The exile of the Israelites in the land of Egypt comes to a climatic end with the 10th plague — the death of the firstborn — and the first Passover, or Pesakh in Hebrew.
Category: Appointments With God
One common smear against God in recent times is that He is “an absentee landlord” or “a blind watchmaker” Who may have set everything in motion but now doesn’t care or doesn’t get involved. Many then blame Him for the evil and suffering that goes on in the world, particularly to those who it appears to us don’t deserve it, such as a dying family member or a starving child. A common slight against the book of Esther is that it doesn’t directly mention the name of the LORD, as the other books of the Bible do. However, the clear totality of the account is that He is very much at work in making evil plans turn back upon themselves to bring the promise of a blessing for the whole world — Messiah — through Abraham’s descendants. This would happen, even when the promise seemed to have been abandoned along with the people of Israel in Persia.
Hallel Fellowship celebrated Purim with a fun take on the deadly serious account of the thwarted genocide of the Yehudim (Jews) living in exile in Persia in the fifth century B.C.E.
Reading John 1:1-14 and chapters 9-10 shows a connection in Messiah Yeshua between the imagery of light and God dwelling among mankind and the festivals of Tabernacles (Sukkot) and Dedication (Chanukah, a.k.a. Lights).
The story of Chanukah or Hannukah began before Judas Maccabee killed his first Greek, and the culmination didn’t end with him. The events were no surprise to God either. He told the prophet Haggai something spectacular would happen in His temple during the time we now call Chanukah. Today’s talk starts all the way to the days of Darius the Mede and touches us in the 21st century.
The Eighth Day (called Shemini Atzeret in Hebrew) after the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths (Sukkot) is celebrated as a wedding banquet. It looks forward to a time when there will be a celebration of the wedding of the people of God and Messiah, the Lamb. To be ready, we need to admit how unready those God is calling to that banquet are until God cleans us up.
The Eighth Day after the seven days of Sukkot is celebrated as a wedding banquet. It looks forward to a time when there will be a celebration of the wedding of the people of God and Messiah, the Lamb. To be ready, we need to admit how unready those God is calling to that banquet are until God cleans us up.