Category Archives: Feasts

Back from Sukkot 2018— A Praise Report!

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We’ve just returned from our private Sukkot/Feast of Tabernacles celebration in the high desert of central Oregon at the base of the high Cascade Mountains. This was my 50  somethingith Sukkot, and it was uniquely refreshing.

I’ve been wanting to do a Sukkot like this for years! I’ve been to big Sukkot celebrations with thousands of people in stadiums and small ones with just a few people in a living room. I’ve done Sukkots on two continents and in three countries. From 2002 to 2016, my wife and I hosted a regional Sukkot gathering that was open to the public and where people came from multiple states and Canada. We’ve done the guest speaker thing with programs like a conference and fun activities. Not against this, but this year, we wanted to go deeper and higher spiritually. We succeeded in this, or at least we made a few steps in that direction, and I praise Yah for that! I’m not going to exaggerate. We still have a long way to go. Seeking and discovering YHVH at deeper levels is a lifelong pursuit because of who he is; we’ll never arrive at the end of it in this life or ever.

So what did we do? Simply this. My wife and I told our local congregation and a few friends where the Lawrence family would be camping and that they’d be welcome to join us if they wanted. There were no big name speakers, no programs, no special activities, no fancy decorations and pageantry. Just the raw beauty of the great outdoors—YHVH’s creation to inspire us. Everyone was responsible for making their own arrangements. We simply set up a couple of 12 by 17 foot screen room tents on a campsite in a state campground and left it at that. I promised to do a few teachings, and we had three guitarists and a couple of hand drummers to lead our praise and worship. We told them it would be the most rustic and Spirit-led Sukkot they’d ever experienced. They came and it was!

More than 25 people followed us out of “Babylon” and into the wilderness for the eight days, and another 10 to 15 joined us for the weekend from three states and Canada. One family drove 1,730 miles from northern British Columbia, Canada to have their son baptized and another came 1,230 miles from Nebraska. Amazing!

As the only Bible teacher there, I had been preparing myself spiritually for nearly nine months for this occasions through much Bible study, listening-prayer and meditation. I wanted to be a vessel in the Father’s hands to bring fresh spiritual manna for the people and not just more knowledge that swells the head but leaves the spirit in man shriveled and immature. There’s too much of that going on out there already!

My teachings focused on each person developing their personal spirit, so that they can connect better to YHVH through the Ruach or Spirit of Elohim and survive and thrive in the end times assault against biblical truth. This is what I did nearly every day: I would give a short lecture/teaching to lay a scriptural foundation, and then would give the “students” an assignment that they had to do alone out in nature. The nature part was easy, since we were in the middle of a pine and sage brush forest a few steps from one of Oregon’s most wild and scenic rivers.

The activities were designed to help people go deeper and higher with Elohim by tuning into their personal spirit (as opposed to their soul man [i.e. their mind, will and emotions]), and learning to separate between the two (Heb 4:12). Man is a tripartite being (1 Thess 5:23), and Yeshua declared that we have to worship Elohim not just in truth or head knowledge, but also in spirit (John 4:23–24). We learn elsewhere that our personal spirit or conscience is the lamp of YHVH’s Set-Apart Spirit in each of us (e.g. Prov 20:27; Ps 18:28; Rom 8:16; Job 29:3). With these things in mind, I gave each person assignments to help develop their personal spirit and tune into Elohim through nature. Sometimes it helps to get away from the things of man and surround yourself with Elohim’s creation—all of which points to him—in order to hear his voice in your spirit man.

Our first assignment involved spiritual catharsis and reconciliation. I asked each person to allow the Ruach to convict them of a sin or two, and then go to a person they had wronged (especially a family member) and repent, be accountable and ask for help in overcoming that sin. Healing in personal relationships occurred. This has to happen before we can go deeper and higher with Elohim.

After that, we took various nature walks where we learned to hear Yah’s voice better, to hear prophetic words, to write psalms, to let nature speak to us of the glories of Elohim. Each person journaled what they heard and then, if they were comfortable to do so, shared what they received from above with the congregation to encourage and inspire others. We did theme and variation on this nearly every day for eight days.

Beyond that, we fellowshipped around the campfire, had an erev Shabbat dinner, and some of us took a hike to the 6,600 foot level to some high mountain lakes at the base of some 10,000 plus foot mountains. Some of us also mountain biked, went to Crater Lake National Park, visited hot springs and other local geological features and, of course, shopped in town.

One of the most exciting things was the willing and eager participation of about a dozen of our precious young people in their teens and early twenties. They helped with the praise and worship, gave testimonies, wrote psalms, and received prophetic words from YHVH. One young teen was baptized in the river, and received the baptism of the Spirit all at the same time. The rain stopped, the clouds parted and when he came out of the water, the sunshine shone directly on him as an answer to his prayer and confirmation of a prophetic word that was given. Yah made his face to shine on young Nathanael that day.  To be sure, heaven is smiling to see the next generation picking up the spiritual torch!

Here are several pictures. Stay tuned for more to follow.

 

Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot Resources

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Joyous Sukkot/Feast of Tabernacles from my family to yours! We will be celebrating Sukkot with a few like-minded believers in the wilderness mountains of Central Oregon.

To help you to celebrate the biblical festival of Sukkot with understanding, please check out the following Hoshana Rabbah resources—

For an in-depth teaching article on Sukkot, go to https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/sukkot.pdf

Go to the Hoshana Rabbah YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/HoshanaRabbah?feature=mhee and check out the playlist on the Biblical Feasts and the Sabbath for many teaching videos on the subject of Sukkot.

 

Happy Upcoming Yom Kippur 2018!

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On Friday, Sept 21, 2018, my family and I along with our local home fellowship will be celebrating the Day of Atonements or Yom Kippur according to the biblical new moon calendar.

The new moon in Israel was spotted ten days previously, and according to the Torah, the Day of Atonements is to be kept on the tenth day of the seventh month (Lev 23:26).

Biblical months always start on rosh chodesh when the first visible crescent of the new moon is spotted in the land of Israel. As a point of reference, those who follow the traditional rabbinic or Hillel II calendar (invented in ca. AD 360 and was approved by Roman emperor Constantine) are celebrating Yom Kippur today, which is two days too early, according to the new moon sighting in Israel. In reality, they are are celebrating Yom Kippur on the eighth day of the new month, not the tenth day according to the Scriptures (Lev 23:26).

While those who are celebrating Yom Kippur today are following the spirit of the law, they’re not following the letter of the law, since, technically, today is NOT Yom Kippur. In his Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua clearly states that all of the Torah is to be followed (Matt 5:17–19), and  that our righteousness is to exceed of that of the Pharisees, which includes their modern day descendants (the rabbinic or Orthodox Jews, Matt 5:20), and that we are to follow not only the spirit, but also the letter of the law (Matt 5:21–48).

Moreover, Yeshua enjoined his disciples (and us) to follow the Word of Elohim and to reject any manmade traditions that in any way contravene Elohim’s Written Word (Matt 15:6–9 and Mark 7:6–9, 13). Sadly, both our Christian and rabbinic Jewish brethren have, in too many areas, not followed the instructions of the Messiah instead preferring obedience to their manmade traditions instead of Elohim’s Word.

In Romans 12:1–2, Paul the apostle of Yeshua the Messiah states that each disciple of Yeshua must discern what is the perfect will of Elohim based on his Written Word and then must willingly lay down his or her life as a living sacrifice and do that will. In reality and quite honestly, very few people achieve walking out the perfect will of Elohim consistently in their lives. Most of us are walking out Elohim’s good or the better will, and only from time to time his perfect will. While celebrating the biblical feasts on the manmade traditional Jewish Hillel II calendar is certainly a step in the right direction, and may, indeed, be the good will of Elohim, it’s not his perfect will according to his Written Word. May the reader honestly ponder these truths and evaluate his or her walk and heart before Elohim. Are we really willing to lay down our lives as living sacrifices and to say, “Yes Lord, thy will be done, not mine!”? Or is it more convenient to just follow men’s traditions and the convenient inclinations of our fallen natures?

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matt 7:13–14)

In this ministry, as truth seekers no matter the cost and in an effort to follow the Scriptures—the Written Word of Elohim, we chose many years ago to follow the Word of Elohim instead of men’s unbiblical traditions. That’s why we’re celebrating Yom Kippur on Friday instead of Wednesday.

For more informations on why we do what we do and what the Bible and history both have to say about the biblical calendar, I invite you to read my three well-researched and referenced teaching articles on the subject, which are available for free downloads at https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/teaching.html#feast. There you can find my articles on Yom Kippur as well (https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/yom_kippur.pdf and https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/goat.pdf).To watch my teaching videos on Yom Kippur, go to https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5EzE5DQnrHfWWbczzkRo6IOnglxhbRfM.

Love and blessings in the glorious name of Yeshua the Messiah.

Natan

 

Joyous fall biblical feasts 2018! We have the dates…

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Announcement! 

The new moon was NOT sited in the land of Israel on Monday evening, meaning that Yom Teruah will be sunset, Tuesday, Sept 11 to sundown Wednesday, Sept 12. It follows then that Yom Kippur will be ten days later on Thurs, Sept 20 at sunset through Friday, Sept 21 sundown. Sukkot will be from Sept 25 sunset to Oct 2 sundown with Shemini Atzeret occurring on Wednesday, Oct 3.

For more information on the biblical calendar and how to determine the dates for the biblical feasts, please see my three teaching articles on the subject available at https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/teaching.html#feast.

Sept calendar with the fall moedim is available here: https://hoshanarabbah.org/calendars.html

Calendar for Fall Moedim September 2018

 

The Significance of Yom Teruah (part 2)

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Yom Teruah Verses

There are only two verses in the Bible that command the keeping of Yom Teruah.

And YHVH spake unto Moses, saying, 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. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHVH. (Lev 23:23–25)

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. And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savour unto YHVH; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year without blemish: And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram, and one tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs: And one kid of the goats for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you: 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 YHVH. (Num 29:1–6)

The Breath of Life and Yom Teruah

Without the life-giving breath of YHVH we are dead both physically and spiritually. As YHVH breathed the breath of life into Adam who then became a living being (Heb. nephesh), so when Yeshua breathed on his disciples (John 20:22), they came alive spiritually. Similarly, YHVH breathed on the first century redeemed believers through the wind of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Set-apart Spirit) on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:2, and the congregation of renewed covenant believers was birthed. Similarly, on the day of Messiah’s second return (Yom Teruah), the shofar (called the last trumpet in Hebraic thought, which comes just prior to the final or the great trumpet/shofar hagadol of Yom Kippur) will sound and the dead in Messiah will be resurrected (1 Cor 15:51–53; 1 Thes 4:16). It is the breath of YHVH that will revive the righteous dead. This is similar to the breath of YHVH blowing over the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37, which some see as a prophetic picture of the resurrection of the saints.

What can we learn from this? When YHVH breathes or blows on man, the power of the supernatural pierces the natural dimension and the supernatural breaks the status quo of the natural and supernaturally empowers one to do that which he could not do in his own power naturally. We need YHVH’s divine breath to blow on us to empower us with his power and his ability to be and act supernatural in a natural world for his glory and the advancement of his kingdom! 

When the shofar sounded in ancient Israel, it signaled that heaven and earth were about to meet, that divine power, the supernatural forces of heaven were about to break into the human realm. It signaled that Elohim was about to do great things! 

Are you ready for this to happen again?

When Was the Shofar Blown in Ancient Israel?

The shofar is an instrument unique to the ancient Hebrews and their descendants. In the Scriptures, we see that the shofar played a highly significant role in Hebraic culture. Below are some examples this instrument’s importance:

The History of the Shofar and the Three Trumpets

The ram’s horn shofar is first alluded to in the Scriptures in Genesis 22 at the binding of Isaac and known in Hebrew as the akeidah. 

The symbolism in this historical event is tremendously significant. The ram represents Yeshua the Lamb of Elohim who died to redeem man from sin. The thicket is a biblical poetic symbol of human sinfulness. Humanity is entangled in the thicket of sin from which it needs to be freed. Yeshua the Messiah is the Lamb (or ram) slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8), who, while hanging on the cross, wore a crown of thorns. Is this not a picture of the “ram caught in the thicket” (Gen 22:13) of the man’s sins? After all, the Scriptures say that the sins of man were laid upon Yeshua (Isa 53:6). The crown of thorns is a picture of this. Furthermore, in Matthew 13, in Continue reading →

 

The Significance of Yom Teruah (part 1)

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Very little is said in the Tanakh about Yom Teruah. In fact, the Torah only mentions it twice. 

Leviticus 23:24, “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.”

Numbers 29:1, “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have an holy convocation; you shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.”

Nehemiah shows us how the Jews kept Yom Teruah (Neh 8:1ff).

Ezra (500 BC) restored the observance of Yom Teruah following the return of the Jews from their seventy-year exile in Babylon. Ezra the cohen (priest) brought the Torah before the assembly, both men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month’ (Nehemiah 8:2)

The day is recorded as one which included, worship, joyful fellowship, instruction from the Scriptures, sharing with the needy:  ‘…all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words, that were declared unto them (Neh 8-12)

The reading of the Torah was at the center of Nehemiah’s Yom Teruah celebration (Neh 8:1, 18).

On this day, sorrow and joy kissed each other; sorrow because the Jews realized they had  failed to keep Torah—the very thing that sent them into exile and caused the destruction of Jerusalem; joy because it was a Yom Tov or a good day and a festival of YHVH when his people are to rejoice in him and draw close to him and he to them, since it is a divine appointment or moed.

But why rejoice on this day? The Torah and the account in Nehemiah leave us guessing? What specifically were the Jews rejoicing about on Yom Teruah?

We are told so little about this day that we have to draw out every clue possible from the scantiest details Scripture affords us about this day. 

The Jews of Nehemiah’s day were obviously rejoicing at rediscovering the Torah and learning its truths that would guide them through life and keep them as a set-apart people. Knowing the Torah would bring them closer to YHVH—to his heart and mind. Therefore, we can infer that on this day, we are to rejoice over the Torah—our instructions in righteousness give to us by YHVH our Creator.

Additionally, perhaps the name of the day itself, Yom Teruah, gives us a clue as to why we the ancient Jews were joyful and we too should be joyful. On this day, why did the people shout and blow shofars?  We can answer this question by reviewing the places in the Scripture where YHVH’s people shouted and blew shofars. Perhaps this will give us a clue as to what this day is commemorating, and therefore why we should be rejoicing as Neh 8:10 tells us to do.

The Shofar Can Be Blown for the Following Reasons

  • The giving of the Tor ah (their ketubah  or marriage covenant ) at Sinai to Israel on Pentecost (Exod 19:13, 16; 20:18 Hebrews 12:19)
  • The gathering of Israel (Num 10:4)
  • The fall of Jericho (Josh 6:5)
  • The beginning of the jubilee year (Leviticus 25:9),
  • The coronation of kings (1 Kngs 1:34, 39)
  • As a battle weapon (Judg 6:34; 7:16, 18)
  • When the ark was brought into Jerusalem (2 Sam 6:15)
  • At the building of the temple (Ezra 3:10)
  • At the new moons, at the full moon appointed times and on festivals (Ps 81:3; Joel 2:15)
  • Used by watchmen on the city walls to warn of danger (Ezek 33:3–6; Amos 3:6)
  • Used to call Israel to repentance and to return to Torah (Isa 58:1; Hos 8:1)
  • Many of these occasions when the shofar was sounded point prophetically to end time events associated with the fall feasts. They give us an idea of what our demeanor at these events. Rather than fear or apprehension, we should be joyful, victorious and expectant. 

In the End Times the Shofar Blast Will Signal Major Events

  • The shofar will herald the resurrection of the saints from the dead at Yeshua’s coming/return: ‘…And He shall send his angels with a great sound of a Shofar, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other’ (Matt 24:31).
  • Paul speaks of this same event by calling it the last shofar blast (1 Cor 15:52).
  • Paul speaks about Yeshua’s descent from heaven with a shout of an archangel and the shofar of Elohim will sound followed by the resurrection of the righteous dead and the transformation of the righteous living (I Thess 4:16).
  • John relates this same event to the seventh of seven trumpet judgements (Rev 10:7; 11:15–18).
  • As part of the end time judgments to fall upon this earth, seven shofars blasts will occur with significant events to follow each one. Each trumpet introduces a phase of the culmination of end-time events (Rev 8:2).
  • A shout was made at the midnight hour of announce the coming of the bridegroom in Yeshuas Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt 25:6). This is prophetic of Yeshua’s second coming.
  • YHVH shall blow the shofar after he has filled the  bow of Judah with the arrow of Ephraim and together they shall go like a whirlwind from the south to save his people from their adversaries (Zec 9:14). This occurs after the military weakening of Ephraim and Judah (v. 10), before the return of Yeshua (Zech 9:1).
  • To announce the coming of the Day of YHVH (Joel 2:1; Zeph 1:16); the Day of the Lord is characterized by the sound of a great voice like a trumpet/shofar (Rev 1:10)
  • The gathering of the exiles to the land of Israel (Isa 27:13)
 

Yom Teruah/the Day of Trumpets is almost here! Get ready…

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Here are some Hoshana Rabbah resources that will help you to understand the significance of Yom Teruah or the Day of Trumpets which is almost here.

For a written teaching, go to https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/yom_teruah.pdf

For video teachings, go to https://www.youtube.com/user/HoshanaRabbah?feature=mhee and check out the playlist on the Sabbath and Biblical Feasts. There you will find several video teachings on Yom Teruah.

More insights on Yom Teruah to follow, so stay tuned…

May YHVH Elohim bless you mightily as you connect the message of the gospel with its pro-Torah Hebraic roots!