Question sent to us: I saw a document, sent by a sister, who is
confused with trying to incorporate Enoch into the
feasts and fix a 364 day calendar and make the feast
cycle solar as per Enoch. I would please ask you to give me scriptural agreement or refutation carefully.
Response:
There are many problems with the "Enoch" calendar as a Biblical, "Moed
(appointed time)" calendar. While the calendar described in Enoch
does work to divide the year into four equal parts
associated with the seasons, it must be understood that it is an agricultural
calendar, not a calendar for the annual appointed feasts
(those delineated in Leviticus 23). Please understand that prior to the
Exodus, there was no "Passover" or "Sukkot" so the Spring and Fall
equinoxes in times before the Exodus had no feasts associated with
the equinoxes. But Spring and Fall are times of harvest and sowing
respectively, and are the natural times when the year would be
divided. Those times are determined by the sun - not the moon. So
the Enoch calendar has a place as "a" calendar, but not as a Biblical,
annual feast, holy calendar. (The Book of Enoch does not even
mention the Biblical Feasts as specific Holy Days (appointed times,
moedim) for the annual commanded observances!)
The Enoch calendar is based on the Book of Enoch beginning in
Chapter LXXI (71). The calendar described most often is essentially a solar
calendar, though the movement of the moon is also described in Enoch
as a relationship with the sun in the forming of "gates" through
which both the sun and moon pass. These "gates" are how "months" in the
Enoch Calendar are determined. The calendar has 364 days, and 12
months (gates). Months are 30 days each, except in each of the
four seasons, one month has 31 days. Most "Enoch Calendar" variants
(there are many) ignore the moon, probably because they can't figure
out how to include the moon in the calendar, yet according to
whomever wrote the Book of Enoch, the calendar described in the Book
of Enoch clearly takes into account the moon! Nevertheless, most
"Enoch Calendars" don't bother with the moon at all, yet the Book of
Enoch talks about the sun and moon each passing through the "gates"
so the moon clearly had a role, simply unidentified.
Note that without considering the moon, there is no solid reason to divide
the "year" into "12 months"! The only reason to even TRY to fit "12
divisions" to the "year" is that the moon reappears 12 times in a
single solar year. So there is no question that the moon heavily influenced
the Enoch calendar though the author failed to provide enough information. The Enoch calendar tries to "blend" 7 day
weeks, 52 weeks of the year, to a total of 364 days, and divides
that into "12 gates" (months). But to make it work, every third
month requires 31 days instead of 30. But why not a year divided
by 14-day months, or 13-day, or 26-day, or 28-day, 52-day, or even
91-day "months"? Indeed, 13 "months" of 28 days each would each
have 4 weeks of 7 days and every day of every month would be on the
same day of the week! That would be terrific, so why not that as a calendar that also does not use
the moon?
Note also that a 364 day Enoch calendar gets seriously out of sync
with the sun IF an intercalary period is not added. (An
"intercalation" is an added number of days to a calendar
periodically so the calendar remains in-sync with the sun.) The
Book of Enoch does not specify ANY intercalary period, so most
people assume that a 53rd week is added to the calendar whenever the
1st day of the 1st month would fall before the Spring Equinox.
(Some Enoch calendar aficionados argue that in ancient times the "year" must have been "exactly
364 days long" and that something must have changed the year to
the current 365.2422 days per year. But ancient astronomical records
demonstrate that this simply is not the case. Records of ancient
eclipses show the eclipses (which were documented) match
predictions in-sync with a 365-day year projected back in time.)
One of the biggest problems with the Enoch calendar is that its
supporters insist that the day of the Spring Equinox is not the same
as the modern Vernal Equinox. They argue that "equinox" (which
means "equal night") must mean that it must be the day (in
Jerusalem) when the day and night are equal in length. That day,
when the number of hours of daylight and nighttime are exactly 12
hours happens several days BEFORE the date of the Vernal Equinox (in
the Northern Hemisphere) so they exclaim that today's equinox is not the same as that which ancient people would have known. But it is not at all likely ancient
people would have known this because to determine the day of ACTUAL
"equal day and night" requires an accurate clock! One can't observe this by eye alone and ancient people
did not have accurate clocks.
They could, however, watch the sun as it moved northerly on the
horizon at sunrise from the Winter Solstice toward the Summer
solstice. With only counting days and using crude clocks they could perceive that in the
winter months (today called December, January, February), there are
clearly fewer daylight "hours" and more nighttime "hours". (Enoch
called the division of the day and night as "parts" instead of
"hours"). And they could perceive that when the sun was approaching
the Summer Solstice (in June), the daytime is clearly longer than
the nighttime. But at a point in the middle, that is, a day between
the Winter and Summer solstices, there is a period of apparent
"equal day and night" and that day is, by definition, "the equinox", and
that day is unique, even by observation!
It is observed on the day the when the sun rises
due east and sets due west. That day is very easy to identify
because the point of sunrise, due east, is entirely visible to the
observer - even with no clock. On that day, when the sun rises exactly
due east and sets exactly due west would have been the day the
ancients would have called the "equinox", and that is very close to the same day
as we have today which we call the Vernal and Autumnal equinoxes (depending on one's observing latitude).
Let me reiterate: The actual day of "equal daylight and nighttime"
as seen at the latitude of the observer would NOT have been
detectable or known by ancient people, yet the day the sun rises exactly due east is easily determined.
Yet another problem with calling the "Enoch Calendar" the "right
calendar" or the "creator's calendar" is that the calendar is mentioned nowhere in scripture.
In the Messiah's time, the Pharisees determined the calendar
(which is known to have been the lunar-solar calendar with the moon
determining the months) and we have no record in the Gospels that
the Messiah ever objected to the Pharisee calendar! We can assume
that if the Pharisees were using the wrong calendar, the Messiah likely would have corrected them! Note also, that in Exodus 12, God
Himself CHANGED the calendar from whatever it was, to the "new" calendar
where the 1st month of the year became the lunar month of Abib
(Nisan). God did not say "The 4th gate month will be the 1st month
of the year for you" (which would have implied the Enoch calendar
was in use at the time.)
Still another problem with the Enoch calendar is the fact that the
LOGICAL time for the year to begin and end is the Autumnal Equinox,
not the Vernal Equinox. This is because it is in the Autumn when
the last of the annual harvests are done, and the sowing of new crops begins. This is the logical time to "end" the annual season of crops,
and "begin" the new annual season of planting - the "year's end and
beginning". The Spring equinox is not the logical time to end and
start a new year because all the sowing was done months earlier and
the new year's crops (planted last Fall) are just now growing. Yet
the Book of Enoch, supposedly written a 1000 years or so before the
Exodus says the "1st month" of the year is at the Spring Equinox!
If , at the time of the exodus, this "Enoch calendar" was the "CORRECT" calendar already using
the Spring Equinox as the 1st month of the year, then why would God
have changed the calendar to the very same month? It makes no sense.
There are other problems with the Enoch calendar, but I think this
covers the most important problems. The Enoch calendar is pretty
good for an agricultural calendar, assuming the required intercalary week is properly determined, but it has absolutely nothing to
do with the Feast calendar of scripture which is a lunar-solar
calendar, with the sun determining the year, and the moon
determining the months.
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Hypocrites - they're everywhere!
Example:
Those who dare to praise YHWH’s Name because they believe He has caused
them to “find true love” - even though that
“true love” is legally married to someone else, and spends much time on
Facebook or on his/her “Go Fund Me” page or other electronic media begging people
for money to help pay for his/her divorce and various other things, along with the
means to eventually join their “true love” in holy matrimony.
These “lovers” talk about YHWH/Yeshua constantly, and
swear they live by Torah, yet it seems they conveniently forget that He HATES
divorce (Malachi 2:16) and that He is certainly is NOT in the life of someone
who is actively engaged in adultery – much less “blessing their union” and
intending to use them “for His Glory” as they assert. Scripture tells us He does not listen to the
pleas for blessing from those who have broken the covenant of marriage. (See 1
Peter 3:7.)
Marriage is a picture of the covenant YHWH has with His
people (Hebrews 9:15).
A covenant is an unbreakable commitment, and God wants us to understand how
serious it is – especially once we have discovered and become obedient to His
Torah. When we divorce someone with whom
we made a covenant, it makes a mockery of the God-created concept of covenant
relationship. Yes, there
are valid reasons for divorce, but the desire to marry someone else because
they’re bored with their present spouse is NOT among them!
The truth is, in Biblical times adulterers were stoned
to death (Leviticus 20:10)! The only reason sinners aren’t stoned to
death today is because of Y’shua who died to cover our PAST sins…with the caveat
that once someone has accepted him as YHWH’s Messiah and our FINAL SIN
Sacrifice/Offering, they cannot continue to commit deliberate sins and still
expect to end up in heaven. But hypocrites
tend to skew the Word when it comes to their personal wants and desires, and many
are very adept at getting others to help them reach their sin-filled goals…which
is what the adulterers I’m referring to above have done….
So, the bottom line is, these two adulterers, are
actually guilty of TWO sins: Committing
adultery (Exodus 20:14, and many other passages.)
AND causing others to stumble (Romans
14:13-23, 1 Cor 8:12-13, 1 Corinthians
10:32) – both of which are very serious sins!
Ezekiel 3: 16 After seven days the word of
ADONAI came to me: 17 "Human being, I have appointed you to be a watchman
for the house of Isra'el. When you hear a word from my mouth, you are to warn
them for me. 18 If I say to a wicked person, 'You will certainly die'; and you
fail to warn him, to speak and warn the wicked person to leave his wicked way
and save his life; then that wicked person will die guilty; and I will hold you
responsible for his death.
19 On the other hand, if you warn the wicked person,
and he doesn't turn from his wickedness or his wicked way, then he will still
die guilty; but you will have saved your own life. 20 Similarly, when a
righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits wickedness, I
will place a stumbling block before him - he will die; because you failed to
warn him, he will die in his sin; his righteous acts which he did will not be
remembered; and I will hold you responsible for his death. 21 But if you warn
the righteous person that a righteous person should not sin, and he doesn't
sin; then he will certainly live, because he took the warning; and you too will
have saved your life." (CJB)
Did you know there’s a flash of light during the moment of conception?
Did
you know there’s a flash of light during the moment of conception when the egg
and sperm meet? To me, this is just another thing that denotes proof of GOD who
"breathes life" into us (Genesis 2:7)!
This reminds me of the time Moshe descended Mount Sinai with the two tablets of Torah, and he had to cover his face because he was all aglow after spending 40 days in YHWH's Presence!
Exodus 34:29 When Moshe came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, he didn't realize that the skin of his face was sending out rays of light as a result of his talking with [ADONAI]. 30 When Aharon and the people of Isra'el saw Moshe, the skin of his face was shining; and they were afraid to approach him. 31 But Moshe called to them; then Aharon and all the community leaders came back to him, and Moshe spoke to them. 32 Afterwards, all the people of Isra'el came near; and he passed on to them all the orders that ADONAI had told him on Mount Sinai.
33 Once Moshe had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But when he went in before ADONAI for him to speak, he would take the veil off until he came out; then, when he came out, he would tell the people of Isra'el what he had been ordered. 35 But when the people of Isra'el saw Moshe's face, that the skin of Moshe's face shone, he would put the veil back over his face until he went in again to speak with [ADONAI]. (CJB)
We see in 1 John 1:5 and Psalm 76:4 that “YHWH is light.” Light, of course, is a common metaphor in the Bible, which sets up a natural contrast with darkness. If light is a metaphor for righteousness and goodness, then darkness signifies evil and sin. 1 John 1:6 says that “if we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.” Verse 5 says, “YHWH is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” And let’s always remember that Yeshua is the Light of the world (John 8:12) - Halleluyah!
This reminds me of the time Moshe descended Mount Sinai with the two tablets of Torah, and he had to cover his face because he was all aglow after spending 40 days in YHWH's Presence!
Exodus 34:29 When Moshe came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, he didn't realize that the skin of his face was sending out rays of light as a result of his talking with [ADONAI]. 30 When Aharon and the people of Isra'el saw Moshe, the skin of his face was shining; and they were afraid to approach him. 31 But Moshe called to them; then Aharon and all the community leaders came back to him, and Moshe spoke to them. 32 Afterwards, all the people of Isra'el came near; and he passed on to them all the orders that ADONAI had told him on Mount Sinai.
33 Once Moshe had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But when he went in before ADONAI for him to speak, he would take the veil off until he came out; then, when he came out, he would tell the people of Isra'el what he had been ordered. 35 But when the people of Isra'el saw Moshe's face, that the skin of Moshe's face shone, he would put the veil back over his face until he went in again to speak with [ADONAI]. (CJB)
We see in 1 John 1:5 and Psalm 76:4 that “YHWH is light.” Light, of course, is a common metaphor in the Bible, which sets up a natural contrast with darkness. If light is a metaphor for righteousness and goodness, then darkness signifies evil and sin. 1 John 1:6 says that “if we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.” Verse 5 says, “YHWH is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” And let’s always remember that Yeshua is the Light of the world (John 8:12) - Halleluyah!
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
A discussion about Passover and when Yeshua resurrected
Below is a
discussion between The Refiner’s Fire and one our cherished readers on a subject that may be of interest to all. The readers comments are in red:
READER COMMENT: I find how you calculate and keep Passover and the other Biblical Feasts to be very accurate with the scriptures. I do, however, have a question about when Yeshua was resurrected. I read the article "Correcting the Sunday Myth" and I have always assumed Yeshua was crucified on Passover, since He is our Passover Lamb. Therefore his resurrection on Saturday before sundown would be completely inaccurate.
No, it's accurate. Wednesday, Passover afternoon, Yeshua is placed in the tomb by sunset. Wednesday, at/after sunset to Saturday at sunset is 3 days and 3 nights. (Some argue that the "3 days and 3 nights" must be literal, that the first period must be a "day", but the phrase is just a metaphor for the same period Jonah was in the belly of the fish. So the phrase does not require the "day" period to be first.) Since absolutely no one knows the exact start and end of the "3 days & 3 nights", a resurrection just as the 7th day Shabbat ended and the 1st day of the next week began is completely valid.
READER COMMENT: But I was reading in Mark 14:12: Now on the first day of matzah, when they were slaughtering the Passover lamb, Yeshua's disciples say to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?". Reading on they have the Passover that evening, he is nailed to the stake at the third hour the next morning and dies at the ninth hour that afternoon. I read in Matthew and Luke, as well, and they also say it was the first day of matzah, when they were slaughtering the Passover lamb, that the disciples prepared for the Seder. So wouldn't that mean it was the 14th of Nissan and therefore Yeshua didn't die until 3pm on the 15th of Nissan?
No, this is only an interpretation of the events as conveyed in English. Let's look at Mark 14:12 carefully. It reads: "And on the first day of the Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover, His disciples said to Him, Where do You desire that going we may prepare that You may eat the Passover?" (HRB).
We must study this verse to interpret it correctly. "On the first day of Unleavened Bread" means what? Immediately, one thinks "Well the 15th is the 1st day of Unleavened bread by Leviticus 23:6", which is partly true, but the 15th is NOT the first day that matzah is needed! The first day matzah is needed is the 14th! Exodus 12:18: "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month, at evening". So matzah is needed the afternoon of the14th!
Now, Mark 14:12 makes sense. When the disciples ask the question, it is at or near sunset the 13th, and the "first day of matzah" (the 14th) is imminent (or perhaps the sun has just set and it has become the 14th), and the Talmidim are asking Yeshua where He wants to have His seder. (The Talmidim have not accepted or understood that Yeshua won’t be at the Passover seder the next evening.)
Next, look at Mark 14:17. It reads: "And evening having come, He came with the Twelve." Most read this verse and assume that Yeshua and the Talmidim are now at the Passover seder. But all the verse says is the it's now evening and it's suppertime. The most logical conclusion is that it is the same evening - but after dark when the date had just became the 14th! You see, in Mark 14:12, they only had go to prepare for the seder, the scripture does not require that when Yeshua and the Talmidim are then eating together that that meal is the Passover seder! And look at verse 22. Yeshua took BREAD and broke it. Had it been the Passover seder, Yeshua would have broken matzah, not bread. But the Aramaic clearly says bread (Hebrew: l'chma in verse 22), and not unleavened bread which would have been a variation of the Hebrew: matzah. The commandment, which Yehsua would not have broken if it were the Passover seder, was to eat only matzah had it been the Passover!
It is confirmed in Luke 22:15 that it was not the Passover. It reads: "And He said to them, I have greatly desired that I eat this Passover with you before I suffer." While most think Yeshua IS eating the Passover meal, that is not what the verse says. What Yeshua is saying is this: "I have greatly wanted to eat the Passover [meal] with you [this year] before I suffer [but I must suffer and I will not get to participate in the Passover meal this year].
Therefore, the scripture most definitely does NOT require that Yeshua died the 15th before sunset. Scripture completely supports that Yeshua only had a "last supper" with His Talmidim as the 14th had just begun, and the events in scripture of his arrest play out that same evening, as midnight approached on the 14th, before the lambs would be slain in the next afternoon before the next sunset.
READER COMMENT: I know that doesn't add up to the 3 days and 3 nights in the grave, if he is seen early on the 1st day and you start the count at his burial in the evening of the 15th. But since scripture reveals Yeshua ate the Seder on the 14th of Nissan (I think), the only thing I can think of is the count started at his actual death at 3pm on the 15th (1st day), his burial (1st night), Friday the 16th (2nd day and 2nd night), Saturday the 17th (3rd day and 3rd night) and him rising Sunday morning when it is still dark.
Yes, I've seen this argument and I can't agree with it. The conclusion is based on the assumption that Yeshua's last meal was the Passover meal, and it assumes that the daytime of the crucifixion counts as the 1st day of "3 days & 3 nights". But this is a shallow argument. Matthew 12:40, in Yeshua's own words He says: "And even as 'Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights,' so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights" - so Yeshua identifies the condition that to count 3 days & 3 nights, He must be IN the heart of the earth! So the first part of the 3 day, 3 night count cannot be the afternoon He's crucified, while He is still on the stake, unburied, outside the tomb!
READER COMMENT: But even if that were so, there still is the question about "the dawn of the new day" which I know according to Andrew Roth would be the evening of the new day not the morning.
This is entirely based on the context. Since the same Hebrew or Aramaic word for "day" can mean the whole day or just the daytime, and the word for "dawn" can be the beginning of the day which is at sunset or the beginning of the sunrise which is the beginning of the daytime, one must not just assume that it means one thing or the other by context alone.
READER COMMENT: Then there is the question about the "Day of Preparation" when Yeshua's body was buried by Joseph (Luke 23:50-56). If Yeshua died on the 14th and was buried in the evening beginning the 15th (when everyone is eating the Seder), how would that be a day of preparation for the High Holy Shabbat? The 15th is the High Holy Shabbat. But if He had died on the 15th and buried in the evening beginning the 16th, that would be a day of preparation for the weekly Shabbat.
But the 14th is preparation day for the High Holy Day of the 15th, the 1st day of the Feast! Remember, Yeshua died before sunset, and the wealthy man, Joseph, who asked to have the body for burial in his own tomb, and Yeshua's own mother, and other Jews with them had ALL foregone the Passover seder! After all, their beloved Yeshua was being executed! That event completely negated Passover for them, and, as such, they simply accepted that they would be unclean and they could not participate in Passover that year at its time! (Numbers 9:10-11). So it is a false argument that the "day of preparation" had to be after sunset the 15th making the next day a Friday - preparation day for the weekly Shabbat. The scripture works whether the crucifixion was on Wednesday (and Thur was the High Holy Day (Sabbath)), or the crucifixion was on Thursday (and Friday was the "preparation" day for the weekly Sabbath). In either case, assumptions must be made as to the timing of events, assumptions which are not validated by scripture. I've even seen scripture itself changed to "force" the 15th crucifixion, which is not supported in the Aramaic, and, in my book, pretty close to blasphemy !
READER COMMENT: So as you can see, I am totally confused. What am I missing? Scripture does literally say "on the first day of matzah, when they were slaughtering the Passover Lamb," Yeshua's Seder was prepared, the 14th of Nissan, right? So how could Yeshua have died at 3pm on the 14th when He hadn't even eaten the Seder yet?
I hope this is now clear. But for more to consider, examine this: While it is acceptable that many lambs in Jerusalem were slaughtered from the afternoon of the 14th, continuing well into the 15th, the events of Passover had to begin with a very first lamb, spotless, and representative of all of Israel. That was "THE Passover Lamb". All other lambs were from people wishing to have their lamb slain at the Temple, even though they had every authority to slay the lamb at their own homes. All the lambs slaughtered after "THE Lamb", were for individual homes for the celebration of Passover. (It was also optional to stay at the Temple and have your Passover meal there, but that was not required.)
Now, what did John call Yeshua? John said: "On the morrow, John saw Yahshua coming toward him and said, Behold! The Lamb of Elohim, who takes away the sin of the world! " (John 1:29). Only THE Lamb of God could take away the sins of the world, so I think Yeshua had to represent THE Lamb, and not just "a lamb", and He did have to be crucified on the 14th, when THE lamb representing ALL of Israel was slain! It rather offends me that some will justify that Yeshua only needed to be "a lamb", "any lamb", and that He did not need to be offered on the 14th! The connection of THE Lamb and what Yeshua did is too great to negate.
There's more!
We know Yeshua was PERFECT in His knowledge and observation of Torah, right? If he had His Passover seder on the 14th, then after sunset the 14th it became a High Holy Day, the 15th. Why would Yeshua and his Talmidim be out walking around in the community after the Passover seder, carrying swords on a High Holy Day, seeking conflict with those Yeshua knew were against Him? Would Yeshua step out of Torah to do that? But if the evening of His last meal was only the evening BEFORE the Passover, then all His actions were within Torah.
And, who was present when Yeshua was arrested? All the Gospels attest to the fact that the Chief Priests and the entire Sanhedrin were present when Yeshua was brought to Pilate before the morning of the crucifixion. If the morning before the crucifixion was the 15th, then the Chief Priests and the Sanhedrin WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN assembled as it was a High Holy Sabbath! The Chief Priests and the Sanhedrin DID NOT MEET on weekly Sabbaths or on High Holy Days! Even if some of the Sanhedrin were corrupt and desiring Yeshua's death, the Chief Priests and the rest of the Sanhedrin would not have stepped out of Torah for this despicable act! But if the events took place on the 14th, before Passover, then nothing the Chief Priests and the Sanhedrin did was far outside Torah.
READER COMMENT: I appreciate any clarification you can give me. As you can see, I can't connect all the dots. I did also want to ask, should I be throwing away all my leaven products before Passover? This is the fist year I am officially celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread and I tried to use up all my leaven products, but stored the rest of them in the shed. Our budget is a little tight, so I didn't throw it away. Should I have?
As you can see, the dots are hard to connect, so don't dismay! But I hope what I have explained help.
As to your leaven products question, yes, they should have been used up or permanently removed from your home prior to the afternoon of the 14th – because, while the whole act of “getting rid of the leaven” is purely symbolic, returning those products back into the house is akin to bringing “the old sins” back (leaven represents sin). Getting rid of the “leaven/sin” from our lives (even symbolically) is important to YHWH and we should be taking it very seriously. But do not worry about it this year since the Feast is over and as you said, you are still learning. Just keep up the good work and don’t “wrap yourself around the axle.” Allow the Ruach to guide and “grow” you and your family! We have many articles on The Refiner's Fire website which will help you next year.
READER COMMENT: I find how you calculate and keep Passover and the other Biblical Feasts to be very accurate with the scriptures. I do, however, have a question about when Yeshua was resurrected. I read the article "Correcting the Sunday Myth" and I have always assumed Yeshua was crucified on Passover, since He is our Passover Lamb. Therefore his resurrection on Saturday before sundown would be completely inaccurate.
No, it's accurate. Wednesday, Passover afternoon, Yeshua is placed in the tomb by sunset. Wednesday, at/after sunset to Saturday at sunset is 3 days and 3 nights. (Some argue that the "3 days and 3 nights" must be literal, that the first period must be a "day", but the phrase is just a metaphor for the same period Jonah was in the belly of the fish. So the phrase does not require the "day" period to be first.) Since absolutely no one knows the exact start and end of the "3 days & 3 nights", a resurrection just as the 7th day Shabbat ended and the 1st day of the next week began is completely valid.
READER COMMENT: But I was reading in Mark 14:12: Now on the first day of matzah, when they were slaughtering the Passover lamb, Yeshua's disciples say to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?". Reading on they have the Passover that evening, he is nailed to the stake at the third hour the next morning and dies at the ninth hour that afternoon. I read in Matthew and Luke, as well, and they also say it was the first day of matzah, when they were slaughtering the Passover lamb, that the disciples prepared for the Seder. So wouldn't that mean it was the 14th of Nissan and therefore Yeshua didn't die until 3pm on the 15th of Nissan?
No, this is only an interpretation of the events as conveyed in English. Let's look at Mark 14:12 carefully. It reads: "And on the first day of the Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover, His disciples said to Him, Where do You desire that going we may prepare that You may eat the Passover?" (HRB).
We must study this verse to interpret it correctly. "On the first day of Unleavened Bread" means what? Immediately, one thinks "Well the 15th is the 1st day of Unleavened bread by Leviticus 23:6", which is partly true, but the 15th is NOT the first day that matzah is needed! The first day matzah is needed is the 14th! Exodus 12:18: "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month, at evening". So matzah is needed the afternoon of the14th!
Now, Mark 14:12 makes sense. When the disciples ask the question, it is at or near sunset the 13th, and the "first day of matzah" (the 14th) is imminent (or perhaps the sun has just set and it has become the 14th), and the Talmidim are asking Yeshua where He wants to have His seder. (The Talmidim have not accepted or understood that Yeshua won’t be at the Passover seder the next evening.)
Next, look at Mark 14:17. It reads: "And evening having come, He came with the Twelve." Most read this verse and assume that Yeshua and the Talmidim are now at the Passover seder. But all the verse says is the it's now evening and it's suppertime. The most logical conclusion is that it is the same evening - but after dark when the date had just became the 14th! You see, in Mark 14:12, they only had go to prepare for the seder, the scripture does not require that when Yeshua and the Talmidim are then eating together that that meal is the Passover seder! And look at verse 22. Yeshua took BREAD and broke it. Had it been the Passover seder, Yeshua would have broken matzah, not bread. But the Aramaic clearly says bread (Hebrew: l'chma in verse 22), and not unleavened bread which would have been a variation of the Hebrew: matzah. The commandment, which Yehsua would not have broken if it were the Passover seder, was to eat only matzah had it been the Passover!
It is confirmed in Luke 22:15 that it was not the Passover. It reads: "And He said to them, I have greatly desired that I eat this Passover with you before I suffer." While most think Yeshua IS eating the Passover meal, that is not what the verse says. What Yeshua is saying is this: "I have greatly wanted to eat the Passover [meal] with you [this year] before I suffer [but I must suffer and I will not get to participate in the Passover meal this year].
Therefore, the scripture most definitely does NOT require that Yeshua died the 15th before sunset. Scripture completely supports that Yeshua only had a "last supper" with His Talmidim as the 14th had just begun, and the events in scripture of his arrest play out that same evening, as midnight approached on the 14th, before the lambs would be slain in the next afternoon before the next sunset.
READER COMMENT: I know that doesn't add up to the 3 days and 3 nights in the grave, if he is seen early on the 1st day and you start the count at his burial in the evening of the 15th. But since scripture reveals Yeshua ate the Seder on the 14th of Nissan (I think), the only thing I can think of is the count started at his actual death at 3pm on the 15th (1st day), his burial (1st night), Friday the 16th (2nd day and 2nd night), Saturday the 17th (3rd day and 3rd night) and him rising Sunday morning when it is still dark.
Yes, I've seen this argument and I can't agree with it. The conclusion is based on the assumption that Yeshua's last meal was the Passover meal, and it assumes that the daytime of the crucifixion counts as the 1st day of "3 days & 3 nights". But this is a shallow argument. Matthew 12:40, in Yeshua's own words He says: "And even as 'Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights,' so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights" - so Yeshua identifies the condition that to count 3 days & 3 nights, He must be IN the heart of the earth! So the first part of the 3 day, 3 night count cannot be the afternoon He's crucified, while He is still on the stake, unburied, outside the tomb!
READER COMMENT: But even if that were so, there still is the question about "the dawn of the new day" which I know according to Andrew Roth would be the evening of the new day not the morning.
This is entirely based on the context. Since the same Hebrew or Aramaic word for "day" can mean the whole day or just the daytime, and the word for "dawn" can be the beginning of the day which is at sunset or the beginning of the sunrise which is the beginning of the daytime, one must not just assume that it means one thing or the other by context alone.
READER COMMENT: Then there is the question about the "Day of Preparation" when Yeshua's body was buried by Joseph (Luke 23:50-56). If Yeshua died on the 14th and was buried in the evening beginning the 15th (when everyone is eating the Seder), how would that be a day of preparation for the High Holy Shabbat? The 15th is the High Holy Shabbat. But if He had died on the 15th and buried in the evening beginning the 16th, that would be a day of preparation for the weekly Shabbat.
But the 14th is preparation day for the High Holy Day of the 15th, the 1st day of the Feast! Remember, Yeshua died before sunset, and the wealthy man, Joseph, who asked to have the body for burial in his own tomb, and Yeshua's own mother, and other Jews with them had ALL foregone the Passover seder! After all, their beloved Yeshua was being executed! That event completely negated Passover for them, and, as such, they simply accepted that they would be unclean and they could not participate in Passover that year at its time! (Numbers 9:10-11). So it is a false argument that the "day of preparation" had to be after sunset the 15th making the next day a Friday - preparation day for the weekly Shabbat. The scripture works whether the crucifixion was on Wednesday (and Thur was the High Holy Day (Sabbath)), or the crucifixion was on Thursday (and Friday was the "preparation" day for the weekly Sabbath). In either case, assumptions must be made as to the timing of events, assumptions which are not validated by scripture. I've even seen scripture itself changed to "force" the 15th crucifixion, which is not supported in the Aramaic, and, in my book, pretty close to blasphemy !
READER COMMENT: So as you can see, I am totally confused. What am I missing? Scripture does literally say "on the first day of matzah, when they were slaughtering the Passover Lamb," Yeshua's Seder was prepared, the 14th of Nissan, right? So how could Yeshua have died at 3pm on the 14th when He hadn't even eaten the Seder yet?
I hope this is now clear. But for more to consider, examine this: While it is acceptable that many lambs in Jerusalem were slaughtered from the afternoon of the 14th, continuing well into the 15th, the events of Passover had to begin with a very first lamb, spotless, and representative of all of Israel. That was "THE Passover Lamb". All other lambs were from people wishing to have their lamb slain at the Temple, even though they had every authority to slay the lamb at their own homes. All the lambs slaughtered after "THE Lamb", were for individual homes for the celebration of Passover. (It was also optional to stay at the Temple and have your Passover meal there, but that was not required.)
Now, what did John call Yeshua? John said: "On the morrow, John saw Yahshua coming toward him and said, Behold! The Lamb of Elohim, who takes away the sin of the world! " (John 1:29). Only THE Lamb of God could take away the sins of the world, so I think Yeshua had to represent THE Lamb, and not just "a lamb", and He did have to be crucified on the 14th, when THE lamb representing ALL of Israel was slain! It rather offends me that some will justify that Yeshua only needed to be "a lamb", "any lamb", and that He did not need to be offered on the 14th! The connection of THE Lamb and what Yeshua did is too great to negate.
There's more!
We know Yeshua was PERFECT in His knowledge and observation of Torah, right? If he had His Passover seder on the 14th, then after sunset the 14th it became a High Holy Day, the 15th. Why would Yeshua and his Talmidim be out walking around in the community after the Passover seder, carrying swords on a High Holy Day, seeking conflict with those Yeshua knew were against Him? Would Yeshua step out of Torah to do that? But if the evening of His last meal was only the evening BEFORE the Passover, then all His actions were within Torah.
And, who was present when Yeshua was arrested? All the Gospels attest to the fact that the Chief Priests and the entire Sanhedrin were present when Yeshua was brought to Pilate before the morning of the crucifixion. If the morning before the crucifixion was the 15th, then the Chief Priests and the Sanhedrin WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN assembled as it was a High Holy Sabbath! The Chief Priests and the Sanhedrin DID NOT MEET on weekly Sabbaths or on High Holy Days! Even if some of the Sanhedrin were corrupt and desiring Yeshua's death, the Chief Priests and the rest of the Sanhedrin would not have stepped out of Torah for this despicable act! But if the events took place on the 14th, before Passover, then nothing the Chief Priests and the Sanhedrin did was far outside Torah.
READER COMMENT: I appreciate any clarification you can give me. As you can see, I can't connect all the dots. I did also want to ask, should I be throwing away all my leaven products before Passover? This is the fist year I am officially celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread and I tried to use up all my leaven products, but stored the rest of them in the shed. Our budget is a little tight, so I didn't throw it away. Should I have?
As you can see, the dots are hard to connect, so don't dismay! But I hope what I have explained help.
As to your leaven products question, yes, they should have been used up or permanently removed from your home prior to the afternoon of the 14th – because, while the whole act of “getting rid of the leaven” is purely symbolic, returning those products back into the house is akin to bringing “the old sins” back (leaven represents sin). Getting rid of the “leaven/sin” from our lives (even symbolically) is important to YHWH and we should be taking it very seriously. But do not worry about it this year since the Feast is over and as you said, you are still learning. Just keep up the good work and don’t “wrap yourself around the axle.” Allow the Ruach to guide and “grow” you and your family! We have many articles on The Refiner's Fire website which will help you next year.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Jewish counter-missionary thinks Paul condemns the Jews in I Thessalonians 2:14-15
COUNTER-MISSIONARY COMMENT: Seems to me Paul condemns the Jews in I
Thessalonians 2:14-15. How do you feel
about that?
MESSIANIC
RESPONSE:
Let’s please read this passage in
context through Hebrew rather than Greek eyes:
I Thessalonians 2:14. For you, my Brothers, became assimilated to
the assemblies of Elohim in Judaea, the persons who are in Y’shua the Mashiyach
in that you so suffered, even you from your own countrymen as also they from
the Jews, 15. the persons who slew our Master Y’shua the Mashiyach and
persecuted their own prophets and us; and they please not Elohim and are made
hostile to all men; 16. and they forbid
us to speak to the Gentiles[1] that they may have life; to fill up their sins
at all times. And wrath comes on them to the uttermost.[2] (AENT)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Many Rabbis warn Jews to not teach Torah to
the Gentiles; they forbid it because according to their religious perspectives,
they’ve concluded that Gentiles would “only mess it up” – proving again that
Jewish humor is indeed alive and well!
Most Christians have never had opportunity to learn Torah, just like
most Jews have strictly been warned away from Y’shua Mashiyach. Had Rabbinical
Judaism taken an active role to make Torah available (understandable) to
everyone, there would be much less anti-Semitism in the world. Rather than viewing Jews as “the
Christ-killers”, a healthy portion of the two billion Christians on earth would
better understand that Jews and Gentiles are part of Mashiyach’s Universal
family and congregation.
[2] “Congregation of Elohim” from eidta
d’Alaha is preferred over “church of God” as this is the true
meaning of the Aramaic phrase, nearly identical to the Hebrew phrase adat
YHWH that is used in the Tanakh to describe Israel (Numbers 27:17,
31:16; Joshua 22:16). Paul makes the
point that the conduct of these men against Torah is at
fault, not their ethnicity! Certainly, it was an abomination for Jewish
ancestry to persecute the prophets of YHWH and bow down to paganism and
idols.
It is arrogant for religious Jews to reject Gentiles
and not include them as equals in the Malchut Elohim. All this and more is what
constituted the collection of Jews who became known as “the assembly of satan.”
After all, Torah commands that there is ONE Torah for Jew and ger
(sojourner); so then on what authority do the Pharisees and their cohorts deny
YHWH and say no to Mashiyach?
Y’shua said these men hold the keys to salvation but
will not enter into the Kingdom themselves, nor will they permit others to
enter. However, to extrapolate that Paul lays blame on all Jews for
these crimes shows profound ignorance of basic human reality and Jewish
cultural fact.
On another note, it wasn’t until Marcion “the heretic”
that an all-Gentile “Christian church” prohibited Jewish attendees. The word
“Church” has its origin with “Circe or Circ” pronounced “Kirch.” Circe was the daughter of Helios, a Greek
goddess and sun deity. The halo (circle)
of light that Christians painted over the heads of “the saints” formerly
belonged to Circe.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Homosexuality – the “straw that broke the camel’s back”….
Mishpocah, our land has become defiled, and America is
in great peril! We read in our most
recent Torah portion that YHWH does NOT put up with decadence of any kind. Take a look:
Leviticus 18:25 The land has become unclean, and this is why I am punishing it - the land itself will vomit out its inhabitants. 26 But you are to keep my laws and rulings and not engage in any of these disgusting practices, neither the citizen nor the foreigner living with you; 27 for the people of the land have committed all these abominations, and the land is now defiled. 28 If you make the land unclean, it will vomit you out too, just as it is vomiting out the nation that was there before you.
Leviticus 18:25 The land has become unclean, and this is why I am punishing it - the land itself will vomit out its inhabitants. 26 But you are to keep my laws and rulings and not engage in any of these disgusting practices, neither the citizen nor the foreigner living with you; 27 for the people of the land have committed all these abominations, and the land is now defiled. 28 If you make the land unclean, it will vomit you out too, just as it is vomiting out the nation that was there before you.
29 For those who engage in any of these disgusting practices,
whoever they may be, will be cut off from their people. 30 So keep my charge
not to follow any of these abominable customs that others before you have
followed and thus defile yourselves by doing them. I am ADONAI your God.'"
There are plenty of scriptures that tell us He will
CURSE the land that reeks of decadence – beginning with Genesis 3:16-18 where
He angrily told Adam and Eve exactly what was to happen now that they decided
to ignore His command to NOT eat from the tree of the knowledge of “good and
evil!” (See also Deuteronomy 28:17-19,
Leviticus 18:24-27, and Jeremiah 23:9-11.)
While Y’shua was dying on the stake, he said, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) He felt for them because in those days the “religious”
types truly believed they were protecting YHWH’s Word, His Torah, and they felt
Y’shua was a major blasphemer who needed to be put to death.
I highly doubt that he would have said the same about
the “gay agenda” - because they KNOW what they are doing! They are blatantly going into the Face of God!
They have all heard that “small, still
voice” of the few Believers who dare to
speak YHWH’s Truth, shouting to this lost world that the God of the Bible says
homosexuality is an ABOMINATION! (See Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13.)
ALL of us are expected to turn from evil ways,
homosexual or heterosexual alike:
Psalms 34:14 turn from evil, and do good; seek peace, go after it! 15 The eyes of ADONAI watch over the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. 16 But the face of ADONAI opposes those who do evil, to cut off all memory of them from the earth.
1 Peter 3:10 For 'Whoever wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit, 11 turn from evil and do good, seek peace and chase after it. 12 For ADONAI keeps his eyes on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers; but the face of ADONAI is against those who do evil things.'
1 Chronicles 7: 14 then, if my people, who bear my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land.
Amos 5:14 Hate evil, love good....
Psalms 34:14 turn from evil, and do good; seek peace, go after it! 15 The eyes of ADONAI watch over the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. 16 But the face of ADONAI opposes those who do evil, to cut off all memory of them from the earth.
1 Peter 3:10 For 'Whoever wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit, 11 turn from evil and do good, seek peace and chase after it. 12 For ADONAI keeps his eyes on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers; but the face of ADONAI is against those who do evil things.'
1 Chronicles 7: 14 then, if my people, who bear my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land.
Amos 5:14 Hate evil, love good....
Folks, homosexuality is WRONG by decree our
Creator, and I am SICK and TIRED of “the world” forcing it on us as “normal”! What galls me is that it’s not enough for the gays
to know they have “won” their battle (at least until Judgment Day when they’ll
get a dose of reality – as will all those who supported it!) No… they HAVE to keep reminding us “they won”
by putting at least one “gay” scene into every TV show or movie we watch –
making sure that those witnessing the “love” are standing there, cooing, “Oh,
how sweet! We’re so happy for them!”
My most recent encounter is with the TV series, “Once
Upon a Time” (a supposed “family show”) which was doing fairly well until
recently when it introduced its first “gay” scene between Dorothy from the
Wizard of Oz, and Little Red Riding Hood (whose name is Ruby in the show), who
awoke Dorothy from a “sleeping spell” placed upon her by the wicked witch.
Not only did she kiss Dorothy on the
lips to awaken her, but then they had to take it a step further by causing the
duo to fall into each other’s arms to do a long, passionate lip lock, while all
their friends watched with raptured delight!
It was COMPLETELY SICKENING!
By the way, for those who have never seen “Once Upon a
Time”; it is an American fairy tale television series, on ABC. The show takes
place in the fictional seaside town of Storybrooke, Maine, whose residents are
characters from various fairy tales transported to the "real world"
town and robbed of their real memories by a powerful curse. Episodes typically
feature a primary storyline in Storybrooke, as well as a secondary storyline
from another point in a character's life before the curse was enacted. It was actually a fairly “cute” show for
several seasons as it served to remind the audience of the childhood fairy
tales they once loved while blending the various tales unto one….But recently,
the show began to mix too much “darkness” and horror into something that
children all across America are watching.
And now, unfortunately, America’s children have been forced to watch a “gay”
scene … which, of course, presented the idea that homosexuality is perfectly
normal….
I don’t care what “lifestyle” people choose for
themselves; it’s not my concern. But what
really angers is that the “gay agenda” has removed CHOICES for heterosexuals. The ONLY choice we have now if we don’t want
perversion shoved into our faces, is to either accept and ignore the perversion…OR
throw our television sets out the window and never enter a movie theater again…. It’s completely obvious that this nonsense is
NOT
going to stop until Y’shua returns to put a swift end to it! May his return be VERY SOON!
In the meantime, I hope and pray that the voices of
Believers will be loud enough to touch some “out there” who will wake up enough
to realize WHY the earth is experiencing earthquakes, fires, floods, tsunamis, droughts,
famines, terrorist acts and satanic behavior on the part of many humans, etc. YHWH our God has HAD IT with us! We ARE experiencing whatever happened “in the
days of Noah” to cause YHWH to drown the world (Genesis 6). He will do it again – only this time, it will
be by FIRE!
2 Peter 3: 5. For this they willingly
forget, that the heavens were of old; and the earth rose up from the waters,
and by means of water, by the Word of Elohim.
6. (And), by means of these (waters), the world which then was, (being
submerged) again perished in the waters.
7. And the heavens that now are, and the earth, are by His Word stored
up, being reserved for the fire at the day of judgment and the perdition of
wicked men. 8. And of this one thing, my
beloved, be not forgetful: That one day to Master YHWH, is as a thousand years;
and a thousand years, as one day.
9. Master YHWH does not delay His promises
as some estimate delay; but He is long suffering for your sakes, being not
willing that any should perish, but that everyone should come to
repentance. 10. And the day of Master
YHWH will come like a thief; in which the heavens will suddenly pass away; and
the elements, being ignited, will be dissolved; and the earth and the works in
it will not be found. 11. As therefore
all these things are to be dissolved, what persons should you be, in Set Apart
conduct and in the Fear of Elohim, 12.
expecting and desiring the coming of the day of Elohim in which the heavens
being tried by fire will be dissolved and the elements being ignited will melt?
(AENT)
(Oh, and by the way, and on this morning’s news we
discovered “the happy news” that ABC news correspondent Gio Benitez married his lover. Until today, we had no clue he,
too, was gay.
What a world we live in!)