Tish B’Av [תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב] 😓

Numbers 13:31-33
“But the men who had gone up with him (Caleb) said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
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Today is Tish B’Av, the 9th day of the month of Av on the Hebrew calendar.  It is considered the saddest day of the year to our Jewish brothers and sisters and for good reason.  Today, for instance,  we remember what happened to 6 million innocent people at the hands of Hitler and his evil regime.  But that is, by far, not the only evil that has been done to them.

An Evil Day.

All over the world, Jewish people will solemnly commemorate all the evil done to them on this day throughout their history.  I say, “Commemorate,” because, and I reiterate, this the saddest day of the entire year on their calendar.

How and why did this come to be an evil day?  In the article that follows, we are going to take a trip through history and read the account of what happened on the very first Tish B’Av.  Perhaps we can bring some perspective and understanding as to how and why it all began.

It all started at the border of the Promised Land the first time they approached Kadesh Barnea to enter the Promised Land……😓

Twelve Spies.
Twelve spies were sent into Canaan, the land God had promised them so long ago.  The spies who were sent to check out the land were all tribal heads and, as such, prominent leaders in Israel.
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Just as God said, they did indeed find a wonderful land, flowing with milk and honey.  When they came to the valley of Eshcol, there were clusters of grapes so big, two men had to carry them on a pole between them!  The word, “Eschol,” in Hebrew actually means, “Cluster of grapes.”
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Now, as you know, people are basically negative by nature.  Instead of just believing God, what did we often do do?  Do we focus on God’s promises and stand on His word?  Far too often, we do not, initially anyway.  Well, most of the people this day did the same.  Ten of the spies were totally freaked out by the giants who lived in the land: The Anakim, and brought back a bad report.

Notice the words in bold font at the end of the opening passage: “There we saw the giants and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”  How did they know that’s what the giants thought?  Did they go around and take a survey?  NO.  They ASSUMED it was what these giants thought.  In truth, the exact opposite was true as two spies discovered 38 years later when they snuck into Jericho and were hidden by Rahab.

These giants were the after-flood version of the Nephillm, the demon-human hybrids God destroyed in the flood of Noah’s day.  After the world-wide deluge, those same angels who refused to keep their place, began having children by human women again.  These giant hybrids were known as the “Anakim and Refaim.”  YUK!

(If this is a new concept for you, you may follow the link below and read all about it:

https://emmausroadministries.international/2020/01/04/as-it-was-in-the-days-of-noah-flood-series-part-7/)

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Bad Report.

Only two of the twelve spies brought back a good report:  Joshua and Caleb.  The other 10, as I said, brought back a bad report.  Sadly, the people believed the 10 spies and were so frightened by the report that they almost stoned Joshua and Caleb to death for believing what God said!  They sided with the majority but, as you know, being in the majority doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right thing.  Let’s follow the account in Numbers…..

Numbers 14:10
“And all the congregation said to stone them (Joshua and Caleb) with stones. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.”

It was SO BAD that God Himself had to come down and break up the fight! 😲  He was so angry with the His people, He wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth.  But Moses interceded for them.  

When did all this occur?   Yep, Tish B’Av.  This is the first of many evil days.

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Tragic “Coincidences” On The 9th Of Av.

Below is a list of some of the events down through Israel’s history that have occurred on this date.  It is a very long, very sad list of tragedies.  Are they merely coincidences?  You be the judge.

However…..please don’t get the wrong idea that God is doing this.  See if you can spot a common underlying theme.

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#1.  The Israelites accept the false report of the 10 spies that the land of Canaan would be “impossible” to conquer.  They even wept over the false belief that God had set them up for failure.  BIG MISTAKE.  Afterward, they wandered in the desert for 38 more years.  Why did this happen? 

They didn’t believe God.
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#2.  Destruction of the 1st Temple by Nebuchadnezzar, which was built by Solomon.
This temple was the most beautiful building.  Why was it destroyed?  Because Israel kept rebelling against God.  He had sent prophet after prophet after prophet to them to try and get them to stop worshipping other gods to no avail.  They would go along ok for a little while but, after a short time, they would fall away again.  Finally, after years and years of this back and forth, He sent them into exile in Babylon for 70 years at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.  Why?

They didn’t listen to and believe God.
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#3.  655 years later, the 2nd Temple, built by Ezra and Nehemiah, was destroyed by the Romans in 70A.D.  Why did this happen?
The Father had sent Jesus, His Beloved Son, into the world to be the final sacrifice and turn their hearts to the truth.   What did they do?  They didn’t believe He was their Messiah.  He was rejected Him and, ultimately, nailed to a cross.

Please understand, they do not bear this guilt alone.  Remember, it was the Romans who physically nailed Jesus there.  Every single one of us are guilty of His death.
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Even so, God has remained faithful to them.  He was patient with them.   After Jesus ascended back to His Father, many Jews returned to offering bulls and goats as sacrifices in the Temple.  After 40 years, however, (40 being the number of probation), after giving them chance after chance to accept their Messiah, He said, “Enough!”  He no longer resided in that temple make by human hands and so was not there to protect it.  That’s why the Romans were able to destroy it.

Why did this happen?  They didn’t believe in Jesus, the Beloved Son sent by the Father.

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Are you sensing a pattern here? 😓

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The Diaspora.
After the Jewish people were cast out of their land, they were dispersed into every nation on earth.  Time after time, in country after country, the Jewish people were hunted, persecuted, rejected, and often killed.  There was no rest for them wherever they went so they were forced to leave.

But even though this people, whom God still loves so much, have a long history of not believing Him, He still looks out for them as much as THEY will allow.  It is He alone Who has preserved them to this day.

Can you name any other nation that has gone through all that they have endured for 2,000 years and come back to be a nation once again, with the same language?  No, you can’t, BECAUSE THERE ISN’T ONE…not a single one.  Israel stands alone in that category.  It is God by His grace Who returned them to their own land in 1948.

All those other world leaders and nations that did evil to them ultimately paid a heavy price.  All have either disappeared from the world scene or are greatly diminished in power and influence. 

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The message is clear:  Don’t mess with the Jewish people…..OR ELSE.
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More Evil Days.
Down through history, there have been so many instances of bad things that have happened to the Jewish people.  They are far too many to be mere coincidence.  The list continues below:

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#5.  The first crusade officially commenced on Tish B’Av in 1096.  They destroyed Jewish communities in France and the Rhineland.
#6.  Jews were expelled from England in 1290 on this day.
#7.  They were expelled from France in 1306 on the 9th of Av.
#8.  The Jews were expelled from Spain on this day in 1492.
#9.  Germany, the most evil empire of its day, entered WWl on Tish B’Av 1914.
#10.  When Hitler came on the scene, the beginning of his extermination of the Jewish people began on the 9th of Av.
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None of these world leaders knew nor did they care anything about the Jewish people or their calendar.   They had no idea what day it was, yet history is clear and the correlation unmistakable. 😭😭😭
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All around the world, Jewish people remember the 6 million Holocaust victims who lost their lives beginning on this day.  So many sad occurrences.  So much sorrow.  So much heartache.  So much destruction.
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Joy Comes In The Morning.
Through it all, they are the ONLY nation that has endured all the above, survived, and come back to be stronger than ever.  That’s a testimony to the grace of our God!

But HALLELUJAH!!!  Many Jewish people today have even come to know their Messiah, Jesus, in these last days, more than ever before in history.  For those who have not yet discovered the truth, I believe He is very soon going to turn their sorrow into GREAT JOY!

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On that great and terrible day when they are almost destroyed, the rest of the nation, who have not met Jesus, will shout for Him:  “Baruch haba b’shem Adonai:  Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord!”   The Great Tribulation will come to a sudden and dramatic halt.  He will split the clouds and return to save them…..with the redeemed in tow…..and rescue His beloved people from certain destruction.  The entire nation will be saved in a single day!
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…..AND THE 9TH OF AV NO MORE SHALL BE AN EVIL DAY!!!