Mourning over One greater than the Temple
Tisha B’Av (the 9th day in the Hebrew month of Av) is known as the saddest day on the Jewish calendar.[1] But look with us to see how mourning can lead you where you would not have imagined.
Tisha B’Av starts at dusk on August 6 this year and ends at sunset on August 7. This day includes a 25-hour fast as did the minor fast on the 17th of Tammuz that preceded three weeks earlier[2]. According to tradition, this day marks significant tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, with the destruction of both temples chief among them.
The final destruction of the first, Solomon’s Temple, occurred on the 9th of Av in 586 BC. The Second Temple was destroyed by Rome on this day in AD 70. According to tradition, many tragedies have befallen the Jewish people on Tisha b’Av including expulsions in France, England, and Spain. There is quite a list of destructive and life-ending calamities that have occurred on this day.
Why so many tragic events on the same day?
Rabbinic tradition ties this day to the sin of unbelief which occurred when God instructed Moses to send spies into Canaan. Of the 12 who went, only two believed they should act on God’s command to enter the land. The other ten’s bad report caused fear among the people and Israel disobeyed God’s command, thus incurring God’s wrath. That day was the ninth of Av according to tradition.
How it is commemorated today
On this day in modern times, in addition to fasting, many comforts and celebratory things are eschewed such as wearing leather shoes, bathing, applying lotions, etc.[3]
Portions on this day
Many texts from Lamentations (Hebrew Eicha)[4] are read along with prayers in the morning and afternoon, and texts from the Torah and Haftarah (Writings section). Such passages include: Deuteronomy 4:25-40; the texts from the previous minor fast on the 17th of Tammuz, Exodus 32:11-14 and 34:1-10. In the afternoon, the text from Isaiah 55:6-56:8 as was read on the previous minor fast, is again read. There is an additional portion from Deuteronomy (4:25-40), and one other Haftarah portion that was not read on the previous minor fast day: Jeremiah 8:13- 9:23.
Could it be time to end the cycle because the cause keeps repeating itself?
These readings are meant to remind the Jewish people of past sins of their people when they wandered from God’s covenant. They fast imploring God’s loving kindness to be extended, and to show repentant hearts. But the reality we find in these readings today is there are still tragedies, there are still unrepentant hearts.
Jeremiah, who writes of a fountain of tears for his people,[5] and Moses, who interceded on behalf of Israel so they were not utterly consumed, was not the answer, because, the “heart” of the problem remained – the condition of the human heart.[6]
The divine solution is in the text
A former Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus,[7] on his way to Damascus while he was seeking to imprison followers of Jesus, had a radical encounter with the risen Messiah Jesus. This divine encounter resulted in Saul the persecutor becoming Paul, the proclaimer of Jesus being the Messiah, the Son of God, and the way to salvation through faith in Him.
Paul, several years after receiving the solution to his sinful heart condition by having his heart of stone replaced with a heart of flesh,[8] wrote about some of the words in the portion from Jeremiah that are read on Tisha B’Av. Jeremiah writes, “Let him who boasts or glories, boast in the Lord.”[9] Jeremiah expanded on this as he wrote:
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands, and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercise mercy, justice, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the LORD.
Understanding and knowing the LORD
This is the solution.
Neither Moses nor God’s Holy Law was the solution for the heart condition that Jeremiah declared in the 17th chapter of Jeremiah.[10] Though try as we may, even in a sincere way, to obey and follow the God of Israel and to truly know Him, something hinders us.
Isaiah identifies what hinders us from knowing God
Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear; But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.[11]
And here we see the diagnosis of the root problem: our sin. The calamities that befall us, and the apparent silence of heaven, are often directly related to our wrong choices. Israel’s mourning the loss of the Temple is a reflection of the loss of intimate relationship with the God of Israel.
Greater than the temple
Jesus, in a discussion with religious leaders on what was lawful on the Sabbath, made these startling claims: He is greater than the temple; He is Lord of the Sabbath; and He is the Son of Man.[12]
If this is true, then these following words from Jesus will help us to understand how to know the LORD as Jeremiah said.
No one knows the Father but through Me
Jesus spoke clearly in numerous texts that the only way a person could truly know the Father was through the Son,[13] Himself. The person who knows the Son, knows the Father. This is how the words of Jeremiah can be fulfilled, such that a person can glory in the truth that they know the LORD.
If you believed Moses you would believe Me
Jesus, in another discussion with religious leaders, challenged their love for God the Father because they claimed to believe Moses. But Jesus said it was Moses who would accuse them of disbelief because Moses had written about Jesus. Yet they had not believed his writings and not believed in Jesus as Israel’s Messiah.[14]
There is a place for mourning
The saddest day on the Jewish calendar is a day of solemn prayers and hearts crying out over previous sins and tragedies. Zechariah writes of a future mourning when once again, as in 586 BCE and 70 CE, nations will again gather themselves against Jerusalem. The LORD will pour out a spirit of grace and supplication on the house of David and there will be a widespread move of prayers and mourning in Israel because of Him who was pierced.[15]
Isaiah, David, Zechariah, Moses Micah, and many more prophets, wrote about this One for whom Israel would mourn as when an only son is lost. This mourning is one that leads us to cry out to the One who knew no sin but became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God,[16] and boast that we know the Father because we know the Son.
May mourning for the temple turn to mourning for the One who is greater.
Please contact us so we can show you how Moses wrote of this One who can take the sin that separates you from the LORD.
Written by Jeff, Life in Messiah staff
What things/people are you mourning over?
Do you know the One who can turn your mourning into joy?
Will you join us in praying that Moses and the prophets will point many to salvation through Yeshua today?
Endnotes:
[1] https://jerusalemjournal.net/news-and-views/the-saddest-day-on-the-jewish-calendar
[2] The 17th of Tammuz a minor fast preceded Tisha B’Av and starts the “three weeks of mourning as the walls of Jerusalem were breached on the 17th of Tammuz and three weeks later the 9th of Av, the city was destroyed.
[3] https://www.alephbeta.org/tisha-bav/what-is-tisha-bav
[4] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/eicha-faith-in-a-whirlwind/
[5] Jeremiah 9:1.
[6] Jeremiah 17:9.
[7] Philippians 3:4-6; Acts 7:54-58; Acts 8:1-3; Acts 22:1-21.
[8] Ezekiel 36:25-27.
[9] 2 Corinthians 10:17.
[10] Jeremiah 17:9-11.
[11] Isaiah 59:1
[12] Matthew 12:1-8 Son of Man see Daniel 7:13-14.
[13] John 14:6-11; Acts 4:12.
[14] John 5:30-47 (5:45-47, specifically)
[15] Zechariah 12:10-14.
[16] 2 Corinthians 5:21.