The Number 70 "Exactly 70 days later on May 6, 2022, after sunset, God inspired me to choose a date to get baptised at the Yardenit baptismal site in Israel. I was led to Sunday, July 3 – just under two months away. It was the first Sunday in July. As it happened, my dad was baptised on the first Sunday in July in 2003 (July 6) – 19 years earlier. He died eleven days earlier on April 25, 2022, aged 89 years old. He was 70 years old at the time he was baptised, and died on his 32,777th day of life! Interestingly, the date I was led to be baptised on, fell on the 70th day since Dad died! (April 25 – July 3, 2022 – 69 days or the 70th day). Because this baptism was inspired on a Friday after sunset, it was the start of the Sabbath Day, and also the 6th of Iyyar, 5782 in the Hebrew calendar. Interestingly, it was on this very day that Israel became a new state in 1948! (6 Iyyar, 5708 / May 15, 1948). They issued their declaration of independence on May 14, 1948 (5 Iyyar, 5708) at abou
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Auschwitz & The Two Jewish Temples This story is a continuation of an earlier post here: https://blog.stevemoxham.com/2023/04/on-shavuot-three-and-half-weeks-later.html As it happens, this 50th visit to Auschwitz was inspired exactly 1,350 days since God first inspired me to choose a date to visit Auschwitz on Saturday, August 10, 2019. That works out to be an average of one visit being inspired every 27 days, although it didn’t work out that way in practice. Both the 1st and 50th visits to Auschwitz were inspired on the Sabbath Day (Saturday, 9 Av, 5779 – Friday, 1 Iyyar, 5783, after nightfall). The 9th of Av being the typical day that Jews mark the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, about 600 years apart. In 2019, however, the day was observed one day later due to it coinciding with the Sabbath Day. Interestingly, in Jewish tradition, the 1st of Iyyar is the day that construction began on the Second Temple! (Ezra 3:8). Construction of the First Temple also
Playing Lotto - Part II "In mid-late July of 2023, a couple of interesting scenarios presented themselves. As of July 24th when I wrote this, God hadn’t prompted me to buy a ticket in the last 17 draws in a row. My next ticket would be my 70th using the number 33, if that is what God prompted me to do. And thus, it was exactly nine weeks to the day since God had prompted me to buy a ticket on the day I wrote this. If He waited one more week, my 70th ticket using the number 33, would also be played exactly 70 days since my last ticket on May 24th! So that was an interesting scenario using the number 70, which has played a pivotal role in Israel’s history. If God waited until July 31 to prompt me to buy my next ticket, the date of that draw would be August 2nd. August 2nd was an interesting date to me for a couple of reasons. First, it was Tu B’Av in the Jewish calendar – a day of love in modern Israel. Secondly, it was the day I was due to pick up a rental car in Jerusalem for an e
John the Baptist & Elijah "It wasn’t until nearly three years later that I would discover something interesting about the date that this trip was inspired on. September 23 happens to be the Conception of St. John the Baptist in the Orthodox church calendar, occurring about 9 months to the day prior to the celebration of his birth on June 24. So the theme of baptism, new life, the number 18 and chai continued with the very date this trip was inspired on! The fact that this trip was inspired exactly five months to the day since I was due to arrive in Israel on April 23rd on my Passover trip, is also interesting, because in the biblical account, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, hides herself away for five months after becoming pregnant with him! (Luke 1:24). Three days later on June 24, 2023 – the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, I made another remarkable discovery! Not only was this trip inspired on the Conception of John the Baptist, but my departure date from New Ze
July 29, 1942: Eduard Schulte and Heinrich Himmler Ten days later on June 5, I made another interesting discovery. While watching a documentary on the rise of the Nazis, it suddenly crossed my mind to check if anything significant happened at Auschwitz in 1942, given that the first visit on October 7 was the 19th chronological, and 42nd inspired visit to Auschwitz respectively. Putting those two numbers together, you get the number 1942. As it happens, 1942 was a significant year indeed. According to the official Auschwitz memorial website, 1942 was the year that mass gassing of Jews began at Auschwitz. More importantly, however, in this context, on July 29, 1942, prominent German industrialist Eduard Schulte leaked information to the Allies about the Nazis plan to exterminate all the Jews in Europe, known as the “Final Solution”. Schulte is considered one of the first people to inform the west about Germany’s plans for the Jews. What is interesting about that, is that July 29 was the
Auschwitz on Shavuot - Part 2 Five weeks later on Shavuot, on what was to be the last day of this trip on May 26th, and having spent the last seven months living in hotels and motels trying to find permanent accommodation, I made an interesting discovery. I had left my last place of residence on October 7, 2022, which, as it happened, was the date of another visit to Auschwitz. As it turned out, it was precisely 33 weeks from October 7, 2022 until May 26, 2023 – the date of my latest visit to Auschwitz. I wouldn’t have discovered this if God hadn’t prompted me to inquire about a property that I had previously rejected about 10 days earlier in my head. That’s when I realised that both dates were visits to Auschwitz, ending on Shavuot. But then it got even more interesting. As it happened, both visits to Auschwitz were inspired on a Friday after nightfall (the beginning of the Sabbath Day), and both were due to occur on a Friday. These were the only two visits to Auschwitz that fell th
Auschwitz on Shavuot "Three-and-a-half weeks later on Friday, April 21, just after 10 p.m., God brought Auschwitz to mind for a 50th time, and I was led to May 26, 2023 as the date to visit it – precisely five weeks away. As it turned out, May 26 was Shavuot in the Jewish calendar – the 50th day since the Feast of First Fruits seven weeks earlier! So there was the obvious connection – the 50th inspired visit occurring on the 50th day since the Feast of First Fruits. In Judaism, Shavuot always falls on the 6th of Sivan, exactly 7 weeks since the 16th of Nisan when the 50-day counting of the Omer begins. In Christianity, Pentecost (the Christian name for Shavuot), always falls exactly 7 weeks since the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday, on the 50th day. It is just a difference of biblical interpretation of the same verse as to when the counting begins. Christians believe that the count begins on Easter Sunday, which is typically the first Sunday after Passover. Interestingly,