On the Jewish calendar the Ninth of Av is recognized as a time of fasting and returning to the Lord. The Scriptures call it the fast of the fifth month (Zechariah 8:18). It is considered the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. Two of the most devastating and painful events that occurred during this time include the destruction of Solomon’s Temple by the Babylonians in 423 B.C. and the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70. We still have a visual reminder of this latter event when we go to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and see stones from the Temple complex lying in rubble on the streets below.

God was speaking to the Israelites then in very natural ways as the Master of their circumstances, and He was expecting them to recognize their disobedience to Him. God’s response was clear: “You need to seek Me and come to Me until there is a change in you that I can respond to.” You can read more about this time of fasting in Zechariah 7 and 8. The fifth month is the month of Av, so these Scriptures refer directly to a day of fasting called Tisha B’Av. It was a time of mourning over what God said were the consequences of their actions for not following His voice. But as we see in Zechariah, God promises that when His people repent, change their actions, and become obedient to His voice, these days of fasting will be turned into days of great joy and blessing.

So let us go to Zechariah to finish this story:

“‘It will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.’ For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Just as I purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and I have not relented, so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear! These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,’ declares the LORD.” Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.’” (Zechariah 8:13–19)[1]

What a blessed Scripture! God is going to turn these times of fasting and mourning into times of great joy, gladness, and cheerful feasting for Israel.

So this Scripture shows that, even though we are seeing a great resurgence of anti-Semitism, we should have faith. I believe that within the Church there will be a crying out to God during this time that brings a reversal to anti-Semitism to the point where people are going to lay hold of the garments of a Jew—not to persecute him, not to destroy him—but to say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you” (Zechariah 8:23). Lord, bring about this fulfillment. We believe for it!

Listen to this entire message: GIG103 The Fulfillment of Tisha B’Av

[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).