“It began at sundown with the start of the Last Supper.”
“And what was the Last Supper?” he asked. “It was the Feast of Bread, Unleavened Bread. ‘You shall eat bread.’ So as the night of Adam began, Messiah ate bread. And He ate the bread in the face of death. When He lifted up the bread at the Last Supper, He did so to join it to His death. As in the curse of Adam, the bread was joined to death.”
“And after the meal, they went out to Gethsemane. Was there anything there linked to Adam?”
“It was in Gethsemane that Messiah toiled in prayer and sweated what appeared to be drops of blood falling to the ground. Toil, sweat, and ground, all three appear in the curse of Adam. And where did that curse begin? In a garden. And where was Messiah on the night of Adam? In Gethsemane. And what is Gethsemane? A garden. And what happened to Adam because of the fall? He was removed from the garden.”
“To the place outside the garden,” I said. “The place of the curse, and ultimately to his death. So too on that night Messiah was removed from a garden . . . and taken to the place where the curse of Adam would fall upon Him . . . where He would be judged, cursed, and taken to His death. And it began on the night of Adam.”
“Yes,” said the teacher, “so that the children of Adam could be redeemed from the toil of their lives . . . and leave the curse . . . and come back to the blessing in the presence of God.”
The Mission: Messiah took upon Himself the curse of man. By the power of His redemption, live now against and beyond all curses, and in the blessing.
Genesis 3:19; Luke 22:19, 39–46; 1 Corinthians 15:21–22
Lord of Eden
DAY 188
THE POWER TO CAST A FOREST
IHAD TO WALK a bit to see what he wanted to show me. It was a forest, not far from the city, man-made and carefully tended. As we walked through the forest he began to share.
“A question,” said the teacher. “Could you uproot this entire forest and then throw all the trees at once into the distance?”
“Of course not,” I replied.
“But what if you could?”
“But it’s impossible.”
“No,” said the teacher. “It is possible, but you need to learn the secret. It’s all a matter of timing. If you tried to uproot this particular forest and throw it, in its present condition, it would, of course, be impossible. But if you tried at an earlier stage . . . ”
“What earlier stage?”
“The seed stage,” he said. “If I gave you a bag of seeds, seeds which, if given root, would grow into this forest, and told you to throw the bag, you’d be able to do it. You would, in effect, be throwing an entire forest, the same forest, just at a different stage. But if you let the seeds become the forest, then you could never do it. It would take heavy earth-moving machines, countless days of hard labor to clear even a small portion of it. Or you could toss the bag of seeds. Thus, by doing so, you possess the equivalent power of all those earth-moving machines combined, and more. You would be, in effect, stronger than Samson. It would be as if you were living with superpowers.”
“Assuming I’m not going to move a forest,” I said, “how do I apply this secret, this power, to my life?”
“In every way,” he said. “The way to deal with sin, every temptation, every evil thought, anger, gossip, lust, worry, bitterness, anything, is not to deal with it after you’ve let it take root and grow to become a tree or a forest. The more you allow the seed to take root, the harder it becomes to remove it, and the more energy, time, and effort it takes to get rid of it. But rather deal with these things when they’re only seeds, the moment they rear their heads. Practice this secret and you’ll save yourself countless heartaches, problems, and hours. And you’ll live with the equivalent of superpowers . . . the power of one who is able to throw a forest.”
The Mission: Today, practice dealing with every sin and temptation in its seed form and moment. Throw it out, and be glad. You just cast a forest!
Deuteronomy 29:18; Hebrews 12:14–15; James 1:14–15
The Sledgehammer Principle
DAY 189
THE COSMIC DICE
WE WERE SITTING in the circle of stones around the campfire, but there was no fire as it was midday. The teacher was holding a clay jar. He began to shake it, then thrust it downward to release onto the ground its contents, what appeared to be small white stones.
“One of the most famous physicists in the world asserted that God does not play dice with the universe. What do you think he meant?”
“That what happens in the world doesn’t happen by chance?”
“Yes, and the question is bigger than physics. It’s something that most people ponder at least once in their lives: Do things in life just happen to happen, as if by chance, by the random rolling of the dice? Or is there a reason, a plan, and a destiny? Does God play dice with the universe?”
“And what’s the answer?”
“Do you see the white stones? These are the lots. In ancient times they were cast to make decisions, the ancient equivalent of the rolling of the dice. The Book of Esther focuses on this very thing, the casting of the lots. It’s what Haman used to determine the day he would destroy the Jewish people. The lots were called the purim. It is from that act and this word that comes the Jewish holiday of Purim. It could be called The Feast of Dice. It’s the dice or lots that sum up everything else that happens in that book. Evil reigns. And everything seems out of control, random, without purpose, the casting of lots, the roll of the dice. But by the end of the story, every out-of-control event, every evil, is turned around to accomplish the purposes of God and the salvation of His people. Every random event is turned to redemption. The very fact that there exists a holy day called Purim, Lots, Dice, is itself a revelation and the answer to the mystery. They both exist. As long as free will exists and evil exists, there will exist in the world the principle of randomness, that which seems to be without purpose or meaning, the rolling of the dice. Yet above and beyond the dice is the will and hand of God. And in the end, that hand causes every lot and die, every out-of-control detail, to fall into His will. And so it is written, ‘God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him . . . ’ So the dice may roll, and the lots will fall, but in the end, He will cause it to roll into the good, and to fall into the purposes of God, into destiny, into redemption . . . into the celebration of the purim.”
The Mission: Ponder those events of your life over which you’ve never had peace. Be at peace and give thanks that He will work all these things for your good.
Esther 9:26–28; Romans 8:28
The Purim
DAY 190
NIGLATAH: THE BARING
IHAD ASKED THE teacher to show me more of Isaiah’s prophecy of the suffering Messiah. So he took me back into the Chamber of Scrolls and over to the scroll that he began to read: “‘Who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’”
“I remember the verse,” I said. “You shared it with me when you spoke of God’s arm.”
“Good,” said the teacher. “Then you remember that the arm of God is the power by which He accomplishes His purposes . . . by which He created the universe, by which He delivered His people from Egypt, and by which He will bring salvation to the world. But now I want to show you something that’s hidden in the translation and that can only be seen in the original language. It’s in that question: ‘to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’”
“What’s the answer?”
“The arm of the Lord is revealed to those open to seeing it . . . even right here.”
“What do you mean ‘right here’?”
“The arm of the Lord is being revealed in this very question. It’s in the word revealed. Revealed is a translation of the Hebrew word niglatah. But niglatah means much more than revealed. Niglatah means to be taken captive. So the arm of the Lord, the power of God, will be taken captive.”
“The Messiah was taken in
to captivity, arrested. He became a prisoner.”
“And niglatah also means put to shame, disgraced. So the arm of the Lord will be put to shame and disgraced.”
“So Messiah was put to shame, mocked, degraded, and condemned as a blasphemer.”
“And niglatah also means stripped naked, exposed, and laid bare. So the arm of the Lord will be stripped naked and exposed.”
“So Messiah was stripped of His garments and exposed, naked on the cross.”
“It is the most famous image in this world of one who has been taken captive, laid bare, disgraced, put to shame, and stripped naked. It is the arm of the Lord revealed, the power of the Almighty. But how could the strongest power in existence be revealed in the death of a naked man on a cross? That is the revelation of the arm of God . . . the strongest force in the universe . . . the power of the Almighty . . . the power of love.”
The Mission: Today, fight your battles, overcome, and win your victories—not by your strength, but by God’s naked arm, the power of His love.
Isaiah 53:1; John 19:23–24; 1 John 3:16
The Isaiah 53 Witness I–11
DAY 191
SEEING THE COLORS OF HEAVEN
IT WAS A sunny afternoon. The teacher led me into one of the school’s most beautiful of gardens, a garden filled with flowers of all varieties and colors. Then he handed me a piece of colored glass.
“Now look at the garden through the glass. How many colors do you see?”
“Just one,” I replied. “Everything’s red.”
“Yes. The glass filtered out every ray of light except for the red. Even though the garden is filled with colors, all you can see through the glass is the red. The world, like this garden, is a mix of colors. What God created is good. But the creation is fallen and is now a mix of good and evil. It will be your glass that will determine what you see and what you receive of the world . . . The things you take for granted will become the filter of your glass. If you live expecting and requiring of this world heaven and perfection, if you live as one who deserves to be blessed, and thus taking the blessings for granted, you’ll become blinded from seeing your blessings.”
“I would have thought it to be the opposite.”
“No,” said the teacher. “What you take for granted is that what you blind yourself from seeing and what you end up losing. If you take the good for granted, you’ll filter out the good. And the only thing you’ll see is all that is wrong and not good—the imperfect and the dark. So requiring heaven of this life ends up removing heaven from this life, and makes life hellish.”
At that, he handed me a second glass. When I lifted it to my eyes, I saw all the other colors, everything except the red.
“This is the secret,” he said, “and it’s linked to hell. If instead of taking heaven for granted, you take hell for granted . . . in other words, that you deserve judgment but have been given grace instead . . . and thus that no blessing is deserved or warranted . . . and no good thing is taken for granted . . . what then will happen? The opposite. Your heart will see only the good and every blessing. Everything will become a gift from God, and every moment, His grace. You see, compared to hell, this life is heaven. Learn to see through the second glass, and you’ll filter out hell. And what will remain? Heaven . . . and a heavenly life. . . . and you will see everything in heavenly colors.”
The Mission: Take judgment and hell for granted and the fact that you’re saved from it, and every other blessing in your life as total undeserved grace. And, by this, live a heavenly life.
Romans 5:8; 1 Timothy 1:15–17; James 1:17; 1 John 3:1
The Third Practice
DAY 192
THE SECRET OF THE MAKHZOR
APARADOX,” SAID THE teacher. “What is Yom Kippur with no kippur? What is a Day of Atonement with no atonement of the day?”
“Just a day,” I said.
“That’s the mystery. The holiest day of Judaism, the center of the biblical calendar, is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. And yet for two thousand years the Jewish people have kept a Yom Kippur with no kippur, the Day of Atonement with no atonement. The center of the center is missing. And what is the atonement of Yom Kippur? It’s a sacrifice. So we have a missing sacrifice. Two thousand years ago Messiah came as the Kippur, the Sacrifice, the Atonement at the center of the Jewish faith. Right after He came, the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed, so no more sacrifices could be offered up. Since then, Yom Kippur has had no kippur.”
“So a Day of Atonement without the atonement is a witness that the center is missing.”
“Not completely missing. Come.” He continued speaking while we walked. “You’ve heard it said that the Jewish people cannot believe in a Messiah who dies as a sacrifice for sin, or a salvation that comes from a man bearing their iniquities.” He led me into the Chamber of Books. There, from one of the highest shelves, he retrieved a small black book and leafed through its pages until finding the place he was looking for. “This is a Jewish prayer book. It’s called the Makhzor. It’s used in synagogues throughout the world, specifically for the Yom Kippur service. Listen to the mystery it contains, the words appointed to be read on the day when the Jewish people seek atonement for their sins: ‘Our righteous Messiah has departed from us . . . we have no one to justify us. He has carried the yoke of our iniquities and our transgression. And He is wounded because of our transgression. He bears our sins upon His shoulders, so that we might find forgiveness for our iniquities.’”
“Amazing,” I said. “The missing Kippur of Yom Kippur, right there in the Yom Kippur prayer book. How can they not see it? How can they miss it?”
“The same way we miss it,” he said, “and our lives become as a Yom Kippur without the Kippur. The same way we miss the reason for our being and the center of our existence . . . even when it’s right there in our midst.”
The Mission: God is present even when you don’t realize it or sense that He is. Take time today to dwell in stillness that you might know and behold the presence of the Lord.
Isaiah 53:4–5; Romans 5:11; 1 Corinthians 3:11
The Rabbinic Mysteries I–VI
DAY 193
THE IMMANUEL SOLUTION
IT WAS EARLY evening, just after dinner. The teacher and I were sitting by the campfire along with others. He was holding an empty cup.
“An empty cup,” he said. “How do we get rid of its emptiness? There’s only one way . . . by filling it.”
So the teacher went over to the fountain and filled the cup with water.
“So we have successfully removed the emptiness,” he said with a slight smile, “not by focusing on the emptiness or by concentrating on removing it. We removed the emptiness by simply filling the cup with water. A simple solution—yet profound, even revolutionary when applied to life. How did God accomplish salvation? By removing evil from the world? No. Salvation came through His presence, by His coming into the world, by becoming God with us, Immanuel.”
“By pouring water into the cup,” I replied.
“Exactly. He didn’t take away our problems or remove them from the world. He did something better—He gave us the answer. He poured the answer into the world. Salvation is not the absence of sin. It’s the presence of God. Salvation is not the removing of the world’s darkness. It’s the shining of God’s light into the darkness. And by the light, the darkness is driven away. Salvation is the incarnation of God. It’s His presence. It’s Yeshua. It’s the Immanuel Solution. What does it reveal?”
“You don’t overcome the darkness by focusing on the darkness. You overcome the darkness by focusing on the light.”
“Yes. And you don’t overcome sin by dwelling on sin. You overcome sin, not by dwelling on sin, but by dwelling on God. You overcome emptiness by dwelling on His presence. You solve your problem, not by dwelling on your problem, but by dwelling on the Answer . . . by being filled with the Answer. You overcome sorrow by the presence of joy, and hate by the presence of love, and evil by the presence o
f good. Apply this secret, and it will change your life. Overcome the absence by the presence of its opposite. It’s as simple and as deep . . . as pouring water into a cup . . . the Immanuel Solution.”
The Mission: Apply this day the Immanuel Solution. Overcome the problem with the Answer, the bitterness with forgiveness, hate with love, and evil with the good.
Isaiah 7:14; Luke 6:26–36; Romans 12:9–21
The Immanuel Solution
DAY 194
THE SHEVAT: THE CEASING OF GOD
IT WAS THE end of the week and the sun was about to set. The teacher and I were sitting on a hill overlooking the school. Many of the students were finishing up their work and their week to get ready for the weekend.
“As the Sabbath approaches,” said the teacher, “the observant among the children of Israel must finish up all their work. Do you know why?”
“Because it’s the Sabbath,” I replied.
“But why is it the Sabbath?” he asked. “The Sabbath is only called the Sabbath because of an event, an act of God. As it is written, ‘God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.’ What is translated as ‘rested’ is the Hebrew word shevat. Shevat means to cease. On the seventh day God ceased. And from that act, from the ceasing of God, His shevat, comes the word Shabbat, from which we get the word Sabbath. So the Sabbath is the Sabbath because of the ceasing of God. All its blessings come from God’s act of ceasing.”
The Book of Mysteries Page 28