Shavuot: Giving back to God the First-Fruits of the Covenant
Shalom everyone, Most of the laws of biblical Shavuot – that is, the Festival of First-Fruits – only really apply to produce grown or animals raised in the Holy Land. This may be why, as a festival, it has fallen from relevance for those of us who do not live in the...
Hearty Foods at Shavuot
Shalom my sisters and brothers, For those of us preparing to celebrate biblical Shavuot on Sunday, I just wanted to say a little about food – Jewish festivals inevitably have some food connection, because they are a celebration of the bounty that Adonai provides for...
Commentary on SY 27: Blessed those who see and hear
The twenty-seventh passage of the Sefer Yeshua is based on Mt 13:16-17 and Lk 10:23-24. The likeliest source is the Q-Gospel. 27. 1A poor man came to Yeshua and spoke to him of his new understanding of the kingdom of God. 2And Yeshua...
Commentary on SY 26: The Parable of the Sower
The twenty-sixth passage of the Sefer Yeshua is based on Mk 4:3-9, Mt 13:3-9, Lk 8:5-8, and Thomas 9:1-5. Mark and Thomas have similar versions, and Mt and Lk seemed to be based on Mark. Luke’s is the shortest. It is possible that the parable was a well-known and...
Converts and Shavuot
Following on from the central focus of biblical Shavuot as celebrating the Covenant, one of the sub-themes of Shavuot is the acceptance of converts into God’s Covenant with Israel. For this reason, the Book of Ruth is traditionally read at Shavuot. It is a short book,...
Shavuot in the time of Yeshua: the Jewish version of Thanksgiving
Shalom everyone, Shavuot is only a minor religious festival today, but in the original Israelite faith, it was a major, lavish and most moving festival. It was one of the three pilgrim-festivals that we swore to observe as Jews, as part of our Covenant-agreement with...
What does Shavuot celebrate? Not the Giving of the Torah!
THE BIBLE GIVES US THE PRECISE DATE WHEN TORAH WAS GIVEN TO ISRAEL! Are you interested in learning the EXACT date when Torah was really given to Israel – the precise day and month, according to the Bible? I can tell you with 100% confidence, it wasn’t at Shavuot! For...
Some thoughts on demon possession and exorcisms
Shalom everyone, This article is as a result of answering the questions of several enquirers who asked about the topics of demons, evil spirits, ghosts, possessions and exorcisms. The reason why there might be some disjuncture between parts of the overall article, is...
Commentary on SY 25: The Parable of the Leaven in the Flour
The twenty-fifth passage of the Sefer Yeshua is based on Mt 13:33, Lk 13:21, and Thomas 96:1-2a. It doesn’t appear in Mark, so it is probably from the Q-Gospel. The initial question in the passage is based on Lk 17:20a (“How will the Kingdom come?”). 25. 1Yeshuas...
Commentary on SY 24: The Parable of the Mustard Seed
The twenty-fourth passage of the Sefer Yeshua is based Mk 4:30-32, Mt 13:31-32, Lk 13.18-19, and Thomas 20:2-4. The words of the sectary (a reconstruction, giving Yeshua’s saying some cultural context), is from Ezek 17:22-23; see also Ps 104:12, Ezek 31:6, and Dan...