faith
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Yom Kippur: Repentance and the Well-Watered Desert Garden
Yom Kippur is the only biblically mandated fast day or Israel. The day is spent in prayer for forgiveness of sins. At the close of the day, the final shofar is sounded, a long extended blast, and by tradition it… Continue reading
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Vayelekh: He Went Ahead of You, For You
Moses gave Israel the Torah, but Joshua led them into the promised land. They miraculously crossed the river that dried up at their crossing point and piled up upstream. The walls of their enemies in Jericho fell down for them.… Continue reading
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Rosh Hashanah: Isaac, Ishmael, and the Well
Today, Muslims of Mid Eastern descent claim their lineage to Abraham through Ishmael. Jews claim theirs through Isaac. God tells Abraham, “through Isaac shall your offspring be named” (vs. 12), though God would “make a nation of the son of the… Continue reading
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Nitzavim: He is Coming and His Reward and Recompense Is with Him
This section of Isiah and the next several chapters that follow describe the Messiah who will come and conquer Israel’s enemies, Messiah ben Judah. Christians believe this is the prophetic description of the second coming of the Messiah. The nations… Continue reading
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Nitzavim: Do Not Ascend. Do Not Descend. Do Not Cross. He Has.
God gave us His word through Moses, and then God gave us the Word in Jesus. He came down. He was raised. He crossed over and back again. We don’t have to because He is near us now (Mt. 28:20),… Continue reading
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Nitzavim: The Tree that Made Wormwood Sweet
The root bearing poisonous fruit in Deuteronomy chapter 29 is associated according to Hebrew tradition with hemlock, an herb deadly to humans. Socrates was executed by drinking hemlock. This phrase in Deut. 29 literally is translated “a root bearing a… Continue reading
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