Category: Appointments With God

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Discussions Jubilee Torah

Why is it so bad to sin against the Land? (Leviticus 25–27)

Why is it so bad to sin against the Land? (Leviticus 25-27)

We often think that the walk of Torah only concerns itself with one’s relationship with God and one’s relationship with others. This is not true. An observant reading of the Torah shows us that God also concerns Himself with how we treat the land that sustains us. That’s a key lesson of the dual Torah reading of בְּהַר Behar (“on mount” [Sinai]) and בְּחֻקֹּתַי Bechukotai (“in My statutes”), which covers the last three chapters of Leviticus.

God promised the land of Israel as a special inheritance to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and they were expected to respond by treating the land itself with dignity as much as He expected them to treat Him and their neighbors with dignity.

Sins against the Land are atoned by exile, not by blood. Learn more through this Bible study.

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Discussions Jubilee Pentecost/Shavuot Torah

Heaven seeks from us authentic worship and service (Leviticus 21–23)

Heaven seeks from us authentic worship and service (Leviticus 21-23)
Heaven seeks from us authentic worship and service (Torah reading Emor, Leviticus 21-23)

We love great actors when they’re on the screen or stage, but they’re odious when they fill the pews or the pulpits. A key lesson in the Torah reading אָמַר Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21–24) is that those in the service of the Creator of Heaven and Earth (Ex. 19:6; 1Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10) must deeply respect what they’re bringing closer to the Presence: “good gifts” of the heart cry of humankind. And those who bring those gifts must not pretend they’re transparently offering their best, what Heaven has set aside in them from normal ways of an Earth in need of healing.

Parallel to that lesson in Emor is an overview of the key weekly and annual appointments of Heaven with Earth. Two key dates among them are the weekly Shabbat (Sabbath) and the annual Shavu’ot (Pentecost). Both are tied to the Yobel (Jubilee), an ever-50-years reminder that Heaven has an eternal home for humanity and that the path home requires a declaration of freedom from the past.

From these lessons Heaven has provided in time, we can come to understand how Torah is the “law of liberty” (James 1:25; 2:12) that guides us on how to be free in His Kingdom, brought to reality by Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus the Christ). That’s not only freedom from physical debts but also freedom from spiritual debts that we have piled upon ourselves. Learn more through this Bible study.

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions Trumpets

How the 7 trumpets of Revelation are revealed through the Torah and Prophets

How the seven trumpets of Revelation are revealed in the Torah and Prophets

Interpretations of the book of Revelation are numerous, but one key to understanding the mysterious imagery is to find where the same images appear earlier in the Bible. Discover in this study on the Feast of Trumpets how the account of the Exodus and the writings of the prophets Joel, Zechariah, Isaiah and others reveal how the seven trumpets of Revelation point to judgment starting at the house of God.

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Discussions Shabbat Torah

Why the Sabbath is an important first step in learning how to worship God (Numbers 25:10-30:1)

Sabbath: Discover why it's a key first step in learning how to worship God
Sabbath: Discover why it's a key first step in learning how to worship God

Selfless love. Righteousness. Mercy. These teach us how to be strong in our walk through life, how to keep from wandering from the path that the God of Israel has shown as the way life works best. These three show us what the point of our journey through life. They are the key lessons from the LORD’s appointments with humanity, further explained in the Torah reading פינחס Pinchas (“Phinehas,” Numbers 25:10-30:1). Discover why chief among those appointments and the entry point for new believers is the weekly Shabbat (Sabbath).

Another key lesson in Pinchas is about the man after whom this reading is named. This junior priest, who would later be known as the “anointed for war,” looks forward to the coming Day of the LORD, when Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah, the Melchizedek high priest, will serve on Earth side by side with the legacy of the Aaronic priesthood.

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Appointments With God Pentecost/Shavuot

Pentecost: When we’re finally sick of it, Heaven’s Bondage-Breaker leads us home (Exodus 19–20; Acts 1–2)

Shavuot, aka Pentecost, is connected historically and ceremonially to the annual memorials of Pesakh (Passover) and Matzot (Unleavened Bread) by the 50 days in between. 

God’s instructions for Shavuot are connected to a harvest, but we can glean deeper meaning from its thematic linkage to Pesakh, to the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai and to the widespread outpouring of the Spirit on the 120 believers of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ):
* Pesakh: Be freed from bondage. (Justification)
* Matzot: Be purged of the mindset from the former life. (Sanctification)
* Shavuot: Learn what it means to be be adopted into the family of the Bondage-Breaker, live it out and offer the invitation to others. (Sanctification)

The message of freedom from the past, contentment in the present and strength for the future is for the whole world — not just Israel.

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Appointments With God Passover Torah Unleavened Bread

First-born identity in the Bible: Redemption or death (Lessons from Passover)

There are a lot of symbols in the Bible that God blended together for the redemption of the first-born of the womb, not only of human beings but also donkeys. They all point to the first and only born of Heaven: Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ).

The first part of this Bible study on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread looks into two major lessons from four types leaven. This second part focuses on important lesson of redemption of the first-born.

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Appointments With God Passover Unleavened Bread

4 types of spiritual leavening and how to avoid them (Lessons from Passover)

What is the big deal about unleavened bread during Passover time? If it was only about the practicality of eating on the go during Israel’s exodus from slavery in Mitzraim (Egypt), why does matzah show up in the offerings of God’s House, the teachings of Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ) and in apostle Paul’s writings to early believers? 

The first part of this Bible study on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread looks into two major lessons of matzah.