It began at nightfall on August 10 this year, and concluded at nightfall on Sunday, August 11 2019.
The 9th of Av, Tisha b’Av,
Tish‘āh Be’āv בְּאָב תִּשְׁעָה
What is its’ significance and is there anything we can learn from it?
Tisha is the Hebrew word for the number 9
Av is the 11th month of the Hebrew Calendar and falls in July or August.
It is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar because it is the culmination of the Three Weeks of Sorrow…
a period of time during which, Israel marks the time of the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
The 9th of Av, Tisha b’Av, commemorates a list of catastrophes so severe, it seems as if it is a day set aside by God for suffering. National calamities occurred and because of this it is a time of mourning and also of repentance.
From morning to moUrning is only a matter of adding U (yoU) into the mo_rning time of each day! When we are focused on self, we are not focused on Him. When we are focused on Him we rejoice to see that His mercies are new every morning.
When we, that is our flesh, gets in the mix we enter into the mourning!
Tisha B’Av is a record of both destruction and renewal following the things that have happened to Israel over the centuries.
The first and earliest reference is in Deuteronomy 1:1 –3:22
Devarim
דברים
Words;
which comes from the phrase
Eleh ha – – Devarim
meaning:
These are the words.
Deuteronomy 1:1
Deuteronomy is Greek and means:
repetition of the Torah
it is derived from the Hebrew phrase, Mishnah ha Torah. Deuteronomy 17:18
דברים – Devarim
That is from the first verse of Deuteronomy, the final book of the Torah of Moses as he begins to remind this new generation of Israelites of the law given to them at Mount Sinai after their miracle Exodus from Egypt.
In our English Bibles, Devarim is known as “Deuteronomy,” from a Greek word used to translate the phrase mishneh ha-Torah (“copy of the Torah,” Deut. 17:18).
The Hebrew, Sefer D’varim, refers to its first words: Eleh ha-d’varim, “These are the words [that Moses addressed to all Israel]” (Deuteronomy1:1). Derived from the Greek translation for Mishneh Torah, Deuteronomium means “second law” and refers to the fact that Moses is repeating the Exodus/Numbers narrative.
The term can also stretch to mean discourses or talks. The English name, Deuteronomy, comes from the name which the book bears in the Septuagint (וץפוסןם ליןם) and in the Vulgate (Deuteronomium).
This first reference is of the 12 spies, which is, Meraglim – מרגלים – in Hebrew.
It comes from the root word ragil, which means to habituate oneself, to become accustomed to. Did the meraglim put too much value on the habit and predictability of life?
The Hebrew word refers to one who scouts a land to gather information and the English word refers to one who explores a land for apparently recreational purposes. Nonetheless, the twelve spies which Moshe/Moses sent are generally known as meraglim—not tarim.
Meraglim which can also mean traitors or deserters. In Numbers 13, the Hebrew word describing the group is also the word usually translated as men or as princes.
The Hebrew year was 2448 – 1312 BCE. During the time of Moses, The Israelites were in the desert, recently having experienced the miraculous Exodus, and were now about to enter the Promised Land of Canaan. To assist in formulating a prudent battle strategy they send out a reconnaissance mission first.
These meraglim, included Caleb and Joshuah and were the cream of the Israelite tribes. Moses chose one righteous prince from each of the 12; Levi being the only tribe which was exempt.
Joshua was a type of Yeshua/Messiah who would bring salvation to the people and lead them into the promised land.
Joshua, who was to succeed Moses’ had been known up until this point in time, as Hoshea, which is the same Hebrew word as Joshua (Yehoshua), but without the letter yud/yod.
Moses added the yud/yod to Hoshea’s name, changing its’ meaning to:
God will save you [from their plans].
Adding a Yod was no random act for the letter Yod, although the smallest of the letters, is the little that holds a lot.
Yod/yud has a numerical value of 10 symbolic of the full manifestation of God; it represents the spiritual, all of that which is beyond the physical, yet it plays the most important role in the whole of Creation.
The first letter of God’s name YHWH is a Yod/Yud.
Yod represents a mere dot, iota (in Greek), a little speck, a tiny point in which all the divine energy of Creation is concentrated. For infinite God to create a finite world there had to be contraction, a containment. The God of infinity made something finite.
All 22 letters have a yud contained in them as the first point of every letter that is formed.
It is also a picture of humility. An example being, when Jacob was renamed from Ya’akov to Yisrael, all that remained of his former Hebrew name was the letter Yod!
Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in the Old Testament has an associated pictogram (a symbol or icon) that adds meaning to the open text.
This is evidence of a supernatural hand of design behind the original Hebrew text of the Bible and a very good reason to look at their original meaning.
Moses did this before the scouting mission. No doubt the added boost of spiritual power this new name represented, would serve him well in the difficult times that were to come.
Joshua is a Biblical given name derived from the Hebrew Jehoshua/ Yehoshua (יהושע) meaning the LORD is salvation. יְהוֹשֻׁעַ
The name was a common alternative form of the name יֵשׁוּעַ – yēšūă which corresponds to the Greek spelling Ἰησοῦς (Iesous), from which, through the Latin Iesus, comes the English spelling Jesus.
יֵשׁוּעַ
The 12 Spies (Meraglim) return on the eighth day of Av and report that the land is unconquerable. That night, the 9th of Av, the people cry.
Joshua (Yehoshua) tried to reason with the people giving his positive report,
but the people were not convinced, and went so far as to threaten to stone Caleb and Joshua.
They insist that they’d rather go back to Egypt than be slaughtered by the Canaanites. God is not happy with this public demonstration of distrust in His power, to bring them successfully into the land He had promised them.
And His presence appeared in the Tabernacle expressing His exasperation with the nation and His intention to wipe them out.
This was not the first time that this had happened, only 12 months earlier God had considered destroying the people after the sin of the golden calf. It was at that time, God gave Moses the 13 Attributes of Mercy, and explained the process through which Divine forgiveness could be obtained.
Moses once again begged for mercy, pointing out that if God were to destroy the people right there, the nations would mistakenly think that He did not have the power to bring them into the Promised Land. After Moses recounted the 13 Attributes, God agreed to spare the children of Israel.
https://www.minimannamoments.com/13-attributes-of-gods-mercy/
However, because they accepted the slanderous report of the 10 Spies in the desert; the decree was issued forbidding them from entering the Land of Canaan, consequently that generation of Israelites never enters the Holy Land. Only their children had that privilege, after wandering in the desert for another 38 years.
The 9th of AV was the day they returned to Kadesh where they were camped. It was almost 6 weeks after scouting the land. (40 days)
The spies went to the people instead of to Moses and Aaron, with the bad report and a warning that conquering those in the land would be impossible. The biggest obstacle being that the cities were fortified with walls as was Jericho.
Only two of those who returned showed faith and had a positive attitude.
After the immediate rejoicing over the abundant produce they returned with, the bad report caused the people to yearn for what they had left behind in Egypt. Numbers 14:3-4
Because of this they were delayed 40 years from entering the promised land.
A year for each day they had been in the land spying.
Except for Yehoshua bin Nun (Joshua the son of Nun) and Kalev (Caleb) the son of Jephunneh, every person 20 years of age and older were fated to die in the wilderness.
The other 10 spies were immediately killed by a plague sent from the Lord.
So they wandered for 40 years and the Hebrew writings record that, each year on the eve of the 9th of AV Moses would tell the people,
Go Out and Dig!!
Every year, on Erev Tisha B’Av, they would leave the close vicinity of the camp and go and dig their own graves. They would then lay down and sleep in them overnight. The next day the shout went up, let the living separate from the dead.
The understanding was that those of them who had reached the age of 60 would not rise the next day and that first
morning
some 15,000 individuals were found dead in their graves. This was indeed a moUrning day.
According to tradition, this harrowing ritual was repeated annually for 40 years, until the original 600,000 male Israelites who left Egypt, those who doubted that they could attain the Promised Land finally died.
(600,000 did not include women, children and old men.)
So every year, those who were supposed to die that year passed away, and those that survived returned to their tents. (Bava Batra 121a, Rashbam).
Accordingly, throughout the forty years, the people were
first buried and
then died.
This continued until a year came that no one died….
That particular year they thought they had got the day wrong and so they slept an extra night in their graves.
This continued for 5 nights until the 15th AV when they observed the full moon, they then realized their calculations were correct and rejoicing broke out as they realized that no more of that generation would die.
This is why the 15th AV – Tu B’AV is a day of celebration…
and always on a full moon.
In modern Israel it is a day of
romance and love – chag ahavah.
חג
האהבה
The word “Tu” ( ט”ו) is an acronym for 15 – derived from Tet (9) and Vav (6).
The phrase “Tu B’Av” indicates the 15th day of the month of Av
(i.e., Chamishah Asar B’Av)
באב ט״ו on the Jewish calendar.
The wilderness generation had finally died and the new generation was ready to enter the land of promise.
The second national catastrophe was that The First Temple was Solomon’s Temple destroyed by Nebuchandnezar and the Neo-Babylonian Empire on the 9th of Av 3340 (423 BCE). 10,000 were killed and the remaining tribes in the southern kingdom were exiled to Babylon and Persia/Iran.
Next national catastrophe occurred when the Jews rebelled against Roman rule, they believed that their leader, Simon Bar Kochba, would fulfill their messianic longings. Their hopes were cruelly dashed in 3892/ 132 CE as over 100,000 of the Jewish rebels were brutally slaughtered in the final battle at Beitar as the battle was lost. The Beitar fortress was the last standing Jewish fortress in the Bar Kokhba revolt of the 2nd century CE, destroyed by the Roman army of Emperor Hadrian in the year 135. The site of historic Betar (also spelled Betar or Bethar), next to the modern Palestinian village of Battir, southwest of Jerusalem.
Next
One year after their conquest of Beitar, another catastrophe occurred at the Beit Hamikdash on the Temple Mount (Har HaBayit), Israels holiest site.
This happened in 3830 or 70 CE (500 years after the destruction of the First Temple), as the Roman empire under Emperor Titus, drew closer to the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and were about to torch it, the nation of Israel were shocked to realize that their Second Temple was destroyed on exactly the same day as the first led by a roman General named Turnus Rufus. Jerusalem was rebuilt as a pagan city and renamed Aelia Capitlina and all Jews were forbidden access.
Beit Hamikdash is the Hebrew phrase for the Temple that was first built by King Solomon. (literally “The Holy House”)
A bayit is a house. Mikdash comes from kadosh, meaning holy. Beit Hamikdash
בית המקדש
generally the term used is Churban HaBayit (literally, “the destruction of the House”).
The Temple was considered as:
the neck of the world.
The place where Heaven touches Earth, where mortals can feel eternity.
It was built in the time of Shlomo HaMelech, King Solomon, who was the son of King David, and was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II and the Babylonians after the Siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE.
בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ Holy Temple
It was subsequently replaced with the Second Temple.
The purpose of the Beit Hamikdash was to inspire each individual to become a miniature Beit Hamikdash. So in the absence of the Beit Hamikdash, (which is no longer necessary since Messiah has come), we are to create God’s Temple within His own creation.
Much as the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple, as retaliation for an ongoing Jewish revolt, the Romans destroyed the Second Temple and Jerusalem in 70 CE.
The second temple lasted for a total of 585 years (516 BCE to 70 CE). Jewish eschatology includes a belief that the Second Temple will be replaced by a future Third Temple.
Yet another catastrophic event happened on 9th Av 1290 (5050). The Jews were expelled from England having been there since William the conqueror invaded in 1066 bringing with him the Jews that were living in Normandy, France.
The next catastrophe happened in In 1492, (5252).
The Golden Age of Spain came to a close when Queen Isabella and her husband Ferdinand ordered that the Jews be banished from the land.
The edict of expulsion was signed on March 31, 1492, and the Jews were given exactly four months to put their affairs in order and leave the country. The Hebrew date, year 5252, on which no Jew was allowed any longer to remain in the land where he had enjoyed welcome and prosperity.
Known as The Inquisition in Spain and Portugal it culminated in the expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula. Families were separated, many died by drowning and there was a massive loss of property.
1492 also noted as the year Columbus ‘discovered America’.
On the 9th of Av saw the start of both world wars.
In 5674/1914 Britain and Russia declare war on Germany.
The First World War began.
Then, just a few years later in sept 1939/5699, came World War II and the Holocaust, ending on 2nd sept1945 /5705.
Historians speculate, the 2nd world war was actually the long drawn-out conclusion of World War I that began in 1914/5674 due to First World War issues being unresolved,
Incredibly Germany declared war on Russia, effectively catapulting the First World War into motion, on the 9th of Av, Tisha b’Av
Hebraic mindset sees this as another confirmation of the deeply held conviction that history isn’t haphazard; events – even terrible ones – are part of a Divine plan and have spiritual meaning. The message of time is that everything has a rational purpose, even though we don’t understand it.
This is the season of reading the Book of Lamentations and remembering the historical events that took place on Tisha b’Av. No wonder it is the Jewish day of mourning; the temple was destroyed the nation dispersed and they lost their homeland.
It is little wonder they approach this time of each year with a certain trepidation, as there is no word for coincidence in the Hebrew language, everything has a time and a purpose.
The timely caveat is for all believers to pray for the nation and the people of Israel; for the shalom of Yerushalayim/Jerusalem…
because, if we do not learn from history we seem destined to repeat it; and the western youth of today have not even the slightest clue of the horrors man can do to fellow man. Yes, God is in control, of course; however we are to pray without ceasing and when we don’t know about certain events or choose to downplay or ignore them, it shows a lack of wisdom concerning God’s mandate.
We have a part to play and we must be doers of that part for we are grafted in as part of spiritual Israel.
The key with God is that He never leaves nor forsakes us and especially His covenant family who are the apple of His eye. The Lord delivers him out of all his troubles.
God has delivered Israel time and time again and the fact that they are a prospering sovereign nation today is a miracle in itself. Many empires have risen and fallen and are lost to time and history.
Israel remains because they are in the palm of His hand and it is where He has put His Name.
https://www.minimannamoments.com/more-than-one-palm/
https://www.minimannamoments.com/i-will-put-my-name-here/
Surely this is a picture of Hope/tikvah in its fullness, considering all Israel has endured throughout the millennia.
Their Hope/tikvah is in the Lord, the God of Israel, and His promise is always to restore and renew!
Their, and our, mourning will be turned into dancing and joy. Ps. 30:11
Pray their eyes are opened to see their Messiah is Yeshua.
As Moses anointed Joshua to lead the children of Israel into His promised land Messiah Yeshua will return to lead us all.
Blessed are they whose HOPE/tikvah is in the Lord… and they surely needed such an ANCHOR/O’gehn, to take them through all their times of testing.
For thou art my HOPE (tikvah), O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth. (Ps. 71:5)
He IS
SHALOM SHALOM!
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