Category Archives: General

Is Celebrating Shavuot (Pentecost) Optional?

Posted on by
Reply

Is celebrating the biblical feast of Shavuot (aka the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost) optional for the born-again, redeemed Israelite believer in Yeshua the Messiah in the 21st century?

The short answer is, “NO!” unless one considers the clear commands of the Word of Elohim to be merely suggestions and not commands. “NO!” unless one rejects following the examples of Yeshua, the Apostle Paul and the Book of Acts followers of Yeshua. “NO!” unless one has become so conditioned to following the traditions of men that have made of non-effect the Word of Elohim that they have become blind and deaf to the clear truth of the Scriptures.

You see, we live in an age where the majority of so-called “Bible believers” and church people are more concerned about feelings, popularity, majority consensus, what others think, having fun, being entertained, the lust of the flesh and eyes that most either don’t know what the Word of Elohim says, or don’t care. Oh, they will swear otherwise, but their actions speak louder than their words. Amos the prophet describes this spiritual sickness well when he referred to apostate Israel as suffering from a “famine of the hearing of the words of YHVH,” (Amos 8:11). You see, the word “hearing” in Hebrew is shema, which means not just “to hear,” but “to do and to obey” as well. It seems that nowadays, like then, a lot of folks hear, but few obey.

On May 27, 2012, we will be celebrating the biblical feast of Shavuot (Lev 23:15–22, Acts 2:1; 20:16). On this blog, and on our ministry website (hoshanarabbah.org) we have been promoting our congregation’s and our ministry’s Shavuot celebration to those in our local area (the Pacific Northwest U.S. region). Well, what prompted this blog post was an interesting response I received today from someone who thanked us for the announcement, but was sorry they couldn’t make it to Shavuot because they had a birthday party to attend instead.

So, I submit, once again, the question, is celebrating Shavuot optional? Let me list the reasons why it is not — according to the Word of Elohim:

  • Shavuot is a miqra kodesh (holy convocation) and sabbath when YHVH commands his people to stop whatever they are doing, gather together, and to meet with him on this day (Lev 23:1,15–21).
  • YHVH enacted Shavuot as a statute forever for his people Israel (Lev 23:21).
  • If you’re a follower of and believer in Yeshua then that makes you a son of Abraham (Gal 3:29), and an Israelite (Eph 2:11–19), and so the command to observe Shavuot applies to you. Only the heathens are exempted from this celebration, and that exemption isn’t without eternal consequences, for to not obey the Torah-commands of YHVH-Yeshua is sin (1 John 3:4), and the wages of sin is eternal death (Rom 6:23).
  • If you call yourself a Christian, Messianic, or a follower of Yeshua, then you’ll not want to risk being a hypocrite (or a sinner), but rather, you’ll want to do what he did and celebrate all of the biblical feasts including Shavuot. You’ll also want to follow the example of Paul who instructed us to imitate Yeshua as he imitated Yeshua by doing what Yeshua did (1 Cor 11:1). To imitate means to do exactly what someone else does. Paul celebrated Shavuot (Acts 20:16).
  • If you love Yeshua, you will be keeping his Torah-commandments (John 14:15) of which Shavuot is one.
  • Some believers in Yeshua feel that we only need to do what he directly commanded us to do. Well, he commanded his disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high, which occurred on the day of Pentecost (Luke 24:49; Acts 2:1–4). Therefore, he was commanding them to celebrate it, which they continued to do as we see from the example of Paul above.
  • Finally, if there is any biblical feast that has precedence to be celebrated in our day, it would be the Feast of Pentecost, since, as many of us have been taught in our churches, the NT church was birthed on this day. So, if it was good enough for them, why not for us? Moreover, it seems to me, that if there is any church group out there that should be leading the way in celebrating the biblical Feast of Shavuot or Pentecost, it should be the Pentecostals, right?

So now what’s your excuse for not celebrating Shavuot as YHVH Elohim in the Scriptures commands?

 

Can We Trust Paul?

Posted on by
2
Recently, I received an email from a gentleman who had come across a website claiming that the Apostle Paul was an anti-Torah heretic, and that all of Paul’s books should be eviscerated from the Testimony of Yeshua (NT). The letter-writer wanted me to read this man’s arguments against Paul, and then respond to them.
Like this letter-writer, many folks who are coming to a Hebraic and pro-Torah
understanding of the NT are finding themselves questioning many once cherished belief systems that they learned in the church. What should be our approach as we separate the wheat from the chaff? Here is how I answered the letter:

Continue reading →

 

There’s No Shalom Like Shabbat Shalom!

Posted on by
Reply

I just got this email question from someone:

I was wondering where it is stated in the Bible that the Sabbath is to be a day of shalom?

This was my response:

I don’t know if it’s explicitly stated anywhere in the Scriptures, but it’s certainly implicit. Here are scriptural reasons that immediately come to mind:

  • YHVH sanctified the Sabbath, which means his blessing (including his shalom) is on it.
  • It’s a moed or a divine appointment (Lev 23:1), which means YHVH will show up to fellowship with his people on this day. With him comes his love, joy and peace.
  • Because it’s a day of rest and no work, then it naturally follows that with rest comes peace.
  • For those of us who have walked in the Shabbat for a long time (and who have done Sunday as well), we know from experience that there is a special blessing of peace on the Sabbath like no other day. There is no shalom like Shabbat shalom!
  • The Sabbath is a picture of Eden, and a prophetic picture of the Millennial kingdom  of Yeshua when peace will reign on this earth. The weekly Sabbath is a foretaste of that peace that once was and is yet to come

There are probably some other examples that I could give, but this is what comes to mind  quickly. Can you think of any biblical reasons that imply that the Sabbath is a day of peace? If so, please share.