Then He (Yeshua) said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.” (Luke 22:34)

In the above scripture, Yeshua might have just been giving Peter information as to when his denial would take place, but it is more likely that there is a deeper message attached to Peter’s denial. The Hebrew sages say that each scripture has different levels of understanding from the obvious to the mystical that can be uncovered only through consistent Bible study and prayer.

In the same way that the rabbis apply various interpretations to words to tell stories and the teachings of the Bible, artists often create images to express their ideas, some of which are obvious and others that are hidden in their paintings. Twentieth century artist, Marc Chagall (a Russian Jew), utilized images in his paintings to make a ‘comment on life’ as a storyteller of that era. Some of the ‘stories’ he labored to paint were plain to see and others were often mystical, but always telling ‘a story’. Chagall, who was not a believer in Yeshua (at least not openly), painted quite a number of canvases depicting the ‘story’ of the crucifixion and other biblical themes wherein the crucified Yeshua appeared. Chagall never sought to ‘explain’ his paintings, but said:

“For me, Christ has always symbolized the true type of the Jewish martyr. That is how I understood him in 1908 when I used this figure for the first time…It was under the influence of the pogroms. Then I painted and drew him in pictures about ghettos, surrounded by Jewish troubles, by Jewish mothers, running terrified with little children in their arms.” “My Christ, as I depict him, is always the type of the Jewish martyr, in pogroms and in our other troubles, and not otherwise.”

The various images he used stemmed from his Jewish upbringing, which images were understood not only in Chagall’s day, but in Yeshua’s day as well. The rooster is one such example. A rabbi explains the Hebraic perception of this figure, which is symbolic of an attitude filled with optimism, hope and belief.

Prophecy And The Hebrew Calendar

The importance of understanding the Hebrew calendar and reckoning of time concerns prophecy. Although God designed the universe and knows the ‘actual’ calculations of a day, month and year, He used different calculations in the Bible than those of the current Gregorian calendar with which we are familiar. The Bible establishes a biblical month to be 30 days (Genesis 7:11, 8:3 and 4) and a biblical year to be 360 days. In addition, the Bible states that ‘one day is as a thousand years to the Lord’ (Psalm 90:4 & 2 Peter 3:8). Further, Daniel speaks of a ‘week’ as a seven-year period. The reason for the 30-day month and 360-day year, as well as the symbolic use of the ‘week’ and ‘day’ appears to be their connection with prophecy.

For example, Bible scholars have speculated that Hosea may have been prophesying of the Lord’s return (i.e. after the year 2000) when he spoke the following:

“After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.” (Hosea 6:2)

Written By Susan Castell

G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we are coming to you on behalf of Your covenant land and Your covenant people, Israel. Father, You have said that You will not break Your covenant nor alter the thing that is gone out of your lips. You have given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants the land of Israel, and we declare that no other nation has any rightful claim to possess that which You have sworn to Your people. We declare that no weapon formed against Israel, the land or its people, shall prosper. We pray for your mercy upon the enemies of Israel because truly they do not know that they are touching the apple of Your eye.