The Birth of Yeshua (Jesus)

This time of year the world is preparing to celebrate Christmas on December 25th. Most celebrate this holiday as a time for family gatherings, giving gifts, decorating, partying and the like. Christians celebrate this holiday as the birth of Christ. But is it?

Many years ago I remember discovering that if we are true to the birth narrative in the Gospels of Mathew and Luke, Yeshua (Jesus) was not born during the month of December.  The primary reasons given at the time were that shepherds would not have been pasturing their sheep in winter. In addition, there was no room at the Inn due to the large number of crowds supposedly in town to register with the Roman government.  It would not have been practical to ask the people to come to their town of origin to travel in the cold and snow. (Jerusalem is know for getting snow in the winter) It was far more likely, it was explained, that Yeshua was born in the spring or fall. "Oh!" I thought. Oh well, this is the traditional date we celebrate His birth. But I never asked myself "Why?" or "Then when?"

Then came the understanding that the Magi from the East did not show up the night of Yeshua's birth or even in the days that followed. It wasn't until Yeshua was between 1 1/2 or 2 years old that they came bearing gifts and presented them in their "house." The word child here is indicating a young child but not an infant. (Matthew 2:11) 

It wasn't until I began celebrating the 'Feasts of the Lord", specifically the Feast of Tabernacles, a seven day feast celebrated in late September or early October, that I discovered some remarkable information. Many scholars believe that Yeshua was born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles and circumcised on the eighth day, both days being Sabbaths.

Hidden in "plain sight" in scripture, we are told when Yeshua was born! In Luke 1:35-37, Mary (Miriam) is told that she will conceive of the Holy Spirit and will be called the Son of God.
She is also told her kinswoman Elizabeth is pregnant as well and is in her sixth month. So we know that Yeshua will be born six months after John the Baptist. Do we know when John the Baptist was born? Yes! Knowing when Zacharia (John the Baptist's father) burns incense in the Temple sets the date for John's birth. (Luke 1:5-9)

Mark Biltz of El Shaddai ministries discussing the birth of Yeshua:

In addition, "The Feast's of Adonai" by Valerie Moody explains the following:

"Zacharia served  with the Abijah division of priests. King David had divided the priests into 24 divisions in 1 Chronicles 24. Abijah was the eighth division. Each division served for seven days beginning and ending on a Sabbath. (2 Chronicles 23:4-8) When they arrived in Jerusalem, they cast lots to determine their specific tasks.

Rabbis say that the 24 divisions served a week during the first half of the year, and a week during the second half, for a total of 48 weeks of service. In addition they all served for the three pilgrimage feasts, making 51 weeks of service. This is a full Hebrew (lunar) year. Their service began in the first month of Nisan (around April). Two weeks after the year started, all 24 divisions reported to Jerusalem for the first pilgrimage feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread.(Following Passover). Seven weeks later they all returned for the second pilgrimage feat, the Feast of Weeks. (Shavuot/Pentecost) Consequently, the Abijah(eighth) division would not have served until the tenth week of the year.

The Abijah division was in Jerusalem in mid-Sivan or mid-June.  Zachariah drew the lot to burn incense. (Luke 1:8-9) The angle Gabriel appeared to him at the alter and told him his wife Elizabeth would give birth to a son named John and he would be the forerunner of Messiah. Elizabeth became pregnant when Zachariah returned home, after the third week of Sivan. John the baptist was born the following Passover. At Passover, people create a place for Elijah. because Elijah returns before Messiah comes. (Malachi 4:5) John the baptist, in the spirit of Elijah, prepared the people for Yeshua.
(Matthew 11:13-15, Luke 1:17)

Mary (Miriam) supernaturally conceived when Elizabeth was six months along, in mid to late Kislev. (December) she conceived the Light of the World as the Festival of Lights (Hanukkah) began! John was born at Passover in the middle of Nisan, the first month of the year. Yeshua was born at the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) in the middle of Tishri, the seventh month.

In Tishri, Mary and Joseph headed to Bethlehem to register in the Roman census. Jerusalem grew from 12,000 to over 2 million people at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles(Sukkot). All the inns were full. Scholars believe the Inn Keeper offered them lodging in his own sukkah, which he had erected for Tabernacles (or Sukkot) stocked with food on a tray. When Yeshua was born that night, Mary laid him on a food tray, not in an animal's feeding trough. Warm and dry on the sukkah's food tray lay our own Bread of Life (John 6:35)"

The Feast of Tabernacles is a seven day feast of rejoicing and thanksgiving. What greater event could bring our greatest joy?

Angles announced the birth to shepherds watching flocks at night. They were watching Temple flocks, destined for sacrifice for the Feast of Tabernacles. It was autumn, because the flocks were outdoors. During winter, they would have been indoors. (Dr. Alfred Edersheim and Mishna, Shekelim 7:4)

So how did the celebration of Yeshua's birth wind up on December 25th? Rome decided to celebrate Yeshua's birthday on the same day as the mass for Tammuz, the sun god, December 25th during the reign of Constantine. The worship of Tammuz dates back to Nimrod. Historical accounts say that Nimrod's wife, Queen Semiramis, conceived a child after he died. She told the public that she carried Nimrod's child by explaining that Nimrod had become the sun, and impregnated her. She was now the Queen of Heaven. (Jerimiah 44:17-22) Semiramis named her son Tammuz, and persuaded people that he was supernatural. She taught Tammuz to place a gift on a forest tree, in honor of Nimrod's birthday on December 25th. This practice evolved into cutting a tree and decorating it with silver and gold. The prohet Jeremiah soundly condmened this practice in Jeremiah 10:24.

Now that I understand when Yeshua was born, I can celebrated his true birthday during the Feast of Tabernalces. But this time of year, I can celebrate the Light of the World entering this world through the conception of the Holy Spirit during Hanukkah, the Feast of Lights!

John 1:14 says, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The word "dwelt' is the same word for "tabernacle'. "The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us." It all fits together perfectly, doesn't it?

Blessings in Yeshua, the Light of the World

I Stand in Awe

We were watching a program on Discovery about the Hubble space telescope and it showed a picture of a single photo containing untold numbers of galaxies. Each light represented a single galaxy. That's right, a galaxy like our Milky Way. Incredible.

Just watching this reminded me of the infinite expanse of the Universe and how minuscule planet Earth is in the scope of things. Such things are often difficult to wrap my brain around. It also reminded me how I often make YVHV (God) small, the Creator of the universe and of all things, limiting my image of Him and WHO He is. It was at once awe inspiring, overwhelming and humbling.
The program was discussing something (they are not sure what) that holds all things together in the galaxies which they have named "dark energy". These verses come to mind: 

Hebrews 1:2-3:
Speaking of Yeshua (Jesus), "(God)...has in these last days spoken to us, by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power..."

Colossians 1:17
 "He (Yeshua) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. for by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him."

We see that it is Yeshua who has created all things and that all things hold together by the power of His word. Could this be what scientists have named "dark energy", the thing that holds things together in the galaxies? If so, perhaps it should be renamed "Yeshua's glorious, invisible energy, His Word"!

Hebrews 11:3
"By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."

John 1:1-3
(Speaking of Yeshua)
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made."

Hubble also discovered this, known as the Cross of Hubble or Hubble's Cross in the Whirlpool Galaxy.

The cross is also the ancient picture language of the Bible letter for "Tav" which means covenant or cross. Yeshua is speaking to us His plan in His creation of redemption and restoration from the depth of the universe!

Psalms 19:1-4
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech. And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through the whole earth, and their words to the end of the world."

The Heavens Declare the Glory...

An amazing discovery I had over a year ago was The Mazaroth. The Mazaroth, also known as the zodiac, is the name given to the pattern of stars found on the celestial equator, or ecliptic. The ecliptic is an imaginary zone of the heavens containing the twelve signs within which lie the paths of the principal planets, and through which the sun passes in its annual course.
Mazzaroth is the Hebrew word for constellation.
See :http://www.betemunah.org/mazaroth.html

Josephus, the first century historian, writes that the Mazaroth was given to Adam, Seth, and Enoch that the revelation of two coming judgements of water and fire would not be lost.
The constellations originally were named by God who told them to Adam. The constellation's names were not based upon their shapes but upon the names of the stars within the constellations.

Psalms 147:4
"He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names"

Unfortunately the Babylonians got a hold of the original Zodiac and changed names and meanings so the zodiac is no longer Astronomy, which is about YVHV and His purposes, but became astrology, which it's all about us.
As you discover the original names of the stars and the constellations, you find that the constellations, as they revolve around ecliptic on their annual course tells the gospel of Yeshua!
Here is a short presentation to give you an overview from Steve Hadley of Harvest Family Fellowship:

http://harvestreno.org/bibleFactsVideo.asp?id=14

For a resource/book with an in-depthexplanation of the Mazaroth;
http://philologos.org/__eb-tws

Genesis 1:14-16
"And God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs (signals) and seasons (moeds or festivals- God's appointed days)), and for days and years.; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth" and it was so. Then God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also."
(Hebrew meaning of words)

YVHV put the sun, moon and the stars in the sky to serve as signals or signs to us as well as to mark His appointed times or Feast Days. (See Leviticus 23)

God also tells us He will accomplish His purposes and tells us ahead of time what he will do, not only in His word, but in the Heavens by the sun, the moon and the stars.

"Remember the former things, those of long ago. I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do" (Isaiah 46:9-11; see also Isaiah 14:24, 27).

Over the course of the last year I have also learned that the stars, constellations and planets are telling the story of what God is about to do that has been foretold by the prophets. There have been so many events in the stars, constellations and planets over the last year and as well as scheduled to happen in the next few years to come.

Inthatday.net has been noting the movement of the constellations, stars and planets along with their Biblical meanings and their significance as they occur on the Biblical Feast Days. This presentation gives an overview of what has occurred during the 2011 fall feast days and specifically the recent 2012 spring feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Shavuot and beyond.

Part 4: http://inthatday.net/290872/LPBZ_Part%204/LPBZ_Part%204.htm

For a more in depth look of the 2011 fall feasts presentations see parts 1-3:

http://inthatday.net/290872/LPBZ_Part1/LPBZ_Part1.htm

http://inthatday.net/290872/LPBZ_Part2/LPBZ_Part2.htm

http://inthatday.net/290872/LPBZ_Part3/LPBZ_Part3.htm

In 2008 Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries discovered a rare pattern of lunar and solar eclipses that will occur over the course of 2014-2015. In 2014 and 15 there are back to back tetrads (4 lunar eclipses, twice in one year, two years in a row) of total lunar eclipses (known as blood moons), one in the spring and one in the fall each year. These tetrads are a most rare even. The times they have happened in history are even quite signicficant!

                                                Blood Moon over Washington D.C.

The most interesting aspect of these is when they will occur. On the Biblical calender, they land on Passover (April)and Succoth (September) both years. Along with this there will be a total solar eclipse on the first day of the first Biblical month of Nissan in 2015 and 2016. From a Hebrew perspective, lunar eclipses have meant trouble for Israel and solar eclipses have meant trouble for the nations. When you explore Nasa's website, this pattern has never occured and never will again. The probability of thses lunar and solar eclipses occuring in these patterns on the Lord's feasts days are said to be astrinomical.

See his presentation here:
http://vimeo.com/15748916


119 Ministries at Testeverything.net has put together a remarkable series on end time prophesies including a part on the blood moon tetrads and some new insights on the book of Daniel, that if correct, should get everyone's attention. The events in Daniel may correspond with the blood moon tetrads and the Lord's Feast Days. From this point of view, big things could begin occuring in 2013.

Part 3: http://119ministries.com/bloodmoon-tetrads-and-greater-exodus
Part 4: http://119ministries.com/daniel-unsealed

Part 1:http://119ministries.com/yahwehs-prophetic-calendar
Part 2:http://119ministries.com/confirming-the-covenant

If all of this seems overwhelming to you, you are not alone. The incredible thing is that YVHV is trying to get our attention in these days. Big things are happening in the heavens! What is He trying to communicate? We need to be about seeking His face.
One thing for sure, we all need to be about getting our spiritual house in order as well as be in much prayer for our families, our country, Israel, and well, the whole world.

I had the privilege of attending El Shaddai Ministries in Tacoma, Washington last weekend and Mark Biltz just happened to be talking about events in the heavens. When you put it all together, Yeshua the Messiah seems to be telling us that He is coming soon. And He is communicating so much to us in the stars at this time.
After all, didn't He tell us:

"And their will be signs in the sun, moon and in the stars; and on earth distress of the nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring and men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth...Now when these things start to happen look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
(Luke 21:25-26, 28)

Enjoy "Signs in the Heavens"
El Shaddai Ministries- June 16, 2012

Shavuot/Pentecost and the Pattern of Sevens

Today is known as the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot as well as Pentecost.
The Feast of Weeks/ Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah (YHVH's instructions) on Mt. Sinai which Moses received from YHVH and relayed to the people at the same place where YHVH would have Moses build the tabernacle and where the covenant vow between YHVH and His people was made. Over 1500 years later, on the same day, Pentecost, (Pente means 50 in Greek) the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples where they gathered to pray at the Temple (Acts 2), sealing the renewed covenant that Yeshua came to reestablish. (See former post, "The Restoration of All Things)

The Feast of Weeks/Shavuot is the only Feast that does not have a set day but is counted up to 50 to determine the day. The time of counting is call the "Counting of the Omer". The omer was a measure of flour ground from grain from the early harvest beginning at the Feast of First Fruits.

"From the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering (on First Fruits), count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days, up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. (Leviticus 23:15-16) The disciples were counting the days after Yehsua rose from the dead as they did every year. That is how they knew Yeshua ascended into heaven on the 40th day. (Acts 1:3)

The Feast of First Fruits is the first day after the Sabbath after Passover. Passover was fulfilled by Yeshua as the Passover Lamb, crucified. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was fulfilled by Yeshua being the sinless Bread of Life buried, and the Feast of First Fruits was fulfilled by Yeshua when He rose from the dead, the first to rise.
"For now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." (1Corinthians 15:20)


Numbers in Hebrew have meanings. Seven means fullness or completion. There are patterns of seven everywhere in Scripture.
Here are many examples:

The seventh day, the Sabbath, is separated from all other days as the day of YHVH's rest. (Genesis 2:2-3, Leviticus 23:3)
There are a week of days (7) to Shabbat (the Sabbath)
There are a week of weeks (49 days) to Shavuot
There are a week of months for the seven Feasts (Month 1-7. All of YHVH's Feasts fall in the first seven months and the 3 fall feasts all fall in the seventh month of Tishrei. (On YHVH's calander)
The Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts seven days.
The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) lasts seven days.
There are a week of Years (7 years) to the Shmita year (the land was to rest every seven years)
There are a week of Shmitas up to the Jubilee year (Every 50 years is the Jubilee year)
There are a week of Millenniums: 2000 years from Adam to Abraham, 2000 years from Abraham to Yeshua, 2000 years from Yeshua until His 1,000 year reign.
There are weeks of years; 7x69 plus seven= 490 years in Daniel 9

Seven also speaks of finality or new beginnings. After the 1,000 year millennial reign of Yeshua will come the New Heaven and new Earth. (Revelation 20:4, 21:1-5)
In addition:
There are  Seven Spirits of YHVH (Isaiah 11:2,3)
There are Seven Eyes of YHVH that roam the earth (Zacharia 4:10)
The golden lamp stand (Menorah) in the temple has seven branches
In Revelation chapter one there are seven congregations, seven spirits which are before His throne, seven golden menorahs, and seven stars.
In Revelation there are seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowels of wrath.

Seven is a very significant number to YHVH!
The next Feast on YHVH's calender is the Feast of Trumpets, the first day of the seventh month of Tishrei on YHVH's calander (around the middle of September), the first of the 3 Fall Feasts. The 4 Spring feasts were fulfilled by Yeshua at his first coming, the 3 fall feasts will be fulfilled at His second coming. We continue to celebrate the Spring feasts, commemorating what YHVH has done through the Living Word, Yeshua and look forward to celebrating the Fall feasts as we rehearse all the events to occur when He returns again!

One day in the future on the Feast of Trumpets, Yeshua will return and raise His people from the dead.
"....for as in Adam all die, so also in Yeshua the Messiah all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Messiah, the first fruit; afterward those of Messiah at His coming...In a moment, in a blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet, for a trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed." (1 Corinthians 15; 22, 23, 52)

HalleluYa!

Blessings!

The Restoration of all Things

Next weekend  (Saturday May 26th at sundown through Sunday May 27th at sundown) is the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot, also known as Pentecost. On this day in history, YHVH gave the Torah (YHVH's word of instruction) to Moses on Mt. Sinai and a Covenant was made between YHVH and His people. He had rescued them (and anyone else who wanted to join them) from Egypt 50 days earlier when they crossed the Red Sea. The Torah was the wedding vows that His people pledged to follow, instructions on how to live in relationship with the Living Elohim (God) and fellow man.  But that covenant was broken by His people when they turned away from Him (time and time again) and YHVH had to grant a bill of divorce to His people. (YVHV did not divorce His people as He would never break covenant with them. it wasa due to their unfaithfulness to Him.)

"Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had commmitted adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her trecherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also...Return to Me, O backsliding children", says the Lord, "For I am married to you. I will take you, one from the city and two from a family and I will bring you to Zion." (Jeremiah 3: 8,14)
At different times both Judah and Israel (the Southern and Northern Kingdom of Israel) were taken into captivity, Israel by Assyria and Judah by Babylon.

Yeshua (Jesus' name in Hebrew) the Living Word of God (the Living Torah) came to renew the Covenant between YVHV and His people (Judah, Israel and anyone else who wanted to join in) through His death, burial and resurrection from the dead. He lived out the Torah perfectly. 50 days later on Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended on His people and indwelt them in order to write His Word (Torah, Yeshua) on their hearts. This is the Renewed Covenant. It was the beginning of the restoration of all things.

"Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law (Torah) in their minds and write it on their hearts; and I will be their Elohim and they shall be my people." (Jeremiah 31:31-33)

After Pentecost (Pente means 50 in Greek) Peter and John were at the Temple for afternoon prayers when they came across the lame man and healed him in the name of Yeshua. Peter then went on and told all those who rushed to see this great thing:

"Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we made this man walk? The Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Elohim of our fathers, glorified His servant, Yeshua whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the prince of Life whom Elohim raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this  perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

Yet now brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things which Elohim foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Messiah would suffer, He has fulfilled. Repent, therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshment may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Yeshua Messiah,, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which Elohim has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:12-21)

And

"Therefore behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that it shall no more be said, 'The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,' but, 'The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where he had driven them." For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers." (Jeremiah 16:14-17)

 See below how Elohim is bringing together the Restoration of all Things:

And there will be a wedding, when once again we are fully restored:

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory, for the marriage supper of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. And it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, write, 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, these are the true sayings of Elohim.'

(Revelation 19:7-9)

Shabbat Shalom and be blessed!

What Does the Feast of Unleavened Bread Mean to You?

From Dan and Brenda Cathcart's Blog: Moedtorah.blogspot.com


Today, at local sunset, April 6th 2012 begins Nissan 15 on the Biblical calendar and the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread.

Exodus 12:17 NASB 17 'You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance.

God told the children of Israel that they were to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread because He brought them out of Egypt. What is the connection between unleavened bread and Egypt? Egypt is the land where Pharaoh held them in slavery and God had just delivered them from that slavery. They were now free to go into the wilderness and worship Him. From there, God promised to bring them into the Land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Slavery in Egypt represents our slavery to sin. Paul tells us that leaven also represents sin in our lives. So fleeing from Egypt and eating unleavened bread both remind us of Yeshua’s sacrifice as our Passover Lamb freeing us from our lives of sin.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8 NASB 7 Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

When the children of Israel left Egypt, they did so in haste. They took their bread which hadn’t had time to leaven and traveled to Succoth and there they baked unleavened bread. The name Succoth means a tent or temporary dwelling place. When God redeems us, we are to quickly leave our lives of sin not waiting for sin to seep back into our lives. Here on this earth we are to dwell in the temporary dwelling places of our flesh and keep sin out of our lives. But we have the promise of an eternal body.

2 Corinthians 5:1 NIV 1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

When Yeshua died and they laid His body in the grave, it did not decay. Unleavened bread is a substance that does not decay. David wrote of the hope he had that his flesh would not remain in the grave because God would not allow His Holy One to decay.

Psalms 16:9-10 NKJV 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. 10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

Peter writes of the hope we have in Yeshua.

1 Peter 1:3 NKJV 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

What does the Feast of Unleavened Bread mean to me? By eating unleavened bread during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, I remember that Yeshua died to take away my sins; that I am to live a life according to the Spirit not according to the sinful nature of the flesh. By removing the leaven from my house, I realize the enormous task of getting all the sin out of my life. Just when I think I have it licked, the Holy Spirit reveals one more thing I need to work on! I remember that every day anew, He delivers me from the imperfections of my life as I in turn flee from the desires of the flesh.  Finally, I reflect on the hope I have through Yeshua of an eternal incorruptible body.

What does the Feast of Unleavened Bread Mean to you?

…for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt.


שלום ברוך
Shalom and be blessed
Dan & Brenda Cathcart

Reasons to Celebrate Passover

From Dan and Brenda Cathcart's blog: Moedtorah.blogspot.com
(I couldn't tell it better!)

This essay is an excerpt from our book titled “Reasons for Christians to Celebrate the Biblical Feasts.”  It is available from amazon.com, barnesandnoble .com, other book retailers as well as from our own web site at www.moedministries.com.

When we talk about celebrating Passover, we think of the Passover meal or Seder. The Passover meal is the time when the story of the Exodus is told. It is the story of God remembering His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is the story of God’s judgment on the gods of Egypt. It is the story of God’s redemption. It is the story of the Patriarch Joseph’s empty grave. It is the story of crossing the Red Sea. The story of Passover began before the actual day of Passover and extended until they safely crossed the Red Sea.

Likewise the observance of Passover begins days before the actual Passover Seder. In fact, the Passover meal or Seder is the last thing that happens on the day of Passover. Jesus celebrated His final Passover with His disciples one day early, though. He knew that on the actual day of Passover, He would be the Passover lamb for the world. He celebrated the Passover Seder early to pass on instructions to the disciples about the changed but continued observance of the events of Passover. In fact, the observance of His last Passover Seder wasn’t the most important event of those days, but it pointed to those events. What are those events leading up to Passover?

Before Passover those observing the Passover chose a lamb. They examined the lamb carefully to be sure it was without blemish. The Hebrew word for the phrase without blemish is tamiym which also refers to a morally upright character.  Jesus presented Himself to the temple on the fourth day before Passover. He submitted to the questions of the Pharisees, Sadduccess, Scribes and Herodians. They all questioned Him and could find no fault with Him.

Those observing they had to clean out their houses and make sure there was no leaven. Jesus cleaned His house as well. He went to the temple, the house of His Father, and cleaned house by driving out the crooked moneylenders and merchants that cheated the pilgrims who came up to Jerusalem for the Feast.

The Passover lambs had to be bound to a stake, taken before the altar and slain. The priests caught the blood and poured it out at the foot of the altar. This all began at 9:00 a.m. or the third hour. Jesus was bound to His stake at the third hour. The sacrifices went on all day long until the hour of the evening sacrifice the ninth hour or 3:00 p.m. At that time, the high priest slays the last Passover lamb and states, “It is finished.” On that Particular Passover, darkness covered the land from the sixth until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” and yielded up His spirit.

At His last Passover meal, Jesus gave instructions to remember Him during this meal that is all about remembrance. Like the story of the Exodus, the telling doesn’t stop with the slaying of the Passover Lamb; it continues into the days following. It continues through His burial as the Feast of Unleavened bread begins. It continues three days later when He rose from the dead which just happened in that year to be the Feast of Firstfruits.

We can observe the Passover by telling this story. Telling the story of the Passover of Jesus’ death which just happened to parallel exactly the events at the temple. Telling the story of His burial as the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins. Telling the story of His resurrection on the Feast of Firstfruits. Telling the story of the Promise of our own glorified bodies represented by the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  We can tell the story as we go through the Passover Seder telling the story of the first redemption  and letting it add meaning and significance to the second redemption.

Let’s not diminish His sacrifice by failing to recognize all the prophecies fulfilled in those days. Our God is great and mighty doing marvelous works. Let’s proclaim them all!

Psalms 118:26-29 NKJV 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. 27 God is the LORD, And He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. 29 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

שלום ברוך
Shalom and be blessed
Dan and Brenda Cathcart

Visit Moedtorah.blogspot.com for other insightful and meaning reasons to celebrate Passover!

What's Love Got to Do With It?

A couple of weeks ago, as counselor specializing in relationships and marriage, I was asked on a local TV program to talk about the Five Love Languages developed by Gary Chapman in his book, "The Five Love Languages". The main idea is that of the five love languages (gifts, words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, and acts of service) one and perhaps a close second is the way we prefer to be loved and indeed when we are loved in these ways, feel the most significant and cared for. We find we can rank these from 1 to 5 in importance, number one being our prefered love language and number five just not speaking to us.

Very often, couples will choose their polar opposite in terms of love language preference which can set up a bit of disconnect.  I end up loving you in the way I want to be loved and if its at the bottom of your list, I  may completely miss the mark. When this occurs, it may be that the way your spouse desires to be loved is the very thing that's most uncomfortable or difficult for you. This turned out to be true for Tim and I. Wouldn't you know that my love language was "gifts" which he ranked as fifth on his list and his love language was "acts of service" which, you guessed it, ranked lowest on mine.  Now to cut each of us some slack, we were totally unaware of this discrepancy. We were merrily going down the path of marriage loving each other in our own love language...how we wanted to be loved. Now, it wasn't awful. Good things were happening, but there was some disconnection, disappointment, and maybe some feelings of being unappreciated and misunderstood. Fortunately we discovered the concept of love languages early on and it really brought a new level of understanding. We had to step out and learn to love the other in the way they desired. Interestingly enough, over the years our love languages have shifted toward the other. The places that were difficult became a joy...once we understood what touched each other's heart.

Something really struck me one day when someone compared loving God to loving our spouse when the question was posed, "What if we decided to love our spouse in the way that we wanted to love them and not how they have expressed the way they desire to be loved?" If my spouse felt the most loved when I showed affection, and this was the way they wanted me to express love to them, what if I said, nah, I'm not comfortable with that. I'm going to love them the way I want to. How do you think your spouse would feel? How would you feel if that's how your spouse loved you? How would that bode for the relationship? I am discovering that often we love God in the way that we want to and not how he has expressed how he wants to be loved in the scriptures. 

 How does God want to be loved? As I look back over my life there are several ways I thought God wanted to be loved. In our love relationships, so often we think of love as a feeling and part of my definition included if I had "that loving feeling" towards God. But you know how that is, sometimes I just didn't feel those same feelings or keep that "high" I would get after a particular experience or time of closeness or answered prayer.  I also thought of love in terms of being a loving person doing loving things toward others. Love my neighbor. (Sometimes I would go overboard when I would get into my "people pleasing" mode.) Loving God also included Bible study, prayer and quiet times.

 

Yeshua (Jesus) tells us,"If you love me, you'll obey what I command" (John 14:15) and "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my father and I too will love him and show myself to him." (John 14:21,22). John (the disciple beloved by Christ) wrote again in 1 John 5:3, "This is love for God; to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome".

When Yeshua was asked in Matthew 22:36 "Rabbi, what is the greatest commandment in the Torah?" he quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 when he replied, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

What does it mean to obey His commandments? What commandments? Then I was struck with the fact that when Yeshua and John spoke the definition of loving God, the New Testament had not yet been written. Yeshua was referring to the Torah  (First five books of what we have called the Old Testament) in his reply to the question of the greatest commandment. Torah is translated as "law" in the New Testament which turns out to be a poor translation. Instead of "law", the more accurate translation is "Torah" which means teaching or instruction.

I also remembered that John said in John 1:1 that Yeshua is the Word of God and was with God in the beginning. Yeshua, therefore is the whole of scripture. If I want to know how to love God, I need to start at the beginning where Yeshua refers us.

Torah in ancient Hebrew means:
Tav: cross, covenant or sign of the convenant
Vav: Nail or tent peg, to secure
Resh: person especially the highest person, head
Hey: Reveal. At the end of a word hey can mean what comes from or out of, belonging to
Torah: The covenant secured by the highest person revealed or that which comes from the highest person nailed to the cross.
(For ancient picture language, scroll down to the end)

Recently, I learned that a better translation of the word "commandment' is "Mitzvah" in Hebrew. Mitzvah means "obligations that bind us to God", like superglue, or on the same team. There are different types of Mitzvah, but all are about being in relationship. These also includes statues, precepts, judgements and ordinances. Only through observing these Mitzvah can we build a deep, enduring relationship with God, forging the bond. Mitzvah performance creates a deep connection between God and us.


God's commandments are for those who are in a covenant relationship with Him. They are instructions for how to live in relationship with Him and with each other, and with ourselves. It's like our marriage vows. In the beginning you don't fully know the other or even how to really love your spouse. But as you grow in your understanding and knowledge of the other, your love and commitment deepen and you have a greater desire to love them, especially how they desire to be loved, even when it's the most difficult for you. 


Psalm 119 (all 176 verses), which David wrote, describes the life, joy, light, truth, and delight (to name a few) that result from following God's commandments, statues, judgements and precepts.
Consider Psalm 119:12-20

"Blessed are you, O Yahweh; teach me your Statutes. I have declared your judgements with my lips; I have rejoiced in the way of your Testimonies (recorded witness) as over all riches. I will meditate in your Precepts and I will regard your paths. I will delight myself in your Statues. I will not forget your word. Deal bountifully with your servant that I may live, and I will keep your word. Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your Torah. I am a sojourner in the earth; hide not your Commandments from me. My soul is crushed for longing for your judgements in every season.

And Psalm 119:1
Blessed are the upright in the way, who walk in the Torah of Yahweh. Blessed are those keeping his testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart."


I discovered that Torah also means, "hitting the mark" like a bulls eye on a target and sin means "missing the mark". This gives a whole new understanding to 1 John 3:4 where John says, " Whoever commits sin also commits Torahlessness and sin is Torahlessness. It is God's desire that we obey His Mitzvah, His Torah that we may know Him, love Him, know what He is doing and going to do in the future, know how to love others, and know how to live in a way that gives the greatest provision and care for ourselves. (Like how to eat healthy and how to stay out of debt, to name a few.) I had been missing the mark in many ways.


A huge area, besides the 10 commandments, that I discovered that are God's statutes forever (appointments, commandments, decrees) are the Lord's Feasts which include the Sabbath (weekly appointment) and the 7 Feasts (4 Spring, 3 Fall) described in Leviticus 23. These are set times that God has established for us to meet with Him where He has promised to show up. They are His appointments and rehursals where He reveals Himself more fully, reveals His plan and purpose and lets us know what He has done, what He is doing and what He is going to do.  They are weekly, monthly and yearly cycles that continually bring us back to how to get right with God, ourselves and others. They promote self reflection and repentance which bring us back into proper relationship with the Father as well as with others and ourselves.


I had studied the Feasts along the way in Bible studies and always thought they were so interesting and gave a deeper meaning, especially to the death, sinlessness, and resurrection of Yeshua. I understood how the Spring feasts were about Yeshua's first coming and had some awareness that the fall feasts were about his return to set up the Kingdom of God on earth. But what I completely missed was that these were His set appointments to meet with Him and by "doing" or celebrating them, I was showing up, showing my love for Him. This really grieved me. It was like finding out that my husband had been waiting for me on our anniversary every year or for our special weekly date and I wasn't showing up! For our whole marriage.


When I discovered this, I went about learning how to celebrate the feasts and began celebrating. There is such a difference on every level between just knowing and doing! As I celebrated I was stepping into a new realm of understanding and awareness that I was participating in something profoundly larger than my life (to say the least). And I really had to step out and believe God.


This fall was my first time celebrating the feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot. It is a week long celebration and God instructs us to build sukkahs or little shelters/tents outside to eat and perhaps sleep in. It is a remembrance of how the Israelites tabernacled in the wilderness with God when they were delivered out of slavery in Egypt, how Yeshua became flesh and dwelt with us (dwelt means tabernacled in Hebrew) and how we will tabernacle with God the Father and Yeshua when His Kingdom is restored and set up on Earth forever.


We built our little sukkah on our deck and even invited some friends and family to share a meal.  When I first began building it I felt a little bit like Noah must have felt. (By no means an equal comparison!) I had some doubts, feeling a bit foolish even crossed my mind.(Good grief, what will the neighbors think?) But the more I built and then stepped into the tabernacle, bearing this witness to God on earth and in obedience to Him was profound. He showed up just as He promised. My faith was enlarged by doing, not merely knowing. Our relationship grew more intimate. I was commemorating what God had done in the past and remembering (lest I forget) and rehearsing what is to come in the future. I was joining millions today and countless millions through the ages for 3500 years! God is all about celebrating. It brings a fuller sense of joy, life and purpose!
(I understand that these feasts are celebrated in Heaven with the angels.)


Loving God by learning to obey His commandments is not about perfection or salvation. It is about relationship. It is about loving our Creator in the way that He desires. And we are told that God's commandments are not burdensome. But I may need to learn to love Him in the places that are the hardest for me. And this is the main point! I am discovering that Love has everything to do with it!


The first Spring feasts of the year are Passover, the feast of Unleavened Bread and Feast of First Fruits. Join me in showing up and celebrating these set times with our Father.

TORAH- TVRH (Hebrew uses no vowels) In ancient Hebrew:

Tav- cross, covenant, sign of the covenant

        Vav- nail or tent peg, to secure

 Resh- person especailly the highest, head

Hey- reveal. At the end of a word Hey can mean what comes from or out of, belonging to



TORAH= The covenant secured by the highest person revealed or that which comes from the highest person nailed to the cross.