The following is an email our team received on April 11th from our team leader as we prepare for this coming mission trip back to “the Land” of Israel. We leave in a couple of days for this trip, and I wanted to spend these next days sharing more about the Jewish roots of our Faith….
Shalom, Team
Here’s a devotional I’m going through that I thought was timely.
John 12:32 ‘When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.’
One of the foundational doctrines of the Messianic faith is the Resurrection of Yeshua. Many people appreciate the wonderful teachings of Yeshua. Some even acknowledge him as a great rabbi. Yet, it is his resurrection from the dead that sets him apart from any other person in history. We would expect such an important event to be foreshadowed in the Jewish Scriptures.
The Roman Church tried to create a picture of the resurrection by messianizing the pagan celebration of Istar (Easter), which is still observed. However there is a Biblical holy day which clearly foreshadows this triumph of Messiah’s life. In the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible), we are told that on the day after the Sabbath during Passover week there is to be a special observance called Bikkurim (The Feast of First Fruits).
This holy day was to be a time of thanksgiving of the barley harvest, the first grain to ripen in Israel every spring. As part of the Temple ceremony, the priest was to take some of the barley, lift it up, and wave it to the L_RD in the sight of all the people (Lev.23:9-16). While this ceremony would turn people’s attention to the harvest aspect of the festival, Bikkurim was to also have a deeper, spiritual meaning.
This spiritual picture comes into focus when Yeshua tells his disciples that his body will be like the grain of barley that must die in order to produce more fruit. Yet he would also be lifted up in the resurrection and ‘waved’ before the people for all to see. No wonder many in Israel were drawn to Yeshua, the living Redeemer. Yeshua not only died on Passover, but he rose on Bikkurim in perfect fulfillment of the Torah. Have you celebrated the Risen One in your heart today?
Thought for the day: Today I will walk in the newness of life which Yeshua obtained for me by his death and resurrection.
Today is Nisan 18th of 5769 (the Hebrew calendar: April 12, 2009). We are in the in the Feast of Unleavened Bread and today is Bikkurim and we should celebrate our first fruit offer … Messiah Yeshua.
Faithfully in our Messiah
David
I want to invite you to pray for our team that is going there on this upcoming trip. I am going to do my best to update this site daily to let you know what is going on. They tend to work us really hard, so I can’t be sure I’ll always be able to do this, but I will do my best to. Thanks for your support!
If you will be praying, we’d love it if you’d send us an email to wes@kingdomcalling.com.
Photo credit: quadrophenius2009