Out Of The Pit – Psalm 40
Joseph spent time in the pit – twice. King David wrote about being in a “pit,” though in his case more metaphorical than literal. Yeshua experienced the lowest pit possible – dead in the grave.
Continue reading →Category Archives: Torah Portions
Torah Portion Calendar for 5781
The Messianic Torah Portion calendar for 5781 is now available for download. Unlike calendars that add Hebrew dates to the traditional Gregorian months, this calendar is organized around the Hebrew months with the Gregorian dates noted for reference.
Continue reading →Why I Read The Torah Portion
For several years now I’ve been reading the weekly Torah and Haftarah portions along with a related selection from the New Testament. Of course, I’m not the only one. Reading the Torah portions has long been a practice in the … Continue reading →
Tom on Vayikra
From time to time I am blessed by a letter from my friend Tom that includes a summary of something he has been studying. Tom is a Messianic Jewish believer in Yeshua and is currently incarcerated. This week I received … Continue reading →
O God Our Help In Ages Past
Here is a beautiful hymn written by Isaac Watts almost 300 years ago. The lyrics are based entirely on Psalm 90 and were composed at a time when the songs sung in church services were almost always the actual words of … Continue reading →
Abraham Wasn’t a Rolling Stone
The soundtrack to the movie Bruce Almighty contains a song by the contemporary Christian band Plumb that goes like this:
There’s a God-shaped hole in all of us
And the restless soul is searching
There’s a God-shaped hole in all of us
And it’s a void only he can fill
Our World and World of Noah – Psalm 14
Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are nearly identical Psalms of David. Reading or hearing the same thing twice might be an indication it should be given a little more attention. Both begin with the same declaration: The fool has said in his … Continue reading →
Preparing for the New Torah Cycle
In a few weeks it will be time to restart the Torah reading cycle. Every year at the conclusion of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, we celebrate Simchat Torah, a Hebrew phrase that means “rejoicing in the Torah.” The final … Continue reading →
The Other Ark and the Broken Pieces
During a study of Torah portion Ekev, a gentleman in our group was talking about the “other ark” and asked me what I knew about it. Honestly, I had no idea what he was talking about, and asked him to … Continue reading →
The Haftarah Portions
Beginning this week with Torah portion Mattot there is a change in the Haftarah readings. The Haftarah is a selection from the Prophets that generally corresponds to at least one of the main subjects of the Torah portion. In a … Continue reading →