October, 2007

Dear Friend,

Certainly one of the most unusual — and intriguing — holidays on the Jewish religious calendar is the one just concluded on October 4:  Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles.
Families observe this eight-day celebration by eating all their meals—and, in some places, even sleeping—in a small, temporary structure (called a sukkah) outside of the house. 

Through eating (and sleeping) “under the stars” and in the great outdoors for eight days, Jews are reminded of their ancestors’ wilderness wanderings for forty years on their way to the Promised Land, while commemorating the care and provision of God for the needs of His chosen people during their sojourn.

As I write these words, there is an old, country gospel song running through my mind, whose lyrics include the lines:

This world is not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through.
If Heaven’s not my home, then Lord, what will I do?
The angels beckon me, through Heaven’s open door,
and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

The writer to the Hebrews reminds his readers that Abraham realized his arrival in the Land of Promise, Canaan, was not, in fact, his final destination.  Indeed, he yearned for his REAL home.

By faith he (Abraham) sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents (old KJV has “tabernacles”) with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Heb. 11:9-10)
But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city. (Heb. 11:16)

In describing the eternal state of the new heaven and the new earth in which dwell the redeemed of God, John recounts:

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall  be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Rev. 21:3)

It is our sincere desire for many more Jewish people to recognize that “this world is not their home; they’re just a-passin’ through” and that they can be certain of their final destination of a heavenly home through faith in the atoning work of Yeshua, ha-moshiach (Jesus, the Messiah).

Sincerely in Messiah Jesus,

Rev. Roger L. Wambold,
General Director