Category Archives: Feasts

When is Passover?

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When to celebrate the upcoming biblical feast of Passover is currently the big question on the minds of biblically astute, Hebraically-minded followers of Yeshua. We keep his commandments because we love and want to know him, right? Right!

What follows will be a simple step-by-step guide on how to determine the date of Passover. It’s as simple as one, two, three or A-B-C, if you prefer. Once you have done this, you can figure out the times of the other biblical feasts for the rest of the year.

Step one: Determine when the barley in the land of Israel is abib (or ripe).

Step two: Once there is enough barley that is ripe, sight the new moon in the land of Israel. The next new moon that falls after the barley is ripe, will be the first day of the new biblical year.

Step three: Once you know the first day of the new year, then count forward 14 days to Passover, which is on the fourteenth day of the new year.

It’s that simple.

Once you know Passover, you can calculate the rest of the biblical feasts.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is on the fifteenth day of the first month or the next day after Passover day. The Feast of Weeks or Pentecost is on the fiftieth day after First Fruits Day (always on a Sunday). In other words, between First Fruits Day and Pentecost there are 49 days or seven full weeks with Pentecost falling on the fiftieth day—always on a Sunday.

Once you know when the first day of the first month is for the biblical year, it is also easy to calculate when the fall biblical feasts are.

The Day of Trumpets falls on the first day of the seventh month.

The Day of Atonement occurs on the tenth day of the seventh month.

The Feast of Tabernacles falls on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and lasts for seven days. The seventh day of this feast is called, by ancient Jewish tradition, the Last Great Day or Hoshana Rabbah.

The Eighth Day falls on the twenty-second day of the seventh month immediately after the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Important: The biblical new month always begins when the first crescent new moon is visible to the naked eye from the land of Israel. Sometimes is it impossible to predetermine on which day Passover or Day of Trumpets will fall, since this is contingent upon seeing the new moon. A biblical month can have 29 or 30 days. So if one doesn’t see the new moon at the end of the 29th day, then that means that the new month will begin at the end of the 30th day. This marks the first day of the new month. Therefore, it is impossible to know ahead of time the exact day of Passover or Trumpets. You have to wait until you see the new moon or don’t see it, depending on the situation.

Not knowing the exact day for Passover and Trumpets ahead time frustrates and irritates many people, since they can’t plan ahead of time when to take time off from work, or plan to rent a building when planning for a large gathering. For this reason, many people choose to follow the calculated traditional or rabbinic Jewish calendar (aka the Hillel 2 calendar). The problem is that this calendar was not the original calendar used by the Jews of Yeshua’s time, but was invented by the Jews of the dispersion and approved by the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century A.D. It is no longer an accurate calendar in that it usually does not fall on the days that the Torah tells us to keep YHVH’s biblical feasts. That’s why we reject this calendar as being biblically inaccurate.

We reject other calendars as well. These include the spring equinox calendar which is another unbiblical calendar. Neither the Bible nor the ancient Jews uses/used the the spring equinox to determine the biblical feasts. In fact, the Bible never even mentions the spring equinox.

Then there are other calendars such as the Noah calendar, the Enoch calendar, several Qumran calendars from the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the list goes on and on. People who, for whatever reason, do not want to follow the simple truth of the Bible keep coming up with new calendars to make themselves feel special as if they have discovered some hidden, esoteric knowledge that no one else has. The problem is that all of these calendars are all man-made and unbiblical, so we reject them as well.

Having said all of this, this year, Passover, based on the abib barley and the new moon in the land of Israel, will begin the evening of April 16 with Passover day being on Sunday April 17. The first high day the Feast of Unleavened Bread will fall on Monday, April 18.

If you are part of a Hebraic community that follows the traditional Orthodox Jewish calendar and will be celebrating Passover on a different day, we advise you not to cause division and strife over this issue. Celebrate with your community, but then follow Torah by keeping Passover quietly yourself on the exact day Scripture commands. This way, you are part of your community, but not violating the Word of Elohim.

If you want to know exactly when the biblical new month begins and when the barley is abib in the land of Israel, we cordially direct you to two of the reliable sources in the land of Israel that we use to obtain this information. They are:

https://www.facebook.com/datetree

https://www.hebrewinisrael.net/category/blog/

If you are still confused about the biblical calendar, I invite you to read my articles on the subject at: https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/teaching.html#feast or watch some of my videos on the subject at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5EzE5DQnrHfWWbczzkRo6IOnglxhbRfM.

 

The Biblical Feasts and Yeshua’s Wedding Prophesied in the Tabernacle of Moses

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Welcome to the World of the Tabernacle of Moses

If you were the Creator of the universe, what means would you use to communicate with those that you had created through love in your likeness and image? In a remote way, it’s like a human standing over an anthill trying to communicate with the ants. How do you do it? Similarly, how does an all powerful, Spirit Being, loving Father in heaven relate to his mortal children who are but mere specks of dust without vaporizing them with his raw power? The difficulty is compounded when fearful humans don’t want to hear the voice of Elohim, which is what happened when YHVH Elohim’s voice thundered from Mount Sinai. The children of Israel begged him not to talk to them, lest they die. They asked the Almighty One to speak to them instead through Moses (Exod 20:19).

When man sinned at the tree of knowledge, and YHVH kicked them out of the Garden of Eden, direct communications between man and his Maker were hampered, if not all but cut off. However, Elohim had a plan to restore the loving relationship he had with man before the rebellion. But if men refuse to hear you when you speak, what are you do?

To be certain, the Almighty doesn’t lack for ways to communicate with men. Man is without excuse when it comes to hearing Elohim, for even the heaven’s declare the glory of the Creator and the plans he has for mankind. The visible things of this creation shout loudly about the spiritual mysteries heaven desires to reveal to its earthly subjects. Furthermore, from time to time over the millennia, Elohim has chosen to speak directly to some select servants through dreams, visions, signs, wonders, angels, and even once through a donkey! But how does he speak to a whole nation, if that nation is plugging its ears and refusing to hear its Master’s voice?

Enter into the picture the Tabernacle of Moses, which was literally a three-dimensional gospel message tract. It is the visual demonstration of the whole message of the Bible in a building  —  the blueprint of the plan of redemption of wayward man. It was a functioning masterpiece of artwork demonstrating the Father’s love for his people, of his desire to commune and to communicate with Israel  —  his treasured possession, those he had hand picked and called out from the 70 nations of the world. Not only did the tabernacle involve the sense of sight, but the other four senses as well: sound, smell, touch, and taste. It also engaged and even challenged the heart, emotions, mind and spirit of man. The Tabernacle of Moses was a vehicle for the Creator of the universe to communicate with man using a panoply of communicative devices all of which pointed to the coming Messiah, the Redeemer of mankind who would die for the sins of the world to restore man into a loving relationship with his ever-loving, gracious, and longsuffering Father in heaven.

This is the story of the tabernacle, which, in every way, resembles a theatrical play, even a pageant, containing costumed actors each performing his carefully choreographed role on cue. Even a child can comprehend the message of this play, yet it contains mysteries and truths so deep that only in eternity itself will they be revealed to those who have been initiated into higher spiritual levels through the tabernacle’s spiritual paradigms of which its rites and ceremonies were mere prophetic shadows of things to come. To understand it, is to understand the message of the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

Let’s now enter into this world of the Tabernacle of Moses. Welcome!

The Seven Steps in the Tabernacle & the Biblical Feasts

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Psalms 81 and 82 on New Moons and Small e Gods

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Psalm 81 

Psalm 81:3, Blow the trumpet [Heb. shofar] at the time of the New Moon [Heb. chodesh], at the full moon [Heb. keseh meaning full moon or concealed, covered — scholars disagree as to its meaning and the origin of the word], on our solemn feast day [Heb. chag] — NKJV. The ArtScroll Stone Edition Tanach translates this verse alternatively as follows,

Blow the shofar at the moon’s renewal, at the time appointed for our festive day.

The origins of the Hebrew word keseh behind the phrase “full moon” is uncertain and there is debate among the experts on this subject. Some Hebrew lexicons relate it to a Hebrew root word meaning “to conceal, to cover” (e.g., Gesenius; Strong’s number H3677 cp. H3678), while others tell us that it means “fullness; full moon” (e.g., Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon; cp. The TWOT; Strong’s). BDB tells us that the origin of keseh is unknown and that it may be an Aramaic loan word meaning “full moon.” Gesenius in his lexicon states that the etymology of keseh isn’t clear, but he favors the idea of the moon being covered or concealed in darkness as opposed to being covered in light (i.e., in its full moon state). 

The only other usage of keseh in the Scriptures is found in Prov 7:20, which gives us no clue as to the exact meaning of the word.

Orthodox Jewish scholars tell us that keseh means “to conceal or to cover.” They say that the only biblical festival that occurs at the time of the new moon (biblically, when the first sliver of the new moon becomes visible) is Yom Teruah (or Rosh HaShanah), which occurs on the first day of the seventh month (in late summer). At this time, the moon is nearly completely covered or concealed except for a small, visible sliver.

The next phrase in this verse speaks of a solemn feast day, which is the Hebrew word chag. This word refers to the three pilgrimage festivals, which are Passover and the Feast (or chag) of Unleavened, the Feast (or chag) of Weeks or Pentecost and the Feast (or chag) of Tabernacles (Exod 23:14–16; Deut 16:16).

Jewish scholars relate the word chag to Yom Teruah (which they say refers to Rosh HaShanah, see The ArtScroll Tanach Series Tehillim/Psalms Commentary on this verse). The problem with this interpretation is that the Scriptures never call the day of the new moon (rosh chodesh) a chag, nor is Yom Teruah technically a chag either in the strictest sense of the meaning of the word and its usage in Scripture. Therefore, the word keseh, if it means “concealment” must be referring to both the new moon day (the first day of each month, and to Yom Teruah, which occurs on the first day of the seventh month), while the chag must be referring to the three pilgrimage festivals.

Those scholars who take the word keseh to mean “full moon” say that the phrase in this verse containing this word refers to the pilgrimage festivals (Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks, and Feast of Tabernacles), which all occurred on or very near the time of the full moon.

Whichever interpretation you side with, the bottom line is this: The Scriptures command us to sound the shofar at the time of the New Moon, on Yom Teruah and during the three pilgrimage feasts. (See also Num 10:10.)

Psalm 82

Psalm 82:1, Elohim stands…the gods/Congregation of the mighty.Dr. Michael Heiser in his two books, Reversing Hermon and The Unseen Realm puts forth a convincing argument that the elohim mentioned in this verse are what Scripture refers to in many places as “the hosts of heaven” and refer to Elohim’s divine heavenly council. This same council is also referred to in Deut 33:2; 1 Kgs 22:19; 2 Chron 18:18; Job 15:8; Jer 23:18; Dan 7:9–10 and Heb 2:1; Acts 7:53. 

“The congregation of the mighty” seems to be a reference to Elohim acting as the Supreme Judge among his divine, heavenly council that carries out his orders. This is more than the traditional “Godhead” (i.e., the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and also includes angelic and spirit beings, and even Satan himself. 

From time to time, Elohim gathers his council together as we see in Job (Job 1:6; 2:1). Even lying spirits are subject to and do the bidding of Elohim who presides over this council also referred to as the host of heaven (1 Kgs 22:19–23). Moreover, some of the “Us” passages in the Scriptures, which have typically been attributed to the “Godhead,” according to Heiser, likely refer to this divine counsel (e.g., Gen 11:7; Ezek 44:6). This has been the view of ancient Jewish sages as well.

Modern biblical theologians have traditionally taken a non-supernaturalistic view of Psalm 82:1 by saying that the gods here refer to human rulers. While elohim may by definition and biblical usage refer to human rulers, this passage cannot be limited to this definition alone, since verse seven refers to these gods or elohim as “dying like men” as a result of Elohim’s divine judgment on them because of their wickedness. This threat makes little or no sense if it is referring only to human rulers. 

For the record, Yeshua quotes verse six in reference to human rulers (John 10:34; 14:30; 16:11), so this passage should not be taken to refer only to Elohim’s divine counsel or just to human rulers, but probably to both. This is because behind human rulers are evil spirits or principalities that govern the nations (Dan 10:20; Eph 6:12; Rev 13:2) and all of these are under the aegis of Satan, who has his own kingdom (Matt 12:26) and is presently the ruler of this world (John 12:31); however, even Satan’s kingdom is under the ultimate authority of YHVH Elohim.

The idea that there were and are unseen evil spirits and demi-gods that rule the nations of the world behind the scenes is revealed in the book of First Enoch and is also found in traditional ancient Mesopotamian historical accounts and forms the basis for the ancient Greek mythos, as Heiser proves. 

Additionally, we learn from Genesis chapter ten (in the Table of the Nations) that, at that time, there were seventy nations of the world that rebelled against YHVH at the Tower of Babel (Gen 11). Interestingly, and a little later, Jacob had 70 descendants who went down to Egypt (Exod 1:5) and who become the children of Israel. From them, Moses chose 70 elders to rule over Israel (Exod 24:1), which would eventually became the Great Sanhedrin that ruled the Jewish people. YHVH then commissioned Israel to evangelize the apostate nations by being a spiritual light to them (Deut 4:5–8)—a task they utterly failed to perform. Picking up where ancient Israel failed in its mission, Yeshua chose 70 disciples not only to replace the Jewish Sanhedrin in spiritual authority over the people of Elohim, but to go forth and to preach the gospel to the 70 nations (Luke 10:1–12, 17; Acts 1:8 cp. Matt 28:18–20) that had been lost to the kingdom of Satan at the Tower of Babel, thereby to reclaim the world for the kingdom of Elohim at the devil’s expense.

Eventually, and hopefully in the not too distant future, the resurrected and glorified saints, who will become the sons of Elohim and will be adopted into his divine family as small E elohim (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1; Gal 3:26; Rom 8:14; Eph 1:5), will rule and reign with Elohim (capital E Elohim, Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6) over the new heavens and new earth. This will all be to Satan and his kingdom’s detriment and to that of the small E elohim human rulers of his present-day earthly kingdom, all of whom will be cast into the lake of fire at the end of the age (Rev 20:10).

Psalm 82:6, You are gods…children of the Most High.This statement likely has a dual meaning or double entendré. It can refer to the righteous saints as Yeshua alludes to in John 10:34, or possibly to the demon-nephilim of Genesis 6:4–6 who were the spawn of the heavenly angelic hosts who became the fallen angels and who cohabited with women in the pre-flood world as the context of this psalm seems to suggest.

 

Back From Celebrating Sukkot in the Wilderness

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Shalom dear ones in Yeshua. Sandi and I are back from celebrating Sukkot 2021 in the mountains and high desert of Central Oregon not too far from where we live. Our children and a couple of close friends gathered around us as we camped in our travel trailer. While out of “Babylon,” we did not have access to the internet, so I was not able to upload any blog posts. Now it is time to play catch up.

Here are a few phots from our sukkah-ing in the wilderness en route to the Promised Land of our spiritual inheritance. Please enjoy.

This is an early morning view of a foggy meadow not far from our campsite in Western Oregon where we spent the first part of Sukkot before we escaped to the high desert country of Central Oregon (about 200 miles SE of our home.

The following pictures are from along the river a few minutes walk from our campsite.

An early morning view of the river with frost on everything.
Another morning from the same spot on the river. I took these photos during my early morning prayer walks.
The high desert in bloom.
A 100 foot tall waterfall we viewed while on a hike in the mountains.
Nathan with the Cascade mountains in the background. I have climbed almost all those those mountains in my younger days.
Nathan with Kaeli, our youngest daughter, who came out from North Dakota to spend Sukkot with Sandi and I along with our other children.
Nathan looking through a hole in a rotten trunk of a large maple tree.
 

Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement)— Opening the Treasure Chest!

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The Gospel Proclaimed in Leviticus 23:27–32

When you were a young child you were no doubt curious about the world around you. There was so much to see and learn about. What was more exciting than exploring that world by going on trips to new places or even spending hours investigating and playing in a nearby a forest? Let’s become curious and teachable again like children we used to be and now explore Leviticus 23:27–32 where we find the command to observe the Day of Atonement (Heb. Yom Kippur) to see what surprising nuggets we can find here. In the simplicity of this text, we will discover outlined the entire gospel message of salvation prophetically foreshadowed some 1500 years before the birth and death of Yeshua the Messiah.

The text of Leviticus 23:27–32 is highlighted in bold with explanations following.

Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement [Heb. kippur]. (v. 27)

Yom Kippur is about atoning, reconciliation and purging, which is the meaning of kippur. Purging who of what? We’ll soon find out.

It shall be a holy convocation for you… (Lev 23:27) 

Yom Kippur is a commanded assembly or a sacred convocation for YHVH’s people. It was made holy not by men, but by the Creator of the universe. Men can’t make anything holy, for men aren’t holy. Only the Holy (Heb. Kadosh) One of Israel can do this. The Day of Atonement is also a divine appointment (Heb. moed, Lev 23:2) as determined by the YHVH Elohim. It is a time when the Creator demands to meet with his people. Humans who miss it defy the Creator’s commands.

…you shall afflict your souls (Lev 23:27)

Afflict is the Hebrew word anah meaning “to oppress with the idea of humility or meekness in mind coupled with the idea of a suffering life rather than with one of worldly happiness and abundance” (The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 2, p. 682). 

So what is this soul that we are commanded to afflict? Each human has a soul (1 Thess 5:23). Your soul is who you are. It is what makes you unique. It is your personality, your emotional makeup, your mental abilities and your willpower. Your soul determines what you say, do and think. Yeshua called it the heart of man (Matt 12:35; 15:19). It is attached to and in charge of the human body. It tells the body what to do, saw and think. The soul is the source of sin in each person; it is the soul that sins (Ezek 18:4).

Why does YHVH command his people to afflict their souls (i.e. to go one day without food and water) on Yom Kippur? The reason for this is that the soul must be put down, or sublimated and brought under the control of the Word and Spirit of Elohim if man is to have a spiritual relationship with the Creator, which can eventually result in man receiving eternal life and membership into his heavenly kingdom. Yeshua taught his disciples that “he who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for [Yeshua’s] sake will find it” (Matt 10:39), and that “whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for [Yeshua’s] sake will find it” (Matt 16:25). The sinful soul (the mind, will and emotions) of men is what prevents man from coming into a spiritual relationship with the Creator. That is why the proud, self-righteous, rebellious, lawless and willful soul of man must be afflicted and humbled, so that it can be brought under the control, power and influence of the Word and Spirit of Elohim, so that man can experience the abundant life in this world and the next (John 10:10). This is why the carnal, sinful soul of man has to be starved. By learning to control our physical appetites through fasting, we can learn better how to control the sinful passions of our carnal natures. This is what the baptism for the remission of sins ritual is all about. It’s about death to the old sinful man and coming alive to one’s personal spirit or inner man through legal and spiritual identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua through the aid and influence of Elohim’s Set-Apart Spirit (Gal 2:20; 1 Cor 5:17). In Romans 6:3–11 we read,

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into the Messiah Yeshua were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as the Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with the Messiah, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that the Messiah, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to Elohim. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to Elohim in the Messiah Yeshua our Lord.

…and offer an offering made by fire to YHVH. (Lev 23:27)

This is referring to the animal sacrifices that were made on Yom Kippur where animals were slaughtered and laid on the altar in the Tabernacle of Moses as an offering to Elohim. This ritual teaches us two things. The first is that the innocent animal that was sacrificed on the altar was a prophetic symbol pointing to Yeshua’s death on the cross. His death atoned for or purged man of his past sins and redeemed man from the death penalty that comes upon him because of that sin. We read in Leviticus 16 that on Yom Kippur the high priest sacrificed animals on the altar in the tabernacle as a sin offering for himself and the children of Israel. He then sprinkled its blood before the mercy seat in the holy of holies, which pictured the throne of Elohim in heaven. This in every way points to Yeshua’s atoning death on the cross for man’s sins, and Elohim’s acceptance of that death in payment or exchange for the penalty for man’s sins, which is man’s death.

The next thing that this offering by fire alludes to is that afflicting the soul is a picture of the saint dying to carnal, sinful nature. Each of us must be willing to lay his life on YHVH’s spiritual altar by “present[ing] your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to Elohim, which is your reasonable service” (Rom 12:1). What is it to be a living sacrifice for Elohim? It involves dying to oneself (i.e. one’s carnal and sinful passions) and not only accepting Yeshua as one’s Savior, but as the Lord or Master of one’s life as well. Many people want the Savior part of Yeshua, but not the Master part. It comes as a package; you can’t have one without the other. If Yeshua is not your Master, then he is not your Savior either. One can’t have the Savior without the Master. If Yeshua is truly one’s Savior, then he will also be one’s Master. This is because he bought and paid for each of us with his life, and he now has the legal right to tell us what to do. When you accepted him, this was a legal transaction. If you want salvation from the death penalty you brought on yourself by your sins, you must also accept heaven’s terms and conditions to free you from that death penalty. There is no other way. People lie to themselves if they think they can chart their own course of “spirituality” and make up their own rules to find a relationship with their Creator some other way. It doesn’t work that way! Every other way is a satanic counterfeit that leads to death and eternal separation from Elohim.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Set-Apart Spirit who is in you, whom you have from Elohim, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify Elohim in your body and in your spirit, which are Elohim’s. (1 Cor 6:19–20)

[K]nowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of the Messiah, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. (1 Pet 1:18–19)

And you shall do no work on that same day… (Lev 23:28) 

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Happy Yom Teruah 2021!

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The new moon as sighted from my backyard on the evening of September 8, 2021

The moon does not lie! Men’s calendars do, however, when it comes to the times and seasons of Elohim. They obscure divinely revealed Truth as they come and go from the scene.

Over the millennia, calendars get changed and reconfigured based the whims of human vicissitudes, but the heavenly bodies, which are in reality a giant timepiece that YHVH Elohim created, never change. They are as reliable now as they were in the time of the Yeshua and before and going all the way back to the beginning of time for determining the set-apart, kadosh (holy) times and seasons of YHVH.

For these reason, I get excited when I see the new moon of the seventh month on YHVH’s biblical calendar. It tells me that I’m meeting the Almighty on the exact day that he set in stone long ago to celebrate Yom Teruah, the Day of Shofar Blowing or Shouting.

But what’s the big to do all about? Why all the shouting and shofar horn blowing?

It will be on this day in the not too distant future that Yeshua the Messiah will be returning in power and glory, and when he will gather his righteous saints—both the living and the dead— together to meet him in the air. NOW THAT IS SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT!

To learn more about Yom Teruah and how to celebrate it, go to

https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/yom_teruah.pdf

or watch this video

 

Have a Joyous Shavuot/Feast of Weeks/Pentecost 2021!

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Free resources from Hoshana Rabbah to help you have a more enlightened and meaningful Shavuot/Pentecost: