The One New Man Study - The Theology Of Jew And Gentile - One In Messiah
Entire Study Recently Updated January 2006
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The One New Man Study - The Theology Of Jew And Gentile - One In Messiah Entire Study Recently Updated January 2006
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Lesson SIX: The Feasts Of The Lord: Blessings Or Bondage?
TEXT: Leviticus 23:1-5
God says that at the time of the fullness of the Gentiles, the Jewish people will grafted back into their "OWN" olive tree.
Romans 11:24-25 - For if thou were cut out of
the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into
a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be
grafted into their own olive tree? [25] For I would not, brethren, that ye
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits;
that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of
the Gentiles be come in.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 - Behold, the days come,
said the Lord, that I will make a new covenant
with the
house of Israel, and with the
house of Judah: [32] Not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of
Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, said
the Lord: [33] But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel; After those days, said the Lord, I will put my law in their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my
people. [34] And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man
his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least
of them unto the greatest of them, said the Lord; for I will forgive their
iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Ephes. 2:14-15 - For he is our peace, who hath
made both (NIV - the two i.e. Jew and Gentile) one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us; [15] Having abolished in his flesh the
enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in
himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
The first church observed ALL the biblical festivals. During the Millennium (the thousand-year-reign of Yeshua on earth) we will observe the Sabbath (Isaiah 66:23) and the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech. 14:16-17). The question is "why have we put these celebrations on hold for centuries??
Isaiah 66:23 - And it shall come to pass, that
from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh
come to worship before me, said the Lord. One reason is that many resist anything that appears to put them "under the law." Paul makes it clear we are not justified by the law. This writer makes it clear too that NOTHING we do in the sense of honoring a feast day makes us any more righteous or holy than before. We're made righteous by the blood of Christ and HIS GRACE on our lives! But does this mean the law has no value? Should we disregard the Ten Commandments? Of course not. Paul proclaimed, "Therefore the law is HOLY, and the commandment HOLY and just and good (Romans 7:12). Yeshuah explained this is Matthew 5:18:
Matthew 5:18 - For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
The key word is FULFILLED. This word is best understood by reversing the syllables of "fulfilled," to "filled full." Jesus is the full meaning of the Law. He did not come to eliminate the law but to enable us to "be fill fulled" of its true meaning. Yeshua was never upset with the Torah (first five books of the Bible). He said "do not think I've come to destroy the prophets OR the law, I've come to fulfill it." He DID object to the ways the rabbis in His day would cleverly overrule many portions of the Torah, which in Israel's day under Messiah was part of the Word of God they carried! The Psalms and the prophets were the only written revelation of God on earth at that time. The New Covenant was being written through the lives of Jesus and the apostles, culminating in the Revelation of end time events given to John on the Isle of Patmos.
Matthew 15:3 - But he answered and said unto
them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
The Hebrew word for feasts is mo'ed which means "appointed times." Leviticus 23:2 makes it clear that these are not only Jewish feasts, they are God's feasts. In other words, these are God's appointed times to meet with us. It's like an invitation from the President of the United States. If we missed our set time to meet with him, it wouldn't cost us our salvation, but it would cost a great time of blessing and honor. How much more of a blessing would we miss if we stood God up at His set appointment?
God calls the feasts, "convocations," which in the Hebrew means "rehearsals." God says we should observe these rehearsals at His appointed times FOREVER (Lev. 23:14, 21,31,41). Since some of the festivals were clear shadows of Yeshuah's first coming, they, along with the other festivals recorded in Scripture, must hold significant keys to His SECOND coming and RETURN to earth. We should observe the feasts (fulfill them) as great celebrations. It is as if God is throwing a party and inviting us to attend. There is so much revelation about Jesus ready to be released as we worship God at these appointed times.
Passover is the first celebration on God's calendar. It marks the beginning of Israel's SPIRITUAL calendar while Rosh Hashanah, is really Israel's "NEW YEAR" and begins Her civil calendar. Looking at the Passover dinner gives us insight about the last days. The first New Covenant Passover was actually an "engagement dinner." It was not just to remember the Exodus from Egypt, but it was a promise of a future exodus from earth. In ancient Judaism an engagement was a binding as a marriage. After the engagement, the bridegroom went to prepare a room in His father's house for his bride. At the Last Supper, Christ drank the third cup of wine "the cup of redemption," which he called the "new Covenant in MY BLOOD." (Luke 22:20). In the text of marriage customs of ancient Israel, He was also making a kind of betrothal statement. Earlier He had laid the foundation for this by telling his disciples:
John 14:2-3 - In my Father's house are many
mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you. [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive
you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
The fourth cup of wine we drink at the Passover meal is called "the cup of praise," Jesus did not drink this cup on earth. After the third cup, He said,
Matthew 26:29 - But I say unto you, I will not
drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine,
until that day when I drink it new
with you in my Father's kingdom.
1 Thes. 4:16-17 - For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: [17] Then we which are
alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet
the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
There are hidden meanings of Jesus in these celebrations. There is purpose in these celebrations. There is a great opportunity for a great spiritual encounter with God in these celebrations. Many Gentile believers are readily quick to celebrate Easter and Christmas - two of the most pagan holidays we could ever celebrate here in the west but are down right offended when put to the test of partaking of something that is more Biblical and spiritually uplifting than anything we can do two times a year. We should study each festival in the Scriptures. Then pray, "Holy Spirit, how can we glorify Yeshua in a special way at this appointed time?"
Yeshua, the Jewish name for Jesus, which we will use interchangeably in this study, performed more miracles on the Sabbath than on any other day. When we celebrate the feasts we will feel God's pleasure. There are supernatural blessings connected with observing these feasts in liberty.
Isaiah 58:14 - Then shall thou delight thyself
in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord
hath spoken it.
Exodus 12:26-27 - And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? [27] That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
Prophets such as Jeremiah and Hosea forbade the Jewish people to merge paganism with belief in God.
Jeremiah 7:30-31 - For the children of Judah
have done evil in my sight, said the Lord: they have set their abominations in
the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. [31] And they have built
the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn
their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither
came it into my heart.
One may ask well are you saying we should give up Sunday worship? No, not at all. The key is not we abandon Sunday as a day of worship, but that we should repent of of the Anti-Semitic attitudes of the early church leaders who established Sunday worship. Some say "well the Bible tells us to worship on Sunday." No it doesn't. It does say that some gathered on the first day of the week to give tithes and alms giving. The reason this was done is because of necessary business could not be conducted on the Sabbath. Most Christians worship the Lord only on Sunday but in reality the Lord has selected EVERY day to be a day of worship to Him. If our worship to God centers on one day - be it Saturday or Sunday, then friend our Christian experience is at the very least lacking and at the very worse possibly not real! The Psalmist cried, "THIS is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!" (Psalms 118:24). Since Sunday is usually a day we do not have to work, it is a convenient time for corporate worship. However, we need to understand that it is not the "Sabbath," nor did it replace the "Sabbath" spoken of in both Covenants. As we stated in the introductory lesson of this study - God is not wrapped up in a DAY! He is wrapped up in HIS SON and when we worship Him- no matter the day - God is pleased. I say that mainly to Gentile and yes, even some Jewish believers who have difficulty reconciling the two days of worship.
To many in the Messianic Jewish community they use Saturday as their day of worship which is fine. As long as them worshipping on Saturday is not seen as a means to garner favor with God in the sense He is more pleased with them doing it on that day as any other! I'm not writing this out of a book. I had to come to grips with this first hand a few years back when our family were members of a Messianic fellowship. It was awkward at first to worship on Saturday A.M. It took me a long time to get comfortable with it. But if we're not careful Satan, and he is a master at this, will turn our worship into works! He will get us thinking that because we worship on a given day, God is really happy with us and is now obliged to bless us. That is deception. We've since pulled out of the Messianic movement as far as being attendees of that fellowship but we still love the Jewish people and those in the body of believers. Our care and love for them and National Israel has not ceased. We are Gentile believers though. If we as Gentiles seek to worship on Sunday then that is ok. If you as a Gentile want to worship on Saturday, the Sabbath, THAT is ok too. NEITHER makes one more holy than if one does it one day or the other. My family went through a tough time with dealing with all the traditions and customs of Jewish believers. Many times we felt condemned if we didn't do the things they did. We wandered months upon months why it was just not "natural" to us to do these things.
Well, one thing was that we were not natural Jews! We are Gentiles. And when we start trying to cross cultural lines to live as Jews to merit favor with God, friend, take it from someone who has done that and failed- it will lead you to great frustration and hurt! My point in ALL of this is simple. Worship as you feel led to worship. If Saturday is your gig- neighbor, do it unto the LORD! If Sunday is the day you are free to worship - DO IT UNTO THE LORD! Paul said in Colossians to not let ANY man judge you in HOLY DAYS or the way you worship!!!!!!!! That is the work of the Holy Spirit and what HE leads you to do!!!! Having said that let me say this to the Gentiles. Don't reject Jewish tradition just because it's tradition! As stated, when we come to the Millennium, a lot of what took place in the Old Covenant with the Feasts will be instituted again. The Sabbath will be observed along with the Feast of Tabernacles. Isaiah said nations who refuse to honor those days will experience drought and judgment from God. When we get to Heaven, I'm sure the Lord will help ALL of us Gentiles see the light when it comes to our Jewish roots and what we will be doing in the Millennium.
Col. 3:23 - And whatsoever ye
do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; [24] Knowing that of the
Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord
Christ. [25] But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath
done: and there is no respect of persons.
Hosea 3:4-5 - For the children of Israel shall
abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice,
and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: [5] Afterward
shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David
their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.
Psalm 102:13 - Thou shall arise, and have
mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come.
Some congregations will worship only on the Sabbath, which is also known as the Shabbat. The biblical Shabbat begins on Friday evening at sundown. Other congregations will worship on Shabbat and Sunday. Instead of a Sunday morning service and a Sunday evening service, how about a Friday evening service and a Sunday morning service? This is not a call to rigid tradition. We don't need to make Shabbat any more a legalism formula than we do Sunday. The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).
Mark 2:27 But for Jewish people to feel comfortable in our churches, we need to realize that the Messiah and Saviour we worship is very much a JEWISH King who honored ALL the traditions of the LAW. He didn't come to destroy those traditions, He came to fulfill them! The objective is worshiping our Jewish Messiah, WHO IS THE SABBATH!
For more on the
feasts, we have an online study available. These are just some thoughts from a
on-fire for Jesus Gentile who has recognized we as the Church need to come back
home to the Jewish roots of our faith. Israel's salvation depends on it! Shalom.
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