Over the past 20 years, I, along with the help of my wife, have put together an abundant array of resources to help you to understand and then to celebrate YHVH’s biblical feasts. Here is a list of these FREE resources and the links to find them. Happy studying and then doing for the glory of YHVH, the advancement of his heavenly kingdom and for YOUR spiritual growth and development into the fullness and stature of Yeshua the Messiah!
Happy studying and may you be filled with joy as you learn more about the ways of YHVH and how to step deeper into the river of life in serving and obeying him!
Leviticus 23:2,My feasts [Heb. moedim]. YHVH calls these feasts his feasts. They’re not men’s feasts or the Jewish feasts! They came from YHVH and belong to him. When men pervert YHVH’s feasts by mixing in pagan traditions, they’re no longer YHVH’s feasts, but men’s feasts (e.g. Isa 1:13–15; Amos 5:21; Hos 2:11). When men pollute his feasts and appointed times, YHVH says that he hates them because they’re no longer his feasts (Isa 1:14–15).
In Ezekiel 20, we see that YHVH’s feasts (or sabbaths) are a covenantal sign between YHVH and his people (Ezek 20:12) that they were to live by (Ezek 20:11), yet which Israel, in rebellion, refused to do while in the wilderness. Instead they defiled his sabbaths by, presumably, not doing them and doing other things on those holy days (Ezek 20:13). Israel’s rebellion against YHVH with regard to their refusal to keep his sabbaths brought upon them YHVH’s judgments (Ezek 20:13).
In other words, it was YHVH’s will for the Israelites to keep his sabbaths in the wilderness, but because of their idolatrous rebellion, they refused to do so. In fact, YHVH calls refusing to observe his sabbaths idolatry and for this sin (along with other sins), the Israelites had to wander in the wilderness for forty years (Ezek 20:15–16). In profaning his sabbaths, YHVH accuses the Israelites of despising his Torah (Ezek 20:16). YHVH then goes on to urge his people to not follow the example of their rebellious forefathers, but rather to walk in all of his Torah commands (including his sabbaths, Ezek 20:18–20). Because of their profaning his sabbaths, he punished them by scattering them in exile among the heathens. Those modern saints who refuse to keep YHVH’s Sabbath and feasts are walking in the same sin as the ancient Israelites. Often people who refuse to keep YHVH’s feast days holy do so because the feasts conflict with their secular activities (such as their jobs). YHVH calls this idolatry and being like the heathen (Ezek 20:30, 32). In the end times, YHVH is going to separate his people out from the heathen and bring them back into covenantal agreement with him including obedience to his sabbaths (Ezek 20:33–38). He will purge from his people those rebels who refuse to obey him including keeping his sabbaths (Ezek 20:38), which are a sign of his covenantal relationship with them.
In Genesis chapter one when Elohim created the sun and moon, he called the former “the greater light” and the latter “the lesser light” (Gen 1:16). The former rules the day and the lesser rules the night (ibib.). This is prophetic of the role of Yeshua and the saints in the world.
Yeshua the Messiah is the Light of the world (John 1:6–9; 8:12; 9:5) or the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2) or the Greater Light to show man the path of spiritual light in the darkness of this world. The saints are like the moon or the lesser light that reflects the light of the sun or the greater light into the darkness of this world. Yeshua shines his spiritual light onto his disciples who then take that light and evangelize those lost in spiritual darkness with the message of the gospel. This is the great commission!
The biblical feasts are calculated based on the lunations of the moon. The seven biblical holidays speak of YHVH’s plan of salvation to show man the way to Yeshua who is the Greater Spiritual Light as represented by the sun. The feasts are like a tract or sermon by which the saints preach the gospel message of salvation to the world. The saints as the lesser light reflecting the message of salvation through Yeshua the Greater Light into the darkness of this world through their adherence to the biblical feasts. This is one reason why the moon—the lesser light—is so pivotal to YHVH’s calendar and feasts.
The traditional calendar currently used by the non-believing, rabbinic Jews is off; it’s not in accordance with the moon though the Jews erroneously purport it to be. At the same time, they’re not bringing the gospel message of Yeshua to the world—only the doctrines of men and men’s traditions. Their whole message is askew and fails to reflect the Greater Light of Yeshua.
Similarly, the mainstream church tries to preach the gospel, but without understanding the moon, feasts and biblical calendar their message of the gospel is only a partial one and is also off spiritually.
A time may come in the future when the calendar and feasts will go strictly off the sun and not the moon. This may occur when there is a new heaven and a new earth when Yeshua is ruling on this earth and he will be the only Light of the world. That time isn’t yet, though, for it’s still the saints’ job as the lesser light to be like the moon to reflect the truth of Yeshua, the Greater Light, to this world through a lunar-based calendar upon which the biblical feasts are based.
Exploring the Concepts of Sacrifice, Blood-Letting and Eating Blood
The sacrificing of animals as an act of worship or for any reason is a foreign concept in our modern, secularized society, but this was not the case in the ancient biblical world. Concomitant with sacrifices is the idea of freewill offerings,which, in the ancient world, were often made together as an act of worship to various deities.
With regard to sacrifices, man’s first act of worship outside the Garden of Eden was to make offerings and sacrifice to Elohim (Gen 4:1–4). Making a sacrifice to Elohim was also Noah’s first act of worship after the flood (Gen 8:20). The same is true of Abraham upon receiving the covenant from Elohim (Gen 12:6). At key points in his spiritual journey, Abraham repeated this same act of worship (Gen 12:8; 13:3, 18). The same is true of the Israelites who after having received the Torah at Sinai made a sacrifice to Elohim as they entered into a covenantal agreement with him (Exod 24:4). Subsequently, YHVH instructed the Israelites to establish an entire sacrificial system as a means to be reconciled to him. Similarly, animal sacrifices and offerings being made to various deities was an important aspect of the heathen cultures of the biblical world. Even in the first century, the Greeks were still sacrificing animals in their pagan temples to their gods and goddesses (1 Cor 8:1–13; 10:20) as were the Jews prior to the destruction of their temple in A.D. 70 (Acts 21:24 cp. Num 6:13–21).
So, in the mind of the ancients, what was the purpose of sacrifice? The ritual killing and offering of an animal was part of a religious ritual either to appease or to gain the favor of a deity.
With this concept in mind, several points should be noted. Man’s rebellion and sin against Elohim in the Garden of Eden caused man to be cut off from his Creator and incur his judgment against man’s sin. The Garden of Eden and the fall of man event is part of the mythos of many ancient civilizations (e.g. Mesopotamian, Summerian, Greek, Indians, Moslem and apparently the Babylonians, Chaldeans, Persians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Ethiopians, Mexicans and Chinese as well), and thus this idea of man’s separation from deity because of his sin informed the ancients of their need to be reconciled to a deity or deities.
However, it stands to reason that as we move forward in human history and away from the original sin of man in Garden of Eden, where YHVH revealed to man his need for an atoning blood sacrifice, the pure worship of Elohim through sacrifice at the same time became blurry in men’s minds and corrupted by demonic incursions and influences (e.g. Gen 6:2–5). Through subversive activities of Satan the Adversary and his minions, the practice of Elohim’s true religion became perverted and even counterfeited. As a result, men began to worship counterfeit deities of their own concoction that ran cross grain to or were in outright antithetical rebellion to the commandments of YHVH Elohim with regard to the making of offering and sacrifices. Instead of men making sacrifices and offerings to be reconciled to Elohim because of sin, the heathens exchanged the worship of the true Elohim for that of Satan and his evil minions. This resulted in men making sacrifices to appease the anger of their false demon-gods and, at the same time, to curry their favor (for fortune, fame, spiritual power and long life). Over time, man’s sin and his need to be reconciled to the Creator was no longer the focal point of the sacrifice or offering at all. The Israelites, under YHVH’s guidance, on the other hand, kept the true purpose of sacrifice in view. It was for the purpose of atonement for sin in order to reconcile sinful and fallen man to his Creator as Leviticus 17:11 states.
As the biblical narrative reveals, the ancient Israelites were all too easily swayed by the heathen, Canaanite, Baal-worshipping cultures around them whose gods had moral stringencies much less demanding than those of Elohim, and who instead of forbidding sinful acts not only tolerated but often promoted them, even incorporating them into their cult rituals (e.g. ritual temple prostitution and other forms of sexual deviancy including homosexuality). This is why YHVH’s Torah included strict commands against Israel’s fraternizing in any way with the neighboring Canaanites or adopting any of their religious rituals—especially those involving blood and sacrifice, since the Creator originally designed these rituals only for worship, atonement and reconciliation purposes. With this historical backdrop in view, it hopefully should be easier to see why YHVH was so adamant that the Israelites adhere to his strict protocols with regard to making animal sacrifices, while at the same time he prohibited them from following the heathen’s perverted versions of these rituals—rituals that had devolved into outright demon worship (Lev 17:7).
Acts 17:6, Turned the world upside down. Can it be said of us that we have turned the world around us upside down for Yeshua with the message of the gospel? Has the reputation that we are “Bible thumpers” and “Jesus freaks” preceded us as it did these saints in the book of Acts? Are we, as they were, persecuted and badly treated because of the witness of our faith?
Acts 17:11, Searched the Scriptures daily. Let us not forget that the only Scriptures the saints at this time was the Tanakh or Old Testament, which, in itself, contains the entire gospel message and all that humans need for salvation. The Testimony of Yeshua or New Testament is simply “frosting on the cake” in that it merely confirms the Truth of the Tanakh and is the only divinely inspired commentary on the Tankah.
Acts 17:17, Reasoned [discussed or disputed]…in the marketplace. What is our modern market place? With whom in the public arena are we discussing the gospel on a regular basis? Are we being lights on a hill and being salt and light to the world as Yeshua instructed? Let’s be honest. There is always room for improvement in our fulfilling Yeshua’s command, known as the great commission, to go ye therefore into all the world and to preach the gospel.
Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. The missionary minded saints of Athens placed themselves in the marketplace of ideas where they reasoned or disputed with the proponents of the leading philosophies of the day including Epicureanism and Stoicism. By that day, belief of divine influence (i.e. god and goddess worship) was waning and humanistic philosophies involving individualistic paths of spirituality were the fad of the day that were replacing organized religion and the superstitious belief systems that accompanied religious systems. This is not unlike our day where church attendance is down and people are seeking spiritual alternatives to fill the void that irreligious lifestyles and secular mindsets leaves in their wake. The saints’ response to this religious confusion in society was to preach the gospel and to reason with those who were lost and confused.
In light of this present societal condition, what is the evangelistically mind saint supposed to do?
Before answering this question, an issue first needs to be discussed. A problem exists in our day that did not exist in the days of the first century believers. The secular Greeks had never heard the gospel message before, and so it was a new and potentially exciting philosophy. We, now, are confronted with the reality that most people have heard of Christianity, about the Christian church and know something about the gospel, even though it may only be a sparse tidbit of information or some twisted caricature of the truth. Nevertheless, most people, based on this scanty or misguided perception, have chosen to reject the message of Yeshua the Messiah, and so preaching the gospel to those who have wilfully closed and hardened their hearts and minds to the good news provides a challenge to those seeking to fulfill the great commission of Yeshua to preach the gospel to the world.
Upon closer look, the philosophies of ancient Greece are not all that dissimilar than many of the prevailing and popular spiritual and philosophical paths that people are following in our day. For example, Epicureanism was a philosophy that sought to enjoy this physical life to the fullest without going to extremes. It championed the idea of self-fulfillment and trying to be a basically good person, while, at the same time, indulging the physical senses and satiating the basic pleasures of the flesh. Does that not sound like a lot of people we know who try to live a good life while having fun and refusing to be constrained by the strict and rather archaic values and morals of the Bible? Its chief competitor was Stoicism, which can be summed up as rolling with the punches while trying to be a good person. Let’s look at these philosophies a little closer and then compare them with what we see going on around us today.
“Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism… Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Following the Cyrenaic philosopher Aristippus, Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to seek modest, sustainable pleasure in the form of a state of ataraxia (tranquility and freedom from fear) and aponia (the absence of bodily pain) through knowledge of the workings of the world and limiting desires. Correspondingly, Epicurus and his followers generally withdrew from politics because it could lead to frustrations and ambitions which can directly conflict with the Epicurean pursuit for peace of mind and virtues…Although Epicureanism is a form of hedonism insofar as it declares pleasure to be its sole intrinsic goal, the concept that the absence of pain and fear constitutes the greatest pleasure, and its advocacy of a simple life, make it very different from “hedonism” as colloquially understood…Epicureanism flourished in the Late Hellenistic era and during the Roman era, and many Epicurean communities were established, such as those in Antiochia, Alexandria, Rhodes, and Herculaneum. By the late 3rd century CE Epicureanism all but died out, being opposed by other philosophies (mainly Neoplatonism)” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicureanism).
The other prevailing Greek philosophy was Stocism. This philosophy is also alive and well in our day, even as Epicreanism is. Defined, “Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BC. It is a philosophy of personal ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world. According to its teachings, as social beings, the path to eudaimonia (happiness, or blessedness) is found in accepting the moment as it presents itself, by not allowing oneself to be controlled by the desire for pleasure or by the fear of pain, by using one’s mind to understand the world and to do one’s part in nature’s plan, and by working together and treating others fairly and justly. The Stoics are especially known for teaching that “virtue is the only good” for human beings, and those external things—such as health, wealth, and pleasure—are not good or bad in themselves (adiaphora), but have value as “material for virtue to act upon”. Alongside Aristotelian ethics, the Stoic tradition forms one of the major founding approaches to virtue ethics. The Stoics also held that certain destructive emotions resulted from errors of judgment, and they believed people should aim to maintain a will (called prohairesis) that is “in accordance with nature”. Because of this, the Stoics thought the best indication of an individual’s philosophy was not what a person said but how a person behaved. To live a good life, one had to understand the rules of the natural order since they thought everything was rooted in nature” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism).
As we can see, the influences of Epicureanism and Stoicism are still with us today. Should we be surprised? After all, there is nothing new under the sun!
So now returning to our original question, what is the saint to do in light of the societal trend to abandon the Christian religion, church and biblical values for any one of a number of popularly trending philosophies or admixtures thereof that are bobbing about on the seas of human ideas and vicissitudes? The bottom line is that in reality nothing has changed. Humans are still humans. They are still sin-bent, still have a hunger for spirituality, while at the same time rebelliously disinclined to submit to the instructions and laws of the Creator as found in the Bible. At the same time, Yeshua’s marching orders to his disciples have never changed: preach the gospel message of hope and love, be salt and light to those around us, love one another and those around us by manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, lift up the name of Yeshua and the message of the cross, and be a spiritual seed planter wherever one goes. Let YHVH through his Spirit do the watering and fertilizing of that seed by convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. YHVH will bring in the harvest to his kingdom how and when he wants. It is our job to be our Father’s business and to leave the rest to him.
Acts 17:24–32, Paul’s model for one-on-one evangelism. In Paul’s encounter with the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill, he uses the five step evangelistic approach that Yeshua used as recorded in his encounter with the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17–22). This five-step approach is as follows:
Paul first establishes the character and nature of the one true YHVH Elohim who is the Creator of all things and man should seek him, for man owes all to him (vv. 24–28).
Then Paul shows how the Greeks have not been following the true Elohim, but have been sinning by worshiping false gods (i.e. idolatry), which is a violation of the Torah (v. 29).
Next, Paul further alludes to the Torah by establishing that Elohim’s divine nature or character (which is revealed in the Torah) transcends idols, material possessions or anything else devised by men whether artistic or philosophical in nature (v. 29). These things were the chief false gods of the ancient Greeks, for which Paul was taking them to task.
Paul then tells the Greeks that Elohim is calling men to repentance for ignorantly following man-made idols and philosophies, (which is sin, or Torahlessness, 1 John 3:4) (vv. 30–31).
After this, Paul points the Greeks to Yeshua (vv. 30–31).
From this evangelistic encounter, Paul gained some converts (v. 34).
Leviticus 16:1–34, Passover and the Day of Atonement compared. A cursory reading of the Scriptures seems to indicate that there exists overlapping similarities between some of the blood atonement ceremonies of Passover or Pesach and the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. What are the differences between the sin atonement offerings of Pesach and Yom Kippur?
Perhaps realizing the fact that the Passover occurs during the spring feast day season and the Day of Atonement occurs during the fall feast day season may help to answer this question. This is because prophetically the spring feast days picture Messiah Yeshua’s first coming, while the fall feast days prophetically point to his second coming. How does this understanding shed light on the answer to this question?
Both Pesach and Yom Kippur picture redemption through the shed blood of Yeshua, that is, the saint being delivered from bondage to sin and the rudiments of this world. Passover symbolizes the first steps a new believer takes when coming out of spiritual Egypt and accepting Yeshua, the Lamb of YHVH, as one’s Savior and Master. Yom Kippur, on the other hand, pictures the blood of the Lamb covering over the saint’ sins after his initial salvation experience and the corporate sins of the nation of Israel.
If our understanding of the order of end time events is correct, Yom Kippur also prophetically points to the time when Yeshua will return to the earth to initiate the final regathering of the lost and scattered tribes of Israel, and to prepare to marry his bride, redeemed Israel or the Israel of Elohim (Gal 6:16), that is, the saints. Perhaps this latter understanding will help to answer why another Passover-like feast is needed. Yom Kippur does not focus so much on leaving Egypt, but rather on YHVH’s people preparing to enter the millennial kingdom under the Messiah. Those saints who will be the betrothed bride of Yeshua need to make themselves ready for Yeshua’s return by putting on spiritual robes of righteousness that are spotless and pure. Although the bride of Messiah saints are not sinners by definition, for the Bible calls them “the righteous” (1 Pet 4:18), they still sin (hopefully only occasionally; 1 John 1:8–9; Rom 7:13–25), and still need to have their sins washed away by the blood of Yeshua, even just before they meet Yeshua at his return. Yom Kippur pictures this final redemptive cleansing or preparation time of Yeshua’s bride.
Understanding the Yom Kippur Goat Rituals
Understanding and interpreting the rituals of Leviticus 16 can be perplexing and complicated task. This is because often encrypted in certain scriptural passages the deep and open-minded Bible student will find multiple levels of meaning and prophetic fulfillments. The serious biblical researcher understands this and is not put off by any seeming discrepancies between a surface or literal fulfillment of a scripture vis-à-vis its prophetic fulfillment. An example of this would be the virgin and child prophecy of Isaiah 7. There was both a historical or immediate fulfillment of this prophecy and a future one relating to the coming Messiah.
Moreover, we must keep something else in mind when dealing with biblical passages that are difficult to understand because they contain figurative language of a prophetic nature that often employ typologies (types and shadows). By definition, a type is a person or thing that represents someone or something else. When dealing with prophetic types in Scripture, the type never perfectly mirrors that to which it is prophetically pointing. The type is merely a shadow of what is to come (Col 2:17; Heb 10:1; 8:5), and therefore it is neither a perfect representation of the reality nor its there a perfect one-to-one correlation between the two. However, there are enough similarities to deduce a correlation between the two, even as a shadow is the shape and outline of the image it represents, but it doesn’t contain all the details of it.
How do humans come into the presence of YHVH Elohim? There is one proper way to do so, and many improper ways. The Torah’s discussion pertaining to the rituals associated with the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) reveal to us what the proper protocol is and also alludes to the fact that there is an improper way to approach the Almighty Creator as well—something which brings disastrous results. We see an example of this in the case of Nadab and Abihu.
Now YHVH spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before YHVH, and died… (Lev 16:1)
Elohim killed Nadab and Abihu because they came into the holy of holies in the Tabernacle of Moses (a representation of Elohim’s heavenly throne room) in a careless and indifferent manner. Not only does the Torah indicate that they intoxicated with alcohol, but they failed to follow the proper ceremonial protocols outlined by YHVH Elohim to come into his presence. The next few verses lay out what those protocols are to come before the King of the universe. To not follow those protocols brings the death penalty on the person. Such a person is entering illegally as an unauthorized trespasser.
Before exploring how to enter the presence of Elohim properly, let’s bring this abstract concept down to a level we can understand. For example, who hasn’t seen signs on private property that say something like this: “Private Property, No Trespassing,” “Government Property, No Trespassing,” “Unauthorized Entrance Prohibited,” “Violators Will Be Prosecuted to the Full Extent of the Law,” or “Violators Will Be Shot”? What happens to an uninvited intruder who climbs over the fence around the White House or over the walls of Buckingham Palace? Likely, they will be arrested if not shot on the spot. Similarly, there are penalties for coming into the throne room of the Almighty YHVH Elohim illegally.
…and YHVH said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. (Lev 16:2)
YHVH Elohim does not allow humans to casually saunter into his presence anytime and in any manner they want. Though Elohim is our loving Heavenly Father, he is holy (set-apart) and is the Creator of the Universe who is to be feared and respected (Heb 12:28), and he is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29). He has the power of life and death; he gives life and can take it away (Matt 10:28). Humans (especially Christians) would do well to know their place before the Almighty, to treat him with the respect he is due and to follow his instructions in all areas of their relationship with him. Indeed, YHVH wants humans to come before him, but in the proper way.
It is utter foolishness and hubris on the part of humans to ignore the clear commands and instructions of Elohim. Nadab and Abihu found out the hard way; their folly cost them their lives. There are no theologies regardless of the respectability or age of the religious institution or denomination or the erudition of the biblical scholars that invented them that can circumvent the clear instructions of YHVH Elohim. Phrases one often hears mainstream church leaders quote with regard to the laws of the Almighty such as “It has been done away with,” “It has been nailed to the cross,” “We’re under grace now, not under the law,” “That was for the Jews,” “Jesus fulfilled that for me, so I’m not required to do that” and so on will not pass muster with Elohim. He makes the rules, his rules do not change, and humans would do well to remember that. For those who take the commands of Elohim casually more as suggestions, remember Nadab and Abihu! “That was under the old covenant, we’re under the dispensation of grace now,” one might say in objection. My reply? Well, then consider the case of Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts whom Elohim struck down for lying to the apostles and the Set-Apart Spirit (Acts 5:1–11)!
So what is the first rule of protocol for coming into the presence of YHVH Elohim?
Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. (Lev 16:3)
Without humans acknowledging that they are sinners, they cannot come into the presence of Elohim. What’s more, they must bring the proper sin offering—a perfect bull or ram. Only by the shedding of blood can man’s sins be atoned for. Leviticus 17:11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” Until a person’s sins have been atoned for through the shedding of blood, one is not allowed into the presence of Elohim. Period! There are no religious rituals of man, no mantras, no amount of prayers, begging or pleading, no ascetic exercises, no formulas, no incantations, no drug induced altered states of consciousness, no conjured spells, no abracadabra mumbo jumbo words, no wishful thinking, no amount of good thoughts, no self-made or designer spiritual paths or anything else that can bring us into the presence of the Almighty. There is only one way to the Father in heaven and that is through the blood of Yeshua the Messiah, the Lamb of Elohim, who paid the price for each person’s sins (Acts 4:12; Matt 1:21; Mark 16:15–16; John 3:36; 14:6; 1 Tim 2:5–6; 1 John 5:11–12). The sacrificed animals in this chapter are prophetic foreshadows pointing to Yeshua’s death on the cross as a payment for each person’s sin penalty. As no one could come into the Tabernacle of Moses except by following the proper protocols involving sacrifices and the cleansing rituals associated therewith, even so, no one is allowed into the presence of Elohim except through the sacrifice of Yeshua the Messiah.
