2nd month of God's year Ziv/Iyar

After sunset on Monday 28th April we enter the 2nd month of God’s calendar. And just to remind you:

His invitation: “The gateway of the inner court that faces toward the east shall be shut the six working days;
BUT on the Shabbat it shall be opened and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened.”

His idea: “He made the moon to mark the seasons…”. Psalm 104:19

His command : “At the beginning of your months you shall blow the trumpets…” Numbers 10.10

His prophetic word: Isaiah 66: 23 “Every month on Rosh Chodesh, and every week on Shabbat,
everyone living will come to worship in my presence.” Says The Lord. (Is 66:23)

This second month was later given the name Ziv by man, a Canaanite word meaning glow. However in the scriptures this month is only referred to as the 2nd month, apart from in 1 Kings: :6:1, where it is called Ziv.

“It was in the 480th year after the people of Israel had left the land of Egypt in the fourth year of Shlomo’s reign over Israel in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of The Lord” The foundation of the house of The Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. “

The month was then re-named, by man again as Iyar, probably during the Babylonian exile, which may be an Akkadian word meaning blossom, but this name is never mentioned in the scriptures.

This 2nd month falls between the great first month of the year, the month of Redemption and Rescue from slavery out of Egypt, and the 3rd month seen as the great month of Revelation when the Law is given at Sinai, so this 2nd month is seen as a month of passage.

The first and 3rd months are linked by the Sefirat HaOmer, (the counting of the Omer) which began last month and concludes next month, bringing us to the Feast of Shavuot.

On the 15th day of this 2nd month, exactly one month after the Children of Israel were rescued from slavery, it is recorded in Shmot, (Exodus) 16: that the Children of Israel arrived at the Seen Desert, their food had run out and the grumbling starts. But guess what? God does another miracle and this is when the first heavenly manna was rained down on them, and continued for the next 40 years Remember that The Lord tells them to gather double on the 6th day, and this was before the 10 commandments had been given, which is another indication that there was an awareness from the account of creation in Berasheet(Genesis) that the 7th day was set aside as a day of rest, because when The Lord gives the 10 Commandments to Moshe he does not say Do or Do not to the 4th Commandment but REMEMBER.

The other very significant event recorded in Shmot, EX 40: In the 2nd year after the Exodus, after the tabernacle had been erected and completed the month before, it was in the 2nd month that the glory of God began leading the tribes of Israel to the Promised Land.

We do have a couple of references in Genesis regarding the story of Noach where it mentions the 2nd month, but as this happened some 800 years BEFORE The Lord told Moshe and Aaron “This is to be the first month of your year” I am not sure it means this 2nd month of the new God given calendar which started with the Exodus.

In Numbers 9;11 We are told what to do if we were not able to celebrate Pesach on the 15th of the first month: If a person is unclean, or if he is on a trip abroad, he can observe Pesach on the 15th of the second month.

We read in 2 Chron. 30 that this is exactly what Hezekiah did. He observed Pesach on the 15th of the 2nd month because the cohanim had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number to do it during the 1st month. This speaks to me about how very very important it is, and how very important it is to God, that this occasion is remembered and celebrated EVERY YEAR.

We also have a bit of almonds and raisins (bitter/sweet) during this month as we commemorate Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) on 2nd of Iyar this year (which will be Wed, 30th April) when the nation remembers the men, women and children who have lost their lives defending this tiny bit of real estate that The Lord gave us since 1948. Last year the number was 25,034, sadly as the War continues another 803 are added to the total this year.

This is followed the next day by Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day),, which will be on 3 Iyar this year (1st May) as Israel celebrates her 77th Birthday. I am sure with very mixed emotions as the situation in The Land continues to be torn apart by the horrendous war we are in, and the unknown fate of many of our hostages still.

But this is a day to remember, rejoice and celebrate. The miracle of the birth of the modern State of Israel against all the odds , because we know if Israel had lost any of the wars she has been forced to fight since 1948 she would not exist today, but not only does she exist, she is thriving.

One thing I wanted to add about that significant day way back 77 years ago, when Ben Gurion made that historic declaration, it was in fact a Friday afternoon, and that evening, in the synagogues worldwide, the Torah Portion was K’doshim (Holy People) from Leviticus 19, (this year this portion will be read next week), but portion ends with The Lord saying: Do not live by the regulations of the nation which I am expelling ahead of you, because they did all these things, which is why I detested them. But to you I have said. You will inherit their land, I will give it to you as a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey” and this is followed by the HafTorah reading from Amos 9

“When that day comes I will raise up the fallen sukkah of David, , rebuild it as it used to be, …………………I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities, they will plant vineyards and drink their wine, cultivate gardens and eat their fruit, I will plant them on their own soil, NEVER AGAIN TO BE UPROOTED FROM THEIR LAND WHICH I GAVE THEM, SAYS THE LORD YOUR GOD!!! I wonder how many people 77 years ago, when they heard those readings that night after the declaration thought – Wow Wow Wow.

We also have in this second month, Lag BaOmer, literally being the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, the letter lamed (ל). being worth 30 and gimel (ג ) worth 3, which falls on the 18th Iyar (16th May). This day which is embraced by religious and secular alike) The secular use it as a time to build bonfires and make Bar-B-Q’s, to others its all about being the date that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai , the great sage and mystic , died. And many will visit his grave. None of those being things that we believers want to get mixed up in I don’t think?

And then 28th Iyar, Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, (26th May) celebrating the 58th Anniversary, since Jerusalem was re-unified at the end of the 6 day War. I am sure you have all seen those moving pictures of some of the IDF Soldiers when they reached the Western Wall that day after over 20 years of being denied access to the Old City and Western Wall.

It was On June 7 that year 1967, IDF paratroopers advanced through the Old City toward the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, bringing Jerusalem’s holiest site under Jewish control for the first time in 2000 years. There are sound recordings of the scene, as the commander of the Brigade ,Lt. General Mordechai (Motta) Gur, approaches the Old City and announces to his Company Commanders: “We’re sitting right now on the ridge and we’re seeing the Old City. Shortly we’re going to go into the Old City of Jerusalem, that all generations have dreamed about. We will be the first to enter the Old City.”

Shortly afterwards he declares: , “The Temple Mount is in our hands! I repeat, the Temple Mount is in our hands!” General Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the Chief Chaplain of the IDF, sounded the Shofar at the Western Wall to signify its liberation. He was also holding a small Torah Scroll, which was subsequently donated to the IDF, in memory of Baruch Shapira, who fell during the War of Independence in 1948. These scrolls now reside in the Bureau of the Chief of Staff of the IDF, To Israelis and Jews all over the world, this was a joyous and momentous occasion. Many considered it a gift from God. Which I am sure it was.

BUT UNFORTUNATELY, in my opinion, after having hoisted an Israeli flag on top of the Dome of Omar, Moshe Dyan saw this with his one eye through his binoculars, and commanded them to take it down. What a shame.

My late husband, Michael, called this one of the worst examples of negative Zionism. If only they had stayed there on the Temple Mount, if only. But the spirit of negative Zionism was as strong then as it is still today. The thinking is: We know its ours, it been given to us from God, but we don’t want to rock the boat, what would the world, think, what would they say and what would the world do? So down they went, from the Temple Mount and sadly 58 years on we are still reaping the consequences of that bad negative decision, with the whole Muslim world declaring and believing their false narrative that there never was a Temple there anyway. As you know Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran and their claim to the Temple Mount is based on some dream of Mohammad taking a night flight on a winged horse from Mecca to the furthest mosque, when there was no mosque in Jerusalem at that time, and the last time I saw a winged horse was in a fairy story!

In more recent times:

This 2nd month is the month Mt Scopus hospital was opened in 1939.

The month that Germany surrendered to the Allied forces in 1945, Hooray!

And the month the IDF was created in 1948;

So Abba we thank you for this new portion of time you are giving us as we enter this second month of Your calendar. Remembering it was the month that the manna began raining down from heaven, the month of beginnings for the first and second temple, The month you birthed the Modern State of Israel, and the month you re-unified the capital of this little nation, Yerushalyim, and put it back in Jewish hands again.

We give thanks for this month of passage, remembering how you redeemed and saved us in the first month of the year and as we look forward to remembering how you gave us Your Torah in the 3rd month. We dedicate ourselves to you in your service for the days ahead, praying that we may be prominent in the places you put us, and lighten and brighten the darkness that surrounds us as we testify, and live our lives in the fullness of the knowledge that Yeshua, your Son, our Saviour and Messiah is the Light of the World.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ, מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה.

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, shehecheyanu, v'kiy'manu, v'higiyanu laz'man hazeh.

Blessed is the Lord our God who has kept us, sustained us, and brought us to this time.

יהי רצון מלפנין יהוה אלהינו(ve-lo-hei) ואלהי אבותינו שתחדש עלינו חודש טוב באדנינו ישוע המשיח

May it be Your will Lord our G-d and G-d of our fathers, that you renew for us a good month in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah

And here is a P.S.

Did you know, there was a time, before the Israeli flag was hoisted on the top of the Dome of Omar, that a Cross was there! During the time of the Crusades. In 1099 the Crusaders attacked Jerusalem savagely murdering all the Jewish and Moslem inhabitant. The Jewish community was locked into the central synagogue and burnt alive. The few thousand survivors, out of a population of 40,000, were sold as slaves at the city gates. When they finished murdering thousands of innocent people the Crusaders gathered at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to give thanks! Then the Dome of the Rock was given into the care of Augustinian Canons Regular, who turned it into a Christian church and that lasted 145 years and the Jerusalem or Crusader cross, was there to symbolise the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Oh dear another sad and repulsive moment in the history of the Christian Church.