Shalom Macon: Messianic Jewish Teachings

Is Shavuot really the time of the giving of the Torah? We examine the Torah to see what it say explicitly about the holiday, what the rabbis have created, and where to find the most significant evidence behind the connection of Torah and the Festival of Shavuot.

Part 4 of "He Died That I Might Live…" concludes the series by putting practical application to what we have learned in the last three sessions: How now shall we live?

The Omer controversy seems completely irrelevant to our lives in 2023. But digging beneath the argument itself, we discover something amazing about freedom. This Shavuot message takes a concluding look at the omer, the manna, and the loaves of Shavuot to point us to happiness in our lives.

Counting the Omer is controversial. This argument goes way back, too. Sadducees (along with others like them) were fighting this out with the Pharisees in Yeshua’s time. Amazingly, it still goes on. We’ll learn here about the argument, some evidence for a position, and lay the groundwork for an upcoming Shavuot message that will hit home for us all.

You shall count. 49 days of counting. Sickle to grain. Waving an offering. It’s omer time again. But why? What does this mean for me? This message brings some revelation and perspective that should help.

The biblical festivals in Leviticus 23 are often called the Jewish holidays, but the text clearly identifies them as God’s appointed times. So whose are they? The Lord’s or the Jewish people’s? Of course, the Jewish answer is “Yes”. This teaching explores the implication for what this means.

Join Darren & Sabrina Huckey as they share about the recent Shalom Macon Israel Tour and the spiritual lessons they took away from their experience as Messianic Gentiles in the Land of the Jewish People.

Tzaraat, or biblical leprosy, is a bizarre disease of many different forms. It infects houses, furniture, clothes, and people… what is it? Why did the Torah have the priesthood diagnose and treat this instead of the physicians? Why do the Torah and Apostolic Writings use the words “purified” or “cleansed” instead of “healed” when someone is cured from it? And what possible application does this have for us today?

We often assume we understand the atoning work of Yeshua. But we might have some misunderstanding. Part 3 of this series explains an important function of blood as it relates to covenant and atonement, and connects it powerfully to the work of our Messiah.

Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. It’s a foundational thought for many believers, drawn from Hebrews 9. Is that true? We’ll answer that question in this teaching.

This is the introduction to a short and powerful series on sacrifices, the blood of forgiveness, and the work of Messiah Yeshua.

In the midst of one of the most exciting and eventful portions in the Torah, we find a couple brief references to the Shabbat. Why does the Sabbath deserve any attention in this parsha? Turns out it’s one of the most important lessons God is teaching us here.

The Bible is about God. But curiously, the mention of God is starkly absent in the book of Esther. Was this removed from the text as the Septuagint translation seems to suggest? Or is there a deeper lesson we are supposed to be learning from the intentional absence of God's overt presence?

God gave specific instructions for the meeting place He desired His people to build. Very specific! So specific that many people gloss over or skip these “Tabernacle” chapters all together. Would God spend so much time explaining something that had no value? Of course not, but what is the value, especially today? Let’s find out together.

This week's Torah portion presents a bit of a problem. God had just brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt and released them from slavery to Pharaoh. Yet our current Torah portion opens with God giving them instructions on how to handle their slaves. How do we reconcile these two seemingly opposing concepts in the framework of God's goodness and mercy?

In parsha Yitro, Moses learns a valuable lessons about leadership and delegation from an unlikely source — his Midianite father-in-law, Jethro. But through this, Moses teaches us an even more important lesson about humility and how to become wise in this life.

Birthday For Trees - Part 2: Application by Shalom Macon - Messianic Jewish Teaching

Few people know that Judaism celebrates a new year for trees called Tu Bishvat. The next logical question many would ask is, “Why?!” It all starts with Torah, but there are many beautiful lessons we can glean from this special day. We’ll discuss them in this two-part teaching.

Last week was Moses' fear. This week, it’s his failure. But you might say, “Moses didn’t fail!” We can say that because we know the end of the story. But along the way, Moses clearly struggled and his persistence teaches lessons about what it takes to succeed when things don’t go our way.

Moses is the Torah’s great hero. His story begins this week in Parsha Shemot. But Moses’ hero journey does not seem to get off to a great start. Between arguing with God about why he can’t do it and then failing to convince Pharaoh to let Israel go, Moses seems destined for failure. He has some lessons to learn and some hard steps to take on the way to his status as hero. His journey though this is a lesson for us all in conquering fear and failure.

In this closing portion of Genesis, Joseph again demonstrates his extraordinary character in dealing with his brothers. It’s captured in just one line of Torah, but the lessons are life-changing as we consider our interactions each and every day and how we are all connected in the stories of our lives.

The Midrash connects Amos 9:13—"the plowman shall overtake the reaper"—with Judah's confrontation of Joseph at the beginning of this week's Torah portion. It sees this encounter as a foreshadowing of the World To Come with Judah representing the plowman and Joseph being the reaper. How does this work and what does it have to do with us? We'll find out together in this message on the Torah portion of Vayigash.

There's a Yiddish expression that says, "Man makes plans and God laughs." While that may not be entirely accurate, we often find that our plans don't always line up with what God has in mind. The straight path toward what we perceive as our goal often winds around the forest and climbs through valleys and over mountains before ever reaching sight of that goal. Joseph's life was the perfect example of life taking unexpected turns. But yet, through it all he was able to give God glory. How? We'll discuss in this message on the Torah portion of Mikeitz.

How could an unmarried woman who dresses up as a prostitute and seduces a man in order to get pregnant be thought of as acting righteously? The story of Tamar and Judah certainly raises some questions that we’ll consider in this message.

The Jacob and Esau conflict reaches its climax in Vayishlach. Why did Jacob cross the Jabbok ford? What’s up with the pugilistic angel? A unique consideration on Jacob’s wrestling match offers some incredible insight into our own daily struggles.

Situations arise in life that create a dilemma for us — "Should I stay or should I go?" In other words, do I sit still and wait on God to move or should I take an action to get things going? We know the story of “the deception” involving Jacob. But who was actually behind the decision to take action? Was it a good move? What if it hadn’t been done? Behind the answer to those questions is an application for our lives that we’ll uncover in this teaching.

From a surface reading of the story of Jacob and Esau, it really seems Esau got the short end of the stick by being cheated out of the double-portion entitled to the firstborn. But we never read about Jacob receiving this either. What he receives is given by God and it's far greater than material blessings. Join us as we unravel this complex story of brothers and birthrights.

In the Torah portion of Chayei Sarah, Abraham purchased a field and a burial curve for his beloved wife, Sarah. But in reality it was so much more. Abraham, the father of many, had an incredible eye for the future and for the generational mission he had been given. Shalom Macon is taking a lesson from Abraham in this. Learn all about it here.

Abraham is affectionately called Avraham Avinu, "Our Father Abraham." Paul says he is the father of "all who believe." Is this just a title or are there expectations that come along with being children of Abraham? Our Torah portion reveals a lot to help us answer this question.

Noah’s success in the mission of survival was a great success. But there was a second mission, revival. How did he do? Was Noah the hero that God was looking for? The Torah uses small clues to point to the answer.

It’s at the top of the list of favorite Bible stories — Noah’s Ark. It’s obvious that righteous Noah had a big job to do, a mission from God to build this boat and survive the flood. He was faithful to the task. But Noah had multiple missions and the Torah makes them pretty clear if we look carefully. This teaching explores the multiple missions of Noah and how well he succeeded in accomplishing them.

As the Torah cycle starts with Genesis, we once again marvel at the mystery and majesty of creation. One mystery is particularly unique. The text says, "Let us create man in our image." This teaching explores interpretations of this curious text, introduces a challenging new interpretation and reveals a profound shadow of the messiah.

After the High Holidays, we made some decisions and commitments to take action to become our better self. There’s always one challenge that rears its head as we move forward in this direction. The sages of Israel use the valuable illustration of the horse and rider to teach about it. In this message, Rabbi Eisner brings that idea home as the conclusion to this series.

You have an illness. Actually more than one illness. It's not just sin, but a host of other maladies that keep you from living up to the potential that God intended for you when He created you. What's the remedy? The Great Physician has it waiting on you if you'll be honest about your symptoms.

When it comes to making resolutions to change, sometimes it feels like a losing battle, a hopeless cause. We look back at the list we made the year before and think, "What's changed?" But if haven't given up, but continued the struggle, we'll eventually see something on our list that has changed. It may be small, but it's progress. And a little progress over time can go a long way to changing your habits and ultimately your identity.

Is all of humanity damned by default because of original sin? This is what traditional Christianity teaches. But what does Judaism teach and where should Messianic Judaism land on the topic? This controversial message addresses this subject going all the way back to the very definition of sin.

Too often we try to break bad habits or change patterns of behavior but fail. Why is this? Maybe it's because we haven't dealt with the root of it all: our identity.

It’s the season for making improvement. It’s important to have a realistic expectation of what we can accomplish in the process. Perfection is always a goal, but progress is a valuable step along the way.

The Hebrew month of Elul is upon us. The High Holy Days are approaching. We are supposed to be preparing for judgment. That means forgiving and forgetting, right? Wrong. How so? Come join us as we explore this sensitive topic together.

Today we continue the the story of Shalom Macon, transitioning from the divine "No" to the "Yes" we were waiting for. Come join us on the journey as we continue to transition from who we were to who we are as a Messianic community.

Shabbat Nachamu is a special Sabbath that marks the beginning of seven special Haftarah readings, the Seven Consolations after Tisha B'Av leading up to the High Holy Days. Shabbat Nachamu is very special to Shalom Macon for a specific purpose. Join us to find out why.

Is it ever okay to be zealous for God's Torah? Didn't God deliver Paul from that by showing him that grace has superseded law? Or are we missing something very important here? How does Yeshua's command to love co-exist with zeal for God's Torah? It's critical we understand this important message.

Moses demonstrates zeal by a striking a rock and is punished. Pinchas zealously spears two people and is rewarded. Seems like a contradiction right? This week we’ll learn about zeal from a still, small voice with a lot to teach.

After the incident with Korach and the budding of Aaron’s staff, we have hope that the people have had their last complaining session. But then, they’re thirsty again and Moses and Aaron are faced with another uprising which results in one of the sadder moments in all of the Torah. Moses ends up striking the rock rather than speaking to it as he was instructed. It’s the culmination of Moses’ trouble, filled with lessons we must all learn. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/n8hKP3U_xFU

The laws of purity and impurity, and especially the strange rituals of the Red Heifer can be completely foreign to most people in our day and age. But we should learn about them because of this little known fact: unknowingly, every disciple of Yeshua has a Red Heifer in our pocket. Want to know more? Join us for this thought-provoking teaching on the Torah portion of Chukat.

To this point in the book of Numbers Moses has had plenty of trouble leading the people. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve discussed his responses and the toll it took on him as a leader. This week he faces his greatest personal trouble as he deals with Korach and the rebels. As always, he has much to teach us.

Last week we discussed Moses' problem with the grumblers and complainers. This week things go from bad to worse as Moses deals with the "spies" who come back with a slanderous report about the Land God had promised to give Israel. What can we learn from this?

The book of Numbers starts off pretty well. This week we read about the nation setting out from Sinai for the Promised Land. But pretty quickly things head south, and not in a navigational sense. Moses does find himself navigating, but it’s both national and personal crises that have grave consequences in the end.

Descending The Mountain by Shalom Macon - Messianic Jewish Teaching

A Shavuot Message - Part 2 by Shalom Macon - Messianic Jewish Teaching