Today I was reading in Jonah and I came across something that I had never heard before. Jonah is one of the stories in the Bible that stand out to us as children. We love the excitement of a man on the run who gets swallowed by a fish. That appeals to the child’s mind, but It should also catch our eyes. God’s chosen prophet turns his back on him. We have many stories where the prophet stands strong against opposition for God like Jeremiah or Isaiah, but Jonah turns his back. Let’s look at this and see if there is something we can learn from him.

I’ve been going to Rosh Pinah, a messianic synagouge in Oklahoma City, twice a week since August. I’ve found a great community of believers there who are all very thirsty for the truth about God and his anointed one. Shabbat uplifts me every Saturday, but I have gained a great deal of knowledge and insight by attending Rabbi Micheal’s Bible study on Tuesday nights. Tonight we studied Numbers 27. In this post, I’d like to share some insight that I obtained this week.

I apologize for the temporary Hiatus. College life and my laziness were more than I originally accounted for. I’m back strong now.

Because of full time school, my time to post has been drastically truncated, but I will try to keep it rather frequent even if they aren’t as in depth.

Many today in the conservative side of Christianity have a hard time seeing the power in prayer. Many times it’s because of the rational analysis that they use when approaching reality. We don’t see God’s power, therefore it doesn’t exist. Today, I wanna take a step back and look at prayer for what it really is and what we as God’s children can get out of it.

Today concludes the Messianic Hallel series. It pleases me to say that this one is one of the more famous Psalms in connection with Yeshua in the entire book of Psalms. I think it shows us the over arching unity of God’s plan for his original people and us now. One of my problems with evaluating this psalm has been deciding what to talk about, so feel free to comment if you see more. With that said, let’s begin…

God almighty, who is Lord of all and creator of all has always had a desire for all people of every nation to come to him. He chose the Jews out of Egypt. He took them to himself as his own. He raised them up (the wildernes). He disciplined them (Babylon). He comforted them (2nd Temple), and He loves them. But God has always had us in mind. He wants the Gentiles (Nations) to come to him.

Today the study of the Hallel brings us to not necessarily messianic affirmation, but an interesting understanding of a particular story and a strengthening of our faith. With that, let’s begin.

1 I love that ADONAI heard my voice when I prayed; 2 because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. 3 The cords of death were all around me, Sh’ol’s constrictions held me fast; I was finding only distress and anguish. 4 But I called on the name of ADONAI: “Please, ADONAI! Save me!” 5 ADONAI is merciful and righteous; yes, our God is compassionate. 6 ADONAI preserves the thoughtless; when I was brought low, he saved me. 7 My soul, return to your rest! For ADONAI has been generous toward you. 8 Yes, you have rescued me from death, my eyes from tears and my feet from falling. 9 I will go on walking in the presence of ADONAI in the lands of the living. 10 I will keep on trusting even when I say, “I am utterly miserable,” 11 even when, in my panic, I declare, “Everything human is deceptive.” 12 How can I repay ADONAI for all his generous dealings with me? 13 I will raise the cup of salvation and call on the name of ADONAI. 14 I will pay my vows to ADONAI in the presence of all his people. 15 From ADONAI’s point of view, the death of those faithful to him is costly. 16 Oh, ADONAI! I am your slave; I am your slave, the son of your slave-girl; you have removed my fetters. 17 I will offer a sacrifice of thanks to you and will call on the name of ADONAI. 18 I will pay my vows to ADONAI in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courtyards of ADONAI’s house, there in your very heart, Yerushalayim. Halleluyah!

How great is it that we have a god who hears us when we cry out. When we are at the uttermost depths of our being, we aren’t alone. Surely the arm of Adonai is not too short to save, nor his ear to dull to hear. As I read this passage, a story of Messiah Yeshua immediately came into my mind.
 

: “Please, ADONAI! Save me!”

 

This struck me. I saw the words Adonai (LORD in our English Bible) save me. It immediately turned my mind to this story of Yeshua and his talmid Kefa (peter) .

22 Immediately he had the talmidim get in the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the crowds away. 23 After he had sent the crowds away, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night came on, and he was there alone. 24 But by this time, the boat was several miles from shore, battling a rough sea and a headwind. 25 Around four o’clock in the morning, he came toward them, walking on the lake! 26 When the talmidim saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said and screamed with fear. 27 But at once Yeshua spoke to them. “Courage,” he said, “it is I. Stop being afraid.” 28 Then Kefa called to him, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come!” he said. So Kefa got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Yeshua. 30 But when he saw the wind, he became afraid; and as he began to sink, he yelled, “Lord! Save me!” 31 Yeshua immediately stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “Such little trust! Why did you doubt?” 32 As they went up into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 The men in the boat fell down before him and exclaimed, “You really are God’s son!”

 
It, to me, is almost as if Kefa is calling out to Yeshua as G-d recalling the words of the Hallel that he could cry out and G-d would save him even if he sank into the depths (sheol) . This may not be a prophesy of Messiah, but it fortifies my faith and at the very least that Kefa associated his Rabbi with being Adonai in the flesh, as messiah would be.

Praise be to you Lord God king of the universe who listens to his people as they cry out. It is so great that no matter how far we are for the Lord, we can come. He will recieve us. We have a compassionate God who came and walked the blood path and died for our sins. That is more than any of us could possibly imagine. Halleluyah! The God of Abraham loves us all and will save us from the depths. Praised be He.

Lets again continue our study of God’s revealed nature in these great psalms of praise and the power they give the name of our savior Yeshua. I think if we evaluate the psalm in terms of Yeshua and his purpose for his own people as we approach the prophetic end of the summer, we can have a more intimate relationship with the text and God’s eternal plan for salvation. Let’s begin.

Today I’d like to continue our study of the Hallel in terms of Messiah Yeshua. I really think that this Psalm can speak to us when evaluated rabbinically. It intensifies the significance of his actions on the cross, brings deeper meaning Yerushalym’s destruction, and can affirm the hope of truth that we hold dear. let’s begin

Today I’d like to start the first of a six part series on the Hallel. The Hallel is a very important chant of praise to the Jewish people said in celebration of what God has done and what he will do. It encompasses Psalms 113-118. I think the conclusions we can draw when we apply rabbinic interpretation to the Hallel, and then to the New Testament (B’rit Hadashah), are amazing and affirm our faith