The word "pleased" above does not capture the depth of emotion God felt while engaging Solomon in a private conversation. Visiting the newly-crowned king of Israel in a dream, the LORD had offered to give him anything he desired. It was an unprecedented demonstration of divine favor.

The Hebrew word for "pleased" in Hebrew, yatab, can mean a beautiful, sweet or joyful sound. Scripture allows us to eavesdrop and hear the sweetness of Solomon's answer: "I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people?"

Solomon's selfless response so moved God that He not only made him the world's wisest king, He gave him what he did not ask for: wealth and fame. God also promised to lengthen Solomon's days if he would keep His commandments, which sadly he failed to do after allowing foreign wives to dull his heart toward the LORD.

Solomon chose wisely as a young ruler, and so can we. We don't have to be a king to ask the King for discernment and understanding. When we ask for those spiritual gifts in humility and brokenness, as did Solomon, our speech is beautiful in God's ears.

That introduction launched my study into the Hebraic roots of Christianity, the most enriching and amazing journey of my life. Reading Scripture is a hunt for buried treasure; I do my digging with Hebrew and Greek Bible software as well as other resources. I rejoice every time the Holy Spirit leads me to a nugget, but I am always humbled by this reality: the more I know, the less I know. God's Word is too vast and deep. Who can know it? Paul writes in Ephesians 3:8 that the riches of Maschiach (Christ) are unsearchable.

In spite of my limitations, God has used the Biblical feasts to build a foundation of understanding. In recent weeks that area of study yielded some fresh insights. The Hebrew word for "feasts," mow'ed, can describe a sign or signal. As Passover approached in late April, I felt the LORD was signaling His church to rally around this Old Testament festival. I didn't know why fully until I heard a teaching by Peter and Christie Michas of Messengers of Messiah, a Hebraic Roots ministry in Southern California. I reviewed the Scriptures they presented and agreed with their conclusion: Passover is linked to the sign or mark of God and our eternal security in Him. Here is what I gleaned from the Michas teaching and my own study:

Passover is the most significant Biblical feast because it points to God's finished work of redemption, the death and resurrection of His Son. Those who honor God's calendar, specifically Passover, receive the sign of God (Exodus 13:9), which we believe is the tav, the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet. In Rev. 22:13 Yeshua identifies Himself the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. In Hebrew it is translated Aleph and Tav. In the ancient Hebrew alphabet, which is a pictographic script (see chart), the tav resembles two crossed sticks or a cross. It represents a mark, sign or signature.

Before a person can receive the tav of God, he or she must choose wisely. In Rev. 13:16 the beast causes people to receive a mark on their forehead or right hand. This is not an implanted chip, barcode or tattoo as many Christians believe. The mark reflects the belief system we take into our heart and mind, symbolically the forehead and hand. It is unseen by man. Verse 18 asks those with understanding to calculate the number of the beast. "Calculate" comes from the Greek verb psephizo, meaning 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 uses the same Greek word in Luke 14:28 when he asks us to "count" the cost before following Him. The Greek noun psephos, which has the same word origin and meaning, is used to describe the white stone in Rev. 2:17 that the Lord will give those who overcome. The mark we receive is determined by how we cast our voting stone. Our vote reflects what we have in our heart and mind.

In Ezekiel 9:4, Jews who grieve over the idolatry polluting Jerusalem are sealed with a tav on their forehead. In the previous chapter, God shows the prophet a series of abominations in the city. The violations include an image of jealousy, which scholars identify as Astarte (also known as Ishtar or Easter), and women weeping for Tammuz, a sun god and counterfeit savior born on Dec. 25. Those two abominations flourish in the church today. Astarte (Easter) and Tammuz (Christmas) were assimilated into Christianity in the fourth century. Because the beast desires to corrupt God's calendar, his mark would be the antithesis of God's seal. Therefore Christmas and Easter would represent a black stone.

Choosing the white stone requires us to heed Exodus 13:3-9, a passage included in the cube-shaped boxes that Jewish males wear on their forehead and left arm in morning prayer: "Remember this day (Passover) in which you went out of Eygpt, out of the house of bondage . . . . It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD's law (Torah) may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt." The Hebrew word for "sign," 'owth, can mean a mark, beacon or signal. 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.

A foul odor drifted into the camp of the American 104th Infantry Division. Private John Galione, resting with his unit on the front lines in Germany, told his sergeant the smell troubled him and suggested it was coming from a rumored labor camp in the area. He asked if he could organize a scouting party to follow railroad tracks in the direction of the odor. Permission was denied because of an ambush threat.

With a growing sense of urgency, Galione ignored the order. About 9 p.m. on April 5, 1945, he slipped out of camp on foot and into the blackness of night. Several hours later fatigue, hunger and a nagging leg wound began taking a toll. Just as Galione thought of quitting he felt a nudge from behind. He turned but saw no one. Then the force grabbed his elbows, pointed him in the original direction and gave him another push. Instantly his strength returned and pain disappeared.

Five days later the tracks led Galione to the mouth of a tunnel carved into the Harz Mountains. Hidden inside was the Nazi's top-secret V-2 missile factory. To the right of the tunnel was the Mittelbau Dora Concentration Camp. The discovery by this lone soldier set in motion the liberation of prisoner camps across Europe and impacted the future of America and the world.

He was using code, as it were, to let Yeshua know he recognized and received Him as Messiah. Luke 18:40 describes the response: Yeshua stood still and commanded the man to be brought to Him. As far as we know, no other person was called out. Yeshua was stopped by a simple, sincere appeal for mercy. Within days He would fulfill God's ultimate expression of mercy, offering Himself as a Passover sacrifice for the sin atonement of mankind.

The blind man had 20/20 vision spiritually. Moved by his faith, Yeshua granted his request to have his physical sight restored. The man expressed his gratitude by following Yeshua and glorifying God, the same heart response we find in Psalm 86:12-13, "I will glorify Your name forevermore. For great is Your mercy toward me."

Yeshua today sits at the right hand of the Father. We can assume He is quite busy interceding for believers, receiving worship in heaven and preparing for His return to earth as Davidic King. But when someone on earth cries to Him for mercy, I believe His response is the same as it was in Jericho. Moved with compassion, Yeshua stands still and fixes His gaze on the person with spiritual eyes.

Snapshots from our exodus (vacation, actually) to Southern California during Passover week:

• Street evangelists were witnessing at Huntington Beach with great urgency. Two pastors stood on a street corner sharing the gospel with teenagers, who looked distracted and disinterested. Alisa and I sensed a spiritual battle raging in front of us. We introduced ourselves to the pastors when they were finished and offered encouragement. We told them we felt the LORD was very pleased with their labor. Pastor Mario said they've been spit upon, punched and cursed, yet a few have been saved and discipled.

We returned three days later and saw Ray Comfort ministering at the Huntington Beach Pier. He stood on a box with a microphone positioned a few feet away, pointed toward the crowd. He invited individuals to come forward and challenge him on issues of faith. Some railed against God. Comfort rebuked one man for blaspheming. At least some hearts were ready to receive God's mercy; Comfort baptized new converts in the surf that afternoon.

• Attended a Passover seder in Anaheim, hosted by Ben David Messianic Congregation. More than 200 attended. The speaker, Doug Friedman, reminded us that just as the Israelites were delivered from the bondage of slavery in Egypt, we are delivered from another form of slavery – sin – through the shed blood of Messiah Yeshua.

• The previous night we had "church" in the middle of Downtown Disney, an outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment complex next to Disneyland Resort. We had paused to listen to world-class violinist Drew Tretick when a member of his support team, a woman in her 40s, approached and asked if I was a pastor. I said I had no ministry title or credentials, but the woman, who said she was a Christian, felt safe enough to open her heart to us. She confided that she and her mother were struggling with depression, and two brothers were yet unsaved. We prayed with her and told her we'd keep her family on our prayer list once we got home. The LORD quickened Jeremiah 32:27 and I shared with her His words – "Is there anything too hard for Me?"

After fellowshipping for a half hour she excused herself to assist Tretick, who also is a believer. We moved a few feet to our left and stood in the crowd as Tretick began playing again (he includes the movie theme from Schindler's List in his music set, which I appreciate). Suddenly we felt someone brush against us from behind. Our new friend had nudged herself between us. We responded by leaning into her. Yeshua used us as His arms to remind this precious one that her future was secure in Him.

The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Yeshua was crucified on 14 Nisan by Temple guards – not Romans – while the Passover lambs were slaughtered in Jerusalem. After sacrificing the last animal the high priest would walk into the court and declare with outstretched arms, "It is finished!" Yeshua's last words, with arms outstretched on the tree, were "It is finished!" God's great plan of redemption was complete. Messiah arose three days later on 17 Nisan, a Saturday. Because these dates change year to year on the Gregorian calendar, resurrection day in 2008 falls on Tuesday, April 22. Most Christians observed Messiah's death and resurrection three weeks ago on Easter, a violation of God's appointed times. Most Easter customs – sunrise services, bunnies, colored eggs, Easter lilies and hot cross buns – are rooted in paganism. Easter is the name of a fertility goddess.

In preparation for the first Passover in Egypt, Moses commanded Israelites on this day – 10 Nisan – to take an unblemished male lamb into their home for four days. The lamb would be slaughtered on 14 Nisan and its blood applied to doorposts, marking the home so the death angel would "pass over" the family and spare its first born. The four days gave family members time to grow attached to the animal and impress upon them the costly nature of the sacrifice – innocent blood shed for them.

Jews in Jerusalem had four days to grow attached to Yeshua after He entered the city on 10 Nisan. Although the corrupt priests were intent on killing Him, the Lamb of God won the affection of many. A great multitude lined the road with tallits and palm branches to greet Messiah. Children shouted "Hosanna to the Son of David!" – a Messianic name – after Yeshua drove out money changers from the Temple. Hosanna means "please save" or "save now." To avoid an uprising of the people, the religious leaders held Yeshua's trial, or "inspection," illegally at night. But the priests were unwitting pawns in a battle for men's souls. God had planned this Passover sacrifice before time began, leaking the information to Abraham in Genesis 22:8, "God will provide Himself a lamb." Another translation from the original Hebrew renders this verse, "God will provide Himself AS the Lamb." By receiving Yeshua and applying His blood to the doorpost of our heart we are spared spiritual death and eternal separation from Him.

The view was surreal, like pictures you see of earth shot from orbiting spacecraft. I could almost touch the sky. Except for three ducks I flushed out of a thicket of reeds, I was the lone spectator. My soul became as still as the water. Stress and anxiety drained from me. As I walked back to my bike, I turned for one last look. It was gone. A gentle breeze had broken the glass-like surface of the lake. It was if God had brushed the water with His hand, erasing this fragile work of art. I felt like God had invited me to a private showing. His masterpiece reflected Psalm 23:

The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul.

Words escape me. Strength has failed me. Abba, I bow before You and cry softly, "Here I am."

The noose is tightening around Israel. The swords of Gog and Magog are drawn. Can you hear the footsteps of Messiah?

Addendum – As Bush heads to Israel to pimp the Road Map . . .

• A freak January tornado rakes Jerusalem, Ark., detroying Mt. Zion Church.

• Lakota Indians secede from the United States. As Bush lobbies for a Palestinian state on Israel's biblical homeland, America's heartland comes under siege. Lakota leaders, claiming they no longer are U.S. citizens, have visited embassies in Bolivia, Chile, Venezuela and South Africa, and plan future diplomatic missions overseas. The new country will issue its own passports and driving licences. Lakota country includes parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.

• Tamar Yonah of Israel National Radio compares Bush to an invading Babylonian king. The president will try to "lay claim to G-d's trophy," she says. "Do we give honor to kings who have such contempt for G-d and His people, or do we tell it like it is?"

• Rabbis address Bush as Gog, the end-day enemy of Israel prophesied in Ezekiel 38.

• Heavy fog blankets Israel as Bush's motorcade heads to Ramallah for a meeting with Palestinian leaders. An Israeli motorist, stopped at a gas station, counts 70 cars in the entourage. That same day a freak fog causes a 70-car pileup in Florida, the worst highway disaster in state history.

• Israelis wonder how they will defend a country nine miles wide. Here is what the Jewish state would look like if it bows to political pressure and surrenders Judea and Samaria. Sizing up Israel in 1998, Bush remarked, "In Texas we have driveways longer than that."

• Globalist leaders have Jerusalem in their crosshairs. Yet Psalm 2:1-6 makes clear who controls the destiny of Zion: Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: "Yet I have set My King on my holy hill of Zion."

I emailed Ted Pearce to ask what inspired him to write the song Good News (scroll down to the entry "Saving Zion" to read the lyrics and hear audio clips). Pearce responded: "I think I was reading Romans 10 where Paul, speaking of the Jews, asks 'and how shall they know unless someone is sent?' This command to take the Gospel (good news) to Israel reminded me of the verse from Isaiah (chapter 40) and the music just sort of came to me from there."

Pearce's email came to mind as I read 1 John 1:1-4, which reflects the apostle's burden to reach the lost:

That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Yeshua HaMashiach. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

I heard a rabbi, who hosts a talk show on Israel National Radio, scold Christians who express love and support for Israel. He considers them hypocrites for overlooking what he considers anti-Semitic passages in the New Testament, implicating Jews in the death of Yeshua of Nazareth (actually, He was condemned by the corrupt priests and Edomite leaders, not the Jewish people as a whole, who admired Him and considered Him a prophet). The rabbi, a zealous anti-missionary in Israel, sounds angry and agitated when a caller mentions Christianity. He rejects the Good News. I pray one day He will seek fellowship with the Father through the Son so his joy might be full. You never know. Rabbi Shaul (the apostle Paul) was a zealous anti-missionary until he bumped into HaShem – Yeshua Himself – on the road to Damascus.

The prophet Zechariah wrote that spiritual blindness would one day lift from Judah:

And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

After a season of mourning, Judah will declare with great joy, as did Shaul: Yeshua hu ha'Adon (Jesus is Lord).

Addendum – Below are video clips of Pearce ministering with his music:

Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen, meanwhile, exposes the pagan and anti-Semitic roots of Christmas here. He covers topics few pastors with touch: Dec. 25 is not the birthdate of Jesus, and the fourth-century church modeled Christmas after Saturnalia, a Roman holiday that venerated the harvest god Saturn. "Historically, Dec. 25 is a day on which Jews have been shamed, tortured and murdered," Kelemen says. "Many of the Christmas customs, including Christmas trees, mistletoe, Christmas presents and Santa Claus, are just modern incarnations of the most depraved pagan rituals ever practiced on this planet."

President Bush drank from a goblet at a Mideast banquet Monday night. Sitting before him were Israeli and Arab leaders who, by morning, would open negotiations in Annapolis to dismantle and destroy the Jewish state. After Bush raised a toast to Israel's enemies Monday, I shuddered at this thought: the finger of God writing in the halls of the Naval Academy (Daniel 5:26-27 interpretation included):

MENE – God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it.
TEKEL – You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.

Addendum - News snippets from Annapolis:

• Bush linked Israelis to terrorism in his Tuesday address: "We express our determination to bring an end to bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict . . . to confront terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis." Mr. Bush, when did a Jew ever lob a Kassam rocket into a Palestinian schoolyard or strap on dynamite to maim and kill neighbors?

• Tamar Yonah of Israel National Radio calls the summit a fake and a farce: "We, in Annapolis, are sitting down at a table with wolves. It's a gang rape against Israel. Nobody at this conference likes Israel. Nobody at this conference wants peace with Israel. . . . America is Rome. America, unfortunately, its leaders are Esau (brother of Hebrew patriarch Jacob who settled in Seir, which is present-day Saudi Arabia)."

• "The striking thing about the conference is the weakness of the central participants," writes Noah Pollak at Contentions. "Mahmoud Abbas purports to represent the Palestinians, but arguably is a less authentic representative than Hamas. On the Israeli side, Ehud Olmert, having failed miserably during Israel's war with Lebanon, is hugely unpopular and clings tenuously to power. The spectacle of these two trying to play Sadat and Begin would be funny, if it were not pathetic."

• A day after Bush announced an agreement by Olmert and Abbas to work toward peace, senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat waged a war of words against the U.S. president. He said Bush does not negotiate in the Palestinian's name, does not represent them and his words are not relevant to the Palestinian cause, DEBKAfile reported. On the issue of recognizing Israel, he said Bush is not competent to determine how Palestinians act, and if he wants to exchange land he should engage Mexico.

• Michael Freund uses a line from Alice in Wonderland to describe the folly at Annapolis: "Who cares for you? You're nothing but a pack of cards!"

• Palestinian TV airs a Mideast map with the Jewish state missing.

• Yoram Shiftan claims Bush's Road Map is illegal.

• The U.S. sponsored-summit coincided with two record-breaking weather disasters.

• Kassam rockets continue to rain on the Negev. More than 2,000 rockets this year have targeted the Israeli town of Sderot.

• The IDF might send ground forces to clean out terrorists in Gaza, the very land Israel surrendered in 2005 to foster peace (see item below).

Addendum – Overlooked by the media blitz is the fruit of Israel's last peace concession. Jews evicted by force from their Gaza communities in 2005 live in sqaulor. Their beautiful homes and synagogues were demolished. Palestinians now use the land as staging areas for terrorism. A Jewish commentator wrote "the scope of the tremendous Chillul Hashem (desecration of G-d's name) is almost too great for words." Watch what happened in this short video entitled Never Again.

Christian zionists like John Hagee go out of their way to befriend and support non-Messianic Jews – which I salute – but keep the Good News veiled. They refuse to share Messiah, something the apostle Paul, an Israelite, exhorted us to do with great urgency. That heart for Jewish evangelism is captured beautifully in the song "Good News" by the Messianic group Lamb, featuring Joel Chernoff and Ted Pearce. I listened to the cut repeatedly on my drive to work yesterday. It's that good (listen to audio clips here and here.) Notice the transition in the lyrics: first the Good News comes out of Zion, as it did in the first century, then returns to her when she is asleep spiritually:

O Zion, who brings good news
Get up into the high mountain(s)
O Jerusalem, who brings good news
Lift up your voice in strength

Lift up your voice, be not afraid
Say to the cities of Judah
Lift up your voice, be not ashamed
Behold your God!

The grass withers, the flowers fade
But the word of our God will stand forever,
The grass withers, the flowers fade
But the word of our God will stand, O Zion

O Yisrael, we've got good news!
Hey Haifa, hallelujah!
O Tel Aviv, we've got good news, yea!
Tiberias, hallelujah!
Jerusalem, we've got good news!
All nations, we've got good news, hallelujah!

That last chorus boomed from my Honda speakers as I drove into the late-afternoon haze of downtown Seattle. My heart was breaking. Israel seemed so far away, yet so near. Hey Haifa, hallelujah!

News item – The road to Annapolis is getting bumpy. Christian journalist and Israeli resident Stan Goodenough was awakened by a minor earthquake in the Hinnom Valley early Saturday, hours before catching a flight to Maryland. He will attend the three-day peace conference at the Naval Academy. It was the third quake in Israel this week as international leaders lobbied for a Palestinian state on Jewish land.

Two days earlier, Goodenough gave America this Thanksgiving Day wake-up call on his Jerusalem Watchman website: "While you are thanking God for your land and His bountiful provision in it, your elected leaders will be brainstorming for the most effective way to take another nation's land away from them. . . . The U.S. will be leading the charge – a charge against the will and purpose of the same God who established your country, and who is working to re-establish His country for His people – Israel. I am praying for you, America. For I fear for you."

News item – California is burning again. Malibu's worst wildfire in 15 years has destroyed 49 homes, scorched 4,700 acres and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. Interesting timing if you follow world events. The blaze began Friday, four days before the Bush administration hosts a peace conference which, if successful, would divide Israel and uproot Jews from their homes. Wildfires last month in Southern California burned 518,066 acres, caused more than $1 billion in property damage and displaced nearly a million people. The fires erupted a day after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left Jerusalem, where she had rallied support for the Annapolis summit. Most of the 49 countries invited to the event are hostile to Israel.

News item – Goodenough filed a dispatch Monday from Annapolis, which included this snapshot: "The midshipmen stroll by, and I gaze past them into the academy grounds. There, too, all is peaceful, quiet, almost asleep. Peaceful, peaceful. Peace - that’s why I’m here, right? Hard to believe, then, that a demon-fest is planned for this place; that in just 48 hours, hell itself will be running amok here."

My prayer to the LORD on the eve of Annapolis: In wrath remember mercy (Habakkuk 3:2).

Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the LORD.

We can know and understand Him by knowing His Son, who paid the ransom price for our sin. When we receive the Son we receive the Spirit, who makes the Word come to life. By reading the Word we are introduced to God's nature and ways. We learn how to please Him, like obeying His commandments and honoring His appointed times (biblical feasts), which point to Messiah. The LORD says in Jeremiah 22:15-16 that Josiah, king of Judah, knew Him because he followed after His ways, practicing kindness, justice and righteousness. God delights in relationship, not religion. He is satisfied only when our regenerated heart and mind are one with His.