Tisha B'Av and the Last Day
By David T. E. S. Cooke
Tisha B'Av is a day of national mourning as Jews recall the various tragedies that befell them throughout their history. One rabbi describes how the three weeks leading up to Tisha B'Av (August 3, 2006) "have historically been days of misfortune and calamity for the Jewish people. During this time, both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, among other terrible tragedies."1 The events of the Holocaust are also at the forefront of people's minds in this season.
God is not unaware of the great sufferings of His ancient covenant people throughout history. He is not unmoved by their plight. He is not powerless to intervene. Rather, we believe that there is a greater purpose and plan in God's divine permission of these gross tragedies. There is a loving purpose.
One purpose - though certainly not the only one - is that of warning. As horrible as the events of Tisha B'Av were, there is a worse tragedy on the horizon. Though few men would acknowledge it, the Bible predicts a catastrophe of mammoth proportions that shall affect the whole world. God yearns for His people to escape this catastrophe.
Malachi writes, "For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up" (Malachi 4:1). There is a day of destruction coming. This will be a day of great tragedy - the ultimate "Tisha B'Av."
Isaiah writes, "Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger…'I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.'" On that day even the sun, moon, and stars will fail (Isaiah 13:9-11).
In their own distinct experience of suffering, the Jewish people have been given a unique window into the future. God has shown them a foretaste of the Last Day - the Day of God's judgement and wrath on mankind. Will you look through this window? Are you ready for that Day?
Before Messiah brings in His kingdom of righteousness and peace, there must first be a fiery purging. All guilt, sin, and evil must be removed. All the roots of death and suffering must be expunged if a world of complete perfection is to be realized. And so, "He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth" (Psalm 96:13).
Jesus also spoke about this Day. He said, "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 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 24:29,30).
On that fearful Day there will be mourning like never before. A great lament will sound as people realize that God's judgement has come. And because no one is without sin, no one will be immune - no one, that is, except those who have heeded the warning and prepared themselves!
Jesus continues: "And He [the Son of Man] will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matthew 24:31). There is an elect people - a remnant - who will be saved from this greatest of all tragedies. These blessed ones will be gathered and preserved for the kingdom of Messiah, while all others will be consumed in everlasting fire.
Who are the elect? They are those who repent of their sins and put their trust in Jesus - the Son of Man, our Messiah! Jesus came to earth 2,000 years ago to pay the price for our sins on the tree. Through His atoning sacrifice, we are saved from the judgement to come. He has provided the way of escape. If we take that way, we will have truly heeded the warning of Tisha B'Av.
References
1 www.aish.com/tishaBavOverview/tishaBavOverviewDefault/The_Three_Weeks.asp
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