The Mission: Dwell on the Lion of Judah, the coming King. Live in the power of the Almighty, strong in that which is good, and bold as the Lion.
Daniel 7:13–14; Matthew 24:14; Revelation 11:5; 14:15; 19:16
The Holy Day Finale
DAY 281
THE TENTH OF AV REDEMPTION
HE LED ME back to the ruins of the ancient house in which he had read aloud from the Book of Lamentations. We sat down. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a coin, and gave it to me. It was dark and worn, with an image of what appeared to be three towers enclosed by an ornamental circle.
“Did that come from this place?” I asked.
“No,” said the teacher, “far from this place. It’s a coin from the Spanish Empire . . . coins that altered history and fulfilled an ancient mystery. It was here,” he said, “that I shared with you of the day of calamity in Jewish history, the Ninth of Av.” He set the coin down on a stone. “Centuries ago the land of Spain constituted one of the greatest of refuges the Jewish people had ever known. But in the late fifteenth century it all ended as the Spanish monarchs gave the Jews until August 2 to flee the land or be killed. August 2 was the Ninth of Av, the Hebrew date on which calamities have befallen the Jewish people through the ages. On that day the Spanish harbors were filled with ships carrying Jews fleeing for their lives. But there was more to the story. Three of the ships waiting to sail from the harbors of Spain had a different purpose. The year was 1492.”
“Christopher Columbus!”
“Two momentous events of world history, taking place in the same year, the same land, the same week, the same harbors . . . happening one day apart.”
“Why?” I asked.
“What would come from the journey of those three ships?”
“The discovery of America.”
“Yes,” said the teacher. “So in the midst of the calamity of 1492, when the Jewish people lost their greatest land of refuge, God was working through those same events for redemption. On the very day after the calamity, on the Tenth of Av, from the very same land and harbors, three other ships would set sail to discover the New World. America would become the greatest refuge the Jewish people would ever know outside of Israel. And so every child of God’s kingdom has this promise: He will turn every sorrow into joy and work every calamity into redemption. And even in the midst of calamity, the seeds of redemption will already be there . . . a redemption that begins on the Tenth of Av.”
The Mission: Remember the Tenth of Av times of your life, how God turned your sorrows into blessing. And know that for every Ninth of Av in your life, God will always give you a Tenth.
Psalm 126; Jeremiah 31:1–16; Joel 2:25; Revelation 7:16–17
The Ninth of Av Mystery
DAY 282
INTO THE GARDEN
IT WAS LATE afternoon. We were sitting inside one of the gardens of fruit trees.
“A question,” said the teacher. “What was God’s first act toward man after the creation?”
“To create woman?”
“Before that?”
“I don’t know.”
“It was to take him somewhere.”
“Into the garden.”
“‘The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden.’ God’s first act toward man was to bring him to a place of life, fruitfulness, and blessing. And when did God bring him into the garden?”
“On the sixth day.”
“Messiah died on the sixth day, Friday. And what happened to Him that day after the crucifixion, the work of redemption, was finished?”
“They took Him down from the cross and laid Him in the tomb.”
“But it wasn’t just any tomb,” said the teacher. “What do the Scriptures say of that place? ‘In the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden, a new tomb.’ It wasn’t just a tomb . . . It was a garden tomb . . . a tomb in a garden. On the sixth day God brought man into a garden. So on the sixth day man brought God into a garden, into a garden tomb. A garden is a place of life, but a garden tomb is a place of death. So God brought man into a place of life. But man brought God into a place of death. The Garden of Eden was a place of blessing. But the Garden Tomb was a place of sorrow. The Garden of Eden was the place of God’s creation. The Garden Tomb was the place of man’s creation. So God brought man into the place of God’s blessings. But man brought God into the place of man’s curse. Why? God allowed Himself to be brought to the place of our curse to give us the power to leave that place, that He might once more bring us to a place of life, and to a life of His blessings.”
The Mission: It is the way of the sacrifice and dying to self that leads into the garden. Choose to walk in that way and enter the blessings of the garden.
Genesis 2:15; Song of Solomon 6:2; Luke 23:43; John 19:41–42
The Sixth Day Revelation Mystery
DAY 283
THE END OF THE SCROLL
HE TOOK ME into the Chamber of Scrolls. There on the table was the scroll of the Torah rolled out to its end.
“Do you remember,” said the teacher, “what I told you about the most mysterious day of the Hebrew year, Shemini Atzeret, the Gathering of the Eighth Day?”
“The last day of the sacred year, the day after the end . . . the day that represents the beginning of eternity.”
“Yes. And do you know what is done on that day? The Torah scroll, which has been continually unrolled and read on every Sabbath of the year, comes to its end. Then begins the sacred rolling back of all that has been unrolled throughout the year . . . A fascinating thing,” said the teacher. “When you read the prophecies concerning the end of ages, you find the image of the scroll and the act of rolling it up. In Isaiah it is written, ‘The heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll.’ And in the Book of Revelation, the same imagery reappears, ‘And the sky departed as a scroll when it is rolled up.’ And then at the end of Revelation concerning the end of the present order, it is written that before eternity, ‘earth and the heaven fled away.’ Heaven and earth depart; the old creation is gone. The scroll is finished, the story is ended, and the day after the end, Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth Day, the day of forever, begins.”
The teacher paused to look down at the scroll.
“And do you know what is read at the end of the scroll before it is rolled up?”
“No.”
“The last words written on this scroll are about the journey’s end. Moses goes up the mountain to catch his first glimpse of the Promised Land, to leave his earthly existence, and to be with God. And the Israelites finish their journey through the wilderness. So Shemini Atzeret speaks of the day when our journeying through the wilderness will end, the completion of our earthly existence, and the passing away of this world. It tells us that we must always leave the old before we can enter into the new. And it reminds us that this life is not the destination, but the journey to the destination. So live your life and every moment of your life in light of that, in light of the end, in light of the day when the old will flee away, and of your first glimpse of that of which you had only dreamed . . . as the scroll is rolled up together.”
The Mission: What is it in your life that you must bring to an end in order to enter the new that God has for you? Roll up the scroll today.
Deuteronomy 34; Isaiah 34:4; Revelation 6:14; 20:11; 22
The Alpha and Omega Scroll
DAY 284
THE CHILDREN OF LEAH
WE WERE SITTING on the ridge of a hill overlooking one of the tent villages of the desert dwellers, watching the women going about their daily tasks and breaking to talk and sometimes laugh.
“Do you know who Leah was?” asked the teacher.
“I’ve heard of her,” I replied. “One of the matriarchs of Israel?”
“Yes. Leah was married to Jacob. Jacob’s true love was Rachel. But he had been tricked into marrying Leah instead. In the end, he married both. But of all the matriarchs of Israel, Leah had the unhappy distinction of being u
nloved. And she knew it. It was the deep wound she always carried, the unceasing sorrow of her life. We have no idea how many tears she cried because of it, but undoubtedly they were many. But then something happened . . . Leah became fruitful, even more fruitful than Rachel. And when Leah bore her third son, she named him Levi. From Levi came the priesthood of Israel, and from Levi was born Moses. Through Moses came the Passover, the Exodus, the Ten Commandments, the Law, the sacrifices, the holy days, and the Tabernacle . . . the priesthood, the high priests, and the Temple. Through Moses, the children of Israel would enter the Promised Land. And through Moses would begin the writing of the Word of God, the Bible.”
“Who else did Leah bear?” I asked.
“Judah,” said the teacher. “From Judah came David. And from David came the royal house of Israel, the kings and princes of God’s nation. From Judah came the kingdom of Israel and the words Jew and Jewish. And from Judah came Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah, the hope and salvation of the world . . . all this from the Leah’s womb. God chooses the children of Leah . . . even to this day.”
“And who are the children of Leah to this day?”
“Those who, through sorrows, wounds, rejection, emptiness, broken dreams, broken hearts, frustration, discontentment, pain, tears, emptiness, or simply the longing for something more than they have on earth . . . become born into the kingdom, born of God . . . and chosen for great and mighty things, the vessels through which His love and redemption come to the world . . . For God especially loves the unloved and the unlikely . . . the children of Leah.”
The Mission: Commit any sorrow, rejection, frustration, or broken dream into His hands. Believe Him to bring out of it the blessings of Leah.
Genesis 29:31–35; Isaiah 54:1, 4–8; Revelation 5:5
The Children of Leah
DAY 285
THE LAW OF CHANGE
THE TEACHER WAS standing to the side of a large circular stone, an upright wheel of sorts.
“What is it?” I asked.
“A stone in the form of a wheel,” he said. “In ancient times it could be used to seal the entrance of a tomb. Try moving it.”
So I did, but the stone didn’t budge.
“Try harder,” he said. I tried again, but still there was no movement.
“Just a little bit more.”
I pushed with all my strength. Finally, the stone began to roll just a little. “What did that show you?” asked the teacher.
“I’m out of shape?”
“You were seeking to move an object at rest. It was a new action. It required new momentum. In order to begin that momentum, you had to concentrate all your strength into moving it just a few inches. That’s physics. The universe resists new motion, change. So with an object at rest, and with new momentum, you have to concentrate the power into a smaller space in order to get things moving—the law of new momentum.”
“So that’s how to get the ball rolling,” I said. “But how does it . . . ”
“Apply to you?” he said. “The same law applies to the spiritual realm. God calls us to change. Change means new action, new motion, and new momentum. The universe resists new momentum. The universe resists change. So in order to initiate change in your life, you must concentrate as much power and energy, as much decision, thought, focus, and resolve, into the smallest of motions. The bigger the change, the greater the concentration of power needed. That’s why, when dealing with change, it is wisdom to take first one small step, but to put everything into it, and then the next step and the next. When Moses was called by God, the first thing he did was to take off his sandals—the first step, the smallest of motions—but it changed the world. The first thing the apostles had to do was to drop their fishing nets—the first step and the smallest of motions—but it would as well change the world. Apply the law of change, and the power of God to the first step, and you’ll get the ball rolling . . . and you might even end up changing the world.”
The Mission: What is the change, the new course God is calling for your life? Focus your energy into the first step and apply the law of new momentum.
Exodus 3:5; Mark 1:17–20; Mark 2:11–12
Spiritual Gear Shifting & the Secret of True Change
DAY 286
THE TISHRI REVELATION
THE TEACHER LED me into one of the smaller rooms within the Chamber of Scrolls.
“Tishri,” he said, “is the most intense of Hebrew months . . . the month that closes the sacred Hebrew year. And if the sacred Hebrew year holds the mystery of the age, then the closing month of the sacred year, Tishri, will hold the mystery to the closing of the age. And could it be that Tishri also holds the mystery to the closing of God’s Word itself?”
“The closing of the Bible? The Book of Revelation?”
“Yes, could the month of Tishri hold the mystery of Revelation?”
At that he retrieved one of the scrolls and unrolled it on the wooden stand.
The Book of Revelation,” he said, pointing to the scroll. “Tishri is the seventh month of the sacred year, seven, the number of completion. And what do we find in the Book of Revelation? It’s saturated with the number seven. And how does Tishri, the seventh month, open up?”
“With the Feast of Trumpets?”
“‘And I saw the seven angels,’ said the teacher as he read from the scroll, ‘who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.’ What do we see in the Book of Revelation? The Feast of Trumpets. And what else is Tishri? Yom Kippur, the Day of Judgment. And what do we see in Revelation? ‘The hour of His judgment has come.’ And as man and God stand face-to-face on Yom Kippur, so too in the Book of Revelation. In the month of Tishri, God is proclaimed King. So too in Revelation. And in Tishri comes the Feast of Tabernacles, the greatest of celebrations, the kingdom feast, and the time of tabernacling with God in Holy City. So Revelation closes with God’s kingdom on earth, celebration, and God tabernacling with His people in the Holy City, as it is written, ‘Behold the tabernacle of God is with men.’”
“You forgot one,” I said. “Tishri closes with Shemini Atzeret, the mystery day.”
“Yes,” said the teacher, “the day that speaks of eternity. And so Revelation closes with the same day, the day of eternity . . . ‘and they shall reign forever and ever.’ You see,” he said, “God’s purposes have only perfect endings. And so for those who let Him write their story, the ending is the same . . . perfect. Their ending . . . is heaven.”
The Mission: In the end, we will appear in the light of God with nothing hidden. Prepare for that day. Remove all darkness. Live now in total light.
Leviticus 23:23–44; Revelation 8:2; 14:7; 19:16; 20:4; 21:3; 22:5
The Lion of Tishri
DAY 287
IMAGINE
IMAGINE,” SAID THE teacher, “that there existed a world where people wore jewelry in the shape of an electric chair . . . where models of electric chairs crowned the pinnacles of sacred buildings, where people sang songs about one particular electric chair. Imagine a world where people found in this electric chair hope, mercy, love, forgiveness, restoration, redemption, and new life. What would you think?”
“I would think,” I replied, “that it was crazy.”
“Yes, but with one slight change, what I just described was this world. Just replace one instrument of capital punishment with another and you have earth.”
“Replace it with what?
“Replace the electric chair . . . with the cross. The cross is as much an instrument of execution as is the electric chair, the gallows, or the guillotine. But what makes it different from every other instrument of execution is that Messiah, the Son of God, died on it. And that changes everything. We live in a world where people wear jewelry in the shape of an instrument of capital punishment, where sacred buildings are crowned with reproductions of this instrument of death, where people sing songs about it, and where multitudes find in it love, hope, mercy, and new life. What does this reveal?”
“How radical i
t is.”
“Yes, and how radical is the power of God in Messiah. To take an instrument of execution and transform it into an object of love and mercy, in which people find hope, grace, and new life—only the Messiah, only the Son of God, could make such a thing a reality. An instrument made to bring death now brings life . . . now causes us to come alive . . . an instrument of judgment now causes us to be released from judgment . . . the most evil object of ancient times now transforms into the most powerful sign of love the world has ever seen—that’s the power of God. And so in that same object is the power to turn every darkness in your life into light, every sorrow into joy, every evil into good, every sin as white as snow, every failure into victory, and every death into resurrection. That’s the miraculous and radical power of the execution stake that has become the sign . . . of everlasting love.”
The Mission: Apply today this most radical power to turn darkness into light, defeat into victory, and death to life. Start turning things upside down.
Isaiah 52:13–15; John 3:14; 1 Corinthians 1:18–28; Ephesians 1:6–7
The Radical Love
DAY 288
THE DAYS OF ONE-ETERNITIETH
WHICH IS MORE valuable,” asked the teacher, “that which is common or that which is rare?”
“That which is rare,” I replied.
“And which is more valuable: that which is rare or that which is extremely rare?”
“That which is extremely rare,” I said.
The Book of Mysteries Page 41
