Why the Feast of Tabernacles Should Not Be Ignored By the Church

This Feast (today - October 13 - October 20)  is known as Sukkot, or Tabernacles, or Feast of Booths.  All Israelites were required to dwell in temporary shelters for seven days, to remind them of God’s provision during their forty-year journey in the wilderness after leaving Egypt and before arriving at the Promised Land.  It is a reminder  of God’s past provision during the wilderness journey, and God’s present goodness and provision to all who follow Him.

The first and seventh days are Sabbaths --- sacred days set apart during which no work is to be done.  The 7-day Feast is a joyful time of harvest and eating and remembering.  In ancient Israel it became the most prominent of the holidays and was referred to with great awe simply as “the holiday.” It was during the Feast of Tabernacles that Solomon dedicated the rebuilt Temple to the Lord.   According to 2 Chron. 5:3, the glory of the Lord Himself descended from Heaven to light the fire on the altar and fill the Holy of Holies. 

      And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast  (I Kings 8:2). 

     As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. ²And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s house. ³When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever."  (2 Chron. 7:1-10.) 

The Lord will not only gather His people, but He will tabernacle with us during the coming messianic Kingdom.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.^”  (Rev. 21:3).

On This Date In History

Sundown this evening begins Tish B’Av.   This important historic date commemorates many disastrous events in Jewish history, such as…..

     In 586 BC, Solomon’s Temple (the First Temple) was destroyed by the Babylonians.  Since Babylonia is not a current vacation-pick with tourists, I would say that God took care of them, as He does all who oppose His people.

     In 70 AD, Herod’s Temple (the Second Temple) was destroyed by the Romans,  (I guess we all know what ultimately happened  to the Roman Empire, don’t we?)

     In 1095, the First Crusade was declared by Pope Urban II, killing
10,000 Jews in its first month alone and completely annihilating many Jewish communities.  Pope Urban died 14 days later, and never heard about the “success” of this Crusade, since news traveled slowly in those days.  I would not want to enter eternity with the blood of ten thousand murdered Jews on my hands, would you?

     In 1914, World War I broke out, setting the stage for WW II, the embittered Adolph Hitler,  and the Holocaust which would follow.

     In 1941 , Hermann Göring ordered the dreaded SS  to make all the necessary preparations for the Final Solution for the complete and merciless extermination of the Jews.

     In 1942 on the eve of Tisha B'Av, the mass deportation of Jews from the
Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka death camp began. A Nazi information pamphlet about Treblinka from that time explains "Killing took place with great speed. The whole process of killing the people, starting from their arrival at the camp railroad till removing the corpses from the gas chambers, lasted about 2 hours. Treblinka was known among the Nazis as an example of good organization of a death camp. ( ever-admired German efficiency at work !)

      On  Tisha B’av, 2004, Barack Hussein Obama delivered the keynote address of the Democratic National Convention, spotlighting himself to win the presidential nomination.   Though the US has always been Israel’s strongest ally, under Obama’s administration, this is no longer true and he has repeatedly and ignorantly showed contempt for Israel while ingratiating himself to her enemies. Since God promises to curse those who curse Israel, Obama’s contempt for Israel and her leader, Netanyahu, has surely brought the US under a divine curse, and in view of headlines, can there be any doubt of this? 

     The troubles facing the US are not coincidental and must be viewed through a Divine lens.  For decades Americans have proudly sung “God Bless America” but have made political and societal choices that fly in the face of all that is Holy -- “Having the form of Godliness but denying the power thereof” (2 Tim. 3:5).  A quick look at recent news events prove that  God is not happy with America and surely is disciplining  the US.  We have poked our arrogant fingers in His eye for far too long by tolerating sin, embracing political correctness, and keeping leaders on the payroll who disdain  His commands.  The blood of  scores of murdered unborn cry out to Heaven for justice from dumpsters  “from sea to shining sea”.  The tentacles of  the spirit of Sodom grasp at the ankles of  impressionable children incarcerated in  classrooms that not only condone but jam down their innocent throats every sinful perverted lifestyle condemned by God.  The vulgar spirit of Sodom has infected  our military.  The foundations of the US are quickly and irreparably crumbling and all that each individual can do is cry out in repentence of our own sins,  disembowel damnable political correctness in our own lives, obey the commands of Almighty God, and throw our faith anchor into the Heavens, where it will grasp –  not Mohammed or Buddha, but rather the true Rock of Righteousness - the Hebrew Rabbi from Nazareth.   You can store up water, food, and aspirin all you want as you anticipate a comet that may not even impact your environment.  Or you can store up righteousness and stock up on the living Word of God and fall to your face in repentance. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him” ( II Chron. 16:9).  

     Or you can just go on watching “Dancing With The Stars” and being lulled into stupidity by Diane Sawyer.    

      It’s a choice that each individual  must make on this  9^th day of the Hebrew month of Av and every day left to us.  “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)

Pentecost Parallels Often Overlooked

Digging up the Hebraic roots of Christianity has brought me to a  new deeper meaning of  Pentecost .   Most of my life, I thought Pentecost was a special Sunday that  was mainly the  “birthday of the church” when the disciples in the Upper Room had little pointy tongues of fire dancing above their heads (I'm sure you've seen those paintings).  Peter then made a speech and told all the people who were milling around like they were at a Mall, that they  killed the Messiah.  The people were upset and wanted to know what to do, and Peter told them to repent and be baptized, and thus the Christian church was born when 3,000 of them obeyed .   However, regarding this event,  there is  much more that needs to be considered.  Rewinding to Passover a few weeks ago  helps in this understanding of Pentecost/Shavuot and the wonderful parallels involved.   The Passover wasn’t just about God bullying  Pharoah  to release the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.  God  had a definite destination in mind, He wanted to get His people to Mt. Sinai  where He would propose to them.   When they arrived at Sinai after many miracles,   Moses ascended the mountain and God issued His ten suggestions ….er…COMMANDMENTS.

       God was acting as a bridegroom proposing marriage to His bride.   Some Hebrew sages relate that Mt. Sinai  suddenly blossomed with flowers in anticipation of the giving of the Torah on its slopes.  Actually, in  Hebrew tradition, the marriage contract is called a ketubbah (ka-TOOB-ah).   The katubbah, or marriage contract, was the Torah, which match-maker Moses  brought to the bride (the mixed multitude that made up the commonwealth of  Yisrael that had left Egypt in the Exodus).   On hearing the commands of God, the people accepted the marriage proposal by saying  "All that the LORD (Yahweh) has spoken we will do!" And matchmaker Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.  (Exodus 19:8). Even today, some Jewish communities read out a ketubbah between God and Israel as part of the Shavuot service.    Shavuot – the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai – is one of the Holy Feasts (or Festivals) that God commands to be observed.  It is one of the “Spring Feasts” that has been fulfilled by the Messiah Yeshua.   While the Spring feasts have been fulfilled, the Fall Feasts have not. 

        1.  Feast of Passover was fulfilled when Messiah was crucified as the innocent lamb.  Coinciding with Passover is 

        2.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread - The unleavened bread is also a symbol of Yeshua the Messiah who was our  sinless  Bread of Life. He was born in Bethlehem, which means, "house of bread."  

        3.  The Feast of Firstfruits – Shavuot/Pentecost.  This is when the Torah was given, when Yisrael accepted God’s marriage proposal, and when the first fruits of the harvest were presented to God --- ( 1 Corinthians 15)

20. “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep”. (I Cor. 15:20) In the three spring feasts we see the redemption story of our Savior. Our Lord Jesus personally fulfilled all three of those spring feasts -- down to the minutest detail. He was crucified on Passover, buried on Unleavened Bread, and His Resurrection proved Him to be “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” God commands us to observe all of these Feasts, or set apart Holy days, by prayer, rest, and study of Scripture.    They are special days to be remembered in special ways to honor God.  While we are commanded to commemorate the Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Shavuot, nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to commemorate the birth of the church as such.  The very reason so many people were gathered in Jerusalem on Pentecost  is because they were observing Shavuot.   

       Here is the Scripture passage in Acts Chapter two:

  “Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews [ the Church was entirely Jewish from the beginning] from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken [they did not hear ecstatic utterances that were unrecognizable, they heard actual languages spoken]. Peter then told them how the Messiah was crucified. 

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
 ³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call. [ the church would not remain exclusively Jewish]”
 ⁴⁰ With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” ⁴¹ Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. [Throughout Jerusalem there would have been many mikveh.  A mikvah is  like a little swimming pool, much like a modern baptistery,  that  Jews use for purification and to achieve holiness.  The church did not invent baptism, Jews were familiar with immersing themselves in water for religious reasons. In fact, before receiving the Torah at Sinai, all Jews were commanded to immerse themselves in preparation for coming face to face with God. It is reasonable that it would not have been difficult to baptize 3,000 Believers in these mikveh on this Shavuot/Pentecost.]
       Shavuot at Mount Sinai is  considered by many to be the day on which "Judaism" was born -- remembering the giving of the Ten Commandments to Israel and their acceptance of this Divine Proposal. Shavuot in Jerusalem (Mount Zion)  is the day on which the church was born,  when the followers of Yeshua accepted the proposal to be baptized and receive the gift of His Holy Spirit to help them live obediently according to the principles and commands  originally given on Mount Sinai so many years before. 

Have You Counted The Omer Today?

Today is Sunday, May 15, 2011, and by God’s  calendar it is Nisan-Iyar 11, in the year  5771.  Today  is much more than a number on a calendar.   It is Day 26 of the Counting of the Omer.   “You shall count for yourselves -- from the day after the Shabbat, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving -- seven Shabbats, they shall be complete. Until the day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count, fifty days.” (Leviticus 23:15-16)  “You shall count for yourselves seven weeks, from when the sickle is first put to the standing crop shall you begin counting seven weeks. Then you will observe the Festival of Shavu'ot for the LORD, your God”(-Deuteronomy 16:9-10)

      According to God’s instructions, we are obligated to count the days from Passover, to Shavuot (sha-voo-OAT – which is  when God gave the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai).  Rather than make a paper chain and tear off  a link every day, we count the Omer (OH-mer).  An Omer is a unit of measure, (about 3.5 quarts).  On the second day of Passover, an Omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as an offering.  God commanded that  the Omer would be counted  for  seven Sabbaths and one day after the 7^th Sabbath, exactly 50 days.   Each individual is to count the Omer himself – “You shall count for yourselves…”  For the pious and righteous,  the counting  takes place in the evening, following evening prayers and is combined with  the reciting of the most Holy  prayer, the Shema .  Therefore, the evening prayer should go something like this --- 

“  Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. 

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

with all your soul, 

and with all your might.

…. We exalt our  Creator, Who  commanded the  counting of  the Omer, 

  Today is the twenty-sixth day of the counting of the Omer, 

which is three weeks and five days of the Omer.” 

When the counting of the Omer is finished and we arrive at the 50^th day, we find that we have reached Pentecost.

     Originally,  the Exodus from Egypt was intended to lead to the revelation of Sinai. The goal of Passover is the giving of the Torah (God’s instructions ). God took the Israelites out of Egypt so that they would be His own treasured people, holy and separated from the pagan cultures around them.  

-----Passover (recently commemorated on April 19^th)  remembers the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb.   

-----The first day of Unleavened Bread ( April 19 – April 26) remembers the Exodus from Egypt when there was no time to allow bread to rise.   

-----The seventh day of Unleavened Bread (April 25)  remembers the crossing of the Red Sea.  

-----The  counting of the Omer (beginning April 20^th)  recalls the  fifty days before the giving of the Torah at Sinai.  

-----Shavuot (June 8,9) remembers the giving of the Torah exactly seven weeks after the Exodus . Shavuot at Mount Sinai is sometimes considered the day on which Judaism was born, and when the nation of Israel accepted Yahweh’s marriage proposal  when they agreed “We will do all that the Lord says”. Shavu’ot is also called the Feast of Weeks, since the seven weeks were counted and completed.

     The counting may seem superfluous – especially if you don’t have an Omer of barley to count every day -  yet, as with many of God’s commands there is deep meaning and benefit for us.  The counting  is intended to remind us of the link between Passover (which commemorates the Exodus) and Shavu’ot (which commemorates the giving of  God’s commandments.  The redemption from slavery was not complete until the Torah was received. 

     As usual, due to Biblical ignorance (and the error of Replacement Theology), we tend to overlook Scriptures that are in reality  very significant.  However,  in depth Bible study reveals riches of wisdom and knowledge that bring us many blessings.  The counting of the Omer reminds us that , in a way, Passover really isn’t over yet.  A very long time ago God freed  His people from slavery, and led them out of Egypt with many miracles.  He then instructed them to keep track of the days until the weeks were completed, when  he would make a mountain thunder and quake, and send His servant Moshe down with history-making stone tablets that He expects to be obeyed to this very day.  As I consider the counting of the Omer, it feels like I am on a journey with the Israelites, freed from my own slavery to sin, trekking toward a sacred mountain of revelation that will enrich my knowledge of God’s Word and teach me how to obey Him.  And someday, with all the deserts of the journey behind me, I will behold with my own eyes the Promised Land - flowing with milk and honey -that awaits me, and be seated at the wedding supper of the Lamb. 

Was God Impressed With The Royal Wedding?

On Friday April 29,2011 according to the bedazzled mass media, the “wedding of the century” took place.  Prince William married the lovely Kate  in a  glitz-and-glamor display  that cost an estimated  $34 million.   The simple wedding gown  carried a price tag of $434,000.  The two wedding cakes rang up a bill of $80,000.  As TV commentators gushed in typical fashion, the world witnessed the  make-her-an-honest-woman  wedding  of  two very famous fornicators, who had been unashamedly  living together  in sin, in  defiance of God’s Holy Scripture (called by some in the media,  the “royal shack-up”).    (God, who never  adjusts His commands to “modern times”, calls  it  a sin to be living together as an unmarried couple.)   No amount of Bible verses read in a wedding ceremony  substitute for  confessing the sin, and repentance, which should be taking place now.  Naturally,  modern “sophisticated” people don’t like  the word sin, but according to Isaiah, God says “My ways are higher than YOUR ways ” (Is. 55:9).     I Cor. 6:9 is pretty easy to understand as well , regarding God’s very serious view of  sin – “do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals...., will inherit the kingdom of God.” (If  we disagree with this verse, we can take it up with God, but I can’t think of any debate that God ever lost, can you?)     As always, there are two ways of looking at things and determining our decisions  ---

1.)  The world’s way  (I wouldn’t recommend that way, it leads to unfortunate short and  long-term  consequences)   - OR -

2.)  God’s way  (I HIGHLY recommend looking at everything through the lens of God’s Word.)  

     At any rate, the gushing media was quite incorrect when they dubbed  this event  “the wedding of the century”.   The true wedding of the century is yet  to come and all  so-called “royal” or Hollywood  weddings will pale in comparison.   At Mt. Sinai, God proposed to His bride.   –“ Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD said, “This is what  you are to tell the people of Israel: ⁴ ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. ⁵ Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. ..you will be for me  a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”  (Exodus 19)    Israel  (the mixed multitude  who had  left Egypt behind) listened to Moses and accepted God’s proposal  --“The people   all responded together, ‘We will do everything the LORD has said.’ So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.”   We must remember that’ Israel’ does not just refer to Jews, but also to the wild branches – Gentile Believers – grafted into the olive tree of Israel and thereby comprising (Jew and Gentile) - the Commonwealth of Yisrael. 

      So Israel became betrothed to God, and now we  prepare ourselves as we await  the royal wedding .”Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready. She has been given the privilege of wearing fine linen, dazzling and pure." (The fine linen represents the righteous deeds of the saints.)”( Rev. 19:7,8) About the reception we are told:   “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. These are the true words of God.”  Rev. 19:9.  Sorry, William and Kate, I’m glad you "made it legal", but you'll just have to take a back seat because  the true, and ultimate “wedding of the century” is still to come.   Unfortunately, not everyone will receive an invitation, as we can see from the  I Corinthians  passage above (neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God).  Many people will be disqualified by their defiance of God’s Word and their unholy living.  But, for those who get to participate in this great and coming wedding and who will be seated at  the wedding supper of the Lamb, they will be ecstatic  that they chose to  view  this earthly life through the lens of God’s Word, and walked in obedience  according to His righteous standards. 

Men's Traditions or God's Commands?

      The observance of Good Friday and Easter Sunday  are traditions of men, not commandments of God.  In fact, for many Believers, Easter is so laden with Pagan roots they cannot conceive of celebrating it.  However, God did command His followers to observe His Feasts, which He instructed Moses and  instituted forever.  The Messiah Himself observed these Feasts, as did His Disciples and the faithful early Christians  for hundreds of years.  These Feasts were never nullified by any of the Apostles.    

      In the Spring of the year – such as now – we celebrate God’s “three-in-one”.   This is (1.) Passover, which reminds us of how God’s People were passed over in Egypt because  they had the blood of the lamb painted on their door posts and, therefore, they did not die the death-of-the-firstborn.    Quickly following Passover comes the (2.) Feast of Unleavened Bread, since the Israelites had no time to let their bread raise, so they kept out the yeast and hastily departed Egypt.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread reminds us to remove the leavening influence of sin from our lives.   Also, during this Passover Season comes the (3.) Feast of First Fruits.   These three commanded Feasts all fall under the umbrella of Passover.   Perhaps the most misunderstood Feast, most meaningful,  and the one mostly unknown to  many Christians is the Feast of First Fruits. 

     Barley and wheat were planted in the fall in Israel. They germinated in the ground through the winter, shot up as soon as the weather got warm, and ripened in the spring. The stalks were cut and stacked in sheaves for the harvesters to collect for thrashing. But harvesting or eating any of the grain was not permitted until a sample sheaf was brought to the Temple at sunrise on the first day (Sunday) after the Sabbath (Saturday) following Passover.  (Passover, then comes Saturday, then arrives the first Sunday called the Feast of First Fruits). After God received His portion,  the harvest could proceed and the grain could be ground into flour for daily bread.  This offering was called a ‘wave offering’ since the sheaf was actually lifted up and waved before the Lord. 

     At sunrise on the morning of the Feast of First Fruits in 32 AD, as the priests were waving the sheaf of grain before the altar as required, the women arrived at the Messiah's tomb to prepare His body for permanent burial.  (There wasn’t enough time before sunset on the day He was crucified and the following two days were both Sabbaths [an extra Passover Sabbath], so no work was permitted and they had to bury the Messiah’s body in haste.)

     But the tomb was empty. He had risen,  in fulfillment of the Feast of  First Fruits. "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep". (1 Cor. 15:20) 

     -----Yeshua (Jesus)  was the perfect Passover Lamb.  Just as the lamb’s blood was painted on the wooden door posts in Egypt, the Messiah’s blood soaked the wood of the cross, and is applied to the door posts of our hearts when we whole-heartedly  follow Him as our Savior. 

     -----Just as His death took place during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, He – the Bread of Life - never knew the leavening influence of sin.  And as the Israelites were commanded to get all forms of leaven out of their homes for this Feast, Christians, the "wild branches" grafted in to the olive tree of Israel,  also must get the sin leaven out of our lives, and put it far away from us. 

     -----And just as  Jesus the Messiah fulfilled the Feast of First Fruits and became the First Fruit of those who died and rose to live again, His faithful followers inherit this blessing – eternal life. 

      I submit that Yeshua the Messiah did not die on “good Friday” --  He died on Passover.   He did not rise from the dead on “easter” -- He  came to life like a sprouting seed in the warm sun, and was lifted up as that first Spring sheaf, our First Fruits offering to  God.  

        These are the set feasts or appointed seasons of the Lord, holy assemblies you shall proclaim at their stated times:

    ⁵On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover.

    ⁶On the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.^.....

    ⁹And the Lord said to Moses,

    ¹⁰Tell the Israelites, When you have come into the land I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

    ¹¹And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, that you may be accepted; on the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it [before the Lord].  “ (Lev. 23:4ff)