“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 55: 6-7

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The 9^th of Av is an Important Date on Yahweh’s Calendar

Tisha B’Av (the 9^th of Av) is a day of mourning in Israel. It commemorates things that have happened to the Children of Israel and the Jewish people in particular over the millennia on the 9^th of Av.

Katie and I have been in Israel on the 9^th of Av. Life in Israel changes on that day. The changes you see on the 9^th of Av are not as dramatic as the changes you see in Israel on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), but they are still striking.

The 9^th of Av 2021 begins at sundown on July 17 and ends at sundown on July 18.

Below are some of the things that have taken place on the 9^th of Av.

The Spies Returned with a Bad Report

On the 9^th of Av, spies that Moses sent into the Promised Land to scout it out returned. They told Moses, Aaron, and the Children of Israel that they should not enter the Promised Land. This is what they said:

When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Thus they told him, and said, “We went into the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13: 25-33)

This was the Children of Israel’s response to the spies’ report:

Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is Yahweh bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So, they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” (Numbers 14: 1-4)

Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, believed the Children of Israel should enter the Promised Land and take possession of it the way Yahweh intended. They presented the opposing view, but the Children of Israel rejected it. Yahweh was furious, and so began the 40-year wilderness journey.

Every adult among the Children of Israel who escaped from Egypt during The Exodus except Joshua and Caleb was destined to die in the wilderness. Yahweh would not allow them to enter the Promised Land, because they lacked of faith in Him.

Yahweh’s Temples were Destroyed

On the 9^th of Av in 586 BC, the Babylonians destroyed the Temple that King Solomon built for Yahweh.

On the 9^th of Av in 70 AD, the Romans destroyed the Temple that King Herod built for Yahweh.

The Bar Kochba Rebellion was Defeated by the Romans

On the 9^th of Av in 135 AD, the Battle at Betar was lost, and the Bar Kochba Rebellion against Roman occupation ended in defeat. Roman soldiers slaughtered the Jewish rebels.

The Romans Plowed Over the Land where Yahweh’s Temple had Stood

On the 9^th of Av in 136 AD, the Romans plowed over the ground where Yahweh’s Temple had stood. Below is a picture of Jerusalem that was taken in the 1930s. Yahweh’s Temple stood in the area circled in yellow. Ancient Jerusalem (the City of David) is circled in red. As recently as 90 years ago, both sites were still being plowed for farming. See “Yahweh’s Temple was not on the Temple Mount”.

The 1^st Crusade

On the 9^th of Av in 1096 AD, the 1^st Crusade began. More than 10,000 Jews in France and the Rhineland were murdered during the first month of the Crusade. Many more Jews would be murdered later.

Jews were Expelled from England

On the 9^th of Av in 1290 AD, Jews were expelled from England.

Jews were Expelled from France

On the 9^th of Av in 1306 AD, Jews were expelled from France. A few years later, the Little Ice Age began. It would last for about 500 years. France and the rest of Europe were devastated by the Little Ice Age.

Jews were Expelled from Spain

On the 9^th of Av in 1492 AD, the Spanish Inquisition began. Queen Isabella and her husband Ferdinand ordered Jews in Spain to convert to Catholicism by the 9^th of Av, flee Spain, or face death.

Most Jews left Spain. Those who remained suffered the consequences.

World War 1 Began

On the 9^th of Av in 1914, Germany declared war on Russia, and World War 1 began. World War 2 was a continuation of World War 1.

The Final Solution

On the 9^th of Av in 1941, SS commander Heinrich Himmler received approval from the Nazi Party for The Final Solution.

The Treblinka Death Camp and the Warsaw Ghetto

On the 9^th of Av in 1942, deportation of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto began. They were sent to the Treblinka death camp as a part of The Final Solution.

The Jewish community Center in Buenos Aires

On the 9^th of Av in 1994, the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina was bombed: 85 Jews were killed and 300 were injured.

The 9^th of Av is an Important Date on Yahweh’s Calendar

For reasons that are known only to Yahweh, the 9^th of Av is an important date on His calendar. Too many things have happened to Yahweh’s chosen people on that day to draw any other conclusion.

What will happen on the 9^th of Av in 2021? Your guess is as good as mine, but I am always on the lookout for things that might happen on the 9^th of Av. This year is no different.

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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”

John 10: 14-18

See “His Name is Yahweh”.