Tisha B’Av — What Is It About?

We are in the month of Av on the Hebrew calendar and Tisha B’Av is the 9 of Av. Historically it is the saddest day in our calendar. The Jewish people mark this day as a day of mourning and fasting. This is not a biblical holiday but a Rabbinically instituted one. BAD things have happened to the Jewish people on this date!!

The observance of Tisha B’Av began sometime after the destruction of the 1st Temple. Zechariah records in 4:3–5 that the people wept, mourned & fasted on the 9th of Av. Many bad things have happened on this exact day. On the 9th of Av, Moses broke the first tablets of Law when he came down from Sinai to find the people worshiping the golden calf. When the spies returned back from the Land flowing with Milk and Honey and stated that the land was filled with giants and could not be conquered, the people cried out to go back to Egypt!! Because they choose to believe the spies and not God, God decreed that they would never enter the Promised Land, only their children would enter!!

Some other bad things recorded on this date are:

The 1st & 2nd Temples were both destroyed on the 9th of AV!

The Jews were expelled from England on the 9th of Av.

On March 31st, 1492 the Jews were given 4 months to put their affairs in order and leave Spain. The date which no Jew was allowed to be in Spain…yes the 9th of Av. This is the day Columbus set sail with a boat load of Jewish people being expelled from Spain.

Holocaust historians conclude, Germany declared war on Russia 1914…..yes on the 9th of Av.

Hitler presented his plan to the Nazi Party on the “Final Solution” to the Jewish problem, July 31, 1940 — Tisha B’Av

On a personal note, in July of 2001, I had a widow maker heart attack…it was on the 9th of AV. What the enemy meant for bad, God turned to good!

On August 17, 2005…..8,500 Jewish settlers in 21 settlements from Gush Katif (in Gaza) were removed from their homes, yes on the 9th of Av

Tish B’Av has no Messianic or prophetic significance…but the WORD speaks of ALL fast days being turned into days of joy, gladness and cheer, when our Messiah returns to establish HIS reign on earth. We as believers must be mindful of the gravity of this day as our people are remembering and fasting! If we are to Fast, let us enter into a true fast as described in Isaiah 58: 6–9

Is this not the fast that I have chosen:

To loose the bonds of wickedness,

To undo the heavy burdens,

To let the oppressed go free,

And that you break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;

When you see the naked, that you cover him,

And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

We must seek to bring the Good news to them so their mourning can turn from sadness into joy!