Dear Mishpacha (family),
As I am writing this newsletter, this evening will be the start of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) and this is a great time of joy. The Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated for seven days and then concludes on the Eighth Great Day that follows (Leviticus 23:33-43). The month of September was exciting as we finished the Daniel Fast (September 3rd eve/Elul 21) and then celebrated Yom Teruah (September 12th/ Tishrei 1). I want to personally thank all of you that participated in the Mikvah’s during the Ten Days of Awe. On September 20th eve/ Tishrei 10 we came together for our solemn assembly of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) to officially conclude the Season of Teshuvah. Coming together for corporate forgiveness will carry us through this next year and all the divine opportunities that the Holy Spirit will lead us to.
I began celebrating the feasts in 1995, with the Feast of Passover being the very first feast. The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) has a very special place in my heart. It was the first feast I ever celebrated in Israel in 1996 after finding out I was Ephraim and grafted into the Olive Tree as a wild brand. If you don’t know who you are you don’t know where you are going. While we were in Israel to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, I confessed my love to Danielle on October 19th, 1997 and we started a courtship (today we know it as betrothal). After 27 years of marriage and eight children later we are still celebrating the feasts. I am also reminded that our third son Micah was born during Tabernacles in 2004. I am so happy that my wife and daughter Hadassah will be going on the Beit Tehila trip for this years Tabernacles in Israel. Both my sons Josiah and Nehemiah were able to go to Israel to celebrate the Feast of Shavout (Pentecost) in 2015. I was very fortunate to see Micah my third son go the following year (2016) as Beit Tehila celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) in Israel. I have been blessed to go to Israel seven times and so the last time I went was with my son Micah in 2016.
The first thing that the Lord promised Abraham and his descendants was the land (Israel) and I will never forget that. One day we will all live there and that’s a divine promise to the children of Israel. As we move forward, we need to remember that the vision of Beit Tehila is to build a strong community and to raise up the next generation. Another announcement that I would like to make is that on October 5th, we will be studying the Book of Hosea in our Small Groups Bible Study on Monday night. The Book of Hosea is all about a people who were not a people and who had no mercy. Thanks to Yeshua dying for our sins, we are now a people (Israel) and have mercy, this is shared throughout the New Testament and its good news. It’s very clear that the people in the Book of Hosea would return back in the last days and there’s your story playing out at Beit Tehila. I have personally known this since 1995 thanks to Pastors Randy and Tikvah along with their two daughters Danielle and Dina. I am expecting great things for our community because the church and Judah are coming to Beit Tehila.
~Shalom Pastor Nick