Category: Appointments With God

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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).

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Apostolic Writings Atonement Discussions Torah

Heaven’s firewall: How Yom Kippur teaches us to filter thoughts through Yeshua (Leviticus 16–18; 1Corinthians 5–6)

Heaven's firewall: How Yom Kippur teaches us to filter thoughts through Yeshua (Leviticus 16-18; 1Corinthians 5-6). Adobe AI artwork of a woman with exposed brain divided between dark and bright hemispheres.

This study of Torah reading אַחֲרֵי מוֹת Acharei Mot (“after the deaths,” Leviticus 16–18) with 1Corinthians 5–6 explores complex modern moral issues, including organ donation, gender identity and spiritual decay. The seemingly paradoxical dual character of God as “high and lifted up” and “God with us” helps us understand the Messiah’s role as high priest and the two covering-removing offerings of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).

These passages emphasize the need for spiritual discernment. Like a firewall against cyberattacks, we must filter thoughts and experiences through God’s words and recognizing whose voice we are listening to as we navigate the complexities of life, be they ancient or modern.

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Appointments With God Discussions Passover Torah Unleavened Bread

Crying out to the God Who hears: Lamenting injustice and hoping in divine resolution (Exodus 3–4)

Crying out to the God Who hears: Lamenting injustice and hoping in divine resolution (Exodus 3-4). Adobe Firefly AI-generated image of an old woman crying out in anguish.

The three signs Elohim gave Moshe (Moses) at the burning bush in Exodus 4 to show the elders of Israel revealed God knew intimately the horrors they endured during centuries of bondage in Mitzraim (Egypt).

First, the staff becoming a snake and back again symbolized how the “tribe” of Israel had been made contemptible in Egypt but was being restored, finally though the Red Sea crossing. Second, the leprous hand showed God saw their affliction as if they were stillborn infants, to which Moshe’s sister, Miriam, was compared. Third, turning a jug of water into blood red revealed that God witnessed their babies’ murders by Egypt into the Nile, which be expanded to grand scale in the first plague.

This study explores that through these signs addressing their specific traumas, God demonstrated to the elders that He heard, remembered, saw and knew His “first-born,” and God would gain justice for their sufferings in Egypt. This is a key lesson of Pesach (Passover) and Matzot (Unleavened Bread).

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Torah readings Unleavened Bread

1st day of Chag Matzot (Unleavened Bread) readings

Studies in Torah

Because ancient Israel had to flee Egypt quickly during the Exodus and not let the dough to rise. Because Israel was afflicted in bondage in Egypt. These are a couple of the reasons the Torah gives for why these seven days of leaven-lessness following Passover are observed from generation to generation. Yet why does “leaven” get featured mention by Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) in the Gospels and by the Apostle Paul? Check out these Bible readings and related studies about Chag Matzot (Festival of Unleavened Bread) to discover the lessons that help us become alive in the Spirit of God.

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions Prophets and Writings Purim Torah

Tree of Knowledge and Haman’s gallows: Esther shows us how to overcome our desire to replace God

Tree of Knowledge & Haman's gallows: Esther show us how to overcome our desire to replace God. Artwork shows a fruit tree on the left side of the image.

Bible prophecy often talks about widespread persecution against the people of God in the “latter days.” But that seems so far removed from today’s society, where we have global human rights watchdog groups, U.S. First Amendment protections for religious freedom, the International Court of Justice and the United Nations.

This study of the Torah reading וַיִּקְרָא Vayikra (“and He called,” Levicus 1:1–6:7) plus readings for the Sabbath of Remembrance (Deuteronomy 25:17–19; 1Samuel 15:2–34; 1Peter 4:12–5:11) and the Book of Esther reminds us why we keep seeing outbreaks of perplexing violence throughout history, in spite of attempts to legislate away evil.

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Passover Torah readings

Torah reading Bo (בוא): Exodus 10:1–13:16

Studies in Torah

The cost of freedom for enslaved Yisra’el (Israel) was the death of the firstborn of Mitzraim (Egypt), and the cost of our freedom from slavery to the deathward lifestyle away from the Creator is the death of the LORD’s Firstborn, Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ).

The last three plagues, including the coming of the Destroyer for the firstborn of Mitzraim, and the first Pesakh are the focus of Torah reading בֹּא Bo (“come,” Exodus 10:1-13:16).

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Chanukah Discussions

‘I and the Father are one’: Was Yeshua’s shocking Chanukah proclamation blasphemy? (John 10:22–39)

'I and the Father are one': Was Yeshua's shocking Chanukah proclamation blasphemy? (John 10:22-39) Adobe AI-generated impressionist artwork shows a man in the foreground with his back turned holding up a shepherd's crook while facing a crowd under Solomon's colonnade in the Temple in Jerusalem.

The declaration from Yeshua (Jesus) that “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) was in line with messianic expectation. While there are directives in the Torah, Prophets and Writings about blasphemy, those Scriptures also contain details for the calling card of Messiah. This Bible study suggests that these clues should have inspired introspection among Yeshua’s critics who knew the Scriptures — who were “elohim” of Israel (John 10:34-35). And the leaders’ judgment could have been informed by the timing (Festival of Dedication, aka Chanukah or Hannukah) and location (Temple) of Yeshua’s alleged blasphemy.