By Barry Rosenfeld
“And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened; then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.”’” (Jeremiah 26:4-6)
In Israel each life is precious and the loss incurred by the ongoing Gaza war has taken a heavy toll. Many families are grieving the loss of their sons in battle to protect the people of Israel. In the midst of this the country stops to observe the fast of Tisha B’Av ending the three weeks of mourning beginning with the Fast of Tammuz which commemorated the breach of the walls of Jerusalem leading to the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BC.
The three week period is one of prayer and contemplation. This year it fittingly corresponds with Operation Protective Edge, in which the Israeli military is systematically removing the Hamas threat of rocket attacks over Israel’s population centers and the many terrorist tunnels snaking into Israeli border communities.
It was on Tisha B’Av, or the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av, (this year falling on Monday August 4th and Tuesday August 5th) that the first and second temples were destroyed. In addition the fast commemorates other tragic events that occurred on that same day. Included in these is the massacre by the Romans of over 100,000 Jews living at Batar during the Second Jewish Revolt in the year 132 AD in which Bar Kokhba’s rebellion was crushed. The Mishnah (Taanit 4:6) says that it was on this day that the 12 spies described in Numbers 13 and 14, returned from Canaan, with ten giving a bad report saying that the Hebrews could never overcome the “giants” in the Land and leading to the 40 years of wandering in the desert.
Over the years other calamities have come to be associated with this date. These include the First Christian Crusade which resulted in the deaths of 10,000 Jews during its first month when Jewish communities were destroyed in France and the Rhineland. In all 1.2 million Jews were massacred by this crusade which began on the 9th of the month of Av.
On this date in 1290, the Jews were expelled from England, in 1306 from France. The year 1492 saw the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, again on this date.
The horrendous “Final Solution” for the destruction of European Jewry, was approved on this date and also the mass deportation of the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto to their destruction in the Treblinka death camp took place on the 9th of Av. Most Jewish communities use this day to mourn the loss of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.
But the central event establishing the 9th of Av as a day of fasting and mourning was the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BC, an act that had been prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26: 6).
But now the Jewish people have returned to the Land and we look forward to the soon return of the Messiah. No longer should Tisha B’Av be a time for mourning, but a season of hope in his sure soon coming. The Walls are no longer breached and the people of Israel live and will no longer be scattered from their homes. Am Yisrael Chai.
“Hear the word of the Lord, you nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’” (Jeremiah 31:10)
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Wyatt norman says
Thanks for the scriptures and report from Israel. I continue to support the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews by giving money to feed the hungry and provide shelters for the Jewish people. God`s chosen people . I am thankful for the Iron Dome that the United States helped fund for Israel, a fulfillment of God`s Word that No weapon formed against you shall prosper.
Linda Phillips says
I have stopped listening to the news reports and read your report and others who give us truth. Thank you so much for your faithfulness. Blessing to you and those with you!
Jacki says
I have done the same as William…have air lifted Jews from Russia supporting IFJC just recently. Alos agree about the Iron dome and am grateful to learn the USA had a part to play in it financially. Also, I agree with Linda…not listening to the secular news, I read Ians web page and watch.org with William Koenig who wrote “Eye to Eye, the consequences of dividing Israel. He is a White House Correspondent and has connected the dots between world leaders who have taken a position of wanting to “divide Israels land for peace”. The results have been tragic almost immediately as recorded in his book. Stunning revelation, 100 million Christians in the USA don’t even know the connection, I just learned it myself. God is and has been really doing more than sitting on His throne!!!
Gabrielle Mary says
Yes, the hope of the Redemption is here.
Let all Israel now repent of sin and make straight the Way of Yahuwah. Amen.
Yahushua Messiah is coming SOON!
Is all Israel READY????
People GET READY!
Love, Love, Love all the way Home in Yahushua Messiah, Amen.
Fasting, mourning, weeping and also living in hope as our Redemption draweth nigh.
Come Yahushua, Come! Amen and Amen.
Gabrielle Mary Mitchell Xxx
Beth Mason says
I was raised in Plymouth CT and first came to love Jesus and Israel as a small child. The congregation I was nurtured in ~attended Hanukkah celebrations at the local temple and Father so underlined His presence there that I never forgot it. The next lesson came directly from your very own Esther Dorflinger as I had the opportunity to kneel at her feet and soak in her extraordinary love and respect for the Lord first through her in person and then through her writing. It was the first time I had met someone that was living out faith. She taught about Israel, the Fathers love for Israel, and that we were witnessing miracles and prophecy unfold concerning the regathering.
Israel.. I continue to love you, pray for you, and think of you daily. Blessings upon you in the name of Jesus!