Yesterday when I was sorting through some of my mother's old things I came across two beautifully made tankards made of pewter about 80 years old. On the bottom end of each tankard is a hallmark containing a logo surrounded by the text, Selangor Pewter, Malaya, identifying the manufacturer and team of Malaysian craftsmen responsible for shaping these items. Likewise, Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, has its own hallmark by which it may be spiritually identified and distinguished from all the other festivals: simcha or joy.

There is another Hebrew word closely allied to simcha that's also appropriate to this season. That word is Besorah. Indeed, Besorah is the word from which the New Testament word 'Gospel' comes from and much to the surprise of some Christians, it's actually a Tanakh or Old Testament term that Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself quotes at the very beginning of His ministry.

We read:

"So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book (scroll) of the navi Yeshayahu (prophet Isaiah). And when He had opened the book (scroll), He found the place where it was written:

"The Ruach (Spirit) of Yahweh is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the besorah (gospel) to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of Yahweh'"


(Luke 4:16-19, NKJV)

Now the Hebrew word besorah comes from a root word basar which means 'cheerful' or 'joyful'. So the effect of the Besorah or Gospel or Good News is cheerfulness or simcha or joy. And what is the Gospel that Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) brought? That in trusting Him as the Son of Elohim (God) who paid the ransom for your sins and mine at Calvary, in repenting of our sins, and making the committment to walk in the mitzvot (commandments) of the Torah all the days of our life as a talmid (disciple), we can know, as we 'walk the walk', that we're saved from judgment, we're promised heaven when we die, and also a physical resurrection back on earth one day. That is, is it not, more than enough to give you joy every day of your life?! Death is not the end of life - the atheistic evolution myth is not true. Death is not the end of the road.

But there is another meaning to the word besorah which you may not be aware of, which distinguishes it from simcha. It means 'rosy', and by 'rosy' is meant to be filled with chayim or life, as when your cheeks go rosy in a cold wind. When the blood rushes through your skin capillaries, you become rosy in complexion. This 'rosiness' conveys a sense of freshness, and one who has this besorah-rosiness or 'freshness' never goes old. That is what the Gospel does to a person who has authentically received the freshness-infusing presence of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ).

Jonathan Cahn explains it this way:

"Since the Besorah is always fresh, it must always be freshly received...as if for the first time. And those who receive it in this way, their lives become new, revived, and refreshed. For the Gospel is the Besorah, and the Besorah never ages, never gets old, and can never be anything else...but new, fresh, and enough to make your life rosy-cheeked" [1].

If you have never experienced that perpetual freshness, ask Yah'shua (Jesus) into your life now, repent of any sins, and commit to walking the way of His discipleship. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] Jonathan Cahn, The Book of Mysteries (Charisma Media, Lake Mary, Florida: 2016), p.132

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