June 9, 2008 by admin.

SHAVU’OT (PENTECOST)

After His resurrection, Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah had told His disciples in Luke 24:49: “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Also, at His last Passover Seder (Last Supper), Yeshua had already promised to send them the Holy Spirit after He would leave the earth. Even John the Baptist had prophesied that Yeshua would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11).

Picture the scene later on. Jesus had ascended to His Father, and the disciples were left behind…waiting. What were they waiting for? What did they expect? What did they think the Holy Spirit would be like? As Jews, they knew from Leviticus 23 that fifty days after Passover was the celebration of the feast of Shavu’ot or Pentecost. During the time of Jesus, this was an agricultural festival, but the sages of the time recognized it also as a time of celebration marking the anniversary of the Lord giving the Commandments to Moses at Mt. Sinai. Also, in Jewish tradition, on the first Shavu’ot the Jewish people were seen as betrothed to God through the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai. It was one of the three feasts where all males were commanded to go to Jerusalem for the festivities.

So, there they were in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, Israel. They probably had been eagerly counting the fifty days since Passover in anticipation of celebrating their betrothal and the giving of the Torah, as many devout Jews do to this day. They were also waiting…expecting the Holy Spirit at some point.

All of a sudden…it happened! Acts 2. What a wonderful surprise! What an incredible, awesome gift for the faithful seekers! The supernatural unfolded before them! There was the sound of a violent wind! Tongues of fire came down and landed on each of them! Disciples of Yeshua cried out in foreign languages that they had never learned! Prophesying! Visions! Signs! Wonders! Wow! The Holy Law that had been written on tablets of stone was now written on the tablets of their human hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3; Hebrews 8:10)! The betrothal period was over. Here on the first Shavu’ot after Yeshua’s death, His people, both Jew and Gentile, now became His Bride!

The 6th of Silvan (Monday, June 9, 2008) marks this year’s celebration of Shavu’ot. This same Fire that fell 2,000 years ago–this same Holy Spirit–is now offered to all those who expect His impartation, believe the words of Yeshua, and wait. He is here! He is being poured out in these last days!

Bless the Name of God (Baruch HaShem)!

Posted in Jewish Roots, Messianic Ministry | Print | No Comments »

June 2, 2008 by admin.

Yom Yerushalayim

The 28th of Iyar (our June 2nd) marks the celebration of Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day), a national Israeli holiday commemorating the recently gained control over the Old City and the re-unification of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, the City of God, where God chose to write His name! Jerusalem, the most holy city in the world! Jerusalem, where Yeshua walked, preached, healed and prophesied almost 2000 years ago! Jerusalem, where Messiah will soon return to the Mount of Olives and enter the Eastern Gate! Jerusalem, the place where the new Jerusalem will descend from above!

In its history, however, Jerusalem has been “trampled on” over the centuries by the Gentiles (Romans, Byzantines, Muslims, Crusaders, Turks and the British) as Yeshua predicted in Luke 21:24. Recently, some things have begun to change. Israel became a recognized nation in May 1948. However, they still did not have control of Jerusalem. Then, another change came! During the Six Day War in June 1967, the nation of Israel miraculously held off six invading Arab nations and took sovereign control over the City of God!

So what’s the significance? What’s the point? Well, the point is that Yeshua said in Luke 21:24 that Jerusalem would be “trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” Well, Jerusalem is now in the hands of the Jews. Does this mean that Jerusalem is no longer trampled on? If so, we’re definitely close to the return of the Messiah. Why? Because Yeshua said, “When these things [along with other signs] begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near!” (Luke 21:28). He went on to say in verse 32: “This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened!” Is that generation us…the generation that saw Jerusalem returned to the Jews? Wow! And also, if the “times of the Gentiles” refers to Romans 11:25-26 where it states that after the “full number of the Gentiles has come in,” then it follows that “all Israel will be saved” soon! Look up, your redemption draws near! Your Yeshua draws near! Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

Posted in Jewish Roots, Messianic Ministry | Print | No Comments »

May 4, 2008 by admin.

Israel Independence Day

(Yom Ha’atzma’ut)

Happy 60th Birthday, Israel! After nearly 2,000 years of yet another exile, on [3 Iyar] May 14, 1948, under the mighty hand of God, the Jews once again had a homeland! It is amazing! The Land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was reborn and officially became the present State of Israel on that date. It is celebrated there as a national holiday each year on the 3rd of the Jewish calendar month of Iyar, which this year is May 8 on our calendar.

God did not forget His promises to the Jewish people. In His Word, He prophesied that there would be a re-gathering of His Chosen Ones in the Promised Land and that they would never again be uprooted (Amos 9:14-15; Jeremiah 16:14-15). The Word of God is being revealed right before our eyes! The Jews have returned to their home and to their ancient language. Since 1948, over five million Jewish people have returned to Israel from all over the globe! Surely something supernatural is getting ready to happen.

Now that the Chosen People have re-gathered in Israel, the stage is set for the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus), to return to earth soon. He will come to Jerusalem where the believing Jews will be proclaiming, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13:35).

As Gentiles and Jews in Messiah, let us bless Israel and thus receive the promised blessing of the Lord (Genesis 12:3). Let us pray for the land of Israel and for Jews everywhere to come to know that the Messiah and God himself are One (John 14:9).

Posted in Messianic Ministry | Print | No Comments »

April 19, 2008 by admin.

Friday evening, April 19, 2008, marks the beginning of Passover. Each year, since the blood of the ancient sacrificed lamb (Heb. Pesach) was put on the doorposts of the enslaved Jews in Egypt about 3,500 years ago, Jews around the world have celebrated the Passover under the full moon on the14th of Nissan (Hebrew calendar). The Lord commanded that Passover would be an everlasting ordinance to memorialize the deliverance of the Israelites whose homes were protected by the lamb’s blood. In the Egyptian homes, death was brought to the first born causing Pharaoh to let the Children of Israel go free and return to the Promised Land.

As believers in the Messiah Jesus, we now see how the ancient Passover lamb was a foreshadow of the coming Messiah who would himself become the Passover Lamb. He alone can bring deliverance from sin and eternal life to both Jews and Gentiles who believe in Him. The Apostle John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” (John 1:29). And Paul said, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). We have become “Passover People” whose sins have been passed over by the mercy and power of God, enabling us to pass over the sins of others and to pass over the trials and tribulations of our own lives.

Our Passover Lamb, Yeshua (Jesus), though once slain on a deadly cross, is alive and reigns in heaven and in our hearts. His Spirit causes us not only to look back and remember but also to look forward to the future, to the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) where we will praise Him together, forever!

Posted in Messianic Ministry | Print | No Comments »

March 16, 2008 by admin.

God said to Abraham, I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you (Genesis 12:3).

A prominent goal of evil is always the annihilation of the Jewish people. The heart of God is always the salvation of the Jews. In the Book of Esther, we read the dramatic true story of how an evil man, Haman, plotted to have the Persian king annihilate the Jews about 450 years before the birth of Messiah. The holiday is called Purim because Haman had thrown lots (purim) to determine when he should begin the execution of his plot of genocide against the Jewish people.

Esther, a beautiful Jewish teenager reared by her uncle Mordecai, was raised up by God to become the queen. She kept her Jewish background hidden from the king, and, at the urging of Mordecai, Queen Esther risked her life by going before the king wtihout being summoned by him. She revealed Haman’s secret plot to him, begged for mercy and pled with him for the Jewish people, while revealing her own identity as a Jew. The king was moved and decreed that the Jews would be spared. He had Haman hung on the gallows that Haman himself had earlier prepared for the righteous Mordecai whom he hated. The king honored Mordecai with a high position and spared his own Queen Esther.

“Mordecai…sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces…, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor” (Esther 9:20-22).

Today, once again, the Jews are threatened with annihilation. This time it is from fanatics of radical Islam, Haman-like people who again want to destroy all Jews along with all of the Christians of the world. Praise the Lord that God’s promises of blessings to us will always stand. Like Esther, who was called “for such a time as this,” let us step forward boldly in the name of Messiah Jesus, praying for and blessing the Jewish people.

Gentiles, let us remember, once we “were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:12-13).

And if you belong to Yeshua the Messiah, you are the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:29).

Posted in Messianic Ministry, Announcements | Print | No Comments »

December 4, 2007 by admin.

Hannukah (Festival of Lights or Feast of Dedication) is the eight-day period during which Jews around the world celebrate a miracle. Before the birth of the Messiah, the Syrian King Antiochus invaded Jerusalem and forbid the Jews from following their practices written in the Torah (Sabbath, eating kosher, circumcision, etc.). He went so far as to defile the Temple by sacrificing pigs there. A band of Jews led by Judah Maccabee fought the Syrians to regain control of the Temple and then began the process of rededicating it. According to Jewish writings, in 165 B.C. they lit the menorah (lampstand) but had enough oil for only one day. God performed a miracle by making the holy oil burn for eight days. Today, millions around the world celebrate this miracle in their homes by lighting the eight candles of a special Hannukah menorah.

In John 10:22-39, Yeshua (Jesus) spoke publicly about miracles during this eight-day period of Hannukah. When asked if He was the Messiah, Jesus told the Jews that He had already revealed himself as the Messiah (Christ) through the miracles that He performed in His Father’s name. However, those listening did not believe Him.

This year, the first Hannukah candle was lit on December 4. The last candle will be lit on December 11. During this time, let us remember that we are spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham and are wild olive branches grafted into the natural olive tree by God. Let the lights of the menorahs we see remind us that Yeshua is the greatest miracle of all and that He is the Light of the world as He declared (John 8:12). Let us remember that He has come into the temple of our hearts with the everlasting oil of the Spirit that we might shine forth His love. May we let our light so shine before both Jews and Gentiles that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16), and may we rededicate ourselves to the risen, miracle-working Messiah.

Posted in Jewish Roots, Messianic Ministry | Print | No Comments »

September 21, 2007 by admin.

Friday evening, September 21, marks the beginning of YOM KIPPUR (Day of Atonement, Leviticus 23:27). Seeking for forgiveness, and consequently for their names to be written in the Book of Life for the year, Jews around the world will be fasting, repenting, and attending synagogue services on what they consider to be the holiest day of the year.

In ancient times, it was on this day each year that the Jewish high priest, seeking atonement for the sins of Israel, was allowed by God to enter the Most Holy Place in the Temple–but never without the blood of a sacrifice.

On Yom Kippur and every day we rejoice, as believers in Christ, that our Messiah Jesus, THE High Priest, FULFILLED this holy day. ONCE AND FOR ALL, He brought His own Blood to the Mercy Seat in the Most Holy Place IN HEAVEN (Hebrews 9:12). He thereby obtained eternal redemption, atonement (Hebrews 2:17), for all who repent and believe–both Jew and Gentile–and our names are written forever in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 21:27).

Posted in Jewish Roots, Messianic Ministry | Print | No Comments »