Category Archives: Feasts

Resources to Study to Understand the Ancient Biblical Calendar

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Exodus 12:2, This month…first month of the year. The biblical month in which Passover occurs (March-April) marks the beginning of the biblical new year. It is also the time from which all biblical feasts are calculated. This is why it is important to understand the biblical calendar, so you will know when to celebrate YHVH’s feasts.

To learn about the ancient biblical calendar, we provide these free resources for you to study:

The Biblical Calendar and the New Moon at http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/new_moons.pdf

The Biblical Calendar Demystified at http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/cal_demyst.pdf

The Biblical Calendar: New Moon or Conjunction?

http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/vis_moon.pdf

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When is the Passover meal? At the beginning or end of the 14th?

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Exodus 12:6, At twilight [Heb. erev, or between the evenings]. This phrase can have several meanings.

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Loosely speaking, according to first century Jewish tradition, this would have been the time from high noon when the sun is at its zenith when it starts to descend toward the horizon until approximately 6 PM when it disappears behind the horizon (The Life Time of Jesus, by Alfred Edersheim, p. 813; Hednrickson, 2002). From 12 noon onward is not the literal meaning of the Hebrew word erev though.

According to The TWOT, erev means “dark or evening and refers to sunset or evening” and applies to the actual darkening of the skies at twilight as the sun is beginning to sink behind the horizon. Therefore, between the evenings can also mean “between the evening of the 13th day of the first month going into the 14th day of the first month and the 14th day going into the 15th day.” That is to say, the entire daylight portion of the 14th day or Passover day could be the period between the two evenings.

With this understanding, it is not difficult to see how Yeshua and his disciples keeping the Passover or Lord’s Supper at the beginning of the 14th day is still called “the Passover” in the Gospels, even though the majority of the Jews traditionally ate the Passover meal at the end of the 14th going into the 15th.

 

Addressing an Objection to Celebrating Hanukkah

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I just got a note from someone who objects to celebrating Hanukkah because it’s not a biblical command to do so. This gentleman insisted that celebrating Hanuakkah is adding to the word of Elohim, which the Torah forbids. To do so is sin. My response to him is that if you don’t want to do it, then don’t. Pretty simple.
Hanukkah, Happy 2-33399066
Now let’s examine his specific argument against celebrating Hanukkah. It’s a specious argument since the Torah command found in Deuteronomy 12:32 to not add to the word of Elohim is referring to adding “Thou shalt” commandments to the Torah when YHVH hasn’t said, “Thou shalt….” If we’re not to add anything to the Torah, then we may as well throw out all the rest of the Bible (i.e., the Writings, the Prophets and the Testimony of Yeshua), since it was added to the Torah subsequently.
People like this gentleman need to be careful about taking Bible verses out of context and then lobbing them like missiles at another in order to prove their point by attempting to disprove someone else’s argument. If we’re not careful, we might end up being the one who looks like a fool instead.

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The Hidden Truth Behind Hanukkah and Yeshua’s Incarnation

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To the casual observer, Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that occurs around Christmas-time and has something to do with lighting a menorah-like candelabra, which somehow relates to some important event that occurred a long time ago in Jewish history. Some Bible teachers even claim that Hanukkah is pagan-based holiday that somehow honors the demonic sun god of antiquity. But as we shall see below, there is a hidden truth behind the Hanukkah holiday that the devil doesn’t want people to know about. In fact, by the end of this study, you will hopefully see that Hanukkah celebrates the truth of the Messiah’s incarnation better than Christmas ever did and without all the pagan trappings. You’ve probably never heard this before and wonder how this could be. Stay tuned.

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Anyone who has barely scratched the surface of Christmas’ origins realizes that they are profane and unbiblical. Christmas is the Christianization of some vile pagan traditions based on celebrating the winter solstice in honor of the demonic sun god through lewd and drunken orgiastic satanic rituals. Though the tradition of the Christmas tree came later, it is rooted in pre-Christian sex worship rituals that come straight out of demonic sun god worship, and something the Bible in many places condemns and forbids the saints from practicing.

Hanukkah, on the other hand, doesn’t share Christmas’ pagan origins. Rather, this holiday links back directly to one of YHVH’s seven commanded biblical festivals. Though Hanukkah isn’t a commanded biblical holiday, and is of man’s creation, it still has prophetic implications that are worth noting. What’s more, it doesn’t carry the pagan baggage the Christian holidays like Christmas, Easter, Lent, All Saints Day (i.e., Halloween) and the others all do.

In our study of the origins of Hanukkah, let’s first prove that there is a link between the biblical fall festival of Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:33–43) and Hanukkah. How is this? Interestingly, both Hanukkah and Sukkot along with the Eighth Day last for eight days. According to the intertestamental Book of Maccabees, Hanukkah was a second, belated Feast of Tabernacles (Heb. Sukkot and the Eighth Day (Heb. Shemini Atzeret; see 1 Macc 4:44–59; 2 Macc 1:7–9; 10:1–8). After the Jews defeated the Greeks’ attempt to destroy Judaism and the Jewish people, the Jews had to cleanse and reconsecrate their temple from pagan defilement before worshipping YHVH there. The temple wasn’t ready to be rededicated at the Continue reading →

 

New Video: Sukkot NW 2015 Highlights

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Check out highlights of Hoshana Rabbah Biblical Discipleship Resources’ regional Sukkot Northwest 2015 rendezvous in southern Oregon on the wild and scenic Rogue River.

 

New Videos on Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret

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The joy of YHVH Elohim is a powerful spiritual force that can carry one past the obstacles, pitfalls and hinderances of life. The redeemed believer has every reason to experience YHVH’s joy and all the more so during the biblical festivals including the Feast of Taberncales, which are prophetic pictures of the wonderful world tomorrow of Yeshua’s millennial kingdom. Watch this video and be encouraged!

Shemini Atzeret or the Eighth Day (mentioned in Lev 23:36) is the most overlooked and misunderstood biblical festival in the Messianic or Hebrew Roots Movement, yet it prophetically represents the final step in YHVH’s glorious plan of salvation for humans. Watch this video, because you need to know “how the story ends” and what you have to look forward to for eternity if you remain faithful to YHVH.