Stargazing Sukkot Party

This little get together is the perfect low-maintenance way to get together with friends to celebrate the feast of Sukkot. Grab some blankets and head outside to gaze upon the stars and to remember the promises of YHWH. That's all you need. Decorations, snacks, and pillows are all optional and can be whatever is doable or desirable to you.

So this banner is just paper letters and yarn. It's lightweight and easy to put up and you can make any verse or a chag sameach or happy Sukkot into a banner.

I used a trunk, some suitcases, and a crate for table space. You could go without or take a coffee table outside or use a picnic table.

These cupcake toppers though.

These are the best kosher marshmallows I have found! They are vegan and kosher, available at Trader Joe's.

He knows the stars by name. -Psalm 147:4

Four Species Lemonade.

So this is a globe...of the moon. Strangely fascinating.

Star charts can offer some education into what you're looking at. The Gospel in the Stars is a neat read to learn of constellations representing Biblical stories and prophecies.

This party idea would also work well for Yom Teruah, and I think something like this could be a good introduction for friends and families that don't celebrate YHWH's feasts.

Chocolate einkorn cupcakes. I don't really like frosting, so there isn't any.

Have a beautiful Sukkot!

Menorahs in Scripture

How familiar are you with menorahs? Growing up in the Christian faith, I don't think I ever heard them mentioned. Sure, I read the descriptions of the Tabernacle and later the Beit Hamikdash but I don't think I ever paused enough to consider what that looked like. A candelabra with three branches on either side of one central branch, a place for seven lights. I know for sure I never saw one of these, in person or even a picture, at any of the churches we attended, the Christian camps I went to, Bible colleges I visited as a prospective student, or ministries I have worked for. 

Is that a big deal? If you believe that all Scripture is useful for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16), it matters that we are completely ignoring a symbol that YHWH gave us. While menorahs are mentioned more than 40 times in Scripture they actually appear far more often. Think of the unspoken details of cultural events in your world. A friend mentioning they were at a high school football game speaks volumes of details I instantly assume, without verbal communication. I know it would have been on a Friday night, it was probably very cold, the marching band played the school fight song, the stands are usually full, popcorn is for sale, what color jerseys our team wore, the layout of the place and so on. There is no need for my friend to describe these details because I know exactly how these games work. But if you aren't familiar with high school football, a lot of this is going to be lost on you. You might get the gist of the story and have a rough idea of what it was like but these details are going to go right past you.

The menorah is a detail like this. Yahusha would have seen its light each time he was at the Beit Hamikdash. It would have been nearby when he spoke the words, "My sheep know my voice." It was there when he cleansed the Temple. Many could have heard his teachings while looking at the light of the menorah. I missed that for a long time.

We should note that the appropriate number of branches for a menorah is what YHWH instructed: seven. Of the limited menorahs we see today, I would estimate that 75% are the nine-branched Hanukkiahs that were created for the man-made celebration of Hanukkah. While that is similar to YHWH's design, it is not what he commanded. Since YHWH's thinking is far above ours we can be certain there is a reason he chose his light to be represented in sevens.

The menorah is significant enough to YHWH that he had it put in the Tabernacle and weaved the significance of seven and light throughout his word. Yahusha spoke of it often as well. Let's get better acquainted with it, shall we?

15 Places we see Menorahs in Scripture:

1. Exodus 25 is where YHWH first orders a menorah to be made and described what it looked like. Can you imagine how beautiful that must have been? Made from one piece of gold with details of almond blossoms on it. This provided the light for the priests in the Holy Place.

2. The first sentence of Scripture goes like this in Hebrew, Beresheet bara Elohim et hashamayim va'et ha'aretz. The phrase is seven words and contains a beautiful picture. The first three words refer to YHWH (the one who was in the beginning, he created), and the last three refer to earth (the heavens and the earth). If you picture these words taking either side of the menorah, you are left with the word et in the middle as the main branch that brings them together. What is the word et? In Hebrew it is simply spelled aleph-tov, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Most of us are familiar with the Alpha and Omega translation of this word that is used as a title for Yahusha. When we pair each word of the first sentence of Scripture to the branches of the menorah we can see that Yahusha is what connects us to YHWH.

3. Luke 4:16-21 - When Yahusha read the prophecy of Isaiah 61 in the synagogue something very significant happened that modern readers don't see. The tradition of synagogues in that day was to have three elders on other side of the reader standing in the bema seat. So when Yahusha began to read, "The Spirit of YHWH is upon me," the picture in front of those in attendance was that of a human menorah, where once again Yahusha was in the center.

4. Revelation 1:4 - Did you know that there are seven spirits of YHWH, not just one? This verse tells us that he has seven spirits standing before his throne. It's not a far leap to see the parallel of the seven spirits in Heaven where the seven lights of the menorah were in the Beit Hamikdash.

5. John had a vision of seven menorahs in Revelation 1:12, and Yahusha decoded this for us. The seven menorahs that you saw are the seven Israelite congregations. There is crazy significance to Yahusha using the symbol of the menorah to represent his people!

6. Revelation 2:5 - I will remove the menorah from you unless you make teshuvah. If we don't repent he takes the symbol from the faith from us. Do you see a lot of menorahs in faiths that supposedly follow YHWH? In Judaism 'menorahs' are falsely represented as nine branched for the most part. This passage also leads me to believe that if we have repented of our sins and turned to YHWH that the menorah would be with us, in the spiritual sense of Yahusha's light, but also physically.

7. Yahusha makes mention that he walks in the midst of menorahs in Revelation 2:1. We can see the allegorical sense of his presence with his congregations, but we shouldn't stop it there. Yahusha surrounded himself with menorahs the many times he visited the Beit Hamikdash and has menorahs before him in heaven.

8. The Seven Feasts of YHWH can also be seen as a menorah. If you take their chronological order, Shavuot falls in the center. Significant events that occurred at this feast are the giving of the Torah and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Another picture of Heaven connecting with earth like in Beresheet 1.

9. Zechariah 4:11 - YHWH showed two menorahs to Zechariah in a vision to teach him the deeper truth of the two houses of Israel.

10. John 8:12 - When Yahusha said, "I am the light." There are two significant pieces here. Firstly, the root of the word Torah is or, meaning light in Hebrew. I can't help but think he made a little play announcing that he is the living Torah. And second, the Greek word that is used here is phos, which of course means light but also speaks of the lamp that is emitting said light. Now if he said that he was the lamp that emits the light, which lamp do you think he had in mind? There was and is no light of more significance than the menorah. Could he have been saying, "I am the menorah,"?

11. Yahusha did many things in sevens. The book of Yochanan contains seven instances where Yahusha said, "I am." Scripture records him healing seven times on Shabbat.

12. When Jerusalem is sieged by King Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonians carried off many temple items including the menorahs, in Jeremiah 52:19. Made of solid gold these were incredibly valuable (millions of dollars each in today's money), but the spiritual loss was more devastating for the people of Judah who had disobeyed YHWH.

13. Revelation 11:4 - The two witnesses in the last days (houses of Judah and Ephraim) are likened to menorahs before YHWH. 

14. Isaiah 11:2 - Attributes seven ruachs to the Messiah. Of YHWH, of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge, and of the fear of YHWH.

15. Matthew 5:15 - A parable hidden in good advice. You wouldn't put a menorah under a basket. Yahusha using this terminology shows us that he expected his followers then and now to be familiar with what a menorah is.

There is a lot to be learned from each of these Scriptures but what really gets me is that last one. Yahusha intentionally spoke in ways that could be understood by those in his day as well as for the next thousands of years. His agricultural allegories show us this. We can understand the Parable of the Sower because gardening and food production is more or less still works the same. Him using the menorah in a parable clearly shows us that he didn't want us to get rid of them. And like he communicated to John in Revelation he sees his people as menorahs.

Let There Be Light - Visiting Temple De Hirsch Sinai

Sorry for the silence here last week! I took a trip west to Seattle and Oregon with my husband, pretty much at the last minute, and didn't plan ahead. Live and learn, right? It was so great to get away for a bit; something about a change in scenery is so refreshing to me. Especially at this time of year when everything starts to seem a little gray and dreary. I think this is the first significant journey I've been on in the winter and travelling in the off-season definitely has it's perks! Tickets were less money and places were less crowded. Win!

 I took some of my own advice before heading out and did a little research about Hebrew things in the Seattle area (and Portland, more to come on that in another post). Fifteen minutes of internet searches lead me to this stunning synagogue.

Temple De Hirsch Sinai is an architectural masterpiece. This is the largest menorah I've ever seen and how beautiful! The bottom says 'yehi or' - let there be light.

Loved the ten commandments gate as well. Such a picture of a certain, "I am the door," statement. :)

Here's the backside of the gate. Notice the ten commandments painted on.

Enjoying the beauty of architecture that honors YHWH! So fun to see in person!

I was hoping to see the inside, but it didn't work for us to go when the gift shop was open.

I love the subtlety of this design - and it really symbolizes how YHWH speaks as well, I think. If you didn't know to look for a menorah, you probably wouldn't see it. But once you can recognize that it's everywhere.

And there was light.

What other gorgeous menorahs or architecture have you seen? Let me know! I hope you all have a great week!

Life Lately: Fall

Cute produce stand selling lots of local veggies and lemons (yes, lemons!) and limes grown in a greenhouse.

Menorah and mums.

My new favorite: Jarrahdale pumpkins.

Mount Tabor Tees has so many great shirts like this one!

Pie!

Down the road from our family's lake cottage is this cute little produce stand and on boat removal day they were selling locally foraged hen of the woods mushrooms!

I realized I never posted pictures from Sukkot this year, so here's one from a lovely party I attended.

I'll take one of each, thanks.

Succelents still going strong.

Visiting a beautiful state park.

I think the fall weather is wrapping up around here for the year. We got our first snow last night. There's a time and season for everything, right?

Have a good week, friends!

The Easiest DIY Way to Clean a Menorah

I love using a real menorah, don't you? The seven branch menorah throughout Scripture represents the presence of YHWH. The first mention of it is in Exodus and the last in Revelation. We use it on Feast Days, for Shabbat dinners, special occasions and sometimes just because. The only downside is that afterwards it tends to look something like this:

To scrape this wax off would take approximately forever, and it's easy to scratch your menorah if you employ a knife to assist you. Not to worry though, there is a better way!

It only requires three things: an oven, baking sheet, and a sheet of parchment paper for easy clean up. You could also use foil if that's what you have on hand. Place the parchment on the baking sheet and lay the menorah on it's side.

Place your oven on low heat. The lowest temperature mine would allow is 170°. Place your metal menorah in the oven and let it go for five minutes. It doesn't take long for it to warm up and for the wax to run right off! You will see small puddles of wax on your parchment paper as in the photo below. If there is still wax on the menorah leave it in for another five minutes or so. The time this takes will vary based on what type of wax is on your menorah, its thickness, the heat of the oven and so on.

Once the wax has all dripped off carefully remove the pan from the oven and let the menorah cool. It will be very hot!

Doesn't that look so much better? And it only took five minutes and no scraping! This is my go-to for the menorah cleaning. I hope you find it beneficial as well!

Related posts:
Where We See Menorahs in Scripture
Why the Seven Branch Menorah Matters

The Seven Branch Menorah (What this Biblical Symbol Means and Why It Matters)

This post is about the seven branch menorah of Scripture. We will talk about it's Biblical meaning and why it matters to believers today, and the difference between it and the traditional nine branch menorah used for Hanukkah.

The first time a menorah appears in Scripture is Exodus 25.

"You are to make a menorah of pure gold. It is to have six branches extending from its sides, three branches of the menorah on side of it and three on the other." -Exodus 25:31

"It is to have six branches extending from its sides, three branches of the menorah on side of it and three on the other." -Exodus 25:32

"Make seven lamps for the menorah, and mount them as to give light to the space in front of it." -Exodus 25:37

As you can see, YHWH instructs that the menorah is to have seven branches. Not just seven lights, but seven branches, with six of the branches stemming off a center piece. As seen below:

Revelation 4:5 tells us that the seven lights of the menorah represent the seven spirits of YHWH. When the Messiah described himself as the light of the world, it's hart to imagine he didn't have the menorah in mind.

The menorah is very significant to the Creator. Is it okay if we alter it for Hanukkah?

During Hanukkah we see menorahs that have two additional branches added making it a nine-branch menorah or Hanukkiah. This is a tradition that stems from the legendary story of the oil miraculously lasting for eight days after the Temple was reclaimed in the Maccabees story. Hanukkiahs are so much more popular that when most people think of a menorah they think of the nine-branch Hanukkiah.

In Revelation 2:5 the Messiah issued a stern warning: "Repent from sin. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove the menorah if you don't turn from sin!" This tells us that, 1) Yahusha wants to be represented by the menorah, and 2) Not being represented by the menorah shows we have not repented. 

YHWH did not make the menorah with nine lights.

I believe we owe the world an accurate symbol of YHWH.

And that is the seven-branch menorah. The symbol of the cross is questionably used as Scripture strongly implies that the Messiah was put to death on a tree and a tool of murder is inappropriate to use to represent YHWH. The Star of David is never ordained by Scripture so I think it's reasonable to not use that a symbol of the faith.

YHWH himself designed the seven-branch menorah. That's the symbol of our faith.

Related posts:
Menorahs in Scripture
Why Hanukkah is Not a Biblical Holiday
Messianic Customs That Are Not From Scripture