The Adulterous Woman-Conclusion! From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thank you for joining me for your coffee break today at Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and let’s get back to you, me and The Adulterous Woman.
Jesus has just spoken fifteen words that create one of the most important lessons we as Christians desperately need to learn. Basically, He’s beat the prideful Pharisees and religious leaders at their attempt to have Him arrested, but no trickery was involved on His part.

Now, at this point, the adulterous woman is sitting on the ground, “in the midst” the scriptures say and I found this painting of her online that I must share with you that captures her so beautifully.



Though there is nothing in the book of John suggesting that her hand was outstretched, all I have to do is close my eyes and put myself in The Adulterous Woman’s place, and this is exactly what I would do, especially after hearing such words of conviction! I would reach my hand out just like this and I probably wouldn’t be able to keep my conviction quiet, either as I begged for mercy and tears stream down my face!

After Jesus spoke, He stooped back down and the Scriptures go on to confirm that those who heard Him, indeed their conscience convicted them and they left the Temple one by one. No one remained except Jesus and The Adulterous Woman. But wait! How interesting is this? Now she’s standing. Can you imagine the disbelief she stood in, mixed with relief? Something tells me her recognition has fully dawned and she realizes she’s looking at her Savior.

Then Jesus raises Himself back up and said to her: “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” And she replies, “No one, Lord.” Jesus thereafter voices His forgiveness of her sins and encourages her to go and sin no more.

Wow! All I can say is HE is the only one with that power and authority to forgive the adulterous woman, aka, you and me. Only He has the videotape of my heart and yours, or any other adulterous woman’s for that matter, and He is who we all will answer to. May we learn to be less and less like the Pharisees and more and more like the forgiven adulterous woman clothed now in humility!

Thanks so much for sticking with me in this series. I hope you can join me tomorrow for a new mini-series called Dancing with a Butterfly.

Humbly,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to come have coffee with me! Grab your coffee and come on in. We are about to receive one of the most important lessons Jesus ever taught with the least amount of words!

So it’s almost as if the Pharisees and religious leaders are taunting Jesus, wanting to hear how He’s going to respond to the Law given by God to/through Moses. They were as confident that they had trapped Him in their trickery as I am that the son is going to shine tomorrow.

All eyes are on Jesus, and I’m sure some are even holding their breath in anticipation, wondering how He will respond to this dilemma and if He was/is really the Savior. Jesus didn’t disappoint them; that’s for sure! All eyes and ears on Him, He bends down and begins to write on the ground with His finger.

While they all watch in disbelief, I am positive that it is still pretty quiet but I bet the mind of the adulterous woman is speaking all kinds of things, beginning with her recognition for a need of the Savior. I wonder if she could read, and if she could, she knew what He wrote, or had a good idea because she was down on the ground, bent down with shame, not to be confused with humility.

The Pharisees become impatient and begin to ask Him all over again, as if Jesus hadn’t heard them before. Jesus continues to write, and I’m sure the adulterous woman is silently pleading for forgiveness. I wonder if this is when her God-shaped hole suddenly opened up in recognition of her need of a Savior. I know mine would be opening about now, if not beforehand!

Finally, and slowly, Jesus stands to give His answer to these Pharisees and religious leaders perched on pride, an answer of fifteen words that captures one of the most important lessons we as Christ-followers need to let sear on our heart and live out in our lives. And what I love about this answer is HE actually stumped those who came to trick Him so they could arrest Him. I can just see Him scanning the crowd before He speaks, and His eyes coming to rest on those deceived, His voice calm, controlled and confident and He says: “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

Isn’t that a response to get you thinking?

Join me tomorrow for the conclusion to The Adulterous Woman.

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little coffee break at Coffee Hour. I’m so glad you could make it because I believe we are finally going to meet her, The Adulterous Woman!

So we’re back at the Temple, and the Pharisees have just walked in practically dragging this woman and I can only imagine that we can probably hear a pin drop about now. These prideful men had only one thought in mind as they brought her to Jesus: They were trying to trick Him so they would have a reason to arrest Him once and for all, as if that would do the trick!
 
Here she comes.

From my vantage point, I see long, beautiful hair, but why can’t I see her face? As she gets closer, it becomes apparent why we can’t make eye contact. Her head is hanging down, as if she is clothed in shame. Uh-oh, they are stopping right in the middle of the huge circle and they put her just steps away from Jesus. Let’s listen to what they say: “Teacher” – interesting that they called Him that – “this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses commanded us in the law that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

STOP! So I went back to Leviticus 20:10, the part of the law they were talking about, and here’s something interesting that I think we should know before we continue on: The law required that both the adulterer and the adulteress be punished. But these guys only brought one of the guilty parties. Is this a hint of their intent to trick Jesus? That’s just a little something to think about
I can only imagine that this woman had to be shaking in her clothes – I don’t think she had boots in those days! The Word doesn’t give us any insight into her, if she was the town ho, or if she had a good personality, whether she was pretty, friendly, none of that. But if we want to understand her, all we have to do is look inside of us, for every one of us women have committed adultery of one form or another at one time or another! Ouch, I know that hurts, but the truth will set us free and bathe us in humility, challenging us to befriend this adulterous woman, and any other one that comes in your  world, and not condemn her!

The Scripture goes on to confirm that “this they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.” In other words, they wanted to see if He would contradict the Law that came from God to Moses and the people,  but what these religious leaders and Pharisees didn’t realize is the Law was established to point them, and us, to the reality of the necessity of the love of a Savior and because they were so deceived – filled with pride – and intent on re-establishing their authority and power, they missed all the cues along the way.

I’d better let you go for now. Please join me tomorrow for one of the most beautiful responses to The Adulterous Woman’s sin, a response that He echoes for us when we as adulterers come to Him.
Being freed from adultery,

Evinda

Happy Thanksgiving From the Adulterous Woman @ Chicklit Power

Oh, what a beautiful day to say thank you for stopping by! Happy Thanksgiving! I truly am thankful there is you to share coffee hour with! Let’s get back to this discussion of adultery and idolatry, which we are about to wrap up so we can finally meet this adulterous woman!

So that last definition we talked about, immorality, aka, sins of the flesh, are associated and are traced to lack of the acknowledgment of God” is a real eye opener, and something that begs the benefit of the doubt before we meet this adulterous woman. Could it be she had never come face to face with her need for a savior? Until this meeting.

Let’s look at the last definition for idolatry. Oh, my, this one will tickle your skin all over for sure: An idolater is a slave to the depraved (morally corrupt) ideas his/her idol or idols represent!”

So metaphorically speaking, then, any form of addiction is adultery because that something which one is addicted to has become an idol and therefore has led the adulterer away to idolatry. Wow, you can put anything in that underlined space to make the connection between you and the adulterous woman! I don’t know about you, but suddenly as I get ready to meet her, I am off of my pedestal and standing eye level, waiting to greet her as Jesus did!

Humbly,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for Coffee Hour and more of The Adulterous Woman! Grab your coffee and let’s get back to the conversation about idolatry and adultery!

Before we meet her, we need to do a bit more ground work. It is so very important that we understand the definitions for “adultery” so when we do meet her, we may be able to respond to her just as Jesus did, with a grace that surpasses all understanding and brings home to the heart the reality of the necessity of our need of a Savior.

Because of its depth, I am going to the Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. OMG, I’m so very glad I did. Wait until you hear this. The Greek definition says adultery is: Metaphorically used of those who are, by a Jezebel’s solicitations, drawn away to idolatry.”
There it is; adultery is idolatry, so it’s not just the literal definition of unlawful intercourse with the spouse of another! Oh, can’t you just see yourself in this meeting that’s about to take place? Can you honestly say that you have never felt the pull of something or from another pulling on your conscious thoughts to a place you shouldn’t have gone, to do something you know you shouldn’t do? I know I have! Maybe I’m not so above this adulterous woman.

But let me dig a little deeper for clarity and let’s look at the definitions for idolatry: In addition to being things offered to idols, idolatry is “The sin of the mind against God, and immorality, sins of the flesh, are associated and are traced to lack of the acknowledgment of God and of gratitude to Him.”


Now I feel like I know this woman we’re about to meet, as if we share so many things in common. The only difference between her adultery and mine is hers was committed against and with the physical while my adulterous actions have been dangerously more subtle, acts that have silently and spiritually pulled me further and further from the safety and sanctity of the love of Christ and His position of “first” in my heart and life.

Pondering true adultery,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for coming to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power for more of The Adulterous Woman. I think we may actually get to meet her today! Grab your coffee and come on in.

As we wrap up the definitions for deceived, keep this statement in mind: “His/her arrogance consists of claiming honor for him or herself. His/her comparing him/herself is not the sin. It is the sin that causes him/her to compare!

So in the midst of this meeting led by these prideful men, Nicodemus – a Pharisee who had actually gone to visit Jesus prior to this feast and this meeting – spoke up and said: “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

Talk about risking his reputation and position! They could have thrown him out right then and there on his ear for defending Jesus by reminding them that they weren’t even abiding by their own laws, but he wasn’t. But it is important that we understand that the Pharisees knew they were losing ground and that knowledge perpetuated the viscous cycle. Their hypocritical ways were slowly exposed and as the exposure increased, their prestige decreased. Pride was interfering with their ability to reason and deception took over, convincing them that they must get rid of Jesus to save face. Right and wrong no longer mattered.

The meeting ended and everyone went to their own houses.  Early the next morning Jesus headed back to the Temple and the scriptures say all the people came to Him. If we ponder that for a minute, we would have to conclude that the people who returned were looking for Him, wanting to hear more from Him. Have you ever been excited to go somewhere and when you got up the day of, you were so excited you could hardly wait? That’s how I imagine these people who came were, filled with excitement and maybe even curiosity.

Well, Jesus didn’t disappoint those who came, because He sat with them and taught them. Picture with me a huge sanctuary, filled, and when I picture this particular scene, I see Him standing amongst them, in a way that all could see and yet His teaching is reaching out and inviting them to Him. Despite there being lots and lots of people, it is quiet but for Jesus’ voice and all of a sudden, there’s an interruption that renders an attention switch. It becomes quiet, as quiet as a crowd of this size can be because Jesus stops speaking. Everyone turns their heads to see what Jesus is looking at. It is none other than the scribes and Pharisees, but wait, who is that they are nearly dragging toward Jesus?
Join me tomorrow for the actual introduction!

Evinda


P.S. Join me and Steve today for Blog Talk Radio as we continue on in the Breaking Free from Co-Dependency series of our Destination? Joyful! ™ show.

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little break at Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power. I know it’s not always easy turning distractions off, but let’s do just that for a few. Grab your coffee and come on in so we can try and put the pieces of “deceived” together in the context of the Pharisees. Something tells me we may wind up recognizing a little bit of ourselves in these accusers.

So the Pharisees accused the officers of being deceived and backed their accusation up by saying no Pharisee has ever believed in Him, and also accusing the crowd – who was full of people beginning to change their hearts and minds about The Christ – saying they were accursed for they did not know the law. Now, these definitions all talk about a straying from something, such as the law, the religious beliefs, et cetera.

So what if we give these knuckleheads the benefit of the doubt by asking ourselves, “Were they just holding to what they believed?” And let’s not get into semantics about how much they lived by the law, or didn’t, themselves. By asking that question, would that give us a different and deeper understanding into the depths of their deception? It stands to reason that because they believed certain things about whom The Christ should/would be and would not be, they expected their peers to believe the same way, and when these officers made the statement, “No man ever spoke like this Man,” that released the accusations.

I can’t help but think about all the clues they had received, and the ones they missed completely. For example, when they jumped to conclusions and insisted He couldn’t be The Christ because He was from Nazareth without doing the research to find out He was born in Bethlehem. Or questioning His birth line and not doing the geneology study to trace His birth line all the way back to David. Why weren’t they able to see that they, not the officers, were the ones that were deceived?

What about in our lives, friends who get enticed away from the church? I see it happen all the time with women who are looking for love and become deceived by love. And what about within the church, those who claim to be in Him, all about Him, and do things that are contrary to Him and/or what He would do? Some even justify with out-of-context scripture bashing. What about the atheist who declares there is no god, let alone God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Or the New-Agers who claim there are hundreds of ways to heaven and that the god is mother earth and angels are the primary savior and answer to their problems? Or the homosexual who believes homosexuality was something God detested only in the Old Testament? I can go on and on and on with examples of people who we deem to be deceived but are they deceived just because I say so? Don’t these people in these examples believe that we, the Christian, are also deceived?

What is the common denominator here, Father? Why, oh why, are so many deceived, determined to be fixed on their false foundations, pointing the finger at others, either literally or figuratively? Does deception happen simply by and through standing for what you truly believe or does it involve something else?

I can hear something echoing ever so faintly in my heart . . .

Join me tomorrow for the answer.

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thank you so much for joining me today for a little coffee break at Coffee Hour! I hope you had a great weekend. I know the extra hour of sleep sure helped me, especially after an awesome event on Saturday. I am looking forward to sharing the highlights with you in a couple of weeks when this series is complete. As we get closer to the upcoming season, we will need the reminders of the things that we learned but for now, let’s get back to The Adulterous Woman! Grab your coffee and come on in.

So we just finished a little detour so let’s get back to the crowd and the pandemonium of questions and opinions after Jesus stood up and cried out professions and confessions in this huge crowd. I can just imagine the officers standing around watching and listening as their delusion of being in control crumbled every time they heard someone say, “This is the Christ.” In fact, Scripture tells us that they had a little meeting with the chief priests and Pharisees who wanted to know what in the heck was going on and why hadn’t they brought this man called Jesus to them.

I love what John 7:46 says: “The officers answered, ‘No man ever spoke like this Man!’”
So Jesus did get to them! Even these guys had hearts with a God-sized hole that only “The Christ” could fill. Unfortunately the Pharisees jumped on them like white on rice accusing them of being deceived, reminding them that no rulers or Pharisees believed in Him so they shouldn’t!
I feel another detour; in fact, there are two very important detours that relate to things staring me in the face of my life right now as I am writing this for you.

First, how does someone get so deceived? If I am honest with myself, and with you, I have to admit that I’ve asked this question of Him so many times, more than I can count, especially of people who claim to be believers of Him and in Him. How could that be? When I look at the word deceived I can’t help but think the answer lies within the word itself so I think it’s important to take time to research it. Before I do that, let’s take a quick look at the second detour, which is not nearly as long or as deep as the first. The detour is that of the peer pressure of the Pharisees upon the leaders. I mean here they were at this meeting and I can just see the fascination that moved from their hearts to their faces and then finally into their voices as they confessed that no one had ever spoken like this Man!

As I read these words that the leaders dared to speak about “this Man,” I can’t help but feel the blanket of pressure thrown upon them as soon as the words left their mouth. In fact, I bet if I were a fly on the walls inside this meeting, I’d wager that there was a moment of silence induced by shock, and you could hear a pin drop on the floor. These men that dared utter their curiosity were so overwhelmed with wonder that they didn’t even stop to think before they spoke. They didn’t take into account what others would think; they didn’t take into account the possible ramifications. They were responding to what had pierced the God-sized hole their hearts when they heard His words.

But how many of us dare to respond to that call, to that piercing of the heart, despite our circumstances, despite what others may think, even when we know others won’t agree? Even when we know there may be negative ramifications?

Oh, that we would be moved to rise to the occasion of daring to answer the call of “The Christ” and not get sucked into societal pressures.

Join me tomorrow for the other detour which is actually imperative to take before we meet The Adulterous Woman. In fact, we may feel like we know her because of this detour!

Joyfully,

Evinda


P.S. Join us today at 1:00 at www.blogtalkradio.com/Chicklit-Power for our show about breaking free from co-dependency, a viral disease indeed!

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for taking the time to join me for a little break today. Grab your coffee and let’s get back to this adulterous woman, or at least attempt to get near her today!

We last left off with Jesus telling the officers that came to arrest Him that it wasn’t the time for His arrest, and then He spoke in another riddle, not like the Joker from Batman, either! He said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

What in the world? Now, these words really caused a lot of commotion. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see all of the perplexity around the Temple. They had no idea what to make of Jesus’ words. But something else that’s peculiar is they left Him alone! The let Him be. I wonder why that is? There is no mention of an all-out brawl to try and force Him to go. The only answer that lines up and makes any sense at all is that His appointed time for the arrest that would lead to all of the suffering, the eventual crucifixion that would send Him into hell, His rising again, and thereafter ascending to His rightful place, back with His Father had not yet come, just as prophesied.
Now we are at the last day of the Festival, which is getting us closer to The Adulterous Woman, I promise! We are also nearing His appointed time.

Religious Leader

Imagine hundreds of thousands of people spilling out of the Temple, sitting where they are to celebrate the last day, “that great day of the feast” and somewhere in the crowd is Jesus. Scripture doesn’t allude to His exact location so I’m not sure if He’s inside or outside the Temple. I’m leaning towards inside, but wherever He is He’s surrounded by people, wall-to-wall people. All of a sudden He stands up and – this next word gets my attention – “cried” out. He didn’t just get up, clear His throat, hold His hands up and grab a megaphone to yell for everyone’s attention. He got up and just cried out. I can only imagine what emotion He must have been experiencing because His appointed time was getting closer. But I feel in my gut that it was something else; a yearning to express for almost the last time the message His Father had sent Him to give to all He encountered.

The beauty in His words is they too were/are a fulfillment of prophecy spoken by Abba through Isaiah, and again through John in Revelation. He cried out: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

There is a lot in one of these final outbursts, if you will, so I’ll let you go for now, but take a couple of minutes to dwell upon these words that He cried out to them and to us.

Pondering,

Evinda

P.S. Please join us today for more of Co-Dependent No More on our Blog Talk Radio Show at 1:00 Pacific Time! www.blogtalkradio.com/Chicklit-Power

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and thanks so much for taking time to take a little break with me. Grab your coffee and let’s get back into this series and see if we get a little closer to The Adulterous Woman.

Religious Leader

So we are at this party, if you will, and we’ve been onlookers in the crowd, the ones murmuring exclamations, questions about Jesus. Now we are going to check out these Pharisees, these religious leaders who are all over the place, clothed in self-righteousness as well as fancy garb. So far we don’t think they’ve really heard everyone’s whispers of questions and opinions, but at this point in scripture, we learn that they did!

I have to interject a little something here — Isn’t that the worst feeling, to be talking about something or someone in secret because you know you shouldn’t be talking about it to anyone, and then that certain someone who you don’t want to hear busts you? Ugh, that has got to be one of the worst feelings, especially if we stay in it and don’t learn from it. Yes, there’s even a great whisper of a lesson in this type of a moment: If it ain’t edifying, it ain’t flying out of my mouth! I fall short in this area every day, but I’m not giving up trying! Okay, back to the crowd and the ticked-off Pharisees!
So the Pharisees all gather together and talk about what they are hearing all the people say in secret. Imagine all this testosterone coming to the surface with each comment repeated that they overheard. Whew, I’ve been in a roomful of male attorneys in the midst of a heated deposition, so I can say I can only imagine! It isn’t pretty; that’s for sure! Anyway, they want to deal with the immediate problem, which in their view is Jesus so they decide to send the officers to take Him.

At this point, I’m not sure where Jesus actually is, inside or outside the Temple, but there is obviously a crowd still gathered because when the officers approach Jesus to arrest Him, He simply says: “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

Wow, what a mouthful. I think we’ll leave that for the next blog. Please join me Monday for more of this series, The Adulterous Woman, whom I know we haven’t even met yet, but I promise, we are getting closer! We just need to set the stage, if you will, for her entrance.

Pursuing truth,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me for a little break at Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and let’s get back to this detour from long ago that is ever so relevant in our lives today.

For those of you joining us for the first time, we are in the midst of the Feast of the Tabernacles; Jesus has just spoken in the Temple about the exceptions that the religious leaders allowed as it related to circumcision on the Sabbath – which was a breach of the Law because it was considered work and His own mercy in healing on the Sabbath.

That caused a major ruckus and there were all kinds of murmurings going on while in the background the religious leaders were plotting His arrest, unbeknownst to the people who were in groups whispering their opinions about this Christ. Those who found Him to be who He said He was could not or would not speak up for Him because of fear of excommunication, which was considered to be one of the most devastating things that could happen to a Jew. To go against every religious law they had been spoon-fed since they were old enough to eat of wisdom would be like swimming up river 24/7; eventually the new way of thinking would be overtaken, drowned out by the old. The pressure was just too much.

The point of this detour is this: Sometimes it feels like that today, at least to me. It’s becoming more and more apparent that we are being surrounded by a host of things that are working 24/7 to rip us away from the One in Whom we put our hope, our trust, our First Love and get us to flow down the stream, spiraling farther from truth, the safety of His grace, mercy, farther away from the new law.

Are we standing in our groups, clicks, and whispering our belief in Him, fearful of what others may think or say, fearful of standing out like a sore thumb? Or are we going against the current, standing in our hope and faith in the One whom we will spend eternity with after it’s all said and done, no matter what the circumstance?

Join me tomorrow as we get back on track and closer to the adulterous woman!

Pondering,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little break. I know life is full of demands and it can be challenging to stop what you’re doing and turn it all off. Grab your coffee and come on in for more of the history surrounding The Adulterous Woman.

So we’ve learned some interesting facts about this party that we’re eventually going to get to and I have to tell you, something tells me we haven’t skimmed all of the facets of its spiritual significance but I know we will see more of it as we get more into this true story. For now, let’s go check out who’s there.

Wow, there’s a bunch of important people here; you can tell by the way they are dressed, and I’m not just speaking of their clothing, either. Their body language is screaming authority in such an audacious way. They are everywhere, or so it seems, standing erect like stone walls with their arms crossed. I think they are the religious leaders.

And who is that lurking in the shadows? Oh, my goodness, is it really Jesus? Why does it look as though He is trying to hide? For some reason, He’s not the life of this party, or so it seems. I’m going to get in a little closer and see if I can hear why that is.

Ah-ha, apparently Jesus had just spoken openly in the Temple, the main location for this country-wide party. Wow, He’s really caused some ruckus among this party. I can hear some people saying “He is good,” and others are saying, “No, He’s not good. He’s trying to deceive the people.” No matter where I go in this crowd, people are in their little groups and Jesus is the topic of their conversations. I still can’t figure out why they are whispering.

Oh, that’s right; they are whispering because the religious leaders were more like dictators and they had a lot of power over the common people. Wow, they are not even trying to mask their authority. They are everywhere, lording over the crowds like a cloud threatening to break open with rain any moment. See, the more Jesus taught and worked publicly, the more these leaders would cause trouble for Him and His followers. Is it any wonder why they are whispering?
If these so-called leaders heard them, their worst nightmare would begin: ex-communication from the synagogue.

We’ll stop right there. Join me Monday as we get closer to The Adulterous Woman.”

Digging for the facts,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and thanks for stopping by for your break today, the first day of our new series, The Adulterous Woman. Sounds interestingly scandalous, huh? Grab your coffee and come on in.

Before I introduce you to a couple of very important people in this true story, allow me to give you some historical background so you don’t feel as though you are coming into the middle of something. Come with me to a time long, long ago, to an annual feast, a party, if you will. It’s called the Feast of Tabernacles, aka, Feast of Sukkah. Let me give you a little background on this particular feast because I think it will add to the framework of The Adulterous Woman.

During this feast, many Jewish families construct a sukkah (סֻכָּה), a small hastily-built hut in which to eat meals throughout the festival. The sukkah is used to remember the huts [plural: sukkot] Israel lived in during their 40 year sojourn in the desert after the exodus from Egypt. The celebration lasts for eight days in Israel and nine days in the Diaspora (the dispersion of Jews living beyond Egypt).

During the first and last days of Sukkot no normal “work” is permitted as required in Lev. 23:39. In other words, these are days of rests, which is where “Sabbath” comes from. The intervening days of Sukkot are called Chol Ha-Mo’ed, half-holidays during which usual work activities are permitted.
There is incredible spiritual significance to each one of the festivals introduced to Israel at the time of the Exodus and observed by Jesus and the First-Century Church. Deuteronomy 16:14-15 reminds us that this particular feast was/is to be a time of rejoicing for the blessing of God’s provision and sovereignty for and over our lives and because it is memorialized by rejoicing, it is considered especially important to give charity during this time of year.

I hope you weren’t bored with this history that surrounds this particular party we’re going to attend. The older I get, the more I appreciate knowing the grass roots of cultural traditions and religions, especially when they are rooted in Biblical principles. Many believe that the Old Testament is no longer relevant to our lives today, but when I take these pieces and add them to what we are going to be talking about in this series, I see all kinds of relevance sparkling, reminding me of the importance to rejoice over His provision and sovereignty in and over my life. How about you?

Join me Wednesday as we continue laying the foundation for “The Adulterous Woman.”
Intrigued,
Evinda

P.S. Don’t forget to join us live today at 1:00 Pacific time at www.blogtalkradio.com/Chicklit-Power for more chit-chat on breaking free from co-dependency!