Tammuz 5783

Tammuz: Mourning Into Dancing

A month of focus and intentionality has begun and Adonai is diverting our attention away from the things that are blinding, distracting, and deceiving us bringing us away from the reality of His kingdom. For the Jewish world this is a month of mourning and fasting as we remember the worship at the golden calf altar at Mount Sinai and the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem, but for believers today it is the first month of promise when Zachariah prophesied the turn around. God showed Zechariah there would be a time when seasons of mourning would be turned to joy, and these are those times. This is what the Lord Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace” (Zech. 8:19). This is your month of the turn around. Despite any bad news, the setbacks, or anything negative that is throwing you off from your vision and faith, let those moments become a Joseph moment when he stood before his brothers in the court of Egypt. Speak over your situation and circumstances Genesis 50:20-21, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present outcome, that many people would be kept alive [as they are this day]. So now, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and support you and your little ones.” Tammuz is your month of redemption and the enemy is working overtime to bring condemnation and shame to keep you from seeing the blessings that are at hand. Speak it out loud, don’t let the enemy keep you silent. Declare it by faith and be free of the lies of oppression in the mighty name of Yeshua.

The word Tammuz is used only once in the Bible. In Ezekiel 8:13 in reference to the worship of false gods by the Israelites. With this false worship rampant throughout Israel at the time, The Ancient of Days was furious, just as He was in the days of the golden calf. “And you will know that I am the Lord, for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you” (Ezekiel 11:12). The first vision of the Glory of God came to Ezekiel on the fifth day of the fourth month, that is Tammuz, when he saw the four living creatures and the Glory of God on the throne above them, where the Spirit of God spoke to him and gave him the duty of warning the people of Jerusalem of what is to come in order that they would have the chance to repent (Ezekiel 1-3). In the end, the people of Jerusalem did not head the warnings of Ezekiel, the prophet of God, and paid a price more dearly than anyone could imagine. To this day the desolation and destruction of Jerusalem that ensued following the unheeded warnings of Ezekiel are commemorated with what is called the three weeks of sorrow. The 9th of Tammuz was the day the walls of Jerusalem were breached by Nebuchadnezzar’s army, and on the 17th of Tammuz was when the temple offerings were halted. To this day, the 17th of Tammuz is a day of fasting, beginning the three weeks of sorrow, ending on the 9th of Av, the day of the destruction of the first temple.

The days of Ezekiel although tragic, did not end with only judgement on his lips. At the end of the book of Ezekiel we see an unbelievable promise come to pass, one that we are invited to join in and declare over Israel right now. This task can only be done in tandem with the nations of the world in oneness with the will of God for Israel. “And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will make breath enter you so that you may come to life” (Ezekiel 37:3-4). We just finished the celebration of Shavuot (Pentecost) and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit altogether during the global Isaiah 62 fast and prayer for the salvation of Israel. Our tendency is to stop once a fast has finished, but for the 120 in the upper room it was just the beginning of the gospel going from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth, and this Biblical month of Tammuz is the invitation of continuation for the prayer of the salvation of Israel. The atmosphere is primed and the hearts of the Jewish people both in Israel and around the world has been prepared by Adonai for the dry bones of Ezekiel to come to life.

“So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [thundering] noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on the bones, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.” (Ezekiel 37:8-10).”

According to the world this month of Tammuz is all about focusing on the sins of Israel, but the Lord of Hosts is reminding us to focus on the redemption and salvation we have inherited by grace and faith. The Jewish people’s hearts have been partially hardened so that the entirety of the salvation of the gentiles can come to pass, and now Avinu MalKeinu (Our Father, Our King) is asking not only one man like he did to Ezekiel, but to all of the earth to prophesy over the dry bones of Israel.

“and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king over all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all their transgressions in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them. So they will be My people, and I will be their God.” (Ezekiel 37:22-23).

In Israel we remember the tragedies of the past, but for the global body of Yeshua we celebrate the month of Tammuz just as the first believers did during this month. Forgetting the sins of the past, we are now charged as the first Ekklesia (Congregation of the Saints) was to be the catalyst and the instrument to see Acts 2:46-47 come to life once more from the ends of the earth back to Jerusalem. “Day after day they met in the temple [area] continuing with one mind, and breaking bread in various private homes. They were eating their meals together with joy and generous hearts, praising God continually, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord kept adding to their number daily those who were being saved.” The Holy Spirit is moving totally untracked and untraceable by the fallen kingdom of darkness leaving the enemy confused and afraid of what will come next and as we listen and move according to the Spirit of God we too can be unafraid of the enemy’s untimely schemes.

The people of Jerusalem during this month in ancient times worshipped the false god of Tammuz in the holy city of Jerusalem, weeping as they did (Ezekiel 8:14-16), and we see the same thing today in every country along with Israel today. As we rejoice in our salvation this month, we also press in and cry our like Ezekiel for the ones who are crying out to false gods, for Israel that is blinded, and for salvation to come as in the times of the Acts 2 Ekklesia. Unlike the people who are mourning this month due to the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem and the worship of the golden calf, we are rejoicing and prophesying the salvation through Yeshua that is and is to come! We agree, proclaim and decree Psalm 30:11 that says, “You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.”

There were those few at the time of the golden calf altar that refused to bow down to the mainstream view of things and even fewer who saw what was coming before the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians, but ultimately those voices were the ones that rang throughout eternity and that beckon to us today. God is calling you, His remnant to take off the masks of silence and be the voice of the Most High God in this day which refuses to be quiet when the Truth is at the tip of our tongues that sets people free. This Biblical month of Tammuz we are being called to put away our idols and champion the Great I Am to see the captives set free and Israel brought into salvation by the blood of the Lamb. Now is the time to be primed for the glory of God to break through every barrier and His word to go forth throughout the earth. The name Tammuz is a reminder, never again, and a beacon for the future, the King is coming. Adonai bless you and keep you!

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