12/18/2005

 

 Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Messiah, Greetings,

 

The Holiday seasons are here.  I know that some of us find it hard to be cheerful especially in the knowledge that the beginnings of the Christian Holidays are of pagan origin.  The first Church never celebrated any of the “Holidays” (Holy Days?) the professing Christians celebrate today.  If Holidays were kept, by the first century Church, wouldn't they have been "Holidays" they would have been called Holy Days and they would not be days associated with pagan festivals but would have been "Holy Days" found within the pages of the "Holy Bible" -- please remember, the New Testament writings were letters from the Apostles and in the first century the Holy Bible consisted of the Old Testament, from which the Apostles taught.   It would only seem reasonable the first century Christians would  not have adopted pagan celebrations from the Romans, Greeks or Egyptian, doesn't it?

 

  Some, especially those of the Britsh Israel theory and those of the Sacred Names Movement, say we are bound, as were the Isrealites, to the keeping of the HOLY DAYS of the Old Testament Bible. These are the only festivals ordained by God and can be found in the Old Testament with instructions, from God, on how to observe them.  These instuctions are very specific and detailed telling the children of Israel just how each of the Holy Days is to be kept.  Much can be learned from the these Festivals and should not be ignored by Christians.  But there are those insisting, as believers, you must observe these Holy Days as God delivered and are to be kept forever.  The position those teachers of British Israelism and many of the Sacred Names Movement is that we are bound to these Holy Days as "children of God".  Sounds a little like "replacement theology" doesn't it.  The way it is taught by some is this becomes a matter of salvation, but all too often our Savior, YaHshua, is pushed to the back as they strive to keep customs the Isrealites were unable to keep in all purity. They don't seem to be able to see our Savior, the Christ, as our liberator. 

 

  How do you suppose the Gentile Christians were indoctrinated into the Body of the Messiah?  Those of the circumcision (the Jews) were insisting the Gentiles be "circumcised" -- hey, it was the Law.  We all know, however, this did not happen.  I wonder, just how many of the new converts did get circumcised, you know, just in case?  If those of the Gentile converts were not bound, as the Jews were, to the Law then why are these groups trying to impose such on those having come into the truth of our Savior's true Identity? The British Israel followers claim to be Isaraelites, the Lost Tribes of Israel, therefore bound by the Old testament Laws.  That is their reasoning, wht is the reasoning of the Sacred Name groups?  They too must see themselves as Israelites, they too must think themselves to be Jews.

  Remember, again, the Jews were insisting Gentile converts be circumcised (Acts 10:45, 11:2, 15:1, 15:5), but the learders of the first century Church made a decision not to require anything of the Gentile Converts other than they refrain from blood and to refrain from sacrificing to idols, and sexual immorality, and animals strangled (is a food principle) -- read the whole story in Acts 15:5-20.  No where is it suggested by the Jewish Church Father's of the Body of YaHshua for the gentiles to bind themselves to the Law of Israel.  It is all about "circumcision" for no one would be allowed to observe the sacred Laws without "circumcision".  In other words, this would be the first step taken by a new Jewish convert in order to enter into the convenant of the Law between Israel and God.  In effect, the council of the Church Fathers at Jerusalem made no requirements on the Gentile converts other than to live a clean life.  Clean their lives up sexually, not to have anything to do with idols of stone and wood, and strangled animals.  Concerning the latter, it was the habit of the Gentiles to strangle animals to be eaten and in this way they kept the blood in the animal giving it a much more flavorful taste and it was thought there was more power in the blood, unlike the Jewish practice of draining the blood.    This would be a health question for most even though many order their steak as rare as they can get it, but for God He told the Israelites not to eat or drink the blood because it is in the blood of the animal the life is found.  So, the pagan Gentiles were part right, there is something in the blood, the life of the animal which they had not right to consume. 

 

  No mention of Holy Days, no mention of Temple sacrifice, no mention of any other Law being imposed on the Gentiles coming into the Church.  There is a principle found in the New Testament Scriptures that gives us a clue to the teaching concerning what attitude a Believer should develope when it comes to days called Holy by someone else.

 

    Romans 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be    fully persuaded in his own mind. KJV

 

  The question then, how do you see these secular holidays, like Christmas (Christmas, in the USA is a decalre Federal Holiday, did you know that?)? They, the Holidays, should have no more power over you than any other day.  You have freedom in the Christ, a freedom from days and times and circumcision, not only of the Old Testament but of the secular society, too.  If you wish, however, to participate in the “happiness” of the holidays then do it unto the Living God not some idol or pagan object of adoration such as eggs and trees or even statues, trees, or other pagan symbols within the churches or without.   I pray we can all grow up in this but please understand, I am not saying you are not to observe the Holy Days of the Bible and if you do make sure it is to the Savior and for the Savior but do not say I must do the same as you or else I will be damned to suffering death.  This would also apply, as I see it, toward the secular holidays -- if I choose not to follow the secular crowd, blindly dealving into customs inherited from ancient religions then that is my business and for anyone to decide my salvation should rests on such things I would have to say, worry your own salvation.  There is, of course, the fear a time will come when the death penalty will be put on those refusing certain days as days of worship but that is not today.  We know it has happened in the past, historically, and not that long ago when those in disagreement with the religious order of the day were put to death, literally, in the name of their god.  

 

  I see the secular and the religious customs of men have no power over me as my life is found in YaHshua, my savior and hope for the future.  He is not limited by days or time and is the last word in what is truth.     

 

An Opportunity to share the Truth

 

Certainly to use the pagan practices of the Christians as an opportunity to get them to focus not on the absurd but on the true Christ and upon the one Father is an opportunity that comes around only a few times a year. If you do not participate (not in a religious aspect) – you separate yourself staying behind closed doors, hidden -- then you need to realize these holidays have no more power over you than they did over Elijah, the stand alone representative of the One true God.  Elijah fought the pagan practices of his people with fire – called the prophet of fire he brought about the downfall of hundreds of priests and preachers of the Lord (Baal, yes, this Baal means "lord" by difinition).  But that method of fighting is not for the believer today, not for the follower of the Christ, and  not part of the New Covenant.  That type of fighting is being reserved for the end of man and Satan’s rule and will not be seen again until the arrival of the  two end day prophets (Rev 11) finishing with the return of YaHshua.

 

  You have true freedom in the Christ when you realize you are chained to no custom or tradition of man other than to the man, Yahshua, our Savior and Master.  The pagan practices of the pagan, of the heathen, of the many Christian organizations has no authority over you, no power over you – you need not fear them.  The “restoration” of  truth and of Israel will not be of man’s doing but of our Father in Heaven by His Son YaHshua at His return.  We have been set a liberty to live at peace with all men being ready always to give the reason for the hope we have.  What is that hope?  The Return of our Messiah and Savior bringing us inot a new world, a better world, a world of eternity and peace.    

 

The “holidays” of men – pagan holy days -- are mostly secular in nature, no really, they are, following the way of the world in attitude, and precept.  Certainly religion has sought to turn some of these “holidays” of pagan past into their own religious celebrations, but the actual origin these“holiday celebrations” can easily be traced from the pages of history past as being pagan in origin --  celebrations of drunken rivalry, sexual escapades, and over indulgences of every kind.  The Christian community has, ironically, taken on the very thing the Messiah taught against – becoming a slave to traditions of men rather than of the Living God.  The Christians have taken on the ways of the world and accepted the Holy Days (holi-days) of the world as “religious obligations” by putting Christian names on pagan observances.  Changing the clothes on the man they have not changed the man, only his appearance.  Take care in what you worship or what you try to impose on others as worship.  A true believer and follower of the Messiah will have a mind of sympathy and patients, able to enjoy his or her freedom in the Messiah not being mentally chained to traditions of any kind be it Jewish (laws meant for the nation Israel), secular (humanistic) or Christian (usually of pagan origin).

  

What of the Sabbath?

 

If you must keep the Sabbath as a special day to the Creator then keep the biblical Sabbath – The seventh day known as Saturday on the pagan calendar.  If, on the other hand, you esteem every day (in worship) as the same and dedicated to the Creator – after all, He created every day – then you are doing well, there is no sin (Romans 14:5). 

The threat of being sinful and deserving of punishment comes from every direction and every community of professing believers.  They believe in their own righteousness and cannot pull themselves away from traditions established by their religious fathers instead of our Heavenly Father.  They seem to have the need to chain themselfs to traditions of men.  

 

If you feel the need for some physical contact, even if only a day, a space of time, then it should be days and times based not on what men say but what the Creator God says.  What does He say?  He and His Son left us a manual called the Holy Bible – there you will find the answer.  Search His words for the days and times you should study, observe, honor.  Find these things in the Holy Bible, why go outside of the Word, His Words, for days and times of questionable origins. 

 

So, what are the “holidays”, the Holy Days, of the Creator God?  What are the traditions, the customs of YaHWeH? 

 

Holy Days of the Bible 

 

There is the Passover, Days of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, Last Great Day, seven in all.  Not even the Jews keep all of these Holy Days, they have plenty of others, however, and any of the seven they do observe or remember don’t always mark the understanding they are supposed to represent. 

For example:  Passover, remembered by the Jewish population as the day they, the Hebrews, were led out of Egypt by Moses.  This time, this lesson, however, is a time of remembrance of when the literal body of the Messiah was sacrificed for us.  A time He conquered death and the author of death.  So, the meaning of this Holy Day was and is lost on the Hebrew people.  We accept Him as our sacrifice covering our sins once and for all.  The Jewish people are still waiting.  In their waiting they are all drowning in their sins for they have no way of being forgiven as their path (animal sacrific) to forgiveness has been cut off since the destruction of the Temple and the end the sacrificial system.  The Father of Heaven caused that system to be torn apart after the ultimate sacrifice of His Son.  And all for us, so undeserving, His grace falls on us.  He ended that system, not men, not by men but by one man, His Son, our single sacrifice, once and for all. 

The Seven Holy Days

Seven Holy Days hardly recognized today.  These special days, these high days were for more than remembering things, or events, that happened.  They are prophetic reminders of what the God of Israel has in mind for mankind and this earth.  The seven Holy Days given to the Israelites as observances is an outline of the Gospel, the Good News of the coming of the Kingdom, or Government of God on Earth. 

As the people of the Living God you should be more than a little aware of these Holy Days.  Weather you observe them as days of remembrance, or Feast Days, or Sabbath days, that is up to you, but you should know the simple outline, the message they provide.  If you are willing to understand the meaning behind the Holy Days given in the Scriptures, then you have a good guide to the beginning of the prophetic word.  The Holy Days give you a look at the plan of God. 

Dear Sisters, dear brothers, it is written in the scriptures we call the Old Testament, the covenant made with the people of Israel, not a thing hidden but ignored.  Open you Bibles to Leviticus 23 and with the understanding of the Christ, the Spirit of the Family of the Living God, YH, and see what the Holy Days say.

 

The First is easy, or should be, to understand, the Passover, and even Pentecost, for the Christians, so called, today, as these prophetic events have occurred for the believers.  Let me list them for you and supply the prophetic and the fulfilled meanings.

 

1. Passover:  The prophetic sacrifice of the Savior.  His crucifixion. Our Passover Lamb. Shedding of His blood for our sins.

2. Feast Days of Unleavened Bread:  During these seven days no leavening is to be found in you house.  Realizing your house to be you very person.  This is a prophetic statement of putting away sin from yourself after the acceptance of the Passover Lamb.  This is a Holy Day the Christian community pass-over, and in doing so never quite get what it means to put sin out of their life.

3. First Fruits:  This is the first converts called to the Crucified Messiah, the “First Fruits” of the body of the Messiah.  First Himself being offered up to the Father and then the rest of the offering.  Only after this offering up of the “first fruits” is the Holy Spirit of the Living God, our Father being allowed to come.  This makes clear the way for the nest Holy Day.

4. Pentecost:  Seven Sabbaths after the Sabbath of the First Fruits offering, counting to fifty days, being one day after the seventh Sabbath, would bring us to the first day of the week (Sunday) for a new offering to YaH.  This brings us to the giving of the Holy Spirit of the Father and the Son to the First Fruits.  This event is recorded in the Book of Acts.   

5. Feast of Trumpets:  First day of the Seventh month, a sounding of trumpets.  This, my friends is the blast of the trumpets announcing the coming of the Messiah, His return to this Earth.  We can see the events of the first four Holy Days having fulfillment as recorded in the pages of the New Testament.  This Holy day of Trumpets is a yet future event.  Trumpet blasts announcing future events.  In the Book of Revelations we see “seven trumpets” sounded, one after the other, with the seventh trumpet announcing the Government of the world as becoming the Government (Kingdom) of our Lord and Savior, Yahshua (Revelation 11:15).  Imagine, we are only at the third Holy Day and we have reached the sounding of the “trumpets” in the plan of the Living God. 

6. Day of Atonement:  At-one-ment with the Creator.  This is the time, after the trumpet events, we become one with the Father, with the Son.  This is the time we are waiting for.  After this even we are to enter the Kingdom with our King on Earth.

7. Feast of Tabernacles:  This is a weeklong period of time that some call the Feast of Booths, or tents, or trailers, maybe even Motorhomes.  The point being this Feast tells us that this is only a temporary dwelling.  This Earth is going be changed after the Feast of Booths.  After being brought into one with the Messiah He will govern this world for a thousand years, proving the righteous government of the Living God can work.  After that, this temporary dwelling will be changed and the Father will be among us.

 

Understand the simple lessons of the Holy Days of the Bible and you are on your way to understanding the Living God’s plan for man and this Earth.  By staying within this outline, given as Holy Days, we are given a glimpse into the future and the order of things. 

 

As it is written, one man, or woman, honors every day as the same while others honor special days to the Creator.  Let every one be convinced in their own minds.  But, we should all endeavor to understand the meaning of what the Israelites were being taught.  These days are lessons for us.  The Jews honored these days at one time but now even they have set most aside in favor of customs and traditions of men.

Happy Holidays, or should I say, Happy Holy Days? 

 email:  servant@yahshauservant.com

Peace to you all in His Name, Dan