The Mission: What in your life has never borne the promise and purpose you were meant to bear? Give it to God today. Let Him become your Goel.
Ruth 3:9; Psalm 103:4; Isaiah 54:5
The Goel Redemption
DAY 245
THE WAY OF BREADLESSNESS
THE TEACHER WAS seated on top of a hill with the sun behind him partially silhouetting his form. In front of him at the beginning of the slope sat the students. He was holding in his hand a loaf of bread.
“Messiah,” he said, “taught His disciples to pray, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ Why?”
“Because we need to eat,” said one of the students.
“But why should that be part of a prayer to God?” asked the teacher.
“Because God wants us to bring Him our most basic needs,” said another.
“Yes,” said the teacher. “Messiah was teaching us to bring our most basic needs to God. But how many of you is it that don’t have bread for the day . . . or food for today? Raise your hands.”
No one raised their hand.
“Then why did He tell you to ask for bread you already have? How can He give you what is already yours? And how could you receive what you already possess?”
“If we have it,” said one of the students, “then we can’t receive it.”
“Then we must not have it,” said the teacher.
At that, he began breaking the loaf into small pieces and passing them to the students. When he finished, he continued with the teaching.
“You can’t ask for what you already have. Yet we are told to ask for our bread every day. So what does it mean to pray that prayer? To pray that prayer you must relinquish your ownership. You must let go even of your daily bread. But it is in that relinquishing that you open yourself up to a miracle . . . It is only what you don’t have that you can receive from God. And if you don’t even own your daily bread, then what do you have? And if you don’t have anything, then God can bless you with everything . . . every day. Then the possessions you once took for granted are freed up to undergo a transformation, to be turned into blessings given and blessings received from heaven. For when you take no blessing for granted, then everything in your life is transformed into a gift. Learn the power of this prayer and the blessings that come in the letting go even of your daily bread. It is then that your life will be filled with miracles and blessings . . . the inheritance of those who have attained the state of breadlessness.”
The Mission: Practice the state of breadlessness. Empty yourself of all possessions—even the most basic of things—and receive it all anew as a gift from God.
Deuteronomy 8:3; Joshua 13:33; Matthew 6:9–11
Our Daily Bread
DAY 246
THE SPECTRAL MESSIAHS
WE WERE IN his study. The teacher had placed a glass prism near the window causing a rainbow of light to appear on the opposite wall.
“The prism causes the light to break up into its individual parts, the colors of the spectrum.”
We walked over to his desk and sat down.
“Have you ever heard of the two Messiahs?” he asked.
“No,” I replied, “never.”
“In the books of the rabbis are writings that speak of two different Messiahs. The one is called Mashiach Ben David or the Messiah Son of David. This Messiah, they write, will fight for and deliver His people, sit on David’s throne, and reign over Israel and all the earth in the age of peace on earth, the kingdom of God. The other is called Mashiach Ben Yosef or Messiah Son of Joseph. This is the Messiah of sorrows . . . who suffers and dies for the redemption of His people.”
“Where did the two Messiahs come from?”
“From the prophecies of Messiah in the Scriptures. The prophecies only speak of one Messiah. But they couldn’t put it together, a Messiah who reigns victoriously and a Messiah who suffers and dies. So as the prism breaks up the light into the colors of the spectrum, the rabbis broke up the Messiah into differing images. But what happens if we put Mashiach Ben David and Mashiach Ben Yosef back together again?”
“One Messiah, two works, two appearings . . . two comings.”
“And which work,” asked the teacher, “and which coming would have to be first?”
“He can’t reign victoriously forever and then suffer and die. So the second appearance and coming would have to be that of the reigning Messiah. And the first would have to be of the suffering, dying Messiah.”
“It would have to be that way. And peace on earth can only come after making peace with God. But how can Messiah die and then reign forever?
“By one thing only,” I said. “By resurrection.”
“Even the rabbis implied that the suffering Messiah would rise from death.”
“So the two Messiahs of the rabbis are really two witnesses of the two works and appearings of the one Messiah.”
“The one Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth . . . who alone is true and all in one.”
The Mission: Messiah is the light in which all the colors of the spectrum become one. Bring everything in your life into Him—and it will become light.
Psalm 2; Luke 24:26–27; Revelation 5:11–12
The Rabbinic Mysteries I–VI
DAY 247
THE DOUBLE CALENDAR PARADOX
WE WERE IN the Chamber of Books. The teacher placed a large book on the table and opened it to what looked to me like an old diagram, spread out over two pages.
“It’s the Hebrew calendar,” he said. “It lies behind every event in Scripture. This,” he said, pointing to part of the calendar, “is the month of Tishri. And this, at the beginning of Tishri, is called Rosh Ha Shannah, and means The Beginning of the Year.”
“So the year begins with the month of Tishri,” I said. “And when is that?”
“At the start of autumn. Now look over here,” he said, pointing to the opposite page. “This is the month of Nisan in the spring. Nisan also means The Beginning. So they both are identified as the beginning. The Hebrew year has two beginnings, two calendars.”
“How can that be?”
“The year that begins in the autumn with Tishri is considered the civil or secular year. But the year that begins in the spring with Nisan is considered the sacred year. So the people of Israel lived by two calendars . . . So do all of the children of God.”
“What does that mean?”
“Every child of God has two calendars and two beginnings. The first calendar begins at their conception. The second begins at the moment of their new birth. The first calendar is natural. But the second is supernatural. The second is the sacred. When you’re born again, you begin living in the second calendar, the calendar of the sacred. And when does the sacred calendar of Israel begin? In the spring time, the time of Passover. And so it is for all the children of God. The sacred calendar is always ushered in at the time of Passover. So it is the death of Messiah, the Passover Lamb, that ushers in the springtime of your life, your new beginning, your second and sacred calendar.”
“So how do we live with two calendars?”
“Each day you will be given a choice, to live in the old calendar or the new, in the old identity or the new, the old life or the new, the natural or the supernatural. And so every day you must choose not to live in the old calendar, or walk in the old life, but to live every moment in your new identity and life, in the supernatural, in His grace . . . in the calendar of the sacred.”
The Mission: Live this day, not by the old calendar and not according to the old course, but by the calendar in which every day and every moment is new.
Isaiah 43:18–19; John 3:1–8; Colossians 3:5–10
The Mixed Up New Year
DAY 248
THE ANATOLAY MAN
IN ONE OF the smaller rooms within the Chamber of Scrolls was shelving filled with scrolls of varying sizes and a wooden stand in the center. The teacher retrieved one of them, placed it on the stand, and began to unroll it.
“It’s not Hebrew,”
I said.
“No,” he said. “It’s Greek, the Hebrew Scriptures in Greek. It’s called the Septuagint, the ancient translation of the Old Testament made by Jewish scholars centuries before the New Testament. And this is the Book of Zechariah and the prophecy of Messiah as the Tzemach, the Branch. Look at this word,” he said. “It’s what they used in Greek to translate tzemach. But it doesn’t mean branch. It’s the Greek word anatolay.”
“What does it mean?”
“It means the rising or the sunrise. And this same Greek word appears in the New Testament to speak of Messiah.”
“So Messiah is ‘the rising.’”
“Yes,” he said. “Messiah is the rising, the resurrection.”
“And so He could be called the Sunrise.”
“Yes, and what does a sunrise do? It ends the night. Why is Messiah the Sunrise?” asked the teacher. “Because He ends the night.”
“And the sunrise,” I said, “is the light that breaks through the darkness.”
“Yes. And so the light of Messiah is that which breaks through the darkness of this world, through the darkness of history, and through the darkness of our lives.”
“And the sunrise,” I said, “brings a new beginning . . . the dawn.”
“Yes. And so Messiah is the One who brings a new beginning to history and a new beginning to every life that receives Him. He even alters the world’s calendar. His light is the light of dawn.”
“And the light of sunrise grows continually brighter.”
“Yes,” said the teacher. “And to have Him in your life is to have the Sunrise in your life. That means you must let that light continually grow and grow always brighter until it lights up every part of your life. For to those who know Him, He is not only the Light of the World . . . He’s the Dawn . . . He’s the Sunrise.”
The Mission: Let the light of Messiah shine brighter in your life today. Believe the Sunrise. Live in the power of the Sunrise. Begin today.
Zechariah 3:8; Luke 1:78; 2 Peter 3:18; Revelation 21:23
The Dayspring
DAY 249
THE MYSTERY OF ASENATH
WE WERE STANDING by the wooden table in the Chamber of Books. Resting on the table was an old oversized volume bound in amber. The teacher had opened it up to a page showing a highly stylized image of an Egyptian woman, something one might have expected to find on the wall of ancient Egyptian tomb.
“Do you know who Asenath is?” he asked.
“No,” I replied.
“A woman of ancient Egypt, the daughter of a pagan priest. The name Asenath is believed to mean belonging to and a worshipper of the god Neith. Neith was the Egyptian goddess of war. So Asenath grew up in the heart of the pagan world, far removed from the God of Israel. But she would end up marrying a Hebrew, Joseph, the son of Jacob. Through Joseph Asenath would become part of Israel, an Israelite woman. She would give birth to two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and thus she was the mother of two of Israel’s tribes . . . Asenath, a pagan Egyptian woman who became joined forever to the nation of Israel, to its covenant, and to its destiny.”
He closed the book. “Joseph was the shadow of whom?”
“Messiah,” I replied. “The Suffering Redeemer.”
“But then what is the revelation of Asenath?”
“Messiah has an Egyptian bride?” I said.
“Who is the bride of Messiah? The church. So the mystery of Asenath is the mystery of the church. Asenath was an Egyptian, far removed from the God of Israel and His ways. And who is the church? Those who once dwelt in darkness, foreigners, strangers, those who walked far removed from God’s ways, and, overwhelmingly, those born not of Israel but of the nations. And yet though spiritually Egyptian, they become married to a Hebrew, Messiah. And through Him they become joined to God. And though outwardly they may still appear as foreigners, they have now, by marriage, become Hebrews. They are now joined forever to the nation of Israel and to its destiny. That is the grace and the glory of God’s kingdom. It belongs to those who are the least likely to belong to it, those farthest away. Asenath is the mystery of the church, Messiah’s Egyptian bride . . . and yet secretly Hebrew . . . We are Asenath.”
The Mission: Ponder the grace that brought you from far away into the kingdom of Israel. And help bring near those still far away.
Genesis 41:45; Galatians 3:14; Ephesians 2:12, 19
The Shadow Man I–VI
DAY 250
THE STRANGER AT THE WELL
WE WERE SITTING on the same hill and overlooking the same camp where we had previously seen several women converge on a well in the late afternoon. But it was now midday. And there was no one at the well but a single woman with a clay pitcher in her hand. She was standing there as if lost in thought.
“Did you ever wonder why Rebekah met Abraham’s servant at the well?” asked the teacher.
“It would make sense,” I replied. “The women would go there to draw water, as would Abraham’s servant to draw water for his camels.”
“Yes, but God planned the encounter from the beginning. And did you know that meeting the bride at a well is a theme in Scripture? Isaac’s wife was found at the well, Isaac’s son Jacob would find his wife Rachel also at a well, and even Moses would find his wife, Zipporah, at a well. The bride is found at the well.”
“And why is that?”
“A well is the place where the thirsty come to drink, a place where needs are fulfilled. Remember what Abraham’s servant represented, the Spirit of God, the Servant of the Father. Why at a well? Because the Father’s Servant always meets the bride at a well. That’s where the Spirit of God meets us, at a well, in our place of need, thirst, and emptiness. It’s in our need that we’re most open. That’s when most people meet God, receive the Spirit, and become the bride. You see, need is not a bad thing, nor is emptiness. It’s what you do with it. Everyone has needs, everyone thirsts, and every heart knows emptiness. But that’s where the Spirit will meet you, at the well, in your place of need and emptiness. And so it becomes a holy place. And He will meet you there not just once, but all the days of your life. So don’t despise your needs. Don’t try to extinguish the thirst of your soul or fight the emptiness of your heart. In God, such things become sacred. Let them instead fulfill their purpose, to bring you closer, to the Bridegroom, and to the filling up of those needs with the waters of the Spirit. So the next time you find yourself thirsting, longing, and feeling the pangs of emptiness, bring your thirst to His waters. And there you will find a stranger, a sacred Guest, and a holy Visitor who will meet you at the well.”
The Mission: Take every need, want, emptiness, desire, or longing and direct it away from the world, to the Spirit and the heavenly.
Genesis 24:11–28; Isaiah 12:3; 55:1; John 4:7–14
The Isaac Rebekah Wedding Mystery I–III
DAY 251
THE MIRACLE WORLD
IT WAS LATE into the night and especially dark. The moon was nowhere to be seen. The teacher and I were sitting in an open expanse not far from the school while everyone else was asleep.
“Imagine,” he said, “if we lived in a world where everything was night, a world where we could never see the blue of the sky, the yellow of the sun, the green of grass and trees. Imagine we could barely see each other. Now imagine that something takes place in this world that has never happened before . . . a sunrise. What would it be like?”
“I would imagine it would be amazing to them,” I said. “Indescribable.”
“Yes,” said the teacher, “for the first time in our lives, the black sky begins to transform, subtly changing its color, the first hints of dawn. Then come the first orange yellow rays of daybreak . . . and then the circle of blazing light rising up from the horizon as if floating on nothing, and our entire world is transformed. For the first time we see everything in vivid color and clarity . . . It would be a miracle, a miracle as dramatic and as amazing to our world as the parting of the Red Sea . . . ” The teacher paused, turned to me,
and said, “But the miracle has happened . . . The miracle happens every day. Should we not then be living in the miraculous all the time? And why don’t we? It would be as if the Red Sea parted at about six in the morning every day. We would no longer be amazed by it. And yet was there ever a vision given to any prophet as vivid, as full of detail and brilliance as the vision we see every day of this world? But when the miracle happens every day, we no longer see it. We become blind . . . and blind to the fact that there is nothing as supernatural as existence itself . . . that existence came into existence . . . and that it could have only come into existence from nothing . . . and that the natural world is the witness of the supernatural.”
“The sun,” I said. “It’s beginning to rise.”
“Behold the miracle,” said the teacher. “This life, this universe, everything you see and touch, everything you hear and have known . . . it’s all a miracle . . . a vision come to life. Open your eyes and see the world as if for the first time, as if your first sunrise and your first Red Sea, as the miracle it is . . . Live in the miraculous . . . For you are already living . . . in a miracle world.”
The Mission: Today, live as if you were in a “miracle world,” as if everything you see and hear is miraculous—because it is. Live in the miraculous.
Psalms 8; 19:1–6; Isaiah 6:3
The Miracle World
DAY 252
The Book of Mysteries Page 36
