Category: Prescribed Holy Days

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Faith Prescribed Holy Days Torah

Sabbath, No More?

Is Paul telling us that Torah observance is done away with because of Christ’s death and resurrection?

16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Colossians 2:16-17

Dispensational preachers are teaching this view.  John MacArthur is a good example of this type of preacher:

Don’t let anybody hold you to a Sabbath. And that’s referring to the weekly Sabbath, because the other festival Sabbaths are covered under the term “festival and new moon.” Don’t let anybody hold you to the Sabbath. It was part of the system that included the temple, the priesthood, the sacrifices. It’s gone. It was only the shadow, not the substance [ …] Paul is saying, you no longer need the shadow, you have the substance.

John MacArthur, “Understanding the Sabbath.” Grace to You. www.gty.org

Though this is the view of a vast majority of today’s churches, what was Paul’s witness when he wrote this letter?

  • Throughout the New Testament, we see that Paul regularly attended and participated in the synagogue services on the Sabbath 16:13; 17:2 18:4)

14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.

44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.

Acts 13:14. 44

13 And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.

Acts 16:13

2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

Acts 17:2
  • Luke records that Paul’s “custom” was to worship on the Sabbath (Acts 17:2) – why was it his custom if Sabbath was done away with.

4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

Acts 18:4
  • We see Paul expressing a desire to be in Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost)

16 For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.

Acts 20:16

     Shavuot was one of the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Pentecost, and Sukkot) that the Hebrews were instructed to attend in the place where “the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name” (Initially, the Tabernacle, then later, Solomon’s Temple).

14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. 15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) 16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. 17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

Exodus 23:14-17

5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee: 6 But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.

10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks [Pentecost – seven weeks after Passover] unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: 11 And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.

13 Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine: 14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. 15 Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.

Deuteronomy 16:5-6, 10-11, 13-15

      Why is Paul diligently trying to get to Jerusalem in time for Pentecost, if Christ did away with the Law with his death and resurrection?        

Paul admonishes the Colossians to walk as Christ did and beware of the “traditions of men”, which are not according to Christ:

6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him [see also, 1John 2:6] 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Colossians 2:6-8

The Pharisees (the sect that Paul had been a prominent member of) and the Sadducees taught the ‘oral law’ (Talmud) which was based on the Torah, but it had many additions and other changes that were not from Yahweh. 

2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32)

Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32

This Talmudic tradition became an evil substitute for salvation through faith and focused on Talmudic works.

18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 And not holding the Head [Christ], from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. 20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

Colossians 2:18-22
  • That description does not apply to the Sabbath, festivals, and dietary laws. Those things were not human teachings; they were commanded by Yahweh.
  •   But we know that Christ affirmed every iota and dot of the Torah as having enduring authority in the lives of his followers (Matthew 5:18).

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:17-19

“Fulfilled” – pleroo / play-ro’-o [G4137] to make replete, i.e. (literally) to cram (a net), level up (a hollow), or (figuratively) to furnish (or imbue, diffuse, influence), satisfy, execute (an office), finish (a period or task), verify (or coincide with a prediction), etc.:–accomplish, X after, (be) complete, end, expire, fill (up), fulfil, (be, make) full (come), fully preach, perfect, supply.

Strong’s Greek Concordance; James Strong

Christ came to “fully preach” the Law, as opposed to the Talmud, which was separating believers from faith.  Those that teach against the Law, “shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven”.

He also proclaimed, “till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law” – heaven and earth have not passed, so the Law still applies or Christ was wrong (if so, was he wrong about anything, else?)

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Colossians 2:8

Man’s philosophy and traditions are deceitful – those of Yahweh, as practiced by Yeshua are not.

You scoff at our philosophy as though living by it were irrational, but it teaches us self-control, so that we master all pleasures and desires, and it also trains us in courage, so that we endure any suffering willingly.

4Maccabees 5:22-23, RSV

The Colossian Heresy:  The doctrine influencing the Colossian believers could be considered a type of philosophy, but according to Paul it is “empty deceit.” It doesn’t actually deliver what it promises.

  •   Paul says it is ‘of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh’ (Colossians 2:23).
  •   Another problem with this false teaching is that it is “according to human tradition and from Paul’s perspective, mere human teachings are useless in overcoming the power of sin (Colossians 2:22-23).
  •   It appears that the false teachers at Colossae were enamored with cosmic authorities, supernatural powers over nature, and angels (Colossians 2:8, 15, 18, 20).  They exalted and feared these spiritual entities, believing them to have control over the universe and their destinies.  These superstitions were also combined with religious practices, including biblical holy days.
  •   In practice, this false philosophy strictly regulated foods, drinks, and festivals (2:16) and involved ascetic rituals and worship of angels (2:18-23).  By adhering to the practices and regulations of these false teachers, people believed they could attain wisdom and be protected from the evil spirits that troubled them.

At the end of the first century, during the time of Trajan (A.D. 98-117), a Christian leader named Elchasai combined aspects of Jewish nomism (circumcision and law observance) with astrological beliefs; magical practices; and pagan cult traditions. The resultant syncretistic teaching emphasized the hostility of the stars (viewed as angels) and the need to regulate one’s life according to the calendar (especially the Sabbath and the courses of the moon) […] Colossae was certainly not afflicted by the teaching of Elchasai, but “the philosophy” bore many similarities. At the minimum, the example of Elchasai points to emerging forms of localized syncretistic Christianity at an early stage. The Elchasaite teaching also demonstrates how a magical/astrological interpretation of sabbaths could surface in early Christianity.

Clinton E. Arnold, The Colossian Syncretism: The Interface between Christianity and Folk Belief at Colossae (Grand Rapids, Ml: Baker Books, 1996), pp. 217-218

A big problem with this mystical false teaching is that it ultimately resulted in minimizing the Messiah’s exalted position as the head from whom the body derives its life (Colossians 2:18-19).

The preeminence of the Messiah:

  •   Paul teaches that the Messiah is the real embodiment of wisdom and knowledge (Co1ossians 2:2-3).
  •   Messiah is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). That is, God’s full character is embodied in Messiah (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4; Philippians 2:6; Hebrews 1:3).
  •   Messiah is “the firstborn of all creation” {Colossians 1:15), which is an Old Testament title expressing royal status and authority (Psalm 89:27).
  •   It was by, through, and for Messiah that “all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities” (Colossians 1:16). Importantly, the invisible creations in heaven would include angelic beings. Paul’s point is that Messiah, the one by whom, through whom, and for whom all things were created, has authority and power over all created things in heaven and on earth.
  •   Messiah is “before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1 :17). That is, Messiah has priority in terms of time and rank, and he is the sustainer of the universe (cf. Hebrews 1:3). Paul hopes to encourage the Colossian believers not to try to find coherence in the universe by turning to angels. Messiah is the one who holds all things together.
  •   Messiah is also “the head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18; 2:10, 18-19). That is, he is the lord over the church as well as its source of life: ” … the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God” (Colossians 2:19).
  •   Messiah is “the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent” (Colossians 1 :18). The Messiah’s resurrection has inaugurated the kingdom – his resurrection being the “firstfruits,” assuring us of the full harvest to come at the end of the age (1 Corinthians 15:20, 23). In the meantime, the Messiah exercises his rule through his body, the church.
  •   The Messiah is one in whom “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:19; 2:9).

For Israel the keeping of these holy days was evidence of obedience to God’s law and a sign of her election among the nations. At Colossae, however, the sacred days were to be kept for the sake of the “elemental spirits of the universe,” those astral powers who directed the course of the stars and relegated the order of the calendar. So Paul is not condemning the use of sacred days or seasons as such; it is the wrong motive involved when the observance of these days is bound up with the recognition of the elemental spirits.

Peter T. O’Brien, Word Biblical Commentary: Colossians, Philemon (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1982), p. 139

In conclusion:

  •   A contextual understanding of these verses implies that Paul does not regard things like the Sabbath and festivals as unimportant.  He condemns only an improper observance of these laws in connection with mystical false teachings that downplay Messiah and his work.
  •   Once again, the problem was with human precepts and teachings, not God’s commandments themselves (Colossians 2:8, 22).
  •   But when we observe these parts of the Torah appropriately, with a focus on the Messiah and his work of redemption, there’s no problem.
  • Verse 16 declares the opposite of what is taught, today.  He was telling the Colossians not to let people falsely judge them for keeping the ordinances of the Torah (without the mystical rituals the leaders were adding).

16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Colossians 2:16-17

If Christ did away with Torah, they would not be a “shadow of things to come”, because Christ already came.  They were still to look forward to the things that are to come (after the Millineal Kingdom, when the present heaven and earth pass away).  Recognizing the substance that these “shadows” point to ought to make us value them that much more!

Torah will still be kept in the Millineal Kingdom. Does it make sense that the Law would be kept for 4000 years, done away with for 2000 years, and then reinstituted again for 1000? Especially when Yahweh and Yeshua both affirmed the Law is forever?

Just Do It and find a preacher who is not changing the Law to fit their values. The Law was given to change us!

Categories
Prescribed Holy Days

Yom Kippur – Atone for Yourself

29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. 32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments: 33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. 34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.

Leviticus 16:29-34

What is Yahweh telling us about this holiday:

  • It is a permanent regulation (mentioned twice)
  • We are to afflict ourselves.
  • It is for the Israelite and the Gentile believer.
  • The priest makes an atonement through a blood sacrifice.
  • It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest.

I mentioned it in my blog about Yom Teruah, but it bares repeating.  The spring holidays proscribed by Yahweh pointed to the coming messiah and were fulfilled by Yeshua Ha’mashiach (Joshua, the Redeemer) the Passover lamb that was killed to take away the sins of the world, rose again, and gave us holy spirit.  The Fall holidays point to the return of Yeshua in glory as ruler of heaven and earth and judge of mankind.

The instructions to observe Yom Kippur are repeated later in Leviticus:

26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. 30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. 31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.

Leviticus 23:26–32

Once again, Yahweh is telling the believers:

  • It is a special (“high day”) Sabbath that is to be observed no matter the day of the week it falls on.
  • We are to afflict ourselves (mentioned twice).
  • The priest makes an atonement through the sacrifice.
  • It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest.
  • If we don’t afflict ourselves, we are to be destroyed.
  • If we don’t rest, we are to be destroyed
  • It is a permanent regulation.
  • It is to be a complete day, from sunset to sunset.

Yahweh commands us to “afflict” (ânâh / aw-naw’ [H6031] – abase self, chasten, or submit) ourselves and to do no work. During the Days of Awe, we are to reflect upon our lives, but on the Day of Atonement, we are to thoroughly examine ourselves and ask forgiveness for our shortcomings. This introspection is our last chance to change our outcome.

This is not to be equated with a New Year resolution (as many do) – NYRs seek an earthly benefit (e.g, weight loss).  On Yom Kippur we seek change that will align us in the Father’s Will.  Failure to maintain a NYR is not seen as a tragedy – “I’ll try again next year.”  There may not be another chance to atone a year later.

On the Judgment Day, Christ will judge us – the judgment entered in these books is sealed.  On Yom Kippur, this day is, essentially, one’s last appeal, one’s last chance to change the judgment, to express your repentance and make amends.  Another Yom Kippur may not avail itself.

The Day of Atonement is a foreshadowing of a future event (as all the holy days were / are) and we, as believers, are to prepare ourselves.  This life is not the only existence we have to look forward to, but failure to live it according to the dictates of Yahweh could mean your second life could end very quickly in a lake of fire.  Yom Kippur is a yearly reminder that judgment is coming, and we want to prepare ourselves.

Yom Kippur is the only day that a priest could enter the holy of holies and submit a burnt offering for the sins of the people. It is a foreshadowing of the Day of Judgment when Christ will judge all.

The life blood of the sacrificial animal was required in exchange for the life blood of the worshiper (the symbolic expression of innocent life given for guilty life).  Yeshua, however, as our High Priest (in heaven – he is not of the family of Aaron, nor a Levite), shed his innocent blood once for an atonement for all people (Hebrews 9:23–25). Unfortunately, few accept his sacrifice.

The choice is to accept Christ as your Savior (i.e., do as he commands) and live life everlasting, or to face Christ as your judge and possibly die in the Lake of Fire. I believe that those who never knew Christ can be judged as honorable based on whatever standard he chooses, in their cases.  Ultimately, Yeshua will be just in whatever manner he adjudicates.

The “once saved, always saved” theology must reckon with Christ’s proclamation that few will enter into the kingdom (Matthew 7:13-14, see also 1Peter 4:17-19).  A doctrine that is almost universally accepted amongst Christians sounds more like the “broad way that leadeth to destruction” than the “narrow way which leadeth unto life”.

When you examine (afflict) yourself, you will, no doubt, come up lacking (if you don’t, then you are not serious about chastening yourself) – welcome to the club.  We are not trying to achieve perfection; we are trying to make commitments to being better.  Failure to do so questions your confession of Yeshua as “Lord” in your life (see my blog, Born Again?).  When one hires on as a servant, they do not get to choose how they want to serve their Lord; they agree to serve as the Lord wants and endeavor to do the best they can.

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Yeshua will not be mocked.  He knows what we don’t confess, so we might as well deal with sin in our lives before we are judged for those sins.

Traditionally, Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day.  Orthodox Jews refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur (one of the meanings of afflict is “ravish”). It is a complete, twenty-five-hour fast beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur.  These restrictions, however, can be lifted where a threat to life or health is involved.

Do not mistake a fasting as the affliction. Fasting is a form of affliction, but Yahweh desires that we afflict our souls, not our bodies – to get honest with yourself and truly repent unto life. Fasting is okay if you want, at any time, but it is neither a substitute for, nor a heightening of your taking an assessment of your walk with Yahweh.

Isaiah warns against seeking attention by using a fast to advance your image as better than others because of your ‘affliction’:

3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. 4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Isaiah 58:3-7

Isaiah speaks of feeding and clothing the poor on Yom Kippur. As it is a complete Sabbath, prepare food and collect clothes beforehand to distribute. We can (and should) do good even as we take the time to assess our relationship with the Father and His Son.

I once gave blood on Yom Kippur – the timing and the imagery of the sacrificing of blood, yet giving of life shouted out to me.

Remember that Yeshua told us, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

Categories
Prescribed Holy Days Torah

Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets) – A Christian Holiday?

23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. 25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Leviticus 23:23-25

Yom Teruah is referred to as the Day of Trumpets (it is not a feast day, as it is commonly misconstrued to be) but is more accurately translated as a day of blowing or shouting. The walls of Jericho were brought down with a great teruah (as were the first two little pigs’ homes).

So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout [teruah], that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

Joshua 6:20

Long ago, I learned that the Hebrew holidays were both commemorative and prophetic:

The Word does not give a reason for this specific holiday, but under Babylonian captivity, the Jews adopted many of the traditions of their overlords . . . including the names of the months (the months were initially referred to as “the first month”, the seventh month”, etc.  They were given names in Babylon – the fourth month to this day is named after a Babylonian god: “Tammuz”).

Babylon celebrated their new year twice in their calendar, one landing close to the Day of Trumpets.  In order to celebrate their holiday, they mixed it with the Babylonian new year and named it Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew for “head of the year”).  Since Babylon had two new year celebrations, it would not appear strange for the Jews to do the same. The tradition remained, even after they left their captivity in Babylon.

This is the only holy day that coincides with a new moon but not the only day that is to be celebrated with trumpets.

Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your Elohim: I am Yahweh your Elohim.

Numbers 10:10

The Hebrew months begin on each new moon and the trumpets were sounded to herald in each month, but the seventh month was declared by Yahweh to be special.

1 And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you. 2 And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savour unto Yahweh; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year without blemish: 3 And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram, 4 And one tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs: 5 And one kid of the goats for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you: 6 Beside the burnt offering of the month, and his meat offering, and the daily burnt offering, and his meat offering, and their drink offerings, according unto their manner, for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto Yahweh.

Numbers 29:1-6

Once again, the reason for the holiday is not given and the specific instructions for commemorating it are unavailable today because there is no sanctuary or Levitical tribe to perform the sacrifices.

Joseph was said to have been released from prison on this day (Psalm 81:3-6) and the messiah was thought to end their earthly bondage on this day.  For this reason, Israel used this day to officially coronate their kings.  The new king would start their rule upon the death of the previous king, but the ceremony would take place on Yom Teruah.

Many Christians believe that Yeshua was born on Yom Teruah (I keep promising to do a blog about Christ’s birth on September 11, 3 BC, but I get side-tracked easily) which should make this a Christian holiday – much more appropriate that that hideously pagan and overly commercialized festival they celebrate in December (see my blog, Party Like a Pagan).

Christ is also believed to be returning in glory on Yom Teruah, though most Christians no longer look to any specific day because of a misunderstanding of Mark 24 and 1Thessalonians 5.

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

1Thessalonians 5:2-6

A thief cannot overtake someone who is vigilant, so the Christian who believes that any random day may be the return of Christ will be overtaken by events, just like the unbeliever.  The people in Noah’s time were witnessed to for decades and carried on as if nothing could happen (Noah’s Flood – a timeline (6)). They were warned and still they drowned.

For the very reasons that Christ was born on Yom Teruah and will return on Yom Teruah, this day is neither a Jewish holiday nor a Christian holiday.  It should be a believer’s holiday.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

1Thessalonians 4:16-18
Categories
Prescribed Holy Days Torah

Pentecost (Shavuot)

Feast of Weeks  (Shavuot) – Pentecost – Marriage Anniversary

9 Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. 10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: 11 And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.

Deuteronomy 16:9-11; see also Leviticus 23:16-22

The period from Passover (Pesach) to the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot – pronounced, “sha – voo – oat”) is a time of great anticipation. The days are counted from the second day of Passover (Week of Unleavened Bread – Leviticus 23:15) to the day before Shavuot, forty-nine days or seven full weeks, hence the name of the festival (i.e., the Feast of Weeks).  This makes it 50 days after Passover, where it gets the Greek name, Pentecost (pentekoste – fiftieth).

Pentecost is a truly significance holiday. It marked the wheat harvest in Israel (Exodus 34:22), and it commemorates the anniversary of the day when Elohim gave the Torah to the nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:3-8) and the people responded that they would obey all that the LORD commanded (see also, Deuteronomy 5).

This is the marriage covenant that Yahweh makes with His people.  He called them to be His and they took His Name.  The Commandments in stone and the rest of the Torah are the marriage certificate.  When we “confess Yeshua as Lord” (Romans 10:9), we take our place within the covenant (see Born Again?).

This is a serious commitment (as all marriages should be) and a flippant taking of Yahweh’s name is a serious transgression (see Chapter 2, the third commandment).  Marriage vows are not nonchalant – If one is not “all in”, then the chances of success are greatly diminished.

Yahweh instructed Israel to count the weeks to remind them of the important connection between Passover and Shavuot: Passover freed them physically from bondage, but the giving of the Torah on Shavuot redeemed them spiritually from their bondage to idolatry and immorality.  

The Hebrew holiday of Pentecost has no particular similarity to the Christian holiday of Pentecost, which occurs forty-nine days after Easter (the ‘Christian’ Spring holiday).  Their desire to celebrate it on a Sunday (“the Lord’s day”) means that it is seldom celebrated on the same day that the Jews celebrate it.  It also means that it is never celebrated on the fiftieth day – negating the reason for calling it “Pentecost”

To followers of Christ, Pentecost has similar redemptive qualities because this is the day the Apostles and thousands of others were first filled with holy spirit because of the sacrifice of Yeshua Ha’mashiach, the Father’s perfect Passover Lamb.  Believers were freed from the consequences of sin (the second death) which changes the whole nature of worshipping the Father. 

The Talmud had been written by men as a supplement to the Torah and was kept out of fear of the consequences of sin – now the Torah is kept out of thankfulness for the abolition of that consequence.  It is a completely different mindset.

In ancient times, the grain harvest lasted seven weeks and was a season of gladness (Jeremiah 5:24, Deuteronomy 16:9–11, Isaiah 9:2).  It began with the harvesting of the barley during Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Pentecost. Shavuot was thus the concluding festival of the grain harvest. During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, a wave offering of barley was made during “First Fruits” (Leviticus 23:9-14) and from the wheat harvest on Shavuot.

This is one of the three holy days that required a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem (Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot) and all required a wave offering.  Once again, the Word states we should “rejoice before the LORD thy God . . . in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there” (Deuteronomy 16:11).  It is not possible to observe this holy day without the presence of the Temple.  Commemoration and worship are still available, though.

Shavuot is unlike other Jewish holidays in that it has no prescribed Torah commandments.  It relies on traditional festival observances of meals and merriment; observances of special prayer services and abstention from work. It is also characterized by other customs:

  •   Akdamut – reading from a liturgical poem during Shavuot morning synagogue services.
  •   Chalav (milk) – consumption of dairy products like milk and cheese (cheesecake, baby!).
  •   Ruth – reading from the book of Ruth at morning services.
  •   Yerek (greening) – decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery.
  •   Torah – participation in all-night Torah study.

These observances are fine, but I would also add readings from the Book of Acts where tens of thousands were given holy spirit and spoke in tongues.  Since no specific observance is prescribed (and pilgrimage is presently unavailable), make the day your own and worship in a way that is a blessing to you and to Yahweh.

Remember, it’s your anniversary!

Categories
Prescribed Holy Days

Passover (Pesach) – Then & Now

Passover is less than two weeks away and is just the first of several ‘special’ days over a two-week period. This is the first of several blogs that are intended to help provide information about these days; how to celebrate them; and what they mean to us today.

This first one is taken from my book GRAFTED: Embracing Torah. The book is undergoing revisions with the publisher, so if you have a desire to read it (and I think you really, really, really should), please be a little patient.

5In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover. 6And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 7In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 8But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

Leviticus 23:5-8

Passover is such a big deal that Yahweh changed His original calendar so that the month with Passover in it would be the new first month (Exodus 12:1-–2).

After Joseph saved Egypt (and the world?) from a seven-year famine and making its kingdom the mightiest and richest at the time, the Egyptian people became envious of the power and wealth held by these Hebrew interlopers. They and turned against Joseph’s descendants, overwhelmed them and made them slaves.

After suffering in captivity in Egypt for hundreds of years, Israel yearned for a redeemer and witnessed the power of Yahweh in the form of devastating plagues that seemed to strike their Egyptian oppressors, but left them untouched.

After numerous plagues had proven that the Egyptian gods were all impotent, but had not secured the release of Israel, one last plague melted Pharaoh’s resolve and Israel was allowed to leave Egypt. Yahweh struck down the first-born of every family and every animal, unless the people inside the home placed the blood of a sacrifice on the door-frame of their homes.  If the blood was present, the Angel of Death “passed-over” the home and struck elsewhere (Exodus 11 and 12).

After Passover, not just the Jews, but a “mixed multitude” of peoples (Gentiles) left with them after determining that Yahweh was a far superior god than the ones they had been worshiping in Egypt.

A great and detailed explanation of the plagues and the Egyptian gods they were meant to humiliate can be found at the Berean Breadcrumbs website: Blood in the Water and Fracturing the Faith Vol.5.

Passover is not an actual holy “day” (meaning that it is not a twenty-four hour period of time), even though many refer to the entire day as “Passover”.  Notice that it gives a time (“even” – evening, the end of the day) for Passover rather than saying, “The fourteenth day”.

Israel is also commanded, “Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning” (Exodus 34:25). Passover is the meal that ushers in the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there”.

Deuteronomy 16:2

5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee: 6 But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 16:5-6

These verses seem to imply that we need a Temple (and, therefore, a Levitical tribe) in order to sacrifice a Passover lamb. Still, we are commanded to “remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life” (Deuteronomy 16:3).

As with all of Yahweh’s prescribed days, Passover was celebrated for what He had accomplished and the day was also a precursor for what He would accomplish.

In the year of Yeshua’s death, Passover was on Thursday (since the Jewish calendar is lunar based, it is on a different day of the week each year).

The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. (emphasis added)

John 19:31

“For that sabbath day was an high day”. This was not the normal, end-of-the-week Sabbath, but a special, supplemental one – like the one prescribed by Yahweh in Leviticus 23:5-8 for Passover.

Yeshua died on the cross on Wednesday, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed in the Temple. Joseph of Arimathea hurriedly placed the dead body of Yeshua in a sepulcher so Joseph could celebrate the Passover at sunset (John 19:38-42)

This is important, because Christians teach that Christ died on Friday (Good Friday?) evening which makes the prophecy of Yeshua void.

39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 12:40

Friday night to Sunday morning is not three days and three nights (seventy-two hours) making Yeshua either a liar or a bad mathematician.  It also doesn’t reach the threshold for what was considered ‘officially’ dead. If Yeshua was not in the grave 72 hours, the Jewish leaders could have claimed that he had not actually been dead . . . only very close to death.

Wednesday night to Saturday night (“The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.” – John 20:1) IS three days and three nights.

If the Jews had a reason to celebrate the Passover that saved them from a temporal death, we have an even greater reason to celebrate Passover because the Lamb of God (Yeshua) died for our sins and saved us from everlasting death. His resurrection is the proof that those that have faith will also share in everlasting life.

7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 There-fore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8

18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

1 Peter 1:18-19