Author: Jeff

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Discussions Prophets and Writings Tabernacles Torah

Genesis 32–33; Hosea 11–12: Sick of the false allure of the temporary?

The Torah reading וַיִּשְׁלַח Vayishlach (“and he sent,” Gen. 32:4-36:43) gives us an active example of what the apostle Paul calls the “ministry of reconciliation” (2Cor. 5:18).

What we see in Jacob and Esau is a profound message for us today, buried amongst sibling rivalry. We should strive to live at peace with everyone, but there still must be a division between the Kingdom of the Eternal and the Kingdom of the Temporary. God wants everyone to leave the Kingdom of the Temporary and join Him in the Kingdom of the Eternal, because the Kingdom of the Temporary will be destroyed on the Day of the LORD.

The LORD sends us into the world to be His ambassadors and part of the kingdom of priests. Will we go? Will we face challenges of our own making or ones that are out of our control?

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Discussions Torah

Regret vs. repentance (Genesis 25:19–28:9; Malachi 1–4)

Who we came from doesn’t necessarily define who we are or will become. On the flip side, if we aren’t “born again” (John 3) into the best of the legacy passed to us — the Kingdom of God — we can turn it into an abomination.  

The Torah section תולדות Toldot (“generations,” Gen. 25:19–28:9) reminds us that we are called to recognize the good around us and must become wise to the frequent folly of “following your heart.” We should have the desire to be mature and complete in the knowledge of and relationship to God. We should not be dismayed when “curveballs” come our way.

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Discussions Torah

Genesis 18–19: How to show hospitality in an hostile world

Abraham and Lot offer the world concrete examples of radical hospitality. Both of them had an overflowing love for their fellow man that was stronger than the fear and “stranger danger” that holds most of us back from helping those in need.

Many focus on illicit behavior, but Sodom’s utter lack of hospitality and its culture of fear is why God wiped them off the map, destroying them so utterly that their lush valley is now an ocean of salt.

Torah reading וַיֵּרָא Vayera (“[and] he appeared,”) is a fair warning to us in our day. We must be careful when responding to the strangers in our midst with fear rather than love.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Matthew 5:13–16: Why the Kingdom needs more tastefulness and enlightenment

We can toss around slights such as “moron” and “dim bulb” tastelessly, but we should take great pause when such words take center stage in a major teaching from Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus).

In this third part of a deep dive into the Sermon on the Mount and Sermon on the Plain, we explore His parables of salt and light, digging into the lessons they give for how the Kingdom will operate at the time of the “a new heavens and a new Earth” (Isa. 66:22-23; Rev. 22:1-2) and right now.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Matthew 5:8–20: Does the Messiah’s path to true happiness include the Law?

Does the Messiah's path to true happiness include the Law?

Aren’t the Law of Moses and the Law of Christ two different “tunes,” the former about obedience and justice and the latter about grace and mercy? We find that Yeshua (Jesus) bridges both in the sermons on the mount and plain (Matthew 5–7; Luke 6:17–36).

In part 3 of this look inside these important messages from Yeshua on salvation, we explore a critical key to understanding the harmony between the Song of the Lamb and the Song of Moses, detailed in Torah reading הַאֲזִינוּ Ha’azinu (“listen,” Deuteronomy 32).

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Matthew 5:3–6; Luke 6:20–21: Happiness is mourning unrighteousness, rejoicing over forgiveness

Happiness is mourning unrighteousness, rejoicing over forgiveness

In part 2 of our deep dive into Messiah Yeshua’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-36), we explore the Beatitudes and discover how we can find true happiness through sorrow over life apart from the Creator and joy over Heaven’s Anointed One who heals the pain.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

Isaiah 60: Feeling lost, alone, forgotten? Grab Heaven’s Lifeline — the Messiah

As Rosh Hashanah (aka Yom Teruah and Day of Blowing Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonment) approach, it’s a good reminder to be more forgiving of the small things that others do to annoy us. And what we do to annoy them.

We need to forgive those as we want to be forgiving. The Messiah forgives a massive amount of trespasses. The LORD covers over those egregious sins, so we can at least let go of the much smaller trespasses others do to us. 

We may think we’re far removed from the horror show described in the Torah reading כי תבוא Ki Tavo (“when you come in,” Deut. 26:1-29:8), but each of us encounters stress that pushes off any mask from our true characters.

A key point in this passage is entering and living in the “rest” God gives us, fully realized through the Messiah and the Spirit. Like Israel’s move from Mitsraim (Egypt) to the Land, our entering God’s “rest” (Hebrews 3–4) is all about a change of identity, purpose and character.

This Bible study looks at the parallel reading for Ki Tavo: Isaiah 60, which Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) quoted. The Exile, both literal and spiritual, is a time of darkness and desolation. When the darkness is great, the light is even easier to spot. Unfortunately, we tend to focus on the darkness. Most of our entertainment focuses on the darkness. God has shown us the Light of the world.