Shalom everyone,
The month of Av is for remembering the joy and sadness of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem – joy over its existence, and sadness over its destruction.
The loss of the Temple is commemorated by the Fast of Tisha be’Av (the 9th of Av – see Jer 36:9). It is not an obligatory fast – it is entirely voluntary. It recalls the national sadness of the Jewish people over the destruction of the First and Second Temples. In the Talmidi Israelite community, it is observed only as a daylight-hour fast, in order to maintain the holiness of the 25-hour fast on the Day of Expiations (Yom ha-Kippurim)
Tisha be’Av is not just about remembering the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple; it necessitates also remembering what actually led to its destruction, learning those lessons, and applying them to our modern, contemporary troubles.
There are some hardnosed religious people who just won’t be told that they are going about things the wrong way – that their aggressive views and angry behaviour shames God and their religion, or that they are on the wrong path; they become indignant and react angrily at any reproach against them, even if they are shown what God said on the matter. You can therefore imagine what difficulties and uphill struggles that prophets like Jeremiah and Yeshua faced, when they tried to tell people that the way they were behaving was going to lead to the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, and the exile of the Jewish people from the Land.
Part of learning spiritual humility – part of learning how to develop a spiritual demeanour which shows that God is with you – is learning how to listen to just and fair criticism, instead of dismissing it out of hand. No one is always right (cf Prov 14:12, 16:25); no one is perfect. A truly spiritual person, whose heart is genuinely for Yahveh, will want to become someone who is a shining lamp before God. Israelite humility is learning to seek for what God wants – the ideals and values that God desires.
Sometimes God moves an individual to call someone out on their wrongdoing, so when we get angry at them, we are actually venting our anger at God – we are getting angry at God for telling us that we are headed in the wrong direction. The people who lived just before the Assyrian, Babylonian and Roman Exiles, were not angry at the prophets, they were angry at God who was not allowing them to continue their destructive way of living.
As a side note, if we are called by God to point out a wrongdoing in a friend or relative, Yeshua advises that we do it privately and not publicly (SY 126, cf Mt 18:15, Lk 17:3). This is because it is a principle of the Israelite faith that we should not shame or humiliate our sister or brother. However, national or community leaders can be called out publicly, so that they cannot hide those sins and wrongdoings that adversely affect the lives of their people.
The Day of Yahveh
We cannot look at the destruction of the Second Temple without looking at what the ‘Day of Yahveh’ is. I explain more fully what this is all about in my first book, but basically, the Day of Yahveh is a period of tribulation – of widespread social and political upheaval and suffering – that comes about whenever society abandons God’s values, and instead chases after corrupt human values.
There are a number of societal ills that together, bring on this ‘Day of Yahveh’. Most of us are aware of biblical warnings against worshipping idols and false gods – and this has little relevance or impact on us today. Most of us are not aware however, that a sharp decline in the socio-political fabric of society also brings on the Day of Yahveh – things such as:
- the adulation of these corrupt leaders (Prov 24:24);
- rulers misleading and oppressing the ordinary people (Isa 3:12-15);
- neglecting the needs of the least in society and exploiting them (Amos 5:11-12);
- deliberately working against righteousness and the workings of legal justice (Amos 5:7);
- extolling wealth for wealth’s sake (Zeph 1:18);
- corrupting the integrity of knowledge and wisdom (Hos 4:6);
- and creating conditions which lead to unbearable levels of murder and violence (Hos 4:2).
The corruption of religion and of religious ideals also brings on the Day of Yahveh:
- when ministers of religion become deceitful, unjust or oppressive (Mic 3:11),
- when people commit violence in the name of religion, and so desecrate God’s holiness (Zeph 1:9),
- when false men of religion deliberately stifle spiritual life and growth (Joel 1:10-12),
- and when false teachers dishearten or deceive good people in times of trial with false prophecy (Ezek 13:22).
When society comes up against one or two of these dangers alone, people of faith can deal with them, but if they come all at once, and they build up to a stage where they have become insurmountable, only God’s intervention can set things right; that’s when a ‘Day of Yahveh’ happens, and one such Day of Yahveh was the destruction of the Second Temple, the fall of Jerusalem, and the exile of the Jewish people from the Land.
God will not allow us to deflect attention away from our wrongdoings by blaming others
When you present these problems to those guilty of them, they always say, “We have never done anything wrong – it’s the other lot’s fault! Look at all the things they’ve done!” However, in the Israelite religion, the defence of pointing out other people’s sins is no defence for one’s own sins – with God, this tactic does not work; the one does not cancel out the other (Job 34:11, Prov 9:12, Ps 32:2-5, Prov 28:13-14).
Prov 15:5 says, ‘whoever heeds reproof is wise’. One of the practices of humility before God, is to be willing to acknowledge one’s own faults, without the need to point out someone else’s faults in order to excuse one’s own sins.
The Sins of the First Century that led to the downfall of the Temple
In the first century CE, on the surface everything seemed fine, but look beneath, and society was falling apart. For example, wealthy people no longer played their role in supporting the fabric of Jewish life – they took out from it, but gave nothing back to it. Torah contains many laws that are designed to obviate the difficulties that the poor faced in an age without social security and benefits. However, the wealthy saw these laws as being draining on their finances – they believed that they had earned their wealth, and were entitled to keep as much as possible out of it. However, in the Israelite mindset, it is Yahveh who has given you that wealth (Dt 8:18, 1Chr 29:12), and from the example of Job’s misfortunes, we can see that it is Yahveh’s to take away again. The rich person who uses a righteous portion of their wealth to better the society in which they live, is a blessing to God; they are putting their wealth to the use that God intended.
Because the rich of Yeshua’s day were not able to keep all their wealth for themselves, and were unwilling to help others, they ended up simply ignoring God’s laws; it was the easiest way out for them. What’s more, they simply could not understand the difficulties faced by the poor, and so dismissed them (cf Prov 29:7). As a result, ordinary people had to work every hour of daylight available to them in order just to pay off their debts – and that was before they could even think about feeding their families.
Religious charlatans spouted doom and gloom in order to frighten the public, and to milk the masses of their money. False prophets would dredge up every frightening verse in scripture they could find, then go and stand in the Temple courts during festival times, and scream out how these tragedies would befall them if they didn’t follow their teachings.
Priests were supposed to be representatives of God’s values, but the Sadducees were anything but. You probably know that priests were not supposed to own property or land, but the chief priests belonged mostly to the Sadducean sect. The Sadducees were notorious for taking bribes; they owned land and often great wealth. They were distrusted by most ordinary people, and were one of the reasons why the Temple authorities fell into such disrepute. If religion falls into disrepute, that means God falls into disrepute as well, and God cannot let that happen. You can be sure that God will do something about it!
The Zealots committed violence in the Name of God, so breaking the Third Commandment; committing violence in God’s Name desecrates God’s holiness. During the siege of Jerusalem, a number of Zealot groups took over the various parts of the Temple, and they fought against each other. By shedding human blood in the Temple, they desecrated it (human blood is not kosher, and death makes a place ritually unclean). There is no paradise for those who kill in God’s Name.
The fall and destruction of the Temple was one of the great tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people. However, by the time it was destroyed, it had already been desecrated by the sins of many corrupt and violent people. My personal opinion is that, having been desecrated by so many things, God could not let the Temple remain standing. It had become tainted, and if it remained, then all the corruption and violence would remain. This is why, I believe, God did not do anything to protect the Temple; God’s holy Presence withdrew from the Temple, and the Temple was destroyed.
Looking at our own society’s ills today
On Tisha be’Av, we mourn the loss of the Temple. However, we need to be aware that it is a completely false lamentation, if today we do nothing about the human ills and sins that brought about its downfall back then. Every generation must take a long hard look at itself, and ask, “Is my attitude and mindset contributing to God’s judgment against us? Am I allowing my society to degrade and fall apart? Am I excusing and turning a blind eye to the sins of people I admire?”
In the Israelite religion, if you make excuses for the sins of others, then the sin-guilt that blemishes their souls also falls on you – Prov 17:15 says, “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them are an abomination to Yahveh”.
On Tisha be’Av, we therefore need to ask ourselves, ‘What are the ills that caused the fall of the Temple back then, that are also present in my society today?’
Hope for the future
In the biblical ‘Book of Lamentations’, and the ‘Laments over Jerusalem‘ (from The Exhortations), after presenting all the sins that led to the destruction of the Temple, they both do a very vital thing: they end by firmly placing our hope in Yahveh. A soul that does not make excuses for his or her wrongdoings, can rightly and faithfully put their trust in Yahveh.
One day, the Temple will be rebuilt, but it will not be rebuilt in conflict or violence. It cannot be rebuilt in conflict, because that would desecrate the holiness of the Temple once more, and the Glory of God will not dwell there. There are some who advocate the overthrow of the Muslim authorities and rebuilding the Temple, but if they do, any Temple they rebuild will not be holy, and God’s Presence will not be there.
The Orthodox want the animal-blood sacrifices to be restored, but ancient Followers of the Way believed that blood was not necessary for the forgiveness of sin. I also believe that God will not allow the Temple services to be restored until we, the Jewish people, come to fully realise that it is the Glory of God that cleanses us of sin, not blood.
Our hope for the future – the hope that we console ourselves with as we come to close our fast on Tisha be’Av – is therefore that the Temple will be rebuilt in peace, and that knowledge of the Glory of God will cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea (cf Hab 2:14).
For those of you who will be fasting tomorrow, may the Presence and Glory of Yahveh be with you in your fast on Tisha be’Av.
Blessings and peace in Yahveh’s Holy Name
your brother
Shmuliq