God said to Moses: "Tell the People of Israel, On the first day of the seventh month, set aside a day of rest, a holy get-together. Mark it with loud blasts on the ram's horn. Don't do any ordinary work.
-God, speaking to Moses in Leviticus 23
A Jewish man sounding a shofar (ram's horn)
What is it? Should Christians care?
Simply put, it's a holiday commanded by God in the Old Testament.
Yom is the Hebrew word for day. Teruah is the Hebrew word for awakening noise -- shoutings, blastings, in particular, shofar blasts.
The Biblical Festival of Yom Teruah has largely been supplanted, in modern Judaism, by the Jewish holiday of Rosh haShana, a Babylonian-derived festival which literally means "head of year". This is why you'll hear some Jews say it is the Jewish new year. In reality, Yom Teruah is NOT the beginning of the year; read the Scripture verse above and you'll see it actually occurs in the 7th month of the Biblical calendar, not the 1st month!
The Biblical Festival of Yom Teruah is also called the Feast of Trumpets in modern Christianity, although modern Christianity has largely ignored this day, brushing it off as a Jewish holiday.
The Biblical Festival of Yom Teruah is also known as the Day that No Man Knows but the Father. This little tidbit is a juicy one for prophetic teaching; the lack of this knowledge on the part of the non-Hebrew speaking Western world has caused Christians to skim over verses like this one without thinking twice:
Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its buds become tender and its leaves begin to sprout, you know without being told that summer is near. Just so, when you see the events I've described beginning to happen, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene before all these things take place. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will remain forever.
"These things will happen on the day that no man knows, not even the angels or the Son himself, only the Father.
-Jesus, speaking to his followers as recorded in Matthew 24
Yom Teruah is the day of the shofar blastings. Loud, ear-splitting, ground-shaking blasts on the ram's horn (shofar). These blasts have prophetic and spiritual implications, as will be discussed in a moment.
To sum up, Yom Teruah = "Day of Loud/Awakening Shofar Blasts" = Rosh haShana = Feast of Trumpets. They're all different names for the same holiday from different perspectives, both Jewish and Christian.
Why it matters to Christians
Why does this matter for Christians? Why should a gentile (non-Jewish) believer in Jesus care at all about this day?
I want to make the case to you that Yom Teruah is a Biblical festival that ought to be celebrated by us modern Christians. In doing this, I am not saying this out of condemnation or anything so high-pedestaled. I am saying these things not out of condemnation, but out of encouragement -- encouraging you to life a life filled with the commandments which give life. I further encourage you, as a believer in Jesus, to live as Jesus lived and celebrate these life-breathing Feasts of the Lord.
My dear children,I hear some of you thinking, "Judah, you misguided Christian, you're trying to make a Jew out me!". Not at all - not into a Jew or a follower of Judaism, but I do want you to be changed into the grafted-in branch of the Olive Tree -- Israel -- that you became when you accepted our common Messiah, a Jew himself, into your life as your Master.
We know that we have come to know him if we obey the commandments. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
-1 John 2
It's true, some of the natural branches of Israel have been broken off, and you gentiles, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root. However, this doesn't mean you can boast over those natural branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." That's true. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Don't be arrogant, but be afraid: if God did not spare the natural branches, he certainly won't spare you either.-Paul, in his letter to the Romans
So then, if I have at least convinced you of my sound intentions, and that I am not a crazy Jew out to Judaize Christianity, let's get on with it then.
God-Commanded, God-institued
If there was ever a compelling command I could give to Jews so they would celebrate the Feasts, including the Yom Teruah, it would be this: God commanded it! These things are not Jewish in nature; they are God-created, God-instructed, God-commanded.
These are My appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as holy.
-God, speaking to Moses in Leviticus 23
I hope that clears the air of all this "the Feasts are Jewish" nonsense. The Feasts are straight from God; they're only connection to Jews is that it has been only the Jews who have kept the Feasts for the last 2000 years.
To God-fearing Jews, there is hardly anything more compelling than God telling you to have an appointed time -- an appointment! -- with him on a certain date.
To the non-Jewish Christians:
What, exactly, did Jesus do?
What, exactly, did Jesus do?
Unfortunately, I am speaking to you gentiles who are in seeming need of more convincing to change your ways, since everything changed with Jesus, or so I am told. Let me present an equally compelling argument, only specially crafted for you who have nailed the Law to the cross.
The most compelling argument I can give to Christian gentiles, is that our common Master and Messiah, Yeshua HaMoshiach, Jesus the Messiah, celebrated them. What better excuse to celebrate the Feasts of the Lord than the excuse that the Master himself celebrated them?On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do you want us to make preparations for celebrating Passover?"
He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate Passover with my disciples at your house.' " So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
-John's gospel
For the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus went up to the Temple courts and began to teach about the Kingdom of God. The Pharisees were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?"
Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"
-Matthew's gospel
Not only the Feast of Passover, not only Feast of Tabernacles, but all of the Feasts; in doing so, he fulfilled -- made complete -- the Law and the Prophets.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
-Jesus, teaching the fundamentals of the faith in his Beatitudes sermon, as recorded by Matthew
I often see Christians wearing clothing or decorations with the "WWJD" acronym embossed on the piece -- "What Would Jesus Do?" -- as a reminder to always try to follow Jesus' example. In this case, the matter is clear as crystal: not only would Jesus celebrate the Feasts, but he did celebrate them.
And the apostles?
But the compelling arguments do not stop at the Master's own words and actions. The apostles -- even after Jesus' death! -- kept the commands and the Feasts of the Lord:
The apostles were all gathered together for the Feast of Pentecost. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8hen how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
- The Acts of the Apostles
The fact that the apostles -- the one's who walked and talked with Jesus -- were celebrating the Feasts of the Lord despite the fact Jesus already come and gone, this very fact, should give you a good hint as to whether the coming of the Son did away with the Feasts of the Father.
If that weren't enough, Paul -- oh, yes! -- the same Paul that gentile Christians often use to shoot down any notion of following the commands or the Feasts of God, instructs believers in Jesus to keep the Feasts:
Messiah, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. So, let us keep the Feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
-Paul, in his letter to Corinth
Pouring on the Spiritual Nature of the Feasts
All these things mentioned so far are empirical, physical things. Yet we are a spiritual people, and sometimes spiritual things mean so much more in the end than the natural physical things. This ties in perfectly with what Paul says about the Master being our Passover lamb. Let me prove to you, from a spiritual standpoint, the signficance of the Feasts, in particular Yom Teruah, to you as a gentile Christian.
God's Ultimate Plan, Part I
(He's already done it!)
(He's already done it!)
Remember earlier how I mentioned Yom Teruah is the day of the shofar blast? This is a subtle hint at things to come. Just like the Passover Feast of the Lord was fulfilled in Jesus becoming our Passover, so Yom Teruah will be fulfilled. Just like the Feast of Pentacost was fulfilled in Jesus sending the Holy Spirit to the apostles, so Yom Teruah will be fulfilled. Just as Jesus fulfilled the Feast of First Fruits by becoming the first fruits -- the best and holy fruit -- from the dead, so will Yom Teruah be fulfilled. Let me prove it to you.
In regards to your eating and drinking, your celebrating the Feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbath, let no one judge you, for these things are a shadow of things to come and of the Messiah.
-Paul, in his letter to the Colossians
We know that Jesus fulfilled, chronologically and in real-time, all of the Feasts of the Lord that occurred in the spring: first he fulfilled Passover, as it was the purpose of his coming. At Passover, a spotless lamb was slaughtered, and eaten. In Egypt, it's blood covered the people from death, causing death to pass over them. In an amazing theatrical display of symmetry between old and new, rehearsal and reality, Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, was slaughtered so that his blood would cover us, defeating death, becoming the blood atonement for the whole world.
The next day, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
-John's gospel
With this knowledge, we begin to better understand what Jesus meant when Jesus said, "This is my body, take and eat.", or "This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for all. Drink." Or even, "Do this in rememberance of me."
God's Ultimate Plan, Part II
(He's done it, consider it fulfilled!)
(He's done it, consider it fulfilled!)
After fulfilling Passover by his death, he made complete -- in yet another amazing symmetry spectacle of old and new -- the Feast of First Fruits by raising from the dead on that very day! As Paul said, Jesus was the first of many that will be raised from death -- out of the ground, the dead will arise, starting with the greatest -- Jesus, the first fruits -- all the way down to us schmucks, Jew and Gentile alike; anyone who knows Jesus as Master.
There is a symmetry in this: since death came through a man, the raising of the dead also comes through a man. Just as in Adam all die, so in Messiah all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Jesus, the firstfruits from the dead, raises first. Then, when he comes, all those who belong to him.
-Paul, in his letter to Corinth
God's Ultimate Plan, Part III
(The Master has finished it, consider it done!)
(The Master has finished it, consider it done!)
And keeping with the real-time fulfillment of the grand theatrical play set out for us, 50 days after the First Fruits Feast (the one on which Jesus raised from the dead), the Feast of Weeks (Pentacost) falls. And fall it did! The Holy Spirit falls on hundreds, making an amazing spectacle in plain sight of thousands of people:
The apostles were all gathered together for the Feast of Pentecost. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8hen how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
-Acts 2
The Feast of Pentacost was crafted by God as a Feast of thanksgiving for the harvest that took place on First Fruits. What an amazing fulfillment! The Spirit of God falling on humanity, presented as a harvest offering, a result of the sewing done by the Master, Jesus. The parable of the sewing of seeds becomes less abstract and is given a more concrete meaning through this fulfillment.
"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear."
-Jesus, speaking to his followers and the crowd in Jerusalem, as recorded by Matthew
The seed sown here is the good news of Jesus: that he is here and our slavery to sin addictions is hereby broken, and that we have forgiveness and eternal life; not by our own works, but by sheer gift of God: grace! And when the Spirit fell on the Disciples at the Feast of Pentacost, their spirits ministering to God in a miraculous way -- speaking in foreign languages the good news of God -- what an amazing, miraculous thanksgiving offering to the Father. An ultimate fulfillment of the Feast of Pentacost.
What handiwork by God. Playing out, right in front of our eyes, over thousands of years. Each person playing a part in the play -- each piece playing a vital role -- first played out with Israel in reality as a rehearsal of spiritual things to come -- almost as a living prophecy -- then fulfilled in the physical, in real-time, by God himself as the Messiah. Awesome!
We've covered Passover, First Fruits, Pentacost. But what of Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets/Shofarim), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), or the Feast of Tabernacles? These last 3 feasts are even more exciting to look forward to. They are more exciting because Jesus will do these when He comes back, to the best of our estimation. And since he did the first 3 in real-time, he'll likely do the last 3 in real-time as well.
Coming to a planet near you:
God's Ultimate Plan, Part IV!
God's Ultimate Plan, Part IV!
And the Day of the Awakening Shofar Blast -- Yom Teruah -- will kick things off! Jesus will come back and finish what he's started, complete all that was put in motion. Chronologically, Yom Teruah is the next Feast after Pentacost, yet Jesus did not yet fulfill this one, or the 2 Feasts after it, because he's got something awesome planned.
I already hinted that Jesus' saying he will return "on the day no man knows but the Father" is a subtle hint that Jesus will return on the Feast of Awakening Shofar Blasts -- Yom Teruah. Of course, we don't know *which* Yom Teruah, but we believe it will be *a* Yom Teruah, and here's why:
At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; every nation on earth will look up, see it and cry out in mourning. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. He'll send his angels with a loud shofar blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
-Jesus, speaking to his followers, as recorded by Matthew
Notice the loud mourning, the shouting, the shofar blasts, the nations waking up to see Messiah in the sky. This is a picture-perfect fulfillment of the Feast of Awakening Shofar Blasts! There's more, a mystery Paul is not afraid to share with us:
Listen, I'm telling you a mystery: we won't all sleep forever in death; we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the great shofar sound; for the shofar will blast, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Paul, in his letter to Corinth
This trumpet sounding, this shofar blasting talk is all Yom Teruah language. There's an abundance to confirm this:
Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, "There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his shofar, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets."
-John, in his writing down the revelation of Jesus
And in that day a great shofar will sound. Those who were perishing and suffering will come and worship the Master on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Isaiah, prophesying to Israel
Sound the shofar in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Master is coming.
It is getting closer!
-Joel, prophesying to the nation
Then the Master will appear over them;
his arrow will flash like lightning.
The Sovereign Master will sound the shofar;
he will march in the storms of the south
-Zachariah, prophesying to the people
Lots shofar sounding, trumpet blasting in the last days, it seems. Lots of waking up to hear the alarm.
But this isn't limited to ancient Old Testament prophecies. Remember Jesus' parable about the 10 virgins waiting for their bridegroom? 5 of them were wise and were ready to be picked up by the bridegroom, the other 5 weren't ready because they didn't know when the bridegroom would be coming. I'll let Matthew elaborate:
"God's kingdom is like ten young virgins who took oil lamps and went out to greet the bridegroom. Five were foolish and five were wise. The foolish virgins took lamps, but no extra oil. The wise virgins took jars of oil to feed their lamps. The bridegroom didn't show up when they expected him, and they all fell asleep.
"In the middle of the night a shout rang out, 'Wake up! He's here! The bridegroom's here! Go out and greet him!'
"The ten virgins got up and got their lamps ready. The foolish virgins said to the wise ones, 'Our lamps are going out; lend us some of your oil.'
"They answered, 'There might not be enough to go around; go buy your own.'
"They did, but while they were out buying oil, the bridegroom arrived. When everyone who was there to greet him had gone into the wedding feast, the door was locked.
"Much later, the other virgins, the foolish ones, showed up and knocked on the door, saying, 'Master, we're here. Let us in.'
"He answered, 'I never knew you.'
"So stay alert. No one knows the day or hour the Master arrives."
-Jesus, telling a parable to his followers
When the shout goes out, and the last great shofar is sounded, the Master comes. Of course, we don't know what month or even what year this will happen. But we believe it will be the on a Feast of Awakening Blasts, Yom Teruah. How fitting! This awakening shout, accompanied by a great shofar blast, to signal the return of the Messiah, Jesus our Master. In this sense, an understanding of Yom Teruah gives clearer meaning to the Scripture.
Conclusion
I hope this article has given you encouragement to understand the Feasts of the Lord. I hope Christian readers of this article will give second thought before calling them "Jewish feasts", when they are, in fact, a physical and living prophecy of things to come and things that have happend through Messiah, Jesus. I encourage you to be like the wise women, who were ready for the Master at the sound of a shout and a blast of the shofar, expecting him at that Awakening Blast.
I encourage believers in Jesus -- whether Jew or non-Jew -- to show up for the appointment God made for humanity in the Feast of Awakening Blasts, Yom Teruah. You don't need to perform all kinds of rituals or anything goofy. In fact, the command in Leviticus is to 1. honor God by not working on that day, and 2. give an offering to the Lord. Most of the Feasts can be summed up with an offering to the Lord: for you, that can be taking time to pray, thank God, give God an offering of praise. And finally, on Yom Teruah, hear the blast of a shofar and remember what it means: with it, we can look forward to the nearing fulfillment of this living prophecy, when we can celebrate it with the Master, Author, and Finisher, Jesus our Messiah. When that awesome time comes, I hope to see you there!
Peace and shalom.
Sorry I did not comment earlier, internet access has been lacking. It is a good article, I love how you intersperse the pictures/songs/media and such, it is a testament to the versitility of blogs.
ReplyDeleteI only skimmed, I'll try to do better later, though I must admit Cambridge is going to eat up a lot of study time. I remeber vaguely a conversation I once had in which the horn of the ram sacrificed in place of Isaac gave the first shofar to man, and so one blows a blast for Jesus in-so-far as Jesu is the final sacrificial lamb for all the children of Abraham.
Peace,
Chris
Okay, i haven't read everything here. Everyone should be allowed to believe in whatever he wants to BUT i do NOT support religions which build churches and require me to "sacrifice" money or other material goods to be a "real" believer. I also do not support religions which force there believers to defend/attack/KILL people in gods name. We should not make a difference between someone who is "christian" or "hindu". As long as those religions exist, there will be a difference and THAT difference is the root of all evil. How many people had to die because some invisible and by now not-existent (at least not visible to us) god? You seem to be very convinced regarding your comment - that's something I currently do not and never will understand. All this stuff was invented because of the "peoples dumbness". Nowadays we should try to make the people live more consciously to prevent them from doing bad things. However this will take too long... i just wanted to say that ALL religions are bad and all of them will lead to war and death as they always (and i really mean ALWAYS) did.
ReplyDeleteHenry, thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment.
ReplyDeleteA couple things you stated: you didn't read all my post, you don't know what I'm talking about, you don't understand what I believe, you made some statements about sacrificing money to be a real believer, you made a statement that every religion was invented because of "people's dumbness", and also that all religions are evil. Is that correct?
Let me tackle one thing at a time. First, it is apparent you didn't read the post through and through, because you made comments (like sacrificing money to become a true believer? lol) was not contended by the blog post. But I appreciate that you did at least read some of it. Please do read all of it, I think you'll get a better foundation on which you can then argue me to death with. :-)
Regarding supporting religions that require you to sacrifice money to become a true believer. I believe that the only real thing God is after is people's hearts. If your heart is in the right place -- loving God and loving others, which Jesus said was the 2 greatest commands in all the Bible -- then that is far greater than any material, physical "sacrifice" one can give, money or otherwise.
The psalmist in the Bible put it quite nicely:
Sacrifice doesn't delight you, or I would bring it,
You take no pleasure in burnt offerings, or I would offer them.
No, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and contrite heart,
These things, God, are what you desire.
I hope that makes it clear our real belief stands on the issue of giving up your money or whatever physical thing in order to become a "true believer". In that sense, we agree.
I also agree that a religion that forces people to kill in God's name is a false one. There are times when war is required, even you will admit with coaxing (which I'll not do now! :-)), but going around saying "I'll kill you if you don't believe in God" is not God's plan, and is an evil invention of men.
On the root of all evil, it is not religion. Religion has brought evil, but what you are empirically observing is differences bringing conflict. If you removed religion, there would still be differences: differences in nationality, race, culture, you name it. What you are actually implying, whether you know it or not, is that we should eliminate differences between humans so that all the world will get along. And that, you will agree, is an impossible feat, and an evil one at that.
I think your comment on religions in general -- that they cause war and general evil -- is understandable and partially true. Religious people have done and are doing bad things, just as much if not more than non-religious people. But the acts of men does not reflect God's reality; a reality which is clear enough, being plainly put forth in writing, preached about for thousands of years so that everyone gets a chance to hear it.
Instead, what our sad history as humanity teaches us is that God -- the same God who said to love one another -- is being used as a cover by evil people to do evil things.
Paul, a writer of some of the books in the Christian Bible, says something I think you'll agree with:
If you're brought up religious, don't assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you're an insider to God's revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God's revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I'm quite serious. While preaching "Don't steal!" are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, "It's because of you religious people that the world hates God," shows it's an old problem that isn't going to go away.
This drives home one point: that people are evil, including religious people. We love doing bad things, love calling names, loving hating each other, creating war to kill people not like us. Religion can be used by such people to re-inforce such things. The recent increase in Islamic terror is proof of that, but going back only 500 years and the Catholic Church is proof of that.
But the real problem is not religion; for if it was, we could just get rid of religion and be done with it. The problem is people; and people use whatever means necessary to accomplish their ends, including religion (Islamic terror), nationality (Nazi Socialist Party), race, you name it, humans will find a means to an end, and often times, those ends are evil.
Where you and I truely differ, it is in why people are generally evil. Or perhaps, whether people are generally evil at all. And that, I'll save for your reply if you choose to make one.
Peace.
-Judah
Oh, Chris, thanks for the comments. I'm glad you like it. Do give it a thorough read if you get a chance; I'd like to hear what you and other non-Jewish Christians think of all this, given that the post is speaking to this crowd specifically.
ReplyDeleteWow Judah! Great job!
ReplyDeleteI was listening to that song while reading the post and when I got to the part where you give scriptures about the shofar blasts and the coming of Jesus I got some very serious chills up my spine. Not chills of fright, but of delight. Like you showed me something that was exciting and new to me. They lasted for about 30 seconds!
I feel compelled now to celebrate the feasts, but yet I don't know the first thing about them. It was just light bible reading to me before.
I don't think celebrating the feasts will be a determining factor in a gentile's salvation, but to know the history and reason behind them is very enlightening and even gratifying.
Thank you for this post.
Maybe they didn't last for 30 seconds, but they lasted a long time and got my attention.
ReplyDeleteCould it be the work of the Spirit? :)
Hey H-Dog.
ReplyDeleteI agree that celebrating the feasts have nothing to do with salvation. They are, however, a beautiful rehearsal of something Jesus the Messiah fulfilled and will continue fulfilling.
As far as celebrating them, I would recommend having a heart of praise, first and foremost. Each feast has specific instructions (for example, at Passover, we're supposed to eat lamb in rememberance of the lamb slain for the each house so that death would pass-over Israel in Egypt, but also the death of the Lamb, Jesus, so that death passes-over us, or to blow the shofar on Yom Teruah, etc.). But the feasts can often be summed up as giving offerings of praise to God, and I think it's far more important to have your heart in the right place -- in praise and giving thanks to Him! The outward rituals and symbols need to take a back seat to having your heart in the right place.
I'm glad you liked that song. It is a very moving song. "Baruch HaBa BaShem Adonia" is Hebrew for "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord", which is a fulfillment of prophecy in the Psalms and reiterated by Jesus himself when he said, "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! I long to gather you to me. You will not see me again until you say, "Baruch HaBa Bashem Adonai!"
That song is actually part 2 continuation of an very moving introduction/audio documentary of the Jewish people re-taking Jerusalem some 50 years ago. You can listen to that here.
Also, check out my Messianic Lamb links page. Lamb is easily my favorite Messianic group, they've got some truely annointed music.
Great post! I did not notice the "the day no one knows but the Father" before, interesting.
ReplyDeleteI have told people before, I am sure of a few things, one that the Tribulation will start during Trumpets since the first feast after the Tribulation is over is of the Feast of Tabernacles which of course is God with us. So, to me, the return will be during Trumpets.
To me it was always interesting that when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain and Moses and Elijah appeared with Him, it happened to be about the time of the Feats of Tabernacles (they offered to build booths for each of them). Just the same picture of His return at approx the same time of year :)
Anyway, again, good post!
Yes, it seems quite likely that the Feast of Trumpet Blasts/Yom Teruah is definitely the day. Now if we only knew which year. :-)
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the post, Rocky. Talk to you later.