“It’s a tomb.”
“As in someone’s buried there?”
“Yes,” he answered, “that kind of a tomb.”
“Are we going there?”
“No. It’s a place of death. But that’s what makes it so amazing.”
“Makes what so amazing?”
“What place in this world is more hopeless, more depressing, more sorrowful, more despairing, and more forbidding than a tomb? And yet of all places on earth, it all begins in a tomb.”
“What all begins?”
“Redemption begins. The faith begins. The good news begins. The word of Messiah begins. The message of salvation begins. The Gospel begins. Think about it. It all begins in a tomb. Did you ever consider how radical and completely upside down it is?”
“I never did.”
“What is a tomb? It’s the place where hope ends, where dreams end, where life ends, where everything ends. The tomb is the place of the end. But in God, the tomb, the place of the end, becomes the place of the beginning.”
“Why?”
“It’s the radical way of the kingdom. In God, the journey goes not from life to death, but from death to life. The end is the beginning. So to find life, you must come to the tomb.”
“You must come to a place of death to find life.”
“Only those who come to the place of the end can enter the new beginning. For in Messiah, it is in the place of ending that we find the beginning, and in the place of hopelessness that we find true hope, and in the place of sorrow that we find true joy, and in the place of death that we are born again. In God, it is in a tomb, that we find our birth.”
The Mission: What is it in your life that must end? Bring it into Messiah’s tomb. And wait there. For after you’ve come to the end, you’ll find the beginning.
Matthew 28:1–6; 1 Corinthians 15:55–57; 1 Peter 1:23
Yom Rishon: The Beginning of Days
DAY 66
THE MYSTERY PRIEST
HE LED ME back into the Chamber of Garments. He disappeared for a few moments, then returned holding a white linen tunic around the middle of which was a sash of blue, purple, and scarlet.
“What is that?” I asked.
“It’s the garment of the cohanim,” said the teacher.
“And who was the cohanim?”
“Who were the cohanim,” he said. “They were the priests of Israel, the sons of Aaron. It was the cohanim who ministered in the Temple and who were given charge by God over the offerings and sacrifices by which the people of Israel were reconciled to God.”
At that, he laid down the garment.
“Messiah came as the final and ultimate sacrifice, by which those who received Him would be reconciled to God. He came at a time when the Temple was still standing, when the priesthood of Israel was still in effect, and when the sons of Aaron had charge over the sacrifices. Shouldn’t there have been some connection, some recognition given by the priests, those in charge of the sacrifices, of the final and ultimate sacrifice?”
“It makes sense,” I said. “But I’ve never seen anything like it in the Gospels.”
“You have,” said the teacher. “You just didn’t realize it. There was, born to the cohanim, to the house of Aaron, a child who was not only a priest, but one descended from Aaron on both his father’s and mother’s line, a pure-blooded priest. The child was given the name Yochanan.”
“I’ve never heard of him.”
“You have,” said the teacher. “You know him as John the Baptist.”
“John the Baptist! Of the house of Aaron . . . of the cohanim . . . I didn’t . . . ”
“And what did the cohanim do? They presented the lambs for sacrifice. So it was John who presented the Lamb, Messiah, the final sacrifice, to Israel. It was the cohanim who identified the sacrifice and certified that it was acceptable to be sacrificed. So it was Yochanan, John, who first identified Messiah as the acceptable sacrifice. He was the first to identify Messiah as the sacrificial Lamb. It was he who said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’ You see, God made sure to have a priest of Aaron to certify the Lamb. That means your sins are completely and certifiably taken away forever by the Lamb who comes with priestly certification.”
The Mission: The cohanim have spoken. The Lamb has been slain. And every one of your sins has been taken away. Rejoice in it. Live accordingly.
Luke 1:5–25, 57–80; 3:1–4; John 1:29
The Mystery of the Hikriv
DAY 67
THE HAFTORAH MYSTERY
HE TOOK ME into the Chamber of Scrolls and led me over to a scroll unique from the others in that it rested permanently on its own wooden platform.
“Every week,” he said, “on the Sabbath, in synagogues throughout the world, a word from the Prophets is read along with a word from the Torah. The word from the Prophets is called the haftorah reading. It comes from this scroll, and is often just a few verses long.”
“How long has this been going on?” I asked.
“From ancient times,” he said.
He then rolled the scroll forward to find the passage he was looking for.
“For two thousand years,” he said, “the Jewish people wandered the earth in exile from their land. But the Word of God prophesied that in the latter days God would bring them back to their homeland and the nation of Israel would come back into the world. The prophecy came true on May 15, 1948, when the nation of Israel was resurrected. The exile of two thousand years was over. May 15, 1948, happened to be a Sabbath. That means there was a word appointed from ancient times to be read in every synagogue throughout the world on the day that Israel came back into the world.”
“What was it?”
“It was from the Book of Amos. It was this.” Placing his finger on the Hebrew words in the scroll, he began to read: “‘I will restore David’s fallen tabernacle. I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins. I will rebuild it as it used to be . . . And I will bring my people Israel back from exile. They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine. They will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them.’ It was the ancient prophecy foretelling the future restoration of Israel . . . And it just happened to be appointed from ancient times to be read throughout the world on the very day that Israel’s restoration was fulfilled. What does it tell you?”
“The Word of God is true, truer than circumstance, and stronger than history.”
“Yes,” said the teacher. “And so fully trust in it. And when God gives a promise, He will fulfill it. It will come to fruition at the time ordained for it . . . at the appointed and exact moment.”
The Mission: Take a Word from Scripture you can walk in this day. Seek for the exact and appointed moments for the Word to come to fruition.
Psalm 18:30; Amos 9:11–15; 2 Timothy 3:16
The Haftorah Mystery
DAY 68
THE SUNSET MYSTERY
IT WAS EARLY evening. We were sitting on the side of a mountain watching an orange sun descend into the landscape.
“In the biblical calendar,” said the teacher, “the moment the sun goes down, the day is over. Whatever happened during that day now belongs to the past, to yesterday. The day’s problems become yesterday’s problems; its concern, yesterday’s concerns; its mistakes, yesterday’s mistakes; and its sorrows, yesterday’s sorrows. When the sun sets, it’s all past.”
“Why is that significant?” I asked.
“When Messiah was in the world, He said, ‘I am the Light of the World.’ But He came into the world to die.”
“I’m not seeing a connection.”
“When He died, it was the Light of the World dying. It was the Light of the World growing dark and disappearing. It was the Light of the World descending to the earth . . . It was the sunset. In fact, as He died, the sun was descending in the sky. And when they placed Him in the tomb, the su
n was descending into the earth. That’s why they were rushing to put Him there. It was because the sun was setting. And when they had closed the tomb, and sealed Him in the earth, the light of the world, the sun, was, likewise, disappearing into the earth.”
“So, the Light of the World disappeared into the earth as the other light of the world disappeared into the earth.”
“Yes,” he said. “And what does that mean?”
“If the Light of the World has descended into the earth, that means it’s sunset.”
“It means it’s the sunset of this world, the sunset of the old life. The moment the sun goes down, the day is over, the old day, the old world, our old life is over. Whatever happened in that life now belongs to the past. The events of our old lives now belong to yesterday. The mistakes of our lives, the problems, the sins, the fears, the shame, the guilt, they belong to that which is no more. The sun has set on the old. The sun has set on your past, on your sins, on your shame, on the person you once were. And so it all belongs to yesterday. And for all who will let the sun set on their old life, for all who will die to the old, in the sunset of Messiah, the old has passed away, and they’re free to rise with the dawn of the new day.”
The Mission: Let the sun set on all in your life that is old. Let all that has been . . . become yesterday, forever, in the sunset of Messiah.
John 8:12; 9:5; 19:30–41
The Sunset of Messiah
DAY 69
THE HOUSE OF SPIRITS
WHAT’S THAT?” I asked.
“A house,” he replied, “the ruins of a house. And that’s where we’re going.”
It was a simple rectangular dwelling made up of irregular stones and set on a plateau overlooking a small valley. It looked ancient, though whether it was decades old or thousands of years, I had no idea. We went inside and sat down. The wind was blowing through the doorway and through the many cracks and openings in its walls.
“Messiah spoke of an unclean spirit,” said the teacher, “coming out of a man and finding no other place to inhabit. The spirit says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ And when it returns, it finds the ‘house’ uninhabited, swept clean, and having been set in order. The spirit then brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself. The man is now inhabited by eight spirits instead of one.”
“So if someone turns away from evil but then returns to it, the person will end up worse off than at the start.”
“Yes, but the principle applies to more than that. It applies to a generation, and to a civilization . . . even to Western civilization,” he replied. “In ancient times Western civilization was a house inhabited by gods and idols—pagan and indwelt by unclean spirits.”
“A house of spirits.”
“Yes, but into that house came the Word of God. And it was cleansed, purified, and exorcised of its unclean spirits, idols, and gods. But then what is the principle and the warning? If that civilization should then turn from God and away from His Word and back to the darkness, it will end up far worse than before.”
“Than its ancient and pagan state?”
“Yes,” said the teacher. “It will be inhabited by greater evils. Thus a pre-Christian civilization is far less dangerous than a post-Christian civilization. The pre-Christian may produce a Caligula or a Nero, but it is the post-Christian that produces a Hitler and a Stalin. And so the warning is this: Once you’ve come to the truth, never turn away, even to the slightest degree. Rather, make it your aim to draw continually closer.”
“And the warning concerning civilization . . . ”
“If it turns from the light it has once known . . . it will end up a house of spirits.”
The Mission: Move all the more away from the darkness you left. And pray all the more for the civilization in which you dwell.
Matthew 12:43–45; Luke 8:26–36; Philippians 2:15; 1 Peter 2:11–12
The House of Spirits
DAY 70
THE BOOK OF THE UNMENTIONED GOD
THE TEACHER TOOK me to the Chamber of Scrolls. We sat down at a small wooden table upon which he placed a small and ornate scroll.
“This,” he said, “is unique of all books of the Bible. Do you know what makes it different from the rest? The Name of God.”
“The Name of God makes it different?”
“The absence of the Name of God makes it different. The Book of Esther is the only book of Scripture that contains absolutely no mention of God.”
“That seems very strange.”
“It would seem to be a godless book. In fact, it’s filled with godlessness . . . evil people and evil plans to annihilate the people of God. And it’s not just the Name of God that’s missing but also, it seems, His presence. Darkness reigns, and God is nowhere to be found.”
“So is the Book of Esther less holy than the other books in the Bible?”
“No,” he replied. “Not at all. It’s as holy as all the other books that mention His Name. That’s the point. Even though the Name of God isn’t mentioned, the hand of God lies behind every event. He is there, unseen, unmentioned, yet working all things together and turning every event around to fulfill His purposes. Esther is the Book of the Unmentioned God. And the Book of the Unmentioned God is a most holy book. It’s the book that speaks of all the times you don’t feel the presence of God, when you don’t hear His voice, when you don’t see His hand, when there’s no sign of His love or purpose, and when He seems far away or not there at all. So when all you see is darkness, that is the time of the Book of the Unmentioned God. And it’s telling you this: Even though you don’t feel His presence, it is there still. Even though you don’t see His hand, it is still moving. Even when you don’t hear His voice, He is still speaking, even in the silence. Even when you feel abandoned and alone, still His love is there. And even when He seems hopelessly far away from you, He is still right there beside you, working every detail in your life for His purposes and your redemption. And in the end, the light will break the darkness, the good will prevail, and you will know that you were never alone. He was with you all along. And it was holy. It was the time of your Book of the Unmentioned God.”
The Mission: Whenever you can’t see or feel the presence of God in your life, know that He’s fully there. It’s just your Book of the Unmentioned God.
Psalm 139:7–12; Matthew 28:18–20; Hebrews 13:5
The Book of the Unmentioned God
DAY 71
THE OMEGA JOY
THE GREATEST CELEBRATION,” said the teacher, “in the days of the Bible was Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. During the festival the people of Israel would go up to Jerusalem to give thanks to God for His blessings, for the fruit of their harvests, the produce of their fields, for His provisions, His faithfulness, and for the gift of the Promised Land itself. And so the Feast of Tabernacles was filled with celebration, praises, thanksgiving, dancing, and joy. In fact, the very command that ordained the feast states, ‘You shall be altogether joyful.’ So great was this celebration that it was simply known as the festival. Tabernacles was the feast of joy. It came in the autumn. What part of the sacred year is autumn?”
“The end,” I said.
“Yes, and Tabernacles is the last feast of the sacred year. It’s the greatest celebration and it comes at the end. What does that reveal?”
I had no answer.
“In the world,” he said, “the greatest things come at the beginning. Everything starts out young, and then gets older and older. In the world, the celebration comes at the beginning. Then it fades away, ultimately ending in death. But the Feast of Tabernacles reveals that in the kingdom of God, it’s the opposite. The greatest celebration comes at the end. So if you live in God’s power, you don’t move from life to death, but from death to life.”
“Then we grow younger,” I said.
“In the Spirit,” he said, “we are to grow younger.”
“And what about joy?” I asked. “Wouldn’t Tabernacles also reveal that the greatest joy comes at
the end?”
“Yes,” said the teacher. “The joys of the world come at the beginning. They’re fleeting. They grow old and pass away. The joys of sin lead to sorrow. The laughter of youth leads to tears of mourning. But in God, the greatest joy comes at the end. In other words, the ways of God all lead in the end to joy. Even that which seems hard for the moment, the way of sacrifice, self-control, and righteousness . . . in the long run it all leads to joy. God’s calendar ends with the Feast of Tabernacles, and those who walk in His ways end up altogether joyful. For the ways of God all lead to joy. And the best is saved for last.”
The Mission: Today, look to the joy at the end of your path. And so live all the more confidently in what is good and right—to the Omega joy.
Leviticus 23:33–44; Psalm 16:11; Isaiah 51:11
The Last Joy
DAY 72
THE OTHER TREE
WE WALKED THROUGH a garden of trees.
“Today,” said the teacher, “we open up the mystery of two trees. In Genesis it is written that inside the Garden of Eden grew the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was the one tree, the fruit of which man was not to partake.”
“But man did partake,” I replied.
“Yes, and through that partaking came sin and death. Through that one tree came the fall of man. Now why did the Messiah die?” he asked.
“To bring salvation.”
“And to end what?”
“Sin . . . death . . . ”
“And to undo what?”
“The fall.”
“And on what did He die?”
“A cross.”
“And of what was it made?”
“Wood.”
“And what is wood?”
I paused for a moment before answering.
The Book of Mysteries Page 11
