The beautiful book of Deuteronomy, and the Torah, come to an end this week on a rather depressing note. But we know the rest of the story—what Moses and Joshua died not knowing. We admire their courage and faithfulness to God. We can also rejoice that the children of Israel are back in their homeland today and will realize all of God’s promises to their forefathers. So we rejoice over the Torah and the revelation of God and His ways found in it. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom...

The Feast of Tabernacles is the one feast in which the children of Israel were commanded to rejoice for a whole week! It is also the feast that is prophesied to be celebrated by all the nations during the Messianic era. There is much symbolism found in the activities during the Feast of Tabernacles and is full of reasons for celebration. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week! https://www.youtube.com/c/OutofZion/?sub_confirmation=1 Text “Zion” to 72572 to sign up for text...

Yom Kippur is translated the “Day of Covering” but was also known as the Day of Judgment, because it was the day on which the High Priest stood before the Lord on behalf of the nation of Israel and made a sacrifice for the atonement of their sins. The New Testament uses this powerful concept to describe Jesus’ role and sacrificial death that did not just “cover” sin for another year but removed it for all eternity. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week!...

This week the Jewish people will celebrate Yom Teruah—the day of the blowing of trumpets. The description of this day is a little vague, but deep meaning is found in the use of trumpets for calling the people to attention and announcing the start of something. Traditionally, this day begins a 10-day period of repentance leading up to Yom Kippur. But it hints at the day described in 1 Thessalonians when Christ appears at the sound of a trumpet. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing...

The Jewish people have returned to their ancient homeland and are working hard to uncover hidden artifacts from the biblical time period. I will share about one exciting find that confirms a story we just read in Deuteronomy. The Bible itself is full of hidden gems of wisdom, and if we just care enough to spend time in its pages and dig a little deeper, we will be blessed. Moses told the people that the secret things belonged to the Lord, but what He has revealed is to be cherished and passed...

God certainly promised tremendous blessings to be upon His people when they walked in obedience to Him. He also promised great hardship if they were to enter into this agreement with Him and then renege on it by disobeying its terms. This was the privilege and price of being His treasured people. But at the end of the day, it was their choice: blessing or curse.  🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week! https://www.youtube.com/c/OutofZion/?sub_confirmation=1 Text “Zion”...

The commandments God gave to the children of Israel were not just about how to worship Him but how to live life—how to engage with the people and world around them. The laws covered religious and civil life, agriculture, business, family relationships—and on and on. As a result, Judaism believes obedience to these laws helps to make the world a better place. .  🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week! https://www.youtube.com/c/OutofZion/?sub_confirmation=1 Text “Zion” to...

The book of Deuteronomy reads like an ancient suzerain treaty between a king and his subjects, and most of it is a listing of the stipulations of the agreement—God’s commandments. Included was the establishment of a judicial system to help ensure justice for His people. It also included restitution because God knew His children would not be perfectly obedient—but He did require their love and allegiance.  🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each...

Throughout Deuteronomy Moses continues to command the children of Israel to obey the terms of their covenant with God, and in return, they would be blessed. The choice is theirs’s whether to live such a way as to enjoy blessing or to live under a curse. But their obedience was not about simple legalistic ritual—it was about clinging to their God with a heart of love.  🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week! https://www.youtube.com/c/OutofZion/?sub_confirmation=1 Text...

The children of Israel had a special calling and relationship with God—not because they were any more special than other people but because of God’s promises to their forefathers. They had been chosen long before, and their forefathers had entered a covenant with God. If they would live in obedience to the commandments—the terms of their covenant—they would be blessed. You and I can walk in those same blessings through Jesus because God is the same—He never changes, and He rewards those who...

Moses is preparing a new generation of Israelites to enter their promised land, and he emphasizes to them the importance of the commandments they have received from God—they are wisdom and the key to a long life enjoying the promises of God. His children should honor and cherish His words, and their obedience to those commandments should be an expression of their love for Him. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week! https://www.youtube.com/c/OutofZion/?sub_confirmation=1 ...

Some people skip over the book of Deuteronomy thinking it is just repetition of the law. What a mistake that is! One Bible scholar says it is the most important book in the Old Testament and the key to understanding the entire Bible. It is made up of the parting words of Moses to a new generation of Israelites in which he describes their covenant with God. It is a covenant between them and a loving God, and their obedience to its terms should be born out of a heart of love for Him. 🔔...

The book of Numbers comes to an end this week with a reminder of what the whole story is all about. God had promised to give the children of Israel a certain land instructed them how to live on that land, all so He could dwell with them there. Their holy and pure God wanted to live amid His people. He still desires this today, and we can learn important lessons from this story for our own life. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week!...

This week we read two significant stories—both illustrating qualifications for godly leadership. God promised Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas, an everlasting priesthood due to his zeal for God and commitment to righteousness—a necessary requirement for the high priest. And Joshua was chosen to succeed Moses because of the Holy Spirit that was in him. That was necessary because it would be through the Spirit that God would guide and direct the next generation to take possession of their promised...

God uses an unusual character to confirm the calling on the children of Israel to be a people set apart from the world until the day they birth the reign of the Davidic Messiah on Earth. In the meantime, you and I are called to bless them. These foundational elements of the Abrahamic covenant are repeated in this week’s Torah portion, when God not only makes a donkey speak but a Moabite diviner proclaim words of truth. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each...

Being upbeat and positive is more than just a matter of personality—it is an expression of faith, of acceptance of the will of God, knowing there is always a bright side of His will if we wait for it. In contrast, negativity and complaining can be expressions of unbelief and even rebellion against God. We must be mindful of our words and realize that it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. Our words expose what is in our hearts. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom...

The children of Israel had been made ready to enter their promised land and take possession of it. But something went terribly wrong. They went in to take a quick look around and returned in unbelief. They were afraid of the people in the land! God saw their unbelief as a rejection of Him. As a result they would not enter the promised land. Only Joshua and Caleb—men of faith—would realize God’s promises.  🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week!...

Moses had a special role and relationship with God. God spoke with him face to face and in plain language. He even gave Moses a glimpse of His image on Mount Sinai. It is no coincidence that Numbers 12:3 tells us Moses was the humblest man on the face of the earth. Perhaps this is the secret to Moses’ unique role. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week! https://www.youtube.com/c/OutofZion/?sub_confirmation=1 Text “Zion” to 72572 to sign up for text alerts.  Show Links:...

We serve a God who loves to bless His people. The Bible is full of examples of this going all the way back to Abraham. God so wanted His people blessed that he instructed the High Priest Aaron how to pronounce blessing over them. Known as the Aaronic or Priestly Blessing, these verses are some of the most popular in the Hebrew Bible. They are also the oldest-known biblical text found in Israel, attesting to their popularity throughout time. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing...

The Feast of Weeks (Shavuot in Hebrew) occurs exactly 50 days after the first Sabbath after Passover and is largely associated with the wheat harvest. However, there is a strong rabbinic tradition that this holiday also commemorates the giving of the law which occurred 50 days after the exodus from Egypt.  Why did the Lord choose this day to pour out the Holy Spirit in Acts 2? Listen in for the exciting answers. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week!...

This week we begin the book of Numbers—named after two different numberings of the children of Israel contained in its pages. While God is numbering and preparing His children to take possession of their promised land, He also positions them for access to His presence. Each tribe is positioned an equal distance from the tabernacle—except for one tribe. The Levites are numbered and consecrated for service in the tabernacle. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week!...

The book of Leviticus comes to an end this week with one of the most amazing passages in the entire Bible. It explains the last 2,000 years of history and the miraculous return of the Jewish people to their ancient land that was promised to Abraham. It proves the faithfulness of the God of Israel to remember the covenant with Abraham and the Land promise in that covenant. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week! https://www.youtube.com/c/OutofZion/?sub_confirmation=1 Text...

God has a calendar, and it is full of appointed times to meet with Him and remember events of the past, while thanking Him for the present and anticipating the fulfillment of all His promises in the future. These appointed times—called “feasts”—are rich in meaning and are as valid today as they were the day He instructed the children of Israel to observe them. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week! https://www.youtube.com/c/OutofZion/?sub_confirmation=1 Text “Zion” to...

If we don’t understand Leviticus and this week’s reading about the Day of Atonement and the sanctity of blood, we will never understand what Jesus came to do and what He accomplished through His death. The need for atonement is everlasting, but we can be thankful that Jesus paid the price with His blood—once and for all time. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week! https://www.youtube.com/c/OutofZion/?sub_confirmation=1 Text “Zion” to 72572 to sign up for text alerts.  ...

Little boys love to terrorize little girls with things most girls find disgusting like bugs, snakes, mice, and … Well, this week you may feel squeamish reading God’s rules regarding several very disgusting things! But the point is to define those things that made His people unclean. Then we learn how they were to remedy it so they could freely enter His holy presence. 🔔 Subscribe to receive a Shabbat Shalom blessing each week! https://www.youtube.com/c/OutofZion/?sub_confirmation=1 Torah...