Light In Torah

Good morning! This week, I'll be devoting our time together focusing on the generational and eternal celebration of Passover, but our zoom call tonight will start with the beginning of Leviticus (the proverbial speed bump of the Bible): Now that God's glory has arrived, how does He expect us to approach Him? With Passover just a few days away my mind continually runs through the passion week events. One of my favorites, maybe because I can identify so easily, is Luke 22:31-34 (cp. Matt. 26:34, Mark 14:30, John 13:38) “And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren’. But he said to Him, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death’. Then He said, ‘I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow/phoneo this day before you will deny three times that you know Me'. (Lk. 22:31-34) What does this mean? ...

Good morning! Coming soon to a 'theater' near each of us is the celebration of Passover; our deliverance from bondage in Egypt (Ex. 12). With that celebration of the firstborn (Ex. 4:22; 13:15) comes the opportunity to remember this blessed occasion by physically removing 'leaven/chametz' out of your houses (Ex. 12:15,19; 13:7). This physical action of searching your house provides an opportunity for the Spirit to search out our spiritual house, our bodies, to help us rid those types of activities that corrupt the bread of our lives (1 Cor. 5:6-8). This is very significant if our lives are to be an offering to the Lord (Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 5:1-2); since no leaven was ever allowed on a sacrifice that was to be burned (Lev. 2:11). Many ask, 'what is the leaven/chametz' anyway? Is it just the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matt. 16:6; Luke 12:1)? The Herodians (Mark 8:15)? Is it just a fancy word for the yeast we put into bread to make it rise? What exactly...

Good morning! Commercial: Last night's zoom call: There are multiple levels of experiencing God's glory! There is one major reason why people don't experience the varying revelations of His glory. In our call we identified that one variable. Are you content with your spiritual encounters or do you want deeper intimacy? The finale to the book of Exodus gives us the answer. Shabbat shalom! It seems that this idea of setting up the Mishkan is unique for Moses. The text, in this week's Torah portion, Pekudei/accounting, actually emphasizes that it’s only Moses and nobody else could put it all together. Only Moses was able to do this (Ex. 40:1-16). Many people were involved in the furnishings, but when it gets to setting up/qum the Mishkan, it's all Moses, Moses, Moses, only moses.  Each individual, with their willing heart, was essential, but only Moses could raise up/qum the Tabernacle (Deut. 18:15). How and why would God grant them the ability, with the Spirit, to do ...

Good morning! This morning I want to take a note from my favorite leadership book in Scripture, Nehemiah.  And couple challenging thoughts to encourage you into this preparation day. Have a wonderful day: Choose the filling presence of the Most High as you go through the details of your day and light up your world with His presence! In this week, tour portion, Pekudei (Ex. 38-40), we have the accounting/pekudei of all the materials in the tabernacle, and what happens whenever God‘s people are collectively obedient to the word that God commended to Moses (Ex. 39:32). On the flipside, while Nehemiah is in Babylon, He makes a powerful statement to remember/zakar God‘s glory revealed in Moses. Remember, when obedience is pursued, we won't be scattered among the nations. If collective obedience, to the words of Moses, is not pursued...ugh (Neh. 1:8). Passover's coming! "Remember/zakar, I beseech you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, if you trespass, I wil...

Good morning! Passover is rapidly approaching! It's a time to leave the Egyptian mindset of this world and experience true liberation that is provided through the blood of the Lamb. As with Shabbat, the week of preparation determines the fullness you'll receive on that set apart day. So too will it be for the person who remains faithful/samar, the one who guards, watches, and follows with fidelity and trust (Isa. 26:2). "Open up the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps/shamar the truth/emet may enter in."  (Isa. 26:2) What does that mean in plain English? Freedom! Liberation! A lack of faithfulness/shamar emet, guarding the truth, causes a stagnant, enslaved and addicted lifestyle to persist; which we see in this week's Torah portion of Pekudei (Ex. 38:21-40:38). The Exodus story, aka Passover, is more than a historical event. (Ex. 12) It's about liberation from our fantasies. It's about escaping the bondage that the world system holds over our min...

Good morning! Yeshua said it's more blessed to give than receive (Acts 20:35) and the one who gives is the one that will be filled (Prov. 11:25). The nation of Israel, above every nation in the world, continuously supplies aid to those in need; regardless of their ethnicity, political affiliation or allied status. What Israel as a nation models for the world many individuals do on their own. They have learned the importance of giving as they have received (2 Cor. 1:3-8) and out of their merit they impact the world one person at a time. The Land of Israel, the Promised Land, has a small, but famous river that fills 2 seas. The river is the Jordan river. The seas are the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Both are fed by the same river, but one produces life while the other is dead. Why? Because, as with this Torah portion, Pekudei (Ex. 38:21-40:38), when you give obediently and selflessly as you have received (1 Chron. 29:14), it always produces life and blessing and the presence of G...

Good morning! Is it part of God's plan to fail and get back up (Prov. 24:16)? Could we be looking at failure completely wrong? Have you ever failed at trying to achieve the bullseye in life? Last night's zoom call answers the question in this week's Torah portion, piqudei (Ex. 38:20-40:38). As Zig Ziglar, of blessed memory, said, If anything's worth doing right it's worth doing wrong...long pause...until you get it right. If yesterday's study was an enigma to you, let's unwind the enigma in our minds and return back to our story in 2 Kings 17... "They feared the Lord/et YHVH hayoo yere’eem  (in other words, they became afraid) and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile. To this day, they do according to their earlier customs: they do not fear the Lord/eynam yere’eem et YHWH... (2 Kgs. 17:33,34) After all they learned, after the 'lions' mouths had been shut, how could the...

Good morning! Besides being a state filled with trees, lakes, rivers and pure beauty, Michigan is hunting territory. The majority have guns and/or bows with arrows for hunting. There is a rumor, and easily proven, that a roaring lion is loose devouring its prey, as a result of not knowing God's ways (Psa. 22:13; Eze. 22:25; 1 Pet. 5:8). 2 Kings 17 describes the same reality that too many of us face on a daily basis (2 Kings 17:25-27). The Lions were eating people and wreaking havoc; not a very pleasant thought.  Are we really talking 'lions and tigers and bears oh my'? Fangs and claws, most likely not. But lions of offense, yes. Huh? When God's offended, the lion(s) are turned loose (Matt. 11:6). What is the solution?  Build a reinforced 12 gauge fence?  No.  Double bolt your door? No. Work on our rifle or bow marksmanship skills?  No.  The solution that the King of Assyria came up with, is to send for a priest to instruct them how to learn, to be taught/mo...

Good morning! Happy 1st day of the week...Passover is coming! Yippee. I will be in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida celebrating the Spring Feast Season from April 6-16. Where will you celebrate? We are one week away from finishing this year's study of the book of Exodus. Yesterday, we examined some marvelous truths out of Vayakhel/and he assembled.  Within that word is the word we would use for 'church/kahal or ekklesia in Greek. Romans 16:5 is a familiar passage that uses the English word 'Church'. There's a lot of confusion regarding "church" these days. People are leaving them in mass numbers and looking for something that works. The latest demoralizing statistic that I heard out of the 3,000 abortions that occur in the U.S.A. daily 80% of them come from people who claim to be born again and 25% of them come from people who attend church at least 3 times a month. Now that's an amazing and discouraging statistic. Regardless of the different numbers, somethi...

Good morning! Shabbat shalom! Although the portion of Vayakhel/and he assembled is almost entirely focused on the construction of the tabernacle, it begins by reminding the children of Israel that no work may be done on the Sabbath (Ex. 35:2,3). Why does it begin here rather than jumping right into how to construct the Tabernacle? Enquiring minds want to know :-) By placing the topic of the Sabbath against the construction of the Tabernacle it's God's way of defining the boundaries of the Sabbath...that even the most intimate work for the Lord needs to be put aside for His 'Date Day'. However, upon further investigation, there’s another layer to understand that connects us back to the golden calf (Ex. 32). As we know, while Moses was up on the mount getting the instructions from God the children of Israel decided to make an object that would replace Moses, their deliverer; The object, later known as the golden calf, originally intended as a 'necessary' means to ...

Good morning! Perfect peace. Is it possible? Is it just hyperbole? Is it reality today in our idolatrous centered world? Perfect peace is shalom squared. We greet one another on Shabbat with Shabbat shalom and every weekend we meet to celebrate the Day of Rest that Yahweh's provided for us (Gen. 2:1-3). In this week's Torah portion we have a prohibition on what not to do on the Sabbath day (Ex. 35:3), but do we ever stop to consider what to do on our 'date day' with our Creator? If you've ever wondered why your Shabbat celebrations are personally 'dry' and 'lifeless', there's answers. On tonight's zoom call you will find out the five levels of intimacy of Shabbat; #5 is the goal, but you have to start at #1. It's a great greeting and it contains wonderful healing agents to those who pursue His ways, and no healing for those who don't (Isa. 57:15-21). "I create the fruit of the lips: Peace/shalom, peace/shalom to him who is far of...

Good morning! Yesterday, we learned some essential truths about how to 'be still and know that He is God (Psa. 46:10). Today, I want to ask you a different question based on life's ability to throw a wide variety of circumstances at us!  One of the most difficult situations is when we are threatened by someone or some circumstance. Have you ever been threatened?  Oh, maybe no one came up to you with a gun, or shouted at you with malice, or told you that you were going to be tortured or punished.  Maybe all the threat you ever had was the innuendo of rejection, or the social snub or something much less violent than jail time.  But my guess is that if you are traveling the road with Yeshua, living a Torah lifestyle, you know what it means to be threatened. Every time the circumstances of your life look as though they are about to cave in, you are threatened.  It might not be a threat from a physical enemy, then again...but we all know that in one form or another t...

Good morning! Winter has passed and the time of Spring is upon us. The emergence of new life breaking forth from the cold hard ground, reaching up to the warmth of a new season (SoS. 2:10-15). Besides the temperature change, how do we know it's a new season? Because life, for many, is feeling more chaotic than ever...it must mean the Spring Feast season of the Lord is just around the corner (Lev. 23:2-4). It's true. Passover and Unleavened bread (Ex. 12; Lev. 23; 1 Cor. 5:6-8) are approaching rapidly. With Passover and Unleavened bread heading up God's Holy-days, it's a great time to recognize that this will be, once again, a transition time for all of us. I.e. experiencing an 'exodus' out of where we are or what we've been doing that has hindered our obedience to God's calling in our lives and moving towards the destiny that He has for each of us individually and collectively (the 1/2 shekel and full shekel). In this week's Torah portion, Vayakhel/a...

Good morning! There's a pattern in Scripture and in the 21st century to not be satisfied with our spouse! There's a finicky trend to move on quickly to another to maintain the thrill of the chase, the adrenaline of the hunt and the satisfaction of the catch, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. After yesterday's Ezekiel 16 study (hope you read the whole chapter :-), our thoughts for this morning should add additional insights to our finicky covenant relationship with God and the 'foreign gods' that we become intimate with. Two times in Scripture God uses the term Lekh Lekha/go to yourself. Both times it is in the life of Abraham (Gen. 12:1; 22:2). Ironically, but not surprisingly, the first time we find the root of this word (halakh/to walk), we are taken back to the four rivers that surround the garden of Eden (Gen. 2:14); the manifestation of the 7 spirits revealed in Isaiah 11:1, 2. When a child leaves his father's house, he or she must walk out wit...

Good morning! The Word of God tells us that Passover is to be celebrated on a certain day and in a certain way. It sounds 'legalistic' (in the negative sense), but God is particular in how and when He likes things done (Ex. 12; Ex. 34:25; Lev. 23; Num. 9; Deut. 16; Matt. 26:19). When we create our own 'holy days' it changes a beautiful Passover into a golden calf (Ex. 32). I must admit that we (speaking of me, myself and I) have taken Yahweh's Word too lightly and we've turned it into a free for all where as long as we use 'godly' terminology it must be acceptable in Yahweh's eyes. It's the small steps away from the unchanging truth that lead us down a path of self-justification in our own eyes and our view of how Yahweh views us. Let me express one ultimate expression that comes as a result of these little deviations. Ezekiel is making an accusation against Israel when he says, "You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of...

Good morning! Passover is just around the corner! Yesterday‘s Torah portion opens with the Lord commanding for each of the Israelite men who are at least 20 years of age to bring a half shekel to the Lord.. "Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary a shekel is 20 gerahs, a half shekel as an offering to the Lord everyone who is numbered in the census from 20 years old and upward shall give the Lord‘s offering. The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the Lord's offering to make atonement for your souls" (Exodus 30:13–15) The most difficult question of this opening verses, that I answer in the Shabbat morning zoom call is, 'how can we make an atonement for our souls without shedding blood'? Did you know that there are at least 8 ways to atone for your soul in Scripture? If you aren't familiar with this truth, you'll want to check ...