Tammuz 17th: Golden Calf and Purification

So, this is a very pivotal time on the biblical calendar. People forget how pivotal this is on the biblical calendar when we look at the trajectory that Yah is on here. He took us from Shavuot to now Tammuz's 17th, or the fourth month, the 17th day. During Tammuz, that's the 40 days and 40 nights that Moses was on the mountain getting the instructions of Yah. And we all know what happened. They made the golden calf on Tammuz 17th, and that is the reason why it became a fast day. And we're about to read what the prophet Zechariah said about this day. But that's the reason, the historical account, that they made the golden calf on this day, Tammuz 17th, which begins tonight to tomorrow night. That's the day that they built the calf, and then Moses came down from the mountain and did what he did that we all know.

So this is super important to realize even in our own personal standpoint, our personal purification. That was history, and that gives us a great understanding. But from a personal aspect, we just came through Shavuot as well. How many people renewed their vows on Shavuot, saying that we will obey what Yahweh has told all of us, Jew and Gentile, to observe, whoever loves Him? So we have just come through that same understanding as well. Every year, we will on the festival of Shavuot or Pentecost with the Torah, the blessed Holy Spirit. And then these 40 days from Shavuot to Tammuz 17th, you're seeing it right here on the calendar. These are the days of the testing. These are the ones that say, "Hey, do we truly love God, or are we going to go back to Egypt?" Unfortunately, the children of Israel back then, they built the golden calf. So they received the Torah 50 days after they left Egypt, and then 40 days from that, they already turned back to the idol. So we can get a great understanding of that as well, my friends, that are we going to turn back to our idol during those 40 days, or did we fail? Did we sin? Did we do whatever the Lord didn't want us to do?

So this is again, whoever is into purification, this is for all of us. If one's not into that, then okay. But on the biblical calendar, this is what it's about. These 40 days are a testing. It ends tomorrow, and then we begin a new three-week journey, and then I will talk about that here later on from this point forward. But my friends, this is a super important time to really understand the trajectory of the Lord because again, this month is about eyesight. This is all about the reasons why it rhymes with the biblical calendar: eyesight, the testing of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, all of these things after we have said yes to Him, after we remember the Passover, after we Firstfruits, the resurrection, after the 50-day divine atonement, after the Torah and the Holy Spirit remembrance on Shavuot. Now, hey, let's see the testing. So this is what some of these summer months are about. You know, Tammuz, if you will, is a month of judgment, good or bad, depending on our attitude and our behavior. So it doesn't have to be negative; it can be very positive. Judgment can be good as well. But it all depends on our behavior, our nation's behavior, and whoever else's behavior as well.

But I wanted to show you guys that from a calendar standpoint first because it's pretty phenomenal when you look at the trajectory of what we've been through and what they went through from Nisan 1 through Passover, Firstfruits, the counting of the Omer, or the 50-day divine atonement, Shavuot, the Torah, the Holy Spirit, and then it doesn't end there; it keeps going to Tammuz 17th, and then it keeps going to the Ninth Day of Av with the three weeks of sorrow, which we'll talk about later, and then the Day of Love, Tu B'Av, the day of love from God, and then the month of repentance. And then the books are open for the individuals and the nations on Yom Teruah, or the Feast of Trumpets.

So my friends, that is a very summarized understanding of it that I wanted to show you guys. And like I've said before, these first seven months of the calendar are all about purification. It's all about getting right, also being tested with our eyes, with our ears, with our mouths, whatever it may be. And I wanted to show you guys that from a biblical calendar standpoint before we turn to the prophet Zechariah.

So Tammuz 17th, the fourth month, 17th day of the month, or what they call Tammuz 17th, it became a fast day because of the golden calf when Israel made the golden calf and they were impatient with Yah, right after He gave them the Torah and told them to observe. So we're going to go to the prophet Zechariah now and then we'll kind of work our way backwards to the story of Moses for all of us, you know, for the Jewish people, for all of us as well, for everybody to realize what Yahweh is trying to tell all of us right now, especially at the end of the age. Because at the end of the age, these fast days are going to come into play. Tammuz 17th, something major will happen. The Ninth Day of Av, something always happens. Tishrei 3, something will happen. Tevet 10, something will happen. They're called fast days; that means to pay attention. And like I said before, we're going to have these turn into feast days, and we're about to read it in the millennial kingdom. This is a millennial kingdom chapter, by the way, Zechariah 8. This is talking about the second coming and the millennial kingdom, and this is where the fast of the fourth is in the millennial kingdom where it's turned into the feast day.

So if we're going to be in Jerusalem with the King of Israel celebrating Tammuz 17th, or whatever it's called, then the fourth month, 17th day, if we're going to be celebrating this feast day, then we should understand what the fast is, right? We should understand why it became a fast day in a personal aspect as well, and also prophetically for our Israeli friends and our Jewish friends as well, for what's going to happen in Israel. So this is a super important understanding. Sometimes people, I mean, most people don't even realize what the feast days are in Christianity, much less the fast days, and both are very important. Number one, the feast days are moed, divine appointments by Jesus, first coming, second coming. And then we have the fast days. And He wants us to understand this.

Now, again, fasting, pray to God about that, about how you should fast. This fast day is just for dawn until evening tomorrow. It's not a 24-hour fast; it's a partial fast, and then it builds up to the Ninth Day of Av, which is a total fast, a whole day. So these are very important for the reason to remember what happened in history, so we don't do it. Right now, as a nation, wherever whatever nation you live in, and also as an individual, to not do what they did with the golden calf, to serve Yahweh. So this is a reminder; this is a good thing; it's not a bad thing; it's a good reminder of why these days became fast days. It's kind of like what Yahweh told Israel to remember their bondage in Egypt. He wants them to remember that so they can understand what He did for them. Remember Babylon so He can understand what He did for them. Right? So this is the same understanding, and it's a personal understanding as well, not just for Israel; it's for the individual as well, because everybody's wanting to be in the millennial kingdom in Jerusalem, right? Well, this is a millennial kingdom chapter. And let's read that. We'll read this and we'll go forward. This is the prophet Zechariah, the fast of the fourth month, which is Tammuz 17th, and this is a millennial kingdom chapter and a second coming chapter, so just bear with me; there's a couple of pages here, but it's really awesome for the context of this.