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Who were the Essenes?
We have recently had a lot of exposure to a group of people called the Essenes. The majority view at the moment states that they were the people who lived at Wadi Qumran. They are believed to be the owners of the scrolls that were found in the Judean desert. They are also known for the fact that they did not use the lunar calendar but rather a solar calendar. This makes it clear that they did not follow the norm of the Pharisees and Sadducees of their time. Except for these two facts, what else do we know about this group? Did they have truth that we should be aware of? We will also investigate the potential links between Y´Shua and John the Baptist to the Essenes.
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What did Nicodemus really hear?
In the Gospel of John we have a recording of a conversation that took place between Y’Shua and a Jewish teacher named Nicodemus. This is a very profound discussion that can only be appreciated by understanding the context of the questions and answers. In order to understand any message clearly we also need to understand the sender and the receiver of the message. To appreciate the answers that Y’Shua gives Nicodemus, we must think like Nicodemus would have thought. With this study we will show you the longevity of this message by analyzing the perceptions of the sender and receiver of the message. You will come to see that the answer given to Nicodemus reveals the Messiah to us and also tells us how to ensure that we will see the Kingdom of YHVH.
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Mikvah – Part 2 – How to
When we study the Scriptures, we usually conclude that going into a mikvah is predominantly for reasons of ritual purity. However, when we search more, we learn that sin causes spiritual uncleanness. For this reason, we are to immerse ourselves when we come to faith. This immersion is symbolic of our cleansing and being a new creature in Y’shua. This act of immersing ourselves in faith brings us closer to YHVH. Just understand that immersion is not what removes our sin or uncleanness. We have learned in the previous article Who the source of living water is, He cleanses us, not our act of immersion. So, if we want to immerse ourselves, how are we to do this?
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Mikvah – Part 1 – Spiritual cleansing
You probably have heard someone say they have gone into a mikvah, or that they have immersed themselves in water for some spiritual purpose. We have done it a couple of times ourselves, without really knowing the significance of it. We immersed ourselves when we became believers, then again, when we became Torah observant and again three years ago when we went to Israel. We felt a need to be immersed in the Jordan river, not knowing that it would be quite significant for us. We shall share more about this later. So what is the significance of going into a mikvah, if anything? What does Scripture teach us?
