SEASONS - PERSONAL THOUGHTS ON FEAST PLANNING IF YOU ARE NOT JEWISH BUT WISH TO KEEP THE FEAST

Here we are just past the end of The Feast of Tabernacles 2015!  

I LOVE this feast that God commanded us to keep every year.  It is certainly a time of joy.  My family finally "gets" it and we did our first whole feast together at the beach this year!  Words cannot describe the joy, but it has just now become possible after years and years of praying for God to allow everyone's heart to open up to this truth that He gave us so long ago.  

It was never that I didn't plan and try to celebrate however people would let me work it into their schedules.  I always started planning for next year as soon as the last feast was over for the current year; but having grown kids making all of their own decisions with families of their own and being a Christian family that does not worship in a Messianic congregation, all my  planning gets complicated.   I could plan all year, but it took others wanting to join in and plan too!  That takes a heart open to God's timing that will allow itself to try something new that God has commanded.  The culture of our world is no help at all! 

I've known groups and congregations that have followed the scriptures and set aside money to plan their feast each month like a tithe.  I think that is a wonderful idea, but that hasn't been taught in my circles yet, and I'm not so sure that my family understands yet.  After spending seven days together though, I'm sure they are beginning to see that you MUST plan to get the full and complete effect, and that requires setting aside money earmarked for this celebration.  I think you have to know the joy of an old fashioned feast week before you can even begin to consider this good wisdom.  Once you have experienced that joy though, you look forward to doing it again and again.  The planning suddenly stops being a chore and becomes exciting!  

This year with God's help and a lot of prayer I actually managed to incorporate some of this planning into our lifestyle on a more regular and systematic basis.  It takes time and patience combined with prayer and a good notion of knowing when to chose your battles and when to show grace and not be legalistic.   

Because we all hail from an untrained and clueless Protestant non-denominational background, this process evolving with us had previously resulted in my husband and I having a festive family celebration at our home on the first and last day of the feast and just spending the rest of the time enjoying the week resting at home, enjoying some family activities that we don't usually incorporate into our weekday nights (movies, restaurants, a walk in the park, etc.) or carrying out any special plans and ideas that we can use simply to remember the occasion and keep the time special.  I started out by trying to incorporate such things as building a sukkah and eating inside it,  teaching the grand kids whenever the opportunity presented itself, listening to other groups celebrating together on-line and enjoying special music and prayers and meals each night, and showing some of this to the family whenever it seemed appropriate.   I would also enhance my own personal time with or without others to do more intense bible study and I would allow myself extra rest times to be alone with God.  We would do most of these things at home, but they were the same things we would find ourselves doing even if we went away for a feast.  Finally, this year my dream came true and our family spent the feast together in a vacation setting under one roof!  It was awesome!  God threw in every imaginable blessing!  And you know what?  They GET IT!!!!  

The trick that seemed to turn the key and unlock the hearts of my family was to find a special place we all could afford that would not break the bank for everyone.  Fortunately for us, our daughter married a man with a home near the beach.  I joke that God brought them together so we could all share the feast at the beach!  That one change in the family dynamics brought all the years and years of other small things together under one roof and we were celebrating the feast like old timers!

A lot of families plan a week long camping trip with their whole extended family.  I've often thought this would be fun too with our ever growing family.  We could go somewhere beautiful and secluded out of doors and enjoy the time very much.    

We all grow at a different pace.  God shows some of us sooner than others, or different than others for the time being.  So what is a Mom who desires to keep the feast with a family that hasn't a clue to do?  

A lot of my friends are faithfully trying to celebrate the feast days by joining in with the local Messianic congregations.  I think this is just great if it works for you.  These services are wonderful and very good for teaching.  I love the sincerity of most of the people wanting to carry out the truth in worship, but something keeps holding me back from this.  

One thing that bothers me after attending some of these for awhile is that I usually find these groups evolve from sincere worship to becoming too legalistic.  They start out with the glory of God then somehow end up splitting hairs and pointing the finger at each other.  Some of them seem to be trying to be Jewish instead of trying to be better Christians.  Not all of them mind you, but it does happen a lot.  Those things are not what I care to take my family into. 

Mostly, I think it is simply the fact that my spirit is troubled that the whole church, which I have defined and discerned from the scriptures to be everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as Messiah, has turned their life over to Him and has made their body a home for The Holy Spirit to dwell in, can't do any of these simple things that God requested for His people to do together. This seems to be the BIG problem.  Here I see the other side of legalism in action.  They are holding fast to the traditions of men, what they have done year after year after year instead of finding out what God originally commanded.  

Neither group fits the spirit of how I want to worship.  I'm looking for biblical accuracy with love and mercy and grace.  I know that is what God is looking for too.   I simply refuse to become a make-believe Jew, for lack of a better term.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Jewish people and would be honored to have been born a Jew, but that isn't the truth in my case.  I was born a Gentile.  I must bloom where God planted me, but in blooming, I must carry out the truth that God has shown me.  Sounds simple doesn't it?  Nothing is simple when the devil will be defeated by the results.

I AM an adopted daughter, grafted firmly into that old Olive Tree, and I don't see why all the other adopted children (the church full of gentile Christians) can't recognize and celebrate the traditions of our Father together.    After all - didn't He take us in and love us just the same as those born to Him?   The Jews are the chosen people, but through the blood of Christ which covers Christian Gentiles, we too are chosen.  We, just like the Jews are taken, blessed, broken and given to carry out God's will for us in His Kingdom.

So, I just refuse to join in with either side on principal because I feel the Christian church should act Christian, and I think the feast days were observed by Jesus and the early church AFTER they became Christians as well as before when they were simply Jewish.   

If you are going to make something right, someone must start.  I chose to start to carry these things out in my own home with my own family until the church grows up and begins to do the same.  Many, many congregations are now waking up to this.  I've watched and waited for about 30 years now to see such things come to pass.  We have a LONG way to go.  All I have to worry about is my little piece of the puzzle, God will do the rest.  I must stay in tune to The Holy Spirit and what God is saying to me.  I do not wish to argue or debate this with anyone, it is a free country - so far.

My bible tells me that the very first Christians experiences' with their old Hebraic traditions were enhanced after they became Christians; I say enhanced, not changed or done away with.  After the Resurrection, the Christians who started out Jewish and/or Hebrew had a much clearer understanding of why God had them observing certain traditions year after year after year.  Their eyes were opened to the truth.  They suddenly realized it was to teach them about Christ!  They saw the shadows of the present they were living through and they saw the hope of the future in the days that they had not yet seen fulfilled.  So why aren't we in the church teaching our own children these things?

I have Christ living in me, therefore I do not have to apologize for following the scriptures in the old testament, just as He did.  I've learned that the Old Testament makes the New Testament come alive.   The Old Testament was fulfilled - not put aside.  I was not born a Jew genetically, but by being a member of The Church (those who are indwelled by God’s Holy Spirit because they have believed in Jesus Christ as Messiah)  I have become an adopted member of the family!  I DO NOT REPLACE the original family, but I DO become a part of it.  We are two shoots of the same tree (one lives from being grafted into the other) and we are meant to compliment each other and to grow together in grace and to give glory to God The Father together.  I have as much right to celebrate the family traditions as a son who was genetically born!   Jesus died to make this possible.  I can't take that for granted. 

I refuse to walk around that and pretend it isn’t true.  I do not have to make excuses or pretend to be someone I am not because of the false reality of organized religious groups that oppose me realizing my own rights as a born again child of God.  There are so many organized religious groups that are dictating what can and cannot be noticed in the holy scriptures.  These groups remind me of the Pharisees.   I believe God will have something to say to them about that one day!  My job as a Christian is to hear the gospel, read it, study it, believe it, receive it and PRACTICE it in my life – all of it – not just the bits and pieces that are presently acceptable to the prevailing cultural movements of society.  

Hence I have evolved to celebrating God's Holy Days with those of my own household who understand my feelings about this.  The rest of the year we are fine with worshiping with any Christian congregation that believes in Holy Communion.  They all seem to get the rest of it, but it is as if a portion of their bibles were just laid aside and forgotten, even though it has been pretty widely discussed among scholars of the bible that their traditions of Christmas and Thanksgiving have their roots in these festivals and probably began with them.  It is almost like a taboo subject with most congregations.  It is only the feast days that make my life as a leader of my family beside my husband so much harder to incorporate into my year, but I am more than ever determined to do so.

I do love John D. Garr's book called "The Family Sanctuary" that teaches how our homes are the first and main sanctuary where we should be worshipping God.    Taking points from this book we have incorporated Sabbath worship in our home.   Everything else should flow from the home first with the father being the head of the home and the mother playing a vital part in teaching the ways of God to the children.  This would apply to whomever is the head of the household in a single family home.  This is a starting place for me with my beliefs being so firm about the Sabbath and about The Holy Days.  Home is a good place to start and to move forward from.  I hope and pray that one day the whole church will BE the whole church and I can go to a public place of worship and worship as I believe all year instead of simply agreeing on the basics and agreeing to disagree on the other scriptures that I can't overlook.     
So, with all of the above in mind, I always ponder the best way to celebrate the feast with my own family.  Each year I long to draw them all together for a whole week in one place and do all the traditional things that the scriptures spell out.  It is not always possible – but I keep planning every year to make it happen.  Some years some of the family is present for the beginning and some of the family is present for the end, and on a REALLY good year we all are feasting together the whole time.  Every year we practice the celebration, a little more of the reason and the heart of the matter sinks in.  I am amazed at how God shows them whatever they are ready to accept.  God's timing is always just right.  Allow it in your family and you will see things slowly fall into place.  The process itself is amazing and gives glory to God.

I truly believe that patience counts here and that you have to eat an elephant one bite at a time.  For years I have plugged away at this plan.  I've come very close to helping my whole family to understand and remember and celebrate the meanings and traditons of Passover, Purim, Pentecost, The Feast of Trumpets,  The Day of Atonement and even Hanukkah.  The whole journey has been a beautiful one full of God's blessings.  I've never regretted a time and have always felt so blessed when we have gathered together in God's name as a family to celebrate His Holy Days.    My last prayer in this journey is to help them all to understand and be able to celebrate The Feast of Tabernacles as a family and eventually with the whole world.  They know I do it.  Sometimes they join in with me on some of the traditions, but I feel it is all still vague to them.  The only way to REALLY understand Sukkot is to go to the feast and to experience it all.  We were blessed to find this come true this year!  It was an awesome answer to prayer.  Not only did we experience Sukkot, we experienced the JOY of the season and bonded as a family.  

So I keep praying about my vision for my own family.  My vision includes meeting together at a campground or a house and living in tents or under one roof together, with a community sukkah which we would build together to take our meals under.  I have ideas for my husband (as priest of our home) to teach our children and grand children all the meanings behind the traditions and I can see me telling bible stories to the little children as we all relax and just enjoy doing fun family things together.  This year for the first time the vision was set in motion.  I spent many other years praying and seeking God's guidance.  When God's time was right - it all came together and it was perfect!

So why not just rent a big house somewhere special and gather?  There is nothing wrong with that at all, and it works gloriously for most people all the time.  Still, I have a vision of camping at some point.  Why does the vision have to include tents and camping?  Good question – you could just rent a vacation cottage I guess - but that isn't what I usually think about when I think of this feast.  

Most of my thoughts go all the way back to Abraham and Sarah.  All of their lives they dwelt in tents.  Did you know that there is deep significance in the fact that they spent their whole life as tent dwellers?  At first glance it would not seem to be such a huge thing, but on second glance we see this is so very significant.  This is something I would love to point out as our family camps together one year in our future celebrations.

I will also be praying for all of you kindred spirits out there who are trying to be Christian and incorporate Hebraic thoughts into your own family worship.  My whole point in this thinking out loud article is simply to encourage you.  We must start somewhere, let's start by praying for each other to be able to bring about God's ways in our own homes over the coming year.

I honestly believe that our whole country could change for the better if each home in America began to celebrate The Feast of Tabernacles together every year.   

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 39 - A BRIEF SUMMARY OF WHAT WE HAVE SEEN SO FAR

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

In the world we live in today, one that has evil groups of people  who kill Christians simply for being Christians and are taking members of God’s family captive, there is comfort in knowing that God will not stand for this for long.  These victims willing to give their lives for God’s honor are the true and/or adopted sons of Abraham.  One way or another, they are his descendants.  God always remembers His promises.  He has promised Abraham He will destroy his enemies.  These old ancient stories we have studied confirm this over and over and serve to remind us that God’s promises are still true today.



Wouldn’t it have been better though in the story we just studied of Abram and Lot, for Lot to not have placed himself and his family in this place of danger?  Yet, we know there are still those who are doing the same today.  Some live in terrorized lands and can’t escape, but others live in evil lands and ignore what is around them even though they are free to walk away. 



I’ve come to think of Lot’s life in Sodom as being similar to many of today’s modern church congregations that seem to exist in a weakened, watered down, sold-out state.  I’ve come to think of Abram in this very interesting and ever-teaching story as being symbolic of God The Father.  It would seem that Abram’s adopted sons, being the true and righteous sons at heart, who followed him without yielding to evil and were careful to be totally loyal to him, are comparable to the saints.  I am simply summarizing what has been said before for the sake of reminder.  I feel this is important to remember in the times in which we are living.

    

The Kings of Sodom and Gomorrah represent our arch-enemy in disguise;  shepherds in sheep’s clothing that appear to be good and righteous but are actually ugly and evil within.  They are part of the picture of Satan and the antichrists that roam the earth seeking to kill, steal and destroy the holy people of God.  They come masked as famous world leaders, living in our finest cities, sitting at our highest tables, living greedy, materialistic, unloving, selfish lives, like those ancient pagan kings.     Their ways are not godly and their lives are full of evil that is cleverly hidden from the world. 



It was said that Sodom was a city that did not like travelers passing through.  They were closed off into their own ways, unwilling to let others who thought and acted different from them be a part of the lush and blessed land where they had chosen to live.  They wanted to make up their own rules and not be held to the standards of the rest of the world.  If they could keep others who did not think like them away, they would not have to be bothered with accountability.  This is why Lot originally lived outside the city.  He kept moving closer and closer as they became used to him being around, but they had to be sure he was not someone who would bring change and morality to their city before they let him live inside their gates.  Lot, even as a leader that sat in the gates, was not a threat to them.   I suspect he kept his status as a leader simply because he paid heavy taxes to The King of Sodom and the citizens became used to him and allowed it as long as he kept his mouth shut and did not preach to them. 



A lot of so called churches today have gone down this path of Lot and just let sin seep in all around them but never said a word against it because they were too busy enjoying the fruit of the land and loving the entertainment and tithes they received every week from the local congregations.   Lot just didn’t want to offend anyone.   I guess you can become so conditioned to evil that you don’t even notice it anymore.  Perhaps this was the case with Lot and his family.  They had become weak and were never willing to take a stand for what God says is holy even though they DID believe in God and claimed to follow Him.  They caved to their environment, so much so that God quit guarding them and protecting them from the destroyer.  Simply because of their environment – they were taken captive.



When you pitch your tent with sinners you often suffer their circumstances.  It doesn’t mean that God will not hear you when you cry or listen to your prayers, but if you forget to cry out, God will let you find out what usually becomes of sinners in the end.  In this case, they went into captivity.



I find it amusing that the Kings of Sodom and Gomorrah got side-tracked in battle by some slime pits.  They marred up in quicksand around the asphalt pits where they were chased.  For some reason mercy was shown to the King of Sodom and he was finally allowed to escape, perhaps not until the battle had been fought and his people had all been taken away and his city spoiled.  Can’t you just see him walking home after living in the pits for awhile to find everything gone and destroyed?  How his face must have fallen.  Then he must have heard of the miracle of Abram and his men who had shown up at the last minute and won the day.  This must have made him hopeful.  He devised a plan to go out and meet Abram. 



How appropriate that the King of Sodom met Abram in the valley.  There will be another battle in the same valley one day.   The King of Sodom will once again come to claim the souls of people that he believes belong to him.  His modern day name is Satan.  He and his armies will come to destroy those who belong to God’s Kingdom.

   

In the days of Abram, perhaps this King of Sodom came to say “Thank You.”  Perhaps he came to claim his people and the spoils of battle from his lands that Abram had rescued and restored.   There are still modern day Abram’s out there fighting for God’s people and bringing restoration into their lives.  Satan will always try to undo this, to take them back, but there is a King mightier than he.  There is a King that values people above the spoils of war.



This ancient King of Sodom needn’t have worried about the spoils, Abram had promised God not to keep one little bit of it for himself.  He did not want others to think that his wealth came from any pagan entity, because he knew it came only from The One True God of Heaven and Earth.  The King of Sodom offered the spoils to Abram to keep in exchange for the people.  How like the devil that was!  He would trade all of his material wealth to possess one soul that is supposed to belong to the Kingdom of God. 



 Abram could not be bought, and he also held to the idea that people were not for sale.  He gave back the spoils and allowed the peoples to return if they wished.  Most of them went running right back to The King of Sodom.  Isn’t that the way of the world?  There is a scripture that says dogs always return to their vomit.  God allows us choices.  He has granted us free will. 



Abram did allow his allies to have their share of the spoils.  This was no reflection on Abram’s house.  None of Abram’s wealth was gained from The King of Sodom’s spoil.  All of his treasures were gifts of The Kingdom of God.    



But what had this great God promised Abram?  He had promised to bless those who blessed him and curse those who cursed them.  This battle confirmed without a doubt that God was keeping his promises to Abram. 



After being confronted by The King of Sodom a very opposite King appeared before Abram.  His name was Melchizedek and he had come to remind Abram that God had won the battle for him.  Melchizedek blessed Abram and Abram gave Him, as The Priest of The Most High God, a tenth of the spoils.  This is the first time we hear of a tithe in the form of money instead of a sacrifice, yet in a way, blood had been shed to achieve it. 



If we reread Genesis 12:1-3 again we know exactly why Melchizedek came to meet Abram after the battle, even though as His name proclaimed, He was The King of Peace and He had not participated in this battle: 



(Genesis 12:1-3)

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.   “I will make you into a great nation,  and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

It was The LORD who had won the battle of The Nine Kings and Melchizedek, The Priest Of The Most High God, was there to make this statement known to all and to keep the promise of God; that He would bless Abram and that He would bless those who blessed him.  He came bearing bread and wine blessed of heaven.

In the next lesson we will leave all of the symbolism and return to the story, but remember the name of Melchizedek, who we are told will remain a priest forever and ever.

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 38 - WHO WILL GO WITH ABRAHAM

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

While we have been studying the biblical  Abraham (and we will continue on - I promise) who rescued Lot from King Cherdorlaomer and his allies, I have also been reading about current day battles going on in modern times in the same area of the world.  I have pondered the way both times seem so similar in nature.   I have wondered about the prophetic significance of it all for the Christian people who claim to be The Church of today’s world.  

Will we be like Abram?   

Will we go to rescue God's people in need?

As I studied modern times, I read a modern-day story about another man named  Abraham.  The words printed in the next paragraph are from some of the writings of Mat Staver.  Mr. Staver speaks of a ministry he is trying to help called RUN Ministries.  RUN Ministries is now sending people over to these war torn and terrorized lands that are living right in the midst of a horrid nightmare.  These people are voluntarily risking their lives to help our brothers and sisters in need.  Many of them have also been killed and/or tortured in the process.   They are trying to help people who have been run off their land simply because they are Christians with humanitarian relief, shelter and food.  

Many of the people they have helped are recovering from months of torture and seeing the ones they love being murdered right before their eyes.   RUN Ministries has a mission to help the helpless.  This is an excert from the borrowed story that I read:

“Abraham had been working non-stop for more than two days and was completely exhausted. But he knew that he could not rest; he had to go out one more time to look for those hiding in the Sinjar Mountain area of northern Iraq.  Earlier that day, he had gotten word that families may be still be hiding.  So he and his teammate set out in the middle of the night. Within a couple of hours, Abraham spotted a family huddled together, eyes closed and trying to hide silently to avoid terrorists or wild animals. Abraham approached them and quietly announced that he was there to help, offering food, water, and safe passage to a peaceful camp.  Their fears subsided, and then the long journey through the mountains began. Hours later, as the sun began to rise, the "Community of Hope" refugee camp appeared. Abraham had rescued another family and led them to safety.”

This modern-day family must have felt like Lot did when the ancient Abram came with his army to rescue him and bring him and his family and many others back to safety.  It is nice to know there are still people like this around.  You may help their cause if you wish.  Their website is:  www.runministries.org.

As I read this article pertaining to the horrible times we are living through and prayed and thanked God for this ministry,  I thought of how Abram and his men attacked in the middle of the night, and brought the captives home with their possessions restored.  Perhaps RUN Ministries thinks a lot like our Father Abraham.  I’m sure they are both listening to the same God.  Their actions certainly seem to state this.  They trust in God and have no fear in rescuing God’s people from terrorist.  These good people are risking their lives to help save people who have not sinned or committed no crimes other than being Christians. They are fighting a growing cancer spreading across the land.  Today this is in a far away land, tomorrow who knows?  Oh Church - Arise!

Abram’s plot was similar in many ways.  His men also voluntarily risked their lives in order to save God’s people from danger.  They too attacked the enemey in the night and brought the captives to safety.  God never forgets of forsakes his children in need.  He uses His church as hands and feet.  A church is not a building full of members, a church is a land of people full of The Holy Spirit.  Abram was not the "organized" force in this battle, yet he won because he followed a God who knew all things.  No king ruled over him and no taxes supported him.  He was simply a good and godly man using the abundance provided to him by a Mighty God.

I thought of the name RUN Ministries and I remembered that one of the Jordanian kings who won with the help of Abram was Shemeber and his name meant "gazelles" or "strong and fast."  

Please pray for these people who have been terrorized for being believers.  As you consider how Abram rescued Lot pray for the same for them.  Pray for God to provide for those who are willing to risk their lives in His name.  

As I pondered all of the above, we were going through the time of Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement).  I celebrate the Christian understanding of this day.  It is customary to read the story of Jonah at Yom Kippur.  Of course, it is because the story relates to repentance, but as I studied Jonah this time I also read an  up-to-date modern article about the city in his story called Ninevah.  It seems that ISIS has driven all Christians out of Ninevah and it has been proclaimed that communion is no longer held in that city.  I thought of Melchizedek coming to Abram after the battle was over and offering the blessings of God and bringing bread and wine.  How sad to learn that a city that Jonah preached to so long ago which had repented at one time was now desolate of the people of God and that no more communion (handed down from Melchizedek to Abram to those of God's church) was taking place in that land.   It seems that the enemy would like to wipe out the name of God in association with this old ancient city.  They have even gone so far as to blow up the burial place of Jonah in this land.  

My friends who seek God with the heart of a child, please pray for them.  History is repeating itself.  This often happens, first God will show us a physical situation and then it will be repeated so that we will understand the spiritual significance of it all.  This story says the same thing to me that it did to Jonah.  People MUST repent and turn to God.  All people.  All nations.  Can we drink this cup?

The whole earth must be restored to knowing and serving a loving and merciful God.   Ninevah and their king believed the truth of God that Jonah brought to them.  For the short span of about 100 years they turned and repented.  Can it happen again?  Pray that God's will prevails and these people will be restored.  Pray that God's people all over the world come together in repentance and turn from evil and spport their brothers and sisters who are staying true to the course set before them.  Pray that the evil be ended by a mighty God, The One True God of Heaven and Earth.  Pray that we are worthy to be left standing when it is done.  

Also pray that America, who is showing the same ugly immorality that existed in the city of Ninevah in the days of Jonah, will be led to repentance as a nation.  Do we stand like hypocrites praying for another third world country without first repenting in our homeland?  God forbid.  We must repent and turn.  This is where our hope for the future lies.  

SEASONS - REMEMBERING THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES A FEW YEARS BACK

(Writing and Photography by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Here is a little article that I wrote several years ago as we approached the first day of Sukkot/The Feast Of Tabernacles.  It was a period of time when my husband had been unemployed for quite awhile, I was cut back to 32 hours a week on my job and we were struggling quite a bit.  These thoughts give me great comfort now, as I look back and realize how God always looks after His children, no matter what their circumstances.  This temporary time taught me to learn how to better live out my life’s verse.

The time has arrived for The Feast of Tabernacles!

                  On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival of Sukkot, seven days
                                                                                      for the L-RD 
                                                                                  (Leviticus 23:34)

I LOVE Sukkot!!!!! 

It is a sweet, sweet time before the Lord that I treasure every year.  Of course, I can’t be in Jerusalem this year, and I am not a member at a Jewish congregation, but I am one of those born again, believing Christians who has come to understand the great significance of The Feast of Tabernacles, and celebrating this time before the Lord is always a big HUGE thing in my year. 

This season I’ve had to literally claw my way through the trappings of the world in order to get to God’s way of celebration.   It should be easy, not hard; but it hasn’t happened that way this year. Arriving in the proper place has not been at all easy.

I had dreamed all year of gathering the whole family together into a little mountain resort town, worshipping together every day and celebrating the joy of The Lord together all during the feast week, and just spending family time and relaxing in the evenings.  Things gradually, one by one, fell apart.  Everyone has made some other plans, money was tight, etc., etc.  Well, yes, that was my perfect plan, but alas, God has allowed a situation where I have unexpectedly had to forfeit this plan for something much simpler. 

My first prayer was one of frustration.  Nothing should stop the joy of the feast, so I just begin to passionately hold that up to God.  He answers me that I am absolutely right.  Hmmmm…..so I say but Lord; my budget will not allow a trip with the family this time.  I’ve done everything that I can, but it just isn’t happening.  

“Yes, I know” is what I hear. 

But Lord, why has it worked out this way?  And the answer is the most surprising thing, but I do hear it.

“Because I have called you to be content in all circumstances.”

I suddenly remembered the verse I long ago chose for my life verse,
Philippians 4:11-13.

The words screamed out to me:   Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
 

  I had no idea that keeping this wonderful season that I have previously kept with such ease was going to be so hard and complicated this year.  You know what?  Sometimes God REALLY calls on you to live out those life verses. 

Now, that word  “contentment” isn’t exactly what pops into my mind when I think of

celebrating a weeklong festival before the Lord.  I envision feasting, dancing, singing in crowds of joyful people with great fanfare!  So finally I gather my courage and  I ask The Lord what He has planned for me this week, knowing that asking Him was the very first thing I should have considered all along.  He says back to me those hard to digest words I often hear:

“I will show you.  Trust me.”
I am sure it is wrong to complain, but those words didn’t give me much direction. 

Next thing I know, my work calls to tell me they have a great need for me to be in the office on Monday and they want me to postpone my vacation time I’ve set aside at least one day, maybe more.  I had been trying to regroup and at least make a not so extravagant plan for something special to do at home with the family during this feast, but now I can’t even get the first day off from work, and will possibly even have more time than that tied up at work.  

The Ox is in the ditch. 

Some people would say it is a sin for me to work, and I should just take the time off 

anyway.   I had to confess to these zealots that I was in a bondage that I had created for myself – I had a mortgage and needed to keep my job in order to pay my bills.  We were going through tough financial times out there in the business world.  If you were employed you were one of the blessed, and you should not take that for granted in today’s economy.  My heart was already hurting for those that I worked with that had recently been let go for no fault of their own.  I did have to remember that  God said we should be responsible stewards.  I needed to  keep my word and pay my bills.  I needed my job, although at the time I  actually did have on my mind that maybe I no longer needed a mortgage, but God would have to led me through that decision and process over time.  I couldn't change anything overnight.   This was something out of my control.  I stood in the midst  of making tough decisions, of turning one way and then the other until I finally just ended up saying:

 “Okay, Lord, I trust You.” 

I’m was looking out my bedroom window, feeling sorry for myself, thinking sadly that I had not even built a sukkah!. I felt like a failure before God actually, because of not living up to my own testimony about keeping God’s feasts and festivals.  I knew in my heart He wanted us to keep them!   Then, almost as if someone was standing behind me and tapping ne on the shoulder, God reminds me that my back deck is a three sided structure that you can see the stars through.

Hmmm……………

He has provided what I was not prepared for.  I think of this simple little miracle and my heart becomes happier.  I go about planning an outdoor dinner on the deck for tonight.   We may not be starting the feast in a fancy place, but our home is a good place.  The view from our deck will be great! l  There will be lots of stars shining through the shelter.  This is good.

I consider the food.  My planning has been bad.  My budget has been so tight that the menu will probably need to be very limited.  I look in my pantry and find some great selections that I had overlooked.  God always provides what you need.  I had the physical things all along without even knowing it, now I just had to bring my mind and my spirit to the right place.  That was the thing that was most needed.  I confessed my sins of worry and anxiety to God.  I felt His forgiveness flood over me.  I thanked God for his awesome provision, and asked Him to keep my eyes wide open to all the daily blessings He brings from now on.  I had everything that we needed right here under our own roof to offer a joyful feast of thanksgiving to God on the first night of the festival. 

I thought of the people of God throughout history who had to celebrate their feast days under truly hard circumstances.  There were those who celebrated under  the rule of captivity.  I thought of those Jewish heroes that had to celebrate their feast days in concentration camps.  I remembered Corrie Ten Boom and her messages of how she found hope when there was no hope.  I thought of Joseph worshipping God in the pagan life he was forced to live in Egypt.  I began to see that my problems were all in my head. 
I resolved that after work tomorrow, I can do the same again.  We could have our feast on our provided sukkah on the deck and look at the stars and thank The God of Heaven and Earth every night during this week. 

Suddenly I felt very rested and not at all stressed.    

Maybe I was just anxious for nothing? 

I apologized to God for being so stressed over the details.  I am usually such a “Mary,” always worshipping at The Master’s feel; but this week I have been caught acting and behaving just like a “Martha” getting all bogged down in the details and the work and so much so that I almost missed the whole point of setting aside the time to listen, worship, rest and just be thankful and joyful in  the Lord. 

I  have been reminded this week that God simply wants me to sit at His feet and worship.  It doesn’t have to be elaborate, it can be as simple as a dinner on my back deck with my husband.  We will feast with the things that He has provided and offer thanksgiving prayers, ever grateful that we have food and shelter for this day, for this moment and for this season. 

It is enough to bask in God’s presence right where we are, right in the moment that we are living in, in the temples of our temporary bodies that He has given us and with our spirits that will never be destroyed or pass away. 

When the stars come out in the night sky, we will look up to see God’s story written in them. 

Is it not a great miracle? 

Is it not a wonderful thing just to sit after a full meal and look up at the night sky and be ever thankful that God is in control and we are not?  

The God who thinks way beyond anything that I could ever imagine reminded me that we own a telescope that is not even being used.  I had not thought of it in years.  I hasten to go out to the storage area and clean it up and place it next to our table on the deck.  Yes, we have everything that we need, and even more!

Happy Feast of Tabernacles Everyone! 

May you be able to see God’s blessing unfold before you as you worship and sit at His feet this week.

I pray that the world will not be able to keep you from all the good that God has blessed you with.

May we all live in eager anticipation for the time when Messiah returns to set up His Kingdom and rule and reign, for a thousand years of peace.

He will graciously provide everything that we need, and it could just be that  the simple things are actually the richest things after all.

COME AS A CHLD - LESSON 37 - LOOKING BACK AFTER THE BATTLE IS OVER

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

We have spoken previously about the fact that Abram went to war against a confederation of kings.

He won the war (against all odds) and brought his nephew, Lot, as well as all of the other captives back home to their land in The Jordanian Valley along with their possessions that had been taken as spoil.  

The king that had been defeated and  lost his city, the King of Sodom, came out to greet Abram after the battle.  Possibly he came out to thank him; even though he was publicly thanking Abram, it is also very possible he was just there to have the people and goods of his lands returned to him.  He was a selfish rotten king and somehow he had managed to escape the slime pits where he had been driven and Abram had successfully brought the people of his city out of captivity and recovered all of his goods while he was fighting his way through the quicksand and slime of the asphalt pits.  Some of his men who had escaped had informed him and he goes out to The Valley of The Kings to meet Abram who has rescued the people.  

All of this rescue had happened simply because Lot, Abram’s nephew, was

among the people of Sodom taken into captivity.  There was really nothing about Sodom or it’s people that Abram thought worth saving.  He had simply come after his family, and as he did the other people involved benefited from his actions.  This is so often the case.  A whole community will be blessed and receive goodness if even only one godly person lives among them.

 

We can look at this whole scenario and see typology of The Last Days and End times and The Battle of Armageddon and the end of the kingdoms of this world and the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ. 

Abram was living peacefully and happily in a world where he had established a godly kingdom.  Most all of those he loved were safe and well cared for, except for Lot who had struck out on his own because He had to do things his own way.  In this story, Abram is much like Christ before the incarnation.  Christ was living a blessed life in heaven before he looked down and saw the state of mankind and had pity on them
 and quickly came to their rescue.

 The three allies of Abram who helped him in battle, Eschol, Aner and Mamre are comparable to archangels who  come and go on the earth and inform God in heaven of the things of the earth.  Perhaps  Mamre had become  Abram’s closest friend in a foreign land.  It was one of these three men who came to Abram with the news of Lot’s captivity.  This person was a messenger, and would be comparable to Gabriel in many ways.  The way they were mighty in battle could be comparable to Michael.  Their complete loyalty to Abram is like the loyalty of the angels of Heaven toward God. 

 

The King of Sodom is so typical of Satan.  How many lives had he wrecked with his evil ways in the City of Sodom?  How many souls had sold out to his immorality and lack of compassion and respect for God, holiness and the sacredness of life?  He was a nothing of a man who had narrowly escaped death in a slime pit while his people had been carried off captive and lost everything because of his selfish ways of feeding his own hedonistic desires instead of tending to the job of being king to a large city.

 

Lot in this story is comparable to the weak and fallen church.  Christ loved them unconditionally, just as Abram loved Lot.  He came to save them, to bring them out of captivity and to give them back what the evil one had taken from them.  Abram did this for Lot.

 

The city of Sodom and the area where Lot was living is comparable to an end-times earth that has lost all sense of godliness.  There is nothing worth saving about it, but Christ comes for the people, just as Abram came for Lot.  He is returning for us one day!  Look up!

When you think of all the people benefiting from their association with Lot you have to consider the story of Israel.  All the world has been saved because God has loved His people, Israel.  Because He has always rescued them, we too, the whole people of the earth that have evolved from the seed of Abraham have been blessed and saved.  The Son of God who walked the earth and saved us by giving His precious life and blood, came to live with us from them.  A whole world full of sinners benefited from the righteousness of one man.
  

Genesis 14 told the story many years ago, way before anything had taken place in history.

 

We all just never looked deep enough to see it.

 

There is SO MUCH to be gleaned from these scriptures!

      

Again we see the hospitality of Abram at work in the way he conducted his business.  He did not have to rescue everyone; he could have only taken Lot and his family, but Abram was gracious and kind to all.  He rescued the whole community of captives and brought them to safety, even though he did not agree with their lives and their lifestyles.  These men would never have come for Abram.  He did not take that into consideration.  Abram lived out the meaning of grace in his rescue of Lot.

 

We are told by some that the neighborhood of Sodom was just the opposite of gracious and kind and hospitable.  They did not like outsiders.  They were a closed city and did not want to be bothered by people traveling and passing through.  They had developed a world unto themselves and did not want interference from the outside.  Lot was an exception because he had come into the city gradually, first living outside the area but close, then moving closer, then living next to the gates then finally residing inside the city itself.  By the time Lot moved inside the city he was not considered a stranger or a traveler passing through.  Those living in the city had become accustomed to having him around and considered him to be one of them, even though Lot perceived himself as being different from them.  His association with them made him appear to be one of them to someone passing through.  Lot had probably paid heavy taxes to the King of Sodom in order to live in the area.  The closer you get to evil the worse things become over time.

Abram in his love for all mankind rescued them all, including Lot.  The King of Sodom came out to speak to him after the war.  He told Abram to keep the spoils and simply return his people.  Perhaps that was his way of buying his kingdom back from Abram.  Abram was not one who considered people for sale or trade.  Like Our Heavenly Father he believed in free will.  He had made a vow to God not to take one penny from this evil king.  God had been generous and allowed Abram to rescue Lot.  Abram honored his promise by not taking the King of Sodom’s money or treasures or the spoils of the war, but returning all of them, except for what his allies had taken.

Christ came into this world, rescued us by giving his life for us and left this world taking nothing.  He would not let us be bought by the enemy of our souls.  If your soul belongs to the devil, it is because YOU chose to let it, not because Christ has not tried to save you.  God gives us all free will.  Abram let the other captives chose either to stay in another place or go back with The King of Sodom.  Unfortunately, most all of them traded their souls for the lush lifestyle in the land of Sodom.  It is said that once you taste certain evils it is hard to walk away from them.  God is always there trying to help us with this, just as Abram was there for Lot, but we must make the choice. 

We have mentioned them before, but while we are looking at so many details, think a little further about the three allies.  Who were these allies of Abram that had ridden into battle so boldly with Abram and his 318 adopted sons?  Their names were Mamre, Eschol and Aner.    Mamre was from the land where Abram had pitched his tents near the old, old tree.  He was an Ammorite who had become friends with Abram.  He knew about  Abram’s belief in The One True God and respected and admired this.  Eschol and Aner were his brothers.  Eschol lived near Hebron and he most likely grew grapes.  His name in Hebrew means “cluster.”  Later the area where he lived was named for him. Aner’s name in Hebrew means “a young man.”  All three of these allies lived in the land where Abram had settled, the land that God has promised would be his as far as his eye could see in all directions.   These three were not opposed to Abram being in the land and felt blessed by his presence.  Again, I think of the angels.  I also think of those words of Christ in Luke 9:50 where Christ tells the disciples "whoever is not against us is for us."  He states that who ever helps one of His will not lose their reward.  I am happy for Abram's helpers whom I know God will reward for their kindness towards His people.  There are many such people walking the earth today.  God will not forget them when he makes up His jewels.   

 

The 318 adopted sons are surely the saints that have gone before us when we consider the prophetic meanings of this story.  They will be resurrected and we who belong to Christ will join in with them as Christ fights for us in end times.  They are the one’s who are faithful and true, loyal to the things that Abram has taught them from his own house.  Though adopted, they are loved and sit at his table with honor and respect and reward and can also be compared to the Gentiles who know Christ today.

    

We come to the most awesome part of the story:  Then another King appeared.  This King had not fought in the battle, for He was known as The King of Peace. 

His name was Melchizedek.  He was the King of Salem, better known as Jerusalem.  He came bearing bread and wine for he was also a priest of God Most High.  Wonder of all wonders - He blessed Abram!

This was the blessing he proclaimed:

“Blessed be Abram of God Most High possessor of heaven and earth.   And blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” 

It is in Melchizedek that we see the pre-incarnate Christ.  There in the Valley of The Kings, Abram had paid tribute to no king, but to Melchizedek whom he gladly gave one tenth of his goods.  Many people think in error that Abram paid him a tenth of the spoils.  Scholars studying these passages tend to disagree.  We heard earlier that Abram did NOT take of the spoils of the battle but returned them to the King of Sodom.  How do you give a tenth from something that you did not have to start with?

 

No, many believe that Abram had been taught by this priest from God Most High, Melchizedek, how to tithe correctly.  You do not give the spoil, you give of your best.  We have heard this over and over now, all the way back to Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel.  Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe from the best of his best, of what he had already possessed even before the battle and that of which he had received because he had been blessed from God.  He kept nothing from the battle and gained nothing from the battle.

Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine from Heaven and sat at the table with Abram.  He confirmed and repeated the promise of God to Abram and Abram realized that in this battle God was saying to him, "I always keep My promises."  This is what will happen with Christ and the people who belong to Him when life's battles are over and the victory has been won and we sit with Him as the honored guests at his table in The Marriage Supper of The Lamb.   

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this is the beautiful ending to the story.  

No; for every ending is just a new beginning in disguise.  From the blessed end of the Battle of The Nine Kings comes a Kingdom that will never end.  It is a Kingdom where the Most High King who was once a prophet and priest will reign forever.  A million new stories will be written about this kingdom and they will never, ever end.