Category: Appointments With God

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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).

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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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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.