Category Archives: Feasts

Why Celebrate the Passover?

Posted on by
2

Isn’t your life already busy enough? Who has time for a six-hour Passover Seder commemorating something that happened thousands of years ago? What could this possibly have to do with my life here and now, you may ask? How can a 3500-year-old Biblical ritual in any way relate to those living in the age of the laser, satellites, the worldwide web and computers? Well, let’s see!

The Preacher said in Ecclesiastes 3:15, “That which is has been already and that which will be has already been.…” Life is full of paradoxes. Do advancements in technology, science, economics, medicine, religion, and world government really promise to give men the rest for their weary souls for which they long?

How about a different approach to the questions and problems facing modern man? Is it possible to go forward by going backwards? This is a thesis that the ancient prophet Yermeyahu (Jeremiah) proffered to those who had ears to hear. He said, “Thus says YHVH, ‘Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk in it’” (Jer 6:16). What were those ancient paths to which this white-haired Jewish prophet referred? This question is answered three verses later: “Because they have not listened to My words, and as for My Torah, they have rejected it also” (verse 19). YHVH through his prophets has been showing men the way of rest for their souls for thousands of years, yet men consistently refuse to listen. They always have a better way, so it seems!

The festival of Passover is one of the most ancient paths to be found in all of the Scriptures. In it are contained clues that will help the partakers of it to understand the past, present and the future. 

A God-hater, Karl Marx, the father of modern communism, said that religion is the opiate of the masses. Yes, this can be said of dead, truthless and spiritless religion. But how about that religion which gives definition, purpose, meaning, hope and destiny to a man’s life? How could anything that comes directly from the Loving Father who created you and me in his own image be detrimental to us?

It has been said that the religion of the Bible tells a person where he has come from, where he is at and where he is going. Could it not be said that a man who knows the answers to these questions possesses true wisdom and wealth, and has indeed found rest for his troubled soul?

One of the most important scriptures in the Jewish faith is the famous shema passage of Deuteronomy 6:4–9. This passage, which is like a “pledge of allegiance” for the Jews, starts out by saying, “Hear [shema], O Israel …” The word shema literally means “to hear and to do.” Later, in verse five, the shema continues, “And you shall love YHVH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might.” Loving our Heavenly Creator is not just a mind-thing, but also an action and a doing thing. It is something we act out and participate in. This is the Hebrew way … the ancient paths! As a path is for the purpose of walking down, even so, Passover is meant to be celebrated. This is how YHVH’s people showed their love and devotion to him. Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah, reiterated this when he said, “If you love me, keep my commandments [or Torah mitzvot]” (John 14:15). 

This is what the Passover Seder is all about. We, as humans, learn by doing. We learn obedience by obeying. We learn to love by loving. We learn about heavenly and spiritual mysteries by walking out the types and shadows found in Scripture (of which Passover is but one) that point to the heavenly and spiritual domain or dimension of YHVH himself. The French have a saying: L’appétit vient en mangeant. Translated this means: Appetite comes while eating. Or we could say that the more one eats (delicious food) the more one wants. David said in Psalm 34:8, “O taste and see that YHVH is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him.” The more we walk out the commandments of our Heavenly Father, the more of his goodness we behold, the more of his blessings we receive, the more our soul finds rest, the more we want to walk out his commandments, the more we behold his goodness, and so on goes this wonderful spiritual growth-cycle.

So why do we go to the trouble, expense and time to celebrate a Passover Seder? First, it helps us to fulfill the commands YHVH gave to us to do at Passover, such as eating lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs; telling our children the story of the Passover; holding a “set apart convocation” and so on (Exod 12:14–20, 43–49; Lev 23:4–5; Num 9:2–3; 28:16; Deut 16:1–3). But again we ask, what is the significance and relevance to us of this celebration? 

Passover is but the first piece of a panoramic puzzle or the first thread in a rich tapestry of YHVH’s plan of redemption of mankind. Though the children of Israel kept the first Passover 3500 years ago in the land of Egypt, this ancient celebration is not only a memorial of what occurred then, but is of utmost significance to the spiritual life of the Believer today. It has future or prophetic implications, as well. Passover is the first step of a spiritual journey that, if one continues in it faithfully to the end, will lead one into the very presence of YHVH Elohim, our Heavenly Father, himself. What a journey! Let’s look at it.

Continue reading →
 

More Reasons for Celebrating YHVH’s Biblical Feasts

Posted on by
Reply

The biblical pilgrimage or aliyot (singular: aliyah) festivals are Passover (Pesach) and Unleavened Bread (Chag haMatzot) and the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost (Shavuot) in the spring and the Feast Tabernacles (Chag haSukkot) in the fall (see Lev 23). At these feasts, the Torah, the Word of Elohim, commands all of YHVH’s his people Israel to come up (or make aliyah) to the place where YHVH has chosen to place his name. There they are to worship and serve him as they fellowship with joy with their Israelite brothers from far and near.

  • What are the reasons and benefits for YHVH’s people to faithfully and obediently celebrate his holy or set-apart feasts as he has commanded in is Set-Apart Word?
  • The biblical feasts are a prophetic shadow-picture of things to come (Col 2:16–17; Heb 10:1). When they were given to ancient Israel they pointed forward to future events that would occur to the nation of Israel including redeemed believers. The spring feast days, for example, point to Yeshua the Messiah’s first coming, while the fall feast days point to his second coming leading into the Messianic Age (Millennium) and into eternity beyond.
  • All the biblical feasts point to Yeshua. Yeshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus and means “salvation.” All the biblical festivals point to the various stages or steps of the path of salvation that believers find themselves on. 
  • All of the feasts point back to and commemorate historical events that occurred in Israel’s history. By studying and celebrating these feasts, we can learn valuable historical spiritual lessons that are, at the same time, representative of our own spiritual journey (1 Cor 10:1–6, 11). The biblical feasts also point to present spiritual realities in the life of the redeemed believer. The feasts—especially the fall feasts—point to prophet events that are yet to happen. As such, they function as a sort of road map that tell us where we’ve come from, where we’re at, and where we’re going in our spiritual journey.
  • YHVH Elohim commands his people to keep what the Scriptures calls his appointed times or biblical festivals. They are times when he makes an appointment to meet with his people (Lev 23:1–2, 4). It is at these festivals or commanded assemblies that YHVH teaches his people about his wonderful plan of salvation or the redemption of the world through Yeshua the ­Messiah.
  • The feasts are in the Bible and the whole Bible is the inspired word of Elohim (2 Tim 3:16). Yeshua commands his saints to live by every word that comes out of the mouth of Elohim (Matt 4:4). The feasts are in the Bible, and believers need to study and obey the whole Bible, which is the inspired word of Elohim (2 Tim 3:16). 
  • The feasts set forth the pattern of heavenly things on earth (Heb 8:1–2, 5; 9:8–9, 23; Exod 25:8–9, 40; 26:30; Num 8:4; Ezek 43:1–6, 10–12), and, therefore, reveal to us spiritual mysteries about things in heaven.
  • As physical human beings, we need physical means and methods to help us understand spiritual mysteries that are above and beyond our intellect. YHVH gives us the natural to help us to understand the supernatural or the spiritual, which would otherwise be beyond our comprehension (1 Cor. 2:9–13). The biblical feasts play an important role in our spiritual growth, development and maturation and bring us higher and closer to Elohim through Yeshua the Messiah. Therefore, Elohim’s feasts act as bridges to help us to transcend the physical and not only to understand the spiritual, but to actually come up to the higher spiritual level. As such, they bring us closer to YHVH Elohim, our Creator and Heavenly Father.
  • Yeshua, the apostles and early believers celebrated the biblical feasts. The apostles walked as Yeshua walked, and instructed us to do the same (1 Cor 11:1; 1 John 2:6).
  • The Bible tells us that YHVH’s feasts will be celebrated during the Millennium, so why shouldn’t we be keeping them now?
  • Yeshua said that if we love him, we will be keeping his commandments (John 14:15). Elsewhere, Yeshua equated the commandments with the Torah (Luke 18:20), of which the biblical feasts are a part.
  • If you want to know YHVH, you will be keeping his Torah-commandments of which the feasts are a part (1 John 2:3–6).
  • YHVH’s Word commands us to appear before him three times each year at the three aliyot or pilgrimage feasts (Passover/Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, Exod 23:14–17). If we’re going to be obedient to his instructions in righteousness, we must gather together in the place where he has chosen to place his name (Deut 16:2, 6, 11).
  • The aliyot feasts are a time for all Israel—including the saints of Elohim, who are “the Israel of Elohim” (Gal 6:16)—to gather together to worship YHVH (Lev 23:2, 4).
  • When we obey YHVH’s commands, we are blessed in wonderful and unexpected ways (Deut 28:1–14).
  • When we come together at his appointed times (moedim) and at the place where he has chosen to place his name, we show YHVH that we love him and want to meet with him. As a result, we will experience a special divine joy (Deut 12:5–7, 18).
  • When we come together at his appointed times (moedim) at the place where he has chosen to place his name we show our fellow redeemed Israelites that we love them and want to fellowship with them. This brings unity and one accordness into the spiritual body of Yeshua.
  • At the feasts, there is corporate worship, and when YHVH’s people praise him together, he inhabits the praises of Israel (Ps 22:3).
  • When redeemed Israel comes together, YHVH camps in the midst of his people (Ps 34:7).
  • When the disciples of Yeshua come together, he is in their midsts (Matt 18:20).
  • At the aliyot feasts, people from outside of one’s local congregation ideally gather together for a common purpose: to obey, worship and serve YHVH. This binds all the saints together in a common focus and purpose. In this atmosphere, new and lasting friendships are forged and the kingdom of Elohim is expanded and he is glorified.
  • At the aliyot feasts, one has the opportunity to hear new teachers with fresh manna or teachings.
  • The aliyot feasts give our young people and adult singles an opportunity to meet prospective spouses.
  • The aliyot feasts give one an opportunity to visit new places and provides one with a great (and biblically-based) excuse to take a much needed vacation.
  • The aliyot feasts are a place to not only meet new people, but to exchange ideas and to get your Bible questions answered.
  • At the aliyot feasts, one is provided with extended times of anointed praise and worship, which brings redeemed Israel together, unites heaven and earth, unites the body of Yeshua and causes everyone to grow spiritually.
 

Is it the biblical new year? Yes!

Posted on by
18

We are going to proclaim that the biblical new year has arrived based on reports of aviv (or abib) barley being found and the new moon sighting in the land of Israel (see https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=devorah%27s%20date%20tree and https://www.facebook.com/HaleviTeacher). Based on this report, Passover (Pesach) will occur on Sunday, March 28, 2021 with the first high holy day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread occurring on the following day (Monday, March 29, 2021). We will now discuss the reasons for our decision.

To be sure, some people may consider this to a borderline call this year, but the preponderance of evidence, in my opinion, is that this is the month of the aviv barley. (For more info on the biblical calendar and the biblical definition of “the month of the aviv/abib [barley]”, see my articles on the subject at https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/teaching.html#feast). Here are the reasons that we have chosen to call this new biblical month the first month of the new year:

  • As far as we know, Devorah Gordon and her team are the most experienced aviv barley searches currently operating in the land of Israel, and have been at this for some 20 years. We know and trust Devorah (along with her former husband, Nehemia Gordon), and were privileged to be part of their team in 2008. So we have a sense of how the barley search system works as well as the integrity of those involved.
  • Based on my extensive understanding of the Scriptures on the subject of the biblical calendar (see my articles on the subject at the link provided above), for the first month of the biblical calendar to be called the month of the aviv, aviv barley must be found in the land of Israel at the beginning of the month. According to the above referenced reports, aviv barley has been found. True, there is not a lot of it, but it is there. Moreover, by the time Wavesheaf Day occurs in about three weeks, it is highly probable that there will be much more aviv barley.
  • In the past, other people have proclaimed the new month based on the potential of aviv barley being found by Wavesheaf Day. We have rejected this notion for several reasons. First, it is our belief based on our study of the Scripture that for the month to be called “the month of the aviv” (a biblical term), aviv barley must already be present in the land of Israel by the first day of the first month. Second, if there is no aviv barley to be found by the first day of the first month, then there is no guarantee that it will be found in time for the Wavesheaf Day two or three weeks later. Maybe there will be enough aviv barley, may be there will not be. It is anyone’s guess. Why is this? Because the ripening of the barley depends on the weather, and no one can predict what the weather will do. If it is warm, then the barley will ripen; it it is cold, it will not ripen. This is why there needs to be aviv barley by the first day of the first month for it to be the month of the aviv barley. For example, in 2008 when we were in the land of Israel, we did not find aviv barley when we searched for it. Yet, there was a man who proclaimed that month to be the first month of the year based on the notion that the barley might be aviv by the middle of the month and in time for the Wavesheaf Day. As it happened that year, the barley was still not aviv when he thought it would be, and so his proclamation was false. For this reason, it is important that there be aviv barley by the first day of the first month for that month to be proclaimed the month of the aviv and, hence, the first month of the biblical new year.
  • Why is it important for there to be aviv barley by the first day of the first month of the new year? Simply this. In ancient biblical times and according to Scripture, the Israelites were commanded to go up to Jerusalem (or wherever YHVH chose to place his name) to celebrate the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. They had to walk there. Depending on where they were coming from, this journey may have taken anywhere from several days to more than a week to make. If the new month was declared based on potential sighting, and not on the actual occurrence of barley at the beginning of the month, then there was the potential for a major problem for the Israelites. What if they prepared for the journey to Jerusalem, left their farms, made the journey only to find out that the barley still was not aviv? What then? They had to make the trek back home by foot, only to turn around a short time later and make the trip all over again when the barley was finally aviv. Such a situation is not an issue in our day of modern transportation, but in biblical times, this would have been a major economic inconvenience if not a debacle for many people. For this reason, the barley had to be aviv by the beginning of the first month.
  • In ancient Israel, the Mishnah records that there was a whole process that occurred to determine whether the barley was aviv or not. This process was officiated over by the religious and political leaders of Israel. It involved many people and important protocols were followed to insure accurate information. Today, we do not have such resources at our disposal. Most of us are not in the land of Israel. We have to trust those who are there for accurate information. That is my wife and I went to Israel in 2008 to experience this process ourselves and to meet the people involved.

We realize that well-meaning people will have different opinions on some of the points mentioned above. This is where love and respect comes in. There is no need to criticize, slander or libel others who have different opinions. We are all doing the best that we can to live up to the light of truth that has been given to us. Truth is being restored to YHVH’s people in these last days (see Acts 3:21 and Mal 4:4–6) and this is a process that takes time involving one heart and mind at a time. As such, everyone is at a different place on the truth-restoration trajectory. So let us love and respect one another, even if someone has a different opinion than ours. At this point, I am reminded of Paul’s instructions in Romans 14,

Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things…Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for Elohim is able to make him stand.…But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Messiah.…Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.…Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of Elohim is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Messiah in these things is acceptable to Elohim and approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. (Rom 14:1, 4, 10, 13, 16–19)

 

How to Prepare YOURSELF for Passover

Posted on by
6

Passover is just around the corner. It is the first step in YHVH Elohim’s plan of salvation or redemption of sinful humans to reconcile fallen man back to him. Did you ever wonder how this process really works?

There is never a better time to begin repenting of sin and getting under the blood of the Lamb of Elohim than just before Passover. As the children of Israel applied the lamb’s blood to the door posts and lintels of their house, so we must apply the sin-cleansing and Satan-defeating blood of Yeshua afresh to our lives (i.e. to our thoughts as represented by the door lintel and to our hands or actions as represented by the door posts). Cleansing of our sin occurs as we repent of our sins, and pray for and receive YHVH’s forgiveness. He will then cover our sins over or wash away our sins by Yeshua’s blood (1 John 1:9; Rev 1:5).

In Egypt at Passover time, YHVH judged all those who had failed to put the lamb’s blood on the door posts of their houses. In other words, they weren’t under the blood of the lamb, but were still under the penalty of sin, which is death (Ezek 18:4; Rom 6:23). Any unrepented of sin in our lives brings the curse of death on us. To the degree that we have sin in our lives is the degree to which the spirit of death has a legal claim on us. Now is the time to repent of sin by confessing it and seeking Elohim’s forgiveness under the blood of Yeshua and then forsaking that sin through YHVH’s grace (1 John 1:9). 

Let us now discover the miraculous process of how to overcome sin in more detail through a spiritual magnifying glass. How do we go from being a lost sinner—the walking damned or the living dead—to becoming the glorified and immortalized children of Elohim?

It works like this: When we confess and repent of our sins, Yeshua will pass over or forgive us of our past sins (Rom 3:25; Ps 103:8–12). From this point forward, it is up to us to embrace a new mindset and a new spiritual identity and reality; that is, we must reckon our old sinful man as having been crucified with Yeshua, in that we are now dead to sin, no longer slaves to sin, freed from the power of sin, and alive to Elohim in Yeshua our Lord (Rom 6:7–11). Yeshua is the one who victoriously defeated the power or sting of sin, which is death, hell and the grave at the cross and through his resurrection (1 Cor 15:56–57; Col 2:13–15). Through our faith in him and our legal identification with his death, burial and resurrection through the symbolic ritual of baptism for the remission of sine, his victory is legally applied to us by the courts of heaven, which is how he has made us more than conquerors over sin and death (Rom 8:37; 6:1–14) such that the power of sin and death will no longer have dominion over us (Rom 6:12–14).  He now gives us strength through his enabling and empowering grace to resist and overcome sin, that is, to not let sin control us any longer (Rom 6:12). He promises to give us a new, circumcised heart as he writes his laws or commandments on our hearts, so that we will be supernaturally inclined to love him by keeping his commandments (Jer 31:33; 24:7; Heb 8:10; 10:16; Ezek 36:25–27; Isa 51:7; Ps 40:8; 37:31; Deut 30:6; John 14:12 cp. Rom 7:22). What is that supernatural power that works in us to help keep us from sinning? It the Spirit of Elohim or the Comforter that Yeshua promised would come along side of us to aid us in the process of overcoming sin (John 14:16–18, 25–26; 15:26–27; 16:7–14). 

To summarize, this whole supernatural and miraculous process of being victorious over sin is activated when we first acknowledge our sin, confess our sin, repent of our sin and then place our faith in Yeshua’s death and burial. This occurs when we appropriate or reckon, by faith, our old sinful man to have been crucified with Yeshua, and then been resurrected in the newness of spiritual life with him. We now embrace the new identity that he has given us—a spiritual reality that he has imparted to us and has been legally recorded in heaven (Col 2:14)—that we are a new creation and are victorious over sin (Gal 2:20; 2 Cor 5:17), and have become Spirit-begotten children of Elohim. This whole process is summarized from beginning to end in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans chapters six through eight. The end result, if we continue in a right spiritual relationship with Yeshua the Messiah for the rest of our lives, is that our names will be recorded in Elohim’s Book of Life, and our physical bodies will be glorified—we will be given immortality—at the resurrection of the righteous dead, which occurs at the second coming of Yeshua. 

This whole process or chain of events that transforms sinful humans into glorified and immortal children of Elohim begins at Passover which symbolizes the first steps a person takes when he comes to faith in Yeshua the Messiah.

Here are some things of which to repent: 

Continue reading →
 

Why study and celebrate the biblical feasts?

Posted on by
2
YHVH’s seven biblical give us a glimpse into past and future…

The spring biblical feasts are just around the corner. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are the first of seven biblical celebrations or festivals that lay out YHVH Elohim’s plan of salvation or redemption for humankind. Not only that, the Creator commands his people to observe them. Moreover, Yeshua and the New Testament disciples did, so why shouldn’t we?

The mainstream church has lied to us in several ways about YHVH’s feasts. First, they ARE NOT the Jewish feasts. The Jews did not invent them. Read your Bible! They came from the Creator, and he commanded all of his people to celebrate them—NOT just the Jews.

Second, they were not done away with at the cross. That is another lie that the church has brainwashed you to believe. The article below clearly proves this from Scripture.

Third, the church has pulled the wool over your eyes about YHVH’s feasts when it replaced them with its own invented Christo-pagan holidays. These are traditions of men that Yeshua warned us against by which YHVH’s Word has been made of none effect.

Folks, when are we going to wake up to the cold hard facts? The article below will help to unveil the hidden truth of the Scriptures and to expose the lies that we have inherited from our forefathers.

An Introduction to the Biblical Feasts

If you had to sum up the entire message of the Bible in one word what would it be? Probably words such as love, hope, salvation, eternal life or heaven are coming to your mind. But I challenge you to find a better word than the following: r-e-c-o-n-c-i-l-i-a-t-i-o-n. The dictionary defines reconciliation as “to restore to friendship or harmony, to settle or resolve a quarrel, to make consistent or congruous.”

When the first humans chose to listen to the lies of the serpent and to rebel against YHVH by giving in to sin at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at the very beginning, our first parents chose the path of separation from their Heavenly Father. Sin causes man to be separated from our totally holy, righteous, sinless and loving Creator.

Since that time YHVH has been endeavoring to reconcile man to himself. He has laid out the criteria for this to occur—for man to once again have a loving and intimate relationship with his Heavenly Father as did Adam and Eve before they sinned.

The seven biblical feasts of YHVH (please note, the Bible calls them YHVH’s feasts, not men’s feasts, Lev 23:2, 4; Exod 31:13) prophetically represent the steps man must take to be reconciled to his Heavenly Father. They are the complete plan of salvation or redemption rolled up into an easy-to-understand ­seven-step plan. Though a child can understand these steps, the truths contained therein can, at the same time, be expanded and unfolded until one literally has rolled out before oneself the entire message of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation—a message that to the human comprehension is staggering, deep and rich beyond understanding. The biblical feasts are literally the skeletal structure upon which the truths of the entire Bible hang. The message of redemption, sanctification, salvation, the atonement, glorification, end-times eschatology, the history of Israel, the entire gospel message, the covenants, the marriage of the Lamb of Elohim, the truth about the bride of Messiah, and Yeshua the Messiah are all prefigured within the glorious spiritual container of YHVH’s feasts contained in seven steps. Seven is the biblical number of divine perfection and completion, thus revealing to us that his plan of salvation is complete in that it will bring man back into an eternal and spiritual relationship with Elohim.

Quite assuredly, without a deep, walking-it-out comprehension of YHVH’s feasts, no matter how learned one may be in biblical knowledge, one will miss key elemental truths pertaining to YHVH’s plan of salvation. For example, there is no way to correctly or fully understand end-time events such as the second coming of Yeshua, the great tribulation, the wrath of Elohim, the resurrection of the righteous, the marriage of the Lamb, the Millennium, or the New Jerusalem unless one understands the feasts from a deep Hebraic perspective. Spiritual pride may not allow one to handle this fact, but it is the truth none the less! It’s illogical to think that one can throw out the foundation of a building and expect it to stand, or to eliminate the skeleton from a human body and expect a person to stand upright. Similarly, the feasts are both the foundation and the skeletal framework upon which is built or hangs the whole corpus of biblical truth.

What’s more, at Mount Sinai, YHVH gave to his people Israel the Ten Commandments. These words from the mouth of the Creator himself literally formed the foundation and cornerstone to the rest of the Torah’s (the 5 books of Moses) 613 commandments, which YHVH gave to man through Moses. The Jewish sages have understood this for thousands of years. From the Ten Commandments, all the rest of the commandments can be extrapolated. For example, the prohibition against adultery includes not only marital infidelity, but all manner of sexual sin, for the cornerstone of sexual holiness is a righteous and undefiled marital union. The same can be said of all the other commands. Similarly, from the Sabbath command springs forth all the biblical feasts, for they too are sabbaths. From the fourth commandment also comes the land sabbath and jubilee years. These sabbaths were so vital in YHVH’s eyes and so fundamental to his relationship with his people that he said that they would be a token of his wedding agreement with Israel, even as a ring is a symbol of a modern marriage covenant. About the Sabbath, we read the following in Exodus 31:13,

Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am YHVH that doth sanctify you.

Please note that the word Sabbaths is plural. This refers not only to the weekly or seventh day Sabbath, but to all the Sabbaths of YHVH, including the biblical feasts. These days are so important that they would actually form the basis for his reconciliatory relationship with his people throughout their generations, which means ­forever!

Continue reading →
 

Only ignorant or irreverent humans invalidate YHVH’s Sabbaths!

Posted on by
3

Exodus 31:13–17, My Sabbaths you shall keep. Note that Sabbaths is plural. This is a reference not only to the weekly Sabbath, but to the feast day Sabbaths as well. However, the seventh day Sabbath remains central to YHVH’s spiritual economy for his people. In fact, it was so central to the spiritual life and YHVH’s people that he designated it to be a visible and outward sign of the special relationship between him and his people. Let’s explore this idea.

Why did YHVH designate it as a sign (“signal, distinguishing mark, banner,” Exod 31:12) between him and Israel? As YHVH’s set-apart people, Israel was distinguishing itself from the surrounding nations who did not keep the Sabbath. What distinguishes the saints today as YHVH’s set-apart people from the non-believing heathen around them? Certainly our love for one another is a distinguishing mark, according to Yeshua (John 13:35). Yeshua also said that if we love him we will keep his Torah commandments (of which the Sabbath is the fourth of the ten commandments, John 14:15; Exod 20:8). John was inspired to write that those who say they know Elohim and don’t keep his Torah-commandments (of which the Sabbath is a foundation stone) are liars and the truth is not in them (1 John 2:3–6). And finally, Yeshua told those who were Torahless (i.e. workers of iniquity or lawlessness) to depart from him, that he didn’t know them even though they claimed to be his followers and had done many religious works in his name (Matt 7:21–23). Although the Sabbath and the biblical feasts may not be the exact sign of the Renewed Covenant, Elohim’s Sabbaths are foundation stones of the Torah, and the keeping of them remains to this day for the saints of Elohim (Heb 4:9).

The ArtScroll Stone Edition Tanach translates verse 15 as follows:

For six days work may be done and the seventh day is a day of complete rest, it is sacred to [YHVH]…(emphasis added)

What is complete rest? What is the connection between “complete rest” and the idea of sacredness or being set-apartness or kadosh? The people of YHVH are called to separate the kodesh from the common or profane:

Her priests have violated my Torah, and have profaned my set-apart/kodesh things: they have put no difference between the kodesh and profane [common, polluted] neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. (Ezek 22:26)

And [the priests] shall teach my people the difference between the kodesh and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. (Ezek 44:23)

What is common or profane is that which is commonly done on the other six days of the week.

Exodus 31:14, Sabbath…profanes it. Profaning or polluting the Sabbath with secular activities is a sin. Sabbath desecration is as much a capital offence in YHVH’s eyes now as it was then. The wages of sin is still death (Ezek 18:4; Rom 6:23). 

Exodus 31:18, Written with the finger. The Sabbath was ordained by Elohim and written by his finger. How dare men subsequently declare that the Sabbath was changed and that what YHVH wrote with his finger in tablets of stone is now irrelevant or passé! What hubris and arrogance on men’s part to counter the will and laws of Elohim with silly, specious and vacuous justifications for man-made and unbiblical teachings that deign to nullify the validity of YHVH’s Sabbath. Such edicts of men will not stand, but will blow away like lowly dust in the wind, will be burned to ashes in the fiery judgment of Elohim, and will fall by the wayside like all the other traditions of men, which have dared to make the word of Elohim of no effect!

 

Happy End of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret 2020!

Posted on by
4

As we close out this year’s Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) and Shemini Atzeret (the Eighth Day), our family would like to wish you and glorious rest of the year as we enter into the dark winter season in preparation for a new feast season next biblical year starting with Passover.

By the way, please feel free to share with us your praise reports and testimonies of how you were blessed this year at Sukkot. You can do this in the comments section of this post.

The Nathan and Sandi Lawrence family gathered together on the Shemini Atzeret after a Bible study.
Sunset of Sukkot on the Deschutes River a couple of blocks from temporary home.
Shemini Atzeret morning on the Deschutes River with a gentle rain falling to wash the dust off of everything, to water the land, and to clear the forest fire smoke out of the air. This coming year, may the gentle rain of the Holy Spirit and the water of YHVH’s Torah-Word clean and refresh us and water the ground of our hearts, so that we can bring forth a bountiful spiritual harvest for our Heavenly Father. Amein.