Tears of the Past
Reflecting on the Deep Pain of Tisha B’Av
Most of us would agree we all have a dark day in our history. A day where it felt like time stood still as we grieved. If we live long enough, we might have more than one of these dark days in our past. A date we anticipate with dread and yet is also sacred. Our loved ones tread lightly because they know this day has cost us something dear.
But can you imagine if it was a collective dark day for your community? Like 9/11 or Columbine? And instead of one tragic event maiming your history, it was eleven separate events on that date?[1]
Tisha B’Av is that dark day on the Jewish calendar. The ninth of the Hebrew month of Av (which falls this year on August 2–3) is the day set aside for mourning the tragedies.
The First Tragedy
The first tragedy we find in Scripture is in Numbers 13–14. On this day 10 of the 12 spies sent into the Land brought back a bad report and that generation died in the wilderness because of their unbelief. The ripple effects of this sin sent shockwaves through generations.
The First Temple
Next, in 586 BC, the First Temple was destroyed. Solomon’s splendid house of worship burned to the ground. In this wave of destruction, many Jewish people were murdered by the Babylonians, and many more exiled.
The Second Temple
Five hundred years later, the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Over one million Jewish people were murdered and many were exiled. Yeshua (Jesus) prophesied this event in Luke 19:41–44. What was His response? Scripture says He wept. Not a silent cry, but a grief-filled cry. Strong’s Dictionary defines the Greek New Testament’s “klaio” as “to sob aloud or wail.” The national rejection of His visitation left the Messiah sobbing in longing to gather to Him, not to be scattered.
Many More Tragedies
The list of Tisha B’Av tragedies that befell the Jewish people continues: the Bar Kokhba Massacre, the Plowing of the Temple Grounds, the Crusades, the Spanish Expulsion, the English Expulsion, the start of World War I, the Warsaw Ghetto residents sent to Treblinka, and the 1941 formal approval of the Nazi’s “Final Solution.”[2] A third of world-wide Jewry was murdered in the Holocaust. The history is devastating.
The Jewish community had to make space for this kind of lament. On Tisha B’Av in synagogues the book of Lamentations is read while sitting on the floor, along with other specific Kinot, the Hebrew dirges or elegies traditionally recited on Tish B’Av commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temple.[3] The community fasts in communal sorrow. Together they look back at the grievous history of their people and mourn for the catastrophic losses.
So What?
So how should the body of Messiah respond to such a day? What is our role in this generation?
Yeshua is our example. He is the exact representative of God the Father in every way. His tears were abundant, His wails were open for all to hear. God is not willing that any should perish. In the book of Lamentations, the first two chapters tell of the immense pain the children of Israel endured and the devastation of Jerusalem. But in chapter three, the prophet Jeremiah intentionally calls this truth to mind:
21 I recall this to my mind,
Therefore I wait.
22 The Lord’s acts of mercy indeed do not end,
For His compassions do not fail.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I wait for Him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who await Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
26 It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone and keep quiet,
Since He has laid it on him.
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust;
Perhaps there is hope.
30 Let him give his cheek to the one who is going to strike him;
Let him be filled with shame.
31 For the Lord will not reject forever,
32 For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
In proportion to His abundant mercy.
33 For He does not afflict willingly
Or grieve the sons of mankind
(Lamentation 3:21-33, NASB, emphasis mine).
It is God’s steadfast love (or covenant love) that has sustained the Jewish people throughout history. He has compassion and loves them dearly. We align ourselves with the Almighty God when we love and support His covenant people.
Written by Kori, Life in Messiah staff
In what ways could you acknowledge the suffering of the Jewish community on the ninth of Av (August 2–3, 2025)?
How could you shine the light of Messiah to the Jewish community?
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