This Saturday is Tisha B’Av, the 9th of Av, a day that may not be familiar to you. It is a day of mourning and reflection for Jewish people and a day of fasting. However, this year Tisha B’Av falls on Shabbat and since Shabbat is about happiness and joy, the fast is delayed until Sunday. Not everyone fasts; it is not a Biblical fast. I plan to because it is important to me to remember the date with my fellow Jews. 
A lot of bad things happened to the Jewish people on and around the 9th of Av. The 1st Temple was destroyed and so was the 2nd Temple, the last fortification of the Bar Kokhba Rebellion was destroyed by the Romans, England expelled the Jews in 1290, in 1492 Spain did the same, and the deportation from the Warsaw Ghetto began. Tradition has it that Moses broke the two tablets on the 9th of Av and ten of the twelve spies came back with a faithless report about the promised land, sending an entire generation to their death on a 40 year trek through the wilderness.
There’s good reason to mourn and fast on the 9th of Av.
It is also a time of reflection. Why has God allowed His people to suffer? What relevance does the day have to us today?
First, much of the suffering is due to God’s judgement for disobedience. For example, the prophets warned that disobedience would lead to being overrun by Assyria and being taken into exile. Does that explain the Inquisition and Holocaust? You may disagree with me – and that is okay – but I think baseless hate probably explains all of the bad things that have happened since the destruction of the 2nd Temple. Anti-Judaism-fueled the hate, and still makes some people’s blood boil. Antisemitism is a personal baseless hate. People have hated God and His people for centuries, and still do.
Second, God does test us for our sake, not His. He knows our reaction to testing and He wants us to know our reaction. Are we still obedient to Him and do we still love Him when faced with trials and tribulation? We do not know until we face trials. Sometimes it is lost keys, sometime loss of life or disease. How will we handle it? Throughout the persecution faced by Jewish people, many have remained faithful to Him – although some have fallen away into atheism. Others have found redemption in Yeshua HaMashiach. Some wait for HaMashiach to come.
Which leads me to the relevance for today. As we enter the birth pangs of the Messiah there will be more hostility towards God and towards God’s people. Believers will be faced with hostility like we have never seen. Revelation 6:9-11 says, “When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slaughtered for the sake of the word of God and for the witness they had. And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘O Sovereign Master, holy and true, how long before You judge those who dwell on the earth and avenge our blood?’ Then a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants was complete—their brothers and sisters who were to be killed as they had been.”
We can look to the reaction to suffering that has already happened as guidance for the future. There are stories from the Inquisition and the Middle Ages of Jewish people publicly stating that they converted to Catholicism but maintained their faith traditions at home rather than fall into idolatry. There are stories from the Holocaust about people who said the sh’ma on the way to the gas chambers.God will not allow His Chosen to be wiped out because He still has a covenant relationship with them.
The point is that God wants us to persevere to the end and He has given us the tools we need to do it. He has given us a Bible with everything we need to know. He has given us prayer so we can talk to Him and listen to Him. And He has given every believer the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God as a comforter, keeper, helper – writing on our hearts the Law. For believers, we are sealed until the day of redemption. God is always faithful to keep His promises.
God wants us to be resilient. Jewish people are survivors and we can take a cue from their resilience.
Tisha B’Av is a time of reflection regarding baseless hate. How do we stop baseless hate of God’s people? Some people just like to hate people. We can educate and hopefully stem the tide. We – within the circle of God’s people – also have to be kind to one another, fellow believers and, I say, Jewish people – God’s Chosen People, too.
In a way, Tisha B’Av is a way of saying, “Never again!” knowing that it will happen again – and in a big apocalyptic way.