For I heard a cry like one in labor, the anguish of one giving birth to her first child—the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands saying, “Oy, now to me! For my soul faints before murderers.” (Jeremiah 4:31, TLV)
I was in Israel when war broke out on Simchat Torah. Our tour group was scheduled to fly home that night. Some of us were able to get out because we had booked flights with United and El Al, who continued to fly passengers despite the very real and present danger of rockets striking near the airport. Others were stranded in Tel Aviv because their airlines chose to abandon their paying customers and only fly their crews, family members, and their friends out of the war zone.
After returning home, I suffered survivor’s guilt because I had experienced the fear caused by running to shelter at the airport, and some of our tourists would have a week of living through constant threat in Tel Aviv until new flights could be secured. I anxiously stayed in contact with them and tried to help when I could. Our Jewish brothers and sisters, many who live with the reality of such threats on a daily basis, not just in this time of war, have my utmost respect. Chazak! (Be Strong!) We have no idea what our elder brother endures, and how they, as the “first tribe to go forth,” make our way so much easier. May Adonai continue to protect and strengthen them as they guard and defend their families and the Holy Land of Israel!
Thankfully, our entire tour group has now made it home. While that brings me relief, my heart continues to ache for Israel and the Jewish people who have suffered such great losses. I have been and will continue to pray for them, especially during the eighth month, the month for Messiah. Hoshiana, save, please, Adonai! I dedicate this series to them.
Before Simchat Torah and the outbreak of war, we were blessed with an awesome Sukkot experience in Israel. Thus, if you remember anything about this post, I pray it is this: “Tovah haeretz meod meod” – the Land is VERY VERY GOOD (Num. 14:7). And though it contains “giants with fortified cities” and “Amalek lives in the Negev,” and they are scary, “Do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” (Num. 14:9)
Unlike past visits to the Land during Sukkot, this one offered something unique, and I don’t mean the war. Nearly every day we had partly cloudy skies. This “cloud cover” protected us from heat and reminded us of the wilderness pillar of cloud and fire. When we were in the Galilee and the Golan Heights, rain could be seen in the distance on the mountain tops such as on Mt. Hermon. Since Sukkot commemorates the supernatural Clouds of Glory, it wasn’t lost on us that Abba covered us in a “cloud” as we moved throughout the Land. This was even more apparent in hindsight with the aftermath of Simchat Torah, as He faithfully watched over the many who were left in a warzone after the feast.
Rains Drops on the Stairs of Bet Hoglah
The month of Cheshvan is called Bul in 1 Kings 6:38, which means a flow (like rain) or an increase (as in well-watered crops). While we were touring, there were a couple of times that the clouds released a few drops of rain (the early rains begin to fall after Sukkot in the eighth month). Reflecting on these instances after my return, I have found them to be even more profound than I first realized. Both locations were in the West Bank (Samaria and Judea) where faithful Jews are tenaciously defending portions of their inheritance.
The first place we experienced drops was in the plains of Jericho at Beit Hoglah[1] where an old Jewess named Erna Covos stanchly holds the ground near the place where Israel first crossed over the Jordan to enter the Holy Land under the leadership of Joshua. Mount Nebo, where Moses spoke his last words, gazed at the Holy Land, and died, sits on the east bank of the Jordan, right across from where we stood in Beit Hoglah.
Beit Hoglah is associated with Jericho and Gilgal. This is part of the territory allotted to Benjamin, the son Rachel died giving birth to. It is between Judah and Joseph’s allotment and includes Jericho and Jerusalem (Jos. 18:11-28). Beit Hoglah means “House of the Partridge,” from a verb meaning to wobble or hop (like a bird). Gilgal means to “roll away,” as in Adonai
Bet Hoglah
rolled away the reproach of Egypt (Joshua 5). Jericho (Yericho) means “moon city,” from the Hebrew word yare-ach (H3394), moon. Some suggest Yericho comes from the word ruach (H7306) meaning to smell, scent, or perceive. All of these place names hint to Passover – from the moonths (months) being reset in Aviv, the “hopping” aspect of a bird in the meaning of Pesach and Hoglah, and the rolling away of reproach through circumcision and eating the Paschal lamb, but especially this location belonging to Benjamin, the Son of Sorrows and the Son of the Right Hand which is couched between Judah and Joseph.
Interestingly, today, the Moon City (Jericho) is governed by those who use the waning crescent moon as their symbol. A waning moon is a “dying” moon. But new moons on Adonai’s calendar are marked by the first sliver of the waxing crescent, which represents new birth and a new beginning. The dichotomy is striking. It was in this region under the leadership of Yehoshua (Joshua) that renewal and new beginnings were especially highlighted. Here are a few:
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- God parted the waters of the Jordan River for the Israelites to cross over on dry ground just as He did at the Red Sea, both were like “births.”
- Joshua built a memorial out of twelve stones taken from the riverbed to set up at Gilgal as a reminder of this monumental occasion.
- Israel took their first steps into the land and camped at Gilgal/plains of Jericho, the moon city. (Jos. 4:5-7; 20-24; 1 Peter 2:1-6)
- The male Israelites were circumcised like NEWBORNS, because this generation was born in the wilderness and were not circumcised. When they received the sign of the covenant, the reproach of Egypt was “rolled away,” which is the meaning of Gilgal.
- Israel celebrated their first PASSOVER in the Land to commemorate their liberation from slavery in Egypt.
- They ate the produce of the land of Canaan for the first time, and immediately the supply of heavenly manna stopped. The Land of Promise would now sustain them (Joshua 5).
- Right after having the covenant meal of Passover, Adonai had them conquer the Moon City, Jericho. Erna pointed out that the fall of Jericho was a picture of Israel marrying the Land of Promise.[2] Israel marched around the walls of Jericho one time for six days in a row while the people remained silent. On the seventh day, they circled the city seven times. On the seventh circuit, they blasted trumpets along with the shouts of the people and the walls of Jericho fell down (Joshua 6). Jewish brides circle their husbands seven times in wedding ceremonies to this day to represent tearing down any walls that would prevent her from becoming echad (one) with her groom. After the wedding, there are seven blessings proclaimed over them. After conquering Jericho and failing to keep the covenant, Joshua renewed the covenant with blessings and curses at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal (Joshua 7-8). From this point, they began to conquer the Land in earnest and take their inheritance.
- Rahab, a Gentile, was spared for saving the spies and joined the commonwealth of Israel when they conquered Jericho. She has the honor of being in the lineage of Messiah, and a place in the hall of faith (Mt. 1:5, Heb. 11:31, Jam. 2:25).
- Later in this same area, Elijah passed on a double portion to Elisha before ascending to heaven in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2).
- Erna also pointed out that the school of the prophets[3] often met in caves footsteps away from where we stood on her modern farm.
Jericho, Gilgal, and Beit Hoglah are the gateway and key to the Holy Land. This is the place of crossing over. It is where the birthing waters parted and the children walked through the Jordan River on dry ground (Day 3), again. This is where the Tabernacle rested for fourteen (7+7) years, the number of Messiah. It is the place where Samuel placed the first king over Israel, Saul, who ruled over a united Israel. This is the place of FIRSTS. First steps, first Passover, first king, first Canaanite convert to join Israel (Rahab). It is about firsts, but it is also about sevens and completion as outlined in Jericho’s fall. After the wilderness experience, everything began for Israel in the region of Benjamin (Jos. 18:11-28), the second son of Rachel, the only one born in the Land of Promise, the tribe for the upcoming month of Kislev. It cost Rachel her life to birth Benjamin, but it is her voice that continues to cry and weep for her wayward children.
Erna calls Gilgal and Beit Hoglah “The beginning of our possession of the Land of Israel, and it is the beginning of its redemption.” The more I ponder her words along with The Word, the more I agree. Erna is holding the gate open for the children of return, while guarding it from the enemy. As rain drops began to fall on our group as we were getting ready to depart, the prophetic significance of people from the nations celebrating Sukkot was not lost on Erna. She called us the “first drops” (of those returning from the nations), the drawing near of the final redemption.
The second place we felt drops of rain was at Arugot Farm with Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel and Rabbi
House of Prayer for All Nations at Arugot Farm
Ari Abramowitz. Arugot Farm is located in the southern hills of Judea, where King David shepherded his sheep and wrote many of the Psalms. It is dotted with caves that he would have escaped to as he fled from King Saul. From their mountaintop, you can see Jerusalem’s skyline in the north, along with nearby Bethlehem and Hebron. The Dead Sea is to the west, and the Negev to the south. It is such a strategic place. Jeremy and Ari risked everything to move to this southernmost Jewish settlement in the Judean Hills (that the world calls the West Bank), and like Erna, they have a heart set on being a light to the nations. They have built a beautiful house of prayer that they call a “House of Prayer for All Nations.”
After we left, they opened their doors wide to families fleeing Sderot and other places under heavy attack. For a few years, they have been hosting weekly Torah studies for the nations on Sundays. Their work and service on multiple fronts is to be commended and supported as they also are gatekeepers of the Land of Promise who seek the complete redemption and the return of all exiles. They have been sending daily updates about the war to their fellowship members and Youtube subscribers. To learn more about their work and journey click here and here.
Erna, Jeremy, and Ari have something else in common. They not only tend to the hearts of people, but they tend the Land – literally making dry and desolate places bloom with life. Their natural work reflects their spiritual work. I find it most amazing that Adonai allowed us to experience “drops” in only these two places which represent Joseph and Judah, Rachel and Leah, the two Houses of Israel. It reminded me of the verses below. “Stick” in this passage is the Hebrew word “etz,” which also means tree. Compare it with Romans 11.
Ezekiel 37:19-28 (NASB)
19 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”‘
20 “The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.
21 “Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.
23 “They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.
24 “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.
25 “They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever.
26 “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.
27 “My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.
28 “And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”‘”
First Drops
The rains that come in the early part of the year, from around October to December, are called the early rains, or in Hebrew, yoreh (H3138). This word comes from the same root as Torah, yarah (H3384), meaning to shoot, cast, or pour (as in an arrow or the flow of rain). Just as the Land drinks rain from heaven to produce crops necessary for life, we need to hear (internalize/obey) the heavenly mitzvot to produce spiritual fruit, which is spiritual rain.
“But the land you are crossing over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, drinking from the rain of the heavens it drinks in water. It is a land that Adonai your God cares for—the eyes of Adonai your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year up to the end of the year. Now if you listen obediently to My mitzvot that I am commanding you today—to love Adonai your God and to serve Him with all your heart and soul— then I will give rain for your land in its season—the early rain and the late rain—so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.” (Deuteronomy 11:11-14, TLV)\
Adonai is always concerned about the Land, the People, and the Covenant. All three are intertwined. Though some systems of theology spiritualize away the significance of the Land of Israel, Adonai’s people – all of them – are deeply connected to it. Man, Adam, comes from the adamah, the ground. Sin causes defilement not just to people, but to the land. When Adonai’s people were disobedient, they were uprooted like a plant from the soil of Israel, just as Adam and Eve were exiled from the Garden of Eden. Obeying Adonai’s Word, which is likened to a Seed meant to take root in people, produces fruit. Eating foreign seed, words not of Adonai brings forth thistles and thorns, which must be weeded away (exile). This is why the people are “married” to the Land. They are one.[4] The wife of the Lamb is the New Jerusalem, which is a place and a people. And the Land IS a covenant promise, not just in the “old,” but the new (Is. 61, Jer. 31-33; 50:4-5, Ezek. 11:14-25; chapters 36-37, Psalm 105-106; 111).
In the cycle of months, Rachel’s children are the tribes for the months of Tishrei (Ephraim- 7), Cheshvan (Menashe -8), and Kislev (Benjamin- 9). It is her children that lead us through the fall feasts, the early rains, and the dark winter months. This shouldn’t be surprising since both Sukkot and Joseph figure not only Israel, but the nations with them. Joseph didn’t just save Israel, he saved Egypt and many other nations from famine. Famine, spiritually speaking, is a lack of the life giving Word/Seed of Adonai (Amos 8:11), and one of the four altar judgments for disobedience is famine (Ezek. 14:21, Rev. 6:8).
On the other hand, Judah leads in the first month of Nisan/Aviv. The first month comes after the dark winter and the latter rains. Judah leads the charge just as they did when Israel moved camp and went out to war. To the Jew first, then the Greek/Gentiles (Rom. 1:16; 2:9-10). In the moedim cycle, the spring feasts focus more on individuals and families, and the fall moedim figure a much larger harvest of not just the nation of Israel, but all nations. Judah leads in the first month, and Joseph (via Ephraim) leads in the seventh. There is a mirror in these months and in the spring and fall feasts.
By putting the months on a clock face, it is easier to see the opposite or “mirror” month for each one. Tishrei and Nisan face one another, as does Adar and Elul, both prepare one for the months of the moedim.
If we flip them around, Judah becomes seventh, and Joseph is first. That is the chiastic structure of the months. These two tribes were given the birth right and the scepter of rule/kingship (1 Chron. 5:1-2), and Messiah can be prophetically seen in both. Thus, there are two primary heads in the year (Nisan and Tishrei), and there are two primary heads of the tribes. The tribal order for the months is not in the actual birth order of the sons of Israel, but in the order in which the tribes of Israel camped around the Tabernacle, went out to war, and gave their offerings at the dedication of the Tabernacle. This order isn’t arbitrary, it is spiritual.
In Ephraim’s month, Tishrei – the seventh, the full harvest of fruit with seeds are brought to Jerusalem. These will be sown in the rainy winter months, then sprout and mature, beginning in Nisan/Aviv, the first month. Whether the enemy realizes it or not, I believe, after having time to pray, think, and process the events I experienced both prior to the attack and afterwards, that the Eighth Day, Simchat Torah, was chosen because their desire is to corrupt and crush the Seed of the Woman and her work.
Seeds need good soil and water to germinate. The enemy wants to destroy the soil of Israel and her people, making them desolate. This year, instead of thinking about the physical rain drops that come to water the delicate seeds at this season, I’m forced to think about the water source for the seeds being tears, the salty droplets from so many sorrowful eyes. But as I did so, I was reminded of Psalm 126 that I quoted in Part I.
“Surely he who walks and weeps, bearing a trail of seed, shall come again with joyful shouting, bearing his sheaves.” (Psalms 126:6, LITV)
© Yafit Moshensky | Dreamstime.com
These are “dreamers,” like Joseph, the returning exiles. I’ve cried seeing photos of Jews from all over the world flying to their homeland to defend her in her time of need. They are dreamers too. Dreamers are deeply connected to Rachel and her children, explored in Part III.
Their tears and our tears water the seeds Torah, and when they do, they bear the sheaves of Israel! During Sukkot this year, there were multitudes from the nations who showed their love and support while celebrating the feast. I marched with many of them in the ICEJ’s Parade of the Nations in Jerusalem and witnessed flags from at least 70 nations. I worshiped with Solu and Shilo Ben Hod in Jerusalem that very night where each continent was lifted up and prayed for in various languages, along with the nation of Israel.
So despite the war and the atrocious rise of antisemitism in the US and around the world, I must remember that the hearts and motivations of those who hate Israel are no longer being hidden. With precision force, and even through tears, a separation is being made. On Tishrei 1, the year changed to 5784, the second year in the current shemittah cycle. Year two mirrors the chaos of Day 2 of creation.[5] The upper and lower waters are being separated to make room for dry land that will produce fruit with like kind seed, not thorns and thistles. When the third year arrives and the waters are gathered to one place and dry land appears, will we bear fruit with the seed of the Land, the People, and the Covenant? Will we say with Joshua and Caleb (tribes of Joseph and Judah), “Tovah haeretz meod meod” – the Land is VERY VERY GOOD? (Num. 14:7), or will we be found in agreement with the wicked spies/witnesses who say, “It is a land that devours its residents? (Num. 13:32)
Never Again! STAND WITH ISRAEL!
[1] Beit Hoglah is mentioned in the Book of Joshua as being near the northern tip of the Dead Sea, on the border between Judah and Benjamin’s allotment; it was also known as a town in Benjamin (Joshua 15:6; 18:19, 21).
[2] In Hebrew, the word for land, eretz, is feminine. “No longer will you be termed ‘Forsaken,’ no longer your land termed ‘Desolate.’ Instead you will be called, ‘My Delight is in Her’ and your land, ‘Married.’ For Adonai delights in you, and your land will be married.” (Isaiah 62:4, TLV) The word for city, ir, is also feminine. Thus, when personified, the Land and the Holy City of Jerusalem take on feminine attributes, and when spoken of poetically, they are a Bride Who is Married (Rev. 21:9-10). Both the Land and the Holy City are filled with people, Who are also the Wife or Bride of Adonai.
[3] Easton’s Bible Dictionary: Schools of the Prophets (1 Samuel 19:18-24 ; 2 Kings 1 Samuel 2:3 1 Samuel 2:5 1 Samuel 2:7 1 Samuel 2:12 1 Samuel 2:15 ) were instituted for the purpose of training young men for the prophetical and priestly offices.
[4] See footnote 2
[5] To learn more about the Shemittah cycle, see Barry Miller’s book, KNOW THE TIME CHANGE YOUR WORLD: THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE SEVEN-AND FIFTY-YEAR BIBLICAL CYCLES.
GRACE in TORAH 