Lamentations 5:18-22 — Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation. Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time? Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.

Today, Jewish people all over the world have observed Tisha B’av — the ninth day of the fifth month. It is the saddest of days in the Jewish calendar, and commemorates five disasters to have stricken the Jewish people on this over centuries.

It is impertinent, perhaps, for one who is not a Jew to have any thoughts about such a day — but I do.

The first of the “disasters” was self inflicted. In Numbers 14 the story is told — that the people of Israel refused to enter the Promised Land, and then compounded their error by trying to go in against the Lord’s instructions. The sin of the ten spies marked the ninth of Av as a dark date forever.

More than seven hundred years later, on the ninth of Av, Nebuzaradan the Babylonian destroyed the first temple. Almost seven hundred years later, on the ninth of Av, the Romans destroyed the second temple.

On the ninth of Av in 1290, the Jews were expelled from England.

 On the ninth of Av in 1492, the Jews left Spain, expelled again.

What are we to learn from this litany of affliction?

The first thing that came to mind is that God does not forget. It will be a long time before the refusal to enter the Promised Land is forgotten. God is not petty — but His people threw His generosity back in His face, rejecting His plan for their destiny.

The second thing is that not one, but three, at least, of the disasters were self inflicted. The failure to enter the Promised Land has been covered. The destruction of the two temples surely followed the decline of temp?e religion into formalism and hypocrisy.

The third thing that comes to my mind is that disaster must be survived — a lesson that the Jewish people have learned and supremely followed.

The fourth thing is that disaster must be the occasion for contemplation and, if appropriate, repentance. It is the lesson of the Book of Lamentations, which is read on Tisha B’av. It is why fasting is part of the observation of the day.

The last thing is that, in the end, God redeems. He remembers, we survive and repent, and He redeems — but His timescale is longer than we can imagine.