Feast Days - Major Festivals (Messianic)

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW – PART 1 Historically, the Nation of Isra’el was to act as a repository of the wisdom and Word of HaShem. With his Called-out Ones acting as a “fishbowl,” the surrounding nations were to learn about the Creator, the One True God of the Universe, from the everyday activities of the offspring of Avraham. This is one of the primary reasons that the Torah was graciously given...

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW – PART 2 “ADONAI said to Moshe, “Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘The designated times of ADONAI which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are my designated times.” (Leviticus 23:1) The verse quoted above will act as our theme verse, as I take you on a Messianic understanding of the Feasts of HaShem. The complete study will serve as a primer to the reader, encouraging an...

Commentary Contents: Introduction and English/Hebrew Liturgy (Exodus 13:1-16) Are Isra’el and the Church the same thing? Does God still have a plan for Isra’el? Should Christians celebrate Passover? What does Paul mean when he says to not let anyone judge us in regard to keeping the Sabbath? What does the Bible say about Christian liberty? What does it mean to be circumcised in Christ? Okay, are y...

Should Christians celebrate Passover? The short answer is “yes,” Christians should celebrate Passover. After all, Paul explicitly tells us to in 1 Cor 5:8. He says, “Let us therefore celebrate the festival…” and then he goes on to tell us how to celebrate it. But the point I am making is that he actually TELLS us to keep it. Whoever says that the NT doesn't command Gentile believers to keep parts...

The wonderful reality that is ours is that the [1 Cor. 5:7, 8] directly associates us with “unleavened bread”. This is our new identity in Yeshua HaMashiach! This is our true identity! His sacrifice redeemed us from the slavery of the sin of “spiritual Egypt”, and changed our very constitution! We are actually a completely new batch of dough! Rav Sha’ul is therefore instructing us to start living...

Issues Surrounding the “Timing” of Omer Reisheet Some readers will readily note that history has been generally “unkind” to this particular festival. What do I mean by “unkind”? I mean to draw your attention to the fact that no less than three prominent Jewish sects have come to interpret the timing associated with the start of this count in at least three respective, but differing ways. Author Ti...

The foregoing considerations have shown, first, that the sign of Jonah given by Yeshua to prove His Messiahship consisted not in an exact 72-hour entombment, but in His Resurrection on the third day after His death. Second, the phrase "three days and three nights" (Matt 12:40) is an idiomatic expression which in Bible times meant not necessarily three complete 24-hour days (72 hours), but rather t...

Suppose the Sadducean/Boethusian view is correct? Suppose that Omer Reisheet really starts on the morrow following the weekly Shabbat? This would put the festival on a Sunday every year. What is the impact on us now? Allow me to midrash in a different direction this time. There are seven festivals mentioned on the biblical calendar of Leviticus 23. Each festival carries a similar aspect that ties...

“Observe the festival of Shavu’ot with the first-gathered produce of the wheat harvest….” (Exodus 34:22) “From the day after the day of rest—that is, from the day you bring the sheaf for waving—you are to count seven full weeks, until the day after the seventh week; you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain offering to ADONAI.” (Leviticus 23:15-16) “The festival of Shavu...

Two Significant Scriptural Shavu’ots? Historically, the rabbis figure the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai to have occurred on this day, that is, in the third month after Am Yisra’el came out of Egypt. Actually, the exact date of this familiar encounter, recorded for us in the book of Exodus, is not explicitly stated; the chronological evidence is convincing, however. At any rate, the author of...

Shavu’ot in the New Testament: Round Two According to the Scriptural account in the Apostolic Scriptures/B’rit Chadashah (New Covenant, a.k.a., New Testament), HaShem allowed his Spirit to be experienced by all of the believers, as well as by the other men gathered there. The result was the disciples’ ability to speak in languages not yet personally learned. To be sure, the text says that Jews fro...

What then is the “work of the Spirit” taught throughout the Apostolic Scriptures? Simply the subsequent empowering of an already saved individual to do things that he normally could not do under his own power. The crucial key to unlocking the debate over “IN” vs. “ON” is knowing that the Ruach HaKodesh firstly works “IN” us to bring about regeneration and then works “ON” us to bring about empowerm...

The Spirit and the Word The believer's relationship with the Ruach HaKodesh is both critical and progressive: critical, in that one learns that the Torah life is a life of faith rather than a life of works and has little reference to emotions ("The just shall live by faith."); progressive, in that, as one walks consistently in the power and control of the Ruach HaKodesh, the fruit of the Spirit wi...

“Day of the Awakening Trumpet Blast” “ADONAI said to Moshe, “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘In the seventh month, the first of the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar. Do not do any kind of ordinary work, and bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI.’” (Leviticus 23:23-25) Contents: Part One – A Ram’s Horn vs. a Metal...

Names, Themes, and Hebrew Idioms associated with Rosh HaShanah: 1. Season of T’shuvah – this title, borrowed from the proximity of this particular feast to the Day of Atonement, suggest the attitude that is assumed during this most important time of the year. The Jewish nation as a whole wanted to spiritually prepare their hearts to meet their Creator on the Day of Atonement, hence the title given...

Sa'adiah Gaon gives ten reasons for sounding the shofar on Rosh HaShanah. 1. Acknowledges God as Our King 2. Stirs Our Conscience 3. Reminds us of God's revelation at Sinai 4. Reminds us of the Prophets' warnings 5. Reminds us of the destruction of the Temple 6. Reminds us the ram offered by Abraham in place of his son Isaac 7. Reminds us to feel humble before God 8. Reminds us of the Day of Final...

“ADONAI said to Moshe, “Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘The designated times of ADONAI which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are my designated times.” (Leviticus 23:1, 2) YOM KIPPUR “Day of Atonement” “ADONAI said to Moshe, “The tenth day of this seventh month is Yom-Kippur; you are to have a holy convocation, you are to deny yourselves, and you are to bring an offering made by fire to ADONA...

These five are the types of offerings introduced in the opening pages of Leviticus: 'Olah (Burnt Offering) – Lev. 1:1-17 Minchah (Grain Offering) – Lev. 2:1-16 Sh’lamim (Peace Offering) – Lev. 3:1-17 Chata’at (Sin Offering) – Lev. 4:1-35; 5:1-13 ‘Asham (Guilt Offering) – Lev. 5:14-26 The first three could easily be considered “freewill offerings”, brought before HaShem by anyone at various times i...

7. Apologetics – Part One Let us turn now to a discussion of the expiatory offerings and their bearing on Jews and Christians today. To be sure, this will be the central topic of my commentary. For the sake of this next apologetic section I would like to create two imaginary groups: the Missionary and the Anti-missionary. In reality both of these groups really exist but my commentary will of neces...

9. Talmudic Quotes The ancient Rabbis agreed that sacrifice without true repentance invalidates the sacrifice itself! The Talmud in Tractate Yoma clearly teaches this: The Master has said: Because it is written [Ex. xxxiv. 7]: "He will clear of sins," how is it to be understood? That is as we have learned in the following Boraitha: R. Elazar said: We cannot say it means, He clears of sins, because...

11. Yeshua’s Bloody Atonement Sacrifice and Leviticus 17:11 In an attempt to continue explain the matter, we need to understand the plans and purposes of HaShem as expressed in the whole of the Torah. From our vantage point and using twentieth century hindsight, it makes perfect sense to send the Messiah to atone for our sinful nature. After all, if God left things in the hands of mankind, each in...

12. Leviticus 18:5 - Torah Observance Equals Eternal Life? "You are to observe my laws and rulings; if a person does them, he will have life through them; I am ADONAI." (Leviticus 18:5) " Moshe spoke of the righteousness that is grounded in trust, in Vayikra 18:5, "That the person who does these things will attain life through them." Rashi (quoting the Sifra) comments: "It refers to the world to c...

13. Conclusions The thrust of this week's commentary, in the form of an apologetic, has been presented in an effort to educate the two camps, both Jews and Gentile Christians. Many Messianic as well as non-Messianic Jews still struggle with the intended meaning of "what it means to be a new creation in Messiah, walking out his Torah in our lives"; moreover, many Gentile Christians struggle with th...

Sukkot: Past History Having already quoted our theme verse for the Mikra’ey Kodesh series (Leviticus 23:1, 2), I want to go backwards into the Torah to a time period before the giving of the instructions for the Feasts, back to when HaShem instructed the people to build him a Tabernacle. Exodus chapter twenty-five (Parashah T’rumah in the weekly Torah readings) talks about gathering the materials...

Sukkot: Future Redemption Having just gone through Yom Kippur, and a study on the same, we as believers should now be intimately familiar with the effectual, atoning death of Yeshua, which brought about the very real and “present reality”, that today, anyone can become a child of God. To be sure, the Torah promises that the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) will “dwell within” the believer, bearing wit...