Peace talks and 17 Tammuz

Today, July 20, 2000, the headlines read, "Camp David Summit Collapses." The Associated press reports: "An exhaustive effort to break through a half-century of Palestinian-Israeli conflict ended in failure Wednesday night at the wooded presidential sanctuary that had lent its name to historic success in Middle East peace.... 'The summit has come to a conclusion without reaching an agreement,'' White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said when the negotiations broke up shortly before 11 p.m. EDT."

At the last minute, in spite of the announcement, Barak and Arafat continued to talk.   Jerusalem has been the critical point of contention, as prophesied by Zechariah (12:2-3); however, it is especially interesting that these headlines come today, July 20, which is 17 Tammuz on the Jewish calendar. Actually, according to the above report, the talks broke up the evening of July 19, and 17 Tammuz began at sundown that same evening!

Here is information on 17 Tammuz from Virtual Jerusalem, at http://www.vjholidays.com/3weeks/17tammuz.htm.

In Jewish tradition, the 17th of the Jewish month of Tammuz is a communal fast day that commemorates the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (586 BCE) and Titus (70 CE). It should be recalled that these breaks in the walls of the holy city of Jerusalem came after many months of siege in which the city's residents suffered extreme hardships, sickness and hunger.

In addition... the Mishnah (Ta'anit 4:6) recounts four other tragedies that occurred on this day:

The Tablets of the Law were broken by Moses when he descended the mountain and saw the Golden Calf.

The daily offering ceased in the First Temple due to the shortage of sheep available during the siege.

The heathen Apostomos burned the Torah during the period preceding the destruction of the Second Temple.

During the period of Roman persecution, an idol was placed in the holy sanctuary of the Temple, an act that was an open blasphemy and desecration.

The date 17 Tammuz begins a 21-day countdown to the date of 9 Av, which is Tisha B'Av. The date 9 Av, commemorated by Tisha B'Av, is a date of tragedy in Jewish history.

A Jewish Web site in Israel says:

Av is the saddest time of the year for the Jewish People: On the same date that the spies returned and spoke evil about the Land of Israel, the First Temple was destroyed. It was on that same day, the ninth of Av, that the Second Temple was also destroyed. On the ninth of Av, the Romans destroyed Betar and massacred thousands of Jews. As the prophet Yirmiyahu predicted, Jerusalem was ploughed over - on the ninth of Av.

On the 9th of Av 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain. On the 9th of Av 1914 -The First World War began. The insubstantial peace that concluded this war was a direct cause of the Second World War in which the six million perished. The 9th of Av 1942 - The first killings started at Treblinka: "The first transport of 'deportees' left Malkinia on July 23, 1942, in the morning hours. It was loaded with Jews from the Warsaw ghetto. The train was made up of sixty closed cars, crowded with people. The car doors were locked from the outside, and the air apertures barred with barbed wire."

In the future, to that same degree that the ninth of Av has been a day of tragedy, it will be a day of great happiness. For on the 9th of Av, the Mashiach will be born from the tribe of Yehuda (whose symbol is the lion).

His coming will wipe the tear from every eye.

(From http://www.ohr.org.il/special/9av/sign.htm)

Me again:

Oh, yes, He will! They've got that right. But if they only understood the whole story.

Will this year's 21-day period between 17 Tammuz and 9 Av again mean tragedy for the Jewish people? No doubt, this is one of the most perilous periods in all Jewish history, as tiny Israel, surrounded by large and hostile Muslim nations and armies, now with weapons of mass destruction, with petro-dollar power and backed by most of the nations of the world and the Western media, are preparing for the final war to annihilate God's chosen people.

These are momentous times. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6), which will only come when the Prince of Peace returns.