All of the scripture passages contained herein, and in the
chapters to follow, will be taken from the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) unless
otherwise noted. I have added some words in parenthesis for clarification and
ease of understanding.
Before we begin, I want you all to know that at this time I
am not a Keeper of the Law of Moses – a Torah Keeper – neither am I a Sabbath
Keeper in the traditional sense. But I am a follower of Jesus Christ who remembers
the Lord’s Appointed Times, of which Sabbath is just one. Should God reveal to
me that I am in error, I will make corrections where He shows me my errors lay.
“‘Work is to be done on six days; but the seventh day is
a Shabbat (Sabbath) of complete rest,
a holy convocation; you are not to do any kind of work; it is a Shabbat for Adonai, even in your homes.
“‘These are the designated times of Adonai, the holy convocations you are
to proclaim at their designated times.
“‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month,
between sundown and complete darkness, comes Pesach for Adonai (the Lord’s Passover). On the
fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of matzah (Feast of Unleavened Bread); for seven days you are to
eat matzah. On the
first day you are to have a holy convocation; don’t do any kind of ordinary
work. Bring an offering made by fire to Adonai for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy
convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work.’”
Adonai said
to Moshe, “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘After you enter the land I am
giving you and harvest its ripe crops, you are to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits
of your harvest to the cohen (priest). He
is to wave the sheaf before Adonai,
so that you will be accepted; the cohen is
to wave it on the day after the Shabbat. On
the day that you wave the sheaf, you are to offer a male lamb without defect,
in its first year, as a burnt offering for Adonai. Its grain offering is to be one gallon of fine
flour mixed with olive oil, an offering made by fire to Adonai as a fragrant aroma; its
drink offering is to be of wine, one quart. You are not to eat bread,
dried grain or fresh grain until the day you bring the offering for your God;
this is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where
you live.
“‘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 (feast of Weeks or
Pentecost); you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain
offering to Adonai. You
must bring bread from your homes for waving — two loaves made with one gallon
of fine flour, baked with leaven — as firstfruits for Adonai. Along with the bread,
present seven lambs without defect one year old, one young bull and two rams;
these will be a burnt offering for Adonai,
with their grain and drink offerings, an offering made by fire as a fragrant
aroma for Adonai. Offer
one male goat as a sin offering and two male lambs one year old as a sacrifice
of peace offerings. The cohen will
wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before Adonai, with the two lambs; these
will be holy for Adonai for
the cohen. On the
same day, you are to call a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary
work; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter
where you live.
“‘When you harvest the ripe crops produced in your land,
don’t harvest all the way to the corners of your field, and don’t gather the
ears of grain left by the harvesters; leave them for the poor and the
foreigner; I am Adonai your
God.’”
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 (Trumpets). Do
not do any kind of ordinary work, and bring an offering made by fire to Adonai.’”
Adonai said
to Moshe, “The tenth day of this seventh month is Yom-Kippur (Day of Atonement); you are to have a holy convocation, you are
to deny yourselves (humble one’s self in fasting), and you are to bring an
offering made by fire to Adonai. 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. Anyone who does not deny himself (humble one’s self in fasting) on
that day is to be cut off from his people; and anyone who does any kind of
work on that day, I will destroy from among his people. You are not to do
any kind of work; it is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no
matter where you live. 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.”
Adonai said
to Moshe, “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘On the fifteenth day of this
seventh month is the feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles)
for seven days to Adonai. On
the first day there is to be a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary
work. 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.
“‘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
— besides the Shabbats
of Adonai, your gifts, all
your vows and all your voluntary offerings that you give to Adonai.
“‘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. 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. 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. You are to live in sukkot for seven days; every
citizen of Isra’el is to live in a sukkah, 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.’”
Thus Moshe announced to the people of Isra’el the designated
times of Adonai.
When we read scripture, we learn that Adam and his family
offered sacrifices unto the Lord. These offerings did not end with Adam, for
scripture tells us that each of the Patriarchs of our faith built altars and
made offerings for special times, seasons and occasions in their lives.
But when Isra’el was subjected to Egyptian bondage for 400+
years, they had forgotten their roots of faith. So after God sent Moses to free
them from their captivity, God gave them the Old Testament – or Mosaic – Law.
But He also appointed unto the Children of Isra’el times of worship and
celebration that they were remember throughout ALL their generations.
Herein I want to share the things that God has been showing
me in His word about the His appointed times; those times of worship and
celebration that we, as believers in the Messiah, are to keep ‘throughout our
generations’ … literally: FOREVER. Before I go into detail about those times I
want to share with you why I feel that keeping these appointments with the Lord
are as important for us, the followers of Christ, as it was for our ancestors,
the children of Isra’el.
Let us remember that though these celebrations are contained
in the Old Testament Law, they are times of worship and adoration which
transcend the Law. For Jesus came to fulfill the Law, to bring it to
completion. But our celebrations of the Lord and all that He is will never be
completed. In fact, Jesus Himself made this comment in Matthew 5:17-19, “Don’t think that I have come to abolish
the Torah (the Law) or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to
complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away,
not so much as a yud or
a stroke (dot of an “I” or crossing of a “T”) will pass from the Torah (the
Law) — not until everything that must happen
has happened. So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot (commandments) and
teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But
whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
John 14:15-21, Jesus stated, “If you love me, you will
keep my commands; and I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another comforting Counselor like me, the Spirit of Truth, to be with you
forever. The world cannot receive him, because it neither sees nor knows
him. You know him, because he is staying with you and will be united with
you. I will not leave you orphans — I am coming to you. In just a
little while, the world will no longer see me; but you will see me. Because I
live, you too will live. When that day comes, you will know that I am
united with my Father, and you with me, and I with you. Whoever has my
commands and keeps them is the one who loves me, and the one who loves me will
be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
So what are the Command that Jesus gave us? We find them in
the following passages.
Mathew 5:40-45, “If someone wants to sue you for your shirt,
let him have your coat as well! And if a soldier forces you to carry his
pack for one mile, carry it for two! When someone asks you for something,
give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something from you, lend it to
him.
“You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Love your neighbor — and hate
your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies! Pray for those who
persecute you! Then you will become children of your Father in heaven. For
he makes his sun shine on good and bad people alike, and he sends rain to the
righteous and the unrighteous alike.
Matthew 22:33-40, “When the crowds heard how he taught, they
were astounded; but when the P’rushim
(Pharisees) learned that he had silenced the Tz’dukim (Sadducees), they got
together, and one of them who was a Torah expert asked a sh’eilah (teacher of the Law) to trap him: “Rabbi, which of
the mitzvot (commands) in
the Torah is the most
important?” He told him, “‘You are
to love Adonai (the Lord) your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ This
is the greatest and most important mitzvah. And
a second is similar to it, ‘You
are to love your neighbor as yourself.’ All of the Torah and the Prophets are
dependent on these two mitzvot.”
In my study of these passages, I have come to believe that
we ARE to keep the Lord’s Commandments. And that in keeping these two, we ARE
fulfilling the whole of the Law in the Spirit in which God intended it to be
kept. I encourage you to discover God’s mind on this matter for yourself. Do
not take my word for it, for I am human and my opinions are fallible. But God’s
Word is Pure Truth. Paul told Timothy the same thing in 2 Timothy 2:15, KJV, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
I feel this means that each of us should search out the word for ourselves so
that we know and understand what God is saying to us as individuals. Then we
will stand in His presence as servants who have no need to be ashamed, for we
have done our due diligence.
Paul says much on the keeping of the Law and Grace in his
writings. Here I want to share a passage from his writings in Galatians. I know
that this is a long passage, but I believe the whole of this bears out what I
believe is the truth of the matter of Law Keeping, so please bear with me in
the reading of this passage.
Galatians 2:21-3:29; “I do not reject God’s gracious gift;
for if the way in which one attains righteousness is through legalism, then the
Messiah’s death was pointless.
You stupid Galatians! Who has put you under a spell? Before
your very eyes Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah was clearly portrayed as having been
put to death as a criminal! I want to know from you just this one thing: did
you receive the Spirit by legalistic observance of Torah commands or by trusting in what you heard and being
faithful to it? Are you that stupid? Having begun with the Spirit’s power,
do you think you can reach the goal under your own power? Have you suffered
so much for nothing? If that’s the way you think, your suffering certainly will
have been for nothing! What about God, who supplies you with the Spirit
and works miracles among you — does he do it because of your legalistic
observance of Torah commands
or because you trust in what you heard and are faithful to it?
It was the same with Avraham (Abraham): “He trusted in God and was faithful to him,
and that was credited to his account as righteousness.” Be assured,
then, that it is those who live by trusting and being faithful who are really
children of Avraham. Also the Tanakh
(Old Testament scripture), foreseeing that God would consider the
Gentiles righteous when they live by trusting and being faithful, told the Good
News to Avraham in advance by saying, “In connection with you, all the Goyim (all nations) will be blessed.” So then,
those who rely on trusting and being faithful are blessed along with Avraham,
who trusted and was faithful.
For everyone who depends on legalistic observance of Torah commands (the Law) lives under
a curse, since it is written, “Cursed
is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the Scroll of
the Torah.” Now
it is evident that no one comes to be declared righteous by God through
legalism, since “The person who is
righteous will attain life by trusting and being faithful.” Furthermore,
legalism is not based on trusting and being faithful, but on [a misuse of] the
text that says, “Anyone who does
these things will attain life through them.” The Messiah redeemed
us from the curse pronounced in the Torah by
becoming cursed on our behalf; for the Tanakh says, “Everyone
who hangs from a stake (who hangs on a tree) comes under a curse.” Yeshua
the Messiah did this so that in union with him the Gentiles might receive the
blessing announced to Avraham, so that through trusting and being faithful, we
might receive what was promised, namely, the Spirit.
Brothers, let me make an analogy from everyday life: when
someone swears an oath, no one else can set it aside or add to it. Now the
promises were made to Avraham and to his seed. It doesn’t say, “and to seeds,”
as if to many; on the contrary, it speaks of one — “and to your seed”— and this “one” is the Messiah. Here
is what I am saying: the legal part of the Torah, which came into being 430 years later, does not nullify
an oath sworn by God, so as to abolish the promise. For if the inheritance
comes from the legal part of the Torah,
it no longer comes from a promise. But God gave it to Avraham through a
promise.
So then, why the legal part of the Torah? It was added in order to
create transgressions, until the coming of the seed about whom the promise had been made. Moreover, it was
handed down through angels and a mediator. Now a mediator implies more
than one, but God is one.
Does this mean that the legal part of the Torah stands in opposition to
God’s promises? Heaven forbid! For if the legal part of the Torah which God gave had had in
itself the power to give life, then righteousness really would have come by
legalistically following such a Torah. But
instead, the Tanakh (Old
Testament scripture) shuts up everything under sin; so that what
had been promised might be given, on the basis of Yeshua the Messiah’s trusting
faithfulness, to those who continue to be trustingly faithful.
Now before the time for this trusting faithfulness came, we
were imprisoned in subjection to the system which results from perverting
the Torah into
legalism, kept under guard until this yet-to-come trusting faithfulness would
be revealed. Accordingly, the Torah functioned
as a custodian (the Law was our schoolmaster) until the Messiah came, so that
we might be declared righteous on the ground of trusting and being
faithful. But now that the time for this trusting faithfulness has come,
we are no longer under a custodian (a schoolmaster).
For in union with the Messiah, you are all children of God
through this trusting faithfulness; because as many of you as were
immersed (baptized) into the Messiah have clothed yourselves with the Messiah,
in whom there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor freeman,
neither male nor female; for in union with the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), you are
all one. Also, if you belong to the Messiah, you are seed of Avraham (Abraham)
and heirs according to the promise.
Paul says the following about the Law and the Spirit in
Romans.
Romans 7:7-8:5, Therefore, what are we to say? That
the Torah (the Law) is
sinful? Heaven forbid! Rather, the function of the Torah was that without it, I would not have known what sin
is. For example, I would not have become conscious of what greed is if
the Torah had not
said, “Thou shalt not covet.” But
sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, worked in me all
kinds of evil desires — for apart from Torah, sin is dead. I was once alive outside the framework
of Torah. But when the
commandment really encountered me, sin sprang to life, and I died. The
commandment that was intended to bring me life was found to be bringing me
death! For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,
deceived me; and through the commandment, sin killed me. So the Torah is holy; that is, the
commandment is holy, just and good.
Then did something good become for me the source of death?
Heaven forbid! Rather, it was sin working death in me through something good,
so that sin might be clearly exposed as sin, so that sin through the
commandment might come to be experienced as sinful beyond measure. For
we know that the Torah is
of the Spirit; but as for me, I am bound to the old nature, sold to sin as a
slave. I don’t understand my own behavior — I don’t do what I want to
do; instead, I do the very thing I hate! Now if I am doing what I don’t
want to do, I am agreeing that the Torah is
good. But now it is no longer “the real me” doing it, but the sin housed
inside me. For I know that there is nothing good housed inside me — that
is, inside my old nature. I can want what is good, but I can’t do it! For
I don’t do the good I want; instead, the evil that I don’t want is what I
do! But if I am doing what “the real me” doesn’t want, it is no longer
“the real me” doing it but the sin housed inside me. So I find it to be
the rule, a kind of perverse “torah,”
that although I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me! For
in my inner self I completely agree with God’s Torah; but in my various parts, I see a different “torah,” one that battles with
the Torah in my mind
and makes me a prisoner of sin’s “torah,”
which is operating in my various parts. What a miserable creature I am!
Who will rescue me from this body bound for death? Thanks be to God [, he
will]! — through Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, our Lord!
To sum up: with my mind, I am a slave of God’s Torah; but with my old nature, I am a
slave of sin’s “Torah.”
Therefore, there is no longer any condemnation awaiting
those who are in union with the Messiah Yeshua. Why? Because the Torah of the Spirit, which
produces this life in union with Messiah Yeshua, has set me free from the “Torah” of sin and death. For
what the Torah could
not do by itself, because it lacked the power to make the old nature cooperate,
God did by sending his own Son as a human being with a nature like our own
sinful one [but without sin]. God did this in order to deal with sin, and in so
doing he executed the punishment against sin in human nature, so that the
just requirement of the Torah might
be fulfilled in us who do not run our lives according to what our old nature
wants but according to what the Spirit wants. For those who identify with
their old nature set their minds on the things of the old nature, but those who
identify with the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Because of the way in which Paul describes the Torah – or
Law – of the Spirit, and the torah – or law – of sin and death, I believe that
we are to keep the Law in the Spirit in which God intended it from the
beginning, but we are NOT bound to the letter of the Law – or Torah. For Jesus
said that “if we love Him, we would keep His commandments – His Law. And His
Law is a Law of love and compassion, not a Law of do’s and don’ts.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul goes on to say this about our liberty
in Christ Jesus:
2 Corinthians 2:14-3:18, But thanks be to God, who in the
Messiah constantly leads us in a triumphal procession and through us spreads everywhere
the fragrance of what it means to know him! For to God we are the aroma of
the Messiah, both among those being saved and among those being lost; to
the latter, we are the smell of death leading only to more death; but to the
former, we are the sweet smell of life leading to more life. Who is equal to
such a task? For we are not like a lot of folks who go about huckstering
God’s message for a fee; on the contrary, we speak out of a sincere heart, as
people sent by God, standing in God’s presence, living in union with the
Messiah (Christ).
Are we starting to recommend ourselves again? Or do we, like
some, need letters of recommendation either to you or from you? You
yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, known and
read by everyone. You make it clear that you are a letter from the
Messiah placed in our care, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the
living God, not on stone tablets but on human hearts.
Such is the confidence we have through the Messiah toward
God. It is not that we are competent in ourselves to count anything as
having come from us; on the contrary, our competence is from God. He has
even made us competent to be workers serving a New Covenant, the essence of
which is not a written text but the Spirit. For the written text brings death,
but the Spirit gives life.
Now if that which worked death, by means of a written
text engraved on stone tablets, came with glory — such glory that the people of
Isra’el could not stand to look at Moshe’s face because of its brightness, even
though that brightness was already fading away — won’t the working of the
Spirit be accompanied by even greater glory? For if there was glory in
what worked to declare people guilty, how much more must the glory abound in
what works to declare people innocent! In fact, by comparison with this
greater glory, what was made glorious before has no glory now. For if
there was glory in what faded away, how much more glory must there be in what
lasts.
Therefore, with a hope like this, we are very open
— unlike Moshe (Moses), who put a veil over his face, so that the people
of Isra’el would not see the fading brightness come to an end.
What is more, their minds were made stone-like (their minds
were blinded); for to this day the same veil remains over them when they read
the Old Covenant (Old Testament); it has not been unveiled, because only by the
Messiah (in Jesus) is the veil taken away. Yes, till today, whenever Moshe
is read, a veil lies over their heart. “But,” says the Torah, “whenever someone turns to Adonai (the Lord), the veil is taken
away.” Now, “Adonai”
in this text means the Spirit. And where the Spirit of Adonai is, there is
freedom. So all of us, with faces unveiled, see as in a mirror the glory
of the Lord; and we are being changed into his very image, from one degree of
glory to the next, by Adonai the
Spirit.
So, you have read what I believe about the Law, why
should we keep the portions of it that pertain to the Lord’s Appointed Times of
celebration? I feel that in understanding these times and keeping them, we will
enhance our understanding of the Jewish roots of our faith in Christ and
thereby deepen our walk of faith in Him.
Now that I have thoroughly bored you with The Law, I am
ready to start our journey through “The Lord’s Appointed Times” and what keeping
them means to us as believers in Jesus Christ, our Messiah, today.
Let’s get started!
