Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!” For my brothers and companions' sake I will say, “Peace be within you!” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. Psalm 122:6-9 The [...]
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד׃ Shema, Y’Israel: Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Deuteronomy 6:4 Since the start of the year, I have been blessed to preach six different places, and nearly every time I pray about what to speak, the Lord impresses upon [...]
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. Matthew 12:50 I had the blessed privilege of visiting Israel from December 28 to January 7 as we welcomed the new year. I served 27 students from colleges and universities around the United States, Canada, and South [...]
In Acts 1, Jesus’s followers stood around him as he ascended into heaven. The group would, forty days later, receive power from on high to be witnesses for him (see Acts 2:1-41). Jesus (Yeshua) made it clear that the purpose of this empowerment was for them to be his witnesses, beginning in Israel and going [...]
One of the exciting stories many of us have grown to love is the story of Joshua and Caleb: the two spies who returned to Israel with a good report. One thing you may not have known is that Caleb in this classic duo was a gentile. In Numbers, we read, “…Caleb the son of [...]
Each of the holidays God prescribed for the Israelites came with unique clues to God’s plans and practical lessons for life today. As I write this, we are preparing for the Fall Feasts or Festivals. This season includes Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot (translated literally: Day of Trumpets, Day of Covering, and Booths, [...]
Would you believe that someone loved you if they ignored your cries for help when you were in trouble? I imagine that many of you would answer no. I thought about that last month as I sat with 100 academics from around the world at the ISGAP Oxford Summer Institute at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford [...]
After the descendants of Abraham spent 400 years in Egypt under hard manual labor and slavery, the Lord sent Moses to deliver the people. Many great depictions of the Exodus have been done, and I won’t go into detail about that event here, but after the people of Israel were released from bondage and set [...]
A great number of people get tripped up over the first-century Jewish response to Jesus. The confusion is ironic because Israel responded similarly in its history, and the Scriptures foretold precisely what would happen. Paul highlights this in his letter to the believers in Rome (see Romans 11:1-10). Before exploring a prophet like Moses, it [...]
During the times when the judges ruled Israel, a famine happened in Israel. A man named Elimelech took his wife, Naomi, and two sons and traveled to the land of Moab, a gentile land. Elimelech died in Moab, leaving Naomi a widow. Naomi’s two sons, Mahlon and Chilion married Moabite wives: Orpah and Ruth. After [...]
