January 1, 2020 Genesis 48:20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh. On Erev Shabbat (Friday night), it is customary for Jewish families to gather around the dinner table and celebrate the Almighty’s […]
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” When God created the heavens and the earth, we understand that He spoke everything into existence that would fulfill His purpose, even if it was not clearly manifested in the beginning. But in addition to the physical world, Isaiah tells us that He […]
For all of those who live in the northern hemisphere, winter is upon us – a time of dead leaves and gloomy weather. Not surprisingly, during this time of year, many people struggle with depression. Perhaps it’s because of the stark landscape and sunless skies or just the overall environment that winter creates. Whatever it […]
Today is the second day of Tevet and the eighth and final day of Hanukkah. On this concluding day of the Festival of Lights, all eight branches of the Hanukkah menorah are burning bright. The imagery of a menorah with all of its branches producing light has a prophetic element to it. It demonstrates the […]
Today is the first day of the month called Tevet. It also the seventh day of Hanukkah. It was on this day that a young Benjamite girl named Hadassah – better known as Esther – was presented to the king of Persia as recorded in Scripture. “So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his […]
Today is the last day of Kislev and the sixth day of Hanukkah. We’ve been addressing the essence of the story of Hanukkah because it is a microcosm of a greater message we see consistently throughout the Scriptures. Specifically, it is a story describing the struggle between two competing mindsets, eternally at war with one […]
It was on this day in 1496 that King Manuel I of Portugal ordered the expulsion of all Jews from his country. If you remember your history, this was just a few short years after Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain had done the same thing. Manuel’s queen was also named Isabella and was the daughter […]
Today’s the 28th day of Kislev and the fourth day of Hanukkah. When Antiochus IV ordered the erection of an idol in the court of the Temple of God followed by pagan sacrifices upon the altar, many in that era and beyond believed it to be a fulfillment of a prophecy from the book of […]
Today is the 27th day of Kislev and the third day of Hanukkah. As we have already shared, Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple after it had been defiled by the Greeks under Antiochus IV, also known as Epiphanes. It was in the year 168 B.C. that the first pagan sacrifice was offered on […]
Today let’s address whether or not believers in the Messiah should keep Hanukkah. Some would say that we shouldn’t because it’s a Jewish holiday and is not biblically mandated. It is true that it is not a holiday that is commanded in Scripture but was instituted by Judaism in commemoration of something that happened in […]
Today is the 25th day of Kislev, the first day of Hanukkah, and it was on this day according to tradition, that construction of the Tabernacle of Moses was completed. It is also believed that on this day the first pagan sacrifice was offered on the altar of Zeus in the Temple in 168 B.C. […]
It was on this day in the year 520 B. C. that the foundation of the Second Temple was laid (Haggai 2:18). It was on that very same day that the Prophet Haggai declared the downfall of gentile nations and consequently, the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel. This is recorded in Haggai 2:20-22: And […]
