Introduction: Ab is the Jewish name for the fifth month in the religious calendar and the eleventh month of the civil calendar. This non-biblical name began to be used during the Babylonian captivity. The Bible simply calls this month the “fifth month.” This designation is found ten times in the Bible. The month of Ab begins with the new moon of August and always has thirty days. Agriculturally, the month of Ab is known in Israel as the time for the ripening of grapes, figs, and olives.

In this message, the fifth month is symbolic of those times of your life you think of as evil: the bad year, the dreaded month or time of year, or, as the Bible states, “the evil day” (Amos 6:3Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
See All...). The young are warned to serve God now “while the evil days come not” (Ecclesiastes 12:1Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
See All...). The believer is to redeem the time “because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
See All...). Perhaps you are in an evil time of life or dread a particular time of year because of past experiences. Perhaps you need to learn the lesson of the fifth month.

1. THE RECORD OF THE FIFTH MONTH
1. Aaron died on Mount Hor on the first day of the fifth month in 1423BC [Reese] (Numbers 33:38And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.
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2. The false prophet Hananiah prophesied the defeat of Babylon and was rebuked by Jeremiah in the fifth month in 594BC [Reese] (Jeremiah 28:1And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
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3. Ezekiel prophesied of the coming judgment of God on Israel and the mercy to follow on the tenth day of the fifth month in 591 BC [Reese] (Ezekiel 20:1And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me.
   See All...). This chapter closes with a prophecy of fire on the land.
4. The Babylonian general Nebuzaradan burned Jerusalem on the seventh day of the fifth month in 586BC [Reese] (2 Kings 25:8-9 [8] And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: [9] And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire.
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5. Jerusalem was carried away captive in the fifth month (Jeremiah 1:3It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
   See All...). This occurred on the tenth day of the fifth month in 586BC [Reese] after the destruction of Jerusalem by fire (Jeremiah 52:12-16 [12] Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, [13] And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire: [14] And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about. [15] Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. [16] But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.
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6. Zechariah was asked as to the propriety of continuing the fast of the fifth month in 519BC [Reese] (Zechariah 7:3-5 [3] And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? [4] Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying, [5] Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
   See All...). The fast was established to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem, but now Jerusalem was being restored.
7. Ezra arrived at Jerusalem from Babylon on the first day of the fifth month in 458BC [Reese] (Ezra 7:8-9 [8] And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. [9] For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.
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2. THE LESSONS OF THE FIFTH MONTH
1. Even in Judgment, there is Restraint (Ezekiel 20:33-44 [33] As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: [34] And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. [35] And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. [36] Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD. [37] And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: [38] And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. [39] As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols. [40] For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. [41] I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. [42] And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. [43] And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. [44] And ye shall know that I am the LORD when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
   See All...); there is mercy (Psalm 130:7Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
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2. Even in Sorrow, there is Promise (Zechariah 8:1-5 [1] Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, [2] Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. [3] Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. [4] Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. [5] And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.
   See All..., 11-15, 18-19); joy in the morning (Psalm 30:5For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
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3. Even in Disaster, there is Providence (Ezra 7:6This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
   See All..., 10); all things working together for good (Romans 8:28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
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Conclusion: Mother Hen Teaches Us to Wait on God – A. W. Tozer told this story from his youth: “I’ve often wondered how a hen must feel about sitting for three weeks on an egg. My mother always put thirteen eggs under a hen and the old girl would sit right there. She might take a little coffee break once in awhile, but back she’d come again to the nest. For the first week, it was a novelty. Two weeks of it she might endure, but that last week must have been torture—just sitting there with nothing happening.

“Then about noon of the twenty-first day, the first little experimental peep is heard under her wings. And she smiles as only a hen can smile and says, ‘Thank God, they’re here.’ After that it is just a question of time. One after the other, the chicks peck themselves out of their shells. I used to get down on my hands and knees as a boy and watch them pecking themselves out. They’re messy when they first appear, but give them about ten minutes in the sunshine and they’re as fluffy as can be, and lovely to look at. But they only come after twenty-one long days of waiting.

“God sometimes makes us wait. He made the disciples wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
See All...) and He may make you wait. But remember, God is faithful who called you, and He also will do it [1 Thessalonians 5:24Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
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