Category: Discussions

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

Matthew 24; Luke 17: ‘Days of Noah’ teach us how to be ‘born again’

A (Egyptian) Coptic icon of Noah's Ark by Tasony Sawsan

“‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. … That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.'” (John 3:3, 6 NASB)

The Torah reading Noakh, covering Genesis 6:9–11:32, is a testimony of the origin of Abraham and Israel, of different people groups and of languages. This is real history, not legend or allegory. That is important, because it’s a testimony about the intentions and actions of the Creator.

And the “days of Noah” (Matt. 24:36–44; Luke 17:22–37) teach us how we become “born again” via the Mashiakh (Christ) of God.

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Apostolic Writings Prophets and Writings

New Hallel Fellowship study schedule for 2018–2019

As we start the new cycle of Torah readings, the congregation will be focusing on other areas of the Scriptures. Here’s where we’re going next.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

Hosea 1:1-2:4: Mercy in God’s uncovering our sin

Painting of the The Prophet Hosea and the Delphic Sibyl Fresco Borgia Apartments, Hall of the Sibyls, by Pinturicchio.

The promiscuous wife of a prophet of Israel and the mother of mankind walk into a Bible lesson…. The joke is on us if we don’t catch why the Hoshea (Hosea) was told to marry a harlot and connect her predicament of being discovered to the test given to Chavah (Eve) at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad (Genesis 3–4).

Here’s a hint: “Nakedness” is an important symbol of a spiritual condition used in teachings in the Hebrew and Apostolic scriptures.

You and I are similar to Gomer. When we sin, we want to “get away with it.” We don’t want our sin revealed. We still have to have control over our desires. 

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions Prophets and Writings The Eighth Day

The Eighth Day: What it means to have ‘Christ in you’

Priests, such as Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, could enter the Holy Place to burn incense to take care of the menorah, but the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place only once a year. (Photo from www.LumoProject.com via Creative Commons License for educational purposes only)

This is the second part of a study on how we go into the Creator’s presence by way of the Messiah and how the Creator’s presence goes into us and through us into the world around us by way of the Messiah. Yeshua’s ministry on Earth fulfilled God’s desire to dwell with us, not to be foreign to us. A heart transformed, such as King David’s, welcomes the Kingdom of God and the fact God can see everything in us. The Holy One provides us a way out of temptation to forsake Him when we cry for help from Heaven’s tag team of comforters, Yeshua the Son of Man and the Spirit.

Teachings of Sukkot and Shemeni Atzeret (Tabernacles and the Eighth Day) and of Yeshua’s ministry on Earth are that God desires His dwelling place to be with us — better, within us — not foreign to us. A heart transformed welcomes the Kingdom of God and the fact God can see everything in us. The Holy One provides us a way out of temptation to forsake Him when we cry for help from Heaven’s tag team of comforters, Yeshua the Son of Man and the Spirit.

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions Prophets and Writings Tabernacles Torah

Lessons from Sukkot: What does it mean to be ‘in Christ’?

Decked-out king-sized sukkah
Decked-out king-sized sukkah

What does it mean to be “in Christ,” and what does it mean to have “Christ in you”? We go into the Creator’s presence by way of the Messiah. The Creator’s presence goes into us by way of the Messiah.

Among the biblical symbols of Sukkot (festival of Tabernacles, or Booths) is the tent, the temporary dwelling. It reminds us of who we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going. The sukkah is also a visual representation of how to have “Messiah in us” and to be “in Messiah” at the same time.

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Appointments With God Discussions Tabernacles

Beatitudes of the four species of Sukkot

Etrog and lulav symbols of Sukkot
The etrog (citron) and the lulav (bundle of palm, myrtle and willow branches) represent the four species of plants God directed Israel to adorn the sukkah (booth) for the Festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles).

Temporary shelters, branches of palm, willow and myrtle, and citrus fruit — the symbols of the Sukkot, the biblical festival of Tabernacles, or Booths. Plants clean the air and subtly effect us by their fragrance. We see them as physical things that are useful to us in the physical realm, while God uses references of them in the Bible to teach spiritual lessons as symbolic representations of people.

In this study, we’ll explore what each of these symbols teach us about ourselves and how the Holy One of Israel wants to recreate us.

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Discussions Torah

Ready for restoration? (Deuteronomy 32)

Restoration of the icon of Tsarevich Dmitry, 2009. (Photo by Shakko via Wikimedia Commons)

At times we can feel so lost or out of control that there seems to be no way back to normal. The “lyrics” of the “Song of Moshe” (Moses), recorded in the Torah reading Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 32), foretold of a time when Israel would wander so far from the One Who freed them from slavery in Mitzraim (Egypt) that the would appear to be lost forever.

While this is not an uplifting number, Israel is commanded to memorize it. That’s because the song shows the only way they would be able to return to the LORD.

Let’s find out more about why the redeemed from the world on the Day of the LORD will be singing the Song of Moshe and the Song of the Lamb (Rev. 15:3–4).