Report from Israel #1

In the coming weeks, one of our long-time Canadian staff members, Janice Beurling, is going to contribute reports on her upcoming trip to Israel.

If you’ve never been to Israel, you’ll want to read about the adventures she and her family will have. If you have been to Israel, reading her reports will bring back many wonderful memories for you.

Janice explains the reason for her trip in the note below. Enjoy!


Shalom, Partners in Ministry

Later this week, I have the privilege of heading to Israel with my family. This won’t be a typical guided tour of the Land. I highly recommend visiting Israel with a tour group (I've been on three organized tours myself), but we're looking forward to the informality of this trip. Here are a few things that will make our trip different:

· Our visit will last for three weeks, not the usual eight or ten days of a guided tour.

· Rather than staying in a hotel, we’ve booked a three-bedroom apartment in Jerusalem for the duration of our stay.

· Instead of travelling about on a tour bus, we plan to use public transit, cabs and a rental car.

· We’re going to shop in local stores and markets for our food – not hotel restaurants.

· We’ve planned and arranged most of our itinerary on our own rather than rely on travelling with a guide.

· We plan to visit some of the typical highlights of a tour, but at our own pace.

· We’re going to visit a number of less well-known tourist sites that don’t make it onto most tour itineraries.

But there’s another element that will make our trip a little different.

Last summer, my father, Rick Beurling, was contacted by a representative of the Israeli Ministry of Defense and invited to visit Israel as their guest. The purpose of this invitation was to honour Dad’s brother, the great Canadian WW2 fighter pilot, George Beurling (often called Buzz Beurling), who joined the Israeli Air Force in 1948 and who died before Israel’s War of Independence had ended.

Dad has been asked to lay a wreath at the Israeli Air Force service on Pilot’s Mountain outside Jerusalem during Israel’s Memorial Day (April 19); this day honours those who have died defending Israel or by terrorism. On another day, he will also have the privilege of attending a military memorial service for George at his grave in the Haifa Military Cemetery. Additional plans include a visit to one or two Israeli Air Force bases.

Needless to say, my mother, sister and I decided to join Dad and “supervise.”

I know that our Partners in Ministry love Israel and God’s chosen people and I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to share an unusual visit to Israel with you. I’ll be posting reports and photos from our three-week trip here.

Please pray for us as we expect to have many moments when we can explain to Israelis just why Christians love the Jewish people. (Because of the Jewish Messiah, of course!)

Lord willing, we’ll arrive in Jerusalem on Thursday, so start watching the blog for our reports on Friday!

Shalom in Jesus,

Janice Beurling
Director of Communications
Chosen People Ministries (Canada)

Hanukkah, a Festival of Light and Dedication

by Joseph Gray, Canadian Director

Here is an interesting Bible trivia question: Where in the canonical books of the Bible (Protestant and Jewish canon) do we find reference to the Feast of Hanukkah?
Many people will quickly jump to the Hebrew Bible assuming that they will find the reference to Hanukkah there. Although the full account of the story of Hanukkah may be found in the Apocryphal Books of Maccabees (accepted in the Catholic canon of the Bible), there is no reference to the Feast of Hanukkah in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). The reason for this is that the events of Hanukkah take place at a relatively later date, during the inter-testamental period; the Maccabean revolt and the events celebrated at Hanukkah took place about 166 BCE.

So, apart from the Books of Maccabees in the Apocrypha, is there a reference to Hanukkah in the Protestant or Jewish Canon? The answer is yes. Surprisingly, this reference may be found in the B’rit Hadashah (New Testament). In John 10: 22-23a we read, “At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the temple.” Hanukkah in Hebrew means dedication. By the time of Yeshua (Jesus) Jewish people celebrated this joyous winter festival of dedication and light.

It is certainly appropriate that Yeshua, a fully observant Jew, would be in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Hanukkah. Many of the miraculous events Hanukkah commemorates took place in the city of Jerusalem a mere 130 years before His time on earth.

Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees and their small band of Jewish freedom fighters over the Syrian Greek army and the tyrannical king, Antiochus IV. Antiochus had desecrated the holy Temple in Jerusalem by offering pagan sacrifices there. He also outlawed the practices of Judaism and the study of Torah (the Law). Jews who violated his harsh edicts were cruelly tortured and murdered.

After defeating the powerful armies of King Antiochus, the Maccabees and their followers set about cleaning up and rededicating the temple in Jerusalem, preparing it for renewed worship. Unfortunately they found only a small supply of sacred olive oil. This amount of holy oil would be enough to light the menorah (lamp stand) in the Temple for only one day. It would take eight more days to prepare new oil for the Temple menorahs. The great miracle of Hanukkah is that the tiny measure of oil burned for those eight days until the new supply of oil could be prepared.


According to one ancient rabbinical account, when the Temple was rededicated at the time of the Maccabees, a new altar was built. The desecrated stones from the former altar were set aside; they were unfit for sacred sacrifice. However, because they had been intended and used for sacred purpose, they could not simply be discarded. The leaders were unsure what to do with these stones, so they were set aside in the hope that, when the Messiah came, He would tell them what to do with them.

How appropriate it is that John tells us it was the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) and Yeshua was in the temple. Yeshua, the long awaited Messiah of Israel and the True Light of the world appears in Jerusalem, in the temple, during this festival that celebrates the miracle of light! Truly, He came to cleanse our earthly temples and to fill them with the glory of God.


Yeshua said, “I am the Light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

At this joyous season of light, may you know the light of the Messiah Jesus and the joy of walking in Him.

Purim and Yom Kippur?

by Joseph Gray, Canadian Director

Purim has always been one of my favourite Jewish holidays. The story of Purim centres on a young Jewish girl, Esther. God raised her up though a series of dramatic twists and turns to become Queen of Persia and then used her to help save the Jewish people from almost certain destruction at the hand of the wicked Persian Prime Minister, Haman. The powerful drama of the story of Esther captures the imagination each time it is told.


At Purim, we gather to read the Book of Esther and celebrate with seasonal treats. For example, Hamantaschen is a sweet pastry baked especially at Purim that is meant to look like a three-cornered hat (Haman’s hat). Purim is a time of joyous masquerade and fun. Children are encouraged to raucously join in the fun by grinding their groggers (toy noise-makers) to drown out the name of wicked Haman.

For all this fun and festivity, is there a more serious meaning to the feast of Purim?

Rabbi Joseph Karo, a medieval Jewish scholar and mystic, once wrote a treatise noting a parallel between Purim and Yom Kippur. This seems incredibly strange considering that Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and Purim are so completely different in their mood and tone. Yom Kippur is probably the most sombre and serious of all the Jewish festivals, a day of fasting and repentance. Purim, on the other hand, is a day of joyous celebration. As we remember how God used Esther to save Israel from destruction, our celebrations take on a near comical tone. What could these two festivals possibly have in common?

Rabbi Karo noticed the similarities in the Hebrew names of these two holidays. “Yom ha Kippurim” (the Day of Atonement), he wrote, sounds interestingly like the Lord was saying that the Day of Atonement was “a day like Purim.” Although on the surface we know that the name Purim comes from the Persian word for “lots” (lots were drawn by Haman to determine his planned date for the destruction of the Jewish people), is Rabbi Karo’s theory too farfetched?

Let me suggest an interesting connection. We read in the Torah that on Yom Kippur the High Priest would enter into the Temple and then the Holy of Holies to make sacrifice and intercession for his own sins and for the sins of the people of Israel. It was as if God in His gracious mercy provided this vehicle, this action if you will, to expiate Israel’s sins. Purim, on the other hand, shows the gracious redeeming and saving action of our God on Israel’s behalf with little or no participation on the part of His people (no priests, no temple). In the story of Purim, God used a powerless Jewish girl (Esther), her praying uncle (Mordecai) and a Gentile King (Achashverosh), to save His people Israel from destruction. He saved both the righteous and the unrighteous among Israel. God saved Israel simply because He is the faithful, merciful God of the covenant.

In the Brit Hadashah (The Renewed Covenant), Rabbi Sha’ul writes, “He [God] made Him Who had no sin [Yeshua], to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteous of God.” Rabbi Sha’ul was drawing directly from the promises he had studied in the Prophet Isaiah: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment which brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

As we celebrate with joy at Purim, we again recognize God’s amazing love. The Jewish people did nothing to merit or earn God’s miraculous rescue at Purim. God saved us because He loves Israel and is faithful to His covenantal promises (even when we are faithless). Even greater is the miracle of Israel’s future total national redemption to which Purim points. As Rabbi Sha’ul once wrote, “In this way all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26). May that day of Messiah’s coming return be soon.

Have a wonderful Purim!

Hanukkah - Freedom, Light and Oil

by Joseph Gray, Canadian Director

Hanukkah is certainly one of the most joyful of the Jewish festivals. Families gather around the brightly glowing Hanukkah candles, one added for each of the eight nights of the festival. Eight joyful nights of songs, story telling, and thanksgiving for the great miracle God performed in the days of the Maccabees.

At Hanukkah we commemorate the great victory Judah Maccabee and his small band of Jewish zealots had over the tyrant Antiochus IV and his armies. We remember also the greater miracle of the small flask of oil which, although a supply sufficient for just one day, burned for eight days in the newly liberated, cleansed and rededicated Temple in Jerusalem.

Among these reasons to rejoice, three themes emerge as we celebrate Hanukkah, freedom, light and oil. Why is each of these important for us today?

As we study and retell the story of Hanukkah, some people of today might find it hard to relate to the zeal of the Maccabees and their freedom-loving band of followers. Why, we might ask, would someone be willing to risk his life and security for what many might consider a minor religious or philosophical disagreement? After all, the Hellenistic culture Antiochus was trying to impose upon the Jewish people had much to offer. Hellenistic art, philosophy, architecture and poetry were sophisticated, modern and impressive. In fact, the influences of Hellenistic culture continue to impact our culture to this day. Some influential Jewish voices at the time of the Maccabee revolt argued for compromise and inclusiveness. Why make such a fuss over this alien culture? Couldn’t a compromised, modern version of Judaism emerge as a hybrid Judeo-Hellenism? Certainly it wasn’t worth losing your life over, was it?

Having to choose between unadulterated biblical faith and the worldview of the prevailing culture is something the people of God have always faced. Joshua challenged the children of Israel at Shechem, “If following the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves whom you will serve. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Later in Israel’s history, Elijah the prophet also called for a choice: “How long will you waiver between two opinions? If the Lord is God then follow Him. If Ba’al is God then follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). Like Phinehas, who stood up and took a radical stand against Israel’s compromise with the immorality of the Midianite culture (Numbers 25), there have always been faithful voices in Israel to call us to teshuvah (repentance) and to turn back to God. These brave voices, like the Maccabees, have often been in the minority; to most people, their convictions have seemed unenlightened and out of touch with modern culture.

For those like the Maccabees who took their stand for God, even at the cost of their lives, the choice was clear. The human soul is created for God. To live in disobedience to God’s Law is suicide. The choice is as simple as that. Those who stood faithfully upon the promises of God, even at the expense of shedding their own blood in martyrdom, fully understood what was at stake. In the hands of God, the precious offering of one life can be used to perform great miracles. Like that small flask of pure temple oil, our seemingly small lives can burn brightly with God’s Spirit when we fully offer ourselves to Him.

Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah of Israel and of all mankind, taught in Jerusalem at Hanukkah. He said, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. For this reason my Father loves me, because I lay down my life for the sheep. I lay it down only to take it up again” (John 10:14-17). Yeshua also taught, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

At Hanukkah we celebrate the miracle of the oil and God’s gift of freedom and light. May you and those you love be blessed this year with the greatest gift of all – freedom, joy and the light of Messiah Jesus.

The High Holy Days

By Joseph Gray, Canadian Director

At this time of year, Jewish people around the world enter into the most solemn and holy season in the Jewish calendar. Known as the Days of Awe, these ten days begin with Rosh HaShanah (the New Year and the Biblical Feast of Trumpets) and ends with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The Days of Awe are a time of personal reflection, repentance and turning to God, culminating with Yom Kippur, a solemn day of fasting and prayers of repentance.

A Good Question
Since the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE (AD), the rabbis have taught that personal prayer, repentance and good deeds are sufficient to replace the biblical sacrifices required on the Day of Atonement. A good question we should ask as Jewish people is whether this rabbinic explanation is consistent with the instructions found in the Torah.

In Leviticus 17 we read, “I have given you the blood to make atonement.”

In chapter 16 of the same book, we read God’s original instructions to Israel concerning Yom Kippur. On this most holy day, the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to intercede on behalf of the people of Israel. The high priest could only enter into this holy space once a year on Yom Kippur. Before entering the Holy of Holies, the high priest had to prepare himself by ritual washing in the mikvah and personal sin sacrifices to atone for his and his family’s own sin.

This is important to remember. God gave Yom Kippur to Israel not out of His judgment for sin, but out of His deep grace, mercy and love for Israel.

In Leviticus 10, Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, had just been destroyed by fire from heaven because they entered into the Holy Place in a casual way. A few chapters later, God gave Israel the Day of Atonement as a sign of a greater atonement yet to come. God acted in mercy to restore the broken fellowship between Himself and Israel.

A Temporary Solution
The atonement sacrifices required on Yom Kippur could, however, only be temporary solutions, since the high priest himself was a sinner in need of continual atonement along with the people of Israel. The Yom Kippur sacrifices were also imperfect sacrifices, a sign of a more perfect sacrifice yet to come.

In addition to the special sacrifices on the Day of Atonement, the Bible commands that two goats be set apart for Yom Kippur. Lots were drawn and one goat was sacrificed for Israel. The other goat was chosen for Azzazel. Upon this second goat the high priest laid his hands and confessed the sins of the children of Israel. Then the goat was driven into the wilderness to die. According to tradition, a red ribbon was tied around the neck of the Azzazel goat, symbolic of the sins of Israel. Again, according to tradition, each year at Yom Kippur the ribbon miraculously turned white as a sign that Israel’s sins had been forgiven by God. Interestingly, this same tradition records that the Yom Kippur ribbon stopped turning white during the last generation that worshipped at the Temple.

The destruction of the Jerusalem temple by the Romans in 70 CE (AD) was and continues to be a traumatic moment in the history of the Jewish people. How could worship and atonement continue now that the temple had been destroyed?

As I mentioned earlier, many of our rabbis reached one conclusion. Prayer, repentance and good works, they taught, would now replace the temple sacrifices.

A Permanent Solution
But another voice arose at the same time, a voice that, perhaps, was more consistent with what the Hebrew Bible and the God of history had been saying all along. The writer of the Book of Hebrews, a Jewish follower of the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), encouraged the scattered exiles of Israel with these words:

“We have a better sacrifice and a better High Priest!”

Yeshua, Who is like us in every way, yet with out sin, offered His life as a complete and final atoning sacrifice. He is both the perfect sacrifice and Israel’s perfect High Priest. He lives to intercede for us before the throne of glory. Unlike the ancient temple sacrifices, His sacrifice does not need to be repeated each Yom Kippur. That’s a Yom Kippur that we can believe in and even celebrate with joy!

May you and your loved ones, be blessed with a sweet New Year and the assurance that your name has been written in the Lamb’s (Yeshua’s) Book of Life.

Tisha B'Av ... From Sorrow to Hope

By Joseph Gray, Canadian Director

Tisha B’Av (the 15th of Av) is a Jewish fast day that falls this year on August 10. Other than the fast of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), Tisha B’Av is the most solemn day of remembrance in the Jewish calendar. What is it that makes this day so somber and why do Jewish people fast on it?

According to both history and rabbinic tradition, at least seven great tragedies befell the Jewish people on this date in history.

1. The rabbis teach that, on this day, God decreed the generation of Israelites in the desert would not enter the Promised Land because of their disbelief and willingness to accept the bad report of the unbelieving spies.

2. On this day in 587 BC, Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the armies of Babylon.

3. On this day in 70 AD, Herod’s temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army.

4. On this day in 135 AD, the last remaining Jewish stronghold of the Bar Kochbar rebellion was defeated by the Roman army at Betar.

5. On this day in 136 AD, the city of Jerusalem was completely plowed under by the Roman occupiers and Jews were forbidden to settle there by Roman law.

6. On this day in 1095 AD, the first crusade was launched, bringing great suffering and bloodshed to the scattered Jewish community across Europe and the Mid-East.

7. On this day in 1492, King Ferdinand expelled from Spain the 170,000 Jews living there under his rule.

Were all these tragic events simply an unhappy coincidence? Not according to many voices from the rabbinic tradition.

The book of the Bible traditionally read on Tisha B’Av is the Book of Lamentations. Tradition says that this book was written by the prophet Jeremiah at the time of the Babylonian exile. As well, the Hebrew name of Lamentations, “Aikah,” implies a plaintive dirge, “How could this happen?”

The rabbinic commentary on the book of Lamentations found in the Midrash Rabah draws an interesting parallel between the disobedience of Adam and the disobedience of Israel. Adam, whose Hebrew name may also mean “man” or “mankind” is representative of the human condition. In the opening chapters of Genesis, we read that God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden and gave him His (God’s) commandment. Adam disobeyed God’s commandment so God punished him (Adam) by driving him from the Garden. Interestingly, the same Hebrew word, “Aikah” (the title of the book of Lamentations), is spoken from the lips of God at the time of Adam’s disobedience (Genesis 3). This word is usually translated “Where are you?” and becomes God’s lament for the human condition after the fall. God lamented over Adam.

Rabbi Abbahu, writing in his commentary on Lamentations, draws a direct parallel between Adam’s fall and expulsion from Eden and Israel’s disobedience to God and expulsion from the Land into exile.

* Citing Hosea 6:7, he writes that the Israelites, like Adam, have transgressed God’s covenant.

* Like Adam, God placed Israel in the midst of a beautiful and bountiful land (Jeremiah 2:7).

* Like Adam, God gave His people Israel commandments (Deuteronomy 4:1).

* Israel, like Adam, transgressed those commandments (Daniel 9:5).

* God punished Israel, as He did Adam, by driving them from the Land (Hosea 9:15).

* As with Adam, God laments concerning fallen Israel’s condition.

How could this happen (Aikah)? Another Jewish rabbi, named Saul (the Apostle Paul), gives us the answer.

* Each of us, like Adam, has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

* The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Jesus (Romans 6:23).

In the midst of our sad remembrance of these tragic historic events from Jewish history, we are reminded of hope! Here is the greatest hope of all. Yeshua (Jesus) our Messiah has come that we might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).

The temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed. We lament its destruction on Tisha B’Av. Like Yeshua’s first disciples, we long for the day of His return and the full restoration of Messiah’s Kingdom. Now as we wait that glorious day of Messiah’s return, we wait with hope and assurance. God has given us His living Spirit to dwell in us; we are His holy temple and dwelling place (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Like Yeshua’s disciple Yochanan (John), we see past this earthly veil of tears and begin to see clearly, descending from heaven, a renewed and glorious temple, shining with the light of Messiah in the midst of the New Jerusalem.

From Passover to Shavuot ... A Journey from Bondage to New Life

By Joseph Gray, Canadian Director

From Passover to Shavuot? From Easter to Pentecost? Do these two springtime journeys have anything in common? As believers in Yeshua, both Jew and Gentile, what can we learn from this coincidence of the calendar?

Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, is now behind us. It is the feast that commemorates God’s miraculous redemption of the Jewish people from bondage in Egypt. Beginning on the second night of Passover, observant Jews fulfill the ancient tradition known as the Counting of the Omer. This tradition counts successively the 49 days between Passover and the next great spring feast, Shavuot; this year, Shavuot begins on the evening of Sunday, June 8.

What is the significance of this ancient custom? There are two major explanations for the Counting of the Omer. (There are more, but space will only allow for the two major most common explanations).

The first explanation is rooted in history and rabbinic tradition. The ancient rabbinic tradition says the 49 days mark the time of the journey of the children of Israel from redemption in Egypt to God’s great revelation at Mount Sinai. Accordingly, every Jewish person is encouraged to utilize this period of counting to further their own personal journey toward God and greater Torah observance in his or her life. The season becomes not only a time of remembrance of Israel’s journey but a symbolic picture of the human soul’s longing and journey toward God.

The second explanation is agricultural. Shavuot, following 49 days after the beginning of Passover, is also the great spring harvest festival. In the Land of Israel, it was the time for gathering in the spring grain harvest and for giving thanks to God for His provision. In Leviticus 23, we read that a measurement of grain was to be offered up on the second day of Passover as a First Fruits offering. This offering was also a symbol of the harvest yet to come. The First Fruits offering was presented after the Passover ‘Sabbath’ (the first day of Passover) was concluded on the second day of Passover.

Because no work – such as harvesting – could be done on the Sabbath, this ceremony’s offering of grain was set aside prior to Passover. In the year that Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) was nailed to the tree there were, most likely, two consecutive Sabbaths: the weekly Sabbath and the first day of Passover (a day kept as a Sabbath). This meant that the First Fruits offering was probably reserved on Thursday and then not offered until the third day (the first day of the week or our Sunday).

Suddenly God’s purposes become clear as we study this amazing alignment of holidays. A Jewish believer named Sha’ul (the Apostle Paul) wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:20: “Messiah has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of the resurrection!”

He goes on in verse 23 to clarify, “Messiah is the first fruit of the resurrection. Those who belong to Messiah are part of the resurrection harvest to come!”

I believe that, in the year Yeshua our Passover Lamb was sacrificed, at the very moment the Jewish priest held up the symbolic First Fruits offering, Yeshua was being raised by His Father from the grave.

What amazing good news! Yeshua has overcome sin and death by His sacrificial death and resurrection. But even better news is coming! Just as we carefully count the omer from Passover and, 49 days later, see the great spring harvest festival of Shavuot or Pentecost, we can remember that Yeshua is just the first fruits of the resurrection harvest to come!

Praise God, we who have trusted in Yeshua are a part of the great harvest that God has promised in Messiah!

Have a wonderful, joyous, Spirit-filled Shavuot!