a scientific dating tool, similar to the radiocarbon dating method,” says lead author Yoav Vaknin, a PhD student at TAU, in a media release.

JEWS KNOW THEIR TEMPLE WILL BE REBUILT

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For over 2000 years the Jewish people have been mourning the destruction of the Holy Temple. On every festive occasion, its loss is remembered. No wedding takes place without the symbolically broken glass.

Ashes of mourning are placed upon the forehead of the groom and a section of a new home is left unpainted or unfinished, all in remembrance of the Destruction and the Exile from Zion.

One might ask, why are they still crying after 2000 years? Why can’t they get over it and move on? Why? Because there was never any closure, no burial. Why? Because even though the Temple’s bricks and stone have been destroyed, the Divine Promise still stands. The Temple will be rebuilt and until that day Zion will never be forgotten.

Jesus said, “Therefore when you see the ‘Abomination of Desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place…”
– Matthew 24:15

On Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of the month of Av, the day that marks the destruction of both the First and Second Temple), Napoleon Bonaparte was walking along a street when he stopped in front of a synagogue. He heard crying from within. “What are those Jews doing?” he asked the soldier at his side. “They are mourning over the destruction of their Temple.”

“When did that happen?”

“Around 2000 years ago.”

“They are still crying after 2000 years? A nation that mourns so long will never cease. They will surely return to their land and see the rebuilding of their Temple.”

What was it that Napoleon saw that gave him the confidence to make such a statement? He understood that the connection between the People and the Place is intrinsic. One cannot live without the other. Just as the Jewish People are alive, so too is Zion. A nation that will not allow itself to forget will also not allow itself to let go or give up.

The Jews are still crying after 2000 years because they realize the greatness of what was lost and they long for its return like a father who knows his child is missing, but who is not dead. They also cry in anticipation as they see the ingathering of the exiles and wait for when Zion will be restored to its former state and the Temple will be rebuilt.

by United with Israel staff