Yesterday was Simchah Torah, the second day of Shemini Atzeret. This is an independent two-day holiday that immediately succeeds the feast of Sukkot. This holiday is characterized by utterly unbridled joy, which reaches its climax on Simchat Torah, when Abraham’s seed celebrates the conclusion—and restart—of the annual Torah-reading cycle.
The first day, Shemini Atzeret, features the prayer for rain, officially commemorating the start of the Mediterranean rainy season. On the second day, on the day of Simchat Torah,the last Torah portion from Deuteronomy is read as well as the firsts portion from Genesis, symbolizing new beginnings and that the cycle of God’s word never ends. Simchat Torah thus marks a full circle. It celebrates a completion—and delights in the expectation of a new beginning. Healing. Restoration.
What is the new beginning that God’s Word has promised us?
Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
So these high holy days represent the process of transformation from our being receivers to givers.
Well, it seems that the Shemini Atzeret rain has arrived. The Simchat Torah restoration has begun.
Lana Vawser has heard the Lord say, “out of the fire and into the water”, “REST WELL”, “You will LAUGH in the WELL”, and “Rest for a while so you will RUN WELL”
Kent Christmas gives a peek into how this new beginning may come to pass, as he declares that Python will be judged:
Kent says that we are in the Valley of Decision. God is cleansing the house of the Lord. It’s time to stand for the name of the Lord.
Israel’s relation with the Torah is understood in terms of a covenant of marriage. The person who is honored with the completion of the annual circle of reading on Simchat Torah, is called the ‘Hattan Torah’, the groom of the Torah. The one who is called up for the reading of the beginning of Genesis is called the ‘Hattan Bereshit’, the groom of Bereshit. ‘Bereshit’ is translated as ‘in the beginning’, and is the first word of the Bible, after which the book of Genesis is called in Hebrew.
During the traditional service, the congregation takes out all the Torah scrolls, and marches around the synagogue, carrying the scrolls. Seven circuits are made with the Torah scrolls. At the completion of each circular procession (hakafa), songs and wordless melodies (niggunim) are sung, and people dance with the Torah. This is done both on the eve of Simchat Torah, and on the day itself.
“Simchat Torah is a day of rejoicing with our Beloved,” explains Moshe Kempinski, an Orthodox Jew. “The bond that knits us together with our Beloved is the Torah—the ketubah, the marriage contract that God made when a wedding occurred between God and the Jewish people on Mount Sinai.”
Kempinski is right. The Torah was indeed given as a blueprint of how God desired His people to walk in relationship with Him. The Torah provides His instructions, His heart and desires.
“What is the most joyful thing you can do for your Beloved?” Moshe asks. “To do that which you know your Beloved wishes, to fulfill His desires. That is the greatest joy. Anybody who assumes that the Jewish people consider the Torah a burden just has to see Simchat Torah.”
We, the overcoming remnant, are the bride of Christ. Are we expecting Him? He is coming. Are our lamps full of oil? Are they trimmed and burning with expectation of His deliverance?
Let our attitude be like that of the bride in the following video:
The dRhema 