THE FEASTS OF YHWH

THE FEASTS OF YHWH

 

 

    WHY DID YHWH GIVE NATIONAL HOLIDAYS TO ISRAEL?

    ·  The Feasts of YHWH are Moadim meaning, “set times” or “seasons.” The Feasts were agricultural (Lev.23:2).

    ·  The Feasts of YHWH are Miqra Kodesh or “holy convocations;” they are holy assemblies. God wants His people to come together -like family!

    ·  The Feasts of YHWH are Zikhronot or “remembrances.” The Feasts are memorials (Lev.23:24).  

    ·  The Feasts of YHWH, each one is a Skia (Grk) or a “shadow.” The Feasts are Representations of someone [coming] (Col.2:17).

    ·  The Feasts of YHWH, each one is Poieo (Grk) meaning “drama” (1 Cor. 11:24). The Feasts are for “doing” that reveal the mysteries of our great God.

    ·  The Feasts of YHWH are also Messianic. They hallmark the Messiah (Luke 24:27-44); they are all about Him!

 

    WHAT are THE BIBLICAL FEASTS OF YHWH?

    ·  The WEEKLY Festival is Shabbat, a weekly holiday of rest (Lev.23:3).

    ·  The MONTHLY Festival is Rosh Chodesh, a monthly holiday recognizing the new moon (Num.28:11).

    ·  The ANNUAL and Agricultural Feasts are the following: 

    1. Pesach/Passover (Lev.23:5), the 14^th day of the first month of the year (not January, but March/April).

    2. Chag HaMatzot/Unleavened Bread, the 15^th of the first month (Lev.23:6).

    3. Bikkurim/First Fruits (Lev.23:10-12) the 1^st day of the week following Passover, thus always on Sunday.

    4. Shavuot/Weeks or Pentecost/Harvest, fifty days following Passover (Lev.23:15-21).

    5. Yom T’Ruach/Trumpets (Lev.23:24), the first day of the 7^th month.

    6. Yom Kippur/Atonement (Lev.23:27), the tenth day of the 7^th month (following Trumpets), the most solemn feast of the year.

    7. Sukkot/Tabernacles (Lev.23:33-36), the 15^th day of the 7^th month (following Yom Kippur); it is the last of the seven annual Feasts of YHWH.

 

    ·  The 50-YEAR JUBILEE Festival, the Feast of Yoval or the Ram’s Horn (shofar) called Jubilee (Lev.25:10). It is the Feast of Release!

    ·  The POST EXILIC Festivals

    1. Purim/Lots (Esther 9:26-32) which is the feast remembering the seed of woman Judah, was saved by a woman, Queen Hadassah or Esther. It is held on the 14th day of Adar (early spring).

    2. Chanukah/Dedication (2 Maccabees; Yochanon 10:22) which is the Feast commemorating the cleansing of the Temple by the Maccabees and Israel in 165 BC. It is held on 25th day of Kislev (corresponding to 25th of December).

    Modern Israel has also inaugurated modern holidays.

    ·  Yom HaShoah/Day of the Burning (Holocaust Memorial). This is a national remembrance of the 6 million Jews who died in the ovens of Nazi Germany.

    ·  Yom HaAtzma’ut/Day of Independence (May 14). This is Israel’s Celebration of Independence.

WHERE WERE THE BIBLICAL HOLIDAYS OF YHWH TO BE observed?

    ·  God Desired Israel to make three pilgrimages to see Him in Jerusalem (Exo.23:14-17).

    ·  The Seven Annual Feasts of YHWH (above) were compartmentalized into three pilgrimages to Jerusalem: 

    1. The First Pilgrimage was to observe the first three Feasts of YHWH, Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits.

    2. The Second Pilgrimage fifty days later was to observe the Feast of Pentecost/Harvest.

    3. The Third Pilgrimage was for the celebration of the last three Feasts of YHWH, Trumpets, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles.

the fall feasts of yhwh

Why did Elohim command Israel to obey feasts or festivals every week, every month, seven times every year, and every fifty years? Why did Elohim command Israel to aliya or “go up” to Yerushalayim three times each year, once in the spring, again in early summer, and the final journey up in the fall to keep His feasts? That's much time away from their vocations, it was/is a lot of expense, and an abundance of packing, walking, riding, and exposure to weather and exposure to many dangers?

The Feasts of YHWH were Moadim or set times or seasons (Lev.23:2). The Feasts of YHWH were also Miqra Kodesh or Holy Convocations, meaning holy “get-togethers” for fellowship. The Feasts were for assembling. The Feasts of YHWH were also for Zikhron or remembrances (Lev.23:24), and they were Skia (Greek) or “shadows” although obscure. According to the Apostle Shaul (Paul) they were representations (Col.2:17) of the Messiah. 

In the book of 1 Corinthians Shaul wrote that the Feasts of YHWH were Poieo (poy-eh-o) or “doings;” the Feasts were drama (1 Cor. 11:24). Finally, the Feasts of YHWH were Messianic. We know this to be true since Yeshua said similar when He gave us His hermeneutic of the Holy Scriptures as recorded by the good physician Luke (Luke 24:27-44). At home where Jews lived they were to keep the weekly feast of Shabbat (Lev.23:3), the monthly holiday of Rosh Chodesh or “First Moon” (Num.28:11), and the fifty-year Feast of Jubilee (Lev.25:10). However, His seven annual Feasts were to be observed in His Holy City, Yerushalayim. In Exodus 23:14-17 God compartmentalized those seven Feasts into three aliyas or “goings up” to Yerushalayim. In the spring He requested to see Israel for Pesach (Passover), Matzot (Unleavened Bread), and Bikkurim (First Fruits), all three happening within seven days. In the summer He requested to see Israel for the Feast of Shavuot or Pentecost meaning “Harvest,” and in the fall the Jews were to visit the Holy City to see Holy God for Yom T’Ruah, the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. 

All three of the Fall Feasts of YHWH were/are centered on the phases of the moon and in the 7th month of the Jewish year, the seventh month being the holiest month of the twelve months. 

This year, 2019 the Feast of Trumpets occurs on September 29-30, the Feast of Yom Kippur on October 8-9, and the Feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles is October 13-20. The days encompassing these three fall feasts are “High Holy Days” for Israel, and the ten days between Trumpets and Atonement are called “the Days of Awe,” sobering days for self-examination. But, examination according to what point of reference? What was/is the grading scale of the examination? Our answer is, of course, Yeshua! He has always been the plum line!

On the 14th day of the 1st month of God’s calendar year, the month of Nisan or Aviv Yeshua fulfilled Passover as the Lamb of God dying for the sins of the world. Only by application of His blood is one redeemed! On the 15th day of the 1st month of God’s calendar year Yeshua fulfilled Unleavened Bread. His sinless body broken for us which is why we eat the unleavened bread of the Lord’s Supper or Communion. Then, on the 1st day of the week following Passover, Yeshua resurrected from the grave and He brought with Him His “firstfruits” of a resurrection, OT saints resurrected with Him and walked through Yerushalayim (Matthew 27:52), a small remnant of the harvest coming later. Fifty days later Yeshua blew in to the Upper Room and He possessed 120 persons who were waiting for the promise of His ghost. They were inhabited by Him; they became His kodesh kodeshim or “Holy of Holies.” With stammering or “jumpy” non-Hebraic lips, the Galilee boys became supernatural linguists speaking sixteen tongues that Luke records for us in Acts Chapter 2. The unbelieving Jews marveled, saying “aren’t these boys red-necks from the lake?” (Lisemby Paraphrase of Acts 2:7).

Yeshua HIMSELF fulfilled the first four of the seven Feasts of YHWH. How will He, then, fulfill the last three [Fall] Feasts of YHWH? On Yom T’Ruah the Feast of Trumpets 100 shofar blasts are heard -all day. It was a day of gathering and LeShanah Tova Tikatevu or roll-call. Will Yeshua Himself gather His people? Will there be a roll-call? On Yom Kippur the High Priest would enter the Kodesh Kodeshim or Holy of Holies to make atonement upon the Mercy Seat, then reappear to portray God having accepted His sacrifice. Yeshua has gone behind the veil, but He has not reappeared! No fear! Yeshua was the azazel or “scape goat” Who took away our sins never to be remembered/considered again. It is only by His blood that sins are forgiven and eradicated; outside His remission there is no forgiveness, and all unbelievers will experience His wrath -eternal punishment in ghenna fire. Yeshua is presently waiting for His Father to give Him the nod to return for His people. He is the High Priest soon to return. Following the Day of Atonement is the Feast of Tabernacles when Jews would make booths of branches and live in them for an extended period of time. This is reminiscent of man tabernacling with God in Gan Eden, and also reminiscent of OT High Priests dwelling with God in the Tabernacle and then the Temple. Sukkot also foreshadows man dwelling with God in the millennial kingdom. Yeshua perfectly and transparently fulfilled the first four Feasts of YHWH and He will fulfill the last three fall Feasts of YHWH. He is about to do so! Be ready!

WHY EVANGELIZE THE JEWISH PEOPLE?

Why Evangelize Jewish People?

 

The Church has a command to be a witness to EVERYONE. We often call this mandate, the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Jewish people and in particular “Israel” are included in the “all nations” that are to be reached. All nations means, all people groups, all ethnicities. 

 

The Church also has a biblical protocol of missions which is to begin in Jerusalem, then go out to Judea (that is, the land of Judah), on outward to include Samaria (and we are still in Israel), then to the uttermost (Acts 1:8). However, Satan corrupted that mandate by deceit. “Jerusalem” came to be interpreted as the place where Christians live and gather on Sunday. Your home town is your Jerusalem. What? Think of the myriad Jerusalems that exists if we all adopt that contorted interpretation of Jerusalem. That demonic confusion was promoted by Rome and the Catholic church. Rome became the analogous new Jerusalem, the Papacy was interpreted as the new priesthood, and the Vatican became the new Temple. Baptists churches and others soon adopted the disregard for biblical prophecy and the preeminence of the geographical place, the Holy City, Jerusalem, and today your backyard if you are a Christian is your Jerusalem that you are to reach for Jesus (and the auditorium of your church is called the sanctuary).

 

Third, the Church has been given the biblical mandate of mission-izing the Jewish people. The Apostle Shaul/Paul in Romans 1:16 suggests that the power of the Gospel to all who believe, includes the Jews foremost. 

 

Fourth, the Church being a witness to the Jewish people is (in a spiritual sort of way) a Prophetic Ministry. There has always been, there now is, and there will always be a remnant (Rom.11:25,26; Rev. 7:4-8; Zechariah13:9). Reaching the remnant is to bring those whom God has given to Yeshua into His sheepfold. Amen!

 

Fifth, the Church indwelt with the love of God and for love of God is always reaching out to those who are lost. The Jewish people are lost! There is no one, Jew or Gentile who is righteous. Not one soul will enter eternity in good standing due to the sanitation of their soul and body by their own good works. We are ALL dirty, unclean, filthy, nasty, wretched, demonized at birth with the adamic nature crouching at the door ready to have us, and WE MUST -JEW AND GENTILE- master it! (Romans 3:10). The Jewish people like everyone else have a salvific need. The only remedy is a new heart!  

 

Finally, we can also say that witnessing to the Jewish people is a way (and it’s about time) to show our indebtedness and appreciation to them for spiritual things, in particular, the Gospel. This is biblical (Romans 15:27). The Apostle Shaul was soon to leave for Spain, and he was hopeful to ‘drop in’ on the believers in Rome, to enjoy their company and to be helped by them financially on his trek to Spain. But, at the moment Shaul was going to Jerusalem to help the saints there. Believers in Macedonia and Achaia had made contributions for the saints in Jerusalem who were destitute, and now Shaul writes in his letter to the Roman believers, that they as Gentile believers enjoying spiritual things, that is, the blessings from the Jews, are indebted to the Jewish believers, and should therefore minister back to them with physical things, that is, financial help!  

 

Can you, beloved, think of any spiritual blessing that you are enjoying that came to you from the Jewish people? Do you feel any indebtedness to the Jewish people? Shaul inspired by the Holy Spirit of God says you are indebted! Read it, Romans 15:27.

·  Salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22).

·  The oracles and precepts of God are from the Jews (Romans 3:1,2). Every book in the bible was written by the Jews, with [maybe] the exception of Luke, but many consider him to be Jewish.

·  The patriarchs, prophets, priests, kings, all twelve disciples were Jewish.

·  The tree to which you are grafted is Jewish (Romans 11).

·  The richness of the roots which bear you are Jewish (Romans 11:17).

·  The new covenant that saves you is totally Jewish (READ Jeremiah 31:31).

Christianity is Jewish: the prophecies; the genealogy; Bethlehem, the first Church, the first missionaries, the authors of Holy Writ, YESHUA, the Messiah, the twelve disciples, even the kingdom where you are going is Jewish!  Time to pay up, don’t you think? Please consider supporting CMI.

 

 

GARDEN IN EDEN ...YOU!

Gan גַּן “Garden”

Summation: Gan is a proper name of a location. Not just any garden or orchard is in view when Moshe was inspired to write the Torah and include the Hebrew noun, Gan (Gen 2:8), and when Ezekiel wrote of Gan Elohim that was hosted by the Cherub, Lucifer (Ezekiel 28:13). An exact real estate was in view.
Gan means an enclosed garden or orchard, and not anyone outside may stroll into the garden at their whim without an invite, nor may the tenants remain if they disobey the Land's Lord. Exile is a certain reality of mistreating the property of the owner.

Study: One morning in August of 2016 I received a message from my niece, Brooklyn. She was praying about "going up" with us to Israel in March of 2017. I told Brooklyn, "I can't wait to show you the Land, the Garden of Eden!" Brooklyn did go with and what a grand trip the thirty of us had. Is it true? Is Israel the Garden of Eden? 

Gan comes from ganan meaning "enclosure" or "fenced orchard."  The word occurs about 130 times in Holy Writ, and is first used in Genesis 2:8, "and YHWH Elohim planted a garden from the east, in Eden, and there He placed the man whom He had formed. " Gan is a proper name of a location. YeKhek'el (Ezekiel) uses the same word when he writes of the history that predates Adam and Eve; he writes of "Gan Elohim" located on the holy mountain of God, which from context we know is Mount Zion, in Israel (Ezekiel 20:40).

The fundamental meaning of gan is "to cover over, to protect/shield." Well, that is interesting, isn't it, that Gan foremost is about a plot of ground protected by a hedge, fortress, or wall. One Hebrew dictionary says the meaning of gan is "to surround, defend, and protect." A man plants a garden, his intent being to grow veggies and fruits for eating, and flowers and trees for beauty, and he intends to erect a fence to guard that plot, the work of his hands and the means of his family's sustenance and survival. He is a fool if he does not border in and fence out for his gan. One definition of gan says, "a garden locked up" (NET Bible, 1st Edition). Ganan, from which Gan is derived is used eight times in the Word and in context of the guardianship of God.

Gan Eden was a paradise and real estate provided for God's first tenants, our parents, Adam and Havva. It was a land area given them for their protection. They were soon exiled because of disobedience, but their posterity were invited back inside, and Jerusalem was and is that plot of earth that God esteemed to be His land. He calls Yerushalayim "my land" and the Bible calls it, the Garden of the Lord.  For those who travel with me to Israel (go with us; we "go up" every spring or fall) we see the remains of the garden ZecharYah calls, "the Holy Land" (Zechariah 2:12), that land promised, Avraham, Ytzack, Yaaqov, Yehudah, and David, God’s image, the Sons of God, is Israel! 

Here is another beautiful consideration, YOU are Gan Eden! Why sure you are! Elohim once lived in His garden in Eden. He then dwelt in the Tabernacle, a guarded estate, and then He dwelt in the Temple. And, now, He abides in you! You are His Temple, His estate, His dwelling, you are His garden! And, He covers you, He hedges you, He defends and protects YOU! Listen to what the prophet Y'ShaYahu (Isaiah) says, YHWH will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered gan (garden)" (Isaiah 58:11). YirmeYahu (Jeremiah) says similar, "and their life shall be like a watered garden" (31:12). In Shir haShirim or "Song of Songs" Shlomo writes, "YOU are a garden spring, a well of living water... (Jeremiah 4:15).

Final thought: is God still concerned about real estate? Yes! He was at the beginning and He never changes! At the end, the Scriptures say, "In that day, a vineyard of song; I, YHWH am its keeper; I water it every moment lest anyone damage it. I guard it night and day (Isaiah 27:2,3). The context here is His millennial rule in His kingdom, in His land, after He has put away Leviathan the serpent, the dragon, Lucifer.