A talking donkey may seem like fodder for a cartoon, but the Torah reading בָּלָק Balak (Numbers 22:2–25:9) contains a very real message for Israel about its future and the Messiah. Often, the Creator uses what we don’t expect — an animal, a prophet not of Israel — to shake up the complacent and underscore the gravity of the situation.
Death seems normal, because we see it all around us. But a major message of the Bible is death is out of place in the order God created. The mysterious ritual of the red heifer sacrifice detailed in this week’s reading — Chukat (“statute of”) — is a pattern of what Heaven had planned for the healing mission of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ).
Part of the Golden Rule is concern for other people. One way to view the somber warnings in the common Torah reading Bechukotai (“in My statutes”) is God is concerned about the world so much that its lifeline — Israel — has to remain pure.
A common catchphrase for believers in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus the Christ) is “walk by faith and not by sight” (2Cor. 5:7). Key memorials from God’s calendar that help with practicing the faith that is preached are the Shevi’it or Shemitah (“seventh” [year] and “release,” respectively, i.e., sabbatical year) and the Yobel (Jubilee). They are the focus of the Torah reading this week, Behar, covering Lev. 25:1-26:2.
There’s a lot of talk about the holiness of God and being holy. But what does it mean? Thankfully, God tells us in Leviticus 19-20, the Torah reading appropriately called קדשים Kedoshim, or “holiness[es].”
Should we feel shame for going against the Creator’s instructions? What do we do about that guilt? Discussed at length in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews, Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement) is one of the most important lessons in the parables connected to the Moedim (appointed times) of the LORD and the Tabernacle. […]
Thanks to social media and cable news, many of us have found ourselves overly caught up in politics. We have our own opinions about how the government should work for us and we vote every two to four years. But what we should have in our minds first is the Word of God, and knowing that He’s in charge. Our obedience to God is more important than our voting record. Our obedience to God is everything. Here are some lessons from major Bible leaders.