The Ten Commandments and the New Covenant

In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt – on the very day – they came to the desert of Sinai (Exodus 19:1). The first Passover celebration when the Israelites were delivered from their slavery in Egypt was on the fourteenth day of the first month [of the Hebrew calendar] (Exodus 12:2). The Law […]

The Passover – no foreigner may eat of it

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.  Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any […]

Genesis – An Overview

The book of Genesis covers the period from the beginning of creation to the death of Joseph. This a period of about two-thousand-three-hundred years. The book of Exodus to the last prophet Malachi covers the period from the exodus from Egypt to approximately four years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a period of about […]

Messianic Good News Torah Study Guide

 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:27) All the prophets prophesied not but of the days of the Messiah (Sanhedrin 99a). The world was created but only for the Messiah (Sanhedrin 98b). Midrash means “inquiry” and seeks to go […]

Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38)

The story of Joseph (Genesis chapters 37 to 50) is interrupted in Genesis chapter 38 by a record of the origins of the tribe of Judah. Joseph prefigured Messiah in many details of his life, i.e. as the chosen son, whom his brothers despised and rejected, but later bowed down to,[1] but Joseph was not […]

Ezekiel’s Temple and the outflow of living waters – Where did the Spirit descend at Pentecost?

This is and edited version of chapter 12 of Mauro’s book, ‘The Hope of Israel’.  Chapters 40 to 46 inclusive of the Book of Ezekiel contain the record of a vision given to that prophet, in which he was shown the pattern of a temple and its various appointments, the arrangements, gates, courts, and chambers, […]

Omens of Destruction | Zechariah 11

Forty years before the destruction of the Temple … the doors of the Temple used to open of their own accord, until Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai rebuked them saying, “O Sanctuary, Sanctuary! why dost thou terrify thyself? I know well that thine end is to be destroyed, for Zechariah the son of Iddo prophesied concerning […]

Tisha B’Av – Mourning the destruction of the Temple | Zechariah 11

According to a Jewish Lexicon Tisha b’Av (9th day of the fifth month in the Hebrew calendar), which commemorates the destruction of both the first and second Temple, is the most melancholy day in the Jewish calendar1. The Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the first temple on 9th of Av 586 BC and, by Divine providence, the Romans […]

They will look to me whom they have pierced | Zechariah 12

Should Christians expect a mass conversion of Jews before the “second coming”? Many Christians believe in such a scenario partly on the basis of Zechariah’s famous prophecy: ‘I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to Me whom […]

The Redemption of Jews and Gentiles foreshadowed in Ruth

The story of Ruth and Naomi is a beautiful picture of our redemption. It is the story of the grace and mercy of our Redeemer to both Ruth, the Moabite, who was far off and to Naomi, the Jewess, who was near but who had strayed from under the wings of the protection of her […]