Three Weeks of Rebuke

Tomorrow night, 7/3, is the 17th of Tammuz in the Jewish calendar. This is the day where the Romans breached the walls into Jerusalem just prior to the destruction of the Temple. It is also on this day, according to Jewish tradition, that Moses shattered the tablets when he came down from the mountain and saw them worshipping the Golden Calf.

This is a minor fast day and marks the beginning of the Three Weeks of Rebuke leading up to Tisha B'Av. The readings from the prophets during each of these weeks are prophecies of the coming of the destruction of the Temple and speak of Israel's sins that caused it.

During these three weeks no weddings are performed, we do not cut our hair, nor purchase new clothes. It is a time of mourning, somewhat like the Christian Lenten season.

Tisha B'Av is Israel's darkest hour and is a major fast day. On this day the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians and (centuries later) the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans. Yet, it is called Israel's brightest hour as well. For, according to Jewish tradition, it is also on this day that the Messiah will be born, who will bring restoration to Israel and be a healing to the nations. It is for this reason that the liturgical readings of the Besorah (NT) in many Messianic synagogues focus on the death and resurrection of Yeshua. He said that if we tore down the Temple (meaning His body) He would rebuild it in 3 days (meaning the resurrection).

It is a somber season and yet one filled with hope. The rabbis saw this as also a time when God heals the relationship with His "wife" Israel. Immediately after Tisha B'Av begins the Seven Weeks of Consolation leading up to Rosh Hashanah. The readings from the prophets during this period speak of God's love for Israel and His promise to return us to the Land, restore the Temple.

Rosh Hashanah points to this Great Day of Liberation. "On that day," proclaims the prophet, "the great shofar will be sounded. And they will come, those lost in the land of Assyria and those forsaken in the land of Egypt, and bow before God on the Holy mountain, Jerusalem." (Isaiah 27:13) It is on this Day, that Messiah Yeshua shall return bringing healing to Israel and the nations.