"And you shall make on its hem pomegranates of indigo and purple and crimson, on its hem all around, and golden bells within them all around. A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, on the hem of the robe all around. And it shall be upon Aaron when he serves, so that its sound be heard when he comes into the sanctum before the LORD and when he goes out, that he shall not die" (Exodus 28:33-35, Robert Alter, trans.).
"In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, "HOLY TO THE LORD." (Zechariah 14:20).
A tiny golden bell was discovered last Thursday in an ancient drainage channel in the City of David, just south of the Temple Mount. The ditch is thought to have lain alongside the famous road over which priests made passage in Biblical times from the Pool of Shiloah (Siloam) up to the Temple Mount. The bell is very small (only about ½ inch or 1 cent. wide) with a loop for sewing to clothing. Archaeologists date it back 2000 years ago to the 2nd Temple period (515 B.C.-A.D. 70); it is the first such bell ever to be found in Jerusalem. Although there is no certainty, they are saying that it lies not outside the realm of possibility that this could indeed be related to those bells prescribed in the Torah to be worn round the hems of the High Priests' robes. If so, they surmise that it may have fallen off during one of the High Feast days, such as the last day of Succot, when water was drawn from the pool and borne up Mount Moriah to be poured out before the LORD in the Temple.
Might there be something which the Holy Spirit would speak to us, through the finding of such a bell in such a place at this time?
PLEASE PRAY: that God will release in Israel a heart to hear and know His own--"Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart" (Jeremiah 24:7).
The other reference to bells in the Bible is in Zechariah 14:20, "In that day 'HOLINESS TO THE LORD' shall be on the bells of the horses. The pots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowls before the altar."
A different Hebrew word is used here metzilot, which relates to the tinkling voice of bells used on horses. While the ringing of the first bells announced the coming and going of the holy High Priest who alone was allowed to enter the Holiest Place, Zechariah prophesied of a time for all people when "not only shall 'Holy to the LORD' be written on their persons, and on all the outward and inward life of the whole community, but on everything they possess.The whole external character of life-that which is exhibited in the streets of a city (represented by the tinkling sound of the bells of the passing horses) shall bear in all its parts, throughout all its detail, the impress of holiness unto the Lord." (Baron, David: Zechariah: A Commentary on his Visions and Prophecies, p531).
PLEASE PRAY THAT EVEN AS THIS GOLDEN SYMBOL OF A SOUND OF HOLINESS AND REDEMPTION HAS BEEN UNEARTHED IN THE CITY OF DAVID, THAT A ROYAL RINGING SOUND OF HOLINESS WILL BE RELEASED THROUGH BELIEVERS THROUGHOUT JERUSALEM AND OVER ALL OF ISRAEL THIS MONTH. THE MUSLIM MONTH OF "RAMADAN" BEGINS ON MONDAY AUGUST 1ST. PRAY THAT DURING THIS SEASON VOICES "LIKE THE SOUND OF A THOUSAND BELLS" WILL RISE AS A TEMPERED AND HEAVENLY WROUGHT WEAPON IN THE HAND OF THE LORD TO DO BATTLE IN THE HEAVENLIES, AN ANCIENT SOUND OF HOLINESS WHICH WILL TRANSCEND THE CALLS TO ANOTHER DIETY WHICH WILL BE RISING DAILY FROM HIS HOLY MOUNTAIN-A GOLDEN SOUND, IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH RINGING OUT LOVE AND SANCTIFYING FREEDOM FOR ALL PEOPLES.
RING THEM BELLS!!
portions taken from the Israel prayer list
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