The Month of Av: Sorrow, Justice, and Joy

So, happy new moon, everybody. Rosh Chodesh to all my Jewish friends out there. As we enter the month, the new moon of Av, let us begin to transition from the three weeks of sorrow, or the dire straits, into an explosion of joy. This is to say, the anointing of Av begins with sorrow until the middle of the month and concludes with a paradigm shift into joy. And we're going to go through all of these anointings. "It is written, 'You have turned my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.'" Av is a month of not only calamity but divine justice as well. It is the 11th month on the civil calendar and the fifth month, excuse me, the fifth month on the biblical calendar. Av has, which is very important. Let me stop right there. The fifth month, as we all know, which is the way we should be counting, right? From the biblical calendar. We keep up with it from the civil calendar because of the prophecies from Adam to Yeshua. But He told us to count from the biblical calendar of Exodus. So, this is the fifth month of the calendar. It is the month of grace. Think about "Abba Father," which is Av. That's what it goes into as well. So, there are some pretty cool tie-ins with this month, even though it's been a month of judgment historically for the Jewish people. So, Av has the same root word as "Abba," which means Father in the Hebrew. "Avinu." It is also the month of hearing that we'll go through with some of the anointings. Therefore, we need to listen to the Holy Spirit and meditate and pray on all the instructions, strategies, and revelations that we will that He will reveal to all those who are hearing and listening to Him. "It is written, 'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.'" Amen. Every Sabbath, the Shema is recited to remind us of how important our quiet time is with our Father in heaven. Going back to Abba, during our quiet time, we can clearly hear without any distractions, listening to the Ruach HaKodesh as we meditate in His divine presence. It is written, "This is the Shema that we say every Shabbat here: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.' And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." So, again, the emphasis on hearing this month. That's why we have the Shema here: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one," right? So, we sing that every or say that every Shabbat to remind us to hear, to hear Adonai, to hear what Elohim is trying to tell us through our spiritual gifts, but also through His Word and through the biblical prophets, who are really just telling you front-page news. Man, if you want front-page news right now, don't go to the world. Just go to the biblical prophets. They will tell you exactly what's going on, and then you can confirm it with the world. But I always go to the biblical prophets first for your current day events and for front-page news, and you will see an interesting, interesting story. So, the Shema is very important. It goes on the importance of hearing this month. Remember, this is about our ears this month, kind of like last month was about our eyesight as well.

Like most of you guys know, we are in the three weeks of dire straits. Some people call it the three weeks of sorrow. What is that? That is basically from Tammuz 17th to the ninth day of Av. So, it goes in between two months, or expands with two months, and it's a three-week process to reflect, to remember, you know, what the sins that the ancestors committed with the golden calf on Tammuz 17th, and then also the 10 spies brought back the bad report on the promised land in Numbers 13 and 14, on the second year of the Exodus. So, there were two great sins, and those two days became fast days, curse days. Tammuz 17th, and also the ninth of Av. In the Bible, in Zechariah 8, verse 22 through 24, they're called the fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth. So, if we don't know the biblical calendar, then we're not going to get the revelation and the anointing and the understanding that we need to reflect on why did God destroy Jerusalem and exile the people, destroy the Temple not once, but twice, and on the same day, the ninth day of Av. So, again, this is a time of reflection for our personal temples, but also for the Jewish people as well, to help them open their eyes as well. But don't forget about ourselves and our personal temple that could be destroyed if we behave the way that the ancestors behaved as well, before they were destroyed. So, this is a three-week process. This doesn't mean that your life has to be depressed or miserable or anything like that. Of course not. It's just in your time of prayer, you know, reflect on these things, on the importance of the calendar, of the days of the calendar, the importance of why He did these things and allowed these things to happen to His people because of disobedience. So, it's super important.

In the month of Av, the most cursed day in Israel's history occurs on the ninth day of Av, called Tisha B'Av. The three weeks of sorrow concludes with this solemn fast day, as it commemorates the day when 10 of the 12 spies brought back a bad report on the promised land. Only Caleb and Joshua brought back the good report. Therefore, they were the only two of the 12 spies and their families who were granted entry into the promised land, while the others died while wandering in the desert for 40 years because of disobedience. The following are the tragic events that have occurred on the ninth day of Av. As we explore this phenomenon, think about the astronomical odds of this happening to one group of people on the same day throughout history. Selah. So, again, tonight is the first day of Av, and on the ninth day of Av is when the three weeks ends here, which is July 23rd. So, let's look at these events. It's pretty remarkable. I'm not saying that in a good way at all, but look at this day and how it has been just absolutely cursed in biblical history because of the sin that was committed. So, all of these things happened on the ninth day of Av: Both Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on the ninth day of Av. The Romans subsequently crushed Bar Kokhba's revolt and destroyed the city of Betar, killing over 500,000 Jewish civilians on August 4th, 135. He thought he was the Messiah, and look what happened. The Jews were expelled from England on July 18th, 1290. The Jews were expelled from France on July 22nd, 1306. The Jews were expelled from Spain on August 3rd, 1492. Germany entered World War I on August 1 and 2, 1914, which caused massive upheaval in European Jewry, and whose aftermath led to the Holocaust. On August 2nd, 1941, SS Commander Heinrich Himmler formally received approval from the Nazi party for the Final Solution. As a result, the Holocaust began, which almost one-third of the world's Jewish population perished. On July 23rd, 1942, began the mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto in route to Treblinka. The AMIA bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires killed 85 people and injured 300 on July 18th, 1994. And the Israeli disengagement from Gaza began in the Gaza Strip, expelling 10,000 Jews on August 15th, 2005, on the ninth day of Av. And what happened after that? That was when George Bush started some of this stuff. We wouldn't be dealing with this stuff right now if it wasn't for George W. Bush. George W. Bush forced Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister at the time, to evacuate all the Jewish people from Gaza. They exhumed the graves as well. There was not a dead or alive Jewish person in Gaza. And then you see what happened from that. But what happened to America after that was right after that, Hurricane Katrina, bam, you know, into the Gulf nation, into Louisiana, and to Mississippi. So, again, eye for eye and measure for measure, right? George Bush forced Ariel Sharon, they were evacuating, and then America was evacuating Louisiana with Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst hurricanes there is. So, again, look at all of these bad circumstances that have happened to the Jewish people, all on one day, the ninth day of Av. Pretty remarkable. I'm not saying that in a good way, but the Almighty is trying to get our attention. And I do believe that this day will come back into play in the future. So, whenever this day comes, that's why it's called a fast day in Zechariah, so that we can remember these things and pray into these things for our Jewish brothers and sisters to wake up and understand what time it is on this earth. And what time it is on this earth is not good for Jews or Christians. Everybody knows that. That's what the Bible says. Jesus said that in Matthew 24, Book of Revelation, you name it. And we just got to understand that's the times that we're living in. All this is going to keep escalating, keep escalating. Because no one is being the adult in the room, from what I can see. So, my friends, all of these happened on the worst day in biblical history is the ninth day of the month of Av.