10 things Christians can learn from Biblical / Jewish Holidays

In each of the three Jewish High Holy Days - Rosh Hashanah (New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) - there are gems hidden by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Beyond a yearly calendar of holy convocations, the Levitical Feasts (Lev. 23) as a whole point the reader to a deeper understanding of the God of Israel.

Year after year, as we celebrate God's provision for and preservation of the Jewish people, we are reminded that the same God who promised never to forsake Israel (Jeremiah 31:35-37) has also promised us forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). Here is a list of a few things Christians can learn from the High Holy Days:

1. God has a special plan for the Jewish people

God is not finished with Israel and the Jewish people! On the contrary, He continues to have a special plan for His chosen people. The Jewish calendar found in Leviticus 23 and partially repeated throughout the rest of the Tenach (Old Testament) shows us that God gave the Jewish people "holy convocations" to make us "a light to the Nations" (Lev 23:1-3, Deut 7:6-11, 1 King 8:53, 59-61, Isaiah 42:6).

2. God is a God of covenant relationships

From the early chapters of Genesis through the rest of Scriptures, God has always been a God of relationships - with mankind in general and with the Jewish people in particular. It began with the Edenic (Gen 2:15-17) and Adamic (Gen 3:14-19) Covenants made with mankind. The Mosaic Covenant, made with the children of Israel, contains the 613 mitzvot (commandments), including the celebration of the Feasts of Israel for all generations. God expressed His deep desire for relationship by teaching Israel how to relate to Him through many ways, including the Fall Feasts as a yearly reminder to bring Jewish people back to focusing on Him. The series of covenants culminates with the New Covenant made with Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-34), which is fulfilled in Messiah.

3. A better understanding of the Jewish people

Genesis 12:1-3 tells us about the Covenant God made with Abraham. In verse 3, God said: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." As Bible-believing Christians who love Israel, blessing the Jewish people is part of what we do. There is no greater blessing than giving Jewish people the gift that never stops giving, which is the Good News (Romans 10:1-5, 11:11). The High Holy Days and their contemporary observance give us a wonderful link to the Jewish community, through which we can share the message of Messiah. As we study the feasts of Leviticus 23, we learn more about the Jewish people and as a result, we are able to deliver our message in a bold yet sensitive way.

4. The redemptive career of the Messiah

Not only will we understand the Jewish people better by knowing the Feasts of Israel, but we will also deepen our understanding of the Jewish Messiah, as each of the Feasts points to a specific event in the redemptive career of Yeshua our Redeemer. In a sense, God's grand plan is revealed through the Feasts. Many believers agree that each of the Levitical holy convocations has been or will be fulfilled by a specific event, in a specific order, in the prophetic career of the Messiah. As the Spring Festivals were all fulfilled by the First Coming of the Messiah, so the Fall Feasts will be fulfilled by His Second Coming. Incidentally, the order of the feasts on the Jewish calendar might give us a great insight into the sequence of events of the Last Days.

Messiah's Second Coming

Rosh Hashanah (New Year) - Trumpet Blast heralding End Times

Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement) - The Great Tribulation

Sukkot (Feast of Booths or Tabernacles) - The Thousand-Year Messianic Kingdom

5. Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year

Rosh Hashanah means the "head of the year." It is also known as the Feast of Trumpets, and is the first of three Fall Feasts. The theme of Rosh Hashanah is regathering and repentance in preparation for the other two feasts: Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement, the most holy day of the Jewish calendar) and Sukkot (the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles).

With Rosh Hashanah we prepare our hearts for the beautiful season of the High Holy Days (Lev. 23: 23-25, Num. 29:1-6, Ps. 81:3-4, Ezra 3:1-6, Neh. 8:1-12). Jewish people all over the world blow the shofar (ram's horn). Prophetically, Rosh Hashanah will be fulfilled by the ultimate regathering of the Rapture (1 Thess 4:13-18, 1 Cor. 15:50-58). It is important to note that the rapture does not have to take place on the day of Rosh Hashanah to fulfill it; the Bible is clear that we don't know the day or the hour (Matt. 24:42-44, 25:13).

6. Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur is the most solemn of the High Holy Days. It is a fast and a day of affliction (Lev. 16, 23:26-32). As described in Leviticus 16, Yom Kippur was a day for all Israel's sins to be atoned for by the yearly sacrifices performed by the High Priest. First, he would atone for himself by providing both a sin and a burnt offering (Lev. 16:3). After offering sacrifices to the Lord for himself and the other priests, he would be ready to make an offering for the atonement of all Israel (Lev 16:5-7). Two male goats were used. One goat was slaughtered and the other goat, which was known as azazel or the "scapegoat," was escorted into the wilderness, and tradition tells us that it was pushed off a cliff to its certain death, taking with it all the sins of Israel to be remembered no more. Yeshua became our azazel 2,000 years ago (Rom. 5:8, 8:3).

Three times in Lev 23 (vv. 27, 29, 32) Jewish people are told to "humble our souls." The prophetic fulfillment of Yom Kippur will come with the Great Tribulation - also known as "the time of Jacob's trouble" - which is a specific description of the affliction of Israel during the Great Tribulation (Zech 13:9, 12:10, Luke 13:35).

7. Sukkot: The Feast of Tabernacles

Sukkot means "booths" in Hebrew (Lev 23:33-44, Ex. 23:14-17, Num. 29:12-38, 1 Kg 8:2, I Kings 12:25-33, Neh. 8:13-18). In biblical days as well as in modern days, Jewish people build temporary dwellings or "booths" and eat (sometimes sleep) in them for a week during Sukkot. We do it to remember and celebrate God's provision and dwelling with the children of Israel in the wilderness wanderings. Based on Leviticus 23:40, Rabbinic laws were developed regarding what is known today as the "four species." Each year, families must obtain their own lulav or "sprout" and etrog or "one that shines" (terms not found in the Bible) for the celebration. All four species are held and are waved in four directions - up, down and to the sides - symbolizing that God is everywhere.

The prophetic significance of Sukkot should not be overlooked. The Rabbis taught that one day God would pour His Holy Spirit on Israel (Joel 2:28). In John 7:37-39, during the seventh day of Sukkot, Yeshua the Messiah relates the outpouring of water to Himself and the water of eternal life that He gives. His Jewish audience would have made the connection immediately. Furthermore, Yeshua, who is God in the flesh dwelling with us, will be the ultimate fulfillment of Tabernacles, when we all dwell with Him in His futureMillennial Kingdom (Zech 14:16-19). Peter, at the Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36), mistakenly thought Yeshua had brought in the Kingdom, and he wanted to build three booths; one each for Messiah, Moses, and Elijah.

8. God's promises are irrevocable

With each of these festivals comes a future fulfillment of a promise from God to those who have put their trust in the death and resurrection of Messiah for the forgiveness of their sins. God's promises to Israel are irrevocable (Jeremiah 31:35-37, Romans 9:1-5, 11:26-29) and our God never changes (Hebrews 13:8). Only if God's promises to Israel are irrevocable can the promises to those who follow Messiah also be unchanged. If God has changed His mind about Israel, then our personal relationship with Him (also based on a covenantal promise) stands on nothing!

9. God's plan of redemption is not an afterthought.

From the very first Messianic prophecy found in Genesis 3:15, the Creator of the universe introduced the idea of a Redeemer for mankind. The picture progressively painted through the Jewish Scriptures is one of a Jewish man from the tribe of Judah, the line of David, both God and man, born in Bethlehem of a virgin (Genesis 3:15, 49:10, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7, Micah 5:2), to name just a few. Obviously, only Yeshua of Nazareth fulfills the description perfectly. Images of our Redeemer are also found in all the Levitical Feasts from Passover to Tabernacles, from His death to the Millennial Kingdom. God's love for us is so great that He planned all along to provide a way for us to be reconciled to Him (John 3:16).

10. A better understanding of God's Word

As most people read the Bible - which is the story of mankind in general and Israel in particular - it is as if we were watching an old movie in black and white, with some details but not all. Yet if we read the Bible from a Jewish perspective, understanding the authors' point of view, the audiences and the geographical/historical context, then we understand so much more. The movie instantly turns to color, and details we never knew existed pop up on the screen.

The Levitical calendar is not only a reminder of God's holy convocations for the children of Israel, but it also renders a vivid picture of God's love, grace, and provision for the Jewish people and the rest of mankind. It helps us to better understand not only the Jewish people, but the God of the Jewish people, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob... our God, and His Word.

SENT TO ME BY MY FRIEND GARY!!!! THANK YOU GARY FOR THIS WONDERFUL WRITING!!!! L'SHANA TOVA!!! Brandy

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF FAREWELL TOUR

Words cannot describe how thankful we are that we are about to go see the live, farewell tour of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, starring Topol. This movie has made such an enormous impact on my life, along with many, many other books & movies about Israel. If you live in Southern California or the Portland, Oregon area, and you are interested in also attending, check out:

http://www.fiddlerontour.com/

The last trip we took to Israel we visited something called "The Time Elevator". It was an amazing movie / 3-D like production with Topol as the host. He now lives in Jerusalem, Israel we found out! This movie is about the entire history of Israel, from creation until now. It's a definite "must see" while in the City of the Great King.

SHALOM!

WHAT GOD DESIRES

As I was having "Sacred Space" with my King last Sunday, He spoke to my heart to write in my journal... so I will share with you, dear reader, what I wrote. May this speak to you as it did to me. "You want our hearts. You want all of us - everything, no hold backs. Noting short of complete surrender and abandonment... You are coming soon - You are even at the door! You are asking Your bride if she is willing to let go of anything and everything that is a hindrance and a block from entering into Your presence. Secret, besetting sins, anything that grieves Your Holy Spirit - You want our hearts uncluttered of religious spirits, self-sufficiency, pride, rebellion, fleshly lusts that war against the soul, You desire a bride who is willing to stop "the busy-ness" and sit with You. To recognize we have left You sitting in the secret place alone, waiting for our return. You desire a bride who is in love with You, a bride whose sole focus and attention is on You, Your desires, Your wants, Your needs and Your will. You desire a bride who is willing to loose it all to have You. You desire a bride who cries - "Yet He slay me yet I will trust Him" because You, Jesus are worth it all!!!

Ron Cantrell Coming To San Diego and Mexico!

Dear Body of Messiah,

We are writing you today to share some very exciting news with you! Ron Cantrell, from Shalom Shalom Jerusalem Ministries, will be sharing at our July 10th meeting at Living Waters Fellowship in Coronado for our Comfort Israel meeting. Rance and I met Ron and his wife Carol a few years ago after corresponding with them on email. It was during one our of Land of Israel Study Tours, and we had scheduled to bring our tour group to their ministry while they were living in Jerusalem. Since that time, our friendship has developed through email, and then when the Lord saw fit to bring them to California after 20 years living in Jerusalem just over a year ago, the Lord has knit our hearts together even more so through different ways.

Over the years, the Lord has enabled Ron & Carol with years of first hand experience living in the Land of Israel. Ron survived a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. He has authored wonderful books (which he will have available for purchase) and has an extensive website which we encourage you to take a look at before the meeting to familiarize yourself with: http://www.shalom-shalom-jerusalem.org/

But most importantly, Ron and Carol are lovers of Jesus Christ and I know you will be so blessed to meet him personally and hear what God will speak to your heart.

We have been hoping that the Lord would bring the Cantrells to visit us in Mexico for quite some time, and just a couple of weeks ago, the Lord said that the time is NOW. We will be picking him up at the San Diego airport on the 10th, and he will be coming back to Mexico to stay with us in our home for 4 days, where several different meetings are scheduled with both the English and Spanish churches.

With all that said, you do not want to miss this special meeting! The topic he will be speaking on is listed below, plus we will have a time of questions and answers. Feel free to invite all who you would believe would be interested, and please feel free to pass on this email to your friends and churches in the San Diego area, especially any pastors, leaders and people with a heart for Israel. Let's pack the place out and thank the Lord for the privilege of having this very special guest in our midst! Please keep this in your prayers this week!

See you on July 10th, as the Lord wills,

Rance & Brandy Cook

Ron and Carol lived in Jerusalem, Israel for 20 years, assisting the regathering of the

Jewish people to their homeland Israel. Through Ron’s teaching, Middle East updates,

and books, he continues to counter anti-Semitism and encourage Christians around the

world to actively support the State of Israel.

Israel, Islam, and The West

Today’s Church faces a challenge to adopt an end-time biblical world view. Wisely
interpreting world events according to the Scriptures will help us gauge our responses.
The Gospel will end where it began—the nation of Israel. Israel’s history is our history.
Daily newspaper and media reports are almost biblical for those tuned into God’s
end-time agenda. Israel’s enemies continue and we now are secondary targets.
Ancient strongholds of spiritual power still operate. The agenda is the destruction
of Israel in order to nullify the Scriptures. Unlike Old Testament times, the West has risen
up as a roadblock in the path of Satan’s plan to destroy Israel. Since the 1600s, that
entity that has historically stood stoutly in the path of efforts to undo Israel. Are times
changing? Will the West continue to hold the line against a genocidal plan touted by Iran’s
spiritual leaders and espoused by their puppet President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?
This lesson explores these questions.

Comfort Israel Meeting

lead by: Rance & Brandy Cook

Guest Speaker: RON CANTRELL

When: Friday July 10, 2009, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Living Waters Fellowship
1224 10th St. Suite 103
Coronado 92118

Please call Tish w/ any questions
619-246-2045


Comfort your heart by understanding the times,
learn the roots of your faith
Gain a better edge to share your faith, give an answer for the hope of your calling....
Refresh your spirit in the fellowship of the saints

Comfort Israel is a ministry breathed into existence by the Spirit of the Living God. We are committed to speak comfort to Zion (Isa.40:1)
To encourage Israel (Jeremiah 31)
To bless the Jewish People (Romans 15:7)
To go to the Holy Land (Psalm 48)
To proclaim God's Word to the church regarding her relationship w/ Israel (Isa.42:1-7)
To build relationships between the Natural Olive Tree and the Wild Olive Tree
(Romans11)
To pray for the peace of Jerusalem & restoration of Israel
(Psalm 122, Isaiah 62, Jeremiah 31)

Death Makes Heaven Real

Daily routine. Wake up. Devotions. Care for family. Go to work... and then comes an unexpected phone call that someone you love has died. Then, all of a sudden, the world seems to stop and the reality of heaven or hell is in your face. Although this is a reality most of us live with on a daily basis, one that many have dedicated their lives to, in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and God's plan for salvation for mankind, it seems like someone throwing cold water in your face when one passes from this life to enter their eternal dwelling place. Last week, my great aunt passed away, my Grandma Alice's sister. Natalia Jean Poletti was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and great aunt. My heart rejoices knowing that she is now in the presence of the Lord, as the Bible teaches "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." (For the believer). The opposite is unthinkable. The pain is for us left behind, in which we desperately need the Lord's comfort. There is a verse in the book of Psalms that says "Precious in the eyes of the Lord are the death of His saints" is a reminder that God looks at the death of His children in a very different way than we do, for us left behind until our arrival.

Reality for me now is, THAT SHE HAS FINISHED HER RACE - AND SHE HAS SEEN THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST.... YESHUA HAMASHIAC, she actually knows what He looks like! Can you imagine???

I have had to pause this past week and ask myself some serious, self examining questions. DO I LIVE IN THE REALITY THAT THIS LIFE IS TEMPORAL??? That in any minute, I could also pass into the arms of the Lord and be standing before Him, face to face? How different my life would be that if I lived with the CONSTANT revelation that in any second, I could be standing before my King. What in my life would I be ashamed of? Does my heart condemn me? Is there anything I am holding onto that He has asked me to let go of, and I have held onto? Have I "been about my Father's business", or my own? Am I walking with a repentant heart? Do I live my life with the reality that the choices I make are eternal? Death makes heaven real.

I believe God uses all things for good for those that love Him and are called according to His purposes, and in saying that, death does bring forth new life. The Bible says that He has place eternity in our hearts. At the passing from this life on earth into the Lord's presence for my great aunt, it has called me into the truthful reality that not only is heaven real, so is hell, and it's only a breath away. So how am I living my life to walk out His purposes for me? "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." 1st Corinthians 5:10

Praise the Lord for His sacrifice for me, because He died, I may live. "That if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed." Romans 10:9-11

Death makes heaven real.

Dividing Jerusalem???

This is a very important FLASH TRAFFIC from Joel Rosenberg.  Please read it and prayerfully consider his request at the bottom.  Shalom, Brandy

(Washington, D.C., May 20, 2009) -- Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has just finished his visit to Washington. Full analysis on my weblog, including a link to the YouTube clip of me on Glenn Beck's show with a former CIA analyst who says he wouldn't care if Israel ceased to exist. 

That said, there's more troubling news this morning. I'm horrified by credible reports that in his June 4th speech in Cairo, President Obama will say it is time to divide Jerusalem and make the holy city the capital of a Palestinian state. 

No, Mr. President, it is not. 

Jerusalem is and should be the eternal, undivided capital of the Jewish people and the Jewish state. Dividing Jerusalem will not make peace. Rather, it would send a message to every Radical Islamic jihadist around the world that Israel is weak, that the Jews won't even defend the sovereignty of their own capital, that there is "blood in the water," and that it is time to strike Israel and wipe her off the map. Dividing Jerusalem would trigger an apocalyptic war in the Middle East the likes of which the region has never seen. 

I am committed to doing everything I possibly can to educate people -- and particularly U.S. and Canadian evangelical Christians -- to the threats facing Israel and the West due to Radical Islam, and to the biblical responsibility we have to show unconditional love and unwavering support to Israel and the Jewish people. We'll use radio, TV, the internet, emails and other media to get the word out. But we can't do it alone. We want and need your help. 

One idea: let's build an alliance of one million true friends of Israel -- people who love Israel, are committed to blessing her in real and practical ways, are absolutely opposed to dividing Jerusalem, and will pray faithfully for the peace of Jerusalem and the protection of all the people of the epicenter. 

Currently, we have 100,000 subscribers to our Flash Traffic email updates who are committed to this cause. If each of us recruited just 10 new friends to sign up for Flash Traffic and be part of this alliance, we would be able to communicate new information, new projects, and new prayer requests to them instantly. We would be able to mobilize people for pro-Israel events. We would be able to mobilize people to write to President Obama and their Congressional leaders to stand with Israel, not against her. We would be able to work together to stockpile food, clothing, medical supplies and other aid in Israel ahead of the next war. And we would be able to encourage one another with the knowledge that we are not alone in this important fight. 

Will you join us?

For more on President Obama's plan to divide Jerusalem -- and to read analysis of Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit -- please click here.

Will you help us build a global alliance of 1 million true friends of Israel? Click here to sign up for Flash Traffic.

Transition

After several years of prayer, and only within the past month it has been confirmed to Rance's heart and mine and our board members that my husband Rance is turning over a huge part of the administration and pastorate of IDT.    As for the first time in 5 years of prayer, all involved have said THIS IS THE LORD.  Rance has been called to begin a new ministry but OUT completely of the IDT USA Administration - for the first time in 25 years! He still stays on the boards of Comfort Israel, Liberia, Canada and Mexico.   He is so excited.  The Lord has given him a vision to launch a whole new ministry (walking in his giftings and passion of teaching Bible prophecy and evangelism) under the IDT covering called "Prophetic Sword".  This will free us up tremendously as a couple to give 100% of our attention to (for him) Prophetic Sword and (to me) Comfort Israel.  In truth, PS and CI work hand in hand in many ways and there are major crossovers especially here in Mexico with the training and teaching we do here in the Mexican churches.  BLESSED BE HIS HOLY NAME... ALL IS GOOD.  It's like turning over a new leaf, and being freed up to focus more on what the Lord has called us to do - in this hour we are living in.   For the coming of the Lord draws nigh, and we are to be about our Father's business.  Please pray for us as we embark on this new chapter of our lives!