Author: Gil Afriat

Sinai Covenant and New Covenant – what changed and what is the same?

For the last several weeks, I have been giving this series of messages at Tiferet Yeshua with the intention to explore the important elements of the Sinai Covenant and how they have changed, or not changed, in the framework of the New Covenant. Understanding both gives us a deeper understanding of God’s perfect plan for all of us – to dwell with us and bring us on a journey deeper into His heart and His presence. In this article I would like to share one of those messages.

Defilement in the Sinai Covenant

In the framework of the Sinai covenant the bible relates extensively to the subject of physical or bodily defilement. When reading through the somewhat exhausting verses on bodily defilements, particularly in the book of Leviticus, you may find yourself asking, “What is the point of all this?” Quite a bit, actually!

It is important that we first answer this question: what are these defilements that the Sinai Covenant speaks about? First of all, they are not sins. Defilements relate to situations in the human existence which connect to death. For instance: touching a corpse or a dead animal, illnesses (which are an expression of death), a flow of blood, even when semen leaves a man’s body, the potential of life has left the physical body causes defilement. Even birth causes a woman’s body to become “defiled”, something which at first seems very surprising, but it is because the life of her baby has “left” her body.

The Torah (the Law or first five books of Moses) reveals to us the basic spiritual principle that nothing which is connected to death can enter into the presence of God because:

  He is not the God of the dead but of the living.

-Matthew 22:32

Defilement Denies Access

In the framework of the Sinai Covenant, anyone who was in a state of “defilement” was not allowed to enter the Temple – the physical building which housed the presence of God. The life of the Jewish believer under the Sinai Covenant revolved around worship in the Temple, and being denied access into the Temple was a serious thing.

In order to be purified from “defilement”, a person had to go through a process which always involved cleansing with water and the passage of time:

But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he will be cut off from the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean

-Numbers 19:20

Defilement in the New Covenant Framework – different but the same

In the framework of the New Covenant, the Holy Temple, God’s physical sanctuary on earth, no longer exists. The sanctuary of God’s presence now resides in the spirits of all redeemed believers. In practice, the issue of defilement under the New Covenant is very different from the Sinai Covenant because we no longer enter into a physical earthly temple and therefore bodily defilement is no longer relevant.

However, the principle of “defilement” in the New Covenant is actually the same, but it is just expressed in a different way. Instead of physical defilement, now there is soul defilement. What is defilement of the soul? First of all, if we are talking about the soul, we have to clarify that we are talking about the realm of our thoughts, desires and emotions. Soul defilement in the context of the New Covenant relates to thoughts, emotions and desires in us which are not pleasing to God –in essence, they can be described as thoughts, emotions and desires which produce death instead of life.

When Yeshua first announced a change in the focus from bodily defilements to soul defilements, it was considered radical:

Yeshua called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand. A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”…

Matthew 15:10

When the Pharisees heard this, they were shocked! And of course they were shocked: they knew that the Law taught that even touching an unclean animal would defile you, how much more defiling it would be to eat one. Yeshua clarified this further for those who were still open to hear about this groundbreaking shift:

 …the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. 20 These are what defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile him.

-Matthew 15:18-20

Soul Defilement in the New Covenant – a deeper level

In the framework of the Sinai Covenant, there was a physical Tabernacle (the Temple) and the Jewish believer would enter into it with his or her physical body. Therefore, they needed to be pure in the physical sense.

In the framework of the New Covenant, the Tabernacle of God is in the spirit of the redeemed believer and we enter into God’s presence with our souls. Therefore, New Covenant believers need purity in their souls in order to enter into the Tabernacle of God in the spirit. Why is that? Just as physical defilements limited the entry into the presence of God in the Holy Temple during the Sinai Covenant, so do soul defilements (evil thoughts, emotions and desires) limit our access to the Tabernacle of God’s presence in our spirits.

God calls us to purify ourselves from soul defilements because He wants us to be closer to Him, to enter deeper into His presence.

Purification – not an instant process

Of course, changing unhealthy ways of thinking, negative character traits or ungodly desires does not happen overnight. Our lives are essentially a journey the Lord takes us on, and the major point of that journey is internal change, i.e., the purification of our souls. God is drawing us on that process because He wants to take us to ever deeper and higher places in His Presence.

The Journey and the Process

Through life’s experiences, challenges and obstacles we face, God exposes or reveals our issues, unhealthy tendencies, emotions or ways of thinking. He then calls us to pay attention to them and to act in order to change and cleanse ourselves from them.

So how can we cleanse ourselves from soul defilements? It’s a process, but it’s not complicated. First, we must recognize the problem area (the defilement). Once we have recognized the problem, we must first desire to be purified from it—we have to want to change. Then we bring it before the Lord in prayer to ask Him to purify (change) us, because we cannot purify ourselves. Only God can do that work in our hearts.

1. Desire to change.
2. Seek the Lord’s grace and mercy each day to change
3. God acts: He washes us with the water of the Holy Spirit (remember cleansing from defilement in the Sinai Covenant involved washing and sprinkling with special water).

Patience and Persistence

If I want to experience serious change within thoughts, desires and emotions, I can’t just pray one prayer and expect transformation. Just like being purified from bodily defilements in the Sinai covenant required a period of time, being purified from soul defilements in the New Covenant also takes time. Usually it is a process of weeks, months, and maybe even more than that, of bringing it before the Lord in prayer. But if I desire change, then I ask God sincerely in prayer to change me, and God acts.

There is nothing in us that God cannot change if we desire it and ask Him to change it!

A Lesson we can take from the Sinai Covenant to our New Covenant lives:

In the Sinai Covenant, there is also an element of being extremely careful and cautious about coming into contact with things that defile. In the same way, God wants us to exercise the same care and caution about the things that defile our souls. For example, listening to music or consuming entertainment with negative messages, listening to gossip or spending an abundance of time in the company of worldly people.

For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”…

2 Corinthians 6:16-17

by Gil Afriat

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing leavened may be found among you, nor shall leaven be found anywhere within your borders.

–Exodus 13:7

Passover cleaning – most Jewish mothers start thinking about it with dread a couple months before Passover. On top of getting rid of all leaven products in the home, it means washing out kitchen cupboards and drawers, scrubbing down the refrigerator and the freezer, and vacuuming under furniture and between sofa cushions. Passover cleaning is a thorough process which we manage to turn into arduous one!

The Bible, however, does not command us to do “Passover cleaning” in the way that we do it today. Exodus 12:19 simply says that there should be no leaven found in our houses for the seven days of Passover. It doesn’t say to search out every last crumb in the furthest corner of your house. God commanded the children of Israel to eat only unleavened bread during Passover as a remembrance because it is, as Deuteronomy 16:3 says, the bread of affliction they ate when they fled Egypt in haste. God commands us to remember in many places in the Bible because all of us humans so easily forget what God has done in our own lives, let alone in the lives of our forefathers.

Biblical Holidays – a spiritual meaning beyond the literal

As New Covenant Jewish believers, we know that beyond the literal meaning of the biblical holidays in the Hebrew Bible, there are also symbolic, prophetic meanings for all of us today which the New Testament makes clear to us. Passover, the seven-day feast God commands the children of Israel to observe as a remembrance of their exodus from Egypt, pointed to the ultimate Passover which would happen many years later when God provided His perfect Passover lamb so that we all may be set free from bondage to sin. In that symbolic context, many elements of the Passover feast take on new and deeper spiritual meanings. One of those elements is leaven.

Leaven

The gospels tell of Yeshua’s warning His disciples of the “leaven” of the Pharisees. At the time, they were confused about His use of the term “leaven” in a symbolic sense because they were still in the “literal” mindset, and He had to explain it to them. By warning of the Pharisees’ leaven, Yeshua was warning them of falling into a particular sin they excelled at—hypocrisy. Later, when Yeshua took the unleavened bread on the night of the Passover before His crucifixion, He made another powerful correlation to leaven, or the lack thereof:

And He took bread (unleavened matza), gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

-Luke 22:19

What a powerful image of Yeshua’s sinless (free from leaven) life, pierced and broken for us! The unleavened bread of affliction now symbolized the great affliction that He would endure on our behalf. Later on, the Apostle Paul would give us even more clarity about the spiritual meaning of leaven and what it symbolizes in our lives:

Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

-1 Corinthians 5:6-9

Clean out that leaven!

God’s original command to the children of Israel to remove all the leaven from their homes turns into a command for all of us to remove the sin in our lives. Passover, along with the holy Day of Atonement, are biblically appointed times that direct our hearts towards repentance. Even though our spirits have been born again, a purified new creation, and filled with the Holy Spirit thanks to Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice for sin, we must still live lives of repentance because we are still at war with sin in our souls and physical bodies—with increasing victory thanks to God’s abundant grace!

The New Testament is filled with countless warnings and exhortations to beware of allowing ourselves to fall into sinful behavior, to repent when we do and to continue fighting the good fight.  Another way to think of fighting the good fight is Passover cleaning!

B’deekat Chametz – Checking for Leaven

On the night before Passover when all the cleaning and removing of leaven has been completed in orthodox Jewish families, the father takes a candle and a feather to search for leaven in the house, looking in all the nooks and crannies where it might have been missed and using the feather to sweep out any remaining crumbs he finds. The following morning, the family gathers together and the father burns whatever leaven he found in his search together with the rest of the leaven that was removed from the house.

The Father’s Candle and Feather

While the strenuous religious lifestyle of the orthodox is burdensome with constant attention to rigorous rules and regulations, we can possibly learn something from their ardent attention to searching out leaven in our lives if our motivation is love for God. Some feel burdened by the idea of repentance, and some may avoid it altogether due to feelings of shame from the enemy or because they have been wrongly taught that there is no need to repent after accepting Yeshua as Lord. Whatever the reason, God is gently calling each of us to seek out the leaven in our lives.

Now imagine God the Father as the Father of your household: invite Him to come with His candle to help you find the leaven with the gentlest of tools—a feather. He is the only one you should let in to join your search because He is motived only by love, and He is the only one with the authority to burn the leaven—completely removing it from your life!

Wishing you all a meaningful holiday season, filled with the blessings and wonder of God’s amazing love for us!

by Gil Afriat

“Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, the time came for the king’s command and his decree to be executed. On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them.”

-Esther 9:1

The central narrative of Purim is summed up in a Hebrew phrase from the book of Esther – v’nahafoch hu – “and the opposite occured” or “it was turned upside down”.  The Purim principle of V’Nahafoch Hu highlights the dramatic reversals in the story: what Israel’s enemy planned for destruction was suddenly turned into their own destrction and Israel’s salvation.

The theme of the “dramatic reversals” in the story of Esther begins with Haman and Mordechai the Jew – Haman desired praise and the king’s favor, but he was forced by the king to give it publicly to Mordechai, the Jew he despised. Haman then concocted a plan to get Mordechai sentenced to death for his faithfulness to worship only the God of Israel and had a large gallows constructed for that purpose, where, ultimately, he was hanged instead of Mordechai.

The Purim story of dramatic reversals prophetically points to the most dramatic reversal in all history. But, before we get into that, understanding the roots of the conflict will show us how deep they are and how determined God is to remove them.

The Roots of the Struggle – Mordechai and Haman

First let’s look at what the Bible says about Mordechai. Ester 2:5 describes him as “…a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin…son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.” The fact that Mordechai is described as the son of Kish should make us think of another biblical character: Saul, the son of Kish:

“Now there was a Benjamite, a powerful man, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. And he had a son named Saul, choice and handsome, without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the people.…”

1 Sam 9:1-2

The Bible shows us that Mordechai is from the family of King Saul, either descended from the same forefather or perhaps even a direct descendant.

Now let’s look at the personal identification that the book of Esther gives of the villain, Haman. Ester 3:1 describes him as the “… son of Hammedatha, the Agagite.”  This title given to Haman points us to another place in the Bible where we get more information about his background:

“Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword.…”

1 Samuel 15:7-8

Here we discover that Haman is a descendant of Agag king of Amalek. Saul, from whose family Mordechai is descended, and Agag king of Amakek had serious issues with each other. The prophet Samuel had sent King Saul into battle against the Amalekites, because, as 1 Samuel 15:1-3 describes, the time had come to destroy Amalek, the ancient enemy of the children of Israel.

Who is Amalek?

The Amalekites were the first nation to attack the children of Israel in the desert after their exodus from Egypt. Unprovoked, the Amalekites ruthlessly attacked the weak and the weary Israelites who were at the back of the procession. Ultimately, the children of Israel defeated Amalek in battle, but God commanded Moses to record their treacherous attack for posterity.

Israel had many enemies – so why was God so adamant about wiping out Amalek specifically? As a people, the Amalekites had most likely become completely corrupted by darkness, and for that they received God’s judgment to be wiped out entirely. In Exodus 17:16, God promised to wage war against Amalek in every generation and ultimately to wipe out the memory of Amalek from the earth. Clearly, God did not mean he would be fighting the Amalekites throughout the generations, because they no longer exist as a people. However, God uses Amalek to represent Israel’s spiritual arch-enemy: Satan.  The struggle against “Amalek”, in the symbolic sense, is the ultimate battle for the hearts of mankind: God created us with a free will to choose between good and evil, to choose the ways of God or of Satan, i.e., Amalek. When God told Saul that he rejected him as king, it was because he had kept the Amalekite king Agag alive – essentially, Saul had compromised with Israel’s most deadly spiritual enemy – Satan.

Israel’s Battle against Amalek and a Picture of the Cross

A day before Israel’s battle against Amalek, Moses said to Joshua: “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” The next day, when Moses stood on a hill overlooking the battle and raised his staff over his head, with Aaron and Hur holding up his arms on either side, Joshua and the Israelites succeed in overcoming Amalek. The image of Moses holding his staff over his head, shows us a very literal picture of the cross. The figure of Joshua, (Hebrew Yehoshua) who is the leader of Israel’s armies fighting Amalek, is also a picture of Yeshua, Commander of the amies of Heaven.

 

A Hand upon the throne of the LORD—Yad al kes Yah

Exodus 17:16 makes an interesting and somewhat puzzling statement, one that is translated in multiple ways.

“And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner. He said, ‘A hand upon the throne of the LORD. The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’”

Exodus 17:15-16

The most literal translation of the words is: “A hand upon the throne of the LORD.” While translators of the Bible have given this phrase different meanings, I see this verse as speaking of the future Messiah who would wage the ultimate war against Amalek for the hearts of mankind. Yeshua the Messiah is described as Yemin Adonai – the right hand of God. We know that the Messiah sits at the right hand of the Father’s throne –the Messiah is the Hand upon the throne of the LORD.

 

The battle against Amalek in the book of Esther and the Grand Reversal

Saul’s compromise with Amalek, essentially with sin, fell to his descendant, Mordechai, about six hundred years later. Mordechai was not a king with an army to fight Amalek: though just a lowly Jewish subject to the Persian king, he was humble, faithful and uncompromising. Mordechai’s battle begins when he refuses to bow to Haman:

All the royal servants at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded that this be done for him. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage.

-Esther 3:2

This enraged Haman so much that he came up with a scheme to destroy Mordechai and his people, building a grand gallows especially for Mordechai. Eventually, Haman is hanged on his own gallows. Haman is publicly humiliated and Mordechai is praised. The king could not nullify His own decree to kill the Jews that Haman had legislated, but he decreed a new law that gave “the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies.” (Esther 8:11)

Purim’s dramatic reversal foreshadows the most dramatic reversal in history

The most dramatic reversal in history is accomplished by Yeshua on the cross: from seeming defeat by the forces of darkness with His death on the cross and descent into Sheol, Yeshua reversed it in His resurrection, overcoming death and the powers of darkness:

I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.

Rev. 1:18

Yeshua’s earthly ministry began after he was tempted as a man and refused to bow down and pay homage to Satan. Mordechai refused to bow down and pay homage to Haman. There was a death sentence and a gallows waiting for Mordechai. Satan thought he overcame Yeshua by seeing Him crucified on the cross. But it was not Yeshua who was ultimately put to death there on the cross: sin, Satan’s power, was put to death on the cross.

…having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

-Colossian 2:14-15

Haman had to make a public spectacle of himself by leading his hated enemy, Mordechai, through the streets on the king’s horse, wearing the king’s robe and proclaiming, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!’” (Es. 6:9). After Haman is hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordechai, Mordechai rises to become the king’s chief advisor. After Satan is defeated on the cross that he thought would defeat Yeshua, Yeshua rises to be above all power and principality and sits to the right hand of the throne of God the Father. That is the most dramatic reversal in all human history. The story of Esther and the “dramatic reversals” in it encourage us and point to the ultimate reversal that the Messiah would bring about on the cross.

Though we are saved – the battle continues!

In the Spirit, the “Nahafoch hu” was completed for us when our spirits were born again, made holy, and we are seated in heavenly places with Yeshua above every power and principality of darkness. But in the realm of our souls and our bodies, the situation is different – there we are still engaged in a process to battle against our spiritual enemy to attain that “great reversal” in ourselves, another way of describing the process of sacntification and victory over the enemy.  Just like the Jews in Esther were empowered and backed up by the king to “destroy, kill and annihilate” their enemies, we have been empowered by the High King of heaven to battle our ancient enemy in our hearts and minds unto victory!

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

by Gil Afriat

Growing up in Israel in the seventies and eighties, Christmas was a far-off Christian holiday that I had no idea about other than the images of the beautiful lights, Christmas trees and decorations we saw in pictures and movies from America and Europe. Today, many Israelis visit Arab Christian villages and neighborhoods during the Christmas season to enjoy the lights and the Christmas cheer. But, for the most part, no one would know it is Christmas in Israel on December 25^th—it’s just like any other day.

Experiencing Christmas for the First Time

In my early twenties, after I came to faith in Yeshua, my wife and I moved to the United States. It was then that I had my first taste of this Christmas holiday that I as a Jew had never personally seen or celebrated. I have to say that the beautiful lights and decorations, the holiday parties and get-togethers made that dark and cold time of the year truly joyful and beautiful —which is saying a lot for me as an Israeli who loves sunshine and has a hard time with the cold. It was special being together with fellow believers during Christmas church services worshiping the “King of Israel”, and the words of many Christmas songs celebrating the birth of the Jewish Messiah in my homeland, Israel, touched me deeply.

Little Baby Jesus

Of course, beyond the secular consumerism and materialism that infiltrates much of the Christmas season in the US—there was one thing about the holiday that felt a little strange to me: the widespread Christmas focus on Yeshua as a baby. I was already a believer, but I had not spent time thinking of Him as a baby. Other than His birth, the New Testament offers no information about Yeshua’s infancy or childhood before his 12^th year. However, as I thought more about this “baby Jesus” focus during Christmas, I realized that Isaiah the prophet spoke of the child Messiah and described Him in terms that we rarely, if at all, hear during Christmas. The terms Isaiah uses to describe this special Child are a majestic description of His mighty and awesome character and calling.

What Child is This?

Isaiah 9:6 describes the Child who will carry the government on His shoulders: God’s juxtaposing the smallness and weakness of a human child with the weight of this mighty calling on His shoulders highlights the incomprehensible plan of salvation in such an astounding way.

Next come the heavy titles this Child carries: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God , Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  If we focus on each title, it reveals who Yeshua is, His calling and identity. Usually knowledge of Hebrew does not give any “hands up” in understanding the Bible—the Spirit of God ensured that there are accurate and true translations in every language. There are times, however, where nuances in the Hebrew open up different levels of meaning and connections which are otherwise lost in translation.

Pele Yoetz (Wonderful Counselor) – if we allow Yeshua to be our personal counselor, He will do wonders in our lives! “Pele” is the Hebrew word for “wonder”, and Messiah’s name as “Wonderful” recalls a scene in the Torah where the “Man God” in the form of the Angel of YHVH describes Himself to the father of Samson in Judges 13:18, saying: “My name is wonderful (pelee)”.

El Geebor (Mighty God) – this title makes absolutely clear that the Messiah who is born a human child is the Mighty God himself!

Avi Ad (Everlasting Father, or…?) – this title can be a little confusing because Yeshua is God the Son, but He is not God the Father. So, what does this mean? Here, understanding the Hebrew can be helpful; looking at the Hebrew grammar, “Avi Ad’ can just as easily be translated as “Father of Eternity” which makes much more sense: it is only through Yeshua that we have eternal life. He is the Father of our eternal life.

Sar Shalom (Prince of Peace) – this Child is the bringer of peace: first in our hearts in this age, and, in the Messianic age, He will be the one who brings global peace—a great task indeed!

 

To all of those who are celebrating the birth of our Messiah this Christmas season, I pray that the deep and awesome revelation of the Child who is Mighty God fills yours hearts with wonder and light!

 

A young man asks: “If Yeshua really is the Messiah, then what should I do?”

Recently a young man reached out to us through our Hebrew website and asked if we could get in touch with him.  After several phone conversations, we understood that he had been reading the New Testament and was interested in studying with someone to learn more. Kosta, who devotes his time to outreach and discipling new believers, scheduled a meeting with him to start studying the foundations of the faith. During their meetings, Kosta felt the need to focus on the love of God and how it is that the Messiah could atone for sins. This young man was open, eager and, after studying together with Kosta, he said it was clear that Yeshua is the Messiah promised Israel in the Hebrew Scriptures. “What should I do then?” he asked.

As Jews, our spiritual reference is orthodox Judaism, and the idea of becoming more “religious” or seeking God means doing certain things like keeping the Sabbath, wearing a kippa, and praying certain prayers and blessings every day.

When he asked, “What am I required to do?” Kosta told him that the first action he needed to take was in his heart: “Receive Yeshua into your heart as Lord and Savior and ask Him to be Lord over your life.” On that same day, he prayed to receive Yeshua as His Lord and Savior.

Wanting to be Immersed

Kosta stays in touch with this young man on a regular basis: due to his work schedule, it is hard for him to make it to our Friday services, so he watches the livestream of our service. Something special about this young man is his love of spending time reading and searching the Scripture. While reading the New Testament, he came across passages describing the need to immerse in water in the name of the Father, the Son. During discipleship at Tiferet Yeshua, we do not rush to water immersion: we want to make sure people understand the foundations of their faith and know what it means to surrender their lives to the Lord. However, this young man was so anxious to follow through with the requirements of his faith that he decided to immerse himself in a spring of water while on a tour visiting springs of the Jordan River in the north of Israel!

It is amazing to see how he truly loves Yeshua and is growing in his faith through God’s wonderful grace on him.

Falling in love with a believer, then falling in love with her Savior

This is a love story in every way. D. grew up friends with a family of believers from Tiferet Yeshua. Since a young age, he knew about his friends’ faith and that they attended a Messianic congregation every week. For him, their faith was something that didn’t bother him, but it didn’t interest him either. While D. was best friends with the son, and he enjoyed spending time with their family, he eventually fell in love with his friend’s sister, a strong believer. After his army service, he mustered the courage to tell her. She and her family made clear that if he was serious about his feelings for her, he would have to be open to seriously learning about her faith.

Because he wanted to show the love of his life that he was serious, he began attending services with her and her family at Tiferet Yeshua—as far as he was concerned, he was there for her, the girl he loves and wants to marry. However, it was clear that D. was not terribly interested in or connecting with what was happening around him in the congregation—during worship he would be in the fellowship hall, and during the message he would be distracted on his phone. Kosta reached out to him to schedule a meeting with him, thinking maybe time one-on-one would be the best way to connect with him. During the meeting, Kosta went through the main Messianic prophesies in the Hebrew Scriptures with D., particularly Isaiah 53. Overall, their time together was positive and eye-opening for him, but it was clear that D. was still not interested in making any serious spiritual commitments. He comes from a religious family where “religious requirements” were forced on him.

But for the love of his life, D. continued coming to services at Tiferet Yeshua. Then something happened: during one service, he decided to put his phone down and listen to the message. On that day, our friend Yuval Yanai gave a powerful message, and God used it to unlock this young man’s heart. It touched him in such a powerful and special way, we could see just by looking at him that something was happening. A week later, someone shared a word of knowledge during the service that someone suffering pain in their shoulder should come forward for healing. The word was for D.: he came forward and was healed on the spot.

The following week, D. was back in the service. This time, he participated in the worship, clearly experiencing the Lord, and he listened intently to the message. After the service, Gil prayed with him to receive Yeshua as his Lord and Savior. Some of us who didn’t know that he had just prayed to receive the Lord saw him later that evening, and told him, “Your face is shining!” Since then, the change in this young man is visible, and he is on fire for the Lord. He is studying with Kosta, reading the Bible daily on his own and already wants to commit his life publicly through water immersion.    

 

  

While our focus during Hanukkah is on the miraculous Maccabee victory over the greatest army in the world at that time and on the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jersualem, this holiday offers us some imporant insights if we ask the right questions. A good question to ask might be, “What led up to the Greek attack and takeover of the Temple in Jerusalem?   

Hanukkah in a Nutshell

For those who are not familiar with the Hanukkah story, it commemorates the victory of the Maccabees, a band of devout Jews, over the Greek armies led by Antiochus IV, Greek King of the Seleucid empire, in 168 BC. Antiochus had outlawed Jewish worship and defiled the Holy Temple with idol worship (pigs were sacrificed on the altars and a statue of Zeus was placed in the Temple).

What Led to the Greek Invasion?

In getting to our original question – “What led up to tyhe Greek attack and takeover of the Temple in Jerusalem?” – we need only to look at the generation preceding Antiochus IV which set the stage for him to do his dirty deeds in Jerusalem. The conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC had spread Greek culture all throughout the ancient Middle East, and many Jews living in Judea began adopting the ways of the pervasive Greek culture. At that time, man was the measure of all things in Greek culture, and individual intellect, physical strength and beauty were its ideals. It goes without saying that these Greek ideals are diametrically opposed to biblical ones.

The Greek culture infiltrates the priesthood

To the Jews living in Jerusalem\Judea during the 2^nd century BC, the world culture was Greek. To adopt Greek culture was to gain access and influence in the Greek world system. It affected the way people dressed, spoke, the way they did business and government. Jerusalem actually prospered under Antiochus the III, and Greek influence had even reached members of the priesthood who had adopted Greek culture alongside their service of God in the Temple.

By the time Antiochus IV showed up, he was able to leverage control over the office of the High Priest, insuring they would be friendly and open to Greek culture. With help from the High Priest, Antiochus built a Greek gymnasium, a place where men practiced nude sports, just a stones throw from the Temple. For all the observant Jews, a line had been crossed, and they threw out the Hellenized High Priest. That is when Antiochus IV got heavy-handed and decided to teach the Jews a lesson for messing with his setup. The mask came off and his real agenda became clear: total takeover.

Hanukkah Lessons

Antiochus did not come out of nowhere. He came after the Jews in Judea went through a process of adopting the mindset and worldview of the Greeks. Today, we each are the temples of God, and we live in a world culture that is still very much Greek: self-centered, intellectual, and obsessed with physical beauty. We all struggle with renewing our minds with the Word of God and putting on the Mind of Messiah in the face of the culture that surrounds us. The Hanukkah story shows us that adopting the ways and mindset of the world can lead us to a point of erecting idols in our hearts, making us weak and vulnerable to succumbing to the enemy.

A sad note on the amazing Maccabee victory is that within a generation the Maccabees had themselves become power-hungry and adopted Greek culture alongside their Temple worship. It is not surprising that less than a hundred years later, the Messiah would be born who is the only answer for our constant struggle with the outside world: being born again within so we can shine His light without.

May we all know Yeshua’s grace and blessings to be able to shine His light this holiday season!

by Gil Afriat

 

Last month, we had the opportunity to celebrate and honor Tiferet Yeshua’s founders, Ari and Shira Sorko-Ram, for the occasion of Ari’s 80th birthday. Ari and Shira founded Tiferet Yeshua congregation twenty-five years ago in their basement in Ramat HaSharon. Under their leadership, Tiferet Yeshua became what it is today: a thriving, Hebrew-speaking congregation in the heart of Tel Aviv, committed to discipleship and evangelism and a light to our city. Several of us gave tributes to Ari and Shira during the celebration, and we wanted to share them with you. It turned out that we all focused of the same special things about Ari and Shira: their priceless investment into who we are today as a congregation.

Roots that go deep – by Moti Cohen

I would like to share a little bit about the beginning of Tiferet Yeshua congregation which started out in Ari and Shira’s house. That simply means that Ari and Shira opened their house in order to build the congregation, which says a lot: today when I host people at my house, be it ten, twenty people, I know how much work goes into preparing and then cleaning up afterwards. Back then in the beginning days of Tiferet Yeshua, week after week, Ari and Shira hosted the whole congregation at their house. And from that place of opening their home to everyone, just like Abraham our father opened up his tent, the gift of warmth and hospitality has become an important part of our congregation. Today at Tiferet Yeshua, when our Friday meeting ends, it does not actually end because people stay on for much longer to talk, eat, and spend time together, just like family. These are the roots that Ari and Shira put down for the congregation back in those days when they hosted the congregation at their home.

Tireless Workers

What was the congregation like back then in the Sorko-Ram’s basement in Ramat HaSharon? Who was on the worship team? Ari and Shira. Who would pick up and drop people off at their homes late in the evening after gatherings? Ari and Shira. Who would preach and teach? Ari, Shira, and later on, Asher. Today Asher is a regular teacher here at Tiferet Yeshua. Back in the beginning days of Tiferet Yeshua, right after Asher arrived to Israel as a new immigrant with broken Hebrew, Ari recognized that he had a teaching gift and would encourage Asher to give messages in the congregation. With his typical family warmth and acceptance, Ari gave Asher a place to teach in this congregation of native Israelis, even with his beginner’s Hebrew.

Visionaries

Ari and Shira had a vision that Tiferet Yeshua congregation would be Hebrew-speaking only – no translation to other languages. The worship, preaching and fellowship would all be in Hebrew. We see the fruit of that today in that our congregation is still one of few congregations in Israel that is Hebrew only and does not have translation into other languages. Ari and Shira also made Tiferet Yeshua a place where teachers, evangelists and leaders have a place to grow and mature. Tiferet Yeshua has produced much fruit, and not just here in our midst. When I have the opportunity to visit other congregations throughout the Land, I see people there in leadership positions, people who are an integral part of their congregations, who started out here in Tiferet Yeshua.

An orphan who became a father-figure to many

On the occasion of Ari’s 80^th birthday celebration, we want to thank both Ari and Shira for their loving and generous hearts. Ari and Shira are a spiritual father and mother for me. And I am not the only one. For many people, Ari is a father figure, and many have been welcomed into his and Shira’s spiritual family. That is especially amazing considering the fact that Ari grew up as an orphan, without a father and mother. Despite that, God has made him into a loving father figure to so many people. We are so grateful for Ari’s life and that he continues to be a father and grandfather here at Tiferet Yeshua.

The warm family home that became a congregation – by Shosh Navon, beloved grandmother of Tiferet Yeshua

First of all, as Ari’s “older sister”, I can say from the grand heights of my 89 years, that fountains of youth still flow in you Ari at your young age of 80!

Dear, beloved Ari, at your arrival of this age of honor, you are not just a hero, you are the crown of this congregation, and Shira is the diamond in it. I remember those days of meeting in the “cave” in Ramat HaSharon, your warm and pleasant home that you opened for a gathering of believers. I say “cave” because when I came for the first time, I naively thought, “This must be the cave of the Rashbi!” I searched the for the ‘carob tree’, but I did not find it. Instead, I found the cave of Yeshua and His abundant love that has accompanied me to this day.

Since then, as they say, ‘much water has flowed’ in the Yarkon River, and, after several incarnations, congregation Tiferet Yeshua arrived at this our permanent address here in Tel Aviv, thanks to Ari’s initiative. Today we are so proud of you, Ari and Shira, and of this our “palace of prayer”, where Yeshua, Beloved of our hearts, shines forth from every corner. We wish you and us many more years of love and togetherness as the Tiferet Yeshua family.

Healing from the heart of a true spiritual father – by Tamar Afriat, worship pastor  

When I first arrived at Tiferet Yeshua congregation over fifteen years ago, I came as a sheep wounded by a pastor from another congregation. Back then, I had made the cynical decision not to trust a spiritual leader again. I had been so hurt and disappointed by my former pastor that I mistakenly thought that expecting the worst was the way to manage any future hurt. However, God had so much grace on me, despite my immature decision, and within a matter of years, I realized that I was healed from that “pastor” wound and from my own rash vow. The means that God had used to heal me were none other than Ari himself.

With Ari as my pastor, I got to know a man who was open, honest, and loving. And I could see that he was doing his absolute best to serve God and pastor His flock. Paul told the Corinthians that they did not have many spiritual fathers, and I know well that true spiritual fathers are rare. God has given Ari the special gift of being a spiritual father, and there are quite a few of us here at Tiferet Yeshua for whom Ari is a real spiritual father. With Ari as my pastor, I felt seen, appreciated, encouraged, supported and safe. Today I know how rare and special it is to have someone like that in your life.

When Gil and I stepped into the pastoral role here at Tiferet Yeshua six years ago, we knew that we were stepping up to serve a congregation with a deep and enduring spiritual heritage: first and foremost, Yeshua as the center, anointed teaching and worship, evangelism, and a sincere family openness and warmth. These are the foundations established by Ari and Shira. Even though I am in the pastoral role today, I still feel the support and encouragement from my pastor, Ari, and I continue to be inspired by Shira, by her work ethic, her positive outlook and vision, and by her enduring passion for God and advancing His kingdom here in Israel. What a wonderful heritage we have received from them!

The Festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is unique among the biblical holidays in that God commands us three times to be joyful before Him during this holiday.

Two times in Deuteronomy 16:13-15:

 “You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days… And you shall rejoice in your feast…Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.

And also in Leviticus 23:33-40:

…and you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

The Feast of Tabernacles is unique in its insistence that we be joyful during this holiday. We are commanded once to be joyful during the Festival of Weeks (Pentecost). What about the other biblical holidays?

 

Passover, the Day of Atonement and the Day of Trumpeting: Serious and Solemn

Passover and the Day of Trumpeting speak about suffering and trials, albeit suffering and tribulation through which come salvation and redemption. It is difficult to be joyful through suffering and trials, like a woman in labor; no woman is joyful when experiencing painful contractions. But when the baby is born, there is then great joy! In the same way, Passover points to the sacrifice of the Messiah, the terrible suffering of God on our behalf, to redeem us and bring us from death to life. The Day of Trumpeting (Yom Tru’ah) points to the days of tribulation in the end times before the Lord returns, to God’s judgements during that time and to Jacob’s trouble during that time from which he will be saved.

The Day of Atonement is a solemn day of “afflicting our souls” and repentance. Prophetically, it points to the period during the great tribulation called Jacob’s Trouble when the people of Israel will cry out to God for mercy in repentance and mourning and will receive a collective revelation of Yeshua the Messiah, “the One they have pierced”. (Zechariah 12:10)

 

The Festival of Weeks\ First Fruits (Shavuot\Bikkurim) – Joy!

The Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy) commands us to be joyful on the biblical festival of Weeks\First Fruits which is firstly an agricultural holiday: on this holiday the first fruits of the early harvest were brought into the Holy Temple. It was on this holiday in the New Testament when the first Jewish believers were gathered in Jerusalem that the Holy Spirit fell on them, revealing to us this holiday’s prophetic meaning. So the Festival of Weeks is a joyful agricultural celebration, a celebration of the joy of the Holy Spirit and the First Fruits of the gospel which went forth unto the nations after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

 

Tabernacles\Ingathering (Sukkot\Aseef) – A Much Greater Joy!

Three times the Torah commands us to be joyful before the Lord on this festival. Like the Festival of Weeks, Tabernacles is an agricultural holiday called Ingathering:

“Celebrate the Festival of Harvest (Weeks) with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering (Sukkot) at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.” ~Exodus 23:16

If the Festival of Weeks prophetically pointed to the firstfruits of the gospel, then the Festival of Tabernacles points to the final harvest when God the Father says to the angels in heaven, “Gather the wheat into my barns!” However, this holiday is not only pointing to the great and final harvest. Tabernacles points to the greatest joy imaginable in this creation: the beginning of the Messianic Kingdom here on earth, the redemption of all creation and a return of all things to their proper place under the rule of Yeshua the Messiah here on earth.

The Thousand-Year Messianic Kingdom

Revelation 20:1-6, Isaiah 11:1-10

When Yeshua returns at the end of the great tribulation and destroys the Antichrist and all his armies, He will then rule and reign here on earth for a thousand years, together with resurrected believers who “shall be priests of God and of the Messiah, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:6) What will this kingdom be like? The prophet Isaiah gives us a detailed picture in chapter 11 which shows the King Messiah ruling the nations in justice, wisdom and the knowledge of God. It is interesting to note how the prophet Isaiah describes the King Messiah as the “Root of Jesse”, that is, the source of the Davidic lineage as God His creator, and as “a branch…from the stump of Jesse”, that is Yeshua as a man directly descended from the Davidic lineage.

Tabernacles – The Greatest Joy Imaginable

The greatest joy that we can know is Yeshua reigning and ruling over the earth in justice, truth and love, filling the earth with peace and the knowledge of the LORD. During this thousand-year Messianic kingdom, the prophet Isaiah describes creation being restored to its proper order, in Edenic peace and innocence, with all people living how God intended: under the kingship of His Son, in justice, peace, and the knowledge of God.

This is such a great and profound joy, all nations will continue to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles in the Messiah’s kingdom:

“Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.” ~Zechariah 14:16

But God is inviting us to participate in that joy now, ahead of time, during the Feast of Tabernacles, to look ahead with joy and anticipation to that amazing time when the Tabernacle of God will be with us here on earth. This is the greatest joy conceivable to us in this world – Yeshua the Messiah, here on earth, ruling and reigning with His cherished Bride, the redeemed believers, and seeing the earth and all its peoples filled with the knowledge of the Lord: this joy is every heart’s deep desire to return to the beauty and innocence of the Garden of Eden and man and woman’s intimate communion with God.