Issachar B7D Fellowship

Issachar B7D Fellowship Live Stream

Issachar B7D Fellowship Live Stream

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! Why do we celebrate the Holy Communion? For most of us, it is to remember and proclaim the Lord’s death (1 Cor 11:26a). Here, the bread and wine represent His body and blood which was given to save us. Now, in order to fully appreciate this, we need to realise that Jesus gave us this command during His Last Supper with His disciples. This meal took place on the eve of the annual Jewish Festival of the Passover, which was to commemorate how God’s judgment passed over the Israelites the night before their exodus from Egypt 1,500 years earlier. As part of the Passover celebration, the Jews were to sacrifice and eat the Passover lamb like how their original ancestors did. This was so as to ultimately point to Jesus, our true Passover Lamb, who was sacrificed on this appointed day so that God’s eternal judgment would pass over us. He is the perfect Lamb of God who died for our sins as we saw in our last session. Jesus is also the True Bread that came down from heaven to give us eternal life, like the Manna that God sent to sustain the Israelites during their subsequent wilderness journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. In Jesus’ death, God revealed His love for us (Jn 3:16), adopting us as His children at the price of His one and only Son. However, Jesus’ death is also the dowry and bride price to make us His Bride. As we see here, the cup of wine symbolises His blood of the New Covenant - which is essentially a marriage contract. You see, when Israel failed to keep the Law - her old marriage contract with God - the punishment was supposed to be divorce or death. We can read about this in Lev 20:10 and Deut 24:1-4. But God in His love and mercy did neither - He chose instead to die in our place to pay the price of our spiritual adultery. He then rewrote the marriage contract, this time not on tablets of stone but on our hearts, paying the bride price again with His own blood and sealing it with the Holy Spirit, so as to guarantee our eternal union with Him. We could say that Jesus performed two miracles at two weddings, one at the start and the other at the end of His ministry - turning water into wine in Cana (His first miracle), and turning wine into blood (His last miracle, spiritually speaking); in these acts, we see why He is our Living Water that wells up to eternal life. The Bible speaks of at least two weddings and a funeral as we see here, but of only one marriage made in Heaven - that of the Lamb and His Bride. Until that Day, until He comes (1 Cor 11:26b), we are called celebrate the Holy Communion, to share in common the bread and wine representing Jesus’ body and blood. When we do so, let us remember that salvation is not about us, our exodus from bondage to sin and journey to the Promised Land; it is about God and His sacrificial love to restore our broken relationship with Him. We are no longer slaves to sin, but children of God and Jesus’ redeemed bride. Link to presentation - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oJkmnecyCSWf2FF5hmGZyqV6q4aPC-fBwSrwZ1s5JuA/present#slide=id.g4c23645697_0_0

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! Why do we celebrate the Holy Communion? For most of us, it is to remember and proclaim the Lord’s death (1 Cor 11:26a). Here, the bread and wine represent His body and blood which was given to save us. Now, in order to fully appreciate this, we need to realise that Jesus gave us this command during His Last Supper with His disciples. This meal took place on the eve of the annual Jewish Festival of the Passover, which was to commemorate how God’s judgment passed over the Israelites the night before their exodus from Egypt 1,500 years earlier. As part of the Passover celebration, the Jews were to sacrifice and eat the Passover lamb like how their original ancestors did. This was so as to ultimately point to Jesus, our true Passover Lamb, who was sacrificed on this appointed day so that God’s eternal judgment would pass over us. He is the perfect Lamb of God who died for our sins as we saw in our last session. Jesus is also the True Bread that came down from heaven to give us eternal life, like the Manna that God sent to sustain the Israelites during their subsequent wilderness journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. In Jesus’ death, God revealed His love for us (Jn 3:16), adopting us as His children at the price of His one and only Son. However, Jesus’ death is also the dowry and bride price to make us His Bride. As we see here, the cup of wine symbolises His blood of the New Covenant - which is essentially a marriage contract. You see, when Israel failed to keep the Law - her old marriage contract with God - the punishment was supposed to be divorce or death. We can read about this in Lev 20:10 and Deut 24:1-4. But God in His love and mercy did neither - He chose instead to die in our place to pay the price of our spiritual adultery. He then rewrote the marriage contract, this time not on tablets of stone but on our hearts, paying the bride price again with His own blood and sealing it with the Holy Spirit, so as to guarantee our eternal union with Him. We could say that Jesus performed two miracles at two weddings, one at the start and the other at the end of His ministry - turning water into wine in Cana (His first miracle), and turning wine into blood (His last miracle, spiritually speaking); in these acts, we see why He is our Living Water that wells up to eternal life. The Bible speaks of at least two weddings and a funeral as we see here, but of only one marriage made in Heaven - that of the Lamb and His Bride. Until that Day, until He comes (1 Cor 11:26b), we are called celebrate the Holy Communion, to share in common the bread and wine representing Jesus’ body and blood. When we do so, let us remember that salvation is not about us, our exodus from bondage to sin and journey to the Promised Land; it is about God and His sacrificial love to restore our broken relationship with Him. We are no longer slaves to sin, but children of God and Jesus’ redeemed bride. Link to presentation - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oJkmnecyCSWf2FF5hmGZyqV6q4aPC-fBwSrwZ1s5JuA/present#slide=id.g4c23645697_0_0

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! In our last two sessions, we saw firstly how - through the Law - Israel pointed to man’s utter sinfulness and need for Jesus, who alone could meet all its requirements so that we could be forever reconciled with God. Then we saw how God gave Israel the Tabernacle as a way for a sinful nation to serve as His priest drawing all men to worship Him. More importantly, the Tabernacle reflected God’s desire to be reconciled and dwell among us. Knowing that we are unable to find our way back to Him, God took the first step to find us - all out of Love. Now, although God gave Israel the Tabernacle, as well as a Priesthood and Sacrificial system to carry out its mission to the world, these were all imperfect and insufficient. Otherwise, there won’t be a need for a permanent solution in Jesus and for Israel to act as God’s lesser light pointing us all to Him. We know from the Bible that God chose Moses’ elder brother Aaron to be the High Priest and Moses’ tribe - the Levites - as priests. But they, like the rest of the Israelites and indeed mankind, were sinful and fallen individuals. The blood of the animal sacrifices were also only of symbolic value and could not really atone or serve as payment for man’s sin. The author of Hebrews tells us how “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins … [because] it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Heb 10:11, 4). Surely we do not think that an animal could take our place. We are made in the image of God and therefore only one among us - but who is perfect in God’s eyes - could properly represent and pay the price for our sins. God had purposely made it such because His intention was for Aaron and the Levitical priests to point to Jesus, our true and perfect Great High Priest, whom we saw before was of the mysterious priestly and royal line of Melchizedek, while the inadequate animal sacrifices that had to be offered day after day, year after year, pointed to the all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus the Lamb of God, the one and only perfect and sinless man who could therefore by His one sacrifice atone for the sins of mankind for all time. As we end this session, we can see how the Law, Tabernacle, Priesthood and Sacrifices, all point to Jesus. May He who fulfills all the Law’s requirements for us, who came as a man to tabernacle and dwell among us, our Great High Priest who now intercedes for us at the right hand of God, and the perfect Lamb of God who died for our sins - Jesus - may He bless you until we meet again in our next session. Link to presentation - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oJkmnecyCSWf2FF5hmGZyqV6q4aPC-fBwSrwZ1s5JuA/present#slide=id.g4c1af23ac7_0_0

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! In our last two sessions, we saw firstly how - through the Law - Israel pointed to man’s utter sinfulness and need for Jesus, who alone could meet all its requirements so that we could be forever reconciled with God. Then we saw how God gave Israel the Tabernacle as a way for a sinful nation to serve as His priest drawing all men to worship Him. More importantly, the Tabernacle reflected God’s desire to be reconciled and dwell among us. Knowing that we are unable to find our way back to Him, God took the first step to find us - all out of Love. Now, although God gave Israel the Tabernacle, as well as a Priesthood and Sacrificial system to carry out its mission to the world, these were all imperfect and insufficient. Otherwise, there won’t be a need for a permanent solution in Jesus and for Israel to act as God’s lesser light pointing us all to Him. We know from the Bible that God chose Moses’ elder brother Aaron to be the High Priest and Moses’ tribe - the Levites - as priests. But they, like the rest of the Israelites and indeed mankind, were sinful and fallen individuals. The blood of the animal sacrifices were also only of symbolic value and could not really atone or serve as payment for man’s sin. The author of Hebrews tells us how “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins … [because] it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Heb 10:11, 4). Surely we do not think that an animal could take our place. We are made in the image of God and therefore only one among us - but who is perfect in God’s eyes - could properly represent and pay the price for our sins. God had purposely made it such because His intention was for Aaron and the Levitical priests to point to Jesus, our true and perfect Great High Priest, whom we saw before was of the mysterious priestly and royal line of Melchizedek, while the inadequate animal sacrifices that had to be offered day after day, year after year, pointed to the all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus the Lamb of God, the one and only perfect and sinless man who could therefore by His one sacrifice atone for the sins of mankind for all time. As we end this session, we can see how the Law, Tabernacle, Priesthood and Sacrifices, all point to Jesus. May He who fulfills all the Law’s requirements for us, who came as a man to tabernacle and dwell among us, our Great High Priest who now intercedes for us at the right hand of God, and the perfect Lamb of God who died for our sins - Jesus - may He bless you until we meet again in our next session. Link to presentation - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oJkmnecyCSWf2FF5hmGZyqV6q4aPC-fBwSrwZ1s5JuA/present#slide=id.g4c1af23ac7_0_0

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! In our previous session, we saw how God gave Israel the Law as part of His plan for the nation to become His lesser light pointing to Jesus. God did not expect Israel to do this by keeping the Law; in fact, it was precisely by not being able to do so that Israel would point to our need for Jesus, who alone can meet all the requirements of the Law. Because Israel was never meant to be able to uphold the Law, God also gave the nation the Tabernacle - a special place whereby they and all mankind could come before God - as well as a system of Priesthood and Sacrifices. These were to provide a way for Israel to be forgiven and cleansed so that it could serve as God’s priest drawing all nations to worship the One True God. Israel was to be God’s lesser light not by its own righteousness (in being able to keep the Law), but by reflecting God’s love, grace, mercy and forgiveness to the world. Now, if the Law was meant to expose our sinfulness and inability to come into God’s presence by our good works, then the Tabernacle revealed how God nonetheless wanted to dwell among us by providing a way to remove this barrier of sin. If the Law spoke of how we were to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind … [and to] love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:37-40), then the Tabernacle spoke of how it was God who first loved us. For God, love was not just mere words or something demanded of us by command. Instead, the Tabernacle revealed how God Himself actively took steps to restore our broken relationship with Him. Ultimately, the Tabernacle pointed to “God with us” - literally, physically - in the person of Jesus or Emmanuel. We are told in the book of Hebrews that the earthly Tabernacle was patterned after the “true tabernacle” in heaven (Heb 8:1-5, 9:11,24). In other words, besides its earthly function, the Tabernacle - every section and article in it - was meant to reflect a deeper spiritual reality. This reality can be summed up by Jesus’ words in John 14:6 - “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Let us look at this further by examining some of the articles in the Tabernacle: First, Jesus is the (only) Way to God - we see this reflected in the single doorway into the Tabernacle. And not only that - in order for the priests to enter the covered tent proper, they had to offer burnt sacrifices on the Altar and wash themselves at the Bronze Laver or basin. These are symbolic of how we cannot enter into God’s presence without accepting Jesus’ death on the cross for us and letting our sins be cleansed and washed away by His blood. Next, Jesus is the Truth that reveals God to us - once inside what is known as the Holy Place, the only source of light in the room comes from the Golden Lampstand - symbolic of Jesus, our True Light. Jesus is also reflected in the Table of Showbread, also known as the Bread of the Presence (or that which causes God to “show up”). In Jesus, God literally “showed up” among us - He is God's Word made flesh, the Bread of Life, the Truth that sets us free. Finally, Jesus is Life itself - Hebrews 10:19-20 tells us that “we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place [where the Ark of the Covenant and the Glory of God resided] … by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain [or veil], that is, His body.” For when Jesus died, we are told that the curtain in the Temple that separated us from the very life-giving presence of God was torn in two. In Jesus, we can now boldly come before God to receive eternal life. Link to presentation - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oJkmnecyCSWf2FF5hmGZyqV6q4aPC-fBwSrwZ1s5JuA/present#slide=id.g464f54d68d_0_0

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! In our previous session, we saw how God gave Israel the Law as part of His plan for the nation to become His lesser light pointing to Jesus. God did not expect Israel to do this by keeping the Law; in fact, it was precisely by not being able to do so that Israel would point to our need for Jesus, who alone can meet all the requirements of the Law. Because Israel was never meant to be able to uphold the Law, God also gave the nation the Tabernacle - a special place whereby they and all mankind could come before God - as well as a system of Priesthood and Sacrifices. These were to provide a way for Israel to be forgiven and cleansed so that it could serve as God’s priest drawing all nations to worship the One True God. Israel was to be God’s lesser light not by its own righteousness (in being able to keep the Law), but by reflecting God’s love, grace, mercy and forgiveness to the world. Now, if the Law was meant to expose our sinfulness and inability to come into God’s presence by our good works, then the Tabernacle revealed how God nonetheless wanted to dwell among us by providing a way to remove this barrier of sin. If the Law spoke of how we were to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind … [and to] love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:37-40), then the Tabernacle spoke of how it was God who first loved us. For God, love was not just mere words or something demanded of us by command. Instead, the Tabernacle revealed how God Himself actively took steps to restore our broken relationship with Him. Ultimately, the Tabernacle pointed to “God with us” - literally, physically - in the person of Jesus or Emmanuel. We are told in the book of Hebrews that the earthly Tabernacle was patterned after the “true tabernacle” in heaven (Heb 8:1-5, 9:11,24). In other words, besides its earthly function, the Tabernacle - every section and article in it - was meant to reflect a deeper spiritual reality. This reality can be summed up by Jesus’ words in John 14:6 - “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Let us look at this further by examining some of the articles in the Tabernacle: First, Jesus is the (only) Way to God - we see this reflected in the single doorway into the Tabernacle. And not only that - in order for the priests to enter the covered tent proper, they had to offer burnt sacrifices on the Altar and wash themselves at the Bronze Laver or basin. These are symbolic of how we cannot enter into God’s presence without accepting Jesus’ death on the cross for us and letting our sins be cleansed and washed away by His blood. Next, Jesus is the Truth that reveals God to us - once inside what is known as the Holy Place, the only source of light in the room comes from the Golden Lampstand - symbolic of Jesus, our True Light. Jesus is also reflected in the Table of Showbread, also known as the Bread of the Presence (or that which causes God to “show up”). In Jesus, God literally “showed up” among us - He is God's Word made flesh, the Bread of Life, the Truth that sets us free. Finally, Jesus is Life itself - Hebrews 10:19-20 tells us that “we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place [where the Ark of the Covenant and the Glory of God resided] … by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain [or veil], that is, His body.” For when Jesus died, we are told that the curtain in the Temple that separated us from the very life-giving presence of God was torn in two. In Jesus, we can now boldly come before God to receive eternal life. Link to presentation - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oJkmnecyCSWf2FF5hmGZyqV6q4aPC-fBwSrwZ1s5JuA/present#slide=id.g464f54d68d_0_0

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! In our previous session, we saw how, on the Fourth Day of Creation, God made the greater and lesser lights, and how these lights were prophetic of Jesus the Greater and True Light and of God’s people - Israel and the Church - who were to be the lesser lights to reflect His glory to the world. In this and the next few sessions, let us dig deeper into how God first equipped Israel for this purpose. When God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, His reason was not only to preserve His chosen people out of whom Jesus would be born. They were also to become His kingdom of priests and holy nation to draw all nations to worship the one true God in Jesus. God prepared Israel for this role during its one-year stopover at Mt Sinai after escaping from Egypt by first giving the nation His Law - also known as the Law of Moses or, more commonly, the Ten Commandments. The Law was like a National Constitution or Agreement binding Israel to God. In Ex 19:5, God said, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” We all know from the Bible that Israel failed to keep God’s Law. In fact, none of us is able to meet up to God’s standards of righteousness. In Rom 3:20, Paul said “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” No one, that is, except Jesus. You see, when God gave Israel the Law, the Israelites thought that the Law was given for them to follow in perfect obedience. They did not understand God’s real intention, which was actually - by their very inability to keep the Law - for Israel to thereby lift up the Law like a banner before the entire world to expose our utter sinfulness and inability to meet God’s standard of righteousness and holiness, and therefore our great need for Jesus, who alone was able to fulfill the requirements of the Law (References). God already knew that neither Israel nor anyone of us for that matter would be able to perfectly obey the Law. His purpose in giving Israel the Law was so that through it, Israel would unwittingly serve as God’s lesser light uncovering man’s true condition and pointing them to the only One who could save them. Link to presentation - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oJkmnecyCSWf2FF5hmGZyqV6q4aPC-fBwSrwZ1s5JuA/present#slide=id.g494e8d5287_0_0

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! In our previous session, we saw how, on the Fourth Day of Creation, God made the greater and lesser lights, and how these lights were prophetic of Jesus the Greater and True Light and of God’s people - Israel and the Church - who were to be the lesser lights to reflect His glory to the world. In this and the next few sessions, let us dig deeper into how God first equipped Israel for this purpose. When God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, His reason was not only to preserve His chosen people out of whom Jesus would be born. They were also to become His kingdom of priests and holy nation to draw all nations to worship the one true God in Jesus. God prepared Israel for this role during its one-year stopover at Mt Sinai after escaping from Egypt by first giving the nation His Law - also known as the Law of Moses or, more commonly, the Ten Commandments. The Law was like a National Constitution or Agreement binding Israel to God. In Ex 19:5, God said, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” We all know from the Bible that Israel failed to keep God’s Law. In fact, none of us is able to meet up to God’s standards of righteousness. In Rom 3:20, Paul said “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” No one, that is, except Jesus. You see, when God gave Israel the Law, the Israelites thought that the Law was given for them to follow in perfect obedience. They did not understand God’s real intention, which was actually - by their very inability to keep the Law - for Israel to thereby lift up the Law like a banner before the entire world to expose our utter sinfulness and inability to meet God’s standard of righteousness and holiness, and therefore our great need for Jesus, who alone was able to fulfill the requirements of the Law (References). God already knew that neither Israel nor anyone of us for that matter would be able to perfectly obey the Law. His purpose in giving Israel the Law was so that through it, Israel would unwittingly serve as God’s lesser light uncovering man’s true condition and pointing them to the only One who could save them. Link to presentation - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oJkmnecyCSWf2FF5hmGZyqV6q4aPC-fBwSrwZ1s5JuA/present#slide=id.g494e8d5287_0_0

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! Previously, we saw how the first three days of creation pointed to three key events characteristic of the first three thousand years of human history - the fall of Man in the First Millennium resulting in sin and death entering the world, judgment in the Second Millennium in the form of a worldwide flood and a second chance through Noah and his ark, and God’s plan of salvation in the Third Millennium beginning with the Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - and that was so vividly portrayed in the Exodus. Day 4 concerns the creation of specific lights - firstly, to separate day from night - symbolic of the separation of good from bad, holy from unholy; second, to serve as signs to mark sacred or appointed times - we learnt in our first session that these are God’s opportune times or Kairos when He will act in the Chronos of world history to bring about His will. The lights are to guide, indicate and draw our attention to these Kairos events; lastly, to give light - to illuminate or make clear not just what is good or holy or opportune, but ultimately to reveal God Himself to us in Jesus. To this end, we were told that God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. In the original Creation Account, the greater light referred to the rising sun that marked the end of night and dawn of a new day, while the lesser light referred to the moon. Prophetically, the greater light refers to Jesus the risen Son of God who marks the end of the darkness and night of sin and death and the dawn of a new day in the light and life of God. The lesser light - as we will see in Sessions Three and Four - refers to God’s chosen people and nation, Israel. It is not coincidental that the first act by Israel as a nation was to sanctify or set apart the new moon - we can read about this in  Ex 12:1-2. Instead of using the sun or solar cycle/calendar to measure time, Israel was to use the moon or lunar cycle/calendar. Instead of starting the day at sunrise, they were to start the day at sundown (or you could call it moonrise). The lesser light also refers to the Church today. Now, there is a reason why God used the sun to refer to Jesus and the moon to refer to His people. For just as the moon does not have light in itself but reflects the light of the sun, both Israel and the Church are called by God to reflect His glory as ultimately revealed in Jesus so as to draw all nations to Him. Link to presentation - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oJkmnecyCSWf2FF5hmGZyqV6q4aPC-fBwSrwZ1s5JuA/present#slide=id.g4691cdae19_0_0

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! Previously, we saw how the first three days of creation pointed to three key events characteristic of the first three thousand years of human history - the fall of Man in the First Millennium resulting in sin and death entering the world, judgment in the Second Millennium in the form of a worldwide flood and a second chance through Noah and his ark, and God’s plan of salvation in the Third Millennium beginning with the Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - and that was so vividly portrayed in the Exodus. Day 4 concerns the creation of specific lights - firstly, to separate day from night - symbolic of the separation of good from bad, holy from unholy; second, to serve as signs to mark sacred or appointed times - we learnt in our first session that these are God’s opportune times or Kairos when He will act in the Chronos of world history to bring about His will. The lights are to guide, indicate and draw our attention to these Kairos events; lastly, to give light - to illuminate or make clear not just what is good or holy or opportune, but ultimately to reveal God Himself to us in Jesus. To this end, we were told that God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. In the original Creation Account, the greater light referred to the rising sun that marked the end of night and dawn of a new day, while the lesser light referred to the moon. Prophetically, the greater light refers to Jesus the risen Son of God who marks the end of the darkness and night of sin and death and the dawn of a new day in the light and life of God. The lesser light - as we will see in Sessions Three and Four - refers to God’s chosen people and nation, Israel. It is not coincidental that the first act by Israel as a nation was to sanctify or set apart the new moon - we can read about this in  Ex 12:1-2. Instead of using the sun or solar cycle/calendar to measure time, Israel was to use the moon or lunar cycle/calendar. Instead of starting the day at sunrise, they were to start the day at sundown (or you could call it moonrise). The lesser light also refers to the Church today. Now, there is a reason why God used the sun to refer to Jesus and the moon to refer to His people. For just as the moon does not have light in itself but reflects the light of the sun, both Israel and the Church are called by God to reflect His glory as ultimately revealed in Jesus so as to draw all nations to Him. Link to presentation - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oJkmnecyCSWf2FF5hmGZyqV6q4aPC-fBwSrwZ1s5JuA/present#slide=id.g4691cdae19_0_0

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! In Session 1, we learnt that the Creation account gives us a unique Biblical perspective of world history - when God would act in His Kairos. Further, the 7 Days of Creation referred to 7 Millennia (7,000 years) of world history, as determined by the chronology of people and events in the Bible. As we conclude Session 2, we see that this was indeed the case with the first three Days of Creation. First, we saw how DAY 1 foreshadowed sin and its consequences - in the Fall of Man. In Gen 2:17, God warned Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day he ate from it he would surely die. If a day is indeed like a thousand years, then Adam truly died within the day at age 930. In fact, none lived beyond a thousand years (one day). Then we saw how DAY 2 foreshadowed impending judgment and salvation - through the Flood and Noah’s Ark. The Flood happened during the Second Millennium - in AM 1656. Noah lived another 350 years after the Flood and passed away in AM 2006 - marking the end of Day 2. Finally, we saw how DAY 3 foreshadowed God’s dry ground of salvation - beginning with the Patriarchs and followed by the Exodus. Abraham, the first of the Patriarchs, was born at the start of the Third Millennium in AM 2008, two years after Noah died. The Exodus of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt also took place on Day 3 - in AM 2513. Let me end by briefly highlighting some loose ends to keep in view, given their prophetic significance later on. I know that some of these ideas will appear quite “heavy” to digest, so do take your time and if you wish to, you can study them in more detail by checking out the materials on my website or through your own research. Circumcision - God instructed Abraham to circumcise all the males in his family as a sign of His covenant or oath with them. This act of physical circumcision foreshadows how God Himself will spiritually circumcise our hearts, cutting off our hardened selves so that we are made receptive to Him, through the Holy Spirit’s work in us when we receive Jesus as our Saviour and Lord. Melchizedek - this mysterious king, who ruled over Jerusalem and whom Abraham gave a tenth of his possessions, was also said to be a “priest of God Most High.” The Bible would later describe Jesus as both King and Priest from the line of Melchizedek. Time of Jacob’s trouble - after years on the run, Jacob finally returned to face the consequences of stealing his elder twin’s birthright. The night before he was to meet Esau, Jacob wrestled with God and God changed his name to Israel. This “time of Jacob’s trouble” foreshadows how the nation of Israel - like their forefather Jacob - would wrestle with God later on, crucifying Jesus as part of God’s plan of salvation two thousand years ago, and setting the stage again in the very near future for Jesus to return. Keep our eyes on Israel as the Church shares a common spiritual identity and destiny with it! Fullness of the Gentiles - when Jacob died, God’s blessings that were inherited by him were passed on to his twelve sons. Now, Joseph received a double portion normally given to the firstborn when Jacob took Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, as his own. In blessing the younger son, Jacob further prophesied that Ephraim’s descendants “will become a multitude [fullness] of [gentile or non-Jewish] nations.” In Rom 11:25-26, Paul explained to us what Jacob meant by revealing that “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved.” You see, Jacob already prophesied through his blessing given to Ephraim that God would bless all nations as He had promised Abraham, because it was through Israel’s rejection and crucifixion of Jesus that the way to God was opened to the rest of the world. Now throughout these first three days or millennium of history, we see glimpses of Jesus: Like the ten gene

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! In Session 1, we learnt that the Creation account gives us a unique Biblical perspective of world history - when God would act in His Kairos. Further, the 7 Days of Creation referred to 7 Millennia (7,000 years) of world history, as determined by the chronology of people and events in the Bible. As we conclude Session 2, we see that this was indeed the case with the first three Days of Creation. First, we saw how DAY 1 foreshadowed sin and its consequences - in the Fall of Man. In Gen 2:17, God warned Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day he ate from it he would surely die. If a day is indeed like a thousand years, then Adam truly died within the day at age 930. In fact, none lived beyond a thousand years (one day). Then we saw how DAY 2 foreshadowed impending judgment and salvation - through the Flood and Noah’s Ark. The Flood happened during the Second Millennium - in AM 1656. Noah lived another 350 years after the Flood and passed away in AM 2006 - marking the end of Day 2. Finally, we saw how DAY 3 foreshadowed God’s dry ground of salvation - beginning with the Patriarchs and followed by the Exodus. Abraham, the first of the Patriarchs, was born at the start of the Third Millennium in AM 2008, two years after Noah died. The Exodus of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt also took place on Day 3 - in AM 2513. Let me end by briefly highlighting some loose ends to keep in view, given their prophetic significance later on. I know that some of these ideas will appear quite “heavy” to digest, so do take your time and if you wish to, you can study them in more detail by checking out the materials on my website or through your own research. Circumcision - God instructed Abraham to circumcise all the males in his family as a sign of His covenant or oath with them. This act of physical circumcision foreshadows how God Himself will spiritually circumcise our hearts, cutting off our hardened selves so that we are made receptive to Him, through the Holy Spirit’s work in us when we receive Jesus as our Saviour and Lord. Melchizedek - this mysterious king, who ruled over Jerusalem and whom Abraham gave a tenth of his possessions, was also said to be a “priest of God Most High.” The Bible would later describe Jesus as both King and Priest from the line of Melchizedek. Time of Jacob’s trouble - after years on the run, Jacob finally returned to face the consequences of stealing his elder twin’s birthright. The night before he was to meet Esau, Jacob wrestled with God and God changed his name to Israel. This “time of Jacob’s trouble” foreshadows how the nation of Israel - like their forefather Jacob - would wrestle with God later on, crucifying Jesus as part of God’s plan of salvation two thousand years ago, and setting the stage again in the very near future for Jesus to return. Keep our eyes on Israel as the Church shares a common spiritual identity and destiny with it! Fullness of the Gentiles - when Jacob died, God’s blessings that were inherited by him were passed on to his twelve sons. Now, Joseph received a double portion normally given to the firstborn when Jacob took Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, as his own. In blessing the younger son, Jacob further prophesied that Ephraim’s descendants “will become a multitude [fullness] of [gentile or non-Jewish] nations.” In Rom 11:25-26, Paul explained to us what Jacob meant by revealing that “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved.” You see, Jacob already prophesied through his blessing given to Ephraim that God would bless all nations as He had promised Abraham, because it was through Israel’s rejection and crucifixion of Jesus that the way to God was opened to the rest of the world. Now throughout these first three days or millennium of history, we see glimpses of Jesus: Like the ten gene

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog! Earlier, we saw how the Third Day of Creation foretold the literal gathering of the floodwaters and appearing of the Dry Ground of a new world following the Flood. Symbolically, it pointed to the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) through whom God brought forth His plan of salvation - the dry ground as it were on which we are rescued from drowning in the sea of sin and judgment, this dry ground being none other than Jesus our Rock of salvation. But there was one more Kairos event that took place on this Day - the supernatural gathering of the waters and appearing of dry ground during the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Most of us are quite familiar with the Exodus story and how it symbolically describes our deliverance from bondage to sin when we accepted Jesus as our personal Saviour and Lord. But there is another and perhaps even more important observation - it was here that God first revealed His personal name. Although God’s name (Yahweh) was first used in Gen 2:4, bear in mind that Genesis was written by Moses, whom God revealed His name to. Later on (Gen 4:26, 12:8, 13:4, 21:33, 26:25), we see the children of Seth, as well as Abraham and Isaac “calling on the name of the Lord” but we are told in Ex 6:2-3 that God did not reveal His personal name to them, not even when asked by Jacob after wrestling the whole night with God (Gen 32:29-30). It was only here, with Moses, that God revealed His personal name, and we are told the reason in Ex 4:22 - because “Israel is my firstborn son.” God saved the Israelites because He loved them as His very own. He saved His people not just to free them from their physical bondage but to restore their true identity as His children. Reflections - Many seek God’s name for the wrong reasons, often for power or control, blessings or self-glory. Yes, we are told of the power found in His name alone - that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, Rom 10:13). We can prophesy, drive out demons and perform many miracles in His name. However, when God proclaimed His name to the Israelites, it was because they were to be His children, His firstborn, who would carry His name to all the world. Likewise, when Jesus took on the name of God - “I AM” (Jn 6:35, 8:12, 10:9, 10:11, 11:25, 14:6, 15:1; see also Jn 8:58) - it was not to seek glory for Himself although He could have easily done so, but to do His Father’s will. God gave us His name in Jesus to let us know that we are His children. It is this personal relationship that is the key to true discipleship. When we see God as our Heavenly Father, we are motivated by love and obedience, and His will and honour becomes what is most important in our lives. It was this love - love for His Father and love for us His brothers and sisters - that led Jesus to obey and do His Father’s will by dying on the Cross for us. Ultimately, it is God Himself who demonstrated true love to us His children. In Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, actually the father was the true prodigal by His extravagant show of love to his prodigal son. But this was exactly what God did for us as Paul explained in Rom 5:8. Like the father who rushed out of His home to meet his unworthy son, “God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, [God left His home and came down to us as a human in Jesus and] died for us.” (Lk 15:20, Rom 5:8). Link to presentation - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oJkmnecyCSWf2FF5hmGZyqV6q4aPC-fBwSrwZ1s5JuA/present#slide=id.g3227e75477_0_61