In this blog post I am examining the parallels concerning "JOY" in the Torah and what Yeshua (Jesus) says in the New Testament (NT).
Jewish mystical thinkers viewed Simcha as a way to connect with the divine, emphasizing a joyful service of God and recognizing His presence in all aspects of life, even during difficulties. This perspective sees joy as a requirement for a complete spiritual life, influencing the meaning of holidays like Simchat Torah.
On the 22nd day Tishrei, immediately after the 7 day holiday of Sukkot, is Shmini Atzeret (the 8th day of Assembly). This day is the holiday of Simchat Torah, considered the most spiritually joyful holiday of the year.
Simchat Torah is when Jews finish that year's cycle of reading Torah. We've literally completed the scroll. Simchat Torah is the culmination of the joy experienced throughout the year and is seen as a celebration of the unity between God and the Jewish people. There is singing and dancing with the Torah.
Simcha, Joy, is a believed to be pathway to connect with God through the performing of mitzvot (commandments) leading to a feeling of God's presence. In other words, through our service to God, we are connected to God. In doing so, we spread the joy. Our mitzvot bring light to the world.
7 is natural completion. 8 is supernatural. Simcha Torah is on Shemini Atzeret, the 8th day. 8 has a supernatural or hidden dimension. The Hebrew letter that has a value of 8 is Chet and the ancient pictograph of the letter is a depiction of a wall or fence.
Here, exactly eight people—Noah, his wife, and their three sons with their wives—enter the ark, marking the preservation of life through divine intervention amid the flood's chaos. This echoes the gematria value of Chet (ח = 8), whose ancient pictograph resembles a fence or wall, representing enclosure, separation, and protection.
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV) -- "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"
This passage vividly portrays God's transcendence as an unbridgeable chasm—like the vast sky above the ground—emphasizing His ways as elevated and inscrutable. It echoes the "hidden dimension" of Chet (8), where divine reality fences off human comprehension, inviting awe rather than full grasp. Just as the ark's walls concealed renewal, God's lofty thoughts veil deeper purposes, revealed only in fragments.
Job 11:7-9 (NIV) -- "Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea."
Connection to God's Height and the Mystery of LIFE
Zophar challenges Job with rhetorical questions that map God's essence as boundless: soaring higher than stars, plunging deeper than oceans. This multidimensional mystery aligns with the supernatural "8"—a realm beyond the seven-day cycle of the known, fenced by incomprehensibility. It underscores humility before the divine wall that both hides and protects profound truths.
Psalm 139:5-6 - From the rear and the front You encompassed me, and You placed Your pressure upon me. Knowledge is hidden from me; it is hard, I cannot attain it.
God's mysteries are hidden; His enclosure of omniscience is wondrously unattainable. The "lofty" (high) knowledge suggests a veiled intimacy—God knows us fully yet remains exalted, mirroring the hidden renewal of eight souls in the ark, where divine nearness defies human reach.
Deuteronomy 29:29 (esv) -- The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
JOY, Simchat Torah is the celebration of living the Torah--Living out life through doing acts (mitzvot) of loving-kindness (chesed חסד). You'll notice that chesed begins with the Hebrew letter chet I have written about. It ends with the Hebrew letter "dalet" (ד). Dalet is a "door." The middle Hebrew letter is ס (samekh). The root word samakh which means "to lean upon" or "to uphold."
It is no coincidence that the word for "life" in Hebrew is "Chai" (חי). As a plural noun it is written חַיִּים (chayim). "Chai" (חי) contains a Chet ח and a Yod י. The ancient pictograph symbol for a Yod is an "outstretched arm & hand." God led us out of slavery with an outstretched arm & hand. As I read it, God is the supernatural source of life. Or, our actions are the source of life. This is a topic for a longer discussion.
JOY TO THE WORLD
The joy the Jesus is speaking of in John 15:11 creates a spiritual connection. In the vert next verse is His command to love one another. There is a the parallel to the mitzvot in the Torah.
it is not a coincidence that this is the chapter that Jesus says, "Abide in me, and I in you" (John 15:4). Jesus's believers will be known by their fruit of their actions. The Holy Spirit is a source of joy, since it is through the work of the Spirit which God sends that we are able to produce this fruit. The good works we do are known as the "fruit of the Spirit."
Here, Jesus directly imparts His own divine joy—rooted in the eternal love between Father and Son—to believers who abide in Him. This joy isn't a fleeting emotion. It is a profound means of connecting with God through abiding service, facilitated by the Holy Spirit whom the Father sends in Jesus' name (John 14:26-27). It's the Spirit's role to sustain this union, turning obedience into fruitful living. God "knows" us intimately through this joy-manifested fruit, as it mirrors Christ's own life, proving our connection to the Vine (John 15:5).
Matthew 7:16-20 (NIV) -- "By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."
Our joy is a divine litmus test of where Spirit-fruit is flourishing. Jesus teaches that genuine identity in God is discerned not by words or appearances, but by the fruit.
In John 16:24, Jesus encourages his followers to pray, promising, "ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full." This interesting verse is often associated with material prosperity, however, I do not see it that we. We pray to recieve a blessing in order to be a blessing; and through our service to others by way of our prayers, our joy is made full.
Connection to Mitzvot and NT Fruits
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 (NIV) -- "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.
The call to holiness undergirds the mitzvot, transforming everyday actions—honoring parents, loving neighbors (Leviticus 19:3, 18)—into sacred fruits that reflect God's character. This strikingly parallels the NT's Spirit-fruits as markers of sanctification. "Love, joy, peace" aren't abstract virtues but active expressions mirroring Jesus's holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16). God "knows" His people by these outputs—OT through covenantal deeds that set Israel apart (Exodus 19:5-6), NT through lives that glorify the Father via abiding fruit (John 15:8). It's a seamless thread: mitzvot as the blueprint, fruits as the Spirit's living portrait.
In the Old Testament, mitzvot (commandments) aren't mere rules but life-giving actions that weave Israel into God's covenantal fabric—visible "fruits" of faithfulness yielding tangible blessings like prosperity and protection. This mirrors the New Testament's "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23), where obedience flows from inner transformation, producing joy, peace, and goodness as evidence of divine indwelling. Both frameworks reject empty ritual: mitzvot demand heart-aligned deeds (Deuteronomy 10:12-13), just as NT fruits expose genuine faith (James 2:17). They're twin vines of righteousness—OT rooted in Torah observance, NT blossoming through Spirit-empowered living—fulfilling Jesus' promise to complete, not cancel, the Law (Matthew 5:17).
THE EIGHTH DAY -- DEVINE CLOSENESS -- SIMCHA (JOY)
Shemini Atzeret's essence is a joyful gathering after Sukkot's harvest, symbolizing transcendent renewal beyond the sevenfold cycle. Just as the assembly in Leviticus 19 is summoned to mirror God's otherness—separating from impurity for mitzvot-lived lives—Shemini Atzeret invites Israel into a hidden dimension of divine closeness, where the eighth day holds the people for one more sacred pause to Tabernacle with God. The day when our joy is complete.
On the 8th day: Leviticus 23:36 (NIV): "For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work."
Leviticus 23:36 explicitly refers to the eighth (8) day following the 7-day Festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot), which begins on the 15th day of the seventh month (Tishri) in the Hebrew calendar. This is Shemini Atzeret—the distinct "closing assembly."
John 7:37-39 esv -- On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Notice the reaction of the Jews in the very next verse!
John 7:40-41 esv -- When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.”
Some understood! But others did not. Why? Some had ears to hear and eyes to see. Like Nicodemus who said:
John 7:50-52 esv -- Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Nicodemus was essentially saying to judge him by his fruit!!
Epilogue:
Today I purchased 4 more fruit trees for my young orchard at the Tree of Life Farm. Its a tiny orchard by commercial standards, about 30 trees, plus about a dozen+ berry bushes. I pray God blesses me with fruit to provide others.
