NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER
Shalom in Yeshua!
Continual Thanksgiving
We are continuing our season of special thankfulness to God which reached
its climax in our sukkah (booth or tabernacle) during the seven days of
rejoicing and giving thanks which were part of the final fall feast as
outlined in Leviticus 23:39. Each year we gain a deeper understanding of
what the Pilgrim Fathers were doing in Plymouth, Mass. as they gathered
in the final crops of the year and feasted with hearts full of thanksgiving
to a God who had been faithful to them in their wilderness journey, and
had sustained and blessed them in the "promised land." Our American
Thanksgiving holiday was originally patterned on the biblical/Jewish Feast
of Sukkot or Tabernacles. We may just keep our sukkah up until November
28th this year!! Thanking God for the Harvest.
When Dorothy and Saul were introduced to us at the Rosh HaShana service
at our local Messianic Synagogue, Temple Aron Kodesh, we found out that
they have been watching Jewish Jewels for many months, never missing a
program. Dorothy told Jamie that she and her husband (both in their seventies)
had been members of many synagogues and synagogue choirs over the years,
but Jewish Jewels was the only thing that had ever touched their hearts.
In fact, Dorothy said that she cries during most of the programs. Dorothy
and Saul planned to return to Temple for the Yom Kippur services, but an
accident kept them away.
After the morning service on Yom Kippur, Jamie called Dorothy and Saul
while an intercessor prayed in the background. Jamie spoke with Dorothy
awhile about Yeshua and the atonement provided for her by our Messiah.
When asked if she was ready to receive Him, Dorothy said yes and Jamie
prayed with her over the phone to become part of the family of God, purchased
by the blood of our High Priest Yeshua. Hallelujah!
At our Yom Kippur service, Neil was given the opportunity to present a
brief teaching on Leviticus 16, the portion from the Torah for this holiday.
After describing in detail the bulls and goats involved in the sacrifices,
he closed with: "Messiah came as High Priest ... not with the blood
of bulls and goats, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place
once and for all having obtained eternal redemption." (Hebrews 9:11-12)
Neil concluded by having everyone stand and pray acknowledging Yeshua as
their High Priest. At the end of the service, Henny, in her seventies,
said she had prayed with Neil and would be coming back soon. We're sure
there were others who prayed too. God moved in a mighty way. Your prayers
made the difference!
The Pomegranate: God's Abundance
Our fall tour to Israel
coincided with the ripening of the pomegranate fruit in the land. God spoke
to us through this part of His creation both in Israel and during the High
Holy Days as our Messianic Rabbi Harvey Koelner gave a series of messages
on the trees of the Bible.We'd like to share a little with you about the
pomegranate.The pomegranate (rimmon in Hebrew, pronounced ree-moan) is
a small tree which grows wild in some sections of the Middle East. The
pomegranate tree has been cultivated since prehistoric times. It has reddish
bark, shiny green leaves and waxlike blossoms with crinkled, coral-red
petals. The ripe fruit is about the size of an orange, yellow or dark red,
with thick skin and an abundance of crystal-like seeds. The juicy pulp
is very palatable. Both the pulp and the seeds are eaten.The Pomegranate
in the Land Pomegranates grow in abundance in the land of the Bible. At
this time of year you can probably even get one at your local supermarket.
While in Israel, we drank pomegranate juice at lunch one day. It was a
very refreshing treat!Since ancient times pomegranate juice has been made
into a special wine. It is also used to make the red flavoring syrup grenadine.
Almost every part of this fruit is put to use. The flowers yield a red
dye, and the rind is used for tanning leather.We were not surprised by
the usefulness of the pomegranate since it is mentioned in God's promise
of a bountiful land as recounted by Moses to the children of Israel: "For
the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of
water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; "a
land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land
of olive oil and honey." (Deuteronomy 8:7-8)The twelve men sent by
Moses to spy out the Promised Land were told to bring back some of the
fruit of the land to prove God's faithfulness. "Then they came to
the Valley of Eschol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes;
they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of
the pomegranates and figs." (Numbers 13:23) The Pomegranate in the
Scriptures The pomegranate was included in the directions given by God
for making the garments of Aaron, the High Priest: "And upon its hem
you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarn, all aound
its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: a golden bell and a
pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe
all around." (Exodus 28:33-34) Many scholars believe that the bell-like
flowers of the pomegranate tree were the model for the golden bells.
In Song of Songs chapter four the Messiah describes His
bride as His garden enclosed. She is an entire orchard of pomegranates
(Song 4:12-13.) He also tells her: "Your lips are like a strand of
scarlet, and your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like
a piece of pomegranate." (Song 4:3) If we think of temples as the
seat of man's thoughts, God is saying that the bride has a mind like a
pomegranate. This agrees with a contemporary Israeli expression applied
to very intelligent people.They are said to be, "full as a pomegranate."
In other words, we are to have the mind of Messiah. (I Cor. 2:16) Like
a sliced pomegranate, our thoughts are to be open and exposed to God. The
crystal-like seeds which are tinged with red are like our thoughts which
have been cleansed and purified by the blood of Yeshua Thanksgiving at
Ellis FarmWe were excited to see the incredible improvements at the Ellis
farm in Tzipori since our Bridal Tour visited there in March 1996. The
lamb shed that you helped to provide was full of lambs. We watched the
goats being milked by modern machinery. We met a number of healthy looking
rams. We saw the cheese factory up and operating and, best of all we tasted
the cheese. Adi, Tal's wife, served our tour group samples of the sheep
and goat's milk cheeses from a little window opening on one side of the
cheese factory. We were even able to sample goat's milk ice cream. It was
delicious! Hanukkah, Another Reason to be Thankful!Hanukkah, The Feast
of Dedication, commemorates the cleansing and re-dedication of the Temple
in Jerusalem after the miraculous victory of the Maccabees over the Assyrians.
As a result, the Temple worship and sacrifices were restored. About 160
years later, the infant Yeshua was brought to this Temple to be dedicated
to God and prophesied over by Anna and Simeon. Yeshua went to Jerusalem
to celebrate this holiday and while there proclaimed himself to be the
Good Shepherd, and to be "One" with The Father (John 10:22-30).
The response of the Judeans to this proclamation was to take up stones
and try to destroy him. (This is the only mention of Hanukkah in the Bible).This
year Hanukkah begins on the evening of December 23 and continues for seven
more nights. If you would like to celebrate this feast and don't yet have
a Hanukkah Menorah, you can order this one from us. It comes with candles
and directions.
Let Everything Praise Him! Psalm 150 verse 6 states: "Let
everything that hath breath praise the Lord " This includes animals!
After all, both men and beasts are in God's care (Psalm 36:6). We had a
beautiful example of this at our home when we produced the "Animals
of the Bible" program. God blessed our pets as he helped Cleo (our
cat) calm down from the terror of the cameras and lights so that we could
videotape her. He protected Frisky (our hamster) as we taped a segment
with Cleo and Frisky together, and best of all, His Spirit hovered over
Yehuda (our parakeet), who spent most of the program perched on Jamie's
shoulder. This program is probably our most colorful to date. It ends with
a segment on lions and the proclamation of Yeshua as The Lion of the tribe
of Judah. You will enjoy having your own copy of this program. Great for
families, homeschoolers and animal lovers. Be sure to order a copy for
yourself and/or for the congregation you attend.
Copyright Jewish Jewels 1997