If life is a test, how do you pass the test? What's the right answer? The Epistle of First Peter gives us the cheat sheet for passing life's trials, but it requires knowing something about the Day of the LORD and the Jewish apocalyptic worldview.   

It's not about going to heaven when you die, its about leaving heaven to come back to life. 1 Peter 1:1-5 teaches us that disciples of Yeshua are being born again to an inperishable, undefiled, and unfading hope kept in heaven but made physical here on earth in the resurrection of the dead. 

Why does Peter refer to the readers of his first epistle as "Strangers" and "Aliens"? Answering this question provides insight into the rift between Peter and Paul, the controversy over Acts 15, and the Gentile disciple's obligations to the commandments of the Torah. 

The Cup of Elijah that we pour at the Seder Meal is the Cup of Wrath poured out on the nations in the Day of the LORD. This teaching from Shabbat Hagadol explains the concept of the Day of the LORD in the Seder, in the Hallel, in the New Testament, and in the story of human history.Also find part one of this teaching here: Elijah's Cup.

Why do we pour a cup for Elijah at the Seder meal? It's not just a quaint tradtion, it's the most Messianic moment in Passover Seder meal. This teaching explores the history of the tradition and the pouring out of God's wrath upon the nations, revealing the coming of the Messiah and the Day of the LORD in the course of the Seder Meal. 

Can Jews be "saved" even if they do not become Christians? In his famous Dialogue with Trypho, the second century apostolic father Justin Martyr reports a non-canonical saying of the Master which sheds significant light on the meaning of "salvation" in the New Testatment Era: "In whatsoever thngs I find you, "In whatsoever things I shall take you, in these I shall judge you." 

Yeshua How can our righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees? Learn how the principle of chasidut enables one to enter the kingdom.

If the wages of sin are death, that means that death pays for sins. But what if the person who dies is sinless? This teaching, part two of a two-part discussion, presents the material from the article titled “The Suffering Tzadik: How Does the Death of the Messiah Bring Atonement?” in Messiah Journal 107 by D. T. Lancaster and Toby Janicki. 

How does the death of Yeshua atone for sins? The New Testament assures us that it does without explaining how. This teaching, part one of a two-part discussion, presents the material from the article titled “The Suffering Tzadik: How Does the Death of the Messiah Bring Atonement?” in Messiah Journal 107 by D. T. Lancaster and Toby Janicki. 

Where were all the Jewish believers in Yeshua between the first century and the 1970s? Listen in on a wide-ranging and epic-long conversation taking broad sweeps through church history and the strange, ever-morphing, relationship between the church and the Jewish believers as Ami Buckles and D. T. Lancaster fall down one rabbit hole after another. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

Why does Beth Immanuel need nearly half a million dollars to build a mikvah? Ami and Daniel discuss why a mikvah is mission critical to Beth Immanuel and should be a central concern for all of Messianic Judaism.

Learn more in this teaching titled THE BIG MIKVAH PROJECT.

Donate to the Beth Immanuel Mikvah Fund here: DONATE NOW

Why is Beth Immanuel the way that it is? Here's the mission and vision behind Beth Immanuel Messianic Synagogue to explain the Judaism part of Messianic Judaism. 

To whom is the Epistle of 1 Peter addressed, Jews or Gentiles? The answer mgiht surprise you. It has to do with being "born again." This teaching explores the divide between Peter and Paul and their respective ideas about Gentile identity in the Messiah Yeshua. 

What's going to happen in 2024 and the days to come? Here's a largely pessimistic assessment of the world as we stumble into the secular new year which makes the light of the hope of the coming kingdom shine all that much brighter for the darkness.  

Continuing the Entrance to the Eternal Kingdom series, we learn the importance of perseverance for achieving the mission for which your soul was created.

The Festival of Hanukkah is called "the festival of lights," but it's actually a festival commemorating a war. In this teaching, we consider the biblical perspective on war. Is there such a thing as a just or ethical war? 

What's the underlying spiritual agenda in the world-wide war against Israel? The story of Jacob dividing his family into two camps in preparation to meet Esau provides a clue that connects to the prophecies of Obadiah and a prophecy against all nations.

Jacob's vision of a ladder reaching to heaven upon which angels ascend and descend contains a hidden meaning about spiritual warfare, the exile of the Jewish people, and their inheritance in the land of Israel. This teaching connects the dots and reveals the mission of Yeshua to redeem the Jewish people from exile.  

The Secular Progressive Left and Islamic Jihadists make for strange bedfellows. What's the real story behind their common cause in anti-Zionism and their hatred for the State of Israel?

The world has erupted with mass anti-Israel and anti-Jewish protests. Open expressions of anti-Semitism not seen since the Nazi Reich are reported in Europe, America, and American college campuses. It does not bode well for Western Society or the disciples of Yeshua. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. This teaching reminds the disciples of Yeshua of who they are and how to prepare for the coming tribulation.  

Does the Bible sanction the Zionist claim to a Jewish homeland in the Holy Land? What should a Bible-believing follower of the Jesus think about the Jewish people forming the Modern State of Israel. Here's an argument from a biblical and Messianic Jewish perspective. 

A personal perspective on the Simchat Torah October 7 Massacre, the Gaza War, world events, and the coming day of wrath in light of parashat Noach. 

In this continuation of the Pitchei Olam series, we will discuss the meaning of "self-control." A battle rages within every person. Our enemy, the evil inclination, wants to strip us of the image of God and turn us into any other animal. Learn how to seize control of the battlefield within your own heart and achieve your purpose to establish God's kingdom on earth.

Drawing directly on the teaching of Yeshua, James warns us against showing partiality and he enjoins us to show mercy that we might receive mercy. This important teaching from the Epistle of James was recorded in the Beth Immanuel Green Room in the summer of 2011. 

An important story about Rosh Hashanah and the coming of the Messiah is hidden just beneath the surface of the story of David, Abigail, and Nabal. Here's the teaching for Rosh Hashanah 5784.

Along the path on our journey to the Kingdom, we must acquire knowledge. In this lesson we learn about the Jewish concept of knowledge, what it means to know God, and the steps involved in gaining knowledge.

What if you have been following the wrong Jesus? Do you think that the wrong Jesus can save you? This teaching discusses the problem with making correct theology a criteria for salvation. 

Who is the Antichrist? A popular Jewish legend about Solomon and the prince of demons offers an uncanny insight into the nature and identity of Antichrist. 

A great deception is coming. Or perhaps it's already here. Listen to a quick introduction to the shadowy character and end-times arch-villain called Antichrist. This teaching presents the "Man of Lawlessness" and "World Deceiver" in light of the Torah's warnings about false prophets. 

Bartholomew did not change his clothes for 26 years. An old Christian tradition about the martyrdom of Bartholomew preserves a legend about the miraculous clothing worn by the apostles, pointing us to the hope of the resurrection from the dead. 

Would it be so wrong if God were to make you wealthy? On Rosh Hashanah, your money for the coming year is determined. Here's a teaching about wealth, poverty, and wisdom based on Parashat Ekev and the words of King Solomon.  

2 Peter 1:5 instructs us to add "virtue" or "excellence" to our faith. But what does that mean, exactly? Take a linguistic journey through the sources to find the Jewish heart at the core of this concept.

The first of three admonitions for the three weeks "between the narrows" comes from the first chapter of Jeremiah. This teaching rehearses the story of King Josiah, Torah Rediscovered, and the world of the biblical prophets in the days of Jeremiah. 

The spies sent to spy out the land of Canaan saw giants and warned the people not to enter the land. The Torah says that the giants in Canaan were Nephilim. Here's the story of how Caleb and Joshua not only saw the giants in Canaan, they defeated them too.

What is the perfect Torah of Liberity? Unedited audio from the July 2011 Green Room Class on the Epistle of James covers James 1:19-27. 

Gender identity has never been a more polarizing issue than it is today, but here's a Beth Immanuel teaching from back in 2011 about the difference between boys and girls and the stuff they are made of. Despite our differences, we share the same high calling of our Master, the call to discipleship.

What is reality? It's not what you think. Or maybe it is what you think--and that's the problem. Here's a discussion on the nature of prophecy and how it relates to getting in touch with Absolute Reality. 

Why do we read the book of Ruth on Shavuot? This inquiry into the origin of the custom takes us on an Indiana Jones style adventure to find the authentic tomb of King David. 

The first commandment at Mount Sinai was "I am the LORD your God who took you out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exodus 20:2). Why did God introduce himself this way instead of as the God "who Created of the Universe"? In this lecture we will explore the meaning of implications of faith (emunah) as the foundation of our life's journey to the Kingdom.

What did Maimonides say about Yeshua of Nazareth? In the uncensored version of Mishneh Torah, the Rambam states that Yeshua of Nazareth cannot be "the one promised in the Torah," but he remains conspicuously silent about the messianic prophecies in the books of the Prophets, particularly the prophecies about a suffering Messiah. In this episode, Ami Buckles argues from the deafening silence that Rambam considered that Yeshua might qualify as Mashiach ben Yosef, the suffering Messiah. Listen in on Ami's conversation with D. T. Lancaster.   

Yeshua teaches in the Nazareth synagogue and proclaims "liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners" in reference to the Juibilee laws of Leviticus 25. This discussion on the mitzvah of redeeming captives considers the plight of "the infant taken captive and raised by strangers." 

Links:

Sudan Interior Mission

Christial Solidarity International

To love God with all your soul means being willing to relinquish your soul for the sake of His name. Here's a sober discussion about martyrdom as an expression of the commandment to sanctify God's name: "You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel.” (Leviticus 22:32) 

Explore the process of spiritual self-improvement as outlined in 2 Peter 1:5-7, in light of Jewish thought. Learn how Jewish sources provide step-by-step outlines for personal growth, and delve into the importance of the pursuit of holiness and entrance to what Peter calls "the Eternal Kingdom." 

Books mentioned:

• With Heart in Mind by Alan Morinis
• The Path of the Just by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzatto

What's the real meaning behind the Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, and Communion? This teaching offers a Messianic Jewish perspective on the ritual that goes beyond the Passover Seder context to unlock the significance of the Master's words, "Do this in remembrance of me."  

Yeshua claims that he is the resurrection and the life. What does that mean, and do we really believe it? A teaching from the second day of Passover 2022 discusses the hope of the resurrection and the significance of Yeshua's claims. 

Lesson 2 from the summer of 2011 Green Room class on the Epistle of James covers James 1:2-18. 

The holiday we usually refer to as "Passover," the Torah refers to as "Chag Ha-Matzot," the Festival of Unleavened Bread. A holiday celebrating the exodus from Egypt makes sense, but how did flatbread end up stealing all the attention? Learn the deep symbolism of matzah and its leavened couterpart, chametz, as we prepare for the Passover holiday.

How does atonment work? This teaching for Shabbat Parah (The Sabbath of the Cow) and Shabbat Ki Tssa (story of the golden calf) upends most conventional ideas about how atonement was accomplished on the cross. 

This class from Isaiah in the New Tetament takes you through Hezekiah's tunnel back to the days of Isaiah to discover the meaning behing the keys to the kingdom of heaven that Yeshua entrusts into the hands of his disciples. Download the PDF of the original handout below.

Some deep thoughts about the seven heavens derived from early Christian and Messianic Jewish sources including Irenaeus, Epistle of Barnabas, Ascension of Isaiah, Clementine Homilies, and Gospel of Thomas.