 |
Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms |
|
|
|
It has always been God's intention to break
down the middle wall of partition separating Jew and Gentile, thus uniting both
Jew and Gentile as one with Him. It is God who is to be the Savior of the
Gentiles (Isaiah 11:10, 42:6; Acts 2:39; Ephesians 2:11-18).
Isa. 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall
stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be
glorious. {glorious: Heb. glory}
Isa. 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold
thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for
a light of the
Gentiles;
Acts 2: 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children,
and to all that are afar
off, [even] as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Eph 2:11 (KJV) Wherefore remember, that ye [being] in time past Gentiles in the
flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called
the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition [between us]; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the
enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make
in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace; 16 And that he might
reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby: {thereby: or, in himself} 17 And came and preached peace to you which
were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we both have
access by one Spirit unto the Father.
In the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) God provided a written record of the Messiah to enable the Jewish people to recognize Him when He appeared. Yeshua of Nazareth is thought by many to be this this Messiah. The answer to that question is not as easy as it seems. We have on another site detailed factual information and presentation of this difficult issue which Jews and non-Jewish believers cannot seem to agree on. I suggest you look into the matter if you desire but this is not the issue of this article. Yet, even though many Jews of the Second Temple ear in the first century C.E. hoped and believed that Yeshua was to be manifested as the Messiah and fulfill the Jewish Scriptures, the powerful Jewish Temple leadership (Sadducees) rejected Yeshua as Israel's Messiah not only for themselves but officially for the people of Israel.
Ironically, the Gentiles of the world, through the ministry of the followers of Yeshua would embraced him as Israel's Messiah. As the apostle John wrote, "He came to his own and his own did not receive him. But as many received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name." (John 1:11-12).
These Gentile followers of Yeshua experienced a spiritual new birth and became part of a company of people called "Israel." The Apostle Paul teaches us that Gentiles, who turn from idols to serve the living God, are grafted into Israel by faith; thereby becoming "fellow-citizens" with the saints.
Following the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., the assembly of Gentile Messianic Believers (Church) became more "Gentilized" under the influence of Rome and lost much if not all of the "Jewish Roots". Thus Jews and Christians began to go their separate ways. It wasn't long before Yeshua's Church was flooded with Gentile unbelievers who embraced the "Messianic-Christian faith" but never had a background in the Jewish faith. It is these Gentile "converts" who lacked the foundations of Torah and who would not accept the Jewish customs. These Gentile "converts" would forget one important thing: Jewish often meant BIBLICAL! Because of this lack of understanding of the Jewish faith, and distrusting things that are often different, these Gentile "converts" brought their hatred and bigotry against the Jews with them into this new Jewish faith. About the same time, some of the genuine Gentile Christian leaders developed a faulty theology that created an anti-Semitic mentality in the Gentile Church that further divided the Christian world from the Jews. These early anti-Jewish declarations laid the foundation for the tragic future of Jewish Christian relations that would see the Gentile Church lose sight of its Jewish roots and persecute the Jews down through the centuries.
But in these last days, God is doing a marvelous thing. He is breaking down the walls of hate and misunderstanding that have divided the Jews and Gentile believers. He is sovereignty pouring out His Spirit on thousands of Jews to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah. At the same time, God is stirring in the hearts of Christians a holy love for the Jewish people and awakening them to the Jewish roots of their Christian faith.
Many Christians are realizing that the origin of our faith is Jerusalem, not Athens, Rome, Geneva, Wittenberg, Aldersgate, Azusa Street, Springfield, Nashville, Tulsa, etc.
As a result, Christian Churches around the world are reaching out to the Jewish people in their communities, singing songs from the Old Testament, rediscovering their Jewish roots and celebrating the Jewish Feasts. It is clearly God's appointed time to reconcile Jew and Gentile, binding us together by His Spirit.
Because of the prophetic season in which we are living, many Christian Churches are realizing that it is proper, good and pleasing to the Lord to celebrate the Jewish Feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles (Romans 14:5-6). Not only that but when we study the original languages of the Bible, both Greek and Hebrew, we find that these Festivals are not merely suggested for the Gentiles to observe, but expected and commanded! [see Have We Misunderstood Paul and The Law].
Some of these are:
Answer for yourself: What Church that desires more of God would not want these benefits!
You can realize them in your own congregation by celebrating the Feasts.
Historically, Passover marks the national liberation of the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. Pesach, the Hebrew name of the feast literally means "the lamb". God instructed each family to take an unblemished year-old male lamb to their home on the tenth day of the first month, Nisan. This corresponds to the months of March and April. They were to examine the lamb for four days to see that it was perfect. On the fourth day at twilight (the beginning of the fifth day), they were to kill the lamb and take some of the lamb's blood and place it on the two doorposts and the lintel of their house. On the first Passover, the avenging angel of God killed every first born male throughout the land, from Pharaoh, to slave, to camel. The angel would "Passover" those homes that protected themselves by placing the blood of a lamb on their doorposts and lintels.
Today the Feast of Passover is celebrated by Jewish people and many Christian churches around the world with a Passover Seder which commemorates the liberation from Egyptian slavery which is a picture of God's salvation. This is a picture of the salvation provided by God to those who believe His Word and respond to it in faith and works. The Passover Seder is a meal with special foods, practices and Scripture readings. The Passover Seder commemorates the liberation from Egyptian slavery, in accordance with God's instructions (Lev. 23:1,4, Exodus 12:14,24-27).
Lev. 23:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ....
Lev. 23:4 These [are] the feasts of the LORD, [even] holy convocations,
which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
Exod. 12:14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall
keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a
feast by an ordinance for ever.
Exod. 12:24 (KJV) And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. 26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27 That ye shall say, It [is] the sacrifice of the LORD'S Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
One needs to understand that the Passover was the demonstration of their "faith" in God. We come to God in Faith and Obedience without which we have no relationship and cannot expect "life" from God. The mixed multitude responded toward God and His Word to them through Moses with "faith" and "works" and "obedience" which ultimately led them to their salvation from estrangement from the true God. So behind all the Passover instruction and story is one of "faith" unto God that exhibited itself in "obedience." This is the core of what the Passover demonstrated and teaches us today.
Heb 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (KJV)
Hag ha-Matsot, the Festival of Unleavened Bread (Ex. 12: 15). This stems from the commandment to eat unleavened bread (MATSAH) and the prohibition against eating HAMETS or leavened food, in commemoration of the Israelites' hasty exodus from Egypt when they had time to prepare only unleavened bread. While the prohibition against hametz applies to the entire festival, the commandment to eat matsah applies, strictly speaking, to the first night only. One needs to understand that after one receives the gift of salvation from HaShem which is by grace only, then he is obligated to "cast out the leaven" from his life. Leaven is used as a metaphor for "sin" in the Bible and it is understandable that after one comes to God then he needs to clean his life up in response to God's gracious gift of salvation. Thus "unleavened bread" in the next step for the Bible believer after his salvation experience.
The Feast of Pentecost is celebrated on the sixth day of the Hebrew month
of Sivan. This corresponds to the months of May and June on the Gentile
calendar.
Historically, the main activity on the Feast of Pentecost was the
presentation of a wave offering to the Lord, two loaves of baked bread with leaven (Lev.
23:15-21). The wave offering expressed the Hebrews' dependence on God for the
harvest and their daily bread. This was a thanksgiving offering. Not only that
but it is a picture of the people of God; two loaves representing the Jew and the non-Jew as the peoples
of God.
Later when the Jews were dispersed among the nations, the Feast of
Pentecost lost its primary significance as a harvest festival and was
celebrated as a memorial to the time when God gave the law at Sinai. It is this
"Law" which is given to both the Jew and the non-Jew through the
various Covenant's of God. This is because the Jews have traditionally believed
that God gave the law to Moses on the Day of Pentecost (Ex. 19:1,11).
Exod. 19:1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone
forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they [into] the wilderness of
Sinai.
Exod 19:11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD
will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
The Day of Pentecost did not originate with Christianity, but it is the
day when the Jews would be in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast and the giving of the law (understood at
their Covenant responsibilities).
From Luke's account in Acts 2 we see the marvelous timing of God. Thousands of Jews had journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. It was then that the followers of Yeshua waiting in the upper room were filled with the Holy Spirit. They then began to worship God in foreign languages that were spoken and understood by the Jewish pilgrims. There was such a loud noise accompanying this experience, that it attracted the attention of the Jewish visitors who went to see what the commotion was all about. Peter then stood up and preached a bold sermon to this Jewish crowd.
This outpouring of the Holy Spirit was taking place on the very day when
the Jews were offering the two wave loaves to God and celebrating the law
symbolizing their dependence on God. One wave loaf symbolized the Jews and the other the Gentiles
who would also receive the Holy Spirit in like manner as recorded in Acts
10.
It is this Spirit of the L-rd which is given to empower the child of God, now saved, and "cleaned up from his sin through repentance and obedience to the commands of God," to live the victorious life over sin. It is this "anointing" which empowers the child of God to live the mitzvoth and the commands of God. Even Yeshua said his yoke was easy. God made it so easy for us if we will lean upon Him and His power in us that enables us to live a Torah obedience and love filled life. The result of such obedience and sanctification in one's life is that he become a vessel in which God can abide. So in these "former rain" Feasts we find faith and obedience, sanctification and repentance from sin which transforms us into holy vessels in which God can abide and use for His glory.
1 Cor 6:19 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (KJV)
God makes His salvation available through faith as pictured in the physical salvation of Israel from Egypt. Words accompany such belief for is the Israelites had not responded accurately to their faith and failed to apply the blood to their door then they would likewise had died. Once we are saved at Passover one comes to Unleavened Bread as it is time to get the "leaven" (picture of sin in the Bible) or sin out of our lives. This is a sanctification whereby we make ourselves through repentance and obedience to the Word of God acceptable vessels for God's Spirit to inhabit. God's Spirit comes to such a one in the fulfillment of Pentecost.
Now in Israel we encounter the dry season separating the former Feasts and the Latter feasts. We then leave the first harvest season during the year and encounter the dry period as symbolized by the life of mankind. Once we are saved, cleansed, and filled with God's Spirit, we are equipped to live out our lives where we must deal with the good and the bad as we encounter them in life. Sometimes life is hard as seen in the dry season following Pentecost; yet we have the Spirit of HaShem to comfort and sustain us. This is symbolic of the difficult and arduous years of life where we life out our relationship with God. It is through these years of struggle and testing where we reveal before God and man our relationship with Him. This is where the rubber really meets the road so to speak. This is our life time where we live by faith and not by sight in proving to ourselves and God our commitment to Him. At the end of our journey we wait for our death and our ultimate reconciliation with God.
Rosh HaShanah is the Jewish New Year, a one-day festival in ancient times, now observed for two days (in Israel as well as in the Diaspora) on the 1st and 2nd of Tishri. It marks the commencement of the annual ten days of penitence, which reach their climax on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
The Rabbis gave the festival two other names: Yom ha-Din, the Day of Judgement, and Yom ha-Zikkaron, "the Day of Remembrance," when God remembers His creatures. The concept of "Judgment Day" is rabbinic, deriving largely from statements made in tractate Rosh HaShannah. The Mishnah speaks of all mankind passing before God on the New Year like a flock of sheep (RH 1.2). This idea is expanded in the Talmud, which lays emphasis on the New Year as an occasion for self-examination in the light of Judaism's highest ideals. From the awesome picture of each man or woman standing before the throne of God, judgment on his or her fate for the coming year being entered on Rosh ha-Shannah and the verdict sealed on the Day of Atonement (RH 16a), the rabbis went on to visualize "three ledgers opened in heaven: one for the completely righteous, who are immediately inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life; another for the thoroughly wicked, who are recorded in the Book of Death; and a third for the intermediate, ordinary type of person, whose fate hangs in the balance and is suspended until the Day of Atonement" (RH 16b). Hence the designation of Rosh ha- Shannah and Yom Kippur as Yamim Nora'im ("Days of Awe"). These themes dominate both home observance and synagogue liturgy on Rosh ha- Shannah. Festive white marks the appearance of the synagogue and its worshipers. It also symbolizes closeness to God and the ideal of man's cleansing from sin.
Understanding the above then it is proper to look at Rosh HaShannah as a symbol of our death and judgment at the end of our life. It is appointed for man to once die and then the judgment which is also a second part of Rosh HaShannah. After the resurrection at Rosh HaShannah and the judgment and reward for believers as well as non-believers, then one awaits final atonement at Yom Kippur. The Scriptures teach that at the blowing of the Trumpets on Rosh HaShannah will be the resurrection of the dead. Having lived our lives in faith and obedience we die only to be ushered into God's presence for the judgment.
1 Cor 15:52 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (KJV)
Following our resurrection unto reward or judgment at Rosh HaShannah we enter the Holy Day of Yom Kippur otherwise know as the Day of Atonement. The importance of this day and the authority for its mode of observance rest upon specific biblical commandments "to make atonement before the Lord" and "afflict your soul" (Lev. 16: 29-31, 23:27-32; Num. 29:7). Afflicting one's soul was interpreted by the sages to mean abstaining from food and drink; atoning was understood to mean three related acts that would relieve one from the burden of SIN - - acknowledging the transgressions, declaring repentance through a process of confession, and then making atonement before God in order to obtain His forgiveness. It is during our lives that we had the opportunity to repent of our sins, confess them, and make atonement for our sin. Rosh HaShannah had brought us before God for our judgement and our status declared at Yom Kippur. Our final Atonement is accomplished in our lives following our judgment and our status before God settled for all Eternity. We life live before God for Eternity in His Presence which the Festival of Tabernacles reveals to us in its symbolic understanding.
The last major feast on the Jewish calendar is Tabernacles. It is
celebrated in the Fall in the Jewish month of Tishri, which corresponds to the
month of September/October on the Gentile calendar.
The Feast of Tabernacles came at the final ingathering of the harvest season. The fruit of the land had been reaped so the people could rest from their labors. It was a time of great rejoicing and was celebrated from the fifteenth to the twenty-first. Then on the twenty-second (the eighth day), there was a special Sabbath which was a day of rest characterized by further rejoicing (Lev. 23:33-41).
Levi 23:33 (KJV) And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 34 Speak unto the
children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month [shall be]
the feast of tabernacles [for] seven days unto the LORD. 35 On the first day
[shall be] an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work [therein]. 36 Seven
days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day
shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by
fire unto the LORD: it [is] a solemn assembly; [and] ye shall do no servile
work [therein]. {solemn...: Heb. day of restraint} 37 These [are] the feasts of
the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [to be] holy convocations, to offer an
offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a
sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: 38 Beside the
sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and
beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD. 39 Also in the
fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the
land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day [shall
be] a Sabbath, and on the eighth day [shall be] a Sabbath. 40 And ye shall take
you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and
the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice
before the LORD your God seven days. {boughs of goodly trees: Heb. fruit of,
etc} 41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. [It
shall be] a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the
seventh month.
The primary activity during this feast is the building of booths or
shelters (Sukkah). God commanded the Hebrews to build shelters to live in
during the Feast as a reminder of how He cared for them during their wilderness
wanderings and the fact that they were pilgrims passing through this life (Lev.
23:42-44).
Levi 23:42 (KJV) Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are
Israelites born shall dwell in booths: 43 That your generations may know that I
made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the
land of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God. 44 And Moses declared unto the
children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.
The shelters were loosely constructed and decorated and the roof covered
with branches. This allowed the Hebrews to see through the roof into heaven and
be reminded of an even greater rest and rejoicing when Messiah would rule on
the earth. Thus, the Feast of Tabernacles symbolizes the Messianic age.
The Feast of Tabernacles has such universal significance in God's
redemptive program, that He requires all nations to go to Jerusalem to
celebrate this feast in the world to come (Zech. 14:16).
Zech. 14:16 And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
This agricultural "ingathering of the harvest" is symbolic for the ingathering of souls unto God following our death following our judgment. One of the prophetical readings for the festival is chapter 14 of Zechariah, where it is said that all the nations will someday go up to Jerusalem" to keep the feast of Tabernacles" (verses 16-19). A total of 70 bullocks were sacrificed in the Temple on the seven days of the festival (Num. 29:12ff.) and the rabbis suggest that this number corresponded to the 70 nations of the world. Thus both Jew and non-Jew are reconciled with God. The only thing lacking is the eternal dwelling of the Spirit of God with mankind at the Festival of Tabernacles. This is the eternal Sabbath where God and man are one for Eternity.
This is only a summary to say the least of what the Biblical Festivals reveal...the Plan of Salvation of God.
And if you noticed, this plan is very understandable to the Jew and non-Jew without trying to "force" Yeshua to fulfill passages that yet remain unfulfilled. It is these Biblical Festivals, correctly understood as given above, which will further enable the Jew and the non-Jew to become one in expectation of the coming of the Messiah.
I, as well as the untold multitudes in the various Messianic Ministries of the world, rejoice to see the many thousands of Gentile believers which are returning to the Biblical Roots of their faith in this day and time as a sign of the prophetic season in which we are living.
I am aware that many teach that the Festivals were fulfilled in the life and ministry of Yeshua. Much of that understanding is taken from the Gospel of John and other passages in the New Testament. It is not my intent here to discuss such a matter, but when one undergoes a serious and intensive study of the New Testament as compared with the Old Testament for accuracy one is saddened by the gross misapplication of Old Testament passages, mistranslation of Old Testament passages, and the hundreds of Old Testament passages taken out of context in the New Testament which are purposefully manipulated such to proved "false proofs" that Yeshua fulfilled the Old Testament prophetic passages and the Biblical Feasts. I used to believe that as well from reading the New Testament, but after years of serious study, where I compared line upon line of Old Testament Masoretic text from the Jewish Scriptures and not the "altered" Christian Old Testaments with New Testament text, I see the error of my previous religious belief system. I had put my faith in the wrong document. The bottom line for now is that we cannot be certain that Yeshua was the Messiah or will be the Messiah when he comes. I have my personal reasons to believe that when Messiah appears he probably will be Yeshua, but to twist the Old Testament and do great injustice to God's Holy Word in order to "force" an interpretation or to make it look as if Yeshua fulfilled the Old Testament when this message was presented to non-Jews of the first century who knew no better, is no longer an option for me. Time will tell if Yeshua will ultimately fulfill the prophecies of Moses and the Prophets and be the legitimate Messiah of Israel. If you find it hard to believe what I just said, then I suggest you purchase only one book and be awakened to the serious flaws in the Christian Bible and the New Testament which has so severely been "added to and taken from" by the Roman Church over the centuries: Antisemitism In The New Testament by Lillian Freudmann. Read it and you will never be sorry and then you will not be able to question what I say or write.
Having said that, then let me explain God's true plan of salvation as seen in the Biblical Festivals as taught in the Bible Yeshua used...the Holy Tanakh:
Answer for yourself: Did you notice that not only did the above plan of YHVH'S salvation make sense, but Yeshua's name was not mentioned once?
This is only a summary to say the least of what the Biblical Festivals reveal...the Plan of Salvation of God. And if you noticed, this plan is very understandable to the Jew and non-Jew without trying to "force" Yeshua to fulfill passages that yet remain unfulfilled. Sadly the Christian Church has not heard this message and yet it is the very core of the whole of the Bible Yeshua used! So sad!
It is these Biblical Festivals, correctly understood as given above, which will further enable the Jew and the non-Jew to become one in expectation of the coming of the Messiah.