Why The Fall Feasts?
Yom Teru’ah, the First day of the
Seventh Month
Yom Kippur, the Tenth day of the
Seventh Month
Chag ha’Sukkot, the Fifteenth day of
the Seventh Month
Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:23-43 [CJB]
(v) 23 Adonai said to Moshe, 24 “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. 25 Do
not do any kind of ordinary work, and bring an offering made by fire to Adonai.’ ”
26 Adonai said to Moshe, 27 “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 Adonai.
28 You are not to do any kind of work on that day, because it
is Yom-Kippur, to make atonement for
you before Adonai your God. 29 Anyone
who does not deny himself on that day is to be cut off from his people; 30 and
anyone who does any kind of work on that day, I will destroy from among his
people. 31 You are not to do any kind of work; it is a
permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live. 32 It
will be for you a Shabbat of complete
rest, and you are to deny yourselves; you are to rest on your Shabbat from evening the ninth day of
the month until the following evening.”
(vi) 33 Adonai said to Moshe, 34 “Tell
the people of Isra’el, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast
of Sukkot for seven days to Adonai. 35 On the first
day there is to be a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work. 36 For
seven days you are to bring an offering made by fire to Adonai; on the eighth day you are to have a holy convocation and
bring an offering made by fire to Adonai;
it is a day of public assembly; do not do any kind of ordinary work.
37 “ ‘These
are the designated times of Adonai
that you are to proclaim as holy convocations and bring an offering made by
fire to Adonai—a burnt offering, a
grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, each on its own day—38 besides
the Shabbats of Adonai, your gifts, all your vows and all your voluntary offerings
that you give to Adonai.
39 “ ‘But
on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered the produce
of the land, you are to observe the festival of Adonai seven days; the first day is to be a complete rest and the
eighth day is to be a complete rest. 40 On the first day you
are to take choice fruit, palm fronds, thick branches and river-willows, and
celebrate in the presence of Adonai
your God for seven days. 41 You are to observe it as a feast to
Adonai seven days in the year; it is
a permanent regulation, generation after generation; keep it in the seventh
month. 42 You are to live in sukkot for seven days; every citizen of Isra’el is to live in a sukkah, 43 so that
generation after generation of you will know that I made the people of Isra’el
live in sukkot when I brought them
out of the land of Egypt; I am Adonai
your God.’ ” [5]
The Fall Feasts are upon us. Yom
Teru’ah occurred yesterday [02-03 October 2016/5776]– Yom Kippur,
our holiest day is soon upon us, then Chag ha’Sukkot, the Feast
of Booths. What are these feasts, and why do we keep them? There are many sites
on the web that you can find the explanations for the Feasts of Elohim, and I
pray you will avail yourself of the wealth of knowledge that is out there, to
learn of the Feasts and what they mean, and examine how tradition says we are
to observe them. The purpose of this epistle is not to re-examine what has
already been taught or told of the Feasts; Scripture itself gives us many
details – from those acts that regard the Shabbat, to the Spring and Fall
Feasts. No, there are many who consider the mo’ed (appointed
times) to be dress rehearsals of the greatest cosmic event yet to happen – the
return of Machiach. Other regard the “set times of YHVH” as the Calendar of
Sacred Time. Indeed, it is said:
“…Leviticus 23 is a calendar of the annual festivals
celebrated in biblical times. As such, it represents the primary statement on
the religious festivals in the priestly tradition and, hence, is a highly
important source. In conformance with biblical tradition, this calendar also
includes the Sabbath, even though it is not, technically speaking, a calendrical
festival.
Actually, the Torah preserves three
calendrical traditions, corresponding to its three principal collections of
laws: The Book of the Covenant, Deuteronomy, and the ritual legislation. Each
expresses its own distinctive concept of the festivals, usually conveyed by the
precise name given to each occasion. The calendar of Exodus 23:12–19, part of
the Book of the Covenant, focuses on the Sabbath and on the three pilgrimage
festivals: hag ha-matsot, the Pilgrimage Fast of Unleavened Bread”; hag
hakatsir, “the Spring Harvest Pilgrimage”; and hag ha-’asif, “the
Pilgrimage of Ingathering.” The calendar of Deuteronomy 16:1–17 names the pesah;
hag ha-shavu‘ot, “the Pilgrimage
Festival of Weeks” in the late spring; and hag ha-sukkot,” the Pilgrimage
Festival of Booths” in the autumn.
Numbers 28–29 include the daily and Sabbath celebrations and those for the New
Moon and all the festivals and holy days. The present chapter and Numbers 28–29
together constitute a detailed register of the sacrifices required throughout
the year. In addition, Exodus 34:17–26 preserves a brief calendar that is
related in form and content to Exodus 23:12–19…”[6]
While these feast, these days [including
the Shabbat] are designated as the “Feasts of YHVH”, there is something
else implied here: G-d has set them aside as “mikra’ kodesh”,
“sacred occasions”, “set-times” or places and yet the Israelites were also to
hold these days as sacred. Does that seem like a contradiction, or a
redundancy? Or is there something else going on here? Even though Elohim
declares these days sacred, there is another action that is implicit within the
commandment: the sanctity of the Shabbat and the festivals are not achieved by
the act of God alone: God requires and intends that a combination of not only
divine will and action be done – but also human action as well.[7] In
Excursus[8] vi it
states:
“…In biblical literature there is a
curious interaction between the human and the divine with respect to holiness.
Thus, in Exodus 20:8, the Israelites are commanded to sanctify the Sabbath and
to make it holy; and yet verse 11 of the same commandment states that it was God
who declared the Sabbath day holy. Similarly, God declared that Israel had been
selected to become His holy people; but this declaration was hardly sufficient
to make Israel holy. In order to achieve a holiness of the kind associated with
God and His acts, Israel would have to observe His laws and commandments. The
way to holiness, in other words, was for Israelites, individually and collectively,
to emulate God’s attributes. In theological terms this principle is known as imitatio
dei, “the imitation of God.” The same interaction is evident,
therefore, in the commandment to sanctify the Sabbath, with God and the
Israelite people acting in tandem so as to realize the holiness of this
occasion. God shows the way and Israel follows…”[9]
There is an obligation on our part to
do our part. Consider it like this: everything Father Yahveh does is
sacred, holy, set-apart. It is a direct result of His infinite nature that all
He does reflects all He is. Do you think He needs to declare for Himself a time
or an event to be sacred? “Oh, note to Self – this day is holy…” Do you think
the Creator of All Things puts a sticky note on His calendar to remind Himself
of His Shabbats, His Feasts? By extension – He declares them holy for He is
holy. Father was and is complete within Himself. There was no need for Him to
create anything – He lacked nothing; before anything was, HE IS. There
was no heaven, no angels; before there was nothing, HE WAS; complete.
Finished. Perfect. And yet, HE IS TO COME. Confusing? Not really – just
so hard to wrap your head around this, let alone your heart. So why us? Why the
cosmos? Why anything. He surly did not need the headache or heartache mankind
was to become. So again I ask, why? Maybe the answer is found in the prophets:
And bow myself before the God on high?
With yearling calves?
In ten thousand rivers of oil?
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
There
are dimensions of G-d’s character that His people are supposed to assume, to
emulate. This particular dimension, holiness, is what Vayikra is all about,
especially with regard to the priesthood. There is a covenantal component of
Vayikra, as expressed in Shemot (Exodus) 19:5-6:
Exodus 19:5-6
(Tanakh)
5Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine, 6but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel.” [11]
5Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine, 6but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel.” [11]
A kingdom of priest and a holy
nation. Vayikra is called torat kohanim by the sages: this term
can be translated as “instructions of (or by) the priests” [12]. One
of the function of a priest is to know the difference between the sacred and
the profane: this is our job also today as believers. What this consists of is
knowing what G-d expects of us – hence our obligation to the notion of
holiness. So we must ask ourselves in this time of reflection, are we holy as
He is holy?
Does the mere fact that G-d
declares something as holy make it so? There is much said in Christianity that
Messiah imputed His righteousness upon us, that we are righteous for His sake,
and not of anything we do. While there is truth in this, does it say it all?
Can we, as Isaiah said be holy and righteous if:
Isaiah
64:1-7 (NASB95)
1 1Oh, that You would rend the heavens and acome down, That the mountains might bquake at Your presence—
1 1Oh, that You would rend the heavens and acome down, That the mountains might bquake at Your presence—
2 1As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes
water to boil— To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
3 When You did aawesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked
at Your presence.
4 For from days of old athey have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides
You,
And shall we be saved?
6 For all of us have become like one who is aunclean, And all our brighteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
For You have bhidden Your face from us And have 1delivered us into the power of our iniquities. [13]
G-d remembers those who remember His ways. Yes, we are clothed in
righteousness, yet are we holy? Is the fact we are declared holy all that needs
to be done, or is there yet an obligation before us – to do what is right, to
walk humbly before our G-d and obey His voice? Vayikra (Leviticus) 20:7-8
(NET) says:
20:7 “‘You must sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am
the Lord your God. 20:8
You must be sure to obey my statutes.15 I am the Lord who sanctifies
you. [14]
And in the Messianic writings it is repeated:
1 Peter
1:14-16 (NASB95)
14 As 1aobedient children, do not 2bbe conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your cignorance,
14 As 1aobedient children, do not 2bbe conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your cignorance,
It seems there is a pattern here, a pattern of doing, not just
believing, not just resting upon the laurels of Messiah. Can an unclean thing
clean itself? No. It needs to be cleaned first yes, by an outside force. Then –
to remain clean – there is an obligation not to go back and wallow in the mud.
This I believe is the why of the Feasts, Spring and Fall. Not just to keep
time, but to remind us of our obligation to do our part. Maybe
“obligation” our “duty” is too strong a word for some – it may smack of
“legalism”. If doing what Father wishes pleases Him and sets me on the path of
Holiness, as Isaiah called it in Isaiah 35:8 “The way of holiness”, then if
this be “legalism”, count me in. G-d defines that which is holy – and I do have
the duty, the obligation and responsibility to learn of His ways – for if I
love Him, that which is right to Him has to be right for me. Yeshua brought us
into the holy place by His redeeming sacrifice – do I profane this righteous
act by disobedience? Heaven forbid! Yeshua imparted His righteousness to me –
do I treat it as pearls cast before swine and trample it down with ignorance of
what is right and expected? May it not be so! So how do I approach this great
gift of salvation? Through sanctification – of becoming holy as He is holy –
His way.
So – why the
feasts?
·
Why Pesach (Passover)?
·
Why Chag ha’Motzi (Unleavened
bread)?
·
Why Yom ha’Bikkurim/Reshit Katzir (First
Fruits)?
·
Why Shavu’ot (Pentecost)?
·
Why Yom Teru’ah (Day of
Trumpets)?
·
Why Yom Kippur (Day of
Atonement)?
·
Why Chag ha’Sukkot (Feast of
Booths)?
Not only are they markers – of times and seasons – but they are
markers of our heart, of our coming alongside our
G-d and fulfilling that which He declared as holy. For He did not
need us to do so, to make what He declared holy – but He wanted us to be there,
to be a part of what He set apart – and that is the great heart of Elohim, to
share with us His days, His feasts, His markers – and the way of Holiness.
Look at them differently. Not just as fun times, or solemn times.
But as an extension of the character and heart of Elohim – and prophetic
marker, sign posts to the coming of Messiah. Go, take part and bless G-d – as He
blesses us.
May Elohim
richly bless you all my beloved in the set-apart times ahead, Amein.
[1]
Authors
note: Use of information from Jewish-themed websites should not be
construed as these sites endorsing or confirming any thesis introduced by the
author of this epistle. I present the information from their respective sites
for instructional purposes only and/or to aid in the readers understanding of
the subjects discussed. The inverse is also true – by using these sites in no
way confirms or denies that this author holds to all things found on these
sites – but brethren, we all can learn from one another, Jew and Gentile; may
it be so in shalom and love and respect.
[2] Author’s note: Throughout this study I’ll be using the Net®
Bible and the Net® Notes: within the notes you’ll see symbols like this: ( א
B Ψ 892* 2427 sys). These are abbreviations used
by the NetBible© for identifying the principal manuscript evidence that they
(authors and translators of the NetBible©) used in translating the New
Testament. Please go to https://bible.org/netbible/ and see their section labeled “NET Bible Principals of
Translation” for a more complete explanation on these symbols and other items
pertinent to the way the NET Bible uses them.
[3]
Author’s
Note: In these studies, I have used the notes that come along with
the passages I cite from the sources that I cite: these need a bit of a
disclaimer though. As in all things, not everything that is footnoted is
something that I necessarily agree with, especially if it contradicts what I
believe pertains to any matters of the Torah or the commandments of G-d. I
give you the notes as they are written by
the authors of the material I cite from, so that you can see the
information contained within them. It truly is not my place to edit or correct
them; if they state anything that is in opposition to what I teach, then so be
it. I will address these issues if requested, but for the sake of brevity (as
if any of these posts of mine are brief ☺)
I insert them and let them stand as they are. If I don’t agree with them, why
do I include them you might ask? I don’t believe in censuring anyone’s opinions
or scholarship; as I would not want mine censured, so I will not do to that to
another. As Rabbi Hillel once stated, “What is hateful to you, do not do to
another. That is the whole Torah. Go and learn it.” Torah
leads me to respect others, even if I disagree; it leads me to present
both sides of the coin, even if it could mean I’d lose part of the argument.
That is not to say I should not challenge something I believe contradicts the
truth of G-d’s word; that I will do in the main body of my epistles; that is
where my gentle dissent belongs. Most (but not all) of the differences will
come when I quote from the NET® Bible (but not exclusively); it has a decidedly
Western/Greek mindset to it, but as a wise man once said “How do you eat
chicken? Swallow the meat and spit out the bones…” I do though want to present
the NET® notes because there is a wealth of information and research contained
within them that I hope you find helpful.
[4]
One may wonder why I omit the “o” when I write the title “G-d”. While there are
many who say that to leave out the “o” is a sign of being under the influence
of the Rabbis who forbid saying the name of Yahveh, I say, one must come to a
conclusion on their own, and do as their heart convicts them (within the bounds
of G-d’s word of course). I believe in the power of the name of the Most High –
the name of Yahveh – and in uttering it in awe and reverence, yet find no
contradiction in my soul for the hyphenated title “G-d”. I have written it both
ways – stopped doing it, and now I have returned to the practice – as I said,
one must follow the conviction of their heart. I do not disrespect anyone
else’s opinion on this matter, and regardless if you think it wrong or right, I
ask for the same respect. Let each be fully persuaded in their own mind and
heart – and let G-d sort it out with each believer. For now, this is right for
me, till the Father corrects - or confirms; I am after all, a work in progress.
Shalom.
[5]
Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish
Bible: An English version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B’rit Hadashah (New
Testament) (1st ed., Le 23:22–43). Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament
Publications.
[6]Commentary by Baruch A. Levine. THE JPS TORAH COMMENTARY:
LEVITICUS. First Edition. Vol. IV [New electronic volume] 5 vols. 2004©Varda
Books w/Leviticus Commentary ©1989 by the Jewish Publication Society; pp
117-118.
[7] …Ibid… pp 118.
[8] A detailed discussion of a
particular point in a book, usually in an appendix. (OxfordDictionaries © Oxford
University Press)
[9] Commentary by Baruch A. Levine. THE
JPS TORAH COMMENTARY: LEVITICUS. First Edition. Vol. IV [New electronic
volume] 5 vols. 2004©Varda Books w/Leviticus Commentary ©1989 by the Jewish
Publication Society; Excursus vi, pp 210.
[11] Jewish Publication Society. (1997, c1985). Tanakh:
The Holy Scriptures : A new translation of the Holy Scriptures according to the
traditional Hebrew text. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.
[12] Commentary by Baruch A. Levine. THE
JPS TORAH COMMENTARY: LEVITICUS. First Edition. Vol. IV [New electronic
volume] 5 vols. 2004©Varda Books w/Leviticus Commentary ©1989 by the Jewish
Publication Society; Excursus vii, pp 16.
·
[The following notes are taken from the NET Bible®
footnotes, copyright (c) 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press L.L.C. All rights
reserved. Used by permission from www.bible.org, n.d. Numbering system is unique to NET® Notes..]
15 tn Heb “And you shall keep my statutes and you shall
do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb
is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d,
although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 22:31, etc.).
·
End “NET®” notes
[14] Biblical Studies
Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First
Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.
