Nathan Lawrence along with his co-host Donna Nash, invite you to join a growing online international community, (via Zoom) of Spirit-filled and led, Torah and Yeshua loving people. We meet three Shabbats (Saturdays) a month starting at 2:30 PM Eastern Standard Time US.
Participants are free to drop in and come and go as they wish. We pray, sing, chat, fellowship, do Q and A, discuss Scripture and current events as it relates to the end times and the Bible, and each week we present a Bible teaching.
A puzzle is a pretty picture that someone took or painted and then cut up into a hundred or a thousand pieces and challenges someone else to reassemble. When all the pieces are assembled, a beautiful scene emerges. Sometimes, however, a piece just doesn’t fit. No matter how hard you try, you cannot cram it into that spot. Yes, you can force jam it in there, and even add some touch-up to help it to match, but it’s still not quite right, and when the puzzle is “completed” the whole picture will be off. This is exactly the case with Bible teachers who are promoting the so-called Enoch-Zadok 364-day year calendar. No matter they cram pieces of the argument together and paint them to match, the picture is still off.
Are you an earnest Bible-Truth seeker who is tired of being lied to in the mainstream Christian church? You know that the gospel message is true. You know and love Yeshua, your Lord and Savior. Now you want to love him in a fuller and more blessed way by making YHVH’s Torah a part of your life. This includes celebrating the Sabbath and biblical feasts. But how? More importantly, when? Enter calendar confusion!
More than six decades ago when I started in this Hebraic, Torah-walk, there was one calendar, then 40 years later a second one came on the scene that was closer to the truth than the first one. Now there are numerous ones all claiming to be biblically accurate including the one that is the subject of this study. Perhaps what follows will help you to unravel the Gordian knot of confusion that surrounds the subject of the biblical calendar, so that we can back to just loving Yeshua by keeping his commandments including the biblical feasts. If this is your desire, then please read on.
The Enoch-Zadok Calendar Explained
The Enoch calendar is based on a 364-day year (not 3651/4 days) and is first mentioned in the ancient pseudepigraphal book of First Enoch. This calendar purportedly originated with Enoch, the great grandfather of Noah. This is in spite of the fact First Enoch was written in the third or second century bc, some 2,000 years after the time of the biblical Enoch, who died prior to Noah’s flood. This calendar is appealing to a growing number of pro-Torah Christians who are digging into the Hebraic roots of their faith and endeavoring to keep YHVH’s sabbaths, including the weekly Sabbath and biblical feasts, in accordance with the Creator’s Torah-instructions. Since the Enoch calendar purports to be of ancient derivation, some people assume that it may well be the Bible’s original calendar, hence, the one we should use today to determine when to celebrate the feasts.
But how did we get from Enoch until today? And is there a biblical basis for the Enoch calendar? These are excellent questions that will be discussed and hopefully answered below. In the mean time, let’s give an overview of a few of the claims that the advocates of this calendar make.
The claim is made that, since the Enoch calendar supposedly dates to the time of Enoch, it must be the calendar that Moses and the Israelites used back in the Book of Exodus. Whereas the Levitical priests were the keepers and teachers of YHVH’s Torah-law, it is correctly assumed that they would have known when to observe the biblical feasts and thus should have the final say in this matter. At the end of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, YHVH made an everlasting covenant with Phinehas (or Pinchas), the grandson of Aaron the high priest (the brother of Moses), that to his descendants would be given the priesthood forever (Num 25:12–13), and with that charge came, presumably, the knowledge of the correct biblical calendar.
Moving forward several hundred years to the time of King David, Zadok, a descendent of Phinehas, was the high priest whose progeny carried the mantle of the covenantal promise YHVH made to Phinehas along with again, presumably, the knowledge of the true biblical calendar.
We hear nothing more about Zadok or his descendents until Ezekiel mentions the descendents of Zadok in regards to his famous but enigmatic temple prophecy (Ezekiel chapters 40–48). In this prophecy, YHVH makes the sons of Zadok the officiants in the temple because of their faithfulness to him and his commandments (Ezek 40:46; 43:19ff; 44:15f; 48:11), and it is their role to interpret the Torah-law in matters of controversy including calendrical issues (q.v., Deut 17:8–11). Because Ezekiel states that the Zadokites had been faithful to YHVH’s law, they were given this glorious charge. However, there is much debate among Bible scholars concerning whether Ezekiel’s temple is literal or allegorical. Moreover, was it fulfilled in the building of the Second Temple, or is it an allegory referring to Yeshua and the church, or is it a literal temple yet to be built? The prevailing view is that this is a millennial temple—called the Fourth Temple—that is yet to be built. One thing is certain. The Second Temple that was built in the fifth century bc and was destroyed in ad 70 never fit the description of Ezekiel’s temple, and thus Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning the sons of Zadok is for a future time.
Despite the fact that Ezekiel’s temple is yet to be built, and the Zadokite priesthood as officiants in that temple is for a future era, the proponents of the Zadok calendar still cite Ezekiel 44:15 and 23–24 as proof for their calendar. Ezekiel states that the sons of Zadok will teach YHVH’s people the difference between the holy and unholy, between the unclean and the clean. They will also act as judges in controversies regarding YHVH’s appointed times and Sabbaths (q.v., Deut 17:8–11). This, the claim is made, was fulfilled by the Zadokite priests of the monastery at Khirbet Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea in Israel beginning in the late second century bc and lasting for about 175 years afterwards. After that, the inhabitants of Qumran disappear from the pages of history until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947.
Additionally, not letting facts and historical realities stand in their way, the proponents of the Enoch calendar, now referred to as “the Enoch-Zadok calendar” (or simply “the Zadok calendar”), have somehow parlayed the faithful priests mentioned in Ezekiel’s future temple prophecy into the priests living at the time of the Maccabees in the second century bc. This is where the Dead Sea Scrolls (or dss) and the Qumran community enter the picture. The dss were discovered in 1947. The original group of dss scholars from that era who, based on the evidence available to them at that time, firmly believed that a group of righteous priests had been excommunicated, if you will, from the Jerusalem temple when a group of supposedly illegitimate Maccabean priests took charge thereof in the second century bc. The legitimate (Zadokite) priests fled Jerusalem and established a monastery at Qumran near where the dss were discovered. It is believed that they were largely the writers of the dss of which the Book of 1 Enoch is a part of this larger corpus. Since the The Book of Enoch promotes the Enoch calendar, and since, it is believed, that these scrolls dictated the lifestyle practices and theology of the Qumran sectaries, and since, it is assumed, these priests were the literal, biological descendents of Zadok and Phinehas the high priests, and since YHVH said through Ezekiel that the sons of Zadok had been faithful to guard and obey his laws, it is assumed that the Zadok calendar is the true biblical calendar for us to follow today in order accurately keep YHVH’s feasts. Hopefully you followed that line of reasoning, since it is essential to understanding the pro-Zadok calendar argument.
There is more, but this is the essence of the pro-Zadok calendar argument. The proponents rely solely on extra-biblical books including those of the dss to prove the validity of the Zadok calendar. Then, almost as an after thought, they reach back into the Bible, which contains not even the slightest allusion to the Zadok calendar, and attempt to “prove” their point by twisting Scriptures, a technique that the anti-Torah and “the law is nailed to the cross” and “done away with” mainstream Christian church has mastered over the centuries to the detriment of Bible truth resulting in the deception of myriads of people who now longer believe in the validity of YHVH’s Torah-law. Old habits die hard!
In what follows, we will critically analyze several of the key elements undergirding the Zadok calendar theory to see if these square with the empirical evidence, and then we will leave it up to you to decide where the truth lies.
The Traditional Model of the 1940s Regarding the Qumran Community and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Since the Zadok calendar is revealed in the intertestamental Book of Enoch, a book that is found among the dss, let us first discuss the earliest and traditional view put forth by the first discoverers and translator of the dss from 1947. This view promotes the idea that there is a strong correlation between the Jewish settlement at Khirbet Qumran (or Qumran for short) and the scrolls located in eleven nearby caves. This model is summarized by Geza Vermes (one of the early translators of the scrolls into English from 1962 to 1996) as follows:
[F]rom that place [i.e., Qumran], members of an ancient Jewish religious community, whose centre it was, hurried out one day and in every secrecy climbed the nearby cliffs in order to hide away in eleven caves their precious scrolls. No one came back to retrieve them, and they remained undisturbed for almost 2,000 years. (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, p. 1)
This early model which connected the Qumran community with the dss also proposed a link between the sect of the Essenes and Qumran sects (ibid., p. 3). Vermes then goes on to make the further connection between the Teacher of Righteousness mentioned in the dss and the Qumran sect.
The principal novelty provided by the manuscripts consists of cryptic allusions to the historical origins of the Community, launched by a priest called the Teacher of Righteousness, who was persecuted by a Jewish ruler, designated as the Wicked Priest. The Teacher and his followers were compelled to withdraw into the desert, where they awaited the impending manifestation of God’s triumph over evil and darkness in the end days, which had already begun. (ibid.)
Vermes then explains what he called the “Maccabaean theory.” He states that the consensus among the earliest dss scholars quickly formed around this theory in 1952 and 1953.
The so-called Maccabean theory, placing the conflict between the Teacher of Righteousness and the politico-religious Jewish leadership of the day in the time of the Maccabaean high priest or high priest Jonathan and/or Simon, was first formulated in my 1953 doctoral dissertation, published in 1953, and was soon to be adopted by such leading specialists as J. T. Milik, F. M. Cross and R. de Vaux. (ibid., p. 4)
Please note that the theories upon which the present Zadok calendar proponents base many of their arguments were put forth by the earliest dss translators who did not, at that time, have all of the dss documents before them,which were only available to later scholars (e.g., Wise, Abeg and Cook who published their translation of the dss in 1996 and 2005) more than 50 years later! The release and translation of the dss has been a painstakingly slow process involving numerous scholars, academic institutions, several countries along with economic and political interests over the past 70 some years. The translation of subsequent dss documents since the 1950s has refined, and in some cases, radically changed some of the theories of the earlier age—a point that Wise et al make in their introductory remarks in their dss translation (A New Translation—The Dead Sea Scrolls). Thus, many scholars who have analyzed and translated more recent scrolls are now questioning the original 1950s theoretic model that purported to link the Qumran sects with the dss and the Teacher of Righteousness. What follows are quotes from various scholars who are now questioning the older views including the Maccabean theory. Why is this important to know? Because the older (out of date) view forms the premise for those teachers who are currently promoting the Zadok calendar. With this in mind, let’s now go on as we put the pieces of the puzzle together. Let’s discover if the original view that links the dss and the Teacher of Righteousness to the Qumran sect still hold true in light of the new discoveries. The validity of the Zadok calendar stands or falls on this understanding.
Did the Qumran Sectarians Write the Dead Sea Scrolls?
The original model assumed that because the dss were found in proximity to the monastery at Qumran, the sectarians must have been their authors and librarians. That is to say, the dss were the sectarians’ writings that revealed how they lived and what they believed. Thus, since the Book of Enoch along with several other intertestamental writings lend credence to the Zadok calendar theory, it is assumed that this must have been the calendar of Qumran. But as we go on, the evidence reveals that this older view is overly broad and cannot be taken carte-blanche and at face value in light of new evidence to the contrary.
Not only were hundreds of different scribes responsible for the [Dead Sea Scrolls] texts, but very few seemed to have written more than one scroll. Only about a dozen “repeats” have at been identified. Needless to say, this situation does not square very well with the theory-now-fact that Qumran scribes produced the scrolls at the site…The logical inference is that most of the scrolls come from elsewhere. Indeed once that much has been conceded, the burden shifts and it becomes necessary to prove that any scrolls were written in Qumran. (A New Translation—The Dead Sea Scrolls, by Wise et al, p. 23)
At most, then, about fifty people inhabited the [Qumran] site, only those who could fit within its walls. (ibid., p. 24)
In the interest of honesty, it would be disingenuous of me to fail to mention the close proximity to Qumran of several of the caves, thus leading the early dss archeologists and translators to assume an intimate connection between the two. As Vermes writes,
With negligible exceptions, scholarly opinion recognized already in the 1950s that the Scrolls found in the caves and the nearby settlement were related. To take an obvious example, Cave 4 with its 575 (or perhaps 555) documents lies literally with a stone’s throw from the buildings. (Vermes, p. 14).
Vermes’ statement is slightly hyperbolic. Unless one has the throwing arm of baseball pitcher, Caves 4 and 5, according to Google maps, are some 600 feet from the nearest Qumran building plus several hundred feet above the valley floor on the face of a cliff. So yes, although the community was located near at least two of the 11 caves (others of which are located miles away), it is not a leisurely stroll from Qumran’s nearest building to the nearest cave unless you have some rock climbing experience. Despite the close proximity of two caves to Qumran, archeological evidence suggests that they may not have been frequently visited by the members of the sect.
Aerial photography has likewise revealed no paths linking the caves where the scrolls were discovered to the site of Qumran. The movement back and forth that would have produced a path evidently did not occur. Thus the caves could not have functioned as separate libraries or repositories to which sectarians would repair for reading and reflection (p. 24).…On can no longer reasonably argue for a strong connection between the site and the scrolls, though the two may have a weak connection; that is, though the site may have been used by the sect, it cannot have been their main location. (Wise et al, p. 25)
Another theory is on the table as to the origins of the dss. Perhaps they were placed in their caves just prior to the Romans’ attacks on Jerusalem in ad 66-67 and again in ad 70, which is more than 100 years after the founding of the Qumran community. As Vermes notes, but refuses to agree with,
More recently Norman Golb of Chicago [professor of Jewish history in the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago] has launched a forceful attack on the common opinion [the Qumran sect is was the source of the dss]. His objections, reiterated in a series of papers, culminated in 1995 in a hefty tome. The target of his criticism is the provenance of the scrolls found at Qumran. According to him, the manuscripts originated in a Jerusalem library (or libraries), the contents of which were concealed in desert caves when the capital was besieged in 67 and 70 ce. (Vermes, p. 19; see also The Dead Seas Scrolls and the First Christians by Robert Eisenman, p. xxiv).
So here is yet another opinion from another scholar. What is the take-away here? The traditional, original view or model proposed by the dss scholars of the early 1950s has since been questioned by several scholars who have access to additional dss manuscripts. Therefore, the Zadokite calendar proponents’ nicely packaged view that the dss, the Qumran Community, the Book of Enoch, the Teacher of Righteousness and the sons of Zadok are all inextricably linked is now being called into question. Stay tuned. We have only just begun to unwrap this package.
Were the Qumran Sect and the Jerusalem Priests Really at Odds With Each Other?
For those of us returning to the pro-Torah, Hebraic roots of our Christian faith, the Sabbath and biblical feasts are fundamental our faith—they outline the Creator’s plan of redemption for sinful man. Recovering these lost biblical truth treasures, that the early church fathers quickly abandoned after the death of the last apostles, is vital to our spiritual growth and development. To keep YHVH’s feast as the Bible instructs, we need to know how and when to celebrate them. The when part necessitates a calendar, but which one? Hopefully the study below will help the reader to navigate these troubled waters.
When I came into the Torah faith more than six decades ago, we knew of only one biblical calendar—the Hillel 2 or rabbinic calendar from ca. AD 360. Then forty years later, a second calendar appeared on the scene—the abib (green in the ear) barley, visible new moon calendar, which was much closer to biblical truth than the previous one. Now, in the last 25 years, numerous other calendars have spontaneously combusted all claiming to be the “true biblical calendar” dividing the body of believers into numerous factions opposed to each other. Many of these calendars rely on extra-Bible sources to substantiate their validity. This is a problem for those of us who look to the Bible as the final word on how to obey YHVH. The latest calendar to emerge center stage is Enoch-Zadok calendar. Is this finally, the truth once and for all delivered and we need to look no further, or is this another sleight of hand on the part of Bible peddlers who have something to sell or a following to build?
How to Examine New Information
I went into the study of the Zadok calendar open-minded. What could I learn? Honestly, I knew very little about the so-called Zadok priesthood, the Qumran community, the Essenes and my understanding of the teachings of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) was rudimentary at best. When examining new information, we must be careful to guard against bias confirmation—that is, looking only to information that confirms our preconceived notions or our deeply held beliefs. Maintaining objectivity and keeping an open mind is essential if one is searching for truth. We must let the facts speak for themselves (in hermeneutics referred to as exegesis) as opposed to reading into the facts our own interpretations and biases (eisegesis). I have been a truth seeker all of my life. Were I not so, I would still be in the church I was born into—12 churches ago! Thus I dove into a study of the Zadok calendar.
Does the Bible or Do Non-biblical Sources Determine Truth?
A big question each person has to ask themselves when determining spiritual truth is whether they are going to rely primarily on the Bible or on non-biblical, secular sources. No one is averse to conducting research using reputable, secular or extra-biblical sources for background information that supports the Bible. However, there is a problem when we look to extra-biblical sources as our primary source of truth, and then reach back into the Bible and cherry pick verses therefrom to “confirm” what the secular sources are saying. This is exactly what mainstream Christianity has been doing for the better part of 2,000 years does when denying the more pro-Torah, Hebraic truths of the Scriptures. We have inherited many lies, and in our search for Truth, many of us have exited the mainstream church system. This chicanery started with the early church fathers in their efforts to disprove the seventh day Sabbath, the biblical feasts, the biblical dietary laws and YHVH’s Torah-law in general. Let’s not repeat their mistakes and end up with a tangled web of truth and error, good and evil where the word of Elohim is made of none effect by men’s traditions and philosophical theologies as Yeshua warned us against (Mark 7:9–13).
With these words of caution ringing in our spirits, let’s now move on to examining the pro-Zadok calendar arguments and see if they line up with sola Scriptura, or are they merely another example of men’s philosophical theologies.
Addressing Pro-Zadok Calendar Arguments—Answered and Refuted
The Enoch-Zadok Calendar Explained
The Enoch calendar is based on a 364-day year (not 3651/4 days) and is first mentioned in the ancient pseudepigraphal Book of First Enoch. This calendar purportedly originated with Enoch, the great grandfather of Noah. This is in spite of the fact First Enoch was written in the third or second century BC, some 2,000 years after the time of the biblical Enoch, who died prior to Noah’s flood. This calendar is appealing to a growing number of pro-Torah Christians who are digging into the Hebraic roots of their faith and endeavoring to keep YHVH’s sabbaths, including the weekly Sabbath and biblical feasts, in accordance with the Creator’s Torah-instructions. Since the Enoch calendar purports to be of ancient derivation, some people assume that it may well be the Bible’s original calendar, hence, the one we should use today to determine when to celebrate the feasts.
But how did we get from Enoch until today? And is there a biblical basis for the Enoch calendar? These are excellent questions that will be discussed and hopefully answered below. In the mean time, let’s give an overview of a few of the claims that the advocates of this calendar make.
The claim is made that, since the Enoch calendar supposedly dates to the time of Enoch, it must be the calendar that Moses and the Israelites used back in the Book of Exodus. Whereas the Levitical priests were the keepers and teachers of YHVH’s Torah-law, it is correctly assumed that they would have known when to observe the biblical feasts and thus should have the final say in this matter. At the end of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, YHVH made an everlasting covenant with Phinehas (or Pinchas), the grandson of Aaron the high priest (the brother of Moses), that to his descendants would be given the priesthood forever (Num 25:12–13), and with that charge came, presumably, the knowledge of the correct biblical calendar.
Moving forward several hundred years to the time of King David, Zadok, a descendent of Phinehas, was the high priest whose progeny carried the mantle of the covenantal promise YHVH made to Phinehas along with again, presumably, the knowledge of the true biblical calendar.
We hear nothing more about Zadok or his descendants until Ezekiel mentions the descendants of Zadok in regards to his famous but enigmatic temple prophecy (Ezekiel chapters 40–48). In this prophecy, YHVH makes the sons of Zadok the officiants in the temple because of their faithfulness to him and his commandments (Ezek 40:46; 43:19ff; 44:15f; 48:11), and it is their role to interpret the Torah-law in matters of controversy including calendrical issues (q.v., Deut 17:8–11). Because Ezekiel states that the Zadokites had been faithful to YHVH’s law, they were given this glorious charge. However, there is much debate among Bible scholars concerning whether Ezekiel’s temple is literal or allegorical. Moreover, was it fulfilled in the building of the Second Temple, or is it an allegory referring to Yeshua and the church, or is it a literal temple yet to be built? The prevailing view is that this is a millennial temple—called the Fourth Temple—that is yet to be built. One thing is certain. The Second Temple that was built in the fifth centuryBC and was destroyed in AD 70 never fit the description of Ezekiel’s temple, and thus Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning the sons of Zadok is for a future time.
Despite the fact that Ezekiel’s temple is yet to be built, and the Zadokite priesthood as officiants in that temple is for a future era, the proponents of the Zadok calendar still cite Ezekiel 44:15 and 23–24 as proof for their calendar. Ezekiel states that the sons of Zadok will teach YHVH’s people the difference between the holy and unholy, between the unclean and the clean. They will also act as judges in controversies regarding YHVH’s appointed times and Sabbaths (q.v., Deut 17:8–11). This, the claim is made, was fulfilled by the Zadokite priests of the monastery at Khirbet Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea in Israel beginning in the late second century BC and lasting for about 175 years afterwards. After that, the inhabitants of Qumran disappear from the pages of history until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947.
Additionally, not letting facts and historical realities stand in their way, the proponents of the Enoch calendar, now referred to as “the Enoch-Zadok calendar” (or simply “the Zadok calendar”), have somehow parlayed the faithful priests mentioned in Ezekiel’s future temple prophecy into the priests living at the time of the Maccabees in the second century BC. This is where the Dead Sea Scrolls (or DSS) and the Qumran community enter the picture. The DSS were discovered in 1947. The original group of DSS scholars from that era who, based on the evidence available to them at that time, firmly believed that a group of righteous priests had been excommunicated, if you will, from the Jerusalem temple when a group of supposedly illegitimate Maccabean priests took charge thereof in the second century BC. The legitimate (Zadokite) priests fled Jerusalem and established a monastery at Qumran near where the DSS were discovered. It is believed that they were largely the writers of the DSS of which the Book of 1 Enoch is a part of this larger corpus. Since the The Book of Enoch promotes the Enoch calendar, and since, it is believed, that these scrolls dictated the lifestyle practices and theology of the Qumran sectaries, and since, it is assumed, these priests were the literal, biological descendants of Zadok and Phinehas the high priests, and since YHVH said through Ezekiel that the sons of Zadok had been faithful to guard and obey his laws, it is assumed that the Zadok calendar is the true biblical calendar for us to follow today in order accurately keep YHVH’s feasts. Hopefully you followed that line of reasoning, since it is essential to understanding the pro-Zadok calendar argument.
There is more, but this is the essence of the pro-Zadok calendar argument. The proponents rely solely on extra-biblical books including those of the DSS to prove the validity of the Zadok calendar. Then, almost as an after thought, they reach back into the Bible, which contains not even the slightest allusion to the Zadok calendar, and attempt to “prove” their point by twisting Scriptures, a technique that the anti-Torah and “the law is nailed to the cross” and “done away with” mainstream Christian church has mastered over the centuries to the detriment of Bible truth resulting in the deception of myriads of people who now longer believe in the validity of YHVH’s Torah-law. Old habits die hard!
In what follows, we will critically analyze several of the key elements undergirding the Zadok calendar theory to see if these square with the empirical evidence, and then we will leave it up to you to decide where the truth lies.
One more word of warning. My comments and notes below are mind-numbing in detail and neither intended for the faint of heart of for those looking for a quick overview of this subject. This is a deep dive and is angled for only the most knowledgable and detail-oriented Bible students. Please do not feel bad if this material is difficult to wrap your mind around. Most of my other writings and video presentations on the Zadok calendar, are much less detailed, more digestible, yet still cover the main points. If you get bogged down in what follows, I humbly invite you to check out some of my other material. Or better yet, skip to the end of this article for section entitled “Summary and Conclusion”, which is a short summary and of the following study and my conclusions.
Onward…!
What Proponents of the Zadok Are Saying and My Responses
In what follows, we will critically analyze several of the key elements undergirding the Zadok calendar theory to see if these square with the Bible, and then it will be up to you to decide where the truth lies or whether lies are being peddled for truth. The following are my personal responses and notes after watching several video presentations by several pro-Zadok calendar teachers.
It’s time that we all ask ourselves an important question: Do we really walk in compassionate love toward others or judgmentalism because others aren’t as righteous as we think that they should be? Ask yourself this: Are you drawn more to a loving person or a legalistic, Pharasaical person? What kind of person was Yeshua? If we want to become like Yeshua, who was Torah-obedient, how is it that so many of us have forgotten the love part? This tough message will cause you to rethink how you view yourself and others, so that we can all be more like Yeshua the Messiah.
This and other videos by Nathan are available as podcasts on Spotify and Apple podcast under “Hoshana Rabbah.”
If this message has been a blessing to you, please consider showing your appreciation by making a donation to Hoshana Rabbah at https://www.paypal.com/donate?token=Y…. Thank you!
This is a serious message for serious Bible believers who are serious about going all the way to become like Yeshua the Messiah.
If you’re looking for ear tickling messages that promote winds of doctrines and that titillate your intellectual curiosity, then this channel and this message is not for you. However, if you are serious about being a disciple of Yeshua (Jesus) and going deeper in the basic meat and potatoes, life-changing, radical and world-transforming message of the gospel of Yeshua the Messiah, then you are in the right place!
We need MORE ROCK SOLID Bible truth, and our goal on this channel is to give it to you one bite of solid meat at a time.
What we do not need is more idolatry of men and their doctrines, traditions and humanistic ideas that DO NOT bring us higher in Yeshua, but only give our carnal religious spirit a transitory “dopamine” fix, while failing to produce any real and lasting spiritual fruits that bring little or not glory to YHVH Elohim, and fail to expand his kingdom a soul at a time. Selah!
This and other videos by Nathan are available as podcasts on Spotify and Apple podcast under “Hoshana Rabbah.”
If this message has been a blessing to you, please consider showing your appreciation by making a donation to Hoshana Rabbah at https://www.paypal.com/donate?token=Y…. Thank you!
Ever since the founding of the ancient nation of Israel in the time of Moses, to which the Christian church can trace its spiritual and biblical roots, the people of God (YHVH Elohim) have been constructing magnificent buildings in which to worship their Creator. We now refer these buildings as churches. This is not a bad thing for a number of reasons, the least of which goes back to YHVH’s original plan. Did he not “plant” the first humans in a paradise called the Garden of Eden where they could walk and talk with him in an idyllic setting? How is a church different than this, except it has walls and a roof, which is a propitious concept especially when it is cold and raining outside!
What is more, and few Christians realize this, one of the first things that YHVH instructed the children of Israel to do after exodusing Egypt was to build the Tabernacle of Moses—a portable church building where they could gather, praise and worship him, and learn about his ways in a multi-dimensional and sensorial, experiential way. Not only that, YHVH told them that he would dwell among his people in this glorified tent.
And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it. (Exod 25:8–9)
This tabernacle took a year to build and employed highly skilled craftsman and artisans who used copious amounts of precious metals, exotic woods and specially died animal skins and colorful tapestries in its construction. The Book of Exodus contains chapter after chapter of detailed instructions that YHVH gave to Moses pertaining to this construction project.
A few hundred years later after coming into the Promised Land, YHVH instructed his people to construct him a more permanent house in which he might dwell among his people. By then, after hundreds of years, the Tabernacle of Moses tent had worn out, and a more solid and permanent structure was needed for the nation, which had greatly expanded in population and territory. This building was called Solomon’s Temple. It contained 100,000 talents of gold and one million talents of silver (1 Chron 22:14). If a talent is equivalent to 75 pounds, then that is 750,000 pounds or 3750 tons of gold or 46,875 ounces of gold. If gold is $2,500 an ounce that comes to more than $30 billion that went into the temple! That was only the value of the gold. Add one million talents of silver at $30 per ounce and that is another $5 billion. This does not include the bronze, wood, stones or other construction materials or the cost of labor to build the temple. The world has never seen any building like this before or since. YHVH Elohim is worthy of the very best!
To this day, YHVH’s people—both Jews and Christians—have been constructing amazing houses of worship. No cost has been spared, the construction efforts have been monumental, amazing methods and machinery invented, engineering feats accomplished, the world’s top artists, craftsmen and musicians enlisted and, at times, construction has continued for decades, hundreds of years and even up to one thousand years as is the case with the Chester Cathedral in England. To this day, in Barcelona, Spain, the Basílica de la Sagrada Familia, is still being constructed having been started in 1882. When completed it will be one of the largest churches on earth boasting the world’s tallest tower at 565.9 feet tall. Presently, it is Spain’s top tourist attraction with 4,707,367 visiting it in 2023 including yours truly. Monumental and costly efforts to build houses of worship for the God of the Bible go on to this very day.
Pisa Cathedral and the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.
As a frequent world traveler, I’ve had the privilege of visiting Catholic and Protestant basilicas, cathedrals, churches and chapels on five continents in nearly 40 countries over the past forty five years. As a Bible expert who also has a broad knowledge of Western religious and cultural history, and is an academically trained artist, these monumental edifices, constructed at great effort and expense ostensibly for the “glory of God,” have captured my fascination. Their extravagant beauty, the artistry and craftsmanship that went in to their construction before the age of modern machinery is beyond impressive. When one steps into a Gothic cathedral, for example, it boggles one’s mid and leaves spell-bound starring upward. And I’m obviously not the only one who is perennially impressed. The great Christian churches, basilicas, cathedrals down to the lowliest chapel and village church all over Europe in nearly every city are often the top tourist attractions, even to this day in our agnostic, secular humanistic, rabidly materialistic world and even anti-Christian culture. Why this fascination with things religious? Suffice it to say, perhaps despite a secular society’s efforts to eviscerate the God of the Bible from the hearts and minds of Westerners, there is still a God-shaped hole in people’s hearts. Beyond that, this a discussion for another day. What I will discuss here is, more importantly, what does Elohim think of these architectural endeavors of men to reach him? Are these a sort of man-made ladder trying to reach the gates of heaven?
Sacré-Coeur in Paris
My ventures into cathedrals and churches over the past forty-five years be they Romanesque, Medieval Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, neo-Gothic, Art Nouveau or modernist, have occurred all over the British Isles, the European continent, Africa, Central and South America and the North American continent from Alaska to Quebec and southward. The more notable houses of worship in which my feet have echoed include Notre Dame Cathedral (before and after the great fire of 2019) and Sacré-Coeur both in Paris, St. Paul’s and Westminster Abbey in London, and the Lausanne Cathedral in Switzerland. In Italy, I have marvelled at San Marcos in Venice, the Duomo di Firenze in Florence, the Cathedral and famous Leaning Tower of Pisa and, of course, St. Peter’s in Rome), and ornate churches Palarmo in Sicily. And I cannot forget massive Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain and the nineteenth century French church in Carthage, Tunsia in Africa. And then there are the churches in Mexico, South America and New York City and elsewhere around the U.S. that I have visited. When in Israel, I viewed many ancient churches and synagogues that go back for nearly 2,000 years. I have viewed some of the largest church buildings in world including Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome which can hold 60,000 worshipers as well as the smallest Catholic church in the world on the tiny island of Guernsey in the English Channel which measures only eight feet by 16 feet in size. I Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia whose tallest tower, when completed, will reach 565 feet into the heavens making it the tallest church in the world, a church that doubled as a Medieval fortress in the mountains of northern Spain, Europe’s most famous Gothic cathedral, the last church that the ill-fated Titanic saw, the abbey where 1,000 years of British monarchs have been crowned, the church that was the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and a church in Pisa that took 400 years to construct and another in England that has been a construction project for a thousand years. Typically, when visiting most of these churches, I have merely been a curious tourist taking in the sights, learning the history and marveling at the artistry and labor that went into building them. But now in my mid-60s and having reaching a more philosophical stage in my life with a aerial view of life that only age and time can provide, I am now seeing these churches from a little different perspective—from, I think and hope, a more heavenly, kinder, even loving heart of YHVH Elohim one.
A church in Palermo, Sicily
My first trip to Europe was in 1980 where I spent a year studying in Switzerland. During spring break, I ventured into Italy where I spent several days in Rome. By this time, I had visited many cathedrals including Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s in London, Notre Dame in Paris, and St. Mark’s in Venice, but nothing prepared me for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Upon arriving in Rome, I fought my way on foot while braving the terrifying melee of cars to cross countless interminably wide and often crosswalkless boulevards to finally reach St. Peters Square in the Vatican, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. I nonchalantly meandered into St. Peter’s Basilica and was immediately overwhelmed. My jaw needed a crutch as it dropped to the exquisite marble flooring and my eyes remained transfixed looking upward. I was unable to move not unlike one of the numerous marble statues that adorn the place. After what seemed like an eternity, I collected my overwhelmed senses and sat down on a simple wooden, nondescript chairs (in stark contrast to the wealth and opulence that surrounds them) set out for worshippers, where I remained motionless and almost spell-bound drinking in the awesomeness of the place. My emotional response struck me as strange, since neither I nor my family are Catholic, and, quite frankly, I, at best, had been apathetic toward that church, and even harbored a certain level of antipathy toward Roman Catholicism. After 45 minutes of just sitting there, I remember thinking, “I can’t take all of the immensity and opulence of this place in at one sitting,” and suffering from cognitive and emotional overloading, I resolved to come back the next day to absorb the rest of it. And I did. The majesty, immenseness and artistry of it all was too much to fathom on my first visit. I have been marvelling over the beauty and majesty of church buildings ever since.
Nearly everyone knows the Old Testament story of Jacob wrestling with the “angel,” but there is more to this biblical tale—much more! In this video, we learn how the prophet Jeremiah and the ancient Jewish sages viewed “Jacob’s Struggle” as relating to end time events just prior to the second coming of the Messiah. Perhaps, and even more importantly, we will also discover how Jacob’ struggle—his dark night of the soul—is a spiritual picture of what each Christian must go through to come into a deeper, more mature walk with Yeshua the Messiah and to discover their true and ultimate identity and destiny.
This and other videos by Nathan are available as podcasts on Spotify and Apple podcast under “Hoshana Rabbah.”
