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AVINU
Living Church Ministries
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It commemorates the transition of the Jewish people from bondage in Egypt to sovereignty in the Land of Israel; from the nomadic life in the desert to permanence in the Promised Land; from oblivion to deliverance; and from the spiritual state-of-mind during the High Holidays to the mundane of the rest of the year. Sukkot aims at universal – not only Jewish – deliverance.
The holiday of Sukkot follows Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which reaffirm the faith in God’s moral and material supremacy. It is followed by the holiday of Simchat Torah – celebrated a day after Sukkot – which highlights the centrality of the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) in Jewish life. The Sukkot holiday represents a human effort to be worthy of the presence and benefits of the divine clouds of glory.
The Hebrew root of Sukkot stands for the key characteristics of the relationship between the Jewish people, the Jewish homeland and faith in God. The Hebrew word Sukkah (סכה) means “wholeness” and “totality” (סכ), the “shelter” of the tabernacle (סכך), “to anoint” (סוך), “divine curtain/shelter” (מסך) and “attentiveness” (סכת).
http://www.jewishpress.com/judaism/holidays/sukkot-feast-of-tabernacles-guide-for-the-perplexed-2018/2018/09/23/[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The purpose of any feast is to remind its worshipers of religious practices, of its principle beliefs, and to whom those devotees are worshipping. For hundreds of years, the question is asked, did the Jewish Messiah come to set up a new religion called Christianity or did Christ come to show the way unto Salvation for mankind?
Messiah means Savior or liberator of a group, most commonly Abrahamic religion. But the Jewish writer, Joel says that the Lord will pour out His Spirit upon all people. This could be a reason why there is such an increased fellowship between the conventional Church and the Jewish Synagogue.
(NLT)
The Lord’s Promise of His Spirit
28 “Then, after doing all those things,
I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on servants—men and women alike.
30 And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—
blood and fire and columns of smoke.
Joel 2:28-30
Strange Weather, increase in volcanic activity, flooding, polar cap ice is melting, seas have risen, earthquakes, and dead marine life worldwide. But the Lord will rescue His people from the worst to come.
(Amplified Bible – AMP)
Consequences of Disobedience
15 “But it shall come about, if you do not listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 “You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field.
17 “Your basket and your kneading bowl will be cursed.
18 “The offspring of your body and the produce of your land, the offspring of your herd and the young of your flock will be cursed.
19 “You will be cursed when you come in and you will be cursed when you go out.
Deuteronomy 28:15-19
(NLT)
18 It was the Lord who drove out the Amorites and the other nations living here in the land. So we, too, will serve the Lord, for he alone is our God.”
19 Then Joshua warned the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you abandon the Lord and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to you.”
Joshua 24:18-20[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”(CJB) 1 After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, Revelation 7:1″][vc_single_image image=”10199″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_3d”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text](Amplified Bible – AMP)
and with a loud voice he called out to the four angels to whom it was granted [to have authority and power] to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth nor the sea nor the trees until we seal (mark) the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”
Revelation 7:2-3[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to Church history, Jews and non-Jewish God-fearers worshiped in the Jewish faith until the year 70 A.D. At this time, Roman soldiers attacked and destroyed the Jewish Temple in 70 A.D., killing Priests and Jewish people indiscriminately. Interestingly, the military warriors spared the non-Jews to survive the massacre.
Although the Gentile believers were not Jews, because of Torah Studies each Sabbath, non-Jews benefited by understanding the rich Jewish history of the Scriptures. Therefore, the well documented God Adonai, Who is the Author of Salvation lived inside their sanctuary. And, this same God of Covenant has now invited the non-Jewish worldwide population to share in the eternal salvation, the same as the Jews.
(CJB)
The New Testament itself could not be clearer about that, so it is appropriate that its message is communicated to non-Jews in ways that impose on them a minimum of alien cultural baggage. And this approach has been successful: millions of Gentiles have come to trust in the God of Avraham (Abraham), Yitz’chak (Isaac), and Ya’akov (Jacob) and in the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus Christ of Nazareth).
Because of ongoing history, the Early Church was all Jewish, and all of the writings of the New Testament Covenant were Jewish in customs and practices.
Very importantly, millions of believers in Jesus Christ, who knew nothing about speaking Hebrew or any Jewish customs have died and gone into Heaven. This group feared God and lived all they knew, which was all Adonai required.
So what are the advantages of worshipping with Jewish congregations?
Jews knew the historical conflicts with the Pagan nations who worshiped idols. Spiritual decontamination had to follow after Israel’s mixing of Pagan devotions with Hebrew worship, which lead to the destruction of the Pagan Altar.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”צֶלֶם Selem Hebrew for “Image“” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left|color:%23822a14″][vc_column_text](CWSB Dictionary)
The word is also used in a concrete sense to depict images cut out of or molded from various materials. The word describes the images or idols of foreign or strange gods (2 Kgs. 11:18; Amos 5:26). The people of Israel produced images used as idols from their own jewelry (Ezek. 7:20; 16:17). Israel was, on its entrance into Canaan, to destroy all the molten images of the heathen (Num. 33:52). In Ezekiel 23:14, this word refers to pictures of Babylonians that enticed the people of Israel into apostasy when they saw them (Ezek. 23:14).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_images_carousel images=”5305,5284,5289,5264,5262,3829,3419,3426″ img_size=”medium” speed=”3000″ autoplay=”yes” hide_pagination_control=”yes” hide_prev_next_buttons=”yes” wrap=”yes”][vc_column_text](Amplified Bible – AMP)
4 for they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled and burn against you and He will quickly destroy you. 5 But this is how you shall deal with them: you shall tear down their altars and smash to pieces their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah), and burn their carved or sculpted images in the fire.
Deuteronomy 7:4-5
Many times, people were unaware of the spiritual consequences of participating in pagan practices. However, the Book of Acts’ records showed how entrenched the occult tradition was for the city of Ephesus. So much that, people were in bondage by the very thing they thought they had under control. Demon spirits are intelligent agents of the Kingdom of Darkness. These dark spirits want to gain entrance into the world and dress up their image in some form of playful activity or celebration for innocent children in every part of the world.
(NLT)
13 A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. 15 But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.
17 The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus,
to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. 18 Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. 19 A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars.
Acts 19:13-19[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”10216″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_3d” title=”Before Moses could get back with the Ten Comandment, the Land of Promise had already been dedicated.”][vc_column_text](NLT)
11 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal. 12 They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord. 13 They abandoned the Lord to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth. 14 This made the Lord burn with anger against Israel, so he handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them.
Judges 2:11-14
(CWSB Dictionary)
H4432. מֹלֶךְ mōleḵ: A proper noun designating Molech, a pagan god of the Ammorites to whom, among other things, children were sacrificed (Num. 18:21; Amos 5:26). The name means “king,” and possibly the consonants were combined with the vowels of the Hebrew word bōšeṯ (H1322) “shame” to produce Molech. Manasseh may have sacrificed his sons to this god to avert the horrors of warfare (2 Kgs. 23:10). Solomon was reduced to recognize this god (1 Kgs. 11:7).
(EBD)
Magic
The Jews seem to have consulted the teraphim (q.v.) for oracular answers (Judg 18:5 6; Zech 10:2. There is a remarkable illustration
of this divining by teraphim in Ezek 21:19 -22. We read also of the divining cup of Joseph (Gen 44:5. The magicians of Egypt are frequently referred to in the history of the Exodus. Magic was an inherent part of the ancient Egyptian religion and entered largely into their daily life.
All magical arts were distinctly prohibited under penalty of death in the Mosaic law. The Jews were commanded not to learn the “abomination” of the people of the Promised Land (Lev 19:31; Deut 18:9 14). The history of Saul’s consulting the witch of Endor (1 Sam 28:3 20) gives no warrant for attributing supernatural power to magicians. From the first, the witch is here only a bystander. The practice of magic lingered among the people till after the Captivity, when they gradually abandoned it. It is not much referred to in the New Testament.
The Magi mentioned in Matt 2:1 12 were not magicians in the ordinary sense of the word. They belonged to a religious caste, the followers of Zoroaster, the astrologers of the East. Simon, a magician, was found by Philip at Samaria (Acts 8:9 24); and Paul and Barnabas encountered Elymas, a Jewish sorcerer, at Paphos 13:612). At Ephesus, there was a great destruction of magical books (Acts 19:18, 19).
(EBD)
Magicians
Heb. hartumim, ( dan 1:20 ) were sacred scribes who acted as interpreters of omens, or “revealers of secret things.”
(New Living Translation (NLT) Study Bible Notes)
1:12-15: Peter was writing at the end of his life, so 2 Peter is similar to a popular Jewish genre called the testament, in which an old and respected leader gives final instructions to his children or others on his deathbed (cp. Deut 31–33; Josh 24). This genre is especially well-known from a Jewish book called The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.
1:12: cf: 1 Jn 2:21; Jude 1:5
1:13-14: cf: John 13:36; 21:18-19; 2 Cor 5:1, 4
1:13: as long as I live: Literally as long as I am in this tent [or tabernacle].
1:14: This prophecy might have come in a vision, but it is more likely that Peter was recalling Jesus’ prophecy about his death (John 21:18-19). • I must soon leave this earthly life (literally I must soon put off my tent [or tabernacle]).
2 Peter 1:12-14
What many people may not understand is that while Moses was on the mountaintop receiving the Ten Commandments, the adversary rushed in and was telling the people of God to worship him instead of Adonai the God of the Jews. Residual spirits that the Israelites worshiped in Egypt had now defiled the holy land of Mount Sinai which God set up as a sanctuary. These demonic influences had lingered and were controlling the children of God in their thoughts and behavior. Thus, they carried on the same contagious behavior through their worship of the golden calf. Sadly, God’s people were destroying Adonai’s perfectly orchestrated plan that included forty years of protecting, providing for, and keeping His people. Even more grievous, the Israelites had no idea they were offending God or of the great wrong they were doing.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”10210″ img_size=”medium”][/vc_column][/vc_row]