Here we go again.
Which day does the Feast fall on this year? Has the barley been designated as “abib”? Have you spotted the new moon yet? These and many other questions come up every year at this time. And predictably we get into the same discussions with folks about why we keep the Feast according to the Hillel calendar along with our Jewish brethren. The comments on the other side of the issue range from “I keep it this way because it is what it says in the Bible to do.” “I follow what it says in the Bible and in so doing I honor my Messiah and Yahweh” “This is the way Yahweh wanted it done before Judaism came along and messed it all up.” The bottom line is that we are all doing what we think is right. But my question is “are we doing these things this way in the spirit of Yeshua’s commands to His followers?”
Lets get back to the specifics of the disagreement. Many like our family observe the Feasts according to the Hillel or Jewish standard calendar. Our reasoning is that since the destruction of the Temple our Jewish brethren have diligently guarded and protected Torah so that you and I would have an intact document of our Creators instructions for us. They came up with a standard calendar to aid in maintaining order in the keeping of the Appointed times for those who were dispersed among the nations. us!! Since there is no Temple and acting priesthood to be the authority we differ to keep the Feast with our Jewish brethren and be a witness to them of Messiah. We may not be doing it exactly correct but we have decided to side with moving toward unity to the house of Jacob and following the authority of our elder brother Judah.
Now the other side of the question. Those that follow the strict letter of the Bible. Which I am all for!! But what they disregard is that to follow the instructions correctly and exactly two things must be in place. One- we must be in the Land. Two- there must be a governing body ie priesthood or Sanhedrin to proclaim the New moon. Now many of us are in the Land, I understand that. But there is no authority to judge the barley and sight the new moon. Yes there is a group in Israel that has taken it upon themselves to designate when the barley is ripe and to proclaim the new moon. IF you wish to follow this man’s lead go ahead. But he is a man, appointed by himself. Be careful! He is not even a follower of Messiah. Then this leads to folks getting word that the barley has been deemed ripe and watching for the new moon. Which we do as a practice. But unfortunately you get someone in one part of the world sighting the moon one day and others elsewhere seeing it another. What you end up with is confusion. Some keeping the Feast this day and another the next and still some days later. This is a negative witness on so many levels. It shows the world that we are in confusion. That we are ignorant followers of men. How about our call to be a light to the Jew? to bring them to jealousy? to show them the way to Messiah? How can we do these things if they look on us as dangerous maligners of Torah?
Are we called to be Torah Keepers only? or are we called to be Light Bringers and Truth Spreaders? I do not have a problem with people keeping the Feast in their own way, not on their own day. I do have an issue with how it taints my testimony and witness to my Jewish brethren. It makes me look like a confused idiot because of my association with other Messianic/Hebraic Believers.
Am I worried more about how I look to others than how well I keep the Feast?You bet! Think about it how many times in Scripture did they keep the Feasts on the wrong days because they had totally forgotten and neglected Torah? Should they have waited till the right day to honor Yahweh? Maybe but they didn’t.
My whole point is don’t get so bogged down in the details that may not even apply to us. Keep the Feast with joy and fellowship with Judah. Get used to it. We are grafted into Judah not Judah grafted into Gentiles.
When Messiah returns He will set it all to rights. Let’s do what we can to model Messiah and to draw Judah to their Messiah. The bottom line is this..What is more important….To keep the Feast in our own way and with confusion or to Keep the Feast in the spirit and love of Messiah for His Children, Israel?
I just needed to get that out there. We need to understand that time is short and we need to get together on these things. Divided we fall. Legalism is when we get so focused on the details of the Feast and forget the Author of the Feast!!
I know I have stepped on a few theological toes. I am not going to argue. I wrote this just to explain my position, that is it. I will not reply to comments that wish to engage in debate on this issue.
So with that said here is a comment that I will add to my post. It is very well written and adds much to my thoughts…..
Matthew 26:17 “On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Yeshua and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
Why did his disciples call the Passover the Feast of Unleavened Bread?
Mark 14:12 “On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?
Why was it CUSTOMARY to sacrifice the Passover lamb on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Or were they again, the same day according to custom?
Luke 22:1 “Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching …”
Why is the Feast of Unleavened Bread called Passover here when it wasn’t in Leviticus 23?
Luke 22:15 “And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”
Yet, here, Yeshua makes NO mention of Unleavened Bread, but only the Passover!
John 13:1 “It was just before the Passover Feast. Yeshua knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.”
Here, Yeshua understood there was a difference between Passover and Unleavened Bread.
John 18:39 “But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews?’”
John 19:14 “It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
Why does Pilate call the day of Passover, Preparation of Unleavened Bread, Preparation for Passover week?
1 Corinthians 5:7 “Get rid of the old yeast … Messiah our Passover Lamb has been slain.”
Why does Paul tell us to get rid of yeast because the Lamb has been slain?
As I mentioned before there were TWO Passovers – the Nazarene and the Sanhedrin (I’m not sure that’s the two names). I like to call them the Biblical Passover and the Traditional Passover. Yeshua kept the Nazarene Passover on the 14 of Nisan while the Sanhedrin (Rabbinical) was kept on the First Day of Unleavened Bread. At least this is how it was explained to me at **** ****** – actual Messianic Jews who would know the history. Even today Orthodox Jews/Hillel consider the first day of Passover and the First Day of Unleavened Bread the SAME DAY. Why? I don’t know. Scripture is VERY clear there are TWO different days for two different things. It is also CLEAR that you begin counting the Omer on ‘the first day of the week after the Sabbath’. Which Sabbath?
I personally believe there is only ONE SABBATH – the weekly Sabbath. When YHVH gave the Feasts in Leviticus 23, he listed the Sabbath, then Passover, the Unleavened Bread, then First Fruits …. It is man made tradition to call Passover and Unleavened Bread SABBATHS – though the Scripture says ‘do no regular work’. YHVH never calls them Sabbaths. When he refers to the Festivals in Scripture, he calls them His Feasts, Festivals, Appointed Time. When he refers to Sabbaths, I believe He’s referring to the weekly Sabbath. It is the weekly Sabbath that is mentioned in the 10 Commandments – not all of the festivals. The rendering of the Feast days as Sabbaths also causes problems for timing – which Sabbath is it? The HIGH one or the Weekly One. What makes the Weekly One less important? Or what makes the Passover MORE important???
I believe that we begin counting the omer after the Sabbath on the ‘first day of the week’ that the sheaf of grain was waved according to Leviticus.
I personally believe Yeshua celebrated THE Passover on the right day/time/evening. He died at the end of that day -Passover – at the afternoon sacrifice at 3 p.m. He was buried and put in a tomb before Unleavened Bread and was in the tomb 3 full days and nights as the Unleavened Bread from heaven – the Afikomen that was hidden in the burial cloth. On the Feast of Firstfruits He rose from the dead probably at the moment the sun set. According to Scripture, we are to eat unleavened bread until the day of the waving of the sheaf of grain which means “the Ressurection”. I believe that the command to eat Unleavened Bread for 7 days has to do with the differing time periods of celebration meaning Passover can fall on a Sunday or a Monday and we eat until Resurrection or Passover can fall on a Thursday or Friday and we eat Unleavened Bread until that first day of the week, Resurrection.
This comment clears up a great deal for me. I hope it does for you also.
