Category: Appointments With God

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Atonement Torah

Why Christians should still celebrate Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16)

Get over it!: Why Christians need the Day of Atonement now more than ever (Leviticus 16). A woman walks across a cable foot bridge while looking at a lake at sunset.

The Torah reading מות Acharei Mot (“after the deaths,” Leviticus 16–18) takes us through the mysterious and somber rituals of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).

Some may read the Letter to the Hebrews in the Apostolic writings and think that because Yeshua (Jesus) was offered once for all sins, transgressions and iniquities then Yom Kippur is a relic of the “old covenant” between Heaven and Israel.

Instead, we learn throughout the Bible that this annual memorial is really an essential lived-out reminder of Yeshua’s “new covenant,” through which Heaven transforms the whole world into a land of peace. Let’s explore four reasons why Yom Kippur is even more important for believers in Messiah Yeshua to celebrate.

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions Passover Pentecost/Shavuot Prophets and Writings Torah

How to increase righteousness on the Earth (Isaiah 11; John 20; Ezekiel 18)

How to increase righteousness on the Earth (Isaiah 11; John 20; Ezekiel 18). A sunset with a rainbow of cloud colors is seen from a beach.

A common caricature of Heaven is that God is obsessed with killing the wicked. Rather, the Bible talks about a better way to both rid the Earth of wickedness and increase the number of righteous. And that’s one of the key lessons of the festivals of Pesach (Passover), Matzot (Unleavened Bread) and Shavuot (Pentecost), lessons brought to their fullness in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus). Here’s how that works.

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions Torah Unleavened Bread

The Exodus teaches us how to stand up to bullies

The Exodus teaches us how to stand up to bullies: Lessons from the seventh day of Unleavened Bread

Standing up to a bully is never easy. It’s not easy for an adult to do, but it’s even more difficult when our children have to stand up to those who would bully or persuade them to distrust their creators — their parents.

God, though the plagues of the Exodus and the drawing Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea, defended ancient Israel against the bullying of Pharaoh and his nation. Mitzraim (Egypt) taught Israel to deny their Creator, but God put Egypt in its place.

And on the Day of the LORD, God again will defend Israel and all those adopted into her from the bullying into apostasy.

We are being called to stand up to the government and the wealthy oligarchs who want our children to deny their parents and their Creator. That’s a key lesson from the memorial of the seventh and final day of the Festival of Matzot (Unleavened Bread).

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Appointments With God Discussions Unleavened Bread

Passover connection between donkeys and Messiah

Passover connection between donkeys and Messiah

To those of us who have not grown up on a farm, a donkey is merely a beast of burden, and a stubborn, cantankerous one at that. For those who have lived on farms and have raised donkeys, they know that donkeys are more brains than brawn. They are intelligent and protective of their territory and those who live on it.

It also holds a unique position among the unclean animals listed in the Torah. It’s the only animal that the Torah requires the owner of to redeem its firstborn. What makes the firstborn donkeys so special that they have to be redeemed or killed in connection with Passover? Why is a donkey connected with the Messiah in the Prophets and Gospels? It’s all about our iniquities that the Lamb of God took upon Himself.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings Tabernacles Torah

‘You will call His name Immanuel’: Heaven’s desire has always been to be with us

'You will call his name Immanuel': Heaven's desire has always been to be with us (Exodus 3; Isaiah 7-12)

At Sukkot (Festival of Tabernacles), we celebrate Heaven’s work to heal the breach between the God and humanity, so that once again, the Creator can live with His creation. And one of the most enduring and repeated reassurances the Holy One is Immanu El — God with us.

In the Torah reading שמות Shemot (“names,” Exodus 1:1–6:1), we see Heaven’s revelation of “the Name,” translated as “I am” or “I will be.” But in this passage, we also see a foreshadowing of the “name above all names”: God With Us. This study explores the “now and not yet” prophecies of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) in the “Book of Immanuel” (Isaiah 7–12).

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Appointments With God Atonement Discussions

Why fast on Yom Kippur?: How it’s essential to Messiah’s total restoration of us

Why fast on Yom Kippur?: How afflicting our souls is essential to Messiah's complete restoration of you and me

If Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is merely a time to fast, and get your ticket punched with your messianic family and friends, you are wasting your time and theirs. 

This time is not just a time to afflict one’s body by abstinence from food and water, but more importantly, a time to afflict one’s soul by facing up to your sins, transgressions and iniquities and giving them over to the Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus), so He can heal your heart and soul. 

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah Trumpets

Wake-up call for the coming meeting between mankind and God

Feast of Trumpets: Wake-up call for the coming meeting between mankind and God

Blowing a trumpet is meant to draw attention to a particular event. Whether it’s a call to arms or a call to remembrance, when one hears a trumpet or shofar blast, it’s a sound that cannot and will not be ignored.

Yom Teruah — the Feast of Trumpets — the first of God’s fall appointments is a call to repentance and to prepare to face God in judgment, which is memorialized 10 days later on Yom Kippur — the Day of Atonement.

One can’t help but connect Trumpets to the seven trumpets of Revelation. And in this study, we will see more deeply the connection between this festival and God’s preparation of the Commonwealth of Israel (Eph. 2:11–22) to face the final judgement.