Category: Appointments With God

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Discussions Shabbat Torah

God humbled a superpower to free His people from slavery (Exodus 1–5)

God humbled a superpower to free His people from slavery (Exodus 1-5)

It’s cold comfort while we’re suffering to understand that learning how to endure it will make us stronger (James 1:2–4). And it can seem cruel to watch such a struggle from the outside, thinking someone with power should step up and stop it.

That heart cry for deliverance is the focus of the Torah reading שמות Shemot (“names,” Exodus 1:1–6:1). Amid the passage’s exploration of the key question of why the Kingdom of Heaven that spoke the Earth into existence seems to be unable or unwilling to stop the oppression of one of its superpowers — Mitzraim (Egypt) — there’s the subtle hit of Heaven’s coming knockout blow to that bully.

The Holy One blessed about three-score and 10 Israeli immigrants, lifting Mitzraim above its neighbors during a punishing famine while multiplying Israel’s numbers at a rate that was frightening to a pharaoh who thought he was in control of his own destiny. Just think what Heaven will do for those who cry out for relief.

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Appointments With God

Fall feasts to the LORD

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).

Here is a primer on the fall appointments of God — Yom Teruah (Trumpets), Yom haKippurim (Atonement), Sukkot (Tabernacles) and Shmeni Atzeret (Eighth Day) — with links to Bible studies on the lessons from these festivals.

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Appointments With God Discussions Gossip and Slander Life With God Passover Torah

Numbers 8–12: The LORD calls, but will we answer?

The President of the United States reaches to answer a call. Official White House photo by Pete Souza. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

As the Torah reading בהעלתך Beha’alotcha begins, the menorah and the Levites are dedicated to God’s service, and the Tabernacle is ready for business. However, this reading is permeated with all sorts of ingratitude and complaining, from the people complaining about the manna to Miriam and Aaron complaining about Moses. God doesn’t put up with any of it. Whether it’s sending down a consuming fire or a plague, God doesn’t put up with people grumbling about His provision.

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Appointments With God Discussions Pentecost/Shavuot

Shavuot (Pentecost) expands the Kingdom of God

Marriage Contract for Shavuot, artist unknown, circa 17th-18th century. Currently owned by the The Jewish Museum of New York. Photo from Wikipedia Commons.

Shavuot and the sabbatical years of the jubilee are based on three ideas: liberty, restoration and acceptance. Both stand on the same foundation.

What foundation does man stand upon? Dirt + water + breath of life = Man. We all began with Adam and Eve without exception. God gave Adam and Eve the Breath of Life and we have all inherited this because of them.

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Discussions Passover Torah

Exodus 10:1–13:16: Make me unleavened

"The Angel of Death and the First Passover"
Charles Foster, ed., "The Angel of Death and the First Passover," "Bible Pictures and What They Teach Us," Drawing, Public domain (U.S.), W.A Foster: Philadelphia, 1897.

When we observe the commandments of God, we are like the flatbread: nothing added, nothing taken out. In this discussion on the Torah reading Bo (“come,” Exodus 10:1-13:16), we learn are not to add to God’s commandments and we are not to treat any traditions we keep on the same level as God’s commandments. Matzot gives you life but it also give you some affliction and difficulty. God’s mitzvot are the same, they give us life but they also bring some difficulty to life.

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Appointments With God Pentecost/Shavuot

Shavuot/Pentecost: God is gathering the ‘strangers’

Studies in Torah

There are four lessons from Shavuot, aka Pentecost and the Feast of Weeks: 1. We are to have the same mind as is in Messiah Yeshua. 2. There are two different types of Firstfruits, and yet they are both “first.” 3. There was a delay between Yeshua’s call to the Jews vs. the Gentiles, and that is a good thing. 4. If you ask God for understanding, He will answer. Details are important, but they aren’t the only thing.

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Appointments With God Discussions Firstfruits Passover Torah

Numbers 9: ‘Second-chance Pesach’ and being covered by the Cloud

Numbers 9: 2nd chance Passover - freedom under the cloud

The Pesach (Passover) is one of the most solemn of God’s appointed times (a.k.a., feasts or festivals), it is the only feast inaugurated when God Himself shed blood. The Pesach is also the only feast with a “second chance,” which seems apropos for a God who is all about giving people opportunity for repentance and second chances. God also shows, through the Cloud, that when He says “move” we are to move. When God says, “Stay put,” we are to stay put.