A “Good Friday” Observance Does NOT Fit!

Many have been deceived into thinking that Yahshua Messiah was crucified (impaled) on the sixth day of the week, commonly called by the pagan name, “Friday” and then subsequently HE arose from the dead (they say) on first day of the week, commonly called by the pagan name, “Sunday.” This cannot be true according to what is written in Exodus 12 and from what The Master HIMSELF stated in Matthew 12:40. This faulty account cannot be an accurate rendering, using simple mathematics. Consider;

Mat 12:40 For as Yonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so shall the Son of Adam be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

As already stated, the roman “holy week / Good Friday” scenario does not pass the calendar, mathematics or Scriptural litmus tests. Consider:

Messiah observed the true “living” Passover with HIS followers on the 14th of Abib, the 3rd day of the week, (Tuesday) in the evening,  just as was required according to the Torah given to Mosheh in Exodus 12:18.

HE was (lawlessly) impaled and died late the following day, the 15th of Abib, the 4th day of the week, (Wednesday), which was / is the First Day of Unleavened Bread. Wednesday night was night 1.

The following day, the 16th of Abib (Thursday), which is day 1 and Thursday night is night 2.

The following day,  the 17th of Abib (Friday), which is day 2 and Friday night is night 3.

The following day was the weekly Sabbath day, the 18th of Abib (Saturday), which is day 3.

Yahshua rose from the grave on the 3rd day before night 4, just as HE had said.

HE was then seen at the tomb as the Sabbath came to an end upon the dawning of the following day, the 1st of the week, or the 19th of Abib. (Sunday)

HE had risen prior to 1st Day morning!

See articles for further clarification: “The Re-named Days of the Week“, “Christian HOLI-days“, “The Sabbath…Who Changed it?

 

Christian HOLI-Days

Originally posted on 3/21/21 – Revised 2/11/22

Many of the current “Christian” Holi-days have their origins in ancient pagan feasts that were ushered in by Romanism early in it’s history. The Roman Emperor, Constantine was a pagan sun-worshipper who supposedly had a “spiritual experience.” Romanism used this authority to pollute the truth beginning in the 3rd century with various practices of sun-worshipping paganism. The following are a few of those.


Author’s note: I encourage you to do your own research on the origins and meanings behind the word “Holi.” (Holy) In a few words, I found that it is not a word to use in association with The True Creator, Yahweh as depicted in The Scriptures; Genesis – Revelation. In fact, it is a word associated with Hindu mighty ones and is celebrated annually in their version of “good triumphing over evil.” For these and other reasons, I refrain from it’s use. (Exodus 23:13)

SUNDAY SABBATH?

Early believers kept the Seventh day as the Sabbath (gathering day) until March 7, 321 CE when Emporer / Pope Constantine passed a law requiring believers to worship on Sunday, the day the pagans worshipped the sun-god. True Believers still kept the Seventh day as the Sabbath until another law was passed eleven years later. This law signed into decree by Pope Constantine forbid believers to worship on the Seventh day (Sabbath) being punishable by death! Many believers were burned to death for their commitment to the Commandments in the Scriptures and for keeping with the Sabbath on the Seventh Day! Research it for yourself! The True Sabbath has NOT been changed, according to the Scriptures! (See articles on “Catholic Quotes…” and “Names of the Days of the week”)

EASTER SUNDAY

Did you ever wonder what the basis is for using eggs and bunnies to celebrate Easter? Ishtar or Astarte or Euostre or finally “Easter”, also known as Semiramis, the widow of Nimrod, is referred to in the Scriptures as the “queen of heaven.”(Jeremiah 44:17-25) She is the bare breasted pagan fertility goddess of the east. Legend has it that she came out of heaven in a giant egg, landing in the Euphrates river at sunrise (the first sunrise service?) on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox, busted out, and turned a bird into an egg laying rabbit!!! Now THAT takes a lot of imagination! :>) According to some (unverified) sources, the priests of Easter would then sacrifice infants (human babies) and take the eggs of Easter and die them in the blood of the sacrificed infants (human babies). This process was orchestrated so that the Easter eggs would hatch on December 25th, the same day her son Tammuz the reincarnated sun-god would be born…how convenient?!

In second century Europe, the predominate spring festival was a raucous Saxon fertility celebration in honor of the Saxon Goddess Eastre (Ostara), whose sacred animal was a hare. As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of year as the observance of the Resurrection of Messiah. Therefore it was decided to alter the festival itself and attempt to make it a Christian celebration. The early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.

Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of Nicaea was convened by Emperor Constantine. (There is that name again!) The Council issued the Easter Rule which states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. (Another attempt to replace the True Scriptural observances of Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread and First-Fruits!).

HALLOW’EN

All Saints’ Day was followed by All-Souls’ Day, November 2, unless that was a Sunday then it was November 3, this was another Roman adaptation of pagan festivals for the dead. Prayers for the dead are an integral part of the traditional All Saint’s Day services, which are scheduled in Catholic churches on November 1, and on the next Sunday. Halloween gets its name from the Catholic holi-day, it is a Hallowed evening, because it precedes All Hallows’ Day, thus: Hallow’en. Halloween is a pagan holiday to honor the dead and evil spirits. In the Scriptures, we are warned not to take part in customs and traditions such as these. All Scripture quotes are KJV unless otherwise noted and the True Names of THE Creator, as I understand them; Yahweh and HIS Son, Yahshua have been inserted instead “Lord, GOD, Jesus”, etc)

“…take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise. You shall not worship (Yahweh) your (Elohim) in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” Deuteronomy 12:30-32

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:11(Thus, this article!)

Halloween is a perfect example of what these passages are referring to. Pagans served their gods by honoring the evil spirits on Halloween. They did this by dressing up like the evil spirits and giving offerings to the evil spirits. This is also where the practice of giving out candy came from; because they gave offerings to the evil spirits. The phrase “trick or treat” is attributed to this practice because pagans believed the evil spirits would do something bad (a trick) to them if they did not leave an offering (a treat) for them.


THANKSGIVING

We often think of Thanksgiving as an American holiday, begun by the Pilgrims in Plymouth in 1621. In reality on that day in 1621 that particular event was just the first observance of Thanksgiving Day in the New World! Thanksgiving, in the guise of the pagan harvest festivals, can be traced right back to ancient Babylon and the worship of Semiramis!

The pagans in Rome celebrated their thanksgiving in early October. The holiday was dedicated to the goddess of the harvest, Ceres, and the holiday was called Cerelia. The Roman Catholic church incorporated the pagan holi-day and it became well established in England, where some of the pagan customs and rituals for this day were observed long after the Roman Empire had disappeared.

“In England the “Harvest Home” has been observed continuously for centuries. The custom was to select a harvest queen for this holiday. She was decorated with the grain of their fields and the fruit of their trees. On Thanksgiving Day she was paraded through the streets in a carriage drawn by white horses. This was a remnant of the Roman ceremonies in honor of Ceres…the Pilgrims brought the “Harvest in” to Massachusetts.” (Little, Brown & Company, Boston, 1953. Pgs 159-160)

There certainly is NOT anything wrong with giving thanks to our Creator for HIS goodness to us! However, to replace HIS Set-Apart Days (i.e. The Scriptural observance of Tabernacles) with an observance that inculcates pagan practices is to put one at odds with the very Creator responsible for the harvest!

CHRISTMAS

A “winter solstice” observance (our December 25th or thereabouts) was celebrated by pagan sun-worshippers for thousands of years before the Messiah was born. It all started (as recorded by tradition and the Scriptures) during the building of the tower of Babel. Nimrod (Genesis 10:9-10) supervised the operation and supposedly, was called the sun-god and worshipped as such. Then a prophet of the Most High killed him and cut his body into pieces and scattered those pieces all across the land. Ishtar or Astarte or Euostre or finally “Easter”, also known as Semiramis, the widow of Nimrod, is referred to in the Scriptures as the “queen of heaven.”(Jeremiah 44:17-25) She claimed to be impregnated by the rays of the sun (Nimrod) and later had a son by the name of Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:14) who had a miraculous birth on December 25th. All of the pagan sun-worshippers celebrated the birthday of the reincarnated sun-god Tammuz on December 25th. Scripture is very clear that believers in the Truth of YAH’S Word are not to participate in these types of observances: The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. 19Do they provoke Me to anger?” says (Yahweh) “Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?”Jeremiah 7:18-19

The passage above is stating Yahweh’s obvious displeasure with practices that are in opposition to HIS Word. Let’s move on and read another passage from Scripture.

Thus says (Yahweh): “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles ( those considered the ungodly at that time); Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not topple.” Jeremiah 10:2-4

Sound familiar? This passage is obviously referring to a practice of those who were not considered followers of Yahweh. Is the prophet referring to a “christmas tree?” Well, there certainly are similarities! A quick internet search using the terms associated with the celebration of this season will reveal that their origins are anything but righteous and have nothing to do with birth of Yahshua, the True MESSIAH! Actually it is fascinating to realize those entities whose births were on December 25th! For example, Isis (Egyptian god), Mithra (Babylonian sun god) and of course Tammuz, the son of the queen of heaven!

VALENTINE’S DAY

Pagans in Rome celebrated the evening of February 14th and February 15th as an idolatrous and immoral festival in honor of Lupercus “the hunter of wolves”. It was not until the reign of Pope Gelasius that the holiday became a “Christian” custom. ” The Encarta Encyclopedia states that it is “a holiday that probably derives from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalis.” From Edna Barth’s book “The Story of Valentine Symbols” we read “St. Valentine’s name was given to the festival of Lupercalia in the 5th century.” In his book “The Valentine, and it’s Origins” by Frank Staff, we learn how the ancient church fathers at Rome used syncretism; the mixture of so-called truth and abject error, to win converts from among pagans…” As for “Cupid” the strange little cherub, who shoots arrows at people, it’s name means; “desire!” According to Funk/Wagnall’s Encyclopedia, the Greek counterpart is “Eros”, the god of love, son of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty” who presided over their drunken orgies and multiple day celebrations! Do your own study of this so called holiday and it’s association to Lupercalia as well as their similarities to “Mardi Gra!” I’m sure that you will be shocked at what you find! It might make you think before you encourage your little boy or little girl to participate in the tradition of being matched up with a child of the opposite sex through the exchanging of “Be my Valentine” cards…

THE Scriptural Set-Apart DAYS

In comparison to those observances listed above, the Scriptures explicitly command Yahweh’s people to observe HIS Sabbaths and HIS FEASTS in Leviticus 23. Though much of Christianity today chooses to ignore this command, believing that these were ONLY for the people of Israel, the Scriptures do not support this notion. Yahshua observed the 7th day Sabbath and the Scriptural Feasts. The first disciples continued to observe them, even after HIS death and resurrection, and so did professing believers in Yahweh up to the 3rd century, as stated above. Now that you’ve read this brief synopsis, you too are faced with the same choice as those early believers; to follow YAH’S ways according to HIS Word or to continue in man’s ways according to man’s tradition. Yahweh’s special Days/Feasts give great insight into HIS Plan for the Redemption of mankind. Man’s traditional observances are based, to a great degree upon Bablyonian, Egyptian, Greecian and Roman paganism and actually detour people AWAY from the Truth of YAH’S Word. The choice is yours! People just like you, all over the world, are waking up to the Truth of The Word! HE is accomplishing exactly what HE had promised to do in the last days! You may be a part of that process as you read HIS Word and come to realize the deception of man’s traditions! May you hear HIS Voice and come out of the bondage of man-made religion and begin to walk in HIS Truth!

It is written in 2Cor 6:16-18)

And what agreement has the temple of YAH with idols? For you are the temple of the living EL. As Yahweh has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their EL, and they shall be My people.Therefore Come out from among them and be separate, says Yahweh. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says Yahweh ELOHIM.” NKJV

And in Jeremiah 51:6-7

Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For this is the time of YAH’S vengeance; He shall recompense her.

Babylon was a golden cup in the YAH’S hand, That made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; Therefore the nations are deranged.

And finally in Revelation 18:4-5

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and ELOHIM has remembered her iniquities.”

#2 – The Hypocrisy of the Pharisees – Healing Not Allowed?

Mat 12:9-10 And having left there, He went into their congregation. And see, there was a man having a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath?” – so as to accuse Him.

There is NO Commandment in Torah that forbids healing on Sabbath! Notice the real reason for them asking; “so as to accuse Him.” Those motivated by “the accuser” can pretend their religious piety for only so long.

Consider;

Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in the heaven, “Now have come the deliverance and the power and the reign of our Elohim, and the authority of His Messiah, for the accuser of our brothers, who accused them before our Elohim day and night, has been thrown down.

The Pharisees and rulers, in their lawlessness could not determine right from wrong. They taught that healing on the Sabbath constituted work. The Scriptures do not support their hypocrisy.

Consider;

Luke 13:14 But the ruler of the congregation, responding, much displeased that Yahusha had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men should work, so come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”

So, the Master confronted their hypocrisy by asking what they would do if something happened to one of their livestock on the Sabbath…

Mat 12:11-12 And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, shall not take hold of it and lift it out? “How much more worth is a man than a sheep! So it is right to do good on the Sabbath.”

Doing good on the Sabbath has always been Yahweh’s desire, allowing man to rest, enjoy, be refreshed and appreciate the Creator and HIS Sabbath! It was never meant to be burdensome, binding or a time to endure!

Mat 12:13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored, as healthy as the other.

If the Pharisees and rulers were right in not allowing healing on the Sabbath, then we should never anoint and pray for the sick on Sabbath? How absurd!


Mat 12:14 But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against Him, so as to destroy Him.

Those who do the desires of the devil prove by their lives who their father is!

Consider;

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you wish to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

Mat 12:15-21 But Yahshua knowing it, withdrew from there. And large crowds followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to make Him known, in order that what was spoken by Yeshayah the prophet, might be filled, saying, “See, My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My being did delight. I shall put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall declare right-ruling to the nations. He shall not strive nor cry out, nor shall anyone hear His voice in the streets. A crushed reed He shall not break, and smoking flax He shall not quench, till He brings forth right-ruling forever.“And the nations shall trust in His Name.”

It’s worth noting that the Pharisees (and anyone diseased in their families) were not healed. Hatred of the Truth and a lack of humility have prohibited many from experiencing HIS goodness!

It’s also worth noting that Yahshua’s method of drawing “large crowds” was quite different than that of today’s methods. HE didn’t need the internet, social media, news media, television, radio, etc… My reason for using this platform is to inform, not draw crowds. Consider Yahshua’s “keys to evangelism”;>)

John 4:23-24 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also does seek such to worship Him. “Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him need to worship in spirit and truth.”

John 6:44-45 “No one is able to come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. And I shall raise him up in the last day. It has been written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by Yahweh. Everyone, then, who has heard from the Father, and learned, comes to Me.”

Joh 13:35 “By this shall all know that you are My taught ones, if you have love for one another.”

May you have a love for Truth (John 17:17) and hear HIS voice (John 10:27) and follow HIM!

The Hypocrisy of the Pharisees – Matthew 12

Mat 12:1-2 At that time Yahshua went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His taught ones were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain, to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your taught ones are doing what is not right to do on the Sabbath!”

The Pharisees were a very rigid sect of Judaism. The Messiah Yahshua warned His followers to beware of them. Consider His words later in Matthew;

Mat 23:4 “For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but with their finger they do not wish to move them.”

In the text from Matt. 12, the Pharisees are accusing Yahshua of being lawless by accusing Him of breaking the Commandments through their misapplication of the Commandment to not harvest on the Sabbath;

Exo 34:21 “Six days you work, but on the seventh day you rest – in plowing time and in harvest you rest.

There is no Scripture to support the Pharisees. The followers of Yahshua were not harvesting. They were simply gleaning that which was intentionally left by the owner of the field for those in need as stated in the following;

Lev 23:22 ‘And when you reap the harvest of your land do not completely reap the corners of your field when you reap, and do not gather any gleaning from your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am Yahweh your Elohim.’ ”
The Pharisees were one of the sects of Yehudism guilty of adding to / subtracting from Yahweh’s Commandments. Much like Christianity today.

Mat 12:3-4 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he went into the House of Elohim and ate the showbread which was not right for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

The Master legitimizes the eating of the showbread rather than letting King David and his men go hungry. The priests had a better understanding of the Spirit of the Commandment than the Pharisees did. I personally believe this to be in support of the “Sovereignty & Priesthood” pronounced upon the true believers in Messiah Yahshua. (Rev. 5:10, Rev. 20:6; Exo. 19:6; Isa. 61:6; Rom. 12:1; 1Pet. 2:5-9)

Mat 12:5 “Or did you not read in the Torah that on the Sabbath the priests in the Set-apart Place profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?”

Priests continue to work on the Sabbath through offering sacrifice, offerings and circumcision. The Pharisaical mindset would prohibit such “work”

Consider;

John 7:22 “Because of this Mosheh has given you the circumcision – though it is not from Mosheh, but from the fathers – and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.”

The Master addresses the issue of “doing good on the Sabbath” later in Matthew 12:12.

Mat 12:6-8 “But I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the Set-apart Place. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion and not offering, you would not have condemned the blameless. For the Son of Adam is Master of the Sabbath.”

The Pharisees would say that they honor the Set-apart Place, but their hypocrisy betrays them. Yahshua clearly states that HE, the One that the earthly Set-apart Place was constructed to represent, is greater than the copy of the Heavenly Set-Apart Place. HE points out the Pharisees’ lack of understanding pertaining to Yah’s reason and purpose for offering, which is the expression of HIS compassion through providing a means for sinful man to be restored to a relationship with Yah. It was never meant to be a means of exclusion, but inclusion! The Pharisees and those guilty of lawlessness cannot understand the true heart of Yahweh. But David did.

Consider;

Psa The slaughterings of Elohim are a broken spirit, A heart broken and crushed, O Elohim, These You do not despise.”

Consider these verses as references to sacrifice and offering acceptable to Yahweh in The New Covenant;

Rom 12:1-2 “I call upon you, therefore, brothers, through the compassion of Elohim, to present your bodies a living offering – set-apart, well-pleasing to Elohim – your reasonable worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what is that good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of Elohim.”

( Also; Rom. 15:16, Psa. 19:14, Eph. 5:10, Php. 4:18, 1Tim. 2:3; 5:4, Heb. 13:15-16, 1Pe. 2:5, 2:20)

The Summer Feasts of Yahweh

This is article #2 in The Feast of Yahweh series. Article #1 covered The 7th Day Sabbath and those appointments known as Spring Feasts of “Passover, Unleavened Bread and First-Fruits.” If you haven’t read that, please do so prior to reading this article so that you are up to speed with terms and definitions that also apply to this article. May you be blessed as a “lover of Truth” as you enjoy!

This is a straight forward look at Leviticus 23. We are picking up the commentary on verses 15-21 as they reveal Yahweh’s 4th Feast known as the summer Feast of Pentecost / Weeks / Shavuot

Verses 15 – 21And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths. Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to Yahweh. Bring from your dwellings for a wave offering two loaves of bread, of two-tenths of an of fine flour they are, baked with leaven, first-fruits to Yahweh. And besides the bread, you shall bring seven lambs a year old, perfect ones, and one young bull and two rams. They are a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet fragrance to Yahweh. And you shall offer one male goat as a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old, as a peace offering. And the priest shall wave them, besides the bread of the first-fruits, as a wave offering before Yahweh, besides the two lambs. They are set-apart to Yahweh for the priest. And on this same day you shall proclaim a set-apart gathering for yourselves, you do no servile work on it – a law forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

The beginning day of counting is critical.

And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths. Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days”

This reference to “the morrow after the Sabbath” cannot be referring to the weekly Sabbath (in the middle of Unleavened Bread observance), which occurred three days after The Messiah’s impalement on the fourth day of that week because of verse 14;

And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”

Otherwise there would contradiction of verse 6;

And on the fifteenth day of this month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread to Yahweh – seven days you eat unleavened bread.”

So, this must be referring to the Sabbath AFTER the observance of the seven days of Unleavened Bread for us to begin counting seven completed Sabbaths (7X7 = 49 + 1 = 50 days).

Do you see why? In Leviticus 23:6 we are commanded for “seven days you eat unleavened bread.” In verse 14, we are commanded NOT to eat bread! Yahweh would not contradict Himself in His commands, so we must conclude that the day to begin counting, that we would also refer to as “First-Fruits”, has to be the first First Day after the conclusion of Unleavened Bread!

This also lines up with two other very important events!

In Leviticus 8-9:1 we see the anointing AND ordination of Aaron and his sons as priests. (Pay particular attention to the length of time, (esp “8th day”), the anointing of the altar, the ordination of them into the priesthood and even them being “waved” as referenced in “First-Fruits!”

This event serves as an earthly “type” of what Yahshua, our Great High Priest actually did in “the true tabernacle” in heaven! Consider;

At the tomb after His resurrection in Joh 20:17 “Yahshua said to her, “Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father. But go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My Elohim and your Elohim.’ ”

See also Joh 20:19-23 where Yahshua reveals Himself to His taught ones later that day…

Then eight days pass without Him being seen until Joh 20:26 And after eight days His taught ones were again inside, and T’oma with them. Yahshua came, the doors having been shut, and He stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”

I believe that HE took His own blood and did in the “true tent” (Heb. 8:2) what Moshe did to Aaron and his sons for them to serve as types of The True!

Now back to Shavuot…

This Feast is known by several names; Pentecost, Feast of Weeks, Shavuot. Historically it was during this one day observance when Moshe received The Law / Torah of Yahweh and upon bringing them down from the mountain found the children of Yisrael worshiping and dancing before the golden calf. He subsequently threw the stone tablets containing the Commandments of Yahweh to the ground in disgust. The result; Commandments broken, 3000 people were slain for their rebellious idolatry. (Exodus 32)

For us in The New Covenant this Feast was the day when The Set-Apart Spirit was poured out upon the 120 taught ones in the upper room who were waiting obediently to The Master’s Command to “wait for the Promise of The Father” and having received the infilling of the Set-Apart Spirit, their testimony caused no small stir on the streets of Yerushalyim and as Peter spoke in answer to the crowd’s question as to what it meant for the 120 to be supernaturally speaking in numerous languages the wonders and blessings of Yahweh, subsequently 3000 people were added to HIS Kingdom!

Luk 24:49 “And see, I am sending the Promise of My Father upon you, but you are to remain in the city of Yerushalayim until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Joh 14:15-17 “If you love Me, you shall guard My commands. And I shall ask the Father, and He shall give you another Helper, to stay with you forever the Spirit of the Truth, whom the world is unable to receive, because it does not see Him or know Him. But you know Him, for He stays with you and shall be in you.” (See article on “Comparing The Old and New Covenant”)

Joh 14:26 “But the Helper, the Set-apart Spirit, whom the Father shall send in My Name, He shall teach you all, and remind you of all that I said to you.”

Act 1:4 And meeting with them, He (Yahshua) commanded them not to leave Yerushalayim, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which you have heard from Me…”

Act 2:1-8 “And when the Day of the Festival of Weeks had come, they were all with one mind in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from the heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and settled on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Set-apart Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to speak. Now in Yerushalayim there were dwelling Yehudah dedicated men from every nation under the heaven. And when this sound came to be, the crowd came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying to each other, Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?
And how do we hear, each one in our own language in which we were born?”

Act 2:41 Then those, indeed, who gladly received his word, were immersed. And on that day about three thousand beings were added to them.”

This day and culminating events are also significant because of The New Covenant that was promised in the following prophetic passages;

Yermiyah (Jeremiah) 31:31-37, Hezekiel (Ezekiel) 36:24-28

Lev 23:22 ‘And when you reap the harvest of your land do not completely reap the corners of your field when you reap, and do not gather any gleaning from your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am Yahweh your Elohim.’ ”

Again proving that Yahweh’s heart has always been that of “inclusion” and not “exclusion!” The poor and those who were not Yisra’el, but were of the nations and tender towards the things of Yahweh, HE will not exclude from His Kingdom any who are lovers of Truth and believe!

May you be a lover of Truth and may you be walking in belief! As Yahweh gives revelation, we plan to have the 3rd article on the Fall Feasts posted soon!

The Sabbath and Spring Feasts of Yahweh

Leviticus 23

Verses 1-2 And Yahweh spoke to Mosheh, saying, “Speak to the children of Yisrael and say to them, ‘The appointed times of Yahweh, which you are to proclaim as set-apart gatherings, My appointed times, are these:

Clearly, these verses establish that these “moedim” (appointments) are not feasts of man but are Yahweh’s Feasts. They are Feasts that His people are to observe and proclaim through “set-apart” gatherings on the days and in the ways that He establishes.

Verses 3-4 Six days work is done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a set-apart gathering. You do no work, it is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings. These are the appointed times of Yahweh, set-apart gatherings which you are to proclaim at their appointed times.”

The weekly 7th day Sabbath is included as the beginning of the appointments that are commanded by Yahweh to observe and proclaim. (See article on “Catholic Quotes admitting to changing the Sabbath”)

Verse 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between the evenings, is the Passover to Yahweh.”

Under the Old Covenant, the Passover is to commemorate Yisrael’s deliverance from the bondage of slavery in Egypt, by the power of Yahweh (Exodus 12), and also serves prophetically as a look into the New Covenant and the future sacrifice of “The Lamb of Yahweh who takes away the sins of the world”, who’s blood is applied to the believer’s life by belief, thus being delivered from sin and death. (John 1:29, 36 & Rev. 5:12)

Verse 6-8 And on the fifteenth day of this month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread to Yahweh – seven days you eat unleavened bread. On the first day you have a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work. And you shall bring an offering made by fire to Yahweh for seven days. On the seventh day is a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work.”

This Festival, under the Old Covenant, is to commemorate the day that Yisrael left Egypt. (Exodus 12:17) Leaven (in type) signifies sin. Thus, “unleavened” speaks of without sin. Having been delivered from the bondage of slavery and idolatry, Yisrael must now begin the process of removing the leaven (sin of unbelief) that permeates their lives.

And for us, in the New Covenant who believe in Messiah’s death and resurrection must allow the Set-apart Spirit to teach, guide, convict and change us from the influences of Adam, the “old man” into the image of Yah’s Son, Yahshua“the new man”.(Yohanan 14:15-26, Ephesians 4:22-24)

Verses 9-14 And Yahweh spoke to Mosheh saying, “Speak to the children of Yisrael and you shall say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, for your acceptance. On the morrow after the Sabbath the priest waves it. And on that day when you wave the sheaf, you shall prepare a male lamb a year old, a perfect one, as a burnt offering to Yahweh, and its grain offering: two-tenths of an of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to Yahweh, a sweet fragrance, and its drink offering: one-fourth of a hin of wine. And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”

The verses seem pretty self explanatory for Yisrael under the Old Covenant. They emphasize the importance of acknowledging Yahweh FIRST in all that is received. It is the responsibility of the priest to acknowledge through the lifting and (literally) shaking the first of the first-fruits to Yahweh along with a perfect male lamb a year old offered on the alter along with the accompanying flour, oil, and wine offerings.

The relevance to us in the New Covenant is the acknowledging of Yahshua as typified by;

Sheaf of the first-fruits1Cor.15:20-23But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, and has become the first-fruit of those having fallen asleep. For since death is through a man, resurrection of the dead is also through a Man. For as all die in Adam so also all shall be made alive in Messiah. And each in his own order: Messiah the first-fruits, then those who are of Messiah at His coming…”

The PriestHeb.4:14 Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Yahshua the Son of Elohim, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who was tried in all respects as we are, apart from sin.”

The Perfect Male LambJohn 1:29 “On the next day Yohanan saw Yahshua coming toward him, and said, “See, the Lamb of Elohim who takes away the sin of the world!(1Pet.1:18-19; Rev.12:11)

The burnt offering (offered once to be consumed) to Yahweh – 1Pet.3:18 Because even Messiah once suffered for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to Elohim, having been put to death indeed in flesh but made alive in the Spirit…”

Grain / Fine Flour – Bread /Body / Wine /BloodLk. 22:19-20 And taking bread, giving thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you, do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the (new) covenant in My blood which is shed for you.(1Cor.11:23-29)

Oil / Anointing – Heb.1:8-9 But to the Son He says, “Your throne, O Elohim, is forever and ever, a scepter of straightness is the scepter of Your reign. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Because of this, Elohim, Your Elohim, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

These are just three of the seven Feasts of Yahweh according to the Scriptures. On this site we will be posting on going commentary on these and the Summer and Fall Feasts as Yahwah gives us revelation and opportunity! Our desire is that you, as a lover of Truth, will be encouraged and edified by these efforts!

For further study, click on these links: “The Summer Feasts” and “Comparing The OLD Covenant To The New Covenant“.

From Sabbath to Sunday

From Sabbath To Sunday – Who Changed it?

The Scripture says; Deu 5:12-14 “Guard the Sabbath day, to set it apart, as יהוה your Elohim commanded you. ‘Six days you labour, and shall do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of יהוה your Elohim. You do not do any work – you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, so that your male servant and your female servant rest as you do.” We (Messiah Fellowship) have to decided to believe and obey The Truth as written in the Scriptures.

The following are quotes from Catholic writings and their officials regarding their perceived authority to change The 7th day Sabbath to Sunday. (You decide.)

“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change (Saturday Sabbath to Sunday) was her act... And the act is a MARK of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things.” H.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons.

Sunday is our MARK of authority. . .the church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact” Catholic Record of London, Ontario Sept 1,1923.

The Catholic Mirror (a publication by Cardinal Gibbons) Sept. 2, 1893- “…the Redeemer, during His mortal life, never kept any other day than Saturday.”

The Catholic Mirror Sept. 9, 1893- “Nor can we imagine any one foolhardy enough to question the identity of Saturday with the Sabbath or seventh day, seeing that the people of Israel have been keeping the Saturday from the giving of the Law, A.M., 2514 to A.D. 1893 (to the present day)…”

 The Catholic Mirror Sept.9, 1893- “We deem it necessary to be perfectly clear on this point….The Bible- the Old Testament- confirmed by the living tradition of weekly practice for 3383 years by the chosen people of God, teaches, then, with absolute certainty, that God had, Himself, named the day “to be kept holy to Him“- that the day was Saturday, and that any violation of that command was punishable with death.”

 Martin J. Scott- Things Catholics Are Asked About (1927) “Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday …. Now the Church … instituted, by God’s authority, Sunday as the day of worship. This same Church, by the same divine authority, taught the doctrine of Purgatory long before the Bible was made. We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as we have for Sunday.

 John Laux- A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies (1 936) “Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath. But this theory is now entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His Church the power to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable as Holy Days. The Church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added other days as holy days.”

(See article, “The Names of the Days of the week“)

Peter R. Kraemer- Catholic Church Extension Society (1975), Chicago, Illinois. “Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:”1) That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.”2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church, instituted by Christ to teach and guide man through life, has the right to change the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday. We frankly say, yes, the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, the laws concerning mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws. “It is always somewhat laughable, to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible.

The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church.” Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today (1868), p. 213

“Reasoned and sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday Catholicism and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible. James Cardinal Gibbons. Catholic mirror, December 23, 1893

“Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever  did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed  from Saturday to Sunday. “The day of the Lord” was chosen, not from any  direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the Church’s sense of its own power …. People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole  authority, should logically become Seventh-day Adventists, and keep Saturday  holy.” (Saint Catherine Church Sentinel, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995.)

Sunday is a Catholic institution and its claim to observance can be  defended only on Catholic principles …. From beginning to end of Scripture  there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public  worship from the last day of the week to the first.” (Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August, 1990.)

Question: How prove you that the church had power command feasts and holydays?

Answer: By the very fact of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and keep most other feasts commanded by the same church. (See article, “Christian Holi-Days“)

Question: Have any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals precept?

Answer: Had she not such power, she could not a done that in which all modern religionists agree with her;-she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the way, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day of the week, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority. “-Stephen Keenan, a doctrinal catechism, p. 174

“It was the Catholic church by the authority of Jesus Christ, which has transferred this rest to Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Therefore the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the Catholic church.” – Mgr, Segur Plain Talk about Protestantism of today page 213 (See article, “6 Reasons Why The Roman / Latin “Jesus” Cannot be Messiah“)

“If protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath Day. In keeping the Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church.” Albert Smith, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the cardinal in a letter of Feb. 10, 1920.

Protestants do not realize that by observing Sunday, they accept the authority of the spokesperson of the Church, the Pope. -Our Sunday Visitor», 5 February 1950.)

“1. Is Saturday the 7th day according to the Bible and the 10 Commandments?
“I answer yes.
“2. Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the 7th day, Saturday, for Sunday, the 1st day?
“I answer yes.
“3. Did Christ change the day?
“I answer no! Faithfully yours, “J. Cardinal Gibbons” Gibbons’ autograph letter.

“From this we may understand how great is the authority of the church in interpreting or explaining
to us the commandments of God- an authority which is acknowledged by the universal practice of the whole Christian world, even of those sects profess to take the holy Scriptures as their sole rule of faith, since they observe as the day of rest not the seventh day of the week demanded by the Bible, but the first day. Which we know is to be kept holy, only from the tradition and teaching of the Catholic church.” – Henry Gibson “Catechism Made Easy” No 2 ninth edition volume one pp. 341, 342 Authoritative quotations on the Sabbath and Sunday.

“Reason and sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday Catholicism and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible. -James Cardinal Gibbons. Catholic mirror, December 23, 1893

The Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday. -The Catholic Universe Bulletin, Aug. 14, 1942, p.4

No such law in the Bible “Nowhere in the bible do we find that Jesus or the apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is, the seventh day of the week, Saturday. Today, most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman] church outside the bible.” Catholic Virginian, Oct. 3, 1947

Two following quotes are from, Rome’s Challenge “Why do Protestants keep Sunday?”
The Adventists are the only body of Christians with the Bible as their teacher, who could find no warrant in its pages for the change of day from the seventh to the first. Hence their appellation,” Seventh-day Adventists. “They’re cardinal principle consists in setting apart Saturday for the exclusive worship of God, in conformity with the positive command of God Himself, repeatedly reiterated in the sacred books of the Old and New testaments, literally kept by the children of Israel for thousands of years to this day, and endorsed by the teaching and practice of the Son of God while on earth.” -Rome’s Challenge, page two

“Is not yet too late for Protestants to redeem themselves. Will they do it?… will they indeed take the written word only, the Scripture alone, as their sole authority and their sole standard? Or will they still hold the indefensible, self contradictory, and suicidal doctrine and practice of following the authority of the Catholic church and wear the SIGN of her authority? Will they keep the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day, according to Scripture? Or will they keep the Sunday according to the tradition of the Catholic church, -Rome’s challenge, page 31