What does it mean to be “in Christ,” and what does it mean to have “Christ in you”? We go into the Creator’s presence by way of the Messiah. The Creator’s presence goes into us by way of the Messiah.
Among the biblical symbols of Sukkot (festival of Tabernacles, or Booths) is the tent, the temporary dwelling. It reminds us of who we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going. The sukkah is also a visual representation of how to have “Messiah in us” and to be “in Messiah” at the same time.
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.
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.
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.
The annual celebration of שבועות Shavuot, aka Πεντηκοστή Pentecost, is connected historically and lessonwise to the annual memorials of Pesakh (Passover) and Matzot (Unleavened Bread) by the 50 days in between. God’s instructions for Shavuot are connected to a harvest, but we can glean from its linkage to the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai (Exodus 19-20) and to the widespread outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 2) deeper roots in the lessons of salvation in Pesakh and sanctification in Matzot.
The message of freedom from the past, contentment in the present and strength for the future is not just for the whole world, and not just Israel. Learn how Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) is the thread Heaven has woven through all these reminders.
Forgetting that the high point of God’s calendar — יום הכפרים Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement) — is all about the work of the High Priest and not of the congregant leaves one with the impossible, “terrifying” task of being his own sin sacrifice (Heb. 10:26–27). This study takes a whirlwind tour of the Letter to the Hebrews and what it tells us how Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) is the embodiment of the lessons and message of the “Day of Coverings.”
When the LORD is moving you out of your old life, it’s a one-way trip, like the first exodus celebrated at Pesakh (Passover). There is no looking back or carrying a lot of baggage that would tie us to that old life. Part of Pesakh is the spiritual discipline of eating מצה matzah (unleavened bread), through it and with the counsel of the Lamb of God and apostle Paul, we find out the remaining parts of our old way of life — the “old leaven” — God wants to drain out of us.