Teaching Timeless Torah Truths

Is your identity blue?

We do see blue on the streets of Jerusalem. Yes, in clothes and flags but also in the strings that hang down the sides of the trousers and dangling from the four corners of the prayer shawls of religious Jewish men.

What is the biblical significance of this color blue called in Hebrew tekhelet, תכלת. Tekhelet is a word that does not necessarily connote the shade of blue, but rather the source and procedure used to produce a special blue dye.

There are multiple applications of tekhelet in the Bible:

  • used to decorate the robes and buildings of royalty
  • it is in the formal ritual clothes of the High Priest
  • number of lessons that we can learn from this use of tekhelet in the fringes
  • when we see the fringes, we are reminded of Yeshua in us, the Hope of glory
  • wearing fringes reminds us of whom we are as new creations in Messiah.
  • the Blue of God’s House

See the 6-page article “Tekhelet ― A Color of the Covenant” via this link.

Which kingdom do you belong?

Knowing our spiritual identity, can have lifeimpacting ramifications of each and every believer. It can help us to walk as ones who are part of God’s kingdom, despite how we feel or what our circumstances might be.

It can also help us to treat others in the Body of Messiah with respect and grace — according to who they are in Messiah and not be put off by any flesh in which they might be entangled.

This skilfully crafted story is a powerful illustration of the spiritual reality of everyone who has truly placed their faith in Yeshua the Messiah.

There are three parts to the spiritual reality of everyone who has placed their faith in Yeshua the Messiah.

  1. there are, indeed, two spiritual kingdoms.
  2. real believers are members of God’s kingdom.
  3. as members of God’s kingdom, we have a new spiritual identity that is
    characteristic of that glorious kingdom.

Explore these concepts in this short article.

God’s House/The Temple

Three times every day, seven days a week, Jewish people pray, “Find favor, Lord our God, in Your people Israel and their prayer. Restore the service to Your most holy House”. What do they know about God’s House in Jerusalem that most believers in Yeshua do not understand?

Many believers in Yeshua speak about God’s House as if it’s absence is a great relief. Frequently, they state that they are so happy that Yeshua has come to free them from the burden of going to that place with their offerings. They assert that His death upon the tree has put an end to all of that and now we are free to come fully into God’s presence without being present at the Temple in Jerusalem as if to say the saints of old did not also have that same full freedom.

Ariel Berkowitz presents a picture of God’s House that would challenge those misguided sentiments.This study is only a summary presentation. In reality, what we are about to outline should be more carefully treated in a full book! Our intention here is but to spark interest, wet some appetites, and encourage further study on this matter.

 This study is available on the website of TRI Holland as a video recording (120 MB, 75 min) en notes in pdf format.