This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Voices from Zion, Robbie and the Rabbi. Together, we'll explore the scriptures in their original Hebrew, wrestle with hard questions, and celebrate the beauty of what unites us and the respect that deepens when we acknowledge what doesn't.
So welcome to the dialogue. Welcome to the wrestle. Welcome to Voices from Zion, Robbie and the Rabbi. So I think you're going to really enjoy this time of year for All of us. Yes.
The thought Jew and Christian, we're celebrating. Lights to some extent in the darkest time of the year, which is a fascinating idea. that uh for us in North Carolina, probably in Jerusalem as well. Sunday was the darkest day. Oh, the of the of the year.
It was the darkest day in the entire northern hemisphere. Absolutely. And so Isn't it fascinating that um We celebrate these. These festivals of Christmas. But I know few Christians have a real understanding of Hanukkah.
And what that is, and what that looks like.
So, what a neat opportunity to dive into that as. Rabbi Heim has done some studies on it as well as obviously he's lived it his whole life.
So with that said. Rabbi? Yeah.
Okay. Happy holiday to you. Pastor Robbie and um Let's dive in. That is, what I'd like to try to do, and I admit this is perhaps an unusual sort of challenge is As we discussed earlier. Festival of Hanukkah is not a biblical feast.
It's not in. Your canon, nor in mine. I understand that the books of the Maccabees are in the canon in some of the Eastern churches, but it doesn't really pertain to either of us.
So we can't really talk about this as a biblical holy day. And yet I'd like to plunge into it. Precisely. Through a survey of the Bible a very particular Question. that directly pertains to this time of year.
Surveying the ninth month. In the Bible. And of course Hanukkah does occur in the ninth month. When I say ninth month, obviously we reckon. the numbers of the month.
Based upon Exodus chapter 12 from the month of the Exodus.
So number nine is now. I think there is also an additional premise of this exercise And that is that Holy days don't just happen. happen. They signify a time of spiritual lights coming into the world. God is sending us these lights.
As a message for ourselves. And of course, inevitably on that plane, well, of course, we readily appreciate that when we commemorate. uh holiday then We are commemorating the recurrence of those lights coming into the world. on an annual basis But It doesn't start on the Holy Day. If anything, the Holy Day is a reflection of Something deep underlying.
that becomes manifest. In history. But If then would not be And exercising futility for us to explore this time of year. Before the holiday even began. The challenge, of course, is That if you ask me Well, how much of the Bible can we date?
With respect to a particular time of year. My answer would have to be Almost none. It's hard enough to try to figure out the year. Of many of the events that are described in the Bible, but to actually. localize the event in a time of year.
Almost never. And yet. There are some instances In which The Bible gives us that information. And so it is on that plane that I'd like to begin with the first instance in which we read about something that takes place specifically in. the ninth month I have to admit.
This is A very inauspicious way to begin, but nevertheless. Jeremiah chapter 36. It only emerges. In the continuation of the chapter, that it is in fact taking place in the ninth month. But I'd like to begin at the beginning of the chapter just in order to give context.
It came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah. From the Lord saying, Take you A roll of a book and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto you concerning Israel and concerning Judah and concerning all the nations from the day I spoke unto you from the days of Josiah unto this day. And what emerges clearly in what follows. Is what God spoke to Jeremiah concerning Israel and concerning Judah and concerning all the nations. is really bad.
In the next verse, it may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I think to do unto them, that they may return every man from his evil ways, and they forgive their iniquity and their sin.
So this is a summons to repentance. But it's not going to pretty. Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Mariah, and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which he had spoken unto him upon a roll of a book. And Jeremiah commended Baruching. I am detained.
I cannot come into the house of the Lord. This statement is somewhat enigmatic. That is, there isn't any specification of why Jeremiah is detained. But we could pretty well surmise What the circumstances are. This is not the first prophecy of gloom and doom.
that Jeremiah is communicating and He may have been Warrant against coming into the house of the Lord and prophesying again. Another prophecy of gloom and doom.
So he is detained. He can't come into the house of the Lord, but Baruch can.
So he says to them, therefore You come. And read in the roll which you have written from my mouth the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord's house. Upon a fast day. And hopefully you shall read them. In the ears of all Judah that come out of their city.
Now, this is Another enigmatic statement In both this verse and in verse 9, we read that this is taking place. on a fast day. No one tells us. At least explicitly, what the circumstance. of this that they is.
At the same time We can make a couple of educated guesses. When we read In verse 9, That it is a fast day, but we also read explicitly that it's in the ninth month, this month. And Bearing in mind Of course. The climate in the land of Israel. Fasting in the ninth month.
Has a very clear anchor in our tradition. As we've discussed, we've spoken about the rain in the past, the rainy season is supposed to begin in earnest. in the eighth month. We begin praying for the rains to come, imploring God for rain. On the seventh day of the eighth month.
The date is very specific because it's exactly fifteen days after. The festival of tabernacles. I think we've discussed this. That is the reason we don't start imploring God for rain sooner than that is to allow a 15-day period. for the pilgrims who came to the Holy Temple to return home.
Before the rains start raining on their parade. Of course, some people might ask. That may be all well and good when the temple is standing, but the temple hasn't been standing for close to 2,000 years. Why are we still waiting until the seventh of the eighth month in order to implore God for rain? And of course, the answer is: well, you know, we're waiting.
For the rebuilding of the temple. And you want to keep in shape. We don't ask for rain when people are going to be adversely affected because they're on the way home from the temple and. We hope that's going to be a circumstance that will be re-established. Any day.
In any case We're imploring God for rain from the beginning of the eighth month, and if it hasn't come. By the ninth month. then there is a sequence of fast days of increasing severity. that are declared. Again, this theme of repentance.
in order to Okay. Implore God for the rain that we so desperately need. In the land which is such a dry land, a thirsty land. If the rains don't come.
So it could be that this is part of the Tradition of declaring a fast day if the rains haven't come. Samothini Sig is another possibility. And this other possibility arguably is far more dire than mere drought. Ironically, we only know about this possibility from external sources. It's not explicitly stated anywhere in the Bible, and that is that this time of year.
Nebuchadnezzar. King of Babylon. Sex The city of Ashkelon. On the coast.
Southern Part of the cultural land of Israel, a well-known Philistine city. And The people in Jerusalem Not very well. We're next. And that could obviously occasion. Our imploring God for compassion in the face of this looming threat.
It also of course inevitably will predispose the people. The hearing A message of warning. that summons them to repent. and return to God.
So we can well appreciate then. Again, the charge. that Jeremiah is giving to Baruch to read. The role in the Lord's house upon a fact day. It may be they will present their supplication before the Lord and will return everyone from his evil way.
For great is the anger and the fury that the Lord has spoken concerning this people. And of course, then we read that Bach does just that. In verse 8, Barach the son of Neread, did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house. And here we get the explicit reference, the ninth month again, the ninth month, the fast day. It came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiachim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month.
So they proclaimed the fast before the Lord, all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem. Then did Baruch read in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord in the chamber of Jemoyah, the son of Shaphan, the scribe, who we know is a supporter of Jeremiah. In the upper court, the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house in the ears of all the people. And it causes a sensation. And by consequence of this sensation, In verse 19, and obviously this has ominous implications.
The princes said to Baruch, Go hide. Hide. you and Jeremiah and let no man know where you are. Obviously, they appreciate. That these words may elicit an adverse reaction from the powers that be.
And the princes then came in to the king into the court But for safety, they deposited the role in the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And they told all the words in the ears of the king.
So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elisha the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king and in the ears of all the princes that stood over the king. And again, we read the reference to the month, and this has. Clear relevance to what follows. The king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month.
It's winter, it's cold.
So he was sitting in the winter house, and the brazier was burning before him. And it came to pass when Judy had read three or four verses that he cut it. With the penknife and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier until all the wool was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Not content merely to ignore. warnings of Jeremiah and not even content merely to cut up the role.
but to burn it until it is consumed in the fire. And the consequence. Skipping to verse 27 to abridge a little bit. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the roll and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, Take you again another roll and write in it all the four words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. And concerning Jo Yakim.
King of Judah, you shall say. Thus Says the Lord. you have burnt this roll, saying, Why have you written therein saying, the king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jojim, king of Pudah, he shall have none. To sit upon the throne of David and his dead body.
Shall be cast out in the day to the heat and in the night to the frost. Not only will he not have a royal funeral, he won't have any funeral. And I will visit upon him and upon his seed and his servants their iniquity. And I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the men of Judah all the evil that I have spoken. On to them.
But they hearkened not. Then took Jeremiah another roll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Nereah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words. Of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire, and there were added besides unto them many like words. And we know the end of this story. Again, my apologies.
It's not a very auspicious way to start a holiday. Bible study, but We're not ending here. The next instance in which we encounter the ninth month is Many, many years later. It is in the prophecy of Hagai. After the events that were described in Jeremiah chapter 36, we know what happened.
Jerusalem was destroyed. The people were exiled. The first state of Israel was utterly destroyed. Chagai is prophesying at the beginning of the second temple period. And in the second chapter, of his prophecy.
I'll interrupt, but I just jump in here. Um I saw an amazing That you know uh is is a rabbi in Canada. I'm trying to remember his name. He's with Habad. and he did a study on the book of Astrom.
And he Made lots of references to the ninth month being. The time That Um That Um I'm trying to think of the name of the bad guy in the book of Esther. Payment. Heyman, that Heyman's Mm-hmm. edict that he was going to do he he He didn't.
There was some idea that he didn't want to do it in the ninth month. Or he did wanted to do it the ninth month based on.
So is and again, I'm just Trying to remember exactly what all he said about the ninth month, but it seems to me that I remember it being that time of year. Is that not true? I have to admit, I'm not aware of any reference to the ninth month in the Book of Esther. That is, there are months that are mentioned by name. But uh the ninth month As far as I can recall, is not.
I'll have to go back and look. He was reckoning the number nine from some month other than the Exodus, and what he was referring to as the ninth month was not what we mean by the ninth month. But um We'll have to leave that in advance and please come back to me with the yeah.
Okay, okay.
So we're back, we're back in Guy. And in chapter 2, verse 10. This is even more extraordinary than extraordinary. Not only do we have a month of a prophecy, we have an exact date. In the 24th day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Now, 24th.
of the ninth month. Isn't just any old day, that's the eve. Of Khanuka. Of course, not in the time of Hagai. It would only become that centuries later.
But it's significant to know that's the date. And What he presents to the people Very much a double message. Positively and negatively. On the one hand, In verse fifteen.
Now I pray you consider from this day and forward before. A stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with ale into all the work of your hands. That was a summons, a wake-up call. Yet you turned not to me.
Says the Lord. But This is critical. Verse 18: Consider, I pray you, from this day and forward. From the 24th. Day of the ninth month.
Even from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid. Consider it. The 24th day of the ninth month was the day of dedication. The foundation of the Lord's temple was laid on the 24th day of the ninth month. And the consequence?
Is the seed yet in the barn? Yeah you the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate and the oak tree. Which, of course, are all from among the special species with which the land of Israel is praised in Deuteronomy chapter eight. All of these have not yet brought forth, but from this day I will bless you. You you've Returned.
You've taken up the summons. of rebuilding the Lord's house. And all of the calamities are in the past now. From this day forward, I will bless you. And then there's another prophecy.
And the word of the Lord came a second time unto Hagai. In the 24th day. Of the month, we know which month, still the same, the same ninth month. This is in verse 20, and we have a special prophecy here delivered. Two One man.
Speak to Zerubabel. governor of Judah, saying I will shake the heavens and the earth. And I will overthrow the kingdom the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride in them, and the horses and their riders shall come down every one by the sword of his brother. A time of great cataclysm in that day. Says the Lord of hosts.
Will I take you, O Zerubbabel, my servant? Not a whole lot of people in the Bible. Does God address as my servant?
Well The son of Sha'atiel Says the Lord. And I will make you as a signet. For I have chosen you. Says the Lord of hosts. Signet in the Hebrew khotam.
Obviously Represents many things. On the most basic plane, It is the means through which the s the king signs his documents. The signet ring. You may Press it into the molten wax or whatever, and you sign the document.
So the signet on the most basic plane Is the instrument of the king's governance over his kingdom. And goddess tellings, you are the instrument of my governance over the world. You are my signal. Wow. Which of course is Enough of a statement.
To chew on even by itself, but let's consider the significance of the signet. in a couple of other passages in the Bible. In particular, first, a general observation with respect to the significance of the signet. in the song of song.
Solomon's Song chapter 8. Set me as a signet. upon your heart. As a signet upon your arm. Same word in the Hebrew, khotan.
For love is strong as death Zeal is as hard as the grave. The flashes thereof are flashes of fire. Depending on how you translate, either fire of a great flame or A very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can rivers overflow it. If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, he would utterly be contempt.
The signet. Of course, the most basic plague is something that you never part with. You keep it right by your side at all times. It therefore becomes a symbol of intimacy. A symbol of connectedness, a symbol of love.
And that's also Part of what The signet. represents But there's an additional dimension that I think is also critical for us to appreciate with respect to the signet. And that is The role of the signet in They Background of One very particular Family and family story that admittedly is Unseemly. but it's still part of the Bible. And that brings us to Genesis chapter 38.
The story of Judah's family. And in particular His daughter-in-law, Tamar.
Now, Judah had three sons, Er, Onan, and Sheila. He marries heir Oft to Tamar and he dies. And then, based upon the principle of leparitical marriage, he marries Onan Off to Tamar and he dies. And The normal routine would be now to marry Shailao off to Tamar. And He is evidently reluctant.
Not Sufficiently appreciating, perhaps. that his sons died because of their iniquity. And Tamar recognizes that She hasn't been Given to marry Shaylah the third son. and she contrives to do her brand of leveritical marriage. through Judah himself.
She disguises herself as a harlot. Again, this is not pleasant reading, but it's right there on the Bible. And um In verse 15, when Judas saw her, he thought her to be a harlot, for she had covered her face. And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Come, I pray you let me come in unto you. For he knew not that she was his daughter in law.
And she said, What will you give me that you may come in unto me? And he said, I will send you a kid of the goats from the flock. She said. If you give me a pledge until you send it. And he said, what pledge shall I give you?
And she said. your signet. Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand. Evidently all three. Extremely personal.
Private. Possessions. And he gave them to her, and he came in unto her, and she conceived by him. And of course, what happens afterward is she disappears.
So when Judah tries to pay the pledge to get back Excuse me, to pay pay the fee, to get back the pledge. He can't find her.
So she keeps the signet, the cord, and the staff. And verse 24, we read, and it came to pass about three months after that it was told Judah, saying, Tamari, your daughter-in-law, has played the harlot, and moreover. She is with child by harlotry. And she said, This is a capital crime. Bring her forth, shall there be burnt.
When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the manner whose these are am I with child? And she said, discern. Please. Whose are these? The signet the cords and the staff.
And should acknowledge them.
Now there's more than one way of translating the next phrase. In Verse 26. Either She is more righteous than I? She is right. It is for me.
In either case. It is an acknowledgement and a confession. And Not only Is Tamar's life saved as a result? But also the two twins. In her womb.
At the time Of course we read it. the immediate continuation of the passage. It was At the time of her travail, that behold, twins were in her womb, and there's this unusual birthing process in which one twin sends forth his hand, and the midwife ties a scarlet thread on it.
So Indicate. that he came out first, but he didn't come out first because then the other twin bursts forth before him.
So they named him. The burster and Hebrew parrots. And afterward His brother was born. upon whom was the scholar tread, and they called his name Sarach. And what?
particular significance is this.
Well We know Which family issues from parrots? And If we forgot, then we can read that genealogy explicitly at the end of the book of Ruth. In chapter 4 from verse 18, these are the generations of Perez. Peretz begot Hetron, Chetron, Ram, Ram, Aminadab, Aminadab, Nachson, Akhon, Salmon, Salmon, Boaz, Boaz, Obed, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.
So, you know, altogether, I'll just note parenthetically with respect to Genesis chapter 38. It's very odd this chapter is inserted in the middle of the story of the fail of Joseph into bondage and exile. What's it doing there?
So we have this ancient tradition. Everyone in this story is busy with his own affairs. Jacob is in mourning. Joseph is in mourning. The brothers don't know what they're what they should be doing with themselves.
And what's God busy with, as it were, at this time? Oh, God's busy creating the light of the Messiah. Before the first Rubabille himself.
Sorry? Zerubabel himself. Oh, exactly. We're getting there. Oh yeah.
But it doesn't end with David or with Jul Babel. It continues up until the Messiah. Right. That's before the first exile begins. The light is planted for the final Redeemer.
And of course, as you rightly point out, Pastor Robby, we read in the first book of Chronicles, chapter 3, the continuation of this genealogy. And particularly, I'm going to focus on verse 15 through verse 19. The sons of Josiah. The first born Johannan the second Jeho Yakim. We already read about him in Jeremiah chapter 36.
Among the sons of Jehoiakim. Jekonya. His name appears in a number of different formulations, but it's all different. Permutations of the same name, Jehonya, Chonya. Um The sons of Jehonya.
include In verse 17, shall his son. And Pidaya. and the sons of Dayah Include first on the list in verse 19, Zerubbabel. Zurbavel Who is The great Great. Grandson.
Uh Joe Yakim. Grandson of the Connier. Uh just to um Appreciate Jehojakim himself as the 17th generation King David, directly part of the Davidic dynasty. But you know, inevitably We can't help but ask ourselves. We read about God's promise is Ubuffell.
In the wake of reading and Jeremiah chapter thirty six The devastating prophecy of retribution. that pertains not only to John Yakin, but all his Seed. And maybe even more dramatically. Regarding Zerubavel's great-grandfather. Again, in Jeremiah chapter 22.
We read a prophecy about him. And uh certainly not a whole lot better. They'd be arguably worse. Than the prophecy of retribution that we read concerning Jo Yakim in chapter 36. Chapter 22, from verse 24: As I lived, God is taking an oath here, says the Lord.
Though Konya, the son of Jehoyakim, king of Judah, were the signet upon my right hand. Yet would I pluck you thence? And I will give you into the hand of them that seek your life, and into the hand of them of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Namukad Retzkar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. And I will cast you out and your mother that bore you into another land where you were not born, and there you shall die. But the land whereunto they won't return, there they shall not return.
And the prophet continues asking rhetorically. Is this man Konya? a dashed or shattered Image. Wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into the land which they know not? And then inversely Thirty, the culmination of this prophecy of destruction.
Thus says the Lord. Write you this man childless. A man that shall not prosper in his days, for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah. Which of course inevitably will prompt us to ask What in the world is going on here? It's his own great-grandson.
to whom God addressed himself in the prophecy that we saw in the second chapter of Haggai. Saying I will take you, Ozer Babel, my servant. The son of Shaltiel. And I will make you as a signet, for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts. How does that work?
And of course, inevitably, we realize the answer is. In a word Returning to God. Repentance. That is, in precisely the same vein. that we can read in the third chapter of Jonah.
That Jonah comes into Nineveh. According to the word of the Lord. And he proclaimed yet 40 days. and Ninve shall be overturned. And what happens next?
The people of Ninve believed in God and they proclaimed the fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them. Of course, the fasting again, not as an end in itself, but as a means to repentance. And five verses afterwards, in verse 10, we read: God saw their work that they had returned from their evil way, and God relented of the evil. which he said he would do unto them, and he did it not. That is, as a general principle.
And this is a principle that is perhaps best enunciated. Also in Jeremiah, in Jeremiah chapter 28. Prophecies of destruction don't necessarily take place. In Jeremiah chapter 28, we read an extraordinary. Um Contest Between the prophet Jeremiah and someone else known as Kananya, son of Azur.
The Prophet. He's repeatedly described as the prophet there. He Has a prophecy.
So he claims I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years, will I bring back into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house that the Muchadreta, king of. Babylon took away from this place and carried them to Babylon. In other words, the opposite about Jeremiah is prophesying about destruction. And just skipping to the the critical culmination of what Jeremiah says by way of response.
In verses seven through nine. Hear now this word that I speak into your ears and into the ears of all the people. The prophets that have been before me. and before you of old prophesied concerning many lands And concerning great kingdoms of war and of evil and of pestilence. The prophet that prophesies of peace.
When the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known that the Lord has truly sent him. And of course, you prophesied peace. You're a lawyer. and it will become clear that you are a liar because you will die this year. Which of course is what happens.
If you prophesy peace. It must take place. God will never relent. of his promise. blessing coming into the world.
God's word does not return empty-handed. But if you prophesy of destruction, of gloom and of doom. It's always conditional. God won't bring that prophecy. to actualization.
If the recipient of the prophecy takes it as a summons and returns to God. And on some level, I think the inner logic here is. If the prophecy caused people to pent. It also doesn't return to God empty-handed. Because that was his purpose.
Its purpose. What's that? To tell people about destruction, but to get people to pick themselves up by their bootstraps and get their act together. And once that's happened. Then the destruction, of course, becomes completely.
Unnecessary. And indeed, God will relent to the evil. And the prophecy won't take place.
So we read in Jeremiah chapter 36. of the prophecy of utter destruction to Yo, Yakim. And chapter 22. of the prophecy of utter destruction to Konya. That even if you would be a signet, I would pluck you off and throw you out.
Okay. And Konya's great-grandson. Joy Yakim is great. Great grandson. It's God's signet.
God's chosen servant. Because he did what his great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather failed to do. He returned to God in earnest. Wow, what a message. And I think that also helps to inform the other three instances in which we read about the ninth month.
So we'll we'll do this in relatively rapid fire succession. In Ezra Chapter 10 In verse 9. There is a summons for everyone to come for what we would describe, I guess, nowadays as a revival meeting. Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month.
On the 20th day of the month, and all the people sat in the broad place before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the great rain.
Now, I don't know if Trembling because of the great rain means that it was raining and they were shivering. Or because the great rain had not come yet. Because remember, it's the ninth month, and we need to have the rain in the ninth month, or else it's. Really bad news. That means we have a drought.
So, were they trembling because the rain had come or trembling because the rain hadn't come? I don't know. One or the other. But the first reason for them trembling is because of this matter, because of the spiritual revival. that Ezra is convening.
and they realize they need to get their act together. The ninth month is the special designated time. The culmination of Returning to God. That's with respect to all the people. On a more personal plane, we read about the ninth month.
In the story of I realized in The common canon of the Hebrew Bible that is customary in the Christian world, Nehemiah has his own book. In our canon, Nehemiah is really just the second half of the book of Ezra.
So, this is part of the same book from our perspective, but it doesn't matter in any case. The beginning of Nehemiah. The words of Namia, the son of Shachalyah.
Now it came to pass in the month Kislev. Kislev. As we will read explicitly in Zechariah, is the ninth month. The names of the months. We were not part of the ancient Hebraic tradition.
They came from Babylon. They were. Accepted Mm. during the Babylonian exile and when the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile they brought these names with them.
So it was in the month of Kislev, in the 20th year, as I was in Shushan, the capital, that Khanani, one of my brethren, came out of Judah. and men from Judah and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped. That were left Of the captivity and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me: the remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province. are in great affliction and reproach.
The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire. And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned the days. And I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
So Nehemiah also seen this ninth month. as a summons of repentance, of returning to God. The last instance was read about the ninth month. I already noted it in Zachariah. At the beginning of chapter seven in Zachariah, it came to pass in the fourth year of King Darius that the word of the Lord came unto Zachariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Kislev.
Okay, so same month. When Sar Ezer and Regemelech and his men had sent to Bethel to entreat the favor of the Lord. And to speak unto the priests Of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself as I have done these so many years? Background. This is classic.
Asking a question of the Priests, the teachers, the prophet in this case. How am I supposed to observe? The word of God practice in my life. Should I keep on Weeping in the fifth month as I have these several years.
Now, there is, I must note. Uh another little mystery and this passage, and that is Why would you be sending an urgent dispatch to get an answer to a question like this. That's only going to be relevant in over half a year. That is the ninth month. And the question pertains to the fifth month.
Which is of course inevitably the following year. And maybe we can get something of a sense of the answer. From The answer that God gives, which is in Zachariah chapter 8. From verse 18, the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying, Thus says 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 in shearful seasons. But love you truth and peace.
Meaning So, for the entire period of the Babylonian exile, these red letter dates in the pathway towards destruction. were observed as fast days. Times for repentance and returning to God. And the question that was being asked in the Dispatch In the beginning of the seventh chapter, was should I still be doing that now? The second temple.
has been consecrated. God's responses.
Now it's time to celebrate What you have. Not mourn over what you once did not have.
So past days become cheerful season. Of course, unfortunately, after the construction of the second temple, they reverted to fast days, which are still observed to this day. In the fourth month, the fifth. The seventh and the tenth. Indeed.
The fast of the tenth month is in one week's time. And Inevitably, that may also help us to understand why this question was being asked. in the ninth month. Namely.
Well, they explicitly asked about the last of the fifth month, which is the most severe, that is the ninth above, the day of the destruction of the holy temple. But they were also thinking about the other fast days, and most immediately they were thinking about.
Well, there's the fast of the 10th month that's coming up in another few weeks. What are we supposed to do then? And God's Response covers that too. But it's all essentially about Returning to God. Which, as we've seen all along, is what the ninth month really symbolizes: returning to God.
And that theme of returning to God doesn't only pertain to the people of Judah who are asking this question. Actually, it pertains to the entire world. as becomes clear from the verses that follow. That is, we just read verse 19, verse 20. Thus says the Lord of hosts: It shall yet come to pass, but there shall come peoples.
And the inhabitants of many cities and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts. I'm going too. Yea, many peoples and mighty nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.
So It's not just spiritual revival for the Jews. It's a spiritual revival for everyone. And that's precisely what These verses are telling us with respect to What the ninth month is supposed to signify. Just Inevitably. There's an additional dimension that needs to be borne in mind here.
But we are talking then in the prophecies of Hagai and Zachariah of the reconsecration of the second temple, we know what happened. It was not the final temple. It was not forever. And the promise is In truth. were never entirely fulfilled.
And then of course inevitably Give us a challenge. We already noted in Isaiah chapter 55. In verses 10 and 11, for as the rain comes down in the snow from heaven and returns not there, except it waters the earth and makes it bring forth and bud and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that go forth out of my mouth. It shall not return to me empty-handed, except that it accomplished that which. I desire and make the thing whereto I sent it prosper.
So, what happens with these prophecies? That is, we can go through the list here, at least in brief. The first part of Kagai, chapter two. From verse 6, thus says the Lord of hosts, yet. Once it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and I will shake all the nations, and the poisonous things of the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory.
Says the Lord of hosts. Verse 9: The glory of this latter house will be greater than that of the former. says the Lord of hosts and in this place I will give peace So there's a lot of hope. There was never horseboard in sickness. Double p.
There was never a place of use. And in Zachariah, perhaps even more so. In the first chapter of Zachariah. In verse 14, thus says the Lord of hosts: I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal. I return to Jerusalem with compassion.
My house shall be built in it, says the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem. My city shall again spread abroad with prosperity, with good, and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and yet shall choose Jerusalem. And this theme of God's return. In Zachariah chapter 2, sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for lo, I come. And I will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord.
And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of you. And all these prophecies. We're never really fulfilled. Zechariah chapter 8: I return unto Zion, I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem will be called the city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. And you know, we have this tradition.
In the first chapter of Hagai, When Khagai is bidding them to rebuild the temple, In the first chapter, in verses seven and eight, thus says the Lord of hosts: consider your ways, go up the hill of bring wood, and build a house. And I will desire it and I will be glorified, says the Lord.
Sounds Pretty straightforward and innocuous. in translation There's a subtle anomaly in the Masoretic text. I will be glorified. The ekha veda. In Hebrew?
is spelt efficiently. without the final hay. Hey, numerologically signifies the number five, and in our tradition. The Prophet is alluding to five. qualities that existed in the first temple that were never restored in the second temple.
And greatest among them, epitome of everything that we read about God returning the presence, God did not return his presence in the second temple. The great tragedy of the Second Temple. Instead of the restoration, there was no restoration. Prophecy did not. Tell me about Won by the second temple.
We had the Last of the prophets. Hagai. Zachariah and Marathi. In our tradition, they may have been prophets already in the first temple period, and as a result, they had the spirit of prophecy already within them, but the second temple did not spawn prophecy. And maybe most explicitly.
In the book of Ezra, in chapter three, when we read about the founding of the holy temple. There's this irony that on the one hand, everyone is really thrilled When the foundation of the House of Lords. And we read in verse 11: Oh, they shouted with great shout, and they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
Next verse. Many of the priests and Levites and heads of the father's houses The old man that had seen the first house standing on its foundation wept. With a loud voice. When they saw the second temple. This is what we're waiting for seventy years.
And ironically, the next verse. The people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people. What happened? What went wrong? And maybe the Most succinct answer to this question is what we read in Zechariah chapter 6.
Well there is A really exalted vision of How Sherubahel, together with Joshua, the high priests, will be partners. And there will be a council of peace between them both, and they will build the temple of the Lord. And like the culmination in Zechariah chapter 6, verse 15, and they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you, and it shall come to pass. If Uh oh. If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God.
That's condition. And what happened?
So to summarize in brief. You know, there was the Proclamation of Cyrus We read about it at the end of Chronicles. We read about it also at the beginning of the book of Ezra. That Cyrus, king of Persia, proclaims, All the kings of the earth has the Lord the God of heaven given me, and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him.
Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. What a summons. And what happened?
In the second chapter of Ezra, we read about who Return from the exile. And there's a very detailed list. Culminating in verse 64, the whole congregation together was. Forty-two thousand three hundred sixty That's it? What happened to everyone else?
Oh, everyone else thought it stayed behind. Didn't come. They didn't come.
So God also didn't come. And the promises that were to have been fulfilled in the second temple. are still unfulfilled. But again The Word of God never returns empty-handed.
So Those words are still bouncing around this world waiting to be fulfilled. And here's where I need to Bring things to something of a culmination. I realize we don't have to try to wrap things up here. You know When we consider what the implications are of Building the holy temple. Uh There's a a really final word.
bottom line in the story of creation, literally the final word in the story of creation. at the end of Genesis chapter two, verse three is Well, in Hebrew, la assot. To do. Translating That verse Literally. Even though most translations do not.
God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it because in it he ceased from all of. Is creative labor Which God created To do. To do? Which got created, period. Full stop.
What's to do? And of course, inevitably, the implication is God did not bequeathed to us. a finished job. He created a world. that still needs to do.
So The word for creative labor milacha in Hebrew. Rather than being a completion as a summons. It isn't finished.
So When is it finished? And we have a tradition that links those words with What we read in the first book of Kings, chapter 7, verse 51. Where we read That Ishlam, Koram al-Aqa, all of the creative labor was complete. In what context? All the work that King Solomon wrought in the house of the Lord.
was completed. The completion of building the Holy Temple. And I submit that we can understand that message on two planes. One specific but Much, much more importantly, one general. On a specific plane.
The Holy Temple is The utmost enterprise of man In making This world And what did it contains? into a receptacle for God's kingdom. To actualize God's kingdom. Not merely in heaven, but on earth.
So, in some sense, that's the culmination of the whole work of creation. In some sense, but of course, more generally, we're not going to say, okay, so once the Holy Temple is finished, now we can all go home and take a nap. No. Of course, inevitably, we have A whole universe. To complete.
To bring Under the sphere of God's kingdom. The holy temple is work type. But it's a summons. for us in everything that we need to do. within ourselves and in the whole world at large.
Yeah.
And inevitably, it's in that vein. that we appreciate A critical message that is conveyed. To The prophet Zachariah So transmit to Joshua the high priest. In Zachariah chapter three, verse seven. And again, I'm going to translate literally because most translations don't.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: if you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my charge, and will also judge my house. And we'll also keep my quartz then. I will give you walkers among these standing ones. Walkers? Standing ones?
Well, I suppose we can understand why translations usually aren't literal here because Who has a clue what it's talking about? But we need to delve into that expression. Walkers and standy ones. Who are the standing ones? The angels.
As we read in the first chapter of Ezekiel. Their legs were straight legs. They turned not when they went, they went everyone straightforward. Angels are spiritually static. They are created as spiritual beings and so they remain.
So they're the standing points. Man is the walker. Because human beings come into this world. Spiritually? only has limited potential.
A newborn baby is a physical being. The spirituality needs to be actualized. It's not there yet. And that's precisely the challenge of being a walker. Always moving, always going, always growing.
Never merely content to stand. in much the same vein. In Job chapter five, verse seven, we read Man is born to labor. As the flying beings fly upward, the angels of the flying beings, they soar. Man needs to toil.
You only ascend. Through the arduous process of constant climbing. But ascend. You do. That's precisely the summons of this world.
Yeah, in um In Ecclesiastes chapter 1. We read What at first brush seems like a really depressing note. And it also pertains to the same expression, labor. In verse 3, what profited man? Of all of his labor wherein he labors under the sun.
And On perhaps an even more depressing note, in verse 9, there is nothing new under the sun.
So at first brush really sounds like it. A rather depressing statement. But we have a tradition to put a little bit of a different spin on it. This expression of under the sun. True.
What profit has man of all of his labour wherein he labours under the sun? If you want to really accomplish something. You have to go beyond the sun. There's nothing new under the sun. But there can be something Amazing.
Beyond the sun. The sun of course, is a physical object. It is not just a physical object, it is the principal physical object in our physical universe. It provides us with light and warmth and everything that we need in order to be able to live in this physical world. And that light is important.
But there's a light that's even more important. And that's the light that we kindle. In heeding and obeying God's charge. In Exodus chapter 27, verse 20. You shall command the children of Israel that they shall take unto you pure olive oil crushed.
for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. Likewise in Leviticus chapter 24, verse 2. Same message, command the children of Israel that they take unto you pure olive oil just before light. To cause a lamp to burn continually, this is the light. of the minora.
That is described in both passages. A statute. for all generations. And of what significance is the slight of the menorah?
Well, you know To focus upon what the Bible has to tell us about it in particular, I'm going to append to this also considering the message in Numbers. Chapter 8. Which important fact I must note. We read on the last day. of the eight-day celebration of dedication of Hanukkah.
Specifically, speak unto Aaron and say unto him. When you light the lamp, the seven lamps. Toward the face. the minora. They shall give light.
And again, verse 3. Aaron did so. he lit the lamps thereof. To give light toward the face of the imanura, to the face of the candlestick. Meaning what?
Meaning that you think in a seven branched candelabrum The idea would be to have the lights face outward. And they face Inwards. Because it's not a matter of providing physical illumination. Rather It's a spiritual illumination. And um perhaps another metaphor along the same lines.
When we read about the construction of The Holy Temple by King Solomon. In the first book of Kings, chapter 6, verse 4, we read: For the house he made windows wide outside and narrow inside. Normally you make Windows just the opposite. Wide on the inside, narrow. If anything on the outside, because we want to admit the ambient light from outside.
Yes, but the windows of the Holy Temple were not in order to admit ambient light from outside. They were in order to broadcast the spiritual light.
So the windows are a symbol of that. Spiritual light. that indeed Needs to be broadcast. And It of course is precisely in that vein. that we return to that theme of Going Beyond.
the light of the sun. And this is an idea that we can certainly see manifest on a number of planes in the Bible. Perhaps most strikingly in Zachariah chapter 4. When Zachariah. is shown A vision of a minorat.
From the beginning of chapter four. The angel that spoke with me returned and waked me as a man that is waking out of his sleep. And he said unto me, What are you thinking? And I said, I have seen, and behold, A minora. of gold With its oil bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon.
There are seven pipes. to the lamps which are upon the fat of the top thereof, and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, the other on the left side thereof, apparenthetically, They State seal of the State of Israel. With a minor flang. By olive branches on both sides is based explicitly on this vision, Zachariah. And the meaning of the vision.
What's the meaning of the vision?
So the um the prophet doesn't understand. He asks What are these, my lord? The angel says, Don't you know? No, I don't. Uh So The angel answers in verse six This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, same Zerubbabel, saying, Not by Mike.
nor by power. but by my spirit. Says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubabel, you shall become a plain.
And he shall bring forth a top stone with the shinings of grace, grace unto it, the top stone. of the dedication of the temple. And it's precisely the saying that we consider throughout the Bible. In Psalm 18, verse 29, you light my lamp, the Lord my God does lighten my darkness. In Psalm 119, verse 105, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
In Proverbs chapter 6, verse 23, the commandment is a lamp and the Torah of light. In Isaiah. Chapter nine, verse one. The people that walked in darkness. I've seen a great light.
Okay. They that dwell in the land with the shadow of death upon them right. has shown. Who are these people? And what is that light?
Of course in our tradition inevitably the light is the light of the Quran. We're all in A world of darkness. Until we allow God's word. to illuminate that darkness for us. And of course, inevitably, we emphasize this is not only a light for Israel, this is a light for the world.
As we read in Isaiah chapter 42. In Verses six and seven: I, the Lord, have called you might have taken hold of your hand, and kept you, and set you for a covenant to the people, for a light of the nations. To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. And undoubtedly, there is that liberal tense of people who are in garden in prison houses.
Now on some level we're old. in a dungeon prison house. of that spiritual darkness And we need that illumination. And so likewise in Isaiah chapter 49. In verse three, he said to me, You are my servant Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to establish the tribes of Jacob and to restore the offspring of Israel. I will also give you for a light of the nations. That my salvation may be to the end of the earth. Um Inevitably, we stress. This is not.
Only A light for Israel. This is that my salvation will be to the end of the earth. And by consequence. In verse seven, kings shall see and arise princes, and they shall prostrate themselves. In verse 8.
In the time of favor, have I answered you? In the day of salvation, have I helped you, and I will keep you. And give you for a covenant to the people to establish. the earth the cause to inherit the desolate heritages. And ultimately that light, indeed.
engulfs the entire world. In Isaiah chapter 60. Arise, shine. For your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is shown upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples, but upon you the Lord will shine, and his glory will be seen upon you, and nations will walk at your light, and kings.
At the brightness of your shining.
So that's all the message. The spiritual light. The light that comes, of course, inevitably. When We heed the summons to return to God. That's Robbie, as you noted at the outset.
In the northern hemisphere, this is the darkest time of year. The winter solstice. And I have a A tradition I'd also like to append to this, which is not. anywhere written in the Bible, but nonetheless it's an interesting tradition that we have. When Adam and Eve were created, And sinned.
They saw The day is getting shorter and shorter, and they figured curtains. Yeah.
Yeah.
That is the consequence of our sin. And they stood there fasting and praying to God. The solstice is getting are getting longer. And they realize It's not the end. This is the cycle of Nature and They establish a celebration of the gods.
Thanking God. for the restoration of the light. And in subsequent years they Celebrated both the days before the solstice and after the solstice as days of celebration to God. which over the course of time became perverted into pagan festivals. But it still is.
A summons to must likewise. To experience this ebbing of physical light. A summons to seek out the spiritual light that goes beyond the sun. And that's of course inevitably what This season needs to represent For us all. Yeah, and don't you have a sense?
And I know we push time to the limit here, but don't you have a sense? That As God kindles your light, you know, how you're reading some passage or you're getting some insight like you've just given us today. There's so much light that you shared, it's unbelievable. You go so fast, it's like, what? You know, but.
That's It's is you know, all of a sudden the light comes on sort of like You see God, you know, like, oh, there you are. Um And you share that light with somebody. Especially in a holiday with people that you love, that the room just grows brighter and brighter spiritually, like you're talking about. And that picture that you gave of the menorah shining inward. Um You know, I I hope I hope the people listening have experienced that.
I hope the people listening See the value of Spending that kind of time in the Torah to get that kind of understanding to connect the dots. That they might have that light, that they would be able to share the light with others, because it again, it's the whole nations that will be. coming back together what you shared today that my salvation will be to the end of the earth. Right. If we aren't bringing God's salvation down to the earth, Then we're not doing our job.
We haven't yet illuminated the darkness as God has summoned us to do. And of course, inevitably, directly springing from what you just said, Pastor Robbie. The moment that you light the light And someone else? it becomes so much brighter for you too. Right.
Yeah, it really really really does. It's beautiful. Absolutely. I hate we're out of time. Oh my goodness.
What? What a treasure. a Christmas treasure really. uh Hanukkah treasure. But it but it just shows if if if Um do you have a Okay.
An understanding of the scriptures, like Rabbi has, how these things. all bring more and more and more light to things that you already knew. Um And hopefully, you'll share it and then share this with people.
So, thank you, Rabbi. This has been such a blessing. Of course, inevitably, I just thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. I just need to append to this.
The world We inhabit is not just dark because of the solstice today. We realize there are so many sources of darkness around us. But you know, we have an ancient saying a little bit of light can dispel a whole lot of darkness.
So, I hope we'll all be able to take this into our lives as a summons. to kindle that light. That comes from God. and make this world Until Not only a lighter place, but a more illuminating place. A place in which Everyone, even all the way to the end of the earth.
will be able to experience God's salvation. Amen. Amen. Beautiful.
Well said. Uh Todd issued that Robin and Weston Howard, he's in the Failure. To everyone out there listening to us. In our Sharing God's Word together. Thank you so much for this pleasant opportunity.
That was yours. From God's Savior from Purusland. Amen. Yeah.
We are so honored that you would join us today on Voices from Zion, Robbie, and the Rabbi. For more information about Rabbi Haim, Go to his website, ZionBibleStudies.org. That's Zion Bible Studies.org. Or visit me, Robbie Dillmore. At the Christian Cargai website, that's ChristianCargai.com.
Once again, Shalom from Jerusalem, the Holy City, God's City.
