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MYSTERIOUS EVENTS IN
By
Daniel & Drienie, in |
A complete
lunar eclipse could be seen very clearly over Israeli skies in the early morning
of
The
Knesset had just voted in favor of the withdrawal from the 21 settlements in
Herod was
the tyrant that massacred the boys in
It is now almost sure to be the case. Both the ongoing controversy over the news about his health deterioration since that day after the eclipse, as well as the news today that he has had a brain seizure and has slipped deeper into a coma seems to point in this direction.
THE MYSTERIOUS EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE IN
Yesterday
a wonderful friend visited me and we touched on the extraordinary events that
took place in
Let's
look at the Bible first and then what some major Jewish scholars of that time
wrote.
In
the book of Matthew we read: “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over
all the land unto the ninth hour. . . . Yeshua, when he had cried again with a
loud voice, yielded up the spirit. And, behold, the veil of the
While the
rending of the Veil in the
The
The
The
following is related in the Jewish Talmud[1]
in Yoma 39b of the events which occurred in this year in the
“Forty
years before the
For
the huge doors of the
This same
year, the Sanhedrin had to abandon the Chamber of Hewn Stones, near the
Says
the Talmud: "Forty years before the
destruction of the
Why
was the Sanhedrin moved in the very year Yeshua was crucified? Could it also
have been forced to do so because of damage due to the earthquake associated
with the crucifixion of Yeshua?
Prior
to the War with
"If an earthquake of the magnitude capable of breaking the stone lintel at the top of the entrance to the Holy Place was occurring at the exact time of the Messiah's death, then what would such an earthquake have done to the Chamber of Hewn Stones (a vaulted and columned structure) no more than 40 yards away from where the stone lintel fell and the curtain torn in two?
“There
is every reason to believe that the Chamber of Hewn Stones was so damaged in
the same earthquake that it became structurally unsafe from that time forward.
Something like this had to have happened because the Sanhedrin would not have
left this majestic chamber (to take up residence in the insignificant ‘
JOSEPHUS' RECORD OF THE STRANGE LIGHT
Flavius
Josephus writes in his Wars of the Jews: "..... when the great crowds of people
were come (prior to) to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the eighth day of the
month Xanthicus (Nisan), and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light
shone round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day-time;
which light lasted for half and hour. This light seemed to be a good sign to
the unskillful, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes as to prepare
those events that followed immediately upon it.
“At
the same festival also, a heifer, as she was being led by the high priest to be
sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple.
“Moreover,
the eastern gate of the inner, [court of the temple,] which was of brass, and
vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon
a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor,
which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own
accord about the sixth hour of the night. Now, those that kept watch in the temple
came thereupon running to the captain of the temple, and told him of it; who
then came up thither, and not without great difficulty was able to shut the
gate again.
“This
also appeared to the vulgar to be a very happy prodigy, as if God did thereby
open them the gate of happiness. But the men of learning understood it, that
the security of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord, and that the
gate was opened for the advantage of their enemies. So these publicly declared,
that this signal foreshadowed the DESOLATION that was coming upon them"
(IV,5,3).
THE LAMPSTAND,
THE CRIMSON THREAD,
THE
We read
in the Jerusalem Talmud: "Forty years before the destruction of the
A
similar passage in the Babylonian Talmud states: “Our rabbis taught: During the
last forty years before the destruction of the Temple the lot ['For the Lord']
did not come up in the right hand; nor did the crimson-colored strap become
white; nor did the western most light shine; and the doors of the Hekel [Temple]
would open by themselves" (Soncino version, Yoma 39b).
What
are these passages talking about? Since both Talmuds recount the same information,
this indicates the knowledge of these events was accepted by the widespread Jewish
community.
The first of these miracles concerns a random choosing of the “lot” which was cast on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The lot chosen determined which of two goats would be “for the LORD” and which goat would be the “Azazel” or “scapegoat.” During the two hundred years before the crucifixion, when the High Priest picked one of two stones (this selection being governed by “chance”) the result was that the priest would select a black stone as often as a white stone interchangeably. But for forty years in a row, after that fateful year of crucifixion, the High Priest would always pick the black stone! The odds against this happening are astronomical (2 to the 40th power). In other words, the chances of this occurring are 1 in approximately 5,479,548,800 – or about 5.5 billion to one!
The
lot for Azazel, the black stone, contrary to all the laws of chance, came up 40
times in a row from 30 to 70 AD! This was considered a dire event and signified
something had fundamentally changed in this Yom Kippur ritual. This casting of
lots is also accompanied by yet another miracle which is described next.
The
second miracle concerns the crimson strip or cloth tied to the Azazel goat. A
portion of this red cloth was also removed from the goat and tied to the
As
God told Israel through Isaiah the prophet: “Come, let us reason together,
saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet [crimson], they shall be white
as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as [white] wool”
(Isaiah 1:18).
The
clear indication is that the whole community had lost the Lord's attention in
relation to something that occurred in that year! The yearly atonement achieved
through the typical Yom Kippur observance was not being realized as expected.
Atonement apparently was to be gained in some other way. Who or what would
provide the atonement for another year?
In the
Bible we read in Luke 2: 25-26, “And, behold, there was a man in
During the 40 years Simon the Righteous was High Priest, a crimson thread which was associated with his person always turned white when he entered the Temple's innermost Holy of Holies. The people noticed this. Also, they noted that "the lot of the LORD" (the white lot) came up for 40 straight years during Simon's priesthood.
They
noticed that the “lot” picked by the priests after Simon would sometimes be
black, and sometimes white, and that the crimson thread would sometimes turn
white, and sometimes not. The Jews came to believe that if the crimson thread
turned white, that God approved of the Day of Atonement rituals and that Israel
could be assured that God forgave their sins. But after 30 CE, the crimson
thread never turned white again for 40 years, till the destruction of the
Temple and the cessation of all Temple rituals!
What
did the Jewish nation do in that year to merit such a change at Yom Kippur?
The next
miracle, which the Jewish authorities acknowledged, was that the Temple doors
swung open every night of their own accord. This also occurred for forty years,
beginning in 30 CE. The leading Jewish authority of that time, Yohanan ben
Zakkai, declared that this was a sign of impending doom, that the Temple itself
would be destroyed.
The
Jerusalem Talmud states: “Said Rabban Yohanan Ben Zakkai to the Temple, ‘O
Temple, why do you frighten us? We know that you will end up destroyed. For it
has been said, Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your
cedars’” (Zechariah 11:1) (Sota 6:3).
Yohanan
Ben Zakkai was the leader of the Jewish community during the time following the
destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, when the Jewish government was transferred
to Javne, some thirty miles west of Jerusalem.
Might
the doors have opened to also signify that all may now enter the Temple, even
to its innermost holy sections? The evidence supported by the miracles
described above suggests the Lord's presence had departed from the Temple. This
was no longer just a place for High Priests alone, but the doors swung open for
all to enter the Lord's house of worship.
The fourth miracle was that the most important lamp of the seven-candle-stick Menorah in the Temple went out, and would not shine. Every night for 40 years (over 12,500 nights in a row) the main lamp of the Temple lampstand (menorah) went out of its own accord – no matter what attempts and precautions the priests took to safeguard against this event!
In
fact, we are told in the Talmud that at dusk the lamps that were unlit in the
daytime (the middle four lamps remained unlit, while the two eastern lamps
normally stayed lit during the day) were to be re-lit from the flames of the
western lamp (which was a lamp that was supposed to stay lit all the time – it
was like the ‘eternal flame’ that we see today in some national monuments) . .
.
This
‘western lamp’ was to be kept lit at all times. For that reason, the priests
kept extra reservoirs of olive oil and other implements in ready supply to make
sure that the 'western lamp' (under all circumstances) would stay lit. But what
happened in the forty years from the very year Messiah said the physical Temple
would be destroyed? Every night for forty years the western lamp went out, and
this in spite of the priests each evening preparing in a special way the
western lamp so that it would remain constantly burning all night!
Again,
the odds against the lamp continually going out are astronomical. Something out
of the ordinary was going on. The “light” of the Menorah-representing contact
with God, His Spirit, and His Presence – was now removed. This special
demonstration occurred starting with the crucifixion of the Messiah!
It
should be clear to any reasonable mind that there is no natural way to explain
all these signs connected with the year that the crucifixion took place. The
only possible explanation has to be supernatural.
After
the death of the Messiah, great trouble and awesome trials began to come upon
the Jewish nation. Yeshua Himself foretold it. As He was led away to be
crucified, Yeshua said the women of Jerusalem: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not
weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days
are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never
bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the
mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ For if they do these
things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” (Luke 23:28-31).
When
we take an objective look at the events of that year 40 years before the destruction
of the Temple, who can doubt that it was indeed the true year of the
crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah God sent to Israel?
Who can deny that He is the one and only true Messiah? Who else has fulfilled all the prophecies of the Old Testament – including the amazing prophecy of Daniel 9:25-26: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks (“sevens [of years]”). The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.”
[1] Talmud is an encyclopedic
Rabbinic commentary on the Torah, completed in about 500 CE (AD).
[2] This initial war began in
66 CE (“AD”), and for the most part ended in 70 CE with the destruction of the
Temple in Jerusalem. The last major pocket of Jewish resistance ended when the
Romans arrived at the Jewish garrison on top of Masada in 73 CE. The Roman
victory was rather hallow. Almost all of the 1,000 Jews on Masada had killed themselves
in a mutual suicide pact rather than surrender to be killed or enslaved by the
Romans.
[3] Also called the Ner
Tamid, or “Eternal Light.”