Gathered Around the Fire

  RITUALS HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE MEMORIES - don't discount them.  All special days, across all cultures, have rituals involved in the observation of those ‘Holidays’. While some rituals are so familiar to us we do not even think of them as ritualistic,  foreigners may look at what we do and would ask why do you do these rituals?  To which we would probably say “I don’t know, it is just part of the way we celebrate this particular holiday or event.” IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH RITUALS? Rituals are not good or bad in themselves, they are the building blocks of making Memories, but they can also lull us to sleep if we are just going through the motions. Rituals can be anything from the way we start the day, to how we squeeze or roll the toothpaste. Special readings, even cliches.  Memories are built when we're successful in making the day special, and out of the ordinary. This may be a one-time event like a trip to a monument or to the Grand Canyon. It can al...

  God’s Commission to Joshua (Yeshua)  After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: “Moses My servant is dead. Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all these people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.   Joshua 1:1-3 Maybe you have heard elements of the story of crossing the Jordan, most however are unaware of what day it took place or even what season it happened in. Discovering which day it took place adds another dimension, it reveals another aspect of the purposes of God being accomplished at the fullness of time, in order to unveil his plan to redeem the world.  Let's dive into the text and discover what significant day this took place.   Joshua 4:10 says... Now the people came up from the Jordan on the t...

The Passover Celebration traditions have evolved over the centuries.  the Seder Meal is the kickoff and the most significant event of the seven-day celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. How is Yeshua hidden in the traditions of the Passover Seder? Well let's walk through the order of the Seder meal and we will highlight the parts where Yeshua's actions are foretold in the order. For the most part, I will stay away from Hebrew for the sake of clarity and brevity and use only English terms. For a full-on Hebrew Haggadah look here.  I like the Haggadah (the  order ) in the back pages of Jill Shannon's book A Prophetic Calendar, the Feasts of Israel - "I am the broken piece!" At the Seder meal, there is usually a printed booklet of the order,  for each person attending and each person will read a section from it. The Haggadah  lays out the order of all the prayers, blessings, and symbolic actions taken during this celebratory meal. There are several gr...

Last time we talked about... 2 SECTS - 2 CALENDARS - 2 PASSOVERS  This time we are talking about THE 2 SABBATHS OF PASSION WEEK Some are confused by the word 'Sabbath' as it relates to passion week.  This is due  to the ignorance in the church regarding the Feasts of the Lord. The Feasts of the Lord with their Sabbaths are laid out chronologically in Scripture for anyone who wishes to learn about them they can be found in Leviticus 23.  One rule I have mentioned before but it bears repeating here is the first mention of anything in the Bible makes it preeminent in the series that follows. In this passage, we see the first Feast of the Lord is the weekly Sabbath making it the most important one and it encompasses the purpose of all the others.  ‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings Leviticus 23:3  We can discover two...

TWO SECTS - TWO CALENDARS - TWO PASSOVERS  Arguments for the Essenes being very familiar to Jesus. The Essene sect of the Jews accurately predicted that the Messiah (Jesus) would come at the correct time.  There is also some evidence that Jesus grew up in an area where their teachings could have prevailed in the synagogues of Galilee and specifically in Nazareth.  Some believe that the apostle John wrote his gospel specifically to the sect of the Essenes. Jesus initiated his "Lord's Supper" during the 'last supper' on the date and at the time of the 'Essenes' Passover.  The Upper Room was located in an Essene sector of the city.  Only in 30 AD did the Sanhedrin's Passover fall on the following night (Wednesday evening) .  This 24 hr. difference in timing is noted in the Scriptures. And it answers the question...  How could Jesus both eat the Passover (legally) with his disciples on the night he was betrayed and still die at the appointed time (24 hours...