Makin' Matzah Memories

Matzah.....eat it and remember!

Matzah.....it’s what’s for dinner tonight! LOL! Seriously though, it’s what’s on the Biblical menu. As we follow in the steps of Messiah Yeshua, we eat matzah, a simple mixture of flour, and water or oil, to observe our Father’s springtime Feast of Unleavened Bread. On God’s calendar, the springtime is to be observed as the beginning of our year. It is a time of memorializing God’s great salvation. It’s the time of year for celebrating God’s mighty hand in redeeming us from the bondage of slavery to sin and death.

In the Father's feasts we rehearse the Good News of God's Salvaton!

This is the season for new beginnings. It’s the time for getting the “leaven of sin” out of our lives. It’s the time of year to “spring clean” our hearts and lives. With physical reminders of taste, touch, smelling, hearing and seeing, God our Father, in His great wisdom, teaches us as His children, powerful and memorable spiritual lessons. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

In instructing us to eat unleavened bread, our Father is showing us that we, who are redeemed, are to take on a new sinless life. Through the power of the risen Messiah living through us, we are to rid ourselves from the corrupting influence of sin. Matzah, with its “bruises, piercings and stripes” reminds us of Yeshua, our sinless Savior, who took upon Himself a torturous death that we sinners deserved. He paid the penalty that was ours to pay with His death upon the tree, so that we might truly live through Him in His resurrection power!

The gospel in color  

For the second year in a row, "makin’ matzah" has proved to be for me, a sweet memorial that marks the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was an activity that I learned from a friend last year, and now I am struck once again with gratitude to our Father for the appointed feast days that He calls us to come and commemorate with Him. I love that He gives us these opportunities to celebrate, remember, and experience His presence in our lives. I love that His feast days are special times for us to remember His great redemption in the past and His great redemption that is yet to come.

The Wordless Book

In preparing a recent batch, one of my matzahs came out looking a bit like a heart! I had already planned on a sweet treat with melted chocolate chips and sliced strawberries, but as I prepared a meaningful song from my past whisked across my mind. The Wordless Book Song tells the gospel message with colors and it motivated me to sprinkle on some powdered sugar and add a sprig of mint from the garden to make my little matzahs speak the song in color.  

The Wordless Book Song - Click to listen 

In makin' memories with my chocolate & strawberry-topped matzah, here is how I saw the gospel in color..... 

Dark Chocolate - represents our sin

Strawberries - reminded me of Yeshua's heart of love and His sacrificial blood poured out for us.

Powdered sugar as white as snow - to represent that God has forgiven us and washed away our sin, giving us new life in Messiah Yeshua.

Golden crust of the matzah - reminded me of the heavenly city of God with streets of gold.

Green mint sprig - a symbol of growing in Yeshua.

Celebrate the feast with bread un-leaven. 

You can buy it in the store or make it in your oven.

The recipe is simple. It contains no yeast. 

It takes a bit of effort, but I think you will be pleased.

Just mix the dough and kneed it, and roll it out flat. 

Then use your fork to prick it with a tap, tap, tap.

Then quickly, oh so quickly, ‘cause you cannot let it rise, 

pop in your hot oven, and soon you’ll have your prize.

Eat it and remember, with grateful jubilee, 

that our sinless Savior died and bled

for the sins of you and me.

‘Cause we were bound like Israel, 

in our sin and slavery, 

but our Redeemer rescued us

so we have been set free! 

Yes, we are free indeed!

To Eat.....or Not to Eat?

Bacon-topped icing.....pretty enticing?

These days it's all the rage. It's enmeshed on the menus. It entices in the adds. It's layered on burgers, wrapped 'round Twinkies, mixed in mac'n'cheese, and even glorified as garnish on cupcakes. What is it? It's bacon, a food forbidden for the chosen people of God. But what's wrong with bacon for those who are non-Jewish believers in Jesus? What should our relationship be.....with bacon? "Too eat.....or not to eat bacon?" That is the question I put before you today.

Leviticus 11 

As sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, we want what we want, when we want it. Yes indeed, we want our way! And we don't fancy the word no! When boundaries are set between us and our desires, we find ways to cover our ears, so as to be free from knowing our restrictions. We want freedom! In many respects, more than we usually dare to admit, we adults are very much like stubborn kids, and we probably have no idea how much we contribute to our own detriment. 

Oh, that we would be more pliable in the hands of the Master! Oh, that we would wholeheartedly seek to follow God's Word of Truth that brings Life! Oh, that we would recognize the seducing spirit that issues forth from the Deceiver! Wouldn't we avoid many-a-trouble if we simply put our trust in the goodness of God and the wisdom of His Word? Wouldn't we find true freedom if we were fully willing to submit our will for His will?

For just a moment, consider a thought that perhaps you have never considered before. Imagine.....WHAT IF you came to believe that the food you consumed mattered to your Father? WHAT IF your Heavenly Father told you that He had a specially formulated diet for you, one that would mark you as His, one that would bring you health and blessing, and one that would also bring glory to Him and His kingdom? Would you trust that your Daddy knew what was best for you to eat? Would you, if you believed that it mattered to your Abba, give up the beloved foods that had once been part of your lifestyle and that had once been such a source of comfort and pleasure?

WHAT IF God does care? - Click here!

The question at hand is more than a matter of what we will eat. At its core, it is a matter of the heart. To eat, or not to eat bacon, or any other unclean food, is a question of your heart's desire. Do we believe that the whole Bible is entirely true? Will we allow the Word of God to direct the details of our lives? 

Here are a few more WHAT IFs in regard to the question of eating versus not-eating such things as bacon.....

• WHAT IF there was a spiritual object lesson in denying our fleshly desire for this particular flesh?
• WHAT IF the idea resisting something that smells good and tastes good is exactly the point of denying ourselves of this pleasure?
• WHAT IF the spiritual lesson in the habit of denying our flesh of this unclean meat is that, "Not everything that tastes good is good for you."
• And deeper still, WHAT IF we learned, "Not everything that our flesh desires is good for us."
• WHAT IF the Enemy of our souls is also the Enemy of our body? 
• WHAT IF the Deceiver wants us to be sick in soul and mind.....and body?
• WHAT IF the Deceiver wants to rob us of the blessings of obedience?
• WHAT IF those who are selling us the notion that pork is good for us are misinformed or just plain interested in profits?

Life without bacon

And allow me please, a second serving of questions.....with just a spoonful of sarcasm.....

• Why would Jesus cast out demons from the two demon possessed men into a herd of pigs? And why did the demons cry out to be cast into the swine? And why would Jesus allow the pigs to run over a cliff and die?! And why didn't Jesus even seem to care when the owner's pig business went downhill?! Wasn't that mean of Jesus?!?
• Did Jesus die on the cross so we could eat bacon? Bfffff!
• Is that why Christians eat ham on Easter instead of lamb on Passover?
• Does eating ham on Easter declare the extent of Jesus salvation? Is it a celebration that God re-newed the pig, making it healthy for our consumption? 
• Or maybe the reverse is true. Perhaps since the cross, God changed human bodies so that bacon would no longer be bad for us????? Hmmm?
• OK, well maybe God decided that after Jesus resurrection, those who believed in Him no longer needed to be set apart for Him by the food they would eat. 
• Maybe the whole point of Christians eating bacon is for the sake of evangelism. Consider.....If Christians are not too weird, if we fit in with the world just enough, and if we eat bacon and other things that people all over the world like to eat, then we will be more accepted and likely to get invited to parties and homes of non-believers, and then we will eat their food, and they will like us, and we will become friends, and they will see how nice we are because we love Jesus, and then they will want to be like us and love Jesus too!!!!! And we'll all be happy 'cause we all love Jesus and get to eat bacon!!!!! Hooray!
• Here's another angle.....Jesus came to redeem the bad stuff right?!? So therefore He made bacon good! It's ALMOST as if God said after Jesus death and resurrection, "YOU CAN EAT BACON!!!!!"
• I meant, c'mon.....if anyone can change his mind, then God can too! After all He's God and He can do whatever He wants. Right?!? 
• Besides, doesn't it just kinda makes sense that God did away with the some of the OLD Testament stuff when Jesus died and rose again?!?
• For example, Christians now celebrate on Sunday, not the Sabbath. So there's an example of a commandment that has been changed!
• Well, maybe God just did away with parts of the Old Testament?
• So, I'm wondering.....what parts of my Bible should I rip out or take a black Sharpie marker to? I mean, the Bible is a very looong book, and I really don't want to waste my time on stuff that doesn't apply to me. 
• Perhaps I should just throw away the whole Old Testament?????
• After all, it's OLD right?
• Done away with, right?
• It has nothing to do with us today, right?
• So why do we even teach those antiquated OLD Testament stories to our children anyway? 
• And the OLD laws were just for the Jews, weren't they?
• So why waste my time learning about all those weird, freaky laws that God gave to Israel?
• Besides, believers in Jesus are the NEW Israel right?
• And Jesus gave His followers a NEW commandment and a NEW covenant right?
• And that means we're FREE from the boring OLD law! Right? 
• 'Cause law is bad. Yeah. That's right! And bacon is good!

UNLEARN the lies we have inherited

My Unleavened Seven

Matzah on the Menu

For the next seven days, matzah will be on my menu. Simply made of flour, water, salt, and olive oil, and given no time to rise, matzah is similar to the consistency of a cracker. This unleavened bread of haste is considered to be the bread of affliction and the sustenance of slaves, but I don't feel poor or cheated in limiting my bread intake to this meager, humble fare. No, quite the opposite. I am looking forward to creatively consuming matzah in meaningful meals for seven days.....my "unleavened seven." 

Seven days unleaven.....signifies significant symbolism!

Matzah, eaten for seven days as a memorial to the God of miracles, attests to God's mighty hand in freeing His people, Israel, from the tyranny of their enslavement to Pharaoh in Egypt. For me, this story gets personal. This freedom-from-bondage and freedom-to-serve story is my story too. For the last several years, as I have celebrated the Passover, I recognize that what the LORD Almighty has done for Israel, He has also done for me. Through the broken, bruised and pierced body of Messiah, I have been rescued from the captivity of sin under the deceitfulness of Satan, and I have been set free to serve my new master, my LORD and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah. 

This year, I'm gonna make matzah!

Although the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which follows Passover, is a rather new tradition for me, this celebration has been observed for nearly 3,000 years.....ever since it was declared by the LORD to be a perpetual regulation among His people. As one who has been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel by faith in Yeshua Messiah, this appointed time of the LORD has become a meaningful memorial for me as well. My Messiah is the Unleavened Bread upon which I partake. His body, broken for me, bore bruises, piercings, and stripes, just as the matzah. Likewise, the unleavened, yeastless matzah symbolizes the purity of Yeshua, our Bread of Life, who lived a life devoid of sin. Furthermore, just as matzah sustains preservation with a long shelf life, so too, the body of our Master did not see decay, even in death.

Messiah did some holy housekeeping!

In Preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, one must get the leaven out from their home. Yeast, representing the powerfully, pervasive quality of sin, requires only a small amount to work its way through a large lump of dough. So too, a little sin goes a long way to corrupt a person or a group of people. 

In obedience to God's instructions, we remove the leaven from our homes and we keep leaven-free for seven days. Biblically, the number seven represents perfection and completion. On a spiritual level, God is calling us to do some "holy housekeeping." He's calling us to get the sin out of our lives so that we can be a  pure and holy people, set apart for service to Him. In the words of our Master, we are called to "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" Matthew 4:19. We need to continually turn from going our own way and turn back to God's ways and His kingdom. Yeshua instructs us to follow him by keeping his commandments John 14:15 that we may be as unleavened dough 1 Corinthians 5:6-8.  


From the standpoint of not wanting to waste, getting the leaven out of my home was not easy for me. I had tried to plan ahead. I had attempted to not buy more bread than what we would consume before the Festival of Unleavened Bread began. But when I searched through my cupboards, fridge, and freezer, I was surprised to find more products than I had expected. As my pile of leavened products grew, my heart sank further. Hating waste, I wondered, "What am I going to do?"

Getting out the leaven was meaningful to me.

I chose to give away most of what I would not keep rather than toss my products out to the trash. But my dilemma got me to thinking. Sin is not something to hang on to. It is detrimental and contagious. Sin, when we recognize it in our lives, is something that we should make haste to turn from.....to repent of.....to rid from our lives. We should want to remove every last crumb of sin and depravity. We should not want to savor even one little morsel.....because even a little bit of sin corrupts. Will it cost us something to rid our lives of sin? You bet. But it's OK. It's worth it. The rewards of "wasting" our lives on God are priceless and eternal.

At the time of the first Passover, the meager matzah, made in haste and eaten in haste, was part of a pre-get-away meal. It was eaten along with bitter herbs and a whole roasted lamb or a young goat. It was eaten wearing traveling clothes and feet fitted with walking shoes. Why the hurry? Because God, by His mighty arm, was getting his people out.....out from Egypt.....out from Pharaoh's captivity.....out from idolatry.....and out from slavery! This begs the question.....when God calls me out of my bondage, am I ready to go? Am I ready to risk the unknown future?  Will I trust and obey and follow Him into freedom? How about you? If He whispers, will you heed His voice?

The freedom, to which we are called, is a freedom to serve a new master. Matzah represents our Master, Yeshua, the Suffering Servant, but I believe it is also a picture of those who follow Messiah. If the sinless Son of God, Yeshua, was belittled, persecuted and condemned as he walked in the ways of His Father, should not those who are called to walk the walk he walked, expect the same? Yeshua's words warned us that following him would be difficult. "Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you" John 15:20. "If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first" John 15:18.

Also, taking a piece of matzah, he made the b’rakhah (blessing), broke it, gave it to them and said, “This is my body, which is being given for you; do this in memory of me.” 

Luke 22:19

Matzah......a symbol of Yeshua, the Suffering Servant

Don't you know the saying, "It takes only a little hametz (yeast) to leaven a whole batch of dough?" Get rid of the old hametz (yeast), so that you can be a new batch of dough, because in reality you are unleavened. For our Pesach (Passover) lamb, the Messiah, has been sacrificed. So let us celebrate the Seder (Festival) not with leftover hametz (yeast), the hametz (yeast) of wickedness and evil, but with the unleavened matzah (bread) of purity and truth." I Corinthians 5:6-8

Thinking Too Hard???

Chewing the cud.

Many times I have been accused.....of thinking too hard. "Why do you think so much?" or "Stop thinking so hard," are the statements that I've heard too many times. One comment that especially hurt came from an older friend who realized that my thinking was affecting change in my behavior. When she remarked, "You really make it hard for yourself," I felt like she was condemning and belittling me. I sensed that she wanted to censure me.....from thinking.....from acting upon my thinking.....from stepping outside the box.....from just being me. 

I like to think.....to wonder.....to ponder.....to ask.....and to question. I like to look at nature, life, and Biblical concepts and then.....look deeper.....to connections, symbols, analogies and meanings. It's not hard for me. It's natural. It's who I am. It's how I was made, and it's what has been cultivated in me.  

Obviously, some sorts of thinking can lead to worry, and I confess that I have experienced the occasional restless sleep brought on by a brain that won't shut off. Worry, negative destructive thinking, and evil thoughts are indeed detrimental to relationships, emotions, health, and spiritual well-being. This is why the Father commands us not to worry or entertain evil or negative thinking. 


However, we are instructed many times over in the Psalms, and throughout the Bible, to meditate on things that are good, right, true, and lovely; values of the coming kingdom that bring goodness on earth and glory to God's name. Biblical meditation means to ponder, contemplate, and reflect on God, His works, His Word, His creation and His laws. Biblical meditation can be viewed as one examining and considering a subject from various angles, all the while looking intently through the lens of God's truth.   


Biblical meditation can graphically be compared to the process of an animal that chews its cud. Cows, goats and sheep are animals that chew their cud. After chewing a bite, moistening it, and swallowing it, these animals regurgitate and then ruminate by chewing on the partially digested food once again. God instructs us to "chew on" Scripture in this way, and to "bring it up" to talk about it and to teach it to our children throughout our day.

Chew, swallow, regurgitate, ruminate, digest.....Scripture!

In Acts 17:11, the Berean church set an example for believers to follow because of the way they "chewed on" and "ruminated" upon Scripture. They were labeled as "noble" because of their diligent study. When Paul and Silas brought their testimony that Yeshua, who suffered, died, and rose from the dead was the Messiah, the Bereans conducted a litmus test, comparing the new revelation to the former revelation that God had entrusted to them.  The Scriptures.....the Torah of Moses, the Prophets and the Writings.....were the foundation of truth to the Bereans. What the Bereans discovered was that the new testimony of Paul and Silas checked out as consistent and true with everything that God had previously revealed in His former testimony.....the "Old" Testament. 

Test all things.

When it comes to considering the Christian traditions that I have grown up with, I find it critical to apply the practices of the Bereans. When our practices, doctrines and interpretations don't line up with the Scriptures, I explore the reasons why. I observe. I question. I investigate.  Like stepping backward into a time machine, I search out historical origins, issues and practices, tracing the tradition to our observances of today. If the origins were unbiblical or pagan, I don't stop there. I make adjustments. I make changes. 

If we are going to call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, then we must do what he did and walk as he walked. What we do must be examined and tested according to the Scriptures. Our questioning may lead to needed change.  Change is hard, but we must do Bible things in Bible ways. 

Although we would be naive to assume that the Church, with its many factions, is all that it should be, we can be sure that the enemy of Messiah is ever-so-active, ever-so-sly, and ever-so-devious. He is out to infiltrate, kill, steal, destroy, and divide everything good and of God as inconspicuously as a sheep in wolf's clothing. So, let us be ever-on-the-lookout, because we are told to test all things.....like the Bereans.  

Think about it!

Sushi in My Sukkah

Celebrating the season with sushi in my sukkah.

The peace was palpable, as I sat alone in my sukkah, prepared for a late lunch with sushi, Bible, and study material.  With Sukkot/Tabernacles drawing near, it was my plan to review the meanings and traditions of this most meaningful Biblical holy day, but the scene was kind of comical to me, since we usually associate Sukkot (sue-COAT) with "Jewish," and sushi with "Japanese."  You might agree that this might look a little incongruent, but when I started to think more deeply about it, I saw a prophetic promise in this picture that excited me.....I saw a glimpse of God's glorious kingdom as it someday will be! 

My future harvest home.....with Messiah!

On one level, Sukkot is God's Biblically mandated Thanksgiving Day, a time to celebrate the goodness of God in the bounty of the Fall harvest.  For this reason it is also referred to as the Festival of Ingathering.  

On a prophetic level this harvest festival alludes to the day when Messiah will return to ingather His exiled nation from the four corners of the earth and tabernacle among them.  This long-anticipated promise of redemption is held particularly close to the heart on this holy day for God's chosen people, Israel.

Through the prophet Moses, God made an everlasting covenant of restoration with Israel before they ever crossed over into the Promised Land.  God vowed to Israel that though their hearts would wander far from Him, and though they would lust after foreign gods, and though God would carry out His prescribed curses for disobedience upon them, He as their Redeemer, would one day regather them back to Himself and circumcise their hearts so that they would love and serve Him with all their being. - Deuteronomy 30:6. 

Wandering Jew.....the centerpiece.

Such is the reason I have at the center of my sukkah, a potted plant known as a Wandering Jew!  This plant, well-known for its ability to propagate and spread, is virtually impossible to eradicate from an area where it has been planted.....unless every piece of it is removed from the area, which is near-to-impossible. Sounds much like the history and even the current times of the Jewish people, doesn't it?  God has and will always, preserve a remnant of His chosen nation, even when evil rulers, regimes and surprisingly even the church, made it their mission to exterminate the Jewish people and the traditions they have carried with them wherever they have wandered.

My centerpiece also reminds me of one particular Jew, the Chosen One, despised and rejected, cut-off and sought out to be annhiliated. But.....like the remnant of Israel that God preserves, and like the Wandering Jew plant that refuses to be extinguished, so too the light of Messiah continues to spread in and through those who take root in Him.

This Wandering Jew centerpiece is a reminder to me that Messiah will indeed regather the exiles of Israel back from the four corners of the earth to the Holy Land, the land of promise, just as He covenanted to do.  He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. - Isaiah 11:12.

A place of peace and communion.

When Messiah Yeshua returns to gather His covenant people, Israel, from their long exile, He will make Jerusalem the capital of the whole earth.  He will restore His people to their Promised Land.  The land of Israel and it's people will thrive and prosper and spread out as never before.  Messiah Yeshua, Son of God, who came as a babe during Sukkot over two thousand years ago to tabernacle among us as the prophesied suffering-servant, will tabernacle on this earth once again, ruling and reigning as Messiah, Son of David, King of Kings, and all nations will come to embrace Him as LORD of Lords.  

The sushi, the tortilla soup, the pizza and a few other foods that I ate under my sukkah during the week of Sukkot, prophetically pictured to me the nations that will one day come to Jerusalem for the feast of Sukkot seeking to pay homage to King Messiah. - Zechariah 14:16.  What a glorious day of shalom that will be.....for all who humble themselves under the covering of God's grace.  May we now take hold of the righteousness of Messiah Yeshua..... our Salvation! - Zechariah 8:22-23.

Adonai will create over the whole site of Mount Tziyon and over those who assemble there a smoking cloud by day and a shining, flaming fire by night;  for the Glory will be over everything like a hupah.  A sukkah will give shade by day from the heat;  it will also provide refuge and cover from storm and rain. - Isaiah 4:4-5. 

Dancin' with the Torah

Simchat Torah - "Rejoicing in the Torah"

As the Torah scroll was handed into my eager arms, I heard someone say, "Hold it close to your heart!"  And so it was that I pulled the written Word close to my heart, as one would do with a newborn babe.  And then, encircled by a joyous congregation, by the rhythmic clapping of hands, along with songs of praise and worship, I began to dance.  With the Torah in my heart and in my arms, I set my feet to dancing. 

Torah is Life!

I was dancing with the Words of Life!  Such was my experience in celebrating the eighth and final day of Sukkot.  The joy of Simchat Torah - "Rejoicing in the Torah," impressed me deeply and engraved precious memories upon my heart.  

The Torah of Moses, to which I clung, is a single scroll which includes the first five books of the Bible.  In recent years I have come to recognize that what gives these particular books of instruction such great significance is the unparalleled way in which God's teachings were given to Moses.  

Among all the Biblical writers, Moses was unique in that he was the only prophet through whom God spoke so directly and clearly, mouth to mouth, and face to face.  Thus the Torah, written by Moses, is foundational to the rest of the Bible, and the precepts therein set forth a precedent upon which every proceeding word of Scripture must agree.  

Our eldest member clinging to the Ancient Words!

On the eighth day of Sukkot, the men of the congregation read a final portion of the Torah.....the last words of Moses before his death.  Moses' blessing upon the tribes of Israel, at the end of Deuteronomy, bring us to the very end of the scroll.  Another yearly Torah-reading cycle comes to completion.  But then, just as we reach the end, we begin again.  We scroll back to the book of beginnings.....to Creation....to newness of life.  And then the women, the "life-givers" read....from Genesis.  We bless the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, the Creator of Light and Life, the One who was and is and is coming again.

"Hold it close to your heart!"

It is significant that Simchat Torah occurs on the eighth day, following the seven day Festival of Sukkot. The Biblical meaning of the number eight represents new beginnings.  The eighth day represents a new week.  Eight people were saved in the ark to re-populate the earth.  Circumcision took place on the eighth day. Because of Biblical patterns of prophecy and providence, and because of circumstantial evidence that I have come to understand, I can't help but believe that Simchah Torah was the eighth day of life for the Messiah.   It fits so perfectly.  Read or watch more on this here:  https://jewishvoice.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/why-sukkot-is-yeshuas-real-birthday/


In taking the Torah into my arms on Simchat Torah, I thought about Messiah's eighth day of life.....the day in which the Hope of Israel received in his body the bloody sign of circumcision to confirm the Abrahamic covenant.  Likewise, it was on his eighth day that he was named....."he was given the name Yeshua ('the LORD saves'), which is what the angel had called him before his conception" - Luke 2:21, because he would save his people from their sins - Matthew 1:21.

The Living Torah, our Tree of Life, our Yeshua (Salvation) has come and He is coming again!  In Him all the fullness of God came to dwell - Colossians 1:19, and in Him all the promises of God are "Yes" and "Amen"! - 2 Corinthians 1:20.

Two wooden blocks I painted with the words of an ancient Hebrew blessing.

 Torah is Life

It is a tree of life to all who hold fast to it, and all who uphold it are happy.  

It's ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace.
- Ancient Hebrew Blessing

"Trimming the Tree"

My simple sukkah - for celebrating, remembering, and rehearsing.

"Trimming the tree" for the holidays means something different to me now than it once did.  Four years ago, it meant assembling a pre-lit, artificial Christmas tree and then adorning it with ribbons, berries, balls and bows, and even some sentimental ornaments from my childhood.  But now, "trimming the tree" for the holidays has taken on a more literal meaning.  

Trimming the trees for Sukkot

Now my holiday tree trimming includes leafy greens instead of evergreens, and my tools include a saw and a pruner. Now I'm literally trimming tree branches to celebrate the Messiah, who came and is coming, to "tabernacle" with us.  Not only has my tradition changed in form, it's also changed in season.  I used to celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas, but now the Fall feels much more fitting.

My re-purposed hydrangeas.

This is my third year of observing the Biblical Fall festival of Sukkot.  Part of the joy of this commemoration comes in the form of a simple structure called a sukkah.  My sukkah is just an EZ-Up, draped with curtains and a burlap covering, and trimmed out with a leafy border. This year, I spiced up my sukkah with re-purposed ribbon and artificial hydrangeas that had previously embellished my Christmas tree.  Truly I have found child-like joy in the creativity and simplicity of communing in this lovely little space.

The timing surrounding Messiah's birth at Sukkot is fascinating in all that it symbolizes.  The first night of the seven day festival of Sukkot, otherwise known as Feast of Tabernacles, Festival of Booths, or Feast of Ingathering (the harvest) is presumably the very night so long ago when our Savior was born.....in a sukkah in Bethlehem.  Quite likely it was during the Fall on this first night of Sukkot when the shepherds witnessed the angels praising God and bringing greetings of peace and the good news of a Savior. Read or watch more on this here:  https://jewishvoice.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/why-sukkot-is-yeshuas-real-birthday/

Celebrating God's completely perfect timing!

Sukkot, which lasts seven days and occurs in the seventh month on the Biblical calendar is the seventh of the seven appointed Feasts of the Lord.  The obvious link of this appointed time to the number seven, signifies the spiritual message that Sukkot embraces God's perfection and completion in the coming and coming again of Messiah Yeshua.   The Word was made flesh to dwell, or tabernacle, among us - John 1:14.  

In the days of the Temple, during the Festival of Tabernacles, the children of Israel were required to live in booths or temporary shelters.  The Feast of Tabernacles was the third of three yearly pilgrimage feasts in which the Jews were required to go up to Jerusalem to rejoice at the Temple.  Camping in  sukkahs reminded them of the forty year wilderness experience of their forefathers when the Heavenly Father provided for every need of His Chosen, beloved, young nation.

Symbolic branches to wave before the LORD in worship.

Biblically, as believers, we have reason to join with Israel in keeping the feasts.  In unity, we live out the mysterious reality that we are one in Yeshua and that by God's grace we have been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel - Romans 11:11-22.  Someday our unity with believing Israel will become a reality, and someday God's Torah will be fully on our hearts - Jeremiah 31:32-33.

The Feast of Tabernacles is like a dress rehearsal to prepare our hearts for a future Day when Messiah returns to take His rightful place in Jerusalem on David's Throne.  On that Day, Yeshua will once again tabernacle among us, but this time He will come as the Judge of all the earth, as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, as the King of kings and LORD of Lords.  At that time, all the nations of the world will be required to pay homage to the King of all the earth by making pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the Feast of Tabernacles - Zechariah 14:16-19.  

My branch & citrus - memories of Sukkot.

There are SO many more facts, details and symbols that I have gleaned in celebrating this AMAZING holy feast.  Truly my heart is overflowing with the richest of fare.....the eternal treasures of God's Word that leave me full of awe at the majesty and wisdom of our great God.

While I admit that it's been quite a paradigm shift for me to incorporate these new-to-me Biblical traditions into my life, I have to say it's been worth it.  I don't have to ask, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) when I can actually DWYD (Do What Yeshua Did).  Yeshua observed His Father's appointed festivals .....that's what makes them important to me.....and that's why I'm "trimming my tree" in September!

*Here's a great website if you want to learn more about Sukkot - The Season of our Joy:

hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Fall_Holidays/Sukkot/sukkot.html