Category Archives: Feasts

Why Celebrate the Passover?

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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 man 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 Continue reading →

 

Preparing Ourselves for Passover

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Repent of Sin and Get Under the Lamb’s Blood. 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 and to our hands or actions as represented by the door posts). This 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 one has sin in their life 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).

Here are some things of which to repent.

Pride. Do you always think that you’re right? Your opinion is what matters the most? Do you have a hard time with those who don’t see it your way, when you don’t get your way? Do you have a fit when people disagree with you? Do you criticize others and put others down (especially those who are closest to you)? Do you belittle, mock, scorn and ridicule Continue reading →

 

Happy Biblical New Year!

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Today is the first day of the new biblical year. Happy new year’s day!

From https://www.facebook.com/datetree?ct=t(EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_3_18_2018)&mc_cid=3138304102&mc_eid=300f221fd5
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And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for appointed times, and for days and years. (Gen 1:14)
The new moon of the 1st month was sighted from Israel this evening, March 18, 2018!*
From Ma’ale Adummim by Roy Hoffman at 6:12pm.
From Nitzana by Yotam Marcus at 6:30pm
Below are the upcoming holiday dates based on the finding of Aviv barley in the Land of the Israel and the sighting of the new moon.On behalf of all of us who rely on these reports, I wish to thank everyone in Israel who looked for the new moon this evening and sent in their observations in a timely manner. And a special thank you to all of you who have chosen to be a part of restoring the Biblical Calendar by supporting our efforts.If you find these reports to be of value, please consider supporting our efforts at https://www.patreon.com/datetree. We could really use your support!Shanah Tovah (Happy New Year)! Let’s make this year the best one yet.

Devorah Gordon
Jerusalem, Israel
We could really use your support!
Please click here to help us provide reliable Biblical Calendar information.
 

Aviv Barley Found in Israel

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From: https://www.facebook.com/datetree?ct=t(EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_3_18_2018)&mc_cid=4d90412ed6&mc_eid=300f221fd5

“This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.” (Exodus 12:2)
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March 18, 2018The Aviv Search Team has spent the past few days inspected the barley crop in the Land of Israel to determine whether this year needs to be intercalated with a 13th month. We concentrated our search in the Northern Negev, Judean Hills, and the Jordan Valley, as barley ripens first in these regions.

The barley in the Judean Hills and Jordan Valley was quite immature this year, while the barley in the Northern Negev was more mature. The most developed location we looked at in the Northern Negev had a good amount of patches of aviv barley. We also found some individual stalks at other fields.  It is the unanimous conclusion of the participants, that we found enough aviv barley to begin the year with the upcoming new moon sighting.
Photo by: Harold Tarter
Photo by: Yoel Halevi

We praise Yehovah for the protection He provided us on our excursions. I also wish to thank each of the participants of this year’s Aviv Search for contributing your unique skills and perspectives, and coming together as a team to make this year’s search another great success. And a very special thank you to all of you who have chosen to be a part of restoring the Biblical Calendar by supporting our efforts, we really can’t thank you enough for your support.

2018 Aviv Search Participants: Devorah Gordon, Yoel Halevi, Harold Tarter, Willie Ondricek (Northern Negev only), Cari Tarter (Judean Hills/Jordan Valley only).

I’m off to look for the new moon!

Devorah Gordon
Jerusalem, Israel
 

To Whom Do the Biblical Feasts Belong: YHVH or the Jews?

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John 7:2, The Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles. A casual reading of this verse (and other similar references in the Gospels to the “Jewish festivals”) may lead one to believe that the biblical feasts are of Jewish origination and thus for the Jews only. This is a prevalent notion in the mainstream church. However, understanding the Gospel writer’s comment in the cultural and spiritual context in which it was written will shatter this erroneous concept.

A study of the Bible will first reveal that the biblical feasts were given not only to the Jews, but to all the tribes of Israel by YHVH himself when he gave them the Torah after the children of Israel left Egypt.

Second, in the first century, different religious sects had different calendars so that they observed the biblical feasts at different times. For example, the Samaritans had their own calendar that differed from that of the mainstream Jews. Moreover, the Dead Sea scrolls reveal that the Essenes toyed around with several calendars. Within mainstream Judaism, there was even a difference of opinion (between the Sadducees/Boethusians and Pharisees), for example, as to when to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost.

So when John uses the term, “the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles” he’s not indicating that the feasts were of Jewish origination and thus belonged exclusively to the Jews, but rather which calendar he’s referring to or on which days certain feasts were to be observed.

 

Dates and Calendars for the the Springs Biblical Feasts 2018

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The spring biblical feasts are fast approaching. Here are some resources that Sandi Lawrence (my wife and ministry partner) of Hoshana Rabbah Biblical Discipleship Resources has put together for you, so that you can plan to celebrate the biblical feasts of Elohim.

 

Spying out the land for Sukkot 2018

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Earlier this week, Sandi and I made the four hour drive over the snowy Cascade Mountains to the high desert of Central Oregon to find a suitable venue for our fellowship and other friends to celebrate Sukkot 2018. We found what we were looking for and made arrangements. Here are a couple of photos from that trip.

Nathan standing next to a giant ponderosa pine tree along the banks of the Deschutes River.

The high desert beauty of Central Oregon.