Yah's Time & Seasons - Zechariah 8 - The Fast of the 4th (Tam. 17th) unto the Fast of the 5th (Av 9)

As for me and my house, we will serve you, Lord, lifting holy hands in worship. We will not bow down to the gods of man. We will worship the God of Israel. You are holy. You are holy. Holy. There is no one else like you. As for me and my house, we will serve you alone, lifting holy worship to the God of Israel. There is none like you. Choose this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve you, Lord.

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Shalom, friends. My name is Chadwick Harvey. You have reached Faithful Performance. Thank you so much for joining us today as we continue our journey on God's calendar throughout the biblical year by discovering the three weeks of sorrow, which begins today on Tamuz 17th on the biblical calendar and will culminate on the ninth day of Av. This period is known as the three weeks of sorrow, or the dire straits. We are going to go through why it is called the dire straits from the scriptures.

In the Bible, we always need to understand that the biblical calendar flows with the scriptures. Every month goes with the scriptures that anoint it with what it is designated as. For instance, the month of Tamuz is anointed for judgment. That judgment can be good or bad depending on the nation's behavior or an individual's behavior. We have to understand it could be good or bad judgment in Tamuz, and continuing into the month of Av, depending on the behavior of the people, the nations, and individuals as well.

The calendar is truly phenomenal to review and be a part of — it is the accountability partner. If one is not familiar with the calendar, this is the calendar the scriptures operate on. As we can see, we are in month number four. Month number four is called Tamuz, and this begins a very important three-week process on the calendar. Let me review briefly to bring us up to speed.

Nissan 1 is the beginning of the biblical calendar. That is why we find Passover 14 days later, then Unleavened Bread on Nissan 15, and then the Resurrection after that. We then count 50 days from the Feast of First Fruits — the Resurrection, which occurs in Nissan — to the Feast of Shavuot, or Pentecost, which is in the month of Sivan, normally falling on Sivan 6, the third month.

So in those first three months we have Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits — feasts that Yeshua fulfilled and wants us to observe as well. Then we go on a 50-day divine appointment with him, from the Resurrection every year to the Feast of Pentecost in Sivan, which you can think of as June. He has us on this great divine-appointment order, from the month of Nissan with the new moon on through the feast days — Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost — carrying us along the trajectory of the calendar so that we can be in alignment and intimacy with him on the days he has ordained for us to understand these things.

After the month of Sivan, when the Torah was given, there is a 40-day journey that ends at the golden calf. We have to understand the full trajectory of what the Lord was doing after Israel left Egypt. On Nissan 15 they departed Egypt, and they went on a purification journey for 49 days. On the 50th day — Sivan 6, the sixth day of the third month — they received the Torah. Right after that, Moses went up for 40 days to receive the rest of the Torah: the instructions for the Tabernacle. This is what he received during those first 40 days following the Ten Commandments and the rules and regulations of those commandments found in Exodus 24–25. He went up to Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights.

He came back down on Tamuz 17th, and that is when the people were already building the golden calf. We will read the scriptures to confirm this shortly. His return on Tamuz 17th became a fast day because of the sin of the golden calf — 40 days after they received the Torah from Mount Sinai, they were worshiping the golden calf. We all know what happened there: 3,000 people were killed, and then they drank the water into which the ground-up golden calf had been mixed. After that, Moses went back up for another 40 days to seek forgiveness for the people. He received no assurance that they were forgiven. He came back down around the 29th and then went back up again on Elul 1 for the final set of 40. He came back down on Yom Kippur, Tishrei 10.

So there are three sets of 40 days from Shavuot. You can find this in — I believe it is Deuteronomy 6 or Deuteronomy 9; I think it is Deuteronomy 6 — the account of the three sets of 40. Within those three sets of 40 come the three weeks of sorrow, the dire straits, during which important and sobering events occurred throughout history that were not good, events that set up judgment during these three weeks for the nation of Israel. Their behavior was out of alignment. He sent the prophets to them and they did not listen. And so judgment came.

Tamuz 17th was marked because of the golden calf, and it became a fast day. That is why today, Tamuz 17th, is a fast day. We will read this in Zechariah 8, where it is referred to as the fast of the fourth — the fourth month. The fast of the fifth, also in Zechariah 8, is the 9th of Av. Both of these will become feast days in the future. They are fast days now because God wants us to remember why the nation of Israel was destroyed — why they went into exile, why they were sent into captivity, why the temples were destroyed. The answer was disobedience. This applies not only to the Jewish people but to believers and Christians as well. God wants everyone to understand why he allowed Israel to be destroyed.

As the prophet Zechariah declared, the fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will become days of joyful gladness and cheerful feasts in the millennial kingdom. How spectacular is that? We get to be a part of that — not only now, to understand how the Lord views these events and what we need to do so that our own temples are not destroyed, but also in the millennial kingdom, where we will witness the transition of these solemn fast days into beautiful feast days. A feast day is a moadim. So beyond the seven feasts we already have, he is going to add four more in the millennial kingdom: Tevet 10, Tishrei 3, the 9th of Av, and Tamuz 17th. Four additional feast days on top of all the others. How beautiful is that? That is one of the key reasons we need to understand these days — because we are all going to be living with him in the millennial kingdom, and we want to be tracking with him in the way he understands and honors these things.

Tamuz 17th is therefore a very significant marker on the Lord's calendar. Today is a fast day. Let the Lord lead you on that with regard to your health and all that it involves — let him lead you in the fasting. But this is what this day normally represents: the fast of the fourth, followed three weeks later by the fast of the fifth, forming together the three weeks of sorrow, the dire straits.

On Tamuz 17th the golden calf was worshiped, and on the 9th of Av the ten spies brought back the bad report. The other two — Joshua and Caleb — brought back the good report. We want to be like those two spies. The spies were sent out on Tamuz 1. Just because these months carry an overall weight of bad judgment for the nation of Israel when their behavior is out of alignment does not mean it has to be the same for you personally. If you are following the Lord, if you are on his calendar, if you are doing your part, this is good judgment for you — just as it was for Joshua and Caleb.

Joshua and Caleb saw the exact same things the other ten spies saw, but their perspective and their heart posture toward the Lord were completely different. Look at the results. The other ten and their tribes and families had to die off in the wilderness over 40 years so that the new generation could come in. Joshua and Caleb and their families inherited the promised land. Their perspective made all the difference.

That is why I tell people: just because it is the three weeks of sorrow or the dire straits for the nation of Israel due to their behavior and misalignment does not mean it has to be three weeks of sorrow for you and me. Now, if the Lord has you on a personal purification journey and you need to walk through these three weeks in that manner, then that is between you and him. I have gone through my own three weeks of sorrow many times in the past — I needed it for myself. And I am not saying I am beyond needing it now. But in the past I needed to go through my own purification, just as the nation of Israel needed to understand why the temples were destroyed, and just as my own temple was at risk of being destroyed if I had not gotten my life in order.

This is also about understanding history. We remember and stand with the Jewish people as they seek to understand why the temples were destroyed. It came down to the behavior of the people and their misalignment with God. And if I can be honest, we are seeing the same things today. The same kinds of sins that Jeremiah was dealing with, that Isaiah was dealing with, that Ezekiel was dealing with — we are witnessing the same things now. The prophets in Israel today are grappling with the same issues that the prophet Jeremiah faced. That is why we must stand with them and with the message they are bringing to the people, rather than getting so caught up in political Israel. We must be engaged with the prophets and with the people carrying out the Great Commission over there, who will inevitably face opposition. The government will come against the prophets.