He trusted in the LORD God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments – 2 Kings 18:5-6.

That is a great relationship model for us today. Hezekiah "held fast," which means in Hebrew to cling, follow closely or pursue hard. How many professing Christians do we see today pursuing the Savior with tenacity? Hezekiah also "kept" God's commandments, which doesn't mean he simply reserved a Torah scroll for the royal library. Hezekiah had the Torah written on His heart, not just parchment. The Hebrew word for "kept" means to hedge about, guard, look narrowly.

In other words, the king took his relationship with YHVH seriously. Obeying God's word wasn't an obligation, but a privilege. And how does God respond to Hezekiah's loyalty? Verse 7 says "the LORD was with him; he prospered wherever he went." The Hebrew rendering for "prospered" denotes understanding and wisdom, not material wealth. LORD, create in us a heart like Hezekiah's, devoted to You and Your kingdom. May we pursue hard after You.

Messengers of Messiah, a Hebraic roots ministry, has made available three of its books for free online: Christianity's Misconceptions of Tithing, Christianity's Misconceptions of Women, and What Really Happened at Pentecost. Authors Peter and Christie Michas are solid, grounded Bible teachers. I have read all three and highly recommend them. As the titles suggest, the books expose doctrinal errors in mainstream Christianity. Look for the free books and booklets on the left column of their website here. The ministry plans to offer two more of its books for free online in the next two to four months: The Scriptural Birth Date of Messiah Yeshua, and The Rod of an Almond Tree in God's Master Plan.

Passover is the spring feast that commemorates the death and resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth, our Passover Lamb. Two years ago in March, as Christians around the world were preparing to observe Easter, I picked up a different signal: God was calling His church to rally around Passover, which fell in late April in 2008.

I also felt a sense of urgency but didn't know why. Then I heard a teaching by Peter and Christie Michas of Messengers of Messiah, a Hebraic Roots ministry in Southern California. I took notes and searched the Scriptures myself. And I agree with their conclusion: Passover is linked to the sign or mark of God and our eternal security in Him. Here's why:

Passover is the most significant Biblical feast because it points to God's finished work of redemption. God tells Moses in Exodus 13:9 that Passover "shall be a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes." What kind of sign or mark would God give those who keep Passover? We believe it is the seal introduced in Ezekiel 9:4. Here, God places a seal on the forehead of Jews who shun idolatry. The Hebrew text identifies the mark as a "tav," the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet.

In the ancient Hebrew pictographic script (see chart), the tav resembles two crossed sticks or a cross. One of the most significant uses of the tav is found in columns of the Great Isaiah Scroll, one of the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947. Eleven tav symbols appear in margins next to Messianic passages. In Revelation 22:13 Yeshua calls Himself the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. In Hebrew it is translated Aleph and Tav.

Jews who were sealed with a "tav" in Ezekiel 9 were protected from God's wrath. Ezekiel 8 exposes the offenses that incited God's anger, including veneration of the sun god Tammuz and an image of jealousy, which scholars identity as the fertility goddess Astarte (also known as Ishtar or Easter). Tammuz was a counterfeit savior born on Dec. 25. Those same abominations flourish in the church today. Tammuz (Christmas) and Astarte (Easter) were assimilated into Christianity in the fourth century. Easter is a paganized substitution for Passover.

Similarly, Revelation 13:16 says followers of the beast will receive a mark on the forehead or right hand. But it is not a barcode, tattoo or implanted chip as many Christians today believe. The mark we receive reflects the belief system we take into our heart and mind, symbolically the forehead and hand. It is unseen by man.

Revelation 13:18 asks those with understanding to calculate the number of the beast. The Greek word for "calculate," psephizo, means to count or vote with pebbles. The ancient Greeks voted by dropping pebbles into urns. In a court of justice a white pebble represented acquittal and a black stone condemnation. Yeshua says in Revelation 2:17 He will give a white stone to those who overcome the beast system. The mark we receive is determined by how we vote with our stone. Our vote reflects what is in our heart and mind.

Peter Michas believes the Greek letter chi, which looks like an "X," represents the mark of the beast. The chi and the Hebrew letter tav look almost identical, suggesting that Satan has counterfeited God's mark. The "X" is an ancient symbol linked to sun worship. Tammuz, whom the Greeks called Bacchus, was depicted with chi symbols, or crosses, on his headband. When people violate God's calendar by observing Christmas and Easter they invite the beast's mark. They choose the black stone.

Does that mean God will condemn every Christian who observes Christmas and Easter? No. God knows those who love Him. I believe He extends grace to the believer who participates out of ignorance. But if a Christian learns about the pagan roots of Easter and Christmas and continues to willfully participate, that is dangerous ground spiritually. It is adultery in God's eyes.

If we choose the white stone we need to heed Exodus 13:3, a Passover command included in the cube-shaped boxes that Jewish males wear on their forehead and left arm in morning prayer: "Remember this day in which you went out of Eygpt, out of the house of bondage." The word "remember" in Hebrew, zakar, represents a mark that can be recognized. It is used in the infinitive form, meaning the subject should be remembered constantly. Why remember Passover? Not only did God's strong hand free the Israelites from slavery, it delivered us from the bondage of sin through the Passover sacrifice of His Son.

God grants that pardon freely when we place our trust in Yeshua alone, turn from sin and serve Him obediently. To maintain a healthy relationship with Him it is critical that we mature in our faith (1 Pet. 2:2), divide the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15) and worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). God will reveal the truth, including the significance of His calendar, to all who seek it earnestly. But with this knowledge comes accountability. When we are exposed to the truth we must choose between the white and black stone, and Yeshua asks us to count the cost. God will mark us accordingly.

Addendum – In preparation for the first Passover in Egypt, God tells Moses in Exodus 12:13 that the blood of sacrificial lambs "shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are." The Hebrew word for "sign," ot (pronounced "oat"), is spelled with the Hebrew letters aleph, vav and tav (modern Hebrew letters displayed). The vav is dropped and inferred only in the pronunciation. That leaves the aleph and tav, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In Greek it is translated alpha and omega. Yeshua identifies Himself as the Alpha and Omega in Rev. 22:13. The sign points to the shed blood of Yeshua, our Passover Lamb.

Mary Galione could not deflect the piercing gaze of the missionary. Sitting in the back pew of a crowded Johnsville, Pa., church, the 15-year-old squirmed as the man pointed and called to her, "Young lady, come up here please."

Mary left her seat and nervously approached the altar. "Was your father in the war?" asked the missionary from Guyana.

"Yes."

"God is going to use you greatly," he said.

A second missionary, also from Guyana, walked over and asked his partner, "Who is she?"

"Her father was the liberator."

"Whom did he liberate?" the second missionary asked.

"German concentration camps . . . her father's journey was behind it all, but he hasn't told anyone." He turned to Mary and added, "Your father walked. He took a journey and walked for miles. He hasn't told you yet, but he has a story to tell you and the Lord will use you greatly to touch nations."

Mary didn't know what a liberator was. When she returned home she asked her father what he did in World War II. He acknowledged playing a significant role as a U.S. Army private and promised to share his story one day. "Oh! Tell me now," Mary pleaded.

"No. It's not time yet."

John Galione had a secret. In April 1945 he stumbled upon an unmarked tunnel in Germany's Harz Mountains. His discovery saved the lives of hundreds of European Jews and impacted the course of world history.

It took 30 years for John to fully share his war experience with Mary. In 2004 she documented her father's testimony in the book, The Journey of Private Galione, five years after his death. Although the book has touched lives, including Holocaust survivors and their families, John remains a forgotten hero. No one named a school or dedicated a ball field after him. The military has never decorated him.

Galione's journey began with little fanfare. He was resting with the 104th Infantry Division on the front lines near Lippstadt, Germany, when a foul odor drifted into camp. Galione was troubled but didn't know why. He expressed his concern to a sergeant, who told him the smell might be linked to a rumored labor camp. Galione asked if he could search the area but was denied permission by the sergeant, who was wary of a German ambush. The 104th had fought bravely in Europe but many of its men had grown tired of taking risks.

Galione wasn't one of them. About 9 p.m. on April 5 he slipped out of camp and headed for the nearest railroad tracks, hoping they would lead to the source of the odor. Galione's plan was to search all night, if necessary, and return before morning roll call. He left camp 18 hours after his sergeant refused him permission, a delay that would haunt him the rest of his life.

Galione disappeared into the darkness alone. But he soon had company. After following the tracks for several hours he felt someone nudge him from behind. He turned but didn't see anyone. Then the force grabbed him by the elbows and pushed him forward. Galione marveled at the timing: He was shoved just as he was thinking of turning back because of fatigue and hunger. "My legs were tired but something was making me walk, telling me to keep following the trains," he said. "Somehow it gave me the strength to keep going."

Five days later the tracks led Galione to the mouth of a tunnel. Hidden inside was the Nazi's top-secret V1 and V2 missile factory. Next to the tunnel stood a cluster of buildings surrounded by a fence and locked gate. It was the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp, which supplied slave labor to the underground Mittelwerk plant. More than 20,000 Dora laborers died manufacturing the world's first ballistic missiles in harsh, degrading conditions. Jewish and non-Jewish prisoners who were caught sabotaging missiles were tortured and hanged. The V weapons killed more people during production than in launched attacks against European cities. He didn't know it then, but Galione had beaten the advancing Russian Army to Germany's prized rocket technology.

The Calvinistic doctrine of predestination falsely portrays God as a cold and calculating ruler. From His heavenly throne He determines who lives and dies spiritually. He appoints eternal life to the "elect," and eternal damnation to everyone else. Man's free will is irrelevant. It is an elitist, arrogant theology that violates Scripture and God's character.

The passage above says God is good to ALL. His grace is not limited to a few lucky souls who happen to win a celestial lottery. In our western, Greco-Roman culture, good is an abstract thought. To a Hebrew, words represent actions. God expresses His goodness by extending kindness and mercy to all men – the just and unjust. Here's rabbinic commentary from the ArtScroll Tanach Series book on Psalms:

How different is our God from mortal kings who restrict their goodness and favors to a small group of courtiers and intimates! Only God is capable of bestowing beneficence upon every one of His creatures. Moreover, if a mortal king is challenged by rebels he will seek revenge. Not so our Almighty God: He seeks the welfare of the wicked who defy Him and tries to inspire them to repentance.

I need to stop watching cable news. Too upsetting. Everywhere you look, good is called evil, and evil good. People in positions of power and influence seem incapable of making just, common-sense decisions. It's like we're living in Bizarro World, the fictional, cube-shaped planet in Superman comics where everything done or said is backward.

But despair not. Messiah Yeshua offers us rest in a world of chaos and calamity. But what does that look like? Strong's renders the Hebrew word for "rest," shaqat, as idleness, stillness or quietness. In our western mindset, that can mean a lot of things. But look at the picture that unfolds when we translate the word shaqat in the ancient Hebrew pictographic script, which dates back to Moses. Deciphering Hebrew symbols is not an exact science – this was once a lost language – but we can, at the very least, make a good guess with the aid of resource books like Jeff Benner's Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible. Here's our picture (Hebrew is read right to left):

It's the Nativity season and wise men are nowhere to be found. That's the conclusion of Skip Moen, who picked Christmas to reflect on the foolishness of man. Here are excerpts from today's blog entry:

How far we have wandered from God's revealed truth! How much of our "faith" remains unexamined, the inheritance of a tradition of syncretism rather than attentive listening to the voice of our God! We have not meditated on the majesty of God nor have we stood in awe before His hidden plan. We think we know Him. Our arrogance and hubris are beyond comprehension. We don't even follow Him in the details He does provide yet we have the audacity to suppose we understand what He is doing.

Here's the punch line: On this day, when Christendom celebrates the birth of the Messiah with a pagan festival, do we stand before the Lord of hosts with humble confession that we do not understand Him? Can we say, "Lord, I can't even imagine why you love me?" Are we numbed with the thought that He is working a reality we only most dimly comprehend? Can we be satisfied to trust His plan even when it is hidden in the dark mystery of existence? Or will we insist that we know what God is doing?

Sha'ul expounds in the next verse, saying he takes pleasure in reproaches, needs and persecutions. He didn't look for trouble, but when trouble found him while spreading the gospel – beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonment – he felt empowered by Messiah Yeshua. "When I am weak," he boasted, "then I am strong."

Secular society would scoff at such a thought. But that's the beauty of it. God has made foolish the wisdom of this world (1 Cor. 1:20). Sha'ul received this radical revelation while asking God to relieve him from an undisclosed affliction. The Lord answers firmly and with clarity, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Despite hardships and setbacks in ministry, Sha'ul finished the race. He kept the faith. As a result, we have Sha'ul's epistles – he wrote two-thirds of the New Testament – to help us overcome.

The Barry Moser illustration above, "Forty Stripes Minus One," depicts the apostle Paul. It is used with permission from Pennyroyal Caxton Press and Viking Studio. The use of images does not reflect, tacitly or implicitly, Moser's personal, political, theological or Biblical perspectives.

So what is truth? Western Christianity uses Greco-Roman language to express Hebraic ideas. Sometimes the message gets lost in translation. If the Bible is a Jewish book that points to a Jewish Messiah and Jewish wedding, why do we have to think like Greeks? Reading Scripture through a Hebraic lens helps us discern truth. God's message is unhindered.

Consider the common teaching that Jesus was abandoned by the Father during the crucifixion. Pastors quote the Lord in Matthew 27:46 – "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" – to suggest that the Father hid His face as the Son shouldered the sin of the world. But that is incorrect. In rabbinic tradition, when a Bible verse is quoted its entire text is implied. By quoting the opening words of Psalm 22, the Lord was telling the corrupt priests that He was the prophetic fulfillment of that Messianic psalm. Verses 16-18 were playing out before their eyes: "They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."

Yeshua had a purpose in everything He said and did. Even in His final hours of life He still was trying to draw all people to Himself (John 12:32), including the stiff-necked Pharisees watching Him hang from the tree. Yeshua did not quote Psalm 22 to complain about a division in the Godhead. Scripture shows clearly that the Father and Son were operating in perfect union and oneness at the cross. Yeshua says to the Father, "Forgive them, for they do not know what they do," and, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." Yeshua says in Mark 3:25 a house divided against itself cannot stand.

Pastors are also in error when they teach that Yeshua became sin literally on the cross. If that were true, the Son would have been viewed by the Father as a blemished sacrifice and rejected, thus invalidating His blood atonement for mankind. Yeshua offered Himself without spot to God (Hebrews 9:14). In the Old Testament sacrificial system, the sinner laid hands on the animal to transfer the liability of guilt and punishment. At no time did the innocent subject become sin or sinful. We must also examine 2 Corinthians 5:21 carefully – "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." The word "be" is in italics, meaning it is not in the original Greek. Bible scholars agree that the phrase "to be sin" would be better rendered "bearing the penalty for our sins."

Some pastors take false teaching to the extreme, claiming that Christ not only became sinful, but went to hell and had to be born again. That is utter nonsense. The Lord told the repentant thief on the cross he would join Him that day in paradise. He was referring to Sheol Paradise or Abraham's Bosom, the underworld holding area where Old Testament saints rested and waited for Messiah. When Yeshua ascended to heaven 40 days after His resurrection He took those saints with Him (Ephesians 4:8). Some argue that 1 Peter 3:19 describes Messiah descending to hell – "He went and preached to the spirits in prison." Not true. The Lord was announcing from Sheol Paradise His victory over sin and death. It would have been heard by the captives in Sheol Torment, an area inhabited by the unsaved and separated from Sheol Paradise by an abyss. Paradise is now in heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

Revelation 1:5 describes Messiah as the "firstborn from the dead," but does not mean He was born again. According to Bible commentator David Stern, Yeshua is the firstborn (or foremost, chief) of those raised from the dead. In other words, He is the first to demonstrate power over the grave.

How do we study through a Hebraic lens? Here are some recommended resources: The Bible (first and foremost . . . read it daily!), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary, Accordance Bible software, ArtScroll Tanach Series, Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible (Jeff A. Benner).

God is a masterful creator. I saw evidence during a 3.5-mile hike to Ramona Falls in Oregon's Mt. Hood National Forest in late June. This lacy waterfall cascades over a 120-foot basalt apron. As I stood behind my Nikon D200 and tripod to snap the photo above, I couldn't help but marvel: the LORD, Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth, created a masterpiece here. Less than a mile down the trail, a wall of columnar basalt rises 200 feet above Ramona Creek. Its face resembles abstract art. Spots and streaks of orange highlight the dark gray rock. It looks like natural graffiti.

As I hiked out my thoughts drifted to Colossians 1:16, a passage about Yeshua, the firstborn over all creation: "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him." Ramona Falls is a rock sculpture, moved and shaped by the hand of God. I'm grateful Yeshua freely shares His fine art with mankind.

In 2006 I heard the same dialogue – almost word for word – in the ABC miniseries "The Ten Commandments." Facing the Red Sea, Moses (Dougray Scott) looks panicked as he hears the roar of approaching Egyptian chariots. God speaks to Moses in a still small voice and Moses responds softly in this brief exchange:

God: "You know who I AM"
Moses: "Yes"
God: "Do you trust Me?"
Moses: "Yes."

Both encounters had similar outcomes: God showed up. My wife survived breast cancer, and the Israelites the exodus. I believe God still would have drawn close and comforted us had He chosen not to heal Alisa. We were safe in His hands, regardless of the outcome.

Overall I was not impressed with the miniseries; the script often strayed from Scripture. But in this brief scene a secular network captured what a genuine relationship with the LORD should look and sound like. Here is the YouTube clip:

Some of you might be facing a trial or crisis. It could be sickness, unemployment, a broken relationship. But don't lose hope. Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth is near to those who call upon His name. He sees your tears. He hears your cries. And the great I AM is asking you softly, "Will you trust Me?"

The position of the tav in Boylan's diagram is also a picture of the crucifixion. The cross symbol touches the middle Hebrew letter of the highlighted text. The tav is flanked by six letters to the right and six to the left. Six is recognized biblically as the number of man. Yeshua was nailed to a crossbar with thieves on his right and left (Mark 15:27-28), fulfilling Isaiah 53:12, "He was numbered with the transgressors."

Jewish scholars have been mining embedded nuggets from Scripture by hand for centuries. Boylan, a Gentile, says his research is a "non-interactive method wherein God Himself is the revealer and the reader becomes nothing more than a passive observer. . . . Our study is about God and is not some fanciful attempt to predict the future. These are teachings about God alone, His Nature, His Being and His Will as regarding His creation and our human understanding about Who He is and What He wants us to know about Him and His Messiah."

Most are familiar with the beginning of the Aaronic blessing: "May the LORD bless you and keep you (Numbers 6:24)." We often read or say these words without really knowing what they mean. The words "bless" and "keep" are abstract words which we are familiar with in English. But the ancient Hebrews were concrete thinkers who related all things to concrete ideas.

The Hebrew word for "bless" is "barak" which literally means "to kneel." A berakah is a "blessing" but more literally, the bringing of a gift to another on a bended "knee." When we bless God or others we are in essence bringing a gift on bended "knee." A true king is one who serves his people, one who will humble himself and come to his people on a bended knee.

The Hebrew word for "keep" is "shamar" which literally means "to guard." A related word is "shamiyr" which means "thorn." When the shepherd was out in the wilderness with his flock, he would construct a corral of thorn bushes to protect the sheep from predators, a guarding over of the sheep.

With this more Hebraic concept of Hebrew words we can now read the beginning of the Aaronic blessing as, "Yahweh will kneel before you presenting gifts and will guard you with a hedge of protection." The remaining portions of the Aaronic blessing can also be examined for its original Hebraic meaning revealing the following:

Yahweh will kneel before you presenting gifts and will guard you with a hedge of protection, Yahweh will illuminate the wholeness of his being toward you bringing order and he will beautify you, Yahweh will lift up his wholeness of being and look upon you and he will set in place all you need to be whole and complete.

A ticket agent at John Wayne Airport broke the bad news: our flight had already left. Our only option to get home that night was flying out of LAX. Alaska Airlines graciously re-booked us and we rushed outside to catch a taxi. With our flight leaving in less than two hours, our driver took us on a harrowing ride on LA's freeway system, traveling at speeds up to 90 mph. Traffic was unusually light and Speed Racer got us to the airport in about an hour. Relieved of $120 cab fare, we checked our bags, found our gate and exhaled. As our plane lifted from the runway I silently thanked the LORD for His protection and provision, and asked His forgiveness for my costly oversight.

Little did I know God still was working. My wife Alisa and daughter Brianne were sitting several rows in front of me. A stranger sat in the aisle seat next to my wife and I looked up several times to see them chatting. My wife introduced me to the passenger – a college tennis player named Joe – as I got off the plane. The student, a Christian who had converted from Mormonism five years earlier, was trying to return to school in Hawaii after participating in a Southwest tournament. Flying standby, he got as far as LAX, where he spent 24 hours waiting for a seat to open. Faced with spending a second night in the terminal, he caved in and booked a flight for Honolulu via Seattle. He purchased a ticket for Flight 245 about the time we arrived at LAX.

Joe shared his travel saga with my wife on the flight to Seattle, as well as the moving testimony of his Christian conversion. This young man loves the LORD. We landed at Sea-Tac around 11 p.m. but Joe's connecting flight wouldn't leave for another nine hours. Not eager to spend another night on the floor of a terminal, Joe gladly accepted our invitation to crash at our house. Joe is a serious student of the Word and we had a wonderful time of fellowship on the drive home. Our visit had several layers of ministry. Joe shared how his mother, whom his Mormon father divorced after she converted to Christianity, was struggling with abandonment and isolation. Joe asked Alisa is she would send his mother an email of encouragement, which Alisa did the next day. The last leg of Joe's journey was seamless. In the morning he hitched a ride with Alisa, who already had plans to drive our next-door neighbor to the airport. We received an email that Joe reached his destination safely.

Looking back, I marvel how God turned my blunder into a blessing. As our taxi screamed toward LAX the LORD was preparing a divine appointment. All for His glory.