This Month's Newsletter
This Month's Torah Portion

Note: Shabbat Service & Monday Torah Study Meetings are held at 1705 Lithia Pinecrest Road, Brandon FL, 33511. Go to our home page for map & directions.
 

Dear Mishpocha (Family),

As I am writing this letter, we are just thirty-five days away from the feast of Passover. Passover Eve falls on a Monday night (March 29) and we will be coming together to receive Communion. On April 4th, we will be having our Passover celebration in Tampa at 4 PM. We are literally in the Season of Redemption right now, and this is a very important time. I have already declared to the congregation: “Operation Meet Me at Passover.” This operation is not a covert operation, but one done in the open for all to know and see. There are five things that make up this operation. The first thing is we need to take full responsibility for our personal life (thoughts, words, deeds). The second thing that we need to do is pray salvation for our family, friends, co-workers, the community in which we live, and for the world (intercession). The third thing we need to do is study the scriptures dealing with Yeshua, the doctrine of salvation, eternal life, Passover, etc. The fourth thing we need to do in this Season of Redemption is to have a spirit of gratitude and humility. Thank God for all He has done and given to you. The fifth and final thing that we need to do is make sure that we arrive at the Passover table. “Operation Meet Me at Passover” allows us as a congregation to stay focused and obedient so that we can receive God’s blessing for our lives.

We are literally going into a brand new feast cycle this year and I am very excited. I am anticipating great things for the Congregation of Beit Tehila, so stay focused and on course. I am inspired to share with all those that want to celebrate the feasts that there will be challenges leading up to these feasts and even afterwards. The word challenge can be defined as a test of one’s abilities or resources in a demanding but stimulating undertaking. Our God is an indwelling and inbreaking God, but we have to do our part.

There are plenty of examples in the Bible of those that faced challenges at the time of Passover. Let’s look at the example of Moses and the Children of Israel. They had to experience and witness the ten plagues of Egypt. They had to leave in haste from Egypt to the desert wilderness. They had the challenges of being thirsty, hungry and fighting Amelek. They also had the challenge of breaking the slave mentality they endured in Egypt.

Joshua, Moses’ successor, had plenty of challenges with the Children of Israel when leading them into the Promised Land. I find it very interesting that Joshua led the Children of Israel into the Promised Land during the time of Passover (Joshua 5:10-15). One challenge that Israel would have was in the transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua. Another challenge for God’s people would be going from the wilderness to the Promised Land (from wandering to settling down).

Another example that we can find of challenges at the time of Passover is during the time of King Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:1-30:27). King Hezekiah ruled around 715 B.C., and he was a righteous king. One of King Hezekiah’s challenges to be a righteous king was because his father was unfaithful to the Lord (2 Chronicles 28:22). Here are some of the challenges that King Hezekiah faced as a leader: repairing the doors to the house of the Lord, consecrating the Levites and the house of the Lord, making the temple functional again, restoring the sacrificial system, restoring the musical instruments and singers in the temple, etc. The consecration of the temple began on the first day of the first month, and was finished on the sixteenth day of the first month (2 Chronicles 29:16-17). The challenge that King Hezekiah faced was that they were unable to celebrate the feast of Passover in the first month because of the consecration of the temple, so they decided to celebrate it in the second month (2 Chronicles 30:1-3). King Hezekiah would send out invitations throughout all the land of Israel inviting the people to come and celebrate the feast of Passover in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, not everyone would attend, and there was even some ridicule towards the couriers who held the letters. In 2 Chronicles 30:10, it says, “So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulon, but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.” The good news is that there were those who did come to the feast of Passover. In 2 Chronicles 30:13, it says, “Now many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very large assembly.”

Won’t you please join Pastor Danielle and I at the Passover Meal?

Shalom, Pastor Nick