Overcoming The Dire Straits of Tammuz

Tammuz, the fourth month on the Hebrew calendar, is significant for the events that took place and the lessons we can learn. Today I want to highlight the seventeenth of Tammuz that starts a three-week period that ends on the ninth of Av. (Av 9 is another significant day that goes down in history as a day of infamy.) The three-week time period between Tammuz 17 and Av 9 that we are now entering has become known as "The Dire Straits." Observant Jews will set the three weeks aside to repent and ask for forgiveness from God for the sins of their fathers. Five catastrophes occurred in Biblical history on Tammuz 17.
 
Here is how the prophet Jeremiah describes the three weeks called "The Dire Straits." "Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: She dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: All her persecutors overtook her between the straits. (Lamentations 1:3 - KJV) The first of the five catastrophes occurred when the children of Israel came to Mount Sinai. Moses was with God receiving Torah. The Israelites became impatient and decided to make their own god. They collected and squandered the wealth God had arranged for them to take from Egypt to make an idol—the golden calf. God's desire was to see His people prosper, but because they did not know their true identity, they worshiped a false god.
 
During "The Dire Straits," the daily offerings brought to the first Temple were suspended in 586 BC. This is because Nebuchadnezzar's army began their siege of Jerusalem. It was in 70 AD that the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Roman Empire during the second Temple period. Prior to the Bar Kokhba Revolt, a Roman military leader named Apostamos burned a Torah scroll. This burning set a precedent for the burning of Jewish books and Torah scrolls throughout the world. Finally, the sanctuary of the Temple was desecrated when an idolatrous image was placed there. There is controversy over who did this. Some say the Babylonians, while others say it was Apostamos.
 
How can remembering these events help us to move out of seasons of difficulty that seem to repeat themselves during similar periods of time each year? As I said before, we must recognize our true identity in Christ Jesus. Because we are God's children, we have favor with Him and the ability to break out of destructive patterns in life. Our enemies are defeated foes because of our position in Christ. "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:6) In addition, we are told in Romans 8:37 that "...We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." 
 
Since we are grafted into the family of God, the enemy of our souls may try to disrupt our lives with conflict and disasters during this same time period. He wants us to agree with the decrees of his kingdom rather than the decrees from the Kingdom of Heaven. We must be vigilant not to allow the schemes of the enemy to take hold of us. The power of the risen Christ is available to everyone who believes and confesses that He is Lord. Our confession must be, "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me...forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14)