(For the complete Torah Calendar study, visit the studies page, or else purchase the paperback version at cost, on Amazon.com.)
Why keep festival days that are
not found in Scripture?
Is the word 'Christmas' found
anywhere in the Inspired Word?
And if the Seventh
Day Sabbath was set apart as the day
of worship and rest at the time the
world
was
created, then why would that have changed when
Messiah first
came?
When we search the Scriptures
carefully, we do not see apostles
going into
separate 'Church' buildings
on the 'Sun' day. Instead, what we find
is that the apostles still went into the synagogues
(and
into the Temple) on the original Seventh Day Sabbath,
and on the festival days. This was also the Messiah's
custom (e.g., Luke 4:16.)
So, if the custom of
the Messiah and His apostles was to
keep
the Seventh Day Sabbath and
the original seven
Hebrew feasts, then why would we do differently?
Modern
Christianity teaches that the apostles
abandoned the
Sabbath in favor of the 'Sun-day.' This
is a common error, based on a failure to recognize
that the Scripture was written by Jews: And therefore,
to properly interpret the Renewed Covenant, one
must approach it with a Hebrew
mindset (and not a Greco-Roman
Western gentile one.)
The Hebrew day begins
at sunset; so when we read that
the
apostles assembled 'on the
first day of the week,' what
this actually means is that when
the synagogue service was over
(after sundown, 'Saturday
night'), the apostles got together at
somebody's
house in order to stretch out the day of worship
and rest as long as possible. This was not a
new practice,
but has been the practice among devout Jews for
many millennia.
Another curious 'Christian' phenomenon
is to worship on Christmas,
when 'Christmas' is
not even found in the Renewed Covenant.
Actually, neither 'Christmas' nor 'Easter' are
found in the Renewed Covenant, in any of the
source texts. The only reason the
word 'Easter' appears
in the King James Version (at Acts 12:4) is that
the translators mistranslated the
Greek word 'Pascha,' meaning 'The
Passover.'
So since the Messiah
and His apostles did not observe
the Sun-day, Christmas or Easter,
then why would we?
If the
Messiah's apostles continued
to keep the original seven festival
days even after the Messiah's
death, burial and resurrection, then why don't
we?
The Messiah Yeshua ('Jesus')
said that not the least thing
would fall from the Law as long
as
heaven and earth existed (Matthew 5:18); and
one of the commandments in the
Torah Moshe (the Law of Moses)
is that those who live in the Land of Israel
should come up to Jerusalem to
keep three annual pilgrimage
Feasts (the Passover, the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost,
and the Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot: Deuteronomy
16.)
While those living outside
the Land are not required
to come
up for the pilgrimages, those
who have been
blessed with the opportunity to come up can attest
that it is a life-altering experience.
The details
of
how the Scriptural-agricultural
calendar is determined (and why it is worth
the bother) can be found on our free
studies page, and in our books. The complete Torah Calendar study can also be found on the free studies page, or else can be obtained at cost on Amazon.com.
Spring Feasts: (mm/dd/yy)
Aviv Barley: The Aviv Barley search will take place on 3/26/09. Aviv barley was found.
Rosh HaShanah (Head of the Year): sunset 3/27/09 thru sunset 3/28/09. (Approximately six months ahead of the rabbinical date.)
Passover: Afternoon of 4/10/2009 (one day after the Rabbinical date).
1st of Unleavened Bread: sunset 4/10/09 thru sunset 4/11/09.
Wave Sheaf Offering: The Wave Sheaf is always offered the day after the weekly Sabbath that either follows or coincides with the Passover. This always takes place on the first day of the week ('S-nday'). The Wave Sheaf Offering (Omer) will take place on the afternoon of 4/12/09 (the day after the 1st of Unleavened Bread).
7th of Unleavened Bread: from sunset on 4/16/09 thru sunset 4/17/09.
Shavuot (Pentecost): Fifty days from the Wave Sheaf Offering. Always on the first day of the week ('S-nday'). From sunset 5/30/09 thru sunset 5/31/09.
The exact timing of the fall feasts can shift, depending upon when the first crescent sliver of the new moon is actually seen from Israel. Based on the Aviv barley and the sighting of the new moon of the first and the seventh months, the tentative dates are expected to be:
Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets): First day of the seventh month, sunset 9/20/09 thru sunset 9/21/09, based on the sighting of the new moon of the seventh month.
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement): Tenth day of the seventh month. Sunset 9/29/09 thru sunset 9/30/09, based on the sighting of the new moon.
First Day of Sukkot (Tabernacles): Fifteenth day of the seventh month. Sunset 10/4/09 thru sunset 10/5/09, based on the sighting of the new moon.
Last Day of Sukkot (the Last Great Day): 22nd day of the seventh month. Sunset 10/11/09 thru sunset 10/12/09, based on the sighting of the new moon.
Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication): Not commanded in Torah. There is some question as to whether there may be pagan Winter Lighting rituals incorporated into this festival. Please see The Torah Calendar study for details.
Purim (Lots): Not commanded in Torah. There are questions as to whether it is pagan in origin. Please see The Torah Calendar study for details.
New Moon Days
These are the potential days of the sighting of the first crescent sliver of the new moon from the Land of Israel. We will announce the actual sightings to the email newsgroup when it is seen. Unless the first crescent sliver of the new moon is actually sighted, the month defaults to 30 days.
