It can’t just be coincidence.
(I first posted this in July 2012, but since we’re coming up to the 9th of Ab again, I thought it was worth repeating.)
In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, the emperor is warned by an old soothsayer to “beware the ides of March.” Soon after that, he’s assassinated by several senators including Brutus, his supposed friend.
I’m actually not a big Shakespeare expert, but I’d like to say – be watching the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av this year but especially in the coming decade. Jews call it “Tisha B’Av” which means “9th of Av”. It’s a terrible date in Jewish history, and one we need to be aware of. The 9th of Av usually falls in mid-to-late-summer. That’s the easy way to remember it.
This year the 9th of Av on the Hebrew calendar this year falls on this coming sabbath, August 13, 2016 of our Gregorian calendar.
I am NOT saying anything will happen on this date this year, or next. But I want my readers to know that it can’t be mere coincidence that so much has happened on the 9th of Av on the Hebrew Calendar. As I write this, we are in the period of time they call “the Dire Straits” – from the 17th of Tammuz to the 9th of Av. Remember it as roughly our month of July most years. It was during this time that calamity after calamity has befallen Israel.
For example, it was during this time that Moses dashed the two tablets of the 10 commandments to the ground during the gold calf incident. It is a day of fasting among Orthodox Jews. Maybe nothing will happen this year on the 9th of Ab but it wouldn’t surprise me if in a coming year something huge happens to Israel.
Could more calamities befall Israel around this period of time, on the 9th of Av in a soon coming future year? See the history for yourself, then form your own conclusion if you think this date leaves a particularly loathsome aftertaste in our Creator’s mouth:
- It was on the 9th of Av when ten of the 12 spies who returned from spying out the Promised Land caused Israel to lose faith, to lose heart, and to rebel. YHVH therefore announces all Israelites age 20 and over would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. Only Joshua and Caleb were exempted. You can read the full story in Numbers 14. After everything YHVH had done for them – the 10 plagues on Egypt, the liberation from slavery, the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, the manna from heaven, the miraculous providence of water from the Rock, the giving of His covenant with them and the Law, after forgiving them of their terrible sin with the gold calf – after all that, they still lose faith and rebel once more. That was the last straw. The 9th of Av (mid-summer) has frequently since then been a terrible date for Israel and later, the Jews. (Yes, our God has deep seated feelings too.)
- The first House of God, more commonly called “Solomon’s temple”, was destroyed on this date, the 9th of Av. Over 100,000 Jews were slaughtered, and most of the remainder were hauled off into captivity to Babylon (where modern day Iraq is) and the area of Persia (modern day Iran). Have you heard anything about Iraq and Iran lately in the news?
- The 2nd temple was also burned and torn down on this exact date as well - 9th of Av in 70 AD by the Romans under General Titus. It was gruesome. So many Jews were crucified, the Romans despaired for lack of wood on which to impale their tortured victims. It was from the pain of crucifixion that we get the word “excruciating” – as in indescribable pain. Over 2,500,000 Jews die from war, famine and disease. Another million are exiled. Over 100,000 are sold as slaves. Many are killed in Roman coliseums for entertainment, in gladiatorial “games” and pagan celebrations. What a dark, dark time it was for the Jews. But it continued.
Click here – on Continue reading – to see at least SEVEN more examples of tragic events that happened to Jews on the 9th of Av since the time of Christ on earth.