On what day occurred Ancient
Israel's GREATEST disasters?

The ninth day of the fifth Hebrew month (known as Ab 9 or 9th of Ab) is a MONUMENTAL day in the history of ancient Israel. Although not a commanded Biblical Holy or Feast day, Jews throughout history have annually mourned and fasted on Ab 9 (which occurs in July or August). What makes this day so special and UNIQUE not only to Jews but to all those who study and believe in the Bible?

It is on the 9th of Ab (based on dates given in scripture or Jewish history) that at least NINE tragic events have started or occurred in the history of Israel and its people throughout the world. These calamities are:

1. Moses broke the tablets of the Law (Ten Commandments) on Ab 9 when he saw the children of Israel worshipping a golden calf - a false god (Exodus 32) right after God had delivered them from Egyptian slavery.

2. God told Moses to choose twelve men, one from each tribe, and send them to explore the land of Canaan they were to receive (Numbers 13). Ten of the twelve men (except Caleb and Joshua), when they returned on Ab 9, reported a land filled with milk and honey but populated with giant men, walled cities and strong inhabitants that would defend their home. Instead of having faith in God to do what he promised, the very negative, pessimistic report of the ten spies caused almost all the people to lose faith in God and rebel against Him, leading to them being cursed to wander in the wilderness for forty years.

3. The total destruction of Jerusalem's first temple, known as Solomon's Temple, was begun in 586 B.C. on the ninth of Ab. The temple's destruction was carried out by the Babylonians, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, who laid siege and destroyed the city and burned the temple to the ground. (See Jeremiah 52).

4. The total destruction of Jerusalem's SECOND temple (known as Herod's temple) was begun by the Romans on the 9th of Ab and was completed on Ab 10 in 70 A.D. Roman General (later Emperor) Titus did not want to destroy the Temple and begged the Jews to surrender --- which they refused. The city was conquered and, in spite of his orders, Titus' soldiers threw flaming torches into the Temple and burned it down.

Stones from the Western Wall of Jerusalem's Temple Mount that were knocked down by the Roman army in 70 A.D.		Other calamities include: In 71 A.D., on the anniversary of Ab 9, the Roman army plowed Jerusalem with salt in preparation for making it a Roman colony. The army of Simon Bar Kochba, who had rebelled against Rome in 132 A.D., was destroyed by Roman legions in 135 A.D. on Ab 9. The last great army of an independent Israel was slaughtered without mercy. Roman historian Dio Cassius states that about 580,000 Jewish soldiers were killed in battle, not counting those killed by fire and famine. King Edward I of England expelled all Jews from England on July 18th, 1290 A.D., which was the 9th of Ab. It wasn't until 1657 A.D. that England, through Oliver Cromwell, allowed Jews the right of return and resettle. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain expelled all Jews from Spain (about 800,000) on August 2, 1492, which was the 9th of Ab. In 1914 A.D., on Ab 9, World War I was declared. In Russia's mobilization for war they launched bitter persecutions against Jews in the country ---- which led many Jews to emigrate to the Holy Land to escape.

Many Jews today observe the 9th of Ab by fasting. Some stand mourning and weeping in prayer at the Wailing Wall, which they believe to be the only portion left standing of the second temple. Verses are read from Jeremiah's book of Lamentations in a dirge-like chant. Is this mourning and fasting truly dedicated to the Eternal God and a call to REAL repentance and obedience? Or is it merely for show by a rebellious people who want their own ways but still want favor with God? This the question asked in Zechariah 7:

"Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me (Zechariah) saying,  'Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests:  "When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me — FOR ME?  When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink FOR YOURSELVES?  Should you not have OBEYED the words which the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?" '

"Thus says the Lord of hosts:  'Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother.  Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor.  Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.'

"'But they REFUSED to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.  Yes, they made their hearts like flint, REFUSING to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets.  Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.' " (Zechariah 7:4-7, 9-12, NKJV)

For all of these disastrous events to have occurred on the same date, Ab 9, is more than coincidence. We should watch world events, and pray always that we may be accounted worthy to stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21:36).