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Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted.” (2Tim 3:12)
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“but avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, quarrels and fights
about the Torah; because they are worthless and futile.” (Titus 3:9)
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Please Note: Absolutely nothing on this website should be taken as anti-Church or anti-Rabbinic. I am not anti-anything or anti-anyone. I am only pro-Torah and pro-Truth (see “Philosophy”), but sometimes the Truth upsets our long-held beliefs. I know it certainly upset mine! For example, see “Why Isn’t My Theology Consistent Throughout the Website?”
Developing a
Systematic Messianic Theology
“The purpose of careful theological formulations is not to put barriers in the way of people who are seeking salvation, but to define clearly the truths upon which genuine [Biblical] faith rests, so that people will not be misled by false doctrines.” [Bowman]
[Explanations of rabbinic citations are HERE]
The Moadim
Yehovah’s Appointed Times
In the 23rd chapter of Leviticus, God gave Moshe specific instructions regarding the appointments He had set for Him to meet with all His people, not just the Hebrews. The Torah says that a great multitude of Egyptians-- “an ethnically diverse crowd” (Exodus 12:38, HCSB)-- accompanied the Israelites when they left Egypt. Targum Yonatan says that 2,400,000 Egyptians went out with the Children of Israel. This same “an ethnically diverse crowd” of Gentiles accepted the Torah at Sinai along with the children of Israel! Thus we can see that the “ethnically diverse crowd” was an integral part of the Commonwealth of Israel, and expected to participate in the whole Torah, including God’s “appointed times.”
“Tell the people of Isra'el: ‘The designated times of ADONAI which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are My designated times.” (Leviticus 23:2)
He specified that these are HIS designated times and are not subject to change or modification by His people. The Hebrew word in this phrase that is translated as “appointed times” is d[wm (moad, pl. moadim) and means exactly what it says: these are appointments that God has made for His people to meet with Him at the times and in the manner that He specifies. These are the seven designated appointments that God has set for us to meet with Him as “a permanent regulation, generation after generation.” (Leviticus 23:41).
1. Shabbat (the Sabbath) — Lev 23:3
2. Pesach (Passover) & Matzah (Unleavened bread) — Lev 23:5-7
3. First Fruits (Lev 23:10-11)
4. Shavuot (Weeks or Pentecost) — Lev 23:15-16)
5. Yom Teruah (Trumpets) — Lev 23:24-25
6. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) — Lev 23:27-30
7. Sukkot (Tabernacles) — Lev 23:34-36
Of these Moadim, three are known as “Pilgrim Festivals” during which every male Israelite was required to appear at the temple with the appropriate offering (Deuteronomy 16:1-17).
Three times a year all your men are to appear in the presence of ADONAI your God in the place which he will choose — at the festival of Matzah, at the festival of Shavu'ot and at the festival of Sukkot. They are not to show up before ADONAI empty-handed, but every man is to give what he can, in accordance with the blessing ADONAI your God has given you. (Deuteronomy 16:16-17)
Without a Temple and active priesthood, it is not possible for us to offer the specified sacrifices and offerings (they are not the same thing), since God requires they be offered only in the Tabernacle (later, in the Temple). We therefore cannot bring the designated offerings for these Moadim until the Temple is restored. Since the Anti-Messiah declares himself to be god in the Temple, we look for the Temple to be restored before Messiah returns. We have to wait and see whether Messiah utilizes that third Temple as His headquarters during the Millennial Kingdom or builds a fourth Temple.
Leviticus 23: 1ADONAI said to Moshe, 2“Tell the people of Isra'el: ‘The designated times of ADONAI which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are my designated times. … 4These are the designated times of ADONAI, the holy convocations you are to proclaim at their designated times.’”
ADONAI said that these are to be His “designated times of ADONAI that you are to proclaim as holy convocations” and that they are to be observed by all His people as “a permanent regulation, generation after generation.”
The Church argues that these days are “holidays of the Jews” and so refuses to observe them because they are “too Jewish”-- yet the Bible clearly calls them “designated times of ADONAI” (2Chronicles 2:4). Daniel prophesied that the Antichrist “will speak words against the Most High and oppress the holy ones of the Most High. He will intend to change religious festivals and laws…” (Daniel 7:25). In the spirit of Antichrist, the Church has decided that what ADONAI has commanded is simply not important and refuses to honor the times of worship that He has designated; the Church presumes that He should be satisfied with their showing up uninvited on Sunday, Christmas, and Easter, all of which are totally pagan in origin. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7, NASB).[1]
1. Shabbat (the Sabbath)
The 7th day of every week (Lev. 23:3)
The seventh-day Shabbat is clearly taught in the Torah, and it has never been changed or rescinded in any way. Failure to “remember” and “keep” Shabbat is a violation of the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11). I believe that when he blended the Jewish sect known as “The Way” with the Babylon Mystery Religion (ca 431-435 CE), Constantine deliberately abolished the biblical Shabbat and replaced it with the worship of the sun god, hence the name of the first day of the week is Sun-day. MORE HERE]
“On the venerable day of the Sun [i.e., Sun-day] let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day is not suitable for grain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.” (Constantine, 321 CE)
That Sun-day worship was in place by 325 CE is evident to its reference in Canon 20 of the Council of Nicaea (ca. May-August 325):
Canon 20: On Sundays and during the Paschal season prayers should be said standing. Since there are some who kneel on Sunday and during the season of Pentecost, this holy synod decrees that, so that the same observances may be maintained in every diocese, one should offer one’s prayers to the Lord standing.
The Council of Laodicea (ca. 364) ordered that all religious observances were to be conducted on Sunday, not Shabbat. “Christians shall not Judaize and (thus) be idle on Saturday [God’s Holy Shabbat], but shall work on that day.”
The following quotations are mirrored from SabbathToSundayChange.com, which contains much more excellent material on the subject, and is recommended for further study.
Whose Day of Worship is Sunday?
“They [the Protestants] deem it their duty to keep the Sunday holy. Why? Because the Catholic Church tells them to do so. They have no other reason… The observance of Sunday thus comes to be an ecclesiastical law entirely distinct from the divine law of Sabbath observance… The author of the Sunday law… is the Catholic Church.” — Ecclesiastical Review, February 1914
“It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday [emphasis added]. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church.” — Priest Brady, in an address reported in The News, Elizabeth, New Jersey, March 18, 1903.
Significance:
Shabbat is the weekly appointment to remember that God is the Creator of all things Who created the universe in six days and sanctified the seventh (Exod. 20:8-11). It is a sign between Him and His people forever (Exod. 31:13,17)
Lev. 23 3Work is to be done on six days; but the seventh day is a Shabbat of complete rest, a holy convocation; you are not to do any kind of work; it is a Shabbat for ADONAI, even in your homes.
Exod. 20 8Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God. 9You have six days to labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Shabbat for ADONAI your God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work -not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the for eigner staying with you inside the gates to your property. 11For in six days, ADONAI made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. This is why ADONAI blessed the day, Shabbat, and separated it for himself.
Exod 31 13“Tell the people of Isra'el, ‘You are to observe my Shabbats; for this is a sign between me and you through all your generations; so that you will know that I am ADONAI, Who sets you apart for me. 14Therefore you are to keep my Shabbat, because it is set apart for you. Everyone who treats it as ordinary must be put to death; for whoever does any work on it is to be cut off from his people. 15On six days work will get done; but the seventh day is Shabbat, for complete rest, set apart for ADONAI. Whoever does any work on the day of Shabbat must be put to death. 16The people of Isra'el are to keep the Shabbat, to observe Shabbat through all their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17It is a sign between me and the people of Isra'el forever; for in six days ADONAI made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and rested.’”
Messianic Significance
This is a weekly appointment to remember God is the Creator of all things and that we have entered into His Covenant, keeping the Sabbath as a sign between Him and us, that we are His people. This is the only appointed day that is repeated all throughout the year, bringing us to remembrance of He who has saved us, also looking forward to the impending rest given by Yeshua which is Life after Death (Heb. 4).
2. Pesach (Passover) & Matzah (Unleavened Bread)
14th of the 1st Month is Passover
15th to 21st is the week of
Unleavened Bread
15th and the 21st are Special Sabbaths (Lev 23:5-7)
Significance
Pesach is an appointment to remember how God saved His People from Egypt and Bondage through the blood of a lamb; Matzah is an appointment to remember how they did not eat leaven, which signified Sin. (Exod. 12:5-7, 11-20)
Pesach
Lev. 23 5"In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between sundown and complete darkness, comes Pesach for ADONAI. 6On the fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of matzah; for seven days you are to eat matzah. 7On the first day you are to have a holy convocation; don't do any kind of ordinary work. 8Bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work.'"
Exod. 12 5Your animal must be without defect, a male in its first year, and you may choose it from either the sheep or the goats. 6You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, and then the entire assembly of the community of Isra'el will slaughter it at dusk. 7They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the two sides and top of the door-frame at the entrance of the house in which they eat it. 8That night, they are to eat the meat, roasted in the fire; they are to eat it with matzah and maror. 9Don't eat it raw or boiled, but roasted in the fire, with its head, the lower parts of its legs and its inner organs. 10Let nothing of it remain till morning; if any of it does remain, burn it up completely. 11Here is how you are to eat it: with your belt fastened, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand; and you are to eat it hurriedly. It is ADONAI's Pesach [Passover]. 12For that night, I will pass through the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both men and animals; and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt; I am ADONAI. 13The blood will serve you as a sign marking the houses where you are; when I see the blood, I will pass over [Hebrew: pasach] you - when I strike the land of Egypt, the death blow will not strike you.
Matzah (Unleavened Bread)
Exod. 12 14This will be a day for you to remember and celebrate as a festival to ADONAI; from generation to generation you are to celebrate it by a perpetual regulation. 15For seven days you are to eat matzah-- on the first day remove the leaven from your houses. For whoever eats hametz [leavened bread] from the first to the seventh day is to be cut off from Isra'el. 16On the first and seventh days, you are to have an assembly set aside for God. On these days no work is to be done, except what each must do to prepare his food; you may do only that. 17You are to observe the festival of matzah, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, you are to observe this day from generation to generation by a perpetual regulation. 18From the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day, you are to eat matzah. 19During those seven days, no leaven is to be found in your houses. Whoever eats food with hametz in it is to be cut off from the community of Isra'el — it doesn't matter whether he is a foreigner or a citizen of the land. 20Eat nothing with hametz in it. Wherever you live, eat matzah.
Messianic Significance
This is an appointment to remember how God saved His People from Egypt and Bondage through the blood of a lamb and how they did not eat leaven which signified Sin. Also that God saved us from bondage to Sin and death through the blood of Messiah Yeshua who was our Passover Lamb (1 Pet 1:17-19) and that we are to live a sinless life putting out our old sinful ways which signified leaven (1 Cor 5:8). Yeshua died on Passover, was in the tomb by the first day of Unleavened Bread, and arose from the grave in the first moments of First Fruits. [More about the crucifixion week chronology here.]
3. Firstfruits
The day after the seventh-day Sabbath that comes immediately after Passover
(Lev. 23:10,11; Num 33:5-8)
Significance
The Appointment in which people brought their Firstfruit to the priest to be offered up to God. It is believed that Israel crossed over the Red Sea on this day (Num 33:5-8)
Lev. 23 9ADONAI said to Moshe, 10"Tell the people of Isra'el, 'After you enter the land I am giving you and harvest its ripe crops, you are to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the cohen. 11He is to wave the sheaf before ADONAI, so that you will be accepted; the cohen is to wave it on the day after the Shabbat. 12On the day that you wave the sheaf, you are to offer a male lamb without defect, in its first year, as a burnt offering for ADONAI. 13Its grain offering is to be one gallon of fine flour mixed with olive oil, an offering made by fire to ADONAI as a fragrant aroma; its drink offering is to be of wine, one quart. 14You are not to eat bread, dried grain or fresh grain until the day you bring the offering for your God; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live.
Num. 33 5The people of Isra'el moved on from Ram'ses and camped at Sukkot. 6They moved on from Sukkot and camped at Etam, by the edge of the desert. 7They moved on from Etam and turned back to Pi-Hachirot, in front of Ba'al-Tz'fon, and camped before Migdol. 8They moved on from P'nei-Hachirot, passed through the sea to the desert, continued three days' journey into the Etam Desert and camped at Marah.
Messianic Significance
This appointment commemorates the day on which Yeshua was offered up as the Firstfruit of all who died (1Cor. 15:20) and that we also should follow in His footsteps to become a chosen people, a Firstfruit unto God (James 1:18). Yeshua arose from the grave on the day of Firstfruits. [More about the crucifixion week chronology here.]
4. Shavuot
(also known as Feast of Weeks or “Pentecost,” which is Greek for 50 days)
The 50th day counted from First Fruits (Lev. 23:15,16)
Significance
The Appointment in which God wanted people to bring the best of their Harvest. It is believed that God spoke out His Commandments on this day (Exod. 19:1). Tradition says that the Commandments were spoken simultaneously in all of the seventy languages of the earth.
Lev. 12 15"From the day after the day of rest-- that is, from the day you bring the sheaf for waving-- you are to count seven full weeks, 16until the day after the seventh week; you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain offering to ADONAI.
Exod. 19 1In the third month after the people of Isra'el had left the land of Egypt, the same day they came to the Sinai Desert. 2After setting out from Refidim and arriving at the Sinai Desert, they set up camp in the desert; there in front of the mountain, Isra'el set up camp. … 16On the morning of the third day, there was thunder, lightning and a thick cloud on the mountain. Then a shofar blast sounded so loudly that all the people in the camp trembled. 17Moshe brought the people out of the camp to meet God; they stood near the base of the mountain. 18Mount Sinai was enveloped in smoke, because ADONAI descended onto it in fire -its smoke went up like the smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19As the sound of the shofar grew louder and louder, Moshe spoke; and God answered him with a voice. 20ADONAI came down onto Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; then ADONAI called Moshe to the top of the mountain; and Moshe went up.
Messianic Significance
This appointment commemorates the day on which God started to Harvest his own fields, which are His People (Matt. 9:37). Ruach HaKidesh was given to bring to remembrance what Yeshua taught, which were not His words, but His Father’s (John 14:23-26). The coming of Ruach HaKodesh was a reinactment of the day on which Hashem gave the Torah to Israel. Tradition says that HaShem spoke the Commandments simultaneously in all of the seventy languages of the earth, and the top of the mountain was covered in fire and smoke.
5. Yom Teruah (Trumpets)
First day of the 7th Month (Lev 23:24,25)
Significance
The appointment established as a wake-up call to the impending day of Judgement when one is to atone for his/her Sins.
Lev. 23 24Tell the people of Isra'el, 'In the seventh month, the first of the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar. 25Do not do any kind of ordinary work, and bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI."
Messianic Significance
This appointment establishes as a wake-up call to the impending Day of Judgment. Yeshua may very well return on a Day of Trumpets in the future. If not, then why is the trumpet mentioned when it talks about Messiah’s return?
He will send out his angels with a great shofar; and they will gather together his chosen people from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matt. 24:31)
It will take but a moment, the blink of an eye, at the final shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed. (1Cor. 15:52)
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a rousing cry, with a call from one of the ruling angels, and with God's shofar; those who died united with the Messiah will be the first to rise; (1Thes. 4:16)
6. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
The 10th day of the 7th Month (Lev 23:27-32)
Significance
The appointment in which the High priest would enter the Holiest of Holies to offer a sacrifice for the people’s sins, so that God’s judgement would not overcome them (Lev 23:27-30)
Lev. 23 27The tenth day of this seventh month is Yom-Kippur; you are to have a holy convocation, you are to deny yourselves, and you are to bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI. 28You are not to do any kind of work on that day, because it is Yom-Kippur, to make atonement for you before ADONAI your God. 29Anyone who does not deny himself on that day is to be cut off from his people;30and anyone who does any kind of work on that day, I will destroy from among his people. 31You are not to do any kind of work; it is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live. 32It will be for you a Shabbat of complete rest, and you are to deny yourselves; you are to rest on your Shabbat from evening the ninth day of the month until the following evening.
Messianic Significance
This appointment looks forward to the day on which the people are judged. This will probably be the day when God Judges the Earth. The day which is called the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11).
7. Sukkot (Tabernacles)
The 15th to 22nd day of the 7th month;
The 15th and 22nd are Special Sabbaths (Lev 23:34-43)
Significance
The appointment to remember that God was with His people throughout the wilderness journey. (Lev 23:34-36,42,43)
Lev. 23 34Tell the people of Isra'el, “On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of Sukkot for seven days to ADONAI. 35On the first day there is to be a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work. 36For seven days you are to bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI; on the eighth day you are to have a holy convocation and bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI; it is a day of public assembly; do not do any kind of ordinary work. 37These are the designated times of ADONAI that you are to proclaim as holy convocations … 39But on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to observe the festival of ADONAI seven days; the first day is to be a complete rest and the eighth day is to be a complete rest. 40On the first day you are to take choice fruit, palm fronds, thick branches and river-willows, and celebrate in the presence of ADONAI your God for seven days. 41You are to observe it as a feast to ADONAI seven days in the year; it is a permanent regulation, generation after generation; keep it in the seventh month. 42You are to live in sukkot for seven days; every citizen of Isra'el is to live in a sukkah, 43so that generation after generation of you will know that I made the people of Isra'el live in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am ADONAI your God.”
Messianic Significance
This appointment to remember that God was with His people throughout the wilderness journey will probably be the same day that God will “Tabernacle” with man when a new heaven and a new earth is created by Him (Rev. 21:3). It is also Messiah’s true birthday, and will be celebrated by all nations during the Kingdom Reign (Zech. 8:19-23).
God’s Appointed Times
31 August 2013
Rabbi Greg Hershberg
The Fall Feasts of the Lord
15 September 2012
Rabbi Greg Hershberg
1. In my opinion (feel free to disagree) the Church has basically created another “god” in their own image and transformed Yeshua and the Emissaries into Gentile Christians, again in their own image. They’ve turned their collective backs on God’s eternal Torah and abolished His Moadim. They come to God in their own times and on their own terms, not His, and arrogantly expect Him to honor them for it. And they expect Him to whisk them away on His mystical magic carpet when the trouble starts, and leave the “evil Jews” to face their punishment for rejecting and killing “Jesus.” They seem to feel that as long as their “hearts are right” that is all that matters; they can participate in all kinds of pagan practices and God will honor them because they did so with “the best of intentions.” They don’t understand (or refuse to admit) that God slew 3,000 people whose “hearts were right” over that whole Golden Calf issue, that Nadav and Avihu got smoked (literally) for approaching HaShem on their own terms, and that ‘Uza was struck down for trying to keep the ark from being desecrated by falling off the ox cart.
God has made it abundantly clear that mankind must approach Him on His terms, not theirs. To violate that principle is to face dire consequences. And having good motives is rarely an acceptable excuse for following the Sinatra philosophy: “I did it my way!” In His conversation with the woman at the well, Yeshua didn’t excuse the Samaritans’ having their own priesthood, temple, and sacrificial system. If he excuses the Gentile Church for doing the same thing, doesn’t He owe the Samaritans an apology? If you truly know the Jewish Rabbi Yeshua of Nazareth, the Jewish Messiah, the King of the Jews, please “come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you” (2Cor 6:17). [BACK]
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