Welcome to First Fruits!

New to our site? Sign up for a free First Fruits Core account and enrich your First Fruits experience.

Sign up for a First Fruits Core account:

  • Access to more online resources and greater connectivity! Premium content, email newsletters and special offers from our Store. Find out more »

I can't remember my login. »

Magazine Articles

Browse, read and study through our extensive library of original articles, from previously published First Fruits of Zion magazines. Updated regularly!

Category: Appointed Times

Medicine for the Soul

Tags:  charity, High Holy Days, prayer, repentance, resolutions, righteousness, tz'dakah, Yom Kippur

By D. Thomas Lancaster

A man goes to the doctor to get some test results. As he sits in the doctor's office, he sees that there are three folders on the doctor's desk. One is labeled "Good News." Another is labeled "Bad News." The third is labeled "Bad News and Good News."

The doctor opens the latter file and takes out a written diagnosis of the man's condition. The man is relieved to see that it did not come out of bad news file, but he is equally concerned that it didn't come out of the good news file either. The doctor looks over the report and then says, "I've got some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that your test results are in, and you definitely have a fatal, dreadful disease. You only have ten days left to live."

The man says, "Doctor, how can there still be good news? That's horrible."

The doctor says, "The good news is that there is a cure. It's an experimental procedure; it's rigorous; it's demanding and difficult. But past results have been good, so I have every reason to believe that if you undergo this treatment, you will pull through."

The Good News and the Bad News

This story is a vivid allegory describing the situation of the soul every year on Rosh Hashanah (literally "Head of the Year" in Hebrew, but also commonly known as the Feast of Trumpets). Every Rosh Hashanah is like a rehearsal for the final judgment. The book of Daniel describes the final judgment as the time when the Ancient of Days--God Himself--will take His seat on the throne of judgment. "And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened" (Daniel 7:10). Revelation 20:12 describes the same scene, saying:

I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

End of Guest excerpt:
Access more valuable online content. Sign in, or register for a free Core account.

Sign in to read more...

Username :
Password :
Forgot your username or password?
  Keep me signed in...

I don't have a Core account.

Create a First Fruits Core account. It's free and only takes a minute.

AN ACCOUNT INCLUDES: Premium online content, Access to our Core catalog, Discount coupons for our Store, Free downloads and newsletters, etc. More info here...


© 2009 First Fruits of Zion. All rights reserved. We encourage you to share this material with your friends for further personal study. However, This material may not be republished, in print, electronically, or any other form without our prior permission. Adapted from Messiah Magazine #97 .

For more information about this issue, click here.

Proclaiming the Torah and its way of life, fully centered on Messiah, to today's People of God.

Contact Us

PO Box 649
Marshfield, MO 65706-0649, USA

Telephone +1 417 468 2741
Toll-free 800 775 4807
Fax 417 468 2745

About First Fruits of Zion

Feeds

Copyright © 2012 First Fruits of Zion, Inc., All Rights Reserved | Home | Copyright & Terms | Privacy Policy