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Khag Sukkot was the original name of the Hebrew celebration that means the Feast of Tabernacles. This was because during the Feast, every worshiper lived in a Sukkah, or Booth, or Hut, under the skies of Jerusalem. They all camped out, but the strange thing was they were home. They were in the Promised Land. You don't camp out when you're home. But God wanted them to remember their days when they journeyed in tents, and when they journeyed and camped out with them.The Promised Land speaks of Heaven, and the wilderness of this present life. So the children of...

In the ancient Hebrew marriage, the two were considered husband and wife during the time they lived in separation untill the great day of their joining at the marriage supper. It was the time of the Bride's Preparation, during which she would ready herself for marriage. She would learn to say goodbye to the house and the life she had known all her life. If you have received Jesus, you are here for a great purpose, to get ready for your eternal marriage. If you've gotten caught up in money and success and houses and business and circumstances, you've forgotten...

In the beautiful mystery of the ancient Hebrew wedding, the Groom would prepare a place for the Bride. Usually at night, the Groom, dressed as king, accompanied by his friends, would come to the Bride's house where she'd be waiting with her maidens. The two would be lifted up on a sedan chair and carried away with great joy to the House of the Bridegroom he had prepared.They would celebrate for days, with a great marriage feast, sharing a cup of wine, and going off together to become one.Messiah, our Groom, said, "In my Father's house are many mansions, I...

The MOHAR, in the ancient Hebrew Marriage, was the gift the bridegroom gave to His beloved -- gold or silver or other riches. It was the Bridal Price. Because of the MOHAR, the Hebrew woman was set free from her house. By the Mohar, she was now the Bride, who belonged to the Bridegroom and to a house she would one day see. Two thousand years ago, the Bridegroom also gave a gift, and paid the MOHAR, better than gold or silver. He gave His life on the cross, the MOHAR required for your life. It was the very life...

What does Yom Kippur mean? The day of Atonement? Literally, it means "The Day of KIPPUR" or 'COVERING.' Often the word is written, not as YOM KIPPUR, but YOM HA KIPPURIM, the day of the COVERINGS. God's covering is so great that the word COVERING cannot quite contain it, so it is KIPPURIM, COVERINGS. In the Bible it is written that Messiah is the fulfillment of Yom Ha Kippurim. So Messiah is our Covering, or rather OUR COVERINGS.It means if you've received Him every one of your sins is covered. And it means more... When you need someone to protect...

Ambition. As believers, we know that it is a worldly thing and not good to have...Right? Or at least ambition to be great is not a good thing for believers to have...Right? Wrong. Messiah said, "He who would be greatest among you must be the servant of all." So the desire for greatness is not wrong in itself, only when the greatness is selfish or self-serving. The Lord is saying, "Do you have the ambition for greatness? Good! Be great in humility. Be great in servanthood. Be great in giving, in love..."So if you want to be truly great, turn...

The Hebrew word for truth is "Emet." Suppose you are in a marriage and your partner cooks meatloaf that tastes terrible. And you tell them it is delicious. The truth is you want to throw it out, but you tell them it's fine. Then you don't have to deal with hurting their feelings. And they don't have hurt feelings to deal with. And nobody deals with the meatloaf. For the rest of your life you're doomed to eating rotten meatloaf...all because you didn't want to deal with the truth. We tend to think that the easiest thing is to simply...

The greatest commandment, after loving God is to love your neighbor as yourself. This is definitely no easy thing. But it isn't just a command, it's the Gospel in a sentence. There's really only two things going on in existence, God and Creation. We, being part of creation are God's neighbor. God loved His neighbor. He looked down and loved you. He loved His neighbor as Himself. And there is no greater demonstration of that than He gave up His life for you. He came down and put Himself in your shoes. He gave up His own life, for your...

It has to be one of the most pure and holy things that ever happened on the planet...the virgin birth. When it happened, however, it wasn't considered pure or holy or beautiful. It was considered a scandal. Yosef and Miryam, (Joseph & Mary), weren't married yet. So the world looked on it as scandalous. So it is with God. What He does is pure and holy and beautiful. Don't expect the world to recognize it. The new birth is the most pure of things, but you can't expect the old to understand it. It caused a scandal with Miryam and...

Have you ever heard of the ''Wicked Bible?" In 1623 a Bible was published in England which contained an error in Exodus 20, in the section on the Ten Commandments. The 7th commandment should have read "Thou shall not commit adultery." The publishers accidentally omitted the word "not." And it read "Thou shall commit adultery." The Bibles were destroyed and its publishers were fined heavily. It was then known as the "Wicked Bible." One small mistake, one word omitted, and everything was changed. For this reason Jewish scribes are meticulous when copying the Bible. One mistake and the entire thing...

The rabbis of old spoke of two Messiahs. One they called Mashiach Ben David. He was the Messiah who would subdue the nations, and reign on David's throne, in glory, forever. The other, they called Mashiach Ben Yosef, Messiah, son of Joseph. He was the Messiah who would come humbly, suffer and die for our sins. Now, it is clear in the Bible that there is only one Messiah, He is both glorious and humble, victorious and suffering. The only person who sums up all this is Yeshua Ha Nitzeret, Jesus of Nazareth. If Messiah were only glorious and victorious...

There is an old poem, "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree. For poems are written by fools like me, but only God can make a tree." There is much truth to this. Everything we do on our own strength ends up flawed and empty. It's a big mistake trying to find the value in your life by achieving things. That's why working for God's Love never works. The truth is: God is a poet. And you are His poem. As it is written in Ephesians, "We are His workmanship." In Greek the...

There is an expression "time is money." But it's not true. Time is not money. Time is time. Often we give money to purchase time, or good times. And the more we give the more good time we expect. If we spend a few dollars in the cinema, we get two hours of entertainment. If we spend $20 or $30 in a restaurant, we get a night out. All of the things we spend money on, ultimately end - and then there's nothing. Messiah said, "Don't store you treasures on earth, where moth and rust devour, and thieves break in...

There is a name that you always say and don't even realize you're saying it. It's the most awesome and divine of names, and everyone says it. It's a name revealed in the most awesome of spiritual experiences and yet even little children know it and say it all the time. In fact, if someone asks you for your name, you can't say your name without first saying or implying this most Holy Name. If someone asks your name and you answer, "I'm John" or "I am Mary" you have said it. What's the most sacred name? It was revealed...

"Nachal" is Hebrew for "wadi". A wadi is a water course without water, a dried up river bed. In Israel it rains mostly in winter. In summer, the wadis are a sign of the rains that once fell...and of rains to come. When the rains come, the wadis fill with rivers. That's what Scripture means when it says, "I will give rivers in the desert." We are all like wadis. We were made to flow with the Spirit of God. When we're not in His Spirit, we feel dry. This can happen to your life too. You once flowed with...

The Jewish people have been waiting for Messiah for at least two thousand years. In Rabbinic writings there's a story about it. A man approaches the prophet Elijah and says, "Elijah, where can I find the Messiah?" Elijah answers, "You'll find Him at the gate of the city, dwelling with the sick, the lepers, the lame, healing them." The man goes to the city gate and then returns. "Did you find the Messiah?" Elijah asks. "Yes" The man replied. "So?" said Elijah. "So, He lied to me!" said the man. "I asked Messiah, when are You going to come and...

The ancient Hebrews were given a very special and unique ordinance concerning the harvest: Whenever they reaped their fields, they were always to leave a portion of it unreaped. Whatever they dropped or missed in their reaping they were to leave, never going back to pick up anything they missed or lost, leaving it for the poor. This is the 'Law of the Leftovers.' It is a crucial principle for all God's children. If you want an abundant life you have to learn the Law of the Leftovers.The point is this: life is filled with missed opportunities, mistakes, mess ups....

It was the year the Beatles came out with 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, & Mohammed Ali was stripped of his title. The Vietnam War was in full swing and the public was turned against it. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway starred in 'Bonnie and Clyde.' A play began off Broadway called 'Hair' heralding the Age of Aquarius. The year was 1967. It was into that world of flower power, antiwar protests, and riots that a prophecy spoken thousands of years before was fulfilled. The Jewish people, in the Six Day War, returned to the city of Jerusalem! It...

I know a man who was imprisoned for his faith in Communist Romania. He was deprived of his property, his family, his everything. He was beaten, abused, and tortured. One day he had a dream. He was seated at a table with Josef Stalin, and Adolf Hitler, two of the dictators under whom he had suffered. He turned to Stalin and said, "I forgive you. And I even thank you for what you did. Because through it, the Lord worked good in my life." All of a sudden Stalin began fading away and disappeared. Then he did the same with...

We know about discipleship - that the Lord made disciples of His followers. We also seek to make disciples of new believers. We have discipleship pamphlets, discipleship teachers, and discipleship classes. Discipleship is important. There is something else that is just as important - "belovedship." It is important because you are called to love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. But you can't give love without first having love. How do you fill this greatest of commands? Learn belovedship. The Bible says "Walk in love as beloved children." To do this you must learn belovedship....