Articles by Sheldon Wilson
Sheldon Wilson is a Creative Team Assistant for First Fruits of Zion and Vine of David, specializing in editing books and Messiah Journal articles. Research projects include the Messianic Luminaries series and the Didache translation and commentary.
Adar and the Search for Joy in a Discontented World
When we view the world with eyes that look forward to the beauty and bounty of the world under the rule of King Messiah when he returns, our hearts should be filled with hope. Our Master teaches that we should rejoice in the hope of his coming.
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7-minute read
Judgment and Mercy: The Hands of God
A simple person might think that God is confined to the realm of heaven. This of course would be heresy. One may likewise be tempted to think that the one place that he wouldn’t be is in hell. But this isn’t what the Bible teaches.
9-minute read
The Privilege of Ma’ariv
We don’t know how long we will have the freedom to openly worship God, or even to do that small mitzvah to help our fellow man. We should live like the sun is going down and this is the last chance to do that good deed.
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4-minute read
Tisha B’Av and the Physician’s Advice
On the ninth day of the month of Av (Tisha B’Av), 70 CE, the world lost the Holy Temple, which was meant to be the house of prayer for all nations. Now not one stone of it rests upon another, as our Master predicted. What destroyed it? It wasn’t Rome.
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9-minute read
The Significance of Passover
In March 1953, Messianic Jewish luminary Rabbi Daniel Zion shared a word with the Messianic Community in Jerusalem during their Sabbath service for the week of Passover: Shabbat Chol HaMoed. These are his words.
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8-minute read
Pray for Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz Following Stroke
This has been the life work of Rabbi Steinsaltz: to bring every Jew back to Torah. Toward this end, he has labored to make Judaism accessible to all Jews. Israeli historian Zeev Katz puts the greatness of the rabbi into surprising context, “He will stand like Rashi and Maimonides.”
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3-minute read
Yahrzeit of Rabbi Daniel Zion
“In spite of all the difficulties, suffering and persecutions, which I have endured incessantly, nothing could dissuade me from my faith. On the contrary, God, to whom I had given my heart and to whom I turn in all my needs, has given me the strength and power to continue my witness.”
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6-minute read
When Heaven Kissed Earth
Each year on Shavu’ot we have the opportunity to relive the experience of the Revelation at Sinai. Judaism encourages us not just to learn about the giving of the Torah, we should be there for it. When we do, we become part of the story.
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7-minute read
Counting Up the Days
The Torah commands that Jews keep the festival of Shavu’ot (known to Christians as Pentecost), but does not give us a date for when we must do so. How are we to know? What if we don’t have a calendar to tell us when it occurs?
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6-minute read
Unleavened Bread and Unleavened Deeds
From Exodus 12:17 we learn the importance of being very careful not to allow dough intended for unleavened bread to become leavened. The same verse instructs us regarding how to please God with our actions.
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5-minute read
Shabbat Sh'kalim
The Shabbat that precedes the first of the month of Adar (or, in the case of a leap year, Adar II) is known as Shabbat Sh'kalim. This is the first of four Shabbats with special Torah readings all happening before Passover. The reading for Shabbat Sh'kalim is found in Exodus 30:11-16, which tells the commandment of the half shekel historically collected before Purim.
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7-minute read
Seeing God
In Parashat Mishpatim Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders ascended Sinai and saw an apocalyptic vision of God. How does one see the God of Israel and survive? The Torah states that Moses and the rest of the great men not only survived, but the very next verse says that they “ate and drank.”
8-minute read
The Jewish Jesus Is Coming to a Theater Near You
It’s the first century and the game is afoot. It’s the story we all know. The death and resurrection of our Messiah, but for the first time in cinematic history the movie Risen, set to be released February 19, may finally do justice to the most epic and influential tale in human history—with a bit of a detective movie twist.
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6-minute read
An 1888 Review of Delitzsch’s Hebrew New Testament
A fresh translation from Messianic Jewish pioneer Theophilus Lucky’s monumental publication Edut L’Yisra’el. In the first issue printed in Tishrei of 1888, we find a book review of Franz Delitzsch’s Hebrew New Testament. The historical value of these writings is priceless.
7-minute read