YHVH’s Appointed Times
We read in the Torah that YHVH, our Eternal Daddy, our Abba -- even YahShua the Messiah, desires us to keep His appointed times. Once we understand just how pagan and wicked the Babylonian festivals of christmas, easter, halloween, valentine’s day, st. patrick’s day and every other vain heathen tradition are, most of which has seeped into modern day christianity, we desperately seek a way out of the rotting house of modern day Americana churchianity/christianity. Obviously the Protestants, Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Coptics, not to mention the Anglicans, have completely ignored the precepts of the Holy Bible as Yah continues to curse them with a devastating curse.
While Christians pursue their folly, we true followers of the Messiah YahShua want to answer their foolishness with Truth. The Jehovah’s Witnesses rightly recognize the paganism of christmas, birthdays, etc., but they FAIL to replace this vacuum with the scripturally ordained feasts. Not to mention, Jehovah Witnesses have so many cultish teachings that are in direct opposition to the Holy Bible that despite their stand against paganism, they are headed to the same Lake of Fire that the stupid Christians are heading for. Granted, the christians who should know better will probably receive the greater damnation.
So, what are these appointed times? We read about them in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 28 & 29 although they can be found many, many, many other places throughout the Tanakh and the RenNEWed Covenant.
Let’s take a look:
1. The weekly Shabbat -- this is the 7th day of the week which YahShua sanctified from the beginning. We know from Genesis that there was “evening and morning” thus we know that days begin when the sun sets and darkfall settles across the land. A good rule of thumb is to begin the new day when all the light of the sun has faded from the sky.
Thus every Friday at sundown to Saturday at sundown we are TO REJOICE! No work is permitted during this day. The penalty for disobedience is extremely severe -- eternal damnation. We are to worship YahShua, read His Word, spend time with our families and do good -- such as heal, preach, testify, exhort, encourage, and fellowship with the Saints.
Of course, like the Apostles, if you desire to EXTEND your shabbat past sunset Saturday, into the early part of the 1st day of the week . . . GO RIGHT AHEAD! :) But remember, Sunday morning IS NOT A TIME TO GO TO A PAGAN CHURCH/TEMPLE. Sunday is A COMMANDED WORK DAY. This is the day to mow your lawn, buy groceries, clean the house and TO WORK, WORK, WORK. That goes for the remaining 5 days as well. We are commanded to work 6 days.
2. The monthly New Moon -- When the Moon is completely black, it is New. The New Moon begins the sunset following the completely black New Moon. Any farmer’s almanac as well as a number of internet resources can help you determine the New Moons for the upcoming year. While a New Moon is not technically called a sabbath -- it is a day of worship, praise and offerings unto Yah. It is the only other day other than the weekly Shabbat that the eastern door to the Heavenly Tabernacle flings open.
If you are in school, you’ll need to be home schooled so you can observe these days. Do not waste your time at a godless university or college.
3. The yearly Hebrew Feasts --
A. Passover -- 14 days after the first New Moon of the year, we are to kill and roast a lamb, rehearse Exodus 12, and partake of unleavened bread and wine/grape juice even as Messiah commanded. This is a memorial day commemorating YahShua’s precious atonement which He made in His brutal death for our past transgressions against Torah.
B. Feast of Unleavened Bread -- This is a 7 day Feast which begins at sunset following Passover. The 1st day is a High Sabbath -- no work is to be done. The 7th day is a High Sabbath -- no work is to be done. During these 7 days you are not to eat anything with leaven and must clean your dwelling place and car so that NO leaven is anywhere in your living space. This Feast represents how YahShua’s death and resurrection PURGES US OF ALL SIN -- LEAVEN.
C. Firstfruits -- this happens on the morrow after the shabbat which falls within the 7 day Unleavened Bread Feast. This is the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest -- the day YahShua ascended to the Father as the Firstfruit from among the dead. Although He resurrected on shabbat, just before sunset, He ascended as the Firstfruits offering on this day. This is A JOYOUS TIME, as we realize He has RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD AND CONQUERED SIN AND DEATH!
D. Pentecost -- 50 Days after Firstfruits, we come to another “morrow after the shabbat” in the late Spring/early Summer. We are to bake two loaves of leavened bread and wave them before YHVH. We are to give a love offering to Yah on this glorious day. Pentecost is when the Ruach fell upon the early disciples en masse, and thus began to fulfill the prophecies in Yoel. This is a joyous day of celebration, as it is Pentecost which enables us to be filled with the Ruach ha Kadosh and enables us to OBEY EVERY JOT AND TITTLE OF TORAH. Pentecost is the essence of the ReNEWed Covenant as stipulated in Hebrews 8:8-10. This is a MAJOR PARTY TIME!
E. Yom Teruah -- This is the 7th New Moon of the year. Wrongly called Rosh Hashanah (has nothing to do with the new year as the new year scripturally occurs 14 days before Passover in the Spring), this feast day has yet to be fulfilled by Messiah. It is the feast of SHOUTING -- OF BLOWING THE TRUMPET. When YahShua descends from the sky, with a shout of the archangel, and the blast of the shofar, calling His dead and living saints from the earth and we rise up to meet Him, transforming into our resurrected bodies in the twinkling of an eye, the First Resurrection occurs. This is one the most joyous feast days of the entire year -- as it anticipates our COMING RESURRECTION!!!!
F. Yom Kippur -- This is the 10th day following Yom Teruah, sunset the 9th to sunset the 10th. We are to afflict our souls and meditate on our desperate need for an atonement. Yom Kippur is promised to be a joyful feast when YahShua rules and reigns on planet earth. While Passover emphasized the Yah-side of atonement, Yom Kippur emphasizes the desperation of man’s need for an atonement. It will have a final fulfillment at the Great White Throne Judgment at the end of the 7th (shabbat) millennium of earth’s history, in which a final judgment is made and ALL SIN IS REMOVED ONCE AND FOR ALL FROM THE UNIVERSE.
G. Feast of Tabernacles -- 5 days after Yom Kippur we have the longest feast of the year. For 8 days we are to erect tents/booths and dwell in them. The 1st day is a High Shabbat and a time of great celebration. The 8th day, known as the Last Great Day, is also a High Shabbat. A Jewish wedding is 8 days long, and celebrating in our tents for 8 days anticipates the time in which YahShua will literally Tabernacle with us when He rules for 1000 years on earth. The 8th day pictures what happens after the Great White Throne Day of Judgment in which the 8th millennium of earth’s history begins -- a new beginning as the heavens and earth are ReNEWed and death is at last completely wiped away from the universe, thrown into the Lake of Fire forever. No one can fully imagine what this renewed beginning will be like, as everything shall be renewed and the New Yerushalyim, made of precious stones, shall descend from a renewed Heaven. Tabernacles is the absolute most joyous feast of the entire year.
Similar to what the decision was in Acts 15, birthed by the Ruach ha Kadosh, you will do well to keep the above appointed times throughout the year, as you grow in Torah and mature in the fruits of the Ruach ha Kadosh.
