Golf apparel ladies will love is not exactly a main topic in the Torah, but did you know that the opening chapters of Genesis reveals, among many other things, the origins of the entire fashion industry?

You see, prior to the fall of humanity, Adam and Eve wore no clothing. They had no concept of sin, and therefore were able to live without clothes but also without shame. So was this a prehistoric nudist colony haShem was running? Hardly. It simply means that nudity and clothing and the difference between those states of being had not yet been defined.

Of course, that didn’t last long. After eating from the fruit of the tree at the center of Eden, the tree of the knowledge between good and evil, both Adam and Even became self-aware of their lack of clothing and decided that to be covered was better than to be bare. For themselves.

You see, the serpent’s lie was not far from the truth, which is why it provided such a powerful temptation and deception. In a twisted way, we did become, “like G-d, knowing good from evil.” But that ability was hardly a blessing and put us nowhere near Adonai’s level of creative power.

And thank Adonai for that!

The lie was in the details. Yes, Adonai knows the difference between good and evil, and tells us what is good. When we take over the power to discern good from evil, we often contradict G-d’s definition, replacing it with our own. Therefore, as a result of the fall, we created sin.

Not exactly something Adonai was likely to call, “Good” the way he declared his own handiwork during creation week. Not even close.

One of the points of the fall festival season is the feast of Simchat Torah, or the celebration of the Word of Adonai. Jews and messianics alike recognize this as the season in which the reading cycle of Torah is completed, finishing up the final chapters or Deuteronomy and coming back around to the first chapters of Genesis.

What may be less appreciated in some circles is the prophetic significance of Simchat Torah. For Messiah Yeshua is himself the Word of the L-rd, and so, just as the rest of the fall festivals are shadows of the end times to come, so is Simchat Torah.

It is a recognition of the time when every knew will bow and every tongue confess that Yeshua is the promised messiah, that there is no other, and that all members of the chosen people of G-d, born or grafted in, Jew and Gentile alike, who worship the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, will come together to spend eternity with the living W-rd of Adonai, worshiping him in unity, spirit and truth.

It really is a significant, though often overlooked and under-appreciated, cap to the fall festival season. Its prophetic fulfillment will take far more than the Sahara hotel to accommodate; it will take an entirely renewed Jerusalem.

Shalom! Next year, in Jerusalem!