The Deep Abiding Mysteries of the Aaronic Blessing-My Thoughts and Reflections of Torah Reading 104

by | Oct 20, 2023 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Greetings and Salutations

 

Greetings, Saints of the Most High. This Rod coming to you from the DFW, thanking you for taking the time from your busy schedules to fellowship with me on this glorious Shabbat. As always, I hope, trust, and pray that this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer finds you, your families, and your fellowships well and blessed.

 

As I am recording and posting this installment of TMTO, we are just 5-days into the 8th month of Yah’s biblical calendar year: Shabbat, 10/21/2023. And you would agree that we live in ever-increasing perilous times. So much is going on around us in terms of the horrific crisis in Israel, violent protests erupting throughout the world, our U.S. government in seeming chaos, the cost of living here in the U.S. adversely impacting our pocketbooks, crime, and wickedness abounding throughout every nook and cranny of this nation and the world.

 

But despite the somberness that is hovering over this generation today, we who are of the redeemed of Yehovah Elohim know that He is firmly seated upon the throne. He has everything under control. And all He requires of us, His chosen ones, is that we walk in our beloved Faith. You see, when facing similar times of unrest and wickedness and impending death and destruction of his nation, the prophet Habakkuk queried Yah as to what it was that He had planned for His remnant people and what His remnant people must do in light of the tragedies that were coming upon them. Yah instructed Habakkuk, “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith” (2:4).

 

We have been called to image Yah in all the earth for such a time as this beloved, and it is our purpose and duty to walk in our Faith despite the craziness that is going on about us. So, we continue to walk in Yah’s ways and do those things that our Master Yeshua tasked us with doing such as the Great Commission and bearing good fruit in the midst of a corrupt and evil world. This means we keep Yah’s weekly Sabbath with all the gusto, joy, and fervor we can muster. If we say that Yah is still on the throne and the weekly Sabbaths belong to Him, He expects us to show up and be in His presence. It doesn’t mean that we completely forget all of the woes that are going on around the world. It just means for the next 24 hours, Yah owns our person and attention. Therefore, let us keep Shabbat. At the very least, let us keep Shabbat for those in harm’s way who cannot keep a proper Shabbat.

 

Amein.

 

The Aaronic Blessing Introduced

 

In last week’s post, I mentioned that at least until Yah says otherwise, we would not be discussing the weekly Torah Readings as we’ve done on this program for the past few years. Well, I am about to break my word by discussing the content of this week’s Torah Reading Number 104 of the 3-year Torah Reading Cycle.

 

As I was studying this coming Sabbath’s Reading, I came upon the portion where Yah instructed Aharon and Sons to confer upon His people the following blessing:

 

(24) Yehovah bless you and guard or keep you;

(25) Yehovah make His face shine upon you and show favor (or be gracious) to you;

(26) Yehovah lift up His face or countenance upon you, and give you peace (i.e., shalom) (Num. 6; ISR).

 

And Yah concluded this blessing instruction by clarifying that this is how Aharon and sons were to place His matchless Name upon the children of Yisra’el, which, in effect, Yah would bless them (6:27).

 

I was so blessed by my study of this portion of the Reading that I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts and reflections on what is famously referred to as the Aaronic Blessing or the Aaronic Benediction.

 

Given the time constraints, I will not go too deep into the woods on the Aaronic Blessing in this discussion. But I do want to highlight what I suggest are the essential mysteries of this beautiful and significant pronouncement.

 

What is a Blessing in the First Place?

 

To begin with, let’s discuss what the term or the act of blessing means from a Hebraic perspective.

 

Most of us have been conditioned or taught that the term bless means to bring or confer happiness or some physical or spiritual benefit upon an individual. And from a religious standpoint, happiness comes from something that the receiving individual is doing that is favorable to Yehovah. In other words, one is put into a state of happiness or improved state of being due to some good that they are or have been engaged in.

 

So, when we talk about the act of being blessed or blessing someone, the fundamental concepts of “favor,” “happiness,” “worship,” and or “praise” come to mind, depending on the context in which the blessing is rendered. And certainly, all of these concepts are valid to a greater or lesser degree.

 

But let’s look at the term “bless” at a higher level.

 

Blessing or being blessed is primarily centered within the paradigm or perspective of Yah conferring His favor upon His set-apart ones. And this act of Yah conferring upon Yisra’elites favor can take the form of (1) physical prosperity, including affluence and power; and or (2) wholeness or well-being (both physical and spiritual), which translates into a healthy, well-lived life (e.g., Gen. 39:5).

 

Our English term “bless” is “barak” in Hebrew. It’s a 3-letter verb spelled bet-resh-kaph.

 

Anciently, when we spell out barak for deeper meaning, we come up with the following:

 

  • B or bet is depicted as a tent floor plan.
  • R or resh is depicted as the head of a man.
  • K or kaph denotes an open palm.

 

Barak derives from the idea of “bending one’s knee” in homage, adoration, or favor to another. And when we factor in our ancient pictograph spelling of barak, we are presented with this picture of one offering a gift or giving honor or homage to someone.

 

The act of blessing is not restricted to Yehovah, although the Aharonic Blessing must be treated as Yehovah being the source of all good and perfect gifts. People can undoubtedly bless one another and also bless Yehovah. In obedience to Yah’s Torah that commands us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves and love Yehovah with our whole being, we are obliged to do so.

 

But the Aharonic Blessing is focused solely upon Yah blessing His chosen ones. It embodies Yah conferring His favor (his gifts, his love) upon His obedient children, which we will get a little deeper into in just a few. And those of us who have been in the Nazarene Yisra’el Faith any length of time no doubt have experienced a Torah teacher or assembly leader pronounce the Aharonic Blessing over us. But apart from the warmth of the pronouncement over us as we prepare to depart the gathering, did you ever consider what exactly was being pronounced over you?

 

Misconceptions About Blessings

 

Most of us have been conditioned to think that blessings come from the individual verbalizing the blessing upon us, whether it be a Catholic Priest, a Rabbi, a Messianic leader or teacher, or even a denominationalist preacher or minister. And no doubt most of the congregants having the pronouncement declared over them believe that the one delivering the pronouncement or blessing or benediction, because of their honored status as a leader of that assembly, possesses the spiritual goods to deliver on the blessings being declared upon them. That somehow, that assembly leader is the one blessing them.

 

But truth be told when delivered within the context of the worship of the God of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov, the one pronouncing the blessing is simply a conduit who verbalizes Yah’s favor upon the worshipers, for only Yah can deliver upon the goods of His favor towards His set-apart people.

 

As humans, we can undoubtedly bless or enrich others through the limited means of providing the object of our affection material, economic, logistical, and loving-kindness blessings. We can also bless Yehovah through our obedience and trusting Faith, as well as our sacrifices (i.e., our sacrifices of praise, worship, and adoration). However, as beautifully illustrated in the Aharonic Blessing, Yah’s blessings surpass any conceivable efforts of grace and blessings that we, in our limited human capacity, could ever hope to deliver.

 

The Ahaonic Blessing, some have classified as a liturgical benediction, affords the one with eyes to see, ears to hear, and minds and hearts willing to receive and walk out a glimpse into the extent of the love and favor that Yah so desperately wants to confer upon those who are His.

 

Through the Prophet Jeremiah, Yah explained to an exasperated Judah who doubted His love for her:

 

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith Yehovah. Thoughts of peace, and not of evil. To give you an expected end” (29:11; KJV).

 

Beloved, this is the essence of the Aharonic Blessing: That being Yah’s righteous and loving thoughts and desires He has for His chosen ones. Yah desperately wants to see to the wholeness and well-being of His chosen ones, and He promises to deliver on those set-apart thoughts and desires.

 

Unpacking the Aaronic Blessing

 

The Aaronic Blessing is contained in just three verses of Numbers/Bemidbar 6. But despite this blessing being contained in just 15 Hebrew words, volumes of books have, and no doubt will continue, to be written about its profound implications for the child of Yehovah.

 

The framework of the blessing is as follows:

 

  1. Physical blessings speak to the receiver of the blessing belonging or being a possession of Yehovah (6:24).
  2. Spiritual blessings which speak to the grace of Yehovah (6:25).
  3. The blessing of shalom (6:26).

 

Tradition contends that this blessing was pronounced upon Temple visitors by the Cohen haGadol and the Levitical Priests after the daily Temple sacrifices (i.e., the “duchan”), pronounced both in the morning and the evening. A derivative of this has become part of the Jewish synagogues’ Amidah (i.e., the authorized Jewish Prayer Book, pg. 53). But the rabbis have restricted its use, whereby it is pronounced on synagogue attendees only on Feast Days that do not fall on the weekly Shabbat. Contrast this with what we see in many of our Messianic Congregations and Assemblies today. The popularity of the Aharonic Blessing holds a premiere place in every Sabbath gathering and is usually pronounced over the attendees at the end of the gathering or miqra.

 

Further Rabbinic restrictions placed on the Aharonic Blessing include:

 

  • It can only be declared upon a Jewish congregation.
  • It can only be pronounced by a certified Rabbi from a standing position.
  • It has to be delivered with the Rabbi extending His hands towards the attendees. Some may even form the Tetragrammaton with their fingers extended outward towards the congregants.
  • The Rabbi must be sober when declaring it.
  • It must be delivered only in Hebrew.

 

Although such rabbinic restrictions may seem annoying and overreaching to some of us in the Messianic Faith, they cause us to stop and reflect upon the deep, abiding, spiritual implications of this blessing.

 

We must remember, beloved, that this blessing came from the very mouth of Yehovah. It is not about, or rather, it goes deeper than the rote recitation many Messianic Congregations and modern-day psalmists engage in. The rabbinic sages insist: (1) that the one pronouncing the blessing have “knowledge and loving understanding of the person or cause to be blessed (J.H. Hertz; Torah Haftarah; pg. 594). (2) The one delivering the blessing must be right with Yehovah. The reasoning should be apparent: How can one pronounce Yah’s blessing upon another who, when they themselves, are not in right standing with Yehovah? (3) The pronouncement given only in Hebrew seems all the more preferable, although this appears more idealistic than Yah-inspired and Yah-required. What I mean is, if either party to this blessing equation is ignorant of the Hebrew tongue, should the Aharonic blessing be forfeited? Probably not. Yah’s love for His people transcends the spoken language, and that is why, because of His eternal grace, He has made available to the world His Word in just about every known language on the planet with few exceptions. (4) The one pronouncing the blessing must be in a ritually pure or clean state that would qualify him to conduct the daily animal sacrifices and then be heard by Yehovah. This includes the pronouncer of the blessing being sobber, free from intoxicants, which includes being free from malice, prejudices, and hatred that would serve to cloud the pronouncer’s suitability to declare the blessing upon anyone.

 

So we find in 6:24 the first blessing: “YHVH bless thee and keep thee.”

 

As I touched upon previously, the blessings that flow from Yehovah always carry with them a tone of “wholeness” for the Yisra’elite that encompasses the focus of the blessing, such as life, health, strength, prosperity, which includes food, clothing, and shelter.

 

When this blessing leaves the mouth of the priest and becomes an established reality in the life of the Yisra’elite, it is meant to enact Yah’s divine protection and provision over that Yisra’elite. Thus, this panoply of divine protection and provision safeguards the receiver of the blessing against “evil, sickness, poverty, and calamity” (Hertz, pg. 595). Yehovah is the only entity in the universe that can truly deliver this blessing.

 

We find in 6:25 the second blessing: “YHVH make His face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee.”

 

Relationship is the very foundation of this second blessing. This blessing expresses the hope that YHVH will be a friend to the Yisra’elite, whereby Yah shows or expresses His abiding love for them. This love for the Yisra’elite, by necessity, leads to the Yisra’elite’s yeshua–their salvation. There is no purer, more powerful love in existence. So powerful and existential is this shining grace, or Yah’s face being turned toward the Yisra’elite, that David feared having Yah’s face hidden from him due to his transgressions.

 

The rabbis have gone out of their way to stifle the profound understanding of this lovely blessing. They’ve equated the light of Yah’s face as being that of philosophical, physical, emotional, and religious enlightenment” (ibid.). Absent any other sound explanation for this blessing, their enlightenment explanation would be better than no explanation. One of the Hebraic perspectives of divine light, particularly the light that flows from Yah, is knowledge, understanding, truth, and enlightenment. But in this particular context, Yehovah’s divine favor, His love for His beloved, transcends that of such enlightments, for I contend that such enlightenments do not require a loving relationship between the Yisra’elite and Yehovah. Through the centuries, Yah’s eternal Words have enlightened many, yet their lives do not reflect a true obedience of Faith. So, I reject the whole enlightenment concept for this blessing.

 

Furthermore, people find themselves enlightened by a great many things other than the things of Yah. Some are enlightened by environmental concerns, others by secular literature, science, philosophies, their own sense of self-worth, and so forth.

 

However, the light of Yah’s face is more about one’s relationship with the Almighty than anything else.

 

Then, the hope that Yah will be gracious to the Yisra’elite is predicated upon their relationship with Yehovah, and because of the Yisra’elite’s loving and intimate relationship with Yah, the priest’s blessing pronouncement expressed hope that Yehovah will “graciously fulfill their petitions” and needs (ibid., pg. 595).

 

From a rabbinic standpoint, however, the hope put forth to the Yisra’elite by the priest is more about the Yisra’elite appearing favorably to their fellow man and to Yehovah than anything else. That graciousness is about the Yisra’elite being blown up or exalted before Yehovah and their brethren. There’s a selfishness that becomes embedded in this understanding that diminishes the solemnity of this set-apart blessing, which is not part of its original purpose.

 

The Yisra’elite has been called, set apart, to image and reflect the Person of Yehovah to an unbelieving world. This portion of the Aharonic Blessing, whereby the hope is for Yah’s face to shine upon the Yisra’elite and for Yah to be gracious to the Yisra’elite, is essential for that one to accomplish their God-given purpose and function in the world. Without Yah’s enlightened presence and grace resting upon the Yisra’elite, he/she cannot accomplish their purpose and calling.

 

Lastly, we find in 6:26: “YHVH lift up His countenance upon thee and give you peace (i.e., shalom). “

 

This last blessing is simply a hope that the Yisra’elite has Yah’s attention. Again, we are talking about a set-apart relationship that must exist between the Yisra’elite and Yehovah if this blessing is to be of any true relevance.

 

The peace or shalom in this portion of the blessing is the hope that the Yisra’elite be made whole in every aspect of their being.

 

You know, shalom has two avenues associated with it: There is personal shalom and community shalom. The true Yisra’elite cannot sit still for long when they see their community embroiled in chaos and turmoil and not do something to address the problem. The automatic response or desire that the true Yisra’elite should possess is one that desperately yearns for a return to peace or wholeness. This is where worldwide peace or shalom starts: It begins with the single Yisra’elite being blessed with shalom or wholeness, and then that one branches out and assists in facilitating shalom in the broader community of Yisra’el. And so, if the hope for shalom is indeed manifested along both lanes of this allegorical highway–that being individual shalom and community shalom–then a broader, more global shalom would conceivably be possible.

 

Thus, it all starts with the Great Commandment to love Yah with one’s being and, from there, love one’s neighbor as one loves oneself.

 

That which falls short of biblical peace or shalom is chaos. And that is why the Gospel of the Kingdom was, and remains, the most extraordinary incident of divine intervention into the affairs of man. The Gospel is about the Coming Kingdom, the Malchut Elohim. And when the Malchut Elohim is finally manifested in the not-too-distant future, I believe that King Yahoshua Messiah will begin restoring the paradise and the shalom lost when Adam fell.

 

Although not a part of the Aharonic Blessing, we find in 6:27 what I would describe as clarification for the whole of the Aharonic Blessing: “So shall they (they being Aharon and sons) put My Name upon the children of Yisra’el, and I will bless them.”

 

The Hebraic conception of Yah placing His matchless Name on a person, place, or thing implies undisputed ownership by Yehovah. This exclusive ownership comes with the benefits of the blessings pronounced in the aforementioned declaration (ref. Isa. 44:5; Rev. 22:4). And it is Yeshua HaMashiach that mediates Yah’s blessings over Nazarene Yisra’el.

 

Yeshua, our High Priest, operating in the heavenly Mishkan, pronounces Yah’s blessings over each of us, Nazarene Yisra’el. He possesses Yah’s Name, and He, in turn, invokes Yah’s Name upon the chosen ones, which opens up a storehouse of blessings to the ones Yehovah loves. Does this make null and void any Messianic Leader’s pronouncement of the Aharonic Blessing over their congregants? I don’t believe that it does. It only solidifies the realities of promised blessings that Yah will bring to His chosen, set-apart people who are called by His matchless Name.

 

We find in Exodus/Shemote 20:24 where Yehovah declared or pronounced that He would come and commune and bless the people if they agreed to the terms of the covenant.

 

What are the Realities of Yehovah’s Name Being Placed Upon His People?

 

The conferring of Yah’s matchless Name upon the covenant-keeping Yisra’elite is powerfully indicative of the following:

 

  1. Yah’s steadfast love for His children.
  2. The blessed Yisra’elite belongs to Yehovah. He is Yah’s child, even His firstborn, possessing all of the benefits and privileges that come with being a child of the King of the Universe. A familial, even a paternal, relationship is strongly implied here in this blessing.
  3. The blessed Yisra’elite is in an inextricable covenant relationship with the Almighty, meaning they will conform to Yehovah’s expressed Will.
  4. Because the blessed Yisra’elite is a child of Yehovah, King of the Universe, they reflect His image in the earth.
  5. There is an at-one-ness between the Yisra’elite and Yehovah.

 

By receiving Yah’s matchless Name upon oneself, the Yisra’elite assumes the identity of the One True Elohim. The Yisra’elite’s humanly given name is no longer relevant in the whole spiritual scheme of things. That name is fraught with countless problems: physical, emotional, and spiritual baggage, transgressions, and so forth. Yah has selected us, from all the nation peoples of the earth, to receive His glorious, matchless Name, His authority, His set-apartness.

 

This linking of His Name to His chosen ones is how every blessing mentioned in this reading is to come to the Nazarene Yisra’elite. There is no other Name by which blessings will come to the true Yisra’elite. Yah’s set apart people.

 

As mentioned previously, tradition suggests that the Cohen Gadol blessed the people daily in connection to the Temple’s daily sacrifices. This has tremendous prophetic significance, pointing the Netzer to the immeasurable blessings to be had by them by the Person and Ministry of Yeshua Messiah.

 

Closing Thoughts on the Aharonic Blessing

 

The Aharonic Blessing also cements the fact that every true blessing comes from Yehovah. Of this reality, James, the half-brother of our Master Yeshua, wrote: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights with Whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (1:17; KJV).

 

When pronouncing this blessing upon the people, the Levitical Priest served as Yah’s sanctioned intermediary through whom each blessing would flow, and Yah’s Name would be conferred upon the Yisra’elite. The blessings came not through the precise recitation of this passage but through the Will and heart of Yehovah to instill these blessings and His matchless Name upon His set-apart people. But for these blessings to be truly enacted, the Yisra’elite in line to receive the blessings had to be in a right relationship with Yehovah. Yah favors those keeping their end of the covenant relationship He shares with them. He gives good gifts to His children as Yeshua taught His disciples (Luk. 11:11-13).

 

So, as we offer unto Yehovah our sacrifices daily, our Cohen haGadol, operating out of the heavenly Mishkan (i.e., Temple where He intercedes for us night and day), confers upon us Yehovah’s blessings and Yehovah’s Name (ref. Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:27, 34).

 

In closing, Shaul wrote that the promises of Yehovah (i.e., His blessings) are “yes and amen” in Yeshua Messiah (2 Cor. 1:20). Therefore, the only means by which the Aharonic Blessing will be of any real significance for the child of Yehovah is through the Yisra’elite maintaining their covenant relationship with the Almighty through the Person and Ministry of Yeshua Messiah. Therefore, let us remain steadfast in our commitment to our Faith so that we may reap the untold blessings that come with being a child of the Most High.

 

Shabbat Shalom.

Shavuatov.

Until next time beloved, may you be blessed fellow saint in training.

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TMTO Ministry Update and My Thoughts and Reflections on Hamas’ Invasion of Israel

by | Oct 13, 2023 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

There are two things I wish to cover in this installment of TMTO. The first will be an update on this ministry: What’s happening and what’s ahead. Secondly, I want to share my thoughts and reflections on the terrible, tragic, horrific, heinous events that transpired this past week in Yisra’el.

 

TMTO Ministry Update

 

  • As I post this installment of TMTO, we will have just concluded our celebration and honoring of Sukkot with our family locally here in the DFW. (Brief expounding)
  • TMTO is officially back as a weekly Messianic teaching podcast program. This means we will resume weekly teachings and commentary as before we went on hiatus beginning in November 2022. However, we will now be deviating from our previous teachings and commentary, which were based primarily on the weekly Torah Portions. Over this past year’s hiatus, I have been seeking Yah’s direction and guidance as to which direction He wanted TMTO to go moving forward. And what has become abundantly clear to me as a result of my seeking Yah’s direction is that TMTO’s focus (at least until Yah tells me otherwise) will primarily be based on issues and topics related to the coming Kingdom of Elohim–the Kingdom of God/Malchut Elohim.
    • That said, we will be delivering the true Gospel of the Kingdom to the nation peoples of the world in a way that only The Messianic Torah Observer can deliver it.
    • The mission and goal of this platform and ministry is to equip and prepare a people to receive and enter the Malchut Elohim of the here and now and of the world tomorrow.
    • I believe there’s nothing more important in these perilous times than to preach and teach the Gospel of the Kingdom, warn the modern nations of Yisra’el to repent, and prepare themselves to receive the Malchut Elohim through Yeshua-focused Torah Living.
  • I am continuing work on the book of which I have a working title, “The Beatitudinal Personas/Personages of the Kingdom-focused Messianic, ” that I hope to complete by this Gregorian Year’s end.
  • Lastly, we’re thinking about publishing a monthly email newsletter. Consequently, we will be jimming up a new subscription list, which means we will also purge our old email list. So, any email subscriptions we hold in our database older than November 2022 will be purged. And that leads me to this: If you have been blessed by the content of this ministry and are led to support this ministry, we would humbly ask that you consider supporting this ministry by two means: The first by subscribing to TMTO from our website: org. The second means is this: If you are not already committed to supporting another ministry that is feeding you, and you are so led by Father, that you prayerfully consider supporting this ministry with your financial gifts. This internet ministry is a labor of love funded by our financial resources and the generous financial gifts of those who give to this ministry. We do not personally take any pay whatsoever for the work we do for this ministry. Abba has generously blessed us to have a comfortable, liveable income, which means that any financial gifts you are led to give will go exclusively to maintaining and even expanding this ministry’s footprint on the World Wide Web. You can subscribe and donate by going to themessianictorahobserver.org, scrolling to the bottom of the landing page, and accessing the appropriate fields.
    • Thank you in advance for your support of TMTO as we prepare and equip a people that will be wholly acceptable unto Yehovah to receive and enter His glorious Kingdom. Praise Yah!

 

Reflections on Hamas’ Invasion of Israel (Which Some Have Dubbed Israel’s 911)

 

Horrific and Terrible Evil Perpetrated Upon the Innocents of Yisrael

 

My thoughts and reflections on this past Sabbath’s horrific attacks on Southern Yisra’el by Hamas terrorists are pretty much in alignment with those of most people of Faith-at least as it relates to the terrible atrocities that were committed and continue to be meted out on the innocents of the Land. My prayers are for them, for the safety and shalom of the remnant who may be caught in the midst of this ongoing modern-day holocaust. Indeed, pure evil is behind this terrible tragedy, certainly at both the human and spiritual levels. Both the human and spiritual sides of this equation are acting in perfect concert, as they often do. I am convinced that the atrocities that have and are continuing to be committed by Hamas and her proxies are the result of human entities availing themselves to the will and purpose of evil spiritual entities and or of the fallen ones who have set themselves against Yehovah and His chosen ones from the very beginning.

 

I have personal thoughts and concerns regarding how the government of Yisra’el should address what many in the media complex call Israel’s 9-11. However, I have been led to believe that those thoughts are not appropriate for this forum. So, I’ll keep them to myself.

 

But I will say this about the modern nation-state of Yisra’el, particularly in light of this present crisis.

 

God Protects Yisra’el (When Yisra’el is on Good Terms with God)

 

Psalm 121 gives us insight into God’s willingness to protect those who are His. The writer, no doubt inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote this beautiful liturgy regarding Yah’s protection:

 

1I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains:

From whence shall my help come?

2My help cometh from Jehovah,

Who made heaven and earth.

3He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:

He that keepeth thee will not slumber.

4Behold, he that keepeth Israel

Will neither slumber nor sleep.

5Jehovah is thy keeper:

Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6The sun shall not smite thee by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7Jehovah will keep thee from all evil;

He will keep thy soul.

8Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in

From this time forth and for evermore.

American Standard Version (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995), Ps 121:1–8.

 

The Jewish Scribe Ezra, at the cusp of Yisra’el’s return to the Land of Promise after years of Babylonian Captivity, confirmed the Psalmist’s proclamation:

 

21Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. 22For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. 23So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.

American Standard Version (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995), Ezr 8:21–23.

 

Has God Lifted His Hand of Protection from Yisra’el

 

But we know from scriptural history that Yisra’el’s stiffnecked persona has time and time again led to a complete reversal of Yah’s protective hand over her. It’s not that Yehovah personally meted out judgment and punishment upon His beloved Yisra’el, but rather, Yah’s hand of protection was withdrawn from her when she fell out of covenant with Yehovah and into perpetual sin. And I believe this is what we’re seeing happen in the nation-state of Yisrael today with these terrible attacks from Hamas from the south and Hezbollah from her northern border with Lebanon/Syria.

 

Yisra’el has time and time again, not done herself any favors with Yehovah. Instead, she has put herself in harm’s way due to her refusal to teshuvah and be faithful to her Elohim. And despite the many and constant sugar-coated sermons and teachings touting Yah’s exclusive protection over Yisra’el, her sin and failure to teshuvah and walk in Yah’s covenant and give up her stiffnecked ways has, of course, led to Yah withdrawing His hand of protection from her.

 

We’ve seen example after example of this throughout the ages, yet when Yah provides Yisra’el relief from her tribulations, she still refuses to straighten up and fly right.

 

Reflecting upon Yisra’el’s destruction by the Babylonian hoards in the 6th century BC, Jeremiah, the presumed writer of the Cepher of Lamentations, wrote:

 

2 How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger!

He hath cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel,

And hath not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.

2The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied:

He hath thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;

He hath brought them down to the ground; he hath profaned the kingdom and the princes thereof.

3He hath cut off in fierce anger all the horn (i.e., the power and favor) of Israel;

He hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy:

And he hath burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.

American Standard Version (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995), La 2.

 

Beloved, understand where I’m coming from on this. Yisra’el is our wayward brother whether we like it or not. She is Yah’s chosen people with whom He cut a covenant (Exodus 19). We, as the redeemed of Yehovah, have been engrafted into the commonwealth of Yisra’el. And thus, we have an inextricable link with her. Not with Zionist Yisra’el, mind you, but with true Yisra’el. Remnant Yisra’el. And true Yisra’el–remnant Yisra’el, if you will, is who we must hold up in our prayers as we pray for the peace of Yerushalayim.

 

However, what has happened to the nation-state of Yisra’el this past week is inexcusable at any and all levels of morality and decency. The reports of the atrocities that we’re receiving from various news platforms are nothing short of heartrending. Nevertheless, my point is that Yisra’el, because of her refusal to teshuvah and get back into covenant with Yehovah her Elohim, has left her feloniously open to the attacks we saw played out before us on the news feeds.

 

Master Yeshua lamented over Yisra’el’s impending destruction at the hands of what would be the Roman hoards, laying out before her, in the process, Yisra’el’s dirty laundry of not doing what she was called to do–that is, to be a light to the world and to exclusively serve Yehovah Elohim. Instead, Yisra’el brazenly thumbed her nose at Yehovah, and even today, she has thumbed her nose at her Husband Yehovah, which has, in effect, left her without His protection. Of this situation, Master Yeshua lamented in the hearing of His disciples:

 

34Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: 35that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. 36Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

American Standard Version (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995), Mt 23:34–39.

 

Beloved, what we see happening to those innocents in the Land of Yisra’el is a reiteration of what Master lamented in Matthew 23. The nation has repudiated–rejected–every call to teshuvah–to repentance–to accept Yeshua as her Messiah. Yet she continues to reject her Elohim and violate the terms of her covenant agreement with Him. Instead, she has embraced wholeheartedly the LBGTQ agenda, abortion on demand; she has rejected true Torah living for secularism, humanism, and every “ism” known to man, in particular Zionism. She has essentially become America’s little brother. And like her big brother, the United States of America, she finds herself at a place in time where she is prime for Yah’s wrath, judgment, and terrible tribulation.

 

And so she must get her spiritual house in order more sooner than later. But we know from prophecy that she will not get her act together, at least not anytime soon. In fact, according to Yeshua and the prophets of old, it won’t be until her utter annihilation is just about certain that Yah and His Messiah will step forward and fight for and rescue Yisra’el from the evil nations of this world who will purpose in their hearts to wipe Yisra’el off the face of the earth. And it won’t be until that crucial moment in time that she will finally look upon Him whom they’ve pierced with their words, their actions, and being, and shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him (Zec. 12:10; Mat. 24:30; Rev. 1:7).

 

Despite her persistent obstinance towards her Elohim, according to the Apostle, “all Yisra’el will be saved” for “out of Tziyon will come the Redeemer. He will turn away ungodliness from Ya’achov” (Rom. 11:26; CJB).

 

Father Yah continues to call out to Yisra’el to return to Him so that He may love on them and restore His Arm of Protection round about her. Through the Prophet Isaiah, Yah calls:

 

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

(Isa 55:1-13 KJV)

 

Ye see beloved, Yisra’el, and for that matter, any who would be a child of Yehovah are going to have to do things Yah’s way, or they’re going to have to do things Yah’s way. There’s no two ways about this.

 

Yisra’el Has Yet Again the World’s Attention

 

Despite all of Yisra’el spiritual failures, Yah said of her that she would be an irresistible burden upon all the people-nations of the world:

 

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem” (Zec. 12:2; ESV).

 

In other words, the world’s nations will be forced to take sides as Yisra’el struggles to survive. These will mostly side with Yisra’el’s enemies, unfortunately. And we see it happening right now before our very eyes, beloved. Despite the Western world at large being appalled at what has befallen Yisra’el this past week, the nation peoples of the world are being forced to take sides on the issue being for or against Israel. Regardless of where you or I may fall out on this issue, we are today seeing a growing backlash against the nation and her people, even to the point of some condoning the heinous, barbaric acts that were perpetrated by the Hamas terrorists against the innocents of Yisra’el. But this was inevitable. Because although the nation-state of Yisra’el is Zionist based and secular in its form and function, the country does, just as in the United States of America, possess many Messianic and Torah-observant Jews. And if anything, the enemy–hasatan and his ilk–will always remain focused on destroying Yehovah’s set-apart people. Therefore, the hearts and minds of the world are being purposely turned against anything and any individuals that are in any way tied to Yisra’el. Great persecution of Yah’s set-apart people–not explicitly talking about religious Jews–but true Israelites–remnant Israel–is most certainly at hand.

 

So, Yisra’el, the nation-state, and remnant Yisra’el have a tough road ahead. At the very least, we are called to pray for the peace of Yerushalayim (Psa. 122:6).

 

Why I Avoid Teaching or Discussing Eschatology

 

If you’ve been following me for any appreciable length of time, beloved, you will likely recognize that I avoid, when possible, delving into eschatology and teachings about the end times. There are a number of reasons why I avoid the topic on this platform. One of the main reasons is that most of the prophesies that are attributed to the end times are truly hard to impossible for us to decipher, especially today, because they tend to list nations and peoples who will come against Yisra’el that we no longer have a definitive as to who, what, or where they are today. Yet, we have countless eschatologists who boldly teach, write books, and conduct conferences, assigning present-day nations and peoples to those elements listed in the various prophetic passages of scripture.

 

The specifics related to the players and elements of the end times right now belong to Yehovah, not us. And I believe we should be careful not to read too much into what we see happening in the Land of Yisra’el in terms of End Time prophesies.

 

When asked by His disciples if He would be restoring the Kingdom of Yisra’el at the time of His ascension to Abba Yah, Yeshua responded as follows:

 

“You are not permitted to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth.”

(Act 1:7-8 NET)

 

In other words, beloved, how and when the end times will play out, especially as it relates to when Yeshua will return and when He will bring about the Malchut Elohim, is frankly none of our business. Our business, however, is the assignments and tasks that He has given every disciple of His to complete before He returns (reference the parable of the talents in Matthew 24:14-30). He promised to gift them the power and authority of the Paraclete, the Comforter, and the Holy Spirit (aka, the Ruach Kodesh). And, of course, He delivered on that promise in the grandest fashion on that epic, historic Day of Shavuot or Pentecost 10 days after He ascended on high. And from that point in time moving forward, until His return and establishment of His millennial Kingdom headquartered in Yerushalayim, it is the unwavering, uncompromising responsibility and duty of every disciple of Yeshua to be His witnesses to “the farthest parts of the earth.”

 

But What About the Tanach Prophesies: The Tanach Prophesies Serve as a Prophetic Heads-up with Yisra’el as its Focus

 

Father, in His grace and mercy, gave us prophetic mile-markers that we can sort of look at and recognize when the end times are upon us, such as Yeshua’s Olivet Discourse, Paul’s various admonishments about the end times, and John’s Revelation. Beyond these, I feel it’s a waste of time debating and speculating on the who, when, and where of the Last Days as recorded in the prophecies of Ezekiel and Isaiah and others.

 

Furthermore, things–end-times events, if you will-shall transpire according to Yah’s timing and purpose and will probably not happen at all in the manner that the eschatologists have postulated they will occur. Don’t get me wrong, beloved: There’s nothing wrong with studying the Prophets and contemplating what the end times will look like based on ours or someone else’s interpretation of those prophesies. However, I take the position that we are to focus more on getting our spiritual houses in order, doing that which our Master Yeshua left for us to do, which includes doing our part in the Great Commission and living by walking out our Faith (Hab. 2:4; Heb. 10:38).

 

Is what is happening to the nation-state of Yisra’el today the start of the so-called Ezekiel 38 and 39 War? No, I do not. I re-read these prophecies over the last weekend and immediately recognized that there are a great number of nations and peoples named and numbered in that prophecy that Ezekiel foretold will come upon Yisra’el in an End Time battle that will ultimately result in Yisra’el being delivered from her enemies and the enemies of Yisra’el and of Yehovah being utterly decimated.

 

However, what I believe we’re seeing happening to Yisra’el this past week is more akin to what the Psalmist wrote about in chapter 83:

 

O God, do not be silent! Do not ignore us! Do not be inactive, O God!

2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion; those who hate you are hostile.

3 They carefully plot against your people, and make plans to harm the ones you cherish.

4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”

5 Yes, they devise a unified strategy; they form an alliance against you.

6 It includes the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,

7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre.

8 Even Assyria has allied with them, lending its strength to the descendants of Lot. (Selah)

9 Do to them as you did to Midian– as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River!

10 They were destroyed at Endor; their corpses were like manure on the ground.

11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna,

12 who said, “Let’s take over the pastures of God!”

(Psa 83:1-12 NET)

 

Yeshua Gave us a Prophetic Framework in Which to Discern the Signs of the Times.

 

I believe that the nation-state of Yisra’el will survive this heinous attack, but not without a tremendous amount of bloodshed on all sides: Israelis, the so-called non-terrorist Palestinians, and the various Islamic Terrorist combatants. However, I do not believe this is the great Gog and Magog War written about in Ezekiel 38 and Revelation 20.

 

Now, a few of our cousins in denominationalism and at least one prominent Messianic leader over this last week have come out and declared that what we see happening to Yisra’el is at the very least a precursor to this Gog and Magog War. I will not contradict or challenge these eschatologists on their assertions. They could be right, I just don’t see it for myself. Scripture doesn’t support their ideas.

 

I will, however, bring to your attention what has been famously called by some Bible scholars as the “Olivet Discourse,” which is found in Matthew 24 and 25. (Let us remember that Yeshua delivered this prophetic framework from an Israel-centric perspective.) We are blessed of Yah to have this record despite it not being America-centric in its focus. Instead, it provides us an understanding of the signs of the times, with Yisra’el being the center of all these events so that we may be prepared to face the dark days ahead of us and prepare to receive the coming Kingdom/Malchut Elohim.

 

In this lengthy passage of the Gospel record, Yeshua distills down to His disciples (which today includes us) a general framework of how the End Times will play out. I believe, as disciples of Yeshua Messiah, that it is our responsibility to take to heart this framework and not concern ourselves with the nuances of who, when, and where that so many spend so much time ruminating over in their understanding of the “Ezekiel 38-39 War.”

 

I don’t have the time today to go into the particulars of the Olivet Discourse, but suffice it to say, Abba willing and the crick don’t rise, we will unwrap this critical framework in future posts.

 

But for now, as it relates to this week’s horrific events and now Yisra’el’s impending incursion into Gaza with all the political, moral, and historic handwringing that it is bringing to the world stage, we find in the opening of Master Yeshua’s Olivet Discourse (24:3-8) a general overview of certain events that He declares will lead to the End of the Age (i.e., the end of the age when the fullness of the Gentiles will have come to an end–Rom. 11:25).

 

Master Yeshua gives us just four general events that we should take note of when they occur and not fall prey to deception. Those events are as follows:

 

  1. There will be a Great Deception of the Church (aka the Church Triumphant), which we see happening in ways inconceivable just a few decades ago.
  2. Wars and rumors of wars with nations rising up against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms are part and parcel of what we see happening in Yisra’el this week.
  3. Famines, which the globalists today blame on Climate Change or Global Warming, which those with eyes to see and ears to hear know is not true. The incidents of famine we’re seeing transpire throughout the world today are manufactured by man through the agency of the enemy and the fallen ones. It’s an intentional eradication of humanity by the power brokers of this world.
  4. Earthquakes in various places. Indeed, earthquakes are occurring worldwide in greater frequencies and intensities.

 

Master Yeshua warns us, His disciples, that these are the beginning of birth pangs, which we are not to become alarmed over as we see the world at large doing. Instead, the Netsari Disciple of Yeshua is called to remain focused on His assignments and not be led astray by the various talking heads of our Western World and our governments. Yah is in control, beloved.

 

If Yeshua’s prophetic framework is accurate and truly sequential, which I believe it is, some form of the Abomination of Desolation and an invasion of Yisra’el by the nations of this world will take place sometime in the near future, which I personally believe will be the Ezekiel 38-39 War that all of the religious pundits are falling all over themselves to declare is happening over in Gaza and Yisra’el today. According to Yeshua, these two events will precipitate His glorious return and the establishment of His millennial kingdom here on earth.

 

But before this Abomination of Desolation and the invasion of Yisra’el by the nations of this world takes place, Master Yeshua warns that the Body of Mashiyach must endure great persecution that will lead to the deaths of many Netsarim (24:9-14). According to Master, lawlessness (aka, Torahlessness) will reach unfathomable heights amid a worldwide spreading of the true Gospel of the Kingdom. It will be during that time that the chosen of Messiah will be targeted for destruction as the dark hearts of the unredeemed go out of their way to hinder the spread of the true Gospel. I believe that the Church Triumphant will largely be behind that persecution, siding with globalists to shut down the great revival that will come upon the earth, including the spread of the true Messianic message among the Jews that are scattered throughout the world and in Yisra’el proper.

 

This persecution of our Faith Community, beloved, is the next shoe to drop in the prophetic timeline, and it is the very thing we must prepare ourselves to face. Yes, we must prepare ourselves to receive our Master Yeshua when He returns, but we must also prepare ourselves and our families for the dark days ahead. We’ve been given ample warning.

 

 

What Should the Netsari’s Response to These Heinous Events of this Past Week Be?

 

And so, it falls to us, as I mentioned previously, to uphold the innocent ones who are caught up in this terrible maelstrom over in Yisra’el in prayer, in particular, to hold the righteous remnant of Yehovah in prayer. Indeed, many true Yisra’elites in the nation-state of Yisra’el right now are in harm’s way. These desperately need our prayers and petitions. These are the ones that Yah’s loving arms of protection need to remain steadfastly around them.

 

As it relates to prayer, beloved, if we are not firm in our understanding of how to stand by the innocents, especially remnant Yisra’el, I would strongly suggest approaching Yah and asking that He reveal to us, through His Holy Spirit, how to pray and what to pray for. Many are no doubt praying for a speedy defeat of the enemy and that the enemies of Yah and His people be utterly routed and destroyed. And indeed, there’s nothing wrong with praying for and through these critical situations. But part of the elect’s responsibility is that they are effective in their prayers, and part of being an effective prayer warrior (and make no mistakes about it, beloved, this thing is more about a spiritual war than it is about a flesh and blood battle) is knowing how and what to pray for regarding a situation. It’s so easy to fall in line with the manner in which our Faith Community has engaged in prayer, and that level of devotion is fine. But those of us who earnestly desire to cause heaven to respond favorably to our petitions must understand how and what to pray for as it relates to this particular situation. And this is why I have been led to focus my prayers on the innocent, remnant Yisra’elites in harm’s way. The Spirit may lead you to pray for or pray in an entirely different way about this crisis. This is why it is important to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, even in prayer (1 The. 5:19).

 

I have also seen, posted on various online platforms, calls for people of Faith to contribute financially to multiple organizations that have pledged to address specific identified needs of Israeli citizens caught up in this crisis. I have always been leery about organizations that pop up amid specific crises and tug on people of Faith’s heartstrings to entice them to give. The problem with such giving is that you have no idea whether or not your hard-earned monies will be used to help those these organizations claim to be helping. I would only suggest, beloved, that we first hear from Yah before we turn over any of God’s money to such organizations. Let Him lead our steps and guide our actions (Gal. 5:16). When we let go and let Yah in every aspect of our lives, we can’t and will not go wrong in anything we do.

 

Lastly, beloved, let us remain ever so introspective and watchful in these perilous times (2 Timothy 3:1-5). May this horrific ordeal cause us to take serious account of our own walk with Messiah to ensure that we are, in fact, within Yah’s protective embrace. As we saw previously, unaddressed and pervasive sin allowed to operate in a Netsar’s life can precipitate the removal of Yah’s protection and indwelling presence. Let us learn from Israel of the past and Israel of the present and avoid making the same mistakes she has repeatedly made.

 

Let me just say that Yah holds His chosen ones–that includes natively culturally born Yisra’el and those who are engrafted into the commonwealth of Yisra’el–especially culpable for their actions. Why? Because both groups should know better. And those that know better are expected to do better. Period. So, Yah’s chosen ones are held to higher standards of behavior than the rest of the world. The Orthodox Jews are generally exposed to Torah from birth. Thus, they know right from wrong and will be judged within the framework of Torah. We who are engrafted into the commonwealth of Yisra’el and our wayward denominationalist brothers and sisters will also be judged within the framework of Torah. Why? Because we have been taught and know right from wrong, even if some of us aren’t Torah observant. (See my teaching series entitled “What Did Paul Mean by Being Under the Law” for a more in-depth discussion on this concept of being judged within the framework versus outside the framework of Torah.)

 

So, we are called–Yah’s righteous ones–to live by our Faith (Hab. 2:2-4; Gal. 3:10-14; Heb. 10:38), which means that we must get our spiritual houses in order and maintain that order, wearing the righteous garments that our Master gifted us, so that we may be of use to Him in the here and now.

 

Let us remain hopeful, always giving Yah the praise, worship, and obedience He so justly deserves. Let us be watchful, keeping track of what is happening around us, preparing for the tough days that are no doubt ahead of us, spiritually and physically. Let us work while it is still day, beloved because the night cometh when no man or woman may work (Joh. 9:4). Let us pray without ceasing (1 The. 5:16-18). Let us love one another and bless any who may come within our sphere of influence (Joh. 13:34-35). Let us guard the words that come forth from our mouths so that they may edify and exhort but not bring down or cause harm. Let us take captive every thought to the obedience of Messiah (2 Cor. 10:5). All this so that we may remain in Yah’s perfect shalom, as we await our Messiah’s glorious return.

 

Above all, beloved, never lose hope and always know that you know that you know, that our Elohim, Yehovah Jireh, Yehovah Nissi, Yehovah Sabaoth, Yehovah El-Shaddai is still on the throne! Praise Yah.

 

We’ll revisit this subject of the Olivet Discourse, Abba willing, in coming installments of TMTO.

The Realities of Yom Teruah 2022

by | Sep 24, 2022 |

  Introduction to our Discussion   Welcome to the Day of the Blowing of Trumpets, or better, the Blowing of Shofars 2022. And with that, we pray that you are earnestly preparing and eagerly awaiting the arrival of Yom Teruah 2022.   The title of our...

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Death-the Grave-the Resurrection-Part 2

by | Aug 19, 2022 |

  Introduction   This is part 2 of our discussion on death, the grave, and the resurrection. And we will be picking up where we left off in part 1, which if you haven’t had the opportunity to either read or listen to that post on any of the platforms in which...

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Ten Things God Expects us to do for Sukkot-The Feast of Tabernacles 2023

Ten Things God Expects us to do for Sukkot-The Feast of Tabernacles 2023

by | Sep 28, 2023 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

In today’s installment, I will be putting out to you what I have elected to call ten things Yehovah says in His Word that every Netsari, disciple of Yeshua Messiah, must do for Sukkot/Tabernacles.

 

Now, some of you will be acutely aware of many of these things that I will discuss with you here today. And, of course, there will be some of you who will find these Sukkot requirements to be new to you.

 

It doesn’t matter whether or not we are aware of these ten requirements for Sukkot. What does matter, beloved, is that we do them to the best of our abilities and understanding. Head knowledge is great, and to an extent, knowledge of Yehovah and His Ways is admirable (Hosea 6:6). But Yah also demands of His chosen ones their loving obedience to His instructions in righteousness (Romans 1:5).

 

The problem plaguing a large segment of our Faith Community, I’m afraid, is that we have a lot of knowledge about the ways and things of our Elohim. But like our wayward Jewish cousins, we find ways and excuses for not doing what Yah requires of us.

 

A condition of our covenant relationship with the Almighty is that we obey His voice and keep His covenant (Exodus/Shemote 19:5). And this is the crux of my teaching here today: That we identify and understand the things that Abba Yah has instructed us regarding Sukkot, and that we do them to the best of our abilities and understanding (2 Timothy 2:15).

 

That being said, beloved, I pray that none of us be offended by any of the ten things regarding Sukkot that we will discuss today. But instead, I pray that each of us is at a place in our walk-in Messiah where we can put on our big boy-big girl breeches, boldly hear and read the Truth, seek Abba Yah’s leading on each, and do what Yah expects us to do.

 

So, with that, let’s get into Yah’s Word today and learn and do that which Yah commands us to do for Sukkot/the Feast of Tabernacles.

 

I have drawn each of these 10 points from Abba-Yah’s eternal Word, which I will annotate and read for you so that you can conduct your own Berean-style study to determine whether the things I’m saying here in this teaching are so.

 

Unless otherwise specified, I will be using The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009) as the basis for each point.

 

Le 23:33–44.

 

34 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ěl, saying, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh new moon is the Festival of Sukkot for seven days to יהוה.

 

Do #1—Know the dates and days of Sukkot/The Feast of Tabernacles 2023. Failure to know which day this 8-day Feast begins is essentially negligent and will lead to the Netzer’s disobedience to Yah’s Torah.

 

35’On the first day is a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work.

 

Do #2—Plan on participating in a set-apart gathering of some sort on the first day of the 8-day celebration of Sukkot.

 

Don’t #1–Do no manual or servile work on the first day of the 8-day celebration/Feast of Tabernacles. It is essentially the equivalent of a weekly Sabbath.

 

36’For seven days you bring an offering made by fire to יהוה. On the eighth day there shall be a set-apart gathering for you, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to יהוה. It is a closing festival, you do no servile work.

 

Do #3–Prepare some form of offering unto Yehovah for the period of the 8-day Feast. Since there is no operating Temple in Yerushalayim and no Levitical Priesthood operating at the Temple in Yerushalayim, we cannot render unto Yehovah burnt offerings. Regardless, the spirit of this instruction remains intact. It falls to Yah’s set-apart people to prepare and give some form of offering unto Yehovah during the week of the Feast. Most people who celebrate the Feast with an assembly or fellowship will give a financial gift or offering to the group hosting or putting on the Feast they’re attending. Those who, for whatever reason, cannot or are not attending a feast site with an assembly or fellowship may send financial offerings or gifts to a ministry that feeds them throughout the year.

 

Scripture teaches that our worship and spiritual offerings unto Yah may take the form of praises unto Yehovah, which is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to Yah’s Name (Hebrews 13:15). Our rejoicing and thanksgiving may be another form of sacrificial offerings unto Yehovah (Psalm 116:17). Consequently, such offerings should not nullify our giving of financial gifts and offerings unto those ministries that provide us spiritual nourishment.

 

Do #4—Plan on participating in a set-apart gathering of some sort on the final day of the 8-day celebration of Sukkot. This day is known as Shemini Atzeret.

 

Don’t #2—Do no manual or servile work on the first day of the 8-day celebration of Sukkot/Feast of Tabernacles. It is essentially the equivalent of a weekly Sabbath.

 

 

37’These are the appointed times of יהוה which you proclaim as set-apart gatherings…

 

Do #5—We are commanded to proclaim this time of the year as a set-apart gathering–that is as a “qara kodesh miqra. In other words, this Feast must be treated by us for what it is: a holy convocation, a set-apart assembly, a set-apart time unto Yehovah. We are not to take this weeklong celebration lightly, nor treat it as any other secular celebratory occasion. It must be esteemed in our hearts, within our families, among our friends and co-workers, and acquaintances. People should know that this is a special time of the year for us. It should be an identifier of our way of life. I remember when I was working, my bosses and co-workers knew that I put in for vacation time during this time each year. They may not have understood what I was doing when I took this time off each year, but they knew that it was extremely important to me and they, for the most part, respected it.

 

 

39’On the fifteenth day of the seventh new moon, when you gather in the fruit of the land, celebrate the festival of יהוה for seven days.

 

Do #6—We are obliged to make plans to attend Sukkot in advance and make sure we attend it. It’s one thing to know when Sukkot is and what the Feast entails, but it’s an entirely different thing to follow through and attend the Feast in Spirit and in Truth.

 

If you keep the observational calendar this year as we do, the first day of Sukkot 2023 will begin at sundown on Sabbath, 9/30/2023, and conclude at sundown on S-nday, 10/8/2023.

 

For you who keep the calculated Jewish calendar, the first day of the Feast will begin at sundown this F-iday, 9/29/2023, and conclude at sundown on Sabbath, 10/7/2023.

 

Attending Sukkot is not a simple task. Depending on where we plan on attending and what group we plan on celebrating the Feast with, the logistics of attending Sukkot can be challenging some years. But it is a joyous challenge when the disciple of Yeshua realizes and walks in the joy of the beloved Faith and knows what the Feast is all about. They plan their attendance and celebration with joyous anticipation of great blessings and amazing fellowship that will flow out of their participation and engagement.

 

Like our ancient Hebrew predecessors, the days leading up to the Sukkot can be hectic and challenging. Back in the day, our ancient Hebrew cousins had to complete the entire harvesting process, store, prepare their family, pack up, and hit the road for Jerusalem in time for Day 1 of the Feast. Likewise, whatever vocation or daily activities define our day-to-day lives must be completed, our families gathered, packed, and our homes secured so that we may hit the road and securely leave our daily lives behind.

 

You see, beloved, Yehovah wants His elect ones to be at the place He has chosen to celebrate and keep His Feast at the appointed time, without any encumbrances of their everyday life to dampen their joyous celebration. These are His set-apart days, not ours. We are His guests, and He doesn’t want us worrying about things back home. He wants us to focus on Him and one another during this week of joy and celebration.

 

Furthermore, He wants us to attend this sacred gathering for the entire length of the celebration, not piecemeal it as many do. This is why planning for Sukkot each year as early as possible is essential.

 

40’And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of good trees, branches of palm trees, twigs of leafy trees, and willows of the stream, and shall rejoice before יהוה your Elohim for seven days.

 

Do #7—In preparation for our keeping of Sukkot, Yah instructs us to gather for ourselves fruit, branches from palm trees, twigs of leafy trees, willows of streams, and rejoice before Yehovah for the 7-days of the Feast.

 

Yah does not tell us what fruit, what types of palm branches, twigs from trees, or willows to gather. I believe He purposely left those choices up to us to decide.

 

I’ve read this verse every year for the last two decades of my time in this beloved Faith of ours. And it wasn’t until this year that I became convicted that I had not been keeping this commandment that is tied to Sukkot. For whatever reason, I’ve never kept this instruction. I’ve repented from this transgression, and I will have these items with us when we begin our celebration of Sukkot this year. And I encourage you all to do the same.

 

Orthodox Jewish tradition attempts to fulfill this instruction through the religious Jew purchasing and rejoicing with what are called “etrogs” (a citrus fruit akin to a lemon) and “lulavs.” These symbolic gestures by our Jewish cousins are, for all intents and purposes, rabbinic traditions that the rabbis have asserted are necessary to fulfill this commandment. Many within our Faith community will follow suit and purchase these items and parade about their assembly gathering with them. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as one doesn’t follow suit to satisfy the rabbis’ instructions. We are called to follow the commandments of Yehovah, not the dictates of the sages. Jewish traditions are all well and good until they become elevated to the level of Torah instructions. And this is why it behooves us always to assess why we do what we do as we keep and celebrate Yah’s Feasts each year.

 

41’And you shall celebrate it as a festival to יהוה for seven days in the year—a law forever in your generations. Celebrate it in the seventh new moon.

 

Do #8—As alluded to earlier, Yehovah expects the disciple of Yeshua to keep Sukkot for the entirety of the 8-day celebration. I realize that this verse says we are to keep Sukkot for 7-days, but we saw earlier that the 8th day of Sukkot is, in fact, a set-apart, convocational, no-servile work day that is attached to the very end of the weeklong celebration.

 

Many brethren feel that because the first and eighth days of Sukkot are no-work, set-apart days, they are free to do whatever they want for the intervening six days. Indeed, Yah gave no prohibitions for those six intervening days of Sukkot. However, He does say right here in this verse that we are to celebrate Sukkot for seven days. Therefore, if we find problems justifying keeping these six intervening days for whatever reason (e.g., we have to work; we want to spend those days goofing off or doing what we want to do), we must take it up with Yehovah. After all, these are His set-apart days, not ours.

 

I get that life often gets in the way of our keeping the Feasts of Yehovah as maybe we’d like to or the way that we believe Yah would have us do it. And when life gets in the way, we need to do at least two things: (1) Take the matter up with Yehovah; tell Him our problem, which He already knows, He just wants to see if you’ll bring to His throne of mercy and lay the matter at His feet. (2) Plan to keep the Feast in Spirit and in Truth each biblical calendar year, which means, if we work for a living, to put in for the time off ahead of time. Granted, many of us work jobs that grant us only so much time in a calendar year to take off as vacation time. Well, when we give ourselves over to Yeshua as one of His disciples, the things we used to hold dearly in life may have to be tossed to the side, such as family vacations. For instance, family vacations to the beach or visiting family in the Hamptons might need to be replaced with the attending of Sukkot and the keeping of the other set-apart days.

 

Our keeping of the Feasts of the LORD are non-negotiable elements of our covenant relationship with Yehovah, including our keeping of Sukkot. And that’s because these set-apart days belong to Yah, not to us.

 

So important are these days to Yehovah our Elohim, especially Sukkot, that the following will happen to the nations who don’t keep this Feast:

 

16And it shall be that all who are left from all the nations which came up against Yerushalayim, shall go up from year to year to bow themselves to the Sovereign, יהוה of hosts, and to celebrate the Festival of Sukkot.

17And it shall be, that if anyone of the clans of the earth does not come up to Yerushalayim to bow himself to the Sovereign, יהוה of hosts, on them there is to be no rain.

18And if the clan of Mitsrayim does not come up and enter in, then there is no rain. On them is the plague with which יהוה plagues the nations who do not come up to celebrate the Festival of Sukkot.

The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Zec 14:16–18.

 

My point here is not to create any unnecessary stress or turmoil in your life but to inform you what thus saith Yehovah from His Word. I would be remiss and I would be held accountable to Yehovah if I did not tell you that you are obligated to keep the Feast of Yehovah in accordance with His instructions and to do so in Spirit and in Truth. So, please hear me and do what is required of us. And again, if situations make keeping Yah’s Feasts impossible for you, take it to Yehovah in earnest and heartfelt prayer. He knows what you’re going through, and He will work everything out for you. I promise. He might not work these things out in accordance with your expectations and timeframe, but He will work your problems out.

 

42’Dwell in booths for seven days; all who are native born in Yisra’ěl dwell in booths,

 

Do #9—We are commanded to dwell in booths for the seven days of Sukkot.

 

This commandment states that native-born Yisra’elites are required to dwell in booths throughout the duration of Sukkot. And the question must be asked: What constitutes a native-born Yisra’elite? There are no tricks attached to this verse. A native Yisra’elite is a natural-born citizen of Israel, even a biological descendant of Ya’achov or Jacob (whose name was changed to Yisra’el by Yehovah–Genesis/Beresheit 32:28) who is of the Land of Promise. And so, most would conclude that this mandate to dwell in booths for the duration of Sukkot applies only to our Jewish cousins residing in the Land of Yisra’el. Yah does mandate the native-born Yisra’elite dwell in booths during the eight-day celebration of Sukkot:

 

43so that your generations know that I made the children of Yisra’ěl dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Mitsrayim.

 

Thus, Yah established a memorial for our Hebrew brethren as a reminder of their ancestors’ Exodus journey.

 

But what about us, who are not biological or converted, religious Jews residing in the Land of Promise? Are we required to dwell in booths during the eight days of Sukkot? And my answer to that question is yes and no. In fact, more yes than no. And I have a couple of reasons for my answer.

 

In terms of my yes answer: If we are disciples of Yeshua Messiah, we naturally identify as Nazarene Yisra’elites. In Romans 11, the Apostle details how we came into this beloved Faith of ours as wild olive branches (that is, we were foreign to Yehovah and His Ways) that have been grafted into the commonwealth (i.e., the cultivated olive tree) of Yisra’el, whereby we partake of the root and fatness of that cultivated olive tree which is true, remnant Yisra’el (11:16). Thus, being grafted into the commonwealth of true, remnant Yisra’el, we are every bit a native Yisra’elite (absent physically dwelling in the Land) as even the most hardcore believing, biological or converted Jewish citizen residing in the nation-state of Yisra’el. We are of Yisra’el, which means that Yah would technically require us to dwell in booths for the duration of Sukkot.

 

We’ve kept the Spirit of the True commandment to dwell in a temporary abode, be it a hotel or someone’s home near our feast site, instead of staying in an actual Sukkah in the great outdoors. We know, as I’m sure you know as well, of brethren who do erect a sukkah and dwell in it throughout the 8-day Feast, while others come close to the sukkah thing by dwelling in tents and other camping-type arrangements that are local to their feast site.

 

I would like to see our family eventually graduate to more of a camping-type, sukkah-like set-up in the coming years, as I seek, with my family, to obey Yah’s instructions in Torah through Yeshua Messiah as our guide to the full extent of my understanding and ability.

 

In terms of my no answer: We cannot keep the Feast of Yehovah as presented to us in our bibles. But Yeshua told the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well: 23 “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. 24 “Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him need to worship in spirit and truth.” The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Jn 4:23–24. We New Covenant believers keep Yah’s instructions in righteousness in the Spirit in which Yah intended them to be kept while ensuring that we guard and obey each and every Word to the best of our ability and understanding. Yah’s Spirit dwells within His chosen ones, and Yah’s Spirit works within us to help us worship the Father as He would have us worship Him. So, we dwell in booths, temporary dwellings, for the duration of Sukkot as a memorial of our ancient forefathers cousins dwelling in booths and tents during their Exodus out of Egypt and during their 40-year sojourn in the wilderness.

 

Now, some define “booths” as the tents they dwell in at Sukkot gatherings or at a campsite. Others, such as we have done for the past two decades, define “booths” as places that are not our homes, such as hotels and other temporary lodging facilities. And still, others take this commandment literally, which I believe is the best and most accurate way to keep this commandment, and they build a sukkah and occupy that sukkah throughout the week of the Feast.

 

An ancient sukkah was a flimsy structure made of various natural materials such as boughs of trees (Jonah 4:5). As stated, it was meant to serve as a temporary shelter from the elements. Scripture tells us that sukkot were erected to shelter cattle (Genesis/Beresheit 33:17); and as shacks for watchmen of a city or town (Job 27:18; Isaiah 1:8; 24:20). In the nation of Yisra’el, and in various Jewish communities throughout the world, religious Jews erect actual sukkahs to dwell in during the Feast of Tabernacles. Some of these structures are quite modest, offering only a few conveniences of modern living. These are simply flimsy, rectangular structures with tree branch boughs for roofs, maybe plastic or lattice framework to keep the structure erect, and maybe even plastic sheeting for the structure’s walls. Other sukkahs are quite elaborate, firm in their integrity, and contain modern conveniences such as electricity, lighting, fans, tables, chairs, and so forth.

 

The point is that we want to please Yehovah in all that we do for Him. And so, out of obedience to Him and His instructions, we are compelled to dwell in a sukkah, be it an allegorical sukkah or an actual one, all out of obedience to the Faith and the spirit of the Feast requirement.

 

10And Mosheh commanded them, saying, “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time, the year of release, at the Festival of Sukkot, 11when all Yisra’ěl comes to appear before יהוה your Elohim in the place which He chooses, read this Torah before all Yisra’ěl in their hearing. 12 “Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and your sojourner who is within your gates, so that they hear, and so that they learn to fear יהוה your Elohim and guard to do all the Words of this Torah. 13 “And their children, who have not known it, should hear and learn to fear יהוה your Elohim as long as you live in the land you are passing over the Yarděn to possess.”

The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Dt 31:10–13.

 

Do #10—We read the Torah during Sukkot.

 

This instruction is rarely followed by Yah’s set-apart people at Sukkot. And I guess the reason for that is that most of us get caught up with this commandment being tied to the Sabbatical Year or the Shemittah and Jubilee years. And given that the Shemittah and Jubilee are connected exclusively to the Land of Yisra’el and that no one truly knows when the Shemittah or the Jubilee is since it has been lost to antiquity, most feel that any such instructions are null and void.

 

But since we worship Yehovah in Spirit and in Truth, especially during His moedim–His set-apart days, Yah’s original intent behind this instruction must be understood and kept to the best of our abilities and understanding.

 

Yah saw the Feast of Tabernacles as a prime opportunity, having their full attention for eight days, to learn to fear Him and to guard/keep/honor His Word. Sukkot also offered a tremendous opportunity to expose our children to Torah.

 

Undertaking such a task is a challenging feat. Reading the entire Torah takes several hours, and depending on the set-up of each Sukkot gathering, reading the whole Torah may be difficult if not challenging, at best. But if we, who are called by His Name, take Yah’s feasts seriously and we want to please and obey Him, we can find a way to do. It’s just a question of how badly we want to keep Sukkot in Spirit and in Truth.

 

The returning Jewish Babylonian Captives came across this passage in their refamiliarization with Torah through Ezra the Scribe. Their story is quite compelling, and it is as follows:

 

14And they found written in the Torah, which יהוה had commanded by Mosheh, that the children of Yisra’ěl should dwell in booths in the festival of the seventh new moon,

15and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Yerushalayim, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”

16So the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, and in their courtyards and in the courtyards of the House of Elohim, and in the open space of the Water Gate and in the open space of the Gate of Ephrayim.

17And the entire assembly of those who had come back from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths, for since the days of Yěshua son of Nun until that day the children of Yisra’ěl had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing.

18And day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Torah of Elohim. And they performed the festival seven days. And on the eighth day there was an assembly, according to the right-ruling.

 

The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Ne 8:14–18.

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The Variegated Shadows of Yom Kippur 2023—Or When Payback is a Bear for the Enemies of God and His Set Apart People

The Variegated Shadows of Yom Kippur 2023—Or When Payback is a Bear for the Enemies of God and His Set Apart People

by | Sep 22, 2023 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

 

Yom Kippur, the Holiest Day of Yah’s Calendar Year

 

Yom haKippurim is considered by many in our Faith and orthodox Judaism as the holiest day of Yah’s biblical calendar year.

 

On this holiest of days, Yah mandated His chosen ones to “afflict their souls,” which we’ll talk about a little later. However, beyond the affliction of one’s soul, there is a great deal of spiritual relevance and meaning that is attached to Yom Kippur, which every Kingdom-bound disciple of Yeshua Messiah should be acutely aware of, especially if they desire to get the most out of their observance and keeping of the day.

 

And this is the aim of this teaching today: To highlight what I describe as the variegated shadows of Yom Kippur, or When Payback is a Bear to the Enemies of Yah and His People.

 

Yom Kippur is Multifaceted in its Meaning and Relevance to the Kingdom-minded Disciple of Yeshua Messiah

 

The term “variegated” is applied to objects exhibiting different colors, hues, streaks, patches, marks, and so forth. Indeed, many aspects and paradigms are associated with Yom Kippur, and I want to share just a few of them with you here today.

 

And please be aware this is meant to be a partial overview of Yom Kippur. To do so would take us several hours. And even after completing what we believe would be a comprehensive overview of the day, we would still not cover it all. And just as our Father in heaven is multifaceted in His Being and His Ways, so too are His moedim or set apart days.

 

The writer of Hebrews described Yah’s set-apart days as “shadows of good things to come” (Hebrews 10:1). And so, just as shadows can be multi-faceted in their reflection of the object that’s casting the shadow, are the pictures, paradigms, and meanings that each set-apart day releases before the child of Yah.

 

The Variegated Shadows of Yom Kippur include, but are not limited to:

 

  1. Personal and communal introspection and remembering what Yeshua has done for us.
  2. Prophetic, historic, earth-shattering events of the End Times. When Yah tribulates those who have tribulated His chosen ones, payback will be a bear for the enemies of Yah and His chosen ones.
  3. The final portions of Yehovah’s plan of salvation, redemption, and restoration for Yah’s human creation.
  4. A portrait of the ancient Hebrew wedding process.

 

Let’s Define Atonement

 

Our English phrase for “The Day of Atonement” is “yom ha-kip-purim” in Biblical Hebrew, the “ha” being the article or translated as “the.” Thus, as it relates to The Day of Atonement, Yom ha-Kippurim is “The Day of the Atonements.” The phrase carries the meaning of “to cover over as that of a lid (suggestive of the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant).

 

Anciently, the paleo-Hebrew form of Kippurim is spelled “kaph”-“yad”-“pey”-“waw”-“resh.” Since each paleo-Hebrew letter possessed unique meanings, when they came together to spell “Kippur,” the word’s prophetic shadow meaning cannot be overlooked:

 

  • Kaph–𓂧(depicts an open palm) means “to tame or subdue as one who has bent to another’s will.”
  • Yad– 𓂝 (shows a closed hand) denotes the functions of a man’s hand and arm.
  • Pey– 𓂋 (depicts an open mouth) means to speak or deliver words.
  • Waw-𐤅 (describes a tent peg) It denotes a tent peg or a stake.
  • Resh– 𓁶 (depicts a man’s head) means a chief; someone who is head or top.

 

When we view this ancient word within its prophetic, ancient context, the Person or image of the Levitical Cohen haGadol emerges. He served as the intermediary between Yah and His chosen people, Yisra’el. But this ancient word also paints for us the prophetic shadow picture of our present-day Cohen haGadol, Yeshua haMashiyach who submitted Himself to the will of His Father (kaph); who bore the nails of His crucifixion in His hands (waw and yad); who spoke only His Father’s words (pey); and who serves as our Cohen haGadol of the order of the Melek-zedek (resh) in the heavenly Mishkan or Temple.

 

The Hebrew term Kippur means atonement. The act of atonement is that of expiating or covering over sin.

 

Sin is defined as the transgression of the Creator’s Torah: Yah’s instructions in righteousness. Yehovah is holy; He’s set apart. Holiness is one of His defining character traits. Sin is a defining human character trait. Unfortunately, Yah’s set-apart character prevents Him from dwelling with His human creation unless the sins of His chosen people are correctly adjudicated through the process of atonement.

 

The Cruciality of Atonement

 

Atonement is that crucial act by which humanity’s sins are expiated and covered over. Atonement is the only thing that facilitates any viable reconciliation between the Creator and His human creation. Before Master Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice on our behalf on Calvary’s execution stake, the covering over or expiation of sin was facilitated through animal blood sacrifices that Yehovah instructed had to be offered in a precise manner. The Day of Atonement or Yom haKippurim was a national day of atonement whereby the Aaronic High Priest–aka the Cohen haGadol–would enter the Tabernacle’s Holiest of Holies and sprinkle the blood of a select bull (to atone for the sins of the Cohen haGadol) and a select goat (to atone for the sins of the Hebrew nation). This ceremony is spelled out in Leviticus/Vayiqra 16). This precise ceremony and ritual had to be repeated yearly on the 10th day of the seventh month, otherwise called Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement.

 

However, 2,000+ years ago, the blood of Yeshua Messiah, who serves as our present-day, yet eternal Cohen haGadol, was shed on Calvary’s execution stake. His shed blood covered over our sins once and forever more. And it is this shadow picture that the original covenant Yom Kippur pointed His chosen ones to. That being Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice for any who would seek to be “at-one-ment” with the holy Creator of the Universe. When we are “at-one-ment” with Yehovah, we are effectively in good standing with Him so that He is free to dwell with us and we with Him. Our Faith in the Person and the atoning work of His Son, Yeshua Messiah, results in our being justified before Him and the court of heaven, having our sin debt paid in full.

 

And so, Yah ordained from creation that the only method for dealing with individual and communal sin is through the shedding of innocent blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22).

 

Torah teacher and author Tim Hegg, in his commentary on Yom Kippur, stated it quite well:

 

“Here is the mystery of atonement: God makes a way for a sinner to be made clean, and thus to be a fitting companion for Him” (torahresources.com).

 

Torah and Yom Kippur

 

The specific mechanical rituals of Yom Kippur are stipulated in Leviticus/Vayiqra 16. A few months ago, I posted a detailed overview of this chapter entitled “Only One Way to God–Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 87.” If you haven’t taken the opportunity to read that post, I encourage you to do so, especially if you are interested in having the Yom Kippur ceremony broken down for you in its Yah-given sequence and meaning.

 

Then we have Leviticus 23:26-32 and like Yom Teruah and the other moedim (aka set-apart days; the feasts) of Yah, we are given an overview of Yah’s requirements and expectations for the day. (Since I’ve covered these two critical passages in previous posts in great detail, I will bypass discussing them and leave you, if you are so led, to check them out .)

 

Yom Kippur and the Modern Day Orthodox Jew

 

Since there is no longer an operating Temple or Tabernacle and the Aaronic Priesthood has been shelved for the time being, how, then, do religious Jews deal with the sin issue standing in the way of their “at-one-ness” with Yah, especially given their profound rejection of Yahoshua Messiah as their savior? From 70 A.D. to today, religious Jews have been forced to alter their view and actions as it relates to how their sins are atoned for. And leave it to none other than their rabbinic sages to come up with the answers to their inescapable dilemma.

 

The sages started with the essential baseline act of any human being seeking atonement for their sins: “repentance” and “teshuvah.” At least they realized that blood atonement sacrifices were worthless without repentance and teshuvah. Confession of sins and repentance that leads to teshuvah are the essential pillars in rightly establishing and maintaining a genuine “at-one-ment” covenant relationship with the Almighty, especially in the renewed covenant era: Faith in the Person and ministry (atoning sacrifice) of Yeshua Messiah; confession of one’s sins to Yehovah; and teshuvah that is founded upon repentance, with full pardon or justification of one’s sins according to Father’s grace. These are non-negotiable elements of Abba’s glorious “Plan of Salvation, Restoration, and Redemption.”

 

However, without a High Priest to act as their proxy before a holy and righteous God and a Mercy Seat upon which to sprinkle an acceptable blood sacrifice, Judaism places the onus upon the actions of religious Jews to somehow provoke or to garner Yah’s mercy and compassion upon them, which they believe will lead to their individual and communal atonement. Or, as the religious Jew might otherwise express it, Ensuring that their name is inscribed in the Book of Life for the coming calendar year.

 

What is the religious Jew’s responsibility as it relates to assuring that their name is inscribed in the Book of Life for the coming calendar year? Well, Judaism believes that when one engages in solemn acts of “afflicting their souls” through the commanded “fast” on the Day of Kippurim in addition to performing additional acts of humility, which include “no bathing, combing of hair, wearing of leather shoes, showing profound remorse for one’s shortcomings over the last year, and mending broken and damaged relationships before sundown on Yom Kippur.

 

Regarding this rabbinic approach to atonement for the religious Jew, Hegg states it best: “The more one denies oneself on the day, the more one is assured of forgiveness. The question of whether one’s name is written in the Book of Life hinges…on what one does or does not do in the days preceding Yom Kippur, as well as on how one afflicts one’s soul on the day itself” (ibid).

 

Messianic Believers Erroneously Following Judaistic Prescriptions for Atonement

 

Sadly, many renewed covenant Messianics, no doubt seeking to pattern their lives more in accordance with the dictates of the Jewish sages than in accordance with our Rabbi and Cohen haGadol Yeshua Messiah, go through these and similar acts soul affliction, fearful that if they do not adequately follow suit, their name will be blotted out of the Book of Life. I’ve personally met and interacted with them. It is heartbreaking to witness what translates as an act of denial of the saving power of Yeshua, their supposed savior, which could be construed as a true falling from grace.

 

I’ve posted several teachings that touch upon believers in Yeshua Messiah foolishly engaging in acts of obedience to religious and rabbinic dictates to earn their salvation. Indeed, such acts as these, which our Jewish cousins engage in each calendar year, are one of many points our denominationalist cousins see as Messianics through their Torah-keeping–be it the so-called oral and or written–working towards earning their salvation. But we who know better and understand which side our spiritual bread is buttered know that we could never purchase, in particular through acts of law or Torah keeping, our salvation or our name being inscribed in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Paul summed it best:

 

(8) For by grace are ye saved through Faith; and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of Yehovah. (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:7-8; KJV modified).

 

Why Must a New Covenant Believer Keep Yom Kippur?

 

So then, the question that Messianics must answer for themselves is: If indeed we are saved by grace through Faith, why do we go through many of Yah’s prescribed instructions for Yom Kippur? What is the point, if any, for one to engage in the required affliction of one’s soul (such as the day-long Fast), the taking off from or engaging in work of any kind, of convocating, and offering unto Yah our sacrifices (or our offerings)? Why should we do these things? Should new covenant believers instead celebrate the freedom we enjoy in Messiah “in light of the atonement secured for us by the death, resurrection, and intercessory ministry of our Messiah Yeshua” on that day (ibid)?

 

And the answer to these critical questions is a resounding YES! As renewed covenant believers, disciples, Netsarim, Yisra’elites are obliged to keep Yah’s commandments in Spirit and in Truth to the best of our ability and understanding. To the best of our knowledge and ability, we must keep all the commandments still applicable in His Torah, even those tied to Yom Kippur. And we remember those instructions that we can’t keep, such as those related to the sacrificial rites, and apply their meaning to our walk with Messiah and the knowledge of our Master Yeshua Messiah.

 

The Blessings of Keeping Yom Kippur

 

Yom Kippur provides us the opportunity to engage in a deep and profound retrospection of ourselves and our relationship with Yehovah, asking Yah to search us and reveal to us anything that He does not like in us so that we may take swift and prompt actions to eliminate those sins and aspects of our lives that so easily beset our walk in Messiah (Hebrews 12:1). We obey Yah’s instructions for Yom Kippur because He said so, and because we love and want to please Him. We also engage in such solemn acts of contrition on Yom Kippur because they remind us that we have not arrived, that Yah has not completed the work He started in us (2 Corinthians 13:5). And we are further reminded that these solemn acts of contrition and introspection remind us of the immeasurable cost of our redemption and restoration. Our Master “paid it all” on our behalf. “All to Him we owe. Sin had left a crimson stain” on our record in heaven.” However, through His atoning work, “He washed us white as snow.”

 

Furthermore, Yom Kippur reminds us that we are, in fact, a work in progress (Galatians 6:4). It affords us the opportunity to assess how we treat one another and how we treat our Elohim. We come to realize just how much control our flesh has over our day-to-day walk in Messiah. To honestly determine within ourselves if we have forgiven those who’ve trespassed against us, just as Yah has forgiven us of the trespasses we’ve committed against Him. So, we humble our souls on this set-apart day as a means of introspection and personal assessment.

 

(This reminds me that I did an important teaching on what “afflicting one’s soul” must look like if it is to be truly accepted as genuine by Yehovah. If you weren’t privy to listening to or reading that post, please do so. It is entitled “The Heart of Yom Kippur-Day of Atonement 2022.” If you check out that teaching, I promise it will change your whole perspective of what an acceptable Yom Kippur affliction of one’s soul is supposed to look like in the eyes and mind of our Father in Heaven.)

 

Coupled with these acts of solemnity, we rejoice and celebrate the freedom we enjoy in Yeshua, our Master (Galatians 5:1).

 

Let us now turn our attention to some of those variegated shadows of Yom Kippur so that we may enrich our understanding of the day, keeping in mind, beloved, that Mashiyach (aka Messiah) is the end (aka, the “telos” or the consummation or goal) of Torah (Romans 10:4). And the means by which that goal or end or consummation is met is through the “righteousness of Yehovah” that He makes available to any who would trust in the Person and ministries of His Son Yeshua Mashiyach.

 

Yom Kippur from the Perspective of Yah’s Plan of Salvation

Drawing from Leviticus/Vayiqra 16’s detailed instructions on how the Day of Atonement was supposed to transpire, we can see the Creator’s Plan of Salvation unfold before us.

  1. The Levitical High Priest symbolizes Yahoshua HaMashiyach.
  2. The goat that was vicariously sacrificed (it stood in the place of the offerer, taking on his punishment) and whose blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies represents Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice that was offered on our behalf (Hebrews 9:11-12, 26). Yeshua’s sacrifice was permanent and did not have to be repeated annually as in the Yom Kippurim ceremony (Hebrew 10:1-14).
  3. The Azazel (interestingly, the name of one of the 70-Watchers who left their assigned abode, came down to earth, and mated with humans that resulted in a complete defilement of Yehovah’s creative order, all documented in the Book of Enoch) or the “Scapegoat” (as translated in the Authorized or KJV translation in Leviticus 16:8, 10, 26) are representative of the enemy; hasatan, aka the adversary (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 4:4). He and his ilk are responsible for all of the ills of this life–sins, death, illness, violence, evil, and destruction of Yah’s creation (Ephesians 2:1-3; 6:10-17). That being the case, Yah’s plan of salvation, restoration, and redemption, which featured Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice, also featured the removal of the adversary from the human equation. The enemy’s removal from the human equation (i.e., eliminating the enemy’s evil influences upon humanity) will allow humanity to decide and choose, absent the enemy’s evil influence, whether or not he will choose Yehovah and His Way of life as their way of life. The Azazel, representing hasatan and his cohorts, were not ceremonially sacrificed or killed as was the sacrificial goat whose blood was sprinkled upon the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies. Instead, it was after the High Priest conferred upon the head of the Azazel the sins (i.e., vicariously placed the sins of the nation upon the Azazel goat) that it was led into the wilderness by what scripture describes as an able-bodied or strong man whose job it was to abandon the Azazel in the wilderness a distance from the camp. Thus, spiritually and prophetically speaking, sin was removed from the nation on Yom Kippur by the Azazel being led and abandoned in the wilderness, away from the people, until the following year when the ritual would be repeated.

 

Why wasn’t Azazel killed? It wasn’t destroyed because the existence or life of hasatan and his ilk cannot be ended like that of Yah’s human and animal creation. Only Yah can accomplish that feat. Thus, Yah’s plan of salvation, redemption, and restoration has built into it a temporary removal or incarceration of the evil one (Revelation 20:1-3) and their permanent removal when cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:7-10). In the Lake of Fire, the enemy will be forever tormented. The most crucial aspect of the enemy’s eternal punishment is not being subjected to that lake’s eternal flames and impenetrable darkness but being eternally separated from their Creator.

 

The enemy knows that his existence has an expiration date stamped on it. That’s why he will be filled with rage and wrath when expelled from the throne room. He knows his time is short. Yet he still believes he can outsmart the Creator, which to me is a sure indicator that he is maniacally insane. Indeed, payback in this regard will be a bear. One could say that the permanent elimination of the adversary/enemy/hasatan/the devil/demons/fallen ones is the capstone to the prophetic shadow picture embedded in Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement.

 

Let me mention here that the Lake of Fire will not be a place of eternal torment for humans whose names are not inscribed in the Book of Life as religiosity stubbornly teaches (Revelation 20:11-15). Nothing in Revelation 20:11-15 indicates that humans subject to the Great White Throne’s judgment will be converted to spirit beings at that time. Presuming that these condemned souls will be resurrected in human form, their being cast in the Lake of Fire will completely wipe away their being and memory for all eternity. John describes this historic event as the “second death” of those condemned at the Great White Throne’s judgment (20:14). Even at this critical time, Yah’s grace will spare them from the eternal torment that the devil and his ilk will be subject to.

 

Praise Yah. We who are the redeemed of Yah will not be subject to the Great White Throne judgment. Unlike these unfortunate Great White Throne-judged souls, we will exist in glorified bodies that cannot and will not suffer death. We will be in a state of existence of true, eternal “at-one-ment” with the Holy Creator of the Universe. Hallelujah.

 

The 10 Days of Repentance (aka, the 10 Days of Awe) that lead to The Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur

 

During these days leading up to Yom Kippur in ancient Israel, farmers would be completing their wheat harvesting, separating the wheat from the chaff. After that separation, the chaff would be burned. Spiritually and emotionally, these ten days would be a time of assessment and reflection for each farmer, for they could see the fruits of their labor and recognize that what they harvested resulted from what they had sown over this past growing season (Yah’s provenance aside). A bumper crop would indicate to that farmer that he had made wise and proper decisions regarding the sowing and maintenance of his crop. Conversely, a lean yield would suggest that he may have made some unwise or improper decisions regarding his crop. Depending on the state of his harvest, this would be a time of rejoicing or disappointment, for it was ultimately a time for dealing with the realities of his life situation as he looked ahead toward the coming year.

 

From a spiritual application perspective, some view these ten days of introspection as the optimal time to prepare oneself for the coming Day of Atonement. It’s a time for assessing oneself, especially concerning how they conducted themselves over the last year. It may involve identifying, confessing, and repenting of their sins. This lead-up to Yom haKippurim lends itself to the thinking by some Jewish sages that it is a shadow or representative of the looming Day of Judgment.

 

These interim days are critical to the observant Jew because they provide them with the opportunity to repent of their sins and failures, right the wrongs they caused, and reconcile relationships that they may have caused to go into disrepair. And so the wise will take advantage of it while the unwise will let the opportunity slip away. What is that opportunity, you ask? Well, it is the freely available opportunity for Yehovah’s forgiveness, His atonement, His redemption, and reconciliation. This thinking has it that those unwise ones who fail to take advantage of this free opportunity for atonement and reconciliation will be judged accordingly on Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement. According to the sages, that judgment is manifested in their name being blotted out of the Book of Life.

 

The Jewish sages agree that the Day of Atonement is the year’s holiest day. In Yisra’el, from sundown on the 9th of the 7th month till sundown on the 10th, religious Jews deny themselves by engaging in a total fast; no cars are driven; all the shops are closed; the nation goes into complete shutdown.

 

Yom Kippur, by the way, is not a pilgrimage feast. Yah’s people were not required to leave their homes and to assemble themselves before Yehovah at the place where He had chosen to place His Name. During our Master’s earthly ministry, Jerusalem was where the Temple stood and operated. Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles, is a pilgrimage feast. Thus, the observant Jew would have just five days to get to Jerusalem for the 8-day celebration. By the start of Sukkot, they would have completed their harvest, gathered their belongings, prepared their families, and taken to the road for Jerusalem, where upon arrival, they would build their sukkahs and commence the celebration of the feast.

 

Yom Kippur is a Shadow of the End Times

 

Many believe, as do I that we are at the tail-end of what is referred to as the “Time of the Gentiles,” whereby Yah has provided an open door for those of us who are not descended from Jacob (aka Ya’achov), who, through the provisions of the renewed covenant, are being engrafted into the commonwealth of Yisra’el. One can envision that the Fall Feasts, in particular the days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur, and Yom Kippur itself, are prophetic shadow pictures of the wrap-up of the 2,000-year long “Time of the Gentiles” and the time when “All of Yisra’el shall be saved” (Romans 11:26). The shadow picture painted by Yom Teruah, as we discussed last week, is that of the resurrection of the dead in Messiah saints and the instantaneous translation of those who are alive at His appearing (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). This event will be the time of His appearing when His chosen ones, from every generation, will be caught up together to meet Him in the clouds, initiating an eternity where Yah’s saints will be ruled by Yeshua Messiah and dwell with Abba Yah.

 

Up to this point in history, as Master Yeshua described to His chosen disciples, iniquity shall abound. The love of many shall wax cold as never before in the annals of human history (Matthew 24:12). These ten days of Awe or Repentance also foreshadow the time when the abomination of desolation as spoken of by the Prophet Daniel takes place in Jerusalem. Those Messianic Jewish souls residing in the country will be forced to flee to the hills to survive the onslaught of the enemy (Matthew 24:15-28). Judah will be attacked by her enemies, and her extermination will seem most certain until Yah once again fights for them and defeats Israel’s and His enemies. Then and only then will the scales drop from the eyes of the Jew who once vehemently rejected Yeshua as their Messiah and Savior. The Prophet proclaims that Yehovah will “pour upon the House of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications. And they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for His only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for His firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10; cf. John 19:37). The Apostle writes of this time that “all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, ‘There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Romans 11:26; KJV).

 

Yom Kippur a Shadow of the Great Tribulation

 

Yom Kippur also portrays the time of the Great Tribulation when Yehovah will tribulate those who had tribulated His beloved ones (Matthew 24:21, 29; 25:31-46; Revelation 19:11-16). It will be a time of intense suffering that culminates in establishing the millennial reign of Yeshua Messiah, portrayed in the Feast of Tabernacles. Clearly, if the Day of Atonement depicts Yah’s Plan of Salvation and His Reconciliation with His human creation beginning with the Millennial Reign of the Son of Yehovah headquartered out of Yerushalayim proper, it must be preceded by a time of judgment and great sorrow where Yah’s elect will be tried in the crucible of persecution, death, and destruction brought on by the enemy, aided by his human proxies. (This is where the pretribulation rapturists are sorely out of sync with Yeshua’s and John’s prophesies.)

 

Those who endure to the end are described by an angel to John (aka Yochanan the Revelator) as having “come out of the great tribulation and having had their robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14; LEB).

 

There must be heartache before there can be joy, beloved.

 

Now, I’ll leave the sequence or order that this all will play out in relation to Yah’s Plan of Salvation and Plan for Man’s Redemption and Reconciliation for the eschatologists to sort out. All I know is that the Feasts of Yehovah, including the set-apart days we find ourselves in right now, all remind us of good things to come. Some aspects of these set-apart feasts are wonderful and joyous in meaning and application. Others, such as these 10 Days of Repentance or 10 Days of Awe (which, by the way, is NOT a true feast of Yah but a rabbinic invention or tradition, let’s just say), and the Day of Atonement, are more somber and sobering. They force us to take stock of our relationship with the Almighty and our neighbor. Despite these ten days of Repentance not being sanctioned, set apart days of Yah, they certainly help the would-be Child of Yah come to terms with their present spiritual situation. How solid is their relationship with the Almighty? How stable is their relationship with their neighbor? What areas in their life need fixing? Are they ready to receive their King if He were to break the sky today? Will they be overjoyed at His appearance or terrified at what He might say to them when He meets them? Will He say to them, “Well done thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things” (Matthew 25:21-23). Or will He tell them, “I don’t know you. In fact, I’ve never truly known you. So depart from Me, you worker of iniquity” (Matthew 7:23)?

 

So, beloved, let us take this most opportune time at this most solemn time of Yah’s biblical calendar year to reconcile all these concerns and get our spiritual house in order, for today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).

 

Yom Kippur From the Perspective of an Ancient Hebrew Wedding

 

Lastly, we will briefly explore Yom haKippurim from the perspective of it being representative of a portion of an ancient Hebrew wedding, with Yehovah being the Father seeking a worthy bride for His beloved Son, Yeshua Messiah. That bride will be the redeemed, perfected, translated, and glorified Body of Messiah.

 

Like all the Feasts preceding it, Yom HaKippurim is a memorial day. Recall that Yom Teruah–aka the Day of the Blowing of Trumpets–memorialized both the day that Yehovah revealed Himself to Yisra’el from Mount Sinai, accompanied by the exceeding loud blasts of heavenly trumpets (Exodus/Shemote 19). Additionally, Yom Teruah memorializes the future return to earth of Yeshua Messiah, whose return will be accompanied by blasts from the Trump of Yah (1 Thessalonians 4). Some choose to substitute the term memorial with rehearsal. Regardless, both terms, when properly applied to these set-apart days, firmly imply that Yah’s set-apart people, who are called by His Name, are required to remember the reason for the season, not just in thought, but more so, by their obedient actions on these days.

 

I’ve said all of this to set the stage for our seeing Yom Kippur from the perspective of the ancient Hebrew wedding process and ceremony. The feasts, an ancient depiction of an ancient Hebrew wedding process and ritual, have recently gained much popularity in and around Messianic circles. I am more in tune with the feasts representing or depicting Yah’s Plan of Salvation, Restoration, and Redemption for humanity. But I can also find great value in the ancient Hebrew wedding paradigm.

 

So, some believe that Yom Kippur is a prophetic shadow of Yeshua returning from His preparations to gather His bride and take her to His Father’s house. Recall that Yeshua tells His disciples just before His betrayal by Judas and His crucifixion and subsequent resurrection from the grave, the following:

 

(1) Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in Yah, believe also in Me. (2) In My Father’s house are many mansions (or “mon-ay” meaning abiding or dwelling places). If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also (John 14; KJV).

 

As we can see, this paradigm certainly has some biblical standing: Right from the mouth of our illustrious Master Yeshua Messiah, He, as a bridegroom, has gone to prepare a dwelling place for His soon-to-be bride.

 

Now, something may appear off to you regarding Yom Kippur being likened to an ancient Hebrew marriage or wedding process and ritual. Yom Kippur is the most solemn and holy day of Yah’s calendar year. At the same time, a wedding is always portrayed as the most joyous day of a couple’s life. How do we reconcile such a discrepancy? Recall that many who adhere to the Feasts of the LORD being a foreshadowing of Yah’s Great Plan of Salvation, Redemption, and Restoration with Yom Teruah-The Day of the Blowing of Trumpets–being the day in which Yeshua, the Bridegroom, comes to retrieve His bride-to-be and ushers her off to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). But here, in the wedding paradigm, we have the Bridegroom retrieving His bride-to-be as depicted on Yom Kippur.

 

However, the supporters of this paradigm do have answers to this seeming discrepancy. But before we resolve this discrepancy, let me briefly outline how this wedding paradigm shakes out on Abba’s biblical calendar.

 

The first step in the wedding process is called the “shiddukhin.” The “shiddukhin” is that time in the wedding process when Yehovah (the Father of the Bridegroom) selects a suitable bride for His son. An example of this is seen in the story of Avraham sending his servant Eliezer to fetch a suitable bride for his beloved son Yitschaq (aka Isaac). Eliezer selects Rebecca or Rivka for Isaac. The “shiddukhin” portion of the ancient Hebrew wedding process is embedded in the Spring Feasts of Yehovah (i.e., Pesach-Unleavened Bread-Firstfruits). Together, these feasts are pilgrimage feasts that always fall in the first month of Yah’s calendar year.

 

The second step in the wedding process is called “erusin.” The “erusin” is when the formal marriage announcement is made. From that time forward, even up to the wedding day, the marriage becomes lawful and binding” (Norman Willis; The Day of Atonement; Nazarene Isra’el). Generally, a formal, written marriage, wedding, or engagement is drafted and signed by both parties, and the announcement is witnessed. Such a document is called a “ketubah.” When Yisra’el agreed to the terms of Yehovah’s proposal to her at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19), that agreement was documented in the Book of the Covenant. It served as a “ketubah.” When Yeshua sent His Father’s Holy Spirit to His disciples on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), that gift served as a token or ketubah or agreement of the marriage that is to take place between Yeshua and His bride.

 

This pivotal day, called the “erusin,” is embedded in Shavuot, or Pentecost.

 

The period between the erusin and when the Bridegroom will fetch His bride-to-be is an intense work time on the bride’s and bridegroom’s parts. The bride will earnestly work on preparing her wedding dress (Revelation 3:4; 16:15) and assembling her bridesmaids for the coming nuptials (Matthew 25:1-11). In contrast, the Bridegroom will work on building an addition to His Father’s “house” to serve as a dwelling place for Himself and His bride (John 14:1-3). Once the Bridegroom’s dwelling place preparations are completed, His Father releases Him to go and fetch His bride-to-be.

 

In advance of the Bridegroom arriving to fetch his bride, a herald is sent to announce his imminent arrival to the bridal party. This announcement comes in the form of shofar blasts. Of course, this portion of the marriage process is embedded in Yom Teruah, or the Day of the Blowing of Trumpets.

 

It is during the days between the herald’s announcement of the Bridegroom’s impending arrival to fetch his bride that the bridal party readies themselves to meet the Bridegroom and head off to the official wedding ceremony and celebratory supper. (This is beautifully depicted in the parable of the 10-Bridesmaids, Matthew 25:1-13). This event is what Yom Kippur is supposed to represent within this ancient Hebrew wedding paradigm.

 

And just so we tie up that loose end of rectifying how a joyous occasion such as the bride and the bridal party being whisked away to be with the Bridegroom for the long-awaited marriage, with the somberness and solemnity that Yom Kippur naturally engenders, advocates of the wedding paradigm suggest that it’s all about the true bride of Messiah giving up and leaving behind the life she once knew in exchange for the new life she will have with her Husband, Yeshua Messiah. It’s about denying oneself the pleasures of this life in exchange for the pleasures of the Kingdom that awaits her. Indeed, one of the mainstays of our Faith is dying to self: Being able to say no to the things of this world and yes to Yeshua and the ways and rule of the Kingdom in their lives. It is challenging to accomplish, especially when we attempt to die to ourselves through our wherewithal. In fact, for some of us, completely dying to self is a lifetime process, but the reward is eternal. And this is where the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (aka, the Ruach HaKodesh) comes into play. The Holy Spirit helps us through the process of dying to self by giving us the desire and ability to obey Yah and His Ways.

The Realities of Yom Teruah 2022

by | Sep 24, 2022 |

  Introduction to our Discussion   Welcome to the Day of the Blowing of Trumpets, or better, the Blowing of Shofars 2022. And with that, we pray that you are earnestly preparing and eagerly awaiting the arrival of Yom Teruah 2022.   The title of our...

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Death-the Grave-the Resurrection-Part 2

by | Aug 19, 2022 |

  Introduction   This is part 2 of our discussion on death, the grave, and the resurrection. And we will be picking up where we left off in part 1, which if you haven’t had the opportunity to either read or listen to that post on any of the platforms in which...

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Thoughts and Reflections on Yom Teruah-The Feast of Tabernacles 2023

Thoughts and Reflections on Yom Teruah-The Feast of Tabernacles 2023

by | Sep 15, 2023 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

This is a special TMTO post that I pray will encourage, and maybe inform you, as it relates to the imminent advent of Yom Teruah, or the Day of the Blowing of Trumpets.

 

As you may, or may not know, we are on the very cusp of receiving this Moedim, this set-apart day, this feast day that Yah has instructed HIs set-apart ones to keep, guard, honor, and celebrate.

 

Many Torah observant brethren will be keeping Yom Teruah or the Feast of Trumpets this coming S-turday, September 16th, in accordance with the rabbinic, calculated calendar. However, those of us who keep the Creator’s observational calendar, are waiting with “baited breath,” so to speak, to learn from searchers in the Land of Yisra’el, the results of their search for the renewed moon. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with the difference between the two prominent calendars kept by members of our beloved faith, I would humbly encourage you to read my post entitled: “Why I Keep the Torah (Observational) Calendar and not the Other Popular Messianic Calendars.”

 

And let me just say, if you are led to keep the rabbinic, calculated calendar, I do not disparage you for doing so. That’s between you and Yehovah. We are all on collective and individual journeys in this wonderful faith of ours, which means that we may be at different places in our respective walks with Yah. Thus, we await our Master’s illustrious return when He will bring us into final unity whereby we worship Yehovah as one united man or body.

 

But as for today’s post, I was led to forego my regular, weekly blog posting of my Thoughts and Reflections on this week’s Torah Reading, for an unpacking of the passage that instructs Yah’s people to keep Yom Teruah: Leviticus 23:23-25, which reads:

 

23 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the ⌊Israelites⌋, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ⌊you must have⌋ a rest period, a remembrance of the trumpet blast, a holy assembly. 25 You must not do ⌊any regular work⌋, and you shall present an offering made by fire to Yahweh.’ ” W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Le 23:23–25.

 

Let’s Unpack this key passage that defines what and when Yom Teruah is:

 

(23) Then YHVH spoke to Moshe saying…That is, YHVH “ye-dab-ber” or spoke to Moshe during one of His times on Mount Sinai with the Creator.

 

The verb, “ye-dab-ber” is a verb that consists of an imitative base with an original meaning of “to buzz/hum,” such as common to a bee. In this context, we have Moshe receiving a download from YHVH, which paints a prophetic shadow picture of the disciples sitting at Master Yeshua’s feet and receiving His righteous teachings on that mountain/hillside (famously referred to as the Sermon on the Mount as found in Matthew 5-8).

 

(24) “Speak (i.e., “ye-dab-ber”) to the Yisra’elites or children of Yisra’el, saying…

 

That being: “ye-dab-ber” to the sons (i.e., “bene”) or descendants of Yisra’el that which I’m about to pass on to you. It’s likely that Moshe would have been taking notes or writing down everything that the Father was saying to Him.

 

In the seventh month…

 

That being, in the “se-bi-i” or 7th “Chodesh” or month.

 

…on the first day of the month…

 

That being, on the “e’had” or “echad” of the “Chodesh” (implying the first day of the month).

 

…you must have a rest period…

 

That being, on the “e’had” of the “se-bi-i” “Chodesh,” “yih-ye(h)” or it shall come to pass a “sab-ba-ton” or a sabbath. Sabbaton, a noun, denotes a day of complete rest, referring back to the very first Shabbat recorded in the scripture of Genesis 2:2: “And on the seventh day Elohiym ended His work (i.e., His mela’kah, His occupation or work) which He had made (i.e., ‘asah, or which He had fashioned), and He rested (i.e., “sabbath;” He rested) on the seventh day (i.e., Yehovah “se-bi-i” “Yom”) from all His work (or “mela’kah”) from all His work which He had made.

 

Thus, whenever we come upon the term “Shabbat” or “sabbath” in the holy writ, it denotes a day of rest or cessation from one’s normal occupation or work.

 

Continuing:

 

…a remembrance of the trumpet blast…

 

That being, on this sabbath or day of rest, it is to be “zik-ron” (or, a memorial; remembrance; a reminder) of “teruah” (that being,תְּרוּעָה f.n. 1 shout, cry, alarm. 2 a succession of tremulous notes of the ‘shofar’ or trumpet. Ernest Klein, “תְּרוּעָה,” ed. Baruch Sarel, A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English (Jerusalem: Carta Jerusalem; The University of Haifa, 1987), 717.).

 

The term teruah in this context denotes shofar and or trumpet blasts.

 

So, given the time constraints of this passage, what is Yehovah referring to as it relates to a “teruah” that He is requiring bene Yisra’el to “zik-ron” or remember/memorialize? Why of course Yah’s magnificent revelation from Mount Sinai:

 

16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet (i.e., “kole shofar”) exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. (Exo 19:16 KJV)

 

On that historic day, when Yehovah revealed Himself to His bride-to-be, Yisra’el, the revelation of Himself to Yisra’el was accompanied by various sights and sounds. The most notable of these sights and sounds, at least in the mind of Yah, was the exceeding loud voice of the shofar. And it is this event that Yah instructed Moshe to ensure that bene Yisra’el remembered on the first day of the 7th month.

 

Continuing.

 

…an holy convocation.

 

That being, this memorial/zik-ron of teruah/blasts of the shofar/trumpet was to be unto bene Yisra’el a “miqra kodesh” or a set-apart “calling together; even a reading.

 

You may come across some that teach that a convocation as used here denotes that of some kind of rehearsal. But this English term denotes that which is “practiced” or that which is of a “trial performance” for purposes of a later public performance (wikipedia dictionary). In my humble opinion, what Yah is instructing Moshe to do here is to establish in the hearts and minds of bene Yisra’el, that on the first day of every 7th month, they are to assemble themselves (whatever that assembly looked like and looks like today) and remember the day that He revealed Himself to Yisra’el, accompanied by exceedingly loud “teruah” or trumpet/shofar blasts. The only aspect of this commandment where I could conceivably concede some form of a rehearsal is that bene Yisra’el would memorialize the day with the blowing of shofars.

 

In terms of the “miqra kodesh/qara’,” they would be inextricably linked to the weekly and annual sabbaths or the Moedim of Yah. This phrase, Holy Convocation as used in many English translations of the Books of Leviticus/Vayiqra and Numbers/Bemidbar, it concerns “the proper celebration of the appointed festivals that God commanded the Israelites to celebrate, including the regular Sabbath observance (Lev 23:3)”. Specifically, a holy convocation is required for:

    1. The Feast of Matzah or Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:16; Leviticus 21:7-8; Numbers 28:18, 25).
    2. Shavuot or Feast of Weeks or Pentecost (Leviticus 23:21; Numbers 28:26).
    3. Yom Teruah or the Day of the Blowing of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29:1).
    4. Yom Kippurim or the Day of Atonements (Leviticus 23:27; Numbers 29:27).
    5. Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:35-36; Numbers 29:12).

What is unique or special about these commanded holy convocations on these set-apart days is that it was to involve worship (generally marked by sacrifices unto Yehovah) and celebration/festive times that involved the entire nation; an abstention from work; and a reading of Torah.

 

The reading of Torah is featured in Nehemiah 8 where it is recorded that Judah, having recently been freed from Babylonian captivity, on Yom Teruah, Ezra (a Hebrew scribe read to the assembled nation the Book of the Law or Torah (vss. 1-12). If you haven’t read this passage, I would humbly encourage you to do so. It is one of the most touching passages of the Tanakh involving our ancient Hebrew cousins in unison and in obedient teshuvah, that I’ve ever had the blessing to read.

 

Continuing.

 

(25)  You must not do any regular work…

 

On this set-apart day, bene Yisra’el was to perform no “mela-ket” or trade, business, work, and so forth. It generally referred to abstaining from one’s occupation on this set-apart day. The extreme orthodox rabbis over the centuries took this and similar commandments to an extreme, banning virtually all physical activities on such days. But their fence around Torah served only to imprison the folks they had ecclesiastical oversight. For the spirit of this instruction, that no regular or servile work be done on this set-apart day, was not in any sense an abstention from all physical activities. Rather, it was to be a day of rest and refreshment from the activities and work of the previous six days.

 

Look, Yom Teruah and the other set-apart days (including His weekly Shabbat) were specific times that Yah’s chosen ones are required by Yah to stop that which they do in their everyday life and come together to be with their Elohiym. These times were meant to be special to Yehovah’s people. These were to be times of Yah coming to love on and be with His children. From a marriage standpoint, it would be likened to the husband scheduling for his bride a day-date or a date-night. It was to be a special time for both Yehovah and His bride Yisra’el. To miss these times of convocation, for whatever reason or at any level, was to essentially “stand our Husband up,” which Yah does not take too kindly to.

 

Continuing.

 

…and you shall present an offering made by fire to Yehovah.

 

That is, on this set apart day, bene Yisra’el will be required to “qarab” or “come or draw near or approach.” In what sense was bene Yisra’el to come or draw near or approach Him? They were to render unto Yehovah a burnt offering, otherwise referred to as an “‘ishshah.”

Now, there are a couple of things we must bear in mind when we consider what Abba is referring to as an expectation for an “‘ishshah” from His set-apart people. First and foremost, especially as it relates to this Moedim or feast day: Yah commissioned just three (3) pilgrimage feasts for Yisra’el: (1) The Feast of Matzah or Unleavened Bread; (2) Shavuot or Pentecost; and (3) Sukkot. Yom Teruah is not included in these three pilgrimage feasts, which meant that an individual who was not in the local vicinity of the Tabernacle or Temple, would either have to journey there in order for him to render unto Yah his personal “‘ishshah” or burnt offering. Yah prohibited individual Yisra’elites from rendering personal or individual burnt offerings outside the Tabernacle or Temple proper where proper administration by the Levitical Priest would ensure the acceptance of one’s offering.

 

Since Yom Teruah was not a pilgrimage feast, it fell exclusively to the Levitical Priests headquartered at the Tabernacle to render the proper “ishshah” or burnt offerings. And Yah provided the particulars of those sacrifices in Numbers 29:

 

“ ‘On the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you will have a holy convocation; ⌊you will not do any regular work⌋. It will be a day for you of blowing trumpets. 2 You will offer a burnt offering as a fragrance of appeasement for Yahweh: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs ⌊in their first year⌋; they will be without defect. 3 Their grain offering will be finely milled flour mixed with oil: three-tenths for the bull, two-tenths for the ram; 4 and one-tenth for each of the seven male lambs; 5 with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you, 6 in addition to the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their libations, according to their stipulations, as a fragrance of appeasement by fire for Yahweh. (W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Nu 29:1–6.

 

Since Yom Teruah fell exclusively on the first day of the 7th month, in addition to the Feast Day burnt offering requirements, the Levitical Priests were required to offer a Rosh Chodesh (NOT a Rosh Hashanah) offering (Numbers 29:6).

 

Thus, it fell to the non-Levite to keep all of the other stipulated requirements of the set-apart day such as participating in a local holy convocation; abstaining from his/her regular, weekly activities and work; and blowing in celebration his shofar.

 

As it relates to us who are modern, engrafted Yisra’elites, we are compelled to do accordingly in spirit and in truth:

1. Keep Yom Teruah on its appointed day of Yah’s sacred calendar year, which is the first day of the 7th Chodesh or 7th month. The question that we all must answer for ourselves and for Yah is, which calendar will we comply with?

 

2. Abstain from those activities that we do during the other six (6) days of our week. That abstention from the regular week’s activities includes not engaging in any servile or regular work.

 

We remember that historic event where Yah revealed Himself to our ancient Hebrew cousins from Mount Sinai, accompanied by the exceeding blasts of a shofar or trumpet. It is also a wonderful opportunity to consider the prophetic shadow picture that this historic event holds for the new covenant Messianic, and how the Apostle brilliantly framed the next great revelation from heaven involving the return of Yahoshua HaMashiyach: 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1Th 4:16-18 KJV) This is our blessed hope that should be front and center in our hearts and minds when we receive and celebrate Yom Teruah. We earnestly await a repeat of that teruah and our being gathered to be with our King. Thus, we blow our shofars (if we have them) throughout the day in remembrance/zikron of that event and that future event. If we don’t have a shofar, we can instead make a joyful noise unto Yehovah through the means we have available to us on that day. The beauty of the term “teruah” is that it can also refer to the making of a joyful noise or celebratory shouts unto Yehovah. So, let us not miss the opportunity to make that joyful noise unto Yehovah.

 

3. We participate in a holy convocation or miqra kodesh. For many of us, that miqra kodesh will be in the form of a physical, live fellowship or worship service with other like-minded brethren. For the rest of us, that holy convocation may take the form of a family gathering or watching or participating in an online service or teaching, especially given that many of us are not privy to a physical assembly or fellowship. Either way, we allow the Holy Spirit (aka, the Ruach HaKodesh) that is operating in each of us, to guide and lead us to the convocation that He has set aside for us, bearing in mind, that that convocation may or may not be as we envisioned it would be.

 

4. If we haven’t already, we need to ensure that we have the day off from work (that is if we are currently employed). Chances are that for those of us who keep the observational calendar, Yom Teruah will fall either on the first day of next week (i.e., S-nday the 17th), or the second day of next week (i.e., M-nday the 18th). Either case, we need to be ready to receive the day mentally, physically, and above all spiritually. Yah deserves our full attention on this set-apart day, regardless of which day it actually falls on.

 

 

5. And lastly, we will have to have some form of offering prepared to offer Yehovah. Many of us will send financial offerings to those ministries that feed us or so forth.

The other form of offering that we should all be prepared to render unto Yah is that of praises unto Yehovah. The writer of Hebrews described this form of offering as sacrifices of praise to Yehovah, which directly involves the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His Name. Doing good among those whom Yehovah has placed in our path, not neglecting to share that which we have with any who is in need (13:15-16). The writer asserts that it is these types of offerings that please our Heavenly Father when they come from the heart.

 

In the event that you want to learn more about this set-apart day–this Moedim–this Feast of the LORD, I would humbly encourage to go on over to themessianictorahobserver.org, type in the search bar (i.e., that magnifying glass looking thing, located in the top menu panel), and type in “Yom Teruah” and you will set some of the teachings and commentaries I posted over the last few years on this important day.

 

Beloved, there is no better time–no more important time in human history–that we who are called by His Name should be “teruah’ing,” it’s in the here and now. These are indeed perilous times, eerily similar to the times the Apostle prophesied of his young protege at the time, the Evangelist Timotheus. He described these days accordingly:

 

in the last days perilous times shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2Ti 3:1-7 KJV)

 

So my prayer, hope, and trust for all of us during this and the upcoming holy/set-apart days is that we not only keep them on their appointed days, but keep them with as much gusto, joy, solemnity, and anticipation as we can muster.

 

Have a blessed and meaningful Yom Teruah. Until next time. Shalom. Take care.

 

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