One thing I have desired of the LORD. A Christian blog | Bible studies | Inspiration & Encouragement | Jewish roots of Christianity | Discipleship | Intimacy with God
Studying the Old Testament is essential for every Christian. It is the foundation of everything Jesus and the Apostles taught. The Old Testament also holds countless prophecies that point towards the future fulfilment in the Messiah Yeshua. One example of this are the Biblical feasts that the Jewish people celebrates until this day.
Shavuot is the actual biblical feast the Apostles celebrated at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out. It marked the giving of the Mosaic Law on Mount Sinai. And it foreshadows that day when God inscribes His Law on our hearts - through His Holy Spirit.
In the night that God delivered Israel out of Egypt, God provided an unusual and unprecedented means of protection from certain death: the blood of a 1 year old lamb had to be applied around the door frame. This lamb that the Israelites slaughtered and ate was an Image of the true Lamb of God that was to come. Read more on the significance of Passover and how Jesus became our very own Passover.
Passover, or Pesach, is the biblical feast that remembers God's mighty intervention when He delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt some 3500 years ago. Passover also foreshadows our personal deliverance from bondage to sin and irrevocable separation from our old task master. Read more about the striking parallels of the Passover story and God's dealing with us personally.
Each year on Yom Kippur, the High Priest chose two goats, one to symbolically carry the sins of the people into the wilderness, the other to be sacrificed on the altar to pacify God’s wrath over sin. He then entered the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle and interceded before the Ark of the Covenant for his people for God to have mercy. About 1200 years after the Israelites celebrated the first Yom Kippur in the wilderness, Yeshua, who was without sin, became the true scapegoat, carrying our sin and putting it to death when He gave His life on the cross.
On Rosh haShana observant Jews very commonly recite this prayer from Micah 7:18-20, acknowledging our dependence on God’s mercy and forgiveness of sin. And the God of Heavens, the Holy One of Israel, loves to show mercy and forgive. What an awesome God we serve - there is none like Him!