TISHA B'AV - AUGUST 3RD

Ron Ross
BFP News
Email: ronrossbfp@hotmail.com


1st August 2006

Tisha B'Av is the Fast of the Ninth of Av. It is the deepest day of mourning on the Jewish calendar. This year it falls on 3rd August.

Tisha B'Av primarily recalls the destruction of the first and second Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av. The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.. The second fell to the Romans in 70 C.E..

600 years ago, March 31, 1492, the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella issued a royal decree. They commanded that all Jews must leave Spanish territories within four months. If Jews were found in Spain after that time, they were to be killed. The deadline was postponed so it fell on 3rd August, the very day upon which the ninth of Av is remember this year..

Chuck Missler (Koinonia House) wrote, 'After being delivered from Pharoah's slavery in Egypt through the Red Sea, and arriving at Kadesh-Barnea but lacking the faith to enter the Promised Land, God decreed that that generation would never enter His land. It seems that this too, was on the 9th of Av.

The Bar Kokhba revolt against the Romans fell on 9th of Av, 135 A.D.

In 136 A.D., the Roman Emperor Hadrian established the heathen temple to Jupiter on the site of the Jewish Temple and rebuilt Jerusalem as a pagan city named Aeilia Capitolania, and renamed the land "Palestinia" to remove the site from its Jewish heritage. (This attempt to disavow the land from its Jewish roots was echoed by the British in their labeling the land "Palestine.") The date when the Temple area was plowed under by the Romans, was again, 9th of Av (Missler)

Jews are bible-believing people. They embrace the biblical truth that all men are created in the image of God. This year as they weep and mourn they will remember the innocents who have died in the present crisis with Hizbollah and Hamas.

Many will weep and mourn for lost loved ones and disfigured family and friends.

As the Jewish people observe the fasts and seek the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it is an appropriate time for Christians to also pray and seek the Lord for His miraculous intervention in the land which His own possession

Ron Ross resigned as Senior Pastor of Noosa Baptist Church to become National Director of Bridges for Peace Australia. Three years ago he joined Bridges for Peace in Jerusalem to establish international radio news and an audio service webcast at www.bridgesforpeace.com Ron was Sports Editor of WINTV for 20 years before joining the full-time missions. You can contact Ron at : ronrossbfp@hotmail.com