Ariel Gate

27/09/2026

I keep coming back to those words while sitting in our sukkah. We put this shelter up for the feast, and in a few days we will take it down. Yehovah told Israel to live in booths so their children would remember how He made them dwell in booths after bringing them out of Egypt (Leviticus 23:42–43).

I picture that camp in the wilderness. Families living in shelters they could pack up and carry, with the tabernacle in their midst. Yehovah had told Moses, “Have them make a Sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8 TLV). When it was finished, His glory filled it so fully that Moses could not enter (Exodus 40:34–35). The God who led them chose to make His presence known among them.

Then John says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He adds, “We looked upon His glory,” and describes Yeshua as “full of grace and truth.” That brings to mind what Yehovah said about Himself to Moses: He is “abundant in lovingkindness and truth” (Exodus 34:6). John says the Son made the Father known (John 1:18). People could see something of the Father’s character in the life Yeshua lived among them.

John tells us Yeshua revealed His glory at a wedding in Cana (John 2:11). Later, on the night before His death, He knelt and washed His disciples’ feet (John 13:4–15). When I read that the Word “tabernacled among us,” I think about how close He came. People shared their days with Him. They saw Him give His time and strength to others.

I believe Yeshua was born during Sukkot. I’ve studied John’s wording and the possible timing of Zechariah’s service in Luke 1, though the Gospels do not give us His birth date.

Our sukkah will come down soon. While we are here, I want to sit with what John witnessed: the Word became flesh, and through the Son, the Father made Himself known among us.

P.S. The photos show our family’s sukkah (trying our best but of course there is room for improvement). If you’ve put one up this year, feel free to share a photo of yours too. I’d love to see it.

27/09/2026

26/09/2026

Hosea prophesied during the final decades of the northern kingdom of Israel, a period marked by outward prosperity, political instability, and deep spiritual corruption.

Israel continued to identify itself as God’s people while repeatedly turning to Baal worship and other forms of idolatry. Within that historical setting, Hosea’s marriage became a prophetic sign. His personal life was used to portray something much larger than a troubled human relationship: Israel had broken covenant with the God who had faithfully bound Himself to her.

In Hosea 1, God commanded Hosea to marry Gomer, and their family became part of the prophetic message. The children were given names that announced coming judgment. Jezreel recalled bloodshed and pointed toward the coming collapse of Israel’s kingdom. Lo-Ruhamah meant “not pitied” or “no mercy,” signaling that Israel could no longer presume upon God’s compassion while continuing in rebellion. Lo-Ammi meant “not my people,” a devastating reversal of covenant language. Israel had been called God’s people, yet persistent unfaithfulness had brought the covenant relationship under judgment.

These names showed that idolatry was not a harmless religious preference. Hosea described it as spiritual adultery because Israel had transferred to other gods the trust, worship, and allegiance that belonged to the LORD alone. Israel credited the Baals with providing grain, w**e, oil, and prosperity, forgetting that these gifts had actually come from God (Hosea 2:5, 8). Sin here was not simply breaking an abstract rule. It was betrayal of a covenant relationship.

Yet judgment was not the final word. Almost immediately after the severe language of Hosea 1, God promised that the people once called “not my people” would again be called “children of the living God” (1:10). In chapter 2, the language moved from accusation and discipline toward renewed relationship. God promised to draw His people back, remove their false gods, and restore covenant fellowship. “I will betroth you to me forever,” He declared, in righteousness, justice, love, compassion, and faithfulness (2:19–20).

Behind this restoration stood the biblical idea often expressed by the Hebrew word "hesed", God’s steadfast covenant love and loyalty. This is not sentimental affection that overlooks evil. In Hosea, divine love existed alongside real judgment. God opposed Israel’s idolatry precisely because the covenant mattered. His mercy did not pretend that betrayal was insignificant; rather, His grace moved toward an unfaithful people whom He had every right to judge.

Hosea 3 intensified the picture. Hosea was instructed to love again a woman who was loved by another and guilty of adultery, portraying the LORD’s continuing love toward Israel even while Israel pursued other gods. The passage should not be turned into a universal command that spouses must remain in abusive or dangerous situations. Hosea’s marriage functioned uniquely as a prophetic sign of God’s covenant relationship with Israel, not as a simple template for every marriage.

The chapter ended with hope beyond judgment: Israel would eventually “seek the LORD their God and David their king” (3:5). Within the unfolding biblical story, that Davidic hope reaches its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the promised Son of David and true King. The New Testament likewise applies Hosea’s language of “not my people” becoming God’s people to the gracious work of God in forming His people through Christ (Romans 9:25–26; 1 Peter 2:10).

Hosea 1–3 therefore confronts divided loyalty. We may not bow before Baal, but anything that receives the trust, devotion, security, or obedience that belongs to God can become an idol. The passage refuses to make spiritual unfaithfulness seem harmless. Yet it also refuses to let human rebellion have the final word. God’s judgment is serious, His covenant claims are real, and His grace is astonishingly persistent.

The proper response is not presumption, but repentance and renewed loyalty to the God who remains faithful even when His people have not.

26/09/2026

Africa will be saved…

25/09/2026

25/09/2026