Categories
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)

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.

Categories
Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Atonement Discussions

A memorial of Messiah: Heaven’s conscience cleaner (Leviticus 16; Hebrews 1–10)

The prophet Yokhanan (John the Baptizer) said of Yeshua (Jesus), “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”(John 1:29 NASB 1995). This study explores Hebrews 1–10, a thorough explanation of what Heaven is teaching and reminding us about in יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים Yom haKippurim (Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement), that it is an annual memorial of Yeshua as the ultimate high priest of Heaven to take away our guilt and allow us to go confidently to God.

Categories
Discussions Torah

How you can rise above giant-sized fear (Numbers 13–15)

How do we see the troubles and difficulties we face each day? From our perspective, limited in knowledge and power, or from the perspective of the One Who made and sustains all things? That can make the difference between living a life paralyzed by fear or moving on courageously, no matter the outcome. This is a key undercurrent of the Torah reading שְׁלַח Shelakh (“send,” Numbers 13–15) and the teachings on faith by Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus).

Categories
Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

Bondage-breaking power of the Bread from Heaven and Living Water (Exodus 15–17; John 6; 1Corinthians 10; Hebrews 3–4)

When we look at the Torah reading בְּשַׁלַּח Beshalach (“when he sent” or “after he had let go,” Ex. 13:17–17:16), we need to ask ourselves five big questions: Is God with us? Are we really free? Where are we going? How will we get our “daily bread”? Where will we find “living water”?

And via a number of parallel passages in the Prophets, Writings and Apostolic Scriptures, we learn that the answer to all those questions is Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ).

Categories
Discussions Torah

What the Tabernacle and high priest’s uniform teach us about Messiah (Exodus 27:2–30:10)

If you look at a map of where the tribes were settled in relation to the Tabernacle, you might ask “Where am I?” Where do you fit into the Kingdom of God?

In the Torah readings תצוה Tetzaveh (“you shall command,” Exodus 27:2–30:10) and תרומה Terumah (“heave offering,” Exodus 25:1–27:19), Moses frequently referred to the “pattern” that God showed him to recreate in the form of the Tabernacle. And Heaven brought this pattern to reality in Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ).

Categories
Apostolic Writings Atonement Discussions

Leviticus 16; Hebrews 1–10: Heaven’s High Priest is ‘exact representation of His nature’

Forgetting that the high point of God’s calendar — יום הכפרים Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement) — is all about the work of the High Priest and not of the congregant leaves one with the impossible, “terrifying” task of being his own sin sacrifice (Heb. 10:26–27). This study takes a whirlwind tour of the Letter to the Hebrews and what it tells us how Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) is the embodiment of the lessons and message of the “Day of Coverings.”

Categories
Discussions Torah

Are you ready to enter God’s rest? 5 questions to ask yourself (Exodus 13:17–17:16)

Am I really free from my old way of life? Am I going somewhere in life that leads to eternal contentment, or am I wandering through this existence, at the mercy of happenstance? These are some of the big questions tackled in the Torah reading בְּשַׁלַּח Beshalach (“when he sent”), covering Ex. 13:17-17:16. We can’t imagine what our ancestors in faith experienced as they witnessed God’s work during the Exodus from Mitzraim (Egypt). As they were leaving the house of bondage, were they really free or did they leave their hearts in Mitzraim, despite the cruelties and indignities they experienced there?