The Chosen Unveiled with Rabbi Jason Sobel – We’re thrilled to work with TBN and The Chosen to produce this teaching series, which serves as a teaching companion to the eight episodes of season one. The Chosen Unveiled extends an invitation to discover the rich theology that is foundational to the series’ success.
The Jewish Holiday of Purim celebrates God’s deliverance for the Jewish people as found in the Book of Esther. Purim occurs in the month of Adar. When Adar comes, there is a season of joy. This is what the Jewish sages say, “Just as we decrease joy in the month of Av, so should we increase joy in the month of Adar.”
Who doesn’t love a mystery? Whether we’re binge-watching a series on Netflix or turning book pages late into the night, we are driven by the desire to uncover clues and figure things out. Many of these stories revolve around a central figure, the protagonist, who works to solve the mystery and save the day.
Sukkot celebrates God tabernacling among the children of Israel during their forty years in the wilderness as His presence led them as a cloud of smoke by day and as a pillar of fire by night. In light of this, there is a heightened theological significance of John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” I believe Yeshua-Jesus was born on Sukkot, for He is Emmanuel, God among us, the presence of the Lord dwelling among His people once again like He did in the desert.
The scapegoat represented the sins of the nation; Yom Kippur points to the ultimate redemption of the world, the fullness of redemption. A redemption is paid for, not by the blood of an animal, which still leaves a deficit, but by Yeshua’s blood, marking the debt PAID IN FULL.
For most of the last 2,000 years, the Church has not focused much on the biblical Jewish holidays. This historical fact can leave many Gentile followers of Yeshua, wondering, “Why should I celebrate the Jewish holidays?” This question is excellent, and I think it presents an opportunity to grow and learn.
As we celebrated Rosh Hashana last fall, we entered the Jewish year 5780—a new year and a new decade (the 80s are back, baby!). We’re in the year/decade of the mouth, and more significantly, Breakthrough. We’ve entered a prophetic season of supernatural strength and power to overcome.
The Shema Explained:
One of the most well-loved works from the nineteenth-century English preacher Charles Spurgeon in his devotional, Morning and Evening. For centuries, Anglicans have observed the morning and evening “office” (prayer service). These daily rhythms of prayer didn’t emerge a hundred or even a thousand years ago; their roots go back to the Shema, the foundational Jewish prayer.