These are My Feasts

מועדים — Moedim (The LORDs Appointed Times)

“Two sabbaths in one week?”, I thought on the drive home. I was getting very anxious and excited. At one point on the drive I actually shouted out loud, “TWO SABBATHS IN ONE WEEK!”. Then I began to weep. I knew it was an answer to a very important question that I did not yet know.

Sun, Moon and Stars (SMS)

By the end of day three in the creation story we find that God has created Light, Darkness, Day and Night, Sky, Dry Land, Sea and Vegetation (1). Several things about this are important to our understanding of the Moedim. Please note in these verses that God created all these things before he created the sun. Light exists without the sun, Day and Night is regardless of wether or not we have a sun or a moon. Even a day is defined as an “evening and a morning” before we were given the sun to help us notice this with our own eyes.

It is on day four, after these things were created that we are given the sun, moon and stars. I will refer to the Sun, Moon and Stars as SMS going forward. The Genesis account of day four begins with God stating the purpose for His creation, the SMS, on this day. He says “let there be lights in the sky” to: (2)

• separate day from night
• serve as signs of times or seasons
• count the days and years
• dominate the day, sun
• dominate the night, moon

Clearly the SMS were created to serve as a clock or calendar of sorts. The fast sun can be likened to the second hand, the slower moon like the minute hand and the stars like the hour hand. Much like the hands of a clock the SMS serve to maintain hours, days and years lest we get confused and end up lost in time. The Sun shows us the beginning and ending to each day. The moon shows us the beginning and end of each month. The stars show us the beginning and end of each year. But this is not useful information today. Because today we do not look to the SMS to know what day it is. We have calendars and smartphones to keep us on schedule.

While the SMS have been found useful for many other wonderful things, warmth, energy, tides, navigation, stories, etc, the point here is that God gave us these two great lights and the stars for a specific purposes. Do we understand His purpose for them? Has our modern culture with its technology and sophistication forgotten the specific purpose God intended?

Moed — מועד strong’s #041150

• appointed place
• appointed time
• appointed meeting
• appointed sign or signal

Moed, the word God uses to describe the purpose for the SMS in Gensis 1:14 is often translated seasons. This might make sense to us as we understand that temperatures from the sun causes things to die in the fall and winter time and to grow anew in spring and summer. Elsewhere in our Bible the word Moed is translated feast. Huh, seasonal feasts, this is beginning to sound like Thanksgiving or Christmas or other seasonal feasts when families get together and celebrate or commemorate. But the problem is that neither of these english words mean what scholars agree the word Moed means.

Could it be that God created the SMS, wound them up and set them in motion to teach us something?

Jewish Feasts ?

We all have our traditions. We keep many dates and times on our calendars to remind us not to forget significant events. Things that are important to us and to those we love. There are even events we share with one another, close friends and even events we share with people we don’t even know personally. If you come from a Jewish background you probably have a few events on your calendar that a Christian does not have on their calendar.

If you grew up in the Christian church, like me, chances are you learned that the Jews keep their jewish feasts and the Church observes their own traditions rooted in the New Testament. However well intentioned our ancestors, this information is not accurate and the prophet Jeremiah told us this would occur (3).

Jewish people today keep many traditions based on history recorded in the Torah. In Leviticus4, the 3rd book of the Torah, there is an outline describing the Moedim commanded by God for His people to observe forever throughout all their generations.

The Moedim outlined in Leviticus are called the Feasts of the LORD and they were NOT just given to the Jews. Instead the Moedim was given to the Whole nation of Israel. (5)

Side note: Somewhere along the way the Christian Church began teaching that all Jews are Israel and all Israel are Jews. However this is not true and can lead to misunderstandings as it relates to concepts in the New Testament. The nation of Israel was split into two kingdoms after the death of King Solomon (6). The reason for this split was disobedience by the people of Israel. But for the sake of David and Jerusalem, God preserved the tribe of Judah (7). All of this was prophesied hundreds of years earlier in the Torah (8). If you are a Christian and this information is not familiar to you. I can recommend a short informative video entitled “Grafted In”. Check it out here (9).

If you like that video and want more information, 119 Ministries has a very detailed explanation in a video entitled “The Lost Sheep”. Check it out here (10)

The LORDs Appointed Times

But, what are the Moedim spoken of in the Torah? And what does it have to do with the SMS? Leviticus Chapter 23 outlines eight specific Moed, Appointed Times, God instructed all Israel to remember and teach their children from generation to generation. I will mention each one briefly.

Sabbath (11) — In addition to being the 4th Commandment, the LORDs Sabbath day is an Appointed Time where God desires to meet with you weekly, wherever you live.

Passover (12) — The passover meal begins on the 14th day of the first month at twilight.

Unleavened Bread (13) — begins on the 15th day of the first month. Immediately following the Passover and continues for seven days. However the first (14) and the seventh15 day of this Appointed Time are sacred occasions and no work should be done on these two days of this Moed.

First Fruits (16) — On the day after the next regular weekly Sabbath, the 1st day of the week, the first cutting of grain is raised up before the the LORD.

Feast of Weeks (17) — Counting seven Sabbaths following the Moed of First Fruits. The day after the seventh Sabbath is the Feast of Weeks. (7 weeks * 7 days + 1 day = 50 days) Also known as Pentecost in Greek.

Trumpets (18) — The 1st day of the 7th month is the Feast of Trumpets. It is a sacred occasion and Trumpets are blown. Israelite Kings are coronated with the blasts of trumpets (19).

Atonement (20) — The 10th day of the same month is the Feast of Atonement. Also a sacred occasion where atonement is made for an entire people.

Tabernacles (21) — The biggest event of the year! Hebrew weddings are patterned after this wonderful 7 day party.

God says, “These are My Feasts” (22). He tells us that each one of these events are a“Holy Convocation”, that means they are days set apart to teach something very special that can only be truly understood by those who rehearse these events. God tells us to rehearse these Moed forever, where ever we live. He includes this stipulation because He knows our future. He knows His children will be scattered across the world (23) and He knows we will need these traditions to remember the promises He made to mankind in the Torah (24).

• Are we too busy with our own traditions to bother with things that seem foreign?
• Has our Christian doctrines taught us to ignore the Moedim?
• Are we too embarrassed to practice traditions that our friends and neighbors don’t understand?

Roman Traditions

I grew up in the Christian Church and learned to keep the traditions of the Roman Catholic and the Protestant Church. Lord’s Day on Sundays, Christmas, Easter, Lent, etc… It is taught that these traditions come from the New Testament and are authorized because of apostolic authority and the influence of the church fathers.

My Christian upbringing did not prepare me to understand the significance of the Moedim.

Moedim Calendar 777

Every 7 Days — It all started with the Sabbath at creation. Since the very first week God has continued an unbroken weekly tradition that continues today. Six normal days of work and one set aside day of rest. He called it Holy in the beginning (25), commanded his people to remember it (26), wherever you live (27). The Sabbath is an eternal sign between the creator and His people (28). He is the LORD of the Sabbath (29) and the Sabbath is a mark upon His people for all the nations to see (30).

7 Events — 3 in the Spring, 3 in the Fall and 1 in between.

The spring feasts all occur within 7 days of each other. Similarly, the fall feasts occur closely together. Two “seasons” of activity separated by one.

7 High Sabbaths — God describes some “extra” holy days among the feasts. Like the First and Last day of the feast of unleavened bread (31). These Sabbaths are in addition to the regular weekly Saturday Sabbath and can fall on any day of the week (32).

Without using the SMS it is not possible to know when to keep these feasts. In a culture stripped of the instructions found in the Torah, how likely is it that people know what the current biblical season is?

I thought that after 40 years in the church, I had a superior grasp on truth. I was wrong. After discovering the Sabbath and Feast days, the whole Bible has come alive. I could talk for hours about the unscriptural concepts and doctrines I have had to unlearn because of the truth found in the scriptures. This is my testimony and may not be the case for everyone. However I meet christians all the time who have the same misunderstandings I have had for 40 years. I believe the root of these misunderstandings can be traced back through the Protestant and Roman Catholic Church.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law (Torah) (33)

While I was discovering the Modem in the Torah, my wife and I felt an urge to observe these days. Now, I know people automatically think anyone who keeps the law of Moses is a wretched guilty judiazer. Believe me this was one of my first thoughts too. But we prayed and studied the scriptures together and we could not find any reason why God would not want us to remember His instructions to observe. But, we were still nervous and decided to start with the Sabbath. After all it’s one of the 10 commandments. Our first Sabbath we just laid around the house and tried not to get too bored. We soon learned to add worship, prayer and Bible study. Friday evenings we light some candles and welcome the Sabbath and before too long we were really enjoying our Saturdays together as a family delighting in the LORD. Then we began to observe the other Moedim, This is when we made an incredible discovery!

I think it happened on a Wednesday

It was about 6pm on a Wednesday. My wife called me at work and asked me if I was hurrying home for the Sabbath candle lighting. I said, “But honey, today is Wednesday.” She said, “I know!” And she proceeded to read to me from the Torah. You see she was preparing our home for the Day of Atonement and had learned that the Torah instructs to treat this day as a Holy Convocation, a High Sabbath.

By this time in our walk of Faith Sabbaths had become very special to us. We would look forward to the sweet time of fellowship with the LORD and with each other. I immediately got excited and headed for the car.

“Two sabbaths in one week?”, I thought on the drive home. I was getting very anxious and excited. At one point on the drive I actually shouted out loud, “TWO SABBATHS IN ONE WEEK!”. Then I began to weep. I knew it was an answer to a very important question that I did not yet know.

As soon as I got home I opened my Bible to the Gospels and began reviewing the details surrounding the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah.

I was raised in the Baptist church and I was taught that Jesus, his hebrew name Yeshua, was crucified on Good Friday and rose again on Resurrection Sunday. It always sorta bothered me that there are not 3 days and 3 night between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning, even though Yeshua said he would die for three days and three nights (34). Depending on how I count, the best I could come up with was 2 days and 1 night. Of Course church pastors are smarter than me and I remember the verses in the Gospels that say they had to get Yeshua down off the cross before the Sabbath. But I, like the rest of the Christian world, used to think that all Sabbaths were on Saturdays.

It took some digging, but armed with my new appreciation of the LORDs appointed times, His Moedim, it was easy to discover for myself from the Scriptures that Yeshua kept His Fathers Spring Moedim in a VERY special way.

Messiah, Right on Queue

Yeshua died on the Moed of Passover — He was the Lamb that was slain (35). At the exact time Yeshua was being nailed to the cross the Lambs were being slain in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Yeshua was buried on the Moed of Unleavened Bread — When our Messiah died to take away our sins and transgressions the people of Israel were removing leaven from their homes.

Exactly 3 days and 3 nights later…

Yeshua arose from death on the Moed of First Fruits — Yeshua arose from total and complete death exactly on the day that Israelites were waiving their offering of First Fruits to the LORD (36).

The Holy Spirit descends on the Moed of Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks) — Precisely 50 days after the resurrection, Yeshua’s Spirit came down to earth and filled His disciples and others when the people of Israel were gathered in Jerusalem for the annual feast of weeks. Also known as pentecost in greek (37).

Do you believe it? — God planned it all before he created the Sun the Moon and the Stars. The Father gave us His Appointed times, His Moed, to know exactly who the Messiah was. And if you had the eyes to see and ears to hear it you would have been on the side of the road singing “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD” (38).

The Spring Moedim are all about the passion the Messiah has for us. The Spring Moedim are the picture of His first coming. The Fall Moedim are the picture of his second coming. Just think about it. Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles. The Coronation of a King, Judgement and a Wedding!

Yeshua is 4 for 4 for the spring Moedim during His first coming. How accurate do you think Yeshua when he returns to rein as King, Judge the world and marry His Bride Israel (39).

Greek Jesus vs. Hebrew Yeshua

Is it possible to know the Savior without understanding the Moedim? Maybe.

While discovering the Moedim for myself, I was also an adult Sunday school teacher, I was praying that God would show me His truth as I read scripture and prepared to teach. My Sunday school class was a typical group of christian couples, that is to say they were not very motivated to dig into the Word on their own, rarely even carried their Bible to church, and did not respond to my encouragement to read ahead and come prepared to discuss the Scriptures. However, they would respond with gratitude when I could expound deeper into the original language and culture giving a better understanding of the text than what was usually offered in the weekly handouts. Digging deeper into the original language was very helpful in understand the Moedim.

Most Christians I meet are decent enough people. But most don’t know where to find the source of their beliefs in their Bible. Some confuse song lyrics with scripture. Even deny simple scriptural truths. Or even worse, strongly believe in doctrines that are not Biblical.

Here are just a few errors that have found their way into Christian dogma. I provide them only to illustrate my point.

• The Greek Jesus died on Good Friday and arose on Sunday morning. Hebrew Yeshua died on Passover, was buried on Unleavened Bread, arose on the Feast of First Fruits and sent His Holy Spirit 50 days later on the Feast of Pentecost.
• The Greek Jesus puts an end to the law of Moses and changes Saturday Sabbath Day into Sunday “LORDs Day”. The Hebrew Yeshua teaches us to obey the Law of Moses40. Yeshua says, “Do not think I came to abolish the Law”41, “Heaven and Earth would sooner pass away than even a single letter or comma of the law”42.
• The Greek Jesus dies to free us from the “burden” of the law of Moses and instead teaches us the “Law of Christ”. But Hebrew Yeshua tells us that He does not have His own doctrine, He only teaches His Fathers doctrine43.
• Greek Jesus ignores the promises made to His Bride Israel44 and instead tells Peter to start over with a new church seed it with a few thousand Jews and tells Paul to ignore the Jews and fill the church up Gentiles. But Hebrew Yeshua says that He came ONLY for the Lost Sheep of the house of Israel45.

The church in general is confused, bad doctrine is like an infection that weakens the body. But it does not have to be this way. If we would just accept exactly what the Bible says, let the words define our doctrine and stop trying to fit the Greek Jesus into the text, We will find perfect clarity.

You see, Yeshua is the answer to a puzzle that has confounded Prophets46 and entertained Angels47. But to even understand the problem you have remove your Greek glasses and look at the promise God gave to Abraham.

A Brief Overview

God created a perfect world full of beauty. He made everything good48. He placed Adam and his wife in the garden so He could dwell with them. But once sin entered from breaking God’s only instruction, He had to kick them out of the land for their own protection49. It was an act of mercy because if they had eaten from the tree of life in their fallen state, they would have been sinful for eternity and never able to receive forgiveness. God tells us that because of sin a war between the descendants of Adam and descendants of the serpent will span all time50. But one day a deliver/Messiah would come from the tribe of man and crush the serpent under His foot51.

Genesis 6 tells us about the fallen angels mating with the daughters of men producing a half-breed of angel and human which made them giant in size, gruesome, wicked and corrupt. They were called the Nephilim. It says that all flesh was corrupt except for Noah52. Noah was spared along with seven others when God sent the flood. Again an act of mercy! Satan’s seed almost corrupted the entire human race. Satan’s plan is to stop the Messiah by any means necessary.

After the flood, we have another character introduced who was a descendent of Ham. Nimrod53. While Nimrod was building his tower and empire full of idolatry and witchcraft, a baby named Abram was born. God intervened again but this time He scattered them and changed the languages54.

Meanwhile, God called Abram to leave the land of his father and go to a land that He would show him55. That’s when YHVH made the promise to Abram, that he would be a great nation and that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him56. Abraham was the first one to be called a Hebrew and is the father of Isaac whom God confirmed His promise through57 and the grandfather of Jacob,whom God also confirmed His promise to58. YHVH later changed Jacob’s name to Israel59. He had twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. They ended up in Egypt because of the severe famine and YHVH had already made a way for them by placing Joseph, the favored son of Jacob, in charge60. Before Jacob died he was able to bless his sons61. Jacob adopted Joseph’s two sons as his own and gave each of them a blessing as well62. To Ephriam, the younger he said that his descendants will become a great multitude of nations63 (Hebrew word meaning Gentile).

Years passed and the children of Israel grew in number and the new Pharaoh had forgotten Joseph and put the Israelites into slavery64. Pharaoh felt threaten by the size of their population and ordered the Hebrew males who were two years old and under to be killed65. However, YHVH preserved and raised up Moses and later called him to lead His people and the foreigners who wanted to go with them out of Egypt66. Throughout this exodus, YHVH lived with His people in a miraculous and mighty way. They experienced the first Passover67. 50 days later68 YHVH wrote with His own finger69 the terms of the covenant70 on top of Mt. Sinai while the people waited. The people agreed to the terms and Moses gave YHVH their answer71. While they were in the wilderness, He said He was a husband to them72. YHVH spoke with Moses face to face73 and gave him letter by letter the words of the Torah that was written on the skin of a clean unblemished animal74. But the people continued to rebel and complain so only their children were allowed to go into the land promised to Abraham75. Joshua was chosen to lead them. Once in the land, they had to conquer the territories that were full of Giants and their pagan sun god worship. YHVH warned them again and again not to copy the customs of the pagans in how they worship their gods76. But they continued to go, as YHVH put it, whoring after others gods77. This was a marriage and they kept sneaking off with other gods causing great jealousy for YHVH. By the time Solomon was king, YHVH had enough and divorced the northern kingdom (ten tribes) and scattered them among the nations (Gentiles)78. They never returned to the land. Instead, they became the lost sheep of the house of Israel79 and assimilated into the nations80. It didn’t take long for the southern kingdom, (two tribes -Judah and Benjamin) to follow in the practice of idolatry. This time, YHVH removed them from the land81 and placed them into captivity in Babylon82. Times were dark, desolate, and famine was heavy upon them. All hope was lost. But a remnant remained83, Daniel. He was faithful and repented for all of Israel’s refusal to obey His instructions and begged YHVH to remember them84. For YHVH had said that this would happen but He would marry them back85. The prophets are scratching their heads because they know that YHVH cannot remarry the woman after she has committed adultery and had been defiled according to His own word86. The mystery. How is YHVH going to bring her back…His Bride…and dwell with her once more?

Here enters Yeshua, Messiah Ben Joseph, the suffering Servant. YHVH’s only begotten promised son, born of a virgin girl betrothed to a man from the tribe of Judah87. He revealed the Father and explained His instructions with authority88. Fully God and fully man, YHVH made in the flesh89. He said that He only came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel90. The lost sheep were the outcast, scattered…the divorced. They are the scattered tribes…the words of the prophets echo in their hears…Not loved91. The ones who had assimilated themselves with the pagan Gentiles. They had no identity…these words repeated to their face…Not my people92. But yet, they start to hear words from the Rabbi Yeshua and his disciples, words of good news93. For the hated, He became a friend. For the disobedient, He became obedient. For the sick, He gave healing. For the dead, He gave life. For the sinners, He became sin even though He never sinned. For the adulterers, He gave mercy. For the afflicted, He became the liberator. For the blind, He gave sight. For the guilty, He gave forgiveness. For the accused, He became the advocate. To the thirsty, He gave living water. To the hungry, He gave the Bread of Life. For the bride…His beloved…He gave…Himself. He took her sins, drank the cup of wrath that belonged to her and suffered it in full strength poured out by his loving Father94. He bled. He died. Messiah died in our place. Yet, His last words were pleading for us, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” This is the greatest act of mercy ever known to mankind. And through His death, He set us free from the penalty of knowing and breaking His Holy Law, which is the power of sin over us95…released from the law of adultery and divorce making us free to marry Him again96. Reaping a harvest of righteousness for His Glory97! Oh how He deserves our eternal praise and devotion! Not only this, but He gives us the Kingdom as an inheritance98. Adopted. This time instead of tablets of stone engraved with the words, He gives a responsive heart, an upgraded heart with the law written on it so we can be careful to obey all His commands99. A new birth to all who will repent and turn to Him. To seal this betrothal, He gives the Holy Spirit as our guarantee until the day of redemption, to comfort, teach and lead us into all Truth100.

Death was defeated and could not keep Him. He died on Passover101, buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread102 and He rose on the Feast of First Fruits103, becoming the first fruit from the dead104 and poured out His Spirit 50 days later on the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost)105.

Yeshua’s perfect timing is no coincidence. In His first coming He “fulfills” the 3 spring feasts and the Holy Spirit is right on queue on the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) He is now preparing a place106, the New Jerusalem…His bride107…so He can dwell once again with His people, free from all sin, forever in His kingdom.

The fall feasts are a perfect picture of is 2nd coming. This is a mystery to the dead church108, the sleeping servant109 and the foolish virgin110. Those in darkness will experience these Moed as a thief who comes in the night111.

In the meantime, He is making the Bride without spot, wrinkle, or any other blemish, washed by the cleansing of God’s Word so we will be holy and clean and not shrink away in shame when He returns112.

Let’s not forget about Satan, the dragon, the serpent of old. At this point he is furious! And will pursue the Woman and her children, all those who possess the same testimony of Yeshua and delight in Gods instructions113.

When the fullness of the Gentiles (Ephraim’s blessing)114 comes in, the partial blindness that is upon Judah will be lifted115. They will admit their guilt and cry out to Yeshua, “Baruch Haba Bashem Yehovah” (Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!)116. In response to them, He will come out of His place and fight for them defeating the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet117. Finally all of Israel, all the tribes will be saved and united as one!118

The sun will become dark and the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then at last, the sky opens and He is seen coming in all His glory119. This time He is coming as Messiah Ben David, the conquering King. The people of the earth will have deep mourning because of Him120. Wrath will be poured out on all unrighteousness121. The dead will be resurrected122, those that remain will receive new bodies and be like Him. He will send out His angels with a mighty blast of a trumpet and will gather His chosen from the four winds123, from one end of heaven to the other. Abraham will finally see his promise124. Rachel will weep with rejoicing, wondering, “Where did all these children come from?”125 The curse shall be removed and we shall see His face126.

My Sheep Hear My Voice127

I am afraid we have filled our lives up with so much stuff. All of it demanding our attention. We have let other men study the scriptures and tell us what to believe because we did not have the time to do it ourselves. This has left us without knowledge of who God is and how he communicates. And I don’t think this is a coincidence.

Yeshua told us many parables. I wonder if we can understand them. In Psalm 1 we are told that delighting in the Torah128 is what will make the difference between a man who is firmly planted and bearing fruit and a man who is like chaff. Is it that simple129?

There is a great deception upon us130. Sadly we know many will think they are serving God but in the end they will learn that all along they had been duped into serving the anti-messiah131.

God loves us. And he really made it so easy to love Him. His word is all true. And His requirement for us is so simple… 
Have Faith in Him believe His Words and prove it by the way you live.