number,” he said. “If in the Bible seven is the number of completion and ending, then eight is the number signifying a new beginning. The Ottoman Empire came into possession of the Holy Land in 1517. So when would be the eighth Jubilee?”
“The eighth Jubilee would be 1917.”
“And so after four hundred years the Ottoman Empire’s rule over the land comes to an end. The eighth Jubilee becomes the Jubilee of new beginnings.”
“There would be one more mystery to be revealed before the closing of the second door and the opening of the third.”
“A mystery concerning . . . ?”
“A day and a night, each waiting to come for over two thousand years.”
“And how was it revealed?”
“Through a celebration.”
Chapter 23
THE DAY AND NIGHT OF KISLEV
I RETURNED TO the Oracle to seek the meaning of the last vision.”
“The people in the square, the clock, the celebration . . . what did it mean?”
“When the Jewish people returned from their first exile, their captivity in Babylon, the return didn’t come about at once but in waves. And the rebuilding of Jerusalem and of the nation would likewise happen over a long period of time. And they encountered much resistance and many obstacles, so many that at one point the work came to a standstill. It was then that God sent them a prophet to encourage them. His name was Haggai. Do you know what Haggai means?”
“No.”
“Celebration.”
“The celebration in my vision. The ‘master of the celebration’ . . . so was he the prophet Haggai?”
“A representation of the prophet, yes.”
“But in the vision the gathering didn’t take place in ancient times but in modern times. It had to have been the early twentieth century.”
“And yet the prophet was speaking to them. Why do you think?”
“Haggai spoke to those who returned to the land in ancient times. But his words would now speak to those who had returned to the land in modern times.”
“Yes.”
“Did the modern restoration of Israel parallel the ancient restoration?”
“As in ancient times,” said the Oracle, “the modern restoration came in waves, waves of Jewish exiles returning from the nations, one after the other. They had begun returning in the nineteenth century and were still not a nation at the eve of the First World War, nor could they lay claim to Jerusalem. So too the modern return encountered countless obstacles. So what was it that the master of the celebration said to the gathering?”
“He said that he knew they had been waiting a long time but that the celebration would begin at the appointed time.”
“So the Jewish people had been waiting for two thousand years . . . and those in the land had likewise been waiting. In ancient times Haggai encouraged those who had returned to the land by telling them of the nation’s future blessings. And in one of his prophecies he even told them when the blessing would come. He gave them a date. He said this:
On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month . . . the word of the LORD came by Haggai, “ . . . Now, carefully consider from this day forward. . . . Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. . . . But from this day I will bless you.” 1
“The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month,” said the Oracle. “Everything centered on that day. From that day forward everything is to change. On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month the blessing will come and God’s purposes will be fulfilled.”
“What is it about that day that’s so important?” I asked.
“It’s a mystery,” he replied. “No one really knows. The prophecy speaks of things never fulfilled in Haggai’s own day.
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I will destroy the strength of Gentile kingdoms. . . . 2
“So the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month is appointed for the ending of a curse, the beginning of blessing, the overthrowing of kingdoms, and the restoration of Jerusalem and the nation.”
“So when is the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month?”
“I can tell you when it was in the year of Jubilee.”
“When?”
“December 9, 1917. . . the day Jerusalem was liberated.”
“The day the Jewish people were waiting for . . . for two thousand years!”
“The day appointed for the ending of a curse, the day that the occupation of two thousand years of hostile powers came to its end.”
“And it said, ‘I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I will destroy the strength of the Gentile