Category Archives: Jewish Feasts

May6

The “Hofols” Celebrate Easter/Passover

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The “Hofols” Celebrate Easter/Passover

This past Easter we celebrated the holiday a little differently.  In actuality, EVERY Easter is just a little bit different from the one before it – a side effect of my vexatious A.D.D. I suspect!!!  This year my “passion” blossomed out of a “cavernous” fancy to “resurrect” (puns all very much intended) the Jewish roots of our Christian holiday and blend them altogether.  I wanted to celebrate Jesus, our Passover Lamb, especially since this year Passover fell on Good Friday (2019). Perhaps you’re looking for ideas how to celebrate and you’ll find something here that trips your trigger?

The “Steady Eddy’s” of our holiday usually include new dresses/outfits for church + shoes to go with them + the same basic food & drink (except this year I added LAMB to the menu) + an Egg Hunt. And there is always some sort of fun activities to follow. So, let’s get started with the menu, and then we’ll work our way on down to the ever-evolvingfun stuff at the end…

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— THE MENU —

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HAM

A nice 10-lb spiral cut honey smoked ham. 

Make a Chamoy glaze of apricots (2 cans plus the syrup), honey (1 cup), and spicy chili peppers (2 or 3 fresh green Cayenne peppers finely chopped/ground – or ½ tsp Cayenne powder).  Place glaze ingredients in a pan on the stove. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Let simmer until reduced and thickened.

Heat ham in the oven, wrapped tightly in foil for about 1 hr and 40 minutes at 350 degrees.  Place ham on serving platter and pour glaze over ham just before serving.

LAMB CHOPS

6 Lamb Chops

Preheat outdoor grill with charcoals, preparing to add mesquite or applewood chips just before grilling.  While the charcoals are getting ready prepare the sauce and the lamb.

Sauce:  ½ cup Olive Oil, ½ cup chopped onion, 3 cloves peeled and sliced garlic. Sauté in a sauce pan until onions are translucent, and then remove from heat.  Place onions, oil, and garlic in a blender (I use my Bullet) also adding 2 Tablespoons low sodium Soy Sauce, 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar, 1 Tablespoon fresh Rosemary needles, 2 Tablespoons course ground mustard, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, and about ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.  Blend until thoroughly emulsified.  Set aside.

Rub lamb chops with salt and pepper.

Separate charcoals and sprinkle with wood chips.  As soon as they begin to smoke, place chops on grill about 6 inches above heat and close the lid.  Let them grill undisturbed for about 4 or 5 minutes.  Lift the lid and flip the chops over to the other side.  Close the lid and let grill for another 4 or 5 minutes.  Lift the lid and check the internal temp of each chop.  Continue flipping and cooking until each chop reaches an internal temp of 135 degrees (medium rare).  Don’t eyeball it – use a thermometer for perfect results.  The moment they reach temp, remove them from the grill, placing them on a dish.  Let them rest for a minute or two, then drizzle each with sauce and serve with a sprig of Rosemary for garnish. 

NOTE: I wish I could remember where I found this recipe so I could give them credit and kudos!!!!  If you know, please let me know in the comments. And I’ll tell you, I am not a fan of lamb…  (I just don’t care for the gamey flavor.  I don’t like goat or goat cheese for the same reason) …BUT THIS LAMB was a wonderful surprise.  My family LOVED it and have begged if I will make this every year from now on.  So, if you don’t really care for lamb either, you might want to give this recipe a try.  I promise it will change your mind.

TATER TOT HOT DISH

32 oz. bag of Tater Tots

1 cup onion, chopped

1 16-oz container French Onion Dip

1 jalapeno, minced

2 cups shredded Colby cheese

1 10-oz can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt (or more to taste)

1 can French Fried Onions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a large casserole dish.  Mix together the Onion Dip, jalapeno, cheese, soup, garlic powder, and salt.  Toss in chopped onion and frozen tots.  Use hands to mix tots and sauce all together.  Arrange tot mixture in casserole dish.  Top with French Fried Onions.  Bake in oven about 60 minutes.

SWEET PEA SALAD

2-lb package frozen sweet peas, thawed

½ Red onion, diced

1 ½ cup Cheddar Cheese, cut into pea size cubes

8 slices bacon, fried crispy and crumbled

3 Tablespoons parsley, chopped (optional)

½ cup Sour Cream

¼ cup Mayo

1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Sugar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix together the sauce ingredients and carefully stir them into the thawed peas.  Add the red onion and cheese and carefully incorporate.  Taste to make sure there is enough salt and pepper.  Place in serving dish and top with bacon for garnish. 

DEVILED EGGS

1 dozen eggs, hard boiled (place cold eggs or fresh eggs in cool tap water in a pan big enough to fully cover the eggs with water, bring to a rolling boil on high heat on the stove and boil for 7 minutes. Remove from heat, let sit 5 minutes and then pour off water.  Let eggs cool.  Eggs can then be peeled and placed in a zip bag in the refrigerator overnight.)

Cut eggs in half, remove yolks to a small bowl.  Mash yolks with a fork.  Add about ¼ to ½ cup of Mayo or Miracle Whip to them until a thick creamy texture is achieved.  Also add 1 to 2 teaspoons coarse ground mustard, and 2 Tablespoons each finely diced onion and sweet pickle relish.  Stir until well combined.  Drop dollops of yolk mixture into the split egg-white halves.  Sprinkle with sweet paprika.  Garnish each egg with finely chopped green onion or chives.  If you have sweet pickles, slice into “pennies” and press a penny into the center of each egg.  Cover and refrigerate or serve immediately.

HOT CROSS BUNS

I usually use a hot roll mix and follow package directions, except to add a 1/3 cup of dried currants and 2 Tablespoons of orange zest to the mixed dough.  Bake as directed.  Let cool completely.  Mix an icing of 1 cup powdered sugar and about a Tablespoon of milk (thin with additional milk a tiny drop at a time until desired thickness).  Place icing in a zip bag and cut the corner off.  Pipe a cross on top of each roll.  Garnish with a few more currants and some orange zest.

This year I cheated and purchased frozen cinnamon rolls, and added the currants and some orange zest as a garnish after icing.

RHUBARB CRUNCH

Filling:

2 packages frozen rhubarb (or 5 cups fresh)

2 granny smith apples peeled, cored, and chopped

½ tsp. salt

Splash of lemon juice

½ cup of sugar

Stir together and place in a buttered casserole dish.

Topping:

2 cups sugar

1 cup flour

1 cup oats

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 ½ sticks of butter, softened to room temperature

1 tsp Vanilla

¼ tsp salt

I sometimes mix this all together in a gallon size zip bag the night before and let sit on the counter until baking time.  It saves me time later and gives the butter time to soak up the flour and oats and lends a nice crispiness to the finished product.

Serve warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

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Beverages:


Sweet Tea, Lemonade, Lemon water, or wine

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Sunday Dinner is usually served immediately after the egg hunt.  The children give the blessing and then we all start stuffing our faces. 

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— THE EGG HUNT —

“You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all of your heart.”  Jeremiah 19:13

This year’s egg hunt mostly consisted of plastic eggs strewn all over in the yard, all the way around the house. A few were perched in the limbs of the trees and some other slightly more difficult hidey spots. As per grand-daughter’s request I hid special GOLDEN eggs (1 per kid) in the more difficult places. They got to redeem those for one special prize each – their Easter Baskets!  I put a little note inside each golden egg which told the kids where to look for their “special surprises.”  The special Easter Baskets were filled with a few candies, some little toys, jewelry, Knick knacky things, and a pretty journal and fancy pen for each girl, which they’ll get to use as journals all summer.

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— THE FUN STUFF —

Food – done….. Egg Hunt – done….. Let the games begin! As I said earlier we did a PASSOVER theme. Our Passover activities commenced down on the banks of the little brook that weaves a path by our backyard. It was the perfect setting for our first activity, saving baby Moses!

Saving Baby Moses

I made each girl a little bamboo raft (we have so much of it growing along our river front, it was a ready material that cost me nothing).  Walmart had perfect little 6” baby dolls for about $2 each – I bought one for each girl. 

Our youngest granddaughter wasn’t feeling well, so she went down for a nap while we did all the activities with her sister.  But later, when she awoke, we did the whole thing all over again for her, exactly as we had done for her sister. 

The girls wrapped their baby Moses in a blue blanket, laid him in his raft, and then walked down into the river and placed him on the water and let him float away as we all looked on.  As baby Moses floated away we all prayed that God would save baby Moses’ life, just like in the Bible! 

It really worked out that the one granddaughter was napping when the other granddaughter did this, so it seemed to each child as if there had only been one baby Moses.  If they had both been involved for the shared experience, we would have only floated one baby Moses.

Little baby Moses slowly floated away and when he was finally out of sight I told the story of how Moses was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter, how he then grew up to be a young man, and then found out that he was a Hebrew. He accidentally caused an Egyptian to die and then in fear ran away and lived with a Midianite priest and his daughters in the desert. That’s where he met God on a mountaintop in a burning bush, and God told him to go back to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let the Hebrew slaves go free.

The Plagues and Pharaoh Games

(I had prepared each of the plagues days before and had them ready in a box for this exercise).

I told the children how Moses went to Pharaoh to ask him to let the people go, but Pharaoh said, “NO!!!!!”  I instructed the kids to yell, “NO!!!!!” whenever I asked them if Pharaoh let the people go.

The first plague was to turn the Nile River into blood:  I poured water into a glass for each kid and added red drink powder to it.  Then we tossed in some Swedish Fish to represent the fish that died.  Then I asked, “Pharaoh, Pharaoh, will you let my people go!”  – and I pointed to the kids to say, “NO, NO, NO!!!” 

So God sent a second plague – Frogs:  I had purchased some sticky frogs from Walmart and put them in a big jar.  I handed the children the jar of frogs and let them take the frogs out and stick them to us and squish them and play with them for a bit.  Then I said – “Pharaoh, Pharaoh, will you let my people go!” but Pharaoh said (and I pointed to the children who said), “NO, NO, NO!!!” 

So God sent a third plague – Lice:  I used confetti eggs, called Cascarones here in south Texas, and divided two dozen of them between each of us and we all got to break them on each other’s heads.  This always causes lots of laughing.  Then I said – “Pharaoh, Pharaoh, will you let my people go!” but Pharaoh said (and I pointed to the children who said), “NO, NO, NO!!!” 

So God sent a fourth plague – Flies:  I used black pipe cleaners, cut into about 4” pieces and twisted them into wings and a body shape and I filled a glass jar full of them.  I took the lid off this jar and dumped the flies in the kids’ hands and let them put them on us grown-ups, in our hair, down our shirts, etc.  They then had fun picking them up off the ground and tossing them around some more.  Then I said – “Pharaoh, Pharaoh, will you let my people go!” but Pharaoh said (and the kids yelled), “NO, NO, NO!!!” 

So God sent a fifth plague – the dead animals:  I found a cheap container of farm animals at Walmart. I pulled it out, opened the lid and dumped the animals out, instructing the children to put all the animals on their backs with their feet up in the air, which they happily did.  Some would fall over as they were setting others upside down so it took a while to get them all to “die.”  I talked about how stinky that must have been.  Pee-Yoooo!  Then I said – “Pharaoh, Pharaoh, will you let my people go!” but Pharaoh said (and the kids yelled), “NO, NO, NO!!!” 

So God sent a sixth plague – Boils: Now, I know you are probably going to think I’ve lost my marbles on this one, but I cut up about 6 panty-liners into 3 pieces each and wrote “BOILS” on each piece with a Sharpie marker.  I put them in a jar.  I opened this jar and let the kids take the BOILS out one by one and peel the paper off the back, and stick them to all of us on our bare arms and legs and faces, and we stuck a bunch of them on the kids as well.  The sticky is sort of irritating to the skin after a while so it produced a decent effect, but it didn’t hurt to pull them off later. Then I said – “Pharaoh, Pharaoh, will you let my people go!” but Pharaoh said (and the kids yelled), “NO, NO, NO!!!” 

So God sent a seventh plague – Hail: I had purchased several boxes of ping pong balls (6 balls for $1 at Walmart).  I gave each person a handful of balls and on the count of three we all simultaneously tossed the balls in the air and let them fall on our heads.  We then picked them up and tossed them at each other for a little while until I said, “Pharaoh, Pharaoh, will you let my people go!” but Pharaoh said…“NO, NO, NO!!!” 

So God sent an eighth plague – Locusts:  For this plague I produced a zip bag with a leaf of romaine lettuce per each person of us.  Since locusts are veggie eaters, on my mark we would have a lettuce eating contest.  1-2-3-crunch, crunch, crunch!!!  Hey this is one way to get kids to eat their veggies.  Ha!  And then I said – “Pharaoh, Pharaoh, will you let my people go!” but Pharaoh said … “NO, NO, NO!!!” (-muffled through their mouthfuls of lettuce).

So God sent a ninth plague – darkness: For this one I had purchased a game of Blindfolded Twister.  It wasn’t a good thing to play outside, where we were at the time, so I improvised and had the kids cover their eyes and try to find mommy, then daddy, then grandpa, then grandma, then sister.  (We did play the Twister game later, in the house and it was perfect).  Then I said – “Pharaoh, Pharaoh, will you let my people go!” but Pharaoh said … “NO, NO, NO!!!” 

So Moses informed Pharaoh that if he didn’t let the slaves go that God would send a plague of death of the firstborns among the Egyptians.  Moses told all the Hebrew slaves to kill a baby lamb and use the blood to paint on their doorposts, then cook and eat the baby lamb with unleavened bread.  And that night when the spirit of death came to Egypt it PASSed-OVER the houses with the lamb’s blood, but the Egyptian firstborns all died, including Pharaoh’s son, which made Pharaoh sad and mad enough to say “GO, GO, GO!!!”

Here’s how we did this next part…

I told the girls that Jesus came to set us free from our slavery to sin.  The Bible says that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life” (Romans 6:23). In the history of mankind there has been no one who was without sin – only Jesus.  And that is why He was the perfect Lamb of God – to take away our sins.

John the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

I gave each girl a little lamb, a nail, a Popsicle stick cross, and a hammer, and we nailed their lambs to their crosses.  I explained that if that lamb was a real lamb the nail would make the lamb bleed. 

I then gave each girl two hearts cut from foam board that I had punched holes in all around the edge.  I gave them each a needle and thread so they could stitch the two pieces together to make a pocket.  As they stitched I explained that we all have to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus (which means we have to turn from our sinful nature and open our hearts up to Him).  Once their hearts were sewn together I gave the girls red paint, representing the blood of the lamb, and we used a clump of weeds to paint the “blood” on their hearts.  And then we asked Jesus to come into our hearts – which was represented by placing the lamb-crosses inside the pockets of the hearts they made and painted.

I explained that we all have a body and we all have a spirit.  Because of the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden our bodies will someday die, but our spirits will either go on to live with Jesus in heaven or with the devil in hell.  If we prepare our hearts and let Jesus come in to us, even though our bodies die, the second death – the death of our spirit – will PASS-OVER and we’ll get to live with Jesus in heaven forever.

Communion

At the Last Supper, Jesus said His body was broken for us, and He took bread and broke it and asked His disciples to eat of that bread in remembrance of Him.   

I took a saltine cracker and broke it and divided the pieces with everyone.  Then we partook of the Lord’s body which was broken for us.

Jesus, at the Last Supper, then took the cup of wine and said it represented His blood that was shed for us for the remission of our sins.  He asked His disciples to drink of it in remembrance of Him until the day that He comes back for all of us.

I then poured us each a little cup of wine, and we partook of the Lord’s blood that was shed for us. 

The little one wasn’t a huge fan of “real” wine! Ha! So she chased it with a swig of bloody Nile water.

Family Movie Time

After our riverside adventures, we all got a heaping helping of dessert and snuggled up on the couch in the mancave to watch The Ten Commandments (w/Charleton Heston) together as a family.  This was always a tradition in my son-in-law’s growing up life to watch that movie at Easter, and what a lovely tradition to continue. 

A Craft Nightcap

We girls left the mancave for one final thing – crafting the Red Sea.  After asking Jesus into our hearts, the Red Sea event is kind of like a water baptism.  First we are saved by Jesus, then we are baptized.  After that, our souls make the long journey to our heavenly “promised land.”

And that was our Easter/Passover of 2019! I hope if you have the chance to do this with your family for your next Easter that you are as blessed as we were by the experience. All glory to God!

He is not here for He [Jesus] is risen!

Risen indeed!

“I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and recieve you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:2-3

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Nov16

Feast of Booths

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Feast of Booths

Continuing with our study of the feasts of Israel is this, our final feast, the Feast of Tabernacles.  If you have missed the other studies, you may click the links here:

The Lord Our Passover (Passover & Unleavened Bread)

FIRSTFRUITS

Happy Firey Tongues Day (The Feast of Weeks – Pentecost)

Feast of Trumpets

Feast of Atonement & The Lamb’s Book of Life

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My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”  Ezekiel 37:27 (NKJV)

THE FIRST TABERNACLE

Do you remember the story in the Old Testament where Moses went on the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments from God, but returned only to find the Hebrew people had constructed a golden calf all that time he was gone, and were worshipping it?  Aaaargh!!!!  I think Moses was pretty much at his wits end with them.  He angrily tossed and broke those stone tablets, and went straight to burn their stupid idol (32:20).  In his frustration he went out and met with the Lord in a tent far away from the camp.  He called it the tabernacle of meeting (33:7) and there God and he talked things out.  The Lord asked Moses to come back up on the mountain and He would show him what to do.

When Moses returned to the mountain, God gave him instructions for building a Tabernacle of worship for the people, so that they could have Him with them in their wilderness wanderings.  God made Himself accessible to the people.

Later, on in the timeline of history, when David became king, he sought to build God a permanent dwelling place, where the Ark of the Covenant (from all the way back in Moses’ day) could be kept.  His son Solomon fulfilled his father’s vision, and the temple was built in Jerusalem.

Through the building of the tabernacle (Exodus 25:8; 29:45; Leviticus 26:11-12) and the construction of the temple (1 Kings 6:13, 14; 2 Chronicles 6:18), God demonstrated again and again an outward expression of His persistent desire to dwell with man. But we are to make no mistake… These tabernacles were only temporary provisions. God’s word tells us that He does not dwell “in temples made with hands.” (Isaiah 66:1-2; Acts 7:48-50; 17:24, 25 cp. Jeremiah 7:4; Matthew 24:1, 2) (*http://www.dianedew.com/habitatn.htm)

 

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house that I have builded?”    1 Kings 8:27 (NKJV)

 

God’s house on earth was regularly robbed and desecrated by evil kings throughout the Old Testament.  And even in the New Testament religious people of that day were using it in ways that God never intended.  Jesus overturned tables when He found that people were turning His Father’s house into a den of thieves.

In 70 AD God’s Tabernacle (Temple) on earth was finally destroyed for the last time when the Holy Land was conquered and God’s people were scattered over the face of the earth.  It has never been rebuilt.  All that remains is the western wall, where orthodox Jews and people from around the world go to pray and press their paper petitions into the cracks between the stones.

HISTORY OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES

Though God’s tabernacle on earth was misused and eventually destroyed, The Father never wanted His people to forget about His dwelling place, because it was after all a copy and shadow of things to come. The design that He showed to Moses on that mountain was and is a copy and shadow of His tabernacle in heaven (Hebrews chapter 8 and 9; Revelation 21).  The purpose of the tabernacle is to give man a place on his/her level to meet with our Maker, for the purpose of fellowship!  A place where we can remember the covenant God has made with us, lay down our sins, learn of His will and His ways, and sup with Him!  The ritual of “church” is a practice that, in it’s very best, gives us a picture of heaven.  Our modern “church” is rooted out of an ancient Hebrew practice ordained by God…

 

“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates. Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.”

Deuteronomy 16:13-15 (NKJV)

sukkah

If you would like to have this coloring page, click the FREE PRINTABLE link below.

jewish-sukkah-free-printable

The Jewish Feast of Ingathering or Feast of Booths, as it is sometimes called, is the last of the yearly feasts of Israel.  It takes place in the fall, at the end (or ingathering) of the fruit harvest.

In modern Hebrew culture, The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is celebrated by God’s children who first put up a Sukkah (like a gazebo with an open air roof) in the days leading up to the feast date.  It can be built on a porch (as long as the porch does not have a roof of any kind), or in a back yard (as long as its location is open to the sky and not sheltered under any tree cover).  The Sukkah can be made of an existing structure, as long as the roof is replaced entirely with “sechach,” which is vegetable matter that has not previously been used for any other purpose.  It must be four sided, with one side open for entering and exiting.  The roof cannot be premade – it must be newly constructed of twigs and branches of palms collected for that particular Sukkah that year.  Inside is a table, and all the family meals are taken in the Sukkah for the entire holiday.  Guests are invited and encouraged.

The week-long feast of Tabernacles is book-ended between two Sabbath days of rest – Leviticus 16:30-31; 23:34, 41.  On the first day of the feast the people of Israel were to “take the foliage of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and use them for the roof, and also offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, and rejoice before the Lord for seven days” (Leviticus 23:40,36).  All native Israelites were to go out and dwell in these booths for the seven days of the feast to remind them of their ancestors wandering in the wilderness.

(For more info please visit this terrific website!)

tabernacles

EMMANUEL, GOD WITH US

As with all the feasts, Jesus is the pivotal point on which they all are hinged.  Each of the feasts are a copy and shadow of things to come.

The first four feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Pentecost) happen in the spring and summer, and each has been fulfilled by Jesus, our Passover Lamb without spot or blemish, the Resurrection and the Life, the Bridegroom of the church, our Messiah.

Three feasts remain: Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles.

fall-feasts

Click here for the fall-feasts-free-printable

The ultimate fulfillment of the last three feasts, as it appears, will be when Jesus sounds His trumpet at the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) and gathers His elect “from the peoples” (Eze. 11:17) – the rapture; atones for His chosen (Yom Kippur), taking the sacrifice from the cross and sprinkling the blood on the mercy seat in heaven (Lev.16:3, 14; Rom. 5:9-11), permanently penning the names of those atoned for in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  And then gathering us, His bride, the elect, and the church, from the heavens, from one end of heaven to the other, to gather us from the many mansions (Sukkot) He has built in His Father’s house (where we will be kept safe from the great tribulation to come)…

For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock. 

Psalm 27:5 (NKJV)

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…to His great Tabernacle in the New Jerusalem.

“And there we shall all ever be with Him…” (1 Thes. 4:17)

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The Wedding Feast

To understand the Feast of Tabernacles with a little more clarity, I feel like we need to understand the Jewish Wedding customs.  I see the two of them just so very intimately intertwined.

In the Old Testament, it was the custom for a son, or his family, to choose a bride.  Having made a choice, the son would then go to the father of the bride and negotiate a “bride price” or dowry.  Once the dowry was paid, the son would ask for the bride’s hand in marriage, seal the covenant with a sip of wine, and place a ring on her finger.  The two were engaged at this point, or in Jewish terms, betrothed.  It was a legally binding agreement.

The groom then left his bride and returned to his father’s house where he would begin building a home for the two of them.  This home was built in his father’s estate.  As you can imagine the groom was anxious to go back and get his bride and get the show on the road, but the son would not be allowed to go back until his father approved of the house that he had built.

When the house that the son built finally passed his father’s inspection and approval, the father would give the son permission to go back and get his bride.

When he went to retrieve his bride, while he was still a ways off, he and his groomsmen would begin shouting, and even blowing a trumpet to alert her.  The bride was supposed to be dressed, packed, and ready to depart at a moment’s notice.  She was to have an oil lamp ready, and all of her bride’s maids as well, in case he came at night.  In her time of waiting she was to remain consecrated, set apart, and bought with a price. And when the groom arrived with his groomsmen, they would then snatch the bride away and begin a joyous procession to the father’s house.  This would alert the townsfolk and bride’s families that the wedding was taking place, and they were all invited to come.

At the father’s house the bride and groom exchanged rings and vows were spoken.  Afterward, the two of them would disappear into the house he had made for them, and there they would remain for seven days.  They were not considered married until the marriage was consummated (John 3:29).  The bride and groom remained in the chamber and spent that time getting to know each other in every intimate way.  The wedding guests continued to celebrate with feasting and drinking wine and dancing until the seven days were finally ended and the bride and groom could share in a grand feast together.

If you are familiar with the scriptures it’s easy to see so many illustrations of Jesus and the church in this beautiful tradition.  If you are not familiar, I encourage you to seek the scriptures for yourself.

First, we are a chosen bride:

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”  1 Peter 2:9

“For I [Paul] am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present [you as] a chaste virgin to Christ.  2Corinthians 11:2

Jesus made a covenant with His apostles (Passover/Last Supper) that passed on to all who of us who have believed and received Christ as Lord.  At the Last Supper Jesus said, “This is my blood of the everlasting covenant, which is poured for many.”

The dowry He paid for His bride, the church, was His suffering and death on the cross (Unleavened Bread/Crucifixion/Passion of the Christ).  “But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a [sacrificial] lamb without blemish or spot.”  1 Peter 1:19 (AMPC)   It was a high price, but greater love hath no man than this, that He lay down His life for His friends.

The figurative ring that Jesus placed on His bride’s finger is the deposit of the Holy Spirit into our hearts when we accept His proposal.  He set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.  And He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts.  (2 Cor. 1:22 & Ephesians 1:13-14)

It is the seal, the promise, guaranteeing He will return for us someday.  Jesus told His disciples it was to their advantage that He go to heaven, because unless He went, the Holy Spirit could not come back.  The Holy Spirit is the betrothment, the signed contract.

When Jesus told his disciples that “in my Father’s house are many mansions” ( ) and “no man knows the day or the hour of my return, only the Father,” ( ) they understood the symbolism parallel with the wedding custom.

When the apostles preached that Jesus would return with a shout, and a trumpet (1 Thes) to gather up His bride, the Jewish people of that day HAD to have begun to see the mystery of the gospel, as I pray we do.

The feast of Trumpets is fulfilled by the rapture (gathering up and snatching away) of the church (all the believers of the earth) – the Bride of Christ.  And the feast of Tabernacles is fulfilled when the church dwells in heaven in our little sukkah’s (booths, tabernacles) that our Bridegroom has built for us, to keep us safe for the last seven of Daniel’s prophesy – the great tribulation.

Jesus was Jewish, and He used things familiar to Jews to teach kingdom principles; the Jewish people got their customs from the Father to begin with.  It is all patterned after things in heaven.  When we draw the veil back on those Jewish traditions, it gives light to our understanding of the scriptures and how Jesus fulfills all of them.  Oh how I would love to be adopted into a Messianic Jewish family and to know the ways and practices of the people of my Lord.  How I appreciate the knowledge of my Jewish brothers and sisters like Zola Levitt and others, whose wisdom I draw upon heavily in my understanding of the scriptures.

Who is the bride and who are the guests?  I believe I am interpreting Zola Levitt correctly that the bride is the raptured church (Christians and Messianic Jews), and the guests are the family of the Father (the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) who repent as a nation (at their feast of Atonement) of their rejection of their Messiah.

It’s maybe a little odd of me, but I am thankful for Israel’s unfaithfulness (the Father knew they would be – as Hosea’s wife was), because it allowed me, YOU (and all Gentiles), the blessed opportunity to be grafted into the promise, and a new covenant, and to share in that great feast in God’s tabernacle in the New Jerusalem at the end of the age.

 

The Lord’s Time Fully Come

jesuswaterintowineI’ve often wondered about the two places in scripture where Jesus draws back from participating in a certain activity, saying My time has not fully come. The first instance was at the wedding in Cana when Mary, His mother, asked Him to show His works and do something about the lack of wine. Jesus told her His time had not fully come, but obeyed His mother, and did His works in secret. I believe His reluctance to manifest a miracle with wine (especially the wine for a wedding banquet) was because He is saving himself for THE WINE that will be shared with us at THE WEDDING FEAST in heaven…the fulfillment of the Last Supper, which He told his disciples He would not drink of until we are all able to drink it with Him, at His table, in His kingdom.

sukkot_feast-of-tabernaclesThe second time Jesus made that statement (in John 7), His brothers were getting ready to go the Feast of Tabernacles and pushing Him to also go and show His works to the people. Jesus told them to go without Him, as His time had not fully come. Jesus did end up going, but secretly. Hebrews 8:2 tells us, the true tabernacle is with God and not men. Jesus was well aware of the many mansions (Sukkahs, tabernacles) that await us in His kingdom. Our Lord observed the feasts on earth knowing they have a fulfillment in heaven. He has slipped away to prepare our places, that where He is we may be also, and He is waiting for His Father’s command to return for us, His bride.

His time fully comes in that day, when we shall sup with Him in His tabernacle, and He with us.

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“Come away with Me…” Mark 6:31 (NKJV)

 

…is an invitation that Jesus continues to extend to anyone who can hear His voice.  It is the essence of “Tabernacles” to come out from the lives we’ve built for ourself and commune with God.

In Jesus the intent of God’s heart is fulfilled. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt (or, tabernacled) among us…” (John 1:14) His name was called “Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God With Us.” (Matthew 1:23) The tabernacle of Moses was only a type of “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man…” (Hebrews 8:2, 5; 9:25) “… Behold, the tabernacle (the abode) of God is with man, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people …” (Revelation 21:3)

God’s ultimate intention, however, has been to make His abode within the heart of every believer (John 14:23). Jesus promised that the same Spirit that “dwelleth with you … shall be in you.” (John 14:17) His place of habitation is within His people: “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.” (Zechariah 2:10)

In Old Testament times the Spirit of God would “come and go” – His Presence would enter, bless, and depart (Numbers 9:15-23; 11:25; 2Chronicles 5:13-14). Yet the Lord longed for a place in which He might continually dwell, or make His abode. “For the Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation … here will I dwell; for I have desired it.” (Psalms 132:13, 14)  (*http://www.dianedew.com/habitatn.htm)

 

 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”  John 15:4-6 (NKJV)

 

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”  John 15:2 (NKJV)

 

“And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I [John the Baptist] indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”   Matthew 3:10-12 (NKJV)

 

“And the fire will test each one’s work (our Firstfruits), of what sort it is.  If anyone’s work endures, he will receive a reward.  If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.  Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”   1 Corinthians 3:13-17 (NKJV)

 

“Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’  Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved to the sake of the fathers.  For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable”  Romans 11:25-29 (NKJV)

sukkah

So while our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, gathered around tables inside their little outdoor huts, covered with palm branches, let us all remember, our bodies are the temple of the Lord, and let us eagerly look forward to the ingathering (harvest of souls) that shall take place, and the great supper that the Lord is preparing, where we will ALL share that communion cup with Jesus finally, after all this time.

 

‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’”

Revelation 19:9 (NKJV)

 

“Surely I am coming quickly.”  Revelation 22:20 (NKJV)

 

 

Oct22

The Feast of Atonement & The Lamb’s Book of Life

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The Feast of Atonement & The Lamb’s Book of Life

“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”    

2 Corinthians 5:20 NKJV

In case you are just now joining me on this eye-opening journey through the feasts of Israel, I want you to know that this is one in a series of studies on the Jewish holidays. The other feasts that proceed this one are: (Passover & Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost and Trumpets).  And then following this feast is the feast of Tabernacles.

Studying the feasts is a great way for us to gain greater insight into God’s master plan for His creation,  and has opened a window of fresh air for me to God’s kingdom in heaven.  These feasts are not just for Jewish observance, but are an opportunity for each of us to get to know God and His plan for all of us.

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The “Days of Awe”

I think it is appropriate that we begin the study of the Atonement with the Days of Awe.

This ten-day tradition is observed in the fall of the year, after the last summer harvests (grapes).  The Jewish days of awe commence immediately following the Feast of Trumpets (the celebration of the Jewish agricultural New Year), and are an annual time of repentance, reverence, and fear of God. They conclude at Yom Kippur (the Atonement) where another trumpet blasts.

According to several websites that I visited, devout Jews will spend the days of awe rising while it is still dark in the morning and going to synagogue to pray, in sincere penitence (prayer, fasting, worship, and asking God’s forgiveness for every single sin in their lives committed through the year). They will also go and make things right with their fellow-man, settle legal matters, and right anything they know someone has against them, making restitution.

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The Lamb’s Book of Life

At the end of the Days of Awe, at sunset on the beginning of Yom Kippur, the custom of the Jews is to present themselves to the priest. The books are opened to see what disputes and legal matters are there, and what accusations have been brought (by two or three witnesses) against them during the past year. All secret sins are also to be confessed. Only the sins confessed are atoned for.

Then, having righted all the wrongs with one’s neighbors, brothers, sisters, family, friends, and God himself, having cleared their conscience of everything against themselves to the best of their ability, the priest then makes an atonement sacrifice for the people’s sins, blots out all their sins from the books, and writes their names in the Book of Life.

All the sins confessed and atoned for from the previous year are forgiven, never to be remembered again, as if they had never happened.  When every single Jewish family has presented themselves before the priest, as the sun is setting on Yom Kippur, A HORN IS BLOWN, signaling that the ceremonies are completed. The slate (record of wrongs) is wiped clean…..until next year in Jerusalem!

Unfortunately, anyone who fails to appear before a priest out of laziness or rebellion, when that trumpet sounds, their sins remain. Anyone who refused to participate in the observance, their names are written in the book of death.

If the reader is a student of the Bible it is easy to see the parable or likeness this observance is for God’s kingdom in heaven.  As with all the other feasts, Jesus is the fulfillment, and each will come full circle as a copy and shadow of things to come.

The Bible says, God has set before us, life and death, with the free will to choose for ourselves.  Think how amazing that is.  He even warns of of the consequences of our poor choices.  Just like in the garden of Eden where there were fruitful trees for life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which if Adam and Eve ate of would cause them to die.  Why, oh why, when we have LIFE all around us are we so tempted by death?  There is freedom in life and only slavery in death.  How is it that the devil can make death soooo appealing … soooooo  tempting?  Snake oil salesman!!!!

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Amazingly, even when we’ve chosen death, God still makes a way for us to be reconciled to Him.  Jesus is the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world (Revelation 13:8 and 21:27). John the Baptist proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”  Our Passover Lamb has made the atonement sacrifice Himself for each and every one of our sins. The blood He shed on the cross is sprinkled on the mercy seat in God’s Holy of Holies by Jesus, our High Priest, to atone for our sins and make these bodies, these frail and cracked vessels of clay, inhabitable by His Holy Spirit.

“and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. “ Revelation 1:5

Only the sins we’ve personally confessed to Him, and only the relationships we have reconciled, are under the blood (what we bind on earth is bound in heaven and what we loose on earth is loosed in heaven). Why not give them ALL to Him, hold nothing back?  When we turn from our sins and trust in Jesus, our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  All the other books (containing offenses) are wiped clean.

“For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14

When that trumpet sounds at the fulfillment of Yom Kippur, the door to heaven shall be closed forever, just as the doors to the ark of the covenant are closed until the next observance of the feast.

“If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15

The Great White Throne of Judgment is a judgment for unbelievers. No one at that judgment has his name in the Book of Life; their punishment is sure.

(Read more at: GotQuestions.org)

This coming Yom Kippur could very well be the last to be celebrated on earth. Possibly the last chance for people to make things right with God before that door of grace closes forever.  Will you be a wise virgin who makes it inside for the banquet, or a foolish virgin who is shut out forever?  (Read about the Wise and Foolish Virgins)

Behold I stand at the door and knock… Choose you this day whom you will serve!

I don’t think it is a coincidence that there are TEN DAYS of AWE and TEN COMMANDMENTS!  I also don’t think we have to be hemmed in by a particular season to be repentant of our sins.  Any time is a good time to get right with God.

Do you have any unconfessed sin? Do you know someone who has something against you that you need to make right? The Lord could be coming at any time. Are you ready?  No man knows the day or the hour. Therefore, now is the time to take care of those things that would disqualify you for the prize. Be reconciled to God!

I invite you to spend the next ten days with me taking a sober look at our lives and getting serious to make things right with God?  Let us choose life and not death!

Day One

Commandment 1

Help me Lord to spend today opening my eyes to all the gods I have besides You.  What do I spend my money on?  What do I spend my time doing?  Forgive me Father for having other gods before You!  I choose life!

Day Two

Commandment 2

Help me Lord to spend today opening my eyes to the “graven images” I have made for myself –  lucky rabbit’s feet, lucky horse shoes, lucky charms, horoscopes, seeking mediums, believing in fables and old wives tales, superstitions, and the false doctrines of the Nicolaitans, self-worship, or putting my faith in anything other than You, God?  Forgive me Father for trusting in empty, inanimate objects and chance, or reducing You to the same.  I choose life!

Day Three

Commandment 3

Help me Lord to spend today opening my eyes to the many times I misuse Your name in a day?  Forgive me Father for using Your name inappropriately, as a curse word, as a sware, as a lucky charm, and not in actual conversation with You.  I choose life!

Day Four

Commandment 4

Help me Lord to spend today opening my eyes to the holiness of the Sabbath day as a day of rest, not only for myself, but for all of those around me, and reverence to God.  Do I keep Sunday holy?  Teach me how to keep it holy.  Forgive me Father for being flippant and selfish and irreverent with Your Sabbath.  I choose life!

Day Five

Commandment 5

Help me Lord to spend today opening my eyes to all the ways I dishonor my parents.  Do I talk badly about them?  Have I dishonored them by thinking of them only as a burden, or the inheritance they might leave to me?  Do I love them?  Do I do things for them and care for their needs?  Do I spend time with them?  Father forgive me for not giving my parents the honor due them.  I choose life!

Day Six

Commandment 6

Help me Lord to spend today opening my eyes to the ways I have taken life away from another.  What about abortion?  Oh Father God in heaven, forgive me!  I choose life!

Day Seven

Commandment 7

Help me Lord to spend today opening my eyes to the death this sin has brought to me, my family, my nation.  Premarital sex, extramarital sex, promiscuity, cheating, porn, and even looking upon another with lust in my heart.  Forgive me Father that I have been a seeker of pleasure rather than of a seeker of You, and help me to overcome by the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit.  I choose life!

Day Eight

Commandment 8

Help me Lord to spend today opening my eyes to the things I have inadvertently or on purpose taken and not returned.  Whether it was an object, or someone’s character, or even someone’s identity.  Father God, reveal to me my sins, and help me to put each one under the blood.  I choose life!

Day Nine

Commandment 9

Help me Lord to spend today opening my eyes to the false witnesses I have committed.  If I lose my integrity how do I ever get it back?  It is so easy to lie when I am backed into a corner and trying to avoid trouble.  Sometimes a story seems more interesting when it is embellished with a little exaggeration.  Sometimes I want to fit in with others and find myself sucked into gossip.  Father God, help me to be a person of integrity.  Help me to always tell the truth.  I choose life!

Day Ten

Commandment 10

Help me Lord to spend today opening my eyes to the things I want.  Am I greedy for another person’s looks, or money, or fame?  Do I want what someone else has, a nicer house, or job, a sexy spouse, new clothes, or a new car?  Father God, make me sensitive today to all my little jealousies, and forgive me of them.  Wash my sins away in the precious blood of Jesus.  I choose life!

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“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; and you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’” Isaiah 58:6-9

How big of a debt has God forgiven me of over these last ten days, and over my lifetime, really?  I pray that God would sober my heart for how great His mercy has been towards me, and in turn give me mercy for others that I have had a hard time forgiving.

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all. 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”     

Matthew 18:21-35 (NKJV)

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God’s Timing

No man knows the day or the hour of Christ’s return. The Lord may come tomorrow, next week, later this month or a thousand years from now.

Are we looking for a sign?  Let us remember what Jesus said to the Jewish leaders of His day in Matthew 12:39, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

I find it terribly interesting that the Book of Jonah (Old Testament) is traditionally read at the haftarah on Yom Kippur (the Feast of Atonement), the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, when they contemplate God’s judgment and repent.

Jonah couldn’t believe that God would send him to preach repentance to the gentiles/heathens of that day, and was bothered even further when they accepted the gospel that he reluctantly preached.  I believe God intended the experience to provoke His Jewish children to jealousy, so they would to turn their hearts back to Him as His favored ones, which is exactly why we who are not Jews have been welcomed into God’s kingdom (Romans 11:11) for a time.

I believe Jesus perfected the ministry of Jonah.  As Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of the whale (death), Jesus was in the grave.  Through a miracle Jesus lived again, arose, and ascended to His throne where the Holy Spirit was released to inhabit every person who believes on the Son, because of the blood sprinkled on the mercy seat in heaven by our High Priest – Jesus, and the Christian church was born – Nineveh believed!!!!

Read Jonah 2 in your Bible!

If we are looking for a sign, there are plenty to consider: Earthquakes, floods, famines, hurricanes forrest fires, volcanoes, signs in the sun (solar eclipses), the moon (blood moons), and the stars (star of Bethlehem).  There are wars and rumors of wars. Our earth appears to be in the throes of birth pains continuously and exponentially. In the last days the Jewish people were to be gathered back to their homeland.  Not only have they been given their homeland back in this generation’s lifetime, but their capital city of Jerusalem has recently also been restored and recognized.

Amazingly God has protected His word (the Bible) throughout all of time, so that it should not perish for all these centuries, even though many hostile generations have tried, until every tiny jot and tittle is accomplished. That in itself is a miracle.

God’s people, the Jews still exist, through all these millennia, despite every attempt of every other race on the planet to try to cleanse the planet of their existence. Another miracle.

God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  Could it be YOU that He has been waiting for, for all this time?  Could it be us, and this generation, that He has waited for?

I know that I am probably coming on pretty strong – like a mother who is sending her children out into the dangerous world and just wants them to know the dangers and come back home safe.  But I want to soften my tone for just a minute and ask, what are you afraid of?  Are you afraid to love Jesus?  Has something or someone (in the church or this world) hurt you and you are afraid to love?

The Fighter

Keith Urban
I know he hurt you
Made you scared of love, too scared to love
He didn’t deserve you
‘Cause you’re precious heart is a precious heart
He didn’t know what he had and I thank God, oh, oh, oh
And it’s gonna take just a little time
But you’re gonna see that I was born to love you
What if I fall (I won’t let you fall)
What if I cry (I’ll never make you cry)
And if I get scared (I’ll hold you tighter)
When they’re try’na get to you baby I’ll be the fighter
What if I fall (I won’t let you fall)
What if I cry (I promise I’ll never make you cry)
And if I get scared (I’ll hold you tighter)
When they’re try’na get to you baby I’ll be the fighter
Look in the mirror
You’re beautiful, so beautiful
I’m here to remind you
You’re my only one, let me be the one to heal…

I love this song.  Can we sing it again with the one who hurt us being Satan, and the Fighter being Jesus?!!!!!! I love it even more when I think of it this way!!!!!!!!!  Give Jesus a chance.  Let Him heal you.  Let Him love you the way you were meant to be loved.  Let Him search your heart and cleanse it of all the wicked ways that you’ve been drug through.  He won’t let you fall!!!!!  He’ll wipe all the tears from your eyes!!!!!  And when you get scared He’ll hold you tighter than anyone ever has in your whole life. ❤

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Making Prayer a daily part of our lives

  • Seek Him in the morning (pray and read the scriptures)

“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up” – Psalms 5:3

Visit this website for 12 Helpful Morning Prayers and verses

  • Seek Him during the day (pray and read the scriptures)

“We know that all creation groans and is in agony even until now. Not only that, but we ourselves, although we have the Spirit as first fruits, groan inwardly while we await the redemption of our bodies.” – Romans 8:22-23

Visit this website for some beautiful daytime prayers and scripture readings iBreviary

  • Seek Him at meal times (pray and read the scriptures)

“Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts…”

Visit this website for some terrific mealtime scripture prayers Intoxicated on Life

  • Seek Him in the evening (pray and read the scriptures)

“At evening withhold not your hand.” – Ecclesiastes 11:6

Visit this website for a great set of evening reflections Morning&Evening.org

  • Seek Him upon your bed (pray and read the scriptures)

“At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” – Isaiah 26:9

Visit this website for cross references related to the above scripture BibleHub.com

  • Put on the whole armor of God, and pray continually with all kinds of prayers
  • Be watchful (pray and read the scriptures)
  • Keep seeking, keep knocking, keep asking (pray and read the scriptures)
  • Seek peace and pursue it (pray and read the scriptures)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. – Jesus

(Mathew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27; Deuteronomy 6:5)

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Before you go, may we have a prayer together?

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters, my spouse, my parents, my children, my friends, my family, and for myself, that You, O Lord will forgive us our sins, all of our sins, sweep our houses (body, soul, & spirit) clean and put our houses in order. I pray Your blood will cover ALL our transgressions and that You will write our names in the Lamb’s book of life forever. I pray that You will fill us with Your Holy Spirit, as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. I pray that You will tune our ears to hear what the Spirit tells us, and help us to remember everything You have told us in Your word. I pray that we will each grow stronger in Spirit every day. I pray that You will suit us up in the Spiritual Armor this day and every day, wash our feet of the heathen dust of the earth, and be attentive to our prayers. If the enemy asks to sift us as wheat I pray that you will tell him NO. I pray that You will bind our enemy, cast him as far from us as the east is from the west; cast out every fear, pull down every stronghold, and cast down every high thing that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. I pray that You will put a hedge of protection around us, place us under Your feathers and in Your shadow, surrounded by Your holy guardian angels who will intimidate and chase away every enemy, real or imagined. Set for us safe boundaries that the enemy cannot penetrate. I pray that You will put in us a desire to seek peace and pursue it with every person in our lives including You. When we are weak You are strong. I pray that You will give us clear minds, to this end, that we will forever worship You in Your kingdom, and forever be with You. We love and honor You. We worship You, O precious merciful LORD. We magnify Your name in all the earth. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses and we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

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“In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.”
Proverbs 16:6 NKJV

“And they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” Revelation 12:11

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Next year in “New” Jerusalem!

(*Le-shanah ha-ba’ah bi-Yerushalayim)

* Closing toast for every Passover and every Yom Kippur observance, every year. Note that both feasts are about the blood, the Passover blood of the Lamb of God that takes away our sins, and the Atoning blood of our merciful High Priest that cleanses away our sins.

Please visit this website (Hebrew4Christians) for a more in-depth study of Yom Kippur, the fall feasts and High Holy Days, from a messianic Jewish perspective.

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Jun8

Happy Firey Tongues Day!

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Happy Firey Tongues Day!

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“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Acts 2:1

Pentecost is celebrated in late spring/early summer (on these dates).

Most folks are familiar with the word Pentecost and the event in the New Testament which it represents. It was on this day a little over 2000 years ago that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and they all spoke in tongues.  It is the day that marked the birth of the Christian church.

But several thousand years before that, God introduced Shavuot to His people (Exodus 23:16). Shavuot was a memorial to be observed exactly 50 days (or 7 weeks plus a day) from the Jewish Feast of Firstfruits – which was the tithe (bikkurim) and regard to God for the spring harvest, which took place right after Passover/Unleavened Bread.  In Jewish history, it marks the day that the Torah was given to the children of Israel on Mount Sinai and is celebrated today by the reading of the book of Ruth, as well as dressing in white robes, and holding baptisms.

The word “Pentecost” means fiftieth. Originally, on this blessing-of-the-summer-harvest or pilgrim “feast of weeks,” the people were to bring out of their habitations two loaves of bread, and unlike the feasts before it, this time the bread was baked WITH leaven.  The loaves were to be of the same weight and was therefore called the Counting of the Omer (a dry measure or sheaf of grain).

Firstfruits and Shavuot are both grain harvests. Firstfruits is a harvest of barley, and is the setting for the story in the Book of Ruth where Boaz harvests his fields and leaves behind a little for the gleaners (the poor who lived in the land). Ruth came to glean in order to provide food for herself and Naomi, her mother-in-law, who had both been away in another country until the death of their husbands forced them to come back home. Boaz was Naomi’s close relative, and therefore Boaz honored a Hebrew obligation to redeem the land for his cousin/close friend who died and left no living male descendents to carry on his name. Out of respect for Naomi, Boaz graciously married Ruth (who was not Jewish) and the two had a son, Obed (who was king David’s grandfather and is listed in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:5), giving him a share of Boaz’s wealth and an inheritance in the land (and in the kingdom to come). Boaz became the kinsman redeemer, and his valor is a gorgeous picture of hospitality.

Shavuot is the firstfruits offering of the wheat harvest, waved to the Lord to honor and thank God for His provision. The leaven in the flour of those loaves was covered by bread that had risen, the leaven therefore was no longer visible. The summer wheat harvest was always a bigger harvest than the spring barley harvest, but a mere drop in the bucket compared to the fall (fruit) harvest.

Copy and Shadow of things to Come

Once again, Jesus is the fulfillment of these beautiful Jewish feasts.  He is our “Bread of life.” He has covered our “sin” (leaven) by his body that was sacrificed and now is risen.

He is our Kinsmen Redeemer because He has graciously married us, who are not Jewish, and given us a new life and an inheritance in the kingdom to come, grafting us in and making us part of the family of God by His redeeming blood.

The Torah brought the Law of God to His people ~ and ~ The Word/Logos-of-God brought the Spirit to His people

It is to our advantage that Jesus ascended into heaven after redeeming us, for if Jesus had not gone, the Holy Spirit could not have come (John 16:7).  We all needed the Holy Spirit to come, for so many reasons, including…

We would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon us (Acts 1:8)

He would teach us and guide us, and help us to be discerners of truth

He would empart to us Spiritual gifts that would enable us to do the will of God

The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the heart of Pentecost.  Like the other feasts, Pentecost has a first observance, followed by a middle ritual observance part, and finally a fulfillment, both on earth and in God’s kingdom to come.  The Jewish Feasts were and are a copy and shadow of things to come. Jesus, before He ascended into heaven (BTW: on the very day of Firstfruits, as the wave offering to God of the harvest of souls to come), instructed his disciples to…

 “tarry in the city until they were endued with power from on high”   — Luke 24:49

It was an event He had been preparing them for since before He went to the cross, and one He reminded them of again after His resurrection, during the 40 days of His appearances before His ascension. He told them He would be leaving and that it was to their advantage that He go, for if He didn’t go the Holy Spirit would not come (John 16:7).

He encouraged them that the Holy Spirit would stay with them and help them (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin (John 16:8). He would guide them, and relay to them whatever He heard from the Father (John 16:13). He would tell them of things to come (John 16:13), remind them of the scriptures that they had read and heard, and give them power to heal and to preach ( Luke 4:18; 1 Cor. 12:9).  All very vital things for a people who’s Savior was traveling on to His throne and would be out of sight until His promised return.  It was a token of assurance for them, as He is for us, that our Lord will keep His promise to come back for us (2 Cor. 1:22).

The Mystery

There is a LOT of philosophy out there about the Holy Spirit.  The New Testament church has been divided and subdivided over this issue of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.  This very country that I live in today was birthed out of such divisions.  There are scholars with waaaaaaaaay more credentials than lowly little me to debate the issue, but the one thing they, and I, and we all have in common as the basis for our beliefs are the eye witness testimonies of the men and women who were actually there when the event occured.  Some of Jesus last words to His Apostles were, “You are witnesses of these things.”  And that is something no one else on the planet can boast.  It makes the word of God, the Bible, an extremely valuable document.  And if anyone wants to know about the Holy Spirit of God all we have to do is seek Him in the scriptures.  Study the scriptures and you will find Him!  The scriptures are in fact the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 2:15) and they are intricately woven.

In the closing chapter of Luke Jesus said,

“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

I have prayed that I may rightly divide this word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), and scripture always teaches scripture.  So, I am convinced that Jesus wanted His disciples to go and wait in the city, to stay in the city, to NOT LEAVE THE CITY of Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came to them, because of the confirmation of Acts 1:4 – just in case they had other ideas, since Jesus had just told them in Luke 24:47 that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  He didn’t want them to go off on a missions adventure just yet, and certainly not without the company of the Holy Ghost.

No question the disciples were saved.  No question their lives were totally changed when Jesus came into their lives.  But their calling, their ministry was not complete without the Holy Spirit, without the fullness of God, because they had His work to do.

“The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:17

In John 20:22 it says Jesus breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” possibly prophesying how the Holy Spirit would come to them – in a breath or wind from heaven, and demonstrating that it is He who gives us the ability to receive the Holy Spirit.

“And the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostsrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”  Genesis 2:7

“Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  John 3:5-8

So where did the disciples go after their Messiah had ascended to heaven and disappeared out of their sight?  They obeyed their Lord, and went to the city, as Jesus had instructed, “and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God” Luke 24:53.  And they were in the upper room all together in fellowship, with one accord in prayer and supplication, all eleven disciples and the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers (Acts 1:12-14).  While they were there clinging to Jesus in prayer and biding the time with each other, they chose a replacement for Judas.  They obeyed Jesus directions and trusted His order and His timing.

As Fish Drawn Up in a Net

I wonder what draws you to this post today?  Are you searching for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost? Are you here reading this today because you are at a place in your new spiritual walk with Jesus where you have experienced His passover (saving blood) and unleavened bread (cleansing), you’ve communed with Him as Savior, and experienced His breath of new life – been baptised in water for the remission of sins.  You know that your soul is among His firstfruits offering, but reading in John and Acts you feel as if you lack the power and courage to truly love as the Bible tells us to love (1 Corinthians 13)?

Are you reading about the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, and know that you don’t always have those qualities or virtues evident in you?

Are you reading about Spiritual Gifts in Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Corinthians 12, and haven’t a clue what yours are, much less the ability to fan them into flame (2 Timothy 1:6)?

Are you timid and fearful to share your faith?

Do you always seem to be under attack by the enemy, unable to fight him off or get your head above the flood of your struggles?  Is your Spiritual Armor laying on the pages of your Bible instead of covering your body?

Are you reading in your Bible of people who over and over again received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues, and you don’t speak in tongues?  You neither speak in a foreign language that others can understand, nor a prayer language that only God understands?

These are the very things that drew me to seek the truth of the Holy Spirit, the baptism, the indwelling, the empowering Holy Spirit in the scriptures.  The Feast of Pentecost!

And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” Acts 8:18-23

What is my motive?  To be better than others? To be held in high regard?  Are my motives poisoned by jealousy?  Is there bitterness or iniquity in my heart?

Honestly, in my quest to know the Holy Spirit of God – the truth, I have found many imposters, or maybe not necessarily imposters, but seekers like myself who were blown to and fro by every wind of doctrine, and tossed by every tempest.  It has been the blind leading the blind in many cases.  Some also may have pretended to be filled with the Holy Spirit just to fit in with all the craziness sweeping through.  There are tongues of men and tongues of angels (even dark angels).  Tongues can be faked.  False teachers abound.  There are tares among the wheat!

I am not called to judge, or pluck up what I think are weeds.  We are to be patient with those weaker in faith, as our Father is patient with us.

But I am convinced the scriptures will lead us to the truth, if we search for it with all of our hearts.  And I  believe the Holy Spirit is not gotten by any other means than that Jesus give Him to us, and that Jesus gives Him to us for for His own good purpose (not ours): to enable us to hear His voice and fulfill the gifts and calling He has placed on our lives, to be fruitful to take the good news of Christ’s love to the world, to be equipped for ministry (Eph. 4:12-16), and to be able to have those private conversations with Him that nobody else can understand or evesdrop on, especially Satan.  And I believe it isn’t something we have to fear will be weird or scary – just like our Salvation wasn’t weird or scarry, but glorious.  I believe the Holy Spirit is poured into us to be poured out of us, and that we have a constant need of refilling, or of fanning into flame, when we feel empty, weary, or lost.

Our Father desires to give us good gifts, and if we ask for the Holy Spirit out of right motive I am confident He will give Him to us (Luke 11:11-13) and that the fruit of the Spirit will be evident in us (Gal.5:22-23).

I believe in order to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit we must love God from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5), and be willing to do God’s will, and follow God’s instructions, and not quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19) who leads us.   (*Quenching the Spirit is, I believe, to withhold love by suppressing conviction, prohibiting manifestation, or snuffing out a Holy fire that is kindled in our hearts).  Like the parable of the rich young ruler who tells Jesus he has done everything that is required, but is there anything else that he must do, and Jesus tells him to sell everything he has and give it to the poor, and come follow Him.  If we are like this young pharisee and desire to keep anything back, we will never receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Luke 14:25-33; Luke 18:18-22).  We must be empty of our own will, because the Holy Spirit will sometimes lead us where we do not wish to go (John 21:18).  The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Could it be that we must cling to Jesus like the apostles did – in the church, continually praising and blessing God! …and in one accord with the brethren in prayer and supplication?  The word of God says, if we seek Him we will find Him, when we search for Him with all of our heart (Jeremiah 29:13)!  It says that where two or more are gathered in His name, there He is amongst us (Matthew 18:20).  “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven,”  Matthew 18:19.

So, the discpiles waited in the city, but the use of the word “Tarry” is even more incredible than that…

The word “tarry” captured my imagination when I studied this scripture. So I pulled my Complete Word Study of the New Testament book off the shelf and researched the word tarry in Luke 24:49. When I did I found that the Greek word translated tarry in this one place in the scriptures is kathizo (Strongs 2523) and next to it is a tiny grammatical code “aim.” It is an abbreviation of the words aorist imperative, which indicates that this was a simple action to be done in the future, not “pim,” which is present imperative, and would have commanded a continuous or repetitive action.

This is another one of those instances when the Bible proves to be parable-like, with special things hidden away in it that the Lord only shares with those who seek Him.  Why does the Holy Spirit prompt us to be curious about the words in scripture?  Because the jots and tittles in scripture are important, so much so that not one of them shall pass away until they are fulfilled.  Words mean things.  Jesus’ choice of words is important. I’m so grateful that I had the time to obey the Spirit’s prompting and study this out, because there was treasure hidden.

I looked up the word kathizo and found that it means to sit, to set down, to seat down, to dwell. It is never used however when the action is to rest, but refers rather to a person taking a special seat of importance, one reserved for important tasks, like a judge sits at his bench in a courtroom to hear a case, or a king on his throne to govern his kingdom, or a preacher in his pulpit to preach to his congregation, or a watchman at his post to guard the city. It isn’t about taking a load off; it’s about taking the captain’s chair in the control tower. Literally the scripture could be read, “…but sit (take your place) in the city…until you are endued…”

Isn’t that interesting?  Well, I hope YOU’RE sitting down, because I have something pretty exciting to share and I can hardly wait for you to see it. Please turn to Acts 2:2 and fill in the blank below to find out what the disciples were doing when the Holy Spirit arrived:

“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as a rushing might wind, and it filled the whole house where they were ________________.”

What a beautiful mystery!

Jesus told His disciples to literally go sit in Jerusalem in the special place, and when the time had fully come for the Holy Spirit to arrive, here He came, first with a voice in that mighty rushing wind, as if the Lord were whispering from His throne in heaven: Are you sitting? Here it comes!  It honestly gives me goosebumps to think of it…

Twelve Apostles SITTING, as on thrones – like the elders sitting on thrones around God’s throne  – Revelation 4:4.  Kings and Priests.  A copy and shadow of things to come!!!!

And just in case that isn’t awesome enough, let’s finish that verse of scripture with a discerning look at the word “endued.”  I always thought it meant imparted or given, but it is Strongs #1746 enduo, and it means CLOTHED  – in the sense of sinking into a garment (sitting into it perhaps?); invested with clothing; arrayed…  Wow!

Twelve Apostles SITTING, as on thrones, and CLOTHED in white robes, with crowns of gold on their heads – Revelation 4:4.

This scripture reveals the Holy Spirit as clothing, as an investment – as a deposit guaranteeing our redemption, as Spiritual Armor, as a robe of righteousness, as a Bride made ready!!!!

Check out these scriptures about white robes and fine linen…

“Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were, was completed.” Revelation 6:11

“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”  Revelation 7:9

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife and made herself ready.  And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”  Revelation 19:7-8

The Holy Spirit gave the Apostles the power to do righteous acts, which we get to read all about in the Book of Acts!  A righteous act is like righteous judgment – it is an act or a judgment that knows every hidden thing.  The only way for a human to know every hidden thing is to have it emparted to us by an all-knowing God.  Who can know the mind of God except the Spirit!  The Spirit reveals the mind of God to us and therefore the will of God.

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.  And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True…He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood...  – Revelation 19:11,13

There is a dress code in heaven.  This is why the person was thrown out of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22:11-14.  He was a fake (Isaiah 64:6; Matthew 23:25-33) in filthy rags.  He was a “tare,” who grew up among the wheat, but he doesn’t fool the King!

Oh wise virgins, seek Him while He may be found – fill your lamps with the oil that lasts until the bridegroom returns (Matthew 25:1-13) – like the oil of Hanukkah.

The apostles received power when the Holy Spirit came upon them…

Let me set the actual scene:  Jewish people from every nation and language of the world were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, and consequently they all became eye witnesses of the spectacle of its fulfillment.  When the Holy Spirit gave divine utterance to Jesus’ apostles, the people there each heard the gospel of salvation being preached to them in their native language. Everyone present became witnesses of the power of Jesus in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and took the testimony back to their homes far and wide, and ultimately to the ends of the earth. And the powerful sermon that Peter bravely preached to them that day, by the power of the Holy Spirit that was newly poured into him, resulted in the salvation of 3,000 people.

3,000!  This was a greater number of souls than was harvested at Jesus’ crucifixion – FIRSTFRUITS (when the graves were opened and the bodies of the saints were raised), but only a drop in the bucket to the fall harvest – Feast of Trumpets, which is yet to come. I believe 3000 is an intentional number, for it was the exact number who were killed on the day the law came down from Mount Sinai, because of the golden calf (Exodus 32:28). Second Corinthians 3:6 says, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

The giving of the Law (and the Torah) at Mount Sinai, after the Passover, and after their baptism in the Red Sea, marked the birth of a new nation bound for their promised land…  In like manner, Pentecost marked the birth of the Christian church, the adopted children of God, with the same inheritance (eternal life in God’s kingdom) as our Jewish brothers and sisters. Jew and Christian = two loaves.

Let’s recap the closing words of Peter’s famous sermon: Repent! Be baptized! Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!

“For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)

The promise is the same today as it was yesterday, and last year, and last century, and that magnificent day in the ancient world.

“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Matthew 10:37).

If we are born again, we are laborors for Christ.  One disciple may plant the word of God into mens hearts, while another waters what was planted, but truly it is only the Lord who gives the increase and causes the seed to to live and breathe and have its being.  No man comes to the Father except the Spirit draws him. If it is the Lord who gives the increase then it is foolish for us to get puffed up and take credit for anything, isn’t it?

“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6

“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Paul asked of the new Ephesian disciples. “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” “And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them…” (Acts 19:2, 6)

Ask, and It shall be given to you! The Spirit cannot be purchased (Acts 8:14-24), and if you do not have Him working through you, beware (the Seven Sons of Sceva, Acts 19:11-19). But, if you are saved, and you fear the Lord, and your motives are pure, ask of the Father and He will give you the Helper to clothe you, to lead you, protect you, enable you, empower and guide you in all wisdom.

“If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” (Luke 11:11-13)

If you have asked Jesus into your heart, confessed and repented of your sins, been washed and cleansed in the blood of the Savior, been baptised (died to your old fleshly ways and been raised to new life) making confession before men, and yet feel timid to do the work of an apostle or ambassador of Christ, or you didn’t speak with new tongues, or because you don’t feel the power (boldness) that the scriptures speak of to preach or to heal, then ask my dear brother or sister, please ask.

We must do as the disciples did and spend our time in the church praising and blessing God, clinging to Jesus humbly.  We must sell everything we have (the iniquity in our heart) and follow Jesus (Philippians 3:8-11).  If we give God our whole hearts, Jesus will sweep us clean and put us in order (Matthew 12:43-45; Luke 11:24-26) – breathe on us! But then He must also fill us with the Holy Spirit so that when those old spirits come knocking again, there will be no room inside.  Without the Holy Spirit we are unable to do the will of God.  We are unable to resist the devil.  And we are slaves to our flesh (the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak).  The Holy Spirit is given to us for our good and the good of the world.

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”  Philippians 3:12

You and I are in the summer harvest time of God’s calendar: “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Galatians 6:9)

Let us be WISE VIRGINS and fill our lamps with the *oil that doesn’t run out (read about the history of the feast of Hanukkah or Dedication when after cleansing the temple, the priests lit the Menorah with a day’s worth of oil, but it burned (gave light) for 8 days and never went out until the rider on the horse returned).  (*Oil is another symbol used for the Holy Spirit in scripture.)

And let us look forward to that great fall harvest, when the greatest body of Jews will join the church at the Second Coming of Christ (Zechariah 12:10; 13:1), the great fall (fruit) harvest when “All Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26). That is when the times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled. God will bless us who have blessed her, and curse those who cursed her, and welcome us both to our inheritance.  Two loaves!!!!!

Climb up Sunshine Mtn

 

“So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:46-47

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*This mini-Bible study is part of a study of the feasts of Israel.  If you have enjoyed it you may also enjoy reading about all the other feasts in scripture: “The Lord our Passover,” “FIRSTFRUITS,” “Feast of Trumpets,” “No Man Knows the Day or the Hour…,” and “Feast of Booths.”  You can find the links to these in the list of recent posts listed on the right column of this page.  Thank you for sharing this journey with me.  I pray that you are blessed by God’s word and filled with a desire to know Him with all of your heart and share Him with a lost world.