"The
Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach
good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim
liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to [those who are]
bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of
our God; To comfort all who mourn,
Isaiah
61:1-2 NKJV
Tisha
B' Av, or the ninth of Av which is the fast of the fifth month begins this year
at sundown, Monday July 31st. Much has been written about this day
in Israel’s history, and I am sure many of you are familiar with it. Events unfolding today in the Middle East and
the situation which exists on the ground, especially the current violence at the
Temple Mount, makes this day especially poignant this year. Will something happen which will change the
dynamic in Israel? I am not sure but I
thought it prudent to share this column with you today.
"Thus
says the LORD of hosts: 'The fast of the fourth [month], The fast of the fifth,
The fast of the seventh, And the fast of the tenth, Shall be joy and gladness
and cheerful feasts For the house of Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.'
Zecharaiah 8:19 NKJV
Zechariah
goes on to say that when the Messiah comes, these fast days will become days of
celebration and feasting, but for now they are still days of mourning. The fast
of the fourth month remembers the day that Moses came down from the mountain to
find the children of Israel worshiping the golden calf and then broke the
tablets God had given him. The seventh commemorates the assassination of the
governor appointed by Nebuchadnezzar to govern the Jews left behind in Israel
after the destruction of the temple. The tenth recalls the day that
Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to the city of Jerusalem. But it is the fifth fast, which
occurs on the ninth of Av that I would like to explore today.
The
first passage we looked at this morning comes from the book of Isaiah, and is
noteworthy because it was also quoted by Jesus during His ministry here on
earth. If you look in the fourth chapter of Luke you find this account;
So He
came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed
the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the
place where it was written:
Luke
4:16-17 NKJV
Jesus
then reads the passage from Isaiah 61 but does an interesting thing; He stops
reading in the middle of verse two where it begins to talk about the day of
vengeance. Then Jesus explains to the people;
And He
began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your
hearing."
Luke
4:21 NKJV
Almost
every commentator I have read agrees that this is because the day of vengeance
that Jesus does not talk about is the future tribulation period that will come
upon Israel because of their rejection of Jesus as their Messiah. It is during
this time of tribulation that the rest of verse two comes into play because it
describes that period of time as a time of mourning in Israel. If you are at
all familiar with the events described in the book of Revelation concerning
this coming time of judgment you might think that there will be plenty of
reasons to mourn, yet the Bible makes it clear that God intends for the world
and the nation of Israel to know the real reason to mourn;
"Then
the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of
the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory.
Matthew
24:30 NKJV
"And
I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the
Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced.
Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for [his] only [son], and grieve for
Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
Zechariah
12:10 NKJV
As
I thought about the subject of mourning this week, and the fact that we are
approaching the period of time in Israel's history where they have historically
been given reason to mourn, I couldn't help but wonder what future event might
occur which would remind Israel that there is a reason to mourn. What immediately crossed my mind was something
which applies to everyone and not just Israel. You see, the next time Jesus
returns will be the rapture when He comes in the clouds to take His bride, the
Church, made up of all who believe in Him back to Heaven. That being the case,
while it will be a time of celebration for those who go, don't you think it
will be a reason to mourn for those who don't? Of all the events which have
occurred throughout history during the three weeks of mourning in Israel, they
would all pale in comparison to being left behind when the rapture happens.
If
you are reading this today and have never made the decision to accept Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior, I urge you to do it right now. All you need to
do is pray a simple prayer like this;
Jesus I know I am a
sinner in need of salvation. I believe you sent your Son Jesus to die on the
cross for my sin, and I ask you now to forgive me of my sins. I want to receive
your gift of salvation so please come into my heart and help me to live for you
from now on. In Jesus' name, Amen.
But as
many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to
those who believe in His name:
John
1:12 NKJV
If
you have prayed that prayer, or one just like it, you can rejoice that you will
spend eternity with God. If not, I'm sorry to say that very soon you might just
have a reason to mourn.
Keep
watching.
