Author: Daniel

Categories
Discussions Prophets and Writings

Hosea 1:1-2:4: Mercy in God’s uncovering our sin

Painting of the The Prophet Hosea and the Delphic Sibyl Fresco Borgia Apartments, Hall of the Sibyls, by Pinturicchio.

The promiscuous wife of a prophet of Israel and the mother of mankind walk into a Bible lesson…. The joke is on us if we don’t catch why the Hoshea (Hosea) was told to marry a harlot and connect her predicament of being discovered to the test given to Chavah (Eve) at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad (Genesis 3–4).

Here’s a hint: “Nakedness” is an important symbol of a spiritual condition used in teachings in the Hebrew and Apostolic scriptures.

You and I are similar to Gomer. When we sin, we want to “get away with it.” We don’t want our sin revealed. We still have to have control over our desires. 

Categories
Appointments With God Discussions Tabernacles

Beatitudes of the four species of Sukkot

Etrog and lulav symbols of Sukkot
The etrog (citron) and the lulav (bundle of palm, myrtle and willow branches) represent the four species of plants God directed Israel to adorn the sukkah (booth) for the Festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles).

Temporary shelters, branches of palm, willow and myrtle, and citrus fruit — the symbols of the Sukkot, the biblical festival of Tabernacles, or Booths. Plants clean the air and subtly effect us by their fragrance. We see them as physical things that are useful to us in the physical realm, while God uses references of them in the Bible to teach spiritual lessons as symbolic representations of people.

In this study, we’ll explore what each of these symbols teach us about ourselves and how the Holy One of Israel wants to recreate us.

Categories
Discussions Torah

Ready for restoration? (Deuteronomy 32)

Restoration of the icon of Tsarevich Dmitry, 2009. (Photo by Shakko via Wikimedia Commons)

At times we can feel so lost or out of control that there seems to be no way back to normal. The “lyrics” of the “Song of Moshe” (Moses), recorded in the Torah reading Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 32), foretold of a time when Israel would wander so far from the One Who freed them from slavery in Mitzraim (Egypt) that the would appear to be lost forever.

While this is not an uplifting number, Israel is commanded to memorize it. That’s because the song shows the only way they would be able to return to the LORD.

Let’s find out more about why the redeemed from the world on the Day of the LORD will be singing the Song of Moshe and the Song of the Lamb (Rev. 15:3–4).

Categories
Appointments With God Atonement

Yom Kippur: Afflict the former way of life to be reborn

La Résurrection des Morts (1870) by Victor Mottez.

Every mistake, goof up in our Torah walk can fall into one of three categories: sin, transgression or iniquity. Sin is missing the mark on accident. Transgression is doing something wrong when you know better. Iniquity is when you do something wrong as an act of rebellion.

Discover in this study why God blots out our sins, transgressions and iniquities, and why we want the Messiah to present us to God free of our long list of shortcomings.

Categories
Appointments With God Discussions Trumpets

When God calls you, move without hesitation

Banner Photo: "The Snake", Larne. “The Snake” is the local name for the path connecting the Promenade to the Bankheads, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. This is the view from the Bankheads. "It is steeper than the photo suggests. The chap in the foreground made an excellent ascent without hesitation or deviation." Photo by Aubrey Dale, used under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.

The reason for the high holy day of Yom Teruah, the Day of Blowing (Trumpets) aka Rosh HaShanah (New Year), is not as obvious as all the others. As we “look under the hood,” we find that it calls us to accept godly change without hesitation.

Categories
Discussions Torah

All cultures are not equal (Numbers 30–36)

Are we thankful that Heaven’s faithfulness isn’t like our faithlessness, making promises we can’t keep (out of hopefulness) and won’t keep (out of deception)? In the double-header Torah reading of מטות Matot (“tribes,” Numbers 30–32) and מסעי Massei (or Mase’y, “journeys of,” Numbers 33–36), we learn why Yeshua (Jesus) taught that vows and oaths were no flippant matter, why Heaven’s “new covenant” promise is dependable to remember our iniquities no more (Jeremiah 31:31–34) and how being “grafted in” to the people of God has been the plan (Romans 11).

Categories
Discussions Torah

Numbers 22–24: Beware of self-loving, double-speaking prophets

A man stands atop of a high place in the Grand Canyon with arms outstretched in praise

It’s important to respect yourself as one who bears the image of God, but when does self-love cross over into conceit? And when that conceit is in the heart of a prophet that practices deceit, it’s a sobering warning. The lesson of Balaam told in Torah reading בָּלָק Balak (Numbers 22:2-25:9) and expanded upon in Micah 5:6–6:8 and Jude 3-16 is a warning and a contrast between a true prophet of God, namely Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus), and a false prophet.