I DON’T FOLLOW A SINGLE “JEWISH FEAST” IN THE TORAH; I follow the “eternally mandated Feasts of YHWH.” His festivals all have special meanings, and – just as the Seventh Day Sabbath is our “weekly date with God,” those seven feasts/festivals are our yearly “dates” with Him. Why would anyone wish to reject a “date” with our amazing ELOHIM?
When you read the Torah in context, you will see that those feasts are His feasts, NOT for the Jews alone, because – as you can see in Exodus 12:37-50 - a mixed multitude came out of Egypt (and they were expected to adhere to the same rules); and thus, Abraham's generations blessed the world. God’s Holy Days and ways are what sets HIS people APART from the the world...
YHWH expected ALL who accepted Him to do exactly as HIS people did – and that did not change, just because “Jesus died” – because he didn’t come to abolish the Torah or bring any “religion” designed to make up its own rules and ignore the ones His Father commanded. Take a look:
Numbers 15: 13 "'Every citizen is to do these things in this way when presenting an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI. 14 If a foreigner stays with you - or whoever may be with you, through all your generations - and he wants to bring an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI, he is to do the same as you.
15 For this community there will be the same law for you as for the foreigner living with you; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations; the foreigner is to be treated the same way before ADONAI as yourselves. 16 The same Torah and standard of judgment will apply to both you and the foreigner living with you.'" (CJB)
Please note that “do the same as” His people is mentioned FOUR times in the passage above. Multiple mentions of something means we really need to pay attention because it’s important to YHWH!
Also note that the “mixed multitude” who came out of Egypt with Moshe, describes most of us today! Once we accept YHWH as our ELOHIM and Yeshua as His Divine Messiah who died to remove our past sins, we are obligated to do just as HIS people do:
1 John 2:3 The way we can be sure we know him is if we are obeying his commands. 4 Anyone who says, "I know him," but isn't obeying his commands is a liar - the truth is not in him. 5 But if someone keeps doing what he says, then truly love for God has been brought to its goal in him. This is how we are sure that we are united with him. 6 A person who claims to be continuing in union with him ought to conduct his life the way he did. (CJB)
(And how did Y'shua walk? IN TORAH! Everything he taught refers back to Torah!)
1 John 2:7 My beloved, I write no new commandment to you, but the old Commandment which you had from the beginning; and the old Commandment is the Word which you have heard. (AENT)
And what is “the Word” which we have heard? Torah commands!
Believers are expected to keep YHWH’s feasts because He commanded them to be kept – and Messiah Yeshua has so far fulfilled the first four of the seven! (Please see our article which contains all the pertinent scriptures: https://therefinersfire.org/feasts3.htm
We see passages the entire Bible that support what YHWH commanded and His Messiah (and, yes, even the much-misunderstood Paul) taught:
Proverbs 28:9 If a person will not listen to Torah, even his prayer is an abomination. (CJB) (See also 1 Peter 3:12, Proverbs 15:29, James 5:16, Isaiah 59:2, James 4:3-8, James 1:6-7, John 15:7, Revelation 21:8, etc.)
Romans 10: 12. And in this, it discriminates neither Jews nor Gentiles. For there is one, Master YHWH, over them all, who is abundantly generous towards every one that calls on him. 13. For everyone that will call on the name of Master YHWH, will have life. (AENT)
John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commands; (CJB)
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was enraged against the woman; and he went to make war upon the remnant of her seed who keep the Commandments of Elohim and have the testimony of Y'shua. (AENT)
Ecclesiastes 12: 13 Here is the final conclusion, now that you have heard everything: fear God, and keep his mitzvot; this is what being human is all about. 14 For God will bring to judgment everything we do, including every secret, whether good or bad. [Here is the final conclusion, now that you have heard everything: fear God, and keep his mitzvot; this is what being human is all about.] (CJB)
People, loving our ELOHIM means we must OBEY His Divine Rules, as they are the ONLY blueprint for moral holy living that He has always expected of those who believe in Him! As mentioned above, His festivals all have special meanings, and they are our yearly “dates” with YHWH.
Halleluyah! What an amazing, gracious God we serve!
Hi Carmen,
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I dedicated our lives to HaShem decades ago. Over the years He led us to the Hebrew roots of our faith and we have never looked back.
When it comes to the Feasts, though, we find that we are blocked from celebrating them every single year! Something always comes up! Most recently was a year of homelessness. Then, no sooner do we move in with my elderly aunt so I can take care of her than she goes and dies! 2 days before she died, my beloved brother passed away. This was all around Sukkot! It just seems that something, some insurmountable obstacle prevents us from keeping the Feasts! What is your advice, sister?
Oh my dear sister, I am SO sorry to hear about these incidents and pray you guys are doing better now! The problem is, we live in a fallen world where bad stuff happens - and YHWH knows this. (Surely, they don't happen ALL the time, or always fall only on the Feasts... In my case, whenever something "big" and/or life-changing happens, it's ALWAYS around Passover...)
DeleteAnyway, in the cases you mentioned, you can be sure He understood why you couldn't keep the High Holy Days.
I had similar issues when my husband passed away in May 2021. After his death, for almost a year, I couldn't really concentrate on much. I could hardly bring myself to even do the weekly Torah studies anymore. But I did what I could, and always "rested" on Shabbat (which, as you know falls on Saturday on our Gregorian calenders), by not doing any "work," but at least phoning or "face timing" with fellow believers, and/or fellowshiping with my friends on Facebook. We had stopped attending any organized congregations years ago, for various reasons and so I had o "real" fellowship, and did what I could by myself.)
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, despite my many months in mourning, my faith in God grew ever stronger, because I KNEW death is a part of life, and I accepted that. (Bad stuff happens ... that's just how it goes sometimes, and how we deal with it, reveals how we really feel about God.)
Anyway, because I was in a state of mourning for man months, I didn't really "do" anything for the Feasts Days except acknowledge them the High Holy Days and do the pertinent readings. Passover had already passed that year, but had my husband died earlier, I still would have "cleaned out the leaven," because that's the least I could have done to honor YHWH's command to get rid of the leaven, which represents "sin" during the Passover week.
In your case, since you were homeless for a year, there wasn't much you could have done - and YHWH knew that. But when we do have a home, we should at least try to do what each Feast requires of us, as much as possible. Please check out my article: https://www.therefinersfire.org/jewish_holidays1.htm
There is something we CAN do for each Feast, even if it's just taking time out to read the pertinent Scripture passages for each feast. (For instance, we lived in Colorado where it starts getting too cold in September/October for "old folks" like me to sleep in a tent, but we fixed up a little "sukkah" outside and took at least one meal in it and read the pertinent Scripture passages, throughout Sukkot. When it was simply TOO cold, we did that inside our home.
By the time, our Eternal Torah Calendar can be found on this page: https://therefinersfire.org/ea.htm. Just scroll toward the bottom of the page to where you see the heading "Free calendars, Siddurs & Pesach Seder:" The calendar contains all kinds of information, including the readings for each weekly and yearly Sabbath.
I pray that things will start "looking up" for you guys in the future! Whatever you do, though, please don't turn your back on YHWH. STAY in His Word, from Genesis to Revelation and DO whatever you can to keep your relationship with Him. Keep eating only "clean foods" and "resting" on Shabbat and doing the pertinent readings: https://therefinersfire.org/weekly_torah_studies.htm ...
He KNOWS and appreciates that you are trying to be the best Torah observant believer in YHWH and Yeshua that you can, in spite of your circumstances! Stay strong!
Whatever you do, don't choose to let your circumstances keep you from Him, by making excuses to disobey His forever commands. I wish you well. :)