Lamentations

The book of Lamentations is of great significance to Jews, as parts of it are read out in synagogues on the 9th of Av (Tisha B'Av), the day when Jews mark the many tragedies that have befallen them on that date in history; these tragedies are seen as a sign of God's disapproval of their behaviour at that time. Here are some of them, all occurring on the 9th of Av:

The destruction of Solomon's Temple in 423 BC

The destruction of Herod's Temple in 69 AD

Jewish rebels, under Simon bar Kochba, were slaughtered by the Romans in 133 AD

The Jews were expelled from England in 1290 AD

The Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 AD

Jews began to be transported to Treblinka extermination camp in 1942

In the Judaic calendar Av is the eleventh month, therefore the 9th of Elul is a kind of 9/11. In 2001 the 9th of Av fell on 29 July, which was 44 (11 x 4) days before 9/11 itself. Interestingly, 7/29 (US date order) implies 729, which is 9 x 9 x 9. This is the triple expression of 9, the biblical number of endings, finality, judgment, fruits and suffering, which strongly resonates with the events of 9/11/2001.

The Book of Lamentations has an interesting structure: each of it's five chapters has a multiple of eleven verses.

Chapter 1 has 22 verses

Chapter 2 has 22 verses

Chapter 3 has 66 verses

Chapter 4 has 22 verses

Chapter 5 has 22 verses

As well as having a symmetrical verse structure, Lamentations has a total verse count that is very meaningful within English gematria.

Number verses in Lamentations	= 154
The Second Coming (s)	= 154

Bill Downie 24/9/13