Category: Torah

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Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah

Have you built a resting place for God? Lessons from Abraham’s and David’s approaches

Have you built a resting place for God? Lessons from Abraham's and David's approaches (Genesis 23:1-25:18; 1Chronicles 21:7-22:1)

In the Torah reading חיי שרה Chayei Sarah (“Sarah’s life,” Gen. 23:1–25:18), we see the lengths Abraham goes to buy this final resting place for his wife Sarah, including his refusal to bury her on a Gentile’s property and his insistence on paying full price (or more) for a solid guarantee of ownership. It’s a lesson not lost on Abraham’s descendant King David, who 1,000 or so years later needed to buy a resting place for God Himself.  It’s because of the Son of God — Yeshua (Jesus) — that Abraham, David, and all those who love God will receive the reward of living with God in a regenerated body, in the future place of rest.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah

How 1 act of kindness can change your life: 3 great women of faith

Rivkah, Ruth, Photini (Samaritan woman at the well): How one act of kindness can change your life (Genesis 24-28; John 4)

The legacy of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the focus of Torah reading חיי שרה Chayei Sarah (“Sarah’s life,” Gen. 23:1–25:18), is not only her future daughter-in-law Rivkah (Rebecca) but also distant relatives Ruth and the Samaritan woman Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) met at the well.

These women, just as Sarah before them, extended acts of kindness and mercy to a stranger who would change their lives forever and they were rewarded for their kindnesses to strangers with a permanent connection with the Messiah.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

Open your heart to those who don’t know what time it is (Genesis 18–19; Romans 1–2)

Open your heart to those who don't know what time it is (Genesis 18-19; Romans 1-2)

We look on in dismay at how degenerative American culture and politics have become, fret how so many of our fellow Americans vote for politicians and laws that accelerate that decline. It’s very tempting to harden our hearts against such people.

But via the Torah reading Vayera וַיֵּרָא Vayera (“he appeared,” Genesis 18–22), God calls us to be like Abraham, who walked in faith, depending completely on God’s mercy yet acknowledging God’s justice as he watched Sodom and her neighboring cities go up in flames. Abraham’s heart was so sensitive that he implored God to save them all — even the most wicked of them — if only 10 of her citizens were righteous before God.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

Where everyone knows the Name (Genesis 12)

Where everyone knows the Name: When your legacy depends on moving out on faith (Genesis 12)

In the Torah reading לֶךְ-לְךָ Lech Lecha (Genesis 12–17), we are introduced to Abram (later renamed Abraham) when he is called to leave his hometown to for a new land.

God calls us into community, not only with Him but with His people. This is why He establishes a land, a place of rest where people can focus on fellowship with Him, whether one is in the land or not.

This Promised Land, originally occupied by Abraham, is meant to be a “home” for all of His people. It’s where God put His name, where the Word became flesh, died and rose, and where the King of Kings will return to restore the world to the maker’s specifications.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

Why ‘living water’ is better than water that destroys (Isaiah 54; Genesis 6–9; 2Peter 3)

Why 'living water' is better than water that destroys: How to get ready for Heaven's reset for you and the world (Isaiah 54; Genesis 6-9; 2Peter 3)

Do you want to be like one who was “taken” in the Flood, washed away (Isa. 54:9–11)? Or do you want to be “left behind” to experience the “living water” pictured as flowing from God’s throne into all the world on the Day of the LORD (Ezek. 47:9, 11–12; Rev. 22:1–2)? 

We are living the time of the second exile — after the resurrection of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) and after the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70. The Torah reading נֹחַ Noach (Genesis 6:9–11:32) teaches us to see Heaven’s elephant in our room while we have the time to change.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah

Heaven in our likeness: Adam & Eve’s revolutionary views on God (Genesis 2–3; Isaiah 42)

Adam & Eve's revolutionary views on God: A timeless warning against creating Heaven in our likeness (Genesis 2-3; Isaiah 42)

God made mankind as the pinnacle of creation. He created us to aspire to do things beyond our reach, to learn about the world beyond our horizons and to change our environment.

Men and women are pre-programmed to seek out our purpose in relation to each other and to the world at large. This gives us the ability to either accomplish great good in the world or great evil.

And that’s where the lessons come in from Adam and Eve’s choice between the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life, recorded in the Torah reading רֵאשִׁ֖ית Beresheet (“in the beginning,” Gen. 1:1–6:8). We can learn from them to choose the path that leads to life, rather than the one that leads to death.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

Got knocked down? You can get up again (Deuteronomy 32–34)

Got knocked down? You can get up again (Deuteronomy 32-34)

The Torah does not end on a high note, but on a solemn one. The final dual reading — הַאֲזִינוּ Ha’azinu (“listen,” Deuteronomy 32) and וְזֹאת הַבְּרָכָה Vezot Haberachah (“and this is the blessing,” Deuteronomy 33–34) — is written so that when the descendants of Israel eventually hit rock bottom, they would see the way back home.

This restoration only is possible by the perfect Atonement offering — the Mashiakh (Christ). This is why we read through the entire Torah over the course of the year and put into practice those things that apply to us.