Each year, around the time we prepare to celebrate Christmas, our Jewish friends celebrate Hanukkah. It's interesting that this particular Jewish festival is mentioned in the New Covenant in John 10 and it's called the Feast of Dedication. Funnily enough, we're about to celebrate Christmas which isn't mentioned in the New Covenant anywhere, of course [...]
Korban.... Huh? You may or may not be a fan of the sitcom 'Seinfeld', I personally have never been a fan...the supposed 'funniest show on television' didn't ever make me laugh but I heard about an episode where Jerry and his friends discovered a great soup restaurant that was owned by a really short-tempered man. [...]
Believe...Believe What? Believe How? The Apostle John said at the end of his Gospel account of the life and ministry of Yeshua the following words... John 20:30-31, "Therefore many other signs Yeshua also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that [...]
What Does 'Christ' Actually Mean? Prawny / Pixabay When we use the name Jesus Christ we know exactly who we're referring to; we're referring to the Son of God who's life and exploits are detailed in the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but there are many people who don't actually know [...]
It's All About Context Sometimes, the English language is just so frustrating! What do you think of when I say the word, 'crane'? Do you think of a bird? What about a huge machine that is used to lift heavy objects? Or perhaps you're thinking of someone who is stretching, 'craning' their neck to see [...]
Our Undefinable God Psalm 145:3 'Great is the Lord and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.' We finished out last year by looking at the differing views and outlook of both the Jewish / Eastern mindset and the Greek / Western mindset and how the positional outcomes can and often are poles [...]
Hanukkah - The Feast Of Dedication Each year, around the time we prepare to celebrate Christmas, our Jewish friends celebrate Hanukkah. This year it began yesterday at sundown, Dec 16 and will finish on Dec 24, Christmas eve. It's interesting that this particular Jewish festival is mentioned in the New Covenant in John 10 and it's [...]
The Time Of Messiah's Coming Isaiah 7:14, 'Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.' frankbeckerde / Pixabay A very notable characteristic of the Jewish people is the fact that the Mashiach - Messiah - has [...]
Terrorism Vs Torah Psalm 11:4-5, 'The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates.' Proverbs 3:31-32, 'Do not envy a man of violence and [...]
A New Definition of Weird 1 Corinthians 1:20-29, ‘Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased [...]
A New Definition of WEIRD 1 Corinthians 1:20-29, ‘Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased [...]
Letting Our Tassels Show Most of the Old Covenant laws seem arbitrary, unreasonable and even somewhat senseless or pointless to us; one command in particular appears to be a bit odd and it’s the commandment to wear tassels. Numbers 15:37-39, ‘The Lord spoke to Moses saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them [...]
Stringing Pearls Yeshua taught from the Old Covenant Scriptures and He used techniques that were common practice by Rabbis and teachers for hundreds of years. One of those techniques was called ‘Gezerah Shevah’ or ‘Comparison of Equals’ which basically means that a passage of Scripture can expand on another passage of Scripture if they share [...]
Clean From Unclean When God speaks and it doesn’t make sense to us, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t make sense. The problem isn’t with the teacher but rather with the student. For instance, how could God declare someone who was unclean to be clean simply by sprinkling them with the ashes of the red heifer? [...]
Hebrew Roots Of Our Faith - The Richness Of Jewish Prayer DEZALB / Pixabay Over the past months we've looked at how important it is to understand the culture and setting of the Scripture in order to understand the intention and specific meaning and definition of what was said and why. Understanding customs also helps [...]
The Saga & Drama Of Genesis? Those who believe that the Bible, particularly the Old Covenant portion, is the Word of God, sometimes have difficulty in explaining how God could condone and even use some of the people who are listed in it as being ‘God’s people’! There are many things that are just too [...]
Jewish Logic – Measure For Measure Matthew 7:1-2, “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. For the way you judge is how you will be judged – the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you.” Right at the outset, it needs to be made clear that there are [...]
A King Who Suffers For His Kingdom During ‘Passion Week’ each year, Christians all over the world focus on the death and resurrection of Yeshua our king. I don’t think there’s a more appropriate chapter on the sacrifice of Yeshua than Isaiah 53, which prophesies God’s shocking plan to send His ‘Servant’ to die for [...]
The Role Of Women In The Bible binpage / Pixabay Throughout history in most cultures of the world, women always seemed to be on the lowest social status, that they lived very much at the beck and call or whims of the men in their families and societies. They didn’t typically function in the roles [...]
The Mistake Of Western Theology Luke 15 17-24, "At last he came to his senses and said, `Any number of my father's hired workers have food to spare; and here I am, starving to death! I'm going to get up and go back to my father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against [...]
The Wisdom Of Hebrew Words The Hebrew words of the Bible are incredibly rich not only because of their history but also because of their meaning. Like all languages, words have meaning and are used to communicate; the Hebrew alphabet has a fascinating history and progression, originally the Hebrew characters were symbols and over the [...]
Does God Really Want Us To Fear Him? The word “fear” is common in the Old Covenant, and to many it sounds like we should cringe in dread of God’s presence. Of course, we also find “fear” in the New Covenant too. The Gentiles who believed in God were called God-fearers, and the early church [...]
A Kosher Mouth Proverbs 18:20-21, ‘With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.’ Macarthur Study Bible notes explain these verses like this, [...]
Judging Righteously The subject of righteous judging has been very misunderstood, mistaught and mishandled throughout church history. Luke 6:35-38, ‘But love your enemies and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and [...]
Binding & Loosing Witizia / Pixabay The history of Banias, also known as ‘The Gates of Hell’ (in the region of Caesarea Philippi), is steeped in pagan worship, particularly to the false god Pan who was the half man/half goat, flute playing false deity of the ancient Greeks. For approximately two hundred years prior to [...]