Category Archives: Feasts

What are the 40 days of Elul and what do you need to do?

Posted on by
Reply

Getting in Sync With YHVH Times and Seasons

What are the forty days of teshuvah (the Hebrew word meaning “repentance”) all about? Let’s briefly explore this concept to see how why they occur when they do and how they relate to the fall biblical feasts and the second coming of King Yeshua the Messiah.

Repentance

During these forty days, which begin on the first day of the sixth month on the biblical calendar and end on the Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), it is time for the redeemed believer to get his or her spiritual house in order for the upcoming biblical high holy days. Why? Because these holidays prophetically picture the second coming of Yeshua the Messiah and his gathering his people to himself, and the coming judgments upon the earth of the wicked and lukewarm, and the pouring out of YHVH’s wrath upon the wicked along with the destruction of Babylon the Great by Yeshua. They also point to the time when Yeshua will establish his millennial kingdom on this earth, and finally, the coming of the new heaven and new earth at the end of the millennium.

Furthermore, during the forty days of teshuvah, it’s time for YHVH’s people to awake from their spiritual slumber (1 Thess 5:1–8; Rom 13:11–14) and repent (or make teshuvah) from sin and turn back to wholehearted obedience to Elohim. The three months between the biblical feasts of Shavuot or Pentecost and Yom Teruah (the Day of Shofar Blasts) prophetically pictures the 2000 year time period between the first and advents of Yeshua the Messiah. As we near the end of this period, it is time to get ready for Yeshua’s second coming and to put off spiritual lukewarmeness by repenting of sin (Torahlessness) and by putting on the robes of righteousness and looking heavenward in anticipation of our Messiah’s coming. The forty days between the first day of the sixth month and Yom Kippur is the time to be doing this.

Why forty days and why now? According to the biblical record and Jewish tradition, Moses received the tablets of the ten commandments on Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks or

Continue reading →

 

Today marks the beginning of the countdown to fall biblical feasts…time to get ready!

Posted on by
1

Today is the first day of the sixth month — the month of Elul — on the biblical calendar. It’s time to wake up spiritually in preparation for the fall biblical feasts and understand what they represent prophetically.

rosh_chodesh 2

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. (1 Thess 5:1–8)

 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!  “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”  And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” (Rev 18:1–4)

Elul graphic.001

 

Register Now for Sukkot NW 2014!

Posted on by
Reply

copy-sukkot-nw-2014-960x250c

It’s not to late to register for Sukkot NW in Southern Oregon on the Rogue River (near Grants Pass). Go to http://sukkotnw.org for more info.

Why go and what can you expect?

  • Celebrating Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) where YHVH has placed his name and with other like-minded believers is a biblical command.
  • Celebrating Sukkot is part of the end-times restoration of all things that has to happen before Yeshua returns (Acts 3:21).
  • Celebrating Sukkot is a fulfillment the biblical prophecy that in the end times before the coming of Yeshua, YHVH would begin to turn the hearts of the children (the saints) back to their (Hebraic) fathers of their faith (Mal 4:6).
  • Be encouraged and strengthened spiritually by meeting other like-minded redeemed Israelite believers.
  • Learn about the Hebrew roots of the Christians faith and get connected spiritually to what YHVH is doing on this earth in the last days as he raises up the Elijah and John the Baptist generation to help prepare the way for Yeshua’s second coming.
  • Learn more about the Torah.
  • Experience anointed times of Hebraic praise and worship, fellowship and fun activities for all ages.
  • Learn from gifted, anointed and experienced Bible teachers who have been walking with Yeshua and in the Torah for years, and some cases decades. This year we have Bible teachers from Washington, Oregon and California.

To learn more about Sukkot and Sukkot NW, please watch the following videos:

Highlights from Sukkot NW 2013

Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) Explained

 

Sukkot NW 2014 Registration Now Open

Posted on by
5

 

copy-sukkot-nw-2014-960x250cYou are invited to Sukkot NW 2014 Messianic Hebrew Roots Feast of Tabernacles celebration at Indian Mary Park on the Rogue River in southern Oregon! Sukkot is during prime salmon and steelhead fishing season, so you may be wise to make your camping reservations now.

 Registration for Sukkot Northwest 2014 is now open! Won’t you join us as we celebrate the season of our joy at Sukkot NW?

More Info

You are cordially invited to join the Sukkot NW planning team, Congregation Elim of Tigard, Oregon and Hoshana Rabbah Biblical Discipleship Resources for our twelfth annual Sukkot Northwest regional gathering this fall in southern Oregon on the wild and scenic Rogue River.

This year, we will be celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles (or Chag Sukkot) in one of the most beautiful campgrounds in Oregon — on the banks of the Rogue River — where bald eagles will be flying overhead and sea-run salmon will be spawning in the river waters below against a backdrop of steep canyon cliffs and tree-covered mountains. Our meeting facility literally overlooks the river and will be under an arching cathedral-canopy of huge oak and maple trees festooned in their bright fall colors. For your comfort and pleasure, the campground has all the amenities necessary for tent campers and RVers, including hot showers, a playground, various sports facilities, and ice. Don’t camp? You can rent a travel trailer and have it dropped off at the campground, or you can stay in a nearby cabin or lodge or a hotel in Grants Pass just 20 minutes from the campground. There’s even a full-sized grocery store only five minutes from the campground. Because Sukkot is so “late” this year, we prayed and asked YHVH to direct us to a location where the weather would still be dry, warm and beautiful through mid to late October and that was also close to major routes. Indian Mary Campground, in gorgeous Josephine County about 20 minutes from Grants Pass, Oregon and just five minutes from the small hamlet of Merlin, is such a place. This campground is located in YHVH’s beautiful creation and is away from the rat race of the city, yet easily accessible (just fifteen minutes off of Interstate 5) within a short distance from a larger city for your shopping needs. We praise YHVH Elohim for his bountiful grace! Since Sukkot prophetically pictures the one-thousand-year-long reign of King Messiah Yeshua (called the Millennium or Messianic Age), we wanted an idyllic spot that would best reflect our spiritual hope as we prepare to reign with King Yeshua as his glorified kings and priests in his eternal kingdom. We wanted a spot where, on this most joyous of all of YHVH’s seven festivals, we could meet with him and our fellow redeemed Israelites from various states as he has commanded in his Scriptures. We believe he has led us to such a spot.

  • Photo of the Rogue River taken from Indian Mary Park with white water rafters and bridge in the distance
    Rafters on Rogue River at Indian Mary Park
  • Photo of the Rogue River taken from Indian Mary Park
    Rogue River at Indian Mary Park
  • Photo of Sim Picnic Shelter at Indian Mary Park
    Sim Picnic Shelter at Indian Mary Park
  • Photo of the picnic shelter at Indian Mary Park showing the playground behind it.
    Sims Shelter at Indian Mary Park
  • Photo of the Rogue River taken from Indian Mary Park with bridge in the distance
    The Rogue River at Indian Mary Park
  • Photo of trees turning fall colors at Indian Mary Park.
    Fall colors at Indian Mary Park Campground

As is our tradition, Sukkot NW will be a blend of Hebraic (or Jewish) and Christian elements and will include plenty of teachings from well-studied and experienced Bible teachers, plenty of live Spirit-led and filled praise and worship, Davidic dance, and ample opportunities for discussions on biblical subjects. Additionally, there will be much food and fellowship around the community campfire and at our community sukkah, as well as a formal erev Shabbat dinner, and games and activities for the youth. For those who want to join us, we’ll be facilitating awhite water rafting trip on the Rogue River and a trip to the Oregon Caves National Monument. For those who are not only fishers of men, but also fishers of fish, bring your steelhead and salmon fishing gear. The coho or silver salmon and steelheads will be running at this time, and you can literally bank fish from the campground. Those of us who will be fishing intend to grill our fish over wood fires and share our catch with the others. The world famous Rogue River is one of the three best salmon fishing rivers on the West Coast of America.

As always, in the midst of our playing, vacationing and fellowship we want to keep our spiritual focus sharp. We come to Sukkot primarily to meet with our Heavenly King and to keep him at the center of everything. Our biblical teachers will be sharing and leading discussions on a variety of subjects as the Holy Spirit leads them. However, a major theme for this year will be the regathering and reuniting of the two houses Israel as the one new man in preparation for the second coming of Yeshua. We will be teaching about the historical and prophetic implications of this and how it affects your spiritual journey here and now. This is your formal invitation to join us (along with all of your other wild branch Israelite brothers and sisters) for Sukkot NW 2014 on the wild and scenic Rogue River in Southern Oregon.

 

Getting in Tune With the Heavenly Philharmonic

Posted on by
Reply

This is a story — not just any story, but our story — yours and mine. It’s the story of our lives, the  story of our people. It’s an old story, yet a new story. Only the faces and places have changed. The plot remains eternally the same. It’s the story of the Creator reaching out to humans, who struggle to accept his love, yet who end up largely refusing it. It’s a never-ending cycle going from one generation to the next.

Symphony 637257

This story started a long time ago. When in Egypt, the children of Israel were in tune spiritually to the rhythms and beat of Egypt (a biblical metaphor for this world).

YHVH led the Israelites out of Egypt into the quietude of the wilderness. The Hebrew word for wilderness is midbar and is from dabar meaning “to speak, declare, converse” and is related the word d’bar meaning “to hear.” Thus, one could say that YHVH led the Israelites into the wilderness to hear him speak his word,  and to enter into conversation with him — an impossibility in the noise and confusion of the environment of Egypt where man is at the center of everything and a lot is going on. The wilderness was a sterile and neutral environment devoid of the noise and confusion of man-made stuff.

The first place YHVH brought the Israelites to was the foot of Mount Sinai so he could speak to them face to face.

Before they could hear him, they had to prepare themselves. They had to make themselves clean and set apart from the physical and carnal impurities and distractions of the world and the flesh, which impede one’s ability to hear YHVH -— to connect with their Creator (Exod 19).

YHVH spoke to them, but it was too much for them to hear. It frightened them because Continue reading →