Category: Appointments With God

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions The Eighth Day

Dwelling with God: Hold firm to your faith

"Lessons from the feasts: Dwelling with God: Hold firm to your faith." Adobe Firefly AI layered-paper-style image showing a city with chaos around it, hinting at the New Jerusalem at the time when forces of the Adversary surround it.

Dwelling with God in the New Jerusalem on the Day of the LORD demands unshakable faith, not just temporary obedience. This study explores one of the lessons from the biblical festival of Shemini Atzeret, the Convocation of the Eighth Day after the start of Sukkot, the feast of Tabernacles. The Messiah’s supreme authority (Hebrews 3-4) grants forgiveness to the repentant, while the unbelieving remain excluded (Revelation 21). Eternal life in God’s presence requires a lifetime of trusting His unseen purposes, not just outward compliance.

The choice is ours — to believe and enter His rest, or harden our hearts like those of our spiritual ancestors in Israel who refused to enter God’s “rest, the Promised Land (Psalm 95; Hebrews 3-4).

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Appointments With God Discussions Tabernacles

The sukkah experience: How humility builds community, interdependence and spiritual growth

"The sukkah experience: How humility builds community, interdependence and spiritual growth." (Leviticus 23, Nehemiah 8, James 4, 1Kings 8)

Why did Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) initially say He would not go to Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, as recorded in John 7, but then showed up later incognito? This study suggests the answer seems to be in the key element of the celebration itself, living in a temporary dwelling for a week.

Sukkot calls us to humble ourselves, remembering our dependence on God. By dwelling in fragile shelters, we recall Israel’s wilderness wanderings — a time of stripping away self-reliance to learn trust in the divine Provider. This annual celebration challenges us to let go of earthly securities, to live vulnerably before our Maker.

In an age of increasing self-sufficiency, Sukkot’s message rings prophetic: true strength comes not from what we can accumulate, but in recognizing our smallness before the Almighty. By embracing this humility, we open ourselves to receive God’s grace and blessing.

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Atonement Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah

From guilt to glory: Yom Kippur & the believer’s transformative journey

"From guilt to glory: Yom Kippur and the believer's transformative journey." Adobe Firefly AI palette knife-style image of men and women walking from left to right from gloom to joy.

This study explores יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים Yom Kippurim, the Day of Atonement in the Bible, which stands as a pivotal moment in the redemptive story, bridging the gulf between Heaven and Earth. Rooted in Leviticus 16 and echoed in Hebrews 3–10, this sacred day reveals the Messiah’s eternal work of covering sins, transgressions and iniquities.

From the Passover lamb’s blood on the doorpost to block the LORD’s destroyer to the high priest’s incense-shrouded entrance into the Holy of Holies, the themes of Yom Kippur point to the ultimate sacrifice of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ), the Melchizedek priest who cleanses our consciences from the stain of a life separated from the presence of the Creator (Heb. 9:14).

Confronting the depths of the human heart, as seen in Genesis 4, Psalm 51, Isaiah 1 and Matthew 5, Yom Kippur calls us to a posture of brokenness and contrition, that we might experience the transformative power of forgiveness and restoration.

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Appointments With God Discussions Prophets and Writings Trumpets

Trust the Promise-keeper: How to stand firm as the Earth reels

"Lessons from God's appointments: Trust the Promise-keeper. How to stand firm as the Earth reels." Adobe Firefly AI layered-paper style image for Yom Teruah, showing an Asian man standing in strong stance with his fists raised up while tumultuous waters and swirled skies are around him.

יוֹם תְּרוּעָה Yom Teruah (Day of Blowing [Trumpets], Num. 29:1; Lev. 23:23–25, aka Rosh Hashanah) is an annual Biblical wake-up call to remember our Creator and His eternal purposes. In a world chasing after false idols of self-actualization, we would be wise to heed the voice of the Prophets, who revealed the true path of repentance, lawfulness and love for God and neighbor.

This study explores how as lawlessness increases in the world, the people of the Holy One of Israel must stand firm, not compromising the foundations of the 10 Commandments. The outpouring of God’s Spirit is not for self-promotion, but to transform hearts and restore the land. In the face of coming judgments, we must trust the one true God — the I Am, Who was, is, and is to come — and find our strength in Him alone.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Shabbat Torah

Promised Land and promised ‘rest’: Do we have enough faith to allow God to free us? (Numbers 13–14; Hebrews 3–4)

Promised land and promised rest: Do we have enough faith to follow God to freedom? (Based on Numbers 13 and 14; Hebrews 3 and 4.) Adobe Firefly AI image of a group of weary people walking up a hill from a dark, scary forest to a bright, restful place.

This study of the Torah reading שְׁלַח Shelach/Shelakh (“send,” Numbers 13–15) reports of the 12 spies in Numbers 13–14 foreshadow the sending by Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) of the 12 and 70 apostles in the Gospels. Just as the spies were sent to scout the Promised Land, the apostles were sent to proclaim the coming Kingdom.

However, the Israelites’ lack of faith prevented them from entering God’s “rest,” a spiritual reality that believers in Yeshua the Messiah can now access. This “rest” is not a replacement of Israel’s role, but a fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham. The Promised Land was a physical type and shadow of the eternal “sabbath rest” that believers can enter through faith in Messiah. This rest represents the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan for His people to dwell with Him in peace and righteousness.

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions Pentecost/Shavuot Prophets and Writings Torah

Loyalty over ancestry: What really matters to God (Ruth 1–4; Exodus 20; John 4)

Loyalty versus ancestry: What really matters to God (Ruth 1-4; Exodus 20; John 4). Adobe Firefly AI image of an young ancient Middle East woman walks along a path holding hands with an older woman, walking past cactus and olive trees.

In this study on Shavuot (Pentecost), we see how we’re reminded annually of Heaven’s mission to call all nations and a promise to do that through His Son as King of Kings over Jew and goy (Gentile) alike. The Book of Ruth depicts a woman of Moab embraced by Israel through her faith: “Your people will be my people; your God my God.”

The Holy One’s promise to bless the world through Abraham was a legacy that stretched through Ruth’s lineage to King David to Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus).

Yeshua’s visit to Samaria (John 4) ignored long-held social barriers and showed that the good news of the Kingdom includes Gentiles. The Ten Commandments given at Sinai points all those called people to righteousness, starting with Israel.

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Atonement Discussions Jubilee Prophets and Writings Sabbatical Year Torah

Cancel debts, free slaves: Radical teachings of Jubilee and Sabbatical Year for modern life (Leviticus 25; Isaiah 58; Matthew 6 and 18)

"Cancel debts, free slaves: Radical teachings of Jubilee and Sabbatical Year for modern life (Leviticus 25; Isaiah 58; Matthew 6 and 18). Adobe Firefly AI artwork of a hand reaching up toward a sunset-toned cloudy sky while a chain extends from each side of the scene and wraps around the wrist.

The Torah reading בְּהַר Behar (“on mount [Sinai],” Leviticus 25:1–26:2) teaches that debts are released after seven-year cycles (Shemitah, sabbatical year) and 49-year cycles (Yobel/Jubilee) to memorialize God’s forgiveness. This pattern is seen in Messiah Yeshua’s (Christ Jesus) teachings on forgiveness in Matthew 18 and manifest in his role as suffering servant who takes our debts (Isaiah 53). By forgiving others as we’ve been forgiven (Matthew 6:12), we reflect the Heavenly economy of releasing debts, underscored via receiving God’s mercy on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement; Leviticus 16; Isaiah 58:1–12).