​For humanity to be reconciled with God, sin must be atoned for.
 
God, in his wisdom, provided a ritual in the Day of Atonement ceremony for this exact purpose - to restore the covenantal relationship with his people in service of His plan of redemption.
 
In addition to a ransom - the goat whose blood is sprinkled on the Mercy Seat - there is also a Scapegoat ceremony.
 
The scapegoat ceremony offers a concrete ritual to the nation that the past year's sins have been "taken away" on the head of the goat.
 
Jesus fulfills both the ransom offering and the scapegoat who "takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
 
Join us as we explore this holiday and the amazing significance of Jesus' atoning death (Romans 3:25).

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​In today's lesson, we explore how the Feast of Trumpets - the first day of the seventh month - became a New Year's celebration - Rosh Hashanah.
 
In the cultures surrounding ancient Israel, the purging of sins from the king, the city, and the people marked their New Year's celebrations.
 
In Babylon, their New Year's festival - called Akitu - even included a scapegoat ceremony to remove the sins from the king. 
 
A New Year's ritual is one of rebirth and the renewal of time so humanity can enter the new period of time free of their sins.
 
Join us today as we explore this ancient ritual and see how closely it resembles our modern New Year's practice.

References:

"Seasonal Renewal in Ancient Mesopotamia" in Britannica

Lupercalia Festival:  ​en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupercalia

Februus - god of the underworld - 

Antagonyms: ​www-personal.umich.edu/~cellis/antagonym.html 

In Revelation 22:2, John does something profound by choosing a particular Greek word.

Bibles in English all translate this Greek word as "tree," but something more profound is happening.

If we understand the words used for "tree" throughout the New Testament, we can see that John is pointing out something unique about this "Tree of Life" he sees in his vision.
​
Join us in this short lesson on how John - by simply changing one Greek word - shows us that the Tree of Life is the Cross!

12th Century Mosaic of the Cross as the Tree of Life in the San Clemente Basilica, Rome. 

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​Continuing through this series on God's Appointed Feasts, we make a jump over to the Fall festivals.
 
Jesus has fulfilled the first four holidays - the Spring Feasts - and next up on his agenda is the trumpet blast that will announce the return of the king.
 
This trumpet blast is associated with the Feast of Trumpets, known as Rosh Hashanah (we'll cover this in more detail next week).
 
In today's lesson, we explore a few of the details of the holiday that help us understand the words of Jesus concerning his return and Paul as he writes about the "Last" trumpet blast or the "Trumpet Blast" of God.

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​The Bible never mentions the phrase "the garden of Gethsemane."  

We tend to treat the word Gethsemane as if it is the name of a city or village that happens to have a garden.  But this is not the case! 

​A Gethsemane is not a place - it is a thing!  

So what is a Gethsemane? Join us for this short lesson to find out.

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In today's lesson, we explore the Feast of Weeks holiday. The holiday is called Shavuot in Hebrew, and in Greek, Pentecost. 

This is the holiday we see in Acts chapter two when God delivers the Holy Spirit as a gift from Heaven. 

What's going on at this event? What does this event tell us about the power of community? 

We see tonight how in a very concrete act, God is showing us that His presence has moved out of the "Temple" in Jerusalem and now resides wherever there is a group of "living stones" (1 Peter 2:4-5) gathered together in worship. 

Finally, we explore evidence from the first-century Jewish culture that helps us build a foundation for the background of this event and some of the traditions surrounding the events of God coming down on Mount Sinai.

For more on Act 2 Pentecost in light of first-century interpretation of the events on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20), see this journal article from Scandinavian Jewish Studies:

Theresa Abell haynes, "Voices of Fire: Sinai Imagery in Acts 2 and Rabbinic Midrash"

https://journal.fi/nj/article/view/102389

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Today's lesson explores the "counting of the omer."
 
This is a ritual that happens during the time between Passover and the next major holiday – the festival of Weeks. This holiday is called Shavuot in Hebrew or Pentecost in Greek.
 
The ritual is a 49-day countdown leading you to the Festival of Weeks.
 
In Jewish tradition, Pentecost celebrates God delivering a gift from heaven - the Torah - at Mount Sinai. 
 
In Acts 2 - on the same holiday - God delivers another gift from heaven in the form of the Holy Spirit. 
 
Each year, this celebratory ritual provides the opportunity to prepare ourselves and our communities to receive God's Word and his Holy Spirit once again during the "counting of the omer" that leads up to that holiday.

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Today's video continues our exploration of the Passover holiday and takes us into the evening after the Passover meal.

According to Exodus 12:42, this evening is a "night for watching," a vigil to be kept by the Israelites for all generations.

The events of this night happen at a place called Gethsemane.

But does the Bible call it the "Garden of Gethsemane" as we do in our Christian lingo?

The short answer is no.

Then what is a Gethsemane, and how does it connect to what is happening with Jesus that evening?

​Join us and be enlightened by learning about a Gethsemane - the place of Jesus' agony.

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Jesus heals a blind man with his saliva! What are we supposed to make of this miracle?

Why does Jesus use saliva to heal eyes, and what would that first-century audience have thought about his use of spittle?

And what would be the message for a Jewish audience?

​Join us as we explore the cultural context of the first-century to see what others would have thought about healing eyes with spittle.

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In today’s lesson, we explore the meal that Jesus had with his disciples – what we refer to as the Last Supper – and see how it compares to the elements found in the traditional Passover celebration meal that today we call a Seder.

We’ll also look at a seating chart of the meal and see how knowing the basic seating arrangement in the first century helps us understand some things going on in the Gospels.
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In particular, we will see the absolutely genius manner in which Jesus interacts with Judas. I believe you will find it most enjoyable once you understand the Passover table and the references from the Old Testament. 

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Today's lesson is the second in our series on God's Appointed Feasts – sometimes called God's holidays.

Today's lesson focuses on the first of the seven Biblical holidays – Passover.

Passover was the central holiday in the collective consciousness of the Jewish people in the first century. 

This holiday celebrates when God overthrew the Pharaoh and delivered the nation of Israel. 

Many in Jesus' day longed for God to once again show up on Passover to deliver the Israelites from the oppressive rule of the Roman empire. 

"God has done it in the past," they said, "and he can certainly do it again!"

It is this holiday – the Passover – that Jesus is going to the cross as the Lamb of God – God's Passover lamb. 

And just like that first Passover lamb from Exodus 12 - those covered in the blood of Jesus will be set free from the tyranny of sin! 

Jesus IS our Passover Lamb who was sacrificed on our behalf (1 Cor. 5:6-7).

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Today's lesson kicks off our upcoming series on God's Appointed Feasts found in Leviticus 23.

These holidays are central to Jesus' ministry and God's plan of redeeming the world!

In this video, we will briefly introduce the holidays and then look at the concept of redemption!

God is redeeming the world. The Bible is a book about redemption.

But what does the word redemption mean? Do we have a sufficient enough understanding of this ancient concept that we can begin to see it all over the Bible?

Join us as we introduce God's Appointed Feasts and unpack the concept of redemption.

Lesson Handout: 

Free Resource:  God's Appointed Feasts - Spring Holidays - click here.

Free Resource: God's Appointed Feasts - Fall Holidays - click here. 

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The phrase "Daughters of Jerusalem" is a Hebrew idiom. 

This short video explores this phrase's linguistic and cultural context and what Jesus means when he uses it in Luke 23:28. 

Judgment is descending on Jerusalem. 

In 66 AD, the Zealots pushed Israel into a war with Rome. By 70 AD, Jerusalem was under siege, and the villages outside the city walls were destroyed. 


The words spoken by Jesus as he is on his way to be crucified are prophetic, and concern Jerusalem's coming judgment. 

Understanding the phrase "Daughters of Jerusalem" helps us understand the overall meaning of what Jesus is saying in Luke 23:28-31.   

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Understanding God's Appointed Feasts is critical to understanding Jesus, the New Testament, and God's plan of redemption. 

This is an introductory video to highlight how Jesus is fulfilling God's redemptive plan through action on each of the holidays.

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It's not always easy to understand the messages from the book of Genesis. 

Since Genesis is presented to us in narrative form, we must do some work to find meaning or principles that we can apply to our lives. 

Join us in this short lesson as we discover a message on the power of forgiveness and what it takes for a people group to come together as a nation. 

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