Jericho, Purim & The Feast of the Annunciation
"Exactly eight weeks later on March 25 (the 3rd of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, or the 3rd day of the Jewish religious year), I suddenly realised that it was precisely 33 days from the time that God inspired me to book a hotel in Jericho, until Easter Sunday – the day Jesus was resurrected!
It was eighteen days earlier on March 7 (Purim), that God inspired me to book the hotel. In 2023, Easter falls on the third day of the Omer in Judaism, which is the 18th of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar.
March 25 also happened to be the Feast of the Annunciation in Christianity, marking the visit of the archangel Gabriel to Mary to inform her that she would bear the Messiah. The Feast of the Annunciation falls exactly nine months prior to Christmas Day, marking the birth of Jesus Christ.
Thus, it would appear to me that God is trying to tie the number 33 to Jesus, and more broadly, the number three to the Holy Trinity, of which Jesus is a part.
The fact that God inspired me to book the hotel on Purim is interesting, because it represents the conquering of an enemy of the Jews. Jericho itself was conquered by the Jewish people after crossing the Jordan into Canaan. May 7 – the day I am due to visit Jericho, also marks another important day in Jewish history. It is the day the Nazis surrendered to the Allies in 1945 – the conquering of another enemy, and deliverance from the Holocaust.
And of course, the final enemy – death, was conquered on Easter Sunday, with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, falling 33 days after I was inspired to book a hotel in Jericho. The fact that God brought all this to mind on the Feast of the Annunciation is interesting, because that marked the beginning of the end of death – the last enemy to be conquered!
These are four great victories (Jericho, Purim, Nazi surrender and ultimately death) all tied into one story! As the apostle Paul said:
“So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 15:54–57
“So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 15:54–57
Though I now had the money to go on this trip – thanks to an inheritance from my father’s estate, I don’t believe that God intended me to go – it was all about the story instead."
Update: March 28, 2023
"Two days later on March 27, I made an interesting discovery. While re-reading the story of Purim in my King James Study Bible, in the footnote of the page, it stated that the day the Jews killed their enemies on the 13th of Adar, was in fact March 7, 473 B.C. - the very day that God got me to book a hotel in Jericho on Purim - the site of another Jewish victory.
If that date is correct, then it would mean the first Purim celebration was held on March 8, 473 B.C. (the 14th of Adar in the Hebrew calendar). That happens to be my birthday, but also the day Israel's first government was formed in 1949! It was confirmed two days later on March 10.
It would also mean that Israel's first government was formed on the 7th of Adar, which in Jewish tradition, is the day that Moses was born and died on! So some very interesting coincidences there indeed!"
"Two days later on March 27, I made an interesting discovery. While re-reading the story of Purim in my King James Study Bible, in the footnote of the page, it stated that the day the Jews killed their enemies on the 13th of Adar, was in fact March 7, 473 B.C. - the very day that God got me to book a hotel in Jericho on Purim - the site of another Jewish victory.
If that date is correct, then it would mean the first Purim celebration was held on March 8, 473 B.C. (the 14th of Adar in the Hebrew calendar). That happens to be my birthday, but also the day Israel's first government was formed in 1949! It was confirmed two days later on March 10.
It would also mean that Israel's first government was formed on the 7th of Adar, which in Jewish tradition, is the day that Moses was born and died on! So some very interesting coincidences there indeed!"