The Feasts of the Jews!

 

 

I may as well tell you right up front this is one of those articles that is likely to step on your toes, especially if you follow the Hillel II calendar.  It is never my intention to purposely hurt anyone but it is important to call a spade a spade and never shy away from telling the truth regardless of how uncomfortable that may be.  As a Bible believing ex Gentile who knows Yeshua as his Messiah I consider it my job to provoke the Jew to jealousy, I take this very seriously.  I will never provoke a Jew to jealousy by imitating what a Jew does.  What the Jew needs to see from me is an unwavering commitment to following The Word wherever it takes me.  One of the ways to accomplish this task is to know and keep the set apart calendar of YHWH better than the Jew does himself.  When a Jew sees me following The Word without compromise rather than his Babylonian Jewish traditions I will gain his attention.  I am not anti-Semitic in any sense of the word; I love my Jewish brothers just as I love all other nations of peoples.  I look forward to our restoration together, side-by-side.

 

If you have either come into the Hebrew Roots Movement or know someone who has you may very well have experienced a conversation that goes something like this,

 

“Hey Tony, I was doing a little bible study the other day on Leviticus 23 and was reading about the weekly Sabbath, Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, the Day of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles.  It’s really interesting stuff!”

 

Tony responds,

 

“Oh yeah, I remember, those are The Feasts of the Jews... right?”

 

Rising up in self-righteous indignation we proclaim (I’ve done this myself!),

 

“No Tony, they’re not The Feasts of the Jews, they’re The Feasts of YHWH!”

 

Immediately we flip open our bibles to Leviticus 23 for the proof text.

 

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.  (Leviticus 23:1-2)

 

These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.  (Leviticus 23:4)

 

Indeed, without question The Feasts of YHWH are recorded for us in Leviticus 23 and they should not be seen as The Feasts of the Jews.  Tony has two problems, the first is a lack of Scriptural knowledge regarding Leviticus 23 and secondly, ‘experientially’ he only knows of Jews keeping these Feasts, so when he hears someone speak of The Feasts of YHWH Tony naturally understands them as The Feasts of the Jews even though once in the land the Feasts of YHWH are to be kept by all 12 Tribes of Israel.  Until recently I would have taken Tony to task for thinking such a thing too but now I’m wondering if maybe Tony would have been more right than I have been!

 

The reason I say this is because the Scriptures clearly tell us that Israel, both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, have either corrupted by various means or forgotten altogether The Feasts of YHWH.  We see this in a couple of different places.

 

He has done violence to His tabernacle, As if it were a garden; He has destroyed His place of assembly; The LORD has caused The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion.  In His burning indignation He has spurned the king and the priest.  (Lamentations 2:6)

 

This same theme is repeated in Hosea.

 

I will also cause all her mirth to cease, Her feast days, Her New Moons, Her Sabbaths--- All her appointed feasts.  (Hosea 2:11)

 

The key to understanding, in my opinion, and the reason I’m writing this short piece, is recorded for us in Leviticus 23:4 already quoted above.  Let me quote it again with a different emphasis.

 

These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.  (Leviticus 23:4)

 

Let’s examine Lamentations 2:6 and Hosea 2:11 for a moment, please notice the differences between them…

 

…in Lamentations 2:6 it says,

 

“The LORD has caused The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten…”

 

where as,

 

 ...in Hosea 2:11 it says,

 

“I will also cause all her mirth to cease, Her feast days, Her New Moons, Her Sabbaths---All her appointed feasts.”

 

It is imperative to note ‘who’ wrote the verses above and to ‘whom’ the verses were written.  When I see ‘Zion’ referenced in Lamentations 2:6 I can be confident that ‘Jeremiah’ who was a Prophet to the Southern Kingdom and wrote the book of Lamentations was prophesying that those of the Southern Kingdom (Jews) would eventually forget ‘The’ Appointed Times and Sabbaths of YHWH.  On the other hand Hosea was a Prophet to the Northern Kingdom (Lost 10 Tribes).  So when we read his words we must understand them to be addressing the Northern Kingdom only.

 

Clearly, according to Lamentations 2:6 YHWH would cause the Jews (Southern Kingdom) to forget the Sabbaths, New Moons and Appointed Times (Feasts), i.e. the true Feasts of YHWH.  Furthermore, when Hosea uses phrases such as, all Her feast days, Her New Moons, Her Sabbaths he is making it clear that he is not talking about The Feasts of YHWH but rather feasts which the Northern Kingdom chose to keep at times other than ‘the appointed times’, times which were ‘hers’ not ‘HIS’.  The Northern Kingdom never returned to keeping the appointed times of YHWH, they have been lost to this day.  Ever since the division of Israel into two kingdoms (post Solomon) we cannot look to any period in the history of the Northern Kingdom in our search for the true ‘appointed times of YHWH’, He has caused them to cease in the Northern Kingdom.  So then, looking back to the Jews of the Southern Kingdom, why would I believe the Sabbaths, New Moons and Appointed Times that the Jews are keeping today are anything but The Feasts of the Jews kept on a calendar other than that of YHWH’s?

 

It makes no difference that the Jews use Scriptural names or titles for their feast days if they are not proclaimed at the appointed times of the ‘Appointed Times’.  An ‘Appointed Time’ can only be kept at ‘the appointed time’; any other time is not a Feast of YHWH.  It is the specific dates on YHWH’s calendar, i.e. ‘the appointed times’, that make the feasts we keep The Feasts of YHWH.  If the Jews have forgotten the method of marking the New Year, the New Month, the Sabbath and even the beginning of each and every day, and there is no doubt that they have, then they have turned The Feasts of YHWH into The Feasts of the Jews!  Today this is accomplished via the corrupt Jewish calendar of Hillel II!  The calendar of YHWH is located in the heavens; you must look up to see it!  But the Jews of today are looking down to read their calculated calendar with its postponement rules.

 

Reading Isaiah from its beginning verses reveals the main problems YHWH had with the Southern Kingdom (Jews) at that time.  They had become a rebellious nation and in that rebellion they were a mere shadow of the great nation they were meant to be, their enemies had had their way with them.  YHWH hates the mixing of the set apart with the profane and sums that theme up in Isaiah 1:13 when he says,

 

“New Moon and Sabbath and calling of convocation--- I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.” (Isaiah 1:13b)

 

Is it any wonder then that YHWH says in Isaiah 1:14,

 

Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates: They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.  (Isaiah 1:14)

 

The Book of Isaiah is a prophecy given to the Southern Kingdom of Israel, the Tribe of Judah, i.e. the Jews.  In that He said, “Your” New Moons and “your” Appointed Feasts there was something going on which was not reflective of “His” New Moons and “His” Appointed Feasts, in other words YHWH is talking about The Feasts of the Jews that were corrupted versions of His Feasts.  Isaiah is identifying The Feasts of the Jews exactly as Hosea identified the feasts of the Northern Kingdom but for different reasons.  His Feasts were no longer His Feasts!  If that was the case back then, how much more so must it be now?  With the acceptance of the Hillel II calendar of the 4th Century C.E. by nearly all Jewry around the world we can clearly see the Southern Kingdom of the Jews now being guilty of the very same calendar violation as the Northern Kingdom of the Lost 10 Tribes!  They’re setting their own ‘appointed times’!  If we are in the end of days as I strongly believe we are then YHWH will also cause The Feasts of the Jews to cease sometime in the near future just as the false feasts of the Northern Kingdom.

 

There is no doubt The Feasts of YHWH will be restored to their proper and perfect appointed times, I am confident that restoration is taking place today and will be concluded not long from now with Messiah Yeshua’s return and our return to the Land of Israel.  It would seem to be in your best interest for Him to see you striving to know and longing to keep The Feasts of YHWH at their appointed times according to His set apart calendar when He returns for His Bride!

 

Here is a video which helped to inspire me to build this website.  It is the telling of a prophetic dream by Sunday Christian pastor Robert Stearns.  Truly, 'the Calendar and the Covenant' of YHWH are being restored in this day!