The Shabbat which is connected to Tisha B’Av (the 9th Av in the 5th month of the Hebrew calendar) is known as Shabbat Chazon (שבת חזון—Sabbath of Vision) The name comes from Isai 1:1-27: “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”
The book of Isaiah describes a Divine love story concerning His covenant people who through constant rebellion and betrayals invoke judgement and exile. Yet, God remains faithful to His promises that will ultimately lead to a good ending.
So at Tisha B’Av, the Jewish people grieve over their sins that eventually led to the destruction of the 1st & 2nd Temples. (Plus many other calamities).
Tisha B’Av falls at the end of the period known as ‘Bein Ha Metzarim’ (between the straits) a period of calamity for the Jewish people from 17th Tammuz (4th month) to the 9th Av (5th month).
The phrase ‘Bein ha Metzarim’ is taken from Lament 1:3: “Y’hudah has fled into exile from oppression and endless slavery. She lives among the nations, but there she finds no rest. Her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.”
What does one do when one is in distress? It really is a time of serious decision making. Each Shabbat Ani always asks me, “Should I be in dis-dress or dat-dress?”
‘Bein ha Metzarim’ actually means to navigate one’s way between grave dangers on both sides – like a ship steering its way through a narrow path to avoid an inevitable shipwreck. The Bible teaches us that should we ever allow anything to mar our relationship with God, we will ultimately find ourselves ‘between the straits.’
Bein ha Metzarim is also a term used in reference to labour and childbirth because it is a critical time where if things go badly it could lead to dire consequences.
What is the transition point for, Bein ha Metzarim? It is that God always provides ample opportunity to restore us to Himself before there is judgement.
And so, the 9th Av, is set aside as a time of mourning and fasting over a 24 hour period. But in Zech. 8:19 we are told that all the biblical fasts that we observe will one day be turned into times of joy because God never intended us to be entrenched in mourning but rather lead us from a narrow place (Mitzraim) to one that is spacious. (Ps 84),
It is interesting that even during periods of mourning, God always provides a silver lining just like in this period the Hebrew calendar. This is illustrated with the practice of Orthodox Jews to participate in a ‘seudat mitzvah’, a celebratory meal as a reminder that even in the darkest seasons we have much to celebrate!
Tisha B’Av (9th Av) in the 5th month of the Hebrew calendar was observed on Thursday is a day of sadness and mourning. The greatest tragedies in Jewish history occurred on this day eclipsing with the destruction of the 1st Temple where 100,00 Jews were slaughtered and countless others taken into exile for 70 years and with the destruction of the 2nd Temple when 2million Jews were slaughtered again leading to exile but this time lasting almost 2,000 years.
Many other terrible events occurred on 9th Av throughout Jewish history including the failure of the Jewish uprising by Bar Kochba against the Roman Empire in 136 AD that was crushed by the Emperor Hadrian. Over 100,000 Jews were slaughtered. One year later again on 9th Av, the Romans ploughed the Temple Mount and the city of Jerusalem turning it into a Roman colony and renaming it Aelia Capitolina.
The Crusades began on 9th Av 1095 AD where countless innocent Jews were slaughtered and whole Jewish communities obliterated;
On the eve of Tisha B’Av, 1492, an edict was given by King Ferdinand of Spain to expel all its Jewish citizens. Every Jew was given the choice to convert or leave. So was birthed the Inquisition one of the darkest periods in church history.
On Tisha B’Av 1914 AD (August 1)—The commencement of World War 1, that led to the economic conditions in Germany to provide Adolf Hitler with the necessary influence that led to WW2 to facilitate his attempted ‘Final Solution’—the extermination of the Jewish people;
We mourn at Tisha B’Av of rebellion against God that affects both those who are innocent and godly and not just those who are evil. Jewish populations have been expelled from at least 79 countries over the past 2000 years. They have been massacred, humiliated, scapegoated and the focus of vicious anti-Semitism and planned exterminations.
True mourning is an integral feature of Tisha B’Av but for many it is an act of going through the motions without a spirit of true repentance. This is reflected with sadness in Zech. 7 through the prophet when the word of the Lord came to him saying: “Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months, even those seventy years you were in exile, was it for Me that you fasted, for Me?’” ( verses 4-5)
This is so different to the heart and sorrow of Paul who bore the grief of Tisha B’Av in his heart whose love for his people was so great that he made this staggering statement: “I am speaking the truth in Messiah. I am not lying: my conscience (enlightened and prompted) by the Holy Spirit bearing witness with me that I have bitter grief and incessant anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off and banished from Messiah for the sake of my brethren instead of them, my natural kinsmen and my fellow countrymen.” (Rom. 9:1-3) “If it were possible, I would stand in for my people and sacrifice my very salvation for them.”
In all the calamities associated with Tisha B’Av nothing was greater than the destruction of the 2nd Temple which linked directly to the rejection of Messiah Yeshua who prophesied about it 40 years before the event took place: “For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you, encircle you, hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within your walls, leaving not one stone standing on another – and all because you did not recognise your opportunity when God offered it.” (Luke 19: 43-44)
On two occasions they demanded Yeshua to show a sign that He was the Messiah and He answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then (they) said, 46 years was this temple in building, and will You tear it up in three days? But he spoke of the temple of His body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Yeshua had said.” (John 2:18-22)
And when Yeshua was placed on trial for insurrection, people were bribed to falsely accuse Him and claim: “We heard him say, I will destroy this Temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.” (Yeshua was prophesying spiritually about His own death and resurrection). (Mark 14:58)
This is why in Haggai 2, we read: “6 Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens, the sea, and the land. 7 I will rattle all the nations, and all that is valuable in the eyes of the world will be willingly brought to My house. I will see to it that it is filled to the brim with My glory. 8 “You see, all the silver and all the gold in this world already belong to Me. 9 You will stand by and watch as the magnificence of this new house will eclipse the magnificence of My first house. And in this new house, I will give you peace.”
Although Solomon’s Temple was superior in splendour to the 2nd Temple in physical construction and beauty, the 2nd Temple far exceeded the 1st one in glory. The mystery of the 9th Av is that it goes beyond mourning over God’s judgments, to the spiritual, physical restoration and fullness, as foretold by the prophet Zechariah.
Every true believer is described in Scripture as being a Temple of the Ruach ha Kodesh (1Cor 6:19), who makes His dwelling place in us. Satan’s intent is to defile that temple and steal, kill and destroy us. Scripture warns us not to grieve the Ruach ha Kodesh through rebellion which always results in pain, regret, and loss as illustrated with the history of the Jewish people.
Our focus should always to be alert and sober against the wiles of the enemy (1Peter 5:8) which we ignore at our peril. The darkness is gathering intensity as we see things disintegrating all around this world, but how should we be responding?
God provides us with all the weapons of warfare needed to plunder the enemy and walk as more than conquerors in Yeshua. Each weapon is described in Eph 6 to engage the enemy under the banner of His Divine protection. And, “since we have a great high priest who has passed through to the highest heaven, Yeshua, the Son of God, we hold firmly to what we acknowledge as true.” (Heb 4:14)… the truth…the One who is THE TRUTH.
- The belt of God’s truth destroys the power of lies (deceptions, manipulations, falsehood, corruption which are all forms and disguises). This is our vengeance where all forms of lies must ultimately bow the knee to the one who is the way, the truth and the life.
- The gospel (good news or celebration) of shalom, (our footwear) destroys the authority which binds the world to chaos, which is our vengeance.
- The sword of the Ruach ha Kodesh that pulls down strongholds and casts down imaginations, bringing into captivity every thought to the image of God. This too is our vengeance and our victory.
Spiritual warfare is not a pretty sight, for we come against the demonic realm which has an insatiable blood lust to destroy every good thing God has created through every conceivable expression of evil and subtleties.
Scripture tells us that Yeshua will return for a pure and blameless bride not one that is steeped in defilement. Believers who engage secretly and persistently in sin will reap their reward and skate on thin ice. How much better to live a life worthy of Him as we prepare at all times for His soon appearing!
Every choice we make has consequences, and God’s blessings for every believer are conditional to walking in His ways. In order to do this we need to “shema” (listen and obey). Yeshua said in John 10: “27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
God goes to great lengths to help us listen and obey Him as we recognise His voice over and above the clamour of the world’s noise. He calls us to be faithful even as He is faithful that we might enjoy the fullness of walking in union with Him.
TU B’AV
God’s silver lining in the month of Av is celebrated 6 days later on Tu B’Av. This is a fairly obscure feast that will rise in prominence at the return of Messiah because the key focus is Divine love and is why Tu B’Av is often described as a biblical Valentine’s Day! God is wooing His bride in preparation for His return! Many of the sages believe it will be on this day that the Messiah will return.
Tu B’Av reminds us that God has seasons and cycles we pass through which is the means by which He draws us closer to Himself: the valleys not just the mountain tops. Those who become entrenched in either one are in danger of missing out of knowing His fullness. “I want to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of HIs sufferings…” (Phil. 3:10) Let’s never forget that God’s strength is always sufficient and His grace made perfect in weakness, meaning our utter dependence upon Him at all times.
