During days of old when the Second Temple was at Jerusalem, there were annually 7 days of bridal preparation from Av 9 to 15. This week was the lead up, the prelude, to the concluding last day of Av 15. TuB' Av was the conclusion, the grand finale. During that week, the white bridal dresses were borrowed or newly made. A parallel? According to the Book of Revelation, the bride of Messiah/Christ (the saints) will be clothed in clean white linen. Would the Messiah/Christ have known about these things? Certainly.
   The Day for the maidens to dance to attract grooms, the day for bridal selection, was Av 15. Near Jerusalem, the maidens danced on the Mount of Olives. Av 15 was a most happy day of the year, with themes of romance, joy, abduction, and marriage. A harpazo day! Would the fields look white to harvest with all the maidens dressed in white dancing in those fields? Day 7, then what? According to the Ancient Jewish Wedding Model, the hidden away period of marriage then consummation-intimacy would last a full 7 days. The pattern in these days was 7 plus 7, a double 7. In The Scriptures, the number 7 is symbolic of completion. The center and heart of the double 7 would be Av 15! Will Av 9 to 15 be momentous in 2014? The first 7 days would be from sunset on 8-4 until sunset on 8-11. Av 15 will be from sunset 8-10 until sunset on 8-11.
   One more timely fact to consider concerns olive oil. The olive harvest for Israel would have been after the months of Av, Elul, and Tishri during the month of Cheshvan. These would be the months of dwindling supplies of olive oil for cooking, lamps, or whatever. Increasingly limited. The olive oil in the lamps lit the way to the wedding canopy (the chuppah) during the nocturnal hours. In the wedding parable, the cry goes out at midnight. "Behold, the bridegroom comes." When would the preparation in advance of possession of enough olive oil for the lamps be really vital? Olive oil for the lamps would be MOST PRECIOUS in the months when it was least available for sale by the merchants! The merchants had little to sell or they had none left to sell, increasingly, during the 3 months before the next annual olive harvest for Israel began during the month of Cheshvan. Might this be a clue that the Season of The Blessed Hope may be during Av, Elul. or Tishri some year? Time will tell.
 
With Love and Shalom,
Jean